Reader’s links for May 26 – 2016

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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

77 Replies to “Reader’s links for May 26 – 2016”

  1. British special forces fighting in Libya: Report (middleeasteye, May 26, 2016)
    http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/british-special-forces-fighting-libya-report-201027144?

    “British special forces fired a missile to destroy an Islamic State (IS) group truck packed with explosives in Libya this month, according to a report on Thursday in The Times.

    The attack, which helped Libyan militias to halt the terrorists’ advance on the strategic city of Misrata, according to the the report, is the first evidence that British soldiers have a combat role against Isis in Libya.

    “My unit works just with English,” Mohammed Durat, a commander of troops in Misrata, told The Times. “I have met with them personally and they have destroyed two suicide vehicles that were targeting my fighters.”…”

  2. Its not safe anywhere because Muslims are running around all over Europe stabbing people. London is one of the worst.

    The only people not likely to be stabbed are identifiably Muslim. That is one possible reason Muslims wear Islamic garb. Its a kind of IFF (Identification Friend or Foe).

    London, Paris, Rome and all major cities in the West, are not safe anymore. Its quite possible that since all the Jihadis are in Europe, Egypt or Tunisia are safer then London or Paris.

  3. Europe’s demographic doom. A video that all should see (but no doubt won’t)!

  4. Magyar TV government press conf with Lazar and Kovacs:

    Soros gave scholarship money to hungarian universities but is not happy with lack of appreciative and indoctrinated young Hungarians. He wants his money back and is welcome to it. He’s trying to bribe young Hungarians leftist political thinking.

    Soros and Americans stirring up central European pot. He says Poland and Hungary are the only countries against Open Societies. (This is why Soros used Clinton as a recent mouthpiece)

    Christian holocaust in middle east. Hungarian people collecting money which is matched by the Hungarian government to donate for this cause. 300 christian political refugees admitted to Hungary so far this year. MSM reports none of this while criticizing Hungary for doing nothing to help migrant crisis.

    • Orban’s statement about Soros’ words in Clinton’s mouth was pure gold.
      What shameful things to say about Poland and Hungary! Clinton is trash, but he topped himself with those sickening insults.

  5. France: Police stage siege after terror suspect locks himself in Paris flat

    Anti-terror police were deployed to Henvi IV boulevard in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, Thursday, after a terror suspect locked himself in a block of flats allegedly wielding a knife.

    The suspect is believed to have links to the Islamic State (formerly ISIS, ISIL), and has been to Syria.

  6. GoPro: Migrant boat capsizes in Med, 500 Libyans fight for lives amid Italian navy rescue op

  7. Paris attacks survivor slams Eagles of Death Metal frontman for Muslim conspiracy comments

  8. IDOMENI -Migrants stranded in Greece take to fields to avoid state-run camps

    They packed up their belongings and began to walk, some heading for the fields, others to a gas station, all seeking to avoid going to state-run Greek migrant camps where they fear they will end up trapped.

    For months they had been living in Idomeni, a sprawling expanse of tents on Greece’s northern border with Macedonia and a symbol of human misery until police and bulldozers began clearing it on Tuesday.

    More than 8,000 people, mostly Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans, had been living there, hoping to reach northern Europe like the nearly a million migrants and refugees before them. But they got stranded in Greece after borders closed down across the Balkans.

    The Idomeni camp was nearly empty on Thursday but only about 2,400 people have been relocated to state-run facilities, according to police.

    Instead, dozens of tents have sprung up at gas station in the town of Evzoni, some six 6 km (4 miles) away, and dozens more were being pitched in a grassy field nearby.

    Diar, an 18-year-old Syrian, said he woke up on Thursday to Greek police asking him to get on a bus to an official camp, so he made his own way out of there instead.

    “I’m looking for a smuggler,” he said. “Everyone here is trying to get a smuggler and move from here, by plane or by walking, or anything else.”

    Greek officials have not released figures on how many people may have left on their own accord.

    Aid groups say the new sites, including some in disused warehouses and industrial zones, are not fully functional. They have called on Greece, which is also grappling with its worst economic crisis in generations, to improve conditions there.

    The government says there are still more than 54,000 migrants on Greek soil. Asylum requests have spiked in recent months, adding to the burden of an asylum service already criticised as slow and inefficient.

