Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/24/2019

A prominent Labour Party member has warned that the party may lose forty seats to the Brexit Party in working-class areas it had previously held. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson defended both his Brexit plan and his silence on the “row” with his mistress.

In other news, French President Emmanuel “Toy Boy” Macron’s popularity has now dropped to just 30%, according to the latest polls.

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

Thanks to AF, C. Cantoni, Insubria, KP, Reader from Chicago, SS, 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
» Italian Yields Hit 1-Year Low as EU Delays Budget Crackdown
 
USA
» After Years of Warnings, U.S. Finally Investigating Secret Foreign Funding of American Universities
» Beto Pushes “War Tax” For Non-Military Households
» Bodycam Footage Shows Jussie Smollett Still Wearing ‘Noose’ As Cops Enter Apartment
» Chicago Communists Ecstatic Over Leftward Shift Within Democratic Party
» Chicago Police Release Footage of Osundairo Brothers in Taxi on Their Way to Meet Jussie Smollett on Night of Hate Hoax Crime (Video)
» Devin Nunes: Court Date for $250 Million Lawsuit Against Twitter for Censoring Conservatives is Set for End of August (Video)
» Google Insider to Project Veritas: Company Will ‘Never’ Let Somebody Like Trump Come to Power Again
» Google Insider to Project Veritas: YouTube Deliberately Suppresses PragerU, Dave Rubin, Tim Pool
» Google Using AI to Meddle in 2020 Election, Prevent ‘Next Trump Situation’: Veritas
» New Jersey Woman Who Worked as a Double Agent for ISIS is to be Sentenced for the Second Time After She Kept Supporting Terror Group After 2017 Trial
» Project Veritas — Google Exec Decries Trump’s Election: ‘How Do We Prevent it From Happening Again’
» Trump Unleashes on Uber-Hawk Bolton: We’d be Fighting “The Whole World at One Time”
» U.S. Air Force Personnel Briefed on Threat Posed by ‘Incel Movement’
 
Europe and the EU
» Brexit Latest: Furious EU Hits Out at UK After Shock Brexit Party Victory — ‘Obstacles!’
» EU Court Says Poland’s Supreme Court Reforms Unlawful
» EU Leaders Fail to Agree on 2050 Climate Goal
» France: Macron Protest: Man ‘Badly Injured’ During Act 32 of Yellow Vest Protests
» Heat Wave Hits Italy, Could Exceed Record Wave of 2003
» Italy Voted French FAO Candidate — PM’s Office Sources
» Macron Disaster: Approval for French President at Just 30 Percent
» Man Arrested on Suspicion of Planning Attack Against U.S. Embassy in Brussels
» Massive Crowd in Prague Call for Czech PM’s Resignation
» Matteo Salvini: Italy and USA ‘Never Been Closer’
» New Species of Worm Found in Scotland Has Eyes on Its Butt
» No Televised Debate Between Leaders in Greek Elections
» Pope Francis Names Replacement for France Abuse Bishop
» UK: Boris Johnson Defends Brexit Plan and ‘Row’ Silence
» UK: Brexit Party Declares War on Postal Vote Fraud, Legal Challenge to Vote-Rigger’s Involvement in by-Election
» UK: Conservative Leadership Candidates All Back Inquiry Into “Islamophobia” Within Their Party
» UK: Govt as ‘Institutional Parent’ — Judge Says Father Cannot Refuse to Register Son to Stop Him Becoming State ‘Asset’
» UK: Jihadists Are Ruling Prisons, “Vulnerable” Infidel Prisoners Paying Jizya
» UK: Khan’s London: Attackers ‘Dressed in Burkas’ Throw Acid in Man’s Face
» UK: Labour Could Lose Forty Seats to Farage’s Brexit Party in Working-Class Heartlands
» UK: No Collusion, Brexit Edition: Clegg Admits ‘Absolutely No Evidence’ Russia Influenced Vote Via Facebook
» UK: Nigel Farage Exclusive: I Can be Boris Johnson’s Best Friend or Worst Enemy… It’s Up to Him
 
North Africa
» Post-Bouteflika Pandemonium: The Army Comes Into Play
 
Middle East
» General Strike Tuesday in Gaza Against Bahrain Conference
» Istanbul: ‘Everything is Coming Up Roses’
» Turkey Sinks Deeper Into Syria Quagmire
» UN Demands Western Countries Take Back Imprisoned ISIS Terrorists
 
Russia
» Gas: Media, Ukrtransgaz in Trouble, Europe’s Supplies at Risk
 
Far East
» China: “Protecting” The Arctic
 
Australia — Pacific
» Dumped Rugby Star Israel Folau’s Controversial GoFundMe Fundraiser is Taken Down After More Than $750,000 Was Donated to Support His Legal Battle
» Israel Folau Slams GoFundMe for Running a ‘Campaign of Discrimination’ After Taking Down His Fundraiser — as His Supporters Vow to Find a ‘Solution’ And Double Down on Their Donations
» Scripps Oceanography Scientist Helps Identify Unusual New Species of Damselfish
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Gold to Go
 
Latin America
» ‘Ndrangheta Boss Breaks Out of Jail in Uruguay
» Venezuela: “A Mafia State”
 
Immigration
» 15,000 Mexican Troops Deployed to US Border
» Criminal People Smugglers Caught Filling Up Boat With Migrants Off Coast of Italy
» Deportation Rates Were Actually Higher During Obama Years: Report
» Expert: ‘Only Matter of Time Before Illegal Alien Voting is Expanded’
» French Police Using Violence Against Volunteers Who Help Refugees
» Gallup: More Americans Than Ever Call Immigration Top Problem
» Italy: Send Sea Watch Migrants to Netherlands, Germany Says Salvini
» Live Stream: ‘We Build the Wall’ Launches Wall-a-Thon Donations Drive Following Successful Completion of First Border Wall Project
» SNP Say Plan for Scotland to Become Back Door for Open Borders ‘Making Traction’ With UK Govt
» Suspected Mediterranean People Smugglers Are Arrested After Using a ‘Mother Boat’ To Carry Migrants Out to Sea Then Dumping Them in a Smaller Vessel to Await Their Fate
» Tweet Claiming Trump ‘Torture’ of Kids in Border Camps Shows Photo Actually From Obama Era
» U.S. Holocaust Museum Denounces AOC’s Comments on “Concentration Camps”
 
Culture Wars
» Catholic Cardinal: Western Civilization is Living Through Its “Mortal Hour”
» Clint Eastwood Will Produce New Film in Georgia Despite Abortion Bill Boycott
» In Praise of Courageous Nuns Facing the Vatican Crackdown
» Knitting Behemoth Ravelry Bans Pro-Trump Content Over ‘White Supremacy’
» Police, Antifa Threaten Concerned Moms at Drag Queen Event With Chest-Binding Raffle for Preteens
» Pop Icon Morrissey Says Diversity is Not a Strength
» Scotland: Teen Who Said There Are Two Genders Suspended From School
» UK: Judges Overturn ‘Forced Abortion’ Ruling
» We Tried to Publish a Replication of a Science Paper in Science. The Journal Refused.
» Woke Collision: San Fran Homeless Advocates Go to War With Gay Sushi Restaurant Over a Rock Where a Body Should be
 
General
» How Many Countries Are Part of the World Communist Movement?
 

