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Illegal Aliens Use Fake Puerto Rican Birth Certificates to Get U.S. Passports, Licenses
As if the country’s monstrous immigration crisis weren’t dire enough, an increasing number of illegal aliens are using fake Puerto Rican birth certificates to obtain authentic U.S. passports and driver’s licenses.
Located about 1,000 miles southeast of Florida, Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory about two decades after the Caribbean island was acquired from Spain at the end of the Spanish-American war. Puerto Ricans are American citizens at birth though they don’t have the right to vote in federal elections and the island has only one non-voting representative in Congress.
In recent years a record number of Puerto Ricans have left their troubled island for the U.S. and a big chunk has settled on Florida. A few months ago a study found that the island’s ongoing economic recession has led to a mass exodus not seen in more than five decades. In 2014 alone 84,000 people left Puerto Rico for the U.S. mainland, the study found. One recent news report referred to the Puerto Rican crisis as an economic exodus that could push two-thirds of its population to live in the U.S. The island has an eye-popping $73 billion debt, a collapsing healthcare system and nearly half of its population living in poverty.
It’s fair to say that for years Uncle Sam has welcomed Puerto Ricans with open arms and that has created lots of opportunities for fraud. There has been a rise in the number of cases involving the use of false Puerto Rican birth certificates by illegal immigrants, according to a south Florida newspaper report that focuses on the specifics of a recent case. It involves an illegal alien from Colombia arrested in Florida after trying to get a U.S. passport by claiming to be an American citizen born in Puerto Rico. The 35-year-old man, Edinson Canaveral Sánchez, used a fake Puerto Rican birth certificate to get a valid Florida driver’s license more than three years ago.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2016/01/illegal-aliens-use-fake-puerto-rican-birth-certificates-to-get-u-s-passports-licenses/
We are not natural-born enemies of Iran,’ Saudi U.N. envoy says
UNITED NATIONS/DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia said on Monday it would restore ties with Iran when Tehran stopped meddling in the affairs of other countries and pledged that Riyadh would continue to work “very hard” to support bids for peace in Syria and Yemen despite the spat.
Saudi Arabia cut all ties with Iran on Sunday following the kingdom’s execution of prominent Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Protesters in Iran and Iraq marched for a third day to denounce the execution.
When asked what it would take for ties to be restored, Saudi U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi told reporters: “Very simple – Iran to cease and desist from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, including our own.”
He added, “If they do so, we will of course have normal relations with Iran. We are not natural-born enemies of Iran.”
On Monday, Bahrain and Sudan cut all ties with Iran, following Riyadh’s example. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Reuters Riyadh would also halt air traffic and commercial relations between the rival powers.
http://www.oann.com/iran-says-saudi-arabia-looking-for-an-excuse-to-fuel-tensions/
New Saudi-Iran crisis threatens wider escalation
RIYADH (Reuters) – The last time Saudi Arabia broke off ties with Iran, after its embassy in Tehran was stormed by protesters in 1988, it took a swing in the regional power balance in the form of Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait to heal the rift.
It is hard to see how any lesser development could resolve the region’s most bitter rivalry, which has underpinned wars and political tussles across the Middle East as Riyadh and Tehran backed opposing sides.
Riyadh’s expulsion of Iran’s envoy after another storming of its Tehran embassy, this time in response to the Saudi execution of Shi’ite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr, raised the heat again, making the region’s underlying conflict even harder to resolve.
http://www.oann.com/new-saudi-iran-crisis-threatens-wider-escalation/
South China Sea tensions surge as China lands plane on artificial island
HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s first landing of a plane on one of its new island runways in the South China Sea shows Beijing’s facilities in the disputed region are being completed on schedule and military flights will inevitably follow, foreign officials and analysts said.
China’s increasing military presence in the disputed sea could effectively lead to a Beijing-controlled air defense zone, they said, ratcheting up tensions with other claimants and with the United States in one of the world’s most volatile areas.
China has confirmed that a test flight by a civilian plane landed on an artificial island built in the Spratlys, the first time Beijing has used a runway in the area.
Vietnam said the plane landed on Jan 2 and launched a formal diplomatic protest, while Philippines Foreign Ministry spokesman Charles Jose said Manila was planning to do the same. Both have claims to the area that overlap with China.
“That’s the fear, that China will be able take control of the South China Sea and it will affect the freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight,” Jose told reporters.
http://www.oann.com/south-china-sea-tensions-surge-as-china-lands-plane-on-artificial-island/
Suspected arsonist held in China after bus fire kills 17
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese police arrested a man suspected of starting a bus fire on Tuesday that killed 17 people, state media reported.
Bus fires are not uncommon in China, where regulators have blamed some recent blazes on flawed auto design. In 2013, a bus fire blamed on a suicidal man killed 47 in the coastal city of Xiamen.
Flames engulfed the bus in front of a furniture store in the northern region of Ningxia. Thirty-two people were injured.
Police “surrounded and seized” the suspected arsonist after launching a manhunt, the official People’s Daily said via its microblog.
Police in the country of Helan were investigating the blaze. State media did not mention any possible motives.
http://www.oann.com/china-police-on-lookout-for-suspected-arsonist-in-deadly-bus-fire/
China to allow mainlanders to make transit stops in Taiwan
(Reuters) – China said on Tuesday it would allow transit stops in Taiwan for its citizens traveling from three Chinese cities, allowing people from the mainland to travel on from the island for the first time.
The change is another step toward normalizing travel arrangements between the two sides which have enjoyed increasingly close business ties over recent years, and follows the launch last week of their first telephone hotline.
It comes days before Taiwan goes to the polls for elections likely to put into power a political party that Beijing distrusts.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou met in Singapore at a historic summit in November, the first in 66 years.
China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since defeated Chinese Nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war to the Communists.
http://www.oann.com/china-says-to-allow-transit-stops-in-taiwan-for-onward-flights/
Yemen war intensifies amid mounting regional tension
DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi-led air strikes targeting Iranian-allied Houthi forces intensified in Yemen on Tuesday, residents said, an escalation of a nine-month-old war that follows a rise in tensions between the kingdom and arch foe Tehran.
After weeks of a relative lull, large air strikes targeted military positions linked to Yemen’s ascendant Houthis in the capital Sanaa, the port city of Hodaida and the disputed southwestern city of Taiz.
Heavy shelling resumed on battle fronts which had been largely static during a truce which began on Dec. 15 in tandem with United Nations-backed peace talks.
Houthi fighters launched Katyusha rockets at the city of Marib, residents said, their first attack on the area since Gulf Arab troops and armed loyalists of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi seized it from the group over the summer.
Houthi forces also advanced against government militiamen in the northwestern province of Hajja and the far southern province of Lahj, reversing recent gains made the coalition.
http://www.oann.com/yemen-war-intensifies-amid-mounting-regional-tension/
Afghan forces end siege near Indian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif
MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Afghan special forces killed a group of insurgents holed up in a house in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif late on Monday, bringing to an end a 24-hour siege following the insurgents’ attack on the nearby Indian consulate.
