Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup
A service of DavidDuke.com
From Russia Today
‘Russian operation in Syria is our salvation’ – top Syrian Catholic bishop to RT
“We see Russia’s military operation as a real effort to fight terrorism. What is especially important is that this military campaign goes in parallel with promotion of peace process,” Most Reverend Georges Abou Khazen, Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo for the Latins who was appointed by Pope Francis in 2013, told RT in a telephone interview. “We really hope that the peace process will soon prevail over fighting all across Syria,” the bishop added.
“The majority of Syrian people” of all backgrounds and faith “regard Russian military campaign as salvation, a way out of the state we’ve been enduring for five years,” the Catholic bishop said, adding that “Syrians are very positive about it.”
From Russia Today
MSF admits withholding Syria hospital coordinates from Damascus & Moscow
Published time: 19 Feb, 2016 05:10
© doctorswithoutborders / Instagram
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) does not provide GPS coordinates of health facilities it supports in Syria to either Damascus or Moscow over fears of “deliberate” attacks, the medical charity said, blaming a recent strike on “probably” Syrian or Russian forces.
“We gave to the Russian ambassadors in Paris [and] in Geneva coordinates for three hospitals located in very intense conflict zones, but not for all of them, and it was a decision taken together with the medical staff of the health facilities that we support,” said MSF operations director Isabelle Defourny.
At least 25 people were killed, including nine medical personnel and 16 patients, when airstrikes destroyed a hospital supported by MSF. Ten others were wounded when four missiles reportedly struck the hospital initially at around 9:00am local time Monday, according to accounts provided by medical staff on site. Forty minutes later, after rescuers arrived, the hospital was allegedly bombed again.
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From Russia Today
Damascus rejects proposals of no-fly zone in Syria
Syrian government flatly rejects proposals for a no-fly zone in Syria, as such a notion would be a violation of the country’s sovereignty and contravenes international laws, a source in the Syrian Foreign Ministry told the SANA news agency.Damascus was surprised by German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s renewed proposal for a no-fly zone in Syria, the official told the state-run news agency on Thursday.
The Syrian government “completely rejects” these proposals as they “constitute a violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and contravene the rules of the international law and the UN Charter,” SANA cited the source as saying. “The aim of these statements would only lead to prolonging the crisis in Syria instead of contributing to finding a solution,” the agency added.
The introduction of the no-fly zone in Syria will only result in the “Libyan scenario,” Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, warned on Thursday.
From The Times of Israel
When Bernie fought for a menorah at City Hall
As mayor of Burlington, Democratic presidential candidate fought for Chabad’s right to light candles on city land
February 19, 2016, 5:00 am
JTA — Jews have lately bemoaned Bernie Sanders’ lack of Jewish pride — but back when he was mayor of Burlington, Vermont, Sanders let Chabad “feel the Bern.”
Or at least he fought for Chabad’s right to burn Hanukkah candles on city land.
Sanders’ backing for the display of a menorah outside Burlington City Hall made national headlines in the 1980s, but had been forgotten until last week, when Chabad.org editor Dovid Margolin rediscovered the story. Margolin is researching the history of menorah displays in the United States.
Sanders first allowed the display of an 8-foot-tall menorah for one night of Hanukkah in 1983, at the request of Rabbi Yitzchak Raskin, then newly installed as the Chabad movement’s emissary to Vermont.
In Margolin’s telling, Sanders was a ready and happy participant in the first lighting:
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From The Times of Israel
Ex-aide to Jean-Marie Le Pen: ‘Zionists, Freemasons’ control French media
Former National Front party adviser Elie Hatem once ran for mayor of Paris district for nearly defunct monarchist movement
Elie Hatem, a political adviser to former French National Front party leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, accused “Zionists and Freemasons” of controlling “public opinion” and the media in France.
Le Pen was removed from leading the party he founded in 2011, and the reins were taken by his daughter Marine.
“We know that Marine Le Pen got closer to some movements that control public opinion in France,” Hatem, a Maronite Christian of Lebanese descent, told Al Arabiya TV last week. A transcript of the interview was translated from Arabic by MEMRI.
“She did so in order to whitewash the National Front. These movement include Zionist movements and Freemasonry which control the press and the government in France,” Hatem said.
The Al Arabiya interviewer interrupted Hatem, saying it was up to the French authorities responsible for the media to answer the allegations.
