Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/23/2020

The number of Wuhan Coronavirus infections in South Korea has risen to 762, with a death toll of seven. Meanwhile, more than 150 people were confirmed to have the disease in Italy, where three people have died of it. Also, tourism in France is estimated to be down by about a third since the outbreak of the coronavirus.

In other French news, a Muslim man in France is on trial for beating his wife and daughters because they refused to wear hijab.

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

Thanks to JD, Reader from Chicago, Upananda Brahmachari, 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
» Mapping Out the Banking Elite’s Goal for a Cashless Monetary System — Part Two
» MSNBC Hopes a ‘Global Financial Crisis’ Will Help Democrats Win in 2020
 
USA
» Biden: Online Russian Bots Tell People “Biden is a Bad Guy”
» Democrats’ Attempt to Remove Trump Not Over, Part 2
» Democrats Continue to Hemorrhage Latino and Black Voters in Nevada Primary
» Inmate Murders Two Child Molesters, Did “Everybody a Favour”
» Marianne Williamson Endorses Sanders at Texas Rally
» Maryland High School History Lesson Compares Trump With Nazis, Communists
» Revealed: Bernie Sanders Associate’s Extensive Violent Criminal Record
» The ISIS Plot in Kansas City You Heard Nothing About
» Twitter Suspends 70 Pro-Bloomberg Accounts for Violating “Platform Manipulation” Policy
» Watch: Cartoon Alex Jones Explains the New World Order & Globalism
» Whistleblower Philip Haney’s Close Friend: “He Warned Something Could Happen to Him… it Will be Falsely Called a Suicide”
 
Canada
» Wet’suwet’en Solidarity Protesters Set Up New Vancouver Rail Blockade, Violating Injunction
 
Europe and the EU
» Coronavirus Spreads in Italy — 40 Confirmed Cases — 50,000 People Under Quarantine in Lombardy Region — “Index Person” Shows No Sign of Illness
» Coronavirus: Venice Carnival Closes as Italy Imposes Lockdown
» Coronavirus Updates: Italian Towns Locked Down as Almost 150 People Test Positive
» Coronavirus Warning: UK Told ‘Distinct Possibility’ Half of Brits Could be Affected
» France: Muslim on Trial for Beating Wife, Daughters for Not Wearing Hijab
» France Has Seen a 30% to 40% Fall in Tourists Following the Coronavirus Outbreak: Finance Minister
» Germany: Berlin Freezes Rent as Population Boom Creates Housing Shortage, Cost Spike
» Poland: Support for Incumbent President Falls as Campaign Gathers Pace — Poll
» Sweden: Gothenburg Mosque: A Muslim Woman Shall Not Leave the Home Without Her Man’s Permission
» Three Norwegians Face 3 Years in Prison for “Hate Speech” Language
» UK Police Say London Mosque Stabbing Not Terror-Related
» UK Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott: “There Needs to be an End to Anonymity Online”
» UK: Boris Govt: Releasing Report on Ethnicity of Rape Gangs ‘Not in Public Interest’, Ministers Need ‘Safe Space’
» UK: Hundreds March in Protest of Julian Assange Extradition to U.S
» Why is Merkel Going to Meet With V4 Leaders in Prague?
» Young Male Voters Back Swedish Populist Party, But Far Left Have Females
 
Balkans
» Serbia Receives Advanced Russian Anti-Aircraft System Despite US Sanction Threats
 
Middle East
» Coronavirus Death Toll in Iran is the Largest Outside China
» Iran Elections: Record Low Turnout But Hardliners Set for Win
 
South Asia
» Is China Secretly Shipping Nuclear Arms to Pakistan?
» Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim Declared as a Kaffir by Islamic Cleric For Worshiping Lord Shiva
 
Far East
» Coronavirus: South Korea Placed on ‘Red Alert’ As Fifth Person Dies
» Coronavirus Live Updates: South Korea Reports Another 161 Cases, Bringing Total to 763
» Third Diamond Princess Passenger, 80-Year-Old Japanese Man, Dies After Coronavirus Quarantine
 
