Reader’s links April 24 – 2016

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About Eeyore

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

65 Replies to “Reader’s links April 24 – 2016”

    • Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I had a look at the German-language press, and found and translated this article from an Austrian newspaper:

      Kronen Zeitung Wien
      Tenth Child planned
      04/21/2016, 17:00

      Afghan couple receives € 5,682 for their large family

      This case is causing a commotion at the Vienna General Hospital: A couple from Afghanistan, the husband residing in Austria since 2011, his wife since 2013, has nine children – and now wants a tenth, by artificial insemination.
      This also fuels the debate about Guaranteed Minimum Income [translator’s note: particular type of Austrian social benefit] and social benefits: The family receives 5682.6 Euro per month [translator’s note: 6.378 US Dollar or 8.080 Canadian Dollar].

      Their eldest son is 20 years old, the youngest daughter was born in 2011 – the couple from Afghanistan now has nine children. And they have a destiny to overcome: Two of the children are physically handicapped, hardly viable without assistance.
      Now the mother (born in 1972) feels a new wish for a child. The couple propounded at the Department of Obstetrics. The reason: artificial insemination should create a tenth child. It was noted in the findings: “The couple was informed that due to the age, chances of pregnancy are reduced.” But the parents’ desire for another pregnancy did not change.

      For the record: At this age, a mother has to carry the cost of in vitro fertilization, however, the preliminary investigations are covered by health insurance: ultrasound, outpatient visits, daily blood samples, analysis of semen quality, gynecological tests & Co.

      This case sparks the discussion of the Guaranteed Minimum Income.
      For two adults and seven underage children, the family receives a monthly 2,840.04 Euro (3,180 USD or 4,038 CAD), and additionally, for the two adult children 837.76 Euro (939 USD or 1,190 CAD). This sums up to 3,677.80 Euro (4,126 USD or 5,228 CAD) per month, or 44,133.60 Euro (49,534 USD or 62,750 CAD) per year.
      Additionally to these 3,677.80 per month, for seven children, two of them handicapped, the family receives another 2,004.80 Euro (2,250 USD or 2,851 CAD) monthly family allowance. In sum, this makes 5,682.60 Euros (6,378 USD or 8,080 CAD) Euros per month.

      http://www.krone.at/Wien/Afghanisches_Paar_kassiert_5682_Euro_fuer_Grossfamilie-Zehntes_Kind_geplant-Story-506614

  2. MP mouthpiece behind the Islamist coup in SVT – researchers: the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the Green Party

    POLICY. It was Salahaden Raoof, the mouthpiece of the party’s youth organization Green Youth in Malmö, who was behind the Islamist coup against the Swedish Television this summer. Now warns a researcher for the Green Party infiltrated by Islamists.

    https://translate.google.com/translate?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.co.uk&sl=sv&u=http://www.friatider.se/forskare-miljopartiet-har-infiltrerats-av-muslimska-brodraskapet

  3. A New Jersey school board member is facing calls to resign after posting a series of anti-Muslim comments to her Facebook account.

    Gladys Gryskiewicz, a Board of Education trustee in Elmwood Park, wrote several Facebook posts in January and February calling for Muslims to “(s)tay in your desserts [sic] and follow your religion in your own countries,” according to New Jersey On-Line.

    “The French told them to get lost and this is what our President should do,” another post said. “Go back to your own country; America needs to get rid of people like you.”

    http://www.opposingviews.com/i/religion/new-jersey-school-board-member-sparks-controversy-anti-muslim-facebook-post

  4. Video: Here are beaten bloody Norwegian student of immigrant gangs in high school
    Published April 23, 2016 at 14:08
    By Mattias Albinsson ?
    FOREIGN. A video clip with the spread of social media shows how an immigrant gangs beat up a Norwegian-blooded high school student at a secondary school in Charlottenlund in Norway.

    Like the article on Facebook
    Share / Print
    According to Norwegian NRK occurred in the brutal beating on Thursday last week. An immigrant gangs attracted to himself a Norwegian student to a locker room at school.

