Reader’s links for July 20, 2017

Posted on by

Daily Links Post graphic

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

133 Replies to “Reader’s links for July 20, 2017”

  1. US military credits Iraqi militias for helping liberate Mosul

    The US military commended “Iraqi Militia Forces” for their role in helping liberate the city of Mosul from the Islamic State, but warned that the jihadist group remains a threat and still controls areas in Iraq. Many of those same militias operating near Mosul, though, are responsible for killing US soldiers during the occupation and remain hostile to America with the backing of Iran.

    Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), the US-led coalition organized to battle the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, said Iraqi forces achieved a “victory” over the Islamic State. Reports from Mosul indicate that the Islamic State has been cornered into a football field-size area in Mosul’s old city neighborhood, with only scores of fighters and their families remaining. Many areas of the city lay in ruin as a result of the nine month-long battle to to regain control from the Islamic State.

    A mix of forces from Iraq’s Counter Terrorism Service, regular troops, Kurdish Peshmerga, and Iranian-backed Shia militias were involved in the ground fighting. The US and other countries provided air support and other combat enablers, as well as advisers during the battle for Mosul. CJTF-OIR said all of these forces should be commended for their role.

    “Iraqi Militia Forces, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and the global Coalition also deserve a share of the credit for their sacrifices to achieve this hard-won victory,” the press release noted.

    The “Iraqi Militia Forces” are organized under the aegis of thePopular Mobilization Forces, or PMF, and includes many Iranian supported militias that are responsible for killing hundreds of American soliders in Iraq, such as Hezbollah Brigades, which is a US-designated terrorist group, Asaib al Haq, and the Seyyed al Shuhada Brigades. The last two militias have been operating on the outskirts of Mosul.

    http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/07/us-military-credits-iraqi-militias-for-helping-liberate-mosul.php

    • A comment spot-on:
      “My enemy’s enemy is my friend” is the philosophy that will lose every war at the price of winning some battles. Generals have become politicians: they only look for short-term successes so they get their next promotion.

      What this does is strengthen Iran.

      Why are there any Western boots on the ground? Muslims killing each other or Muslims killing each other and Western soldiers are the alternatives. I know which one I prefer. Unfortunately Western politicians and generals like the other more.

    • Turkish media reveals American base locations in Syria

      A Turkish state news agency has released a list of U.S. military bases in Northern Syria, as relations between the two NATO allies take another downturn. The outlet claims to have detected Washington’s hidden outposts, located in Kurdish-held areas

    • The EU successfully invading a country that’s managed to keep itself safe for how long? Centuries?

      • Switzerland was founding in 1291, the terrain is so rugged that any military invasion would bog down by being shot at every step they took. This is the reason it has never been invaded before. When the invasion goes kinetic the well armed Swiss militia gives them the best chance to kick the invaders out.

    • They also seem to be Islamic apologists who think that Islam is not a danger to the west.

      • And it’s Ayatollah crapolla they’re eating.

        The twisted-ragheads are now spending as much as the MB on PR. They’ve hired major US law firms and lobbyists to represent their interests in this country. I’m assuming the same in Europe.

        I know because some had represented Jewish clients for decades. Those relationships were severed at the request of Iran. Impossible fees were charged for that service.

        Iran – as much money as the collective Sunni MB? Where’s that money coming from?

    • Massive unrest is already here and the intelligent governments see what is coming and are making plans to ensure the survival of their nations. What you have to do is to look at the big picture before you concentrate on the small details.

      When you start looking at the future remember that there are a lot of trained people out here who see the same thing we do, They are laughed at as being preppers but are feared by the left because if the left comes close to success they are the people who will organize and lead a successful resistance.

  6. Here is the new Paul Joseph Watson, anti-Semitic!

    Paul Joseph Watson Exposes Israeli Genocide of Palestinians in Gaza
    Hamza H Green – Slay Your Dragon
    Hamza H Green – Slay Your Dragon
    5 k
    1 224 vues
    Ajoutée le 18 juil. 2017

    Paul Joseph Watson used to expose (((The Chosenites))). This video is about 3 years ago. He used to be a great truth teller. Now, he spreads venomous disinformation and falsehood about Muslims. He is misleading gullible people to save Zionism and Jewish racism and genetic supremacism. Paul Joseph Watson has sold his soul to the Devil!

    “Israel has killed over ten times more Palestinians in the past week alone than Hamas rockets have killed Israelis in the last 13 year.” – Paul Joseph Watson.

    Yes, what Israel is doing to Palestinians is actually Genocide. When you have a strong military going in against a defenceless population, that is not a war.

    What is happening is a slaughter, a massacre. When you shoot a fish in a barrel, we do not call it a war.

    Jewish Racism and Genetic Supremacism needs to be exposed. Also, Talmud , Shulchan Aruch and Zohar are terrorist handbooks.

    “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticise.” – Voltaire
    _________________________________________________________________
    You must understand this …

    The purpose of Gentiles — to serve Jews:
    “Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world – only to serve the People of Israel,” – Rabbi Ovadia Yosef

    “This is his servant… That’s why he gets a long life, to work well for this Jew.” – Rabbi Ovadia Yosef

    “Why are gentiles needed? They will work, they will plough, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat… That is why gentiles were created.” – Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
    ______________________________________________________________
    The next time you see this barbarity and genocide in Gaza and elsewhere, it came from here:

    DEUTERONOMY 7:22
    The LORD your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you. 23But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed. 24He will give their kings into your hand, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No-one will be able to stand against you: you will destroy them.

    DEUTERONOMY 11:23
    Then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you. Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western sea. No man will be able to stand against you. The LORD your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, where ever you go.

    DEUTERONOMY 13:15
    You must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock.

    DEUTERONOMY 15:6
    For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.

    JOSHUA 6:21
    They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it – men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

    JOSHUA 8:24
    When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the desert where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. Twelve thousand men and women fell that day – all the people of Ai.

    JOSHUA 10:40
    So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.

    JOSHUA 11:20
    For it was the LORD himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

    1 Samuel 15:3
    Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox, and sheep, camel and ass.
    ____________________________________________________________
    Get this book:

    Judaism Discovered: A Study of the Anti-Biblical Religion of Racism, Self-Worship, Superstition and Deceit: https://www.amazon.com/Judaism-Discov…

    Why Are Countries So Terrified Of Israel?https://isolatebutpreserve.blogspot.c…

    Acteur
    Paul Joseph Watson

  9. Skyrocketing costs for returning EU migrants

    The EU is spending millions forcibly sending people back to their home countries with one case costing up to €90,000 per head.

    An EUobserver probe of some 100 joint return flights coordinated by the EU’s border agency, Frontex, has revealed some startling facts.

    The researched cases date from the start of 2015 to October 2016, with the numbers indicating huge costs for returning the thousands of migrants residing in European countries.

    It has been calculated that, on average, the agency has spent around €5,800 for every individual deported back to their country of origin. Over 4,700 have left under the scheme.

    The average cost is a rough estimate, as prices vary wildly depending on factors such as the destination of the flight, its route, or the number of escort personnel needed.

    Deporting an Albanian from Germany may cost around a thousand euros, whereas forced returns to Nigeria may run up to €9,000.

    A spokesperson at the Warsaw-based agency explained that sudden price hikes were also linked to “unexpected circumstances.”

    “When return operations might be planned and approved, sudden unexpected circumstances may lead to last-minute changes like returnees absconding, changed medical conditions, new asylum claims or other legal challenges.”

    In some extreme cases, costs can spiral out of control, raising serious concerns over the efficiency of the procedures.

    Last May, Swiss authorities asked Frontex to arrange a flight to deport four Togolese citizens and one from Benin back to their home countries.

