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Hollywood Stars to Partake in Turkish Film ‘Islamophobia’ (aawsat, Oct 16, 2017)
https://english.aawsat.com/saeed-abdelrazek/lifestyle-culture/hollywood-stars-partake-turkish-film-islamophobia
“In the city of Antalya, southern Turkey, shooting the film “Islamophobia” has kicked off with the participation of many actors, including stars from Hollywood.
The film aims to shed light on the tolerant reality of Islam and to counter Islamophobia that has spread in the West. The filmmaker and cinematographer, Omer Sarikaya, oversees the filming in the historical and tourist sites of Antalya, with the participation of artists and stars from 48 countries.
The final part of the movie will be filmed in the Netherlands, after finishing the scenes in Turkey. American actor Adam Dormi will play the role of “Omar”, the hero of the film while Armenian actress Hripsime Sargsyan plays the role of “Nina”.
Hollywood stars including Robert De Niro, Alec Baldwin, Jackie Chan and Mel Gibson are also taking part as honorary guests in the film, which highlights the values ??of peace and security advocated by Islam.
Turkish filmmaker Omer Sarikaya told the Anadolu news agency that the film crew has come a long way in terms of the project, which focuses on “Peace and Forgiveness,” noting that 85 percent of the film will be shot in Antalya and the rest in the Netherlands.
He added: “In this movie, we are keen to define the tolerance and mercy of Islam for the whole world, and we will prove that terrorism is not linked to Islam,” noting that all the film’s revenues will be allocated to relief work and humanitarian aid around the world…”
Russia massively funding Taliban to fight NATO forces: Report (khaama, Oct 16, 2017)
http://www.khaama.com/russia-massively-funding-taliban-to-fight-nato-forces-report-03656
“The Russian intelligence agencies have stepped up aid to the Taliban insurgents to fight the NATO-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, it has been reported.
Certain Taliban sources have told a British newspaper, The Times, that the group mainly receives the funding in a covert way, involving large quantities of fuel deals.
The sources have further added that the monthly funding of the Taliban by the Russian intelligence amounts to nearly 2.5 million US Dollars.
A Taliban leader in southeastern Ghazni province has told the paper “We sell the fuel on and distribute the money directly to our commanders.”
The Taliban leader further added “Accepting money from the Russians is not something we like doing. but it is necessary at this stage of our jihad.”
According to the Taliban leader whose identity has not been disclosed, the intelligence services of Russia are sending fleets of fuel tankers into Afghanistan through the Hairatan border crossing with Uzbekistan to companies operating on behalf of the Taliban.
This is not the first time reports have emerged regarding the alleged support of Russia to Taliban group but numerous such reports have emerged in the past as well.
The commander of the Resolute Support mission and the US forces for Afghanistan Gen. John Nicholson earlier this year also confirmed the role of the foreign in the Afghan affairs, including Pakistan, Russia and Iran.”
They have killed the Istanbul I loved: Orhan Pamuk (hurriyetdailynews, Oct 16, 2017)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/they-killed-the-istanbul-i-loved-orhan-pamuk-120944
Turkey’s Nobel laureate author Orhan Pamuk has said he “cannot live in Istanbul politically anymore” and voiced his frustration with changes in the city over the past 15 years, speaking in an interview with the book supplement of Italian newspaper La Stampa.
“I don’t love this current state of Istanbul, where my memories have been destroyed,” said Pamuk.
“Today it is a richer but less free city. The architecture and the economy have changed. The old houses I love have been destroyed,” he added, in the article headlined: “They have killed the Istanbul I loved.”…
Commenting on the often referenced claim that Istanbul is a “border between two worlds” or a “bridge between the West and the East,” Pamuk said he “does not want to be a bridge.”
“I strongly believe that Turkey’s future is in the West. I grew up with this belief. I received a secular, bourgeois education. Today there is little freedom of thought in Istanbul and it makes me mad and saddened,” he added…”
EU to Investigate High Rate of Visa Approvals in Morocco (moroccoworldnews, Oct 16, 2017)
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2017/10/231175/eu-investigate-high-rate-visa-approvals-morocco/
“The European Union will conduct an investigation into how Schengen visas were issued over the past twelve months in the Maghreb countries, including Morocco.
European officials are suspicious of the high numbers of successful visa applications in some consulates, reported Al Massae this weekend. The EU has identified many people who might have played a bridging role between visa applicants and consulates’ employees.
Among documents that are effectively targeted by controls are visa applicants’ bank statements. Durations of stays provided by consulates will also be under the EU spotlight.
The investigation will concern several employees of the consulates and embassies of European countries in the Maghreb. Some of these employees are of European nationalities.
Earlier this year, Moroccan authorities arrested members of a gang specialized in forging documents in Agadir after a complaint filed in court by the French Consulate in Agadir, reported Moroccan newspaper Al Ahdath Al Maghribia.
France’s consulate in Agadir decided to file a complaint after noticing that people who were provided visas to enter France had never returned to Morocco.
