A mob of rioting “youths” attacked police in Southern Stockholm last night. The culturally enriched mischief-makers threw stones and Molotov cocktails at the police and torched several cars in what was apparently a pre-planned event that had nothing to do with Islam.

In other news, eighteen Kurds charged with drug-dealing were hanged in Iran.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, K, Papa Whiskey, RR, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Census Says ‘Human Capital’ Of 8 Mn Italians Wasted

Millions unemployed, others discouraged with skills not used

(ANSA) — Rome, December 5 — Human capital in Italy is “dissipating” with some eight million people not putting their skills and energy to use, according to a Census report on the country’s social situation released Friday. That includes three million potential workers who are unemployed, another three million available but not actively looking, and almost two million workers deemed ‘discouraged’. Hardest hit are young Italians, where the jobless rate is more than 40%.

— Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



F.B.I. Is Adding Slayings Suspect to Wanted List

The fugitive likes to eat at Denny’s and the International House of Pancakes. He loves black and tan German shepherds. His cigarettes of choice are Marlboro Lights 100s.

The description of the fugitive, Yaser Abdel Said, was included in a particularly detailed announcement Thursday from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which added Mr. Said to its Ten Most Wanted list.

The F.B.I. said that Mr. Said executed his two teenage daughters seven years ago after telling them he was taking them to a Dallas-area restaurant in his taxicab. Their bodies were found in Irving, Tex.

[I remember this piece of scum. His poor daughters were beautiful kids. — PW]

Protests Over Police Killings Turn Violent in California

Clashes erupted between protesters and police in California following the Saturday funeral of an unarmed black man shot dead by police in Brooklyn and amid continuing anger over the choke-hold death of Eric Garner in July.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Small Blast in North Carolina Hotel Injures Six Police, One Suspect

(Reuters) — An explosion in a North Carolina hotel room injured six police officers and one man who was arrested on drug and identity theft charges, law enforcement officials said Saturday.

Police had gone to a Motel Six in Burlington, about 110 miles northeast of Charlotte, to serve an arrest warrant late Friday, a Burlington Police Department official said.

Officers entered the room and were testing paraphernalia believed to be used for drug activity when the small blast occurred, the official said.

The officer conducting the test sustained eye injuries and another five officers and the suspect were transferred to a hospital for treatment and decontamination, police said.

The motel was evacuated by the Burlington Fire Department after the blast.

It was unclear what caused the explosion…

Canada Arrests 15-Year-Old Muslim on Terrorism Charges

By Robert Spencer

He allegedly robbed a convenience store in order to get enough money to go overseas and join the jihad. “The boy told the officers that he had been living in sin as his country did not practise Sharia law.” What do Canadian authorities, and authorities all over the West, think all this is going to look like in ten or fifteen years? Do they think that the problem will go away if they engage in enough “outreach” and shower enough money on Muslim communities? They are, unfortunately, in for a rude awakening, as the reality inexorably will dawn on them that Muslim leaders they have been relying on to teach their people to be “moderate” have not been doing anything of the kind.

“Canada Charges First Teenager For Terrorism-Related Activity,” by Sounak Mukhopadhyay, International Business Times, December 5, 2014 (thanks to Kenneth):…

— Hat tip: K [Return to headlines]



Belgium: Badge to Halt Social Fraud Among Foreign Workers?

5/12/14 — Bart Tommelein, the secretary of state charged with combating social fraud plans to increase checks on all workers on Belgian building sites. The introduction of a special badge should help to combat social fraud.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



Belgians Unite in UNESCO Bid to Reclaim ‘French’ Fries

Belgians seldom agree about anything, but they all know their country’s unity hangs by a potato thread.

The thread is in fact one centimetre thick, rectangular and fried twice, most often in beef fat. People around the world call it “French fry”. But that, the Belgians say, is a “misnomer”.

