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.
The North Korean Threat is Made in China
All the United States is now assessed to be at risk of attack by North Korea, a country ruled by what is, arguably, the most dangerous regime on the planet. That reality has been made possible by Communist China and it must be held accountable for the intolerable threat we now face.
The Chinese have not only propped up and provided political protection for the tyrannical Kim dynasty in Pyongyang. They have also supplied even more material help, including the transporter-erector-launchers, missile canisters and possibly even the ballistic missiles entering the North Koreans’ arsenal.
America must immediately act to protect its electric grid and people against mass destruction at the hands of Kim Jong Un. For starters, that would mean shooting down any future North Korean long-range missiles and neutralizing its satellites. In addition, China must bear real costs for enabling our enemy.
https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2017/11/29/the-north-korean-threat-is-made-in-china/
China should have been held responsible all along for using NK as a proxy. We all know it.
Russia can’t be allowed to skate on this one, either.
Russia’s love affair with North Korea
The logic behind Moscow’s economic outreach to Pyongyang.
On February 3, 2017, North Koream leader Kim Jong-un sent out Lunar New Year greeting cards to numerous world leaders, highlighting the DPRK’s array of international allies. Even though China has been frequently described as North Korea’s leading international ally, Pyongyang’s state-controlled news agency, KCNA, listed Russia at the top of the list of countries friendly toward the DPRK, relegating China to second place.
Kim’s placement of Russia at the top of North Korea’s symbolic hierarchy of allies for the third consecutive year is a considerable break from Kim Jong-Il’s public emphasis on the DPRK’s alliances with China and Cuba. Pyongyang’s symbolic show of solidarity with the Kremlin has also been accompanied by a string of economic deals with Russia.
The expansion of Russian investment in the North Korean economy has entrenched Moscow’s role as a guarantor (along with China) of the Kim regime’s survival. Although Russia’s ability to benefit economically from closer links with North Korea is limited, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to deepen its alliance with Pyongyang highlights Moscow’s desire to expand its role as a stakeholder in the preservation of long-term peace in the Korean peninsula.
http://thediplomat.com/2017/02/russias-love-affair-with-north-korea/
Also, remember J.E. Dyer’s post from August:
Missile expert: North Korea appears to have gotten rocket engine from Ukraine, Russia for new ICBM
http://libertyunyielding.com/2017/08/15/missile-expert-north-korea-appears-gotten-rocket-engine-ukraine-russia-new-icbm/
Both of you are right, both China and North Korea must be held responsible and pay a large price for what they have done.
We have 6 to 9 months before Kim gets a miniaturized nuke that will fit on his new missile and a reentry vehicle that will let the nuke survive reentry. I don’t know if that is time enough for the sanctions to force China to act but it will give us time to semi rebuild our military.
Not only China and Russia, lots of other miserable hellholes buy junk from NorK.
A North Korean ship was seized off Egypt with a huge cache of weapons destined for a surprising buyer
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/a-north-korean-ship-was-seized-off-egypt-with-a-huge-cache-of-weapons-destined-for-a-surprising-buyer/2017/10/01/d9a4e06e-a46d-11e7-b14f-f41773cd5a14_story.html?utm_term=.fc1b240bde52
……….
Eleven African countries will be probed by the UN over their military ties with North Korea
https://qz.com/1076850/north-koreas-military-ties-to-11-african-countries-are-being-probed-by-the-un/
I remember the shipment to Egypt, as for the others the weapons are probably coming from China but they want some plausible deniability so the useful idiots in the west can scream it wasn’t China.
We all know the UN isn’t going to do anything to the 11 nations.
Iran in the Post-ISIS Era: Aims, Opportunities and Challenges Updated Review
Main Argument, Iran’s Strategic Goals: In Syria and Iraq, the gradual collapse of the Islamic State, established in Iraq and Syria, has come to an end. Following the conclusion of this process of disintegration, ISIS has returned to its “natural state” of a jihadist terror organization, which does not need to administer or protect a state with territorial borders. The downfall of the Islamic State creates a security and political vacuum and engenders new opportunities for Iran to increase its influence in Syria, Iraq and the entire Middle East.…
…In sum, the downfall of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and ISIS’ transformation into a terrorist and guerilla organization creates a window of opportunity for Iran to realize its regional goals and expand its influence. The first priorities are Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, over which Iran already has a strong grip, mostly though Shi’ite proxies.
