Reader’s Links for December 7, 2018

Daily Links Post graphic

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

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

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

About Eeyore

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

110 Replies to “Reader’s Links for December 7, 2018”

  1. ‘FETO overshadows Turkey-Kyrgyzstan relations’ (AA, Dec 7, 2018)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/feto-overshadows-turkey-kyrgyzstan-relations/1331716

    “The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) overshadows relations between Turkey and Kyrgyzstan, Turkey’s parliament speaker said on Thursday.

    Binali Yildirim’s remarks came after his meeting with his Kyrgyz counterpart Dastanbek Djumabekov at the parliament in capital Bishkek.

    The single issue which causes problems between Turkey and Kyrgyzstan is FETO, Yildirim said.

    Referring to FETO, Binali cited late Kyrgyz writer Chinghiz Aitmatov: “They dress like you, talk like you and betray their own nation. They work against their own nation by uniting with the enemies of their nation.”

    FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

    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.”

  2. Saudi Arabia announces 100 million euros aid to Sahel nations (reuters, Dec 7, 2018)
    https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-saudi-sahel-aid/saudi-arabia-announces-100-million-euros-aid-to-sahel-nations-idUKKBN1O60GS?rpc=401&

    “Saudi Arabia pledged 100 million euros ($113.7 million) to support priority investment programs in Africa’s Sahel region, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said on Thursday evening.

    Saudi State minister for African Affairs Ahmed Qattan made the announcement at a donors meeting for the five-member Sahel group, held in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, it said.

    The other countries making up the Sahel group are Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger.”

    • Saudi Arabia pledged 100 million euros ($113.7 million) to support priority investment programs in Africa’s Sahel region, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said on Thursday evening.

      Elbowing the Communist Chinese out of the way?

      If North Africa continues its slide into typical Islamic chaos, the Sahara Forest project might mosey a little further south into the Sahel. This mixed-resource, renewable energy farm is massive beyond belief. It might even jump the land prices all the way over a buck an acre.

      To me, it looks so cost intensive to where they might as well just gold-plate each cucumber and get it over with.Of course, if you’re one of the MME’s oil wealthy but totally food insecure pest holes, this config might seem affordable.

      Click link for small image (second link is a much larger, annoyingly watermarked image).

      https://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/saharaforest.jpg

      https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9Eg_YlI7l4E/maxresdefault.jpg

      Here is a Politically Correct seven minute video clip about the prototype model in Qatar: (final scene is the projected farm in large format image)

  3. Afghan official: Taliban kill 14 troops in western province (apnews, Dec 7, 2018)
    https://apnews.com/ad8b585801294037a294b5a0b85e3bc3

    “An Afghan official says the Taliban have killed 14 Afghan soldiers and taken another 21 captive in an overnight attack in the country’s western Herat province.

    Herat provincial council member Najibullah Mohebi says attackers besieged two army outposts late on Thursday in Herat’s Shindand district.

    He says the fighting lasted for six hours before reinforcements arrived and repulsed the insurgents early on Friday — but not before they captured 21 troops.

    However, the Defense Ministry’s spokesman, Ghafor Ahmad Jaweed, put the number of army dead and wounded at 10. The different accounts couldn’t immediately be reconciled.

    No group has taken responsibility for the assault, but authorities blame the Taliban, who are active in the area and have been targeting Afghan security forces throughout the country in deadly attacks every day.”

  4. “UKIP Leader Gerard Batten MEP and the UKIP Civil War”
    Sargon of Akkad – Published on December 4, 2018

  5. PARIS (Reuters) – The last refugee rescue ship working in the Mediterranean Sea, Aquarius, has ended her operations, French NGO Medecins sans Frontieres said late on Thursday, blaming harassment from Italy and other countries.

    “This is a somber day,” Nelke Mander, Medecins sans Frontieres’s general director, said in a statement. “The end of our operations onboard the Aquarius will mean more death in the sea, deaths that are avoidable and without witnesses.”

    The decision to moor the Aquarius is the result of a “constant denigration, smearing and obstruction campaign led” against Medecins sans Frontieres and SOS MEDITERRANEAN by the Italian government and supported by other European countries, the NGO said.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-refugees-shipping-aquarius/aquarius-the-last-mediterranean-refugee-rescue-ship-ends-operations-idUSKBN1O60TL?il=0&utm_source=reddit.com&utm_source=reddit.com

  6. QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador’s president says Britain has provided sufficient guarantees for Julian Assange to leave his government’s embassy in London, where the WikiLeaks founder has been living under asylum since 2012.
    Lenin Moreno said in a radio interview Thursday said his government had received written assurances from the U.K. government not to extradite the Australian activist to any country where he would face the death penalty.

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/12/06/ecuador-julian-assange-can-leave-london-embassy-after-uk-govt-assurances/

  7. Germany is seeing a large surge in the number of basic firearm licences, Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) reports.

