Contributor’s Links post for January 21st, 2019

Daily Links Post graphic

Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We muse use it while we can.

About Eeyore

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

149 Replies to “Contributor’s Links post for January 21st, 2019”

  1. BuzzFeed Runs Crazy Story Accusing Jews of Conspiring Against George Soros
    January 21, 2019
    Daniel Greenfield

    BuzzFeed is not having a good week.

    The cat listicle website is under attack for its fake story about Trump and Cohen. And then it decided to double down on those false claims while running a crazy story claiming that Jews had conspired to smear George Soros.

    Now Hannes Grassegger’s nutty rant isn’t just the usual media whitewashing of Soros. Lately the media has decided that the only anti-Semitism it will recognize is criticism of George Soros.

    But Hannes Grassegger goes well beyond that with an insane claim. The claim is that negative portrayals of Soros began in 2008 with some sort of conspiracy involving Netanyahu, Jewish campaign consultants and Viktor Orban.

    Forget everything else.

    Soros was a despised figure among Jews and non-Jews long before 2008. He had personally declared war on George W. Bush. He had accused Jews of being responsible for anti-Semitism. He was being condemned by the ADL and Elie Wiesel.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/272618/buzzfeed-runs-crazy-story-accusing-jews-conspiring-daniel-greenfield

    • The comment by “Nannette” under this story makes as much sense as anything I’ve ever read about Soros.

  2. SPAIN – Vox’s Santiago Abascal: the left uses labels to silence and shame opponents, English subtitles

  3. THE PROGRESSIVES’ REPUBLIC OF VIRTUE
    Attacking America’s bedrock institutions to advance “social justice”.
    January 21, 2019
    Joseph Klein

    Progressives want to radically transform America’s noble experiment in self-government, the securing of inalienable rights of the individual, and the rule of law within the structure of a constitutional republic. They prefer a model of an all-powerful government expanding its reach as necessary to bring about their evolving conception of a virtuous society. They use epithets such as “racist” and “bigot” to silence opposition to their leftist agenda and try to ruin the livelihoods of those who won’t be silenced. When that does not work, progressives resort to “hate speech” codes enforced by sympathetic social media and college campus censors.

    The liberal media’s darling and possible candidate for the presidency, former Democrat Representative Beto O’Rourke, questioned whether the United States can “still be managed by the same principles that were set down 230-plus years ago.” That’s nothing new for progressives. They have been mouthing much the same thing for over a century, from Woodrow Wilson through Barack Obama and beyond. They believe that the Constitution is nothing more than an outdated document written by dead white males to protect their property interests.

    President Woodrow Wilson, the progressives’ hero who was a blatant racist himself, urged that the Constitution be treated as a living document and that its core principle of checks and balances be discarded. “No living thing can have its organs offset against each other, as checks, and live,” he wrote.

    Barack Obama criticized the Constitution’s focus on “negative liberties” rather than saying “what the federal government or state government must do on your behalf.” Obama had in mind “the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society.”

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272612/progressives-republic-virtue-joseph-klein

  4. Judiciary Committee Democrat Floats Perjury Probe Of Justice Brett Kavanaugh

    Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado, a freshman member of the House Judiciary Committee, told constituents the panel will likely investigate Justice Brett Kavanaugh for perjury.

    “There’s no question [Kavanaugh] committed perjury during the confirmation hearings and so forth,” Neguse said when asked if the justice might be impeached. “I think the Judiciary Committee is likely to take that up.”

    https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/20/kavanaugh-perjury-impeachment/

  5. France Builds Trump-Style Wall to Stop Illegals Getting to Britain (breitbart, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/01/21/france-builds-trump-style-wall-stop-illegals-getting-uk/

    “French authorities have built a ten-foot wall at a Total station in Calais used by migrants who attempt to storm lorries and break into Britain.

    The barrier is being erected at a petrol station in the Marcel-Doret area where lorries stop to fill up with fuel before heading to the port and onwards to the United Kingdom. It is set to be finished by mid-February.

    Local prefect Fabien Sudry told Nord Littoral that “smuggling networks meet there and take advantage of stations near the port to get migrants in trucks.”

    “The situation was rather tense at this station. The police regularly had stones thrown at them,” Mr Sudry said.

    A Total spokesman confirmed the barrier was built at the request of the Calais prefecture to “protect customers, staff, and migrants,” the Daily Mail reports, with locals comparing it to the wall that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to build along the southern border of the United States to stop mass illegal migration from Central and South America.

    Pro-migration aid workers object to the wall, as the barrier between the two spaces is “divisive.”

    One Calais-based charity worker who wished to withhold their identity complained: “The wall is ugly and of course divisive.”

    “This is very political — it aims to show desperate people that they are not welcome here, and that more and more walls and police will be used to keep them out.

    “If you oppose such policies, you can get into a lot of trouble.”

    There are an estimated 600 mostly male migrants hailing from Afghanistan, Iran, and Syria squatting in makeshift camps around the port town waiting to break into Britain — down from an estimated 10,000 during the heyday of the infamous “Calais Jungle”.