    Progress has also lagged on a scheme to redistribute 160,000 asylum seekers from Greece and Italy to other EU states to alleviate pressure on the two frontline countries. Just over 1,100 people have been relocated so far.

    “This is not just about survival. Sites must provide for refugees’ basic needs,” said Rowan Cody, northern Greece field coordinator for the International Rescue Committee aid group.

    “Increasing desperation is already leading to spikes of violence and an increase in mental health issues. How much more can these people bear?” he asked.

    One Syrian refugee who left Idomeni for the barren field in Evzoni with his wife and two daughters said he refused to go to an official camp as he had been told of overcrowding.

    “There is no place for us and there is not enough food and aid and medicine. People are cramped on top of each other and, at the same time, there are same problems as the previous camp,” he said.

    “I don’t want to go and get squeezed among people and in the end, we still don’t know what our fate will be.”

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-greece-idomeni-idUSKCN0YH1KL

  9. Has the Pope Abandoned Europe to Islam?

    by Giulio Meotti
    May 26, 2016 at 5:00 am

    http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8045/pope-francis-islam

    To scroll the list of Pope Francis’s apostolic trips — Brazil, South Korea, Albania, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Ecuador, Cuba, United States, Mexico, Kenya, Uganda, Philippines — one could say that Europe is not exactly at the top of his agenda.

    The two previous pontiffs both fought for the cradle of Christendom. Pope John Paul II took on Communism by toppling the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain. Benedict XVI took on “the dictatorship of relativism” (the belief that truth is in the eye of the beholder) and bet everything on re-evangelizing the continent by traveling through it (he visited Spain three times) and in speeches such as the magnificent ones at Regensburg, where he spoke bluntly about the threat of Islam, and the German Bundestag, where he warned the gathered politicians against declining religiosity and “sacrificing their own ideals for the sake of power.”

    Pope Francis, on the contrary, simply ignores Europe, as if he already considers it lost. This former Argentinian Cardinal, a representative of the “global South” Christianity, made spectacular trips to the migrants’ islands of Lampedusa (Italy) and Lesbos (Greece), but never to the heart of the old continent. Pope Francis has also made it difficult for Anglicans to enter into the Catholic Church, by downplaying the dialogue with them.

    Most importantly, however, in his important May 6 speech for the Charlemagne Prize, the Pope, in front of European leaders, castigated Europe on migrants and asked its leaders to be more generous with them. He next introduced something revolutionary into the debate: “The identity of Europe is, and always has been, a multicultural identity,” he said. This idea is questionable.

    Multiculturalism is a specific policy formulated in the 1970s. and it was absent from the political vocabulary of Schuman and Adenauer, two of Europe’s founding fathers. Now it has been invoked by the Pope, who spoke of the need for a new synthesis. What is this all about?

    Today, Christianity appears marginal and irrelevant in Europe. The religion faces an Islamic demographic and ideological challenge, while the post-Auschwitz remnants of Jewish communities are fleeing from the new anti-Semitism. Under these conditions, a synthesis between the old continent and Islam would be a surrender of Europe’s claim to the future.

      • I think a pod person took his place.

        If you don’t recognize the reference it is too an old SF movie.

        • I wonder if they killed him or just locked him away in some monastery. This Manchurian Candidate looks too healthy, too many years to damage beleaguered Christendom.

          But this too shall pass. Catholics will come out of this stronger than ever.

  10. Ottawa shooting hero Kevin Vickers tackles protester at Ireland remembrance ceremony

    Former Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, the man credited with stopping a gunman in a firefight on Parliament Hill in 2014, can be seen in photos tackling a protester during a ceremony honouring British soldiers in Dublin, Ireland.

    According to the Irish Independent, Vickers was the first to jump into action when a protester interrupted an event at Grangegorman Military Cemetery Thursday morning to commemorate the British soldiers who died in 1916.

    A male protester stood up and yelled “this is an insult” before Vickers, who is the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, physically restrained the man before police could intervene.

    “The whole thing lasted about a minute. The Canadian ambassador grabbed him, there was a struggle and [police] wrestled him to the ground,” an unidentified witness told the Independent.

    “Without hesitation he [Mr Vickers] jumped out from the middle of dignitaries.”

