Reader’s Links for Oct. 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 for Oct. 15, 2018”

  1. Italy demands to know if French police dumped migrants (abcnews, Oct 15, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/italy-demands-french-police-dumped-migrants-58504651

    “Italy has asked France for “clarifications” about reports that a French police truck crossed the border and dropped off two presumed migrants in the woods near Turin before returning to France.

    The Italian Foreign Ministry said Monday it contacted the French ambassador in Rome for information “about the possible entry” of the truck at Claviere on Friday night.

    Italian news agency ANSA reports that Italian police surveillance cameras captured the French vehicle on video. ANSA says the two people who got out of the truck were believed to be African migrants.

    Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who has taken a hard line on curbing migration, demanded an explanation.

    He said: “I don’t want to believe that Macron’s France would use its own police to secretly dump immigrants in Italy.””

    • Italy has asked France for “clarifications” about reports that a French police truck crossed the border and dropped off two presumed migrants in the woods near Turin before returning to France.

      What’s there to say? Trite but true, “Good fences make good neighbors”.

      “Ring and run” used to involve a turd and flaming lunch bag on a front doorstep. It’s an entirely different sort of bag that would be needed to hold this pair of turds.

      One thing is for certain, this dynamic duo must have made really serious nuisances of themselves back amongst the frogs to get this sort of unglamorous heave ho from their pond.

      SIDEBAR: Without further reporting, my money is on a couple of half dozen unbelievably frustrated local cops who—without notification to or authorization from their immediate superiors—acted independently after becoming unable to further tolerate such ongoing criminal enterprise, much less almost incessant sexual predation upon children and adults alike.

      Insert standard cite of it being easier to obtain forgiveness than permission.

      In fact, that sidebar is one of the few scenarios which makes any sense. All other superiors in the food command chain have too many stripes to lose.

      Anyhoo, what is assured to furnish further and endless outrage amusement will be if it turns out this untoothsome twosome first entered the Schengen Area via Italia. Then, prepare yourselves for, not just smoke but, HEAT.

      These over-the-fence (as it were), EU squabbles will—just as with tectonic shifts—likely involve sufficient friction to where such locking of sociopolitical (i.e., cross-border) horns may well expose undetected or even entirely new fault lines.

      Most certainly, they will be precursors of, what appears to be, inevitable civil war (or scattershot civil wars) all over the current EU—with Brexit being a classic Prime Mover when it comes to open disengagement from that dysfunctional sociopolitical charade commonly called the EU.

      Cruel or unfeeling as it may seem of me, America desperately needs some sort of material object lesson when it comes to what borderless immigration portends with respect to individual, preestablished, deep-rooted cultures. The MSM’s obstinate and adamant refusal to report upon, much less accurately cover or properly attribute, “immigrant-related” EU festivities is just one of many legitimate drivers in the spiraling demise of “legacy media”.

      Here’s to that spiraling demise. It cannot happen too soon or too fast.

      • Epilogue: “He said: “I don’t want to believe that Macron’s France would use its own police to secretly dump immigrants in Italy.

        Salvini is like a miner’s blasting cap that’s needed to jolt a relatively inert but much more energetic body.

        Beliefs change, as we are soon about to see with such NWO (New World Order) chimera [in the genetic sense] as Multiculturalism, Globalism, Transnationalism—not to mention even older and more dangerously lethal saws like moral or cultural relativism.

        Now, just for gits and shiggles, add the way hardcore elements within the “fluid gender” community are grumbling about how the “B” and “T” in LGBTQXWY—as in; “bisexual” and “transsexual”—automatically imply (which they most certainly do) a [gasp!] binary aspect to human sexuality.

        NOTE: If genuine hermaphroditic births were orders of magnitude more common, I’d happily rethink my drink—but they aren’t, so I won’t.

        Again, this little cross-border spat is just a micro-example of a soon-to-be far more macro issue.

  2. Egypt says security forces kill 9 ‘terrorists’ in Nile raid (abcnews, Oct 15, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/egypt-security-forces-kill-terrorists-nile-raid-58507577

    “Egyptian security forces killed nine “terrorists” in a raid on a cave hideout along the Nile River at dawn on Monday, the Interior Ministry said.

    The raid in central Egypt targeted men who were planning attacks on vital installations, resulting in a shootout that led to their deaths, it said in a statement.