    There, they began to fight with the Norwegian students, and it ended with one of the immigrants went to the violent attack against him. Norwegian tried to defend himself, but received including its main battle in the floor and was bleeding heavily from the beatings. He was transferred after the event to hospital with a broken nose and concussion.

    https://translate.google.com/translate?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.co.uk&sl=sv&u=http://www.friatider.se/video-har-misshandlas-norsk-gymnasieelev-blodig-invandrargang

  7. A woman was sexually assaulted by a group of four men and a teenager while walking along a south Minneapolis street Saturday evening, according to a safety advisory issued by Minneapolis police.
    The victim was walking in the Lyndale neighborhood around 9 p.m. when a car full of men called her over to their vehicle. They spoke briefly and she continued walking, police said.
    A short time later, the five men returned and approached her on foot. They forced the woman to go to an area near 32nd Street and Blaisdell Avenue S., where they sexually assaulted her, police said.
    The vehicle the five men were seen in is described a small black four-door sedan with tinted windows and a gray/silver interior.
    Police released the following descriptions for the five, all identified as Somalis, with dark complexions.
    Three of them were 19 to 23 years old, 6 feet tall, slender build, with short black hair (one had particularly frizzy hair); one was 15 to 17 years old, 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall, slender build, with short black hair; and the other was 50 to 56 years old, 6 feet tall, heavy build, with a balding head.

    https://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2016/04/22/minneapolis-woman-sexually-assaulted-by-five-somali-men/

  9. The Grand Mufti of Australia is reportedly suing News Corp for defamation over their coverage of his reaction to the Paris terror attacks.

    A front page of the News Corp publication on November 18 depicted Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed as the three “unwise” monkeys for his reaction to the attacks which killed more than 130 people.

    A claim filed in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday alleges the publication in at least two articles had suggested, among other things, Dr Mohammed was an apologist for the attacks and deliberately refused to attend a post-attack vigil.

    The Grand Mufti, the spiritual leader of Muslims in Australia, has called for the Telegraph to publish an apology and remove the articles from its website.

    “News Corp’s article carries several highly defamatory and completely false imputations concerning the Grand Mufti,” the Australian National Imam’s Council said in a statement.

    “News Corp’s refusal to engage with the Grand Mufti is also disappointing to the significant Australian Muslim population that supports the Grand Mufti and allows his religious views to represent theirs.

    http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/04/23/mufti-sues-news-corp-defamation

  10. Lahore’ Christians stage a protest against construction of a sewerage pumping station on the land alongside Cathedral Church of the Resurrection, commonly known as Lahore Cathedral. Every Sunday, Lahore’ Christian community holds a peaceful protest outside the Lahore Cathedral.

    Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has plans to build a sewerage pumping station on the land beside the Cathedral Church. This plan has caused indignation among the city’ Christians. The church authorities, on the other hand are not willing to hand over the land to LDA at any cost.

    Christians are irked as they protest in an effort to save the sanctity of the Cathedral. The church authorities have moved the Lahore High Court, seeking halt in construction of the sewerage pumping station. Consequently, the Lahore High Court ordered LDA to cease from acquiring of the land or demolishing any property of the Cathedral. Seeing a hike in resistance from the Christians, the project director of LDA wrote a letter to Bishop of Lahore Reverend Irfan Jamil, in this regard.

    http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/christians-protest-against-construction-of-a-sewerage-pumping-station-on-the-property-of-lahore-cathedral/

  11. Amid rising tensions Austria reveals it has received more asylum applications than BIRTHS

    AUSTRIA had more asylum applications last year than live births, startling new statistics have revealed.

    The figures, which expose a worrying new angle on the migrant crisis, have been slammed as unsustainable by the country’s president.

    After announcing the figures at a press conference on Wednesday, Heinz Fischer said: “This cannot become a permanent state of affairs.”

    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/663341/Amid-rising-tensions-Austria-reveals-it-has-received-more-asylum-applications-than-BIRTHS

  12. New England ISIS suspect ‘tried to organize beheadings of non-believers from behind bars’ while awaiting terror charges
    Nicholas Rovinski and David Wright are both facing several terror charges
    Prosecutors claim Rovinski continued his terror plotting from inside jail
    The pair allegedly targeted prominent conservative blogger Pamela Geller
    Rovinski and Wright have both pleaded not guilty to multiple charges
    For more of the latest Islamic State news visit http://www.dailymail.co.uk/isis

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3553359/New-England-ISIS-suspect-tried-organize-beheadings-non-believers-bars-awaiting-terror-charges.html

  13. Sardar Soran Singh, a leading Sikh activist and a member of the assembly of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, was shot dead by unidentified attackers in northwest Pakistan on Friday, according to media reports.
    Singh, who was a special assistant on minorities to the provincial chief minister, was attacked outside his home in Pir Baba area of Buner district, the media reports said.
    There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
    Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is home to a sizeable Sikh population. Singh was a member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the party led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan.

    http://www.hindustantimes.com/world/pakistani-sikh-legislator-sardar-soran-singh-killed-in-attack-tv/story-yD6h5Q7MNzCl2rRPI61UEJ.html

  14. Court documents reveal that a Minnesota Muslim who was allegedly plotting with others to join the Islamic State discussed routing potential terrorists through Mexico to carry out attacks on U.S. soil.

