Reader submitted links for Sept. 26 – 2015

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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

54 Replies to “Reader submitted links for Sept. 26 – 2015”

  1. RUSSIA – Two Suspected ISIL Fighters Arrested at Moscow Airport

    Two suspected ISIL militants from Syria were detained in Moscow on Tuesday on charges of planning a series of terrorist attacks in Russia, local television said in a report.

    Akhmed Amirkhanov, 23, and Kerim Khatiyev, 26, were arrested by Federal Security Service operatives minutes after their plane landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.

    A source at the FSB told LifeNews TV that the two men had fought as part of the ISIL terrorist group in Syria and planned a series of subversive acts in Russia.

    During a preliminary hearing on Thursday, Amirkhanov and Khatiyev confessed to having fought as part of illegal armed groups in Syria. They said they had gone to Syria looking for a job but were eventually forced to join the ranks of the militia.

    Moscow’s Lefortovo Court jailed both for two months pending an investigation.

    The Federal Security Service and the Interior Ministry are conductingon a joint operation to arrest ISIL militants returning to Russia from Syria

    http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150925/1027512513/moscow-militants-arrest.html

  2. Germany in a state of SIEGE: Merkel was cheered when she opened the floodgates to migrants. Now, with gangs of men roaming the streets and young German women being told to cover up, the mood’s changing

    Thousands of economic migrants are posing as refugees to reach Europe

    David Cameron said this week that Europe must said failed asylum claimants back to their countries

    Demands for Germany’s ‘open doors and windows’ policy to be scrapped

    Women said rape and child abuse were rife in Giessen’s refugee camp

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3249667/Germany-state-SIEGE-Merkel-cheered-opened-floodgates-migrants-gangs-men-roaming-streets-young-German-women-told-cover-mood-s-changing.html

    German nurse faces eviction from council block where she brought up her children to make way for asylum seekers

    Bettina Halbey, 51, has lived in her flat in western Germany for 16 years

    The nurse has until May 2016 to leave home where she raised her children

    The local municipality is turning the block of flats into a refugee shelter

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3249901/German-nurse-faces-eviction-council-block-brought-children-make-way-asylum-seekers.html

  3. Egypt Says 2 Soldiers Killed by Northern Sinai Car Bomb (abcnews, Sep 26, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/egypt-soldiers-killed-northern-sinai-car-bomb-34062203

    “Two soldiers were killed Saturday by a roadside car bomb in northern Sinai, Egypt’s Interior Ministry said in a statement, in an attack claimed by a local Islamic State affiliate.

    Sixteen other soldiers were injured in the explosion in the provincial capital el-Arish, the ministry said. The car, parked on the side of the road, exploded when the soldiers’ vehicle was passing by, according to the statement.

    The Islamic State affiliate in Egypt claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a statement circulated on Twitter by IS sympathizers.

    The Egyptian government has been battling a long-running insurgency in northern Sinai, which escalated after the military ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013 amid massive protests against his rule and cracked down on Islamic groups.

    While the violence has largely been confined to Sinai, bombs have also hit other parts of the country, including Cairo.”

  4. Artwork showing Sylvanian Families terrorised by Isis banned from free speech exhibition (guardian, Sep 26, 2015)
    http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/sep/26/sylvanian-families-isis-freedom-of-expression-exhibition

    “Visitors to a London exhibition celebrating freedom of expression this week found plenty of familiar taboo-busting work, from Jamie McCartney’s The Great Wall of Vagina, an eight-foot long cast featuring the genitals of 400 women, to Kubra Khademi’s video of an eight-minute walk she made through Kabul in Afganistan, dressed in lushly contoured body armour. But they will have looked in vain for one work detailed in the catalogue by an artist known only as Mimsy.

    Isis Threaten Sylvania is a series of seven satirical light box tableaux featuring the children’s toys Sylvanian Families. It was removed from the Passion for Freedom exhibition at the Mall galleries after police raised concerns about the “potentially inflammatory content” of the work, informing the organisers that, if they went ahead with their plans to display it, they would have to pay £36,000 for security for the six-day show….”

  5. Libya: alleged key people-smuggler killed in shootout (guardian, Sep 26, 2015)
    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/26/libya-alleged-key-people-smuggler-killed-in-shootout

    “The alleged ringleader behind the smuggling of thousands of people from Libya to Europe has been killed in a shootout, with senior Tripoli officials accusing Italy of being behind the assassination.

    Salah al-Maskhout was killed on Friday alongside eight other men in Zuwara, a coastal city in north-west Libya which has become a hub for refugees and migrants trying to reach Europe.

    According to local media reports, the smuggler was leaving relatives’ home with his security detail and others when armed men blocked the road. Maskhout and his men were killed in a shootout, while all of the attackers survived, Libya Herald reported.

