Gates of Vienna News Feed 9/24/2018

Panama has revoked the registration of the NGO migrant-rescue ship Aquarius, making it impossible for it to operate any longer in the Mediterranean. The Italian government denies pressuring Panama to make the decision.

In other migration news, the Libyan coast guard “rescued” 235 migrants off the coast of western Libya. There’s no word on where the migrants will be offloaded.

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

Thanks to Insubria, Reader from Chicago, RN, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» France Deficit 2.8% — Di Maio
 
USA
» Confirming Assange’s Assertion That Wikileaks’ Source Was the DNC Itself
» Emails Show Yale Profs Canceling Classes for Kavanaugh Hearing
» North Carolina Woman Arrested for Saving 27 Cats & Dogs Without Permission (And How You Can Help)
» The Creator of One of YouTube’s Top Tween Channels Was Arrested for Molesting a Minor. YouTube is Keeping the Channel Up.
» The Real Wave is Red : Republican Sentiment Soars to Record High
 
Canada
» Police Document Shows Entire Canadian Political Class Lied About Toronto Mass Shooter
 
Europe and the EU
» A Month of Multiculturalism in Britain: August 2018
» Bloodbath Britain: Parents Buying Stab Vests for Kids Amid Knife-Crime Epidemic
» Brussels Panic: May and Trump to Hold Brexit Trade Talks Tomorrow — Warning to EU
» Conservative MPs Pile in Support for A+ Brexit Plan
» Eastern Finland Church Burns to the Ground, Police Suspect Arson
» EU Takes Poland to Its Top Court Over Judicial Reform
» European Union Sues Poland for Undermining Independence of Courts
» Five Things We Learned From Switzerland’s Weekend Referendums
» George Soros Foundation Sues Hungary on Laws Targeting NGOs
» German Wheelchair User Punched Several Times in the Face Without Reason, By Tanned Man
» German Report Documents More Than 3,600 Abuse Cases Within the Catholic Church
» Hungary: Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister, No Sanctions
» Hungary Wants UN Guarantees on Helping Persecuted Christians
» Hungary Will Retaliate in Kind if Ukraine Expels Consul — Foreign Minister
» Is it Time for Africa to Teach Europe What Democracy and Passive Racism Are?
» Italy: Bennett Reiterates Argento Rape Claims, Dario Says Vendetta’
» Italy: Conte Spokesman Under Fire Over Ministry Purge Comments
» Italy: La Sicilia Publisher 150 Mn Seized in Mafia Probe
» Italy: Mayor Nabbed in ‘Ndrangheta Sweep
» Italy: Woman: 21: Beaten and Raped in Florence Street
» Italy: Massive Manhunt After Woman’s Earlobe Cut in Violent Robbery
» Italy’s Stance Clear on Passports — Conte Tells Kurz
» Kors to Buy Versace
» London Needs to Adopt Chicago’s Method to Battle Uncontrollable Rise in Stabbings and Murders
» Polish Ruling Party Widens Lead in New Survey
» Steve Bannon Wants to Mobilise and Unite Europe’s Populists Against the Elites
» Swedish Parliament Prepares to Vote on Prime Minister
» The Latest: Pope Quips “I Am the Devil” Next to John Paul
» The Turner Prize in 2018 is a Miserable, Tedious, Poker-Faced Display
» Top Officer Admits British Police Are ‘Very Close to Losing the Streets’
» UK Taxpayer to Pay for Safe House and Benefits for Hate Preacher Anjem Choudary After Release in October
» Vatican Cardinal: Pope Francis is ‘ICE-Cold, Cunning Machiavellian’
 
North Africa
» Libya: Tripoli: 96 Dead, 444 Wounded Since August
 
Middle East
» ‘Alternative Nobel’ Goes to Three Incarcerated Saudi Activists
» Turkey: Arrest Warrants Against 61 Soldiers for ‘Gulen Ties’
 
Latin America
» Poll: Brazil’s Bolsonaro Leads Presidential Race
 
Immigration
» “France is Being Islamised and Africanised” — Journalist
» Bundestag President Tells Germans to Forget About “Refugees” Returning Home
» Construction Set to Begin on a Four-Mile Stretch of Trump’s Border Wall
» IOM Says 78,372 Migrants Have Entered EU by Sea This Year
» Italy Denies Leaning on Panama to Strip Migrant Ship of Flag
» Italy: Factbox: Salvini’s Security-Migrant Decree
» Italy Government Adopts Hardline Anti-Migrant Decree
» Libya’s Coast Guard Rescues 235 Migrants Off Western Coast
» NGO Migrant Ship Has Registration Revoked; No More Libya-Europe Runs
» Pope Francis: Virgin Mary Stands by the ‘Deported’
» Socialist Spain Named Most Welcoming Nation for Refugees in New Survey
 
Culture Wars
» Big Tech Has Defined Conservatism as “Hate Speech”
» Chicago Cardinal Suspends Priest for Burning LGBT Rainbow Flag
» Musician’s Sold Out Shows Cancelled Because He Retweeted Paul Joseph Watson
 
General
» Ross 128 b and the Search for Earth-Like Exoplanets
 

France Deficit 2.8% — Di Maio

We too are sovereign says deputy PM

(ANSA) — Rome, September 24 — France will hit a deficit-to-GDP ratio of 2.8% to fund tax cuts in its budget, Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio said Monday over a tug-of-war in government between Economy Minister Giovanni Tria who wants to keep the deficit at the EU-promised 1.6% and leaders who want to breach 2%.

