Reader’s links for April 19 – 2016

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

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

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

About Eeyore

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

76 Replies to “Reader’s links for April 19 – 2016”

  1. Sorry theses are bunched up a bit….was waiting for the overnight thread to come up:

    One day after the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed that the occupied Golan Heights would “forever remain under Israeli sovereignty,” the U.S. State Department issued a statement of their own that rebuffed this claim. When asked about Netanyahu’s comments regarding the illegally occupied Golan Heights, the U.S. State Department’s Spokesperson, John Kirby, asserted that the U.S.’ position has not changed, despite the ongoing turmoil inside Syria. “This position was maintained by both Democratic and Republican administrations. Those territories are not part of Israel and the status of those territories should be determined through negotiations. The current situation in Syria does not allow this.”

    https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/u-s-rebuffs-netanyahus-claims-golan-heights-not-part-israel/ | Al-Masdar News

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged “overwhelming frustration” with Israeli’s government on Monday and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration has led Israel in the wrong direction, in an unusually sharp rebuke of America’s closest ally in the Middle East.

    Biden, in a speech to the advocacy group J Street, offered a grim outlook for peace efforts, reflecting dim hopes for progress during the remainder of the Obama administration. Although he said both Israelis and Palestinians shared blame for undermining trust and shirking responsibility, he was emphatic in his critique of Netanyahu’s government, suggested his approach raised “profound questions” about how Israel could remain both Jewish and democratic.

    http://bigstory.ap.org/article/e5c04516ee3c40d9800768573e2f7a8e/biden-overwhelming-frustration-israeli-govt

    Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad told a delegation of MPs that Russian president Vladimir Putin will not let him “lose”, a senior Tory said.
    David Davis MP, who was part of the delegation, described the brutal leader as “polite and courteous” but added that he “sidestepped the barrel bomb issue.”
    He told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show: “He said Putin said ‘we will not let you lose’, which for me was the most important phrase of the entire visit because that actually defines what the outcomes are going to be.

    http://www.itv.com/news/2016-04-17/syrias-assad-said-russia-will-not-let-him-lose-says-senior-tory/

    Russian helicopters violated Polish air space: report
    18.04.2016 13:10
    Three Russian helicopters entered Polish air space last week, flying across the country’s north-eastern border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, a Polish newspaper reported on Monday.
    – See more at: http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/249167,Russian-helicopters-violated-Polish-air-space-report#sthash.NhyNDfxU.dpuf

    TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoost said the Islamic Republic is prepared to become part of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), an ambitious investment plan linking western China to the Arabian Sea.

    The Iranian ambassador described Tehran-Islamabad relations as brotherly and age-old, saying, “Iran is a time tested friend of Pakistan.”

    He also said that the recent visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Islamabad was an “important milestone” in the ties of the two nations, The Daily Pakistan reported.

    http://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2016/04/17/1051040/iran-says-ready-to-contribute-to-china-pakistan-economic-corridor

    Bishop To Remove Crosses From Churches To Make Muslims More ‘Comfortable’American News Mar 6, 2016 Bishop To Remove Crosses From Churches To Make Muslims More ‘Comfortable’2016-03-06T22:23:46+00:00NEWS
    According to recent reports, Eva Brunne, the world’s first openly lesbian bishop for the church of Sweden has made the suggestion to make those of other faiths more welcome in the church.

    Brunne has a young son with her wife, and fellow lesbian priest, Gunilla Linden. The church she has her eye on is the Seamen’s’ mission church in Stockholm’s eastern dockyards.

    The Bishop reportedly held a meeting this year, where she challenged the priest to explain what he would do if a ship’s crew came into the port and if they weren’t Christian but wanted to pray. Brunne then went on to claim that Muslims who visit the church are “angels.” She then took to her blog to propose that all Christian symbols should be removed for the church so that they could prepare the building for Muslim prayer.

    http://americannews.com/bishop-to-remove-crosses-from-churches-to-make-muslims-more-comfortable/

    ANKARA, April 18 (Reuters) – Turkey would no longer need to honor an agreement on migrants with the European Union if the bloc fails to uphold its promise to provide visa-free travel for Turks by June, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday.

    Turkey and the EU last month sealed a controversial deal intended to halt illegal migration to Europe in return for financial and political rewards for Ankara.

    http://news.trust.org/item/20160418150950-z3qc0

    TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s security service has announced the arrest of six people suspected of illegally acquiring uranium-238 and trying to sell the radioactive substance for $200 million.

    Investigator Savle Motiashvili says Monday the uranium was seized at the Tbilisi apartment of one of the group. Three of the suspects are Georgian citizens and three from Armenia.

    The investigator says the uranium-238 was in a factory-produced container, but gave no details about the amount, how it was acquired, or if there was a buyer.

    http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2016-04-18/georgia-arrests-6-on-suspicion-of-trying-to-sell-uranium

    • Xanthippa-
      One link after another makes a chain of bad news!
      – – (v.v) – –
      Maybe there’s something about terrorists blowing themselves up?

