Reader’s links for Jan. 31 – 2016

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

About Eeyore

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

34 Replies to “Reader’s links for Jan. 31 – 2016”

  1. Why WERE Labour union flags flying as migrants stormed British ferry? Uncovered footage shows Unite banner at the port of Calais hours after Corbyn visited ‘Jungle’ camp (dailymail, Jan 31, 2016)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3424677/Why-Labour-union-flags-flying-migrants-stormed-British-ferry-Uncovered-footage-shows-Unite-banner-port-Calais-hours-Corbyn-visited-Jungle-camp.html

    “The flag of Britain’s biggest trade union, Unite, was brandished at the Calais demonstration which led to the storming of a British ferry, newly uncovered footage reveals.

    The subsequent flashpoint when the Port of Calais was invaded by hundreds of migrants and anarchists came just hours after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s visit to migrant camps in Dunkirk and Calais last week.

    The video shows the Unite banner, along with countless Stand Up To Racism placards, being held aloft as the 2,000-strong group made their way from the ‘Jungle’ camp outside Calais into the town’s main square.

    It also reveals the disastrous blunder by French police which allowed the demonstrators access to the unguarded port.

    Among the mainly Kurdish and Afghan demonstrators were a small number of Westerners, some of whom were believed to be anarchists from the No Borders group, which backs the pro-migrant demo.

    Just how the Unite symbol came to be at the march is a mystery.

    The union – the Labour Party’s biggest backer – has made it clear it equates anti-immigration views with racism, but has not previously backed the calls of Calais migrants to be admitted to the UK.

    The red Unite flag was first seen last Saturday carried by a man clad in black who had masked his face to prevent identification…”

  2. Muslims in UK top 3 million for first time… with over 50% born outside Britain: Number in country doubles in a decade as immigration and birth rates soar (dailymail, Jan 31, 2016)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3424584/Muslims-UK-3-million-time-50-born-outside-Britain-Number-country-doubles-decade-immigration-birth-rates-soar.html

    “England is home to more than three million Muslims for the first time ever, new figures show.
    The number in the country has doubled in just over a decade as a result of soaring immigration and high birth rates.

    In some parts of London, close to half the population are now Muslims, according to detailed analysis by the Office for National Statistics obtained by The Mail on Sunday. On current trends they will be the majority in those areas within a decade.

    Half of those following Islam in England and Wales were born abroad while more are under ten years old than in any other age group, indicating their numbers will grow still further in generations to come.

    The three million milestone – representing one in 20 people across the country – will reignite debate about the changing face of Britain amid growing calls for all Muslims to integrate into society.

    Education watchdog Ofsted has warned that schools could be branded failing if veil-wearing by students or teachers is deemed a ‘barrier to learning’ and yesterday Britain’s most senior judge, Lord Neuberger, said there were ‘serious difficulties’ with witnesses giving evidence in criminal trials with covered faces.

    David Cameron has called on Muslim women to help the fight against extremism by learning English, while Theresa May is setting up an independent review of Islamic courts amid fears that the Sharia code discriminates against women.

    Another review, ordered by Justice Secretary Michael Gove, is investigating fears that the growing number of Muslims behind bars – now one in five inmates in Category A jails – is fuelling radicalisation.

    But there is also a backlash against what many Muslims see as Islamophobic stigmatisation, with some campaigning against the Government’s ‘Prevent’ agenda which calls on communities to report suspected terrorist sympathisers. Trouble has flared at public rallies held by nationalist groups against Islam.

    Former equalities chief Trevor Phillips sparked outrage last week by claiming that some Muslims will always remain apart, saying ‘it may be that they see the world differently to the rest of us’.

    Last night, Lord Green of Deddington, the former diplomat who chairs Migration Watch UK, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘This is clear evidence of the way in which mass immigration is rapidly changing the nature of our society. The Home Secretary was right in her conference speech to point to the potential pressures on social cohesion.’

    The rapid growth of the Muslim population of England and Wales is revealed in unprecedented depth by the new ONS figures….”

  3. WARNING: VERY CONFRONTING ANIMAL CRUELTY in IRAN
    We know anecdotally at least that dogs have recently been found poisoned in parks adjacent to muslim neighborhoods in the UK. Have they too gone through the agonies shown in this confronting video?