    It is believed to be the first time that a wall has been so quickly erected in a hotspot area for trafficking with the intention of stopping migrants attempting to make the journey to the United Kingdom.

    Illegal migration to Britain via France has been in the British headlines for nearly three months after more than 500 migrants have attempted to cross the English Channel by sea, with three boats arriving on the Kent coast on Sunday alone.

    Tens of thousands enter or attempt to enter by stowing away in cars, goods vehicles, and ferries every year, with some even attempting to traverse the Channel Tunnel on foot.”

  6. Turkey’s Unjust Justice System: Armenian MP Under Attack

    by Uzay Bulut
    January 21, 2019 at 4:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13569/unjust-turkey

    Turkish prosecutors have filed a motion to strip an Armenian lawmaker of his parliamentary immunity over his outspoken criticism of the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Invoking Article 301 of the Turkish penal code — which states that “insulting the Republic of Turkey, the Turkish nation or Turkish government institutions” is punishable by a prison sentence — the prosecutor’s office of Diyarbakir began proceedings against Garo Paylan, who was elected in 2015 to Turkey’s Grand National Assembly as a member of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

    Since that time, Paylan has been targeted by Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

    Last March, for example, Paylan and fellow HDP members were physically attacked by a group of AKP lawmakers for speaking out against Turkey’s “ethnic cleansing” of the Kurds in Afrin, Syria. The following day, Paylan tweeted:

  7. Khan’s London: Second World War Memorial Desecrated, Churchill Statue Vandalised (breitbart, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/01/21/khans-london-second-world-war-memorial-desecrated-churchill-statue-vandalised/

    “A memorial to the tens of thousands of Bomber Command air crew who lost their lives during the Second World War has been vandalised in London, along with a nearby statue of wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill.

    The memorial in London’s Green Park has been splattered with a large amount of white paint, “including the statue of eight Bomber Command crew members which stands at its centre, the marble plinth it stands upon and the surrounding Portland stone.”

    So far, no arrests have been made, but the Metropolitan Police are said to be investigating CCTV footage from the site…”

  8. Nigeria troops repel Boko Haram attacks in Borno and Yobe states, army says (thedefensepost, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://thedefensepost.com/2019/01/21/nigeria-boko-haram-attacks-baga-buni-yadi-kajeri-maye/

    “Nigerian soldiers have fought off a series Boko Haram attacks over the weekend, the army and military sources said on Monday, January 21.

    On Saturday, troops “inflicted devastating man and equipment casualties” on the group in the Baga area of Borno state, on the shores of Lake Chad, the army said in a Sunday statement.

    The insurgents used a suicide car bomb (SVBIED) and two “gun trucks” in an attempt to break into a defensive position, Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu said.

    Five militants were “neutralized” in a counterattack by army, navy and air force special forces troops, “including a driver and a gunner firing from a gun truck, a suicide bomber in a vehicle loaded with IED and two other terrorists,” Nwachukwu said, adding that the SVBIED and one technical were destroyed, and one anti-aircraft gun and three AK-type rifles were recovered.

    On Sunday, troops “successfully defeated Boko Haram terrorists” who attacked a military base in Buni Yadi in Yobe state, northeast Nigeria, the army tweeted.

    The attack began around 4:15 p.m. and fighting continued for two and a half hours, Major Nureni Alimi said in a Monday statement, adding that “some of them were neutralised” and others fled, some with gunshot injuries.

    Four soldiers sustained minor injuries, Alimi said.

    Two “gun trucks” along with anti-aircraft ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades were recovered.

    Two military sources said the Islamic State West Africa province faction of Boko Haram was behind the weekend attacks in Baga, Kareto and Buni Yadi.

    The sources both said four soldiers were killed as they repelled the attack in Buni Yadi during “intense” fighting that involved air strikes.

    Islamic State in a statement claimed ISWA fighters attacked Kareto on Saturday, and its Amaq propaganda agency said ISWA fighters had attacked both Baga and Kareto.

    Meanwhile, two Boko Haram fighters were also killed in operations in the Mafa district of Borno on Saturday, the army said in a Sunday statement.

    The fighters who had “infiltrated” Kajeri Maye village were killed in a clearance operation and two female hostages were freed, Nwachukwu said.

    Troops recovered various arms and ammunition including 36 hand grenades, Nwachukwu said, adding that clearance operations were continuing in the area.

    It is unclear which faction of Boko Haram was responsible for that attack…”

  9. Top General: Fear of Heavy Casualties in War with Iran Deterring Foes (tasnimnews, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2019/01/21/1927993/top-general-fear-of-heavy-casualties-in-war-with-iran-deterring-foes

    “Mindful of Iran’s great defense power and afraid of heavy casualties that they would suffer in a military confrontation, the enemies of the Islamic Republic do not dare take action against the country, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces said…”

  10. Germany Bans Iranian Airline Mahan (aawsat, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1555071/germany-bans-iranian-airline-mahan

    “Germany banned Iranian airline Mahan Air from its airports, a senior government source said Monday, amid an escalation of sanctions adopted by the European Union against Iran over attacks on opponents in the bloc.