    But, for reasons unknown, they were all removed from the passengers list just before departure. As a result, the flight was re-routed and took off with only two Togolese nationals, who were expelled from Germany, joined by 13 guards.

    The whole operation came with a €177,000 bill, or more than €85,000 for each person taken back to their country of origin. In the end, the agency ended up spending close to €90,000 for each person returned to Togo.

    The agency has so far spent over €16 million between January and April of this year alone.

    Frontex says each situation is analysed on a case-by-case basis and that possible alternatives might be available. They also note that the individual circumstances of every request, as well as the “needs in the respective member state”, have to be considered.

    Tip of the iceberg

    However, these large sums of money might just be the tip of the iceberg, according to Franck Duvell, a senior researcher at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society of the University of Oxford.

    Since return flights are often jointly financed by member states and Frontex, it is difficult to know the exact cost of each trip.[…]

    more :

    https://euobserver.com/migration/137720

  10. Italy: ‘Defend Europe’ activist vows to intercept, evacuate and ‘sink’ migrant boats

    Anti-immigration activists awaited in the port of Catania, Wednesday, as they awaited the arrival a ship commissioned to rove the Mediterranean in search of boats containing refugees and migrants.

    The activists, who have been gathering the city for days, are organised under the name ‘Defend Europe’, includes members of the ‘Identitarian’ movement as well as supporters from the UK, US and Canada. The presence of the activists has attracted planned protests and criticism from Catania’s locals.

    SOT, Anti-Identitarian Activist (Italian): “A set of associations, we have drawn up a petition, have launched a mobilisation at Catania’s port, because we consider that the mobilisation of Generation Identity is an extremely serious and dangerous breakthrough from the European far right wing – extreme far right racist and xenophobic. The breakthrough is the fact that for the first time it is no longer the organisation of a demonstration, no matter how violent, but it consists of the organisation of a proper paramilitary group that will impede the migrant rescue operations even will assume the responsibility of deliver to the Libyan authorities, no better clarified, hundreds and hundreds of persons that are escaping from Libya.”

    • This is what all of the governments should be doing, returning the invaders to the nations they came from. If they are in danger there set up a sanctuary in that region for them to stay at.

    • Italy: Palermo mayor rips through ‘European fascists’ for anti-migrant sentiments

      Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando spoke out against “European fascists” for using “Sicily as a meeting point for disgusting racism,” speaking from Palermo’s Town Hall, Thursday.

  12. Germany: Gabriel issues ‘security warning’ for German nationals travelling to Turkey
    German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that “German citizens are not safe from being arbitrarily detained in Turkey,” while commenting on the recent arrest of human rights activist Peter Steudtner of Amnesty International by Turkish authorities, at a press conference in Berlin, Monday.

    • 1) Where to they get the idea that they ahve a right to enter Europe? The only people how have a right to enter a nation are the ones born thre.

      • The commies at MSF and AI and all the Open Society NGOs that Hungary refuses to countenance.

        Hugely reinforced by their brethren who’ve already been accomodated in Europe.

    • AUSTRIA – ‘Italy should not transfer migrants’

      During meeting with Alfano in Vienna

      Bolzano, July 20 – Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz on Thursday said Italy should stop transferring illegal migrants from its islands to the mainland during a meeting with his Italian counterpart in Vienna.

      “We demand that the transfer of illegal migrants from Italian islands like Lampedusa to the mainland stop”, Kurz was quoted as saying by Austrian news agency APA after the meeting with Alfano.

      Kurz also said Austria indents to close its border at the Brenner Pass to secure its border if Italy lets migrants through.

      Kurz said the meeting with Alfano was “correct” although they did not share “the same position”.

      “If Italy were to continue its timely transfers on the mainland, from which migrants proceed northwards, not only will Central Europe be overwhelmed, but drownings will continue”, Kurz said, noting that rescue operations in the Mediterranean “should not be a ticket for Central Europe”.

      Earlier this month, the Italian foreign ministry summoned the Austrian ambassador to Rome after Vienna said it was ready to deploy up to 750 troops at the Brenner Pass “very soon” unless the flow of migrants from Italy diminishes.

      http://www.ansa.it/english/news/politics/2017/07/20/italy-should-not-transfer-migrants_e4f69c98-0988-4125-993c-96580c5ad971.html

      Österreich fordert: Lampedusa als Lager-Insel

      Der österreichische Aussenminister Sebastian Kurz fordert auf einem heutigen Treffen mit dem italienischen Aussenminister Angelino Alfano, dass Italien den Flüchtlingen keine Ausreisegenehmigungen ausstellt – 200.000 Visa waren angekündigt – , und dass die italienische Regierung Lampedusa zu einer Lager-Insel macht.
      Alle geretteten Boat-people sollten dort interniert werden, ein Transfer auf die italienische Halbinsel solle verhindert werden. Es ist ein Vorschlag zu extremer staatlicher Gewalt, gegenüber den Boat-people wie auch gegenüber den italienischen Lampedusa-BewohnerInnen. Innenpolitisch ist ein solcher Plan in Italien nicht umsetzbar. – Zudem kündigt Aussenminister Kurz die Schliessung des Brenner-Grenzübergangs an, falls es zu erhöhten Ausreisen von Flüchtlingen aus Italien kommt. Auch dieses Szenario inmitten des beginnenden Sommerurlaub-Transits am Brenner weist auf eine mögliche Eskalation in den kommenden Wochen hin.Die EU stellt sich zunehmend als handlungsunfähig gegenüber den eigenständigen Bewegungen der Boat-people dar. Die Gesamtzahl der aufzunehmenden Boat-people wäre für die EU-Staaten eine relativ kleine Aufgabe, lösbar mit dem Angebot einer sicheren Passage. Aber aufgrund der Abschottungs-Politik der EU werden erratische staatliche Eskalationen möglich.

      http://ffm-online.org/2017/07/20/oesterreich-fordert-lampedusa-als-lager-insel/

    • Madness in the Med: how charity rescue boats exacerbate the refugee crisis

      They claim to be saving lives, but they are colluding in a people-trafficking operation

      Following the EU’s deal with Turkey over people smuggling, the issue of migrants trying to cross, and quite often drowning in, the Mediterranean has largely disappeared from the British media. There have been no more images like that of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, washed up on a Turkish beach after the rubber dinghy in which his family were trying to reach the Greek island of Kos capsized in August 2015.

      Now, people smugglers and migrants know there is little point in trying to make the crossing from Turkey to Greece because they will only be sent back, in return for the EU taking refugees directly from camps in Turkey. The deal has successfully curtailed the activities of criminal gangs operating in the eastern Mediterranean: in the first six months of this year arrivals in Greece had fallen by 93 per cent compared with a year earlier.

      But the problem hasn’t gone away; it has shifted westwards to Italy, where things just go from bad to worse. Last year a record 181,000 migrants arrived there by sea, nearly all from Libya, and this year there are sure to be many more: over 90,000 have so far been ferried across the Mediterranean from near the Libyan coast to Sicily, 300 miles away, according to the latest figures from IOM, the UN migration agency. Earlier this week IOM reported that 2,359 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean already this year, on top of 5,083 deaths last year and 2,777 in 2015.

      The EU, which has mismanaged the migrant problem from the start, only sealing the Turkey deal after years of inaction, has washed its hands of the latest explosion of migrant trafficking. It has ignored the Italian government’s increasingly desperate appeals for help.

