Reader links for May 1 – 2015

This post has all its contents in the comments. For the newest freshest videos and news stories of interest to the Counter-Jihad and the Geopolitics of Islam, please click comments and add to, or read what is posted there.

Some will be integrated into the day’s posts and others not. But this way we can keep a great news flow going without interfering with the conversations about the issues under the various essays and news items in the posts that will be presented throughout the day.

Thank you all for your informative and important contributions.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

30 Replies to “Reader links for May 1 – 2015”

  1. Airbus to sue over US-German spying row (BBC, May 1, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32542140

    “Aviation giant Airbus says it will file a criminal complaint over allegations that German intelligence helped the US carry out industrial espionage.

    German media reports suggest the country’s spy agency BND collected data on European firms at the behest of the US National Security Agency.

    An Airbus statement quoted by AFP news agency said it was “alarmed” by the reports but did not want to speculate.

    The company said it had asked for more information from the German government.

    “We are aware that large companies in the sector, like ours, are targets of espionage,” read the statement.

    “However, in this case we are alarmed because there is concrete suspicion.”

    Leaks from a secret BND document suggest that its monitoring station at Bad Aibling checked whether European companies were breaking trade embargos after a request from the NSA….”

  2. India rejects US ‘freedoms’ report (BBC, May 1, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-32545270

    “India has criticised a US congressional panel claim that minorities in the country have been subjected to “violent attacks” after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP came to power.

    The foreign ministry said the panel report “appears to be based on limited understanding of India”.

    Critics say Mr Modi’s government is not doing enough to stop Hindu zealots targeting minorities.

    Mr Modi has vowed to protect all religious groups.

    The latest US Commission on International Religious Freedom report says that “since the [last year’s] election, religious minority communities have been subject to derogatory comments by politicians linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and numerous violent attacks and forced conversions by Hindu nationalist groups, such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP)”.

    The report said Hindu groups had announced plans in December to forcibly “reconvert” at least 4,000 Christian families and 1,000 Muslim families to Hinduism in Uttar Pradesh as part of a so-called ‘ghar wapsi’ (homecoming) programme.

    “Despite the country’s status as a pluralistic, secular democracy, India has long struggled to protect minority religious communities or provide justice when crimes occur, which perpetuates a climate of impunity,” the report added….”

  3. Turkish May Day Protesters Clash With Police in Istanbul (abcnews, May 1, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkish-day-protesters-clash-police-istanbul-30723833

    “Police and May Day demonstrators have clashed in Istanbul as crowds determined to defy a government ban tried to march to the city’s iconic Taksim Square.

    Security forces pushed back demonstrators using water cannons and tear gas. Protesters retaliated by throwing stones and hurling firecrackers at police.

    Istanbul’s police chief said around 136 people had been detained, according to private Dogan News Agency.

    Authorities have blocked the square that is symbolic as the center of protests in which 34 people were killed in 1977.

    Turkish newswires say that 10,000 police officers were stationed around the square Friday with water cannons to block the protesters. Protests are also taking place in cities across Turkey.

    The demonstrations are the first large-scale protests since the government passed a security bill this year giving police expanded powers to crack down on protesters.”

  4. Yemen: Thousands fill Sanaa to protest Saudi-led intervention and airstrikes

  5. Jeb Bush thinks Islam has been ‘hijacked’ by ‘barbarians’

    Jeb Bush, the potential Republican presidential candidate, said in an appearance in Washington on Thursday afternoon that the religion of Islam had been “hijacked” by “barbarians” – and that peaceful practitioners of the religion should not be offended by his saying so.

    Bush made the comments at a conservative conference during a one-on-one interview with the National Review Institute’s Rich Lowry.

    Lowry asked: “Is Islam a religion of peace?”

    Bush’s reply, in full, ran:

    “I’m sure for some of the practitioners, but it’s been hijacked by people who have a [sic] ideology that wants to destroy western civilization, and they’re barbarians. And so that part, which is the part that we need to confront head-on, is clearly not a religion of peace.