Di Maio, who wants to fund a basic income, said Italy had just as much sovereignty over its economic policy as France.

“France, in order to fund its budget, will hit a deficit of 2.8%. We are a sovereign country exactly like France. The money is there and can finally be spent in favour of citizens. In Italy as in France”.

Di Maio’s fellow deputy premier and partner, Interior Minister and League leader Matteo Salvini, wants to fund other costly measures including a ‘flat tax’ and a pension overhaul.

Di Maio, who is also labour and economy minister, is the leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S).

The M5S’s partner is Salvini’s anti-migrant Euroskeptic League.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Confirming Assange’s Assertion That Wikileaks’ Source Was the DNC Itself

Authored by Elizabeth Vos via DisobedientMedia.com

Disobedient Media has closely followed the work of the Forensicator, whose analysis has shed much light on the publications by the Guccifer 2.0 persona for over a year. In view of the more recent work published by the Forensicator regarding potential media collusion with Guccifer 2.0, we are inclined to revisit an interview given by WikiLeaks Editor-In-Chief Julian Assange in August of 2016, prior to the publication of the Podesta Emails in October, and the November US Presidential election.

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

Emails Show Yale Profs Canceling Classes for Kavanaugh Hearing

Authored by Zachary Petrizzo via Campus Reform

Professors at Yale Law School canceled classes Monday to allow students to protest the Judge Brett Kavanaugh hearing, according to emails obtained exclusively by Campus Reform.

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

North Carolina Woman Arrested for Saving 27 Cats & Dogs Without Permission (And How You Can Help)

Authored by Daisy Luther via The Organic Prepper blog

A woman from Wayne County, North Carolina did the right thing during the chaos of Hurricane Florence and she got arrested for it because she didn’t ask the government’s permission.

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

The Creator of One of YouTube’s Top Tween Channels Was Arrested for Molesting a Minor. YouTube is Keeping the Channel Up.

The arrest raises questions about whether YouTube is taking appropriate precautions to ensure its most vulnerable talent isn’t exploited or abused.

For weeks now, SevenAwesomeKids, part of one of YouTube’s biggest and most active tween/teen girl channel networks, has been suspiciously dormant. The reason: Its owner and proprietor, Ian Rylett, was arrested this August in Florida for “lewd and lascivious molestation” involving one of the young girls who makes videos for his channels.

According to an arrest warrant obtained by BuzzFeed News, detectives were called to Rylett’s Orange County hotel room on the morning of Aug. 16, after Rylett allegedly verbally abused the girl, demanding she undress in front of him against her will and “practice wrapping her breasts down, to make them appear smaller for the video shoot.” According to the report, the girl, who is under 16, claims Rylett touched her breasts and fondled her while repeatedly making her undress, eventually attempting to forcefully remove her underwear. The arrest report also alleges that Rylett “threatened to use the contract to fine her if she did not comply with his demand.” Rylett pleaded not guilty to the charges at an arraignment last month. He has surrendered his passport and will stand trial later this year. Rylett’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.

Rylett’s channel remains live on YouTube; the streaming video company learned of his arrest in mid-August.

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

The Real Wave is Red : Republican Sentiment Soars to Record High

With stocks at record highs and President Trump gloating at the “record strength” of the US economy, it appears confidence is coming back as sentiment among Republicans reached an all-time record high in the latest Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index.

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

Police Document Shows Entire Canadian Political Class Lied About Toronto Mass Shooter

Last month a Muslim man named Faisal Hussain walked down Toronto’s Greektown neighbourhood, down the popular Danforth Avenue, shooting everyone he met. He murdered two women — an 18 year old named Rees Fallon, and a ten year old girl named Juliana Kozis, and wounded a dozen more.

Now, I just said Faisal Hussain walked down the street shooting everyone he met. That’s not accurate. He ran into a man named Jaspal Singh, a Sikh. And he told that Sikh man, who obviously has brown skin, and could appear to be Muslim, I suppose, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to shoot you.”

But Hussain “stood on top of a woman and shot her four times.”

How does that make sense?

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

A Month of Multiculturalism in Britain: August 2018

When the rape charge was put to him, Al-Noor, through his interpreter, told Hull Crown Court: “Guilty. Yes, I did that. Why not?”

A police officer phoned a charity to ask whether it was “culturally acceptable” for an Iraqi pedophile [whom he had just arrested] to have a 12-year-old girlfriend.

Officials received dozens of reports last year that women wanted to block visas to the UK for men they had been made to marry in countries such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates.

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

Bloodbath Britain: Parents Buying Stab Vests for Kids Amid Knife-Crime Epidemic

PARENTS plan to buy their sons stab-proof vests to safeguard them from Britain’s knife-crime epidemic.

The family of murdered male model Harry Uzoka, 25, said the desperate measure was due to the climate of fear on the streets.

This year London clocked up 100 homicides faster than at any time in the past decade.

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

Brussels Panic: May and Trump to Hold Brexit Trade Talks Tomorrow — Warning to EU

THERESA May is to hold trade talks with Donald Trump on Wednesday as she prepares for Britain’s successful future after Brexit.

Downing Street confirmed that the Prime Minister will meet the US President on her trip to New York this week after she takes part in the UN General Assembly.

In a packed 48-hour schedule the Prime Minister will also take part in UN discussions on controlling chemical weapons where she will again condemn the Russian links to the Salisbury nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

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

Conservative MPs Pile in Support for A+ Brexit Plan

Tory MPs have been quick to pile in and support the IEA’s A+ Brexit plan.

