Protesters in Hong Kong began the new year with demonstrations that blocked miles of downtown shopping streets. The protests were largely peaceful, although police were forced to use tear gas in some locations.
In other news, the number of migrants attempting to cross the English Channel from France to Britain rose to 2,300 in 2019, which is almost four times as many as in the previous year.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, 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. I 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.
Poland’s Economy Set to Keep Growing in 2020 Despite Problems Next Door
Poland’s economy, one of the top performers in the European Union, is likely to face a slowdown in the 2020. However, any economic downtrend will be rather moderate owing to still rising wages and strong social benefits that are boosting domestic demand.
In the third quarter of 2019, Poland’s economy grew by an annual 3.9 percent, with a quarter-to-quarter figure standing at 1.3 percent, the highest in the whole of the EU and over four times better than the EU average of 0.3 percent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bus-Size Asteroid Will Buzz Earth at 18,400 Mph on Jan. 2
Here’s one extraterrestrial express bus you’ll be glad you missed.
An asteroid named 2019 AE3 will pass by earth on the morning of Jan. 2. NASA says the space rock is between 32 and 71 feet long, or roughly the size of a city bus, and zooming through the cosmos at 18,400 miles per hour.
Fortunately, the Near Earth Object (NEO) won’t come too near to the earth. The closest it is expected to get is four lunar distances — about 1 million miles — at approximately 9 am EST. Tracking is available on The Sky Live, which calculates that 2019 AE3 will technically be visible from New York between around 1 a.m. and 10 am.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Cats’ On Track to Lose $100 Million as Audiences Shun Taylor Swift Film
The biggest box office bomb of 2019 may be Universal’s Taylor Swift-starring, CGI-heavy, Cats, which looks to be on track to lose as much as $100 million for the studio.
The film, which opened Christmas week, already earned one of the worst openings of the year for a supposed blockbuster film. The studio expected a $15 million opening weekend — already a low expectation — but the final tally was a far worse $6.5 million.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Man Charged With Taking Photos of US Navy Base
Chinese man has been arrested by US authorities while he photographed an American Navy base in the Florida Keys.
The base holds the Joint Interagency Task Force South which keeps tabs on illicit trafficking in both the air and sea and is overseen by a Coast Guard Flag Officer.
Lyuyou Liao, 27, was noticed going into the military site from the rocks along the water by onlookers after travelling by foot around an outer edge fence of the Naval Air Station in Key West, according to a federal complaint.
The witnesses warned Mr Liao he was trespassing in a restricted area known as the Truman Annex, reported the Miami Herald.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese National Arrested for Illegally Entering Mar-a-Lago
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Chinese national trespassed at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club Wednesday and was arrested when she refused to leave, police said, the second time this year a woman from that country has been charged with illicitly entering the Florida resort.
Jing Lu, 56, was confronted by the private club’s security officers and told to leave, but she returned to take photos, Palm Beach police spokesman Michael Ogrodnick said in an email. Palm Beach officers were called and arrested her. It was determined she had an expired visa, Ogrodnick said.
[Comment: Article dated December 19, 2019]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Bishops’ President on World Day of Peace: ‘Violence in the Name of God is Blasphemy’
Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez has issued a New Year statement condemning violence committed in God’s name, such as the beheading of Christians by jihadists in Nigeria last week.
“This season we note with particular sadness the violent attacks on people of faith,” writesGomez, who is also the president of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference (USCCB). “To name just a few incidents: worshippers in a church in Texas are assaulted by a gunman; in New York, a man goes on a stabbing rampage during a Hanukkah celebration in a rabbi’s home. Christians in Nigeria are beheaded and their killers share video of the atrocity worldwide.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Europe: Anti-Christian Attacks Reach All-Time High in 2019
Anti-Christian hostility is sweeping across Western Europe, where, during 2019, Christian churches and symbols were deliberately attacked day after day.
Gatestone Institute reviewed thousands of newspaper reports, police blotters, parliamentary inquiries, social media posts and specialized blogs from Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The research shows (see appendices below) that roughly 3,000 Christian churches, schools, cemeteries and monuments were vandalized, looted or defaced in Europe during 2019 — which is on track to becoming a record year for anti-Christian sacrilege on the continent.