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From The Times of Israel
Russia said unhappy with Israeli-Turkish reconciliation
Meanwhile, Israel’s Foreign Ministry D-G seeking to dissuade Moscow from delivering missile defense system to Iran
February 18, 2016, 11:55 pm
While growing regional unrest seems to be bringing Israel and Turkey — the allies-turned-adversaries — closer together, it may be leaving a major player decidedly cold.
According to a report in Haaretz on Thursday, Russia is unhappy with the emerging détente between the two Middle Eastern nations, and made its reservations known to Israeli officials when diplomats met in Moscow Thursday to discuss regional developments.
A key Turkish demand for reconciliation has been for Ankara to be allowed generous access to the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid and develop the impoverished enclave’s infrastructure. The deal may also involve new agreements by which Israel will become a key supplier of natural gas to Turkey.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold that his government, which has seen increased tensions with Ankara over the fighting in Syria, is unhappy with those developments: Moscow does not wish to see Turkey gain a foothold in Palestinian affairs, and doesn’t want to lose its status as Ankara’s main gas supplier.
From The Times of Israel
Israeli scholar helps rewrite humanity’s timeline
New study shows modern humans arrived in Eurasia and bred with Neanderthals far earlier than previously thought
February 18, 2016, 11:45 pm
AFP — A group of modern humans that arrived in Eurasia far earlier than previously thought also reproduced with Neanderthals, according to a study that redraws the migratory timeline for our species.
The new research, published in Nature, provides the first genetic evidence that some Homo sapiens left the African continent at least 100,000 years ago, tens of thousands of years earlier than widely assumed.
The smoking-gun proof came not from human fossils but a single Neanderthal whose remains were found in a cave in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, near the Russian-Mongolian border.
Embedded in the genome of the ancient caveman — in chromosome 21, to be precise — were traces of human DNA.
This is the earliest known case of inter-species sex between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.
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From PressTV
Syrian army forces liberate village in Aleppo
Thu Feb 18, 2016 6:19PM
Syrian army forces have liberated a village in the northwestern Aleppo Province as they continue their fight against Takfiri militants operating in the country.
Army sources said on Thursday that security had been restored to the village of As Sin in the eastern countryside of Aleppo City.
They also destroyed Daesh vehicles and fortifications in Tal Arbash, located some 30 kilometers east of Aleppo city, as well as in the villages of al-Qaroutiyeh, al-Zaalaneh and Treidem.
Syrian forces also targeted Daesh terrorists in the town of Qabasin, located north of al-Bab city.
The advances come a day after army units launched an operation aimed at liberating more areas of Eastern Aleppo.
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From Russia Today
‘Hypocritical’ UK politicians must take responsibility for Calais migrant crisis – deputy mayor
The city of Calais has become a symbol of Europe’s migrant and refugee crisis, with asylum seekers housed in a makeshift camp notoriously known as ‘The Jungle.’
“It is a situation we have not chosen, that has imposed itself on the city,” Deputy Mayor Philippe Mignonet said during a live interview, stressing that Calais is not a destination, but rather a crossing point for people hoping to reach England.
From The Times of Israel
US: Russian fighter jet sale to Iran would violate arms ban
Transfer of Su-30 aircraft to Tehran would require Security Council approval, Washington to discuss issue with Moscow
February 19, 2016, 3:45 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said Thursday that a proposed Russian sale of fighter jets to Iran would violate a U.N. arms embargo on Tehran, setting up another standoff related to last year’s nuclear negotiations.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said transferring the Sukhoi-30 jets, comparable to American F-15E fighter bombers, requires the U.N. Security Council’s approval.
The U.S will raise the matter with Russia, Toner said, adding that all six countries that negotiated July’s landmark nuclear agreement with Iran “should be fully aware of these restrictions.” The deal kept the arms ban on Iran in place for up to another five years.
Iran’s defense minister said last week that the Islamic Republic would purchase an unspecified number of the Russian planes. Gen. Hossein Dehghan provided no timeline for delivery, but said Iran would be involved in producing the aircraft.
The dispute is the latest linked to the nuclear negotiations that ended in a deal setting long-term limits on Iran’s uranium and plutonium programs in exchange for hundreds of billions of dollars in future sanctions relief.
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From The Times of Israel
IDF chief under fire for saying soldiers should try not to kill young attackers
Right-wing rabbis and lawmakers accuse Eisenkot of making light of Jewish aphorism; deputy FM says he invited international criticism of army
February 18, 2016, 9:19 pm
Rabbis and right-wing lawmakers on Thursday took IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Gadi Eisenkot to task for stating that the IDF’s rules of engagement do not include soldiers “emptying a full magazine at a girl holding scissors.”
