Reader’s links for June 14, 2017

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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

114 Replies to “Reader’s links for June 14, 2017”

  4. Pakistan says it has asked Facebook to help investigate “blasphemous content” posted on the social network by Pakistanis.
    Facebook has agreed to send a team to Pakistan to address reservations about content on the social media site, according to the interior ministry.
    Blasphemy is a highly sensitive and incendiary issue in Pakistan.
    Critics say blasphemy laws, which allow the death penalty in some cases, are often misused to oppress minorities.
    Earlier this week Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif voiced his support for a wide-ranging crackdown on blasphemous content on social media.
    In a statement on his party’s official Twitter account, he described blasphemy as an “unpardonable offence”.
    ‘Should share information’
    Then on Thursday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar reasserted Pakistan’s determination to tackle the issue, saying he would take “any steps necessary” to make sure Pakistan’s message got across.
    He said he had asked officials to liaise with the FBI in the US and with social media platforms on a daily basis.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39300270

    • “Facebook Helps Ex-Muslim Get Death Sentence! | Louder With Crowder” – Steven Crowder – June 12, 2017

  5. The EU has issued a 24-hour warning to Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland saying that they have to start taking in refugees under an EU migrant-sharing plan.

    The three countries immediately rebuffed the threat and appeared ready to go to court.

    The European Commission said in a statement that it has repeatedly urged them to relocate refugees or at least pledge to do so under the legally-binding refugee plan agreed two years ago.

    But it said they have failed to take action ‘in breach of their legal obligations,’ and that it “has decided to launch infringement procedures.”

    http://metro.co.uk/2017/06/13/eu-warns-poland-that-it-has-24-hours-to-start-taking-in-refugees-under-migrant-sharing-plan-6706291/

  6. Pyongyang, North Korea (CNN)American college student Otto Warmbier has landed back in the United States after more than 17 months in detention in North Korea.

    Warmbier has been in a coma for over a year, according to his parents, and will be rushed to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center late Tuesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.
    His return to the US comes as questions swirl about his health and what happened to him while he was detained by the North Korean government. The 22-year-old contracted botulism last year and is in “bad shape,” a source close to the family told CNN. North Korea told a US official that Warmbier contracted botulism and slipped into the coma after taking a sleeping pill, a senior State Department official told CNN.

    http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/13/asia/otto-warmbier-north-korea/index.html

  11. Unpopular Opinions: Indian & Nippon Style with Armour
    Black Pigeon Speaks
    Black Pigeon Speak

    • The man knows a lot about Islam but I sure don’t recognize the Christianity and Judaism that he is talking about.

      • Social science is fluffy studies. Moderately entertaining to intensely annoying. My Dad wouldn’t pay a dime of tuition for such frivolous stuff, so I don’t boast an educated opinion.

        The enfant terrible Japanese prof is colorful, his drivel no doubt yields high speaker fees. LSE – Leftist Sinkhole Extraordinaire – is al-Azhar to the Bernie Sanders set. George Soros’ alma mater.

        He’s way off base on Judaism and being played by an Indian about Buddhism. I think he’s especially vulnerable to anything that rubbishes Islam – which is perfectly understandable at this point.

  13. The Palestine Liberation Organization will continue to make special payments to families of Palestinian prisoners, PLO Commission for Prisoners Chairman Essa Qaraqaa said a mere day after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson claimed that the Palestinians intend to stop the payments.

    “We will continue to pay them,” Qaraqaa said in a phone interview with The Jerusalem Post. “What Tillerson said is not correct.”

    http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/PLO-official-Tillerson-wrong-PA-will-continue-to-pay-terrorists-families-496819

    Tillerson told a US Senate panel on Tuesday that the Palestinians “have changed that policy and their intent is to cease the payments to the families of those who have committed murder or violence.”

  14. ALEXANDRIA, Va. (WWJ) – A Michigan representative who survived a gun attack during a congressional baseball practice Wednesday morning in Virginia is detailing the harrowing moments the gunman opened fire.

    Michigan Rep. Mike Bishop tells WWJ Newsradio 950 he was attending the practice around 5:30 a.m., just outside of Alexandria, when shots rang out. He said he and his colleagues were “sitting ducks.”

    “As we were standing here this morning, a gunman walked up to the fence line and just began to shoot. I was standing at home plate and he was in the third base line,” Bishop said. “He had a rifle that was clearly meant for the job of taking people out, multiple casualties, and he had several rounds and magazines that he kept unloading and reloading.”