The soldiers killed the three insurgents who had shut themselves into a large house near the consulate, said Abdul Razaq Qaderi, deputy police chief of Balkh province.
He said an investigation was under way to try to identify the men and those behind the attack, which occurred on the same day gunmen attacked an Indian air base in Pathankot in the northwestern state of Punjab near the border with Pakistan.
Eight members of the security forces were wounded in the gun battle which followed the attack on the consulate. The Indian ambassador said all the consulate staff were safe
http://www.oann.com/afghan-forces-besiege-insurgents-near-indian-consulate-in-mazar/
Political scientist: Islam is incompatible with America’s founding principles
Muslim intolerance for non-believers is America’s coming problem with Islam, according to one political scientist.
Dont tread on me rally protest rights
For Muslims in America, “you’ve got a theological, political problem that I think is incompatible with Western democracy” since they do not tolerate the religious liberty of others, says Matthew Spalding, associate vice president and dean of educational programs for Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center in Washington, D.C.
Spalding’s professional mission is to help remind Americans of their noble founding principles and what makes America exceptional in the history of mankind. Spalding received his doctorate from Claremont Graduate School and became a vice president at the Heritage Foundation until he was drawn to Hillsdale College’s Washington campus. Currently, Spalding is one of the most popular speakers on the topic of the conflict of visions battling to set America’s future.
http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/01/04/political-scientist-islam-is-incompatible-with-americas-founding-principles/
Teachers executed in Mosul for refusing ISIS school curriculum
By Rudaw yesterday at 02:15
Mosul under the control of the self-claimed Islamic State(ISIS). Rudaw photo
Mosul under the control of the self-claimed Islamic State(ISIS). Rudaw photo
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- Several teachers and civil servants were reportedly executed in Mosul for refusing to implement the Islamic State (ISIS) curriculum in schools, a local official told Rudaw on Monday.
“For refusing to follow the ISIS curriculum in schools which contains extremism ideology and encourages violence, the group executed several teachers and civil servants in Nineveh ,” Ghazwan Dawdi, a member of Nineveh provincial council told Rudaw.
Early in October and the start of the new school year extremists in Mosul changed the curriculum to focus more on teaching jihad and ISIS history.
A source inside Mosul said that the ‘terrorists’ were imposing a new system in elementary, high school and universities on levels of education.
The group is also printing new textbooks, the source added.
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/040120161
The guardian : Crisis talks in Cologne after reports of New Year’s Eve sex attacks
Scores of women say they were sexually assaulted and mugged by groups of men largely of Arab and north African appearance
[ = Muslims ][…]Authorities and media were accused of a cover-up linked to initial indications that those allegedly responsible for the attacks, which also included numerous robberies, were of Arab and north African origin, according to the police.
[…]“Sexual crimes took place on a huge scale,” said the police president, Wolfgang Albers. “The crimes were committed by a group of people who from appearance were largely from the north African or Arab world.”
[…]Similar attacks are believed to have taken place on a smaller scale in Hamburg’s red light district of St Pauli on New Year’s Eve, according to a police spokesman.
[…]In Cologne, police said the men appeared to have come from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and were on average in their mid-20s. They had gathered on the square in front of the main train station next to the city’s towering Gothic cathedral and smaller groups of men appeared to repeatedly leave the group to target female revellers, many of whom had arrived via train from the provinces around Cologne to celebrate the new year in the city.
[…]Arnold Plickert, head of the police trade union in NRW, told the Deutsche Presse Agentur that the incidents were “of a new quality … What we’ve been able to establish is that this is an organised method.”
He said questions needed to be asked as to “how it was possible that this thousand-strong group was able to come to Cologne and meet up there”.
Police in Hamburg said some aspects of the attackers’ methods were akin to those of skilled pickpockets operating in the city.
One investigator told the Kölner Express: “The female victims were so badly pushed about, they had heavy bruises on their breasts and behinds.”
Critics of Angela Merkel’s open-door policy on refugees were quick to blame it for the attacks, despite the police’s insistence that the alleged perpetrators were not new arrivals.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/05/germany-crisis-cologne-new-years-eve-sex-attacks
YAHOO NEWS – The German government Tuesday condemned dozens of apparently coordinated sexual assaults against women on New Year’s Eve in the western city of Cologne blamed on Arab men but warned against anti-migrant scapegoating.
Asked by a journalist whether the attackers could have been refugees, Maas said police were still working to identify them.
“This is not about where someone is from but what they did,” he said.
“Making an issue out of it, lumping it together with the refugee issue, is nothing but exploitation. Now is the time to determine the facts and then decide on the necessary consequences.”
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said he was also stunned by the “despicable” attacks.
“However this must not lead to refugees of whatever origin, who are seeking our protection from persecution, being placed under general suspicion.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel in her televised New Year’s address rallied Germans to continue to welcome the newcomers despite mounting criticism and reject right-wing populists whipping up anti-migrant sentiment.
http://news.yahoo.com/germany-stunned-rash-years-sex-assaults-132433588.html
======================================================
RT -Germany: Footage shows NYE chaos in Cologne as assault allegations emerge
RT -Germany: Suspects in NYE sexual assaults to receive ‘strictest prosecution’ – Cologne Mayor
Mayor of Cologne Henriette Reker and the city’s police chief Wolfgang Albers gave a joint press conference in front of Cologne town hall, Tuesday, following an emergency meeting on the reported mass sexual assaults that occurred outside the city’s main station during New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Reker called behaviour of the group of young men responsible for the assaults “absolutely intolerable” and stated that “the strictest prosecution will be proceeded with.” She added that preventive measures would be implemented in the future. This would involve “better protection for those young women and girls who were involved, and for young women and girls in general.”
“They should be able to party, participate in carnivals, but they should be better prepared for celebrations than they have been this time,” Reker added.
SOT, Henriette Reker, Mayor of Cologne (German): “The behaviour of the culprits was absolutely intolerable and that is why we expect that the strictest prosecution will be proceeded with. But in the future we will also implement preventive measures. Prevention means, for myself of course, better protection for those young women and girls who were involved, and for young women and girls in general. This means that they should be able to party, participate in carnivals, but they should be better prepared for celebrations than they have been this time.”
SOT, Henriette Reker, Mayor of Cologne (German): “As it takes time to make behavioral changes, we have discussed concrete measures with the police. Among them is the following: if there are events without an organiser, security measures will be taken. It means the city of Cologne will be the fictive organiser in this case.”
SOT, Wolfgang Albers, Cologne’s Police Chief (German): “For us, it is important that in the actual situation our [police] presence will be reinforced. And this will occur with both uniformed and plain clothes officers. We will also organise an emergency centre, especially for festivals. And there will also be temporary video surveillance from several watch points.”
SOT, Wolfgang Albers, Cologne’s Police Chief (German): “It is important that the emergency services can go into action early at the spots where there could be explosive situations. We have arranged this together with the train station police.”
