Reader’s links for July 26 – 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.

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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

166 Replies to “Reader’s links for July 26 – 2016”

  1. Gaza -Hamas ‘summer camp’ trains young Gazans for war

    As if from nowhere, a dozen young people surge out of a tunnel, Kalashnikov assault rifles in hand, to launch a surprise assault on a military post.

    This is the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian enclave that has seen three wars with Israel since 2008, but this time the attack is not real.

    The young people, aged between 15 and 20, are taking part in a summer training camp for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, the Islamist movement which runs Gaza.

    Such camps in the enclave of 1.9 million people have been heavily criticised by rights groups concerned with young people’s welfare.

    It is the first time that Jihad, 16, has entered one of the underground tunnels, which Hamas considers a major strategic asset in its conflict with Israel and which are usually kept well hidden.

    The young Palestinian comes from Shejaiya, a Gaza neighbourhood ravaged by war two years ago, and is carrying out a drill to kidnap fake Israeli soldiers.

    At the Yarmuk base of the Al-Qassam Brigades east of Gaza City, dozens of young men descend 20 metres (66 feet) from a tower on ropes, as others navigate burning roadblocks.

    The base is near the sensitive border between Israel and Gaza, which has been controlled by Hamas for around a decade and is subject to a strict Israeli blockade.

    In a week, Al-Qassam says it will train nearly 30,000 young people in basic fighting techniques.

    These young recruits to the summer camps are a key part of Hamas’s attempts to prepare the population for “the battle of liberation of Palestine”, a member of Al-Qassam told AFP.

    “Our message to this (young) generation is that the future is yours,” he said, his face concealed by a black balaclava. “It is thanks to you that we will be victorious.”

    Khalil al-Haya, another Hamas official, argued that “there is no choice but the gun”.

    ‘Avenge my father’

    “The enemy destroyed houses and imposed a blockade hoping that people would turn against us, but the people closed ranks around the resistance and Al-Qassam and send their children to our camps,” he added.

    Rights activists are deeply concerned by the camp, however.

    “We are completely opposed to children’s participation in military camps,” said Issam Younis, who heads the Gaza-based Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights.

    “Children are meant to have fun and learn to develop their thinking. They must absolutely be kept away from violence and anything that may disrupt their childhood.”

    The camps take place every summer, but this year Al-Qassam has also opened the doors to some of its bases for other interested local residents.

    Rows of weapons are displayed to the hundreds of people who flock to see rockets, missiles and drones emblazoned with the “Qassam Manufacturing” symbol.

    Debris from tanks and Israeli drones allegedly shot down or captured in the 2014 war are also displayed.

    Members of Al-Qassam’s communications branch welcome young people and explain the different divisions: there are infantry, snipers, and missile and rocket brigades, among others.

    “Some young people have relatives who were killed or imprisoned, others have seen their homes destroyed before their eyes, and that’s why they decided to come here,” said another masked fighter, who says he leads a youth group.

    One 16-year-old told AFP his father was killed by an Israeli bombardment during the 2008-09 war. Four years before that, his brother had carried out a suicide attack.

    “I joined this camp because that is how we will free our country from the occupation and I can avenge my father and my brother,” he said.

    “I am participating in this camp to learn how to fight the enemy,” Mohammed al-Bitar, 15, told AFP, before seizing a grenade from a stand.

    “I’d like to kill the enemy with this.”

    http://www.globalpost.com/article/6785096/2016/07/26/hamas-summer-camp-trains-young-gazans-war

  2. Department of Homeland Security Targeting the Wrong Enemy

    Anyone surprised by President Barack Obama’s recurring attempts at exploiting jihadist attacks in his efforts to restrict gun ownership should read the earliest known document concerning terrorism assembled by his administration. The unclassified assessment by Department of Homeland Security (DHS), titled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” is dated April 7, 2009 — a mere 77 days after Obama’s inauguration.

    The document was leaked shortly after its release to law enforcement officials across the country and made public by Roger Hedgecock on April 13, 2009. It laid out the new president’s legislative and executive priorities on terrorism, guns and immigration. Uniquely combining these three issues would become a predictable, coordinated pattern during Obama’s two terms in office.

    The assessment boldly delineated the Tom Ridge and Janet Napolitano eras at the DHS. As Eli Lake wrote the day after the document was leaked, “Since its inception in 2003, the department has focused primarily on radicalization of Muslims and the prospect of homegrown Islamist terrorism.” Under Obama’s leadership, attention was directed away from Muslims and Islamist terrorism and redirected towards limiting the Second Amendment, scrutinizing military veterans and expanding both legal and illegal immigration.

