Reader’s links for Oct. 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

75 Replies to “Reader’s links for Oct. 15 – 2015”

  1. Chinese admiral visits Iran, wants closer defense cooperation (reuters, Oct 14, 2015)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/15/us-china-iran-idUSKCN0S907Q20151015

    “China wants to deepen military ties with Iran, a senior Chinese admiral was quoted as saying on Thursday after a meeting with Iran’s defense minister in Tehran.

    Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army, told Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan that China paid great attention to developing relations with Iran, China’s Defence Ministry said.

    “The aim of this delegation’s visit is to further promote friendship, deepen cooperation and exchange views with Iran on bilateral military ties and issues of mutual concern,” Sun said, according to the statement.

    The trip will also “promote the preservation of international and regional peace and stability”, he added…”

    • China and Russia are moving to replace the US in every place Obama hs pulled out of, we have been in this position before but this time we have active terror groups in the US which didn’t happen during the Cold War.

  2. Syrian army and Russian jets target rebel towns north of Homs (reuters, Oct 15, 2015)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/15/us-mideast-crisis-syria-homs-idUSKCN0S90JG20151015

    “Syrian army troops and their allies, backed by Russian jets, launched an attack on rebel-held towns north of the city of Homs on Thursday, Syrian state television and a group which monitors the war said.

    The Russian air strikes hit targets around the town of Talbiseh and the villages of Teir Malla, Dar Kabira and Khalidiya, a few miles north of the mainly government-held city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

    It said Syrian soldiers and fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah were involved in the assault. Hezbollah’s al-Manar television channel said the Syrian army was carrying out a land offensive in northern Homs province.

    The Observatory’s director Rami Abdulrahman said six rebel fighters and two civilians had been killed.

    The Sunni Muslim town of Talbiseh and the surrounding villages north of Homs are located in an enclave of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

    A news flash on state TV said the army had begun a military operation in the north Homs countryside after “concentrated air strikes and heavy preparatory artillery shelling on the terrorist groupings and their bases”.

    Recapturing the area would help reassert Assad’s control over the main population centres of western Syria and secure territory linking Damascus to the coastal heartland of his minority Alawite sect.

    The Syrian army backed by foreign allies including Iranian forces has launched several ground offensives to retake insurgent-held territory since Russian jets started air strikes against rebel targets mainly in western Syria two weeks ago.

    The army operations include a campaign to recapture rebel-held land in Hama, Idlib and Latakia provinces in the northwest. Regional officials have also said the army, backed by Iranian reinforcements, is preparing for a major ground operation around Aleppo city, close to the Turkish border.”

    • Putin wants to keep Assad in power and put the US in the position of either supporting Assad or ISIS, Obama wants the Moslems to come out as the people running the earth, Putin wants to rebuild the Russian Empire and China wants to add territory to the Chinese Empire. The only one of the three that wants anything for the West is Putin who wants the west to look to him as their savior.

  3. Yemen Houthis say fire missile in retaliation for Saudi ‘war crimes’ (reuters, Oct 15, 2015)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/15/us-yemen-security-missile-idUSKCN0S90BD20151015

    “Yemen’s Houthi forces fired a ballistic missile on Thursday in retaliation for attacks by a Saudi-led coalition, a source in the Iranian-allied group said, and a Houthi-linked television station said a Scud missile had been fired at a Saudi air base.

    Al-Masirah television reported that a Scud, a powerful Cold War-era weapon, had been fired at a military base near the city of Khamees Mushait in the kingdom’s southwest.

    The area is home to the King Khaled air base, the largest air force base in southern Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, but there are no oil facilities in the vicinity.

    The television station said the target was hit. It was not immediately possible to independently verify that report…”

    • With Obama pulling the US out of that region Saudi is being forced into the Russian Orbit for the weapons needed to defend their dictatorship. The Saudi Iran fight is one that makes you wish both sides could lose.

      • Exactly, bleed each other dry.
        At the end, though, Iran’s got to be out of there. Toddle on out to resume auto-flagellation; that’s really their thing.
        They like to cut themselves too.

  4. Hungary’s Anti-Migrant Steps Aid Orban’s Right-Wing Shift (abcnews, Oct 15, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/hungarys-anti-migrant-steps-aid-orbans-wing-shift-34487086

    “Hungary’s use of razor wire, tear gas and arrests in response to migrants seeking refuge in Europe has shocked many people across the world. But the crackdown comes as little surprise to those who have been watching a political transformation underway since Prime Minister Viktor Orban won power in 2010 — building a state that puts national interests over civil liberties.

