Voters went to the polls today in the Spanish region of Catalonia to cast their ballots in a referendum for independence. Spanish police cracked down violently at polling places and confiscated an unknown number of ballots. Of the remaining ballots, some 89% favored independence from Spain. Despite a judicial ruling that the referendum was illegal, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont says that the new country will declare independence shortly.
In other news, in a surprise move the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the deadly terrorist attack in Marseille. Gosh, I didn’t see that one coming.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to AF, C. Cantoni, Charles Low, Dean, DV, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, Reader from Chicago, SS, Steen, 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.
Why Trade With China is Not Free
The Chinese exchange rate is artificially lowered because the central bank is printing money to buy the dollars from state merchants, driving up the price of the dollar. This makes American products less competitive in two ways.
First, it lowers the Chinese exchange rate, making foreign products more expensive. Second, it artificially stimulates economic activity and investment in China through lower interest rates, creating excess capacity and making Chinese products even cheaper than they normally would be just because of cheaper wages alone.
On the American side, instead of investment into private capital, trillions of dollars of the Chinese surplus go into funding the U.S. government’s debt. By all accounts and measures, the investment in U.S. Treasury bonds has failed to increase the productivity of the American economy enough to compete with Chinese products, leading to chronic and hidden unemployment, as the headline unemployment number doesn’t reflect the millions of people who have left the labor force.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
California: Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary Sells Berkeley Campus to Muslim College
BERKELEY — The hilltop campus of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary has been sold to Zaytuna College, a Muslim undergraduate institution.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
Milo Yiannopoulos Marries Mystery Man in Hawaii
On Saturday, Milo Yiannopoulos married a mystery man at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on the big island of Hawaii.
While details on the ceremony and on the lucky man, with whom Yiannopoulos tied the knot, are scarce, Yiannopoulos’ Instagram page is populated with few wedding photos.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Oklahoma Jury Finds Muslim Convert Who Beheaded Woman Guilty
Rejecting the defense of not guilty by reason of insanity, a jury in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, found Alton Alexander Nolan guilty Friday of first-degree murder in the beheading of a co-worker at a food plant in Moore, Oklahoma, in 2014. Nolan was also found guilty of five more counts of assault.
The jury took only two hours to find Nolan guilty. This week, the trial will resume, as the jury will determine Nolan’s punishment. Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn is seeking the death penalty.
Nolan confessed soon after was arrested for the September 25, 2014 murder of Collen Hufford, a 54-year-old co-worker, in which he beheaded her with a knife. He explained that he was acting in the name of Allah, following the Quran. “I felt oppressed,” Nolan told law enforcement officers, arguing that he was only doing “what I was supposed to do as a Muslim.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“Act of Terrorism”: ISIS Attacker Stabs Cop, Rams Into Pedestrian Crowd in Edmonton
In an incident that’s being investigated as a possible “act of terrorism”, an unnamed suspect stabbed an Edmonton police constable late Saturday night before trying to ram a truck into a crowd of pedestrians while being chased by police through downtown Edmonton Saturday night, according to the Globe and Mail.
Ultimately, four pedestrians and the officer were injured when the U-Haul truck being driven by the suspect struck them before speeding away down Jasper Avenue, Edmonton police chief Rod Knetch told reporters. The officer is not in critical condition. Knetch could not provide more details about the condition of the pedestrians. The suspect is in custody and appears to have acted alone, the police chief said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The first attack where a police officer was run over and stabbed by an attacker occurred near the Commonwealth football stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
A man was arrested on Sunday in connection with two “terror” attacks in Canada which saw a several pedestrians hit with a vehicle, and a police officer stabbed in Edmonton, officials said.
At around 8:15 p.m. local time on Saturday, an Edmonton police officer was working traffic control duties at a Canadian Football League game between the Edmonton Eskimos and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The officer was patrolling a road southwest of the Commonwealth football stadium. At that time, a male driving a white Chevrolet Malibu crashed through the traffic barricades that were separating vehicles from pedestrians at high speed.
The officer was hit and went flying 15 feet through the air, the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) said in a statement.
A male, believed to be 30 years of age, got out of his vehicle and began stabbing the officer with a knife. The attacker then fled, and the officer was taken to hospital.
Later on Saturday just before midnight, a U Haul truck was pulled over on Wayne Gretzky Drive and 112 Avenue in Edmonton. An officer asked to see the driver’s license and recognized the name as being similar to the registered owner of the Chevy Malibu involved in the earlier incident.