Nevertheless, Iran’s ability to cement its influence is constrained by fundamental characteristic of the Middle Eastern system, chief among them the demographic composition of the region and the competing influence of other players, regional (Saudi Arabia, which is coalescing an Arab Sunni coalition around it) and international.
Iran’s ability to increase its influence in the region depends not only on its intensions and desires, but also on the policies of the rest of the state and non-state actors, international and local, operating in the region, and their decisions whether to facilitate Iran’s ambitions or challenge its efforts to establish a sphere of influence under Iranian dominance.
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/iran-post-isis-era-aims-opportunities-challenges-updated-review/
[Download pdf from link above.]
The Sinai: Jihadism’s Latest Frontline
The Sinai crisis has evolved from a local struggle for autonomy to the latest frontline of jihadi extremism in the Middle East. Extremists carried out the biggest terrorist attacks in modern Egyptian history on November 24, 2017, when more than 300 worshippers were killed and dozens more injured at a Sufi mosque in a remote northern Sinai town. One militant reportedly carried the black-and-white ISIS flag.
The Sinai Peninsula, a triangular province about the size of West Virginia, is home to an increasingly aggressive branch of the Islamic State as well as smaller jihadist cells. The largest jihadi group originally supported al Qaeda, but switched loyalty to the rival the Islamic State in 2014. Other jihadi groups are linked to the drug trade, criminal gangs, or illegal immigration. Allegiances are fluid.
By mid-2017, lawlessness in Egypt’s hinterland threatened the government of President Abdel Fateh el Sisi. It also endangered other parts of the strategic region, including the oil-rich Gulf; neighboring Israel; the Palestinian Authority and the fragile peace process; and North African countries already struggling with political, economic and societal turbulence.
Foreign fighters — largely from Libya, the Maghreb, and Europe — have migrated to the Sinai, where they constituted as much as 80 percent of the Sinai Province’s fighting force by mid-2017, according to a spokesman from the Tarabin tribe. With the collapse of the Islamic State’s caliphate in Syria and Iraq, it could become an alternative hub for jihadis.
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/the-sinai-jihadisms-latest-frontline
Listen to this while doing dinner, etc, youLL crack up!
MILO Meets Katie Hopkins
MILO
MILO
The Norway model: a new approach to immigration and asylum
Germany is this weekend seeing whether or not Angela Merkel will be able to form a government as she deals with the political fallout from her immigration policy. Quite a contrast from Norway, whose Conservative-led coalition recently entered its second term after taking a very different approach to refugees. Last week I met Sylvi Listhaug, who holds a recently-created position: Norway’s Minister for Immigration & Integration. She’s with the Progress Party, the junior partner in coalition. You often read about her being ‘outspoken’ or ‘controversial’ and I was interested to see what kind of radical views she holds. At the end of the interview, I was left wondering if her take on refugee policy is actually further-sighted and more morally defensible than the Merkel approach.
Norway’s approach has been different from the offset. When Sweden accepted 160,000 asylum-seekers in 2015, the Norwegians took in 30,000 – and this year, so far, it’s 2,000. No country has seen a sharper fall in refugees. In her interview, she outlined the following elements of the Norwegian model.
1) Norway starts by acknowledging that the rich world has a moral duty to help refugees, but it goes further. The tougher moral question, it says, is: how do you help them? With 65m on the move, accepting a few thousand at home will only ever be a token. And if you can help far more refugees in camps abroad for the cost of helping one at home, should you not do so? Britain is also thinking this way, although it tends to be less open about discussing it. Ms Listhaug had just met Brandon Lewis, her British counterpart, when I spoke to her. He’d given her a ratio: for the cost of helping 3,000 refugees who arrive in Britain, the UK government could help 100,000 refugees in camps overseas.
2). Norway spends huge sums (1% of its GDP) on foreign aid. Last year it was 36.6 billion krone (about £3 billion) or 1.1 per cent of its GDP. This is about double the EU average, and far above the UK’s 0.7 per cent (or Germany’s 0.5pc). In Syria, Norway has pledged a total of 10 billion krone (£920m) over four years. Of course, such largesse is easier for Norway given the trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund at its disposal.
3) Norway uses its foreign aid budget to help settle refugees in Norway. Helping refugees at home is a humanitarian mission, albeit one carried at home, so it is categorised as foreign aid. Any money saved from fewer refugees in Norway is spent helping refugees abroad.
