Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/5/2020

Iranian state television announced the offer of an $80 million bounty for anyone who delivers the head of Donald Trump. Meanwhile, the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution ordering the removal of all foreign troops from Iraqi soil.

In other news, four left-wing extremists were arrested in Germany for their part in the violence that took place in Leipzig on New Year’s Eve.

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

Thanks to Insubria, JD, 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.

Financial Crisis
» Insolvencies in Canada Now as High as During the Financial Crisis: Report
 
USA
» Biden ‘100 Percent’ Supports Nationwide Plastic Bag Ban
» Cruz Pushes Senate Resolution Praising Soleimani Mission, Daring Dems to Oppose
» Five Signs Black Americans Are ‘Awakening’ To a Break With the Democrat Party
» Jane Fonda, Daniel Ellsberg Join With Code Pink’s Anti-War Protest
» One of NASA’s Exoplanet Hunters Has Gone Quiet
 
Europe and the EU
» Germany: Antifa Left-Extremists Arrested After New Year’s Violence
» Italy: ‘Science’ Hails Burioni for Fight Agst Anti-Vaxxers
» Meat Loaf Says Greta Thunberg Has Been ‘Brainwashed, ‘ ‘Forced’ To Push Climate Change Alarmism
» Meat Loaf Says Greta Thunburg Has Been Brainwashed Into Think Climate Change is Real
» Swedish Govt Accused of Reclassifying Explosions to Distort Actual Figures
» Tear Gas, Flares on Paris Streets Again as Yellow Vests & Pension Reform Protesters Are Far From Giving Up (Video)
» Thousands March in France Over Decision to Not Prosecute Jewish Woman’s Killer
» UK: Khan’s London: Islamic Centre of England Holds Mass Memorial for Slain Iran General
» UK: London Bridge Terrorist Usman Khan Received More Than £350,000 in Legal Aid for Bomb Plot Court Appearances — Including £12,000 to Appeal Sentence — Before He Was Freed
 
Middle East
» “No More Threats” — Trump Warns Iran “52 Targets Will be Hit Very Fast & Hard”
» Ben Rhodes, Creator of Iran Deal ‘Echo Chamber’, Complains About NYT Coverage of Soleimani Strike
» Exclusive! Trump Struck Iran to Stop Globalist WWIII Plot
» Federalist Writer Banned From Twitter for Speaking Out Against Iran
» Iran Abandons 2015 Nuclear Deal After U.S. Airstrike That Killed Top General
» Iran Puts $80m Bounty on Trump’s Head for Soleimani Hit
» Iraqi Parliament Passes Resolution to End Foreign Troop Presence
» Pirro on Soleimani Kill: ‘The Days of Appeasement Are Over’
» Retaliation Begins: Multiple Mortar Attacks on US Presence in Iraq, Hezbollah Warns Security Forces “Stay Away”
 
Far East
» A Chinese “Tourist” Accused of Espionage is the Latest Example of a Growing Threat to US Security
» Third US Senator Banned From the Philippines Over Support of Top Government Critic
 
Australia — Pacific
» Australian Muslims Join Christians in a Public Prayer for Rain in Bushfire and Drought-Ravaged Areas
» Controversial Ex-Footy Show Host Sam Newman Slams ‘Miserable’ Bushfire Victims Who Refused to Shake Scott Morrison’s Hand
» ‘Eden is No Longer Safe’: Apocalyptic Scenes as Fire Threatens Tourist Town Where Residents Have Been Hiding on Tugboats — and Those Unable to Defend Their Homes Are Urged to Leave Immediately
» Ferocious Fire Suddenly Burns Out of Control and Threatens Homes in Sydney as Police Probe Whether the Blaze Was Deliberately Lit
» Furious Firefighter Swears at Scott Morrison Before Collapsing on the Ground During Ordeal That Saw Seven Homes Lost in His Tiny Home Town
» Protest Calls for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to be Sacked Over a ‘Lack of Action’ On Climate Change as Out-of-Control Bushfires Burn
» Record Bushfires Will Rage for at Least Another Two Months — as Shocking Video Shows Terrifying Scale of Blazes During 49c Day From Hell That Stretched Firefighters to the Limit
» Something to Smile About, PM? Scott Morrison Bizarrely Grins as He’s Briefed by Sombre Fire Boss on the Devastating Blazes Decimating Australia
» Stunning Photograph Shows Bushfire Smoke Turning the Australian Sky Into a Re-Creation of the Aboriginal Flag
» Tobias Ellwood: Why Australia’s Tragic Inferno is Linked to Climate Change Caused by China’s Push for Global Domination
» Urgent Warning Issued as Opportunistic Scammers Use the Australian Bushfire Crisis as a Way of Swindling People Out of Their Money
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Nigeria: Christians Beheaded for Christmas, The West Goes Back to Sleep
» U.S. Service Member, Two Defense Contractors Killed in Kenya Jihadist Attack
 
