Month: August 2023

The Pakistani interior minister on Tuesday granted the extradition of Shabbar Abbas, who is accused of murdering his 18-year-old daughter Saman in Novellara near Reggio Emilia in April 2021 with other family members after she refused an arranged marriage with another man in Pakistan.
A Pakistani Interior Ministry official confirmed that Shabbar Abbas will be “taken to Italy on a chartered plane”.
In an attempt to block the extradition, Abbas’ lawyer has filed an appeal to the High Court, and the hearing is scheduled for later Tuesday.
Last month an Islamabad district court judge on Tuesday upheld a request for the extradition to Italy of Shabbar Abbas.
The Italian authorities have requested that Abbas be extradited on charges of killing Saman on the night between April 30 and May 1, 2021, near the northern town of Novellara together with four relatives including his wife, Nazia Shaheen, the only suspect who is still at large.

Pakistan grants extradition of Saman Abbas’ father – English – ANSA.it

Germany has seen an astonishing increase in food and product inflation over the last two years, but companies are increasingly turning to deceptive packaging to help hide these cost increases. Consumers are starting to notice the trend, filing a record number of complaints with consumer advocates.

In fact, these deceptive packaging methods are often leading to price increases that exceed the inflation rate. Germany’s Welt newspaper points to a range of products, such as Suchard Express cocoa packets, which have shrunk from 500 grams to 400 grams but remained the same price, amounting to a 25 percent more expensive product.

Consumer advocates say they are receiving a record number of complaints over the issue, with the cost increases largely unnoticed by most shoppers. Many of the companies are often keeping the packages the same size but filling them with less product, according to the Warentest foundation based out of Hamburg.

The foundation has given other examples, pointing to the Duschdas Sport, a shower gel, which not only decreased the amount of shower gel in the package but also raised its prices.

The Hamburg-based consumer advocate also currently runs a “deceptive package of the month” announcement, and this month pointed to Johnson & Johnson’s Listerine mouthwash as the worst offender, writing that the new package amounts to a 33 percent higher price than previously.

“Most of the examples we show far exceed the inflation rate,” said Ina Bockholt from the Warentest foundation. Currently, the inflation rate in July 2023 for groceries in Germany stands at 11 percent compared to last year.

The practice of “shrinkflation” is not illegal, but critics say it is highly misleading, forcing consumers to discern which products are more costly based on a variety of often hidden factors. Companies, however, have big incentives to partake in the practice, as consumers, increasingly aware of price increases, are trying to be more price-conscious with their purchases.

The trend began in 2022, but according to the Hamburg Consumer Center, cases began doubling in the second half of 2022 compared to the first half.

A list of “cheaters” has also been compiled, with it showing each product and the corresponding price increase in an easy-to-read format. The list has over 1,000 entries over the last five years, with the number of products growing exponentially in the last two years. Many of the price increases far outpace the inflation rate.

With more and more manufacturers and dealers partaking in the practice, it provides cover for other manufacturers to also take the deceptive step, as consumers lack the organizing power or even the time to organize a boycott of certain products.

https://rmx.news/article/germany-record-amount-of-shrinkflation-and-deceptive-packaging-helps-hide-inflation-from-consumers/

Three million rupees. This reward was issued by a famous Pakistani cricket player in 2018 for the person who murders Dutch parliament member Geert Wilders. Today this suspect was summoned to stand trial in the Netherlands for these facts. However, the courtroom seat remained empty. The prosecutor demanded a prison sentence of 12 years for these facts before the court today.

In May of 2018 the Dutch member of parliament and PVV party chairman announced a cartoon contest. People were asked to send caricature drawings of the Prophet Mohammed. The contest lead to many threats and online hatred from abroad, mostly from Pakistan. These threats continue to this day.

One of the threats was traced back to a famous Pakistani cricket player. He posted a video online in which he called upon people to kill “the person who planned this game”, and issued a reward of 3 million rupees. At the time this sum was the equivalent of 21.000 euros. In the video he states that the reward would have been higher if he’d had more money.

