Russia Has ‘More Proof’ ISIS Oil Routed Through Turkey, Erdogan Says He’ll Resign if True

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
© Sputnik / Reuters

Russia has received additional intelligence confirming that oil from deposits controlled by Islamic State is moved through Turkey on an industrial scale, said Vladimir Putin. President Recep Erdogan said he will resign if this is confirmed.

Moscow has grounds to suspect that the Su-24 was downed by Turkish jets on November 24 to secure illegal oil deliveries from Syria to Turkey, he said speaking on the sidelines of the climate change summit in Paris on Monday.

“At the moment we have received additional information confirming that that oil from the deposits controlled by Islamic State militants enters Turkish territory on industrial scale,” he said.

“We have every reason to believe that the decision to down our plane was guided by a desire to ensure security of this oil’s delivery routes to ports where they are shipped in tankers,” Putin said.

Speaking in Paris on Monday, President Recep Erdogan said that he will leave office if there is proof of Turkey’s cooperation with IS.

That will be the day!

 “We are not that dishonest as to buy oil from terrorists. If it is proven that we have, in fact, done so, I will leave office. If there is any evidence, let them present it, we’ll consider [it],” he said, as quoted by TASS.

The countries from which Turkey buys oil are “well known,” said Erdogan.

This is typical political stick-handling (to use a hockey term). Putin didn't accuse Turkey of buying oil from ISIS, but of allowing it to pass through Turkey to unnamed sea-ports.

He called on Russia to comment on the US’ recent black-listing of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the World Chess Federation President, accusing him of “materially assisting and acting for or on behalf of the Government of Syria.” Erdogan alleged Ilyumzhinov had been dealing with Islamic State oil.

Terrorists have been abusing the visa-free regime between Russia and Turkey to move freely, the Russian leader said adding that Ankara failed to address the issue after Russia raised it.

“We have been asking [Ankara] for a long time to pay attention” to the threat posed by some terrorists active in separate regions of Russia, including the northern Caucuses, that have been “emerging on Turkish territory,” Putin said.

Moscow has asked Ankara to “stop this practice,” he added, but pointed out that “we have traced some located on the territory of the Turkish Republic and living in regions guarded by special security services and police that have used the visa-free regime to return to our territory, where we continue to fight them,” he added.

Answering a question as to whether Moscow wants to form a broad based anti-terrorist coalition, Putin said Russia has always supported this initiative, “but this cannot be done while someone continues to use several terrorist organizations to reach their immediate goals.”

Is he referring to the US using ISIS and other rebel groups to bring down Bashar al Assad, or Turkey using them to weaken, if not eliminate the Kurds?

Putin admitted that he was personally saddened by the deterioration of relations with Turkey. He explained that “problems do exist and they emerged a long time ago and we have been trying to resolve them in dialogue with our Turkish partners.”

Putin said he has heard Ankara’s claims that it was not Erdogan who made the decision to down the Russian jet. However, he stressed that for Russia “it doesn’t really matter” which official made the decision. 

“As a result of this criminal campaign our two soldiers died – a crew commander and a marine, who was part of the rescue team of the [Su-24] crew,” he said, adding that Turkey’s actions had been “a huge mistake.”

Russo-Turkish relations have deteriorated in the wake of the downing of Russia’s Su-24 by Turkish jets over Syria on November 24. Russia imposed a package of economic sanctions against Turkey last Thursday, which included banning several Turkish organizations and the import of certain goods, as well as cancelling the visa-free regime for Turkish citizens travelling to Russia starting next year.

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit, Erdogan said that Ankara will act “patiently, not emotionally” before imposing any counter-measures.

Meanwhile, ahead of the summit, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stated that Ankara will not apologize “for doing our duty.”

Putin and Erdogan were hoped to meet at the environmental summit taking place in Paris, but Putin said that no meeting was held on Monday.

Big Step for Chinese in Plan to Make Yuan World's Dominant Currency

Chinese yuan to become a global reserve currency

© Kacper Pempel / Reuters

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave the yuan a vote of confidence on Monday by including the Chinese currency in its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) uniting the US dollar, euro, British pound and the Japanese yen.

Adding the yuan as a reserve currency will allow central banks to buy more of the Chinese currency, and boost investment in the Chinese stock market. According to Standard Chartered bank, within five years market players will invest at least $1 trillion in Chinese assets.

America Could Become a Third-World Country Overnight

The historic decision has come after years of negotiations between Beijing and the IMF. The main obstacle was China’s monetary policy, which has kept the yuan artificially low to boost domestic exports.

Beijing had to initiate a whole raft of reforms to secure admission, including easier access to Chinese money markets for foreigners, more frequent bond issues, and longer trading hours for the yuan.

The list of currencies in the basket hasn’t been updated by the IMF since 2000, when the euro superseded the franc and deutschmark.

The main opponents of including the yuan as reserve currency have been Japan and the US. According to Eswar Prasad, a professor at Cornell University and former head of the IMF's China Division, the two countries are unlikely to thwart the deal this time. "I think it will be very difficult for the IMF, especially given all that China has done this year, to deny China the prize it really wants," he told Reuters in October.

Beijing devalued the yuan in August in a shock move to respond to slowing growth. That decision was praised by IMF Chief Christine Lagarde, who said the Chinese currency became more market-oriented. However, the yuan is still tightly controlled by the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank.

The yuan will not officially become a reserve currency until September 2016.

Close Nuclear Probe or the Deal is Off, Iran Says

A general view of the Bushehr main nuclear reactor, 1,200 km (746 miles)
south of Tehran © Raheb Homavandi / Reuters

Iran has called on the IAEA and world leaders to close the investigation of the so-called “Possible Military Dimensions” of its nuclear program - the PMD file. Otherwise they will have to choose between the case and the nuclear deal.

“What closes the PMD case is the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors' resolution. And the P5+1 is a part of the Board of Governors. So we hope that they act upon their responsibility and close the case,” Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said, as cited by the Fars news agency.

Shamkhani added that closure of the PMD case is a necessary prerequisite for the full implementation of the nuclear deal between Iran and P5+1. The group includes the US, Russia, China, Britain and France, who are the permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany.