    This is the culture whose leaders must be protected from the affront of timeless Art in Rome, and the smell of wine in France ….

  4. Pentagon Conducts Warship Passage Near Disputed Island
    China claims U.S. destroyer ‘driven off’

    A U.S. Navy destroyer carried out a second transit near a disputed South China Sea island claimed by China and two other nations, the Pentagon announced Saturday.

    China’s Defense Ministry denounced the warship transit and said its forces had forced the destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur out of the area.

    Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Bill Urban said the freedom of navigation operation by the Wilbur took place Saturday near Triton Island in the Paracel Islands chain in the northern part of the sea “to challenge excessive maritime claims.”

    “This operation challenged attempts by the three claimants, China, Taiwan and Vietnam, to restrict navigation rights and freedoms around the features they claim by policies that require prior permission or notification of transit within territorial seas,” Urban said in a statement.

    The Wilbur, a guided missile destroyer, passed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island.

    “This operation was about challenging excessive maritime claims that restrict the rights and freedoms of the United States and others, not about territorial claims to land features,” he added.

    While the U.S. government takes no position on the competing sovereignty claims, “the United States does take a strong position on protecting the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all countries, and that all maritime claims must comply with international law,” the spokesman said.

    http://freebeacon.com/national-security/pentagon-conducts-warship-passage-near-disputed-island/

  5. U.S. Navy sends ship near disputed island in South China Sea

    (CNN)The U.S. Navy sent a ship near a contested island in the South China Sea on Saturday to challenge “excessive maritime claims that restrict the rights and freedoms of the United States and others,” a U.S. Defense Department spokesman told CNN.

    “This operation challenged attempts by the three claimants, China, Taiwan and Vietnam, to restrict navigation rights and freedoms around the features they claim by policies that require prior permission or notification of transit within territorial seas,” Cmdr. Bill Urban said.

    “This operation demonstrates, as President Obama and Secretary [Ash] Carter have stated, the United States will fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows. That is true in the South China Sea, as in other places around the globe.”

    The USS Curtis Wilbur, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of the Triton Island, part of the Paracel Islands — an archipelago claimed by the three.

    None of them was notified of the move.

    http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/30/asia/us-navy-south-china-sea/

  6. Turkey says Russian jet violated its airspace again, warns of consequences
    Reuters By Ece Toksabay

    By Ece Toksabay
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    ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey warned of consequences on Saturday after saying a Russian SU-34 jet had violated its airspace despite warnings, once more stoking tensions between two countries involved in Syria’s war, but Russia denied that there had been any incursion.

    In a similar incident in November, Turkey shot down a Russian warplane flying a sortie over Syria that it said had violated its airspace, triggering a diplomatic rupture in which Russia imposed economic sanctions.

    Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov denied that any Russian plane had entered Turkish airspace, and called the Turkish allegation “pure propaganda”.

    http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-says-russian-jet-violated-airspace-envoy-summoned-161738173.html

    • Turkey’s Erdogan threatens ‘consequences’ for Moscow, saying Russian jet violated its airspace

  7. Thousands march in Paris rain to protest state of emergency

    PARIS (AP) — Thousands of people marched in the Paris rain on Saturday to denounce plans to renew France’s state of emergency and revoke the French citizenship of dual nationals convicted of terrorism.

    Human rights groups, politicians and unions joined the march in the French capital, and in other demonstrations around France. The protests came just days before the Cabinet plans to review a measure on Wednesday to prolong the state of emergency, first imposed after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people.

    The state of emergency gives more power to police and administrative authorities, allowing for searches without warrants, house arrests and other measures.

    “My France of liberties, where are you?” read one banner.

    http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/c23ac901cf6f48f5bd243621c132798c/thousands-march-paris-rain-protest-state-emergency

  8. Syrian rebel splits deepen after failed ‘merger’ with al Qaeda arm

    A Nusra Front fighter walks with his weapon inside a building in the Sheikh Maksoud neighbourhood of Aleppo
    A Nusra Front fighter walks with his weapon inside a building in the Sheikh Maksoud neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria August 3, 2015. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail

    January 31, 2016

    By Mariam Karouny

    BEIRUT – The leader of al Qaeda’s Syrian wing tried unsuccessfully at a recent meeting to convince rival Islamist factions to merge into one unit, several insurgency sources have told Reuters.

