Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Tuesday, 1 March 2016

The European Union Times


Posted: 01 Mar 2016 05:21 AM PST

Around 150 migrants, some armed with iron bars, have attempted to block or climb lorries traveling towards the Eurotunnel, as clashes with police continued into the night in chaotic scenes surrounding the Calais refugee ‘Jungle’ camp in France.
Police were called to the area after refugees, enraged by an earlier eviction, attacked trucks with stones, debris, and iron bars. Officers used flash grenades and tear gas to stop refugees from reaching the motorway and climbing onto the trucks.
The clashes came following a day of confrontations between police and migrants after authorities proceeded with the dismantling of parts of the camp and bulldozed them to the ground.

The initial disturbance began when authorities arrived at the refugee camp on Monday morning, informing residents that they had to leave the area within the hour, or face arrest. The construction workers then moved in to dismantle the makeshift shelters in the southern part of the slum, home to 800 to 1,000 migrants.

By early afternoon, angry migrants and members of the No Borders activist group set fire to some 20 makeshift shelters and began throwing projectiles at riot police. Police responded with tear gas.
Last Thursday, a local court ruled that the southern part of the camp should be demolished. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve reassured those losing their shelter that the local government should cooperate with activists who are helping to accommodate those refugees left without homes.
Source
        
Posted: 01 Mar 2016 05:06 AM PST


A Koch-funded senator wants Republicans to support a “third option” against Trump, confirming GOP strategist Roger Stone’s revelation that the Koch Bros. want Mitt Romney to enter the race if Marco Rubio fails.
“I sincerely hope we select one of the other GOP candidates, but if Donald Trump ends up as the GOP nominee, conservatives will need to find a third option,” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) said, who’s 2014 senatorial campaign wasbankrolled by the Koch Bros.
This so-called ‘third option’ pushed by Sasse was actually conceptualized by the Koch Bros. during a meeting with the Rubio campaign Thursday in which they pledged support for Rubio – and for Romney to enter the race if Rubio implodes.
“$75 million to stop Trump and $25 million to Marco Rubio, but they gave Rubio a condition: he’s got to win the Florida primary or he’s out and Mitt Romney’s in,” Stone revealed. “That’s the plan.”
“First they’ll ramp up an enormous, negative campaign on TV against Trump and they’re going to hit this phony Trump University issue,” he continued. “They claim to have personal dirt on Trump – I doubt that – and they are also going to try and delve into his business affairs, but if Rubio fails to grab the Florida primary, then Rubio’s out and Mitt Romney’s in.”
Sasse previously attacked Trump during a speech to 500 establishment donors attending a Koch Bros. network meeting in Jan.
“He went on to try explain Trump’s popularity with the GOP base to donors — many of whom have been dumbfounded by the billionaire’s rise and how to take him down,” Buzzfeed reported. “Sasse campaigned with Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in Iowa last week in an effort to get a GOP presidential nominee other than Trump.”
Interestingly, Buzzfeed said it one of six media organizations who covered the speech “after agreeing to a set of ground rules proposed by the [Koch] network, including not identifying the donors attending unless they agreed to an interview.”
Watch the full interview with Roger Stone below:
Even FOX News’s Sean Hannity is now aware of the Koch Brothers’ plan to sneak in Mitt Romeny and in this interview he asked Trump about their vicious plan (go directly at minute 5:16 or simply watch the entire interview):
Source
        
Posted: 01 Mar 2016 04:54 AM PST

Scientists say they have discovered the largest boiling river in the Peruvian Amazon.
The river reaches up to 80 feet at its widest point and 15 at its deepest. It runs hot for four miles, reaching the boiling point of 100 degrees in some parts.
That’s hot enough to cause third-degree burns in a matter of seconds. Unlike expectations, the river is non-volcanic.
The thermal river is fed by both boiling and near-boiling hot springs. The river was discovered by Geoscientist Andres Ruzo.
Source
        
Posted: 01 Mar 2016 04:48 AM PST

A visa-free regime for Turkish nationals in the Schengen zone could open a “gateway” for a new refugee influx to Germany, a senior German official said. The focal point of the EU-Turkey deal is stemming the number of refugees coming to Europe.
Vice-President of the Bundestag (lower house of the German parliament) Johannes Singhammer told Passauer Neue Presse on Tuesday that lifting EU’s visa requirements for Turkish citizens would lead to a “new, uncountable influx” of refugees fleeing war and violence.
There are “serious considerations” about the prospective visa-free regime, Singhammer warned, because it would open “a gateway for further immigration and [flow of] refugees to Germany.”
Citing Foreign Ministry figures, he said that more than 200,000 Schengen visas are being issued annually by German consulates and visa centers in Turkey.
Singhammer explained that not only war-torn Syria or Iraq could add to this influx, but also Turkey itself. Especially the domestic violent conflict with the Kurds “has a vast potential to create new reasons [for those persecuted] to flee.”
Speaking on the EU’s visa requirements, the official referred to the EU-Turkey agreement, inked between Brussels and Ankara in November last year. By reaching the deal, Brussels wanted to reduce the number of refugees and migrants with Turkish help, which is the central point of the agreement.
In exchange for “bringing order into migratory flows and help to stem irregular migration,” the EU agreed to allocate initial €3 billion ($3.18 billion) and aid supplies to assist Turkey in hosting over 2.2 million Syrian refugees. But the main reciprocal measure, long waited in Ankara, was “completing the visa liberalization process i.e. the lifting of visa requirements for Turkish citizens in the Schengen zone” and also a promise to re-open negotiations on Turkey’s bid to join the bloc.
To come any closer to lifting visa requirements, Turkey must complete dozens of EU demands in order to win a “recommendation for visa-free access” to the bloc by autumn 2016. Even then, a final decision will require the unanimous support of all 28 member states.
However, since the agreement was sealed, Ankara tried to play the refugee issue as a trump card in its dialogue with Brussels. In February, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blasted the European efforts to tackle the refugee crisis.
“No matter that the West acts in a rough, inhuman and unscrupulous way, they cannot control the refugee influx,” he said.
Earlier this month, he even threatened to unleash a new wave of migration against the EU, if it did not offer Turkey enough funding.
“We can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria anytime and we can put the refugees on buses,” Erdogan told European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk after being told that the EU was offering Turkey €3 billion over two years.
Turkey has not received any funding yet, Erdogan said, claiming his country spent more than $9 billion on refugees – far more than the EU’s funding. To him, any delay in transferring the money was a sign that Europe is not committed to tackle the refugee crisis.
Source
        
Posted: 29 Feb 2016 04:32 PM PST

Donald Trump gained even more in the polls in the days leading up to Super Tuesday while Marco Rubio’s support collapsed.
Trump expanded his lead to 44% whereas Rubio dropped five points to 14% while Cruz now holds second place at 15%, according to a Morning Consult national survey of over 2,000 registered voters.
“If Rubio hoped that going negative on Trump in the most recent GOP debate and on the campaign stump would reap benefits with voters, it hasn’t resonated with our national respondents,” the poll service concluded.
In other words, every time Rubio attacks Trump, Trump’s lead grows, and similarly Fox News lost 50% of its support from Republicans by attacking Trump.
“Since the first GOP presidential debate last August, Fox News Channel seems to have lost its perception mojo with its core right-leaning audience,” a brand perception service reported. “By mid February, FNC’s perception by Republican adults 18 and over had reached its lowest point in more than three years, and has declined by approximately 50% since January of this year.”
“Coinciding with Trump’s rise to front-runner in the GOP presidential race, Fox News Channel has seen its perception by Republicans slide.”
Source
        
Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 20:19