Reader’s Links, Aug. 15, 2018

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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

153 Replies to “Reader’s Links, Aug. 15, 2018”

  1. Mayor of Mass. city boycotts Sam Adams after cofounder thanked Trump for tax cuts
    By Ben Bowles August 14, 2018

    This blog is not in the habit of doing product endorsements, but I am urging readers regardless to rush right out and buy a sixpack or two of Samuel Adams beer. Even if you are not a beer drinker, buy a sixpack. I can tell you from personal experience that the summer ale is especially good, with a thick creamy head and a deep, rich flavor.

    So why the push to buy Sam Adams? Because the mayor of Somerville, Mass., which is adjacent to Boston, vowed on Sunday that the stuff will never again cross his lips. His reason? One of the founders of Boston Beer Company, which manufactures Samuel Adams, dined with Donald Trump. And if that’s not bad enough, he thanked Trump for his tax cut.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/08/14/mayor-of-massachusetts-city-boycotts-sam-adams-after-cofounder-thanked-trump-for-tax-cuts/

  2. Democrat resigns after admitting to taking 450K in kickbacks and bribes: Media silent
    Elizabeth Zwirz, Fox News August 15, 2018

    [Ed. – The only outlet that covered this story besides Fox News was the Dallas Morning News, which titled its piece ‘The wheels of justice will turn for Dwaine Caraway, but redemption is always possible.’ The rest of the story focuses on his good works. The details of his crime are not even mentioned, nor is there a link to another story.]

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/08/15/democrat-resigns-after-admitting-to-taking-450k-in-kickbacks-and-bribes-media-silent/

    Top Dallas Democrat resigns in disgrace, admits taking more than $450G in lavish bribes

    A Dallas official pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges after prosecutors said he earned more than $450,000 in kickbacks and bribes in exchange for official actions taken to benefit local business dealings.

    Democrat Dwaine Caraway, Dallas city council member and mayor pro tem, pleaded guilty in court to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, as well as tax evasion, U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox announced in a news release.

    The funds Caraway received were “in the form of a phony consulting agreement, luxury suits, fully funded trips, gambling money, repayment of personal debt, checks and cash” from Robert Leonard in return for taking action that benefited the latter’s business, the news release said, citing court documents.

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/08/09/top-dallas-democrat-resigns-in-disgrace-admits-taking-more-than-450g-in-lavish-bribes.html

    • Department of Justice
      U.S. Attorney’s Office
      Northern District of Texas

      Dallas City Council Member and President of Force Multiplier Solutions Plead Guilty to Multi-Million Dollar Bribery Conspiracy

      DALLAS — Dallas City Council Member and Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, of Dallas, Texas, and Robert C. Leonard Jr., of New Orleans, Louisiana, appeared in federal court today before Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn and pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges, announced Erin Nealy Cox, U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Texas. Council Member Caraway pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and one count of tax evasion. Robert Leonard pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.

      The law enforcement operation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

      “The pleas today represent the meticulous and tireless efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the dedicated prosecutors of our office,” stated U.S. Attorney Nealy Cox. “These cases demonstrate our continued resolve to uncover corruption at the highest levels–the citizens of Dallas deserve honest government.”

      https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/dallas-city-council-member-and-president-force-multiplier-solutions-plead-guilty-mult-0

  3. Russia funding American groups that thwart growth of U.S. energy industry
    Vijay Jayaraj, CNSNews August 14, 2018

    [Ed. – Russia knows what buttons to push to try and thwart modernization and ingenuity in the U.S. fossil-fuel industry, which remains far and away the most profitable energy sector, and the one in which we are a world leader today. Those who criticize U.S. administrations for advocating against certain energy deals between Europe and Russia need to remember that Russia is behaving politically with even more repressive intent — but with less honesty, and through dupes and cut-outs.]

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/08/14/russia-funding-american-groups-that-thwart-growth-of-u-s-energy-industry/

    Does Russia Deploy American Green Groups as Pawns?

    The Trump administration, despite being accused of facilitating Russian collusion in the 2016 Presidential election, is, with the rest of America, actually a victim of Russian sabotage.

    American environmental groups’ threats to halt energy projects and defence operations, long a problem, have grown recently, thanks in part to Russian support. They are now more dangerous to energy security than ever.