    Abu Mohamad al-Golani, head of the Nusra Front, even suggested he was willing to change the name of his group if the others, including the powerful Ahrar al-Sham organization, agreed to the deal, the sources said.

    But he made clear that Nusra would not cut its ties with al Qaeda, and its allegiance would remain to Ayman al-Zawahri, who took over as leader after U.S. Navy SEALS killed Osama bin Laden in 2011.

    Much was riding on the outcome of the meeting, which the sources said took place about 10 days ago.

    Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham are the most powerful groups in northern Syria: when they briefly teamed up with other Islamists last year in an alliance called the Fatah Army, the rebels scored one of their biggest victories by seizing the city of Idlib.

    Some rebels believed a merger would create a stronger

    http://www.oann.com/syrian-rebel-splits-deepen-after-failed-merger-with-al-qaeda-arm-2/

  9. Iran gives medals for capture of U.S. sailors

    An undated picture released by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards website shows American sailors sitting in a unknown place in Iran
    An undated picture released by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards website shows American sailors sitting in a unknown place in Iran. REUTERS/sepahnews.ir/TIMA/Handout via Reuters

    January 31, 2016

    DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s supreme leader has awarded medals to navy commanders for capturing U.S. sailors who entered Iranian territorial waters this month, Iran’s state media said on Sunday.

    Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has said Iran should remain wary of its arch-enemy the United States even after a landmark accord over Tehran’s nuclear program, awarded the Fath (Victory) medal to the head of the navy of the Revolutionary Guards and four commanders involved in the seizure of two U.S. Navy boats.

    Iran has awarded the Fath medal since 1989 to war heroes, military commanders and politicians, especially those linked to the eight-year Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

    Iran freed the ten U.S. sailors on Jan. 13, a day after detaining them aboard the two U.S. Navy patrol boats in the Gulf, bringing a swift end to an incident that had rattled nerves shortly before the expected implementation of the nuclear accord with world powers.

    The Revolutionary Guardss said it had determined the patrol boats had entered Iranian territorial waters by mistake.

    http://www.oann.com/iran-gives-medals-for-capture-of-u-s-sailors/

  10. Migrant crisis: More than 10,000 children ‘missing’ (BBC, Jan 31, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35453589

    “More than 10,000 migrant children may have disappeared after arriving in Europe over the past two years, the EU’s police intelligence unit says.

    Europol said thousands of vulnerable minors had vanished after registering with state authorities.

    It warned of children and young people being forced into sexual exploitation and slavery by criminal gangs.

    Save the Children says some 26,000 child migrants arrived in Europe last year without any family.

    It is the first time Europol has given a Europe-wide estimate of how many might be missing.

    “It’s not unreasonable to say that we’re looking at 10,000-plus children,” Europol’s chief of staff told the Observer newspaper.

    “Not all of them will be criminally exploited; some might have been passed on to family members. We just don’t know where they are, what they’re doing or whom they are with.”

    Officials in Italy warned in May 2015 that almost 5,000 children had disappeared from asylum reception centres since the previous summer….”

  11. Finland ‘not a paradise’ migrants warned by minister (BBC, video, Jan 31, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-35454464

    “Finnish minister Jorma Vuorio has warned migrants that his country was “not a paradise”. He was speaking to Emma Jane Kirby on Radio 4’s Broadcasting House. as she reported from Helsinki on how 32,000 people entered Finland in one year, with authorities now saying that migration must be controlled because the nation cannot cope.”

  12. SYRIA – Bomb attacks rock Shiite shrine south of Syrian capital Damascus

    Nearly 60 people have been killed in three bombings near a revered Shiite shrine south of the Syrian capital, Damascus. State news agency SANA also reported that 100 people have been wounded.

    According to state media, the blasts were caused by a car bomb and two suicide bombers. Nearly 60 people, including many civilians, were killed during the attack.