    In video captured by RTE News, Vickers can be seen grabbing the protester and dragging him away from the ceremony where he is later handcuffed by Dublin police.[…]

    http://globalnews.ca/news/2723433/ottawa-shooting-hero-kevin-vickers-tackles-protester-at-ireland-remembrance-ceremony/

  11. SYRIA -Curriculum v. Ideology: the War in the Classroom

    In classrooms across the opposition-controlled province of Idlib, the school curriculum has become the battlefield for various factions trying to win the hearts and minds of Syrian youth.

    Coordination between the different curricula hasn’t gone smoothly, either. Jaish al-Fatah’s first move was to eliminate all philosophy and history courses, labeling them “infidel” subjects. Later on, the Islamist coalition was forced to reintroduce history and philosophy into its program because the regime’s Ministry of Education included them in its examinations.

    […]As for Idlib’s rural areas, too remote to be part of the agreement with the Syrian regime, Jaish al-Fatah eliminated music, art and agriculture classes, placing a major emphasis on Islamic education and the theology of monotheism, or Tawheed, a key Islamic belief in the oneness of God, taken from the Saudi curriculum. Residents in the area often refer to the Islamist curriculum as the “plus one curriculum,” because of its additional religious component.

    As Jaish al-Fatah tightened its grip across the province, it assigned school supervisors to preach Islamic values to students and to enforce Islamic dress codes. Some teachers, who asked to remain anonymous, said the Islamic coalition appointed unqualified teachers to teach the Quran and Sharia (or Islamic) law, firing teachers who had graduated from university with a degree in Islamic jurisprudence, accusing them of being Sufis (followers of a mystical strain of Sunni Islam) and of teaching the SNC’s “infidel” curriculum.[…]

    https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2016/05/18/curriculum-v-ideology-the-war-in-the-classroom

  12. Syria: Kurdish-led forces mobilise outside Raqqa ahead of large-scale offensive

    Kurdish-led forces mobilised thousands of fighters outside Raqqa, Thursday, ahead of a large-scale offensive to retake the city from the so-called Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

    SOT, Khalil Al Hindawi, fighter from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) (Arabic): “We are the SDF (The Syrian Democratic Forces), I am Khalil Al Hindawi, we are preparing a military campaign to free the northern villages of Al-Raqqa. We already freed 5km which is 10 villages, ISIS fighters retreated after losing soldiers and equipment.”

  13. USA – 8 More Members of Congress Support Brotherhood Bill

    A bill to designate the Muslim Brotherhood, along with linkage to CAIR, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization continues to gain support.

    Eight more members of Congress have signed onto the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, two Senators and six representatives. Twenty members have come onboard since the Clarion Project letter campaign was launched, raising the number of supporters to 76.

    Over 75 members of Congress are cosponsoring the bill or have voted in its favor. It now has bipartisan support and has passed the House Judiciary Committee. Four organizations representing persecuted Christians are also pushing for the bill. A prominent Kurdish activist is also rooting the effort on.

    […]The next steps are for the bill to come to a vote in the House of Representatives and to be approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where it is currently stalled.

    Regardless of whether it passes or not, the legislation is an unprecedented opportunity to educate congressmen about the Muslim Brotherhood’s involvement in terrorism. The legislation also outlines how the Brotherhood is linked to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT).[…]

    https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/8-more-members-congress-support-brotherhood-bill

  14. Prisoner Not Seen Since CIA Capture May Appear at Guantanamo (abcnews, May 26, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/prisoner-cia-capture-guantanamo-39400152

    “A Palestinian not seen publicly since his 2002 capture by the CIA launched a brutal interrogation program may soon make his first appearance in a U.S. courtroom.

    Abu Zubaydah, who CIA agents once sought to be kept incommunicado for the rest of his life, has been called as a witness by Ramzi Binalshibh, one of the defendants in the Sept. 11 war crimes case, to back up allegations of mistreatment inside a high-security unit at Guantanamo Bay.

    Abu Zubaydah could testify, along with a prisoner from Somalia who has also never been seen in a public forum, as early as next week in a pretrial hearing at the U.S. base in Cuba…”

  15. Muslim Mob Attacked Christian Homes in Egyptian Province (abcnews, May 26, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/muslim-mob-attacks-christian-homes-egyptian-province-39389082

    “A Muslim mob stripped an elderly Christian woman and paraded her naked on the streets in an attack last week in which seven Christian homes were also ransacked and torched in a province south of the Egyptian capital.

    According to the local Orthodox Coptic church and security officials, the assault in the Minya province village of Karama on Friday began after rumors spread that the elderly woman’s son had an affair with a Muslim woman — a taboo in conservative Egypt.

