According to investigators, the terrorist cell in Belgium that was raided last night was planning to behead a police officer or a judge. There are also reports that the terrorists who were planning the attack were inspired by the 2013 beheading of Lee Rigby in Woolwich.

In other news, four people were killed in Niger during protests over the Charlie Hebdo cartoons. Rioting mobs set fire to the French cultural center and several churches. The incident had nothing to do with Islam.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, K, Nick, Papa Whiskey, Steen, 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.

European Auto Market Shows Growth After Six Years of Decline

Nearly a million vehicles sold in December 2014 alone

(ANSA) — Turin, January 16 — Car sales are on the rise in Europe for the first time in six years, up 5.4% in 2014 over 2013 figures, according to data reported by vehicle makers’ association ACEA on Friday.

ACEA reported that 13,004,451 cars were delivered in the 28 member states of the EU and 4 member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 2014.

In December 2014 alone, a total of 997,238 vehicles were sold, a 4.9% gain over December 2013 figures.

Fiat Chrysler group (FCA) reported a 3.5% increase in European sales (EU + EFTA) in 2014, with 768,000 vehicles sold, and European market share holding steady at 5.9%, compared to 2013’s overall figure of 6%.

In December 2014, FCA sales jumped 7.2% over 2013 figures, representing a 4.9% increase in market share.

— Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Fitch Lowers Greece Credit Outlook to ‘Negative’

Rating firm Fitch on Friday lowered Greece’s credit outlook to negative from stable, citing rising political uncertainty, but kept the country’s credit rating unchanged at ‘B’, indicating highly speculative.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Gold Scores Big Weekly Gain on Swiss Shocker

Gold prices posted the biggest weekly gain in 18 months as turmoil in European currency markets spurred demand for the metal as a haven.

Aggregate open interest in gold futures on Jan. 15 surged 5.6%, the most since October 2009, following the Swiss central bank’s surprise move to abandon the franc’s cap against the euro. Assets in the biggest exchange-traded product backed by the metal rose the most since August 2011.

Gold climbed to a four-month high on Friday, while call options for the right to own February futures at $1,300 an ounce soared sevenfold in two days. Signs of cooling expansion in Europe boosted speculation that policy makers will add to stimulus, increasing demand for a store of value.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Soaring Swiss Franc Stirs Mortgage Fears in Croatia and Poland

Switzerland’s shock decision to remove the cap on its currency spread panic Thursday among Croatian and Polish homeowners with mortgages in the franc who will see their monthly payments jump, while nearby Austria and Hungary downplayed the impact.

The Swiss central bank on Thursday ended its bid to artificially hold down the value of its currency, sending it rocketing almost 30 percent against the euro.

It also rose nearly 20 percent against the Polish zloty — bad news for some 700,000 Polish households with mortgage loans in Swiss francs — while the main index on the Warsaw stock exchange slumped by around three percent.

Around 40 percent of Polish mortgage loans are in Swiss francs, or the equivalent of around 31 billion euros ($36 billion), according to Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF)…

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



Breastaurant Business is Booming as Other Chains Struggle

While casual sit-down restaurants like Olive Garden and TGI Friday’s are struggling to attract new business, diners are flocking to chains like Hooters, Twin Peaks and Tilted Kilt. So called breastaurants—named for their scantily clad wait staff—are growing at a double digit pace over the last year, according to data from Technomic, a food market research firm.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Duke Reverses Muslim Call to Prayer Decision

by Arnold Ahlert

In a move described as an initiative to promote “religious pluralism,” Duke University announced Tuesday it would broadcast a weekly call to prayer for Muslims from the Duke Chapel bell tower each Friday at 1 p.m. Yesterday, however, the University reversed itself. “Duke remains committed to fostering an inclusive, tolerant and welcoming campus for all of its students,” said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. “However, it was clear that what was conceived as an effort to unify was not having the intended effect.”

Thus Duke takes a rare break from its long tradition of fostering a politically correct, hypersensitive atmosphere on campus — one rife with hypocrisy. The same university that will not acquiesce to the MSA in this case is the one that hosted the annual conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM) in 2004, during which attendees defeated proposals to moderate PSM’s “Guiding Principle #5,” that refuses to condemn terrorism. It was followed up by several speakers more than willing to bash Israel as an apartheid state, comparing their treatment of Palestinians to “Algiers under the French or Poland under the Nazis,” deriding American media for a “campaign of misinformation by Zionist-leaning news editors,” and accusing the Jewish State of “attempting to actually rid itself of the Palestinians while taking as much of their land as possible.”

— Hat tip: K [Return to headlines]



Obama Threatens to Veto Iran Sanctions Bill

President Obama, joined by British Prime Minister David Cameron, sharply warned Congress Friday not to pursue new sanctions on Iran — saying they could derail the effort to strike a deal barring the country from getting a nuclear weapon.

Obama confirmed he has even warned congressional Democrats, some of whom support a new sanctions bill, that he would veto that legislation.

“Congress needs to show patience,” Obama said.

If new sanctions are approved while the Iran talks are ongoing, the president warned, “The likelihood of the entire negotiations collapsing is very high.”

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Obama Opposes New Congressional Standby Sanctions at Joint White House Press Conference

President Obama responds to questions at a joint Press Conference with UK PM David Cameron on new Congressional Sanctions legislation on Iran’s Nuclear program should the negotiations not achieve a final agreement.

