Contributor’s links for May 30, 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 must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

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

134 Replies to “Contributor’s links for May 30, 2019”

  1. How U.S. sanctions over a Russian weapon could rattle Turkey

    ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey is on the cusp of facing U.S. sanctions over its decision to buy a Russian S-400 missile defense system, leaving its already soft currency and economy vulnerable and raising questions over its position within NATO and the region.

    If no solution is found in coming weeks and U.S.-Turkish tensions continue to worsen, tit-for-tat sanctions could hit trade between the allies and prolong a recession in Turkey that has already tested President Tayyip Erdogan’s grip on power.

    https://www.oann.com/how-u-s-sanctions-over-a-russian-weapon-could-rattle-turkey/

  2. U.S. top security adviser says threat from Iran is not over

    LONDON (Reuters) – The threat from Iran is not over but quick action from the United States has helped deter it, White House National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Thursday.

    The U.S. military has sent forces, including an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers, to the Middle East in a move that U.S. officials said was made to counter “clear indications” of threats from Iran to American forces in the region.

    “I don’t think this threat is over, but I do think you can make at least a conditional claim that the quick response and the deployment and other steps that we took did serve as a deterrent,” Bolton told reporters during a visit to London.

    https://www.oann.com/top-u-s-security-adviser-we-are-not-seeking-regime-change-in-iran/

  3. Lyon Bombing Suspect Confesses to Attack, ISIS Allegiance After Explosive Ingredients Found (breitbart, May 30, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/05/30/lyon-bombing-suspect-confesses-to-attack-isis-allegiance-after-explosive-ingredients-found/

    “Lyon bombing suspect Mohamed Hichem M. has confessed to the terror bombing that injured 13 on Friday, and according to French television, has pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State.

    While Mohamed Hichem M., who was arrested shortly after the blast at a bakery in historic French city Lyon which injured 13 but saw no fatalities was reported to have been very reluctant to speak to investigators, but since the investigation was transferred to the Parisian counter-terror police the suspect has been more forthcoming, Le Progress reports.

    The Lyon area local paper states the 24-year-old Algerian national — who as Breitbart London reported this week is an illegal migrant in France on an expired visa — has now confessed to the attack. The statement follows the discovery of bomb precursor ingredients in the home Mohamed Hichem M. shared with his family, and internet history of searches related to bomb-making and Islamic Jihad…”

    • While Mohamed Hichem M., who was arrested shortly after the blast at a bakery in historic French city Lyon which injured 13 but saw no fatalities was reported to have been very reluctant to speak to investigators, but since the investigation was transferred to the Parisian counter-terror police the suspect has been more forthcoming, Le Progress reports.

      When it comes to making the terrorist swine sing like little birdies, there ain’t nothing that will ever replace a nice old rusty pair of Vise Grips. Do the “Parisian counter-terror police” have those surgically calibrated (lard lubricated) ones that increase gram per CC force by fractions of a dyne?

      People are dyne to find out.

      • The French internal security police have historically used techniques that to an extent were learned from the Nazi’s, some of them make your suggestions look tame.

  4. BREITBART – Cher: ‘MOBILIZE & DEMAND PAPER BALLOTS Or Trump & His HERO PUTIN WILL STEAL ELECTION AGAIN’

    […]The Moonstruck star jumped to her Twitter account to go on an extreme rant. Typing in all caps and interspersing emojis, Cher called Trump a “racist,” an “anti-Semite,” and said that he “bought” U.S. Attorney General William Barr.

    In her first Tweet, Cher claimed that Trump “pulled the plug on democracy.”

    […]Then, in a second tweet, Cher urged her followers to demand an end to electronic voting and to demand a paper ballot to thwart Trump’s “hero,” Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, from stealing another election

    + comments on the page

    https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2019/05/30/cher-mobilize-or-trump-his-hero-putin-will-steal-election-again/

    • Cher called Trump a “racist,” an “anti-Semite,” and said that he “bought” U.S. Attorney General William Barr.

      This overpaid and under-educated ironing board really needs to spend a lot more time taking home-learning courses about DIY auto-genesis.

  5. Mueller Speaks
    Adds fuel to impeachment fire . . . with self-serving statement.
    May 30, 2019
    Joseph Klein

    Special Counsel Robert Mueller read out a statement on Wednesday summarizing several key points from his report and announcing that he is leaving the Justice Department. He took no questions and provided no new information, declaring that his report speaks for itself. He said that he would not testify before Congress beyond the four corners of what was publicly released in his report. Mr. Mueller confirmed that, at one point in time, he had “requested that certain portions of the report be released,” while Attorney General William Barr preferred to release virtually the entire report all at once. However, he added, “We appreciate that the Attorney General made the report largely public. I do not question the Attorney General’s good faith in that decision.” So much for Democrat charges of bad faith, lies and cover up hurled at Attorney General Barr.

    In the first part of his public statement, Mr. Mueller focused attention on Russian interference itself in the 2016 presidential election. “As alleged by the grand jury in an indictment, Russian intelligence officers who were part of the Russian military launched a concerted attack on our political system,” he said. On the other hand, Mr. Mueller noted later in his statement that his office reached the conclusion that there was “insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy” between the Trump campaign and the Russians to interfere in the election. The report itself had been even clearer in declaring that the special counsel’s investigation found “the evidence was not sufficient to charge that any member of the Trump Campaign conspired with representatives of the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election.” Of course, that would necessarily include the presidential candidate himself.

    Mr. Mueller then tried to clarify the murkier portion of his report dealing with obstruction of justice. In doing so, he tried to have it both ways.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273885/mueller-speaks-joseph-klein

    • Today’s WaPo has a section on pages A7 to A11 titled on each page (but A9), “The Special Counsel’s Comments.” Page A9 is a full-page nicotine ad. Page A1 headlines “impeachment calls,” continuing to p. A8. Page A10 header: “Pressure on Pelosi to back impeachment effort rises after news conference.” Below the front page impeachment article is a another article with the intriguing. Supra-title, “THE TAKE”: “Special counsel to Congress: It’s your ballgame now.” There are credits for 11 reporters, along with a transcript of Mr. Mueller’s Wednesday statement. Then there are three pages in the opinion section, each carrying at least one article on the subject, along with 2 of 6 letters to the editor. Parts of the DC Metro south of the airport are shut down for the summer. Team Trump manages to keep the bases loaded no matter how many spitty curve balls try to spin past the batter.