Germany: Justice Minister calls NYE mass sexual assaults “crime of new dimension”
German Minister of Justice Heiko Mass held a press conference in Berlin, Tuesday, regarding the New Year’s Eve celebrations in the city of Cologne, where the festivities in the city centre escalated into chaos with reports of a series of sexual assaults and anti-social behaviour, when hundreds of heavily intoxicated men were celebrating in groups.
Maas stated that “what happened at the Cologne main train station and other locations in Germany is unacceptable, it may not repeat itself and the offenders have to be punished.” Maas also called these crimes of “a it is a new dimension,” where “1,000 people gather and use the masses to commit crimes.” Maas added that “it is inexcusable, not with alcohol, nor if someone was not actively participating in the deed.”
SOT, Heiko Maas, German Minister of Justice (German): “What happened at the Cologne main train station and other locations in Germany is unacceptable, it may not repeat itself and the offenders have to be punished. Therefore we need to clarify whether this was a new form of organised crime
[ = I S L A M - I S L A M ], which state institutions have to take action against. All are equal before the law, meaning we are focused on determining the assailants and to introduce them to their punishment. There is no extra-legal space, also not at train stations. Moreover, those who were there, who had provided the setting, that women could not escape, though not actively participated, are viewed as accomplices. At events like this it is inexcusable, not with alcohol, nor if someone was not actively participating in the incident. All those are things that investigative authorities have to clarify and will clarify.”SOT, Heiko Maas, German Minister of Justice (German): “Something like this as it happened there has never happened before, at least not in this dimension, that first 500 then 1,000 people gather and use the masses to commit crimes. We will investigate whether precautions can be taken against such gatherings, that have nothing else to do other than committing sexual offense or theft. In this sense, it is a new dimension that we have to face, and contemplate which available instruments to provide against.”
SOT, Heiko Maas, German Minister of Justice (German): “According to criminal law, it is not relevant where someone is from, or what passport they own, or if they even own one. What matters are exact evidence, and this is the investigative authorities’ task.”
SOT, Heiko Maas, German Minister of Justice (German): “It is not relevant where someone is from, what is relevant is what someone has done and that we are able to prove it against them. This is what we will be doing. It will become clear in the course of the investigation which group the assailants refer to.”
Italian farmers burn the IS flag
Iran: Brand new missile depot unveiled
A newly-unveiled underground missile depot was inaugurated by Speaker of Parliament of Iran Ali Larijani, with Iranian authorities publishing footage of the unknown location on Tuesday.
The facility where the ballistic missiles are being stored and tested was unveiled in a one-minute video broadcasted by state television. Earlier on October 2015, The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) released similar footage showing a series of gigantic tunnels, located 500m (1640ft) underground in an unspecified location.
IRGC’s 2nd Underground “Missile City” Unveiled
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Pictures from an underground missile facility of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) were released on Tuesday, after Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani paid a visit to the base.
Around 3 months after the IRGC Aerospace Force broadcast footage from a tunnel dug deep in the ground and filled with numerous ballistic missiles, photos of another missile city were made public on Tuesday.
Seen among the gear stored in a seemingly impregnable mountain base are the country’s “Emad” long-range ballistic missiles on their launch vehicles parked along an underground tunnel.
http://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2016/01/05/963050/irgc-s-2nd-underground-missile-city-unveiled
That calls for a massive earthquake.
Pakistan: Effigies of Iranian leaders set alight by Saudi sympathisers
Dozens of Pakistani supporters of Saudi Arabia burnt effigies of Iranian leaders in Peshawar, on Tuesday. The protest comes amid heightened tension between predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia and majority Shia Iran over the former’s execution of prominent cleric Shia Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
The protesters were from the Pakistan Right Path Party (PRHP), a Sunni political group with strong ties to Saudi Arabia. Leader of the PRHP, Muhammad Ibrahim Qasmi, defended the execution of al-Nimr, stating Saudi Arabia executed “the terrorist” in accordance with “the law and Sharia.”
Bahrain: Tear gas and fireworks fly as clashes erupt over al-Nimr execution
Bahrain Security forces used tear gas against protesters in the town of Nuwaidrat, Monday, as protesters came out to decry the execution of Saudi Arabia’s execution of top Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
Protesting the killing of the cleric which has sparked unrest around the Middle East, the demonstrators were confronted by police and army forces. Wearing gas masks, the protesters, threw fireworks and Molotov cocktails at the security forces’ vehicles.
Denmark implements spot checks on its border with Germany
FRANCE – Dunkirk: the latest refugee disaster zone
Aid workers from Britain and France have been ferrying in emergency supplies to makeshift camps in northern France – temporary home to thousands of people trying to reach the UK. .
Malaysia Airlines Bans Check-in Baggage to Paris, Amsterdam (abcnews, Jan 5, 2016)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/malaysia-airlines-bans-check-baggage-paris-amsterdam-36096678
“Malaysia Airlines barred passengers from checking in baggage on flights to Paris and Amsterdam on Tuesday and Wednesday due to “unseasonably strong headwinds” on a longer flight path it is taking.
The move has baffled passengers, who slammed the airline on social media.
The airline said it now operates a long route to Europe via Egyptian airspace for safety reasons. It didn’t elaborate on the reason behind the new route, but a Malaysia Airlines jet flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by a missile in eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 people on board.
Malaysia Airlines said the longer flight path consumes more fuel and this, combined with “temporary unseasonably strong headwinds, is limiting the airlines’ ability to carry baggage in cargo.”
It said on Facebook that economy-class passengers can only carry a cabin bag up to 7 kilograms (15.4 pounds) while those in business and first class are allowed two pieces totaling 14 kilograms (30.8 pounds). The flights use Boeing 777 aircraft.
The baggage limit does not affect flights from those cities heading to Malaysia. The airline said it will continue to assess the situation…”
Franciscan Priest Freed From Captivity in Syria (abcnews, Jan 5, 2016)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/franciscan-priest-freed-captivity-syria-36096425
“Roman Catholic officials said Tuesday that a Franciscan priest who had been abducted by militants in Syria has been freed.
The custodian of the Catholic Church’s properties in the Holy Land said the priest, Rev. Dhiya Azziz, was released late Monday. The office of the custodian, Rev. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said the priest was abducted by jihadis who had hoped to “profit” from the abduction.
The statement did not elaborate, and it was not clear which of the multiple militant groups in Syria had been holding the priest or whether a ransom had been paid.
Sir, the news agency of the Italian bishops’ conference, said the Iraqi-born Azziz was abducted on Dec. 23 as he traveled from Turkey to the town of Yacoubiyeh in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.
The Vatican’s envoy in Aleppo, Monsignor Georges Abou Khazen, told the agency that Azziz had been treated well in captivity but was exhausted and needed to rest.
Sir said it was the second time that Azziz had been abducted. In July he managed to escape after a few days.”
The Latest: ID Checks Bring Drop in Migrants to Sweden (abcnews, Jan 5, 2016)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-turkey-migrant-toll-16-2nd-incident-36093912
“… Swedish police say there has been a sharp drop in asylum-seekers since new ID checks were introduced for travelers entering the country by train from Denmark.
