Gates of Vienna News Feed 7/28/2017

Early this morning North Korea launched another intercontinental ballistic missile that left the atmosphere briefly and then returned, landing in the Sea of Japan. The United States is consulting with its allies to craft a stern response, which may go so far as to submit a proposal to the United Nations for new sanctions.

In other news, the Italian government is considering sending naval vessels to patrol Libya’s territorial waters and turn back the migrant boats.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to AF, C. Cantoni, Charles Low, Dean, DV, FouseSquawk, Insubria, JB, LP, Reader from Chicago, Vlad Tepes, 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.

Financial Crisis
» Spain’s Economy Has Nearly Recovered to Pre-Crisis Levels.
» Sweden’s Economic Growth is ‘Crazy Strong’: Analysts
 
USA
» Bolton on Trump-Russia Collusion Narrative: ‘For God’s Sake, Let’s Have Some Facts Here’
» North Korea Fires Another Missile, Its Latest Step Toward Putting the U.S. Within Reach
» Silicon Valley Censorship
» Texas Grows 3.9 Percent in First Quarter. California? 0.1 Percent
» Trump Ousts Chief of Staff Priebus, Installs Ret. Gen. Kelly
 
Europe and the EU
» Danish Teen Struck and Killed by Train in Front of His Friends
» France Bans MPs From Hiring Family Members
» French Minister Embarrassed by 1.1 Million Euro Stock Options Sale
» Germany: Hamburg Stabbing: Knife-Wielding Man Kills in Supermarket ‘Screaming Allahu Akbar’
» Hamburg Supermarket Knife Attack Leaves 1 Dead, German Police Say
» Helsinki Car Attack: One Dead as Man Drives Vehicle Into Crowd in Helsinki, Finland
» Italy: Audit Court Reprimands Rai on Waste, Inefficiency
» Month of Islam and Multiculturalism in Britain: June 2017
» Norway: Four Arrested Over Oslo Shooting Incidents
» Padoan Blasts French Fincantieri-STX ‘Reversal’
» Spain: Three-Year-Old Lucía Died After Falling Asleep on Tracks and Being Hit by a Train
» Spain: Commuter Train Slams Into Barcelona Platform Injuring 54 People
» Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Takes Catalonia’s Reform to Court
» Swedish PM Announces Government Reshuffle in Response to No-Confidence Motion
» Swiss National Day: 20 Key Dates in Switzerland’s History
» UK: Bethnal Green Acid Attack: Man Arrested After Two Men Injured
» UK: CCTV Issued Over Separate Attack on Birmingham Teenager
» UK: Teenage Rape Victim Raped Again by Driver She Flagged Down for Help
» Watch: 456 Balloons Take to the Skies in France for World Record Flight
 
Russia
» Russia Seizes 2 U.S. Properties and Orders Embassy to Cut Staff
 
Latin America
» U.S. Orders Venezuela Embassy Families Out, Crisis Deepens
» U.S. Pulls Families From Caracas; Airlines End Flights Before Sunday’s Crucial Vote
 
Immigration
» Austria: Growing Trend of Older Women Becoming ‘Sugar Mamas’ For Young Migrants
» Austria: Journalist Bites Police Officer’s Leg While Trying to Prevent Migrant Deportation
» Denmark-Born Muslims More Angry, Score Higher on Violence Predictors Than Immigrants
» France Announces Plan to Vet Asylum-Seekers in Libya
» Italy: Gentiloni Govt Approves Libya Support Mission
» Italy Mulls Sending Navy Into Libyan Waters to Stop Migrants
» Italy OKs Naval Support to Help Libya Fight Trafficking
» Philly Archbishop: Europe’s Future Has the Face of ‘Young Muslim Migrants’
» Traffickers Promise African Girls Jobs in Europe, The Force Them Into Prostitution
 
Culture Wars
» Proposal Would Rename Evergreen State to ‘Social Justice Warrior PC Indoctrination Compound’
» Ten Reasons Why Stockholm Pride is Simply Awesome
 

Spain’s Economy Has Nearly Recovered to Pre-Crisis Levels.