    While in 2014 there were 261,332 basic firearm licences, this number has grown to 600,000 this year. This equals an increase of 130 per cent.

    According to RND feelings of insecurity are an important factor for the increase of the licences. Since the start of the migrant crisis in 2015, Germany has seen several terror attacks on festivals, trains and a Christmas market.

    “We must be careful not to get American conditions in Germany,” the deputy chairman of police union (GdP) said. “There is a danger that weapons will not be used properly and that their owners will endanger themselves.”

    https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/12/germany-number-of-firearms-licences-more-than-doubles-during-the-migrant-crisis/

    • The people want to protect themselves and the government wants to keep them unarmed and dependent on the government. All of the evidence shows that the more honest citizens who own firearms the lower the rate of crime, all crimes. This scares the big government types because they don’t want the people to think and act for themselves.

      • The people want to protect themselves and the government wants to keep them unarmed and dependent on the government.

        It’s called “a monopoly on violence” and most governments act like complete crack addicts when it comes to maintaining their grasp upon it.

  8. Chief physician Allan M. Lund at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen warns that vegan food can have severe consequences, such as epilepsy and ultimately developmental disorders.

    In Denmark, there is now a debate about the suitability of an increasing number of families giving their children only vegan food. Critics are opposed to scrapping all animal products in small children’s diet.

    The problem is that poor food, which for example requires the addition of vitamin B12, can have serious consequences for children. And as a result several children on a vegan diet have been treated at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen.

    https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/12/danish-doctor-warns-vegan-food-may-lead-to-mental-retardation/#.XAo_WXVK8ZA.twitter

  9. Under the new law, the Italian government will only grant asylum to legitimate refugees of war or victims of political persecution. Asylum seekers may now lose their protection if they are convicted of crimes including: threat or violence to a public official; physical assault; female genital mutilation; and a variety of theft charges.

    “I wonder if those who contest the security decree have even read it. I do not really understand what the problem is: it deports criminals and increases the fight against the mafia, racketeering and drugs.” — Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini.

    Italy will not sign the United Nations Global Compact for Migration, nor will Italian officials attend a conference in Marrakech, Morocco, on December 10 and 11 to adopt the agreement. The Global Compact not only aims to establish migration as a human right, but also to outlaw criticism of migration through hate crimes legislation.

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13392/italy-immigration-law

  10. Just before Thanksgiving, House Republicans amended the list of documents they’d like President Trump to declassify in the Russia investigation. With little fanfare or explanation, the lawmakers, led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), added a string of emails between the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to their wish list.

    Sources tell me the targeted documents may provide the most damning evidence to date of potential abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), evidence that has been kept from the majority of members of Congress for more than two years.

    The email exchanges included then-FBI Director James Comey, key FBI investigators in the Russia probe and lawyers in the DOJ’s national security division, and they occurred in early to mid-October, before the FBI successfully secured a FISA warrant to spy on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

    The email exchanges show the FBI was aware — before it secured the now-infamous warrant — that there were intelligence community concerns about the reliability of the main evidence used to support it: the Christopher Steele dossier.

    https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/419901-fbi-email-chain-may-provide-most-damning-evidence-of-fisa-abuses-yet

  11. Suspected bus attacks under investigation by police
    Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is investigating two cases of a bus passenger allegedly attacking drivers while on the road.
    Privacy Badger has replaced this Facebook Like button.
    Keskusrikospoliisin nimi kiviseinässä.
    Image: Yle
    The two separate incidents of reported violence on buses took place in the Loimaa municipality in western Finland and Uurainen, a municipality in the centre of the country, according to the NBI.

    The NBI’s Sanna Springare, who is lead investigator in the incidents, said the agency does not know whether the two incidents were related. The suspects allegedly involved in the incidents have foreign backgrounds and are in their 30s.

    Springare said it is too early to say whether the incidents were related to terrorism, but they are looking into that possiblity.

    The most recent incident took place at around 1:00 am on Wednesday in Uurainen, on a bus that was driving from Helsinki to the north-western city of Oulu.

    https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/suspected_bus_attacks_under_investigation_by_police/10542053

  12. Germany and France to Europe: Accept Migrants or Pay Up (breitbart, Dec 7, 2018)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/12/07/germany-and-france-to-europe-accept-migrants-or-pay-up/

    “France and Germany have said that countries which reject migrants should be forced to pay to be excused from the European Union’s redistribution programme.
    The proposal was reportedly made in a document, seen by Reuters, circulated to member states’ interior ministers in Brussels on Thursday.

    The suggested migration rules would still insist countries take migrants from other member-states unless there is a strong objection. In which case, such nations would be able to make “alternative measures of solidarity.”