    The statement did not mention if there were any survivors or if any wounded were taken prisoner, or if security forces suffered any casualties.

    It said assault rifles, improvised explosive devices, ammunition and supplies were seized in the operation, in rugged terrain off the road between the city of Assiut, some 320 kilometers (200 miles) south of Cairo, and Sohag, another 70 kilometers further south.

    Egypt has been battling an insurgency based in the Sinai Peninsula that intensified after the military overthrew an elected but divisive Islamist president in 2013. It launched a nationwide operation against the militants in February, but raids outside the restive Sinai Peninsula have been rare…”

  3. Egypt court upholds 3-year prison sentence for ex-president (abcnews, Oct 15, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/egypt-court-upholds-year-prison-sentence-president-58509728

    “Egypt’s main appeals court has upheld a three-year prison sentence for former president Mohammed Morsi, who is already jailed in other cases, over a conviction for insulting the judiciary.

    The Court of Cassation upheld the same sentence for Morsi and 19 others on Monday, also fining the former Islamist president 1 million Egyptian pounds ($60,000) in the case. Morsi was accused of insulting a sitting judge during a speech he gave as president.

    Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, had a tumultuous year in office that ended with the army overthrowing him in 2013. Multiple cases against him are pending.

    The other men sentenced were mostly Islamists but also several secular activists. Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a secular activist, was only fined 30,000 Egyptian pounds, but remains in jail for other cases.”

  4. 2 journalists face jail over criticism of US pastor’s trial (abcnews, Oct 15, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/journalists-face-jail-criticism-us-pastors-trial-58508822

    “Two Turkish journalists have been charged with insulting the Turkish nation and institutions for suggesting that a Turkish court may not have acted independently when ruling in the case against an American pastor.

    Duygu Guvenc and Alican Uludag, from the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper, face maximum two years in prison for articles published in July after U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson, who was at the center of a Turkish-U.S. diplomatic dispute, was released to house arrest after almost two years in jail.

    The two journalists reject the charge. Guvenc says Monday “we used our constitutional right to criticize decisions as journalists.”

    The pastor, who was accused of terror-related charges, was convicted Friday yet released from custody for time served. He has returned to the United States.

    The journalists’ trial is set for Dec. 20.”

    • Two Turkish journalists have been charged with insulting the Turkish nation and institutions for suggesting that a Turkish court may not have acted independently when ruling in the case against an American pastor.

      Is it yust me or does anyone else see an endless string of arrests devolving from this arraignment? Go ahead and see what happens if you publicly demonstrate for the release of these “Two Turkish journalists”. Le bingo! More arrests.

      It’s like some weird sort of Islamic perpetual motion machine.

  5. US military airstrike in Somalia kills 4 al-Shabab fighters (abcnews, Oct 15, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-military-airstrike-somalia-kills-al-shabab-fighters-58507134

    “The U.S. military says it has conducted an airstrike that killed four al-Shabab extremists after “partner forces came under small arms fire.”

    The U.S. Africa Command says Sunday’s airstrike was carried out near the community of Araara in Lower Juba region in the south.

    The statement says no U.S. service members were on the ground during the Somali-led operation and that according to its assessment no civilians were injured or killed in the airstrike.

    The U.S. military has carried out more than two dozen airstrikes, including drone strikes, this year against the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, the deadliest Islamic extremist group in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Somalia on Sunday marked the first anniversary of al-Shabab’s deadliest attack, a truck bombing in the capital, Mogadishu, that killed well over 500 people.”

    • US military airstrike in Somalia kills 4 al-Shabab fighters

      Al Shabab, meet al Kebab.

  6. Fine Print: Warren DNA Test Did NOT Compare Against Real Native American DNA

    U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released the results of a DNA test Monday to prove that she does indeed have Native American ancestry, which has not worked out as planned.

    “To make up for the dearth of Native American DNA, Bustamente used samples from Mexico, Peru and Colombia to stand in for Native American,” the Boston Globe report said.

    In other words, Warren’s DNA could be Mexican, Peruvian, Colombian or Native American, but the “scientist” behind the test simply assumed that if Warren possessed Mexican, Peruvian or Colombian DNA that she was indeed Native American. Needless to say, none of those three countries are America.

