The renowned Swiss philosopher Tariq Ramadan is now helping French police with their enquiries. Mr. Ramadan has been detained by les flics because of accusations of sexual assault by several women. He says that the charges are falsehoods instigated by his enemies.
In other news, three people in Vietnam have been sentenced to jail terms for posting videos on the internet that criticized the government.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Charles Low, Dean, Fjordman, Reader from Chicago, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Private Jobs Up 234,000 in January, Versus 185,000 Estimated: ADP’s Moody’s Analytics
Private companies hired 234,000 jobs in January, well above expectations for 185,000, according to ADP and Moody’s Analytics.
Service-related industries led with 212,000 new jobs; manufacturing added 12,000 and construction 9,000.
The report often differs significantly from the government’s more closely watched nonfarm payrolls count, with ADP reporting growth of 242,000 in December vs. the Labor Department’s 148,000.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In this excerpt of “Blackness as Disability” 106 Georgetown Law Review (forthcoming in 2018), Paul-Emile argues that civil rights law and Supreme Court jurisprudence have not done a particularly good job of tackling modern-day racial injustice; instead, she proposes that to combat the disabling effects of racism, the profession should turn toward disability law.
IS BEING BLACK IN THE UNITED STATES TODAY A DISABILITY? This may seem a startling question, but it accurately reflects what Black, as a racial designation, is and was designed to be: disabling.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Breaking: Amtrak Train Carrying GOP Members of Congress Involved in Massive Accident
An Amtrak train carrying several members of Congress was involved in an accident with a large truck Wednesday afternoon.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
Bronx Man With ISIS Propoganda From NYC Bomber Laughs During Court Appearance
The Bronx would-be terrorist who liked to watch gory beheading videos while working out smiled and laughed his way through a court appearance Wednesday.
Sajmir Alimehmeti, 24, sporting a shaved head and mid-length beard, chuckled at times with his lawyer during the hearing — and grinned and waved to the courtroom as he was led away.
Alimehmeti stands accused of attempting to provide material support to ISIS, as well as making a false statement when applying for a U.S. passport.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Happy Anniversary, Explorer 1! 1st US Satellite Launched 60 Years Ago Today
On Jan. 31, 1958, the nation launched its first successful satellite — Explorer 1, which rode to Earth orbit atop a Jupiter-C rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Missile Annex (now called Cape Canaveral Air Force Station).
Explorer 1 was not just a space-race publicity stunt; the satellite performed groundbreaking science work as it orbited Earth. It spotted fewer high-energy cosmic rays than expected, leading Explorer 1 principal investigator James Van Allen to suggest that the satellite’s detector had been overwhelmed by charged particles trapped in Earth’s magnetic field.
Van Allen was right. The Explorer 3 spacecraft, which launched on March 26, 1958, confirmed the existence of these bands of radiation, which are now known as the Van Allen belts.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Journalist Kept Quiet About Photo of Obama With Nation of Islam Leader
A long-hidden photo of then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama posing at a congressional caucus meeting with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was revealed Thursday — roughly 13 years after it was taken.
The journalist who snapped the pair at a Congressional Black Caucus meeting in 2005, Askia Muhammad, told the Trice Edney News Wire that he “gave the picture up at the time and basically swore secrecy” out of concern that it could have “made a difference” and damaged Obama’s political future.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
One Dead After Train Carrying GOP Lawmakers Crashes Near Crozet
ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (WHSV) — One person is dead and one seriously injured after an Amtrak train carrying several members of Congress to a GOP policy retreat at The Greenbrier in West Virginia crashed into a garbage truck just west of Crozet on Wednesday morning.
The train was a specially chartered Amtrak train that left Union Station around 8:30 a.m. and, at 11:20 a.m., collided with garbage truck just west of Crozet, near Marymart Farm Road and Lanetown Road.
The truck was nearly torn in half. The incident apparently occurred at or near a crossing in the area.
The Albemarle County Police Department is on the scene, and national response teams are on the way.
