Reader’s links for May 5 – 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

60 Replies to “Reader’s links for May 5 – 2016”

  1. British spies help smash ISIS terror cell in Spain for second time in a fortnight
    Four terror suspects were arrested near Madrid on Tuesday following intelligence from the GCHQ outpost in Gibraltar
    British spooks have helped smash a second suspected ISIS recruiting cell in Spain planning attacks on the Costas this summer.
    Security services at an intelligence base in Gibraltar identified the gang after they sent thousands of propaganda messages through various websites.
    Police said the group used internet chat rooms and messaging apps to recruit Islamic radicals to brainwash them into launching deadly attacks.
    Security services feared the gang had already developed a following of “hundreds of people”.
    Armed police launched coordinated dawn raids at addresses in the towns of Ciempozuelos and Pinto near Madrid.
    Four men were arrested on Tuesday – three Moroccan nationals and one Spaniard, who remain in custody.
    The gang’s recruitment drive has been described by the Head of the Spanish Civil Guard, Jorge Fernandez, as “intense”.

    One of the arrested men is a 40-year-old director of Lee Hecht Harrison-Spain, a subsidiary of the multinational human resources firm Adecco.

    Detectives fear that Moroccan born Aziz Zaghnane could have been using the company’s database to make contact with thousands of Muslims.
    It is understood that he previously worked for a mobile phone company and could have had access to vast databases of customer information.

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/british-spies-help-smash-suspected-7898180

    • Spain is in the Moslem cross-hairs but doesn’t get much publicity because they are currently using Spain as an entry point into Europe, these arrests say that this is about to change as the terror groups seem to be ramping up their terror efforts.

  2. Now Niger holds the EU to ransom over migrants: African country used as a route to Europe demands €1billion to ‘fight migration’

    As many as 150,000 migrants will travel through Niger this year
    The country has requested 1bn euros to tackle illegal migration
    Niger Foreign Minister ‘solicited the help of EU, France and Germany’
    More than 3m displaced in the Lake Chad basin by Boko Haram

    Niger needs one billion euros to combat illegal migration to Europe, its Foreign Minister told its EU counterparts on Tuesday.
    The African nation is a major transit country for refugees and migrants from across the continent, many hoping to reach the EU.
    Some 150,000 migrants will travel through Niger this year, crossingthe Sahara Desert on their way to the Mediterranean coast,according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
    ‘Niger needs a billion euros to fight against clandestine migration,’ Foreign Minister Ibrahim Yacoubou told a news conference in Niger’s capital, flanked by his French and German counterparts Jean-Marc Ayrault and Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3571542/Niger-tells-Europe-needs-1-bln-euros-fight-illegal-migration.html

  3. U.S. Army Captain Sues President Obama, Says He Lacks Authority to Fight ISIS (nbcnews, May 4, 2016)
    http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/u-s-army-captain-sues-president-obama-says-he-lacks-n568311

    “An Army captain sued President Barack Obama on Wednesday, alleging that he doesn’t have the proper congressional authority to wage war against ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria.

    Capt. Nathan Michael Smith filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Washington as the president is deploying more special operations forces to the region — and a day after a Navy SEAL was killed in combat in Iraq, the third since a U.S.-led coalition launched its campaign against ISIS in the summer of 2014.

    Smith supports the war on military and moral grounds and considers ISIS an “army of butchers.” But he wants the court to tell Obama that he needs to ask Congress for a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force.

    The White House did not comment on the lawsuit….”

      • He does and he doesn’t have the authority, the Congressional authorization to use military force after the 9/11 attack could be stretched to cover this action. This is the problem with going to war against a tactic or ideology rather then a nation. Another argument that could be made is that ISIS has declared war against us so he is just responding to their declaration.

        Having said that I am glad to see someone trying to hold a Democrat to the Constitutional limitations. FDR was the last President to ask for a declaration of war. Truman fought Korea without authorization, Kennedy went into Nam without authorization although Johnson did get permission to increase the US presence. Clinton never ask for permission for any of his military adventures and Obama has never ask for permission. The Democrats always act as if they are emperors and then scream if a Republican does the same.

        It will be interesting to see what the courts do about this law suit.

  4. Bangladesh Islamist leader Motiur Rahman Nizami loses final appeal (BBC, May 5, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36210552

    “The head of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party has lost a final appeal against his death sentence for atrocities committed during the war of independence from Pakistan in 1971.

