Reader’s links for Jan. 14 – 2016

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

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

53 Replies to “Reader’s links for Jan. 14 – 2016”

  1. Jakarta blasts: Explosions and gunfire in Indonesian capital (BBC, Jan 14, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35309195

    “At least two people are reported to have been killed in a series of blasts in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, with gunfire breaking out afterwards.

    The blasts happened outside the Sarinah shopping centre, near the presidential palace and UN offices, say reports.

    A UN official near the scene, Jeremy Douglas, told the BBC that gunfire was ongoing.
    Police have said they believe this is a bomb attack. There is no indication yet of who might be behind the assault.

    Indonesia has been attacked by Islamist militant groups in the past and has been on high alert.
    The area around the blast site has been cordoned off.

    National police spokesman told AFP people had been warned to stay indoors in case of further explosions…”

  2. Germany’s Tele5 TV Channel Puts Muslim Star And Crescent On Logo

    Tele5 justified the move on Twitter this afternoon, saying that it was a symbol “expressing our sympathy to the victims of yesterday’s attack,” on German tourists in Istanbul. The attack in Istanbul took the lives of 10 tourists, mostly Germans, in Sultanahmet square, a tourist location near the Blue mosque and Hagia Sophia.

    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/01/13/germanys-tele5-tv-channel/

  3. TV star Noel Edmonds sparks migration row: Am I alone in feeling Britain is FULL, he asks (express, Jan 14, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/634451/Britain-full-Noel-Edmonds-tweet

    “VETERAN TV star Noel Edmonds sparked an immigration row today when he declared: “Britain is full”.

    The Deal or No Deal host made the observation after missing a crunch business summit because he was caught in road gridlock on his way from his home to Bath.

    It prompted him to take to Twitter to say: “Just tried to get somewhere. Allowed loads of time but abandoned journey. Am I alone in feeling Britain is full?”

    His comments immediately struck a chord with many who think Britain is “full up and fed up” thanks to years of uncontrolled immigration.

    The former Radio 1 Breakfast Show presenter said: “But just supposing, I know it’s a ridiculous thought, crazy even, totally insane obviously, but supposing UK’s full?

    “It’s just an interesting thought isn’t it? Surely there’s a finite capacity for everything?”

    His observation comes after latest figures showed net migration to the UK is at a record high, reaching 330,000 in the year to March.

    Speaking to the Daily Express later after coming under fire on Twitter for his comments, Mr Edmonds, 67, said: “I asked the question because I am genuinely interested in other people’s opinions. I think it’s quite an important question…”

  4. Final Countdown: Syrian Army Advances on All Fronts (sputniknews, Jan 14, 2016)
    http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160114/1033103843/syria-army-advance.html?

    “The Syrian Army and the country’s popular forces, backed by Russian airstrikes, have continued their advance, inflicting heavy losses on the terrorist groups in the country’s key provinces, Iranian media wrote on Wednesday.

    Over the past 24 hours the Syrian Air Force has attacked and destroyed the terrorists’ positions in Lattakia, Homs, Damascus, Deir Ezzur, Aleppo, Dara’a and Hama provinces, Fars news agency reported.

    On Tuesday the government forces stormed a terrorist concentration center in Dara’a al-Balad leaving many militants dead and causing serious damage to their weapons and military equipment.

    In Hama province, Syrian Army troops stormed a number of enemy strongholds, the agency reported, citing military sources in the area.

    In Aleppo province, Syrian fighter jets pounded a number of terrorist gathering centers in the town of Manbaj in the eastern part of the region.

    In the meantime, the Syrian Army’s artillery hit the military positions of the terrorists in the village of Mansoura in the eastern part of the city of Aleppo, the agency reported.

    Syrian government forces have recently been making rapid advances against the terrorists in several parts of the country.

    The advances of the Syrian government forces against Daesh and other terrorist groups have been enhanced by the air cover provided by Russia, which began on September 30 at the request of the Damascus government.”

  5. ‘Soldiers of Odin’: Finnish anti-migrant group with ‘extremist features’ takes to patrolling streets (RT, Jan 14, 2016)
    https://www.rt.com/news/328851-finland-soldiers-odin-migrant-patrol/

    “Far-right militia groups are assuming police functions by patrolling the streets in Finnish towns housing asylum seekers. The “Soldiers of Odin,” who always dressed in black jackets, claim they are protecting native Finns from immigrants, Reuters reports.

    Finland’s authorities have become increasingly concerned with the group’s activity, as its numbers have grown to hundreds. While it is claimed that the group is not supported by the majority of Finns, the anti-migrant, anti-Muslim group reflects the discontent of many Europeans with the continent’s unprecedented refugee crisis.

