USA – [President] Barack Obama visited the controversial Islamic Center of Maryland on Wednesday. The president attacked Donald Trump’s plan to impose a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US. Tonight Trump responded to Obama’s mosque visit. “We have a lot of problems in this country,” Trump said on Fox News Wednesday. “We have a lot of places he can go and he chose a mosque. Maybe he feels comfortable there,” Trump added.
USA - Congressmen, President Barack Obama and faith leaders from around the country met for the annual prayer breakfast in Washington, DC on Thursday. At the breakfast, House Minority Leader Democrat Nancy Pelosi took the opportunity to invoke “the prophet Muhammad.”
FINLAND - A gang of vigilantes led by a violent neo-Nazi go on night time ‘migrant patrols’ on the streets of Finland, with some talking of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in the wake of the country’s mounting immigration crisis. The self-styled 'Soldiers of Odin' march in a mob, wearing bomber jackets with their logo on the back. They have vowed to take direct action to ‘protect their wives, girlfriends and children’ after a migrant influx to the liberal Scandinavian country. The gang – which claims to have cells across Europe – says it mobilised after a rise in migrant-related crime over the past 12 months because the Finnish government has ‘screwed everything up’. Ari Kuronen, director of the Joensuu Red Cross refugee shelter, is deeply concerned. ‘There are only two possible results. Either they will stop patrolling, or there will be dangerous battles in the street. At the moment, nobody knows which way it will go.’
ZIMBABWE - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has declared a state of disaster in rural parts of the country hit by a drought. An estimated 2.4 million people are now in need of food aid, more than a quarter of the population. The announcement comes days after the EU urged Mr Mugabe to declare a state of disaster so donors can raise money quickly to provide food aid. The government has urged Zimbabweans not to panic, as it is importing maize from neighbouring Zambia. The United Nations World Food Programme has said some 14 million people face hunger in southern Africa because of a drought that has been exacerbated by the El Nino weather phenomenon. South Africa, Namibia and Botswana have also been badly hit.
EUROPE - European Parliament, Strasbourg, 3 February 2016.
Transcript: "Yes thank you, I just think they're just slightly over enthusiastic. Well it wasn't supposed to be like this was it? Mr Cameron's renegotiation began with really big intentions, treaty change, he was going to control the free movement of people, he was going to achieve a fundamental change not just in Britain's relationship with the European Union but reform the EU itself.
UK - Our principal partners in the EU think they have been generous in granting some limited opt outs to the UK. They resent the “special” deal the UK has over the size of our financial contribution. They want us to pay even more than the large sums we currently pay.
USA - When it comes to the connection between Islam and "anti-infidel" violence, one fact must be embraced: the majority of those in positions of leadership and authority in America are either liars or fools, or both. No other alternatives exist.
USA - In a shocking reversal of policy, US Customs and Border Protection agents are being told to release illegal immigrants and no longer order them to appear at deportation hearings, essentially a license to stay in the United States, a key agent testified Thursday.
USA - Fox News reporter Conor Powell demonstrates a pattern of bias and editorializing in his coverage of events in Israel. His intermingling of opinion with reporting is a disservice to the Fox News audience and tarnishes the reputation of the news network generally recognized for its fair and balanced treatment of Israel and the conflict with the Palestinians.
MIDDLE EAST - A senior Hamas official warned Wednesday that the Palestinian terrorist group’s efforts to rebuild the Gaza Strip’s terror tunnel grid are advancing rapidly, and that some tunnels dug under the border already run deep into Israeli territory. “Israeli technology will not be able to stop the resistance as long as Hamas exists,” Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar told Oman-based Alwatan News. “Even if Israel is able to uncover a tunnel, or two, or 10, they [the tunnels] run deep under Israel, beyond Gaza, into 1948 territory.” He added that regardless of the tunnel grid, Hamas had “other advanced measures” with which it could fight Israel. The Israeli military had destroyed Hamas’s terror tunnel network during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014.
AUSTRALIA - Play school will feature a 'two-dad family' for the first time in the Australian show's 50 year history, it's been confirmed. The hit ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) programme has put out a casting call for a child with two dads, an adopted family, an extended family and a blended family for its ‘through the windows' segment. It's aim is to ensure the series explores all the different types of 'families, structures and backgrounds' in Australian society.
USA - The Food and Drug Administration has recently given a green light to a genetically modified potato engineered to resist a pathogen that is responsible for causing the Irish Potato Famine. No different than with their approval of GM salmon, the FDA seems oblivious to risk assessment and consumer concerns that deem a GM potato undesirable, claiming that the GM potato is indeed safe for consumption.
UK - The PM said: "As we approach this choice, let me be clear about two things. First, I'm not arguing and I will never argue that Britain couldn't survive outside the European Union. We are the fifth-largest economy in the world, the biggest defence player in Europe with one of the most extensive and influential diplomatic networks on the planet."
UK - David Cameron is claiming that his draft EU deal delivers the “substantial change” he wanted to see in Britain’s relationship with Europe. That claim will come under intense scrutiny in the days and weeks ahead.
UK - UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: "Hardly worth waiting for. It is truly pathetic. No treaty change, no repatriation of powers, no ability to control our own laws, our money or our borders. Now let's get on with the referendum."