    The DNA test also proved that in any circumstance, Warren does not have enough Native American DNA to be considered American Indian by any tribe.

    https://bigleaguepolitics.com/fine-print-warren-dna-test-did-not-compare-against-real-native-american-dna/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10152018b

    • Donald Trump: I Will Only Pay on Elizabeth Warren Bet ‘If I Can Test Her Personally’

      President Donald Trump said he would only pay off on a bet to Sen. Elizabeth Warren if he could test her claim of American Indian heritage “personally.”

      “I’ll only do it if I can test her personally, and that will not be something I will enjoy doing either,” Trump said when asked about his offer to pay $1 million to Warren’s favorite charity if she could prove her claim of being an Indian.

      Warren released a DNA analysis from a Stanford professor on Monday that said she could have as much as 1/64th and as little as 1/1,024th American Indian heritage.

      Trump scoffed at Warren’s claim.

      “I owe her?” he said to a reporter who asked him about the bet. “She owes the country an apology. What’s her percentage? 1/1,000th?”

      She responded to Trump’s comment by accusing him of making a “creepy physical threat.”

      “We all know why Donald Trump makes creepy physical threats about me, right?” she asked. “He’s scared. He’s trying to do what he always does to women who scare him: call us names, attack us personally, shrink us down to feel better about himself.”

      https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/10/15/donald-trump-i-will-only-pay-on-elizabeth-warren-bet-if-i-can-test-her-personally/
      =================================================
      Elizabeth Warren’s family story

      Get the full story about Elizabeth Warren’s Native American heritage from Elizabeth’s family and the people who hired her, and review the personnel records and other documents for yourself.

    • Cherokee Nation responds to Senator Warren, says DNA test ‘useless to determine tribal citizenship’

      The Cherokee Nation responded to the results of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s DNA test on Monday, arguing that “a DNA test is useless to determine tribal citizenship.” The response came after the Democratic senator revealed that, based on tests, she has Native-American ancestry “in the range of 6-10 generations ago.”

      “Current DNA tests do not even distinguish whether a person’s ancestors were indigenous to North or South America,” Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. said in a press release.

      “Sovereign tribal nations set their own legal requirements for citizenship, and while DNA tests can be used to determine lineage, such as paternity to an individual, it is not evidence for tribal affiliation,” Hoskin continued. “Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong. It makes a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven. Senator Warren is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage.”[…]

      https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cherokee-nation-responds-to-senator-warren-says-dna-test-useless-to-determine-tribal-citizenship

      • Even here in deep blue Massachusetts, everyone’s tittering. This should go into Wiki under “Streisland Effect: Examples”.

    • CNN – Cherokee Nation: Elizabeth Warren’s DNA test is useless

      Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. discusses why Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) release of DNA test results suggesting that she has distant Native American heritage is problematic.

  7. FBI Has Evidence That ‘Directly Refutes’ Premise Of Trump-Russia Probe, GOP Rep Says

    Republican lawmakers have hinted for months that the FBI failed to provide federal judges on the surveillance court with information that undercut the government’s premise for opening the Trump-Russia probe in 2016.

    Republicans have suggested in interviews that the information related to George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign adviser whose conversation with an Australian diplomat prompted the FBI to open its investigation into the Trump campaign.

    Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe provided Sunday the clearest picture to date of what the FBI allegedly withheld from the surveillance court.

    Ratcliffe suggested that the FBI failed to include evidence regarding former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, in an interview with Fox News.

    https://dailycaller.com/2018/10/14/fbi-evidence-refutes-papadopoulos/

  8. Proud Boys Leaving Republican Club After Gavin McInnes Event and Brutal Assault 10/12/18

  9. “Steve Bannon on Populism, China, Kavanaugh”
    Bloomberg Politics – Published on October 11, 2018

    • “Bannonism: The Revolt of the Little Guy”
      Sargon of Akkad – Published on October 10, 2018

  10. the gateway pundit -BREAKING: Judge Dismisses Stormy Daniels’ Defamation Suit Against President Trump – Orders Stormy to Pay Trump’s Legal Fees

    Stormy filed a defamation suit against President Trump after he mocked her over a sketch of the man who allegedly threatened her–the man in the sketch looked eerily like her ex-husband.

    The U.S. District Judge dismissed the case on grounds Trump’s tweet was “rhetorical hyperbole,” not defamatory as Stormy Daniels alleged.

    The federal judge also ordered Stormy to pay Trump’s legal fees!

