Reader’s Links, Oct. 25, 2018

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About Eeyore

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

174 Replies to “Reader’s Links, Oct. 25, 2018”

  1. Saudi financial clout over media helps in Khashoggi affair (apnews, Oct 25, 2018)
    https://apnews.com/a8ce243bc332449eae4d1e868eb90eba

    “Saudi Arabia’s financial clout among the Arab media has given it an influential tool as it grapples with the international outcry over the death of Saudi writer and dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

    From the time Khashoggi vanished into the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, newspapers and television stations across the region allied with Riyadh have echoed the Saudi denial of any knowledge of his fate. Or they weaved alternative scenarios of an alleged plot by Saudi Arabia’s top rivals Qatar and Turkey to destabilize the kingdom.

    After more than two weeks of international pressure, the kingdom last weekend acknowledged Khashoggi’s death inside the consulate, claiming he was killed by accident in an interrogation gone awry, and promised to punish those responsible.

    The loyal media immediately switched gears to praise the kingdom’s sense of justice and the decisiveness of its monarch, King Salman. Some even commended the kingdom for its transparency.

    “Simply put, our (Arab) media are financed by regimes that commit a crime every day that is no less gruesome than the one committed against Jamal Khashoggi,” read an editorial Sunday in Daraj, an independent online news site. “What happened should offer us an opportunity to consider just how much we need an independent media.”

    The media’s treatment of the affair reflected decades of checkbook diplomacy adopted by the oil-rich Saudis to secure allies and silence criticism of their policies.

    The kingdom has spent millions of dollars over the years to influence newspapers and television stations from Morocco to Iraq. Sometimes it has invested in media outlets but more often it has provided funds to help them stay afloat. It has also provided perks and cash directly to individual writers and television personalities.

    The inner workings of that policy were laid bare in 2015 when WikiLeaks published thousands of cable exchanges between Saudi diplomatic missions and the Foreign Ministry in Riyadh.

    The exchanges revealed the extent of Saudi spending on news outlets and journalists across the Arab world and how keen many of them were to secure Saudi funding, often under the pretext of countering smear campaigns targeting the kingdom.

    The kingdom itself has powerful mouthpieces of its own. The newspaper Asharq al-Awsat and the 24-hour television news channel Al-Arabiya have a wide reach across the Arab world. Both are owned by Saudis close to the royal family.

    Abdul-Rahman al-Rashed, a one-time editor of Asharq al-Awsat and head of al-Arabiya, acknowledged in an unusually candid op-ed this week that Saudi money is one of Riyadh’s most effective foreign policy assets in the Arab world.

    He called criticism of the kingdom over the Khashoggi affair “media aggression” and pointed out that the kingdom bankrolled many of the region’s “states and institutions.”

    “In a nutshell, weakening Saudi Arabia will broaden the region’s circles of unrest and failures,” he wrote in Asharq al-Awsat on Sunday.

    The embrace of the Saudi agenda is seen in Jordan’s state media, some of Lebanon’s television channels and smaller newspapers and virtually across the board in Riyadh’s close Gulf Arab allies like Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Perhaps the most potent example of the influence of Riyadh’s big spending is seen in the media of Egypt, one of the kingdom’s closest allies.

    Under the rule of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the Egyptian government and affiliated state agencies have almost completely brought the local media, both state and privately owned, under their control, turning what at best were vehicles of diverse views into loyal organs of the state.

    At the same time, el-Sissi’s government has received billions of dollars from the Saudis since 2013 to shore up Egypt’s battered economy.

    Powerful pro-Saudi talk show hosts often remind viewers that as many as 3 million Egyptians work in Saudi Arabia, sending home billions of dollars in remittances every year.

    So, when the Khashoggi affair erupted, Egyptian media staunchly stood by the kingdom’s initial denials of any wrongdoing. Commentators also strongly promoted the idea that Qatar and Turkey were somehow conspiring to undermine Saudi Arabia.

    Egypt’s government shares Saudi Arabia’s rivalry with those two countries because of their support of the Muslim Brotherhood, an outlawed Islamist group.

    “There is a strong will from multiple parties to blackmail Saudi Arabia,” wrote Makram Mohammed Ahmed, Egypt’s chief media regulator and a career newspaper journalist.

    Ahmed Musa, possibly the closest television talk show host to the government, had initially insisted that Qatar kidnapped Khashoggi from the consulate. Then in the wake of Riyadh’s acknowledgment of his death in the consulate, he gushed over the kingdom’s handling of the affair.

    “We never thought for a moment that the kingdom could possibly engineer a cover-up for anyone who took part in that crime,” he said. He called Khashoggi’s death “a horrible crime that cannot be accepted by anyone in this world.”

    In one of the few remaining somewhat independent voices left in Egyptian media — the Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper — there were some signs of criticism, albeit cautious.

    “It is deeply regrettable that the media have abandoned their basic principles now that they are under state control again,” Waheed Hamed — one of Egypt’s top movie script writers — wrote in a front-page op-ed on Sunday. Still, he did not mention the Khashoggi case.

    A cartoonist went further Monday.

    A cartoon on the paper’s back page showed a school art teacher praising a young pupil to his mother. “Touch wood, your son seems to be following current affairs. He drew a butcher’s shop when I asked him to draw a consulate.”

    Even in Saudi Arabia itself, there were some voices not in complete sync with the state, though they treaded carefully.

    Faisal J. Abbas, editor of the English-language Arab News, wrote Sunday that some of the Saudi media’s handling of the Khashoggi story was a “disgrace to the profession” and even directed some of the blame on the government.

    “Some of my colleagues will blame the absence of official information, which is indisputably a problem; we cannot be talking about reforms and a new culture of accountability in this country if official phones go silent the moment a big story breaks,” he wrote.

    “Yes, authorities needed time to complete their investigation, but in the world of fast-breaking news, two weeks is an eternity. Officials need to learn that if they don’t tell their story, someone else will — more often than not, the enemies of the Kingdom.””

    • “A cartoonist went further Monday.

      A cartoon on the paper’s back page showed a school art teacher praising a young pupil to his mother. “Touch wood, your son seems to be following current affairs. He drew a butcher’s shop when I asked him to draw a consulate.””

