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.
Vegas Shooting: FBI Says Cased Closed With No Motive After 16 Months
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After well over a year of investigating the tragic Las Vegas mass shooting in 2017 that left 58 people dead and countless more injured, the FBI concluded its investigation without a motive for shooter Stephen Paddock.
The FBI’s 16 month investigation of the Mandalay Bay shooting, in which Paddock opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle on a crowd of country music fans, concluded with no clear motive for Paddock’s killing spree. It noted that Paddock may have wanted to live up to his father’s name, become famous in death, or may have simply become “bored” with life, but identified no specific motive.
According to the FBI’s report:
https://bigleaguepolitics.com/vegas-shooting-fbi-says-cased-closed-with-no-motive-after-16-months/
Saudi-UAE Aid Puts Pakistan-Iran Relations on the Spot
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,076, January 29, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Pakistan is stepping through a minefield as it concludes agreements on investment, balance of payments support, and delayed payment oil deliveries with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates worth $13 billion. These deals are likely to spawn growing distrust in its relations with neighboring Iran.
Next month, Pakistani PM Imran Khan expects to sign a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia on a framework for $10 billion in Saudi investment, primarily in oil refining, petrochemicals, renewable energy, and mining. The signing is to take place during a planned visit to Pakistan by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
The memorandum follows the kingdom’s rewarding of Khan for his attendance at a foreign investors summit in Riyadh in October that was shunned by numerous CEOs of Western financial institutions, tech entrepreneurs, and media moguls, as well as senior Western government officials, because of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on the premises of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/saudi-uae-aid-puts-pakistan-iran-relations-on-the-spot/
Worldwide thteat assessment:
https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/congressional-testimonies/item/1947-statement-for-the-record-worldwide-threat-assessment-of-the-us-intelligence-community
https://youtu.be/tZPLAfaVbpo
Security report live.
NYT – Use of Force in France’s ‘Yellow Vest’ Protests Fuels Anger
PARIS — As he joined a “Yellow Vest” protest in Bordeaux, in southwestern France, Jean-Marc Michaud felt elated. His wife worked nearby and they had not seen each other in a month, so the march was a perfect opportunity to reunite.
Instead, his life took a serious turn for the worse at the protest in early December, when a rubber projectile fired by the police destroyed his right eye. Mr. Michaud, 41, who lives on France’s western coast, now joins demonstrations to protest both economic distress and police violence.
“The government claims that we are looters and violent protesters, but so many of us are just peaceful civilians,” said Mr. Michaud, a horticulturist who now wears an eye patch and says his arms were raised when he was shot. “The government isn’t listening to us, and now they are trying to silence us with repression in the streets.”
Anger at officers’ use of force has helped fuel the nationwide Yellow Vest movement that began as protests against a fuel tax increase and that has grown into a broader revolt against President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
There has been particular outrage at serious injuries caused by rubber balls, about the size of golf balls, that the police fire at demonstrators with specially made guns — wounds that have made headlines for weeks. Among Western European countries, experts say, only France and Northern Ireland use such tools.
The latest controversy erupted on Saturday, when Jérôme Rodrigues, a well-known figure in the movement, suffered an eye injury as he was streaming live video on Facebook of a protest in Paris. Before he was hit, he warned that hard-left agitators were fomenting violence, and advised demonstrators to disperse.
Mr. Rodrigues and his lawyer said he had been hit by both a rubber ball and a “dispersal grenade,” which explodes and sprays smaller rubber pellets.
“He will be handicapped for life,” the lawyer, Philippe de Veulle, told BFMTV. “It is a tragedy for him and his family.”
Since violent clashes began in November, 11 people have died, and 1,900 protesters and 1,200 law enforcement officers have been injured, according to the Interior Ministry. Independent counts by the newspaper Libération and the journalist David Dufresne say that 109 protesters have been seriously injured, including 18 who have become blind in one eye and four who have lost a hand.
“We weren’t afraid of the police, but this has changed,” said Fiorina Lignier, a 20-year-old philosophy student who lost an eye at a Yellow Vest protest in Paris on Dec. 8. “They are more offensive, more repressive, blind in their actions.”
A rubber ball “rips the skin apart and can fracture the bones, as if someone had been violently hit with a truncheon,” said Chloé Bertolus, a facial surgeon at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, who said she and her team had operated on at least 16 wounded protesters.
Christian Mouhanna, a sociologist at the National Center for Scientific Research, said the use of force had profound implications for opinions of the police, whose harshest tactics were applied in minority communities and to people on the political fringes.
“Through the Yellow Vests protests, many working or middle-class French, usually calm and mostly white, have discovered that in France, police violence can also target them,” he said. “The police have become the symbol of the government’s refusal to negotiate.”
The police have faced extraordinary challenges in containing the Yellow Vests. Demonstrations often are not announced in advance, and they attract people who loot, set fires and attack security officers while staying close to peaceful protesters, making it hard to pick them out.
But Mr. Macron’s political opponents and rights groups have denounced the police response, especially the rubber projectile guns, as disproportionate. The government has disregarded a call by the country’s ombudsman to stop using them.
The president has repeatedly praised the police, and in his New Year’s address, he condemned protesters as a “hateful mob,” not mentioning those injured.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner disputed at first the notion that the police had used violence, and he later argued that without projectile launchers, security forces would have to use lethal weapons.
“Let’s be clear, we’ve never seen such a level of violence,” said Stanislas Gaudon, a representative for the union Alliance Police Nationale. “Some protesters have wanted to hurt police forces in a very worrying way.”
Those forces, already stretched by terrorist threats, are facing exhaustion, he added. Of the 60 riot police companies nationwide, 50 have been mobilized every weekend for more than two months.
On Saturday, body cameras were introduced for police officers carrying rubber ball launchers, but Mr. Rodrigues’s injury reinforced the view that the government had tried to quell the anger with violence.