    […]The heavily populated area in southern Damascus is an important pilgrimage site for Shiites from Iran, Lebanon and other parts of the Muslim world. A shrine there houses the remains of the daughter of Ali ibn Abi Taleb, the cousin of Prophet Muhammad, whom the Shiite faith considers as successor to the prophet.
    ==========================================
    ISIS claim responsibility for major attack near Damascus Shi’ite shrine

    At least 60 killed and 110 wounded in triple attack deep in Hezbollah-held area of Syrian capital.

    AMMAN/BEIRUT – At least 60 people were killed, some 25 pro-regime fighters, and 110 wounded on Sunday by a car bomb and two suicide bombers in the Sayeda Zeinab district of Damascus, where Syria’s holiest Shi’ite shrine is located, the interior ministry said.

    Sunni fundamentalist Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, according to Amaq, a news agency that supports the group. It said two operations “hit the most important stronghold of Shi’ite militias in Damascus”.

    State television showed footage of burning buildings and wrecked cars in the neighborhood.

    Syrian state news agency SANA, quoting an interior ministry source, said a group of militants had detonated a car bomb near a public transport garage in the neighborhood’s Koua Sudan area.

    Two suicide bombers then blew themselves up nearby as people were being rescued.

    “Bodies were still being pulled from the wreckage,” a witness told state news channel Ikhbariyah.

    http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/ISIS-claim-responsibility-for-major-attack-near-Damascus-Shiite-shrine-443369

  13. Sweden to deport up to 80,000 refugees

    Sweden to deport up to 80,000 refugees
    Published January 28, 2016 FoxNews.com
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    Sweden to deport over 80 thousand refugees

    Up to 80,000 refugees who arrived in Sweden last year will be expelled from the country over the next few years, the country’s interior minister said Thursday.

    Anders Ygeman told newspaper Dagens Industri that since about 45 percent of asylum applications are currently rejected, the country must get ready to send back tens of thousands of the 163,000 who sought shelter in Sweden in 2015.

    “I think that it could be about 60,000 people, but it could also be up to 80,000,” Ygeman was quoted as saying.

    Ygeman’s spokesman, Victor Harju, confirmed the announcement, adding that the minister was simply applying the current approval rate to the record number of asylum-seekers.

    “That rate could of course change,” Harju added.

    Germany and Sweden were the top destinations for asylum-seekers in Europe last year, with Sweden receiving one of the highest amounts of refugees per capita in the European Union.

    Asylum-seekers whose applications are rejected are normally transported out of Sweden on commercial flights. But because of the large number being rejected they would use specially chartered aircraft to take them out of the country, Ygeman said.

    http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/01/28/sweden-to-deport-up-to-80000-refugees.html

    • Sweden: Stockholm residents talk masked men’s Friday attack, refugees

      Following Friday night’s anti-immigrant attacks in Stockholm where a gang of masked assailants targeted non-Caucasians outside the city’s central station, commuters and locals commented on the assaults and Europe’s response to the refugee crisis from the Swedish capital, Sunday.

      SOT, Mats Delind, Stockholm resident (Swedish): “Right-wing populists are surrounding, at least, and even active within and participating in the Sweden Democrats who are represented in the Swedish government are coming much closer to militant Nazis. We know that the events on Friday night were organised by a Nazi group called, ‘Nationell Ungdom’.”

      SOT, Mats Delind, Stockholm resident (Swedish): “As far as I know, the police did their job both on Friday and Saturday now. But there has to be long-term work from the police because these problems will stay with us until these groups are crushed.”

  14. Germany: Pro-refugee protest decries living conditions at LaGeSo

    Around 100 people gathered in front of the LaGeSo registration and reception centre for refugees in Berlin, Sunday, to protest against the alleged worsening of the treatment of refugees and their living conditions.

  15. DDT Might Have Stopped Zika, but Environmentalists Chose Mosquitoes Over People

    The Zika virus outbreak is the latest batch of blood on the dirty hands of Rachel Carson and the entire environmental movement which puts mosquitoes ahead of people. There was a time when we beat insect-born diseases through simple and easy methods that worked.

    What for the US? This needs to be watched. The mosquito that carries Zika, and also dengue and chikungunya, has a wide range in the United States: throughout the South, and as far as New York City. Dengue and chikungunya are increasing in the Americas, and dengue recently became established in Florida. Avoiding these diseases requires doing things that Americans used to take for granted back when insect-borne illnesses were a common concern, which was before DDT eradicated malarial mosquitoes

    But environmentalists eradicated DDT instead. DDT worked in Brazil.