Watch this C-span video clip we created:

Note these excerpts from President Obama’s response to the Question from ABC reporter, Jonathan Karl:

Papa John’s Pizza Stands by Employee Who Shot Armed Robber in Self Defense

Papa John’s Pizza is standing by a pizza delivery woman who opened fire Sunday on an armed robber in an act of self defense.

The pizza franchise told FoxNews.com Thursday the employee, who hasn’t been named, will not be fired from the company.

The employee was making a delivery in Decatur, Ga., Sunday night when a man approached her vehicle, forcing her onto the ground at gunpoint, according to the DeKalb County Police Department. The woman, who had a gun in her pocket, was able to fire at the man while on the ground — striking the alleged assailant, identified as 24-year-old Donquaz Stevenson, in the face.

Stevenson was later found in a neighbor’s yard and arrested, according to police, who said the pizza delivery might have been a setup. Local media outlets reported that a second suspect carjacked the delivery woman’s silver 2000 Honda Accord and remains on the run.

[Good on Papa John’s! Hope this starts a trend. — PW]

Republicans Unveil Internet Bill to Counter Obama’s Net Neutrality Proposal

House and Senate Republicans on Friday unveiled draft legislation that would stop the Federal Communications Commission from re-classifying the Internet as a public utility.

Calling the bill “rules for the road for open and unfettered access to the Internet,” lawmakers announced their plan days ahead of hearings scheduled for Jan. 21 in both the House and Senate.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Three ‘Super-Earth’ Exoplanets Seen Orbiting Nearby Star

NASA’s crippled Kepler spacecraft has scored a major discovery in its second life. Using data from the first 80 days of Kepler’s K2 mission, astronomers have discovered three planets just a little bigger than Earth orbiting a star near the Sun.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



“Belgian Army Ready to Assist Police Forces”

The Belgian federal government is preparing a spate of measures to reduce the possible terror threat. Those that could pose a threat to society risk losing their Belgian passport or their residence permit. It has also been announced that the Belgian army will assist the police.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



100 Terror Suspects in Italy Says Intelligence

Mostly living in Northern Italy, 10 are women

(ANSA) — Rome, January 16 — Italian anti-terrorism intelligence services said Friday they have a list of 100 suspects in Italy, media reported.

The suspects are mostly second-generation North African immigrants, living in Italy’s northern regions including Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Liguria, Veneto and Lazio.

Most of those on the list, which includes 10 women, are between 20 and 35 years of age and are active Internet users, according to the reports.

— Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Belgian Terror Suspects ‘Tried to Flee to Italy’

27 suspects arrested in Berlin, Belgium, Paris

(ANSA) — Brussels, January 16 — At least 27 terror suspects have been arrested in Europe in the past 24 hours, including two Belgian nationals who were trying to flee to Italy, sources said Friday.

French police stopped the pair in the Chambery region. The suspects were fleeing an anti-terrorist sweep in Belgium, where 13 people were arrested in operations in various parts of the country.

In Paris, 12 people were arrested in the suburbs of the capital. Among them is the alleged accomplice of Amedy Coulibaly, who gunned five people down in France last week, including a policewoman.

The accomplice allegedly provided Coulibaly with “significant logistical support” and a car. Investigators tracked him down through DNA left behind in the vehicle, sources said.

In Berlin, two people were arrested including Ismet D., the alleged ringleader of a jihadi recruiting organization targeting Russians and Turks.

— Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Belgium Terror Network Planned to Kill Police Officers

Heavily armed Belgian terrorists killed on Thursday by special forces in a raid on their apartment in Verviers were planning to kill police officers in public and in police stations, state prosecutors said.

Two jihadists who were recently returned from Syria were killed in the raid, near the German border with Belgium.

After the raid, police found four Kalashnikov AK47 rifles, four handguns, ammunition and explosives. The terrorist cell was also equipped with police uniforms, radio, false documentation and an import sum of cash.

The terrorist network also planned to seize a passenger bus and take hostages, according to press reports.

Major Jewish schools in Brussels and Antwerp were closed on Friday after a heightened terror threat the by Jewish community’s internal security service.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Belgium Charges Five Over ‘Terror Plot to Kill Police’

Five people have been charged in Belgium following a series of anti-terror raids that began on Thursday evening and left two suspects dead.

The five have been charged with “participating in the activities of a terrorist group”, the prosecutor’s office told the AFP news agency.

Officials had said there was an “imminent” threat from suspected jihadists to kill police officers.

Earlier, Belgium’s government announced tough new measures to tackle terrorism.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Belgium: “Terrorist Plans Focused on Police Officers on Duty”

Speaking at a press conference this morning, federal prosecutors confirmed that police services were the immediate target of an Islamist group planning to stage terrorist attacks. The plans were apparently very concrete and attacks were imminent, it can be heard in the aftermath of Thursday’s large anti-terror operation. Meanwhile, experts underline that there is no reason to panic, and that we shouldn’t let ourselves be paralysed by feelings of fear.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Caroline Glick: The Answer to French Anti-Semitism

January 16 is the nine-year anniversary of the beginning of the Ilan Halimi disaster.

