Month: November 2023

German police officers who shot and neutralized a knife-wielding attacker are under investigation for possible criminal offenses after two bystanders were also hit with bullets and hospitalized during the chaos.

Authorities were dispatched to a supermarket in the town of Gummersbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, on Tuesday afternoon after reports of shoplifting.

A 30-year-old German citizen of Moroccan descent stole several cans of beer from a store in the town center and assaulted a female employee when confronted before fleeing, reported the Focus news outlet, citing the public prosecutor’s office in Cologne.

The suspect was chased down by four police officers and pulled out a knife as a stand-off ensued. According to the police, the man injured one of the officers with a slash to the face before several armed police discharged their firearms, inflicting multiple gunshot wounds to the suspect as horrified bystanders looked on.

Footage from eyewitnesses in a nearby café circulated on social media on Tuesday detailing the moment the suspect was neutralized by the police.

In Gummersbach wurde wohl ein Messermann erschossen.

Weiß man mehr? pic.twitter.com/sizToFHp1C

— Ali Utlu (@AliCologne) November 14, 2023

https://rmx.news/germany/police-officers-under-investigation-after-shooting-migrant-knifeman-in-germany/

On Sunday November 12, the priests of the Redemptorist community in Valence (Drôme) received messages threatening to “slit their throats”, as Le Figaro learned from police sources. The author of the message also said he was preparing to “blow up” their chapel, which is located near the Armenian church on Chemin de Saint-Joseph, on Monday November 13. According to a source familiar with the case, he also claimed to be acting “in the name of Allah”.

These messages were sent via the social network Discord.

(…)

The diocese of Valence says it “regrets this act in a tense security environment” and calls for young people to be instructed to “prevent them from becoming victims of dangerous influencers”. No special measures have been taken for the church services. Le Figaro / Valence (26) : des prêtres de la communauté des Rédemptoristes menacés d’égorgement « au nom d’Allah » – Fdesouche

On Wednesday (15th November), the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which is very well known for spreading disinformation, issued a public apology for spreading incorrect information against Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The BBC had earlier reported that the Israeli forces had entered Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital and were targeting medical teams and Arab speakers. However, it issued an apology saying that the information being disseminated by the channel was false.

The BBC clarified it should have stated that medical teams and translators were assisting the IDF in the operation, but instead said that the IDF was targeting medical teams and translators in the hospital, adding that they misquoted a Reuters report.

“As BBC covered initial reports that Israeli forces had entered Gaza’s main hospital, we said that ‘medical teams and Arab speakers were being targeted’. This was incorrect and misquoted a Reuters report. We should have said IDF forces included medical teams and Arabic speakers for this operation,” BBC tweeted.

BBC News – an apology pic.twitter.com/qLyKvzWNBx

— BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) November 15, 2023

“We apologize for this error, which fell below our usual editorial standards. The correct version of the events was broadcast minutes later and we apologized for the mistake on air in the morning,” the statement added. The channel also aired the apology on air.

WATCH@bbcnews have just issued an on air apology (again) for their report last night that stated the ‘IDF are targeting medical teams and Arab speakers’

Not good enough. Time and again they defame & smear Israel and think a simple apology will suffice after the damage is done pic.twitter.com/GMQUUMfcHw

— We Stand With Israel (@SussexFriends) November 15, 2023

According to the reports, the Israeli forces entered the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza and uncovered unspecified weapons and “terror infrastructure” inside the hospital compound. The troops said that there was no fighting inside the hospital with civilians, patients or staff.

The soldiers carried boxes marked ‘medical supplies’ and ‘baby food’ in English for the people trapped inside. “Before entering the hospital our forces were confronted by explosive devices and terrorist squads, fighting ensued in which terrorists were killed. We can confirm that incubators, baby food, and medical supplies brought by IDF tanks from Israel have successfully reached the Shifa hospital. Our medical teams and Arabic-speaking soldiers are on the ground to ensure that these supplies reach those in need,” the military was quoted as saying by Reuters.

However, the BBC reported that the Israeli forces had entered Gaza’s main hospital and that the medical teams and Arab speakers were being targeted.

This is not the first time that BBC has issued an apology for spreading misinformation amid the Israel-Hamas war. Earlier on 16th October, the BBC issued an apology for the way it characterized demonstrations supporting Palestinians.