Spain’s economic activity is on the verge of recovering pre-crisis levels, official figures showed Friday, thanks to strong domestic consumption, an improvement in manufacturing and a tourism boom.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

Sweden’s Economic Growth is ‘Crazy Strong’: Analysts

A surge in the pace of growth in the second quarter of 2017 means Sweden’s GDP expanded by a whopping 4 per cent from a year erlier, leaving Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson rejoicing over growth some analysts called “crazy strong.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

Bolton on Trump-Russia Collusion Narrative: ‘For God’s Sake, Let’s Have Some Facts Here’

“To the United States in particular, it’s a mortal threat if our institutions are called into question, if our people lose faith in them. You can see the kind of backbiting that’s going on, back and forth. People have said, why would the Russians undertake cyberwar efforts that really tried to damage both sides? The answer is because anything that undercuts people’s faith in our basic institutions is a plus from their perspective,” Bolton said.

“I view this as an existential threat to the idea of America,” he stressed. “If our Constitution is impaired, we’re in trouble.” …

“But I tell you, the situation is even worse in Pakistan,” Bolton continued. “If the radicals take over in Afghanistan, the risk of them taking over in Pakistan is even greater.”

“The highest court in Pakistan has just removed Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister, from office,” he noted. “Pakistan’s government has not been stable since partition. The risk of radicals inside the Pakistani military, radicals like the Pakistani equivalent of the Taliban taking over, I think has now increased.”

“I think this instability in Pakistan is potentially very troubling. Let’s not forget — if the radicals get in charge there, they’ve got a substantial arsenal of nuclear weapons. It would be Iran on steroids immediately. So these developments in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, just in the past days, I think should be a source of real concern for the United States,” said Bolton.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

North Korea Fires Another Missile, Its Latest Step Toward Putting the U.S. Within Reach

North Korea has taken another bold step toward achieving its stated goal of being able to send a nuclear weapon to the U.S. mainland, firing an intercontinental ballistic missile late Friday that highlights the regime’s rapid technological progress.

The missile flew almost straight up for 45 minutes and reached a height of about 2,300 miles before crashing into the sea off Japan. But if it had been launched on a normal trajectory, the missile could theoretically have reached Chicago and perhaps even New York, experts said.

This latest provocation compounds the problem facing the Trump administration and North Korea’s neighbors: how to stop the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un from making progress with its nuclear weapons program.

“Kim Jong Un does seem hell-bent on acquiring the capability to reach the United States with nuclear weapons,” said Sharon Squassoni, director of the Proliferation Prevention Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)…

           — Hat tip: DV [Return to headlines]
 

Silicon Valley Censorship

If Google’s plans are not quite Orwellian enough for you, the practical results are rather more frightening. Released in February, Perspective’s partners include the New York Times, the Guardian, Wikipedia and the Economist. Google, whose motto is “Do the Right Thing,” is aiming its bowdlerism at public comment sections on newspaper websites, but the potential is far broader.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Texas Grows 3.9 Percent in First Quarter. California? 0.1 Percent

Melissa, a resident of San Diego with degrees in psychology and Spanish, could find work only at a fast-food restaurant, recounted an article in (of all places) the Los Angeles Times about how some conservatives fed up with California are looking to Texas for greener pastures — and not just economically. The final straw for Melissa was when her daughter came home from public school one day with a young adult novel as homework. The book celebrated the use of cigarettes and pills to cope with stress, and Melissa decided it was time to leave the Golden State.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Trump Ousts Chief of Staff Priebus, Installs Ret. Gen. Kelly

President Donald Trump on Friday removed his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, and tapped Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly for the job.

The stunning shakeup is the latest chapter in the West Wing drama that has unfolded publicly in recent days. White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci attacked Preibus in profane terms in an interview published Thursday, and pledged to crack down on leaks that he suspected had come from Priebus.

But what may have ultimately doomed Priebus is the failure of congressional Republicans to repeal Obamacare.