Violence against Christian sites is most widespread in France, where churches, schools, cemeteries and monuments are being vandalized, desecrated and burned at an average rate of three per day, according to government statistics. In Germany, attacks against Christian churches are occurring at an average rate of two per day, according to police blotters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Government to Scan Social Media for Tax Cheats
The French government can go ahead with plans to trawl social media to detect tax avoidance, the constitutional court has ruled.
Customs and tax officials will be allowed to review users’ profiles, posts and pictures for evidence of undisclosed income.
The new rules are part of a broader law on tax changes passed last week.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis: Violence Against Women is ‘Blasphemy Against God’
ROME — “Every form of violence inflicted upon a woman is a blasphemy against God, who was born of a woman,” said Pope Francis in his New Year’s Day homily in the Vatican.
“The rebirth of humanity began from a woman,” the pope said in reference to Jesus’ mother, the Virgin Mary. “Women are sources of life. Yet they are continually insulted, beaten, raped, forced to prostitute themselves and to suppress the life they bear in the womb.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis Apologizes for Slapping Woman’s Hand
Pope Francis departed from his scripted words Wednesday to apologize publicly for losing his patience and slapping a woman’s hand on Tuesday.
“Jesus did not remove evil from the world but defeated it at its root. Her salvation is not magic, but it is a ‘patient’ salvation, that is, it involves the patience of love, which takes charge of iniquity and takes away its power,” the pontiff told crowds gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for his Angelus prayer Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Sees Over 230 Bombings and Explosions in 2019
Sweden saw a large rise in the number of explosions and bombings last year, with the Crime Prevention Council (BRÅ) estimating at least 236 incidents in the first 11 months of 2019.
The BRÅ figures are a stark rise from the previous year, where 162 incidents were recorded for all 12 months of 2018, broadcaster SVT reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden to Offer Migrant Women Free Arabic-Language Driving Lessons
Newly arrived immigrant women in the Swedish municipality of Oskarshamn are set to receive free driving lessons in Arabic in a bid to help make it easier for them to enter the labour force.
So far, twelve women have been enrolled in the new programme, entitled “Now We Drive,” and the programme covers driving lessons as well as other supplemental lessons in Arabic on how the labour market in Sweden works, broadcaster SVT reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Terrorism, Brexit, And the Migrant Crisis: Three Stories That Defined the Decade
Three deeply intertwined stories that drove political and social change this decade, and in time may come to define European political history of the 2010’s — terrorism, Brexit, and the migrant crisis.
The most politically turbulent decade for Europe since the end of the Cold War is drawing to a close — but what will these ten years be remembered for?
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Julian Assange revealed his health is worsening and said ‘I’m slowly dying here’ in a slurred phone call from prison on Christmas Eve, it has been claimed.
The Wikileaks founder, who is currently being held in Belmarsh Prison, south east London, revealed the news in a call with his journalist friend Vaughan Smith.
Assange, 48, stayed with the free speech supporter, 56, at Ellingham Hall, Norfolk between 2010 and 2011 after he was released on conditional bail on allegations of rape in Stockholm and the two have remained in touch.
Assange later sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London but was jailed for 50 weeks in May for breaching his bail conditions after going into hiding to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex offence allegations, which he has always denied.
Since being locked up concern has been raised over his health, with Smith now claiming Assange had trouble speaking and appeared to be drugged in his one permitted phone call over the Christmas period.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘Remoaners Crushed, Brexit Blockers Gone’ — Farage Looks Forward to New Year
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has welcomed the New Year with enthusiasm, with European Union loyalist “Remoaners” in Parliament having been beaten decisively at the end of 2019.
