Reader’s links for July 2 – 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

61 Replies to “Reader’s links for July 2 – 2016”

    • A friend just pointed out that after the meeting between Bill and Lynch the State Department said they would delay releasing the emails about the Clinton Foundation for 27 months. Now we know what they talked about.

    • Trump campaign adviser reacts to Clinton’s meeting with FBI

      Economic adviser to Republican candidate talks possibility of an indictment of the Democratic candidate on ‘America’s News HQ’

      • They are talking about the email scandal but are saying nothing about the pay for play foreign policy scandal where if you wanted something from the US government you gave money to the Clinton Foundation. This is the scandal that isn’t mentioned in the nedia, and it is the one that carries the longest prison sentence.

  1. Bangladesh siege: Twenty killed at Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka (BBC, July 2, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36692613

    “Twenty people, said to be foreigners, were killed during an attack by suspected Islamist militants on a cafe in Bangladesh, the army says.

    Gunmen stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe in Dhaka late on Friday before troops entered almost 12 hours later.

    Six of the attackers were also killed and one was arrested, a government spokesman said. The attack was claimed by the so-called Islamic State (IS).

    Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi confirmed Italians were killed.

    He offered condolences to the victims’ families and, referring to the attackers, said: “Our values are stronger than hatred and terror.”

    Italian news agency Ansa said up to 10 Italians may be unaccounted for. The Italian press said many of those dining at the cafe worked in the garment industry.

    Although the army said all 20 killed were foreigners, there are unconfirmed reports that at least one Bangladeshi national was among the hostages killed…”

  2. ISIS fanatic claims terror cult has CHEMICAL WEAPONS arsenal ready to strike Europe (express, July 2, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/685508/Islamic-State-fanatic-ISIS-has-chemical-weapons-trove-strike-Europe

    “A JIHADI has claimed the Islamic State has built up a haul of chemical weapons and is ready to wreak havoc on Europe.

    The sick fundamentalist was arrest in Turkey last month and boasted the demented cult have a stockpile of missiles and have acquired materials to make nuclear weapons in Aleppo, Syria.

    An intelligence source said: “The man claims Daesh have military grade weapons, ammunition, missiles and plentiful stockpiles of chemicals to be made into hydrogen bombs.”…”

      • His knowledge of chemistry and physics equals that of most products of the modern educational system.

    • Daesh have military grade weapons, ammunition, missiles and plentiful stockpiles of chemicals to be made into hydrogen bombs.”…”

      A regular second golden age of Islam ain’t it? Inbred muslims are lucky to remember their names for the whole day.

  3. GOT THEM! Three ISIS jihadis who fled to Libya from Britain KILLED in special forces op (express, July 2, 2016)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/685532/Three-ISIS-jihadis-Libya-UK-KILLED-special-forces-op

    “THREE British jihadis fighting for ISIS in Libya have been killed in a covert operation by British special forces.

    Special Boat Service commandos fought the extremists in a gun battle near Serte.

    The extremists had seized the town for more than 18 months but were overthrown by the SBS forces.

    The British-born men, who were thought to be between 20 and 30 were killed when they and a number of other jihadis attacked the SBS soldiers on June 18.

    All three were found with paperwork on them indicating their British nationality – and that they had travelled to Libya via Cairo.

    A source told the Mirror: “Everything they had on them was in English. The paperwork clearly indicated that they had flown out of the UK.”

    MI5 and MI6 have been given their names and photographs.

    Security services claim that up to 500 UK jihadis are fighting abroad with ISIS.

    It is thought as many as 20,000 ISIS fighters have been wiped out in Syria and Iraq…”

  4. Taliban leader says foreigners must quit Afghanistan for peace (reuters, July 2, 2016)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-taliban-idUSKCN0ZI0AR

    “The new leader of the Taliban called for an end to foreign forces’ “occupation” of Afghanistan as a preliminary step to a settlement based on Islamic law that he said would bring unity to a country riven by decades of war.

    In one of his first public statements, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, who was named leader of the movement after the death of his predecessor Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour in a U.S. drone strike in May, said agreement was possible if the government in Kabul renounced its foreign allies.