Immigration
» 2 Migrants Killed in Car Crash in Albania, 7 Injured
» 73 Per Cent of Swedish Population Growth Driven by Mass Migration
» Greyhound to Stop Allowing Unwarranted Immigration Searches on Buses
» Greyhound to Stop Allowing Border Patrol Agents to Conduct Immigration Checks on Buses Without Warrant
» Massachusetts City Passes Law Advising Police Not to Arrest Illegal Immigrants for Driving Without a License
» Migrants Vastly Overrepresented in Norway Crime Stats
» Pope Francis: Populists’ Anti-Immigration Policies Disseminate ‘Fear and Hatred’, Resemble Nazi Rhetoric
» The Democratic Immigration Plan to Destroy America
 
Culture Wars
» Europe’s New Academic Fascism
 

Mapping Out the Banking Elite’s Goal for a Cashless Monetary System — Part Two

In the first part of this article we traced the development of the ‘Utility Settlement Coin’ — a project that began in 2015 and which has now evolved through the inception of a consortium called Fnality International. Fnality are comprised of a number of the world’s biggest banks including Barclays and UBS, all of whom are shareholders in the scheme. Their objective as stated on the company’s website reads:

“Fnality International has been founded to create a network of decentralised Financial Market Infrastructures (dFMIs) to deliver the means of payment-on-chain in tomorrow’s wholesale banking markets.”

In practice, what Fnality are seeking to deliver is the construction of a distributed ledger technology based global payment system, one that can ‘facilitate tokenised, peer-to-peer markets’.

Before we look into this more, let’s examine some of the key figureheads behind the project. First there is the CEO Rhomaios Ram, who for the best part of two decades worked for Deutsche Bank in roles that included European Head of Currencies & Commodities and Head of Transaction Banking in the UK and Ireland. The Chairman of Fnality, Jim Turley, has also worked at Deutsche Bank in various different positions. Outside of commercial banking, Turley once served on the board of the New York Fed Foreign Exchange Committee.

But perhaps the standout name on Fnality’s management team is Daniel Heller, the firm’s advisor on regulatory affairs. Described as an expert in financial sector regulation and financial stability, Heller has a track record of having served at both the Bank for International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund. At the BIS he was head of the Secretariat of the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems, whilst at the IMF he was the executive director for Switzerland, Poland, Serbia, Azerbaijan, and four Central Asian republics. According to the Peterson Institute, for which Heller is a visiting fellow, Heller’s present research ‘focuses on the impact of emerging digital technologies such as blockchain on the financial sector, financial stability, and central banking.’

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

MSNBC Hopes a ‘Global Financial Crisis’ Will Help Democrats Win in 2020

Left desperate for Trump to lose even if it means ruining the lives of millions.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Biden: Online Russian Bots Tell People “Biden is a Bad Guy”

Presidential candidate Joe Biden has made a claim that negative online comments telling people “Biden is a bad guy” are coming from Russian bots.

In an interview with CBS News, Biden claimed that Russians had spent “a lot” of cash on an army of bots that are out to make him look bad.

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

Democrats’ Attempt to Remove Trump Not Over, Part 2

The Democrats have been laying this foundation for a case against Trump for a while. I’m sure that they even have another ‘insurance’ scheme in the works as we speak when this attempt to remove him because of ‘mental instability’ fails.

As I documented last week, mainstream media is helping with this cause by publishing articles that reference Trump’s mental state. Though they are so far off base with their opinions they are attempting to show a pattern of instability so they have a reason to execute section 4 of the 25th Amendment: President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President.

