While the attention of the international community has been directed towards the battle against the coronavirus pandemic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government appears to be allowing Iran’s sanctioned banks to operate freely in Germany.

According to a recent report published by United Against Nuclear Iran:

“Siemens, Volkswagen and the big multinationals have pulled back due to U.S. sanctions, but many of Germany’s 3.5 million small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) are still prepared to do business with Iran. And they still can. From Hamburg in the north to Munich in the south, the ‘Mittelstand’ firms can obtain Letters of Credit, bank guarantees, insurance and all the other trade finance products they need from their Iranian facilitators. “

In a bid to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the US Department of Treasury has so far added to its list of sanctions 50 Iranian banks and their foreign and domestic subsidiaries. According to the US Treasury Department, November 5, 2018 was the largest single-day action by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) “targeting the Iranian regime’s abuse of Iran’s banking sector to fund its destabilizing activities. For example, the Iranian regime has funneled the equivalent of billions of dollars for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) through the banking sector”.

According to the report by United Against Nuclear Iran:

“Germany was again Europe’s largest trading partner with Iran by far, exporting $1.64 billion worth of goods in 2019. While German banks have been largely reluctant to finance Iran trade, there are at least five banks – all owned/operated by Iran and all operating inside Germany – that are more than happy to step in.”

One of the sanctioned banks freely doing business in Hamburg, Germany, is Bank Melli. It is the largest bank owned by the Iranian regime, and when it comes to revenues, it ranks first, followed by Bank Mellat.

Bank Melli, all the same, has been implicated in several major covert and illicit activities in foreign nations. When, for instance, a jury in the US federal court concluded that prosecutors could confiscate a skyscraper in Manhattan to pay the families of victims of 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia in 1996, and the bombing of a US Marine Corps barracks in Lebanon in 1983, it was revealed that sixty percent of the skyscraper is owned by the Alavi Foundation and 40 percent by Assa Corp., which is controlled by and operates on behalf of Iran’s Bank Melli, according to the US government. After going through a “massive amount of evidence,” the judge said she was “firmly convinced” that the Alavi Foundation “takes directives from Iranian government officials, and its day-to-day operators have been appointed by Iranian officials to ensure conformity with the interests of the government of Iran.” The foundation has also madedonations to various institutions in the US, including Iranian programs and universities, such as Columbia.

Another major Iranian bank also still conducting business in Hamburg, Germany is Bank Sepah. Bank Sepah, also owned by the Iranian regime, has been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department and has links to the regime’s ballistic missile program. According to United Against Nuclear Iran:

“Bank Sepah has provided ‘direct and extensive financial services‘ to Iran’s key ballistic missiles procurement and development agencies, including Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO) and its subsidiary, Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG).”

Another key joint bank is the Europäisch-Iranische Handelsbank AG (EIH), which has also been linked to carrying more than a billion dollars of transactions for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Defense Industries Organization (DIO), and Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO).

The Iranian regime seems to have become a master at charting illicit paths and exploiting other nations’ financial systems. In Bahrain in 2018, for example, Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa pointed out that the government had detected that the Iranian-linked Future Bank was operating a covert corruption scheme in Bahrain. It was later revealed that Iran’s Bank Melli had instructed Future Bank officials on what specifically to do when routing money through the US in order to conceal the origins of the funds.

By trading with the Iranian regime and allowing Iran’s sanctioned banks freely to operate in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is empowering the ruling mullahs and their regime. They are not only the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism; they are also racing to develop clandestine nuclear weaponsand the missiles to deliver them.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15971/germany-iran-terror-banks

The Prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis, the Parisian suburb which has the highest proportion of migrants, is concerned that “hunger riots” could break out in the area due to a decline in the economic situation as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

Georges-François Leclerc, the department’s Prefect, voiced his concerns about the risk of starvation threatening the region’s inhabitants in an e-mail he wrote to Michel Cadot, the Prefect of Île-de-France, on April 18, as reported by the news magazine Marianne.

Well over 50% of Saint-Denis’ residents under 18 are of foreign origin, and it has been estimated that as much as 20% of the department’s population are illegal migrants. It is also the poorest department in all of France.