Immigration
» Italy: Salvini Defends Himself Over Gregoretti Case
 
Culture Wars
» Pope Francis: Human Life Must be Respected ‘From Its Beginning to Its End’
» The Lancet: 2020 Will be ‘Critical Year’ For Gender Equity
» UK Court Rules ‘Ethical Veganism’ A Philosophical Belief in Discrimination Case
» USA Today: Obergefell Was Never About ‘Freedom to Marry’
» Watch: Ricky Gervais Skewers Hollywood Woke Culture at Golden Globe Awards
 

Insolvencies in Canada Now as High as During the Financial Crisis: Report

Personal insolvencies become more common when interest rates rise. In Canada, people are filing for insolvency at a higher rate than usual. According to The Toronto Star, experts are saying that we haven’t had this many instances since the financial crisis in 2008-09.

President of the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restricting Professionals, Grant Christensen said, “It’s fairly clear what’s going on. There’s a close correlation between interest rates and insolvencies.”

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

Biden ‘100 Percent’ Supports Nationwide Plastic Bag Ban

Fielding a question on the environment posed by an international supporter in Iowa, former Vice President Joe Biden said he “100 percent” believes we should “not be allowing plastic.”

“What’s your focus?” the Kenyan woman asked. “Because in Kenya, we are trying to clean the environment, no plastic bags, you go with your own bags.”

“I agree with you 100 percent,” Biden replied. “We should not be allowing plastic, and what we should do is phasing it out.”

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

Cruz Pushes Senate Resolution Praising Soleimani Mission, Daring Dems to Oppose

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a noted Iran hawk, is circulating a resolution in the Senate that would commend the Trump administration for killing Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, aides told Fox News on Friday.

An aide said the resolution is “structured and worded the same way as a 2011 resolution that commended the Obama administration for killing Bin Laden, which received unanimous support in the Senate.” Cruz is trying to get Democrats on the record supporting the mission.

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

Five Signs Black Americans Are ‘Awakening’ To a Break With the Democrat Party

Last week former NFL player Jack Brewer declared a “tremendous awakening” is happening in the country as some black Americans are abandoning the Democrat Party and turning to support President Donald Trump.

“I’m going to take the guy who’s actually putting in the policies that are going to make life better for my young black son and my young black daughter, versus somebody who gives me lip service — like, unfortunately, the Democrats have done for our community for years.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Jane Fonda, Daniel Ellsberg Join With Code Pink’s Anti-War Protest

It’s enough to bring on flashbacks to the early 1970s — Jane Fonda and Daniel Ellsberg joined in with others in Washington, D.C. to protest the attack that killed Iranian General Qassem Suleimani. The anti-war rally was held across from the White House in Lafayette Square.

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

One of NASA’s Exoplanet Hunters Has Gone Quiet

NASA has a lot of high-tech hardware cruising around in space right now, but one of the space agency’s pint-sized exoplanet hunters appears to have gone dark. In a post by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the group explains that its ASTERIA satellite has been failing to return attempts to contact it for about a month now.

ASTERIA is a tiny satellite capable of observing some very big things. The spacecraft was sent into Earth orbit in late 2017, and it spent several months studying nearby stars for changes in their brightness. These brightness dips are the telltale signs that a planet is orbiting those stars.

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

Germany: Antifa Left-Extremists Arrested After New Year’s Violence

The district court of Leipzig has ordered warrants for the arrest of four far-left extremists accused of assaulting police officers and engaging in bodily harm on New Year’s Eve.

The four extremists, aged 27, 29, 30 and 32-years-old, were taken before a judge earlier this week after being arrested in connection with violent riots in the Connewitzer Kreuz area, a noted far-left stronghold in the city, German tabloid Bild reports.