      There’s a rumor that the two seriously injured in the Jerusalem bus bombing were the terrorists themselves. One of them blew his legs off. That would be nice, I guess…

  2. Police in Iran’s capital have a network of 7,000 undercover agents whose job is to inform on alleged moral transgressors in the Islamic republic, a top official said Monday.

    Bad veiling — covering the head is mandatory for women in Iran — and anti-social behaviour is among the crimes the force has been tasked with tackling.

    The men and women’s “undercover patrols will confront implicit transgressions in the city,” according to General Hossein Sajedinia, Tehran’s police chief.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3545952/Iran-capital-7-000-undercover-morality-crime-agents.html

  3. The number of children used for “suicide” bombings in some African nations has increased 10-fold during the last year, according to a new report from UNICEF. The children used in the attacks are as young as 8, and more than 75 percent are girls.

    The report focused on Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, showing that the number of children involved in such attacks has increased from four in 2014 up to 44 in 2015. Cameroon recorded the highest number with 21 such bombings, followed by Nigeria at 17 and Chad at two.

    https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/13756.19.0.0/world/terrorism/africa-sees-10-fold-increase-in-number-of-children-used-for-suicide-bombings

  4. WASHINGTON: Two leading US presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, on Monday backed a bill that would allow families of 9/11 victims to sue governments whose nationals were involved in the attack.

    Although the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, approved by the Senate’s judiciary committee last month, does not specifically mention Saudi Arabia by name, a number of victims’ families have already announced their intention to sue the government in Riyadh.

    “Obviously we’ve got to make anyone who participates in or supports terrorism pay a price. And we also have to be aware of any consequences that might affect Americans, either military or civilian or our nation,” Mrs Clinton told ABC News on Sunday night.

    http://www.dawn.com/news/1252974/us-politicians-support-move-to-sue-saudis-over-911

  5. India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday said that she looked forward to working with her counterparts from Russia and China in the fight against terrorism after she took up with the Chinese foreign minister the issue of Beijing vetoing New Delhi’s move in the UN to ban Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar.

    Sushma Swaraj said in a media statement following the 14th Russia-India-China (RIC) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting that international terrorism remained the foremost threat to international peace and security.

    “I stressed the need to craft an effective global strategy to counter terrorism, including at the UN. I look forward to working with both my colleagues, in this regard,” she said.

    http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/world/story/215086.html

  6. UN-sponsored Syrian peace talks are facing a new crisis after opposition negotiators decided to delay their participation in the formal process until officials representing President Bashar al-Assad start to discuss the creation of a transitional government in Damascus – which they have so far refused to do.

    Riyad Hijab, head of the opposition higher negotiations committee (HNC), was due to announce next steps after a meeting with the UN envoy, Staffan de Mistura, which followed tense consultations in a divided rebel camp. But a scheduled evening press conference with Hijab was postponed until Tuesday.

    De Mistura, clearly seeking to play down the significance of the decision, said the opposition negotiators would remain in Geneva and the talks would continue, though possibly informally and outside the UN headquarters at the Palais des Nations. But key opposition officials, sceptical about the prospects for the future, were already planning to leave town.

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/18/syrian-opposition-pauses-participation-geneva-peace-talks

  7. SHOCK TERROR WARNING: London ‘NOT READY to deal with attack’, mayoral front-runner says (express, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/662246/Sadiq-Khan-Labour-terror-attack-ISIS-Islamic-State-politics

    “THE front-runner for London mayor has admitted he is “worried” the capital is not prepared to respond to a co-ordinated terror attack.

    Labour MP Sadiq Khan warned London’s emergency services could struggle to deal with a Mumbai-style attack due to Tory cuts.

    More than 160 people were killed in four days of shootings and bomb attacks across Mumbai in late November 2008.

    And speaking last night, Khan said he will review the police, fire service and security services if he is voted into office next month.

    He told a mayoral debate: “If there was a Mumbai-style attack in London, are there sufficient armed response units at the moment?

    “I want reassurance that we are ready. If you’ve closed down ten fire stations, there are 30 more fire engines being lost from London.

    “I worry about London’s security. I’m not reassured yet that we are all going to be safe – I want to be reassured.”.

    Mr Khan also clashed with Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith over claims the Tooting MP, a British Muslim, had “given oxygen” to extremists.

    Mr Goldsmith said: “Sadiq Khan has given platforms, oxygen and even cover to people who are extremists. And I think that is dangerous.

    “It is not a question of Sadiq Khan being an extremist But the reality is there is a question of judgment there.”….”

  8. REVEALED: ‘Imams are creating BREEDING GROUNDS for jihadis in British prisons’… & YOU pay (express, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/662263/Imams-create-Islamic-breeding-grounds-radicalisation-Michael-Gove-jihadis-British-prisons

    “MUSLIM clerics being paid by the Ministry of Justice are spreading Islamist radicalisation in UK jails, a shocking report has found.

    Extremist literature and CDs were sent to at least 10 prisons in November last year while lax controls have created a breeding ground for jihadis inside British prisons, the Government probe revealed.

    In addition to the extreme propaganda, a raft of misogynistic and homophobic leaflets preached hate on British values, according to the investigation ordered by Michael Gove.

    And one Whitehall source said the literature was kept on the bookshelves in prison chaplaincy rooms for anyone to pick up.

