The Japanese government issued a strong protest over North Korea’s latest test of a ballistic missile, which landed within Japan’s exclusive maritime economic zone. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that his government, acting in concert with the United States, would take decisive action against North Korea.
In other news, asylum seekers in Germany have devised a sneaky ploy to escape deportation: they confess to murder, which carries a death sentence in their home countries. Thus, under EU rules, they cannot be deported.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, JD, Reader from Chicago, Seneca III, SS, 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.
Greek Minister Warns ‘No Excuses’ On Bailout Deal
The Greek finance minister has warned there are “no excuses” for the country not to receive the next instalment of its multi-billion-dollar bailout.
Euclid Tsakalotos said the Greek government had “done its part”, adding “the ball is very much on the side of our creditors and the IMF”.
Last week, talks between eurozone finance ministers aimed at unlocking Greece’s next set of loans broke down.
Mr Tsakalotos said a deal at the next meeting in June was now urgent.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Banks Sink on Early Election Worries
Concern over Italy’s banks and Britain’s national election dominated holiday-thinned European financial markets on Monday, pushing stock markets lower after Asian share indices fell back off two-year highs.
Sterling, hammered by a slump for Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives in opinion polls last week, recovered after weekend polls confirmed the trend but showed her still on course to win next week’s vote.
European share prices were lower [.EU] overall, but Italian banks and blue chips fell as worries over recapitalisations of regional Italian lenders bled over into a second week.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
8th-Graders Refuse to Take Photo With Paul Ryan
(MASHABLE) — Speaker Ryan is one of the most unpopular politicians in the country — and he’s polling particularly poorly among one 8th grade class.
Eighth grade students from South Orange Middle School in South Orange, New Jersey were on a school trip to Washington D.C. on Friday when they were given a very special opportunity: a photo-op with Speaker Paul Ryan. Under normal circumstances, many students would leap for the chance to take a photo with the third most powerful politician in the country.
Not these kids.
Close to 100 8th graders refused to take a photo with the Speaker and instead sat in a parking lot across the street. Speaker Ryan then took a photo with the remaining class and posted it to his Instagram.
[Comment: The results of communist indoctrination.]
— Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
CAIR Outraged by Sheriff Warning of ‘Islamic Jihadists’
Texas lawman: ‘Pay attention to what is happening in Europe’
After the Manchester terror attack in which 22 people were killed and 59 injured, a Texas sheriff urged the citizens under his watch to “pay attention” to what is happening in Europe, because the ideology behind the threat to the continent is active in the United States as well.
While many citizens of Denton County, north of Dallas, expressed appreciation for the warning by Sheriff Tracy Murphree, an Islamic group that regards itself as “moderate,” casting its role in the U.S. as a defender of the civil rights of Muslims, expressed outrage, noted author Robert Spencer on his Jihad Watch blog.
The Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement calling on Murphree “to reaffirm his pledge, and that of his officers, to serve and protect all Denton County residents regardless of their faith, ethnicity or national origin.”
— Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
CNN’s W. Kamau Bell: Islam Part of America’s Founding
CNN’s W. Kamau Bell devoted a recent episode of his series United Shades of America to exploring Muslim and Arab communities.
Aside from some interesting vignettes, the program is left-wing, anti-Trump propaganda that firmly establishes the network’s political bias. Bell also serves up some historical distortions of the sort spoonfed to undergraduates on politically-correct campuses, such as the claim that Islam has always been present in the U.S.
“Islam has always been part of the American fabric,” one Muslim man in Detroit tells Bell at an anti-Trump event. “A lot of people think that Islam is from a foreign country, or is a foreign religion. It’s not — it’s very American.” He goes on to criticize “those more violent voices in our society” — – and he does not mean radical Islamists. Bell is so impressed that he asks the man, “When are you running for mayor?”, comparing him to a “young Barack Obama.”
It was Obama who told the Muslim world in his Cairo speech in 2009: “Islam has always been a part of America’s story.” He offered a dubious proof: “The first nation to recognize my country was Morocco.” He also cited the Treaty of Tripoli, which was essentially an agreement to pay a bribe to Muslim pirates who had made a practice of kidnapping Americans.
— Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Exclusive: Lawmaker Who Wanted to Legalize Communists in CA Government Has Communist Ties
In May, anti-communist California State Assemblywoman Janet Nguyen (R -Santa Ana), pushed back hard against Assembly colleague San Francisco Democrat Rob Bonta’s Assembly Bill 22.
Bonta’s bill was intended to amend an existing statute for removing a public employee who “is knowingly a member of the Communist party” or a member of an organization that “advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United States or of any state by force or violence.”
Bill 22 would have allowed communists to work legally in the California government.
On May 10, the bill passed the Assembly and was headed for a rubber stamp Senate vote, but with the support of her electoral district, often referred to as “Little Saigon,” Nguyen launched a petition to oppose the legislation.