    In remarks to Reuters, the source gave both safety concerns and the suspicion that the airline was being used for military purposes as reasons.

    The confirmation came after Munich-based daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that the Federal Aviation Office (LBA) will suspend Mahan’s operating license.

    A spokesman for the foreign ministry in Berlin told the paper it “does not inform about internal political decision-making processes”.

    Mahan, Iran’s second-largest carrier after Iran Air, flies four services a week between Tehran and the German cities Duesseldorf and Munich.

    The EU earlier this month targeted sanctions at Iran’s security services and two of their leaders, accused of involvement in a series of murders and planned attacks against Tehran critics in the Netherlands, Denmark and France.

    Brussels’ measures included freezing funds and financial assets belonging to Iran’s intelligence ministry and individual officials, but did not target any companies.

    By contrast Mahan Air was blacklisted by the US in 2011, as Washington said the carrier was providing technical and material support to an elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards known as the Quds Force.

    The US treasury has threatened sanctions against countries and companies offering the airline’s 31 aircraft landing rights or services such as on-board dining.

    German firms have come under especially intense pressure from American ambassador Richard Grenell, a close ally of President Donald Trump, over sanctions against Iran.

    Rail operator Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Telekom, Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler and industrial group Siemens have all said they will stop their operations in the country.

    Last week German authorities said they had arrested a German-Afghan military adviser on suspicion of spying for Iran.”

  11. Houthis Celebrate Their Dead, Launch New Graveyards (aawsat, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1555306/houthis-celebrate-their-dead-launch-new-graveyards

    “Yemeni provinces and neighborhoods under the control of Iran-backed Houthi militants were forced to celebrate death in an annual rally organized by the insurgency to commemorate those “martyred” in the civil war waged by the group against national state institutions.

    The opening of serval burial grounds marked 2019’s self-proclaimed “week of the martyr” Houthi celebrations. Fresh cemetery lands are being designated to lay to rest the fighters of the group exclusively…”

  12. Philippine Muslims Vote in Referendum on Self-Rule (aawsat, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1555106/philippine-muslims-vote-referendum-self-rule

    “Nearly three million minority Muslims in southern Philippines voted on Monday in a referendum on autonomy, a move that is aimed at ending decades of conflict and granting them greater control over their land and natural resources.

    Residents in Mindanao region are being asked if they back a plan to create a self-administered area.

    A clear “yes” vote is widely expected, which would grant executive, legislature and fiscal powers to the region.

    Mindanao, the Philippines’ second-biggest island, has mineral deposits worth about $300 billion, or 40 percent of the country’s reserves, according to government estimates.

    It also has among the highest rates of poverty after decades of conflict, which has killed about 120,000 people and forced more than two million from their homes, according to human rights activists.

    Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has backed the new region, saying it will bring peace and wealth in Mindanao, his home island.

    The results of Monday’s vote are due to be declared later this week.

    A “yes” vote would mean the area will have complete authority over land reforms and indigenous peoples’ rights.”

  13. Saudi Arabia is balance of power in region
    Al-Mismari: Qatari-Turkish support for terrorists emanates from creed
    (saudigazette, Jan 21, 2019)
    http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/557405/SAUDI-ARABIA/Saudi-Arabia-is-balance-of-power-in-region

    “TRIPOLI — The support being provided by the Qatari regime and Turkey to the “Muslim Brotherhood” and other terrorist groups, comes from a creedal perspective, the spokesman of the Libyan National Army Brig. Gen. Ahmed Al-Mismari said in an interview to Okaz on Monday.

    Asked how he views the efforts of the Kingdom in maintaining stability in the region, Al-Mismari stressed that Saudi Arabia is the “Islamic and Arab balance of power” and its presence is “decisive” (crucial?), as it is carrying out a prominent role in fighting terror.

    He added that Turkey is looking for a presence and a foothold in the Muslim countries. After its rejection from the European Union (EU), Turkey has returned to the Muslim world, but in doing so it collided with the Saudi and Egyptian giants and the rest of the Arab and Muslim countries.

    Asked where the Libyan National Army has reached in its war against terror groups and cleaning the Libyan territories of these groups, Al-Mismari said the comprehensive war is continuing in cleaning the Libyan regions of extremist groups. They have reached the southern region, starting with the southwest. The Libyan Army is fighting all terrorist groups including Daesh (so-called IS), Al-Qaeda, and the terrorist Brotherhood militias, receiving support from Doha and Ankara.

    Al-Mismari is optimistic they will rid all these gangs from the region, despite the operations just starting. He added that the south includes parts of Libya that have become safe havens for terrorists after defeating them in Benghazi, Sirt, Darnah and the Oil Crescent Zone.

    The Libyan Army does not enter any region except with popular support from the citizens there, Al-Mismari stressed.

    Asked for evidence, as they have always blamed the Qatari regime and Turkey of supporting the terrorist militias, Al-Mismari said the Qatari support is not recent.