      Italy used to have a pressure valve. Most migrants used the country as a staging post to more prosperous countries in northern Europe. But with France and Austria reneging on the Schengen agreement by reintroducing border checks, they are stuck in Italy, a country with an unemployment rate of 12 per cent and an economy forecast to take another decade just to get back to the size it was in 2007. Worse, the migrant problem is concentrated in the south of Italy, where the economy is weakest and taxpayers most scarce. Many migrants are living in hostels, each at an annual cost of €13,000 to those Italians who do pay tax. Others disappear into the black economy, sleeping rough or living in illegally let and overcrowded flats.

      Thanks in part to guilt about their fascist past, Italians are eager not to be racist, yet they are sick of what they see as an illegal migrant invasion and of the complicit role of four unelected Italian prime ministers since the resignation of the last elected one, Silvio Berlusconi, in 2011. According to a recent opinion poll published in the Rome daily Il Messaggero, 67 per cent of Italians want Italy to close its ports to rescue vessels or deport all migrants ferried to Italy, and 61 per cent want a naval blockade of the Libyan coast.

      The left lost heavily in Italy’s local elections in June as a result of brewing anger at the migrant crisis. Giusi Nicolini, the mayor of Lampedusa who had won a peace prize from Unesco and been praised by the Pope, finished a humiliating third in her bid for re-election, defeated by a rival from her own Democratic party. She blamed her defeat on local opposition to a crackdown on illegal building, playing down the bigger issue of migrant arrivals.

      But Lampedusa, just seven miles long and two miles wide, is 180 miles north of the Libyan coast and has been in the frontline of people trafficking, for which Nicolini showed rather too much tolerance. Italian attitudes are hardening, thanks to obvious and growing evidence that very few of the arriving migrants can honestly be called refugees — unless you widen that definition to include anyone who lives in Africa, on the basis that its standards of living and respect for human rights are universally lower than in western Europe.

      The debate about migrant crossings tends to be held in the context of people fleeing from wars in Syria and Libya. Yet according to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical arm, of the 46,995 migrant arrivals in Italy in the first four months of this year, only 635 were Syrians and 170 were Libyans. By contrast, 10,000 came from Nigeria, 4,135 from Bangladesh, 3,865 from the Gambia, 3,625 from Pakistan and 3,460 from Senegal. None of these countries can be said to be consumed by civil war, and even if some individuals had reason to claim asylum, international law dictates that they should claim it in the first ‘safe’ country they reach — which in every case would be before crossing the sea to Italy.

      What is causing growing Italian anger is the role of charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the transport of migrants across the Mediterranean. The image the charities like to present is that of desperate people putting to sea in any vessel they can lay their hands on because whatever risks they run cannot exceed the dangers of staying in their homelands. Save the Children, for example, declares in heartrending prose on its website, between photos of young children wrapped in foil blankets, that ‘children are fleeing bullets, poverty, persecution and the growing impact of climate change, only to drown in European waters’.

      The reality could not be more different. The vast majority of migrants from Libya are young men paying the equivalent of €1,000 each to people smugglers in what they see as a calculated risk to reach a better life in Europe. The business model of the smugglers does not include transporting their customers all the way to Italy, but rather to take them 12 nautical miles to the boundary of Libya’s territorial waters, so they can then be ‘rescued’ and ferried the rest of the way to Europe. The people smugglers are quite open about what they are doing: what can only be described as a Libya-based migrant travel agency has set up a Facebook page offering ‘tickets’ to ‘passengers’ with ‘discounts for group bookings’ on ‘ferries’ — i.e., smuggler boats — complete with phone number. The journey, it says, lasts only ‘three or four hours’ before rescue by an NGO, Italian or EU vessel, which will complete the ferry service to Italy.

      Between October 2013 and October 2014 the second leg of the journey was provided by the Italian navy and coastguard in a search-and-rescue operation called Mare Nostrum, which brought 190,000 migrants to Italy. But those vessels operated 150 miles north of the Libyan coast near Lampedusa, which itself is 170 miles south of Sicily. This meant migrants had to undertake much of the journey under their own steam. Mare Nostrum encouraged them to take greater risks and thus added to the death toll. The operation was replaced in 2014 when the EU agreed that Europe, not just Italy, should shoulder the search-and-rescue burden. So Operation Triton was launched. Under this, search-and-rescue vessels from across the EU operate up to a line 120 miles north of Libya. However, all charity vessels (now responsible for about a third of rescues) operate right up to the Libyan coast. Among them are the Vos Hestia, a 59-metre former offshore tug operated by Save the Children, the 68-metre MV Aquarius, jointly operated by SOS Mediterranée and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the 40-metre Phoenix, owned by MOAS, a charity founded by an American businessman and his Italian wife.

      The operators of these vessels are legally obliged to assist those ‘in distress’ at sea if they are in a position to do so. What they are not allowed to do is to operate deliberate and unauthorised search-and-rescue missions within territorial waters, nor to pick people off a boat which is not ‘in distress’ on the pretext of ‘rescuing’ them. Moreover, if they do save people in distress, they are obliged under maritime law to take them to the nearest safe port, which is seldom in Italy.

      But these boats are entering Libyan territorial waters. I asked an independent Dutch research institute, Gefira, for evidence. It used marine traffic websites (freely available to the public) which track ships in real time via satellite. It discovered that a dozen NGO vessels entered Libya’s waters, often many times. The Vos Hestia, for example, did so on the 5, 16, 22 and 23 May; the Aquarius on the 2, 5, 16 and 23 May and as recently as 9 July. The Phoenix was tracked there three times, most recently on 10 July.

      The NGOs are now under investigation by Sicilian magistrates for possible collusion with people smugglers. Carmelo Zuccaro, the magistrate in charge, told the Turin daily La Stampa in April: ‘We have evidence that there are direct contacts between certain NGOs and people traffickers in Libya.’ He says phone calls have been made from Libya to certain NGOs, lamps have been lit to illuminate the route to these organisations’ boats, and some of these boats have suddenly turned off their locating transponders.

      At the time, Save the Children said: ‘The Vos Hestia, which operates in international waters and in coordination with the [Italian] coastguard, has never entered Libyan waters.’ It has since changed its tune. George Graham, Save the Children’s Director of Humanitarian Policy, said: ‘Save the Children operates in international waters, moving closer to territorial waters only if instructed by the Italian coastguard. On a highly exceptional basis, and if deemed necessary to save lives, Save the Children may enter Libyan waters operating under the coordination of the Italian coastguard. We are not a ferry service. We do not communicate with traffickers or people smugglers.’

      Marco Bertotto, head of advocacy for MSF Italy, admits: ‘There were three occasions in 2016 when MSF — in critical and urgent cases and with the explicit authorisation of the relevant Libyan and Italian authorities — assisted in rescues 11.5 nautical miles from the coast. Also in 2017, we have entered on a few occasions in Libyan waters, and with the explicit authorisation of relevant authorities.’ A MOAS spokesman said Phoenix entered Libyan waters only when authorised by the Italian coastguard in Rome. Despite repeated calls and emails, the coastguard declined to explain why it issued such authorisations.

      These charities, and others operating ships in the Mediterranean, of course
      claim to be saving lives. But what they are really doing is colluding — either intentionally or not — in a people-trafficking operation. If charities and NGOs stopped providing a pick-up service a few miles off Libya, and if Italy started returning
      migrants to the North African countries whence they came, the smugglers’ boats would not put to sea.

      Those who are dying are the victims of a well–intentioned but thoroughly misguided operation which will come to be seen as great moral stain on Europe.

      https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/07/migrants-and-madness-in-the-med/

  14. How did Taliban fighters get their hands on US special-operations gear? (yahoo, Jul 18, 2017)
    https://www.yahoo.com/news/did-taliban-fighters-hands-us-220900134.html

    “Taliban fighters are packing new American-made heat — at least, according to their propaganda videos.

