About Eeyore

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

82 Replies to “Reader’s Links for October 31, 2020”

  1. PAKISTAN – ISLAMABAD

    Watch Pakistan Teaching Its Children on ‘How to behead French President’s Effigy’ In Capital Islamabad

    […]Jamia Hafsa is a madrassa adjacent to the Lal Masjid Mosque islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. The mosque and its seminaries are overseen by cleric Abdul Aziz Ghazi

    […]In this video,a female teacher during an Islamic Deobandi seminary beheads the effigy of the French President Emmanuel Macron in front of female students, many of them were children.

    https://ifenewsnetwork.com/watch-pakistan-teaching-its-children-on-how-to-behead-french-presidents-effigy-in-capital-islamabad/

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

    • Justine Trudeau says Canadians should not use the word barbarians.

      Totally different spin on what I would call childhood memories.

      “Love one another.”

    • The future of Africans is in Africa, the future of Hungarians is in Hungary.

      This is how Viktor Orbán reacted on Kossuth Radio to the assassination in Nice and the fact that the attacker was an African immigrant.

      The Prime Minister put it this way: if we do not want to see the cases of Nice in Hungary, we must not allow those we do not want to let into the country under pressure from Brussels.

  2. CBC – Critics call Liberals’ immigration targets unrealistic

    The Liberal government has announced plans to bring 1.2 million immigrants to Canada over the next three years, saying large-scale immigration is key to keeping the economy afloat, but Conservative critics call the goal unrealistic at best.

    • CBC – Federal government plans to bring in more than 1.2M immigrants in next 3 years

      Conservative critic says setting such targets during a global pandemic is ‘pure fantasy’

      […]Canada aims to bring 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021, 411,000 in 2022 and 421,000 in 2023.

      […]At a news conference in Ottawa today, Mendicino said immigrants drive the population and economic growth that pays for vital programs such as health care.

      “Put simply, we need more workers, and immigration is the way to get there,” he said.

      […]The breakdown of next year’s plan includes:

      232,000 immigrants in the economic class.
      103,500 in the family class.
      59,500 refugees and protected persons.
      5,500 on humanitarian and compassionate grounds

      https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mendicino-immigration-pandemic-refugees-1.5782642

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

      Canada plans to bring in 1.2 million immigrants in next 3 years

      The Liberal government plans to bring in more than 1.2 million immigrants over the next three years.

      • IF they do work, they are nothing but cheap labour that will replace Canadian workers.

        What a cruel joke Justine Trudeau has pulled on the Canadian taxpayers. He needs to put his Global dreams on hold and start acting like he gives a shit about Canadians who are living in the street and taking proper deserving care of our veterans. What a terrible disgrace this feckless …………

  3. UK -THE INDEPENDENT – Most Canadians hope for Trump defeat after insults, attacks

    Donald Trump called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “weak” and “dishonest” and attacked Canada on trade

    The Independent employs over 100 journalists around the world to bring you news you can trust

    […]“Trump has been an unpredictable nightmare,” said Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto. “The government and the overwhelming majority of Canadians are looking and hoping for Trump’s defeat.”

    […]About two-thirds of Canadians had a favorable view of the U.S. in 2016, Barack Obama’s final full year in the presidency, according to the Pew Research Center.?

    […]“Personal relations would improve by about 3,000%” with Biden, historian Robert Bothwell said. “There would be a return to rationality and friendliness. The Biden administration would bring with it a whole bunch of people who value American alliances, so Canada would benefit not just bilaterally and multilaterally in trying to restore the various Western alliances.”

    […]The U.S. has more confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 than any other country, but there is a hope in Canada that Biden administration might better contain the virus.

    […]Bothwell said he was concerned about enduring support for Trump: “The fact that 40% of Americans support this guy no matter what is deeply discouraging.”

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/most-canadians-hope-for-trump-defeat-after-insults-attacks-justin-trudeau-donald-trump-trade-tariffs-joe-biden-b1451357.html

    • Associated Press Muslim Americans aim for high turnout, new influence in 2020

      WASHINGTON (AP) — In the 2016 presidential election, Mohamed Abukar didn’t like his options, so he didn’t vote. This year the 26-year-old Michigan resident has already cast his ballot — and urged others to follow suit.

      “It’s your civic duty” to vote, Abukar said as his balloting was livestreamed by Thasin Sardar, a trustee of the board at The Islamic Center of East Lansing who wanted to encourage community members to vote.

      Muslim American groups and activists have organized with a heightened sense of urgency this fall, setting up phone banks, virtual town halls and rallies aimed at maximizing voter turnout, especially in battleground states. Many hope that in states with notable Muslim populations, such as Michigan, energizing more of them can make a difference in close races and illustrate the community’s political power.

      This election may end up being considered the one “that served to start to crystalize American Muslim political consciousness,” said Youssef Chouhoud, who teaches political science at Christopher Newport University.

      But even after historic gains for Muslim candidates since President Donald Trump took office, including the first two Muslim women elected to Congress in 2018, it’s not clear to what degree Muslim American voters can have the influence envisioned by some advocates.

      That’s in part because — despite Trump policies such as a travel ban affecting some majority-Muslim nations and Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s outreach efforts — Muslims, like other religious groups, are not monolithic in their political behavior.

      Biden addressed a Muslim voter summit this summer and won backing from leading Muslim officials, but he has yet to develop the close relationships in the community that his onetime Democratic primary rival Bernie Sanders enjoyed.

      Muslims also make up a relatively small share of the population, less than 1% of voters nationally in the 2018 midterms, according to AP’s VoteCast survey.

      Even so, Muslim organizers see the potential to punch above their electoral weight this year in states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania, where Trump’s margin of victory was narrow four years ago.

      Their message to their communities: Power comes from showing up at the polls.

      Since Trump’s election, a growing number of Muslims have “recognized that every vote that we make is a down payment on the attention that every politician will have to pay to our community in the future,” said Abdul El-Sayed, a Michigan progressive activist who mounted an unsuccessful Democratic gubernatorial bid in 2018.

      “American Muslims recognize that the most effective way to defeat the rise of violent Islamophobia is by increasing our political representation, and our civic engagement,” said Mohammed Missouri, executive director at Jetpac, which trains American Muslims who want to run for public office.

      “Muslim representation is still often neglected by policymakers,” Missouri added, but the momentum is forcing elected officials to listen.

      Biden has vowed to overturn Trump’s travel ban, which many have decried as anti-Muslim.