4) Norway turns away economic migrants (ie, who are not in need of protection). She says her policy is unambiguous. ‘If you are an economic migrant, you are declined in Norway. We give protection for the ones that need that, that are in danger in their own country but we also spend a lot of money to return people that are declined in Norway, also by force’. Police are sent to look for illegal immigrants in restaurants and other places ‘where black [market] labour is common… if we find them we will send them out. That has also decreased the crime in Norway, that’s very good’”
5) Deportation works. ‘We send people back to Afghanistan if they are not in need of protection, we send them back to Somalia if they are not in need of protection’. I asked her if this is expensive. ‘Yes, but it’s well worth it’. It’s about the deterring message, she says, underling the futility of coming to Norway without proper cause. ‘So If I’m in Afghanistan and I want a better life, I should not pay a smuggler to get me to Norway because if I am not in need of protection I will be sent back.’
6) The dramatic fall in Norway’s refugee intake has led to a dramatic rise in money spent helping refugees in camps abroad. So over the last couple of years, Norway has upped its aid budget by about 4 billion krone (£370 million) as a direct result of the fall in the number of asylum seekers. And a sharp increase in foreign aid is expected next year as a dividend of its being able to control refugees.
7) Listhaug thinks the 1951 UN Refugee Convention is a document ‘for its time‘ and does not reflect the modern realities of people trafficking and globalisation. The 1951 Convention was written to stop a repetition of the 1930s and obliges signatories to help anyone with a ‘well-founded fear of persecution’. As the global total of refugees surges, this is problematic and creates an incentive for people traffickers.
8) Norway regards people trafficking as a modern evil that is being fed by the system of accepting whoever turns up. If you smuggle an unaccompanied minor from Afghanistan to Europe, they say it costs between $3,000 and $20,000.’ Young girls, she says, are sometimes sold to old men to finance such a journey. ‘Also, children are killed, or raped, on their way. So we need to have this under control…Why should we have a system that is for the ones that have money, while the rest of the refugees and people in need don’t have the money?’
9) Norway has learned not to care too much about international consensus. I asked Sylvi Listhaug if she is by now used to being called cruel and heartless and, if so, how that makes her feel. ‘I don’t give a damn, and that’s because this is the right thing to do. We should think about all refugees, do as much as we can for as many as possible. It is the wrong answer to have a policy to have a lot of people without need of protection coming to our countries as asylum seekers’.
10) Norway’s approach is increasingly shared by other countries. Anyone who thinks Sylvi Listhaug is radical should look up Inger Stojberg, her Danish counterpart, who uses a cartoon of Mohammed as her iPad screensaver. As Listhaug puts it: ‘A lot of countries in Europe are thinking more like us: like Denmark and Austria. Germany, as well… France has big problems right now with integration, as does Belgium. A lot of countries in Europe see that we need this under control.’
And all this matters to us because Norway’s policy is very similar to what Britain does (lots of overseas aid, restricting number of refugees taken). The main difference is that the Norwegians explain and defend their policy, while Tories don’t yet feel comfortable enough to do the same. But as Ms Listhaug says, the debate is changing, and the Norway model might end up being the new consensus.
https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/11/the-norway-model-a-new-way-to-think-about-immigration-and-asylum-in-europe/
Smuggler Kills Four After Driving Car Off Cliff (morningstaronline, Nov 30, 2017)
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-67a5-Smuggler-kills-four-after-driving-car-off-cliff
“A PAKISTANI smuggler carrying refugees to Greece drove his car off a cliff after being chased by police, killing four.
Health authorities said that four other refugees and the Pakistani driver survived the horrifying plunge off a 90-foot cliff near the town of Kavala, east of Thessaloniki, but suffered injuries.
Police said the accident occurred when the driver ignored police orders to stop on a main road, turned onto a smaller road and lost control of the vehicle.
One of two people hidden in the car’s boot died. The driver faces multiple manslaughter and human trafficking charges.
The car had been carrying the refugees west from the Turkish border.
Thousands of refugees continue to cross into Europe in search of sanctuary. This year 27,000 people have made boat crossings to Greece while 116,000 headed to Italy.”
Muslim population in some EU countries could triple, says report (theguardian, Nov 29, 2017)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/29/muslim-population-in-europe-could-more-than-double
“The Muslim population in some European countries could triple by 2050 while it will barely change in others, according to new projections released by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre.
The report, Europe’s Growing Muslim Population, shows a stark west-east divide. The Muslim share of Germany’s population could grow from 6.1% in 2016 to 19.7% in 2050 if high migration continues, whereas over the border Poland’s share would change from 0.1% to 0.2% in the same scenario.