Under the July 14 accord, Tehran agreed to major curbs on its atomic program, particularly its enrichment of uranium to high purities. In return all nuclear-related sanctions imposed by the US, the EU and the UN are to be lifted.

Shamkhani says now the P5+1 group “must choose” between the nuclear deal and the PMD file, according to ISNA.

The file concerns allegations that at least until 2003 Iran conducted research into how to make a nuclear weapon. These claims have been vehemently rejected by Tehran, which says its nuclear program serves peaceful purposes only. These include energy production and cancer treatment, and therefore the Iranians argue the program is Iran’s natural right.

“Iran wants to be exonerated from the PMD case and it should become clear that the PMD cases have been false, and during the negotiations we pressure the opposite side and insist that the fate of this case should come within the framework of the agreement,” Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi said on June 17, a month before the nuclear deal was concluded.

So, it's not clear from this report whether the PMD investigation was included in the nuclear deal or not. If it is, then this week will probably be the end of it. If it isn't, then it appears to be a power play by Iran to stop any further investigation into its military nuclear aspirations. The power they have is the fact that this is a legacy issue for President Obama.

But the obvious factors involved include the fact that Iranian officials lie incessantly, and, if they have nothing to hide, why are they pressing so hard to stop the investigation?

The final PMD report may reach the IAEA’s board of governors as early as Tuesday, according to AFP. If it closes the allegations, a day of the nuclear deal “implementation” is to be appointed, starting with which sanctions will be lifted.

Earlier this week, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said that while the UN watchdog has a “better understanding” of Iran’s past activities, the report will not be a “black-and-white assessment.”

“This is not an issue which can be answered ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ ” he said on Thursday.

Saudi Blogger Raif Badawi has Sentence Suspended: Swiss Official

Royal pardon by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudia Arabia

in works

This is probably the best international news you will hear today,

let's hope and pray it is accurate

CBC News 

Montreal has been the site of several demonstrations in support of
Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi. (Thomas Daigle/CBC)

Jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi is having his sentence of 1,000 lashes suspended, the Swiss secretary of Foreign Affairs has told a Swiss newspaper.

"I have been told his sentence has been suspended," Yves Rossier told the Fribourg daily newspaper La Liberté.

Rossier said he brought up the matter while on an official visit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

"A royal pardon is in the works thanks to the head of state, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud," he added.

Badawi's wife and three children live in Quebec's Eastern Townships region.

Badawi was arrested in June 2012 for criticizing Saudi Arabian clerics on his website. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes. He was also fined $266,000.

Because 1,000 lashes at once would likely be fatal, Saudi judges decreed that Badawi would be whipped in installments of 50 lashes for 20 weeks.

Badawi was flogged for the first time on Jan. 9 but  further instalments have been postponed.

Very Disturbing Stuff Coming Out of Belgium

Molenbeek mayor had ‘detailed list of Paris terrorists’

1 month prior to attacks

Belgian soldiers patrol in the neighborhood of Molenbeek,
in Brussels, Belgium © Youssef Boudlal / Reuters

As the aftermath of the Paris tragedy unfolds, it has come to light that Belgian authorities were given a detailed list of suspected terrorists – including the mastermind of the attacks – a month before the atrocity took place.

However, the mayor of the Molenbeek district of Brussels, notorious for harboring jihadists, believes it was not her responsibility to follow up on the information, according to a report by the New York Times. 

“What was I supposed to do about them? It is not my job to track possible terrorists,” Francoise Schepmans said in an interview with the paper, adding that these things are “the responsibility of the federal police.” I wonder how well she is sleeping at night?

It is alleged that the mayor had the addresses and names of over 80 suspected militants. The list was based on information from Belgium’s security services, and included both the mastermind of the operation, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, and the two brothers, Salah and Brahim Abdeslam, who participated in the November 13 attacks.

Abaaoud was a Molenbeek resident who had left to fight alongside Islamic State (IS/ISIS, formerly ISIL) in the Syrian jihad in early 2014. He was killed in a police raid in Saint-Denis last week, after taking the lives of 130 people in the Paris attacks. 

The Paris public prosecutor, Francois Molins, on Tuesday revealed phone records that, according to France Info, proved Abaaoud was at the scene of the Bataclan concert venue where 90 people were killed amid a rescue operation. Authorities also believe the terrorist was planning a follow-up attack on the French capital’s La Defence business district days after the November 13 attacks. 

According to Molins, it was the police raid at Saint-Denis, where the terrorist, his cousin and another militant were holed up, that put a stop to the plans.

The issue of the Belgian blunder with the terrorist list touches on a wider issue.

An already divided Belgium, which recently went without a functioning government for over 540 days, now faces the blame for becoming a European terrorist hub, or a “rear base of Islamic barbarity” – rhetoric Flemish nationalists have used in the past to allude to the allegedly lax attitude of the French-speaking Socialist Party toward the Muslim minority.

In an interview to Europe 1 radio, Molenbeek mayor Schepmans admitted to knowing that a “terrorist network was formed in Molenbeek,” but also said that “it is up to state security services to control what preachers are saying… The municipal authority has different tasks.” 

She did admit that “religious fundamentalism had grown in the area unattended in the years from 1970 to 1980.”

For Europe, the issue is also clear: no state of emergency declaration in another EU member country, such as France, would do any good in stopping potential terrorists based in Belgium from moving about the continent freely, former French intelligence officer Alain Rodier told RT's Sophie Shevardnadze in her SophieCo program.

Furthermore, the security apparatus in Belgium is only as vast as the country itself. According to Rodier, while the problem of European terrorism belongs to the continent as a whole, Belgium can do little to contain the threat forming at home on its own.

“I think that it is necessary to help them [Belgium], to reinforce them in terms of equipment and resources,” Rodier says. “Why is Belgium always at the center of all such events? Even if we go as far back as 30 years ago, when terrorist attacks were carried out by the extreme left? The reason is that, even back then, Belgium was the crossing point for terrorist groups, the Red Army Faction, etc. The fact is that the geographical location of Belgium makes it basically a crossroads,” the former spy explains. One could add a very tolerant, laconic government.

