Reader’s Links, Aug. 17, 2018

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About Eeyore

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

164 Replies to “Reader’s Links, Aug. 17, 2018”

  1. 11-year-old Thai wife of Malaysian man rescued (smh, Aug 17, 2018)
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/11-year-old-thai-wife-of-malaysian-man-rescued-20180817-p4zy33.html

    “An 11-year-old bride to a Malaysian man 30 years her senior has returned to her native Thailand, where she is under the care of the local social welfare department.

    Ayu, who is being identified only by her nickname for her protection, was married in June as the third wife of Che Abdul Karim Che Abdul Hamid, a Muslim rubber trader from the northern Malaysian state of Kelantan. The case has provoked soul-searching in Malaysia, where the prevalence of child marriage belies the Southeast Asian nation’s modern outlook.

    Earlier this month, Thai officials picked up Ayu and her parents in a Thai town on the border with Malaysia, said Surapol Prommool, governor of Narathiwat province in southern Thailand. She is now being cared for in a Thai government institution by an all-female staff of social workers, psychologists and doctors.

    Che Abdul Karim has not been allowed to visit her there, Surapol said.

    “For us, the most important thing now is to treat her mental condition,” he said. “We are working to make her calm and feel better.”

    Malaysian law allows for child marriage in certain cases. Muslims, who are bound by Shariah law in many civil affairs, can wed below the age of 16 if they receive permission from a religious court. Non-Muslims between the ages of 16 and 18 can marry with the consent of state-level ministers.

    Last year, Malaysia passed a law against sexual grooming, in which an adult creates an emotional bond with a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation. An effort to ban child marriage, however, failed. One legislator from the then governing party, who had also served as a Shariah court judge, said a 9-year-old girl could be marriageable if she had gone through puberty…”

  6. The massive National Defense Authorization Act signed by President Donald Trump on Monday includes a provision that requires universities to choose between hosting Chinese language programs funded by the Pentagon or China’s Confucius Institute, which has been linked to the Chinese Communist Party and described as a threat to American academic freedom.
    The provision in question was sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). Cruz also supported provisions of the NDAA that require the Defense Department to publish photos of China’s militarized islands in the South China Sea, shield DoD from Chinese lobbying efforts, and bar China from participating in the annual Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercise until Beijing halts “a range of activities threatening American security.” The Chinese were livid at being disinvited from RIMPAC in 2018.

    “Confucius Institutes are a key way the regime infiltrates American higher education to silence criticism and sanitize education about China. American taxpayer dollars should not be subsidizing their propaganda,” Cruz told the Washington Post on Tuesday.

    The problem facing the Defense Department, in short, is that it has a great appetite for personnel with Chinese language skills. The Pentagon finances a university-level Language Flagship Program to meet this need. The Confucius Institute also offers Chinese language programs at roughly a hundred American colleges.

    https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/08/15/defense-bill-makes-universities-choose-between-pentagon-programs-and-chinas-confucius-institute/

  7. Caught on mic: Sen. Bill Nelson admits no proof to claim Russians ‘penetrated’ Florida election system
    August 16, 2018 | Frieda Powers | Print Article
    SHARE161TWEET41EMAIL
    Sen. Bill Nelson appeared to admit that his claim that Russians penetrated Florida’s election systems was just an assumption.

    The Florida Democrat was recorded at a campaign stop Tuesday attempting to deflect criticism that he either lied or leaked classified information with his bombshell claim last week.

    https://www.bizpacreview.com/2018/08/16/caught-on-mic-sen-bill-nelson-admits-no-proof-to-claim-russians-penetrated-florida-election-system-664452

  9. Google clarifies to users it still tracks their location even after they turn off location history, following AP report
    Published 3 Hours Ago
    The Associated Press
    SAN FRANCISCO(AP) — Google clarifies to users it still tracks their location even after they turn off location history, following AP report.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/16/the-associated-press-google-clarifies-to-users-it-still-tracks-their-location-even-after-they-turn-off-location-history-following-ap.html

  15. A federal judge issued a nationwide injunction Thursday against the Trump administration for delaying the Obama-era Waters of the United States rule, dealing a setback to a key piece of President Trump’s deregulatory agenda.

    The decision by the U.S. District Court in South Carolina means that the so-called Clean Water Rule is again operative in 26 states where district courts have not halted the regulation.