    Diplomats told Reuters this is Eurocrat-speak for making additional contributions to the European Commission’s budget or paying for development projects in Africa, where the bulk of Mediterranean Sea arrivals are coming from.

    However, the document also seeks to prevent all European countries from opting out, with hosting measures set in stone for any eight-year agreed period. Given that EU leaders did not anticipate the migrant crisis of 2015 coming from the Middle East, the proposed new rules would prevent countries from changing their migrant pledge mid-period should another unexpected mass flow of migrants occur…”

  13. Ex-inmates: Torture rife in prisons run by Yemen rebels (abcnews, Dec 7, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/inmates-torture-rife-prisons-run-yemen-rebels-59674318

    “The AP spoke with 23 people who said they survived or witnessed torture in Houthi detention sites, as well as with eight relatives of detainees, five lawyers and rights activists, and three security officers involved in previous prisoner swaps who said they saw marks of torture on inmates.”

  14. Duterte seeks martial law extension in southern Philippines (abcnews, Dec 7, 2018)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/duterte-seeks-martial-law-extension-southern-philippines-59673287

    “Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has asked Congress to extend martial law in the country’s south by another year amid continuing concerns over possible militant attacks, although democracy advocates fear it could worsen human rights conditions.

    Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said Friday that ending martial law could undermine progress by government forces in quelling insurgents “and may even strengthen the rebellion and propel it to other parts of the country.”

    Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he, along the military and police, backed the extension of martial law in the country’s southern third, because Muslim extremists, including five to 10 foreign fighters, continue to plot bombings and other attacks…”

  15. GREEK TRAGEDY Greece becomes war zone as thousands of rioters hit streets on 10th anniversary of teenage ‘police brutality’ killing

    Hundreds of demonstrators marched through Athens in tribute to 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, who was gunned down by officers in 2008
    By Jacob Dirnhuber

    RIOTERS torched cars and hurled flares at cops to mark the tenth anniversary of a ‘police brutality’ killing.

    Hundreds of demonstrators marched through Athens in tribute to 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, who was gunned down by officers in 2008.

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7924330/greece-riots-athens-police-brutality-killing/

    • Violent clashes between police & students on anniversary of cop fatally shooting teen in Greece

  16. SNATCHED BY SPOOKS? Chinese photographer who documented the dark side of life in the communist state mysteriously vanishes

    Lu Guang disappeared in China’s Xinjiang region last month while documenting the country’s oppression of Muslims

    AN award-winning Chinese photographer who candidly documented the dark side of the country’s booming economy has mysteriously vanished.

    Lu Guang, a three-time World Press Photo award winner, disappeared in China’s Xinjiang region last month while documenting the country’s oppression of Muslims and may have been detained by state security officers, his wife said.

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7911948/chinese-photographer-dark-side-communist-state-vanishes/

  17. Ebola spreads to major Congo city as vaccines a concern

    DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The second-largest Ebola outbreak in history has spread to a major city in eastern Congo, as health experts worry whether the stock of an experimental vaccine will stand up to the demands of an epidemic with no end in sight.

    Butembo, with more than 1 million residents, is now reporting cases of the deadly hemorrhagic fever. That complicates Ebola containment work already challenged by rebel attacks elsewhere that have made tracking the virus almost impossible in some isolated villages.

    https://www.apnews.com/86fd89fa73594ed0aa098c6c5a063300

  18. ‘Like a horror film’: The efforts to contain Ebola in a war zone

    NAIROBI, Kenya – The medical anthropologist was in the shower when she heard the first pops of gunfire. Initially, she thought it might be the action movie she’d left playing on high volume. Then the wall shook.

    The violence in eastern Congo, which has stymied the international response to a growing Ebola outbreak in the region, had arrived at the guesthouse used by many of those working to prevent the disease’s spread.

    https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Like-a-horror-film-The-efforts-to-contain-13449195.php

  19. FBI emails show concerns about Steele and his dossier PRIOR to FISA application
    By Daily Caller News Foundation December 6, 2018

    Justice Department and FBI officials exchanged emails during the late stages of the 2016 presidential campaign discussing concerns within the intelligence community about the infamous Steele dossier, according to a new report.

    The emails also show that top government officials were aware that Christopher Steele, the author of the dossier, was in contact with reporters regarding his investigation into President Donald Trump and his possible links to Russia.

    The emails, first reported by The Hill, were exchanged in October 2016, before the FBI submitted its first of four applications for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants to spy on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/12/06/fbi-emails-show-concerns-about-steele-and-his-dossier-prior-to-fisa-application/

  20. Taking stock: Never a case against Flynn, and DOJ/FBI knew basis of FISA application was faulty
    By J.E. Dyer December 7, 2018

    This week’s revelations about Russiagate have solidified two crucial points. The points have been shown over the last year to be increasingly likely, but disclosures since 3 December indicate now that they are virtually certain.

