Russian Politics - If Nothing Else, It's At Least Entertaining

Crimean official quits, changes her mind, then quits again after bizarre ‘bread and fur coats’ scandal

Maya Khuzhina hands out loaves to Leningrad Seige survivors © Kerch City Council

By Jonny Tickle

"Fur-coat gate" has gripped Crimea after a local official resigned, then re-instated herself, before – somewhat unbelievably – later resigning again. All in the space of a couple of days.

The controversy started when Maya Khuzhina was pictured handing out pieces of bread to elderly veterans of the Second World War Leningrad blockade while wearing an expensive animal skin. The siege of the city – now Saint Petersburg – by Nazi Germany and its Finnish and Italian allies, lasted 872 days and resulted in over a million deaths, a great many of them from starvation.

In her role as chair of the city council of Kerch, an ancient settlement on the Black Sea coast, Khuzhina handed out bread and medals to eleven survivors of what many consider a genocide. She then posted photos on Facebook, and that's where the trouble started.

The images quickly gained notoriety, and in less than 24 hours there were more than 500 comments, most of which complained about how out-of-touch the politicians pictured seemed to be. The outrage was caused by the contrast between the seemingly cheap loaves of bread and the expensive fur coats of Khuzhina and the accompanying council members making up her entourage.

Later, the politicians explained to reporters that the bread was actually a meat pie, while the fur coats were “imitation,” and they stressed that the gifts were purely “symbolic.”

Following a considerable amount of interest in the national media, the head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, stated that Khuzhina’s actions looked “like mockery, like humiliation,” and ordered an investigation into the event. Aksyonov wrote that the head of the City Council and all deputies should be fired and expelled from the ruling party, United Russia.

Maya Khuzhina © Kerch City Council

Despite the outcry, Khuzhina refused to show any remorse, saying:

“I don’t think I’m guilty, I think I did everything right. I received comments from those blockade women who came to me today with their children... and said that ‘we are very grateful to you; you are the only person who remembered us.’”

The story quickly took a strange turn. Despite seemingly not feeling any guilt, just three days after the scandal broke, Maya Khuzhina and her deputy Larisa Shcherbula wrote letters of resignation. However, the resignation didn't last long, as Khuzhina rescinded her decision less than one day later. "I withdraw my statement, it was a moment of weakness," she said. Unbelievably, just a couple of hours later, she resigned for a second time.

It seems she has more weak moments than strong ones.

Khuzhina's resignation letter will be considered at an extraordinary session of the City Council, according to First Vice-Speaker of the Crimean Parliament Yefim Fiks.

Fiks told RIA Novosti: "Khuzhina wrote a statement and will comply with any order of the head of the Republic of Crimea. An extraordinary session is scheduled for Monday to consider her statement... she apparently said something emotionally, but then explained that she would obey any decision of the head of Crimea."

Khuzhina was born in Kerch, Crimea, and has been an elected official since September 2019.

Head of Chuvashia expelled from Russia’s ruling party after humiliating local firefighter & threatening journalists

©  Global Look Press / Komsomolskaya Pravda

By Jonny Tickle, RT

Russia’s largest political party has expelled the long-time leader of the Chuvash Republic following a series of gaffes which caused national outrage.

Mikhail Ignatiev had run Chuvashia, in the Volga region, for almost a decade before a video of him taunting a local firefighter went viral across the country.

It followed earlier comments in which he suggested that journalists who criticize the authorities be “wiped out.”

The party’s General Council secretary, Andrey Turchak, announced the decision after a meeting of its Presidium.

On January 23, Ignatiev conducted a ceremonial review of firefighting equipment in the republic’s capital, Cheboksary. As part of the inspection, he was tasked with handing out keys for brand new fire engines to firefighters, during which Ignatiev held a set of keys above the head of an officer, forcing the worker to jump to reach them.

Chuvashia’s most senior official is considerably taller than the firefighter in question.

The video of the incident quickly spread on social media and anger fomented over a politician publicly humiliating a city employee.

Bryan MacDonald✔

@27khv

The Governor of Chuvashia, Mikhail Ignatiev, has just been expelled from the ruling "United Russia" party. Last week, he forced a firefighter to jump for keys to a new fire-engine. A few days earlier, he suggested “wiping out” unfriendly journalists. 

video 0:05

The governor’s spokesperson told RIA Novosti that he has been friends with the firefighter for a long time, and it was just a “joke.” However, Russian Minister of Emergency Situations Evgeny Zinichev didn’t see it this way and noted that it’s “unacceptable” for a high-ranking official to act in such a manner.

It wasn’t the first incident for which Ignatiev caused upset in January. Earlier in the month, he was forced to apologize for suggesting that journalists who criticize the authorities be “wiped out.” Ignatiev was invoking a famous phrase used by President Putin in 2000 when he suggested “wiping out” Chechen terrorists.

Sounds like a 'wannabe oligarch'!

A statement from the Chuvash regional administration insisted that he was misunderstood, and he only meant to criticize journalists who peddle fake news. He also apologized to those “good souls” who were offended by his words.

Ignatiev has been the leader of the Chuvash Republic since 2010, having previously served as the local minister of agriculture. Russian media has speculated Ignatiev could also leave this post. Responding to questions about this, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied: “I can only say that there is no decree at the moment.”

Chuvasia, Russia

War on Christianity - French Christians Disappear in Baghdad

4 aid workers with French charity Christians of the Middle East disappear in Baghdad

By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Christian Post Reporter|

A woman and children walk through Khazir refugee camp on April 15, 2017 near Mosul, Iraq.