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

Italy: ‘Science’ Hails Burioni for Fight Agst Anti-Vaxxers

Staunch defender of scientific evidence, critic of pseudoscience

(ANSA) — Milan, January 3 — The Science journal has hailed Italian scientist Roberto Burioni for his long battle against anti-vaxxers or vaccine sceptics.

It said Burioni, an academic, researcher and virologist at Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital, was a welcome voice “in a country where the government has sometimes promoted dubious medical practices”, referring to former positions espoused by the ruling anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S).

A long article went back over the cases that led to Burioni becoming a star on Italian social networks and other media.

“Burioni has become the staunch defender of scientific evidence on vaccines and other health issues, as well as a rigorous critic of pseudoscience,” Science said.

Stressing the media success of the virologist, underscored by the growing number of followers on social networks and the sales of his books, which are now bestsellers, the long article said “a voice like Burioni’s, an expert who does not see the need to moderate his words or tolerate idiots, was clearly what many Italians were waiting for”.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Meat Loaf Says Greta Thunberg Has Been ‘Brainwashed, ‘ ‘Forced’ To Push Climate Change Alarmism

Rock icon believes the far-left is using her to push their radical agenda.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Meat Loaf Says Greta Thunburg Has Been Brainwashed Into Think Climate Change is Real

Rock musician Meat Loaf thinks Greta Thunberg has been brainwashed into thinking climate change is real.

The singer, 72, said he “feels” for the 17-year-old, whom he thinks has “been forced” into her beliefs.

“I feel for that Greta,” he told Mail Online. “She has been brainwashed into thinking that there is climate change and there isn’t.”

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

Swedish Govt Accused of Reclassifying Explosions to Distort Actual Figures

Authorities in Sweden have been accused of mislabelling explosions and bombings and classifying incidents as “damage” in order to distort the true extent of explosions across the country.

Swedish Minister of Justice Morgan Johansson took to Twitter on Thursday to state that bombings in the multicultural city of Malmö had decreased by 40 per cent in the last two years despite other statistics showing a large rise in bombings across the country.

But according to the alternative news website Samhallsnytt, several explosive incidents in Malmö over 2019 were classified by police as injuries or simply as damage.

In January, an explosive that was detonated between two taxis in the city was declared to be “damage,” while in April an explosion at a school was logged as an “injury.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Tear Gas, Flares on Paris Streets Again as Yellow Vests & Pension Reform Protesters Are Far From Giving Up (Video)

France’s capital is heading for a new chaotic weekend, as anti-government Yellow Vests and protesters defying the upcoming pension reform have descended simultaneously upon its streets.

France has endured a full month of protests against the controversial reform — on Saturday, the general strike reached its 31st consecutive day. Moreover, Saturday’s action coincided with Act 60 of the anti-government Yellow Vests protests that have been plaguing France for over a year now.

[Comment: Article dated January 4, 2020.]

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

Thousands March in France Over Decision to Not Prosecute Jewish Woman’s Killer

Demonstrators decry ‘new anti-Semitism’ after Paris Appeals Court rules that Kobili Traore had a ‘delusional episode’ when he beat Sarah Halimi for an hour before killing her

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

UK: Khan’s London: Islamic Centre of England Holds Mass Memorial for Slain Iran General

The Islamic Centre of England in Maida Vale, Kilburn, London, has held a mass memorial for slain Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general Qasem Soleimani.

Soleimani, who as leader of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had been held responsible for directing the activities of Iran’s proxy militias and other assets in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere, and for fomenting the recent siege of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

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

UK: London Bridge Terrorist Usman Khan Received More Than £350,000 in Legal Aid for Bomb Plot Court Appearances — Including £12,000 to Appeal Sentence — Before He Was Freed

London Bridge knifeman Usman Khan was handed more than £350,000 in legal aid, with £12,000 to appeal his previous terrorism sentence.

Khan was a member of an al-Qaeda-inspired cell which plotted to blow up the London Stock Exchange and kill Boris Johnson, but a case against him for this was never pursued.

He later pleaded guilty to preparing terrorist acts and was given an indefinite sentence.