Claiming that his bill didn’t “endorse communism or encourage communism,” Bonta maintained that he was protecting “people’s rights” and “following constitutional precedents that made it illegal for government to fire employees due to their political affiliations.”
On May 18, after intense pressure from Nguyen and Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) who called Bill 22 “blatantly offensive to all Californians,”Bonta withdrew the measure and apologized to U.S. military veterans and refugees from the Vietnamese Communist regime.
Rep. Rob Bonta should not get off the hook so easily. Far from protecting innocent political activists from government overreach, Bonta was much more likely protecting serious security risks from the legal consequences of their subversive activities.
It turns out that Assemblyman Bonta has close personal and family ties to a network of activists with histories of “advocating the overthrow of the Government of the United States or of any state by force or violence.”
These activists were never members of the old pro-Soviet Communist Party USA (CPUSA), but were members of the even more radical Katipunan ng Mga Demokratikong Pilipino, commonly known as the KDP or Union of Democratic Filipinos.
[Comment: Read it all.]
— Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Florida Museum Celebrates the Loss of Hagia Sophia
by Daniel Pipes
I rubbed my eyes in disbelief seeing a wall plaque at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida, explaining an artifact in its “Ink, Silk, and Gold: Islamic Treasures from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston” exhibit.
The plaque that caught my eye praises the Ottoman Empire for having turned the Hagia Sophia church into a mosque.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Real Foreign Policy Scandal is Its Sabotage by Trump Enemies
During the election campaign Donald Trump argued for better relations with Russia. He wanted to engage in a common fight against the Islamic State and other terrorists. Hillary Clinton argued for a confrontational policy against Russia and a new cold war. The foreign policy establishment, the media and the CIA were solidly on Clinton’s side. The people of the United States made their choice. It was Trump and his views of policies that were elected.
After Trump had won the election, he advised his staff to set up a confidential track-2 communication channel with the Russian government. He rightfully did not trust the established official channels through the State Department and the CIA. His incoming National Security Advisor Flynn and his foreign policy advisor Kushner worked on his behalf when they soughed contacts with Russian officials. Such diplomacy is by nature not acted out in public.
— Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Trump’s Budget Seeks Big Cuts to UN Funding
The dictator-dominated United Nations is in a panic, claiming that it will be “impossible” for it to continue its allegedly “essential work” under budget cuts outlined in President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for next year. While the proposed cuts to U.S. taxpayer funding of the UN are not quite the 50 percent rollbacks previously discussed by the administration, the decreased budget could nevertheless play a significant role in reining in the out-of-control UN. All funding for UN “global warming” schemes, for instance, would be slashed. However, globalists in Congress and the establishment media are already howling, ensuring a battle awaits ahead as the UN meddles more and more in U.S. affairs.
The Trump administration Fiscal Year 2018 budget, dubbed “A New Foundation for American Greatness,” includes relatively modest cuts of about 33 percent, or $19 billion, to a wide range of global programs including unconstitutional foreign aid, U.S. diplomacy, and UN schemes. One goal, officials told reporters, was to force other governments to pay a larger share of the UN burden. There are three primary options to put the cuts into effect: Reduce the level of funding for international organizations’ budgets, reduce assessment rates on how much is demanded of U.S. taxpayers by the UN, and if necessary, unilaterally refuse to pay what the UN outfits demand.
Among the specific saving for U.S. taxpayers would be a reduction of around $1.2 billion in spending, or half, on the UN’s brutal “peacekeeping” military, which has become infamous for raping thousands of women and children around the world with absolute impunity. Trump is hoping to cap U.S. contributions to the UN’s scandal-plagued “peace” military, which has a long history of brutality and mass murder, at about 25 percent. However, with a massive budget and some 16 countries under UN military occupation, the UN’s infamous “blue helmets” will still be able to inflict enormous damage on their victims around the world. In just one town in the Ivory Coast occupied by UN forces, a survey showed that eight out of 10 underage girls admitted to being raped by UN troops.
— Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘White Supremacist’ Portland Stabber Was a Bernie Supporter, Threatened to Kill Trump Supporters
The “white supremacist” who stabbed three people in Portland is actually a Bernie Sanders supporter who hated Donald Trump and threatened to murder his supporters.
While the top result for murderer Jeremy Christian is an article from Portland Mercury which paints him as a Donald Trump supporting white supremacist, his Facebook posts are all over the place and show he supported Bernie Sanders.
— Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Eurosceptic Swedish Party Could Oust Next PM as Anti-EU Politicians Gain Popularity
SWEDEN’S eurosceptic party the Sweden Democrats are on the brink of gaining parliamentary power as its rising popularity strengthens its hand.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Facebook Condemns Germany’s So-Called ‘Hate Speech’ Law
Facebook is fighting back against a proposed law that would force social networks to remove hateful content more quickly.
The American social media giant wrote in a statement seen by German news magazine WirtschaftsWoche that the proposed law is “inadequate” to be able to fight hate speech and fake news.
Thus far Facebook has not spoken openly about the proposed legislation, WirtschaftsWoche reported on Sunday.