    The skill with which the hit was carried out – with the killers reportedly firing handguns against the Libyans’ Kalashnikovs – has raised speculation that Maskhout may have been targeted by foreign agents…”

  6. Lorry driver reveals how he called police after hearing ‘banging’ from tanker next to him at M40 services – before 14 suspected illegal immigrants were found hiding inside (dailymail, Sep 26, 2015)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3249934/Lorry-driver-reveals-called-police-hearing-banging-tanker-M40-services-14-suspected-illegal-immigrants-hiding-inside.html

    “A lorry driver has revealed how he called 999 after hearing a strange ‘banging’ coming from a tanker at a motorway service station – before 14 suspected illegal immigrants were found hiding inside it.

    Scott McCrone, 44, had stopped off at Gaydon Service Station in Warwickshire on Tuesday for an afternoon break when he noticed a loud, repetitive sound coming from a lorry parked next to him.

    He initially thought a herd of cows or other animals may be responsible, but the noise was soon joined by shouting. The truck’s Spanish driver was inside the building having a Burger King.
    When the driver returned to his vehicle, Mr McCrone – who had decided to hang around next to the lorry – approached the man and told him: ‘There are people in there, you can hear banging’…”

  7. RAF sergeant in uniform moved by hospital to avoid offending other patients (telegraph, Sep 26, 2015)
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/11892935/RAF-sergeant-in-uniform-moved-by-hospital-to-avoid-offending-other-patients.html

    “A hospital that made an RAF sergeant move out of sight of other patients in case his uniform caused offence has been forced to apologise.

    Aircraft engineer Mark Prendeville was relocated twice by hospital staff who allegedly told his family “they didn’t want to upset people” and “have lots of different cultures coming in”.

    Sgt Prendeville was taken to the Accident and Emergency unit of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent after chemicals from a fire extinguisher got in to his eyes during a training exercise.

    The 38-year-old, who has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, was taken first to an empty corner of the waiting room and later around a corner…”

  8. ‘Despicable’ Saudi prince ‘sexually abused multiple women during three-day party at his $37m Beverly Hills compound’

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3249530/More-female-staffers-come-forward-accusing-Saudi-prince-sex-crimes-arrest-sparked-sight-bleeding-woman-trying-feel-LA-mansion.html#ixzz3mrWf1r33
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    A Saudi Prince sexually abused and beat at least three women during a three-day party in his $37 million Beverly Hills home, a new lawsuit claims.

    The graphic new allegations against Majed Abdulaziz Al-Saud, 28, were filed by his alleged victims on Friday night.

    It comes two days after the monarch, who does not have diplomatic immunity, was arrested on suspicion of forcing a woman to perform oral sex on him

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3249530/More-female-staffers-come-forward-accusing-Saudi-prince-sex-crimes-arrest-sparked-sight-bleeding-woman-trying-feel-LA-mansion.html#ixzz3mrWpX96z
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  9. Germany in a state of SIEGE: Merkel was cheered when she opened the floodgates to migrants. Now, with gangs of men roaming the streets and young German women being told to cover up, the mood’s changing

    On the busy shopping street in Giessen, a German university town twinned with Winchester, migrant Atif Zahoor tucks into a chicken dish with his brother and cousin at the curry restaurant Chillie To Go.

    They have left good jobs back in Karachi, Pakistan, and now want to be Europeans.

    In late July the three slipped into Germany with their wives and children, using illegal documents. They live together in a five-bedroom house, rented for them by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, a 40-minute drive away from Giessen, which is home to the biggest migrants’ camp in the country.

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3249667/Germany-state-SIEGE-Merkel-cheered-opened-floodgates-migrants-gangs-men-roaming-streets-young-German-women-told-cover-mood-s-changing.html#ixzz3mrXaql3A
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  10. Far right making hay from Europe’s migrant crisis

    http://news.yahoo.com/far-making-hay-europes-migrant-crisis-070432210.html

    Paris (AFP) – The far right in Europe is making capital from the hundreds of thousands of migrants pushing into the continent and hopes to turn fears it has helped to fuel of an “invasion” into electoral success

    “Their attitude is basically that the people coming in are neither refugees nor migrants, but invaders,” said Jean-Yves Camus, one of France’s leading experts on the far right.

    The leader of France’s National Front (FN), Marine Le Pen, claims that the migrants are “illegal immigrants who are over-demanding and arrogant” and that three-quarters are not refugees at all, but people who just want to claim benefits.

    Europe’s biggest migrant crisis since World War II is “what the FN has been warning about for years”, she says.