Preibus, former chairman of the Republican National Committee during last year’s presidential campaign, led the White House effort to get that done on Capitol Hill, and his fate was largely tied to the success of undoing Obamacare, a source close to the White House told NBC News.

“He failed,” the source said.

The Republican failure to undo the Affordable Care Act — one of Trump’s central campaign promises — was the “final straw” for Priebus, another person close to the administration told NBC.

He resigned privately on Thursday, a source close to Priebus told NBC News…

           — Hat tip: LP [Return to headlines]
 

Danish Teen Struck and Killed by Train in Front of His Friends

A 17-year-old Danish boy was killed in the early hours of Friday when he was struck by a train on the island of Funen, police said.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

France Bans MPs From Hiring Family Members

French politicians will no longer be able to hand out jobs to family members, after a parliamentary vote.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

French Minister Embarrassed by 1.1 Million Euro Stock Options Sale

PARIS (AFP) – France’s labour minister has come under fire after a leftwing newspaper reported that she made more than a million euros from selling stock options.

Communist daily L’Humanite on Thursday said Muriel Penicaud had banked 1.13 million euros ($1.32 million) in 2013 from the sale of shares in food giant Danone where she was head of human resources.

The transaction was not illegal, but comes at a sensitive time for egalitarian France’s new government. President Emmanuel Macron has announced deep public spending cuts and is showcasing his cabinet as a fresh start in a scandal-tainted political scene.

“If there is anything that leaves a stain on the public’s confidence in the government, this is it,” hard-left lawmaker Francois Ruffin said in the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, on Friday…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Hamburg Stabbing: Knife-Wielding Man Kills in Supermarket ‘Screaming Allahu Akbar’

A man wielding a large kitchen knife killed one and wounded four others after storming into a supermarket in the German city of Hamburg.

The attacker is reported to have screamed ‘Allahu Akbar’ before running into the Edeka shop where he stabbed one person and slashed at four others while trying to flee.

He was pursued by passers-by who wrestled him to the ground and called the police, who later arrested him.

One officer said there was ‘no valid information on the motive of the attacker’ who has yet to be identified.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Hamburg Supermarket Knife Attack Leaves 1 Dead, German Police Say

German police said a knife-wielding man shouted “Allahu Akbar” before he went on a stabbing spree outside a supermarket in Hamburg, killing one person and injuring four others. (AP)

A knife-wielding man reportedly screamed “Allahu Akbar” during a wild attack inside a Hamburg supermarket that killed at least one person and left four others bloodied and wounded on Friday.

German police arrested the suspected attacker in the Barmbek district after witnesses followed the man and alerted authorities. The suspect was overwhelmed by passers-by and slightly injured in the process, police said.

The assailant entered the supermarket and stabbed one person, who died at the scene, before fleeing the scene. While on the run, the suspect stabbed and injured four other people.

           — Hat tip: FouseSquawk [Return to headlines]
 

Helsinki Car Attack: One Dead as Man Drives Vehicle Into Crowd in Helsinki, Finland

The driver of the vehicle, a Finnish man in his 50s, has been arrested.

Police say the driver appeared to be intoxicated at the time of arrest, and has been taken for blood tests.

It is believed the vehicle drove into pedestrians at the corner of Annegatan and Lönnrotsgatan in the centre of Helsinki.

At least four people have been taken to hospital, with a number of others treated at the scene.

Normal traffic flow has now resumed in the area, following earlier closures at the intersection between Annegatan and Kalevagatan.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Audit Court Reprimands Rai on Waste, Inefficiency

Auditor calls for internationalization

(ANSA) — Rome, July 28 — Italy’s Audit Court on Friday reprimanded State broadcaster RAI for not doing enough to cut down waste in its report on its financial management for 2015. The State auditor said RAI has to apply “every organizational, procedural and management measure suitable to eliminating residual inefficiencies and waste”. The report also called on the network to pursue a process of “internationalization of its activities”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Month of Islam and Multiculturalism in Britain: June 2017

June 3. Khuram Shazad Butt, a 27-year-old Pakistani-born British citizen, Rachid Redouane, a 30-year-old who claimed to be Libyan and Moroccan and Youssef Zaghba, a 22-year-old Moroccan-Italian, murdered eight people and injured 50 others in a jihadist attack on and around the London Bridge. The three assailants were shot dead by police. It was the third jihadist attack in Britain in as many months.