Conscious message

With his call, the now 37 year old Pakistani, is guilty of attempted inducement of others to commit a criminal offence, sedition and threat to commit violence. Whether the suspect has personally placed the video message online or if others did so is unknown. The prosecutor however states that the circumstances make it clear that it was his intent to have the video be known to the world. The video shows the suspect sitting in front of recording equipment and speaking slowly while looking straight into the camera. There is no evidence to show that the suspect had any intention at any point for the video not to become public. Nor is there any evidence to show that the suspect has tried to retract the video after it became public.

Toxic

The video message was extra toxic because it was issued during a period in which there was a lot of hatred and anger towards Geert Wilders. The prosecutor brought into memory that during this period there were people willing to act against the politician. In August of that same year a Pakistani national was arrested in The Hague. He had travelled to the Netherlands and had planned to kill Geert Wilders. There is no direct connection between this case and the video message but the message was widely shared during this time.

This shows that the video message was not just about a fictional scenario but that it potentially reached many people who could feel inspired to act on it. The goal of the video message was to remove a Dutch politician from the public debate so that his message could not be heard anymore. With that, the life of Geert Wilders would have been taken which would have caused insufferable pain to his loved ones. It would also have been an attack on the rule of law itself. The suspect issued a sizeable reward for this attack on both a member of parliament and the rule of the law in the Netherlands.

In absentia

The suspect did not appear in court on Tuesday. The Public Prosecution Service has been trying to contact him since 2018; first for the purpose of hearing him as a suspect and later in order to summon him before a court of law. This was done through the process of requests for mutual assistance, since the suspect resides outside the Netherlands, in Pakistan. The Dutch authorities have to this day not received any reply on any of the requests for mutual assistance.

The Public Prosecution Service is however confident that the suspect is well aware of the case being handled in court this Tuesday. A summons was sent to Pakistan and the Public Prosecution Service has issued press releases about the case in both Dutch and English. There has been extensive media coverage on the case which show that the suspect was even asked about the case by journalists. The fact that he did not show up in court this Tuesday is of his own choosing.

The Public Prosecution Service is of the opinion that under these circumstances the suspect can be tried and convicted in absentia. There is an international arrest warrant issued which means he can be arrested at any time in order to undergo his sentence once this has been issued by the court. The court is expected to give its ruling in two weeks.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19929/geert-wilders-speech

A new wave of protests began in Chlorakas on Monday night with groups of people chanting “get out” as part of a fresh attack against migrants living in the area.

The protest began shortly after a peaceful demonstration wrapped up, following assurances by Justice Minister Anna Procopiou that the government would take care of the problem.

Nonetheless, while Procopiou was still in a meeting with the police chief, groups of protestors set fire to a car – believed to belong to an immigrant that spoke out against the mukhtar. Officers reportedly arrested 20 individuals and had to use teargas to break apart the escalating violence.

Earlier on Monday night, around 300 Syrian residents in Chlorakas held a peaceful protest, to demonstrate against the racially motivated attack against them on Sunday which was instigated by several Elam officials.

Procopiou and police chief Stelios Papatheodorou were in Chlorakas for a meeting with Paphos’ police leadership as well as a group of Syrian migrants who live in the village.

Though there were no official statements made to the press, the Cyprus News Agency cited police sources that all sides agreed it was of paramount importance to diffuse the tension and avoid similar situations.

The peaceful demonstration was held without any issues, as organisers stressed their purpose was not to create tension. It came to an end after Procopiou assured the Syrian nationals that they would take care of the problems and also aid with repair works for any damages.

Once the demo died down however, the clashes began anew, with videos circulating of people chanting “get out” in Greek.

More protests erupt in Chlorakas, second night of violence | Cyprus Mail https://t.co/kCZCxRFprT pic.twitter.com/XEogUBkmfB

— Cyprus Mail (@cyprusmail) August 29, 2023

The incident follows an anti-immigrant protest which took place on Sunday night that turned extremely violent after the march – which gathered over 1,000 people according to the mukhtar – splintered into smaller groups and began attacking foreign nationals living in Chlorakas.