      I hope that cartoonist has other resources to “draw” upon.

      For how tetchy Riyadh has been of late, now may not the best time for ruffling any feathers in the House of Saud. One thing is for certain, MbS is going to be washing his hands for a long time trying to get past this wee bit of carnage.

      Perhaps he can take lessons from Lady MacBeth…

    • MB-mouthpieces initiated coverage!
      There was no story!

      Alleged “missing person” NOT reported to police, but to Erdo’s MB political party pal. Then rumors dribbled out, based 100% on “sources”: Middle East Eye, TV-Turk, then al-Jaz, Sky, CNN, and WaPoo.

      No corpus delicti!

      Anyway, these Saudi-friendly reports in Arabic are simply bias confirmation. Chopped-up spook under cover of “journalist”, trying to stir up another Arab Spring. Dispatched with extreme prejudice, maybe. Awkward, but no big deal.

  2. Meet the Turks in Germany–

    On Sunday, 29th of April 2018 at 2:20 p.m. several unknown persons fired firearms and so-called Bengalos during a Turkish wedding. The incident occurred in Siegburg in front of an apartment building in Jean-Dohle-Straße. The criminal investigation department is investigating the unidentified for violations of the weapons law. The firearms were obviously not “sharp weapons”, but gas or scare guns. The scenes were recorded by local residents. After previous investigation measures did not bring success, the police publish now photos to the public search. Who knows the persons shown? Who can give information about their identity or where they are? Tel.: 02241 541-3121.
    Read more:
    https://searchlight-germany.blogspot.com/2018/10/meet-turks-in-germany.html

    • This happens all the time in Germany.

      I laughed at the retarded face in the first picture, thanks.
      I laughed at the blurred faces in the second picture. Granted, those people aren’t holding guns, but I imagine the police would like a chat with them. They’re witnesses at the very least, and very likely to know the shooters. They’re most probably family, it’s a frigging wedding ffs.
      I also laughed because the shooters have their back to the camera. There’s no face to be seen in that photo at all. But this is all academic, nobody is going to snitch. Nobody in their neighborhood would, because of tribal and religious loyalties. The lone gavur (kaffir) that’d recognize them is too intimidated, and rightly so.

      Btw some of those guns don’t look like alarm pistols to me,. Barrels seem too long, but I’m no expert.

      • I don’t know what the “alarm” pistols look like but my thought when I saw the pictures was that those look like real firearms.

        • I checked Wikipedia, which claims they’re often close-to-exact replicas of traditional handguns. But a quick google image search shows mostly very short barrels.
          Until very recently, realistic replicas were banned in many European countries. They can be used to commit robberies, also police can’t tell them from real ones and may shoot innocent people.
          But new EU legislation legalized them, I can’t understand why.

  3. 16yo girl raped and murdered by migrants
    https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/10/italian-girl-dies-after-being-raped-by-africans-and-arabs-in-rome/

    Two arrested:
    https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/10/two-illegal-migrants-arrested-for-being-involved-in-gang-rape-and-death-of-italian-teen-girl/

    In Italian:
    https://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/cronaca/il-giallo-di-desiree-morta-a-16-anni-in-un-palazzo-occupato-a-roma_3170748-201802a.shtml?fbclid=IwAR0slfB8Ho9kmc-xePr06y5KzxfwejrB537izds4nvm7R5lrquT37EFtMOI

  6. The European Court of Human Rights upheld the conviction of Austrian politician Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff to a fine of 480 EU for calling Muhammad a pedophile. Check out the pretzel logic:

    “Even though criticising child marriages was justifiable, she had accused a subject of religious worship of having a primary sexual interest in children’s bodies, which she had deduced from his marriage with a child, disregarding the notion that the marriage had continued until the Prophet’s death, when Aisha had already turned eighteen and had therefore passed the age of puberty.”

    “Presenting objects of religious worship in a provocative way capable of hurting the feelings of the followers of that religion could be conceived as a malicious violation of the spirit of tolerance, which was one of the bases of a democratic society.”

    Press release:
    https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng-press#{%22itemid%22:[%22003-6234980-8105265%22]}

    Verdict:
    https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22documentcollectionid2%22:[%22GRANDCHAMBER%22,%22CHAMBER%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-187188%22]}

  8. Explosive device sent to CNN featured parody ISIS flag, ‘Get Er Done’ inscription
    The manila envelopes featured former Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz listed as a bogus return address.

    An image on the explosive device sent to former CIA Director John Brennan on Tuesday appears to be a parody of an ISIS flag taken from a meme that has been circulating on right-wing corners of the internet since 2014.

    The print-out appears to show a parody flag that replaces Arabic characters with the silhouette of three women in high heels, and a middle inscription reading “Get ‘Er Done” — which is the catchphrase of standup comedian Larry the Cable Guy.

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/explosive-device-sent-cnn-featured-parody-isis-flag-get-er-n924166

  10. Manhunt under way after bombs sent to U.S. Democrats, Trump critics

    WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Another suspected bomb was found in New York City on Thursday morning as a manhunt was under way for a serial bomber targeting high-profile Democrats and CNN, less than two weeks ahead of elections that could alter the U.S. political landscape.

    The latest device was addressed to actor Robert De Niro, according to CNN.

    None of the eight devices went off and no injuries were reported, but some top Democrats called the threats a symptom of a coarsening brand of political rhetoric promoted by President Donald Trump, who also condemned the acts.

    All the targets are frequently maligned by right-wing critics, including former U.S. President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder.

    http://news.trust.org/item/20181025110005-4bra1

    • “All the targets are frequently maligned by right-wing critics, including former U.S. President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder.”

      Three of the most corrupt individuals ever to hold high office in this nation’s history.

      Go figure.

  12. Middle class is disappearing in California as wealth gap grows

    California made major news this month, surpassing Britain and reclaiming a valuable economic marker as the fifth largest economy in the world. Its post-recession growth is accelerating under President Trump’s administration and the state even turned in a modest surplus.