The origin of potato fries — or chips, as the British call them — has long been a matter of dispute. Belgians say they invented them, but so do people in northern France. For both, they are a national treasure…

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



Borisov: Bulgaria Suffering From EU Sanctions on Russia

BRUSSELS — Bulgaria’s economy is being badly hurt by European Union economic sanctions against Russia, its prime minister said on Thursday, EurActiv.com reports.

Boiko Borisov, who leads a minority coalition government, said he hoped the sanctions had “already played their role and relations will be soon normalised”.

“I don’t know how Russia is affected by the sanctions, but Bulgaria is affected severely,” he told a news conference in Brussels.

Russia accounted for 2.7 percent of Bulgaria’s exports last year, mostly machinery, pharmaceuticals and agricultural produce. Bulgaria’s exports to Russia were down 22 percent in August from a year earlier, while overall EU exports to Russia were down 18 percent, according to the EU statistics office Eurostat.

Even before sanctions, Bulgaria was struggling to revive economic growth while dealing with a bank crisis.

“Due to the embargo, we cannot export meat … Bulgaria is facing not only political and economic and financial problems, we are facing global problems and that is why we need serious support,” Borisov said, EurActiv reports.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



‘Bulgaria: South Stream Want Each Other, Prick Each Other, “Dad” Does Not Allow’

Bulgaria’s “Mom” Brussels and its “Dad” Washington had warned Bulgaria to suspend its funding if it allows South Stream on its soil, Russian news agency RIA wrote on Friday.

“Bulgaria has more than once changed its decision whether or not to let South Stream on its territory. “Mom” and “Dad” did not allow: Brussels and Washington threatened to suspend every kind of funding to the country. Subsequently the Bulgarian government changed, not without the participation of benefactors from the EU and the US,” Svetlana Kholodnova argues a few days after Russia abandoned the South Stream pipeline project.

Sofia listened to its “patrons” regardless of the multi-billion profit it could have head, “renouncing” South Stream, she also believes.

Now that Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov actually hopes the project will be renewed, “the train is gone, and it is not clear if Sofia could talk the project’s “locomotive” — Russia — in returning back to work on it.”

Kholodnova also wonders “why did Europe get so alarmed as soon as the project was stopped?” She hints Europeans could be afraid Kiev might turn out to be an “unfair” partner. Citing a recent analysis by rating agency Fitch which argued the pipeline was abandoned due to a dropping demand in Europe, the author says if Europe does not need South Stream, the same goes for Russia. “If you don’t like it, don’t eat it,” Kholodnova concludes.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



Denmark: This is What Living in the Viking Age Looked Like

Explore one of northern Europe’s largest Viking settlements in Denmark through this digital reconstruction.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Ex-Vatican Bank Heads Accused of Embezzlement, Accounts Seized

Two former Vatican bank managers and a lawyer have had their accounts seized as part of an investigation into allegations of embezzlement, the Vatican said Saturday.

The bank, officially known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), said it had pressed charges against the trio some months ago and “the accounts held by the concerned individuals at the IOR have recently been seized.”

While the IOR would not provide details on the case “given the ongoing judicial enquiry”, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told Italian media the trio were suspected of embezzling money…

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



France: Paris Suburb Reels After ‘Anti-Semitic’ Robbery, Rape

The Parisian suburb of Créteil made national headlines this week following a brutal anti-Semitic robbery and rape. Residents spoke to FRANCE 24 of their alarm that such an attack could happen in their usually quiet multicultural community.

The large Jewish community that calls Créteil home was in a state of shock days after a horrific anti-Semitic attack on a young couple in broad daylight Monday.

Three armed assailants broke into their apartment around noon and tied up the couple before proceeding to steal bank cards and jewellery. They then raped the 19-year-old woman, who has not been named in the French press…

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



Italy: ‘Mafia Capitale’ Probe Sends Shock Waves Through Rome

Opposition calls for Rome govt to be dissolved

(ANSA) — Rome, December 5 — Rome center-left Mayor Ignazio Marino said Friday he feels “more strength and determination” than before the eruption of the mafia scandal that has sent shock waves through the city over the past week. A massive ongoing probe has uncovered an alleged crime syndicate in the capital led by ex-rightwing terrorist Massimo Carminati and involving contractors and high-ranking politicians.

