Reader’s Links, April 27, 2018

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In order to preserve the flow of conversation about various posted items, and also in order to make it easier for visitors to find the list of related links being shared by other readers, regulars and interested parties in one place, each day a post is automatically created at a minute past midnight ET.

This way, under the various posts of the day, conversation can take place without as much ‘noise’ on the various links and articles and ideas in the main posts and all the news links being submitted can be seen under these auto-posts by clicking on the comments-link right below these ones.

Thank you all for those that take the effort to assist this site in keeping the public informed. Below, typically people can find the latest enemy propaganda, news items of related materials from multiple countries and languages, op-eds from many excellent sites who write on our topics, geopolitics and immigration issues and so on.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

143 Replies to “Reader’s Links, April 27, 2018”

  1. ‘Islamic state’ in Belgium? ISLAM party president talks Sharia, sex segregation with RT (RT, Apr 27, 2018)
    https://www.rt.com/news/425281-belgium-islam-party-segregation/

    “Gender segregation on public transport protects “vulnerable” people, the president of the controversial ISLAM party told RT. The group has previously said it hopes to create a “100-percent Islamic state” in Belgium.

    Abdelhay Bakkali Tahiri, president of the conservative Muslim party in Belgium, joined the RT France team via videolink. The party’s French acronym stands for “Integrity, Solidarity, Liberty, Authenticity, Morality.”

    Tahiri sought to justify one of the party’s proposals, which aims to create a segregated zone for women on public transport. According to the politician, the measure would help to protect women, children and other “vulnerable groups” that may face aggressive behavior. “It is simply for the wellbeing of those people who use public transport,” he said.

    Another pillar of the party’s agenda is the integration of Sharia law into the Belgian legislative system. Tahiri claimed that Sharia law is flexible, citing an example of the driving ban on women in Saudi Arabia. Women were forbidden to drive under Islamic law and then the ban was lifted, also under Islamic law, he noted, asserting that “everyone puts what he wants in Sharia.”

    Established in 2012, the ISLAM party took Belgium by surprise in its first year, winning seats in the Anderlecht and Molenbeek municipalities of the Brussels Capital region. Molenbeek is notorious for being a “hotbed of extremism,” as a number of Islamists behind the Paris and Brussels attacks grew up and lived there.

    Belgium as first ‘100-percent Islamic state’ in Europe?

    Items high on the party’s agenda include allowing all women to wear an Islamic headscarf, and requiring all schools to offer halal meat on their menus. Its ultimate aim is to transform European Belgium into an Islamic state. “Our goal is a 100-percent Islamic state, but we don’t mean we want to impose the headscarf,” Redouane Ahrouch, the party’s founder – who also works as a bus driver in Anderlecht – told local media earlier in April. The party condemns terrorism in all forms, according to the statement on the website. Ahrouch insists that in 12 years, by 2030, the Belgian capital will be mainly comprised of Muslims.

    A number of Belgian politicians have criticized the party’s agenda and remarks. Belgium’s State Secretary of Immigration Theo Francken called the party members “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

    “A political party called ‘ISLAM’ is growing in Belgium. They openly call for the introduction of Sharia law. The Sharia is in violation with human rights. Sharia parties therefore are antidemocratic,” he wrote on Twitter earlier in April…”

  2. Europe, U.S., Canada ‘Punch Hole’ in Islamic State Web Propaganda (breitbart, Apr 27, 2018)
    http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2018/04/27/europe-u-s-canada-punch-hole-islamic-state-web-propaganda/

    “European authorities said Friday they, along with the United States and Canada, have crippled the Islamic State terror group’s online “propaganda machine.”

    Europol said the takedown was led by the Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office and involved authorities from Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Romania, Britain and the United States.

    The operation disrupted the Islamic State’s capability to produce propaganda over the Internet, Europol said in a statement Friday.

    Officials said the simultaneous multinational takedown, which occurred between Wednesday and Thursday, targeted the group’s Amaq News, al-Bayan radio, and Halumu and Nashir news agencies.

    Amaq News, which Europol called the “main mouthpiece” of the Islamic State, has been used for years to claim terror attacks around the world — including recent large-scale attacks in Paris, Brussels, Barcelona and Berlin.

    Amaq provided content in nine different languages and gave users a wide range of online services, such as mailed newsletters and add-on extensions for web browsers.

    ‘With this ground-breaking operation, we have punched a big hole in the capability of IS to spread propaganda online and radicalize young people in Europe,” Europol Executive Director Rob Wainwright said.

    Europol Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said the Islamic State, also known as Daesh, is losing territory on both physical battlefields and the Internet.

    “We will not stop until their propaganda is entirely eradicated from the Internet,” Avramopoulos said.

    Authorities said data obtained by this week’s operation should help identify administrators behind the terror group’s media outlets, and potential militants.

    Europol said it first began targeting the Islamic State’s online capabilities at the end of 2015, when all European Union member states were notified about the rise of the Amaq News Agency.

    In August 2016, EU Member States launched their first takedown of Amaq’s mobile application and web infrastructure.”

    • Europe, US police seize servers used by IS propaganda sites (abcnews, Apr 27, 2018)
      http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/europe-us-police-seize-servers-propaganda-sites-54774599

      “Police around Europe and North America have seized servers and data from Islamic State propaganda outlets in a multi-country operation aimed at tracking down radicals and crimping the group’s ability to spread its violent message.

      The two-day operation was the culmination of efforts started in late 2015, after coordinated IS attacks that killed 130 people in Paris, according to a statement from European police agency Europol.

      Police notably targeted the IS-branded Aamaq news agency, as well as al-Bayan radio, and Halumu and Nasher news sites. Aamaq spreads information online in at least nine languages and has been used to claim IS was behind attacks in multiple countries, from the 2016 nightclub attack in Florida to a deadly supermarket hostage-taking in southern France last month.

      While Europol said the operation “punched a big hole in the capability of IS to spread propaganda online and radicalize young people in Europe,” it didn’t shut down the propaganda altogether.

      For example, Nasher continued to share IS statements and Aamaq reports Friday through channels on encrypted messaging network Telegram.

      The Islamic State group has used sophisticated and ever-changing communications tools to spread its apocalyptic message to disillusioned Muslims living in the West, to persuade them to reject Western ideals of pluralism and tolerance. High-quality videos, complete with thrumming beats and slick editing techniques, have unlimited reach thanks to social networks. Extremists with gentle American accents narrate radio broadcasts aimed at U.S. internet users.

      European authorities involved in the operation Wednesday and Thursday said it showed the importance of international cooperation in fighting online radicalization, which has helped fuel deadly attacks in multiple countries in Europe and the U.S.

      The operation was led by Belgian prosecutors and also involved authorities in the U.S., Canada, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and Romania.

      It aimed “to destabilize this apparatus by seizing and dismantling servers used to diffuse IS propaganda and to identify and arrest its administrators,” the Belgian public prosecutor’s office said.

      Two prior international police operations, notably targeting Aamaq’s mobile app and web infrastructure, paved the way for this week’s raids. One led by Spain’s Civil Guard that seized servers in Panama allowed authorities to identify radicals in 133 countries via their interaction with IS propaganda, according to Europol and a Civil Guard statement.

