Reader’s links for Nov. 7 – 2015

Daily Links Post graphic

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.

This way, under the various posts of the day, conversation can take place without as much ‘noise’ on the various links and articles and ideas in the main posts and all the news links being submitted can be seen under these auto-posts by clicking on the comments-link right below these ones.

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

38 Replies to “Reader’s links for Nov. 7 – 2015”

  1. Activists Say IS Group Releases 37 Syrian Christian Captives (abcnews, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/activists-group-releases-37-syrian-christian-captives-35041514

    “Activists say Islamic State militants have released 37 Syrian Christians, mostly women, who were among more than 200 people from the Assyrian minority group abducted in February.

    The Assyrian Human Rights Network said in a statement on Facebook on Saturday that negotiations continue for the release of another 124 who remain in captivity. The group posted pictures of the former captives arriving in the predominantly ethnic Assyrian village of Tal Tamr in the northeastern Hassakeh province.

    Edmond Gabriel, chairman of the Assyrian Charitable Association in Hassakeh province, said 27 of the released are women. He says another group of captives is expected to be released Monday.

    The Islamic State group shot and killed three Assyrians in October but has previously released others through negotiations.”

  2. Egypt FM: Western Countries Haven’t Helped in War on Terror (abcnews, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/egypt-fm-western-countries-helped-war-terror-35041615

    “Egypt’s foreign minister complained on Saturday that Western governments had not sufficiently helped Egypt in its war on terrorism and had not shared relevant intelligence with Cairo regarding the Russian airplane that crashed last week in the Sinai, killing all 224 people onboard.

    Sameh Shoukry, speaking at a press conference, said that “European countries did not give us the cooperation we are hoping for.”

    Egypt’s past calls for assistance and coordination on terrorism issues from “the countries that are now facing the danger” had not been dealt with seriously, he said.

    Shoukry also complained that Western nations that have suspended flights to Sharm el-Sheikh did not share with Cairo the relevant intelligence upon which they based their decisions. U.S. and British officials have cited intelligence reports as indicating that the Russian flight from the Sinai resort town to St. Petersburg was brought down on Oct. 31 by a bomb on board.

    Shourky told reporters that Egypt “expected that the information available would be communicated to us instead of being broadcast” in the media.

    The foreign minister’s comments came as Egypt launched an investigation into the staff and ground crew at the Sharm el-Sheikh airport, according to Egyptian airport and security officials.

    The officials told The Associated Press on Saturday that authorities were questioning airport staff and ground crew who worked on the Russian flight and had placed some employees under surveillance. The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media….”

  3. ISIS victims returning home, with thirst for revenge (CNN, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/07/middleeast/iraq-yazidi-sinjar-isis-victims/index.html

    “Snuny, Iraq (CNN) Sharu Baharu, an 80-year-old with a magnificent handle-bar moustache, is facing his second winter on Mount Sinjar, where a bitter wind kicks up as the sun sets over the barren cliffs.

    Until last year, he had lived his entire life in the town of Sinjar below.

    Then, over a few days during August 2014, 5,000 men and boys in Sinjar and nearby villages were massacred, according to U.N. estimates.

    “We fought as long as we could, but we had no weapons and they had so many,” Baharu says, gesturing with his index finger for emphasis. “We saw so many killed, but we escaped at night and came to the mountain.”

    Thousands fled across the mountain and escaped through a narrow corridor forced open by Syrian Kurdish fighters who came to their rescue.

    Baharu is a Yazidi, a tiny minority living around Mount Sinjar in Iraq. They are considered heretics by conservative Muslims and were an obvious target for ISIS as it spread across Iraq and Syria.

    Baharu recalls how one Arab neighbor, whose family had lived next to his for generations, helped at least 60 Yazidis escape the advancing ISIS convoys.

    But another neighbor turned on the Yazidis.

    “He raised the Daesh [ISIS] flag and took his gun. He killed nearly 20 people as they tried to leave,” Baharu says.

    Around him, nine granddaughters play and gaze at the strange visitors. They suffer the cold on Mount Sinjar and have no schooling, but they are lucky to be alive, and the older girls are lucky not to be owned by ISIS fighters.