Italian Yields Hit 1-Year Low as EU Delays Budget Crackdown

Italian yields tumbled on Monday, with the 10-year yield falling as much as 5 basis points to 2.1% — its lowest level since May 2018 — after Brussels signaled that it would be willing to wait before launching a disciplinary process against Italy over the country’s rising debt plans, potentially allowing the two sides to seek a compromise.

Instead of triggering the Excessive Debt Procedure when the European Commission meets on Tuesday, the panel is going to give the Italian government another chance to revise its spending plans.

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

After Years of Warnings, U.S. Finally Investigating Secret Foreign Funding of American Universities

An academic group that helped expose the reach of Chinese-funded propaganda in American universities has a message for academia: We told you so.

The Department of Education’s new investigation into universities for allegedly hiding foreign funding “is sending a powerful signal to colleges and universities: They can no longer expect to ignore the law with impunity,” Rachelle Peterson, policy director of the National Association of Scholars, told The College Fix.

The probes into Georgetown University and Texas A&M concern university assets from governments and companies in China, Russia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, according to June 13 department letters to the universities obtained by the Associated Press.

The nonprofit Qatar Foundation comprised nearly all the foreign funding reported by Georgetown ($33 million) and all reported by Texas A&M ($6.1 million) last year, according to the AP.

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

Beto Pushes “War Tax” For Non-Military Households

Sanders is paying off all your student debt and giving everyone (including illegal immigrants) free healthcare.

Warren wants reparations for gay couples over taxes.

Harris and Booker want reparations for black people over slavery.

So how is the rest of the Democratic presidential nominee field (now up to 24) supposed to signal their virtue without #MeToo-ing the other front-runners?

Beto O’Rourke has an idea…

In order to improve healthcare for veterans (an undoubtedly needed policy change), the 2020-hopeful is proposing a “war tax” on American households without military service members or veterans.

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

Bodycam Footage Shows Jussie Smollett Still Wearing ‘Noose’ As Cops Enter Apartment

Just a few short days after a Chicago judge approved a special prosecutor to review how Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx handled the Jussie Smollett case, body camera video of Chicago Police Department officers entering Smollett’s apartment the night attack was reported has been released.

While it is not known how long after Smollett’s “attack” this footage took place, there is one thing that stands out… He still has rope around his neck!!!

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

Chicago Communists Ecstatic Over Leftward Shift Within Democratic Party

American communists are very excited over the progressive shift happening within the Democratic party.

Kicking off its 100th anniversary celebration on Friday at the university of Illinois Chicago student center, Communist Party USA (CPUSA) vice-chair Jarvis Tyner “set the record straight” — telling a Chicago audience who greeted each other as “comrade” that “The truth is the communist party isn’t out to hurt you,” adding “It will set you free,” according to The Guardian.

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

Chicago Police Release Footage of Osundairo Brothers in Taxi on Their Way to Meet Jussie Smollett on Night of Hate Hoax Crime (Video)

The Chicago Police Department on Monday released 70 hours of unseen surveillance footage from the Jussie Smollett hate hoax.

In a clip posted to Twitter by Charlie De Mar, the Osundairo brothers are on their way to meet Jussie Smollett on the night of the fake hate crime.

Recall, Jussie Smollett paid the Nigerian brothers over $3,000 to help him pull off the “MAGA Country” hate hoax crime in January.

In previously released footage, the Osundairo brothers are seen purchasing all of the supplies for the hate hoax such as red hats, rope and bleach.

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

Devin Nunes: Court Date for $250 Million Lawsuit Against Twitter for Censoring Conservatives is Set for End of August (Video)

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, went on with Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures.

During their discussion Rep. Nunes told Maria the FBI was hiding documents from Congress for two-and-a-half years. Nunes believes US Attorney John Durham will eventually find out who in the FBI was hiding these documents from Congress. The documents will prove the Obama Department of Justice knew the Steele Dossier was a fraud when they used it to spy on the Trump campaign in early 2016.

Rep. Nunes also gave Maria Bartiromo an update on his lawsuit against Twitter. Devin Nunes sued Twitter for $250 million in damages for censoring conservatives back in March.

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

Google Insider to Project Veritas: Company Will ‘Never’ Let Somebody Like Trump Come to Power Again

A Google insider who spoke anonymously to Project Veritas claims the company is devoted to preventing anything like the 2016 election of Donald Trump from happening again.

The insider who spoke to Project Veritas also drew attention to the covert suppression of non-progressive voices on YouTube, a Google-owned platform, said that stopping President Donald Trump and other politicians like Trump has become a priority for the tech giant.

The insider claimed that the company did a “complete 180 in what they thought was important,” abandoning earlier ideals of self-expression and “giving everyone a voice” in favor of crackdowns on “hate.” …

Via Project Veritas’ interview with the insider:

There’s this façade about what they’re doing, but what they’re actually doing, what the employees are actually seeing inside the company is different. And, people need to know what’s going on with Google, and that they are not an objective piece — they’re not an objective source of information. They are a highly biased political machine that is bent on never letting somebody like Donald Trump come to power again.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Google Insider to Project Veritas: YouTube Deliberately Suppresses PragerU, Dave Rubin, Tim Pool

A Google insider who spoke anonymously to Project Veritas claims that Google-owned video platform YouTube is discriminating against creators who do not meet the tech giant’s political criteria.

The insider explained that Google and YouTube use terms like “machine learning fairness” to give a sheen of neutrality to their efforts to suppress content that might contradict progressive narratives.

He also claimed that their efforts now extend beyond conservatives to non-partisan commentators who critique the left as well as the right, like independent journalist Tim Pool.

Via Project Veritas’ interview with the insider:…They described that they were going to have more content filtering, and right after that happened a lot of the content creators started to get demonetized, and their videos started to get deranked. I’m talking about Dave Rubin, I’m talking about Carpe Diem, I’m talking about Tim Pool, and a lot of the other content creators that are within YouTube ecosystem just saw their, their view counts just go through the floor.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Google Using AI to Meddle in 2020 Election, Prevent ‘Next Trump Situation’: Veritas

A new undercover exposé by Project Veritas reveals that the company is programming its machine learning algorithms in order to avoid the “next Trump situation.”

“We all got screwed over in 2016, again it wasn’t just us, it was, the people got screwed over, the news media got screwed over, like, everybody got screwed over so we’re rapidly been like, what happened there and how do we prevent it from happening again,” said longtime Google employee and head of “Responsible Innovation,” Jen Gennai.

“We’re also training our algorithms, like, if 2016 happened again, would we have, would the outcome be different?” she added.

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

New Jersey Woman Who Worked as a Double Agent for ISIS is to be Sentenced for the Second Time After She Kept Supporting Terror Group After 2017 Trial

A New Jersey woman who has agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors after admitting to being an ISIS asset violated the agreement and continued working for the terror group as a double agent, officials said in court.

Sinmyah Amera Ceasar was in Brooklyn Federal Court for her sentencing on Monday.

A spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York told DailyMail.com this afternoon that the sentencing adjourned until Tuesday morning.

During today’s proceedings, which included witness testimony, federal prosecutors said that Ceasar was arrested in 2016 and pleaded guilty in 2017 to providing material support to ISIS.

