Reader’s links for Feb. 6 – 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

83 Replies to “Reader’s links for Feb. 6 – 2016”

  4. A private school girl, mothers who excuse gang rape and a terrifying culture clash no one dares talk about: How Somalian men are living by their own laws… and causing devastating repercussions in Britain

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3434382/A-private-school-girl-mothers-excuse-gang-rape-terrifying-culture-clash-no-one-dares-talk-Somalian-men-living-laws-native-country-causing-devastating-repercussions-Britain.html#ixzz3zORhEr7r
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  7. DARPA, the Pentagon’s cutting-edge science division, is developing a neural network to enhance “deep learning” on the battlefield.

    Modern warfare requires more than simple brute strength. The Information Age has revealed new ways to communicate and access information, and these new rules have also affected the way wars are fought and won.

    Imagery gathered by satellites and drones must make its way to units on the ground for data analyzation. While a drone can take a photograph, it cannot tell you what it’s looking at, or what to do about it, if anything. A human brain is necessary to spot a terrorist stronghold, or to recognize that a missile launcher in one photo has been moved, when compared with an older photo.
    Scenes from the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie Universal Soldier may become reality, as the US military is working on the development of an implantable chip which could turn soldiers into real-life cyborgs by attaching their brains to computers, Tech Times reported.
    © Photo: Pixabay
    Real-Life ‘Universal Soldiers’: US Military to Create Implantable Chip to Turn Soldiers Into Cyborgs

    “Full exploitation of this information is a major challenge,” officials with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) wrote in a 2009 brief on “deep learning.”

    Read more: http://sputniknews.com/us/20160206/1034319282/darpa-neural-microship-eyeriss.html#ixzz3zOkFDVuL

  8. Wanted in China: More Male Teachers, to Make Boys Men

    FUZHOU, China — The history class began with a lesson on being manly.

    Lin Wei, 27, one of a handful of male sixth-grade teachers at a primary school here, has made a habit of telling stories about warlords who threw witches into rivers and soldiers who outsmarted Japanese troops. “Men have special duties,” he said. “They have to be brave, protect women and take responsibility for wrongdoing.”

    Worried that a shortage of male teachers has produced a generation of timid, self-centered and effeminate boys, Chinese educators are working to reinforce traditional gender roles and values in the classroom.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/world/asia/wanted-in-china-more-male-teachers-to-make-boys-men.html

    • Those men they’re trying so hard to recruit? They’ll discover their “inner” gender is queer.
      ~~ Millions of aborted baby girls are watching over China.~~
      m(_ _)m
      This article cries out for Perfectchild.

      • This is a problem for them and India who also has a one child police that has created a massive imbalance in the sexes.
        We also have an imbalance in the west brought about by the abortion on demand policy but not near as bad as in China and India.

  9. Syrians flee to Turkish border as Aleppo assault intensifies

    ONCUPINAR, Turkey (Reuters) – Russian and Syrian government forces gained ground north of Aleppo on Saturday, intensifying an assault on rebel-held areas that has prompted tens of thousands more Syrians to seek refuge across the border in Turkey.

    The assault around Aleppo, which aid workers have said could soon fall to government forces, helped to torpedo Syrian peace talks in Geneva this week. Russia’s intervention has tipped the war President Bashar al-Assad’s way, reversing gains the rebels made last year. [L8N15K1DV]

    Aleppo, Syria’s largest city before the civil war erupted five years ago, would be a huge strategic prize for Assad’s government in a conflict that has killed at least 250,000 people and driven 11 million from their homes.

    Advances by the Syrian army and allied militias, including Iranian fighters, threaten to besiege opposition-held areas of the divided city. Government-controlled parts of Aleppo are home to more than a million people, while around 350,000 live in opposition-held areas.

    On Saturday about 15,000 Syrians were waiting on the Syrian side of Turkey’s Oncupinar border crossing and up to 50,000 more were on their way, an official with the Turkish disaster agency AFAD told Reuters.

    http://www.oann.com/on-turkish-side-of-border-syrian-refugees-wait-and-worry/

  10. Syria warns Saudis against incursion, says will be resisted

    BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria will see any incursion on its territory as an act of aggression, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Saturday, days after Saudi Arabia announced it was ready to send in ground troops.

    “Any ground intervention on Syrian land without the agreement of the Syrian government is an act of aggression … we regret that those (who invade) will return to their countries in coffins,” al-Moualem told journalists.

    http://www.oann.com/syrian-foreign-minister-warns-saudis-against-incursion-will-be-resisted/

    • FM: Foreign Troops Entering Syria Would Return ‘In Coffins’ (abcnews, Feb 6, 2016)
      http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/fm-foreign-troops-entering-syria-return-coffins-36755876

      “Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem warned Saturday that Saudi or other foreign ground troops entering Syria would “return home in wooden coffins,” and called on rebel groups fighting a massive government offensive in the north to “come to their senses” and lay down their weapons.

      His comments came after Saudi Arabia said earlier this week it would be willing to send troops as part of a U.S.-led military campaign against Islamic State extremists. The group controls large parts of Syria and Iraq.

      Al-Moallem said conventional wisdom and logic would suggest the entry of Saudi troops is unlikely, but that “with the crazy Saudi leadership nothing is far-fetched.”

      “Any ground intervention in Syria, without the consent of the Syrian government, will be considered an aggression that should be resisted by every Syrian citizen,” he told a news conference in Damascus. “I regret to say that they will return home in wooden coffins.”

      He repeated the line three times during the one-hour press conference, saying it applies to anyone who attacks Syria with ground troops. Russia’s Defense Ministry on Thursday said it had “reasonable grounds” to suspect Turkey is making intensive preparations for a military invasion of Syria…”

  11. Exclusive: Top cybercrime ring disrupted as authorities raid Moscow offices – sources

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Russian authorities in November raided offices associated with a Moscow film distribution and production company as part of a crackdown on one of the world’s most notorious financial hacking operations, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter.