Boris Johnson has already described it as a “real alternative” — and it is clear a number of other prominent Conservatives agree.

Conor Burns tweeted that: “Having died at home Chequers had a second death last week at the EU summit.

“The IEA Plan A+ offers a road map forward. A comprehensive free trade deal with EU with additions. Time to stop flogging the dead horse and mount a stallion.”

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

Eastern Finland Church Burns to the Ground, Police Suspect Arson

A wooden church dating back to the eighteenth century has been destroyed by fire in the Joensuu municipality of Kiihtelysvaara.

Police have launched a preliminary investigation into a fire that completely destroyed a centuries-old wooden church in eastern Finland. The authorities say they have reason to believe that the blaze that levelled the Kiihtelysvaara church was intentionally started, and so the crime is being investigated as a case of aggravated property damage.

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

EU Takes Poland to Its Top Court Over Judicial Reform

‘Polish law on the Supreme Court is incompatible with EU law’

(AP-ANSA) — BRUSSELS — The European Union has decided to take Poland to its top court, the European Court of Justice, over disagreements on the overhaul of the Polish judicial system, a move criticized as a violation of Western democratic standards.

The EU’s executive Commission said in a statement Monday that “the Polish law on the Supreme Court is incompatible with EU law as it undermines the principle of judicial independence.” The Commission gave Warsaw a first warning in July and followed it up with another step in August before taking Monday’s decision.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

European Union Sues Poland for Undermining Independence of Courts

BRUSSELS, SEPT 24 — The European Union sued Poland on Monday in the EU’s highest court over its ruling party’s changes to the judiciary, which the bloc believes violates the independence of the courts.

“The European Commission maintains that the Polish law on the Supreme Court is incompatible with EU law as it undermines the principle of judicial independence, including the irremovability of judges,” the EU’s executive Commission said in announcing the move.

The new Polish law lowers the retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 70 to 65 years, putting 27 out of 72 sitting judges at risk of being forced to retire. The mandate of the head of the Supreme Court would be prematurely terminated.

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

Five Things We Learned From Switzerland’s Weekend Referendums

Swiss voters cast their ballots in several national and regional referendums on the weekend. Here are the key takeaways.

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

George Soros Foundation Sues Hungary on Laws Targeting NGOs

BUDAPEST, Hungary — An international philanthropic organization founded by billionaire George Soros said Monday it has filed applications before the European Court of Human Rights and Hungary’s Constitutional Court to challenge recent laws in Hungary targeting civic groups working with refugees and asylum-seekers.

James Goldston, director of the Open Society Foundations’ legal team, told The Associated Press that the legal action is aimed at countering laws “designed to intimidate and silence independent voices in Hungary.”

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

German Wheelchair User Punched Several Times in the Face Without Reason, By Tanned Man

A wheelchair user was brutally attacked on a bus in Lüdenscheid, Germany. The disabled man, travelling on bus line 87, was attacked from behind by an unknown man.

German media say the man was sitting in his wheelchair in the designated place for disabled people talking to a friend.

When the bus stopped at the “Hülscheiderbaum” in Lüdenscheid bus stop, a passenger came from behind and suddenly grabbed the wheelchair of the man and tried to pull it backwards through the open door.

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

German Report Documents More Than 3,600 Abuse Cases Within the Catholic Church

BERLIN — A report to be released Tuesday documents the sexual abuse of more than 3,600 people by 1,670 clergy members within Germany’s Catholic Church over a period of 68 years — and even those numbers probably underestimate the scale of the problem, the authors say.

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

Hungary: Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister, No Sanctions

‘Decision made by EU parliament is ideological’

(ANSA) — SOFIA, Sep 20 — “There is a repressive action against Hungary that is not based on solid ground, since there is no significant evidence in favour of the European parliament proposal to impose EU sanctions against that country”, said Bulgaria’s deputy premier and defense minister Krassimir Karakachanov at the end of a meeting of the ministerial council last night. Karakachanov added that, in accordance with a proposal made by the coalition partners ‘United Patriots’, the center-right government led by Boyko Borissov (GERB), is preparing to issue Sofia’s statement on the EU sanctions against Hungary. “We believe that the decision made by the EU parliament is absolutely biased and based on pure ideological convictions, without taking into account that Budapest is available to discuss with the Commission some of the criticism of Hungary”, Karakachanov added. According to deputy premier, “the decision made by the European Parliament is a violation of sovereignty”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Hungary Wants UN Guarantees on Helping Persecuted Christians

A new world order is taking shape, bringing with it new security risks which Europe and the world must be ready to tackle, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in New York on Monday.

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

Hungary Will Retaliate in Kind if Ukraine Expels Consul — Foreign Minister

Hungary will retaliate in kind if Ukraine expels one of its consuls, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Sunday, but voiced hope that the two countries can avoid such a scenario.

Speaking to MTI at the airport before leaving for New York for next week’s session of the United Nations General Assembly, Szijjarto noted that he will sit down with his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, on Tuesday to discuss what he called “the new momentum behind anti-Hungarian agitation in Ukraine”.

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

Is it Time for Africa to Teach Europe What Democracy and Passive Racism Are?

Picture it. The aftermath of a national election, where senior international observer from a leading European country declares of the election process he has just witnessed: “In all the many election observations I’ve been on, I have not seen anything that comes close to how undemocratic the voting system is”; and then goes on to say “It is just so far beneath anything remotely resembling European election standards, or anything we would allow, even in Eastern Europe.”

