Contributor’s links for June 12, 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

111 Replies to “Contributor’s links for June 12, 2019”

  1. Rebels ambush Indian soldiers in Kashmir, 6 combatants dead (abcnews, Jun 12, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/rebels-ambush-indian-soldiers-kashmir-combatants-dead-63657186

    “Rebels fighting against Indian rule in disputed Kashmir launched an attack on paramilitary soldiers on Wednesday, killing five, officials said. One militant also died in the fighting.

    At least two militants in a car approached soldiers patrolling streets in the southern town of Anantnag and jumped out while firing at them, police said. The soldiers shot back and in the exchange of gunfire five soldiers and a militant were killed.

    A police officer and two out of three injured soldiers were reported to be in critical condition.

    Police and soldiers cordoned off the area and were looking for the second militant…”

  2. Germany arrests Kosovo man accused of supporting IS group (abcnews, Jun 12, 2019)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/germany-arrests-kosovo-man-accused-supporting-group-63657668

    “German authorities have arrested a Kosovo national accused of supporting the Islamic State group by transferring thousands of euros to a fighter and a would-be recruit.

    The federal prosecutor’s office said the 31-year-old man, identified only as Hassan Rejan B. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested Wednesday in the Pinneberg area, near Hamburg.

    He is suspected of 15 counts of supporting IS and 11 of violating German export laws.

    Prosecutors allege that the man made 11 transfers in 2016 and 2017 to an IS fighter in Syria. They say that, in 2015, he also transferred money to a man from North Macedonia who wanted to join IS in Syria. In all, they say he transferred about 15,000 euros ($17,000), in most cases as a go-between.”

  3. Austria to shut Saudi-backed religious dialogue centre in rights protest

    VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria’s government said on Wednesday it plans to shut a Saudi-funded centre for religious dialogue in Vienna after parliament urged it to try to prevent the possible execution of a teenager in Saudi Arabia over acts committed when he was a minor.

    The King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), which was opened in 2012, has long been a lightning rod in Austria for criticism of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.

    Austria’s parliament backed a motion calling on Vienna to quit the treaty on which KAICIID is based and to revoke an agreement that bases it in the Austrian capital.

    The motion also called on Austria’s provisional government and the Foreign Ministry to “use all political and diplomatic means available” to prevent the execution of Murtaja Qureiris, an 18-year-old who rights groups say is on trial, accused of offences related to taking part in anti-government protests.

    KAICIID and the Saudi embassy in Vienna were not immediately available for comment.

    “This is a signal for human rights in Saudi Arabia, which hopefully will be copied by many, not just in Europe,” lawmaker Peter Pilz, author of the motion, said on Twitter.

    The Foreign Ministry said it planned to act on the motion.

    “There is a clear decision of parliament which must be implemented,” it said in a statement, adding that “all legally necessary steps” would be examined.

    The motion, which was backed by the Social Democrats, the far-right Freedom Party and the liberal Neos, also called on Austria to work to secure the release of Qureiris, who rights groups say has been held since he was 13.

    “A fundamental human right, namely taking part in a demonstration, is enough for the Saudi Arabian government to execute a juvenile,” Pilz said in a separate statement.

    Pilz, an environmentalist who split from the Greens, has long been a critic of Saudi Arabia.

    Riyadh paid for the baroque palace that houses the centre, located near the headquarters of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC). It has footed KAICIID’s budget, though it is a shared project, based on a treaty signed by Austria, Spain and Saudi Arabia.

    The Vatican is a founding observer of KAICIID and has representation on its board, which by treaty must include three Christians, three Muslims, a Jew, a Hindu and a Buddhist.

    https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-austria-saudi/austria-to-shut-saudi-backed-religious-dialogue-centre-in-rights-protest-idUKKCN1TD2ER

    ================================================
    KAICIID on youtube

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1OLXWr_zK71qC6bv6wa8-Q/videos

    ===============================================

    • KAICIID Fellow Nourah Alhasawi on the Challenges and Benefits of IRD

      Nourah Alhasawi holds a PhD in Islamic Studies and specializes in Sunnah, the Prophet Mohammed`s biography, teachings and their documentation.

      She is an Associate Professor and the Head of the Islamic Studies Department in Princess Noura Bent Abdurrahman University in Riyadh.

