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Updated 6am
GERMANY IS TO temporarily reintroduce controls on its border with Austria to cope with a surge of refugee arrivals, it was announced over the weekend.
“The aim of this measure is to stop the current influx to Germany and to return to an orderly process,” German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said.
Asylum seekers must understand “they cannot chose the states where they are seeking protection”, he told reporters.
The move appears to backtrack on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s earlier decision to throw open the country’s doors to Syrian refugees.
Austria’s state-owned rail operator also announced that all trains into the neighbouring EU state would be halted today.
Germany has become the destination of choice for many refugees and the country is expecting to receive a record 800,000 asylum seekers this year.
Meanwhile, another tragedy struck at sea today when 28 more people – half of them babies and children – drowned off the coast of Greece.
Four babies and 10 young children were among the 112 people onboard a boat when it sank in the Aegean Sea, Athens News Agency reported.
The International Organisation for Migration said on Friday that over 430,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year, with 2,748 dying en route or going missing.
Irish response
It was confirmed earlier this week that Ireland will take in 4,000 refugees in response to the crisis, with priority being given to women and children.
A series of reception and accommodation centres will be opened around the country as part of a refugee protection programme announced on Thursday.
State property under the care of the Defence Forces and OPW will be audited to assess what vacant buildings could be used to house refugees fleeing conflict in the Middle East.
In an interview today, Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said the Irish government will likely not house refugees relocated to Ireland in the homes of private citizens.
“I don’t envision a situation where refugees will be housed in spare rooms,” he said this morning on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics, adding that he did not think the arrangement would be appropriate.
Over 6,000 people have offered to house refugees and migrants here in a “pledge a bed” campaign organised by advocacy organisation Uplift.
First published 1:41pm. Contains reporting by AFP.
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Maybe the Isis rats and head hackers have been beaten.
They are being beaten in other areas with the help of the US but people like you won’t acknowledge that!
@dublinlad: and backed and financed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar with the knowledge of America and Hilary Clinton aware of it. But people like you won’t acknowledge that.
@LITTLEONE:
If you actually read the emails, you’d know that Clinton was warning Qatar and Saudi Arabia that funding to ISIS and Al-Nursra would be matched by American funding to Kurdish and FSA forces to act as a counter-weight.
@Jason Culligan: they are still aware that they are funding Isis. But they sell billions in arms to them. They back them in Yemen. It’s hypocrisy at its finest. One one hand they denounce terrorists but are happy to deal with people that are arming terrorists.
Don’t think anyone needs reminding what Isis are. Yet the Americans know where the funding and backing is coming from? What do they do? Nothing they let it continue.
They arm the opponents in the region in equal measure. It’s not great but it’s not nothing
@ Jason why doesn’t the US stop selling the Saudi and Qatar weapons?. No weapons means they can sell them to Isis.
Isis Dave backed and financed by Saudi and Qatar. America’s answer. Ignore. So yes they do nothing in stopping the finance and backing of Isis by both Saudi and Qatar.
What’s messed up. America sells billions in arms to Saudi Arabia. Who then give arms to Isis all in the knowledge if America but that’s ok. Yet Russia is the problem.
@Roy Dowling:
Contrary to popular belief, America isn’t the only arms exporter in the world.
@LITTLEONE:
Plausible deniability is just one of the cards being played in this proxy war against the rise of the East and their posse.
Syria is another Chilcot report in waiting. If Syria is investigated the West really is in the war crimes poo
There are over 1400 U.S bases around the world; it is the key factor in how the U.S Empire, gains more territory. Apart from bases, there are also the Embassies, unlike the everyday embassy these are also leverage points, a virtual sales office for economic globalisation. TTIP, TPP, and the backdoor to same the CETA trade agreements not only circumvent local policy, bankrupt local business, they also help fracture entire local economies.
The war in Syria has stretched for five long years, and who knows, if the U.S and Allies had not continually refreshed Jihadists, sorry, ‘Moderate Rebels,’ it would possibly have been over many moons ago. The hypocrisy of the US war machine knows no bounds. While Yemen is bombed into the ground, by US and UK hardware. Russia is branded the worst kind of terror, with trying to bring an end to terrorism in Syria by Jihadists, sorry,
Syria: Breaking the Propaganda War with Senator Richard Black
Or as Oliver Stone put it, when talking about his new television series, The Untold History of the United States:
“American exceptionalism has to be driven out of our curriculums,” ‘We’re Not Under Threat. We Are the Threat’ “We’ve destabilised the entire region, created chaos. And then we blame ISIS for the chaos we created,”
@ Jason indeed it’s not the only one. But it is the biggest. And according to you not dependent on arms sales so why does it continue to supply and back those who sell weapons to terrorists
@JC so you concur with LO’s point that H Clinton is aware of the Qatari and Saudi support and funding of ISIS/Al nusra!!?
@Roy Dowling: Weapons are a currency for the west’s oil supply from Saudi and Qatat….