Police spokeswoman Ewa-Gun Westford said Tuesday that 48 asylum-seekers arrived in southern Sweden during the first day of the ID checks, down from 227 the day before.
She said most of the 48 arrived on ferries from Germany. Only two arrived by train from Denmark, which previously was the most common way for migrants to enter southern Sweden.
As of midnight Sunday, people crossing the Oresund bridge from Denmark to Sweden have to show a picture IDs to be able to get on board.
The move was meant to discourage migrants, many of whom don’t carry passports or other forms of ID, to try to enter Sweden, which received a record 160,000 asylum-seekers in 2015….”
Syria conflict: OPCW finds signs of sarin exposure (BBC, Jan 5, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35231663
“The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has found indications that some Syrians have been exposed to sarin or a similar nerve agent.
A report by the watchdog said it was investigating 11 chemical-weapon attacks alleged by Syria’s government.
In one case, blood samples showed victims had been exposed to sarin or a sarin-like substance.
The OPCW did not say when or where the attacks occurred, or which side in the five-year conflict was responsible…”
Iran-Saudi Arabia row: Kuwait recalls ambassador from Tehran (BBC, Jan 5, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35231382
“Kuwait has announced it is recalling its ambassador to Iran as a regional row over the execution of a Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia deepens.
Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran was ransacked and set alight on Saturday, after it executed Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others.
Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties with Iran in response, followed on Monday by its allies Bahrain and Sudan.
The US, UN and Turkey are among those calling for calm in the region.
Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran are major rivals for power in the Middle East and back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
Saudi insists peace efforts should not be affected by the dispute but has criticised Iran’s contribution to the process.
Iran has reiterated its condemnation of Saudi Arabia, with President Hassan Rouhani saying it cannot “hide its crime of beheading a religious leader by severing political relations with Iran”…”
The Latest: Bahrain Halts Flights to and From Iran (abcnews, Jan 5, 2016)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-swiss-summon-saudi-diplomat-mass-execution-36092595
“… Bahrain has halted all flights to and from Iran a day after it joined Saudi Arabia in severing diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic.
Bahrain’s Transport Ministry announced the move Tuesday in a statement carried by the official Bahrain News Agency.
Bahrain is a close ally of Saudi Arabia, which severed diplomatic ties and also halted all flights to and from Iran after Iranian protesters attacked Riyadh’s diplomatic missions, violence stemming from Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent opposition Shiite cleric.
Bahrain is ruled by a Sunni monarchy but has a Shiite majority which supported mass protests in 2011 demanding greater political rights.
The civil aviation department of Bahrain’s Transport Ministry said it would take steps to minimize any inconvenience for travelers who have prior reservations…”
Iran President Criticizes Saudi Arabia Over Severing Ties (abcnews, Jan 5, 2016)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/amid-saudi-iran-spat-kuwait-recalls-ambassador-tehran-36093430
“Iran’s president said on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia cannot “cover up” its crime of executing a leading Shiite cleric by severing diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, even as the kingdom’s allies began limiting their links to his country.
President Hassan Rouhani’s comments came as Kuwait announced it had recalled its ambassador to Iran over attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in the Islamic Republic.
The execution last weekend of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a Shiite cleric and opposition figure in Saudi Arabia, has heightened the Saudi-Iran regional rivalry, threatening to derail already shaky peace efforts over the wars in Syria and Yemen.
A statement posted on his official website said Rouhani discussed the current diplomatic dispute with visiting Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen.
“The Saudi government has taken a strange action and cut off its diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran to cover its crimes of beheading a religious leader in its country,” Rouhani said. “Undoubtedly, such actions can’t cover up that big crime.”
Iran’s Vice President Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, addressing journalists Tuesday, said the country’s intelligence services were investigating the diplomatic mission attacks and that police officers who failed to take action to stop the assaults would be prosecuted. Iranian police say at least 50 people already have been arrested over the attack…”
Gambia orders female workers ‘to cover hair’ (BBC, Jan 5, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35231503
“The Gambia’s government has banned its female employees from leaving their hair uncovered at work, a leaked memo quoted by private newspapers says.
Women should use a “head tie and neatly wrap their hair”, the memo said, without giving reasons for the ban.
Last month, The Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh declared the Muslim-majority country an Islamic republic.
He added that no dress code would be imposed and citizens of other faiths would be allowed to practise freely.
The Gambia is popular with Western tourists because of its beaches.
Mr Jammeh withdrew the former British colony from the Commonwealth in 2013, describing the organisation as neo-colonial.
The memo, dated 4 January and published in the pro-opposition Freedom and JollofNews newspapers, said that an “executive directive has been issued that all female staff within the government ministries, departments and agencies are no longer allowed to expose their hair during official working hours”.
“All are strictly advised to adhere to this new directive,” it added.
Some 90% of Gambians are Muslim.
When Mr Jammeh declared The Gambia an Islamic republic, he said the move was in line with the West African nation’s “religious identity and values”.
His critics said the declaration was intended to deflect attention from the poor state of the economy, including the rise in the price of basic commodities.
Many Muslim scholars believe that Islam requires Muslim women to cover their hear in public…”
Big Washington Post article in June about miserable little Gambia:
Africa exodus
Tiny Gambia has a big export: Migrants desperate to reach Europe
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/world/2015/06/14/tiny-gambia-has-a-big-export-migrants-desperate-to-reach-europe/
Just the perfect example of economic migration.
You want all Africa competing for jobs with ethnic Europeans?
Camp of the Saints script for today.
Afghanistan conflict: US casualties on special forces mission (BBC, Jan 5, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35231408
“One US service member has been killed and two wounded reportedly during a special forces mission in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province.
The forces were taking part in a counter-terrorism operation when they came under fire, US officials said.
A medical helicopter sent to rescue casualties was forced to land and has yet to be recovered.
Some 12,000 international soldiers are still deployed in Afghanistan to help local forces tackle the Taliban.
Some of the foreign troops were sent to counter the recent militant insurgency in Helmand…”
Islamic State ‘loses 40% of territory in Iraq’ (BBC, Jan 5, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35231664
“Islamic State (IS) has lost 40% of the territory it once controlled in Iraq, a spokesman for the US-led coalition battling the jihadist group says.
Col Steve Warren told reporters in Baghdad that IS was “weaker and on the defensive”, and had “not gained one inch in Iraq since May”.
It had also been driven out of 20% of its territory in Syria, he added.
In 2014, IS seized large parts of northern and western Iraq, and proclaimed the creation of a caliphate.
Iraqi government and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, supported by Iranian-backed paramilitary fighters and coalition air strikes, have since regained more than 20,000 sq km (about 8.000 sq miles), according to the coalition.
Last week, Iraqi security personnel and Sunni tribal fighters retook the centre of the western city of Ramadi, after a months-long offensive.
IS militants have also been driven of the city of Tikrit in the past year, but they continue to control Mosul, the largest city in the north.