    “Your support and siding with invaders is like the work of those abhorrent faces who in our past history supported the Britons and the Soviets,” he said in a message ahead of next week’s celebration of Eid, one of the major festivals in the Islamic calendar.

    He said the Taliban had a program aimed at creating an independent and united country under Islamic law and told the Western-backed government in Kabul that “the doors of forgiveness and tolerance are open”.

    “Our clear message is that we do not want a monopoly of power,” he said “All Afghan tribes and races need each other.”

    The statement came two days after a suicide attack that killed more than 30 newly graduated police cadets and wounded dozens more and less than two weeks after more than 20 people were killed in separate attacks in Kabul and the northern province of Badakhshan…”

  5. Muslim Officer Masood Syed Reinstated Over NYPD ‘No-Beard Policy’ (nbcnews, July 2, 2016)
    http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/muslim-police-officer-reinstated-nypd-agrees-review-no-beard-policy-n602546

    “The New York Police Department (NYPD) Thursday reinstated a Muslim police officer who was suspended for not shaving his beard, according to court documents filed by the city. The department also agreed to review its no-beard policy.

    Masood Syed, who works as a law clerk for the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Trials, was restored to full-duty and permitted to keep his one-inch beard, which he wears as a Sunni Muslim, according to court filings and a statement from the law firm representing him, Beldock Levine & Hoffman.

    “I’m excited to be back at work,” Syed said in a statement. “It seems like the department has taken the crucial first step in addressing an important and growing concern of officers of many different faiths.”…”

  6. Mob Burns Down Mosque in 2nd Such Recent Attack in Myanmar (abcnews, July 2, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mob-burns-mosque-2nd-recent-attack-myanmar-40297895

    “A mob has burned down a mosque in northern Myanmar in the second such attack in just over a week in the predominantly Buddhist nation, a newspaper reported Saturday.

    The state-owned Global New Light of Myanmar said security forces in Hpakant in Kachin state were unable to control Friday’s attackers, who were armed with sticks, knives and other weapons.

    It said the mosque’s leaders had failed to meet a June 30 deadline set by local authorities to tear down the structure to make way for construction of a bridge.

    On June 23, a mob demolished a mosque and a Muslim cemetery in a village in Bago Region, about 60 kilometers (36 miles) northeast of Yangon, reportedly as a consequence of a personal dispute.

    Sporadic but fierce violence against Muslims in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar has occurred since rioting in 2012 forced more than 100,000 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority to flee their homes in western Rakhine State.

    Discrimination against the Rohingya is widespread and the government refuses to recognize most as citizens, treating even long-term residents as illegal immigrants…”

    • I’m in favor of mob action against Islam. I expect that will be the method used in the west when things run to darkness and organized society is on an unexpected leave.

    • MYANMAR – Investigation to be launched into Lebyin riot

      AN investigation will be launched into a riot that occurred in Lebyin Village, Hpakant Township, in which a religious edifice, reportedly built without permission from local authorities, was destroyed by an angry mob yesterday.

      Following no agreement being reached between the General Administration Department and the individuals responsible for the erecting of the mosque to tear it down, a number of local residents wielding sticks, knives and other weapons raided and burned the structure at around 3.30 pm yesterday.

      Local authorities and security forces claim that they tried to disperse the mob by following routine procedures but that the mob was unresponsive and entirely beyond control.
      The building was razed by the riotous crowd who left the scene at around 3.45 pm.

      Local authorities claim that they have held negotiations with responsible personnel of the building in order to have the building taken down several times and finally ordered it to be demolished by Thursday as it was built without respect to local rules and regulations.

      The mosque was not pulled down in time and so a riotous mob of locals came together and took the building by force in order to destroy it.

      Local authorities claim they have tightened security in the area and that the situation is calm. Measures are being taken to press charges against those who were involved in the attack and further investigation may follow to identify the perpetrators. However, so far not one of the attackers has been positively identified by local police.

      http://globalnewlightofmyanmar.com/investigation-to-be-launched-into-lebyin-riot/

      video – Religious Tensions in Village Where a Mosque Destroyed

  7. Terrorists Used Turkey as a Base Before Syria War Broke Out (sputniknews, July 2, 2016)
    http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160702/1042341788/turkey-terrorists-base.html

    “In an interview with Sputnik Abdul?ükür Mert, the ex-mayor of Ovakent, a city close to the Syrian border, said that jihadists from the Caucasus and Central Asia had become active in Turkey before the start of the war in Syria….