Getty Images/Carl Court

Four members of the French nongovernmental organization Christians of the Middle East, a charity that seeks to "help Christian communities remain (in the region) and rebuild," have disappeared while working in Baghdad.

The four members of the charity went missing near the French embassy in the Iraqi capital on Jan. 20, Christians of the Middle East director Benjamin Blanchard said at a news conference in Paris on Friday, France 24 reports.

Three of the disappeared workers are French and one is Iraqi, he added. There have been no ransom demands, and the charity has asked that their identities remain concealed for security reasons.

The charity has been working with persecuted Christians in Iraq since 2014 when Islamic State jihadists seized the predominantly Christian province of Mosul, displacing tens of thousands. The group is also active in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Arbil, where many Christians sought refuge.

The missing workers were in Baghdad "to renew their visas and register the association with Iraqi authorities," Blanchard said, and were due to inspect the group's activities in the city, including the opening of a new school.

They left their hotel by car for a meeting "which posed no problem," Blanchard said, describing the men as "experienced staff members who have been working with us for years" and who had "perfect knowledge of conflict zones.”

On Twitter, Christians of the Middle East shared photos of people from around the world who've gathered to pray for the missing workers’ safe recovery.

“Today, we will offer to God Our Father, a Special Mass, for the safety and the return of Our Beloved Four Brothers. We gather all of our hearts, minds, souls, and prayers for ONE INTENTION: THE SAFE RETURN TO OUR FOUR BELOVED BROTHERS,” reads one update.

The secular news outlet AFP, which is partly funded by the French government, claims that the Christian organization is "fiercely critical of Islam, portraying it as a threat to Christianity in the Middle East."

I get the impression that this is a surprise to AFP - that Islam is a threat to Christianity? They will probably see this kidnapping, if that's what it is, as retribution for their criticism, rather than as confirmation that their criticism is perfectly justified.

The humanitarian aid workers' disappearance comes as kidnappings have become commonplace in Iraq, according to persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern. The group reports that America's military presence in Iraq has also become increasingly unwelcome following a U.S. drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian Quds Force commander, alongside Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, and five others in Baghdad on Jan. 3.

Soleimani, was a known terrorist who was responsible for numerous terrorist attacks worldwide as well as the killing of Iranians, Iraqis, U.S. allies and the killing over 600 U.S. soldiers and wounding of thousands of others over two decades. Other countries had tried to kill Soleimani before President Trump authorized the operation. 

Iran has infiltrated the Iraqi government and military in an attempt to push out the U.S. and other foreign influences.

"The extent to which Iran has managed to infiltrate Iraq’s political and military establishment was revealed in November 2019, when 700 pages containing secret intelligence cables were leaked to two U.S. media organizations. They describe a carefully conceived plan, going back to 2014, for Iran’s ministry of information and security, along with the Quds Force, to expand Iran’s influence inside Iraq, and to identify and run sources at the most senior levels of government. The aim was to keep the country pliant and aligned to Iran’s objectives," The Jerusalem Post reports. 

"The leaked cables reveal that Iranian intelligence officers co-opted much of the Iraqi government’s cabinet, infiltrated its military leadership, and even tapped into a network of sources once run by the CIA," the Post adds. 

Along with exerting it's influence in the Iraqi government and military, Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, such as an armed group known as Kataib Hezbollah, have also been carrying out terrorist attacks, such as a Dec. 27 rocket attack on an Iraqi military base where U.S. troops are stationed. 

“As a result, all foreigners working in Iraq are at a grave security risk," International Christian Concern. notes. “For Christians, the risk is even greater. Following ISIS, Iraqi Christians have come to rely upon foreign aid. For those working in humanitarian aid, and for those receiving, the environment is an increasingly dangerous one.”

Earlier this month, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Baghdad, Louis Raphael Sako, called on Christians and Muslims in Iraq to pray for their leaders. 

In his homily, Sako described the situation in Iraq and the Middle East as a “volcano about to erupt” and urged Christians to pray and push to avoid further escalation of the ongoing tensions, noting that innocent people will be the fuel for such “fire.”

Open Doors USA ranks Iraq at No. 15 on its World Watch List of 50 countries where it's most difficult to be a Christian. According to the group, although the Islamic State terror group has lost territory in Iraq, their ideology remains and has influenced society. Many of the militants, it says, “have simply blended back into the general population.”

Palestine: A Country Created with an Agenda

by Helen Mitchell  BDS, Israel

The myth of Palestine gets told so often that many people believe it's true. This is the story:

For thousands of years, the Palestinian people dwelt peacefully in their nation of Palestine tending to their olive groves and living well. Then the Zionist Jews came, stole their land, abused them and turned them into a nation of refugees. If only the refugees could return to their ancestral homes, there would be peace.

Of course, this is a simplified version of the story. But it's amazing how many people believe it's true and have no idea what the facts really are.

Here are some key truths everyone should know about the history of Israel and the Palestinian territories:

1) Evidence proves there was a Jewish nation called Israel dating back thousands of years

Far from being new on the scene, the Jews lived in Israel thousands of years ago, before the name Palestine ever existed. Indisputable historical and archaeological evidence confirms the existence of the First and Second Temple in Jerusalem, and the presence of ancient Jewish communities in Israel.

Even after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD when many Jews fled the land, there were always some that remained. The truth is that there has been a continuous Jewish presence in Israel since ancient times.