    Cybersecurity experts said a password-stealing software program known as Dyre — believed to be responsible for at least tens of millions of dollars in losses at financial institutions including Bank of America Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co — has not been deployed since the time of the raid. Experts familiar with the situation said the case represents Russia’s biggest effort to date to crack down on cyber-crime.

    A spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry’s cybercrime unit said his department was not involved in the case. The FSB, Russia’s main intelligence service, said it had no immediate comment.

    Nikolay Volchkov, the chief executive of the film company named 25th Floor, said he could not answer questions about the raid.

    Without an official confirmation, much remains a mystery. Reuters could not determine a direct link between the program’s shutdown and the raid.

    The sources said that a number of people were questioned by the authorities but Reuters was unable to ascertain further details, including whether there were arrests or criminal charges. Reuters has no evidence that Volchkov or the film company is implicated in any wrongdoing and couldn’t determine precisely who is.

    http://www.oann.com/exclusive-top-cybercrime-ring-disrupted-as-authorities-raid-moscow-offices-sources/

  12. Hackers attack 20 million accounts on Alibaba’s Taobao shopping site

    BEIJING (Reuters) – Hackers in China attempted to access over 20 million active accounts on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s Taobao e-commerce website using Alibaba’s own cloud computing service, according to a state media report posted on the Internet regulator’s website.

    Analysts said the report from The Paper led to the price of Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares falling as much as 3.7 percent in late Wednesday trade.

    An Alibaba spokesman on Thursday said the company detected the attack in “the first instance”, reminded users to change passwords, and worked closely with the police investigation.

    Chinese companies are grappling a sharp rise in the number of cyber attacks, and cyber security experts say firms have a long way to go before defenses catch up to U.S. counterparts.

    In the latest case, hackers obtained a database of 99 million usernames and passwords from a number of websites, according to a separate report on a website managed by the Ministry of Public Security.

    The hackers then used Alibaba’s cloud computing platform to input the details into Taobao. Of the 99 million usernames, they found 20.59 million were also being used for Taobao accounts, the ministry website said.

    http://www.oann.com/hackers-attack-20-million-accounts-on-alibabas-taobao-shopping-site/

    • OK, so we already knew the Russians take a dim view of President Obama.

      And we knew they do satire with a heavy hand. (I mean, really. Where’s a sophomore when you need one?)

      The YouTube video below shows what the Washington Times recounts: early on Friday morning, a video of Obama munching on the peoples of foreign countries was projected onto the sides of buildings in Moscow.

      It was clearly intended to be seen and understood by Americans (and others), since the big captions are in English. The video ends with a banner reading “Obama welcome to the Hague tribunal in 2016.”

      As TWT notes, it was first projected onto a building surface close to a McDonald’s in central Moscow.

      I’m taken with one particular little touch, myself. The horns grow on Obama’s head as he ingests more countries’ “war dead.” (Again, my kingdom for a sophomore. Somebody to exercise some editorial judgment about the cutesy elements of this satire, which in typical Russian style are being piled on with a forklift.)

      But, of course, Obama was supposed to be the exact opposite of what he is now depicted as, in many foreign countries. He was going to repair America’s broken relations with all the hurting folks out there. They were going to love us. They were going to really love us.

      The “reset/overcharge” button with Russia? The Cairo address to the Muslim world in 2009? The public flagellation of America’s supposedly imperialist self-image, overconfidence, false belief in national exceptionalism?

  14. Syria war: Fresh clashes near Aleppo as refugee crisis grows (BBC, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35508379

    “Fierce clashes have been reported near Aleppo in northern Syria, as government forces try to surround rebels holed up in the strategic city.

    Monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said about 120 fighters on both sides had been killed around the town of Ratyan on Friday.

    As many as 20,000 refugees fleeing the fighting have spent the night at a border crossing with Turkey.

    Turkey says it is prepared to help the refugees but the frontier is shut.

    In the past few days, the Syrian army backed by Russian air power has made a series of gains in Aleppo province.

    Syrian state TV said on Friday that pro-government forces had seized Ratyan, just north of Aleppo city.”

    • EUROPE’S CLOSED: 70,000 Syrians head for Turkish border as authorities shut off country (express, Feb 6, 2016)
      http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/641687/EUROPE-S-CLOSED-70-000-Syrians-head-for-Turkish-border-as-authorities-shut-off-country

      “Turkey has sealed off its border with Syria for two days after intense bombing has spread into the countryside and whittled away the rebel-held city.

      Already 20,000 Syrians are at the Bab al-Salam border crossing and another 50,000 are on their way, an official with the Turkish disaster agency AFAD.

      It follows 10,000 people rushing to each northern city Azaz and Afrin, just north of Aleppo and closer to the Turkish border.

      Aid agencies in southern Turkey are frantically trying to help the people massing at the Bab al-Salam border crossing following the most sustained assault on the area in the five years since the civil war began.

      Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said they would continue to feed and shelter the refugees in the towns of Azaz and Afrin in north-western Syria, but did not say when or if they would be allowed in.

      Turkey is the starting point for thousands of migrants wanting to reach Western Europe, with groups crossing to Greece on boat, before travelling through borders in eastern Europe.

      But Sherif Elsayed-Ali, deputy director of global issues at Amnesty International, said: “Turkey must not close its doors to people in desperate need of safety….”

      • Russian ‘SPETSNAZ’ commandos on the ground in Syria to crush ISIS as 70,000 refugees flee (express, Feb 6, 2016)
        http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/641550/Syria-war-Russian-spetsnaz-Aleppo-ISIS-70000-refugees-flee

        “RUSSIAN ‘Spetsnaz’ special forces troops have surrounded the Syrian city of Aleppo amid fierce fighting in the besieged city, according to reports.

