In order to preserve the flow of conversation about various posted items, and also in order to make it easier for visitors to find the list of related links being shared by other readers, regulars and interested parties in one place, each day a post is automatically created at a minute past midnight ET.
This way, under the various posts of the day, conversation can take place without as much ‘noise’ on the various links and articles and ideas in the main posts and all the news links being submitted can be seen under these auto-posts by clicking on the comments-link right below these ones.
Thank you all for those that take the effort to assist this site in keeping the public informed. Below, typically people can find the latest enemy propaganda, news items of related materials from multiple countries and languages, op-eds from many excellent sites who write on our topics, geopolitics and immigration issues and so on.
Migrant crisis: Greece starts deportations to Turkey (BBC, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35956836
“The first boats carrying migrants being deported from Greece to Turkey have departed under an EU plan aimed at easing mass migration to Europe.
Scores of migrants were seen boarding ferries on the Greek island of Lesbos early on Monday.
They are being sent to Dikili, western Turkey. Turkish officials said they expected to receive around 500 people.
The EU-Turkey deal has been attacked by rights groups and there are concerns over a lack of preparation.
Migrants in Greece have complained of a lack of information about the asylum procedure and some said they were unaware they could be returned.
The EU agency responsible for escorting people back across the Aegean has less than one-tenth of the staff needed to do the job, the Associated Press reported.
Another ferry carrying migrants to Turkey is also due to leave the Greek island of Chios on Monday…”
Saudi Arabia has executed 82 people already this year – including 47 on one day
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3521381/British-Government-urged-pressure-Saudi-Arabia-executions-reach-record-high-82-people-year.html#ixzz44q5Ixhej
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
BRIGHTON TERROR PLOT: Teen ISIS jihadis ‘planned’ gun and knife attack on seaside town (express, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/657779/Islamic-State-ISIS-terror-plot-Brighton-jihadis-Syria
“A GANG of nearly 30 young people from seaside town Brighton have been unmasked as budding jihadis who were feared to be plotting a terrorist attack.
Counter-terrorism officials identified the large group, of which roughly half are teenagers, as highly likely to flee to the Islamic State (ISIS) strongholds of Iraq and Syria.
The 28 strong gang, which includes five teenage girls who converted to Islam, were thought to be planning a terror attack in Brighton using knives or a pistol.
But it transpired five people, including three brothers, already slipped the clutches of UK security and managed to travel to war-torn Syria, joining up with Jabhat al-Nusra, an affiliate of al-Qaeda.
A further three, including one girl, have court orders preventing them from leaving for Syria.
The radicalised gang only emerged as part of a wider review for the council into three brothers who left their family home to take up arms in the country ravaged by civil war.
Amer, 22, Abdullah, 18, and Jaffar Deghayes, 17, left for Syria in 2014, along with their childhood friend Ibrahim Kamara, 19.
All but Amer are thought to have been killed fighting, who is still believed to be in Syria.
A report by counterterrorism officials revealed they feared some of the radicalised group were planning a Lee Rigby style attack on the streets of Brighton, home to 273,000 people.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, a source said: “The first threat level that they were concerned about is that some of them would take a knife and kill people, a bit like what happened in the Lee Rigby attack.”…”
Neo-Nazis bring Dover to a standstill and clash with police after marching through the town chanting ‘no more refugees’ a day after #refugeeswelcome was projected onto white cliffs
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3520511/Scuffles-break-police-far-right-protesters-Dover-just-day-refugeeswelcome-projected-white-cliffs.html#ixzz44qAWzYH1
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Blindfolded and led away for interrogation, suspected ISIS jihadis are routed out after attempting to join 3,000 families returning home to Ramadi after Iraqi city was recaptured from the group
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3522012/Blindfolded-led-away-interrogation-suspected-ISIS-jihadis-routed-attempting-join-3-000-families-returning-home-Ramadi-Iraqi-city-recaptured-group.html#ixzz44qBPdyeP
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Ankara: Coalition destroy ISIL-occupied Turkish consulate in Mosul with consent from Turkey (hurriyetdailynews, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ankara-coalition-destroy-isil-occupied-turkish-consulate-in-mosul-with-consent-from-turkey.aspx?pageID=238&nID=97265&NewsCatID=352
“Aircraft from a U.S.-led coalition have destroyed the Turkish consulate compound in Mosul, which has been occupied by fighters of the Islamist State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) since June 2014, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has said.
“The compound of our Mosul Consulate-General, which has been under DAESH occupation since 2014 and where, according to intelligence provided, high-level DAESH terrorists have resided, was targeted and destroyed by war aircraft belonging to countries that are members of the International Coalition for the Fight against DAESH at 3 a.m. on April 4, 2016,” the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement released early on the morning of April 4, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL.
“Turkey’s views and approval were taken at all stages concerning the preparation and execution of the said operation,” the ministry said.
“Our country will continue fighting against DAESH in coordination and cooperation with the international coalition in the activities in which it has participated since the beginning,” the ministry said.”
Iraq: Bomb attacks ‘kill at least 25’ across the country (BBC, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35958761
“At least 25 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a series of bomb attacks across Iraq, reports say.
As many as 10 suicide bombers carried out the attacks, according to media reports.
The victims were said to be mostly members of the Iraqi security forces and allied Shia militias.
The so-called Islamic State (IS), which controls territory in northern and western Iraq, said it was behind some of the attacks.
The targets included an army checkpoint in north Baghdad and a restaurant in Nasiriyah in southern Iraq, according to AFP.
In recent months Iraqi forces, backed by Shia militias and US air strikes, have regained control over significant parts of Iraq from IS…”
Here are the famous politicos in ‘the Wikileaks of the mega-rich
It’s being called the “Panama Papers” — a trove of 11.5 million leaked internal documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, showing how hundreds of thousands of people with money to hide used anonymous shell corporations across the world. Fusion’s investigative unit was one of the more than 100 media organizations that dove into the files — and found drug dealers, arms traders, human traffickers, fraudsters. We also found no shortage of politicians or their family members.
Here is a listing of current and former world leaders connected to the files. Check out Dirty Little Secrets, Fusion’s full investigation into the leak and the underworld it exposes.
For additional information on these names and more, read “The Power Players,” an interactive presentation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), from which much of this information is gleaned.
http://fusion.net/story/287227/famous-presidents-shell-companies-trove/
Dirty Little Secrets
It’s a parallel universe for the ultra-rich and ultra-powerful. But a massive new leak has exposed their underworld.
Fusion goes inside the law firm that sells secrecy to drug dealers, dictators and alleged sex traffickers.
One April morning in 2014, Jurgen Mossack, the tall, German-born co-founder of the prominent Panama City law firm Mossack Fonseca, shot off an agitated email with the subject line “Serious Matter URGENT” to three top members of his staff. There was trouble brewing in the British Virgin Islands, a “secrecy jurisdiction” whose white-sand beaches and blue Caribbean waters conceal a barely-regulated haven for people who wish to create shell corporations. Many of those people employ Mossack Fonseca to perform precisely this service.