Combine those comments with incidences in the same election of election officials at voting stations being drunk, ballot papers of some political parties not being available in voting stations, ballot papers for the different political parties being in different colours and having to be selected openly so that everyone in a voting station can see who someone will be voting for when they select their papers, and “family voting” — whereby groups of people are allowed to go into the voting area together.

Add to that the fact that if anyone wishes to lodge any complaint against any of these events, the only entities that they can go to in order to complain are the municipalities in charge of the elections. These being the very same municipalities that set up and controlled the voting process in their municipalities in the first place — which are all run by persons who are members of the political parties in charge of those municipalities.

These are just some of the issues that presented themselves. Other issues included an extraordinarily high number of “spoiled ballots”, political party members bragging on Twitter how they had removed and thrown away the ballot papers of competing parties, allegations of promises (or requests) for business and social programmes from political parties in return for votes, election officials — including a pregnant woman — being openly abused or threatened with physical violence at polling stations, etc. It is a long — and credible — list.

Not only does the above reflect a complete ignorance of the most fundamental requirements for even a basic attempt at a democratic voting system, it also leaves the field wide open for complete abuse of the system in hand. At best, the implementation and management of this process represents crass incompetence, and at worst, it illustrates a textbook example of a corrupt and corrupted political system, in chaos.

Africans are, by now, very used to European countries and their representatives making negative comments on what they sometimes sarcastically refer to as “African Democracy” (i.e. corrupt democracy). Given that, one could assume that the above examples of a clearly corrupt and corrupted system would be the introduction to yet another in the long-running paternalistic criticisms levelled at African leaders, political parties and countries.

But it isn’t.

All of the above statements and events — and the clear evidence of a total lack of understanding of even the basic requirements for a democratic election process — or even of the basic principles of democracy itself — occurred in Sweden, in the Swedish General Election of September 2018.

The quotes shown above are from the Election Observer Michael Aastrup Jensen — a former Danish politician and current member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe — and the examples are from articles written by the Swedish journalist Ingrid Carlqvist, and answers to questions given by the Chief Executive of the Swedish Electoral Authority — Anna Nyqvist…

           — Hat tip: RN [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Bennett Reiterates Argento Rape Claims, Dario Says Vendetta’

‘Tide of lies’ says cult director abt claims agst daughter

(ANSA) — Rome, September 24 — Jimmy Bennett reiterated his claims Asia Argento raped him on Italian TV Sunday night — while Dario Argento on Monday said Harvey Weinstein had paid him to take revenge on his daughter.

“Yes, Asia raped me, it was complete intercourse,” said the Californian musician and actor on a La7 talk show.

“Asia is the same as Weinstein to me,” he said.

Bennett said he felt betrayed by the woman who had been a mother figure to him ever since he played her son in one other films.

“I used to call her mother,” he said.

Weistein paid Bennett to say he was raped, Argento’s father Dario said Monday.

“Weinstein is getting his revenge and so he has unleashed all his possibilities, he had this news from this boy and paying him he launched him against Asia,” the horror director said of the allegations against his daughter, formerly a #MeToo figurehead.

Talking on Italian radio, the cult filmmaker was asked if Weinstein paid Bennett to tell the story.

“Yes, yes,” he replied.

Asked if had seen an Italian TV interview with Bennett Sunday night, Argento said “ I decided not to watch it, friends told me about it.

“There is a tide of lies, vulgarities, nonsense”.

Meanwhile Asia broke her silence about the suicide of her two-year partner Anthony Bourdain in June.

She told DailMailTV that his death left her with a “ void that nothing can manage to fill”.

Her first reaction, she said, was “anger”.

“Now anger keeps me alive because otherwise this desperation would have no end”.

The celerity chef and travel journalist was 62 when he killed himself in a French hotel.

In Bennett’s interview with Massimo Giletti, he reiterated he was raped at 17 by Argento five years ago.

Argento was one of the first accusers of Harvey Weinstein, saying he raped her when she was 23 20 years ago.

On September 5 Argento’s lawyer said she has stopped paying Bennett to settle his sex-abuse lawsuit.

She also reiterated she had not had sex with the former child actor when he was 17.

Lawyer Mark Jay Heller said the #MeToo figurehead had halted the payments to Bennett agreed with her late partner Anthony Bourdain, the celebrity chef, to buy Bennett’s silence.

“The relationship with Bennett was never sexual, and in the end it will be discovered that it was she who was attacked by Bennette,” said Heller.

“Now that Bourdain is dead and can’t comment on the desire to averta potential scandal, Asia won’t let any more installments of the agreed $380,000 be paid to Bennett who has already received $250,000”.

The case has shaken Argento’s role as a leader of the #MeToo campaign.

On August 28 fellow figurehead Rose McGowan told Argento to “do the right thing” by fessing up to having had sex with Bennett in a California hotel in 2013.

“Do the right thing. Be honest. Let justice run its course.

Become the person you would have liked Harvey Weinstein to be,” said McGowan of the Italian actress and director, one of the first to accuse the mogul of rape in October.

Argento has been dropped by X-Factor Italy after the sexual assault charges from Bennett.

Argento will not appear in live shows but will however be seen in the first seven sets of auditions recorded starting in March.

Bennet’s lawyer has said that Argento’s denial that the two had allegedly non-consensual sex five years ago was false.