        Commandos sent by the Kremlin are apparently working covertly to support Syrian government forces who say they are close to retaking parts of the city from Islamic State control.

        Russian airstrikes have intensified in recent days in a bid to crush ISIS and rival rebel groups that have laid claim to vast swathes of the city since the civil war erupted in 2011.

        David Daoud, a Middle East analyst at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, told an American news website: “Russian-Hezbollah cooperation and coordination in Syria has been going on since the outset of Russia’s entry into the civil war.”

        “Iranian and Hezbollah sources have openly admitted, on a number of occasions, that Hezbollah ground operations during key battles in the war were carried out with Russian air support.

        “So it wouldn’t be surprising that there’s now cooperation between Hezbollah’s ground forces and Russian special forces.”…”

        • The Russian Spec Ops people are among other things working as forward air controllers, they will call in the air strikes to eliminate the hard points that are holding up the advance.

          City fighting is the hardest type of fighting and causes the most causalities on both sides.

    • Turkey: Police keep border closed as 50,000 refugees queue on Syrian side

      People and trucks were stopped at the Oncupinar border crossing near Kilis following an announcement that around 50,000 Syrian refugees were waiting to get into Turkey, Saturday morning. Turkish police stopped those who wanted to enter Syria, including truck drivers who were told they could not pass through.

      Several kilometres away, at the Syrian border gate, an estimated 50,000 Syrians are reportedly waiting to enter Turkey after escaping the fighting in and around Aleppo, which has become heavier in the last few weeks.

      Meanwhile, refugees on the Turkish side could be seen going about their daily tasks at a small refugee camp that was set up around two years ago.

  15. US military abuse scandal: Pentagon releases 198 prisoner photos (BBC, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35511425

    “Nearly 200 photographs linked to allegations of abuse by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan over a decade ago have been released by the Pentagon.

    The photos were released in response to a freedom of information request by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

    The images show mainly bruises and cuts on prisoners’ arms and legs.

    The abuse scandal erupted in 2004 when shocking photos emerged of US soldiers appearing to sexually humiliate and torture detainees in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib.

    None of the photos released on Friday involved detainees held in Abu Ghraib or at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Pentagon said.

    A Pentagon spokesman said the photos had “come from independent criminal investigations into allegations of misconduct by US personnel”.

    About 14 of the allegations were substantiated – leading to the disciplining of 65 service personnel, ranging from letters of reprimand to life imprisonment. About 42 allegations were unsubstantiated, the spokesman said…”

  16. Attacks on ‘Jungle’ migrants investigated by French prosecutors (BBC, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35508746

    “French prosecutors are investigating at least six attacks on migrants at the makeshift Calais camp called the Jungle, the BBC understands.

    Assaults on people living there are increasing, volunteer legal teams have claimed, and they described the situation as “endemic”.

    One Syrian, called Ahmed, told the BBC he and his friends had been severely beaten one night and taken to hospital.

    About 5,000 migrants trying to reach the UK are thought to live at the camp.

    Ahmed suffered a broken jaw and a black eye. One of his friends suffered a severe concussion, and was under medical supervision for four days because of a bleed on the brain.

    The men say the attack on them lasted about 20 to 30 minutes.

    Marianne Humbersot, the head of a legal centre opened by volunteers in the camp about a month ago, says she has been told of 20 attacks in the last two weeks.

    Many migrants do not want to make a complaint to the police, she says.

    The investigations have not yet identified any individuals, but Jean-Pierre Valensi, one of the main prosecutors in the region, says they know they drive a black BMW and use metal weapons.

    Bulldozers started to clear part of the makeshift camp last month.

    The move was part of a new housing project which is aimed at improving conditions in the camp.”

  17. Twitter suspends 125,000 ‘terrorism’ accounts (BBC, Feb 5, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35505996

    “Twitter says it has suspended more than 125,000 accounts since mid-2015 “for threatening or promoting terrorist acts”.

    In a blog, the US-based firm said the accounts “primarily related to ISIS” (the so-called Islamic State group).

    “We condemn the use of Twitter to promote terrorism,” it said, adding that it had increased its report reviewing teams to react faster.

    Twitter has more than 500 million users around the world…”

  18. Egypt’s army says 10 “terrorists” killed in fresh North Sinai raids (ahram, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/186853/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt%E2%80%99s-army-says–terrorists-killed-in-fresh-Nort.aspx

    “Egypt’s army killed ten “terrorists” and injured 13 others in fresh raids on militant hideouts in troubled North Sinai, the army spokesman said on his Facebook page Friday.
    Ground forces carried out raids in Al-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah, aided by army helicopter cover.

    Forces also arrested six on suspicion of carrying out attacks against security forces.

    The army was able to find and destroy an underground tunnel north of the Rafah border crossing, replete with cement walls, electricity and light and used in smuggling.

    Egypt has been long working to quell a decade-long Islamist insurgency that spiked in the past three years.

    Terrorist attacks in Egypt have killed hundreds of security forces in recent years. Authorities have reported that hundreds of militants have been killed in army campaigns in the North Sinai governorate.”

  19. Deter hate speech, urges Germany’s Tillich (DW, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://www.dw.com/en/deter-hate-speech-urges-germanys-tillich/a-19030612

    “German Saxony state premier Stanislav Tillich says far-right Pegida movement leaders who call for violence against foreigners should be prosecuted. Europe is bracing for far-right rallies and counter-demonstrations.

    Tillich preempted anti-foreigner rallies due on Saturday in European cites including Dresden, the capital of Germany’s conservative-run regional state of Saxony, by calling on prosecutors to intervene against hate speech used by far-right leaders.

    During speeches, Pegida organizers were increasingly resorting to open hostility toward foreigners and politicians, Tillich told Germany’s Funke Media Group.

    The concern, whose post-war origins lie in the Westdeutscher Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) newspaper based in Essen, also has outlets in Austria, Hungary and Croatia.