On January 16, 2006, Sorour Arbabzadeh, the seductress from the Muslim anti-Jewish kidnapping gang led by Youssouf Fofana, entered the cellphone store where Halimi worked and set the honey trap.

Four days later, Halimi met Arbabzadeh for a drink at a working class bar and agreed to walk her home. She walked him straight into an ambush. Her comrades beat him, bound him and threw him into the trunk of their car.

They brought Halimi to a slum apartment and tortured him for 24 days and 24 nights before dumping him, handcuffed, naked, stabbed and suffering from third degree burns over two-thirds of his body, at a railway siding in Paris.

He died a few hours later in the hospital.

In an impassioned address to the French parliament on Tuesday, Prime Minister Manuel Valls gave a stirring denunciation of anti-Semitism, and demanded that his people stop treating it as someone else’s problem.

In his words, “Since Ilan Halimi in 2006… anti-Semitic acts in France have grown to an intolerable degree. The words, the insults, the gestures, the shameful attacks… did not produce the national outrage that our Jewish compatriots expected.”

Valls insisted that France needs to protect its Jewish community, lest France itself be destroyed.

“Without its Jews France would not be France, this is the message we have to communicate loud and clear. We haven’t done so. We haven’t shown enough outrage. How can we accept that in certain schools and colleges the Holocaust can’t be taught? How can we accept that when a child is asked, ‘Who is your enemy?’ the response is ‘The Jew?’ When the Jews of France are attacked France is attacked, the conscience of humanity is attacked. Let us never forget it.”

Valls words were uplifting. But it is hard to see how they change the basic reality that the Jews of France face…

Europe Needs to Better Integrate Muslim Communities: Obama

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Europe must do more to better integrate its Muslim communities, and not “simply respond with a hammer”, US President Barack Obama said Friday in the wake of last week’s terror attacks in France.

“Our biggest advantage, major, is that our Muslim populations — they feel themselves to be Americans,” Obama told a joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

“There are parts of Europe in which that’s not the case. And that’s probably the greatest danger that Europe faces… it’s important for Europe not to simply respond with a hammer and law enforcement and military approaches to these problems.”

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Europe’s Leading Rabbi: Jews Must Begin Carrying Guns

One of Europe’s most prominent Jewish organizations is petitioning the European Union to pass new legislation that would permit Jewish community members to carry guns “for the essential protection of their communities,” according to a letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The European Jewish Association (EJA), which represents Jewish communities across Europe, says that gun license laws must be altered following a string of deadly attacks on Jews in France and other European countries, where anti-Semitism has been growing at an alarming rate.

The recent attacks, including one on a Kosher market that killed four, “have revealed the urgent need to stop talking and start acting” in a way that empowers Europe’s Jews, according to a letter sent Tuesday by EJA General Director Rabbi Menachem Margolin to EU leaders.

The EU, which has enacted very stringent gun control laws, should empower and train Jews to be proficient with guns in order to maintain their safety, according to Margolin.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



European Institutions in Brussels Adopt ‘Yellow’ Alarm Code

Security measures have also been tightened at the European Commission and the European Council buildings in the centre of Brussels. A sign at the entrance of the Berlaymont building at Schuman informs visitors and staff that the yellow alert code has been put into force.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Foreign Intelligence Agencies Have Intercepted Discussions by Islamist Militants About Possible Attacks on Weekly Marches Organised by Germany’s New Anti-Islamic Movement, A News Weekly Reported on Friday, Without Citing Its Sources.

Der Spiegel magazine said that foreign intelligence services had picked up the content of communications by some “known international jihadists”, without giving specific details.

The intelligence, which was passed to German authorities, indicated they had discussed possible attacks on the rallies organised by the so-called group, “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident” (Pegida), the magazine said in a pre-released story to appear in this weekend’s edition.

“We take these leads very seriously,” Spiegel quoted an unnamed high-ranking security official as saying.

France’s Taubira Says Citizens Have Right to Mock Religion

‘In the country of Voltaire, we can draw everything’

(ANSA) — Paris, January 15 — French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira said Thursday that France is the homeland of “Voltaire and irreverence, we have the right to laugh at all religions”. She spoke at a ceremony for one of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists murdered last week by terrorists. “We can draw everything, including the Prophet,” said Taubira, who spoke at the same time as Pope Francis said it was wrong to mock religious beliefs.

— Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



French Post Office Hostage-Taking Ends, No Victims

(Reuters) — An armed man who earlier took several hostages at a post office northwest of Paris on Friday has surrendered with no one hurt, a French police official told Reuters.

The man equipped with a military weapon took an unconfirmed number of hostages at the post office in the town of Colombes, just outside the capital.

“I cannot confirm or deny whether it is linked to terrorism,” an official at the city prosecutor’s office told Reuters earlier, declining to give further details.

Germany: Foreign Intelligence Warnings of Militant Attacks on Berlin, Dresden Train Stations

German authorities say they have received warnings of possible attacks on Berlin and Dresden train stations, and the weekly anti-Islamization PEGIDA rally. The information came from foreign intelligence agencies.

The warnings concerned possible attacks on the two main train stations in the capital Berlin and in Dresden, where the weekly PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West) demonstration was also cited as a possible target. “We’ve been tipped off about possible attacks on these rail stations,” according to a security source quoted by Der Spiegel.

