Reader’s Links, May 11, 2018

Daily Links Post graphic

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

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

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

About Eeyore

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

138 Replies to “Reader’s Links, May 11, 2018”

  1. Florida School Shooting Story Changes Again | Broward County, Nikolas Cruz and The Truth

      • Listen closely and you will hear three or four homages to Jimi Hendrix in the song. According to Brown, the design of his “gitsteel” came to him in a dream. All I know is that this guy’s playing style is stranger than a snake’s suspenders …

  2. Roy Rogers sings “DON’T FENCE ME IN” in “Hollywood Canteen” with TRIGGER

  3. “Rush Limbaugh Podcast Friday – May 11, 2018”
    Wish Dixon – Published on May 11, 2018
    27:08…29:35 🙂 …

  4. Chief Inspector Unexpectedly Quits UN Nuclear Watchdog

    The chief inspector of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has resigned from the agency that conducts inspections in Iran to verify compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.

    The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) made the announcement on May 11, but gave no reason for Tero Varjoranta’s unexpected departure.

    The move comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal between Iran and world powers that provided Tehran with relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

    It is not known whether the U.S. move played any role in Varjoranta’s decision.

    Varjoranta, a Finn, had since 2013 been a deputy director-general of the IAEA and head of its Department of Safeguards, which verifies countries’ compliance with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

    The IAEA said he will be replaced in an acting capacity by Massimo Aparo, head of the department’s Iran team.

    Trump on May 8 pulled the United States out of the nuclear deal, signed under his predecessor, Barack Obama.

    The president has called the accord a “terrible” deal for the United States and accused Tehran of violating the “spirit” of the pact by continuing to test ballistic missiles and by supporting militant activity in the region.

    Tehran has said its nuclear program is strictly for civilian use and denies supporting extremists in the Middle East.

    Co-signees Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China had urged Washington to remain a part of the deal, saying it was the best way to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

    The IAEA has also repeatedly defended the agreement, saying it is a step forward in the global system of nuclear verification.

    https://www.rferl.org/a/chief-inspector-unexpectedly-quits-un-nuclear-watchdog/29221914.html

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

    reuters – U.N. nuclear watchdog’s inspections chief quits suddenly

    VIENNA (Reuters) – The chief of inspections at the U.N. nuclear watchdog has resigned suddenly, the agency said on Friday without giving a reason.

    The departure of Tero Varjoranta comes at a sensitive time, three days after the United States announced it was quitting world powers’ nuclear accord with Iran, raising questions as to whether Tehran will continue to comply with it.

    Varjoranta, a Finn, had been a deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency and head of its Department of Safeguards, which verifies countries’ compliance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, since October 2013. He will be replaced in an acting capacity by the head of the department’s Iran team, the Vienna-based IAEA said.

    “Mr Tero Varjoranta has resigned effective 11 May 2018,” an IAEA spokesman said. “The director general has appointed Mr Massimo Aparo, acting director, Office for Verification in Iran, as acting deputy director general and head of the Department of Safeguards, effective immediately.”

    The accord signed by Iran and major powers in 2015 imposed strict limits on Iran’s atomic activities to help ensure they are not put to developing nuclear bombs in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against Tehran.

    The IAEA is policing those restrictions and said on Wednesday, the day after Trump’s announcement, that Iran was still implementing its commitments under the deal.

    The U.N. watchdog has also repeatedly defended the landmark agreement, saying it is a gain for nuclear verification.

    “The agency’s safeguards activities will continue to be carried out in a highly professional manner,” the spokesman said.

    Asked why Varjoranta had resigned, he said: “The agency cannot comment on personnel matters, which are confidential.” IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano plans to appoint a permanent replacement as soon as possible, he added.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-nuclear-official/un-nuclear-watchdogs-inspections-chief-quits-suddenly-idUSKBN1IC21P

  5. ’10 times larger than Hiroshima’: How North Korea’s huge nuclear blast caused a mountain to collapse

    Using sophisticated technology, scientists have compiled detailed radar data to show the devastating impact of North Korea’s largest underground nuclear test.

    The test took place beneath Mt. Mantap in the northern part of the country on Sept. 3, 2017, causing the mountain to collapse. Such was the force of the blast that the surrounding area was rocked like a 5.2-magnitude earthquake, according to the international team of experts.