According to a statement by Amtrak, “there are no reported injuries to passengers or crew members. Local law enforcement is investigating the incident and crews are inspecting the equipment for damage.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed to media that one person did die in the collision, however, and one was seriously injured, although there were “no serious injuries” among members of Congress or their staff. Those on scene say the single fatality was one of the drivers of the truck that was hit.
A GOP aide said the train partially derailed and representatives described suddenly being thrown from their seats during a fairly normal trip through a small town. Many of the members of Congress were travelling with their spouses and staff.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s staff told WHSV that he was not on the train. The only local lawmaker who was on board was Rep. Alex Mooney, of West Virginia, who said he is in good condition.
House Speaker Paul Ryan told ABC News that he was on board the train as well and is okay.
Here’s a look at everyone who was on the train (list of members will be updated):…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
People Who Practice Yoga Contribute to White Supremacy, Professor Claims
White people who do a downward-facing dog are contributing to a “system of power, privilege, and oppression,” according to a Michigan State University professor.
Shreena Gandhi, a religious studies professor at Michigan State, claims in an article she recently co-authored that Americans who practice yoga are contributing to white supremacy and promote the “yoga industrial complex.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Resurrecting YouTube’s Banned Videos and Channels
Last month I’d announced that I was adding a new Video section to this website, with a central motivation being the increasingly harsh ideological censorship that YouTube was beginning to impose upon its content, as had been originally announced last Fall.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Train Carrying Lawmakers to GOP Retreat Hits Truck on Tracks, 1 Killed
A train carrying members of Congress to a Republican retreat in West Virginia slammed into a dump truck on Wednesday, throwing lawmakers from their seats and leaving at least one person dead, officials said.
Minor injuries were reported by those on board. But the White House confirmed in a statement that there was one “fatality” and one serious injury; lawmakers said this involved those in the truck, which may have been stuck on the tracks when it was hit.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Woman Denied Emotional Support Peacock on United Flight
Birds of a feather may flock together, but United Airlines recently shot down one traveler’s request to bring her emotional support peacock on a flight departing Newark Liberty International Airport.
Live and Let Fly reported earlier this week that even though the unidentified woman claimed that she had a second ticket for the peacock, the airline denied her request.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ottawa: Five Arrested in Swarming, Victim Stabbed: Police
Police say that five people were arrested in Hintonburg after two victims were “swarmed” — and one suffered a stab wound — at Tunney’s Pasture Tuesday night.
The man and woman were robbed in the 100 block of Tunney’s Pasture Driveway at about 9:50 p.m.
The victim with what police said was a minor stab wound was taken to the hospital.
Patrol officers and a sniffer dog tracked five suspects — three men and two women, all in their late teens— to an apartment on nearby Carruthers Avenue.
They’re in custody but have yet to be charged, police said Wednesday morning.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Ancient Ale: Oldest Beer in Greece Dates to Bronze Age
The ancient Greeks may have liberally indulged in wine, but that’s not the only alcoholic beverage they imbibed, according to a new study that describes the discovery of two potential Bronze Age breweries.
The “stout” discoveries mark what may be the oldest beer-making facilities in Greece and upend the notion that the region’s ancient go-to drink was only wine, the researchers said.
“It is an unexpected find for Greece, because until now all evidence pointed to wine,” study researcher Tania Valamoti, an associate professor of archaeology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in Greece, told Live Science.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austrian police have found a hoard of Nazi memorabilia in the home of a Social Democrat politician, who has been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing his grandchildren, only days after a regional election.
The unnamed Social Democrat (SPÖ) was arrested last Thursday by police in the region of Lower Austria in connection with child abuse that is said to have gone on for several years. Once police searched the man’s home, they found a number of weapons, including hand grenades, and Nazi memorabilia, including uniforms, Kronen Zeitung reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
British East Asian Actors ‘Face Prejudice in Theatre and TV’
British East Asians say they still face serious prejudice when it comes to casting in theatre, TV and film, and are at risk of being seen as an “invisible” minority.
“The representation of East Asians tends to be stereotypical, or involve racist tropes (in TV and theatre),” says actress Lucy Sheen.