Marino defended his record since he took office in 2013 and outlined in detail the measures he took to end illegal practices and corruption he discovered after his election.

Asked if he would accept a police escort, Marino said he would decide by the weekend, pledging not to use his beloved bicycle for travelling around the city till then. As well, Marino said he might appoint a person tasked with “transparency and legality” to help deal with the corruption scandal sweeping the city. Also on Friday, Senate Speaker Piero Grasso rejected calls from some politicians to break up the current administration. He was echoed by PD national President Matteo Orfini, who has been put in charge of the Rome branch of the party after this week’s probe.

“This (Marino’s) administration has been a dam against the criminal powers and what emerges shows there was an attack on this administration,” Orfini said. More than 100 people are under investigation, including the man who Marino replaced as mayor in 2013, Gianni Alemanno, a right-wing politician and former agriculture minister under ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi.

As well, some 37 people were arrested on Tuesday. Several of those being investigated were expected to appear before an investigating magistrate on Saturday. Marino has so far emerged from the probe as being an incorruptible figure, but some members of his and Premier Matteo Renzi’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD) have been implicated in the scandal. Italy’s anti-corruption czar Raffaele Cantone on Thursday said his authority would order any contracts that are tainted by organised crime to be removed from the firms or cooperatives that have them.

“We told Marino that we will run checks on the contracts and we will put those won thanks to corruption in the hands of commissioners,” Cantone said after meeting the mayor. Lazio Governor Nicola Zingaretti said the regional government has suspended the awarding of all contracts while it conducts an internal investigation to find possible mafia infiltration there. Among those put behind bars Tuesday was the Roman mobsters’ alleged leader Massimo Carminati, a former member of the NAR neofascist terrorist group and of the Banda della Magliana crime gang.

The organisation allegedly made millions by rigging contracts in fields including waste management, park maintenance, migrant and refugee reception centers (CIEs) and Roma camps.

Salvatore Buzzi, a former manslaughter convict who headed cooperatives implicated in the scandal, seemed to boast about how much profit his gang was making off scamming city settlement centres.

“Do you have any idea how much I make on these immigrants?” Buzzi allegedly says in a wiretap from early 2013 contained in prosecution documents. “Drug trafficking is not as profitable”.

— Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Italy’s and France’s Reforms Are Insufficient, Says Merkel

(AGI) Berlin, Dec. 7 — The reforms promoted by Italy and France are insufficient, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Die Welt in an interview published on Sunday. The statement came one week after Brussels called a truce with Rome and Paris on how to improve their public finances. “But the Commission has also said in a clear manner that what is on the table to date is still insufficient. That’s something that I agree with”, Ms. Merkel said.

The Italian government replied through the Undersecretary for European Affairs, Mr. Sandro Gozzi, who said: “Berlin must respect Rome, focus on its own problems and make an important contribution to Europe: the reasoning based on doing one’s homework is over”. He added: “We are very sorry that the reforms launched by the government led by Mr. Renzi, which were greeted with expressions of appreciation worldwide, by the United States President Barack Obama and the International Monetary Fund alike, are considered to be insufficient by German Chancellor Angela Merkel”, who described them as such in an interview to German newspaper Die Welt. “In addition to the contents, there is also a question of style”, Mr. Gozzi said and continued: “It is not up to the heads of government to interpret the opinions of the European Commission. The Italian government never took the liberty of giving a report card to a EU Member Country and we ask Germany to do the same. Nobody intends to cane Berlin or give lessons to other governments. The time and the wrong reasoning of doing one’s homework is over and done with: accounting systems and report cards must make way for politics. Perhaps Chancellor Merket could focus her attention on domestic demand, on the lack of investments and on the imbalance in Germany’s balance of payments. It would be an important contribution from Berlin, that Europe has been expecting for a long time and that hasn’t been made yet. We are involved in a difficult reform effort in the interest of Italy which, we are sure, will benefit the entire eurozone”.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



Merkel Condemns Russia ‘Interfering’ In Eastern Europe

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has accused Russia of interfering in the affairs of Eastern European countries seeking closer ties with the EU.

