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Author: Vijeta Uniyal

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Vijeta Uniyal

Vijeta Uniyal is an Indian journalist based in Germany. He is Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute.

As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Beijing this week, preaching the virtues of “peaceful resolution” of disputes between the neighbours in the South China Sea, fighter jets belonging to Chinese 'People's Liberation Army' carried out aggressive manoeuvres against a US plane. According to the U.S. Pacific Command, the reconnaissance plane was on a routine mission over the East China Sea when two Chinese J-10 fighters attempted an “unsafe intercept”, making it the second incident of this kind to take place in less than three weeks. Earlier in May, two Chinese fighter jets flew within 15 meters of a US reconnaissance plane flying over the South China Sea. As President Obama set about to reduce the U.S. footprint in the world and divert country’s military preparedness to chase the spectre of Climate Change -- seven years ago, Communist China has been investing in a massive project to build and militarise artificial islands beyond its recognised maritime borders. China now contests 80 percent of the South China Sea, staking its control over one of the busiest maritime route in the world.

Despite massive security measures, dubbed by the French news agency AFP as a “State of Emergency”, the authorities in France remain fearful of a new wave of Islamist terror during the European soccer tournament Euro 2016 -- due to start this week. Over a million soccer fans from all across Europe are expected to visit France during the month long sporting event. France’s President Francois Hollande admitted the likelihood of fresh terrorist attacks during Euro 2016, saying that the Islamist threat “will unfortunately be there for a long time,” even as he refused to be “intimidated” by it. The European soccer championship is being held just six months after a group of suicide bombers tried to enter a stadium in Paris packed with thousands of fans during a soccer match between Germany and France. Despite the foiled attempt, terrorists, owing allegiance Islamic Caliphate (ISIS), killed around 130 people in Paris, arguably one of the most deadly Islamist attacks Europe had ever witnessed.

According to UK Armed Forces Minister Penny Mordaunt, Britain must join a European Union Army under Brussels’s direct command if the country stays within the EU. The ominous revelation comes as British voters are heading towards a historic ‘in-out’ referendum on June 23. What could only be described as cynical manoeuvring, EU bosses intends to table the plan a day after the British referendum -- concealing the totalitarian nature of the ‘European Project’ from the British voters. Mordaunt made it clear that if her country were to stay in the EU as a result of a "remain vote", her government would be “powerless” to stop the formation of an EU Army. Furthermore, UK would be “bound to support” and bankroll such an Army under the provisions of existing Lisbon treaty. “As usual with the EU, the plan for this army would see Britain paying highest price and but getting a raw deal. They've done that with our budget, I'm not going to let that happen to our armed forces,” Minister Mordaunt told the UK voters. The preparations for new pan-European Army outside the framework of NATO are long under way. Germany and The Netherlands have reportedly merged their army and naval assets to form a core fighting force that would serve as the basis for a new EU Army. NATO officials had recently accused France of neglecting its commitment to NATO-alliance by diverting resources to build an EU Army.

The Southeast Asian country of Malaysia is moving towards a total imposition of Islamic Sharia. Malaysia's government has pledged its support for an Islamic penal code that seeks to impose Sharia-prescribed punishments such as amputations, public stoning and flogging on its multi-religious population. The new legislation referred to as “Hudud Law” also seeks to segregate women from public life in Kelantan province, a predominantly Muslim northern state. The proposed constitutional amendment will allow other Malaysian provinces to align their legal system to stricter Islamic law as well. With a population of around 30 million, only 61 percent of the people identify as Muslim. Apart from Christianity that makes up to 10 percent of the population, Malaysia is home to many ethnic Chinese and Indians who mainly follow Buddhism and Hinduism respectively.

What could be seen as the final act in Venezuela’s worsening economic crisis, the Latin American country has begun selling its remaining gold reserves. Just three year after the death of its socialist leader, Venezuela -- once a leading oil producer -- is on the verge of bankruptcy. It is yet another 'miracle of socialism' that a country with the world's largest oil reserves can go almost broke. Venezuela's total oil reserves stand at an estimated 296.5 billion barrels, which is higher than Saudi Arabia’s 265.4 billion barrels. But the cash-strapped country is struggling to get investments and technical expertise to convert its oil reserves into revenue. Socialist leader Hugo Chávez got elected as country’s President in 1999 and introduced the ideology of “Socialism of the 21st Century”. Chávez enacted a new constitution, taking control of the state and the economy to carry out his “socialist revolution”.

Revolting details have come to light about Islamic State’s secret chemical weapons program. British newspaper The Telegraph reported that ISIS has been testing lethal chemical on humans, as well as setting up labs and moving chemical weapons stockpiles to residential areas of the Iraqi city of Mosul. The report claims that ISIS has been experimenting on captives held at a prison camp in Nineveh, Mosul. The residents near the prison have been reporting breathing difficulties and children were developing severe rashes -- side effects associated with chlorine and mustard gas. The residents of a former Christian neighbourhood in Mosul reported that ISIS moved their chemical labs after US airstrikes on the terrorist group's chemical facility at a local university. ISIS fighters moved in the locality with huge unmarked trucks and had been dumping dead dogs and rabbits in the nearby waste heap. The Telegraph corroborated the local eyewitness accounts with an ISIS informer who verified that animals dumped in the area had previously been tested with chemicals.

