German CDU Leader Says Greece Must Keep Promises
(AGI) Berlin — The Christian Democratic Union leader in the Bundestag, Volker Kauder warned that “Greece must keep its promises. There is no room for other choices either in terms of time or substance.” Kauder claimed that, if Athens asked to revisit the agreements, “it would be another another broken promise that,” he told ‘Der Spiegel’ “would be another broken agreement, which is exactly what has brought us to this position.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Immigrant Jobs to Fall 27% in 2012
Decrease in new hires in small companies and northern regions
(ANSAmed) — ROME, AUGUST 17 — Unemployment caused by Italy’s crisis is also affecting immigrants with 22.420 less new jobs (-27 percent) estimated this year for non-seasonal foreign workers in the industrial and service sectors, according to the annual survey of the Unioncamere association and the Labour Ministry.
The decrease in new hires will mostly concern small companies (-88.5 percent) and regions in northern Italy (-69 percent).
The estimate on hire cuts for immigrants was based on the 60.570 jobs offered to immigrants this year against the 82.990 offered last year (-27 percent).
The negative employment rate mostly concerns companies with less than 50 employees which are expected to hire 30.190 immigrants, 19.840 less than last year (totalling 88.5 percent of the overall decrease forecast this year); and northern regions which are expected to hire 36.060 immigrants compared to last year’s 51.550 (15.490 less than last year, 69%).
Overall, companies are expecting to hire a maximum of 113,000 foreign workers — 60.570 for non-seasonal employment and 52.160 for seasonal jobs — compared to the 138.200 forecast last year.
However the study also observed that the trend to mostly hire foreigners for certain types of jobs will contribute for the increase this year of the overall percentage of immigrant workers among new hires — from 16.3 percent last year to 17.9 percent. If demand for immigrant work will fall 18 percent this year, new Italian hires are estimated to decrease by 31.6 percent (188.340 less jobs).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Monti Says Italy Embroiled in Tax War, Will Cut Debt
Prime minister, country determined to introduce structural changes
(ANSAmed) — Rome, August 17 — Italian Premier Mario Monti said Friday mass local participation in tax evasion has turned Italy into a fiscal “war zone,” adding that this has in turn contributed to the negative factors that have made some countries “badly predisposed towards Italy.” The prime minister said he was referring to countries “which Italy could need to turn to from time to time for financial assistance,” according to an interview with Tempi, an Italian online daily. Monti was appointed in November 2011 to replace outgoing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi amid spiralling public debt costs in a bid to salvage Italy from a Greek-style debt crisis. Monti said the countries in question were Northern European countries that were aware “that Italy is a very rich country, but that it also has a heavy public debt that these very nations may be called upon to help sustain, and yet that there are many high and medium Italian earners that don’t pay their taxes”.
The prime minister said that this justified the very strong measures that have been taken by his government since he was appointed in November, which he personally approved. A wide-scale crackdown on tax evasion in Italy has even led in some cases to multiple suicides amongst citizens that have found themselves laden with tax bills they were unable to pay.
Monti said his technocrat government has since November been focussed on reducing Italy’s public deficit and on introducing structural reforms, and said these very measures have convinced Europe and the rest of the world that Italy is “able and determined” to introduce far-reaching changes in its structures.
Monti’s government has in recent months introduced measures that include plans to curb public spending, reform Italy’s labour legislation, and cut red tape and bureaucracy. Monti confirmed the government will push ahead with an announced plan to introduce new state asset sales to reduce debt ahead of the next elections in the spring of 2013. “It is good to accompany these reforms with the reduction of public debt to be achieved through asset sales,” Monti told Tempi. “Had we simply given priority to reducing public debt, we could have conveyed the message that Italy didn’t believe structural reforms to be necessary, and that would have been an extremely negative signal to give out to the markets and to the European Union”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Juncker: Markets Are Unjust to Italy and Spain
(AGI) Vienna — Juncker said the markets are unjust to Italy and Spain, not considering the significant “consolidation measures”. The president of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker, added: “There is no reason to doubt the desire for fiscal consolidation in Italy and Spain. Both countries have implemented important consolidation measures, but are treated by the financial markets as if they had done nothing.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
500 Million Tons of Shipping May Grind to a Halt if the Mississippi Gets Lower
The Mississippi River is vital to American commerce and communities from the Gulf of Mexico to Minnesota, but the drought of 2012 is putting the river and those who rely on it in jeopardy. John Yang at NBC reports that just one year after the flooding that put much of the Midwest under water, the Mississippi is now at levels lower than most people can remember. It’s so low that barges must carry less freight, and salt water from the Gulf of Mexico is seeping into New Orlean’s drinking water. Yang talked to a third-generation shipping co-owner in Vicksburg, Miss. who said “It’s getting near critical. “Without more rain, we’re heading into uncharted territory.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A Few Days Ago, An iPhone Hacker Named Pod2g Revealed a Big Security Flaw in iPhones.
He found a way to hack personal information via SMS/iMessage.
The loophole allows hackers to send text messages that look like they’re from a person or company you trust — like your bank. When you respond, the message is forwarded to the hacker who can then strip all of the personal information you provided in the text.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Assange: US Must Stop ‘Witchhunt’
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has appeared on the balcony of Ecuador’s embassy in London. In a 10 minute speech, Assange claimed the US was threatening freedom of expression.
WikiLeaks founder, Australian Julian Assange appeared on the balcony of Ecuador’s embassy in London on Sunday, praising the “courage” shown by the nation’s president, Rafael Correa in granting him asylum.
“I thank President Correa for the courage he has shown in considering and in granting me political asylum,” Assange told the contingency of international media gathered outside the embassy.
Assange rebuked the US for threatening freedom of expression and called on US President Barack Obama to stop its “witchunt” against his whistleblowing website, as supporters cheered.
“I ask President Obama to do the right thing, the United States must renounce its witchhunt against WikiLeaks.”
The accusations, Assange said, are politically motivated. He believes the US wishes to put him on trial for divulging state secrets.
Assange added the US risked thrusting the world into an era of journalistic oppression: “As WikiLeaks stands under threat, so does the freedom of expression and the health of all our societies.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
CNN Censors Richard Belzer
It seemed like a good idea. CNN’s ratings are in the toilet. The celebrity Richard Belzer has a new book out that he wants to plug, and it’s all about politics, which is CNN’s bread and butter. Unfortunately for CNN, politics has been particularly dull this year, what with the presidential race dominating the news and the race having come down to two unpopular, almost indistinguishable candidates.
