Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup
A service of DavidDuke.com
From Russia Today
Accept refugees or face ‘self-induced crisis’, UN tells Europe
Published time: 1 Mar, 2016 19:59
Stranded refugees and migrants walk inside a relocation camp as they wait to cross the Greek-Macedonian border, near the Greek village of Idomeni, March 1, 2016 © Alexandros Avramidis / Reuters
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has warned EU leaders that the continent is facing a “self-induced humanitarian crisis,” with over 24,000 people stuck on the Macedonian border, and with as many arrivals in two months of 2016 as in the first six of last year.
“UNHCR is warning today that Europe is on the cusp of a largely self-induced humanitarian crisis. This is in light of a rapid build-up of people in an already struggling Greece, with governments not working together despite having already reached agreements in a number of areas, and country after country imposing new border restrictions,” UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said during a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday afternoon.
Migrants look towards Macedonia through the Greek-Macedonian border fence, near the Greek village of Idomenii March 1, 2016 © Marko Djurica / Reuters
The UN says that Europe has to take responsibility for the newcomers, despite over 131,000 people arriving through the Mediterranean this year, almost as many as the 147,000 that made the journey in the first half of 2015.
With Greece unable or unwilling to control its borders or register and process the vast majority of refugees, despite additional EU funding and support, but other countries on the ‘Balkan route’ sealing themselves off, tens of thousands of refugees are stuck in impromptu camps en-route to their desired destinations of Germany and Scandinavia.
Migrants look towards Macedonia through the Greek-Macedonian border fence, near the Greek village of Idomenii March 1, 2016 © Marko Djurica / Reuters
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From Russia Today
2 teenage girls sexually assaulted by Afghan migrants at German waterpark
Published time: 1 Mar, 2016 22:49
© Arriba Erlebnisbad / Facebook
Asylum seekers from Afghanistan have been charged with the attempted rape of two schoolgirls in a public swimming pool in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The court ruled in favor of holding the suspects in custody without bail over the risk of repeated offence.
The adult man and 14-year old boy reportedly molested two girls, aged 14 and 18, at the Arriba aquatics center in the city of Norderstedt on Saturday. After being groped by the men, the girls approached the center`s security staff, who detained the perpetrators and called the police.
The court ordered the arrest of the both men who will remain in custody without bail as there is a substantial risk they could flee the country to avoid proceedings or commit further crimes of a sexual nature. The men are to be held in two separate prison facilities in Schleswig and Neumünster, said the police report.
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From Russia Today
Visa-free deal with Turkey to trigger ‘new refugee influx’ to EU – Bundestag VP
Published time: 1 Mar, 2016 10:29
© Mihai Barbu / Reuters
A visa-free regime for Turkish nationals in the Schengen zone could open a “gateway” for a new refugee influx to Germany, a senior German official said. The focal point of the EU-Turkey deal is stemming the number of refugees coming to Europe.
Vice-President of the Bundestag (lower house of the German parliament) Johannes Singhammer told Passauer Neue Presse on Tuesday that lifting EU’s visa requirements for Turkish citizens would lead to a “new, uncountable influx” of refugees fleeing war and violence.
There are “serious considerations” about the prospective visa-free regime, Singhammer warned, because it would open “a gateway for further immigration and [flow of] refugees to Germany.”
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From Russia Today
Calais ‘Jungle’ evictees block motorway in chaotic night clashes with French police (VIDEOS)
Published time: 1 Mar, 2016 04:57
© Ruptly
Around 150 migrants, some armed with iron bars, have attempted to block or climb lorries traveling towards the Eurotunnel, as clashes with police continued into the night in chaotic scenes surrounding the Calais refugee ‘Jungle’ camp in France.
Police were called to the area after refugees, enraged by an earlier eviction, attacked trucks with stones, debris, and iron bars. Officers used flash grenades and tear gas to stop refugees from reaching the motorway and climbing onto the trucks.
The clashes came following a day of confrontations between police and migrants after authorities proceeded with the dismantling of parts of the camp and bulldozed them to the ground.
The initial disturbance began when authorities arrived at the refugee camp on Monday morning, informing residents that they had to leave the area within the hour, or face arrest. The construction workers then moved in to dismantle the makeshift shelters in the southern part of the slum, home to 800 to 1,000 migrants.
