Posts

French President: We Will Go Ahead and Take 30,000 Refugees

/3 Comments/in , /by

French President Francois Hollande today promised that “France will remain a country of freedom,” defending his decision to honor a commitment to accept migrants and refugees despite Friday’s deadly terrorist attacks in Paris.

“Life should resume fully,” Hollande told a gathering of the country’s mayors, who gave him a standing ovation. “What would France be without its museums, without its terraces, its concerts, its sports competitions?

In the same spirit, he added, “30,000 refugees will be welcomed over the next two years. Our country has the duty to respect this commitment,” explaining that they will undergo vigorous security checks.

Hollande noted that “some people say the tragic events of the last few days have sown doubts in their minds,” but called it a “humanitarian duty” to help those people … but one that will go hand in hand with “our duty to protect our people.” (Read more from “French President: We Will Go Ahead and Take 30,000 Refugees” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Striking Back: French Jets Bomb ISIS Targets in Syrian Stronghold of Raqqa

/2 Comments/in , /by

French jets struck the heart of ISIS-controlled territory on Sunday in the first direct retaliation for Friday’s terror attacks that killed at least 129 people in Paris.

Twelve aircraft, including 10 French fighter jets, dropped 20 bombs on a command and control center, a jihadi recruitment center, munitions depot and ISIS training camp in the Syrian city of Raqqa, France’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. Raqqa is the de facto capital of the Islamic State’s “caliphate” . . .

The U.S. has conducted the vast majority of coalition attacks on ISIS territory up to this point, and has been almost solely responsible for all coalition bombings of ISIS inside Syria. However, the nature of Friday’s attacks, which devastated France and shocked the world, changed the calculus.

The airstrikes came as The New York Times reported that investigators believe that at least one of Friday’s eight attackers had visited Syria, while some of the other assailants had been communicating with known ISIS members before the attacks.

European intelligence officials told the paper that they believed that Ismael Omar Mostefai, a 29-year-old French citizen, traveled to Syria via Turkey in 2012. Mostefai was identified as one of the terrorists who blew himself up at the Bataclan concert hall, but not before helping to murder 89 concert-goers. (Read more from “Striking Back: French Jets Bomb ISIS Targets in Syrian Stronghold of Raqqa” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

‘Apocalyptic’ Flash Floods and Massive Mudslides – Just Some of the Horrific Weather Changes Being Endured Internationally

/15 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Voice of America By The Associated Press. In a matter of minutes, torrential rains transformed the postcard-perfect French Riviera into a terrifying flood zone, leaving at least 16 dead, trapping hundreds of ailing pilgrims and halting car and train traffic Sunday along the mud-drenched Mediterranean coast.

Victims were found dead in a retirement home, campsites, and cars submerged in a tunnel. Residents, stunned by the ferocity of the brief downpour Saturday night, described it as the worst flooding they’d ever seen — so dramatic that President Francois Hollande paid an emergency visit Sunday to promise government aid for victims.

Helicopters patrolled the area and 27,000 homes were without electricity Sunday after rivers and streams overflowed their banks and fierce thunderstorms poured more than 18 centimeters (6.7 inches) of rain in Cannes and some other areas, according to the Interior Ministry. The Cannes region saw the equivalent of two months of rainfall in less than two hours, local radio France Bleu-Azur reported. (Read more from “‘Apocalyptic’ Flash Floods and Massive Mudslides – Just Some of the Horrific Weather Changes Being Endured Internationally” HERE)

____________________________________

Guatemala Mudslide Death Toll Rises to 86

By VOA News. Hope is all but gone Sunday that any survivors will be found from the massive landslide on the outskirts of Guatemala’s capital.

The death toll has risen to 86 and is expected to continue to rise as emergency crews dig through tons of earth for an estimated 350 missing people.

Distraught relatives of the victims shoveled alongside diggers through the mounds of earth that destroyed homes in Santa Catarina Pinula on the southeastern flank of Guatemala City after Thursday night’s collapse of a hillside.

Every batch of earth turned up by the diggers held more personal belongings, from mattresses and books to toys and Christmas decorations.

Clutching photos of loved ones, family members stood in line outside a makeshift morgue near the excavation site, some of them crying, to see if they recognized any corpses. (Read more from this story HERE)

____________________________________

South Carolina Flooding: 5 Dead, Curfews Ordered, Hundreds Rescued, Several Interstates Closed

By The Weather Channel. Curfews have been ordered, many are without drinking water, several interstates are closed and five people are dead in some of the worst flooding South Carolina has ever seen.