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

Project Veritas — Google Exec Decries Trump’s Election: ‘How Do We Prevent it From Happening Again’

Undercover videos recorded by Project Veritas reveals that Google is determined to prevent the re-election of Donald Trump in 2020, and is altering its products with this aim in mind.

The report includes undercover footage featuring a top Google executive, Jen Gennai, discussing how Google might prevent an electoral outcome like 2016 from happening again.

Here’s what Gennai says in the undercover video:

We all got screwed over in 2016, again it wasn’t just us, it was, the people got screwed over, the news media got screwed over, like, everybody got screwed over so we’re rapidly been like, happened there and how do we prevent it from happening again.

We’re also training our algorithms, like, if 2016 happened again, would we have, would the outcome be different?

Gennai also declares her opposition to Democrat presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to break up Google. Why? Because, says Gennai, if Google is broken up it can’t prevent another “Trump situation.”

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Trump Unleashes on Uber-Hawk Bolton: We’d be Fighting “The Whole World at One Time”

In a stunningly frank moment during a Sunday Meet the Press interview focused on President Trump’s decision-making on Iran, especially last week’s “brink of war” moment which saw Trump draw down readied military forces in what he said was a “common sense” move, the commander in chief threw his own national security advisor under the bus in spectacular fashion.

Though it’s not Trump’s first tongue-in-cheek denigration of Bolton’s notorious hawkishness, it’s certainly the most brutal and blunt take down yet, and frankly just plain enjoyable to watch. When host Chuck Todd asked the president if he was “being pushed into military action against Iran” by his advisers in what was clearly a question focused on Bolton first and foremost, Trump responded:

“John Bolton is absolutely a hawk. If it was up to him he’d take on the whole world at one time, okay?”

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

U.S. Air Force Personnel Briefed on Threat Posed by ‘Incel Movement’

Personnel at a U.S. Air Force base in in Maryland were recently briefed on the nationwide threat posed by the incel movement.

Incels are members of an Internet subculture based on “involuntary celibacy,” which is borne out of their failure to attract women and subsequent hatred of women.

Some adherents have turned to violence in recent years, including 22-year-old Elliot Rodger, who shot and killed six women in Isla Vista in May 2014 in “retribution” for being rejected by females.

25-year-old Alek Minassian also used a van to run over and kill 10 people during an April 2018 attack in Toronto which he intended to speak an “incel rebellion”.

Following the leak of a screenshot posted to Facebook depicting a typical meme shared by members of the incel community, it was confirmed that this was part of a threat briefing given to personnel at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

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

Brexit Latest: Furious EU Hits Out at UK After Shock Brexit Party Victory — ‘Obstacles!’

THE EU Commission has written to the UK Government to complain about obstacles it claims prevented many EU citizens from voting in the UK in the European elections, in an apparent response to the Brexit Party’s dominant performance.

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

EU Court Says Poland’s Supreme Court Reforms Unlawful

Law ‘undermines the principle of the irremovability of judges’

(ANSA-AP) — WARSAW, 24 JUN — The European Union’s top court ruled Monday that a Polish law that pushed Supreme Court judges into early retirement violates EU law. In its ruling, the EU’s Court of Justice said the measures breach judicial independence.

Under an interim decision in November 2018, Polish authorities had been forced to remove the provisions that forced about a third of the top court’s judges into early retirement and reinstate the judges. The court said the law “undermines the principle of the irremovability of judges, that principle being essential to their independence.” There was no immediate reaction from Poland’s government, but the decision is a blow to the ruling right-wing party, which since winning power in 2015 has increasingly taken control of the judicial system. The government and president have said they wanted to force the early retirement of the Supreme Court in order to purge commun ist-era judges. But legal experts say that argument holds no water because most communist-era judges are long gone from the judicial system 30 years after the fall of communism, and many instead see an attempt to destroy the independence of the Polish judiciary. Amnesty International welcomed Monday’s ruling, calling it significant for Poland and other EU countries “who think that they can breach human rights with impunity.” In Poland, critics of the government welcomed the ruling. “Thank you, European Union, for your defense of rule of law in Poland,” tweeted Radek Sikorski, a former foreign minister. (

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

EU Leaders Fail to Agree on 2050 Climate Goal

Against up to three countries, including Poland

(ANSA-AP) — BRUSSELS — European Union leaders have failed to agree unanimously on a decision to make the bloc’s economy carbon neutral by 2050. Ahead of a U.N. meeting on climate change in the fall, the proposal was relegated to a footnote in the final statement of Thursday’s meeting of EU leaders in Brussels. That means it is not legally binding. According to several officials who spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to speak publicly, more than 20 countries including Britain, France and Germany supported the initiative.

They said that up to three countries, including Poland, were reluctant to support the target because of their dependency on coal and other fossil fuels.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

France: Macron Protest: Man ‘Badly Injured’ During Act 32 of Yellow Vest Protests

A PROTESTER was badly injured on Saturday after a man ploughed through a “yellow vest” barricade in north-eastern France, although police stressed that his condition is not life-threatening.

The victim, who has not been named by French media, was taking part in an anti-government protest at a roundabout in the town of Saint-Avold, when a man in his forties forced his way through a roadblock erected by protesters. The driver, whose identity also remains unknown, was immediately arrested and taken into custody, according to the French daily Le Figaro. The yellow vest protests, named after the fluorescent jackets all French drivers have to keep in their cars and which have been worn by demonstrators, began in mid-November after public anger against fuel tax rises.

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

Heat Wave Hits Italy, Could Exceed Record Wave of 2003

Elderly advised to stay inside, drink more

(ANSA) — Rome, June 24 — A heat wave has hit Italy with temperatures across the country in the mid-40s.

The elderly were advised to stay inside and drink more than usual.

The heat wave will peak on Thursday and Friday when it could surpass the record heat wave of 2003, forecasters said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Italy Voted French FAO Candidate — PM’s Office Sources

Told France and China before vote, Conte confirmed to Macron

(ANSA) — Rome, June 24 — Italy voted for French candidate Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle as new director-general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), sources at the premier’s office said Monday after China’s Qu Dongyu got the job.

Rome told France and China about its vote in anticipation, via diplomatic channels, and Premier Giuseppe Conte subsequently confirmed it to French President Emmanuel Macron, the sources said.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Macron Disaster: Approval for French President at Just 30 Percent

FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron’s popularity continues to remain at an all-time low, according to a shock poll.

The poll, conducted by France’s Ifop last week, showed Mr Macron’s ratings remain at 30 percent this month amid rising tensions in the French capital. Only 30 percent of French citizens were in favour of the French President, while 67 percent of them disapproved of him, the poll found. His popularity remained the same since last June’s poll, with just 29 percent of surveyors saying they were satisfied with Mr Macron’s work. Support for Mr Macron appears to be on a slow rise, since pollers gave him a 23 percent popularity rating at last December’s Ifop poll.

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

Man Arrested on Suspicion of Planning Attack Against U.S. Embassy in Brussels

A man is being held by police in Brussels, Belgium on suspicion of planning a terror attack on the U.S. embassy.

The counter-terror division of the Federal Police arrested the man, identified by the initials MG, on Saturday in the centre of Brussels, according to information received by Belgian broadcaster RTBF and reported Monday.