Because of his tax-payer funded appeal, he was free from prison on license when he went on a knife rampage killing two and injuring several more in central London in November.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

“No More Threats” — Trump Warns Iran “52 Targets Will be Hit Very Fast & Hard”

“Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Ben Rhodes, Creator of Iran Deal ‘Echo Chamber’, Complains About NYT Coverage of Soleimani Strike

Ben Rhodes, the former national security aide to President Barack Obama who created the notorious “echo chamber” to spread fake news about the Iran deal, complained on Saturday that the media was not critical enough of President Donald Trump’s airstrike against Iranian general Qassem Soleimani last week.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Exclusive! Trump Struck Iran to Stop Globalist WWIII Plot

Qassam Soleimani was killed to thwart larger regional war.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Federalist Writer Banned From Twitter for Speaking Out Against Iran

David Marcus, Senior Contributor to The Federalist and New York Post columnist has been banned from Twitter for advocating for a massive bombing of Iran, should they retaliate against the American killing of Qasem Soleimani, leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

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

Iran Abandons 2015 Nuclear Deal After U.S. Airstrike That Killed Top General

The blowback over the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general mounted Sunday as Iran announced it will no longer abide by the limits contained in the 2015 nuclear deal and Iraq’s Parliament called for the expulsion of all American troops from Iraqi soil.

The twin developments could bring Iran closer to building an atomic bomb and enable the Islamic State group to stage a comeback in Iraq, making the Middle East a far more dangerous and unstable place.

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

Iran Puts $80m Bounty on Trump’s Head for Soleimani Hit

The mullahs of Iran have placed an $80 million bounty on the head of President Donald Trump in revenge for the hit that killed Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani. Iranian state television announced the bounty, framing it as an offer on behalf of the Iranian people.

“If everyone anywhere in the world supports our initiative in Mashhad, on behalf of all of Iran’s people — 80 million Iranians — and each puts aside $1 US, it would equal $80 million,” the report said. “And we would give this $80 million, on our own behalf, as a gift to anyone who brings the head of the person who ordered the murder of the grand figure of our revolution.”

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

Iraqi Parliament Passes Resolution to End Foreign Troop Presence

BAGHDAD, Jan 5 (Reuters) — The Iraqi parliament called on the government on Sunday to work to end all foreign troop presence as a backlash grew after the killing of a top Iranian military commander and an Iraqi militia leader in a U.S. strike in Baghdad.

A resolution passed by a special session of parliament said the government should cancel its request for assistance from a U.S.-led coalition.

Parliament resolutions, unlike laws, are non-binding to the government. But this one is likely to be heeded: Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi had earlier called on parliament to end foreign troop presence as soon as possible.

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

Pirro on Soleimani Kill: ‘The Days of Appeasement Are Over’

“Yes, indeed — the days of appeasement are over,” she said. “Gone are the days when the U.S. feats Iran, brings her to the table to give $150 billion and an additional $400 million on pallettes flown in unmarked planes as the United States lets out the Gitmo detainees to return to the battlefield. We now have a president who negotiates strength, not from weakness. A man who has exhibited tremendous restraint while constantly being provoked by Iran. His redline was the killing of an American and true to his word, it was only then that he responded.”

“He tried everything, and economic sanctions were imposed, themselves recognize the appropriate responsible action in the spectrum of diplomacy,” Pirro continued. “And yet, they continued to poke the eye of the tiger. The president even tweeted, ‘Iran will pay a very big price for any damage or loss of life. This is not a warning, it is a threat.’ So should we roll over and let them kill us? Should we decide who should they kill first? Or how many of us we will tolerate being killed before we act? Should we allow further casualties? It’s not an act of war. It’s not unauthorized force when the commander-in-chief is defending Americans from imminent deadly harm. And for those bozos who favored the president to distract us from impeachment, he could have done this on any one of the last 1,079 days because they’ve been trying to impeach him since day one.”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Retaliation Begins: Multiple Mortar Attacks on US Presence in Iraq, Hezbollah Warns Security Forces “Stay Away”

Green Zone neighborhood in Baghdad, comes under mortar shell attack.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

A Chinese “Tourist” Accused of Espionage is the Latest Example of a Growing Threat to US Security

On June 28, 2019, Qingshan Li landed in Southern California on a flight from China. Li, a Chinese national visiting the US on a tourist visa, was scheduled to return home 10 days later.

The day after he arrived, Li drove his rental car to a storage facility in the San Diego area. There, he met up with an unidentified person named in court filings only as “AB,” from whom Li had arranged to purchase several pieces of sensitive military gear.

Li’s case, which has not been previously reported and is described in a federal charging document obtained by Quartz, is among the most recent incidents of Chinese civilians accused of spying on behalf of Beijing. While Li was apprehended by authorities, he represents the immediate—and increasing—threat China poses to US national security, say experts.