After conducting an investigation, the consulate discovered that some applicants who were rejected then successfully made second attempts using forged documents…”
Turkish spies reportedly betraying defectors in German immigration offices (DW, Oct 16, 2017)
http://www.dw.com/en/turkish-spies-reportedly-betraying-defectors-in-german-immigration-offices/a-40974950
“Officials working in Germany’s immigration authorities pass on information about Turkish asylum seekers to the Ankara government, according to press reports. Turkish spies may have infiltrated German authorities.
Turkish asylum seekers have accused interpreters, interviewers, and security personnel at Germany’s federal immigration authority (BAMF) of passing on their personal data to media outlets friendly to the Turkish government.
A joint investigation by Der Spiegel magazine and public broadcaster ARD found several cases where those fleeing political persecution in Turkey had been named and in some cases defamed as terrorists in the Turkish media shortly after a hearing at BAMF or an appointment with the office.
In many cases, their locations were also revealed in newspapers and TV reports – information that those affected said could only have come from inside BAMF, since even their families did not know where they were living…”
Iraqi forces seize Kirkuk governor’s office, lower Kurdish flag (france24, Oct 17, 2017)
http://www.france24.com/en/20171016-iraq-forces-seize-kirkuk-governor-office-lower-kurdish-flag
Up to 100,000 Kurds Could Have Left Kirkuk Before Iraqi Army Took City (sputniknews, Oct 17, 2017)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201710171058296093-kurds-left-kirkuk-iraqi-army/
“According to witness reports up to 95 percent of Kirkuk residents of Kurdish nationality could have left the city before the Iraqi army entered it on Monday…”
US Senate Anon reveals Paddock was a CIA arms dealer and the head of Las Vegas FBI is trying to cover it up
https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/76wf6p/us_senate_anon_reveals_paddock_was_a_cia_arms/
P.S. this particular Anon has a history of high accuracy, but that does not mean anything more than that.
An oldie, but a goodie:
North Korea Warns That Nuclear War Could ‘Break Out Any Moment’
North Korea warned that a nuclear war “may break out any moment” as the U.S. and South Korea began one of the largest joint naval drills off both the east and west coasts of the peninsula.
Kim In Ryong, North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said on Monday that his nation had become a “full-fledged nuclear power which possesses the delivery means of various ranges” and warned that “the entire U.S. mainland is within our firing range.” He also called North Korea “a responsible nuclear state.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-17/north-korea-warns-that-nuclear-war-could-break-out-any-moment
video at site: the talking head is making more sense then all of the propaganda media
FBI uncovered Russian bribery plot before Obama administration approved controversial nuclear deal with Moscow
Before the Obama administration approved a controversial deal in 2010 giving Moscow control of a large swath of American uranium, the FBI had gathered substantial evidence that Russian nuclear industry officials were engaged in bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering designed to grow Vladimir Putin’s atomic energy business inside the United States, according to government documents and interviews.
Federal agents used a confidential U.S. witness working inside the Russian nuclear industry to gather extensive financial records, make secret recordings and intercept emails as early as 2009 that showed Moscow had compromised an American uranium trucking firm with bribes and kickbacks in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, FBI and court documents show.
They also obtained an eyewitness account — backed by documents — indicating Russian nuclear officials had routed millions of dollars to the U.S. designed to benefit former President Bill Clinton’s charitable foundation during the time Secretary of State Hillary Clinton served on a government body that provided a favorable decision to Moscow, sources told The Hill.
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/355749-fbi-uncovered-russian-bribery-plot-before-obama-administration
California wildfires, and the dog that wouldn’t leave his flock of goats
By J.E. Dyer October 17, 2017
Ben Franklin is supposed to have said that “beer is proof God loves us, and wants us to be happy.”
I would have substituted “chocolate” there, but moving on. In a similar spirit, we might say that “dogs are proof God loves us, and wants us to have a nobility to aspire to that we can hardly put into words.”
Out of the ashes of the dreadful wildfires in California comes a tale of such nobility. The fires have claimed the lives of at least 41 people, and hundreds are still missing as firefighters struggle to maintain what hard-won control they have. The stories of people fleeing from the fast-moving fires are heartbreaking. Many have had only moments to rush out their doors, leaving everything behind to be burned to cinders.
Roland Tembo Hendel and his family, fleeing the Tubbs Fire near Santa Rosa, had a little more time than that. They have land in Sonoma County, on which they keep a flock of rescue goats, and, along with their children and other pets, two Great Pyrenees dogs who herd and guard the goats.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2017/10/17/california-wildfires-dog-wouldnt-leave-flock-goats/
Austria: Fakefugee (“rough diamond”/”piece of gold”) catches attention
A few years ago they reported about Turkish telephone mafia who rips of German pensioners.
http://www.spiegel.de/video/bei-anruf-betrug-das-netz-der-callcenter-mafia-video-1622418.html
Now they report about “ping calls” from Tunisia.
http://live.morgenpost.de/welt/article212140343/Nicht-zurueckrufen-Was-hinter-ominoesen-Ping-Calls-steckt.html
in Czech :
Asylum seeker accused of raping a woman in front of her boyfriend during camping trip in Germany ‘is a danger to society and likely to strike again’, psychiatrist tells trial (dailymail, Oct 17, 2017)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4988256/Germany-asylum-seeker-rape-accused-psychiatrist-verdict.html
“A Ghanaian asylum seeker accused of raping a German woman while forcing her boyfriend to watch has been branded a danger to society by a psychiatric expert.