    While the media remain obsessed with “Russia collusion” in the 2016 elections, they ignore a more serious problem: Russian efforts to shrink American energy production.

    Russian-backed cyberattacks on the U.S. energy sector amount to what U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry calls “an act of war.” But while worrisome, those probably are less effective in the long run than another strategy.

    https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/vijay-jayaraj/does-russia-deploy-american-green-groups-pawns

    • The Connection Between Russia and 2 Green Groups Fighting Fracking in US

      New Yorkers who are missing out on the natural gas revolution could be victims of Russian spy operations that fund popular environmental groups, current and former U.S. government officials and experts on Russia worry.

      Natural gas development of the celebrated Marcellus Shale deposits has spurred jobs and other economic growth in neighboring Pennsylvania. But not in New York, which nearly 10 years ago banned the process of hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, to produce natural gas.

      Two environmental advocacy groups that successfully lobbied against fracking in New York each received more than $10 million in grants from a foundation in California that got financial support from a Bermuda company congressional investigators linked to the Russians, public documents show.

      The environmental groups Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club Foundation received millions of dollars in grants from the San Francisco-based Sea Change Foundation.

      https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/vijay-jayaraj/does-russia-deploy-american-green-groups-pawns

      Hey Dems wake up and smell the money to use to bribe voters through welfare payments. All you have to do is allow shale gas exploitation and you will have a lot of money coming into the state. Probably more then enough to off set the tax loss by the people fleeing New York State to avoid you confiscatory level Income Taxes.

  4. Voting Felonies Dropped For Five North Carolina Residents Under Plea Deal

    Our judicial system is becoming a joke… We need a complete overhaul of our judicial system… something like voter fraud should be treated seriously! Police officers risk their lives to investigate crime and arrest the criminals just for the judges to slap the criminals on the wrist.
    The five North Carolina residents originally faced felony charges of voting while serving probation. Seems to me they should check the list of registered voters against the list of felons on parole or probation before the election.

    WBTV:

    Five North Carolina residents accused of illegally voting during the 2016 election have had felony charges dropped under plea deals.

    The Southern Coalition for Social Justice issued a statement saying the five entered Alford pleas to misdemeanor obstruction of justice charges on Monday in Alamance County. Alford pleas acknowledge prosecutors have enough evidence to win conviction on a given charge.

    https://eaglerising.com/61629/voting-felonies-dropped-north-carolina/

  5. Exclusive: NM Compound’s Links to Al-Qaeda

    At least one of the women at the Islamist cult compound in New Mexico had links to al-Qaeda in that she was a big fan of al-Qaeda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki, according to a public account from a Muslim activist and reports from sources who spoke to Clarion Project’s Clarion Intelligence Network.

    One woman also reportedly claimed to be the mahdi, a figure in Islamic end times prophecy who is supposed to join forces with Jesus to win a final apocalyptic war that ends with global Islamic rule.

    Anwar al-Awlaki was an American imam who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in 2011. He became al-Qaeda’s biggest recruiter because of his English-language, digital magazine Inspire that provided instructions used for carrying out terrorist attacks like the Boston Marathon bombing, among other items of “inspiration.”

    One source recalled seeing Imam Siraj Wahhaj, whose children and family members resided at the New Mexico compound, preach at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Virginia when it was run by Anwar al-Awlaki.

    https://clarionproject.org/exclusive-nm-compounds-links-to-al-qaeda/

  6. Poland: Police remove anti-fascist protesters to protect far-right march

    Protesters, including members of the Citizens of Poland anti-fascist group, were removed from the streets of Warsaw as they tried to hamper the far-right march on Wednesday.

    Police dragged away those who took part in an anti-fascist protest as its participants did not reportedly have a formal permission from authorities to demonstrate.

    Far-right protesters in turn, including members of the National Rebirth of Poland group, were protected by police while marching through the streets holding Polish and nationalist flags.

    Nationalist groups linked their march to Poland’s Armed Forces Day which commemorates the anniversary of the Polish victory over Bolshevik forces in the 1920 Battle of Warsaw.

  7. Malta: Rescue ship Aquarius carrying 141 migrants docks in Senglea

    Rescue ship Aquarius, carrying 141 migrants onboard, docked in the Maltese port of Senglea on Wednesday.