    Motiur Rahman Nizami, 72, was seeking a review of the Supreme Court decision to uphold a war crimes tribunal verdict.

    He was convicted of genocide, rape and torture, charges the defence said were not proven beyond reasonable doubt.

    Unless he seeks clemency from the president he could be hanged in days.

    His party responded to the Supreme Court decision by calling a nationwide strike for Sunday and has said it will hold street protests. Security has been tightened across the country…”

  5. Australian IS recruiter Neil Prakash ‘killed in Iraq’ (BBC, May 5, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-36200410

    “An Australian man considered a senior recruiter for so-called Islamic State (IS) has been killed in a US air strike in Iraq, Australia’s government says.

    Attorney-General George Brandis said US officials had confirmed Neil Prakash was killed in Mosul on Friday.

    Prakash, also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, was linked to attack plots in Australia and had appeared in propaganda videos and magazines.

    Some 110 Australians are estimated to be fighting for IS in the Middle East.
    Convert

    Using the acronym of the previous name of IS, Mr Brandis said that Prakash was a “prominent Isil member and a senior terrorist recruiter and attack facilitator”.

    “Prakash has been linked to several Australia-based attack plans and calls for lone-wolf attacks against the United States…”

    • Australia’s most wanted ISIS recruiter ‘killed in airstrike’ (CNN, May 5, 2016)
      http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/05/asia/australia-isis-leader-killed/index.html

      “An Australian ISIS recruiter who called on his countrymen to “start attacking before they attack you” has died in a U.S. airstrike.

      Neil Prakash was the country’s “most prominent” ISIS recruiter and its “highest value target,” according to Australian Attorney General George Brandis.

      “He was the individual more than any other who had been actively inspiring and inciting domestic terrorism attacks within Australia,” Brandis said in an interview with CNN affiliate Sky News…”

  6. U.S. announces ceasefire for Aleppo after talks with Russia (CNN, May 5, 2016)
    http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/04/middleeast/aleppo-syria-civil-war/index.html

    “A ceasefire is in effect in one of the most war-torn cities in Syria, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday. The United States and Russia concluded arrangements for a cessation of violence in Aleppo and surrounding areas, according to a department statement.

    The two countries ended talks Tuesday and are closely monitoring whether the ceasefire sticks. Violence has decreased but continues, according to State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner.

    “Attacks directed against Syria’s civilian population can never be justified, and these must stop immediately,” Toner said in a statement Wednesday.

    “Our objective remains, and has always been, a single nationwide cessation of hostilities covering all of Syria — not a series of local truces.”

    The ceasefire will last for 48 hours, Syria’s army’s general command said. The truce started at 1 a.m. local time Thursday…”

  7. ISIS Ouster From Ramadi Comes With Devastating Cost for Iraqis (nbcnews, May 5, 2016)
    http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-ouster-ramadi-comes-devastating-cost-iraqis-n568446

    “This is what victory looks like in the Iraqi city of Ramadi: In the once thriving Haji Ziad Square, not a single structure still stands. Turning in every direction yields a picture of devastation.

    A building that housed a pool hall and ice cream shops — reduced to rubble. A row of money changers and motorcycle repair garages — obliterated, a giant bomb crater in its place. The square’s Haji Ziad Restaurant, beloved for years by Ramadi residents for its grilled meats — flattened.

    The destruction extends to nearly every part of Ramadi, once home to 1 million people and now virtually empty. A giant highway cloverleaf at the main entrance to the city is partially toppled. Apartment block after apartment block has been crushed. Along a residential street, the walls of homes have been shredded away, exposing furniture and bedding. Graffiti on the few homes still standing warn of explosives inside….”

  8. Kabul Kidnap Attempt Targeted American, Expats: U.S. Embassy (nbcnews, May 5, 2016)
    http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/kabul-kidnap-attempt-targeted-american-expats-u-s-embassy-n568441

    “An American citizen was the target of an attempted kidnap in the Afghan capital, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said Thursday.

    The embassy said the attempted kidnap took place on Monday and targeted “several expatriates,” including an American.

    “There are no further details regarding the targets, timing, or method of any planned kidnappings,” the embassy said, warning U.S. citizens that the threat of kidnapping and hostage-taking remains “very high.”

    There was no immediate comment from Afghan officials…”

    • What are the odds that it was to get ransom money?