  6. “Live: Border wall construction group holds press conference on progress”
    Fox News – Started streaming 44 minutes ago

  7. Elite Contempt: The Common Denominator in Populist Victories
    Brexit Party victory ends a political monopoly.
    May 30, 2019
    Caroline Glick

    The triumph of Nigel Farage and his Brexit party in Britain’s European parliamentary elections tells us two stories at the same time.

    The first story is a local British story. The Brexit Party’s victory effectively ends the Conservative party’s monopoly on Britain’s political right for the first time in two hundred years. The Conservatives will respond to the trouncing in one of two ways. They can disintegrate completely by doubling down on outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May’s soft Brexit – with or without a second referendum — or they can start listening to their voters.

    The second story encapsulated in Brexit’s victory — and that of Marine Le Pen’s triumph in France and Matteo Salvini’s in Italy — is the now familiar tale of the rise of the populist/nationalist/ideological right throughout the Western world against the conventional wisdom of the traditional progressive and center-right elitist establishment, and more often than not, in defiance of the polls.

    In Britain itself, the rise of Brexit is a fitting bookend to Prime Minister Theresa May’s stunning betrayal of her voters. May came to power after her predecessor David Cameron resigned office in response to the Brexit vote. As she entered office, May pledged to embrace the will of the voters and shepherd Britain out of the European Union.

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273874/elite-contempt-common-denominator-populist-caroline-glick

    Richard: She has done her normal excellent job of spelling out what is happening in plain English that anyone can understand. I word it differently but we are both saying the same thing, the self anointed political and business elite are working to become the Aristocracy of a they won’t call themselves by the same titles of the old Aristocracy but they want the power of high and low justice over those they consider to be their inferiors. The voters in all of the western nations are rearing up on their hind legs and are screaming now way. The coming civil wars are about freedom and individual rights, are we the People going to maintain our freedom and Human Rights or is the self anointed elite going to rape them from us?

    The People in the Western Nations are saying they want governments of the People, for the People and by the People. I am willing to bet that when everything is said and done all nations in the Anglophone world will have written Constitutions that are difficult to change that spell out their rights. One of these rights is the right of self defense and the right to own the tools necessary to protect themselves.

  8. Hungarian Researcher Documents Hundreds of Democrat Organizations Linked to Soros

    Viktor Orbán adviser Maria Schmidt: Hundreds of Democrat organizations linked to Soros

    In the EU elections the party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán achieved the sensational result of 52%, the best for any party in Europe. On May 25, historian Dr. Maria Schmidt, a close confidante of Orbán, gave a talk to a U.S. travel group hosted by Dr. Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum, praising Donald Trump as “a politcial realist” and Orbán’s “twin brother.”

    Gateway Pundit met with Dr. Schmidt, head of the local Terror House Museum on the Nazi and Soviet terror, who alerted us to this powerful essay she wrote in 2017 about George Soros’ influence in Hungary and the Democratic Party – which we are reprinting here with her permission:
    The Gravedigger of the Left

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/hungarian-researcher-documents-hundreds-of-democrat-organizations-linked-to-soros/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20May%2030,%202019%20at%2011:06:06%20AM

    • The Gravedigger of the Left

      What kind of philanthropist is a serial destroyer of European and Asian currencies, who wiped out the savings, retirement pensions and salaries of masses of ordinary citizens in order to reap huge profits for himself?

      A case study

      Once upon a time, there was a huge mining district in nearby Trepca, where about 40 mines yielded gold, silver, zinc, lead and cadmium. Those mines provided livelihood to the people of the region. One in particular, Zvecan in Kosovo was even richer in minerals than the rest. It so happened that the International Crisis Group (ICG) – ahighly authoritative research and analysis institute consisting of independent experts that had been set up to enable us to avert wars and to build a more peaceful world, and among the board members and lavish donors of ICG we find in person the great philanthropist George Soros along with his son. The ICG discovered that boosting production in Trepca was essential to Kosovo’s future. Its mineral resources would have a great role to play once Kosovo were to become independent. ICG’s independent experts found it deplorable however that the production was seriously underfinanced, mismanaged and hazardous to health. In addition, of course, local people were being exploited by Belgrade. “Trepca…is Kosovo’s Berlin Wall”, their professional argument ran. Then the War for Kosovo broke out. A few months later, Bernard Kouchner, the UN High Representative, a founding member of Doctors Without Borders, an NGO also funded by George Soros, was shocked to discover when arriving in the wake of the blue helmet force the harmful effect on human health of work inside Trepca mines, especially to the health of children and pregnant women. The UN administration therefore lost no time in expropriating the mines and the processing plants. Then, in a sweeping gesture, they also laid their hands on all forms of productive property in Kosovo. It was certainly by mere accident that Mr Soros’ private investment firm was given the chance at this very time to invest 51 million dollars in the area. Simultaneously, the US federal government guaranteed American investments in the Balkans up to the value of 100 million dollars. Mr Soros was chosen from among 17 applicants, presumably through an open and fair public procurement procedure. Zvecan therefore got the necessary amount of financing, with the obvious purpose of preventing mining from further harming the employees, especially pregnant women and children. All this took place in conformity with the expectations of open society and guidelines by independent experts, just as it invariably happens wherever and whenever events find a happy ending. I have retrieved this story from a contemporary article because it happened not so long ago and not so far from us, at a time when many of us did not yet suspect that Soros and his network operate everywhere using similar methods and following similar recipes and purposes. Whenever business ceases to be lucrative enough, off they go, leaving everything behind. The mines and the adjacent processing plants have recently been nationalised in Kosovo, a move that Serbs living in northern Kosovo refuse to accept.

      http://abouthungary.hu/blog/the-gravedigger-of-the-left/

  9. ‘Dangerous’: Hungarian PM Orban and Jordan Peterson Slam Illegal Immigration During Meeting (sputniknews, May 30, 2019)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/201905301075488103-unnecessary-and-dangerous-orban-and-jordan-peterson-slam-illegal-immigration-during-meeting/

    “Both the Hungarian prime minister and Canadian academic are known to be staunch opponents of the uncontrolled illegal migration that has been pouring into the EU since 2015.