By early afternoon, angry migrants and members of the No Borders activist group set fire to some 20 makeshift shelters and began throwing projectiles at riot police. Police responded with tear gas.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Prospect of Trump nomination poses dilemma for Jewish Republicans
WASHINGTON (JTA) – Donald Trump’s surging candidacy has sent shivers through the ranks of the Republican elite and created deep anxiety among Jewish Republicans, some of whom are so unnerved they are prepared to vote for Hillary Clinton if Trump wins the nomination. Yet others say that despite Trump’s promise to be “neutral” on Israel and his support from white supremacists, conservative principles demand deference to the eventual nominee.
“As boorish as he is, as occasionally foolish as he is, and how vituperative he can be, I would vote for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton any day,” said Ari Fleischer, a former spokesman for President George W. Bush and a board member of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Fleischer said he was speaking only for himself, not the RJC, which declined JTA’s request for comment.
For other Jewish conservatives, Trump is too unpalatable to support, and for obvious reasons. Trump has refused to side unequivocally with Israel, declining at a recent campaign event to pin blame for the Middle East conflict on either Israel or the Palestinians, saying instead that he wished to remain “neutral.”
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Louis Farrakhan praises Trump for not taking Jewish money, blames Jews for 9/11
(JTA) — Donald Trump won praise from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan for not taking Jewish money in his quest for the White House.
Farrakhan, who has made frequent anti-Semitic comments, lauded Trump during a sermon Sunday in Chicago, according to the Anti-Defamation League website the following day.
The praise from Farrakhan comes on the heels of a controversy in which the Republican presidential front-runner failed to immediately disavow the endorsement of David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Meet the ‘Jewish Batman’ who saved the KKK from an Anaheim mob
(JTA) – Is Brian Levin a hero? It depends who you ask.
For three long minutes on Saturday, Levin was all that stood between an angry, violent mob and some Ku Klux Klan demonstrators in Anaheim, California, in Levin’s retelling of the episode.
A former New York Police Department officer who is now director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, Levin was on hand to document the KKK rally, as he has many other extremist demonstrations over the years.
But he quickly found himself a part of the action when a violent melee greeted the arrival of the KKK members in their oversized SUV.
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From PressTV
Moscow-Washington coordination crucial for truce to hold: Russia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry have stressed the need for cooperation to cease hostilities in Syria, a few days after a truce took effect in the hope of ending a five-year-long war in the country.
“The foreign ministers confirmed the crucial importance of coordination between the two countries, especially in the military sphere, to strengthen the ceasefire, which must be respected by the government forces and armed opposition groups not associated with terrorists,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its Facebook page, adding that the two diplomats discussed the issue in a phone conversation late on Tuesday.
“The focus (of the call) was on the implementation of the Russian-American initiative for a cessation of hostilities in Syria and the relevant United Nations Security Council decision,” it further said.
The Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution, drafted by Russia and US, to endorse the truce.
A ceasefire agreement in Syria brokered by Russia and the United States entered into force on February 27. The Syrian government accepted the terms of the truce on condition that military efforts against Daesh and the al-Nusra Front Takfiri militants, who are excluded from the ceasefire, continue.
Meanwhile, the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura rescheduled the next round of negotiation from March 7 to March 9 “for logistical and technical reasons and also for the ceasefire to better settle down.”
The UN hopes the truce would make it possible to send humanitarian aid to besieged areas in Syria and also provide an opportunity to revive the peace talks, which fell apart last month less than a week after they started as the foreign-backed opposition refused to continue the discussions.
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From PressTV
Saudi seeks sectarian strife in Mideast: Nasrallah
Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah says Saudi Arabia seeks to instigate “strife” between Shias and Sunnis in the region.
Speaking during a televised speech in Beirut on Tuesday, Nasrallah said division among Muslims is a “great threat,” adding that creating strife in Lebanon, particularly among Shias and Sunnis, is on the agenda of Saudi Arabia.
Urging Lebanese not to be intimidated by threats posed by Saudi Arabia and Israel, which are seeking to create strife in the countries where Sunnis and Shias live, he warned the Lebanese nation against “serving” the Israeli and Saudi goals.
The Hezbollah leader also held Saudi Arabia responsible for some of the car bombings that have targeted Lebanon, Syria and Iraq since 2003.
He further said that the suspension of a Saudi aid to the Lebanese army has given rise to some concerns in Lebanon which in turn have caused extensive media propaganda against Hezbollah by Saudis and some Persian Gulf states.
