Tag: MIDDLE EAST

Acid Attacks Rock London

by DAN LYMAN DECEMBER 28, 2018

Two victims were hospitalized in separate acid attacks in London on the same day.

A 21-year-old man was brought to hospital after an assault in northeast London that also left him with cuts to his hands, presumably inflicted by a knife, according to police.

“Officers attended and found a 21-year-old man who had been assaulted, with a corrosive substance thrown over his face,” Metropolitan police said.

“The man has been taken to an east London hospital. His injuries are not being treated as life-threatening or life-changing.”

No suspects have been apprehended at the time of this writing.

Hours later, a 29-year-old man was rushed to hospital after a burning liquid was thrown on him in Tower Hamlets, London.

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“We’re dealing with an incident at around 5.40pm in which a substance, believed to be ammonia, was thrown at a 29-yr-old man in the area of Roman Rd, E3,” Tower Hamlets police tweeted. “The victim was taken to hospital. Thankfully we understand injuries are not serious. Investigation is underway; no arrest yet.”

London is now considered the “acid attack capital of the world” after a six-fold increaseof the barbaric practice since 2012, and over 2,000 such attacks in the last three years alone.

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SOUTHERN EUROPE Italian Minister tells NGO Italy doesn’t want migrants: “Our ports are closed!”

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Italy’s populist Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini announces that Italian ports are CLOSED.

The migrants were picked up from Libya intending to go to Malta but were turned away from Malta so the NGO Proactiva Open Arms requested to be allowed entry to Italy.

Salvini replied: “My answer is clear: Italian ports are closed!” Mr Salvini tweeted. “For the traffickers of human beings and for those who help them, the fun is over.”

This sparked anger in the human trafficking NGO who replied on twitter: “We continue with 311 people on board, without port and in need of supplies,” saying that they had rescued more than 300 migrants from three vessels in difficulty, including men, women, children and babies.

Committing the logical fallacy of appealing to emotions, they went on to say:

“If you could feel the cold in the images, it would be easier to understand the emergency. No port to disembark and Malta’s refusal to give us food. This isn’t Christmas.” An odd thing to say given the majority of the migrants are of the Islamic faith, thereby not celebrating Christmas anyway.

Tweeting further to Matteo, Open Arms’ founder Oscar Camps went onto say that “your rhetoric and your message will, like everything in this life, end. But you should know that in a few decades your descendants will be ashamed of what you do and say.”

Many countries are showing opposition to the economic migrants paying a high financial cost to be brought by human traffickers when real refugees can’t afford to and are left behind in their countries.

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THE NEW YORK TIMES WAS AGAINST WAR IN SYRIA BEFORE IT WAS FOR IT

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What a difference a year can make for The New York Times

By Joe Simonson

What a difference a year can make for The New York Times.

As President Donald Trump announced his decision Wednesday to withdraw the nation’s 2,000 troops from Syria, a bipartisan cadre of opinion-havers attacked him as recklessly abandoning allies in the region and jeopardizing America’s influence over foreign affairs.

One newspaper was particularly harsh: The Times.

Quickly after Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced his resignation (in part as a protest against Trump’s decision on Syria) Thursday, America’s paper of record quickly produced a scathing editorial, proclaiming “Jim Mattis Was Right.”

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“Who will protect America now?” The Times asked.

The editorial frets about how American troops leaving Syria “hampers morale” of “allied forces like the Kurds.” (RELATED: Trump Explains His Decision To Withdraw From Syria)

“It could also risk getting American soldiers killed or wounded for objectives their commanders had already abandoned,” writes The Times.

Yet almost a year ago, on Jan. 19, 2018, that same editorial board raked the president over the coals for even daring to continue America’s policy of military adventurism.

The Times expressed concern that more American troops beyond the 2,000 initially deployed could soon be sent overseas in a mission without any clear goals.

“Syria is a complex problem. But this plan seems poorly conceived, too dependent on military action and fueled by wishful thinking,” The Times said.

