Beaver Dam, WI: Even though there had been a controlled demolition in the apartment that exploded last week, another spontaneous explosion of volatile chemicals in the wreckage occurred on Thursday. As a result, local authorities decided to do a “controlled burn” of the damaged building on March 14, reasoning that the fire will dispose of the dangerous chemicals when the building is thoroughly destroyed. The technicians responsible for the burn will attempt to prevent adjacent buildings from being damaged.
In other news, 75% of young Italians who just attained voting age and voted for the first time in the recent election cast their ballots for anti-EU populist parties.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Charles Low, Dean, Reader from Chicago, SS, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
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Illinois’ Regressive Pension-Funding Scheme Exposed
Authored by Ted Dabrowski and John Klinger via WirePoints.com
Wealthiest school districts benefit most
Most Illinoisans don’t know Dr. Ray Lechner, the retiring Superintendent of Wilmette School District 39, but they should.
After all, Illinoisans have been contributing to his upcoming $6.6 million pension for years, even though he’s an employee of the Wilmette school district, not the state.
That’s how it works for all teachers and administrators in Illinois, whether it’s a superintendent from Lake Forest or a school counselor from Mt. Vernon — school districts pay the salaries while the state funds the pensions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dentists Mysteriously Dying of Lung Disease
A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed that dentists mysteriously die of fatal lung diseases than that of the general population in a Virginia Hospital over the last two decades.
So far, health officials have identified nine dentists or dental workers who were diagnosed with the disease, called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, all of whom were treated at the same specialty clinic in Virginia, according to the report, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The disease is often fatal: Of the nine cases, seven have died, the report said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Officials to ‘Intentionally Ignite’ Beaver Dam Apartment Building After Deadly Chemical Explosion
BEAVER DAM — Beaver Dam Mayor Rebecca Glewen on Sunday, March 11 announced Building #109 at the Village Glen apartment complex will be “intentionally ignited” on Wednesday after a deadly explosion Monday, March 5. The mayor on Sunday confirmed there was another explosion on Thursday. We still don’t know what specific chemicals led to the deadly explosion. Mayor Glewen said the heat from the “controlled burn” will “render the situation finally safe.”
The “controlled burn” will take place on Wednesday, March 14. It will begin at 10 a.m., and the mayor asked that people avoid the area when this takes place.
The burn will impact several areas of the complex, and the mayor announced precautions will be taken to save other parts of the complex. A barrier will be placed in between Building #109 and #113 to try and save Building #113.
Beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday, the outer perimeter will be closed to traffic, and there will be mandatory evacuations of surrounding buildings, including: #103, #105, #107, #111, #113, and two nearby facilities, Prairie Ridge and Keystone Manor…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
75 Per Cent of First-Time Young Italian Voters Marked Their Ballots for Populist Parties
New statistics from the recent Italian election show 75 per cent of the youngest first-time voters — born in 1999 — voted for anti-establishment parties.
The data, which was compiled by Italian polling firm SWG, shows that the vast majority of young first time voters reject the political establishment, Italian poll-tracking website Termometro Politico reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Knife Attacker Shot Dead Outside Iran Ambassador’s Residence in Vienna
Assailant ‘dies on the spot’ after guard opens fire, police spokesman says
Vienna: A 26-year-old Austrian was shot dead outside the Iranian ambassador’s residence in Vienna on Sunday night after he attacked a guard with a knife, police said.
The assailant “died on the spot” after the guard opened fire, police spokesman Harald Moeser said, adding that the attack took place just before midnight local time in a residential area
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Catalonia ‘Republic Now’ March Draws Tens of Thousands
BARCELONA: Tens of thousands of people marched in Barcelona on Sunday (Mar 11) to demand the formation of a new government in Spain’s Catalonia region leading to its independence from Madrid despite formidable legal obstacles.
Some 45,000 people joined the “Republic Now” march called by the influential pro-independence citizens’ group ANC, city police said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EON to Take Over RWE’s Renewables Arm in €20bn Deal
German energy giant EON plans to take over Innogy, the renewables subsidiary of competitor RWE, in a €20 billion deal, both companies said on Sunday.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
European Union Security Boss: More Terror Victims in European Cities for ‘Years to Come’
Innocent people across the European Union (EU) will continue to suffer and die in terror attacks “for years to come”, the EU’s Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs, and Citizenship has said.