      During her career, she held a number of positions such as Vice Dean for Students Affairs and Head of the Female Department of the “Awareness and Social rehabilitation Society”.
      Nourah holds accreditation as a trainer from the International Academy for Training (Antrac) and is also an accredited trainer with the King Abdul-Aziz Centre for National Dialogue.

      She has participated in many training-related activities such as program design, social work and specialized academic research.

      Nourah is the author of Your Guide to Successful Dialogue among Civilizations, published by the King Abdulaziz Centre for National Dialogue.

      Her other published works include Evidence of a Sole Narrator of Hadeeth, The Life of Aisha, and The Marriage System in Arab Society Before and After Islam.

  4. Kosovo – New bust of former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright unveiled in Pristina

    …with Albright and former US President Bill Clinton attending

  5. CNN – Former EPA chief says Trump is undermining science

    Christine Todd Whitman, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator, says the Trump administration is “hamstringing scientists and their ability to do their work” to tackle climate change.

  6. PRAVDA – Former alt-right follower calls radicalization a health crisis

    ….radicalized by persuasive far right videos on YT

    + comments on the YT page

  7. DAILY MAIL – Marine Le Pen is ordered to stand trial for tweeting pictures of ISIS murders that showed US journalist being beheaded

    Le Pen shared the gruesome images shortly after the 2015 Muslim Paris attacks
    She is accused of circulating ‘violent messages’ that can be viewed by a minor
    The charges carry a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a large fine

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7133313/Marine-Le-Pen-ordered-stand-trial-pictures-ISIS-murders.html

  8. MEMRI – Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayyeb: The West Will Be Punished for Gay Marriage Sooner or Later

    Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayyeb said in a series of interviews that aired on Channel 1 (Egypt) between May 17 and June 2, 2019 that the Western notion of equality is “false.”

    He criticized Western civilization for not being based on any principles or heritage and said that this is why gay marriage is considered acceptable in the West.

    Stating that Allah’s laws are immutable, Al-Tayyeb said: “Even the animal kingdom did not go that far.”

    Sheikh Al-Tayyeb also said that the Quran does not order men to beat their wives, and, explaining that a man who chooses to not beat his wife is not in violation of the shari’a, he said that wife-beating in Islam is only permitted in certain extreme circumstances and that it is comparable to a “poke.”

    He also said that Islam is criticized for permitting wife-beating because Islam and Muslims are “targeted,” while the beatings that occur in the U.S. in the U.K. lead to death and police involvement.

  9. OPEN COMMUNIST Candi CdeBaca Promises to Usher in Communism ‘BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY’ – Wins Seat on Denver City Council (VIDEO)

    Denver City Council candidate Candi CdeBaca is not shy about her love for communism. No matter how many times it has failed in violence, poverty and mass murder, she’s still a fan. In April Candi promised to push communism “by any means necessary.”
    On June 5th Candi won a seat on the Denver City Council.

    In an earlier debate Candi promised to push communism — by any means necessary.

    Candi CdeBaca: I don’t believe that our current economic system actually works. Capitalism by design is extractive and in order to generate profit in a capitalist system something has to be exploited. That’s land, labor or resources. And I think that we’re in late phase capitalism and we know it doesn’t work and we’ve got to move into something new. And I believe in community ownership of land, labor and resources and distribution of those resources. And so whatever that morphs into I think will serve community the best. And I’m excited to usher it in BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

    Hat Tip Amy and Andrew:

  10. Joe Biden Tweets Out Obama Friendship Bracelet Photo With Strange Pizza Charm Attached

    Democratic Presidential frontrunner Joe Biden tweeted out a photo of a friendship bracelet with his and former President Barack Obama’s first names embroidered on it. The odd tweet raised eyebrows across Twitter as the tweet seemed, at best, to be a poor attempt at humor or, at worse…something else entirely.

    https://truedaily.news/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Screen-Shot-2019-06-10-at-3.47.21-PM-768×593.png

    https://truedaily.news/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Screen-Shot-2019-06-10-at-3.47.21-PM-768×593.png

    Richard: Another reference to pizza in a strange setting. We all remember the scandal that was called fake news.

  11. German boat captain threatened with prison for aiding illegal migrants

    Boat captain Pia Klemp is taking heat from Italy for rescuing migrants stranded in the Mediterranean Sea. Rome has accused the German national of aiding human traffickers – charges that have sparked fierce debate.