    However, the state remains one of the most unequal in the nation — one that has both billions of dollars in Silicon Valley and rampant homelessness. The Golden State’s efforts to eliminate poverty instead accentuates it, and its tax system inadvertently aids those who are already wealthy. With the middle class leaving in droves, California’s society represents a neo-feudal mix of robber barons and poor. It’s an unsustainable mixture.

    https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/412928-middle-class-is-disappearing-in-california-as-wealth-gap-grows

  13. At $245 million, L.A. estate of late mogul A. Jerrold Perenchio is most expensive home in U.S.

    The Bel-Air estate of late Univision billionaire A. Jerrold Perenchio will chart its next course on the public market.

    After being quietly shopped since last year as a nine-figure pocket listing, the French Neoclassical mansion known as Chartwell is now for sale in the Multiple Listing Service for the high-water price of $245 million.

    Now the most expensive home for sale in the U.S., the estate is among eight homes publicly listed for $100 million or more in the Los Angeles area. It’s on course to topple the Los Angeles County price record of $110 million, which was set in April when Peter Morton sold his oceanfront home in Malibu.

    http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/hot-property/la-fi-hotprop-perenchio-chartwell-245-million-20181024-story.html

  14. Group of teen thieves strike at least 7 times in NYC

    NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) – Four teens are wanted by the NYPD for at least seven robberies of restaurants and bars in Midtown Manhattan and Hell’s Kitchen since last month.

    Video of three of incidents was released by police. A knife was used in two other robberies.

    On Sept. 29 just before 2 a.m., the suspects distract a male employee at Thalia on West 54th Street while one of them removed a cashbox from behind the counter. The group fled on foot.

    http://www.fox5ny.com/news/group-of-teen-thieves-strike-at-least-7-times-in-nyc

  16. Robots Are Serving Spicy Soup at Haidilao’s Hotpot Restaurants

    (Bloomberg) — In Haidilao International Holding Ltd.’s hotpot restaurants, robots are replacing chefs and waiters.

    Asia’s biggest listed restaurant chain by market value is partnering with Japan’s Panasonic Corp. to open what the two companies say is the world’s first eatery with a fully automated kitchen Oct. 28 in Beijing. At the new Haidilao restaurant, robots will take orders, prepare and deliver raw meat and fresh vegetables to customers to plop into soups prepared at their tables.

    https://www.bloombergquint.com/pursuits/robots-serving-spicy-soup-is-key-to-hotpot-chain-s-expansion#gs.g6IgIpc

    • Robots Are Serving Spicy Soup at Haidilao’s Hotpot Restaurants

      You’d best bet that McDonald’s is building one of these soup bars at Hamburger U. as part of reverse-engineering.

      It’s an old saying from the fast food industry: The fewer fingers, the better.

      Just a major reason why fast food is one of automation’s earliest adopters.

  17. Venezuelan exiles turn to prostitution to feed families

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuelan-exiles-turn-prostitution-feed-families-030843061.html

    Calamar (Colombia) (AFP) – Back in Venezuela, they were teachers, police officers and newspaper carriers, but were forced to flee their homeland in search of work and money to survive.

    But the women, without identity papers, ended up working as prostitutes in sordid bars in Colombia, saving all they can to provide for their families back home, still in the throes of economic crisis.

    Mother-of-three Patricia, 30, was beaten, raped and sodomized by a drunken client — but she keeps on working in a brothel in Calamar, in the center of the country.

    “There are customers who treat you badly and that is horrible,” she says. “”Every day, I pray to God that they are good (to us).”

    Alegria is a teacher of history and geography but in a Venezuela gripped by chronic hyperinflation, she was earning just 312,000 bolivars a month: less than a dollar.

  18. Venezuela: Corpses Exploding in Morgues Due to Power Shortages
    885

    Bodies at a morgue in the Venezuelan state of Zulia have begun exploding from rot due to lack of electricity, an investigative report by BBC Mundo has revealed.

    At a morgue visited by journalist Guillermo D. Olmo, the corpses of men, women, and children quickly decompose as a result of sweltering heat, with the lack of electricity meaning there is no cooling system to keep the temperature down.

    The morgue is located in the northwestern state of Zulia, where temperatures regularly reach well above 30º Celsius (86ºF) due to its tropical climate. Despite being rich in oil resources, the state is one of the area’s most severely affected by the country’s current economic and humanitarian crisis and is often subject to blackouts and power shortages.

    https://www.breitbart.com/latin-america/2018/10/24/venezuela-corpses-exploding-morgues-power-shortages/

  19. Sickness, fear, harassment in Mexico whittle away at caravan

    MAPASTEPEC, Mexico (AP) — Little by little, sickness, fear and police harassment are whittling down the migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. border, with many of the 4,000 to 5,000 migrants who resumed their journey Thursday complaining of exhaustion.

    The group, many with children and even pushing toddlers in strollers, departed Mapastepec at dawn with more than 1,000 miles still to go before they reach the U.S. border.

    They had advanced about 95 miles (150 kilometers) as the crow flies since thousands burst across Mexico’s southernmost border six days earlier.

    https://www.apnews.com/1d84f778ad3a45c292c418c378e4656d

    • “The group, many with children and even pushing toddlers in strollers, departed Mapastepec at dawn with more than 1,000 miles still to go before they reach the U.S. border.

      They had advanced about 95 miles (150 kilometers) as the crow flies since thousands burst across Mexico’s southernmost border six days earlier.”

      Let’s do the math:

      Guatemalan border to current position ~95 miles north = 144 hours = 0.66 MPH

      Distance to America’s border +1,000 miles = 62 days (3 shift/24 hours)

      Date of Midterm Elections = 11/6/2018 = 13 Days

      Time gap = 49 days (double to include necessities like sleep or food = 98 days</strong)

      The Democrats have bought themselves a boatload of grief. For over a month, Liberals have played the cheerleaders for this mass-assault on American soil. Trump will bang this like a gong as election day draws near. None of this is going to have a happy ending … for the Left, that is.

  20. US war with China is likely in 15 years, retired general says

    WARSAW, Poland — The former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe says it’s likely the United States will be at war with China in 15 years.

    Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges said at a Warsaw security forum on Wednesday that European allies will have to do more to ensure their own defenses against Russia as Americans focus more on the Pacific.

    https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/10/24/us-war-with-china-is-likely-in-15-years-retired-general-says/

    • US war with China is likely in 15 years, retired general says

      All of which means that we have less than “15 years” to collapse Red China’s economy. Few other events would be capable of sufficiently distracting the Communist military’s attention to avert a kinetic war.