    As many as 7,000 young women and girls were abducted to become sex slaves; even today there are reports of their being sold in the ISIS stronghold of Mosul.

    Sinjar is now a chaotic jumble of demolished buildings whose only inhabitants are a few hundred ISIS fighters facing off against small detachments of Kurdish Peshmerga forces….”

  4. Two Egyptian nationals stabbed in Amman (ahram, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/162914/Egypt/Politics-/Two-Egyptian-nationals-stabbed-in-Amman.aspx

    “Two Egyptian men were stabbed during a brawl with five Jordanian nationals in Amman early Saturday, state news agency MENA reported.

    An official from the Egyptian Embassy in Jordan, Sherif Moktar, said one of the victims is in “serious” condition while the other is relatively stable.

    A probe is underway in cooperation with Jordanian authorities to find and arrest the culprits and provide necessary assistance to the victims, officials at the embassy said.

    Last month, video footage appearing to show a group of suited men, including a Jordanian MP, physically assaulting an Egyptian waiter in a Jordanian restaurant sparked widespread anger, drawing comments from authorities in Egypt and Jordan.

    Some 112,000 Egyptians reside in Jordan, according to a 2013 report by the Migration Policy Centre (MPC) citing census data in 2004.

    Last week, a 25-year-old man was killed in Kuwait after a Kuwaiti national ran him over multiple times with his car following a brawl between a group of Egyptians and Kuwaitis reportedly over the “price of a console game.””

  5. Turkmenistan begins building $10 billion pipeline to carry gas to Pakistan (tribune, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/986923/turkmenistan-constructing-10-billion-pipeline-to-carry-gas-to-pakistan-india/

    “ASHGABAT: Energy-rich Turkmenistan’s leader has ordered the start of construction on a pipeline carrying gas from the former Soviet state to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the government said Saturday.

    President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov ordered state companies Turkmengaz and Turkmengazneftstroi to begin building the isolated republic’s section of the pipeline, state media said.

    Overall, the pipeline will stretch 1,800 kilometres (1,100 miles) and is likely to cost more than $10 billion (9.3 billion euros).

    The Turkmenistan official newspaper also said the government expects the gas link, with an annual capacity of 33 billion cubic metres, to be fully operational by the end of 2018.

    The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) project could help ease growing energy deficits in Asian giants India and Pakistan.

    For Turkmenistan, which has been hit by low energy prices and is dependent on China for the vast majority of its gas sales, TAPI is a key opportunity to diversify its exports.

    But uncertainty hangs over the costly project. Aside from the risks associated with a link traversing war-torn Afghanistan, the four-country consortium has yet to confirm the participation of a foreign commercial partner willing to help finance it.”

    • Why was my first thought… I wonder how soon it will be blown up?
      Sad that I think that way but I wonder what the over/under is on how soon 1,100 miles of pipe will come under attack.

  6. Pakistan’s anti-terrorism strategy a role model for others: PAF chief (tribune, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/986846/pakistan-air-force-a-role-model-for-others-air-chief-marshal/

    “Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman on Saturday said Pakistan’s anti-terrorism strategy is a “role model for others” and plays a ”pivotal role” in dealing with conventional threats and non-state actors.

    Addressing the seventh Dubai International Air Chiefs Conference in Dubai, Aman asserted that Pakistan’s anti-terrorism strategy is not only vital in counter-acting threats, but also a role model for others, according to Radio Pakistan….”

  7. Japan gifts 123 hybrid cars to aid police patrols (tribune, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/986616/cost-efficient-law-enforcement-land-of-the-rising-sun-gifts-hybrids-to-aid-police-patrols/

    “ISLAMABAD: A common complaint from the country’s police forces is the lack of fuel funds to pay for patrolling vehicles. While the government has been unable to address the issue, the government of a friendly East-Asian nation has responded.

    Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Inomata on Friday handed over 123 Japanese-made hybrids vehicles to the Ministry of Interior. The Japanese embassy said the total cost of the vehicles is around 500 million Japanese Yen, or Rs435 million….”

