A convert to Islam named Benjamin Herman attacked two policewomen in the Belgian city of Liège, stabbing them from behind. He then took their guns and shot both of them dead, reportedly yelling “Allahu Akhbar!” during the attack. After killing a passerby, he holed up in a school and took a woman hostage. Police eventually shot him to death.
Mr. Herman was on day release from prison when he committed his deadly crimes. The Belgian government is investigating the incident as a terrorist act.
In other news, after repeatedly being prevented from using the customary route through Libya, migrants in North Africa have discovered a new path to Italy through Tunisia. More than 2,000 were reported to have used the new route in just 48 hours.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Charles Low, Dean, DV, Insubria, JD, MM, Reader from Chicago, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
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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.
“Everything Has Gone Wrong”: Soros Warns “Major” Financial Crisis is Coming
In a speech delivered Tuesday in Paris, billionaire investor George Soros warned that the world could be on the brink of another devastating financial crisis, as debt crises reemerge in Europe and a strengthening dollar pressures both the US’s emerging— and developed-market rivals.
And Europe, with Italy dragging worries about the possible dissolution of the euro back to the forefront, won’t be far behind. Political pressures like the dissolution of its transatlantic alliance with the US will eventually translate into economic harm. Presently, Europe is facing three pressing problems: The refugee crisis, the austerity policy that has hindered Europe’s economic development, and territorial disintegration — not only Brexit, but the threat that countries like Italy might follow suit…
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austria Manipulates the Data on the Debt and the European Union the Fine
After the sanction to Spain of the 2015 July, for the ‘rigged’ data of the Valencia region, this is the second time that the EU imposes a fine for manipulating the data on public accounts: this time to be sanctioned is precisely the Austria.
The investigation launched by the European Commission in May 2016, which found “serious negligence” by the Court of Auditors, the State Office and the state government of Salzburg, relating to the 2012-2013 period, has led the European Council to fining Austria for around 26,82 mln euro.
The institutions did not apply adequate controls to the compilation of data and registration procedures, thus allowing the State Office to misrepresent, and to hide, some financial transactions, then transmitted to Eurostat.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Deutsche Bank to Slash Thousands of Jobs to Control Costs
Equities business is to be reduced by about 25 percent
(ANSA-AP) — FRANKFURT, Germany — Deutsche Bank is slashing thousands of jobs as Germany’s largest lender refocuses its global investment banking business on Europe and seeks to return to steady profitability. The bank said Thursday it would cut its workforce from 97,000 to “well below” 90,000 in order to achieve cost reduction targets. It said the reductions were already “underway.” A chief target of the cutbacks is its stocks trading business, mostly based in New York and London. Head count at the equities business is to be reduced by about 25 percent. Those cuts will cost the bank some 800 million euros ($935 million) this year. Deutsche Bank has struggled with high costs, subpar earnings and troubles with regulators. The bank replaced its CEO in April after three years of annual losses and lagging progress in streamlining its operations. New CEO Christian Sewing has said the investment banking business would refocus on its European and German customer base and cut back on costlier and riskier operations where it doesn’t hold a leading position. Sewing said the bank was committed to international investment banking but must “concentrate on what we truly do well.” The new strategy means stepping back from several decades of global expansion in which the bank sought to compete with Wall Street rivals such as Goldman Sachs or JPMorgan Chase. Sewing replaced John Cryan in April with a mandate to accelerate the bank’s wrenching restructuring. It has suffered billions in losses from fines and penalties related to past misconduct. But progress in cutting costs has remained elusive.
Sewing on Thursday affirmed the bank’s goal to hold costs to 23 billion euros this year and 22 billion euros next year. Deutsche Bank lost 735 million euros last year after U.S. tax changes cost it 1.4 billion euros. Earnings in the first quarter of 120 million euros were sharply down from the year-earlier quarter.
The announcement came hours before Board Chairman Paul Achleitner had to face disgruntled investors at the bank’s annual shareholder meeting. The bank’s share price has sagged and it paid only a small dividend of 11 euro cents per share last year. Addressing an audience of several thousands in Frankfurt, Achleitner said Cryan had “set the ball rolling for fundamental change” but later displayed “shortcomings in decision-making and implementation.” “Dear shareholders, you are right to expect the bank and its management to hit the targets it has set itself,” he said. “If there are signs those targets are in jeopardy… then we on the supervisory board have to act swiftly and decisively.” The bank’s troubles and the turmoil surrounding Cryan’s departure have put pressure on Achleitner as well. Cryan was forced to publicly push back against a media report that Achleitner was looking for a replacement, then left to twist in the wind for days before being shown the door. Achleitner brought Cryan to the bank in 2015 and thus in principle shares responsibility for the bank’s strategy and performance since then. Deutsche Bank shares were down 0.2 percent at 10.88 euros in midmorning trading in Europe. DAVID McHUGH/ (ANSA-AP).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
California: Digital License Plates Track Vehicles
California’s dramatic new license plate is hitting the streets — a digital display board that allows changeable messages controlled by the driver or remotely by fleet managers.
The new plates use the same computer technology as Kindle eBook readers, along with a wireless communication system.
They come with their own computer chips and battery.
Motorists who choose to buy the plate can register their vehicles electronically and eliminate the need to physically stick tags on their plates each year.
[Comment: And your car is tracked with GPS. Sounds great. Get yours today!]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
California Mayor Proposes $1,000 for People Considered ‘Most Likely to Shoot Somebody’
Stockton, California, Mayor Michael Tubbs (D) is proposing $1,000 for people considered “most likely to shoot somebody.”
Fox & Friends reports that Tubbs’ plan would offer potential shooters “18 months of counseling” and the money if they avoid getting into trouble.
The Los Angeles Times reports that financial incentives for potential shooters is part of a “program … called Advance Peace.” It is being advertised as a way to reach shooters before they act on their proclivities, using the money and the counseling to lure them away from violence.
Tubbs said, “Let me be clear, Advance Peace is not a get out of jail free card. Participating in this program doesn’t erase the past, but it does help these young men learn how to make better choices for their own and our community’s collective future.”
The Advance Peace program is being pushed along with a $500-a-month guaranteed basic income for “a select group of residents.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
CNN Contributor Dean Obeidallah Mistakes U.S. Military Uniform for ‘Nazi Outfit’
Liberal radio host and CNN contributor Dean Obeidallah apologized after mistaking the uniform of a deceased U.S. Army Captain for a “Nazi outfit” on Sunday.
After a Twitter user called one of Obeidallah’s Twitter posts “pretty bad,” Obeidallah responded, “Are u wearing a Nazi outfit?” in reference to the user’s profile picture, unaware that the photograph was of the user’s father, a U.S. Army Captain, who was killed during the Vietnam War.
“1. It’s my father and not me. 2. He was a captain in the US Army. 3. He was killed in Vietnam. 4. You’re embarrassing yourself,” the user responded, prompting Obeidallah to make an apology which also attacked supporters of President Trump.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Every Starbucks in America Closed for Sensitivity Training This Afternoon
Starbucks is closing its doors across America — more than 8,000 company-owned locations from coast to coast — Tuesday, May 29, from 2 p.m. to 3 pm, local time for mandatory anti-bias training.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Gang of Somali Kids Attack Park Goers in Lewiston (Video)
It was an otherwise pleasant evening in Maine when two dozen Somali youth swarmed and attacked two local residents in Kennedy Park last Thursday evening.
The Somali mob attacked around 7:45 pm, just as the sun was setting on this historic city park in the heart of Maine’s second largest city.
A local mother recorded as a mob of teens and children, boys and girls as young as nine years old, brandishing wooden bats and other objects, along with fists, feet and sheer numbers to attack the two non-Somali defenders. At one point you can even here one of the hoodlums repeatedly daring the woman to, “stop me, b**ch.”