Its not messee up at all!! How is the US Arms Industry supposed to make huge profits if there are no proxy wars to stoke up and sell arms into for use!?
@Roy Dowling:
I’ve never said that the US isn’t dependent on arms sales. I’ve merely pointed out that arms exports make up a far larger proportion of Russia’s GDP compared to that of the US.
If you look at the sales of equipment to Saudi Arabia, it’s important for the US to keep them going for a key reason. Much of it is tanks, ground vehicles, aircraft and smart bombs which are expensive to produce. The more they sell abroad, the cheaper it gets to make it for themselves which means that the US can fit more equipment in for their budget.
When it comes to small arms (items that would be easy to ship across a border unnoticed) Saudi Arabia purchases primarily from Europe.
@Nigel O’Neill: It helps when you use fear and propaganda to scare the hell out of European leaders and install NATO bases. Then sign them up to upgrade and maintenance packages. Then you Pivot to Asia and create more fear more bases and look to what can we bomb next.
The USA a bastion of peace, progress and democracy.
@Nigel O’Neill: very true
I don’t know what a tracker mortgage is!!
So selling all that arms to the Saudi and Qatar who use it to support Isis is OK cause the more arms you make the cheaper is is for America. I mean who cares about the all the lives being lost in the middle East. It’s all about saving he us some money
What utter nonsense are you trying to propagate now. That it’s acceptable for the US to aid all sides in any foreign conflict? You really are doing an outstanding job in promoting American foreign policy hypocrisy.
@ Jason
@dublinlad: back to School you go !!!!
@LITTLEONE ISIS does not actually have a presence in Aleppo city, but sure don’t let the facts get in the way.
A message from a Syrian Arab Army soldier about what’s happening in Aleppo: https://youtu.be/-HsNZ_aO0hU
@Joe Corleone:
Yeah, a soldier claiming that he’s walking 20m away from the front lines without any combat gear while his ‘comrade’ is checking his text messages on his mobile.
Even if it wasn’t a blatantly obvious propaganda film, do you honestly expect a Syrian soldier to admit that his force is responsible for war crimes?
It’s an authentic recording Jason, and what war crimes are you talking about? They’re defending the country and its civilian population from mostly foreign mercenaries backed by terrorist states backed by Washington.
Joe, all recordings are authentic by virtue of the fact that they’re recorded. It’s the contents that are worth scrutinising
There is more first-hand knowledge about the lies the West is telling than counter measures of believability. Eastern Aleppo has bugger all civilians left in it and is close to falling. However, the intense blame it on Putin campaign sure does penetrate (some) minds.
Hopefully the bombing resumes soon enough.
And you call Hillary a warhawk?
@Alex Jones:
Yes, hopefully the bombing of schools and hospitals continue soon so the Russians can kill even more innocent civilians unfortunate enough to be used as human shields. Sure while we’re at it lets pray for a return to the siege conditions where innocents were being willfully starved to death by the SAA.
Replace russians with americans and you have every conflict you have endorsed for the last 2 years on here
Alex, to people like you and the left-
US bombing is bad.
Russian bombing is good.
Or silence when the Russians do the bombing because somehow the Russians don’t target or kill civilians?
Answer please?
@Gone Feisin:
So which cities have America besieged and deliberately starved the population of in the last two years?
@Jason Culligan: I can tell you which hospital they deliberately bombed, and how many people were killed there, and I can give accounts of how patients burned to death in their beds and how people were decapitated by shrapnel. All done on purpose by your beloved US.
1. How is Russia starving citizens? It is ISIS who won’t let them leave. 2. America is instrumental in the support of the siege of Gaza. 3. American crimes are committed against many nations throughout the world in Africa, middle East and support of Nazis in Ukraine. 4. I’m tired of explaining to you that simple things like murderous rampages against civilians are bad, by any party, but in the defence of their invaded homeland, Syria deserves to fight these foreign backed psychopaths
@Veronica:
Yet one week later the Russians bombed two hospitals in Syria and MSF were labelled a “Western propaganda machine” for even daring to accuse Russia of doing so. That’s still not surrounding a city and intentionally starving the population.
@Gone Feisin:
How many people have starved to death in Gaza? Pretty pathetic siege if Israel let supplies and products both in and out of Gaza wouldn’t you agree?
“I’m tired of explaining to you that simple things like murderous rampages against civilians are bad, by any party, but in the defence of their invaded homeland, Syria deserves to fight these foreign backed psychopaths”
Yet you ridicule Saudi Arabia for doing the exact same thing in Yemen at the request of their government.
And let us not even address the immoral sanctions imposed contributing to the death of countless thousands of children and the old.
Saudi Arabia shouldn’t be in Yemen, Russia shouldn’t be in Syria, Israel shouldn’t be in Gaza, America shouldn’t be supporting terrorists and Syria deserve to fight foreign jihadists on their own soil all day long. This carry on has long gone by its sell by date and needs to be concluded.
