Reader’s links for May 15 – 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

44 Replies to “Reader’s links for May 15 – 2016”

  1. Turkish Blackmail: Ankara to Flood EU With Migrants if Visa Deal Fails (sputniknews, May 15, 2016)
    http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160515/1039629408/turkey-floods-europe-migrants.html

    “As the failure of a €6 billion ($5.3 billion) deal between Brussels and Ankara looms, Turkey is resorting to blackmail, threatening to deluge Europe with a wave of migrants in the event Turks aren’t granted access to visa-free travel in the EU.

    The ultimatum was tweeted by Burhan Kuzu, President Erdogan’s “honorary adviser” and a member of Turkish Ruling Party AKP, earlier this week.

    “The European Parliament will discuss the report that will open Europe visa-free for Turkish citizens. If the wrong decision is taken, we will send the refugees,” the Twitter post reads.

    In a later interview by phone with Bloomberg, Kuzu reiterated his position, stressing that “If Turkey’s doors are opened, Europe would be miserable.”

    Kuzu’s sentiments were met with harsh criticism in the European Parliament.
    Sophie In’t Veld, a MP from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, accused Erdogan of attempting to take advantage of weakness and divisiveness within the bloc that has so far failed to adopt “genuine European asylum and migration policy.”…”

  2. Suicide bombers target Iraqi gas plant (BBC, May 15, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36295622

    “A suicide attack on an Iraqi gas factory near Baghdad has killed at least 11 people and wounded many others, officials say.

    Early on Sunday a car blew up at the entrance of the facility in Taji, a northern suburb of the capital.
    Six attackers wearing explosive vests then entered the plant, where they clashed with security forces.

    Officials blamed the attack on the Islamic State (IS) group, which holds parts of western and northern Iraq.”

  3. Israeli leader: Iran mocks WWII Holocaust, prepares another

    JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at Iran Sunday for staging a Holocaust-themed cartoon contest that mocked the Nazi genocide of 6 million Jews during World War II and said the Islamic Republic was busy planning for another one.

    Iran has long backed armed groups committed to Israel’s destruction and its leaders have called for it to be wiped off the map. Israel fears that Iran’s nuclear program is designed to threaten its very existence. But Netanyahu said it was more than Iran’s belligerent policies that Israel opposed, but its values.

    “It denies the Holocaust, it mocks the Holocaust and it is also preparing another Holocaust,” Netanyahu said at his weekly Cabinet meeting. “I think that every country in the world must stand up and fully condemn this.”

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_ISRAEL_IRAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-05-15-05-26-29

  4. U.S. concern grows over possible Venezuela meltdown: officials

    The United States is increasingly concerned about the potential for an economic and political meltdown in Venezuela, spurred by fears of a debt default, growing street protests and deterioration of its oil sector, U.S. intelligence officials said on Friday.

    In a bleak assessment of Venezuela’s worsening crisis, the senior officials expressed doubt that unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro would allow a recall referendum this year, despite opposition-led protests demanding a vote to decide whether he stays in office.

    But the two officials, briefing a small group of reporters in Washington, predicted that Maduro, who heads Latin America’s most ardently anti-U.S. government and a major U.S. oil supplier, was not likely to be able to complete his term, which is due to end after elections in late 2018.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-idUSKCN0Y42MT

  5. Venezuela accuses US of plotting coup as Washington warns of ‘imminent collapse’

    In 2002, then President Hugo Chavez was briefly ousted in a coup by opponents supported by the US. Washington continued to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to his critics, while Mr Chavez took to the podium of the UN to accuse George W Bush of being the devil.

    Now, President President Nicolas Maduro has extended a state of emergency in the country for another 60 days and accused Washington of plotting against him, as US intelligence has claimed the country is heading for meltdown.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/venezuela-accuses-us-of-plotting-coup-as-washington-warns-of-imminent-collapse-a7029386.html

  6. Aberdeen: the Granite City in crisis

    It has got to the point where I run into old friends and ask them whether they’re in work, almost as a greeting. It’s become the same as asking ‘how are things?’,” says oilfield safety worker Spencer Owen.

    After months of dragging oil prices the capital of North Sea oil is caught in the grip of a vicious downturn which has wrought financial pain throughout the local economy. Dips are to be expected of a city so deeply dependent on the fluctuating price of oil, but the latest downturn is unlike anything its 195,000 residents have seen before.