  11. BULGARIA – Don’t let Muslim migrants in, says Bulgaria’s Orthodox Church

    Sofia (AFP) – Bulgaria’s Orthodox Church has called on its government not to let any more Muslim refugees into the country to prevent an “invasion”.

    The Balkan EU member has largely been bypassed by the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict and poverty, many of whom set off from Greece through neighbouring Macedonia and Serbia towards northern Europe.

    But Bulgaria has still seen Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis cross its southeastern border from Turkey.

    “We help refugees who have already arrived in our motherland, but the government must absolutely not let more refugees in,” the church — which claims 80 percent of the population as its followers — said late Friday on its website.

    “This is a wave that looks like an invasion.”

    It added that the problems in the refugees’ countries of origin “must be resolved by those who created them and the Bulgarian people must not pay the price by disappearing.”

    About 13 percent of Bulgaria’s population are Muslims, including ethnic Turks, Bulgarians who converted to Islam during five centuries of Ottoman rule, and some Roma.

    Bulgaria was accused of trying to ethnically cleanse its Muslims shortly before communism fell in 1989, when around 360,000 Muslim Bulgarians fled to Turkey. Nearly half later returned when the country embraced democracy.

    Europe’s worst migration crisis since World War II has sparked concern in some quarters, as many of those taking the perilous journey are Muslim.

    In France, several mayors said they would only take in Christian refugees, earning them a rebuke from the government.

    The issue has played into the hands of the far-right across Europe, which hopes to turn fears of an “invasion” into electoral success.

    Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said Friday he was “concerned” over a potential massive influx of migrants in the coming months.

    “I’m scared and the Bulgarian people are scared, if only where religions are concerned. We are Christian, they are Muslim.”

    https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/29645967/dont-let-muslim-migrants-in-says-bulgarias-orthodox-church/

  12. Refugee Crisis in Syria Raises Fears in South Carolina

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/us/refugee-crisis-in-syria-raises-fears-in-south-carolina.html?_r=0

    DUNCAN, S.C. — The worried citizens gathered in the high school cafeteria, about 200 strong. Patriotic songs played on the stereo, a man in a blue blazer from the John Birch Society hovered by a well-stocked literature table, and Lauren L. Martel, a lawyer from Hilton Head, told the crowd that 25 Syrian refugees were already living among them.

    “The U.N. calls it ‘refugee resettlement’ — the Muslims call it hijra, migration,” said another speaker, Jim McMillan, a local businessman. “They don’t plan to assimilate, they don’t plan to take on our culture. They plan to change the way of American life.”

    The United States government has pledged to increase the number of worldwide refugees allowed in the country each year from 70,000 to 100,000 by the year 2017; earlier this month, the Obama administration said it would take in at least 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year. But the anger and anxiety here show just how hard this might be in some parts of the country.

  13. LIBYA – People smuggler who ‘transferred thousands to Europe killed in shootout’

    Salah al-Maskhout and eight others reportedly killed in shootout in Libya after allegedly masterminding key route for refugees from Africa and the Middle East

    The alleged ringleader behind the smuggling of thousands of people from Libya to Europe is believed to have been killed in a shootout.

    Salah al-Maskhout was reportedly killed on Friday alongside eight other men in the Libyan capital. He was known to operate in Zuwara, a coastal city in north-west Libya which has become a hub for refugees and migrants trying to reach Europe.

    According to local media reports, the smuggler was leaving relatives’ home with his security detail and others when armed men blocked the road. Maskhout and his men were killed in a shootout with men using handguns, the Libya Herald reported.

    Maskhout was a former army officer under Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s despotic leader who was ousted from power and killed in 2011, Italian media said.

    Italy’s defence ministry has denied allegations they were involved in the attack. A Nato official also said the military alliance was not behind the killings, telling the Guardian it had not carried out any military action in Libya since 2011.

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/26/libya-alleged-key-people-smuggler-killed-in-shootout

  14. ‘Finland’s no good’: Disappointed migrants turn back

    Tornio (Finland) (AFP) – Hundreds of predominantly Iraqi migrants who have travelled through Europe to reach Finland are turning back, saying they don’t want to stay in the sparsely-populated country on Europe’s northern frontier because it’s too cold and boring.

    Migrants have in recent weeks been crossing back into Sweden at the Haparanda-Tornio border just an hour’s drive south of the Arctic Circle, and Finnish authorities have seen a rise in the number of cancelled asylum applications.

    “You can tell the world I hate Finland. It’s too cold, there’s no tea, no restaurants, no bars, nobody on the streets, only cars,” 22-year-old Muhammed told AFP in Tornio, as the mercury struggled to inch above 10 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) on a recent blustery grey day.

    He had already travelled from Tornio to the capital Helsinki almost 750 kilometres (465 miles) south, and then back up to the Tornio border again to return to Sweden.