Emergency managers sent out a statewide alert telling people to remain indoors.

“Stay home. Stay off the roadways,” Thom Berry, South Carolina Emergency Management spokesperson, told The Weather Channel on Sunday. “Don’t get on the roadways because you very likely can become part of the problem.”

Officials are worried life-threatening impacts will only worsen as the 1-in-1,000-year rain event continues. Authorities said hundreds of people were in need of rescue Sunday as the floodwaters kept rising all over the Palmetto State. Columbia, the state capital, was the hardest hit. (Read more from this story HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

This Country Is Preparing to Launch Their First Airstrikes Against ISIS in Syria

/0 Comments/in , /by

Six French jet fighters targeted and destroyed an Islamic State training camp in eastern Syria, President Francois Hollande said Sunday, making good on a promise to go after the group that the president has said is planning attacks against several countries, including France . . .

“The camp was totally destroyed,” Hollande said Sunday after arriving at the United Nations, before the start of a major development summit and the U.N. General Assembly bringing together world leaders . . .

France has carried out 215 airstrikes against ISIS extremists in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition since last year, the Defense Ministry said earlier this month. But it previously held back on engaging in Syria, citing concern over playing into Assad’s hand and the need for such action to be covered by international law. (Read more from “This Country Is Preparing to Launch Their First Airstrikes Against ISIS in Syria” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Facebook Page Publishing Identities of French Jews to Encourage Attackers; 15 Men Assault a Jew in Paris Suburb After Confirming Photo

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Screenshot / Facebook

Photo Credit: Screenshot / Facebook

A violent mob of more than a dozen men in France assaulted a Jew at his home in a Paris suburb after confirming that his photograph had been published by a French Facebook page identifying Jews to be targeted for physical intimidation, The Union of Jewish Students of France, the UEJF, said in a statement on Friday.

The Facebook page, ‘Jeunes Révolutionnaires Français’, JRF, or ‘Young French Revolutionaries’, posted the names and photos of 32 Jews. The assault on one of those listed took place on Thursday night in Bobigny, Seine-Saint-Denis, a Paris suburb. The assailants were armed with iron bars.

On the ‘Secret Tel Aviv’ Facebook page, Daniel Cohen called the group anti-Semitic, and exhorted Facebook users to report the JRF page to site administrators for removal.

On Facebook, Cohen wrote, “An anti-Semitic page is publishing names and pictures of French Jews in order to target them physically! A few have already been attacked at their homes, one last night by 15 people on one Jewish guy. We need to remove this page!”

The JRF captioned its page with the photos of the Jews to be targeted, “Smile, you’re caught! JRF watches! # AntiLDJ,” referring to the LDJ, the French initials of the Jewish Defense League, an organization created to teach Jews how to defend themselves from anti-Semitic attacks.

Read more from this story HERE.

French President In Joint Press Conf with Israeli PM Netanyahu Vows Tough Iran Stance

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP/Ariel SchalitVisiting French President Francois Hollande vowed to maintain his country’s tough stance in upcoming nuclear talks with Iran this week, earning praise from his Israeli hosts Sunday as he began a three-day visit to the Jewish state.

Israel has repeatedly voiced concern that the emerging deal global powers are negotiating with Iran gives it too much, without guaranteeing that the Islamic Republic’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon is eliminated.

Hollande vowed to keep up pressure on Iran and not make any concessions regarding nuclear proliferation.

“If there hadn’t been sanctions, if they hadn’t been enforced, it’s clear that we would never even have had the words from Iran — and I don’t yet speak of actions — that we had in the last few weeks,” he said In a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We have a duty to resolve this problem that has been under discussions for too many years because Iran for too long has participated in discussions without taking actions.”

Netanyahu has been outspoken in his opposition to a potential deal in which the international community would ease some sanctions on Iran in exchange for some curbs on Iran’s nuclear program. The countries fear that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, a charge Iran denies.

Read more from this story HERE.

French MP: If Sanctions on Iran are Loosened, Israel Will Attack (+video)

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: Marc Israel Sellem/Pool/Flash90By Times of Israel Staff.

A French member of parliament telephoned French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in Geneva at the weekend to warn him that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would attack Iran’s nuclear facilities if the P5+1 nations did not stiffen their terms on a deal with Iran, Israel’s Channel 2 News reported Sunday.

