Reader links for Sept. 15 – 2015

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In order to preserve the flow of conversation about various posted items, and also in order to make it easier for visitors to find the list of related links being shared by other readers, regulars and interested parties in one place, each day a post is automatically created at a minute past midnight ET.

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Thank you all for those that take the effort to assist this site in keeping the public informed. Below, typically people can find the latest enemy propaganda, news items of related materials from multiple countries and languages, op-eds from many excellent sites who write on our topics, geopolitics and immigration issues and so on.

About Eeyore

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

62 Replies to “Reader links for Sept. 15 – 2015”

  1. Danish teenager, 15, murdered her mother with a kitchen knife after watching ISIS videos of the beheading of British hostages online

    Lisa Borch became obsessed with Islam after going out with older Muslims

    Spent hours on YouTube watching the savage decapitations of David Haines and Alan Henning with 29-year-old boyfriend Bakhtiar Mohammed Abdulla

    Pair hatched a plan to brutally kill Tina Römer Holtegaard at her Kvissel home

    They stabbed her at least 20 times, with Borch casually waiting for the police

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3235062/Blonde-Danish-teenager-15-murdered-mother-kitchen-knife-watching-ISIS-videos-beheading-British-hostages-online.html

    • As the young girl is aged 15, isn’t her mother guilty of “underage victimality?” That is, the 1998 European Hate Crime of creating violent feelings and thoughts within a child. Now placed on the Dead Offenders Register.

  2. Charlie Hebdo stirs new controversy with migrant cartoons

    French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is courting controversy again by running cartoons deriding the response of predominantly Christian European countries to a flood of migrants from mainly Muslim war zones such as Syria and Iraq.

    The magazine became a symbol of freedom of speech after it was the target of a deadly attack by Islamist militants in January for publishing cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammad.

    The latest edition has attracted renewed attention — and criticism on social media.

    One drawing plays on the harrowing photo of Aylan Kurdi, the drowned Syrian child whose body washed up on a beach in Turkey after a failed attempt to cross by boat with his family to Greece. The photograph galvanised world attention on the refugee crisis.

    The Charlie Hebdo cartoon shows a toddler in shorts and a T-shirt face-down on the shoreline beside an advertising billboard that offers two children’s meal menus for the price of one.

    “So close to making it…” the caption says.

    Another cartoon, also penned by a cartoonist who survived the militant attack on Charlie Hebdo’s Paris premises in January, runs under a caption saying: “Proof that Europe is Christian”.

    It shows a Jesus-like figure walking on the water while another, smaller figure wearing shorts is up-ended in the water, with the former saying “Christians walk on water” and the latter “Muslim children sink”.

    Newspapers from Asia to North America noted the cartoons.

    “Aylan Kurdi’s death mocked by Charlie Hebdo”, read a headline in the Toronto Sun. “Charlie Hebdo criticized for dead Syrian toddler’s cartoon,” said the Times of India.

    Britain’s Daily Mirror published a headline on its website saying: “Charlie Hebdo publishes cartoons mocking dead Aylan Kurdi with caption ‘Muslim children sink’.

    Many other media outlets stopped short of condemning the enfant terrible of the French press but suggested Charlie Hebdo could face further troubles or legal woes for its latest work.

    Britain’s The Independent, however, quoted expert Maajid Nawaz of the Quilliam think-tank as saying the cartoons were clearly intended as an indictment of European failings towards migrants.

    Some other media outlets also said they appeared to be above all denouncing hypocrisy and consumerism in Europe.

    A Charlie Hebdo spokeswoman contacted by Reuters said the newspaper was unaware of any complaints filed against it

    The newspaper received an outpouring of solidarity after the January attack, in which two assailants killed 12 people in all, including its editor-in-chief and top cartoonists.

    It had been struggling financially with weekly sales as low as 30,000 but went on to sell millions of copies worldwide.

    The slogan “Je Suis Charlie”, or “I am Charlie”, resounded around the world.

    But many social network users vented anger and frustration over the new cartoons, turning to a new Twitter hashtag — #JeNeSuisPasCharlie (I Am Not Charlie).

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/15/uk-europe-migrants-charliehebdo-idUKKCN0RF1OM20150915

  3. Migrant crisis: Hungary declares emergency at Serbia border (BBC, Sep 15, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34252812

    “Hungary has declared a state of emergency in two southern counties as tough new laws to stop migrants entering illegally came into force.