      If Taiwan plays its cards right, they may never have to face down the Mainland.

  21. Putin warns of a new ‘arms race’

    Moscow (AFP) – President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday of a new arms race if America pulls out of weapons treaties, and said Russia would respond “in kind” to any new US missiles placed on European soil.

    At the weekend, US President Donald Trump sparked concerns globally when he said he would ditch a Cold War-era nuclear weapons treaty, the three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).

    Speaking after hosting Trump’s national security advisor John Bolton on Tuesday, Putin warned that abandoning the treaty, and failure to extend another key arms control agreement known as the New START, would unleash a new arms race and put Europe in danger.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/putin-warns-arms-race-175531139.html

  22. A never-before-seen Russian missile is identified as an anti-satellite weapon and will be ready for warfare by 2022

    WASHINGTON — A never-before-seen missile photographed last month on a Russian MiG-31 interceptor is believed to be a mock-up of an anti-satellite weapon that will be ready for warfare by 2022, three sources with direct knowledge of a U.S. intelligence report say.

    The Russian anti-satellite weapon, which is attached to a space launch vehicle, is expected to target communication and imagery satellites in low Earth orbit, according to one source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. For reference, the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope travel in low Earth orbit.

    Images of the mysterious missile on a modified Russian MiG-31, a supersonic near-space interceptor, appeared in mid-September.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/25/russian-missile-identified-as-anti-satellite-weapon-ready-by-2022.html

  23. They look like cops, but they’re not. And they’re all over Michigan.

    3,000 civilian officers operate with no state oversight.

    They have guns, wear badges and patrol Michigan’s streets.

    They’re even in uniform. But they’re not real cops.

    Across Michigan, police departments have enlisted civilians to work alongside licensed officers to patrol communities and even assist real cops with arrests. But unlike the regular officers licensed by the state, these armed civilians are unregulated.

    A Detroit Free Press investigation found there are no state-established training requirements for reserve officers, as they are commonly known; no standards for screening their qualifications, and no process for monitoring their conduct. The state agency responsible for police licensing and training is not regulating reserve officers — despite gaining authority last year to do just that — and has no idea how many such unlicensed volunteers there are statewide.

    This lack of oversight continues despite numerous incidents of questionable — even illegal — conduct by reserve officers in recent years.

    https://www.freep.com/story/news/investigations/2018/10/24/mcoles-michigan-reserve-cops/1353397002/

    • “Across Michigan, police departments have enlisted civilians to work alongside licensed officers to patrol communities and even assist real cops with arrests. But unlike the regular officers licensed by the state, these armed civilians are unregulated.

      A Detroit Free Press investigation found there are no state-established training requirements for reserve officers, as they are commonly known; no standards for screening their qualifications, and no process for monitoring their conduct. The state agency responsible for police licensing and training is not regulating reserve officers — despite gaining authority last year to do just that — and has no idea how many such unlicensed volunteers there are statewide.”

      Why, it’s almost as if the police were training up a bunch of vigilantes. [gasp!]

      This is the thin end of a much bigger wedge that will only grow in size (and popularity) as these ride-alongs occasionally save an officer’s life. The thin blue line doesn’t quickly forget that sort of support.

      One vital issue is that these citizen patrols keep their noses clean. I realize that hoping for this, in a crime hellhole like Detroit, is like asking for the moon. It’s just that if corruption happens, it will be used by Liberals to tarnish any other similar efforts.

      Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible that Detroit’s law enforcement structure is 100% squeaky clean. This means that, inevitably, there will be some “crossover”. Stopping that will mean the civilian patrols must vigorously self-police for any corruption and graft.

  24. Authorities investigate suspicious packages addressed to Joe Biden, Robert De Niro

    There is developing news out of Delaware and New York City, where authorities have launched an investigation into suspicious packages addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden and actor Robert De Niro.

    Authorities said they recovered a second package addressed to Biden at a facility in New Castle Thursday morning after a similar package was addressed to him Wednesday.

    Meanwhile in New York City, authorities removed a package from a building housing De Niro’s offices and have taken it to an NYPD facility for further investigation.

    https://www.oann.com/developing-authorities-investigate-suspicious-packages-addressed-to-joe-biden-robert-de-niro/

  25. China says military will act ‘at any cost’ to prevent Taiwan split

    https://www.oann.com/chinas-defense-minister-vows-never-to-cede-any-territory/

    BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s military will take action “at any cost” to foil any attempt to separate the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, the country’s defense minister said on Thursday.

    China has been infuriated by recent U.S. sanctions on its military, one of a growing number of flashpoints in Sino-U.S. ties that include a bitter trade war, the issue of Taiwan, and China’s increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea.

    On Monday, the United States sent two warships through the Taiwan Strait in the second such operation this year and the latest in a series of U.S. gestures in support of democratic Taiwan.

    “The Taiwan issue is related to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and touches upon China’s core interests,” Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe said at the opening of the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, which China styles as its answer to the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore.

  26. China and Japan should safeguard free trade, China’s Li urges

    BEIJING (Reuters) – China and Japan should safeguard free trade and anchor global growth, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday, as Japan’s prime minister arrived in Beijing on a visit against a backdrop of trade friction with the United States.

    Shinzo Abe’s three-day visit is expected to carve out new scope for cooperation between Asia’s two biggest economies. It is also expected to promote trust, which has been fragile at times since they restored diplomatic relations in 1972.

    “We hope both sides would work hard to promote regional peace, safeguard multilateralism and free trade, and become the axis of stability, growth and momentum for not just Asia but the world,” Li said in a speech at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

    Abe who arrived hours earlier on his first formal bilateral summit with Chinese leaders in seven years, said their two countries were playing “an indispensable role in the economic development of not just Asia but the world”.

    In the past year, China has stepped up its outreach to Japan and others as it locked horns over trade with the United States.