Lewiston Police tell Maine First Media one of the victims was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. However, no charges were filed…
Some residents say police officers tell them the safest thing would be not to bring their kids to the park anymore. However, according to Lewiston Police Department Public Information Officer, Lieutenant David St. Pierre, that is not the department’s stance.
“I am not aware of officers advising parents to refrain from bringing their children to the park,” Lt. St. Pierre said. “We at the Lewiston Police strive to make it a safe and enjoyable environment for all.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Islam is Incompatible With Liberty
As Islam repelled me, something about America attracted me like a powerful magnet. It was the heart and soul of America. It is called liberty. Liberty embodies the most precious treasures of humanity by encompassing seven forms of freedom that collectively make us human. Without liberty, we are simply another species of primates. Islam is anathema to each and every one of these freedoms.
Dennis Prager’s Still the Best Hope succinctly lists what constitutes this overarching charter of being human. Throughout this book, I will present indisputable evidence proving Islam’s incompatibility with them. The choice is either liberty or Islam. We can’t have it both ways.
Political freedom
The right to freely elect the government and the government rule by the consent of the people. Islam by definition is a belief of surrender. The surrender of the people’s right to choose their government to Allah’s rule as ordained by his infallible one and only final emissary, Muhammad. In countries where Islam wields great power, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, people have no choice whatsoever in choosing their governments. Any attempt by the people to exercise this precious form of freedom is brutally dealt with by the authorities. The earth is Allah’s, people are vessels of Allah, and the rulers are Allah’s appointed shepherds of his flock, so goes the belief.
Religious freedom and freedom from religious coercion
The right to practice any religion or no religion, as well as separating religion from state. Non-Muslim rights are strictly curtailed. Lip service is paid, from time to time, to religions of the book, Judaism and Christianity. Yet, in practice, even these sanctioned minorities are treated discriminatorily. Jewish and Christians are classified as dhimmis, they are subjected to special religious taxes, and disenfranchised from many rights of citizenship. Separation of the mosque and the state is considered another abhorrent frivolity of the non-Islamic heathen societies. The mosque is the state in Islamic lands, either directly or indirectly.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
We know most of you are aware of the lying going on over at CNN. We believe CNN is an arm of the left and is the American Pravda. Some might yawn at the news but we think it’s serious because there REALLY were NUMEROUS crimes committed during the Obama administration to spy on the Trump campaign. We also have questions about Benghazi, Fast & Furious, The IRS targeting of conservatives and Hillary Clinton’s email scandal…
TRUTH: THERE WAS SPYING!
CNN is 24/7 pulling out all the stops to hide the truth that spying was happening within the Trump campaign. Just this morning, Maggie Haberman of The New York times was going on and on about President Trump being a liar. She’s done this repeatedly in the past weeks. Don Lemon, Anderson Cooper and Chris Cuomo have all joined in with the false claim that Trump is lying.It’s the latest mantra from the left that’s the drumbeat they hope with sink into the American mind:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sessions, Rosenstein and Mueller: Destroying America to Bring Down Trump
by Kelleigh Nelson
Espionage, for the most part, involves finding a person who knows something or has something that you can induce them secretly to give to you. That almost always involves a betrayal of trust. — Aldrich Ames, Central Intelligence Agency officer turned KGB mole, who was convicted of espionage in 1994
Sharyl Atkinson has been at the forefront of investigative reporting. She has a timeline of the Collusion against Trump. This timeline gives us the devious plans of the socialist left to destroy a duly elected candidate who represents and symbolizes our freedom and liberty and wants to Make America Great Again.
Planted Spies
An FBI mole was planted in the Trump campaign before our President even won the Republican nomination. Now former Trump advisor Mike Caputo is telling us it wasn’t just one FBI mole, there were more. Were the other Republican candidates deserving of an FBI mole in their campaigns or was Trump the only one not approved by the establishment ruling elite? It is reasonable to conclude the rest were/are owned by the globalist insiders as are all but a few in Congress and DC. Link
Former Trump campaign advisor, Michael Caputo commented on Fox News’ Ingraham Angle, “When we finally find out the truth about this, Director Clapper, Brennan and the rest of them will be wearing some orange suits. The FBI is not the only Obama agency who came into the campaign. I’m looking for clearance from my attorney to reveal this to the public. This is just the beginning.”
Personally, I have a hard time believing the Obama sewer rats in the DC cesspool will allow any of their socialist players to end up indicted or in orange jumpsuits. The power they wield can only be shut down by President Trump and I don’t see his advisors moving him in that direction. Michael Caputo, like General Mike Flynn, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Michael Cohen and others are facing horrific legal bills, bills that are financially bankrupting them. This is par for the course from the Obama loving partisan globalist insiders working for Robert Mueller, and it is Mueller’s typical modus operandi. Rep. Louis Gohmert’s expose of Mueller makes it clear that he is an unscrupulous and unethical snake. Take the time to read Gohmert’s expose, or read my condensed articles on same here and here…
Think Brennan and Clapper weren’t involved? Think again. Link Let me remind you that Brennan had voted in 1976 for the candidate of the US Communist Party, Gus Hall, and that he was then greatly relieved to find that this information didn’t cause rejection of his CIA-application. Brennan converted to Islam years ago. Link
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Aircraft Carrier Was Stalked for Days by UFO
A leaked Pentagon report has revealed new details about the UFO encounter that shocked Navy fighter pilots above the Pacific.
The 2009 report does not bear any date or agency logo, but four officials confirmed that it was written as part of a Pentagon program with input from multiple agencies, KLAS reported.
The Las Vegas news station obtained the unclassified report while visiting Washington, DC for a debriefing arranged by former Senator Harry Reid.
The report reveals stunning new first-hand accounts of the November 14, 2004 encounter, which was documented in video that emerged in December of last year.
The incident unfolded as the Nimitz carrier group was conducting training exercises off the coast of southern California and Mexico ahead of a deployment to the Arabian Sea.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
You probably never cared about the major players behind Netflix, or worried about whether or not they had a political agenda. You just paid your monthly bills, and it likely never crossed your mind, where your hard-earned money was going. Neither did we, until they announced a major deal with the Obama’s and we started digging to find out why Netflix would promote the most anti-President Trump couple in America to their subscribers. Heres’ what we found out…
In March 2018, Netflix announced Susan Rice, Obama’s former national security advisor, and UN ambassador was joining Netflix’s board of directors. Susan Rice is one of the most controversial players in Obama’s former regime. She’s the person behind the controversial unmasking of Trump aides during his transistion period. She’s also the person who Obama’s White House tasked with hitting the morning show circuit following the Benghazi terror attack that killed four Americans. Rice intentionally lied to the media about a video that caused the attack. The creator of the video was jailed. Hillary’s recovered emails later revealed that the Obama regime knew all along the video had nothing to do with the attack…
You may be surprised to know, some of the key players in Obama’s fundraising and promotional efforts are at the top of the Netflix company. You may also be surprised to find out the name of one of their top shareholders.
Reed Hastings is the co-founder and CEO of Netflix. In 2013, gave a whopping $88,900 to Obama’s reelection campaign. Prior to President Trump’s landslide victory over Hillary Clinton, Reed, who endorsed Hillary, claimed that Donald Trump “would destroy much of what is great about America. Apparently, Reed didn’t have much influence with American voters, as he attempted to rally them to vote for Hillary by telling voters, “Hillary Clinton is the strong leader we need, and it’s important that Trump lose by a landslide to reject what he stands for.”
Netflix (NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings said in a statement that Rice “has tackled difficult, complex global issues with intelligence, integrity, and insight.” Rice said she is “thrilled” to join the board, and described Netflix as a “cutting-edge company.”