    The group has around 500 members across the country, according to Finnish paper Karjalan Heili.

    The “Soldiers of Odin” group was named after the chief Norse god of war and death. It was founded in late 2015 in the northern town of Kemi, which is located near the border community of Tornio – a popular entry point for immigrants and refugees coming from Sweden.

    Its members argue that they are the eyes and ears of the streets, since police are not doing enough to provide security to the locals.

    The group accuses “Islamist intruders” for increasing crime and distributes placards reading “Migrants not welcome.”

    Although pinpointing a rise in crime rates takes time, Finnish police have reported cases where “men with a foreign background” harassed women during the New Year’s celebrations in the country’s capital of Helsinki, as well as other public events during the fall season.

    Police documents also reveal that reported cases of sexual harassment in Finland nearly doubled from 75 to 147 in the last four months of 2015, when compared to the same period a year ago. However, the files provide no information in terms of the ethnic background of the criminals.

    The Finnish government and police have expressed concern over the “Soldiers of Odin,” which has far-right leanings and neo-Nazi supporters. The authorities fear that citizens could be inspired to take on police roles…”

  6. I haven’t contributed item links before, but this one, an interview with a Hungarian economist, might be of interest:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TisxfLCAz8E

    Basically he’s saying that the goal of the EU globalists is the “annihilation of all that is still humane and that has dignity.”

    It’s a brief clip — and well worth the few minutes it takes to view it and listen.

    What few tourist dollars I have to spend will be spent in Hungary this year, maybe also Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

  7. EU Migration Chief Says Refugee Response Is Failing (abcnews, Jan 14, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eu-migration-chief-refugee-response-working-36281606

    “The European Union’s top migration official on Thursday said efforts to manage the refugee emergency are failing as more countries tighten border security, a trend he says could unravel unity in the bloc.

    “The situation is getting worse,” Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos told EU lawmakers in Brussels, noting that up to 4,000 people were arriving daily in Greece over Christmas and New Year fleeing conflict or poverty.

    More than a million people landed on Europe’s shores last year, many from conflict zones including Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Most traveled through Turkey and disembarked on Greek islands just a short — but dangerous — hop across the Aegean Sea.

    Overwhelmed authorities in Greece have been unable, and in some cases unwilling, to register or lodge the migrants and hundreds of thousands of people have headed north hoping to be accepted in countries like Germany or Sweden.

    Avramopoulos said that “more and more member states are reintroducing border controls” in response, including Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Austria.

    European nations promised in October 2013 to address the challenge after hundreds of people drowned off the Italian island of Lampedusa. They renewed those pledges last year as the dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossings increased and the death toll mounted.

    But the flight of millions from the conflict in Syria has exposed severe weaknesses in Europe’s border security and migration policies and opened up a political rift with several eastern EU member nations.

    In an effort to help stem the flow, the EU launched a scheme in September to share 160,000 refugees arriving in Greece and Italy among member states but fewer than 300 have actually found homes in other countries. Plans to directly take refugees from outside the EU, in countries like Turkey, are also moving slowly.

    “These schemes have not delivered the expected results,” Avramopoulos said, as the system for processing people in Greece and Italy struggles to get off the ground. So far their EU partners have made only a few thousand places available for any likely refugees.

    Not all people are seeking international protection. Significant numbers hope mainly to secure jobs, and they are almost certain to see their attempts to obtain residency rejected.

    Yet EU nations are failing to send back those who do not qualify. Of the hundreds of thousands of people who have arrived since September, fewer than 900 have been returned home.

    “Europe will provide protection for those who need it, but those who have no right to be here have to be returned,” Avramopoulos said.

    He said that Europe’s passport-free travel zone, known as the Schengen area, is under threat and that the EU’s executive Commission would come forward in March with measures to strengthen the bloc’s borders to the outside world.

    “If Schengen collapses,” Avramopoulos warned, “this will be the beginning of the end of the European project.””

  8. German neo-Nazis charged with plans to nail-bomb refugee shelters, kill clerics (RT, Jan 14, 2016)
    https://www.rt.com/news/328876-german-neonazis-refugee-centers/

    “Four German members of a hardcore neo-Nazi terror cell have been charged with planning to bomb refugee shelters and assassinate Salafi clerics, media report. It comes alongside warnings by German politicians far-right violence against refugees is on the rise.

    Federal prosecutor Peter Frank filed criminal charges against four suspects of a neo-Nazi terror cell called “Oldschool Society” on Wednesday, according to German media.