“My main concern in the coming weeks, putting aside the health risk, is the food risk,” Leclerc wrote, estimating that between 15,000 and 20,000 residents would have difficulty being able to obtain food. The people at risk include those in the slums, those who stay in emergency housing, and migrant workers.

Leclerc said that the collapse of the black market, the decrease in demand for Uber drivers, and rampant unemployment among temporary workers — all brought about by the ongoing lockdown — has led to a dangerous loss of income for residents, many of whom were already barely at subsistence level.

Leclerc mentioned similar concerns about the neighboring department of Val-d’Oise.

Most at risk for starvation are children and middle-school students. They are usually fed at their school canteens, but the schools have also been closed due to the lockdown.

Leclerc also indicated that the government is not distributing enough food vouchers for soup kitchens to the neediest, claiming that the number needs to be doubled. He pointed out that there are increasing numbers of unemployed workers joining the regulars at soup kitchens. “What could be managed during one month of confinement will not be enough in two,” he wrote.

The national government seems to have recognised the danger, as it is increasing the payments made to recipients of social benefits from May 15, and the city government has promised that the number of food vouchers will be doubled.

The situation in the Parisian suburbs is already tense, with attacks on police and other first responders on the increase in recent weeks, as previously reported by Voice of Europe.

voiceofeurope.com/2020/05/france-saint-denis-concerned-about-hunger-riots/

Continuing the never ending stream of church attacks by illegal immigrants on the Greek island of Lesvos, Saint Catherine in the town of Moria, has become the latest victim.

This is only the latest incident and rather it has become extremely common for Greek Orthodox Churches to be vandalised and attacked by illegal immigrants on Lesvos.

Last month, the main entrance to the Saint Raphael church close to the Moria migrant camp was attacked too, as reported by Greek City Times.

This latest incident on Lesvos follows other recent shocking events, including two gangs of Afghani immigrants battling each other, African immigrants ridiculing and coughing on police in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and thousands of olives trees being destroyed.

About half of the 50,000 illegal immigrants on Lesvos are kept at the Moria camp that is supposed to host only 3,000 people. A rise in criminality has hit the island since the migrant crisis began in 2015 when Turkey allowed hundreds of thousands of people to leave and enter Greece illegally, whether via land or sea.

Lesvos, as an island of only 90,000 citizens, has been one of the most hardest hit areas of Greece.

As a deeply religious society, these attacks on churches are shocking to the Greek people and calls to question whether these illegal immigrants seeking a new life in Europe are willing to integrate and conform to the norms and values of their new countries.

These continued attacks has ultimately seen the people of Lesvos, who were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016, become increasingly frustrated by the unresolved situation that has restricted and changed their lives as they no longer feel safe on their once near crime-free island.

In addition to the increased crime on the islands, there has also been a deep ecological impact as waterways in Lesvos have become absolutely trashed by the illegal immigrants.

greekcitytimes.com/2020/05/04/illegal-immigrants-attack-another-church-on-lesvos/

Left-wing extremists assaulted a television crew in Berlin on May Day, resulting in a number of injuries, some severe enough to require hospitalisation.

The attack took place in the Kreuzberg district on Friday evening. A team of seven, including three security guards, from the satirical news programme Heute-Show (Today Show), which airs on Germany’s channel ZDF, had been filming as hundreds of demonstrators marched in the area. The march was held in violation of the ongoing lockdown in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The demonstrators shouted chants against the police and threw smoke bombs as officers attempted to disperse the crowd, according to a report by Die Welt.

Although it is illegal in Germany to wear a mask in a demonstration, authorities relented on this regulation on Friday as a coronavirus prevention measure.

After filming, the crew was on their way back to their vehicles when between fifteen and twenty-five extremists attacked them with poles. Five of them were injured, four severely enough to be hospitalised.

According to a statement by ZDF, the assailants were also using blackjacks, and the crew’s sound assistant was kicked in the face with such force that it was likely intended to be lethal.

Police arrested six people afterwards — four men and two women between the ages of 24 and 31 — but all were released the same night. The Prosecutor’s Office said that there was no grounds to detain two of them, and there were “no urgent suspicions” regarding the other four, according to a report by Junge Freiheit.

Barbara Slowik, Berlin’s Chief of Police, said that she did not want to speculate on the political motives of the attack, but said that there will be an investigation.