    Former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt signed a finalized regulation in February delaying the Waters of the U.S. rule until 2020 to allow the agency to go through a process of rewriting a more modest version of it.

    Opponents said EPA avoided the customary 30-day waiting period between the rule’s finalization and its effective date, circumventing the Administrative Procedures Act, or APA.

    “As administrations change, so do regulatory priorities,” said Judge David Norton, an appointee of George H.W. Bush, in his ruling. “But the requirements of the APA remain the same. The court finds that the government failed to comply with these requirements.”

    Molly Block, an EPA spokeswoman, said the agency is reviewing the judge’s order.

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/federal-judge-orders-trump-to-reinstate-obamas-waters-of-the-us-rule

  16. Thirty men and one woman have been charged by detectives in Britain with a number of criminal offenses relating to the rape and trafficking of children for sexual exploitation. All but one of the group is from the West Yorkshire area in the north of England, and one is from Camden, London.

    Police said a further 12 men, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were charged with numerous offenses related to the same investigation into “non-recent” child sexual exploitation.

    “The allegations against the defendants are non-recent sexual offenses, having occurred between 2005 and 2012 and relate to five women,” West Yorkshire police said in a statement. “The offenses were committed against them as children in the Huddersfield area and are alleged to have taken place while the women were aged between 12 and 18 years old.”

    The 31 defendants will appear at Kirklees Magistrates Court on September 5 and 6. Police released their names and individual charges.

    https://www.newsweek.com/child-sex-grooming-gang-trafficking-england-1073978

  18. More than a dozen community groups have called on Rep. Bettie Cook Scott (D-Detroit) to apologize for a series of racial slurs sources say she used to describe her primary election opponent, Rep. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit).

    Scott is alleged to have referred to Chang as “ching-chang” and “the ching-chong” to multiple voters outside polling precincts during last Tuesday’s election. She’s also said to have called one of Chang’s campaign volunteers an “immigrant,” saying “you don’t belong here” and “I want you out of my country.”

    Chang and Scott were running in the Democratic primary for state Sen. District 1. Chang won the election with 49 percent of the vote; Scott came in third with 11 percent of the vote.

    https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2018/08/16/detroit-rep-bettie-cook-scott-on-asian-opponent-dont-vote-for-the-ching-chong

  22. Austrian Populist Interior Minister: Criminalise Sharia Law Advocacy (breitbart, Aug 17, 2018)
    https://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/08/17/austrian-populist-interior-minister-criminalise-sharia-law-advocacy/

    “Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) Interior Minister Herbert Kickl has floated the idea of charging radical Islamic adherents if they advocate for Sharia law over the constitutional law of Austria.

    The populist Interior Minister laid out the proposal as part of a programme to fight against the spread of radical Islamic extremism in Austria, Kronen Zeitung reports.

    “Those who want to pass the Sharia law over the Austrian laws and want to bring upon us a theocracy in place of our democracy belong in court!” Kickl, who has been long known for his fierce firebrand rhetoric, said.

    The move also follows campaign promises made by FPÖ leader and current Vice-Chancellor Heinz Christian Strache who vowed to ban Islamism in January of last year arguing it was, “antagonistic to women, antiliberal and corresponds to a fascist worldview.”

    “Let us put an end to this policy of Islamisation… otherwise we Austrians, we Europeans will come to an abrupt end,” he said.

    While Austrian law already has provisions for those who are seen to be subverting the constitution and democratic order of the country, the government has argued the laws do not go far enough to tackle the spread of radical Islamic extremism…”

  23. Swedish Organised Gangs Recruiting Asylum Seekers To Commit Financial Crime (breitbart, Aug 17, 2018)
    https://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/08/17/swedish-organised-gangs-recruiting-asylum-seekers-to-commit-financial-crime/

    “Swedish authorities claim that organised criminal gangs are actively recruiting newly arrived asylum seekers and using them to commit money laundering and other types of fraud.

    Swedish investigators say that they had suspected gangs would attempt to recruit newly arrived asylum seekers to aid in financial crimes but that only recently had they seen concrete evidence of recruitment, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports.

    Henrik Lundin, who is employed at the Swedish Economic Crime Authority, said that while authorities see evidence of the practice they are not completely clear how prevalent it has become.

    “What we can see is that they have used the identity of refugees in some cases for different types of economic crime. It is simply that their identities are used to open accounts, money laundering and so on,” Lundin said and added, “But how extensive? It is too early to say.”