“We cannot contemplate more victims in our cities, but we know that it is a reality we will probably have to face for years to come,” said Dimitris Avramopoulos, confessing the poor state of the bloc’s security, but without mentioning migration.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Le Pen to Rename Far-Right Group ‘National Union’
Marine Le Pen, the head of France’s far-right National Front, proposed changing the party’s name to the National Union on Sunday as part of efforts to improve its image.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
A French police officer, who works as part of a plainclothes team on the Paris metro to prevent crime, has claimed that the majority of sex attackers he arrests come from North African backgrounds.
The officer, named Fabien, is part of the special force of eighty or so police who travel the metro in plain clothes to prevent violent attacks and sexual assaults, Le Figaro reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France’s Far Right Leader Le Pen Proposed National Front Changes Name to ‘National Rally’
Speaking at a party congress meant to help her reassert her authority following her defeat to President Emmanuel Macron last May, Le Pen said the party’s priority should be to gain power, which could only be achieved through a coalition with allies.
“Our goal is clear: power,” Le Pen told party cardholders gathered in the northern city of Lille, who cheered her speech denouncing immigration, globalisation and a federal Europe.
“We were originally a protest party,” she said. “There should be no doubt now that we can be a ruling party.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin is one of the leading travel trade shows. Three Arab criminals managed to be hired as security for the event and aggressively intimidated attendants of an Israeli stand over Palestine.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Arab Gangs Targeting Berlin Police With Threats and Sex Rumours to Intimidate Officers
Arab criminal gangs operating in Berlin have been accused of targetting individual police officers with threats, including spreading rumours of sexual encounters with prostitutes, in order to intimidate or take revenge on officers.
Over the past several years, the power of Arab family organised crime gangs in Berlin has increased substantially as they have largely taken over the city’s drug and prostitution trade. According to a new report, the gangs are now using their power to threaten and intimidate authorities to stop investigations, German media reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greeks Rally for Soldiers Held in Turkey
THESSALONIKI (GREECE) (AFP) — Thousands of people rallied in northern Greece on Sunday demanding the release of two Greek soldiers held in Turkey accused of illegally entering the country, police said.
The pair were arrested on March 2 for entering a military zone in the northern Turkish province of Edirne and are waiting for their case to be heard.
They told prosecutors they had entered through a border crossing after getting lost in fog…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds Urged to Wash Clothes After UK Nerve Agent Attack
SALISBURY, England (Reuters) — Hundreds of people who visited the Zizzi restaurant or the Mill pub in the English city of Salisbury were told on Sunday to wash their clothes after traces of nerve agent used to attack a former Russian spy last week were found at both sites.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistani Gang Arrested for Robbing and Brutally Stabbing Greeks at Tourist Hotspot
A gang of six 19-24 year old Pakistani immigrants were arrested and prosecuted in Athens last week. They were charged of robbery, assault and attempted murder
Specifically, the six men were attacking young couples who were walking near the Acropolis late at night.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ramos Leaves Real Match to Go to the Toilet
In the picturesque northern city of Varese, nestled in Italy’s rich Lombardy region, voters turned en masse to the anti-immigration League party in the general election, convinced that only nationalists would put their interests first.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
Theresa May to Blame Russia for Nerve Gas Attack; “Full Spectrum” of Sanctions to Follow
Barely a week after UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd warned the country not to “jump to conclusions” about who was behind a nerve gas attack on a former Russian double-agent, it appears Prime Minister Theresa May is about to do just that…
In a late-breaking report, the Sun confirmed that May is preparing to name Russia as the perpetrator of the attack on Sergei Skripal, a spy who was turned over to the UK in 2010 as part of a swap with Russia, after receiving confirmation from her intelligence chiefs.