    President Trump’s lawyer Charles Harder released a statement saying the President is entitled to an award of his attorney’s fees against Stormy Daniels. The amount to be awarded to President Trump will be announced at a later date, Harder said.

    The federal judge also ordered Stormy to pay Trump’s legal fees!

    President Trump’s lawyer Charles Harder released a statement saying the President is entitled to an award of his attorney’s fees against Stormy Daniels. The amount to be awarded to President Trump will be announced at a later date, Harder said.

    https://twitter.com/johnrobertsFox/status/1051964722789126144

    Creepy porn lawyer Avenatti lashed out from his Twitter account Monday after the ruling was announced.

    “We will appeal the dismissal of the defamation cause of action and are confident in a reversal,” CPL said in a tweet.

    https://twitter.com/MichaelAvenatti/status/1051968238366547969

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/10/breaking-federal-judge-dismisses-stormy-daniels-defamation-suit-against-president-trump/

    • In a similar vein: an old video of Elisabeth Warren doing the dance of her people

  11. The NYPD said Monday that it plans to arrest nine members of the alt-right group the Proud Boys and three more anti-fascist opponents involved in a brawl on the Upper East Side on Friday — as new video of the melee surfaced.

    “We believe we have valid [reason for the] arrests for those nine individuals to include charges of riot and attempted assault,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said at a press conference, adding that the raps could be upgraded.

    Immediately after the fight, the NYPD arrested three protesters who punched a member of the conservative group and stole a backpack.

    https://nypost.com/2018/10/15/nypd-to-arrest-9-members-of-far-right-proud-boys-involved-in-brawl/?utm_source=reddit.com

  12. 19-year-old Omar Al-Ganas, nephew of the Islamist leader Abu Raad, has, with the help of personal votes, entered the city council of Hässleholm.

    The news website Samhällsnytt recently revealed how Al-Ganas has expressed anti-Semitic views and derogatory comments towards women, has strong Islamic views, wants to kill the leaders of the US and Israel and has questionable loyalties to the country in which he lives.

    And as a result, he has now been asked by his own party (Social Democrats) to resign.

    Some facts about Omar Al-Ganas:

    He is the nephew of the infamous Abu Raad, who is identified as the leader of Islam in Sweden.

    https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/10/muslim-politician-in-sweden-asked-to-resign-after-its-exposed-that-he-wants-to-kill-the-leaders-of-the-us-and-israel/#.W8TYcx8dy4c.twitter

  13. In the first of a number of interviews with European political leaders who hope to gain seats in next year’s European Parliament, Janice Atkinson MEP, talks with Volya and its enigmatic leader, Veselin Mareshki.

    Volya (means “Will”), is headed by Veselin Mareshki, sometimes labelled the ‘Bulgarian Trump’, because of his business interests and campaign style.

    He owns a chain of petrol stations and pharmacies and brings a degree of philanthropy to Bulgaria in selling fuel and medicines at prices well below the competition.

    Volya’s politics are patriotic centre right. It was originally launched in 2007 under the name of the Liberal Alliance and renamed Volya in 2016. They gained twelve MPs and hope to win seats in the European Parliament.

    https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/10/interview-with-the-bulgarian-trump-we-have-to-unite-to-save-our-countries-from-the-madness-of-current-eu-leaders/#.W8TVMfSfdT4.twitter

  14. A former security director for the Senate Intelligence Committee has pleaded guilty to one count of giving a false statement to FBI agents looking into leaks of national security information to several reporters, including one at the New York Times he dated, the Justice Department announced Monday.

    James A. Wolfe, 58, was in charge of maintaining all classified information coming from the executive branch to the Senate panel. He served as the panel’s security director for 29 years.

    “Did you make a false statement to the FBI?” D.C. district court judge Ketanji B. Jackson asked Wolfe in court on Monday. Wolfe had been scheduled to appear for a routine status hearing, before prosecutors announced that “substantial” negotiations had produced a guilty plea.

    “I did, your honor,” Wolfe responded.

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-intelligence-staffer-who-dated-reporter-pleads-guilty-to-lying-to-fbi-about-leaks

  15. Official: Absolute poverty in Iran rises to 34% (memo, Oct 15, 2018)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20181015-official-absolute-poverty-in-iran-rises-to-34/

    “Extreme poverty in Iran has risen and reached 34 per cent this year, the head of the workers group in the Iranian Shura Council Ali Ridha Mahjoub said.