    One is that there was never a case for “investigating” Michael Flynn in connection with Russiagate. The sentencing memo from Robert Mueller this week makes that evident, by clarifying that the basis for the probe was Flynn’s phone conversations with (then) Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December 2016.

    Byron York points out that there was nothing wrong with Flynn having these conversations during the transition period to the new Trump administration. The Obama administration substantially overreached with its theme of invoking the 200-plus-year-old Logan Act – a theme that emerged within the administration only after someone on the Obama team committed the felony of leaking Flynn’s participation in calls with Kislyak to the media.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/12/07/taking-stock-never-a-case-against-flynn-and-doj-fbi-knew-basis-of-fisa-application-was-faulty/

  21. More winning: Trump to roll back aggressive Obama rule on ‘waters of the U.S.’
    By Daily Caller News Foundation December 6, 2018

    The Trump administration is expected to rein in the application of the “Waters of the U.S.,” or WOTUS, rule of the Clean Water Act next week, E&E News reports.

    Landowners have often complained about the wide-ranging definition of what qualifies as “waters of the U.S.” under federal regulation. The rule has been used to justify hefty fines for harming bodies of water such as vernal pools, which are only present part of the year and are not connected to larger rivers or lakes. (RELATED: Feds Fine Farmer $2.8 Million For ‘Deep Ripping’ Of Farmland)

    The new definition would not include rivers that only flow after rainfall nor wetlands that are not connected to larger rivers or waterways, according to E&E News.

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/12/06/more-winning-trump-to-roll-back-aggressive-obama-rule-on-waters-of-the-u-s/

  22. europravda – Exhibition celebrates UAE founder’s relations with Europe

    An exhibition in Abu Dhabi is celebrating the United Arab Emirates’ founder Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and his foreign policy towards Europe.

    • europravda – Meet one of the UAE’s first family businesses

      Before there were roads in the United Arab Emirates, the late entrepreneur Abdul Jalil Al Fahim had the foresight to import the first cars into Abu Dhabi in the early 1960s

  23. DAILY MAIL – White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is ‘expected’ to resign as soon as TODAY after Trump completely stopped speaking to him – and Pence chief of staff will replace him

    Sources told DailyMail.com that Kelly is ‘expected’ to leave the White House before the end of the year, and the announcement could come as soon as Friday

    His presumed replacement is Nick Ayers, the young chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence

    Ayers is a 36-year-old political wunderkind; Kelly is a 68-year-old decorated vet
    Trump and Kelly are no longer on speaking terms

    President has been telling aides to reach out to Ayers if they need things

    Friday White House senior staff dinner was to serve as an appreciation event for Kelly and other departing senior officials, but news leaked first to CNN

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6471487/White-House-Chief-Staff-John-Kelly-expected-RESIGN-soon-Trump-stopped-speaking-him.html

    • Yellow Vest protests: Up-close look at the armoured vehicle France will deploy to curb riots

    • Deutsche Welle – Do the ‘yellow vests’ share common goals?

      France’s yellow vest protests were originally staged against rising fuel taxes, but now they are targeting much more.

      With wages stagnant and living costs rising, many French people find themselves becoming poorer and are set to continue protesting.

    • France: Hundreds of students on knees decrying mass arrests

      Hundreds of students staged a protest on Place de la Republique in Paris on Friday, decrying mass arrests at a Mantes-la-Jolie high school that sparked outrage a day earlier.

      The demonstrators appeared to have reconstructed Thursday’s event, with dozens of students kneeling with their hands behind their heads.

      On Thursday, around 153 people were reportedly arrested at the Mantes-la-Jolie high school, some 50 kilometres (32 miles) from Paris. Emerged footage captured dozens of children and teenagers, some believed to be as young as 12 years old, standing on their knees or lined up against a wall, guarded by a number of officers in riot gear.

      A wave of demonstrations has hit France in recent weeks, initially at Macron’s plans to raise petrol prices, which have snowballed to encompass a variety of issues such as the wealth gap, living conditions and other planned reforms.

  24. Comey interview could drag several hours on Capitol Hill

    Catherine Herridge previews the closed-door interview about the FBI’s handling of the Clinton, Trump investigations.

  25. zero hedge – Canada Urges World “Have Fewer Children” To Fight Climate Change

    I understand some people just don’t want to believe that all this Global Warming is a ploy because they know the bulk of society is just too stupid or naive to understand they are being manipulated.

    A number of people do not want to believe the secret agenda is to reduce population growth. Here it is in black and white published in Canada.

    They argue that the #1 way to prevent climate change is to STOP having children!!!!!!

    This kind of attitude makes me feel I should be doing my part and have more children again. There is something seriously wrong with these people. They claim that not even having a car contributes to only 2.4% reduction in CO2. The biggest decrease in CO2 is to stop having children which would reduce it by 58.6%.