    The migrants will later be distributed among Germany, France, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Spain, who earlier agreed to take Aquarius refugees.

    The majority of those onboard, which includes minors, were saved from Mediterranean Sea and come from Somalia and Eritrea.

    The ship is operated by SOS Mediterranean and Doctors Without Borders.

  8. Okay for USA, ‘sickening’ for France? French society opposes girl in headscarf in Gap ad campaign

    French MPs warn they’re ‘sickened’ by US high-street fashion giant Gap showing a young Muslim girl wearing a headscarf.

    Thousands of people have now signed a petition demanding GAP end the ad campaign.

    The ‘Back to School’ campaign was shot in New York. But when Gap Kids published the photos and videos on its French social media sites, it sparked a massive outcry.

  9. Turkish Radio and Television -TRT -The country with already too many Muslims but not a single mosque

  10. Virani calls for Scheer to boot Bernier from caucus over controversial tweets

    A Liberal MP is calling on Conservative leader Andrew Scheer to remove Maxime Bernier from his caucus “immediately” because he published a series of critical tweets this week denouncing “radical multiculturalism,” and has continued to do so.

    Bernier had tweeted this week that a Liberal brand of “extreme” multiculturalism will “destroy” the country.

    In a letter addressed to Scheer, Liberal MP Arif Virani, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of heritage, called Bernier’s comments “unacceptable.”

    “I urge you to remove Mr. Bernier from your caucus immediately otherwise Canadians will be forced to conclude that you endorse his backward views,” the letter reads.

    Virani’s call came after Bernier tweeted about Liberal MP Iqra Khalid and a Winnipeg park named after Pakistan’s founder.

    Virani wrote Bernier’s attack on new Canadians is the same argument “nationalists and xenophobes” have been saying for decades that “the last generation of immigrants was the last generation of good immigrants.”

    https://ipolitics.ca/2018/08/15/virani-calls-for-scheer-to-boot-bernier-from-caucus-over-controversial-tweets/

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

    Time to kick renegade Tory MP Maxime Bernier out of caucus, Liberal MP urges

    — Liberal MP Arif Virani is urging Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer to remove Maxime Bernier from caucus after the defiant MP tweeted what Virani calls “hateful attacks.”

    Virani, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of heritage posted Wednesday a letter addressed to Scheer on Twitter, urging Bernier’s removal and also criticizing the Tory leader for failing to condemn his caucus member’s behaviour.

    “I urge you to remove Mr. Bernier from your caucus immediately, otherwise Canadians will be forced to conclude that you accept his backward views,” Virani wrote.

    […]Canada is being subjected to “extreme Liberal multiculturalism,” Bernier wrote, contrasting the park dedication to the decision in Victoria to remove a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald from outside city hall.

    “While a statue of our country’s founder is being removed in one city, a park was recently named after Pakistan’s founder in another, in the presence of M-103 Liberal MP sponsor.”[…]

    https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/time-to-kick-renegade-tory-mp-maxime-bernier-out-of-caucus-liberal-mp-urges-1.4054186

  11. US official says UAE paid Yemen tribes to push al-Qaida out (abcnews, Aug 15, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-official-uae-paid-yemen-tribes-push-al-57197324

    “A senior U.S. official acknowledged Wednesday that the United Arab Emirates had paid money to tribal leaders in Yemen to rout al-Qaida militants from their strongholds in the war-torn county.

    The official said that al-Qaida had pulled back under pressure from the Yemeni tribes. His remarks followed an Associated Press investigation outlining how Emirati forces cut secret deals with the militants to get them to abandon territory.

    The investigation also found that members of Yemen’s al-Qaida branch, known as Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, were being integrated into the ranks of UAE-backed forces, which are currently in control of most of southern Yemen.

    Al-Qaida militants were also being recruited by Saudi-led coalition-backed commanders to fight Houthi rebels, who control northern Yemen.

    The American official said that money “has exchanged hands” and that it often went to “sheikhs in areas that have collaborated or allowed al-Qaida to exist.” He didn’t elaborate on how much was paid, but said the Emiratis’ payments to tribal sheikhs allowed them to “ally themselves to the Emiratis.”

    He stressed that al-Qaida and some of the tribal leaders paid by the UAE “had good relations and in fact in many areas, there are al-Qaida recruits among the same young men of the tribes.” Asking rhetorically whether the sheikhs would “turn back to al-Qaida at some point in the future,” he shrugged his shoulders.