    Islamic literature was not assessed before being distributed to “impressionable minds” due to a lack of scrutiny inside jails, The Times reported.

    Chaplains in several prisons even encouraged prisoners to raise funds for Islamic charities with connections to international terrorism.

    The review concluded that prison imams “lacked capability” and “didn’t have the will” to counter-radicalisation.

    Muslim jail clerics are employed by the Government full-time on salaries of up to £40,000….”

  9. https://www.lawfareblog.com/can-being-smarter-about-islam-help-muslims-reject-terrorist-appeals-maybe
    Editor’s Note: There is a popular misconception that the serious study of Islam is a step on the road toward radicalization and terrorism. Christine Fair, Jacob Goldstein, and Ali Hamza (all of whom I’m proud to say share my Georgetown University universe) come up with a heartening finding for those of us who believe knowledge is good: that those who know more about Islam are more resistant to extremist appeals.

  10. German PEGIDA leader to face trial for “hate speech” on Facebook
    by Ann Corcoran
    https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2016/04/19/german-pegida-leader-to-face-trial-for-hate-speech-on-facebook/
    Invasion of Europe news….

    As we have previously reported Facebook boy wonder, Mark Zuckerberg joined forces with the German government a few weeks ago in an agreement to police Facebook more thoroughly for anyone disparaging the immigrant hordes arriving in Germany at Mama Merkel’s invitation.

    merkel and zuckerberg
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-26/merkel-confronts-facebook-s-zuckerberg-over-policing-hate-posts

    Seems they caught a big fish in Lutz Bachmann the leader of PEGIDA.

    Maybe it’s time to quit Facebook?

    Before I get to the news, I want to say that I am thinking that all of you (me included) should begin weaning ourselves from Facebook where we are making boy wonder richer and ever more powerful.

    Did you happen to catch the story at USA Today on April 13th?

    It is entitled “Zuckerberg steps into political fray” and explains his stepped-up role in the US Presidential race. Zuckerberg is a leader of the world-wide No Borders movement. He is a globalist who believes in free trade and the free movement of (cheap) labor around the world, and he has his very own personal ten year plan for how the world should be run.

    Here is the news on Mark-the-megalomaniac’s catch from Malta Today:

    Lutz Bachmann is accused of inciting racial hatred after he made a series of Facebook posts where he called refugees “cattle” and “trash”. [I wonder, if he had called his political and business leaders, who want cheap labor, swine or “trash,” would he suffer the same fate?—ed]

    The 43-year-old’s trial in Dresden will be held amid tight security.

    Pegida’s rallies have attracted thousands of supporters in Germany, with the movement even spreading to numerous countries since launching in 2014.

    The group’s demonstrations were in the spotlight this January in Cologne after the Cologne Police Department received a barrage of reports of sexual assaults on New Year’s Eve.

    [….]

    The court says Mr Bachmann “disrupted public order” through his comments, which constituted an “attack on the dignity” of refugees.

    If found guilty, he could face between three months and five years in prison.

    Of course, Germany doesn’t have the same free speech protections that we have, but nevertheless, can’t someone figure out a site like Facebook where free speech can reign supreme.

    For our complete ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive, click here.

    Ann Corcoran | April 19, 2016 at 6:02 am | Tags: free speech, Germany | Categories: Colonization, Community destabilization, Europe, free speech, The Opposition, Who is going where | URL: http://wp.me/p5sGi-yoM

    • There were so few women at my school – 9% in my class – we had to threaten a public “pee-in” if the school didn’t make a washroom available.

      During timed exams I’d lose too much time running to a distant bathroom. These were always competitive exams, and time was a real factor.

      So I got some of the guys in my study-group to start the rumor:

      pee-in, pee-in

      Then I made an appointment with the assistant dean. I didn’t have to say a word, I just smiled. Then we both burst out laughing.

      A nice little generic, one-person WC appeared four days later.

  11. Afghanistan violence: Deadly suicide bomb hits Kabul (BBC, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36079445

    “At least 28 people have been killed and 329 injured in a huge explosion in the centre of the Afghan capital Kabul, police and officials say.

    A suicide attacker detonated a vehicle and gunmen stormed the area, reports say. Officials say the gunfight is now over and the area has been cleared.

    A Taliban spokesman said the group carried out the attack.

    It comes a week after it said it was launching its “spring offensive”, warning of large-scale attacks….”

  12. Belgian Authorities Investigating IS Fighters Reports (abcnews, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/belgian-authorities-investigating-fighters-reports-38502273

    “Belgian authorities are investigating information that suggests the Islamic State group has sent more fighters to Europe, an official said Tuesday, as Belgium remains on high alert following last month’s suicide bombings in Brussels.

    “Signals appear to suggest that IS has again sent fighters to Europe, to our country,” Paul Van Tigchelt, the head of Belgium’s security threat analysis center, told reporters in Brussels Tuesday. He did not elaborate.

    Belgium has been on at least its second highest alert level for four months — since the week after the November 13 attacks in Paris — with troops and extra police mobilized.

    Strategic sites like airports, major rail stations, nuclear plants and buildings housing radioactive materials remain under close surveillance, while security is high at soft targets like shopping complexes and cinemas.