    Patrik Lillqvist, superintendent at the Swedish Economic Crime Authority added that the asylum seekers are used as “fall guys” with many of them not even realising the situation they were being placed in by organised gangs…”

  26. Twitter Purges Accounts Across the Platform – Again

    Social media platform Twitter has begun banning a large number of accounts from the website, specifically focusing on accounts that have previously been banned or have received suspensions.

    Yesterday a number of Twitter users reported that their accounts were beginning to lose followers at a rapid pace. The banning seemed to apply to a multitude of accounts with little explanation as to why they were being suspended. Users took to the hashtag #TwitterPurge to voice their concerns over the issue:

    https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/08/16/twitter-purges-accounts-across-the-platform-again/

  28. Turkish army neutralizes 52 terrorists over past week (aa, Aug 17, 2018)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/turkish-army-neutralizes-52-terrorists-over-past-week-/1234009

    “The Turkish army “neutralized” 52 PKK terrorists, including seven senior members, in northern Iraq and on Turkish soil over the past week, the military said on Friday.

    Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralized” in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

    In a statement, the Turkish General Staff said that on Aug. 10-16, the army conducted anti-terror operations in Turkey’s eastern provinces and in northern Iraq.

    The PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU — resumed its armed campaign against Turkey in July 2015.

    Since then, it has been responsible for the deaths of more than 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians, including many women and children.

    Separately, the military said that since the launch of Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch in Syria’s Afrin region, a total of 4,573 terrorists have been neutralized…”

    • Counting coup.
      Not the best way to win friends and influence people. Which is the only way the Turk will hold what he grabbed in “Op Olive Branch”. The cynical [person born out of wedlock].

  29. China police detain man for asking why can’t Taiwan be called a country

    BEIJING (Reuters) – Police in China have detained a man who asked on social media what law prevented anyone calling self-ruled Taiwan a country, questioning a fundamental principle of China’s sovereignty.
    A paramilitary police officer is seen silhouetted in front of flags as he stands guard during the thir

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-taiwan-internet/china-police-detain-man-for-asking-why-cant-taiwan-be-called-a-country-idUSKBN1L210O

  30. Senate Democrats ‘Ready to Sue’ for Kavanaugh Records
    Schumer threatens lawsuit against the National Archives

    Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Democrats threatened Thursday to file a lawsuit to get access to documents from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s time in the George W. Bush White House.

    Schumer told reporters that Judiciary Committee Democrats “stand ready to sue” the National Archives and Records Administration if they don’t quickly fill requests from committee Democrats for records under the Freedom of Information Act. The confirmation hearing for Kavanaugh is set for Sept. 4, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he wants a floor vote before Oct. 1.

    Democrats sent nine such public records requests to the National Archives and other agencies seeking a full set of documents about Kavanaugh’s five years in the White House during the Bush administration, said Richard Blumenthal, a committee member.

    https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/senate-democrats-ready-sue-kavanaugh-records

  31. Teen Killed In West Chicago Stabbed, Run Over, And Burned Alive; 3 Teens Charged

    CHICAGO (CBS) — The body of Luis Guerrero was found by firefighters conducting a training exercise in West Chicago Tuesday. The body was found strangled, stabbed, lit on fire, and then run over with a Jeep.

    CBS 2’s Charlie De Mar reports the horrific final moments for a Chicago teen, police say, killed by peers his own age. Friends of Guerrero say he moved to West Chicago from Mexico in fifth grade. They describe him as a good friend and student.

    “I’m extremely sad to know that he had to suffer so much because he was burned alive,” said Jose Ramirez, a friend of Guerrero.

    Police say 18-year-old Francisco Alvarado and 16-year-old Tia Brewer, a former girlfriend, met the victim at the library where the pair allegedly strangled Guerrero with a belt, stabbed him several times in the neck, and then drove him to the field. Jesus Correa was also charged.

    https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/08/16/teen-killed-west-chicago-stabbed-run-over-burned-alive-3-teens-charged/

  32. Four children stabbed in south London with one boy being ‘disembowelled’

    A boy is fighting for his life after he was allegedly disembowelled when he was stabbed on a south London housing estate.

    He was one of four children who were taken to hospitals in south London following the incident at Landor House, Camberwell yesterday.