Businesses owned by migrants saw their shop-fronts smashed and vehicles overturned, while foreign nationals reported falling victim to violent attacks.

One Cypriot resident said “after what I saw yesterday, I think we’re the barbarians, not the Arabs.”

He charged that a group of thugs broke into a home with seven underage children and their mother and began breaking things inside the house.

Another elderly Cypriot man said they were warned that Elam members may “punish” locals who chose not to participate in the protest.

He said it was clear they knew exactly which houses to target, as a large group came knocking down the street and eventually a group broke into his store room and stole meat skewers and a shovel.

Charalambos Pittokipitis, a former Diko MP from the area said a Greek Cypriot woman who tried to protect a young child from Syria ended up “getting punched by one of our own.”

He described the protest as an act of barbarism, adding that it was “completely pointless” as the government had only last week decided that Chlorakas migrants from an apartment complex would be moved to Kofinou, with the transfer already wrapped.

Refugee NGO Kisa accused Chlorakas mukhtar Nicolas Liasides for taking part in the riots and allegedly attacking a Syrian man, who tried to protect his eight-year-old daughter, and was consequently hit by the mukhtar.

Liasides did not directly deny the charge but accused Kisa of targeting him, adding he was reserving all his legal rights.

President Nicos Christodoulides condemned the violence, as did most political parties – but for Elam.

https://cyprus-mail.com/2023/08/29/more-protests-erupt-in-chlorakas-second-night-of-violence/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1693260758

Our Senior Fellow Dr. Philip Kiszely appeared on GB News breakfast to talk about the theft of 2000 artefacts from the British Museum and what it says more wildly about museum collections and how they are curated, as well as management in the UK more generally.

By Olivia Murray

Leftist ignorance strikes again, and consequently we have to suffer.

You know, when George Orwell authored the infamous slogans of Oceania’s Party, he purposefully worded them to be the most obnoxiously glaring pieces of propaganda. The juxtaposed terms were in fact opposites, and entirely oxymoronic; war is not peaceful, freedom is not slavery, and ignorance is not strength.

Well, looks like Colorado school administrators and teachers didn’t get the memo, and instead, gorged on regime disinformation; it’s almost like they consider themselves in the bulking phase for an upcoming strength (ignorance) competition. Being uneducated, uninformed, obtuse, and illiterate, are only “strengths” if you’re a leftist.

The problem started when Jaiden, a 12-year-old student at The Vanguard School in Colorado Springs, sported a Gadsden flag patch on his backpack. Apparently, he was removed from class, because of the patch’s alleged “origins with slavery, and slave trade” and the interaction below, between school staff and Jaiden’s family, shows you (again) just how smugly ignorant and tyrannical these woke leftists are:

Meet 12yo Jaiden who was kicked out of class yesterday in Colorado Springs for having a Gadsden flag patch, which the school claims has "origins with slavery."

The school's director said via email that the patch was "disruptive to the classroom environment."

Receipts in the 🧵 pic.twitter.com/qQ8jK1zSpR

— Connor Boyack 📚 (@cboyack) August 29, 2023

I’ll start out by addressing a paradox most embarrassing — the self-satisfied school employee so confident in her blunder, is holding a meeting in a room under a flag, that actually has closer ties to slavery than the Gadsden flag. The irony! This is not to say I’m anti-America, but American slave ships? Yeah, they didn’t fly the Gadsden, or the Stars and Bars, they flew the Stars and Stripes; as said by Alan Keyes in an argument against censoring flags:

‘It’s absurd. The American flag, the one we revere, used to fly on slave ships plying the slave trade back and forth[.]’

I also just find it utterly absurd that this woman isn’t even sure what the proper name of the flag is — it’s not called “the Don’t Tread On Me” — yet she “knows” it’s bad. So, you don’t know what it’s actually called, but you know it’s a pro-slavery symbol. Got it.