      The operation came as more than 70 countries vowed to bolster efforts to stop financing for IS and al-Qaida. Participants at an international conference in Paris on Thursday promised to improve international coordination and transparency of money flows.”

    • europol – ISLAMIC STATE PROPAGANDA MACHINE HIT BY LAW ENFORCEMENT IN COORDINATED TAKEDOWN ACTION

      On 25 April 2018 law enforcement authorities of the European Union Member States, Canada and the USA launched a joint action against the so-called Islamic State (IS) propaganda machine in order to severely disrupt their propaganda flow. The takedown operation was coordinated by the European Union Internet Referral Unit (EU IRU) within the European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC) at the Europol headquarters.

      Led by the Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office and with the support of Eurojust, the operation involved authorities from Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Romania, the United Kingdom and the USA in a coordinated effort to hinder IS’s central capability to broadcast terrorist material for an undetermined period of time.

      The case started at the end of 2015 when Europol informed all EU Member States about the rise of the Amaq News Agency and the technical resilience of the terrorist online infrastructure. Since then law enforcement agencies have, in a continuous joint effort, taken down the web assets of the media outlet.

      In August 2016, thanks to contributions from EU Member States and non-EU countries, a first takedown was launched against Amaq’s mobile application and web infrastructure. This action forced the propagandists to build a more complex and secure infrastructure to prevent further disruption from law enforcement. In June 2017 a second strike, led by the Spanish Guardia Civil and supported by Europol and the USA, targeted part of the news agency’s web assets and infrastructure. The servers seized by the Guardia Civil allowed for the identification of radicalised individuals in more than 100 countries worldwide.

      On 25-26 April 2018 a simultaneous multinational takedown, coordinated by Europol’s EU IRU and with the support of Eurojust and the Belgian Federal Prosecutor, led to the seizure of digital evidence by law enforcement from Bulgaria (Cybercrime Department in General Directorate Combatting Organised Crime), France (SDAT-SDLC), Romania (Directorate for Countering Organised Criminality – Terrorism Investigation Unit with the support of the Romanian Intelligence Service), and the seizure of IS servers in the Netherlands (Dutch National Police – Internet Referral Unit together with the Belgian Federal Judicial Police – East-Flanders), Canada and the USA. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom (Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit) took the lead in the referral process of top-level domain registrars abused by IS.

      With this takedown action, targeting major IS-branded media outlets like Amaq, but also al-Bayan radio, Halumu and Nashir news, IS’s capability to broadcast and publicise terrorist material has been compromised.

      Rob Wainwright, Executive Director of Europol, commented: ‘With this ground-breaking operation we have punched a big hole in the capability of IS to spread propaganda online and radicalise young people in Europe. I applaud the determined and innovative work by Europol and its partners to target a major part of the international terrorist threat prevalent in Europe today.’

      Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said: “Today’s international take-down action, with the support of Europol, shows our global strength and our unwavering resolve to fight against terrorist content online. Daesh is no longer just losing territory on the ground – but also online. We will not stop until their propaganda is entirely eradicated from the Internet.”

      Commissioner Julian King said: ‘This shows that by working together we can stamp out the poisonous propaganda Da’esh has used to fuel many of the recent terror attacks in Europe. For too long the internet has been open to terrorists and those who seek to do us harm: those days are coming to an end thanks to this type of coordinated global work.’

      Main mouthpiece of IS

      Initially giving the impression of an independent media outlet providing factual information on IS, Amaq was used in 2016 to claim the attacks in the Levant and all over the world, including the attacks in Paris, Brussels, Barcelona and Berlin, and more recently in Trèbes (France). Amaq News Agency is the main mouthpiece of IS. It was officially endorsed by the terrorist organisation in July 2017 and has since become the primary source of information regarding the remaining activities of IS worldwide.

      Since 2015 Amaq News Agency has been launching its own software and has developed highly resilient online infrastructure hosting. As of December 2017 the entire range of IS propaganda is available in at least nine different languages, as well as a wide range of online services, such as mailed newsletters and add-on extensions for the most common browsers.

      Law enforcement agencies involved expect that the data retrieved as a result of the takedown will help to identify the administrators behind IS media outlets and potentially radicalised individuals on European soil and beyond.

      In the context of the EU Internet Forum, the EU IRU proactively monitors online propaganda activities of the listed jihadi terrorist organisations in the EU on a daily basis, including related websites, servers and applications disseminating IS propaganda.

      https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/islamic-state-propaganda-machine-hit-law-enforcement-in-coordinated-takedown-action

      =============================================
      the sun – HAMMER BLOW ISIS propaganda machine Amaq which spread terror murder videos is smashed by Europol in cyber raid

      A game-changing operation involving Britain, the US, Canada and the EU has struck at the heart of the death cult

      IMPLODING ISIS has been walloped by a crippling cyber strike which has blocked its ability to spread horrifying snuff videos among supporters.

      Agencies in a host of countries, including Britain, joined forces in a two-day blitz to severely disrupt Amaq News Agency’s ability to pump out its vile content online.

      Spearheaded by law-enforcement agency Europol, the take-down has also targeted al-Bayan radio, Halumu and Nashir News – all of which act as ISIS’ mouthpieces.

      Rob Wainwright, a former MI6 analyst and now executive director of Europol, said: “With this ground-breaking operation we have punched a big hole in the capability of ISIS to spread propaganda online and radicalise young people in Europe.”

      With the terror group expelled from its so-called “Caliphate” in Syria and Iraq, the latest battle against ISIS has been aimed at preventing them from brainwashing a new generation.

      Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said ISIS was no longer just losing territory on the ground – but also online.

      He said: “We will not stop until their propaganda is entirely eradicated from the internet.”

      Concerns over the availability of material such as execution videos, recruitment campaigns and bomb-making instructions on the internet intensified after a wave of terrorist atrocities hit Britain in 2017.It

      Official analysis found ISIS supporters used more than 400 separate online platforms to pump out “poisonous” content last year.

      In February the Home Office unveiled new technology that aims to automatically detect terrorist material before it hits the web.

      Earlier this month the head of GCHQ revealed that the agency had conducted a “major offensive cyber campaign” against ISIS, also known as Daesh.

      As previously reported, ISIS’ efforts to produce gruesome murder videos have been curbed after it lost its main media hub after the brutal battle for Raqqa last year.

      The group’s terror output has plummeted since Raqqa – their de facto capital – was captured by Kurdish led forces.

      Several key members of the terrorists’ media team are believed to have perished in the fall of the city.

      https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6156687/isis-propaganda-amaq-europol-cyber-raid/
      ===============================================

      Latest islamic state video

  3. Bosnian ex-general, 12 others suspected of war crimes (abcnews, Apr 27, 2018)
    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/senior-wartime-bosnian-officer-detained-war-crimes-54774561

    “Bosnian police detained a former Bosnian army commander and 12 other people Friday on suspicion of war crimes against Serb and Bosnian civilians and prisoners during the country’s deadly 1992-95 war.

    Atif Dudakovic and other commanders and members of the wartime Bosnian Army’s 5th Corps were detained in early morning raids in several towns, the Bosnian prosecutor’s office said. They are suspected of atrocities against mainly hundreds of Serbs in northwestern Bosnia, the statement said.