Ted Sarandos is Netflix’s chief content officer. His ownership of 497,699 shares makes him the third-largest individual shareholder in the company. In 2012, Ted Sarandos and his wife Nicole Avant, Obama’s former Ambassador to the Bahamas, threw a party at their home, where they raised half a MILLION dollars in one night for Barack Obama’s reelection campaign. a notable contributor to the bundler couple’s party included accused rapist and serial sexual predator Harvey Weinstein.
Neil D. Hunt is the former chief product officer (CPO) at Netflix. Hunt owns 401,296 shares in addition to stock options to acquire 844,641 shares more. He had been with Netflix since 1999 and stepped down in 2017.
Hunt’s Twitter feed is littered with anti-Trump propaganda and retweets of marches against President Trump:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian Banks Say ‘Fraudsters’ Stole Information From at Least 40,000 Customers
Two Canadian banks warned customers on Monday morning that the personal and financial information of at least 40,000 clients was accessed by criminals.
The affected banks are Simplii Financial — a recently-created brand owned by banking giant CIBC, and which formerly operated as President’s Choice Financial, a grocery store brand — and the Bank of Montreal (BMO). Simplii Financial reportedly has over two million customers, and BMO has more than 12 million clients across its services.
In a statement, Simplii Financial said that the bank is alerting affected customers after it received a tip on Sunday that “fraudsters” may have “electronically accessed” personal and account information for around 40,000 clients. The Bank of Montreal said in a statement that the “fraudsters” themselves contacted the bank on Sunday to let them know they “were in possession of certain personal and financial information for a limited number of customers.”
“Immediately after learning of the issue we implemented enhanced fraud monitoring and online banking security measures,” Olga Petrycki, a CIBC spokesperson, told me over the phone. “We have shared the information with federal agencies,” Petrycki continued.
Spokespeople for BMO were not immediately available for comment. In a statement, the bank said it is proactively reaching out to affected customers and is working with authorities.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
One Suspect in Mississauga Restaurant Explosion May be a Woman, Police Say
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — One of two suspects wanted in connection with an explosion that injured 15 people at a restaurant west of Toronto may be a woman, contrary to earlier reports, police said Tuesday.
Investigators originally said both suspects seen on video entering the Bombay Bhel restaurant in Mississauga, Ont., last week were men, but new video evidence and witness input suggests at least one of the suspects could be female, said Peel regional police Supt. Rob Ryan.
Police have finished processing the scene of the blast and are now analysing a collection of evidence that includes fingerprints, DNA, surveillance video, interviews with people present at the restaurant that night and remnants of the explosive device itself, Ryan said.
“Investigators spent hundreds of hours over the weekend combing the scene for every fine detail that might help them to understand what happened that night,” he said.
“What led the two suspects to detonate this device is still not clear,” he added. “We do not have clear motive and no one has claimed responsibility.”
The suspects were in and out of the restaurant in a short amount of time, and fled the scene on foot before their homemade explosive device detonated, police said…
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Attacker Shouted “Allahu Akbar” Before Killing 2 Cops, 1 Passerby in Liege, Belgium
Two police officers and a civilian were killed Tuesday during a shootout in the Belgian city of Liege, according to Sputnik.
According to a local TV station, an armed man shot the two police officers at the Cafe des Augustins on the Boulevard d’Avroy, located in the city center. He then fled and tried to take a housekeeper hostage at Waha High School. Police responding to the incident managed to subdue the gunman, but during the shooting, a passerby was also killed. Students were unarmed and did not come into contact with the gunman, who has since been “neutralized”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium Shooting: ‘Radicalised’ Prisoner on Day Release Kills Two Female Police Officers in Liege
A suspected terrorist on day release from prison executed two female police officers with their own guns and shot dead a trainee teacher before he was killed in a shootout after taking two women hostage at a school in the centre of the Belgian city of Liege.
The bloody rampage on Tuesday morning, which left another four officers wounded, was captured on videos on social media, which showed the black clad man waving a pistol in each hand and shouting “Allahu Akbar” before he was gunned down by elite officers. Belgium’s federal prosecutors office has opened an terror investigation into the attack.
The “lone wolf” attacker, 36, was named locally as Benjamin Herman, who was well-known to police for a string of crimes including robbery, assault and drug-dealing and was from Rochefort, a city about an hour from Liege.
One officer was named in local media reports as Soraya Belkacemi, 45, a widowed mother of twins, who are now orphaned. The other was Lucile Garcia, 53, who was described by fellow officers as a “fantastic colleague” who had married her partner a month ago.
Herman was granted temporary release from prison on Monday night until Tuesday, despite a prison service assessment that judged him “ultra-violent” and that he was on a terror watchlist over suspicions he had become radicalised in 2017.
Such “family leave” is meant to help prisoners prepare for their eventual release, which would have been in 2020 in Herman’s case after he had served the sentence he began in 2013. He had been released for two days on 13 previous occasions.
Belgium’s federal prosecutors office has opened an terror investigation into the murders, which come after the country was accused of being a hotbed of extremism after the 2015 Paris attacks, which killed 130 people. and suicide bombings in Brussels in 2016 in which 32 died.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
The man, who murdered two police officers and a passer-by in the Belgian city of Liège, was on a day-release from a local prison on Monday, Belgian newspaper HLN reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Brexit: ‘UK Nationals Don’t Want Their European Dream to End in a Nightmare’
On May 23rd, EuroCitizens held a round table in Madrid on The Human Cost of Brexit. Under the March agreement between the EU and the UK, the rights of British nationals resident in the EU will be severely curtailed.
| — Hat tip: Charles Low | [Return to headlines] |
Britons Rage Over Robinson Arrest as Mass Protests Break Out Worldwide
The arrest, imprisonment, and government-ordered media blackout of UK journalist and activist Tommy Robinson has set off a firestorm of protests around the world.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Czech Republic to Get PM by Mid-June, Government Less Certain
In an exclusive interview for Czech Television, President Milos Zeman on Monday announced his intention to appoint ANO leader Andrej Babis prime minister for a second time, even before the outcome of a referendum on whether the Social Democrats will enter into a coalition with his party. Although the move was expected, its timing is seen as heightened pressure from the head of state for the parties to deliver what he considers “the only viable scenario” in government talks.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
David Goldman: Hungary is Safest Country in Europe for Jews
ROME— While signs of violent anti-Semitism are on the rise across Europe, Hungary stands out as uniquely safe for Jews, writes David P. Goldman in his most recent “Spengler” essay Monday.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been pilloried for his strong stance against Brussels-imposed immigration quotas but it turns out that controlling who comes and goes in one’s country is an effective antidote to ethnic attacks.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Disservice to Democracy’ Varoufakis Claims Italian President Has Given Populists a ‘Gift’
FORMER Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has claimed the Italian President has given a “fantastic gift” to populist parties in the country after his rejection of a eurosceptic Minister for the Economy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Proposes Spending More on Italy, Less on Poland
STRASBOURG (FRANCE) (AFP) — The EU on Tuesday proposed spending more on Italy and other member countries hit by the economic and migrant crises but less on increasingly wealthy eastern states like Poland.
The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, proposed the regional shift in the “cohesion” portion of the post-2020 multi-year budget as Italy faces political chaos.
Top benefactor Poland called the proposal “unacceptable”.
Cohesion or development policy aims to bring economic conditions in the 28-nation bloc’s traditionally poorer eastern countries up to the higher western levels…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
BERLIN, Germany: Populist Alternative for Germany MP Petr Bystron has announced he wants to try and help Tommy Robinson claim asylum in Germany and spoke exclusively to Breitbart London on the political oppression of opponents of the establishment.
The populist MP announced over the weekend that he wanted to help former English Defence League leader turned citizen journalist Tommy Robinson to claim asylum in Germany following Robinson’s recent arrest.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France Bans ‘Big Screen’ Zones for World Cup Over Terror Fears
PARIS (AFP) — The threat of terrorist attacks in France has put paid to fans’ hopes of watching the World Cup on big screens in public spaces, France’s ministry for the interior announced Tuesday.