    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Canadian University Professor Jordan Peterson, who was attending the Brain Bar Festival in Budapest, on 30 May to discuss an array of topics. Namely, the two discussed the acute issue of illegal immigration, agreeing that it is both “unnecessary and dangerous”, Hungary today reported, citing Orban’s Assistant Under Secretary Havasi Bertalan.

    Orban and Peterson also discussed contemporary political correctness, which in their opinion has made “sensible public discussions” virtually impossible. The two reportedly agreed that political correctness had been invented by a “small, ideologically driven group”.

    Canadian clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson first shot to fame after refusing to use special pronouns for transgender people, but later became known as a professor with views often at odds with the mainstream, especially when it comes to free speech. He is renowned as a steadfast critic of political correctness, hard-line feminism, Marxism, and post-modernist narratives.

    He recently faced criticism for posing in a picture with a man wearing a T-shirt with the text “I’m a proud Islamophobe”, an incident that cost him a fellowship at Cambridge University. Peterson later revealed that as a “free-speech guy” he had no right to object to the man’s decision to wear the T-shirt, but pointed out that he is not a fan of the word “Islamophobia”.”

  10. Study: Sweden Has Most Difficulty Getting Migrants into Work out of Whole Nordic Area (breitbart, May 30, 2019)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/05/30/study-sweden-most-difficulty-integrating-migrants-labour-market-scandinavia/#

    “A study by Professor Emeritus in Economics Lars Calmfors has revealed that compared to Finland, Norway, and Denmark, Sweden has had the most difficulty getting new migrants into the workforce.

    Professor Calmfors noted that one of the main problems with getting newly arrived migrants into work is that many are low-skilled labourers and the barriers for entry into low-skilled jobs are much higher for them, Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Radio reports.

    “It is an obstacle in Sweden that we have a high minimum wage. This then applies to retail and hotels and restaurants where many low-skilled people can get a job,” Calmfors said.

    “I think we would also need a lower minimum wage. Then one could try to do it in such a way that one does not lower the minimum wage in general, but one tries to construct new types of low-qualified jobs that can simply be paid less,” he added.

    Germany has attempted a similar programme in which the government subsidised so-called one euro an hour jobs, aiming at employing 100,000 migrants. Despite the programme, a report from earlier this year stated that around 65 per cent of the asylum seekers who had come to Germany in recent years remained unemployed.
    Among those who did find work, the median salary for migrants was just 1,564 euros (£1,371) per month.

    Eman, a Palestinian migrant in Sweden, explained her experiences to Sveriges Radio saying: “It’s not easy to find a job. Immigrants need to fight a little extra, in fact.”

    “You need to have a network that helps you find a job,” Eman added.

    The gap between the unemployment rate of native Swedes and migrants is large, with a report released last summer by the Swedish Public Employment Service revealing that the unemployment rate for native Swedes was just 3.6 per cent compared to the rate for migrants which stood at 19.9 per cent.”

  11. This is an anti straight white males

    Baylor Spring 2019 Graduation (Sat) – Dan Freemyer Benediction Prayer

  12. The New Smear Machine: Guilt by Association

    by Douglas Murray
    May 30, 2019 at 5:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14248/guilt-by-association

    One of the favourite tactics of the far-left in the West today is to carry out hit-jobs by utilising the tool of ‘adjacency.’ This is the new only slightly fancy term for what has usually been known as ‘guilt by association’. Where there was once an agreement that people should be held responsible for their own views, now they can apparently be held responsible for the views of anyone beside whom they once stood.

    So for instance, last month Jordan Peterson was denied a visiting fellowship at Cambridge University because he had once been photographed (at a post-speaking event meet-and-greet) with somebody wearing a T-shirt saying ‘I’m a proud Islamophobe’. Activists who wish to take decent people out of the parameters of legitimate discussion no longer merely smear them by trying to claim that their opponent is an extremist. Instead, they hint that even if their opponent might not be an extremist, here – for instance – is a photograph of him standing beside someone better able to be described as an extremist. Thus has the smear machine found a happy pastime and a fairly useful tool in its game of political warfare.

    This tactic is rarely used by the right against many on the left. Or if it is, its legitimacy is denied. For instance when the British Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, for instance, is endlessly pictured with Islamist extremists or a whole range of anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers, it is agreed that he is not ‘adjacent’ to these people, but merely to be pursuing his often strangely uncredited role as the international community’s informal peace-keeper-in-chief. His proximity to the worst people is never evidence of ‘adjacency’: merely of saintliness at best, and bad luck at worst.

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14248/guilt-by-association

  13. Algeria: Russian Influence, American Opportunity?

    by Debalina Ghoshal
    May 30, 2019 at 4:00 am

    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14237/algeria-russian-influence

    The recent uprising in Algeria, which culminated early April in the end of Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s 20-year reign, is being touted as the North African nation’s belated “Arab Spring.”

    The outcome of the bloodless military coup, backed by the country’s growing population of disenfranchised youth, remains to be seen. But the United States should be paying close attention to how Russia, with its increasing moves on Africa in general and Algeria in particular, now proceeds.

    Moscow, which had enjoyed close relations with Bouteflika, is observing the unfolding events in Algeria with caution, hoping that the changing political landscape in Algiers will not affect the defense cooperation that has been going on for decades, and which sharply increased in 2006. That was the year when Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to write off Algerian debt, on condition that Algiers purchase industrial goods, including military equipment, from Moscow.

    Since then, Algeria has reportedly become Russia’s largest arms importer in Africa. This extensive trade arrangement, which has included the sale of tactical ballistic missiles, technologically advanced fighter jets, rocket launchers, tanks, air-defense systems and submarines, was threatened last year, however, when U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). CAATSA, which imposes sanctions on countries that purchase military equipment from Russia, was created to counter anti-American activities on the part of Iran, North Korea and Russia – the latter for annexing Crimea, supporting President Bashar Assad against the rebels in the Syrian civil war and for attempting to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

  14. CBS – Barr says Mueller “could’ve reached a decision” on whether Trump obstructed justice

    Tune in to “CBS This Morning” on Friday, May 31, for the full interview with Attorney General William Barr.

    Attorney General William Barr said he believes special counsel Robert Mueller could have reached a decision on whether President Trump committed obstruction of justice, regardless of long-standing Justice Department policy that prohibits the indictment of a sitting president.