Even if all current 28 EU members, plus Norway and Switzerland, closed their borders to migrants, the Muslim population share in the west would continue to grow owing to a younger age profile and higher fertility rates, but remain very low in the east.
According to Pew’s data, Muslims made up 4.9% of Europe’s population in 2016, with an estimated 25.8 million people across 30 countries, up from 19.5 million people in 2010. The number of Muslim migrants arriving in Europe surged after 2014 to almost half a million annually, largely due to people fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Researchers considered three scenarios: zero migration between 2016 and 2050; medium migration, in which the flow of refugees stops but people continue to migrate for other reasons; and high migration, in which the record flow of migrants between 2014 and 2016 continues indefinitely with the same religious composition.
In the zero migration scenario, the Muslim population in Europe is expected to rise from 4.9% to 7.4%. Apart from Cyprus, which has a high Muslim share (25.4%) due to the historical presence of Turkish Cypriots in the north of the island, France would have Europe’s biggest share of population with 12.7%, up from 8.8%.
In the medium migration scenario – perhaps the most likely – Sweden would have the biggest share of population at 20.5%. The UK’s share would rise from 6.3% in 2016 to 16.7%. Finland’s Muslim share would grow from 2.7% to 11.4% and most western European countries would face a big jump.
If high migration continues until 2050, Sweden’s Muslim share will grow to 30.6%, Finland’s to 15% and Norway’s to 17%. In eastern Europe, most countries will continue to have a relatively low Muslim share of population, with only Hungary and Greece seeing significant increases from 2016.
Apart from migration, the number of Muslims in Europe is set to grow considerably through natural increases. Europe’s Muslims have more children than members of other religious groups, or people of no religion, the study shows. The European average fertility rate is 2.6 for Muslims compared to 1.6 for non-Muslims.
The Muslim population is also much younger than non-Muslims. The proportion of Muslims under the age of 15 is 27%, nearly double the proportion of under-15 non-Muslims at 15%.
“While Europe’s Muslim population is expected to grow in all three scenarios – and more than double in the medium and high migration scenarios – Europe’s non-Muslims, on the other hand, are projected to decline in total number in each scenario,” says the Pew report.
Historically, a relatively small share of migrants to Europe were refugees from violence or persecution, with most coming for other reasons. Nearly half of all recent migrants to Europe were non-Muslims, with Christians making up the next largest group.”
Whistleblower: Clinton emails include classified info
Former Intelligence Community Inspector General Charles McCullough III says the Obama administration knew about classified emails from Hillary Clinton and tried to hinder the investigation; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports from Washington.
Project Veritas – WaPo Nat’l Security Reporter: Russia Story “f*cking crap shoot…Maybe it doesn’t exist.”
Saudi Arabia vows to ‘wipe out terrorists’ chosen from Emmanuel Macron’s ‘hitlist’ (express, Nov 30, 2017)
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/886095/Saudi-Arabia-extremism-funding-Emmanuel-Macron-France-terrorist-ISIS
“FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron is pressuring Middle East powers to end their funding for dangerous extremist organisations, he has claimed.
The newly elected leader reports that Saudi Arabia has agreed to stop sending money to a list of extremist groups drawn up by France.
The head of the Muslim World League Mohammed al-Issa said: “We must wipe out this extremist thinking through the work we do.
“We need to annihilate religious severity and extremism which is the entry point to terrorism.”
The Gulf kingdom currently backs groups overseen by the Muslim World League which has been dogged by accusations of spreading hardline Wahhabi Islam.
Now, Prince bin Salman wants to promote a modern tolerant interpretation of Islam
Macron said: “He never did it publicly, but when I went to Riyadh (this month), he made a commitment, such that we could give him a list and he would cut the financing.
“I believe him, but I will follow up. Trust is built on results.”
The French President is also seeking commitments from the leaders of Qatar, Iran and Turkey as he seeks to deliver a hammer blow to Islamist groups…”
BREAKING: Trump SLAMS Theresa May demanding she focus on ‘UKs destructive terrorism’ (express, Nov 30, 2017)
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/886094/Donald-Trump-response-Theresa-may-far-right-Britain-First-twitter-muslim-islamic-extremist
“DONALD Trump has lashed out at Theresa May on Twitter after the Prime Minister criticised the US President for spreading messages from the far-right group Britain First.
Trump used Twitter to retweet videos of from the far right group which appears to show Muslims committing crimes.