The truck driver then immediately fled the scene, but police officers pursued it as the driver deliberately attempted to hit pedestrians. The EPS said four civilians were hit by the truck and taken to hospital with multiple injuries.
The U Haul truck eventually flipped over, and the driver was taken into police custody.
Police believe the two incidents are related and said they are being investigated as “acts of terrorism.”
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Edmonton Terror Attack Suspect Was Known to Police, Public Safety Minister Says
Suspect identified as Abdulahi Hasan Sharif
The man arrested in a suspected terrorist attack in Edmonton that saw a police officer stabbed and several pedestrians run down with a cube van on Saturday night was known to law enforcement, says Canada’s public safety minister.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said in a news conference on Sunday in Regina that the suspect, who is in police custody, was on a “police watch list.”
Goodale said the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team was working closely with Edmonton police on the investigation.
“The individual had apparently some appearance on a police watch list, but that is a detail of the investigation that the authorities will pursue in the appropriate way,” Goodale said. “There are no conclusions that can be drawn at the current time.”
Abdulahi Hasan Sharif is the man accused in the attacks, multiple sources tell CBC News.
| [Return to headlines] |
“Yes” Side Wins Catalonia Independence Vote Marred by Chaos
BARCELONA, Spain — Catalonia’s regional government declared a landslide win for the “yes” side in a disputed referendum on independence from Spain that degenerated into mayhem Sunday, with more than 800 people injured as riot police attacked peaceful protesters and unarmed civilians trying to cast their ballots.
Catalonia has “won the right to become an independent state,” Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said after the polls closed, adding that he would keep his pledge to declare independence unilaterally if the “yes” side wins.
“Today the Spanish state wrote another shameful page in its history with Catalonia,” Puigdemont added, saying he would appeal to the European Union to look into alleged human rights violations during the vote.
Catalan regional government spokesman Jordi Turull told reporters early Monday that 90 percent of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted chose the “yes” side in favor of independence. He said nearly 8 percent of voters rejected independence and the rest of the ballots were blank or void. He said 15,000 votes were still being counted.
The region has 5.3 million registered voters, and Turull said the number of ballots didn’t include those confiscated by Spanish police during violent raids that aimed to stop the vote.
No one knows what will happen if Catalan officials follow through on their pledge to use the vote as a basis for declaring independence, a provocation that would possible remove from Spain one of its most prosperous regions, including the coastal city of Barcelona, the regional capital…
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Austrian Elections 2017: EU Fears as Nationalist Party Set to Storm to Power
Sebastian Kurz, also known as “Wunderwuzzi” has successfully rebranded the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and looks set to propel them into Government in the coming elections.
The vote could spell trouble for the EU as 31-year-old Mr Kurz has not ruled out a partnership with the nationalist Freedom Party (FPÖ).
The hard right group almost seized power in the presidential elections last year sending waves of fear across the bloc.
Now, the parties could join making a right wing partnership which would challenge the bloc’s ideologies.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: ISIS Claim Responsibility for Marseille Terror Attack
- Attacker stabbed two female passengers at the Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles
- Reports claim he was heard shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ before stabbing passengers
- Both of assailant’s victims were women, one of whom was left ‘with a sliced neck’
- Anti-terror police patrolling inside the station responded and shot attacker dead
- British nationals urged to take care after attack at the city’s main railway station
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Police Work on Attacker’s Identity
The man who stabbed two women to death Sunday in the French city of Marseille was known to authorities and is believed to be of Algerian origin, newspaper Le Parisien reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: A Country That Works Against Parenting
Families are going through some deep changes that are worth questioning. For example, did you know that in Italy couples with children are now a minority and account for only 33% of all families? Or that in these families there are very few mothers under 34 years of age? Did you know that almost 60% of Italian households have just 1 or 2 members? Families are becoming smaller and smaller, they are turning into micro-families. Compared to 10 years ago, the transformation is striking.