2) The name 'Palestine' was invented by the Romans

Palestine is not the name of an ancient land, but rather a word made up by the Romans in the first century as an insult to the Jews. So deep was the Roman hatred for the Jews that they decided to call their sacred land of Israel Palestine - derived from the word 'Philistines,' the ancient enemy of Israel.

3) There has never been an independent country called Palestine

After the fall of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, the region has been conquered by a long line of foreign empires - the Greeks, the Romans, the Muslims, the Crusaders. Palestine was never an independent country with its own government and population. Before the First World War that led to the creation of the modern state of Israel, the region spent 400 years as part of the Ottoman Empire, under Turkish rule.

4) Palestine was created as a tool to undermine Israel

When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1917, the world powers decided to create an Arab and a Jewish state side by side. The Arab state was called Jordan and the Jewish state was meant to include all the areas now known as Israel and the Palestinian territories. At that time, there was no mention of an Arab Palestinian state. The Arab state was meant to be Jordan.

It was only later in the twentieth century that a political movement arose demanding a share of the land set aside for the Jewish state. This is when the propaganda machine began spinning the story of ancient Palestine. From the very beginning, the concept of Palestinian nationality was created as an excuse to take the land designated for the Jews.

Also, genetics revealed that most 'Palestinians' have fairly recent roots in Egypt and other Islamic countries. Because of that, they have an empty museum; a country with no history.

9,000 Photos from 1800’s British Mandate of Palestine – with No Trace of ‘Palestinians’

Arab Historian Admits There is No Palestinian People

Luxury – Not Poverty – in the Palestinian Authority

5) People living in the Palestinian territories are suffering, but it's not Israel's fault

The Arab people living under the control of the Palestinian Authority are being used as political pawns. Their own leaders and the leaders of other Arab states are not interested in their welfare. Quite the opposite. The more they are suffering, the more negative propaganda can be generated against Israel.

The evidence is clear. There never was an ancient land of Palestine, nor a thriving, independent Palestinian people. But the question remains: if the concept of Palestinian nationality was created to undermine the State of Israel, why do so many people believe the lie?

Because they want to, Helen! Because their hatred for Jews supersedes any moral compass they might otherwise have.

Corruption is Everywhere, Especially in Ukraine and Russia

Ex-president Poroshenko investigated in Ukraine over embezzlement, allegedly stealing US aid

FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian ex-president, Petro Poroshenko. ©  Sputnik

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau has opened a probe against former president, Petro Poroshenko, who is suspected of abuse of power, embezzlement “on a grand scale” and allegedly stealing US aid funds.

The case against the ex-president was opened following a complaint by a group of Ukrainian MPs and the nation’s High Anti-Corruption Court demanding the authorities investigate embezzlement and misappropriation of the foreign financial aid at the time of Poroshenko’s term in office, a Ukrainian MP Renat Kuzmin said in a Facebook post.

Kuzmin, a member of the Opposition Platform – For Live party, also published the anti-corruption bureau’s documents, confirming that the case against Poroshenko had been launched. The papers state that the former president and some “unknown people” from his administration are suspected of embezzling “on a grand scale,” subsequent legalization of criminally obtained funds, and abuse of power.

The MP himself said that the investigation would look into the misappropriation of funds provided to Ukraine in the form of international aid, including by the administration of the former US President Barack Obama.

And, no doubt, from Canada which has a large Ukrainian population and has been supporting the country for years.

Poroshenko did not react directly to the accusations against him. Instead, his lawyer told the media that the ex-president plans to file as many as 14 lawsuits seeking moral compensation from Ukraine’s National Bureau of Investigations, the anti-corruption bureau and the police. His lawyer also denounced the investigation against his client as political persecution instigated by the administration of the current president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

The news comes just months after Poroshenko’s ally, Kiev mayor and three-time world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko was also accused of embezzlement and even treason by the anti-corruption bureau.

An oligarch candy-maker, who supported the Maidan coup in 2014, Poroshenko came to power in Ukraine just months after the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovich as the nation was quickly plunging into the abyss of a post-coup crisis. During his presidency, he repeatedly played the nationalist card and used Moscow as a boogeyman to raise support while his achievements in the field of economics and the fight against corruption, which still plagued Ukraine years after the Maidan, were far less impressive.

Eventually, he suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of former comedian Zelensky in the runoff at the presidential elections last year.

This story is courtesy of RT, and as you might have guessed is slanted more than a little. For instance, the nation was already in a crisis largely as a consequence of the spectacular corruption of Viktor Yanukovich. Check out the mansion he built himself before fleeing the country.

Corruption is everywhere in the Ukraine, as it is in Russia and so many other countries. Let's hope and pray that President Zelensky can clean it up without being tempted to jump into the cesspool.

Former Moscow Police officers arrested over framing of

Russian journalist Ivan Golunov

Journalist Ivan Golunov meets media in Moscow © Global Look Press / City News Moskva

By Jonny Tickle

Last summer, his detention on bogus drug charges rocked the world of Russian media, leading to an unprecedented show of journalistic unity.

Now, investigators have detained five ex-police officers who are accused of fabricating the case against Ivan Golunov, a reporter for Riga-based online publication Meduza.

The former members of the Moscow Police's drug trafficking control department are currently being interrogated, according to Svetlana Petrenko, the official representative of Russia's Investigative Committee. The detainees were removed from their posts last July in the immediate fallout from the controversial incident. President Vladimir Putin also dismissed two high-ranking Interior Ministry officials over the case.