    Police said they had arrested 60 people accused of trying to breach a razor-wire fence on the border with Serbia.

    The state of emergency gives police extra powers and would allow troop deployments if parliament approves.

    The EU is facing a huge influx of migrants, many fleeing conflict and poverty in countries including Syria.

    Meanwhile, Germany and Austria are calling for a special meeting of EU leaders next week to discuss the crisis…”

  4. Syria conflict: Russia ‘to continue Assad military aid’ (BBC, Sep 15, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34256389

    “Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged continued military support for Syria’s Bashar al-Assad despite growing concerns over Moscow’s role in the war.

    Mr Putin urged other countries to join Russia in sending “military-technical assistance”.

    He said the influx refugees to Europe would have been “even bigger” without Russian support for Syria’s government.

    The US and its Western allies oppose President Assad, and say that backing him risks prolonging the conflict.

    But Moscow has been a key ally of Mr Assad during the bloody civil war, which began in 2011.
    It says military equipment is being sent to Syria to help the government combat the so-called Islamic State…”

  5. Turkey targets Dogan media ‘terror propaganda’ (BC, Sep 15, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34256762

    “Turkish prosecutors have begun an inquiry into a big media group, after photos were published of dead soldiers, state-run Anadolu news agency says.

    The inquiry into the Dogan group, which owns Hurriyet newspaper and part owns CNN Turk TV, also involves an interview with an alleged Kurdish PKK militant.

    A ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK unravelled in July and the conflict has escalated in recent weeks.

    As tensions increased, protesters attacked Hurriyet’s offices last week.

    Pro-government demonstrators accused the paper of misquoting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    There were also attacks on another newspaper, Daily Sabah, as well as a number of offices belonging to the pro-Kurdish HDP party…”

  6. Haze chokes Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore (BBC, Sep 15, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34242311

    “Smoke from huge forest fires in Indonesian has created a cloud of smog over the country, which has spread over neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.

    The fires, which happen every year, are caused by slash-and-burn clearances on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.widely blamed for the practice.

    Indonesia, which has repeatedly promised to stop the illegal fires, has sent hundreds of military personnel to try to put them out.

    It has declared a state of emergency in Riau province, where the haze has been building for several weeks and pollution levels are hazardous to health.

    In Malaysia, schools have been closed in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, and several other areas, while Singaporeans are being advised to avoid strenuous activity outdoors…”

  7. Top court backs German block on EU migrant benefits (BBC, Sep 15, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34256969

    “Germany can bar EU migrants from certain social security benefits even if they have previously worked in Germany, the EU’s top court has ruled.

    The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling applies to all EU member states.

    Even after six months’ residence in an EU state a migrant may still be refused any social assistance, the ECJ ruled.

    The judgement concerned a Bosnian-born Swedish national – Nazifa Alimanovic – who had claimed subsistence allowances after losing her job in Germany.

    The UK Conservatives say the ruling strengthens Prime Minister David Cameron’s hand in his push for major EU reforms.

    Changes to EU policy on migrant benefits are a key part of his renegotiation, ahead of a UK in/out referendum on EU membership, set to take place by the end of 2017…”

    • EU Court: Germany Entitled to Cut Benefits to Swedish Family (abcnews, Sep 15, 2015)
      http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eu-court-germany-entitled-cut-benefits-swedish-family-33763738

      “Germany is entitled to cut off unemployment benefits to a Swedish family that came to the country to find work but only held temporary jobs for a short time, a European Union court ruled Tuesday.

      There has been mounting concern in EU countries, particularly Britain, about perceived abuse of workers’ freedom of movement inside the 28-nation bloc and of welfare systems. The European Court of Justice decision followed its ruling last year that Germany was allowed to refuse jobless benefits to a Romanian immigrant who made no effort to seek work.

      In the latest case, a Bosnian-born Swedish national and her three children, who were born in Germany during a previous stay there that ended in 1999, returned to Germany in mid-2010. The mother and eldest daughter worked in several temporary jobs lasting less than a year and didn’t work after that, a court statement said.