    It added the case against the group is based on hundreds of testimonies, video footage and other evidence…

    Reactions to Dudakovic’s arrest reflected Bosnia’s persisting ethnic divisions, with Muslim citizens criticizing the move and Serbs saying it is welcome, although late.

    The Muslim head of the country’s three-member Bosnian Presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic, warned against attempts to create “a false ethnic balance” in prosecuting war crimes. He said the arrests Friday were an “unnecessary humiliation” because the suspects have been cooperating with the investigation.

    Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik said the “relatives of the victims have been waiting for justice for 20 years.”…”

  4. Suffering for migrants in Libya ‘worse’ since fall-off in sea crossings (reuters, Apr 27, 2018?
    https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-migrants-libya/suffering-for-migrants-in-libya-worse-since-fall-off-in-sea-crossings-idUKKBN1HY1UM?rpc=401&

    “TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Conditions for migrants already suffering severe abuse in Libya have deteriorated further since a European-backed push to stop boat departures led to a sharp drop in the number of crossings to Italy, community representatives say.

    Migrants are being trapped for longer by armed groups that are trying to extort more money from them through torture, said two volunteers who work with migrant communities in the capital, Tripoli.

    Departures from Libya accelerated rapidly in 2014 as armed conflict spread, with more than 600,000 crossing the central Mediterranean in the past four years.

    But the number of mainly sub-Saharan African migrants reaching Italy has fallen sharply since last July, when a major smuggling group in the Libyan coastal city of Sabratha struck a deal to halt departures under Italian pressure and was then forced out in clashes.

    Libya’s EU-backed coastguard has also returned more migrants to Libya after intercepting them at sea.

    So far this year, just over 6,400 migrants have crossed from Libya to Italy, a drop of more than 80 percent compared to the same period last year, according to Italian interior ministry data.

    For those inside Libya the situation is “unbearable”, said Osman, a Sudanese community representative in Tripoli.

    “Before, it was possible that they took money and then left (the migrants. Now they take the money and then torture them with fire, with electricity.”

    “The torture has increased. The sea route is shut … if you can’t travel there’s more torture.”

    After losing secure camps on the coast where they used to hold migrants before sending them to sea, smugglers are operating further inland, particularly in desert areas around Bani Walid, about 145km (90 miles) southeast of Tripoli, said Khadija, an Eritrean long-term resident of Tripoli who volunteers to help African migrants.

    GANGS
    Like Osman, she asked only to be identified by her first name. Both were speaking at a community centre in Tripoli run by the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR.

    “They are gangs and (the migrants) are delivered from one gang to another. I take my share then you receive the migrant and take your share, and so on,” Khadija said, adding that they are asking for more money than before.

    The business is largely run by Libyan and east African smugglers, she said. Pictures or videos of torture are sent to families to pressure them into making money transfers from home countries.

    Since the clashes in Sabratha last September many migrants who were held in government-run detention centres have been repatriated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), or through bilateral flights.

    UNHCR has also begun resettling small numbers of refugees and evacuating others through Niger, though the Niger evacuations have been suspended because of delays in resettlement to European countries.

    But hundreds of thousands of other migrants reside openly in Libya or are held by smuggling networks or for forced labour, often in dire conditions.

    Aid workers say the health of migrants passing through the Bani Walid area has deteriorated, including cases of malnutrition and active tuberculosis.

    A safe house in Bani Walid that takes in migrants who are so weakened from illness or abuse that they are abandoned by smugglers, has received more than 3,000 migrants since it was set up 14 months ago.

    On a recent Sunday, about a dozen sub-Saharan African migrants were sitting or squatting in a courtyard, some with serious injuries from their journeys or from smuggler abuse.

    Youssef, a 24-year-old from Senegal staying at the shelter, said he had been held for three months in a hidden prison outside Bani Walid before his parents managed to raise $1,500 to get him released.

    “We were beaten, given electric shocks, we didn’t have anything to eat,” he said. “There were people who died in there.””

  5. Berkeley Discrimination Suit Survives Legal Challenge
    Judge refuses to throw out lawsuit about UC Berkeley’s discrimination against conservative speakers.
    April 27, 2018
    Matthew Vadum

    The University of California at Berkeley’s thuggish request to throw out an important civil rights lawsuit that could hold the school accountable for its blatant viewpoint discrimination that involves slapping unreasonable restrictions and fees on appearances by conservative speakers like David Horowitz and Ann Coulter was refused this week by the federal judge hearing the case.

    It has long been known that the administration at UC Berkeley only pretends to adhere to the First Amendment’s speech protections. When conservatives are scheduled to speak on campus the administration typically doesn’t forbid their appearances. Instead, it makes the speeches inconvenient to the point of impossibility, requiring the use of venues a mile off campus at times when students can’t attend.

    This bears more than a passing resemblance to the shadow-banning practices of social media giants like Twitter and Facebook that secretly limit politically disfavored users’ reach online. It’s ugly, Orwellian stuff but that’s what the Left is all about today.

    But Twitter and Facebook are private for-profit businesses so when they push conservatives around and arbitrarily punish them the First Amendment isn’t implicated. Not so with UC Berkeley, which as a taxpayer-supported university must abide by the First Amendment or suffer legal consequences.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/270011/berkeley-discrimination-suit-survives-legal-matthew-vadum

  6. CNN – Whistleblower: We tested messaging on Putin

    In an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, former Cambridge Analytica employee turned whistleblower Christopher Wylie said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was the only foreign leader they did message testing on while Wylie worked there before the 2016 election.

    • the daily caller -EXCLUSIVE: Read The Strzok-Page Texts The DOJ Handed Over To Congress

      The Daily Caller News Foundation has obtained the missing text messages the Department of Justice released to members of Congress between two former FBI employees who were highly critical of President Donald Trump.

      The text messages are between FBI special agent Peter Strzok and FBI counsel Lisa Page, who were in an ongoing, intimate relationship. The Justice Department was able to recover the text messages, which were exchanged between Dec. 16, 2017 and May 23, 2017, after they were believed to be missing from a technological failure on the part of FBI-issued cell phones.

      What the Justice Department released Thursday evening comprises 49 pages, or around 300 text messages.

      Many of the text messages in the 49 page release are shorthand and are not entirely clear to the outside interpreter. The congressional committees that obtained the messages Thursday will likely siphon through them to see if, as GOP lawmakers currently believe, there is any evidence of political bias on the part of Strozk and Page.

      Strzok was the chief investigator during the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and, notably, watched over the FBI’s investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election.

      A group of House Republicans are calling for the Department of Justice to investigate Strzok and Page for their potential involvement in a potential interference scheme in the Clinton private email case.

      A number of the text messages released thus far between Strzok and Page have caused congressional Republicans to raise their eyebrows.

      For example, Strzok told Page that he wanted to have an “insurance policy” in the off chance that Trump defeated Clinton in the 2016 election.

      http://dailycaller.com/2018/04/27/read-the-strozk-page-texts-in-full/

      ===========================================
      https://fr.scribd.com/document/377540616/PS-LP-Text-Messages-Dec-2016-May-2017

      ===============================================

      • Before they agree to go home, the Rohingya have some demands

        And a pony!

    • Freeland expected to travel to Bangladesh, visit Rohingya refugee camp in May

      Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is expected to travel to Bangladesh at the beginning of May, where she is hoping to visit a Rohingya refugee camp and witness firsthand the effects of the displacement of nearly 700,000 members of the Muslim minority from Myanmar.