The celebrity certainly seemed to have what it takes to draw an audience. Playing detective John Munch on a number of TV cop shows, most recently “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit,” Belzer is well known and recognizable, and show business celebrities almost always score higher ratings than political celebrities do. On top of that, his book, Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country’s Most Controversial Cover-ups, co-written by David Wayne and with an afterword by Jesse Ventura, told us with its subtitle that it had plenty of what it takes to pique people’s interest, that is, controversy.
Therein lay a certain amount of risk to a mainstream guardian of the conventional wisdom like CNN, but they clearly felt that they could manage it with their Tuesday night, August 14, interview program. Belzer’s just an actor, after all, and they had the slick, super confident former Rupert Murdoch news manager, Piers Morgan, with his superior British accent to do the interviewing, and for a backstop they had brought in “conservative” P.J. O’Rourke, who is billed as a political humorist but to this writer comes across mainly as just smart-alecky, to counter any “conspiracy theories” that Belzer might try to peddle.
It probably didn’t take CNN very long to realize that they had made a big miscalculation.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hard Left in Military
Timothy Challans and the School of Advanced Military Studies
Challans, a native of Colorado, is a West Point graduate and earned masters and doctorate degrees in philosophy at The Johns Hopkins University. For more than ten years he taught over a thousand military students from the rank of cadet to colonel, at West Point (USMA), the Command and General Staff College (CGSC), and the School for Advanced Military Studies (SAMS).
Professor Challans was still writing for the US Army as late as 2011. He wrote an article for the Special 2011 edition of Military Review (The Professional Journal of the U.S. Army) from the CAC Leader Development and Education, Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This is an official US Army journal. The article was titled: Leading Our Leaders (When policy undermines morality, leadership must come from those ostensibly being led). This shows that Challans writing were still being used at the War College. This article is blatantly anti-Christian, and Challans is challenging the idea of even having chaplains in the military!
Professor Challans was interviewed about his book Awakening Warrior: Revolution in the Ethics of Warfare (2007) State University of New York Press. The interview was transcribed and the following quotes are from this transcription. A complete text of this interview is found at Radio Interview. What I did was take direct quotes from the interview and when appropriate I made comments. My comments follow under “JMcT”, and any words in bold were by me.
[…]
ILJ: Your book poses many important philosophical questions challenging what you describe as the “warrior ethos.” Yet for me, the nitty gritty of your book comes down to these two sentences in Chapter Four.
You write, “The great paradox is that America goes to war against forces that it plays a large role in creating, and each war spawns new threats of largely its own creation.” That’s a harsh assessment. Do you really believe American militarism is responsible for the rise of radical Islam for example?
[…]
JMcT: Challans was asked a direct question: Do you really believe American militarism is responsible for the rise of radical Islam for example? He does not respond by saying no, but in a roundabout way says yes!
The US had nothing to do with the Taliban in Afghanistan as it came to power in direct reaction to Russian imperialism. The Iranian revolution was not caused by US militarism, but radical Islam because Iran had become too westernized and needed a purge. America saved Saudi Arabia and Kuwait from Iraq and then Osama bin Laden used this as an excuse to attack America. He claimed America was starving Iraqi children, when it was the United Nations personnel that took bribes in the Food for Oil program. It was the UN and not America which was starving the children.
The American army which saved Muslims in Bosnia and Somalia were trying to do the same in Lebanon until attacked by agents of Iran with the loss of 249 Marines. If anything, it was the Soviet Union which gave rise to radical Islam. This is part of the pattern with Challans that he appears to have a greatly distorted view of America and American history.
[…]
I recommend that you take the time to read my analysis of [the Professors book] “Awakening Warriors.” [url]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Newsweek Tells Obama to ‘Hit the Road’
(AGI) Washington — With 78 days to go prior to the US presidential elections, Newsweek comes down on the side of Mitt Romney. Formerly a part of the Washington Post editorial group, Newsweek justified its position by accusing Barack Obama of having fallen short of his 2008 pledges. Tomorrow’s edition features a cover title of ‘Hit the Road Barack” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Communist Mentor
I have been reading about Frank Marshall Davis since Dr. Jerome Corsi tried to warn Americans about Barack Obama in his 2008 book, “The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality.”
Dr. Corsi noted that “On December 5, 1956, Frank Marshall Davis appeared in executive session before the U.S. Senate subcommittee investigating ‘the scope of Soviet activity in the United States. It was one of the McCarthy-era committees seeking to expose communist considered to be a security threat. A year earlier, in 1955, the Commission on Subversive Activities organized by the government of the territory of Hawaii identified Davis as a member of the Communist Party USA.”
[…]
While today’s leftists have successfully smeared Sen. Joseph McCarthy and the work of the congressional committees to expose Soviet infiltration of the U.S. government as “McCarthyite” historians have since revealed the depth of penetration by Soviet spies in the administrations of FDR and Truman. Later declassified intercepts of messages to them, known as the Venona Papers, reveal how vast the Soviet espionage program was.
Presently the leading historian on communism in America is Dr. Paul Kengor, the author of “Dupes: How America’s Adversaries have Manipulated Progressive for a Century.” His latest book is “The Communist: Frank Marshall Davis—The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mentor.”
[…]
“Frank Marshall Davis’s political antics were so radical,” writes Dr. Kengor, “that the FBI placed him on the federal government’s Security Index, which meant that he could be immediately detained or arrested in the event of a national emergency, such as a war breaking out between the United States and the USSR.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Scientists Celebrate ‘Serpentine Circuits’ That Will be Integrated With the Skin on Your Forehead and/or on Your Hand
A team of engineers today announced a discovery that could change the world of electronics forever. Called an “epidermal electronic system” (EES), it’s basically an electronic circuit mounted on your skin, designed to stretch, flex, and twist — and to take input from the movements of your body. EES is a leap forward for wearable technologies, and has potential applications ranging from medical diagnostics to video game control and accelerated wound-healing. Engineers John Rogers and Todd Coleman, who worked on the discovery, tell io9 it’s a huge step towards erasing the divide that separates machine and human.
So what can an EES really do for us? The short answer is: a lot. In the paper describing their new technology, published in this week’s issue of Science, the researchers illustrated the adaptability of their concept by demonstrating functionality in a wide array of electronic components, including biometric sensors, LEDs, transistors, radio frequency capacitors, wireless antennas, and even conductive coils and solar cells for power.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
So Long, Silicon: Researchers Create Solar Panels From Cheap Copper Oxide
Researchers from the University of California and Berkeley Lab have discovered a way of making photovoltaic cells out of any semiconducting material, not just beautiful, expensive crystals of silicon. In principle, this could open the doors to much cheaper solar power.