  8. Attacks on refugees in Germany double in three months (DW, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://www.dw.com/en/attacks-on-refugees-in-germany-double-in-three-months/a-18833991

    “The number of registered attacks against refugee accommodations and asylum seekers in Germany has doubled in the last three months. Severe crimes such as arson, bombings and assault have tripled.

    The number of attacks on refugee accommodations has jumped from 136 in the second quarter to 274 in the third quarter of this year, according to an article in the “Saarbrücker Zeitung” newspaper on Saturday.

    The number of participants in neo-Nazi demonstrations against refugees has also spiked to 5,800 people between July and September. In the previous quarter the number was only 800.

    “Protests against refugees are now used by Nazis as a central theme to mobilize,” Jelpke told the German newspaper.

    The number of neo-Nazi protestors includes demonstrations by groups such as the NPD and the Third Way, but does not include anti-immigration demonstrations organized by PEGIDA.

    Yet, much of the data on attacks and demonstrations is still lacking, Jelpke said. For example, there is no federal data breaking down arson attacks on inhabited versus uninhabited refugee accommodation. It is also unclear how many of the attacks were right-wing inspired.

    The spike in attacks and rise in support for far-right groups comes as Germany is expecting up to one million refugees fleeing conflict and poverty by the end of the year….”

  9. German teachers union warns girls to stay away from refugee men (DW, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://www.dw.com/en/german-teachers-union-warns-girls-to-stay-away-from-refugee-men/a-18833589

    “A teachers group in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt has garnered criticism after saying girls should be encouraged to stay away from male – often Muslim – refugees. Politicians have accused the group of fear-mongering.

    “An immigrant invasion is spilling over in Germany,” said an article in a recent teachers union magazine, which went on to recommend girls stay away from “often attractive Muslim men.”

    The statement from the “Journal of the Philologists’ Association of Saxony-Anhalt” that young women should be dissuaded from relationships with Muslims drew ire from state politicians on Saturday.

    According to a report by German daily “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung,” the original article by the teachers group, signed by leaders Jürgen Mannke and Iris Seltmann-Kuke, told instructors to warn their students of the risk of being molested by refugees and to resist the temptation to engage in “a superficial sexual adventure with the often attractive Muslim men.”

    The newspaper also reported that the article alleges that these “young, strong, mostly Muslim … often uneducated men” are entering the country “under dubious pretenses.” Mannke and Seltmann-Kuke then go on to describe how innocent conversations in public transportation and in supermarkets can lead to sexual assault.

    As a record number of people seeking asylum come to Germany, many escaping violence in their homelands, Saxony-Anhalt’s education minister, Stephan Dorgerloh, took exception to the union’s implication that the safety of female students was threatened by the refugee crisis. Speaking to the “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung,” Dorgerloh accused the group of “amplifying rumors, spreading half-truths and exploiting its value as a union.”

    “The content [of the article] is completely base, it serves prejudice and the far-right fringe” of the political spectrum, state leader of the Green party Claudia Dalbert told the newspaper.

    As Germany grapples with the unprecedented wave of human movement through its borders, sentiment towards the newcomers has largely been one of welcoming – though many incidents of arson and destruction to planned refugee homes have been recorded, particularly in the former East German states, including Saxony-Anhalt.”

  10. Sweden: Refugee centre burned down amidst string of arson attacks

    A building set to house refugees was left in ruins in the Swedish municipality of Floda, near Gothenburg, Saturday, in what is believed to be an anti-immigrant arson attack. The fire is just one of example of the many attacks on prospective refugee centres that are currently sweeping Sweden.

    • Germany: Riot police battle with counter-demo trying to confront AfD supporters

      Riot police scuffled with counter-demonstrators at Berlin’s Hauptbahnhof station on Saturday as an estimated 1,500 protesters demonstrated against an anti-refugee rally staged by the right-wing ‘Alternative fur Deutschland’ party (Alternative for Germany).

  11. Migrants arrive in Portugal

    Twenty two refugees and migrants arrive at Lisbon Airport as part of a relocation scheme.