“Swindled investors call the office constantly. We need to resign from this company immediately,” Mossack wrote. “At any moment, the police arrive, and we end up in the newspapers.”
As a “registered agent,” Mossack Fonseca provides the paperwork, signatures, and mailing addresses that breathe life into shell companies established in tax havens around the world — holding companies that often create nothing and sell nothing, but shelter assets with maximum concealment and a minimum of fuss.
Jurgen wanted to pull the plug on representing one such firm that was raising red flags. For weeks, investors in an entity called Swiss Group Corporation had been contacting Mossack Fonseca, wondering why their annuity payments had suddenly stopped, why they had received only vague emails, whether they had been a victim of a fraud.
“SWISS GROUP CORP has shown no transparency in their processes,” one woman wrote from Colombia on March 31, 2014, “and now, I am worried about the investment I made 5 years ago, which is my only means of living.”
One April morning in 2014, Jurgen Mossack, the tall, German-born co-founder of the prominent Panama City law firm Mossack Fonseca, shot off an agitated email with the subject line “Serious Matter URGENT” to three top members of his staff. There was trouble brewing in the British Virgin Islands, a “secrecy jurisdiction” whose white-sand beaches and blue Caribbean waters conceal a barely-regulated haven for people who wish to create shell corporations. Many of those people employ Mossack Fonseca to perform precisely this service.
“Swindled investors call the office constantly. We need to resign from this company immediately,” Mossack wrote. “At any moment, the police arrive, and we end up in the newspapers.”
As a “registered agent,” Mossack Fonseca provides the paperwork, signatures, and mailing addresses that breathe life into shell companies established in tax havens around the world — holding companies that often create nothing and sell nothing, but shelter assets with maximum concealment and a minimum of fuss.
Jurgen wanted to pull the plug on representing one such firm that was raising red flags. For weeks, investors in an entity called Swiss Group Corporation had been contacting Mossack Fonseca, wondering why their annuity payments had suddenly stopped, why they had received only vague emails, whether they had been a victim of a fraud.
“SWISS GROUP CORP has shown no transparency in their processes,” one woman wrote from Colombia on March 31, 2014, “and now, I am worried about the investment I made 5 years ago, which is my only means of living.”
Panama Papers: Massive Tax Haven Document Leak Exposes Corruption and Crime on Global Scale
A trove of files obtained by German journalists reveals how a global industry of law firms and large banks sell financial secrecy services to politicians, crooks and drug dealersA massive leak of millions of documents has revealed that heads of state, criminals and celebrities conduct and sometimes conceal their business activities in tax havens. The leak exposes holdings in shadowy companies that are owned by 11 past and present heads of state, and reveals how partners of Russian President Vladimir Putin clandestinely transferred no less than $2 billion through banks and companies registered in tax shelters.
The source of the leaked documents is a very powerful yet not very well-known law firm called Mossack Fonseca. This firm has branches in Hong Kong, Miami, Zurich and more than 35 other locations around the world, among them Israel. The documents reveal many Israeli connections and disclose that businesspeople with Israeli citizenship as well as Israeli banks and companies have used the law firm to register companies in tax havens around the world.
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/1.712456?v=7FB22AE7C3FD1E9FFFAAEA8D7F99A063 as well as
billionaires, celebrities and sports stars.
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/1.712456?v=7FB22AE7C3FD1E9FFFAAEA8D7F99A063
Russian Bank Chief DenThe head of a major Russian state-owned bank dismissed as nonsense reports that President Vladimir Putin is linked to as much as $2 billion in offshore transactions allegedly involving people close to the Kremlin leader.
“Mr. Putin was never involved. It’s bulls**t,” Andrey Kostin, chief executive officer of VTB Group, Russia’s second-largest lender, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Monday. He also rejected allegations that the lender made unsecured loans through a Cyprus-based subsidiary to a close friend of the president.
ies Putin Link to $2 Billion Offshore Loans
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-04/vtb-chief-says-putin-isn-t-linked-to-2-billion-offshore-loans
This is too huge and murky for me.
I’ll be watching for reports from respectable analysts. I’m sure they’re jumping all over it now, together with the disinfo meisters.
It would be interesting (but very scary) to be in on this investigation. I am not going to say much about it but will post interesting articles, the reason I am not going to say much is that this one will take decades if not longer for the full facts to come out, if they ever do.
Most of what we will get is spin and BS and I won’t have enough data to separate most facts from spin from BS.
I have enough to do with things I hope to understand without taking on another galaxy.
New Germany sounding a lot like old Germany, as Muslims march down street chanting this
It’s probably just a misunderstanding. That was the case with the phrase “Islamist terrorism’ vanishing from the White House video of comments made by French President François Hollande at the fourth Nuclear Security Summit in Washington.
I, like so many others, wrongly assumed that the deletion of those words from the soundtrack of the video was intentional — that Obama, who is loath to refer to radical Islam by name, was responsible for expurgating the Islamophobic slur.
The real explanation, it turns out, was a technical glitch. That was the narrative advanced by the administration after a number of news outlets reported the incident.
It stands to reason, therefore, that the video embedded in the following tweet shows something other than a rally in which Muslims chant “With Allah’s help, we shall conquer you.”
http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/04/03/new-germany-sounding-a-lot-like-old-germany-as-muslims-march-down-street-chanting-this/
https://youtu.be/eOag1BZDb4o
The comments are awfully good too. The regulars are first-rate and they’re the Good Guys.
That they are.
Molenbeek: Muslim Woman Run Down In Street During Anti-Islam Protests [Updated]
Update: the drivers of the car have been reported as Molenbeek residents
Redouane D. and Mohamed B. Both are thought to have taken turns driving
during Saturday’s incident, Redouane before the collision with the
victim, and Mohamed after. Reports indicate that both drugs and alcohol
may have been a factor.
http://www.inquisitr.com/2956252/molenbeek-anti-islam-protestors-run-down-muslim-woman-in-street/
I watched it the other night and they did a slow motion of the car as it passed and it was definitely an Arab in the front with a phone, so when they said it was right wingers running down a Muslim woman I laughed my head off. That was total bullshite…
ISIS targeting Med TOURISTS with deadly chemical weapons ‘and Britain’s NEXT’ (express, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/657995/Morocco-ISIS-warning-spy-chief-warns-terrorists-planning-mustard-gas-attack-tourists
“HOLIDAYMAKERS visiting a Mediterranean destination popular with Britons narrowly avoided a chemical attack after police swooped on a terror cell 24 hours before they were due to strike.
According to a senior spy chief, Islamic State jihadis were planning a mustard gas attack on four Moroccan cities as well as a strike by a teenage suicide bomber on a tourist area or government building in the country.
The shocking revelations of February’s attacks came from Abdelhak Khiame, Morocco’s head of counter-terrorism, who warned one of the chemicals was so powerful it would kill anyone who touched it.
Chillingly he warned the plot could well have been a dry run for a similar mission in Britain.
He said: “It’s very possible that Daesh [another name for ISIS] would use this process to target Britain and other EU countries.
“It already has brigades of children and we know they train them in their camps looking to use them in terrorist attacks in Europe.
“As for chemical weapons, we have seen here how easy they are to prepare.”.