June 3. Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor and one of the most prominent Muslim lawyers in Britain, warned that an “industry” of Islamist groups in the country is undermining the fight against terrorism by peddling “myths” about the Prevent strategy, the government’s key anti-radicalization policy. He singled out the Islamist-dominated Muslim Council of Britain, and said he was shocked that in the agenda for its annual meeting there was “nothing about radicalisation and nothing about the threat of people going to Syria.” Afzal, who prosecuted the Rochdale sex-grooming gang, also condemned “self-appointed” community leaders whose sole agenda was to present Muslims “as victims and not as those who are potentially becoming radicals.”

June 3. Khalid Al-Mathkour, chairman of Kuwait’s sharia council, and Essam Al-Fulaij, a Kuwaiti government figure known for his anti-Semitic diatribes, are listed as trustees of a UK-registered charity that is building a mosque in Sheffield, according to the Telegraph. They have helped channel almost £500,000 ($650,000) into the project from Kuwait. Another £400,000 ($525,000) has been donated to the charity, the Emaan Trust, by a Qatari organization. The stated aim of the new mosque, which will have a capacity for 500 worshippers, is to “promote and teach Islamic morals and values to new Muslim generations.”

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Norway: Four Arrested Over Oslo Shooting Incidents

A fourth person was arrested on Friday in connection with two separate shooting episodes in Oslo over the past week.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

Padoan Blasts French Fincantieri-STX ‘Reversal’

‘Unacceptable… we don’t understand’ says minister

(ANSA) — Paris, July 28 — Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan has described the French government’s decision to exercise pre-emption rights on the stock of the STX shipyard to prevent a takeover by Italy’s Fincantieri as “unacceptable”. In an interview with daily newspaper Les Echos, Padoan said the move suggested there was a “lack of trust in Italian partners”. “I take note with regret of the fact that agreements with the previous French government have been repudiated by the new one,” he continued. “Frankly, we don’t understand why”. French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire announced the move on Thursday after State-controlled Italian company rejected Paris’s call to divide STX’s capital 50-50. Fincantieri agreed earlier this year to buy 66.6% of STX France from South Korea’s STX Offshore and Shipbuilding in a deal approved by the former administration of François Hollande.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Spain: Three-Year-Old Lucía Died After Falling Asleep on Tracks and Being Hit by a Train

A post-mortem determined that three-year-old Lucía Vivar Hidalgo died from a head injury most likely received after she fell asleep on the tracks and was hit by the first commuter train of the morning.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

Spain: Commuter Train Slams Into Barcelona Platform Injuring 54 People

A commuter train slammed into the end of the platform during the morning rush hour at a busy station in Barcelona on Friday, leaving 54 people injured, emergency services said.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Takes Catalonia’s Reform to Court

Rajoy has lodged legal action against a reform by Catalonian lawmakers that would allow them to fast-track independence in one day. The prime minister also called a planned independence referendum “radical and divisive.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Swedish PM Announces Government Reshuffle in Response to No-Confidence Motion

Swedish PM Stefan Lövfen has announced that interior Minster Anders Ygeman and Infrastructure Minister Anna Johansson will leave their positions in response to a no-confidence motion against three of the government’s ministers by the opposition Alliance coalition.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

Swiss National Day: 20 Key Dates in Switzerland’s History

As Switzerland prepares to celebrate its national day on August 1st, we take a look back through the country’s long and fascinating history, starting with the date the Confederation was born.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Bethnal Green Acid Attack: Man Arrested After Two Men Injured

A 23-YEAR-OLD man has been charged following an acid attack which left two men with “life-changing” injuries.

The victims were rushed to hospital after a noxious substance was sprayed on them on Tuesday.

The men, aged 23 and 24, managed to flag down officers at around 7pm on Roman Road, Bethnal Green, where the incident took place.