    The oil price rout has run deeper and longer than any oil market downturn in history, and comes at a time when the aging North Sea basin is losing its economic edge against cheaper exploration areas.

    As the economic contagion spreads through Aberdeen, so do the anecdotes of its fall from one of the richest cities in the UK to a city in crisis.

    Tales of oil executives queuing up for food banks or to sell their Rolexes to overwhelmed pawn brokers are breathlessly repeated by cab drivers. One tells of how financed sports cars are being abandoned in dealership forecourts overnight by those unable to keep up with payments. Another claims to have driven an enterprising young man to snap up a paid-in-full Porsche from a desperate owner to re-sell at a profit in London.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/05/14/aberdeen-the-granite-city-in-crisis/

  7. Beijing blasts Pentagon report on Chinese military as damaging trust

    BEIJING (Reuters) – China condemned the U.S. Defense Department’s annual report on the Chinese military on Sunday, calling it deliberate distortion that has “severely damaged” mutual trust.

    In its annual report to Congress on Chinese military activities, the U.S. Defense Department said on Friday that China is expected to add substantial military infrastructure, including communications and surveillance systems, to artificial islands in the South China Sea this year.

    China’s Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun expressed “strong dissatisfaction” and “firm opposition” to the Pentagon report and said it has “severely damaged mutual trust”, state news agency Xinhua reported.

    The report “hyped up” China’s military threat and lack of transparency, “deliberately distorted” Chinese defense policies and “unfairly” depicted Chinese activities in the East and South China seas, Yang was quoted as saying.

    “China follows a national defense policy that is defensive in nature,” Yang said, adding that the country’s military build-up and reforms are aimed at maintaining sovereignty, security and territorial integrity and guaranteeing China’s peaceful development.

    It is the United States that has always been suspicious and flexing its military muscle by frequently sending military aircraft and warships to the region, Yang said.

    http://www.oann.com/beijing-blasts-pentagon-report-on-chinese-military-as-damaging-trust/

  8. Perhaps this is in response to Mr Netanyahu
    http://www.jewishisrael.org/what-will-i-answer-by-moshe-feiglin/
    From the edge of that pit we crawled and a state was established. We thought it would answer our questions. – The religious thought that the Mashiach was just around the corner. – The secular thought that the state would make us normal. It would bring peace and we would become just like the rest of the world. – But nothing is solved today.

  9. Germany: Mass brawl at refugee camp leaves seven injured

    A large fight broke out at a refugee accommodation centre in Verden-Dauelsen, late Saturday, leaving one person in critical condition and at least six others wounded. Three people were taken to hospital for treatment following the brawl, which saw unidentified persons forcing entry into the facility to join the fight inside.

    SOT, Juergen Menzel, police spokesperson (German): “The reason for the fight [on Friday] was, as I said, the theft of a loudspeaker; this led to a fight and more and more people took part. For sure most of these people have been in this centre a long time and irritation also played a role. Probably this was also the cause of the fight this evening, early evening. At about 19.00 we received the first emergency calls saying people were throwing plates, with the participation of more people who broke into the refugee shelter from outside. This was probably the continuation of the fight that had begun the day before. Up to 50 people took part, using objects to beat people with. What exactly those items were is currently part of the investigation. Three people were so severely injured that they had to be taken to hospital; one of them finds himself in a life-threatening situation.”

  10. Yemen: Over 25 killed in IS suicide attack in Mukalla

    More than 25 people were killed and at least 50 were wounded following a suicide attack on a security compound in the coastal city of Mukalla on Sunday.

  11. Iraq: IS suicide bombers destroy cooking gas storage units in Baghdad

    A suicide bomb attack killed at least 11 people and injured 21 others at a state-run cooking gas factory on the outskirts of Baghdad, Sunday morning.

  12. Operation Sophia: EU naval mission to stop people smugglers ‘failing’

    The European Union’s naval mission, launched in response to the migrant crisis, has failed, according to a UK House of Lords report. Critics say the search and rescue activity of operation ‘Sophia’ acts as a magnet to migrants and aids people traffickers. The chairman of the EU External Affairs Sub-Committee at the House of Lords admitted the failure of the mission.