    Federal Police spokesman Peter De Waele said surveillance cameras are being monitored full time and that car number plate reading devices are in use around the airport. More than 50 suspect packages have been dealt with since the Brussels attacks, he said.

    “The threat is still there, it’s serious and possible,” Van Tigchelt said. “We have to stay alert.”…”

  13. Turkey Wants EU Visa Changes by June or Migrant Deal Is Off (abcnews, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-eu-visa-june-migrant-deal-off-38505076

    “Turkey could easily call off the migrant deal struck with the European Union if visa rules for Turks aren’t relaxed within the next two months, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Tuesday, sounding a warning over a controversial deal which has stemmed much of the human tide across the Aegean Sea.

    The March 18 deal stipulates that anyone arriving on Greek islands from Turkey will be sent back unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey. In return, Ankara was granted billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees already living in Turkey and promised a loosening of the visa regime governing Turkish citizens.

    Comments carried by the Anadolu Agency quoted the prime minister as saying that if Brussels did not hold up its end of the bargain by June then “no one would expect Turkey to adhere its commitments.”

    Davutoglu sounded the warning on his way to Strasbourg, France where he addressed lawmakers at the European Council on Tuesday….”

  14. Worse Than Guantanamo? Terror Suspects Face Infamous Colorado Supermax (nbcnews, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-prison-would-be-safer-harsher-much-colder-guantanamo-n542741

    “With last week’s transfer of nine detainees to Saudi Arabia, the population of the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo is now down to 80 – but the Obama administration and its critics still can’t agree what to do with the remaining inmates.

    The Pentagon released a proposal in February to close the Cuban prison camp and move up to 60 of the remaining detainees to a single federal correctional facility on U.S. territory. Opponents call the proposed transfer a security threat, and lawmakers have threatened to make any move to the mainland impossible. The House Homeland Security Committee has scheduled a hearing for the end of April.

    Terror experts contacted by NBC News, however, say the inmates’ new home in the U.S. would almost certainly be at least as secure, far harsher — and much colder — than “Gitmo.”

    Officials have cited the federal “Supermax” prison in Florence, Colorado, which sits in mile-high desert south of Colorado Springs, as the most likely destination….”

  15. Syrian army mounts attack in northwest, Idlib bombarded (reuters, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-fighting-idUKKCN0XG1BL?rpc=401

    “Syrian government forces backed by Russian air power launched a counter-attack against rebels in the northwestern province of Latakia, a rebel group and a conflict monitor said, as violence was reported across much of the northwest on Tuesday.

    Targets included towns and villages where a partial truce agreement had brought about a lull in fighting between the government and rebels since Feb. 27. That agreement has unravelled in recent weeks.

    In the insurgent stronghold of Idlib province, neighbouring Latakia, air strikes killed at least seven people in the town of Kafr Nubl and five others in nearby Maarat al-Numan, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring organisation reported. Dozens were also injured in the strikes, it said.

    Rockets fired by insurgents, meanwhile, killed three children in nearby Kefraya, a Shi’ite town loyal to the government, it said. State media said the dead were members of one family….”

  16. Russia ‘breaks’ military deal with America and threatens US warplanes over Syria (telegraph, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/19/russia-breaks-military-deal-with-america-and-threatens-us-warpla/?

    “Russia has broken an agreement with the US by allowing its warplanes to carry out “simulated attacks” on American jets over Syria, according to a new analysis.

    Last week, the US accused Russia of “aggressive” and “unsafe” manoeuvres after two Su-24 strike aircraft flew within 30ft of an American destroyer in the Baltic. Across Europe, Russian fighters and bombers have been intercepted while probing the air defences of Nato countries.

    The US and Russia held military-to-military talks last year designed to prevent incidents of this kind from occurring over Syria. The result was a memorandum of understanding last October, stating that all Russian and American jets would stay a safe distance away from one another and communicate in English via recognised radio channels.

    But a new analysis from Chatham House says that Russia has routinely broken this agreement. While striking the enemies of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on the ground, the Russian air force has also carried out “aggressive and provocative manoeuvres against Western aircraft in Syria,” said Keir Giles, an associate fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House….”

    • Putin is making the moves to insure that the Black Sea is a Russian Pond and that the air space over Syria and eventually Turkey and probably more middle eastern nations is under Russian control to the extent that you have to get their permission to fly in those areas. On one of today’s links I said that Putin was maneuvering for a war with Turkey. Getting our military out of the region before the war decreases the possibility of an accident that would bring the US into the war. Granted we currently don’t have the ability to do much but Putin knows that we are still a powerful nation that will rebuild the military that Obama destroyed and given the current world situation make it larger and stronger.

        • He is starting to realize that he is a real big target. and is working to get NATO to back him in the war. Kathy will have a better feel for this but I doubt if Eastern Europe will support a war on Russia that would draw Europe’s military down to Turkey and leave Eastern Europe wide open.

          The US use to have the military goal of having the ability to fight one and one half large wars on opposite sides of the world. Thanks to the surrenderer in chief we no longer have the ability to fight one big war much less one and a half. After we get a new President and start rebuilding the military it will take one to three years even if we go to a crash rebuild like was done at the start of WWII.