    “We must show Pegida and its supporters that transgressions of the law will have penal consequences,” said Tillich (pictured above (R) last August).

    “State attorneys are increasingly required to act. Pegida can no longer smooth over its rhetoric,” he said.

    Saxony’s premier said differentiations needed to be made between Pegida’s leaders and its followers, who he said were expressing multifaceted societal frustration.

    “Our challenge is to draw the followers back into dialog. In democracy one resolves conflict with arguments,” said Tillich, whose Saxony region has been the scene of numerous anti-foreigner incidents….”

  20. Nine killed in Quetta blast targeting FC (tribune, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/1041489/four-injured-in-quetta-blast-3/

    “At least nine people were killed Saturday when a huge explosion took place in Quetta’s Multan Chowk area.

    Four officials of the Frontier Corps (FC) were killed in the blast, while the identities of the other five are yet to be ascertained.

    “Four members of the FC have been killed in the blast, while the remaining five are locals,” Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani confirmed while speaking to The Express Tribune.

    The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have claimed responsibility for the attack….”

  21. Journalist in coma after being shot in head by gunman in Baghlan (khaama, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://www.khaama.com/local-journalist-in-coma-after-shot-in-the-head-by-gunman-in-baghlan-4546

    “A local journalist has been in coma after a gunman shot him in the head in Pul-i-Khumri, the provincial capital of northern Baghlan province.

    Mohammad Ibrahim Hashemi and Mohammad Musa Hashemi, both brothers and employees of Adib Radio, were attack on their way home in first police district of the city on Thursday night.

    Mohammad Ibrahim sustained serious injuries and went to coma. His brother Mohammad Musa who survived the gun shots was wounded after severely beaten up.

    Habib-ur-Rahman regional manager of Adib Radio said that the man who fired the gun has been detained by police.

    NAI, an organization that supports open media in Afghanistan urges government to bring the culprit to a public trial.

    Abdul Mujib Khilwatgar, Executive Director of NAI said that the attacker has been detained and government needs to bring him into justice.

    This was at least the fourth attack on journalists in Afghanistan since the last month.

    Eight journalists have lost lives and more than 20 others sustained injuries in these attacks.

    This comes as President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has ordered all security institutions to take necessary measures for protecting journalists.”

  22. 12 Daesh militants killed in clash with security forces in Nangarhar (khaama, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://www.khaama.com/12-daesh-militants-killed-in-clash-with-security-forces-in-nangarhar-4548

    “12 militants from the terrorist group of the Islamic State (IS) or Daesh have been killed in a clash with security forces in eastern Nangarhar province.

    Nangarhar governor’s spokesperson said the clash erupted in Sayed Ahmadkhil area of Kot District in the wee hours of Saturday.

    Ataullah Khogyani added that the clash left 12 militants killed and 10 others wounded.
    According to Khogyani, security forces did not suffer casualties but two civilians sustained injuries by bullets fired by the insurgents.

    Kot is one of the at least seven districts of Nangarhar province where the militants have a stronger presence.

    Taliban were the primary security challenge for security forces but Daesh which emerged in Nangarhar about 14 months before has been proved more dangerous.

    The group’s larger presence has been witnessed in Nangarhar but a new report shows that it has 7,000 to 8,000 fighters all over Afghanistan.”

  23. 68 militants killed in counter-terrorism operations led by Afghan army (khaama, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://www.khaama.com/68-militants-killed-in-counter-terrorism-operations-led-by-afghan-army-0085

    “At least sixty eight anti-government militants were killed in latest counter-terrorism operations led by the Afghan National Army (ANA) forces in the past forty eight hours.

    The Ministry of Defense (MoD) in two separate statements provided an operational update regarding ongoing counter-terrorism operations in different parts of the country.

    In the first statement, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said at least 36 militants were killed and 26 others were killed in the operations conducted in Nangarhar, Kunar, Ghazni, Herat, Baghlan, Helmand, and Badakhshan provinces.

    The statement further added that seven militants were detained and various types of weapon and ammunition were confiscated by the security forces.

    In the second statement, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said at least 32 militants were killed and five others were wounded during the operations conducted in Paktia, Ghazni, Zabul, Baghlan andnangarhar provinces.

    The statement also added that three commanders of the anti-government armed militants along with two producers of homemade improvised explosive device were among those killed and various homemade land mines were discovered and seized during the operations.

    The anti-government armed militant groups have not commented regarding the reports so far.”

  24. Germany: Pro-immigrant activists rally against PEGIDA in Dresden

    Thousands of left-wing, pro-immigrant activists took to the streets of Dresden, Saturday, to protest against the anti-Islam group PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West), which is set to hold a rally in the city later in the day.

  25. 16 Pakistani militants affiliated with ISIS killed in Afghanistan airstrikes (khaama, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://www.khaama.com/16-pakistani-militants-affiliated-with-isis-killed-in-afghanistan-airstrikes-0086

    “At least sixteen Pakistani militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group loyalists in Afghanistan, were killed in separate airstrikes in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.

    According to the local government officials the militants were killed in two separate raids in Batikot and Achin districts where the loyalists of the terror group are largely operating.

    The airstrikes were apparently carried out by the foreign forces using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a local official said, adding that a vehicle carrying the loyalists of the terror group was targeted in the first raid.

    The official further added that five militants were killed in the raid while eleven others were killed in the second raid that targeted a gathering of the loyalists of the terror group.

    The district administrative chief for Achin Ghalib Mujahid confirmed that sixteen militants, all hailing from Pakistan were killed in the air raids…”

  26. Merkel urges better protection of EU external borders (reuters, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-merkel-idUSKCN0VF0BQ

    “German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Saturday for better protection at the European Union’s external borders in order to maintain the passport-free Schengen zone.