      The Globe and Mail confirmed that Canada’s Special Envoy to Myanmar, Bob Rae, is scheduled to join Ms. Freeland in Bangladesh, where she plans to attend the Organization of Islamic Co-operation meeting of foreign ministers on May 5 and 6. Although the trip is still in the planning stages, senior government officials confirmed that Ms. Freeland will not visit neighbouring Myanmar.

      The minister’s current itinerary, therefore, does not include a meeting with the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, an honorary Canadian citizen and Nobel laureate who has come under fire for her handling of the Rohingya crisis. Ms. Freeland, along with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mr. Rae, met with Ms. Suu Kyi last November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Vietnam.

      Ms. Freeland is aiming to visit a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh during her visit, the official said. The hilly, sprawling and crowded camps – some of the largest in the world ? are located near the Myanmar border, mostly in Cox’s Bazaar. The region is currently in its cyclone season, creating fears that heavy rains could wash away parts of the camps at any moment, worsening the already dire situation.

      John Kirton, a University of Toronto international-relations professor and expert on the Group of Seven, said Ms. Freeland has made the Rohingya crisis one of her personal foreign-policy priorities. He said he was not surprised to hear that the minister would not be visiting Myanmar, since the optics of meeting with the country’s military – which led the crackdown on Rohingya in Rakhine state – would not be good.

      “It would be difficult to go there and not go to the local areas, where the Rohingya still live, and there you would be totally controlled by the Myanmar military. So it would be either a sanitized … version of what you’d see, and you would be implicitly condoning the Myanmar generals’ side of the story,” Prof. Kirton said.

      News of the minister’s expected trip comes after Mr. Rae, a former Ontario premier and Liberal MP, published a report on the Rohingya crisis earlier this month. The report called on Canada to lead an international effort to investigate “clear evidence” that crimes against humanity were committed against the minority group ? a crisis Mr. Rae says bears the hallmarks of a genocide. He said that the investigation should not exclude any Myanmar officials – even Ms. Suu Kyi.

      Mr. Rae also urged the Canadian government to push for the Rohingya crisis to be addressed at multiple international forums, including the Organization of Islamic Co-operation foreign ministers’ meeting in Dhaka in May and during Canada’s presidency of the G7.

      Canada is playing host to G7 foreign affairs and security ministers in Toronto until Tuesday, ahead of the leaders’ summit in Charlevoix, Que., this June.

      The most recent violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state began in August, 2017, after Rohingya insurgents attacked police posts and an army base. Myanmar’s military responded with a violent crackdown, triggering an exodus of Rohingya to neighbouring Bangladesh. Ms. Suu Kyi and the country’s military have come under international pressure to end the violence, but she has little or no control over the military under the constitution.

      In response to the crackdown, Canada targeted Major-General Maung Maung Soe – the former head of the Myanmar army’s Western Command who allegedly led a clearance effort in Rakhine state – under its new “Magnitsky” sanctions law aimed at human-rights abusers. Canada has also provided more than $45-million in humanitarian assistance for Myanmar and Bangladesh since the beginning of 2017.

      The Rohingya crisis is one of many topics up for discussion at the G7 summit under way in Toronto; Ms. Freeland discussed the matter with her counterparts on Sunday afternoon.

      The minister kicked off the day by holding a working brunch with her counterparts, plus Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, at her Toronto townhouse on Sunday morning, where they discussed the situation in Ukraine.

      Ms. Freeland then chaired a meeting of non-G7 female foreign ministers at the University of Toronto, where she announced that Canada will co-host, along with the European Union, a meeting of all female foreign ministers in September. She also held closed-door meetings at the U of T with her counterparts on Russia, the Middle East, North Korea, Venezuela and China.

      https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-freeland-expected-to-travel-to-bangladesh-visit-rohingya-refugee-camp/

      • The truth!
        Red-Green are giving birth to the next ‘Palestinian’.
        => Freeland-Frankenstein <=
        ~~ Let this freak be stillborn.~~
        Another fiendish hoax brought to us by the same nefarious forces.
        We need this like another Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afgh…

  7. Byron York: Is Comey telling the truth about his memos?As he presses on with his bookselling tour, fired FBI Director James Comey is leaving a trail of confusing statements about how he handled the memos he wrote after conversations with President Trump, including the memo he leaked for the purpose of creating momentum for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the president.

    It has been generally understood that Comey, who says he wrote some of the seven memos on a secure FBI laptop and others on his personal computer at home, gave four of the memos to a friend, law professor Daniel Richman. Fox News reported the number of four memos back in July, 2017, and the Wall Street Journal reported it as recently as this month. “Mr. Comey gave four total memos to his friend Daniel Richman, a former federal prosecutor who is now a professor at Columbia Law School, people familiar with the matter said,” the Journal reported on April 20.

    In addition, the FBI has recently confirmed the four memos number to congressional committees, according to sources familiar with the matter.

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/byron-york-is-comey-telling-the-truth-about-his-memos

  8. North Korea May Have Already Unleashed a Global Nuclear Disaster

    As the world prepares for talks aimed at denuclearizing North Korea, scientists report the dictatorship may have already unleashed a worldwide nuclear threat.

    “North Korea’s mountain nuclear test site has collapsed, putting China and other nearby nations at unprecedented risk of radioactive exposure, two separate groups of Chinese scientists studying the issue have confirmed,” The South China Morning Post reports.

    “One group of researchers found that the most recent blast tore open a hole in the mountain, which then collapsed upon itself,” the SCMP reports.

    Observers have speculated for months the Mount Mantap site at Punggye-ri was near collapse, and there were unconfirmed reports in 2017 of a series of massive tunnel collapses killing hundreds of North Korean laborers.
    Read more at http://americanactionnews.com/articles/north-korea-may-have-already-unleashed-a-global-nuclear-disaster#uCxqrP0QqzVxIHvG.99

      • Omniscient Twitter-Meister Wictor reveals it was a Gulf Arab special ops hit. Yet ANOTHER GCC SuperMan feat. With elaborate details that are patently ridiculous.

        He keeps spewing this stuff, mixed with tweets telling us all the things we’d like to hear about the Trump Administration. Which makes me really uncomfortable…

        • I don’t do twitter so unless they are posted here I don’t see them but if he is pushing BS like that you should be uneasy.

          Could be disinformation for the stupid but is probably something very different.

      • Thank you, Richard.

        One way or another, Red China has to be badgered into resolving this issue. Maybe some cancer clusters will inspire them.

  9. Al Jazeera TV Host Advocates Expulsion Of Jews From Israel

    Joshua Gill on April 23, 2018
    Republish
    Reprint

    Al Jazeera TV host Jamal Rayyan advocated on video for an expulsion of Jews from Israel and for Islamic jihad in defense of Palestinians.

    Rayyan posted the video of his comments on Youtube in March, questioning why Palestinians “have to die” and “fight on behalf of the Arabs.” Islamic jihad, Hamas (which is a designated terror group) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ensured the survival of Palestine, he said. Palestine would “spew out” the “Zionist entity” of Israel like the sea spews out foreign objects, he claimed.