    The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s rebels, known as Houthis, since 2015 is trying to restore President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, to power.

    The UAE, which is at odds with Hadi, has trained, financed, and armed militias in southern Yemen while partnered with the United States in the fight against al-Qaida. However, over the past two years, UAE’s declarations of victories over al-Qaida came at a time when there was no actual fighting on the ground.

    Al-Qaida in Yemen long has been considered the most dangerous offshoot of the terror organization founded by Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. Its adherents have been involved in the failed 2009 Christmas Day bombing on a U.S.-bound passenger jet and a 2010 attempt to smuggle explosives into cargo flights. It claimed the 2015 attack in Paris on the offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine.

    The American official’s comments to reporters in Cairo came two days after a senior Emirati officer dismissed AP’s findings as based on “nothing” and insisted that UAE forces were actively fighting al-Qaida in Yemen.

    Brig. Gen. Musallam al-Rashedi denied AP’s recent report without offering any specifics.

    “They are not willing to negotiate, most of these hard-core guys. They are willing to go and fight,” al-Rashedi said. “We have guys who have been injured, killed by AQAP and there’s no point in negotiating with these guys.”

    The AP spoke to two dozen witnesses, tribal leaders, mediators, militants and security officials who all described the payments.

    One Yemeni commander, who was put on the U.S. terrorism list for al-Qaida ties last year, continues to receive money from the UAE to run his militia, his own aide told the AP.

    Another commander, recently granted $12 million for his fighting force by Yemen’s president, has a known al-Qaida figure as his closest aide. In one case, a tribal mediator who brokered a deal between the Emiratis and al-Qaida even gave the extremists a farewell dinner.

    The American official cautioned that the Emirati policies were just pushing the problem down the road and that this would be a problem in the future.

    “It’s very, very hard for the Yemeni government to meet some of the expectations that’s been created,” he said.

    The U.S. official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.”

    • Not only are they being paid, they’re buying top-of-the line U.S. armaments for them. And WE are TRAINING them to use the merchandise!

      That translates to American manufacturing jobs.
      So that’s cool, right?
      ~ ?! ~

    • Yemen is not a coherent country. It doesn’t make sense. At best it’s two distinct semi-countries, each dependent on some outside power.
      Saudi’s guy, Pres. Hadi, is MB and al-Q friendly.
      That’s at odds with the UAE, a family business. As long as their commercial interests along the southern coast are under their control, they’ll be satisfied.

  12. Andrew Cuomo shocks crowd, says America ‘was never that great’

    New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo may have just handed Republicans a ready-made campaign ad for his rumored 2020 presidential bid – by declaring Wednesday that America “was never that great.”

    The Democratic star made the seemingly offhand remark as part of his rebuke of President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan during a bill-signing in New York. But the line drew gasps from the crowd.

    “We’re not going to make America great again. It was never that great,” Cuomo said, to an awkward blend of gasps and chuckles.

    “We have not reached greatness, we will reach greatness when every American is fully engaged, we will reach greatness when discrimination and stereotyping against women, 51 percent of our population, is gone and every woman’s full potential is realized and unleashed and every woman is making her full contribution,” he said.

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/08/15/andrew-cuomo-shocks-crowd-says-america-was-never-that-great.html

  13. On 31 March 2017 there were 186 individuals in prison classed as
    terrorist or extremist prisoners: 183 were being held having been
    convicted of, or on remand for, terrorism related offences; 3 were
    classed as domestic extremists or separatists.
    On 31 March 2017 105 (57%) of the prisoners in custody for terrorism
    related offences defined themselves as Asian or Asian British and only
    38 (21%) White.
    The majority (90%) of prisoners in custody for terrorism related offences
    on 31 March 2017 declared themselves as Muslim. Nine prisoners (5%)
    were of a Christian denomination.

