UN Rights Council Delves Into US Voter I.D. Laws
The United Nations Human Rights Council is investigating the issue of American election laws at its gathering on minority rights in Geneva, Switzerland. This, despite the fact that some members of the council have only in the past several years allowed women to vote, and one member, Saudi Arabia, still bars women from the voting booth completely.
Officials from the NAACP are presenting their case against U.S. voter ID laws, arguing to the international diplomats that the requirements disenfranchise voters and suppress the minority vote.
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“The idea that this is a human rights abuse is ridiculous,” said Hans von Spakovsky, a voter fraud expert and senior legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, in Washington, D.C.
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“I think the leadership of the NAACP is, quite frankly, doing a disservice to American citizens and the democracy that we have here, by going abroad to the Human Rights Council, which is filled with dictatorships and other countries that actually and really abuse human rights.”
He called the council’s weighing of U.S. laws “an insult to the United States that the NAACP thinks we should be getting advice from those kinds of countries, which are not democracies, on how to administer elections in this country.”
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France: Saudi Princess Tries to Sneak Out of Paris Hotel Owing Six Million Euros
A Saudi princess was stopped by police as she tried to sneak out of a Paris luxury along with her 60-strong entourage, leaving unpaid bills worth six million euros. Staff called the cops when Maha al-Sudani, the former wife of Crown Prince Nayef ben Abdel Aziz, tried to leave at 3.30am Thursday.
Paris police on Saturday confirmed press reports that the princess had tried to do a runner on the swanky Shangri-La hotel on Paris’s posh avenue Iéna, near the Arc de Triomphe. They contacted the Saudi embassy and searched the dozens of bags being carried by her companions.
No charges appear to have been made since Al-Sudani enjoys diplomatic immunity and the hotel said Saturday that it has no unpaid bills at the moment.
The princess already had a dubious reputation in Paris’s luxury establishments after leaving bills of as much as 15 million euros for jewels, clothes and hotel accommodation behind her in 2009.
Then the fashion chain Key Largo went to court to obtain 89,000 euros she owed.
King Abdallah then grounded her, confining her to a palace for two years. But she returned to Paris in 2011, taking over the entire seventh floor of the Shangri-La, 41 suites and rooms, at about 20,000 euros a night. She had managed to pay about 10 million euros of her bill before her pre-dawn departure.
She reportedly intended to move to the nearby Royal Monceau hotel in the hope that it’s Qatari owners would be more understanding of payment problems.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Police: ‘Canadian Psycho’ Is Hiding in Paris
French police are reported to be certain that Luka Rocco Magnotta, the man dubbed the ‘Canadian psycho’ due to suspicions of him having dismembered his male lover and mailed his body parts across Canada, is hiding in Paris.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Man Beheads Wife on Apartment Roof
A GERMAN man was arrested today after he decapitated his wife on the roof of their Berlin home.
Neighbours saw the 32-year-old, who was described as mentally ill by police, beat and kick his wife early today following an argument, the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper reported.
Witnesses said the man was later seen on the roof of the five-storey building, with a knife in one hand and his wife’s head in the other. The man then threw the head into the courtyard of the housing compound.
When police went to arrest the man, he attempted to fight officers but eventually was overwhelmed.
Six children aged between 18 months and 13 years were found safe in the apartment. It was not known if they witnessed the attack.
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Italy: M5S Movement’s Grillo Concerned About Personal Safety
(AGI) Quartucciu — M5S movement founder Beppe Grillo attended an electioneering rally in Sardinia’s Quartucciu today.