“Women are generally depicted as slim, petite, long-haired, submissive ‘lotus blossom’ types, prostitutes, or illegal immigrants, while East Asian men are portrayed as asexual or effeminate.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Danish Former Stasi Collaborator Sues Historian for Libel
A Cold War hangover was played out in a Copenhagen court room on Monday.
A former unofficial collaborator with the East German Stasi intelligence service appeared at Copenhagen City court in a defamation case against historian Bent Jensen and publisher Gyldendal over two statements made in the 2014 book Ulve, får og vogtere I (Wolves, Sheep and Guards I).
The former collaborator, Jan Aage Jeppesen, who now lives in Spain, admits to having been in contact with the former official state security service of the German Democratic Republic, but disputes accusations made in Jensen’s book that he “caused several East German citizens to end up in East German prisons,” and “spied against Denmark”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Discoveries From 1,400-Year-Old Ice Surprise Scientists
A fierce cold period struck the Northern Hemisphere in the years from 536 AD to the 660s AD with no real summers. It became known as the Fimbulvinter — The Terrible Winter — and worked its way into Norse folklore. Now archaeological discoveries from this period reveal how people in Norway survived these tough years and researchers are surprised by the finds.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Europe: Making Totalitarianism Great Again
by Judith Bergman
The European Union has programs in place that seek heavily to influence mainstream news outlets and journalists with its own agendas — such as that of continued mass-migration into Europe from Africa and the Middle East. For this purpose, the European Commission recently funded the publication of a handbook with guidelines for journalists on how to write about migrants and migration.
It is seemingly in the interest of these media representatives to label competition from alternative or new media, “fake news”.
A proposed French law would allow authorities to block websites during election seasons, a draconian measure to combat political opponents, which would place France in the same category as countries such as China and Iran that block websites that do not suit the agendas of the regime.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Boy, Aged 8, Beaten Up for Wearing Kippa in Anti-Semitic Attack
An eight-year-old boy wearing the Jewish skullcap has become the latest victim of an anti-Semitic attack in France, sparking an angry response from President Emmanuel Macron.
Two teenagers beat the boy up in the northern Paris suburb of Sarcelles on Tuesday, in what prosecutors said appeared to be attack motivated by the child’s religion.
It is the latest in a string of assaults that has worried France’s large Jewish community, coming three weeks after a kosher supermarket in the Paris suburbs was gutted in a suspected arson attack.
A record 7,900 French Jews emigrated to Israel in 2015 following the deadly jihadist shooting at a Parisian kosher supermarket two days after the attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
That exodus has since slowed, but a spate of anti-Semitic attacks since have continued to frighten one of Europe’s biggest Jewish communities, numbering an estimated half a million.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Faces Significant Elementary School Teacher Shortage: Study
Germany’s teacher shortage is set to get dramatically worse over the next few years, according to a new study. Experts predict there’ll be a shortfall of 35,000 teachers in the country’s primary schools by 2025.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Explosion of Sexual Assaults and Harassments on Berlin’s Public Transport
Women’s safety is becoming problematic in Europe’s big cities. After the alarming sexual assault statistics from Paris’ public transport, the same tendency in Berlin emerges.
According to German newspaper Bild, Berlin’s police registered almost twice as many cases of sexual assault and harassment as last year. At least 295 reports were made to the police of the German capital in 2017, almost twice the number of 2016, which was 156.
The newspaper says the trend continued this year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germans Campaign for Memorial to Victims of Communism
The campaign to put up a memorial in Berlin to political prisoners who suffered under East Germany’s communist government has taken a first step forward in parliament.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Sweets Commercial Shifts to Full Sharia Mode With Hijab Model
Several Germans were shocked to see the new commercial of Katjes sweets.
The company has now launched special halal sweets, which it, in politically correct fashion, calls “veggies”. The sweets are without animal gelatin and can be eaten by vegetarians and Muslims.
A woman in a hijab “steals the show”, the same hijab women in Iran are fighting against. But in Germany it’s a different story and the symbol of Sharia is promoted on national television with a big smile.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Interpol Circulates List of Suspected ISIS Fighters Believed to be in Italy
Interpol has circulated a list of 50 suspected Islamic State fighters who it believes have recently landed in Italy by boat, and may be attempting to reach other European countries.