    Merkel, who opened her country’s borders to Syrians fleeing civil war last summer, is under increasing pressure to limit the influx of migrants after more than a million arrived in Germany last year.

    A poll published this week showed popular support for Merkel had tumbled to a four-and-a-half-year low with more than 80 percent of Germans doubting her government had the refugee crisis under control.

    “We need to protect our external borders because we want to keep Schengen,” Merkel said in her weekly podcast.

    Failing to protect the EU’s external borders would jeopardize free movement of people which is the basis for the bloc’s wealth, Merkel added.

    In particular, the protection of external borders is not turning out very well where the EU has sea borders, she said, referring indirectly to Greece, which has seen a huge influx of migrants and refugees coming in over water via Turkey, without mentioning the country by name.

    The European Commission has warned Greece it could face more border controls with other states of the free-travel Schengen zone in May, if it does not fix “serious deficiencies” in its management of the area’s external frontier.

    Merkel will travel to Ankara on Monday to meet with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to try and find a joint solution, including legal quotas for refugees in order to stop people trafficking.”

  27. Austria’s finance minister asks EU to cover costs of additional migrants (reuters, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-austria-idUSKCN0VF0A3

    “Austria’s Finance Minister Hans-Joerg Schelling has asked the European Commission to provide 600 million euros ($670 million) to cover the costs of taking in additional refugees, a ministry spokesman said on Saturday.

    Austria budgeted for 35,000 asylum seekers annually at a cost of 11,000 euros per person but took in some 90,000 people in 2015, the spokesman quoted the minister as saying in a letter to the head of the EU executive, Jean-Claude Juncker.

    “Concerning the migration crisis it is high time the Commission returned to its normal function as an independent institution representing the general Community interest and start acting as such,” Schelling said in the letter, part of which was published by the daily Kurier.

    Austria and neighboring Germany threw open their borders last year to hundreds of thousands of people pouring into Europe, many of them fleeing conflicts in Syria and elsewhere.

    Despite an initial outpouring of sympathy for the migrants, public concern about the influx has fueled a rise in support for the far right in Austria. Last week Vienna said it would step up deportations of migrants to countries it deems safe.”

  28. Labour party’s men BLASTED for ‘blocking Muslim women from running for office’ (express, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/641645/Labour-Party-Jeremy-Corbyn-Muslim-Women-Network-UK-Britain-Office-Islam

    “MALE Labour councillors have been accused of discriminating against Muslim women in the party and blocking them from running for office.

    Women’s rights organisation Muslim Women’s Network UK (MWNUK) has called for an inquiry into allegations that Muslim women were discriminated against.

    MWNUK wrote to Jeremy Corbyn to urge the Labour leader to investigate “systematic misogyny displayed by significant numbers of Muslim male local councillors”.

    The organisation claimed that the problem had been an “open secret” within the Labour party, accusing Labour being “complicit at the highest levels”.

    The letter suggested that Muslim men within the party had been allowed to operate under the “patriarchal ‘biradari’ system”.

    MWNUK’s chairwoman Shaista Gohir accepted the issue was not confined to Labour and she has also written to David Cameron urging him to launch an independent inquiry into the barriers to political participation faced by black and ethnic minority women.

    But she said “from our experience, Muslim women are most affected by Labour Muslim male councillors due to the latter’s number in certain towns and cities”.

    She told Mr Corbyn: “As this is an open secret and has been going on for decades, we can only assume that the Labour Party has been complicit at the highest levels.

    “How do men who do not want Muslim women to be empowered or have a voice remain in power unless the Labour Party allows it?

    “It appears that over decades senior Labour politicians have deliberately turned a blind eye to the treatment of Muslim women because votes have been more important to them than women’s rights.”

    Ms Gohir claimed that “able, knowledgeable and independent-minded Muslim women have been undermined, sabotaged and blocked from becoming councillors”, with many selection “deals” stitched up behind closed doors.

    She said: ”We would like the Labour Party to hold an independent inquiry into how Muslim women are being marginalised by local Labour politicians.”

    Muslim women also told BBC2’s Newsnight of the obstacles they had faced trying to stand for office.

    Optician Fozia Parveen claims her efforts to become a Labour councillor in Birmingham in 2007-2008 were scuppered by men within the party.

    She said: “At the time, I was aware of a smear campaign against me, they said that I was having an affair with one of the existing councillors. I was quite taken aback. People were turning up at my family home trying to intimidate my mum.”

    She claimed Muslim men who were members of the local Labour party were behind the efforts to prevent her from standing.

    Shazia Bashir was the first choice for Labour in a seat in Peterborough in 2007 but claimed that she was pressured “because I didn’t have my father’s consent and support, I had to step down”.

    She added: “I was pressured into stepping down.”

    A Labour spokesman said: “The Labour Party’s selection procedures include strong positive action procedures such as all-women shortlists and rules to ensure women are selected in winnable council seats.

    “We have the best record of any party in selecting women and BAME candidates, and we will continue to do all that we can to make sure candidates are representative of the communities they seek to represent.

    “The Labour Party has a fair, democratic and robust procedure for selecting council candidates. Local Labour Party members select their local candidates within the party’s rules and guidelines. Those wishing to become Labour councillors are interviewed by an independent assessment team and unsuccessful candidates have a right of appeal to the regional party board.””

  29. Austria: Iraqi refugee arrested over rape of 10-year-old boy at swimming pool

    An Iraqi refugee has been arrested over the rape of a 10-year-old boy at the Theresienbad swimming pool in Vienna, a police spokesperson confirmed on Saturday.

    SOT, Roman Hahslinger, police spokesperson, chief inspector (German): “A complaint was filed because of the rape of a 10-year-old boy in the Theresienbad swimming pool. And we could determine the suspect, it is a 20-year old fellow, who lives in Vienna and he was arrested. He was later admitted into the Josephstadt prison.”