In Syria, the jihadists have been losing ground to President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, rebel groups, and Kurdish militia fighters. But they have also been able to capture new territory of strategic value, including the ancient city of Palmyra.”
Egypt court overturns life sentences against Brotherhood chief Badie, others (ahram, Jan 5, 2016)
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/180072/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-court-overturns-life-sentences-against-Broth.aspx
“Egypt’s Court of Cassation overturned on Monday a life sentence handed to Muslim Brotherhood chief and spiritual guide Mohamed Badie over violence-related charges in an appeal session, ordering a retrial.
The cassation court also reversed life sentences against 12 others, including deputy-leader Khairat El-Shater and senior Brotherhood figures Essam El-Erian, Saad el-Katatni and Mohamed el-Beltagy.
Four death sentences against lower-level members in the case have also been overturned.
The court said the verdicts in the case were “flawed” and therefore accepted the appeals.
The defendants were charged with “inciting murder” and “attempted murder” that resulted in the killing of nine protesters demonstrating outside a Brotherhood office on 30 June, 2013, days before the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi.
Badie has faced numerous trials and has been handed two death sentences and six other life sentences in separate cases. Both death sentences have been revoked and he was granted a retrial.
Some of Badie’s co-defendants in the case, as well as other leading members of the Brotherhood, including Morsi himself, are also standing trial in other cases on various charges.
Morsi was ousted in 2013 after mass protests against his one-year rule. Hundreds have been killed in street violence since, and thousands, mostly Islamists, have been jailed. Hundreds more have been sentenced to death, though many have won retrials.”
Unidentified assailants kill policeman south of Cairo (ahram, Jan 5, 2016)
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/180128/Egypt/Politics-/Unidentified-assailants-kill-policeman-south-of-Ca.aspx
“Unknown assailants on Tuesday killed a policeman in the governorate of Beni Suef, 100 km (62miles) south of Cairo, Ahram Arabic news website reported.
Two masked gunmen on opened fire on Diyab Abdel Latif, a 48-year-old policeman with National Security while he was driving his motorbike home.
He later died in hospital.
It was not immediately clear if the attack has criminal or political motivations.
Egypt has been battling an Islamist insurgency, mainly based in the North Sinai region, which has killed hundreds of police and troops since the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
Militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, which swore allegiance to the militant Islamic State group in November 2014, has claimed responsibility for some of the deadliest attacks in Egypt, including the downing of a Russian passenger plane last month over Sinai, where all 224 passengers and staff were killed.”
Clerics flex muscle ‘for Qadri’s release’ (tribune, Jan 5, 2016)
http://tribune.com.pk/story/1022058/clerics-flex-muscle-for-qadris-release/
“Supporters of various Barelvi outfits held a rally on Monday where they praised Mumtaz Qadri, self-confessed assassin of Salmaan Taseer, and said that they would not let the government proceed with his death sentence.
Speakers at the rally used abusive language for Taseer’s family and others including former president Asif Ali Zardari for referring to the late governor as a martyr. They said blasphemers deserved to be killed and condemned those they accused of having a soft corner for them.
The rally held in front of the Lahore Press Club was led by Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi. Some of the participants waived decorative swords at the demonstration.
Addressing the government, Rizvi said that so far he had restrained his followers from taking matters into their hands. However, he said he would not be able to keep them calm if the government continued to turn a deaf ear to their demands. “Qadri is not a terrorist. Those who say he’s a terrorist are ones. I urge General Rahil Sharif to ensure that all those facing blasphemy charges are hanged to death,” he said…”
Blast near Pakistan consulate building in eastern Afghan city: official (tribune, Jan 5, 2016)
http://tribune.com.pk/story/1022200/blast-near-consulate-buildings-in-eastern-afghan-city-official/
“An explosion was reported on Tuesday in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad close to foreign consulate buildings including those of Pakistan, India and Iran, a spokesperson for the provincial governor said.
Although specific details are awaited, locals in Jalalabad are expecting casualties and destruction.
Attaullah Khugyani said there were no reports of casualties from the blast, which followed an attack on the Indian consulate in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Sunday. The target of the attack was not immediately clear and there was no claim of responsibility…”
TTP annual report claims ‘inflated’, say analysts (tribune, Jan 5, 2016)
http://tribune.com.pk/story/1022336/ttp-annual-report-claims-inflated-say-analysts/
“Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has released its first annual report, claiming it killed hundreds of people in 2015, with analysts suggesting its “inflated” figures illustrate the extremists’ struggle to demonstrate their capability as security improves.
The report, written in Urdu, is a detailed list of attacks carried out on security forces, police and politicians in several cities and the northwestern tribal areas between January 3 and December 26.
Released on December 29, it says that in 2015 the TTP carried out 73 target killings, 12 ambush attacks, 10 raids, 19 IED (Improvised Explosive Device) blasts, five suicide attacks, 17 missile attacks and shot down two helicopters, and claims it killed some 686 people in 2015.
Claims by the TTP are often exaggerated. In the report, for example, it claims that it killed 247 people in an attack on Peshawar’s Badaber airforce base in September. The official death toll was 29.
“This report mostly carries big claims, but there is no evidence to support these claims which are often inflated,” said analyst Rahimullah Yousafzai.
“They have realised that this kind of report is necessary to show people that they are still active and potent,” Yousafzai told AFP.
More than 27,000 civilians and security personnel have died in extremist attacks, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, a monitoring site.
But overall levels of extremist-linked violence dropped dramatically last year, with 2015 seeing the fewest deaths since 2007 – the year the TTP group was formed.
Analysts have credited the fall to military offensives against the Taliban in the tribal areas of North Waziristan and Khyber where they are headquartered, as well as operations in Karachi…”
HSBC snaps ties with Islamic Relief over ‘terror’ fears
HSBC has snapped banking ties with UK’s largest government-funded Muslim charity, Islamic Relief, over alleged fears of terror funding. Although the bank has halted services for other Muslim groups in the past, the affected charity is one of the most high-profile ones with operations in over 40 countries.
Islamic Relief receives millions of pounds from the Department for International Development. It expressed surprise at the bank’s decision, but said that other partners are helping it maintain aid supplies in countries where it operates. The charity added that no other bank or financial institution had withdrawn facilities.
more :
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/hsbc-snaps-ties-islamic-relief-over-terror-fears-1535825
Two killed in clashes in Turkey’s southeast (hurriyetdailynews, Jan 5, 2016)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/two-killed-in-clashes-in-turkeys-southeast.aspx?pageID=238&nID=93441&NewsCatID=509
“Two people were killed on Jan. 5 during clashes between security forces and militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern ??rnak province.
Security forces conducted an operation in the Dicle neighborhood early Jan. 5 to cover ditches dug by PKK militants and remove barricades. However, two people were killed during the clashes.
Whether the two were PKK militants or civilians has not been announced.
Meanwhile, the Turkish General Staff has announced that a total of 14 PKK militants were killed in operations in ??rnak and Diyarbak?r on Jan. 4.