    Police have arrested six men suspected of taking part in the violence and are looking for 12 more, the security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media…”

  16. ‘Shockingly large’ number of refugees in Med pushes German Navy to limits – report (RT, May 26, 2016)
    https://www.rt.com/news/344510-libya-refugees-mediterranean-germany/

    “Rescuing migrant boats in the Mediterranean may soon push the German Navy’s task force to its limits due to a “shockingly” large number of people on Libya’s shores eager to reach Italy across the sea, the military has warned.

    The number of refugees trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean is increasing rapidly, to the extent that the German maritime task force taking part in the EU’s ‘Operation Sophia’ rescue mission will soon be on the edge of its capabilities, according to Die Zeit newspaper.

    “We’re a bit frightened about the large number of those who are now coming from Libya, whenever the weather is stable,” a spokesperson for the Bundeswehr’s overseas missions command told the newspaper…”

  17. Calais ‘Jungle’ explosion injures at least 20 refugees, 3 volunteers and a policeman

    • Plusieurs blessés dans des bagarres entre migrants à Calais

      Une trentaine de migrants, cinq volontaires d’une association et un policier ont été blessés lors de violents affrontements jeudi à Calais, a-t-on appris de source policière et auprès de la préfecture du Pas-de-Calais.

      Les incidents ont opposé en fin d’après-midi des migrants afghans et soudanais au centre d’hébergement Jules Ferry, voisin de la “jungle”, au moment de la distribution des repas, a indiqué la préfecture.

      Une quinzaine de personnes ont été évacuées sur l’hôpital de Calais.

      Fabienne Buccio, préfète du Pas-de-Calais, qui est allée sur place, a déclaré que “ce type de situation est déjà survenu mais jamais à ce point”.

      La violence des affrontements a nécessité l’intervention de 250 membres des forces de l’ordre, policiers et gendarmes pour ramener le calme. Cinq membres de l’association La Vie active, qui s’occupe de la gestion du centre Jules Ferry, figurent au nombre des blessés.

      La situation est revenue à la normale vers 18h00 mais environ 70 pompiers sont restés sur place pour maîtriser des départs de feu au niveau des abris de la “jungle”, un bidonville qui abrite plusieurs milliers de migrants en quête d’un passage en Grande-Bretagne.

      http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/topnews/20160526.REU4322/plusieurs-blesses-dans-des-bagarres-entre-migrants-a-calais.html

  18. Danish MP cleared for ‘bomb civilians’ remark (thelocal, May 26, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.dk/20160526/inciting-terror-case-against-danish-mp-dropped

    “Copenhagen Police have dropped proceedings against Danish People’s Party (DF) spokesperson Søren Espersen after he said that Denmark “should start” bombing civilians in Syria.

    The State Attorney decided not to take the case further after deeming Espersen’s comments insufficient for any further inquiry, reports Jyllands-Posten.

    Several police complaints were filed against Espersen, a senior DF spokesman and the head of parliament’s Foreign Policy Committee, in November 2015 after he said that women and children should be legitimate targets for bombing campaigns against Isis…”

  19. Iranian woman disguises herself as a man to sneak into a football match (BBC, video, May 26, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-36393697

    “An Iranian woman managed to sneak into a football stadium in Tehran by dressing up as a man. She filmed the experience and shared it on social media where the video has divided opinion. Although there’s no official ban on women going to sporting events in Iran, it is rare for them to attend as they’re often refused entry…”

  20. Al-Qaeda-linked extremists could use Syria to launch attacks on West – UK general (RT, May 26, 2016)
    https://www.rt.com/uk/344500-al-qaeda-syria-terrorism/

    “A senior British military commander has warned of Al-Qaeda-linked extremists’ “ambitions” in Syria, saying they could be using the country as a springboard to mount a new wave of international terror attacks.

    Lieutenant General Mark Carleton-Smith said Jabhat al-Nusra (Al-Nusra Front) is the strongest remaining Al-Qaeda franchise, identified by some analysts as a more serious long-term threat than Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), and potentially associated with an element of British foreign fighters in Syria.