    “By Allah, if not for the Al-Aqsa Brigades and the PFLP, they (Palestinians Arabs) would be trampled underfoot,” Rayyan said. “If not for Hamas, they would be slaves. If not for the Islamic jihad, they would become dust.”

    “Palestine will return,” Rayyan added. “Palestine is like the sea. It will spew out that which is foreign … The Zionist entity is a foreign body on Palestinian and Arab land — foreign in terms of culture, language, religion, and traditional customs. They will never succeed in changing our identity. They are foreigners, and foreigners are destined to be expelled by their surroundings. They will go back to where they came from.”

    Rayyan’s comments are only the latest instance of antisemitism attributed to Al Jazeera staff. Al Jazeera posted an overtly antisemitic tweet to its English language twitter page in May 2017 and then deleted it. U.S. legislators also urged President Donald Trump’s administration to investigate the Qatar based news organization and forced the network to register as a foreign agent because of alleged undercover recordings of Israeli lobbyists that Al Jazeera reporters conducted for an exposé on how those lobbyists influence U.S. foreign policy.

    Representatives of Al Jazeera did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment by the time of publication.

    http://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2018/04/23/al-jazeera-tv-host-advocates-expulsion-of-jews-from-israel/

  10. Alfie Evans: Doctors Disagree with Doctors, Not Just with the Parents

    Popular reaction to the Alfie Evans case in Liverpool has fallen into the well-worn grooves of the culture war. People assume that their response to any number of earlier high-profile medical controversies involving a clash between parents and doctors will do in this case too. The dispute at Alder Hey Hospital did start as a disagreement between parents and doctors, but then it became a disagreement between doctors and doctors.

    Mind you, the pediatricians of Bambino Gesù in Rome have been professional and diplomatic. They point no fingers at Alder Hey. They merely offered to take the child and treat him after the Liverpool doctors had indicated their intent to remove life support. Alfie’s parents wanted to place him in the care of the Italian hospital. Alder Hey said no and refused to release him. The courts ruled in favor of Alder Hey and against the parents.

    https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/alfie-evans-doctors-disagree-on-treatment/

    • Razzia bei Identitären-Chef Martin Sellner

      Die Staatsanwaltschaft bestätigte jetzt landesweite Hausdurchsuchungen bei den “Identitären”. Die Vorwürfe gegen die Bewegung sind schwerwiegend.

      Martin Sellner, Chef der sogenannten “Identitären” in Österreich, steht laut eigenen Angaben im Fadenkreuz der Grazer Staatsanwaltschaft. Wie der 29-Jährige auf dem Kurznachrichtendienst Twitter mitteilte, fand am Freitag eine Hausdurchsuchung in seiner Privatwohnung statt. Hintergrund seien Ermittlungen wegen des Verdachts der Bildung einer kriminellen Vereinigung.

      Demzufolge hätten die Beamten Dokumente und Datenträger beschlagnahmt. Die Wohnungstür sei mit Hilfe eines Schlüsseldienstes “aufgebrochen” worden. Auch die Wohnung des prominenten Identitären Patrick Lenart sowie Büroräume habe man durchsucht. Eine ungarische Bank habe unterdessen ein Spendenkonto der Organisation gekündigt.

      Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelt wegen Verdacht auf “Bildung einer kriminellen Vereinigung.”

      Die Staatsanwaltschaft bestätigte jetzt die Hausdurchsuchungen bei Mitgliedern der Identitären Bewegung. Dr. Christian Kroschl erklärt im Gespräch mit “Heute”, dass es österreichweit in mehreren Bundesländern zu insgesamt 10 Hausdurchsuchungen im Auftrag des LKA-Graz an privaten Adressen und in Geschäftslokalen gekommen sei. Der Grund für diese Maßnahmen? Die Staatsanwaltschaft bestätigte, dass gegen die Identitären Bewegung gleich aus mehreren Gründen ermittelt werde. Die schwerwiegenden Vorwürfe der Staatsanwaltschaft Graz beinhalten die Bildung einer kriminellen Vereinigung, den Verdacht auf Verhetzung, sowie diverse Sachbeschädigungen, die durch Mitglieder der Bewegung entstanden seien sollen.

      “Gefängnis wegen Islam-Kritik”

      In einem weiteren, auf Englisch verfassten Tweet, stellte Sellner die Hausdurchsuchung mit seiner Kritik am Islam in Verbindung. Man wolle, so die eilig gewobene Theorie, die Mitglieder der Identitären wegen “friedlicher Kritik” an der Religion “für bis zu drei Jahre ins Gefängnis stecken”.

      http://www.heute.at/politik/news/story/Martin-Sellner-Identitaere-Hausdurchsuchung-53945859

      ==============================================
      Hausdurchsuchung bei Identitären-Chef

      Zudem wurde das Spendenkonto der rechtsextremen Gruppe gesperrt.
      Identitären-Chef Martin Sellner kommt einfach nicht zur Ruhe. Nachdem der selbsternannte Patriot in den letzten Wochen mehrfach an der Einreise nach England gehindert wurde, wurde jetzt seine Wohnung von der Polizei durchsucht. Das schreibt die Identitäre Bewegung auf Facebook.

      Demnach wurden die Wohnungen von Sellner und Patrick Lenart sowie die Büros der Identitären durchsucht. “Dabei wurden unter anderem Datenträger und Dokumente beschlagnahmt, die für unsere politische Arbeit extrem wichtig sind. Zusätzlich kündigte aufgrund dieses Drucks gestern Nacht auch die ungarische Bank unser Spendenkonto”, schreiben sie auf Facebook.

      “Diesen Maßnahmen gegen uns liegen Ermittlungen der Grazer Staatsanwaltschaft zugrunde, in welchen der Identitären Bewegung im Wesentlichen unterstellt wird, sie sei eine kriminelle Vereinigung. Wir weisen diese Vorwürfe auf das Entschiedenste zurück! Unser politischer Aktivismus ist nämlich immer friedlich und bewegt sich im demokratischen und rechtsstaatlichen Rahmen, obwohl wir ständig mit dem Hass und der Gewalt unserer politischen Gegner konfrontiert sind. Zuletzt wurden sogar Autos abgefackelt und Aktivisten mit Eisenketten attackiert”, heißt es weiter.

      http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/Hausdurchsuchung-bei-Identitaeren-Chef-Martin-Sellner/331519662

      =============================================

      Autriche: des “identitaires” dans le viseur de la justice

      Belga) Des perquisitions ont été menées aux domiciles de membres du Mouvement identitaire d’Autriche, un groupe d’extrême droite visé par une enquête préliminaire, selon le parquet de Graz cité vendredi par la presse autrichienne.

      Les perquisitions ont concerné notamment le domicile d’un des chefs de file de ce groupuscule en Autriche, Martin Sellner. Cet activiste a récemment revendiqué sa participation à l’action symbolique menée dimanche près de la frontière franco-italienne par quelques dizaines de membres du mouvement français Génération identitaire, qui ont affiché leur hostilité aux migrants empruntant ce passage alpin.