In an interview in Die Welt am Sonntag newspaper (in German), Mrs Merkel said Russia was “creating problems” for Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine.

Russia’s violation of “the territorial integrity… of Ukraine must not be allowed to stand”, she added.

Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine have signed trade deals with the EU.

Russia is suspicious of these association agreements — it is trying to draw republics which were once part of the Soviet Union into its own customs union.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Poland: A Jewish Festival in a Town Without Jews

Of the 50,000 citizens in the Polish town of Kutno, not one is Jewish — yet it staged perhaps the most impressive concert of Jewish music I’ve ever heard.

The performers were all children from schools in the town, the youngest no more than six or seven.

They belted out old hits in Yiddish and Hebrew with a fluency and stage presence that few adult performers could match.

The concert was the finale of an ambitious festival of Jewish culture that the town has held since 1993.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Sweden: Nobel Week Attracts Hordes of Japanese Journos

Around 100 Japanese reporters and photographers are descending on Stockholm to cover Nobel Week, which kicks off today.

The week-long event, ending December 12th, does not normally attract as many Japanese reporters, but this year local media have taken great interest since there are three Japanese laureates, namely the winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics: Shuji Nakamura, Hiroshi Amano and Isamu Akasaki.

The three Japanese men have been awarded the prize for inventing the LED lamp. While Nakamura is a US citizen, he is still regarded as a Japanese in Japan since he was born and raised there.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Sweden: Rioting Youths Attack Police in Stockholm Suburb

A group of around 30 youths threw stones and Molotov cocktails at police and torched several cars in a Saturday night riot in southern Stockholm.

Another police spokesowoman, Eva Nilsson, said that the incident appears to have been planned in advance. In addition to the attacks on the police at the school, a park was also vandalised and around 10 cars were reportedly torched in the nearby district of Hagsätra.

On Sunday morning, police still had no explanation as to why they had been attacked. “This gang simply decided to get together to commit crime. There is no good reason for wanting to attack the police in this way. Nothing provoked the incident,” said Wernsten.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Swedish Churches Pray for Parliament

The Christian Council of Sweden has urged all of Sweden’s churches to pray for a peaceful resolution to the country’s political crisis.

The Council has called on Christians to pray for the country, the government and the parliament in Sunday services, Swedish Radio’s local P4 Blekinge station reports.

“By doing this together our common prayers can provide blessing and strength,” the Council said in a statement.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



World’s Largest Truffle Sells for $61,250 at Auction

Consider it a bargain: The world’s largest white truffle sold at auction Saturday for $61,250 — far less than the cool $1 million its owner reportedly had hoped for.

The White Alba’s Truffle weighed 4.16 pounds (1.89 kilos) when unearthed last week in the Umbrian region of Italy, making it by far the largest ever found.

Sotheby’s said it was purchased by a gourmand from Taiwan, who had placed his winning bid by telephone.

Balestra added that the massive fungus — slightly smaller than an American football — was large enough “to feed a party for 300-400 truffle dinners.”

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Serbia is Preparing Project for Gas Grid Interconnection With Bulgaria

Serbia is preparing the tender documents for the gas grid interconnection with Bulgaria, according to Energy Minister Aleksandar Antic.

In an interview for the Blic newspaper, as cited by Tanjug and dnevnik.bg, he notes that Serbia’s budget for 2015 envisages funding for the preparation of a new spatial plan which will specify the exact route of the gas pipeline.