The list, obtained by the Guardian, was drafted by the general secretariat of the international police organisation. It was sent on 29 November to the Italian interior ministry, which subsequently distributed it to national anti-terrorism agencies across Europe.
The suspects listed are all Tunisian nationals, some of whom were identified by officials when they landed in Italy. The document shows their first names, surnames and dates of births.
Around 5,500 Tunisians were believed to have travelled to Isis territory in Syria and Iraq to fight for the terror group, according to UN estimates — more than any other country. Now, after the collapse of its “caliphate,” governments have expressed concern that former fighters may try to mount attacks in Europe.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Islam Scholar Tariq Ramadan ‘Held in France’ Over Rape Accusations
Islam scholar Tariq Ramadan, a leading professor at Oxford University, was detained on Wednesday in France, where he is facing allegations of rape.
French police on Wednesday detained prominent Swiss Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, a legal source said, months after two women filed rape charges against him.
Ramadan was summoned for questioning to a Paris police station and taken into custody “as part of a preliminary inquiry in Paris into rape and assault allegations”, the source said, confirming a report by RTL radio.
The leading Oxford professor, whose grandfather founded Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Islamist movement, is facing investigations in France for the alleged rape of two women.
Ramadan has denied the accusations as a “campaign of lies launched by my adversaries”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘It is Time to Kill’: Stockholm Attacker Made Terror Video
Rakhmat Akilov recorded a video on his mobile phone in which he said “it is time to kill”, hours before carrying out last year’s truck attack in central Stockholm, prosecutors revealed on Tuesday.
In video, which was sent to a contact on social media but never published online, Akilov pledged allegiance to the terror group Islamic State (Isis).
The video is part of a mass of evidence collected during the investigation, which Hans Ihrman, the lead prosecutor in the case, argued on Tuesday left little doubt that Akilov’s intention was to terrorize the Swedish population.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Kurz Welcomes Orban to Vienna, Claiming to Act as ‘Bridge Builder’
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Tuesday that he aimed to ease east-west strains within the European Union, as his new right-wing government welcomed Hungary’s incendiary Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Vienna.
“In particular since the start of the migrant crisis (in 2015) tensions have grown in the European Union,” Kurz told a joint news conference with Orban in the Austrian capital.
“Our great aim in Austria is to be a bridge-builder in this respect between the Visegrad states and the countries in western Europe,” the 31-year-old conservative said.
A rift has emerged in recent years between Brussels and the Visegrad group of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia — and in particular with Warsaw and Budapest.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Leftists Protest Populist PM Orban’s Visit to Vienna, Meetings With Austria’s New Right-Wing PM
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s visit to Vienna this week to meet with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and populist Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache attracted protests from leftists.
The main protest against Prime Minister Orbán’s visit was carried out by the NEOS party, a small liberal pro-European Union party which won a mere 5.3 per cent in last year’s national election.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Minister: Leaked Paper Forecasting Brexit Economic Disaster is Remainer Sabotage Plot
A government paper claiming that Britain will suffer outside the EU was deliberately leaked in a bid to sabotage Brexit, according to a senior minister.
Slamming the analysis as “flawed”, Steve Baker pointed to civil servants’ poor track record in forecasting the economy, and told MPs he looks forward to continuing to prove the Brexit “horror story predictions” wrong.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
No Evidence of 50 Suspected ISIS Fighters Landing in Sicily: Italian Police
There is no evidence of Isis militants arriving in Italy en masse, Italian police assured on Wednesday, after a report that Interpol had warned of 50 suspected terrorists crossing from Tunisia to Sicily by boat.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Fears Economic Hit as EU Opens Door to Ukrainians
With the EU easing travel restrictions for Ukrainians, Warsaw is worried fewer of its eastern neighbors will come to Poland for work. Cheap Ukrainian labor has helped contain inflation and boost growth.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Rape-Accused Oxford Professor Tariq Ramadan ‘Questioned by Police in Paris’
Oxford University professor and government adviser Tariq Ramadan has been detained for questioning months after two women filed rape charges against him, according to a legal source.