“France has been leaping toward more and more repression, and police forces are also victims of this attitude,” said William Bourdon, a lawyer representing several Yellow Vests protesters.
The internal watchdog investigating police use of force has opened 101 inquiries, including at least 31 for “serious or major” injuries.
Yet Mr. Gaudon of the police union disputed the reports of police violence, arguing that if there were indeed “they are not in the thousands.”
To injured protesters, such arguments sound like insults.
“It’s supposed to be about protection, but it’s all about repression,” said David Deléarde, a stonemason who has lost his job and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after a rubber ball fractured his jawbone at a Yellow Vest demonstration in Paris in early December. “The police shoot and also throw grenades to muzzle the people.”
The police tactics, which are harsher than those of many Western countries, baffle law enforcement experts.
“No matter the level of violence in front of you, you don’t have to go into this hunting, aggressive mode that the French use,” said Stuart Maslen, an honorary professor of law at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and the main author of a forthcoming United Nations report on the use of nonlethal weapons.
Other countries have learned to control protests by winning protesters’ cooperation, but not France, said Otto Adang, a cognitive scientist at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and an academic dean at the country’s Police Academy.
“With the Yellow Vests, the idea that police could control these crowds by just pouring more people and repressing has reached its limits,” he said.
Mr. Michaud, the protester who lost an eye in Bordeaux, said he was unable to work, had migraines, speech and sleep difficulties, and nausea caused by pain medication. And he is angry.
“They’re putting gas on fire with this attitude,” he said of the government. “We’ve been asking to live more decently and we are instead treated like criminals.”
“Soon they’ll say that we’ve become even more radicalized,” he added. “But whose fault is it?”
+ 73 comments
==============================================mikecody
Niagara Falls NY1h ago
A movement that lights cars on fire and smashes windows is complaining about the use of force?
This may be the classic definition of irony.
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Toupoulou
Paris1h ago
Quite paradoxical to read this “Sputnik like” item when the author appears as a prosecutor of the French police finding a lot of arguments in favor of the "kind Yellow vests" against the ferocious French policeman on duty. Perhaps would it be profitable to the author to stay in the very center of the demonstrators when they are throwing stone, bottles, Molotov cocktails initiating fire on the French policemen or boxing and lynching them? Perhaps this author has not seen the videos given all over the world of the guerillas taking place in Paris and elsewhere in France? French policemen are so often [...]
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Gwen Vilen
Minnesota 5h ago
Sorry. My sympathy for the Yellow Vests has run out. The French people get far more social benefits and job security than most other countries in the rich West. Certainly far more than we do in the States - where we get none. Think of how much good could have been done with the billions of dollars wasted on property destruction in the last few months.
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John
Hartford7h ago
Actually the so called yellow vests have repeatedly resorted to violence, smashing shops and public buildings.
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Olivier
France & South Africa10h ago
@Prof Anant Malviya stop inventing support figures for the yellow vests "public support lowering from 80 percent to current 65 percent". Most people can't stand them any more. Everytime there was an invite to dialogue, the yellow vests declined to participate. This is just a failed revolution attempt by the far left and far right.
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Jeff
CaliforniaJan. 28
If one is going to violently protest against the government they can expect the Government to use violence when it is necessary to control the violent protests. The Yellow Vests have purposely destroyed millions of Euros of private and public property protesting a tax increase on gasoline.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/28/world/europe/france-yellow-vests-police.html
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Blessure à l’œil de Jérôme Rodrigues : les propres images de la police inexploitables ?
L’IGPN poursuit son enquête après la blessure à l’œil polémique de l’une des figures du mouvement des gilets jaunes, Jérôme Rodigues, samedi dernier place de la Bastille à Paris. Mais la police des polices pourrait rencontrer des soucis pour analyser les images fournies par la police elle-même.
La police des polices (l’Inspection générale de la police nationale ) poursuit son enquête ouverte par le parquet de Paris avec l’audition de témoins et l’analyse d’images. Celles, notamment, filmées par l’une des figures du mouvement des “gilets jaunes” Jérome Rodrigues lui-même (lors d’un live Facebook), qui a réaffirmé hier encore qu’il avait été frappé par une balle de LBD 40, les nouveaux “flashball”, après qu’une grenade a éclaté tout près de lui.
Un scénario que démentent les policiers qui sont intervenus samedi, maisil se pourrait que les images des caméras fixes ou embarquées par les agents des compagnies de sécurisation et d’intervention de la Préfecture de police de Paris soient compromises.
“Des trous dans la raquette”
Si tous les tandems de policiers armés de LBD 40 étaient bien équipés de caméras place de la Bastille, comme l’a rappelé le secrétaire d’État auprès du ministre de l’intérieur, Laurent Nunez, sur LCI , il y a eu malgré tout, selon nos informations, un certain nombre de problèmes.
Des dysfonctionnements des batteries, par exemple, qui s’éteignent au bout de deux heures. Des objectifs obstrués par la position des bras tenant les armes, car ce n’était pas des caméras fixées sur les casques. Alors “il y a des trous dans la raquette” confiait hier un proche du dossier, sans vouloir confirmer un souci sur la séquence juste avant l’explosion de la grenade et d’un éventuel tir quasi simultané de flashball nouvelle génération vers Jérome Rodrigues.
Il y avait également la possibilité de s’appuyer sur deux caméras fixes placées en hauteur, place de la Bastille mais l’une d’elle filmait une autre charge de policier et la deuxième n’aurait pas eu le “bon angle de vision”.
La seule certitude, c’est que la victime s’est effondrée 1 seconde et 3 dixièmes après l’explosion à ses pieds de la grenade de désencerclement, avec ses éclats en caoutchouc très durs qui peuvent parfois partir en hauteur. Ce qui est donc à ce stade toujours l’hypothèse la plus probable de sa blessure à l’œil.