The route of the Monday PEGIDA rally goes close to Dresden railway station.

The intelligence agencies had monitored communications by “known international jihadists” according to the report. “We’re taking these tips seriously,” Der Spiegel quoted a high-ranking security official as saying.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Israel to Europe: We Warned You

Israel’s outspoken embassy in Ireland this week again stirred the pot with a post to its Twitter feed reminding Europe that the Jewish state had warned it about failing to take seriously enough the threat of radical Islam.

The post, which featured the Mona Lisa in Muslim head garb and holding what appears to be a missile, came just days after Muslim terrorists killed 17 in three separate attacks in Paris.

Under the title “Israel Now — Paris Next,” the image was a repeat of an earlier Israeli PR campaign at the height of the ISIS conquest in Iraq and Syria, warning Western nations that if they didn’t halt the jihadists in the Middle East, a new wave of terror would soon reach European shores.

Jihadists Killed in Belgium Swoop Were Inspired by the Murder of Lee Rigby Says Investigator as First Photograph Emerges From Blood-Spattered Home Where They Were Killed

A chilling new image has emerged showing the aftermath of a police raid which killed two members of a Belgian terror cell, who planned to behead a policeman in the street in ‘a second Paris’ attack.

The suspected Jihadists, who were gunned down by armed officers in Verviers overnight, were inspired by the murder of fusilier Lee Rigby two years ago, the lead investigator has revealed. A third was overpowered after being wounded during the raid.

Federal prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt, who coordinated a series of raids on 12 alleged terrorist hideouts across Belgium, told Mail Online: ‘Their plan was to launch attacks similar to that in London when a soldier was killed. They wanted to kill policeman on the street .’

In total, 13 people were arrested in last night’s raids, according to Mr Van der Sypt, and five people have since been charged with terror offences.

The radical Islamic group also wanted to film the horrific murder and then circulate the footage online, bringing the brutality of ISIS to the West, police sources said.

The group was reportedly equipped with Belgian police uniforms, four Kalashnikov machine guns, handguns and explosives. Another part of their twisted plot included taking a number of hostages by seizing a bus, it was reported by Belgium’s RTL broadcaster.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Obama, Cameron Pledge to US-UK Anti-Terror Drive

Followed two-day conference with press meet-and-greet

(ANSA) — Berlin, January 16 — US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday pledged that the UK and the US will share expertise on preventing radicalism and fighting “violent extremism” after last week’s terror attack in France.

The leaders held a joint press conference in Washington DC at the end of a two-day conference.

The US leader said that he and Cameron will do everything in their power to help France seek the “justice that is needed”.

Obama called Cameron his “ good friend”, to which Cameron responded “you are my great friend and a friend to Britain.” In regard to Russia-Ukraine crisis, Obama said “we agreed on the need to maintain strong sanctions against Russia until it ends”, to which Cameron later added “We cannot walk on by”.

— Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Pope to Make Moral Case for Action on Climate Change

COULD one man succeed in spurring decisive action on global warming? Pope Francis, leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, plans to release a ground-breaking appeal to combat climate change, in a major document called an encyclical.

Its message will be spread to congregations around the world by Catholic clergy, mobilising grassroots pressure for action ahead of the key UN climate summit in December in Paris. The encyclical may be published as early as March, and may be couched in terms of the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan, which teaches that we have responsibilities to our fellow humans.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Radical Left Syriza Likely to Win Greek Elections With 31.2%

Opinion poll: 3.4 points ahead of New Democracy

(ANSA) — ATHENS — The leading opposition candidate in Greece, Radical Left Coalition (Syriza) has a 3.4 percentage point advantage over ruling coalition leader, New Democracy (ND, center-right), according to an opinion poll conducted nationwide by Alco January 11-13th, ANA-MPA reports. Around 31.2% of the poll participants said they intend to vote for Syriza, while 27.8% opted for ND. Center-left party To Potami (The River)was third-placed with 5.1%, followed by far-right Golden Dawn (GD) with 5%, Communist Party of Greece (KKE, 4%), socialist Pasok (3.6%), Indepedent Greeks (Anel, 2.6%) and the recently founded Movement of Democratic Socialists lead by former prime minister George Papandreou (Kinima, 2.4%). ‘Other party’ was selected by 4.1% of survey participants, while 1.5% said they would cast a blank ballot. Around 10.3% declared to be undecided, while 2.4% said they would abstain.

— Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Terror Cell Warning as Europe Scrambles to Handle Terror Threats

European counterterrorism agencies scrambled Friday to assess the potential danger of a complex and growing terrorism threat exposed by the arrests of more than a dozen people with suspected links to Islamic extremists.

As many as 20 sleeper cells of between 120 and 180 people could be ready to strike in France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, a Western intelligence source told CNN.

UK: Trojan Horse ‘Plot’: Ministers Failed to Intervene Amid Warnings 20 Years Ago

Last year an inquiry by Peter Clarke, the former anti-terror chief, concluded that there had been “co-ordinated, deliberate and sustained action” by a number of individuals to introduce an “intolerant and aggressive Islamic ethos” into a few schools in the city.

The earliest warning came from the Rev John Ray, a governor of Golden Hillock School, which later emerged as one of the institutions at the centre of the Trojan Horse allegations. He warned of the “potential infiltration” by extremists of school governing bodies in Birmingham.