    The shooting went on for roughly 10 minutes, with some accounts putting the number of shots fired around 100. Four people were injured, including two Capitol Hill police officers and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, of Louisiana. The suspect was also shot.

    “The only reason why any of us walked out of this thing, by the grace of God, one of the folks here had a weapon to fire back and give us a moment to find cover.

    http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2017/06/14/michigan-representative-ok-as-shots-fired-at-members-of-congress/

  15. A baby was caught by a member of the public after being dropped from Grenfell Tower as it was engulfed with flames, a witness said.

    Samira Lamrani said she saw a woman try to save a baby by dropping it from a window “on the ninth or 10th floor” to waiting members of the public below.

    “People were starting to appear at the windows, frantically banging and screaming,” she said.

    A woman was gesturing that she was about to throw her baby and if somebody could catch her baby
    witness Samira Lamrani
    “The windows were slightly ajar, a woman was gesturing that she was about to throw her baby and if somebody could catch her baby.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/14/baby-dropped-10th-floor-grenfell-tower-caught-man-ground/

  16. White gunman shoots House Majority leader Steve Scalise and at least four others as he fires up to 100 shots in ‘targeted attack’ on Republicans at Congressional baseball practice

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4603404/Steve-Scalise-aides-SHOT-baseball-practice.html#ixzz4jyuVCWmk
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    Five people including the House Majority Whip Steve Scalise were shot at a GOP baseball practice on Wednesday morning.

    Scalise was shot in the hip by the gunman who fired between 50 and 100 rounds from his rifle before being brought down by Capitol Police.

    The shooter asked the group if they were Republicans or Democrats before opening fire from the third base dugout as the men practiced batting.

    Two members of Scalise’s security detail were also shot and an unnamed congressional staffer was shot in the leg.

    The shooting took place at around 6.30am at a practice field in Alexandria, Virginia.

    The politicians were practicing for a charity match which is due to take place on Thursday at Nationals Park.

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4603404/Steve-Scalise-aides-SHOT-baseball-practice.html#ixzz4jyugy5DT
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

  17. Rep. Scalise Among Multiple Shot at Congressional Baseball Practice in Va.
    President Trump: “We are deeply saddened by t

    House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and multiple other people were shot Wednesday morning in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia, NBC News has confirmed.

    The shooting happened in the 400 block of E. Monroe Avenue. As many as five people were shot, according to NBC News, including the gunman.

    A congressional aide said Scalise, R-La., was in stable condition at George Washington University Hospital.

    Two Capital Police officers were among those shot as well. Those officers are with the dignitary protection unit.

    Sen. Claire McCaskill tweeted early Wednesday that she had spoken to Capitol Police and that the officers “will be ok.”

    Source: Rep. Scalise Among Multiple Shot at Congressional Baseball Practice in Va. | NBC4 Washington http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Alexandria-Police-on-Scene-of-Shooting-in-Del-Ray-428383133.html#ixzz4jyvFkyA7
    Follow us: @nbcwashington on Twitter | NBCWashington on Facebook

  19. Congressman Details Hectic Moment Under Fire: ‘We Were Sitting Ducks; Gun Saved Our Lives’

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. (WWJ) – A Michigan representative who survived a gun attack during a congressional baseball practice Wednesday morning in Virginia is detailing the harrowing moments the gunman opened fire.

    Michigan Rep. Mike Bishop tells WWJ Newsradio 950 he was attending the practice around 5:30 a.m., just outside of Alexandria, when shots rang out. He said he and his colleagues were “sitting ducks.”

    http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2017/06/14/michigan-representative-ok-as-shots-fired-at-members-of-congress/

    eye witness video at site.

  20. Steve Scalise shot in Virginia, aides also hit

    Published June 14, 2017
    Fox News

    Now Playing

    Breaking coverage of Rep. Scalise shooting

    House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was shot and multiple congressional aides were also hit by a gunman with a rifle who opened fire at a GOP baseball practice in Virginia Wednesday morning, Fox News confirmed.

    Scalise was in stable condition. Five people were “transported medically” from the scene, Alexandria Police Chief Michael Brown said; however, it was unclear how many people had been shot.

    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/06/14/virginia-gop-baseball-practice-shooting-multiple-people-shot.html

    • The libs always blame the tool instead of the tool user, this is why the thinking people ignore them.