The 22-year-old’s lawyer, Gordon K. Sattro, said he was sexually assaulted by his hitherto mother figure when he was 17.

Argento allegedly agreed to pay him $380,000 to settle a lawsuit over the alleged sexual assault, the NYT reported last month.

The actress denied this, saying the money was aimed at ending “persecution”.

The pair met in 2004 when Bennett played Argento’s son in a film she made about a drug-using mother.

Argento admitted agreeing to pay Bennett $380,000 to settle the abuse lawsuit but said she had done it to avert blackmail, saying she had never had sex with the former child actor.

Saying she was “shocked and wounded” by what she called “fake news”, she said her late partner Bourdain, who committed suicide on June 8, had advised her to make the payout to stop Bennett keeping asking her for money.

The TMZ website recently published a selfie of the pair lying in bed and said it was one of four snaps taken in a Marina del Rey hotel in 2013.

TMZ also published a text message allegedly from Argento to a friend saying “I had sex with him, I didn’t know he was under age until the blackmail letter arrived”.

She also allegedly said “that horny kid jumped on me”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Conte Spokesman Under Fire Over Ministry Purge Comments

Opposition call on Rocco Casalino to be sacked

(ANSA) — Rome, September 24 — Premier Giuseppe Conte’s spokesman is under fire after the release of an audio recording of a conversation with two journalists in which he talked about the possibility of purging the economy ministry of officials who have allegedly been hampering the government’s plan to introduce a ‘citizenship wage’ basic income.

Opposition parties have called on the spokesman, journalist Rocco Casalino, to be sacked but Conte and the 5-Star Movement both defended him and criticised the release of the audio.

Casalino is a former participant in the Italian version of reality show Big Brother.

Former premier and ex-leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), Matteo Renzi, said the case showed “we are faced with cudgels via the Web”.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani of Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party said “they had purges in Stalin’s time”.

The Italian journalists’ guild’s (ODG) Lombardy branch have opened a probe into the case. This could lead them to refer the case to the territorial discipline council.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: La Sicilia Publisher 150 Mn Seized in Mafia Probe

Media group inc. 2 papers, 2 TV stations seized

(ANSA) — Rome, September 24 — Newspaper and TV assets worth over 150 million euros belonging to the publisher and editor of the Sicilian daily La Sicilia were seized in a mafia probe on Monday.

A Catania court ordered the seizure of the assets of Mario Ciancio Sanfilippo, sources said.

The seizure regards his entire media group including La Sicilia, majority stakes in La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno in Bari, and two regional broadcasters, Antenna Sicilia and Telecolor.

The court appointed judicial commissioners to take over the day-to-day running of the group’s activities.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Mayor Nabbed in ‘Ndrangheta Sweep

18 nabbed near Reggio Calabria

(ANSA) — Reggio Calabria, September 24 — The mayor of the Calabrian town of Delianuova, Francesco Rossi, was among 18 people arrested Monday in a sweep against the ‘Ndrangheta’s Alvaro clan from Sinopoli, sources said.

Rossi, elected three years ago on a civic list, is accused of mafia association, sources said.

The clan’s main source of income was from contracts on public works, police said.

Those arrested are accused of mafia association, extortion, aggravated fraud, and fraudulent transfer of property.

Two local businessmen were also arrested.

The Alvaro clan is one of the most powerful in the Tyrrhenian area of the Reggio Calabria province, police said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Woman: 21: Beaten and Raped in Florence Street

Asian student pulled by hair

(ANSA) — Florence, September 24 — A 21-year-old Asian woman was beaten and raped in a street on the southern outskirts of Florence on Sunday night, police sources said Monday.

A man came up the woman, who is in the Tuscan capital for study purposes, punched her to the ground and pulled her by the hair for a few metres before raping her, the sources said.

The incident took place in via di Varlungo, near the Marco Polo viaduct, police said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Massive Manhunt After Woman’s Earlobe Cut in Violent Robbery

Well-known surgeon also hurt in attack at couple’s home

(ANSA) — Rome, September 24 — Police have launched a massive manhunt for four criminals who performed a violent robbery at the home of a well-known surgeon in the central province of Chieti at the weekend. The man suffered head injuries caused by many punches while the robbers cut the ear of his wife during the attack.

The gang used the victim’s car to flee the scene.

The couple’s disabled son was not hurt.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy’s Stance Clear on Passports — Conte Tells Kurz

Many people in Alto Adige want dual nationality says Chancellor

(ANSA) — Rome, September 18 — Premier Giuseppe Conte said Tuesday that he reiterated Italy’s opposition to Vienna’s plan to give a double passport to Alto Adige’s German and Ladin speakers during a meeting with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

“I had the opportunity to express to Kurz that Italy has a clear position on the passports and dual nationality,” Conte told a joint press conference with Kurz after the leaders met in Rome.

On Monday that Italian foreign ministry said Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi would not go to Vienna for one of the regular bilateral meetings proposed by the Austrian foreign ministry because mutual trust has been undermined by Vienna’s double-passport plan.

While on his way to Rome for Tuesday’s meeting, Kurz told reporters that “Italy has no reason to get upset” about the plan. “Many people in South Tyrol want the double passport and this is part of the (Austrian) government’s programme,” he said.

“We have always made it clear that we will act in agreement with Rome”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Kors to Buy Versace

US fashion group to take over iconic Italian house

(ANSA) — Rome, September 24 — US fashion group Michael Kors Holdings has reached a deal to buy iconic Italian fashion house Versace, sources said Monday.