“The EU provided funding to Bulgaria for the their section, while we are in talks for the funding of the Serbian stretch,” Antic explained.

The Serbian section of the Bulgaria-Serbia gas grid interconnection is to link Nis to Dimitrovgrad.

“The gas grid interconnection was designed earlier and is not related to the South Stream gas pipeline project,” Blic informs…

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



Egypt: Ex-Muslim Says Islamic State Follows Qur’an, Muhammad

By Robert Spencer

In response, Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee member Sheik Sayyed Zaid doesn’t — at least in this clip — respond to the Qur’an verses that Harqan quotes. Instead, he just claims that the Islamic State is a Jewish plot.

“Egyptian Human Rights Activist Ahmad Harqan: ISIS Is Doing what the Prophet Muhammad Did,” MEMRI, n.d.:

In an October 21 TV interview, Egyptian human rights activist Ahmad Harqan explained why he had become an atheist and said that Islam is a “harsh religion,” which was being implemented by ISIS and Boko Haram. They are doing “what the Prophet Muhammad and his companions did,” said Harqan. According to media reports, Harqan and his pregnant wife survived an assassination attempt on October 25, and when they went to the police to complain, were arrested for disrespect to Islam.

Following are excerpts from the program, which aired on Al-Kahera Wal-Nas TV:…

— Hat tip: K [Return to headlines]



Israel Arrests ‘Relic Looters’ From Dead Sea Cave

A gang that was stealing ancient relics from a desert cave — close to where the famed Dead Sea Scrolls were found — has been arrested, Israeli officials say.

The alleged thieves were caught as they were leaving a site known as the “Cave of Skulls”, halfway down a sheer cliff.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Al Qaeda Militant Threatens Lebanon After Wife Detained

Lebanese authorities earlier this week said they had detained a wife of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The wife of Shishani, a fighter in the Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s official Syrian wing, has also been arrested.

The women were apparently viewed by some Lebanese security elements as a possible bargaining chip with the militants to gain the release of the captive soldiers.

Sitting in front of a black flag with two militants by his side, Shishani said Shi’ite Muslim women and children and families of Lebanese soldiers were now legitimate targets.

“My wife, Ola Mithqal al-Oqaily … was taken two days ago from Tripoli, the city that is called the city of Islam and Muslims,” Shishani said.

“If my wife is not released soon, do not dare to dream about the release of the soldiers without negotiations.

“All your wives, children and men are legitimate targets now,” he said, using the phrase “slaves of (late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah) Khomeini” to refer to Shiites.

Many Sunni Syrian rebels and hardline Lebanese Sunni Islamists accuse Lebanon’s army of working with the Lebanese Shi’ite movement Hezbollah which has sent fighters to aid Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Shi’ite-derived Alawite minority.

Daesh Goes Potty!

The Islamic State issued in April circular number 46 banning the use of Western commodes because it is one of the infidels’ inventions and does not help cleansing from the filth completely. The circular said the Western commodes do not allow the body to get rid of all dirt because of the posture it takes while defecating, because the body remains in a relaxed state that does not pressure the intestines to get all what it is in the stomach out.

The “Islamic” commodes are the closest to the traditions of the good Salaf, who never did anything different from the sunnah of Allah and His messenger (PBUH). Muslims were defecating in the desert in a squatting posture, and washed with water if existed, or dried up with stones. The religious (sharia) authority will send patrols to inspect Muslims’ homes to make sure that they get rid of Western commodes after a one-week grace period from the date of the circular, and those in violation will be sent to the shariah court to face penal procedures against them. The circular was signed by one Sheikh Abu Mohammad.

We thank Allah for not living in the Islamic State because we do not use oriental commodes, or what our Muslim brothers call Islamic commodes, and the reason goes back to our innocent childhood, as we, in old Kuwait, were defecating on top of the houses, and if the roof was busy with adults, we the young children did it in the chicken or animal quarters…

— Hat tip: RR [Return to headlines]



Gender Equality Triggers Suicides, Turkish PM Suggests

In a speech that ranged between scholarly speculation and conservative politics, PM Davutoglu has linked the higher suicide rates in rich countries with the ‘mechanical equality’ they have in gender relations.