    The four, including one woman, were referred to as Andreas H., 57, Markus W., 40, Denise Vanessa G., 23, and Olaf O., 47, in the media reports. Together, they allegedly formed the inner core of the neo-Nazi terror group. The four extremists began meeting in November 2014, well before the influx of refugees reached current record levels, and launched a Facebook group to propagate their ideas and recruit affiliates.

    Their Facebook cover at the time was an infamous photo of an entrance to Auschwitz concentration camp reading “Arbeit macht frei” (“Work will make you free”), Spiegel reports. They also posted a YouTube recruitment advertisement saying, “We need every man, every woman to fight together for our homeland.”

    The “Oldschool Society” also used WhatsApp and Telegram messengers for communication, and set up a clandestine HQ dubbed “Privy council.”

    By May 2015, the neo-Nazi group was reportedly ready to carry out “a couple of actions” against refugee shelters, including one in the German town of Borna. It ordered its members to wear “black, casual clothes,” according to wiretapped phone conversations cited by Der Spiegel.

    At the same time, the Oldschool Society allegedly sent Markus W. and Denise Vanessa G. to the Czech Republic, where they were tasked with buying large amount of explosive materials, while another suspect, Andreas H., worked on how to increase the power of their nail bombs.

    The terror group members were detained in May 2015 following an operation by dozens of GSG 9 elite counterterrorist operatives, who simultaneously raided the homes of 10 neo-Nazis, including those of Andreas H., Markus W., Denise Vanessa G. and Olaf O. Explosive devices labeled “Cobra” and “Viper” as well as baseball bats were found in the suspects’ locations…”

  9. Danish 15yo girl who converted to Islam arrested for possessing explosives, sanctioning terror (RT, Jan 14, 2016)
    https://www.rt.com/news/328909-danish-teen-islam-explosives/

    “A Danish teenager who converted to Islam has been arrested and charged with possessing explosives and sanctioning terror. The girl reportedly supports a radical Islamic group that encourages the establishment of a caliphate.

    The 15-year-old was arrested at her home in the village of Kundbt on the Danish island of Zealand on Wednesday, after police officers and a bomb squad were sent to the residence. A witness told Danish news website BT that an item was removed from the home via the basement.

    The teen is facing charges under Denmark’s terror laws, including the possession of explosives, detonation of explosives, and sanctioning or encouraging terror. Her hearings will begin later on Thursday.

    According to national television station TV2, the girl recently converted to Islam. Her Facebook page indicated that she was part of a group for ethnic Danish members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a pan-Islamic organization that openly supports the establishment of a caliphate ruled by sharia law….”

  10. London gets 600 armed police boost, not only UK city under terror threat – expert (RT, Jan 14, 2016)
    https://www.rt.com/uk/328914-london-armed-terror-police/

    “Metropolitan Police officials have announced 600 more firearms officer posts for the British capital in response to November’s terror attacks on Paris, but experts warn London isn’t the only UK city at risk of terrorism.

    Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, head of London’s police force, said the attacks on the French capital “reinforced the vital role that firearms officers would be called upon to play on behalf of all of us, to run forward and confront the deadly threat that such attackers would pose.”

    One hundred and thirty people were killed and hundreds more wounded as gunmen and suicide bombers hit targets across Paris in the shocking 2015 attacks.

    “Whilst I sincerely hope it is something that never happens on our streets, it is only right that the Met are as ready as can be,” Hogan-Howe said.

    There are currently 2,200 armed officers in London and a third of the proposed 600 will be on standby at any one time.

    Under the new measures armed patrols will double, with just under 10 percent of the Met’s 32,000 officers being firearms trained.

    “My firearms officers are our heroes – we expect them to run towards a terrorist attack and take action to confront and stop that threat,” Hogan-Howe said.

    “By increasing the number of armed response vehicle officers we have we can make sure that our firearms response continues to come from a group of highly-specialist and highly-skilled officers.”

    The announcement comes as experts claim London is not the only city at risk of a Paris-style terror attack…”

  11. Illegal immigrant ‘screamed “you have treated me like a dog” before punching and strangling American artist’ when she told him to leave after sex

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3397826/American-murdered-Florence-took-kinky-sex-game-strangled-autopsy-finds-police-arrest-drug-dealer-seen-outside-apartment.html#ixzz3xEGSIANy
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    An illegal immigrant has confessed to murdering American artist Ashley Olsen in her Italian apartment by punching and strangling her in a jealous ‘drug-fueled’ frenzy.

    Cheik Tidiane Diaw, 25, told officers he strangled Olsen after the pair had sex when she told him he had to leave because her boyfriend was coming back.

    The Senegalese man was caught because of DNA evidence from a used condom and cigarette found in the toilet – which he had tried to flush away unsuccessfully.