    In his first network interview since being sworn in, Barr said the special counsel, who gave a rare public statement Wednesday reiterating some of the key findings in his more than 400-page report, could have concluded the president broke the law without actually charging him — or cleared him of wrongdoing.

    “I personally felt he could’ve reached a decision,” he told CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford during an exclusive interview in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday.

    “The opinion says you cannot indict a president while he is in office, but he could’ve reached a decision as to whether it was criminal activity,” Barr added. “But he had his reasons for not doing it, which he explained and I am not going to, you know, argue about those reasons.”

    When he became aware that Mueller would not make a determination in his obstruction of justice probe — which investigated 11 instances in which Mr. Trump tried to derail the Russia investigation — Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein “felt it was necessary” for them to make decision on the issue.

    In a letter to Congress after Mueller submitted his report, Barr said he and Rosenstein concluded that the nearly two-year investigation did not contain sufficient evidence to establish Mr. Trump obstructed justice.

    On Wednesday, Mueller said bringing criminal charges against the president was not an option since the special counsel’s office was part of the Justice Department and bound by its policies — including a legal opinion barring the indictment of a sitting president.

    Mueller also ruled out the possibility of issuing a sealed indictment or making an accusation of criminality without pursuing formal charges. If a sealed indictment became public, it could undermine the president’s ability to govern, and making an accusation without bringing charges would not give the president the chance to clear his name in court.

    Mueller said the U.S. Constitution “requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing.” Many Democrats said the special counsel’s remarks represented a referral of his investigation to Congress, which has the power to impeach and remove a president from office.

    Barr said Thursday he did not know what Mueller was “suggesting” in his statement.

    “The Department of Justice doesn’t use our powers of investigating crimes as an adjunct to Congress,” he added.

    Asked about accusations that he has been shielding the president from scrutiny since taking office, Barr said he expected the flurry of criticism, which he noted “goes with the territory of being attorney general in a hyper-partisan period of time.”

    “The Department of Justice is all about the law, and the facts and the substance,” he said. “And I’m going to make the decisions based on the law and the facts and I realize that’s in tension with the political climate we live in because people are more interested in getting their way politically.”

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/william-barr-interview-attorney-general-says-mueller-couldve-decided-whether-trump-obstructed-justice-exclusive/
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    https://twitter.com/CBSThisMorning/status/1134170728650149890

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    https://twitter.com/CBSThisMorning/status/1134159718820339712

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  15. LIBERAL UTOPIA: LAPD Officers Diagnosed With Typhus Stemming From Mountains of Rotting Rat-Infested Trash in the Streets

    Mountains of rotting rat-infested trash has piled sky-high in the liberal utopia of Los Angeles despite millions of dollars allocated for clean up and prevention.

    LIBERAL UTOPIA: LAPD Officers Diagnosed With Typhus Stemming From Mountains of Rotting Rat-Infested Trash in the Streets
    Cristina Laila by Cristina Laila May 30, 2019 169 Comments

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    Mountains of rotting rat-infested trash has piled sky-high in the liberal utopia of Los Angeles despite millions of dollars allocated for clean up and prevention.

    In October, LA Mayor Garcetti promised to clean up the heaps of rat-infested trash piling up around Los Angeles to help combat the Typhus epidemic.

    Even though the Mayor allocated millions of dollars to help clean up the streets in LA, especially Skid Row, known as “the Typhus Zone,” there are still mountains of trash everywhere and the infectious disease is worsening.

    Several months ago the large piles of trash were cleared out, but the problem is back and much worse than before.

    Last fall, typhus began spreading across the homeless population through fleas that live on the rats that rummage through the trash and Liz Greenwood, the Deputy City Attorney who works at City Hall contracted the disease.

    Symptoms of typhus include fever, headache and a rash. Untreated cases are fatal.

    Now law enforcement officers in Los Angeles have been diagnosed with Typhus.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/liberal-utopia-lapd-officers-diagnosed-with-typhus-due-to-mountains-of-rotting-rat-infested-trash-in-the-streets/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553016019&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20May%2030,%202019%20at%2003:06:06%20PM

  16. Angela Merkel awarded Harvard honorary degree

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel was awarded an honorary degree from Harvard University Thursday.

    Calling Merkel one of the most “influential statespeople of our time,” Harvard president Larry Bacow awarded Merkel an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

    • Afghanistan: Children study on ground in sweltering heat as attacks on schools soar

  17. BBC – EU Elections: How the Brexit Party used Facebook to win a Welsh town –

  18. Some Gun Retailers Banned From Using Salesforce Software: Report

    Software giant Salesforce will no longer allow retailers who sell some types of firearms to use its software, the Washington Post reports.

    The policy bars retailers who sell certain types of guns and gun parts, including some semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines.

    Salesforce software helps companies manage sales process functions like tracking inventory, processing orders and e-commerce. The company has 40,000 employees and a market value of $120 billion, according to the Post.

    The change affects new customers, as well as “a small number of existing customers when their current contracts expire,” Salesforce spokeswoman Gina Sheibley told the Post.

    https://dailycaller.com/2019/05/30/salesforce-gun-retailers-ban/

  19. Islamic State claims attacks on DR Congo army, UN; FARDC says 26 ADF fighters killed (thedefensepost, May 30, 2019)
    https://thedefensepost.com/2019/05/30/islamic-state-attacks-dr-congo-army-un-mavivi-adf-killed/

    “Islamic State claimed fighters from its Central Africa Province affiliate attacked military bases in Mavivi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while the Congolese army said more than 20 Allied Democratic Forces fighters had been killed in nearby Ngite.

    ISIS in a Thursday, May 30 statement claimed ISCAP fighters attacked three “barracks of the Congolese army and the United Nations crusader forces” near Mavivi. It said the forces were preparing to attack ISCAP positions, and that clashes led to “dozens” killed and injured, while the “Mujahideen returned to their positions safely.”

    A later release from ISIS propaganda agency Amaq said that “Islamic State fighters today attacked 3 military bases located on Road No. 4” near Beni, clashing with Congolese army and U.N. MONUSCO peacekeeping forces for three hours. It said “dozens” were killed and wounded before the ISCAP fighters withdrew from “the attack area near the city’s airport.”

    Mavivi town is in Beni territory of North Kivu province, and Ngite is just to the north. Mavivi airport, also known as Beni airport, is on the south side of the town, just off the N4 road to Beni city which is around 10 km south. MONUSCO, which has a base at the airport, rehabilitated the runway in 2016.