Pelosi continues to make comments that make its way into the print of the mainstream media that references Trump’s so-called unstable mental condition. On May 23, 2019, she told a press conference: “Let me be very clear: the president’s behavior, as far as his obstruction of justice, the things that he is doing, it’s in plain sight, it cannot be denied — ignoring subpoenas, obstruction of justice,” Pelosi told reporters at her weekly press conference Thursday following the closed-door meeting.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Democrats Continue to Hemorrhage Latino and Black Voters in Nevada Primary

Communist Bernie Sanders won the Nevada Democrat party primary on Saturday.

It wasn’t even close. Bernie won by at least 25 points over the next closest contender Joe Biden.

This was good news for Bernie and global communists but not good for Democrats.

Today MSNBC reported that in the 2020 NV primaries only 35% of first time caucus-goers voted, compared to 44% in 2016.

This denotes a lack of enthusiasm, in general.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Inmate Murders Two Child Molesters, Did “Everybody a Favour”

An inmate has confessed to beating two convicted child molesters with a walking cane while inside prison walls. Inmate Jonathan Watson, 41, says he was being taunted by a convicted pedophile inmate who was watching PBS Kids in a common prisoner space.

Watson received a life sentence after being charged with first-degree murder and dicharging a firearm causing great bodily injury or death, of which he has already served 10 years.

David Bobb, 48, and Graham De Luis-Conti, 62, were both serving a life sentence after being convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14. One was watching children’s programming when the inmate allegedly began to taunt inmate Watson who then took a nearby walking cane and proceeded to beat the two men to death.

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

Marianne Williamson Endorses Sanders at Texas Rally

Former 2020 candidate and author Marianne Williamson endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for the Democratic nomination on Sunday at his rally in Austin, Texas.

In a surprise appearance at the rally, Williamson told attendees that Sanders’s strong performance a day earlier in the Nevada caucuses made it clear that the energy in the 2020 cycle was “unquestionably” with his campaign.

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

Maryland High School History Lesson Compares Trump With Nazis, Communists

A public high school in Towson, Maryland is being criticized by Republican lawmakers in the state because of a history lesson that compares President Trump with Nazis and communists.

According to a report from The Baltimore Sun, a slide used in a presentation in an Advanced Placement history lesson at Loch Raven High School shows a picture of Trump, with the caption “Wants to round up a group of people and build a giant wall.” Underneath that is swastika with the caption “been there” and the communist hammer and sickle symbol with the caption “Done that.”

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

Revealed: Bernie Sanders Associate’s Extensive Violent Criminal Record

Alex Friedmann, a former consultant to Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, was recently arrested for allegedly planning a violent jailbreak and planting weapons and ammo inside a Tennessee jail.

Now, OAN’s Jack Posobiec has revealed that Friedmann has an extensive violent criminal record. His rap sheet includes:

  • Assault with intent to murder
  • Robbery — armed with deadly weapon
  • Attempted aggravated robbery

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

The ISIS Plot in Kansas City You Heard Nothing About

A few years ago, Robert Lorenzo Hester, Jr. of Columbia, Missouri met “several young men who suggested that Islam was a religion that valued men like him.” That was when his troubles began: prosecutors announced Wednesday that they want Hester to serve twenty years in prison and be under supervision for the rest of his life for plotted a jihad massacre in Kansas City. His case shows yet again how politically correct willful ignorance regarding the motivating ideology and magnitude of the jihad threat renders us all vulnerable.

True to form, federal prosecutors are already busily ignoring the possibility that Hester was inspired to try to kill non-Muslims by Qur’anic exhortations such as “kill them wherever you find them” (2:191, 4:89; cf. 9:5). According to the Columbia Tribune, they claim that “mental health issues combined with a mockery of his race and intellect by fellow soldiers led him to extremists ideologies.” Federal public defender Troy Stabenow also notes that Hester suffered from an “abusive childhood” and engaged in “drug use at an early age.” He “wanted to feel accepted and do something to make others proud, so he joined the Armed Forces,” but he didn’t stick.