  13. DAILY MAIL Two young French boys are shown ‘killing two Syrian prisoners’ in sickening new ISIS execution video

    The youngsters were filmed ‘shooting prisoners’ in a sickening execution
    Both the boys appear to carry out the killing, though the footage is edited
    It was contained in the group’s latest propaganda video aimed at the West

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3591258/Two-young-French-boys-shown-killing-two-Syrian-prisoners-sickening-new-ISIS-execution-video.html

    video :
    http://sendvid.com/ks6l42qa

  14. DAILY MAIL – ‘Smirking’ Russian nanny who beheaded girl, 4, and paraded her head in the street will NOT face murder trial as she is ‘insane’

    Gyulchehra Bobokulova decapitated girl she was looking after in February
    She walked around Moscow with girl’s head aloft shouting: ‘Allahu Akbar’
    The nanny said Allah told her to do it in revenge for Putin’s bombs in Syria
    But she will not face trial for murder as she is insane and not responsible

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3589416/Smirking-Russian-nanny-decapitated-girl-4-paraded-head-streets-never-jail-insane.html

  15. I hope this link works. I do not know this guy but his video is set to public, and is being widely shared at German FB at the moment.
    It is from the mourning ceremony for the 17 year old Niklas who died of his injuries, being savagely beaten and kicked, without any reason or provocation on his side at all, last weekend.

    Background:
    The wanted-leaflet that the police handed out says the attackers had brown skin and black hair.
    This prompted hundreds of “Antifa” (a violent street organisation supported by the German government as part of their “moral courage against right extremism”) to gather at the mourning ceremony. The Antifa argue, right extremists will exploit the case for their own agenda.
    Indeed, a small number of people have been peacefully holding signs like “Stop the Violence”. German media reports this as a “right extremist rally”.
    They do not even mention the Antifa.

    This is a live video from someone at the mourning. Even if you do not understand German, you can hear how the blasting music of the Antifa is drowning out everything. The guy says they were even dancing.
    https://www.facebook.com/williiwanitzki.iwanitzki/videos/865185700259507/

  16. Ramzan Kadyrov: reports on arson of Ramazan Djalaldinov’s house are false
    Ramazan Djalaldinov, who complained to President Vladimir Putin about corruption in the Chechen village of Kenkhi, had simulated the arson of his house. This was claimed by the acting Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

    Source: http://eng.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/35581/
    © Caucasian Knot

  17. Thousands of Christians in German refugee shelters are being persecuted by Muslims, sometimes even by their security guards, according to a new report by the NGO Open Doors.

    “A major obstacle to the survey was that many victims were afraid to participate. … Their concern was not only on the possible consequences for them personally and for their families in Germany, but also for their relatives who continue to live in the countries of origin.” — Open Doors report.

    http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8043/germany-christians-persecuted

  18. Dozens of people in Bangladesh’s Sirajganj district have been infected with anthrax, according to district health officials. The Daily Star reports the affected individuals from Jamtoli village in Kamarkhand upazila and Koijuri village in Shahjadpur upazila contracted the serious bacterial disease after coming in contact with the meat of anthrax-infected animals.

    Health personnel have been dispatched to the area and the patients are being treated.
    Prof Mahmudur Rahman, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), said the disease was a “regular phenomenon” in Sirajganj and Meherpur. “There is nothing to panic. The affected ones are being treated,” he said.

    http://outbreaknewstoday.com/bangladesh-reports-anthrax-outbreak-in-sirajganj-called-a-regular-phenomenon-71406/

  19. Kurdish Forces Advancing on Raqqa City in Full Combat Readiness (sputniknews, May 15, 2016)
    http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160515/1039655915/kurdish-forces-raqqa.html

    “The predominately Kurdish ‘Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) have made further advances in Raqqa province, and are now very close to entering Raqqa city.

    On Wednesday, SDF Spokesman Tajir Kobani announced that commanders of the SDF-affiliated groups in Northern Syria have, in a secret meeting, coordinated the process of a joint final operation for liberating Raqqa from Daesh terrorists.

    “The Kurdish fighters are now only 30 kilometers from Raqqa city,” the Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying on Sunday…”

  20. Egypt Sentences 152 Protesters to Jail in Spree of Verdicts (abcnews, May 15, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/egypt-sentences-101-protesters-years-prison-39123999

    “Egyptian courts have in a single day convicted 152 protesters for breaking a law that effectively bans demonstrations, sentencing them to up to five years in prison in a series of short mass trials.

    The cases against the 152 convicted Saturday are rooted in events on April 25, when police stifled planned demonstrations called to protest the government’s surrender to Saudi Arabia of two Red Sea islands under a deal negotiated in near total secrecy.