A temporary village guard was killed on Jan. 5 during clashes between security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the restive Sur district of the southeastern province of Diyarbak?r, which has been under a military curfew for the past month.
Temporary village guards were escorting gendarmerie and police special forces during operations in Sur on Jan. 5 as clashes continued with the PKK militants, when one of them from the E?il District Gendarmerie Post was shot in the neck with a sharp shooter bullet. He later succumbed to his injuries at the Diyarbak?r Military Hospital.
Meanwhile, one soldier was injured by shrapnel after PKK militants detonated explosives in the Fatihpa?a and Has?rl? neighborhoods of Sur.
Clashes in the district are reportedly ongoing.”
Kabul police on alert following suicide attacks (khaama, Jan 5, 2016)
http://www.khaama.com/kabul-police-on-alert-following-suicide-attacks-4468-4468
“Security has been beefed up in capital Kabul after suicide bomb blasts killed and wounded dozens of civilians.
Noor-ul-Haq Olomi, Minister of Interior has put police on alert to prevent any further anticipated terrorist attacks.
In a press conference on Tuesday, the ministry’s spokesperson Sediq Sediqi said police have been ordered to use every mean in foiling enemy plans.
This comes as the security situation has been deteriorating in the capital.
In the past five days, at least three suicide bomb blasts has taken place in Kabul leaving dozens of civilians killed and wounded.
On Jan 1, a suicide bomber struck his explosives laden vehicle to a famous restaurant-Le Jardin- located in 4th police district of the city leaving at least two civilians killed and eighteen others wounded.
Yesterday, two suicide bombings took place close to Hamid Karzai International Airport which also goes by its old name Kabul International Airport leaving two killed and at least 30 others wounded.”
No casualties in Jalalabad explosion (khaama, Jan 5, 2016)
http://www.khaama.com/breaking-news-explosion-rocks-jalalabad-city-4466
“A comparatively heavy explosion rocked Jalalabad city on Tuesday morning.
According to initial reports, it was a planted bomb that went off in the third sector of the city. The explosion site is close to the consulates of India, Pakistan and Iran.
“The blast took place due to a bomb placed in a garbage can close to Baet Nika mosque in Arzaq alley located in third sector of Jalalabad city at 11:20 am today,” states a post on the official facebook page of Nangarhar Media Center states. “It did not have casualties,” the press release adds.
Possible target the explosion is yet unknown but it comes few weeks after Afghanistan’s national intelligence agency foiled a terrorist plot to target vehicles of Indian consulate in Jalalabd city with a 30-KG bomb.
The National Directorate of Security (NDS) arrested terrorists Ata-ur-Rahman alias Hanzala and Abdullah alias Qari Ismail in the first half of December who were planning to plant the landmine on a road frequently used by the Indian consulate.”
15 Daesh militants killed in clash with security forces in Nangarhar (khaama, Jan 5, 2016)
http://www.khaama.com/15-daesh-militants-killed-in-clash-with-security-forces-in-nangarhar-4462
“Security forces have killed 15 Daesh militants in a clash in eastern Nangarhar province.
A statement released by the police headquarters of Nangarhar states that the gun battle erupted around 04:30 pm (local time) on Monday.
According to the statement, insurgents had planned to attack a security post in Saluram Farm area of Bati Kot District.
After receiving the tip-off, additional security forces reached to the site to assist those already in the area, the press release states, adding that they gave a befitting response to the militants and forced them to back up.
The press release further states that 15 militants were killed and a number of others wounded in the gun battle.
They left 11 dead bodies, ammunition, weapons and walkie-talkies behind, the press release adds.
One policeman has sustained light injuries but there were no civilian casualties.
The police HQ has also released a set of pictures with a description of those killed in yesterday’s clash.”
High Peace Council’s Samangan chief gunned down (khaama, Jan 5, 2016)
http://www.khaama.com/high-peace-councils-samangan-chief-gunned-down-4453
“Qari Saifuddin Sadat, chief of the High Peace Council (HPC) for northern Samangan province has been gunned down close to his residence in the provincial capital Aibak.
The report has been confirmed by police and governor’s office.
Police Chief General Mohammad Baqir said Sadat was returning home after offering prayers at mosque when unknown gunmen opened fire at him.
Sadat sustained serious injuries in the attack and later succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
Hospital sources said, Sadat was shot on the chest.
Meanwhile, Sediq Azizi, spokesperson for the governor of Samangan province while confirming the incident told media that Sadat had been working as chief of the High Peace Council from less than a month.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
High Peace Council is established to convince Taliban and other militants to lay down their weapons and join peace process.”
Norway plans to send between 4,000 and 5,000 refugees back to other EU countries, including some 860 to Hungary.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg said that Norway will begin returning asylum seekers to other countries in Europe.
“We must uphold the structures we have. It isn’t like an asylum seeker can choose which country their case is handled in. The first country in which they are registered should handle their case,” she told Aftenposten.
……….
the Nordic nation is looking to send some 860 asylum seekers, including around 50 Syrians, to Hungary, which has been criticised for its heavy-handed treatment of refugees and migrants.
…………..
the Norwegian Embassy in Budapest warned the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs last summer that “xenophobia in Hungary is at an historically high level”.
http://www.thelocal.no/20160104/norway-to-send-up-to-5000-refugees-to-eu-countries
UN Security Council to discuss weapons delivery from Turkey to Syria at Russia’s request
Uruguay’s Permanent Representative to UN Elbio Rosselli, who is presiding over the UN Security Council in January, added that the meeting would take place behind the closed doors
The United Nations Security Council will discuss delivery of weapons from Turkey to Syria on Tuesday at Russia’s request, Uruguay’s Permanent Representative to UN Elbio Rosselli, who is presiding over the UN Security Council in January, told journalists on Monday. He added that the meeting would take place behind the closed doors.
“Yes. The question of delivery of (weapons) across the Turkish-Syrian border will be raised tomorrow (Tuesday) as part of the general discussion. The consultations will take place at Russia’s request,” the diplomat told TASS.
According to Rosselli, Jeffrey Feltman, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, is to deliver a report.
In December 2015, Vladimir Safronkov, Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said that Moscow was extremely concerned with the ongoing arms supplies to Syria and the penetration of terrorists into the country via the U.N.-monitored checkpoints at which U.N. observers are supposed to check the relief cargoes.
Safronkov said that Russia had suggested applying the U.N. monitoring mechanisms to all the cargoes bound for Syria, including those declared as relief cargoes. However, the United Nations Security Council ignored the Russian initiative as it was preparing Resolution 2258, which authorizes the delivery of relief cargoes to the conflict-stricken areas in Syria directly from the territories of neighbouring countries until January 10, 2017.
http://tass.ru/en/world/848312
Germany: ‘No sign’ alleged NYE assaults are linked to refugees – Cologne’s mayor
Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker stressed that “there is no sign that it concerns people who came to Cologne as a refugee” speaking during a press conference on the topic of alleged mass sexual assaults in Cologne, Tuesday.