    Ethnicity
    White 38 that is 21%
    MIxed 6 that is 3%
    Asian or Asian British 105 that is 57%
    Black or Black British 30 that is 16%
    Other ethnic group 3 that is 2%
    Unrecorded 1 that is 1%

    Religion
    Christian 9 that is 5%
    Muslim 164 that is 90%
    Buddhist 1 that is 1%
    Jewish 1 that is 1%
    Hindu 0
    Sikh 1 1%
    No religion 5 that is 3%
    Other religious group 2 that is 1%

    researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7613/CBP-7613.pdf

  14. Make Way For China… out with the old…

    “At Least a Million Sub-Saharan Africans Moved to Europe Since 2010”
    by Phillip Connor – March 22, 2018

    Excerpt:

    Will the inflow of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe and the U.S. continue at the same pace in the years ahead? It is difficult to say. However, the idea of migrating is on the minds of many Africans living south of the Sahara. According to a 2017 Pew Research Center survey in six sub-Saharan countries that have supplied many of the region’s migrants to the U.S. and Europe, many say they would move to another country if the means and opportunity presented themselves. And in Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria, more than a third say they actually plan to migrate in the next five years. Of those who plan to move, more individuals plan to move to the U.S. than to Europe in most countries surveyed.
    http://www.pewglobal.org/2018/03/22/at-least-a-million-sub-saharan-africans-moved-to-europe-since-2010/

    … in with the new….
    “Ghana Bishop Accuses China of Holding His Country ‘Captive’”
    by Thomas D. Williams, PH.D. – August 9, 2018
    https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/08/09/ghana-bishop-accuses-china-holding-country-captive/

      • He has found a way to get people to pay him to play journalist/opinion journalist, As long as he can keep the millennials happy he will keep making money. He says he is going to stay and home and comment on what other people shoot which will probably end his career as an opinion journalist.

        • Just as well if he stays home.

          He went to cover the referendum in Catalunya, flag waving in the background. Didn’t bother to read _any_ history at all. What’s the point of a referendum? What’s it mean for today?

          Rambled on, just as emotionally caught up as any leftist SJW in one of their “causes”. I could see someone like that hopping to either side in another Civil War, like so many from the Brigadas Internacionales in 1936.

          Spain paid the price, continues paying it today.

  15. “George Washington’s Farewell Address”
    Washington Library – Mount Vernon

    Excerpt:

    In particular, Washington feared that geographic identities would serve as the foundation for the development of political parties. Indeed, this process had already begun with the emergence of the New England Federalists and Southern Democratic-Republicans. While we currently view partisanship as inseparable from the American political process, in the early republic, most condemned parties as divisive, disruptive, and the tools of demagogues seeking power.5

    “Factionalism,” as contemporaries called it, encouraged the electorate to vote based on party loyalty rather than the common good. Washington feared that partisanship would lead to a “spirit of revenge” in which party men would not govern for the good of the people, but only to obtain and maintain their grip on power. As a result, he warned Americans to guard against would-be despots who would use parties as “potent engines…to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”6
    https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/george-washingtons-farewell-address

    “Charles Ortel is CLOSING IN – Titanic”
    Jason Goodman – August 15, 2018

  16. Here’s Why Trump Pulled John Brennan’s Security Clearance

    President Donald Trump revoked former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance Wednesday, citing Brennan’s repeated public appearances attacking him and past behavior while in office in a lengthy statement.

    Trump noted that the extension of security clearance to Brennan and other former officials was a courtesy and so that they could be consulted by current government officials for their expertise. The President however noted that “any benefits that senior officials might glean from consultations with Mr. Brennan are now outweighed by the risks posed by his erratic conduct and behavior.”

    Trump cited Brennan’s past misstatements to Congress in 2014 about accessing congressional staffers emails and his discussion of the Steele dossier’s role in assessing Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

    The president took particular issue with Brennan’s status as a TV pundit who has been one of the most outspoken officials against his tenure, frequently calling him unfit for office. “Mr. Brennan has recently leveraged his status as a former high-ranking official with access to highly sensitive information to make a series of unfounded and outrageous allegations – wild outbursts on the internet and television — about this administration.”

    http://dailycaller.com/2018/08/15/trump-john-brennan/

  17. ‘Shopify’ Taking Heat For Targeting Gun Companies. Here’s a Breakdown of What They’re Doing.

    Apparently freedom of speech and the right to bear arms are not values Shopify is dedicated to, a truth they have made abundantly clear by recent actions they have taken against gun companies in order to appease the madness of liberal gun haters across the country.