Here is the picture: singles grew by 5.5 percentage points, reaching 8 million; couples with children decreased by 6 points, single parent households are growing while more young people decide to stay in their families of origin. Families are more and more diverse. There are fewer married couples, but more unmarried couples — 1 million 200 thousand — they have doubled in 10 years. Italy has more single mothers but also more single fathers, 500 thousand, there are fewer couples with children and fewer children per couple, with a greater presence of single-children. While the number of civil unions is growing for same-sex couples…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: OREF KOs Rome Council Balance Sheet
Raggi had hoped for approval by tomorrow
(ANSA) — Rome, September 29 — The Organism of Economic and Financial Review (OREF) on Friday rejected Rome city council’s consolidated balance sheet. OREF said the balance sheet did not faithfully represent the financial state of the city council. The administration, led by anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) Mayor Virgina Raggi, had been aiming to get the balance sheet, including losses for transport company ATAC and the balance sheet of troubled waste company AMA, approved by tomorrow.
Rome budget councillor Gianni Lemmetti said OREF’s verdict “is not binding so we are going to take the balance sheet into the council chamber”. The chairwoman of OREF is under investigation in Rieti for “serious crimes such as fraudulent bankruptcy,” the Rome M5S caucus leader Paolo Ferrara said. “The suspicion that OREF is profiting from its task to do politics is legitimate,” he said. “Above all because for months we have tried to build a relationship of correct institutional collaboration with the auditing organ”. OREF President Federica Tiezzi told ANSA Friday “the crimes I have been accused of are a matter of situation which will be shortly cleared up and in which I find myself involved without any foundation. I am certain that everything will be cleared up shortly”.
Other M5S members said that “if the members of OREF want to play politics then they should resign”.
Raggi has come under fire for allegedly not spending enough on transport and rubbish woes, but says her hands are tied because of debts incurred by previous administrations.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Boccia Slams New Anti-Mafia Code
‘Equates business activities with criminal ones’
(ANSA) — Milan, September 29 — The head of the powerful industrial employers’ federation Confindustria, Vincenzo Boccia, on Friday slammed the new anti-mafia code that puts corruption on a par with mafia crimes as regards the seizure of assets.
This, he said, “overturns Constitutional principles and, because of the high degree of discretion is allows, undermines the absolute good of the certainty of justice”. In Boccia’s view, the new revised code “equates the activities of businessmen with those of criminals”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Man Arrested for Abusing Wife, Forcing Her to Wear Burqa
In Reggio Calabria
(ANSA) — Reggio Calabria, September 29 — Police in Reggio Calabria on Friday arrested a 45-year-old Moroccan man on suspicion of raping and beating his wife and forcing her to wear the burqa.
The domestic violence and rape took place in front of the couple’s young daughter, police said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Protesters Clash With Police at Turin G7
Take over university, two students arrested
(ANSA) — Turin, September 29 — Anti-G7 protesters overturned waste bins and threw eggs at the offices of the Agnelli Foundation and trade union CISL during a march Friday against the G7 employment summit at Venaria outside Turin. The demonstrators also symbolically closed a Carrefour supermarket with duct tape as a protest against “the exploitation of workers by multinationals”.
Students also marched in one of the many other demos, shouting the slogan “we are giants, you are the seven dwarves”.
Police clashed with protesters near the hotel housing the G7 employment summit delegations Friday, and two student demonstrators were arrested after a baton charge.
Students protesting the employment G7 occupied the Palazzo Nuovo University, saying it would be their base for the remainder of the protests.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Want to Reform EU, Not Leave it: Di Maio Tells BBC
I’m not inexperienced, M5S premier candidate says
(ANSA) — Rome, September 29 — The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) wants to reform the EU, not to leave it, M5S premier candidate and leader Luigi Di Maio told the BBC Friday. Di Maio, 31, denied that he was inexperienced for the premier’s job, saying that young people can change Italy.
Di Maio also denied that the M5S was populist, saying its model was Northern Europe “where they spend on healthcare and the environment”.
The Lower House Deputy Speaker also denied the movement was split over his leadership, saying it was ready to accept advice from founder Beppe Grillo but now was going forward “under its own steam”.
The M5S is currently topping polls as Italy’s biggest party, ahead of the ruling centre-left Democratic Party.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Man Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ Kills Two at French Train Station
MARSEILLE — Two women were stabbed to death and their assailant shot dead by soldiers in the southern port city of Marseille on Sunday in what police sources described as a “likely terrorist act.”
Three police sources said the suspect had shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) as he carried out his attack at Marseille train station. No further details were immediately available.
Police cordoned off the area.