‘Christian state’ group threatens to kill Belgian Muslims, destroy their businesses

Members of the Muslim community attend the Friday prayer at Attadamoun
Mosque in the neighbourhood of Molenbeek, in Brussels, Belgium,
November 20, 2015. © Youssef Boudlal 

A menacing letter from the group called ‘Christian state’ has been sent to the major Belgian mosque Attadamoune. It threatens all Muslims will be killed, and their businesses destroyed.

The anonymous letter – printed out and full of spelling mistakes - said that “no mosque and none of your businesses will be safe” and threatened that “brothers [Muslims] will be slaughtered like pigs and crucified as our Lord converts their souls.”

The document was found in the mosque’s mailbox by Jamal Habbachich, one of the local Muslim leaders and the president of Molenbeek’s mosque association, and he is set to address the government about the issue.

"We will turn to the authorities of our country and complain to the police, naturally. Because there are two situations when you receive this kind of letter: it is a document written by someone wacky unbalanced, or it's a very serious threat,” Habbachich told the local media outlet RTBF.

“What also concerns me is the name of the author of the letter which we do not know, and who uses similar terminology to that of the Islamic state,” he added.

Given the context, Jamal Habbachich is also worried about a possible increase in Islamophobic acts, be it verbal or physical abuse. "This letter is one of the elements," he said. “In the current climate, with fear in everyone’s minds, it is disturbing,” he also told Le Parisien.

Two other mosques in the region also got threats like this, getting similar letters.

The Attadamoune mosque is considered a key Muslim institution in the Molenbeek district, an area near the Belgian capital that is connected with the attacks in Paris on November 13 that left 130 people dead.

Last week, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said that the government may close “certain radical mosques” in the Molenbeek district over fears that it was the place where the Paris attacks were orchestrated.

Belgian capital Brussels was on a lockdown for four days last week, too, over concerns that Paris-like attacks would occur there.

21 Killed in Boko Haram Suicide Attack on Shia Procession in Nigeria

Boko Haram winning the mad race with Daesh to see who can murder the most people

FILE PHOTO © Afolabi Sotunde / Reuters

At least 21 people were killed in a Boko Haram suicide bomb attack on a Shia Muslim procession in the northern Nigerian state of Kano.

The incident occurred in the village of Dakasoye, some 20 kilometers south of the state capital city of Kano.

“Our procession came under a suicide attack," Muhammad Turi, who was leading thousands of Islamic Movement of Nigeria followers, told AFP.

Turi said that the deadly attack came as no surprise for the Shia marchers as “this is the situation all over the country.”

Despite the bombing, the procession, which was on its way from Kano to Zaria, located in a neighboring state, continued to match.

"This will not deter us from our religious observance. Even if all of us were bombed the last person will carry on with this duty,” Turi stressed.

"It was in a bush area, on a farmland along the highway, our concern is to make everywhere safe. The bomb was made of high caliber explosive," police commissioner Muhammad Musa Katsina told Reuters.

The bomber, who was dressed in black like the majority of the procession, ran into the crowd before he could be spotted and detonated the bomb, one of the organizers told AFP.

“His accomplice was initially arrested and confessed they were sent by Boko Haram," the unnamed organizer said.

The two attackers were among the young men abducted by the terror group in the Borno state town of Mubi in 2014.

According to the organizer, they received training at the Boko Haram camp in the Sambisa Forest before being sent to Kano eleven days beforehand.

On the weekend, a female suicide bomber killed eight in Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri.

Boko Haram has stepped up its suicide attacks in Nigeria after a recent offensive by government forces forced them to abandon controlled territories.

The radical terror group is fighting to create an Islamic caliphate northeast Nigeria, with its six-year insurgency having left over 17,000 people dead.

According to a report by Global Terrorism Index, Boko Haram were responsible for 6,644 deaths in 2014, compared to 6,073 attributed to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

Smoking Strong Cannabis ‘Can Lead to Brain Damage,’ Study Finds

© Steve Dipaola / Reuters

Smoking extremely strong cannabis can lead to “significant” brain damage, a King’s College London study suggests.

The study, published in the journal Psychological Medicine, found that “skunk” cannabis damages the corpus callosum, a bundle of neural fibers that allows communication between the brain’s left and right hemispheres.

The two sides of the brain have very different functions. For instance the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and the left hemisphere controls the right side of the body. While the Bible says, "do not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing", it is speaking metaphorically. In reality, coordination between the two sides of the body is highly recommended. And there are many other reasons the two sides of the brain should be communicating.

In Holland, where marijuana is legally sold in cafes, skunk has been reclassified as a hard drug and is therefore illegal.

The illegal drug contains high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical responsible for the high users receive.

"It has long been known that people with a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia are far more likely to smoke both cannabis and tobacco,” Marjorie Wallace, the chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, said.

She added that scientists believe there is a direct link between cannabis and the levels of dopamine, which is the (the chemical messenger in the brain which is related to psychotic experience).

Regular use of the substance can lead to more harm, according to the research.

Frequently smoking the drug could trigger mental health issues, hallucinations and slow down brain activity.

Researchers examined 56 patients who reported having had a psychotic episode and 43 healthy volunteers.

The average age of healthier participants was 27 while the average age of psychotic patients was 29.

Previous studies highlighted much higher incidents of psychosis among teenagers smoking pot than adults. This study, while not determining incidents of psychosis does indicate that it does occur in adults, as well as the damage to white matter.

Lead researcher Dr Paola Dazzan, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London, said: “We found that frequent use of high potency cannabis significantly affects the structure of white matter fibers in the brain, whether you have psychosis or not.

“This reflects a sliding scale where the more cannabis you smoke and the higher the potency, the worse the damage will be.”

Co-author Dr Tiago Reis Marques said: “This white matter damage was significantly greater among heavy users of high potency cannabis than in occasional or low potency users, and was also independent of the presence of a psychotic disorder.”

Legalizing pot

Commenting on the findings, freelance journalist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett said legalizing the drug would give users “far greater control and choice” over the strength of what they smoked.

More than two million people in Britain smoked cannabis last year. A private analysis by the Treasury found that legalizing cannabis would raise tax revenues worth hundreds of millions of pounds and result in huge savings for the criminal justice system.