Cologne’s police chief, Wolfgang Albers, confirmed that most of the culprits of the New Year’s Eve purported sex assaults are believed to be men between 18 and 30 years old with “origins in the North-African and Arabic region.”
SOT, Wolfgang Albers, Cologne Police Chief (German): “So far, we still don’t have any suspects, so we don’t know who the culprits are. The only thing we know is that the police on the spot noticed that it concerned mostly young men between 18 and 30 years old who have origins in the North-African and Arabic region.”
SOT, Henriette Reker, Mayor of Cologne (German): “There is no sign that it concerns people who came to Cologne as a refugee.”
SOT, Henriette Reker, Mayor of Cologne (German): “We want a secure and livable city in which everybody can party. Maybe part of it [the upcoming measures] – we talked about this this morning – is that we should explain people from other cultures our carnival and the allowance that is part of it. To make sure that they [some gestures] could be considered as invitations.”
SOT, Henriette Reker, Mayor of Cologne (German): “It is always possible to keep a certain distance which is longer than one arm’s length, to not seek close contact to people who are strangers, to people who you don’t have a close contact with. But there are also many other possibilities, to stay in groups and not let one be divided from the group. To no stay in a festive mood to go with some person, to stay in the group you went out with.”
Iranian Kurdish Parties: Tehran Executed Hundreds of Kurds in Past Nine Months
Iran creates terrorism and spreads it to the whole world
During the past nine months, Iran has executed more than 750 people, the majority of whom are Kurdish.
According to Iranian opposition sources, the Iranian regime has executed annually hundreds of Kurds (who are Sunnis), Sunnis, Azeris, Turkmen, and followers of other religions including Jews, Christians, Baha’i, and Aliarsanyen (followers of an ancient Kurdish religion).
http://english.aawsat.com/2016/01/article55346183/iranian-kurdish-parties-tehran-executed-hundreds-of-kurds-in-the-past-nine-months
David Goldman at Asia Times:
Saudi Arabia stews in policy hell: Spengler
China has been Saudi Arabia’s largest oil customer as well as a provider of sophisticated weapons. But China has lost patience with the monarchy’s support for Wahhabi Islamists in China.
According to a senior Chinese analyst, the Saudis are the main source of funding for Islamist madrassas in Western China, where the “East Turkistan Independence Movement” has launched several large-scale terror attacks.
The Saudi government either can’t or won’t stop some members of the royal family from channeling funds to Chinese jihadis. “Our biggest worry in the Middle East isn’t oil – it’s Saudi Arabia,” the analyst said.
Thousands of Chinese Uyghurs have made their way into Southeast Asia with financial assistance from Saudi supporters and logistical support – including passports – from local Turkish consulates.
Chinese Uyghurs were implicated in the bombing of Bangkok’s Erawan Temple last August, and have linked up with ISIS supporters in Indonesia.
Turkey reported last month that most jihadists crossing its border into Syria to join ISIS are Chinese Muslims.
http://atimes.com/2016/01/saudi-arabia-in-policy-hell/
I believe it was GoV who introduced me to Spengler a long time ago. I follow his column regularly and remain grateful to GoV for this, together with many such gifts.
Needless to say, the most precious of their gifts was to introduce me to Vlad Tepes. While I lurk elsewhere, this has become my home.
Interesting China angle here. First time I’ve seen China acting on its displeasure with Saudia Arabia for fomenting terrorism among Uyghurs.
BERLIN Tempelhof Dec 18 2015
Angesichts steigender Flüchtlingszahlen hat der Berliner Senat mehr als 2000 Flüchtlinge in den Hangars des ehemaligen Flughafens Tempelhof untergebracht. Doch dort fehlt es an Duschen und Toiletten, weshalb viele Bewohner an Krätze oder Durchfallerkrankungen leiden. Zuletzt war es hier zu Handgreiflichkeiten bei der Essensausgabe gekommen.
Domestic Issues Fuel Saudi-Iranian Crisis
Saudi Arabia’s escalating crisis with Iran, sparked by the execution of a leading Shiite Saudi cleric, is as much about domestic politics in both nations as it is about their regional tussle for domination of the Middle East. The most dangerous potential challenge to the Saudi regime has always come from conservative elements of its Sunni majority – the same people who are most hostile to Shiite Iran. “Many Saudis have perceived the Saudi stance until recently as too timid. The perception by many is that Iran is a bully, and that only a firm response can get it to back off,” said Prince Faisal bin Farhan, a Saudi analyst.
“The domestic dimension of this crisis is underappreciated: The execution of Nemer al-Nemer was in a large part meant to legitimize the Saudi government’s crackdown on Sunni extremists,” said Emile Hokayem, senior fellow for Middle East security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Bahrain. Most of the 47 men put to death by Saudi Arabia on Saturday were Sunni militants affiliated with al-Qaeda.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/domestic-issues-fuel-saudi-iranian-spat-1451940039
T I M E – U.K. Parliament Will Debate Banning Donald Trump From the Country
Ministers will consider whether to stop the GOP presidential nominee from entering the country on Jan. 18
The United Kingdom Parliament will debate banning GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump from the country later this month.
Ministers will consider whether or not to prohibit Trump from entering the country Jan. 18 after a petition to Parliament calling for a ban gained more than half a million signatures. “The UK has banned entry to many individuals for hate speech,” the petition reads. “If the United Kingdom is to continue applying the ‘unacceptable behaviour’ criteria to those who wish to enter its borders, it must be fairly applied to the rich as well as poor, and the weak as well as powerful.”
[…]Trump has courted controversy by calling for a ban on Muslims entering the United States and promising to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to keep illegal immigrants out of the country. The proposals have been derided by critics in the U.K., including Prime Minister David Cameron.
The British government noted in a response to the petition that it may exclude a non-European person from the country if their presence is considered “non-conducive to the public good.” Other prominent Americans to have been banned from the U.K. include anti-Islam campaigner Pamela Geller and conservative radio host Michael Savage. However, Cameron has said in the past he doesn’t believe Trump should be banned from the country.
http://time.com/4168006/donald-trump-parliament-ban-britain/
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C N N – Parliament to debate banning Trump from UK
London (CNN)London’s calling, Donald Trump, but you may not like what Westminster has to say.
The quixotic but popular push to ban the Republican presidential candidate from the United Kingdom is set to be debated in Parliament, a spokeswoman for the House of Commons told CNN.
The debate has been scheduled for January 18 in Westminster Hall, where any member of Parliament is allowed to participate.
A online citizen’s petition to ban Trump from the UK garnered more than 568,000 signatures — well above the 100,000 threshold required for a measure to be considered for a debate — since being filed on December 8.
The petition says that since the country has banned entry to people for “hate speech” before, “the same principles should apply to everyone who wishes to enter the UK.”
Last week, the UK government released a statement reaffirming that Home Secretary Theresa May has the power to “exclude a non-European Economic Area national from the UK if she considers their presence in the UK to be non-conducive to the public good.”
The statement did not clearly state whether her office would apply that criteria to Trump.