    The underground nuclear blast pushed the surface of Mt. Mantap outward by as much as 11 feet and left the mountain about 20 inches shorter, they said. Experts based their analysis on regional and global seismic recordings, as well as before-and-after radar measurements of the mountain’s surface by Germany’s TerraSAR-X and Japan’s ALOS-2 radar imaging satellites.

    http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/05/11/10-times-larger-than-hiroshima-how-north-koreas-huge-nuclear-blast-caused-mountain-to-collapse.print.html

    • At some point, Beijing will need to take away their little cousins’ matches and keep them out of the powder magazine. It would be one of the only meaningful gestures that Red China could make. Everything else is pi ying (i.e., Chinese shadow puppetry).

      • I doubt if the Red Chinese want North Korea to have working nukes, but the also don’t want us to know this, they want to keep us tied down in the North giving them a freer hand in the south.

  6. After North Korea detonated a nuclear bomb inside a mountain, scientists watched it move

    When North Korea detonates nuclear bombs, it brings the devices into tunnels dug deep inside Mount Mantap, a granite peak over 7,000 feet tall. Mantap has now sustained six such detonations, with the last of which — set off on September 3, 2017 — moving the mountain more than 11 feet (3.5 meters), according to researchers who used space imaging technology, called synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, to map how much Mantap’s surface shifted and then settled back down during the blast. They published their results in the journal Science on Thursday.

    Although this technique isn’t yet used to rapidly detect attempts at secretive nuclear testing today, it could help do so in the future.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/north-korea-detonated-nuclear-bomb-180934097.html

  7. Saint-Denis – Ile-Saint-Denis: eleven young people arrested after a series of brawls.
    Four episodes of violence in different neighborhoods followed one another on Wednesday evening. Three people were slightly injured.

    Fighting with iron bars, baseball bats and projectile throwing. These violent clashes, between dozens of young people, took place Wednesday evening at Ile-Saint-Denis and Saint-Denis. Eleven people were arrested and three slightly wounded. The four episodes of violence took place in a short period of time, between 18:30 and midnight, in a very localized geographical area. Nevertheless a source close to the investigation says”We do not link these four events. This kind of confrontation is quite common in Seine-Saint-Denis “, .
    6:25 pm A brawl broke out in downtown Ile-Saint-Denis between some thirty people, some armed with baseball bats. in particular a 17-year-old is hit by fist and feet. His three attackers are arrested and placed in custody.

    18 h 50. Nearly fifty young people clash, rue Guynemer, at the bus station “Saint-Denis University”. Some are equipped with tear gas bombs, scobblestones and iron bars. One of them, armed with an airsoft pistol, is arrested when the police arrive. This Thursday afternoon, a CRS vehicle was parked in front of the buildings of Paris-8. “The fight lasted about fifteen minutes. They screamed and it ran everywhere. It was pretty violent. I saw one of the young people bleeding in the head, “says a witness on the scene.
    A 14 year old teenager was found a little further with the bloody skull. He was beaten with iron bars. He was taken to the Delafontaine hospital in Saint-Denis. His vital prognosis is not lifethreatening. “They are kids. They are 15 years old, and even less, says another witness, who lives in the neighborhood. They do this to let off steam, to show the muscles. They do not even know why they are fighting, I’m sure. They do not have a brain. The police arrived, and it was finished. ”

    9:35 pm Another violent brawl broke out at the corner of Boulevard Carnot and rue du 8 mai 1945 in Saint-Denis. Three men, among the forty participants, are arrested. Sticks and tear gas canisters are found on site.

    11.30 pm A man fires four times towards the sky, rue Eugène-Pottier, still in Saint-Denis. Alerted, the police discovered on arrival a man lying on the ground, beaten and sprayed with tear gas. Two men, riding a scooter, try to escape. They are quickly intercepted and placed in custody. A pellet gun was discovered, stored in the two-wheeler.

    This Thursday, calm returned to the streets of Saint-Denis. Despite the events, “no special measures” has been deployed. “There is no reason for these events to happen again,” says a source close to the survey.
    http://www.leparisien.fr/seine-saint-denis-93/saint-denis-l-ile-saint-denis-11-jeunes-interpelles-apres-une-serie-de-rixes-10-05-2018-7709403.php

    • There is no reason for these events to happen again,” says a source close to the survey.