    Orban’s hard-line approach is testing Europe as the continent struggles to remain true to its values of solidarity and unity in the face of the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. It is also proving a tempting model to other leaders, particularly in ex-communist Central and Eastern Europe, where a dislike of Muslims and multiculturalism runs high.

    Orban’s critics accuse him of escalating the immigration crisis to pander to xenophobic elements among Hungarian voters who have been moving toward Jobbik, a far-right party that is openly anti-Semitic and anti-Roma. Orban’s government imposed a state of emergency last month that allows the military to deploy armed soldiers to the border and also allows for the temporary suspension of some civil rights…..”

  5. U.N. chief urges EU to keep up solidarity for migrants: newspaper (reuters, Oct 15, 2015)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/15/us-europe-migrants-un-idUSKCN0S90M720151015

    “U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday called on the European Union to continue to work together to manage its worst migrant crisis since World War Two, and praised the bloc’s efforts to tackle what he described as a global phenomenon.

    “I hope that the European Union, and also Italy, continues to show global solidarity,” Ban said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

    “This topic is important primarily for Europe, and I am encouraged to see the first agreements in the EU on reallocating refugees in various countries … migration is now a global phenomenon.”

    Ban made the comments ahead of a summit of EU leaders due in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, the fourth in six months to be dominated by the more than half a million people who have come to Europe this year fleeing war and poverty in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

    Italy sent a group of asylum seekers to Sweden last week, kicking off an EU-wide relocation program aimed at easing the burden on border states.

    Ban, who is due to address the parliament in Rome on Thursday, also urged Israelis and Palestinians to return to negotiations without delay, saying he had spoken to the leaders of both sides in recent days.

    “An unsustainable situation is being created, an eruption of violence that gives cause for great alarm,” Ban said. “I am trying to bring them back to talks.””

  6. Arabic Graffiti Accusing ‘Homeland’ of Racism Appeared in Latest Episode

    http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/arabic-graffiti-accusing-homeland-racism-832336

    Three artists hired to add authenticity to a refugee camp scene shot in Germany also scrawled such messages as “‘Homeland’ is a joke and it didn’t make us laugh.”

    Anyone watching the second episode of the latest season of Homeland closely might have spotted a subversive message lurking in the background.

    The episode – which aired in the U.S. on Sunday – saw former CIA agent Carrie Mathison visit a refugee camp on the Syrian/Lebanese border. It was actually shot in Germany, with a hyper-realistic set recreated on the site of a former animal feed plant on the outskirts of Berlin, where much of the new season is centered.

    However, the Arabic graffiti added to the walls of the camp actually criticized Showtime’s award-winning drama. One shot from the episode sees Mathison – played by Claire Danes – stride past a wall with the message “Homeland is racist.”

  7. Obama’s effort to ‘nudge’ America

    The government tried using behavioral science to shape people’s behavior. Here’s what happened.

    http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/10/obamas-effort-to-nudge-america-000276

    For the past year, the Obama administration has been running an experiment: Is it possible to make policy more effective by using psychology on citizens?

    The nickname is “nudging”—the idea that policymakers can change people’s behavior just by presenting choices or information differently. The classic example is requiring people to opt out of being an organ donor, instead of opting in, when they sign up for a driver’s license. Without any change in rules, the small tweak has boosted the number of registered organ donors in many states.

    Nudging has gained a lot of high-profile advocates, including behavioral-law guru Cass Sunstein and former budget czar Peter Orszag. Not everyone likes the idea—“the behaviorists are saying that you, consumer, are stupid,” said Bill Shughart, a professor of public choice at Utah State University—but President Obama was intrigued enough that he actually hired Sunstein, a law professor at Harvard who co-wrote the best-known book about the topic, “Nudge.”

    • What worry’s me is the idea that you have to opt out of being an organ donor rather then opt in, this is a form of thought control and authoritarianism.

  8. Chinese media: military must be ready to counter US in South China Sea

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/15/chinese-media-military-must-be-ready-to-counter-us-in-south-china-sea

    Chinese media criticised the US on Thursday for “ceaseless provocations” in the South China Sea, with Washington expected to soon send warships close to artificial islands Beijing has built in disputed waters.