The veteran campaigner, alongside Brexit Partyt chairman Richard Tice, offered his “huge thanks” to supporters for their “incredible efforts” in 2019, which saw his weeks-old Brexit Party win the European Parliament elections, and later play a crucial role in Boris Johnson’s general election triumph, standing aside in hundreds of key seats and helping to peel away Labour Leave votes in several others.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Boris’s 2020 Vision: A ‘Decade of Growth, Prosperity, ‘ and Brexit
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said 2020 will be the year Brexit finally gets delivered and pledged no more elections or referendums in his New Year message.
In a recorded address posted to social media, the Conservative prime minister said: “As we say goodbye to 2019, let’s also bid farewell to the division, the rancour, the uncertainty, which has held this country back for too long.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Denmark’s Most Controversial, Anti-Muslim Politician
The following is a transcript of my cover story investigation on “Full Measure.” Watch the video by clicking the link at the end of the page.
We begin with a very American debate that’s underway in Europe where a quickly-expanding Muslim population is testing tolerance on all sides. Nowhere is the discussion more heated than in Denmark. In three short decades, that small country has gone from almost no Muslims to hundreds of thousands — a bigger proportion of the population than other European nations. The resulting culture clash is raising issues of freedom of speech and religion. Our cover story is The Danish Debate.
Denmark is known for its love of bicycles free speech traditions and a Muslim population that now surpasses five percent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Why the United States Wants Germany to be Anti-Russian
by Emanuel Pietrobon
The Trump administration had repeatedly telegraphed its opposition to expansion of the Nord Stream pipeline network which was opened in 2011 as a Russo-German initiative, with involvement of French and Dutch firms. The Nord Stream 2 extension of the pipeline significantly boosts the flow of Russian-originated gas to the Old Continent with Berlin’s agreement.
Germany’s Perspective On Nord Stream 2
Germany decided to move ahead with the construction of Nord Stream 2 in the hope that the threats from the United States were only a scenic part of the White House’s warmongering repertoire. After all, Germany in recent times has met every point of the American foreign agenda with near-total acquiescence, from Venezuela to Iran right up to the very recent idea of joining the anti-Huawei front despite the years-long excellent relationship held with China.
Berlin’s efforts and hopes proved useless: Trump signed an order that allows the United States to sanction the firms involved in the North Stream 2’s construction, succeeding into pushing Allseas, a key-company involved in the project, to indefinitely suspend its activities at the construction sites as to avoid fines or other economic reprisals that could cause it to go bankrupt.
Germany accused Trump’s move of being “severe interference in its own internal affairs” but anger is likely to be followed by acceptance. Since the second postwar period Germany has been chained inside a “half-hegemony” condition which prevents the ruling elite from having or pursuing any ambitions of national greatness or independence…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Benjamin Netanyahu Asks for Immunity From Prosecution
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has decided to seek parliamentary immunity from prosecution over corruption charges.
The move would likely delay a trial until after fresh elections next March.
In November, the prime minister was charged by the attorney general with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases.
Mr Netanyahu, who denies wrongdoing, would need the support of more than half of MPs for immunity to be granted.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Why Netanyahu is Still Popular in Israel
by Levin Opiyo
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again proved his popularity by decisively winning Likud party primaries held Dec. 27, despite the corruption charges facing him. Netanyahu got 41, 792 votes, which was 72.5 percent of the total votes cast, while Gideon Saar got 15,885 representing 27.5 percent of the total votes.
Following his victory Netanyahu declared, “A huge win!, Thankyou to all members of the Likud for the trust, support and the love. I will lead the Likud to a big win in the upcoming elections, and we will continue to lead the State of Israel to incredible achievement.”
Netanyahu Is Still The King Of Likud
According to Israeli political analyst Mayer Cohen, the landslide victory was proof that Netanyahu has no contender within the Likud despite the corruption charges against him and his failure to form a government twice. Looking at Netanyahu’s popularity, a Gallup poll released in January 2019, found that Netanyahu’s popularity continued to rise despite the controversy surrounding him.