Rahad Hussain, 23, has been charged with two counts of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm and one count of possession of an offensive weapon, namely acid.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: CCTV Issued Over Separate Attack on Birmingham Teenager

Images of two men thought to have vital information in connection with two separate sexual assaults on a teenage girl have been released.

The 14-year-old was raped at Witton station in Birmingham between 20:00 BST on Tuesday and 02:00 BST on Wednesday.

She was then raped a second time after flagging down a vehicle when she left the station.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Teenage Rape Victim Raped Again by Driver She Flagged Down for Help

A 15-year-old girl who flagged down a car for help after she was raped in Birmingham was raped again by the driver who pulled over.

A double manhunt is now under way to find the attackers, both described as Asian men in their early 20s.

Police said the first attack happened this week in an isolated part of Birmingham’s Witton railway station, between 7pm on Tuesday and 2am on Wednesday.

The girl had walked to the station with her friend before being led away by a man who then raped her.

She left the station shortly after the attack and flagged down a passing vehicle to ask for help.

She was then raped again after getting into the second man’s car.

Detectives from British Transport Police and West Midlands Police have launched a major investigation to try to identify both attackers and appeal for witnesses…

           — Hat tip: JB [Return to headlines]
 

Watch: 456 Balloons Take to the Skies in France for World Record Flight

An astounding 456 hot air balloons took to the skies in eastern France on Friday, flying straight onto the pages of the record books.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Seizes 2 U.S. Properties and Orders Embassy to Cut Staff

MOSCOW — Russia took its first steps on Friday to retaliate against proposed American sanctions for Moscow’s suspected meddling in the 2016 election, seizing two American diplomatic properties and ordering the United States Embassy to reduce staff by September.

The moves, which Russia had been threatening for weeks, came a day after the United States Senate approved a measure to expand economic sanctions against Russia, as well as against Iran and North Korea. The bill, mirroring one passed by the House on Tuesday, now goes to President Trump for his signature.

In its statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the United States Congress had voted to toughen sanctions. “This yet again attests to the extreme aggressiveness of the United States when it comes to international affairs,” the statement said.

           — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Orders Venezuela Embassy Families Out, Crisis Deepens

CARACAS (Reuters) — The U.S. government ordered family members of employees at its embassy in Venezuela to leave on Thursday as a political crisis deepened ahead of a controversial vote critics contend will end democracy in the oil-rich country.

Violence continued to rage on the street, with another seven people killed during the latest opposition-led strike against President Nicolas Maduro’s planned election for a powerful new Constituent Assembly on Sunday.

Adding to Venezuela’s growing international isolation, Colombian airline Avianca suddenly stopped operations in the country on Thursday due to “operational and security limitations”.

           — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes [Return to headlines]
 

U.S. Pulls Families From Caracas; Airlines End Flights Before Sunday’s Crucial Vote

In its foreign travel advisory issued Thursday, the U.S. State Department warned American visitors against traveling to Venezuela and ordered family members of U.S. government employees at its embassy in Caracas to leave the country. It also offered assistance for those employees wanting to leave before the country’s crucial and controversial election on Sunday. The order and warnings were due to “social unrest, violent crime and pervasive food and medicine shortages” in the country.

Sunday’s vote could be crucial for the direction of the country run by Marxist Nicolas Maduro. Already rumors of vote fraud are suggesting that Maduro’s attempt to create a new 545-seat “Constituent Assembly” will succeed, with new powers not only to override the country’s existing legislature but also to write a new constitution that would be able to grant dictatorial powers to Maduro.

When Maduro’s opposition won a majority in the national assembly in 2015, it appeared that he would be impeached. But before the new legislators could be sworn in, Maduro stacked the Supreme Court with his cronies that blocked any such attempts. If Sunday’s vote goes his way, the new assembly would have power over all other branches of the government, allowing Maduro unlimited power over the failing country.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Austria: Growing Trend of Older Women Becoming ‘Sugar Mamas’ For Young Migrants

There is a growing trend in Austria of middle aged or older women enticing young male asylum seekers with favours and money for sexual gratification and making the young migrant men dependent on them.