The man – only identified as Eric X – is accused of raping a 23-year-old woman after spotting the couple camping in a nature reserve near Bonn, west Germany in April.
Speaking during the trial in a Bonn district court, the psychiatrist who interviewed Eric X, 32, said he completely lacks empathy and is highly likely to re-offend…”
11 rights activists to go on trial in Turkey on Oct. 25 (abcnews, Oct 17, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/11-rights-activists-trial-turkey-oct-25-50527348
“Turkey’s state-run agency says 11 human rights activists — including two local heads of Amnesty International — who were charged with links to terror groups will go on trial on Oct. 25.
Anadolu Agency said a court on Tuesday approved the charges of “membership in a terror organization” and “aiding an armed terror group” against the activists.
Ten activists including Amnesty’s Turkey director Idil Eser, German national Peter Steudtner and Swede Ali Gharavi were arrested during a workshop on digital security at a hotel near Istanbul in July.
They are accused of aiding Kurdish and left-wing militants as well as the movement led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed for last year’s coup attempt.
Amnesty’s Turkey chairman Taner Kilic, imprisoned in June, will be tried alongside the ten.”
Syrian commander says Raqqa has been captured from militants (abcnews, Oct 17, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/syrian-city-raqqa-loses-hospital-holdout-50526457
“U.S.-backed Syrian forces liberated the city of Raqqa on Tuesday from Islamic State militants, a senior commander said, in a major defeat for the collapsing extremist group that had proclaimed it to be the capital of its “caliphate.”
Although clashes in Raqqa have ended, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are in control, combing the city in northern Syria for land mines and searching for any IS sleeper cells, Brig. Gen. Talal Sillo told The Associated Press.
Sillo said a formal declaration that Raqqa has fallen would be made soon, once troops finish their clearing operations in the city on the banks of the Euphrates River.
Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said it has not yet received official reports that the city was cleared, describing mines and booby traps throughout Raqqa that have killed returning civilians and senior SDF commanders in recent days. One of those killed Monday was the head of the internal security force affiliated with the SDF.
Another challenge for the troops is searching the tunnels that were dug by the militants around the city, Dillon said.
“This will take some time, to say that the city is completely clear,” he told AP. “We still suspect that there are still (IS) fighters that are within the city in small pockets.”
The loss of Raqqa will deprive the militants of a major hub for recruitment and planning, Dillon said, because the city attracted hundreds of foreign fighters and was a place where attacks in the Middle East and Europe were planned. He added that the militants remain active in Syria, farther south around the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.
“This has been the wellspring of (IS) as we know it,” he said. But he stressed that the military defeat of the militants “doesn’t mean the end of (IS) and their ideology.”
Dozens of militants who refused to surrender made their last stand earlier Tuesday in Raqqa’s sports stadium, which the group had turned into a notorious prison in the more than three years it held the city.
The SDF forces earlier captured Raqqa’s main hospital, the other last remaining IS holdout that had served both as a medical facility and an IS command center. The SDF fighters have not gone through it to clear it, Dillon said.
Dillon said the coalition has not carried out any airstrikes in the past three days to allow civilians to leave. The SDF has also called on IS fighters to surrender, and about 350 have turned themselves in, he said, adding that none were high-value targets.
In recent months, the Islamic State has steadily lost territory in Iraq and Syria, including Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul.
After the group seized Raqqa from other Syrian rebels in early 2014, it transformed the one vibrant metropolis into the epicenter of its brutal rule where opponents were beheaded and terror plots hatched.
IS militants had been cornered in and around the stadium, and it was not immediately clear after Sillo’s statement whether any were still inside it.
“The stadium is a huge structure with underground rooms and tunnels. There are also buildings around it” still under the control of IS, said SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali.
A senior Kurdish commander said later that the stadium has been checked and cleared of land mines. SDF forces raised their own flag in the stadium, he added.
Earlier, he said 22 IS militants were killed in the advance on the hospital.
On Monday, the SDF captured “Paradise Square,” Raqqa’s infamous public square that was used by the militants to perform beheadings and other killings in front of residents who were summoned by loudspeakers and forced to watch. Bodies and severed heads would be displayed there for days, mounted on posts and labeled with their crimes, according to residents, who later dubbed it “Hell Square.”
With the capture of the hospital, the last black IS flag was taken down, according to the Kurdish-run Hawar news agency. A video released by the news agency showed the clashes around the hospital, which appeared riddled with bullets and partly blackened from a fire.
A senior Kurdish commander said there was no sign of civilians in the stadium or around it, but he added that his troops were being cautious because of possible land mines. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.
The battle for Raqqa began in June and has dragged for weeks as the SDF fighters faced stiff resistance from the militants. The city suffered devastating damage, with most of its buildings leveled or in ruins. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 1,000 civilians were killed in the campaign.”
Syria: IS make final stand in Raqqa showdown
Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) made a final push to rid Raqqa of members of the self-proclaimed Islamic State on Tuesday.
SOT, Fighter (Arabic): “We are now in Raqqa city, we are now heading to Tal Abyad city. Raqqa is liberated from ISIS mercenaries, some foreign members of them remained, Raqqa is going to be entirely liberated within a few hours.”