    Police arrested more than 1,200 people during the run-up to April 25 and on the day, but released most of them without charge. However, nearly 300 were referred to trial for breaking the 2013 protest law decried by rights groups at home and abroad.

    On Saturday, a Cairo court convicted and sentenced 51 people to prison for two years for their part in the protests…”

  21. ‘Terror propaganda:’ Turkish student detained, kicked out of dormitory ‘after speaking Kurdish’ (RT, May 15, 2016)
    https://www.rt.com/news/343117-turkey-kurdish-student-terrorism/

    “A Kurdish student says she lost her scholarship, was kicked out of her dormitory and questioned by police after her roommates heard her speaking in Kurdish on the phone. Her roommates filed a complaint accusing Pinar Cetinkaya of terror propaganda…”

  22. Germany not muzzled by migration pact with Turkey: Steinmeier (DW, May 15, 2016)
    http://www.dw.com/en/germany-not-muzzled-by-migration-pact-with-turkey-steinmeier/a-19259118

    “The German foreign minister has rejected criticism that Germany is making concessions to Turkey over a migration pact. He said the government would continue to talk with Ankara about issues such a press freedom.

    In a newspaper interview published on Sunday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (r. in above photo next to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan) denied that the German government was tiptoeing around difficult issues in its dealings with Turkey for fear of jeopardizing an EU migration deal with Ankara.

    “We will continue to speak about undesirable developments in Turkey, about restrictions on the freedom of opinion and the press. Anyone who is willing to listen can hear that,” he told the “Tagesspiegel” newspaper.

    Steinmeier’s comments came after Horst Seehofer, premier of Bavaria and head of the Christian Social Union, accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of conceding too much to Turkey in exchange for Ankara housing Syrian refugees….”

  23. IED explosion kills police conscript, injures officer Egypt’s North Sinai (ahram, May 15, 2016)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/216837/Egypt/Politics-/IED-explosion-kills-police-conscript,-injures-offi.aspx

    “A police conscript was killed and a low-ranking officer wounded in the early hours of Sunday when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off as a police patrol vehicle was driving through North Sinai’s Al-Arish, according to an interior ministry statement.

    The officer was transferred to the hospital.

    Security forces are battling a decade-long Islamist insurgency in parts of North Sinai, which spiked in 2013.

    Tens of security personnel have been killed in similar attacks.”

  24. BREITBART – UN Director Admits: Syrians Not Fleeing Over War, Gulf Countries ‘Haven’t Taken A Single One’

    The Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva has revealed most of the migrants from Syria are not fleeing persecution or war, and has lashed out at both the United States and the Arab Gulf countries who he claims are not doing enough to accommodate more migrants.

    Speaking to the Huffington Post this week, Michael Moller described his dissatisfaction with response to Europe’s migrant crisis, specifically taking aim at the media for failing to “educate” the public, and calling for schools to “educat[e] the youth for the problems… of tomorrow.”

    But amongst his critique of the Western response to the migrant crisis, the Director-General lets slip two major points often dismissed by open borders campaigners:

    1. The migrants from Syria are not fleeing because of the Syrian war:

    Mr. Moller says the main reason people are leaving Syria “isn’t the crippling violence in the country”, the HuffPo reports.

    “The number one reason why people leave Syria is not the bombs or the food or the cold, it’s because they want to find educational opportunities for their children,” he explains.

    This would mean that most of the Syrian migrants would fall under the category of “economic migrants” rather than “refugees” – a point that Mr. Moller even clarifies later in the interview.

    He says: “To put it very bluntly, every refugee is a migrant. Not every migrant is a refugee. It’s quite clear actually.”

    2. Gulf countries have not taken a single migrant/refugee

    While this point is hotly contested by the governments of countries like Saudi Arabia, it didn’t stop the UN chief making the claim.

    Mr. Moller told the HuffPo he wants “greater international solidarity”, stating: “There’s absolutely no reason why places like Canada and the United States, Australia, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, even Asian countries who we helped not that long ago, shouldn’t take many more of these people. Not to speak about the countries in the Gulf who haven’t taken a single one.”

    Speaking of the press reaction to the crisis, he has claimed that not enough has been done to report favourable stories about the migrant crisis. He blames ill-informed views on the fact that the public across the Western world “have a narrow point of view coming from local communities”.

    Mr. Moller believes the press has three roles: “One is to inform, second is to educate and third is to hold power to account.”

    “It’s the second one I have a problem with, because the education role of the press in general has been set a bit aside over the last few decades.”

