Reader’s links for Jan. 19 – 2016

Daily Links Post graphic

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

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

Thank you all for those that take the effort to assist this site in keeping the public informed. Below, typically people can find the latest enemy propaganda, news items of related materials from multiple countries and languages, op-eds from many excellent sites who write on our topics, geopolitics and immigration issues and so on.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

55 Replies to “Reader’s links for Jan. 19 – 2016”

    • Hi Dumbstruck: for more detailed information about this organisation, who originally got in under the guise of “fighting Anti-Semitism” (just like Merkel got in disguised as a “conservative”) this “OHPI” and now fights for islamic rapefugees, calling it “fighting against Islamophobia”, see this article:

      http://daphneanson.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/beware-diktats.html

      And here a post related to the promoting of Merkel-Muslims via Mark Zuckerberg’s facebook:

      http://littlenotesfromparis.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/facebook-obeys-merkel-stasi-jihad.html

        • Hi yucki,

          Yes, Daphne is good (she moved from Londonistan to what I believe is her country of origin, OZ). Iron hand in velved glove when it comes to the BBC and assorted collaborators. (what’s a Hasby Award?)

          You did ask me in a post, which I have tried to find again, unsuccessfully, if I’m still in OZ. Yes, lets put it that way: Paris is cancelled for the time being…you may call me a “cowardette” now. 😉

          Incidentally, it just came out that even the short-term tourist trade in Paris is “suffering” significant losses after November 13. Seeing that 1/2 (if not more) the real estat and hotellery is owned by the Tards, I’m not sad about this. And I have been seriously irritated for years by young and “naive” American/English/Australian girls, visiting France, fall for the most obvious courtings by 2nd/3rd generation tards believing their lies and thinking they are being “romanced” by French men.

  1. Coalition planes strike Houthi secret meeting (emirates247, Jan 19, 2016)
    http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/coalition-planes-strike-houthi-secret-meeting-2016-01-19-1.617785

    “Arab Coalition warplanes intensified strikes targeting a secret meeting of Houthi leaders, killing several of them, reported Al Bayan.

    Military sources said Houthi militia and forces loyal to ousted President Saleh are terrified by the presence of military units of national army and Arab Coalition on mountains near Sana’a. Therefore, the rebels have spread hundreds of their troops near the capital.

    Meanwhile, Dr. Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, on Monday met Abdul Jalil Al Mukhlafi, Deputy Prime Minister of Yemen and Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is on a visit to the UAE.

    During the meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), they discussed developments in Yemen and progress of the political progress as systematic hurdles created by the rebels continue to block international efforts and make it difficult to set the next date for the meeting.

    The parties stressed the importance of continuing political efforts based on Resolution No. 2216, the Gulf Co-operation Council initiative and the outcome of the National Dialogue.

    They discussed humanitarian developments and stressed that the situation should be addressed with resolve especially because the rebels continue to procrastinate over the issue.

    The parties also discussed regional and international efforts for Yemeni issue.”

  2. Cameron’s crackdown on the burka: Muslim women will have to remove face veil for officials (express, Jan 19, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/635929/Burka-ban-UK-Muslim-women-will-have-to-remove-face-veil-for-officials

    “MUSLIM women should have to remove the burka when officials need to see their faces for security reasons, David Cameron said today as he announced new initiatives to help tackle extremism in the UK.

    The Prime Minister said it was reasonable for women to be asked to remove the veil in circumstances where facial identification was important – for example in court and during immigration checks.

    However he distanced himself from a Frecnch-style all-out ban on such coverings, which are worn by some Muslim women to protect their modesty.

    Mr Cameron told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “In our country people should be free to wear what they like.

    “When you are coming into contact either with different institutions or, for instance, you are in court or you need to see someone’s face at the border, then I would always back the authorities or the institutions that have put in place proper and sensible rules.

    “Going for the French approach of banning an item of clothing, I do not think that’s the way we do things in this country and I do not think that would help.”…”

  3. Islamic scholar ‘says Allah allows Muslim men to RAPE non-Muslim women to humiliate them’ (express, Jan 19, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/635942/Islam-Scholar-Saud-Saleh-Cairo-Slavery-Muslim-Women-Pagan-ISIS-Al-Azhar-University-Egypt

    “AN ISLAMIC professor has allegedly claimed Muslim men are allowed by Allah to rape non-Muslim women in order to “humiliate” them.

    Professor Saud Saleh – from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt – reportedly said rape is allowed between times of “legitimate war” between Muslims and their enemies.

    In a television interview Saleh appears to try to discourage the purchase of slaves from Asian countries for sex, claiming Allah has given Muslim men a “legitimate” way to have sexual relations with slave women.