    SOT, Roman Hahslinger, police spokesperson, chief inspector (German): “The fact is that the rape of the 10-year-old boy occurred obviously or probably. It was confirmed after interrogation and the court will proceed further with the case.”

    SOT, Roman Hahslinger, police spokesperson, chief inspector (German): “The suspect is an Iraqi citizen, who lives in Vienna and has a refugee status.”

    SOT, Roman Hahslinger, police spokesperson, chief inspector (German): “The topic of refugees certainly is occupying all at the moment, however people do not need to get worried, Vienna is a safe city, nothing has changed about that yet.”

  33. Austria, Hungary warn over migrant influx

    Austria and Hungary on Saturday warned that if Greece cannot control the flood of refugees arriving from Turkey then the EU should consider reinforcing the borders of their Balkan neighbours.

    Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, whose country has set a refugee cap of 37,500 for this year, said the European Union did not seem to fully realise “how serious the situation is.”

    “I say this very clear — if we do not manage to control the situation… our only option will be to cooperate with Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia,” Kurz said after an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Amsterdam.

    More than a million migrants, mostly Syrians fleeing their war-torn country, landed in the 28-nation European Union last year, most of them crossing into Greece from Turkey, and then making their way through the Balkans to Germany and other northern member states.

    The influx has exposed sharp differences and called into question the future of the Schengen passport-free zone as several countries — among them Germany, Austria, Hungary, Sweden — have re-introduced border controls.

    Despite repeated efforts to halt the inflow, several thousand people a day still make the dangerous trip from Turkey to Greece and an upsurge in fighting in Syria threatens to make the problem even worse.

    – Foot the bill –

    Fanning the controversy, Austria media quoted Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling as demanding Brussels foot a bill Vienna estimates at 600 million euros ($670 million) for Austria taking in some 90,000 asylum seekers last year, saying his country could only afford to pay for 35,000.

    Kurier daily reproduced part of a letter to that effect which Schelling sent on January 25 to EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

    The finance ministry was not immediately available for comment.

    Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said separately that the EU was “defenceless from the south.”

    “If Greece is not ready or able to protect the Schengen zone … then we need another defence line, which is obviously Macedonia and Bulgaria,” Szijjarto said.

    Hungary has taken the lead in calls for erecting a fence along Greece’s northern border in the same way it built a razor-wire barrier along its own southern frontier last year.

    Athens says it is doing its best but the numbers have overwhelmed the resources of a small country which is also struggling to get its economy back on track after a third debt bailout was agreed last year.

    Earlier this week, the EU said Greece had to remedy a series of failings in order to re-establish full control over the border with Turkey and so preserve the Schengen area, prized as one of the bloc’s greatest achievements.

    If Greece failed to comply, then Brussels could allow other member states to extend border controls for up to two years, an option officials say they want to avoid at all costs.

    http://www.afp.com/en/news/austria-hungary-warn-over-migrant-influx

    Austria mulls sending troops to Balkans to shut off refugee flow

    Vienna is considering deploying troops and police to the Balkans to reduce the flow of refugees on the route between the Turkish coast and Central Europe. “In the worst case” they will be stopped on the Austrian border, officials warn.

    At an informal meeting of EU’s foreign and defense ministers in Amsterdam on Friday, Austria’s top officials said Vienna is working out hardline approaches towards refugees who reach Western Europe via the so-called Balkan route.

    This 2,819-kilometer route is now the main passageway for refugees trying to reach Western Europe and Scandinavia via the Balkans.

    It begins on the Turkish coastline, where migrants embark on boats or improvised vessels, and then goes through mainland Greece and Slovenia. Non-EU Macedonia and Serbia are harder to reach due to border closures and newly erected fences.

    Greece must protect its Turkish borders better, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz told the informal meeting. “If not, we’ll find other ways […] to reduce, suppress or perhaps even stop the influx,” he said, as quoted by Spiegel.

    Austria’s solution would be army and police deployments in the Balkan countries to secure borders and help register incoming refugees. “If Greece doesn’t want to receive help, then Macedonia and others are ready to do so,” Kurz said, naming Serbia among the “others.”

    Most migrants want to reach wealthier Germany and Scandinavia despite the long journey, and, in some cases, the illegal border crossings they have to undertake. According to the EU’s border agency Frontex, in 2015 alone more than 764,000 refugees crossed Europe’s regional and common borders illegally – 16 times more than in 2014.

    The future military mission could be set up by the EU, a coalition of affected countries or bilaterally, the Austrian foreign minister added.

    Austrian Defense Minister Hans Peter Doskozil, who also took part in the EU meeting, said the army is ready to go for a “combined civil-military mission in the Balkans” if necessary, citing the 100-strong military task force already involved in Frontex missions.

    “Border protection is also a question of our military cooperation,” he said.

    “In worst-case scenarios,” if military options don’t work, Austria is considering stopping refugees directly at its borders, Foreign Minister Kurz added.

    This should “send a message” to Slovenia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina urging them to cooperate, the diplomat said, hinting at the trouble “hundreds of thousands” of refugees could bring to those small countries.

    In March, Austrian defense officials are scheduled to discuss the military mission to seal off the Balkan route with Serbia, Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia, Spiegel reported.

    Austria is among the European countries that are imposing stricter policies on refugees. Earlier in January, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann announced a plan to introduce a cap on the number of asylum requests that can be approved in 2016, fixing it at 37,500.

    The move added to the foreign minister’s assessments that Austria, with a population of less than 8.5 million people, has so far accepted the second highest number of refugees per capita in Europe, topped only by Sweden.

    https://www.rt.com/news/331551-austria-military-balkans-refugees/

  34. 0:03 / 1:01:41
    Is The European Migrant Crisis Leading To War? | Paul Joseph Watson and Stefan Molyneux

    • An even more unexpected face in the crowd was Trevor Philips, the equalities and diversity guru under New Labour who recently said that Muslim communities are “unlike others in Britain” and “will not integrate in the same way”.