    My vote would be for euthanasia and we start with those who advocate not having children and we just correct the mistake their parents made, to begin with. I think the planet will be much safer without them.

    I would bet the way they see it, you have no kids so they can. Until the herd of sheep wake up and realize they are being fed propaganda for an alternative reality show playing in their minds, we are doomed. The French rebellion over taxes on fuel is a Global Warming Tax. So Macron backed off of the fuel tax.

    To show this is just an excuse for Global Warming and the real objective is to grab more money, Macron’s government indicated earlier that it could also amend a wealth tax raising it to make up the difference. So again, this is all about money.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-07/canada-urges-world-have-fewer-children-fight-climate-change

  26. Operation Northern Shield

    The Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Northern Shield to expose and neutralize cross-border attack tunnels that Hezbollah dug from Lebanon into Israel. Just hours into the operation our troops exposed and neutralized a 600 foot Hezbollah attack tunnel, which began under a civilian building in southern Lebanon, was dug through solid rock, and extended into Israeli territory.

    https://www.idf.il/en/minisites/hezbollah/operation-northern-shield/

  27. Iran Accuses US of Transferring Daesh Militants to Afghanistan (sputniknews, Dec 7, 2018)
    https://sputniknews.com/asia/201812071070494348-us-transfer-daesh-militants-afghanistan/

    “This is not the first time that Washington has been accused of providing transportation to members of the terrorist organisation, but the US has previously denied such allegations.

    Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, cited by Tasnim News Agency, raised the alarm over an alleged transportation of Daesh* militants to Afghanistan from Syria organised by the US, stating that such actions could provoke a future resurgence of terrorism in the region.

    “Over the past year, the US has moved a large number of Daesh* terrorists to Afghanistan, which could once again create the same troubles in some parts of Asia that it created in Iraq and Syria”, he said.

    Larijani also praised the ongoing cooperation between Iran, China, Pakistan, Turkey, Russia, and Afghanistan in combating terrorism…”

  28. US, French Intel Steps Up Search for Baghdadi in Syria, Iraq – Reports (sputniknews, Dec 7, 2018)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201812071070496014-us-french-military-daesh-leader-baghdadi/

    “The US military commander stated the other day that the notoriously elusive Daesh chief is still alive and hiding on the loose on the Euphrates banks.

    US, French, Syrian and Iraqi security forces have significantly stepped up efforts to search for Daesh* leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the Syrian-Iraqi border area, the TV channel Alsumaria reported Friday, citing a source in the Syrian province Anbar’s security agency.

    According to the media outlet, the ongoing operation involves drones, with the area being increasingly combed by search brigades.

    “Every day, UAVs are examining dozens of kilometres of the deserted territory, as well as agriculture fields on both sides of the Euphrates, all the way from Al Bagur (Syria) to Makr-ez-Zin (Iraq)”, representatives for the Iraqi security agencies noted.

    “The agencies are competing over who would be the first to kill or detain the Daesh head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi”, he remarked, adding that the border region had virtually turned into a “battlefield” for the security forces.

    On 4 December, US Lt Gen Kenneth McKenzie, nominated as the next chief of the US Central Command (Centcom), stated that al-Baghdadi is still alive and is hiding “somewhere in a desert by the Euphrates”.

    In October, the Daesh leader was reported to have ordered the execution of 320 of his followers, including senior commanders, for “disloyalty” and “recklessness”.

    During the war against Daesh in Syria and Iraq, al-Baghdadi more than once evaded assassination attempts made by the Russian, US and Iranian militaries. In September, Iraqi media reported that al-Baghdadi had narrowly escaped death after showing up late to a meeting of terrorist commanders. The terrorist is believed to have issued his latest address to his followers in August, urging them to continue their jihad and to “burn” the infidels.

    Al-Baghdadi made his last public appearance in 2014, one year after he escaped from al-Qaeda. Back in June 2014 he appeared on the stage of a landmark mosque in Mosul, the then Daesh stronghold, and declared himself the caliphate leader. The US offered a reward of a whopping $25 million for trustworthy information leading to his capture or death.”

  29. UN Envoy Slams Opposition to Migrant Pact as Latvia Is Latest to Pull Out (breitbart, Dec 7, 2018)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/12/07/un-migrant-pact-latvia-latest-exit/

    “The UN slammed “xenophobic” terms like “illegal immigrant” which it said was behind “negative reactions” to the migration pact, as Latvia revealed it would be the latest nation to withdraw from the controversial agreement.

    On Thursday, lawmakers in Latvia voted 43 in favour and 31 against a resolution urging the government not to sign the Baltic country up to the so-called Global Compact for Safe and Orderly Migration, which is due to be ratified in Marrakech in just a few days’ time.