He was reportedly being monitored by the country’s security services, and prosecutors said that they had “converging indications” that led authorities to believe that he was planning a credible attack against the U.S. diplomatic offices.

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

Massive Crowd in Prague Call for Czech PM’s Resignation

Biggest anti-government protest since the 1989

(ANSA-AP) — PRAGUE — Hundreds of thousands of people rallied Sunday in Prague to urge Prime Minister Andrej Babis (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_of_Liberals_and_Democrats_for_Europe_Party) to resign, assembling from across the Czech Republic for the capital’s biggest anti-government protest since the 1989 pro-democratic Velvet Revolution that brought down the communist regime. The demonstration at Letna Park, a site of massive gatherings that significantly contributed to the fall of communism in what 30 years ago was Czechoslovakia, was the largest from two months of street protests opposing Babis. The protesters of 2019 said they didn’t come to overthrow the current political system but to defend it. They consider Babis, a populist billionaire, as a threat to democracy, including the independence of the country’s legal system. “We demand the resignation of Andrej Babis,” said Mikulas Minar, a student who put his studies on hold to help lead the recent demonstrations organized by a group called Million Moments for Democracy. Babis has repeatedly said he has no reason to resign. “It will likely be a long run,” another organizer, Benjamin Roll, told the crowd. “The current situation is unacceptable.” Opposition to Babis has been fueled by the appointment of a new justice minister as prosecutors are deciding whether to indict Babis over alleged fraud involving European Union funds. The protesters fear the new minister might undermine the independence of the Czech legal system, a threat that has brought the governments of Poland and Romania warnings from the European Union. Justice Minister Marie Benesova is a close ally of Babis’ and voted against a police request to strip the prime minister of parliamentary immunity to face a criminal investigation. A preliminary European Union report leaked in May concluded that Babis might have had a conflict of interest over EU subsidies involving his former business empire. Babis denied wrongdoing and accused the EU of trying to destabilize the Czech Republic. Besides demanding the prime minister and justice minister’s resignations, many of the demonstrators accused Babis and his key ally, President Milos Zeman, of undermining Czech politics and democracy overall. Babis also faces allegations he collaborated with Czechoslovakia’s secret police before 1989, as well as criticism of his government’s power-sharing deal with the Communist Party. “What is happening is more than we can tolerate,” said Dagmar Kratochvilova, a 60-year-old pottery maker who traveled across the country on a bus to reach Prague with others from the eastern city of Frydek Mistek. The peaceful crowd chanted “Resign, resign,” and “We’ve had enough” while waving Czech and also European Union flags. “No Tolerance for Lies and Fraud,” read a banner unrolled by the demonstrators.

“I’m fed up with the government,” Natalie Bartkova, 18, a student from just south of Prague. “Babis seems to think that anything goes for him.” Babis’ critics cited a new source of frustration, blaming him is for contributing to the inability of European Union leaders to agree on a plan to make the bloc’s economy carbon neutral by 2050. The protesters announced another major protest at the same location for Nov.16 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Matteo Salvini: Italy and USA ‘Never Been Closer’

ROME — Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini gushed Sunday over his recent visit to the United States, declaring he found “total harmony” between the current political course of the two nations.

In my trip to Washington last week, “I found total harmony on international security and politics but also on the economy and tax revolution,” Mr. Salvini stated on Twitter.

“Proud to see how much Italy is appreciated in the world,” he said. “Italy and America have never been closer!”

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

New Species of Worm Found in Scotland Has Eyes on Its Butt

Scientists have discovered a new species of worm at the bottom of the sea off the Scottish coast — and it has one very unique feature. The worm has eyes in its head — and its butt.

This new species, now given the scientific name Ampharete oculicirrata, was collected by scientists from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and Marine Scotland Science (MSS) while surveying the West Shetland Shelf Marine Protected Area.

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

No Televised Debate Between Leaders in Greek Elections

Lack of accord on format, ‘no time for Tsipras to prepare’

(ANSAmed) — ROME, JUNE 24 — There will be no televised debate between the Greek party leaders in the running for the July 7 early elections.

The Skai television station made the announcement, saying that no agreement had been found on the format of the debate. The debate was to have been between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, leader of the Syriza party; Kyriakos Mitsotakis, head of Nea Dimokratia; Dimitrtis Koutsoumbas, secretary of the KKE Communist party; Fofi Gennimatà of the Movement for Change socialist party; and Vasilis Leventis, from the Centrists Union.

Disagreements arose, however, over the possibility to engage in debates between two and monologues by various party leaders. Another problem was linked to the timeline. On June 30 there will be a special summit of EU heads of state and government and Tsipras, who is taking part, was said not to have time to prepare for the debate, which was likely to have been held on July 1 or before the summit.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Pope Francis Names Replacement for France Abuse Bishop

In Lyon

(ANSA) — Vatican, June 24 — Pope Francis on Monday named a temporary replacement for a French bishop who has gone on leave after being found guilty of covering up sex abuse.

Mons. Michel Dubost, emeritus bishop of Evry-Crobeil-Essonnes, has been named apostolic administrator of the diocese of Lyon.

He replaces Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who was sentenced to six months in jail for covering up a string of sex-abuse cases in the eastern French city.

Barbarin recently tendered his resignation but Pope Francis did not accept it.

Instead, he allowed the cardinal to “retreat for a period of time”, as the cardinal also had asked.

In March Barbarin was found guilty of failing to report sexual abuse of minors in the 1970s and ‘80s at the scout camps of Father Bernard Preyna, and sentenced to six months in jail.

But “the Holy Father has left Cardinal Barbarin free to take the best decision for the Diocese and Cardinal Barbarin has decided to retire for a period of time,” Vatican Spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said.

Barbarin, 68, was sentenced to six months in jail by a Lyon court on March 7.

It was a conditional sentence.

Barbarin tendered his resignation as archbishop after the sentence.

The Catholic Church has been roiled by abuse scandals and in February a Vatican summit of world bishops vowed zero tolerance on the issue.

Also in February, former Vatican No.3 George Pell became the top Catholic Church figure to be convicted of sex abuse of minors, in his native Australia.

He was found guilty of raping two choirboys in 1996 and was sentenced to six years in jail.

He is appealing.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Boris Johnson Defends Brexit Plan and ‘Row’ Silence

Boris Johnson has admitted he would need EU co-operation to avoid a hard Irish border or crippling tariffs on trade in the event of no deal.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, the favourite to be next prime minister said: “It’s not just up to us.”

But he said he did “not believe for a moment” the UK would leave without a deal, although he was willing to do so.

Asked about a row he had with his partner, he said it was “simply unfair” to involve “loved ones” in the debate.

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

UK: Brexit Party Declares War on Postal Vote Fraud, Legal Challenge to Vote-Rigger’s Involvement in by-Election

Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party is lodging a legal petition to investigate potential electoral fraud in the Peterborough by-election, following claims of ballot burning and questions around the involvement of a convicted vote-rigger in Labour’s narrow victory.

“There’s been lots of noise in the press about what may or may not have happened during the [Peterborough] by-election,” announced party chairman Richard Tice MEP at a press conference announcing the challenge.

