Headlines 31/01/2016

Headlines:

Anti-Islam Groups Launch Europe-Wide Coalition Pledging to Defend Western Civilisation

Europe Racks up Billions in Deals with Iran now that Sanctions are Lifted

Saudi Gift to Malaysia PM Najib Razak for Election Campaign

Details:

Anti-Islam Groups Launch Europe-Wide Coalition Pledging to Defend Western Civilisation

The British branch of the far-right PEGIDA movement will join colleagues from across the continent as part of the Fortress Europe coalition, which says it will "never surrender to our enemies" amid concerns about mass Muslim migration. The new alliance brings together tens of thousands of campaigners from across Europe and has been announced in response to the escalating migrant crisis and alleged refugee sex attacks in Germany and Sweden. It will feature veteran activists from all corners of Europe including Tommy Robinson - the former leader of the English Defence League (EDL) who is now fronting PEGIDA UK. The groups met near Prague last week to thrash out a common mission statement with eight bullet points in which the campaigners pledge to "risk our lives" to oppose "political Islam, extreme Islamic regimes and their European collaborators". The movement is being spearheaded by campaigners from Germany, where PEGIDA was founded, and which has taken in more than one million refugees and migrants flooding into Europe from the Middle East, Asia and North Africa. Criticism of Angela Merkel's open door migration policy has been growing amid fury over the Cologne refugee sex attacks and subsequent cover-up attempts by authorities. Speaking at the conference in the Czech capital, leading PEGIDA activist Tatijana Festerling raged: "Merkel is growing a massive surplus of men in Germany." The goal of the network is international understanding. For only by the profound solidarity among peoples will it be possible for us to cooperatively ward off the population replacement and the Islamisation of Europe that goes with it. Submission is out of the question. Marek Cernoch, the chairman of the Czech party Usvit, which hosted the meeting in the town of Roztoky just outside Prague, added that the new coalition will campaign for tougher immigration rules to stop a repeat of the Cologne rapes. He said, "We will demand the strictest measures against migrants; we want to defend our women and children, all Europeans from them." Mr Cernoch also criticised EU lawmakers and the media for the way they handled the issue of migrant sex attacks. [Source: Express UK]

Rather than address the root cause of refugee migration - Western foreign policy - reactionary groups want to create a fortress Europe to keep out Muslims, and defend their decadent civilization.

Europe Racks up Billions in Deals with Iran now that Sanctions are Lifted

Europe is racking up billions in deals with oil-rich Iran as its president, Hassan Rouhani, makes a goodwill tour less than two weeks after the lifting of international sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Iran is looking to boost its economic ties to the West now that it is allowed to negotiate business deals as a reward for complying with curbs on its nuclear program. Here are details of some of the lucrative agreements:

• France’s Peugeot-Citroen announced a deal with Iranian automaker Khodro on Thursday to produce 200,000 cars a year in Iran. The deal, which will see the first cars produced in 2017, is worth $436 million, Peugeot-Citroen said.

• French energy company Total said Thursday it will sign a deal to buy crude oil from Iran, AFP reported.

• Airbus will deliver 118 passenger planes to Iran Air, as well as provide pilot and maintenance training, Airbus announced Thursday in Paris.

• France’s state rail company SNCF signed a deal with its Iranian counterpart, La Tribune reported.

• Iran and Italy on Tuesday signed up to $18 billion in deals covering sectors including health, agriculture, infrastructure and energy.

• General Electric is looking at ways to enter the Iranian market, the company said Tuesday.

• Rouhani struck a deal with Italian oil services group Saipem worth between $4 billion and $5 billion, according to Reuters.

• Iran awarded up to $6.2 billion in contracts to Danieli, an Italian steel firm that makes heavy machinery. [Source: USA Today]

Iran shows its true colors. After surrendering its nuclear capability, Tehran is now encouraging the economic colonization and domination of its industries. Economic sovereignty is the next casualty in Iran’s relations with the West.

Saudi Gift to Malaysia PM Najib Razak for Election Campaign

The $681m (£479m) deposited in the bank account of Malaysian PM Najib Razak by Saudi Arabia was to help him win the 2013 elections, a Saudi source says. Malaysia's attorney general cleared Mr Najib of allegations of corruption on Tuesday after ruling that the money was a donation from the Saudi royal family. Mr Najib had denied that the money came from state investment fund 1MDB. The Saudi source said the donation was made amid concern in Riyadh about the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood. At the time, Malaysia's opposition alliance included the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS). Its founders were inspired by the Brotherhood, although there is little evidence the Brotherhood actually has much support in Malaysia. Mr Najib's coalition went on to win the election, but with one of its poorest showings in more than 50 years in power. The secretive donation to Mr Najib was allegedly paid over in several wire transfers between late March 2013 and early April 2013, just ahead of the election on 5 May. The well-placed Saudi source, who has asked not to be named, told the BBC the payment was authorised from the very top - from Saudi Arabia's late King Abdullah - with funds coming from both his personal finances and state funds. Prince Turki bin Abdullah, one of the king's sons, is reported to have had extensive business dealings in Malaysia. The purpose of the donation was simple, said the Saudi source - it was to help Mr Najib and his coalition win the election, employing a strategic communications team with international experience, focusing on the province of Sarawak, and funding social programmes through party campaigning. But why should the Saudis care about an election in a non-Arab country more than 6,000 km (3,700 miles) away? The answer, the source said, lay in their concerns over the rising power of the Muslim Brotherhood, which they consider a terrorist organisation. The Saudis were already upset at events in Egypt, where President Mohammed Morsi was busy consolidating the Brotherhood's hold on the country. So how unusual is it for the Saudi royal family to hand over this amount of cash in a personal donation? Not at all, said the Saudi insider, adding that Jordan, Morocco, Egypt and Sudan have all been beneficiaries of multi-$100m donations from the Saudi royal purse. "There is nothing unusual about this donation to Malaysia," he said. "It is very similar to how the Saudis operate in a number of countries." Saudi Arabia was quick to support the overthrow of Mr Morsi in Egypt, providing the military-backed government with billions of dollars in aid and loans. Jordan has been the beneficiary of more than $1bn in Saudi development funding, while Riyadh has deposited more than $1bn in Sudan's central bank and signed deals to finance dams on the Nile. Morocco has been provided with oil, financing, investments and jobs in recent years. However, questions are still being asked about the secretive and convoluted nature of the money transfer, and the fact that Malaysia's prime minister returned 91% of it just four months later. The remaining $61m has not been accounted for. A British corporate investigator with extensive experience of the Middle East told the BBC that the $681m was paid through the Singapore branch of a Swiss bank owned by the rulers of Abu Dhabi. "It is very murky", he said. "This case will never be fully cleared up until the Saudis and the Malaysians release all the transaction data, and that has not happened." There has been growing outrage in some circles in Malaysia that the attorney-general has closed the file on this case and cleared the prime minister of any offences. Clare Rewcastle Brown, who has reported extensively on the issue for the Sarawak Report, said the claim that the payment to Mr Najib was a Saudi royal donation for political purposes needed to be treated "with considerable caution". She told the BBC that the $681m was far more likely to be connected to money raised by 1MDB, much of which is reported to have gone missing. [Source: BBC]

The British not the Saudi’s were keen for Razak to retain power in Malaysia, and instructed their agent Abdullah to transfer funds to boost Razak’s re-election.