The prominent Swiss Islam academic was summoned for questioning with Paris judicial police and taken into custody “as part of a preliminary inquiry in Paris into rape and assault allegations”, the source said, confirming a report by RTL radio.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Stockholm Terror Suspect Initially Targeted Denmark
On April 7 last year, five people were killed when the Uzbek asylum-seeker Rakhmat Akilov drove a truck through Stockholm.
But actually, his attack could easily have taken place in Denmark. Initially he had planned to launch a bomb attack in Denmark.
According to the Swedish newspaper Expressen, Akilov told police he wanted to detonate a bomb in front of a NATO building in Denmark, but was later convinced by the terror organisation Islamic State (IS) to stage his attack in Sweden instead.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Ingvar Kamprad’s Sons Pledge to Protect His Ikea Vision
Ingvar Kamprad’s sons have pledged to ensure that the global furniture giant stays true to their father’s vision, in their first public statement since his death.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss University to Offer World’s First Yodeling Degree
A three-year bachelor’s or two-year master’s degree in yodeling has been launched by a university in Switzerland. The warbling singing style, used by herders in the Alps, was popularized by the movie The Sound of Music.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Too White’: Norway’s New Government Grilled for ‘Lack of Diversity’
Among the 68 ministers and secretaries in Norway’s new government, only two appear to be of minority background, despite one in six Norwegians currently being of immigrant background. This overwhelming “whiteness” has triggered fierce criticism from human rights activists.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Victor Orban: Europe’s Future and Christian Foundations Must be Protected
Migration poses the greatest threat to Europe’s future, which should be protected, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in Vienna on Tuesday after talks with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
“There exists a Christian culture and a way of life, which we would like to protect”, Orban told a press conference, stressing the need to preserve Europe’s identity and Christian foundations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Visegrad Governments ‘Attack European Democracy’, Says MEP
German social democrat MEP and former president of the European Movement, Jo Leinen, described a ‘V4 Statement on the Future of Europe’ agreed by the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary last week, as an “attack on European democracy”. He also said “Viktor Orban and Jaroslaw Kaczynski propagate nationalism and apparently see the European Union only as a source of structural funds.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘We Can’t Have Scenes Like This in France’: French Government Gets Tough After ‘Nutella Riots’
The French government has moved to stamp out recent scenes of shoppers battling to get their hands of discounted goods such as Nutella by unveiling a new law to tighten rules on supermarket promotions.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Macron on State Visit to Tunisia to Boost Solidarity, Ties
French President Emmanuel Macron, who has made numerous trips to Africa, is in Tunisia for two days to further boost the close partnership between France and the North African country, a budding democracy struggling economically while contending with Islamic extremists.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas Founder Dies After ‘Accidentally’ Shooting Himself
Hamas ‘founding father’ responsible for alliance with Iran dies weeks after ‘accidental’ self-inflicted gunshot wound.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Taliban Threaten 70% of Afghanistan, BBC Finds
Taliban fighters, whom US-led forces spent billions of dollars trying to defeat, are now openly active in 70% of Afghanistan, a BBC study has found.
Months of research across the country shows that the Taliban now control or threaten much more territory than when foreign combat troops left in 2014.
The Afghan government played down the report, saying it controls most areas.
But recent attacks claimed by Taliban and Islamic State group militants have killed scores in Kabul and elsewhere.
Afghan officials and US President Donald Trump have responded by ruling out any talks with the Taliban. Last year Mr Trump announced the US military would stay in the country indefinitely.
The BBC study shows the Taliban are now in full control of 14 districts (that’s 4% of the country) and have an active and open physical presence in a further 263 (66%), significantly higher than previous estimates of Taliban strength.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
AI Robot Sophia Speaks About Her Future in South Korea
Sophia, a human-like robot powered by artificial intelligence (AI), said Tuesday she would like to meet President Moon Jae-in someday, calling him “a great leader of a great country.”