  12. US Sanctions Iraqi Firm for Trafficking Arms for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (aawsat, Jun 12, 2019)
    https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1764336/us-sanctions-iraqi-firm-trafficking-arms-iran%E2%80%99s-revolutionary-guards

    “The United States imposed on Wednesday sanctions against an Iraqi company, saying it is an important weapons trafficking and financial front for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

    The US Treasury said the company, Manabea Tharwat al-Janoob General Trading Company, was used by the IRGC to smuggle “hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth” of weapons to IRGC allies in Iraq.

    South Wealth Resources has also helped move millions of dollars to Iraq “for illicit financial activity benefitting” the IRGC and Iraq militias it supports.

    The company and two Iraqis who worked with it were placed on the US sanctions blacklist, which seeks to lock them out of the international financial system by forbidding Americans and companies with US units, particularly banks, from doing business with them.

    The company and the two Iraqis, Makki Kazim Abd Al Hamid Al Asadi and Muhammed Husayn Salih al-Hasani, were also placed on the US State Department’s list of “Specially Designated Global Terrorists.”

    “Treasury is taking action to shut down Iranian weapons smuggling networks that have been used to arm regional proxies of the IRGC Quds Force in Iraq, while personally enriching regime insiders,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

    “The Iraqi financial sector and the broader international financial system must harden their defenses against the continued deceptive tactics emanating from Tehran in order to avoid complicity in the IRGC’s ongoing sanctions evasion schemes and other malign activities,” he said.

    Washington last month designed the Guard as a foreign terrorist organization, which makes providing it with material support illegal under US law.

    The new actions freeze any assets that the targets may have in US jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with them.

    The announcement came as Japan’s prime minister visited Iran in an effort to lower tensions between Washington and Tehran.”

  13. Turkey says it has already bought Russian S-400 defense systems (saudigazette, Jun 12, 2019)
    http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/568790/World/Mena/Turkey-says-it-has-already-bought-Russian-S-400-defense-systems

    “Turkey has already bought S-400 defense systems from Russia and hopes they will be delivered in July, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, an announcement likely to ratchet up tensions with Washington on the issue.

    “Turkey has already bought S-400 defense systems. It is a done deal. I hope these systems will be delivered to our country next month,” Erdogan said.

    Turkey and the United States have sparred publicly for months over Ankara’s order for the S-400s, which are not compatible with the NATO’s systems.

    US acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan outlined last week how Turkey would be pulled out of the F-35 fighter jet program unless Ankara changed course from its plans to purchase the S-400 missile defense system.

    Speaking at a meeting of his AK Party members, Erdogan said Turkey will hold to account anyone who excludes Turkey from the F-35 program.

    “We will hold to account Turkey’s exclusion from F-35 program in every platform due to reasons without reason or legitimacy,” Erdogan said. He noted that Turkey is also a manufacturing partner in the program.

    Erdogan also said he wanted to talk about the issue on the phone with the United States, before he meets President Donald Trump in Osaka, Japan at the end of this month.

    Erdogan, who is to meet Trump on the margins of G20 summit in Japan on June 28-29, said in a televised speech that before the gathering he “would like to discuss this issue by telephone and reverse it from the current situation back to where we started”.

    “We have so far paid $1.250 million,” he said.

    Turkey plans to buy 100 F-35s.

    Russia said on Tuesday it plans to deliver its S-400s to Turkey in July, setting the clock ticking on a US threat to hit Ankara with sanctions if it goes ahead with the deal. — Agencies”

  14. Saudi Arabia arrests, tortures scores of Palestinians (memo, Jun 12, 2019)
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190612-saudi-arabia-arrests-tortures-scores-of-palestinians/

    “Scores of Palestinians living in Saudi Arabia have been arrested and tortured over their participation in charitable activities, Twitter account Prisoners of Conscience revealed yesterday.

    The group, which reports on political prisoners in Saudi Arabia, released a series of tweets including details of the detentions and the circumstances surrounding them.

    According to the tweets, Saudi intelligence services committed rights abuses and tortured the Palestinian prisoners during and after their arrest, mainly those working with businessmen Osama and Hisham Filali, Mohamed Bin Mahfouth, Warees Bin Mahfouth and Saleh Abu Ghosh.

    Saudi security forces stormed the houses of the Palestinians at night, locked women and children in one room and confiscated electronic devices before arresting them.