      > He told NBC News that police were working on identifying the men and a potential motive but declined to identify the foreigners or any other nationalities involved, citing the ongoing investigation.

  9. REVEALED: The towns ‘dumped’ with asylum seekers while Cameron’s constituency takes NONE (express, May 5, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/667080/Asylum-North-Industrial-Simon-Danczuk-Syria

    “INDUSTRIAL towns are being “dumped” with the majority of asylum seekers while areas run by David Cameron and his top Cabinet members are not taking ANY at all, an MP has claimed.

    Rochdale Independent MP Simon Danczuk said the Government was “hell-bent” on making it as difficult as possible to provide services amid the influx of new arrivals, with spending power also cut by up to five per cent.

    He listed the top five local authorities with the most asylum seekers as Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Rochdale and Bolton, which have all taken in 1,000 people each.

    Meanwhile David Cameron’s constituency of Witney had “zero” asylum seekers whatsover, while raking in a “healthy 1% increase in spending power over the coming years”, he said…”

    • This doesn’t surprise me, the left has long used its political power to “punish” the areas that don’t vote for them.

  10. BREAKING: Motorcyclist dies in motorway shoot-out between ‘people smugglers’ in UK car (express, May 5, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/667345/shoot-out-people-smugglers-British-car-Belgium-Dunkirk

    “A MOTORCYCLIST has died and two suspected people smugglers in a car registered in Britain were seriously wounded in a shoot-out on a packed Belgian motorway.

    The drama unfolded on the A16 near the French port of Dunkirk, after a high-speed chase which started across the border in Belgium.

    The Audi police were chasing, which reached speeds of 125mph, caused a series of accidents, including one in which a motorcyclist drove into the back of a lorry, killing the driver.

    A local traffic police source said: “The incident started soon after 5.30am.

    “Belgian police were pursuing suspected people smugglers on the A16.

    “Shots were fired, and the car being chased caused a huge pile-up of traffic. There were numerous injuries, and one fatality.”

    More to follow…”

      • This is coming to the entire world, the left has broken to rule of law and God is the only one who knows when it will be reinstated.

  11. HALF of unaccompanied child refugees arrived in Europe last year were Afghan NOT Syrian (express, May 5, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/667305/Half-unaccompanied-child-refugees-Europe-Afghan-Syrian

    “MORE than half of unaccompanied child asylum seekers who arrived in Europe last year were from Afghanistan not Syria.

    A total of 88,300 refugees – or almost a quarter – who applied for protection by European Union (EU) members in 2015 were aged 17 or below and without any relatives or carers, official EU statistics reveal.

    The number of unaccompanied children arriving in the EU quadrupled in 2015 after doubling in 2014 to 23,000, while between 2008 and 2013 the number stood between 11,000 and 13,000 over five years.

    Double the number of Syrian migrants (352,000) overall arrived in Europe last year compared to Afghans.

    However, a shocking 51 per cent of children without parents – 45,300 – came from Afghanistan.

    The figures come as David Cameron U-turned on accepting unaccompanied Syrian refugee children from Europe during this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions.

    The Government previously rejected Lord Alf Dubs’ amendments to the Immigration Bill which would have forced the UK to accept 3,000 child refugees from Europe.

    Bowing to pressure from fellow Tory MPs, Mr Cameron said he would allow an unspecified number of unaccompanied minors into the UK who arrived in Europe before the EU/Turkey agreement started on March 20….”

      • You are right, they have been raised to be jihadies and will act according to the Koran when among infidels. To misquote the opening song from an old Western TV show, “The only protection (the song says law) is a hook and a draw”. This was the opening song for the show Johnny Yuma.

  12. Outrage as UK Muslim group says women must NOT to travel more than 48 miles without a man (express, May 5, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/667200/Muslim-Blackburn-Justine-Greening-outrage

    “A CABINET minister and champion of women’s rights has condemned a Muslim community group for suggesting women must be accompanied by men on long journeys.

    International Development Secretary Justine Greening urged the Blackburn Muslim Association to “publicly withdraw” the “disgraceful” online comments that she said have no place in Britain.

    In an online Islamic question and answer section, the association has published a link to a separate website under the heading ‘travelling without Mahram’, a man that a woman could not marry, such as a family member.

    The linked page says it is “not permissible for a woman to travel a distance exceeding 48 miles without a husband or a Mahram”.