Peace in Libya is Distant as UN Talks Start

UN-brokered talks have kicked off in Geneva to bring together Libya’s warring factions. The country has descended into chaos since the uprising against Moammar Gadhafi years ago. Karlos Zurutuza reports from Tripoli.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Israeli Wines Conquer the World

Sales of Israeli wines bring in between $300 and $350 million per year, around 10% of which comes from overseas exports, according to wine expert Gabriel Geller. The main importers are the United States, Britain and France.

According to French wine expert Marc Dworkin, Israel is “a small country where each wine-producing region is more interesting than the last.”

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Erdogan Lashes Out at ‘Provocative’ Charlie Hebdo

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday lashed out at Charlie Hebdo for its “provocative” publications about Islam, saying the French satirical weekly incited hatred and racism.

“This magazine (is) notorious for its provocative publications about Muslims, about Christians, about everyone,” Erdogan told a meeting of businessmen in Ankara.

“This is not called freedom. This equates to wreaking terror by intervening in the freedom space of others. We should be aware of this. There is no limitless freedom,” he said…

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



Explosions in Baghdad Leave Nine Dead, 33 Wounded

Attacks hit northern neighborhoods in Iraqi capital

(ANSA) — Rome, January 16 — Nine people died and at least 33 were wounded in explosions in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Friday, local authorities said.

Four mortars exploded in the northwest Shula district, killing four and wounding 13, and minutes later other explosions killed seven and wounded 20 in the northeast suburb of Husseiniya.

— Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



GCC Criticizes Beirut for Nasrallah’s Anti-Bahrain Comments

Ambassadors summoned for ‘hateful’ speech after Salman’s arrest

(by Alessandra Antonelli) (ANSAmed) — DUBAI, JANUARY 15 — Oil-rich monarchies of the Gulf region have reacted with anger to the words and tone used by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in criticizing Bahrain’s arrest and detention of Ali Salman, the leader of the Shia opposition party Al-Wefaq. Bahrain, the UAE, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have summoned Lebanese ambassadors in their nations in protest. The UAE expressed its “severe condemnation of these hostile, inflammatory, hateful and unacceptable remarks, which represent blatant interference in Bahrain’s internal affairs,” said UAE foreign affairs undersecretary Tarek Ahmad.

In a televised speech on Friday, the leader of the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah openly lashed out at Bahraini authorities for the arrest and detention of Salman, head of the largest opposition bloc in the country, accusing them of “promoting violent political changes”. The Al-Wefaq leader’s initial arrest on December 28 was extended for 15 days starting on January 1. The royal family of the small oil-rich emirate was accused of “conducting a project on the Zionist model” in Gulf states, giving citizenship and jobs to Sunni Muslims of other nationalities. This is not the first time that Bahrain has been accused of trying to alter the demographics of the country. Objections to the policy have repeatedly been raised by opposition groups in the small, Shia-majority emirate that is governed by the Al-Khalifa Sunni dynasty. Shias in the country have for years been reporting discrimination against them and policies that attempt to tip the demographic scales of the country in favor of Sunnis. The friction between the two Muslim sects has never disappeared and bouts of violence regularly flare up, especially since the Pearl Square demonstrations during the 2011 ‘Arab Spring’ led to a hard-handed crackdown by the authorities, leaving at least 40 dead and hundreds of reports of mistreatment and abuse. Salman was arrested in late December for organizing a demonstration against the November elections — which both Al-Wefaq and other opposition movements boycotted — and demanding that the government and the parliament be dissolved. Bahrain reacted immediately to Nasrallah’s words, and GCC secretary Abdul Latif Al Zayani and the UAE foreign minister soon followed suit.

— Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Govt Confirms Italian Hostages Freed in Syria

Foreign minister to meet them at Rome airport tonight

(ANSA) — Rome, January 15 — The premier’s office on Thursday confirmed that Italian hostages Greta Ramelli and Vanessa Marzullo have been freed. “They are free and will be back in Italy soon,” the government tweeted.

The Lower House broke into long and unanimous applause when Reform Minister Maria Elena Boschi broke news of their liberation.

“Greta and Vanessa freed. The result of Italy’s intensive teamwork,” the foreign ministry tweeted. Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni will be on hand at Rome’s Ciampino airport to welcome them when they land later tonight, government sources said. “It’s a great joy,” said Vanessa’s dad, Salvatore Marzullo.

“We are brimming with happiness,” Ramelli’s mother told the mayor of Gavirate, the town near Milan where the family lives.

“We can’t wait to hug our daughter again”. The two young aid workers were snatched in the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo on July 31 last year. Marzullo, 21, and Ramelli, 20, had only been in Syria since July 28 and were working on health and water-related humanitarian aid projects.

The Syrian version of Al Qaeda, Al Nusra, claimed responsibility for the abduction.

The pair appeared in a dramatic video on January 2, breaking five months of silence on their plight.

Speaking English with eyes lowered, Ramella was recorded on the video saying: “We beg our government and its mediators to bring us back home by Christmas”. “We are in extreme danger and could be killed” she added. “The government and its mediators are responsible for our lives,” she said as Marzullo, holding a placard with the date December 17, looked briefly at the camera without speaking. The two young women were videotaped wearing long dark tunics that covered their bodies and hair, leaving only their faces visible.