    An editorial in the Global Times, which is close to China’s ruling Communist party, condemned US “coercion”, adding: “China mustn’t tolerate rampant US violations of China’s adjacent waters and the skies over those expanding islands.”

    It said China’s military should “be ready to launch countermeasures according to Washington’s level of provocation”.

    Tensions have mounted since China transformed reefs in the area – also claimed by several neighbouring countries – into small islands capable of supporting military facilities, a move the US says threatens freedom of navigation.

      • That is what Obama wants, we are in a worse position then prior to pearl harbor, and we are facing the nasty enemies.

        • We were in worse shape than anybody realizes before Pearl Harbor. It’s just coming out now how truly terrible FDR was, how infiltrated we were after the war.

          We may indeed be worse off now, but we managed to get through before. Others didn’t get off so easily. Stalin victorious, ghastly civil war in Greece, Mao and Taiwan.

  9. Asylum seekers SUE Germany for not paying them benefits FAST ENOUGH
    A GROUP of asylum seekers are SUING Germany for not allowing them to register asylum quick enough so they can access benefits, throwing the Government’s goodwill back in their faces.

    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/612015/Asylum-seekers-SUE-Germany-for-not-paying-them-benefits-FAST-ENOUGH

    Around 20 Syrian migrants have filed a case against the Berlin state Government demanding immediate access to shelter and benefits after waiting for more than a week to be registered by the authorities.

    It comes as serious splits emerged in Angela Merkel’s Government over how to divide economic migrants from genuine refugees fleeing war-torn countries.

    Hundreds of asylum seekers are still waiting to be registered due to huge backlogs at the city’s main refugee centre.

    Huge crowds gather outside every day and many claim they have been waiting for weeks.

    Until their papers are processed by the State Office for Health and Social Affairs, the refugees have no access to Government refugee shelters or benefits.

  10. Refugees taunt police with selfies showing stolen goods but they CAN’T be arrested
    REFUGEES are reportedly taunting police by posting pictures of stolen goods including cameras and laptops on social media.

    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/612203/refugee-crisis-Germany-police-Angela-Merkel-Bodo-Pflazgraf-Martin-Steltner

    The pick-pocketing teenagers – dubbed the ‘klau-kids’ by German media – have also shown off designer sunglasses, cameras and cash on Facebook.

    There are thought to be up to 150 operating in Berlin alone, most of them from from eastern Europe and North Africa.

    Many are waiting for their asylum claims to be processed amid the biggest migration crisis since the Second World War.

    But the crimes are unlikely to affect their applications because they are considered to be minors under German law, according to reports.

    Bodo Pflazgraf of Germany’s police union said it is “incomprehensible” that serial offenders are not detained.

    But legal official Martin Steltner said it is difficult to have a credible witness to back up claims made against alleged thieves.

    According to Breitbart, he said: “Legally, we need to have strong suspicion. That is why prosecuting pickpockets is often very difficult.”

  11. Billionaire Soros comes under fire in homeland

    http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/14/billionaire-george-soros-comes-under-fire-in-hungary.html

    Hedge fund mogul George Soros has come under fire in his native Hungary, where politicians have accused him of supporting illegal migration amidst a refugee crisis that’s brought the right-wing government under pressure.

    Government representatives including Prime Minister Viktor Orban have slammed Soros in recent weeks for promoting liberal migrant policies and backing a variety of organizations through his pro-democracy charity that have criticized the way Orban’s government has dealt with the crisis.

  12. Hungary says fence finished on Croatian border

    https://ca.news.yahoo.com/hungary-says-fence-finished-croatian-border-123754633.html

    BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary’s fence on its border with Croatia is finished and the army and police are capable of sealing off the border once a decision to do so is made, a top government official said on Thursday.

    Hungary has seen more than 378,000 migrants pass through its territory so far this year, Janos Lazar, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, told journalists. He said by the end of the year the number of migrants reaching Hungary’s borders could reach 600,000 to 700,000.

    There are no technical obstacles to sealing the border with Croatia and it depends on the Brussels meetings and talks in next few days what decision Hungary will make, Lazar said.

    Hungary has already built a fence along its border with Serbia despite criticism from international partners.

    (Reporting by Krisztina Than and Marton Dunai; Editing by Alison Williams)

  13. Israelis invest in firepower as knife attacks rise

    http://news.yahoo.com/israelis-invest-firepower-knife-attacks-rise-035421290.html

    Tel Aviv (AFP) – Cars are double- and even triple-parked outside a gun shop in Israel’s coastal city of Tel Aviv. Inside, customers jostle each other as they wait to be served.