  12. U.S. general sees air strikes against Islamic State picking up (reuters, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/07/us-mideast-crisis-airstrikes-idUSKCN0SW08W20151107

    “U.S. and coalition forces are likely to increase air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria in coming weeks after a lull in September and October, the head of U.S. Air Forces Central Command said Saturday.

    Lieutenant General Charles Brown told reporters at the Dubai International Air Chiefs Conference that the reduction in air strikes was due to weather and to a slowdown in activity on the ground and not due to the start of Russian air strikes in the region.

    He said both government forces and insurgents were increasing their ground movements, which could create more opportunities for the United States and its allies to carry out more air strikes against Islamic State targets.

    “If they’re not out and about, it’s harder to strike, particularly for an adversary that may wrap themselves in the civilian population,” he said.

    Brown also rejected criticism that the United States was not using air strikes as much or effectively as possible, saying coalition forces were striving to avoid civilian casualties that could help recruitment for Islamic State.

    He also noted that the sheer number of air strikes was less of an indicator than the targets hit and the number of weapons used.

    The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State in Iraq with 14 air strikes on Thursday, and also hit the militant group with nine air strikes in Syria, the U.S. military said on Friday.

    Brown told reporters that an agreement signed with Russia to avoid possible mid-air collisions was working well, and no incidents had been reported….”

  13. Bombs across Baghdad kill nine people: sources (reuters, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/07/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-violence-idUSKCN0SW0IW20151107

    “Bombs in and around Baghdad killed at least nine people on Saturday, police and medical sources said, highlighting security challenges that include Islamist militancy and sectarian conflict.

    There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Islamic State militants, who control large parts of the country’s north and west, frequently set off bombs in the capital.

    Five members of the security forces and one civilian were killed in Tarmiya, 25 km (15 miles) north of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a security checkpoint, the sources said.

    A bomb in the northwestern district of Duwanim left two more dead and nine wounded, while a blast in the Nahrawan area, south of the capital, killed one and wounded six, the sources said.

    Separately, police said they found the bodies of three men in northern Baghdad who had been shot in the chest and head.”

  14. Senegal Authorities Arrest 7 for Suspected Extremism Ties (abcnews, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/senegal-authorities-arrest-suspected-extremism-ties-35047521

    “A Senegalese judge says four imams and three women have been arrested in the West African country for suspected ties to extremism.

    Investigating judge Samba Sall said Saturday that he presided over a hearing Friday for the seven charged with criminal conspiracy, money laundering and financing terrorism.

    He said the suspects were arrested last month following investigations by Senegalese security forces.

    Local media reported that the gendarme investigation shows those arrested have contact with a Nigerian who has ties to the Nigeria-based Islamic extremist group Boko Haram.

    The group has killed thousands in its six-year insurgency and now is launching attacks in neighboring countries Chad, Cameroon and Niger.”

  15. Explosive sub found near Russian gas pipeline (thelocal, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://www.thelocal.se/20151107/explosive-sub-found-near-russian-gas-pipeline

    “An underwater vessel containing undetonated explosives has been found near the Russian underwater gas pipeline Nord Stream, just off the Swedish coast.

    The explosive craft was found on Friday afternoon in the Baltic on the same latitude as the southern cape of Öland, south of Gotland. Its origin is unknown.

    ”Our assessment is that it is a disposable vessel with a small bomb, used to clear mines. It is not likely that the explosives will detonate,” said Johannes Hellqvist, information officer at the Swedish Armed Forces to SVT.

    Nevertheless, the Swedish Maritime Administration has issued a navigation warning about a ”dangerous object”, advising ships to keep a security distance of three nautical miles (5.5 km) around the vessel.

    The military refused to speculate in whether it could have be placed there by terrorists. More likely, there are historical explanations for its whereabouts, Johannes Hellqvist told SVT: ”This part of the Baltic has a whole lot of mines from World War II. It could have drifted away, and would then be here for perfectly natural reasons.”

    The vessel is constructed so that its built-in explosives are supposed to detonate when approaching a mine to disarm it, at the same time destroying itself.

    As the sub was found outside of Sweden’s territorial waters, the Swedish Armed Forces are not responsible for disarming it. They will discuss its future on Monday.”