Almost every solar panel on the market is made by cutting off two thin (200 micron, 0.2mm) slices from a large crystal of silicon, and then doping them with impurities to enhance the photovoltaic effect — phosphorous to make n-type silicon, and boron to make p-type silicon. These slices are layered together, electrodes are added to the top and bottom, the whole thing is framed in protective glass — and voila, a standard photovoltaic cell.
Now, in theory, you can dope any semiconductor — but cheaper, more-readily-available semiconductors, such as copper oxide, don’t retain dopants very well, eventually leading to the breakdown of the p-n junctions. Silicon holds dopants very well, but it isn’t cheap.
To get around this problem, the Californian researchers have developed a new type of solar cell called screening-engineered field-effect photovoltaics, or SFPV for short. Instead of physical doping, SFPVs use a minute electric field to achieve the same doping effect. While this electric field is present, the p-n junction remains and the photovoltaic cell continues to produce a lot of electricity. The energy required to produce this electric field is apparently a lot less than the energy produced by the photovoltaic effect.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The American Dream, Or the Dreams of Obama’s Father?
Barack Hussein Obama Sr., the biological father of our President, was a bureaucrat in the communist government of Kenya back when the nation first declared its independence in the 1960s. And while Kenya’s government was at that time moving towards pro-Western, free-market economic reforms, Obama staunchly opposed such changes.
Thus, Mr. Obama published an academic paper in 1965, responding to his government colleagues who supported the westernization of Kenya. Entitled “Problems Facing Our Socialism,” Mr. Obama advised Kenya’s then-President Jomo Kenyatta against relying on private investors, private capital, and private property ownership, as a means of improving the country’s dreadful economy. Why was private capital and investment a problem? Because, Mr. Obama reasoned, private investors inevitably seek to earn “dividends” from their investments, and “turning a profit” was the gravest of all immoralities. Instead, Mr. Obama proposed higher taxes on the wealthy, and a redistribution of that money, for the “collective good” of the nation.
“Theoretically, there is nothing that can stop the government from taxing 100% of income,” Mr. Obama wrote, “so long as the people get benefits from the government commensurate with their income which is taxed.” In the view of Barack Hussein Obama Sr., the right of the individual person to freely work, earn, and invest, meant nothing. All that mattered was the “collective good” of the nation. And if confiscating certain people’s hard-earned money could help benefit “everyone,” then so be it. That wealth would be put to better use, Mr. Obama argued, if it were controlled by the leader of the government.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Big Media Lie About the US Government’s Purchases of Over One Billion Rounds of Anti-Personnel Ammunition
(NaturalNews) The alternative media scored a huge victory last week with the joint coverage of the U.S. government’s purchase of over one billion rounds of anti-personnel “hollow point” ammunition. The ammunition is to be use domestically, not by the military.
The story broke on sites like www.DrudgeReport.com www.InfoWars.com and http://www.NaturalNews.com — all top sites run by independent, intelligent journalists who dare to report the truth rather than the corporatized fictions spewed by the mainstream media. Breaking the story, InfoWars.com uncovered documents revealing huge purchases of hollow-point ammunition, which is illegal to use in war because it violates the Geneva convention. Those purchases include:
- 750 million rounds of ammo purchased by the Department of Homeland Security [url]
- 174,000 rounds of ammo purchased by the Social Security Administration [url]
NaturalNews covered this earlier in the week in an article entitled “The U.S. government’s coming war with the American people: Insane quantities of govt. ammo purchases point to only one purpose”[url]
We had also covered the DHS’s previous purchase of 450 million rounds of hollow-point ammo in an article published in April of 2012:[url]
Thanks to InfoWars, Drudge, NaturalNews and other alternative news websites, word about these ammo purchases — which total over 1.4 billion rounds of ammo when you add up all the contracts — has begun to spread so far and wide that the mainstream media was forced to try to destroy the story.
So now, in a desperate effort to try to diffuse this story — which is really a story about the U.S. government stockpiling ammo to be used against the American people — the media is focusing on the Social Security Administration ammo purchase of 174,000 rounds… a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the 1.4 billion rounds of ammo so far acquired by the Department of Homeland Security.
Look at it this way: If the “B” shown below represents 174,000 rounds of ammo:
B
(This is how much ammo the Social Security Administration is buying.)
… then the following list of B’s represents 1.4 billion, which is what DHS is buying:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Tony Scott: Director of ‘Top Gun, ‘ Jumps to Death From Los Angeles Bridge
Tony Scott, the director of such Hollywood blockbusters as “Top Gun,” “Days of Thunder” and “Beverly Hills Cop II,” died Sunday after jumping from a Los Angeles County Bridge, The Associated Press reports.
| [Return to headlines] |
Frontpage Interview With Robert Buchar on the “Collapse” Of Communism
[Comments: HIGHLY recommended reading.]
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Robert Buchar, an associate professor and author of the Cinematography Program at Columbia College in Chicago. A political refugee from former Czechoslovakia, he is the producer of the documentary, Velvet Hangover, which is about Czech New Wave filmmakers, how they survived the period of “normalization” and their reflections on the so-called Velvet Revolution of 1989. He is the author of the new book, And Reality be Damned… Undoing America: What The Media Didn’t Tell You About the End of the Cold War and Fall of Communism in Europe. The book is based on a documentary feature he is currently working on, The Collapse of Communism: The Untold Story.
FP: Robert Buchar, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
German Army Operational Rules Relaxed
The German army can use force inside the country, but only in exceptional cases and as a last resort, the country’s top court said today.
The Federal Constitutional Court’s decision relaxes the rules for domestic military operations, which have been tightly controlled because of Germany’s history of militarism.
Previously, the government could mobilise the army to support law enforcement authorities, but the use of military force inside Germany was forbidden.
The court ruled in a majority decision that the army can use force but “only in exceptional situation of catastrophic proportions”.
“The deployment of armed forces and the use specifically of military means are also only permissible as a last resort in such a situation,” the judges said.
They specifically excluded demonstrations as a possible reason for military force.
Adolf Hitler ruthlessly used paramilitary organisations to suppress dissent and persecute enemies during his 12-year dictatorship from 1933 to 1945.
The court’s decision did not change a 2006 ruling that the shooting down of hijacked airplanes is illegal.
The government had argued at the time that it was necessary to give the military the power to fire at planes that were being used as terrorist weapons like in the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
But the judges said shooting down a hijacked plane breached the right to life of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft.
Germany’s army was given a strictly defensive role after the Second World War, but successive governments have gradually eased the rules on military operations abroad to meet the demands of the country’s Nato allies. Such deployments still require approval by Parliament and the army is forbidden from taking part in offensive operations.
| — Hat tip: McR | [Return to headlines] |
How the KGB Orchestrated the “Collapse of Communism”
Did the Soviet KGB orchestrate the “Collapse of Communism” in Eastern Europe? What are the implications if they did? How much of what we know about the history of communism is plain wrong?