    Migrants who lack proper travel documents are unable to take the ferries that run between Helsinki and Stockholm.

    Another group of around 15 Iraqi refugees waiting at the bus station that Tornio shares with its Swedish twin town Haparanda also said they wanted to go back to southern Sweden.

    Finland is no good,” the men echoed each other.

    Sweden may be just as cold as Finland, but Sweden has bigger immigrant communities because of a longer history of integration.

    On September 19, several busloads of migrants made U-turns on the Swedish side when they saw hundreds of Finns form a “human barrier” on the Finnish side to protest against the sudden influx of migrants.

    Anti-immigrant sentiment may be prompting some migrants to leave Finland, where the populist Finns Party is the second-biggest political party.

    Early Friday, around 40 demonstrators — including one dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit — threw fireworks at a bus transporting asylum seekers to a new reception centre in the southern city of Lahti.

    Another incident took place late Thursday in Kouvola, in southeastern Finland, when a 50-year-old man threw a petrol bomb at an emergency housing facility for asylum seekers.

    – Asylum applications withdrawn –

    It is difficult to know exactly how many migrants are heading back to Sweden, since some don’t even register in Finland before leaving.

    But according to the Finnish Immigration Service’s head of asylum applications, Esko Repo, “by last week around 200 applications from Iraqi asylum seekers had expired,” meaning the applicant had either withdrawn it or disappeared.

    Finland has registered over 14,000 asylum seekers so far this year, and it expects a total of at least 30,000 by the end of the year — eight times as many as in 2014.

    But Repo said cancellations were on the rise, and registrations were taking longer because of the recent influx of migrants.

    And the 30,000 expected this year may end up dropping: media reports said some Iraqis were posting self-shot videos of Helsinki on a Facebook page popular among Iraqi migrants to dissuade others from coming.

    Around 500 migrants are arriving in Tornio each day, an influx that has stunned the tranquil town of 20,000 inhabitants and put its infrastructure to the test, even though most migrants are just passing through.

    “The flow from the border has been out of control. I have been scared and have avoided going shopping in the evenings because we don’t know who these people are,” a 66-year-old pensioner who gave her name as Kirsti, told AFP.

    Up to 1,000 migrants are estimated to be in Tornio on a given day, according to police and migration officials.

    – Influx of ‘dark men’ –

    Some local business owners have accused “the dark men” or “these southerners” of pilferage and harassing women, but others said the crowds hadn’t caused any trouble.

    “I haven’t seen any disturbances, but I don’t know why they come here when even our own people leave this town,” Matti Alaviuhkola said at his shoe repair shop on the main street.

    On Tuesday, Finnish authorities opened a registration centre in Tornio, requiring migrants to register upon arrival before being sent to reception centres around the country.

    The Finnish government sent dozens of police, border guards, customs and military to step up alien controls at the border, where locals have crossed freely between Sweden and Finland since the 1960s.

    Busloads of migrants arriving from Sweden were driven directly to the new registration centre, as canine police units and military guards stood nearby to ensure that no one wandered off.

    Finnish authorities have expressed concern about finding housing for all the refugees if the influx continues, despite new facilities opening every week.

    Some locals said the influx was putting too much strain on the country in the middle of its own economic woes.

    “We should close the border and check who these people are. Iraqis should be sent straight back since their country is not at war,” a metal worker and one of the organisers of the border protest, Eero Yrjanheikki, told AFP.

    http://news.yahoo.com/finlands-no-good-disappointed-migrants-turn-back-152042061.html

  15. THE TELEGRAPH – Iranian man who threatened to behead passers-by not deported because officials couldn’t get him passport

    A man who threatened to behead members of the public was set free by authorities because they could not get him a passport

    An Iranian man who threatened to behead members of the public was set free by authorities because they could not complete the paper work required to deport him.

    Officials lost track of Noureden Mallaky-Soodmand, 41, who should have been sent back to Iran following arrests for carrying knives on the streets of London.

    But because Iranian embassy officials could not issue travel documents, he was never deported and was simply re-housed 250 miles away in Stockton-on-Tees, a court has heard.

    On April 2 this year he ran amok with a curved knife – specifically designed for decapitating victims.

    He shouted: “I am Isis and my people will cut off your b—s, Christians.”

    One of his targets, Stephen Daumler, 22, has been suffering flashbacks and panic attacks since the incident, which left him in fear for his life.

    Stephen and his girlfriend’s 15-year-old brother ran for their lives from Soodmand, who was captured by armed police before he managed to carry out his threats.

    Stephen, who works for his family’s salvage business in Stockton, said: “I still wake up panicking and have dreams about being beheaded. I’ve had some really dark thoughts about what happened to Lee Rigby.