Horst Seehofer, Germany’s Minister of the Interior, condemned the attack, calling for better protection for journalists. “Freedom of the press is the pillar of our democracy,” he said, saying that state power should be used to prevent violence.

“This is about the basic values of our community,” Seehofer added.

Large demonstrations of extremists also took place in Leipzig, Hamburg, and Braunschweig, as well as in other districts of Berlin. A reporter in Hamburg was also injured after being hit with a bottle by demonstrators.

Left-wing extremists in Germany had vowed to commit acts of violence on May Day, saying that they intended to exploit the chaos introduced by the coronavirus for their own ends, as previously reported by Voice of Europe.

voiceofeurope.com/2020/05/germany-left-wing-extremists-assault-television-crew-some-hospitalised/

vladtepesblog.com/2020/05/03/ted-cruz-goes-after-hollywood-commies-voodoo-in-toronto-links-1-may-3-2020/

Chancellor Merkel and Minister of Health Spahn spoke of 40,000 people who were acutely infected on Thursday. That was too many, a spokeswoman now admitted.

The Federal Government mentioned too high infection numbers around the federal-state summit on Thursday. A spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Health admitted at the weekend that the number of 40,000 people who were acutely infected was incorrect. The Chancellery did not want to comment on Sunday at the request of the Reuters news agency. In fact, based on the figures from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Thursday, just over 29,000 people were infectious.

Chancellor Angela Merkel had spoken on Thursday after the federal-state summit as well as health minister Jens Spahn of 40,000 – almost a third more than the RKI stated. At the same time, Spahn had given this number in a guest post for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).

Merkel replied to a journalist’s question about the different parameters she mentioned for possible relaxation: “Today we are currently 40,000 infected and a total of 150,000 to 160,000.”

Spahn had opened a calculation on Wednesday, which is probably the cause of the error: He spoke of157,000 infected and 120,000 recoveredand thus a number of 37,000 acutely infected.

This subtraction obviously ignored the number of deaths, which was over 6000. According to RKI figures, only around 31,000 were infectious. Since the number of people who have been cured has clearly exceeded that of the newly infected for a long time and the number of deaths is also increasing, the number for the day of the Bund-Länder meeting was just over 29,000.

As of Sunday, it has dropped further to a good 25,000. The number is also important with regard topossible loosening of the corona pads . Because to keep theepidemic under control , the infectious must be identified and isolated. For this, the health authorities are being strengthened. The RKI had said that this would probably be possible if the number of new infections was less than 1,000 per day.

In the past two days, this level fell below the mark in the reported cases. However, the RKI points out that various health authorities have not provided any data due to the holiday weekend.

https://pressfrom.info/ca/news/canada/-237677-more-than-10-000-infected-people-too-much-merkel-and-spahn-gave-false-numbers-of-infections.html

While he was recording himself with his mobile phone, a man (video above) insulted Eric Zemmour verbally in a Parisian street. He later boasted of having spat at him and explained that he had not had a polite conversation with the polemicist because he was “super-strong, debate is impossible”.
On Thursday April the 30th, a young man discovered Eric Zemmour in a Parisian street, apparently out shopping. He immediately insulted him by recording himself with his mobile phone. He then boasted of having spit at him and published the clip on his Snapchat account under the pseudonym “Haram La Gratuité”. On his return home, the person then claimed to have received both support messages from his subscribers and insults from Zemmour’s “followers”. However, he admitted that he “should not have insulted him” and stated that “it is impossible to talk to him, he is superstrong, debate is impossible”. “It’s as if I wanted to talk to Marine Le Pen,” he continued, “apart from insulting his mother, what do you want to do?

Comment by Dani Klein on Facebook:
A young man, who is obviously suffering from Ramadan fasting, discovers Eric Zemmour in a Parisian street and starts recording himself: “Son of a bitch, fuck your mother well!

Under the nickname “Haram La Gratuité” (Haram, the groundlessness) he posts the video on Snapchat and explains: “It’s impossible to talk to him, he’s super-strong, the discussion is not possible”.

The author Pierre Duriot (FB, 01.05) notices that monsieur Haram does not make it difficult for the police to track him down: “This means that he is convinced of his impunity.

That’s right. Those who belong to the fasting community have nothing to fear from French justice.