The AI robot made the remarks during a conversation with Rep. Park Young-sun of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea at the conference on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and AI robots held in central Seoul.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cardinal Joseph Zen: ‘Vatican is Selling Out the Catholic Church in China’
In a troubling new open letter to the media, the redoubtable Cardinal Joseph Zen, China’s highest ranking Catholic prelate, has accused the Vatican of “selling out” the Church by caving in to demands of the Communist leaders.
Sparking the cardinal’s declarations Monday were recent reports of the Vatican asking two Chinese bishops faithful to Rome to resign their posts in order to make way for new bishops of the Patriotic Association, the surrogate Catholic Church in China subject to the Communist party.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
China Drawing Up ‘Fresh Battle Plan’ To Tackle Smog
Government says it is working on a three-year initiative to further tackle the country’s chronic air pollution
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Donald Trump Brands China a Major Rival in US Reboot of Great Power Strategy
Beijing stresses the two countries have common interests as US president insists that the stakes with China are not just economic
US President Donald Trump named China as a major US competitor on both economic and military fronts in his first state-of-the-union address, another sign that Washington is putting great power rivalry at the heart of its national strategy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Hello. Would You Like Delicious Coffee?’ Robot Barista Replaces Human Staff at Japanese Cafe
Customers first need to buy a ticket at a vending machine to order a drink they can choose from a menu of seven items. The robot will then scan the QR code of the ticket to serve them
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Hong Kong Bans Ivory Trade in ‘Historic’ Vote
Hong Kong’s lawmakers have voted overwhelmingly to ban the trade in ivory, in a move campaigners described as “a lifeline for elephants”. A similar ban was brought in across mainland China earlier this year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Philippine Anti-Graft Chief Defies Duterte Order in Standoff
The head of a key Philippine anti-graft agency has defied an order by President Rodrigo Duterte’s office to suspend her deputy for allegedly disclosing confidential information to the media about an investigation into the tough-talking leader’s alleged undeclared wealth.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Vietnam Jails 3 Activists for Comments Critical of State
A court in Hanoi has handed down prison terms up to eight years to three activists after finding them guilty of posting video clips on social media critical of the communist government.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Former Mexican President: ‘We Shouldn’t Have a Border’ at All
In spirited debate with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Vicente Fox contends ‘God didn’t create’ boundaries between nations
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
77 Illegal Aliens, Including Children, Found in Sweltering ‘UPS Truck’
Federal authorities detained two illegal aliens and one U.S. citizen on Monday after a California Highway Patrol officer pulled over a suspicious brown delivery truck and found it to be stuffed with 77 profusely sweating illegal aliens, including five children.
The brown truck, which had the appearance of a UPS truck, had no tags and was weaving down Old Highway 80 in San Diego when the officer noticed it and performed a traffic stop. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was passing by stopped to offer assistance to the officer.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Despite Merkel’s Promises, Deportations of Failed Migrants Fall in 2017
Despite talking tough on illegal immigration in the run-up to 2017’s Federal elections, deportations of failed, terrorist, and criminal migrants fell last year, compared to 2016 levels.
The revelation that total deportations from Germany fell 1,400 to 23,966 in 2017 comes among surging electoral results for the anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany (AfD), but widespread resistance to border control among the nation’s establishment.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Child Migrant Loses Eye in Police Clash
A TEENAGE boy lost an eye in a brutal clash with riot police in Calais as officers attempted to dismantle a camp by force. A sixteen-year-old asylum hopeful lost an eye after a vicious brawl broke out between riot police and a group of undocumented immigrants in the northern port town of Calais last week, French prosecutors said on Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Nearly 13,000 Migrants and Refugees Registered at Moria Camp in 2017
A total of 12,726 migrants and refugees, hailing form 64 countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, South America and even the Caribbean, were registered at the official processing center on Lesvos last year.
According to official figures from the hot spot at Moria on the eastern Aegean island, 40 percent of the arrivals processed at the center were men, 24 percent were women and 36 percent were minors.
In terms of ethnicities, the Moria camp processed 5,281 Syrians, 2,184 Afghans and 1,800 Iraqis. It also received 826 people from Congo, 352 from Cameroon, 341 from Iran and 282 from Algeria. The remaining 1,660 asylum seekers came from 57 other countries, the data showed.