L’absence d’images policières pertinentes pourrait rendre plus difficile le travail de l’IGPN en charge de cette enquête dans les jours qui viennent, alors qu’elles auraient pu légitimer l’usage de la grenade, qui repose pour l’instant sur la réaction à un projectile (morceau de pavé ou gros caillou ) qui aurait frappé le casque de l’un des agents.
https://www.franceinter.fr/societe/blessure-a-l-oeil-de-jerome-rodrigues-les-propres-images-de-la-police-inexploitables
2 videos on this twitter account
https://twitter.com/Qofficiel/status/1090335514446741504
The comments say a lot about who’s still reading the NYSlimes.
Man in MAGA hat kicked off Frontier Airlines Flight
Where is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg? Absence of Public Appearances Leads to Growing Rumors
Where is Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg? Her absence of public appearances is leading to rumors that the 85 year old is being kept alive on life support after having cancer surgery.
As the days go by and there are no sightings of far left liberal judge Ginsburg after her having lung surgery for cancer, people are starting to wonder where she is at?
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/01/where-is-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-absence-of-public-appearances-leads-to-growing-rumors/?omhide=true
Ex-CIA Chief John Brennan Explodes After Trump Accuses Him of Lying to Congress
Former CIA Chief-turned-Twitter troll John Brennan attacked President Trump over the weekend AGAIN.
Brennan exploded after President Trump accused the former CIA Chief of lying to Congress.
President Trump reacted to Mueller’s indictment of Roger Stone and asked what will be done about Comey, Brennan, Clapper and others for lying to Congress.
TRUMP TWEETED: If Roger Stone was indicted for lying to Congress, what about the lying done by Comey, Brennan, Clapper, Lisa Page & lover, Baker and soooo many others? What about Hillary to FBI and her 33,000 deleted Emails? What about Lisa & Peter’s deleted texts & Wiener’s laptop? Much more!
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/01/ex-cia-chief-john-brennan-explodes-after-trump-accuses-him-of-lying-to-congress/?omhide=true
Why Europe Leads the World in Arms Trading on the Dark Web
Numbers by the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey show that unregistered weapons outnumbered legal ones in 2017 by 44.5 million to 34.2 million.
In the wake of terrorist attacks across the continent, Europeans are attempting to arm themselves. But gun laws are holding them back.
European Are Stockpiling for a Reason
The fascination with which some American exchange students are met in Europe speaks volumes about the gun culture of Europeans. “You’ve actually used a gun before? Wow! And your family even owns guns? Dang!” There is no gun culture in Europe, and apart from countries currently at war, such as Ukraine, or that just came out of war recently, such as the Balkan states, guns aren’t something you see regularly. With one notable exception.
The state of emergency in some countries, triggered after the multiple terrorist attacks hitting Europe, has brought soldiers back into the streets. In Paris or Brussels, it’s hard to miss patrolling and heavily-armed soldiers in the streets. Their guns are proving effective. In February 2017, soldiers shot a man who was charging them in the Louvre museum. In October 2017, police shot dead an assailant in Marseille, France, after he had stabbed two women in the main railway station. Just last month, both soldiers and special police units shot at and killed the man who committed a terrorist attack in Strasbourg, France. The citizens protected by these soldiers are drawing the logical conclusion: guns work against terrorism.
https://fee.org/articles/why-europe-leads-the-world-in-arms-trading-on-the-dark-web/?utm_source=zapier&utm
I don’t care what the big government types say, in the end you are the last line of defense for yourself and your family. Any person, group or Government that interferes with your natural right to defend yourself and your family is not acting in your best interest, it is acting to make you a serf to the Government.
An armed citizens is a free citizen, an unarmed citizen is a slave waiting for the chains to be slapped on.
“Live Free or Die”
“Better To Doe On Your Feet then Live On Your Knees.”
“Better To Die On Your Feet then Live On Your Knees.”
Matteo Salvini – Jan 25 2019
Matteo Salvini learns he is to be charged w/ kidnapping for blocking migrant ship, English subtitles
( 12 min 34 )
To clarify what is going on here and what is going to happen next-
(1) The court in Catania (which is in Sicily) wants to try Salvini but they first need the senate’s permission. This letter is basically a request to the senate to strip Salvini of his parliamentary immunity. The Catania court is responsible for this because the act in question took place in Catania. He is being charged with “sequestro di persone” which can be translated as both false imprisonment and kidnapping. The issue is he deprived the people on board the Diciotti of their personal liberty (ability to move freely / habeas corpus). In a part of the letter that Salvini did not read out here, it also mentions that Salvini’s obligation to save lives supersedes his obligation to enforce immigration policy, this relates to the “abuse of his powers”.
(2) The senate’s Committee for Elections and Parliamentary Immunity will meet tomorrow (Wednesday 30th January) and draw up a report which they will present to the entire senate.
(3) After hearing this report, the senate will vote on whether Salvini should stand trial. The date for this vote has not been fixed but must be within 60 days of the senate receiving the letter (24th January). Salvini will probably lose this vote because it looks like Five Star (who have always criticised politicians for hiding behind parliamentary immunity) will vote against him. Salvini says this would not bring down the government btw. It is also possible that Salvini may voluntarily relinquish his immunity.
(4) Salvini would then face trial in the court in Catania. I have no idea when this would be, how long it would take or how likely he is to be found guilty. If anyone is familiar with the Italian legal system and wants to speculate, please feel free comment below!
I left out about 4 minutes at the 11:00 mark. He mostly talks about other topics during those 4 minutes.
This video was posted on Salvini’s facebook page last Thursday (24th January).
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I am always amazed by the foresight and genius of the Founding Fathers in constructing the great U.S.A.. Every consideration is for freedom. The role of the Sheriff is critical.