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

Twitter Suspends 70 Pro-Bloomberg Accounts for Violating “Platform Manipulation” Policy

Bloomberg is now facing a Twitter bot scandal.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Watch: Cartoon Alex Jones Explains the New World Order & Globalism

A compilation of hilarious animated clips show a cartoon version of Alex Jones break down globalism, the left’s attack on culture, psychedelic clockwork elves, and more. Check out how these gut-busting real rants by Jones still red-pill the world about the New World Order.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Whistleblower Philip Haney’s Close Friend: “He Warned Something Could Happen to Him… it Will be Falsely Called a Suicide”

DHS whistleblower Philip Haney was found dead on Friday.

The whistleblower against the Obama administration was shot dead near his vehicle in California.

Haney told Sean Hannity in 2016 that he was ordered during the Obama administration to scrub the record of Muslims in the US with terrorist ties.

The story of his death has still not been reported by the mainstream media. The Gateway Pundit was notified of this last night.

Haney had been missing since Wednesday.

As Kristinn Taylor reported within the last hour — Almador County officials are calling the shooting a “suicide”

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Wet’suwet’en Solidarity Protesters Set Up New Vancouver Rail Blockade, Violating Injunction

Two days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said rail blockades across Canada need to come down, a group of protesters gathered for hours on another major train crossing in East Vancouver.

The demonstrators gathered at the CN Rail tracks near Clark Drive and Venables Street just before noon Sunday, violating an injunction the rail company was granted by the B.C. Supreme Court the last time its tracks were blocked earlier this month.

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

Coronavirus Spreads in Italy — 40 Confirmed Cases — 50,000 People Under Quarantine in Lombardy Region — “Index Person” Shows No Sign of Illness

In the last 48 hours the number of cases of coronavirus in the Lombardy region in Italy has grown from six to over 40 victims of the virus.

The Lombardy region of Italy is now under voluntary quarantine. The Carnival (Mardi Gras) celebrations were cancelled in the area.

Five of the victims are doctors and nurses.

The “index person” who flew back to the region in late January from China still shows NO SIGNS of the deadly virus. Despite this the virus has spread to at least 40 people.

Conservative politician Matteo Salvini has called for Italy to close its borders.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Coronavirus: Venice Carnival Closes as Italy Imposes Lockdown

Italian officials have cut short the Venice Carnival as they try to control what is now the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in Europe.

Authorities in the Veneto region said the event would end later on Sunday, two days earlier than scheduled.

Italy has by far the highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe, with 152. Three people have died.

Italy has imposed strict quarantine restrictions in two northern “hotspot” regions close to Milan and Venice.

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

Coronavirus Updates: Italian Towns Locked Down as Almost 150 People Test Positive

Virus challenges $45 billion cruise industry

Coronavirus concerns have pushed the $45 billion cruise line industry to cancel trips and reroute ships as it struggles to contain the impact from fearful travelers. But experts say the industry will bounce back after the outbreak is contained.

“Business is soft. People are scared to travel,” Frank Del Rio, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., told investors Thursday. He predicted that the trend would continue “until we see the leveling off of new cases.”

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

Coronavirus Warning: UK Told ‘Distinct Possibility’ Half of Brits Could be Affected

The UK Government is working on the assumption that up to 50 percent of the country’s population — or 33 million people — could be hit by coronavirus (covid-19) if China is unable to bring the deadly disease under control. John Edmunds, a professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, warned this worrying projection is a “distinct possibility”. He added: “It doesn’t mean to say that everybody is going to be seriously ill. The vast majority would have mild illness, a cough and a cold, then recover and be perfectly well.”

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

France: Muslim on Trial for Beating Wife, Daughters for Not Wearing Hijab

A 35-year-old Muslim man in the commune of Cavaillon is facing trial after being accused of domestically abusing his wife and daughters who refused to wear an Islamic veil.

The man, who defines himself as a traditionalist Muslim, is said to have become enraged after his daughters refused to wear a hijab and did not engage in their homework that they received from the Quranic school they attended, Le Dauphine reports.