    Contrary to criticism of the Obama administration as uninterested in the plight of military veterans, the DHS assessment shows that vets were very much a priority. The document’s authors, in fact, were worried that “military veterans facing significant challenges returning into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists.”

    The only significant acts of domestic terrorism perpetrated by veterans lately have not been inspired from the right, however: Micah Xavier Johnson and Gavin Long are products of a “left wing,” anti-police, anti-establishment ideology. The assassinations they carried out fit the pattern of the so-called “New Left” wave of terror carried out in the 1970s by the Weather Underground and the Black Panthers.

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8549/dhs-rightwing-extremism

    • Obama and the Dems have been pushing the meme that the whites are the true enemy since the 1960s but have intensified since he took office. His entire time in office has been spent working to destroy all that Western Civilization has achieved and to bring back the Caliphate. Most of the columnists and talking heads are willing to put this down to believing a romanticized version of Islam that he learned as a child and being discriminated against because of his skin color. This article is about how he has surrounded himself with people who are more or less ivory tower intellectuals who refuse to give up their pet theories. This vision of Obama’s motives doesn’t explain why all of his actions have hurt the US and freedom. If he were just incompetent he would occasionally manage to something right. He is out to destroy Western Civilization and punish the people who are currently living for crimes he thinks their fore-bearers committed.

        • That is a start, like I have said before I want Rudy G. for head of Homeland Security.

  3. Citing Alleged Threats, FL Democrat Seeks to Ban ‘Hillary’s America’; Claims ‘Democrat Lives Matter’

    Kristinn Taylor Jul 25th, 2016 6:59 am 101 Comments

    A Florida Democratic Party official is demanding the Central Florida town The Villages stop showing the Dinesh D’Souza film Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party because of alleged threats made to local residents who expressed support for the Democrats.

    The call to ban Hillary’s America was reported by the Daily Commercial:

    A top Democratic official in Sumter County has asked The Villages to stop playing a movie that he says portrays his party’s presidential nominee in a negative light and will incite violence against party members.

    Joseph Flynn, a Democratic state committeeman and a Sumter County resident of the retirement community, said three residents in The Villages have been threatened with harm within the last week because of their expressed Democratic beliefs.

    He said he feels the retirement community showing “Hillary’s America” will spark more threats. He said he met with a lieutenant from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and The Villages management team early last week to convince them to stop the movie, to no avail.

    “Hillary’s America” debuted at the Old Mill Playhouse in Lake-Sumter Landing in The Villages on Friday with dozens of patrons packing the theater during its first showing at 10 a.m., according to a theater manager.

    “I have received a significant number of calls from people in Sumter County who viewed the trailer of this movie and voiced concern the movie will incite additional threats of violence against them and their property for being Democrats,” Flynn said. “Democrat lives matters”

    • I like it – though seeing so much ugly face makes me gag.

      This DNC hack acts like a superannuated college kid. A fragile little snowflake for whom the world must stand still. He’s in for big surprises-
      ~~ ’cause the times, they are a-changing~~

      • They are a changin big time, real big time. If we manage to survive in a couple of decades we won’t recognize the world. Hopefully the good guys win and the changes give us our full Constitutional freedom back.

  4. This Video Will Get Donald Trump Elected
    THIS VIDEO WAS PUBLISHED JUNE 9/16. ALREADY 3.4 MILLION VIEWERS.

      • I’d never seen any of that 1990s footage – no TV. He looked puffy, she was fluffy. I expected more cleaned-up hippie. Shifty, scary image-crafting, from Jacki-O to Nancy-R.
        Travelgate, Path to 9/11, Sandy Berger’s distruction of documents.
        Pardoning Puerto Rican terrorists. Just doesn’t stop.

        How widely is this movie being distributed now?

    • This one is Dinesh D’Souza giving a speech about Hillary the movie and against the Dems. It is well worth watching.

  5. MEPs call on EU to ensure right to boycott Israel (ansamed, July 26, 2016)
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2016/07/26/meps-call-on-eu-to-ensure-right-to-boycott-israel_f6a9f169-ddf8-4c71-ad3a-fccde4482c48.html

    “ROME – A group of European Parliament members appealed on Tuesday for the EU to make efforts to guarantee freedom of speech for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which aims to increase pressure on Israel to recognise Palestinian rights.