“Even under the shadow of corruption allegations that could end with his indictment, Israel’s long-time leader , Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to remain popular,” explained R.J. Reinhart an analyst and editor of Gallup.com said at that time…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
by Alex Kassidiaris
Recent comments by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about mercenaries fighting in Libya have once again triggered speculation about the so-called “Wagner Group”. This fighting force has been gradually gaining significant public attention, since the very first appearance of the “group” in Ukraine back in 2014. The 2015 deployment of Russian forces in Syria and the assumption that numerous civilians have been operating within the Russian lines for the duration of the Syrian conflict, has set the ground for building a myth around this shadowy and deadly entity. Mass media have promptly created an overstretched image that would form the ideal narrative for exposing the private-public sector complex in Russia, Putin’s connections with his trusted oligarchs and Russian imperialistic Cold War-like ambitions.
Take all those elements combined with a touch of conspiracy theory and some Tom Clancy drama elements and you have the mainstream media’s fallacious version of the Wagner Group. The Wagner Group is either described as a Private Military Company (PMC) or as a group of mercenaries, however neither of these approaches is accurate. Nonetheless, moving forward we will understand that many inaccuracies and unfounded assumptions have been spread around with regards to this peculiar organization if it can be described as such.
Defining PMCs, Mercenaries And Investigating The Wagner Group
To begin with, let’s clarify what Private Military Companies and mercenaries are and the difference between the two. Mercenaries —from the Latin word merces for reward —are individuals who are take part in a foreign conflict in exchange for money or any other material gain. Mercenaries are not motivated by parameters such as ethnicity, ideology, religion or political views. The only factor that ties them with the party on behalf of which they are fighting is profit. Mercenaries also cannot be nationals of the country that is engaged in the operational theater. Mercenaryism has been defined by the UN and is recognized by numerous states as an illegal activity and individuals that fall within this category are prosecuted accordingly under domestic law. Furthermore, mercenaries are unlawful combatants and thus they are not granted prisoner-of-war rights if they are captured during a conflict…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China Passes Tighter Restrictions on Religious Practice
The Chinese Communist Party has passed a series of draconian administrative measures for religious groups, which will go into effect on February 1, 2020, bringing them completely under government control.
Religious organizations must henceforth “spread the principles and policies of the Chinese Communist Party” by educating “religious staff and religious citizens to support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party,” reported AsiaNews, the official press agency of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hong Kong Kicks Off 2020 With Fresh Protests
Hong Kong’s protesters have welcomed a new decade via a New Year’s Day rally, with tens of thousands joining a pro-democracy march.
Though the gathering was largely peaceful, violence broke out in some areas and police fired tear gas.
On New Year’s Eve, demonstrators had formed human chains that stretched for miles down busy shopping streets.
More than six months after the protests began, they gathered for midnight countdowns by Victoria Harbour.
Their chants included, “Ten! Nine! Liberate Hong Kong, revolution now!”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The devastating infernos have claimed the lives of at least four people on the New South Wales South Coast and have completely gutted towns, leaving them unrecognisable.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Nicaraguan Bishops Demand National Elections in New Year’s Message
The Archdiocese of Managua has released a New Year’s message calling for national elections to allow for a “change of course” for the country, which has suffered under “totalitarian regimes.”
“A new year opens bringing us hope in Christ, so, although life in our country takes place under constant coercion, fear, impunity, continuous threats and acts of violence, we need to be increasingly committed to achieving values and principles related to human dignity and freedom,” reads the statement, signed by the archdiocesan Commission for Justice and Peace and addressed to the Catholic faithful and men and women of good will.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A total of 100 ruthless people smugglers were jailed during 2019 for a total of 320 years, Priti Patel revealed last night.
The Home Secretary insisted she was ‘throwing the full force of the law’ at traffickers who risk the lives of migrants desperate to reach British soil.
She revealed a total of 320 years’ imprisonment were handed out by courts in this country to 100 convicted people smugglers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
More than 2,300 migrants were blocked in the Channel in 2019 as they tried to get to Britain illegally in 231 small boats laid on by people smugglers, it was revealed today.
The extraordinary figure is four times the number picked up in the sea between France and Britain in 2018 when just 586 people were stopped, the French coastguard has said.
The most recent operation took place off Dunkirk on New Year’s Eve with an average of around 200 migrants being detained every month in France.