    “It has been there since the fall of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Thereafter Qatar has pledged to provide direct support to the ‘Muslim Brotherhood’. The Brotherhood struck alliances with terrorist groups engaged in the fighting and a wing of ‘Al-Qaeda in Libya’, which is receiving financial, political and media support from Qatar.”

    These terrorist groups are also receiving support from Turkey at all levels and the Libyan National Army has cogent proof on this, Al-Mismari asserted.

    He said Qatari weapons have been flowing into Libya via ships since 2012 and then via planes that landed in Libyan airports. The Qatari support has destroyed the Libyan infrastructure and made the country a hot spot that attracts terrorists.

    He added that they are convinced the support from Qatar and Turkey emanates from a creedal perspective and creedal support is very dangerous.”

    • Libyan chaos is MB-driven. That’s the source of continuing low-grade war in Egypt.
      (“Low-grade” is relative: casualties low proportional to population size; low media interest for lack of promotable victim-identity group.)

      Turkey, Qatar, and the global allies of the MB are fully responsible for the continuing mess in Libya and Egypt. Spill-over affects migration to Europe, serves as base for Global Jihadi, Inc.

      Deep State is MB. 100%. CIA and all the congress-critters who celebrated Arab Spring and keep flogging muh-Khashoggi.

  14. China Rewrites the Bible?! 10 Ways China is Targeting Christians and Catholics | China Uncensored

    • Pay attention to this one, this is what the left has in its plan for the West, look at how the Dems are trying to stop Christians from holding Federal Office or working for the Federal Government.

    • They’ll be totally “woke” Christians. Great allies for our side when the shtf.

      I hate his beard.
      Looks like Satan. Or a Gulf Arab.

  15. UN: Number of Saudi asylum seekers triples in five years (memo, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190121-un-number-of-saudi-asylum-seekers-triples-in-five-years/

    “The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR ) said the number of Saudi asylum seekers has increased by 318 per cent in 2017 compared with 2012.

    The Economist magazine said the case of Saudi teenager, Rahaf Al-Qunun, who has recently been granted refuge in Canada, has drawn the world’s attention to the situation of thousands of Saudi men and women who flee difficult conditions in the kingdom.

    According to the UN agency, the number of Saudi asylum seekers reached about 815 in 2017 compared to less than 200 in 2012.

    According to the magazine, the rising number of Saudi asylum seekers is believed to have been caused by the Saudi authorities’ suppression of opponents, however, this increase is not linked to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s accession to power in 2017, because the increase was recorded before he came to power…”

  16. Italian Interior Ministry: 393 migrants have been returned to Libya (memo, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190122-italian-interior-ministry-393-migrants-have-been-returned-to-libya/

    “It is believed that this includes about 100 migrants, who were classified by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Sunday as being in a crisis off the coast of Libya.

    Salvini said in a statement that “the 393 migrants, rescued by the Italian Coast Guard, are safe and fine, and have been returned to Libya.”

    A human rights organization criticized returning migrants to Libya and described the move as a violation of international law because they are vulnerable to abuse and torture in this country.

    In his strategy, Salvini prohibits charitable organizations that save migrants from reaching to Italian ports, prompting most of these organizations to suspend their work. This coincides with the high rate of death in the sea between Italy and Libya.

    The UNHCR Commissioner Filippo Grandi told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that “the percentage of migrants who died while trying to cross the sea has more than doubled in 2018 compared to 2017.””

  17. Illicit Targeting & Overthrow Attempt of President Trump is ‘The Crisis of Our Generation’

  18. The Media’s Spreading Fake News About Trump and Smearing Catholic Kids – Have We Had Enough Yet

  19. 3,344 Unaccompanied Minors Arrived in Ceuta in 2018, Most Were Moroccans (moroccoworldnews, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/01/264024/3344-unaccompanied-minors-arrived-in-ceuta-in-2018-most-were-moroccans/

    “In 2018, almost all of theof 3,344 unaccompanied minors from the MENA region who entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in northern Morocco were Moroccan.

    Among the minors who arrived in Ceuta last year, 3,302 were boys and 42 were girls who came from the neighboring cities of Tetouan and Tangier, reported Spanish media outlet Europa Press on Sunday, based on official data from Spanish authorities.

    Last week alone, 295 Moroccan teenage migrants arrived in Ceuta and were taken to a local juvenile detention center.

    The number of unaccompanied and underage migrants from MENA crossing to the Ceuta border increased by over 400 percent compared to in 2017 when 802 arrived in the autonomous city.

    A Spanish government official told Europa Press that overcrowdedness in the juvenile center prevents professionals from properly caring for the minors and attending to all their needs.

    The mayor-president of Ceuta, Juan Vivas, told the same source that the influx of migrants is not the fault of Spanish Civil Guards or the national police not doing their job but rather the lack of “technological equipment” and border infrastructure to facilitate the fight against irregular migration.

    Vivas suggested that both Morocco and Spain should reach a mutual agreement to devise a family reunification plan for the teenage migrants.