    “I really thought I was going to die the same way as he did and I’m certain by the look in his eyes that he was prepared to kill that night.

    “He was in the middle of the road but he came over and blocked my path and drew a huge curved knife and started yelling “I am a muslim, I am ISIS” he was within arm’s’ reach.

    “He had the knife raised and was waiting for someone else to come along. Thankfully the police arrived within about 15 minutes and took him down. It is pure luck that myself or someone else wasn’t killed.

    “The police told me later that the knife he was carrying was designed with the purpose of beheading people.”

    Teesside Crown Court heard how Stephen walked past him in the street and he shouted: “I’m a Muslim and I’m going to chop your f—ing head off.”

    Even after police arrived, the 41-year-old continued to rant, telling officers: “I’m a Muslim and I’ll chop you f—ing head, mother f—ers.

    “I’m Isis and my people will cut off your balls, Christians . . . I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you all . . . I’m going to chop your head off, and f— you up.” […]

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11888575/Iranian-man-who-threatened-to-behead-passers-by-not-deported-because-officials-couldnt-get-him-passport.html

  16. Iran vows legal action against Saudi after hajj disaster

    TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Saturday vowed to take international legal action against Saudi Arabia’s rulers over the crush of Muslim pilgrims at this year’s hajj, which killed at least 769 people, including 136 Iranians, and has led to an escalation of tensions between the regional archrivals.

    The pilgrims suffocated or were trampled to death Thursday when two massive crowds converged on a narrow street, in the worst disaster to occur during the annual pilgrimage in a quarter-century. Shiite Iran has accused Sunni Saudi Arabia of mismanaging the pilgrimage, which annually draws some 2 million people from 180 countries.

    Iranians comprise the largest group of casualties identified so far. Iranian state TV says a former ambassador to Lebanon, as well as two Iranian state TV reporters and a prominent political analyst are among those still missing. The semi-official Fars news agency said a former ambassador to Slovenia was among the dead.

    “Under international law, this incident is absolutely subject to prosecution. The Al-Saud must be responsive,” Iran’s State Prosecutor Ebrahim Raisi told state TV, referring to Saudi Arabia’s ruling family.

    He said Saudi authorities blocked a road used by hajj pilgrims to allow a royal convoy to pass through, causing the deadly convergence in the town of Mina on the outskirts of Mecca.

    “They have to know that we will pursue the trial of Al-Saud for the crime they have committed against the hajj pilgrims through international courts and organizations.”

    Neither Iran nor Saudi Arabia is a state party to the International Criminal Court, and only the court’s prosecutor can file charges. Iran could try to file a case at the International Court of Justice, which handles disputes between nations but does not mete out criminal justice.

    Saudi Arabia has not responded to the Iranian accusations regarding the convoy. Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki told The Associated Press that a VIP convoy traveling through Mina on Thursday, which included foreign dignitaries, had nothing to do with the incident and was in a different part of town. He said VIPs use their own roads in Mina.

    Iran and Saudi Arabia are bitterly divided on a host of regional issues and support opposite sides in the wars raging in Syria and Yemen. The accusations of mismanagement of the pilgrimage strike at a key pillar of the Saudi royal family’s prestige — King Salman holds the title of the “custodian of the two holy mosques.”

    Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani began an address to the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday by expressing “regret over the heart-rending incident,” emphasizing the “need for swift attention” to an investigation into “this incident and other similar incidents in this year’s hajj.”

    Rouhani told a group of editors Friday that both the stampede and the collapse of a crane on the Grand Mosque in Mecca earlier this month — which killed another 111 people — suggested “ineptitude” on the part of Saudi authorities.

    Iran’s Foreign Ministry meanwhile summoned the Saudi charge d’affaires for a third time in three days to protest Riyadh’s handling of the disaster. State TV said Saudi Arabia has yet to issue visas for an Iranian delegation to visit the kingdom to oversee the treatment of injured Iranians and the repatriation of remains.

    The Saudi Health Ministry said Saturday on Twitter that the toll from the hajj disaster stood at 769 pilgrims killed and 934 injured, updating previous figures. It did not provide the nationalities of the dead and injured.

    Iranian state TV said 136 Iranian pilgrims were among the dead and 85 were injured, while 344 Iranians remain missing.

    The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and all able-bodied Muslims are required to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives.

    On Saturday, the final day of the hajj, pilgrims streamed into Mina’s Jamarat, a multi-story complex with crowd-monitoring technology and wide ramps for large crowds to perform the final rites of the pilgrimage.

    Muslims believe the devil tried to talk the Prophet Ibrahim, or Abraham as he is known in the Bible, out of submitting to God’s will in Mina. In one of the final steps of the hajj, pilgrims throw stones at three large pillars in a symbolic casting away of evil.