In August, government ministers debated a petition signed by 200,000 people calling for the legalization of cannabis. Its prohibition was upheld, however.

UN: Only One Thing in the World to Condemn - Israel

The UN passed 6 resolutions today. Did they condemn ISIS, Syria, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Boko Haram? No, Every single resolution condemned Israel. Astonishing! The UN is becoming a caricature of itself.

The UN is rapidly making itself completely irrelevant.

United Nations General Assembly
Has it become obsolete?

In a move dubbed "surreal" by a leading UN watchdog, and as a campaign of daily Palestinian terrorist attacks continues to target Israelis, the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday adopted six resolutions - all of which, bar none, condemned Israel.

Not a single mention was made of the Palestinian attacks, which have left 22 Israelis dead and hundreds wounded, nor did any other countries - even serial human rights violators such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia and others - receive any of the General Assembly's attention. More disturbingly still, five of the the UNGA resolutions were sponsored by the Palestinian Authority, while the sixth was sponsored by none other than Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.

"Surreal barely captures the scene: the world is under assault by terrorists killing in the name of Islam and martyrhood — as Palestinians did this week while stabbing Israeli Jews — and the UN’s response is to reflexively condemn Israel in six separate resolutions, all of which are one-sided," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, in response to the votes.

One resolution condemned the Jewish state for retaining the Golan Heights, demanding Israel hand it over to the Syrian regime.

Yeah, 'cause then the people would be safe and happy like all the other people in Syria. Wait a minute, everybody left Syria.

The Golan Heights were captured from Syria almost half a century ago in a war started by Syria as it, and Jordan, responded to Egypt's call for help as it was getting routed from the Sinai Peninsula.

Golan Heights

The resolution's adoption - by 105 votes to 6, with 56 abstentions - elicited warm words of praise from Syria's UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari, who expressed his "heartfelt appreciation and gratitude" to the UN for its Golan resolution, and without any sense of irony accused Israel of "occupation killing policies," "expansion," "racism," and "aggression."

Another vote - which passed 153 to 7 - claimed that Israel has "no right" to "impose" its sovereignty over "the Holy City of Jerusalem."

"It’s astonishing," said Neuer. "At a time when the Syrian regime is massacring its own people, how can the UN call for more people to be subject to Assad’s rule? The timing is morally galling and logically absurd."

"What is also outrageous is that these resolutions claim to care about Palestinians, yet the UN proves itself oblivious to the hundreds of Palestinians who continue to be slaughtered, maimed and expelled by Assad’s forces," he continued.

Neuer accused the General Assembly of being hijacked by an "automatic majority" of fiercely anti-Israel dictatorships.

"The farce at the General Assembly underscores a simple fact: the UN's automatic majority has no interest in truly helping Palestinians, nor in protecting anyone’s human rights; the goal of these ritual, one-sided condemnations remains the scapegoating of Israel," he stated.

"The U.N.’s disproportionate assault against the Jewish state undermines the institutional credibility of what is supposed to be an impartial international body, and exposes the sores of politicization and selectivity that eat away at its founding mission, eroding the U.N. Charter promise of equal treatment to all nations large and small."

Amen! Canada and the US should stop funding the UN and force it to move to Damascus.

Desperately Searching - Please Help

Does anyone know who owns the property rights to this image, or its origin? Please 1+, retweet, like, repost, whatever you can. Thanks.

Gary

Austrian ISIS 'Poster Girl' Beaten to Death After Trying to Flee ISIS – reports

These reports are not yet confirmed by Austrian government

Samra Kesinovic © interpol.int

A teenage girl who ran away from her home in Austria to join Islamic State in Syria has been beaten to death after trying to escape from the group, according to Austrian media. The girl traveled to the war-torn nation with her friend last year.

Austrian tabloid Kronen Zeitung reported that Samra Kesinovic, 17, was beaten to death by members of the violent extremist group as she tried to flee the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) stronghold of Raqqa.

The newspaper cited an unnamed Tunisian woman who reportedly also traveled to join the jihadists last year and lived with Kesinovic and her friend Sabina Selimovic, then 15, in Raqqa. The Österreich tabloid reported the same story, citing insider sources.

However, Austria's interior and foreign ministries have yet to confirm the news.

"We cannot comment on individual cases," Foreign Ministry spokesman Thomas Schnöll told the Austria Press Agency. Interior Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundböck also said that he could not comment on the situation.

Unconfirmed reports of the girls' fate also circulated last year, with UN counter-terrorism expert David Scharia stating that one had been killed in fighting and the other had disappeared.

Kesinovic and Selimovic arrived in Syria via Turkey in April 2014, and quickly became “poster girls” for IS. Photos on social media sites showed them carrying Kalashnikovs and being surrounded by armed men. According to Austrian police, the images were aimed at recruiting young girls to join IS.

At the time of their disappearance, the two teenagers left a note for their families saying, "Don’t look for us. We will serve Allah and we will die for him." The girls are believed to have been married off to IS fighters soon after arriving in Raqqa. However, by October 2014, there were reports that both girls wanted to return home.

Austrian authorities have accused a Vienna-based Bosnian Muslim preacher, Mirsad Omerovic (also known as Abu Tejda or Ebu Tejma) of recruiting the girls, who were born in Austria to Bosnian Muslim parents. He has denied the allegations.

As many as 130 Austrians have fled to Syria to join IS, according to UN estimates. At least half are believed to be of Chechen origin.

Burka Outlawed in Swiss State

To Veil or not to Veil

By JENNIFER NEWTON FOR MAILONLINE

Women who wear full face veils in public in a Swiss state could be fined up to £6,500 under new rules imposed by the local government.

Women who wear full face veils in
public in a Swiss state could be
fined up to £6,500

Females Muslims will be banned from wearing the burqa in shops, restaurants or public buildings in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino.

The local government in the southern Swiss state approved the ban after a referendum in September 2013 saw two in three voters backing the move.

According to the Local, the Ticino government had wanted to ban burqas and niqabs as well as masks worn by demonstrators and balaclavas.

However, MPs voted for a law that only applies to veils worn by some Muslim women and makes no exceptions for tourists visiting the area.

The minimum fine is 100 francs (£65) and women can be given a penalty of up to 10,000 francs (£6,500).