    In a letter, a total of 32 deputies urged the bloc’s foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini to introduce measures to protect and assist members of the group.

    Expressing concern over Israeli aggression against activists who support the movement, the deputies said that its co-founder Omar Barghouti needed to be recognised as a “defender of human rights”.

    “This letter is another example of the support of the rights of citizens and organisations to participate in the BDS movement, which continues to grow in Europe as in the rest of the world,” said Riya Hassan, manager of European campaigns for the movement.”

  6. Hungary: “We do not need a single migrant” says PM Orban

    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern held a joint press conference following talks on the EU’s migration policies, in Budapest, Tuesday.

    Orban suggested that the European Commission advocated migration as being beneficial “due to financial and demographic reasons”, however disagrees that it is the case, citing himself as one of the “few prime ministers who questions this.”

    SOT, Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary (Hungarian): “The documents provided by the EU Commission often states that due to financial and demographic reasons we are in need of immigration. Those who come will settle here. This is the general standing point of the EU. I am one of those few prime ministers who questions this. I do not oppose this in name of all Europeans, because I’m not entitled to do so, but I do have the right to do that in the name of all Hungarians. In other words, Hungary has no need for a single migrant. For the Hungarian economy, and for the future of Hungary to be sustainable, we do not need a single migrant.”

    SOT, Christian Kern, Chancellor of Austria (German): “At these kinds of debates we have to point out that thanks to the provisions on the Hungarian-Serbian border, there was a significant drop in the Austrian and German immigration. This means that we have to clearly say that these two countries – our German neighbours and also Austria, – lets say, profited from these provisions. Based on these facts, we got obligations. We say: OK, if we are beneficiary of this process, it means we also have to provide support as much as we can, and take the responsibility for the things which are happening on Serbian territory in front of the Hungarian borders.”

  7. http://www.thelocal.se/20160726/man-injured-in-shooting-at-rosengrd-shopping-mall

    Police cordoned off an area around a shopping centre in the Rosengård area of Malmö after a man was shot on Tuesday afternoon.

    Regional newspaper Sydsvenskan reported that a man was taken to hospital by ambulance after being shot inside the shopping centre just after 4pm. The extent of his injuries was not immediately known.

    “It’s messy in there, but one man has been shot – probably in the leg. He has been taken to hospital,” Lotta Svensson, a police officer on the scene, told the paper.

    Police cordoned off the area and initially allowed nobody to enter or exit the shopping centre, which houses shops, restaurants and a major supermarket. They later began letting people out after 5pm.

    Svensson said officers were investigating the incident and speaking to witnesses. Dog handlers were searching the site for weapons and the potential shooter, however no arrests had been made by 6pm.

  8. Fireman Sam producer apologises after showing character treading on page from the koran

    Channel 5 has removed an episode of Fireman Sam from its online streaming service, after the animated children’s programme appeared to show a character treading on pages of the koran.

    HIT Entertainment, the producer of the programme, last night issued an unreserved apology, and said it was cancelling its contract with the Chinese animation studio responsible for making the scenes.

    In the programme, which last aired on June 28, a character can be seen on two occasions trampling on papers that are being sorted on the floor of a fire station.

    When the papers fly into the air, at least one sheet appears to be a page from the Islamic holy book.

    The scenes, which were unearthed by a member of the public, led to condemnation on social networking sites.

    Miqdaad Versi, Assistant Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, wrote on Twitter: “[I] have no idea what went through the producers’ minds when they thought this was a good idea.”

    Mr Versi identified one page as containing verses 13 to 26 of chapter 67 of the koran, which deals with issues such as the origins of existence, and the punishments meted out to non-believers.

    In a statement, HIT Entertainment, which also owns brands such as Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder, said: “It has been bought to our attention that in an episode of Fireman Sam an image of the quran is briefly depicted. The page was intended to show illegible text and we deeply regret this error.

    “We will no longer be working with the animation studio responsible for this mistake.

    “In addition, we are taking immediate action to remove this episode from circulation and we are reviewing our content production procedures to ensure this never happens again.”