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

France Has Seen a 30% to 40% Fall in Tourists Following the Coronavirus Outbreak: Finance Minister

France’s tourism sector has taken a beating following the coronavirusoutbreak, according to the country’s finance minister.

“We have less tourists, of course, in France, about 30%, 40% less than expected,” Bruno Le Maire told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Sunday at the G-20Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meetings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“That’s, of course, an important impact for the French economy,” he said.

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

Germany: Berlin Freezes Rent as Population Boom Creates Housing Shortage, Cost Spike

BERLIN (AP) — Berlin is freezing the rents of 1.5 million apartments for the next five years starting this Sunday in a controversial move to control the exploding costs that have forced many to move outside Germany’s capital city.

Berlin is the first German city to influence the rental prices so directly and the law has been both celebrated as a step toward more fairness by its supporters and ripped apart as a socialist method by critics.

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

Poland: Support for Incumbent President Falls as Campaign Gathers Pace — Poll

Support for Poland’s incumbent head of state, Andrzej Duda, slid by 6 percentage points (pps) from the previous month to 40 percent, shows the latest poll run by the Social Changes pollster for the right-wing wPolityce.pl political website.

The survey assumed that the presidential election would take place on Sunday, February 23.

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

Sweden: Gothenburg Mosque: A Muslim Woman Shall Not Leave the Home Without Her Man’s Permission

Swedish TV4 revealed yesterday that the homepage of the Gothenburg mosque — a mosque built with Saudi Arabian money — links to an international guide for proper behavior if one wishes to convert to Islam.

The New Muslim guide says that a Muslim woman must have her husband’s permission to leave the home, regardless if it is for personal or for other reasons. Furthermore, the guide claims that it’s a sin if a Muslim woman ever denies him sex. The only exceptions to the rule are if the woman is sick or is menstruating.

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

Three Norwegians Face 3 Years in Prison for “Hate Speech” Language

Two older men and a woman will appear in the Oslo District Court in Norway next week, facing charges of hate speech.

The first case concerns a man in his 60’s, who in August 2018 shouted “blackies”, “you try to take over your country” and “you are unwanted here” to three women after an argument in Töyen, Oslo. The elderly gentlemen was fined 10,000 NOK but refused to pay it, so he’s due to appear in court on Monday, Norwegian online newspaper Document reports.

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

UK Police Say London Mosque Stabbing Not Terror-Related

LONDON (AP) — A 29-year-old man appeared in court Saturday, charged with stabbing an official at one of London’s biggest mosques during afternoon prayers.

Daniel Horton, who is homeless, is charged with grievous bodily harm and possession of a bladed article.

Police say they do not think the attack was terrorism-related.

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

UK Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott: “There Needs to be an End to Anonymity Online”

UK Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott has proposed that people should be forced to hand over their real name and address in order to use social media sites and that this information should be made available to the government when they want to investigate online posts.

“You can post under a pseudonym but Twitter, Facebook — whoever, should actually have your name and address,” Abbott said during an appearance on Sophy Ridge on Sunday. “When we try and follow up, some of the really abusive things and threats of violence online, we cannot trace the people because no one has their name and address.”

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

UK: Boris Govt: Releasing Report on Ethnicity of Rape Gangs ‘Not in Public Interest’, Ministers Need ‘Safe Space’

Boris Johnson’s government has refused to release a report on the ethnic background of grooming gangs, saying it is not in “the public interest” and would deprive ministers of a “safe space” to shape policy.

The groomings gangs investigation was announced by Sajid Javid, the former Home Secretary, in 2018, with a pledge that he would “not let cultural or political sensitivities get in the way of understanding the problem and doing something about it”.

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

UK: Hundreds March in Protest of Julian Assange Extradition to U.S

LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of supporters of Julian Assange marched through London on Saturday to pressure the U.K. government into refusing to extradite the WikiLeaks founder to the United States to face spying charges.