Worryingly, the counter-terrorism chief said the same ingredients used to make that substance were available in the UK.
He said: “The substances used in the plot we dismantled in February in Morocco are available in shops all over Britain, all over Europe.
“They can use very simple substances in order to develop these weapons and it is very easy.”…”
World figures deny wrongdoing as ‘Panama Papers’ turn spotlight on tax evasion
LONDON/PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – Governments across the world began investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful on Monday following a leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm which allegedly showed how clients avoided tax or laundered money.
The documents detailed schemes involving an array of figures from friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin to relatives of the prime ministers of Britain, Iceland and Pakistan and as well as the president of Ukraine, journalists who received them said.
While the “Panama Papers” detail complex financial arrangements benefiting the world’s elite, they do not necessarily mean the schemes were all illegal.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tax-authorities-begin-probes-people-named-panama-papers-060627626–sector.html
ISIS in Europe: How Deep is the “Gray Zone”?
by Giulio Meotti
April 4, 2016 at 5:00 am
In the 1970s and ’80s, Europe was terrorized by a war declared by Communist armed groups, such as the Germany’s Baader Meinhof or Italy’s Red Brigades. Terrorists seemed determined to undermine democracy and capitalism. They targeted dozens of journalists, public officials, professors, economists and politicians, and in Italy in 1978, even kidnapped and executed Italy’s former prime minister, Aldo Moro.
The big question then was: “How deep is the ‘gray zone’?” — the sympathizers of terrorism in the industrial factories, labor unions and universities.
In the last year, the Islamic State’s henchmen slaughtered hundreds of Europeans and Westerners. Their last assault, in Brussels, struck at the heart of the West: the postmodern mecca of NATO and the European Union.
We should now answer the same question: How deep is the “gray zone” of the Islamic State in Europe?
Peggy Noonan recently tried to give an answer in the Wall Street Journal:
“There are said to be 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. … Let’s say only 10% of the 1.6 billion harbor feelings of grievance toward ‘the West’, or desire to expunge the infidel, or hope to re-establish the caliphate. That 10% is 160 million people. Let’s say of that group only 10% would be inclined toward jihad. That’s 16 million. Assume that of that group only 10% really means it — would really become jihadis or give them aid and sustenance. That’s 1.6 million.”
That is a lot.
According to a ComRes report commissioned by the BBC, 27% of British Muslims have sympathy for the terrorists who attacked the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris (12 killed). An ICM poll, released by Newsweek, revealed that 16% of French Muslims support ISIS. The number rises to 27% percent for those aged 18-24. In dozens of French schools, the “minute of silence” to commemorate the murdered Charlie Hebdo’s journalists was interrupted by Muslim pupils who protested it.
Be sure and read this article, it is well worth the time spent.
Massachusetts Islamism
by Samuel Westrop
April 4, 2016 at 4:30 am
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7765/massachusetts-islamism
A number of Massachusetts Muslim groups, led by Cambridge city councilor Nadeem Mazen, are currently spearheading a campaign against the Obama administration’s program, Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), which has designated Boston as one of its pilot cities.
From the government’s perspective, Boston was an obvious choice. The city has a long, unfortunate history of producing internationally-recognized terrorists, including the Tsarnaev brothers, who bombed the Boston marathon; Aafia Siddiqui, whom FBI Director Robert S. Mueller describes as “an al-Qaeda operative and facilitator;” Abdulrahman Alamoudi, the founder of the Islamic Society of Boston, and named by the federal government as an Al Qaeda fundraiser, and Ahmad Abousamra, a key official within Islamic State, whose father is vice-president of the Muslim American Society’s Boston branch.
During the past decade, in fact, twelve congregants, supporters, officials and donors of the Islamic Society of Boston alone have been imprisoned, deported, killed or are on the run in connection with terrorism offenses.
Despite these alumnae, a number of extremist Islamic organizations, such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), have claimed that the government’s attempt to combat radicalization “targets American Muslims” and “undermines our national ideals.”
Cambridge city councilor Nadeem Mazen, who is also a director of CAIR’s Massachusetts branch, has spoken at a number of anti-CVE rallies, condemning the government’s approach as “authoritarian” because it included “violent practices like surveillance and racial profiling.”
In response, Robert Trestan, the Massachusetts director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), points out that the CVE program “is relatively new in this country. It’s not fair to judge it yet and be overly critical.” He added: “Nothing I’ve seen or participated in has gone anywhere near proposing or suggesting anything close to surveillance, crossing the line of people’s civil rights or profiling.”
If you have read the previous post you will understand this questions, How deep is the Gray Zone? The higher the support the longer the war and the harsher the methods needed to win.
This description significantly understates the threat here in the Hub.
Where'd I put that diazepam?I knew you were going to comment on this one.
I don’t know how close you are to the danger zone but if I were living there I would have a bug out bag ready with several routes to evac out when the escape and evade time arrives.
OT When you can find a copy of the movie 1776 and watch it, I don’t know where it is on line but will keep looking I just found another copy (the first migrated from my property to the property of a late female friend). It is the true story of how the Declaration of Independence was written. The only lines in the movie that weren’t spoken by the historical person was at the end of the play when John Adams told the South that they had their precious slavery now vote. In reality he said you have your precious slavery but mark my words in a hundred years it will tear this nation apart. The people writting the script thought no one would believe he called the future that close.
I’m at Ground Zero.
But so’s my cemetery plot, so that’s convenient.
OT
I’d love to see the movie 1776.
Approaching the time I polish my swords. They’re genuine, so I don’t lend them to the people who reenact the battle at Concord and on Lexington Green. They practice all year for the event.
OOT
I still can’t sign in to Postcards. Please say hi to our dear – AWOL – friend. Not really AWOL; she was kind enough to leave word so we wouldn’t have to worry so.
The media co-conspirators with the ‘Palestinians’?
Steven Emerson
By Steven Emerson
Published April 4, 2016
The willful blindness of the Western media and intellectual elites to Palestinian incitement and their hyper-focus on any incident they can use to portray Israel in a negative light were on abundant display last week when footage emerged of an Israel Defense Forces soldier shooting a wounded and disarmed Palestinian terrorist.
Since then, The New York Times and The Washington Post have run no fewer than 16 stories about the incident. This volume of coverage reinforces the patently mendacious Israel-is-evil “narrative” promoted by the mainstream media, the liberal elites in bed with Palestinian and jihadist killers, the demonstrably one-sided United Nations, and the sanctimonious rants of several congressional leaders who claim they are speaking out in the name of human rights.
Meanwhile, these same news outlets consistently fail to speak out against the massive and ongoing denial of human rights, suppression of basic freedoms and daily torture meted out to any Palestinian dissident by both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Many of these violations have been investigated and documented in horrific detail by the courageous Palestinian human rights advocate Bassam Eid.
No, the “narrative” does not allow mainstream news outlets to file negative reports on Palestinian human rights violations, their rampant corruption, and most importantly, their massive incitement to terrorist violence, which is being promoted by the very leadership of the Palestinian Authority. This includes vile lessons in how to kill Jews, taught in U.S.-sponsored Palestinian schools and universities, and instructional videos on stabbing and murdering Jews being shown to thousands of Palestinian schoolchildren.