    Gules Ali Omar reportedly told members of ISIS that a route through Mexico into the United States could be used to smuggle in potential terrorists according to documents obtained by Breitbart Texas that were filed by prosecutors earlier this week.

    Omar was alleged to have been conspiring with a group of Muslim men to join the fight with ISIS to carry out attacks against this country.

    http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2016/04/22/minnesota-muslim-plotted-islamic-state-smuggle-fighters-mexico-say-feds/

  16. “Teachers working in the predominantly Muslim districts of Molenbeek and Schaerbeek in Brussels have reported that “90 percent of their students, 17, 18 years old” called the Islamist terrorists who attacked Paris and Brussels “heroes”.

    The revelation came in an article in the New York Times, wherein Steven Erlanger spoke to a Belgian policymaker who relayed the information from Belgium.

    http://10news.dk/?p=2515

  17. KUALA LUMPUR: Kelantan deputy mufti Nik Abdul Kadir Nik Muhamad has attributed the El Nino phenomenon to the increasing social problems in the country, which have brought down the wrath of Allah on Muslims.
    Nik Abdul asked all Muslims to stop their vices and anything that goes against religious rules immediately to enable Allah to shower his blessings on the believers.
    He said that even though there were rules set by religion, not many were following them.
    “There are those who don’t want Islamic law to be implemented and only choose verses in the Quran that suit them, causing Allah to rain down his punishment,” Nik Abdul said.
    “El Nino has caused fish in ponds to die from the heat, the grass to dry up and schools to close.
    “This isn’t just El Nino, it’s punishment from Allah,” he said in his sermon during istiqa prayers at a hockey field here this morning, according to a report by Harakah Daily.

    http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/04/22/this-isnt-just-el-nino-its-punishment-from-allah/

  18. An amendment to a motion combating anti-Semitism on campuses argued that “education is vital”.

    They said the NUS should organise campuses into creating events on Holocause Memorial Day.

    Darta Kaleja, from Chester University, shocked many by speaking against the amendment.

    She told the conference: “I am against the NUS ignoring and forgetting other mass genocides and prioritising others.

    “It suggests some lives are more important than others.

    “When during my education was I taught about the genocides in Tibet or Rwanda?

    “It is important to commemorate all of them.”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/20/outrage-as-students-at–nus-conference-argue-against-commemorati/

  19. ISTANBUL ?? A German intelligence report revealed that 29 former soldiers in the German army have joined the ranks of the radical group of Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq during the past few months.

    According to the report, out of the 29 German soldiers there were 19 fighters who were demobilized from the service since 2007 for religiously extremist inclination, and have travelled abroad and joined the ranks of the terror group in the war-torn countries of Syria and Iraq.

    Additionally, the German intelligence has put more than 320 recruits under surveillance since 2007 due to suspicious religious beliefs.

    http://aranews.net/2016/04/former-german-soldiers-join-isis-syria-iraq-intelligence-report/

  20. JHELUM: Three women and a man were shot dead in the Dhok Lona area of Jhelum in an incident of ‘honour’ killing Tuesday morning.

    The accused, absconded after he shot and killed his daughter, his sister-in-law, her mother, and his nephew at their home in the incident.

    According to District Police Officer (DPO) Jhelum, Mujahid Akbar Khan, the man’s daughter and nephew had married of their free will 10 days ago and gone into hiding.

    The girl’s father, after discovering the pair at his brother’s house, shot the couple along with his brother’s wife and her mother.

    http://www.dawn.com/news/1253091

  21. The figures given by the Ministry of Employment shows that by the end of 2015 13,844 refugees in the integration programme, only 282 are able to work here and now.

    This corresponds to a share of two percent. The statement distributed the refugees in the 15 largest nationalities.

    http://10news.dk/?p=2553

  22. According to Traveller 24, Kuwait is going to become the first nation in the world to conduct total mandatory DNA tagging, which applies both to their own population and tourists.