SOT, Fighter, (Arabic): “We are now in Saderyya, we are getting there in order to comb it then we will get out of it, and each of us are going to his place, nothing hopefully is left, it will be done, ISIS members surrendered themselves. We let a lot of civilians get out, even civilians are not inside. Now only foreign ISIS are inside, and nearly we are done with them, we can say hopefully they are over.”
Syria: Raqqa could be liberated within ‘a week or less’ – SDF
Head of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) media centre Mustafa Bali determined that the besieged city of Raqqa could be liberated within ‘a week or less’, speaking in Hawi Al-Hawa, Monday.
SOT, Mustafa Bali, Head of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) media centre (Arabic): “[I am] Mustafa Bali, head of media centre of the Syrian Democratic Forces. As far as what is going on in Raqqa now, there was an initiative in the past week by the sheikhs and key figures the Arab clans in Raqqa to evacuate the civilians who were taken as human shields inside the city. Our forces have ethical commitments, and that was the most of the obstructions which hindered us in the fourth stage of these operations, and thus, (the forces) dealt with the initiative in a positive way. More than 4000 civilians were evacuated outside of Raqqa to be taken to safe places, amongst those who were evacuated there was a status of surrender of 275 ISIS mercenaries of exclusively Syrian nationality. The international terrorists -so to speak- or the so-called Muhajereen remained in the city. Our information indicates that there are about 300 to 400 ISIS members inside Raqqa, our forces are in a battle with them since yesterday until now within the frame of battles. The last battle is the battle of martyr Adnan Abu Amjad. We could liberate Andalus, Nahda, and Bareed neighbourhoods. Now; we are surrounding them in the national hospital and the Black Stadium area. We think that within a period of a week or less we shall announce the liberation of Raqqa to the public.”
Syria: War-torn Raqqa decimated by IS battle
21 opposition members on trial over Morocco protests (abcnews, Oct 17, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/21-opposition-members-trial-morocco-protests-50529461
“Demonstrators are calling for the release of 21 detained leaders of a Moroccan protest movement that has become the biggest challenge to the North African kingdom since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
The trial resumed Tuesday for the activists in a Casablanca court, and was adjourned until Oct. 24.
A small group of demonstrators gathered outside, calling for the activists’ release jailed for their roles in the Hirak protest movement in the northern Rif region.
Defense lawyer Mohamed Ziane said, “the trial is creating tension … in the country which we sincerely don’t need.”
The movement started when a fish vendor was crushed to death last year in the neglected northern city of Al Hoceima. Since then, demonstrations have spread, and the government has promised development projects for the region.”
Files show new details of US support for Indonesia bloodbath (abcnews, Oct 17, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/files-show-details-us-support-indonesia-bloodbath-50529889
“Declassified files have revealed new details of U.S. government knowledge and support of an Indonesian army extermination campaign that killed several hundred thousand civilians during anti-communist hysteria in the mid-1960s.
The thousands of files from the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta covering 1963-66 were made public Tuesday after a declassification review that began under the Obama administration. The Associated Press reviewed key documents in the collection in advance of their release.
The files fill out the picture of a devastating reign of terror by the Indonesian army and Muslim groups that has been sketched by historians and in a U.S. State Department volume that was declassified in 2001 despite a last-minute CIA effort to block its distribution…”
Afghan officials: Taliban wave of attacks kills at least 74 (abcnews, Oct 17, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/afghan-officials-taliban-attacks-kill-10-policemen-50525614
“The Taliban unleashed a wave of attacks across Afghanistan on Tuesday, targeting police compounds and government facilities with suicide bombers in the country’s south, east and west, and killing at least 74 people, officials said.
Among those killed in one of the attacks was a provincial police chief. Scores were also wounded, both policemen and civilians.
According to Afghanistan’s deputy interior minister, Murad Ali Murad, the day’s onslaught was the “biggest terrorist attack this year.”
Murad told a press conference in Kabul that in Tuesday’s attacks in Ghazni and Paktia provinces, the insurgents killed 71 people.
In southern Paktia province, 41 people — 21 policemen and 20 civilians — were killed when the Taliban targeted a police compound in the provincial capital of Gardez with two suicide car bombs. Among the wounded were 48 policemen and 110 civilians.
The provincial police chief, Toryalai Abdyani, was killed in the Paktia attack, Murad confirmed.
The Ministry of Interior said in a statement earlier on Tuesday that after the two cars blew up in Gardez, five attackers with suicide belts tried to storm the compound but that Afghan security forces “killed all five terrorist.”
According to the Health Ministry spokesman, Waheed Majroo, the Gardez city hospital reported receiving at least 130 wounded in the attack…”
Afghanistan: At least 41 dead after Taliban attacks police training centre in Gardez
At least 41 people were killed in an attack on a police training centre in Gardez, Tuesday. Reportedly, 21 of the dead were police officers. Scores of people were wounded in the incident.
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the assault, which was carried out by suicide bombers and gunmen.