  22. GOP Whip Steve Scalise, others shot in Alexandria park

    WASHINGTON — House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, two law enforcement officers and several other people were among those shot at a Congressional baseball practice Wednesday morning in the Alexandria, Virginia neighborhood of Del Ray.

    At a brief news conference at 9 a.m., Alexandria Police Chief Michael Brown confirmed five people were transported from the Alexandria ballfield Wednesday morning, but declined to provide any identities or their conditions.

    The suspect in the shooting is in custody and does not pose a threat to the public, authorities said.

    Chief of the Capitol Police Matthew Verderosa said Capitol police officers at the scene responded to gunshots Wednesday morning and engaged with a suspect in gunfire. The Alexandria City Police and other units then responded. “And at that point, we were able to calm the situation until the victims were transported to the hospital,” Verderosa said.

    http://wtop.com/alexandria/2017/06/14231771/

    • DEVELOPING – House Majority Whip Steve Scalise Shot During Baseball Practice

      OAN Newsroom

      House majority whip Steve Scalise was reportedly shot at a congressional baseball practice.

      It happened in Alexandria, Virginia on Wednesday morning.

      Reports say Scalise was shot in the hip, but is expected to be okay.

      Reports also say staffers and two capitol hill police officers were also wounded.

      GOP representative Mo Brooks was at the practice, and said he heard around 50 shots fired from a semi-automatic rifle.

      Alexandria police say they believe they have a suspect in custody.

      http://www.oann.com/house-majority-whip-steve-scalise-shot-during-baseball-practice/

  23. From the news reports (which are probably somewhat to totally inaccurate) the shooter was a middle aged white male who opened fire with an AR15 and after he ran through a couple of magazines switched to a pistol. On FOX they are reporting that one witness said he heard a shotgun but I don’t know if the person knows the difference between the report of a rifle and a shotgun and a handgun.

    It would be nice to think that this will wake people up and make them tone down the hateful rhetoric but this is unlikely, the actions of a large number of Dems have been fomenting a civil war for years and it looks like they have esculated their actions to active measures with firearms.

    • Dems rebuff skeptics: We will keep talking about Russia

      WASHINGTON

      Democrats have a blunt message for colleagues worried the party has become dangerously obsessed with Russia: Get over it.

      Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ testimony Tuesday put Democrats in a familiar position, reacting to news about President Donald Trump and the ongoing investigation into his campaign’s alleged Russia connections. To skeptics, the story is a distraction from bread-and-butter issues that voters actually care about, like the unpopular Republican-backed health care bill, and a sign the party is already over-reaching well before the midterm congressional elections.

      But Democratic operatives are arguing that the party has no choice but to launch these attacks. A weekly barrage of breaking news has forced their hand, demanding Democrats seize on an issue some of them now believe has increasing relevance beyond the Beltway anyway.

      Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article155988584.html#storylink=cpy

    • U.S. Congressman shot on baseball field in Alexandria, Va. *UPDATE*
      By Howard Portnoy June 14, 2017

      NBC News reports that a gunman opened fire on a congressional baseball practice at a ball field in Alexandria, Va. At least one congressman was shot, and early reports suggest the gunman is in custody.

      The incident occurred just before 8 a.m. at Alexandria’s Eugene Simpson Field. The congressmen were said to be practicing for an annual game.

      A to CBS affiliate WUSA, the shooting victim Steve Scalise, a representative from Louisiana.

      http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/06/14/u-s-congressman-shot-baseball-field-alexandria-va-update/

    • “It would be nice to think that this will wake people up and make them tone down the hateful rhetoric but this is unlikely…”

      Quite the opposite. This shooting will provide a sense of moral vindication that can only lead to copycat killings. Antifa’s preference for violence (along with BLM) has set the stage for some serious bloodshed. Things are about to go all pear-shaped.

    • Killing evil is good, guns are bad and Republicans are stupid and evil. These memes will continue for several more years.

  25. Philadelphia began freeing drug dealers in 2015. Guess what’s happened since
    By LU Staff June 13, 2017

    The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) calls Philadelphia one of the largest heroin markets in the U.S., but city officials announced Friday that in the last two years, they have reduced prison populations by nearly 20%, often by not imprisoning drug offenders.