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

Third US Senator Banned From the Philippines Over Support of Top Government Critic

Officials in the Philippines confirmed Thursday that Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has been banned from entering the country, the third U.S. senator to be banned over support for a critic of the country’s government, CNN Philippines reported.

Salvador Panelo, a spokesperson for President Rodrigo Duterte, told reporters at a Thursday press briefing that Markey will be blocked from entering the country. He cited the senator’s support for a resolution in the 2020 budget from Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) that sought to deny any Philippine official involved in the jailing of Sen. Leila de Lima from entering the U.S.

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

Australian Muslims Join Christians in a Public Prayer for Rain in Bushfire and Drought-Ravaged Areas

More than 50 men, women and children took to Bonython Park in Adelaide on Sunday to ask for rain to be sent to Australia’s struggling farmers and victims of the bushfires.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Controversial Ex-Footy Show Host Sam Newman Slams ‘Miserable’ Bushfire Victims Who Refused to Shake Scott Morrison’s Hand

A pregnant woman and a firefighter who lost his home in the bushfire ravaged town Cobargo, on the NSW south coast, were filmed refusing to shake Mr Morrison’s hand.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

‘Eden is No Longer Safe’: Apocalyptic Scenes as Fire Threatens Tourist Town Where Residents Have Been Hiding on Tugboats — and Those Unable to Defend Their Homes Are Urged to Leave Immediately

Eden, on the New South Wales south coast, is currently under threat from an out-of-control fire near the Victoria border which is approaching the town from the south.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Ferocious Fire Suddenly Burns Out of Control and Threatens Homes in Sydney as Police Probe Whether the Blaze Was Deliberately Lit

Traffic was brought to a standstill on the M5 motorway heading westbound due to a fire in Voyager Point, causing the road to be closed between Henry Lawson Drive and Heathcote Rd.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Furious Firefighter Swears at Scott Morrison Before Collapsing on the Ground During Ordeal That Saw Seven Homes Lost in His Tiny Home Town

A furious firefighter has told Scott Morrison to get f***ed before collapsing on the ground from exhaustion.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Protest Calls for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to be Sacked Over a ‘Lack of Action’ On Climate Change as Out-of-Control Bushfires Burn

The protest on January 10 at Sydney’s Town Hall with 5,800 people expected to attend demanding action as out-of-control bushfires burn and destroy thousands of hectares, lands and killing people.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Record Bushfires Will Rage for at Least Another Two Months — as Shocking Video Shows Terrifying Scale of Blazes During 49c Day From Hell That Stretched Firefighters to the Limit

Uncontrollable fires to burn for another eight weeks, experts predict, as horror fire season started too early. Thousands of terrified residents warned ‘we are in it for the long haul’.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Something to Smile About, PM? Scott Morrison Bizarrely Grins as He’s Briefed by Sombre Fire Boss on the Devastating Blazes Decimating Australia

Prime Minister Scott Morrison made a visit to HMAS Albatross in Nowra on the South Coast alongside NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons on Sunday.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Stunning Photograph Shows Bushfire Smoke Turning the Australian Sky Into a Re-Creation of the Aboriginal Flag

A South Australian woman has captured the moment the rising sun re-created the Aboriginal flag right in front of her eyes on New Year’s Day.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Tobias Ellwood: Why Australia’s Tragic Inferno is Linked to Climate Change Caused by China’s Push for Global Domination

Tobias Ellwood says Britain is starting the year with a little more optimism and a resolve to raise its political game. But this new decade has the potential to be one of the most dangerous.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Urgent Warning Issued as Opportunistic Scammers Use the Australian Bushfire Crisis as a Way of Swindling People Out of Their Money

Country Woman’s Association sent out urgent warning urging people not to donate to door knockers claiming to be from the CWA and asking for bushfire donations in NSW.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Nigeria: Christians Beheaded for Christmas, The West Goes Back to Sleep

Martha Bulus, a Nigerian Catholic woman, was going to her bridal party when she was abducted by Islamic extremists of Boko Haram. Martha and her companions were beheaded and their execution filmed. The video of the brutal murders of these 11 Christians was released on December 26 to coincide with Christmas celebrations. It is reminiscent of the images of other Christians dressed in orange jumpsuits bent on their knees on a beach, each being held by a masked, black-clad jihadist holding a knife at their throats. Their bodies were discovered in a mass grave in Libya.