    The explanation is signed “Yusuf Shabbir, Blackburn, UK” and dated July 2006.

    David TC Davies, the Tory MP for Monmouth, asked Ms Greening during development questions in the House of Commons: “Would you agree that your commendable efforts to improve sexual equality across the world would be made easier if organisations like the Blackburn Muslim Association were not putting out information to people that women should not be allowed to travel more than 48 miles without a male chaperone?”

    Ms Greening replied: “I had a look at their website last night and frankly the view that they expressed on it is disgraceful and unacceptable.

    “It has no place in Britain and is contrary to our British values and I think the Blackburn Muslim Association should very clearly and publicly withdraw those comments.”

    According to its website, the non-for-profit voluntary organisation says it provides “full support and comprehensive advice” in delivering activities which best support the most disadvantaged in the community – including women….”

    • Perhaps the warning is really about travel to Germany without protection.

  13. Top Tory: Brexit could save ‘THOUSANDS of animals’ from halal slaughterhouses abroad (express, May 5, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/667235/Brexit-save-thousands-animals-halal-slaughterhouses-EU-European-Union

    “LEAVING the European Union could save tens of thousands of animals from being slaughtered abroad, a top Tory has claimed.

    Animal welfare minister George Eustice warned under current EU rules, the Government is powerless to stop livestock being forced to endure long journeys before being slaughtered overseas.

    The Brexit camp claimed 49,712 live lambs and sheep were exported across the English Channel in 2012.

    Many of those are destined for halal slaughterhouses in France with some being sent to third countries outside the EU with poor animal welfare laws….”

    • 49,712 Lambs and sheep that are sold abroad for Ramadan does reflect a certain income for the farmers. If England, Wales or whatever part of the common wealth won’t sell those lambs and sheep, other European countries will.

      Would those lambs and sheep won’t be killed in normal slaughterhouses with a Brexit?

  14. New Year’s Eve Mob of Cologne
    Red-Green takes steps against revelations

    (photo caption: The committee of inquiry holds session in the room of the CDU. Here, Cologne police officer Peter Römers is in the witness stand).

    Düsseldorf – The revelations that unfold about the Cologne New Year’s Eve Night provoke unusual measures.
    Now the red-green government majority in parliament wants to drill down on media reports by searching for “moles” in parliament.

    SPD [Social Democrats] and the Greens think there was an unlawful disclosure of documents. According to EXPRESS information, on wednesday, the government parties [Social Democrats and Greens] have submitted a request to the committee of inquiry for consigment of a letter to Parliament President Carina Gödecke (57, SPD).
    They want her to give permission to prosecution by the judiciary.
    SPD chairman Hans-Willi Körfges (61) wants to discuss these issues “in the non-public part of the next meeting”:
    “Whoever publishes confidential documents, is violating laws, and endangers clearance efforts. There is a strong impression that there is unfair play for political calculations by undue
    deliberate indiscretions. VS documents (VS = classified information, note of editor) must remain strictly confidential”. According to Körfges, they “partially contain personal data of victims that do not belong in the public.”
    However, Red-Green take as examples reports of “EXPRESS” and the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” of 6 and 30 April, that were not at all about “personal data of victims”.
    The EXPRESS had exclusively reported, among other things, that Cologne CID officials have noted in January that there had been an attempt by the National Police Agency on New Year’s day to delete the term “rape” from an internal police report to the interior ministry – according to them on “the Ministry’s request.”
    Interior Minister Ralf Jäger (55, Social Democrats) had immediately “strongly” rejected this.
    But this monday, the CID officials as witnesses before the committee corroborated the facts and confirmed the revelations. For Jäger, himself scheduled as a witness next Monday, these are unpleasant descriptions.
    SPD and the Greens apparently assume that the press reports were based on “VS only for internal use” documents, which “only members of parliament and a limited staff can view”.
    “According to preliminary legal assessment, both are in any case a violation of professional secrecy according to § 353b of the Criminal Code,”, the complaint says.
    Matthi Bolte (30), chairman of the Greens in the committee of inquiry in parliament, said to the EXPRESS: “Freedom of the press is a valuable commodity. If, however, through targeted indiscretions the ability of the committee of inquiry to work is at risk, this must be clearly identified.”
    For a violation of official secrets, if convicted, a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine is impending.
    http://www.express.de/news/politik-und-wirtschaft/koelner-silvester-mob-rot-gruen-geht-gegen-enthuellungen-vor-24007196

  15. ‘Jews want to destroy my homeland’ (thelocal, May 4, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.at/20160504/jews-want-to-destroy-my-homeland

    “Thousands of books about Islam have been posted to homes around Vienna by a Turkish Islamic preacher who believes Jews are conspiring to destroy his Turkish homeland.