    Italian police said they had to swoop on him quickly because they feared he was about to flee Florence.

    The chief prosecutor said that the alleged murderer had initially given a false alibi to police.

    Olsen, whose funeral will be held in the Italian city tomorrow, suffered two fractures to the skull and was strangled with a USB cord.

    She met her alleged killer at the Montecarla club, notorious for sex and drugs, and left together at 5.30am, when they went to her apartment.

    The victim did not leave the club alone, as previously thought.

    Olsen’s body was found on Saturday by her boyfriend, who was concerned he had not heard from her. He desperately tried to revive her but it was too late. Her beloved dog was at her side in its own urine and feces, and is now being cared for by her family.

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3397826/American-murdered-Florence-took-kinky-sex-game-strangled-autopsy-finds-police-arrest-drug-dealer-seen-outside-apartment.html#ixzz3xEGZTx6l
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  12. Syrian refugee bus heads across Germany to Merkel’s office

    Berlin (AFP) – German local officials on Thursday sent a bus with 51 Syrian refugees on board to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office in Berlin, in a protest against her migrant policy.

    The district administrator behind the road trip, Peter Dreier, said his rural area was buckling under the strain of a mass influx that brought 1.1 million refugees and irregular migrants to Germany last year.

    The coach, filled with refugees aged 21 to 45, left the Bavarian town of Landshut around 0900 GMT for the 570 kilometre (350 mile) trip to the capital and was expected to arrive at the chancellory building in the late afternoon.

    Local citizens had told him “it’s time we set a limit,” he said on news TV channel N24. “We are trying to help these people integrate. But that won’t work if this year we face another wave of one million, or even more.”

    http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-refugee-bus-heads-across-germany-merkels-office-132913945.html

  13. Initial AP/White House story about U.S. Navy sailors detained by Iran makes little sense *UPDATES*
    By J.E. Dyer on January 12, 2016 at 5:35 pm

    303 Share Tweet Pin

    If this story starts making sense, I’ll get this updated. [Or even if it hasn’t started making sense yet. – J.E.]
    A Mark VI patrol boat prototype operated by U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf in 2015. (Image: USN via Janes)

    A Mark VI patrol boat prototype operated by U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf in 2015. (Image: USN via Janes)

    The story I heard on Fox News about 4:25 PM EST — breaking at that time — sounded more plausible. Here’s what I wrote in response to a query in the comments section from regular reader jgets:

    It sounds like it’s real. Fox is talking as if the sailors were on (probable) RHIBs conducting VBSS in the northern Persian Gulf, and “drifted” into Iranian waters.

    Fox says they’re being held on Farsi Island. Tiny, totally militarized blip in the NPG. If the story is at least halfway accurate, they probably got near Farsi (around which Iran calculates a territorial waters area) in the execution of their mission. Whether they actually strayed into Iranian waters is another question.

    Now I’ve seen the first written news story on it, however, and the assertions being made about the incident are very weird. Here’s what AP says:

    The crew of two small Navy craft are being held by Iran, but American officials have received assurances from Tehran that the crew and vessels will be returned safely and promptly.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/01/12/initial-apwhite-house-story-about-u-s-navy-sailors-detained-by-iran-makes-no-sense/

    • Check ou the comments on the article, most of them are from Navel pros who say this doesn’t pass the smell test.

  14. Iranian armed forces chief sure sounds like the Persian Gulf incident was deliberate
    By J.E. Dyer on January 13, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    48 Share Tweet Pin

    Readers will all have seen by now that the U.S. Navy boat crewmen – 10 sailors, 9 men and 1 woman – have been released by Iran. That’s the only good news from the whole incident.
    Our finest hour. (Image: IRIB News)

    Our finest hour. (Image: IRIB News)

    For those with strong stomachs, I’ve included tweets below with Iranian media video footage, crowing over the opportunity to depict uniformed Americans in humiliating postures. The Navy officer apologizing to Iran is particularly affecting.

    The story the White House and media have been telling, about the operational details of the incident, continues to not pass the smell test. More on that here.

    But a little snippet from the Iranian media is illuminating. It’s not about a statement of fact regarding the incident, which might or might not be believable coming from an Iranian news outlet. It’s a quote from the Iranian armed forces chief, Major General Hassan Firouzabadi. Ynet passed it along to English-language readers (h/t: Yochanan Visser):

    Iran’s army chief said on Wednesday the seizure of two US navy boats and their 10 sailors should be a lesson to members the US Congress trying to impose new sanctions on Tehran.