    “The rate of extreme poverty has increased twice as much as last year,” Mahjoub said in an interview with a local paper, pointing out that the rate of extreme poverty has rose from 17 per cent in 2017 to 34 per cent in 2018.

    According to Mahjoub, people who receive a salary of less than $2 a day are classified as living in absolute poverty.

    Iran entered recession this year after the US unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear deal signed in 2015 and reimposed sanctions on the oil rich state.

    According to an IMF report released last week, Iran’s economy will contract by 1.5 per cent in 2018, with the trend continuing and increasing in 2019, shrinking by 3.5 per cent.”

  16. Egypt denies torturing US citizen in prison (memo, Oct 15, 2018)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20181015-egypt-denies-torturing-us-citizen-in-prison/

    “Egyptian authorities yesterday denied a Human Rights Watch report claiming it disappeared, tortured and raped an American-Egyptian citizen.

    The State Information Service (SIS), affiliated to the Egyptian presidency, said that the “reports are biased, politicised, unprofessional and not properly documented as they conceal and distort facts.”

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday that the “Egyptian authorities forcibly disappeared an Egyptian-American limousine driver, who said authorities also tortured him and held him secretly for four months.”

    It identified the man as Khaled Hassan, 41, stating that he “provided detailed allegations of torture, including two allegations of rape.”

    Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Human Rights Watch Michael Page said: “Hassan’s disappearance and detailed allegations of torture and the government’s denials reinforce the reality that Egyptian security forces operate with impunity.”

    He added: “Khaled Hassan has been able to bring the gruesome details of his treatment to light, but thousands of others held in Egypt’s prisons have not been able to tell their stories.””

  17. Lebanon man jailed in UAE details ‘bone-chilling’ torture, psychological abuse (alaraby, Oct 15, 2018)
    https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/10/15/lebanon-man-jailed-in-uae-details-bone-chilling-torture-abuse

    “A Lebanese man serving a 15-year sentence for terror offences in the United Arab Emirates has detailed brutal torture methods allegedly used by authorities, Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported.

    The newspaper published on Monday leaked audio recordings of Ahmad Makkawi describing “bone-chilling” abuses he had endured while being imprisoned in the authoritarian Gulf state.

    “I don’t want anyone to weep over me, I just want them to know that I have been wronged,” Makkawi says in the recording, which has been verified by his lawyer.

    “I was scalped, and sexually violated with a steel rod that was inserted into my rectum, causing tearing that required an operation to repair,” he says.

    “My toenails were ripped out and four of my fingers were broken during the torture. I was beaten so badly that my nose was broken and I developed a growth in my neck that had to be removed surgically,”

    “They tried to slit the veins in my left hand and my face was so brutally beaten that I lost sight in one eye for a whole month. I was prevented from sleeping for two weeks. I was not allowed to bathe and had to sleep on the floor for two and a half months,” he adds.

    In 2016, the UAE sentenced Makkawi and six others to up to life in prison after convicting them of forming a cell linked to Lebanon’s Hizballah militant group.

    The charges included “passing classified information about a governmental department to Lebanon’s Hizballah terrorist group and for the benefit of a foreign country”.

    The Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council have declared Hizballah a “terrorist” organisation over its support for the Syrian regime.

    Makkawi’s lawyer Mohammed Sablouh told the Lebanese daily that the charges against his client were “baseless” and that Emirati authorities had extracted confessions from his client under torture.

    Sablouh also condemned Lebanese officials for failing to take necessary measures to extradite Makkawi to Lebanon to serve his sentence there.

    The report is the latest detailing brutal torture methods carried out in Emirati prisons.

    Earlier this year, a UN report painted a grim picture of the human rights situation in the UAE.

    The report condemned arrests and forced disappearances outside the legal framework and the transfer of people to secret prisons under the pretext of being accused of “terrorism”.

    It added that authorities have used torture to force defendants to confess to the charges against them and deprive them of healthcare.”

  18. Irregular Immigration Attempts to Europe Doubled Since 2016 in Morocco (moroccoworldnews, Oct 15, 2018)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2018/10/255346/irregular-immigration-europe-since-morocco/

    “Morocco’s security forces have aborted approximately 65,000 irregular migration attempts annually since 2016.