Like other hot spots on the Greek islands, Moria is struggling with over-crowding caused by a constant stream of new arrivals and lengthy delays in asylum procedures that have resulted in a huge backlog of cases building up and refugees being trapped in camps for months on end.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Salvini Promises Sealed Borders, ‘Today’s Islam is a Danger’
In the lead-up to national elections, League candidate Matteo Salvini has laid out an ambitious pro-sovereignty plan for Italy promising sealed borders and resistance to Brussels bullying.
Among his promises, Salvini insisted that during his first year in office, Italy would take in no new migrants. “We have to dispose of a backlog of half a million illegal immigrants,” said the aspiring prime minister. “The first task is to seal the borders, from the Alps to Sicily. Enough, do not pass, stop.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Leading Belgian Politician: Migration Fuelled by the Left Will Destroy Our Welfare System
Bart de Wever, leader of Belgium’s N-VA party, said in a letter that solidarity needs borders and without them the country’s social security system cannot be maintained.
According to the Wever, “behind the left’s moral façade are ideological motivations to use to the migrant crisis to weaken the nation state”. He calls the left’s idea of not being a good person without accepting migrants “a subtle form of moral blackmail”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
New European Mission to Detect Threats in the Mediterranean
A European border agency is launching a new Mediterranean Sea operation with a focus on detecting terror threats.
The Frontex agency says Joint Operation Themis starts Thursday in the central Mediterranean. Its vessels will still rescue migrants from human traffickers’ boats but the operation will also involve “intelligence-gathering and other steps aimed at detecting foreign fighters and other terrorist threats at the external borders” of Europe.
Themis’ operational area will span the waters off Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Turkey and Albania. The security component will also help Italy fight drug smuggling across the Adriatic Sea.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Respect Our Rules!’ Canada Panics as Thousands of Illegal Immigrants Flee Trump’s America
CANADA has warned illegal immigrants fleeing Donald Trump’s America against illegally crossing the border into Canada as numbers soar since the businessman became US President.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Revealed: Why Angela Merkel Really Opened the Borders to Germany — and Europe
ANGELA Merkel welcomed more than one million refugees into Germany during the European migrant crisis to save Berlin from losing millions of euros from a Greece bail out deal, a politics expert has claimed.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Migrant Pervert Caught in Sting Over ‘12 Year Old Girl’ To be Deported
AN ILLEGAL immigrant is to be deported after he was stopped by paedophile vigilantes on his way to meet a 12-year-old schoolgirl.
Predatory Al-Imran Ali, 34, was clutching a hamburger from Burger King and had a condom on him as he walked to keep a rendezvous with the child called Nicola.
Ali, who had spent seven years in Britain illegally, had been grooming the youngster online and had asked her not to wear any underwear when they arranged to meet.
But “Nicola” did not exist — and instead Ali was confronted by Sarah Wright, a 49-year-old woman from the paedophile-hunting group Silent Justice.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Uproar at Belgian Bill Letting Police Raid Homes for Migrants
Belgium is transposing into domestic legislation an EU law to kick out migrants — but a proposal by the government that would allow police to raid homes of people suspected of lodging an irregular migrant has caused an uproar.
The fallout has been buffered by thousands of Belgian citizens sheltering refugees and migrants in their homes via social media outlets like Facebook.
Among them is the citizens’ platform for refugee support, overseen by Mehdi Kassou, who told EUobserver that the government is trying to “scare people and to somehow stop the ‘solidarity wave’ going through Belgium now.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Why Angela Merkel Really Opened the Borders for More Than a Million Migrants
Angela Merkel welcomed more than one million refugees into Germany during the European migrant crisis to save Berlin from losing millions of euros from a Greece bail out deal, a politics expert has claimed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Dirty War Over Diversity Inside Google
Fired Google engineer James Damore says he was vilified and harassed for questioning what he calls the company’s liberal political orthodoxy, particularly around the merits of diversity.