    A recently released 70-minute video of Afghanistan Taliban training exercises produced by the insurgent organization’s media arm appears to show militants wielding firearms and equipment usually carried by U.S. special operations forces, Military Times reports.

    The video appears to show a Taliban fighter with a FN SCAR (Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle) 7.62mm rifle decked out with a AN/PEQ 5 visible laser and an older Surefire flashlight model typically found in Special Operations Peculiar Modification Kits, per Military Times. Other fighters are recorded carrying M4 and M16 assault rifles.

    This isn’t the first time the FN SCAR has been observed in the hands of Taliban forces. Footage released by the Taliban in 2015 appears to show militants operating a captured Humvee and FN SCAR-H heavy rifle variants during a May assault on an Afghan National Army base in Afghanistan’s Kunduz province The group subsequently released photos of militants wielding the firearms, allegedly captured from ANA personnel.

    That Taliban forces are rocking U.S.-made guns and equipment should come as no surprise. A non-declassified 2016 Department of Defense auditrevealed that poor record-keeping and regulations had allowed nearly half of the 1.5 million firearms provided to Iraqi and Afghan security forces since 2002 to go missing, including nearly 978,000 M4 and M16s. An earlier 2014 report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstructionfound that some 43% of weapons provided to the Afghan National Security Forces likely ended up in the hands of ISIS or the Taliban. (The FN SCAR is not explicitly listed in the report)…”

  15. Cameroon ‘torturing people accused of supporting Boko Haram’ (yahoo, Jul 20, 2017)
    https://www.yahoo.com/news/cameroon-apos-torturing-people-accused-000105049.html

    “Cameroon’s security forces have been accused in an Amnesty International report of torturing hundreds of people in secret chambers.

    Dozens of testimonies, as well as satellite imagery, photographs and videos add up to a pattern of terrible violence against people accused of supporting the Islamist group Boko Haram, which Amnesty says amounts to war crimes.

    Photographs showed American military personnel visiting one notorious site, raising the possibility that they were there while torture was being carried out. Videos also showed them playing football in night-vision goggles just metres from where prisoners were being held in horrific conditions.

    Men and women described being beaten with electrical cables, chains, batons, planks of wood studded with nails, being permanently chained up, hit on the soles of their feet with machetes and, in the case of one Muslim, being forced to eat pork.

    More than 100 cases of detention and torture were documented at more than 20 sites, including military bases and a school. Victims included children and people with disabilities, and witnesses described 24 different torture techniques. These include the “goat”, whereby a person’s hands and feet are tied together behind the back, and the “swing’, whereby the victim is tied by their limbs to a wooden structure before being beaten.

    Many of the victims were tortured in the headquarters of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) in Salak, in the country’s north…”

  16. Trump: The US is ready to leave one of its most important military bases if the Gulf crisis worsens (yahoo, Jul 20, 2017)
    https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/55c505bd-f391-3a01-9dce-a6d531999615/ss_trump%3A-the-us-is-ready-to.html

    “The sudden move by a coalition of Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia, in early June to cut ties with and blockade Qatar perplexed US military officials and policymakers. The Saudi-led coalition has made a series of demands of Doha for dropping the blockade, to which Qatar has shown no sign of assenting. The spike in tension concerns US officials because of the massive Al Udeid military base in Qatar, where some 11,000 US personnel are stationed and from which US Central Command has run much of the war against ISIS in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. According to President Donald Trump, who has publicly backed the Saudi-led effort and criticized Qatar, relocating from Al Udeid would be no significant obstacle…”

  17. Moroccan criminal wins £40,000 in damages for being locked up before deportation (express, Jul 20, 2017)
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/830974/Foreign-criminal-UK-deportation-crime-damages

    “A FOREIGN criminal has won damages of £40,000 for being locked up before deportation.

    Moroccan Khalid Belfken, 27, has been subject to deportation since February 2008 but called for a review.

    He has committed burglary, theft, criminal damage, assaulted a police officer and possessed an offensive weapon and cannabis.

    But the Moroccan embassy has repeatedly refused to establish his nationality…”

  18. Germany cautions citizens on Turkey after activist jailed (abcnews, Jul 20, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-slams-german-statements-arrested-rights-activist-48740389

    “Germany on Thursday told all citizens traveling to Turkey to exercise caution following the jailing of a human rights activist, which the foreign minister said shows that “every German citizen in Turkey” could suffer the same fate.

    Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel also cast doubt on the future of government export guarantees for German companies’ investments in Turkey in light of the threat of “arbitrary expropriations for political reasons.” The government offers such guarantees to insure exports to many countries.

    He added that Berlin will talk with its European Union partners about the future of pre-accession financial aid for Ankara, which is in slow-moving talks to join the bloc.

    The German government will consider those questions and “further measures” over the coming weeks, Gabriel said…”

  19. Woman and 3 children die in suspected arson attack in Sweden (abcnews, Jul 20, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/woman-children-die-suspected-arson-attack-sweden-48745270

    “Swedish police say they have arrested a man on suspicion of killing a 35-year-old woman and three young children by torching their apartment in the southwestern city of Goteborg.

    Police spokesman Thomas Fuxborg said before the fatal fire the victims apparently suffered some violent crime as they bore “injuries on their bodies not related” to the fire.

    He said they found a dead child and woman on arrival at the apartment. One child died on the way to the hospital in the ambulance, the other in hospital. The children were aged 2 to 8.

    Officers were alerted to the scene on Thursday morning after neighbors saw smoke billowing from the apartment.

    Police gave no further information about the victims or the suspected perpetrator.”

  20. Germany indicts 5 suspects in IS recruitment ring (abcnews, Jul 20, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/germany-indicts-suspects-recruitment-ring-48745405

    “Prosecutors have filed terrorism charges against a suspected representative of the Islamic State group in Germany and four fellow suspects who are accused of running a recruitment network.

    Federal prosecutors said Thursday that the suspected ringleader — a 33-year-old Iraqi citizen identified as Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah A., who goes by the alias Abu Walaa — was indicted on charges of membership in a terrorist organization, terror financing and public incitement to commit crimes.

    He and the other four are suspected of recruiting young Muslims in Germany, and raising funds to send them to Syria and Iraq to join IS. Abu Walaa was the imam at a radical mosque in the northern city of Hildesheim, and also organized “Islam seminars” at mosques elsewhere in Germany.

    The suspects were arrested in November.”

  21. Czech minister: EU military role in Libya to reduce migrants (abcnews, Jul 20, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/czech-minister-eu-military-role-libya-reduce-migrants-48745671

    “The Czech Republic’s foreign minister has suggested that the European Union consider a military engagement in Libya to reduce the flow of migrants arriving by boat from there to Europe.

    Lubomir Zaoralek says that “we must speak very openly what the real instruments are to stabilize Libya.” He told the Austrian Press Agency while in Vienna on Thursday that Europe needs to find a way “to consolidate the country” instead of just waiting for it to happen.

    The 2011 overthrow and killing of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi spawned chaos and created a power and security vacuum that turned Libya into a breeding ground for militias and militants. It has also made Libya a gateway for masses of migrants from Africa and elsewhere seeking to cross the Mediterranean to Italy.”

  22. Saudi prince arrested after videos appear to show abuse (abcnews, Jul 20, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/saudi-king-orders-arrest-prince-video-showing-abuse-48741832

    “A Saudi prince has been arrested after a video emerged online purporting to show him abusing someone and pointing a rifle at another.

    King Salman ordered the arrest and interrogation of the prince on Wednesday, a day after short video clips were published on YouTube and shared on Twitter showing what appears to be a rifle pointed toward a man who is bleeding from the head and pleading.