    In 2012, one of the creators of Fireman Sam, David Jones, was held at Gatwick Airport, after making a comment about a Muslim woman who was wearing a veil.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/26/fireman-sam-producer-apologises-after-showing-character-treading/

  9. This should help bring stability to the reion:
    http://ifpnews.com/news/world/middle-east/1395/05/iran-seizes-uae-ship-using-fake-name-persian-gulf/

    Iran Seizes UAE Ship for Using Fake Name for Persian Gulf

    Abutaleb Gerayiloo, the deputy head of Ports and Maritime Organization’s office in Khuzestan province, announced on Tuesday, July 26, that the ship ‘Feodora’, which belongs to an Emirati company and was carrying Panama’s flag, was seized because of using a fake name for Persian Gulf.

    “The name body of water has been mentioned in all historical documents as the Persian Gulf, and Imam Khomeini Port officials seized the ship in a move to prevent the national and historical name from being tainted by foreign ships.”

  10. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-26/afghan-forces-kill-122-islamic-state-members-after-kabul-attack

    Afghan troops killed 122 Islamic State militants after the group claimed responsibility for the country’s deadliest single attack in 15 years over the weekend, according to the nation’s Interior Ministry.
    In the past 24 hours, Afghanistan security forces assaulted the insurgents in the eastern province of Nangarhar, killing a deputy military commander and arresting 20 others, according to a statement sent by the ministry on Tuesday.

      • This happened to a GI when I was in Germany, he tried to rape a German girl and she cut it off, this was before the Doctors even tried to reattach any lost appendage. Everyone in my unit thought he deserved what happened.

  11. One dead after violent clashes in Calais migrant camp (thelocal, July 26, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.fr/20160726/one-dead-after-violent-clashes-in-calais-migrant

    “An Ethiopian was killed and six other migrants injured when clashes erupted on the outskirts of the migrant camp in France’s northern port city of Calais, authorities said Tuesday.

    A local government spokesman said migrants from Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia clashed with those from Afghanistan on Monday night, stabbing each other and hitting each other with sticks.

    A 37-year-old Ethiopian died after being knifed in the chest, he said.

    Police intervened several times in the clashes.

    Fights often break out in the sprawling camp, home to thousands of migrants hoping to find a way across the Channel to Britain…”

  12. Man injured in shooting at Malmö shopping mall (thelocal, July 26, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.se/20160726/man-injured-in-shooting-at-rosengrd-shopping-mall

    “Police cordoned off an area around a shopping centre in the Rosengård area of Malmö after a man was shot on Tuesday afternoon.

    Regional newspaper Sydsvenskan reported that a man was taken to hospital by ambulance after being shot inside the shopping centre just after 4pm. The extent of his injuries was not immediately known…”

  13. Danish asylum centre visited by alleged ISIS recruiter (thelocal, July 26, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.dk/20160726/danish-asylum-centre-visited-by-alleged-isis-recruiter

    “A Danish asylum centre on the island of Bornholm was visited by a man who introduced himself to the residents as a representative of Isis, according to a Red Cross incident report obtained by Danish broadcaster DR.

    The Danish Red Cross reported the incident to the Danish Immigration Service after an asylum seeker living at the centre told staff that the man had attempted to radicalise the residents.

    The incident purportedly took place in April this year.

    The Slottet (Castle) asylum centre is located in the middle of the island’s ‘capital’ Rønne, housing 234 residents from 13 different countries – many of whom are from areas which have been ravaged by Isis militants.

    Neither the Danish Red Cross nor the Danish Immigration Service are willing to comment on the specific incident. It is unknown whether any actions have been taken in response to the incident or if charges have been brought against the man.

    Speaking to DR Bornholm, former Danish intelligence service PET chief Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen said that this was both a rare and serious incident.

    “I am not familiar with any trends that point toward [Isis] trying to affect refugees – refugees who, of course, have been sent on the run by the horrific terrors committed by Isis,” Bonnichsen said.

    He finds the whole episode to be an unlikely or at least ill-conceived attempt at radicalising people, however.

    “Isis wouldn’t be dumb enough to allow a man to go around telling strangers he is working on their behalf. Presenting yourself as a member of a terrorist organisation is almost a violation of the law.””

  14. Hundreds of potential terrorists in EU, Europol says (ansamed, July 26, 2016)
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2016/07/26/hundreds-of-potential-terrorists-in-eu-europol-says_e05d8a70-1cd0-4864-b9ef-3aa5b4808cf4.html

    “Berlin – There are hundreds of potential terrorists in Europe who represent a threat to security, European law enforcement agency Europol has warned.