France has been in a state of emergency following a spate of attacks by Islamist militants over the last two years, including attacks in Paris in November 2015 which killed 130 people. Other countries, including Britain, Germany and Belgium, have also suffered attacks using knives, guns, explosives and vehicles.
A witness told Reuters she saw a man take out a knife from his sleeve and then stab a young girl and then a second woman, shouting what could have been “Allahu Akbar.”
She added that she saw soldiers from France’s Sentinelle force who were patrolling in the area arrive on the public square at the Gare Saint-Charles station.
“After the attack carried out next to Marseille Saint-Charles, I am immediately going to the site of the attack,” French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said on Twitter.
French media reported that one of the women had her throat slit, while the second woman was stabbed in the stomach. Reuters could not confirm that information.
“We have generally avoided these sort of attacks in Marseille,” regional president Renaud Muselier, who was speaking from the site of the attack, told BFM TV. “I think the security services responded extremely quickly. It’s difficult to do more because when you see the distance between the two bodies and the attacker it’s only 10 meters, so they intervened quickly.”Security forces have increasingly been targeted by militants who have carried out several knife attacks on them, most notably in June 2016, when a Frenchman who pledged allegiance to Islamic State stabbed a police commander to death outside his home and killed his partner.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
‘Respect for Democracy?’: Assange Calls on EU to Suspend Spain Over Catalan Referendum Crackdown
The WikiLeaks founder has urged the European Commission president to strip Madrid of the rights of an EU member state, as it proceeds with a violent clampdown to prevent the independence vote in Catalonia. Assange says this violates the union’s values.
“Dear @JunckerEU. Is this ‘respect for human dignity, freedom and democracy’?” Julian Assange mockingly inquires of Jean-Claude Juncker in a tweet, accompanied by a video footage of Spanish law enforcement agents forcibly dragging voters out of a polling station, knocking people off the steps at the entrance.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Stockholm Subway Gets New Display of ‘Menstrual Art’
Stockholm’s underground rail network has been described as the world’s largest art gallery, thanks to the artworks displayed at many of the subway stations. Now, the displays include new paintings of naked men and menstruating women.
The works by artist Liv Strömquist have gone on display at the Slussen station in the south of the Swedish capital.
Her black and white images depict birds, cats, and trees, as well as nude men, and women who are shown both with unshaven legs and ice skating while menstruating. The red patches are the only spots of colour in the paintings…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
The Quiet Islamic Conquest of Spain
by Giulio Meotti
[…]
Since then, the Arab monarchies have targeted Spain with huge investments. Some emblematic buildings in Madrid and Barcelona, not to mention the Costa del Sol, are now owned by Arab investment groups, from the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid to the W Hotel in Barcelona. In Marbella, just a few meters away from the King Fahd Mosque, there is the Alanda Hotel, which offers halal food and services to meet the demands of the Muslim clients. In 2011, the International Petroleum Investment Company, controlled by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, purchased Cepsa, the second-largest Spanish company in the oil sector.
Last January, Spain’s King Felipe VI visited Saudi Arabia and announced that Spain would boost economic, trade and investment relations with the Islamic kingdom. Before that, in 2012, Saudi Aramco awarded Spanish companies projects worth $700 million. Spain and Qatar are now discussing the formation a $1 billion joint investment fund that would help the Gulf state invest in Latin America. The Arab Emirates’ media called Spain “a hotspot for investment from the Arab world”. After Qatar, it was the Oman’s turn to invest in the Spanish market: Oman just agreed to invest up to $120 million in a uranium mine in Spain, to be used for Omani nuclear energy plants.
Demographically, Muslims are witnessing a shocking population increase in Spain. In 1990, Muslims in the country numbered 100,000. By 2010, the number had increased to 1.5 million. In 2017, the number was nearly two million. It is a growth of 1,900% in 27 years.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
The Results Are in: 89% of Catalans for For Independence
Update (6:30 pm ET): In further proof that Spain’s brutal crackdown on today’s Catalan independence referendum only helped bolster the seccessionist cause, the regional government announced that voters had overwhelmingly voted in favor of independence, with 89% voting to separate from Spain.
Shortly after midnight on Sunday, Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull announced that 2,262,424 ballot papers had been counted. There were 2,020,144 “yes” votes, or just under 90% of the total, and just 176,565 “no” votes.