Turkish Prime Minister Davutoglu (L) attended a program Dec. 4, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the adoption of universal sufferage by Turkey. Sare Davutoglu (C), his wife, handed a placard to Eskisehir Mihalgazi Mayor Zeynep Akgün (R). Hürriyet photo / Selahattin Sönmez

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu linked “mechanical equality” in gender relations in developed countries to higher suicide rates, in a speech delivered on Dec. 4…

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



Greenpeace Faces “Toughest Trial” Yet in Spain Over Nuclear Plant Protest

Prosecutor seeking two-and-a-half-year jail terms for 16 activists and a photographer

After three decades of environmental activism in Spain, Greenpeace has got used to its protest actions ending in court sanctions.

Right now, the group has 19 proceedings open against it in the country, in which it is facing around €623,000 in fines. “Our actions normally finish with a punishment for disorder, which we end up paying,” says Greenpeace’s director in Spain, Mario Rodríguez.

But the case involving the group’s actions at the Cofrentes nuclear power plant in Valencia is different: not only because of the size of the fine the group is facing — €357,371 — but also because those involved could also be sentenced to prison. The public prosecutor has called for 16 Greenpeace activists and prize-winning photojournalist Pedro Armestre to be jailed for two years and eight months for entering the plant, painting graffiti and placing a placard in the early hours of February 15, 2011…

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



Iran Hanges 18 Kurdish Prisoners

Iranian government use execution to scare Kurdish political prisoners

The Iranian authorities has executed 18 Iranian Kurdish prisoners from several prisons in the country.

According to an Iranian media report, on Tuesday, three men and a woman from Urmia prison, three prisoners from Bandar Abbas prison and 11 other prisoners from Karaj Qizilhasar prison were executed.

The victims from Urmia Prison were; Yadulla Fahimi, Muhtar Dawudkha, Manuchehr Rezayi and his wife Marziyeh Ostwar.

According to Iranian Justice Ministry, they were executed on charges of drug dealings.

Moreover, in Bandar Abbas Jail, the executed prisoners were; Alireza Qurbani, Ali Akbar Nouradini and Hussen Shaho Zehi and Iranian government has said that they were hanged on charges of smuggling drugs into the country.

Furthermore, the Justice Ministry said the other 11 prisoners of Karaj Qizilhasar prison have been executed for the same reason.

News reports stated that the prisoners of Karaj Qizilhasar prison started hunger strike due to the condition of the prison before being executed.

Iranian government often intentionally accuse prisoners for drug related crimes, but actually they are political activists working for human rights and freedom and majority of them are Kurds.

the latest executions from Iran, comes at the time when for the last 13 days, Kurdish political prisoners in Urmia prison have began hunger strike against the inhumanity behaviour and the bad treatment of the prisoners in the Iranian Prisons.

According to human rights activists, Iranian government executes prisoners in order to scare Kurdish political prisoners to end their hunger strike.

Based on the human rights activists in Iran, more than 850 prisoners have been hanged in the last 8 months.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



ISIS Support Grows in Jordan Town

Local authorities quickly stripped away public signs of support for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group in this desert town. Black flags have been removed from rooftops. Graffiti proclaiming the extremists’ imminent victory have been whitewashed.

But supporters of the Middle East’s most radical extremist group are only laying low after their surprise show of strength in protests last summer. Despite government efforts, support for ISIS is growing in Maan and elsewhere in Jordan, one of the West’s key allies in the region, say ISIS activists, members of rival groups and experts on political Islam.

One of the leading ISIS activists in Maan said he and others are still working to build their base.