An intelligence assessment explaining the findings is reportedly being delivered overnight, and will be on May’s desk in the morning. The attack, which occurred at a shopping center in a quiet suburban area, led to the hospitalization of 21 people, and left Skripal, his daughter Yulia and a local officer who responded to the scene in critical — but stable — condition.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A brutal sex gang raped as many as 1,000 young girls over 40 years in what may be Britain’s ‘worst ever’ child abuse scandal.
Girls in the town of Telford, Shropshire, were drugged, beaten and raped at the hands of a grooming gang active since the 1980s.
Allegations are said to have been mishandled by authorities, with many perpetrators going unpunished, while it is claimed similar abuse continues in the area, reports the Sunday Mirror.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian Trappist Nuns Say Western Powers and Factional Media Fuel War Propaganda
In a written appeal, the religious systematically take apart the version of the conflict touted by governments, NGOs and international news organizations. In Ghouta east, jihadists attack the capital and use civilians as human shields. The Syrian government and people have a duty to defend themselves from external attacks. The conflict alone has undermined the coexistence between Christians and Muslims in the country.
Damascus (AsiaNews) — “We, the people who live in Syria, we are really exhausted and exasperated by this global indignation that issues blanket condemnations of people who defend their lives and their land”. Because the victims of a bloody war now in its seventh year, are not only hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, but also the truth and information too often enslaved by the interests of foreign governments and powers. These are the harsh words contained in a written appeal issued by the Syrian Trappist sisters, who have first-hand experience of the tragedy of the conflict.
In recent weeks, international bodies, Western chancelleries and large news networks have launched a frontal attack on the Damascus government and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, accusing them of deliberately targeting civilians trapped in Ghouta East, a rebel enclave in the suburbs of the capital. However, the religious say, it is from that area “that the attacks against the civilians who live in the part controlled by the government began, and not vice versa”. Moreover, those in the area “who did not support the jihadists, were put in iron cages: men, women, hung outdoors and used as human shields”.
The religious do not spare the neighbouring countries that have favoured the entry of “mercenaries” to fuel the conflict and the governments in the West who have trafficked with the jihadists to get oil below cost. “Today to tell Syria, the Syrian government, not to defend its nation — the nuns emphasize — is against all justice”. And those who speak of “the Churches’ partisan reverence of “ Assad, they conclude, “reveal that they do not know Syria, because Christians and Muslims live together in this land. This war alone is to blame for wounding this cohabitation in many parts of the country”.
Below, we publish the testimony of the Trappist sisters sent to AsiaNews:
When will they silence their weapons? And when will they silence so much partisan journalism? We, the people who actually live in Syria, we are really exhausted, nauseated by this global indignation that issues blanket condemnations of those who defend their lives and their land.
We have gone to Damascus several times in these months; we went after the rebel bombs had massacred a school, we were there a few days ago, the day after they had dropped 90 others from the Goutha, on the governmental part of the city. We have heard the stories of the children, the fear of leaving home and going to school, the terror of having to see their classmates still being ripped apart mid-air, or they themselves being ripped apart … children who cannot sleep at night, for fear that a missile will crash through their roof. Fear, tears, blood, death. Are not these children worthy of our attention too?
Why did the public not bat an eyelid, why was no one indignant, why were no humanitarian or other appeals launched for these innocent people? And why only when the Syrian government intervenes, arousing the gratitude of Syrian citizens because at last they feel defended from so much horror (which we have seen with our own eyes and of which we hear), are we indignant about the ferocity of the war?
Of course, even when the Syrian army bombs there are women, children, civilians, wounded or dead. And we pray for them too. Not only the civilians: we also pray for the jihadists, because every man who chooses evil is a lost child, is a mystery hidden in the heart of God. And it is to God that we must leave judgment, He who does not want the death of the sinner, but that the sinner be converted and live.
But this does not mean that you do not call things by their name. And you can not confuse those who attack with those who defend themselves.
The attacks on civilians in Damascus, began from the Goutha area into the government-controlled part, and not vice versa. The same Goutha where — must we really remind people? — civilians who did not support the jihadists were put in iron cages: men, women, exposed outdoors and used as human shields. Goutha: the district where today the civilians who want to escape, and take refuge in the government-area, who dare to take advantage of the truce granted, are targeted by rebel snipers …
Why this blindness on the part of the West? How is it possible for those who inform the public, even in the ecclesial context, to be so one-sided?