An important new video by Czech-American film producer Robert Buchar is a must see for any serious student of international politics.
You cannot understand the true character of US communism today, unless you understand the false history of communism in Europe. Trailer here.
I have been waiting for this DVD for several years now. I have no financial interest in the project, but am promoting this DVD on my US tour, because i believe wholeheartedly in Mr. Buchar’s message.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Expels Former Imam Jailed for Terror Training
El Korchi preached Jihadist sermons, police say
(ANSA) — Perugia, July 30 — Italy has expelled the former imam of a mosque in suburban Perugia, following his release from prison where he served a six-year sentence for terrorist training.
Moroccan Mostapha El Korchi, former imam of the mosque at Ponte Felcino, was released and repatriated from Rome’s main Leonardo da Vinci airport.
He was regarded as a central character in an investigation that led counter-terrorism authorities in Italy to arrest him and two Moroccan assistants, and seize a wide range of materials.
El Korchi had been under surveillance for months with police tracking his Internet activity and recording public sermons in favour of jihad or holy war, police said at the time of his arrest.
El Korchi, who was active in training would-be terrorists, served his sentence in a prison in southern Italy and was then immediately expelled as ordered by the courts in his sentence.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Moroccan Severely Beats Daughter in Mall for Refusing Veil
Modena, 10 Aug. (AKI) — Italian police have charged a Moroccan man for recently severely injuring his daughter when he beat her in a shopping mall in northern Italy for not wearing a veil.
As a minor, a restraining order had been placed on the woman’s family when she reported a difficult living situation to family services, according to the Gazzetta di Modena newspaper.
Trouble started when her refusal to don a veil and accept an arranged marriage, the paper said.
Recently turned 18, in a Modena shopping mall ran into her father who beat her with kicks and punches breaking her nose.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Terrorism Trumps Military Taboos in Germany
Germany’s highest court issued a ruling allowing the military to be used — in some instances — within the country. The decision is the latest chapter in a debate that stretches back decades into German history.
It was a late afternoon in January 2003 when a dormant debate was revived in Germany: What action is the Bundeswehr, the German military, allowed to take against threats inside Germany? A motor glider was circling just 50 meters (160 feet) above Frankfurt’s skyscrapers with the pilot threatening to crash into one. Parts of the city were evacuated and the German Air Force scrambled two Phantom jets to hold the pilot in check. After two dramatic hours, the pilot was convinced to land. No one was hurt.
But the situation raised the question of exactly what action the jet pilots — or any German military units — were authorized to take while confronting a terrorist threat at home. What if, instead of a single motor glider pilot, al Qaeda hijacked a jet from Frankfurt’s huge airport and threatened an attack on the city or a nuclear power plant?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Car Bomb Attacks Kill Two in Libyan Capital
At least two people are said to have died in car bombings in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The attacks come during an important Muslim festival.
Libyan security sources said on Sunday that at least two people, both civilians, were killed and two wounded in one of two dawn car bomb attacks.
The sources said the first attack occurred near the interior ministry’s administrative offices in Tripoli, without causing casualties. They said police found a second unexploded bomb at the site.
Minutes later, two car bombs exploded near the former headquarters of a women’s police academy, killing two people and injuring at least two others, they said.
Tripoli’s security chief, Colonel Mahmud al-Sherif, told the AFP news agency that he suspected loyalists of former dictator Moammar Gadhafi were behind the attacks.
Gadhafi was overthrown and killed last year after 42 years in power. Sunday’s attacks were the first of their kind since his fall.
Both attacks took place in residential areas in the heart of the city. They came as worshippers prepared for mass morning prayers marking Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim celebration that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Libya has seen sporadic violence since Gadhafi’s overthrow, despite the democratic election of a new government.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: 2 Explosions in Tripoli, 2 Dead and Many Injured
(AGI) Tripoli — Two explosions rocked Tripoli and caused 2 deaths and many more injuries. According to security sources, the first explosion (according to witness, it was a car bomb) took place near the military academy on Omar al-Mokhtar Avenue.
the second was located near the Interior ministry. Today, the Arab world is celebrating the Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan. The Omar al-Mokhtar Avenue, one of the major thoroughfares of the capital, is currently closed to traffic.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The Islamization of Knowledge in the New Egypt
by Andrew C. McCarthy
Well, when you’ve got totalitarian ambitions, and you’ve already started locking up dissenting journalists, what’s the next logical step? If you’re the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi, newly minted president of Egypt, it is obvious: start banning books.
Morsi’s government has reportedly banned importation of A History of the Modern Middle East, a well-known textbook by William L. Cleveland (who died in 2006) and Martin P. Bunton. The Egyptian daily, Al-Ahram, says no reason was given for the ban. The reason, however, is patent to anyone familiar with the Muslim Brotherhood.
One of the highest Brotherhood priorities is the “Islamization of knowledge.” That, as I’ve noted elsewhere, is the explicit purpose of the International Institute of Islamic Thought, a think-tank in Virginia that the Brotherhood founded in the early 1980s. IIIT’s mission is to forge “a new synthesis of all knowledge in an Islamic epistemological framework” — to borrow the fitting description found in an important 2009 study, “The Muslim Brotherhood in the United States,” written by Steven Merley for the Hudson Institute’s Center on Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The World of Tomorrow
For the Islamists who inherited the Arab Spring and their eager supporters, the future was the past, a return to the glories of the Caliph and his harem
No sooner did mobs gather in Cairo, Tunis and Damascus than Western foreign policy analysts began dusting off their history books and drawing analogies to the 1848 European Revolutions. But there was nothing modern about these revolutions even if they relied on Twitter flash mobs and Facebook posts. It isn’t the future that the Muslim world wants, even if the modern Albert Speers fill Dubai with horrendously futuristic architectural vomitoria, it’s the golden past.
In Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring, Hamad Jebali, the new Islamist Prime Minister of Tunisia, proclaimed, “My brothers, you are at a historic moment in a new cycle of civilization, Allah willing. We are in the sixth caliphate.”