The law is being pushed by Justice Minister Heiko Maas, and threatens social media sites with fines of up to €50 million if they do not quickly and consistently remove flagged content.
Critics have said that such measures could hinder free speech as websites rush to remove posts within the one- to seven-day timeframe. Others also argue that the law would privatize law enforcement, a sentiment which Facebook also echoed.
“The constitutional state should not pass on its own failures and responsibilities to private companies,” Facebook wrote in the statement.
“The prevention of and fight against hate speech and fake news is an official task that the state cannot evade.”
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Leaders Step up Attacks on Trump
Germany’s top politicians have stepped up criticism of US President Donald Trump, a day after Chancellor Angela Merkel said the US and UK were no longer reliable partners.
On Monday Mrs Merkel said it was right not to gloss over differences with the US, while her foreign minister said Mr Trump’s actions “weakened the West”.
It comes days after the G7 summit, where Mr Trump refused to commit to the 2015 Paris climate deal.
Germany goes to the polls in September.
German opposition leader Martin Schulz accused Mr Trump of having tried to “humiliate” Mrs Merkel in Brussels.
It was unclear exactly what incident a furious Mr Schulz was referring to, but he accused the US president of “acting like an autocratic leader”.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Berlin Man Taken to Hospital After Homophobic Attack by Family With Kids: Police
A man in Berlin reported being insulted and attacked by a family, including by children, due to his sexuality, according to police.
According to police, the 35-year-old man was walking through Hermannplatz in the Neukölln district of Berlin at about 2.50pm on Friday, when women and children who appeared to be part of a family group started to berate and insult him using homophobic statements. Their comments reportedly also related to the fact that he was wearing a cross around his neck.
The man told police that the men from the group then started to beat and kick him, snapping one of his fingers.
An unknown passerby was able to take the man away from the group into safety at a nearby pub to call for help, police report. By the time officers arrived, the woman who had helped the man had left, as had the group.
The injured man was then taken to hospital for treatment.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Plans to Fine Parents Who Don’t Vaccinate Children
Parents in Germany who fail to seek medical advice on vaccinating their children could face fines of up to €2,500 (£2,175; $2,800).
Health Minister Hermann Gröhe said it was necessary to tighten the law because of a measles epidemic.
— Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The son of the Lockerbie bomber has warned that Britain will be hit by a fresh wave of terrorism from Libya.
Khaled al-Megrahi said that Libyan fanatics stand ready to strike against other Western cities in the wake of the Manchester terror attack.
While security experts have warned that the country — which has been plunged into civil war in the wake of Colonel’s Gaddafi death in 2011 — has become a fertile breeding ground for ISIS.
The chilling warning comes a week after Salman Abedi killed 22 innocent people and injured 119 more when he blew himself up at the end of a teen pop concert.
The son of Libyan parents, he is thought to have come back to Britain from Libya just days before the massacre.
Mr al-Megrahi, whose father Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was the only man ever convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, accused the West of abandoning the country leaving terror group ISIS to seize control of parts of it.
In a chilling warning from Tripoli, he said the Libyan capital is awash with young terror hopefuls like Abedi eager to die as ‘martyrs’.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A survivor of the 7/7 London bombings was found dead hours after the Manchester Arena attack — amid fears he took his own life after being overwhelmed by the horror.
Tony Walter, 52, was discovered dead at his home after failing to turn up to work the day after suicide bomber Salman Abedi murdered 22 people and injured a further 116 at the Manchester Arena.
A friend has claimed he is the ‘23rd victim’ of the bombing and killed himself because he ‘didn’t want to live in a world where these terror attacks continue’.
On July 7, 2005, Mr Walter was yards from fanatic Mohammad Sidique Khan when he detonated a device on a Tube train after it left Edgware Road station.
Seven people, including Khan, died. Mr Walter was showered with shrapnel but survived.
Friends believe that the Manchester bombing, coupled with the Westminster attack in March when four people were killed by Khalid Masood, brought back traumatic memories for Mr Walter.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Police Investigate Arson in Fire at Amsterdam Garbage Firm
The police are investigating whether arson was involved in a large fire that started at waste disposal company Icova in Amsterdam’s Westelijk Havengebied on Saturday, RTL Nieuws reports.
The fire started around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and was still not completely extinguished by noon on Monday. The pontoon between Hemkade and Nieuwe Hemweg was unable to sail for several hours on Monday morning due to smoke. Nieuwe Hemweg itself was also closed for several hours.
The fire department advises local residents and people working in the area to keep out of the smoke and keep windows and doors closed.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Youth Gangs Behind Repeated Oslo Trouble: Police
After three incidents of arson in consecutive nights, police believe that a youth gang has been targeting the Vestli neighbourhood in Oslo.
A daycare facility and a car were set alight Sunday night in the latest of the incidents, reports news agency NTB.
Both fires were extinguished by Monday morning, operation leader Cathrine Sylju of Oslo Police told the news agency.