    Between 1,500 and 1,800 foreign fighters are believed to have returned to Europe from Syria and Iraq, the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung quotes Europol officials as saying. “Many of these do not have the desire or the capacity to carry out attacks but there remain hundreds of potential terrorists who constitute a threat to security in Europe,” the officials said. However Europol played down fears that migrant routes might be used by the jihadists to enter Europe. “In general militants of terrorist groups or returning foreign fighters with an EU passport do not travel with false documents and they do not entrust themselves to the traffickers who transport refugees,” the German daily cited Europol officials as saying. (ANSAmed).”

  15. Turkey detains Istanbul governor, academics after failed coup attempt (hurriyetdailynews, July 26, 2016)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-detains-istanbul-governor-academics-after-failed-coup-attempt.aspx?pageID=238&nID=102084&NewsCatID=338

    “Turkey has detained scores of suspects, including a former Istanbul governor, a well-known journalist and high-ranking military officials, as part of the ongoing crackdown on what the government calls the Fetullahist Terror Organizations (FETÖ), which is accused of orchestrating the failed coup attempt on July 15.

    Former Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu was detained in Istanbul early on July 26 over links to the outlawed Gülenist movement.

    Mutlu was the governor of Istanbul during the nationwide Gezi Park protests in 2013. He was one of the 246 local authorities who have been suspended from their duties by the Interior Ministry in the aftermath of the coup plot.

    The ministry has suspended a total of 8,777 officials from duty since the failed attempt.

    Journalist and former parliamentarian Nazl? Il?cak, who was among 42 people for whom a detention warrant was issued as part of post-coup attempt crackdown operations, was also detained on July 26 in the touristic resort town of Bodrum in the Aegean province of Mu?la.

    Found in a vehicle in the Bodrum-Torba intersection, Il?cak was taken to the central Bodrum police station before being sent to Istanbul for further legal procedures.

    Five other journalists – Yakup Sa?lam, ?brahim Balta, Seyit K?l?ç, Bayram Kaya and Cihan Acar – were also detained in operations.

    Il?cak was among 42 journalists being sought as part of ongoing investigations against suspected members of FETÖ. The detention warrants were issued by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Terrorism and Organized Crime Bureau.

    Meanwhile, simultaneous operations were staged across universities in eight Turkish provinces, with police detaining a total of 188 people and another 54 people being suspended from duty.

    Some 19 academics were detained in an operation at Çukurova University in the southern province of Adana, including the rector of Kanuni University, Professor Osman Serinda?.

    Eleven academics were suspended from duty at the A?r? ?brahim Çeçen University, while a probe was launched into nine academics and three administrative personnel at a local university in Bal?kesir.

    Some 44 academics were detained at Dicle University in the southeastern province of Diyarbak?r, while 12 others are being sought with a detention warrant.

    Some 59 university personnel, including 43 academics, were suspended from duty in Düzce while 30 personnel, including 22 academics, were suspended at Erzurum Atatürk University.

    A former rector of Manisa Celal Bayar University, Professor Mehmet Pakdemirli, was also detained, in addition to 19 other academics from the university.

    Finally, 46 academics were detained at the Nam?k Kemal University in Tekirda?.

    Meanwhile, two high-ranking Turkish soldiers on duty in Afghanistan were detained at Dubai Airport on July 26.

    Turkish Task Force Commander Major General Cahit Bak?r and Kabul Training, Support and Advising Commander Brigadier General ?ener Topuç were detained in Dubai as a result of Turkish Foreign Ministry and National Intelligence Agency (M?T) officials’ cooperation with the Emirati authorities.

    Bak?r and Topçu were brought to Turkey early on July 26 for further legal processes.”

  16. Two Turkish generals detained in Dubai in coup attempt probe (hurriyetdailynews, July 26, 2016)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/two-turkish-generals-detained-in-dubai-in-coup-attempt-probe.aspx?pageID=238&nID=102086&NewsCatID=509

    “Two high-ranking Turkish soldiers on duty in Afghanistan were detained at Dubai Airport on July 26, as part of wide-ranging operations against what Ankara calls the “Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).”

    Turkish Task Force Commander Major General Cahit Bak?r and Kabul Training, Support and Advising Commander Brigadier General ?ener Topuç were detained in Dubai as a result of Turkish Foreign Ministry and National Intelligence Agency (M?T) officials’ cooperation with the Emirati authorities.

    Bak?r and Topçu were brought to Turkey early on July 26 for further legal processes.”