US leader has criticised Mrs May saying: “Theresa May, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!”
Downing Street previously released a statement condemning the tweets saying “it is wrong for the President to have done this”.
Trump retweeted three posts by Britain First’s Deputy Leader Jayda Fransen to his 43.6million followers.
The posts included unverified videos titled “Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!” and “Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!”
His actions faced widespread criticism from UK politicians who were furious that he appeared to endorse the group’s political beliefs.
Cabinet minister Sajid Javid, who was brought up in a Muslim family, used Twitter himself to criticise the President’s apparent support for the radical right group.
He said: “So POTUS has endorsed the views of a vile, hate-filled racist organisation that hates me and people like me. He is wrong and I refuse to let it go and say nothing.”
And Mayor for London Sadiq Khan said: “Britain First is a vile, hate-fuelled organisation whose views should be condemned, not amplified.”
The actions from the UK’s “special” ally have led to questions as to whether a US state visit, promised to Trump when Theresa May visited Washington DC earlier this year, should still take place.
However, Downing Street earlier said that the visit would go ahead as planned.
In a statement, they said: “Britain First seeks to divided communities through their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions. They cause anxiety to law-abiding people.
“British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far-right, which is the antithesis of the values which this country represents: decency, tolerance, and respect.”
The Government is yet to officially respond to Trump’s criticisms of Theresa May.
However, Carrie Symonds, the Director of Communications for the Conservatives, has used her personal Twitter account to give her view.
She tweeted: “Wrong twitter handle. And that’s just the start.”
Her response referred to the fact Trump had to send his tweet twice after he accidentally directed his first tweet at the wrong person, directing his anger at a woman called Theresa Scrivener, who only has six followers.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters yesterday she would not comment on the veracity of the videos.
In footage shared by broadcaster NBC News, she said: “I’m not talking about the nature of the video. I think you’re focusing on the wrong thing.
“The threat is real and that’s what the president is talking about: the need for national security, the need for military spending, and those are very real things, there’s nothing fake about that.
“The threat is real, the threat needs to be addressed, the threat has to be talked about and that’s what the president is doing in bringing that up.”
More to follow…”
Trump Jumps on UK Critics, Calls for Focus on Islam’s Doctrines, Not Tweets (breitbart, Nov 29, 2017)
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/11/29/trump-tells-uk-pm-critics-focus-on-radical-islamic-terrorism/
Rocket Man Puts World On Edge
New missile testing shows all of the US in range of North Korean regime.
November 29, 2017
Lloyd Billingsley
65
At 3:17 a.m. Wednesday, with no advance notice, North Korea launched its first ballistic missile since September, but this one was different from the others. After launch from Sain-ni near Pyongyang, the Hwasong-15 soared some 2,800 miles into space and flew for nearly an hour before descending. On a flatter trajectory this projectile could fly for about 8,000 miles. As the headline in the Los Angeles Times put it: “Could a North Korean missile hit Washington? Latest ICBM launch suggests it’s possible.” Scientists agreed, but that might have been an understatement.
According to Defense Secretary Gen. James Mattis, the launch confirmed North Korea’s ability to strike “anywhere in the world.” The New York Times cited experts who agreed that the North Korean missiles could reach the east cost of the United States, depending on the payload they carried. Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association told the Times that “North Korea is searching for ways to get around the United States’ ability to carry out a pre-emptive nuclear strike.”
Rodger Baker, of Stratfor, explained that North Korea is now fueling missiles horizontally before placement on the launchpad because “this shortens the time from when they become visible to when they go in the air, and makes it less likely that the U.S. will be able to strike before it launches.”
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/268559/rocket-man-puts-world-edge-lloyd-billingsley
Denmark extends block on UN quota refugees (thelocal, Nov 29, 2017)
https://www.thelocal.dk/20171129/denmark-continues-block-on-un-quota-refugees
“Denmark’s minister for immigration Inge Støjberg has announced a continuation of the government’s policy not to accommodate UN-stipulated quota refugees.
A parliamentary majority including the opposition Social Democrats – but without the populist Danish People’s Party – supports Støjberg’s law proposal, which would see Denmark refuse 500 UN quota refugees in 2018, a continuation of the country’s policy in 2016 and 2017.
Lawmakers in Denmark’s parliament began on Tuesday the process of passing a law which would continue the policy of not accepting UN quota refugees.
The proposal has been criticised for adding pressure on countries bordering conflict areas, including Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, which already accommodate large numbers of refugees.