The latest incident to manifest the “narrative” took place on March 24, when two Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron stabbed an Israeli soldier. Soldiers then shot them in self defense, killing one and leaving the other critically wounded and lying on the ground. Video of the incident taken by an activist belonging to the left-wing group B’Tselem showed an IDF soldier shooting the wounded Palestinian in the head, in clear violation of military rules. The IDF says it intends to seek manslaughter charges.
Read more at http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0416/media_co-conspirators.php3#oY37mibzOtggWmBs.99
Greece: Pro-refugee demo too late as first migrants deported to Turkey from Lesbos
The protesters however missed the vessels taking the first migrants from the island.
Greece: First Pakistanis and Moroccans deported back to Turkey from Lesbos
Greece: First Chios refugees deported as EU-Turkey deal comes into effect
Greece: Lesbos refugees board boats to Turkey as deportations begin
Turkey: First deported refugees arrive in Dikili from Greece
Turkey: EU-Turkey refugee swap kick starts as migrants arrive in Dikili
Busted! Iran caught arming anti-US terrorists
When President Barack Obama was defending his heavily criticized nuclear deal with Iran — and the need to free $100 billion in frozen Iranian assets — he said the choice was between diplomacy or war.
Now it looks like the Iranians took the money and chose war.
The country, whose supporters take to the streets to chant “Death to America,” has just been caught funding and shipping thousands of weapons to Islamic terrorists.
On Monday, the U.S. Navy says it seized a shipment in the Arabian Sea from Iran likely heading to the hands of anti-US extremists in war-torn Yemen.
The Navy said in a statement Monday that the USS Sirocco on March 28 intercepted and seized the shipment of weapons hidden aboard a small dhow, a type of ship commonly used in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean.
The Navy said the shipment included 1,500 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 200 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and 21 .50-caliber machine guns.
A Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition is fighting in Yemen against Shiite jihadists and their allies there. Officials have linked similar weapons seizures to Iran and the Shiite rebels, though the rebels deny receiving support from the Islamic Republic.
https://thehornnews.com/14253-2/
First Syrians arrive in Germany under EU-Turkey pact
Europe’s Dubious Turkish Deal May Be a Problem for Us Too
The first illegal migrants have begun returning to Turkey, the nation from which most made the hijra, or Islamic migration, to Europe. Beleaguered Europeans shouldn’t pop the champagne corks, though.
They’re unlikely to get relief from an invasion of their continent by mostly military-age Muslim males. For one thing, under a deal struck with Turkey by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Turks can send the EU one so-called “refugee” for every illegal migrant shipped out.
Still more problematic is the European Union’s promise no longer to require Turkish travelers to obtain visas. That would surely translate into an even larger Muslim migration – including jihadists – with visitors overstaying and taking advantage of the EU’s still-porous interior borders.
And from Europe, it will be relatively easy for some to get to the United States, too.
http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2016/04/04/europes-dubious-turkish-deal-may-be-a-problem-for-us-too/
Turkey: The Business of Refugee Smuggling, Sex Trafficking
by Uzay Bulut
April 3, 2016 at 5:00 am
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7756/turkey-refugees-sex-trafficking
On International Women’s Day, March 8, Turkish news outlets covered the tragic life and early death of a Syrian child bride.
Last August, in Aleppo, Mafe Zafur, 15, married her cousin Ibrahim Zafur in an Islamic marriage. The couple moved to Turkey, but the marriage ended after six months, when her husband abruptly threw out of their home. With nowhere to sleep, Mafe found shelter with her brother, 19, and another cousin, 14, in an abandoned truck.
On 8 March, Mafe killed herself, reportedly with a shotgun. Her only possession, found in her pocket, was her handwritten marriage certificate.
Mafe Zafur is only one of many young Syrians who have been victims of child marriage. Human rights groups report even greater abuse that gangs are perpetrating against the approximately three million Syrians who have fled to Turkey.
A detailed report on Syrian women refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants in Turkey, issued as far back as 2014 by the Association for Human Rights and Solidarity with the Oppressed (known in Turkish as Mazlumder), tells of early and forced marriages, polygamy, sexual harassment, human trafficking, prostitution, and rape that criminals inflicted upon Syrians in Turkey.
According to the Mazlumder report, Syrians are sexually exploited by those who take advantage of their destitution. Children, especially girls, suffer most.
Evidence, both witnessed and forensic, indicates that in every city where Syrian refugees have settled, prostitution has drastically increased. Young women between the ages of 15 and 20 are most commonly prostituted, but girls as young as thirteen are also exploited.
Secil Erpolat, a lawyer with the Women’s Rights Commission of the Bar Association in the Turkish province of Batman, said that many young Syrian girls are offered between 20 and 50 Turkish liras ($7-$18). Sometimes their clients pay them with food or other goods for which they are desperate.
Why Are Christians Leaving the Holy Land?
by Lawrence A. Franklin
April 3, 2016 at 4:30 am
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7754/christians-holy-land
No one of good will, especially Catholics, wants to accuse a prominent member of his faith of being knowingly untruthful. The truth rarely is found in the Palestinian public narrative. But in case of the latest repetition of Father Fouad Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, falsely blaming Israel for the ongoing spate of Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians, it appears certain from his consistent record of non-nuanced criticism of Israel, that he is motivated by a political bias.
Twal proclaimed that Israel’s alleged “occupation” of “Arab Palestine” is the cause of the murderous violence visited on Israeli civilians by Arab attackers — apparently “forgetting” that the Jews have lived in the region for nearly 4000 years. He was also apparently forgetting that the leaders of the Palestinian Authority (PA) have been glorifying such “acts of resistance” since the autumn of 2014. How can Twal ignore the reality that Palestinian media has been glorifying these knife attacks as “glorious feats.” In Palestinian schools, in fact, the attackers are hailed as heroes.
Outright lies are also part of the PA and Hamas propaganda campaigns. Palestinian Authority leader Mahmud Abbas, for instance, has claimed that a Palestinian boy, who was hit by a car after stabbing an Israeli child, was executed by Israeli troops, when it was well known that the perpetrator was alive and being cared for in an Israeli hospital.
Twal’s position is one that appears driven by ideological loyalty to a political cause, rather than that of a shepherd who attends to the spiritual needs of his flock. Even if Twal were concerned merely with the physical needs of his faithful, one would think that his focus would be on the real primary concern of his Catholic communities in the Holy Land — which is security. Twal also “forgets” the basic reason for the accelerating departure of Christians from Palestinian areas: the principal cause for this negative pattern is Islamic intolerance of religious minorities, not the Israeli occupation of Arab Palestinian territory.
Twal will be hard pressed to find many Palestinian Christians ready to accuse Israel or the actions of Israel Defense Force (IDF) personnel as the reason for Christian emigration. Many have already have voted with their feet by settling in Israel, where they can practice their faith without restriction. Thousands of Catholics now work in Israel, where they enjoy complete religious liberty. One has only to see how difficult it is to find a seat in the crammed Catholic Churches at Sunday Masses in Tel Aviv.