    Japan has trade problems of its own with the United States.

    https://www.oann.com/china-japan-seek-warmer-ties-against-backdrop-of-u-s-trade-friction/

  28. Who’s behind bombs sent to prominent Dems? Better question is who is not behind it.
    By LU Staff October 24, 2018

    On Tuesday and again this morning, pipe bombs were mailed to the homes of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and other prominent Democrats, including far-left billionaire George Soros. CNN was also a recipient of a “suspicious package” that prompted the network to evacuate its New York headquarters.

    While some on social media are suggesting this is a “false flag” attack perpetrated by the Left, that is idle speculation at this point. The crimes are brand-new, and the investigation into them is just getting underway.

    Which hasn’t prevented the Left from diving in headlong and assigning blame. Newsweek came out with an article shortly after noon noting that Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis, a Republican, “sent an email to supporters saying he wanted ‘Hillary Clinton’s visit [to the Sunshine State on behalf of DeSantis’s Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum] to be a kiss of death.’” Ergo add DeSantis’s name to the list of suspects.

    Some of the fixing of blame, as Ben Shapiro notes at The Daily Wire, has been indirect. Writing in The Washington Post in a column titled “The apparent attempts at terrorist bombings were absolutely predictable,” liberal pundit Paul Waldman offers this assessment:

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/10/24/whos-behind-bombs-sent-to-hillary-obama-other-dems-better-question-is-who-is-not-behind-it/

    Richard: Read the entire article, it is short and is mainly talking about how the Dems are unwilling to let the police discover who is behind the bombs before they start laying blame on the Republicans. Of course they laid the blame for the Berni supporter who shot up the baseball practice on Republican rhetoric and still are when they think no one will contradict them.

    Several things about the bombs and their being sent says it is highly probable that this is a false flag designed to make independents vote Dem. 1) There has never been a serial bomber with a political motive that was on the right. 2) The bombs were sent to Dems and Dem supporters but (from this mornings reports on TV) were designed so they wouldn’t explode. 3) The Republicans are winning and there is no reason for anyone to try and terrorize the Dems. 4) No one on our side has been injurded since the baseball shooting so there is no reason to retaliate. All of the above scream False Flag, they aren’t hard evidence but they are something for the people capable of critical thought to think about.

    • Bomb disposal expert raises serious questions about devices sent: ‘just silly looking’
      By Joe Newby October 25, 2018

      As we and others reported on Wednesday, suspicious packages containing explosive devices were sent to a number of prominent liberals. Those addressed to members of government were intercepted as part of the natural screening process.

      Although the investigation into who sent the packages has just gotten underway, leftists and their media allies have already decided without any evidence whatsoever that Donald Trump and/or his supporters are behind these deadly acts of terrorism.

      One of the packages was delivered by courier to CNN. As Twitchy reported, Navy veteran and former bomb disposal officer Tom Sauer posted a thread on Twitter in which he dismissed the “device” as “silly looking.”

      A few observations from a former bomb disposal officer (i.e. Me)

      Proper pipe bombs don’t have wires connected to both ends. That’s dumb.
      You can find timers / remote control receivers WAY smaller than whatever that white box is. A proper timer would best be stored inside the pipe, making it fully encapsulated. That thing is just silly looking.
      Bottom Line: Whoever made that wanted it to be painfully obvious to anyone and everyone that it’s a ‘bomb.’ This is nearly the same as a bundle of road flares wrapped together with an old-timey alarm clock ticking away.
      ‘Hoax Devices’ are FAR more common than real ones. In which case, we should ask ourselves what the motives of the ‘bomber’ are and ‘who benefits?’

      One person who identified himself as a retired mail carrier responded to Sauer’s Twitter thread with the advice that such packages would have never made it to their intended targets thanks to training received by postal service employees.

      https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/10/25/bomb-disposal-expert-raises-serious-questions-about-devices-sent-that-thing-is-just-silly-looking/

      Richard: More evidence to add with what I put in my commment on the last article I posted about the “bombs”, so far it is looking more and more like a False Flag but only those who get their news from the alternative media are hearing about this. As is usual the Propaganda Media is spreading leftist Propaganda.

  30. Refugee who used her own family’s passports to smuggle two asylum seekers into UK illegally is spared jail because judge thought her motive was ‘humanitarian’ (dailymail, Oct 25, 2018)
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6315375/Refugee-admitted-immigration-charges-praised-humanitarian-desire.html

    “A refugee who abused her and her family’s new British passports to bring in two illegal migrants has been praised for her ‘humanitarian desire’ by a judge.

    Somalia-born Hana Abdi Qahtan, 46, tried to pass off a 16-year-old Yemeni as her son at London Heathrow Airport and had another UK passport for an older woman hidden in her hijab.

    She had flown to Bahrain on her UK passport, also bringing her son’s and mother’s with her to be illegally used by two distant relatives to enter Britain.

    The part-time carer, who lives in Manor Park, East London, applied for asylum in 2006 and became a British citizen in 2013, also getting passports for her mother and many children.

    Her two relatives, who travelled on the bogus passports, have now received full asylum to remain in the UK.

    She pleaded guilty at Isleworth Crown Court in London to one count of facilitating a breach of immigration on September 10 last year and received seven months of imprisonment, which was suspended for 12 months. The maximum sentence is 14 years imprisonment.

    Judge Sarah Paneth told her: ‘You gave your son’s passport to Mohammed Nouman, a citizen of Yemen, in an attempt to allow him to enter the country.

    A second count relating to your mother’s passport, which was to be used to help another foreign national is to lie on the file.

    ‘The offence is a serious offence. It is an offence that attracts deterrent sentences, long sentences, and most are dealt with in that way.

    ‘Your aunt was the mother of a sixteen year-old Yemeni boy and was concerned about his welfare in Yemen and those concerns are borne out by the fact he received asylum in the UK.

    ‘That sets out your humanitarian desire to assist him to come to this country.

    ‘Tragically your own daughter had been killed in Yemen during a period you sought asylum for all your children, so you had empathy with your aunt.

    ‘This offence was not of direct emotional benefit to you. This was not a particularly close family member.

    ‘It was not of any financial benefit to you, in fact it was a financial loss because you paid for the flights from your modest earnings in the UK.’

    First-time offender Qahtan was forced to leave Saudi Arabia when her husband died and ended up in Yemen, from where she obtained asylum to the UK.