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While on Thursday The Times worried that leaving Syria could leave the Kurds vulnerable to Turkey, at the beginning of 2018, the paper also believed that the U.S. would be setting up a clash between the minority group and a NATO ally.

“Turkey, which views the Kurds as an enemy, has threatened a cross-border assault. All of this raises the grim possibility that American troops will clash with Turkey, a NATO ally,” The Times wrote last January.

Nowhere in Thursday’s editorial does The Times ever point to an alternative timeline for withdrawal for American forces in Syria. Such an omission is quite startling, considering last January the paper’s chief criticism of sending forces to the region was setting up just another forever-war in the Middle East.

One thing is clear from these two diametrically opposed editorials: The job of The Times isn’t to provide valid criticisms of Trump, but to simply oppose him at all costs.

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Woman threatened with murder after saying Islam should submit to French laws and criticism

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Moroccan-French journalist Zineb El Rhazoui says she has received death and rape threats for saying “innoccous” things like: “Islam has to submit to French laws, humour, reason and any form of criticism just like any other ideology, sect or religion”.

According to the former cartoonist of Charlie Hebdo “There is no valid reason for Islam to be an exception”.

 

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‘Possible suicide attempt’: Car rams into crowded bus stop in Germany leaving 1 dead & 9 injured

‘Possible suicide attempt’: Car rams into crowded bus stop in Germany leaving 1 dead & 9 injured

A car is seen after it plowed into a bus stop in Recklinghausen. © Reuters / Leon Kuegeler

A woman was killed and nine other people were seriously injured as a car rammed into a group of commuters waiting for a bus in the western German town of Recklinghausen. Police say the driver might have attempted suicide.

A passenger car suddenly strayed into the oncoming lane and plowed through the people at a crowded bus stop midday on Thursday, the witnesses said, describing the scene as “chaotic.”

Ten people were taken to hospital in serious condition, with one woman later succumbing to her injuries.

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The police believe that the collision was intentional, with spokeswoman, Ramona Hörst, saying that were “first indications of a possible suicide attempt by the man.”

The driver survived the crash and was released from his wrecked car by the firefighters. According to other reports, the man wasn’t trapped in the vehicle.

The incident comes in wake of a string of ramming attacks in Europe, with radicalized assailants using vehicles to target civilians in France, Spain, Sweden, and other countries.

Germany saw its deadliest vehicle attack in December 2016. Twelve people lost their lives and 56 others were wounded when a Tunisian national plowed his truck through a Christmas market in central Berlin.

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‘Peaceful’ Syrian refugee tests bomb in his back garden in Belgium

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A 20-year-old Syrian refugee has been charged for terrorist activities and by the correctional court in Charleroi, Belgium.

Newspaper HLN reports that the man, named Ahmed A., tested a bomb in his back garden in Mouscron.

The Syrian national was already monitored after an FBI warning, Belgian officials said. The charges against the man are: Preparing a terrorist attack and participating in terrorist activities.

After his arrest the man told via a translator that the explosives were to be used for fishing, but these remarks were rejected by the magistrate.

She said the man was tracked down after his online search for terrorist activities and his research into making explosives.

The Syrian refugee’s lawyer called the man ‘a peaceful refugee’ instead of a terrorist and said the test in his back garden wasn’t serious.

But according to the magistrate the man liked the activities of ISIS on Facebook and Telegram. The prosecutor demanded five years in jail. The verdict is on 16 January next year.

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(GLOBALISTS) -George Soros crowned ‘person of the year’ by Financial Times, but not everyone is cheering

George Soros crowned ‘person of the year’ by Financial Times, but not everyone is cheering

Georges Soros (L) ; Anti-Orban demonstrators in Hungary © Reuters / Charles Platiau / Laszlo Balogh

Being “under siege” from Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has earned George Soros the FT’s ‘person of the year’ title. Eyebrows were raised over the not-at-all biased description of the billionaire as a champion of democracy.

For thirty years, liberal businessman and philanthropist Soros has used his vast wealth to crusade against“authoritarianism, racism and intolerance,” the FT profile reads.