Xinjiang: Bob Woodruff’s Journey Inside Alleged ISIS Breeding Ground
18 min
Greece: Muslims scuffle with drivers over highway blockade near Idomeni
Footage from the scene shows frustrated drivers and passengers confronting Muslims with the Greek riot police rushing to intervene and remove the blockade from the highway. One automobile is seen trying to go around the blockade by driving on the roadside before being stopped by the Muslims.
Those feral boys are most alarming.
US seizes thousands of Iranian weapons, including grenade launchers, in Arabian Sea
The crew of a U.S. Navy ship stopped a massive Iranian arms shipment dead in its tracks, seizing thousands of weapons, AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers that likely were headed to Yemen, the Pentagon announced Monday.
The seizure, which unfolded in the Arabian Sea on March 28, was the third of its kind in recent weeks, military officials say. Iran has been supporting Houthi rebels in Yemen in their proxy war against a Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States. Like Iran, the Houthis are a Shia-led group.
The arms shipment appears to mark the latest provocative action from the defiant Islamic republic, which reported last month that it tested missiles marked with the phrase “Israel must be wiped out.” And on Monday, the Iranian government warned the U.S. to butt out of trying to control its missile program. “The White House should know that defense capacities and missile power, specially at the present juncture where plots and threats are galore, is among the Iranian nation’s red lines… and we don’t allow anyone to violate it,” Deputy Chief of Staff Brig-Gen Maassoud Jazzayeri told state media.
On Friday, President Obama said Iran was obeying the “letter” of its landmark nuclear agreement with the West, but not the “spirit” of it.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/04/04/us-seizes-thousands-iranian-weapons-including-grenade-launchers-in-arabian-sea.html
Turkish, American delegations meet to seek a formula over PYD role
Days after Turkish and American presidents, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Barack Obama respectively, held talks in Washington D.C. to discuss future phases of the joint fight against jihadists in Syria and Iraq, a delegation composed of United States’ soldiers and a diplomat has arrived in Ankara to find a formula over the role of the military wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in plans to re-take the Manjib region.
Diplomats, soldiers and intelligence officers from two sides met in Ankara on April 4, daily Hürriyet learnt from sources, and focused on plans to retake the Manbij area from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) through an offensive to be carried out by the PYD, deemed as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) by Turkey.
With concerns that the PYD would take advantage of its battles against ISIL in northern Syria to increase its territory for future goals of declaring an autonomous region, Turkey has urged the U.S. not to regard this organization as a reliable partner in this fight. Last week’s intensive talks in Washington D.C. between high level officials sought to find an efficient way to let the PYD fight against ISIL but to disallow the group from taking direct control of the area.
The talks in Ankara are believed to have produced a formula satisfying both sides’ concerns. Washington is unwilling to stop using the PYD as an efficient military force in the anti-ISIL fight, while Turkey demands the U.S. to acknowledge the group as an affiliate of the PKK and understand that any support given to this group increases the capacity of the terrorist organization.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan negotiated hard terms with U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden last week in Washington where he was attending the Nuclear Security Summit, Turkish sources said, according to an earlier report penned by Hürriyet’s Washington reporter, Tolga Tan??.
According to his report, the U.S. has asked for Turkey’s support to take back Manbij, which lies at the southeastern end of the 98-kilometer border Turkey shares with Syria that is controlled by ISIL. Turkey in return put forth two demands.
Erdogan first demanded that the Syrian Arab tribes to be included in the Manbij operation leave the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is under the control of the PYD, and undergo “background checks.”
Turkey also demanded the U.S. increase its support for the groups Turkey supports at Marea, which is located on the southwestern end of the 98-kilometer border, with airstrikes.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-american-delegations-meet-to-seek-a-formula-over-pyd-role-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=97294&NewsCatID=510
Russia Accuses Turkey of Arming Extremists in Syria
Russia is accusing three Turkish foundations of supplying weapons and military equipment to Islamic State extremists in Syria and says $1.9 million worth of explosives and industrial chemicals were smuggled across Turkey’s border to extremist groups.
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council circulated Friday that Turkey is the main supplier of weapons and ammunition to IS fighters. He said the transfers are overseen by the country’s National Intelligence Organization and are delivered mainly by vehicles, “including as part of humanitarian convoys.”
In an email, a spokesman for Turkey’s U.N. Mission said the Russian letter “obviously contains baseless allegations which we totally reject.” He pointed out that many Turkish citizens have been killed in attacks by IS, which he called a national security threat.
Russia’s air campaign that began on Sept. 30 has helped close ally Syria make broad advances on the ground in the five-year-old war that has killed over 250,000 people. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other regional players have backed opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad and are loath to see him strengthen his grip on power.
The Turkish spokesman said Russia’s letter was “an attempt to overshadow the civilian deaths, havoc and destruction in Syria caused by the military operations of the Russian Federation, the regime’s staunchest ally.”
The Islamic State group is on the back foot in Iraq and Syria, where forces on the ground supported by U.S.-led airstrikes have targeted the extremists. Russian aircraft are also targeting IS positions. The U.S.-led international coalition estimates that the militant group has lost 40 percent of the territory it once held in Iraq and around 20 percent of its territory in Syria.
Churkin’s letter gave details of convoys with military equipment and munitions for IS fighters, and of funding allegedly arranged by the three foundations. It said one foundation has sent 7,500 vehicles with various supplies to IS-controlled territory since 2011.
The letter said that among the supplies delivered to IS were ammunition for TOW anti-tank missile systems, RPG-7 grenade launchers and small arms, M-60 recoilless rifles, 82mm mortar shells, hand grenades, communication tools and equipment from the Turkish intelligence services.
The letter also said “smuggling explosives and industrial chemicals to terrorist groups operating in Syria is also usually organized from Turkish territory” through the border crossings. “In order to pass through the border controls unimpeded, effectively with the complicity of the Turkish authorities, products are processed for companies that are purportedly registered in Jordan and Iraq,” it said.
Churkin said large consignments of explosives are often transported by water, especially the Euphrates River.
The letter listed the total supplies of explosives and industrial chemicals sent “to terrorists through Turkey in 2015.” It said 2,500 tons of ammonium nitrate worth approximately $788,700 were sent along with 456 tons of potassium nitrate worth $468,700, 75 tons of aluminum powder worth $496,500, sodium nitrate worth $19,400, glycerin worth $102,500, and nitric acid worth $34,000.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/russia-accuses-turkey-arming-extremists-syria-38089726
==========================================
UN Report: Turkey Is Main Supplier Of Weapons To ISIS
Moscow has submitted evidence of Turkey’s illegal arming of ISIS militants in Syria to the UN Security Council, saying that Turkey are the biggest sponsor of terrorism and supplier of weapons to ISIS fighters than any other country.
Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin announced, “the main supplier of weapons and military equipment to ISIL fighters is Turkey, which is doing so through non-governmental organizations. Work in this area is overseen by the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey“.
According to the envoy, transportation “mainly involves vehicles, including as part of humanitarian aid convoys.”