    Despite needing a court-funded Arabic interpreter throughout Judge Paneth added: ‘What is very impressive is your education and employment.

    ‘You came to this country as an asylum seeker and immediately enrolled in a way to enhance your contribution to this country, gaining qualifications in English, Health and Social Care.’

    Qahtan is also a volunteer, but this is limited to her fellow Somalians.

    ‘You apply some of your precious time as a woman with several children still at home, ranging for the age of twelve years-old, with absolute devotion to help disadvantaged members of the Somali community.

    ‘I accept you have shown genuine remorse,’ added the judge, who also read out a reference from the woman Qahtan cares for.

    ‘She says that when she awakes from sleep she finds that you are still there, even though your shift ended over an hour before, to make sure she is OK and has everything for the night.

    ‘She says it is a part of your character to go out of your way in the call of duty to help others and hopes this aspect of your character shines through to anyone assessing your character.’

    Qahtan is currently receiving NHS treatment for sciatica and depression. ‘You have health problems that have limited your ability to work, but not extinguished it,’ added Judge Paneth.

    ‘Your daughter is in Saudi Arabia and has deep vein thrombosis, something you have also suffered with, and is unable to travel and you are greatly concerned about her.

    ‘This is, in my judgement, an exceptional case and is appropriate to be marked with a custodial sentence, but suspended to allow you to do unpaid light work in service to the community.’

    Qahtan was ordered to perform 100 hours community service work and the judge concluded: ‘You fall very, very far from the sort of person who is a people smuggler and I have no doubt you will not be in court again.’

    Prosecutor Ben Holt told the court it was 7.00am when the Yemini teen presented himself to immigration officers with Qahtan’s son’s passport.

    ‘The image in the passport did not match the individual and he gestured to the defendant and said she was his mother.’

    The story quickly fell apart and the youth said his mother was living in Birmingham.

    An older woman, Amaina Thaqbi, was in the queue. ‘She did not have a passport on her, but this defendant was able to produce a British passport from under her hijab.

    ‘The prosecution’s case is that this passport was going to be handed to the woman to gain access to the country, it was the defendant’s mother’s passport.’

    Qahtan’s lawyer Tim Nutley told the court: ‘She is in poor health, is a mother to teenage children and has an elderly mother. She is a useful and respected member of society.

    ‘When approached by the mother of Mohammed Nouman she felt a great deal of empathy for her plight and for the boy, who was still out there. She is motivated by humanitarian concerns and is a highly-regarded member of her community.

    ‘She has sought to integrate herself into society and educated herself to achieve the position she is in now. Ultimately no harm was done. Both these individuals obtained asylum in this country. It did not harm society.'”

    • Another UK genius with no idea or respect of their history, culture or achievements.
      I nominate her for mandatory sterilization. It’s the only way to stop the stupid from spreading.

  33. UK Struggles with 700 Live Terror Investigations, ‘We Are Not Matched to Threat Level’ (breitbart, Oct 25, 2018)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/10/25/uk-counter-terror-chief-700-live-terror-investigations-not-matched-threat-level/

    “Police counter-terror chief Neil Basu has revealed the British authorities are struggling with a record 700 live terrorism investigations — and they are “not matched” to the threat.

    “My predecessor Mark [Rowley] when he was in front of you a year ago said ‘despite our best endeavours we’re not yet as well matched to the threat as we were a year ago’,” Basu told the Home Affairs Select Committee in Parliament.

    “So one year on I’d like to tell you we are matched to the current threat, but the reality is we are not,” he admitted.

    The senior Metropolitan Police officer claimed 13 radical Islamic terrorist plots had been thwarted since Khalid Masood’s attack outside Parliament in 2017, expressing concern that his simple vehicle-and-knives based tactics had “lowered the bar” for jihadists, in terms demonstrating how a very simple plan could be executed effectively.

    “It generated in the minds of some extremists an intention that brought their capability forward,” Basu explained.

    “The greatest concern to me comes from simple attacks on softer targets that are cheap to mount, easy to disguise and therefore harder to see and stop.”

    In reference to the spate of terror attacks Britain suffered in 2017, including the Westminster attack, the Manchester Arena bombing, and the London Bridge and Borough Market van and knives attack, Basu warned: “Those attacks were not a temporary escalation in that threat. They were a sustained shift in that threat and the UK [counter-terrorism] machine to this day continues to run red hot.”

    He added: “The attacks demonstrated both the breadth of targets and methodologies employed have increased. The weapons used by attackers now range from homemade explosives to a family car or an everyday kitchen knife.”

    The Met leader was at pains to also stress “disturbingly rising extreme right-wing activity” and “hostile state activity” — but had to concede that some 80 percent of the counter-terror workload was Islam-related.

    “The overriding threat to the UK remains from those inspired by [Islamic State] and the resurgent al-Qaeda,” he said.”

  34. Europe’s Illegal Migrants ‘Need to Go Home’, Says Czech Prime Minister (breitbart, Oct 25, 2018)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/10/25/europes-illegal-migrants-need-go-home-says-czech-prime-minister/

    “Populist Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has said that Europe’s illegal migrants “need to go home” and rejected European Union plans for increasing the size and power of its border force Frontex.

    “There are 700,000 illegal migrants – they need to go home,” Prime Minister Babiš told The Guardian ahead of Brexit talks with Prime Minister Theresa May in London on Wednesday.

    Babiš, the founder of the centre-right ANO party, was elected last year after running on a pro-sovereignty, anti-open borders platform and is closely aligned with fellow Visegrád members Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.

    Like the leaders of his fellow Central European allies, he has refused the EU’s forced reallocation of asylum seekers and warned that resettling was the “road to hell” and would exasperate illegal migration after nearly two million had arrived since the 2015 crisis.

    The Slovakia-born populist also told the left-wing newspaper that he rejects the European Commission’s plans to expand the size of Frontex, saying the priority should be stopping the people smugglers who are bringing migrants from Africa and Asia across the Mediterranean to mainland Europe.

    “Smugglers made €5.7bn in 2016 and we have to stop it,” the Czech premier said.

    He added that the proposed 10 billion euro (£8.85bn/$11.4bn) Frontex expansion budget would be better spent on investing in African nations to stop the migrant flows at the source.