The Swiss Parliament says the ban does not violate federal law but it is not yet known when the new rules will come into force.

Visitors coming into Ticino will be informed at airports and by customs officers at the Italian border it is illegal for people to hide their face under a burqa or niqab, while in the state.

The ban on the burqa echoes similar legislation put in place in France, where women can be fined an initial penalty of £35 for wearing the garment, which can be increased to £150.

France's parliament passed the burka ban in 2010, leading to protests from Islamic groups who said it was discriminatory.

France has the biggest Muslim population in western Europe, and many believe that society has an agenda against them.

Which is exactly what feeds the victim mentality ISIS uses to recruit disenchanted Muslims.

An attempt by a British legal team to reverse France's burka ban was
rejected by the European Court of Human Rights, pictured, last year

However, an attempt by a British legal team to reverse France's burka ban was rejected by the European Court of Human Rights last year.

In a test case which will have widespread implications in other countries, judges said that the measure aimed at stopping women covering their faces in public was entirely justified.

They said that the right of ordinary people to 'live together' was a 'legitimate objective', and that Muslim women wearing face coverings threatened it.

Pulmonary Hypertension - Fatal, Incurable - HELP

November is Pulmonary Hypertension month

PH is incurable and fatal. PH'ers are desperate for a cure. 

You can help.

Tara Suplicki:

Day 22 We are in the fight for our lives here...

Every Breath that we take is harder than the last if we are doing anything such as physical, and for some of us it can be just as little as talking that takes our breath away. 

Yes medicine can make us stable for a while or even help us improve slightly...but it will never cure us... 

Even a lung transplant is not a cure for us. It is just a band-aid to hopefully give us more time with our family and friends. 

Help us find a cure!! 

Help us get our bills through Congress!! 

Help us get our Disease known by more people!! 

I want to see the World Periwinkle next November!!

COLOR THE WORLD PERIWINKLE DAY 

Pray PHor a Cure

This young woman, as beautiful inside as outside, is one of many amazing, young women who have left husband and children behind because there is no cure. Shawna left us 2 years ago, making the world a poorer place for her departure, but enriching Heaven with her arrival. I wish we could have known you longer.

PH also effects men and children; children like 

Katie Grace and Aubrey Starr. 

Please pray! Pray for a cure; pray for those suffering, trying to breath; pray about what you might do to help. But just pray!

Straddling the Fence with a Grimace, on Migrants

What to do with Syria's migrants?

Moral imperative
Refugee immigration is a very polarizing subject in many countries right now, except the oil-rich Gulf states where there are no refugees, in spite of the fact that Qatar needs and has accommodation for 70,000 right now. But they will draw workers for the construction of Olympic venues from India, Pakistan, Indonesia, etc; none from Syria.

My own position on the whole migrant issue is very firmly straddling the fence - that's probably why I find it so painful! The need for rescuing people from war-ravaged Syria and Iraq is obvious and God help us if we ignore that need - we will have to answer to Him.

Which begs the question, Why are American Christians so dead-set against it? Well, some of the answers are below, nevertheless I can't help but be perplexed as to why Americans would fear a mere 10,000 immigrants. Americans own at least 25 guns for every one of those immigrants. Christ's command to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, and house the homeless, leaves me very concerned that American Christians are acting less and less like Christ every day.

Farkhunda

Concerns
But there are many concerns beyond the refusal of Gulf states to accept any refugees. These concerns are not sufficient for me to be emphatically opposed to refugee immigration, but they should certainly not be ignored.

Terrorists embedded
The first concern is the probable embedding of ISIS operatives among the migrants. France has identified at least two of the suicide bombers who blew themselves to Hell outside the Stade de France last week, as having come through Greece and being processed as migrants. The other day Sweden arrested another migrant who arrived in that country in September, for plotting an act of terrorism in Sweden. 

That's three that we know about, which is a pitifully small number compared to the hundreds of thousands of migrants entering Europe over the past few months. However, most migrants have yet to find even a semi-permanent accommodation, so it would be much too soon to expect such operatives to plan and execute an act of terror. Also, it does verify that there are terrorists among the migrants as expected.

Thorough vetting needed
This, however, need not be a problem with thorough vetting of asylum seekers. Applicants have to be questioned about their religious beliefs! If done properly, it should be possible to identify those Muslims who have been radicalized. Perhaps a cartoon picture of Mohammed would reveal a persons true character. (That's going to stir up some comments). This may require some changes in immigration laws to be able to question applicants in such a way, but is necessary in my opinion.

Single young men, or married young men without children need to be vetted much more vigorously than those with children. There must be adequate proof of paternity in such cases. Women with children probably need little vetting and pre-teen children none at all. This last group, children and their mothers, and the elderly should be quickly processed, while the remainder investigated much more thoroughly.

One of the things for which they should be investigated is whether they are true war refugees or just economic refugees. There are many among the migrants who come from countries other than Iraq or Syria, who simply want a better way of life than possible in their own countries. Most African applicants fall into this category, although Christians from some Islamic countries definitely deserve asylum. For proof of that simply look at the number of Christians who have been tossed overboard into the Mediterranean by Muslims on their boat.

It's slightly crazy that Muslims would leave Muslim countries where there is poverty and war, and come to Christian countries where they hate everyone to the point of murder, for the opportunity to better their lives. And they bring their failed religion that is responsible for the poverty and war in their home countries, to countries with working economies. This cannot be a good thing for some European economies or peacefulness.

Cultural traditions
They also bring their cultural traditions like child brides (Mohammed approved pedophilia); honour killings, female genital mutilation, and a penchant for instant mass insanity should someone suggest that another has burned a Quran. It is this remarkable volatility that instantly turns moderate Muslims into murderous fanatics that frightens me more than anything - instant mass radicalization.

In Britain, they have determined that the latest generation of youth and young adults are considerably more devout than their parents. A devout Muslim is one who is much more easily radicalized than than a nominal Muslim.

Another cultural tradition they have brought to Europe is the idea that they have a right, if not the duty, to gang-rape any girl who dresses immodestly in public. Immodesty to Muslims is anything a girl wears that does not render her invisible.