    Some 150 people have been arrested on the grounds of their charitable work, including businessmen and 40 Palestinians in Jeddah alone.

    The tweets noted that all of the prisoners are prevented from contacting their families. Some are entering their second year in detention. “Families of some prisoners do not know anything about them even during Ramadan and the Eid,” the group said.

    During the past months, Saudi security services carried out a wide and secret arrest campaign against Palestinians in the kingdom. The Palestinian embassy in Riyadh has done to support those affected.

    Saudi Arabia has arrested thousands of activists, intellectuals, clerics, journalists and businessmen over the past two years in an attempt to eliminate any possible opposition to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.”

  15. France’s Le Pen faces trial over Twitter images of Islamic State atrocities (reuters, Jun 12, 2019)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-politics-lepen/frances-le-pen-faces-trial-over-twitter-images-of-islamic-state-atrocities-idUSKCN1TD2CX

    “French far-right politician and former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen will face trial over publishing images of Islamic State atrocities on Twitter in December 2015, a judicial source said on Wednesday.

    She had tweeted the images after some French media carried comments comparing her National Front party – now renamed National Rally – to Islamic State.

    Lawyers for Le Pen could not be reached for comment. Le Pen has said before that legal proceedings against her are a form of political interference.

    Le Pen’s party rode a wave of nationalist sentiment to win the most votes in France’s election to the European Parliament last month. [nL8N2320NU]

    Le Pen, whose immunity to prosecution as a parliament member was lifted in 2017 so she could be investigated over the Twitter images, could face a fine of up to 75,000 euros and three years in prison.

    The judicial source did not say when the trial would take place.”

  16. Austria to shut Saudi-backed religious dialogue center in rights protest (reuters, Jun 12, 2019)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-austria-saudi/austria-to-shut-saudi-backed-religious-dialogue-center-in-rights-protest-idUSKCN1TD2DR

    “Austria’s government said on Wednesday it plans to shut a Saudi-funded center for religious dialogue in Vienna after parliament urged it to try to prevent the possible execution of a teenager in Saudi Arabia over acts committed when he was a minor.

    The King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), which was opened in 2012, has long been a lightning rod in Austria for criticism of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.

    Austria’s parliament backed a motion calling on Vienna to quit the treaty on which KAICIID is based and to revoke an agreement that bases it in the Austrian capital.

    The motion also called on Austria’s provisional government and the Foreign Ministry to “use all political and diplomatic means available” to prevent the execution of Murtaja Qureiris, an 18-year-old who rights groups say is on trial, accused of offences related to taking part in anti-government protests.

    KAICIID and the Saudi embassy in Vienna were not immediately available for comment.

    “This is a signal for human rights in Saudi Arabia, which hopefully will be copied by many, not just in Europe,” lawmaker Peter Pilz, author of the motion, said on Twitter.

    The Foreign Ministry said it planned to act on the motion.

    “There is a clear decision of parliament which must be implemented,” it said in a statement, adding that “all legally necessary steps” would be examined.

    The motion, which was backed by the Social Democrats, the far-right Freedom Party and the liberal Neos, also called on Austria to work to secure the release of Qureiris, who rights groups say has been held since he was 13.

    “A fundamental human right, namely taking part in a demonstration, is enough for the Saudi Arabian government to execute a juvenile,” Pilz said in a separate statement.

    Pilz, an environmentalist who split from the Greens, has long been a critic of Saudi Arabia.

    Riyadh paid for the baroque palace that houses the center, located near the headquarters of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC). It has footed KAICIID’s budget, though it is a shared project, based on a treaty signed by Austria, Spain and Saudi Arabia.

    The Vatican is a founding observer of KAICIID and has representation on its board, which by treaty must include three Christians, three Muslims, a Jew, a Hindu and a Buddhist.”

    • Iran flexing its muscles in Vienna.
      See: “The Iranian Spy Empire,” by Lee Smith (July 2, 2015) in the Weekly Standard. The link doesn’t work, but it’s probably archived elsewhere: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/iranian-spy-empire_983066.html.

      “Vienna … is the ctr of Iranian intelligence operations in Europe.”