      In July, the former vice president told a summit hosted by the Muslim advocacy group Emgage Action — whose political action committee has endorsed Biden — that he wants to win over Muslim voters affirmatively, “not just because (Trump’s) not worthy of being president.” Emgage is leading an outreach campaign that it says has resulted in over 1 million calls and 2 million text messages.

      Farooq Mitha, Biden’s senior adviser for Muslim engagement, said his operation has held more than 150 organizing events since March and described Trump as an “existential threat to Muslim Americans.”

      Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, boasts its own Muslim outreach coalition that has held virtual organizing events. Farhana Shifa Ahmed, a co-chair of Muslim Voices for Trump, said she sees the president as supporting religious freedom for the major Abrahamic faiths, including Islam.

      “He is protecting us, protecting us from our own enemies and even eliminating the division between religions,” Shifa Ahmed said.

      Mahmoud Al-Hadidi, chairman of the Michigan Muslim Community Council, said he expects some Muslim Americans to vote for Trump even if they may not want to advertise it, citing issues such as the economy and law enforcement.

      VoteCast’s 2018 data showed that about 8 in 10 Muslim voters backed Democrats, while two-thirds of U.S. Muslims either identified as Democrats or leaned toward the Democratic Party in a 2017 Pew Research Center survey.

      One obstacle to boosting Muslim voter turnout is that some lack enthusiasm for either Biden or Trump. Others cite religious beliefs for not wanting to be involved in politics, said Raniah El-Gendi, programs and outreach director at the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

      El-Gendi and others have been working to counter views that could keep some away from the ballot box. “Part of our faith is improving the environments and the societies that we live in,” she said. Many activists also urge Muslim voters to think beyond the presidential race to the impact other down-ballot races can have on their lives.

      Abukar, the Michigan voter, recalled in a phone interview coming to the U.S. as a Somali refugee and said he prizes the country’s diversity. Today he feels a new sense of civic responsibility.

      “I can’t sit back this time,” Abukar said. “I can’t just allow things to happen without at least putting in some effort.”

      https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-us-news-michigan-elections-islam-309cbf73beb4eaf1817f7176eab5fe31

    • CBC – What happens if Trump rejects the U.S. election result

      Legal expert weighs in on potential challenge if U.S. President Donald Trump refuses to step down if he loses.

    • Glenn Greenwald: Joe Biden is why Edward Snowden is in Russia

      Glenn explains how Joe Biden and John Kerry forced Snowden to Russia and how the Dems use that as a smear against him.

    • Former DNI Dan Coats interviewed by CBS News on election integrity and foreign interference

      Vladimir Putin is going to win

    • Joe Biden gets called out by supporter in San Antonio for a lie about Trump & corruption in ukraine

  4. Hezbollah Leader Slams Macron for ‘Dragging’ France Into Battle With Islam Amid Prophet Cartoon Row (sputniknews, Oct 31, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202010311080936981-hezbollah-leader-slams-macron-for-dragging-france-into-battle-with-islam-amid-prophet-cartoon-row/

    “Last week, President Emmanuel Macron vowed that France would continue to “fight for freedom”, in a statement made during a ceremony to pay tribute to a French teacher killed after he showed caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad to his students.

    Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Lebanon-based Shia militant group Hezbollah, has warned France against its irreconcilable stance on caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

    “Do not allow this mockery, this aggression […] to continue, and the whole world will stand with you”, Nasrallah said on Saturday, urging France “to be fair and just”.
    He added that instead of “fixing the issue”, French authorities “became stubborn about this being freedom of expression” and that Paris should “think about correcting this mistake”.

    The Hezbollah leader also condemned a recent deadly stabbing in the French city of Nice, stressing that “Islam […] forbids the killing of innocents”.

    “Even if the perpetrator was a Muslim, no one should hold Islam accountable for this crime”, Nasrallah added, cautioning France against pursuing anti-Muslim policy.

    “The French authorities have dragged themselves and the whole of France — [as] they want to drag all of Europe — into a battle with Islam and Muslims for flimsy and sometimes unknown reasons”, Nasrallah claimed, warning that it was a “losing battle”.

    The remarks followed Friday’s statement by Tunisia’s judiciary official Mohsen Dali that Brahim al-Aouissaoui, the Tunisian suspect in the deadly Nice attack, was arrested for violence and using a knife back in 2016.

    In a separate development on Friday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that he does not exclude more terrorist attacks on French territory as the country is engaged in a “war against Islamist ideology”….”

  5. Live Updates: Pashinyan Asks Putin to Begin Consultations on Security Assistance to Armenia (sputniknews, Oct 31, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/world/202010311080935992-live-updates-baku-claims-armenian-military-shelled-3-azerbaijani-districts/

    Karabakh Emergency Services Report Azerbaijani Missile Strikes in Stepanakert, Shushi, Martakert, and Martuni

    Yerevan Dismisses Baku’s Claims of Armenia Bringing Phosphorus to Karabakh

    Moscow Will Provide All Necessary Assistance to Yerevan if Fighting With Azerbaijan Shifts Into Armenia, Foreign Ministry Says

    PM Pashinyan Has Asked Moscow for Consultations About Ensuring Security of Armenia

    Baku Denies Accusations of Using Phosphorus Munitions in Karabakh

    Baku Denies Armenian Reports About Shelling of David-Bek Settlement by Azerbaijani Forces

    Several Powerful Explosions Have Hit Shushi, Sputnik Correspondent in Karabakh Reports

  6. ‘Condemned’ Hindu Girl Who ‘Insulted’ Prophet on Facebook Goes Missing in Bangladesh (sputniknews, Oct 31, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/india/202010311080937021-condemned-hindu-girl-who-insulted-prophet-on-facebook-goes-missing-in-bangladesh/

    “The disappearance of Tithy Sarker, a Bangladeshi Hindu girl, has attracted sympathy from Indian social media users, who have called on their government to take up the matter with Dhaka. Many Indians also cited the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which fast-tracks Indian citizenship applications for persecuted people from India’s neighbours.

    The disappearance of a third-year-undergraduate student hailing from the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka has refocused attention on the radical Islamist underbelly of the South Asian country, which has seen motivated attacks against secular and atheist bloggers in the past.

    ?According to reports in Bangladeshi media, Tithy Sarkar, a student at Jagannath University (JnU), went missing on 25 October, two days after she was suspended by her university for making derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad. Sarker was reportedly on her way to the police station and was supposed to attend the Durga Puja festivities on the day she went missing, her parents have been quoted by local media as saying.

    Sarker also serves as the convenor of the advocacy outfit World Hindu Struggle Council at her university. Before her disappearance, she reportedly told local police that her Facebook account had been hacked.