      Le parquet de Graz a indiqué au quotidien Standard avoir ouvert une enquêté préliminaire pour “constitution d’un groupe criminel” et pour discrimination, à propos des activités de cette mouvance en Autriche. Au total, six domiciles ainsi que quatre locaux liés à ce groupe ont été perquisitionnés, notamment à Graz. Martin Sellner a déploré sur son compte twitter la saisie de “documents” et de “données” lors de ces perquisitions. Ce militant d’extrême droite de 29 ans s’est fait connaître dans quelques actions coup de poing organisées ces dernières années en Autriche contre l’accueil de demandeurs d’asile dans le pays. (Belga)

      https://www.rtl.be/info/monde/europe/autriche-des-identitaires-dans-le-viseur-de-la-justice-1017065.aspx

    • Razzien bei der österreichischen Identitären Bewegung

      Ermittler haben Räume der völkischen Bewegung in österreichischen Städten durchsucht. Der Vorwurf lautet auf Bildung einer kriminellen Vereinigung und Verhetzung.

      Die österreichische Polizei ermittelt gegen führende Verantwortliche der Identitären Bewegung. Es bestehe der Verdacht der Bildung einer kriminellen Vereinigung und der Verhetzung nach den österreichischen Strafgesetzen, bestätigte der zuständige Staatsanwalt dem Standard. Die Razzien in sechs verschiedenen Privatwohnungen und vier Geschäfts- beziehungsweise Vereinslokalen in Graz, Wien, Linz und Griffen begannen demnach schon am Donnerstag. Am Freitag machte die Identitäre Bewegung Österreich das Vorgehen bekannt.
      Auch die Wohnungen der beiden Chefstrategen Martin Sellner und Patrick Lenart wurden durchsucht. In einem Posting auf Facebook schrieb die Bewegung, die Polizei habe “unter anderem Datenträger und Dokumente beschlagnahmt, die für unsere politische Arbeit extrem wichtig sind”. Wegen der Ermittlungen habe die ungarische Bank der Identitären ihr Spendenkonto gekündigt. Der politische Aktivismus der Identitären sei “immer friedlich und bewegt sich im demokratischen und rechtsstaatlichen Rahmen”, schrieben sie weiter.

      Die Identitäre Bewegung Österreich macht sich gegen Migration und für die Rückkehr aller Zuwanderer stark. Ein relativ kleiner Kreis von Vordenkern und PR-Managern erzielt über Facebook eine große Breitenwirkung. Auch in Deutschland ist sie aktiv und hat ein Netzwerk in zahlreichen Regionen geknüpft. Hier gibt es Verbindungen zur AfD. Würden die Ermittlungen in Österreich zur Anklage und Verurteilung führen, dürfte das Auswirkungen auf die Identitäre Bewegung auch in anderen Ländern haben. Denn die Strategen in Österreich beeinflussen die Szene in ganz Europa.

      Durch gezielte Aktionen weckten Aktivisten der Bewegung in den sozialen Netzwerken große Aufmerksamkeit. So besetzten sie das Brandenburger Tor in Berlin. Um gegen Migranten auf dem Mittelmeer Stimmung zu machen, charterte die Identitäre Bewegung im vergangenen Jahr ein Schiff, von dem Aktivisten regelmäßig Meldungen absetzten, unter anderem über die Arbeit der Seenotretter, die in dem Verein als Gegner und Schleuser betrachtet werden. Wegen der Aktion hatte der Bezahldienstleister PayPal deren Konto gekündigt.

      https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2018-04/oesterreich-identitaere-bewegung-kriminelle-vereinigung-verdacht-durchsuchung-martin-sellner

      ========================================

      twitter @Martin_Sellner

      Today my and @PatrickLenart s private flats were broken into and searched by austrian police. Also across they country they searched GI-offices and houses. An attorney wants to ban GI in Austria & put us up to 3 years in prison for critizing islam with peaceful actions.

      https://twitter.com/Martin_Sellner/status/989847985629655041

      • Were they orginizing and getting ready for the coming chaos or did the government move to tell them not to get ideas about getting ready for the chaos.

  11. How Democrats Suppressed the #MeToo Movement in the Party
    Threats, blacklisting and sex scandals in the feminist party.
    April 27, 2018
    Daniel Greenfield

    A funny thing happened to the #MeToo movement in the Democrat Party.

    While #MeToo burned a fiery trail through the media, leaving behind the wrecked careers of top talent, after suffering some initial losses, the Democrats built a firewall by ruthlessly targeting activists.

    Their approach was eerily similar to that of Harvey Weinstein. But they understood the political problem in a way that the movie mogul hadn’t. The Democrats didn’t go after the victims. Instead they made an example out of the activist female politicians within their own party who championed the accusations.

    And Harvey could only envy their track record.

    Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT), once a #MeToo advocate, is retiring and won’t run again. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who had built her 2022 brand on fighting sexual harassment and who had belatedly condemned Bill Clinton, abandoned her position after pressure from donors. And California Dems are preparing to finish off Cristina Garcia, an assemblywoman who had challenged their sexual harassment.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/269989/how-democrats-suppressed-metoo-movement-party-daniel-greenfield

  12. Carter Center Sued for Providing Support to Hamas
    Jimmy Carter’s unstinting hatred for Israel paved the way.
    April 27, 2018
    Robert Spencer

    The Washington Free Beacon reported Monday that the Zionist Advocacy Center is alleging in a suit that former President Jimmy Carter’s nonprofit organization, the Carter Center, “has used taxpayer funding to provide material support to international terrorist groups, including Hamas.” Given Carter’s longstanding and abundantly established hatred for the Jewish state, this allegation is no great shock. Nonetheless, the specter of an American President’s foundation funding a jihad terrorist group demonstrates how far we have fallen.

    The Zionist Advocacy Center further alleges that the Carter Center “received more than $30 million in taxpayer grants while violating federal statutes barring it from using the cash to provide material support to terror groups.” Not only that: “The plaintiffs maintain the Carter Center has violated the law by hosting designated terrorists at is facilities, as well as by providing various forms of assistance to the Palestinian terror group Hamas and other known terror entities.”

    No one who has watched Carter over the years can really be surprised. Back in 2008, Carter claimed that Hamas was prepared to accept the right of Israel to “live as a neighbor next door in peace.” He had no grounds for saying so, and it wasn’t remotely true, but this claim helped him perpetuate the fiction that the Israelis, not the Palestinians, were responsible for the failure of all peace talks and the ongoing tensions between the two.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/270008/carter-center-sued-providing-support-hamas-robert-spencer

  13. The Mueller Coup Bill is a Threat to the Constitution
    April 27, 2018
    Daniel Greenfield

    The Mueller coup bill which got out of the Senate Judiciary Committee has troubling implications even far beyond the politics of the moment.

    The idea of an independent prosecutor has always been controversial. Far too much power has already shifted away to the unelected officials of the judiciary and away from officials elected by voters. Democrats turned on the idea after the Starr-Clinton era, but now they would like to make the special counsel into a permanent institution at the discretion of any friendly federal judge.

    The bill doesn’t just empower an endless coup effort by Mueller and his team of Clinton/Obama allies. It provides for a dramatic power shift. It allows DOJ figures and judicial allies to launch a permanent investigation, much like the one aimed at Trump, that turns into an endless witch hunt.