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

UK: Conservative Leadership Candidates All Back Inquiry Into “Islamophobia” Within Their Party

Note that the statements from Conservative leaders quoted in this article all use the word “racism” as if it were a synonym for “Islamophobia.” This shows how much the public discourse in Britain (and elsewhere) has degenerated: Islam is not a race, and the term “Islamophobia” is a propaganda neologism designed to intimidate people into thinking it is bigoted and hateful to oppose jihad terror and Sharia oppression of women and others. Genuine prejudice and bigotry should always be opposed, but charges of “Islamophobia” are levied against anyone and everyone who dares to speak about how jihadis use the texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and make recruits among peaceful Muslims. Consequently, this inquiry will only serve to inhibit even more than is already the case any effective action against jihad terrorists. And all the Conservative leaders happily signed on. Britain, if it isn’t finished as a free society, is in deep, deep trouble.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Govt as ‘Institutional Parent’ — Judge Says Father Cannot Refuse to Register Son to Stop Him Becoming State ‘Asset’

A London father who did not want to register the birth of his son to stop him becoming an “asset” of a State he perceived to be “authoritarian and capricious” has lost his High Court battle, with a judge ruling the council is entitled to register him without the consent of his parents.

Mr Justice Hayden determined that Tower Hamlets council can step in as an “institutional parent” and register the birth. The boy, identified only as T., is also subject to a care order while his parents are undergoing a “residential assessment” to determine the long-term placement of the child, according to The Guardian.

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

UK: Jihadists Are Ruling Prisons, “Vulnerable” Infidel Prisoners Paying Jizya

Britain’s Ministry of Justice has discovered that “a group of radicalized Muslims dominates the UK prison system”. The group which calls itself the Brotherhood “tries to impose Islamic law on all prisoners regardless of faith”. Their ‘rules’ are taken straight out of the Quran and Hadith. They “cover personal hygiene and what inmates are allowed to eat in their cell block” and some infidel inmates are being forced to pay the jizya tax to the brotherhood.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Khan’s London: Attackers ‘Dressed in Burkas’ Throw Acid in Man’s Face

Three people had acid thrown on them in two separate incidents over just a few hours in London, including a market stall vendor targeted by people “wearing burqas”.

Djamil Mogdad was preparing his clothes stall around at 6.40am on Friday morning at Walthamstow Market when he was “assaulted with a corrosive substance”, according to a Metropolitan Police spokesman.

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

UK: Labour Could Lose Forty Seats to Farage’s Brexit Party in Working-Class Heartlands

Labour’s Caroline Flint, a former Europe minister, fears the left-wing party could lose 40 or more seats to Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party in its working-class heartlands.

Ms Flint cited research suggesting that the Jeremy Corbyn-led party would haemorrhage support from its once-key working-class base — now surpassed in importance by middle-class students, ethnic minorities, and cosmopolitan city-dwellers — if it caves to the demands of deputy leader Tom Watson, shadow foreign secretary Hillary Benn, and other unreconstructed Remainers to back a re-run of the 2016.

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

UK: No Collusion, Brexit Edition: Clegg Admits ‘Absolutely No Evidence’ Russia Influenced Vote Via Facebook

Anti-Brexit former Liberal Democrats leader and former deputy prime minister turned California big tech executive Sir Nick Clegg has admitted there is “absolutely no evidence” the Russian government influenced the EU referendum via Facebook.

Sir Nick’s book How to Stop Brexit was voted non-fiction book of the year in a secret ballot of parliamentarians in 2017 — for many Brexiteers a worrying sign of their intentions — and he was active in the so-called “Remain Resistance” from almost the moment the people’s vote to Leave the European Union was announced, holding high-profile meetings with EU leaders during the British government’s negotiations with Brussels alongside the likes of Tony Blair and Sir John Major.

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

UK: Nigel Farage Exclusive: I Can be Boris Johnson’s Best Friend or Worst Enemy… It’s Up to Him

Brexit leader Nigel Farage has told Breitbart London that he could work with a future Prime Minister Boris Johnson provided he was brave and “Churchillian” in office, but warned that he could be Mr Johnson’s worst enemy if he decided to betray Brexit.

In comments made to Breitbart’s James Delingpole, Nigel Farage strongly implied the chances of heir presumptive Boris Johnson would make a good Prime Minister who would deliver both Brexit and conservative policies were pretty low, when he responded to a question on the matter with laughter only.

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

Post-Bouteflika Pandemonium: The Army Comes Into Play

by Youcef Oussama Bounab

(Algiers) On Wednesday, June 12, a motorcade reportedly carrying Algeria’s former head of government, Ahmed Ouyahia, rushed through El Harrach in the suburbs of Algiers. Images of the escort were repeatedly broadcast on television that day, shared by thousands on social media, as the previous prime minister, yet again, broke the news.

But Ouyahia’s convoy was slightly altered now and appeared to be lacking in its usual governmental air. Rather, he was driven in a police van, bound for El Harrach Penal Institution.

A group of local residents, some cheering, clustered about the prison’s entryway in the meantime. They awaited the coming of the unprecedented escort and chanted almost in unison, “You have looted the country, you thieves!” It was the first time in Algerian history that a former prime minister was to be detained on accusation of corruption…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

General Strike Tuesday in Gaza Against Bahrain Conference

‘Deal of the century’ at the expense of the Palestinian cause

GAZA — The main Palestinian political factions have called for a general strike on Tuesday in Gaza to protest the Trump administration’s economic conference beginning June 25 in Manama, the capital of Bahrain.

The strike aims to reinforce Palestinian opposition to Trump’s so-called “deal of the century”, which the opposition says bypasses the main political issues in the conflict with Israel.

The strike is also against any normalisation of relations between Arab countries and Israel in the absence of a definitive solution to the conflict.

On Monday, dozens of Gaza journalists picketed in front of the headquarters of the International Red Cross to protest against the authorisation granted by Bahrain for the entrance of Israeli journalists and live TV broadcasts from Manama to Israel.

The journalists called on all Arab media to boycott the Manama conference, in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Istanbul: ‘Everything is Coming Up Roses’

An Islamist political party that comes to power by popular vote would never leave power by popular vote. That suggestion is overwhelmingly accurate. But not always. Any Turks younger than 18 have never seen an election defeat for President (and former Prime Minister) Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On June 23, a little-known small district mayor won Istanbul for the first time since Islamists first won Istanbul’s mayoralty in 1994 — a good quarter of a century.

In fact, that was the second time Ekrem Imamoglu was elected mayor of Istanbul in less than two months.

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

Turkey Sinks Deeper Into Syria Quagmire

by Nidal Kabalan

A major development in events was confirmed late last night by the Russian Defence Ministry; a 72-hour truce in the “Hostilities Reduction zone, covering large sections of the Hama and Idlib rural areas. The ferocious battles fought in the area over the past 40 days or so, have been highly costly for both sides, particularly terrorist and militant groups headed by al Nusra Front (Syria version of al Qaeda) and Jaish al Izza, both backed by Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The fighting has left over 1000 dead and many more wounded among hardline terror groups, and hundreds of Syrian soldiers were martyred or wounded.

The latest truce came at a crucial phase in the raging onslaught carried out by the Syrian Army, following attacks by militants against both civilian as well as military targets in the area, which was considered a breach of the agreement reached between warring parties, and sponsored by Presidents Putin of Russia and Erdogan of Turkey.