    Her alleged derogatory comments, made in Bengali, had gone viral on social media platforms in the lead-up to the university’s action, per reports.

    The move by the university followed widespread condemnation of Sarker by social media users, with many even threatening her with dire consequences.

    Sarker’s disappearance is said to be the second religiously-motivated attack in the South Asian country within a week. Earlier, a man in his 50s was reportedly burnt to death on suspicion of being “disrespectful” towards the Holy Quran.

    Observers have warned that the coronavirus pandemic could lead to a resurgence of radical Islam in Bangladesh, which has witnessed a lull in terror activity since the assault by Daesh*-linked terrorists at an upmarket café in Dhaka in 2016. The deadly attack left 29 persons dead, including 18 foreigners…”

  7. Third Person Linked to Nice Knife Attack Detained, Reports Say (sputniknews, Oct 31, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/202010311080936756-third-person-linked-to-nice-knife-attack-detained-reports-say/

    “A third man has been detained in connection with the Nice attack, BFM TV reported, citing its sources. According to reports, the 33-year-old suspect is a relative of another detainee taken into custody on Friday and was present in his house during the police raid…”

      • DAILY MAIL – Pictured: ‘Kind-hearted’ devout Catholic, 60, who was beheaded by Tunisian terrorist at the Nice church where she worshipped – as devastated husband says his life is now an ‘absolute nightmare’

        Married Nadine Devillers was a regular parishioner at the Notre Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Cathedral
        Her husband broke down in tears when he confirmed that she had died in such terrible circumstances
        Brahim Aoussaoui, 21, the Nice terror attacker, slaughtered three people at a Catholic church in Nice
        French investigators believe his profile and identity of his contacts point to the attack being pre-planned
        A third man has been arrested – a 35-year-old from a rundown part of Nice – in connection with the attack

        […]Aoussaoui left his family’s impoverished village of Bou Hajla in Tunisia on or around September 15, according to the country’s judiciary spokesman, having paid smugglers to take him to Europe.

        Five days later he landed with 28 other migrants on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, where records show he was placed into a coronavirus quarantine centre.

        On September 25, he was transferred from the centre to a quarantine ship, the Rhapsody, which set sail for the port city of Bari, on Italy’s eastern coast.

        The ship moored offshore while the migrants waited out the quarantine, with disembarkation beginning on October 8. Aoussaoui was among those disembarked, with his fingerprints, name, and date of birth noted.

        Border officials also took his photograph – which shows him smiling while holding up a card with the number ‘104’ printed on it. It captures the moment Aoussaoui entered mainland Europe.

        Officials also carried out background checks, which Italian newspaper Corriere della Serra reports came back clean. They found Aoussaoui had no criminal background, had not tried to enter the country before, and was not on any international watch-list.

        Nevertheless, Aoussaoui was deemed to have no legal right to enter Europe, and was served with a deportation order which gave him seven days to leave Italy.

        What happened next is now the subject of an investigation. Despite being under deportation order, it seems Aoussaoui was freed by Italian immigration officials. He did not head back to Tunisia, but instead went to France.

        Corriere reports that border officials had split the migrants into three groups – the first was 104 adults who had criminal backgrounds or other reasons for suspicion, who were taken to a detention centre.

        The second, a group of 177, almost half of whom were children, who were placed in shelters. A third group of 104 individuals, of which Aoussaoui was a part, were not sent to a detention centre or shelter – leaving them free to go.

        French security sources have also suggested that Aoussaoui was due to be deported, but Tunisia wouldn’t recognise him as a citizen. Amid the confusion, he simply walked out of detention.

        Investigations are now underway in France, Italy and Tunisia to establish the exact chain of events.

        From here, Aoussaoui’s movements become less clear. Some time between October 9 and 10, it appears he departed Bari for Paris on a train, allowing him to skirt French border checks.

        After arriving in Paris, his movements and contacts are a mystery. But it is thought he stayed in and around the city until October 29, the day of the Nice attack.

        That morning, took an early train to Nice, arriving in the city at 6.30am, according to French investigators.

        He is known to have taken a photo of the Notre Dame basilica – the same church he would later attack – using a phone to send it to his brother back in Tunisia, saying he wanted to spend the night there.

        https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8899897/Terror-knife-attack-Nice-left-three-dead-planned-organised-abroad.html

  8. Some 50 Young People With Turkish Background Rampage in Catholic Church in Vienna – Reports (sputniknews, Oct 31, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/202010311080935917-some-50-young-people-with-turkish-background-rampage-in-catholic-church-in-vienna–reports/

    “Some 50 young people with a Turkish background have rushed into the St Anthony of Padua Church in the Austrian capital of Vienna and staged a rampage there, Austrian media reported.

    According to the Kurier newspaper, the incident took place on late Thursday, with the young Turks kicking benches and a confessional, as well as shouting “Allahu Akbar!”

    A priest called the police but the assaulters had left the site before the officers arrived. The regional department of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism believes that the group of radical Turkish extremists, which is operating in the area, is behind the incident.

    Both Interior Minister Karl Nehammer and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz have condemned the incident.

    “All Christians must have a right to freely and safely practice their faith in Austria! We will firmly continue the fight against political Islam and refrain from false tolerance here”, Kurz wrote on his Twitter page.

    Commenting on the recent terrorist attack in France’s Nice, which claimed the lives of three people, Nehammer said that “every terrorist attack is an attack on our democracy and our European fundamental and freedom rights”.

    Europe has been facing a spike in the incidents related to radical Islam since the brutal beheading of a French history teacher by a radicalised teen in Paris and the tough rhetoric of French President Emmanuel Macron following this attack.”

  9. Emmanuel Macron says he ‘understands’ shock at Charlie Hebdo cartoons as furious protests continue to rage across Muslim world – but he warns ‘violence can never be justified’ in wake of Nice terror attack (dailymail, Oct 31, 2020)
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8900097/Anti-Macron-fury-continues-rage-Muslim-world.html

    “French President Emmanuel Macron has said he ‘understands’ the shock at the cartoons published by Charlie Hebdo as furious protests continue to rage across the Muslim world.

    In an apparent bid to reach out to Muslims, Macron gave a long interview setting out his vision to Qatar-based TV channel Al-Jazeera, seeking to strike a softer tone.

    ‘I can understand that people could be shocked by the caricatures but I will never accept that violence can be justified,’ he said.

    ‘I consider it our duty to protect our freedoms and our rights,’ he added in an extract of the interview to be broadcast from 1600 GMT.