    Amaq said the attack was to counter a mobilization of Congolese army and U.N. forces in three bases “in preparation for an attack on the positions of fighters of the Islamic state in the northeast of the country.”

    MONUSCO spokesperson Florence Marchal told The Defense Post that peacekeepers were not targeted in the initial attack, but did respond to the incident.

    Marchal said that suspected ADF insurgents attacked an FARDC camp near Beni (North Kivu) earlier today and the mission “deployed two contingents in response to protect civilians.”

    “U.N. Peacekeepers subsequently engaged the attackers, resulting in one South African peacekeeper injured,” Marchal said, adding that there were “an unconfirmed number of fatalities on the side of ADF.”

    Around 3,000 troops are deployed to the MONUSCO Force Intervention Brigade based in Beni. Its primary goal is countering armed groups including ADF.

    A spokesperson for the armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) said that 26 Allied Democratic Forces militants were killed in “victorious operations” in Ngite, which is just outside Mavivi.

    “This morning at 5 a.m. in the Ngite locality, the Armed Forces of the DRC conducted victorious operations against the ADF terrorists and found 26 ADF neutralized. Our army is determined to conduct operations to restore peace,” Major General Leon-Richard Kasonga told reporters, Actualite.cd reported.

    “Early this morning, the ADF attacked our position in the town of Ngite-Mavivi, our men reacted and inflicted a heavy loss in their ranks,” Kasonga later told AFP.

    U.N.-funded Radio Okapi reported that MONUSCO peacekeepers alongside FARDC personnel had repelled an ADF attack on the Ngite headquarters of the first battalion of the 32nd brigade of FARDC rapid reaction units.

    It said that a second group of ADF militants positioned on Road No. 4 to intercept reinforcements were engaged by FARDC and MONUSCO personnel in heavy clashes that lasted around an hour.

    According to Radio Okapi, a military spokesperson said the bodies of 23 militants had been recovered, along with 20 weapons, but did not mention MONUSCO or FARDC casualties.

    The bodies of 23 militants were later displayed outside Beni town hall and thousands of people came to view them, Acutalite.cd reported.

    Amaq also released an image of ISCAP fighters captioned “Islamic State fighters camped in northeastern Congo,” dated May 30, but the militants pictured appear to be in the same location and wearing the same clothing as an image published in issue 179 of the weekly ISIS newsletter Al-Naba that was released on April 25.

    In April, ISIS formally recognized its Central Africa Province in Democratic Republic of Congo, when its centrally controlled media outlets began to attribute attacks to ISCAP, and during his first video appearance in five years, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was seen viewing a document entitled “Wilayat Central Africa.”

    There was earlier evidence that ISIS had ties to the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan-led but DR Congo-based militant group that mainly operates in the border area of North Kivu province, but it is unclear if the new ISIS affiliate is the ADF, a splinter group, or a different organization.

    Formed in 1995, the ADF is thought to have killed at least 700 civilians and more than 20 U.N. peacekeepers, but although it is often blamed for killings, robberies and kidnappings, numerous armed groups operate in the region and it is often difficult to be certain who the true assailants are.

    The majority of around a dozen ISIS-claimed attacks have been in the Kamango area, around 50 km east of Mavivi, near the border with Uganda.”

  20. Uzbekistan repatriates 148 women and children linked to ISIS from Syria (thedefensepost, May 30, 2019)
    https://thedefensepost.com/2019/05/30/uzbekistan-repatriate-isis-women-children-syria/

    “Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria on Wednesday handed over 148 Uzbek women and children linked to Islamic State group to diplomats from the Central Asian country for repatriation, officials said.

    In total more than 300 Uzbeks were due to be sent home, spokesperson Kamal Akef told AFP on Wednesday, May 30, as the officials in northeast Syria look to transfer away thousands of foreign jihadists trapped in camps following the defeat of the ISIS “caliphate” by U.S.-backed forces.

    Hundreds of Uzbeks are believed to have joined militants fighting in Iraq and Syria including ISIS.

    Suspected ISIS fighters from the country who surrendered or were caught fleeing the jihadists’ last redoubt are still being held in jails run by the autonomous administration.

    The women and children on Wednesday arrived in the Kurdish town of Qamishli on large white buses, an AFP correspondent said.

    From behind the vehicle’s blue drapes, some women pointed their index fingers to the sky in a gesture used by Islamists.

    The group, including some 90 children, would be taken by plane to Russia’s air base in Syria, from where they would then be transported to Uzbekistan, Akef said.

    A second batch of Uzbek women and children would be sent in the coming days, he said.

    The Syrian Democratic Forces has urged countries to repatriate its citizens who are in detention camps in Syria, but with few exceptions many have been reluctant.

    The largest repatriation effort by a European country so far saw Kosovo in April take back 110 of its nationals from Syria, mostly the wives and children of ISIS fighters.

    Earlier in May Kazakhstan said it had repatriated 231 of its nationals, mostly children.

    The autonomous administration in northeast Syria has called for an international court in northeast Syria to try ISIS members, but the U.S. says countries should repatriate their own citizens.”

  21. Tunisian Interior Ministry Searches for 4 Terrorists (aawsat, May 30, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1746351/tunisian-interior-ministry-searches-4-terrorists

    “Counter-terrorism forces in Tunisia are searching for three Tunisian and one Algerian terrorists.

    The Tunisian Ministry of Interior released information and photos of the wanted. They are Osama al-Khazri, 27, from Jendouba (north-west of Tunisia), Ashraf al-Qizani, 28, from Al-Kaf, Algerian Amin Mahkuka, and Khalil al-Mansouri, 28, originally from Kasserine (in the center of western Tunisia).

    Tunisian security sources affirmed that the militants belong to Uqba ibn Nafi battalion, affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, saying they had participated in terrorist attacks, in addition plotting to rob a bank in Kasserine.

    The sources added that Tunisian terrorist Raed Touati, who was arrested early May by counter-terrorism forces, revealed to investigators that the four terrorists were plotting attacks on security forces, the army, and vital state facilities.

    Tunisian security reports noted that up to 300 militants are believed to be hiding in the western mountains of the country. They are supported by an estimated 300-400 sleeper cells.”