  16. Germany spied on EU allies: new report (thelocal, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://www.thelocal.se/20151107/german-intelligence-spied-on-allies

    “Germany’s intelligence agency eavesdropped on many of the country’s closest European allies, including France, Sweden, Italy, Spain and Britain, according to new reports.

    Among the targets are several embassies in Germany, and international organisations such as the Red Cross, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.

    The German intelligence agency BND has already been accused of eavesdropping on officials at the French foreign ministry and presidency, as well as the European Commission, on behalf of its US counterpart, the NSA.

    Public radio RBB and Spiegel Online had earlier claimed that the BND had also spied on its own account on several embassies and administrations of “European states and allies”.

    Spiegel, without giving any sources, said Saturday that “the BND had systematically spied on ‘allies’ across the world, including on the interior ministries of the United States, Poland, Austria, Denmark and Croatia.”

    It said the spying targets included the US delegation at the European Union in Brussels and the UN in New York, the US Treasury, and several embassies in Germany — including those of the US, France, Britain, Sweden, Portugal, Greece, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and the Vatican. It also spied on the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross and Oxfam, Spiegel said.

    Germany expressed outrage when information leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden showed that US agents were carrying out widespread tapping worldwide. But the BND soon came under fire itself over claims that it had carried out spying on European allies on behalf of the NSA.

    Belgium and the Netherlands in June launched probes into the claims of espionage.”

  17. Street fight breaks out in southern Stockholm (thelocal, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://www.thelocal.se/20151107/bludgeon-fight-in-southern-stockholm

    “Four people were taken to hospital after a large street fight in Skarpnäck in southern Stockholm on Saturday afternoon.

    Witnesses said cudgels were used, and a driver deliberately hit someone with a car, reports Aftonbladet.

    Some 30 people were involved in the street fight in Skarpnäcks Gård, a suburb in southern Stockholm around 2.30pm on Saturday, witnesses told the police. “Everyone seems to have fought against everyone, and a lot of people say cudgels were used”, information officer Eva Nilsson told TT.

    Four people were taken to hospital, bleeding but without life-threatening injuries. Around 4pm, the police were still interrogating people in order to find out what happened. At the time, the reason behind the fight was still unknown, but it is not believed to have been football related, reports TT.

    A man who lives in the area and was passing by as the fight started, told Aftonbladet: “They were hitting each other and cars, and then they hit someone with a car. It is terrible. Let’s hope it was a one-off.””

  18. Sweden faces huge shortfall in refugee tents (thelocal, Nov 7, 2015)
    http://www.thelocal.se/20151107/tents-for-50-000-refugees-needed-only-375-planned

    “Sweden won’t have enough tents to house record numbers of asylum seekers, with only 4,000 spaces available for an expected 50,000 refugees.

    The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency has warned that the first tents for 375 asylum seekers are delayed, and it is unlikely that more than 4 000 refugees will be housed in tents by the end of the year. The demands for 50 000 beds will not be met.

    The Swedish Migration board (Migrationsverket) needs tents to house 50 000 refugees this year already. But that is impossible, Anneli Bergholm Söder from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) told TT: ”We want to warn Migrationsverket, they need to lower their expectations.”

    Lack of suitable land and infrastructure are the main reasons the agency will fail to meet the demands for tent accommodation for refugees. ”It’s not just about erecting a tent. You need electricity, water, sewage systems and so on. And if the tents are to be used for a longer period of time, the laws and regulations for regular buildings apply,” said Bergholm Söder to TT. For instance the process of getting a building permit takes weeks, at the very least.

    MSB has found four areas that could lodge 4 000 asylum seekers. But only one of them, Revingehed outside Lund in southern Sweden, has a timed schedule for the tent erection – and it has been delayed almost a month, awaiting a building permit. The raising of the 75 tents could start on Wednesday, November 11th at the earliest, MSB told Dagens Nyheter today.

    Mikael Ribbenvik, director of operations at the Swedish Migration Board, understands that finding space for 50 000 people can be difficult, and maintains that the demand for accommodation continues to outnumber the supply: “We are making extraordinary efforts right now, like putting mattresses in hallways everywhere possible,” he told TT.”