The provincial police chief was said to have been killed in the attack
Two Explosions Rock Gardez City in Paktia Province
Afghanistan: 71 killed in attacks on security forces
Turkey’s leader: Does EU want us in the bloc, or not? (abcnews, Oct 17, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-leader-poland-talks-security-policies-50528849
“Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged European Union leaders on Tuesday to simply say whether they want to accept Turkey as a member or not…”
We do not want you, Erdogan. Just go away. Leave! Now!
Iraq: After losing Kirkuk, Kurdish forces pull out of Sinjar (abcnews, Oct 17, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iraq-losing-kirkuk-kurdish-forces-pull-sinjar-50526318
“Kurdish forces pulled out of disputed areas across northern and eastern Iraq on Tuesday, a day after handing the northern city of Kirkuk over to federal forces amid a tense standoff following last month’s vote for independence.
The Kurdish forces, known as peshmerga, withdrew from Sinjar as well as three towns on the border with Iran, allowing Iraqi government forces and state-sanctioned militias to assume control.
The vastly outnumbered Kurdish forces appear to have bowed to demands from the central government that they hand over the so-called disputed territories outside the Kurds’ autonomous region, including areas seized from the Islamic State group in recent years.
Iraqi forces were massed in the north after driving IS from Hawija, one of its last strongholds in the country. The U.S. is closely allied with both the Iraqi military and Kurdish forces, and had urged them to avoid further escalation.
The Kurds had included the disputed areas in a non-binding referendum last month in which more than 90 percent of voters favored independence. The Iraqi government, as well as Turkey and Iran, which border the land-locked Kurdish region, rejected the vote…”
12 Turkish police officers wounded in bombing (abcnews, Oct 17, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/bomb-targeting-turkish-police-bus-wounds-50533153
“A bomb exploded as a bus carrying police was passing by in a southern Turkish city on Tuesday, wounding a dozen officers, officials said.
The blast occurred on a main road in the Mediterranean coastal city of Mersin, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Mersin chief prosecutor told Anadolu that at least 12 officers were wounded in the attack. Three prosecutors were assigned to investigate, he told Anadolu.
Several police officers, ambulances and firefighters were sent to the scene, the agency reported earlier.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a three-decade long insurgency in southeast Turkey, has targeted police in similar attacks in the past. The group is designated as a terror organization by Turkey and its allies.
Left-wing militants and members of the Islamic State group have also carried out deadly attacks in the country.”
The Latest: Medics say 25 Kurds killed in Kirkuk fighting (abcnews, Oct 17, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-civilians-stream-back-kirkuk-iraq-50526592
“A hospital in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Suleimaniyah says it received the bodies of 25 Kurdish fighters killed in clashes a day earlier over the disputed city of Kirkuk.
Dr. Omeid Hama Ali, the director of Suleimaniyah Hospital’s emergency department, said the hospital treated 44 other wounded fighters. He spoke to the Associated Press by phone Tuesday.
Iraqi troops forced their way into Kirkuk on Monday and seized several major oil and gas installations nearby. Kurdish forces withdrew amid scattered clashes.
It was not clear where the Kurdish fighters were killed, or if the Iraqi forces sustained any losses.
Since then, Kurdish forces have been withdrawing from disputed territories across northern and eastern Iraq, including areas they acquired in the tumult of the war on the Islamic State group…”
‘Hate Crime’ Prosecutions Fall Despite Record Number of Reports (breitbart, Oct 17, 2017)
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/10/17/hate-crime-prosecutions-fall-despite-record-number-of-reports/
“Between 2016 and 2017 there was the largest ever rise in reported “hate crimes”, yet the number of prosecutions actually fell.
There was 80,393 reported “hate crimes” in 2016-17, compared with 62,518 in 2015-16. Reports can be made online in just a few minutes.
However, in 2016-17, the number of people prosecuted for “hate crimes” in England and Wales was 14,480, compared to 15,442 in the previous year – a 6.2 per cent fall.
The massive rise in reports but fall in prosecutions, recorded in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Hate Crime Annual Report, could suggest some of the additional reports are less credible, meaning they do not make it to court…”
EU Journo Guidelines: Do Not Interview ‘Extremists’ or Mention Ethnicity When Reporting Migrant Crime (breitbart, Oct 17, 2017)
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/10/17/eu-funded-guideline-tells-journos-not-talk-extremists-migration-issues/
“The European Union funded project “Respect Words” has released guidelines for journalists telling them not to talk to “extremists” about illegal mass migration, not to mention the ethnicity of migrant criminals if possible, and to actively counter “hate propaganda”.
The 39-page style guide was designed by the “Respect Words” project who say on their website that their motto is “Ethical Journalism against Hate Speech.” It contains several sections with recommendations on how journalists should cover certain topics from migration and migrants to Islam and Islamisation making sure to reinforce “politically correct” terminology.
While the guide claims in the glossary of terms section that “hate speech” has no “universally accepted definition”, the guide tells journalists and writers not to reproduce “hate speech” and when they feel they have to write about such speech for the sake of news they should “mediate it by contextualising and challenging such speech”.
While many of the sections regarding Muslims, migrants, and others call for more representation from members of those groups, the guide says that “extremists” should be totally ignored. “Be alert to political and social actors who spread hate to promote their interests,” it reads.
When reporting crimes, the guide also states that ethnic or religious background should generally not be mentioned unless the story requires it.
