Reader’s links for April 28 – 2017

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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

98 Replies to “Reader’s links for April 28 – 2017”

  1. Italy claims to break up Berlin terror cell linked to Christmas market attacker (thelocal, Apr 28, 2017)
    https://www.thelocal.de/20170428/italy-shuts-down-berlin-terror-cell-linked-to-christmas-market-attacker

    “Italian police said Friday they had helped their German counterparts neutralise a Berlin-based Islamist terror cell with links to Christmas market attack suspect Anis Amri.

    The dismantling of the 11-strong group was completed at the end of January after nearly two months of investigations triggered by two of them being picked up at the Italian port of Ancona on December 4th, 2016, according to the anti-terrorism wing of Italy’s state police force.

    Italian authorities believe Congolese national Lutumba Nkanga , 26, and Moroccan Soufiane Amri, 22, were planning to travel to Istanbul en route to joining Isis in Iraq or Syria…”

  2. German authorities arrest Syrian man over ties to ‘Islamic State’ (DW, Apr 28, 2017)
    http://www.dw.com/en/german-authorities-arrest-syrian-man-over-ties-to-islamic-state/a-38621627

    “A 23-year-old Syrian man has been arrested in Germany over links to a terrorist organization. The news comes shortly after a Bundeswehr soldier was arrested for allegedly planning an attack against refugees.

    German federal prosecutors said on Friday they had arrested the 23-year-old Emad A., whose last name has been withheld due to privacy laws, on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization.

    Authorities said in a statement that he had been arrested early Friday in the southwestern state of Baden Württemberg. He is accused of joining the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) in spring of 2013 and taking part in multiple engagements in Syria.

    The man’s apartment was searched following his arrest. Prosecutors did not say how the man entered Germany or how he came to authorities’ attention. The arrest comes amid growing concerns over home-grown Islamic extremism in Germany…”

  3. Cinemas returning, eventually! (saudigazette, Apr 29, 2017)
    http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/cinemas-returning-eventually/

    “SAUDI ARABIA will one day open cinemas and build a world-class opera house, the official spearheading the Kingdom’s entertainment reforms said on Thursday.

    The Kingdom had some cinemas in the 1970s but the clerical establishment persuaded the authorities to close them, reflecting rising religious influence throughout the Arab region at the time.

    Cinemas are still banned. And while concerts have started to be held this year, they remain frowned on by clerics.

    But the government has promised a shake-up of the cultural scene with a set of “Vision 2030” reforms announced by Deputy Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, last year, aimed at creating jobs and opening up Saudis’ cloistered lifestyles.

    The changes are also intended to capture up to a quarter of the $20 billion currently spent overseas by Saudis, who are accustomed to traveling abroad to see shows and visit amusement parks in nearby tourist hub Dubai or further afield…”

  4. Knife Crime Soars to Five-Year High After Kerb on ‘Racist’ Police Stop and Search (breitbart, Apr 28, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/04/28/knife-crime-soars-racist-stop-search/

    “Knife crime has soared since Theresa May kerbed police use of stop and search, a tactic that activists condemn as “racist” but which senior officers insist saves black lives.

    The year ending December 2016 saw 32,448 criminal offences involving a blade or other sharp weapon take place in Britain, a rise of 14 per cent from the previous year and the biggest knife crime total since 2011.

    With five young men having been stabbed to death in London already this year, police warn that these are the first signs of a knife crime epidemic in major UK cities.

    The increase comes as figures revealed the number of stops and searches shrunk 57 per cent in 2015-16 compared to 2013-14…”

  5. Church of England Spokesman: ‘Children Should Be Forced to Learn About Islam’ (breitbart, Apr 28, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/04/28/church-england-spokesman-children-forced-learn-islam/

    “The Church of England has called for parents to lose the right to withdraw their children from religious education classes – because some parents are apparently using it to pull their children out of lessons on Islam.

    Currently parents can choose for their children not to take part in religious education (RE) lessons, and can do so without giving a reason.

    But Derek Holloway, the head of RE in the Church of England’s education office, has called for that right to be removed from parents and for their children to be taught other world religions regardless of the parents’ views.

    “Seemingly [some parents] do not want their children exposed to other faiths and world views, in particular Islam. We are concerned that this is denying those pupils the opportunity to develop the skills they need to live well together as adults,” he told The Times.

    He added: “Anecdotally, there have also been some cases in different parts of the country of parents with fundamentalist religious beliefs also taking a similar course. This is not confined to any one particular religion or area of the country.”

    In a blog post on the Church of England’s Facebook page, he insisted that children should be taught about all religions to prepare them for life as global citizens…”

  6. Claim: Syrian ‘Mafia’ Control Stockholm Suburb (breitbart, Apr 28, 2017)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/04/28/claim-syrian-mafia-control-municipality-stockholm-outskirts/

    “Social Democratic Party members from the Syrian community presided over a form of “mob rule” in the municipality of Sigtuna, Sweden, state television suggests.

    An investigative report by SVT, a licence-fee funded public broadcaster similar to the British Broadcasting Corporation, indicates the “takeover” began in 2002, when the Social Democrats under Anders Johansson wrested control of the area from the Moderate Party.

    Former Mayor Peter Kockum, who was ousted by Johansson, told reporter Jesper Henke the Social Democrats had achieved a swing of around six or seven per cent by promising Syrian community leaders he would sell them a plot of land for a single krona (crown).

    The Social Democrats have dominated the municipality ever since, and Kockum believes the 2002 elections “changed the political life of Sigtuna” permanently.

    Politics in the area is now based on exchanging “different types of benefits and favours”, he told Henke.

    “Do you understand? It’s corruption, and nothing else,” he emphasised.

    The journalists focused on one Syrian businessman and Social Democrat Party member in particular during their investigation: Ismet Karademir.

    Karademir’s football club, for example, was subsidised by the municipality under Johansson through a special order exempting it from rent. Administrative Law professor Olle Lundin told Henke that this arrangement was of dubious legality, and demonstrated “contempt for local democracy”.

    Johansson, no longer mayor, denied he had exceeded his authority, but admitted to having made “an error”.

    In 2015 the football club went bankrupt owing the municipality 340,000 crowns and its director was jailed for accounting fraud – but Karademir was not prosecuted, having stepped down as chairman in 2013.

    A clubhouse associated with the organisation, alleged to be an illegal gambling den, has become a hub for Syrians, including relatives of Karademir. Henke claimed to have seen Karademir’s own car parked outside while surveying it at night.

    The municipality’s security director believes the clubhouse contributes to insecurity in the area. One of the men staying at the den is said to have attacked a teacher at a nearby school after she asked him to stop speeding, and threatened to shoot her.

    A local woman told the reporters that “there are large gangs and shootings” in Sigtuna now, and drug-dealing has become common.

    Attempts to evict the clubhouse’s tenants were thwarted when the current Social Democrat mayor, Ibrahim Khalifa, intervened to prevent it.

    Professor Lundin told Henke that Khalifa had no legal authority to do this, but said it could be difficult for local officials to withstand a politician playing “Wild West”.

    Khalifa was also said to have promised Karedimir he would prevent the closure of a pizzeria with no building permit which serves as a Social Democrat hub, and is alleged to have intervened in a housing project to steer the contract towards a company chaired by Karademir.

    Criticism of local politics in Sigtuna has not only come from political rivals. Anna Kalles, a prominent Social Democrat from the area, told Henke that many officials had approached her to complain of what she described as “mob rule” in the municipality. She described the council as being under the personal control of Khalifa.”