The news feed is extremely light tonight — it seems most of our tipsters have taken the Easter holiday off. It can’t be Ramadan; that’s more than a month away.
The big news of the day is that when North Korea attempted a missile launch — just one day after the official celebration of Kim Il Sung’s 105th birthday — it blew up immediately after leaving the ground.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, Reader from Chicago, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Berkeley Trump Rally: At Least 15 Arrested After Violence Breaks Out
VIOLENCE has broken out between pro and anti-Donald Trump supporters at a rally in the US.
Riot police in Berkeley, California used tear gas and formed barricades to separate the two groups as protesters fought and threw objects at each other.
At least 15 people have been arrested, according to reports.
A Berkeley police statement read: “A large number of fights have occurred and numerous fireworks have been thrown in the crowds.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump: Terrorism ‘One of the Gravest Threats to Religious Freedom’
During Friday’s Weekly Address, President Trump stated that “one of the gravest threats to religious freedom remains the threat of terror.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Foreign Interests Trying to Subvert my Rule, Says Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Amid Protests
Hungary’s 2018 election will decide whether it is ruled by a government fighting for the national interest or by one led by foreign powers, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said yesterday.
His comments come as Budapest accused the European Commission of “going beyond its competencies” in a row over the fate of a leading international university in Hungary’s capital founded by billionaire financier and liberal philanthropist George Soros.
Brussels threatened Hungary with legal action this week over legislation that could result in the closure of the Central European University (CEU).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Marine Le Pen Voters Claim France Could Go to War in Battle to Leave European Union
FRENCH voters who are backing Marine Le Pen have said a civil war may be necessary to liberate the country from the control of Brussels.
Voters who are angry at the political establishment have said a civil war is on the cards if France does not break away from the European Union.
The French presidential election is fast approaching, with two candidates advocating a Frexit gaining the most ground in recent days.
Both left-wing Jean-Luc Melenchon and right-wing Marine Le Pen are pushing for a campaign to leave the European project.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) just published in February its yearly threat assessment. It concluded — as did its threat assessment for 2016 — that Norway might experience an Islamic terrorist attack from Islamic State (ISIS) sympathizers acting upon ISIS’s call to carry out independent attacks. The PST explains:
“These calls to action are one reason why we have seen an increase over the last few years in the number of lone terrorist attacks in the West. The likeliest scenario for a terrorist attack in a Western country is an ISIL-/AQ-inspired attack carried out with a simple weapon against a target with little or no protection”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
World’s Oldest Person, Last One of 19th Century, Dies in Italy at 117
Emma Morano, who at 117 was believed to be the world’s oldest person and the last surviving child of the 19th century, died on Saturday, swearing to the end on her diet of two raw eggs a day.
“She reached an incredible finish line,” said Silvia Marchionini, mayor of the town of Verbania in northern Italy where Morano lived on the shores of Lake Maggiore.
Morano, who lived 117 years and 137 days, was born on Nov. 29, 1899, four years before the Wright brothers first took to the air. Her life spanned three centuries, two World Wars and more than 90 Italian governments.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Report Indicates the MOAB Bomb Killed Many More ISIS Terrorists Than Previously Thought
The number of Islamic State fighters killed by the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat by the United States military, dubbed the “mother of all bombs,” has risen to at least 94, according to Afghan officials.
Nangarhar provincial spokesman Attaullah Khogiani told CNN about the latest report.
“The number of Daesh fighters killed in the US bomb in Achin district jumped to 94, including four commanders,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
North Korea Missile Test: Latest Launch ‘Blew up Almost Immediately’
A North Korean missile fired from the east coast of the country Sunday “blew up almost immediately,” officials said.
The U.S. Pacific Command said the missile, which came near the city of Sinpo, “blew up almost immediately,” but the type of missile was still being assessed.
The failure came one day after Pyongyang celebrated one of the biggest propaganda events of the year — the 105th birthday of the late North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Un’s grandfather.
The failed launch also comes ahead of Vice President Pence’s arrival in Seoul, South Korea for talks about how to handle Kim’s regime. Pence had been in contact with President Trump about the test.
Trump did not release a statement on the launch. Defense Secretary Mattis said Trump and his military team “are aware of North Korea’s most recent unsuccessful missile launch. The president has no further comment.”
Washington and Seoul were trying to determine what North Korea exactly launched. North Korea regularly fires short-range missiles, but it is also developing mid-range and long-range missiles meant to target U.S. troops in Asia and, eventually, the U.S. mainland. North Korea is thought to have a small arsenal of atomic bombs and an impressive array of short- and medium-range missiles…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Charities Accused of Luring Migrants Back to Calais
Migrants are returning to the northern French town of Calais just months after its infamous camp was demolished and thousands of residents moved elsewhere.
The new arrivals are being encouraged to come by charities offering them food and sleeping bags, causing consternation among the town’s residents, the Daily Mail reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Marine Le Pen Hits Out at Pope After Call for Open Borders
French presidential frontrunner Marine Le Pen has criticised the Pope for pressuring Western countries to open their borders to migrants, accusing him of asking states to disregard their own citizens.