The deal will be announced later Monday or on Tuesday, the sources said.

Kors stock fell 7% in New York on news of the acquisition. Milan daily Corriere della Sera said earlier Monday the Versace sale could be announced soon.

The report said the fashion house could be valued at two billion dollars, indicating as potential buyers either Kors or Jeweler Tiffany & Co.

The paper added that Donatella Versace, sister of late founder Gianni who works in the company as its artistic director and vice-president, could make an announcement in the coming days, possibly as early as Tuesday.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

London Needs to Adopt Chicago’s Method to Battle Uncontrollable Rise in Stabbings and Murders

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has announced plans to adopt Scotland’s treatment of violent crime as an infectious disease in order to combat it.

The Mayor has been placed under increasing pressure to do something rather than blame police cuts, since his record so far in every area has been far below his predecessor, Boris Johnson.

In London this year alone, there have already been more than 100 murders, mainly related to knife attacks.

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

Polish Ruling Party Widens Lead in New Survey

Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party is backed by 45 percent of voters who say they would take part in parliamentary elections, according to the latest survey by pollster Estymator.

Support for Law and Justice, which swept to power in late 2015, went up by 0.8 percentage points from a similar survey in August. Meanwhile, backing for the opposition Civic Platform (PO) party, which governed Poland from 2007 to 2015, slipped 0.9 percentage points to 23.9 percent, the survey found.

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Steve Bannon Wants to Mobilise and Unite Europe’s Populists Against the Elites

Breitbart founder and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is in Europe to promote a Brussels-based foundation, named The Movement, which aims to coordinate and advise right-wing populist parties campaigning in next spring’s European Parliament election, writes Politico.

The Movement — which Bannon describes as a “loose association” of people, not a political party — was established in January of last year by Mischaël Modrikamen, a Brussels lawyer and leader of a small right-wing party.

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Swedish Parliament Prepares to Vote on Prime Minister

Sweden’s parliament will vote on the position of prime minister on Tuesday, with the centre-right Alliance — currently in opposition — hoping to unseat the current PM, Stefan Löfven.

“When it comes to the question of the vote for prime minister, I decided together with the parliamentary group leaders today that it will happen tomorrow at 9.30,” said Andreas Norlén, the newly chosen parliamentary speaker.

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The Latest: Pope Quips “I Am the Devil” Next to John Paul

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — The Latest on Pope Francis’ visit to the Baltic countries (all times local):

6:35 p.m.

Pope Francis has acknowledged that his reputation pales a bit compared to St. John Paul II — at least as far as Poles are concerned.

Greeting journalists Saturday en route to Lithuania, Francis was given a book about the former pope by Polish photographer Grzegorz Galazka. Receiving the large book with a beaming John Paul on the cover, Francis quipped: “(Pope John Paul II) was a saint, I am the devil.”

[Comment: Article dated September 22, 2108.]

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The Turner Prize in 2018 is a Miserable, Tedious, Poker-Faced Display

Last year the 33rd manifestation of the Turner Prize hit the buffers. By which I mean that it was shown at the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull, and Hull is the last stop on the line before you plunge into the North Sea. Hull did the show proud. The old cobbled streets were bouncing that Saturday night.

The Ferens itself had just been newly refurbished, and the entire institution seemed to pivot about the Turner — it has seldom felt quite so feted at its home base, Tate Britain, to which it has returned this year, even though the Stuckists seem to have lost interest in hating it so much these days.

Could that be because there’s too much else that’s truly appalling happening in the shrieking rat’s nest of contemporary art?

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Top Officer Admits British Police Are ‘Very Close to Losing the Streets’

As the government continues to cut funding for police, top officer, Sergeant Simon Kempton raises the alarm that police are ‘very close to losing the streets’. The operation policing lead for the Police Federation believes the cuts in police numbers is directly responsible for the rise in violent crime.

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UK Taxpayer to Pay for Safe House and Benefits for Hate Preacher Anjem Choudary After Release in October

Anjem Choudary to be released on licence in October 2018. He will be given his own “safe house” and be eligible to claim benefits when he leaves jail for recruiting for Islamic State.

Costing the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds, Anjem will be allowed to claim benefits as well as be given a house.

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Vatican Cardinal: Pope Francis is ‘ICE-Cold, Cunning Machiavellian’

The German progressive weekly Der Spiegel has ended its love affair with the pope, declaring that the Church’s sex abuse crisis is “increasingly about Pope Francis.”

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

Libya: Tripoli: 96 Dead, 444 Wounded Since August

‘Daily violations of truce this week’

(ANSAmed) — ROME, SEPTEMBER 21 — Libya’s health ministry on Friday said that 96 people were killed and 444 injured in clashes in Tripoli since August 26, Arab news reports.

Daily violations were also reported this week of the ceasefire agreed in Tripoli to end clashes between militias.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

‘Alternative Nobel’ Goes to Three Incarcerated Saudi Activists

Right Livelihood Award for efforts to reform totalitarian system

(ANSAmed) — COPENHAGEN, SEPTEMBER 24 — Three Saudi Arabian human rights activists who are currently incarcerated and two South American anti-corruption activists have been awarded the Right Livelihood Award, commonly known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize”.

The prize of more than 100,000 British pounds will be divided among Abdullah al-Hamid, Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani and Waleed Abu “for their courageous efforts to reform the totalitarian political system in Saudi Arabia” and by Thelma Aldana of Guatemala and Ivan Velasquez of Columbia “for their work in exposing corruption”.