“I remind all publicly-elected officials of the fact that ‘big screen’ zones are completely forbidden in public spaces,” said a statement from the ministry.
France has been subject to several terrorist attacks in recent years, leading to an increased security presence all round.
“In the current climate of terrorist threats, the security procedures used at the last European Championship must be deployed again, with the same degree of efficiency.”
At Euro 2016, held in France, fans wanting to watch games on big screens in public had to do so by entering one of the 10 officially sanctioned “fan zones” in each host city, at which there was a heavy security presence.
Tuesday’s directive suggested that city officials hoping to bend the rules and organise their own fan zones with big screens can do so.
But “these transmissions, organised under their responsibility, can only be held in closed or strictly controlled areas (stadiums, sports venues, conference centres halls etc.)”
These areas would also require a “heavy security presence” and be at the “cost of the organiser”.
The 2018 World Cup in Russia will be held June 14-July 15.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
German Police: Raids in 4 Countries Over Left Wing Hamburg G20 Riots
BERLIN (AP) — Hamburg police say authorities in Italy, Spain, France and Switzerland are conducting raids as part of an investigation into the riots that accompanied last year’s Group of 20 summit in the German city.
Police gave few details of the raids that started early Tuesday. They said that, in France, authorities are looking for a male suspect in the riots for whom a European arrest warrant has been issued.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Global Media Ban on England’s Pedophile Network
Telford pedophile scandal not being covered
England’s Orwellian media blackout regarding what is known as the Telford Pedophile scandal has seeped into the internet and even American media.
English patriot activist Tommy Robinson has been given a speedy trial and sentenced to thirteen months after barely beginning to cover the Telford Scandal.
Telford is tied to similar horror in Rotherham, Rochdale, Peterborough, Newcastle, Oxford, and Bristol.
This has created a meteoric Streisand effect.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary’s Viktor Orban has announced that birth rates and demographics will be his top priority following a triumphant re-election, with mass migration rejected in favour of policies supporting Hungarian mothers.
“My first priority as something we’re all aware of, something we all know, yet something that during our everyday struggles we rarely concern ourselves with, because its long-term nature means that it doesn’t dominate people’s thinking. This is the societal phenomenon called demography,” said the Fidesz leader in an interview with Kossuth Radio, a transcript of which has been seen by Breitbart London.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italians First! Support for Right-Wing Lega Party is at a Record High of 27.5%
Italy’s right-wing Lega has gained three percent in polls in a week of political turmoil throughout the country.
In the poll run by Swg and commissioned by TgLa7, Lega now stands at 27.5 percent of votes coming in second to coalition partner M5S, as the country prepares for a re-run of the election next year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Suffered Grave Injustice From Mattarella — Savona
My statements criticised without being illustrated — economist
(ANSA) — Rome, May 28 — Former industry minister and Euroskeptic economist Paolo Savona said Monday he had been “gravely misused” by President Sergio Mattarella in being rejected for the economy ministry in a putative League-Five Star government. “I suffered a grave injustice from the country’s top institution on the basis of a paradoxical prejudice that I wanted to leave the euro and not my (real views), which I profess and I repeated in my statement, criticised by most of the media without even illustrating its content,” he said. In the statement, which he hoped might persuade Mattarella to ratify his appointment, Savona said he was not against the euro per se and was in favour of a reformed EU that no longer espoused austerity.
He said the debt-GDP ratio should primarily be brought down by growth, not spending cuts.
“It’s a matter of deciding if the pro-Europeans are those who are creating the conditions for the end of the EU or those, like me, who are asking for its reform to save the objectives which it had set itself,” Savona said, stressing Italy’s problems with poverty, falling incomes and rising inequality.
Savona went on to say that the putative League-M5S government led by law professor Giuseppe Conte “would have been able to count on the support of Macron if it had not suffered unacceptable, because unfounded, vetoes.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Irked by Oettinger ‘Markets’ Remark
Markets will stop Italians voting populists says commissioner
(ANSA) — Rome, May 29 — Italy was irked Tuesday by European Budget Commissioner Guenther Oettinger’s saying financial markets would “give a signal” to Italians not to vote for populist parties of the right or left.
Italy’s two populist parties, the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the anti-migrant Euroskeptic League, led the reaction but were not alone.
Democratic Party bigwig Carlo Calenda, the outgoing industry minister, for instance, called Oettinger’s intervention “intolerable” and called for him to apologise or resign. M5S European Parliament delegation head Laura Agea said “we ask European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to immediately contradict Commissioner Oettinger.
She said “his words are of an unprecedented gravity and are proof of the clear manipulations that Italian democracy has suffered in the last few days”.
League leader Matteo Salvini called for Oettinger’s “immediate” resignation and said: “They are without shame in Brussels. “The European budget commissioner, Germany’s (Guenther) Oettinger, says that ‘the markets will teach Italians to vote for the right thing’. If that isn’t a threat…I’m not scared #Italiansfirst”.
Italy’s permanent representation to the EU said “Italian voters do not need any lectures, free elections and democracy are fundamental European values. “Italian democracy must be respected by all, as always in our republican history, the Italians will vote in a free and independent way”, it said under the hashtag #respectmycountry.
Fallout on the financial markets will prompt Italians not to vote for populist parties, Oettinger of Germany said Tuesday, according to an excerpt from a Deutsche Welle interview to be published tonight. “The negative development of the markets will lead Italians not to vote much longer for the populists,” he reportedly said.
Deutsche Welle later issued the full quote as follows: “My concern and my expectation is that the development of the markets in Italy, of bonds and the economy, will become so radical that it could become a signal to voters not to vote for populists on the right or left”.
Oettinger’s remark that financial markets might soon teach Italians not to vote for populists any more was “ill-considered”, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s spokesperson said. “Juncker has been informed of this ill-considered comment, and has asked me to clarify the Commission’s official position: it is up to the Italians and only them to decide the future of their country, and to no one else”. Juncker himself said “Italy deserves respect” and Brussels “is ready to cooperate responsibly and with mutual respect”, stressing that its fate could not be decided by the financial markets. “Italy’s fate cannot depend on possible injunctions from the financial markets,” he said. “Italy, no matter what parties will run it in the future, is a founder member of the EU which has furnished a huge contribution to European integration,” he said. Juncker also said he was “convinced that Italy will continue its European course”.
European Council President Donald Tusk appealed to European institutions to respect Italian voters after Oettinger’s remarks. Tusk said “my appeal to all European institutions is please, respect the voters: we are here to serve them, not to lecture them”.
It is not up to the markets to decide Italy’s destiny, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said. “Italy is not a democracy with limited sovereignty. It is not the markets to decide the destiny of the republic but the citizens with their free vote and the institutions that represent them. I urge everyone to respect the will of the Italians. I have full confidence in them”,” he said.
Two populist parties, the 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the League, came out on top in the March 4 general election and are set to score even heavier in the next elections, expected in September or October.
Deutsche Well’s communications chief Christoph Jumpelt clarified to ANSA that its journalist did not clearly separate his own assessment from the quotation mistakenly attributing to Oettinger the view that markets would soon stop Italians voting for populists.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ask Mattarella About Spread — Salvini
There would be a govt in office if it were for me -League leader
(see related) (ANSA) — Rome, May 29 — League leader Matteo Salvini said “ask Mattarella” on Tuesday when asked about Italy’s soaring bond spread. He was referring to President Sergio Mattarella, who on Sunday rejected the nomination of Euroskeptic economist Paolo Savona as economy minister, which led to the collapse on an effort to form a League/5-Star Movement (M5S) coalition.
Mattarella mentioned the threat of financial turbulence as he explained his decision and on Monday asked former spending review commissioner Carlo Cottarelli to try to form an interim government.