Regarding the migrant crisis, which erupted in 2015, the guide complains that not enough journalists are putting out feel-good stories regarding migrants’ “positive contributions to society”.
The authors also note that journalists report too much on the subject of migrant crime, despite statistics from Austria showing migrant sex attacks increasing by 133 per cent, and various reports from different areas in Germany showing a drastic increase in migrant crime rates.
In Berlin alone, authorities estimated that up to 50 per cent of suspects of reported crimes in the city were committed by individuals who did not hold a German passport.
The guide also objects to the term “illegal immigrant” saying that journalists should use a term like “the process of entering a country without authorization”.
On Muslims and Islam, the guide states that journalists are not covering the “diversity” within the Muslim community and call on them to challenge the notion that radical Islamic terrorists are acting in the name of their religion.”
Swedish TV Celebrates Launch of Arabic ‘How-To’ Sex Book For Newly Arrived Migrants (breitbart, Oct 17, 2017)
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/10/17/swedish-tv-celebrates-launch-new-sex-book-newly-arrived-migrants/
“A Swedish journalist is launching a new series of sex education books, which he says are aiming to answer key questions posed by newly arrived migrants about how to meet people, how to flirt, and how to have sex.
Aiming to reach as many people as possible, the explicitly illustrated book Me and You will be published in three editions. As well as Swedish, there will also be an Arabic language version “especially for those who are new to Sweden”.
The books follow a previous title by the author, the Simple Sex Book for children (pictured above)…”
DAILY MAIL – Why we had kids in captivity’: Ex-Taliban hostage says he and his wife decided to start a family ‘to make the best of it’ and thought it was a joke when their captors told them Trump was President
Joshua Boyle and his wife Caitlan Coleman were held captive by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network for five years
During that time, they had three children – the oldest are four- and two-years old and the youngest is six months
Last week, they and their three children were released and the family moved back to Boyle’s native Canada
In an interview with the Associated Press, Boyle said he and his wife decided to have kids in captivity because they always wanted to have a large family
‘Honestly we’ve always planned to have a family of 5, 10, 12 children … We’re Irish, haha,’ he wrote
In another interview with the Toronto Star, Boyle said he thought it was a joke when his captors told him that Trump had been elected president
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4985458/Ex-hostage-tells-AP-kids-captivity.html
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CBC – Freed hostage Joshua Boyle on why he went to Afghanistan and what his kidnappers wanted
Canadian tells CBC News captors thought they would get ransom quickly, asked who he was working for
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/freed-hostage-joshua-boyle-afghanistan-interview-1.4357341
Quebec lawmakers pursue ‘burqa ban’ for 3rd time in 10yrs (RT, Oct 17, 2017)
https://www.rt.com/news/406970-quebec-burqa-ban-vote/
“The provincial government of Quebec, Canada is due to debate a proposed law which would require people to remove any facial coverings while working in the public sector or dealing with government workers.
“As long as the service is being rendered, the face should be uncovered,” Quebec Justice Minister Stéphanie Vallée said Monday, as cited by CBC. “This is a bill about le vivre ensemble [living together in harmony], it’s a bill about guidelines and clearly establishes neutrality of the state.”
Bill 62, which ostensibly covers religious neutrality, could be voted upon as early as Tuesday reports CBC…”
French MEPs shower fully-dressed to draw attention to sanitary plight of Calais migrants (PHOTOS) (RT, Oct 17, 2017)
https://www.rt.com/news/407002-calais-greens-migrants-shower/
“Representatives of France’s leading environmentalist party have photographed themselves showering in their clothes to put pressure on the government to provide more bathing facilities and toilets for unregistered migrants on the country’s northern coast.
“Rather than showers in the European Parliament, I would like to see them in Calais,” said the placards held by MEPs from the Europe Ecology – The Greens party, which has no seats in the national assembly, but is represented in Brussels.
They have also urged supporters to join the campaign by posting pictures of themselves in their own showers on social media.
“We chose this time a humorous mode to raise public awareness and alert the authorities,” the party’s most prominent MEP, Yannick Jadot, told Le Parisien. “It’s a reaction of exasperation to the inhuman living conditions imposed on migrants. France, despite President Macron’s speech about our humanity, is not up to it, it is constantly pointed out.”…”
You just cannot have it both ways. You cannot have “multiculturalism” and the imposing of your personal values on others at the same time.
Assange offers €20K reward for finding killers of Malta’s ‘one-woman WikiLeaks’ (RT, Oct 17, 2017)
https://www.rt.com/news/406963-assange-reward-caruana-galizia-death/
“WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will pay €20,000 to anyone providing information leading to the conviction of the killers of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who died in a car bomb.
The investigative journalist died after the car she was travelling in exploded near her home in Bidnija, northern Malta, at around 3pm on Monday. Maltese police have opened a murder inquiry…”
US Coalition Destroys 2 Daesh Positions Near Deir ez-Zor Amid Syrian Army’s Op (sputniknews, Oct 17, 2017)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201710171058317066-deir-ez-zor-daesh-position/
“The US-led coalition strikes Daesh positions near Deir ez-Zor, where the Syrian army is currently conducting an operation to completely liberate the province from terrorists.