      From December 2011 to May 2012, the family received benefits for the long-term unemployed and their dependents, until a Berlin job center ended the payments. It argued that they weren’t entitled to the benefits “as foreign jobseekers whose right of residence arose solely out of the search for employment.”

      The European court ruled that denying citizens of other EU countries some welfare benefits when their right of residence arises only from seeking work “does not contravene the principle of equal treatment.”

      It said countries can refuse such benefits to other EU nationals who haven’t yet worked there or who have worked for under a year and then been unemployed for over six months….”

  8. Teen Arrested for Planning Alleged ISIS-Inspired Attack on Pope (abcnews, Sep 15, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-arrested-planning-alleged-isis-inspired-attack-pope/story?id=33759101

    “The FBI quietly arrested a 15-year-old boy outside of Philadelphia last month for allegedly threatening to launch an ISIS-inspired assault on Pope Francis while the world leader tours the United States next week, ABC News has learned.

    The case, like so many others in recent months, highlights just how effective ISIS has become in using social media to radicalize Americans, particularly children.

    “The minor was inspired by [ISIS] and sought to conduct a detailed homeland attack which included multiple attackers, firearms, and multiple explosives, targeting a foreign dignitary at a high-profile event,” according to a joint intelligence bulletin by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued to law enforcement across the country on Aug 14…”

  9. Thai Police Chief Links Bangkok Blast to Uighur Trafficking (abcnews, Sep 15, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/thai-police-chief-links-bangkok-blast-uighur-trafficking-33762485

    “Thailand’s national police chief said Tuesday that authorities are now certain that last month’s deadly bombing at a Bangkok shrine was related to the trafficking of Uighur Muslims from China to Turkey.

    Somyot Poompanmoung’s comments marked the first time authorities have publicly linked the Aug. 17 bombing to the smuggling of Uighurs, after weeks of hinting at it and saying only that they believe the attack was carried out by human traffickers angered by a crackdown on their network.

    In the past week, several Turkish and Chinese links to the bombing appeared to strengthen the theory that the attack was to avenge Thailand’s forced repatriation of more than 100 ethnic Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gurs) to China in July. The deportations stirred anger in Turkey, where the Thai Consulate in Istanbul was attacked by a group protesting the expulsions.

    Uighurs, an ethnic minority in western China, are related to Turks, and Turkey is home to a large Uighur community…”

  10. BBC News – Inside Turkey’s battle scarred Kurdish town –

    The Turkish town of Cizre has been closed off as Turkish troops carry out a counter-terrorism operation against the Kurdish militant group, the PKK.

  11. China appears to be working on third airstrip on disputed South China Sea islets: expert

    http://www.oann.com/china-building-third-airstrip-on-disputed-south-china-sea-islets-expert/

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China appears to be carrying out preparatory work for a third airstrip in contested territory in the South China Sea, a U.S. expert said on Monday, citing satellite photographs taken last week.

    The photographs taken for Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank on Sept. 8 show construction on Mischief Reef, one of seven artificial islands China has created in the Spratly archipelago.

    The images show a retaining wall around an area 3,000 meters (3,280 yards) long, matching similar work by China on two other reefs in the Spratlys, Subi and Fiery Cross, said Greg Poling, director of CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI).

    Poling said the work “more likely than not indicates preparations for a runway” on the reef.

    Satellite photographs from late June showed China had almost finished a 3,000-meter airstrip on Fiery Cross.

    Poling said other satellite photos from last week showed work was advancing at Subi Reef, where “clearly, what we have seen is going to be a 3,000-meter airstrip and we have seen some more work on what is clearly going to be some port facilities for ships.”

    • The Islands they are trying to steal and the areas where they are building the artificial islands and air strips are at choke points. The air strips give them de facto control of that entrance to the South China Sea, Traveling through the South China Sea cuts thousands of miles off the distance for Japan, Korea and other nations importing raw material and finished goods.
      China wants to control the choke points as well as the mineral resources and the fishing rights they want to control who travels on the South China Sea. While the US was strong and our Navy was large free passage in international waters wasn’t a big deal, if China manages to take control of the waters there they control who sails for where and when. and charge a passage fee that would vary according to carrgo and destination.
      This is a power grab pure and simple.