Marzullo and Ramelli, both natives of Milan-area towns, co-founded the Horryaty Project bringing medical assistance to Syria, and have volunteered in Africa and India in the past.

Soon after their abduction Milan Mayor Giuliano Pisapia, recalled that the two young women had worked as volunteers helping welcome Syrian refugees arriving at Milan’s central railway station.

— Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



Muslims Never Guilty of ‘Terrorist Massacres, ‘ Turkey’s Erdogan Insists

Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly bizarre rhetoric continued this week when he told reporters Muslims have “never taken part in terrorist massacres” and appeared to blame the West for the recent Islamist attacks in Paris.

“As Muslims, we’ve never taken part in terrorist massacres,” Erdogan said. “Behind these lie racism, hate speech, and Islamophobia. French citizens carry out such a massacre, and Muslims pay the price. The West’s hypocrisy is obvious.”

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Muslim Cleric: “We Shall Chop Off the Head of France, With a Sword That Bears the Words: ‘There is No God But Allah.’“

Following are excerpts from a sermon delivered by Tunisian Cleric Kamal Zarouq in ISIS-controlled Al-Raqqah, Syria. The sermon was posted on the Internet on January 13, 2015:

Kamal Zarouq: All Muslims must kiss the head and hands of those who killed the journalists. All monotheists should kiss their hands. Those who condemn them are apostates, who renounced Islam and sold it out for a cheap price. Those who curse the Prophet Muhammad… As the Islamic State, it is a duty incumbent upon us to mobilize against the infidels and to avoid misdeeds and sin. It is a duty incumbent upon all our supporters who are able to bear arms to defend Islam and the Islamic nation.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Qatar Warns Prophet Cartoons Will ‘Fuel Hatred’

Qatar warned Friday that publishing cartoons of Prophet Mohammed would “fuel hatred and anger”, as a leading Muslim body called for peaceful protests against French weekly Charlie Hebdo.

Qatar “condemned the reprinting by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and other European press of pictures offensive to Prophet Mohammed,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Freedom of speech does not mean insulting others, hurting their feelings, and mocking their religious beliefs and idols,” said the statement published by the official QNA news agency…

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



Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Builds a “Great Wall” To Guard Against the Islamic State

The barrier stretches almost 1000 km along the northern border with Iraq, in the area dominated by the militant fundamentalists. A similar wall is placed at the southern border with Yemen. Last week three Saudi border guards were killed by jihadists. Many Saudis are supporters of the Isis ideology and violence.

Riyadh (AsiaNews / Agencies) — Saudi Arabia is building a “Great Wall” almost 1000 km long on the border to separate the north of the country from the area of Iraq under the rule of the Islamic State (IS).The Islamic radicals, who share the same style Wahhabi religious fundamentalist with Saudi Arabia, accuse the Kingdom of having betrayed Islam in the name of corruption and collaboration with the West.The idea of a walled border arose in 2006, in one of the most violent phases of the civil war in Iraq. Work began last September, after the IS occupied part of the western and northern Iraq, straying from Syria.

According to witnesses in the wall construction includes five layers of defense with observation towers equipped with radar and night vision goggles.Saudi Arabia has already built a wall even longer than 1000 km, on the border with Yemen, to protect themselves from al Qaeda militants. The attempt to isolate itself from its Arab and Muslim neighbors clashes with the fact that Saudi Arabia is the custodian of the two most important holy places of Islam, Mecca and Medina, the annual pilgrimage destination for all Muslims in the world.

Last week a group of IS militants, clashed with the Saudi border guards in the area of Arar, near the city of Anbar in Iraq. Three Saudi soldiers and four militants died in the clash. At least one of the attackers blew himself up with an explosive belt, after being caught by the Saudis.

Saudi Arabia is suspected of having supported the militants of IS when they were fighting in Syria under the name of Isis (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). Many Saudis support the struggle of the IS in Iraq against Shiites, Christians and Yazidis.

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



Saudis ‘To Review’ Flogging of Blogger Raif Badawi

The case of a Saudi blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes has been referred to the Supreme Court by the king’s office, the BBC has learned.

Blogger Raif Badawi’s wife said the referral, made before he was flogged 50 times last Friday, gave him hope that officials would end his punishment.

A second round of lashings was postponed for medical reasons.

In 2012, he was arrested in Jeddah and charged with “insulting Islam through electronic channels” and “going beyond the realm of obedience”.

In 2013 he was cleared of apostasy, which could have carried a death sentence.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



UN Urges Saudi King to Halt ‘Cruel’ Flogging of Blogger

The UN human rights chief on Thursday urged the Saudi king to pardon a blogger sentenced to 10 years jail plus 1,000 lashes, and to review the “cruel” penalty of flogging.

“Flogging is, in my view, at the very least, a form of cruel and inhuman punishment,” UN commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement.

“Such punishment is prohibited under international human rights law,” he added, appealing to King Abdullah “to halt the public flogging by pardoning Mr (Raef) Badawi, and to urgently review this type of extraordinarily harsh penalty”.