Golunov was arrested in June 2019 after police officers claimed to have found the drug mephedrone in his backpack. The reporter claimed the narcotics were planted on him. Five days later, following a national outcry, all charges were dropped.

Earlier this month, Golunov's lawyer Sergey Badamshin revealed that police officially recognized him as a "victim," and on January 20 he was summoned for questioning. Badamshin added that Golunov refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Golunov told newspaper RBK that he was satisfied with the decision to detain the suspects and said he is looking forward to the start of the criminal case. He also explained that he learned about the arrests from media coverage and had no additional information about the identities of the police officers.

Today's detentions were flagged in December, when Putin disclosed during a live press conference that five law enforcement officers were under suspicion.

That's odd. Why were they not 'flagged' in July when they were fired?

The five detainees have been named as former Moscow drug cops Denis Konovalov, Akbar Sergaliev, Roman Feofanov, and Maxim Umetbaev, as well as the former head of the department Igor Lyakhovets.

War on Christianity in International Rugby

Quoting the Bible on Social Media may get You fired, fined, and black-listed

..

Israel Folau signs with Super League’s Catalans

Former Wallaby Israel Folau dominated the headlines in 2019. Photo: AAP

Israel Folau posted a portion of Scripture (see links at bottom of story) on Instagram warning gays of the danger of hell-fire. In today's up-side-down world, that is not seen as love or mercy, but as hate. 

The New Daily

Israel Folau has signed a contract to play rugby league in Europe, joining the Catalan Dragons in the south of France, prompting one of the club’s forthcoming opponents to make its feelings known via social media.

The controversial former Wallabies player, who has not played since being sacked by Rugby Australia for making homophobic comments, has signed a one-year contract with the Super League club.

“We want to give Israel a new opportunity to shine on the pitch,” Dragons chairman Bernard Guasch said.

But minutes after Folau’s signing was made public on Twitter, Wigan announced its home match against Catalans on March 22 would be Pride Day that will support the local LGBT community.

Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪️✔

@WiganWarriorsRL

🏳️‍🌈 @WiganWarriorsRL can confirm that their round six game against @DragonsOfficiel on Sunday 22nd March will now be Pride Day, as the Warriors look support the LGBTQ+ community.

This is tantamount to a slap in the face of God! As the world resembles Sodom and Gomorrah more each day, it is just a question of time before the judgment of God falls upon the earth as it did on those evil cities.

Super League’s first openly gay player has slammed the decision of the game’s governing body, the Rugby Football League, to allow Catalans Dragons to sign Folau.

Wakefield Trinity prop Keegan Hirst said he was shocked and disappointed at news of Folau’s signing following his sacking by Rugby Australia last year.

Israel Folau’s Instagram post. Photo: Instagram

“Our great game is tasked with fighting against homophobia and standing up for the values it puts such high stock in,” Hirst tweeted.

“It shows none of the bravery, camaraderie or integrity RFL expects from its players, staff and fans.”

Dual-code international Folau signed a 12-month deal with the French side on Tuesday, 10 years after he last played in the NRL with Brisbane Broncos.

The move was largely greeted with outrage by the British rugby league community. Super League CEO Robert Elstone said he was disappointed but conceded there was little he could do to prevent the signing.

“Super League deplores the homophobic comments Israel Folau has made in the past, which squarely contradict our sport’s core values,” Elstone said.

“I have sought the opinion of informed voices connected to our game, and the majority share my disappointment that one of our clubs has chosen to sign him. There is a strong feeling that the decision to sign him lets down many people connected to our sport.

“I made Catalans Dragons aware of those views. However, Super League does not have the authority to veto the registration of players and is satisfied by the due diligence carried out by The Rugby Football League.

“Israel Folau is a free agent, who has the right to work, and he has not been charged or found guilty of any criminal offence.

“Catalans Dragons has assured Super League that strict guidelines are in place to prevent the player from repeating his comments. They have also assured us that his contract will be terminated immediately should he do so.”

Folau’s infamous Instagram post, in which he warned hell awaits homosexuals, resulted in his sacking last May. But the two parties agreed an out-of-court settlement in December after the former Wallaby sued Rugby Australia for religious discrimination.

The RFL echoed Elstone’s comments but claimed moral responsibility for signing a player lay with individual clubs, given the former cross-code superstar had has not been charged or found guilty of any criminal offence.

Folau said he’d taken on board the concerns and promised not to make any comments that could cause offence.

“I acknowledge the views expressed by Super League and the Rugby Football League,” he said.

“I’m a proud Christian, my beliefs are personal, my intention is not to hurt anyone and I will not be making further public comment about them. I look forward to my return to the great game of rugby league with the Catalans Dragons.”

Catalans chairman Bernard Guasch said his club wanted to give Folau a new opportunity but did not share his religious beliefs. “We do not believe that those views should be publicly expressed, especially by a high-profile sports person,” Guasch said.

“We have a signed agreement with the RFL. Any transgression will trigger an immediate termination of Israel’s contract and a substantial fine for the club.”

So many people - so far from God! And now it is almost criminal to tell them about Him. Mind you, there may be better ways than what Folau chose.

Australian Rugby Star Says Gay People Will Go To Hell

What is a Christian response to homosexuality?

