Italy probes visas-for-sale security breach
[AlAhram] Italy's foreign ministry said Tuesday it had asked a prosecutor to investigate the suspected sale of European visas by officials at its consulate in the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq.
The move followed reports that entry visas for Italy and the rest of the Schengen border-free zone that covers most of continental Europe were being sold for up to 10,000 euros ($10,600) a time to buyers deemed a security risk by other European consulates in the region's capital, Arbil. A ministry investigation identified irregularities in the visa issuing procedures at the consulate and the official in charge of the section has been replaced, the ministry said in a statement.
Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported that at least 152 visas had been issued in return for illicit payments. Around half went to Kurdish locals and the rest to other Iraqi nationals or Syrian refugees, the daily said.
Fire breaks out at Swedish refugee center
[IsraelTimes] Swedish police say at least 15 people have been injured when a fire broke out overnight at one of the country’s largest refugee centers outside of Vanersborg in southwestern Sweden. Police spokesman Tommy Nyman says two people were taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries after jumping out of a second-floor window to escape the blaze and 15 people in all were treated for smoke inhalation. He said police received the alarm at 4:15 a.m. Sunday and all 158 people in the building were evacuated. Firefighters extinguished the flames.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Nyman said police would open an investigation.
Last year, there were 112 fires at Swedish refugee and reception centers, most of them arson.
Germany arrests suspected Syrian war criminal
[Ynet] German police have arrested two Syrian men, one of whom is suspected of involvement in the killing of 36 Syrian government employees in Syria in March 2013 and committing war crimes, prosecutors said on Thursday.
Abdalfatah H. A., 35, is suspected of being a member of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and of carrying out a death sentence. With other members of his unit, he is believed to have killed 36 employees of the Syrian government who were protected under international law, said the prosecutors.
He was arrested in Duesseldorf in north-western Germany.
French Arab coexistence champion was anti-Semitic tweeter
[IsraelTimes] Former French culture minister Christiane Taubira, who last month granted a wide-ranging interview to Mehdi Meklat, 24, of the Les Inrocks magazine, said she would not have afforded him that access had she known that in the years 2012-14, he wrote under a pseudonym on Twitter numerous anti-Semitic, misogynistic and homophobic messages. The tweets, which surfaced as Meklat was promoting his latest book, included reference to Jewish greed, Hitler and gas. Some were authored by Meklat on his Twitter account, while others appeared under the pseudonym Marcelin Deschamps.
The revelations have stunned France as Meklat, a native son born to a Muslim family from Northern Africa, had been widely regarded as a progressive proponent of religious and ethnic coexistence amid rising tensions among Muslims, Jews and others in France.
French teen who attacked Jewish teacher with machete gets 7 years in jail
[IsraelTimes] A French high school student of Kurdish descent who tried to murder a Jewish teacher in Marseille was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison, Israel Radio reported Friday. The prosecution initially sought a punishment of 10 years against the perpetrator, an ethnic Kurd from Turkey who was still a minor at the time of the attack last year.
At the time, he said he was acting in the name of Allah and that he was affiliated with the Islamic State terror organization.
According to the AFP news agency, this is the first time that a minor under the age of 18 was tried in France for a jihadist attack. The youth, whose name was not published in the media, was 15 when he attacked Amsellem and fled the scene after the victim fought him off using a Bible to shield his body from the knife.
Dutch anti-Semitism watchdog calls to ban ‘Hamas front’ conference
[IsraelTimes] Center for Information and Documentation on Israel asks government to scrap Rotterdam forum titled ‘Palestinians in Europe’ scheduled April 15. CIDI said it has made repeated appeals to Morocco-born Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb (Labour), who has spoken harshly against anti-Semitism, to prevent the forum.
Syrian refugee in Greece smuggles son in suitcase
[IsraelTimes] Authorities catch mother of two trying to get her 23-year-old boy from island of Lesbos to Greek mainland despite prohibition.
Franco-Lebanese Trumpeter Maalouf Accused of Kissing 14-Year-Old Girl
[AnNahar] Star trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf is being investigated by French police for kissing a 14-year-old girl while she was his intern, a justice official said Friday. The incident dates from 2013 when the Franco-Lebanese musician, who has played with Sting and Elvis Costello, is alleged to have kissed the girl at the end of her internship.
Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the inquiry centers on "sexual interference, which is different from sexual assault because it involves the consent of the minor."
Maalouf, now 36, is alleged to have sent the secondary school student a text message asking her to send him a picture of herself naked, French daily the Parisien reported.
| A little different than a peck on the cheek... |
Dramatic moment a Moroccan migrant is pinned to the ground and arrested after shouting in Arabic he was carrying a bomb on a Spanish train
03/03/17
[DailyMail] The alarm was sounded by passengers on board the train from Barcelona to Girona who phoned 999 to say an Arab-looking man was shouting in French and Arabic he was carrying a bomb. Police confirmed afterwards the suspect, who spoke in a foreign accent and told police he was Moroccan although he wasn't carrying any ID, was not armed or carrying a bomb.