  17. Immigration and integration Germany’s ‘biggest challenge’ (thelocal, July 26, 2016)
    http://www.thelocal.de/20160726/immigration-and-integration-is-germanys-biggest-challenge

    “Eighty-three percent of Germans see immigration as Germany’s “biggest challenge” – that’s twice as many as a year ago, and more than in any of the other countries surveyed.

    The influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees is the “most pressing challenge” Germany faces, according to a survey by market research company GfK.

    The ‘Challenges of Nations’ survey covers 24 countries and asks what they felt was the biggest challenge in their country, but no other country’s nationals were so concerned by immigration as those in Germany.

    In 2015, only 35 percent of Germans saw immigration as the most pressing problem; the last time it was viewed as the biggest challenge the country faced was in 1992, when 68 percent of respondents rated it as such.

    “Every seventh person who mentioned this problem would like to see positive integration, and one in five is against any further immigration,” said Raimund Wildner, manager of GfK, according to Der Spiegel.

    The second most concerning issue was unemployment, which only 13 percent of people listed as a main concern, compared to 80 percent ten years ago. According to Bundesamt statistics, the unemployment rate has fallen from 10.5 percent for 5.9 percent over this time period.

    The third and fourth biggest challenges according to survey respondents were poverty and criminality, followed by domestic politics, in fifth place…”

  18. Libya’s rival government threatens oil tankers (france24, July 26, 2016)
    http://www.france24.com/en/20160726-libyas-rival-government-threatens-oil-tankers

    “BENGHAZI (LIBYA) (AFP) – Forces loyal to Libya’s parallel government on Tuesday threatened to bomb oil tankers approaching the Libyan coast without permission from authorities in the country’s east.

    “We cannot allow Libyan oil to be exported except via the National Oil Company in Benghazi,” said General Abdulrazzaq al-Nadhouri, chief of staff for forces loyal to the rival government based in the eastern city of Tobruk.

    “We will target any boat that approaches the Libyan coast without prior agreement with the NOC in Benghazi,” he told AFP.

    Oil is Libya’s main natural resource with reserves estimated at 48 billion barrels, the largest in Africa. But production was hit hard in the wake of the 2011 revolt that ousted dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

    Like many state institutions, the country’s oil company was split into two as rival governments emerged…”

    • If the opposing sides have planes that can bomb ships they will be making the same threat in the near future.

  19. Germany must address fears after attacks, says Bavaria governor (BBC, July 26, 2016)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36897694

    “The governor of Bavaria has urged the German government to address public concerns about security and immigration after a spate of terror attacks.

    Germans are “riled up” and “full of fear”, Horst Seehofer told a press conference, after four violent attacks in Germany in less than a week.

    In the latest, on Sunday, a Syrian immigrant detonated a bomb, killing himself and injuring 15 people.

    A gun attack in Munich was the deadliest – with nine people killed.

    Mr Seehofer said that Germany must “do whatever is necessary to protect our citizens”.

    He said: “What we have here is an entirely new dimension of terrorism, the Islamist-minded terrorism, and we have to have intense discussions on this challenge in Bavaria and in Germany as well as prevent and repress it.

    “That is the big challenge we face, and therefore any attempts to contextualise the problem are inappropriate.

    “Every attack, every act of terrorism is one too many. Islamic terrorism has arrived in Germany and the people are rightly expecting us to stand up to this courageously.”…”

  20. France: Hollande meets with Rouen Archbishop Lebrun following church attack

    French President Francois Hollande and the Minister of Interior Bernard Cazeneuve received the Archbishop of Rouen Monseigneur Dominique Lebrun at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Tuesday, to discuss the church attack which saw one priest killed by two assailants earlier in the day.

    SOT, Monseigneur Dominique Lebrun, Rouen’s archbishop (French): “This little interview [we had] was very simple, each one of us was able to express what we had in our heart. It is obviously with great emotion that I left the young people in Krakow.”

    SOT, Monseigneur Dominique Lebrun, Rouen’s archbishop (French): “What came from my heart, are the word of Jesus: ‘Forgive them, they know not what they do.’ It’s a speech he gave on the cross. ‘Forgive them, they know not what they do.’ I believe that God tried to teach us not to have a political scapegoat: ‘It’s the fault of …’ Myself I will try to be attentive to what I feel in my heart, to not let myself be overwhelmed by a desire for revenge, to not let myself be overwhelmed by anger even if I cry to God and I do so loudly to God. I want to invite everyone, including non-believers to cry out to God, thanking all those who expressed their solidarity, the countless messages, including those from the Muslim community, the Jewish community; as well as all the politicians’ messages affect me. I saw that many people work hard, especially the state services that in particular worked very quickly and I wanted to thank them and I expressed my gratitude to the president in the moment. Thank you.”