    He was giving evidence to the Commons Defence Committee on its inquiry into UK military operations in Syria and Iraq…”

  21. Don’t swim with your street clothes on! Czech spa town educates Arab visitors on local customs (RT, May 26, 2016)
    https://www.rt.com/news/344444-arab-tourists-brochures-%D1%81zech/

    “Arab vacationers traveling to the Czech town of Teplice for its hot springs and health spas are the target audience of pamphlets explaining local customs and laws. It comes after residents complained that Arab tourists misbehave during their visits.

    The town with a population of 50,000 receives several thousand visitors from Arab countries each year, mostly from Kuwait. Some come for short stays, others remain for the entire season, and many have bought property in the area.

    However, complaints by residents have led to the government issuing brochures for the second year in a row, Radio Prague reported…”

  22. Aarhus blocks plans for grand mosque (thelocal, May 26, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.dk/20160526/aarhus-city-blocks-plans-for-grand-mosque

    “The sale of a plot of land for the construction of a grand mosque has been cancelled by Aarhus Municipality.

    The movement to block the sale of the land at Bautavej 1 in the neighbourhood of Gellerup was approved by a majority in the city’s municipal council on Wednesday.

    “The Social Democrats have lost confidence in this specific project, because a number of the associations involved in it have been revealed to hold opinions which are incompatible with our democracy and legal system. It was therefore necessary to cancel the proposal,” Aarhus Mayor Jacob Bundsgaard told Jyllands-Posten.

    In March of this year, a documentary series by television station TV2 used hidden camera footage to reveal imams at Aarhus’ highly controversial Grimhøj Mosque saying that adulterers should be stoned and that children should be beaten for not praying…”

  23. Racism: Strasbourg alarm, problem still growing in Europe (ansamed, May 26, 2016)
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2016/05/26/racism-strasbourg-alarm-problem-still-growing_1f3d6b41-9d6f-4603-a0ec-e65221d00b62.html

    “STRASBOURG – In 2015 Europe saw the growth of hate, discrimination, and racism against those perceived as different because they come from another country, profess a particular religion or belong to a minority group, according to the annual report of the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) released on Thursday.

    “I’m afraid that the problem could get even worse in the course of 2016,” said ECRI President Christian Ahlund.

    ECRI said the factors that fed hostile feelings towards those who are different were the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris and Copenhagen, to which Brussels was added this year.

    The report highlighted statements made by some political leaders and measures put into place by some governments regarding the flow of migrants and refugees.

    Without naming names, the Council of Europe commission criticised leaders who said they would welcome only Christians and governments that introduced border checks, built walls, made it a crime to help illegal migrants, cut funding for asylum seekers or put tougher conditions on family reunification.

    All of which, according to the Strasbourg observers, did nothing but increase hostility towards migrants and Muslims. The organisation highlighted that this hostility is also contributing to an increase in the number of attacks at migrant reception centres and that in Germany law enforcement has observed that attacks are no longer above all members of extreme rightwing groups but citizens without any specific political affiliation. ECRI said that Muslim and Jewish communities are most exposed to hate speech and acts of hate, and that those who decide to adhere rigorously to religious dictates, for example by wearing specific clothes, are at an even greater risk.

    Among the examples given by ECRI were attacks on Muslim women who wear a veil.

    The report said that the situation is causing some leaders in the Jewish community to advise their members to not wear a kippah.”

  24. Assad must go: Jubeir (saudigazette, May 26, 2016)
    http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/assad-must-go-jubeir/

    “BERLIN – Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir said he discussed with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier the situation in Syria.

    Al-Jubeir stressed that there is no future for Bashar Al-Assad in Syria. He must leave so that there is peace in that country. He confirmed that the Bashar Al-Assad regime is an obstacle preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the Syrian people.

    Al-Jubeir described the relations between the Kingdom and Germany as distinctive. He looked forward to developing and boosting these relations at all levels…”

    • Russia: RT EXCLUSIVE Saudi ForMin says Assad ‘should leave’ office

      The Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Adel al-Jubeir said that Riyadh’s position on Bashar al-Assad “has not changed”, during an exclusive RT interview in Moscow on Thursday.

      SOT, Adel al-Jubeir, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia (Arabic): “No, our position has not changed. The idea is the following: Bashar al-Assad should leave as soon as the transition period starts. This is said in the Geneva-1 statement and in UN Security Council resolution 2254, according to our interpretation and in the interpretation of the moderate Syrian opposition. So, there are no changes. After the start of negotiations the power passes from Assad to the transitional governing body, and Assad leaves [his office].”