    The number has more than doubled from an average of 32,000 annually between 2003 and 2015 to nearly 65,000 since 2016.

    The new statistics were shared by Khalid Zerouali, governor and director of immigration and border surveillance, in an interview with Jeune Afrique.

    Zerouali’s interview comes at a sensitive time as irregular migration has put pressure on the government to find a concrete solution to fight trafficking networks…”

  19. Istanbulites are ‘afraid of Syrian children,’ report says (hurriyetdailynews, Oct 15, 2018)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/istanbulites-are-afraid-of-syrian-children-report-says-137887

    “Turkey hosts nearly 3.5 million Syrians who have fled their war-torn country and over 46 percent of those refugees are children. However, a study, carried out by the Istanbul Political Research Institute (IstanPol) has shown the underlying feeling of Istanbulites towards Syrian refugee children is “fear.”

    The study, sponsored by the Turkey office of the Germany-based Friedrich Ebert Foundation, was conducted with 25 individuals, between the ages of 19 and 66, who use the Zincirlikuyu-Beylikdüzü metrobus line to commute. This line was particularly chosen because it is used by people who live where Syrian children live and the line goes through the areas where they live.

    The findings of the study were presented in a report titled “A study of perception: The ‘Ghost’ Syrian children on a journey in Istanbul.”

    According to the report, Istanbulites are “afraid of Syrian refugee children,” and the title refers to this perception of locals. There are three reasons as to why the term “ghost” is used: Invisibility, fear and disregard.

    Syrian children are invisible to Istanbulites, as even if locals feel sorry for them, the conditions they are in no longer bother them. Locals often chose the word “beggars” to describe those children.

    Violence against those children, class differences and child labor have become a common occurrence in the eyes of Istanbulites.

    According to the report, locals fear Syrian children will become criminals in the future.

    Another finding in the report is that Istanbulites ignore and disregard Syrian children. It implies that locals ignore the needs of these children in the long term. Participants of the study have negative views of adult Syrian refugees as well. Those negative views of locals stem from economic and cultural concerns.

    According to participants, the refugees are a burden on the Turkish economy. They also think Syrians have integration problems and will cause problems for Turkish society.

    Based on their personal experiences on the Zincirlikuyu-Beylikdüzü metrobus line, participants of the survey conclude that the number of “foreigners” in Turkey has increased over the past years. Due to this perception, locals have also added they “feel like a stranger in their own country.” Even those who have come to Istanbul from other Turkish cities and have been living in the city for a long time share this view.

    A half of participants of the study do not think it is possible to cohabitate and believe Syrian children should go back to their country with their families.

    “When I think of them, the word ‘needy’ comes to mind. They [Syrian children] are deprived of the right to education. As if they are forced to grow up. My childhood and theirs are worlds apart. They are probably going through things that will have a negative impact on them in the long term. That is why I feel sorry for them,” said one participant.”

  20. Turkey suspends 259 local officials for ‘terror links’    (hurriyetdailynews, Oct 15, 2018)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-suspends-259-local-officials-for-terror-links-137906

    “Turkey has suspended 259 senior local officials over alleged terror links and activities unrelated to their posts, the Interior Ministry said on Oct. 15.

    Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu removed 259 local neighborhood heads—“muhtar” in Turkish—from their posts, his office said in a statement.

    It did not provide further details on what terror organizations the officials were allegedly linked to.

    The muhtar is the elected chief of a village or a city neighborhood and is responsible for day-to-day services for residents such as registration.

    Turkey has suspended 140,000 public sector employees because of alleged links to the illegal PKK and FETÖ, widely believed to have orchestrated the July 2016 failed coup attempt.

    Last week, the ministry suspended 559 village guards—locals employed to combat PKK militants—accused of links to terror organizations, while 76 were accused of human trafficking and drug-related crimes.

    The PKK is listed as a terror organization by Ankara and its Western allies.

    Turkish authorities detained 137 people in countrywide operations earlier this month over alleged links to the PKK.”

  21. Turkey calls on Romania to take action against FETO (AA, Oct 15, 2018)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkey-calls-on-romania-to-take-action-against-feto-/1282502

    “The Turkish deputy parliament speaker called on Romania to take necessary measures against Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey.

    Levent Gok met Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila in capital Ankara.

    Gok recalled the friendship between the two countries and said Turkey was one of the first countries that officially recognized Romania in 1878.