For the Islamists who inherited the Arab Spring and their eager supporters, the future was the past, a return to the glories of the Caliph and his harem, to an era where Christian and Jewish Dhimmis knew their place and he Islamic Empire stretched across the world.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Three Police Agents & 1 Soldier Injured by a Grenade in Sinai
(AGI) Ismailia — 3 Egyptian police agents and 1 soldier were injured in the explosion of a grenade launched against a convoy. The convoy was traveling near Sheikh Zuwaid, in the Sinai region. The victims were deployed in operations against the Islamic militants that have performed several attacks in the peninsula. The convoy was driving back to al-Arish after having arrested two alleged militants in the area of Rafah.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
USA “Very Concerned” For Freedom of Egyptian Press
(AGI)Washington- The US expressed their growing concern for the freedom of Egyptian media after recent trials against journalists. Two members of the press were committed to trial after criticizing President Mohamed Morsi. “We are very concerned by reports that the Egyptian government is moving to restrict media freedom and criticism in Egypt,” stated spokeswoman for the State Department Victoria Nuland, who said that the authorities’ actions are in stark contrast with the spirit of last year’s revolution.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Israel — Barbarians at the Gate
The Muslim Brotherhood, radical Islam and Iran are slouching towards the borders of Israel and are vowing to wipe her from the face of the earth. When psychotic, murdering tyrants speak, the world should listen. Iran is openly calling for a military alliance among Islamic nations to wage war against Israel. Even countries who have long stood against Iran and its apocalyptic intentions are now beginning to join hands and beat the war drums for the end of days.
All of this horrific vision can be laid solidly at the feet of the Marxist in the White House who keeps faith with his Muslim roots and has brought the Muslim Brotherhood into our hallowed halls in Washington and has surrounded himself with infiltrators from the Brotherhood. Barack Obama has done nothing of note in foreign affairs except to welcome terrorists to American soil and pay homage to Islamic nations that desire our demise. It does not take a rocket nuclear scientist to do the math here.
First Obama intruded into Libya where the Brotherhood is now in control. Then Egypt and next, Syria. All are now under the shadow of Shariah law and the full-throttled domination of Islam. This week Egypt began a full blown dive into tyranny.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Bahrain: A 16-Year-Old Killed by Police
Police said he was a “terrorist” because he threw Molotov cocktails. At least 50 people have died since the Jasmine Revolution broke out against the ruling Khalifa. Activist Nabeel Rajab gets three years in prison for inciting people to take part in protests.
Manama (AsiaNews/Agencies) — A 16-year-old boy was killed by police during a demonstration last night. Husam al-Haddad died of injuries suffered after he was beaten by security forces in a confrontation late Friday evening, this according to the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR). When a family member retrieved the body, it was soaked in blood. The Gulf kingdom’s Interior Ministry confirmed the teenager’s death, whom it described as a “terrorist,” saying he sustained his injuries after attacking police with Molotov cocktails.
Since February 2011, Bahrain has seen protests and demonstrations in favour of political reforms and greater freedom for the country’s Shia population. The Sunni-dominated government of Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, whose family has ruled the country since 1971, has met demands with repression with the help of Saudi Special Forces. With Husam al-Haddad, the number of dead now stands at 50.
Also on Friday, dozens of protesters in the village on Sitra, south of the capital, participated in global al-Quds day protests in solidarity with the Palestinian people, with police firing tear gas to disperse demonstrators.
The events came one day after Nabeel Rajab, a prominent activist and head of the BCHR, was sentenced to three years in prison for instigating and participating in anti-government rallies.
Rajab, a Shia, has led many protests against the broad powers held by the Khalifa dynasty and has demanded they give up power. He was arrested on 6 June for insulting Sunnis on the internet.
During the month of Ramada, , Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa toured many gatherings in which he emphasised the need to end violence and start direct talks to overcome the crisis.
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German Spy Ship Aiding Syrian Rebels: Report
A German newspaper has reported that a spy ship from the German intelligence agency is helping Syrian rebels in their fight to oust the Damascus regime. Meanwhile, the UN observer mission to Syria is coming to an end.
According to a report on Sunday in the paper Bild am Sonntag, the ship is equipped to detect troop movements as far as 600 kilometers (372.8 miles) inland.
The paper says the information thus obtained is being passed by the German foreign intelligence agency BND to United States and British intelligence services. These in their turn are handing it on to Syrian rebels, the report says.
The “Bild am Sonntag” also says that BND agents stationed at the Turkish NATO base in Adana are listening in to telephone and radio conversations within Syria. In addition, the paper says, agents are maintaining informal contact with sources directly linked with the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
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Head of UN Observers in Syria Accuses Rebels and Regime
(AGI) Damascus — 24 hours before the mandate of the 300 international observers in Syria expired, the head of the mission, General Babacar Gaye, blamed both the regime and the rebels for not protecting the civilians. “Both parties have obligations to respect the international law for what concerns the humanitarian issues, that is to guarantee protection to civilians,” Gaye explained, claiming that these obligations were not respected. The UN Security Council has decided not to extend the mission.
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Hezbollah Leader Says Group Can Transform Lives of Israelis to ‘Hell’
The leader of the Lebanese Shiite militant Hezbollah says his group will transform the lives of millions of Israelis to “hell” if Israel attacks Lebanon. Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah says the group has a list of Israeli targets that it can hit with few rockets. “We can transform the lives of millions of Zionists in occupied Palestine to a real hell,” he said.
The threat came as Israel debated whether to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. That could trigger retaliation from Iran’s allies, like Hezbollah.
Nasrallah said Iran’s response to any Israeli attack would be “lightning” and huge. Nasrallah spoke in a televised speech marking Jerusalem Day on Friday.
Israel and Hezbollah fought a deadly, inconclusive monthlong war in 2006, when Hezbollah fired about 4,000 rockets at Israel.
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Iran Admits Giving WMDs to Terrorists
Israel will be obliterated by chemical, microbial and nuclear bombs, Iran is warning, but those weapons of mass destruction will be used first on Tel Aviv by Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad at the start of a decades-old Muslim dream of destroying the Jewish state.
An alarming commentary last week in Mashregh, the media outlet of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, confirmed that the Islamic regime not only has WMDs but has armed its terrorist proxies with them. Mashregh speaks for the regime.
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Iran: Israel is ‘Cancerous Tumour’ To be Removed
Tehran, 17 Aug. (AKI) — Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday said Israel was an “insult to humanity” and compared the Jewish state to a “cancerous tumour” that must be stopped before it spreads.
Ahmadinejads’ comments were made Friday to worshippers at Tehran University to mark the last day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and broadcast nationwide, Iran’s Fars news agency reported.
In Iran the last Friday of the Ramadan known as as Quds Day, is recognized as a day of protest against Israel in support of Palestinians.
Israel considers Iran an existential threat. News of possible military strikes against the Iran’s nuclear programme has recently emerged,
Quds is a day “of unity of all people to remove the Zionist cancerous tumour from society. “Today we will oppose the Zionist entity and regime to protect human rights and defend human dignity,” Ahmadinejad said.