    The city’s drug problem has only been growing since 2015 when Philadelphia first began implementing justice reforms, letting more drug offenders out of prison. On average, there are 1,500 fewer inmates in Philadelphia jails on any given day than there were in 2015, BillyPenn reported Monday.

    The low incarceration rate is due to a slew of reform programs that have prevented low-level, non-violent offenders from receiving jail time, likely affecting many drug offenders.

    The city expects to implement six more programs within the year to further decrease its prison populations. The 12 programs already in place cut down on pre-trial prison time, but the DEA shows the reforms may only be adding to the city’s drug problem. The availability of heroin, cocaine, and prescription drugs all increased in Philadelphia during 2015, according to the agency’s 2016 Drug Threat Assessment.

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/06/13/philadelphia-began-freeing-drug-dealers-2015-guess-whats-happened-since/

  29. An Istanbul court on June 14 sentenced main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Enis Berbero?lu on spying charges over a report on intelligence trucks bound for Syria.

    A Cumhuriyet report in May 2015 claimed that trucks allegedly owned by the National Intelligence Agency (M?T), Turkey’s state intelligence service, were found to contain weapons and ammunition that were headed for Syria when they were stopped and searched in southern Turkey in early 2014.

    The prosecutor had sought a life sentence for Berbero?lu for announcing information that was supposed to stay secret.

    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/court-hands-chp-mp-enis-berberoglu-25-years-in-jail-in-intel-trucks-case.aspx?pageID=238&nID=114324&NewsCatID=341

  30. Suicide bomber kills 9 rival insurgents in Afghanistan (abcnews, Jun 14, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/suicide-bomber-kills-rival-insurgents-afghanistan-48024196

    “A suicide bomber targeted a checkpoint run by rival insurgents in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province Wednesday, killing nine of them, an Afghan official said.

    Mohammad Saleem Rohdi, chief of the Gareshk district, said six other militants from a breakaway Taliban faction were wounded in the attack early Wednesday.

    Taliban spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment…”

  31. Inmates escape from Indonesian prison after wall collapses (abcnews, Jun 14, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/inmates-escape-indonesian-prison-wall-collapses-48025502

    “Dozens of inmates escaped early Wednesday from an overcrowded prison in western Indonesia after floods caused a wall to collapse, officials said.

    Torrential rain overnight inundated homes and buildings in Jambi, the capital of Jambi province on Sumatra island.

    The head of the provincial Law and Human Rights Ministry, Bambang Palasara, said at least 21 prisoners had been recaptured and about 30 others were still at large. He said the prison was designed to house 350 inmates but had 1,238.

    Local police chief Brig. Gen. Priyo Widyanto said more than 100 policemen, soldiers and city security officers were guarding and evacuating inmates from the prison, which was still partly flooded.

    The prison’s extreme overcrowding has frequently triggered unrest. Dozens of inmates escaped in March during a riot in which one block of the prison was set on fire. Some are believed to still be at large…”

  32. More than 100 IS fighters attack Iraqi forces in Mosul (abcnews, Jun 14, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/100-fighters-attack-iraqi-forces-mosul-48025778

    “More than 100 Islamic State militants launched a counterattack in Mosul on Wednesday, killing 11 Federal Police and four civilians in clashes that were still underway, Iraqi security officials said.

    The wide-scale assault underscored the extremist group’s resilience in the city despite months of heavy fighting with Iraqi forces backed by U.S. air power.

    The militants first sneaked into the western Dandan neighborhood at dawn from the Tigris River and took over a mosque, where they used loudspeakers to announce the assault and shouted “God is greatest!” before it was bombed from the air, according to an army officer and a police officer.

    Then the militants moved to the adjacent neighborhoods of Dawasa and Nabi Sheet, breaking into houses, clashing with security forces and seizing a Humvee and other weapons. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

    IS boasted about the attack in a statement released online.

    U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have been battling the extremists in Mosul, the country’s second largest city, since October. The militants are now largely confined to a few neighborhoods.”

  33. US oil production seen thwarting OPEC effort to boost prices (abcnews, Jun 14, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-oil-production-thwarting-opec-effort-boost-prices-48026278

    “OPEC’s plan to cut production and support prices is likely to be undone by increased output in the U.S., the International Energy Agency predicted Wednesday.

    If correct, that could keep a lid on oil and energy prices as a glut of supply grows despite the efforts of countries in the OPEC cartel and allies like Russia to limit production.