      “I didn’t say much more than ‘British Muslim tend to behave like Muslims’”, he told Breitbart London today, when asked about the comments. When asked if his policies of multiculturalism were part of the reason that groups like PEGIDA exist today, he said: “I’m sure that people will blame me for all sorts of problems”.

  38. Five migrants saved from channel after trying to sail to Britain from Calais

    It is not often that migrants attempt to get into Britain the hard way, by crossing the channel from France on their own.

    However conditions are so bad in Calais’ migrant “jungle” that some are prepared to risk their lives to get out of it.

    Five migrants attempted the crossing in a three-metre boat on Saturday, but one of them swam back to shore for help after taking on water. The men had a lucky escape, but still needed treatment for hypothermia.

    “They wouldn`t have held out for much longer, one of them had severe hypothermia. They were just exhausted and mostly scared by their misadventure,” said the President of the Calais branch of the French National Rescue at sea association Bernard Barron.

    The jungle continues to grow despite the French authorities opening other facilities, and at its busiest was home for some 5000 people.

    Less crowded now, it remains a place of despair with inadequate sanitation and poor protection from the elements.

    http://www.euronews.com/2016/02/06/five-migrants-saved-from-channel-after-trying-to-sail-to-britain-from-calais/

  40. DAILY MAIL – A world divided: Violent clashes break out across the globe as thousands take to the streets in anti-Islam protests organised by far-right group PEGIDA

    Protesters have clashed with immigration supporters and police forces during planned far-right demonstrations
    Organised by anti-Islam group PEGIDA, cities across Europe and Australia saw thousands take to the streets
    The confrontational rallies were held in cities that included Prague, Amsterdam, Dresden, Calais and Canberra

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3435093/A-world-divided-Violent-clashes-break-globe-thousands-streets-anti-Islam-protests-organised-far-right-group-PEGIDA.html

  42. Anti-Islam Groups Rally Across Europe; Clashe s in Amsterdam (abcnews, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/thousands-part-anti-islam-protests-europe-36756953

    “Protesters rallied against Islam and immigration in several European cities Saturday, sometimes clashing with police or counter-demonstrators amid growing tensions over the massive influx of asylum-seekers to the continent.

    Riot police clashed with demonstrators in Amsterdam as supporters of the anti-Islam group PEGIDA tried to hold their first protest meeting in the Dutch capital. Only about 200 PEGIDA supporters were present, outnumbered by police and left-wing demonstrators who shouted, “Refugees are welcome, fascists are not!”

    Dutch riot police detained several people as officers on horseback intervened to separate the two groups of demonstrators. It was not immediately clear how many people were detained.

    In Germany, up to 8,000 people took part in a PEGIDA rally in Dresden, according to the independent group Durchgezaehlt, which monitors attendance figures. Up to 3,500 people took part in a counter-demonstration on the other side of the Elbe River that divides the city, it said.

    No incidents were reported at the event.

    In the northern French city of Calais, police dispersed a rowdy anti-migrant protest with tear gas after clashes with protesters and detained several far-right demonstrators.

    Around 150 militants from the anti-Islam, anti-immigration group PEDIGA gathered Saturday chanting slogans like: “We must not let Calais die!”

    Calais has been a focal point for migrants who want to slip into Britain via the Channel Tunnel. Several thousand have been living there in slums for months.

    PEGIDA, whose German acronym stands for ‘Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West,’ has become a magnet for far-right and anti-immigrant sentiment since it was founded in Dresden two years ago. After a drop in attendance last spring, the group saw a rise in support from people angered by the unprecedented influx into Europe of refugees from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

    Aside from its nationalist and anti-Islam stance, the group has also sided strongly with Russia. Several Russian flags were flown at Saturday’s rally in Dresden, along with banners including “Peace with Russia” and “Stop war against Syria.”

    Smaller PEGIDA-style protests were also taking place in France, Britain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Denmark, Finland and Estonia.”

  43. Tunisia Unveils Anti-Jihadi Fence on Libyan Border (abcnews, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/tunisia-unveils-anti-jihadi-fence-libyan-border-36759040

    “Tunisia’s defense minister has visited an anti-jihadi fence that’s being built on the country’s border with Libya to stop Islamist militants from entering Tunisian territory.

    Defense Minister Farhat Horchani inspected the first completed part of the 196-kilometer (122-mile) fence Saturday, which aims to counter the threat from jihadi militants and render the entire border impassable by vehicles. Horchani said the project came about with financial assistance from Germany and the U.S.

    Military personnel and dozens of journalists were also given a tour of the defense structure, composed of sand alongside water-filled trenches and monitoring centers.

    The fence initiative was announced last summer after two terrorist attacks in three months killed 59 foreign tourists and garnered world attention.”

  44. AU and Somali Troops Retake Somali Town From Militants (abcnews, Feb 6, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/au-somali-troops-retake-somali-town-militants-36759748

    “A Somali military official says allied African Union and Somali troops have retaken the town Marka one day after Islamic extremist fighters took control of the center following the withdrawal of African Union forces.

    Col. Nur Hassan said Saturday that the troops entered the town after a brief battle with militants who fled to the outskirts.

    Marka lies about 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.

    Al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab has recently been attacking military positions of African Union troops bolstering Somalia’s weak government against the militants’ insurgency. Last month the extremist group claimed it killed at least 100 Kenyan soldiers in an attack on the African Union peacekeepers. Al-Shabab has carried out attacks on most African countries contributing to the African Union peace keeping force.”

  45. …. in coordination with the U.S…..

    Saudi Arabia, Turkey Pushed Syrian Opposition to Leave Talks

    GENEVA — The Syrian opposition abruptly withdrew from peace talks in Geneva this week under pressure from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, two of the main backers of the rebels, according to diplomats and at least a half-dozen opposition figures.