    The controversial professor allegedly said slavery existed before Islam and anyone could trade “freeborn men and women” but that Islam put slavery “into order” by regulating when it was allowed.

    It is believed she claimed the only “legitimately owned slaves come from among prisoners from a war”.

    Saleh allegedly said: “The female prisoners of wars are ‘those whom you own’.

    “In order to humiliate them, they become the property of the army commander, or of a Muslim, and he can have sex with them just like he has sex with his wives.”

    Dr Andrew Holt, professor of history at Florida State College, said Saleh’s alleged comments are disheartening coming from a professor from “Sunni Islam’s most prestigious university” which is more than 1,000 years old.

    He is concerned the statements could be viewed as approval for the enslavement of Yazidi women by barbaric ISIS – also known as Daesh.

    Dr Holt explained how the fanatical death cult detailed that pagan women should be enslaved in its propaganda magazine Dabiq.

    He said: “According to ISIS, the practice of forcing the Yazidis and other religious minorities into sexual slavery is a way to prevent the sin of premarital sex or adultery, as well as a sign that the Final Battle will soon occur.

    “In the fourth issue of Dabiq, an article titled ‘The Revival of Slavery before the Hour’ explains that polytheist and pagan women can and should be enslaved.””

    • Most, many, some… of us are surely familiar with that vid in question… Plus; there (in the article) is some unsuccessful attempt at spin from some professor of history, Dr Andrew Holt… At least a tabloid brings this up when mainstream dinosaurs keep failing…

  4. Morgan launches anti-extremism drive (BBC, Jan 19, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/education-35343679

    “An “educate against hate” website is to be launched by Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, as part of a renewed drive against extremism.

    The website will hold information for schools and parents to tackle the “spell of twisted ideologies”.
    There will also be a “tougher approach” to preventing illegal, unregistered schools.

    Mrs Morgan says the aim is to protect “impressionable minds from radical views”.

    The measures will be announced at Bethnal Green Academy in east London, a school attended by three girls who ran away to Syria last February

    In her speech, Mrs Morgan will say that this is “absolutely not about shutting down debate in schools” or “wrapping young people in cotton wool”.

    The education secretary says there has to be a balance between preventing extremism and allowing an open debate with challenging ideas.

    “That isn’t easy, there’s no hard and fast rule, age appropriateness matters, as do the motivations of the speakers,” Mrs Morgan will say.

    “It requires judgement – but just as we must be absolutely clear that we should never give those who peddle extremist ideologies’ entry in to our schools or colleges, so too we must guard against inadvertently hiding young people from views which we simply think are wrong and disagree with.”

    The anti-radicalisation website promises to provide “practical advice to protect children from the dangers of extremism”, with information from the government and groups such as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children….”

    • I checked the whole article and didnt find Islam, applied Islamic traditions, ect mentioned once. Maybe if someone else would like to look into it too… They do mention some unregistered schools(?), radical views, impressionable minds, required judgement(!), extremist ideologies, dangers of extremism, grooming prevention, signs of exploitation and so on…

  5. Pakistan suicide bombing ‘kills 10’ in Peshawar (BBC, Jan 19, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35349949

    “At least 10 people have been killed by a suicide bomber riding a motorbike close to a police checkpoint in north-western Pakistan, police say.

    About 20 people were also wounded in the blast, which took place in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) on the outskirts of Peshawar.

    There has been fierce fighting in the region between security forces and the Pakistani Taliban.
    No-one has yet said they carried out the attack.

    TV footage of the latest attack showed vehicles parked near the blast site on fire after the explosion…”

  6. Pricier than the Ritz – the £150,000 a night deportation centre that held just 14 families: Five-star facilities branded a ‘scandalous’ waste of money as accommodation has full staff of 80 even when it is empty

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3405696/Pricier-Ritz-150-000-night-deportation-centre-held-just-14-families-Five-star-facilities-branded-scandalous-waste-money-accommodation-staff-80-empty.html#ixzz3xgMLdg3b
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  7. Rate of migrant arrivals in Greece dwarfs 2015 pace: IOM

    Greece has seen 21 times more migrants arrive on its shores so far this month than in all of January 2015, the International Organization for Migration said Tuesday.

    Since the beginning of 2016, IOM said 31,244 migrants and refugees had arrived in Greece by sea, compared with just 1,472 recorded arrivals on the Greek islands in January last year.

    “This is a huge jump,” spokesman Itayi Viriri told reporters in Geneva, warning that it does not bode well for the rest of the year.

    “If the trend as it is now continues then certainly we’re looking at another record number,” he cautioned.

    In 2015, more than one million migrants and refugees made the perilous Mediterranean crossing to Europe — nearly half of them Syrians fleeing a civil war that has been raging for nearly five years.