Heavy fighting erupted in north-western Hama countryside, and soon expanded to cover much larger sways of land including the first incursion and takeover by the Syrian Army of a village in rural Idlib for six years. Al Qassabiya was a major moral and military victory for SAA, whose elite units advanced into many so-far redline enemy fortifications. Battle footage clearly reveals many Turkish modern Panthera APCs and other armoured vehicles being destroyed and left burning in the battle field. It is uncertain though, whether they were carrying Turkish troops or terrorist gunmen at the time they were targeted by the Syrian Army…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

UN Demands Western Countries Take Back Imprisoned ISIS Terrorists

The United Nations has demanded that western countries take back captured ISIS terrorists who are currently imprisoned in Syria and Iraq.

According to U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, the ISIS fighters and their family members, which number around 55,000, “should face fair prosecution or be freed.”

States “must assume responsibility for their nationals” even if they have committed unspeakable atrocities while engaging in jihad, according to Bachelet.

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

Gas: Media, Ukrtransgaz in Trouble, Europe’s Supplies at Risk

The company might have an insufficient financial capacity

(ANSA) — MOSCOW, JUNE 24 — The specter of a gas crisis weighs on Europe. The crisis might be the result of the precarious situation of Ukrtransgaz, the Ukrainian operator of the pipeline system. According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, in fact, Ukrtransgaz “does not have sufficient financial capacity” to buy the volumes of gas which are necessary to maintain transport infrastructure — gas pipelines — in good conditions and now “supplies are at risk of being cut off”. Ukrtransgaz, moreover, has already declared in a statement published on its website the shortage of stocks in its underground warehouses: approximately 152m cubic meters of gas, whereas the monthly needs amount to about 240 million. In order to work properly the gas pipeline needs around 720m cubic meters of gas in the summer, but — according to local media — the company has not succeeded in placing the 12 contracts which are necessary to secure the expected 880m cubic meters, and this is apparently due to doubts about its financial stability.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

China: “Protecting” The Arctic

[…]

As China already has deployed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles — while planning to build and deploy floating nuclear reactors — in the South China Sea, it is certainly plausible that Beijing has similar plans for the Arctic.

The administration in Washington, therefore, is — and should be — closely monitoring China’s maritime activities in the Arctic. The Chinese government’s assertion that the purpose of its Arctic Policy is to “create favorable conditions for mankind to better protect, develop, and govern the Arctic” is as false as President Xi’s earlier description of the Belt and Road Initiative as a project for world “peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit.”

Both projects seem paths towards what appears to be China’s aim at achieving global hegemony.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

Dumped Rugby Star Israel Folau’s Controversial GoFundMe Fundraiser is Taken Down After More Than $750,000 Was Donated to Support His Legal Battle

Israel Folau’s GoFundMe campaign has been taken down after Australians donated more than $750,000 to support his legal battle against Rugby Australia.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Israel Folau Slams GoFundMe for Running a ‘Campaign of Discrimination’ After Taking Down His Fundraiser — as His Supporters Vow to Find a ‘Solution’ And Double Down on Their Donations

Israel Folau has slammed GoFundMe for running a ‘campaign of discrimination’ after taking down his fundraiser.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Scripps Oceanography Scientist Helps Identify Unusual New Species of Damselfish

Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Sydney have identified a previously unknown species of damselfish from Madagascar.

The new species, named Corazon’s Damsel or Pomacentrus vatosoa, is described by co-authors Ben Frable and Yi-Kai Tea in the June 10 issue of the scientific journal Copeia.

Damselfishes are a diverse group of small— to medium-sized fishes that occur throughout the tropics and subtropics.

Measuring approximately two inches, the distinctive damselfish described in the new paper has a pear-white body and two prominent black spots—one situated behind the pectoral fin near the middle of the body, and the second saddled on the upper edge where the tail fin connects to the body.

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

Gold to Go

by Chiedza Hamadziripi

Gold worth billions of dollars is smuggled out of Africa every year to the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East. Strong prices have fuelled the boom, luring over a million Africans into illegally prospecting for gold. Today, gold trades at over $40,000 per kilo, but the cost to life is even higher.

The UAE reported gold imports from 46 African countries in 2016 (the last year data was available). Of those 46 countries, 25 did not provide any data on their gold exports to the UAE, despite UAE reports tallying African gold imports totaling $7.4 billion.

In addition, the UAE imported much more gold from most of the remaining 21 countries than those countries said that they had exported. That is, $3.9 billion — or about 67 tonnes of gold — more than those countries said they sent out…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

‘Ndrangheta Boss Breaks Out of Jail in Uruguay

Morabito was awaiting extradition to Italy

(ANSA) — Montevideo, June 24 — Rocco Morabito, a mobster belonging to the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta mafia, escaped from Montevideo central prison overnight, the Uruguayan interior ministry said on Monday. Morabito, 53, was awaiting extradition to Italy after being arrested in a Montevideo hotel in 2017. He had been a fugitive from Italian justice for 23 years. In March a court approved his extradition to Italy.

Morabito, who has been sentenced in absentia to 30 years in jail in Italy, was in the prison’s infirmary with his three accomplices.

They escaped through a tunnel they dug into the roof of the building, from which they let themselves down on ropes into an adjacent farm, where they stole money from the women owner, local sources said.

The boss had tried in various ways to evade extradition to Italy and had insulted the judge at a recent hearing to try to get the proceedings suspended.

Uruguayan authorities have sent out an all points bulletin and have given out a phone number for anyone with useful information.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Morabito’s escape was “disconcerting and grave”.

“I make two vows,” he said. “First, to shed full light on how he escaped, asking for immediate explanation from the government in Montevideo.

“Second, we will continue to hunt Morabito, wherever he is, to bang him up in jail as he deserves”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Venezuela: “A Mafia State”

[…]

The Venezuelan security forces, which crack down heavily on dissidents, have been aided for years by Cuba, whose own “socialist” regime was created with the aid of the Leninist Soviet Union in the 1960s. In May 2014, General Raúl Baduel, Venezuelan Defense Minister under Hugo Chavez, who was later held in custody at the Ramo Verde military prison, told The Guardian how the Cubans “…have modernized the intelligence services… set up a special unit to protect the head of state and… computerized Venezuela’s public records, giving them control over the issue of identity papers and voter registration. They have representatives in the ports and airports, as well as supervising foreign nationals.”

While most U.S. military studies of Venezuela focus on its armed forces, there is a parallel security structure on which Maduro relies — the “colectivos” trained by the Cubans and modeled on Fidel Castro’s original 1960 Committee for the Defense of the Revolution. Some members of the colectivos operate as armed motorcycle gangs that have been terrorizing and even killing anti-Maduro protesters.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

15,000 Mexican Troops Deployed to US Border

In an ongoing effort to stem the flow of illegal immigration into the United States and avoid tariffs from the Trump administration, Mexico has deployed approximately 15,000 National Guardsmen and soldiers to the border, according to AFP, citing the country’s army chief.

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

Criminal People Smugglers Caught Filling Up Boat With Migrants Off Coast of Italy

Surveillance footage taken by Frontex shows criminal people smugglers unloading 81 migrants from a fishing vessel onto a smaller boat just off the coast of Italy.