The Saudis founded an association for civil rights and were sentenced to 10, 11, and 15 years, respectively.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Turkey: Arrest Warrants Against 61 Soldiers for ‘Gulen Ties’

Operation in Istanbul, additional 21 suspects detained

(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL, SEPTEMBER 24 — New operations have been carried out in Turkey against the alleged network of exiled imam Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for a failed coup two years ago. Ankara’s prosecutor general on Monday issued 61 arrest warrants against soldiers and navy personnel accused of infiltrating the armed forces on behalf of the organization. At least 18 of the military personnel are reportedly still in active service.

Another operation was also carried out in Istanbul, with 21 suspected members of the organization arrested in 24 different districts. The suspects are accused of recruiting members for the organization by using ByLock, the messaging app used by Gulenists to exchange encrypted information, according to prosecutors.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Poll: Brazil’s Bolsonaro Leads Presidential Race

SAO PAULO — Fernando Haddad, the presidential candidate for Brazil’s leftist Workers Party (PT), is closing the gap with poll-leading far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro for an Oct. 7 first-round vote and would beat him in a runoff, a survey released Monday showed.

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“France is Being Islamised and Africanised” — Journalist

Charlottes d’Ornellas, a conservative female journalist, got into a heated exchange with Hapsatou Sy, a leftist activist, over the Islamisation and Africanisation of France.

A virulent debate has begun to take place in France since Eric Zemmour, the most popular author in France with millions of books sold, said to Hapsatou Sy’s face, a leftist figure, that her name wasn’t French.

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

Bundestag President Tells Germans to Forget About “Refugees” Returning Home

Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble has told Germans to forget about the one million plus “refugees” who flooded into Germany over the past three years ever returning to their home countries.

“We should realize how difficult it is to deport in individual cases. That’s why we should not foster too much hope that we can send back the majority of these people,” said Schäuble.

He added that all efforts must be made “to integrate them into our society,” before going on to defend Angela Merkel’s open border policy as the “right” decision, despite the fact that it has largely ruined her political legacy and caused her approval rating to sink to an all time low.

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Construction Set to Begin on a Four-Mile Stretch of Trump’s Border Wall

On Friday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced plans to construct a four-mile segment of President Trump’s long-proposed border wall. The new section will replace existing and outdated chain-link fencing in the El Paso Border Patrol Sector, along the Rio Grande River between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

The new barrier will be made of steel bollards and include a five foot “anti-climbing” section at the top. It is a vast improvement on the obsolete chain-link fencing currently in place.

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IOM Says 78,372 Migrants Have Entered EU by Sea This Year

Spain top arrival country, followed by Greece and Italy

(ANSAmed) — GENEVA, SEPTEMBER 21 — The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said a total of 78,372 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea between the beginning of 2018 and September 20.

It said of these, 34,238 (44% of the total) arrived in Spain, followed by Greece with 22,261 arrivals and Italy with 20,859 arrivals.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Denies Leaning on Panama to Strip Migrant Ship of Flag

Aquarius2 has become ‘ghost’ vessel says Salvini

(ANSA) — Rome, September 24 — Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has denied two migrant-rescue NGOs’ claim he leant on Panama to strip their ship Aquarius2 of its flag and thus become a ‘pirate’ ship.

“It’s clear that no country wants to take the responsibility of being identified with a ship that hampers sea rescue operations, refuses coordination with the Libyan coast guard, attacks democratic governments like the Italian one, and expects to distribute clandestine migrants in Europe,” he said Sunday night.

SOS Méditerranée and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said earlier they were “shocked” after Panama’s marine authority said it had been “forced” to revoke Aquarius2’s listing in its naval register “under the evident economic and political pressure of the Italian authorities”.

The two NGOs said “this measure condemns hundreds of men, women and children, in desperate search of safety, to drown at sea and inflicts a hard blow to the Aquarius’s humanitarian mission. MSF said the Aquarius2 had saved 47 migrants including 17 minors and a pregnant woman of Libya.

Salvini said Sunday the ship would “never” dock in Italy.

On Monday he called the Aquarius2 a “ghost ship”.

SOS Méditerranée and MSF have appealed to the European Union to intervene.

The Aquarius2 is just the latest in a string of NGO-operated migrant rescue ships Salvini has turned away from landing at Italian ports — but it is the first whose flag has been stripped by a foreign government.

The Aquarius2 is heading for Marseille, where SOS Méditerranée has asked authorities to “exceptionally” authorise the disembarkation of the 58 migrants aboard, the NGO said later Monday.

SOS Méditeerranée director operations Frédéric Penard told a press conference in Paris that “the port of Marseille is the only one possible from which to set off again”.

Italy has barred its ports to the Aquarius2 after Panama removed its flag and turned it into what Interior Minister Matteo salvini called a “ghost ship”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Factbox: Salvini’s Security-Migrant Decree

Citizenship revoked for people convicted of terror felonies

(ANSA) — Rome, September 24 — The ‘Salvini decree’ on migration and security is made up of 42 articles.

The first 16 in the draft that went into Monday’s cabinet meeting featured measures regarding the granting of residence permits, international protection status and citizenship.

PERMITS. The residence permit for humanitarian reasons is scrapped and replaced by ‘special permits’. These can be granted to victims of serious exploitation, victims of domestic violence, people whose country of origin has been hit by disaster, people needing medical treatment and those who have performed acts of high civic value.