On February 20, Saudi Arabia suspended $3 billion in military aid to the Lebanese army and another $1 billion to the country’s internal security forces. The decision came following recent victories by the Syrian army, backed by Hezbollah fighters, against the Takfiri militants fighting to topple the Damascus government. Referring to the suspension of the Saudi aid as merely a political maneuver, Hezbollah said in a statement that the move exposes the real face of Saudi Arabia and refutes its claims about fighting terrorism.
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From PressTV
US leaning on Kurdish fighters in Syria strategy: Turkey
Turkey’s deputy prime minister has blasted the US for its Syria policy, arguing that Washington is dependent on the assistance of Kurdish fighters in its alleged battle against the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group operating in the Arab country.
In an exclusive interview with AFP, Yalcin Akdogan accused the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and its affiliate, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), of being “arm in arm” with Russia and the Syrian government.
“I don’t believe it is a very correct approach for giant America to be relying on and hoping for help from a small terrorist organization and staking its entire Syria approach on this,” Akdogan said.
The Turkish official claimed that the YPG and PYD are part of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s.
The YPG, which is nearly in control of Syria’s entire northern border with Turkey, has been fighting against Daesh.
Angered by the rapid advance of Syrian Kurdish fighters in areas near the Turkish border, Ankara shelled their positions inside Syria last month.
Recently, Turkey also called for a ground incursion to end the conflict in Syria.
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From PressTV
Next round of Syria talks to open on March 9: UN envoy
UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said Tuesday the next round of negotiations to end the deadly conflict in the Arab country will kick off on March 9.
He changed an earlier decision based on which the talks were set to resume on March 7.
“We are delaying it to the afternoon of the 9th for logistical and technical reasons and also for the ceasefire to better settle down,” de Mistura said, adding that the meeting would not be delayed further.
He had said earlier that the talks could be postponed based on the situation on the ground. “We don’t want discussions in Geneva to become a discussion about infringements or not of the ceasefire, we want them to actually address the core of everything.”
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From Russia Today
Germany ‘threatens’ to scrap open-door policy ahead of EU-Turkey refugee crisis summit
Published time: 2 Mar, 2016 01:29
© Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters
Germany, the ultimate destination for most refugees, may soon start turning them away at its borders, if the number of entries does not drop. The Interior Minister had reportedly sent a strong message to the EU that the “time of waving the issue through is over.”
While chancellor Angela Merkel maintains she wants to keep Europe’s borders open, plans leaked to the Welt am Sonntag newspaper suggest that her own government is drawing up far more radical measures.
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From Russia Today
Germany’s top court starts hearings on banning far-right NPD party
Published time: 1 Mar, 2016 20:59
Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD) party leader Frank Franz (R) and the party’s lawyer Peter Richter answer reporters questions on arrival for the start of a trial at the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, Germany, March 1, 2016. © Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters
Germany’s top court is contemplating banning the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) party after a request was made by the federal upper house which said that the party threatened democracy. It is the first case of its kind in 60 years.
The hearings began on Tuesday in the Federal Constitutional Court in the western German city of Karlsruhe and is set to continue until Thursday.
The constitutional court chief justice started off by saying that there remained many obstacles in the way of the prohibition of any political party.
A party prohibition “is a sharp and double-edged sword that must be used with great caution,” Andreas Vosskuhle said, adding that “it limits freedom in order to preserve freedom.”
To ban the party, Germany’s 16 states which represent the federal upper house, have to prove to the the court that NPD poses a threat to the democratic order. Those standing in favor of the ban have to convince that the party is igniting a “climate of fear” in Germany and “shares essential characteristics” with the Nazis.
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From Russia Today
Syrian Army refrained from retaliation strikes ‘to give truce a chance’ – Assad
Published time: 1 Mar, 2016 17:40
Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad © Sana / Reuters
Syrian government forces held back from conducting retaliation strikes against those violating the truce in order to give the agreement “a chance to survive,” President Bashar Assad said in a recent interview.
“We will do our part so that the whole thing works,” President Assad told German broadcaster ARD, referring to the truce drawn up by Russia and the United States that came into force on Saturday.
He also added that the Syrian Army “has refrained from retaliating in order to give [a] chance for the agreement to survive.”
“The terrorists have breached the deal from the first day. We as the Syrian Army are refraining from responding in order to give a chance to sustain the agreement and that is what we can do,” he said.
At the same time, Assad stressed that “at the end everything has a limit” and pointed out that the maintenance of the ceasefire now “depends on the other side.”