    All the boys are aged between 15 and 16 years old and six attackers of the same age have been taken into custody.

    https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/17/four-children-stabbed-south-london-one-boy-disembowelled-7850208/

  33. Swamped in Inflation, Venezuela Will Cut Five Zeros from Currency

    MEDELLÍN, Colombia — Faced with nearly incomprehensible inflation — 32,714 percent as of Wednesday — Venezuelan officials thought they had a solution: They changed the color of the bank notes and increased their denomination. Then they said they would lop off three zeros. And when that didn’t seem enough, they announced they would cut off two more.

    The tactics have left Venezuelans like Yosmar Nowak, the owner of a coffee shop in Caracas, convinced that there is no solution in sight and that the government cannot even bring down the price of a cup of coffee, an eye-watering 2 million bolivars.

    “I imagine if we keep like this we’re going to have to do the same thing in December,” said Nowak, who has been forced to raise prices in her cafe at least 40 times this year.

    https://www.wral.com/swamped-in-inflation-venezuela-will-cut-five-zeros-from-currency/17774600/

  34. Boston Globe receives threat after anti-Trump editorial

    The Boston Globe today received a threatening telephone call that is being taken seriously by local and federal authorities, according to an email sent by a facilities manager to other tenants at the newspaper’s headquarters.

    Big picture: The Boston Globe today published an editorial pushing back against President Trump’s claims that some in the media are an “enemy of the people,” and also helped coordinate similar editorials in 300 other papers.

    Trump replied via Twitter:

    https://www.axios.com/boston-globe-threat-editorial-trump-07a46bf9-9c6a-4266-a4b2-c90f8c15d03c.html

  35. MSNBC commentator: 10% of Republicans would support Trump ‘killing their parents’
    By Ben Bowles August 17, 2018

    Do you recall when Donald Trump, at a campaign rally in Iowa in January of 2016, told the crowd, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters”?

    The choice of analogy, which was intended to underscore the candidate’s popularity, was unfortunate — and the mainstream media let Trump know. CBS News plumbed the reaction of caucus-goers at the rally and reported that “some dismissed his turn of phrase,” suggesting that others did not. NBC News noted that “Trump has previously boasted about the devotion of his fans, but the new comment is the most extreme example of such a remark.”

    The Washington Post presented the quote as a hypothetical, opening its story with the question “Donald Trump says his supporters are supremely devoted to him. But would they support him if he shot someone?”

    Far and away the most exhaustive reaction to Trump’s remark was proffered by the New York Times’s Richard Cohen, who wrote:

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/08/17/msnbc-commentator-says-10-of-republicans-would-support-trump-killing-their-parents/

  36. Black state senate candidate on Asian-American opponent: ‘Don’t vote for the ching-chong!’

    According to Detroit Metro Times, Detroit State Rep. Bettie Cook Scott has apologized for referring to her Asian-American opponent for state senate, Rep. Stephanie Chang, as a “ching-chong.”

    The racial slur was one of several delivered in front of multiple voters outside polling precincts during last Tuesday’s primary election. Scott also called one of Chang’s campaign volunteers an “immigrant,” adding “you don’t belong here” and “I want you out of my country.”

    Among those present when the racially charged comments were made was Chang’s husband, Sean Gray, who told reporters he “asked [Scott] not to speak about my wife in that manner,” adding:

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/08/17/black-state-senate-candidate-on-asian-american-opponent-dont-vote-for-the-ching-chong/

  37. Breach in CIA comms system led to roll-up of entire spy network in China
    By Daily Caller News Foundation August 17, 2018

    During a two-year period beginning in late 2010, the CIA station in Beijing watched as Chinese authorities rolled up its entire human intelligence network across the country in one of the agency’s worst debacles in recent memory.

    For years, CIA officials could only guess at how the disaster — in which dozens of U.S. spies were executed — could have unfolded in such a short time frame.

    An explanation began to take shape in January, when the FBI arrested a former CIA case officer, Jerry Chun Shing Lee, after a multi-year investigation into his possible espionage activity on behalf of the Chinese government. Lee, who was residing in Hong Kong at the time of his arrest, allegedly passed classified information to China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash payments. (RELATED: Feds Charge Ex-CIA Officer Who Allegedly Gave Up Entire Spy Network In China)

    Still, the speed and precision of the crackdown suggested that Chinese intelligence had identified the CIA’s informants through another means in addition to Lee’s alleged espionage. According to a report published by Foreign Policy on Thursday, that additional source was likely CIA’s own system for communicating with human assets.

