Violence Erupts in Greece as Migrants Try to Cross Into Macedonia

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By Liz Alderman and Dimitris Bounias. It was a scene of a type that could become all too common in coming months: Thousands of increasingly desperate people backed up at the frontier between Greece and Macedonia on Monday, stymied in their efforts to reach Germany. A group of angry asylum seekers busted through a razor-wire fence. Armed police officers fired tear gas as frenzied crowds chanted, “Open the border!”

Less than a week after Austria and nine other European countries took steps to stem the flow of refugees from Greece toward Germany and other prosperous countries, the spasm of violence on Greece’s northern border brought to life the perils of the European Union’s inability so far to settle on a common policy to address the migration crisis.

War in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and repression and economic hardship across the Middle East and Africa continue to compel large numbers of people to strike out for Europe. Germany continues to signal that it will accept legitimate refugees, especially from Syria. As the weather grows warmer and the sea crossing from Turkey to Greece safer, the number of people arriving is expected to spike, putting a huge strain on Greece, which in effect is becoming a giant holding center for migrants who cannot go forward because of the new border restrictions, but will not or cannot go back. (Read more from “Violence Erupts in Greece as Migrants Try to Cross Into Macedonia” HERE)

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Violence at Greece Border as Refugee Crisis Deepens

By Josh Lowe. Refugees and migrants rioted at the Macedonian border on Monday, the latest flashpoint in Greece’s spiraling refugee crisis.

Nearly 8,000 refugees are stranded at a camp with the capacity to hold 2,000 people, near the Greek town of Idomeni, Al Jazeera reported. New restrictions at the Greece-Macedonia border, including the refusal of passage to the Afghan refugees and migrants who make up one third of arrivals, have led to a buildup of people at the frontier . . .

During the rioting, a razor-wire barrier was torn and a group of men attacked a gate with a homemade battering ram.

The disturbance came as German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged other states to show more solidarity with Greece. Speaking to a talk show on national TV, she criticized recent moves by Austria to increase checks at its borders. (Read more from “Violence at Greece Border as Refugee Crisis Deepens” HERE)

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Pentagon Approves Contract to Sell Smart Bombs to Turkey

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The Pentagon has signed a deal to sell nearly $700 million worth of smart bombs to Turkey as tensions are escalating between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq.

The sale, announced on Tuesday, comes at a crucial time for Turkey’s military, which continues to be heavily embroiled in attacking the Kurds in the volatile northern part of Iraq . . .

The Pentagon granted the contract to Ellwood National Forge and General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems for the sale of BLU-109 bunker busting bomb bodies and components, the first reported sale of such bombs to Turkey . . .

Based on reports, BLU-109 bombs have been in the Pentagon’s inventory since 1985 and are said to have been used on militants in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The bomb contains 550 pounds of high explosive Tritonal, a combination of 80% TNT and 20% aluminum powder. The BLU-109’s tail fuse delays the bomb’s detonation until the bomb has penetrated the targeted bunker, ensuring complete destruction. (Read more from “Pentagon Approves Contract to Sell Smart Bombs to Turkey” HERE)

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North Korea Publicly Executes 80, Some for Videos or Bibles

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As many as 80 people were publicly executed in North Korea earlier this month, some for offenses as minor as watching South Korean movies or possessing a Bible.

South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported that the so-called criminals were put to death in seven cities across North Korea on Nov. 3, in the first known large-scale public executions by the Kim Jong-un regime.

A source, who is familiar with internal affairs in the North and who recently visited the country, told the paper that about 10 people were killed in each city.

Eight people — their heads covered with white bags — were tied to stakes at a local stadium in the city of Wonsan, before authorities shot them with a machine gun, according to the source . . .

The common theme of the persecution was crimes related to South Korea — like watching South Korean films — or corruption of public morals, especially sexual misconduct. North Korean law permits executions for conspiring to overthrow the government, treason and terrorism. But the country has also been known to order public executions for minor infractions such as religious activism, cellphone use and stealing food, in an effort to intimidate the public. (Read more from “North Korea Publicly Executes 80, Some for Videos or Bibles” HERE)

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CONFIRMED: Obama Sent Weapons to Muslim Terrorists in Benghazi

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One of the few interesting items in the New York Times’ whitewash of Hillary and Obama’s illegal Libyan war is the confirmation of weapons shipments.