    The IEA, a Paris-based body that advises oil-consuming states on energy matters, said in its monthly oil report it expects production in non-OPEC states like the U.S. to grow 700,000 barrels daily this year. It predicts that output will grow even faster next year, by 1.5 million barrels daily, “which is slightly more than the expected increase in global demand.”

    “Our first outlook for 2018 makes sobering reading for those producers looking to restrain supply,” said the report.

    OPEC and 10 other countries led by Russia agreed last week to extend for nine months, to March, a production cut of 1.8 million barrels a day initially agreed on in November. The move is meant to drain the market of excess supply.

    The recovery in the price of oil from last year’s lows has, however, made it profitable once again for U.S. shale oil companies to ramp up production.

    The U.S. benchmark for crude was down 56 cents to $45.90 a barrel after the report’s release.”

    • Russia’s Lukoil Forecasts Average Oil Price at $50 for Next 10 Years (sputniknews, Jun 14, 2017)
      https://sputniknews.com/world/201706141054626632-lukoil-oil-prices/

      “MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia’s Lukoil oil company bases its budget forecast at average oil price of $50 per barrel for the next 10 years, company’s Senior Vice President-Finance Alexander Matytsyn said Wednesday.

      “We are making our new forecast for the decade primarily in constant prices. And these constant prices are $50 per barrel, which is what we laid out as a forecast a 10-year period,” Matytsin said adding that the company’s budget for 2017 stipulates the oil price at $40 dollars per barrel.

      Russia’s Lukoil oil company is reducing production at low-efficiency wells in the framework of OPEC, non-OPEC deal but will be able to restore it without additional costs, company’s Senior Vice President-Finance Alexander Matytsyn said Wednesday.

      “We did not reduce, in general, the scale of drilling, which ensures the future production volumes in 3-5 years, but we significantly diminished the scale of short-term activities, that is, reduced part of the capital costs slightly,” Matytsyn told reporters in Moscow.

      The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and 10 non-cartel oil producers agreed in May to extend last year’s output cut deal for another nine months.”

  34. Spain Calls for Deeper Eurozone Integration Through Rapid Reforms (sputniknews, Jun 14, 2017)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201706141054625785-spain-eurozone-integration/

    “MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos on Wednesday urged EU authorities to promote broad reforms for the single currency area, including the establishment of a pan-European monetary fund and deeper integration of national economic policies.

    “There are only two ways — we go forward or we go backward. But we cannot stay where we are now… We have a window of opportunity of no more than six months after the German elections [in September],” de Guindos said in an interview with the Financial Times.

    The minister offered to create a single European treasury, or a European monetary fund, to extend EU control over member states’ national budgets and fiscal policies.

    “[Another] important point is about economic policy integration, not just for fiscal policy but also in areas such as structural reforms,” he said.

    The bloc should have an opportunity to play a bigger role in the core economic policies of its members, as the Brexit vote and US President Donald Trump’s aspiration to review trade agreements are pushing Europe toward deeper integration, Guindos said.

    “There are doubts about fragmentation at the world level and that means we are now more dependent on our own decisions. We cannot allow a second Brexit. We have to keep together,” he said.

    The eurozone is a monetary union, which comprises 19 of the 28 European Union member states. It is politically controlled by the group of its countries’ finance ministers, the so-called Eurogroup. The European Central Bank (ECB) manages its currency and its monetary policy.”

  35. EU launches legal action against 3 countries over refugees (abcnews, Jun 14, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eu-chief-states-sanctioned-refugees-48025035

    “The European Commission on Wednesday launched legal action against the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland for failing to respect their commitment to take in refugees.

    The Commission, which polices EU agreements, sent formal letters of notice to the three states giving them one month to respond to its concerns. They could be taken to Europe’s top court, the European Court of Justice, if the matter is not resolved.

    EU countries agreed in September 2015 to relocate 160,000 refugees from Greece and Italy as the two countries struggled to cope with more than a million migrants who entered Europe mostly through their borders that year.

    The Commission said in a statement that despite “repeated calls for action, these three countries remain in breach of their legal obligations and have shown disregard for their commitments to Greece, Italy and other member states.”

    The two-year relocation scheme is a major plank of the EU’s migration policy, and was lauded as a European show of solidarity in 2015.

    But just three months before it expires this September, fewer than 21,000 people have been relocated.