“A surveillance plane belonging to the European Union’s border force, Frontex, captured footage of the smugglers at work, about 100 kilometres south of the island of Lampedusa,” reports EuroNews.

After unloading the migrants, the fishing boat sailed back towards Libya but was later intercepted by an Italian patrol boat.

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

Deportation Rates Were Actually Higher During Obama Years: Report

Jason Hopkins Immigration and politics reporter

Deportations under President Donald Trump have not reached the highs seen during the Obama administration, despite immigration enforcement being one of his signature campaign issues.

During former President Barack Obama’s early years in the White House, deportation of illegal immigrants reached record highs, according to Homeland Security documents obtained by Axios.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sent back more than 385,000 illegals each fiscal year from 2009 to 2011 — and reached a record high of 409,849 in fiscal year 2012. These numbers tapered off in Obama’s later years, dropping under 250,000 in fiscal year 2015 and 2016.

While deportations have steadily risen during Trump’s presidency, they have notably not reached the highs of his predecessor.

In fiscal 2017, federal immigration authorities conducted 226,119 deportations. These numbers climbed to more than 250,000 in fiscal 2018, and reached a Trump high this fiscal year with 282,242 deportations as of June. There are still roughly three more months left in the current fiscal year, giving Trump more time to tick the numbers up.

While Obama launched major initiatives aimed at protecting illegal immigrants, such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, he was also criticized by immigration-rights advocates for the number of deportations that took place during his tenure. Many of them branded him the “deporter-in-chief.”

Trump, on the other hand, has occupied the Oval Office during the worst crisis seen in “modern history,” according to the ICE Acting Director Mark Morgan. The situation has forced immigration agencies to divert resources to the U.S.-Mexico border, leaving ICE with less manpower in the interior of the country.

However, deportations could begin to rise dramatically. Trump announced on Monday that ICE would begin apprehending “millions” of foreign national living illegally in the country.

“At this point right now … we have really no other choice but to use our enforcement statutory authority to identify where these individuals are and remove them. President Trump’s executive order has made it clear: No class of individual is exempt from our federal immigration statutes,” Morgan said to reporters on Wednesday.

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Expert: ‘Only Matter of Time Before Illegal Alien Voting is Expanded’

The second case is where the state’s Democrat officials exploit illegal aliens by coercing them to register to vote without them truly understanding that it is illegal.

“My research shows that illegals get caught up in this by parties that exploit and victimize illegal aliens,” Eggers said.

Florida immigration attorney Liz Ricci told Breitbart News that she has had clients get caught up in the easily accessible voting registration system and suffered the consequences in return.

“I’ve had other clients who were denied naturalization because of this,” Ricci said.

           — Hat tip: KP [Return to headlines]
 

French Police Using Violence Against Volunteers Who Help Refugees

by J.S. von Dacre

Tom Ciotkowski, a British human rights defender, who documented the abuse by French police of migrants, refugees and volunteers in Calais, has been acquitted of charges today. Ciotkowski was facing up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 7,500 Euros after challenging French police for blocking volunteers from distributing food. He had been charged with contempt and assault, but video footage had shown he was the one being assaulted.

A report by Amnesty International has publicised that French police have been intimidating and violently assaulting those found to be offering assistance to immigrants in the north of France. It revealed that providing food to the hungry, and warmth to the homeless, have become unsafe for humanitarians since the authorities have been cracking down on those giving help. The attacks range from smearing attacks, such as being labelled as extremists and responsible for attracting migrants, to the obstruction of their humanitarian work, to arrests, and even physical assault…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Gallup: More Americans Than Ever Call Immigration Top Problem

To hear the mainstream media tell it, climate change is the most important issue facing America.

But Americans disagree.

“Americans’ concern with immigration continues to be heightened, as 23% name it the most important problem facing the country,” Gallup reports. “This is by one percentage point the highest Gallup has ever measured for the issue since it first began recording mentions of immigration in 1993.”

Gallup also reports that “mentions” of the immigration issue “have been higher on average in 2019 than in any prior year. The 20% average to date compares with 14% in 2018, and no more than 10% in any other year.”

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

Italy: Send Sea Watch Migrants to Netherlands, Germany Says Salvini

Interior minister says ‘pirate ship’ should be seized

(ANSA) — Rome, June 24 — Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini reiterated on Monday that he does not intend to let a group of migrants rescued by a ship run by the Sea-Watch NGO land in Italy. He was commenting after the European Commission called on the EU member states involved in the case to find a solution for the 43 migrants who have been at sea for almost two weeks because a port of safety has not been allocated.

“Does the European Union want to solve the Sea-Watch problem? That’s easy,” said League leader Salvini.

“It’s a Dutch ship, the NGO is German — half of the immigrants should go to Amsterdam, the other half to Berlin.

“Then seize the pirate ship”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Live Stream: ‘We Build the Wall’ Launches Wall-a-Thon Donations Drive Following Successful Completion of First Border Wall Project

Following the successful completion of their first major border wall project the heroes at We Build The Wall are under attack from powerful enemies.

On Monday ‘We Build the Wall, Inc. launched a major fundraising drive.

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

SNP Say Plan for Scotland to Become Back Door for Open Borders ‘Making Traction’ With UK Govt

The Europe and Migration Minister for Scotland’s SNP-led devolved government claims proposals for it to be given powers to set its own open borders immigration policy are “making traction” with the British government.

The left-wing, anti-Brexit Scottish National Party, which still hopes to separate Scotland from the United Kingdom despite losing a referendum on the issue in 2014, wants Scotland’s devolved institutions — similar to state government in United States — to be able to issue their own “Scottish visa”, which would effectively circumvent even the meagre immigration controls which the Tories half-heartedly enforce at UK-level.

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

Suspected Mediterranean People Smugglers Are Arrested After Using a ‘Mother Boat’ To Carry Migrants Out to Sea Then Dumping Them in a Smaller Vessel to Await Their Fate

Border agents have arrested 80 migrants who attempted to sneak into Italy by hiding aboard a fishing trawler.

Seven suspected people smugglers were also arrested.

Agents from Border control agency Frontex detected a suspicious fishing trawler last week towing a smaller vessel behind near the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Footage captured by a Frontex plane shows the group of migrants suddenly appear on the deck of the so-called ‘mother boat’ and start to clamber into the dinghy.

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

Tweet Claiming Trump ‘Torture’ of Kids in Border Camps Shows Photo Actually From Obama Era

A tweet that went viral showing the Trump administration “torture” of children inside Border Patrol camps was actually from August 2015 when Obama was in office.

Actress Nancy Lee Grahn, who is verified on Twitter, tweeted, “Trump administration is forcing children 2 sleep on cement floor with an aluminum blanket & lights on all night. Sarah Fabian from DOJ argued in court that it was good enough & soap was unnecessary. Companies making 750 a kid a day to torture them.”

However, the photos which illustrated the tweet, taken inside a Border Patrol facility in Tucson, Arizona, are from August 2015.

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

U.S. Holocaust Museum Denounces AOC’s Comments on “Concentration Camps”

The U.S. Holocaust Museum has denounced Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s comments equating border facilities for children with historical “concentration camps”.