    The legislation that will make DNA tagging mandatory will come in effect later this year. After that each and every person entering the country will undergo a mandatory DNA sampling. This will be done by taking samples of saliva or blood (by person’s choice). Refusing to undergo such procedure will cause “consequences” that have yet to be specified.

    http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160424/1038511182/Kuwait-DNA-Test-Everyone-Including-Tourists.html

    • Turkey: Merkel confirms Turkish visa liberalisation from end of July

      German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans in Gaziantep, Saturday, following their meeting on the controversial EU-Turkey refugee deal.

      SOT, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (German): “I believe that it shows the importance here – as one of the outcomes of this agreement between the EU and Turkey – that Turkey receives more assistance in return for opening up the employment rights of Syrian refugees. There has also been a great step forward in this, because the Syrian refugees have new opportunities. And that is not easy, one can presume, when there is unemployment somewhere and then so many refugees come who want to work. That would be a discussion point in every country; and therefore it was, in my view, a very courageous step.”

      SOT, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (German): “We have set the liberalisation of visas from the end of July, as a part of the agreement. We have said that, of course, Turkey must reach the conditions. There are still two projects that must be implemented and we have, today, spoken about a certain aspect of this. The Commission will set out a report on this on 4th May. And I have the intention that we will continue with the agreement, provided, of course, that Turkey delivers on the agreed points and we are in close contact – the Commission is in close contact, but also Germany is as well. Our interior ministers are in close contact because we are also, of course, often discussing our concerns and fears with each other. We, on the one hand, want guarantees of security and, on the other side, comply with this commitment to visa liberalisation.”

      SOT, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (German): “Things cannot continue as they are today in Syria. And, therefore, the opposition must also, of course, be a part of these talks so that clear changes can be put in place in Syria. Otherwise, there will not be any peace there. Germany is there with those who are advocating for this peace and we have a very close cooperation between Russia and the USA. We have a lot of agents who are playing roles and the talks are complicated but we’re doing all we can to bring them forward.”

  24. Pakistani Taliban militants have shot dead a prominent Sikh figure and opposition party worker on April 22, in the latest attack on a religious minority in the predominantly Muslim country.

    Soran Singh was a leading figure in Pakistan’s small Sikh community and an adviser to a provincial chief minister, Imran Khan’s opposition Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) party.

    Singh was attacked by gunmen in his native village in the Buner valley in northwest Pakistan.

    http://www.rferl.org/content/sikh-lawmaker-killed-pakistan/27692445.html

  25. DAKAR, Senegal — The military campaign by Nigeria and neighboring nations to combat the West African militant group Boko Haram has been hampered by a failure among those countries to share crucial intelligence — sometimes even within their own security services, American and other Western officials say.

    Western partners have balked as well. The Pentagon and American intelligence services have struggled at times to provide information quickly about Boko Haram militants to the African countries — Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria — without violating restrictions on what can be shared from spy satellite imagery or electronic eavesdropping within rules for not disclosing sources and methods.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/world/africa/failure-to-share-data-hampers-war-on-boko-haram-in-africa.html?smid=re-share

  26. ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan has alleged that a recent deadly attack in Kabul this month was planned by the Haqqani network in Pakistan.

    On April 19, Afghan Taliban-claimed attack against a security agency responsible for protecting senior government officials and VIPs, which killed 64 people and injured 347 others.

    In a message to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had condemned the heinous attack and called for coordinated approach to eliminate the menace of terrorism.

    http://tribune.com.pk/story/1090333/afghanistan-says-kabul-attack-was-planned-by-haqqani-network-in-pakistan/

  27. Regional Kurdish security forces and pro-Syrian government forces have declared a ceasefire in northeastern Syria, the Kurdish side said, calming a three-day outbreak of violence which killed more than 26 people.

    The Kurdish Asayish forces said in a statement that the accord took effect at 3:30 p.m. (1230 GMT) on Friday and a Reuters witness said the truce was holding on Saturday.

    The witness and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group tracking the five-year-old war in Syria, said it did not appear that Asayish forces had withdrawn since the start of the truce from any recently-gained territory.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-qamashli-idUSKCN0XK05I

  28. Syrian opposition coordinator Riad Hijab defended his body’s decision to walk out of peace talks in Geneva and criticized U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura over the rise in violence, during a high level EU visit to the Turkish border province.

    Hijab’s public criticism of de Mistura, who must be seen as neutral while trying to negotiate peace in Syria, highlights the tensions and fragility of a peace process which has limped on despite the opposition declaring a “pause” in talks with nearly all of its delegation leaving Geneva.