'I Live for God Now': Israel Folau Has Contract Terminated by Australia After Anti-Gay Comments

Go Fund Me Pulls Rugby Christian Star Folau's Page in War on Christianity

Northern Catalonia, French Catalonia or Roussillon refers to the Catalan-speaking and Catalan-culture territory ceded to France by Spain through the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659

Algeria Orders Another Christian Church to Close as Crackdown Continues

13 months - 13 churches closed

Oran Santa Cruz Chapel in Algeria | Getty Images

By Samuel Smith, CP Reporter

Yet another Christian church has been ordered to shut down in Algeria as the government’s crackdown on houses of worship continues.

The United Kingdom-based Christian persecution advocacy organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports that Hope Evangelical Church in Oran city in western Algeria received a closure order issued by a local court earlier this month. 

The church is the latest in a series of churches that have received similar orders under a 2006 law requiring that all non-Muslim places of worship be authorized by a government board called the National Commission for Non-Muslim Worship. 

 “The closure of House of Hope church and the increased government pressure on Christians and other religious minorities in Algeria is a cause for concern,” CSW Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said in a statement.

CSW, which is active in over 20 countries, reports that 13 churches in total have been shut down since last January. 

“The 2006 law is being used as a pretext to clamp down on churches in Algeria despite the fact that the commission it created is yet to meet to consider the requests it has already received,” Thomas stated. “This is manifestly unjust.”

Thomas claimed that if the commission is not willing or able to fulfill its duties under its mandate, then the government should either reconstitute the committee or repeal the 2006 law to ensure religious freedom in Algeria. 

As for Hope Evangelical Church in Oran city, Morning Star News reports that the closure order was supposed to be received last fall when other churches received their orders. However, the church’s pastor, Rachid Seighir, did not receive the order until Jan. 11 even though the order was issued on Nov. 10. 

“This official document was to be delivered by a bailiff appointed by the public prosecutor at the court of Oran [Province], but it wasn’t so,” Seighir was quoted as saying. 

Seighir explained that his lawyer took the initiative to obtain the ruling. 

The pastor said that people affected by church closure orders have just 10 days to appeal. However, he said the judge granted the church an exception because of the delay in getting the order. 

According to Seighir, the province’s then-governor in December 2017 sent the church a notice saying that the congregation was not in accordance with the 2006 law. The province gave the church three months to comply with the law and get approval from the commission that has not met. 

Although the church was closed down in February 2018, it was reopened in July 2018 under the condition that it comes into compliance with the 2006 law, according to Morning Star News. The church contends that it complies with the law because it is a member of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA).

“But we all know that these laws are only there to muzzle Christians and other religious minorities,” Seighir said.

According to International Christian Concern, most churches in Algeria are affiliated with the EPA since it was once a legally recognized umbrella group before the passing of the 2006 law. ICC called the EPA “the most secure option for Christians” because it was once approved by the government. 

Algeria ranks as the 17th worst country in the world for Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s 2020 World Watch List. 

Open Doors USA, which monitors persecution in over 60 countries, reports that Algeria has seen a rise in “every persecution category over the last year.” The country rose five spots on the World Watch List between 2019 and 2020.

“The most visible example of persecution in 2019 was the seemingly systemic closure of Protestant churches,” an Open Doors fact sheet reads. “In some of these cases, Christians were forcibly expelled by police in the middle of church services.”

Get all the Christians out of Algeria, then the Lord can bring His judgement down upon it.

David Attenborough Blamed For Epidemic Of Eco Anxiety Among Young People

The last thing children need in their lives is more stress. The extreme exaggerations of the climate-hysteria propagandists is seriously adding stress to lives that are already very difficult. Where is the desire for truth? Why is the media not bothering to check apocalyptic claims against reality?

Global Warming Policy Forum

London, 27 January: A new video documenting Sir David Attenborough’s inaccurate claims about climate change and Arctic wildlife blames his apocalyptic language and misleading narrative for the dramatic rise in eco-anxiety among young people.

The video published today by the Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF) and written by Dr. Susan Crockford, a Canadian wildlife expert, shows that increasing climate angst felt by many young people around the world started with Attenborough’s films that blamed starving polar bears on human-caused global warming.

The parents and teachers of these youngsters trusted Attenborough’s BBC productions to be accurate portrayals of the effects of climate change but that trust has been betrayed.

David Attenborough’s claims that ‘the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon’ have captured international media attention but it is now apparent he has failed to ensure that the scripts he reads for his Arctic documentaries and the messages they contain are true reflections of the natural world.

Misleading narratives about starving polar bears and fabricated stories of dying walrus, used to support an escalating message of doom about the Arctic, are not supported by facts,” Dr Crockford said.

Attenborough did not verify any facts contained in the scripts he was paid to narrate and passed along misinformation to naïve viewers, including many young children,” she added.

One of these children was Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg, who said she was shown images of starving polar bears in school when she was 8 or 9 years old. The timing and nature of the material suggests the film she saw was Attenborough’s ‘On Thin Ice’ documentary from the ‘Frozen Planet’ series released in 2011.

David Attenborough bears the brunt of responsibility for the recent epidemic of ‘eco-anxiety’ among children and young adults. Much of their misguidedly negative sense of how Arctic animals are fairing and their bleak outlook on the world come from the heart-wrenching but unverified stories found in Attenborough’s documentaries,”Dr Crockford said.

It is the responsibility of teachers and parents to reassure these worried youngsters that polar bears and walrus are not suffering because of sea ice loss blamed on climate change. Children need to be told the truth: that whatever scary stories some biologists come up with about what might happen in the future, Arctic species have demonstrated that they are much more resilient to changes in sea ice than Attenborough’s films suggest.