Rape
They also have the right, under Mohammed, to do whatever they wish to a girl who is "in their right-hand"; that means under their power. So any Muslim man who manages to get an European girl into his car or apartment, has the right, from Mohammed, to do whatever he wants with her, whether rape, beating, or trafficking to other Muslims.

It's not a coincidence that Sweden went from a country with one of the lowest rates of rape in the world to  the second highest in 30 or 40 years. Nor is it a coincidence that that ratio has increased in nearly perfect parallel to the increase in immigration from mainly Muslim countries. Police in Oslo, Norway have stated that every single violent rape that occurred in that city over the past 5 years, was committed by a Muslim.

Muslim nation
Do you see why I don't particularly want an increase in the Muslim population in western countries. There is also the fact that many radical Muslim clerics have stated quite willingly that Islam will absorb all of Europe, simply by immigration and birth rates. Such is the case in France and Belgium, and some even say Britain, where Muslims will be a majority within one or two generations - without increased immigration! Most of Europe is recklessly driving at break-neck speed toward cultural extinction and the imposition of Sharia law.

Most fgms are done by non-
professionals without anesthetic

Germany is confident that the Muslim migrants will be quickly absorbed into society, and Germany will not be greatly changed by the flood of refugees that are entering. I wish them luck with that. But we have seen, even this past week, that French and Belgium societies have already  been changed by the rapidly increasing rhythm of acts of terror. Neither country will ever be the same again; and both countries will be under Sharia law by the middle of this century - in the life span of your children or grandchildren, unless something dramatic is done to stop it.

Trouble is, taking any kind of action against Muslims just increases their argument of victimhood. That, in turn, incites more 'moderates' to become radicalized, and encourages new Muslims to take action against the common enemy - everybody that isn't them.

Sounds pretty hopeless, I know. I won't try to convince you that the situation isn't very serious. As a Christian, I believe we are in the 'last days', prophesied by many Biblical writers, and, as such, things will get worse, much worse, before it gets better at the return of Christ. Deterioration may not occur linearly; we may be able to hold off much of it for decades; the answer to  that may  lie in whether we can reduce the increasing rhythm of fear and terror, along with the increasing number of countries so affected. 

I hope I have made you aware of the danger, at least; its imminence will reveal itself soon enough. 

Candid and Very Interesting Interview With Bashar al Assad

ISIL Created by US Interventionism, 

Saudi Money & Wahhabi Ideology – Assad

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Commenting on the origins of the Islamist terrorism plaguing the Middle East, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad noted that terror groups including Al-Qaeda and ISIL have been able to find fertile soil in Iraq as a result of US interventionism, with Saudi oil money and their poisonous Wahhabi ideology nurturing the groups and helping them grow.

Interviewed by Italy's RAI UNO television, Assad was asked to respond to accusations made by some Western analysts that his government was at least partly responsible for ISIL's creation.

"Actually," the president retorted, "according to what some American officials, including Hillary Clinton, have said, Al-Qaeda was created by the Americans with the help of Saudi Wahhabi money and ideology. Of course, many other [US] officials said the same…ISIL and al-Nusra are offshoots of Al-Qaeda. Regarding ISIL, it started in Iraq; it was established in Iraq in 2006…and the leader of ISIL today – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – he was in American prisons, and he was put in New York in their prisons, and then he was released. So it wasn't in Syria; it didn't start in Syria. It started in Iraq, and it started before that in Afghanistan…And Tony Blair recently said that yes, the Iraq War helped to create ISIL. Their confession is the most important evidence regarding your question."

Moreover, according to Assad, ISIL has no natural incubator in Syria, given the country's long-standing ideology of secular nationalism, religious tolerance and ethnic and religious co-existence prior to the war. 

"If you want to talk about the strength of Daesh," the president noted, "the first thing you have to ask is how much of an incubator, a real, natural incubator, you have in a certain society. Up to this moment, I can tell you that Daesh does not have a natural incubator, a social incubator, within Syria."

At the same time, Assad warned, if ISIL's poisonous ideology grows roots and becomes chronic, "this kind of ideology can change the society." In the president's words, the terrorists, who have been "supported…in different ways since the beginning of the crisis" by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, "and of course the Western policy that supported [them] in different ways since the beginning of the crisis," will lose their strength once they lose the support of their benefactors. "They can be strong as long as they have strong support from different states, whether in the Middle East or the West," Assad suggested.

Asked to comment on the deadly attacks which took place in Paris earlier this month, the president once again sent his condolences, condemning the "horrible crime" and noting that Syrians like few others can understand the terror of seeing "innocents being killed without any reason and for nothing….We've been suffering from that for the past five years."

Assad emphasized that "we feel for the French as we feel for the Lebanese a few days before that, and for the Russians regarding the airplane that's been shot down over Sinai, and for the Yemenis." At the same time, the president voiced his hope that the Western world would find compassion for the victims of terror from all these attacks, and not "only for the French."

Political Settlement Requires an Accurate Definition of the Opposition

Commenting on the potential for a political settlement to the Syrian crisis, the president emphasized that there could be no discussions on any timetable for settlement so long as the terrorist threat was not dealt with. Otherwise, Assad noted that a year and a half to two years would be enough to create mechanisms for a new political system, including a new constitution, and guidelines on referendums, parliamentary and presidential elections.

Regarding disagreements with Western powers over who can be defined as the legitimate opposition, Assad explained that people who hold machine guns in their hand cannot be considered legitimate opposition. "That's the case in every other country. Whoever holds a machinegun and terrorizes people and destroys private or public property or kills innocents –he is not the opposition. Opposition is a political term. Opposition can be defined not through your own opinion; it can be defined only through elections –through the ballot box."

According to the president, only the Syrian people, via elections, can determine who they consider the real opposition. "If you want to talk about my own opinion, you can be opposition when you have Syrian grassroots, when you belong only to your country. You cannot be opposition while you are formed as a person or as an entity in the foreign ministry of another country or in an intelligence office of another country. You cannot be a puppet; you cannot be a surrogate mercenary; you can only be a real Syrian."