    Israelis fearful of a rising number of knife and other attacks by Palestinians are increasingly turning to firepower for personal protection.

    Seven Israelis and around 30 Palestinians have been killed in an upsurge of unrest since October 1, with many of the attackers wielding blades.

    One man at the store does not even bother to remove his motorbike helmet or interrupt a call on his mobile as he orders and pays for a box of bullets.

  14. ‘Only the tip of the iceberg’: Secret Iran underground base shown to media is just one of many

    The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has revealed a video of a secret military base consisting of numerous underground tunnels. The exact location is unknown but the base is thought to be one of many similar setups situated in Iran

    • I can see the North Korean influence, it wouldn’t surprise me if there turns out to be hundreds of hte tunnels with every type of military equipment hidden in them.

      • For sure.

        This regime must be utterly eliminated. Sudden and total, let no weasel escape to his hidey-hole. Wipe out the top ayatollahs, Revolutionary Guard command along with their Basiji enforcers.

        Not within Israeli capabilities, not by a long shot.

        • It would be a stretch for the US given the way Obama has drawn down the US military capabilities. I know that the plan (that was decided against by Bush and his people started with a month long 24/7 bombing campaign. They should have ignored the left wing reaction and gone ahead with the attack.

  15. TURKEY – HDP Municipality in Diyarbakir posts Prophet Muhammed cartoon on billboard

    The municipality of Yenisehir district in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, run by the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), drew public ire over cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad it hung on billboards.

    The cartoons were part of a campaign against child brides, girls forced by their families to marry at a very young age. Accompanied by a caption reading “There are no child brides, only rapist men,” the posters show a cartoon, allegedly drawn by a Danish cartoonist, showing a bearded man dragging a naked girl. The original caption with the bearded man saying “I love you Aysha” was one of the cartoons depicting Muhammad that had raised outrage in the Islamic world for insulting the prophet. The posters hung by the Yenisehir municipality were missing the caption.

    The incident sparked outrage on social media, with people accusing the municipality of provocation. A Twitter user said the cartoons served the same purpose as terrorism while another user said even the worst offenders of Islamophobia did not commit such an act. The posters, which were hung last week, were removed soon after their photos made rounds online. The municipality released an apology and claimed they simply picked a random photo they found via Google for the campaign. “We never had the intent [of offending people] as some media reports claimed,” the statement on the municipality’s website said.

    The HDP, which is known for its links to the terrorist organization PKK, claims to embrace all faiths and ethnicities in Turkey in its political manifesto, though it pursues a mainly pro-Kurdish policy. In the past, the HDP has sparked outrage among the Muslim community in Turkey for its leaders pledging to shut down the Presidency of Religious Affairs (DIB), the country’s top Islamic authority.

    Diyarbakir is known as a stronghold of the HDP. It was also the scene of a huge rally by a nongovernmental organization in April to mark the birthday of the prophet. Tens of thousands of people had converged in Diyarbak?r for Sacred Birth Week in a series of events with Quranic recitations and religious hymns.

    http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2015/10/15/hdp-municipality-in-diyarbakir-posts-prophet-muhammed-cartoon-on-billboard

    pic :
    https://www.haber5.com/i/haber/15/10/15/fe49/peygambere-hakaret-karikaturu-diyarbakir-sokaklarinda.jpg

  16. Spanish archbishop warns against ‘Trojan horse’ threat from refugees

    The Archbishop of Valencia, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares, sparked controversy on Wednesday when he questioned whether welcoming refugees to Spain from Syria was such a good idea.

    “What’s happening in Europe?” the Catholic bishop asked. “This invasion of immigrants… are they completely trustworthy? Where will it leave Spain in a few years?”

    http://www.thelocal.es/20151014/spanish-cardinal-questions-if-trojan-horse-refugees-are-trustworthy

  17. Pre-dawn raid: Five of a family, SI killed in police encounter (tribune, Oct 16, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/973599/pre-dawn-raid-five-of-a-family-si-killed-in-police-encounter/

    “Five people, including two women and children, were killed in a police encounter in Rawalpindi in the small hours of Thursday.