    • Sorry, I borrowed it.
      It’s back now, all set for your weekend’s browsing.

      Saturation coverage of ‘Boris Johnson and The Burka’ was meant to cover the revelations about the leader of the Opposition and his base. No decent Brit can continue in the Labour Party until it’s purged.

  39. Germany Records Steep Rise In Migrants Smuggled In Freight Trains (breitbart, Aug 17, 2018)
    https://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/08/17/germany-records-steep-rise-in-migrants-smuggled-in-freight-trains/

    “The German region of Baden-Wüttemburg has seen a dramatic increase in the number of asylum seekers smuggling themselves into the country on freight trains and has vowed stricter border controls as a result.

    The federal police, who are responsible for managing the border, say they have greatly increased their operations along the rail networks in the region Die Welt reports.

    The primary focus of the police operation will be along the railway line from Baden in Switzerland to Karlsruhe, one of the busiest freight lines in Europe.

    The federal police say that last year they found only a few cases of migrants hiding in freight cars in the region but so far this year they have counted 254 migrants, most coming to Germany from northern Italy according to a police spokeswoman.

    Other regions in Germany, such as Bavaria have experienced similar issues with migrants hiding on freight trains in the past as well but say the problem has been substantially reduced due to stricter controls on departing trains by Italian officials…”

  40. ohn Brennan promptly demonstrates why he no longer merits a clearance
    By J.E. Dyer August 17, 2018

    As Howard Portnoy noted earlier today, President Trump has terminated former CIA Director John Brennan’s courtesy security clearance, a perk of departed senior political officials.

    Brennan complained that this move was a threat to freedom of speech and a way to “punish critics.” Howard observed, quite correctly, that termination of a security clearance has zero impact on Brennan’s freedom of speech.

    I would add that termination of a security clearance is also no form of punishment, for those who no longer need a clearance to do their jobs. Brennan doesn’t need a clearance. He holds no job for which a clearance is required.

    In fact, he has been in the position for the last 18 months of doing something I could never do, or anyone else who wasn’t granted special favors as a senior political appointee. He has held a clearance while at the same time being able to run around talking about national security and intelligence issues to the mainstream media without government supervision. Since February 2018, he’s been able to do it for money.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/08/17/john-brennan-promptly-demonstrates-why-he-no-longer-merits-a-clearance/

    • John Brennan calls revoked security clearance an attack on free speech: How’s he figure?
      By Howard Portnoy August 16, 2018

      Are you feeling “gravely worried”? You should be according to Obama CIA Director John Brennan, whose security clearance the president revoked yesterday.

      Shortly after the announcement was made by White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, Brennan tweeted out:

      This action is part of a broader effort by Mr. Trump to suppress freedom of speech & punish critics. It should gravely worry all Americans, including intelligence professionals, about the cost of speaking out. My principles are worth far more than clearances. I will not relent.

  41. N.M. compound where kids were being trained as school shooters ‘mysteriously’ destroyed
    By LU Staff August 17, 2018

    The above headline, which appears in one form or another at virtually every media outlet, raises a question no one seems to have an answer for. And that is “Who mysteriously destroyed it?”

    We know that the compound is (was?) being considered a crime scene. We also know that crime scenes are routinely preserved intact by one or another law enforcement agency as a means of preserving evidence. Which raises another question: “How was this permitted to happen?”

    Virtual Albuquerque station KOB reports that Jason Bader, the owner of the property where the compound stood, received a court order allowing the “seizure of a stolen trailer that made up part of the compound.” But who requested the court order and where was this major piece of evidence taken?

    Other new developments pertaining to the case include the positive identification of the remains of a young boy found in a tunnel on the compound to be those of terror suspect Siraj Ibn Wahhaj’s 3-year-old son. According to Reuters, the child “died in a ritual to ‘cast out demonic spirits,’ but his extended family believed he would ‘return as Jesus’ to identify ‘corrupt’ targets for them to attack, prosecutors said in court on Monday.”

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/08/17/n-m-compound-where-kids-were-being-trained-as-school-shooters-mysteriously-destroyed/

    • The Deep State is hard at work protecting someone in the Obama administration, I am willing to bet that J.E. and her retired spook colleagues have real good ideas about who ordered this but don’t have enough evidence to safely say who they suspect.