    “For two years, Mr de Mistura was appointed in his task as a U.N. envoy and during this period the killing was increased or doubled in Syria and also the number of villages and areas that were under siege also increased where is Mr De Mistura and his team,” Hijab told reporters in Gaziantep where he was visiting a refugee camp alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-opposition-idUSKCN0XK0KU

  29. On the court, a South Sudanese refugee playing for his Canadian high school basketball team was a towering talent — so skilled, in fact, his coach boasted to a local newspaper that “this kid” has a shot at the NBA.

    But Jonathan Nicola was no kid, according to officials: Documents suggest he was a 29-year-old man masquerading as a 17-year-old high school hoops phenom.

    Jonathan Nicola is pictured during warmups at the Catholic Central High School gym on Jan. 5, 2016. NICK BRANCACCIO / WINDSOR STAR
    The alleged ruse led the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada to arrest Nicola on April 15. He is viewed as a flight risk, and remains detained in Ontario at least until his next review Tuesday, a board spokeswoman told NBC News on Friday.

    http://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/sudanese-refugee-29-may-have-posed-high-school-hoops-star-n560541

  30. GENEVA (Reuters) – United Nations torture experts called on Saudi Arabia on Friday to stop corporal punishment, including flogging and amputations, practices that the Gulf kingdom considers an integral part of its interpretation of Islamic law.

    The committee that monitors the U.N. Convention against Torture, in its first review of Saudi Arabia since 2002, also raised concerns about the ill-treatment of Saudi bloggers, activists and human rights lawyers while in custody.

    “Has Saudi Arabia taken steps to prohibit … corporal punishments, such as flogging and amputation of limbs, which are in breach of the Convention?” panel member Felice Gaer asked Saudi officials.

    http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0XJ231

  31. The death toll shows no sign of abating. A fortnight ago a decapitated cat was found in Archway, north London. Last Monday another was discovered in Guildford, Surrey. Then a body turned up on Thursday in Orpington, Kent.

    In March dead cats were found in the London districts of Richmond, Tottenham and Streatham.

    All appear to be linked to a wave of mutilations carried out by the same person according to Snarl, South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty, a small charity that has been collecting information on the dead cats for the last seven months.

    Originally it was thought that whoever was behind the killings was operating almost exclusively in the Croydon area. Then, as news of the macabre findings spread, and bodies turned up around London and beyond, Snarl urged the media to drop the “Croydon cat killer” label.

    http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/23/croydon-cat-killer-mystery-100-animal-deaths?CMP=twt_b-gdnnews

  32. BAGHDAD, April 23 (Reuters) – At least nine people were killed on Saturday when a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb at a security checkpoint in northern Baghdad, police sources said, adding that the death toll could rise.

    There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast which wounded a further 28 people, but Islamic State regularly carries out attacks on security forces in the capital, including one near a Shi’ite mosque on Friday that left nine dead. (Reporting by Kareem Raheem, editing by David Evans)

    http://news.trust.org/item/20160423183754-mdwi9

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  34. Austrian police clash with Italians protesting Brenner border checks

    Austrian police used batons and pepper spray to repel Italian marchers who were protesting on Sunday against plans for tighter anti-migrant checks at the Alpine Brenner Pass border.

    Scuffles broke out when several hundred protesters, including some leftist politicians, tried to breach police barriers at the border where Austria has said it will toughen controls in response to unprecedented migrant flows into Europe.

    The marchers wore orange life jackets in a sign of solidarity with the thousands of African and Asian migrants who have drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean, and brandished a large banner with the slogan ‘People Over Borders.’

    One demonstrator was arrested, prompting a sit-down protest in front of the police lines by fellow marchers demanding his release, but no injuries were reported.

    Austria said this month it would introduce tougher controls at the pass from June 1 at the latest. Italy says the plan breaches EU rules on the free movement of people.

    The EU said last week it was assessing the complaint.

    The Brenner Pass is the most important Alpine crossing for heavy goods traffic and the controls, if introduced, would slow Italy’s main transport link to Germany, its top trading partner.

    However, the protesters on Sunday were driven by humanitarian concerns over migrants fleeing war and hunger in the Middle East and Africa, not commercial ones.