The UN has encouraged EU countries, including Denmark, to ease the burden on countries such as these by accepting its quota for relocation…”
UN welcomes move by Libya to help find refugee solutions (ahram, Nov 29, 2017)
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/282475/World/Region/UN-welcomes-move-by-Libya-to-help-find-refugee-sol.aspx
“The U.N. refugee agency on Wednesday welcomed a decision by Libya to open a transit centre for unaccompanied children and other vulnerable refugees from among hundreds of thousands of migrants, and called on EU countries and others to accept them.
Reports this month of white Libyan slave traders selling black African migrants at markets in Libya – a grim echo of the trans-Saharan slave trade in centuries past – have drawn worldwide horror and condemnation.
Hundreds of thousands of migrants have been crossing the Sahara and the Mediterranean to reach Europe through Libya in each of the past several years.
Thousands die during crossing the desert and at sea. Many are now being held in camps in Libya in conditions rights groups describe as inhumane.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has flown 13,000 migrants from Libya back to their countries of origin this year under a voluntary repatriation programme. But thousands of others who face war or persecution at home cannot be sent back safely.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been seeking to open a refugee transit centre in Tripoli to resettle or evacuate as many as 5,000 of the most vulnerable out of Libya each year.
“UNHCR…welcomes the decision by the Libyan authorities to set up a ‘transit and departure facility’ in Tripoli for people in need of international protection,” the Geneva-based agency said in a statement on Wednesday.
With support from the Italian government, the initiative will facilitate the transfer of thousands of vulnerable refugees to third countries, it said.
“But we now need EU member states and others to step up with offers of resettlement places and other solutions, including family reunification slots,” said Roberto Mignone, UNHCR Representative to Libya.
The goal is to speed up the process of securing places in third countries, particularly for unaccompanied and separated children and women at risk, it said.
William Lacy Swing, head of the IOM, told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that it was working with partners “to try to empty the detention centres” in Libya of around 15,000 migrants.
Nigeria’s president said on Wednesday the government had started bringing stranded citizens home from Libya after the global outcry over reports that migrants there were being sold into slavery.”
EU, AU and UN force to protect migrants, focus on Libya (ansamed, Nov 29, 2017)
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2017/11/29/eu-au-and-un-task-force-to-protect-migrants-focus-on-libya_6e92a89d-2bb2-4fb4-8322-498d01d39469.html
“A joint task force between the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) will be set up to protect migrants along migration routes with special focus on Libya.
The decision was made during a meeting on Wednesday between UN chief Antonio Guterres, AU Commission President Moussa Faki Mahamat, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. The four met on the sidelines of the EU-AU summit in the Ivory Coast. (ANSAmed).”
Exclusive: Macron proposes military action against human traffickers (france24, Nov 29, 2017)
http://www.france24.com/en/20171129-france-africa-macron-exclusive-interview-trafficking
“French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday told FRANCE 24 he was proposing police and military action against human traffickers to combat migrant slave trading.
“Human trafficking is a criminal offence. It’s not for us just to denounce the problem, but to act, attacking collectively these networks of human traffickers because they operate from the Sahel all the way to Libya and they have connections which enable them to operate all the way to the Mediterranean,” explained Macron.
In an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24 on the sidelines of the 2017 African Union – European Union (AU-EU) summit in Ivory Coast, Macron said he would be having further meetings with EU and AU representatives to propose taking police and military action against traffickers…”
Bahrain seeks extradition of ‘terrorists’ from Iraq (memo, Nov 29, 2017)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171129-bahrain-seeks-extradition-of-terrorists-from-iraq/
“The authorities in Bahrain have handed their Iraqi counterparts a list of terror suspects residing in Iraq, the Manama ambassador to Baghdad, Salah Al-Maliki, revealed on Tuesday.
The ambassador told Anadolu news agency that the alleged terrorists are wanted in Bahrain, having committed acts of terror there before fleeing to Iraq.
Al-Maliki insisted that the suspects are “harming Bahrain and some neighbouring countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as relations between Baghdad and Manama.” They are no less dangerous than Daesh, he added.”
94.4% Saudis satisfied with Crown Prince (saudigazette, Nov 29. 2017)
http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/523086/SAUDI-ARABIA/944-Saudis-satisfied-with-Crown-Prince
“An overwhelming 94.4 percent of Saudis are satisfied with the performance of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, according to a poll conducted by the SMT Studies Center, an independent center for the study of new developments and events in the Middle East region and Arab countries.