      This idiot obviously has no clue about Muslims and Islam. Do Muslims really need a reason to be violent? Face the question squarely.

      • Islam locks its followers in the 7th Century AD, this was a very violent era and the barbaric cultures of the caravan raiding desert tribes that were drawn to Islam was more violent then most cultures of the time. Until some way is found to either bring the Islamic culture into the 21st Century or destroy Islam we will have to cope with their violence. Violence that will further the damage to civilization that the left has done in their goal of controlling the entire world.

  8. Assad accuses Erdogan of close ties to Muslim Brotherhood

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was asked by the US government to interfere in Syria when the terrorists lost control of different areas, Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad told Greek daily Kathimerini in a rare interview.

    Assad lashed out at Erdogan, saying that Turkey’s invasion in Syria was “an aggression, an occupation”.

    “Any single Turkish soldier on Syrian soil represents occupation. That doesn’t mean the Turkish people are our enemies. Only a few days ago, a political delegation visited from Turkey. We have to distinguish between the Turks in general and Erdogan,” Assad noted, adding that the Turkish president is affiliated with the terrorist organisation Muslim Brotherhood.

    “Maybe he’s not officially member, but his affiliation is toward that ideology, I call it this dark ideology. And for him, because, like the West, when the terrorists lost control of different areas, and actually they couldn’t implement the agenda of Turkey or the West or Qatar or Saudi Arabia, somebody had to interfere.”

    “This is where the West interfered through the recent attacks on Syria, and this is where Erdogan was assigned by the West, mainly the United States, to interfere, to make the situation complicated, again because, without this interference, the situation would have been resolved much faster,” Assad emphasised.

    Assad’s interpretation of why Erdogan started the “Olive Branch” military operation in Turkey is surprising. In Syria, Erdogan has his own agenda to prevent Kurds from creating a state at its borders. Moreover, the US-Turkey relations are very bad as a result of the refusal of Washington to extradite preacher Fethullah Gülen, whom Erdogan considers as mastermind of the failed 15 July 2016 coup.

    The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 by and Islamic scholar and teacher by the name of Hassan al-Banna. The supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is Mohamed Badie, who is currently in prison, having been sentenced to a number of life in prison and death sentences for a variety of charges.

    In 2012, the Muslim Brotherhood ran a candidate in the post-Arab Spring presidential elections in Egypt. Mohamed Morsi won the election and was Egypt’s first democratically elected leader until a coup by the Egyptian armed forces in 2013 overthrew and jailed him along with many individuals in the MB leadership. Erdogan was an outspoken supporter of Morsi.

    Other than Egypt, which is the birthplace of the Muslim Brotherhood, there are parties that can be considered offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood in a number of Arab countries, as they were inspired by the core tenets of MB ideology. These include Hamasin Palestine, the Ennahda party in Tunisia, and Kuwait’s Islamic Constitutional Movement.

    To date, the countries that have labelled the MB as a “terrorist organisation” are: Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates.

    https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/assad-accuses-erdogan-of-close-ties-to-muslim-brotherhood/

    ==================================================
    BREITBART – Assad: ‘We Are Fighting the Terrorists … Which Are the American Army’

    In an extensive interview published Thursday covering his ties to Iran, accusations of chemical weapons use, and a potential meeting with President Donald Trump, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad referred to the U.S. military as “terrorists,” alongside the Turkish and Saudi armies.

    Assad sat down with the journalists of Greece’s Kathimerini newspaper and answered a wide range of questions regarding the Syrian civil war and his continued control of Damascus.

    […]In the interview with Kathimerini, Assad’s position has evolved from claiming the United States supports terrorists to calling American soldiers terrorists themselves.

    Assad also accused the United States of helping the Islamic State by cooperating with the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ) to liberate Raqqa from ISIS control.

    “I think maybe the only mission accomplished was when they helped ISIS escape from Raqqa, when they helped them, and it was proven by video, and under their cover, the leaders of ISIS escaped Raqqa, going toward Deir Ezzor just to fight the Syrian Army,” Assad claimed. “While if you talk about fighting terrorism, we all know very clearly that the only mission the United States have been doing in Syria is to support the terrorists, regardless of their names, of the names of their factions.”