    Though the government had previously expressed its full support for the framework, which declares mass migration to be “inevitable, necessary and desirable”, earlier in the week Latvia’s outgoing Prime Minister, Maris Kucinskis, promised to “adhere to parliament’s decision, whatever the outcome,” reported AFP.

    Explaining why she voted to keep Latvia out of the agreement, New Conservative Party (NCP) lawmaker Dagm?ra Beitnere-Le Galla, said the country “cannot be allowed to commit suicide”, adding that she could not support joining a treaty “so poorly prepared for a document that may have major implications throughout the entire world”.

    J?nis Dombrava from National Alliance, meanwhile, pointed out that despite multiple deputies’ insistence that nothing in the pact is legally binding, the terms “commit” and “commitment” feature dozens of times in the document, which imply certain duties.

    Despite the fast-growing list of countries pulling out of the agreement, some of the most recent of which include Italy, Slovakia, and Bulgaria, it was reported Friday that UN special representative for migration, Louise Arbour, was feeling “very confident” about the compact’s future.

    Commenting on the document, which is due to be signed on Monday, she said: “There are many different issues at stake: economic, to maximise the positive effects of migration on economies of host countries, on countries of origin, on the migrants themselves, on communities which receive them.

    “Humanitarian issues are at stake: to save lives, to better cooperate and better manage irregular migration, with people in transit countries in very vulnerable situations,” she said, adding: “So, there are security, political, economic, humanitarian aspects.”

    Asked why there has been backlash over the 32-page document, Arbour told AFP: “Talk on migration, for a very long time, has always focused on negative aspects: in the media, in conversations, there is a lot of emphasis on irregular migration, talk of illegal migrants.”

    Lamenting there had been a “resurfacing of this language, which in some cases is xenophobic”, the UN envoy claimed the migration compact was seeking to “restore equilibrium to stress in part the positive aspects [of mass migration]”.”

  30. Physical and Sexual Violence Soared in France in 2017 (breitbart, Dec 7, 2018)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/12/07/physical-sexual-violence-soared-france-2017/

    “A report released by the French National Observatory of Delinquency and Criminal Responses (ONDRP) has said that in 2017, France saw a huge increase in both sexual and violent crime.

    According to the annual report, the number of people across the country who experienced violence outside of their household rose from 173,000 cases in 2016 to 265,000 in 2017, a 53 per cent increase, Valeurs Actuelles reports.

    Of the 265,000, around 93,000 claim to have been a victim of either rape or attempted rape in 2017, up from 58,000 the previous year.

    569,000 households were robbed in 2017, and just over a million people said they had been victims of non-violent robberies while 210,000 said they had been robbed and subjected to violence. Non-violent thefts increased by 46 per cent compared to 2016 and broke a previous multi-year trend of decline.

    Analysis of the data reveals that Paris is the most prone to home robberies and that they mostly occur in the summer months and around Christmas time.

    Problems with underage criminal migrant criminals in some Parisian suburbs has become so pronounces, French officers brought in police from Morocco to help not only catch the perpetrators but also to identify them so that they could be deported back to their home country.

    While 1,500 were arrested earlier this year, only six Moroccans were actually deported.

    Violence has become more common in France, especially random acts of violence of which there are thought to be as many as 777 cases per day across the country.

    Earlier this week a report published by the Council of Europe revealed that between 2005 and 2015 the prison population of France had also increased by 23 per cent and that the resulting overcrowding in French prisons has become a major issue.”

  31. Germany Most Prolific at Attempting to Send Migrants to Other EU Countries (breitbart, Dec 7, 2018)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/12/07/germany-most-prolific-attempting-send-migrants-other-eu-countries/

    “Germany, whose Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a call for unlimited numbers of migrants to travel to Europe in 2015, has also made the highest number of attempts to return migrants to other EU countries.

    Dublin asylum regulations permit member states to attempt to return asylum seekers to the first European Union country the migrants arrived in.

    According to figures released by Eurostat Thursday, Germany topped the list of attempted returns with 63,326 in 2017, followed by France (41,243), Austria (10,482), and Greece (9,559).

    In total, the European Union saw 157,805 outgoing requests to transfer migrants with the biggest receiver of requests going to Germany at 26,927 — slightly higher than Italy (26,627) which as a coastal nation involuntarily became the focal point for boat migrant landings in 2017.

    In terms of accepting transfers, the lowest rates were from Austria (35 per cent), Hungary (27 per cent), and Greece (four per cent).

    After Chancellor Merkel declared “we can do this” (“wir schaffen das”) in 2015 to accepting unlimited migrants, mostly at the time from Syria, Germany found that after more than a million had taken up the invitation it ‘could not do this’ on its own, and worked with the European Union on a migrant redistribution programme which the bloc insisted was not optional.