“The Home Secretary has said that coming to the UK is a privilege and not a right,” the official comment reads. “She will continue to use the powers available to prevent from entering the UK those who seek to harm our society and who do not share our basic values.”
After Trump launched his proposal to temporarily halt the immigration of Muslims into the United States, Prime Minister David Cameron called the billionaire “stupid” and “three times a loser.”
Trump owns a golf course in Aberdeen, Scotland.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/05/politics/donald-trump-uk-ban-debate/index.html
MEMRI TV – Egypt TV Host Ecstatic over Execution of Cleric Al-Nimr: Bravo! We Want MB Leaders Executed Too
Egyptian TV host Ahmed Moussa commended Saudi Arabia for its execution of Shiite Cleric Nimr Al-Nimr. “Bravo!” exclaimed Moussa in his January 2 show. “Keep it up.” Moussa further said that his new year’s wish was for all Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including “the spy Morsi,” to be executed the same way, in accordance with the shari’a, disregarding international pressure.
I R A Q – Tribute to Shaheed Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr in N A J A F
B A H R A I N Jan 05 2015
Cologne sex attacks: Merkel disgust at New Year gang assaults
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has voiced outrage over the sexual assaults and thefts that male gangs inflicted on women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve.
Women have made at least 90 criminal complaints to police about the harassment by gangs at Cologne’s main railway station on Thursday night.
Germans have been shocked by the scale of the attacks, involving many groups of drunk and aggressive young men.
Witnesses and police said the men were of Arab or North African appearance.
Mrs Merkel called Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker on Tuesday and expressed her “outrage over these disgusting attacks and sexual assaults”.
The chancellor said everything must be done “to find the perpetrators as quickly and comprehensively as possible and punish them, regardless of their origin or background”.
Up to 300 women demonstrated against the violence near the scene of the attacks on Tuesday evening. One placard read: “Mrs Merkel! Where are you? What do you say? This alarms us!”
There is an intense debate in Germany about refugees and migrants, who arrived in record numbers last year. But Mayor Reker urged people not to jump to conclusions about the Cologne assailants.
“It’s completely improper… to link a group that appeared to come from North Africa with the refugees,” she said, after crisis talks with the police.
Cologne police chief Wolfgang Albers called it “a completely new dimension of crime” and rejected criticism of his force’s handling on the night.
Women were also targeted in Hamburg and Stuttgart in similar attacks, but on a smaller scale.
In Cologne at least one woman was raped and many were groped, including a volunteer policewoman.
One man described how his partner and 15-year-old daughter were surrounded by an enormous crowd outside the station and he was unable to help. “The attackers grabbed her and my partner’s breasts and groped them between their legs.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35237173
Merkel voices outrage over ‘disgusting’ outbreak of mass sex attacks in Cologne on New Year’s Eve
The attacks shocked Germany, and prompted Merkel to tell Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker about her “outrage” over the “disgusting attacks and sexual assaults”.
Merkel added that the numerous perpetrators of the attacks, who stole from and harassed large numbers of women, must be found “as quickly and comprehensively as possible”.
She added that Germany must punish them, “regardless of their origin or background.”
At least one woman was raped in the city, and large numbers were groped during what the Mayor called “monstrous” attacks, including one volunteer policewoman.
There was no official confirmation that refugees and asylum seekers were involved, but one police officer told local news site Express that he had detained eight men, all of whom were asylum seekers.
Express also reported that five men, from the ages of 18 to 24, had been arrested, although their origins and alleged crimes are unknown.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/cologne-sex-attacks-sexual-assaults-new-years-eve-merkel-a6798126.html
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Silvester Kölner Hauptbahnhof ZDFspezial 05 01 2016
original copy of the video on this page :
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/beitrag/video/2639444/ZDF-spezial—Gewalt-gegen-Frauen–?bc=svp;sv0#/beitrag/video/2639444/ZDF-spezial—Gewalt-gegen-Frauen–
Charlie Hebdo’s anti-God cover is unfair, says Vatican paper
Vatican City (AFP) – The Vatican’s newspaper on Tuesday criticised French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo for a front cover portraying God as a gun-wielding terrorist to mark the first anniversary of a terror attack on the publication.
A million copies of the special edition are to hit France’s newsstands on Wednesday with a cover featuring a bearded man representing God with a Kalashnikov slung over his shoulder, accompanied by the text: “One year on: The murderer is still out there.”
In a commentary, the Vatican daily Osservatore Romano said treatment of this kind towards religion “is not new” — and stressed that religious figures have repeatedly condemned violence in the name of God.
“Behind the deceptive flag of uncompromising secularism, the weekly is forgetting once more what religious leaders of every faith unceasingly repeat to reject violence in the name of religion — using God to justify hatred is a genuine blasphemy, as Pope Francis has said several times.”
The commentary added: “In Charlie Hebdo’s choice, there is the sad paradox of a world which is more and more sensitive about being politically correct, almost to the point of ridicule, yet does not wish to acknowledge or to respect believers’ faith in God, regardless of the religion.”
The special edition will mark a year since brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi burst into Charlie Hebdo’s offices in eastern Paris and killed 12 people, including eight of the magazine’s staff.
The January 7, 2015 attack, claimed by Al-Qaeda’s branch in the Arabian Peninsula, came after a 2011 firebombing of its offices that forced it to move premises.
Its staff had also been under police protection since it published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2006.
A week after the Charlie Hebdo attack, Pope Francis condemned killing in God’s name but warned religion could not be insulted.
“To kill in the name of God is an absurdity,” Francis told reporters onboard the papal plane on an Asian tour.
While defending freedom of expression, he also cautioned “each religion has its dignity” and “there are limits”.
“If a good friend speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched, and that’s normal. You cannot provoke, you cannot insult other people’s faith, you cannot mock it.”
http://news.yahoo.com/charlie-hebdos-anti-god-cover-unfair-says-vatican-191530971.html
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Vatican daily slams Charlie Hebdo cartoon
‘Refuse violence in name of religion’ says L’Osservatore Romano
ANSA) – Vatican City, January 5 – Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano on Tuesday slammed a cover of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo showing God with a machine gun. It said the cartoon came amid “the sad paradox of a world that is ever more careful of political correctness to the point of flirting with the ridiculous” and said it didn’t respect “the faith in God of all believers, whatever creed they profess.
“The episode is nothing new because, behind the deceptive flag of ‘uncompromising secularity’, the French weekly once more forgets what religious leaders of all faiths have been repeating for a long time, to refuse violence in the name of religion,” L’Osservatore said.
It said that using God to justify hatred is true blasphemy, as Pope Francis has repeatedly stressed”.
http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2016/01/05/vatican-daily-slams-charlie-hebdo-cartoon_e109bc0a-e296-4d28-90b8-d624237ac763.html
This must be it!
US Activist: Sheikh Nimr’s Execution Meant to Ensure Israeli Security
http://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2016/01/04/961736/us-activist-sheikh-nimr-s-execution-meant-to-ensure-israeli-security