    The suspects were killed during an operation conducted by the police in Juriyaan village on Dhamyal Road, a few kilometers away from the Dhamyal Army Camp. During the operation, an elite force official was also killed and two critically injured.

    The deceased were allegedly involved in the assassination of Punjab Home Minister Col (retd) Shuja Khanzada, said a police official.

    The suspected terrorist was identified as Qaiser Mustafa, his wife Humaira Mustafa, Malka Khatoon and two children Faizan and Muhammad; all residents of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The police also claimed to have arrested three people from the spot and shifted them to an undisclosed location.

    A senior police official, requesting anonymity, said the operation was conducted on the information of intelligence agencies which pointed to the presence of the group involved in Khanzada’s killing…”

  18. Egypt: Zawahiri aquitted, 10 sentenced to death in Al-Qaeda linked case (ahram, Oct 15, 2015)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/155993/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-Zawahiri-aquitted,–sentenced-to-death-in-Al.aspx

    “A Cairo criminal court sentenced on Thursday 10 defendants to death for running a terrorist organisation connected to Al-Qaeda.

    The court had already issued its preliminary death sentences to 10 defendants in August and then referred their case to the Grand Mufti of Egypt, consulting him for his views about the executions.

    The court also sentenced 22 other defendants in the case to life in prison and 17 others to 15 years.

    All of the sentences handed down can still be appealed.

    The defendants were charged with operating a terrorist organisation that aimed to use force in order to oust the regime, attack police personnel, attack Egyptian Christians, and commit terrorist attacks to spread chaos.

    The criminal court acquitted in the same trial 17 other defendants including Mohamed Zawahiri, the brother of current Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri.

    The trial is known in Egyptian media as the “Zawahiri cell.”

    Although he was acquitted in this trial, the Cairo criminal court referred Mohamed Zawahiri to the prosecutor general to investigate his alleged involvement in the “Victorious Sect” terrorist cell.

    In 1999, Mohamed Zawahiri was sentenced to death in absentia for a handful of terrorist attacks in Egypt, including the 1997 killing of 62 foreign tourists in the Upper Egyptian city of Luxor.

    In June 2011, a military court accepted Zawahiri’s appeal against the death verdict and the case was closed. He subsequently returned to Egypt.”

  19. Two dead, six injured in blast at Egypt’s El-Arish police station (ahram, Oct 15, 2015)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/155976/Egypt/Politics-/Two-dead,-six-injured-in-blast-at-Egypts-ElArish-p.aspx

    “A conscript and a citizen died late Wednesday in a blast that detonated in the North Sinai city of El-Arish, Egypt’s interior ministry announced in a statement.
    Six other police officers were injured in the explosion of the improvised bomb, the statement read.

    The interior ministry statement explained that the bomb was planted by “unknown assailants” near a police station in El-Arish city.

    It also highlighted that the citizen who died was a passerby in front of the police station.

    The explosion took place hours after the military announced that the army’s air forces destroyed three vehicles transporting arms and ammunition.

    This incident comes a week after the Egyptian army announced that it has begun the second stage of the “Martyr’s Right” operation, which aims at rooting out militants in North Sinai’s El-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid, and Rafah cities.

    In the first phase, Egypt’s army announced the killing of over 500 militants and the destruction of various “terrorist” hideouts during the first phase’s 16 days of operation in the three cities mentioned.

    The second phase will witness developmental projects in the three cities.”

  20. Report: Turkey has second highest child income poverty in OECD (hurriyetdailynews, Oct 15, 2015)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/report-turkey-has-second-highest-child-income-poverty-in-oecd.aspx?pageID=238&nID=89904&NewsCatID=339

    “Turkey has the second highest child income poverty rate in the OECD countries following Israel, according to the OECD’s latest “How’s Life?” 2015 report.

    The average Turkish child experiences poor material living conditions compared to children in other OECD countries, the report revealed. Turkey has the second highest child income poverty rate in the OECD, as 28.4 percent of Turkish children live in a household with a disposable income of less than half of the Turkish median income, according to the report.

    Turkey also has the second largest rise in the child poverty rate, with an increase of more than 5 percent between 2007 and 2011, following Hungary. In two-thirds of all OECD countries, the child poverty rate increased over those four years, according to the report.

    Across all OECD countries there are large inequalities in the well-being of children, the report revealed…”

  21. Nationalists to run global anti-refugee campaign (thelocal, Oct 15, 2015)
    http://www.thelocal.se/20151015/swedish-nationalists-to-run-anti-refugee-ads-abroad

    “Sweden’s anti-immigration party announced plans on Thursday to launch an advertising campaign in foreign newspapers to deter refugees from travelling to the Nordic country.