Police have been present in the area throughout the weekend after youth set fire to rubbish and threw stones at firefighters, security guards and police, according to the report.
“We think the same gang is out again. It is remarkable that this has happened for the third night in a row, at almost the same place,” Sylju said at 2am on Monday.
“First they set light to some paper on top of a car. Shortly after, we received a report of a fire at a daycare,” the officer continued.
Police dispatched several units to apprehend the youths, but were unable to track them down, reports NTB.
Two teenagers aged 17 and 18 were arrested after a comprehensive police operation on Saturday, accused of dropping 15kg of stones on a security guard’s car as it passed under a bridge, according to the news agency.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Police ‘Have Nine Key Suspects’ In the Manchester Terror Network Including the Bomber’s Friend
Police ‘have nine key suspects’ in the Manchester terror network including the bomber’s friend from Moss Side barbers — Manchester bomber linked to group of young men who fought in Libya with their fathers then switched to ISIS
Police have rounded up ‘a large part’ of the suspected Libyan terror cell, it was revealed last night. Officers said they had arrested the ‘key players’ in the Middle England gang of alleged jihadis who helped Salman Abedi, 22, wreak horror in Manchester. After a series of dramatic raids in the Midlands and the North, nine people were in custody last night, all of whom are of Libyan descent.
— Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Spy Agency Boss Warns Germany is High on ISIS Target List
The leader of Germany’s domestic security agency (BfV) warned on Monday that Germany is a high priority for terror group Isis.
BfV President Hans-Georg Maaßen said on Monday that Isis has its eyes set on Europe, according to Die Welt.
“At the same time, Germany is becoming more highly prioritized by Isis, according to our assessments,” he said.
Al-Qaeda still remains a serious threat as well, according to Maaßen, adding that the group “is powerful like before and could try to redeem its loss of reputation through new, dramatic terror attacks”.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Trump’s Actions Have ‘Weakened’ The West, Says German Minister
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel unleashed a volley of criticism against US President Donald Trump, slamming his “short-sighted” policies that have “weakened the West” and hurt European interests.
The sharp words from Gabriel came after Trump concluded his first official tour abroad which took him to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Brussels and then Italy for a G7 summit.
They also followed Chancellor Angela Merkel’s warning on Sunday that the US and Britain may no longer be reliable partners.
Germany’s exasperation was laid bare after the G7 summit which wrapped up on Saturday with the US refusing to sign up to upholding the 2015 Paris climate accord.
Days earlier, in Saudi Arabia, Trump had presided over the signing of the single largest US arms deal in American history, worth $110 billion over the next decade and including ships, tanks and anti-missile systems.
Gabriel said on Monday that “anyone who accelerates climate change by weakening environmental protection, who sells more weapons in conflict zones and who does not want to politically resolve religious conflicts is putting peace in Europe at risk”.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Hamerton Zoo Evacuated After ‘Serious Incident’
A zoo has been evacuated due to what police have called a “serious incident”.
Visitors were led away from Hamerton Zoo Park, near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, at about 11:15 BST.
A spokeswoman for the attraction denied claims on social media that a tiger had escaped from its enclosure.
A Cambridgeshire Police spokesman said: “We can confirm that no animals have escaped and members of the public are safe.”
She continued: “Officers were called at around 11.15am to reports of a serious incident at Hamerton Zoo Park, Steeple Gidding.
“Officers attended the scene along with ambulance crews and Magpas air ambulance service.
“We are unable to provide further information at this time.”…
— Hat tip: Seneca III | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Hamerton Zookeeper Dead After Tiger Attack, Zoo Evacuated
The horrific incident took place at around 11.15 this morning, as panicked zookeepers evacuated the park, near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire.
Initially zoo visitors believed a tiger had escaped its enclosure, although officials insisted this was not the case.
A zoo spokesman said: “A full investigation is currently underway and we hope that more details can be announced as soon as we are able.
“At no point during the incident did any animals escape their enclosures, and at no point was public safety affected in any way.
“All our thoughts and sympathies are with our colleagues, friends and familes at this dreadful time.
“The park will be closed from tomorrow 30th May, and we will give more information as soon as we can.”…
— Hat tip: Seneca III | [Return to headlines] |
UKIP’s Paul Nuttall Suggests Internment for Terror Suspects
UKIP leader Paul Nuttall has suggested the detention without trial of suspected terrorists.
Mr Nuttall said he was not calling for an immediate return to internment, but “wouldn’t take anything off the table”.
Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Neil, he backed the return of the death penalty but said this was not UKIP policy.
Mr Nuttall is under pressure after a poor showing in the local elections earlier this month in which UKIP gained a single seat and lost all 145 it was defending.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bin Laden’s Son Makes Play to Replace ISIS
The Al-Qaida terror network may be attempting to usurp the Islamic State as the face of radical Islamic terrorism by promoting deceased al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza, The Washington Post reports.