    In Ovakent, 90 percent populated by Uzbeks who settled down in Turkey in the early 1980s, there is a number of madrassas once opened by Abdullah Buhari, the founder of the Society of Religious Assistance and Solidarity, who was later killed.

    “Abdullah Buhari came here from Pakistan and spent five or six years living in Ovakent where he served as an imam in the local mosque and taught a Koranic school. Before very long many people from Uzbekiatan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan staretd coming in. Many of us here became suspicious and Abdullah said he would move to Istanbul where he would feel free to teach those who kept coming to him,” Abdul?ükür Mert told Sputnik.

    He added that after spending a couple of days in Ovakent, the new arrivals from Uzbekiatan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan then left for Syria to study at the local religious schools in Damascus. Soon after Buhari left town the war broke out in Syria.

    “We later learned that many of those who had arrived here from Uzbekiatan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan were heading to Syria to join the ranks of either the opposition or Daesh,” Abdul?ükür Mert said.”

  8. Police raid Italy’s largest Chinatown to investigate attacks against Arab immigrants

    Chinese immigrants in one of Europe’s biggest Chinatowns were accused of carrying out vigilante attacks on other foreigners as police conducted raids on Friday in the Tuscan town of Prato.

    Tens of thousands of Chinese live in Prato, a satellite town of Florence, with many working in sweatshop conditions in factories that produce clothing, handbags and fashion accessories.

    Italian police are investigating the activities of a shadowy cultural association called “The City of the White Deer” and suspect that its members have been responsible for attacks on North African immigrants

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/01/police-raid-italys-largest-chinatown-to-investigate-attacks-agai/

    the guardian : Italy’s biggest Chinese community clashes with police near Florence

    Unrest began when state health officials went to inspect factory in Prato, hub of textile production where many migrants work

    Violent clashes have broken out this week between police and the local Chinese community in Prato near Florence, home to one of the largest concentrations of Chinese-run industry in Europe.

    Tensions had been rising in the town, Italy’s textile capital, that has attracted Chinese immigrants since the mid-1990s. Some 50,000 Chinese work in the area, making clothes and handbags with the prized “Made in Italy” label.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/02/italys-biggest-chinese-community-clashes-with-police-near-florence

  9. TURKEY – First call to prayer inside Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia in 85 years

    A muezzin’s call to prayer reverberated inside the 6th century Istanbul landmark Hagia Sophia for the first time in 85 years on July 1.

    The building in the city’s historic Sultanahmet district broadcast the azan from its minarets following July 1’s Laylat al-Qadr, or night of power, marking the first revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad.

    The broadcast of the morning call to prayer from within Hagia Sophia is likely to reignite the controversy over the use of the building, which was designated a museum in 1935 under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkisjh Republic.

    Although the prayer call has been played from Hagia Sophia’s minarets for the last four years, the muezzin has always chanted from a prayer room in the museum grounds rather than from inside the former mosque and cathedral.

    Built as an Orthodox Christian basilica during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in 537, the famous domed structure, known as Ayasofya in Turkish, was converted to a mosque following Sultan Mehmet II’s conquest of the city in 1453.

    In recent years there have been calls to return the building to Muslim worship. Last month, the Greek government complained about the reciting of the Quran in Hagia Sophia during Ramadan — criticism the Turkish Foreign Ministry described as “unacceptable.”

    The azan call was televised in a July 2 program featuring Mehmet Görmez, the head of the Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet).

    Görmez used his appearance to describe the terrorist attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, in which 44 people were killed, as part of a “war waged on Islam.”

    He argued Islam was among the victims of terrorism.

    “The slaughtered ones are not only our lives but also the highest values that have been brought to humanity by Islam,” he said.

    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/first-call-to-prayer-inside-istanbuls-hagia-sophia-in-85-years.aspx?pageID=238&nID=101161&NewsCatID=341

    video -Call to prayer :

    [spare your ears and nerves ... mute the sound before clicking ....]