“Earlier we reported on some of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the weekend. We spoke about several demonstrations across Britain during which people voiced their backing for Hamas. We accept this was poorly phrased and was a misleading description of the demonstrations,” Maryam Moshiri, the chief presenter at BBC News was quoted as saying.

Interestingly, the BBC has been notorious for sharing fake information and fake news. In the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, BBC had also spread misinformation by claiming that the Israeli airstrike was responsible for the rocket attack on 17th October at the Gaza hospital in which the initial reports claimed that around 500 people had died.

The BBC later admitted that one of its live air correspondents incorrectly suspected that the rocket attack on a Gaza hospital was the result of an Israeli airstrike. “We accept that even in this fast-moving situation it was wrong to speculate in this way, although he did not at any point report that it was an Israeli strike,” the corporation wrote on its page amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

During early live reporting from Israel on what was reported to be a deadly explosion, BBC correspondent Jon Donnison speculated that Israel’s forces were to blame. He reported, “It’s hard to see what else this could be really, given the size of the explosion, other than an Israeli airstrike or several airstrikes.” An independent evaluation has since established that a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket misfired and struck the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza. 

The BBC has already been under fire for refusing to name Hamas as a terrorist organization, despite the fact that it is marked as such by the UK, the US, the EU, and Israel. Earlier, the BBC had defended its stand on not calling Hamas a terrorist organisation saying that calling someone a terrorist would mean taking sides.

Since Hamas terrorists unleashed a wave of strikes along Israel’s border with Gaza on 7th October, thousands have been killed in Israel. Hundreds of demonstrators had gathered outside the BBC in London on October 16th evening, demanding that the corporation name Hamas as terrorists.

https://www.opindia.com/2023/11/bbc-apologised-for-claiming-that-israeli-forces-targeted-medical-teams-and-arab-speakers-in-gaza-hospital/

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen condemned the decision not to screen the 43-minute video documenting the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7 at the Belgian Parliament as it was shown to US Senators and Representatives yesterday (Tuesday).

“In your decision not to screen in parliament the video depicting the atrocities, the President of the Parliament of Belgium Eliane Tillieux is turning a blind eye to the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Hamas,” Cohen stated

“This is not a propaganda video, rather it is a film created from footage shot by the terrorists themselves, that shows their indiscriminate slaughter of Israeli civilians.

“Turning a blind eye to Hamas’ crimes is tantamount to disregarding Israel’s right to defend itself against a terrorist organization that is worse than ISIS.

“Hamas is guilty of instigating the war, in which the State of Israel is defending its citizens and is standing at the forefront of the Western world in the face of murderous terrorism,” the Foreign Minister concluded.

Over 1,200 people were murdered by Hamas terrorists on the morning of October 7. In addition, about 240 people were taken hostage to Gaza.

‘Turning a blind eye to Hamas’ crimes is disregarding Israel’s right to defend itself’ (israelnationalnews.com)

A Finnish MP who quoted the Bible while discussing LGBT issues has been cleared of hate speech after a four-year legal battle.

Päivi Räsänen — formerly head of Finland’s Christian Democrats, and interior minister from 2011 to 2015 — was charged with three cases of incitement against a minority group.

Räsänen wrote a pamphlet in 2004 for her church called “Man and Woman He Created Them”, claiming homosexuality was a “disorder of psychosexual development”.

She also wrote a tweet in 2019 questioning her church’s sponsorship of Helsinki Pride. Showing a passage from the Bible, she asked how “shame and sin are raised as a matter of pride”.

#kirkko on ilmoittanut olevansa #seta n #Pride2019 virallinen partneri. Miten kirkon oppiperusta, #raamattu sopii yhteen sen kanssa, että häpeä ja synti nostetaan ylpeyden aiheeksi? pic.twitter.com/cnjAQCrOc2

— Päivi Räsänen (@PaiviRasanen) June 17, 2019

Finnish prosecutors said her statements went beyond the bounds of free speech.

A District Court ruled in Räsänen’s favour in 2022, prompting prosecutors to appeal to the Court of Appeals.

The appeals court saw no reason “to assess the case in any respect differently from the District Court”, it says in its decision.

“There is therefore no reason to alter the final result of the District Court’s judgment,” it says.

Räsänen welcomes the verdict, saying she is “deeply relieved” the court backs her claims she is protected by a right to free expression.

“It isn’t a crime to tweet a Bible verse, or to engage in public discourse with a Christian perspective,” she says in a statement sent to Brussels Signal.