    The eradication of Aedes aegypti (the mosquito that transmits both dengue and Zika) in Brazil was driven by the fear of another flavivirus it transmitted, yellow fever. A DDT programme started in 1947. Brazil was declared free of the mosquito in 1958. But in 1976 it came back, probably flying in from Venezuela and the Carribean. Dengue came into the country in 1981. The aim of eradicating Aedes aegypti was dropped and replaced with a control policy in 1986. The mosquito has thrived. It likes people and loves to lay its desiccation-resistant eggs in manmade water containers.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/261639/ddt-might-have-stopped-zika-environmentalists-daniel-greenfield

    • Mosquitoes Bring Disease, Maybe Birth Defects, To US Border

      This is disturbing and sad. A tropical disease that is spread by mosquitoes and that seems to be moving north—and may be approaching the US border—is being linked in health-agency reports to a disabling birth defect.

      The disease is Zika virus, and the birth defect is microcephaly: smaller than normal heads in infants, due to the brain having stopped growing at some point in pregnancy. According to the World Health Organization, Brazil has reported 739 cases of microcephaly among newborns in nine states in the “shoulder” of Brazil, the northeastern corner that protrudes into the Atlantic. Brazil’s Ministry of Health says there are more: 1,248 suspected cases, in 14 states. Seven children have died, and five others’ deaths are being investigated, according to the Ministry; one adult and one teenager have also died.

      Only one child, who died, has been definitively diagnosed with the virus by tissue analysis, according to the Ministry’s statement. The agency has declared a national public health emergency and, in its most recent statement, says it has asked the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to send a team to help.

      Microcephaly can be caused by many things; according to the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, they include exposure to toxins during pregnancy, excessive drug or alcohol use, and a range of infections such as rubella and chickenpox. And it’s not unknown in Brazil, but according to the Ministry’s web site, the country has had only between 139 and 175 cases per year in each of the past five years—so this spike, whatever is causing it, is almost 10 times as many.

      http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/02/zika-microcephaly/

  16. RT – ‘We are ready to accept Taliban as part of govt’ – Afghan Chief Executive

    Afghanistan – a place, where war has been going on for more than a decade. The withdrawal of NATO didn’t help the matters, and now, with ISIS trying to get a foothold in the country, the fate of Afghan nation depends on whether the Taliban will join the talks – and lay down arms for good. What are the chances for peace for Afghanistan? And what is Afghan government ready to sacrifice for the sake of ending the violence? We ask the Chief Executive Officer of Afghanistan – His Excellency Dr. Abdullah Abdullah is on Sophie&Co today.

  17. GREECE -Two suspected extremists arrested in Greece: police

    THESSALONIKI, Greece: Two men with Swedish passports and carrying machetes and other “combat paraphernalia” have been arrested in Greece, suspected of links to extremist groups, Greek police sources said Sunday.

    A 28-year-old man of Bosnian descent and a 19-year-old of Yemeni origin were travelling by bus when they were arrested Thursday in the northern city of Alexandroupolis, near the Turkish border, according to police sources.

    Inside their luggage were found two machetes, army uniforms and other “combat paraphernalia”, the sources said.

    Both men have been charged with carrying weapons and will go before a magistrate Tuesday, police said.

    The 28-year-old is known to European authorities for ties to extremists, having been convicted in the past for planning a terrorist attack and was under the close eye of Swedish authorities, police sources said.

    Mega Channel reported Sunday that in 2005 the man was arrested in Bosnia after the police, during a raid at his house, found a suicide belt, explosives and a video showing a man with a covered face threatening terrorist acts against the U.S. Capitol and the White House.

    He was sentenced to up to 14 years in Bosnian prison, but was released in 2011 and asked for political asylum in Sweden, according to Greek police sources.

    The two men arrived in Greece by plane from Sweden “ten days ago”, and they traveled by bus to Thessaloniki and then to Alexandroupolis with tickets bound for Turkey, police said.

    http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2016/Jan-31/334847-two-suspected-extremists-arrested-in-greece-police.ashx

  18. Turkish becomes official language in the Council of Europe

    The Turkish language has become one of the official languages of the European institutions in Strasbourg after the promotion of Turkey to be one of the most represented countries in the Council of Europe.