          • I’d hate to make E. Europe more vulnerable. They’re under too much strain now because of their erstwhile “partners”.
            What Kathy wrote about German domination of Polish media and big business is infuriating.

  17. Turkish warplanes hits Kurdish militant PKK targets in Iraq – statement (reuters, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-turkey-kurds-idUKKCN0XG1MB?rpc=401

    “Turkish warplanes struck targets of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq on Monday, the military said in a statement on Tuesday.

    Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed since the PKK resumed its fight for Kurdish autonomy last summer, ending a 2-1/2-year ceasefire and shattering peace efforts.

    Turkish warplanes have frequently struck PKK targets since the conflict revived, mainly hitting the group’s bases in northern Iraq.”

  18. Egyptian military band murders French national anthem as Francois Hollande tries not to giggle (mirror, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/egyptian-military-band-murders-french-7787473?

    “This cringe-worthy clip caught the moment French President Francois Hollande was spotted trying not to react as a band played an awful version of his country’s national anthem.

    He can be seen standing to attention and trying to keep a straight face as the tune went on…”

  19. RAF Tornado blasts speeding ISIS car bomb to smithereens with single shot (mirror, video, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/raf-tornado-blasts-speeding-isis-7786635#rlabs=1%20rt$category%20p$2

    “British military forces have successfully destroyed an ISIS car bomb – before it had chance to cause damage and devastation in a terror attack .

    RAF Tornado GR4s were tasked with tracking a speeding lorry – which was carrying the prepared explosive – as it travelled west of Mosul, a city in Iraq .

    Despite the speed of the vehicle, the lorry was destroyed with just one Brimstone missile after it was targeted by British planes….”

  20. UK licences for arms to Saudis total £2.8bn since Riyadh entered Yemen war (theguardian, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/19/uk-issues-28bn-export-licences-arms-saudi-arabia?

    “The British government released licences for £7m of arms sales to Saudi Arabia in the last three months of 2015, taking the total value of export licences since the country entered the civil war in Yemen to £2.8bn.

    Calls are growing for the UK to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia in light of allegations, including by a UN panel, of indiscriminate bombing of Yemeni civilians by the Saudi-led coalition, which backs the neighbouring government against Houthi rebels and forces loyal to a deposed president.

    The figures released on Tuesday show that the UK government has issued 122 military licences to Saudi Arabia since it became involved in the civil war in March 2015. The UK has issued export licences worth £6.7bn for arms to Saudi Arabia since 2010.

    In the final quarter of 2015, the government issued military licences valued at more than £7.2m, including £3m worth of ML4 licences that include grenades, bombs and missiles. These were accompanied by eight open export licences allowing the Saudi air force to buy unlimited components for combat aircraft without applying for separate licences.

    The all-party select committee on arms export controls is conducting an inquiry into sales of arms to the Saudis, but has yet to interview ministers on the extent to which they believe Saudi Arabia has breached international humanitarian law through its bombing campaign.

    Ministers are also likely to be quizzed on the extent to which UK military personnel have been overseeing the details of the Saudi targeting, both in planning targets and then advising how Saudi pilots should hit them….”

  21. Belgium says seen signs that Islamic State has sent more fighters to Europe (reuters, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-attacks-belgium-idUSKCN0XG166

    “There are signs that more Islamic State inspired militants have been sent to Belgium and Europe, Belgian authorities said on Tuesday, maintaining the country’s threat status at the second-highest level.

    Belgium’s alert level was cut to three from the maximum of four just two days after the March 22 attacks which killed 32 people at the airport and on the metro in Brussels. It has remained at that level since.

    “There are indications that Islamic State has sent fighters to Europe and Belgium, the threat level which is currently at three will not go down,” a spokesman of Belgium’s crisis center said.

    By maintaining the level three status, authorities indicate that an attack is possible and likely….”

  22. Nagorno-Karabakh says one of its soldiers killed by Azeri gunfire (reuters, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nagorno-karabakh-idUSKCN0XG1GR

    “A soldier from the Armenian-backed Nagorno-Karabakh region was killed by gunfire from Azerbaijan on Tuesday morning, said the defense ministry of the breakaway region.

    Dozens died in clashes between Azeri and Armenian-backed forces over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh earlier this month.

    A Moscow-brokered ceasefire halted four days of fierce fighting on April 5 but sporadic shooting still breaks out.”

  23. Risk of full-scale war if Western Sahara mission departs: U.N. (reuters, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-morocco-westernsahara-un-idUSKCN0XG1Q8

    “United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has recommended extending for another 12 months the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the disputed territory of Western Sahara, according to a new report seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

    “The risk of a rupture of the ceasefire and a resumption of hostilities, with its attendant danger of escalation into full-scale war, will grow significantly in the event that MINURSO is forced to depart or finds itself unable to execute the mandate that the Security Council has set,” Ban said in the report.”

  24. Turkey denies entry to German journalist at Istanbul airport (reuters, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-turkey-idUSKCN0XG1Q6

    “Turkish authorities at Istanbul airport denied entry on Tuesday to a German public television journalist who arrived from Cairo and planned to travel to the Turkey-Syria border, the ARD broadcaster said.