“If it were for me, there would be a government in office now,” Salvini said.
“They chose differently to reassure the markets but they don’t seem to be achieving that to me”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Salvini Warns FI That Alliance Off if Doesn’t Want EU Change
League leader wants to present Savona again
(ANSA) — Rome, May 29 — League leader Matteo Salvini warned Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (FI) on Tuesday that they will not remain allies unless the latter is committed to radical change of the European Union. Italy looks set to have fresh elections later this year, following March’s inconclusive vote, after an attempt to form a League/5-Star Movement (M5S) government broke down over President Sergio Mattarella’s refusal to approve the nomination of Euroskeptic economist Paolo Savona as economy minister.
“The condition for an alliance with Forza Italia is that the European Union rules must change,” Salvini told Radio RAI 1.
“I cannot be allied with someone who says Europe is fine as it is”.
He added that “I’d very much like to present Savona again, if he wants to put himself out there again”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Pro-EU President Flouts Voters
The political situation reflects the stranglehold on power wielded by the pro-EU establishment, which is evidently determined to preserve economic austerity at the expense of democracy.
“We need to prepare a plan B to get out of the euro if necessary… the other alternative is to end up like Greece.” — Paolo Savona, a former industry minister who has called Italy’s entry into the euro a “historic mistake.”
“In Italy, there is a problem of democracy. In this country, you can be a convicted criminal, convicted for tax fraud, under investigation for corruption and be a minister… but if you criticize Europe, you cannot be the Minister of the Economy in Italy.” — M5S leader Luigi Di Maio.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Headed for July Elections After “Mr Scissors” Fails to Form Government
While it is nothing but a waste of time, today Italy’s premier-designate, Carlo Cottarelli, a former IMF official also known as “Mr. Scissors” for his drastic public debt cutting, was supposed to present the country’s scandalous president, Sergio Mattarella with a list of people who make up his technocratic government; instead he left the meeting with the president without an agreement on a cabinet team and Italy staring new elections in just two months.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Liege Shooting: Two Police Officers and Civilian Dead in Belgium
A man has shot dead two female police officers and a civilian in the eastern Belgian city of Liège.
The gunman also took a female cleaner hostage at a school before being killed by police. Two other police officers were also injured.
The man’s motive is not yet clear but the incident is being treated as terrorism.
Police sources quoted in local media said the man was heard shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest” in Arabic).
The deaths of the two female officers were confirmed by the local mayor’s office, AFP news agency reported…
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Oettinger Apologizes After Saying “Markets Will Teach Italians” Not to Vote for Populists
Update: Following what must have been a full court press by the top brass in Brussels on EU budget commissioner, Guenther Oettinger, to retract his statement that “the markets will lead Italians not to vote much longer for the populists”, which as we reported earlier infuriated Italians because it revealed the true nature of “democracy” in Europe, Oettinger found himself with no way out but to apologize for a comment that would have assured a negative outcome in the upcoming Italian Euro referendum:
OETTINGER APOLOGISES FOR HIS COMMENTS ON ITALY, SAYS DID NOT MEAN TO BE DISRESPECTFUL: RTRS
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Says Planned Cut in EU Funds ‘Unacceptable’
A planned 23 percent cut in EU cohesion funds for Poland under the bloc’s new budget is unacceptable, the Polish government spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
“This division [of funds]is unacceptable to Central European countries,” spokeswoman Joanna Kopcinska told state broadcaster Polish Radio.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Salvini: We Will be in the EU. Too Bad That Commissioner Oettinger Offends the Italians
Salvini has just put online a direct Facebook where he explains and clarifies once again that “ there was no euro exit planXCHARX. The League leader has also weighed in, denouncing the dose the debate still standing, or XCHARXun surreal debate about non-existent issues that still goes on oggiXCHARX thanks to XCHARXprezzolatiXCHARX journalists. Salvini then states: XCHARXLXCHARXordine the agenda of the government was not going to let casino in Europe, out tomorrow dallXCHARXeuro matina, no. He was re-discuss the way of being nellXCHARX European Union in favor of the Italians, examine some constraints, rules, regulations, I am thinking of Bolkestein Directive on banks that threatens banks (I wish there was no smell of the troika and Greece on Italian banks) , renegotiate the European budget. If born a league-M5s government representing the majority of Italians, we have the right and obligation to go soberly and politely to reconsider these rules that are bringing poverty, precariousness and insecurity throughout Europe. These rules are destroying lXCHARXunità European dellXCHARXUnione. Or the rules change or we go forward toward disaster. This is the reasoning that was behind the government. But Mattarella said no because we are not reassuring, and pulls out this Mr. Cottarelli, retired at 18 thousand euro per month, which is trying pseudo ministers for a few weeks before going to votoXCHARX.
A few hours ago thunder, however, the words of the European Commissioner for the Budget, Gunther Oettinger: ‘ the market will teach Italians to vote the right way ‘ — The statements of the EU Commissioner to further feed the anti-Europeanism, thus commented on the most of the Italian political leaders.
The day in the markets is still nervous and marks the spread to 300 points also on the expiry of two years gross rates shot up to 2.38%. According to the MTS platform, the spread on two-year bonds has reached 307 points in the afternoon, with gross returns of BTP soared to 2.38 percent, against 0.94 percent marked yesterday’s closing.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Sarkozy Ally Eric Woerth Indicted in Libya Campaign Financing Probe
The treasurer of Nicolas Sarkozy’s successful 2007 run for the French presidency has been charged as part of an investigation into suspected illicit financing of the campaign with Libyan money, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Eric Woerth, who was budget minister and later labour minister in Sarkozy’s government, is facing charges of “complicity in illegal campaign financing”, said his lawyer, Jean-Yves Leborgne.
“This indictment is based on the discovery of cash sums, very small if not outright ridiculous considering the cost of a presidential campaign,” Leborgne said…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Soros Funding Brexit Re-Vote Campaign, Set to Launch “In the Next Few Days”
Liberal Hungarian-American activist George Soros revealed that he has been quietly pouring money into a campaign for a second Brexit referendum set to begin “in the next few days,” according to the billionaire.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Swift Injustice: The “Terrifying” Case of Tommy Robinson
Authored by Bruce Bawer via The Gatestone Institute
The swiftness with which injustice was meted out to Tommy Robinson is stunning. No, more than that: it is terrifying.
Without having access to his own lawyer, Robinson was summarily tried and sentenced to 13 months behind bars. He was then transported to Hull Prison.
Meanwhile, the judge who sentenced Robinson also ordered British media not to report on his case. Newspapers that had already posted reports of his arrest quickly took them down. All this happened on the same day.
In Britain, rapists enjoy the right to a full and fair trial, the right to the legal representation of their choice, the right to have sufficient time to prepare their cases, and the right to go home on bail between sessions of their trial. No such rights were offered, however, to Tommy Robinson.
The very first time I set foot in London, back in my early twenties, I kicked up into an adrenaline high that lasted for the entire week of my visit. Never, in later years, did any other place ever have such an impact on me — not Paris, not Rome. Yes, Rome was a cradle of Western civilization, and Paris a hub of Western culture — but Britain was the place where the values of the Anglosphere, above all a dedication to freedom, had fully taken form. Without Britain, there would have been no U.S. Declaration of Independence, Constitution, or Bill of Rights.
In recent years, alas, Britain has deviated from its commitment to liberty. Foreign critics of Islam, such as the American scholar Robert Spencer, and for a time, even the Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders have been barred from the country. Now, at least one prominent native critic of Islam, Tommy Robinson, has been repeatedly harassed by the police, railroaded by the courts, and left unprotected by prison officials who have allowed Muslim inmates to beat him senseless. Clearly, British authorities view Robinson as a troublemaker and would like nothing more than to see him give up his fight, leave the country (as Ayaan Hirsi Ali left the Netherlands), or get killed by a jihadist (as happened to the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh).