    • Germany: Britons living in Germany could receive citizenship following Brexit – Gabriel

      German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel gave a speech at the German Social Democratic party’s (SPD) Europe conference in Berlin, Saturday, in which he criticised the UK’s decision to vote to leave the EU and took aim at the British Conservative party.

      SOT, Sigmar Gabriel, German Vice Chancellor (German): “For that matter, the German conservatives could learn many things about Europe from Helmut Kohl. He dealt with Francois Mitterand as well as Maggy Thatcher, and against Maggy Thatcher, Boris Johnson and David Cameron are Conservative Bonsais, dear companions.

      SOT, Sigmar Gabriel, German Vice Chancellor (German): “The under 25-year old youth or the grown-ups under 25 who went to vote, were 75% for remain. They knew better than the Boris Johnson’s batch, the elite British snobs. They knew better that it is about their Europe. They wanted to stay in Europe, because they knew that the world changes itself, that the world grows, but not in Europe, it grows in Asia, in Latin America, in Africa, and that if our children and grandchildren still would like to have a voice in the world, it would at the same time need to be the voice of Europe as well. Alone, strong Great Britain, alone, strong Germany, would only be a whisper in this changing world and that’s why it is a good sign that the young Britons are wiser than their bizarre political elite, dear companions.”

      SOT, Sigmar Gabriel, German Vice Chancellor (German): “That’s why we cannot just pull up the drawbridge from them, so that the young generation of the UK could consider themselves what we can provide to them. I mean, the German social democracy hopefully and probably fights for the double citizenship in the next general elections.”

      SOT, Sigmar Gabriel, German Vice Chancellor (German): “Therefore I say this: Willy Brandt once said, that “only a little is permanent,” that is so as well in the good things, but even so in the bad things. And I believe that as the current young generation is in the age of Johnson and Cameron, they will have a good chance to return UK [to the EU]. I think that we should sometimes remember this, dear companions.”

  10. CANADA – Meet Canada’s Saudi-born political adviser shaping Trudeau’s foreign policy

    Omar Alghabra bats off criticism over Ottawa’s huge arms deals with Saudi Arabia and allegations of Islamist links

    TORONTO, Canada – Omar Alghabra has been called many things; a trusty adviser to the Canadian prime minister, a closet Islamist, and “Political Man” – a cartoon superhero in a suit.

    Born to Syrian parents but raised in Saudi Arabia, Alghabra moved to Canada when he was 19 to study mechanical engineering. He says he never thought about politics much in his youth, or his student days when he made ends meet by working in a doughnut shop, a gas station and a convenience store. But his background has since helped to win him a key position at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s side and secured him win a strong following amongst Toronto’s diverse constituents.[…]

    http://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/profile-omar-alghabra-1538104858

  11. The Latest: Greece Arrests 5 Aiming to Smuggle in 87 Syrians (abcnews, July 2, 2016)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-greece-arrests-aiming-smuggle-87-syrians-40304149

    “… Greek police say they have arrested five individuals ready to smuggle 87 Syrian migrants, including 46 children, through the border with Albania.

    The five — one Greek, one Iraqi and three Syrians — were arrested in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki as they were ready to board the 87 onto a bus with Bulgarian license plates.

    Each adult migrant had to pay $5,000 in stages until they reached central Europe, the migrants told police. Police say the migrants’ final destination, as well as the exact travel arrangements, were not yet known.

    Migrant trafficking has increased since Balkan countries closed their borders to migrants last March. This is the first known case of using Albania instead of the usual route through Macedonia…”

  12. Over 200 ISIS loyalists killed in Nangarhar raids, officials say (khaama, July 2, 2016)
    http://www.khaama.com/over-200-isis-loyalists-killed-in-nangarhar-raids-officials-say-01390

    “Over 200 loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed during the operations launched nearly a week ago, local officials said.

    The officials further added that the operations were jointly conducted by the Afghan security forces as well as the US forces who were carrying out drone strikes against the terror group.