    • A prosecutor says two men who attacked a Normandy church and killed a priest had fake explosives and used nuns as human shields.

      Prosecutor Francois Molins said the attackers, who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group, also cried “Allahu akbar” during the attack.

      One attacker was identified as 19-year-old Adel Kermiche. Molins said the other is still being identified.

      He also said a minor has been detained in the investigation, who is believed to be a 16-year-old younger brother of someone wanted by police for trying to go to Syria or Iraq in 2015.

      Police raids are still under way.

      ======================================
      France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor says one of the men who attacked a Normandy church evaded police twice using relatives’ ID cards in attempts to reach Syria.

      Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters that 19-year-old Adel Kermiche was wearing an electronic surveillance bracelet when he and another attacker slit the throat of a priest in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray Tuesday. Kermiche and the other assailant were killed by police.

      Molins said the bracelet was deactivated for a few hours every morning, corresponding with the time of the attack.

      He said Kermiche was arrested in Germany in March 2015 trying to join extremists in Syria using his brother’s ID, and then was arrested in Turkey two months later using a cousin’s ID.

      Molins said the person who was injured in the attack is no longer in life-threatening condition.

      ====================================

      One of the extremists who attacked a Normandy church has been identified as Adel Kermiche, a local youth whose parents flagged his radical behavior to authorities.

      A police official and people who know Kermiche’s family provided the name to The Associated Press.

      Family friend Jonathan Sacarabany says Kermiche grew up in a housing project in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. That is the town where two assailants claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group slit the throat of a priest and took hostages Tuesday before being shot to death by police.

      The family friend says Kermiche had a sister who is a doctor in the nearby city of Rouen, and a brother. Their mother is a professor. The family alerted authorities to his radicalism to try to stop him from going to Syria, Sacarabany said.

      Kermiche was arrested trying to go to Syria and was put under judicial supervision upon his return, with an electronic bracelet that was deactivated for five hours a day allowing him to leave home without surveillance, according to a police official with knowledge of the investigation.

      Kamiche was required to check in with police once a day, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to divulge details.

      http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-hollande-suspects-church-attack-40884245

    • France church attack: 1 suspect identified as Adel Kermiche, known by police, wearing electronic tag

    • France: Residents of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray mourn dead priest following church attack

      Dozens of mourners gathered outside Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray’s city hall on Tuesday, laying flowers, lighting candles and placing notes to honour the priest who lost his life in the deadly church attack earlier in the day.

      SOT, Hubert Wulfranc, Mayor of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray (French): “Lets be together to stand together against the barbarity and in respect of all.”

      SOT, Maryse, mourner (French): “We all knew father Jacques, he administered the communions of my children and he baptised my last child. We knew him very well and we liked him and that’s why we brought flowers to pay our respects.”

      SOT, Josiane, mourner (French): “I am not a fanatic but I know many people that used to go to church and we are all affected by that [the killing of the priest]. As long as we will have that barbarism we will not be safe wherever we may be.”

      SOT, Mina, mourner (French): “I came here to the city hall of St. Etienne-du-Rouvray in the city centre to mourn the person who has been murdered this morning. A church man, a holy man, a faithful man, a man of peace. I came here with my sister and her child to pay respects to him and the person who is at hospital. And also to pray for them.”

      SOT, Bakari, former classmate of one of the assailants (French): “They turned his brain, I don’t know who. Muslims have nothing to do with this. A real Muslim does not enter in a church and kill a priest.”

    • When you move into a new nation it is you that must change to fit in with your hosts, not your hosts change to fit in with you. This is the way things have worked for millennium, if the left hadn’t set out to destroy the west this would still be the way everyone thought.

  21. Russian Warplanes Reportedly Bombed US Base in Syria

    Russian warplanes reportedly bombed a secret military base in Syria used by elite American and British forces last month.

    The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Russian strike on the CIA-linked site was part of a campaign by Russia to pressure the White House to agree to closer cooperation in the Syrian skies, U.S. military and intelligence officials said.

    Despite the fact that some forces could have been killed and the bombing dampened relations between Russia and the Pentagon and CIA, the White House and State Department still pursued a compromise.