Obama ultimately took her side, according to the administration officials who described the debate. After he signed a secret document called a presidential finding, approving a covert operation, a list of approved weaponry was drawn up. The shipments arranged by the United States and other Western countries generally arrived through the port of Benghazi and airports in eastern Libya, a Libyan rebel commander said.

“Humvees, counterbattery radar, TOW missiles was the highest end we talked about,” one State Department official recalled. “We were definitely giving them lethal assistance. We’d crossed that line.”

The story blames the problem on Qatar aiding Jihadists and Obama’s unwillingness to defy the terror oil state. But the claim that we had to arm terrorists to fight Qatar’s arming of terrorists doesn’t hold up too well. Furthermore we already know that US forces were told to turn a blind eye to Qatar’s weapons shipments. We could have blocked them instead.

The story mentions a competition between Qatar and the UAE over arming the locals, but fails to clarify that Qatar was arming straight Jihadists, while the UAE had taken an anti-Islamist line.

It also fails to clarify that Qatar was backing the Muslim Brotherhood. Just like Hillary and Obama. (Read more from “CONFIRMED: Obama Sent Weapons to Muslim Terrorists in Benghazi” HERE)

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Deutsche Bank: It’s Time to Buy Gold

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Gold is still expensive, but rising economic risks and market turmoil mean investors should buy it for insurance, Deutsche Bank said Friday.

The recovery since the global and European financial crises had put the price of gold under some pressure. The yellow metal, which some analysts view as a safe haven or as a protection against rising inflation, typically underperforms during periods when the economy is growing or inflation is low. However, in a note issued Friday, the German Bank said economic signs are pointing in gold’s favor.

“There are rising stresses in the global financial system; in particular the rising risk of a U.S. corporate default cycle and the risk of a sharp one-off renminbi devaluation due to the sharp increase in China’s capital outflows,” Deutsche Bank added.”Buying some gold as ‘insurance’ is warranted.”

However, even though gold has fallen from levels over $1,900 an ounce in 2011 to around $1,200 an ounce currently, Deutsche Bank said it still looks expensive, ranking as the most expensive commodity relative to its 15-year trading history.

“A bit like insurance, which is often a grudge purchase for many, some investors may balk at the current levels,” it said. “We would, however, argue that given the plethora of negative deposit rates globally, the holding cost of gold is now negligible in many jurisdictions, and therefore gold deserves to be trading at elevated levels versus many other assets.” (Read more from “Deutsche Bank: It’s Time to Buy Gold” HERE)

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Netanyahu Quotes Bible, Voices Strong Support for Gay Rights

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed his support on the Knesset’s first designated LGBT Rights Day on Tuesday.

Netanyahu rarely appears in the legislature on Tuesdays, a day on which it usually does not hold important votes, but he arrived specially to participate in LGBT Rights Day, during which discussions of the topic were held in the plenum and committees.

The prime minister briefly addressed the plenum: “I know that there were important and lengthy discussions today, and I came here in the middle of my schedule, which was no less busy, to say one sentence to the members of the LGBT community: ‘Every man was created in the image of God.’ That is the idea brought by our nation to mankind thousands of years ago, and it is the principle that must guide our national lives today.” (Read more from “Netanyahu Quotes Bible, Voices Strong Support for Gay Rights” HERE)

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China Warns U.S. After Trump Wins Nevada Caucus

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China warned the United States on Wednesday not to adopt punitive currency policies that could disrupt U.S.-China relations after Donald Trump’s win in the Nevada caucus.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing that “we are following with interest the U.S. presidential election.”

Hua was asked about China’s response to a possible Trump presidency and his announced plan to punish China for currency manipulation with a tax on Chinese goods.

“Since it belongs to the domestic affair of the U.S., I am not going to make comments on specific remarks by the relevant candidate,” she said.

“But I want to stress that China and the U.S., as world’s largest developing and developed countries, shoulder major responsibilities in safeguarding world peace, stability and security and driving world development,” the spokeswoman added. (Read more from “China Warns U.S. After Trump Wins Nevada Caucus” HERE)

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Ahead of Election, Iran’s Leader Warns of Western ‘Plot’

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By Samia Nakhoul. Iran’s top leader warned voters on Wednesday the West was plotting to influence elections pitting centrists close to President Hassan Rouhani against conservative hardliners in a contest that could shape the Islamic Republic for years to come.