On the scale of Nigeria’s anti-Christian persecution, Martha was less fortunate than another abducted girl, Leah Sharibu, who has now been in captivity nearly two years and just spent her second Christmas in the hands of Boko Haram. The reason? Leah refused to convert to Islam and deny her Christianity. Nigerian Christian leaders are also protesting the “continuous abduction of under-aged Christian girls by Muslim youths…”. These girls “are forcefully converted to Islam and taken in for marriage without the consent of their parents”.

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

U.S. Service Member, Two Defense Contractors Killed in Kenya Jihadist Attack

Washington (AFP) — A jihadist attack on a military base in Kenya killed three people Sunday, including a US service member and two civilian defense contractors, the American military said.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of our teammates who lost their lives today,” General Stephen Townsend, the head of US Africa Command (Africom), said after jihadists from Somalia’s Al-Shabaab group stormed a base in the Lamu region.

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

Italy: Salvini Defends Himself Over Gregoretti Case

Former minister says whole govt was involved in decision

(ANSA) — Rome, January 3 — League leader Matteo Salvini’s lawyers on Friday presented a written deposition to the Senate’s immunity panel defending his conduct when he was interior minister regarding the case of the Gregoretti Coast Guard ship. The Catania court of ministers has requested parliament give it the OK to proceed against Salvini for allegedly abusing his power by failing to give the ok for more than 100 rescued migrants to disembark from the ship for several days during a long standoff in July.

The defensive deposition said that Salvini acted “in the interests of Italy” and said that the whole government, including Premier Giuseppe Conte’s office, was involved in the decision.

The case was one of several standoffs Salvini was engaged in when he was interior minister and deputy premier in Conte’s first government as he sought to apply his policy of closing Italy’s ports to migrants-rescue vessels.

Last year, the League’s former alliance partners, the 5-Star Movement (M5S), voted to reject a request to proceed against Salvini in a similar case, regarding the Diciotti Coast Guard ship in August 2018.

But M5S leader and Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio has said that this case was different as the Diciotti “was a decision made by the (whole) government while the Gregoretti was propaganda”.

Salvini pulled the plug on Premier Giuseppe Conte’s first government last August, a move which led the M5S to form a new executive with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and other groups.

The Senate’s immunity panel will vote on the case on January 20.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

Pope Francis: Human Life Must be Respected ‘From Its Beginning to Its End’

ROME — Pope Francis urged healthcare workers to defend the inviolable right to life from conception to natural death, urging them this weekend to resist euthanasia, abortion, and other crimes against life.

“In your work, may you always strive to promote the dignity and life of each person, and reject any compromise in the direction of euthanasia, assisted suicide or suppression of life, even in the case of terminal illness,” the pope told healthcare workers in his annual message for the World Day of the Sick.

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

The Lancet: 2020 Will be ‘Critical Year’ For Gender Equity

The once prestigious Lancet medical journal has thrown down the ideological gauntlet for 2020, underscoring its ongoing commitment to progressive values, especially regarding gender.

In its unsigned editorial Saturday, the journal declares that “backlash against women’s rights is growing,” while proceeding to highlight women’s “sexual and reproductive health.”

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

UK Court Rules ‘Ethical Veganism’ A Philosophical Belief in Discrimination Case

A British employment tribunal has ruled that “ethical veganism” is a philosophical belief and should be protected by law from discrimination.

The ruling came about during a case brought by ethical vegan Jordi Casamitjana, who claimed that he was fired by his employer, the League Against Cruel Sports, because of his lifestyle preference.

While vegans abstain from eating any animal products — including meat, dairy, and even honey — ethical vegans attempt to exclude all forms of using animals or their products, including avoiding products tested on animals or clothing made of leather or wool.

In this case, Mr Casamitjana claimed he was fired for disclosing to staff that the company’s pension fund was investing in firms that undertake animal testing. The League Against Cruel Sports, which as the name suggests is an animal rights charity, said that the former employee was sacked for gross misconduct and that his veganism had nothing to do with it.

Judge Robin Postle is yet to rule on Casamitjana’s dismissal, but said ethical veganism counts as a “religion or belief” protected under the Equality Act 2010, and that it was “important” and “worthy” of respect in a democratic society, as defined by the criteria of the law.