    One of those who received one of the books was a Viennese man identified only as Karl A., who said the book about Islam had been delivered to his home in a council property in Vienna’s Meidling district.

    He said the book was entitled “Islam condemns terrorism” and was written by Adnan Oktar, a Turkish author and television preacher famous for using female devotees in his TV broadcasts to win followers. The typical YouTube video shows him sitting in his chair clapping as his female devotees dance around him.

    However none of the young women are single despite appearances, in fact they are the wives of his followers.

    He is extremely litigious and has filed 5,000 lawsuits against individuals for defamation in the last decade, resulting in several prominent websites in Turkey being blocked.

    He believes Jews and Freemasons in Turkey want to erode the spiritual and religious values of Islam in the country to reduce Muslims to the status of animals.

    The books were also handed out in public and Islamic expert Amer Albayati told local newspaper the Kronen Zeitung that he was extremely worried about the trend.”

  16. ‘Muslims – but not Islam – part of Germany,’ says senior conservative lawmaker Kauder (DW, May 5, 2016)
    http://www.dw.com/en/muslims-but-not-islam-part-of-germany-says-senior-conservative-lawmaker-kauder/a-19237687

    “Volker Kauder, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Islam had not influenced Germany historically or culturally. But he warned against excluding Muslims from German society as desired by some populists.

    Kauder told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” in an interview published on Thursday that he considered a statement by former German President Christian Wulff saying that Islam was part of Germany to have been “well-meant,” but imprecise.

    “But just so there is no misunderstanding: The Muslims themselves are a part of Germany, no question about it,” he said.

    Kauder, who heads the parliamentary group of the union comprised of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), said he had several reasons for not sharing Wulff’s opinion….”

    • A move to get voters back. The success of the FPÖ in Austria sent them into a shock.
      Next year there will be all-German elections.
      23 Feb: “Despite poll shock: Merkel does not want to change CDU course” (Bild)
      18 March: “Fortitude: Angela Merkel does not want to change her course” (Bayern Depesche)
      18 April: “Stay on middle course, instead of turning to the right” (Die Welt)
      5 May: Angela Merkel urges CDU to change course (Die Welt)

        • Will she be able to bring in police and troops from other European nations to hold down the Germans? If yes will the German police and troops stand still for this action?

  17. ‘Islam does not belong in Germany’: 60% agree with AfD (RT, May 5, 2016)
    https://www.rt.com/news/341888-islam-germany-poll-afd/

    “Political rivals may brand the right-wing German party AfD xenophobic for claiming that there is “no place for Islam in Germany” in its political program, but 60 percent of the country’s citizens agree with the idea, according to a new poll.

    Conducted by the newspaper Bild together with research institute INSA, the poll showed a dramatic change in the attitude of the German population to Islam over the past year. In January 2015, 37 percent of people said that Islam had a place in Germany, but the figure in the latest poll dropped by 15 percentage points to just 22 percent.

    The suspicion towards Islam is overwhelming among AfD voters, 92 percent of whom supported their party’s stance, but was spread among members of other parties as well. Only supporters of the Green party were more in favor of Islam than against it (42 percent vs 39 percent).

    The negative attitude toward the religion does not directly translate into mistrust toward those adhering to it however. Less than 30 percent said they would not like to live alongside Muslim people, while almost half said they were fine with it….”

  18. Norway to Halt Rebel Aid If Assad Forces Are Attacked (sputnik May 5, 2016)
    http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160505/1039113680/norway-syria-assad-rebel-aid.html

    “On May 2, the Norwegian Government decided to enhance its contribution to the international US-led coalition’s operation against Daesh. However, Norway is prepared to halt its mission in Syria, if the Norwegian-trained rebels pursue to attack the government forces, says the country’s national defense.