Now outspoken diversity advocates at Google say that they are being targeted by a small group of their coworkers in an effort to silence discussions about racial and gender diversity.
In interviews with WIRED, 15 current Google employees accuse coworkers of inciting outsiders to harass rank-and-file employees who are minority advocates, including queer and transgender employees. Since August, screenshots from Google’s internal discussion forums, including personal information, have been displayed on sites including Breitbart and Vox Popoli, a blog run by alt-right author Theodore Beale, who goes by the name Vox Day. Other screenshots were included in a 161-page lawsuit that Damore filed in January, alleging that Google discriminates against whites, males, and conservatives.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Twins Were Born Minutes Apart, But Only One is an American Citizen
The disparity is at the crux of a lawsuit filed last week against the State Department in which the twins’ parents, a married binational gay couple, allege that the government’s policy of granting birthright citizenship to children born abroad based on blood relation discriminates against LGBT couples.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greenland’s Recent Temperature Drop Does Not Disprove Global Warming
Intuitively, you may think that temperature throughout all of Greenland has been increasing, but that is not the case. When you look at the yearly average, the ice-free parts of Greenland show a slight drop in temperature between 2001 and 2015. With swings in temperature from year to year.
However, these results should not be interpreted as “proof” that the Earth is not warming, say the scientists behind the research, which is published in the journal Scientific Reports.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
News report today;
Berlin (AFP) – A member of Germany’s far-right and anti-Muslim Alternative for Germany party (AfD) who recently converted to Islam has said he did so in protest at what he sees as the “moral decline” of the Protestant church.
Arthur Wagner, 48, until recently a leading party member in the state of Brandenburg, told the Bild newspaper on Wednesday that his decision was in part sparked by the church’s acceptance of same-sex marriage and the presence of priests at gay pride marches.
“One of the reasons (for the conversion) is tied to changes that have taken place in the church, which no longer reflects my values,” he told the daily.
Explaining his decision, he singled out the church’s position “with regard to the AfD, its support for marriage for all and the participation of pastors at Christopher Street Day, where there are children. It’s unacceptable!”
Mr Wagner’s reasons for converting to Islam are curious, but not entirely surprising given the historical close connection between the Nazi party and Islam during WW2.
Clearly one of the “values” he no longer holds, is that Jesus is the Son of God. I suspect many in the German Protestant church don’t believe that either, so it’s not such a large step to become a muslim.
Is there no Orthodox Church in Germany? They – both clergy and laity – are still quite conservative in their beliefs. That has become a popular move in the US, as has the rise of the evangelical church.
Agree.
There are plenty of Christian alternatives that are against the promotion and celebration of degeneracy.
Even though it also claims to discourage degeneracy, Islam has far too many bad, hypocritical, or outright evil aspects for it to stand as a worthwhile alternative.
A bit off topic. Perhaps, GoV can write an article related to how much influence does those Muslims student/professors have in our higher institution of learning in the West at present because I noticed the creeping Islamic infiltration and the growing intolerance to any criticism directed at Islam and multiculturalism in some universities in UK.
Our higher institutions should be a free place of learning for everyone and should not be dominated by Islamics agenda to the extent of spreading backward, anti-Western values.
You know, censorship isn’t good, but at least countries like Vietnam don’t hide that they’re censoring, unlike countries with “political corectness” etc.
Is it just the black race that is to be considered a disability? Is so, why?
If all racial minorities are to be considered disabled, how to explain the achievements of many Oriental immigrants? Are they just appropriating white culture? Isn’t that offensive?
And if yoga is originally a religious practice, then it is not a racial one.
I am confused! But then, I figure that the blacks have been superceded in victimhood by muslims, and have to fight that another way?
SuziG-
I will attempt explain part of the leftist, “victimhood totem pole” in a bit more detail.
East and Northern Asians are considered honorary whites by the Left, thus they cannot be victims and help contribute to white privilege and oppression.
This is why you see mass discrimination against them in Ivy League admission rates and over representation of blacks. Of course, the Asian people applying are held to ridiculously high standards while the bar is lowered significantly for black applicants due to structural oppression by whites.