    Fury against French President Emmanuel Macron continues to rage across the Muslim world as protests are held in India, Pakistan and Iraq over the premier’s stance on Charlie Hebdo cartoons.

    Macron has become the focal point of Islamic fury after defending Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed which were used as justification for a teacher’s murder in the Paris suburbs two weeks ago.

    After three people were murdered in Nice Thursday in the latest in a long line of terror attacks in France, Macron said that France will not ‘give up on our values’ despite fury at the caricatures.

    Protests are being staged across the Muslim world, with demonstrations seen this morning in Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, and India.

    In Dhaka, hundreds of Bangladeshi Muslims took to the streets of the capital for a third consecutive day of protests, chanting slogans such as ‘Boycott French products’ and burning effigies of Macron, who they described as an enemy of Islam.

    At a much larger protest on Tuesday in Dhaka thousands had turned out for a protest carrying banners such as ‘Stop Islamophobia’, ‘Boycott France’ and ‘Lay siege to the French Embassy in Dhaka’.

    In the Somalian capital Mogadishu, hundreds of mostly youthful demonstrators gathered at K4, a busy junction leading to the airport and started chanting anti-French slogans and burning French flags.

    They were responding to calls by clerics in various Somali regions to come out and condemn France and boycott French products.

    ‘We are going to use our muscles to defend Islam,’ a middle-aged man, Mohamed Ahmed, who was at the demonstration, told Reuters when asked why he was participating.

    ‘We ask people to burn every product of France they come across.’

    Turkish President Erdogan said Wednesday that Western countries mocking Islam wanted to ‘relaunch the Crusades’, heightening a confrontation with France over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that have stirred anger in Muslim-majority countries.

    In a speech to lawmakers of his AK Party in parliament, President Tayyip Erdogan also said that standing against attacks on the Prophet was ‘an issue of honour for us’, suggesting Ankara may be digging in for a prolonged standoff.

    The row with France flared after a French teacher who showed pupils cartoons of the Prophet published in the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo was beheaded in France this month.

    The caricatures are considered blasphemous by Muslims.

    In a sign of spreading anger at France’s defence of the right to publish the cartoons, demonstrators denounced France in street protests in several Muslim-majority countries.

    ‘France down, it insulted our Prophet,’ shouted protesters in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

    Erdogan sharply criticised Macron at the weekend, saying the French leader needed a mental health check, prompting France to recall its ambassador from Ankara. On Monday, Erdogan urged a boycott of French products.

    The Turkish leader again questioned Macron’s state of mind on Wednesday and, in remarks addressed to ‘the West’, described colonial powers as ‘murderers’ for their record in Africa and the Middle east.

    ‘They literally want to relaunch the Crusades. Since the Crusades, the seeds of evil and hatred have started falling on these (Muslim) lands and that’s when peace was disrupted.’

    Turkish officials said separately Ankara would take legal and diplomatic steps in response to a caricature of Erdogan in Charlie Hebdo, which officials called a ‘disgusting effort’ to ‘spread its cultural racism and hatred’.

    The cartoon on the cover of Charlie Hebdo showed Erdogan sitting in a white t-shirt and underpants, holding a canned drink and lifting the skirt of a woman wearing an Islamic hijab to reveal her naked bottom.

    ‘Our battle against these rude, ill-intentioned and insulting steps will continue until the end, with reason but determination,’ Turkey’s Communications Directorate said.

    State media reported that Turkish prosecutors had launched an investigation into Charlie Hebdo’s executives.

    The row has its roots in a knife attack outside a French school on Oct. 16 in which a man of Chechen origin beheaded Samuel Paty, a teacher who had shown pupils cartoons of the Prophet in a civics lesson.

    The French government, backed by many citizens, saw the beheading as an attack on freedom of speech, and said it would defend the right to display the cartoons.

    Macron has said he would redouble efforts to stop conservative Islamic beliefs subverting French values.

    France’s foreign ministry on Tuesday issued safety advice to French citizens in Indonesia, Turkey, Bangladesh, Iraq and Mauritania, advising them to exercise caution. They should stay away from any protests over the cartoons and avoid any public gatherings.

    In Cairo, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said freedom of expression should stop if it offended more than 1.5 billion people.

    The Grand Imam of Egypt’s al-Azhar university, one of the world’s most eminent seats of Sunni Muslim learning, urged the international community to criminalise ‘anti-Muslim’ actions.

    Indonesian president Joko Widodo today condemned what he called ‘terrorist’ attacks in France, but also warned that remarks by President Macron had ‘insulted Islam’ and ‘hurt the unity of Muslims everywhere.’

    Conservative Islamic organizations in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, have called for protests and boycotts against France, sharing an image of Macron as a red-eyed devilish snail.

    ‘Freedom of speech that injures the noble purity and sacred values and symbol of religion is so wrong, it shouldn’t be justified and it needs to stop,’ the Indonesian leader, who is known by his popular name Jokowi, said in a televised address.

    He added, however, that ‘linking religion to acts of terrorism is a massive mistake. Terrorists are terrorists.'”

  10. Indonesian leader condemns France attacks, Macron’s comments (abcnews, Oct 31, 2020)
    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/indonesian-leader-condemns-france-attacks-macrons-comments-73940666

    “Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Saturday strongly condemned terrorist attacks in Paris and Nice and comments by French President Emmanuel Macron that were deemed offensive toward Islam and the global Muslim community.

    Widodo, the leader of the world’s most populous Muslim nation, told a televised news conference from the presidential palace in the capital, Jakarta, that his government strongly condemns the recent vigilantism in France against a teacher who was beheaded near Paris and a knife attack at a church in Nice that killed three people.

    Flanked by religious leaders and Cabinet ministers, Widodo also condemned comments made by Macron at an Oct. 21 national memorial for the teacher as an insult to Islam. Macron had said that the teacher, Samuel Paty, “was the victim of a conspiracy of stupidity, hate, lies … hate of the other … hate of what we profoundly are.”

    “The comments could divide the unity of the world’s religious communities at a time when the world needs unity to curb the COVID-19 pandemic,” Widodo said.

    He said that freedom of expression that tarnishes the honor, sanctity and sacredness of religious values and symbols could not be justified and must be stopped.

    “Linking religion with terrorist acts is a big mistake,” Widodo said. “Terrorism is terrorism, terrorists are terrorists, terrorism has nothing to do with any religion.”

    Widodo’s comments come after France was shaken by the two recent attacks. In a Paris suburb on Oct. 16, Paty, who showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to pupils in a class discussion on free speech, was beheaded. The 18-year-old Chechen refugee who carried out the attack was later shot dead by police.