    Saudi security forces were on hand to spray pilgrims with water to help keep them cool as temperatures reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). Large fans were also set up to spread mist.

    Sudanese pilgrim Abdullah al-Muzbahi, 42, stood to the side in Jamarat with his hands outstretched in supplication and prayer after completing the stoning ritual. He said that from his perspective, this year’s hajj went smoothly and that Saudi officials appeared to be doing all they could to safely manage the pilgrimage.

    “The problem is in the culture of pilgrims, who are not organized or patient,” he said.

    Saudi pilgrim Misfir al-Yami, 28, said the large crowds should be directed better to reach certain holy sites in smaller waves. He said it is the responsibility of both the security forces and the pilgrims to ensure the hajj is safe.

    Syrian pilgrim Samar Zaki, 37, said there were times when she was in the midst of very large crowds that she worried for her safety.

    “There are times when it is challenging,” she said. “I saw (news) about the accident that took place and it made us all very upset.”

    http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8fce48e5c1eb4d08bfa3abaa473493dc/india-raises-death-toll-citizens-hajj-stampede-18

    • Saudi official calls on Muslims to ignore ‘biased campaigns’ against his ‘pure country’ (tribune, Sep 26, 2015)
      http://tribune.com.pk/story/963147/saudi-official-calls-on-muslims-to-ignore-biased-campaigns-against-his-pure-country/

      MINA: In comments carried late Friday by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the chairman of the Shura Council, an appointed body that advises the Saudi government, called on citizens and Muslims to ignore “the biased campaigns carried out by the enemies of this pure country, to question the great efforts exerted by the Kingdom to serve the holy sites, their construction and expansion, and to serve the visitors and pilgrims.”

      He was responding to fierce criticism of the Saudi authorities’ handling of safety, following the the stampede that killed 717 pilgrims, the worst disaster in a quarter-century to strike the annual event.

      Abdullah al Sheikh stressed that pilgrims must stick to “the rules and regulations taken by the security personnel… In doing so they protect their lives, their security and facilitate their performing of the rituals.”

      Health Minister Khaled al Falih earlier made similar remarks that faulted the worshippers.

      Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s top religious leader said the stampede was beyond human control, official media reported on Saturday, the final day of this year’s Hajj.

      “You are not responsible for what happened”, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al Sheikh told Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who is also the minister of interior, in a meeting in Mina on Friday, the SPA reported. “As for the things that humans cannot control, you are not blamed for them. Fate and destiny are inevitable.”

      Mohammed chairs the Saudi hajj committee and has ordered an investigation into Thursday’s stampede during a symbolic stoning of the devil ritual by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims at Jamarat Bridge in Mina, just outside the holy city of Mecca…”

  17. BREITBART – France Tells Hungary: Back Migrant Quotas Or Quit EU

    Hungary should back mandatory migrant quotas or consider leaving the EU, the French President has said.

    As Hungarians continue to resist EU-imposed quotas on how many migrants they should accept, French President François Hollande told Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban: “States that don’t respect European values should ask if they belong within the EU,” according to The Times.

    His attack comes as Orban accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of “moral imperialism” for helping impose the quotas on Europe.

    “We are Hungarians — we cannot think with German minds,” Mr Orban said, adding: “Hungary should have the right to control the impact of a mass migration. The Hungarian people don’t want this.”

    Meanwhile, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has vowed to break the new EU law, saying that his country will turn away 800 migrants due to be sent from Italy and Greece. “Slovakia is not going to respect mandatory quotas,” he said.

    Poland, however, has capitulated to German pressure and backed the quotas. Observers in the country are now saying this will be the final nail in the coffin for the beleaguered government, which faces almost certain defeat in next month’s parliamentary elections.

    Beata Szydlo, leader of the opposition Law and Justice Party and likely future Prime Minister, described the decision as “scandalous”.

    As resentment grew among Eastern European leaders, Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council who hails from Poland’s ruling party, begged for unity:

    “The most urgent question we should ask ourselves tonight is how to regain control of our external borders… Otherwise it doesn’t make any sense to even speak about common migration policy. What is at stake is also the future of Schengen, the sense of order in Europe and the common European spirit.”

    “The greatest tide of refugees and migrants is yet to come. We need to end the policy of open doors and window… Today we are talking about millions of potential refugees trying to reach Europe, not thousands,” he added.

    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/09/25/france-tells-hungary-back-migrant-quotas-quit-eu/

  18. French firms said to revamp Tehran airport in $2.8b project

    Bouygues, Aeroports de Paris latest companies pursuing lucrative contracts in Iran after nuclear deal’s promised sanctions relief

    The largest-ever transport project in Iran, a $2.8 billion expansion of Tehran’s main international airport, will reportedly be developed by a joint venture of two French companies.