Refugee Crisis Hitting Syria Just as Hard as Its Hitting Europe

Asked to comment on the hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have fled Syria for Europe in recent months, Assad emphasized that "everyone who leaves this country is a loss to Syria…We feel the suffering, because every refugee in Syria has a long story of suffering within Syria, and that's what we should deal with by asking the question: 'Why did they leave?'"

According to the president, Syrians leave "for many reasons. The first one [is] the direct threat by terrorists. The second is the influence of terrorists in destroying infrastructure and affecting the livelihood of those people. But the third one, which is as important as the influence of terrorists, is the Western embargo on Syria." Assad emphasized that many people would go back to Syria in a heartbeat, "but how can he go back…while the basics of his life, his livelihood, has been affected dramatically?…The Western embargo and terrorism have put these people between the devil and the deep blue sea."

Asked by his interviewer whether he considered the Syrian war to be a religious war, the president made clear that this was actually a war with "people who have deviated from real religion; mainly, of course, from Islam, toward extremism, which we don't consider as part of our religion. It's a war between the real Muslims and the extremists. Of course, [the radicals] give it different titles –a war against Christians, a war against other sects…but the real issue is the war between them and the rest of the Muslims, the majority of whom are moderates."

On that last point, Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan would disagree completely:

IS has may have departed from traditional Islam of the 20th century, but, in fact, it follows the teachings of Mohammed much more accurately than 'moderate' Muslims. Also, IS (Daesh) resembles many versions of Islam that have existed over the past 1300 years; much more so than 'moderate' Islam.

Italian Police: Muslim Migrants Threw Christians Overboard Again

BY RALPH SIDWAY
Jihad Watch

This crime is identical to this story from back in April 2015. How many such Muslim attacks on migrant Christians go unreported?

I (Sidway) wrote at that time:

The Muslim attack on Christians in a migrant boat crossing the Mediterranean is a sign of our times, a dark symbol and metaphor for a future which is rapidly beginning to come into focus:

We are all in a boat together, but there is a band of people in our boat which seeks to throw the rest of us overboard, to kill us, to sink and drown us, to eliminate us.

The fate of the murdered Christian migrants is the image of our future, unless we too form a human chain to resist our attackers.


So this is the second such report this year. What we don't know is how many times all Christians were thrown into the Mediterranean and no-one told authorities about it.

Is it just me, or is anyone else concerned that the 'intolerance to the point of murder' by Muslims to Christians, is not a good sign considering those Muslims are migrating to Christian countries? Is that racist of me? 


“Italian Police: Muslim Migrants Threw Christians Overboard,”
By Hada Messia, Livia Borghese and Jason Hanna, AINA,

Rome (CNN) — Muslims who were among migrants trying to get from Libya to Italy in a boat this week threw 12 fellow passengers overboard — killing them — because the 12 were Christians, Italian police said Thursday.

Italian authorities have arrested 15 people on suspicion of murdering the Christians at sea, police in Palermo, Sicily, said.

The original group of 105 people left Libya on Tuesday in a rubber boat. Sometime during the trip north across the Mediterranean Sea, the alleged assailants — Muslims from the Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal — threw the 12 overboard, police said.

Other people on the voyage told police that they themselves were spared “because they strongly opposed the drowning attempt and formed a human chain,” Palermo police said.

The boat was intercepted by an Italian navy vessel, which transferred the passengers to a Panamanian-flagged ship. That ship docked in Palermo on Wednesday, after which the arrests were made, police said.

The 12 who died were from Nigeria and Ghana, police said.

Thousands of people each year make the dangerous sea journey from North Africa to Europe’s Mediterranean coast, often aboard vessels poorly equipped for the trip. Many of them attempt the voyage to flee war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

More than 10,000 people have arrived on Italian shores from Libya since last weekend alone, according to the Italian coast guard.

Many die each year while attempting the voyage, often when boats capsized. Last year at least 3,200 died trying to make the trip. Since 2000, according to the International Organization for Migration, almost 22,000 people have died fleeing across the Mediterranean.

The IOM reported Thursday the latest boat to sink in trying to make the journey. Only four people survived from the original 45 on board, bringing the estimated death toll so far this year close to a thousand.

The Agony and Strength of Mothers of Sick Children

Katie's Dream for a Cure

Katie's Dream for a Cure feeling frustrated at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford.
19 November at 12:14 ·

Katie Grace has been intibated for 2 months now.

Katie Grace's mom:
So stinking super frustrated and upset with our team today. Katie Grace finally got to a point they are willing to extibate her yet after 2 month of living like this they don't feel it's emergency to get this gosh darn tube out. Average length of time for intubation is 14 days. Hello people. Why make her suffer and possibly cause more damage We were supposed to do it this week now "maybe " next week

Katie has already endured a lung transplant that was supposed to
cure her PH. It didn't.

Katie's Dream for a Cure feeling hopeful at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford.

15 November at 23:43 · Palo Alto, CA, United States · 

So I was asked this week if I thought what we are doing is what she would want? Katie Grace is by far one of the strongest fighters I know. I am not sure what will happen here. I know my prayers are for a true miracle. Today they had to place another chest tube. 😢. 

Yes she has been doing better but 2 steps forward 1 step back. But tonight Katie Grace surprised us all when she did this while listening to last year's cvchs (high school) doing "Everything is Awesome " always able to find her joy

Progress is measured in small steps

Concord, CA, United States · Edited · 
For all Mothers of children with PH:

"When children come face to face with the Goliath's of disease — cancer, heart defects, cystic fibrosis, brain injuries and many more — it’s their mothers who gather the stones that this child will use to fight the fearsome foe. We often revere the doctors who take care of these little ones, and it’s true, they are heroes. They make the stones so that we have weapons with which to go into battle. But often, there is a forgotten hero: the mother who gathers each and every stone, places it into tiny hands and stands by while her baby takes his best shot.

Mothers who take care of children with serious diseases don’t have the same luxuries that the rest of us have. Every parent carries the nagging fears: What if something happens to my child? Will I be able to give my child all the things they need to help them live a happy, healthy life? How can I help them realize their full potential? And perhaps it all comes back to this question: Am I enough? Am I enough to give my child what she needs?