    The Canada-based commerce platform, serving close to 600,000 merchants, suddenly shifted its free speech policy which now includes a ban on guns and gun-related products.

    https://flagandcross.com/shopify-taking-heat-for-targeting-gun-companies-heres-a-breakdown-of-what-theyre-doing/

  18. Stop singing about Tommy Robinson, Luton Town CEO tells fans

    Luton Town fans were heard chanting about Robinson for the second game in a row and the club’s CEO has called on supporters to pack it in

    Luton Town fans have been told to stop singing “hugely disappointing” chants about controversial right-wing activist Tommy Robinson.

    The Hatters lost 1-0 against West Brom in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, and the club’s CEO, Gary Sweet, was left disappointed by sections of the 1,100 travelling fans signing about Robinson.

    “Our experience was blemished, for the second away game running, by hearing the chanting of the name of a political figurehead by a small number of Hatters supporters,” Sweet said in an open letter to fans.

    “This is hugely disappointing for us, as a board, because the individual in question wasn’t playing or involved in the squad or staff.

    “Everyone at the club has worked extremely hard and will continue to work tirelessly to create an environment – whether that be Kenilworth Road, Power Court or any away game – for our community of supporters to support their team and enjoy a football match knowing that all prejudice – whether that be political, religious, cultural or racial – can and should be left for another day.

    “This allows us to invite anybody into our environment without discomfort, disrespect or fear, and welcome any and every member of our wide community respectfully.

    “We absolutely accept and respect the fact that everyone holds their own independent opinions and values, but we politely ask for you to temporarily overlook those views for a couple of hours or so when attending Luton Town matches in future.”

    The chanting refers to a section of fans singing Robinson’s name included in a popular sports chant, and Sweet is urging fans to leave politics out of football and only focus their support on the team on the pitch.

    “Please respect others when supporting our great club,” he said. “Please support the players on the pitch and please refrain from introducing non-football songs into our stadia.”

    Luton Town fans on Twitter largely supported the club’s stance, one user said: “Politics has no place in sport and it’s refreshing to see a club make that stance.”

    Robinson is a Luton fan and has become the subject of populist right-wing protests after rising to fame for his outspoken and controversial views. He was jailed for contempt of court earlier this year, but the sentence was overturned by the Court of Appeal.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/football-league/luton-town-tommy-robinson-chants-video-watch-stop-signing-ceo-statement-open-letter-a8492811.html

  19. Iraqi refugee arrested in California on warrant alleging he was ISIS killer

    Omar Abdulsattar Ameen was arrested on a warrant issued in Iraq alleging he killed a police officer there in 2014.

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A refugee from Iraq was arrested Wednesday in Northern California on a warrant alleging that he killed an Iraqi policeman while fighting for the Islamic State organization.

    Omar Abdulsattar Ameen, 45, and other members of ISIS killed the officer after the town of Rawah, Iraq, fell to the Islamic State in June 2014, according to court documents.

    He was arrested by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force at a Sacramento apartment building based on a warrant issued in May by an Iraqi federal court in Baghdad. U.S. officials plan to extradite him back to Iraq under a treaty with that nation, and he made his first appearance in federal court in Sacramento on Wednesday.

    Ameen could face execution for the “organized killing by an armed group” according to Iraqi documents filed in U.S. federal court.

    Prosecutors say Ameen entered the U.S. under a refugee program, eventually settling in Sacramento, and attempted to gain legal status in the United States. It wasn’t immediately clear when Ameen came to the U.S.

    The Trump administration has sharply criticized the Obama-era settlement program, questioning whether enough was done to weed out those with terrorist ties.

    Officials said Ameen kept secret his membership in two terrorist groups when he applied for refugee status, and later when he applied for a green card in the United States.

    State Department and Department of Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond to questions about Ameen.

    Benjamin Galloway, one of Ameen’s public defenders, said he had just 10 minutes to meet with his client prior to his initial federal court appearance Wednesday afternoon and attorneys hadn’t decided whether to contest that Ameen is in fact the man wanted by Iraqi authorities.

    Ameen was identified by a witness to the slaying who viewed a series of photographs of ISIS members, according to the Iraqi documents.

    The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force has been investigating Ameen for filing fraudulent travel or immigration documents since 2016, according to a court filing. It says the FBI independently corroborated Ameen’s involvement with the terrorist organizations and participation in the slaying.