But it emerged yesterday that 1,900 migrants actually reached UK soil after crossing the Channel — including 43 people who made the hazardous journey to Dover yesterday.
But just 50 people traffickers have been prosecuted in either France or Britain in 2019.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis’s Counselor Laments ‘Bloody Humiliation’ of Migrants
Honduran Cardinal Óscar Rodriguez Maradiaga lamented Tuesday that his countrymen face “bloody humiliation” as migrants and that many die attempting to reach happiness.
“This year has to be different,” said the cardinal, who has been called the “Vice-Pope” because of his unparalleled influence with Pope Francis. “We call all those who are tempted and who feel they have the right to take the lives of other people, to tell them please abandon that atrocious sin because the blood of their brothers, shed like Abel’s blood, cries out to heaven.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Heterosexual Couples Form 1st Civil Partnerships in England
LONDON — England and Wales have marked a new era in which heterosexual couples can choose to have a civil partnership instead of a marriage.
The change, mandated by Britain’s Supreme Court last year, took effect Tuesday. The groundbreaking case had been brought by Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan, who were among the first to form a civil partnership under the new rules.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Irish Health Minister Slams Catholic Parish for Teaching Against IVF
Irish Health Minister Simon Harris criticized a Catholic parish this week for publicizing on social media Church teaching against in vitro fertilization (IVF).
The Tullamore parish’s post on Facebook, which has since been removed, underscoredthat IVF treatment is incompatible with the Catholic faith.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Racism: Top UK Schools Reject Scholarship Funding for Poor White Boys
Two top colleges in the UK rejected an offer to fund the education of poor white boys, for fear of violating anti-discrimination laws.
Winchester and Dulwich colleges turned down an offer from Professor Sir Bryan Thwaites, to donate £1 million towards the education of impoverished white boys.
The 96-year-old philanthropist professor had planned to leave the money to the schools in his will. Sir Bryan had attended both schools on scholarships as his parents could not afford the tuition fees for him and his brother.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U. Of Wisconsin Profs Lead Fight to Expand ‘Fat Studies’ Discipline
Two professors at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse are leading the charge to promote “fat studies,” a recently established micro-discipline that argues that society oppresses obese people.
According to a report by The College Fix, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Professors Laurie Cooper Stoll and Darci Thoune are leading scholars in the emerging discipline of “fat studies.”
Breitbart News has reported extensively on the growth of the “fat studies” discipline. Many courses offered at universities around the country have promoted the notion that a person can be “healthy at any size.” One professor at York University in Toronto argued in 2017 that fat stomachs can be “glorious.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“Newly arrived immigrant women in the Swedish municipality of Oskarshamn are set to receive free driving lessons in Arabic in a bid to help make it easier for them to enter the labour force.” I thought sharia law forbids women from working and driving, doubt there’s gonna be much interest in it. Which might be a good thing, since it won’t cost tax payers extra money. On the other hand I bet muslims are gonna say sharia law doesn’t apply here, because the nonbelievers pay for it.
They should learn the language; until they do, they should not be allowed to become citizens, which in turn should mean they can’t vote.
Unreasonable? “racist”? No; if I emigrated- anywhere- I should be subject to the same conditions.
“Voice of Europe” ceases operations
https://voiceofeurope.com/2019/12/statement/
https://mobile.twitter.com/sotiridi/status/1212795347354968066
Lots of enrichment in France NYE
How the Muslims must despise the Swedes and their ilk.
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/panorama/polizei-leipzig-seehofer-und-polizeigewerkschaft-verurteilen-angriffe-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-200102-99-324001
german political leaders calling out leftist violence? Have we entered the twilight zone?
https://www.mbs.news/2020/01/woman-shot-dead-in-montpellier-the-author-of-the-shooting-tells-what-happened.html
shooting in France
just went and saw the WW1 movie ‘1917’
PHENOMENAL FILM, best of the year
Better watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJobiYDdkFo
you can let it translate automatic. by youtube,it works 95%.
Its all based on Official Books,Documents,Newspapers.He used nearly 900 sources in his Book.