The younger bin Laden has increasingly appeared in propaganda materials for the terrorist group with a starkly different message than its older leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Putin, Macron Meet in Versailles on 300th Anniversary of Tsar Peter’s Visit to France
Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in France to meet new French leader Emmanuel Macron. Macron, who in the past has been critical of Moscow, is hosting Putin at the Chateau de Versailles, just outside Paris.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State ‘Gaining Foothold’ In ASEAN Region
Philippine forces control most of a southern city where militants linked to the Islamic State group launched a bloody siege nearly a week ago, authorities said Monday, as the army launched airstrikes and went house-to-house to crush areas of resistance.
More than 100 people, including 24 civilians, have been killed in six days of fighting, the government said. Many more were believed to be trapped inside the city.
The crisis in Marawi, which is home to some 200,000 people, has raised fears that extremism in the southern Philippines is increasing as smaller militant groups unify and align themselves with the Islamic State group.
President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law for 60 days in the south last week after the militants went on a deadly rampage in Marawi following a failed military raid to capture Hapilon.
Jose Calida, the top Philippine prosecutor, said last week that Indonesians and Malaysians were among the fighters in Marawi, and that the violence on the large southern island of Mindanao “is no longer a rebellion of Filipino citizens.”
Last week, twin suicide bombings in Jakarta, Indonesia, claimed by IS killed three policemen. While Indonesia has been fighting militants since 2002, the rise of the Islamic State group has breathed new life into local militant networks and raised concern about the risk of Indonesian fighters returning home from the Middle East.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A Visit to Seoul Brings Our Writer Face-to-Face With the Future of Robots
In the world’s most futuristic city, a tech-obsessed novelist confronts the invasion of mesmerizing machines
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China’s Hi-Tech Economy is Taking Shape, Thanks to Its Entrepreneurs and Innovators
David Liao says not only is the government committed to an economic transformation, and putting money where its mouth is, but the birth of a thriving private sector in the tech industries will help the new economy take flight.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Japan Vows to Take Action With US After North Korea Missile Test
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to take action against North Korea after Pyongyang’s missile test on Sunday ended in the Sea of Japan.
Abe addressed the situation in a brief televised address on Monday: “As we agreed at the recent G7, the issue of North Korea is a top priority for the international community,” according to Reuters.
“Working with the United States, we will take specific action to deter North Korea.”
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the missile fell within Japan’s exclusive maritime economic zone. He said there was no immediate report of damage to planes or vessels in the area.
“We cannot tolerate such repeated actions from North Korea, and we have lodged a strong protest against North Korea, criticizing them in the strongest form,” Suga said in a statement after the test.
This is the third missile test North Korea has conducted in a month. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to field a nuclear-armed missile that is capable of reaching U.S. territory.
Russia and China condemned Sunday’s missile test and called for restraint.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
WannaCry Ransom Notice Analysis Suggests Chinese Link
New analysis suggests Chinese-speaking criminals may have been behind the WannaCry ransomware that affected thousands of organisations worldwide.
Researchers from Flashpoint looked at the language used in the ransom notice.
They said the use of proper grammar and punctuation in only the Chinese versions indicated the writer was “native or at least fluent” in Chinese.
The translated versions of the ransom notice appeared to be mostly “machine translated”.
The WannaCry ransom note could be displayed in 28 different languages, but only the Chinese and English versions appeared to have been written by humans.
The English text also used some unusual phrases such as: “But you have not so enough time”.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Are Middle Class Chinese Moving Their Money Abroad?
Homes in Thailand, insurance in Hong Kong — investors have many ways to skirt the rules and send their savings overseas, leaving Beijing with a growing headache in its war on capital flight
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greens leader Richard Di Natale has caused outrage on his own Facebook page by posting a tribute to Muslims fasting for Ramadan. He was accused of overlooking terror victims.
— Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Police are hunting for a Middle Eastern man after he picked up a 15-month-old baby in a playground at a western Sydney mall (pictured) on Thursday afternoon and tried to walk away with him.
— Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
A crowd of Muslims gathered on a street front in Perth’s CBD to condemn terrorism in the wake of the Manchester attack.
[Comment: I thought WA might have been immune but I researched it and they have too many as well. Any is too many. I thought I could move there but not sure it is safe enough. The thing about Australia is it can always break up into states again and isolate themselves from problems in another state. It’s a commonwealth with only some functions delegated to the Federal govt. If one state became a caliphate the rest could split off.]
— Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Only two people have been prosecuted under Australia’s foreign fighters laws even though more than 40 ISIS jihadis have returned from overseas war zones. Stock image pictured.
— Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
The Public Health Association of Australia has called on a powerful committee to ‘disavow’ the concept that there are ‘inherent links’ between Islam and terrorism.
— Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
‘My Fear Was We’re Not Going to See Our Son Again’
African gang attacks autistic teen for the SECOND time in a month — as his parents say thugs have also targeted their Melbourne home
Autistic teenager Jayden D’Abaco, 17, has allegedly been threatened on a Melbourne bus by a group of Sudanese teenagers just seven weeks after the same gang bashed him.
— Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has accused the nation’s spy chief Duncan Lewis of avoiding a link between refugees and terror after he said no evidence suggests a connection.
— Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Ecuadorian President Will Continue to Protect ‘Hacker’ Julian Assange
“Mr. Assange is a hacker. That’s something we reject, and I personally reject,” Moreno told reporters. “But I respect the situation he is in, which calls for respect of his human rights, but we also ask that he respects the situation he is in.”
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela Opposition Accuses Goldman Sachs of Financing Dictatorship
The president of Venezuela’s opposition-run Congress on Monday accused Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs of “aiding and abetting the country’s dictatorial regime” following a report that it had bought $2.8 billion in bonds from the cash-strapped country.
The Wall Street Journal on Sunday said Goldman paid 31 cents on the dollar for bonds issued by state oil company PDVSA that mature in 2022, or around $865 million, citing five people familiar with the transaction.
That comes as two months of opposition protests against President Nicolas Maduro have killed almost 60 people and the collapse of the country’s socialist economy has left millions of people struggling to eat.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela Opposition Leaders Wounded in Anti-Government March
Two Venezuelan opposition leaders were wounded on Monday by security forces dispersing protests in the capital Caracas against President Nicolas Maduro, according to one of the leaders and an opposition legislator.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela Opposition Accuses Goldman Sachs of Financing Dictatorships
The president of Venezuela’s opposition-run Congress on Monday accused Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs of “aiding and abetting the country’s dictatorial regime” following a report that it had bought $2.8 billion in bonds from the cash-strapped country.
The Wall Street Journal on Sunday said Goldman paid 31 cents on the dollar for bonds issued by state oil company PDVSA that mature in 2022, or around $865 million, citing five people familiar with the transaction.
That comes as two months of opposition protests against President Nicolas Maduro have killed almost 60 people and the collapse of the country’s socialist economy has left millions of people struggling to eat.
“Goldman Sachs’ financial lifeline to the regime will serve to strengthen the brutal repression unleashed against the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans peacefully protesting for political change in the country,” wrote Julio Borges in a letter to Goldman Sachs President Lloyd Blankfein.
[Comment: Historian Anthony Sutton pointed out the role of Western capitalists in the Bolshevik Revolution. Here again we have Wall Street assisting socialist movements.]
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
390 Migrants Enter Greece by Sea in Part Five Days
A total of 390 migrants and refugees have entered Greece by sea in the past five days, the Athens-Macedonian news agency said on Monday.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany ‘Failed to Use Language Recognition Tech on Refugees’
Germany’s immigration authority is facing criticism for failing to use new language recognition software to identify the country of origin of asylum-seekers who appear without ID.
Friday’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung alleged that the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) had access to such software last year but decided against testing it — partly because of Germany’s privacy and data protection laws.
According to the paper’s unnamed BAMF sources, the authority gathered proposals for the use of language and dialect recognition software from German and Israeli IT firms in 2016 but had only begun testing it this year.
— Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Asylum Seekers Confessing to Murder to Avoid Deportation
A new trend amongst asylum seekers in Germany is to confess to murder, whether guilty or not, to avoid deportation to their native countries where they may face the death penalty.
In the German region of Hesse, the number of asylum applications is increasing by the day. Last year, the area saw around 25,000 migrants apply for asylum and many were rejected, with migrants developing a range of dishonest schemes in the attempt to obtain a positive asylum application — including confessing to murder, OE24 reports.
— Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Heineken Campaign Calls for “World Without Borders”
Vacuous virtue-signaling claims another corporate victim
A new ad campaign for Heineken beer promotes “a world without borders or barriers,” in another nod to the vacuous virtue-signaling that is being embraced by many top companies.
Text has been added to cans of Heineken that states, “Here’s To An Open World. To a world without borders or barriers. To the belief that there is more that unites us than divides us. To find common ground to raise a bottle with the person next to you. Because a stranger is just a friend that you haven’t had a cold Heineken with yet. Open Your World.”
The campaign is backed up with a commercial in which leftists and conservatives “divided by their beliefs” come together to make peace. The commercial isn’t that bad, but the “world without borders” gimmick is painfully bad.
One wonders if the idiot who came up with the slogan thought for 5 seconds about what a “world without borders” would actually look like given that half of the third world (along with a generous smattering of Islamic terrorists) would love to see a borderless planet.
Indeed, it was porous borders that allowed the father of the Manchester bomber to enter the UK as a “refugee” after he had been a member of an Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group. It was porous borders that allowed the terrorist himself to visit Libya and Syria for terrorist training and then slip back into the country to carry out his monstrous act of carnage.
But facts, logic and reality don’t matter when you’re pandering to people who think that singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” and tweeting hashtags will stop jihadist attacks.
[Comment: Boycott Heineken.]
— Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Performance Gap Between Immigrant Pupils and Native Swedes Has Grown: Report
The performance gap between pupils born in Sweden and those born abroad has increased sharply as a consequence of demographics shifts according to a new report into the factors behind immigrant pupils performing worse than native Swedes.