Israel left Gaza in 2005 Had to expel 4000 Hews at the time It has no military presence in Gaza
Left behind over 100 acres of greenhouses also
@JC can you put forward links to your sources to confirm these accusations!?
Shame on Russia. They of all countries should understand what it is to be under seigh considering how they stood up to the Germans in Stalingrad.
Shame on America for funding jihadists and prolonging this conflict. Hopefully Russia does not waver in their support of the Syrian people, not the foreign owned headhacking filth pretending to be locals
@Gone Feisin:
Any hard evidence that the US has been directly funding jihadists in Syria?
Who is in the right?
Russia currently bombs Syria, America currently bombs Yemen, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan.
@Tony Hartigan:
And Russia is legally bombing Syrian targets, Assad invited them to help. What of the west?
So what about the independent, the express, the huffington post, I know you complain about global research and rt. What about funding the white helmets? What about al-nusra commanders saying the US funds them? What about US weapons in nearly every video they release? What about them saying they support groups which are shown to be jihadists after?
My question is if Syrian army has the entire Russian Air Force including cruise missiles on its side and Russian advisers on the ground and Iranian volunteers
Then why can’t it take East Allepo
These rebels are putting up one hell of a fight
@John003: The Russian navy will shortly have an aircraft carrier Admiral Kusnetsov and a flotilla of heavily armed warships in the Med to further their support for the Syrian government. The flotilla left the Russian northern base at Severomorsk a few days ago and will shortly be passing through the English Channel.
@Paul Monks: Syria asked for Russia’s help to take part in legally killing their own people, how sick is that…
Paul Monks: yeah like Iraq asking America to take part in legally killing it’s own people mosul, or do you think America has magic bombs that identify isis fighters only? Lol!
Chris Kirk, sorry Paul Monks that was for the other fella
@Chris Kirk:
Chris to understand the Syrian conflict you have to go back to 2003 when Bush/Blair invaded Iraq. Iraq was a stable country prior to the allied invasion. Remember the WMDs? and they found none. Now even Blair has come out to say the invasion was a ‘mistake’.
IS was a creation of that war as it left a power vacuum in the area. Now the whole region is overrun by Sunni Wahhabi Islamists.
IS invaded Syria and Assad didn’t want his country to be overrun by them. So he asked Russia for help. That’s my understanding of it, but you can correct me if I’m wrong.
@Paul Monks:
“IS was a creation of that war as it left a power vacuum in the area.”
The group that became ISIS started out as the Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999. It was created in Afghanistan with the objective of overthrowing the Jordanian government and eventually creating a caliphate. Already before the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq the group that would form ISIS was already active in Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The invasion did not create ISIS, however it did arguably give it the room it needed to grow to what it is today. That does not mean that ISIS or another group like them would not have formed either way given the volatile nature of Islamic dictatorships.
@Jason Culligan:
Power vacuum = ‘Room to grow’.
Actually, it started in Afghanistan when America had been in the area for some five years, by 1973. The CIA had recruited over 5000 fighters from all over the Islamic world and started infiltrating Afghanistan under the command of Gulbadin Hikmat Yar and Rasool Saif. It was the beginnings of the training and funding of the Whabbism fighters, but when America had finished with them all that time ago they were left to spread their belief and grow in power.
@ Smughead Culligan
There’s no point in even trying to counter and demand evidence, it’s not like 2-3 years ago when people believed the sh!te coming out of Washington, nowadays, every dog in the street knows the sick game of regime change via proxy terrorists that America are playing once again.
@Jason Culligan: Are you of right mind ????????????????????
They funded EVERYTHING against ASSAD!!!!! then they turned against their masters !
that is even acknowledged by Pentagon !!
its all a set up ,,, FEAR controls the sheep in the West ,,, FEAR ,,, the powers that be control the sheep and has done for a long long time !!
Hopefully they’re just taking a break before continuing to crush the head hacking extremists
Until their spotters lazed point another target.
Barrell bombs aren’t lased.
As soon as a machine gunner or sniper fires from a hospital or school, or what remains of one, the bombs will rain down again.
Can’t stop this,the weapons manufacturing lobby will be up in arms,they are more important.
why are they bombing here. oh yes because there are terrorist there, why all the news because america backs these terrorist
I do wish that everyone would face the fact that Russia will only stop bombing Aleppo when they’ve reestablished the Assad control over it.
@Desmodromic: A small part of Aleppo sparsely populated as they are all in the government-controlled areas. And yes, it is right that the country be returning to the Syrian people and government.
Unbelievable bias from Journal. US supported rebels haven’t stopped bombing citizens and using them as a human shield. Russia stopped bombing to allow people to leave. Why not cover this?
It’s Grozny all over again.
The Russians have stopped so the yanks can have a go .
Ye didn’t finish the sentence so I will for ya.
American can have go at extracting its military and intelligence personnel out of east Aleppo, and possibly get more terrorists in there.
have your say