During the course of the migrant crisis, a vast majority of the migrants who came to Austria were young men, many of them travelling alone some of them targetted by Islamists, drug gangs and now in Austria, older sex-starved women.

A new report claims that the trend is steadily growing and now many young male migrants depend on these so-called “sugar mamas” for their financial benefits in exchange for sex OE24 reports.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Austria: Journalist Bites Police Officer’s Leg While Trying to Prevent Migrant Deportation

A journalist from Austrian newspaper Wiener Zeitung has been suspended after she attempted to prevent the deportation of a Chechen family and attacked a police officer by biting them in the leg.

The journalist, 51-year-old Ines Scholz has been suspended from her job after claims that she attacked a police officer during an attempt at deporting a family of Chechen migrants to Poland. She is said to be the spouse of the grandfather of the children who also lived in the apartment Austrian newspaper Heute reports.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Denmark-Born Muslims More Angry, Score Higher on Violence Predictors Than Immigrants

A new study has found Muslims born in Denmark feel more fury at Western foreign intervention, and are more inclined to help Muslims by violent means, than foreign-born people who migrated from conflict zones.

An international team of researchers, led by Milan Obaidi of Sweden’s Uppsala University, conducted two surveys in order to identify signs of victimisation-by-proxy — whereby, in its most extreme form, Muslims born in Europe who have never lived outside the continent become so angry at the treatment of Muslims abroad that they consider carrying out acts of violence.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

France Announces Plan to Vet Asylum-Seekers in Libya

ORLÉANS (FRANCE) (AFP) — France will set up processing centres in Libya for asylum seekers trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean, President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday.

“The idea is to create hotspots to avoid people taking crazy risks when they are not all eligible for asylum. We’ll go to them,” Macron said during a visit to a refugee shelter in central France, adding the plan would be put in place “this summer”, with or without other EU countries.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Gentiloni Govt Approves Libya Support Mission

‘Step forward’ in stabilization, no big fleets says premier

(ANSA) — Rome, July 28 — Premier Paolo Gentiloni’s government on Friday approved a resolution for an Italian mission of support to the Libyan coast guard. Gentiloni said the Italian mission should be considered “a step forward in Italy’s contribution to the Libyan authorities’ capacity to take the initiative against traffickers and reinforce their capacity to control their borders and national territory”. He added after the cabinet meeting that: “it is a piece of the path of stabilization of Libya and Italy feels it a duty to participate”.

The cabinet “approved what the (Libyan) government requested, no more, no less,” he said.

Gentiloni announced Wednesday that Italy was considering a request from Libya for the help in combatting human traffickers after meeting Libyan Premier Fayez al-Sarraj in Rome. Most of the over 93,000 migrants to have landed in Italy so far this year started their journey across the Mediterranean from Libya, which has been affected by chaos since a Paris-led campaign contributed to the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Gentiloni stressed Friday that the use of Italian vessels to support Libya would not entail “an enormous deployment of big feels and air squadrons”.

“It can give a significant initiative to support Libya sovereignty, it is not an initiative against Libyan sovereignty,” he said. Gentiloni said that he hopes support in parliament for the mission goes beyond the ruling coalition. “I hope that parliament can give approval with the broadest possible consensus,” he said.

There is speculation that some left-wingers within the ruling coalition may rebel over the mission.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Mulls Sending Navy Into Libyan Waters to Stop Migrants

Italy is considering a plan to send its navy into Libyan waters to stop migrants and send them back. Approval for the mission could go before parliament as early as next week.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Italy OKs Naval Support to Help Libya Fight Trafficking

MILAN (AP) — Italy on Friday approved sending Italian naval ships to help the Libyan coast guard combat migrant trafficking following a request by the North African nation.

The measure is part of efforts to stanch the flow of hundreds of thousands of migrants who are smuggled out of Libya across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe each year by traffickers using unseaworthy boats.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Philly Archbishop: Europe’s Future Has the Face of ‘Young Muslim Migrants’

“If you want to see the face of Europe in 100 years, barring a miracle, look to the faces of young Muslim immigrants,” Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput told a group of Catholics Thursday.