    Although the number of arrivals in Greece last year was initially small, by the end of the year the country alone saw well over 850,000 arrivals.

    The continued influx will likely add to the EU’s dissatisfaction with Turkey, a hub for migrants seeking to reach Europe which has on occasion been criticised by its Western partners for not doing enough to limit the numbers crossing the Aegean Sea.

    Ankara and Brussels in November agreed a plan to stem the flow by providing Turkey with three billion euros ($3.2 billion) of EU cash as well as political concessions for Turkish cooperation in tackling Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II.

    IOM said Tuesday that nearly 90 percent of those who have arrived in Greece so far this year are Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis.

    Most of them are not staying in Greece. IOM cited numbers from Greek police showing that nearly 31,000 migrants had crossed the border to Macedonia since the beginning of the month.

    Italy, which counted nearly 154,000 arrivals in 2015, has meanwhile seen 607 migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, rescued in the Channel of Sicily since January 1, IOM said.

    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/181420/World/International/Rate-of-migrant-arrivals-in-Greece-dwarfs–pace-IO.aspx

    Greek president accuses Turkish authorities of smuggling refugees

    Greece’s head of state has described the situation in which Turkish border authorities aid smugglers as “a type of slave trade.” He met with his German counterpart to discuss ways to curb the influx of migrants.

    Ahead of a meeting with German President Joachim Gauch, Greece’s president, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, on Monday accused neighboring country Turkey of aggravating the refugee crisis, which has overwhelmed authorities in both Greece and Germany.

    “I have a strong fear that Turkish smugglers have the support of the authorities, in particular, border authorities who act like they have seen nothing,” Pavlopoulos told German newspaper “Süddeutsche Zeitung.”

    “There are even cases where the smugglers are helped. We have evidence. It’s a type of slave trade,” […]

    http://www.dw.com/en/greek-president-accuses-turkish-authorities-of-smuggling-refugees/a-18988011?maca=en-Twitter-sharing

    • The 3 billion euro refugee aid agreed between the EU and Turkey hasn’t been delivered as Italy wants the money to come from the EU budget and not from the Member State’s budgets

      More refugees may hit EU’s door if the Union fails to give the €3 billion refugee aid promised to Turkey, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu indirectly said on Saturday.

      Turkish daily, Daily Sabah, said that the Turkish Minister stressed that “If you [the EU and the international community in general] do not extend your hand to the refugees in Turkey or do not cooperate with Turkey, these people will come to you.”

      Cavusoglu made the remarks during a visit to one of the refugee camps in southeastern Gaziantep province’s Nizip district. Then the Minister said: “Everyone knows what Syrians and Iraqis need. Everyone knows the opportunities that Turkey provided for them but they [international community] remain distant.”

      Cavusolgu also said that the Turkish government, had so far spent more than $8 billion on refugees underlying that way that it deserves to receive the agreed EU refugee aid.

      Italy’s involvement in the refugee aid

      However, three days ago, EU diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity to DPA news agency saying that Italy is hampering the delivery of the EU refugee aid to Turkey. Due to the rumors, Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan, spoke to reporters and denied that his country was blocking the refugee aid.

      “Italy is fully supportive of the initiative to provide Turkey with relevant resources to deal with the refugee issue,” he told journalists in Brussels, where he was attending a meeting of EU finance ministers on January 16. However, he added that his country would like the €3 billion to come from the EU budget, rather than being requested from member states. “We are talking about huge money here,” Padoan acknolwedged.

      The draft plan, regarding the EU refugee aid to Turkey, foresees that one third of the €3 billion should come from the EU budget and the remaining €2 billion from EU states.

      Refugees arriving in the EU

      Despite the EU agreement with Turkey over the halt of the refugee influx, weeks ago the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that migrant and refugee arrivals in Europe by sea averaged over 1,700 a day during the first 11 days of 2016.

      IOM also reported in December, that the EU is counting on Ankara to stem the flow of refugees from Turkey to the EU, but there was little evidence of progress since Turkey signed the “action plan.”

      Moreover, in December, Amnesty International reported that Turkish authorities are mistreating refugees and asylum seekers, sending them to remote detention centers and then deport them to Iraq and Syria.

      http://neurope.eu/article/turkey-threats-the-eu-over-delaying-the-delivery-of-the-refugee-aid/

  8. China to spark global financial ICE AGE with depression sending markets crashing by 75%’
    CHINA is set to plunge the world into an economic crisis sending stock markets crashing by 75 per cent – with devastating consequences for the US and UK, a leading city expert has warned.

    The sinking value of the Chinese currency is already crippling British industry as it can’t compete with China’s cheap exports.