REVOKING ASYLUM. The decree extends the scope to deny or revoke international protection status for people who have committed crimes of sexual violence, serious bodily harm, violence against a public official, aggravated robbery, and drug trafficking. Furthermore, asylum applications can be suspended if a person is considered socially dangerous or has been convicted in a first-instance trial.

LONGER STAYS AT REPATRIATION CENTRES. The maximum length of a stay at a repatriation centre (CPR) goes from three to six months to make it easier to deport migrants who do not have the right to stay. The decree also stipulates that the centres should be renovated and more CPRs built. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has said several times that he wants one in every region. If a CPR is overcrowded, migrants awaiting identification can also be hosted at difference facilities.

REPATRIATION FUND. The decree allocates 500,000 euros to beefing up repatriation activities in 2018, with 1.5 million more for 2019 and 2020 each.

CITIZENSHIP REVOKED FOR TERROR CRIMES. Italian citizenship is to be revoked for people convicted of terrorism felonies.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Government Adopts Hardline Anti-Migrant Decree

Italy’s cabinet adopted a hardline security decree Monday which will make it easier to expel migrants and strip them of Italian citizenship.

The new bill is “a step forward to make Italy safer,” Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said on Facebook, adding that it would help Italy “be stronger in the fight against the mafia and (people) smugglers.”

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Libya’s Coast Guard Rescues 235 Migrants Off Western Coast

TRIPOLI (Reuters) — Libya’s coast guard rescued 235 migrants in three separate operations on Sunday night off its western coast, a naval forces spokesman said.

Western Libya is the main departure point for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflict, although many drown in the attempt.

[Comment: Article dated September 24, 2018.]

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NGO Migrant Ship Has Registration Revoked; No More Libya-Europe Runs

Panama has revoked the registration of the NGO migrant transport ship Aquarius 2, which was the last remaining charity rescue vessel operating in the central Mediterranean area. It is currently at sea with 58 refugees on board.

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Pope Francis: Virgin Mary Stands by the ‘Deported’

Pope Francis has continued pushing his pro-immigration message in his trip to the Baltic states, urging his hearers to “receive” the stranger even when he threatens our security and well-being.

The Virgin Mary “stands near those who suffer, those from whom the world flees, including those who have been put on trial, condemned by all, deported,” the pope saidduring his homily Monday at the Shrine of the Mother of God in Latvia.

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Socialist Spain Named Most Welcoming Nation for Refugees in New Survey

Earlier we’ve reported on how the shift in Spain’s government from centre-right to a left-far left coalition has dramatically increased the attractiveness of the country as a migrant port of entry into Europe. The immigrants are now receiving aid that sometimes not even Spanish citizens are offered.

Spain’s welcoming attitude for refugees has tripled the number of migrants that came to the country. According to our earlier predictions Spain is indeed the most welcoming country.

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Big Tech Has Defined Conservatism as “Hate Speech”

By corralling basic conservative opinions and beliefs under the umbrella of “hate speech,” social media giants have invented a new ploy to censor conservatives while claiming they are not censoring conservatives.

Nationalism, patriotism, populism, and Christianity are all now being treated as “hateful” by Big Tech.

These companies then engage in a form of legalese where they assert they are not banning people for their personal or political opinions, but because of violations of terms of service.

But the truth is that merely holding and expressing nationalist, populist, patriotic or Christian opinions and beliefs is deemed a “violation” because such beliefs have been subjectively defined as “hateful”.

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Chicago Cardinal Suspends Priest for Burning LGBT Rainbow Flag

Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich has removed a priest from his parish for publicly burning an LGBT rainbow flag.

Cardinal Cupich, who was recently denounced by the former papal nuncio to the United States as being “blinded by his pro-gay ideology,” has deposed the Rev. Paul Kalchik from his role as pastor of Avondale’s Resurrection Catholic Church.

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Musician’s Sold Out Shows Cancelled Because He Retweeted Paul Joseph Watson

Thou shalt not express diversity of opinion.

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Ross 128 b and the Search for Earth-Like Exoplanets

Of all the exoplanets being discovered these days, some of the most exciting — if not the most — are those that might be Earth-like. Astronomers are finding a growing number of rocky worlds, about the size of Earth or a bit larger. Some orbit in the “habitable-zones” of their stars, where temperatures (among other factors) could allow liquid water on their surfaces.

One of the most intriguing is a planet called Ross 128 b, orbiting a red dwarf star only 11 light-years away. It is currently the second-closest known rocky planet to our solar system. A peer-reviewed study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters last summer (June 13, 2018) shows how such a world can be similar to Earth in some ways, but not really an Earth twin.

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3 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 9/24/2018

  1. I hate to say this, but I’m pretty sure we all know what would happen to Virgin Mary if she was put anywhere near the “refugees”…

  2. “Panama has revoked the registration of the NGO migrant-rescue ship Aquarius, making it impossible for it to operate any longer in the Mediterranean.”

    This is so important now, after Gibraltar revoked the flag, now also Panama did it, so it is the second time in an year that this human smuggler ship (which is at the order of the financial freemasonry, with all their international branches and agencies within the humanitarian ideology, like MSF, UNHCR, etc) got stuck at the sea.

    Just a month ago they said they would return back to flood EU with foreigners.
    https://www.msf.org/aquarius-returns-central-mediterranean-humanitarian-assistance-sea-desperately-needed

    So they took only 50 migrants this time, but are already coming back to Marseilles; but seems like that France is doing just what it needs to be done:
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/25/aquarius-cannot-disembark-in-marseille-says-french-minister

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