    ARD journalist Volker Schwenck announced his detention on Twitter and posted a picture of an entry ban letter given to him by authorities with the headline in Turkish and English: “Inadmissible Passenger Notification Report.”

    The incident is another test for Germany’s relations with Turkey, which were strained earlier this month by Ankara’s demand that Germany prosecute a comedian who mocked President Tayyip Erdogan on television….”

  25. Holiday WARNING to Brits: Spain, France and ITALY named ISIS targets by intelligence head (express, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/662294/ISIS-daesh-threat-terror-holidays-spain-france-italy-jihadi-targets

    “ITALIAN intelligence chiefs are warning of summer terror planned for the beaches of Europe by Jihadists posing as ice cream and T-shirt sellers.

    Popular daily newspaper BILD said on Tuesday that the BND – Germany’s equivalent of MI6 – learned from its Italian counterpart of the Isis plots to bring bloodshed to holiday resorts.

    According to the report the Italians were informed of the terror plans from a credible source in Africa.

    They say the would-be killers had formed “concrete plans” to pose as refugees serving tourists with drinks and snacks or hawking beach accessories and T-shirts.

    BILD said the plans involve the use of automatic weapons on crowded waterfronts, suicide bombings and explosive devices buried in sand beneath sun loungers.

    Isis, which is squeezed financially as the international coalition ranged against it in the Middle East hampers its movement and military actions, is looking for more soft targets in the west and came up with the holiday bombing campaign.

    According to BILD the beaches which intelligence chiefs say are definitely targetted include resorts in southern France, the Costa del Sol in Spain and both coasts in Italy.

    The newspaper quotes a high ranking official: “It could be a whole new dimension of terror. Holiday beaches cannot be protected.”…”

  26. ‘ISIS collaborator’ arrested in Majorca after posing DIRECT THREAT to tourists (express, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/662303/isis-daesh-arrested-majorca-jihadi-terror-attack-europe

    “POLICE in Majorca have arrested an alleged ISIS collaborator accused of promoting terror attacks in Europe.

    The unnamed Moroccan-born suspect is said to have had close links with leaders of the terrorist organisation based in Syria.

    He was held in a raid early this morning at an undisclosed destination in the holiday island’s capital Palma.

    Spanish Interior Ministry officials said the police operation had permitted “the rapid neutralisation of a direct threat” and described the suspect as a “threat to national security.”

    The operation was coordinated by a judge at Spain’s national criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, in conjunction with state prosecutors….”

  27. Islamic State bolsters its DRONE AIRFORCE as it prepares to launch MORE horrific attacks (express, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/662284/Islamic-State-ISIS-daesh-isil-drone-airforce-prepares-launch-horrific-attacks-Iraq-Syria

    “THE Islamic State has reinforced its drone arsenal as it prepares to carry out more horrific attacks, officials have warned.

    The death-crazed group has repeatedly used drones across its strongholds in Iraq and Syria but is now boosting its stock numbers.

    Iraq’s defence ministry has warned that ISIS – also known as Daesh – is now purchasing more of the remotely piloted machines.

    Iraqi military released a photo of a soldier with a drone after it had been shot down earlier this month.

    The drone is said to have been taking pictures of an army outpost as the blood-thirsty cult spies on its enemies.

    The group’s latest act of defiance comes as the terror cell imposed swathes of new fines on their captives to try and raise funds….”

    • IRAQ -ISIS releases video of alleged destruction of Turkish tank with guided missile near Mosul

    • Turkey kills 32 ISIL militants in Iraq after tank hit

      Some 32 militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were killed in a Turkish Armed Force operation in Bashiqa near Mosul on April 19 after the militants launched an attack on a tank belonging to the Turkish army in the Bashiqa training camp.

      Ten militants were killed in the operation and 22 others were killed while they attempted to escape, while a building belonging to the militants was blown up, reported Do?an News Agency, citing unnamed Turkish military sources.

      Undated footage, claiming to display the alleged attack, was posted on the ISIL-affiliated Amaq news agency on April 19.

      The militants claimed that they hit the tank with a guided missile. The ammunition hit the palette of the tank, Turkish broadcaster NTV reported.

      No casualties were reported in the attack.

      Turkey sent about 600 troops to the Bashiqa camp on Dec. 4, 2015, with the stated aim of training an Iraqi militia to fight the jihadist group, but the move created tensions with the Baghdad government.

      Following reactions both from Iraq and the U.S., Turkey pulled out a significant number of its troops and tanks from the camp.[…]

      http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-kills-32-isil-militants-in-iraq-after-tank-hit.aspx?pageID=238&nID=98039&NewsCatID=352

  28. PEGIDA founder Lutz Bachmann in court over hate speech charges

    Lutz Bachmann is set to appear in court over controversial comments he made about refugees. He already has a criminal record that includes theft, dealing drugs, drunk driving and failure to pay child support.

    The 42-year-old Bachmann, founder of Patriotic Europeans Against the “Islamization” of Europe, or PEGIDA, appeared in court in Dresden on Tuesday after being charged for inciting hatred against migrants in October.