  42. the independent – Salih Khater: Westminster terror suspect seemed like a ‘very good man’ but was ‘stressed’ over father’s death, say friends in Birmingham

    Friend claims 29-year-old, who was thrown out of university in May, drove to London to get visa because he wanted to visit Sudan

    A man accused of launching a terror attack in Westminster may have crashed accidentally while on his way to obtain a visa, friends have claimed.

    Police have arrested Salih Khater on suspicion of attempted murder and committing an act of terrorism after he allegedly ploughed his car into cyclists and crashed into barriers outside the Houses of Parliament.

    But the 29-year-old’s friends told The Independent he was a “normal guy” who was not radicalised and had been planning to visit family in Sudan.

    “He’s a very good man, a very friendly man, everybody knows him,” said one man, who did not want to be named.

    “His father died six or seven months ago and that’s why he was stressed.

    “In my opinion he was going the wrong way and he didn’t know what he was doing and when he saw the police he got scared – he’s lucky they didn’t shoot him.”

    Armed police responded to Tuesday morning’s crash in seconds, after footage showed a silver Ford Fiesta swerving off Parliament Square and hitting cyclists before ploughing into a security barrier outside the Houses of Parliament.

    Police officers leapt out of the vehicle’s path and three cyclists and pedestrians were injured, including two who needed hospital treatment.

    The crash came during parliament’s summer recess and ahead of the daily rush of tourists to Westminster, leaving the area relatively deserted.

    Investigators said the silver Ford Fiesta had been driven from Birmingham to London late on Monday night and was then driven around the city centre for almost eight hours before the crash.

    Sudanese community member Ali Mohamed said he understood Mr Khater had an appointment at the Sudanese embassy on Tuesday, which is less than a mile from where the crash took place.

    “He was trying to apply for a visa,” he added. “We really don’t know why he got into that incident.”

    Mr Khater’s brother, Abdullah Khater, told the BBC he was a “normal person” with no fanatical ideas or links to extremist groups.

    His family are “a state of shock” over the incident, he added, saying he had been planning a trip to Sudan.

    Nassar Mahmood, a trustee at Birmingham Central Mosque, said Mr Khater did not worship there and enquiries suggested he was not a “fervent” Muslim.

    “He had his paperwork with him to go to the Sudanese embassy, and we know that the office opens very early in the morning so probably rather than going very early he went overnight,” he added.

    “He was very humble in terms of his finances and may not have wanted to pay for a hotel.”

    Mr Mahmood said the terror suspect used his own car and claimed he was “not generally the kind of person we see commit these sort of crimes”, adding: “We’ve been cautioning people against apportioning guilt before the police have concluded their investigation.”

    Counterterror officers have completed searches of Mr Khater’s former home above an internet cafe and barber shop in the Sparkbrook area of Birmingham, as well as a second property in the city and a flat where he used to live in Nottingham.

    Friends said he moved out of Sparkbrook about four months ago, to a nearby flat in Brinklow Tower, Highgate, Birmingham, where residents recognised his photograph.

    Police were seen entering the block with evidence bags and boxes on Wednesday afternoon as they continued work to establish a potential motive for the Westminster incident.

    Mr Khater, whose social media indicated a liking for Celine Dion and Rihanna, is believed to have arrived in the UK in 2010 as an asylum seeker. He was granted refugee status and later applied successfully for British citizenship.

    He studied English at City College from 2010 to 2011, then a diploma in science at Birmingham’s South and City College from 2014 to 2017, and started an accountancy course at Coventry University.

    “Salih Khater studied accountancy at Coventry University between September 2017 and May 2018,” a spokesperson said. “He failed the first year of his course, therefore his enrolment was terminated.”

    One friend described Mr Khater as a “simple man”, while some acquaintances said he was “slow” and thought he may have “mental difficulties”.

    Mr Khater described himself as a shop manager on his Facebook page, where the “about” section reads: “In past I’m great but now I say I don’t no [sic]”.

    He said he studied at Sudan University of Science and Technology and went to school in Wad Madani, a city southeast of Khartoum.

    Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu, the head of UK counterterror policing, said the suspect was not known to MI5 or counterterror police.

    Investigators have still not established a possible motive, and will be looking for any evidence of political or religious affiliations.

    “Given that it appears to have been a deliberate act, the method used and the iconic location, it is being treated as a terrorist incident and the investigation is being led by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command,” a spokesperson said.