    One clip, viewed more than 760,000 times, also shows 18 bottles of Johnnie Walker Red Label whisky displayed on a table and a wad of cash. The sale and consumption of alcohol in Saudi Arabia is forbidden.

    Another video clip shows a man sitting in a car, bleeding and being cursed at for parking in front of a house. Another clip shows what appears to be the prince punching and slapping a man who is sitting on a chair.

    The clips went viral in Saudi Arabia under an Arabic Twitter hashtag that said “prince transgresses on citizens.”

    Saudi Arabia’s state TV reported Wednesday that the king ordered a full investigation into the incidents and the arrest of Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed bin Saud bin Abdulaziz, as well as any associates that appeared in the clips. He ordered that no individual involved in the case be released until a court has issued a ruling in line with the country’s Islamic Shariah laws…”

  23. Some 250 residents join US-trained security force for Raqqa (abcnews, Jul 20, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/250-residents-join-us-trained-security-force-raqqa-48742419

    “Some 250 residents of Syria’s Raqqa province Thursday became the latest batch to graduate from a brief U.S. training course, part of an internal security force to hold and secure areas as they are captured from Islamic State group militants.

    The graduation ceremony in the desert town of Ain Issa, north of Raqqa, was attended by a few American trainers who oversee the force and its preparation. Members will man checkpoints, identify IS sleeper cells and detect explosives.

    The U.S. has partnered with a Kurdish-dominated coalition fighting force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight against IS in Syria, but the issue of who would hold and administer predominantly Sunni Arab areas freed from the militants is an uneasy one.

    U.S. officials say once Raqqa is liberated, the SDF will hand over local governance to the Raqqa Civilian Council, a local group of primarily Arab locals who will govern and administer essential service.

    Col. Joseph Scrocca, a spokesman with the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition, told AP in an email last month that security will be provided by the Raqqa Internal Security Forces, a vetted multiethnic force expected to reach approximately 3,500 members…”

  24. Turkey’s PM says Greek Cypriot gas search ‘dangerous’ (abcnews, Jul 20, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkeys-pm-greek-cypriot-gas-search-dangerous-48740999

    “Turkey’s prime minister says a Greek Cypriot search for oil and gas off Cyprus is “dangerous” and is throwing efforts to reunify the ethnically divided island into deadlock.

    Binali Yildirim says Turkey sees the east Mediterranean’s potential hydrocarbons wealth as an opportunity for regional cooperation.

    But he called the search by the island’s Greek Cypriot dominated government as “one-sided” and “badly timed.”

    A consortium composed of France’s Total and Italy’s Eni is now conducting exploratory drilling 104 miles (167 kilometers) off Cyprus’ southern coast.

    Turkey, which doesn’t recognize Cyprus as a state, insists drilling flouts Turkish and Turkish Cypriot rights to Cyprus’ mineral riches.

    Yildirim was speaking Thursday in Cyprus’ breakaway Turkish Cypriot north during celebrations for a 1974 Turkish invasion that followed a coup aiming at union with Greece.”

  25. Kuwait shuts Iran cultural mission, expels some diplomats (abcnews, Jul 20, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/kuwait-shuts-iran-cultural-mission-expels-diplomats-48741692

    “Kuwait said on Thursday it is shutting the Iranian cultural mission and calling for a reduction in the number of Iranian diplomats stationed in the country, deepening a rift between the Gulf Arab states and Tehran.

    The official Kuwait News Agency announced the move in a brief statement, linking the decision to the case of a terror cell broken up in 2015 that authorities allege had contacts with Iran and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

    The Iranian ambassador to Kuwait has been notified of the decision, the news agency, known as KUNA, reported.

    Embassy staff did not immediately respond to requests for comment…”

  28. NYT – When Syria Came to Fresno: Refugees Test Limits of Outstretched Hand

    […]“Muslim refugees were unaware that slaughtering sheep is not allowed in the city,” the police wrote afterward in their report,

    […]those involved “were advised to clean up the blood and mess”

    […]Fresno has no federally funded agency to help them find work, learn basics like bus routes

    […]his staff communicated with students with the aid of Google Translate.

    […]more than a dozen Syrian families with up to nine members apiece are crammed into two-bedroom units

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/20/us/fresno-syrian-refugees.html

  30. Machete-Swinging MTA Worker Arrested After Brawling With Man Holding Trash Can on Broadway: Police
    A witness captured video of the early morning fight on Broadway

    http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-Machete-Fight-Broadway-Upper-West-Side-MTA-Worker-Arrested-435506533.html

    An MTA security guard was arrested after he swung a machete and threatened a man with a gun as he fought with him on an Upper West Side, authorities say.

    It’s unclear what sparked the early morning mêlée at the intersection of Broadway and West 94th Street shortly before 7 a.m., but the confrontation spilled onto the sidewalk, where the MTA security guard — identified by the NYPD as Luis Roman — battled with the other man, who was defending himself with a trash can, police said.

    Source: Machete-Swinging MTA Worker Arrested After Brawling With Man Holding Trash Can on Broadway: Police | NBC New York http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-Machete-Fight-Broadway-Upper-West-Side-MTA-Worker-Arrested-435506533.html#ixzz4nOJC32s9
    Follow us: @nbcnewyork on Twitter | NBCNewYork on Facebook

  31. Venezuela’s Maduro, foes head into crucial showdown
    By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN and JORGE RUEDA, Associated Press THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES

    CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his opponents face a crucial showdown Thursday as the country’s opposition calls the first national strike since 2002 stoppage that failed to topple Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chavez.

    Fifteen years later, Chavez’s socialist party controls vast swathes of the Venezuelan economy, making it harder to bring the country to a halt. Easing the opposition’s task is the fact that much of the economy is already faltering, hamstrung by a plunge in oil prices and years of corruption and mismanagement.

    The 24-hour strike is meant to begin at 6 a.m. as an expression of national disapproval of Maduro’s plan to convene a constitutional assembly that would reshape the Venezuelan system to consolidate the ruling party’s power over the few institutions that remain outside its control. The opposition is boycotting a July 30 election to select members of the assembly.

    The country’s largest business group, Fedecamaras, has cautiously avoided full endorsement of the strike but its members have told employees that they won’t be punished for coming to work. Fedecamaras played a central role in the months-long 2002-2003 strike that Chavez’s political rivals and opponents in Venezuela’s private business sector orchestrated in an attempt to topple him.

    Chavez emerged from the strike and exerted control over the private sector with years of expropriations, strict regulations and imports bought with oil money and meant to replace local production. Business groups estimate that 150,000 Venezuelan businesses have closed over the last 15 years.

    “This is a work stoppage by civil society. He who wants to work, work. Who wants to stop, stop,” said Francisco Martinez, the president of Fedecamaras.

    Government-run industries will remain open and Labor Minister Nestor Ovalles said the Maduro administration would punish private companies that close in sympathy with the strike.

    “We won’t allow, and we’ll be closely watching, any disruption that violates the working class’ right to work,” Ovalles said. “Businesses that join the strike will be punished.”

    The business group’s incoming president, economist Carlos Larrazabal, said the strike would be of limited duration to avoid worsening Venezuela’s already dire shortages of food and other basic products.

    http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2017-07-20-LT–Venezuela-Political%20Crisis/id-06a24f2833c94dd08c7d1e2239eac03d

  32. Bond Set at $5 Million for Suspect in Cemetery Attack

    Columbia, SC (WLTX) – Columbia police now say a man targeted a funeral for a Columbia woman because of resentment he had with South Carolina’s mental health agency.