The report by the Swedish Ministry of Finance’s Expert Group on Public Economics (ESO) studied data covering all pupils who completed primary school in Sweden during the period between 1988 and 2014. Results showed significant differences in performance between immigrant and native pupils: while just over 90 percent of all pupils born in Sweden qualify for upper secondary school, for foreign-born pupils the figure drops to 65 percent.
And the difference increased sharply in 2008, “explained by a shift in the demographic composition of foreign pupils in terms of region of birth and age at arrival”.
Those born in Africa and unaccompanied refugee children have a “significantly higher risk” of failing school.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Sanctuary Cities’ Protests Interrupt Texas House Session
Protests erupted in the Texas capitol building on Monday over Gov. Greg Abbott’s new law cracking down on ‘sanctuary cities,’ interrupting the final day in this year’s regular session of the Texas Legislature.
Hundreds of protesters chanted in opposition to the new law, forcing House leadership to stop the session and send state troopers to clear the gallery.
Some protesters held banners that said, “See you in court” and “See you at the polls,” while others chanted “Hey, hey. Ho, ho. SB-4 has got to go.”
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: 48 of 50 ‘Child’ Migrants From Morocco Found to be Adults
Almost all so-called unaccompanied children from Morocco who are controlled by the Swedish police are lying about their age and identity, Svenska Dagbladet reports.
SvD has taken part in a PM that was sent in May from the border police to the Ministry of Justice. The document shows that out of a total of 77 people expelled and Morocco agreed to withdraw, 65 were used as a false identity when they applied for asylum in Sweden.
The discovery was made when fingerprints were checked against the authorities in the Arab country concerned.
It was also found that most of the alleged children were in fact adult men.
“Of the 50 who stated at the time of the asylum application that they were minors, they were actually only two minors,” says Patrik Engström, MP, in the PM, according to SvD.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Once again showing their tolerance and willingness to accept people of all races, creeds and cultures, a mob of protesters nearly went to blows with Bret Weinstein, a professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
As the video shows, the mob of about 50 students gathered outside Weinstein’ s classroom following demands that all white people leave campus so that the group could celebrate an “anti-racism” Day of Absence. In prior years, non-white students would leave campus for a day in protest, but this year they have called for any Caucasian students and faculty to respect their diversity by segregating themselves voluntarily.
As Tucker Carlson notes in the video segment below, “it’s so over the top it’s hard for me to believe it’s real.”
In his own words, Professor Bret Weinstein, who himself is admittedly so progressive that not even Hillary Clinton was left enough to get his vote, explains how it went down:
— Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
France: Paris ‘Blacks Only’ Feminist Fair U-Turns, Will Allow Whites
Organizers of the black feminist Nyansapo Festival appear to have U-turned after first indicating that only a few events would be “open to all” races. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo had called for the fair to be banned.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
School Sued for Coed Showers Suddenly Concerned About ‘Privacy’
Officials in the Boyertown Area School District in Pennsylvania, who have been sued for instituting what amounts to coed showers in their locker rooms, suddenly now are concerned about “student privacy.”
WND reported several students, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Independence Law Center, brought a case against Supt. Richard Faidley and others for allowing both boys and girls to change and shower in the same room under the guise of accommodating “gender orientation.”
The claim was triggered when a high school student identified only as Joel Doe “was exposed involuntarily to an undressed female student while he was changing in his school’s locker room.”
Several other students were added to the case.
The lawsuit charges that without any notice to students or their parents, school officials “secretly opened” their sex-specific restrooms and locker rooms to students of the opposite sex.
— Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Study Finds Ethnic Diversity Bad for Social Cohesion
New research from Gothenburg University on solidarity in Sweden backs up evidence from previous studies that ethnic diversity is bad for social cohesion.
Surveying 9,800 randomly selected people, the university’s SOM Institute looked at the degree to which people in Sweden are able to feel a connection with people who differ from themselves.
Researchers found that, outside of their own group, respondents are most inclined to feel an affinity with people whose education vastly differs from their own.
“Most also feel a relatively large affinity with those who have very different political views, a different sexual orientation or whose financial situation differs from their own,” science and technology magazine Forskning reports.
Respondents said they feel the least affinity with people with different ethnic backgrounds, who practice a different religion, or who were brought up in other cultures.
— Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Feminists More Upset With 200-Year-Old Statues Than Migrant Rapists
Swedish feminists are more upset with 200 year old statues than they are an actual rape culture their govt. has imported.
Let that sink in.
— Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Tony Abbot should be the current prime minister of Australia. He was democratically elected and then ousted by a media campaign led by the publicly funded abc.
I see One Nation is calling for the de-funding of the Australia’s Biggest Communists (their ABC) to the tune of 600 million bill bucks – that would put a huge dent in their ABCs agenda. If the government refuses to do so, then One Nation will block some aspects of the ‘Budget’, but as to what those aspects are I have no clue at this time.