    The plan was endorsed by a “qualified majority vote” — roughly a two-thirds majority — with the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia voting against. Finland abstained. Hungary and Slovakia later launched their own legal action over the scheme, refusing to have migrant quotas imposed on them by what they saw as bureaucrats in Brussels.

    European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday that “it’s a question here of observing European law, it’s not a question of sanctions.”

    He told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, that “European solidarity cannot be a one way street.”

    As of June 9, the Czech Republic had accepted 12 refugees from Greece. Hungary and Poland had taken in none.

    On Tuesday, the EU’s top migration official, Dimitris Avramopoulos, praised Austria and Slovakia for recently pledging to do more. But as of June 9, Austria had still not relocated a single refugee. Slovakia had taken in 16.

    Germany, France, the Netherlands, Finland, Portugal and non-EU country Norway have so far been taking in the largest number of refugees — Germany received more than 5,600, France around 3,500.

    Countries usually have two months to reply to formal EU letters of notice, but officials say the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland have already been repeatedly warned so they will only get one. The three could avoid going to court if they start relocating refugees over the next month, but their governments have already vowed to resist legal pressure.”

  36. Finland’s security agency raises country’s threat assessment (abcnews, Jun 14, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/finlands-security-agency-raises-countrys-threat-assessment-48027799

    “Finland’s security agency says it has raised its threat assessment to the second level of a four-level scale.

    The Finnish Security Intelligence Service says the country’s “stronger profile within the radical Islamist propaganda” led to the change. It said on Wednesday that the Nordic country is now considered part of the coalition against the Islamic State group.

    The interior ministry has estimated that at least 80 fighters have traveled from Finland to fight alongside extremist groups in Syria and Iraq.

    Finland’s previous threat assessment was in November 2015. Unlike its Nordic neighbors, the country has not been targeted by radical Islamists in recent years.”

  37. Asylum centre in southern Sweden evacuated after suspected arson attack (reuters, Jun 14, 2017)
    http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-sweden-immigration-fire-idUKKBN1951WY?rpc=401&

    “Around 70 asylum seekers were evacuated from their accommodation in southern Sweden on Wednesday after a suspected arson attack, police said.

    Police in the town of Karlshamn said there were no reported injuries but one person was arrested, suspected of starting the fire that destroyed major parts of the complex.

    According to a witness, the fire was a result of an attempted suicide where a resident set fire to furniture after his asylum application was rejected.

    Sweden, with a population of 10 million people, reversed many years of generous immigration policy in late 2015 by introducing tougher border controls and immigration laws.

    In 2015 more than 160,000 people sought asylum in the country, most of them from Africa and the Middle East.

    During the last couple of years, several asylum centres have been burned down in suspected arson attacks.”

  38. Up to 150,000′ Women Suffering From Genital Mutilation in Feminist Sweden (sputniknews, Jun 14, 2017)
    https://sputniknews.com/art_living/201706141054625357-sweden-female-genital-mutilation/

    “Sweden prides itself as a recognized champion of human rights. However, its recently imported cultural values from the developing world may eventually shatter Sweden’s shining image. Tens of thousands of women have been found to be suffering from genital mutilation, despite the fact that this immensely painful procedure is illegal.

    The number of Swedish women who have undergone genital mutilation has been estimated to be at least several times higher than previously expected, a new survey has found.

    In 2015, the National Board of Health estimated that there were approximately 38,000 women who have been victimized by female genital mutilation (FGM) in the Nordic country, which had for decades ranked at the top of various equality ratings.

    The most recent survey, however, placed Sweden among the countries with the highest proportion of FGM sufferers, with a staggeringly morbid estimation of 150,000 in a nation of 10 million, Swedish Radio reported. Since genital mutilation is a very private and shame-laden, it remains largely unreported, with the actual number of victims potentially being still higher.

    What makes matters worse, genital mutilation is being carried out among girls of immigrant descent in families that have been settled in Sweden for a long time. Despite the fact that FGM is strictly prohibited by Swedish law, tradition and religious prescriptions may sometimes overcome legal ramifications. In immigrant circles, girls are known to have been taken to their respective home countries to have this procedure performed.

    The unexpectedly large and obviously still-growing number of genitally-mutilated women in Sweden places new demands on Swedish healthcare and school system, Swedish national broadcaster SVT wrote.