The regional government has promised to officially declare independence within 48 hours.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Faisalabad: Christian Kidnapped by a Muslim Landowner: They Want His Home
Afzal Masih, father of three children, has been missing since 19 September. His home borders to that of Fazi Ullah, a Muslim businessman, who accuses him of theft. Masih family: “The purpose of the Muslim is to occupy our home, as he has already done with two other homes belonging to Christians.”
Faisalabad (AsiaNews) — Afzal Masih, a Christian worker and father of three children, was kidnapped by a Muslim who owns a brickworks. The man’s family, resident in Malkhanwala, Faisalabad, reports that Afzal has been missing since 19 September.
Relatives asked Ullah, the Muslim brickworks owner, several times to hand the laborer over. But he accuses the Christian with theft and for this reason he is detained behind bars. Afzal’s mother and sister dismiss the allegations and complain that behind the whole affair is Ullah’s attempt to get hold of their home.
Afzal works in a brick works that does not belong to Ullah. He has no ties to the Muslim, except the fact that their houses are adjacent. On September 19, Ullah sent to call the Christian and his mother Safia Bibi. Arriving at his home, the businessman accused Afzal of having stolen 250,000 Pakistani rupees [about 2,000 euros] from a relative’s home. So he detained the Christian and sent his mother home. From that point on, no one has seen him anymore.
On several occasions the mother demanded the return of her son, but whenever she went to the bricklayer she received only insults and threats. She also went to the police, but Afzal has not been traced. The Muslim is threatening Safia with the worst consequences if the family does not deliver her other children or her home.
Shazad Masih Afzal’s sister and her mother are opposed to the request to leave their home. The women complain to AsiaNews that “the only purpose of Ullah is to occupy our home, as he has already occupied two other Christian homes. We are very poor and we have no strength to oppose the judges, especially because he is very influential and has power. We work all day in a brickwork and we only have a small property. We do not want our home to be occupied. “
Afzal’s father is disabled, so the family spends everything it has for his care, and is often indebted. “Let us pray to God to help us and bring our son home soon,” conclude the parents.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US May Have to Shoot Down North Korean Nukes While in Russian Airspace
If North Korea launches nuclear warheads at the United States, the U.S. anti-missile system may need to shoot the nukes down over Russian territory, according to an expert on nuclear and missile proliferation in Northeast Asia.
“[I]ntercepting the shots aimed at mainland targets means flying out toward Russia,” wrote Joshua Pollack, senior research associate at The Nonproliferation Review. “Defending a West Coast target even means engaging the attacking RV [warhead’s reentry vehicle] above the Russian Far East. Yikes.”
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
A record number of Australians are fleeing to New Zealand in favour of taking up lives on rural properties while remaining central to metropolitan areas.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic extremists born overseas will be given an ultimatum under a new Australian government plan which aims to deradicalise extremists in the country.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
More than 2.5 percent, or 14 million hectares of Australian agricultural land are owned by Chinese interests.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Don’t Reward Bashir’s Genocide in Sudan
As 18th Century Irish Whig Politician and Parliamentarian Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
In the run up to the October 12, 2017 deadline for President Trump to decide as to whether to permanently lift Sudan sanctions or maintain them, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the Administration and what passes for the Washington policy wonk community have turned a blind eye to Genocide in Sudan. Genocide that we and others have assiduously reported.
Reports, like those of The Atlantic Council, Sudan a strategy for re-engagement, justify lifting of Sudan sanctions “re-engaging” with jihadist Bashir’s Sudan as a “strategic” asset in the Horn of Africa.
Such advice is myopic in the face of evidence of Bashir’s Sudan instigating the overthrow of stable governments and US counterterrorism allies like Chad, Libya and others with the aid of Qatar backing Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist Mujahideen insurgents.
We saw that in the listing of Chad in the latest iteration of Trump travel bans. This, despite objections by the Pentagon and even the State Department that the action “might jeopardize American interests” given Chad’s exemplary record on counterterrorism, unlike that of Bashir’s regime. A regime that engages in deceit, deception and lavish spending on lobbying in DC to hide its continuing genocide in Darfur, Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan and the Blue Nile State…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
The deadline has arrived for asylum seekers who came into Australia by boat between 2012 and 2014 to claim protection or be forced to leave the country and banned from re-entering.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
NEW YORK — The global AFP news agency published an article claiming that “rights groups” on Friday “slammed” a national survey being conducted by the Hungarian government about billionaire George Soros and what Budapest describes as Soros’s plan for hundreds of thousands of foreign migrants per year to flood Europe.