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From Russia Today
Macedonia eyes shutting off Balkan route if Austria hits refugee limit
Published time: 1 Mar, 2016 10:44
Stranded refugees and migrants try to bring down part of the border fence during a protest at the Greek-Macedonian border, near the Greek village of Idomeni, February 29, 2016. © Alexandros Avramidis / Reuters
The Balkan refugee route may soon be closed, if Austria reaches its limit of 37,500 asylum seekers entries in 2016, Macedonia’s president said, adding that “in times of crisis, every country must find its own solutions.”
“We need a political decision now. Soon it will be too late… The Austrian ceiling of 37,000 will be reached,” Gjorge Ivanov told Spiegel Online in an interview.
Asked when exactly the refugee route may be shut down, the president replied that “perhaps right at this moment.”
Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov © David W Cerny / Reuters
“We can’t wait until Brussels makes a decision. We have made our own decisions. In times of crisis, every country must find its own solutions,” he said.
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From Ynet News
Are Israel and Egypt getting closer?
Analysis: Is the coolness which characterized the relationship between Israel and Egypt over the past several decades warming? And what exactly is behind this change of pace in cooperation?
Over the course of the past year, there have been more and more indications of the warming of diplomatic relations between Egypt and Israel: an official public visit by Dore Gold, the director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, who came to Cairo to re-inaugurate the Israeli embassy in the country; the release of Odeh Tarabin, an Israeli Arab who was convicted of spying for Israel and was in Egyptian prison for over 15 years; the appointment of a new Egyptian Ambassador to Israel after a three year absence, and even a public meeting between the Egyptian ambassador and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week.
Although the Egyptians have been busy over the past few years with internal issues, principally dealing with the security and economic situation, their relations with Israel have been in the headlines as of late.
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From Ynet News
American Reform rabbis warn of alienation from Israel
Reform Jewish leaders in the US are concerned that Israel is losing support in the community after government ministers sharply criticize the movement at Jerusalem meeting.
A recent gathering of American Reform rabbis in Jerusalem was meant to celebrate the small gains the liberal Jewish movement has made in Israel in recent years. But a series of comments by Israeli officials denigrating the group marred the event, reflecting an awkward relationship that many fear is alienating the world’s second-largest Jewish community from Israel.
The Reform Movement is the largest stream of Judaism in the United States, claiming to represent 1.5 million people, and its members provide a key source of financial support and political advocacy for Israel. But the movement is marginal in Israel, where religious affairs are dominated by the Orthodox rabbinical establishment. Israeli lawmakers, both secular and ultra-Orthodox, have repeatedly disparaged the group, questioning their Judaism and accusing them of promoting Jewish assimilation.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Actor Rob Lowe accuses California official of slurring Jews
(JTA) — Actor Rob Lowe alleged that an elected member of a California state board made a slur against Jews during a private meeting over a tax issue.
Lowe made the allegation last week over comments made last year by Board of Equalization member Jerome Horton following the board’s decision to lower the income tax Lowe owed on a $25 million home sale in 2005, the Sacramento Bee reported Monday. The board backed Lowe, 3-2, with Horton voting in the minority.
In a Feb. 24 email to Board of Equalization members obtained by the Sacramento Bee, the actor alleged that Horton had asked him and his wife, Sheryl Berkoff, if she “jewed down” contractors who built their house. Berkoff is Jewish.
“Appalled, we asked him to explain his comment,” Lowe said, according to the email. “He doubled down, saying ‘C’mon. You know what I’m saying. Did you Jew them down? You must have.’”
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From Russia Today
Kiev mayor at loss when confronted about Ukrainian human rights abuses in interview
Published time: 1 Mar, 2016 14:22
Azov battalion soldiers © Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters
Vitaly Klitschko, the boxing champion who now serves as mayor of the Ukrainian capital, was ambushed in a recent Al Jazeera interview. Host Mehdi Hasan confronted him on abuses committed by Ukrainian troops.
The 10-minute interview for the Reality Check program touched upon several hot issues, including Klitschko’s alleged ties with a Ukrainian crime boss during his boxing career, the government’s failure to tackle corruption and the political crisis. Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk survived a no-confidence vote after President Petro Poroshenko had called for his resignation, partially thanks to dozens of MPs in Poroshenko’s own faction voting for the PM to keep his job.
However, it was the human rights abuses committed by pro-Kiev troops such as the infamous Azov voluntary battalion, reported by international organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and many Western media outlets, which apparently gave Klitschko a hard time.
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