    “Women who come to our reception have big problems. We remove the damaged parts in the lower abdomen area. But there are many more affected women in our society today, women we have to discover and offer help,” Bita Eshragi, a physician from Amelmottagningen, Sweden’s only clinic for FGM victims, told SVT.

    Female genital mutilation, which is also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found in parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East and is mostly carried out for religious or spiritual reasons. According to a 2016 estimation by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), around 200 million women living today have undergone this procedure.

    Depending on the country, FGM is carried out at various ages ranging from days after birth to puberty. The practice is rooted in ideals about women’s chastity and purity, and failing to comply may result in social exclusion.

    The exact amount of surgery (mostly carried out in field conditions) varies from country to country, yet typically includes the removal of both inner and outer labia and parts of the clitoris. Adverse health effects may include recurrent infections, difficulty urinating, chronic pain, infertility and complications during childbirth — with no known benefits whatsoever.”

  39. France: European Parliament says Paris Agreement will not be renegotiated

    The European Parliament (EP) said that the US Administration’s decision to quit the Paris Agreement will not result in renegotiations, when meeting in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

    “The withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement is more than a sad event, it is signing of abdication from common action in dealing the fate of our planet”, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said.

    “We are disappointed and we regret that decision”, he added, before stating that the European Union will not renegotiate the Paris Agreement.

  41. Tammy Bruce: Russia ‘scandal’ is now cartoonish

    Columnist and radio host says search for evidence of Russian collusion is now like a cartoon, Clinton loyalists can’t admit she lost and the mainstream media are compliant

  42. Ex-Obama adviser: Sessions a significant Russia figure

    Tucker takes on a former Obama foreign policy consultant and Clinton adviser who still believes the attorney general had a bigger role in the Russia-Trump scandal than previously believed

  44. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi case: ICC calls for arrest of ex-Libya leader’s son (BBC, Jun 14, 2017)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40278385

    “The International Criminal Court (ICC) has called for the arrest and surrender of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who was released by a militia in Libya last week after six years in jail.

    The son of late leader Col Muammar Gaddafi is wanted for alleged crimes against humanity during the rebellion that ousted his father in 2011.

    His location is unclear. The UN-backed government has condemned the release.

    It is feared that the move could fuel further instability in the country.

    Saif al-Islam was freed from jail last Friday by the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion militia in the western town of Zintan under an amnesty law.

    He has not been seen in public since then. A source told the BBC he was in the Tobruk area of eastern Libya…”

  45. Niger army rescues 92 migrants in Sahara Desert (BBC, Jun 14, 2017)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40271953

    “Troops in northern Niger have rescued 92 migrants who were on the brink of death in the Sahara Desert, an army statement has said.

    Traffickers abandoned the group, which included women and children, without water and food, it added.

    One migrant died after being taken to a relief centre, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said.

    African migrants travel through the desert to reach Libya before crossing the Mediterranean Sea to get to Europe.

    However, the journey through the desert is perilous as the migrants are crammed into pick-up trucks and have little food or water.

    More than 40 people died of thirst in the Sahara Desert about a fortnight ago after their truck broke down…”

  46. Poland: FM says EU ‘made wrong decision’ with refugee relocation

    Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski stated that the EU misjudged the refugee relocation quotas and that out of 160,000 people only 20,000 were refugees, in Warsaw, on Wednesday. The statement comes in reaction to the EU’s decision to begin infringement procedures against Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic for refusing refugee relocation quotas.

    SOT, Witold Waszczykowski, Polish Foreign Minister (Polish): “The very concept of relocation is a euphemism and can be defined in normal language as a concept of resettlement by force of 160,000 people to places they most often do not want to be displaced to. This is an unjust conception, this decision should not have been taken then or realised today.”

    SOT, Witold Waszczykowski, Polish Foreign Minister (Polish): ” […] the Commission misjudged the decision procedure in the past and the commission did not notice the fact that out of these 160 [Thousand] people only about 20,000 were displaced, and in practice this applies to most or all of the European Union states that do not implement the agreement. Therefore we see injustice here, double standards in the selection of only three countries, we are being stigmatised.”

    SOT, Witold Waszczykowski, Polish Foreign Minister (Polish): “The structural funds are not for good behaviour, but only an economic reward for opening up the Polish market, for opening up the weaker markets to influencing the markets of the wealthy elder states of the European Union. This is a compensation for the fact that these countries are earning myriads in our markets. This financial, economic, strictly economic issue can not be combined with any ideology or behavior or decisions in other areas.”