Addressing supporters, the comedian-activist lamented “constant taunting,” adding “I am being followed constantly and spared no insult.” Grillo put the constant disparagement down to the fact that established political parties “don’t get it; they don’t get the fact that someone might do something for free; for their fellow citizens. All they understand is money.” Grillo went on to submit that parties “are failing to understand that they are being swept away. They just don’t have the antibodies.” Grillo went to characterise his movement “not as Italy’s biggest party, but as Europe’s biggest movement.” Grillo also made light of major political formations’ efforts to tap grassroots movements, submitting “you have to be a grassroots movement to have a grassroots following.” Grillo also described the movement’s success as “a miracle” achieved “without a penny and in a very short lapse of time.” On a final ironic note Grillo said “we’re moving so fast that parties risk being wiped out and we risk having to govern without being in a position to govern.” Grillo also said “Policemen, special agents and tax officers are signing up to the movement […], my wife is worried; she’s warned me that I’ll end up hung by the feet.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Madonna Attacked by French National Marine Leader Marine Le Pen After Depicting Her With Swastika on Face During Israeli Concert
Madonna was today threatened with legal action and accused of being an ageing self-publicist after she depicted the head of one of France’s biggest political parties as a Nazi. An image of National Front leader Marine Le Pen with a swastika on her forehead appeared on a giant screen at the singer’s concert in Tel Aviv, Israel on Thursday. The furious politician has threatened to sue Madonna if she repeats the stunt when her tour reaches France in July.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Breivik Judge Caught Playing Solitaire in Norway Court
A judge at the trial of Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was caught playing solitaire on his laptop during Monday’s proceedings, the VG newspaper reported.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Breivik Judge Caught Playing Cards During Trial
A judge in the trial of confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was caught on camera on Monday morning playing cards on his computer while a witness provided details about the defendant’s anti-Islamic ideology.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Sleeping Tourist Raped on Stockholm Park Bench
A man who fell asleep on a Stockholm park bench on early Saturday morning woke up as he was being raped by an unknown assailant. The man, who is on a visit to Stockholm, was “heavily intoxicated” early Saturday morning and couldn’t find his way back to his hotel room, wrote the Aftonbladet newspaper.
After a time, he gave up looking and chose to sleep on a bench in Kronoberg park, in Kungsholmen in Stockholm’s west side. The man woke up to find another man was raping him.
“He lay down on a park bench and slept. He woke by being raped by another man. The rapist was not a person he knew,” said Stefan Wehlin of the Norrmalm police to the paper.
Wehlin added that police have been to the park in search of evidence. The victim, who had allegedly been partying hard the night before, headed to hospital where staff members alerted the police to the incident, according to Aftonbladet.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Military Raises Terror Threat Level
The Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmaketn) on Monday raised its terror threat level to “elevated” citing the “general development” of threats in recent years.
As part of its ongoing terror threat assessment work, Swedish military intelligence agency MUST (Militära underrättelse- och säkerhetstjänsten) this spring carried out an assessment of the overall terror threat against the Swedish military.
The assessment led the agency to raise the threat level to “elevated” from “low”. “The elevation of the threat level for the Armed Forces in Sweden is based on the general development of threats that has taken place in recent years,” the military said in a statement published on its website.
“The development includes increased activity in certain groups that embrace violence where the activity has been deemed to be directed against Sweden and Swedish interests.”
In raising the threat level, the Swedish military brought its terror threat assessment in line with that of Swedish security Säpo, which raised its terror threat level to “elevated” in October 2010. When Säpo raised its terror threat assessment it came as the result of a concrete threat.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss-Bashing Hits New Highs in EU: Ambassador
The Swiss ambassador to the EU has warned that the union is taking an increasingly aggressive stance against Switzerland amid deteriorating relations between Bern and some its closest allies.
Jacques de Watteville, the head of the Swiss EU mission, has warned in his latest report to the government that criticism of Switzerland has reached a new level in the EU, newspaper NZZ am Sonntag reported.
The introduction of immigration restrictions against eight Eastern European countries has enabled Switzerland’s critics to become more vocal, he said.
“It gives arguments, or at least a pretext, to openly criticize us,” de Watteville said in a report submitted to the foreign ministry.
The EU is seeking to develop a more offensive strategy against Switzerland, the report says.
Customs authorities in the EU were even encouraged to find ways to exert more pressure on the country, although this idea was abandoned for fear that harm could come to the EU itself, newspaper Tribune de Genève reported.
A campaign led by France and Germany, both of which are disgruntled at Switzerland’s attempts to restrict freedom of movement for EU citizens, is resulting in a harder line being taken against Switzerland.
“In fact, the EU is hardening its position on a number of dossiers,” de Watteville said.
In particular, EU negotiators have become less flexible with regards to a deal for the liberalization of electricity markets. Uncertainty also remains as to the extent of funding to be received from the EU for forthcoming research projects.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Bury St Edmunds: Luke Janzen Given Community Order for “Offensive” Facebook Post About Plans to Turn Former Pub Into Mosque
22-YEAR-OLD man has been ordered to carry out unpaid work after he wrote a message on Facebook saying if a mosque came to a former pub it “is going to burn down”
Luke Janzen, of Clay Road, Bury St Edmunds, appeared at the magistrates’ court in the town yesterday charged with posting a comment on the social networking site that was “grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character”.The court heard how it came following an article in the local press about plans to turn the former Falcon Pub in Risbygate Street into a mosque.