“In homes, at work, in mosques, in the streets, we reach out to people to call them to the real Islam,” the 40-year-old blacksmith, Abu Abdullah, told The Associated Press. Like other ISIS supporters interviewed by the AP, he spoke on condition he be identified only by his nickname for fear of troubles with authorities.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Israeli Jets ‘Strike Near Damascus’ — Syrian Army

The Syrian military has accused Israel of carrying out two air strikes on Syria, near the capital Damascus.

Israeli planes bombed the area near Damascus international airport and the town of Dimas, the Syrian army said in a statement carried on state television.

No casualties were reported. There has been no confirmation of the air strikes from Israel.

Israel has conducted several air strikes on Syria since 2011.

“This afternoon, the Israeli enemy targeted two safe areas in Damascus province, namely the Dimas area and the Damascus International Airport,” the military statement said.

It described the air strikes as “direct aggression” carried out to help the Syrian government’s opponents.

Kerry ‘Dismayed and Disturbed’ By Iran Charges Against Washington Post Reporter

Secretary of State John Kerry said early Sunday that he was “personally dismayed and disturbed” by reports that an Iranian court had charged a Washington Post reporter with unspecified offenses.

The Post reported Saturday that Jason Rezaian, the newspaper’s bureau chief in Tehran since 2012, appeared in court almost five months after he was arrested July 22. Rezaian is an Iranian-American who holds dual citizenship.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Kuwait: Dismissed IS Officer Confesses

Security forces released a police officer who had been dismissed from service for not showing up to work for over 45 days without permission and joining the IS fighters in Syria, said security sources. The sources explained that the officer’s passport has been withdrawn and that he confessed to taking part in offensives with the IS in Syria.

The sources added that the officer told state security investigators about the route Kuwaitis took to join IS, noting that they usually left for a GCC state from which they mainly headed to Turkey to get into Syria or Iraq.

The suspect also confessed to trying to recruit Kuwaiti youth and convince them of heading to Syria and Iraq to fight with IS. “Some foreign bodies that are basically members of IS are working hard to brainwash our youth,” stressed the sources. Notably, Deputy PM and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Khaled had dismissed the suspect in addition to another officer who did not show up for work. The minister’s decision was seconded by the Cabinet. — Al-Qabas

— Hat tip: RR [Return to headlines]



No Alcohol Service Class for Turkey’s Tourism Students

Turkey’s National Education Council accepted a proposal to abolish a class that teaches tourism students how to serve alcoholic drinks on Dec. 5.

After adopting a proposal to increase the duration of religious education schooling and recommend compulsory Ottoman language classes, a committee of Turkey’s National Education Council has accepted a proposal to abolish a class that teaches tourism students how to serve alcoholic beverages.

Egitim-Bir-Sen, an education sector trade union with conservative views, put forward the controversial proposal for tourism high schools, which was initially rejected in a vote in commission meetings in the southern province of Antalya on Dec. 5.

However, the proposal was accepted by the commission in a second vote in the afternoon, according to Ahmet Gündogdu, the chair of Egitim-Bir-Sen. Unions protesting the proposal stormed out of the meeting in the afternoon, daily Radikal reported…

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



Turkey’s New Presidential Palace Has 1,150 Rooms, Not 1,000, Erdogan Reveals

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended the gargantuan size of Turkey’s new presidential palace in Ankara — revealing that it has more than 1,150 rooms, rather than 1,000 as previously reported. He also claimed that Buckingham Palace in London cost British taxpayers almost $8 billion.

“It does not have 1,000 rooms. It has more than 1,150 rooms,” Erdogan said while speaking at a meeting of Anatolian business group ASKON in Istanbul on Dec. 6.

Arguing that the size and cost of the new presidential palace are criticized only out of “jealousy,” Erdogan stressed that it is “the nation’s palace,” not his own.

“Buckingham Palace was restored for £5 billion, or around $7-8 billion. And they have many other palaces like that,” he added, claiming that critics “do not want to see growth in Turkey.”…

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



Turkish Nobel Laureate Slams Climate of ‘Fear’ In Turkey

Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, who won the Nobel prize for literature in 2006, denounced what he called a climate of “fear” in his country, in an interview published Sunday.