    “This incident in the Persian Gulf, which probably will not be the American forces’ last mistake in the region, should be a lesson to troublemakers in the US Congress,” Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, head of Iran’s armed forces, was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/01/13/iranian-armed-forces-chief-sure-sounds-like-the-persian-gulf-incident-was-deliberate/

    • SENEGALESE MUSLIM – ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT Charged with Killing American Artist Ashley Olsen in Italy

      A Senegalese man has been charged with aggravated murder in the death of Ashley Olsen, an American artist found with a fractured skull and evidence of strangulation in her apartment in Florence, Italy, last weekend, according to reports.

      Tidiane Cheik Diaw was arrested overnight after he was linked to DNA taken from a cigarette butt and a condom found in the home, Florence chief prosecutor Giuseppe Creazzo said at a press conference Thursday, Reuters reports.

      Creazzo said Diaw, 27, was also found with Olsen’s phone, into which he had inserted his own SIM card.

      Diaw, who allegedly entered Italy illegally a few months ago to reunite with his brother, was seen with Olsen on video surveillance cameras on the night of her killing, Reuters added.

      Creazzo said Olsen and Diaw met at a local bar last Thursday night or early Friday morning and later went to her apartment, where prosecutors believe they had consensual sex, reports NBC News.

      “Then he probably slammed her head against something twice, fracturing her skull, and then strangled her,” Creazzo said.

      Olsen’s boyfriend found her naked body lying in the apartment on Saturday.

      Investigators discovered the condom and cigarette butt in the toilet in the apartment and matched the DNA with that taken from a cigarette Diaw smoked during his interrogation, the Associated Press reports.

      Originally from Florida, Olsen, 35, moved to Florence a few years ago. Her architect father lived nearby. The murder has shocked the tight-knit artist community in Florence, a city with a legendary artistic heritage dating back centuries.

      http://www.people.com/article/ashley-olsen-artist-man-charged-murder-florence

    • Italy arrests African migrant over murder of U.S. woman Ashley Olsen

      FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) – Italian police have arrested a Senegalese illegal immigrant who prosecutors believe killed Ashley Olsen, a U.S. woman who was found dead in her apartment in Florence last weekend.

      “We have collected very serious evidence of his guilt,” Florence chief prosecutor Giuseppe Creazzo told reporters at a news conference on Thursday after the man was arrested and questioned in the early hours of the morning.

      Creazzo said the man, named as Diaw Cheik Tidianee, had met the 35-year-old Olsen in a local nightclub and that the two had consensual sex in her home under the influence of alcohol, and possibly drugs, before he killed her.

      She was strangled in the early hours of Friday, Creazzo said, but the autopsy revealed that she had two fractures to her skull — injuries that would also have proved fatal.

      The case has attracted huge international media attention and investigators were keen to avoid any repeat of the drawn-out saga that followed the 2007 killing of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, not far from Florence

      […]Tidianee and his lawyers have not made any public comment but Italian media said he told police he had not meant to kill Olsen, but that she had fallen during a row.

      […]The case may fuel tensions over illegal immigration which have already led to a sharp rise in support for the anti-immigrant Northern League party.

      Witnesses and video surveillance cameras confirmed that Tidianee and Olsen had left the Montecarla nightclub and entered her house together, Creazzo said, adding that Tidianee had taken Olsen’s phone and put his own SIM card inside it.

      The “decisive evidence” had come from Tidianee’s DNA which was present on a condom and a cigarette butt found in the house and which matched DNA found under Olsen’s finger nails.

      Tidianee is currently in a Florence prison and faces a charge of murder, aggravated by cruelty. “There was no sign of any erotic game,” Creazzo said.

      http://news.yahoo.com/italy-arrests-man-over-murder-u-woman-ashley-083708288.html

  15. Swedish police avoid probe after sex ‘cover up’ at festival

    The Swedish prosecutor’s office has said it will not investigate whether police withheld information about a wave of sexual assault allegations at a popular teen music festival in 2014 and 2015.

    http://www.thelocal.se/20160114/swedish-police-avoid-probe-into-sex-assaults

    Danish girl who converted to Islam arrested with explosives

    A 15-year-old Danish girl who had converted to Islam made an initial court appearance behind closed doors on Thursday after being charged with possessing explosives and sanctioning terror

    http://www.thelocal.dk/20160114/danish-muslim-convert-15-arrested-with-explosives

  16. Calais camp refugees defy relocation efforts

    Tensions were high at the Calais migrant camp on Thursday as hundreds of refugees defied efforts to move them to a more permanent encampment as the winter cold kicks in.