    In December, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced his country’s interest in strengthening and modernizing the Ceuta and Melilla borders with Morocco to combat irregular migration, according to Spanish news agency EFE.

    The Spanish government reportedly approved a €40 million budget for the communities and the Spanish enclaves. Part of the budget will be allocated to care for the unaccompanied foreign minors received in 2018.”

  20. Moroccan Hijabi Demands Justice After Islamophobic Attack in Belgium (moroccoworldnews, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/01/263978/moroccan-hijabi-islamophobic-attack-belgium/

    “CCTV has captured footage of a malicious attack on Moroccan Muslims on December 30, 2018, near Brussels.

    The footage shows a middle-aged woman and her daughter, carrying shopping bags and walking down the street when a hooded passerby punches the mother’s face and then flees.

    The woman could be seen screaming and falling to the ground in panic until a passing car stopped. The driver checked on the woman, who seemingly started to describe the attack.

    The Belgian news outlet La Capitale reported that the victim is a 47-year-old woman named Fatiha, of Moroccan origin. Fatiha is now calling on Belgian authorities to find her attacker and bring him to justice.

    Fatiha also told La Capitale that her attacker was carrying a taser. Police have yet to find the suspect.

    The video of the attack has gone viral, sparking anger and condemnation on social media, with commenters deeming the attack “a shameful act of Islamophobia.”

    Brussels has become notorious for Islamophobic attacks, especially against Muslim women who wear headscarves.

    n 2017, 76 percent of Islamophobic attacks in Belgium targeted women, according to data gathered from victims by a local anti-Islamophobia association.

    One of the most disturbing manifestations of Islamophobia in Europe emerged in March 2018, when hundreds of letters were anonymously sent to citizens in the UK, calling for “Punish a Muslim Day.”

    The identical letters encouraged people to carry out violence against Muslims.

    After a long investigation, police determined the letters came from David Parnham, a UK national, whom police arrested in June. Police found Parnham’s fingerprints on the letters.

    The letters were part of a larger campaign carried out over two years in which Parham also orchestrated a bomb threat and mailed white powder, treated as a poisonous substance, to public figures, such as Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Theresa May.”

    • I watched the clip, saw zero evidence of “islamophobia”. Article didn’t offer any either, it seems the attacker never said a word.
      What I see is a guy wearing a hoodie, with a can of beer in his right hand. Native Belgians are unlikely to wear such clothes, my first guess would be central european, maybe Polish. Could be another north-african for all we know. Could be a junkie, psychiatric patient, gypsy. No
      Such random attacks are not unheard of, I personally know of a few cases. And Brussels is not the safest city in Europe, and Anderlecht has bad areas, like Kuregem.
      I lolled at “Brussels has become notorious for Islamophobic attacks”. And the headscarf-pulling myth, does anybody actually still believe that? I have yet to see CCTV of such an act, it wouldn’t even occur to a kaffir to do that in the first place – it’s a paranoid projection of the Ummah. The few instances which were reported to police were proven hoaxes. It’s all outrage trolling.
      What all of this has to do with “David Parnham, a UK national” is anybody’s guess.

  21. Gripped by fear of terrorist attacks, K-P’s peace committee members fight on (tribune, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/1893510/1-gripped-fear-terrorist-attacks-k-ps-peace-committee-members-fight/

    “Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) “Aman Lashkar” or Peace Committee, formed to counter terrorists, now finds itself with a target on its own back from the very same elements.

    On January 19, target killers gunned down committee’s head Malik Afridi while he was traveling from Peshawar to Bara.

    Earlier, he had been seriously injured in a 2014 suicide attack.

    The Adezai village of the Mattani area has been gripped with violence since 2008, after which the peace committee was formed by locals of the area.

    Over 100 of its volunteers have been killed in suicide blasts and target killings to date.

    “Our homes were attacked four times in 2016,” Amanullah Khan, a member of the peace committee told The Express Tribune.

    Amanullah says 72 policemen were assigned for security in the area by K-P Police in December 2008. The security, however, he added, was withdrawn in 2017.

    He says they are fighting terrorists without help from any law enforcement agency since then.

    “We gave several applications to K-P IG Waqar Khan to bring back the police contingent to the area, but to no avail,” laments Amanullah.

    Arsalan Khan, another member of the committee, says 15 of his family members have been targeted by terrorists.

    On March 9, 2011, a suicide blast ripped through a funeral procession in Adezai’s Matni area, leaving 36 dead.

    Arsalan says his father Wakif Khan became the leader of the Adezai’s Aman Lashkar following the death of the its chief Dilawar Khan in 2013.

    Assailants, he says, also gunned down his uncle Faiz Muhammad in Matni Bazaar.

    “When it was our age to study we were carrying weapons to fend off terrorist attacks,” he says.

    Arsalan says they couldn’t even leave their homes out of fear that they would be targeted by terrorists.

    KP IG says police had been withdrawn from the Aman Committee after conditions improved.