    “Most of the seven billion opinions on the internet are very ill informed, so a lot of the readers are not educated and they have a narrow point of view coming from local communities. So if we want to avoid chaos and a cacophony that isn’t leading us anywhere, we need to be much better at educating and informing people about the context in which every single one of them lives.

    “There is practically nothing that isn’t online if you search long enough. But the problem is that people have to know what they are looking for, and they have to be given an incentive to do so, and that’s where the media has a role.”

    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/05/15/un-director-admits-syrians-not-fleeing-war-gulf-countries-havent-taken-single-one/

  25. NORWAY – Flight evacuated at Rygge airport

    A plane that was supposed to go from Rygge to Manchester is evacuated by the police after it was suspicious of the two passengers, police said in Ostfold on Twitter.

    Police bomb squad on the way.The plane and all baggage will now be checked.

    The suspects are from Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom. Police investigators will Sunday night conducting the interrogation of the two arrestees.

    http://norwaytoday.info/news/flight-evacuated-rygge-airport/

  26. Nangarhar teen girl burnt alive allegedly by her brother’s wife in Tandoori oven (khaama, May 15, 2016)
    http://www.khaama.com/nangarhar-teen-girl-burnt-alive-allegedly-by-her-brothers-wife-in-tandoori-oven-0936

    “A teenage girl was burnt alive allegedly by her brother’s wife in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, local officials said Saturday.

    The incident took place in the 2nd police district of Jalalabad city, the provincial capital of Nangarhar earlier today.

    According to the police sources, the victim has been identified as Mursal who was around 15-year-old and was a student of 9th grade.

    The sources further added that Mursal was thrown into the oven by her brother’s wife who used the opportunity as there was no one present in the house.

    The alleged perpetrator has been arrested and is in police custody for further investigation, police sources said, adding that the woman has not confessed to the horrific crime so far.

    The horrific incident has sent shockwaves across the country which comes as violence against women has been rampant across the country…”

  27. 894 Turkish journalists dismissed since January 2016: Report (hurriyetdailynews, May 15, 2016)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/894-turkish-journalists-dismissed-since-january-2016-report.aspx?pageID=238&nID=99181&NewsCatID=339

    “A total 894 journalists have been dismissed from work since the beginning of 2016, according to a fresh report by Press For Freedom, a project funded by Britain’s Bilateral Program, which produces monthly, quarterly and yearly reports on the state of media freedoms in Turkey.

    The report, whose findings were announced at a press conference on May 14, displayed a gloomy picture of the deteriorating state of press freedoms in Turkey.

    Two newspapers and a news agency have been “silenced” with the appointment of a trustee panel due to “strong evidence” of links to the Gülen movement, followers of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, an ally-turned-foe of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, the report said.

    At least 160 journalists were laid off in Turkey in April, increasing the number of discharged journalists to a total 894 over the first quarter of 2016, the report said….”

  28. ISIS release execution photos of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan (khaama, May 15, 2016)
    http://www.khaama.com/isis-release-execution-photos-of-taliban-fighters-in-afghanistan-0950

    “The loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group have released a set of images which purportedly shows the execution of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

    The photographs were published by the loyalists of the terror group in social media earlier this evening.

    The authenticity of the photographs could not be independently verified and it is yet not in which part of the country the militants were executed.

    Subtitles in Arabic language in the photographs identify the men as Abdul Ghafoor, Mohammad Rahim and Fazal-ur-Rehman.

    The photographs shows three men blindfolded and are shot dead by the ISIS loyalists as they have been given orange jump suits.

    This is the first time the terror group’s loyalists have published the execution photographs of the Taliban group in Afghanistan….”

  29. DAILY MAIL – MANCHESTER – You dummies! Red faces at Manchester United as it emerges bomb scare was caused by dummy device left in toilet BY MISTAKE after terror training exercise

    Stands at Old Trafford dramatically evacuated after ‘code red’ alert because of ‘incredibly lifelike explosive device’
    Mobile phone attached to wiring said to have been discovered in toilets during Manchester United’s final-day clash
    Match was postponed for 45 minutes but staff later abandoned game altogether, sending away thousands of fans
    Police and sniffer dogs deployed to ground, which has capacity for 76,000, and a controlled explosion carried out
    Sportsmail understands that initial investigations point to device being ‘elaborate hoax’ and probe to be launched

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-3591435/Manchester-United-kick-delayed-45-minutes-Stretford-End-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-stand-Old-Trafford-evacuated.html