    The Council of Europe has thus adopted Turkey as one of its six official languages alongside English, French, Russian, German and Italian during the winter session currently being held in Strasbourg.

    Furthermore, the European Court of Human Rights, the international jurisdiction founded by the Council of Europe, has also adopted Turkish as one of its official working languages.

    http://diversitymachtfrei.blogspot.ca/2016/01/turkish-becomes-official-language-in.html

  19. SAUDI ARABIA – Americans among militant suspects detained in Saudi Arabia: paper

    Nine Americans are among 33 suspects detained on terrorism charges in Saudi Arabia over the past week, the English-language daily Saudi Gazette reported on Sunday citing an unnamed source.

    It reported that four Americans were detained on Monday and another five in the following days, along with 14 Saudis, three Yemenis, two Syrians, an Indonesian, a Filipino, a United Arab Emirates citizen, a Palestinian and a citizen of Kazakhstan.

    The American embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Saudi Arabia in 2014 declared Islamic State a terrorist organization and has detained hundreds of its supporters. The group, which controls territory in Iraq and Syria, has staged a series of attacks in the kingdom.

    On Friday an attack at a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Saudi Arabia’s al-Ahsa district in Eastern Province killed four people and injured 18, the latest in a string of attacks claimed by Sunni jihadists that have left over 50 dead in the past year.

    The website of the Interior Ministry’s militant rehabilitation center listed four U.S. citizens as having been detained on Jan 25 and four more over the previous three months. It did not yet list any more recent detentions.

    The Interior Ministry spokesman pointed Reuters toward that website, which gives information on all people detained as militant suspects, but gave no further comment.

    The ministry on Saturday identified one of the attackers in al-Ahsa as 22-year-old Abdulrahman al-Tuwaijri, a Saudi citizen, who detonated an explosive vest outside the Imam Rida mosque in the Mahasen district of Hofuf in al-Ahsa.

    A 27-year-old was also arrested wearing an explosive vest and carrying hand grenades after members of the mosque’s congregation seized him after he fired shots at them during the attack, the ministry said.

    Attacks by supporters of Islamic State in Saudi Arabia include two bombings and two mass shootings at Shi’ite mosques. A mosque used by Sunni security services was also bombed

    The Saudi clergy have denounced the group as “kharijites”, an early Islamic sect reviled by Muslims for its extreme ideology.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-security-usa-idUSKCN0V90A8

    • Pentagon Tells Senate It Won’t Demote Retired Gen. Petraeus
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      In this June 23, 2011 file photo, then-CIA Director-designate Gen. David Petraeus testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Pentagon says it will not demote retired Army Gen. David Petraeus. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
      In this June 23, 2011 file photo, then-CIA Director-designate Gen. David Petraeus testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Pentagon says it will not demote retired Army Gen. David Petraeus. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
      Associated Press | Jan 30, 2016

      WASHINGTON — The Pentagon says it will not demote retired Army Gen. David Petraeus, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information while CIA director, an incident stemming from an affair with his biographer.

      “The Army completed its review of his case and recommended no additional action,” Stephen C. Hedger, assistant defense secretary for legislative affairs, wrote the Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday. Given that review, Hedger said Defense Secretary Ash Carter “considers this matter closed.”

      The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter Saturday. The Pentagon had no further comment.

      Media reports had surfaced that indicated the Pentagon was considering downgrading Petraeus to a three-star general. Such a move, if taken, would have reduced his retirement salary.

      In response, committee leaders urged Carter not to demote Petraeus, saying the retired officer had “admitted his guilt and apologized for his actions.”

      At a committee hearing on Jan. 21, President Barack Obama’s nominee to be the Army’s top civilian official said he believed no further action should be taken against Petraeus.

      http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/01/30/pentagon-tells-senate-it-wont-demote-retired-gen-petraeus.html

      • Stop and think about how angry the Generals are for them to tell Congress that they aren’t going to do what they are ordered to. This is another warning to the politicians that the military brass are going to remain true to their oath of office.