    Other Western nations are also feeling the strain.

    And with even more to come experts have predicted an ‘ice age’ for the world’s economies – including Britain’s.

    Global deflation is going to wipe around 75 per cent in value off the American S&P stock market, as western firms will be unable to compete with cheap Chinese exports, according to analyst Albert Edwards from french bank Societe Generale.

    He gave the stark warning in an investment note to clients.

    And he blamed the upcoming ‘carnage’ on American central bank (the Fed) and its British and European counterparts for inflating prices in the first place.

    American Quantitative Easing (QE) – injecting extra money into the financial system – has pushed up global asset prices, teeing up a disastrous fall, Mr Edward believes.

    He said: “Investors are coming to terms with what a Chinese renminbi devaluation means for Western markets.

    “It means global deflation and recession.

    “A commodity bubble and the resultant US shale investment boom were all consequences of the Fed’s QE.

    “The illusion of prosperity is shattered as boom now turns to bust.

    http://www.express.co.uk/finance/city/634666/China-spark-global-financial-ICE-AGE-depression-sending-markets-crashing-by-75

  9. Why the Freedom Caucus Wants to Declare War on ISIS

    Many members of the House Freedom Caucus want to declare war—no, not on their party leadership, but against Islamic State terrorists.

    While Republicans in Congress have long ridiculed President Barack Obama’s military campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, lawmakers have so far refused to authorize the use of force against the group, for political and practical reasons.

    But as part of his bold, aggressive agenda for 2016, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is pushing for his members to consider a new Authorization of Military Force this year.

    Authorizing the use of military force is supposed to be a simple exercise. Rather than delineating a specific strategy, an AUMF—as a war authorization is known—gives the basic legal authority for the U.S. military to use force against an enemy.

    The president has argued that he already has the power to carry out his ISIS offensive under the existing 2001 AUMF permitting the targeting of groups connected to 9/11 attacks and the 2012 AUMF authorizing the Iraq war.

    http://dailysignal.com/2016/01/15/why-the-freedom-caucus-wants-to-declare-war-on-isis/?utm_source=heritagefoundation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=morningbell&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRovvqTOZKXonjHpfsX56ugrW6G0lMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4ASMdlMa%2BTFAwTG5toziV8R7jHKM1t0sEQWBHm

  10. PRESIDENT OBAMA’S QUEST TO TRANSFORM THE AMERICAN ELECTORATE

    1. CHANGING THE AMERICAN ELECTORATE VIA IMMIGRATION POLICY
    (Return to Table of Contents)

    Illegal Immigrants Are Natural Democrats

    * Numerous studies of political attitudes show that illegal immigrants favor Democrats over Republicans by a huge margin, and that their American-born children (the second generation of these families in the U.S.) become Democrats in overwhelming numbers. They favor big-government policies like nationalized (single-payer) medical care and the massive expansion of welfare and other entitlement programs. Thus the Democratic Party constantly seeks ways to fast-track their path-to-citizenship and right-to-vote. As Center for Immigration Studies executive director Mark Krikorian puts it, “Obama is transforming America through immigration.”

    Advocating the DREAM Act and Comprehensive Immigration Reform

    * Obama and the Democrats have long advocated passage of the DREAM Act, legislation designed to create a path-to-citizenship for illegal immigrants who first came to the United States as minors and are still younger than 35. But no Congress has ever passed such a bill via the legislative process.

    * Obama and the Democrats have also sought for years to pass “comprehensive immigration reform” that would provide a path-to-citizenship for most, if not all, of the many millions of immigrants living illegally in the United States, regardless of their age.

    Obama’s Executive Order Enacts Aspects of the DREAM Act

    * On June 15, 2012, President Obama issued an executive order enacting his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which essentially put into effect various aspects of the DREAM Act. Specifically, the DACA order gave lawful permanent residency status and work authorization to anyone who: (a) had arrived in America illegally as a minor; (b) had lived in the U.S. for at least five years; (c) was either a current student or a high-school graduate; or (d) had served in the military and was not yet 35 years old.

    http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=2347

      • The left never has believed in democracy, after all many of us would never vote for them and that means that in their eyes democracy is flawed.

        • We don’t have democracy in Massachussetts. Like the District of Columbia?

          There’s always some commie assuring leftie-moonbats that they can count on votes from Palo Alto, Ann Arbor and Mass. Sometimes Vermont.

          ~~ It’s not the voters that count ~~ It’s who counts the votes ~~

    • I had already figured this out in the early 90s, when I tried to discuss it with my co-workers who preferred to remain blissfully ignorant or who actually thought it a good idea. The stupid Republicans went along with every bit of it, not wanting to appear “mean-spirited”, and not realizing, apparently, that it spelled political suicide for them. In fact, it actually started and was the purpose for the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 promoted by the late democratic Senator Kennedy. Now we have a President who has actually done away with the border in order to expedite the process.