“The attempts made to prosecute me for expressing my beliefs have resulted in an immensely trying four years,” she says.

“But my hope is that the result will stand as a key precedent to protect the human right to free speech,” she adds.

X will launch a legal challenge against forthcoming anti-hate-speech laws in Ireland, its US billionaire owner @elonmusk has announced. https://t.co/T0x46rGNqi

— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 25, 2023

It appears unlikely, though, the Court of Appeals ruling represents the end of Räsänen’s legal battles.

Speaking to Finnish media, state prosecutor Anu Mantila says she and her colleagues will likely appeal the legal ruling again to the Supreme Court.

The case involves “such a significant fundamental right weighing between discrimination on the one hand and freedom of speech and religion on the other,” says Mantila.

The Court of Appeal’s ruling is not detailed enough to establish a solid precedent, she argues.

“The matter should be decided by the Supreme Court,” she adds.

Räsänen is ready to fight the case in the Supreme Court, and even to “defend freedom of expression” by appealing to the European Court of Human Rights “if necessary”, she says.

Prosecutors have just under 60 days to file an appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision.

https://brusselssignal.eu/2023/11/bible-quoting-finnish-mp-cleared-of-hate-speech-after-four-year-legal-battle/

The government and political parties strongly condemn the move, which violates international law and UN resolutions.

Greek Cypriot refugees are to hold anti-occupation protests to mark the anniversary.

Only Turkey, which still maintains troops in the breakaway north since a 1974 invasion, recognizes the ‘republic’ established there.

UN-brokered talks throughout the years to reunite the island under a bi-zonal, bi-communal federal system failed mainly due to the Turkish intransigence.

The last round of talks collapsed in 2017 with recently-released UN minutes on the high-level conference in Cyprus revealing that Turkey’s non-negotiated demand for its role as guarantor to continue was why the process collapsed.

Turkey, Greece, and the UK are the guarantor powers of Cyprus since its independence in 1960. Both Greece and Britain have said they no longer want to continue in this role.

https://greekcitytimes.com/2023/11/15/cyprus-declaration-illegal-north/

David Cameron was there at the beginning of this 13-year Tory rule; he might as well be there at the end of it. For after all of Rishi Sunak’s talk about “change,” and despite some Conservative MPs claiming they’re shocked by Cameron’s return, the party is the same socially liberal PR machine it always was.

It is more open about this now than during its brief foray into populist, pro-Brexit territory. Having stripped itself of another Brexiteer in Braverman, albeit one who clearly exaggerated her conservative instincts, the Tory government has ensured the two leading posts of chancellor and foreign secretary are now occupied by the most convinced Remainers. Tory Lord Heseltine is one of the few figures who could boast of possessing more zeal on this subject, so it is rather telling that he has described Cameron’s appointment as the “best piece of news we’ve had for some considerable time on the domestic front.”

After being elected Tory leader in 2005, Cameron, who described himself as the “heir” to Tony Blair, established an “A-list” of approved parliamentary candidates. This was not focussed on small-c conservative credentials (quite the opposite), with emphasis put instead on there being a “significant proportion” of minority figures. He then worked on whittling social conservatives in the parliamentary party out through humiliation.

His subsequent time as prime minister was a masterclass not in so-called ‘centrism’ but in social liberalism. A keen environmentalist who was supportive of softer drug laws—in fact, a softer approach to crime in general—and unfazed by the increasing sexualisation of young children under his watch, as well as by abortions for adolescent girls, Cameron showed no interest in supporting the family unit—the cornerstone of conservatism—and did nothing, beyond talk, to reverse rapidly rising immigration trends.

But all this could be said too about Sunak’s Tory party, which is much the same as it has been for far too long. The focus might have changed. Cameron’s green “hug a husky” drive has been replaced by the unstoppable race towards ‘net zero,’ just like his “hug a hoodie” call has been swapped out for simply releasing prisoners early and reducing the threshold for establishing criminal records. Questions over contraception for the young have become phoney debates over sex education and transgender guidelines for schools, and broken promises over legal migration numbers have been succeeded by broken promises over much smaller illegal migration numbers. But the substance remains the same.

So Cameron fits in just as well now as he did when he was the one setting the agenda. Just as he would have done when, say, Boris Johnson was ‘in control.’ In fact, Johnson is perhaps even more socially liberal than his old sparring partner, particularly on immigration—about which he told social conservatives to “stop moaning”—net zero—for which he laid down the path—diversity—celebrating that his cabinet was “younger, more female, more ethnically diverse, [and] more LGBT” than others that came before it—and on social and moral issues more generally. (On the last point, one need just to consider for one moment the sordid story of Johnson’s personal life.)