Colette Griffiths, prosecuting, said following complaints to police about abusive comments on Facebook, Janzen was arrested on February 26. She said the defendant, who admitted the offence, had said in a discussion words to the effect that if there was going to be a mosque in the town, it “is going to burn down”. She said when interviewed by police, he said it was a “silly thought” he had and if it was a mosque he thought someone was bound to burn it down, “not that he intended to burn it down or get someone else to burn it down for him”.
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UK: David Cameron Orders Inquiry Into Baroness Warsi Over Foreign Trip
David Cameron has ordered an official investigation into whether Baroness Warsi, the Conservative Party co-chairman, broke ministerial rules by taking a business associate on an official trip overseas.
The Prime Minister asked for an inquiry into Lady Warsi’s conduct after she admitted not fully declaring the facts about her trip to Pakistan with Abid Hussain. Sir Alex Allan, the independent adviser on the Ministerial Code, will now examine the minister’s actions and decide whether she has breached the rules. The inquiry could lead to her dismissal. Mr Cameron’s swift referral of Lady Warsi to Sir Alex is likely to raise allegations of double standards against the Prime Minister, who has repeatedly refused to refer Jeremy Hunt for investigation over his controversial dealings with the Murdoch media empire. The Sunday Telegraph this week revealed that Lady Warsi and Mr Hussain were both directors of a company called Rupert’s Recipes.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Kuwait: Blogger Gets 10 Years in Prison for Blasphemy
Kuwait City, 4 June. (AKI) — A Kuwaiti court has convicted a 26-year-old blogger to 10 years in prison for insulting the prophet Mohammed and for harming Kuwait’s interests in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Hamad Al-Naqi will appeal the sentence, news reports cited his lawyer as saying.
Al-Naqi was accused of blasphemy for sending out tweets regarding the prophet Mohammed, his companions, and his wife, Aisha. The tweets also contained disparaging comments about the regimes in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
He said his twitter account was hacked and he did not send out the messages.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US Drones Kill 15 Islamic Militants in North Waziristan
(AGI) Miranshah — American missiles killed 15 Islamic militants in North Waziristan, Pakistan, in the third drone (planes without pilots) attack over the last three days against Talibans strongholds on the border with Afghanistan, as made known by official sources. Two bombs hit a hideout in the village of Hesokhel, east of the capital city Miranshah. The escalation may strain even further tension between Us and the Pakistan government that had condemned raids on its territory just a few hours before the attack.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
USA to Move 60% of Fleet to Pacific by 2020 to Check China
(AGI) Singapore- Sixty percent of the USA’s fleet will be moved to the Pacific by 2020 to have a greater presence in Asia. Just had been foreshadowed in January by Barack Obama’s description of China as the adversary of the 21st century, the US will change its strategy from the current 50-50 between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, without of course forgetting Russia (which, notwithstanding denials, the US hopes to keep at bay with an anti-missile shield). The fleet will include “six aircraft carriers in this region, a majority of our cruisers, destroyers, combat ships and submarines,” stated Defence Secretary Leon Panetta.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland: ‘Lock Up Criminal Asylum Seekers’: SVP
Swiss People’s Party politician Toni Brunner has caused uproar with his proposal for the establishment of a special centre for asylum seekers who have broken the law.
Brunner is at the forefront of a heated campaign to place unruly asylum seekers in a secure centre, in a move that would mirror the Greek and Dutch systems, online news site 20 Minuten reported.
“It is important that those who have forfeited the chance to seek asylum in Switzerland, can no longer walk about at their own leisure,” Brunner told newspaper Zentralschweiz am Sonntag.
The Asylum Act is due to be debated in parliament in mid-June. Many politicians are for amendments including those that limit the freedom of criminal asylum seekers, but not necessarily for internment, newspaper Tribune de Genève reported.
“This is ridiculous and excessive,” Free Democratic Party Councillor Kurt Fluri told 20 Minuten.
Martine Brunschwig Graf, president of the Commission Against Racism, does not believe that the camps would be compliant with human rights law, and queried what would happen to those who could not be returned to their countries of origin.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
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