Some 92 percent of people surveyed approve the decision of his appointment as the Crown Prince, thinking it will further empower the youth.
Some 88 percent view him as someone with great leadership capabilities.
The poll was conducted through face-to-face interviews with participants, who included an equal number of men and women aged 18 years and above from various regions of the Kingdom…”
Taliban leaders living in comfort in Pakistan with drug money: US general (tribune, Nov 29, 2017)
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1571355/1-us-general-sees-no-change-pakistan-behaviour-despite-trump-tough-line/
“The top US general in Afghanistan General John Nicholson said on Tuesday that he had not seen a change in Pakistan’s support for militants so far, despite President Donald Trump taking a tougher line against Islamabad.
He also claimed that though the Taliban’s tactical-level commanders were in the field in Afghanistan, its senior leadership still resided in Pakistan.
Taliban leaders are living in comfort outside of the country with plenty of drug money while the rank and file fighters were dying in Afghanistan, CNN quoted him as saying.
US officials have long been frustrated by what they see as Pakistan’s reluctance to act against groups such as the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network that they believe exploit safe haven on Pakistani soil to launch attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan…”
CHP files complaint after TRT cuts live broadcast of K?l?çdaro?lu revelation (hurriyetdailynews, Nov 29, 2017)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/chp-files-complaint-about-trt-for-cutting-broadcast-on-kilicdaroglus-reveal-123253
“The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has filed a complaint about state-broadcaster TRT for cutting the live broadcast of CHP head Kemal K?l?çdaro?lu’s parliamentary group speech, in which he revealed documents about off-shore bank transactions of the close circle of President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an.
“We have applied to the Radio and Television Supreme Board against TRT for obstructing the public’s right to receive information,” CHP deputy Bar?? Yarkada? posted on his official Twitter account on Nov. 28.
Earlier on Nov. 28, K?l?çdaro?lu revealed banking documents of millions of dollars of transactions by Erdo?an’s relatives – including his son and brother – to an off-shore company in the tax-haven Isle of Man.
The CHP said TRT’s cutting of the broadcast during the speech was an attempt at “censorship.”
“TRT, which is funded by our taxes, openly conducts censorship,” Yarkada? said, adding that the CHP had also brought the issue to parliament’s attention.
“We have also brought TRT’s censorship of our leader to parliament’s agenda through a parliamentary question,” he wrote.”
St Gallen approves conditional ban on face coverings (thelocal, Nov 29, 2017)
https://www.thelocal.ch/20171129/st-gallen-approves-conditional-ban-on-face-coverings-burqa
“The cantonal parliament of St Gallen on Tuesday voted in favour of introducing a ban on covering the face in public, under certain conditions.
The bill was approved by 57 votes to 55 in its second reading, reported news agency ATS.
The new rule bans anyone from covering their face in public if they present a security risk or threaten social or religious peace, a condition that will be evaluated on a case by case basis.
That could include women wearing the burqa and people covering their faces during demonstrations or protests or for criminal intent.
The bill also passed in its first reading in September, when opponents slammed the move, saying it was superfluous and unsuitable.
Writing in the St Gallen Tagblatt at the time, editor Andri Rostetter criticized the law’s implication that the authorities must make an “instant assessment” as to whether a person who covers their face is a threat.
“When this is the case, nobody knows. Not the police, who must apply the law… Certainly not the cantonal parliament, which has passed the law.”
In April the St Gallen government said it was against a complete ban on the burqa, feeling there was no public interest in doing so since the only women in the canton wearing the garment were tourists.
Last year Ticino became the first Swiss canton to implement a ban on wearing the burqa or niqab in public, with no exceptions for tourists.
Earlier this year the canton of Glarus refused a law banning face coverings, while the Swiss federal parliament also rejected a proposal for a similar nationwide ban.
However the issue is likely to go a federal referendum after a popular initiative on the subject gathered the required number of signatures to push it to a public vote.
The initiative goes further than St Gallen’s new rule in that there is no assessment of risk — instead it proposes a general ban on covering the face in public, apart from certain exceptions for health, safety or the weather.
The potential new law would also ban anyone from forcing another person to cover their face because of their gender.”
Germany: Surge in Migrant Attacks on Police
“Migrants Have No Respect for Us”
Violent attacks against German police have reached epidemic proportions, and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door migration policy is to blame, official statistics show.
The Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA) reported 36,755 attacks against German police in 2016 — or an average of 100 per day, a significant increase over previous years.