    They carried symbolic, purple “World Passports” and chanted slogans against the deportation of migrants.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-brenner-protests-idUSKCN0XL0P9

  35. Iran: Protesters call on Turkey to recognise Armenian genocide

    Protesters gathered around Tehran’s St. Sarkis Cathedral to commemorate the 101th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, to call on Turkey to recognise the events as genocide, and to condemn the recent escalation of conflict in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

    SOT, Arpic Elbeygian, Armenian protester (Farsi): “We want them to recognise this [genocide] happened, and we want Western Armenia’s lands back, Turkey must pay reparations for the 1.5 million people who were killed.”

    ¤SOT, Karen Khanlari, Iranian-Armenian lawmaker (Farsi): “Our demand is that Turkey recognises the historical truth and accepts legal responsibility for it.”

    • Canada: Hundreds commemorate the Armenian Genocide in Ottawa

      Hundreds of ethnic Armenians and their supporters rallied outside Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Sunday, to mark the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The commemoration was opposed by a significantly smaller pro-Turkish rally. A large police presence and rows of fencing kept the two rallies apart.

  36. TURKEY – ‘Mind your tweets’: Dutch journalist arrested in Turkey for criticizing Erdogan on social media

  37. Rebel Media – Islamist apologist offers “helpful” tips to fix anti-Muslim bias of Canadian media

  38. SAUDI ARABIA – The “barbs”, the Saudi dance trend sweeping the Arab world

    With its easy choreography and catchy rhythm: the “barbs” dance, invented by Saudi singer Majed el-Esa, has been all the rage in Saudi Arabia since the music video came out last December. Over the past few weeks, the “barbs” phenomenon has spread to other countries.

    Now, social media is buzzing with homemade videos of people doing their own interpretation of the “barbs” in gardens, living rooms, parking lots or even alongside deserted highways. In short, the “barbs” seems to be the dance for everyone, at any time.

    http://observers.france24.com/en/20160421-barbs-saudi-dance-trend-sweeping-arab-world

    This viral Saudi dance craze got two people arrested

    Behold the “Barbs,” the latest dance craze that has become a hit in the Middle East with nearly 20 million YouTube views.

    “Barbs,” which means “untidy” or “messy,” was created by director Majed al-Esa, who films a group of young Saudi dancers moving to the track’s mix of hip-hop and Arabic rhythms, at times beating drums, clapping and break-dancing.

    The signature dance move happens about 1:30 into the video, as the men turn their feet to the side one by one, then wiggle their bodies sideways while bobbing their heads like a vertical version of the worm dance.

    “Barbs” has gone viral in the Arab world, with many enthusiasts posting videos of themselves doing the dance to social media. The trouble came when two Emirati servicemen uploaded a video of themselves performing the dance in military uniforms — for which the Abu Dhabi government issued an arrest warrant and charged them with disrespecting the national army in court, according to The Washington Post.

    http://nypost.com/2016/04/12/this-viral-saudi-dance-craze-got-two-people-arrested/

  40. French Soldier Slightly Injured in Train Station Attack (abcnews, Apr 24, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/french-soldier-slightly-injured-train-station-attack-38636952

    “French police say they are looking for a man who attacked a soldier with a box cutter in the eastern city of Strasbourg.

    Local government official Dominique Jane told Europe 1 radio the incident happened in Strasbourg’s train station on Saturday evening. Jane said Sunday that the soldiers pushed back the aggressor, who managed to escape, as he was trying to attack one of them. One soldier was slightly injured on a cheek.

    The man’s motives remained unclear. Jane said the attacker spoke in Arabic, but he doesn’t know the content and translation of his words.

    The soldiers were patrolling the station as part of an ongoing operation in France to support police following the 2015 attacks in Paris.”

  41. At Least 26 Killed as Fighting Rages in Syria’s Aleppo (abcnews, Apr 24, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/14-killed-fighting-rages-syrias-aleppo-38631666

    “Air strikes and shelling pounded Aleppo for a third straight day Sunday, killing two young siblings and at least 24 others in Syria’s largest city and former commercial capital.

    The northern city has been bitterly contested between insurgents and government forces since 2012. Opposition groups control the eastern part of the city but have come under intense strain as the government has choked off all routes to the area except a narrow and perilous passage to the northwest….”

  42. Retired USMC General Mattis: America now ‘more of a foreign country than places overseas’
    By LU Staff April 24, 2016

    Retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis said Friday at an event in Washington, D.C. he is not considering a run for president, disappointing his supporters, like political consultants Rick Wilson and John Noonan, who were counting on him to present a challenge to Donald Trump.

    Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Mattis dismissed the idea of a run outright and said he hadn’t even given any thought to the notion.

    “No, I haven’t given any thought to [it],” Mattis said, Military.com reports.