      SOT, Adel al-Jubeir, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia (Arabic): “There is a joint Saudi-Russian investment fund. It was founded with a capital of $10 billion. It is designed to invest in projects both in Russia and Saudi Arabia. The question of Saudi investments in Russia is being considered, [we consider] agriculture and other spheres. There are consultations and cooperation in science, space exploration and other areas. We expect that the relationship between Russia and Saudi Arabia will see a qualitatively new development in the coming years.”

      • Buy off Assad’s benefactor. Let Saudi/ al-Queda linked “moderate” terrorists take over. What about Russia’s military bases? What about Iran? None of this is easy.

        Will the KSA stop expanding poisoned-madrassas in Russia’s backyard?
        – – No. Too late, too pervasive now. Plus the Turk’s personal stamp is on many of the new ones. And the Turk’s flying high these days.

        Saudis drove the price of Russia’s main source of revenue – oil – to next-to-nothing. Now they’re in a position to make Russia a generous offer, $10B.
        Ho-ho.
        Putin’s thinking, “Clever raghead, you will die.”
        $10B is just a downpayment.

        • You are right, Putin is pissed at Saudi and will not back down, and we must remember that he has threatened to use tactical nukes to defend his positions in Syria. The house of Saud is in major trouble, they have gotten everyone in the world mad at them.

          It will be interesting to watch what happens between Turkey and Russia. My money is on Russia winning but Iran may have ideas about their taking all of Turkey.

          • I knew there was something…Here it is: Sept 3, 2013

            Saudis offer Russia secret oil deal if it drops Syria

            Saudi Arabia has secretly offered Russia a sweeping deal to control the global oil market and safeguard Russia’s gas contracts, if the Kremlin backs away from the Assad regime in Syria.
            * * *
            The revelations come amid high tension in the Middle East, with US, British, and French warship poised for missile strikes in Syria. Iran has threatened to retaliate.

            The strategic jitters pushed Brent crude prices to a five-month high of $112 a barrel. “We are only one incident away from a serious oil spike. The market is a lot tighter than people think,” said Chris Skrebowski, editor of Petroleum Review.

            Leaked transcripts of a closed-door meeting between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan shed an extraordinary light on the hard-nosed Realpolitik of the two sides.

            Prince Bandar, head of Saudi intelligence, allegedly confronted the Kremlin with a mix of inducements and threats in a bid to break the deadlock over Syria. “Let us examine how to put together a unified Russian-Saudi strategy on the subject of oil. The aim is to agree on the price of oil and production quantities that keep the price stable in global oil markets,” he said at the four-hour meeting with Mr Putin. They met at Mr Putin’s dacha outside Moscow three weeks ago.

            “We understand Russia’s great interest in the oil and gas in the Mediterranean from Israel to Cyprus. And we understand the importance of the Russian gas pipeline to Europe. We are not interested in competing with that. We can cooperate in this area,” he said, purporting to speak with the full backing of the US.

            The talks appear to offer an alliance between the OPEC cartel and Russia, which together produce over 40m barrels a day of oil, 45pc of global output. Such a move would alter the strategic landscape.

            The details of the talks were first leaked to the Russian press. A more detailed version has since appeared in the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir, which has Hezbollah links and is hostile to the Saudis.

            As-Safir said Prince Bandar pledged to safeguard Russia’s naval base in Syria if the Assad regime is toppled, but he also hinted at Chechen terrorist attacks on Russia’s Winter Olympics in Sochi if there is no accord. “I can give you a guarantee to protect the Winter Olympics next year. The Chechen groups that threaten the security of the games are controlled by us,” he allegedly said.

            Prince Bandar went on to say that Chechens operating in Syria were a pressure tool that could be switched on an off. “These groups do not scare us. We use them in the face of the Syrian regime but they will have no role in Syria’s political future.”
            […]
            Saudi Arabia could help boost oil prices by restricting its own supply. This would be a shot in the arm for Russia, which is near recession and relies on an oil price near $100 to fund the budget.

            But it would be a dangerous strategy for the Saudis if it pushed prices to levels that endangered the world’s fragile economic recovery. Crude oil stocks in the US have already fallen sharply this year. Goldman Sachs said the “surplus cushion” in global stocks built up since 2008 has been completely eliminated.
            […]
            The Putin-Bandar meeting was stormy, replete with warnings of a “dramatic turn” in Syria. Mr Putin was unmoved by the Saudi offer, though western pressure has escalated since then. “Our stance on Assad will never change. We believe that the Syrian regime is the best speaker on behalf of the Syrian people, and not those liver eaters,” he said, referring to footage showing a Jihadist rebel eating the heart and liver of a Syrian soldier.