War is bad, oh yes, yes it is so bad! You do not need to tell the Syrian people this, a people who have seen the war rob them of their home for seven years now … But we cannot be scandalized by the brutality of the war and keep quiet about who the wanted war and still wants war today, or keep quiet about the governments that have poured their powerful weapons, their military intelligence into Syria in recent years… not to mention the mercenaries deliberately allowed to enter Syria passing through neighbouring countries (many who went on to join Isis, the West should at least recognise these initials and what they mean).
We cannot keep quiet about the governments that have earned and gained from this war. Just look at what has happened to the most important Syrian oil wells. But this is just a mere detail, there is [something] much more important at stake here.
War is bad. But we have not yet reached the goal, where the wolf and the lamb will dwell together, and for those who believe, we must remember that the Church does not condemn legitimate defence; and even if she certainly does not wish for a recourse to arms and war, faith does not condemn those who defend their country, their family, not even their lives. You can choose non-violence, until you die. But it is a personal choice, which can only be brought to bear on the life of those who choose it, we cannot certainly ask a whole nation, an entire people for this.
No one, man or woman, who has a minimum of true humanity can wish for war. But today to say to Syria, to the Syrian government, not to defend its nation is against all justice: too often it is the only a way to facilitate the task of those who want to plunder the country, massacre its people, as happened in these long years in which truces have been used above all to re-arm the rebels, and the humanitarian corridors to allow new weapons and new mercenaries to enter … and how can we forget what atrocities have happened in these years in the areas controlled by the jihadists? violence, summary executions, rapes … the stories we have heard from those who finally managed to escape?
Recently an article was brought to our attention: so many words spent on a single thesis, namely that all the Churches of the East are mere servants of power … for convenience … Some beautiful sentences to that effect, such as reverence bishops and Christians to the Syrian Satrap … a way to delegitimize any appeal by the Syrian Church that reveals the other side of the coin, the one the mass media ignores.
Beyond any useless defence and polemics, let’s make a simple reasoning, starting with a consideration. And that is that Christ — who knows well the heart of man, that is, knows that good and evil cohabit in each of us, wants his to be leaven in the dough, that is the presence that little by little, from the inside, makes a situation grow and orients it towards truth and goodness. It supports where support is needed, it changes where change is needed. With courage, without duplicity, but from within. Jesus did not support the sons of thunder, who invoked a fire of punishment.
Of course Syrian politics suffers from corruption (as in all the countries of the world) and there is sin in the Church (as in all the churches, as the Pope has so often complained)
But, appealing to the common sense of all, even non-believers: what is the real alternative that the West invokes for Syria? The Islamic State, Sharia? This in the name of freedom and democracy of the Syrian people? Don’t make us laugh, actually, don’t make us cry.
But if you think that in any case it is never legitimate to compromise, then for consistency we remind you, just to give one small example, that you would not have gas “without compromising with the strong powers”, given that most companies have bought cheap oil from ISIS, across the bridge of Turkey: so when you drive a few kilometers, you do it thanks to the death of someone from whom this oil was stolen, consuming the diesel oil that was supposed to heat the house of some child in Syria..
If you really want to bring democracy to the world, make sure of your freedom from the satrapies of the West, and worry about your consistency, before intervening in that of others.
Last but not least, one should at least suspect the fact that if a Christian or a Muslim denounces the atrocities of jihadist groups it meets with a media silence, he finds only a rare echo in marginal agencies, while those who criticize the Syrian government gain the front pages of the big media. Does anyone remember an interview or an intervention by a Syrian bishop on some important newspaper in the West? One can disagree, obviously, but true information supposes different points of view.
Moreover, those who speak of an interested reverence of the Syrian Church towards President Assad as a defense of the short-sighted interests of Christians, proves that they do not know Syria, because in this land Christians and Muslims live together. It was only this war that hurt cohabitation in many parts, but in areas secured by the army (unlike those controlled by “others”), we still live together. With deep wounds to be tended, today unfortunately also with great difficulty to forgive, but still together. And good is good for everyone: I am witness to the many works of charity, relief, development run by Christians and Muslims together.
