Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup
A service of DavidDuke.com
From The Times of Israel
Kerry: Refugee crisis ‘a near existential’ threat to Europe
Secretary says US will help stem influx because of ‘potential damage to fabric’ of continent
MUNICH, Germany — The mass influx of refugees and other migrants into Europe spells a “near existential threat” to the continent, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday.
“We are facing the gravest humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II,” he said at the Munich Security Conference, which has been dominated by the Syrian conflict that has been driving the mass flight.
“The United States understands the near existential nature of this threat to the politics and fabric of life in Europe,” he told the meeting.
Europe has been deeply split by how to handle the mass influx of people fleeing war-torn Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.
Germany took in 1.1 million refugees last year, while Italy and Greece have been overwhelmed as the main arrival points from the Middle East and Africa.
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From Ynet News
Israel, India to sign weapons deal
New Delhi and Jerusalem set to sign a $3 billion weapons deal in the lead up to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first official visit to Israel.
A $3 billion weapons deal is to be signed between Israel and India ahead of a historic planned visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Holy Land.
India is planning to buy 164 laser systems for its air force, specifically for its Sukhoi-30MKI and Jaguar planes, and 250 precision guided bunker busting bombs, according to a report in The Times of India on Tuesday.
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From PressTV
Syrian army plans advance into militant-held Raqqah Province: Source
The Syrian army intends to advance into the militant-held northern province of Raqqah, after having liberated several positions at the provincial border of the militants’ stronghold.
According to a Syrian military source, the army has captured positions at the provincial border between Hama and Raqqah in the last two days and now seeks to advance further.
“It is an indication of the direction of coming operations toward Raqqah. In general, the Raqqah front is open … starting in the direction of the Tabqa area,” the source said on Saturday.
Tabqa is the location of an air base which was captured by Daesh in 2014. The source said the army had moved to within 35 kilometers (20 miles) of the base.
A move into Raqqah Province is believed to complicate any attempt by Saudi Arabia to send ground forces to the area to allegedly fight the Daesh Takfiri militants.
Apart from the Saudi regime, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain have expressed willingness to send troops to Syria to join the US-led campaign against the terrorist group.
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From PressTV
Turkey bombards Kurdish-held areas of Syria’s Aleppo Province
Turkey’s artillery on Saturday shelled areas controlled by Kurdish fighters in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkish bombs hit areas of Aleppo, including Minnigh, which was recently recaptured by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) forces from Daesh Takfiri terrorists.
Ankara accuses Syrian Kurdish group Democratic Union Party, also known as the PYD, and its military wing the YPG of having links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group that has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s.
According to YPG sources, the shelling struck the strategic Minnigh military airport.
The development came after Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in a televised speech Saturday threatened military action against Syrian Kurdish fighters, saying, “We can, if necessary, take the same measures in Syria as we took in Iraq and Qandil.”
The Turkish army launched airstrikes against the PKK positions in northern Iraq on their Qandil mountain stronghold and Turkey as well as purported Daesh targets in Syria in 2015.
Elsewhere in his comments the Turkish premier stated, “The leadership cadre and ideology of the PKK and PYD is the same.”
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From Russia Today
Lavrov urges constitutional reform in Ukraine at ‘Normandy-4’ meeting in Munich
Published time: 13 Feb, 2016 14:11
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov © Michael Dalder / Reuters
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized the need for constitutional reform in Ukraine, and has urged Kiev to carry it out at the so-called “Normandy Four” meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
“A constitutional reform is indispensable for Donbass to achieve its permanent status, and must also lead to the appropriate legislation – and not just for three years, but on a permanent basis,” Lavrov told reporters on Saturday, following a meeting of the foreign ministers from France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine.
“Following on from this, a discussion on amnesty, as well as the modality of the local elections, must take place – something that Kiev systematically avoids.”