Tensions  in Italy have triggered a furious response from citizens who fear mass starvation and financial collapse in the third biggest economy in the eurozone. Italy – one of the hardest-hit countries from the coronavirus pandemic – will start to ease its two-month strict lockdown from Monday. However, tensions across the country are still intensifying with many residents in fear that the virus chaos may still spark mass starvation. In recent days, fury has erupted with fights breaking out between shoppers at a series of supermarkets.

One incident that went viral on social media showed a desperate family pleading with a police officer after they were unable to withdraw their grandmother’s pension – the family’s sole income.

In another video, supermarket shoppers erupted into a brawl after several people attacked one shopper for refusing to wear a face mask.

One Priest told the Guardian: “Now people are more afraid — not so much of the virus, but of poverty. Many are out of work and hungry. There are now long queues at food banks.”

Another piece of footage showed a fight breaking out in a supermarket after a customer refused to pay for his shopping, insisting he “had not money but still had to eat”.

People across the nation have been trying to help in the hunger crisis by filling baskets with food and leaving them in the streets for poverty-stricken residents to take what they need, reported Business Insider.

Meanwhile, police officers have been forced to guard supermarkets in Palermo, the capital city of Sicily, after a private Facebook group currently under investigation urged people to organise large raids on grocery stores and markets.

On Friday, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte took to Facebook to publicly apologize to Italians for delays in distributing emergency coronavirus financial aid.

Mr Conte said he was open to a further easing of lockdown measures, once construction and manufacturing activities resume next week. 

Retailers and museums are currently set to reopen on May 18 and bars and restaurants later in June.

The Italian Government is desperately trying to limit the economic impact of the pandemic, which could cause unprecedented economic collapse.

Mr Conte, who approved an initial 25 billion-euro package of measures in March, plans to fund another stimulus package for the economy worth 55 billion euros.

Despite this, Italy’s  retailers association claimed on Saturday that consumer spending in the country will see a huge 84 billion-euro drop this year. 

Earlier this week, Italy’s credit rating was cut by Fitch to a step just above junk.

One taxi driver Claudio told Sky News: “The virus has lost its punch here, still it won’t take much and we’ll be starving soon. I’m really scared. Because if you have debts or get behind on your mortgage, you can’t get new loans from the bank.”

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1277117/Italy-fury-European-Union-financial-collapse-eurozone-Conte-coronavirus-latest

Migrants have now burned down significant portions of their camps in three separate incidents following riots and ethnic clashes, and despite Greece dealing with coronavirus lockdowns and a crashing economy, Amnesty International is now calling for Greek authorities to evacuate migrants from Greek islands camps to the mainland.

The incidents on the Greek islands follow a long history of migrants starting fires in their own camps, both in Greece and other European nations.

On April 26 and the other on April 27, three separate fires ripped through the Vathy camp on the Greek island of Samos, leaving tents and containers destroyed and 200 residents homeless. Greek authorities say the fires started due to clashes between people living inside the camp, and ethnic tensions may have been a factor in those clashes.

Unconfirmed reports from Ekathimerini also indicate that migrants fueled the second fire in an effort to be taken out of the Vathy camp, which houses 7,000 migrants despite being meant to fit 648.

Two weeks ago, fires broke out following a riot inside the Vial camp on Chios island that left hundreds of residents homeless. During the riots, migrants attacked police and set fires following rumors that a 47-year-old woman in the camp died of coronavirus. The rumors later turned out to be false after health officials stated that the woman died for reasons unrelated to the coronavirus. Three migrants were arrested in relation to the arson.

According to the Greek migration ministry secretary Manos Logothetis, the facility of the European asylum service on Chios was also destroyed during the riots.

“A large part of the camp’s administrative services was destroyed,” Logothetis said.

Migrants have repeatedly set their housing facilities on fire

Migrants setting fire to their own housing and camp facilities is not a new phenomenon. For example, in 2016, the BBC reported that nine people from Senegal, Iraq, Syria, and Cameroon, were arrested after a massive fire broke out in the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Rami Alam, an Egyptian migrant living in the camp, said according to Middle East Eye that the “fire was started on purpose and that the perpetrators intended to repeat the act if they were not moved from the camp onto the mainland”.