On Friday, as reported here yesterday, the saga of Tommy Robinson entered a new chapter. British police officers pulled him off a street in Leeds, where, in his role as a citizen journalist, he was livestreaming a Facebook video from outside a courthouse. Inside that building, several defendants were on trial for allegedly being part of a so-called “grooming gang” — a group of men, almost all Muslim, who systematically rape non-Muslim children, in some cases hundreds of them, over a period of years or decades. Some ten thousand Facebook viewers around the world witnessed Robinson’s arrest live.
The police promptly dragged Robinson in front of a judge, where, without having access to his own lawyer, he was summarily tried and sentenced to 13 months behind bars. He was then transported to Hull Prison.
Meanwhile, the judge who sentenced him also ordered the British media not to report on his case. Newspapers that had already posted reports of his arrest quickly took them down. Even ordinary citizens who had written about the arrest on social media removed their posts, for fear of sharing Robinson’s fate. All this happened on the same day.
A kangaroo court, then a gag order. In the United Kingdom, where rapists enjoy the right to a full and fair trial, the right to the legal representation of their choice, the right to have sufficient time to prepare their cases, and the right to go home on bail between sessions of their trial. No such rights were offered, however, to Tommy Robinson.
The swiftness with which injustice was meted out to Robinson is stunning. No, more than that: it is terrifying. On various occasions over the years, I have been subjected in person to an immediate threat of Islamic violence: I have had a knife pulled on me by a young gang member, and been encircled by a crowd of belligerent men in djellabas outside a radical mosque. But that was not frightening. This is frightening — this utter violation of fundamental British freedoms.
— From one perspective, to be sure, Robinson’s lightning-fast arrest, trial, and imprisonment should not have come as a surprise. “There has been a campaign to ‘get Tommy’ — or what looks remarkably like it — for some time,” a source in the UK, whom I will call Jane Doe, told me late early Saturday morning.
The apparent justification for Robinson’s arrest is that he was on a suspended sentence. In May of last year, he was taken into custody while reporting from outside a courthouse in Kent, where another group of Muslim defendants was being tried, also on “grooming” charges. That arrest was also unjustified. At least, however, Robinson was given a suspended sentence. This time, presumably, it was determined that the mere act of reporting yet again from outside another courthouse amounted to a violation of the terms of his suspended sentence.
The official cynicism here is obvious. Jane Doe made a vital point: that often, when one of these “grooming gang” trials is being held, the extended families and friends of the defendants stand outside the courthouse and “heckle and intimidate” the rape victims as well as their families and supporters. “I’ve had reports of children as young as five throwing stones at victims’ families,” Doe said.
“This intimidation by extended community groups also involves going around to houses and harassing people.” She has even heard of witnesses for the prosecution who have needed police protection to use a rest room inside a courthouse. Needless to say, this heckling and harassment is rarely reported on and never punished.
One potentially positive aspect of this ugly turn of events is that it turned heads that should have been turned long ago. Jane Doe noted that many of her Twitter contacts “were tweeting that they didn’t necessarily support Tommy in general but were appalled that someone reporting these [grooming] crimes was arrested.” Some of her acquaintances, she said, “are stunned and in despair.” On Saturday, thousands of Robinson’s supporters rallied in Westminster. But will such public protests make any difference? One British ex-policeman reacted to Robinson’s incarceration with a video urging his fellow countrymen not just to march or rally but to join Ann Marie Waters’ party For Britain and do for freedom of speech in Britain what UKIP did to get British out of the EU.
Jane Doe had more interesting information to offer. While Robinson is being punished for drawing attention to Muslim rape gangs, the Sikh Awareness Society, which has also reported on these “grooming” trials, is left alone. “They are a godsend,” said Doe, “because they pull no punches yet don’t seem to get the intimidation that people like Tommy get.” Of course — British police would not dare arrest a bearded man in a turban. Doe also mentioned an imam who was arrested recently, only to be let go by police after “a large group of supporters demanded his release.” At least one police officer acknowledged that the imam had been freed because otherwise “they would have been facing riots all around the country.” Doe summed up British authorities’ current approach to the Islamic situation as follows: “they have lost control… and are simply going for those who they think will make the least fuss. The classroom bully has terrorised the teacher into punishing the kids who are bullied.”
One assumes that the officials think that perpetrating this kind of injustice will somehow keep the peace. If I were one of their number, I would not be so certain. The people at that Westminster rally on Saturday were angry. How many other British subjects share their anger? Doe expressed concern that this summer in Britain may turn out to be quite restive. Well, maybe that is all for the good.
For my part, I cannot for the life of me fathom why not a single prominent or powerful individual in all of the United Kingdom has come forward to challenge the mistreatment of Tommy Robinson — and thereby stand up for freedom of speech.
Is the whole British establishment a bunch of cowards? I suppose we will know the answer to that question soon enough, if we do not know it already. [Comment: Tommy was silenced since he is effective at waking up and informing the British public.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The European Union’s Days Are Numbered, Chaos Erupts in Italy
A sea of red across the board.
Contagion is setting in as investors in the United States return to the markets after their holiday weekend. We are witnessing a full-blown panic set in as markets around the world are down across the board.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tommy Robinson Reporting Restriction Lifted, Jailed for 13 Months
Right-wing activist and citizen journalist Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 13 months after breaking contempt of court laws.
A judge had attempted to ban all reporting of the case over the weekend, but it can now be revealed after the restrictions were challenged by Leeds Live and other publications. The reporting ban was lifted by Leeds Crown Court Tuesday.
The restrictions were ridiculed online, as details of the case were easily available on social media and some U.S. outlets, with many prominent figures sharing details and the hashtag #FreeTommy trending on Twitter.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Authorities Urged to Ban Sharp Kitchen Knives Amidst Crimewave
A judge has called for a nationwide programme to round the points of kitchen knives, and for authorities to restrict the sale of chefs’ knives to professionals amidst surging youth violence in Britain.
Long, sharp blades are deadly and unnecessary for ordinary food preparation at home, Judge Nic Madge told Luton Crown Court last week, stating that a ban on kitchen knives would save lives.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Couple Convicted of Forcing Daughter to Marry Cousin in Bangladesh
LONDON (AP) — A British jury has convicted a couple of attempting to force their teenage daughter to marry her first cousin in Bangladesh.
The 19-year-old from Leeds in northern England said her parents used verbal and physical abuse to try to get her to marry the relative. The teenager eventually alerted British consular officials and was rescued days before the wedding.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Claim: Police Dropped Cases Against 20 Telford Groomers Because They Were ‘Too Much Trouble’
Three police officers have come forward to reveal how cases against Telford rape gang members were allegedly dropped because pursuing court orders was considered “too much trouble”.
One officer was said they were “horrified” by the decision and another claimed the scale of the abuse was “huge”, after a probe by journalists suggested there could be as many as 1,000 victims in the small town.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Want to Understand What is Wrong With Europe? Look at Italy
CAMBRIDGE, England — Italy’s election this week has destroyed any remaining hope that the center in European politics can prevail.
On the same day that members of the Social Democratic Party in Germany gave reluctant blessing to another “grand coalition” in Berlin, Italians went to the polls and delivered more than half their votes to anti-establishment parties. The center-right coalition that emerged when Silvio Berlusconi formed Forza Italia is now led by the League, a far-right party that threatens thousands of migrants with deportation. And as in nearly every recent European election, the principal center-left party lost a large number of voters. Given these results, the only possible government that can emerge in Rome will contain at least one of the two insurgent populist parties: either the League or the Five Star Movement, the single largest party in Parliament….
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Why Belgium Continues to Face a Major ISIS Terrorist Threat
We received a stark reminder on Tuesday of Belgium’s continued vulnerability to Islamic State terrorism.