“Near Dayr Az Zawr [Deir ez-Zor], one strike engaged an ISIS [Daesh] tactical unit and destroyed two fighting positions,” Operation Inherent Resolve’s said in a statement on Tuesday.
The coalition also conducted two strikes against Daesh targets in Iraq. They managed to hit two Daesh tactical units: one near Rawa and the second one on a factory producing vehicle-borne improvised explosive devises near Qaim…”
Russian Foreign Ministry Warns of Possible Surge of Violence in Kirkuk, Iraq (sputniknews, Oct 17, 2017)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201710171058315590-russia-ministry-surge-violence-kirkuk/
“The Russian Foreign Ministry has commented on the development of the situation in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, where government forces have driven out Kurdish Peshmerga fighters…”
UK: Britain First leaders appear in court over religiously motivated harassment charges
Britain First leader Paul Golding and Deputy Leader Jayda Fransen appeared at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court in Kent on Tuesday, after being charged with religiously aggravated harassment. The pair have been released on bail until their trial, the date of which will be released shortly.
Off to Bangladesh: Thousands of Rodingya Muslims flee Myanmar
Bengalis don’t want them either!
ISI instigating Rohingya militants to create unrest, claims Bangladesh security analyst
Bangladeshi security analyst Major General (Retd.) Abdur Rashid has claimed that the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI has created the Rohingya issue because of their jealousy towards the developing countries including Bangladesh and India.
Claiming that militant organisation ARSA is conducting militant activities in the Arakan with the help of ISI, the former military official told India Today that ISI created the Rohingya issue by using the Arakan militants to hinder the development activities of the opponent countries.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/isi-rohingya-bangladesh-security-analyst-abdur-rashid/1/1069364.html
Hollande slams Trump’s ‘double fault’ over Iran nuclear deal
Well, he would. France under Hollande signed major business deals with Iran and the present US position on Iran may prevent the realization of some of them. Business first, no matter what.
https://www.voanews.com/a/iran-president-hails-turn-in-french-iranian-relations/3166571.html
McCain Blasts ‘Half-Baked, Spurious Nationalism’
ISIS in World Cup 2018 threat: Terror cult warns it will launch attacks at Russia event (express, Oct 17, 2017)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/867645/ISIS-threat-to-bomb-FIFA-World-Cup-Russia-2018-terror-attack-Vladimir-Putin
“THE Islamic State has released a chilling new propaganda video threatening to attack the 2018 FIFA World cup in Russia…”
FBI to release new tarmac meeting documents
Kerry On Edge As Legacy Crumbles
His fatally flawed deal with Iran is about to unravel.
October 17, 2017
Joseph Klein
Former Secretary of State John Kerry wasted no time condemning President Trump’s decision not to recertify, and to possibly withdraw from, the disastrous nuclear deal with Iran that Kerry negotiated on behalf of his boss Barack Obama. President Trump insisted on significant improvements to the Joint Plan of Comprehensive Action (JCPOA), as the deal is formally known. The JCPOA’s fundamental flaws that President Trump wants fixed include Iran’s ability to block unfettered international inspections, the wiggle room that Iran is exploiting to continue developing and testing ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, and the sunset clause on nuclear enrichment that would provide Iran a clear path to becoming a nuclear armed state after the current restrictions are lifted. Obama and Kerry had promised that these issues would be dealt with satisfactorily before agreeing to the final terms of the JCPOA. Instead they caved to Iranian pressure in order to get the deal done.
Now that President Trump is trying to clean up the mess Obama and Kerry left him, Kerry has the gall to label President Trump’s decision a “reckless abandonment of facts in favor of ego and ideology” and to accuse the Trump administration of “lying to the American people.” It was the Obama administration that recklessly abandoned the facts in pressing ahead with the deal. The Obama administration lied to the American people, abandoning its own promises to ensure that the deal contained ironclad protections. Moreover, all that President Trump has done so far is to return the JCPOA to Congress for review. Had Obama followed the Constitution and submitted the JCPOA to the Senate as a treaty in the first place, the JCPOA in its present form almost certainly would not have been approved. Congress should now have the opportunity to revisit the JCPOA to determine whether the protections that the Obama administration promised are working as advertised. Congress should also consider whether time limits on Iran’s commitments continue to make sense in light of what we are now experiencing with Iran’s nuclear technology collaborator, North Korea. It bought time to turn into a full-fledged nuclear power under our noses.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268144/kerry-edge-legacy-crumbles-joseph-klein
“Melanie Phillips on Sky News Australia”
Melanie Phillips – October 14, 2017
Iran Plays Chess, We Play Checkers
And the Kurds pay the price for our mistakes.
October 17, 2017
Kenneth R. Timmerman
The Iranian-backed attack in Iraqi Kurdistan is nothing short of disastrous for the United States, for U.S. interests and U.S. allies in the region, and for American prestige.
It’s a hockey-style power play by Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander Qassem Suleymani, and a direct challenge to President Trump, coming just hours after the President announced a new get tough policy on Iran.
A U.S. ally in Baghdad is attacking another U.S. ally in Kurdistan using U.S. weapons, including M1-A2 Abrams tanks, paid for with U.S. taxpayer dollars. And they are doing so under the watchful eyes of U.S. and coalition drones and fighter jets, which continue to control the skies over Iraq.