    James Kester, 64, appeared in court Thursday morning, where a judge set bond for him at $5 million. When he complained that the bond was too “steep,” the judge asked if he wanted him to raise it, but the suspect quickly said no.

    Kester is facing a total of 12 counts of attempted murder related to the crime.

    Police say the victims, who were all part of the same family, were attending a graveside service Wednesday afternoon at Greenlawn Cemetery on Garners Ferry Road when they were struck by Kesler’s sedan.

    http://www.wltx.com/news/local/bond-set-at-5-million-for-suspect-in-cemetery-attack-/457893464

  33. Sen. McCain diagnosed with brain tumor after clot is removed
    THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES By DONNA CASSATA

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, Vietnam prisoner of war and political maverick in Congress for more than three decades, has been diagnosed with an aggressive type of brain tumor.

    The 80-year-old Arizona lawmaker has glioblastoma, according to doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, where McCain had a blood clot removed from above his left eye last Friday. He and his family are considering further treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation.

    “Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot,” his office said in a statement late Wednesday.

    According to the American Brain Tumor Association, more than 12,000 people a year are diagnosed with glioblastoma, the same type of tumor that struck McCain’s close Democratic colleague in legislative battles, the late Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. The American Cancer Society puts the five-year survival rate for patients over 55 at about 4 percent.

    The senator and chairman of the Armed Services Committee had been recovering at his Arizona home. His absence forced Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to delay action on health care legislation.

    South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said he spoke to McCain Wednesday evening and that McCain said: “Yeah, I’m going to have to stay here a little bit longer, take some treatments. I’ll be back.”

    In a statement on Twitter, his daughter, Meghan McCain, spoke of the shock of the news and the anxiety over what happens next. “My love for my father is boundless and like any daughter I cannot and do not wish to be in a world without him. I have faith that those days remain far away,” she said.

    As word spread of his diagnosis, presidents past and present along with McCain’s current and former Senate colleagues offered support in an outpouring rarely seen in Washington.

    “Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon,” President Donald Trump said.

    Barack Obama, who dashed McCain’s dreams of the presidency, said in a tweet: “John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I’ve ever known. Cancer doesn’t know what it’s up against. Give it hell, John.”

    http://hosted2.ap.org/APDefault/*/Article_2017-07-20-US–McCain-Brain%20Tumor/id-844b2d967a9f4289b6748fb95956633b

  34. After Mosul, Islamic State digs in for guerrilla warfare

    MOSUL (Reuters) – Islamic State militants began reinventing themselves months before U.S.-backed Iraqi forces ended their three-year reign of terror in Mosul, putting aside the dream of a modern-day caliphate and preparing the ground for a different fight.

    Intelligence and local officials said that, a few months ago, they noticed a growing stream of commanders and fighters flowing out of the city to the Hamrin mountains in northeast Iraq which offer hideouts and access to four Iraqi provinces.

    Some were intercepted but many evaded security forces and began setting up bases for their new operations.

    What comes next may be a more complex and daunting challenge for Iraqi security forces once they finish celebrating a hard-won victory in Mosul, the militants’ biggest stronghold.

    Intelligence and security officials are bracing for the kind of devastating insurgency al Qaeda waged following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, pushing Iraq into a sectarian civil war which peaked in 2006-2007.

    http://www.oann.com/after-mosul-islamic-state-digs-in-for-guerrilla-warfare/

  35. CANADA – Government revokes group’s charity status, audit cites possible funding of Pakistani militants

    Federal regulators have revoked the charity status of a Canadian Islamic organization after an audit uncovered problems including tax receipts that were issued for donations to a Pakistani group linked to armed militancy.

    ISNA Islamic Services of Canada was stripped of its charitable status for “non-compliance,” according to records obtained by Global News. Authorities also revoked a related charity, the Canadian Islamic Trust Foundation.

    Both are former affiliates of the Islamic Society of North America-Canada (ISNA-Canada), and shared its Mississauga, Ont. address. Politicians of all stripes have attended ISNA-Canada events, notably Justin Trudeau in 2013 and, in April, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

    The Canada Revenue Agency took action four years after the ISNA Development Foundation lost its charity status over fundraising for a Pakistani relief group linked to militancy in the disputed Kashmir region.

    Among the findings that led to the latest two revocations was that ISNA Islamic Services tax receipts had been issued for collections by a Toronto mosque for the “charitable arm” of a Pakistani group whose armed wing was fighting Indian forces.

    The money, raised by the Toronto-based Jami Mosque, was passed to the ISNA Development Foundation “for remit” to the Relief Organization of Kashmiri Muslims (ROKM), the CRA Charities Directorate alleged in the newly-released records.

    “Our research indicates that ROKM is the charitable arm of Jamaat-e-Islami, a political organization that actively contests the legitimacy of India’s governance over the state of Jammu and Kashmir, including reportedly through the activities of its armed wing Hizbul Mujahideen,” the CRA wrote.

    Outlining the audit findings in a letter to ISNA Islamic Services, federal officials said Hizbul Mujahideen had been listed as a terrorist organization by the Council of the European Union and the government of India.

    “Given the identified commonalities in directorship between ROKM and Jamaat-e-Islami and the Hizbul Mujahideen executive committee, concerns exist that the funds collected and disbursed as part of this relief fund may have been used to support the political efforts of Jamaat-e-Islami and/or its armed wing Hizbul Mujahideen.”

    The leader of Hizbul Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin, was placed on the U.S. State Department’s list of designated terrorists on June 26. He had threatened to train suicide bombers and turn Kashmir “into a graveyard for Indian forces,” the listing said.

    Csepregi said the CRA regularly exercises its authority to notify CSIS, the RCMP, and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada when there are concerns that an organization is providing support to terrorism. However, he declined to comment on specifics for confidentiality reasons.

    On its website, ISNA-Canada describes its mission as “building an Islamic way of life in North America.” It performs marriages and funerals, aids Syrian refugees and held a seminar on radicalization. It remains a registered charity with reported revenues of more than $3-million in 2015.

    Audits of ISNA-Canada and its former affiliates began in 2011, said Syed Imtiaz Ahmad, the ISNA-Canada president and chair of ISNA Islamic Services. He said the audits were ordered after irregularities were brought to the CRA’s attention. Four charities were audited because the CRA suspected they were “in a sense indistinguishable,” he said.

    The audits covered the years 2007 to 2009. But it wasn’t until June 2014 that the CRA informed the charities they risked losing their registration. ISNA Islamic Trust was also told it could face a $425,000 penalty.

    It’s unclear why the CRA waited three more years before following through with the revocations of ISNA Islamic Services and the Canadian Islamic Trust, which came into effect on May 13. But in letters dated March 30, the CRA said that after reviewing the charities’ written responses to the audits, the government’s concerns had “not been alleviated.”

    According to the records, ISNA Islamic Services had failed to keep proper donation records and had funded two separate organizations, the Islamic Centre of Toronto, known as the Jami mosque, and the Islamic Book Service, without exercising control over either group.

    It had also issued $340,000 worth of receipts for money collected by the Jami mosque. The arrangement allowed donors to the mosque, a non-charity, to obtain charitable contribution receipts — which would allow them to deduct the amounts for tax purposes. Some of the money was allegedly raised by the mosque for the Pakistani group the CRA said raised terrorism concerns.

    • Ahmad agreed the receipting had not been done properly. He blamed “ignorance plus recklessness” but said he did not doubt the money was meant for genuine relief efforts. He said changes had been made so that the Jami mosque would now operate under ISNA-Canada.

      “Our Jami mosque problem is solved,” he said.

      As for the Canadian Islamic Trust Foundation, the CRA records said the organization had “allowed itself to be governed” in the interests of several for-profit Islamic housing co-operatives, including the former ISNA Housing Co-operative.