    Ameen remained dressed in street clothing including a light blue T-shirt as he appeared in court handcuffed to a chain around his waist. U.S. Magistrate Judge Edmund Brennan ordered him detained until his next court appearance set for Monday, accepting prosecutors’ argument that Ameen is dangerous and a flight risk.

    Prosecutors said in court filings that the release of an alleged member of a designated foreign terrorist organization would be a national security risk.

    The Iraqi arrest warrant and extradition request say that Ameen entered his hometown of Rawah in the Anbar province of Iraq with a four-vehicle ISIS caravan and drove to the home of Ihsan Abdulhafiz Jasim, who had served with the Rawah Police Department. He and at least five other named suspects opened fire and the man shot back, but the documents allege that Ameen fatally shot the man in the chest as he lay on the ground.

    The militants later claimed responsibility for the slaying on social media.

    The FBI has interviewed at least eight witnesses who identify the Ameen family — including Ameen himself, his father, brothers, and paternal cousins — as affiliated with al Qaeda and ISIS, prosecutors said.

    Court documents say Ameen’s family also aided al Qaeda in Rawah and that Ameen was a member of both al Qaida in Iraq and ISIS. The documents allege that he did a number of things in support of the groups, including helping plant improvised bombs.

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/iraqi-refugee-arrested-california-warrant-alleging-he-was-isis-killer-n901126

  20. Algerian Army launches massive military operation on border with Tunisia (memo, Aug 15, 2018)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180815-algerian-army-launches-massive-military-operation-on-border-with-tunisia/

    “There were significant military movements and reinforcements following suspicions of the infiltration of a terrorist group into the Algerian territory today. Activity focused on The border between Tunisia and Algeria, and in particular the governorates of El-Tarf, Souk Ahras, Tébessa and the El-Oued.

    According to the Algerian news website, El-Bilad, some members of the Algerian army are currently hunting down elements, whom they believe to have infiltrated from Kef Governorate after the air force has detected suspicious movements…”

  21. Al-Azhar scholar warns Tunisian president of enacting inheritance law (memo, Aug 15, 2018)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180815-al-azhar-scholar-warns-tunisian-president-of-enacting-inheritance-law/

    “Mahmoud Mehanna, a member of the Higher Committee of Scholars of Al-Azhar, warned Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi against approving the law of equal inheritance between men and women.

    Mehanna said:

    “he who initiated the inheritance law is the King of kings; he is God. The Prophet, peace be upon him, has delivered this law. Neither Tunisia, its president nor the whole world can legislate a law or innovate the religion of Allah.”

    He asserted in statements reported by Egyptian newspapers,

    “during the first Era of Ignorance, women did not enjoy any rights. Islam came and determined the rights of women in S?rat an-Nis??(Women), which included women’s rights and came in honour of them as it bears their name. Allah the Almighty started the Sura with verses on women’s rights and the legislation of their right to inheritance.”

    Mehanna addressed the Tunisian president saying: “I tell the President of Tunisia to read the words of Allah and the Prophet, and remember a day when your presidency, money or relatives would not help you.”…”

  22. Al Qaeda closely allied with Taliban, UN says (tribune, Aug 16, 2018)
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/1781820/1-al-qaeda-closely-allied-taliban-un-says/

    “A United Nations report has praised Pakistan’s “extensive” counterterrorist operations, saying they have led to a reduction in the number of terrorists and terrorist training facilities, and in the quantity of locally available explosive material in the formerly Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), according to a UN report released on Monday.

    The 22nd report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, which was submitted to the UN Security Council Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee, also said some of the terrorists were displaced across the border into Afghanistan.

    The sanctions monitoring team submits independent reports every six months to the Security Council on the Islamic State, Al Qaeda and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities.

    It said Al Qaeda, which still maintains a presence in South Asia, is closely allied with the Taliban. It adapts to the local environment and trying to embed itself into local struggles and communities.

    “According to one member state, although IS (Da’ish) poses an immediate threat, Al Qaeda is the ‘intellectually stronger group’ and remains a longer-term threat. Some members of the Al-Qaeda core, including Aiman al-Zawahiri and Hamza bin Laden, are reported to be in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas,” the report said.

    Other members of the Al Qaeda core may leave for more secure areas, it said…”