    “And I think it’s – you’re not offending the sensibilities of people that are peaceful in the adherence to their faith when you say what I just said.”

    more :

    http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/30/jeb-bush-on-islam

    Catholic Archbishop teaches Christians about Islam

    He took on the challenging task of encouraging fellow Christians to learn more about Islam and the Holy Quran at a time when non-Muslims’ perception of Islam has become associated with violence, and many Muslims believe the West has declared war on their religion.

    According to the Bishop:”The more you understand a religion, the better it is,” Fitzgerald says

    more on this page
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/879138/catholic-archbishop-teaches-christians-about-islam/

  6. UK – Mosque paints dome backing candidate running against Nigel Farage

    An east London mosque has shown its political colours with a giant slogan daubed on its domewhich endorses a candidate running against Nigel Farage in a constituency more than 70 miles away.

    But Shacklewell Lane mosque’s bold display of support for Nigel Askew, who is running in South Thanet for an anti-austerity party launched by Happy Mondays’ dancer Bez, has landed it in hot water with the Charity Commission. […]

    http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/01/mosque-paints-dome-backing-candidate-running-against-nigel-farage

  7. U.S. Navy escorting American ships in Strait of Hormuz amid Iran tension

    U.S. Navy escorting American ships in Strait of Hormuz amid Iran tension

    Iranian naval patrol boats also surrounded a U.S. cargo vessel in the Strait Friday.

    “We’ve taken this step to prevent harassment or possible interdiction by Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval forces,” the official told CBS News.

    The Navy makes a distinction between accompanying ships and escorting them. The officials said the Navy won’t escort these ships but will let them know in advance that they will monitor the situation as they transit the narrow Strait from the Gulf toward the Arabian Sea.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-navy-escorting-american-ships-in-strait-of-hormuz-amid-iran-tension/

    • U.S. Navy might accompany other nations’ ships in Strait of Hormuz

      (Reuters) – The U.S. military signaled on Friday it may allow warships to accompany other nations’ vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran’s seizure of a container ship this week prompted the Navy to start accompanying U.S.-flagged vessels.

      “Our current plans are for accompanying U.S.-flagged ships, although there are discussions with other nations to include their vessels as well,” said Colonel Patrick Ryder, a spokesman at the U.S. military’s Central Command, declining to identify the other countries.

      http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/01/us-iran-usa-ship-pentagon-idUSKBN0NM45120150501

      US Navy Accompanies 4 Ships Through Strait of Hormuz

      The U.S. Navy has accompanied four American-flagged ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, and may expand that aid to other nations to ensure they get no interference from Iranian vessels.

      U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren says the four ships belonged to the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command or were contract vessels. Those ships have civilian crews and are used to carry cargo or re-supply U.S. Navy ships.

      Air Force Col. Pat Ryder says any U.S.-flagged ship can ask for Navy warships to accompany it through the narrow strait, which includes Iranian waters.

      The policy was adopted after Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps naval vessels reportedly fired warning shots near a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship earlier this week and detained it and its crew.

      http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/us-navy-accompanies-ships-strait-hormuz-30735351

  8. Yemeni civilians killed in Saudi airstrikes, officials say (CNN, May 1, 2015)
    http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/01/middleeast/yemen-crisis/index.html

    “A series of Saudi airstrikes hit a hospital and medical camp in southwestern Yemen on Friday, killing at least 58 civilians and injuring at least 67, two local Yemeni government officials said.

    Most of the dead and injured were medics and patients, they said.

    The hospital that was hit, Raheda Hospital, is one of the largest and busiest in the area. The medical camp is part of the hospital. They are in Saqee Dam, a small town outside the city of Taiz in Taiz Province.

    Three local Yemeni government officials said the hospital was not being used by Houthi rebels and that none of the dead was a rebel fighter.

    Houthi rebels seized the Taiz international airport last month, days before Saudi Arabia and its allies began airstrikes against rebel positions across the country.

    The Saudis say they want to restore the Yemeni government, which the Houthis overthrew earlier this year.”