Famous backers, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood joined the crowd protesting the U.S. espionage charges against the founder of the secret-spilling website. An extradition hearing for Assange is due to begin in a London court on Monday.

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

Why is Merkel Going to Meet With V4 Leaders in Prague?

Written by Remix News

In the first half of this year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) is about to visit Prague, with the visit planned to take place during the Czech presidency of the Visegrad Four.

Three reliable sources from the Czech, as well as the German side, confirmed the plan to Czech daily Hospodarské noviny.

“Merkel was invited to the Visegrad Four prime ministers’ summit,” one source said. She should, therefore, meet in Prague with the prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary.

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

Young Male Voters Back Swedish Populist Party, But Far Left Have Females

The populist Sweden Democrats (SD) are the most popular party with male voters aged 18 to 29 according to a new poll — but female voters are largely on the opposite side of the political spectrum.

The SD is the most popular party in the Novus poll, followed by the Centre-Right Moderate Party. Combined with the conservative Christian Democrats (KD) the three right-leaning parties make up over 60 per cent of the male vote, SVT reports.

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

Serbia Receives Advanced Russian Anti-Aircraft System Despite US Sanction Threats

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia has received a sophisticated anti-aircraft system from Russia, despite possible U.S. sanctions against the Balkan state, which is formally seeking European Union membership.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told the pro-government TV Prva on Sunday that the Pantsir S1 air-defense system was purchased after suggestions from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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

Coronavirus Death Toll in Iran is the Largest Outside China

The coronavirus death toll in Iran rose Sunday to eight — the largest outside of China — prompting neighboring countries to close their borders with the Mideast nation as panic over the outbreak mounts.

The number of people currently infected with the flu-like virus in Iran also is now 43, local health Ministry officials told Al Jazeera.

Fears over the rapidly spreading illness caused authorities in Turkey, Pakistan and Armenia to close their countries’ borders with Iran and for Afghanistan to introduce travel restrictions involving it, the outlet reported.

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

Iran Elections: Record Low Turnout But Hardliners Set for Win

Iran has seen the lowest turnout in a parliamentary election since the 1979 revolution, with 42.6% of eligible voters casting their ballots.

Officials had banned thousands of contenders, many of them reformers.

Hardliners are set for big gains in the first vote since US sanctions resumed.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described Friday’s turnout as stunning, as he said Iran’s enemies had tried to put people off voting by exaggerating the coronavirus outbreak.

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

Is China Secretly Shipping Nuclear Arms to Pakistan?

On February 12, 2020, GreatGameIndia issued an alert regarding a suspicious shipment off the western coast of India. The ship belonged to a Chinese shipping company blacklisted by the Americans last year and was destined to Pakistan. Further investigation revealed the seized shipment carried launching gear for missiles and that China was secretly shipping nuclear arms to Pakistan, now being examined by two different teams of Indian nuclear scientists. Sources in Coastal intelligence told GreatGameIndia the intercept was based on a tip-off from the Americans who were monitoring the entire fleet of the shipping line believed to be a front of Chinese intelligence…

On February 12, 2020, GreatGameIndia issued an alert regarding a suspicious shipment off the western coast of India. A cargo ship Da Cui Yun operated by COSCO Shipping line carrying missile like machinery and arms was seized and searched by Indian intelligence agencies. The ship arrived at Deendayal Port, Kandla, western India from Jiangyin Port, China and its next destination was Port Qasim in Karachi, Pakistan.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim Declared as a Kaffir by Islamic Cleric For Worshiping Lord Shiva

Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim is no more a Muslim, termed as Kaffir after worshiping Lord Shiva : Peer Syed Ibrahim Siddique, Islamic Cleric and Headman of Furfura Sharif.