    “The main thing people are worried about is the hand scanners… People worry (the hand prints) will be used to send them back here from England.”

    http://www.thelocal.fr/20160114/calais-refugees-defy-relocation-efforts

    Maddened local leader sends bus full of refugees to Merkel

    A local politician in Bavaria is following through on a threat he made to Angela Merkel in October – by sending a bus full of refugees on a 550km journey to her office in Berlin.

    http://www.thelocal.de/20160114/maddened-local-politician-sends-bus-full-of-refugees-to-merkel

    • Calais migrants urged to leave ‘Jungle’ ahead of clearance

      Hundreds of migrants living in the Calais camp known as the “Jungle” are being asked to leave before bulldozers move in to clear tents away.

      French police have given residents until Thursday evening to vacate a third of the makeshift camp.

      They are being offered accommodation in a new housing project as part of attempts to improve conditions.

      But reports suggest the plans have been met with defiance, with some migrants refusing to move.

      The French government plans to move at least 500 migrants and refugees out of the camp and into converted shipping containers fitted with electricity and heating.

      The police want to move the migrants away from the motorway and nearby houses for security reasons.

      But many are unhappy about leaving an area where they have established a community, and are concerned about their future treatment by the authorities.

      The containers can house 12 people each, and the full capacity of the housing project is 1,500 people – far fewer than the 4,000 reportedly living in the Jungle.

      French and British officials want to reduce the number of migrants in Calais and deter others from arriving in the hope of crossing to the UK.

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35316419

      RT – live from calais

      • “…. Major efforts to tighten security around the port had heightened tensions in recent days, she added.

        Eurotunnel has flooded an area of wasteland around the Channel Tunnel terminal to prevent migrants reaching the site.

        At least 18 people have died since last June trying to get across the Channel, according to AFP…”

        Calais migrants urged to leave ‘Jungle’ ahead of clearance (BBC, Jan 14, 2016)
        http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35316419

  17. Germany: Merkel praises unions’ integration of refugees, condemns right-wing radicalism

    Merkel : “I would like to thank the trade unions for what they have done, leading the way for integration of refugees and for offering training possibilities for refugees. And it’s good that the unions are involved in the alliance for initial and further education.”

    Merkel : “Firstly, I already see that people have a lot of questions regarding what occurred in Cologne. We have reacted in coordination with this. And I certainly believe that it is the role of a government to not always pose questions and to articulate their worries, but, rather, it is to find answers. And, in fact, one of the answers for which we’re striving is one which is objectively fair. Namely, a European solution to the challenge posed by refugees, in the opinions of many people, takes a very long time. And it is the role of the German government, and also, of course, my own role to see how it is possible to make ground here really quickly.”

    Reiner Hoffmann, Chairman of the German Trade Union Confederation : “There are a lot of people in Germany who have lived here for a long time who have severe problems. They must be considered, we must not allow for this tricky situation in which people come to Germany and to Europe in great need to be played out against the people who are also here and who also live in difficult conditions, have insecure employment, have a poor quality living spaces and who are long-term unemployed. We must not neglect them, rather we should tackle these issues together.”

    Reiner Hoffmann : “One thing that we should just not allow is for any form of right-populism or rightist radicalism to proliferate here.”

    Merkel : “Yes, I would like to thank you for the support of the unions in the fight against every type of extremism. I would like to emphasise this. Thank you.”

  18. Norway to stop returning migrants to Arctic Russia by bike

    OSLO: Norway will stop sending migrants that arrived from Arctic Russia by bicycle back across the border in mid-winter on the same mode of transport, local authorities said Thursday.

    “Russian authorities recently confirmed that foreign citizens with permanent residency or a multiple-entry visa can be sent back by bus,” Norwegian police said in a statement.

    Some 5,500 migrants – mostly from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran – crossed last year from Russia into Norway, on the last leg of an arduous journey through the Arctic to Europe.

    Norway is not within the European Union, but is a member of the Schengen passport-free zone.

    In November, the country’s right-wing government decided that migrants who had been living legally in Russia, or entered Russia legally, should be immediately returned there, on the basis that Russia is a safe country.

    Since then the police had been quietly putting migrants on bicycles back across the Storskog border crossing, 400 kilometers (about 250 miles) north of the Arctic Circle.

    Bicycles became the preferred mode of transport of migrants seeking to cross into Norway, because Russian authorities do not let people cross the border on foot and Norway considers people driving migrants across the border in a car or truck as human traffickers.

    NGOs had expressed outrage at the migrants being forced to retrace their steps on two wheels in winter, when temperatures in the region regularly fall to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus four Fahrenheit).

    “It’s much better to return people with Russian residency permits in a dignified manner,” Jon Ole Martinsen of NOAS migrant support group said.

    The police were unable to confirm the number of people expelled by bicycle, saying only a total of 371 people had been returned to Russia last year.