      “It’s hardly surprising that Vienna is still a playground for foreign intelligence services.? During the Cold War, Austria’s declared neutrality made the capital an inviting place for the American intelligence community and US allies to contest Soviet-bloc services.…

      “Vienna 2015 is a world capital, and home to international organizations, like OPEC and the IAEA. The irony is that this is partly how the Iranians manage to get so many spies in to Vienna.… [T]he Iranians fill their delegations to those organizations and others with intelligence officers.

      “The Austrians don’t make a very big deal about it because, for among other reasons, they want to do business with the Islamic Republic ?- ?indeed,?the Austrians are so eager to see Iran open again that Austrian industries have occasionally skirted sanctions.

      “There’s also some history—some of it unpleasant—between the Austrian government and the clerical regime in Tehran. The Austrian foreign minister was the first western foreign minister to visit Iran after the Islamic revolution. In 1991 then-President and former Nazi officer Kurt Waldheim, was the first Western leader to visit Tehran, where he was praised by then-President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani for his “anti-Americanism” and “anti-Zionism.”

      “And then there was the 1989 assassination of a Kurdish opposition leader and his two colleagues in Vienna, an operation typically attributed to Iranian intelligence.…”

  17. Italy’s Salvini threatens to use strict new law on German NGO boat (reuters, Jun 12, 2019)
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-italy/italys-salvini-threatens-to-use-strict-new-law-on-german-ngo-boat-idUSKCN1TD2GQ

    “ROME (Reuters) – Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini threatened on Wednesday to use tough, new measures for the first time on a German charity ship, Sea Watch, after it picked up migrants off the coast of Libya without authorization.

    “This is the umpteenth time Sea Watch, which is a real pirate ship, has done something like this,” said Salvini, who also serves as deputy prime minister in the ruling coalition and is head of the far-right League party.

    The Italian government on Tuesday approved a security decree that gives the Interior Ministry the power to deny access to Italian territorial waters to vessels that it considers are a risk to security or public order.

    Boats that fail to respect ban orders face fines of up to 50,000 euros ($56,500).

    It did not specify that charity ships were the intended target, but Salvini has vowed to halt their operations and he jumped on news that the Sea Watch vessel had picked up 52 people from a rubber boat some 47 miles (75 km) from Libya.

    Sea Watch said on Twitter the boat had been in distress. It added that although the Libyan coastguard had announced it would take charge of the rescue, it had been in no position to do so.

    “We won’t stop to defend human life at sea,” said Sea Watch, which always brings any migrants it plucks from the Mediterranean to European ports — mostly Italian — arguing that war-racked Libya is too dangerous for asylum seekers.

    Salvini accused the ship, which has repeatedly challenged his closed-port policy, of defying maritime law.

    “We cannot wait to use the new tools in the security decree to stop them accessing our territorial waters,” he wrote.

    Italian police seized the Sea Watch boat last month after it saved dozens of migrants, accusing it of breaching immigration rules. However, the ship was eventually released at the start of June, letting it return to the nearby Libyan coastline.

    Migrant arrivals to Italy have plummeted since Salvini took office a year ago, with 2,144 crossing the Mediterranean so far this year, according to official data, down 85% on the same period in 2018 and down 96% on 2017 levels.

    The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, appealed to Italy on Wednesday to revise the new security law, saying it could endanger life.

    “Sea rescue is a long-standing humanitarian imperative. It is also an obligation under international law,” it said in a statement.

    “No vessel or shipmaster should be at risk of a fine for coming to the aid of boats in distress and where loss of life may be imminent.””

  18. Gunmen attack two ethnic Dogon villages in central Mali (ahram, Jun 12, 2019)
    http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/336094/World/International/Gunmen-attack-two-ethnic-Dogon-villages-in-central.aspx

    “Gunmen are attacking two ethnic Dogon villages in central Mali, a local official said on Wednesday, less than 50 km away from the site of a similar attack in which dozens were killed at the end of last week.

    “Unidentified armed men on motorcycles are surrounding the village and firing at people,” mayor of the targeted Bankass district Moulaye Guindo said via telephone, adding that the attack was still ongoing in the villages of Ogoboro and Nomopere Bomba.

    Guindo said there were people wounded who had been taken to a local hospital, but had no information on the number casualties.”

  19. Turkey reiterates demand for FETÖ leader’s extradition (hdn, Jun 12, 2019)
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-reiterates-demand-for-feto-leaders-extradition-144115

    “Turkey on June 11 reiterated its demand for the extradition of Fetullah Gülen, the leader of the FETÖ.