The letter mentioned several NGOs – funded from Turkish and foreign sources – which sent different cargo, including military equipment, to Syria last year.
“The Besar foundation (President — D. Sanli) is most actively engaged in pursuing these objectives and, in 2015, formed around 50 convoys to the Turkmen areas of Bayirbucak and Kiziltepe (260km north of Damascus),” Churkin stressed, adding that the Iyilikder Foundation and the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms were also involved.
The deliveries are performed through various checkpoints on the Turkish-Syrian border as well as waterways, particularly the Euphrates River, the letter said.
The weaponry received by the terrorists in recent months included TOW anti-tank missile systems, RPG-7 grenade launchers, M-60 recoilless rifles, and hand grenades, as well as various ammunition and communications tools, it added.
According to the Russian envoy, terrorist groups operating in Syria received explosive materials worth $1.9 million from Turkey last year.
“Total supplies to terrorists through Turkey were as follows in 2015: 2,500 tons of ammonium nitrate (worth approximately US$788,700); 456 tons of potassium nitrate ($468,700); 75 tons of aluminum powder ($496,500); sodium nitrate ($19,400); glycerin ($102,500); and nitric acid ($34,000),” Churkin wrote.
Calls have intensified for an international investigation into Turkey’s links with Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants, following RT’s reports implicating Ankara in IS’s illegal oil trade and the smuggling of looted antiquities.
In a recent interview with Sputnik, Syrian President Bashar Assad labelled the militants fighting in his country as “the army of Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” accusing his Turkish counterpart of directly supporting the terrorists.
In late 2015, the Russian military released a batch of evidence, including satellite images, of columns of oil tanker trucks moving into Turkey from the areas controlled by Islamic State in Syria.
Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Turkey has been the main transit route for foreign recruits joining Islamic State, Al-Nusra Front and other terror groups in its neighbor state, with reports suggesting the militants were allowed to cross the border unimpeded.
http://nworeport.me/2016/04/03/un-report-turkey-is-main-supplier-of-weapons-to-isis/
Ukraine: Turkish warships deployed in Odessa in Turkish-Ukrainian deal
I don’t know how long before the shooting starts between Turkey and Russia but it will probably be this spring or summer.
CEO of SNCF** on Sunday announced 50% increase in the budget for the protection of station and trains, which now stand a 400 million euros.
Among measures — 3000 security officers in train in civilian clothes, armed patrols in trains. SNCF officers can search travelers’ luggage upon their arrival at the station.
http://www.lefigaro.fr/conjoncture/2016/04/03/20002-20160403ARTFIG00125-des-agents-sncf-armes-patrouilleront-dans-les-trains.php
**Société nationale des chemins de fer français; “National society of French railways”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ3hnKwAki0
The gas company is screwing me around, so this is what I say to the fucki ng frogs.
Back to the future. Coming to a theatre near YOU – soon.
How Nazi Propaganda and the Muslim Brotherhood Led to the 1948 Israel-Arab War
A look back at one of the most fateful turning points in 20th century history.
Although the UN plan for partitioning Palestine into Jewish and Arab states was opposed by the vast majority of Arab leaders, most were long unwilling to go to war to prevent it from happening. What pushed the states to war, argues Matthias Kuenzel, was the persistent lobbying of the Muslim Brotherhood, its ability to shape popular Arab opinion with the help of Nazi-sponsored anti-Semitic propaganda, and its support for Grand Mufti Amin Haj al-Husseini—a former collaborator with the Nazis who rejected any compromise with the Jews:
In 1947 most Arabs in Mandatory Palestine itself were opposed to war. Tens of thousands of them had found work in Jewish-dominated economic sectors such as citrus-fruit production. Moreover, they were aware of the Zionists’ military strength. . . . There was a similar absence of war-like intentions in the Arab League states of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Transjordan, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. In August 1946, the Jewish Agency reported that “the Egyptians agree that there is no other acceptable solution to the Palestine question except partition.” . . . .
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/262387/how-nazi-propaganda-and-muslim-brotherhood-led-mosaic-magazine
GERMANY – PEGIDA – DRESDEN – April 4 2016
White British pupils ‘lag behind ethnic minority peers’ (BBC, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/education-35958498
“White British pupils in England make less progress in school compared to other ethnic groups, a report suggests.
The Centre Forum says that while ahead at age five, this group slips to 13th place behind those of Chinese, Indian, Asian and black African heritage by the time they sit GCSEs at the age of 16.
The study also says pupils in England’s schools are not performing as well as their peers around the world.
The government welcomed the report, saying it was right to raise standards.
The Centre Forum study, which looks at a wide range of factors surrounding education in England, found pupils from Chinese or Indian backgrounds were likely to make the most progress…”
Taliban app removed from Google store (BBC, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35959534
“Alemarah, an app for Android phones created by Islamist fundamentalist group the Taliban, has been removed from Google’s Play Store.
The content of the app, in the Pashto language, included official statements and videos from the Afghan movement.
The hardline group blamed “technical issues” for its disappearance shortly after it launched on 1 April.
However the BBC understands it was taken down because it violated a Google app policy which prohibits hate speech.
It was discovered and reported by a US-based organisation called Site Intel Group which monitors jihadist activity.
Google declined to comment on specific app issues…”
Djibouti expels BBC reporters ahead of presidential vote (BBC, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35958465
“The BBC has written to the government of Djibouti to ask why a reporting team was detained for 16 hours and then expelled without explanation.
They were in the country ahead of the presidential elections on 8 April.
After interviewing the foreign minister and an opposition candidate, they were detained by plain clothes security officials and questioned for eight hours before being put on a plane.
There has not yet been a response from the Djibouti government…”
Destruction, Razed Monastery Left Behind by ISIS in Syria Town (abcnews, Apr 4, 2016)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/air-strikes-kill-22-qaida-linked-militants-syria-38130239
“Syrian troops fired their guns in celebration amid smoldering buildings inside the town of Qaryatain on Monday, hours after recapturing it from retreating Islamic State militants who had abducted and terrorized dozens of its Christian residents.
An Associated Press crew was among the first journalists to enter the town and witnessed the destruction wrought on the once-thriving Christian community and its fifth-century monastery, which was bulldozed by the extremist group last summer.
Once a cherished pilgrimage site, much of the St. Elian monastery had been reduced to a pile of stones…”
Azerbaijan Says 3 Killed in Fighting With Separatist Region (abcnews, Apr 4, 2016)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/azerbaijan-killed-fighting-separatist-region-38130437
“Fighting raged Monday around Nagorno-Karabakh, with Azerbaijan saying it lost three of its troops in the separatist region while inflicting heavy casualties on Armenian forces and the Armenian president warning that the hostilities could slide into a full-scale war.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Armenian forces continued shelling Azerbaijani military positions and front-line villages despite a cease-fire that Azerbaijan unilaterally declared Sunday.
The ministry said that up to 170 Armenian troops were “neutralized” and 12 Armenian armored vehicles have been destroyed Monday. Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Ovannisian dismissed the claim as a product of the Azerbaijani military’s “wild imagination.”