Violence — including verbal and physical assaults, and even murder — against police is rampant in all 16 of Germany’s federal states. According to the BKA, the epicenter of the problem in 2016 was North Rhine-Westphalia (8,929 incidents), the state with the largest migrant population, followed by: Bavaria (4,930); Baden-Wu?rttemberg (4,355); Berlin (3,154); Lower Saxony (3,030); Hesse (1,870); Saxony (1,573); Rhineland-Palatinate (1,537); Hamburg (1,339); Thu?ringen (1,228); Schleswig-Holstein (1,237); Brandenburg (1,009); Saxony-Anhalt (899); Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (658); Saarland (521); and Bremen (486).
Sweden’s New Government Censorship
by Judith Bergman
November 29, 2017 at 4:30 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11439/sweden-government-censorship
The Swedish government is now officially questioning free speech. A government agency has declared so-called Swedish “new media” — news outlets that refuse to subscribe to the politically correct orthodoxies of the mainstream media — a possible threat to democracy. In a government report, tellingly called “The White Hatred” written by Totalförsvarets forskningsinstitut (Total Defense Research Institute), a government agency under the Swedish Ministry of Defense, Swedish new media such as Samhällsnytt (formerly known as Avpixlat), Nyheter Idag and Nya Tider are lumped together with neo-Nazi media such as Nordfront.
“Hate” is defined broadly to include violent extremism, “hateful expressions”, jokes, internet trolling and even the use of certain quotation marks. For instance, in the report, placing the word “refugees” in quotation marks, as well as “unaccompanied children,” is supposedly an expression of “hate”. (Many, if not most, migrants classified as “unaccompanied children” have turned out to be grown men).
“One might find,” according to the report’s conclusion, “that pluralism of information sources… is a positive addition in a democratic society where freedom of speech is an important foundation”, but “the new media… stretch the limits of free speech,” which “threatens other democratic values”. The report further alleges that society risks becoming tolerant of the intolerant. That is rather rich coming from the authorities of a European country that has accepted Islamic intolerance to an astounding degree. There is even a proposal from a government minister to reintegrate returning ISIS fighters, who might still wish to destroy the tolerant society that houses them.
Egypt: Saving the Sinai
by Lawrence A. Franklin
November 29, 2017 at 4:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11443/egypt-sinai-isis-terrorism
Egypt is no longer sovereign in the Sinai Peninsula. Islamic State terrorists, moving freely throughout the Sinai’s Northern Province, have been delivering stinging defeats on Egypt’s military and police convoys. The November 24 mass murder of Sufi Muslim worshippers by radical Sunni terrorists in the Northern Sinai Province underlines the Egyptian government’s loss of control in the area. If Cairo changes its tactics and strategy, however, the Sinai can be saved.
Initially, Islamic State terrorists in the Sinai Desert feasted on soft targets, such as Coptic Christian communities and local, lightly defended, police stations. The Egyptian military’s inability to prevent these attacks or subdue jihadist forces simply emboldened the terrorists. In mid-October, Islamic State jihadists even robbed a bank in the northern Sinai’s provincial capital, El-Arish, making off with about a million dollars to help finance their anti-government campaign. Large tracts of the northern Sinai are slipping out of Egypt’s control due to the military inefficiencies and counterproductive policies of government security forces.
These shortcomings include an unwillingness to change tactics, ineffective weapon systems for desert combat, and lack of proper logistical support. The troop convoys sent into the desert are “red meat” for the jihadists, “who mount sophisticated multi-tiered attacks and employ snipers to demoralize security forces.”
The jihadists station their lookouts atop high desert sand dunes to monitor the approach of security forces; convoys are visible from miles away. On one occasion, the terrorists were seemingly able to lure security forces into an ambush.
Proof Obama’s EPA Broke Federal Law
Former President Barack Obama’s EPA used a social media platform to secretly promote the agency’s policies in violation of federal law, according to a conservative watchdog group in Washington, D.C.
Judicial Watch obtained 900 pages of documents Monday showing the EPA used social media to lobby support for the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. The agency used Thunderclap, a platform that shares messages across Facebook and Twitter, to recruit outside groups to generate support for various environmental policies.
Federal law prohibits agencies from engaging in propaganda. It also forbids agencies from using federal resources to conduct grassroots campaigns that prod U.S. citizens into browbeating lawmakers to act on pending legislation.
http://dailycaller.com/2017/11/27/watchdogs-turned-up-more-evidence-obamas-epa-broke-federal-law/