    • Pentagon weighs sending planes, ships near disputed South China Sea reefs

      http://www.oann.com/pentagon-mulls-sending-planes-ships-near-disputed-south-china-sea-islands/

      WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon is considering sending U.S. military aircraft and ships to assert freedom of navigation around rapidly growing Chinese-made artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.

      Defense Secretary Ash Carter requested options that include sending aircraft and ships within 12 nautical miles (22 km) of reefs that China has been building up in the Spratly island chain, the official said.

      Such a move would directly challenge Chinese efforts to expand its influence in the maritime heart of Southeast Asia.

      “We are considering how to demonstrate freedom of navigation in an area that is critical to world trade,” the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that any options would need White House approval.

      Carter’s request was first reported earlier on Tuesday by the Wall Street Journal, which said one option was to fly Navy surveillance aircraft over the islands.

      It quoted U.S. officials as saying there was now growing momentum within the Pentagon and the White House for taking concrete steps in order to send Beijing a signal that the recent build up in the Spratlys had gone too far and needed to stop.

      • If they are going to send ships and planes they will have to pull them out of the Gulf, since the Berlin Blockade the goal of the US Military was to have the men and equipment to fight two separate major wars in two areas of the world that are widely separated. Thanks to Obama we don’t have enough forces to fight one major war much less two and it looks like a major war stretching from Scandinavia through the Middle East is developing and given China’s ambitions once the world is fully focused on Europe and the Middle east they can move to seize various strategic locations giving them control of large portions of the Far East.

    • SERBIAN-HUNGARIAN BORDER (Reuters) – Hungary’s right-wing government shut the main land route for migrants into the EU on Tuesday, taking matters into its own hands to halt Europe’s unprecedented influx of refugees while the bloc failed to agree a plan to distribute them.

      Crowds of migrants built up at Serbia’s northern border with Hungary, their passage blocked by a razor wire fence.

      Under new rules that took effect from midnight, Hungary says anyone seeking asylum at the Serbian border will automatically be turned back. Anyone trying to sneak through will face jail.

      Prime Minister Viktor Orban, one of the continent’s loudest opponents of mass immigration, says he is acting to save Europe’s “Christian values” by blocking the main overland route used by mainly Muslim refugees, through the Balkans and across his country via its border with Serbia.

      In scenes with echoes of the Cold War, families with small children sat in fields beneath the former communist country’s new 3.5-metre high fence, which runs almost the length of the border.

  12. U.S. airman who disarmed train gunman to receive Purple Heart

    http://www.oann.com/u-s-airman-who-disarmed-train-gunman-to-receive-purple-heart/

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. airman who helped disarm a gunman on a Paris-bound train last month will receive a Purple Heart medal, the U.S. Air Force leader said on Monday, in an unusual award of the honor to a serviceman wounded while not in a combat zone.

    Spencer Stone, 23, will receive the medal, which is given to troops wounded or killed in action against a U.S. enemy, U.S. Air Force Secretary Deborah James said in remarks at the Air Force Association Conference.

    Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler, a civilian, were vacationing in Europe last month when they saw a gunman on board a train from Amsterdam to Paris armed with a box cutter, a pistol, and a Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle.

    They have said they had no choice but to intervene when the gunman cocked the rifle. Stone, whose thumb was almost severed by the attacker, has been credited with saving the life of another passenger who had been shot.

    France awarded the three Americans and a Briton with the country’s highest honor, the Legion d’honneur, for helping to disarm the man. [ID:nL1N10Y0LF]

  13. AUSTRALIA – Female genital mutilation must happen to every girl as part of culture, alleged victim tells court

    A young girl has described the religious ceremony where she allegedly underwent female genital mutilation (FGM), the New South Wales Supreme court was told.

    “It’s part of our culture and that has to happen to every girl,” she said in a 2012 recording of a police interview aired in court.

    […]Mr Bouveng said the court would hear evidence from a paediatrician that when he examined the girls he found no evidence of scarring and the clitoris appeared normal.

    “The only real issue is to determine whether each of the girls had their clitoris mutilated or whether there was bodily harm inflicted on the girls in the ceremony,” he said.

    The trial continues.

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-15/touching-of-girls-genitals-a-religious-ceremony-court-hears/6777392

  14. Wary of China, Japan and Vietnam boost security ties

    http://www.oann.com/wary-of-china-japan-and-vietnam-boost-security-ties/

    TOKYO (Reuters) – Vietnam agreed with Japan on Tuesday to step up security cooperation, becoming the latest Southeast Asian country to seek closer ties with Tokyo as China maintains an assertive posture in disputed waters in the South China Sea.