    A Norwegian force of around 60 soldiers based in Jordan will provide training, consulting and operational support to local Syrian groups battling Daesh. However, The Norwegian-trained forces should under no circumstances get involved in battles against the Assad regime. If this prerequisite is no longer met, the mission is immediately aborted. The Norwegian forces have no mandate to support operations that are not effective against Daesh, newspaper Aftenposten wrote citing military officials…”

  19. Taliban suffer heavy casualties in Kandahar, 32 killed, 18 wounded in ANSF raids (khaama, May 5, 2016)
    http://www.khaama.com/taliban-suffer-heavy-casualties-in-kandahar-32-killed-18-wounded-in-ansf-raids-0844

    “The Taliban militants suffered heavy casualties during the raids of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in southern Kandahar province.

    The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said at least 32 militants were killed and 18 others were wounded during the operations.

    A statement by MoD said at least two militants were arrested during the same operation which was conducted in Shahwali Kot district.

    MoD in its statement further added that the operations were part of the ongoing clearance raids being conducted by the Afghan forces.

    According to MoD, at least 5 militants were killed during a separate operation in southeastern Patkika province and 7 more were wounded.

    At least 3 militants were killed during an operation in Syed Karam district of Paktia and another militant was injured, MoD said, adding that 3 more were killed in another operation conducted in Ghormach district of Faryab.

    The Afghan forces also killed another militant in Shindand and Guzra districts of Herat in western Afghanistan, MoD added.

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

  20. Threat of kidnapping continues to be very high in Kabul, US Embassy warns citizens (khaama, May 5, 2016)
    http://www.khaama.com/threat-of-kidnapping-continues-to-be-very-high-in-kabul-us-embassy-warns-citizens-0846

    “The US Embassy in Kabul has released a new security alert warning its citizens that “the threat of kidnapping and hostage taking continues to be very high.”

    The latest alert followed a day after the US Embassy warned regarding a possible suicide and coordinated attack or kidnapping in the 10th police district of the city.

    “An attempted kidnapping occurred in Kabul on May 2, 2016 targeting several expatriates including a U.S. citizen. The U. S. Embassy Kabul reminds U.S. citizens that the threat of kidnapping and hostage taking continues to be very high,” an online statement by US Embassy said.

    The statement further added “There are no further details regarding the targets, timing, or method of any planned kidnappings.”

    “The U.S. Embassy continues to take this threat seriously and advises U.S. citizens to take appropriate security precautions and to avoid predictable travel patterns within Afghanistan,” the statement said….”

  21. Abbottabad jirga ordered teenage girl be ‘set ablaze for helping friend elope’ (tribune, May 5, 2016)
    http://tribune.com.pk/story/1097775/girl-in-abbottabad-strangled-for-helping-friend-elope/

    “A woman was drugged, strangled and then her body set ablaze because she helped her friend elope, police said Thursday, announcing the arrest of 14 people in a twist on the grim practice of “honour killings”.

    Ambreen, believed to be around 20 years old, was killed then burned in a Suzuki van on the orders of the village jirga (council) in Makol on April 29, District Police Officer Khurram Rasheed told AFP.

    “Police have arrested 13 members of the jirga who ordered the murder of the girl,” Rasheed said. The victim’s mother was also arrested, he said, because she supported the jirga’s decision.

    The 14 are due to appear in a local anti-terrorism court Thursday on murder and terrorism charges, he said….”

  22. „Ficki, ficki“ German government offers state subsidized “flirt workshops” for asylum seekers

  23. Donald Trump refuses to back down on Muslim ban as he claims ‘Islam ruining Europe’ (express, May 5, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/667237/donald-trump-election-muslim-ban-destroying-europe

    “DONALD Trump has claimed Islam is “destroying Europe” as he reaffirmed his “common sense” policy to ban all Muslims from entering the US.

    The presumptive Republican nominee first proposed the idea in the wake of the horrific California shootings in December, which left 14 dead.

    The shooters were believed to be radicalised Muslims inspired by evil terror group Islamic State.

    But the billionaire has not backed down on his controversial policy, saying: “They’re destroying Europe, I’m not going to let that happen to the United States.”

    He added: “I don’t care if it hurts me. I’m doing the right thing. I’ve been guided by common sense, by what’s right.

    “We have to be careful. We’re allowing thousands of people to come into our country.

    “Thousands and thousands of people being placed all over the country that, frankly, nobody knows who they are. We don’t know what we’re doing.”…”

  24. Venezuela should be rich. Instead it’s becoming a failed state.

    It’s come to this: The country with the largest oil reserves in the world can’t afford to brew its own beer, stay in its own time zone, or even have its own people show up to work more than two times a week.