AFP failed to inform readers that the only two “rights groups” cited in its article attacking the Soros questionnaire are themselves massively financed by Soros’s Open Society Foundations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Foggia Rebels Against the Ghetto. “Hostages of the Nigerian Mafia”
The migrant center has been swallowed up by illicit shanty towns. Citizens: “Abandoned by the State, only blacks work here”
An armed Italian police truck is stationed at the back entrance of Cara, one of the three largest centers for asylum seekers in Italy. This exact point Borgo Mezzanone is also where the a vast migrants’ bidonville begins. They call it “the strip”. Every day a new shack appears, and there are now more than 700 of them.
A lingering noise of hammers and nails passing through old plywood boards echoes in the air.
Mountains of waste, heaps of plastic and black fumes emerge in plain sight. There are no bathrooms present, and an incessant stream of people who have just arrived in Foggia are slouched on a crumpled old sofa in front of a brothel. There is a makeshift disco under a green awning. A church for Afghans. Pakistani restaurants. But the largest zone is managed by the Nigerian mafia. The man in charge has dark brown eyes. He is sitting in front of the American flag with three sad dogs in between his legs. He asks: “All good?”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Migrant Smuggler Arrested in Thessaloniki
Police in Thessaloniki said on Saturday they arrested a member of a people trafficking gang with 10 migrants packed in his car.
The suspect — a 34-year-old foreign national — was arrested following a car chase along the Egnatia Highway, near the Analipsi toll station, after he ignored a police signal to stop late Friday night.
Officers who eventually caught up with the suspect found the migrants in the car.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Police Arrest Eight Smugglers Who Brought in 38 Migrants
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Greek police announced they have arrested eight migrant traffickers who reportedly smuggled 38 migrants through Greece’s land border with Turkey.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Language: Housing and Italian Government’s Plan to Integrate Migrants
The plan kicks off with local, regional and tertiary sector participation
“Integration of migrants, beyond the socio-humanitarian aspects, is at the basis of a more secure society. Even in the face of Islamic terrorism.” With this, Italy’s Interior Minister, Marco Minniti, emphasised the importance of its first official and newly adopted migrant National Integration Plan. The project provides rights and duties for those who benefit from international protection (currently 74,853), according to the rules in the Italian Constitution.
Their duties include knowing the Italian language, respecting its constitutional charter, recognising the separation of state and relation and respecting women. Migrants also have the right to family reunification. Meanwhile, Italy must guarantee migrants equality and equal dignity, freedom of religion, access to education and training, housing and healthcare system. This approach would “provide for multi-level systematic action according to region, local authorities and the tertiary sector, all called upon to develop a coordinated action plan…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis Tells Migrants: “You Are Warriors of Hope”
Pope Francis flew to Bologna, Italy, Sunday and met with a large group of migrants and refugees, calling them “warriors of hope” while insisting that nations open broader avenues for immigration.
[Comment: They are warriors of fear.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia Rescues 140 Migrants Off Its Coast
TUNIS (Reuters) — The Tunisian navy rescued 98 Tunisians fleeing to Europe when their boat started to sink off Kerkenah on the southeast coast late on Saturday, the national guard said.
Separately, the army said it had arrested 43 illegal migrants rescued from four boats off Zarzis, also on the southeast coast.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Millionaire ‘Housing Migrants in Illegal Shanty Town’
- Gerry Fitzgerald, 60, said to have constructed five multi-bed cabins on the plot
- He allegedly earns nearly half a million pounds each year from the migrants
- Mr Fitzgerald lives in a mansion just yards from the North London plot
- Mr Fitzgerald denied the allegations when questioned
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘Freedom Bus’ Ban in Naples Sparks Controversy
Administration scraps authorization
(ANSA) -Naples, September 29 — The city of Naples has revoked an authorization for a demonstration originally scheduled Friday of the so-called ‘freedom bus’ — a national campaign promoted by Catholic organizations against what Pope Francis has described as the “ideological colonization” of gender theory in schools.
The decision to revoke an authorization for the bus to park in the city center as part of the nationwide campaign sparked protests from the promoters, the two associations Family Day CitizenGO and Generation Family.