Joining Lavrov at the negotiating table were the German and Ukrainian foreign ministers. Their French counterpart Laurent Fabius, who resigned this week to take up a new post in President Francois Hollande’s administration, was unable to attend.READ MORE: Munich Security Conference report: Europe at odds amid ‘boundless crises’
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From Russia Today
‘Greeks will have to become migrants’: 10,000 farmers protest EU-imposed reforms in Athens
Published time: 13 Feb, 2016 04:27
Farmers are seen on a tractor during a protest against planned pension reforms in front of the parliament building in Athens, Greece February 12, 2016. © Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters
Thousands of Greek farmers set up a protest camp in central Athens to speak out against tax and pension reforms required by the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Earlier, hundreds clashed with police at the Agriculture Ministry.
READ MORE: 800 Greek farmers storm Agriculture Ministry in Athens, police fire tear gas (VIDEO)
The protesting farmers, who have come from across the country, were joined by worker unionists on Syntagma Square. Police estimated that around 10,000 demonstrators were in attendance. The mass then carried flags in a procession that was led by 20 tractors honking their horns.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s formerly left-wing government plans to raise pension contributions and taxes to deal with Greece’s budget deficit.
A farmer carries a Greek flag in front of the parliament during a protest against planned pension reforms in Athens, Greece February 12, 2016. © Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters
Protesters told RT’s Ruptly agency that if the measures are passed, they will be force to leave Greece, as life would no longer be sustainable.
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From Russia Today
US beginning to understand need for military cooperation with Russia in Syria – Lavrov
Published time: 12 Feb, 2016 23:02
U.S. Foreign Secretary John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gesture before their bilateral talks in Munich, Germany, February 11, 2016, ahead of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) meeting. © Michael Dalder / Reuters
The US has finally begun to understand that it needs to cooperate with Russia militarily if a solution to the crisis in Syria is to be found, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
For the hostilities in Syria to finally come to an end, “there is a need for quick response mechanisms and cooperation between servicemen ‘on the ground’ – both on humanitarian issues and matters regarding a ceasefire,” Lavrov said.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
White House says it does not support ‘territories’ component of anti-BDS legislation
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Obama administration said it does not support the portion of a new trade law that requires actions against entities that boycott goods manufactured in the West Bank.
“As with any bipartisan compromise legislation, there are provisions in this bill that we do not support, including a provision that contravenes longstanding U.S. policy towards Israel and the occupied territories, including with regard to Israeli settlement activity,” the White House said in a statement Thursday.
The United States does not recognize the West Bank as belonging to Israel.
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From Russia Today
Swiss spliff: 4 cities pave way for opening of ‘cannabis clubs’
Published time: 13 Feb, 2016 18:35
© Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters
A pilot project for creation of cannabis clubs, where members can use the soft drug without fear of being punished, is being launched in four Swiss cities – Zurich, Basel, Bern and Geneva, local media report.
“The four cities have agreed to include pilot projects on their territory,” Sandro Cattacin, sociology professor at the University of Geneva, and Geneva representative in the discussions of the cannabis clubs issue, told broadcaster SRF.
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From Russia Today
Danish imam urges govt to accept child marriages among refugees
Published time: 12 Feb, 2016 14:43
Oussama el-Saadi © Bjorn Lindgren / AFP
A high-profile imam has urged the Danish government to accept child brides, as the practice is part of the culture of many refugees arriving in the country. It follows an announcement by Denmark that such couples will be separated under Danish law.
Imam Oussama El-Saadi, of the Aarhus mosque in Denmark, said that child brides should be looked at from a “different perspective.”
“It is an extraordinary humanitarian situation, and I think you have to take care of these families. They’re married, and even if the man is twice as old as they have built a family. We have to accept that it is a different culture, and we cannot destroy family life,” he told Danish newspaper Metroxpress.
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From Russia Today
‘Upsurge in violence’: UN rights envoy decries Israel’s ‘excessive force’ toward Palestinians
Published time: 12 Feb, 2016 09:46
© Mohamad Torokman / Reuters
Israel has used excessive force against Palestinians, the outgoing UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Gaza and the West Bank said, calling for an investigation. He demanded that all Palestinian prisoners, including children, be charged or released.
“The upsurge in violence is a grim reminder of the unsustainable human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the volatile environment it engenders,” Makarim Wibisono, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories who has announced he is resigning in protest at the Israeli government’s response to his concerns, said in a report to the Human Rights Council.
The special investigator quoted statistics by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, which say that about 5,680 Palestinians, including children, were detained by Israel as of the end of October 2015.
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