    Venezuela, in other words, is well past the point of worrying that its economy might collapse. It already has. That’s the only way to describe an economy that the International Monetary Fund thinks is going to shrink 8 percent and have 720 percent inflation this year. And that’s not even the worst of it. No, that’s the fact that the state itself is near collapse. Venezuela already has the world’s second-highest murder rate, and now the Chavista regime seems to be threatening violence of its own if the opposition succeeds in recalling President Nicolás Maduro. It’s a grim race between anarchy and civil war.

    This is an entirely man-made catastrophe. Venezuela, by all rights, should be rich. As we just said, it has more oil than the United States or Saudi Arabia or anyone else for that matter. But despite that, economic mismanagement on a world-historical scale has barely left it with enough money to even, well, pay for printing money anymore. That’s right: Venezuela is almost too poor to afford inflation. Which is just another way of saying that the government is all but bankrupt.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/05/04/venezuela-is-becoming-a-failed-state/

    • How bad is it in Venezuela? Soldiers are stealing goats
      “I think it’s important to pay attention to what’s going on in Venezuela,” says an analyst who follows the country.

      Over the weekend, six members of the Venezuelan military were detained by local authorities for stealing goats, the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional reported Sunday. It said the soldiers confessed to stealing the goats and said they did it to feed themselves, since they had no food left in their barracks.

      “It’s not a good sign when your military doesn’t have enough food, and when the military has been relegated to guarding and protecting food lines,” said Jason Marczak, director of the Latin America Economic Growth Initiative at the Atlantic Council. “This is endemic of the problems going on across the country.”

      Venezuela has been hard hit by food shortages, a dizzying inflation rate of about 181 percent and a collapse in the price of oil — its most critical export.

      http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/04/how-bad-is-it-in-venezuela-soldiers-are-stealing-goats.html

  25. China Evicts Investment Firms Amid Fears of Unrest

    China’s authorities, seeking to forestall potential social unrest due to growing failures of investment firms and online lenders, are ordering many to break leases and close their storefronts on busy streets — lest they become magnets for protesters.

    And that’s not all. Registration of all new companies with finance-related names was suspended nationwide in April, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly. In Shenzhen, office building management now must submit contact information for employees of all finance industry-related tenants to the local security bureau. Local governments from Shanghai to central Henan province have put up new signs outside residential compounds to warn the public against illicit fundraising activities.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-04/fears-of-china-unrest-see-investment-firms-evicted-to-preempt-it

  26. Greece: Police clash with refugees as they clear Idomeni train tracks

  27. Prime Ministers listen too much to voters, complains EU’s Juncker

    Prime Ministers must stop listening so much to their voters and instead act as “full time Europeans”, according to Jean-Claude Juncker.

    Elected leaders are making life “difficult” because they spend too much time thinking about what they can get out of EU and kowtowing to public opinion, rather than working on “historic” projects such as the Euro, he said.

    The president of the European Commission ridiculed British leaders for acting on “national reflexes” and telling voters they had successfully defended the country’s national interest in post-summit press conferences, rather than “speaking over Europe in the proper way”.
    ………….
    “Too many politicians are listening exclusively to their national opinion. And if you are listening to your national opinion you are not developing what should be a common European sense and a feeling of the need to put together efforts. We have too many part-time Europeans.”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/05/prime-ministers-listen-too-much-to-voters-complains-eus-juncker/

  28. Germany: Antifa stage protest in front of home of AfD’s Hoecke

    Antifa activists staged a demonstration in front of the house of Bjoern Hoecke, one of the leading figures of the far-right party Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) in Bornhagen, Thursday.

  29. Ticket to Europe: Refugee Crisis Focus Shifts to North Africa

    ………..
    Intelligence agencies are warning that hundreds of thousands of people are now waiting in North Africa for their chance to flee across the sea. Particularly from Libya, the dream of Europe looks closer than ever before: The often inadequately equipped boats put to sea by the migrant smugglers must only leave Libyan territorial waters 12 nautical miles from shore before sending out a distress call. Ships patrolling the waters of the southern Mediterranean as part of the EU operation Sophia must then collect them in accordance with international maritime law. Since September, some 13,000 migrants have been brought to EU territory as a result of this tactic.