    “These people should stay home and we should help them in Africa,” said.

    “The people around Syria … they would like to return home,” he added.

    Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has also warned against enlarging Frontex, saying it would put Eurocrats in charge of nations’ rights to control their own borders.

    Noting that migrant issues are set to dominate European Parliament elections in May, Babiš told The Guardian that the EU is split between those that support a progressive, open borders agenda and those that want to retain their sovereignty — a division observed by Prime Minister Orbán who called globalist President of France Emmanuel Macron “the leader of pro-migration parties in Europe”.

    Explaining that migrants from the Global South should not be allowed into Europe without a permit, the Czech leader said: “They have their culture, we have our culture.”

    “They have their values, but we want to keep [our] values,” he added.”

    • $11.4bn to train and equip an ethnic Turk/Nafri army that calls itself Frontex. Or EUGendFor.

      What could possibly go wrong?

  35. Gunmen kill police officer in southwestern Pakistan (abcnews, Oct 25, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/gunmen-kill-police-officer-southwestern-pakistan-58737040

    “Police in Pakistan say gunmen have killed a policeman in a drive-by shooting in the southwestern city of Quetta. The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for the killing.

    Officer Abdul Hakim says Mohammad Musa was targeted in the Nawan Kili area of the city when he was returning home after duty at the Barori police station on Thursday.

    Hakim says gunmen riding on a motorcycle fired several bullets and fled the scene. Musa was instantly killed. The militant group Tahrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility.

    More than a dozen policemen have been killed in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, in recent months. Baluchistan borders Afghanistan and is believed to be a Taliban sanctuary. Baluch separatists, who demand a greater share of the province’s resources, are also waging an insurgency there.”

  36. Bosnia: Police say 3 migrants, 3 officers hurt in skirmishes (abcnews, Oct 25, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/bosnia-police-migrants-officers-hurt-skirmishes-58737798

    “Bosnian police say three officers and three migrants have been hurt in skirmishes on the border with Croatia, where dozens of people have been trying to cross into the European Union country.

    Police spokeswoman Sanela Djukovic said Thursday that the migrants spent the night at the border in northwestern Bosnia. Djurkovic said they hurled stones and glass at police during the night and tried to push through police cordons.

    On Wednesday, the migrants clashed with Bosnian police blocking the way to Croatia. Thousands have been stuck in Bosnia while trying to reach Croatia and other EU countries.

    Several dozen people remained near the border crossing around midday Thursday. Women and children could be seen holding banners pleading for the European borders to open for people fleeing war and poverty.”

  37. ‘Exhausted’ caravan migrants take buses HOME: Number of Central Americans heading for US drops as mothers and children give up on arduous journey north
    500 people have voluntarily left the migrant caravan and decided to take bus trips back to home countries
    Mexican authorities said that many of those who decided to leave the group were ‘sick or exhausted’
    Many who left on buses provided by Mexican National Migration Institute were mothers with young children
    Hundreds of others have since dropped out of the caravan or accepted asylum in Mexico, it has been revealed
    United Nations estimates 7,200 people still in caravan; Mexican government claims there are only 4,500

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6314599/500-Central-Americans-leave-migrant-caravan-buses-home.html

    Note: Mail Online has been wrong about the caravan in the past, so caution…

    • “Many who left on buses provided by Mexican National Migration Institute were mothers with young children”

      If true, this could be yuge! These are among the most valuable human shields that, just before reaching the US border, will be pushed to the caravan’s leading edge.

      Equally important is how to funnel the caravan and prevent it from spreading out as it reaches the border. The more contained this procession is, the more easily whatever human shields are put forward can be skimmed off the top.

  38. Report: Foreign fighters led IS atrocities against Yazidis (abcnews, Oct 25, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/report-foreign-fighters-led-atrocities-yazidis-58736765

    “Foreign fighters, including many Europeans, took a leading role in carrying out the Islamic State group’s atrocities against minority Yazidis, an international human rights group said Thursday, citing testimony and documentation from survivors of an organized system of killing and enslavement.

    In a report, the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights emphasized how foreign fighters led organized rape and slavery devised by the Islamic State group’s Iraqi hierarchy. It said the actions amounted to genocide and crimes against humanity, and called for the extremist group’s members to be prosecuted as war criminals.

    In one online chat room, an Islamic State fighter offered to trade a Yazidi captive for a pair of Adidas sneakers. Another offered his gun. The group not only bought and sold Yazidi women and girls, but also young boys who would be taught to fight and indoctrinated to turn against their own people.

    “For the survivors to speak, to testify, is not an easy thing. It puts their lives in danger and it puts their story and their lives in public and nobody wants to do that,” said Nadia Murad, co-winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. She was among thousands of women and girls from the Yazidi minority who were kidnapped and enslaved in 2014.

    “But because it’s important for us to make sure justice is done, it’s important for Yazidis, survivors have come forward and spoken about their stories,” she added.

    The rights group believes around half of the estimated 6,800 Yazidis taken captive are still missing. Women and girls from the minority who escaped described an organized system of slavery overseen by high-ranking foreign fighters…”

  39. Note: It is now official – the EU has gone full on Sharia

    Defaming the Prophet Muhammad exceeds the permissible limits of freedom of expression, ruled the European Court of Human Rights, upholding an Austrian court’s decision
    The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled Thursday that an Austrian woman’s criminal conviction and fine for her statements accusing the Prophet Muhammad of pedophilia did not breach her right to free speech.

    The decision by a seven-judge panel came as an Austrian national identified as E.S. by the court, had held seminars on Islam in 2008 and 2009 for the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) where she discussed the prophet’s marriage to his wife Aisha, a child at the time, and implied that he was a pedophile.

    An Austrian court convicted her of disparaging religious doctrines in 2011 and fined her 480 euros (548 dollars), a judgment that was upheld on two appeals.

    https://www.dailysabah.com/europe/2018/10/25/insulting-prophet-muhammad-not-free-speech-ecthr-rules

    • European court rules insulting Prophet Mohammed ‘not freedom of expression’

      The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Thursday that insulting Islam’s Prophet Mohammed is not covered by freedom of expression.

      Defaming the Prophet “goes beyond the permissible limits of an objective debate” and “could stir up prejudice and put at risk religious peace,” the ruling stated.

