Yellow vests movement spreads further in Europe and announces protest in Amsterdam
The yellow vests movement continues to spread across Europe. Originally from France, there were protests in Belgium, the Netherlands and even Germany.
After protests in The Hague and Nijmegen last week, the Dutch protests will now be organised in Amsterdam, newspaper Het Parool reports.
https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/12/yellow-vests-movement-spreads-further-in-europe-and-announces-protest-in-amsterdam/
Terror attack kills three in southeastern port city, Iranian state TV says
A suicide car bomber attacked a police headquarters in the southeastern Iranian port city of Chabahar on Thursday, killing at least three people and wounding several others, state TV reported.
State television broke into its regular broadcast to report the attack, as such assaults are rare in the Islamic Republic.
Rahmdel Bameri, a provincial official, told state TV that a suicide attacker driving a vehicle loaded with explosives drove up to the police headquarters. He said police officers blocked the vehicle and started firing at the driver, who then detonated his explosives.
State authorities did not identify who was behind the attack. No militant group immediately took responsibility for the attack.
https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/2176716/terror-attack-kills-three-southeastern-port-city-iranian
Lithuania will not sign the UN Migration Pact – Prime Minister
Lithuania will not sign the UN Migration Pact, Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said Wednesday, however Vilnius will voice approval for it.
“A minister will participate in the conference, express approval of the UN pact… Nothing will be signed by the minister,” Skvernelis stated at a press conference on Wednesday.
The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration is expected to be signed on 10-11 December in Marrakech.
The United States withdrew immediately, followed by Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and more, over issues with declaring all migration a human right and criminalising criticism or objection to it.
https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/12/lithuania-will-not-sign-the-un-migration-pact-prime-minister/
Bulgaria will not sign UN Migration Pact “to protect the interests of the country and its citizens”
Bulgaria joins countries in support of their country’s sovereignty and will not sign the U.N. Migration pact.
On Wednesday Bulgaria’s centre-right government made the statement that they will not be attending the U.N. meeting in Marrakech next week and will not sign the agreement.
“At this stage, the Bulgarian government believes that the decision not to join the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, protects to the fullest extent the interests of the country and its citizens,” the Balkan country’s statement said.
They have already taken steps towards stopping illegal migration, as it lies on one of the main migratory routes from the Middle East to Western Europe, and steps to protect the EU’s external borders.
https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/12/bulgaria-will-not-sign-un-migration-pact-to-protect-the-interests-of-the-country-and-its-citizens/
REPORT: Stanford admin suggests frat takes down American flag
A Stanford University administrator allegedly persuaded a now-defunct fraternity to remove an American flag from its house in order to break stereotypes.
While on suspension during the fall 2017 semester, Sigma Chi met with an administrator acting as a liaison between the frat and Stanford's Residential Education office, according to the Stanford Review. The administrator, identified by the Stanford Review as "Mr. Z," suggested that Sigma Chi take the flag down. This was during a period when the frat was trying to bring itself back into good standing with the school so that it could resume operations, which ultimately did not happen.
The administrator allegedly suggested that the frat take down its American flag to help get rid of stereotypes and remove the presence of a potentially unsettling symbol.
Stanford University 2018 graduate, Pablo Lozano, called Mr. Z "supportive" regarding the frat's struggle to survive probation and "transparent" concerning the school's bureaucracy. However, the Stanford alum reported that, during a dinner at Sigma Chi, the administrator suggested that the frat take down its American flag to help get rid of stereotypes and remove the presence of a potentially unsettling symbol
https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=11594
Italian government reduces migrant landings by 96% in two years
The Italian government has drastically reduced the number of migrant landings in the country. Since January this year 23,000 people arrived in Italy by sea and that’s 96 per cent less than two years ago.
The migrants who do manage to arrive mostly come from Tunisia, Eritrea, Sudan and Pakistan.