    The security, he says, is however provided when needed as per the policy.”

  22. ‘PKK presence in Iraq’s Sinjar threatens Turkmens’ (aa, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/-pkk-presence-in-iraqs-sinjar-threatens-turkmens/1370353

    “The PKK terror group’s presence in Iraq’s Sinjar threatens the security of Turkmens in the area, a Turkmen official told Anadolu Agency on Monday.

    Head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front Arshad Salihi said PKK has started to increase its sphere of influence in Sinjar.

    Salihi said PKK wants to capture 20 Turkmen villages near Sinjar and in that case, Tal Afar’s security, which is completely inhabited by Turkmens, will be threatened.

    “PKK wants to increase its geography and plans to go until the Syrian border,” Salihi said.

    The Turkmen leader said that PKK is behind the latest terror attacks in Tal Afar.

    Salihi said by reaching Syrian border, PKK wants to unite with YPG/PKK forces, which occupy the Syrian part of the border.

    He said the Yazidis also suffer because of the PKK.

    “The Yazidis, which suffered heavily under Daesh terror group, are now in trouble because of the PKK,” he said. “PKK is recruiting Yazidi youth into its ranks by deceiving them, especially the young women.”

    In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU — has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children. The YPG is its Syrian branch.”

    • “Turkmen”.
      Armenian Genocide shock troops.

      No more Armenians? Run out of Assyrian Christians?
      Go for the Kurds. Ethnicity or language differences kick in once religions have been cleansed.

  23. Turkey warns against creation of 2nd Afghanistan (aa, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/turkey-warns-against-creation-of-2nd-afghanistan/1370969

    “Policies that will lead to a second Afghanistan in the Mediterranean should be avoided, said the spokesman of Turkey’s ruling party on Syrian crisis on Monday.

    Speaking at a news conference at the Justice and Development (AK) Party headquarters in Ankara, Omer Celik said some countries used terrorist groups as proxies in Afghanistan and now it has become impossible to control them.

    He stated that the same thing could happen in Syria if the support to terrorist groups is not cut off.

    Celik said the victims of these “irrational policies which were proven to be wrong many times” hurt Afghans, Syrians, and those who want democracy and human rights.

    “Policies which will form a second Afghanistan in the Mediterranean should be avoided as the world is paying such a high price to maintain stability in Afghanistan,” Celik said.

    Turkey strongly condemns the U.S. of backing YPG/PKK terror group in Syria by pitting it against Daesh.

    “However,” Celik said, “if you send truckloads of weapons to YPG/PYD/PKK terror group, if you embrace them like a legitimate power on the pretext of fight against Daesh and moreover if you say about this terror group that ‘It is our ally which we work within the field’ to Turkish Republic, your NATO ally… then you create another Afghanistan in the world with your own hand and money.”

    The situation east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria is a prime threat for Turkey and Ankara will eliminate it, he said, citing the presence of YPG/PKK terrorists in the region.

    “Those talking about Syria’s territorial integrity and its people’s sovereignty should take a principled stance against terror groups,” Celik said warning that these ties with terror groups were delaying a political solution in Syria.

    About the U.S. decision to pull out from Syria, Celik said: “Turkey has the capacity to fight Daesh and to take over security in [Syria’s] Manbij. Thus, it has the capacity to form a safe zone [in Syria].”

    Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly announced plans to withdraw American forces from the war-weary country.

    Trump made the decision during a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which the two leaders agreed on the need for more effective coordination vis-à-vis Syria.

    In a phone call last week, Erdogan and Trump discussed the idea of establishing a terror-free safe zone in northern Syria near the Turkish border.”

  24. Closing ports saves lives says Salvini (ansa, jan 21, 2019)
    http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/01/21/closing-ports-saves-lives-says-salvini_e1ef8902-c780-4f25-935a-2d5ba6f8601c.html

    “Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has said the government aims to continue its policy of refusing access to Italian ports to vessels carrying migrants rescued in the Mediterranean. “It is necessary to put the human traffickers in jail,” League leader Salvini in a live broadcast on Facebook on Sunday.

    “They must know that the Italian ports are closed – it is the only way to save human lives.
    “Last year fewer migrants arrived and there were fewer deaths”.

    The closed-ports policy has come under renewed criticism after 117 people were reported missing following the sinking of a dinghy carrying migrants near Libya last week.”

  25. Italy envoy called to French foreign ministry over Di Maio (ansa, jan 21, 2019)
    http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/01/21/italy-envoy-called-to-french-foreign-ministry-over-di-maio_342732f8-5cb6-44af-bc25-78e41521a036.html

    “Italian Ambassador to France Teresa Castaldo was summoned to the French foreign ministry Monday over remarks Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio made over alleged French policy in Africa, diplomatic sources told ANSA.

    French diplomatic sources told ANSA Monday that Di Maio’s remarks were “hostile and without cause given the partnership between France and Italy in the European Union.” They said “they must be read in a context of Italian internal politics”.

    Castaldo was summoned by the cabinet chief of French European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau over remarks Di Maio made at a rally Sunday, French media said.