  22. Libyan Army Accuses Turkish Officers of Training GNA Forces (aawsat, May 30, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1746261/libyan-army-accuses-turkish-officers-training-gna-forces

    “The Libyan National Army (LNA) has revealed that Turkish military and intelligence officers are training armed militias loyal to Fayez al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA) to take part in the battles raging since April 4 in Tripoli.

    The United States and Egypt called for calm as LNA Commander Khalifa Haftar pressed ahead in his offensive on the Libyan capital

    According to the State Department, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed the crisis in Libya during a phone call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

    The two discussed “the urgent need to achieve a political solution in Libya and prevent further escalation,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.

    In the battlefield, LNA’s Karama operations media center said that an airstrike carried out by Sarraj’s forces on Tuesday led to the partial destruction of houses and vehicles.

    The center accused GNA-backed terrorist militias of targeting residential areas that have thrown their support behind the army in its operation to liberate Tripoli.

    In its statement, the center considered these activities as crimes against humanity, saying the perpetrators should be held accountable.

    It added that the army was accurate in its air strikes to avoid casualties among civilians.

    Earlier in the morning, fierce clashes erupted between the army and Sarraj’s forces on the fronts of Ain Zara and Wadi Alrabie south of Tripoli. The army announced arresting seven members of Misrata militias in an operation in Ain Zara.

    Meanwhile, the LNA media unit released video footage of military officials from Turkey training armed militias loyal to Sarraj.

    The video, which was found on the phone of a detainee, showed Turkish officers setting up military operations rooms, said the unit.

    Moreover, the LNA accused the Muslim Brotherhood of recruiting mercenaries to fight alongside Sarraj’s government.

    Spokesman of the GNA Military Region Colonel Mohammed Qannouno declared that the air force launched on Tuesday five combat missions that targeted LNA sites. Qannouno didn’t give further details.”

  23. Muslim figures agree to coexistence and non-intervention in other countries’ affairs (memo, May 30, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190530-muslim-figures-agree-to-coexistence-and-non-intervention-in-other-countries-affairs/

    “Some 1,200 Islamic figures yesterday approved a document of coexistence, anti-Islamophobia, and non-intervention in other countries’ affairs in the holy city of Mecca.

    According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), “1,200 people from 139 countries representing 27 Islamic components from different doctrines and sects, led by senior Muftis, have approved the Mecca Document.”

    On 27 May, the Muslim World League launched an international conference on the values ??of moderation, which ended yesterday with the Mecca Document.

    The document has been approved as an “historic constitution to establish the values ??of coexistence among followers of religions, cultures, races, and sects in Islamic countries on the one hand, and to achieve peace and harmony among all components of the humanitarian community on the other hand,” SPA explained.

    That the documents includes a clause calling on countries not to interfere in each other’s affairs will be seen as ironic considering the host nation, Saudi Arabia, and its allies, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have been playing active roles in the unrest in Yemen, Libya, Sudan and have together imposed an air, sea and land blockade on Qatar.

    The document stressed that “religious and cultural diversity in human societies does not justify conflicts and clashes.” It also emphasised “the refusal to associate religion with the wrong political practices of any of its adherents.””

  24. 4 Daesh-linked suspects arrested in southern Turkey (memo, May 30, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190530-4-daesh-linked-suspects-arrested-in-southern-turkey/

    “Four people were arrested in the southern Turkish province of Adana over their suspected links to Daesh terror group, security sources said on Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports.

    The arrests came after police squads raided suspected locations thought to be used by Daesh terrorists as part of an anti-terror operation, according to sources who asked not to be named, due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

    Two of the suspects, who came to Turkey from Syria illegally, were so-called heads of the terror group’s bomb and heavy weapons division, the sources said.

    More than 300 people have lost their lives in Daesh-claimed attacks in Turkey, where the terror organisation has targeted civilians in suicide bomb, rocket and gun attacks.

    Turkish security forces are involved in a long-running campaign to thwart Daesh attacks.”

  25. Iraq warns of war if regional tensions not managed well (reuters, May 30, 2019)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-summit-iraq/iraq-warns-of-war-if-regional-tensions-not-managed-well-idUSKCN1T02R5

    “A Saudi cargo ship has left the southern French port of Fos-sur-Mer without loading its arms cargo destined for Saudi Arabia, blocked from doing so after pressure from rights campaigners, a French rights group said on Thursday.

    The incident reported by ACAT, a Christian organization against torture, is the second time this month that a Saudi vessel has been blocked from loading arms in France as pressure mounts on Paris to stop arms sales to the kingdom.

    A Saudi ship left France’s northern coast two weeks ago without a cargo of weapons after dockers threatened to block its arrival in the port of Le Havre. That came weeks after an online investigative site published leaked French military intelligence that showed weapons sold to the kingdom, including tanks and laser-guided missile systems, were being used against civilians in Yemen’s war.

    ACAT said the Saudi freighter, Bahri Tabuk, returned to sea on Wednesday night, with its holds empty…”

  26. Two top ranking Pakistani army officers and a civilian sentenced on espionage charges and leaking sensitive information (gulfnews, May 30, 2019)
    https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/two-top-ranking-pakistani-army-officers-and-a-civilian-sentenced-on-espionage-charges-and-leaking-sensitive-information-1.1559223575869

    “Dubai: A top ranking Pakistani army officer has been sentenced to death while a Lt General has been handed over 14 years of rigorous imprisonment on charges of espionage and leaking sensitive information to foreign agencies.

    Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa has endorsed the death sentence to a retired army officer and a civilian and rigorous imprisonment to one army officer on charges of “espionage/leakage of sensitive information to foreign agencies prejudice to the national security”, a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations s(ISPR) on Thursday.

    “The officers were tried under Pakistan Army Act (PAA) and Official Secret Act by separate Field General Court Marshal (FGCM) for separate cases,” said the statement.

    According to the military’s media wing, the three men — Lieutenant General (retd) Javed Iqbal, Brigadier (retd) Raja Rizwan, and Dr Wasim Akram, an employee at a sensitive organisation — were convicted of espionage activities and leaking sensitive information to foreign spy agencies.

    Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Iqbal was awarded 14 years rigorous imprisonment. Brigadier (retd) Raja Rizwan and Dr Wasim Akram were awarded death sentences.