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/the-real-resistance-sheriffs-in-washington-state-refuse-to-enforce-unconstitutional-gun-laws/
The Sheriffs are the most powerful law enforcement officials in their counties, everyone including the FBI have to ask their permission to conduct investigations in their counties. This is why the states that have been controlled by the Dems for a real long time end up taking all investigative and arrest powers from the Sheriffs.
Back during the Obama era there were a lot of Southern and Western Sheriffs that banded together to resist Obama’s unconstitutional actions.
Most people ignore or are never taught that the Founding Fathers were all well educated (maybe self educated but educated. They were very familiar with history and tried to set up a Governmental System that would prevent wanna be Dictators from taking over the US. Right now we are discovering if the protections they wrote into the Constitution are going to be enough to save us or if a civil war will be necessary.
Thank-you, says Potus-2.
(He’s reading over my shoulder, as usual.)
Maine’s Largest City Overwhelmed by Migrant Onslaught
Not mentioned in the article is the increase in violent crimes: Portland, Maine shows a crime rate that is 129% higher than the Maine average. Also, the number of rapes reported to law enforcement in Maine climbed to its highest point in recent memory, according to statistics released Thursday. There were 448 reported rapes in Maine in 2017, up from 383 the year before – a 17 percent increase – according to data that every law enforcement agency in the state collects and reports to the FBI. The figure is the state’s highest single-year total for rapes since at least 1994, the earliest year for which data is readily available.
https://gellerreport.com/2019/01/maine-asylum-seekers.html/
A city I know and love, destroyed.
Unspoiled New England. 0 ruined one of our most beautiful states. Seeding tiny towns with wretches from Somalia and whatnot.
This song is about boycotting a country by labeling its export products.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=Xp8egIIXOwM
(removed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhC-_3yYlHI)
You can label all her goods
And in fact I think you should
Just make sure you get it right
“From the one democracy
In a sea of tyranny
Shining like a beacon in the night”.
UPDATE: CNN Hid Images and Video of Roger Stone’s 72-Year-Old Wife Being Dragged Out of Home Barefoot and In Nightgown
On Friday the Mueller Special Counsel sent 20-29 armed FBI operatives in six vehicles and a CNN camera crew to film the arrest of Trump associate Roger Stone at his home in a predawn raid.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/01/update-cnn-hid-images-and-video-of-roger-stones-72-year-old-wife-being-dragged-out-of-home-barefoot-and-in-nightgown/?omhide=true
Clinton’s Classified Emails: When Is a Crime a Crime?
https://religionnews.com/2018/11/26/after-arrest-of-protected-immigrant-sanctuary-church-members-cry-out-for-justice/
https://www.sanctuarycaravan.org/
[Just a little shot of cognitive dissonance to end the day with.]
Why they hate PewDiePie
Democrats Conspiring To REMOVE Ocasio-Cortez
Will MA Require Doctors to Ask About Guns?
Michelle Malkin – Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild
CANADA FIRST: LITERAL SUICIDE OF A NATION
She starts talking about 2.30 minutes in.
“Roger Stone Gives Exclusive Statement After Arraignment”
Resistance News – Published on January 29, 2019
CBC – Family immigrantion sponsorship application hit the limit in 11 minutes
The family immigration sponsorship application that had 27,000 spots for people to looking to bring over a parent or grandparent to immigrate to Canada were snapped up In less than eleven minutes on a first-come, first-served online system.
the rebel – Maxime Bernier lays out the case for Confederation at Alberta rally
Keean Bexte of The Rebel.media reports from the Equality of Independence Rally in Calgary Alberta where People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier and Freedom Conservative Party leader Derek Fildebrandt lay out their visions for pipelines, equalization, immigration, and Canada’s confederation.
Are Democrats solely out to destroy President Trump?
Are US intelligence chiefs at odds with Trump?
CNN – ‘Sex coach’ who claimed to have Trump-Russia info speaks out
Boko Haram kills 4 in Bosso near Niger-Nigeria border (thedefensepost, Jan 30, 2019)
https://thedefensepost.com/2019/01/29/niger-boko-haram-kills-4-bosso-nigeria-border/
Somalia: 2 killed in car bomb explosion near petroleum ministry in Mogadishu (thedefensepost, Jan 30, 2019)
https://thedefensepost.com/2019/01/29/somalia-petroleum-ministry-mogadishu-car-bomb/
Two Mali soldiers killed in complex attack in Tarkint, Gao region (thedefensepost, Jan 30, 2019)
https://thedefensepost.com/2019/01/29/mali-soldiers-killed-tarkint-complex-attack-gao/
‘Personal Agendas’ Exacerbate Tension Between Lebanese, Displaced Syrians (aawsat, Jan 30, 2019)
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1567111/personal-agendas-exacerbate-tension-between-lebanese-displaced-syrians
“Videos leaked on social media over the last week showed masked men beating Syrian refugees and destroying their properties in the town of Arsal in northern Bekaa. These images, along with calls through social networking sites to protest against the Syrian presence, have sparked controversy among the Lebanese public opinion.
In Arsal, more than 60,000 Syrian refugees are concentrated in 126 camps under harsh living conditions exacerbated by winter, snow, and storms.
“Natural storms that destroyed our camps are more merciful than the security and intelligence storms that are following us. We feel that we are still at the mercy of the Syrian regime. No one feels safe anymore,” a Syrian refugee told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“Sometimes they accuse us of terrorism, and other times of competing with the Lebanese and stealing their livelihoods; as if our problems were not enough. We do not know our fate and the fate of our children. The Syrian camps in Arsal are witnessing continuous incursions by Hezbollah and the army it controls to carry out arrests of dozens of young people. Years ago, some of us were killed under torture. No one moved to do us justice,” he stated.