In remarks reflecting an abiding mistrust of Rouhani’s rapprochement with the West, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he was confident Iranians would vote in favor of keeping Iran’s anti-Western stance on Friday in the first elections since last year’s nuclear accord with world powers.

Rouhani’s allies, who hope the deal will hasten Iran’s opening up to the world after years of sanctions, have come under increasing pressure in the election campaign from hardliners who accuse them of links to Western powers including the United States and Britain.

Those accusations seek to tap into Iranians’ wariness of Western motives and memories of a 1953 coup against nationalist prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh that was orchestrated by the United States and Britain and strengthened the Shah’s rule. (Read more from “Ahead of Election, Iran’s Leader Warns of Western ‘Plot'” HERE)

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Iran Arrests Elderly Father of Jailed U.S. Citizen

By Yeganeh Torbati. Iranian authorities this week arrested the elderly father of an American jailed in Iran since October, the man’s family said on Wednesday.

Siamak Namazi, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, was detained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in October while in Iran visiting family. Officials have yet to announce charges against him.

Baquer Namazi, Siamak’s father, was arrested late on Monday in Tehran, his wife Effie Namazi said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. The 80-year-old Namazi, also a dual Iranian-American citizen, was taken to Evin Prison, where his son is also being held, she said.

Asked at a Senate hearing about the elder Namazi’s arrest, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said: “I am very familiar with this and I am engaged on it specifically, but I am not permitted due to privacy reasons to go into details here.” (Read more from ” Iran Arrests Elderly Father of Jailed U.S. Citizen” HERE)

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North Korea Just Issued Another Apocalyptic Threat to the U.S.

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North Korea has threatened to attack ‘mainland America’ if the U.S. carries out a planned military drill with South Korean troops next month.

The secretive state has reacted with anger after it was revealed more than 300,000 American and South Korean troops were planning to hold their biggest ever annual exercise following the North’s nuclear tests earlier this year.

It is said the parallel Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises will include a staged ‘pre-emptive strike’ against the North – apparently leaving leader Kim Jong-Un seething.

Pyongyang has said if there is even a ‘slight sign’ of such exercises taking place, it will use all its might to hit back – claiming the first target would be South Korea’s presidential Blue House, while U.S. military bases in Asia and in America would be its secondary targets.

The Supreme Command of the Korean People’s Army said in a statement carried by state media: ‘All the powerful strategic and tactical strike means of our revolutionary armed forces will go into preemptive and just operation to beat back the enemy forces to the last man if there is a slight sign of their special operation forces and equipment moving to carry out the so-called ‘beheading operation’ and ‘high-density strike’.’ (Read more from “North Korea Just Issued a Terrifying Threat to the U.S.” HERE)

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Alleged Terrorist’s Strange Surveillance Video Has Authorities Thinking the Worst

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Belgian authorities fear the Islamic State’s next move after obtaining hours of surveillance footage of a senior nuclear official at the apartment of an alleged terrorist.

Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure Wednesday reported that the footage was found in a raid of Mohamed Bakkali’s Brussels apartment. Bakkali is held on charges of terrorist activity and murder for his alleged involvement in the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, which took 130 lives . . .

Edwin Lyman, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told The Daily Caller News Foundation that an attack on a nuclear power plant could have catastrophic consequences, but also, thankfully, require extensive knowledge of the target.

“A terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant could conceivably result in an event as catastrophic as a severe accident like Chernobyl or Fukushima,” Lyman told TheDCNF in an emailed statement. “It’s not clear to me what information they could glean from the surveillance of the home of a nuclear official alone, unless they were planning to kidnap him and extract information.”

It wouldn’t be the first time terrorists have considered an attack on a power plant. Several attempts in countries such as Argentina, Russia and South Korea have failed. The 9/11 Commission Report also reported that Al Qaida’s original plan included U.S. power plants. (Read more from “Alleged Terrorist’s Strange Surveillance Video Has Authorities Thinking the Worst” HERE)

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