    • The structural funds are not for good behaviour, but only an economic reward for opening up the Polish market, for opening up the weaker markets to influencing the markets of the wealthy elder states of the European Union.

      This is extremely important.

  47. Germany: Govt. to spy on personal messaging as stringent surveillance laws announced

    Germany will extend its terror defence strategies, said Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere in Dresden on Wednesday, with authorities set to increase surveillance on personal messaging devices, including WhatsApp.

    SOT, Thomas de Maiziere, Interior Minister of Germany (German): “The security services need to be able to do legally what they can do technically on the Internet. We cannot allow factual legal black holes regarding the prosecution of crimes on the Internet. That’s why we are determined to counter that. This means, for example, that the authorities need to be legally capable to intercept information and messages on messenger services under the same premises.”

    SOT, Thomas de Maiziere, Interior Minister of Germany (German): “In many cases we are dealing with end-to-end encryptions, which means that we need to enter at the end or the beginning of a conversation rather than intercept inbetween. That is obviously much more complicated but needs to be made possible. We need the legal framework for that, and namely telephone tapping; this means to enter at the source of communications by manipulating a keyboard for instance. The second instrument is the so-called online search which is subjected to even fiercer legal pre-conditions comparable to those for an (electronic) eavesdropping operation. This will give the authorities the opportunity to intercept online communications on a case-to-case basis.”

    SOT, Thomas de Maiziere, Interior Minister of Germany (German): “We must not leave any security loopholes through different powers regarding the prevention of threats to public safety. We cannot have different safety zones [within Germany]. Therefore I welcome the fact that the federal states have agreed to develop a new draft police law with the assistance of my entity [Interior Ministry].”

    SOT, Thomas de Maiziere, Interior Minister of Germany (German): “The president of the BKA together with his employees and colleagues from the federal states have developed a new assessment system called ‘RISKANT,’ which is designed to predict threats more accurately based on certain criteria and categories that will be worked out together. There will be a four-eye model between the federal states that is immediately affected and those which are not. All of the aforementioned will be implemented starting from July 1. This is a big progress. However, I don’t want to give the wrong impression… a human threat cannot be predicted reliably by mathematical formula.”

    SOT, Thomas de Maiziere, Interior Minister of Germany (German): “In the second stage – and this is even more important – we will discuss and implement the necessary measures in a joint anti-terror centre based on a joint assessment of the respective threat and within the boundaries of the respective legal framework. The result is that the operative treatment in federal state A will be the same as in federal state B. This was not possible to this extent to this date, as we have seen in the case of [Anis] Amri.”

  48. “Active Shooter in San Francisco UPS Distribution Center”
    JustPoliceVideos – June 14, 2017

  49. Climate change researchers cancel expedition because of climate change
    Icebreaker CCGS Amundsen diverted from science mission, continues search and rescue work

    A team of scientists had to abandon an expedition through Hudson Bay because of hazardous ice conditions off the coast of Newfoundland caused by climate change.

    About 40 scientists from five Canadian universities were scheduled to use the icebreaker CCGS Amundsen for the first leg of a 133-day expedition across the Arctic. It’s part of a $17-million, four-year project led by the University of Manitoba that looks at both the effects of climate change as well as public health in remote communities.

    Their trip began May 25 in Quebec City, but due to bad ice conditions off the coast of Newfoundland, the icebreaker was diverted from its course to help ferries and fishing boats navigate the Strait of Belle Isle, said David Barber, a climate change scientist at the University of Manitoba and leader of the Hudson Bay expedition called BaySys.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/climate-change-study-1.4157216

  50. Michigan Mosque Paid for FGM Mutilation of Little Girls

    The Michigan horror that I wrote about in April just keeps getting worse.

    Operating out of a Livonia clinic, Jumana Fakhruddin Nagarwala abused unknown numbers of little girls. The 7-year-old girl had been told that she was going to Detroit for a “special” girls’ trip. Instead her special trip turned into a nightmare. After the Muslim doctor allegedly mutilated her, she warned the child not to talk about what was done to her.

    Since then there have been more arrests including a leader of the Farmington Hills mosque. Jumana’s husband is also listed as a mosque leader.

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/266992/michigan-mosque-paid-fgm-mutilation-little-girls-daniel-greenfield