    “They were given bicycles at the border … In many cases, they used them to carry their bags and pushed them 200 or 300 meters” to the Russian side of the border, Daniel Drageset, a spokesman for the immigration police, told AFP, assuring they were “adequately dressed” for the weather.

    http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2016/Jan-14/331979-norway-to-stop-returning-migrants-to-arctic-russia-by-bike.ashx

  19. Germany: Refugees selling jewels for flights back home to Iraq says Berlin travel agent

    More and more refugees are selling their belongings to buy tickets in order to return to Iraq, travel agent Alaa Hadrous said from his Berlin-based travel agency, Thursday, after he experienced several asylum seekers hawking their jewellery to buy flights back to their homeland.

    SOT, Alaa Hadrous, travel agent (German): “It started three months ago, when a family came to my travel agency after they saw a flight offer in Arabic on my window. And they have used it [the offer] because most of them speak only Arabic. And then they told me they wanted to go back to Iraq.

    SOT, Alaa Hadrous, travel agent (German): “Many people have already showed interest. Hovewer, some of them cannot buy tickets due to financial reasons. That is why some people have to stay here, but some have cash money and book their flights to Bagdad or Erbil. Some even brought golden jewels. I also have jewellery, I helped them to sell their jewels in order to buy tickets.”

    SOT, Alaa Hadrous, travel agent (German): “Of course, compared to Iraq, Germany is much safer. But some imagined Germany completely different. They thought that when they arrived to Germany, they would immediately get an apartment and permission to stay in order to have a normal life. In the end they would have it for sure, but they don’t have enough patience.”

  20. DAILY MAIL – Bavarian governor packs 31 migrants onto a coach and sends them on seven-hour journey to Angela Merkel’s office in Berlin after warning the German leader: ‘We can’t manage’

    Migrants sent from Landshut in south east 340 miles to outside the Chancellor’s office in the German capital
    Bavarian politician had told Merkel he would send refugees to her office
    Peter Dreier said last year he would carry out threat if district received more than 1,800 migrants
    Berlin has said they will shelter the refugees for tonight after they arrived in the centre of the city

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3399260/Angry-Bavarian-politician-sends-bus-refugees-Merkel.html

  21. DAILY MAIL – The terrorist toolkit: ISIS fanatic’s chilling arsenal of bombs, guns, ammunition and a knife is revealed after wave of suicide attacks on Jakarta leaves seven dead

    Death squad of seven militants launched series of co-ordinated suicide bomb and gun attacks in Indonesian capital
    Explosions rocked downtown streets near the presidential palace and U.S. Embassy in five-hour running gunbattle
    Five attackers and two civilians – a police officer and Canadian man – were killed while two jihadis were taken alive
    Shocking footage captures the moment suicide bomber blows himself up outside Starbucks near shopping mall
    GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: Story contains photographs that may be disturbing to some readers

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3398712/explosions-heavy-gunfire-heard-central-Jakarta.html

  22. B E T H L E H E M

    Muslim Children Dress as Terrorists with Suicide Vests for Parade

    Muslim children marched with mock suicide vests in a Bethlehem parade last week.

    Israel Today reported:

    In what can only be described as a celebration of violence and death, young Muslim children participated in a Bethlehem parade last week by dressing up as armed terrorists, complete with mock suicide belts.

    […]Ofer Gendelman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official spokesman to the Arab media, called the event a glorification of terrorism aimed at encouraging a new generation of Palestinian youth to join the violence.

    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/01/palestinian-children-dress-as-terrorists-with-suicide-vests-for-parade/

  23. Egyptian Author Sayyid Al-Qemany: Al-Azhar Is a Terrorist Institution

    In a January 2 interview on the Egyptian ON TV channel, author Sayyid Al-Qemany said that Al-Azhar should be placed on the list of terrorist organizations. “There are people working on this. They will file a suit in the international court, and I will provide them with documentation,” he said.Following the interview, it was reported in the press that Al-Azhar was planning to file a lawsuit against Al-Qemany for defamation of the institution.

  24. Swiss, like Danes, seize assets from refugees to recoup costs – TV

    Refugees arriving in Switzerland have to turn over to the state any assets worth more than 1,000 Swiss francs to help pay for their upkeep, broadcaster SRF reported on Thursday, revealing a practice that has drawn sharp rebukes for Denmark.

    ($1 = 1.0055 Swiss francs)

    SRF’s 10 vor 10 news programme showed a receipt a refugee from Syria said he got from authorities when he had to turn over more than half of the cash his family had left after paying traffickers to help them get to the neutral Alpine country.

    It also showed an information sheet for refugees that states: “If you have property worth more than 1,000 Swiss francs when you arrive at a reception centre you are required to give up these financial assets in return for a receipt.”