    The ISPR statement did not did not contain any further details of the offences committed by the three convicts. However, Director General ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor had confirmed the arrests of the senior officers in a press conference on February 22 this year.

    “There are two officers who are under military custody on the charges of espionage. The Army chief has ordered Field General Court Marshal for them. Both of these are individual case and are not linked to each other, and there is no network as such,” Maj-Gen Ghafoor had said.

    “Both of these are individual case and are not linked to each other, and there is no network as such,” he had said.

    1.Retired Lieutenant General Javed Iqbal – Awarded 14 years rigorous imprisonment.

    2. Retired Brigadier Raja Rizwan – Awarded Death Sentence.

    3. Doctor Wasim Akram (Employed at Sensitive Organisation) – Awarded Death Sentence.”

  27. Finnish Muslims Denounce Wit’s Public Defacing of Quran, Urge ‘Wisdom’ (moroccoworldnews, May 30, 2019)
    https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/05/274605/finnish-muslims-wits-public-defacing-quran/

    “Leading Muslim figures in Islamic centers in Finland have released a statement addressing the incident on Sunday May 26, when far right politician Marco de Wit tore up the holy Quran in the presence of witnesses and police.

    The statement follows a meeting held by Islamic Center leaders on Wednesday, May 30.

    In the statement, they denounced the “hostile” and “blasphemous” nature of the public display, which they said brings into the open a deep-seated racist attitude towards Muslims and Islam.

    The statement called for Muslims of Finland to “show patience and wisdom” and to seek legal justice rather than react rashly and meet the negative expectations of Muslims created by populist ‘fear mongering’ and divisive politics which seek to cause ‘contrived disputes’. The statement also urged all Muslims to avoid staging strikes and protests and to respond peacefully.

    Yakup Yilmaz, A Turkish businessman and a member of the World Turkish Business Council’s European Committee, who reported the news on Sunday, May 26, said that de Wit hurled insults at the Prophet Mohammed and Islam as he shredded the sacred Qur’an.

    He reported the “hate crime” to a police officer, who was present during the incident but “did nothing.”

    According to Anadolu, it is not unprecedented for de Wit to engage in such incendiary behaviors towards other faiths, he has previously committed the same act against the Jewish sacred text, the Torah.

    The Finnish national broadcasting company YLE, reported a study conducted by an academic researcher WHICH asserted that hate crime, despite being outlawed in the Finnish penal code, often avoid harsh sentences within the justice system.

    According to the report, “A review of sentencing data from 2013 has shown that only in very few cases have the courts handed down tougher sentences for hate crimes, as provided for in the legislation.’”

  28. Occupied Kashmir: Pakistan seeks OIC support for UN probe into Indian atrocities (tribune, May 30, 2019)
    https://tribune.com.pk/story/1983368/1-occupied-kashmir-pakistan-seeks-oic-support-un-probe-indian-atrocities/

    “Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has sought the support of member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for constituting a Commission of Inquiry under the United Nations to investigate New Delhi’s violations and excesses in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).

    Qureshi was leading Pakistan’s delegation in the meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Jeddah, a precursor to the 14th Islamic Summit Conference due to be held in Makkah…”

  29. ‘Terror bid foiled’ as Quetta police kills alleged suicide bomber outside Imambargah (dawn, May 31, 2019)
    https://www.dawn.com/news/1485520/terror-bid-foiled-as-quetta-police-kills-alleged-suicide-bomber-outside-imambargah

    “Quetta police on Thursday killed an alleged suicide bomber in the city’s Mecongi road area when he attempted to gain entry into Imambargah Nasirul Aza, according to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Abdul Razzaq Cheema.

    A policeman was also injured when the bomber, reportedly dressed in a woman’s attire, hurled a hand-held bomb towards the Imambargah, the DIG said, adding that a “major terror bid has been foiled.”…”

  30. Jail terms sought for 18 doctors for not reporting teen pregnancies to authorities (hdn, May 30, 2019)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/jail-terms-sought-for-18-doctors-for-not-reporting-teen-pregnancies-to-authorities-143822

    “An Istanbul prosecutor is seeking six months to 3.5 years in jail for 18 doctors for not notifying authorities about the pregnancies of teenage girls, most of whom are Syrians.

    The indictment prepared by the Bak?rköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said that the doctors failed to notify judicial authorities of 348 pregnant minors, majority of whom are Syrians and who applied for medical care at the Ba?c?lar Training and Research Hospital in 2017.

    The indictment sought from six months to 3.5 years in jail for each of the 10 doctors for not reporting more than one underage pregnancy to judicial authorities (as is legally required), while from six months to two years in jail for each of the eight doctors for not reporting one underage pregnancy case.

    According to regulations that should be enforced by the Health Ministry, prosecutors or police forces should be notified in all cases of teen pregnancies under the age of 18.

    Cases involving teens younger than 15 automatically qualify as “sexual abuse.”

    Of the 348 pregnant minors, 34 of them were under the age of 15, the majority of whom are Syrians, the indictment said.

    The indicted 18 doctors will appear before the Bak?rköy 2nd Penal Court of First Instance in the coming days.”

  31. Turkey: 56 ex-soldiers get heavy life over coup attempt (aa, May 30, 2019)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkey-56-ex-soldiers-get-heavy-life-over-coup-attempt/1492995

    “A Turkish court on Thursday handed down aggravated life sentences for some 56 ex-soldiers over their involvement in the defeated 2016 coup in Turkey, according to judicial sources.

    In a case trying 152 suspects, Ankara 17th High Criminal Court ruled aggravated life term in prison for 56 convicts, while sentencing 18 others to life behind bars for their roles in Turkish Army Aviation Command during July 15, 2016 defeated coup, said sources who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

    Among those, who received aggravated life sentences, was Ugur Kapan, a pro-coup helicopter pilot, who transported Hulusi Akar, then-chief of General Staff, to Cankaya Palace from Akinci Base during the coup attempt.

    Kapan was slapped with life sentence aggravated 29 times and sentenced to almost 4,000 years in prison, the sources said.

    The court also ruled acquittal of 31 suspects in the trial.

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

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

  32. Italian Navy rescues over 100 migrants at sea (ansamed, May 30, 2019)
    http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2019/05/30/italian-navy-rescues-over-100-migrants-at-sea_50ae9973-2b6f-4584-a750-d8cae1c821a9.html

    “The Italian Navy ship Cigala Fulgosi rescued over 100 migrant men, women, and children from a struggling dinghy on Thursday morning “in international waters about 90 miles south of Lampedusa”, the Navy said in a statement at the conclusion of the rescue operation.