A resident from Al-Hujairi family agrees that his town has become open to known and unknown intelligence projects.
“It is as if a curse had descended on our town. We are paying the war tax in Syria. They planted among us extremists and agents of the regime and (Hezbollah), and distorted our image. We no longer distinguish between a normal refugee and another who is ordered to implement schemes that will hurt the already stricken town,” he said.
Lawyer and activist Nabil al-Halabi told Asharq Al-Awsat: “What happened in Arsal was condemned by the town community. Some have encouraged masked men to infiltrate among residents and Syrian refugees to cause a dispute. The aim is to push them to leave Arsal back into the Syrian regime, which will recruit them and force them to kill more people.”
Halabi noted that recent developments in Arsal were part of plans by the Syrian regime and Hezbollah.
“Practically, Hezbollah occupies the areas from which Arsal’s Syrians left, specifically Al-Qassir and Qalamoun. The party wants to consolidate this occupation,” he explained.
“The relationship is good between Arsal residents and the Syrian displaced, as it is good among the people of the Bekaa in general and those refugees,” he affirmed.
He recounted that when camps flooded during storms earlier this year, the Lebanese rushed to help the displaced and hosted them in their homes.
However, tension between the Syrian displaced and the hosting Lebanese communities is not limited to Arsal.
“I have been working in Lebanon for 15 years,” says Ali, a Syrian farmer working in the vicinity of the town of Riyaq in the Bekaa. “But the circumstances differed from what they were before 2011. I hear many who ask me to return to Syria. I remain silent for fear of losing my job.”
Ali said that house rents have greatly increased while work opportunities and salaries were falling.
“The competition is not between Lebanese and Syrians, but between the Syrians themselves,” he underlined.
Dr. Ziad al-Sayegh, an expert on public policies and refugees, told Asharq Al-Awsat that eight years after the beginning of the refugee crisis, Lebanon is still failing to adopt a unified policy to manage the problem.
“Donor countries of the United Nations bodies dealing with refugees, as well as international and local civil society organizations, are tired, while the CEDRE conference on supporting the re-launch of the economic cycle in the host communities continues to be stalled,” Sayegh remarked.”
Egypt Arrests 54 Muslim Brotherhood Members (aawsat, jan 29, 2019)
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1567596/egypt-arrests-54-muslim-brotherhood-members
“Egypt announced Tuesday the arrest of 54 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group.
The Interior Ministry charged that the suspects were plotting to foment chaos on the anniversary of the 2011 uprising.
“Information has become available … that escaped leaders of the (Muslim Brotherhood) were implementing a plot to create a state of chaos in the country during the months of January and February, to coincide with the anniversary of the 25 January revolution,” it said in a statement.
It identified the Brotherhood figure behind the planned attacks as Yasser al-Omda and said he had set up an organization called Allahuma Thawra.
Members of the group were planning to “cut roads, disrupt traffic, and try to spread chaos and terrify citizens”, it added.
The statement did not identify any of those arrested, but said legal measures were being taken against them in coordination with the state security prosecutor.
The individuals were arrested over the past weeks in different locations. It released images of old desktop computer towers and crude weapons like steel caltrops and spiked metal balls, which belonged to the group.”
Study finds Iran was only winner of Iraq war (memo, Jan 30, 2019)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190130-study-finds-iran-was-only-winner-of-iraq-war/
“A study by the US Army released Tuesday said Iran was the sole winner of the Iraq war, Anadolu reports.
The two-volume, 1,300-page study, which examined the successes and mistakes of the war, was originally commissioned by former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno in 2013 and then continued under current chief Gen. Mark Milley. It was completed in 2016, but its release was delayed.
It covers the 2003 invasion of Iraq through the US withdrawal, the rise of the Daesh terrorist group and the influence of Syria and Iran and contains more than 1,000 declassified documents.
“At the time of this project’s completion in 2018, an emboldened and expansionist Iran appears to be the only victor,” the study concluded.
It also outlined the damage that was caused by the relationship between the US military and political establishment.
“The Iraq War has the potential to be one of the most consequential conflicts in American history. It shattered a long-standing political tradition against preemptive wars,” the study said. “In the conflict’s immediate aftermath, the pendulum of American politics swung to the opposite pole with deep scepticism about foreign interventions.”
The study also noted that the US’s use of coalition warfare was largely unsuccessful and the assumption that democratic elections would bring about stability in Iraq was false.”
Libya: 20,000 migrants held in detention centres (memo, Jan 29, 2019)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190129-libya-20000-migrants-held-in-detention-centres/
“Some 800,000 illegal migrants are currently in Libya, 20,000 of whom are held in government detention centres, according to the head of the Libyan President Council Fayez Al-Sarraj.
Revealing the figures yesterday in a joint press conference with the President of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, in Vienna, Al-Sarraj stressed that migration was as difficult an issue to Libya as it was for Europe.
On the country’s notorious detention camps, where thousands of sub-Saharan Africa migrants often find themselves tortured, raped and held indefinitely, the Libyan president attempted to defend the conditions as a result of the country’s difficult circumstances.
“We are working within the security and economic constraints that we have to respond to [detainees’] needs,” he argued.
However his Austrian counterpart bluntly criticised the detention facilities stating that “the situation in the camps is – to put it mildly – far from satisfactory.”
“My personal opinion is that under these circumstances, refugees shouldn’t be sent there at the moment,” President Van der Bellen concluded, whilst acknowledging that Sarraj’s Tripoli-backed Government of National Accord has no control over large swathes of the country.
“Of course the situation in the camps is not ideal, there are many problems, many challenges,” Al-Sarraj added. “But we must bear in mind the number of illegal migrants in Libya – more than 800,000 in the whole country. Not more than 20,000 of them are in the camps.”