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Armed with his expansive grant-giving network, Open Societies Foundations (OSF), the Hungarian-American spread his influence to some 100 countries across the globe. The NGO currently has annual expenditures of over $940 million, with 26 national and regional foundations and offices.

There’s hardly a question over whether the Soros-funded apparatus is doing the right thing. The first paragraph of the story says it just “helped thwart an allegedly corrupt nuclear power plant contract with Russia” – a feat to be admired in the liberal world.

“We haven’t stopped having a beneficial influence,” Soros is then quoted as saying.

ALSO ON RT.COMGeorge Soros’ Open Society foundation ends operations in Hungary

But there’s a worrying trend for the Democrat mega-donor, passionate advocate for open borders and outspoken critic of Brexit. More and more detractors see his work as an existential threat to conservative values and even state sovereignty.

The “standard bearer of liberal democracy and open society” has found his ideals “under siege” as he “has attracted the wrath of authoritarian regimes and, increasingly, the national populists who continue to gain ground,” writes FT.

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At one point Soros sounds a bit more critical of himself than the paper, as he acknowledges he’s a divisive figure, something he still believes indicates his effectiveness as an activist.

“I’m blamed for everything, including being the anti-Christ,” Soros says. “I wish I didn’t have so many enemies, but I take it as an indication that I must be doing something right.”

Soros wasn’t joking. Hungarian lawmaker Andras Aradszki of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) once declared that it is a Christian’s duty to oppose Soros’ calls for Europe to take in asylum seekers from Africa and the Middle East – what Aradszki called “Satan’s Soros plan.” The lawmaker added that “Soros and his comrades want to destroy the independence and values of nation states.”

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In May, the OSF ended its operations in Hungary, citing an “increasingly repressive political and legal environment.” A month later, Hungary’s parliament passed the ‘Stop Soros’ law which threatens jail time for anyone helping illegal immigrants claim asylum.

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban accused Soros of attempting to use mass migration to undermine Europe’s stability.

“Soros has antagonized not only us but also England, President Trump and Israel too,” Orban said in February.“Everywhere he wants to get migration accepted. It won’t work. We are not alone and we will fight together… and we will succeed.”

ALSO ON RT.COMHungary approves ‘Stop Soros’ law criminalizing aid to illegal migrants

In the UK, the billionaire has been sharply criticized for his donations of over £800,000 ($1,062,000) to pro-EU campaigns. The pledges included £400,000 to Best for Britain, a campaign group that has been at the forefront of anti-Brexit activism.

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The businessman’s activities have received similar hostility in the United States, where some have accused him of providing assistance to the so-called “migrant caravan” which made its way from Central America to the US’ southern border. “The venom, long concealed among extreme right networks, has leaked into the mainstream,” laments the FT.

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Soros, along with other notable critics of Donald Trump, such as former President Barack Obama, the Clintons and CNN, was recently targeted by an alleged pipe bomb mailed to his home in New York.

A prominent backer of the Democratic Party, Soros has called Trump a “danger to the world,” and once (wrongly) bet that stocks would collapse if Donald won presidency. The bet reportedly cost him $1 billion – quite affordable for the investor who is currently worth $8.3 billion after his 2017 transfer of $18 billion to the OSF.

ALSO ON RT.COM‘Lock him up!’ Smiling Trump joins chant against Soros (VIDEO)

For a man who made billions short-selling the UK pound sterling and has been accused of several more currency crises in Asia, FT’s Soros comes across as a wise old benefactor “looking beyond his formidable legacy” in his “twilight years.”

READ MORE: Soros sold off Facebook stocks before they tanked, documents show

But for all the accolades, the paper may have forgotten that the businessman has long had his sights set on a title more ambitious than merely the ‘person’ of the year. In a 1993 interview with the UK Independent, Soros actually confessed that he suffers from a god complex.

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“It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out,” he said.

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More countries will not sign UN Migration Pact – Hungarian FM

IRENA IRIS SZEWCZYK

By LAURA CAT 19 December 2018

At a hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday, foreign minister Péter Szijjártó tells Parliament that there are at least 13 countries set to vote against the UN Migration compact on 19 December.