    The Paris-based Bouygues and Aeroports de Paris are in talks with Tehran officials to build a second terminal at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, the Guardian reported Friday.

    In August, Iranian media reported that Iran’s Civil Aviation Acting Head Mohammad Khodakarami hosted a delegation from Aeroports de Paris in Tehran where they agreed that the French company would partner in the development of the airport’s new terminal.

    The new Iranshahr Terminal will have the capacity to handle 20 million visitors, up from its current 6 million and is due to be built in five years pending the timely lifting of international economic sanctions.

    The nuclear accord reached in July aims to curb Iran’s nuclear activities in return for billions of dollars in sanctions relief. Western nations and the UN have long suspected Iran of covertly pursuing nuclear weapons alongside its civilian program, charges denied by Tehran.

    Sanctions relief will open a market of 79 million Iranians to foreign companies, and many have begun to line up for potentially lucrative business opportunities in the Iranian economy.

    In an effort to renew once-strong economic ties with Iran, France opened a business development office in Tehran earlier this week.

    French trade with Iran dropped from some $4.5 billion in 2004 to $565 million in 2013 as a result of international sanctions imposed on Tehran since 2006 due to its disputed nuclear program.

    On Monday, French Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll and Minister of State for Foreign Trade Matthias Fekl inaugurated the “Business France” office, and warned French companies to expect “fierce competition” from other European and American firms seeking a slice of the Iranian market.

    Iran, which has 17 UNESCO world heritage sites, hopes to increase tourist arrivals to 20 million from the current 4.5 million over the next 10 years.

    Masoud Soltanifar, the head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization, said that the country hopes to generate $25-30 billion dollars a year from tourism by 2025.

    http://www.timesofisrael.com/french-firms-said-to-revamp-tehran-airport-in-2-8b-project/

  19. CAR clashes in Bangui after Muslim taxi driver killed (BBC, Sep 26, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34372113

    “Deadly clashes broke out in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), after a Muslim motorbike taxi driver was killed. About 20 people have been killed with at least 100 others wounded in the violence. UN peacekeepers took up positions as the fighting spread from the city’s only Muslim neighbourhood to an area where many Christians reside. CAR has experienced religious and ethnic unrest for more than two years…”

  20. Iraq says Russia, Iran, Syria cooperating on security issues in Baghdad

    Iraq said on Saturday that its military officials were engaged in intelligence and security cooperation in Baghdad with Russia, Iran and Syria to counter the threat from the Islamic State militant group, a pact that could raise concerns in Washington.

    A statement from the Iraqi military’s joint operations command said the cooperation had come “with increased Russian concern about the presence of thousands of terrorists from Russia undertaking criminal acts with Daesh (Islamic State).”

    The move could give Moscow more sway in the Middle East. It has stepped up its military involvement in Syria in recent weeks while pressing for Damascus to be included in international efforts to fight Islamic State, a demand Washington rejects.

    Moscow’s involvement in Iraq could mean increased competition for Washington from a Cold War enemy as long-time enemy Iran increases its influence through Shi’ite militia allies just four years after the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

    By raising the stakes in Syria’s four-year-old civil war, Russia has prompted its Cold War foe to expand diplomatic channels with it.

    Western officials have said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry wants to launch a new effort at the U.N. General Assembly this week to try to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict.

    Diplomacy has taken on new urgency in light of Russia’s military build-up in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a refugee crisis that has spilled into Europe.

    Critics have urged U.S. President Barack Obama to be more decisive in the Middle East, particularly towards the Syrian conflict, and say lack of a clear American policy has given Islamic State opportunities to expand.

    Russian news agency Interfax quoted a military diplomatic source in Moscow as saying the Baghdad coordination center would be led on a rotating basis by officers of the four countries, starting with Iraq.

    The source added a committee might be created in Baghdad to plan military operations and control armed forces units in the fight against Islamic State.

    A Russian foreign ministry official told Interfax on Friday that Moscow could “theoretically” join the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State if Damascus were included in international efforts to combat Islamic State and any international military operation in Syria had a United Nations mandate.

    Iraqi officials on Friday had denied reports of a coordination cell in Baghdad set up by Russian, Syrian and Iranian military commanders aimed at working with Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias in Iraq.

    The armed groups, some of which have fought alongside troops loyal to Assad, are seen as a critical weapon in Baghdad’s battle against the radical Sunni militants of Islamic State.

    Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said in New York on Friday that his country had not received any Russian military advisers to help its forces but called for the U.S.-led coalition to bomb more Islamic State targets in Iraq.