    Recently, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz warned of the procedure, calling it a cheap “ticket to Europe.” At a meeting in Luxembourg a week ago Monday, he and his EU counterparts offered assistance to the largely powerless Libyan prime minister to build up a coast guard. The reality, though, is that as long as the Libyan authorities refuse to grant EU ships permission to patrol Libyan territorial waters in their efforts to combat smugglers, the surge of migrants heading for Europe will not abate.

    In March alone, Italy registered 9,676 refugee arrivals — four times more than in March 2015. Even more alarming, refugees from Syria and Afghanistan — groups that have been most affected by the closure of the Balkan Route — haven’t yet returned to the path across the central Mediterranean. Currently, the migrants arriving in Italy mostly come from Nigeria, Gambia, Senegal and Guinea, despite the fact that their asylum applications are likely to be rejected, as is the case for most of those coming from Africa. Less than 30 percent of asylum applicants from Nigeria or Mali, for example, can expect to have their asylum applications approved in the EU.

    In its report “Risk Analysis 2016,” published earlier this month, Frontex wrote: “The challenge here is to increase the ratio between return decisions and effective returns in line with the EU return policy.” In other words, migrants whose asylum applications are rejected must be quickly deported. The report notes that prospective migrants are aware of the low probability of being sent back home and know about how easy it is to travel within Europe’s border-free Schengen area. It is well known in Africa that those who manage to make it to Europe can usually stay.

    http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/refugee-crisis-focus-shifts-to-north-africa-a-1089536.html

  30. A href=”http://www.pmo.gov.il/English/MediaCenter/Speeches/Pages/speechHolocaust04052016.aspx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJbURK7l9ck“>Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day Address by Prime Minister Netanyahu
    04/05/2016
    What paved the way for the Holocaust? What oiled the wheels of the Nazi death machine? The answer is the lie.

    These and other lies are spreading in social media, through means of dissemination that Hitler and Goebbels could not have even imagined.
    This incitement stems from radical Islam and the Arab world, but in recent years it is joined by no less venomous incitement from the Western world. British members of parliament, Swedish high-ranking officials, French public opinion makers. I have to say that anti-Semitism today is a peculiar matchmaker –the elites who supposedly represent human progress have joined forces with the most sinister, barbaric fanatics on earth who behead people, oppress women, persecute LGBTs, destroy cultural treasures. They have teamed up to propagate the anti-Semitic virus against one target – us, against the State of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East which upholds values of progress and human dignity.
    Their hostility towards Israel has long exceeded legitimate criticism, if that ever existed. This is the total rejection of a state for the Jewish people. While throughout history the anti-Semites depicted Jews as the enemies of humanity, they now present the Jewish state as the enemy of humanity. This lie has no limits.

    Links from http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2016/05/bibis-speech-at-yad-vashem-text.html

  31. Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day Address by Prime Minister Netanyahu
    04/05/2016

    What paved the way for the Holocaust? What oiled the wheels of the Nazi death machine? The answer is the lie.

    These and other lies are spreading in social media, through means of dissemination that Hitler and Goebbels could not have even imagined.
    This incitement stems from radical Islam and the Arab world, but in recent years it is joined by no less venomous incitement from the Western world. British members of parliament, Swedish high-ranking officials, French public opinion makers. I have to say that anti-Semitism today is a peculiar matchmaker –the elites who supposedly represent human progress have joined forces with the most sinister, barbaric fanatics on earth who behead people, oppress women, persecute LGBTs, destroy cultural treasures. They have teamed up to propagate the anti-Semitic virus against one target – us, against the State of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East which upholds values of progress and human dignity.
    Their hostility towards Israel has long exceeded legitimate criticism, if that ever existed. This is the total rejection of a state for the Jewish people. While throughout history the anti-Semites depicted Jews as the enemies of humanity, they now present the Jewish state as the enemy of humanity. This lie has no limits.

    Links from http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2016/05/bibis-speech-at-yad-vashem-text.html

  32. The Netanyahu Shoah speech or speech-writer concludes with perhaps an allusion to a kabbalistic principle about “truth.” Removing God from the equation of truth leads to lies.
    Transcript in Hebrew, in English
    (@14:55) More than anything else, the flourishing State of Israel signifies the triumph of light over darkness, life over death [ha-mavet] and truth [emet] over lies.
    more mystical alphabet stuff