    The agreement between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Vietnam’s Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong comes after a U.S. expert said on Monday China appeared to be carrying out preparatory work for a third airstrip in contested territory in the South China Sea. [ID: nL1N11K26F]

    China has overlapping claims with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei in the South China Sea. It is also embroiled in a row with Japan over a group of East China Sea islets.

    Earlier this year, Japan reached an agreement with Malaysia and the Philippines to strengthen security ties.

    “I find it highly meaningful that we have shared serious concerns over the continuation of unilateral behaviors that change the status quo and escalate tensions, such as large-scale reclamation and building of outposts in the South China Sea,” Abe told a joint news conference, without naming China.

    • For many decades the left has been saying that if the US would just disarm everything would be peaceful. Well they are getting a chance to see what happens when the US disarms and they have to resort to lies to keep their side looking good. The way things are going even the LSM is going to have trouble covering up the causes of the war of survival.

  15. Nearly half of Colombians fear Venezuela war over border crisis: poll

    http://www.oann.com/nearly-half-of-colombians-fear-venezuela-war-over-border-crisis-poll/

    BOGOTA (Reuters) – Nearly half of Colombians fear a diplomatic dispute that began last month when Venezuela closed several border crossings and deported thousands of Colombians, could lead to war, a survey released on Tuesday showed.

    Forty-three percent of people in a Cifras y Conceptos poll published by Caracol Radio and Red + Noticias said they fear the crisis could lead to military conflict between the two countries. Twenty percent said they were afraid more Colombians would be expelled from Venezuela.

    The South American neighbors could break diplomatic relations, 19 percent said, while 13 percent believe Venezuelans could leave their country for Colombia. The countries share a long and porous border plagued by drug trafficking, paramilitaries, left-wing guerrillas and smugglers.

  16. Saudi suspends Binladin group over Mecca crane crash: royal court

    http://www.oann.com/saudi-suspends-binladen-group-over-mecca-crane-crash-royal-court/

    DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia suspended major construction company Binladin group from new contracts following the Mecca crane crash that killed 107 people and ordered the finance ministry to review its existing projects, the royal court said on Monday.

    King Salman also ordered that all members of the board and senior executives be prevented from traveling abroad after an investigation into last week’s incident showed the crane had been erected in a way that deviated from manufacturers instructions, causing it to crash in high wind.

    Explaining the action, an official statement referred without elaborating to the responsibility and “shortcomings” of the company following an investigation into the crane crash that also injured 238 other people.

    The king ordered that the Binladin group be prevented from entering into new bids or new projects, said the statement, carried by state news agency SPA. The suspension would remain in force until the investigation is complete and until all legal cases are settled.

    • ISRAEL – PM seeks harsher penalties against stone-throwers

      In emergency meeting, Netanyahu vows to use ‘any means necessary’ to restore order; president, Jerusalem mayor join chorus calling for action

      Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the establishment of a committee that will reexamine the rules of engagement with stone-throwers who endanger lives.

      At an emergency meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office late Tuesday to discuss measures to curb an increasing trend of Palestinians using homemade weapons against Israelis, Netanyahu said that stone-throwers would face harsher penalties in the future.

      “I take the throwing of stones or firebombs against Israelis very seriously, and I intend to fight this phenomenon by any means necessary, including the use of implementing stricter sentences and enforcement,” he said.

      The meeting was attended by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and senior security officials.

      The committee would submit its recommendations within a week, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

      Netanyahu also ordered the Israel Police and state prosecution to form a separate committee to examine ways to deter such attacks by increasing the severity of penalties and sentences.

      The committee was specifically tasked by the prime minister with determining the efficacy of measures such as imposing high minimum sentences, and instituting steep fines on minors and their parents who participate in rock-throwing attacks.

      Ahead of the meeting, Netanyahu vowed to use “any means necessary” to curb stoning-throwing attacks against Israelis and ongoing violence on the Temple Mount, which on Tuesday saw Palestinians clashing with Israeli police for a third consecutive day.