The countries who will vote against the plan include the Visegrád Four group of Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, as well, Bulgaria, Latvia, Austria, the United States, Israel, Australia, Dominica and Brazil, Péter told at the hearing.

Minister Szijjártó also has asserted that Hungary will also reject the “sister document”, which has been hailed as even worse than the Migration pact, The Global Compact on Refugees.

This is is said to allow migrants to enter Europe “through a backdoor” and as the minister said, “Hungarian communities across the border will not be sacrificed for geopolitical interests or under international pressure”.

Referring to the “unbelievable pressure” western allies have deployed on Hungary in the effort to have Hungary relinquish its position vetoing Ukraine’s NATO integration, the foreign minister insists that Hungary would stand firm until “Ukraine drops its anti-Hungarian policies”.

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Belgian PM resigns after UN migrant pact row results in no confidence motion

Belgian PM resigns after UN migrant pact row results in no confidence motion

Belgian PM Charles Michel

Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel has announced his immediate resignation after a no-confidence motion against his government was introduced.

Speaking to the parliament, Michel admitted that his call for a “coalition of the willing” to govern until the next election – scheduled for May 2019 – had “not been heard,” adding that he would respect this outcome and resign.

His speech received standing ovation, according to the Belgian media.

ALSO ON RT.COMMigration not a ‘human right’: Austria refuses to join global UN-backed migration pactMichel’s decision came after the opposition Green and Socialist parties tabled a no-confidence motion against his government. The move was allegedly provoked by the ruling coalition’s failure to agree on some budget proposals.

The Belgian government was already weakened earlier this month, when the center-right New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), which is actually the largest political force in the parliament, quit the ruling coalition citing disagreements with its partners over the controversial UN Migration Pact. Michel had to reshuffle his cabinet and planned to make his government continue its work as a minority one.

The UN-backed pact that has turned out to be a stumbling block for the Belgian government was approved by more than 160 nations in Marrakech, Morocco earlier in December.

ALSO ON RT.COMDivided nations: UN migration pact sows discord as states turn away & face domestic tensionsSome nations have openly opposed it, while many others, including Belgium, witnessed widespread protests of their citizens against it. The US, which was the first to openly oppose the pact, said the agreement was “dead even before it’s been signed.”

Although the text is not legally binding and is regarded as more of a declaration, the pact is worded in a way that encourages domestic courts and authorities to consider it when making decisions based on interpretations of their laws.

Such provisions have prompted Austria, Hungary, Israel and several other countries to reject the pact. Critics claim that the deal is inadequate for managing global migration flows and might negatively affect their national immigration policies.

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UK: Migrant Admits Hunting Down, Murdering Islamic Wife, Mother-In-Law

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By DAN LYMAN DECEMBER 17, 2018

An Afghan migrant has been convicted in the murders of a Syrian woman he married under Islamic law and her mother, UK media reports.

Janbaz Tarin has been sentenced to a minimum 32 years in prison after pleading guilty in the August stabbings of Raneem Oudeh, 22 and Khaola Saleem, 49.

Oudeh, whose marriage to Tarin had not been conducted in accordance with British law, reportedly dumped him after discovering he had a second wife and many children living in Pakistan, but Tarin continued to harass and threaten her.

Chilling video footage released by West Midlands Police shows Tarin stalking Oudeh and Saleem at a hookah bar on the night of August 27, before he confronts them and the encounter becomes physical.

Staff say they ejected Tarin and that he made a throat-slitting gesture at Oudeh before driving off.

Oudeh called the police, to whom Tarin was already known due to a history of physical abuse.

Later in the evening, Tarin tracked the women down at home and killed them both.

After a three-day manhunt, Tarin was eventually apprehended.

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Oudeh’s aunt, Nour Norris, told the Birmingham Mail that her niece had predicted her own murder three weeks prior.

“One day in the garden Raneem said to me: ‘Aunty I feel my life is going to end with him soon’, and I said, ‘Please don’t say that,'” Norris said. “That was three weeks before she was murdered.”

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