Italy’s large reduction in migrant landings shows that the policies of Interior Minister Matteo Salvini work. The migration hardliner refused numerous ships into Italy’s ports and made a deal with the Libyan coastguard to return migrants
https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/12/italian-government-reduces-migrant-landings-by-96-in-two-years/
‘Migrant free’ Slovakia is in top three of safest EU countries
In Slovakia, only 6.2 per cent of its citizens reported crime, violence or vandalism in 2017, according to data from the Eurostat statistics office survey which is part of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 16) strategy.
The safest countries in the European Union are in order:
Croatia, with only 3 per cent of Croatians reporting crime, violence or vandalism in 2017. Poland, having only 5.4 per cent and third, again, Slovakia, with 6.2 per cent.
Slovakia has accepted very few refugees or migrants during the European migrant crisis and has no problems concerning terror, no-go zones or sex crimes.
The EU average is 11.6 per cent, CTK newswire reports, with Bulgaria bottoming out the list with 23.6 per cent of Bulgarians reporting crime, violence or vandalism. As high as that is, it has actually been dropping over the past three years since it peaked at a record 28.6 per cent in 2009.
https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/12/migrant-free-slovakia-is-in-top-three-of-safest-eu-countries/
China Outraged at Arrest of Huawei CFO, Warns It Will “Take All Measures”
So much for a trade war truce between China and the US, or a stock market Christmas rally for that matter.
Shortly after the news hit that Huawei CFO Wanzhou Meng — also deputy chairwoman and the daughter of Huawei’s founder — was arrested on December 1, or right around the time Trump and Xi were having dinner in Buenos Aires last Saturday, and faces extradition to the U.S. as a result of a DOJ investigation into whether the Chinese telecom giant sold gear to Iran despite sanctions on exports to the region, China immediately lodged a formal protest publishing a statement at its embassy in Canada, and demanding the U.S. and its neighbor “rectify wrongdoings” and free Meng, warning it would “closely follow the development of the issue” and will “take all measures” to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/china-outraged-at-arrest-of-huawei-cfo-warns-it-will-take-all-measures/5662080
The Facebook files: “Whitelisted” apps got access to your data and activities — with or without consent
Mark Zuckerberg might have even more explaining to before Congress — and possibly in court. Exposed by an investigation conducted by the British parliament, a flood of internal documents strongly suggests that Facebook ignored a 2011 consent decree in which the social-media giant committed to allowing users to meaningfully restrict access to their data by third-party companies:
https://hotair.com/archives/2018/12/06/facebook-files-advertisers-got-access-data-activities-without-consent/
Former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho Chi-ping convicted in US court on 7 of 8 counts in bribery and money-laundering case
Former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho Chi-ping has been found guilty by a federal jury in New York of offering millions of dollars in bribes to African officials, and now faces jail time in the United States.
On Wednesday afternoon, local time, Ho was convicted by the New York Southern District Court jury on seven of eight counts of bribery and money laundering over oil rights for Chinese conglomerate CEFC China Energy, in Chad and Uganda.
“Expected. It’s like that,” Ho told Hong Kong reporters in Cantonese before leaving the courtroom to return to the Metropolitan Correctional Centre, where he has been held for more than a year. He also thanked his friends in Hong Kong without giving names, and shook hands with every member of his legal team.
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2176601/patrick-ho-convicted-us-court-7-8-counts-bribery-and
People should stop using FKFace-book
American Catholic priest accused of molesting Philippine altar boys while bathing with them
Philippine immigration authorities have arrested an American Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting altar boys in a remote central town in a case one official described as “shocking and appalling”.
The Reverend Kenneth Bernard Hendricks, who has been indicted in Ohio for illicit sexual conduct in the Philippines, was arrested in a church in Naval town in the island province of Biliran on Wednesday, Bureau of Immigration spokeswoman Dana Sandoval said on Thursday.
https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2176685/american-catholic-priest-accused-molesting-philippine-altar