But, for mothers whose children are healthy, we can put those fears on the back burner. We don’t often have to look that scary monster in the eye and face the reality. We can hide our heads under the covers and pretend that as long as we can’t see the monster, he can’t come and get us. For mothers who are battling a child’s illness, that’s a luxury they cannot afford. They are forced to face the monster head on, and their monsters look like this:

* Explaining to a child why they must face yet another surgery that will bring incredible pain.
*Holding frail little hands as they vomit and lose their hair and cry from the pain and frustration of chemo and explaining why the medicine seems so much worse than the disease.
*Navigating the fine line between protecting the health of your medically fragile child and allowing them freedom to experience the joys of childhood.
*Grieving the loss of the child you envisioned yours would be and coming to accept the reality of the one you have.
*Managing the guilt that you carry for so much of your time and energy being focused on your sick child, knowing that your well children need you, too.
*Talking to your child about the reality of death, knowing that you would trade places with them in a second if you could. But instead, you’re faced with the heart-wrenching task of letting them go on before you.

These are just some of the burdens that the mothers of sick children carry. They carry them around every single day, and the weight is heavier than you and I can possibly know. What is astonishing, though, about this thing called motherhood is that somehow, someway there is still incredible joy. Their pain is deep, but their joy runs deep, too.

They are faced with the harsh, unfair realities so they’ve been forced to clarify what is truly important to them. They know that the most precious parts of their lives may not be around forever, so they’ll appreciate every moment. Their child’s illness has given them a higher calling, a purpose in life that is beyond any desire they’ve ever had. They know exactly what they’re fighting for.

For the rest of us who look at these mothers and think, “I don’t know how she does it,” know this: It’s not their abilities that are superhuman, it’s their love. It is this intense love for their child that pushes them out of bed every morning and forces them to keep going, no matter what odds are stacked against them.

Look around at the mothers who are fighting for the lives and well-being of their children. Let them know you recognize that you can’t possibly understand what it’s like to walk in their shoes, but you know enough to appreciate every single step they take. Share in their hopes, their joys, their triumphs and their disappointments. Listen and learn: Their hard-won wisdom will take you far.

But most of all, love them. Love them well because they have loved others well." by Courtney Schmidt.

Beautifully written, Courtenay. Thank you for sharing. You are my hero today in representing all mothers of PH children and other seriously ill children. God bless you.

ISIS Uses Dolls as Booby-Trap Bombs to Attack Mass Shia Pilgrimage

Just in case you weren't sure that ISIS is evil incarnate, they are now targeting children

© Dado Ruvic / Reuters

All the dolls were discovered in Husseiniya, a suburb northeast of Baghdad,
according to the Kuwait News agency (KUNA).

Iraqi forces prevented a major Islamic State (previously ISIS/ISIL) attack as they found and disabled 18 booby-trapped dolls with explosives inside just north of the capital Baghdad. The plot targeted Shia Muslims going on an upcoming religious pilgrimage.

The diabolical plan was to scatter all the dolls alongside the road between Baghdad and Karbala during the Arbaeen pilgrimage, which is a Shia Muslim annual religious observance.

Millions of Shia Muslims walk the path every year. In 2014, there was a new record number of pilgrims, totaling 17.5 million people.

Arbaeen is the end of the 40-day mourning period following the anniversary of the death of the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, Imam Hussein.

Authorities asked residents to report any suspicious objects.

Is bombing campaign working?
Countries have been cracking down on terrorist plots following an escalation of ISIS activity around the world.

Earlier in the week, Kuwait uncovered an international cell that supplied Islamic State with weapons bought in Ukraine, as well as funds and new recruits. Six members were arrested but four others, including Australian-Lebanese nationals, remain on the run abroad.

Meanwhile, northern and western Iraq have been engulfed in violence as Islamic State fighters strive to take over more territory. The extremist group has also resorted to brutal crimes against ethnic and religious communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.

Baghdad also had an upsurge in attacks, as at least 26 people died and dozens other were wounded on November 13, as ISIS claimed responsibility for explosions in the city.

How well is the bombing campaign working? Attacks increase, ethnic brutality increases, IS trying to expand to new territory - doesn't sound like they are hurting a lot for the billions of dollars of bombs being dropped on them. Mind you, the bomb suppliers are making a killing!

Swedish Police Arrest Migrant Suspected of Plotting Terrorist Attack

© Bertil Enevag Ericson / Reuters

Police in Sweden have arrested a man who is accused of preparing terror
attacks on the Swedish capital, a day after Sweden had raised the
terror threat level because of the attacks in Paris.

Iraqi national Mutar Muthanna Majid, 22, was detained late Thursday during a police raid on a center for asylum-seekers in the city of Bolinden, in northeastern Sweden. On Friday he was interrogated by Swedish authorities.

“The arrest took place in a calm manner and an interrogation of the person is planned,” the Swedish Security Service (Sapo) said in a statement on Thursday as cited by The Local. It later reported that Majid was a member of the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terror group, and suspected of having fought in Syria.

Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist said the authorities are hunting for more suspects but did not go into further details.

“We are now in a very intense stage of the investigation and we are still very interested in his activities and people he met with since arriving in Sweden,” said Mark Vadasz, a spokesperson for Sapo, as reported by AFP.

Sweden raises terror threat level
 to second highest citing
 'concrete information'

Majid is said to have arrived in Sweden in September, reported Aftonbladet citing Majid’s neighbors. He allegedly left Iraq for Turkey, then crossed the Aegean Sea and traveled through Greece, Bulgaria and Hungary. He sought asylum in Sweden, and lived in a center for asylum-seekers, in an apartment with four men from Iraq, Syria and Eritrea.

One of Majid’s neighbors describes him as a glum man.

“I did not have much contact with him, he looked glum and never said hello,” he told Aftonbladet.

“I feel terrible, because I escaped from Daesh (another name for IS) in Syria. I really want to thank the police for arresting him,” another neighbor said.

The arrest came just a day after Sweden had its raised terror threat level to second highest based on “concrete data” from the National Center for Terrorist Threat Assessment.

Stefan Löfven, Swedish Prime Minister, praised Swedish police for its efficiency.

“I am impressed by the speed with which it has found and arrested the suspect,” he said in a statement, quoted by The Local.

Now, if you would turn that efficiency into arresting the myriad rapists in your country, then I will be impressed.