    “This is undignified,” it cited Stefan Frey from refugee aid group Schweizerische Fluechtlingshilfe as saying. “This has to change.”

    SRF cited the state migration authority SEM as justifying the measure, noting the law calls for asylum seekers and refugees to contribute where possible to the cost of processing their applications and providing social assistance.

    “If someone leaves voluntarily within seven months this person can get the money back and take it with them. Otherwise the money covers costs they generate,” an SEM spokeswoman told SRF.

    In addition, refugees who win the right to stay and work in Switzerland have to surrender 10 percent of their pay for up to 10 years until they repay 15,000 francs in costs, according to the report.

    Denmark is amending a proposal to confiscate refugees’ possessions to pay for their stay by raising the amount they will be allowed to keep after coming under fire from the United Nations refugee agency.

    Several organisations, including the UN High Commission for Refugees, have censured the Nordic country for the proposal, as well as for others that will delay family reunification and make acquiring refugee and residence status more difficult.

    http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-migrants-swiss-idUKKCN0US2X620160114

  25. How Switzerland Hopes To Prevent Refugee Sex Attacks: With This Cartoon

    The traditionally inert, neutral and quite homogeneous nation of Switzerland is not used to having cultural integration issues, which is why it has been watching recent events across the German border (and elsewhere in Europe) with sheer terror. And in order to preempt any possible outbreaks of refugee violence against women, or in general, ahead of the Lucerne carnival starting on February 4, Switzerland is getting ready.

    According to Blick, the department of Health and Social Services will use the following Austrian cartoon flyer dubbed “Ground Rules” which will be distributed to incoming migrants ahead of the noted Swiss carnival with hopes it will make it clear what is and isn’t permitted. It lays out various instances of accepted behavior such as kissing and praying, while making it clear that punching women and children in the head is frowned upon in polite society.

    However, concerned that migrants would be less than inclined to read the text, the follow up was populated with “pictograms” or cartoons.

    According to Blick, distributing the flyer was a spontaneous decision that took place “after the attacks in Germany on New Year’s Eve” when Swiss authorities received a number of reactions, however they add that it was a preventive measure: “we currently have no problems.”

    Blick adds that currently in the canton of Lucerne there are about 1800 asylum seekers in three centers and nine temporary shelters.

    As for the flyer, the local government has determined to “focus on role models, and equality between men and women.” They “want to show that there is zero tolerance for sexual harassment. The motto is “If you come to us, abide by our rules.”

    A comparable flyer in Germany was found to have fanned racism with explanations such as “young girls feel harassed by demands such as asking for a cell phone number or Facebook contact, or marriage proposals” or “when nature calls we do exclusively on toilets, not in parks and gardens, and not on hedges and behind bushes.”

    Whether the cartoons will be successful in taming the refugees’ more base instincts, tune in after the Lucerne carnival has started on February 4 to find out.

    links on the page :

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-14/how-switzerland-hopes-prevent-refugee-sex-attacks-cartoon

  26. Hold on to your socks! Self-described, “Mining Executive, Veteran, a Texan and NRA” member” tells it like it is.

    The Left’s Endgame Hits the Wall
    The high profile behavior of the Lords of the tech world gets more cracked every day; the thinking of these great shapers of millennial opinion would fit right in to Orwell’s 1984, or maybe Frankenstein. We sit dumbfounded while supposedly “serious” people discuss whether or not a man should be woman of the year. We watch our military turn into a downsized, feminized, homosexualized, transgendered social experiment while China and Russia sharpen their bayonets. Islam happily tells us that they will cut all our heads off when they get here and our President helps them get here. All this is too bizarre to even be called Kafkaesque, this is the twilight zone.

    It does not take an Ivy League degree to understand why all these calamities are descending on us. What is happening is living proof of the famous statement by Edmond Burke, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Beltway Republicans and the toothless conservative punditry, who were supposed to defend us have always gone along to get along, rationalizing the left’s objectives as only establishing benign and soft European socialism. They were whistling past the graveyard.

    This is not Sweden and the American left are not benign social democrats. These are the violent heirs of Lenin and Stalin and they are out for blood, ours. Their objective is the destruction of the middle class and the imposition of top down tyranny, it always has been. They will enlist Islamic terrorism, race war, class envy and any other deadly tool to achieve the destruction of hated Amerika. These nihilists care nothing about their people or their civilization, only their warped worldview. You need look no further than at our president’s mentors, the misbegotten, hate filled spawn of the 1960’s anti-war movement who now run your government and your life.

    http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/01/the_lefts_endgame_hits_the_wall.html