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Lebanon: One Dead: Many Wounded in Religious Clashes
In three different areas as tension mounts over Syrian conflict
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT — At least one person died and another nine were wounded in clashes reported in the last 24 hours in three different areas across Lebanon over heightened tensions between supporters of the Syrian regime and their rivals.
In Sidon, 40 km south of Beirut, armed men close to Salafite Sheikh Ahmad al Asir clashed with rivals with the local Nasser’s movement. Three people were wounded, including a woman.
In Tripoli, 130 Km north of Sidon, six people were injured in violence between local Salafite militants and men close the Shiite Hezbollah movement.
In the remote Lebanese Akkar region, at least one person died after Sunni Lebanese who were trying to bring to Jabal Akrum people wounded in the violence-torn Syrian city of Qusayr, clashed with the Jaafar Shiite clan which controls the Hurani village after the clan did not allow the convoy to cross town.
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Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Designs a Women-Only City
(AGI) London — Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Wahabism (the strictest Islamic doctrine), will soon build a women-only town.
Its purpose is to reconcile female carrier aspirations and a strict sex division. According to Sunday Mail, the city has already a name, Hafuf, will be built in the east of the country, and its construction work is scheduled to start next year.
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Syria: Press: Rebels Supported by GB Intelligence
(AGI) London — British intelligence is supporting Syrian rebels in successful attacks against regime troops, reported Sunday Times. The newspaper quoted official sources and revealed that British authorities “know everything and approve it 100%”.
Servicemen leave the British military base in Cyprus and enter into Syria through Turkey to join troops of the Syrian free army. “British intelligence is monitoring communications on movements of the government troops around Aleppo,” explained an officer.
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Syria Rebels ‘Aided by British Intelligence’
Forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad have reportedly used helicopter gunfire and mortars in the battle for Aleppo, amid fresh claims British intelligence is helping rebel fighters to oust the Syrian leader.
According to an opposition official, information on Syrian troop movements is helping rebels launch successful attacks on regime forces in the second city, where both sides have been locked in fierce fighting for weeks.
“British intelligence is observing things closely from Cyprus,” the official told The Sunday Times.
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Eight People Injured in a Shooting in a Mosque in Dagestan
(AGI) Moscow — Armed men wearing masks opened fire in a Shiite mosque in the Caucasian Republic of Dagestan, injuring 8 people. The news was reported by the regional Ministry of the Interior, explaining that, in the same mosque, the shooting was followed by an explosion that is presumed to have caused more casualties. The attack occurred in a Shiite place of worship in Khasavyurt where around seventy worshipers were gathered.
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Suicide Bomber Kills 7 Russian Policemen at Funeral
A suicide bomber blew himself up as policemen in southern Russia gathered Sunday for the funeral of a slain colleague, killing at least seven of the policemen and badly wounding 12 other people, investigators said.
The funeral was held at the home of an officer who had been shot dead the night before by militants in Ingushetia, one of the predominantly Muslim republics in Russia’s restive North Caucasus region.
In the nearby republic of Dagestan, two masked gunmen burst into a Shiite mosque during Saturday evening prayers and opened fire, wounding eight people, police said.
Shiites are a minority in Dagestan and throughout the North Caucasus, where an Islamic insurgency has raged for years.
The latest attacks took place as Muslims in Russia and around the world prepared for the feast that celebrates the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
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Suicide Bomber Kills Six Policemen in Caucasus
Russian investigators say a suicide bomb attack in the troubled Causasus region of Ingushetia has killed six policemen. This follows an attack on a mosque in nearby Dagestan.
Russia’s Interfax news agency said the six police officers were killed in an attack on a funeral service for a fellow officer on Sunday.
The report said an explosive device went off at a house in the town of Malgobek where mourners had gathered. It said several people, including civilians, were injured.
The funeral was for an officer killed in a shooting on Saturday evening in the Malgobek region.
The regional Investigative Committee said in a statement that a suicide bomber was behind the attack.
“In a private house where the funeral was taking place for a neighborhood policeman, the bomber triggered an explosive device on his body,” the statement said. “As a result of the explosion, according to preliminary information, seven people died including the suicide bomber.”
Russian security forces in the Caucasus often suffer attacks that they blame on Islamist militant separatists with links to Chechnya, where Russia has fought two wars over the past 20 years.
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Afghanistan: 24 Talibans Killed in Clashes With NATO Troops
(AGI) Kabul — At least 24 Talibans were killed in clashes with Nto troops in a joint operation with Afghan militaries in Kunar. Atalantic Alliance forces reported it, explaining that the clashes took place in the district of Chapa Dara, in the Eastern province of Kunar , at the border with Pakistan.
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Eleven-Year-Old Girl Arrested for Blasphemy in Pakistan
(AGI) Islamabad — An 11-year-old Christian girl, suffering from a Down syndrome, was arrested and charged of blasphemy for burning a dozen copies of the Koran. The Islamabad Christian Community reported the arrest, explaining that the girl was arrested in Islamabad last Friday, near Umara Jaffar. The daily “Express Tribune” contacted the local police station, where officials confirmed the arrest and the charges against the girl.
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Pakistan: An 11-Year-Old Disabled Christian Girl Arrested for Blasphemy, 300 Families Flee
The girl is accused of burning pages from a booklet used to teach Arabic and the Qur’an. Under the Pakistan Penal Code, she could get life in prison. Police saved her from an enraged mob that tried to kill her, but more than 300 families fled their homes fearing more violence. Paul Bhatti calls for calm.
Islamabad (AsiaNews) — For the first time in Pakistan’s history, the country’s ‘black law’ has been used against a minor, a disabled 11-year-old Christian girl. Arrested on blasphemy charges, Rimsha Masih, who suffers from Down’s syndrome, could get life in prison. Only police intervention saved her from a lynch mob of Muslim extremists. Her case has shocked Islamabad’s Christian community, driving hundreds of Christian families from their homes in the girl’s neighbourhood fearing possible retaliation. National Harmony Minister Paul Bhatti, a Catholic, has called on Muslim religious leaders to snuff out any source of violence.
The 11-year-old girl, Rimsha Masih, is at the centre of a terrible affair. After being charged with desecrating the Qur’an, she was remanded for 14 days to a juvenile prison in Rawalpindi. The offence comes under Article 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code and carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Witnesses claim that Rimsha, daughter of Misrak Masih, burnt ten pages of the Noorani Qaida, an Islamic booklet used to learn basic Arabic and the Qur’an. She is also said to have put the booklet inside a plastic bag and threw into the garbage.
Supposedly, the event occurred on 17 April in Umara Jaffar, a slum in Islamabad’s Sector G-12, where the girl lives with her family. Police filed a First Information Report after a Muslim man, Syed Muhammad Ummad, made a formal complaint.