The Conservative Party might have pretended for some time that it had moved away from the Left on all these and other points. Many fell for this myth because of Brexit, but even here, you would have to ignore a range of outstanding factors to really believe Johnson backed any of it for reasons beyond his career.

Now, at least, the pretence is up. Not that the Conservatives will completely stop pretending to be, er, conservatives. But at least with Cameron on board, fewer people are likely to fall for the con.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/commentary/cameron-returns-the-tory-pretence-is-over/

A prisoner who escaped from police custody in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, has shared photos of himself consuming cannabis on social media.

The 16-year-old Afghan was due to be taken from the Gerasdorf juvenile detention center to a hospital in Wiener Neustadt on Monday for a routine examination but escaped on the way there.

Two prison officers were unable to capture the handcuffed teenager. Even using helicopters for the manhunt did not lead to his capture. The suspect would have been released from custody in two months.

Opposition demands resignation of the Justice Minister

Now the fugitive has apparently published photos on his Instagram account showing him consuming cannabis. In one picture, the handcuffs can still be seen, with a laughing emoji, along with the middle finger to the police.

The Lower Austrian State Secretary General Michael Schnedlitz of the opposition Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) was outraged by the incident. If the pictures actually show the wanted man, Lower Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) and Federal Justice Minister Alma Zadić (Greens) would have to resign.

“The incompetence of the ÖVP and the Greens (is) simply pathetic and a security risk for the population,” Schnedlitz said.

https://rmx.news/crime/austria-escaped-afghan-defies-police-with-mocking-social-media-post/

A clear majority of Germans believe mass-casualty terror attacks are coming to Germany as a consequence of the Israel-Hamas war.

Germans fear there are terrorist attacks in their future, a survey of attitudes towards the Israel-Hamas war has revealed. A significant majority at 59 per cent say a terror attack “as a result of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war” was “very or highly likely”, while just 27 per cent said they thought they would be “very or somewhat unlikely”.

While these figures are striking, a terror attack isn’t even the long-term consequence Germans most expect to experience from the enormous Hamas terror attack against Israel last month. While 25 per cent of those asked said terrorism was their main worry, a fraction more at 26 per cent said the war leading to another “refugee” surge to Europe was first on their mind, reports Deutsche Welle.

Other concerns named in descending order were growing antisemitism, souring relations with Muslim nations, energy prices, and lastly “growing hostility towards Muslims” at just six per cent. More Germans favoured their government’s policy of backing Israel than opposed it.

Germany has been one of the more obviously pro-Israel countries in Europe in the wake of the Hamas attack, acknowledging its own history during the 1930s and 1940s as they did so. This has been in marked contrast to some European nations, like Spain or Belgium, which have called for an immediate ceasefire.

As reported last month, a leading member of the Spanish government has even called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be brought before the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/11/15/majority-of-germans-fear-gaza-conflict-to-result-in-terror-attack-in-their-country/

First five men were singing inciting songs against Israel on the Eurobahn train (RB 59) from Soest to Werl, then they turned violent. Two men from Münster and one man from Werl were injured by punches and kicks. Police state security is investigating. In the night from Saturday to Sunday, November 12 at 1.25 a.m., there was first a case of rabble-rousing and then a dangerous assault on the regional train from Soest to Werl. What had happened? Five men on the train were chanting “there is no Israel” and “pro Palestine”. A 24-year-old man from Münster did not want to listen to this and showed civil courage. He asked the five accused to refrain from singing such songs.

This resulted in verbal disputes, as a result of which the man from Münster was punched several times in the face. Two other injured persons, also a 24-year-old from Münster and a 23-year-old from Werl, wanted to help the victim and stood between the opponents. They were also maltreated with fists and kicks.

The five suspects got off the train in Werl and ran off in different directions. During the search that was immediately launched, a suspected offender matching the description of several witnesses and the victim was caught in the vicinity. He is an 18-year-old Syrian who currently lives in Werl. The four other perpetrators are still on the run.

Video recordings from the train are now being evaluated. Further investigations are being conducted by the Dortmund police’s state security department.

Israel-Hasser prügeln in der Eurobahn auf Fahrgäste ein (soester-anzeiger.de)