In an interview with La Croix International, the leader of the Front National chided Pope Francis for asking “that states go against the interests of their own people by not placing conditions on the acceptance of significant numbers of migrants”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Considers Hungarian-Style Migrant Camps
The Polish interior ministry has said the country is considering creating a “container village” camps for asylum seekers, taking inspiration from the Hungarian government’s policy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spain Picks Up 125 Migrants Crossing Sea at Night
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain’s maritime rescue says it has rescued 125 migrants trying to make nighttime crossings from Africa in three smuggling boats.
All three of the small boats were located before daybreak on Saturday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Three Quarters of Poles Oppose Non-European Migrants
Already unpopular in conservative, Catholic Poland, a new poll shows attitudes towards non-European migrants hardening in the country with a convincing majority saying they should not be allowed into the nation.
Some 74 per cent of Poles are against their homeland accepting migrants from Africa and the Middle East according to the research, which comes as continued pressure from the European Union to accept migrants has caused tensions between Brussels and Warsaw.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Two Thousand Migrants Crossing the Mediterranean Sea Into Europe Saved in One Day
MORE than two thousand migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe were rescued by the Italian coastguard in the space of 24 hours.
During the 16-part rescue operation, 2,074 migrants were plucked from inflatable rafts and dinghies, according to the local Adnkronos news agency.
It is understood one dead body was found during the rescue mission.
The Italian coastguard were joined by five privately-run rescue boats and charities, including the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) vessels Prudence and Aquarius.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
We are victims of emotional blackmail. (and physical) and whtt do we do?
We appease the criminals.
Refugees are allowed to cross borders to reach the first safe country, after that, if they continue, they become illegal immigrants, that is CRIMINALS.
That we can no longer insist that criminals are prosecuted is at the core of the tyranny under which we now live. The hallmark of civilisation is one law for ALL. In a tyranny, the law is applied only to selected groups, and is draconian in its nature. Prefferred groups get ‘special’ treatment.
Indeed! The moral compass was put under attack first with the ‘sexual revolution’ of the 1960s. Once morality becomes passe then everything else that keeps a culture vibrant soon falls into decay.
So Baron, with the light ‘News Feed’ I hope you and Dympthna got an early night for a change?
Ha! Not a chance…
On today’s definition of ‘Charities’. How these so called ‘charities’ are permitted to operate, especially gathering their funds, in my opinion, have become highly questionable.
For instance; what kind of ‘charity’ recruits the young and impressionable and then ‘educates’ them to the point where in order for them as ’employees’ of that ‘charity’ to make any income, apart from the pittance – and that can be as low as four dollars an hour – that is paid to them as a retainer, that then requires those ’employees’ to lean on those gullible enough to open their doors to them?
Charity today no longer means charity, and the very meaning of charity has been turned upside down into a money making exercise – and I got this from one of my grand kids who now tell me that they have learned a lesson in never to trust what is pretended to you.
I don’t get it. Why can’t migrants be “saved” by dropping them off on a Moroccan beach?
Are the migrants in need of saving, or is it that their travel arrangements are threatened?
It’s a business, and as a business all the ‘customers’ using that business must be seen to arrive at their destinations, unless of course, circumstances beyond the business’ control prevent a safe arrival.
The Pope doesn’t want St. Peter’s and the Sistine Chapel blown up by our jihadists.
He’s wrong, but I understand the tactics. Only governments decide immigration policy, not clerics, anyway. The Marxists who run the EU want open borders aided by Merkel, Tony Blair, Hollande, Obama, ms Clinton etc. Voters decide inside our dying West.
The French need to THINK for a change and get it with Le Pen.
A small point, but Vatican City is considered a sovereign state outside the legal jurisdiction of Italy. Those formalities are assiduously maintained. Thus, this veritable saint, the Argentinian anti-Semite who so loves Islam’s hordes, could conceivably “pull a Sweden” and invite them all in –as long as they’re not Christians, at any rate.
Only Australia has specifically made room for Christian refugees, citing the genocide currently underway in MENA. It is certain suicide for Christians to migrate with groups of Islamic immigrants. The latter will leave off their incessant “King-of-the-Hill” in-fighting in the camps long enough to eradicate any Christians among them before returning to their eternal assassinations.
What a truly bloody religion. When fMRIs have become more accurate and detailed, we’ll be able to do brain scans on these aliens, to compare their differences with the rest of humanity.
My neighbour, now 93, is from Rome, and a devout Catholic. When I visited the Vatican in 2013, I sent her a postcard with the Vatican City stamp, which she greatly appreciated.
I’m not trying to demonstrate that I’m a nice person, just that not all we atheists/humanists are inhuman monsters dedicated to the destruction of this culture!
Re: oldest lady, anyone born up to 31 December 1900 was born in the 19th century. Morano was last survivor of 1800s.
Re: possibility of civil war in France. It appears to be a very real one, and now even a leftist is campaigning against the EU, sort of. If that leftist indicates an emerging trend in leftist politics in France, a civil war could be very hard on the totalitarian collectivists who, more than even the Muhammadists, deserve to suffer for their vices and aggression.