Of course, those who live here know this, even in the midst of so many contradictions, not those who write from behind a desk with many stereotypes of opposition between Christians and Muslims.
“Deliver us Lord from the war … and deliver us from bad journalism …
With all due respect to journalists who really try to understand situations, and really inform us. But they will certainly not take us to task for what we write.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Graphic Content: Animal Lovers Demand Justice After Evil Thugs Cut Off Dog’s Ears
Hasan Kuzu and Neset Yaman grinned as they posed for photographs each holding one of the animal’s bloodied ears aloft while the animal howled in agony.
In one photograph blood pours from the animal’s horrific wounds as it is forced to look at its own severed ears.
The two sick animal-haters were convicted in the South West region of Turkey in Isparta but dodged jail and received a fine of just £850.
Now a massive groundswell of outraged animal lovers across the world are demanding further action.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Devotion to the Blessed Matrona Moskovskaya, Stalin’s Saint
The cult of the Blessed had spread already under the Communist regime. Spiritual healing and counselling have been attributed to it. In 1941 she is said to have met the dictator and predicted his victory.
Moscow (AsiaNews) — On Thursday (8 March), special celebrations were held not only for International Women’s Day, but also for something dictated by popular piety, namely the 20th anniversary of the recognition and transfer of the relics of the Blessed Matrona Nikonova, also known as Moskovskaya because of her fame in the capital, where she lived.
Women’s Day is an important event in Russia, as the day of the uprising of Petrograd women that started the Russian revolution 101 years ago, eventually becoming an iconic moment for the international women’s movement. On this day, in 1998, the then Patriarch of Moscow Alexy II (Ridiger) decided to conduct the identification of the relics of the Blessed Matrona, at the end of the meeting of Synodal Commission slated to rule on her righteousness. The following year the Orthodox Synod solemnly proclaimed her canonisation as a blessed of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Matrona cult spread right after the end of the atheist regime, which had tried to inhibit it for decades, despite its already widespread fame, even outside of Moscow. In 1993 a monastery in Moscow published a memoir of a friend of Matrona, Zinaida Zhdanova, who died in her nineties in 2007. Zhdanova lived with the saint in her final years (Matrona died in 1952) and saw many miracles of healing attributed to her, as well as her acts of divinations and the spiritual advice she gave to those who came to visit her in her tiny little room in the centre of the city. She herself could not move since she was blind from birth (empty eye sockets) and paralysed from the age of 17.
Zhdanova’s book was widely read, so much so that it became a symptom of Russia’s post-communist religious revival. The thaumaturgical aspect of Matrona’s life, together with many particularly surprising episodes in the Soviet Union’s rigidly atheist and anticlerical Soviet society, suggested a devotion that bordered the occult and magic, accessible to those who had no relationship with the faith and the Church. For this reason, the patriarch and his aides decided to carry out a thorough investigation, calling Zhdanova’s Memoirs “apocryphal”. They also put their own publication, ‘A life of Matrona’ purged of all superstitious aspects. The remains of the Blessed, which the Soviets had tried to hide because of the large-scale underground devotion, were brought back to the Monastery of the Protection of the Mother of God in Moscow. Huge crowds of faithful visit it every day, and each Sunday people queue for hours to honour her. On this 8 March, there were so many people that the chapel stayed open all night.
One of most striking apocryphal stories in Zhdanova’s Memoirs concerns the meeting between Matrona and Generalissimo Stalin. In 1941, after Hitler invaded the Soviet Union breaking the German-Soviet pact, the Georgian dictator was in a panic for days, not knowing what to do. Although someone who trusted no one, he did not expect Hitler’s betrayal. Tempted to flee Moscow, he was taken to the clairvoyant, who foretold his victory if he remained in the capital, despite the imminent arrival of the enemy: “the Russian people will stand with you, if you remain in your place”. The Soviets held out against the invader and showed extraordinary heroism (like in the Battle of Stalingrad, and the siege of Leningrad), partly because Stalin allowed the reopening of the churches, perhaps to fulfill Matrona’s prophecy. Russian patriotism, stifled by the party’s internationalist ideology, was reborn at that time and led to a great victory, and since then the Church has remained a faithful ally of the regime.