    According to the officials, the majority of the militants were killed in drone strikes in the restive Kot district…”

  13. Saudi-funded mosque opens in Nice after long struggle (france24, July 2, 2016)
    http://www.france24.com/en/20160702-saudi-funded-mosque-opens-nice-after-long-struggle

    ” A Saudi-funded mosque in Nice opened its doors for the first time Saturday, after a 15-year tussle with the local town hall.

    The Nicois En-nour Institute mosque received authorisation to open early Saturday from the local prefect, substituting for town mayor Philippe Pradal, who recently took over from Christian Estrosi.

    Estrosi was implacably opposed to the construction of the mosque and in April had secured the green light to sue the French state in a bid to block its opening in the southern city.

    He had accused the building’s owner, Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Affairs Minister Sheikh Saleh bin Abdulaziz, of “advocating sharia” and wanting to “destroy all of the churches on the Arabian peninsula”.

    Estrosi, mayor since 2008, said that the project which was initiated under his predecessor in 2002 was unauthorised.

    However the mosque’s opening was described as “a real joy,” by Ouassini Mebarek, lawyer and head of a local religious association…”

  14. Islamic State repels U.S.-backed forces in northern Syria city: monitor (reuters, July 2, 2016)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-manbij-idUSKCN0ZI0Z4

    “Islamic State militants on Saturday pushed back U.S.-backed forces trying to advance into their stronghold of Manbij for the first time since a major offensive to capture the city and cut off the militant’s main strategic access route to Turkey, a monitoring group and Kurdish sources said…”

  15. Police kill armed robber leaving two injured (thelocal, July 2, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.at/20160702/shootout-at-billa-in-vienna-leaves-two-seriously-injured-armed-robbery-wega

    “At least two policemen were wounded, one seriously, in a shootout between armed police and an alleged supermarket robber on Saturday evening in Vienna. The suspect is reported to have been killed.

    The incident is reported by news daily Heute to have taken place around 6:10 p.m. at a branch of the Billa supermarket chain in Hütteldorferstraße.

    According to local witnesses, the event took place near the Hanusch hospital. Two employees are believed to have been held at gunpoint in the supermarket after it was closed.

    The dead robber has been identified as a Bosnian man (50), who is a suspect in at least two previous robberies. He was armed with a pistol with a silencer, and was described by police spokesman Paul Eidenberger as “a professional.”…”

  16. Iraq: At least 26 killed after double bomb blast’s hit Baghdad

    At least 26 people were killed after two bombs went off in crowded commercial shopping areas in Bagdad early on Sunday.

    • Officials: Bombings in Baghdad Kill at Least 23

      Bombs went off early Sunday in two crowded commercial areas in Baghdad, killing at least 23 people and wounding 61, according to hospital and police officials.

      The bombings came near the end of the holy month of Ramadan when the streets were filled with young people and families out after sundown.

      In the first attack, a car bomb exploded in the Karada district in central Baghdad, killing 18 people and wounding 45. Shortly afterward, an improvised explosive device went off in eastern Baghdad, killing 5 people and wounding 16.

      The officials who provided the casualty figures spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

      The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in the Karada district in a communique distributed on Telegram and Twitter, according to the SITE Intelligence Group which monitors jihadi online activity. The communique said a suicide car bomber targeted Shiites.

      There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the second bombing.

      Nearly an hour after the attack in central Baghdad, ambulances could still be heard rushing to the site. An eyewitness said the explosion set off fires at nearby clothing and cell phone shops.

      The Baghdad attacks come just over a week after Iraqi forces declared the city of Fallujah “fully liberated” from IS. Over the last year, Iraq forces have racked up territorial gains against IS, retaking the city of Ramadi and the towns of Hit and Rutba, all in Iraq’s vast Anbar province west of Baghdad.

      Despite the government’s battlefield victories, IS has repeatedly shown it remains capable of launching attacks far from the front-lines.

      IS still controls Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul as well as significant patches of territory in the country’s north and west.

      At the height of the extremist group’s power in 2014, IS rendered nearly a third of the country out of government control. Now, IS is estimated to control only 14 percent of Iraqi territory, according to the office of Iraq’s prime minister.

      http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/officials-bombing-central-baghdad-kills-18-40305765