  20. Germany: Nuremberg protesters decry alleged sexual abuse of 13 y/o girl

    Russians and Germans were among those who rallied on the Hauptmarkt square in Nuremberg, on Sunday, to protest the alleged sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl by three “foreigners,” earlier in January. Police stated that there was no evidence of an abduction or rape following the accusations.


  21. MI5 ‘signing up’ teachers at Muslim schools to STOP young Britons being groomed by ISIS (express, Jan 31, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/639726/MI5-signing-up-teachers-Muslim-schools-STOP-young-Britons-being-groomed-ISIS

    “MI5 SPIES are ‘signing up’ teachers in Muslim schools to stop young Britons being groomed by Islamic State (ISIS) sympathisers in the classroom.

    Spooks have allegedly been contacting teachers at Islamic schools across the UK to help them to tackle radicalisation.

    Many of these teachers have agreed to work as agents spying on their fellow members of staff and they are even now sending intelligence reports on suspected jihadis to their handlers in London.

    Speaking to the Daily Star Sunday, a source said: “There is a big problem with radicalisation in Muslim schools.

    “Children are being brainwashed at a very young and vulnerable age by teachers who are effectively recruiting sergeants for Islamic State.

    “They are basically poisoning the minds of the young so that by the time they reach the age of 15 or 16 they have effectively rejected British society and wanted to join the holy war against the West.”

    The move was reportedly ordered by spy chiefs as fears heighten that children as young as seven are being targeted by hate preachers.

    The MI5 have been made aware that some youngsters have been told that all non-Muslims are the enemies of Islam.

    Intelligence sources said there had even been reports of teachers showing execution videos to Muslim pupils as part of their religious education.

    Young students have also allegedly been warned that Islam is in a holy war against the West and it is the duty of every Muslim to join the fight.

    Some teachers have approached the M15 independently to offer their service, and others have been approached by the intelligence service.

    Intelligence sources claimed some Muslim religious schools have become recruiting grounds for terrorist groups, ISIS and al-Qaeda.

    Sources said of the 130 Muslim schools in the UK, as many as 30 per cent could have links to terrorist fanatics.

    Last year, three girls from the Bethnal Green Academy, in East London, fled to join ISIS in Syria.

    The incident sparked fears of a wider problem of fanaticism.

    In certain parts of the country, where there is a high Muslim population, children are even being sent on a ‘deradicalisation programme’.

    So far, 1,839 children have been earmarked for the programme, which aims to ensure that children are not being exploited to embrace terrorism.”

  22. DAILY MAIL – SWEDEN Inside the Neo-Nazi ‘firm’: Swedish football hooligans tell how they teamed up to launch vicious attack on Stockholm migrants

    Men from football ‘firm’ DFG joined with others from rival AIK in attacks
    Groups had been planning rampage for a ‘long time’, a member revealed
    Up to 50 masked men stormed Stockholm’s station and targeted migrants
    Swedish police battling to control football ‘firms’, which attract criminals

    A Swedish football hooligan has revealed how gangs including a ‘Neo-Nazi firm’ joined together to launch Friday’s vicious attack on migrants.

    Up to 50 black-clad masked men stormed Stockholm’s main train station around 9pm and targeted unaccompanied children who did not look ethnically ‘Swedish’.

    They handed out leaflets with the slogan ‘enough now’ emblazoned across them and incited people to attack the migrants before beating several ‘foreign’ people and fleeing.

    A member of one of the city’s football ‘firms’ has now admitted to MailOnline that his group, DFG, was responsible for the attack.

    He revealed a handful of men from the club teamed up with others from their usual rivals AIK, as well as being joined by several Polish hooligans.

    Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said: ‘This is something that we have talked about for a long time.

    We feel the police are not doing their job. Our wives, girlfriends and daughters cannot feel safe in the centre parts of Stockholm during the night.

    ‘We feel that this is shameful for a country like Sweden and wanted to make a statement that it is not OK.’

    Members from DFG – or Djurgardens IF – and AIK are typically rivals and have only joined together once before, the man, who was not part of the attacks, also revealed.

    more :

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3425299/Inside-Neo-Nazi-firm-Swedish-football-hooligans-tell-teamed-launch-vicious-attack-Stockholm-migrants.html