Dolon Hazra | HENB | Kolkata | Feb 23, 2020:: Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim is no more a Muslim and he is termed as Kaffir after worshiping Lord Shiva during Maha Shivratri festival observed two days ago. This was opined and directed as a fatwa by Peer Syed Ibrahim Siddique, an veteran Islamic Cleric and one of the Headmen of influential Islamic shrine in Bengal, Furfura Sharif.

In a published video, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim who is also a prime leader in Trinamool Congress Party and very close to Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, was seen to participate in Maha Shivaratri function in a Kolkata Shiva Temple by offering Flowers, Milk and Water to Shiva Ling for worshiping Lord Shiva.

This irked the veteran Islamic Cleric and Furfura Sharif Peer Syed Ibrahim Siddique, an veteran who issued a directives to Muslims not to attend Hakim’s funeral prayer and not to allow his dead body in any Muslim graveyard…

           — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari [Return to headlines]
 

Coronavirus: South Korea Placed on ‘Red Alert’ As Fifth Person Dies

More than 9,000 Shincheonji church members in self-quarantine as president describes coming days as ‘very important moment’

South Korea’s president Moon Jae-in has placed the country on “red alert” after it reported its fifth death and more than 123 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of infected to 556.

As the nation struggled on Sunday to contain the deadly Covid-19 outbreak in the city of Daegu, the president described the coming days as “a very important moment”, the news agency Yonhap said.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Coronavirus Live Updates: South Korea Reports Another 161 Cases, Bringing Total to 763

This is a live blog. Please check back for updates.

All times below are in Beijing time.

9:24 am: South Korea cases surpass 760, fatalities rise to seven

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an additional 161 cases on Monday morning, bringing the total to 763 nationwide. Most of the new confirmed cases were reported in the city of Daegu.

An additional two people were said to have died, which brought the death toll to seven.

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

Third Diamond Princess Passenger, 80-Year-Old Japanese Man, Dies After Coronavirus Quarantine

A third passenger has died after being quarantined for coronavirus on board Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess ship, which remains docked in Yokohama, Japan, according to Japan’s health ministry.

The passenger, an 80-year-old Japanese man, died of pneumonia, the health ministry announced in a news release Sunday. It was not confirmed that the passenger had coronavirus but had been treated in the hospital after disembarking from the cruise ship.

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

2 Migrants Killed in Car Crash in Albania, 7 Injured

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Two migrants were killed in a car crash and seven others were injured when their vehicle plummeted off a cliff in southern Albania, police said Sunday.

A four-wheel drive vehicle was illegally transporting the nine migrants, identified as Syrians by local media, on Saturday, a police statement said. The driver lost control and the vehicle careened off the cliff in Gramsh, 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of the capital, Tirana.

The eight survivors, including the driver, were taken to a hospital.

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

73 Per Cent of Swedish Population Growth Driven by Mass Migration

The Swedish population increased by nearly 100,000 in 2019 according to Statistics Sweden, with 73 per cent of the growth coming from mass migration.

A total of 97,404 people were added to the Swedish population, more of whom were men (53,376) than women (44,028). The figures were announced by Statistics Sweden in a press release this week.

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

Greyhound to Stop Allowing Unwarranted Immigration Searches on Buses

Greyhound will no longer allow U.S. Border Patrol agents to conduct routine immigration checks on its buses without a warrant, the company said Friday.

“Our primary concern is the safety of our customers and team members, and we are confident these changes will lead to an improved experience for all parties involved,” the emailed statement read, according to Fox 6.

The company said it would notify the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of its refusal to consent to “unwarranted searches on its buses or in areas of terminals that are not open to the public — such as company offices or any areas a person needs a ticket to access.”

Greyhound stated that its employees will receive updated training regarding the policies, adding that stickers declaring its non-consent would be fixed on all buses.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Greyhound to Stop Allowing Border Patrol Agents to Conduct Immigration Checks on Buses Without Warrant

Greyhound said Friday it would prohibit U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents without a warrant from boarding its buses to conduct immigration checks as bus companies continue to face pressure from civil rights advocates over the practice.