    Slovakia and the Czech Republic were the first to voice their opposition to the plan in late August 2015, with Slovak then-Prime Minister Robert Fico saying at the time, “We strongly reject any quotas … If a mechanism for automatic redistribution of migrants is adopted, then we will wake up one day and have 100,000 people from the Arab world and that is a problem I would not like Slovakia to have.”

    Initially, Poland’s left-liberal Civic Platform-led coalition government pledged to accept 5,000 migrants in September 2015. One month later, Law and Justice won an outright majority in national elections, with the conservative party pledging to overturn the previous government’s decision.

    Hungary has been the most vocal of the Visegrád nations in its rejection of the EU’s “limitless and permanent” migrant quotas, with nine in ten Hungarians backing the government’s position.

    While the EU has threatened sanctions against nations refusing to show sufficient “solidarity” with the bloc’s migration plans, in recent days France and Germany have suggested instead that countries like Hungary and Poland either accept migrants or pay more into the EU budget or towards development programmes in Africa.”

  32. Finland: Crackdown on Criminal Migrants After Children Gang Raped (breitbart, Dec 7, 2018)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/12/07/finland-crackdown-evil-migrant-rape/

    “Finland is set to speed up the deportation of criminal aliens after it emerged a 10-year-old girl was repeatedly raped and abused by migrant predators.

    Commenting on the “shocking inhumanity” of the cases, President Sauli Niinistö said the country must “show strength” in punishing the rapists in order to “stigmatise the evil” of their actions so that Finland “can continue to have a just, safe society”.

    Authorities in Oulu, a city and municipality in north-west Finland with just over 200,000 residents, on Wednesday announced that a total of 10 suspects had been arrested in connection with sexual abuse and violence carried out against three children under the age of 15 in the region.

    Eight of the ten men — one of whom is still at large — have been accused of repeatedly raping a 10-year-old girl in their apartments over a period of several months, and of subjecting the child to beatings and violence after she was groomed on social media.

    Police have subsequently advised parents and children to be on the lookout for migrant predators on the internet, with commissioner Markus Kiiskinen telling local media, “For young people, meeting a foreign-heritage man can happen spontaneously, for example during a party.

    “Someone could offer them something ‘nice’, like tobacco or alcohol, which can start a nasty chain of events.”

    Kai Mykkänen, the Minister of the Interior, recommended the country crack down on migrants accused of serious crimes after it emerged that a number of the suspects had been granted citizenship.

    “Things like these shouldn’t be happening in Finland,” he said, speaking on YLE’s A-Studio earlier this week, as it reported figures revealing foreign nationals were heavily overrepresented in the country’s rape cases.

    “There are, of course, some Finnish people who commit terrible rapes … But the fact is that foreigners are much more likely [to be] suspects and this must not be brushed under the carpet,” he told the public broadcaster.

    Highlighting legislative amendments to speed up deportation of criminal migrants, which were approved by the government last month, Mykkänen added that the asylum system is not doing its job if authorities are unable to remove individuals whose claims are rejected, or even migrants suspected of committing serious crimes.

    Legal appeals “are currently lodged against practically all criminal removal orders”, delaying enforceable deportation rulings from several months to several years, according to local media, which reports that the amendments agreed last month would significantly crack down on the appeals tactic in cases of individuals found guilty of serious criminal offences.

    Finland has accepted large numbers of third world migrants in recent years under not only the EU’s controversial quota scheme, which redistributes migrants who entered Europe illegally from frontline countries such as Greece across other countries in the bloc, but also through a UN “transfer” programme.

    Finland announced last December it would ship another 750 migrants into the country directly from Africa and the Middle East under the programme heavily pushed by the European Commission, which spends huge sums of European taxpayers’ cash on importing “transfer refugees”.”

  33. Turkey’s top spy in U.S. to meet senators, intelligence officials: sources (reuters, Dec 7, 2018)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-turkey/turkeys-top-spy-in-u-s-to-meet-senators-intelligence-officials-sources-idUSKBN1O62AB

    “Turkey’s head of intelligence has traveled to Washington to meet with U.S. lawmakers and intelligence officials, sources said, in an apparent bid to improve ties with the Americans after a breakdown in the NATO allies’ relationship last summer.

    Hakan Fidan, a close confidant of Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan, has met with senators to discuss NATO issues and was expected to meet with U.S. intelligence officials later on Friday, according to five sources familiar with the matter, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity…”

    • Hakan Fidan is a notorious piece of work.