    The Sweden Democrats told a press conference on Thursday of plans to launch an international campaign designed to warn refugees not to come to Sweden – and drum up support for a Swedish referendum on immigration.

    “We want, through advertisements in foreign newspapers, describe that the utopia they want to come to in Sweden no longer exists. Here, it’s tent camps, winter and cold,” said party leader Jimmie Åkesson and added that he had been inspired by a similar drive by the Danish government this autumn.

    Åkesson said he would also encourage elected party members to spend less active time in parliament and more on the street canvassing support for an anti-immigration referendum.

    “We’re turning the party into election mode,” he told reporters, saying he was hoping to pressure Sweden’s centre-right majority opposition in particular into backing his policies…”

  22. Swedish town reports 1,000 missing children (thelocal, Oct 15, 2015)
    http://www.thelocal.se/20151015/one-thousand-refugee-kids-missing-from-sweden

    “UPDATED: Officials in Trelleborg in southern Sweden have told The Local that around 1,000 unaccompanied refugee children and young adults who have arrived in the town over the last month have since gone missing.The small coastal town is currently experiencing its biggest influx of refugees to date, with several thousand people turning up every week since the start of September, according to authorities.

    But out of 1,900 children who have arrived in Trelleborg over the last month without parents or older relatives, at least half are believed to have left the area without alerting officials, despite being given temporary accommodation there.

    “We don’t know where they are (…) We don’t have the possibility to stop them leaving. We can’t wait by their beds day and night,” Agneta Sjölund, Director of Trelleborg Municipality, told The Local…”

  23. Nordic police break up refugee smuggling ring (thelocal, Oct 15, 2015)
    http://www.thelocal.se/20151015/swedish-police-help-break-up-human-smuggling-ring

    “Swedish and Finnish police have together smashed a network believed to be responsible for smuggling more than a hundred refugees, mainly Iraqi nationals, across the border.

    Police from the two neighbouring countries arrested six people in Eskilstuna in central Sweden, and nine in Finland at the end of September, in a series of raids that only hit Nordic headlines on Thursday.

    “It was quite a big operation. We had just over 60 police officers working simultaneously from the two countries,” Jukka Tekokoski, who led the investigation in Finland, told The Local.

    The smuggling ring, which is based in Sweden and Finland, is thought to have brought least 100 people from Turkey to Finland via Sweden this year. Police believe they crossed the border by land along the northern Haparanda to Torneå route, by sea on ferries to Helsinki and Åbo and on flights to Helsinki-Vanda airport.

    Finnish authorities have requested that those arrested in Sweden be extradited to Finland for the ongoing investigation and potential prosecution. Tekokoski said his officers were focusing their attention on those responsible for the smuggling.

    “Most of the people being smuggled have applied for asylum and are living in Finland. We are not focusing on them, we’re focusing on the people organizing this and making money from it,” he said.

    “This case is quite exceptional because of the number of people being smuggled. (…) But I am quite convinced that it affects the situation when we sweep out an organization like this,” he added.

    As The Local reported last month, Finland has been tightening controls at its northern border to Sweden in an effort to control the flow of refugees that come to the country.

    While many refugees are believed to be travelling to the Nordic countries by legal means, an increasing number are thought to be the victims of human smuggling rings, charging thousands of euros for helping refugees travel into and through Europe.

    “It costs €10,000 for each person, but it varies a lot. A lot of people have already entered the EU and Schengen by other means and only meet the smugglers in for example Hungary,” said Tekokoski.

    In a report in May this year, Swedish police revealed that around 40 criminal networks were believed to be involved in people smuggling in Sweden, but officials say it is often difficult to prosecute the suspects.

    “These are very complex stories where nobody wants to cooperate with us. When the smugglers have already reached Sweden it is very hard to prove that a crime has been committed,” Lars Öjelind, head of intelligence at the Swedish police’s operative department, told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper at the time.”

  24. BULGARIA – Afghan migrant shot dead trying to enter Bulgaria: ministry

    An Afghan migrant was shot trying to cross into Bulgaria from Turkey late Thursday and died on his way to hospital, the interior ministry said.