The GWPF is sending copies of this video to all head teachers of UK schools together with a letter, telling them that they are responsible for the mental health of their pupils and that they have a responsibility to provide their pupils with accurate information about the state of wildlife in the Arctic.

In Canada, our national broadcaster, CBC, has made it policy to publish an apocalyptic story on climate change almost every day in the news. They are greatly responsible for the dramatic rise in eco-anxiety in Canadian children. They seem delighted to contribute to the mental health deterioration of a generation of kids. They never present facts that might mitigate the hysteria; that's not the approved narrative. They are a political force that has no interest in the truth. They should be sued!

This Week's Global Terrorist Stories 20-2 - USA, Middle East, Scandinavia, South Asia, Africa

FBI Arrests 3 Alleged Members Of White Supremacist Group Ahead Of Richmond Rally

BILL CHAPPELL, NPR

Matthews and The Base at Silver Creek, Ga

The FBI has arrested three alleged members of The Base — which authorities describe as a "racially motivated violent extremist group" — on charges that range from illegal transport of a machine gun to harboring aliens, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland.

A law enforcement official tells NPR that the three suspected members of The Base had discussed going to a controversial pro-gun rally in Virginia next week.

The three men are Brian Mark Lemley Jr., 33, of Elkton, Md.; William Garfield Bilbrough IV, 19, of Denton, Md.; and Canadian national Patrik Jordan Mathews, 27, who entered the U.S. illegally last summer. Mathews and Lemley had recently been living in Newark, Del.

The arrests come days before a pro-gun demonstration that's slated to take place in Richmond, Va., on Monday — and just after Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency and banned firearms on the Capitol grounds in Richmond in anticipation of the gun rights demonstration.

"We have received credible intelligence from our law enforcement agencies that there are groups with malicious plans for the rally that is planned for Monday," Northam said Wednesday afternoon.

Three more suspected members of white supremacist group arrested

BY CAROLINE LINTON

CBS NEWS

Three more suspected members of the violent white supremacist group "The Base" have been arrested in Georgia, authorities said Friday. The men are accused of plotting to overthrow the government and planning to murder a Bartow County couple.

Luke Austin Lane, 21, was arrested near his home on Wednesday without incident and is being housed at the Floyd County Jail pending charges of conspiracy to commit murder and participation, officials said. He was denied bond.

Michael John Helterbrand, 25, of Dalton, and Jacob Kaderli, 19, of Dacula, were arrested in different locations. Kaderli has been sent to Floyd County facilities and Helterbrand expected to arrive on Friday. They were also charged with conspiracy to commit murder and participation in a criminal street gang.

The group of men were allegedly involved in recruiting new members online for "The Base," meeting to discuss strategy and practicing in paramilitary training camps on a 100-acre tract in Silver Creek, officials said. The members are described in arrest documents as being part of a "racially motivated, violent extremist group that sought to 'accelerate the downfall of the United States government, incite a race war and establish a white ethno-state.'"

Sweden suffers surge in bomb attacks

as gang violence rises

Some may dispute that gang violence is terrorism; certainly Swedish authorities will not count it as such considering they have been protecting Swedes from knowing the real violence that Muslim migrants brought with them. Drug gangs who commit extortion and blow up cars and businesses are not native to Sweden; they have been imported like other terrorist attacks.

Simon Johnson

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A surge in drug-linked gang-violence in Sweden led to a 60% increase in bomb blasts in 2019, government statistics showed on Thursday, as police work to rid the streets of explosives and guns with more officers on patrol.

FILE PHOTO: Police work on the site where an explosion damaged a residential building in central Stockholm, Sweden January 13, 2020. Janerik Henriksson/TT News Agency/via REUTERS

Sweden has been hit by a wave of shootings and bombings over the past couple of years which police have linked to gang conflicts in major cities, shocking Swedes, who have long considered their country one of the safest in the world.

Some 257 bomb attacks were reported to police last year, up from 162 the previous year, the statistics from the National Council for Crime Prevention showed.

That's about 2 every 3 days, up from 1 every 2 days. At this rate there will be one every day this year.

The agency did not give any information about the types of explosives used most frequently or any other details, but Swedish media have reported some attacks using make-shift bombs made from vacuum flasks packed with explosive material.

The figures were part of a report on crime rates which showed that overall, the number of crimes reported to the police was slightly down last year.

A total of more than 1.5 million crimes were reported in Sweden in 2019, representing only a very slight overall change from the previous year. But there were still significant changes, including an increase in rapes, drugs-related crimes, vandalism, and a decrease in home break-ins and thefts.  The Local

The public outcry over increased violence has forced the government to boost spending on the police and to launch a programme to fight organised crime as law and order becomes one of the main political battlefields.

“The government has provided extra resources and the police are taking concerted measures now against gang violence,” Minister for Home Affairs Mikael Damberg said in an emailed comment to Reuters. "With the efforts we are making, I am convinced that we can turn this around. Society is stronger than these criminal gangs.”

You guys keep saying that and then you invite in those completely foreign to your society. Your society is not what it once was; you have changed it forever.

Opposition politicians, however, have blamed the government for years of inaction.

“This government has lost control over crime in Sweden. We have seen in recent years how the number of fatalities has increased. Now bomb blasts are also increasing in a way that lacks international equivalence,” said Ulf Kristersson, leader of opposition party the Moderates.