The Nagorno-Karabakh military in turn claimed that more than 300 Azerbaijani soldiers had been killed since the conflict flared up on Saturday.
The outbreak of hostilities is the worst since a war that ended in 1994, leaving Nagorno-Karabakh under the control of local ethnic Armenian forces and the Armenian military. Armenian forces also occupy several areas outside Karabakh proper…”
Germans told ‘stay away from windows’ for Obama visit (thelocal, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.thelocal.de/20160404/locals-told-stay-away-from-windows-for-obama-germany-visit
“Locals in Hanover have been given a very specific command for when the US President comes to visit – better neither heard nor seen.
When US President Barack Obama arrives in Hanover for a visit on Sunday April 24th, residents have been told very clearly what is expected of them: stay away from windows and do not wave.
Local police issued advisory flyers out of security concerns for some 1,800 residents who live near the Congress Centrum and zoo area, where Obama will be meeting Chancellor Angela Merkel for the Hanover Messe, a major global trade fair for industrial technology.
Police strongly advised residents to abide by the precautions so as not to alarm officers, which could result in an inspection of their home…”
what’s this all about?
Snipers, someone has received very credible info about a possible attack.
EU: Austria’s Schengen closure doesn’t violate rules (thelocal, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.thelocal.at/20160404/eu-austrias-schengen-closure-doesnt-violate-rules
“The imposition of stricter border controls by Austria are not in violation of Schengen Agreement rules, according to the EU’s chief Spokesperson Margaritis Schinas.
The comments came in the wake of Austria’s decision to deploy soldiers to assist with border control at the Italian border.
The move was announced by Austria’s Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ) in an interview carried out with German newspaper Die Welt over the weekend.
“As the EU’s external borders are not yet effectively protected, Austria will soon ramp up strict border controls. That means massive border controls on at the Brenner (Pass), and with soldiers,” he said.
Schinas said that Austria will not violate any Schengen rules if it imposes stricter border controls along the Italian border. However, the introduction of the controls raises new questions over the final closure of the Balkan route, according to a report in EU affairs newspaper New Europe…”
Austria to post soldiers at Italian border (thelocal, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.thelocal.at/20160404/austria-to-deploy-soldiers-at-italian-border
“Austria is to deploy soldiers at its border with Italy as part of a “massive” effort to step up border controls amid growing concerns among politicians about migrants and refugees.
The move was announced by Austria’s Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ) in an interview carried out with German newspaper Die Welt over the weekend.
“As the EU’s external borders are not yet effectively protected, Austria will soon ramp up strict border controls. That means massive border controls on at the Brenner (Pass), and with soldiers,” he said.
The Austrian army is already being used at other border checks around the country but these latest comments will widen the division between Austria and Germany, who are divided over shutting down Europe’s internal borders and keeping them open.
Doskozil’s comments were supported by Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP), who said the government was decided in its policy on tightening border control…”
Air France won’t force air hostesses to wear veil (thelocal, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.thelocal.fr/20160404/air-france-comprises-on-forcing-female-staff-to-wear-veil
“Air France has moved to defuse a growing dispute by agreeing to make an exception for those hostesses and female pilots who refuse to fly from Paris to Tehran because they don’t want to wear the veil.
France’s national carrier has found a compromise agreement with unions after staff complained about having to wear the veil when on flights to Tehran, when they resume on April 17th.
The unions say company chiefs sent staff an internal memo saying that female cabin crew will be required to wear trousers during the flight with a loose fitting jacket and that they must put on a scarf covering their hair when they leave the plane.
Flore Arrighi of the Unac union said before the meeting that she was expecting the airline’s head of human resources, Gilles Gateau, to come up with proposals to end the row.
The union says it wants the Tehran flights to be staffed on a voluntary basis and that any staff who refuse to fly to Iran due to the headscarf rule will not have pay deducted and the refusal will not be noted on their professional record.
And after the meeting it appeared that a compromise had been found with Air France declaring “an exception would be made”.
Unac’s Arrighi said: “We’ve been complaining to them for weeks but it took the media attention for things to move.”
The headscarf rule is already in place when flying to certain destinations, such as Saudi Arabia….”
Germany: Bundeswehr in Mali ‘important for Europe’ (DW, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.dw.com/en/germany-bundeswehr-in-mali-important-for-europe/a-19163696
“Germany’s defense minister has said German soldiers stationed in Mali play a vital role tackling the problems forcing people to flee their homes. Von der Leyen visited troops during a trip to the West African country.
Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Monday praised German soldiers in Mali, saying their mission was “very important for Europe.”
“The more stable this part of West Africa is, the better we’ll be able to succeed together in eliminating the causes of illegal migration,” she said, after arriving in the capital Bamako.
Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world. The country’s north has been riddled with conflict ever since an Islamist rebel group briefly seized control of the region in 2012. Meanwhile, the capital Bamako has become a hub for migrants from Western Africa hoping to get to Libya before crossing the Mediterranean to Europe. More than a million migrants reached Europe in 2015, creating a crisis that leaders are still struggling to address….”
More than 400 soldiers from the Bundeswehr – Germany’s armed forces – are stationed in Mali, considered the most dangerous of their deployments in Africa. Von der Leyen also used her visit to urge the Malian government to implement reforms, including steps to involve regional groups in decision-making and get rebels to lay down their arms.
“It’s in our interest for Mali to remain stable, and for the peace process to succeed,” von der Leyen said.
Syrian refugees arrive in Hanover as part of new deal (DW, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.dw.com/en/syrian-refugees-arrive-in-hanover-as-part-of-new-deal/a-19163284
“Some 32 Syrian refugees arrived in Hanover on Monday as part of the EU’s new pact with Turkey. But the moral costs are being paid far away, on the Aegean Sea, where others are being deported back en masse.
Thirty-two Syrians, belonging to six families, landed at Hanover airport early on Monday morning on a flight from Istanbul. They were the first war refugees to profit from a contentious new deal hashed out in early March between the European Union and Turkey, which also allows en masse deportation of “illegal” refugees out of Greece and back to Turkey.
They were greeted by German police officers and helpers from Germany’s government aid agency – the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) – and the Federal Migration Authority (BAMF)….”
Saudi Arabia bans Iran’s Mahan Air over safety (france24, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.france24.com/en/20160405-saudi-arabia-bans-irans-mahan-air-over-safety
“Saudi Arabia’s aviation authority said Monday it had banned Iran’s Mahan Air from using its airports and air space over safety concerns.
The General Authority for Civil Aviation said it decided to “stop completely permits granted to Iran’s Mahan Air, ban it from landing in the kingdom’s airports or passing through its air space,” according to a statement carried by SPA state news agency.
The authority cited “violations of national regulations related to safety of international carriers”.
Saudi Arabia severed all air links with Iran in January after the two countries cut diplomatic ties following Riyadh’s execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
It is not clear when the violations refered to by the Saudi aviation authority were committed.
Mahan Air’s website does not show any scheduled flights to Saudi Arabia.”
Alleged Witch Attacked by Mob in Sale Now Under Arrest (moroccoworldnews, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/04/183620/alleged-witch-attacked-by-mob-in-sale-now-under-arrest/
“Tetouan – Following the attack of an angry mob on the home of an alleged witch in Sale, the woman has been arrested and taken into custody.