    In the Mediterranean city of Nice on Thursday, a young Tunisian man armed with a knife and carrying a copy of the Quran attacked worshippers in a church and killed three.

    Paty has been heralded as a symbol of France’s staunch secular ideals and its rejection of religious intrusion in public spheres. Macron and members of his government have vowed to continue supporting such caricatures as protected under freedom of expression.

    Muslim politicians, religious scholars and everyday people have condemned such depictions as a form of hate speech and view them as sacrilegious and insulting to Islam.

    In Indonesia, home to more than 270 million people, the vast majority of them Muslims, Macron’s statement has sparked strong disdain from grass-roots Islamic organizations.

    In response to the outrage, the French Embassy in Jakarta issued a statement on Tuesday.

    “President Emmanuel Macron made it clear that there was no intention at all to generalize, and clearly distinguished between the majority of French Muslims and the militant, separatist minority that is hostile to the values of the French Republic,” the embassy’s statement said.”

  11. Pakistan’s University of Health Sciences Boycotts France over Mohammed Cartoons (breitbart, Oct 30, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2020/10/30/pakistans-university-health-sciences-boycotts-france-mohammed-cartoons/

    “Pakistan’s University of Health Sciences (UHS) in Lahore, one of the most important medical research universities in the country, announced on Thursday that it will boycott French research and academic institutions due to comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron after a Muslim immigrant beheaded a French teacher on October 16…”

  12. Armenian Prime Minister Warns on Erdogan Aggression, Says EU ‘Should Expect Turkey Near Vienna’ in Future (breitbart, oct 31, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/10/31/armenian-prime-minister-warns-eu-should-expect-turkey-near-vienna/

    “The Prime Minister of Armenia has warned the European Union on Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasing aggression, saying that it “should expect Turkey near Vienna” in a “not so distant future”.

    Prime Minister Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan was talking to outlets including the Europen Post, the Telegraph, and Il Giornale on the ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, or Artsakh, a breakaway province of Azerbaijan populated by Christian ethnic Armenians.

    Muslim-majority Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, has been seeking to bring the unrecognised but hitherto de facto independent Republic of Artsakh to heel by force of arms, while Armenia — like Azerbaijan a former Soviet Socialist Republic — has been assisting the separatists’ efforts to resist them.

    “We need to acknowledge that the main initiator of this war was Turkey which transported mercenaries and terrorists from Syria to Azerbaijan and transferred some part of its armed forces to Azerbaijan, including military equipment as well as some armed groups from Pakistan,” the Armenian prime minister alleged.

    “What is happening here is the continuation of the policy that Turkey is carrying out in the Mediterranean Sea against Greece and Cyprus and in Libya, in Syria, in Iraq,” he continued.

    “In the South Caucasus, Armenians are the last obstacle on Turkey’s path of continued imperialistic policies towards the north-east and the south-east. The Western community has failed to assess Turkey’s conduct appropriately and in a not so distant future, they should expect Turkey near Vienna,” he warned.

    Pashinyan was likely referencing the Turkish sieges of the Austrian capital in 1529 and 1683 — the high watermark of Turkish expansionism in Europe under the former Ottoman Empire, which Erdogan is fond of referencing.

    The Turks never again threatened to dominate Europe after King John III Sobieski of Poland rode to Vienna’s rescue and broke their forces outside the city in what is believed to be the biggest cavalry charge in history — but many European nations including Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, and Serbia would languish under the Turkish yoke for generations, and indeed Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, and parts of Thrace remain under Turkish control to this day.

    “The EU’s security is not a part of my job but later, they should not accuse us of not having warned them,” Pashinyan continued.

    “In recent years, if you really see what’s been happening in Europe… this war started in Europe earlier!” he explained.

    “And it’s going on every day. If artillery is not being used, it does not mean that that war hasn’t started. A war is currently happening in Europe.”

    Asked “What war do you mean that is happening now in Europe?” by reporters, the Armenian leader advised them to “look at what happened in France.”

    “You should look at the tone with which the President of Turkey is addressing French president Macron. Could you ever conceive any country’s president or any country’s official representative possibly saying those things and in that tone about the president of France and about France? Who could have conceived that 15 years ago, even in the years of the Cold War? I don’t know of a case where any leader of the Soviet Union ever saying about France or any other European country’s leaders such things using that language. What is it if not a war?” he asked.

    “Now, it may be that you want or you don’t want to notice that war — the longer you choose not to notice that war the more it will grow noticeable for you. People are being beheaded in the streets of Europe today,” he added bluntly.”

  13. Report: Armed Turkish Soldiers Prowling Greek Border in Civilian Dress (breitbart, Oct 31, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/10/31/report-armed-turkish-soldiers-prowling-greek-border-civilian-dress/

    “CNN Greece has published video which they say shows armed Turkish soldiers in civilian clothing probing the Greek border.

    According to CNN Greece, the Greek border authorities spotted five men armed with automatic weapons in the Gemisti area of the Graeco-Turkish frontier, prowling the banks of the Evros river which demarcates much of the land border between the two countries along with four others.

    CNN Greece reports that they fled the scene after realising Greek border guards had discovered them, with any attempts at crossing the border of facilitating illegal immigration undetected having been foiled.

    It is not the first time President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regime has been accused of engaging in illicit activities on the Greek border, which they deliberately subjected to extra migration pressure in an attempt to leverage the European Union prior to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

    The Greek government has previously accused the Turks of bussing migrants including freed prisoners to the frontier en masse, shared video of what they said was an EU-funded Turkish armoured vehicle attempting to rip down sections of border barrier in order to assist would-be illegal border crossers, and alleged that Turkish personnel have bombarded their border guards with tear gas to provide cover for migrants rushing their defences.

    There has been third-party confirmation of illicit action by Turkey at the frontier, too, with the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) finding that the Turks had planted agents provocateurs among migrants massed on the Greek border in order to incite riots.”

  14. Blasphemy: Amsterdam Imam Demands Laws Outlawing Insults to Mohammed (breitbart, Oct 31, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/10/31/amsterdam-imam-demands-laws-outlawing-insults-to-mohammed/

    “Yassin Elforkani, the Imam of Amsterdam’s Blue Mosque, has demanded Dutch lawmakers consider passing new legislation to ban insulting the Islamic prophet Mohammed.

    Elforkani, who claimed that he condemned the recent attacks in France that left three dead in Nice this week and previously saw teacher Samuel Paty beheaded in the street, stated that a young Muslim he spoke to did not understand why insulting Mohammed was allowed under free expression.