How in the world did we get here?
Even Democrats should be ready to admit by now that the American withdrawal from the Middle East under Obama and the Iran nuclear deal have emboldened the Iranian regime, while removing much of the hard-won leverage over Iran that sanctions had won for us.
Today, if we want to get tough on Iran, we can no longer call on our European allies to shut down Iran’s access to the international financial system. We can no longer impose gargantuan fines on a French or a German bank to punish them for violating those sanctions and to deter them from doing it again.
Today, our main leverage over Iran is military. We can bomb their forces in Iraq. We can intercept their ships. Eventually, we could take out their nuclear weapons production facilities.
If that sounds an awful lot like war, it’s because it is.
As Thomas Jefferson reportedly said in relation to the Barbary Pirates, an earlier jihadi Muslim confederacy that declared war on America: sanctions are the only option between appeasement and war. Obama just removed sanctions. QED.
But the Trump administration is not without blame.
The President instructed his national security team to take a fresh look at our overall strategy toward the Islamic State of Iran early in his presidency. To show how serious the administration was, national security advisor Michael Flynn “put Iran on notice” in an on-record briefing on Feb. 1.
And then, something happened. Rather than continue the “get tough” policy by decertifying the Iran nuclear deal, imposing new sanctions and other measures as Flynn was recommending, the President fired Flynn and other hard-line advisors, and everything turned to mush.
I am not dissing the new Iran strategy the President rolled out on Friday, far from it. My Iranian dissident friends drew much encouragement from the President’s willingness to take an all fronts approach against the Iranian regime, not just focus on its nuclear weapons program. The fact that he mentioned the regime’s dreadful record of human rights abuses and political repression was significant.
But does it really mean the U.S. is finally ready to provide material support to a pro-freedom coalition in Iran to spark a popular uprising against the regime?
Don’t hold your breath. The Deep State would never abide by it.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268145/iran-plays-chess-we-play-checkers-kenneth-r-timmerman
Read the rest of the article, between the Obama administration and the Deep State forcing Flynn out of power the stage has been set where we either surrender of fight a war. During the Obama administrations the left weakened the US and destroyed the trust of our allies to the point where if we are to remain free we mush fight a multi front war with limited support from our overseas allies and with active enemies in the US working to destroy our nation.
NFL Players Now Protesting Anthem Over Gender Pay Gap
October 17, 2017
Daniel Greenfield
Because you know how much NFL players care about the gender pay gap.
Who Pays What in Taxes?
Is a system where over 45% of people pay no income taxes really “fair”?
October 17, 2017
Walter Williams
Politicians exploit public ignorance. Few areas of public ignorance provide as many opportunities for political demagoguery as taxation. Today some politicians argue that the rich must pay their fair share and label the proposed changes in tax law as tax cuts for the rich. Let’s look at who pays what, with an eye toward attempting to answer this question: Are the rich paying their fair share?
According to the latest IRS data, the payment of income taxes is as follows. The top 1 percent of income earners, those having an adjusted annual gross income of $480,930 or higher, pay about 39 percent of federal income taxes. That means about 892,000 Americans are stuck with paying 39 percent of all federal taxes. The top 10 percent of income earners, those having an adjusted gross income over $138,031, pay about 70.6 percent of federal income taxes (https://tinyurl.com/yddvee2o). About 1.7 million Americans, less than 1 percent of our population, pay 70.6 percent of federal income taxes. Is that fair, or do you think they should pay more? By the way, earning $500,000 a year doesn’t make one rich. It’s not even yacht money.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268147/who-pays-what-taxes-walter-williams
Philippines – Dawah in the Airplane
Da‘wah is the proselytizing or preaching of Islam.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawah
Harvey Weinstein To Lead Palestinian Committee On Women’s Rights /s
They specifically sought Weinstein for the role, given the his longtime exposure to the ways in which power is leveraged to disadvantage women.
http://www.preoccupiedterritory.com/harvey-weinstein-to-lead-palestinian-committee-on-womens-rights/
UAE says 2 pilots killed in military plane crash over Yemen (abcnews, Oct 17, 2017)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/uae-pilots-killed-military-plane-crash-yemen-50538577
Report: FBI Uncovers Confirmation of Hillary Clinton’s Corrupt Uranium Deal with Russia (breitbart, Oct 17, 2017)
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/10/17/report-fbi-uncovers-confirmation-of-hillary-clintons-corrupt-uranium-deal-with-russia/
“New evidence has emerged to confirm Peter Schweizer’s account in his bestselling book Clinton Cash about the corrupt tactics behind former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s approval of Russia’s purchase of 20 percent of U.S. uranium…”
Islamic State Supporting Inmates in Prison Plotted Terror Attack Using Smuggled Mobile Phones (breitbart, Oct 17, 2017)
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/10/17/islamic-state-supporting-prison-inmates-plotted-terror-attack/
“Authorities in France’s second largest prison claim to have uncovered a plot by two inmates, who are thought to be Islamic State sympathisers, to plan acts of terror. They were able to communicate with the terror group using smuggled mobile phones…”