      The emergency meeting came after three days of violent clashes on the Temple Mount and a rock-throwing attack that led to a fatal car crash in Jerusalem Sunday night, killing the driver, Alexander Levlovitz.

      “We mark a sharp change in policy against those throwing stones or firebombs,” the prime minister said. “No measure or action will be spared in restoring calm to Jerusalem and its surrounding area.”

      According to the report, the minimum sentencing, which the prime minister said would be fast-tracked in legislation, will apply to anyone defined as “endangering life.”

      Ya’alon condemned the uptick in violence in recent days and said the struggle against terrorism “requires us to be determined and uncompromising in the operational, intelligence and legal fields.” He added that Israel’s security establishment would pursue terrorists or anyone else threatening the security of civilians, soldiers and police officers.

      Erdan and President Reuven Rivlin both made statements calling for increased punishment for stone throwers. Erdan said that stone-throwers are “murderers in every sense.”

      Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat on Tuesday said that the murder of Alexander Levlovitz demonstrated “that stone-throwing is a terror attack like any other.”

      On Sunday, Levlovitz, and two other passengers traveling in his car in Jerusalem, came under attack by stone-throwers, causing him to drive into a ditch and hit a pole. He died of his wounds the following morning. Levlovitz will be laid to rest Wednesday evening in Jerusalem’s Givat Shaul neighborhood.

      “It is not plausible that there is no deterrence for stone-throwers who are caught, released and continue to carry out terror attacks. I call on the national government to immediately implement legislation that will put stone throwers behind bars for many years,” Barkat said ahead of the cabinet meeting. “Harsh punishment, creating deterrents and targeted operational activities are the only way to combat these terror attacks.”

      Barkat criticized the government for allowing a situation in which the Temple Mount — a site considered holy by both Islam and Judaism — would be used “as a haven for terrorists.”

      “We are committed to maintaining freedom of religion and status quo in Jerusalem. I vigorously condemn the cynical use of this freedom by extremists who transform holy sites into places of terror,” he said in a statement. Jerusalem’s mosques, churches and synagogues will not harbor violence, just like the Vatican, Mecca and other sites around the world.”

      On Sunday, as Israel celebrated the Jewish New Year, police said they discovered pipe bombs in the Temple Mount’s al-Aqsa Mosque during what they said was a preemptive operation at the flashpoint holy site.

      Palestinian rioters have clashed repeatedly with Israeli security forces since the operation.

      http://www.timesofisrael.com/pm-orders-review-of-rules-of-engagement-harsher-penalties-against-stone-throwers/
      =========================================================
      Netanyahu: Time for tougher punishment and enforcement against rock throwers

      http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Netanyahu-Time-for-tougher-punishment-and-enforcement-against-rock-throwers-416244

  17. CBC – CANADA – Niqab ban at citizenship ceremonies unlawful, as feds lose appeal

    Appeal court rules now so woman has chance to take oath and vote on Oct. 19

    The federal government has lost its appeal of a lower court ruling that struck down a ban on wearing niqabs at citizenship ceremonies.

    Three justices on the Federal Court of Appeal, in a ruling from the bench, said they wanted to rule now so the woman at the centre of the case could take her citizenship oath and vote in the federal election on Oct. 19.

    The case started with a lawsuit from Zunera Ishaq, a devout Muslim who moved to Ontario from Pakistan in 2008 to join her husband. Ishaq agreed to remove her niqab for an official before writing and passing her citizenship test two years ago, but she objects to unveiling in public at the oath-taking ceremony.

    In the Federal Court ruling, Judge Keith Boswell said the government policy, introduced in 2011, violates the Citizenship Act, which states citizenship judges must allow the greatest possible religious freedom when administering the oath.

    Boswell asked how that would be possible, “if the policy requires candidates to violate or renounce a basic tenet of their religion.”

    On Tuesday, Justice Department lawyer Peter Southey argued unsuccessfully that the lower court justice made errors in his original decision to overturn the ban.

    Appeal Justice Mary Gleason said the court saw no reason to interfere with the earlier ruling.

    The ban on face coverings sparked a bitter debate in the House of Commons when it was first announced. At the time, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said his government’s ban reflected the views of the “overwhelming majority” of Canadians, including moderate Muslims.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/niqab-ruling-federal-court-government-challenge-citizenship-ceremonies-1.3229206