Badawi received a first instalment of 50 lashes last Friday and is expected to have 20 weekly whipping sessions until his punishment is complete…

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



Fall in Oil and Ruble, Prices in Russia Spark “Political Battle”

In 2015 inflation will hit double digits for the first time in seven years. Sanctions, fall in oil prices and the ruble devaluation affect consumer prices, which become the main topic among Russians, overcoming the Ukrainian crisis. The Kremlin orders the judiciary to monitor prices and payments of salaries, while the Communists want to prices of some products fixed, against all the rules of the free market.

Moscow (AsiaNews) — The illusion of oil is over, but the Russian government have realized it too late. This is according to newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta commenting on what has become the most discussed topic in Russia, surpassing even the Ukrainian crisis: the relentless fall in oil prices. On January 13 Brent fell under 46 dollars, the lowest point in the last six years. The fall in black gold, along with Western sanctions against Moscow and fears of a debt downgrade by Standard & Poor’s in the coming days are even dragging down the Russian currency, which today exchanged at 77 per euro and 65 per dollar.

The drop in the price of oil per barrel has led experts to revise inflation forecasts upwards, while prices have sparked what the media have called a “political battle” in Russia. Oil and gas account for two thirds of exports and count for half of the federal budget for the Federation (which has no plan B for a scenario of a barrel below 60 dollars); fluctuations in crude oil prices are a key factor of economic development, the trend of the currency and inflation, explained Morgan Stanley in a recent report on the country. According to the online newspaper Gazeta.ru, which has sought the opinion of several analysts, consumer prices will rise by 13-15%, twice as much as announced by the government. This level of inflation in Europe is only matched by Ukraine (21%) and Belarus (16.2%).

Inflation will return to double digits for the first time since the 2008 crisis, even according to the data of the Federal statistics agency Rosstat, according to which prices rose by 8.1% in 2014, while food (affected by the Russian embargo on imports from Western countries) is up by 15.4%. After the introduction this summer of the ban on some categories of foods imported from nations that had launched punitive measures against Russia for the Ukrainian crisis and before the dramatic collapse of the ruble, which made the imported products even more expensive, Moscow had promised to monitor the situation to prevent the market from going out of control. Upon returning from vacation in the New Year, however, the Russians have discovered increases everywhere and a diverse geographical origin of those products available: for example garlic, widely used in national cuisine, now only comes from China.

Thus, the prices of consumer goods — again Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports — has already sparked a “political battle” to gather support, pushing aside the nationalist and patriotic rhetoric which has so far accompanied public debate since the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict. The Kremlin has asked the judiciary to monitor the prices of gasoline, food and medicines to prevent speculation and to intervene if the payment of wages or benefits is deferred. Communist MPs, for their part, are preparing a bill that establishes consumer prices of fifteen products including bread, dairy products, cereals and pasta and potatoes, providing penalties such as the withdrawal of licenses from traders who do not pass the Federal Antimonopoly controls. For Tatiana Komissarova, of the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, this is a populist proposal that goes against the market economy.

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



India: In a Delhi Catholic Church, The Grotto of Our Lady is Desecrated

Police have identified three culprits, who might be Sikh. For the president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), the deed is related to upcoming elections in Delhi. In his view, “some will try to polarise the electorate along communal lines”.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) — This morning, the Marian grotto in Our Lady of Grace Church in Vikaspury, a New Delhi district, was desecrated. Video security cameras show three men wearing a Sikh headgear fleeing. Police have already identified the culprits.

“The vandals arrived at the grotto at around 4.20 am,” Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) president Sajan George told AsiaNews. “The plan was well organised: one man broke the glass, another toppled the statue of Our Lady, and together they destroyed it.”

According to the Christian leader, the desecration is tied to upcoming elections for the New Delhi Legislative Assembly, set for 7 February, which the Election Commission announced two days ago.

“With elections around the corner in Delhi, some will try to polarise the electorate along communal lines,” the GCIC president explained. “This is a terrible blow to social harmony, religious tolerance and mutual respect.”

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



India Says Marines Resolution by Europe ‘Inopportune’

European Parliament had said Italians should be returned home

(ANSA) — New Delhi, January 16 — An Indian government spokesman said Friday that a resolution by the European Parliament calling for the return home of two Italian marines was “inopportune”. Syed Akbarrudin said it “would have been advisable” for the parliament to keep out of the case of the two Italians connected to the deaths of two Indian fishermen in 2012. The European body on Thursday called for the pair to be allowed to return to Italy, saying that holding them in India without charges was a “grave violation of human rights”.

— Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]



India: Muslim Cleric Says What Charlie Hebdo Jihadis Did “Was Completely Legitimate as Per Sharia Laws”

A video has come out showing a Muslim cleric in India leading a funeral prayer, where he praises and endorses the murder of cartoonists and satirists of the French magazine Charlie Hebdo.

This is the second major incident of someone in India openly supporting the Charlie Hebdo killers. Earlier a former minister of Uttar Pradesh had announced reward for the killers. This time the support for terrorists has come from South India.

In the video, Maulana Naseeruddin is seen describing the Charlie Hebdo terrorists as “martyrs” and making dua for their afterlife.