“The worst is that there’s a fear. I find that everyone is afraid; it’s not normal…. Freedom of expression has fallen to a very low level,” Pamuk told the Hurriyet newspaper.

He accused the government of pressuring the media and especially deplored the harassment of opposition journalists…

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



India Opposes Sanctions Against Russia

After maintaining silence for long, India has made its stance clear on the sanctions on Russia imposed by West and the US over the ongoing Ukrainian crisis. Interestingly, the South Asian country opposed the sanctions ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arrival in New Delhi to attend the 15th Annual India-Russia Summit.

The External Affairs Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that India would never be a party to any sanction against Moscow. Ajay Bisaria, the Joint Secretary (Eurasia) of the ministry — described the Indo-Russian ties as ‘special and privileged strategic partnership’ saying that New Delhi considers the Ukrainian crisis as the former Soviet nation’s internal problem. The senior ministry official also said that New Delhi received and accepted Moscow’s invitation to boost bilateral trade and nuclear ties and India would maintain friendly ties with Russia.

According to Bisaria, New Delhi and Moscow “have similarity in views on important global issues, including on the threats of terrorism, particularly in Russia and its neighbourhood and also on the need to defuse Cold War-like tensions that are increasingly manifesting themselves in global relations”. He further announced that Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would spell out a ‘joint vision of bilateral relationship for the next 10 years’ during the Summit, apart from providing a roadmap to advancing the partnership to qualitatively new levels…

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



Russia’s Kalashnikov to Launch Fashion Line

The makers of Russia’s iconic AK-47 assault rifle are moving into fashion to get around Western sanctions on its weapons.

At a flashy event in Moscow Tuesday, Kalashnikov Concern unveiled a new look and a new red-and-black K-shaped logo as guests were handed empty AK bullet magazines.

The arms producer was one of the companies targeted this year by Western sanctions imposed over Moscow’s role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

It lead to a freeze in delivery of up to 200,000 rifles to the United States and Canada, and the cancelling of an advertising campaign there to be spearheaded by Hollywood actor Steven Seagal.

But far from scaling back, Kalashnikov is set to double production and diversify into clothing and accessory lines, company CEO Alexei Krivoruchko, told Russian news agencies…

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]



India Court: Sharia Trumps Ban on Child Marriage

By Robert Spencer

Islamic apologists in the West routinely deny that Muhammad married a child or that Islamic law sanctions child marriage. Stories like these show that they’re lying. In reality, few things are more abundantly attested in Islamic law than the permissibility of child marriage. Islamic tradition records that Muhammad’s favorite wife, Aisha, was six when Muhammad wedded her and nine when he consummated the marriage:

“The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. till his death)” (Bukhari 7.62.88).

Another tradition has Aisha herself recount the scene:…

— Hat tip: K [Return to headlines]



Suspected US Drone Strikes Kill at Least 13 in Pakistan, Afghanistan

At least two suspected U.S. drone strikes on both sides of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan have killed at least 13 alleged Pakistani Taliban fighters, according to local officials.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



North Korea Denies ‘Righteous’ Sony Pictures Hacking

North Korea has denied any involvement in hacking Sony Pictures, which was making a comedy film based on a plot to kill leader Kim Jong Un. Pyongyang’s top brass have, however, called the attack a “righteous deed.”

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



The Twilight World of China’s Wild West

China says it is facing a growing threat from militant Islam. It is in the midst of a year-long crackdown on what it describes as terrorism driven by religious extremism. The campaign is focused on the western province of Xinjiang, home to China’s Uighur ethnic minority, who are predominantly Muslim.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



A Point of View: Has Modern Art Exhausted Its Power to Shock?

Modern art’s desire to shock and to defy cliche has become a cliche in itself, and spawned a culture of fakery, argues Roger Scruton.