    “At the time of the arrest, there was nobody else in the vehicle, which has now been removed from the scene and searched. No weapons have been recovered at this stage.

    “At this early stage, there is no intelligence of further danger to Londoners or the rest of the UK in connection with this incident.”

    No other arrests have been made in connection with the ongoing investigation.

    Police cordons erected amid a large-scale security response to the crash have since been lifted, but uniformed and plain-clothed officers have been deployed in central London under Project Servator.

    Officials said they have “specialist skills to recognise telltale signs that someone may be in an area for terrorist or other criminal purposes”.

    The car struck metres from where Khalid Masood launched the first terror attack claimed by Isis in Britain, and the metropolitan commissioner is among the officials suggesting parts of Westminster may be pedestrianised.

    In the past 17 months, Westminster has been hit by two attacks and was the planned location of four disrupted plots, making it currently the biggest terror target in Britain.

    Isis has issued advice to its followers on how to carry out atrocities using vehicles, knives and other easily obtained items, which have made attack plans faster, and harder to spot for authorities.?

    The prime minister’s spokesperson said 13 Islamist and four far-right plots have been foiled since the first Westminster attack in March 2017 – an average of one a month.

    A total of 676 terrorism investigations by MI5 and counterterrorism police were underway by the end of June this year, up from around 500 just four months before.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/salih-khater-westminster-attack-terror-suspect-latest-birmingham-friends-reaction-a8492656.html

    • BREITBART –Asylum Seeker Terror Suspect Granted British Citizenship Just Weeks Before Failed Attack

      […]was granted British citizenship just weeks before his arrest.

      […]The Sudanese-origin male came to Britain after spending two years in Libya, and was granted asylum by the British government.

      […]Latest reports indicate detectives still haven’t been able to discern a motive for Khater’s actions. He is said to be acting “uncooperatively” with officers. Such is the lack of progress, British security services were granted an extension to the maximum time for questioning by a judge on Thursday morning.

      Without that extra time, officers would have to either charge Khater or release him — now they have until Monday to make that decision.

      https://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/08/16/asylum-seeker-terror-suspect-granted-british-citizenship-just-weeks-before-failed-attack/

  43. How did a suspected ISIS hit man end up in the U.S. as a refugee? It’s painfully simple
    By Daily Caller News Foundation August 17, 2018

    The process for Iraqi national Omar Adbulsattar Ameen to enter the U.S. was simple: All the suspected Islamic State fighter had to do was lie on his United Nations applications for refugee status and during interviews with U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials, according to the Department of Justice.

    Ameen, who was arrested in California on Wednesday on an outstanding murder warrant in Iraq, claimed he was not a member of ISIS or al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). He also denied taking part in any terrorist or criminal activity in Iraq.

    In order to meet the physical safety requirement to qualify as a refugee, Ameen, 45, claimed his father had been murdered while helping the American military and that his brother had been kidnapped by a terrorist group affiliated with radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr.

    But all of that was a lie, according to the Justice Department.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/08/17/how-a-suspected-isis-hit-man-end-up-in-the-u-s-as-a-refugee-its-painfully-simple/

    • This is the type of person the travel ban is aimed at and the type of person the liberal Judges are in a hurry to let into the US.

  44. USA: Counter-protesters raise hell over Satanists’ Baphomet statue

    Radicalized Christian extremists gathered outside the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock, Thursday, to demonstrate against a gathering of peaceful Satanists who are calling on the local government to install a statue of Baphomet on Capitol grounds.

  45. Brave Iranian woman confronts cleric after he tells her to ‘fix her hijab’ or she will get arrested (dailymail, Aug 17, 2018)
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6070611/Brave-Iranian-woman-confronts-cleric-told-fix-hijab-shell-arrested.html

    “Provocative footage has emerged of the moment a Muslim woman challenges a cleric who ordered her to fix her hijab on a public street in Iran.

    The man can be seen telling the woman to ‘fix your hijab or I’ll get you arrested’ when the woman bravely rips the veil off her head in anger and walks away…”

  46. One dead as Tunisia security forces arrest migrants (news24, Aug 17, 2018)
    https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/one-dead-as-tunisia-security-forces-arrest-migrants-20180817

    “A migrant died early on Friday as Tunisian security forces clashed with a group of Tunisians and Africans embarking on a clandestine sea crossing to Italy, a security official said.