    Bachmann drew fire after referring to refugees as “filth” and “cattle” on his Facebook page in 2014, comments that the court said “disrupted public order” and were an “attack on the dignity” of refugees.

    The party founder, who appeared in court alongside his wife, faces up to five years in prison. He called the charges an attempt to “discredit my person and Pegida” on his Facebook page.

    Packed court

    Bachmann already has a criminal record, which includes theft, dealing drugs, drunk driving and failure to pay child support.

    The heavily secured courtoom was reportedly filled at the beginning of the trial, with many attendees having to remains outside.

    The trial comes as PEGIDA has gained a sizable following around the country amid criticism surrounding Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policies. In January, thousands of PEGIDA demonstrators in Dresden protested against the intake of refugees, leading to at least 10 cars being set on fire.

    http://www.dw.com/en/pegida-founder-lutz-bachmann-in-court-over-hate-speech-charges/a-19197422

    • Germany: Pegida’s Lutz Bachmann talks Erdogan poem ahead of hate speech trial

      Pegida founder Lutz Bachmann made an appearance at Monday’s Dresden rally one day prior to the start of his court case where he is facing charges for hate speech.

      SOT, Lutz Bachmann, Pegida founder (German): “It is strange that so much attention is given to a insulting and bad poem from a comedian almost unknown until now. It stinks! Why should a Chancellor say anything about it? For me it is, and i must say, for me he is an idiot, but that’s another thing.”

      SOT, Lutz Bachmann (German) “And now a question: imagine how the lying media would be screaming if instead of the public television puppet, I was the one who had read it here. I bet that I would have been arrested directly from the stage, taken in custody and the claimings of insults and deformation would have been enourmous. They would have executed me. “Pegida chef or Dresdener insults head of state Erdogan” and so on. Now, it actually happened to a unknown and not important member of their own media, the call is loud and it’s surprising, at least to me. Why suddenly such a round up should be done about it. In my opinion it’s deliberated by policymakers to distract us of problems like TTIP, CETA, the Ukrainian conflict, Russian sanctions.”

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIlrdOv9Sb8

  29. Belgium -Mass brawl at asylum centre

    Some one hundred Iraqi and Afghan asylum seekers have clashed at the Broechem asylum centre in Antwerp province. Twelve people were injured including four staff members.

    Fifteen troublemakers have been detained and are being removed from the centre. It’s the second time this year that a mass brawl occurs at the Belgian asylum centre.

    Police needed two hours to restore calm. Some of the asylum seekers took issue at the behaviour of one of the women in the centre triggering the fight.

    Local police chief Rob Verbist: “Those involved used chairs, tables and beams as projectiles.”

    Police were deployed in great numbers and members of the federal police reserve were called in to help restore calm. The federal asylum agency is investigating the incident.

    http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/News/1.2633593

  30. Police arrest Isis recruiter who was planning attacks in Spain

    A man has been arrested in Mallorca for recruiting for Isis and attempting to plan terrorist attacks both in Spain and abroad, the country’s Interior Ministry has confirmed.

    The man, who is Moroccan, was arrested early on Tuesday morning in Palma de Mallorca, where he was a resident.

    The man is only the latest in a string of arrests related to Isis in Spain.

    http://www.thelocal.es/20160419/man-arrested-for-recruiting-for-isis-and-planning-attacks-in-spain

  31. Corruption, Incompetence Scandal at DOJ’s Ferguson Unit Widens

    On April 12, PJ Media Legal Editor J. Christian Adams reported that DOJ sources had revealed how two top employees in the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service (CRS) used taxpayer money for personal travel. The DOJ sources also revealed how these two top employees were responsible for a culture of incompetence, political decision-making, and gross mismanagement.

    Here, we reveal that those same sources told Adams and me about corruption by other CRS managers, and about a hostile work environment that includes bullying and discrimination — particularly against anyone who complains about the waste, fraud, and abuse.

    Click here to read the letter employees sent to Attorney General Loretta Lynch — back in January — notifying her of the situation. Three months have passed since this letter was delivered, but neither the Justice Department’s inspector general nor Loretta Lynch has done anything about it, per the sources.

    As its webpage says, CRS is supposed to be the Justice Department’s ”peacemaker” for community conflicts and tensions. But from the atmosphere described to us, it sounds like CRS needs its own peacemaker to clean up what appears to be one of the most dysfunctional offices within the entire Justice Department.

    https://pjmedia.com/blog/corruption-incompetence-scandal-at-dojs-ferguson-unit-widens/

  32. The Next Greek Crisis Is Coming

    As you approach the northern Greek city of Kozani, which stands on a plateau surrounded by mountains, you start to see smoke—thick white clouds floating above the knotty shrubs and sun-dappled hills of Western Macedonia. This is the heart of Greece’s coal industry; the plumes come from the chimneys of power stations dotted around the region.

    When most Greeks think of Kozani, they think of coal. In the 1950s, the Public Power Corp. (PPC), now Greece’s biggest electric company, took over the mines here and brought prosperity to this poor, largely agricultural corner of northern Greece. Locals soon abandoned their traditional ways of making a living: saffron cultivation, marble production and fur-making. Mining was not easy, but the workers were well-compensated. The city’s businesses flourished.