    Assad also had strong words for Erdogan, who he has called a “terrorist” on numerous occasions and who has used the epithet against Assad, as well.

    “Actually, since the very beginning of the war, Erdogan supported the terrorists,” Assad told Kathimerini. The Syrian dictator stated that Erdogan was “affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood,” stating that he did not know whether Erdogan was an official member of the group, “but his affiliation is toward that ideology, I call it this dark ideology.” His Islamist tendencies, Assad argued, made him a natural ally of Sunni terrorist groups.

    http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/05/11/assad-u-s-troops-terrorists/
    =============================================

    Assad’s exclusive interview with Kathimerini

    ( 10 min 35 ) ( in Eng )

    • I don’t know why, but the final epic fail scene was just plain funny.

      Otherwise, this is some serious genius at work. Battlefield robots will need exactly this combination of agility and control.

      • That they will, the robot mule to carry supplies and the robot soldier to take most of the casualties breaching the main defensive lines.

        A lot of people are getting scared of the current robots, I won’t fear them until/if true AI is developed, this has been a staple of SF for a long time but the closer to it we come the more I remember Frankenstein and the various books, movies and TV shows derived from the various legends of artificial humans of one kind or another. I fear the true AI as much or more then I fear surgically implanted computers connected to our brains.

        • I remember Frankenstein and the various books, movies and TV shows derived from the various legends of artificial humans of one kind or another.

          Now, did you actually read Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein”? The book’s plot is entirely different from the original Boris Karloff version. I believe there may have been a more recent production that was faithful to the book but I haven’t sen it.

          I fear the true AI as much or more than I fear surgically implanted computers connected to our brains.

          If you enjoy science fiction, consider reading the “Night’s Dawn” trilogy (The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist, and The Naked God) by Peter Hamilton. Occasionally hokey but never boring, the trilogy has an insanely wide plot arc.

          In it, is described what the author calls, “biotek”. The core component is a wireless, multi-petabyte chip that is implanted near the brain stem after puberty. This device then sends molecular tendrils into the brain and all cranial sensory organs.

          The net result is that, via recording and device storage, you become a perfect witness. Any moment of your life (post-implant) can be recalled and relived in perfect detail. You can surf the Internet on your retinas and receive silent audio input. Sleep learning is enabled to an unimaginable degree.

          Finally, every week (or more, depending upon finances), you drop by a massive server farm and download your implant chip. This is added to your life file and backed up elsewhere.

          You also have several clones of your young body made and kept in long-term storage.

          Now, here’s the jaw-dropper. In case of physical body death, they pop one of your clones into a fast-growth tank, grow it past puberty (or to a pre-specified age), implant the chip, download your life file into it and, Hey Presto! you are resurrected.

          This can be done indefinitely. In effect, it is human immortality“.

          Most authors would use Hamilton’s biotek as the centerpiece of their work. Hamilton treats it as part of the landscape and then sets about examining in earnest the social, moral, and cultural implications of biotek implants and maintaining a constant internal presence on the web.

          Even if reading his work does not persuade you that computer–brain interfaces have potential*, it will certainly give you a view of the other side (for your own arguments).

          * Try telling a quadriplegic who is finally navigating a brain-controlled wheelchair just how evil computer–brain interfaces are.

          • Yes I read Shelly, the story is very different form what is put on the movies.

            I will read your books when I can find them, I recommend the Loren Estelman “Sherlock Holmes v Dracula” there is a twist in that book I haven’t seen in any book or movie.

            • If you enjoy sci-fi, then definitely check out Stephen Baxter’s, “The Time Ships”. Officially authorized by the Wells Estate, his book is a pastiche of “The Time Machine”.

              It has an ending plot twist involving the eventual outcome of evolution and automation that is simply jaw-dropping. Almost all the rest of his work is, meh.