    The head of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), who is also labour and economy minister, said “if today people are leaving Africa is it because some European countries, with France in the lead, have never stopped colonizing tens of African States”.

    Di Maio said French President Emmanuel Macron “first lectures us (on migrants), then continues to finance public debt with the money with which he exploits Africa”.

    The deputy premier went on to suggest Brussels should impose sanctions on Paris and take the question to the United Nations.

    Speaking on Italian radio Monday morning, Di Maio said Paris was allegedly “impoverishing” Africa with what he called “the franc of the colonies”.

    He said “in order to keep the Africans in Africa, it would be enough for the French to stay home. France should start opening its ports. We’ll take migrants to Marseille until they stop minting the currency for Africa in Lyon”.

    After France summoned the ambassador, Di Maio said that “Africa must be decolonised” and the EU, too, “must deal with this issue”.

    He said “let’s look the causes in the face, too, not only the effects of emigration. There are authoritative economists all over the world who talk about it, we have only lit the spotlight on a truth”.

    He said “I don’t think that it is a diplomatic incident, I think it is all true”. He said “France is one of those countries that by printing money for 14 States prevents development and contributes to the departure of refugees. “If Europe at this time wants to have a bit of courage, it must have the force to face the issue of decolonisation. We have lit a spotlight on the truth”.

    European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said some statements made “for national use” sound like a provocation.

    “Some statements made for national use resemble provocations because the content is empty or irresponsible, so it is preferable to avoid giving in to provocation”, said Moscovici.

    “The quality of relations between France and Italy is important”, Moscovici also said, adding that he wished “this conflictual phase that I find negative and senseless” will end soon.

    “Provocations usually disqualify those who make them”, he concluded.”

  26. Migrants need better access to health care in Europe: WHO (thelocal, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://www.thelocal.dk/20190121/migrants-need-better-access-to-health-care-in-europe-who

    “Europe must guarantee migrants better access to medical care, the World Health Organization urged Monday, and highlighted massive disparities in access to health services in different countries.

    “To improve their (migrants’) health, it is important to fill the gap for access to basic care,” Santino Severoni, the head of the WHO’s Migration and Health Programme, told AFP. The organization’s regional office for Europe is located in Copenhagen.

    In the WHO’s Europe region, which covers 53 countries, migrants represent almost 10 percent of the population, or 90.7 million of 920 million inhabitants.

    But the proportion varies widely from country to country — migrants account for 45 percent of Malta’s population compared to just two percent in Albania, for example.

    Depending on the country and migrants’ status, they may enjoy full access to the health care system or none at all.

    In 15 European countries, including Austria, Turkey, and Britain, asylum seekers have access to the same care as the local population, whereas in Germany and Hungary they are only entitled to emergency care.

    “People, and some governments, have been reacting emotionally when it comes to newcomers because of the lack of information and data,” Severoni said.

    Contrary to what some may believe, “there is a very low risk… of transmitting communicable disease from the refugee and migrant population to the host population,” he said.

    The bigger health risk is for migrants themselves, with a large share of HIV-positive migrants contracting the disease only after arriving in Europe, said Severoni.

    New arrivals are also more likely to develop chronic illnesses as a result of their new lifestyle — less physical activity and too much fast food — and the poverty conditions some encounter.

    Cancer tends to be diagnosed at a later stage among migrants, which can make treatment more difficult, the report said, while migrant children are at greater risk of being overweight and having psychological problems than peers in their host country.

    Refugees and migrants are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety, added the WHO.

    This was due to a combination of risk factors, including the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among refugees who endured treacherous journeys, as well as lengthy asylum application processes and difficult socio-economic conditions, such as unemployment, poverty and isolation.

    Studies estimate that 40 percent of refugees in the WHO’s European region who suffer from PTSD also suffer from depression, the report said.

    The stigma of mental illness in these groups tends to influence their decision to seek help, which may lead to higher levels of hospitalisation.”

  27. Germany looks into ultrasound age tests on unaccompanied minor refugees (DW, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://www.dw.com/en/germany-looks-into-ultrasound-age-tests-on-unaccompanied-minor-refugees/a-47161360

    “Calls for mandatory X-ray age tests on unaccompanied minor refugees were rejected last year by German doctors. As an alternative, the Health Ministry is now launching a €1-million study into ultrasound testing.

    Age can have a huge implication on the future prospects of an asylum-seeker in Germany. In principle, unaccompanied minors — under the age of 18 and without family — cannot be deported. Upon their arrival in Germany, unaccompanied minors also have the right to immediately go to school or start a training course.

    Debate in Germany over mandatory age checks on unaccompanied minor refugees has drifted on and off the agenda for months. In practice, tests to determine a refugee’s age currently differ from state to state. But discussions were brought to a halt last year when the German Medical Association (BÄK) rejected a proposal by the Health Ministry to introduce mandatory age checks using X-ray on ethical and medical grounds, calling it “an interference in their human welfare.”