Speaking at an annual conference of the Napa Institute in California, Chaput tied the future of civilization to a willingness to have children—an area where Muslims lead every other group.

“Islam has a future because Islam believes in children,” Chaput said. “Without a transcendent faith that makes life worth living, there’s no reason to bear children. And where there are no children, there’s no imagination, no reason to sacrifice, and no future.”

“Christian” Europe, on the other hand, languishes under a loss of hope in the future, illustrated by a birthrate well below replacement levels, which is offset only by its uncontrolled mass immigration.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Traffickers Promise African Girls Jobs in Europe, The Force Them Into Prostitution

A new report chronicles the harrowing case of a Nigerian girl who was promised a job in a hair salon in Italy only to be told on arriving that she would have to work as a prostitute instead.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Proposal Would Rename Evergreen State to ‘Social Justice Warrior PC Indoctrination Compound’

If a recent ballot initiative proposed in the Washington state legislature passes, Evergreen State College will be renamed “Social Justice Warrior PC Indoctrination Compound.”

The measure would change the college’s name and official seal to display a brown-shirted, black-masked anarchist trampling on the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

The measure would also outline the college seal’s design. The measure would design the seal as a “circular seal bearing within the likeness of a young anarchist in a brown shirt, hobnailed jack boots, and a black face mask and hood with the figure’s right arm raised and extended straight and diagonally upward from the shoulder in a totalitarian salute. The figure must be wearing a black armband bearing the term “ANTIFA.”

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Ten Reasons Why Stockholm Pride is Simply Awesome

Stockholm Pride 2017 kicks off in just a few days, and with everything from lectures to performances and the all important parade, there’s plenty to love. Here’s why we think it’s pretty amazing.

           — Hat tip: Charles Low [Return to headlines]
 

17 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 7/28/2017

  1. Is there “hope’ YET ?
    ITALIAN ‘navy’ STOPPING illegal transport of Africans to the EU ”’

    what will a ‘frau-Merkel’ have 2 say about THAT ? …

  2. Australia

    raids relate to a terrorist cell and a bomb plot to bring down an aircraft.
    The raids were not planned but were a rapid response to information received by police, the newspaper reported.
    https://www.dailysabah.com/asia/2017/07/29/australia-arrests-4-over-reported-bomb-plot-on-airplane

    I guess everything is ok, so long as you drive around the long way to get home.

    raided properties in four …. Sydney suburbs of Surry Hills, Lakemba, Wiley Park and Punchbowl …..
    …a terrorist cell “and a bomb plot involving aircraft”….
    http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/national-security/police-conduct-terror-raids-across-sydney/news-story/43b9e1326594a9b2ed70d334c38f1bbd

    Comments here read between the lines of the arrested people.

    • Sorry to see that the last link goes to a pay wall.
      Yet if I google it “raids Sydney suburbs four arrests” and click on that, then it goes through.

      Many more comments there, figuring the non disclosure of the arrested’s religion, and most not too happy about it.

    • Airline bombings in Australia? Was that even close to being plausible say, 20 years ago?

      In the words of Vince Lombardi, “What the he[ck] is going on out there?”

      • The Great Imposition.

        Airport security has been ramped up and travellers should brace for delays and extensive screening measures following overnight terror raids in Sydney.
        ……….security has been increased across all major airports. ……
        …..Travellers should be prepared for additional scrutiny at screening points, ……….advised that security screening will take longer.
        …….
        ……Travellers have also been advised to arrive at terminals at least two hours before flights and to limit the amount of carry-on and checked baggage to help ensure security screening remains efficient……
        http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11896841

        Only about 2% muslim population, and more still arriving.

      • A Universal Prayer Room yeah right.