“I heard many [migrants] speaking today who said ‘this is just the beginning’,” he told MEE. “They said ‘we will burn it again if we must stay here’. They want to leave, they want to go to Europe. They want Europe to have a solution for the refugees. I’m so worried. I know they will do it again.”

“No it wasn’t an accident. Definitely not, it was on purpose. If any fights happen again they will do it again, they will burn the fields and the camp,” he added.

Alam wasn’t wrong, and migrants have intentionally set fires in a bid to force authorities to send them to mainland Greece on many occasions, a move that Amnesty International had made no effort to condemn.

In 2016, migrants also set fire to a migrant housing center on the island of Lampedua in “protest” over conditions inside the facility, which involved lighting mattresses ablaze. 

Once again in 2017, migrants set fire to the Moria camp on Lesbos after a woman and her six-year-old child died in a gas cylinder explosion while they were cooking. Migrants, reacting to what was clearly an accident, reacted by rioting and committing arson.

In 2019, migrants once again set the Moria camp on fire on Lesbos during rioting, with two separate fires started within 20 minutes of each other, resulting in the death of a mother and her child. Notably, migrants demanded access to the mainland of Greece during the riots, according to RFE/RL.

Even after making it to richer countries in the north of Europe, migrants have continued to set fires to their accommodations. For example, in 2017, five migrants were arrested for a suspected arson attack after “setting fire to a mattress” inside the Hoevelhof-Staumuhle migrant facility in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, resulting in 50 people being injured and €10 million in damage. A Red Cross worker said later that the migrants burned down the facility because they were furious over a lack of gummibears and Nutella available in the facility during nighttime hours.

In 2016, after a migrant housing facility was burned down in Düsseldorf, authorities said they were investigating six migrants for arson in relation to the fire.

Also in 2016, when authorities moved to evacuate the migrant camp in France’s Calais, migrants burned down large portions of it in a last act of “defiance”.

In 2017, a fire broke out during a fight between migrants in a France’s Grande-Synthe camp near Dunkirk that left 1,500 migrants homeless. Ten people were reported injured in the blaze.

Citizens protest migrant transfers to the mainland

Following the coronavirus crisis, The Greek government had already planned to transfer 2,000 vulnerable asylum seekers to the mainland and place them in hotels and other accommodations, all paid for with funding from the European Union, but that plan has run into roadblocks after Greek citizens protested the decision over fears that the migrants could spread coronavirus on the mainland.

Despite concerns from Greeks, Amnesty International is advocating Greece sends far more than 2,000 migrants to the mainland and place them in hotels.

“It has never been more urgent for the Greek authorities to evacuate people from the camps and transfer them to safe accommodation on the mainland. The Greek government must urgently ensure that it fulfills its promises to transfer vulnerable asylum seekers in practice,” said Massimo Moratti, deputy director of Amnesty International’s European office, adding that the “recently launched scheme by IOM, UNHCR, and the Greek Government to evacuate over 2.000 vulnerable asylum-seekers from camps to hotels and apartments on mainland Greece is seemingly already encountering some obstacles.”

Greeks on the mainland have actively protested moving migrants into their towns, including Messolonghi, where the migrants were supposed to be sent. The mayor of Messolonghi along with municipal councilors say the hotels should remain open for the upcoming tourist season, especially during a time when Greece’s hotel industry is reeling from the coronavirus downturn. 

“The departure of 1,500 vulnerable people from Moria, scheduled to occur last week was deferred to an unspecified date. This was reported to conduct transfers in a more controlled and safer way, to allay the fears of the local communities, after protests broke in the city some of them were destined to go to, including by the authorities. The people living in these camps can wait no longer,” said Moratti.

Amnesty International’s call to transfer migrants to the mainland does not address migrants burning down their own camps, ethnic clashes, or condemn rioting over a rumor that turned out not to be true.

Greek islanders also do not want to keep migrants where they are, and many are fed up with the overcrowded migrant camps on their islands.

Moratti thinks that European member states should do more to help refugees in Greek camps such as participate in the relocation of the refugees. He also said that the spread of the coronavirus is a major concern in the camps.

rmx.news/article/article/migrants-keep-burning-down-their-own-refugee-camps-in-greece-and-other-nations