    Those days are long over. Kozani, a small city of 75,000, has gone from providing 70 percent of Greece’s electricity to less than 40 percent. Fifteen years ago, the PPC employed about 9,000 people. Now that number has dropped by a third. Unlike the slow and steady decline of other coal towns in Europe, Kozani’s slump has been rapid, accelerated by the Greek debt crisis that began in 2010. In Western Macedonia, the region where Kozani lies, roughly one in three citizens is unemployed, twice the rate of 2001. Among 15- to 24-year-olds, that number soars to more than 70 percent, the highest of any region in Europe. All of Greece has suffered through the financial crisis—within the past decade, it has experienced the biggest drop in happiness of any country in the world—but in rural areas like Kozani, Greeks say they have been hit especially hard.

    http://www.newsweek.com/next-greece-crisis-coming-449410?rx=us

    • These poor Greek people are immediate victims. The financial hole is one they dug for themselves, though they were given lots & lots of rope.

      But just imagine the horror of this sopping mess washing up on your shores. It’s ruination. The lost tourist revenue alone must be staggering.

      That poor farmer with the plow, the women molested in the parks, the drug-smuggling at the waterfront. The risk of disease, the “disapproval” of NGOs, etc.

      They most certainly don’t deserve this. I can see them turning to any fascist thug right now. If they were Muslim, they would never, ever be subject to this abuse.

      • As you point out Greece is turning to a strong man for protection from the economic mess they helped create and from the invasion.

        Soros and his mini-me’s created this mess so they could concentrate more wealth on the left. Just like the people handling Obama and Hillary (although she may be fighting her handlers for more power, if/when the US descends into a civil war we can expect the left to have a massive power struggle that will result in a blood bath.) created the Arab Spring that created the conditions for the formation of ISIS and other MB backed Sunni mini Caliphates.

        In my opinion they created the mess thinking that their people would be the strong men that would take over Europe and allow them to create a one world socialist government. As the resistance grows one of the dangers is that the left is going to try and insert their people into the resistance groups to gain control of them. During WWII they did this with varying degrees of success, but a tactic that was used in all nations was for the left to betray the non leftist resistance leaders to the Nazi’s.

        • Infiltration is easier now than ever. Plus this time the virtual world will present a whole new front line.

        • Their “insertions” are pretty transparent in the Calais and Idomeni clips. They’re the ones with the bull-horns calling the moves, teaching kids Alinsky-tricks.

          J.E. Dyer identified a logo that was making the rounds, providing a link between ostensibly disparate causes. What Jew-haters are calling “intersectionality”. [I learned that one from the ElderZ.]

    • How long before those Obama supplied weapons show up in the hands of terrorists in Europe and the US.

  33. All Muslim Groups Fail To Attend Anti-Extremism Campaign Launch
    All of Scotland’s major Muslim groups declined to attend the launch of a campaign against violence and discrimination directed towards the Ahmadi sect, as well as the Paris and Brussels terror attacks.

    Representatives of the local Sikh and Jewish communities, and the Church of Scotland’s inter-faith group were all present, alongside local politicians, representatives of Police Scotland and Glasgow’s lord provost.

    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/04/19/muslims-groups-fail-attend-anti-extremism-campaign-launch/

  34. No Joke: Most Germans Think Merkel Wrong To Permit Prosecution Of Comedian

    According to an opinion poll taken at the weekend, fully two thirds of Germans oppose the government’s decision allowing prosecutors to bring a case against Jan Böhmermann, a German comedian who mocked Turkey’s President Erdo?an. Critics warn the effects will be felt in Turkey as well as Europe.

    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/04/18/most-germans-think-merkel-wrong-to-permit-prosecution-of-comedian/

  35. Spa treatment, TV in rooms, king size beds: Saudi Arabia holds terror suspects in luxury facilities

  36. Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Calls 9/11 Attacks ‘Accidents’ (abcnews, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/swedish-deputy-prime-minister-calls-911-attacks-accidents-38518904

    “Swedish Environment Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Asa Romson is being criticized for referring to the 9/11 attacks as “accidents” in a live TV interview.

    Romson, of the Green Party, made the comment Tuesday on public television while talking about fellow party member Mehmet Kaplan’s resignation as housing minister a day earlier.

    Romson said when Kaplan was the chairman of a Muslim youth organization he faced difficult situations “like the Sept. 11 accidents and such.”

    Asked to explain her choice of words, Romson condemned the attacks and told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet she meant they brought misfortune to Swedish Muslims.

    The word for misfortune and accident is the same in Swedish.

    Romson’s word choices have raised eyebrows before, including when she compared the Mediterranean migrant crisis to the Auschwitz death camp.”

  37. EU should ‘interfere’ less – Commission boss Juncker (BBC, Apr 19, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36087022

    “The European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, has warned that too much EU “interference” in people’s lives is eroding support for the bloc.

    The former Luxembourg prime minister said the EU had become involved in “too many domains where member states… are better placed to take action”.

    His comments came amid an intense debate in the UK about EU membership….”

  38. Rebel Media – CBC won’t name sex assault suspect because he’s a Muslim migrant