    He also emphasized Turkey’s fight against FETO, saying: “Romania should do what is necessary against this terrorist organization.”

    Following the meeting, Gok and Dancila visited parts of the parliament which were bombed during the defeated coup.

    FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup, which martyred 251 people and injured nearly 2,200 others.

    Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.”

  22. Project Veritas – People just can’t know that.” McCaskill Hides Agenda from Voters, “semi-automatic rifle ban”

    Project Veritas Action Fund has released a third undercover video from campaigns during this 2018 election season.

    This report exposes how incumbent Senator McCaskill and individuals working on her campaign conceal their liberal views on issues in order to court moderate voters.

  23. Huge rubbish fire blazes in Milan (thelocal, Oct 15, 2018)
    https://www.thelocal.it/20181015/rubbish-waste-trash-fire-in-milan-photos

    “People in Milan have been warned to keep their windows closed after a huge fire broke out at a waste recycling depot on the outskirts of the northern Italian city.

    The blaze broke out at around 8:30 pm on Sunday night in Via Dante Chiasserini, a street in the north-east of Milan.

    The flames reached up to 40 metres high, reports said, as 13 teams of firefighters battled all night to get them under control. The smoke could be seen from several kilometres away.

    No one was seriously hurt, though at least one person suffered from minor injuries. As well as the recycling centre, a nearby minibus depot suffered damage and the Milan-Novara train line, which runs through the area, had to halt its services.

    The line remained closed on Monday morning and around 40 firefighters were still on the scene, Italy’s fire service said.

    On the advice of environmental safety experts, the city council warned residents to take the precaution of keeping their windows closed throughout Thursday, especially those immediately to the west of the fire.

    According to Milano Today, it is the 17th fire of its kind in Lombardy this year. In 2017, the region saw 21 rubbish fires.

    Fires at waste stockage centres have become more frequent since China stopped taking in other countries’ trash earlier this year, leaving Italy with more rubbish than it can dispose of, Repubblica says.

    Last week six people were arrested in the town of Corteleona, south of Milan, on charges of illegally stocking industrial plastic waste and then burning it, releasing hazardous smoke.

    Italy’s most infamous cases of toxic waste pollution to date took place in the southern region of Campania, nicknamed “the Land of Fires” due to the thousands of fires that broke out there each year because of illegal dumping. The Camorra crime syndicate was deeply implicated in the problem, which was found to be linked to a spike in cancer rates.”

  24. Give up your grenades and walk free: Sweden’s explosives amnesty gets under way (thelocal, Oct 15, 2018)
    https://www.thelocal.se/20181015/give-up-your-hand-grenades-and-walk-free-swedens-explosives-amnesty-gets-under-way

    “Between today and early next year, anyone in possession of hand grenades or illegal pyrotechnical equipment can hand them over to police without risking punishment.

    Sweden’s first-ever amnesty period for illegal explosives got under way on Monday and is set to last until January 11th 2019. The hope is that criminals will choose to give up some of the hand grenades that are in circulation and get the weapons off the country’s streets.

    The move was proposed by the centre-left coalition government last year, with Justice Minister Morgan Johansson telling DN: “This is linked to criminal gangs who in general have increased access to weapons which they use against one another and against the judicial system. We must get these off our streets.”

    According to police figures, 43 hand grenades were seized in Sweden last year, of which 21 had been detonated. In 2016, 55 were seized, of which 35 had detonated.

    Both years were a notable increase on the amount of grenades detonated in 2015, when the number was ten (though the amount seized that year, 45, was consistent with 2017).

    During the amnesty period, anyone in possession of explosive goods without a licence can hand them over to police without fear of punishment. It is possible to stay anonymous. Such goods include for example hand grenades, but also explosives in general, detonators or other pyrotechnical goods such as illicit fireworks.

    Unlike during Sweden’s weapons amnesty earlier this year, it is not permitted to bring unwanted explosives to police stations. People are instead urged to call 114 14, the non-emergency police contact number, to report the weapons.

    Around 12,000 illegal firearms were handed over to police between February 1st and April 30th during that amnesty period. However most were old hunting rifles and only a few could be linked to the criminal world.

    The Local took an in-depth look at Sweden’s struggle to crack down on hand grenades and illegal weapons in a long-read feature in February as part of our Sweden in Focus series.”