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said Eisenkot’s words were damaging to Israel’s image.
“The international community very much loves to accuse Israel of using disproportionate force. At the end of the day the conduct of security forces has been exemplary,” she told Channel 2.
“When there’s a 13-year-old girl holding scissors or a knife and there is some distance between her and the soldiers, I don’t want to see a soldier open fire and empty his magazine at a girl like that, even if she is committing a very serious act,” Eisenkot had said Wednesday at a high school in the coastal city of Bat Yam. “Rather he should use the force necessary to fulfill the objective.”
“The army cannot speak in slogans such as ‘If a person rises to kill you, kill him first,’” he said in response to a student’s question on the IDF’s “lenient” rules of engagement, quoting a traditional Jewish phrase.
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From The Times of Israel
Pope says Trump ‘not a Christian’; Trump calls critique ‘disgraceful’
Pontiff criticizes man who wants ‘to build walls, not bridges’; Candidate outraged that a religious leader has questioned his faith, says Francis is being misled
February 18, 2016, 8:48 pm
Republican White House hopeful Donald Trump cannot claim to be a Christian, Pope Francis said Thursday, after the billionaire vowed to build a border wall to keep out immigrants.
“Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian,” the pontiff told journalists during his return journey from a trip to Mexico in response to a question about Trump’s anti-immigrant stance.
“Vote, don’t vote, I won’t meddle,” said Francis. Not having heard Trump’s border plans independently, the pope said he’d “give him the benefit of the doubt.” But he added: “But I simply say, if he says these things, this man is not a Christian.”
His remarks drew swift condemnation from the outspoken Republican presidential candidate, who described them as “disgraceful”.
From The Daily Mail
Desperate Sweden is forced to hire luxury cruise liner with theatre, gym and swimming pool to house 2,000 refugees at a cost of £65,000 A DAY
- The Swedish Migration Board rented the Ocean Gala for £65,000 a day
- Cruise liner boasts a swimming pool, theatre and numerous restaurants
- Officials admitted they needed to ‘think outside the box’ to deal with crisis
- But locals living in town of Härnösand object to it mooring in their harbour
Thousands of migrants are being given rooms aboard a luxury ocean liner which comes complete with a theatre and swimming pool because Sweden can no longer cope with the numbers arriving at its borders every week, it has been revealed.
Sweden’s Migration Board is renting the Ocean Gala – once the world’s largest cruise liner where holidaymakers pay £2,500 for a two-week break – for at least the next year at the eye-watering cost of of £65,000 a day.
When the giant cruise ship is full it will provide bed and board for 1,790 migrants – about the number arriving in the country every single day at the height of the crisis.
A spokesman said: ‘Having a theatre sounds really nice. Those who are going to stay at the ship will probably have to do that for quite a bit of time while their applications are being processed. So they need every encouragement they can get.’
From Ynet News
Israel prepares to fight boycott activists online
Gov’t allots $26 million to fight BDS movement; Israel is using its world-leading expertise in cyber security to take on the growing threat of the global pro-Palestinian boycott movement.
The government has recently allotted nearly $26 million in this year’s budget to combat what it sees as worldwide efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state’s right to exist.
Some of the funds are earmarked for Israeli tech companies, many of them headed by former military intelligence officers, for digital initiatives aimed at gathering intelligence on activist groups and countering their efforts.
Click here for the full story
From Ynet News
Head of Conference of Presidents: Anti-Semitism in the US on the rise
Malcolm Hoenlein says 75% of American Jewish students witnessed or experienced anti-Semitism on campus; ‘It’s not Europe, but we’re definitely on the rise,’ he warns.
Three-quarters of American Jewish students say they witnessed or experienced anti-Semitism on a campus, American-Jewish leader Malcolm Hoenlein told Ynet on Wednesday.
“It’s not Europe yet, but (anti-Semitism) is definitely on the rise,” said Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which is held this week in Jerusalem for the 42nd year. “That’s something we have a collective responsibility to address.”
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Trump won’t take sides on Israel and the Palestinians
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Donald Trump said he would remain neutral when it comes to Israel and the Palestinians, but cited Palestinian incitement as a factor in making the conflict intractable.
Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nod, was asked at a town hall meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, ahead of Saturday’s primary whether he would tackle Israeli-Palestinian peace.