In the latest attack, two police officers and a civilian member of the public were shot dead by a man who was shouting “God is Great” in Arabic. The terrorist was shot and killed as he resisted arrest by a police response team. But according to Belgian media, the man had only been released from prison on Monday.
Apparently without any terrorist sympathies before his imprisonment, Belgian authorities are concerned that the man was radicalized while in prison. It’s a relevant investigative line of inquiry in that Belgian and French prisons have particular problems with Islamic extremist radicalization. Yet Belgium’s terrorist challenge isn’t simply that its prisons are incubators for extremism. It’s also that fact that Belgium’s Islamic community is plagued by a radical minority.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Why the Upcoming Release of 40 Radicalized Inmates Presents ‘A Major Risk’ To France
The 40 radicalized prisoners who are preparing to leave French prisons over the next 18 months after serving their sentences are “a major risk”, France’s leading counter-terrorism prosecutor has warned.
France is already on high alert for terrorism but the security threat is likely to only increase in the coming years, according to France’s leading counter-terrorist prosecutor Francois Molins.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Why You Should Never Use Wikipedia
The latest report about Wikipedia’s corruption comes from the great investigative journalist Craig Murray, who had been in the UK’s Foreign Service from 1984-2004 and who was forced out in 2004 because, having been since 2002 UK’s Ambassador to Uzbekistan, he decided to whistleblow instead of to accept the corruption by his own and Uzbekistan’s Governments.
Wikipedia’s article about him says that his immediately prior posting had involved participating in enforcement of the prior economic sanctions against Iraq, and “His group gave daily reports to Margaret Thatcher and John Major. In Murder in Samarkand, he describes how this experience led him to disbelieve the claims of the UK and US governments in 2002 about Iraqi WMDs.” So, his disenchantment with UK’s foreign policies seems to have grown over the years, instead of suddenly to have appeared only during the two years in which he was an Ambassador.
On May 18th, he headlined at his much-followed blog, “The Philip Cross Affair”, and reported: “133,612 edits to Wikipedia have been made in the name of ‘Philip Cross’ over 14 years. That’s over 30 edits per day, seven days a week. And I do not use that figuratively: Wikipedia edits are timed, and if you plot them, the timecard for ‘Philip Cross’s’ Wikipedia activity is astonishing … if it is one individual.”
He presents reasons to question that it’s a one-person operation, then states that…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
India: Huge Explosives Recovered From Suspected Jihadi House in Birbhum
Muslim suspect, may have link with JMB, held after huge explosives recovered from his house at Nalhati in Birbhum district of West Bengal.
Upendra Bharti | HENB | Nalhati | May 29, 2018:: A huge amount of explosives, including 11,000 gelatin sticks and 50,000 detonators along with 110 quintal sacks full of ammonium nitrate, have been recovered from Nalhati in Birbhum district of West Bengal. One Muslim, named Anarul Sheikh, has been detained and two vehicles have been seized by the police.
Acting on a tip-off, policemen from Nalhati Police Station reached Muslim populated Bahadurpur area.
The cops noticed a vehicle loaded with huge white sacks late last night. They saw two Muslim men unloading the sacks and taking them into a house.
When the police asked them to open the sacks, they fled. Then, the cops detained a person called Anarul Sheikh, the owner of the house, where the explosives were being stored.
After opening the sacks, police found 11,000 gelatin sticks and 50,000 detonators and a huge quantity of ammonium nitrate…
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
Hindu Existence Exclusive
Upendra Bharti | HENB | Howrah | May 29, 2018:: Three Muslim businessmen belonging to fanatic Muslim community were arrested from Bankra in Howrah on Sunday evening for allegedly spreading communal hatred against Hindus through a video that they posted on social media sites in the afternoon.
The police launched a search operation and picked up Sheikh Nizamuddin, Sheikh Noor and Shaikh Imran from their hideouts in Bankra. They were charged under Section 295A of IPC for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings, among other offences. The accused, aged between 32 and 36 years, are promoters and suppliers of building materials. They were produced in a Howrah court on Monday and remanded in police custody for further investigation.
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
North Korea Sends Top Official to New York to Prepare for Summit
In the latest sign that the recently “canceled” US-North Korea summit — which as we and so many others speculated was merely a negotiating ploy by Trump — is now fully back on, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent one of his top aides to New York to meet with US officials in New York this week, Bloomberg reported. President Trump announced the official’s impending arrival in a tweet sent early Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Three masked men robbed a regional pub in NSW and terrorised the staff with a samurai sword and machete. CCTV footage shows one of the men holding the sword to a woman’s throat.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
The United Nations knew of charity workers offering refugees food in exchange for sexual favours for more than a decade, it has been revealed.
An 84-page report on ‘food-for-sex’ practices in West African refugee camps was compiled and handed over to the UN in 2002, but was never published.
It claims that workers at more than 40 aid organisations, of which 15 are major international charities including Save the Children and Médecins Sans Frontières, sexually exploited young refugees.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
70 Migrants Detained Off Greek Island of Crete
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Authorities on Greece’s island of Crete say 70 migrants have been removed from a yacht and detained after entering Greek waters.
The migrants, including 20 children, were being taken Tuesday in three coast guard vessels to the port of Kissamos, on the western part of the island, officials from the Merchant Marine Ministry said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austria’s Sebastian Kurz Wants to Use EU Border Guards in Africa
In an effort to stop migrants from crossing the Mediterranean, Austria’s chancellor said EU border patrol guards should be sent to northern Africa. Kurz’s government has made cracking down on immigration a priority.
Frontex border control agents should be allowed to operate in northern Africa in order to prevent further migration to Europe, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in an interview with German newspaper Welt am Sonntag,published on Sunday.
Kurz’s comments appeared to foreshadow the Austrian government’s plans for when it takes over the EU Presidency for six months starting in July.
What Kurz proposed:
a.. Kurz said Frontex needs “a clear political mandate” with the governments of northern African countries that would allow EU border guards to operate there.
b.. He added that the mandate should give agents the ability to “end the dirty business model of human traffickers and to prevent smuggler boats from even setting out on the dangerous journey over the Mediterranean.”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Austrian Chancellor Kurz Wants EU Border Guards Deployed to North Africa
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz wants to see the European Union border agency Frontex expand its operations into North Africa to help battle illegal migration.
Chancellor Kurz said over the weekend that he also wanted to see the EU’s border agency increase its personnel to 10,000 and that Frontex needed a new mandate in order to work with local governments in third countries to prevent the mass flow of illegal migrants, Kronen Zeitung reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dozens of Refugees, Police Clash in German City of Dresden
Two police officers and a security guard were injured when fighting broke out at a migrant reception center in the eastern city of Dresden. It was the second standoff between asylum seekers and authorities in a month.
Around 50 refugees attacked police after they attempted to stop a fight at a migrant center, authorities in the eastern German city of Dresden said on Monday.
Police were called after security guards struggled to contain a dispute about food between two migrants from Georgia on Friday evening.
“As a result, about 50 residents gathered and attacked officers by throwing lit cigarettes, then kicking and beating them,” a statement from Dresden police said.
“One attacker tried to attack the officers with an iron bar from his bed,” they added.
Two officers and a security guard were injured during the incident.
Additional police units were called to help bring the situation under control, officials said.
Four suspects — all of them Georgian nationals aged 17, 20, 27 and 42 — were detained on Friday for breach of the peace. Police said one of them was due to be deported following the arrest, while three others were taken to prison.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer was expected to visit Dresden later on Monday to discuss security and migration with the Saxony state premier and interior minister.
Following Ellwangen standoff
Friday’s violence follows a standoff in Baden-Württemberg, earlier this month, where police were set upon by a crowd of 150 migrants after they tried to collect a 23-year-old failed asylum seeker for deportation. That incident took place in the town of Ellwangen, between Nuremberg and Stuttgart.