      According to the CRA, the Islamic Trust invested in the cooperatives despite cautions in disclosures to potential investors that there was no certainty they would be profitable or be able to pay dividends on shares.

      The Islamic Trust was also found to have given $20,515 to three unqualified donees: the ISNA Human Development Institute (a federally incorporated entity that was dissolved in July 2016) and Islamic centres in Brandon and Yellowknife.

      Amhad said mistakes had been made in the past due to a combination of “sheer ignorance” and “possible malfeasance on the part of some employees.” The problems were also partly the result of the government’s narrowing definition of charitable activity, he said.

      But since returning as president two years ago, he said he had been working to ensure the organizations all complied with Canadian law. “ISNA has come a long way,” he said. “That situation has been corrected and we are now operating in full compliance.”

      “We are on the right footing now.”

      Ahmad said the charity revocations were not discussed at an April 6 meeting with Goodale. “The subject was public safety. It was a totally different subject,” he said.

      Goodale met with ISNA-Canada leaders “to listen to their perspectives on current issues,” said his press secretary Scott Bardsley, who said the minister was invited by local Liberal MP Sven Spengemann.

      The meeting occurred a week after the two charities were notified of the decision to revoke their registration, but more than a month before the revocations came into effect.

      “The government believes it is important to listen to concerns from all communities to build the safe and inclusive country that we all want Canada to be. We do not seek meetings with discredited organizations, nor give their views weight,” Bardsley said.
      Mark Blumberg, an expert in non-profit and charity law, questioned why the CRA was not allowed the inform the public about concerns about particular charities until their status had already been revoked.

      The system means Canadians are unaware of potential misuse of their charitable donations, he said. The British Charity Commission of England and Wales regularly distributes information to the public when it has significant concerns, rather than waiting until status has been revoked.

      “It doesn’t mean the charity is doing anything wrong; it means [the Commission] is aware of it, they’re investigating it and then they can publish a report which says whether there is nothing wrong or minor issues were discovered or significant issues were discovered,” said Blumberg, a partner at Blumberg Segal LLP.

      “I think we’re not doing the public any favors by maintaining the secrecy: you have well-meaning donors who don’t know there is a problem and they are donating to organizations that may be involved with improper activities.”

      http://globalnews.ca/news/3606224/government-revokes-groups-charity-status-audit-cites-pakistani-militants/

  36. Democrat’s amendment to spending bill makes illegals eligible for federal jobs
    By Jeff Dunetz July 19, 2017

    It should go without saying that people who are in the U.S. illegally should not be eligible for jobs in the federal government. But apparently it needs to be said — at least to liberals in Congress.

    An amendment added by Rep. Pete Aguilar ?
    14%
    (D-Calif.) to the Appropriations Committee’s Fiscal Year 2018 Financial Services Bill qualifies “dreamers” for federal employment. Specifically, the amendment adds language allowing individuals authorized to be employed under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program [Obama’s Dreamer executive order]. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

    As the committee is composed of 30 Republicans and only 22 Democrats, at least five Republicans had to vote for the amendment for it to be passed. But because it was approved via a voice vote, we will never know which Republicans those were.

    It used to be that government jobs weren’t great because they paid less than private sector jobs. But that’s all changed. Government salaries are now similar to comparable private sector jobs, and they have great benefits and job security. A government employee effectively has to kill someone to get fired (even then they will probably get off with a warning).

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/07/19/democrats-amendment-spending-bill-makes-illegals-eligible-federal-jobs/

  37. Sec. of State Clinton’s opposition to Russia sanctions coincided with husband’s $500K Moscow speech
    By LU Staff July 19, 2017

    Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opposed a Russian human rights sanctions bill weeks before her husband gave a $500,000 speech to a Moscow-based financial firm, according to campaign emails published by Wikileaks.

    Clinton was joined in her opposition to the sanctions bill, known as the Magnitsky Act, by Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who offered Donald Trump, Jr. information related to Russian support for Clinton’s campaign. The Magnitsky Act was passed in 2012 and imposes sanctions on Russian human rights abusers.

    The Trump administration has attempted to divert attention away from Trump, Jr.’s June 2016 meeting with Veselnitskaya by citing the proximity of Clinton’s opposition to the Magnitsky Act to her husband’s profitable Moscow speech.

    Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a mid-July press briefing:

    http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/07/19/sec-state-clintons-opposition-russia-sanctions-coincided-husbands-500k-moscow-speech/

  38. UK – Muslim bus driver carried out sex attack on woman while working on route 25 from Ilford

    A perverted bus driver from Forest Gate who used his position of trust to sexually assault a woman while he was working has been jailed.

    Mohammed Tamim Uddin, of Shrewsbury Road, also exposed himself and carried out a solo sex act in front of his French victim after trapping her in the route 25 bus he had driven from Ilford to Oxford Circus.

    Southwark Crown Court heard the 25-year-old had finished his route and was parked in a side street in the West End when he spotted his victim who was asking for directions.

    He persuaded her to come on the bus so he could help her before he subjected her to a four-minute ordeal.

    The screaming woman managed to flee when she used the emergency door release after the attack on April 30.

    Uddin continued with his shift and was arrested and charged on May 10 after his victim reported his actions to the police.

    Compelling CCTV evidence resulted in him being sacked by his bus company Tower Transit before his trial.

    Today he was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to one count of sexual assault on a female, one count of false imprisonment and one count of indecent exposure.

    His Honour Judge Heir described Uddin’s actions as “chilling and disgusting” and constituted a “huge breach of trust,” telling Uddin “you exploited your responsible position” and that he had “tricked” the victim.

    Siwan Hayward, TfL’s head of transport policing, said an investigation has been launched to determine how Uddin was able to carry out the attack.

    She said: “Uddin’s behaviour was sickening and I condemn his actions. Our passengers have the right to expect the highest standards of behaviour and customer care from transport staff across the capital. Uddin used his position of trust to prey on his victim.

    “I commend the woman for bravely coming forward to report this despicable crime to police, so it could be fully investigated and Uddin jailed for his actions.

    “We will be undertaking a comprehensive review to determine how this happened and learn lessons so that it does not happen again.”

    Uddin will also be subjected to notifications requirements under the Sexual Offences Act for 10 years.

    http://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news/crime-court/bus-driver-from-newham-carried-out-sex-attack-on-tourist-while-driving-route-25-bus-from-ilford-1-5111725

  39. MEMRI – Report on the Booming Gun Trade in Idlib, Syria: “There Are No Restrictions”
    A TV report focuses on a weapons store in Idlib, Syria, where anything from pistols to machine guns are sold. A 12-year-old boy behind the counter says that he left school to sell weapons, and the store owner recounts how they developed their trade after the “revolution and Jihad” began and talks about the booming trade in weapons “taken as booty from the Syrian army.” The report aired on the Lebanese Al-Jadid/New TV channel on June 25.

  40. The Latest: Austria to Italy: Stop migrants reaching Europe (abcnews, Jul 20, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-austria-italy-stop-migrants-reaching-europe-48751582

    “Austrian foreign minister says he has told his Italian counterpart that migrants arriving by boat to Italy’s islands should not be permitted to travel on to the mainland because that acts as a gateway for them to the rest of Europe.

    Sebastian Kurz says “being saved in the Mediterranean cannot be connected with a ticket to Central Europe.”

    He says he told Angelino Alfano that Austria expects an end to ferry traffic transporting migrants to the mainland. He says that if the practice continues, more migrants will make their way northward to other EU countries, “increasing overload for Central Europe” and encouraging others to follow suit.