            Prince Bandar in turn warned that there can be “no escape from the military option” if Russia declines the olive branch. Events are unfolding exactly as he foretold.

            http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/10266957/Saudis-offer-Russia-secret-oil-deal-if-it-drops-Syria.html

    • Given rational leaders who will re build the militaries of several Western nations they could go through the Pakistanis like a hot knife through butter.

  25. Pakistan is a partner for terrorists, not United States: Senator Rohrabacher (khaama, May 26, 2016)
    http://www.khaama.com/pakistan-is-a-partner-for-terrorists-not-united-states-senator-rohrabacher-01077

    “US Senator Dana Rohrabacher has said Pakistan is a reliable partner fir terrorists and not the United States, warning that the provision of millions in aid to Pakistani government in fight against terrorism would have a reverse outcome.

    The US Senator was speaking to Voice of America’s Afghanistan during an exclusive interview.

    Senator Rohrabacher further added that Islamabad considers the US airstrike against the Taliban leader a violation of its sovereignty as it has provided safe havens for the terrorists who are taking lives of thousands of people and innocent Afghans.

    He said the United States will not be concerned regarding the feelings of Pakistan for the US airstrikes targeting the terrorists.

    Calling the Taliban group a terrorist organization, Senator Rohrabacher said the leaders of the group and all other terrorists organizations should be targeted by United States wherever they are based.

    Senator Rohrabacher also added that the Afghans should fully lead the war in their soil and the United States must provide Afghanistan with all needed support.

    He also added that Pakistan, Saud Arabia and Taliban have are attempting to have influence and power in Afghanistan and this issue has taken Afghanistan into a crisis.

    According to Senator Rohrabacher, the United States should support a courageous military individual to fight the menace of terror and sustain a non-radical Islamic government in Afghanistan.

    Senator Rohrabacher said the First Vice President General Abdul Rashid Dostum is a competent person for this work.”

          • As long as they leave us and our allies alone we have no business mixing in their troubles. The left doesn’t see it that way and despite their accusations of the right starting useless wars will start them to be able to 1) spread Marxism and 2) have something to attack their enemies over.

  26. Greece: ‘Freedom, freedom!’ Refugees protest in Mytilene after escaping Moria

    Hundreds of refugees from the Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos, protested at Mytilene port, Thursday, demanding permission to leave the camp and continue their journey to northern Europe.

      • This is an army!
        Why are we feeding full grown men? How can anybody watch this and not see it for what it is?

        • They live in a delusion that says if you don’t arm yourself or you nation you will never need to fight. That makes them blind to the threat from the invaders.

          Not only are they and Army way too many of them are trained, the videos from last year show that from the way they were moving in recognizable units maintained position as the forced march took place. A lot of the vets I know remarked on the high number of trained personal in those groups.

  27. Trump says ‘no way’ to Paris climate deal

    Donald Trump says he will say “no way” to the Paris climate deal if made president in November.

    To cheers at a packed oil and gas conference in Bismarck, N.D., on Thursday, Trump said he would oppose the climate deal, saying that “canceling” it would be part of his 100-day action plan.

    President Obama entered into the Paris climate accord “unilaterally and without the permission of Congress,” Trump said.

    “This agreement gives foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use right here in America,” he said.

    “Foreign bureaucrats are going to be controlling what we’re using and what we’re doing on our land in our country.”

    His answer to the Paris deal under a Trump administration will be “No way!”

    “These actions have denied millions of Americans access to the energy wealth sitting under your feet.”

    He also said he would stop all payments to the United Nations’ global warming programs.

    The Paris deal is non-binding, but it obliges the U.S. to provide billions of dollars for a fund to help smaller countries cope with the effects of climate change.

    http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-says-no-way-to-paris-climate-deal/article/2592412

    Donald Trump pledges to rip up Paris climate agreement in energy speech

    In a rare prepared speech, Donald Trump outlined his energy policy in Bismarck, North Dakota.