    The U.S. and Russia agreed to a pact last week to target airstrikes against the al-Qaida affiliate in the region — Nusra Front — despite objections from the Pentagon and CIA. Russia agreed to stop airstrikes on U.S.-backed rebels and restrain the Syrian air campaign. The two sides are still talking about designations where Russia would need U.S. approval to conduct an airstrike.

    According to The Wall Street Journal, deal backers in the White House and State Department believe U.S. airstrikes on the Nusra Front in areas that were previously occupied by Russian forces would provide protection for allies in Syria.

    However, officials in the Pentagon and CIA contend that Washington bowed to Moscow in the deal and believe that the U.S. needs to confront Russia.

    http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/07/22/russian-warplanes-reportedly-bombed-us-base-in-syria.html?ESRC=army_160726.nl

    • This one is going to cause a lot of problems for Obama and Hillary. This election is going to turn on world events and national security, both Hillary and Obama are very weak on that issue.

  22. Julian Assange: ‘A lot more material’ coming on US elections

    (CNN)Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said Tuesday his whistleblowing website might release “a lot more material” relevant to the US electoral campaign.
    Assange was speaking in a CNN interview following the release of nearly 20,000 emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee by suspected Russian hackers.

    However, Assange refused to confirm or deny a Russian origin for the mass email leak, saying Wikileaks tries to create ambiguity to protect all its sources.
    “Perhaps one day the source or sources will step forward and that might be an interesting moment some people may have egg on their faces. But to exclude certain actors is to make it easier to find out who our sources are,” Assange told CNN.
    The Kremlin has rejected allegations its behind the hacking, calling suggestions it ordered the release of the emails to influence US politics the “usual fun and games” of the US election campaigns.
    “This is not really good for bilateral relations,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, added.

    http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/26/politics/julian-assange-dnc-email-leak-hack/

    • Years ago Don Laird said something wonderfully scalding about that “albino- freak- communist- Assange.”

      • True, Assange isn’t doing this because he loves the US and Freedom, he is doing this because he is a bomb thrower who loves spreading chaos dissent. Giving what is coming he should be happy he is in that embassy, because that may save his live.

  23. ISIS warn London ‘next to be attacked’ as UK churches put on terror alert after French priest murder

    Images threatening attacks in London and other major world capitals have been posted on jihadi messaging app Telegram as counter-terror police issue advice to religious institutions in the UK

    London is next on the list of target cities for twisted jihadis along with the US capitol Washington DC, it has been claimed.

    Images threatening attacks in London and other major world capitals have been posted on jihadi messaging app Telegram, according to SITE Intelligence Group.

    One picture chillingly shows New York’s Statue of Liberty engulfed in flames but with the caption “Washington soon” – referring to the US capital 225 miles away.

    The threat comes as security at British churches is being ramped up amid a new terror alert after ISIS knifemen forced a French priest to kneel before slitting his throat on camera.

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/isis-warn-london-next-attacked-8500399

  24. Moroccan Youth Football Team Disqualified for Sexually Assaulting Swedish Girls

    On Monday at the opening ceremony of the Gothia Cup in Sweden, the world’s largest youth football competition, a Moroccan team, led by their coach, sexually molested three 16-year-old girls, according to the New Arab.

    The incident occurred when the Moroccan teenagers reportedly wanted to take pictures with the three sixteen-year-old girls outside Ullevi stadium in Gothenburg.
    The teenagers surrounded the three teens, kissing and groping them. Not all the team members were involved, so the girls could not pinpoint the attackers.
    A mother of one of the victims accused an adult man, allegedly the team manager, for shoving his tongue in her daughter’s mouth.
    Police arrested the manager, 35, who denied the allegations and remained him in custody for further investigation. The tournament’s organizers disqualified the team from the competition.
    Dennis Andersson, the Gothia Cup’s founder and Secretary General, described the incident as ‘’shocking’’ and completely regretted what the team members did.
    Mr. Andersson pointed out that the Gothia Cup was developing a strategy to fight sexual assaults using the tournament. “I have already started thinking about the future. Gothia Cup should be at the forefront of the question of stopping stuff like this,’’ he said.
    http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/07/192266/moroccan-youth-football-team-disqualified-sexually-assaulting-swedish-girls/

    btw. I heard that in the Swedish MSM there was a silence about it, only after the Morocco team disappeared from the competition people started to question what happened with the team.