“I know [Netanyahu],” the French MP, Meyer Habib, reportedly told Fabius, and predicted that the Israeli prime minister would resort to the use of force if the deal was approved in its form at the time. “If you don’t toughen your positions, Netanyahu will attack Iran,” the report quoted Habib as saying. “I know this. I know him. You have to toughen your positions in order to prevent war.”

France’s Fabius is widely reported to have scuppered the finalizing of the emerging deal late Saturday, leading to the halting of the negotiations with Iran, and an agreement to reconvene on November 20.

Explaining his concerns to reporters in Geneva, Fabius said Tehran was resisting demands that it suspend work on its plutonium-producing reactor at Arak and downgrade its stockpile of higher-enriched uranium.

Habib, the deputy president of the Jewish umbrella organization in France, was elected to the National Assembly in Paris in June, to represent the district of southern Europe, which includes French nationals residing in Israel.

Read more from this story HERE.

________________________________________________________

Photo Credit: Daily Caller Iran general: No doubt Israel and America will be attacked

By Reza Kahlili.

Even before the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the 5+1 world powers ended in Geneva early Sunday with no deal, an Iranian general lashed out at America Saturday and warned both the U.S. and Israel that they will be attacked.

According to Fars News Agency, the regime’s outlet run by the Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Massoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, said “America’s interests and all of Israel are within the range of the Islamic Republic and there is not the slightest doubt among Iran’s armed forces to confront the American government and the Zionists (Israel).”

Jazayeri said Israel is pulling the strings of Washington and “the American government is one of the most hated and evil governments in the world.”

The general mocked President Obama’s position that the military option remains on the table over Iran’s nuclear development. “If America had the ability and the will for war, it would allow no doubt in attacking Syria. America will soon find out that Iran’s power cannot be ignored.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Iran Nuclear Talks End with No Agreement after France Balks at Deal

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Fox News Negotiations among world powers to temporarily curb Iran’s nuclear program ended with no deal Saturday after France objected that proposals did not go far enough.

French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said that the talks, which ended early Sunday, managed to narrow differences without eliminating them, saying there are “still questions to be dealt with” in future rounds. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said “significant progress” had been made on the differences that remain.

A Western diplomat said a new round would be needed to agree on all points of a temporary deal that would to lead to a comprehensive agreement ensuring that Tehran’s nuclear work remains peaceful.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who coordinated the talks, said Iran and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany would meet again on Nov. 20.

Fabius said there were “several points” in the initial deal with which his country is not satisfied and told France-Inter Radio France does not want to be part of a “con game.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Israel Demands Explanation After French Diplomat Punches Israeli Soldier in the Face (+video)

/4 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Screenshot

Photo Credit: Screenshot

French diplomat Marion Fesneau-Castaing punched an Israeli soldier in the face at the weekend prompting Israel’s Foreign Ministry to demand “an explanation of this blatant violation of diplomatic codes of conduct,” according to reports from AFP and Israel Hayom on Sunday.

Israel Hayom published footage of Fesneau-Castaing striking a helmeted border policeman on the chin with her fist. The punch was thrown on Friday, when IDF troops arrived to disperse a group of European diplomats as they tried to hand out tents and other equipment to Bedouin in Khirbet al-Makhul.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said, “Israel rejects the one-sided announcement which was published by the spokespersons of HR [Catherine] Ashton and Commissioner Georgieva regarding the events in the Northern Jordan Valley. This announcement ignores the European diplomats’ blunt violation of the law, their disregard to a ruling of the Israeli court and their unnecessary provocation under the alleged pretext of humanitarian aid.”

Read more from this story HERE.

French Mayor Faces Five Years in Jail for Refusing to Marry Homosexuals

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: au.ibtimes

Same-sex or gay marriages may have been already legalized in France this year, but some heads of local governments are still willing to spare them the blessing. However, the stand of Jean-Michel Colo, the mayor of Arcangues in the Paye-Basques region of France, brave it might be to some, could risk him not only of his mayoralty post but land him in jail as well.

“The elects who do not respect the laws of the republic will risk significant sanctions,” Manuel Valls, France’s Minister of the Interior, said, according to news portal www.lefigaro.fr.

Mr Colo got into the hot seat after he refused to officiate the gay marriage of Guy Martineau-Espel to his long-time partner Jean-Michel Martin.

“When people close the door at home, they do what they want. For me, marriage is for a woman and man to have children. I am not discriminating as a same-sex couple is sterile. It’s a parody of equality, it’s a big lie,” Mr Colo told AFP.

“When I wanted to have a child, I had a woman, I did not turn to my neighbor,” he further pointed out.

Read more from this story HERE.