Security is ramped up at a Belgian train station after an ISIS militant films 'we are here' video as he patrols Antwerp 'threatening to chop off the heads of civilians and fill the streets with blood'
03/03/17
[DailyMail] The video is filmed at Antwerp Central Station where police are desperately scouring CCTV footage in an attempt to identify the terrorist as extra officers have been deployed.
| From Breitbart: |
4 March
Sweden’s Integration Minister, from the ruling liberal party, has been forced into an embarrassing U-turn after she falsely told BBC the number of reported of rapes in Sweden was falling.
Government Report: Islamists Building ‘Parallel Society’ in Sweden Aided By PC Culture of Silence
4 March
Aided by a politically correct culture of “tolerance”, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is secretly building a “parallel” society in Sweden by infiltrating organisations and political parties, a government report has concluded.
Spanish NGO Ferries 250 African Migrants to Italy
4 March
MADRID (AP) — A Spanish organization says its rescue ship has saved 250 migrants in danger of capsizing near the Libyan coast.
At Nearly Four Million, Immigration to Germany in 2000s Near Double 1980s Turkish Surge
3 March
Even before the Europe Migrant Crisis realised its full potential and saw millions of so-called refugees streaming into Europe, Germany welcomed millions of “non-Europeans” in the decade leading to 2015, dwarfing even the massive movement of Turks as guest workers
Calais Mayor Bans Food Distribution in Bid to Quell Migrant Returns
3 March
The Mayor of Calais has banned food distribution to migrants in the city in a bid to prevent yet another ‘Jungle’ migrant camp from springing up.
Calais Aid Groups Defy Order to Stop Feeding Migrants
3 March
PARIS (AP) — Aid groups feeding migrants in the northern French port city of Calais are defying a municipal order to stop.
European Commission Encourages Detention of Failed Asylum Seekers
3 March
Failed asylum seekers at risk of absconding can be detained for up to 18 months while awaiting deportation, the European Commission has announced.
Swedish Authorities Accuse Migrant Crime Whistleblower Cop of ‘Hacking’ Police Computers
3 March
Peter Springare, the police officer who posted on Facebook his frustrations on the levels of migrant crime in Sweden, is now being investigated by authorities who claim he “hacked” into police computers.
Wilders: ‘Scandalous’ that EU Has Stripped Le Pen of Parliamentary Immunity
3 March
Dutch anti-mass migration firebrand Geert Wilders has slammed the European Parliament after it voted to lift parliamentary immunity from Front National leader and MEP Marine Le Pen, leaving her exposed to prosecution and imprisonment just weeks before the French presidential elections.
American Journalist Told to Leave Sweden No Go Zone by Police
3 March
American video journalist Tim Pool claims he was told to leave the Stockholm no go suburb of Rinkeby by police after masked men started following him.
Hungary’s Second Anti-Migrant Fence on Serbian Border to be Built by May
3 March
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A new fence being built by Hungary to stop migrants from entering the country will be completed by May 1 and a state of emergency giving authorities additional powers to secure the borders has been extended by six months, government officials said Thursday.
Gatestone: Migrant ‘Child’ Who Turned Out To Be Adult Threatened To Kill Foster Mother
2 March
Gatestone Europe reports on the remarkable testimony of a foster mother who had a migrant male placed with her who claimed to be 12 years old, but soon become violent towards her and her family and later transpired to be
German Mayor Appeals for Calm as Syrian Arrested for Killing Old Woman
2 March
BERLIN (AP) — The mayor of Cottbus in eastern Germany is urging people to remain calm after a young Syrian was arrested on suspicion of killing an elderly woman in December.
Le Pen’s Globalist Rival: Don’t Worry About Mass Migration, Newcomers ‘Renew Our Society’
2 March
Maintaining that mass migration is inescapable and will only accelerate, former investment banker Emmanuel Macron said immigrants are good for France and bring “fresh bursts of creativity and innovation” to society.
Austria Will Encourage Failed Asylum Seekers to Leave by Cutting Aid, Food
2 March
Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka has announced the government intends to stop supporting failed asylum seekers with food and shelter to encourage them to leave.
Migrant Who Murdered Pensioner Asks for Death Penalty
2 March
A migrant who robbed and then brutally murdered a German pensioner and wrote “the time of revenge has come” in Arabic on her wall has asked the judge for the death penalty. His request was denied.
Ten Incidents in Ten Days That Proved Trump Right on Sweden’s Migration Problem
2 March
The media and Swedish politicians were in an uproar after President Donald J. Trump chose to highlight the negative effects of mass migration in Sweden. But ten days later, here are ten incidents that proved him right.
EU Threatens Nations Not Resettling Migrants From Italy and Greece Fast Enough
2 March
The European Union is pleading with member countries to step up the relocation of asylum-seekers from Italy and Greece, seeking to give new momentum to a plan that has fallen far short of its targets.