The announcement comes after an Associated Press report said a Jan. 28 Border Patrol memo contradicted Greyhound’s stance that it had to allow the agents on its buses under federal law.

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

Massachusetts City Passes Law Advising Police Not to Arrest Illegal Immigrants for Driving Without a License

The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts just passed a new law which seems to give illegal immigrants more rights than American citizens.

Under the new law, the city’s police are advised not to arrest illegal immigrants who are caught driving without a license.

The city is doing this specifically to shield illegals from ICE.

FOX 25 in Boston reports:

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Migrants Vastly Overrepresented in Norway Crime Stats

Figures from Statistics Norway show that migrants are vastly overrepresented in crimes, with younger migrants especially involved in violent crime and abuse in Oslo.

The figures were highlighted by Progressive Party members Sylvi Listhaug and Jon Helgheim, who revealed that young immigrant men from Somalia commit violent crime at a rate of 419 per 1,000 compared to 34 per 1,000 for native Norwegians.

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

Pope Francis: Populists’ Anti-Immigration Policies Disseminate ‘Fear and Hatred’, Resemble Nazi Rhetoric

ROME — Pope Francis said that policies proposed by populist politicians to curb mass migration only serve to stoke hatred and fuel fear, comparing them to Nazi rhetoric on Sunday.

In an address to a gathering organized by the Italian bishops’ conference in the southern Italian city of Bari, the pope connected dots between war, international migration, and climate change, three key issues of his pontificate

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

The Democratic Immigration Plan to Destroy America

New bill would turn foreign child molesters and murderers into Democratic Party VIPs paid for by taxpayers.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Europe’s New Academic Fascism

Western universities have become places of personal fear and intellectual terror. Formerly sanctuaries for open inquiry, instead fierce ideological minorities have been setting red lines of orthodoxy in the face of a silent or, worse, compliant academy. Education — from ex ducere, to lead out — has been increasingly eroded by ideological fundamentalism and an attempt to determine not only what actions are acceptable, but even words and thoughts.

Social media has helped by officially reviving the lynch mob. We must now all sing the praises of multiculturalism, Islam, immigration, post-colonial guilt and racializing just about everything. In this new Inquisition, not even the slightest doubt or dissent can be tolerated — it must be punished!

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

10 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/23/2020

  1. “Why is Merkel Going to Meet With V4 Leaders in Prague?” That’s what we’ve been wondering ever since the meeting was announced, haha.

  2. Not to minimize the criminal act that put Jonathan Watson behind bars for life, but this man has certainly done much to redeem himself by killing two child molesters who were also behind bars in the same prison, and apparently quite unremorseful.

    Not all heroes wear capes, some of them wear jumpsuits.

    Apparently, I am not the only one who feels this way; namely that this man has done what the state doesn’t have the cojones to do, and therefore a Go Fund Me site has been set up for him with the goal of raising $5000 for his commissary fund. It appears legit to me, and I donated $20 because Jonathan did what many of us wish we could do or fantasize about during bull sessions while having a few beers with friends. Here is the link for anyone else who feels the same.

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/1vlpyav7dc?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=m_pd+share-sheet

  3. Almost every other Somali savage in Norway has been implicated in a violent crime? It seems to me the police need to work a little harder to implicate the other half. Then deport them all back to Somalia, with permission to land if granted; if not, then tossed out over the airfield from 30,000 feet works equally well.

  4. http://i.4cdn.org/pol/1582579655889.jpg
    The tweet roughly translate into
    >Twitter thinks, its forbidden to publish a testimony if it doesn’t fit the official narrative. Because of this my twitter account got closed. I already did an objection and if they refuse I’ll go to court.
    Second tweet
    >My wife is a turk and she translated this video. This witness clearly says that it wasn’t the offender which they sowend on german media and that there were more than one.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLYZOwXgoTY

Comments are closed.