“I wish we had a comprehensive approach to dealing with this problem. We’re talking about development for the countries of origin, about them taking back their citizens,” the Libyan premier concluded.
In an interview conducted earlier on with Austrian APA agency Al-Sarraj had slammed European criticism of Libya’s handling of migration policy as “unacceptable”.
“We call on those countries who are concerned about the migrants in the camps to help directly – by taking them into their own countries or to help with sending them back,” he said.
During his trip, the Libyan president also met Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz whose government has pushed a hard line on immigration since coming to power in December 2017. Kurz expressed his “deep gratitude” to the Libyan coastguard who he said had “saved 20,000 people [at sea] and taken them back” to Libya.
The Libyan coastguard has been patrolling the Mediterranean Sea since striking a deal with Italy in February 2017, which empowered Libya to bring migrants back to the country and incarcerate them in detention facilities.
Libyan authorities have been accused of numerous human rights abuses, with a UN report last month stating that migrants in the county faced “unimaginable horrors”. Based on interviews with some 1,300 people, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, who came to Libya since 2017, the report documented thousands of cases of rape, torture, forced labour and extrajudicial executions.
Migration continues to be a contentious topic in Europe, with governments attempting to enact harsher regulations to prevent refugees and displaced people entering the continent, and putting pressure on North African countries to keep migrants from crossing the border illegally.
The Italian government has already given funds to Libyan authorities to round up refugees and prevent them from travelling to Europe, violating the international legal principle of “non-refoulement”, which protects migrants against returns to countries where they have reason to fear persecution.”
More than 130 African migrants feared drowned off Djibouti: U.N. (reuters, Jan 29, 2019)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-djibouti-migrants/more-than-130-african-migrants-feared-drowned-off-djibouti-u-n-idUSKCN1PN2JB
“More than 130 African migrants were missing off Djibouti after two overloaded boats capsized in rough seas on Tuesday, the United Nations migration agency said.
The vessels were heading to Yemen, a gateway to Gulf countries where many migrants hope to find jobs and better lives, said Joel Millman, spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Alerted by local residents, a team of gendarmes found two survivors and the bodies of five migrants. The boats were believed to have capsized off Godoria, in Djibouti’s Obock region.
IOM staff identified an 18-year-old male survivor believed to have among 130 passengers on the first boat, but he had no information on the second craft, the IOM said.”
Use tolerance to counter extremism: Nahayan (gulfnews, jan 29, 2019)
https://gulfnews.com/uae/use-tolerance-to-counter-extremism-nahayan-1.61744867
“Espousing the principles of tolerance and coexistence among different peoples, cultures and faiths can be a key pillar when it comes to countering extremist thoughts and ideologies, said Shaikh Nahayan Bin Mabarak Al Nahayan, the UAE’s Minister of Tolerance”
Grenade attack on Philippines mosque kills 2 (gulfnews, Jan 30, 2019)
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/philippines/grenade-attack-on-philippines-mosque-kills-2-1.1548812513071
“Manila: A grenade attack on a mosque in the troubled southern Philippines killed two people early Wednesday, authorities said, just days after a deadly Catholic cathedral bombing and a vote backing Muslim self-rule.
“A grenade was lobbed inside a mosque killing two persons and wounding another four,” regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana said of the attack in Zamboanga City.
The victims were sleeping inside the mosque at the time of the attack on the insurgency-plagued island of Mindanao, which is home to the Philippines’ Muslim minority.
The blast comes as the country was on high alert after a cathedral bombing that killed 21 people at Sunday mass on the remote, Muslim-majority island of Jolo.
Daesh claimed responsibility for the cathedral blast.
Philippine authorities initially said it was not a suicide attack, but on Tuesday President Rodrigo Duterte contradicted them saying one of the bombers had blown himself up outside the cathedral.
Besana said it was too early to say whether the mosque blast was retaliation for the cathedral attack, adding police were hunting for those responsible.
The attacks have interrupted the joy spurred by voters’ decisive approval of giving Muslims in the south more control over their own affairs, which sparked hopes of quelling long-time separatist violence.
Rebels and the government in Manila have expressed hope the new so-called Bangsamoro area will finally draw the investment needed to pull the region from the brutal poverty that makes it a hotspot for radical recruitment.
However, hardline factions aligned with Daesh were not part of the decades-long peace process with the nation’s largest separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, that culminated January 21 with the resounding approval of a new Muslim led-region in the south.
Jolo, which is home to hardline Islamist factions, is the only area in the southern Philippines that voted against the Bangsamoro. Its leader came out publicly against the region and even asked the nation’s top court to halt the vote.
The grenade attack on Wednesday drew immediate condemnation from authorities.
“There is no redeeming such blasphemous murder. It is the highest form of cowardice and obscenity to attack people who at prayer,” said regional leader Mujiv Hataman.
“We call on people of all faiths… to come together to pray for peace.””
Video: UAE Fans Throw Shoes at Qatar Team in Asian Cup (moroccoworldnews, jan 29, 2019)
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/01/264692/video-uae-shoes-qatar-team-asian-cup/
“Local fans in Abu Dhabi were not happy with Qatari Almoez Ali’s remarkable goal, the second goal in the semi-finals of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. Qatar beat the UAE 4-0.
A Twitter video that went viral shows security guards urging Emirati fans to stop throwing shoes at Qatari players who gathered in front of the angry fans to celebrate.
Abu Dhabi police called on supporters yesterday to encourage their teams in a “civilized” way inside and outside the stadium and on social media.
Qatar also beat Saudi Arabia in Abu Dhabi 2-0 earlier this month.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have imposed a blockade on Qatar since June 2017.”
Spanish Police Arrest ‘Radicalized’ Moroccan National (moroccoworldnews, Jan 29, 2019)
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/01/264669/spanish-police-moroccan-national/
“The Spanish civil guard arrested a 25-year-old man on Tuesday who had allegedly disseminated terrorist propaganda and become self-indoctrinated on the internet.