    The police intervened to stop a boat that had been launched off the coast of the central city of Sfax at around 01:30 GMT, said Tunisia’s National Guard spokesperson Houssemeddine Jebabli.

    He said passengers on the vessel had thrown Molotov cocktails at security forces before setting fire to the boat and attempting to flee.

    Four Tunisians were arrested along with eight migrants from the Ivory Coast and two from Democratic Republic Congo, he said, adding that one of them was hospitalised for burns without specifying which one.

    A 15th passenger was found dead, and operations were underway to find any other bodies from the boat.

    A growing number of Tunisians are embarking on risky journeys across the Mediterranean Sea to seek work and a better life in Europe.

    In the first half of 2018, nearly 2 660 people were arrested in Tunisia during attempts to make the crossing, Jebabli said, compared with just 564 over the same period the previous year.

    Several deadly shipwrecks have taken place in recent months, including one on June 3 that killed 87 people.”

  47. CANADA – Muslim MP apologizes, rescinds award to man labelled purveyor of anti-Semitism

    OTTAWA – A Liberal MP has apologized and rescinded a certificate of appreciation she presented last week to a man a Jewish advocacy group calls a purveyor of anti-Semitism.

    Mississauga-Erin Mills MP Iqra Khalid says she was unaware of some of the views held in the past by Amin El-Maoued, the public relations chief of Palestine House, when she gave him a certificate of appreciation for his volunteer work during a barbecue in her riding.

    B’nai Brith Canada CEO Michael Mostyn sent Khalid a letter this week, demanding she rescind the certificate.

    The letter alleged that El-Maoued led a July 2017 rally “laden with hate-filled and anti-Semitic slogans,” including chants of “Israel and Hitler are the same.”

    After receiving the letter, Khalid says she “looked into the matter extensively” and concluded that El-Maoued’s past views were contrary to what she stands for and inconsistent with her efforts to “promote diversity and inclusion.”

    As a representative of the federal government, she says she has a particular responsibility to condemn anti-Semitism.

    https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/liberal-mp-apologizes-rescinds-award-to-man-labelled-purveyor-of-anti-semitism-1.4056576

  48. Dozens of Children Die in Nigeria Camp Due to Malnutrition (theglobepost, Aug 17, 2018)
    https://theglobepost.com/2018/08/17/nigeria-malnutrition/

    “Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Friday it was providing emergency help after 33 children died in a camp housing people displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria.

    MSF said that the children died between August 2-15 in Bama, once the second-largest town in the ravaged state of Borno but now a humanitarian hub.

    “They are dying due to malnutrition,” said Lisa Veran, MSF spokesperson in Paris…”

  49. MEMRI TV – Dr. Abdur-Rafay of Hizb-ut-Tahrir America: The West Has Launched a New Crusade

    At Hizb-ut-Tahrir America’s 2018 Khilafa Conference, Dr. Abdur-Rafay said that the West has “launched a new Crusade – a much deadlier attack, with profound consequences, than just physical wounds,” and that “the bloody Crusades to spread Christianity… was now re-energized to infuse secular liberalism upon Muslims.”

    He accused Western governments and the media of linking any act of violence by a Muslim to extremism coming from a violent political ideology of Islam, and said that this narrative is a means of forcing Muslims to condemn violence, to prove their patriotism, and to adopt Western values.

    Abdur-Rafay said that this assault seeks to produce a “good Muslim” who believes in a secular, “American” Islam.

    The conference took place on April 29 2018 in Palos Hills, Illinois.

    • MEMRI TV -Haitham Ibn Thbait of U.S. chapter of Hizb-ut-Tahrir Warns Muslims of “Perils” of Western Democracy

      Haitham Ibn Thbait, a member of Hizb-ut-Tahrir America, said that Islam stands in “total contradiction to what the West represents” – liberalism, democracy, feminism, and movements such as DREAM, #metoo, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ, Pro-Choice, and Occupy Wall Street.

      Speaking at Hizb-ut-Tahrir America’s annual Khilafa Conference, Ibn Thbait said that “we should be working within our own system, not democracy” and warned that “our children might prefer democracy to Islam.”

      “Can you imagine the Prophet of Allah standing alongside the LGBTQ community? Or with Pro-Choice? Or with… the Occupy movements?” he said.

      The conference was held in Palos Hills, Illinois on April 29.