Last week, AOC claimed the Trump administration was housing the children of detained illegal immigrants in “concentration camps” on the border with Mexico.

While Ocasio-Cortez received condemnation from numerous Holocaust survivors, many on the left rushed to her defense.

However, AOC just got BTFO by the U.S. Holocaust Museum, which said there was no analogy to be made.

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

Catholic Cardinal: Western Civilization is Living Through Its “Mortal Hour”

Catholic Cardinal Robert Sarah warns that western civilization is living through its “mortal hour” because the masses are anaesthetized by “vulgar entertainments” and the elites “care for nothing but increasing the luxury of their daily lives”.

The comments were made during an address last month at the Église Saint François-Xavier in Paris after Sarah had visited the fire-damaged Notre-Dame Cathedral but were only just published.

Lamenting that the Church was currently ravaged by a conflagration “much more destructive than the one that razed the cathedral of Notre-Dame,” Sarah said the current state of Notre Dame was a “symbol of the situation of Western civilization and of the Church in Europe.”

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

Clint Eastwood Will Produce New Film in Georgia Despite Abortion Bill Boycott

ATLANTA — Clint Eastwood is making his way back to Atlanta for another production.

The legendary actor is no stranger to these parts of town, Eastwood filmed his action-packed film about a Mexican drug cartel, “The Mule” in several parts of Atlanta during summer 2018.

Eastwood will direct “The Ballad Of Richard Jewell,” and has been in discussions with Disney and Fox about distribution.

It’s a drama based on the life of a security guard whose life was turned upside down in a moment after it was leaked by law enforcement to a reporter that Jewell was a possible suspect in the Olympic Park bombing during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

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

In Praise of Courageous Nuns Facing the Vatican Crackdown

It has been a rough spring for American nuns. They’ve been thinking unapproved thoughts and talking out of turn — and the male hierarchy of the church is not happy.

And they are doing something about it.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the Vatican’s orthodoxy watchdog group, has accused the Leadership Council of Women Religious (LCWR) of promoting ‘radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith,’ and appointed a Bishop to oversee the nuns, rewrite its statutes, review all plans, approve speakers, and watch over the nun’s prayers and rituals…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Knitting Behemoth Ravelry Bans Pro-Trump Content Over ‘White Supremacy’

The bitter biddy brigade over at knitting super-site Ravelry.com have their pussy-hats in a twist over President Trump, and have taken action ahead of the 2020 election by banning all support for Trump and his administration from their platform.

In a Saturday announcement, the “Facebook of knitting” said “We cannot provide a space that is inclusive of all and also allow support for open white supremacy,” adding “Support of the Trump administration is undeniably support for white supremacy.”

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

Police, Antifa Threaten Concerned Moms at Drag Queen Event With Chest-Binding Raffle for Preteens

On Saturday, a library in the Seattle area hosted a “Teen Pride” event for children ages 9-19. The event featured drag queens, all sorts of explicit adult-themed advice, and a raffle for dangerous transgender chest binders. Three local moms, concerned about children being exposed to such things at a taxpayer-funded library, filmed the event in order to expose it. Police escorted the mothers out by force, warning that they were guilty of “criminal trespass.”

The “Teen Pride” event was billed as “a pride celebration designed by teens for teens!” According to the library website, it was suitable for “teens and tweens,” an age range of roughly 9 to 19 years.

“Obviously, we have some really big concerns,” local mom Lynn Meagher told PJ Media. “There wasn’t any restriction on any ages. It was just horrifying to us that they would use the library, the taxpayer public building, to fund this indoctrination of kids. So we are intending to go on the record and expose what they’re doing because we don’t think that anyone should be doing this in a public arena with children.”

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

Pop Icon Morrissey Says Diversity is Not a Strength

Pop icon Morrissey has once again offended the outrage mob by asserting that diversity is not a strength because “everyone has ideas that will never correspond”.

In an interview posted to his website, the former Smiths front man once again tore into political correctness.

On the UK: “The UK is a dangerously hateful place now, and I think we need someone to put a stop to the lunacy and to speak for everyone.”

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

Scotland: Teen Who Said There Are Two Genders Suspended From School

A Scottish teenager who was kicked out of class for asserting that there are only two genders has reportedly been suspended from school for three weeks.

The 17-year-old sparked a debate about free speech and Britain’s “progressive” education system last week after he shared a three-minute film of his teacher telling him that he could not say that there are only males and females because it was not “inclusive” to say so.

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

UK: Judges Overturn ‘Forced Abortion’ Ruling

A woman has won an appeal against a court ruling that would have seen her mentally ill daughter forced to have an abortion.

She appealed a decision made last week granting permission for specialists to end the pregnancy.

Three Court of Appeal judges in London upheld the appeal, overturning the previous decision.

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

We Tried to Publish a Replication of a Science Paper in Science. The Journal Refused.

Science is supposed to be self-correcting. Ugly facts kill beautiful theories, to paraphrase the 19th-century biologist Thomas Huxley. But, as we learned recently, policies at the top scientific journals don’t make this easy.

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

Woke Collision: San Fran Homeless Advocates Go to War With Gay Sushi Restaurant Over a Rock Where a Body Should be

San Francisco’s an interesting place. If you don’t believe that, then please please check out their Poop Map (here).

Poop tourism may skyrocket at any moment: “How’d you spend your summer vacation?” “We went to San Francisco and saw all the great turds.”

Well, here’s more San Fran news.

A sushi restaurant in a famously gay neighborhood’s been targeted by a group of homeless advocates.

What’s the beef of those who’ve decided livin’ and crappin’ outdoors has its merits? It’s all about a rainbow-colored rock. They seem to believe it’s taking up space that should be allocated for countin’ sheep.

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

How Many Countries Are Part of the World Communist Movement?

[…]

Right now, most of the World Communist Movement is using “capitalist” methods to build up enough wealth and military might to challenge the West. Their main impediment to world domination is the United States and, to a lesser degree, some of the NATO countries, Israel, Taiwan, and until recently South Korea. Since far-left President Moon Jae-in took over, our important ally South Korea hangs in the balance. …

Right now the World Communist Movement mainly works covertly. It has not quite yet achieved the power it needs to ensure a swift military victory. The United States is still fairly strong. The United States still has allies like Britain, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, and Israel. If the United States falters, has an economic collapse, or elects another military-cutting left-wing president, the communists will move in for the kill.

The World Communist Movement is not just six countries. It is Russia, China, Iran, and all of their allies and puppet organizations. It controls more than half the world. If the United States ever fails, the World Communist Movement will rule us all.

Their form may have changed, but their goal never will.

           — Hat tip: AF [Return to headlines]
 

4 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/24/2019

  1. Macron’s
    approval rating can’t possibly be as high as 30% .The poll must be inaccurate.His approval rating must be somewhere between 5 and 9%

  2. That’s what I think about the LGBT and transgender agenda: people are specifically loosening the brains and the basics to put them before a choice – either perverts or caliphates.
    I read the history of countries before the Islamic invasion: Byzantium and Iran — they were also unnerved by the authorities and many perceived Islam as a deliverance from a painful system.
    But what was invented for the inhabitants of the West is a truly satanic plan.

  3. “The Communist Party will set you free!” Or, as it is also said, “Arbeit Macht Frei.”

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