Police have identified around 60 deprived areas, mainly in and around larger cities, where unemployment is high, incomes low and where drugs and gangs have gained a firm foothold.

In November, they set up the task force to fight violent crime following the death of a 15-year-old boy in Malmo when a gunman open fire on a pizza restaurant.

At the time, the police said the task force would focus on getting criminals off the streets, reducing access to guns and explosives and increasing the police presence in affected areas.

However, they said the problems were impossible to solve by the police alone. “There is no silver bullet. There is no simple solution to complex problems,” Stefan Hector, the head of the task force, said in November.

An explosion on Sunday in one of Stockholm’s most high-end neighbourhoods destroyed part of a residential building and several cars parked outside. The blast could be heard several kilometres away. No one was injured.

In a separate incident, in June, 20 people were wounded when a bomb exploded on a residential street in Linkoping in southern Sweden.

Reporting by Simon Johnson; Additional reporting by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Niklas Pollard and Alison Williams

Explosive balloon cluster reaches Jerusalem,

devices upgraded, more deadly

Explosive balloon cluster reaches Jerusalem, devices upgraded, more deadlyGaza terrorists prepare fire balloons.
(TPS/Majdi Fathi)

The explosive devices are upgraded and are equipped with elements to increase casualties among the civilian population.

By Aryeh Savir, TPS

A cluster of balloons tied to an explosive device that was launched by terrorists from the Gaza Strip landed on Monday in the town of Mesilat Zion, just a short drive away from Jerusalem.

A police sapper who was alerted to scene safely dismantled the explosive charge, with no injuries or damage.

Police again reminded the public that extreme caution should be exercised when encountering such suspicious objects, kites and balloons, which may be connected to explosives or flammable materials and may “endanger public peace if it is not dealt with responsibility.”

The explosive and flammable balloon attacks have returned to haunt Israel’s residents in the south in the past week after several months in which such attacks from Gaza ceased.

The explosive devices are upgraded and are equipped with elements to increase casualties among the civilian population.

The IDF estimates that the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization is responsible for the renewed rocket fire and the explosive balloons attacks.

The terrorists have vowed to continue with these airborne attacks.

The IDF responded to Thursday’s attacks with a strike against Hamas targets in Gaza but has since not responded to the attacks in the following days.

Norwegian libertarian party quits government leaving coalition without majority over ISIS bride repatriation

Norway's Progress party leader and Finance Minister Siv Jensen speaks during a news conference in Oslo © Fredrik Varfjell

Norway’s Progress Party has quit the country’s coalition government after a jihadist bride and her children were allowed to return from Syria. The move leaves the remaining coalition partners ruling in a minority.

Finance Minister Siv Jensen announced the resignation of her Progress Party on Monday, after a woman suspected of marrying two Islamic State jihadists in Syria was given assistance to return to Norway over the weekend. The Norwegian government aided the woman’s return out of concern for the welfare of her children, but Jensen’s party had vehemently opposed any repatriation for Islamist fighters or their spouses.

“I brought us into government, and now I’m bringing the party out,” Jensen told reporters on Monday, adding that her Conservative, Liberal, and Christian Democratic coalition partners had forced her to make “too many compromises” to her platform of tax cuts and immigration restrictions.

Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg said that she will remain in office as head of a minority coalition, and will fill the seven cabinet posts left vacant after the Progress Party’s departure. Early elections are not allowed by Norway’s constitution, and voters will decide the next government in September 2021.

The alleged IS bride is of Pakistani origin, and left Norway for Syria in 2013. She is believed to have married a Norwegian-Chilean IS fighter that year. The fighter, Bastian Vasquez, threatened the Norwegian government in a video he posted to YouTube. Another IS propaganda video shows Vasquez admitting to multiple murders and blowing up a police station, supposedly with Iraqi soldiers inside.

The woman remarried after Vasquez’s death in 2015. She has been held in a refugee camp in northern Syria since last March, along with her five-year-old son and three-year-old daughter. The eldest child has a long-term illness, believed to be cystic fibrosis.

The decision to bring the woman and her children back to Norway was made last week on “humanitarian grounds,” Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide said.

Progress Party members greeted that announcement with derision. “The government negotiated with a terrorist,” lawmaker Roy Steffensen tweeted last week. “Terrorists won.”

Norway is not the only country to welcome back its IS spouses. Former Irish soldier Lisa Smith, who married an IS jihadist and moved to Syria in 2015, was returned to Dublin last month from Istanbul, where she had been living since her capture by Turkish forces. Smith was arrested upon arrival.

Other European countries have been more reluctant to repatriate jihadists and their families – to the consternation of American and Turkish authorities, who are holding many of the captured fighters in Middle-Eastern prison camps.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly chastised European leaders for not taking back the captured jihadis. “Would you like some nice ISIS fighters?” he asked at a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron last month. "I can give them to you. You can take everyone you want.”

The Norwegian woman was arrested upon her return, and faces up to six years in prison if found guilty of participating in a terrorist organization.

Wreckage found - likely bombed Korean Air flight from 1987

By Elizabeth Shim

Korean Air Flight 858 was not recovered following its midair explosion on November 29, 1987,

but a South Korean network said Thursday they may have found the wreckage. File Photo by UPI

(UPI) -- A South Korean television network says the wreckage of Korean Air Flight 858, which exploded midair on Nov. 29, 1987, may have been found in the Andaman Sea near Myanmar following a yearlong investigation.