I love that Jaiden is on the verge of complete laughter as his mom schools the administrator over her ignorance, because it’s all such a joke. These people can’t be taken seriously, and even a 12-year-old kid can see it; nothing like a child having to stifle his laughter over your lack of basic knowledge lest he be impolite and bring attention to your sheer idiocy.

The Gadsden flag is named after Christopher Gadsden, a revolutionary soldier who presented the flag to the provincial congress of South Carolina in 1776, and the snake is an adaptation of Benjamin Franklin’s clarion call “Join or Die” cartoon; it’s is not a symbol of slavery, unless you are talking about the slavery under British tyranny… but you know what are?

The Black Lives Matter flag, it represents slavery under and to Marxism.

The “Pride” flag, or any other perverted adaptation… it’s slavery to leftist queer ideology.

The Ukraine flag, which reminds the little guy that he is a slave to the war machine globalists.

“We’re [just] following district policy” sounds an awful lot like “I was just following orders.” Will someone tell these jerks to get a new line already?! It wasn’t a compelling excuse for the leftist tyrants parroting the line from the witness box in 1945 and 1946, or Adolf Eichmann in 1961, and neither is it today.

Symbols of freedom from tyranny triggers tyrants, go figure.

Update:

For those asking for an update:

– Jaiden decided to go back to school today. With his patch will in place. He said he'd do a sit-in if necessary to protest.

– Two law firms have stepped forward to assist as necessary to fight the viewpoint discrimination.

– Lots of media… pic.twitter.com/lEVH6XiLDm

— Connor Boyack 📚 (@cboyack) August 29, 2023

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/08/12yearold_colorado_pupil_thrown_out_of_class_for_his_gadsden_flag_patch.html

After 90,000 supporters of the Economic Freedom Fighters chanted “Kill the Boer, kill the Farmer” in Johannesburg July 30, the New York Times claimed the violent “struggle song” was not meant “literally”, even as farm attacks spiked after the event (Gateway reported). On Aug. 17, a couple was brutally attacked by four men chanting “Kill the Boer.” Thanks to quick reaction by civilian security structures, six culprits were apprehended.

South Africa: Attackers Chant “Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer” Before Stabbing Woman with Spear via @gatewaypundit https://t.co/3LNa9iHF1a

— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) August 29, 2023

A senior Labour Party politician in Scotland has reportedly been charged on child grooming charges.

David Graham, a senior councillor representing Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss Villages and a member of the Fife Council cabinet, was reportedly arrested by Police Scotland last week.

The left-wing Labour Party councillor, who also served as a member of Fife’s National Health Service (NHS) board, has since been charged with child grooming charges and suspended from the party, the BBC reports.

Commenting, the head of Fife Council’s of legal and democratic services, Lindsay Thomson said: “Councillor Graham was charged with an offence and has been suspended by the Labour party.

“He has stepped down from his council appointments pending the outcome of the investigation. No further comment can be made by the council during a live police investigation.

Graham, 41, was first elected as a councillor in 2012 and has since taken up roles with the Fife Community Safety Partnership and the Fife Alcohol & Drug Partnership. He also served as the spokesperson for health and social care for the Fife Council cabinet. Previously the politician worked as a parliamentary assistant to Labour Party Member of Scottish Parliament (MSP) Claire Baker.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “A 41-year-old man has been arrested and charged in relation to grooming offences following an investigation in Fife.

“He has been released on an undertaking to appear at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court at a later date. Further enquiries are ongoing.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/08/29/labour-party-councillor-charged-with-child-grooming-offences-in-scotland/

Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy’s co-governing League party, has renewed his call for the introduction of chemical castration for rapists and pedophiles after a number of high-profile sexual assaults on minors sparked uproar across the country.