    Despite more than $20 billion in U.S. aid and training, Iraq’s army has nearly collapsed twice in the last year in the face of advances by Islamic State, which controls large swathes of territory in the north and west of the OPEC oil producer.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/26/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-russia-idUSKCN0RQ0RY20150926

  21. Islamic State gaining ground in Afghanistan: UN (tribune, Sep 26, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/963128/islamic-state-gaining-ground-in-afghanistan-un/

    UNITED NATIONS: The Islamic State group is making inroads in Afghanistan, winning over a growing number of sympathizers and recruiting followers in 25 of the country’s 34 provinces, a UN report said Friday.

    The extremist group, which controls large areas of Syria and Iraq, has been trying to establish itself in Afghanistan, challenging the Taliban on their own turf.

    Afghan security forces told UN sanctions monitors that about 10 per cent of the Taliban insurgency are IS sympathizers, according to the report by the UN’s al Qaeda monitoring team…”

  22. Boko Haram commander ‘can’t read the Koran and doesn’t know how to pray’ (express, Sep 26, 2015)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/608106/Boko-Haram-commander-Bulama-Modu-Bulakuri-Nigeria-video-ISIS-Islamic-State

    “In a video posted online, Bulama Modu appears to admit “I don’t know how to read the Quran” while being interrogated over his knowledge of Islam.

    The man, who is understood to be a Boko Haram commander in Bulakuri, Nigeria, added: “And I don’t know how to perform [Muslim] prayers either.”

    He made the claims in footage seen by the news agency Anadolu…”

  23. The Christian martyrs (express, Sep 27, 2015)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/608224/christian-martyrs-George-Weidenfeld-Patrick-Sookhdeo-Syria-Barnabus-Fund-relocate-charity

    “IT WAS only when the gates of the Nazi death camps were thrown open that the industrial scale of Hitler’s killing became known.

    Western diplomats had received scattered information about Nazi massacres of Jewish people and “undesirables” in occupied Poland and Russia but it was difficult to confirm.

    Yet just 70 years since the end of the Second World War, a genocide is taking place once again, this time against Christians.

    Scores have already been murdered by Islamic State and thousands forced to leave ancient Christian communities in northeastern Syria and western Iraq as the extremists demand they either convert to Islam, pay an extortionate rate of tax or face execution.

    Some have even been crucified.

    Despite concerns being raised by religious leaders including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the plight of Christian refugees is largely being ignored by the western world…”

  24. BREITBART – Obama’s ‘Cool Clock’ Muslim Boy Claims Racism to Foreign Audience at UN

    […]is using his new worldwide fame to accuse Texans of racism and anti-Muslim discrimination.

    […]“My dream is to raise consciousness against racism and discrimination,” he said at a New York press event with Turkey’s Islamist Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu

    […]The boy tweeted out a picture of his meeting with the prime minister, and his observant Muslim wife, Sare Davutoglu, who was wearing an Islamic hood.

    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/26/obamas-cool-clock-muslim-boy-claims-racism-foreign-audience-un/

  25. CANADA – MONTREAL – CBC – Protest mashes together antifa, PEGIDA and anti-Bill 59 protesters

    A protest that was meant to denounce Quebec’s proposed hate-speech legislation was a meeting ground for protesters with antifa, apparent members of anti-immigration group PEGIDA and Bill 59 opponents on Saturday afternoon.

    The protest and counter-protest began at Place Émilie-Gamelin around 2 p.m. before moving down the street. Police blocked off Berri Street between Ste-Catherine Street East and René-Lévesque Boulevard to traffic and pedestrians as a consequence, and quickly broke the protest up.

    No arrests were made, according to police.

    Some protesters chanted “Freedom, freedom” in French while counter-protesters chanted, “Refugees are welcome” as the two groups confronted each other in downtown Montreal.

    A previous version of this story said PEGIDA had organized this protest. In fact, a Facebook event planned for 2 p.m. was organized by a separate group opposed to Bill 59, Quebec’s proposed hate-speech law.

    Meanwhile, a secondary event planned on Facebook by PEGIDA Québec — a relatively new chapter of the international anti-immigration, anti-Islam PEGIDA organization based in Europe — still appears to be scheduled for Saturday afternoon at an undisclosed location.

    Bill 59 is a controversial piece of legislation that has been denounced by the Parti Québécois and other groups as an attack on freedom of expression and on civil liberties.

    PEGIDA Québec’s event page for their protest says, in French, that Europe has opened the doors to the Islamic State by accepting refugees. “We need to protest this situation and refuse this mass immigration. Accept all the migrants, and tomorrow we will all be migrants,” its Facebook event page says.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/pegida-right-wing-neo-nazi-antifa-protest-montreal-1.3245368