Stalin’s “rehabilitation” among Russians is visibly taking place, so much so that according to the most serious polls almost 60 per cent of the population justifies even the victims of the concentration camps. In past few years, after the annexation of Crimea, the nationalist-Christian ideology that drives Putin’s politics has become increasingly loud, inspired by the memory of the “Father of the peoples” and his victories are a source of inspiration. Unprecedented aspects of personal religiosity have been attributed to Stalin, a leftover from the days in the seminary he attended in his youth in Tbilisi, when he dreamt of becoming the patriarch of Georgia.
No wonder then that the devotion to his “spiritual godmother” has become exceptionally exalted on this occasion, which happens to coincide with the ongoing election campaign that will likely result in Putin’s re-election as President of Russia. Patriarch Kirill (Gundyayev), who led the service at Matrona’s tomb, urged people to learn from the saint to accept trials and tribulations. “Suffering must not discourage us, it must not take away our strength, it must not, as we say today, change the quality of our human life. Suffering must only strengthen our faith, and sharpen our religious sense,” said the patriarch said in his homily to the thousands of pilgrims gathered around the remains of the Blessed Matrona.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Tehran to Counter Trump’s Sanctions by Turning to Moscow to Renew Its Fleet of Passenger Planes
Iran wants to buy Sukhoi Superjet 100 from Russia. Russian minister says negotiations are well under way. The aim is to limit the consequences of the possible cancellation of deals already reached with Boeing and Airbus. The Kremlin and the Islamic Republic want to boost bilateral trade.
Teheran (AsiaNews) — Iran is on the verge of a deal with Russia to buy one hundred Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger planes. This will allow Tehran to get around sanctions imposed by the United States and the West whilst renewing its aging unsafe fleet.
The announcement came from Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, who stressed that negotiations are well underway.
If concluded positively, they would allow the Islamic Republic to limit the impact of any cancelled deals with US-based Boeing and EU-based Airbus.
Last month, an SSJ-100 landed in Tehran for careful assessment by Iranian technicians. The 108-seat twin-engine is one of the candidates to renew a fleet that has had several fatal accidents in recent times due to aging planes, dubbed ‘flying coffins’, and poor maintenance, largely because of US sanctions.
“[W]e discussed the possibility of Sukhoi Superjet 100 purchase by our Iranian partners and outlined a plan of how this can be put it into practice,” Russian media quoted Novak as saying.
At present, the two sides are looking into the practical aspects of any future partnership in the civil aviation industry.
The minister spoke after a joint commission meeting of the two countries’ officials, stating that the two sides have also agreed on the sale of Russian-made vehicles, like KAMAZ and UAZ buses and trucks, to Iran.
Tehran and Moscow are also working to sign free trade documents between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union countries possibly in May, a step expected to “trigger further development of our bilateral trade and expansion of investment cooperation,” Novak said.
According to the Russian minister, bilateral trade in 2017 stood at .7 billion, but “there are still unresolved issues”, such as simplifying the calculation procedures.
In 2016, a year after the signing of the Iranian nuclear agreement (JCPOA), then US President Barack Obama lifted the ban on the sale of civilian aircrafts to Iran.
This enabled Iran to sign billion dollar deals with US aviation giant Boeing as well as the latter’s main European competitor, Airbus, for the purchase of hundreds of aircrafts to renew part of its fleet.
As the new US administration under Donald Trump could scrap the nuclear deal in the coming months, lifted sanctions would be re-imposed.
Currently, the White House is currently evaluating whether to allow the sale of 80 Boeing to Iran Air, but its actions could also affect the sale of 100 passenger planes by Boeing’s main competitor, Europe’s Airbus.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Amelia Earhart Mystery May Have Been Solved
A new forensic analysis suggests that skeletal remains found on a remote island belonged to the famous pilot.
Pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937, and we’ve been wondering about her fate ever since. A re-examination of a forensic analysis performed in 1941 shows that bones found on a remote south Pacific island belonged to Earhart — a conclusion reached with a splashy 99 per cent number attached to it. Sceptics, on the other hand, say the new analysis proves nothing.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The teenage thugs are reportedly replicating American street gangs such as the Crips and Bloods as police are forced to up patrols in hotspots after Melbourne residents left terrified.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Study: Malfunctioning Surveillance Gear, Not Sonic Weapons, Could Explain Cuba Embassy ‘Attack’
Bizarre reports of US diplomatic staff in Cuba suffering from symptoms resembling brain trauma, allegedly after hearing unsettling sounds resembling scraping metal or insects buzzing, have continued to baffle medical researchers. But a team from the University of Michigan may have come up with a credible explanation for the incident, per the Miami Herald.
Kevin Fu and other members of the university’s Security and Privacy Research Group say that they believe that the sounds could have been caused by improperly placed Cuban spy gear. According to their research, if two inaudible ultrasound surveillance devices were placed too closely together, the resulting interference could become audible—meaning the Cubans may have actually just screwed up rather than intentionally harmed the Americans.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘George Soros Wants to Remove Slovakia’s Anti-Immigration Government.’
Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, said he thinks that George Soros and his organisations are actively trying to topple the Slovakian government of Prime Minister Robert Fico.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Mob of Migrants Terrorise Small Town Fair Sexually Harassing Women and Fighting Locals
A group of ten young asylum seeker men are said to have terrorised a local fair in the German town of Steinfurt by sexually harassing young women, fighting with local teens, and threatening ride owners.
Most of the incidents occurred at or around a bumper car ride that was set up for the town fair. In one incident at around 6:30 pm, a 22-year-old migrant molested a young girl on the upper body and legs, Der Westen reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany’s New Health Minister Jens Spahn Defends Food Bank’s Move to Bar Foreigners
Jens Spahn, Germany’s new minister of health, has defended the Tafel food bank’s decision to turn away non-Germans. Speaking to German media, Spahn also said he was hopeful the conservatives could win back AfD voters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New German Minister to Speed up Migrant Repatriations
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s incoming interior minister on Sunday vowed to take a tough line against convicted criminal migrants and speed up repatriations of rejected asylum seekers.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
Rape, Violence and Drunks — The Reality of Life in an EU Migrant Camp on Lesbos
Uniformed aid workers go home at sunset, leaving vulnerable refugees at the mercy of their campmates — and rape and violence is reportedly rife.
Moria is one of Europe’s largest camps, with 5000 people now living there.
The Sunday Times gained access to both the camp and refugees and the picture shames the EU.
A refugee called Celine, 22, said: “The men come and they bother me.
“They don’t leave me alone.”
“I’m scared here. It’s not safe.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican Seeks to ‘Change the Narrative’ on Immigration by Emphasizing the Positive
The Vatican is looking to change people’s perspective on mass migration by highlighting positive stories to replace the negative accounts that dominate the media.
Jesuit Father Michael Czerny, the co-secretary of the Vatican’s department for migrants and refugees, said that the Church needs to “change the narrative” on immigration, because “the public view is negative” in an address to members of the International Catholic Migration Commission on March 7.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
About that Moscow Matrona: Divination, clairvoiance, and good advice to Stalin, are those the signs of a saint?
This is another obscurantism delirium, which our authorities want to litter our brains. Matronushka is like Santa Claus, but only for stupid women.
About Stalin everything is somewhat different than what is written in the article. It’s not about imperial dreams. People want corruption, bureaucratic chaos and the country’s robbery to end (sometimes by executions like in China). We need Yuri Gagarin, not Matronushka ..
And the government often gives the desired for the actual. Of my acquaintances there is no one who would take this Matronushka seriously. Except for one strange woman who believes in all kinds of nonsense.
Elena, I wonder whether you’ve heard of the Soviet pianist, Maria Yudina (1899-1970). A devout Christian, she wrote to Stalin saying she would pray to God to forgive him for his sins.
There is a story in Shostakovich’s memoirs, “Testimony” (which may not be altogether accurate), that Stalin heard a radio broadcast of her playing Mozart’s 23rd Concerto in A, and demanded a copy of the recording, which didn’t exist; his minions were so terrified that they assembled Yudina, the conductor* and orchestra to record the work overnight, so that he would have a copy the next day; allegedly the disc was on his player (a present from Churchill) when he died.