“Our lives are of no meaning if someone, who has insulted the prophet, is still alive,” he is heard telling the gathering of local Muslims in the video.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Hong Kong: Petrol Bomb Attack on Jimmy Lai’s Home and Office

The communications tycoon, a Catholic, has actively supported the Occupy Central democratic demonstrations. His flagship newspaper has often attacked the Chinese central government as well as that of the Territory, considered overly subservient to Beijing. No damage and no injuries, police confirm arson.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) — A commando of armed men carried out two coordinated petrol bomb attacks overnight on the home of pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and on the headquarters of Next Media, the publishing group founded by the Catholic tycoon.

The attack was carried out by masked men and caused no injuries or major damage to buildings: security cameras filmed the assailants, who, however, have not been identified by police. The cars used for the raid were found in flames, and police have classified the incident as “arson”.

Next Media publish the newspaper Apple Daily, often critical of the Chinese power and strong supporter of the Occupy Central democratic movement. The peaceful demonstrations held by the group — which is seeking real freedom from the Chinese government — blocked the streets of Hong Kong for two and a half months between the end of September and mid-December.

In order to protect his political commitment and safeguard the company, Jimmy Lai — already at the center of a fierce press campaign orchestrated by the media close to Beijing — resigned from the post of president of Next Media at the end of the occupations of Occupy Central.

The day after his resignation he was arrested along with other leaders of the movement, including Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun: the arrests occurred simultaneously with the removal of barriers in the district of Admiralty, the heart of democracy protests.

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



Charlie Hebdo: ‘Four Dead’ In Niger Protest

At least four people have been killed in violent protests against French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Niger’s second city of Zinder, officials say.

A number of churches and the French cultural centre were among several buildings raided and set alight.

Friday saw protests across the Muslim world over the magazine’s publication of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.

It comes more than a week after gunmen carried out a massacre at the French magazine’s offices in Paris.

Protests against the magazine were also seen on Friday in Pakistan, where protests turned violent in Karachi, the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and the Algerian capital, Algiers.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Waiting in Line to Shop — A Profession in Venezuela

Shortages of basic goods and long lines of consumers hoping to buy them have spawned a new profession in crisis-hit Venezuela: waiting in line to buy things for other people.

Krisbell Villarroel, a 22-year-old single mother of two small children in Caracas, makes a living by queuing up to buy things she then sells to clients who pay her for the time she spends standing in line.

“Every day, I have to get up at two in the morning and call my friends to find out where things are for sale or what is for sale,” Villarroel told AFP.

“In one store, I might get milk, sugar or coffee, but in another — flour, rice, diapers or shampoo.”

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Attack of the Open-Borders Mau-mau-ers

by Michelle Malkin

I stand with the Santa Barbara News-Press. How about you?

The newspaper is under fire for refusing to kowtow to left-wing word police and militant propagandists who demand unfettered illegal immigration. Last week, in the wake of angry protests against the publication, vandals threw paint bombs and spray-painted graffiti on its offices.

So, what exactly is the News-Press’ unforgivable crime? Calling illegal aliens “illegals” in a headline for a story about illegal aliens descending on California DMVs.

[…]

Latina magazine called the News-Press headline — “Illegals line up for driver’s licenses” — the “most offensive headline against undocumented immigrants ever.”

[It’s not just Muslims who despise freedom of the press. — PW]

Sweden: From “Humanitarian Superpower” To Failed State

by Ingrid Carlqvist and Lars Hedegaard

Sweden’s “December Agreement” may be fairly described as a soft coup d’état; it has paved the way for Sweden’s demise. Six of the eight political parties in parliament have simply decided to exclude from the parliamentary process the only party to oppose mass immigration and defend Swedish culture. The new system may also be described as a consensual dictatorship.

The price tag for immigration is possibly 110 billion Swedish kroner (close to $14 billion) per year. That is a lot of money in a country with 10 million inhabitants. The politicians, however, keep insisting that immigration from third-word countries is an economic boon. Nor is it discussed in the media. Anyone even daring to mention that there may be a problem is labeled a “racist,” a “fascist,” or a “xenophobe.”

One may safely predict that Sweden’s goose will be cooked well before the December Agreement runs out in 2022. Its days as a free and democratic welfare state will be over. A population of perhaps eight million Swedes cannot accommodate and pay for perhaps four million such immigrants in eight years. It is as if the U.S. were to accept 150 million.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Imagine Imagining a World Without Jihad

by Diana West

After the curtain went up on the Leftist street theatre in Paris calling itself a “unity” march following the Charlie Hebdo-Jewish market massacre, there was a point at which the mask dropped.

While spectators might have been trying to figure out what, if anything, the march was showing “unity” for or against — besides being against Marine Le Pen, who was not invited, and against Benjamin Netanyahu, who, we later discovered, was urged not to come — marchers lifted their voices to accompany loudspeakers blasting “Imagine.” The face of “unity” was visible for all to see.

I’m referring, of course, to John Lennon’s “Imagine,” that maudlin pop-anthem to global Marxian negationisn.

— Hat tip: Fjordman [Return to headlines]



Mysterious Planet X May Really Lurk Undiscovered in Our Solar System

“Planet X” might actually exist — and so might “Planet Y.”

At least two planets larger than Earth likely lurk in the dark depths of space far beyond Pluto, just waiting to be discovered, a new analysis of the orbits of “extreme trans-Neptunian objects” (ETNOs) suggests.

Researchers studied 13 ETNOs — frigid bodies such as the dwarf planet Sedna that cruise around the sun at great distances in elliptical paths.