    Kurz suggested Thursday that migrants be stopped at the EU’s outer boundaries and returned after receiving humanitarian and medical help…”

  41. A family has accused US airline JetBlue of kicking them off a flight because of their toddler’s behaviour.

    Parents Tamir Raanan and Mandy Ifrah from Brooklyn were travelling from Fort Lauderdale to New York JFK with their three children on 21 June when they were kicked off the flight.

    READ MORE
    Family kicked off JetBlue flight over a birthday cake
    ?Ifrah told the NY Post that her one-year-old kicked the seat in front of them leading to an altercation while the plane was preparing to take off.

    Ifrah claims the passenger in front told her to “hold your baby’s feet”, and that she apologised.

    The passenger then moved to another seat, but the pilot turned the plane back to the gate, where the family was asked to leave.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/jetblue-family-kicked-off-toddler-kicked-seat-mandy-ifrah-tamir-raanan-a7850146.html

    And if you keep reading, you see a bit different take on the incident:

    But JetBlue told a different story, saying that the parents made “physical threats and profanities” to the other passenger before the decision was made to kick them off.

    A spokesperson told the Post:

    “The aircraft door was reopened and our airports team politely asked the customers to step off to discuss the situation.

    “The customers refused repeated requests, and our crewmembers deplaned the entire aircraft. Law enforcement escorted [the family] out of the gate area, and we provided a refund.”

  43. UN slaps sanctions on 8 linked to Islamic State and al-Qaida (abcnews, Jul 20, 2017)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/slaps-sanctions-linked-islamic-state-al-qaida-48749118

    “The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to impose sanctions against eight individuals and businesses linked to the Islamic State extremist group and al-Qaida in a wide-ranging resolution aimed at stepping up international efforts “to counter terrorism and terrorist financing.”

    The eight additions to the U.N. sanctions blacklist include IS leaders in Southeast Asia, IS-affiliated extremist groups in Syria, foreign fighters from the Caucuses and an illicit money exchange business.

    U.S. deputy ambassador Michele Sison called the resolution adopted Thursday “another important step” to defeat Islamic State and al-Qaida extremists and their affiliates, stressing that “for the United States, there is no higher priority.”

    But even as the Islamic State group is losing ground in Syria and Iraq, she said, “the threat is far from over” and the extremist group “will continue looking to spread its ideology and radicalize new groups around the world.”

    The U.S.-drafted resolution urges greater international cooperation to cut off funding to extremist groups, prevent them from acquiring weapons, and step up cooperation to address the issues of fighters for IS and al-Qaida returning home.

    “There will be more designations to come,” Sison said.

    The resolution does not include nationalities of the individuals on the blacklist.

    The U.S. mission identified the two Southeast Asians as Muhammad Bahrum Naim Anggih Tamtomo and Omar Rochman, and the two from the Caucuses as Malik Ruslanovich Barkhanoev and Murad Iraklievich Margoshvili.

    The others on the list are Selselat al-Thabab, Jaysh Khalid Ibn al Waleed, Jund al Aqsa and the Hanifa Money Exchange Office branch located in Albu Kamal, Syria.

    The resolution extends the mandate of a New York-based monitoring team for an additional two years after its current mandate expires in December 2019…”

  46. ShareTweet
    There’s a mysterious hidden Muslim compound called Islamberg that’s nestled deep within the woods of the Catskill mountains in New York. The only way to access the 70-acre compound is through primitive dirt roads, where more than 100 Muslims live in seclusion away from the prying eyes of curious Americans. For over two decades, infidels have been prohibited from entering, as anyone attempting to enter will be “greeted” by armed Muslims patrolling a guard shack at the compound’s entry gate. Without access to the compound, there’s been no way to confirm rumors about the location being used as a training ground for Muslim terrorists. But after an alarming incident involving one of the Islamberg residents, police were finally able to obtain a warrant and raid the place. And what they discovered that these Muslims have been quietly plotting for years is nothing short of chilling.

    For over two decades, this cult-like group of Sharia Law-following Muslims have lived quietly under the guidance of Pakistani Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, a radical Muslim with known ties to Jamaat al-Fuqra, a terror organization responsible for a long list of terrorist activities around the world, including murders of rival religious figures in the United States. Locals in the area have often times reported the sounds of gunfire and explosions emanating from the compound, but because the Muslims weren’t necessarily breaking any laws, there was nothing that law enforcement could do except keep a close eye on the place from a distance.

    Pakistani Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani
    But with a recent arrest of Islamberg resident Ramadan Abdullah who was recently caught trying to steal several cases of ammunition from a local mountain store in the area, authorities finally had their chance to obtain a search warrant for the compound, and what they discovered was nothing short of chilling.

    http://freedomdaily.com/trump-sends-feds-raid-nys-islamberg-2-decades-uncover-americas-worst-nightmare/

  47. Tim Gill, gay megadonor, on going after Christians: ‘We’re going to punish the wicked

    The megadonor bankrolling the LGBT movement and its allies in the Democratic Party says he will continue to “punish the wicked” who hold traditional views about sexual morality.

    Despite the legalization of gay marriage in all 50 states, tech millionaire Tim Gill said he is not satisfied with the movement’s progress. He plans to use his immense wealth, corporate influence and political network to target red states with laws protecting religious people who disagree with the LGBT movement’s worldview.

    “We’re going into the hardest states in the country,” Mr. Gill said, according to an interview published by Rolling Stone June 23. “We’re going to punish the wicked.”

    Mr. Gill said his effort to block religious-freedom bills in Southern states has already paid off.

    Last year, the Gill Foundation rallied more than 100 corporations, including Coca-Cola, Google and Marriott, behind a front group called Georgia Prospers. Threatening to pull business out of the state, the coalition successfully lobbied Republican Gov. Nathan Deal into vetoing a Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

    http://www.gopusa.com/?p=27458?omhide=true

    • punish…Christians?
      What a strange formulation. No more “tolerance” and “inclusivity”?
      Straight-up: Right/Wrong, Yes/No. No postmodern gobbledygook.
      That’s full-strength commie.

  49. Pro-Crime Policies Raised LA Violent Crime Rate 20%
    July 20, 2017
    Daniel Greenfield

    Pro-crime policies work. They increase crime. Which is why pro-crime policies aren’t right. They’re always wrong.

    But even with Holder and Lynch out, and Sessions in, the pro-crime revolution may no longer have Federal backing, but it’s still deeply embedded in states. And it has a lot of left-wing and some libertarian money behind it. And the results of this political terror are horrifying.

    Here’s a brief and devastating look at California. And remember the end results next time someone pitches you some “sentencing reform” for “non-violent offenders”.

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/267337/pro-crime-policies-raised-la-violent-crime-rate-20-daniel-greenfield

  50. Merkel’s Rejection of Migrant Limits Leads to German Crisis
    July 20, 2017
    Daniel Greenfield

    Angela Merkel, the last chancellor of Germany, has something in common with Hawaii’s Judge Derrick Watson. Both refuse to set any kind of limits on migrants.

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel refused to place an upper limit on refugees that the country accepts, speaking in an annual interview broadcast on Sunday.

    “As far as an upper limit is concerned, my position is clear: I will not accept it,” she said, saying that numbers could be reduced by regulation and taking action to prevent the situations that cause people to flee one country for another.

    That position places her in conflict with CSU leader Horst Seehofer who threatened not to enter into coalition without an annual upper limit for refugee numbers.

    The majority of the “refugees” are economic migrants. And there are plenty of poll numbers that show huge percentages of entire countries in the region would be eager to move to Europe or America if given the chance. Does Merkel have a plan to raise their GDPs until they have the same level of prosperity as Germany? If she has such a plan, she might want to start out deploying it in Greece or Poland.