    Trump is known for bucking conservative orthodoxy but, on Thursday, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee largely hewed to the typical Republican line. Reading from a teleprompter, Trump called for reducing restrictions on energy exploration, opening up more federal lands to drilling, and reducing dependence on foreign oil. He said he would try to reopen negotiations to build the Keystone XL pipeline, which President Obama rejected.[…]

    He railed against “draconian climate rules” and said he would “cancel” the Paris climate agreement and withdraw any funding for United Nations programs related to global warming. Trump has repeatedly called climate change a “hoax” in the past, bucking the overwhelming international scientific consensus that man-made emissions are spurring a dangerous increase in global temperature.[…]

    http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/donald-trump-pledges-rip-paris-climate-agreement-energy-speech

    • AP – Reporter: Trump’s Pocahontas Remark ‘Offensive’

      During a news conference, Donald Trump referred to Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas”. A woman who identified herself as an indigenous Canadian freelance journalist said his use of that term towards Warren was offensive

  28. Collaborative project to create a searchable dataset for Panama Papers

    http://rawgit.com/Ontotext-AD/leaks/master/README.html
    Brushed Onto the sweat from its weary brow, and looketh at the fruit of its day’s work:

    Relations between Nodes made
    Relations of entities grouped in an interpretive hierarchy
    Links back to the source (https://offshoreleaks.icij.org) added
    Hierarchy above countries obtained from Geonames
    A Leaks dataset is borne. Go forth and queriest! Whence did money came from, and whither did it flow?

    And there was evening, and there was morning–the second day.

  29. Hey, look at all those pretty stars in that chamber over at the UN:

    UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A United Nations committee voted Thursday to deny consultative status to the Committee to Protect Journalists, effectively keeping the press freedom group from accessing U.N. bodies and processes.

    The committee voted 10-6 with three abstentions on Thursday to deny CPJ’s application, which was first made in 2012.

    South Africa, China and Russia were among the countries that voted against accreditation for the New York-based organization that seeks to protect press freedoms around the world and in conflict zones.

    Consultative status gives non-governmental organizations the right to attend open meetings and conferences, especially the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

    http://bigstory.ap.org/article/828f65c9985d48d1996550212cfad75b/un-committee-denies-credentials-press-freedom-group

  30. VIENNA: Austria’s interior ministry has asked the state prosecutor’s office to follow up on apparent regional irregularities in the absentee vote count for the country’s presidential election.

    The move is a result of action by the Freedom Party, whose nominee Norbert Hofer was in the lead after polls closed Sunday but lost narrowly to a left-leaning candidate after absentee ballots were counted.

    http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2016/May-25/353759-austrian-officials-ask-for-ballot-probe-in-presidential-vote.ashx

  31. Obama’s Refugees and Surging Deadly Diseases in America
    The lethal violation of the nation’s most basic public health protocols

    An outbreak of deadly infectious tuberculosis among refugees President Obama sent to Indiana is a frightening reminder that the administration’s dangerous immigration policies are putting American lives at risk.

    In a frenzied rush to bring as many non-English-speaking Third World aliens to the country as possible before his presidency ends in a few months, Obama is allowing Syrian war migrants and refugees to be brought into the country without first undergoing proper medical examinations, a violation of the nation’s most basic public health protocols.

    “Tuberculosis is one of the most lethal infectious diseases in history,” said Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and surgeons. “It is easily transmitted, say on a public bus [and] increasingly, it is becoming highly resistant to all our antibiotics,” she said.

    It is clear that Obama doesn’t care about the health and well-being of the American people. That was obvious when he began pushing to create the so-called death panels that Obamacare mandates. But now as a result of the president’s recklessness, fatal diseases are surfacing or making a comeback in the U.S. Among those ailments are pneumonia, paralysis-causing acute flaccid myelitis, dengue fever, swine flu, and enterovirus D68.

    Under Obama, immigration policy aims to import new Democratic voters — the less skilled, less educated, less enamored with the norms and values of Western civilization, the better. Lackluster border security, risible efforts at immigration law enforcement, mass amnesties, promises of generous taxpayer-financed welfare benefits, and other goodies, are used by Obama to expand and remake the American electorate.

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/262979/obamas-refugees-and-surging-deadly-diseases-matthew-vadum

  32. Russia: Special forces kill 5 IS-linked suspects in Ingushetia raid

    Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) released footage of the aftermath of an operation which reportedly saw five individuals with suspected ties to the self-proclaimed Islamic State killed in Nazran, in the Republic of Ingushetia on Thursday.