    “A big group of illegal migrants attempted to enter Bulgaria from Turkey. One man suffered a gunshot wound in the incident and died on the way to hospital,” an interior ministry spokeswoman told AFP.

    The incident happened near the southeastern Bulgarian town of Sredets Thursday evening, she said, adding that the dead migrant was from Afghanistan.

    Public BNR radio cited ministry sources as saying that the group of 48 illegal migrants from Afghanistan was armed and aggressive and refused to obey an order by the Bulgarian border guards to stop and turn back.

    The man was either wounded by a ricochet when police fired warning shots in the air or he was directly shot at, the radio said.

    The ministry has not confirmed the report.

    This is the first serious incident with migrants in the European Union’s non-Schengen zone member Bulgaria, which was so far bypassed by migrants heading to western Europe.

    It prompted Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to leave an EU summit in Brussels on the migrant crisis and fly back home late Thursday.

    http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-migrant-shot-dead-trying-enter-bulgaria-ministry-234244183.html

  25. Germany: AfD supporters rally against govt’s refugee ‘problem’

    About 1,500 supporters of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party marched through Dresden, Thursday, rallying against the German government’s refugee policy, which one activist called a “problem” that won’t be managed despite promises to do so by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

  26. Obama Admin Accuses Israel of ‘Terrorism’ As More Jews Murdered

    freebeacon.com/national-security/ted-cruz-demands-kerry-resign-over-israel-criticism/Obama Admin Accuses Israel of ‘Terrorism’ As More Jews Murdered

    As Palestinians assailants continue to murder Jews across Israel, the Obama administration on Wednesday accused the Jewish state of committing acts of “terrorism,” drawing outrage from many observers.

    As the number of Israelis murdered during a streak of Palestinian terrorism continues to rise, the Obama administration sought to equate the sides and told reporters that, in its view, Israel is guilty of terrorism.

    “Individuals on both sides of this divide are—have proven capable of, and in our view, are guilty of acts of terrorism,” State Department Spokesman John Kirby told reporters following questions about the spike in violence.

    Kirby also said the administration has obtained “credible reports” of Israelis using excessive force as it deals with a rash of terrorist murders carried out by Palestinians seeking to cause havoc and spark an intifada.

  27. NIGERIA Maiduguri – Dozens die in double suicide bomb attack on Nigerian mosque

    Witnesses counted 42 dead bodies outside the mosque in Maiduguri, but police gave a lower figure of 14

    Dozens of worshippers were killed after two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a mosque in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, said witnesses.

    “All the people in the mosque died. Not a single one escaped,” said Muhtari Ahmadu, a trader near the scene on Thursday.

    “We counted 42 dead bodies outside the mosque,” added Amadu Marte, a vigilante supporting the security forces in the fight against Boko Haram, which has carried out repeated attacks in the region.

    Police confirmed that the mosque was hit by twin bombings, but gave a lower toll of about 14 dead. Following the explosions, the mosque collapsed and injured “many people praying”, said the police in a statement.

    “Casualties have been evacuated to [University of Maiduguri teaching hospital] and specialist hospitals in Maiduguri,” it added.

    The bombers slipped into the mosque disguised as worshippers, said witnesses, adding that one of the attackers set off the first blast when he entered the mosque. The second bomber detonated his explosives soon after, when many had rushed to the scene to help the first victims.

    “When rescuers and sympathisers gathered in front of the place, the second one went off, killing many of them,” said Marte.

    The blasts occurred around 6.30pm (1730 GMT) in the western suburbs of Maiduguri, where worshippers had gathered for evening prayers, said the witnesses.

    There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but suspicion fell on Boko Haram, which was founded the city in 2009. It has been hit repeatedly since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power on 29 May with a vow to crush the insurgency.

    Boko Haram claimed responsibility for three suicide attacks in the satellite towns of Kuje and Nyanya outside Nigeria’s capital Abuja on 2 October, which killed a total of 18 people and injured 41.

    Nigeria’s military claims the Islamist militants are a spent force and that troops have driven them from their camps and occupied territory in the remote region.

    But guerrilla-style attacks have continued, including across the border. At the weekend, 41 people were killed in triple explosions in Baga Sola, on the Chadian side of Lake Chad, where Nigeria meets Niger, Chad and Cameroon. The four countries have launched a joint offensive against the Islamists.

    Their mission received a boost on Wednesday when US president Barack Obama said he was deploying up to 300 military personnel to Cameroon for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations against Boko Haram insurgents.