    “He said, ‘Yassin, explain this to me: if our Jewish brothers are attacked, it will soon be anti-Semitism, and it will not be allowed. I understand that. But why is insulting the prophet subject to freedom of expression?’ That got me thinking,” Elforkani told newspaper Het Parool.

    “These insults of Islam create a very negative dynamic and a toxic atmosphere in society, with all the risks that entails,” he warned.

    “We’re going to have to get rid of that,” he insisted, adding: “We can’t get out if we keep pointing out freedom of speech and you have to be able to say everything. It seems like a contest that can insult Islam the hardest.”

    The imam rejected accusations that outlawing insults to Mohammed would be submitting to terrorism, suggesting that “Legislation and political debate are a good answer to terrorism. You send a signal: that’s how we do it in a democracy.”

    In many Muslim countries, it is already illegal to insult Mohammed and can even lead to the death sentence, as in countries like Pakistan.

    Earlier this week the Pakistani government sent legal notices to Twitter an attempt to have tweets removed that showed Charlie Hebdo magazine covers broadcast on a government building, as well as a tweet linking to a Breitbart London article on the incident.

    Dutch firebrand politician Geert Wilders has also come into conflict with Turkish authorities over a cartoon he published on Twitter of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which made reference to a Mohammed cartoon published in 2005 by Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten.

    Erdogan launched a lawsuit earlier this week claiming that Wilders had broken Turkish law by insulting him.”

  15. US forces rescue American hostage in Nigeria

    American troops on Saturday morning rescued an American citizen taken hostage last week in Niger, according to a statement from the Pentagon.

    “U.S. forces conducted a hostage rescue operation during the early hours of 31 October in Northern Nigeria to recover an American citizen held hostage by a group of armed men,” said Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman in a media release. “This American citizen is safe and is now in the care of the U.S. Department of State. No U.S military personnel were injured during the operation.”

    The hostage, Philipe Nathan Walton, was taken from his farm in Massalata in southern Niger early Tuesday morning by armed kidnappers who demanded a ransom from the man’s father.

    The mission was undertaken by elite commandos as part of a major effort to free Walton, 27, before his abductors could get far after taking him captive in Niger on Oct. 26, counterterrorism officials told ABC News.

    Niger has faced a growing number of attacks by extremists linked to both the Islamic State group and to al-Qaida. The kidnapping comes two months after IS-linked militants killed six French aid workers and their Niger guide while they were visiting a wildlife park east of the capital.

    Hoffman would not comment on anything beyond his initial statement.

    The operation involved the governments of the U.S., Niger and Nigeria working together to rescue Walton quickly, sources said. The elite SEAL Team Six carried out the rescue mission and killed all but one of the captors, according to officials with direct knowledge about the operation.

    U.S. and Nigerien officials had said that Walton was kidnapped from his backyard last Monday after assailants asked him for money. But he only offered $40 and was then taken away by force, according to sources in Niger.

    Walton lives with his wife and young daughter on a farm near Massalata, a small village close to the border with Nigeria.

    Nigerien and American officials told ABC News that they believed the captors were from an armed group from Nigeria and that it was not considered it terror-related. But hostages are often sold to terrorist groups.

    Concern grew quickly after the kidnapping that an opportunity to rescue Walton could become much more dangerous if he was taken by or sold to a group of Islamist militants aligned with either al Qaeda or ISIS and American special operations commanders felt they needed to act swiftly before that could occur, said one counterterrorism official briefed on the hostage recovery operations.

    https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/10/31/us-forces-rescue-american-hostage-in-nigeria/

    • DAILY MAIL – Greek Orthodox priest is fighting for life in hospital after being shot twice in the stomach by gunman with a sawn-off hunting rifle in Lyon as police launch manhunt for attacker

      The Greek Orthodox priest was severely wound by an attacker at 4pm today
      Gunman was described as ‘male and in his forties’ who ‘fired his weapon twice’

      Greek Orthodox priest is fighting for his life in hospital after being shot by an attacker carrying a sawn-off hunting rifle in the French city of Lyon.

      Authorities have locked down part of the city and a manhunt for the assailant is ongoing.

      The Christian clergyman, who is said to be a 52-year-old Greek citizen, is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after being hit in the abdomen, a police official told the Associated Press news agency.

      The man was locking up his church when a gunman struck at around 4pm on Saturday.

      Police cordoned off the largely residential neighbourhood around the church and warned the public on social networks to stay away.

      Witnesses to the attack on the 52-year-old, who has been in France since 2012, said they heard the sound of two gunshots and then the sound of a woman screaming.

      It is thought that the woman’s screams caused the attacker to flee.

      The gunman was described as ‘male and in his forties’ armed with a sawn-off hunting rifle. He is thought to have fired his weapon twice.

      The church where the priest ministered is well known to the sizeable Greek community in Lyon.

      It is thought that there were no guards outside the Church, as there are at other Christian places of worship in France.

      The victim is an Archpriest, a term used in Eastern Christian religions to describe a non-monastic priest, who was easily identifiable as a member of the clergy because of his distinctive religious attire.

      The reason for the shooting was unclear but it follows an attack at a church in Nice on Thursday in which three people were killed and comes amid high tensions between France and the Muslim world over comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron in defence of controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

      Fanny Dubot, the Mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Lyon, said ‘the security initiative had been stepped up’ in Lyon since the Nice attack, but she was ‘not aware’ of specific measures being made to secure the Greek Orthodox church in her district.

      Gerard Darmanin, France’s Interior Minister, confirmed he had opened a crisis unit in Paris, and told anyone in Lyon to ‘avoid the area and follow instructions’.

      Those living in the area were told to lock themselves in their homes and stay away from public places.

      The attack came on Saturday as President Macron said it was ‘our duty to protect our freedoms’ as furious protests continued to rage against Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that he has backed.

      Mr Macron told Qatar-based TV channel Al Jazeera: ‘I can understand that people could be shocked by the caricatures but I will never accept that violence can be justified.

      ‘I consider it our duty to protect our freedoms and our rights.’

      Saturday’s killing follows the murder of three people in an Islamist terrorist attack on a Catholic basilica in the southern city of Nice on Thursday.

      Brahim Aoussaoui, the 21-year-old Tunisian behind the attack, survived despite being shot 14 times by police, and is currently under armed guard in a secure hospital wing.

      French President Emmanuel Macron immediately declared France ‘under attack’ following disturbing incidents related to extremists targeting Christians.