  11. Muslims FORCE NYPD to Purge Docs on Terrorists Inside U.S. – See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/muslims-force-nypd-to-purge-docs-on-terrorists-inside-u-s-139669/?promocode=tpo-2306919&utm_source=newsemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tpo-2306919#sthash.zBPsYM7d.dpuf

    (Free Beacon) – The New York Police Department has been directed by a U.S. court to remove from its online records an investigation pertaining to the rise of Islamic extremists in the West and the threats these individuals pose to American safety, according to legal documents.

    As part of a settlement agreement reached earlier this month with Muslim community advocates in U.S. District Court, the NYPD will purge from its website an extensive report that experts say has been critical to the department’s understanding of radical Islam and its efforts to police the threat.

    The court settlement also stipulates that the NYPD make a concerted effort to mitigate the impact of future terror investigations on certain religious and political groups, according to a copy of the court documents published by the American Civil Liberties Union, which has spearheaded the case since June 2013.

    Legal experts and critics of the settlement maintain that it could hamper future terrorism investigations and view it as part of a larger campaign by Muslim advocacy organizations in the United States to dismantle surveillance programs encompassing that community.
    – See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/muslims-force-nypd-to-purge-docs-on-terrorists-inside-u-s-139669/?promocode=tpo-2306919&utm_source=newsemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tpo-2306919#sthash.zBPsYM7d.dpuf

  12. Detention of Washington Post Reporter’s Family Nearly Scuttled Iran Prisoner Swap

    Iranian authorities held the wife and mother of Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian for hours at Tehran airport on Sunday before finally agreeing under American pressure to let them leave along with prisoners released in an exchange with the U.S. The last-minute conflict came close to unraveling the prisoner swap and underscored the strong resistance in Iran to any rapprochement with the U.S.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/19/world/middleeast/detention-of-jason-rezaians-family-nearly-torpedoed-iran-prisoner-swap.html?_r=0

    • They are getting short on many and it takes money to fight a war, if no major Sunni dominated nation comes through with money they may be forced to resort to bank robberies in the west.

  13. Is it Iran’s Middle East now?

    Leading regional expert Jonathan Spyer thinks not. While the single best organised and most aggressive alliance active currently in the Middle East is the bloc of states and movements gathered around the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the nuclear deal will lead to an increase in Iranian regional ambitions, both the built in limitations of Iranian methods and the sectarian nature of the conflicts in question mean we are not likely to see Iranian domination of the Middle East.
    ……………………
    Perhaps the single best organized and most aggressive alliance active currently in the Middle East is the bloc of states and movements gathered around the Islamic Republic of Iran. As a result of sanctions relief after the nuclear agreement, Iran is well placed to continue supporting proxy political-military organizations in a variety of regional locations in pursuit of Iranian strategic goals.

    Iran’s strategic goal is to emerge as the dominant power in the Middle East and, eventually, the entire Islamic world. It seeks to roll back U.S. influence in the region and to work towards Israel’s destruction. Yet in every case of Iranian regional “outreach,” the result is not Iranian strategic victory, but rather Iranian prevention of the defeat and eclipse of the local Iranian ally.

    The export of chaos has the merit, perhaps, of keeping disorder far from Iran’s own borders by ensuring that rivals to Tehran are kept busy engaged in proxy conflicts elsewhere. However, it is difficult to see how it can result in regional hegemony and leadership. Iran is a spoiler par excellence, but it does not look like the founder of a new Middle Eastern order.

    http://fathomjournal.org/is-it-irans-middle-east-now/

    • The Iranian leadership has publicly stated that their goal is to bring back the 12th Imam yet many people ignore these statements when they analyze the Iranian goals. This is a mistake that we will all pay for.

      • Jonathan Spyer is the best there is. No one knows the Syria-Lebanon situation better than he does.

        A serious scholar with impeccable academic pedigree, he risks his life at least once a month to go to those hellholes and check in on his deep infrastructure on the ground.

        He also served with distinction in the Second Lebanon War. I shudder just remembering that terrible time.