    Speaking to reporters at the Turkish embassy residence, Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül said given international conventions and agreements the U.S. and Turkey have signed, some steps should have been taken by now.

    “It is not possible for us to accept that there is still not any progress on this issue,” he said.

    FETÖ and Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

    The FETÖ leader has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.

    Ankara has requested Gülen’s extradition from the U.S. several times.

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

    The minister said more evidence on Gülen was submitted to the relevant authorities.

    “We want the extradition to take place and the demands of Turkish judicial authorities to be fulfilled.”

    Turkey is closely monitoring the process, he said.

    Earlier, Gül met with U.S. Attorney General William Barr, saying the two men had a “productive” meeting and congratulated his American counterpart on his new post.

    The meeting tackled boosting judicial cooperation between the two countries, he said on Twitter.

    He told reporters that he hoped the meeting will “yield good results.””

  20. Turkey condemns terrorist attack in Burkina Faso (aa, Jun 13, 2019)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/turkey-condemns-terrorist-attack-in-burkina-faso/1502772

    “Turkey Wednesday condemned a deadly terrorist attack in Burkina Faso.

    “We are saddened by the terrorist attack that took place around the town of Arbinda in northern Burkina Faso, claiming many lives and leaving several people injured,” said the Foreign Ministry in a statement.

    The ministry condemned the “heinous attack” and offered condolences to the people and government of the country.

    “We wish Allah’s mercy upon those who lost their lives and speedy recovery to the wounded,” it added.

    At least 19 people killed and 13 others wounded in the attack on late Sunday.

    Burkina Faso has been threatened by terrorist attacks since 2015…”

  21. Cameroon: Death toll from Boko Haram attack rises to 37 (aa, Jun 12, 2019)
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/cameroon-death-toll-from-boko-haram-attack-rises-to-37/1502202

    “The death from Monday’s attack by Boko Haram in Cameroon climbed to 37, local media reported.

    According to local reports, 21 soldiers and 16 civilians were killed in the armed clashes between militants and Cameroonian army in Darak, a town in Cameroon’s Far North region bordering Lake Chad.

    The local authorities arrested 15 terrorists and “neutralized” some.

    Since 2009, Boko Haram insurgency has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions in the Lake Chad region.”

  22. UNHCR calls on Italy to reconsider new security decree (ansa, Jun 13, 2019)
    http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/06/12/unhcr-calls-on-italy-to-reconsider-new-security-decree_5445bda2-c79b-4085-b2fd-1347d7fce283.html

    “The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, on Wednesday called on the Italian government to “reconsider” its new security decree saying “it would penalize rescues at sea in the central Mediterranean”. “The UNHCR calls on the Italian government to revise the decree and on the parliament to amend it, putting the protection of refugees and the saving of human lives at the centre”.

    The decree that would see organizations that bring migrants rescued at sea to Italy without permission facing fines up to 50,000 euros.”

  23. Saudi crown prince’s sister faces Paris trial over attack on workman

    A Saudi princess, sister to powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is to be put on trial in Paris next month over allegations she ordered her bodyguard to beat up a workman in the French capital, a legal source told French Press Agency (AFP) on Wednesday.

    The case against Princess Hassa bint Salman, stemming from an alleged assault in her luxury Paris apartment in September 2016, is to be judged on July 9, the source said.

    She is likely to be absent from the trial as she has not been apprehended under an international arrest warrant issued in 2017.

    The workman says he was hired to carry out some refurbishment at Princess Hassa’s apartment and she became angry after he took a photograph of the room where the work was to be done.

    He alleges the princess, said to be in her 40s, ordered the bodyguard to beat him, accusing him of taking pictures to sell to the media. Le Point magazine reported that the princess shouted, “Kill him, the dog, he doesn’t deserve to live.”

    The workman says he was punched in the face, his hands were tied and he was forced to kiss the princess’s feet during an hourslong ordeal. His tools were confiscated before he was allowed to leave.

    AFP reported at the time of the incident that his injuries were so severe that he was ordered off work for eight days. The bodyguard was charged on October 1, 2016, with armed violence, theft, issuing death threats and holding someone against their will.

    https://www.dailysabah.com/europe/2019/06/12/saudi-crown-princes-sister-faces-paris-trial-over-attack-on-workman