              If you enjoy truly classic fantasy—not all this modern swords, sorcerers, and dragons twaddle—please consider looking into such superb writers as Lord Dunsany (“The King of Elfland’s Daughter”), HP Lovecraft (“The Shadow out of Time”), George MacDonald, William Morris (one of the last true renaissance men), William Hope Hodgson (“The House on the Borderland”), Lin Carter, August Derleth, Hannes Bok, and Clark Ashton Smith (“City of the Singing Flame”).

              This last one, Smith’s “City of the Singing Flame”, has wording that is almost psychedelic. HP Lovecraft so respected Smith’s work that a character in one of his books is named, “Klar Kash Ton”. That’s pretty high praise in my book (so to speak).

              As another example, William Morris (“The Well at the World’s End”) invented the adult fairy tale and paved the way for JRR Tolkien. All of the above writers expanded the public’s imagination in ways that made possible the era of science fiction.

  9. CityNews Toronto -Confessed Isis killer ‘probably’ in Toronto: MP

    A Canadian man who claims who he fought and killed for Isis in Syria is “probably walking around the streets of Toronto,” said Conservative MP, Candice Bergen.

  10. Rape case from Esbjerg ends up in parliament.

    https://www.jv.dk/esbjerg/Voldtaegtssag-fra-shoppingcenter-i-Esbjerg-havner-i-Folketinget/artikel/2608569

    abstract.
    Denmark, Esjberg
    On March 31, two 14-year-old girls were allegedly raped and attempted raped at the toilets in Broen Shopping. The police arrested and charged a 16-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man, both of whom are Afghan citizens.
    There have been a custody , a closed court hearing and subsequently a detention.
    South and South Jutland police have not at any time announced to the public or the press ,on their own initiative, the incident nor the hearings
    Based on that case, the parliament will now focus on the silence of the police. It is DF’s, Danish People’s Party, legal spokesman Peter Kofoed Poulsen, who is raising the case……..
    There must be some openness for citizens and the press, and in this context the press is the citizens’ tool to orient themselves. The free press is a fundamental value in Denmark. At the same time, if the press’s opportunities for informing citizens are impaired, we risk at the same time that rumors and half truths that are difficult to control on social media are circulating, says Kofod Poulsen.

  11. ‘Dark forces’ of intolerance spreading in Indonesia, say parliamentarians (asiancorrespondent, May 11, 2018)
    https://asiancorrespondent.com/2018/05/dark-forces-of-intolerance-spreading-in-indonesia-say-parliamentarians/

    “PARLIAMENTARIANS from across Southeast Asia have warned of “dark forces” of intolerance in Indonesia, calling upon the government to act to counter rights abuses against minorities and restrictions on freedom of religion.

    Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) members from Thailand, Burma (Myanmar) and Indonesia concluded a four-day fact finding mission in Yogyakarta earlier this week, a city long reputed for being a tolerant melting pot of religions and cultures.

    In recent years, however, incidents involving attacks against religious minorities, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and other minority groups have risen significantly.

    In January, hardline Muslim groups harassed cafes and bars in a popular tourist street of Yogyakarta over the service of alcohol, later demanding that the city government shut down the cafes. The following month, a man wielding a sword attacked a church in Yogyakarta, injuring four people and slashing at the statue of Jesus.

    “The authorities must ensure that all faith communities are afforded equal protection and the freedom to worship and practice their religions,” said Eva Kusuma Sundari, a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives who led the delegation in a statement…”

  12. Saudi flag on German beer bottle cap disturbs Muslims (saudigazette, May 11, 2018)
    http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/534674/SAUDI-ARABIA/Saudi-flag-on-German-beer-bottle-cap-disturbs-Muslims

    “Muslims around the world have taken issue with the flagrant disregard of a German firm, which used the Saudi Arabian flag with the “Kalimat Al-Tawheed” on the cap of its beer bottle, and have bombarded the social media about this irreverent act.

    The Saudi Embassy in Berlin has also denounced the German company and has issued a statement saying it acted after being alerted of the issue through the social media, in which the news had become viral.

    The picture of the disrespectful act by the company was circulating in the social media with the bottle’s cap shown with the Saudi flag. The German firm “Eichbaum”, located in Mannheim city, published the flag of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the caps of one of its liquor products and triggered a firestorm of condemnation in Twitter.

    Most of the tweets railed against the company for hurting Muslims’ sentiments and sought the withdrawal of this product. Nearly every tweet ended with them commanding the company to tender an apology.