        Thursday, July 27, 2017
        ….The room has a varied selection of holy books, both in English and bi-lingual to ensure people of all faiths feel welcome,….
        “While to start with, the room will be used by men and women both, in time, we are looking for separate rooms for the genders. https://www.indianweekender.co.nz/Pages/ArticleDetails/7/8266/New-Zealand/Christchurch-Airport-opens-multi-faith-prayer-room

        It does seem a wonder to eventually have separate rooms for gender, and will that be applied to other faiths?

        Great for that urgent prayer before flying off to ??,,,,,??
        Paradise?.

        I hope they have the “wadu” requirements sorted soon. Feet in hand basins are not a good look, 😉
        🙂

        • It’s on record that in most ‘multi-faith’ prayer rooms Muslims remove and destroy any non-Muslim prayer books and items. In many cases Muslims stand guard outside the doors to ‘discourage’ filthy fakirs (non-Muslims) from entering. It almost never ends up ‘multi-faith’ after a couple months. It’s a metaphor for what happens in society at large over a period of years.

  3. Everybody is talking about “replacement rate”…It is a fake subject. On long term, is non-important. When all good people start accepting this as dangerous, then they are not able to react logic against importing “fertilizer” from Africa and Middle East.
    It is like you have pain in you leg, and somebody is telling you that is you cut the leg, the pain is going to vanish after a while.
    It is a totally false problem the “replacement rate”. Population will regulate in time…naturally or using the technology.

    • You are so right, and I have felt the same way.
      For whatever reason, we have lowered the number of children per family.
      It can change so easily, if a family decides to have a baby every 2nd year.
      Again that can be for whatever reason.

      Not only government incentive, but it could be grand parents, business’s, relatives, etc. giving bonus or inheritance on condition of “production”.
      Our own can easily change for purposes of ‘adoption’ for another family. (possibly other relatives)

      The point is that it can change very rapidly.
      Just like a farmer not putting out the rams with the ewes for a year or two, then when conditions are right, out go the rams, for tupping, so next season has the lambs frolicking around, and all usually matched to stocking rate per acre and to grass growth, usually of spring surplus and into summer autumn.

      The real issue is governments and bureaucracy, needing an ever expanding empire.
      The claim that social welfare needs more workers, (tax payers) so why are we invested in a ponzi scheme (pyramid scheme).
      Simply is no responsibility or accountability in government, but then many voters want all the riches, and have no idea that government money comes from taxpayers.

      • ‘ – – -it could be grand parents, business’s, relatives, etc. giving bonus or inheritance on condition of “production”. Except that, here in the UK private individuals have to be super-rich not to have their estate stolen away both immediately before and after their demise, so that increasingly – because of course the government needs more money for public ‘servants,’ foreign dane-geld and the lifetime support of illegal immigrants – it is hard to imagine that wealth will in future even ‘trickle down’ from the older to the younger generation.

        A Socialist redistributive policy is the convenient fig-leaf for even the Tories (the only right of centre Party), as it permits larceny on an unbridled scale, under the guise of an hypocritical humanitarianism, and is committed deliberately upon vulnerable people at the most traumatic time of their lives, when their elderly parents are needing expensive but often poor Care, and bereavement will all-too-soon bring the burden of grief – and yet further demands for money with menaces by the State, and other punitive financial exactions, made at the behest of cruel bureaucracy.

        Under such a regime, the chances of a wiser generation being allowed to influence or ameliorate our headlong descent into Venezualian horror are vanishingly slim.

        They own you now, these foul usurping Powers of Evil, even after Death.

    • Keep on dreaming Col.
      If Italy wanted to stop the migration it could have done so a long time ago.
      Simply by closing its ports to those smuggling NGO ships.
      Blacklist them and deny them entry. A simple administrative measure.

      Now they are sending in the Navy. To do what?
      The Italian Navy has no authorization to operate in Lybian waters, all they can do is pick up migrants in international waters and bring them to Italy, and that’s exactly what they will be doing.

      Italy is under orders of Empress Merkel and has to toe the line or else it will be cut off and go bankrupt within a week.

  4. Points #2 and #7 in the Stockholm pride parade article are why these events should be viewed as mass recruiting efforts.

    And the only flag that should ever dominate central Stockholm is the Swedish one.

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