    The Grassley amendment that was meant to provide some sort of limited check (but which never made it in) would have been little more than a face saving gesture. But even it couldn’t be tolerated.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/270013/mueller-coup-bill-threat-constitution-daniel-greenfield

  14. Yonge and Strong: multilingual graphics created to support Toronto van attack victims

    After this week’s Toronto van attack, Matthew Blackett, with the help of friends from all over the world, translated the phrase ”Yonge and Strong” into more than 20 languages. Blackett, publisher and co-founder of Spacing magazine, grew up in the neighbourhood where the attack took place and created the graphic to support the lives touched by Monday’s attack.

  15. Here Are The Republican Senators Who Voted for the Mueller Coup Bill
    April 27, 2018
    Daniel Greenfield

    This isn’t just an attack on Trump. It’s an attack on the Constitution.

    4 Republican senators voted to protect the Clinton-Mueller coup effort. The bill would prevent Mueller or a special prosecutor from being fired without, effectively, the approval, passive or active, of a Federal judge.

    With every committee Democrat backing the legislation, only one Republican was needed to secure passage.

    But they got four.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/270012/here-are-republican-senators-who-voted-mueller-daniel-greenfield

  16. Car ploughs into pedestrians outside Birmingham mosque – multiple injuries (express, Apr 27, 2018)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/952197/birmingham-news-car-crowd-mosque-shah-jalal-terror-ettington-road-police

    “A CAR has ploughed into pedestrians outside a mosque in Birmingham, leaving multiple people injured.

    The car crashed into two men outside Shah Jalal mosque on Ettington Road in Aston this afternoon before speeding away.

    Two people were hurt before the car, which is believed to be silver, accelerated away from the scene.

    Police are now hunting the driver and said they are not ruling “in or out” terror as a motive.

    Officers from West Midlands Police said they were called to the scene at about 2.15pm after they received reports that two men in their 20s had been hurt.

    Local people said two men were left covered in blood after the incident, with one victim being knocked on to the bonnet of a parked car, which police have since covered with a blue forensic tent.

    A worshipper who was attending prayers at the mosque said: “It was shocking to see the guys afterwards.

    “It was like something out of a movie and it was really, really shocking.”

    Community activist Desmond Jaddoo urged local people not to speculate about the motive for the incident, amid rumours that it may be linked to a dispute between groups of youths.

    Mr Jaddoo said: “It’s concerning what’s happened today. Two young men have been injured quite badly and it’s caused a lot of tension within the local community at present.

    “Clearly there is a need for calm. The police need to be allowed to conduct their investigations and personally I would urge anyone who knows anything about what has happened to contact the police.”

    The force said one was described as having sustained a head injury and the other as walking wounded after the car failed to stop.

    Detective Inspector Greg Evans, of force CID, said: “The investigation is at an early stage and we’re still trying to establish exactly what has happened.

    “At this time we have not ruled in or out the potential that this could be terror-related but we’re keeping an open mind until we have investigated further.

    “I’d really like to hear from anyone who has any information or CCTV of the incident or who may have dash cam footage.”

    If you have any information please call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

  17. Last Monday, the [New York State] Assembly announced two hearings on assisted suicide. … The new [proposed] wording means an ALS patient … or even someoen paralyzed in a car accident who is otherwise completely healthy, would be “eligible” for hospice “care” … even if they could live for decades with proper treatment. published 4/20/2018
    https://issuu.com/jewishpress.com/docs/jp042018_low/12

  18. Erdogan Accuses Turkish Opposition of Receiving Money From Abroad (sputniknews, Apr 27, 2018)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201804271063979134-erdogan-opposition-funding-abroad/

    “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) of receiving funding from abroad, including from famous investors like US-Hungarian billionaire George Soros.

    “We know very well who these people are [CHP] and where they receive the money from. They have a lot of Soroses,” Erdogan said at his party’s meeting.

    The Turkish leader also criticized CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu because he continuously criticized the president but refrained from running for president himself…”

  19. Institutions Prioritised ‘Reputation of Political Leaders’ over Child Welfare, Warns Sex Abuse Inquiry (breitbart, Apr 27, 2018)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/04/27/institutions-prioritised-reputation-political-leaders-child-welfare/

    “Institutions are putting their reputations above the safety of vulnerable children who are being sexually exploited, an inquiry has found.

    “The inquiry considers that all too often institutions are prioritising the reputation of political leaders or the reputation of their staff, or avoiding legal liability, claims or insurance implications, over the welfare of children and tackling child sexual abuse,” an interim report by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has found.

    The IICSA is examining cases of sexual abuse by “people of public prominence” in Westminster and any potential cover-ups; mass child sexual exploitation (CSE) by Muslim grooming gangs; abuse of children during the post-WW2 child migration programme; and child abuse in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, children’s homes, and other authorities.

    The interim report, published Wednesday, found that many respondents to the Inquiry’s Truth Project said they have “frequently stated that institutions deny responsibility for, or knowledge of, the abuse they suffered”.

    With regards to allegations of abuse against boys in Rochdale – after 40 men said they were attacked at Knowl View school, Cambridge House hostel, and elsewhere in the town between the early 1960s and mid-1990s – the Inquiry heard “senior leaders deny any responsibility for the lack of effective response to the sexual abuse of vulnerable boys.

    “This was despite compelling evidence and testimony indicating that they were aware that abuse was taking place,” the report noted.

    Some victims also told the inquiry that their abusers were people with “powerful friends and considerable influence” and “pillars of the community” and as such, child abuse was an unchallenged “open secret”.

    “The person I have described was well respected and a pillar of the local establishment ? a
    Headmaster, Justice of the Peace and Freemason,” one male victim told the “Have Your Say” section of the Truth Project.

    “It was an open secret that he molested the boys in his charge. But like Jimmy Savile, he hid in plain sight,” the abuse survivor said.

    “Anyone who might have objected to his behaviour would have had the daunting task of taking on someone with powerful friends and considerable influence. All child molesters are lowlifes. But some are lowlifes in high places.”

    The interim report also found that, like with victims of Muslim grooming gangs in Telford, Rotherham, and Rochdale, victims were sometimes considered complicity in their own abuse and even called prostitutes…”

  20. Watch: Raheem Kassam, Tommy Robinson, Count Dankula, Lauren Southern Declare ‘Day for Freedom’ (breitbart, Apr 27, 2018)
    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/04/27/watch-tommy-robinson-count-dankula-raheem-kassam-others-declare-may-6th-day-freedom/

    “A large group of well-known right-wing political commentators, journalists and activists and politicians have shown their support for former English Defence League leader turned citizen journalist Tommy Robinson and his planned May 6th march to protest social media giant Twitter over free speech.

    The video, which shows various right-wing personalities first with their mouths taped shut and then removing the tape, includes many who have been at the centre of the free speech debate in the United Kingdom in recent months.

    Tommy Robinson, who is leading the May 6th protest, has been at the centre of the recent free speech movement for several months and was permanently banned from Twitter in late March after writing “Islam promotes killing people.”…”

    • MSNBC – Russian Lawyer At Trump Tower Meeting Had Close Ties To The Kremlin | Velshi & Ruhle | MSNBC

      • Mueller has shown no interest in talking to her, could he be afraid of what she might say?

    • the daily caller – Here Is The House Intel Committee’s Long-Awaited Russia Report

      The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Friday released a heavily-redacted 253-page report laying out the findings of its 14-month investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

      The report, which was authored by committee Republicans and approved for release on a party-line vote, asserts that the investigation “found no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated, or conspired with the Russian government.”