The woman is accused of having cast a spell on a local resident by placing a photo of the young resident inside the cat’s mouth and sewing it shut.
A video posted on YouTube on Friday, April 1, shows dozens of young people attacking the woman’s home. Her garage was ransacked and her front door destroyed. The angry crowd demanded that she leave the neighborhood.
Article 602 of the criminal code imposes a penalty of two to six months imprisonment and a fine of 200 to 250 MAD for killing or maiming domesticated animals in buildings, gardens or public places.
The alleged witch is the mother of a young boy. She may face additional charges for neglecting or mistreating her son. The criminal code calls for imprisonment of one month to one year and a fine of MAD 200 to MAD 500 in cases of child neglect of mistreatment.
Security forces are also looking for the individuals involved in carrying out the attack on the woman’s home.
Six of the woman’s neighbors have initiated complaints against her, alleging that they have been harmed by her activities…”
Egypt’s population to reach 91 million in June, up from 90 in December (ahram, Apr 4, 2016)
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/198714/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-population-to-reach–million-in-June,-up-fr.aspx
“The number of Egyptians living inside the country will reach 91 million on 5 June, the deputy head of the state statistics body CAPMAS, Mohamed Abdel-Gelil, told Al-Hayat television channel on Sunday.
Egypt’s domestic population – which excludes the estimated 8 million citizens living abroad – is increasing rapidly.
Abdel-Gelil said that the population has jumped from 80 million to 90 million in the past five years, whereas it took 50 years for the population to increase from 10 million in 1900 to 20 million in 1950.
Egyptians reached the 90 million mark on 6 December last year, according to CAPMAS’s estimations.
Later this year Egypt will conduct a national census. The censuses, which began in 1882, take place every ten years. The poll in 2006 revealed the total population of the country to be 72.7 million.
The census “is very important for the governmental policies and programmes necessary to achieve sustainable and comprehensive development,” CAMPAS said in a statement on Thursday in which it called for 40,000 young people to collect the data.
The data will be collected between 20 August and 9 February 2017, and will include information about citizens’ residences, empty buildings, and people’s access to utilities, Abdel-Gelil said.
The growing population is marked by flashing figures on a digital screen atop CAPMAS’s headquarters in eastern Cairo. The figure is based on estimations of increases since the last census.
Abdel-Gelil said that the natural increase rate – the number of births minus the number of deaths – had decreased last year.
In 2014, the natural increase rate was 2.5 percent, while in 2015 it was registered 2.4 percent.
He added that by 2030, Egypt plans to reach a natural increase of 1.5 percent per year, as per its sustainable development vision.”
Police officer shot dead in attack on Cairo ring-road checkpoint (ahram, Apr 4, 2016)
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/198694/Egypt/Politics-/Police-officer-shot-dead-in-attack-on-Cairo-ringro.aspx
“Gunmen shot dead a low-ranking police officer and injured an officer and a police conscript in an attack on a checkpoint on the outskirts of Cairo on Monday morning, an interior ministry source told state agency MENA.
An exchange of fire took place between the police and the unknown assailants at Al-Khosous checkpoint on the Cairo ring-road in Qalioubiya governorate, on the northern outskirts of Greater Cairo.
The injured police officer and conscript were transferred to hospital.
The assailants are still at large and security forces are searching for them, the source said. “
No jobs for expats in HR, recruitment (saudigazette, Apr 4, 2016)
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/no-jobs-expats-hr-recruitment/
“The Ministry of Labor unveiled plans to restrict to Saudis all jobs related to human resources (HR) as well as positions in the departments dealing with hiring workers in the private sector.
The ministry urged businessmen and employers in the private sector to join in the ministry’s decision making process by putting forward their opinions and suggestions pertaining to implementing its draft decision in this regard.
They may post their opinions by April 23 in the section titled “Together for a decision” on the ministry’s portal at http://qarar.ma3an.gov.sa/a/ideas/recent/campaigns/16588
Naif Naytah, general supervisor of public affairs at the ministry, said the ministry will take the final decision in this regard after taking into consideration the opinions of employers in the private sector.
“The ministry will take punitive measures against any private firms that allow foreigners to work in these jobs directly or indirectly. Fine amounting to SR20,000 will be slapped on firms that hire any foreigner to work in these trades, and the fines will be doubled with the number of foreigners hired for these jobs,” he said.”
Taliban ambush claims lives of 6 policemen in Jawzjan province (khaama, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.khaama.com/taliban-ambush-claims-lives-of-6-policemen-in-jawzjan-province-0532
“At least policemen were killed in ambush by the Taliban militants in northern Jawzjan province of Afghanistan, officials said.
The incident took place late on Sunday afternoon in Murdian district after a group of Taliban insurgents ambushed the Afghan police forces…”
Children sexually abused in Taliban-run prison in Helmand (khaama, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.khaama.com/children-abused-in-taliban-run-prison-in-helmand-0533
“The Afghan intelligence operatives released a group of 14 prisoners from a Taliban-run prison in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan.
They have also arrested at least four Taliban group members who were operating as the group’s jailers in Helmand province.
The National Directorate of Security (NDS) said the suspects were arrested during a special military raid in Greshk district.
According to a statement by NDS, the militants were operating under the supervision of the Taliban group leader Mullah Mazlumyar…”
Ghani says al-Qaeda, Taliban and ISIS threaten Afghanistan (khaama, Apr 4, 2016)
http://www.khaama.com/ghani-terror-groups-including-al-qaeda-taliban-and-isis-threaten-afghanistan-0535
“President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said Monday that Afghanistan is facing the menace of terrorism from the terror networks including al-Qaeda, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Taliban group, acknowledging that the poverty rate has surged to 49 per cent.
During his speech at the Special Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) Meeting in Kabul, President Ghanis said the terror groups are continuously targeting Afghanistan.
Emphasizing on the creation of framework to fight the terror groups, President Ghani said the insurgent groups are attempting to destroy the world’s culture and history, insisting that the groups do not have any borders…”
18 militants killed in Afghan forces raids in Baghlan, Uruzgan and Helmand (khaama, Apr 4, 2016?
http://www.khaama.com/18-militants-killed-in-afghan-forces-raids-in-baghlan-uruzgan-and-helmand-0540
“At least 18 anti-government armed militants were killed in separate raids in north and south of the country in the past 24 hours.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said at least 9 militants were killed during an operation in Dand-e-Ghori district of Baghlan province and 8 others were wounded.
According to an operational update by the Ministry of Defense (MoD) at least 4 militants were killed and 7 others were wounded during a separate operation in Dehrawood district of Uruzgan.
In separate operation in Greshk district of southern Helmand province, at least 5 militants were killed, MoD added.
The Afghan forces also arrested five suspects including an individual involved in kidnapping cases from Sar-e-Hawza area of Paktia province.
According to MoD, at least 4 soldiers of the Afghan National Army (ANA) forces lost their lives during the same operations.
There has been a steep rise in the number of the Afghan army casualties since they took control of the security responsibilities from the coalition forces last year.”