  14. Israel, the West, and the Migration Challenge

    Over the past decade, Israel has been challenged by large scale migration from Africa, mainly from Eritrea and Sudan. Tens of thousands infiltrated into Israel from the Sinai border in order to find employment. Countermeasures by the government focused on border closure, deterrence, and the encouragement of voluntary exit. However, these measures have since eroded, and hence the question is whether infiltration into Israel will grow in 2016. Here the proven link between measures adopted (or not adopted) by a country and the scale of the infiltration should clearly be taken into account. A resolute policy is a barrier, while its erosion tends to encourage infiltration, at first in a few cases, followed by a growing tide. Israel must realize that its standard of living and proximity to conflict-torn areas in the Middle East and Africa expose it to the ongoing risk of illegal immigration. In response to this challenge, Israel must therefore adopt a clear, resolute policy. The failure of Europe in coping with mass immigration should act as a warning sign, as Israel faces the challenge of protecting its character as the nation state of the Jewish people.

    http://www.inss.org.il/index.aspx?id=4538&articleid=11223

  15. Helsinki police report 15 sexual harassment cases on New Years Eve

    HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finnish police are investigating 15 reported cases of sexual assault of women near Helsinki city centre on New Year’s Eve carried out by men of foreign appearance some of whom were likely to be asylum seekers, a police report said on Tuesday.

    The report, commissioned by the Finnish government, reflects similar events in Germany where more than 600 women in Cologne and other cities filed complaints of sexual molestation on the New Year’s weekend, deepening public doubts about Germany’s ‘open door’ policy on refugees and migrants.

    The Helsinki police report said they had received reports of one rape, two attempted rapes and 12 cases of sexual harassment by several groups of 10-20 men with foreign backgrounds who roamed around the city centre during New Year celebrations.

    Those suspected of the offences were asylum seekers or men with foreign characteristics, it said.

    “The sexual harassment consisted of groping and squeezing of the victims’ bodies and licking of their faces, committed by the suspects of the crimes,” the report said.

    “The individuals in these groups possibly had a premeditated tactic in which some of the suspects had surrounded the victim and some had carried out the activities that fulfil the characteristics of a crime,” it said.

    “In three of the cases, we have identified suspects who are all asylum seekers. The suspects in the other cases also have foreign characteristics”, Detective Superintendent Jonna Turunen told Reuters separately.

    Last year, about 32,000 asylum seekers came to Finland, most of them from Iraq and Somalia, well up from the 3,600 in 2014 and putting a strain on the recession-bound Nordic country.

    Unlike neighbouring Sweden, Finland has little history of welcoming large numbers of refugees and the sudden influx of migrants has caused authorities to be wary of anti-immigrant feeling turning into vigilantism.

    https://uk.news.yahoo.com/helsinki-police-report-15-sexual-harassment-cases-years-144240655–finance.html

    ====================================

    15 assault cases on NYE in Helsinki

    FINNISH police are investigating 15 reported cases of sexual assault of women near Helsinki city centre on New Year’s Eve carried out by men of foreign appearance some of whom were likely to be asylum seekers.

    A POLICE report released on Tuesday, commissioned by the Finnish government, reflects similar events in Germany where more than 600 women in Cologne and other cities filed complaints of sexual molestation on the New Year’s weekend, deepening public doubts about Germany’s “open door” policy on refugees and migrants.

    The Helsinki police report said they had received reports of one rape, two attempted rapes and 12 cases of sexual harassment by several groups of 10 to 20 men with foreign backgrounds who roamed around the city centre during New Year celebrations.

    Those suspected of the offences were asylum seekers or men with foreign characteristics, it said.

    “The sexual harassment consisted of groping and squeezing of the victims’ bodies and licking of their faces, committed by the suspects of the crimes.

    “The individuals in these groups possibly had a premeditated tactic in which some of the suspects had surrounded the victim and some had carried out the activities that fulfil the characteristics of a crime.”

    Detective Superintendent Jonna Turunen separately said: “In three of the cases, we have identified suspects who are all asylum seekers. The suspects in the other cases also have foreign characteristics.”

    Last year, about 32,000 asylum seekers came to Finland, most of them from Iraq and Somalia, well up from the 3600 in 2014 and putting a strain on the recession-bound Nordic country.

    Unlike neighbouring Sweden, Finland has little history of welcoming large numbers of refugees and the sudden influx of migrants has caused authorities to be wary of anti-immigrant feeling turning into vigilantism.

    http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/breaking-news/assault-cases-on-nye-in-helsinki/news-story/41a5687c3e7aaad74f604a757f152d85

  16. B B C – Charlie Winter, an expert in jihadist militancy – Why do Islamic State militants commit acts of such barbarism?

    • Because their culture is stuck in the 7th Century and their religion prevents them from advancing beyond that point.