      […]

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8900631/Greek-Orthodox-priest-fighting-life-hospital-shot-twice-stomach-Lyon.html

  16. They aren’t celebrating Donald Trump but they are good at traditional Polynesian dancing.

    Hura Tahiti – A performance by Rahiti

  17. French Police Seek Attacker After Orthodox Priest Shot in Lyon (sputniknews, Oct 31, 2020)
    https://sputniknews.com/europe/202010311080939421-french-police-seek-attacker-after-orthodox-priest-shot-in-lyon/

    “The development comes two days after three people were stabbed to death in the Notre-Dame basilica in the city of Nice and two weeks after an 18-year-old man of Chechen origin beheaded a schoolteacher in a Paris suburb.

    French police are looking for an attacker who shot an Orthodox priest in the city of Lyon, local media says. According to reports, the priest is seriously injured. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has urged residents of Lyon to avoid the area around Jean-Macé sector, where the shooting occurred. The mayor of Lyon has said there is no information about the motive of the shooter.

    Local media says the attack occurred when the priest, a Greek citizen, was closing the church. According to LyonMag, the perpetrator was armed with a sawed-off shotgun, fired his weapon twice, and fled the scene. The priest is reportedly in a serious condition…

    ?Local media says the perpetrator is about 40 years old and didn’t know his victim. The shooter is still at large. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has said he is returning to Paris where he will form a crisis committee together with President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Jean Castex, who has already departed for the French capital.

    New Wave of Terrorist Attacks and Calls For Boycott
    France has been hit by a wave of terrorist attacks since 16 October, when an 18-year-old man beheaded 47-year-old schoolteacher Samuel Paty for displaying caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during a class on freedom of speech, where he also discussed the Charlie Hebdo case. The killing caused anger and indignation in France, with President Macron calling Islam a religion “in crisis” and defending Paty’s decision to teach his students about freedom of speech and to show the controversial caricatures.?

    Macron’s comments caused outrage in the Muslim world, where depictions of the Prophet Muhammad are regarded as a taboo, while satire about Islam or of its religious representatives is considered blasphemous and is in some countries is punishable by death…”

  18. Azerbaijan’s 1st ground attack on Shusha city repelled by Nagorno Karabakh & Armenia forces

  19. Farage on Priest Shooting in France: ‘Every Terror Attack in France Is Another Reason to Vote Trump’ (breitbart, Oct 31, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/10/31/farage-on-priest-shooting-in-france-every-terror-attack-in-france-is-another-reason-to-vote-trump/

    “Nigel Farage has reacted to the shooting of a Greek Orthodox priest at a church in Lyon, France, by saying that “Every terror attack in France is another reason to vote Trump.”

    Details are still emerging about the shooting, which saw a priest shot with a handgun or sawn-off shotgun as he closed up his church, according to initial reports. The victim was in life-threatening condition and the perpetrator still at large as of the time of publication.

    The Lyon shooting has not been definitively confirmed as a terror attack or suspected terror attack by the French authorities at this time, although it follows a jihadist attack at another church in Nice which left three dead…”

  20. NGOs Demand Britain Open Borders to Migrants Across the World After Boat Deaths (breitbart, Oct 31, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/10/31/britain-open-borders-infinite-migrants/

    “NGOs have demanded Britain totally open its borders to illegal immigration and fly in migrants’ families from across the globe after four people died off the French coast in an attempt to reach UK shores.

    Groups including Save the Children, which is funded by some of the world’s richest individuals and corporations including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, called for the government to expand “safe and legal” migration routes for the effectively unlimited number of people in the world who could seek to “flee” to Britain from “poverty”.

    The push for open borders, which is being heavily publicised across the United Kingdom and even international media, comes after a family of two adults and two children from Iran died when their boat capsized in the English Channel. A 15-month-old baby who was with them is also missing.

    Refugee Action declared that the deaths were “entirely inevitable” and that the situation would be repeated unless the government allow would-be migrants from across the globe to resettle in Britain.

    “If you look at the particular people in this boat, as far as we can see they were from Iran and if you think about the journey they will have taken, there are many ways in which focusing on safe and legal routes could have potentially prevented them from thinking about crossing the English Channel,” said Naor Hilton, the NGO’s head of asylum.

    Hilton gave no indication that migrants might themselves bear some responsibility for drownings in the Channel, particularly of children, despite the publication of undercover footage showing youngsters being ordered onto boats despite begging not to go on them.

    “We have been fearing that something like this would happen since earlier in the year as the number of [Channel crossings] increased and as the government’s response focused on talking tough and creating hostile environments for the people arriving,” Hilton added.

    It is not entirely clear what “hostile environment” he could be referring to, however, as the British government has turned back no boats intercepted at sea and deported only a tiny minority of their passengers after their arrival.

    Earlier this month Breitbart London noted how some 9,500 asylum seekers who broke into Britain are being housed at taxpayers’ expense in 91 hotels around the country, with between 20 and 50 of these — including some with four-star ratings — reported to be benefiting from a £4 billion ten-year contract with the government to accommodate illegal immigrants.

    With record thousands of migrants having successfully crossed the English Channel this year, more than triple the figure recorded in 2019, other newcomers are living in open camps at disused military facilities such as Napier Barracks, where illegal arrivals are provided with taxpayer-funded mobile phones, as well as having access to “TVs, WiFi and sports equipment”.

    Head of advocacy at the Refugee Council, Andy Hewett, asserted that the “tragic loss of life needs to be turning point for the UK government who can act now”.

    “The lack of safe and regular routes into the UK for people fleeing war and persecution leaves them with little choice but to undertake these dangerous journeys,” he claimed, apparently not considering that they might opt not to attempt to enter Britain illegally via small boats, and instead claim asylum in France or any of the other safe countries most will have passed through en route to the Channel coast.

    “The government urgently needs to increase access to safe and regular routes, including changing the family reunion [chain migration] rules to enable more refugees to be reunited with their family members, immediately restarting the UK’s resettlement programme, and explore the development of humanitarian visas to enable people to make a claim for asylum without having to risk their lives,” he added.

    The government has stated that it is against expanding family reunification laws as demanded by open borders campaigners as well as Labour and Scottish National Party (SNP) MPs, stressing that such a change would “create perverse incentives for people, particularly children, to leave their families and risk dangerous journeys hoping relatives can join them later”.

    On Wednesday, Environment Secretary George Eustice noted that Britain is already in the top five countries in the world for the number of refugees resettled in the country at taxpayers’ expense, insisting illegal immigrants have “no reason” to cross the English Channel.

    Blasting “callous gangs” for making money pressuring people to make the journey, he told BBC Breakfast: “There is no reason for them to make this crossing, they are in safe countries, they are in the EU, they are in France.