I have a nice little solution to the problem of ‘asylum’ seekers in Germany confessing to murder in their home countries to avoid deportation. Pass a law such that such people go to prison for life in Germany for such confessed murder.
That cost a lot of money. Let’s punish them based on their country of origin for the “murder”.
As it is the very reason the EU won’t deport them is its anti-capital punishment stance.
In other news, asylum seekers in Germany have devised a sneaky ploy to escape deportation: they confess to murder. . .
EU has no morals, no values, no honor, or rule of law: They have only one respect for law: The laws that promotes muslims and help them be our masters.
EU and every “democracy” in the west will turn any wish, attitude, whim of muslims into something valuable to be respected and used as an excuse to help muslims avoid deporation. EU puts words in their mouths: “If you say I am gay, lesbian, Shiite persecuted by Sunnis, or Sunnis persecuted bu Shiite, or if you have a cat and cannot bear leaving her in Little Britain. . . ”
Just anything will. The west is hellbent on destroying itself by a strange version of “kindness” that has been spawned by the devil and planted in Traitors’ hearts. A compassion that’s exclusively confined to mushies.
Have you heard about the bee tattoos in Manchester after the recent holocaust?
Manchester remains defiant, courageous, and united.
United? Unity between who and who, I wonder.
Britain. . . what a wonderful country where the sun has disappeared. Instead mushies have replaced it. The empire little strange empire that the mushie sun never sets.
Crazed, unstable feminists are avidly destroying Western civilization. If they’re not murdering their unborn babies by the tens of millions, they’re demanding preferences in jobs or in educational opportunity, relying on government support for babies they use out of wedlock, and also require a bigger and bigger government as they destroy the family unit. Meanwhile, men flee from these matriarchal narcissists in ever-increasing numbers, even within the workforce as they target males because they can.
They’ve made themselves into an out of control mess! Bartender, give me another shot of that booze.
Hear, Hear! Billy-Bob, just what I was thinking after I read that stupid bit of info. Put them in jail for life — it is more expensive but at least it gets them off the streets and stops them from persecuting women and girls, which seems to be all they know how to do.
No, too expensive, why should westerners pay for them for life?
CrossWare is dead right!
Yes, regarding the expense, the deterrence effect is everything here: they simply WON’T do this confessing if they go to prison for life for it. Maybe one or two would in the beginning, until Germany shows that it is serious, then the word would get around and there would be no more of it.
Christian,
I would like to point out that my husband put me through college (after I had my children) and then I went to work as a computer programmer and brought home a reasonably nice sum of money. These things work out when there is cooperation between the spouses to advance the family interests.
Thank you.
Maria Christian isn’t referring to you when he talks about feminists.Originally feminists generally only wanted equality ,they wanted to vote and be allowed to work in whatever career was open to men .Generally speaking they were not unrelenting man-haters.But today the majority are .
They speak openly of wanting to bathe in “delicious white male tears”.They complain that literature written by white males is too prevalent and agitate for white male authors to be excluded from the study list in English literature classes.They claim that men are responsible for every ill in the world and oppress women through a malevolent worldwide patriarchy.
The latest in Australia is feminists blaming Islamic terrorism not on Islam but on the toxicity of masculinity.One was recently awarded a p. h .d on the subject.
If feminist students fail an engineering subject ,instead of accepting that those subjects are hard and 40% of male first year engineering students fail, they blame it on sexism.The male students blame their failure on not studying hard enough and crack down on themselves and study harder.The women whine that some misogynistic failed them through blatant sexism and try to bring legal action against the male lecturers in the Engineering department.
It’s so bad among the younger generation that I have a dear friend (Anne)who has a dearly loved younger brother in his forties(Charles) who she sees constantly belittled and resented by his man-hating feminist wife, for the crime of being a male. Charles is a gentle mild mannered chap.He certainly does not deserve to be persecuted simply because he happens to be a male.This distresses Anne greatly and I hear about it regularly and at great length.
For Anne while university educated (Bachelor of Science majoring in Chemistry and Zoology )with a job in publishing high school Chemistry and Biology textbooks is no modern day feminist.She loves her male relatives .She loves her husband and is generally disposed to think that individuals of both sexes are equally good and males are not all malevolent oppressors out to get her.
And this is what Christian is referring to .Not to normal well-adjusted women who are capable of appreciating a good boyfriend or a good husband on his merits as a human being ,but to the screeching man hating modern day feminists who damn the entire male sex with an alarming animus and a breathtaking prejudice..
Shelagh-
The even larger problem underlying the issues you cite is that European and North American nation states have taken it upon themselves to use their power to enable women and minorities lives that are largely consequence free.
The average (not famous, not rich, not connected) working Caucasian male gets to pay the majority of the tax burden that enables those consequence-free lives. He also gets to take responsibility for, and suffer all the fallout from his actions, no matter how inconsequential.
I would start about engineering school, but it is late and I am tired.