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

USA Today: Obergefell Was Never About ‘Freedom to Marry’

The 2015 Supreme Court decision imposing same-sex marriage on the nation redefined society’s most important institution and undermined a traditional understanding of male and female, argues a stinging op-ed last week in USA Today.

In their analysis of the most momentous event for marriage in the past decade, Robert P. George and Ryan Anderson note how quickly public opinion on gay marriage has shifted and what sort of fallout this shift has produced.

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

Watch: Ricky Gervais Skewers Hollywood Woke Culture at Golden Globe Awards

Hosting the 77th annual Golden Globes tonight was Ricky Gervais. After he unapologetically spoke out about the Jessica Yaniv “wax my balls” controversy and supported J.K. Rowling’s tweets in favor of biological reality, there was much speculation as to whether he would skewer identity politics as host of this year’s awards show.

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

13 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 1/5/2020

  1. “Five Signs Black Americans Are ‘Awakening’ To a Break With the Democrat Party” That’s great news among all the sludge from the recent days!

  2. Meat Loaf’s take on Greta was worded gracefully. She’s wrong, but it’s not her fault. I agree with him on that.

    Pope Francis is no pope and the Catholic church has been dead for a long time. All they do now is shelter a bunch of child molesting queers from facing the real world. They’re sick people. Sick. And I do not want to hear anything their sick leader says.

    Finally, I want to believe Alex Jones when he says Soleimani was snuffed to avoid a bigger war. But I don’t see anything convincing behind that idea. At any rate, if the stupid-[tush] Iranians actually kill another American after this, I don’t want to see any more US troops in the middle east. I say it’s time to start dropping bombs. No more ground troops. Only tactical nukes and MOABs. I’m sick of the constant war. It’s been going on for decades now, and it’s time to stop. If our leaders refuse, then it’s time to force them onto the front lines along with their kids. Let them fight if they love it so much. But no more for the rest of us.

    • “I want to believe Alex Jones when he says Soleimani was snuffed to avoid a bigger war. But I don’t see anything convincing behind that idea.”

      John, perhaps you should ask to be privy to the top secret intel that the president receives.

    • Soleimani, like Yamomoto (architect of the Pearl Harbor attack) should have been eliminated, for similar reasons. However, when President Trump, apparently against advice, threatens to strike Iranian cultural sites, he’s reducing the US to the level of Al-Qaida and IS.

    • Sorry, but Islam means constant war.
      If ist not the muslims vs the infidels ist the sunni vs the shia and so on.
      The war will never end. Even if the entire world is muslim.

      If it were up to me I would withdraw all western people from muslim territory and send all muslims of the western world into muslim territory. Then I would build a wall around it and tell them that they can do anything to themselves in that territory but if they step even one millimeter across this border it is megaton time.

      I once read a blog of an evil korean-german who said: Don`t go there and don`t bring them to us.
      I think she is right. What happens in muslim countries is their concern and not our.
      Yes, I know about the ABC-weapons, but do you really think they could build an ICBM or ABC-weapons if we would build a wall around them and nothing enters and nothing leaves?

      And if someone asks how to get at the stuff like oil etc below muslim countries: A big station on the ground of the sea and then we dig.
      Yes, it is expensive but I don`t want to take any chances of them harming us or coming into the western world.

      And last: Just imagine one of them would be able to take the head of President Trump and deliver it to the Mullahs? (God forbid that this happens!!!)
      I think they will have the running (what normaly leaves the body in a solid way) because they don`t want to pay this bounty ever for knowing the price they will have to pay.
      But if Hillary or any of her cronies become the next President nothing will happen except that Hillary will deliver the best champagne to Teheran on the anniversery of Trumps death.

  3. I wonder if the odd police report of late, of someone using a “pointed instrument”, represents the Polizei evading the fairly new knife crime statistics.

  4. The specific wording on the Iraqi base treaty gives us a year to leave. Not sure if it is revokable by only one party. But it may be revokable by one party de facto.

  5. I don’t know if you had this video from Sud Tirol here on site. It’s 4 weeks old and shows tradition in those parts. Tradition of Krampus. Well, a bit angrier and more violence prone Krampuses in this case. From what I gathered in article I’ve read about event, it seems to be that group of migrants tried to remove mask from one or more Krampuses. What follows is savage beating of migrants who got little bit free with local customs. It seems that trying to take those masks off is a big no-no. Without much further ado; here’s video.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ITjztS8BRI0

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