    “There isn’t a rationale, they’re not in danger and there is no reason for them to make a particular crossing. They are being encouraged to do so by gangs that are taking their money.””

  21. SEAL Team Six Rescues American Hostage in West Africa (breitbart, Oct 31, 2020)
    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/10/31/seal-team-six-rescues-american-hostage-west-africa/

    “SEAL Team Six rescued an American hostage in West Africa, according to reports.

    American citizen, Philip Walton, 27, was kidnapped for ransom from his back yard in Niger last week, according to ABC News.

    Reuters reported that six gunmen on motorbikes with AK-47s seized Walton and left his family and brother tied up in their home.

    The daring SEAL Team operation was conducted in the early morning hours of October 31. The team killed all but one of the seven captors, ABC News stated. No military personnel was wounded, according to a statement from the Pentagon.

    “This American citizen is safe and is now in the care of the U.S. Department of State,” Pentagon chief spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman said. “No U.S military personnel were injured during the operation.”

    President Donald Trump previewed the news on Saturday.

    “Big win for our very elite U.S. Special Forces today,” he wrote on Twitter. “Details to follow!””

  22. “Glenn Greenwald on resigning from his own publication due to censorship”
    Fox News – October 29, 2020

  23. ANTIFA Terrorists Storm a Seattle News Outlet for Covering Their Riotous Behavior in the City

    A group of left-wing ANTIFA terrorists stormed a news outlet in Seattle in retaliation after they reported accurately about the group’s orgy of destruction in the city.

    News station KING was targeted by ANTIFA terrorists because reporter Chris Ingalls posted some photos of suspected ANTIFA terrorists on his Twitter account.

    https://bigleaguepolitics.com/antifa-terrorists-storm-a-seattle-news-outlet-for-covering-their-riotous-behavior-in-the-city/

  24. American Hostage Kidnapped in West Africa Rescued by US Forces

    An American hostage held by a group of armed men in West Africa was rescued early Saturday morning during a rescue operation lead by U.S. forces.

    The Pentagon confirmed the operation, saying that the American citizen is safe and now in the care of the State Department. They added that no U.S. military personnel were injured during the operation.

    “The United States will continue to protect our people and our interests anywhere in the world,” Jonathan Hoffman, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, said in a statement.

    President Donald Trump also lauded the operation, saying on Saturday morning: “Big win for our very elite U.S. Special Forces today. Details to follow!”

    Counterintelligence officials told Fox News and ABC News that the elite SEAL Team 6 carried out the mission to rescue 27-year-old Philip Walton, who was kidnapped in Niger earlier this week after six armed men took him across the border into Northern Nigeria.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/american-hostage-kidnapped-in-west-africa-rescued-by-us-forces_3559888.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2020-10-31-1

  25. 2 weeks ago in Birmingham, UK:
    Shisha lounge slapped with £10,000 fine for flouting Covid-19 ruleshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngy5tAbO6LA

    Yesterday:
    Police shut down Birmingham shisha lounge only days after it was fined £10,000

  26. Turkey Arrests 15 Iraqis, One Syrian Over Suspected ISIS Links
    https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2596871/turkey-arrests-15-iraqis-one-syrian-over-suspected-isis-links

    “Turkish security forces arrested Friday 16 foreigners in the Black Sea province of Samsun with suspected links to the ISIS terrorist organization.

    Security sources said that anti-terror teams carried out simultaneous operations to arrest the suspects in the districts of Ilkadim and Atakum in northern Turkey.

    The suspects included 15 Iraqi nationals and one Syrian and proved to be active among ISIS ranks. The security sources said they possessed digital materials that promoted the ideology of the terror group.

    On Thursday, the anti-terror teams in western Kutahya province arrested four ISIS suspects, whose names were listed as members of terror groups in a document seized in Syria’s northeastern Hassakah province in 2018.

    Last week, security forces in Istanbul arrested 14 people with suspected links to the extremist organization.

    The suspects included 13 foreign nationals, some of whom are suspected of being active in Syria.

    The Istanbul Police Department said in a statement that the 14 suspects were arrested at 20 different venues in simultaneous anti-terror operations by police and intelligence teams.

    Since 2015, ISIS has claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist operations, in which more than 300 people were killed and hundreds others were injured.

    Those operations include at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed attacks.

    Turkish security services have been carrying out ongoing campaigns against the organizations’ cells, arresting more than 5,000 of its members.

    Over the past five years, more than 3,000 others have been deported.

    Turkey launched the campaign to deport foreign fighters in November 2019, after the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a US raid in Idlib earlier in October.”

  27. Macron accuses Turkey of ‘bellicose’ attitude towards Nato allies
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/france-macron-erdogan-accuses-turkey-bellicose-attitude-nato-allies

    “French President Emmanuel Macron has accused Turkey having a “bellicose” attitude towards its allies, as the row over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad contiues unabated.

    In an interview broadcast on Saturday, Macron said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had displayed “belligerent behavior with Nato allies”, adding that he hoped “things would calm down” and that the Turkish president “would not tell lies”.

    His comments came as Erdogan, as well as a number of other leaders of Muslim-majority countries, continued to criticise Macron for comments he made describing Islam as being in a state of “crisis”…”

  28. German politician: ‘Erdogan pours fuel on fire and supports terrorism’
    https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201031-german-politician-erdogan-pours-fuel-on-fire-and-supports-terrorism/

    “Foreign affairs expert in the opposition German Green Party, Cem Ozdemir, accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of promoting Islamic terrorism in Europe.

    Ozdemir said in statements to the German Deutschland network on Friday that “measures must be taken against all these inciters who continue to fuel Islamist extremism for their own purposes motivated by cheap interests.”

    He added, after the suspected stabbing attack of radical Islamist motives in Nice, southern France: “Turkish President Erdogan constantly pours oil on the fire, and contributes to violence and terrorism.”

    The Turkish president had previously criticised the French President, Emmanuel Macron, for defending freedom of expression and publishing offensive cartoons of Islam, after the beheading of a French history teacher.

    Erdogan spoke of a “mass murder campaign” targeting Muslims in Europe and called for boycotting French products.

    Ozdemir said: “In Germany, we need to handle Islamist organizations differently. These organizations must be established entirely according to our constitution and become independent from foreign governments.”

    At least three people were killed and several others were injured in an attack in France on Thursday. The suspected attacker was arrested and France raised the terror alert level to the maximum “emergency” level nationwide, as President Macron spoke of an “Islamist terrorist attack”.”