Four months after the incident, police took Rimsha Masih into custody under pressure from Muslim extremists. Threatening to take justice in their own hands, a mob of hundreds enraged people attacked the girl’s family, trying to lynch her and her mother. Police eventually took the girl away for her own safety, in prison.
Fearing more violence, some 300 families living in the Christian slum fled their homes seeking safety elsewhere. Local sources told AsiaNews that in the area, tensions are running high and that Muslim fundamentalists are threatening to set fire to Christian homes.
National Harmony Minister Paul Bhatti, who is also special advisor to the prime minister on minority affairs, has appealed to Muslim leaders, especially clerics, asking them to help keep the lid on matters to avoid anti-Christian attacks. His brother Shabbaz, Pakistan’s first Catholic minister, was murdered by extremists on 2 March 2011 because of this opposition to the ‘black law.’
Last month, a mentally disabled Muslim man was burnt alive in Bahawalpur, southern Pakistan, after he was accused of blasphemy and a mob set him on fire for “desecrating the Qur’an.”
On the internet, the girl’s arrest has caused a wave of protests. Many wonder: “Is this the real Islam?” Others wonder who are the real mental cases, “the girl or those who would punish her” for allegedly breaking the law.
The blasphemy law was introduced in 1986 by General Zia-ul-haq in response to demands by Muslim extremists. Thus far, at least a thousand people have been charged for breaking it. Of these, 60 have died, mostly killed in extrajudicial murders by enraged mobs or individuals.
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Panetta Prods Afghan President on Insider Killings
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday to discuss the rising number of “insider” attacks in which Afghan security forces have turned their guns on American and other coalition troops.
Spokesman George Little said Panetta encouraged Karzai to work with U.S. commanders to ensure more rigorous vetting of Afghan recruits. Little said Panetta and Karzai agreed that American and Afghan officials need to work together to address a problem that has intensified in recent days.
In the latest incident, an Afghan police officer on Friday shot to death two U.S. servicemen during a training exercise in the western province of Farah.
Little said Panetta advised more effective counterintelligence measures to identify potential attackers from inside the ranks of Afghan security forces, as well as “even more rigorous vetting of Afghan recruits, and stepped up engagement with village elders, who often play a key role by vouching for Afghan security personnel.”
The phone call was a sign of growing concern in Washington about the insider threat, particularly because American and allied troops are now working more closely with the Afghan army and police in preparation for the transition to complete Afghan security control by 2014.
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Persecuted in Pakistan, Hindu and Christian Minorities Find Little Protection in India
Hindu families are fleeing Pakistan fearing for their daughters kidnapped and forcibly converted and married to Muslims. Christian minorities suffer the same violence. In India there is a law for refugees and Hindus who have fled wait for decades for Indian citizenship. The Hindu nationalist party seeks protection only for Hindus. “Christians are doubly discriminated against.” Policy towards minorities throughout South Asia urgently needed.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) — The news of the flight of several Hindu families from Pakistan, because of religious persecution, has shaken the political world in Delhi and Islamabad. Christian personalities remind us that Christians are subjected to the same sort of Hindus and demand that India and Pakistan operate to ensure dignity and rights to non-Islamic minorities.
On 13 August at least 250 people — all Hindu family groups — crossed the Wagah border between India Pakistan, recounting that they had “been through hell”, marginalization and torture and asking for assylum.
In order to understand their situation, AsiaNews contacted Fr. James Channan, from the Dominican the Peace Center in Lahore (Pakistan). “The Hindu and the Christian community — he says — suffer the same problems at the hands of Muslims, especially the radical Islamists. Young Hindu and Christian girls and even teenagers are kidnapped by Muslims. The terrible thing is that when they are found, the Muslims say they have become Muslim and are married. Thus, their relatives — mothers and sisters — tcan not even touch or come in contact with them. It is forced conversion and is really a shameful act. “ Last year at least 20 girls were abducted, converted and married by force.
“The news of the exodus of 150 Hindu families to India — he continues — is a wake-up call. Following this, President Asif Ali Zardari has launched a committee to study the problem and the situation of non-Muslims in Pakistan. The governor of the province of Sindh has formed a committee to produce a law in defense of minorities and should get it approved by the Assembly. Similar legislation will be presented to the National Assembly. It should protect non-Muslim minorities from forced marriages and conversions to Islam , bringing a small amount of relief to the poor, disadvantaged, persecuted minorities in Pakistan. “
“Hindus and Christians in Pakistan — about 7 million out of a population of 180 million — are committed and loyal citizens of Pakistan and contribute to the better development of the country.”
The problem of minorities in India
The arrival of Hindu families from Pakistan is creating problems in India. In fact, in the best cases, the families who fled remain in India as illegal immigrants, since the country does not have a national law for refugees. All arrivals come from neighboring nations depending on the situation. Thousands of Hindu Pakistanis that have sought refuge in India in recent decades have not yet received Indian citizenship. Hindus fleeing Pakistan apply for a visa for pilgrimage or for family reasons and then disappear into anonymity.
The arrival of 250 Pakistani Hindus has led some parliamentary nationalist BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and the BJD (Biju Janata Dal) to ask that Hindu refugees be granted permanent visas. “If persecuted Hindus do not find refuge in India, where they will go?” asked Prakash Javadekar, BJP spokesperson.
This proposal could result in a new discrimination: that of Christians. Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), outlined injustice present in the BJP proposal to AsiaNews: “The Christian community in Pakistan is also persecuted because of its religious identity and should not be discriminated against by neighboring countries, who promote and defend only Hindu ideology. “
For Sajan George, “India must offer protection to all minorities in Pakistan and South Asia and promote dignity, tolerance, minority rights for peace and harmony in the region.”
According to the president of the GCIC, “India is an emerging power and should formulate a policy towards minorities in South Asia, our country — the only secular constitution in the region — should address the issue of minority rights in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). “
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
US Drone Raid in Waziristan Kills 5 Militiamen
(AGI) Miranshah — At least 5 militiamen were killed in a new missile attack by US drones in North Waziristan. This is one of the remote and semi-independent tribal areas that lie in North-Western Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan. The news was reported by local security forces which infomred that the US unmanned aircraft launched two air-to-ground missiles against a building that was being used as the guerrilla headquarters.
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China’s Hunt for Gold Goes Overseas
After years of scooping big overseas energy and industrial metal assets, China is gaining momentum in another commodity sector: gold.
China National Gold Group Corp.’s potential $3.9 billion bid to acquire African Barrick Gold ABG.LN +0.71% PLC is the latest in a series of recent moves by Chinese gold producers to plug a domestic supply shortfall, efforts that amount to a bet on sustained strength in the gold market even though the economic slowdown is dragging down prices.