A statement from the Spanish police said that that the suspect, arrested in Zaragoza in northern Spain, began the process of radicalization 5 years ago. The statement added that the suspect supported the “virtual caliphate” of ISIS.
The suspect also posted “his membership to violent groups” through his profiles on social networks…”
Three women sent to jail for torturing, strangling 18-year-old maid in Lahore (tribune, Jan 29, 2019)
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1899513/1-three-women-sent-jail-torturing-strangling-18-year-old-maid-lahore/
“Three women, accused of murdering and dumping the body of their 18-year-old housemaid Uzma Bibi, have been sent to jail on judicial remand in Lahore. They will be presented before the court on February 7.
Police arrested bank officer Mahrukh, her daughter Aima and her sister-in-law Rehana on January 21. Reportedly, the three women had brutally tortured and murdered the maid for helping herself to some meat from a curry.
Police said that Mahrukh hit Uzma over the head with a kitchen utensil after which her condition started to deteriorate rapidly. Instead of taking her to a hospital, Aima and Rehana strangled her, and then dumped the body in a sewerage drain.
Mahrukh was taken into police custody where she confessed to committing the crime during interrogation.
On the information provided by the accused, police also arrested Mahrukh’s daughter and sister-in-law…”
Dhaka refuses to accept new Pak envoy (tribune, Jan 29, 2019)
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1899532/1-bangladesh-rejects-pakistani-diplomat-nearly-year-nomination/
“Diplomatic ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh stooped to new lows after the latter on Tuesday refused to accept Saqlain Syedah’s documents as Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the country and sought a new name for the post.
Diplomatic sources told The Express Tribune that the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid did not mention any reason for refusing to accept Syedah’s credentials…”
Faisalabad woman attacked with acid for refusing marriage proposal (tribune, Jan 29, 2019)
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1899544/1-faisalabad-woman-attacked-acid-refusing-marriage-proposal/
Deceived by father’s friend, woman ‘gang-raped’ in Faisalabad (tribune, Jan 29, 2019)
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1899550/1-deceived-fathers-friend-woman-gang-raped-faisalabad/
Nine martyred in gun-and-suicide attack on DIG office in Loralai (tribune, Jan 29, 2019)
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1899305/1-least-five-injured-loralai-terrorist-attack/
“Three suicide bombers stormed into the offices of a senior police officer in a central Balochistan district on Tuesday afternoon, killing nine people – among them three policemen, five civilian employees of police and a candidate of police department – before they were eliminated.
The attackers, armed with suicide vests, grenades and assault rifles, detonated a hand grenade at the entrance to the complex of DIG in Loralai before storming inside where around 800 candidates were taking a recruitment exam for the police force.
“The police on duty responded and shot one of three attackers at the entrance to the complex who blew himself up,” the military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement.
The remaining two suicide bombers opened indiscriminate fire and entered one of the side rooms, according to the ISPR. “FC Balochistan and Army troops were called in, who safely evacuated around 800 candidates,” it added.
After evacuating the candidates, the troops started the operation to take out the two suicide bombers hiding in the room. They were subsequently shot dead and the premises were cleared…”
Most K-P lawmakers have assets worth millions (tribune, Jan 28, 2019)
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1898301/1-k-p-lawmakers-assets-worth-millions/
“A large number of lawmakers in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly are millionaires, while two are billionaires. Moreover, some lawmakers hail from professional disciplines such as doctors, engineers and lawyers.
According to information available with Daily Express, most members of 123-member provincial assembly are educated.
As many as 33 men and four women hold bachelors degrees. Moreover, 19 men and three women hold masters degrees. There are 13 men and three women who hold law degrees, while eight men and a woman just have a Federal Arts (FA) certification.
There are four qualified doctors in the house with two men and two women possessing MBBS degrees. A further two members hold engineering degrees.
There are three Madrassa graduates.
The lowest qualified amongst all the provincial lawmakers are seven men and five women who stated that they only have matriculation certificates.
There are as many as 28 ‘professional’ politicians in the house, with 20 men and eight women listing politics as their profession.
The second largest income source cited was agriculture with 27 members stating that they were associated with the sector. There were as many as 24 businesspeople and traders
Only four members stated that they were professionally involved in legal practice — as opposed to the 16 people who stated that they hold law degrees. Despite the fact that four people stated they hold medical degrees, only one stated that they were practising medicine. Some women MPs declared themselves as housewives by profession.
Out of the 123-member house, 87 of them declared assets of over a million rupees up to a billion rupees.
Those who disclosed assets between a million rupees and Rs10 million include 19 men and five women on general seats. There were two people on reserved seats for minorities (out of the three minority seats in the entire house) who declared their wealth within this bracket.
Similarly, those who have declared assets between Rs10 million to Rs50 million include 37 men and eight women. Those who declared assets between Rs50 million and Rs100 million include 11 men and a woman.
Those who had assets worth between Rs100 million and Rs500 million include a man and a woman. Those declaring assets between Rs500 million to a billion rupees include two MPAs.”
Turkish judge blocks websites of self-proclaimed prophet over complaint by top Islamic body (hurriyetdailynews, Jan 29, 2019)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-judge-blocks-websites-of-self-proclaimed-prophet-over-complaint-by-top-islamic-body-140864
“A Turkish magistrate has blocked access to five websites owned by a self-proclaimed prophet over a complaint filed by the country’s top Islamic body, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported Jan. 29.
?skender Evreneso?lu had declared himself a prophet and “mahdi.”
According to popular Muslim belief, mahdi is a spiritual and temporal leader who will rule before the end of the world and restore religion and justice.
Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) had demanded the authorities to block access to Evreneso?lu’s websites, which were publishing commentaries on Quranic and Islamic matters.
According to Anadolu Agency’s report, the 3rd Criminal Magistrate of Peace in Ankara issued an order to block access to five websites, citing Diyanet’s conclusion that they were “harmful, considering the basic qualities of Islam.”
A presidential decree recently equipped the Diyanet with the authority to review and destroy unlicensed commentaries of Quran if they were deemed against Islam.
Evreneso?lu had claimed that he received a revelation as a prophet of Allah, which he compiled as a book named “the Lights of Prophecy.”
It is the second “mahdi” that drew the ire of Turkish authorities in recent months. Televangelist Adnan Oktar and dozens of his followers were arrested in July.”
Syrian refugees should obey Turkey’s laws: AKP Istanbul mayoral candidate Y?ld?r?m (hurriyetdailynews, Jan 29, 2019)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syrian-refugees-should-obey-turkeys-laws-akp-istanbul-mayoral-candidate-yildirim-140863
“Syrian refugees should respect the law in Turkey, Binali Y?ld?r?m, Turkish Parliament speaker who is running for mayor of Istanbul from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), has said.
“As Turkey, we have hosted 3.5 million Syrians who escaped war to save their lives. We never have and will feel regret from our humanitarian mission. This unswerving tone is our identity’s need,” he told Hürriyet over the weekend.
Y?ld?r?m said Turkey’s wish is for Syrians to return to their homes once the conditions are appropriate.
“Of course, our guests must obey the laws of the host country. If someone acts in an unlawful manner, they will absolutely be punished,” he said.
“We will not tolerate anyone’s unlawfulness,” he added…”
Turkish police detain 15 Afghan migrants for ‘hunting’ Pakistanis in Istanbul (hurriyetdailynews, Jan 29, 2019)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-police-detain-15-afghan-migrants-for-hunting-pakistanis-in-istanbul-140853
“Turkish police have detained 15 unregistered migrants from Afghanistan who patrolled Istanbul streets with clubs in their hands to hunt Pakistanis whom they accused as robbers.
Residents in the Sultangazi district called the police when they spotted the Afghan group in the Esentepe neighborhood late Jan. 28.
The 15 Afghans were later detained while walking the streets by wielding clubs.
The suspects told the police that they were robbed by unidentified Pakistanis and were looking for them.
Police launched an investigation into the robbery allegation before deporting the unregistered migrants back to Afghanistan.”
Strasbourg asks Sea Watch assistance, not landing (ansa, Jan 29, 2019)
http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/01/29/strasbourg-asks-sea-watch-assistance-not-landing_2fbf7fb2-763a-4532-b136-9d7086237fc0.html
“The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on Tuesday asked Italy to take all necessary measures as soon as possible to assure adequate medical care, food and water for the Sea Watch migrants, but not to allow them to land.
For unaccompanied minors, the Italian government was asked to guarantee adequate legal safeguards.
On Friday the ship’s captain, the head of the rescue mission and one of the migrants asked the court to order Italy to allow the 47 asylum seekers on board to disembark. After this, the court sent a series of questions to the Italian authorities and to Sea-Watch.”
Deal needed on Sea Watch, Salvini says (ansamed, jan 29, 2019)
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2019/01/29/deal-needed-on-sea-watch-salvini-says_0a89bce7-81ad-44b0-8d56-e01463994fd3.html
“Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Tuesday said he will only allow the 47 asylum seekers on the Sea-Watch NGO ship to disembark if “the Netherlands, which gave its flag to the Sea-Watch, or Germany, the country of the NGO”, agree to receive them.
“In Italy we have already received, and spent, too much”, said Salvini.
Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said “there isn’t an Italian flag, but a Dutch” flag on the Sea-Watch.
“Italy is the country that has saved the highest number of human lives in the past years, but the era of Renzi and Gentili is over”, he said, referring to the two previous prime ministers. “It is obvious that we would open a port like a humanitarian corridor to make them disembark, but send them to the Netherlands immediately afterwards”.
Meanwhile the president of the opposition Democratic Party (PD), Matteo Orfini, and MP Fausto Raciti have filed a case, also signed by numerous PD members, against the government with prosecutors in Siracusa, Sicily.
Orfini said the move is against “violations of the law that we believe were committed, like in the Diciotti case”, in which over 100 migrants rescued by the coast guard were not allowed to get off the Diciotti ship during a 10-day standoff with the EU in August.
Catania’s court for ministers has asked the Senate for authorization to proceed in the Diciotti case in which Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is charged with kidnapping for refusing to let the migrants disembark.
Orfini said “we believe the migrants are being held illegitimately on the Sea-Watch”, adding that there are “other arbitrary and illegitimate points”.”
Man admits he beat 7-yr-old to death for damaging bed (ansa, Jan 29, 2019)
http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/01/29/man-admits-he-beat-7-yr-old-to-death-for-damaging-bed_f634490b-51dd-487d-a6f6-b3fccd0d69ca.html
“A 24-year-old man has confessed to killing the seven-year-old son of his partner and seriously injuring his eight-year-old sister over a new bed the children had damaged while playing, investigative sources were quoted as saying by multiple newspapers on Tuesday.
Tony Essoubti Badre, who lived in Cardito, Naples, with the seven and eight-year-old,
their four-year-old sister, who was not injured, and the children’s mother, allegedly punched and kicked the two children but denied hitting them with a broom, investigative sources were quoted as saying.
The man, who is currently detained on voluntary manslaughter charges, reportedly said he was angry that the children had damaged part of a new bed because “we had made sacrifices to buy it” when questioned by police.
Investigators are trying to determine the role played by the children’s mother.
Sources with knowledge of the probe said testimony provided by the murdered boy’s sister, who reported severe but not life-threatening injuries, is proving key for police.”