  17. Gulf status quo collapsing: Why were the U.S. Navy boats near Farsi Island?
    By J.E. Dyer on January 18, 2016 at 9:54 pm

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    The official “story” on what happened last week to two U.S. Navy riverine patrol boats seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has been weird and non-credible from the beginning.
    Tell me again why these two boats were sent off on their own to make the transit from Kuwait to Bahrain? (Image: IRIB News)

    Tell me again why these two boats were sent off on their own to make the transit from Kuwait to Bahrain? (Image: IRIB News)

    The latest emission from authorities is a news release from U.S. Central Command on Monday. Although it does seems to clear up one question, it opens a set of others in doing so.

    The big question it clears up is where the U.S. Navy boats were supposed to be during their transit from Kuwait to Bahrain. That wasn’t clear from the administration’s earlier, one- and two-word strangled utterances on the matter (see here and here, including comments sections).

    The elliptical references to “mechanical problems” and “navigation error” gave us to understand that the boats were very close to (or inadvertently in) Iranian waters at the time the problems manifested themselves. Indeed, since the range-limited Iranian fast boats did bring off a forcible seizure of the U.S. boats, the incident itself had to take place near Farsi Island. There’s nowhere else in the vicinity that the Iranian boats could have come from. (It can never really have been in question that the incident happened near Farsi Island.)

    But since a direct, great-circle-route transit from Kuwait to Bahrain would take the Navy boats nowhere near Farsi Island, an unnoticed navigation error couldn’t be made to fit any rational scenario.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/01/18/gulf-status-quo-collapsing-why-were-the-u-s-navy-boats-near-farsi-island/

    • How tense are things when we don’t want to sail through Saudi waters where they are confronting Iran, for that matter how bad are our relations with Saudi that we have to fear they might fire on a vessel flying a US flag?

  18. UK – LONDON – Four Muslims guilty of attempted murder after ‘frenzied’ knife attack in west London

    Four Muslims have been found guilty of attempted murder after a man was stabbed more than 15 times around his heart, lung and liver in a “frenzied” knife attack.

    The victim only survived after doctors and paramedics from London’s Air Ambulance performed emergency life-saving surgery in the street.

    The 29-year-old had visited Emerald supermarket in Staines Road, Feltham, at 1.30am on June 14 last year when the four defendants attacked him.

    He was punched to the ground before being stabbed more than 15 times, with some of the wounds penetrating his heart, lung and liver.

    The attackers then fled in a waiting car and police said the attack appears to have been motivated by a previous dispute.

    Mohammed Mohammed, 21, of Copley Close, Hanwell, Zakariya Ibrahim, 19, of Chesham Terrace, Ealing, Saad Sharif, 19, and Hanad Mohammed, 19, both of no fixed abode, were today convicted of attempted murder.

    Abdi Wahab Mohammed, 26, of Down Way, Northolt, who drove the men to and from the scene, was found guilty of causing section 18 grievous bodily harm.

    The victim, who miraculously survived the attack, was operated on at the roadside before undergoing further life-saving surgery at St Mary’s Hospital.

    He was discharged from hospital 10 days later.

    All five men will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday, January 22.

    http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/four-men-guilty-of-attempted-murder-after-frenzied-knife-attack-in-west-london-a3160406.html

  19. U K – ‘British sniper investigated for not shouting warning in Iraq’

    Veterans group expresses outrage at unlawful killing investigation despite fact that lethal shot prevented insurgent firing rocket propelled grenade at British base

    A British sniper is being investigated for shooting dead an Iraqi insurgent preparing to fire a rocket propelled grenade because he did not shout a warning, according to a pressure group representing former members of the armed forces.

    The group, UK Veterans One Voice, says the unidentified soldier is the subject of an inquiry by the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT), despite preventing an attack on a British base.

    The investigation team has been accused of running a witch hunt against British soldiers who served in Iraq as it investigates allegations of murder and torture.

    The sniper’s account contains no details of when or where the incident happened and could not be immediately verified.

    However, the dramatic tale published by UK Veterans One Voice begins with the words: “This is not fiction.”

    It describes how a British base was subject to attack by an Iraqi armed with an RPG after Friday prayers over a period of weeks. Soldiers were told not to return fire for fear of hurting bystanders who gathered to watch after they left the local mosque.

    Then one Thursday a patrol returned without a sniper team – either by accident or design.

    The following day, the same insurgent is spotted preparing to launch his weekly attack.

    “As the insurgent’s finger tightened on the trigger of the RPG, a single shot cracked out,” says the account.

    “The round flew almost 1200 metres across the face of the crowd missing them safely. The RPG jumped unfired into the air and the insurgent’s body briefly flew across the ground having been hit by a veteran of long military service, a graduate of the Army Sniper School.”

    The distance of the shot ruled out a shouted warning, says the pressure group.

    “Duty done, eventually, the sniper returned home to the UK and a happy civilian family life, with the respect of those who know him.”