MBC reported Thursday the plane carrying 115 passengers and crew, bombed by North Korean spy Kim Hyon-hui, was never recovered following the attack.

The wreckage was detected using a 3D sonar. The South Korean television crew focused on an area after local fishermen spoke of a "large object" located about 164 feet beneath the water's surface.

The crew was able to identify a 33 foot-long wing-shaped object in the shadows of the seabed. An object that appeared to be an engine was also found, according to the report.

The fuselage of a plane, measuring about 90 feet long, was nearby as well, MBC reported. Other objects were crushed beyond recognition, but appeared to be debris and machine parts.

Kim Sung-jeon, a former civil aircraft pilot and aviation expert, told the network the wing-like object was likely the outside portion of the left wing of the plane.

Kim Hyon-hui, the North Korean terrorist who was captured then attempted suicide, confessed to planting the bomb on the flight. She later resettled in the South.

Kim was in the news in 2018 for attacking the families of perished victims, calling them pro-Pyongyang collaborators.

Seoul pardoned Kim more than three decades ago, but civic groups want more information on the attack, which is classified, according to Yonhap.

South Korean news service Tongil News has sued Seoul's national intelligence service for not disclosing more information. Plaintiffs say they want to know whether the attack was used for political purposes ahead of a presidential election in 1987.

Yikes, that's quite an accusation!

Grenades thrown at wedding party in Afghanistan wound 20

By Allen Cone

(UPI) -- Twenty wedding guests, including children, were wounded by hand grenades in eastern Afghanistan, police said Sunday.

The incident took place late Saturday in the Waris village of Ali Shir district in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province, which borders Pakistan, provincial police spokesman Haider Adi said in a report by Xinhua.

Unknown men entered the building.

The official said that an investigation had been initiated but no suspects or motive have been given.

Last August, a suicide bomber from the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan killed 63 people at a wedding in Kabul. That was the most deadly attack in the capital in 2019.

Elsewhere Saturday, a bystander was killed and four other civilians were wounded when a police vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in the capital, Kabul. Police said Sunday no group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Taliban has been linked to previous attacks on Afghanistan security forces.

19 Malian soldiers killed by armed men: Military

6 more killed last week

 Al Jazeera

Malian soldiers have come under repeated attacks from armed groups [File: Luc Gnago/Reuters] 

At least 19 soldiers were killed in an attack on a military post in central Mali on Sunday.

The attack took place in Sokolo military camp in the Segou region, where armed fighters linked to al-Qaeda are known to operate.

"The provisional toll is 19 dead, five wounded," Malian Armed Forces said on Twitter.

A local politician told AFP news agency all those killed were troops or paramilitary police officers, adding he saw "two other bodies outside the camp".

"They were well-armed. They entered the Sokolo camp. They took away a lot of material," he said, adding some were able to escape the camp.

The assault comes after a similar attack on Thursday by armed men in Dioungani, an area in the country's volatile Mopti region near the border with Burkina Faso, killing at least six soldiers.

"There were more than 100 attackers," said Sokolo resident Baba Gakou.

"They arrived at five in the morning. They cut off any withdrawal by the gendarmes. The firing stopped at 7am," he said, adding the assailants left with all the weapons and vehicles at the camp.

"They picked up all their dead. They did not touch anyone in the village."

Struggle with armed groups
Mali has struggled to contain an armed uprising that erupted in the north in 2012 and has killed thousands of soldiers and civilians in the years since.

More than 140 Malian soldiers reportedly died in attacks between September and December alone.

The conflict has engulfed the centre of the country and spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger - despite the presence of 4,500 French troops in the Sahel region, plus a 13,000-strong UN peacekeeping force.

On Wednesday, Mali announced it would hold legislative elections in late March after repeated postponements because of insecurity and political infighting.

The conduct of the elections was a key recommendation from crisis talks in December aimed at exploring non-military solutions to the worsening violence.

Three Jordanians charged for IS-inspired attack

City News, Vancouver

AMMAN, Jordan — Three Jordanian men appeared in court Sunday to face charges connected to the stabbing of eight people at a popular archaeological site in northern Jordan in November in an attack allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group.

The military judge presiding over the trial accused the men of supporting Islamic State ideology and carrying out the attack at Jerash to avenge the death of late IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

November’s incident took place in Jerash, one of Jordan’s most visited archaeological sites, an ancient city whose ruins include a Roman amphitheatre and a columned road.

Jordan relies heavily on incoming tourism. Islamist militant groups have repeatedly targeted the country’s tourist sites to impact the economy and embarrass the government.

Mustafa Abu Tuameh, 22, is accused of stabbing eight people, including one Swiss and three Mexican tourists, and four Jordanians. None of the victims suffered life-threatening wounds. Gruesome footage of the attack was captured by bystanders.

At the time of the attack, the Jordanian army’s news site identified Abu Tuameh as a resident of the nearby Palestinian refugee camp. Family members said he had recently become very religious and apparently planned to die in the attack.

But, apparently, they didn't bother to tell anyone.

Abu Tuameh and the two other defendants allegedly planned to carry out another attack on a church in northern Jordan.

Osama Abu-Amra, 22, faces charges of plotting a terrorist act, and attempting to join a terrorist organization. Khaled al-Soufi, 21, was charged with promoting the ideas of a terrorist organization.

The three defendants pleaded innocent to the charges. If convicted, they could face up to 15 years in prison.

The Associated Press