    At least 17,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million made homeless since Boko Haram began its bloody campaign for an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/16/dozens-die-in-double-suicide-bomb-attack-on-nigerian-mosque

  28. Iraqi Ayatollah: ‘Abducting Women’ and ‘Destroying Churches’ Is ‘Real Islam’
    Offensive Jihad: the insurmountable obstacle between Muslims and non-Muslims.
    October 15, 2015
    Raymond Ibrahim
    53

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260452/iraqi-ayatollah-abducting-women-and-destroying-raymond-ibrahim

    During a recent televised interview with Grand Ayatollah Ahmad al-Baghdadi, the leading Shia cleric of Iraq made clear why Islam and the rest of the world can never peacefully coexist.

    First he spent some time discussing “defensive jihad,” saying that all capable Muslims are obligated to fight for the “liberation” of “occupied” territory, for instance, Israel (see here for a list of European countries also deemed “occupied” in the eyes of Islam).

    He then explained “offensive jihad,” Islam’s primary bloodline, which forged what we now call the “Muslim world” over the centuries.

  29. Turkey presents EU with wish list to help it stem migration

    BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Turkey asked the European Union for 3 billion euros on Thursday, easier travel to the EU for its citizens and diplomatic favors in exchange for helping stem the flow of Syrian refugees to Europe, EU officials and diplomats said after talks in Ankara.

    Faced with their worst migration crisis since World War Two, European countries need the support of Turkey from where most of migrants and asylum seekers transit to reach Europe.

    Senior Turkish and European Commission officials who talked late into the night in Ankara were “close to finalizing” a cooperation agreement largely along the lines of a Commission draft published last week, officials involved in the talks said.

    A new draft, seen by Reuters, removed a reference to an offer of 1 billion euros, some of which was already scheduled to be paid. It now says the EU will offer “substantial and concrete new funds” outside those already part of aid program.

    Any measures will eventually need approval from EU leaders, who were meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss cooperation with Ankara. They were not expected to make major decisions.

    Separate from the written “action plan”, EU officials and diplomats said Turkey presented the negotiators with other demands, including the 3 billion euros and speeding up a deal that would, in time, give all Turks visa-free access to Europe.

    Ankara also wants a revamp of the negotiations leading to EU membership, overcoming a years-long deadlock. Six new “chapters” — areas where EU states share common policies — should be opened on energy, economic and monetary affairs, foreign affairs, education, home affairs and the judiciary. Since accession talks began a decade ago, 14 chapters have been opened. The full process requires accords in over 30 areas.

    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan also wants invitations to EU summits and for Turkey to be on an EU list of countries considered “safe” for rejected migrants to be deported to — a status being accorded to all other EU candidate countries.

    WISH LIST

    The Commission negotiating team is led by First Vice President Frans Timmermans and enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn. EU officials stress that any agreement will need to be endorsed by the Council of the EU’s 28 member governments.

    Diplomats and officials questioned whether the request for new aid was realistic in the short term: “The 3 billion euros are like a Christmas shopping list that is completely unrealistic,” one source close to the negotiations said.

    The Commission, which manages collective EU funds, has committed 250 million euros of fresh money but cannot offer more as the EU budget has a limited flexibility, officials said.

    “EU states will have to do their part, at least matching the Commission commitment and offering more if they wish so,” a top EU negotiator said.

    EU leaders gathered in Brussels on Thursday “will somehow address the issues raised but, as they are so recent, there is a limit on how far they can go,” a EU diplomat said.

    Several diplomats said the speeding up of visa liberalization — offering visa waivers to business travelers, for example — would be possible as long as Turkey accepts previously agreed conditions and also implements a parallel agreement to take back migrants rejected by the EU.

    Broadening EU membership talks could face opposition from Cyprus, which has blocked the opening of new chapters in the past as it tries to secure a peace deal with the Turkish-backed breakaway state in the north of the island.

    http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-presents-eu-wish-list-help-stem-migration-000456265.html

    • Belgium: €3 billion refugee aid package [ extortion ] for Turkey in discussion, confirms Merkel

    • Instead of paying Turkish ransom to not be invaded why not use the money to place coalition forces on the southern border to defend Europe like Orban said?

    • This I’m glad to see. My Russki did NOT believe me, said I had to have the numbers wrong.
      He couldn’t believe they’d let this piece of Turk get away with such extortion.