    Mattis further stated after his discussion on Iranian aggression that he was utterly puzzled at the idea he might present a challenge to current contenders in the 2016 presidential race.

    “It’s been going on for 15 months,” Mattis said. “Since coming back from overseas, this is more of a foreign country than the places overseas. I don’t understand it. It’s like America has lost faith in rational thought.”

    He declined to give his thoughts on any of the candidates currently in the run, saying his time in the military made him used to forgoing partisan behavior.

    Despite his stated commitment to non-partisanship, Mattis couldn’t help but get in a few jabs at President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. Referring to Jeffrey Goldberg’s interview with Obama, Mattis said Obama’s responses sounded awfully like GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.

    “It wasn’t Trump; it was the president saying that our allies are free riders and that sort of thing,” Mattis said. “For a sitting U.S. president to see our allies as freeloaders is nuts.”

    During the event, Mattis also declared Iran the greatest threat to peace and stability in the Middle East.

    The plan to push Mattis into the White House would entail a third-party run in order to block former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Trump from achieving 270 votes from the Electoral College. This would then trigger a forced decision from the House, which would select the next president. Those supporting Mattis hope the House would pick him by a landslide over Clinton or Trump.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2016/04/24/retired-general-mattis-america-now-foreign-country-places-overseas/

  43. Lebanon, Christians, Under Islamist Threat

    Recent upheavals in Lebanon are making local Christians communities worry about their existence as heirs and descendants of the first Christians. Christians in the Middle East now are facing a huge genocide — similar to the Christian genocide the followed the Islamic conquest of the Middle East in the 7th century A.D.

    Islamic jihadist groups are threatening Lebanese Christians and demanding that they submit to Islam. Lebanon’s Christians, descendants of Aramaic Syriacs, were the majority in the country a mere 100 years ago.

    The demand for Christians to convert to Islam was one of the declarations issued by ISIS and other Islamic groups hiding in the mountainous border between Syria and Lebanon.

    Saad Hariri, a Saudi-backed Sunni Muslim politician and the son of assassinated Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, recently invited every Lebanese party to his office to sign a document confirming that Lebanon is an Arab state. Arab state equals Islamic laws, as with all members of the Arab League. Why is it so important to Hariri or to the Sunni and Islamic world to include Lebanon as an Arab state and cancel its current name as a Lebanese state only?

    And why do the Arab states, including the Palestinian Authority (PA), refuse to recognize Israel, with its 80% Jewish majority, as Jewish state, while at the same time trying to impose the definition of an Arab state on Lebanon, whose population is 35% non-Arab Christians?

    There are approximately one million Syriac Maronites left in Lebanon, as well as another 700,000 Christians belonging to other churches. In addition, more than eight million Syriac Maronites live in the diaspora. These eight million Christians fled over the centuries because of persecution by Muslims, often conquerors of the Christian homeland. Lebanon was never a strictly Arab or Muslim. But that is the step that Saad Hariri, as a milder face of the expansionist ISIS ideology, would have us take — under the guise of a modern, moderate, Sunni secular front.

    http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7896/lebanon-christians-threat

  44. President Barack Obama has decided to send up to 250 military personnel to Syria to help local forces fighting the Islamic State group

    AERZEN, Germany (AP) — President Barack Obama has decided to send up to 250 military personnel to Syria to help local forces fighting the Islamic State group.

    That’s the word from a senior administration official who says Obama would announce his decision during a speech Monday in Germany at the close of a weeklong foreign trip.

    Countering the Islamic State group was a focus of Obama’s talks with leaders in Saudi Arabia, Great Britain and Germany.

    The move would significantly increase the U.S. presence in a country beset by civil war.

    About 50 U.S. special operations forces are already operating in Syria. It was unknown how many of the 250 additional personnel will be special forces.

    The administration official was not authorized to publicly discuss Obama’s decision before his announcement.

    Obama’s decision was first reported Sunday by The Wall Street Journal.

    http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2016-04-24/administration-up-to-250-military-personnel-headed-to-syria

    Obama plans to send 250 more U.S. troops to Syria – U.S. officials

    U.S. President Barack Obama plans to send 250 more military personnel to Syria, increasing the U.S. presence on the ground there to about 300 troops to help fight Islamic State militants, a U.S. official said on Sunday.

    The deployment will come on top of 50 special operations forces whom Obama deployed to Syria last year, two U.S. officials said. One official said the announcement would come in a speech Obama plans to give in Hanover, Germany, on Monday.