*The first conductor, and his replacement, were supposedly too frightened to cope; the third managed to finish the recording.
Almost every family has its own story about Stalinism. When my mother was a little girl (it was already after Stalin’s death), she painted the faces of the leaders in the newspaper. Grandmother turned pale, spanked her hands and quickly burned the newspaper. My grandmother never told me why her father was shot in 1938.
“In other news, 75% of young Italians who just attained voting age and voted for the first time in the recent election cast their ballots for anti-EU populist parties.”
Well well well……
Such is encouraging to see. I believe that there is a good deal of anger and resentment amongst many younger people of European […] ancestry here in the US as well, as they realize their birthright and their heritage has been sold out by their foolish, kumbaya singing parents and grandparents.
For every rabid antifa bombthrower or easily triggered snowflake, there is also a young man or woman who despite all the agitprop and decade+ of indoctrination in the open-air prisons public schools have become, rejects such nonsense and outwardly complies while quietly rebelling in private. Whether it is a vote for Trump, or buying a gun, or telling a racial joke and laughing at the same, many younger people get it and reject the idiocy of PC even if it is not yet safe to do so openly.
Yes, and your description fits 100% the mood that existed amongst the last generation of young people of the (ex-)USSR, before its collapse. That was my generation. No one was taking the so-called “party line” seriously anymore.
School??? LOL. We were playing cards on the back of the classroom during the ‘History of KPSS’ (Commie party history) lessons. And the History teacher wouldn’t even care. She must have known what was going on… The Narrative was dead, and with it, the empire died too.
It was the “kitchen talks” that slowly ate away from its lies, and eventually that balloon was popped (I think Afganistan was the last straw) once and for all.
We must resist the Narrative at all costs, and teach our kids to do that too.
Soviet Union imploded, once the republics started running away. The evil EUSSR is also a walking corpse. Why? Brexit is the indicator. Once that runaway process starts, it’s unstoppable, and the EU will be finished. May God bring that outcome speedily…
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TOMMY ROBINSON VIDEO
https://www.svegot.se/2018/03/12/flera-journalister-fangslade-och-nekade-inresa-i-storbritanninen/
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@Lauren_Southern
Investigated me under schedule 7 (terrorism act) because of alleged racism. At least they let me identify as Pakistani on my report lol. Still being held by police.
8:36 AM – Mar 12, 2018
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Lauren Southern
✔
@Lauren_Southern
They just locked me out and said “au revoir”… Officially banned from UK for “racism”.. doing fine though, all the cool people are being banned anyway 😉
Need to gather my thoughts and call family. Interrogation story is pretty crazy though. Will tell it soon.
10:13 AM – Mar 12, 2018
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Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧
@TRobinsonNewEra
This is unbelievable . The home office arrested & detained a female American journalist for 3 days before deporting her, they gave her paper work claiming I am a far right leader who incites racial hatred. If I incite “racial” hatred then take me to court & try me you liars
10:10 AM – Mar 12, 2018
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Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧
@TRobinsonNewEra
It looks like they are about to deport @Lauren_Southern from not just Britain but from Europe. The racism they speak about is the enforcement of blasphemy laws . Lauren criticised Islam in Luton she never mentioned or spoke about race. These are dark times for Britain
8:49 AM – Mar 12, 2018
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I’m so relieved to hear that the explosion at Beaver Dam WI was not terrorism.
Of course, the apartment was not a meth lab–which pretty much rules out anything else—and the town of Beaver Dam is centrally-located to at least 5 major population hubs—Madison, Milwaukee, Janesville, Waukesha, Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, the Dells—but that must surely be a coincidence. Also, the fact that volatile gases which are found nowhere else in the state have been found there, and that the cops are keeping all info about the suspect on the QT, is suggestive, but sure, it’s not terrorism. I feel better about it already.
Call it Britainistan henceforth:
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/03/12/delingpole-britain-yes-jihadists-no-free-speech/
The barely literate letter in the article was probably composed by an Ummah member with a tenuous grasp of English.