The refugee group then started attacking the patrol vehicles, and harassed and punched the officers, before giving them an ultimatum to free the man.
Due to the seriousness of the threat, police at the scene said they ordered a security guard to find the key to unlock the asylum seeker’s handcuffs. He then fled the scene and it took investigators several days to locate him.
a.. Date 28.05.2018
a.. Author Nik Martin (with dpa)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants Discover New Route Into Italy, 2,000 Arrive in 48 Hours
After a period of relative calm, African migrants have begun arriving en masse into Italy once again, crossing through Tunisia now that Libya has become virtually impassable.
Over the weekend some 2,000 African migrants arrived on the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia, many of them having departed from the North African country of Tunisia.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Some 30,000 Protesters Take to German Streets Over Migration Issue
While some activists protested German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s policy of open-doors toward migrants, others campaigned against racism and discrimination in the country.
More than 25,000 people took part in protests in Berlin on Sunday, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported, referring to local police.
One of the rallies was reportedly organized by the right-wing party “Alternative for Germany” (AfD) and attended by over 5,000 people. The activists demanded changes to the country’s migration policy and called for a stop to its “Islamization.”
[Comment: Globalist puppet politicians aka traitors are intentionally seeking to disintegrate their respective nation state. It is a war by globalists and their lackeys vs the people. A kind of war people are only begining to grasp.]]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: 40,000 New Places Must be Found at Schools After the Influx of Migrants
MINISTERS last night announced funding for an extra 40,000 extra school places following warnings of intensifying pressure on the education system caused by the influx of migrants. The Department for Education announced that it will provide an extra £680million to create the new places in primary and secondary schools in England.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden’s Feminists Call Nationalism (And Not Islam) A Major Threat to Women’s Rights in Europe
Party leader of the Feminist Initiative (FI), Gudrun Schyman and her colleague, MEP Soraya Post, are worried about Europe’s increasing nationalism. Both think nationalism is the arch enemy of feminism, Sweden’s Fria Tider reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Church of England is Encouraging Gay, Lesbian and Transgender People to Become Priests
The Church of England has launched a diversity drive that is specifically encouraging gay, lesbian and transgender people to take “roles of leadership and service in the local church”. This move is being greatly applauded by the LGBT community and is being very strongly criticized by conservatives. At one time such action by the Church of England would have been unthinkable, but today this news is hardly being noticed. The Church of England has worked very hard to be welcoming to the LGBT community in recent years, and this has created some very significant rifts within the denomination. Other major Christian denominations are going through similar struggles, and ultimately we may be seeing the largest shift in Protestant thinking since the days of the Reformation.
For the Church of England, the debate is essentially over. Bishops have decided that they very much want to encourage gay, lesbian and transgender people to take on roles of leadership…
One of the biggest reasons for this new “guidance” is the fact that young people are not embracing the church. It is apparently hoped that this new diversity drive will encourage young people to get involved…
[Comment: Globalist controlled CoE is full of people with itchy ears.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“A convert to Islam named Benjamin Herman”
The MSM will be silent about this, because it undermines their “race” theory with islam…
Knives are too sharp and filing them down is solution to soaring violent crime, judge says.
Yes folks some mothers do ‘ave ’em.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/27/knives-sharp-filing-solution-soaring-violent-crime-judge-says/amp/
This is fit for The Onion!
Cars? Chain saws?
Or how about banning some PEOPLE?
A month or so ago a well publicized photo by the UK police of “attack instruments” was published to great derision.
I remarked to my husband that if they raided our garage we would go to jail for life!
We have gas cans for the lawn tractor and gas canisters for the grill along with all manner of sharp objects used to garden. We even have a pitch fork, a sickle and a pointy hoe! Don’t even get me started on how many hand shears we own and that I get them sharpened each year.
The point is that the UK gov’t is attempting to deal with a secondary problem. As Douglas Murray said, the gov’t cannot deal with the primary problem which is, let’s face it, Islamic invasion of their isle. And so, they look for an opportunity to regulate people like me…
How much longer the British public is willing to put up with this is anyone’s guess.
My husband recently saw a photo of a small culinary whip with a sign that you must be 18 or older to buy it. What’s going to happen there? Will someone saw off the ends to produce a multi-pronged pokey thing?
In the case of the culinary whip it is a tertiary response to the primary problem that everyone knows about.
Wikipedia has removed the most obvious religious affiliation of politicians, mostly.
Netflix + The Obama = A need to switch networks.
No Wikipedia, No Netflix.
Long, sharp blades are deadly and unnecessary for ordinary food preparation at home, Judge Nic Madge told Luton Crown Court last week, stating that a ban on kitchen knives would save lives.
Remember the days when archery was mandatory for all men of England?
I’m not quite that ancient, but most people carrying knives are not Boy Scouts!
Who really won the Battle of Britain?
The families of the 2 murdered policewomen in Liege, Belgium, should sue the government for criminal negligence, in allowing a dangerous nut-case out on ‘day-release’.
… but good luck with THAT !
The terrorist from Liege took the cleaning lady hostage, who was muslim and participating in ramadan. The terrorist didn’t kill her because of that.
https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20180530_03536764 (Dutch)
This year (2018), those born in the year 2000 are generally considered to be adults and all that goes with that.
Anyone born before the year 2000 has one foot in the previous century.
Changes should be expected.
To what changes do you refer? I have children born in the 80’s. My motto was “play hard, eat hard, sleep hard.” It seemed to work out.
I would think that the motto would only be more relevant today.
Changes in attitudes similar to the changes in attitudes that were in effect in the 1900’s regarding the 1800’s, only more so.
Yours is a vaporice comment. Please be specific. To what changes do you refer? What is your historical analogy?
Sorry, don’t know what you mean by “vaporice” and definition search doesn’t bring up one.
I’m not about to try to PREDICT what’s GOING to happen. No one knows the future for sure.
What I am saying is that effective this year many people born in this century (21st) will be able to vote, will be out of school and looking for jobs, etc., etc., which was not true even last year.
You mean re-primitivization? A de-evolution of liberty? A radical decline in safety?
Yes. Please be more specific.
Given that there are primitive areas in this world, presumably you mean in the more “advanced” areas (i.e., a breakdown of present “advanced” systems wherever they are), which would depend on things like the education of the young. If what they are taught has been established for a while, that’s not likely to be “new.”
Given past states of totalitarianism, I would say a “de-evolution of liberty” is nothing “new.”
Given the terrorism, I would say the “decline in safety” has been present for a while already. That wouldn’t be “new.”
I don’t see that my statement is so outlandish. One _obvious_ revolution already in play is in communications. What some others are remains to be seen.
Chaotic political reality in Italy, some depth on it ( i.e. the shifting allegiances) at
https://www.themaven.net/mishtalk/economics/reader-from-italy-forget-the-center-right-coalition-thesis-xEQxoVxzU0WgNcQMiy-m4w/
And if
“…the spread between Italian and German government bonds “is widening as a consequence of both the uncertainty and — I am told — of the fact that the European Central Bank is not purchasing government bonds as it did until 15 days ago.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-30/italian-capital-markets-rebound-rift-emerges-between-populist-leaders
is true then you have some clear evidence the ECB is micromanaging markets to reflect political favour… or should that read, unmicromanaging markets to allow economic indicators to reflect longstanding overall distrust in Italy’s finances so as to make that distrust appear as a reflection of market sentiment of current politics.
https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2018/05/29/new-center-occasional-paper-documents-how-the-kremlin-fosters-destabilizing-refugee-flows-into-europe/
This Putin is to blame for the European crisis of refugees. He thus avenges Europe for the collapse of the USSR.
I think he also takes revenge on Russia by flooding the country with Tajiks, Kirghiz and Uzbeks.