    “There are no deceased persons on board,” it said.

    The statement said there were 17 women and 23 minors “for whom health checks are currently underway”.

    “The Navy unit – ascertaining the conditions of the boat with 100 people aboard, of whom only a dozen had individual life jackets, engine off, precarious floating conditions and considering the worsening meteorological conditions – intervened to rescue the people who were in imminent life-threatening danger,” it said.”

  33. Swedish town bans Islamic headscarf in primary schools (thelocal, May 30, 2019)
    https://www.thelocal.se/20190530/sweden-town-bans-islamic-headscarf-in-primary-schools

    “A municipality in southern Sweden has voted to ban the Islamic headscarf in schools for children under the age of 13, in a first for Sweden.

    The populist measure is part of a new ‘integration plan’ for the town of Staffanstorp, roughly 20km outside Malmö, which has been drawn up for by the centre-right Moderate Party and the populist Sweden Democrats.

    “The headscarf is a symbol that women are not available. It’s a sexualisation of women and it’s unreasonable to do that to young girls,” Christian Sonesson, the town’s Moderate Party mayor, told the local Sydsvenskan newspaper. “I have nothing against adult women wearing headscarves, but these are small children, little girls.”

    The measure was voted through with seven votes in favour and four against on Wednesday afternoon.

    Pierre Sjöström, a councillor for the town’s Social Democrat opposition accused Sonesson of “foregrounding a non-problem”.

    “It’s just cosmetic. The Moderates don’t even know if we have pupils who wear headscarves. This is a solution to a problem that we don’t have,” he told the newspaper.

    Andreas Lindholm, a lawyer for the Swedish National Agency for Education, told Swedish broadcaster SR that he believed the measure was religious discrimination and therefore contravened the law.

    “We ruled that it is not permitted or compatible with religious freedom or discrimination laws to bring in a blanket ban against the veil in schools,” he said.

    In their first draft of the law, the two parties confused the headscarf and the veil, and in the final law that passed the word ‘veil’ had been changed to ‘headscarf’. The new draft also limited the ban to children in Sweden’s Class 7 (which starts at age 13) and below.

    After September’s election Sonesson chose to go into coalition with the populist Sweden Democrats, even though he would have been able to build a majority with his party’s more liberal allies on the centre right.”

  34. Angela Merkel tells Harvard grads to ‘tear down walls’ (DW, May 30, 2019)
    https://www.dw.com/en/angela-merkel-tells-harvard-grads-to-tear-down-walls/a-48981123

    “The chancellor has addressed students at the elite university, encouraging them to shape the future. Her halting speech appeared to contain a few digs on President Donald Trump, without mentioning him by name.

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered an underwhelming commencement speech to Harvard graduates on Thursday after being greeted with rousing applause when introduced as “one of the most respected and influential leaders of the postwar era.”

    Addressing students at the Ivy League school’s 368th commencement ceremony, Merkel began in English, yet quickly switched to German.

    Merkel, speaking through a translator, touched on a number of topics throughout the speech — beginning with her own upbringing in East Germany under the shadow of the Berlin Wall. The idea of the wall was one that she would return to throughout the speech.

    She would go on to speak of the “walls in peoples minds, walls of ignorance and narrowmindedness,” at one point calling on students to, “Tear down walls of ignorance and narrowmindedness for nothing has to stay as it is.”

    The chancellor hit on other subjects including the opportunities and threats posed by new technologies, as well as the challenge of combatting climate change.

    She warned students that nothing could be taken for granted, yet encouraged them to realize that: “Anything that seems to be set in stone and unalterable, can be changed. Every change begins in the mind.”

    Merkel also acknowledged Germany’s historic responsibility, as well as the theme of forgiveness, noting that: “The relations between Germany and the US, too, shows how former enemies can become friends.”

    During that passage, she underscored the importance of transatlantic relations based on shared values, referring to George Marshall’s famous 1947 Harvard commencement speech in which he unveiled his plan for helping rebuild Europe after the war.

    In clear reference to current US policy under President Trump, she said, “protectionism threatens the foundations of our prosperity.” Instead, Merkel laid out a different path, one that is, “Multilateral rather than unilateral, global rather than national, outward looking rather than isolationist. In short, we have to work together rather than alone.”

    Though the biggest applause by far came when she told those present, “We must be honest with others and with ourselves, and that means not calling lies truth and not calling the truth lies.” The line struck a note with the audience and she was given a standing ovation for it.”

  35. Bereaved British schoolgirl will be stripped of £500,000 inheritance after Sharia court in Dubai is told that she is a Christian (dailymail, May 30, 2019)
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7078485/British-schoolgirl-stripped-inheritance-Dubai-Christian.html

    “A British schoolgirl has lost out on a £500,000 inheritance from her father after a Sharia court in Dubai was told she was a Christian, MailOnline can reveal.

    It is the latest episode in a vicious spat that saw her mother being held for four weeks in the Arab kingdom last month for branding her love rival a ‘horse’ on Facebook.

    Paris Shahravesh, 14, was in line to inherit money left by her banker father, Pedro Dos Santos, who died of a heart attack in March.

    But his second wife, Samah Al Hammadi – who had alerted police when the teenager’s mother insulted her on social media – filed papers in the UAE claiming the inheritance.

    The court was told that Paris was a Christian. According to the form of Sharia applied in Dubai, non-Muslims are unable to inherit the estate of a Muslim.

    A UAE court then authorised Mr Santos’ former employer, HSBC, to award his £500,000 funds to Mrs Al Hammadi.

    ‘She made every effort to isolate Pedro from our daughter during his life and now she is trying to exclude her after his death,’ Paris’ mother, Laleh Shahravesh, 55, said. ‘It is beyond sad.’

    But Mrs Al Hammadi, 42, who runs an archery school, hit back, saying: ‘I put all my documents and Pedro’s documents to the court and I mentioned to them that he has a daughter and sisters.

    ‘But the judge informed me that there is no heritage, only from Muslim to Muslim. I am Muslim, Pedro was a Muslim but Paris is Christian. This is not my decision. It’s the court’s decision, according to UAE law.’….”

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