      2013 Profile by Adam Entous, who now writes for the {spit} New Yorker:
      Turkey’s Spymaster Plots Own Course on Syria
      Hakan Fidan Takes Independent Tack in Wake of Arab Spring

      http://www.turkishnews.com/en/content/2013/10/10/turkeys-spymaster-plots-own-course-on-syria/

      Turkey blows Israel’s cover for Iranian spy ring

      The Turkish-Israeli relationship became so poisonous early last year that the Turkish government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is said to have disclosed to Iranian intelligence the identities of up to 10 Iranians who had been meeting inside Turkey with their Mossad case officers.
      washingtonpost,com/opinions/david-ignatius-turkey-blows-israels-cover-for-iranian-spy-ring/2013/10/16/7d9c1eb2-3686-11e3-be86-6aeaa439845b_story.html

      • Mark Silverberg: The Implication Of Turkey’s Betrayal

        …The lack of official U.S. reaction to the exposure of Israeli intelligence assets in Iran by Turkey may be because President Obama remains intent on cultivating Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan as a “model partner” and key Muslim ally at virtually any cost.

        …For the United States…the fact that President Obama has been willing to share state-of-the-art technology and secrets with the Turkish regime so willing to betray them to China and Iran raises questions about strategic judgment.…

        Steven Cook and Michael Koplow wrote recently for the Council on Foreign Relations: “That Erdogan and/or his intelligence chief, Hakan Fidan, were willing to undermine a broad Western effort to stop Iran’s nuclear development for no other reason than to stick it to Israel should be a wake-up call as to whether the current Turkish government can be trusted as a partner on anything.”

        http://www.ruthfullyyours.com/2013/10/22/mark-silverberg-the-implication-of-turkeys-betrayal/

        • Can NATO Member Turkey Ever Be Trusted Again?

          The Jewish Press has had the dubious honor of pointing the finger at Turkey’s chief intelligence officer Hakan Fidan and state flatly that his betrayal of 10 Mossad agents was the stuff that should get him something nice in his car in the morning.

          Yes, we don’t go for nice over here, but, as you’ll see, the rest of the world is coming around rather quickly to our position, and so, if I’m Hakan Fidan, I’d get me a bus pass.

          An Eli Lake article in the Daily Beast has confirmations from U.S. officials of the David Ignatius initial Washington Post report [*]. A CIA officer compared the loss to the betrayal of the Cambridge Five the network of Soviet moles (including the notorious Kim Philby), who provided invaluable intelligence to Moscow during the Cold War…..

          [*] The Turk decried the WaPo article, saying Ignatius is an Armenian!

          http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/can-nato-member-turkey-ever-be-trusted-again/2013/10/21/

  34. DAILY MAIL:
    More than 200 academics sign open letter accusing Cambridge don of publishing ‘racist pseudoscience’ in row over academic free speech.

    Dr Noah Carl has been criticised for taking part in a conference on eugenics.
    He has claimed opposition to immigration can be based on ‘rational beliefs’.
    Accused of publishing ‘ethically suspect and methodologically flawed work’.
    Professors at top universities publish open letter demanding investigation.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6469777/More-200-academics-sign-open-letter-accusing-Cambridge-don-publishing-racist-pseudoscience.html

  35. Feds ramp up probe into Podesta lobbying firm with ties to Manafort

    WASHINGTON — Spinning off from the special counsel’s Russia probe, prosecutors are ramping up their investigation into foreign lobbying by two major Washington firms that did work for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, according to people familiar with the matter.

    The investigation had been quiet for months since special counsel Robert Mueller referred it to authorities in Manhattan because it fell outside his mandate of determining whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia.

    But in a flurry of new activity, Justice Department prosecutors in the last several weeks have begun interviewing witnesses and contacting lawyers to schedule additional questioning related to the Podesta Group and Mercury Public Affairs, the people familiar with the inquiry said. They spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing work.

    https://nypost.com/2018/12/05/feds-ramp-up-probe-into-podesta-lobbying-firm-with-ties-to-manafort/

  36. U.S. Fears Iran Planning ‘Massive Regional War’ in Middle East
    Trump vows support for Israeli defensive operations after identifying Iran as source of tunnels into Israel

    The Trump administration disclosed that Iran is behind the construction of several underground tunnels leading into Israel that Hezbollah militants and other terror forces have been using to conduct attacks, according to multiple U.S. officials who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon and communicated fears that Tehran is preparing to lead a “massive regional war.”

    The public identification of Iran isn’t likely to surprise international observers, but signals aggressive moves by the Trump administration to tie Iran to the rise of terrorism not just in Israel, but across the Middle East, where Iranian-backed militants continue to strike U.S. interests and allies.

    The Obama administration, in contrast to Trump, was careful to avoid singling out Iran as the chief force for terrorism against Israel and U.S. allies in the region in hopes of appeasing the hardline regime as it sought to ink the landmark nuclear pact that Trump abandoned earlier this year.

    Senior U.S. officials familiar with Israel’s discovery of these new tunnels—a tactic long used by Hezbollah and Hamas to conduct cross-border raids against Israeli civilians and military personnel—say they mark a massive escalation by Iran’s terror proxies.

    https://freebeacon.com/national-security/u-s-fears-massive-regional-war-identifying-iran-source-tunnels-israel/