    When stepped-up regime offensives in Syria, backed by Iran and Russia, escalated on Monday, Riyadh and Ankara began to consider telling the opposition to withdraw, according to Turkish and Saudi diplomats present in Geneva this week with the opposition.

    About a half-dozen cities and towns targeted in the new regime offensives have one thing in common: All were held by a mix of Islamist and moderate rebel groups funded and armed by Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Complicating the picture is that some, but not all, of these groups collaborate with the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. That gives the regime and its allies fodder for their claim that they are fighting terrorism.

    “The Russian offensives were painful,” said Louay Hussein, a prominent Syrian opposition leader and a member of the delegation that was going to engage in indirect talks with the regime. “So the Saudis and Turks said: ‘Stop. These are my cards and I am losing them one after another.’ ”

    Another opposition delegate, Monzer Makhous, said the decision to leave the talks was rather easy. To have remained while the offensive escalated around Aleppo would have meant losing the support of rebels on the ground, he said.

    “We want to preserve the trust of the Syrian people,” he said.

    The focus of all parties is shifting to Munich, where a meeting this coming week will bring together international powers involved in the five-year conflict, including the U.S., Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. They are expected to focus first on forging a cease-fire, albeit a partial one, in the hope that this would enable the parties to restart the talks in Geneva on a political transition.

    But ahead of those talks, events on the ground are moving quickly as both sides try to position themselves for a possible return to the negotiating table. Syrian regime and Iran-backed forces encircled the country’s biggest city, Aleppo, threatening to cut off a major rebel supply route to Turkey, as thousands of civilians fled Russian airstrikes.

    “The escalation in Russian military operations could have had two objectives: Improve the situation of the regime before a cease-fire or antagonize the Syrian opposition so that it abandons the negotiations, which is what happened,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Thursday, before correcting himself and blaming the regime for the breakdown in talks.

    Speaking to The Wall Street Journal in Geneva this week, one senior Turkish official said his country would never accept a settlement in Syria that doesn’t take into account its own interests.

    “We are not after a quick fix in Syria, we are after a big reward in the form of permanent stability in Syria because we took a huge burden,” he said referring to Turkey’s hosting of 2.5 million refugees and financial and political assistance to Syrian rebels and opposition members over nearly five years.

    On Friday, pro-regime forces including Iranian fighters and foreign Shiite militiamen supported by Iran, captured with the help of Russian airstrikes the town of Ratyan on the outskirts of Aleppo, according to opposition activists as well as media outlets affiliated with Iran and the Syrian regime. The town is situated along the main lifeline for the opposition to neighboring Turkey. Later some opposition activists said half of the town remained contested and that fierce fighting was ongoing.

    If captured, it would be the fifth town or village these forces seized from rebels since Monday, a development that has allowed them to lift a siege imposed by opponents of President Bashar al-Assad on two Shiite and pro-regime towns near Aleppo, Nubl and Zahraa. The Assad regime is dominated by the minority Alawite sect, which is linked to Shiite Islam, while the opposition and its regional backers are mainly Sunni.

    Airstrikes by the regime and its allies expanded Friday to the rebel-held eastern half of Aleppo city, antigovernment activists said.

    In the south, regime forces aided by Russian warplanes and Iran-backed militias captured the strategic town of Ataman, considered the gateway to the city of Daraa, according to the Syrian military and opposition activists. It was the second strategic town rebels lost in the south within 10 days.

    All of these places were held by a mix of Sunni Islamist and moderate rebel groups funded and armed by Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and Turkey and in some cases IN COORDINATION WITH THE U.S.

    http://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-arabia-turkey-pushed-syrian-opposition-to-leave-talks-1454722008

    Ratyan – Syria – Feb 06 2015 ( graphic )

    • ....and these clowns are the ones fighting for democracy in Syria :

      google translation of the title :

      Appeal from Sheikh Abu Anas Alknakra to the mujahedeen after the fall of the villages of the northern Aleppo countryside

  46. RT -Netherlands: PEGIDA supporters clash with police in Europe-wide anti-islam rally

    lashes erupted between police and supporters of the Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA) in Amsterdam, Saturday, as part of a Europe-wide protest against the so-called ‘Islamisation of Europe’ by the anti-Muslim ‘Fortress Europe’ coalition.

    Thousands of PEGIDA activists and far-right nationalist groups held banners reading “Close the borders” and “Rapefugees not welcome” as well as chanting anti-islam slogans. The protest was countered by a large group of pro-refugee activists who chanted “Nazis out” and held banners reading “Refugees welcome.”

    The Europe-wide protests follow the signing of the ‘Prague Declaration’ agreement between anti-Islam groups across Europe during a meeting in Prague in late January. The ‘Fortress Europe’ coalition resulted from the meeting and expresses a commitment to oppose “political Islam” and reject the European Union, defending the right of all European nations to guard their sovereignty and borders.

  49. USA: “Special place in hell” for women who don’t help Clinton – Madeleine Albright

    Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright introduced Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton at a rally in New Hampshire on Saturday, telling the voters “you have to help” and that “there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.”

  50. DAILY MAIL – Astonishing aerial image shows huge expansion of Calais Jungle now home to 7,000 migrants waiting for their chance to cross the Channel

    Astonishing aerial image shows the huge expansion of Calais Jungle from six months ago to how camp looks today
    Last summer it was home to about 3,000 migrants awaiting their chance of a new life across the Channel in the UK
    Now its population, made up of 22 nationalities, edges towards 7,000 but conditions still dangerous and unsanitary
    Aerial picture brings into sharp perspective the problem facing David Cameron and the impact of an EU referendum

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3435361/Need-bigger-emergency-brake-Prime-Minister-Astonishing-aerial-image-shows-huge-expansion-Calais-Jungle-home-7-000-migrants-waiting-chance-cross-Channel.html