      But the report notes that “the investigation did find poor judgment and ill-considered actions by the Trump and Clinton campaigns.” It singles out Trump associate’s contacts with Russian nationals and groups like Wikileaks during the campaign.

      The committee also released a 99-page rebuttal written by Democrats upset with Republican members’ handling of the Russia investigation. Democrats, led by California Rep. Adam Schiff, claim that Republicans failed to interview relevant witnesses or to issue subpoenas that might uncover evidence of Trump campaign collusion.

      The committee, which is chaired by Republican California Rep. Devin Nunes, conducted 73 witness interviews for the investigation and reviewed 308,000 documents.

      The investigation, which was formally opened on Jan. 25, 2017, looked into four main areas: Russian active measures; intelligence related to any links between Russian operatives and political campaigns; the U.S. government’s response to Russia’s attempts to infiltrate the political system; and leaks of classified information from the intelligence community.

      http://dailycaller.com/2018/04/27/house-intelligence-russia-report/

      ======================================
      https://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hpsci_-_declassified_committee_report_redacted_final_redacted.pdf

      =======================================

    • CNN – Russian lawyer from Trump Tower meeting: I am an informant

      ( 23 min 24 )

      CNN’s Erin Burnett questions the implications of Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who met with Trump campaign associates in 2016, admitting that she was an informant.

    • MSNBC – Key Russian In Trump Tower Meeting Is A Kremlin ‘Informant’

      ( 15 min 10 )

      Newly uncovered emails reveal a Russian Lawyer at the 2016 Trump Tower meeting lied about her ties to the Kremlin. NBC’s Richard Engel joins Ari Melber to discuss his interview with the lawyer, Veselnitskaya, in which she admitted to being a Russian government “informant”.

  21. Declassified Congressional Report: James Clapper Lied About Dossier Leaks To CNN
    A newly declassified report on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections reveals that former intelligence chief James Clapper lied to Congress about information he shared with CNN on the infamous Steele dossier.
    APRIL 27, 2018 By Sean Davis
    Buried within a newly declassified congressional report on Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections is a shocking revelation: former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper not only leaked information about the infamous Steele dossier and high-level government briefings about it to CNN, he also may have lied to Congress about the matter.

    http://thefederalist.com/2018/04/27/house-intel-report-james-clapper-lied-dossier-leaks-cnn/

  22. German chancellor Angela Merkel hit by vicious poster campaign showing her in a NAZI uniform beside Hitler and attacking car giant Volkswagen
    A group calling itself the Art Wing Conspiracy put up posters overnight with pointed attacks on Angela Merkel and the Volkswagen corporation
    One pictures Merkel in the back seat of a VW with Adolf Hitler and criticizes her for allowing Middle Eastern ‘rape-fugees’ into Germany
    Another pictures her in a Nazi uniform, pushing a button to operate a gas chamber for monkeys
    VW admitted this year that it conducted car-exhaust experiments on primates
    Company was fined $2.8 billion last year for equipping cars with devices to generate fake emissions test scores
    Germany has seen a rise in violent crime at the same time as more than 1 million immigrants have claimed refugee status when Merkel said they were welcome
    On New Year’s eve 2015, about 1,200 women were raped in Germany by around 2,000 men
    Merkel, the German chancellor, is meeting with President Trump on Friday; the artists want him to stand firm on tariffs that would penalize VW
    Their identity is a mystery but artwork on Twitter identifies them with imagery tied to the ‘alt-right’ political movement

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5665887/Street-artists-slam-Merkel-VW-emissions-scandal-rape-fugees.html

  23. A large group of well-known right-wing political commentators, journalists and activists and politicians have shown their support for former English Defence League leader turned citizen journalist Tommy Robinson and his planned May 6th march to protest social media giant Twitter over free speech.
    The video, which shows various right-wing personalities first with their mouths taped shut and then removing the tape, includes many who have been at the centre of the free speech debate in the United Kingdom in recent months.

    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/04/27/watch-tommy-robinson-count-dankula-raheem-kassam-others-declare-may-6th-day-freedom/

  24. Sen. Ted Cruz took to Twitter to explain the plight of U.K. toddler Alfie Evans and to warn Americans about the dangers of “socialized medicine.”
    In a tweetstorm Wednesday, the Republican senator from Texas described Alfie’s situation from his birth and subsequent illness, to the refusal of both the U.K. and European courts to allow Alfie’s parents to pursue treatment for him at a Vatican hospital:

    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/04/26/sen-ted-cruz-makes-plea-for-alfie-evans-warns-against-socialized-medicine/

  25. Donald J. Trump
    ?
    Verified account

    @realDonaldTrump
    Follow Follow @realDonaldTrump
    More
    Is everybody believing what is going on. James Comey can’t define what a leak is. He illegally leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION but doesn’t understand what he did or how serious it is. He lied all over the place to cover it up. He’s either very sick or very dumb. Remember sailor!

    https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/989813047773614080

  26. CONFIRMED: Former Feinstein Staffer Raised $50 Million, Hired Fusion GPS And Christopher Steele After 2016 Election
    A declassified congressional report confirms that Daniel Jones, a former intelligence committee staffer for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, hired Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele to push the Russian collusion narrative against Donald Trump.
    APRIL 27, 2018 By Sean Davis
    A declassified congressional report confirms prior reporting by The Federalist that Daniel Jones, a former staffer for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), hired Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele after the 2016 election to push the anti-Trump Russian collusion narrative.

    According to the report, Jones, who runs an investigative outfit called the Penn Quarter Group (PQG), told the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in March of 2017 that he had retained the services of Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele to “continue exposing Russian interference” in the 2016 election. Steele is the former British spy who authored the infamous unverified dossier of allegations against President Donald Trump.

    http://thefederalist.com/2018/04/27/confirmed-former-feinstein-staffer-hired-fusion-gps-christopher-steele/

  27. Yascha Mounk: Orbán’s Hungary, Illiberal Democracy, & Populism

    Harvard’s Yascha Mounk describes how populists work to make democratic nations “illiberal.” He says this process is almost complete in Viktor Orbán’s Hungary.

  28. BREAKING: Manhunt for AXEMAN ‘at-large’ in Toronto – One victim injured (express, Apr 28, 2018)
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/952366/Toronto-axeman-Canada-markham-road-eglinton-avenue-police-news-latest

    “A MANHUNT is underway after reports of an axeman on the loose in Markham Road, Eglinton Avenue in Toronto with one victim confirmed so far.

    The Toronto police Twitter account said: “Person with a Knife: Markham Rd/ Eglinton Avenue.

    “Reports of a person with an axe in the area. Unconfirmed. Our units are responding.”

    Units found a male victim with a hand injury which is allegedly from the axe.

    The axe has been located but the suspect is at-large.

    A spokesman from the Toronto police said it is believed the incident was an altercation between and it is not terror-related.

    The news comes days after a van attack which killed 10 people.

    One of the first victims of the Toronto van attack has been identified as Anne-Marie D’Amico.

    She was an employee at Invesco, a US-based investment management firm, whose office’s headquarters were located on Yonge Street, less than a kilometre away where the attack occurred.

    Her family have been informed.

    More to follow…”