For the world’s second-largest economy, fundamental factors starkly favor an overseas push. China produced around 360 metric tons of gold last year but consumed nearly 800 tons.
Zijin Mining Group Co., China’s second-largest gold producer by output, said last week that its subsidiary has acquired more than 50% of Kalgoorlie’s Norton Gold Fields.
That deal gives it a foothold in the Australian market, the world’s second-largest source of gold output after China itself. In 2011, Zijin bought 60% of Kazakhstan-based miner Altynken, which has access to a gold mine in Kyrgyzstan.
Since 2008, Chinese companies have completed 10 $20-million-plus acquisitions of Australian gold assets, worth a combined $1.6 billion, according to Dealogic. Half were initiated since last year.
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Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo
KINSHASA — Nine people have died in an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Health Minister Felix Kabangue said on Saturday.
The deaths were among 11 “probable or confirmed” cases detected in the town of Isiro in the north of the country, the minister was quoted as saying in a statement released by the World Health Organisation.
Teams of doctors from the health ministry, the WHO, aid group Doctors Without Borders and the US-based Centres for Disease Control and Prevention were treating those infected, the statement added.
In western Uganda, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border with DR Congo, 16 people have died from the virus since the start of July, although authorities say the outbreak there has been brought under control.
Ebola is fatal in about 50-90 percent of cases, with victims bleeding from body orifices before dying in the most severe instances.
The rare haemorrhagic disease, named after a small river in DR Congo, killed 37 people in western Uganda in 2007 and at least 170 in the north of the country in 2000.
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Mine Violence Threatens South Africa’s Zuma
South Africa’s ruling ANC party has come under growing pressure in the wake of mine protests, which left 34 strikers dead. President Jacob Zuma has ordered an inquiry into the incident, but some activists want more.
Controversial former youth leader of Zuma’s African National Congress (ANC), Julius Malema, called on the President to resign on Saturday in the wake of the deaths at the Marikana platinum mine to the north-west of Johannesburg.
“The minister of police must step down because this massacre was committed under his supervision. The same thing with President Zuma, he must step down,” Malema reportedly told locals in at the mine site in Rustenburg.
President Zuma called an investigation into the killings on Friday, saying the incident had been “shocking.” “This is unacceptable in our country. We have to get to the truth,” Zuma said.
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Maroni: Illegals on Lampedusa, Immediate Repatriation
(AGI) Milan — Roberto Maroni commented in a post on Facebook, the arrival of immigrants on the island of Lampedusa. “They come from Tunisia, they aren’t refugees, but rather illegal immigrants, and can be sent back immediately on the basis of the accord I created a year ago.” The Federal Secretary of the Northern League and former Interior Minister urged, “Minister Cancellieri, courage, don’t let yourself be taken in by the ‘shaggy do-gooding’ of some of your collegues in government.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
670 Million Muslims Expect Mahdi in Their Lifetime
Two-thirds of a billion Muslims expect the Mahdi — the last Islamic imam they believe will come and rule the world — to arrive in their lifetimes, according to a new Pew Research poll.
The results affirm the warnings from author Joel Richardson, whose just-released book “Mideast Beast” it moving up Amazon listings.
It’s a sequel to his New York Times bestselling 2009 “The Islamic Antichrist,” and it recently surged past Joel Rosenberg’s “Implosion: Can America Recover from its Economic and Spiritual Challenges in Time?” and “The End: A Complete Overview of Bible Prophecy and the End of Days” by Mark Hitchcock to claim the top spot in the Eschatology category on Amazon.
In a column written in WND, Richardson notes that he has been criticized repeatedly for believing many Muslims have a faith in the coming Mahdi, especially that there are a significant number who believe that will happen soon.
[…]
“Now, for the first time, a comprehensive study including tens of thousands of Muslims, in over 23 countries, were asked if they believed that the Mahdi’s emergence was imminent, that it would occur within their lifetimes. And the results conclusively prove that which I have been warning about all along,” he wrote.
The Pew findings: [chart]
Richardson explains that the false claim that only 10 percent of Muslims await the Mahdi may now be “put to bed.”
“The bottom line is that it is far worse, far more widespread than even I would have guessed,” he wrote.
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Agenda 21: ‘The Agenda That Wasn’t Really There’
Some day when historians are sifting through the ashes of what was once the Free West trying to determine what happened, they will discover that freedom was lost through ‘The Agenda That Wasn’t Really There’.
‘The Agenda That Wasn’t Really There’ is the main strategy being used to push through the very real and dangerous Agenda 21 through villages, towns and cities. The inhabitants of some 1,200 cities—600 of them American—do not even know they’ve been hijacked by the UN’s Agenda 21.
[…]
Some 178 countries are now pushing Agenda 21 but these are only the countries we know about.
Maurice Strong operates these days from the Peoples Republic of China. As Lamb pointed out, “Strong’s cousin, Anna Louise Strong, was a Marxist, and a member of the Comintern, who spent two years with Mao and Chou En-lai. Her burial in China in 1970 was organized personally by Chou En-lai. Maurice is well received in China, partly because of his cousin’s connections.”
[…]
The best definition of Agenda 21 comes right from the U.N. itself. In 1993, the U.N. published ‘Agenda 21: The Earth Summit Strategy to Save Our Planet’: “Agenda 21 proposes an array of actions which are intended to be implemented by every person on earth…it calls for specific changes in the activities of all people…Effective execution of Agenda 21 will require a profound reorientation of all humans, unlike anything the world has ever experienced.”
And if you think they are kidding in this Science Fiction-type definition of ‘The Agenda That Really Wasn’t There’, ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) proves otherwise.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Humans May Not be Descended of Neanderthals After All Say Scientists: DNA Similarities Are Not Result of Interbreeding.
We may not, as previously thought, have a little bit of Neanderthal in us, scientists have revealed. Similarities between the DNA of modern people and Neanderthals are more likely to have arisen from shared ancestry than interbreeding, a new study has found. The team from the University of Cambridge published their new theory this week in PNAS journal. Previously, it had been suggested that interbreeding was common, explaining our shared genome. However, the newly published research proposes a different explanation. Cambridge evolutionary biologists Dr Anders Eriksson and Dr Andrea Manica, found that the amount of DNA shared between modern Eurasian humans and Neanderthals — estimated at between 1-4% — actually comes from a common ancestor.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
1 comments:
Presumably Israel has told the Muslim countries, at least indirectly, that any attack on them which threatens to destroy Israel will lead to the total obliteraion of Mecca.
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