The motive behind the Islamic State prohibition of Christians leaving its stronghold of Raqqa, Syria, has now come to light: the Christians will be used as hostages and human shields in the event of a Russian-Syrian invasion of the Islamic capital. Breitbart News reported Thursday that leaders of the so-called Islamic caliphate in Syria had issued orders forbidding Christians from leaving their capital city of Raqqa, a decree that seemed counter-intuitive given the jihadists’ prior record of religious cleansing of Christians from the area. New reports reveal that the Christians are being held back as hostages to be used as cannon fodder in case the Islamist stronghold suffers an armed attack. Raqqa’s last remaining Christians have been forbidden from leaving the city “under any condition,” as armed forces loyal to dictator Bashar al-Assad and their allies advance towards the city. Syrian government forces backed by heavy Russian air support dislodged ISIS militants from their base in Palmyra on Sunday, handing the caliphate a major strategic setback. During 2015, the jihadists wreaked devastation on Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, destroying ancient statues and blowing up its iconic ancient arches, an important historical landmark. The ISIS defeat meant that the desert
Month: April 2016
Poland’s Top Political Leaders Support Total Ban On Abortion
Poland’s prime minister and the powerful leader of its conservative ruling party both said Thursday they support a total ban on abortion. Abortion is currently only allowed in mostly Catholic Poland when the pregnancy poses a threat to the woman’s health or life, if it results from a crime like incest or rape or if the fetus is damaged. But these regulations dating to 1993, which have been considered a tough compromise between the views of the country’s liberal and Catholic circles, are now being contested under Poland’s new conservative government. A new civic group called “Stop Abortion” is gathering support to impose a total ban and is backed by Poland’s influential Roman Catholic Church. Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said, as Catholics, they support the total ban but if it comes to a vote in parliament, party lawmakers will be able to vote as they wish. “I am a Catholic so my position is obvious. But there is no party discipline on these issues,” Kaczynski said. The party, which has a parliamentary majority, won power last year promising a return to traditional Catholic values and support for families with children. In a statement to be
Germany On Alert As Islamic State Urges Airport Attacks
Islamic State posted pictures on the Internet calling on German Muslims to carry out Brussels-style attacks in Germany, singling out Chancellor Angela Merkel’s offices and the Cologne-Bonn airport as targets, the SITE intelligence group reported. Western Europe is on high security alert after last week’s Islamic State suicide bombings in the Belgian capital that killed 32 people at its airport and in a metro station. On Wednesday, France said it was investigating a man on suspicion of planning an imminent act of “extreme violence”. The Islamic State images and graphics, widely published by German media on Thursday, included slogans in German inciting Muslims to commit violence against the “enemy of Allah.” Germany’s BKA federal police, who monitor suspected militants with German passports returning from stints fighting in Syria and Iraq, said it knew of the images but that their publication did not necessitate extra security measures. “We are aware of this material and our experts are checking it,” a BKA spokeswoman said. “It is clear that Germany is the focus of international terrorism and that attacks could happen, but this material doesn’t change our security assessment.” Federal police chief Holger Muench said after the March 22 attacks in Brussels that
Claim: German Eurosceptic Party Will Campaign To Ban Mosques
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party may include a clause on prohibiting mosques in their forthcoming Spring manifesto, according to a purported leaked document. The policy statement, which has been linked to the party’s more socially conservative Bavarian branch, has come to light as internal party factions struggle over the content of the April manifesto. It calls for banning the construction of new mosques and minarets, and already operating ones be closed. The paper has been acquired by the Editorial Network Germany (Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, RND) reports Deutsche Welle. Entitled ‘The Courage to Take Responsibility’, the paper had strong words for Islam in Germany, and the mosques which support it. These Mosques “do not just serve common prayer, but also the spreading of Islamic teaching, which advocates the removal of our legal order”, it said. In a reference to the little-known Islamist practice of Taqiyya — lying to non-Muslims permitted by Sharia law — the document remarks the Koran permits “lies and deception”. Acknowledging the expansionist tendencies of political Islam, the document also reportedly stated that it “has already arrived at its declared path toward world domination in 57 of 190 countries”. The plan would plainly violate the German constitution and provision of
WATCH: Israel Navy Drill Simulates Raid Against Ship Seized By Islamic State
The Jerusalem Post reports: The Israel Navy completed a drill early on Thursday morning simulating an ISIS takeover of a civilian ship and a raid to free the vessel. A senior naval source said the exercise was aimed at “improving our readiness against terrorist organizations,” adding that navy-wide drills of this nature occur once or twice a year in different maritime arenas. The mock attack began with antitank and rocket fire, followed by the hijacking of a ship by “terrorists” who came from Sinai. In light of heightened ISIS activities in the peninsula, which included the downing of a passenger airline, and attacks on Egyptian security forces, the navy chose the Red Sea as the location for the latest drill. Read more here
10,000 Millionaires Have Left France Due To Fears Over Islam, Racial Divides, Crime And Immigration
An astonishing 10,000 millionaires left France in 2015 thanks to rising social tensions caused by Islamic immigration and terrorism. But while Britain has been warned to expect a similar exodus should racial tensions also rise here, the possibility of Britain leaving the European Union is more likely to keep millionaires within our shores. Overall last year France lost approximately 3 percent of its total number of millionaires, while it’s capital, Paris, lost about six percent of its millionaires. That amounts to some 7,000 people from Paris alone, mostly to the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia and Israel, according to a report by New World Wealth, an agency which compiles data on the global wealth sector. “The large outflow of millionaires from France is notable – France is being heavily impacted by rising religious tensions between Christians and Muslims, especially in urban areas. We expect that millionaire migration away from France will accelerate over the next decade as these tensions escalate,” the report warns. China saw the second largest outward flow of millionaires last year, the authors found, followed by Italy, India, Greece, the Russian Federation, Spain and Brazil. Australia was the largest recipient of new millionaires, with some 8000 coming to settle within her
The Hill: GOP Nears Breaking Point–About to Get Uglier
The GOP debate is going to get even more fractious, according to The Hill.
Fox Business: Ted Cruz Leads Donald Trump by 10 Points in Wisconsin
A new poll from FoxBusiness shows Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with a clear 10-point lead over Donald Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich in Wisconsin.
Krauthammer: ‘Likely’ Trump Recovers From ‘Terrible Week’
Thursday on Fox News Channel’s “The Kelly File,” Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer speculated that although this was a “terrible week” for Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, he will likely recover, noting that the predictions of Trump’s demise have proven to be incorrect throughout this election season. “Look, I’ve said it many times and I was wrong every single time,” Krauthammer said. “We’ve heard the expression ‘peak Trump’ about as often as we’ve heard ‘peak oil’ for the last 50 years and oil is gushing all over the world. So look, I think it is likely that he recovers. But if there is going to be one incident or one series of incidents happening together as we’ve seen in this week that would actually stop his and actually put a question mark in some of his supporters, this would be it. This was a terrible week.” Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
Donald Trump Slips in Reuters Tracking Poll
A new 5-day tracking poll from Reuters shows Donald Trump’s slipping to its lowest point since the race narrowed to a three-person contest. Trump currently has 41percent support among Republicans nationally. This level is down considerably from the 49…