The local Campania LGBT Rainbow committee has slammed the ‘anti-gender’ campaign as “informational terrorism”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
“Despite a judicial ruling that the referendum was illegal, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont says that the new country will declare independence shortly.”
Oh dear, this has potential to be…..ugly…..
Better get that EU army formed pronto.
Why?
The Catalonian separatists have probably already negotiated immediate entry to the EU as long as they take in as many immivaders as Mutti asks them to.
Righty. I will admit to complete ignorance of the issues with this one. My EU army skit might still be relevant though if a genuine civil war kicks off.
Actually, I can’t think of a better reason for having one!. Keep the masses in line.
Anyhoo, thanks for the clarification.
Still waiting to see what Juncker, Timmermans, Verhofstadt and the rest of the gang have to say about Spain’s “attack on democracy”. Or are such phrases only reserved for Eastern European countries? 😉
Of course. This was a democratic, tolerant beatings according to European values… The preaching toward the “fascist dictatorships” of Middle Europe will continue soon…
This was exactly the first thing that came up in my mind as well. Beating down on Poles, Hungarian, Czech and Slovaks for irrelevant technical judicial details (as if everything is so soun din the old West), and being deadly silence when the Spanish police show their fascist practices by beating up peaceful Catalonian voters who exercise their democratic right for independence. Juncker, Timmermans, Verhofstad, Baroso etc have shown themselves to be filthy corrupt Jesuits, just like the current Pope (and radically different from the pure, truly Catholic previous two Popes).
Salut. A referendum supported by less than half the voters … the current Catalan government
presents as leftist nationalist, soon does not work in the interest of the Catalan historical nation,
but in the interest of the globalist agenda, Mr Puigdemont was to be hanged for treason to Spain and Catalonia.
Mass shooting in Vegas:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-02/shooter-las-vegas-concert-kills-20-injures-over-100
Hardly surprising with the current toxic atmosphere.
I’ll speculate and posit the shooter was afraid Trump was going to deport his girlfriend, an Indonesian with Australian citizenship.
I knew there was a Muslim in there somewhere.Indonesia is a majority Muslim country.
Spot on!
Just found out, that the shooter’s gal is in fact Filipino. She has extended family in Queensland and the Philippines.
I’ll also speculate and posit the shooter was Antifa scum or aligned with their beliefs and methods. And that the purpose of targeting the country music festival was to kill as many Trump supporters as possible while provoking a reaction leading to civil war between the socialist left and the right.
The left should be careful wishing for CW2…the typical Maoist pinko is not very well trained or equipped and is trapped in an urban area that could easily be deprived of food, water, and power.
Anyway, I think the real push here is to revoke the Second Amendment. Note how all MSM outlets are trumpeting, ‘no political affiliation,’ which is code for hardcore Maoist/Clintonista/Obama dead-ender.
Apparently, some Antifa have been training with ISIS. Can’t prove the sources though, but would certainly make sense.
@Dymphna: more than 50 have been killed by a certain “Stephen Paddock” (64). ISIS has claimed the attack, saying Paddock converted to Islam some time back.
My guess: Paddock’s Muslim girlfriend takes him to the hotel room. Real perpetrators shoot the crowd, kill Mr. Paddock and leave his body for Police to “discover”. Just looking at his picture and watching his brother speaks, I can’t believe this man can shoot people. Maybe more info on his background will be released soon.
Also, ISIS, immediately, claimed the man is a convert. This MUST be a CIA/ISIS fake story to help real perpetrators escape. ISIS says this is our agent, so bosses will order Police to stop investigations and go to bed like good boys do. Mr. Paddock seems to be just a scapegoat at this point.
Dear Brothers and Sister from USA.
In the wake what happened in Las Vegas i want to assured you that Christian Poland is with you.Islam will pay for this act of Evil !
Stay strong and united!
God Bless the United States of America !
Here is what the oh-so enlightened coast-dwelling, tolerant, globalist, liberal elites think of us rubes and simps that live in ‘flyover’ country:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-02/cbs-fires-exec-who-slammed-vegas-dead-country-music-fans-whore-often-gun-toting-repu
Of course, this story will not get the play it deserves, but I tell you what, some of the best people I know grew up in double-wides.
Happily, Breitbart and Fox are giving this story the play it deserves:
http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2017/10/02/update-cbs-exec-fired-no-sympathy-republican-gun-toters-post/
I can tell what sort of person she is by the ridiculous sunglasses alone.