    The decision, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, confirms an April 1 Reuters report that the Obama administration was considering boosting the number of special operations forces in Syria in hopes of accelerating gains against Islamic State.

    Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, controls the cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria and is proving a potent threat abroad, claiming credit for major attacks in Paris in November and Brussels in March.

    “He intends to put in more … forces to the tune of 250 in Syria,” said one U.S. official, adding he was unable to break down how many of those would be special operations forces and how many might be involved in support activities such as medical and intelligence personnel.

    http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-usa-syria-idUKKCN0XL0ZP

  45. channel 4 – Brexit: Obama’s warnings on US-UK trade deal

    It could take Britain up to a decade to negotiate a trade deal with America – if it decides to leave Europe, Barack Obama has warned – provoking more outcry from Brexit campaigners.

    But it’s the Home Secretary Theresa May who’s been under pressure today – as she admitted that controlling immigration into the UK would be harder – given Europe’s rights to free movement. Our senior Home affairs correspondent Simon Israel reports.

  47. Pathetic ISIS fighters beg doctors for SICK NOTES – as they’re SCARED of going to battle (express, Apr 25, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/664052/isis-pathetic-doctors-sick-notes-going-battle

    “DESPERATE Islamic State jihadis are so fearful of fighting they are seeking out fake doctor’s notes, it has been claimed.

    The murderous fighters are reportedly demoralised and unwilling to fight on the front line, according to a report.

    The report was published by the Centre for Combating Terrorism, a US anti-terror think tank.

    It said: “This was reflected on a wider level when the Islamic State issued a general amnesty for deserters at the beginning of October 2015.

    “The personnel shortages were also evidenced by an Islamic State document that emerged last year.

    “Issued in Deir ez-Zor province in eastern Syria, the document indicates that a number of Islamic State members had been seeking false medical reports from doctors in order to avoid frontline duty.”

    The depraved terror group has suffered multiple setbacks in recent months, leaving it unable to pay the wages of jihadis….”

  48. Labour’s Sadiq Khan ‘unfit’ to be London mayor ‘due to links to extremists’, rival says (express, Apr 25, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/664050/Sadiq-Khan-Labour-Zac-Goldsmith-politics-extremism

    “LABOUR MP Sadiq Khan is unfit to be London mayor because of questions over his links to Islamic extremists, his closest rival has said.

    Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith last night claimed Mr Khan has “given platforms and oxygen and cover and excuses” for extremists.

    He added that Mr Khan should not the mayor of London because he has been “so consistently wrong” on the issue of extremism for “so long”.

    Since joining the mayoral race in September, the Labour hopeful has faced intense scrutiny for allegedly sharing platforms with Islamists.

    Mr Goldsmith said: “I think that we are in the middle now of an ideological battle, and it’s the biggest one we’ve faced in any of our lifetimes.”

    “And probably it’s fair to say we’re not winning. We’ve got great security services keeping us safe, but the problem is growing.

    “One of the things we need to do is isolate those people who have extremist views without making the rest of the community feeling isolated.”….”

  49. Alcohol bottles ‘thrown at mosque while worshippers prayed in racist attack’ (express, Apr 25, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/664061/alcohol-bottles-thrown-totteridge-mosque-high-wycombe-racist-attack

    “POLICE have launched a race hate investigation after bottles of alcohol allegedly were thrown at a Mosque while worshippers were praying inside.

    It is reported that a male youth was seen chucking bottles of booze at the Totteridge Mosque in High Wycombe, Bucks, before speeding off in a car.

    Thames Valley police said the incident poses a “serious threat to a cohesive and diverse society”….”

  50. Anger as council officials say UK city is ‘too multicultural’ to celebrate St George’s Day (express, Apr 25, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/663922/Anger-as-council-officials-say-UK-city-is-too-multicultural-to-celebrate-St-George-s-Day

    “AN ENGLISH city council REFUSED to host St George’s Day celebrations because the area is “too multicultural”.

    Bristol City Council allowed the national day to pass without a single event for the patron saint, despite its history dating back to 1222.

    Council chiefs said 91 different languages are spoken in the town and it would be “very difficult to commemorate them all”.

    Some in the area feel as though the English symbol has been hijacked by far right groups and are concerned about being branded “racist”.

    According to the Daily Star Sunday, Kalphna Woolf, founder of 91 Ways to Build a Global City, which aims to unite Bristol’s multicultural communities, said people can be frightened of the white and red St George’s flag….”