      The decision by a seven-judge panel came after an Austrian national identified as Mrs. S. held two seminars in 2009 in which she insulted the prophet.

      The court said that the woman’s comments could not be covered by the freedom of expression, stating that it had found that “the applicant’s statements had been likely to arouse justified indignation in Muslims” and “amounted to a generalization without factual basis.”

      An Austrian court convicted her of disparaging religious doctrines in 2011 and fined her 480 euros (548 dollars), a judgment that was upheld on two appeals.

      “Mrs. S. appealed but the Vienna Court of Appeal upheld the decision in December 2011, confirming, in essence, the lower court’s findings. A request for the renewal of the proceedings was dismissed by the Supreme Court on 11 December 2013,” it said.

      “Relying on Article 10 (freedom of expression), Mrs. S. complained that the domestic courts failed to address the substance of the impugned statements in the light of her right to freedom of expression.”

      On today’s ruling, the ECHR said it “found in particular that the domestic courts comprehensively assessed the wider context of the applicant’s statements and carefully balanced her right to freedom of expression with the right of others to have their religious feelings protected, and served the legitimate aim of preserving religious peace in Austria.”

      https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2018/10/25/European-court-rules-insulting-Prophet-Mohammed-not-freedom-of-expression-.html

  40. Note: this is a useful article to pass on to friends/family to familiarize them with the international laws governing immigration

    The caravan’s advocates are destroying immigration and humanitarian law
    by Michael Rubin
    | October 25, 2018 09:34 AM

    Print this article
    This a column about the Central American immigration caravan, but bear with me for one Middle East anecdote.

    When I first went to Iraqi Kurdistan more than 18 years ago to teach in its universities, Kurdistan was a very different place. Saddam Hussein’s shadow hung over the region, and there was widespread fear that he could reinvade the territory he had struck with chemical munitions just over a decade previously. Iraqi Kurdistan was also struggling under a dual embargo: As part of Iraq, it was subject to international sanctions and, because the United Nations agreed to channel aid through Saddam’s government, it faced continued efforts by the genocidal Iraqi leader to starve it into submission. Perhaps it was not surprising, therefore, that so many Kurds were willing to pay people smugglers to escape to Europe and a better life. Some went by land, but others tried sea. Kurds often talked about a small group smuggled on board a ship carrying scrap metal. Halfway through the ship’s voyage, ownership switched and so did the ship’s destination. Rather than come to port in France, the ship ended up in Mozambique. The Kurds, discharged onto the beach but thinking they were safely in Europe, immediately declared themselves refugees and claimed asylum. And hence the Kurdish community of Mozambique was born because when asylum is sought, the right to travel beyond ends. Refugees do not have unlimited right to travel; by tradition and law, they stay in the countries in which they land until receiving legal permission to move onward.

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-caravans-advocates-are-destroying-immigration-and-humanitarian-law

  41. he Assistant Commissioner responsible counter-terror, Neil Badu has revealed that a record number of terror investigations are being conducted in the UK, with around 80% focused on the threat from Islamic extremism.

    Speaking Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee today, Commissioner Badu said that the dreadful series of terror attacks carried recently “were not a temporary escalation of the threat” but a “sustained shift of that threat”.

    He said that the “overriding threat remains those inspired by Daesh (ISIS) and the resurgent Al Qaeda” along with “very disturbing” extreme right-wing threats.

    https://www.westmonster.com/counter-terror-chief-record-number-of-investigations-80-islamist/?fbclid=IwAR0tIkjvl9m__GAEqlZpekYhJLb6D2VWddcGeJWBj2indvkUcq6H7wjIQDo

  42. African Union force says key al-Shabab commander killed (abcnews, Oct 25, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/african-union-force-key-al-shabab-commander-killed-58737563

    “A “chief finance controller” for the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group has been killed after an ambush on a meeting of its fighters in southern Somalia, the African Union peacekeeping mission announced Thursday.

    The unnamed commander, the head of tax collection in Lower Shabelle region, was killed on Monday in the town of Bariire, the AU mission said.

    The extremist group funds its deadly activities by taxing the communities under its control. It also collects taxes on millions of bags of charcoal that make their way out of the country despite a ban on the exports, according to the latest report by U.N. sanctions monitors.

    Another seven al-Shabab fighters were killed on Sunday when their attack on a forward operating base was “botched,” the AU mission said.

    The multinational AU force in the coming few years is expected to draw down and hand over responsibility for Somalia’s security to the country’s military, though United States military officials and others have warned that Somali forces are not yet ready.

    Al-Shabab, which seeks to establish an Islamic state, holds rural parts of southern and central Somalia and continues to target the capital, Mogadishu, with high-profile attacks.”

  45. Three migrants from Senegal and Nigeria have been arrested by police investigating the rape and killing of a girl whose death has been seized upon by the populist right.

    The body of Desirée Mariottini, 16, was found in a derelict building in an area of Rome known for drug trafficking. She had been drugged and gang raped.

    Right-wing Interior Minister Matteo Salvini hailed the arrests, condemning those behind the murder as “worms”.

    It would not go unpunished, he said.

    Mr Salvini, who leads the anti-immigration League party, has spearheaded measures aimed at scrapping protection for migrants not given refugee status, as well as stopping NGO ships carrying rescued migrants from landing in Italy.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45976450

  46. “Migrant Invasion Force Pauses For A Day To Honor Man Who Died Falling Off Of An Overloaded Truck” WZ via Daily Mail – October 24, 2018
    https://www.weaselzippers.us/400580-migrant-invasion-force-pauses-for-a-day-to-honor-man-who-died-falling-off-of-an-overloaded-truck/

    “Man In Migrant Caravan: ‘Criminals Are Everywhere’”
    WZ via Daily Caller – October 24, 2018
    https://www.weaselzippers.us/400585-man-in-migrant-caravan-criminals-are-everywhere/

    • “NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo Tells Conservatives They Aren’t Welcome”
      The Joe Walsh Program – Published on January 20, 2014

      New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo appeared on the Capitol Pressroom with Susan Arbetter on WCNY public radio in New York and said conservatives aren’t welcome in New York. From WCNY radio, January 17, 2014.