    #DostKhan in his tweet said: “In Germany an alcohol company Eichbaum Bier wrote Lailaheillallah Muhammad Rasulullah on the cap of the beer bottle to hurt muslims. Germany should take action & force this company to apologise for this actions or embrace (face) itself for all kinds of reaction from muslims.”

    @abu3ween tweeted: “In the doctrine of Islam, alcohol is one of the greatest sins. Putting the slogan of Saudi Arabia on this product is an insult to the Islamic religion. Please change your product and make an apology.”

    @Anthromarmalade in his tweet said: “Can you believe the insensitivity of the commercialists? Nothing is more important than selling their carcinogenic products and making a fast money (buck) at the expense of offending and destroying peoples health.”

    A German lady tweeting in German with the handle @DoraGezwitscher tried to make light of the situation stating: “A private brewery in Eichman printed the flags of 32 countries on their beer cap in celebration of the World Cup. One of the printed flags is Saudi Arabia. And that has caused outrage.”

    Some were pragmatic as was Abdullah Al-Amer who tweeted: “A judicial complaint must be lodged, the German company and the one who gave it permission should be taken to the court, named and shamed, and their names should be published in all international and local media.”

    @SBOUALILI (Kibriya Untha — A proud female) in her tweet said: “Kalimat Al-Tawheed” is Saudi Arabia’s flag on the covers of beer bottles in preparation for the Russian Mondial. First it is impermissible because it is on a liquor bottle. Secondly, when the bottle is opened the cover is thrown away in the garbage bin.”

    @slmaan51 (Jallad Shgurdi while replying to @Turki_alalshikh) said: “Peace be upon you, Your Excellency the adviser. Today the pictures of the liquor bottles went viral. They placed the Saudi flag when (with) “Allah and His Prophet” have (has) been mentioned on the flag. When people have finished drinking they will throw away the bottles’ cover (bearing the Saudi flag).”

    As the debate raged in the social media, the Saudi Embassy in its statement said that it immediately contacted the German authorities concerned and expressed its rejection and denunciation of this act by the company for placing the Kingdom’s flag, which bears “Kalimat Al-Tawheed” that “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet”.

    By doing this, the German company is desecrating “Kalimat Al-Tawheed” and is disrespecting the Saudi flag while sparking a provocation of Muslims’ feelings.

    The embassy said it is in contact with the German Foreign Ministry and other authorities concerned to stop the product, withdraw it from the markets and get an apology for the company’s act.”

    • German brewery scraps World Cup bottle caps after Saudi Arabia flag row (DW, May 11, 2018)
      http://www.dw.com/en/german-brewery-scraps-world-cup-bottle-caps-after-saudi-arabia-flag-row/a-43749186

      “A Mannheim brewery has apologized after printing 32 World Cup team flags on its beer bottles. Social media users took issue with the Islamic statement of faith — part of Saudi Arabia’s flag — being linked to alcohol.

      A local German brewery announced on Friday it was halting a marketing campaign tied to the World Cup after sparking outrage on social media.

      The Eichbaum brewery, located in the southwestern German city of Mannheim, printed the flags of each of the 32 World Cup national teams on its bottle caps to celebrate the upcoming soccer tournament.

      The inclusion of Saudi Arabia’s flag on the beer bottle caps, however, prompted numerous complaints on Facebook and Twitter.

      Many social media users noted that it was inappropriate to print the Islamic statement of faith — which is featured on Saudi Arabia’s flag — on an alcoholic beverage.

      The consumption of alcohol is banned in Saudi Arabia and many Muslims in other areas around the world also abstain from drinking alcohol.

      After consulting with local police and other authorities, Eichbaum said in a Facebook post on Friday that they’d stopped producing the World Cup bottle caps and that they were working to remove the Saudi Arabia bottles from stores.

      The brewery said the move was to “prevent further possible insults.”

      ‘Disrespecting Islam’

      Eichbaum initially sought to address the controversy in a letter addressed “Dear Muslims” that was posted on their Facebook page on Wednesday.

      “We are not interested in religious or political comments — certainly not on our products. If we have unintentionally offended you, we sincerely apologize,” the Wednesday post read.