    Now, in the search for an alternative, German Health Minister Jens Spahn is pumping €1 million euros ($1.1 million) into a study to find out if ultrasound can be used to determine people’s age. A small, portable device, not much larger than a shoebox, has been developed by the Fraunhofer Institute.

    “I can understand why doctors are reluctant to use X-rays when determining the age of young migrants,” said Spahn. “But we need to determine age. Because this has a bearing on the asylum process and — when there is doubt — on legal proceedings. That’s why we have to find a way to make this as minimally invasive as possible.”

    Results of the €1-million study are due by the end of 2020.

    Reliability yet to be tested

    Critics of the X-ray age tests warn that radiation technology could harm the body, and say the precision of results has also been scrutinized.

    Certain carpal bones in the wrist are initially composed of cartilage at young age and ossify only gradually. The status of this development process, which is correlated with age, can be determined using X-rays, but the process doesn’t happen at the same rate for everyone. As a result, an X-ray test of a hand bone can have a margin of error of up to three years; a person who claims to be 18 years old could be anywhere from 15 to 21 years old.

    BÄK President Frank Ulrich Montgomery has welcomed the possibility of using ultrasound instead of X-rays, but told DW the reliability of the results has yet to be tested.

    ‘Same category as criminals’

    Even if ultrasound technology is proven to be more accurate than X-ray tests, Bernd Mesovic, head of legal policy at the refugee association Pro Asyl, still disagrees with the political debate in Berlin.

    “The health minister is putting unaccompanied minors in the same category as criminals,” said Mesovic, adding that mandatory age determination using X-rays is only allowed in the context of criminal proceedings or on medical grounds.

    “If a few 19 or 20-year-olds who fled their homes are given the chance to be educated and integrate into Germany because they said they were a couple of years younger, this is better than the alternative which could result in their prospects being diminished,” he said.

    Syrian refugee Juody Yuon was one of the 70,000 unaccompanied minors who came to Germany between 2015 and 2017. On arriving in Passau, on the Austrian border with Germany, Yuon — who was 16 at the time — underwent an X-ray of his arm so that authorities could determine his age.

    “I don’t have a problem with the age tests,” he told DW. “If someone has lied about their age, you don’t know what else they might have lied about,” he said, adding that each case should be considered individually.

    Yuon, too, said the biggest problem lies in the precision of the current X-ray method. In his case, however, the test appeared to be carried out to confirm the age on his ID card.

    Murder case sparks age test debate

    The entire debate over mandatory age checks on unaccompanied minor refugees was first ignited by the murder of a 15-year-old girl in Kandel in December 2017. The suspect, Abdul D., a young man from Afghanistan, was sentenced to eight years and six months for the murder of his ex-girlfriend.

    On arriving unaccompanied in Germany in April 2016, Abdul D. told authorities that he was 15. After the murder, however, doubts were cast and a report concluded that at the time of the crime he was at least 17 years and 6 months old, but probably already 20 years old. The district court ultimately decided to try him as a minor.

    In other EU countries, mandatory checks already exist. In Belgium, for example, every asylum-seeker is checked if the age cannot be proven by documents. An X-ray is taken of the teeth, the hands and the collarbone. In Italy, wrists are X-rayed, and in Sweden, knees and teeth are scanned using magnetic resonance imaging, though these tests are voluntary and are considered legal proof.”

  28. Bavaria shows off new border police (Dw, Jan 21, 2019)
    https://www.dw.com/en/bavaria-shows-off-new-border-police/a-47167174

    “The Bavarian state government has claimed that its new special border police forces makes Germany safer. The stats show successes in catching drug dealers – but that it has made little difference for illegal immigration.

    The Bavarian government held a press conference on Monday about the first six months of extra border security at the Austrian and Czech borders — the issue that almost fractured Angela Merkel’s coalition last summer.

    Bavaria’s interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, declared the state’s new special border unit a success, insisting that “the Bavarian border police makes Bavaria and Germany safer.” Joined by the director of the state’s border police department, Alois Mannichl, in Munich, Herrmann said 37 traffickers had been caught, while 696 illegal border crossings had been identified.

    He also said that the unit would be doubled in size by 2023 and get upgraded equipment. The unit already uses portable fingerprint scanners and drones with thermal-imaging cameras to track down people crossing the border.

    “The most modern equipment contributes to the success of our border police,” Herrmann said in a statement. “We made approximately €14 million ($16 million) available for the creation and development of the Bavarian border police in 2018.”

    But while the vast majority of successes have related to drug smuggling and traffic violations, Herrmann made less of a fanfare about the number of refugees picked up at the border: Authorities counted nine by the end of November.

    Bavaria sent the new unit, around 500 officers, to police the Austrian and Czech borders last July after a long discussion with federal colleagues about what exactly it could and couldn’t do. The federal police is officially in charge of guarding Germany’s borders, airports, and major railway stations, while European Union principles allow free movement across interior borders.

    But Bavaria’s conservative government, keen to demonstrate its toughness in last year’s election campaign against a threatening far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), insisted on carrying out extra border checks…”