In an Instagram post published last week, the Italian government minister announced his party would soon be tabling a proposed law for the experimentation of chemical castration for sex offenders, insisting there should be “zero tolerance” for those convicted of such offenses.

“For rapists and pedophiles, whether Italian or foreign, prison and chemical castration,” he added on X.

“The League’s bill for the experimentation of chemical castration for rapists and pedophiles will soon be under discussion and I hope approved,” he said in response to the news that two 13-year-old children had been gang-raped by seven individuals, including six teenagers, in the town of Caivano last month.

“What a horror… News we should never read. Our hearts go out to the two young girls,” he said. “No clemency for those who lay their hands on women and children.”

According to Italian media, the victims were cousins and had been lured to an abandoned storage building at Parco Verde in the town by a group of males before being attacked.

They reported the incident to the authorities, who conducted an investigation in August and were able to identify and arrest the adult suspect alleged to have been involved.

It is understood that the girls have since been removed from their homes by social services and taken into care.

The story shocked Italy and led to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announcing on Monday that she would visit Caivano at the invitation of local parish priest Don Maurizio Patriciello.

It is the latest in a string of high-profile cases and followed the gang rape of a 19-year-old woman by several young men in Palermo on July 6.

The events have elicited a response from Italian lawmakers, particularly from the League, which has vowed to do what it can to clamp down on such attacks.

Under Salvini’s plan, a judge could order the commencement of medical treatment for pedophiles and for rapists in the cases of repeat offenders. Chemical castration would also be offered to any sexual offender on a voluntary basis who wished to show the court they are willing to change and demonstrate remorse.

Voluntary chemical castration is already available in 13 EU member states, but Poland is the only European country to introduce mandatory chemical castration for some rapists and pedophiles following the passing of legislation back in 2009.

In the other countries, it is voluntary for repeat offenders who, in addition to serving the sentence for the serious crime committed, agree to be treated,” said Justice Secretary Andrea Ostellari, a member of the League.

“Women’s safety, prevention of new crimes, and care for subjects who, declared dangerous by the judges, undergo a process: these must be the objectives when it comes to one of the most heinous and violent crimes,” he added.

In addition, the League also wants to introduce new measures targeting young offenders, including a “yellow card” for children aged 12 and over that would see offenders summoned to the police station with their parents and warned. For those over the age of criminal responsibility, which in Italy is 14, tougher penalties would be imposed for offenders who refuse to carry out community work, and heavy fines would be levied on parents who are negligent in making sure their children are attending school.

https://rmx.news/crime/salvinis-league-renews-call-for-chemical-castration-after-spate-of-high-profile-rapes-shocks-italy/

Pope Francis has clarified the issue of whether he serves the Church or leftism by denouncing American Catholics for defending traditions that are under attack:

Francis said there is a “very strong, organized, reactionary attitude” in the U.S. Catholic church, that is “backwards” and has led the church to replace faith with “ideology,” according to a new transcript of the comments released Monday.

The cliché holds true once again. Leftists invariably accuse their opponents of their own scandalous misdeeds.

Those who reveal themselves to be “ideological” by clinging to tradition rather than discarding it in favor of political correctness “go backward,” according to Francis.

“I want to remind these people that backwardness is useless, and they must understand that there’s a correct evolution in the understanding of questions of faith and morals,” he said.

Some call this evolution “progressivism.” Other names for it include “degeneracy” and “moonbattery.”

Francis has drawn criticism for his stance on a number of issues, including his calls for gun control and his opposition to the death penalty. He’s come under fire for his emphasis on social justice issues and for his support for the creation of civil union laws for same-sex couples.

His embrace of homosexuality is in direct opposition to the Bible.

Francis has responded to previous criticism by saying it is an “honor” to be attacked by Americans.

The feeling is mutual.

This is not the first time the sometimes foul-mouthed Bergoglio has denounced those who defend tradition. Without tradition, churches become unmoored; they are then easily subverted and repurposed by leftists.

Moonbattery Francis Attacks US Catholics for Defending Tradition – Moonbattery