      He added that the brewery wasn’t aware that Saudi Arabia’s flag contained the Islamic statement of faith.

      The initial post was eventually deleted but only after it accumulated some 1,355 comments, reported local newspaper Mannheimer Morgen.

      “The discussion around the Saudi Arabian bottle caps took on a form that overstepped the boundaries of freedom of expression,” Eichbaum wrote in its Friday post.

      The brewery’s Facebook page was also swamped with one-star reviews over the past few days due to the issue. Many stated in their reviews that Eichbaum’s marketing stunt was “disrespecting Islam just to sell alcohol.”

      Other one-star reviewers complained that the brewery was filled with “cowards” for pulling the beer bottle caps.”

  13. EXCLUSIVE: UK has sold $1bn of weapons to Turkey since coup attempt (mee, May 11, 2018)
    http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/revealed-boom-uk-arms-exports-turkey-eve-erdogans-london-visit-1561968969

    “Theresa May is set to roll out the red carpet for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this weekend, as new figures reveal that Britain has sold more than $1bn of weapons to Ankara since the failed 2016 coup and subsequent crackdown under emergency powers, Middle East Eye can reveal…”

  14. Erdo?an again blasts interest rates as ‘the mother of all evil’ (hurriyetdailynews, May 11, 2018(
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/erdogan-again-blasts-interest-rates-as-the-mother-of-all-evil-131702

    “President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has once again described interest rates as the “mother of all evil,” vowing that Turkey will “emerge victorious in its fight against interest rates” after the June 24 snap elections.

    Addressing businesspeople at a ceremony in Ankara on May 11, Erdo?an took aim at “foreign exchange speculators, interest rate lobbies and enemies of Turkey under the guise of credit rating firms.”

    “My belief is that interest rates are the mother of all evils. Interest rates are the cause of inflation. Inflation is a result, not a cause. We need to push down interest rates,” he said at the event, organized by the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB).

    “If my people say ‘continue on this path’ in the election, I say I will emerge victorious in the fight against this curse of interest rates. We must bring down the interest rates,” Erdo?an said.

    The Turkish president has long claimed that high inflation is caused by high interest rates, against conventional wisdom among economists…”

  15. UN ‘concerned’ about level of racism in Sweden (thelocal, May 11, 2018)
    https://www.thelocal.se/20180511/un-concerned-about-level-of-racism-in-sweden

    “A report released by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on Friday expressed repeated concern over the level of racism in Sweden.

    The report pointed to “racist hate speech against Afro-Swedes, Jews, Muslims and Roma”, a problem that the committee said is particularly prevalent “during election campaigns, as well as in the media and on the internet.”

    “The Committee is particularly concerned with reports of arson attacks against mosques and reception centres for asylum seekers,” the report added.

    Fires at asylum facilities around Sweden have occurred on several occasions since the number of migrants arriving in the country peaked in 2015. At least 112 blazes occurred at asylum accommodation centres, or planned accommodation centres, across Sweden in the following year, according to national police statistics.

    Mosques have also been the frequent targets of both arson attacks and racist vandalism. The report criticized Sweden for a “lack of sufficient funding to safeguard mosques against attacks”.

    “The Committee is also concerned at the continued reports of racist hate crimes and hate speech against Muslim ethno-religious minority groups, especially Muslim women,” the report stated, adding that Muslims in Sweden face “difficulties […] in terms of access to employment and housing outside of minority populated areas, amounting to de facto segregation.”

    The report also pointed to the “stereotypical representation of Muslims in the media, and by politicians.”

    The recent spate of public rallies by neo-Nazi groups like the Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) also caught the UN’s notice.

    “The Committee is concerned at the presence of racist and extremist organizations in the State party, and their public demonstrations,” it stated. The report further chastised Sweden for not investigating crimes by neo-Nazi groups as terrorism.

    The UN CERD report was based on input from the UN Association of Sweden. That group’s chairman, Aleksander Gabelic, said earlier this spring that the nation’s leaders “must be more rigorous in dealing with racist and Nazi organizations.”

    “The increasing threat from racist and Nazi groups must be addressed,” Gabelic said in conjunction with the report’s release. “It’s not fair that people should be afraid to be in the streets and squares of our cities.””