    Yet now it says the sniper is the subject of an IHAT investigation for unlawful killing.

    The IHAT team was set up by the Ministry of Defence in 2010 after dozens of claims from Iraq were submitted by British lawyers.

    Initially, £57 million was set aside to investigate 152 allegations of unlawful killing and abuse. Since then the number of cases has passed 1500, provoking anger among veterans and their families who say they are being treated unfairly after putting their lives on the line for Queen and country.

    UK Veterans One Voice is planning a series of marches next month to highlight the issue.

    “Let the Government know we will not go away until full responsibility is accepted for allowing the mis-management of persecuting and prosecuting members of the Armed Services,” it said in a message to supporters.

    “We ask for a stop to the current trend of ‘bash a soldier’ that is making a mint for lawyers, but ruining lives of individuals.”

    Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, recently criticised “ambulance chasing” law firms, which he said were inhibiting the effectiveness of British troops abroad.

    He told the Telegraph: “We don’t need these ambulance-chasing British law firms. It is not only extremely expensive but it inhibits the operational effectiveness of our troops because they start to worry about whether they will end up in a court or not.”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/12107164/British-sniper-investigated-for-not-shouting-warning-in-Iraq.html

  20. IS group confirms ‘Jihadi John’ death (BBC, Jan 19, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35358101

    “The Islamic State group’s propaganda magazine has confirmed the British militant known as Jihadi John died in a drone strike in November.

    The group published an obituary for the jihadist, whose real name was Mohammed Emwazi, in its online magazine Dabiq.

    In November the US military said it was “reasonably certain” it had killed him in the IS-stronghold of Raqqa.

    Emwazi appeared in beheading videos of victims including UK aid worker David Haines and taxi driver Alan Henning.

    In the eulogy, Kuwaiti-born Emwazi is referred to as Abu Muharib al-Muhajir, his nickname in the group.”

  21. Migrant crisis: Norway to begin deportations to Russia (BBC, Jan 19, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35355727

    “Norway is to send some 60 migrants back to Russia under new rules expected to see thousands deported by bus.

    About 5,500 people are due to be transported from Norway to Russia. Many crossed the Arctic border by bicycle as part of the influx of migrants to Europe in 2015.

    Norway announced in November it would immediately deport people who had arrived from a country deemed safe.

    The first bus is due to leave a refugee shelter in the town of Kirkenes later.

    It comes after Russia agreed that Norway could return migrants with a Russian visa by bus. Most have fled the conflict in Syria.

    Norway had previously been sending them back by bicycle, because of rules that banned vehicles from transporting people across the border without the necessary documents, and also prohibited people crossing the border on foot.

    The move has been condemned by human rights groups. The daytime temperature at the border is about -30C.”

  22. Iraq conflict: Civilians suffering ‘staggering’ violence – UN (BBC, Jan 19, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35349861

    “The UN says violence suffered by civilians in Iraq “remains staggering”, with at least 18,800 killed between 1 January 2014 and 31 October 2015.

    Some 3.2 million people have also been displaced internally over the same period, according to a new report.

    The UN accuses so-called Islamic State of systematic and widespread violence, including holding some 3,500 mainly women and children as slaves.

    Alleged abuses by troops, militiamen and Kurdish forces were also recorded.

    UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein said the report “starkly illustrates what Iraqi refugees are attempting to escape when they flee to Europe and other regions. This is the horror they face in their homelands”.

    The report, by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq and the Office of the High
    Commissioner for Human Rights, is based on interviews with the displaced and direct testimony from victims, survivors or witnesses of rights abuses.

    It says the figures of 18,802 civilians killed and 36,245 wounded between 1 January 2014 and 31 October 2015 could be much higher…”

  23. UAE issues warrants for men filmed dancing ‘outrageously’ in uniform (BBC, Jan 19, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35351390

    “Arrest warrants have been issued in the United Arab Emirates for two men who posted a video online showing them dancing in military uniforms.

    Prosecutors accused the pair of “making outrageous physical movements that did not respect the uniform, the morale and the value of national service”.

    The video, they added, was “an insult to the honour of military service”.

    The UAE is part of a coalition that has been battling the Houthi rebel movement in Yemen for almost nine months.

    Its armed forces have suffered dozens of casualties there, and correspondents say this has made the authorities especially sensitive to the way they are portrayed.

    The prosecutors complained that “some irresponsible persons were behaving improperly and in a manner that was certainly contemptuous of the local community which looked to its armed forces with deep respect and veneration”.”

  24. euronews – UN and aid agencies sound alarm about refugees stuck on EU’s fringes facing disaster

    The United Nations and aid agencies are calling for increased assistance for migrants coming through Turkey and eastern Europe,