He said he would give it “one hell of a shot,” although “it’s probably the toughest agreement of any kind to make.”
Click here for the full story
From Russia Today
1 in 10 people to be at risk of blindness by 2050 – study
Published time: 18 Feb, 2016 23:39
© Lucy Nicholson / Reuters
One in ten humans could become blind by 2050, with a half of the world’s population predicted to be short-sighted (myopic), scientists say, pointing out that people must take immediate measures to stop the spread of myopia.
Having analyzed vast amounts of international data on myopia, researchers from Brien Holden Vision Institute, at the University of New South Wales Australia and Singapore Eye Research Institute found the drastic growth of people suffering from shortsightedness since 2000.
Based on the revealed trend the research team predicted further increase of the number of short-sighted people – up to about five million of a half of world’s population by 2050, says the study published in the Ophthalmology journal.
The scientists also showed that there are sharp differences in the percentage of myopic people in different regions. The least myopic-prone region is Africa while the most affected regions are East Asia, South East Asia as well as high income North American countries. The team believes that these differences will remain actual by 2050.
The study also says that myopia will become the leading cause of permanent blindness come 2050: vision loss from short-sightedness is expected to increase seven-fold from 2000 to 2050.
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From The Times of Israel
Superdelegates help Clinton expand her lead despite NH loss
Despite close race, Clinton remains well ahead among 30% of convention delegates not chosen by primary voters
February 19, 2016, 7:41 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — So much for Bernie Sanders’s big win in New Hampshire.
Since then, Hillary Clinton has picked up endorsements from 87 more superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention, dwarfing Sanders’s gain from the New Hampshire primary, according to a new Associated Press survey. Sanders has added just 11 superdelegate endorsements.
If these party insiders continue to back Clinton overwhelmingly — and they can change their minds — Sanders would have to win the remaining primaries by a landslide just to catch up. He would have to roll up big margins because every Democratic contest awards delegates in proportion to the vote, so even the loser can get some.
After the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, Sanders has a small 36-32 lead among delegates won in primaries and caucuses. But when superdelegates are included, Clinton leads 481-55, according to the AP count. It’s essentially a parallel election that underscores Clinton’s lopsided support from the Democratic establishment.
The disparity is sparking a backlash among some Sanders supporters, who complain that the Democratic nominating process is decidedly undemocratic, rigged in favor of Clinton.
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From The Times of Israel
Holocaust-denying WWII vet buried in Arlington National Cemetery
Former GI said Hitler defeat’s was America’s; Simon Wiesenthal Center founder says Willis Carto’s interment a ‘national disgrace’
February 19, 2016, 5:38 am
A U.S. soldier wounded in World War II who later became an outspoken Nazi sympathizer and Holocaust denier was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Willis Carto, who died at 89 in October, was interred at the military cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on Wednesday, the Huffington Post reported. He founded the Liberty Lobby, a white supremacist group, and the Institute for Historical Review, a group that promotes Holocaust denial.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Holocaust research and awareness organization, told the Post that Carto’s burial in the cemetery was a “national disgrace.”
“For a person who supported a man responsible for the greatest mass murder in the history of mankind to be buried in the sacred ground where service members who fought to do everything to defeat this man, it profanes the cemetery,” Hier said.
Carto earned the Purple Heart medal after being injured in the Philippines, qualifying him for a military funeral in the cemetery. While veterans who are convicted of federal or state crimes are prohibited from burial at Arlington, there is no policy barring someone for controversial political views.
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From The Times of Israel
Rivlin to US Jewish leaders: Don’t let Israel become a partisan issue
Whichever party or candidate you support, Israel is an issue ‘on which everyone must agree,’ says president
February 18, 2016, 9:54 pm
President Reuven Rivlin told American Jewish leaders that the relationship between Israel and the United States should remain “beyond debate” during the US election season.
Rivlin addressed a delegation from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Thursday, the last day of its five-day mission to Israel.
“Many of you have different political views, support different candidates, and possibly vote for different political parties. But whichever party or candidate you support, there are important issues on which everyone must agree,” Rivlin said. “Support for Israel in the United States has never been, and must not become, a party political issue.
“During the elections season, it is my deep hope that the close relationship between Israel and the United States remains beyond debate. American friends of Israel should be able to feel free to express their democratic right and vote as they want, and know that whatever happens, the bonds between Israel and the U.S. are strong.”
Rivlin also called for unity in the fight against the rising threat of anti-Semitism.
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