China will play a greater geostrategic role in the Middle East and Africa thanks to the construction of the new transnational corridor. The 2,500 km-long network of highways, railways, pipelines and ports will connect the Western Chinese city of Kashgar with Pakistan's deep-sea port of Gwadar. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as the project is officially called, comes at an initial cost of $46 billion within the next 10-15 years. The corridor reduces China’s dependence on its main Malacca route. Presently 85 percent of the China's oil imports pass through the single chokepoint of the Strait of Malacca, located between Indonesia and Malaysia. With Pakistan's ports Gwadar and Karachi under control, Beijing would have direct access to resources and markets in Middle East and Africa. China already operates several ports in Africa, including its first overseas naval and military base near Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa.

Islamic State (ISIS) is getting logistical and military support from Gaza-based terrorist group Hamas, a senior official of the Israel Defense Force (IDF) told the press. IDF’s Major General Yoav Mordechai revealed that terrorists belonging to Hamas and ISIS were now conducting joint military exercises in Gaza -- along the southern border of Israel. Islamic terrorist group Hamas, founded in 1987, calls for the destruction of Israel and annihilation of Jewish people in its official charter. Hamas Charter makes it clear that the Gaza-based terrorist group does not see itself as a separate entity fighting Israel, but instead is a part of the worldwide Islamic jihad. The newly-exposed alliance between ISIS and Hamas should not come as a surprise to anyone. Both of these Islamist groups not only subscribe to the same doctrine of global Jihad, but are offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood movement that first started in Egypt around 1920s. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden also belonged to the same theological school of thought.

One year after the Obama-backed Nuclear Deal came into effect, Islamic Republic of Iran remains the leading sponsor of international terrorism, says a policy paper published by British policy think-tank Henry Jackson Society. According to the report released on Wednesday at the House of Lords in London, Iran maintains a large and lucrative illegal financing network to bypass the remaining sanction that are in place to stop Tehran from funding terrorist outfits and regime. The report quotes an economist close to current Iranian regime describing the extent of the network, stating that “between 5,000-10,000 people worked in the [illicit financing] network, handling deals worth between $300 billion and $400 billion over the past decade.” Even after easing of sanction by the U.S. and the West, Iran seems to have no intention of giving up this illicit financing network which also acts as a lucrative source of income for the members of the military and the regime.

For many Christians fleeing the nightmare of religious persecution in Arab and Muslim lands their torment and suffering doesn’t end when they arrive on the shores of Europe since Islamist bullies single them out for harassment. A detailed study released by the Christian group Open Doors on Monday says that newly arrived Christian refugees in Germany are facing systematic violence, harassment and abuse at the hands of Muslim migrants. The most disturbing part of the study is the abuse faced by Christians at the hands of Muslim guards inside the German refugee housing. In many refugee housing centres most of the migrants and the security guards are Muslim. The Christian group talked about the prevailing atmosphere of “fear and panic” among the persecuted Christians arriving in Germany. According to a Christian minister from Berlin, Christian refugees must take part in Islamic prayer and threatened if they refused to comply.

A leading German Islamist Sven Lau is standing trial for creating ‘Sharia Police’. In 2014, a group of young Muslim men under Lau’s commend took to the streets of Wuppertal enforcing Islamic law. The Higher District Court in Düsseldorf will hear the case against 36 year-old German convert Lau, who goes by is Muslim name of Abu Adam, for supporting a terrorist organisation. The group led by Lau is one of the many Islamist outfits presently active across Germany. Some 700 Germans have reportedly joined the ranks of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, including 29 former German army soldiers. The District Court in Wuppertal is also putting Lau and seven of his Sharia enforcers to trial for patrolling the city wearing unauthorised uniforms. If convicted, the Islamists could face fines or a prison sentence up to 2 years. It is doubtful if a proverbial slap on the wrist is going to prompt hardened Islamists of the Sharia Police to mend their ways.

“The Party of Allah”, as the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah calls itself in Arabic, is being funded by less than holy means. German investigators have uncovered a Europe-wide money laundering operation run on behalf of the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, says a report published by the leading German weekly Der Spiegel. Investigations reveal that the proceeds of the money laundering operations were going to South American drug cartels. The fact that Iranian-backed terrorist group has developed links with the South American cartels, further exposes United States to cross border terrorism, considering country's roughly 2,000 miles long unsecured border with Mexico.

Anti-Israel boycott campaign, the so-called BDS movement, and other anti-Israel groups are carrying out a coordinated campaign to hijack the May Day demonstrations in Germany with an aim of spreading their anti-Semitic and anti-Israel message. The blatant anti-Semitism and the hatred of Israel these groups propagates is getting so repugnant that it is unnerving even the old left-wingers who otherwise never missed a chance of criticising the Jewish State. The attempts by some moderate groups to keep anti-Israel agitators from taking over the Labour Day events have failed. A resolution tabled by a prominent left-wing activist Jutta Ditfurth seeking to expel openly anti-Semitic groups from the event was rejected overwhelmingly by the organising committee, forcing Ditfurth and her environmentalist group groups to leave the alliance.

Right in time for Passover as tiny Jewish student communities across Germany were preparing for the Jewish holiday, several University campuses all over the country were hit by a major anti-Semitic cyber-attack. Last week, printers and photo copy machines on college campuses across Germany began spontaneously shooting off flyers filled with anti-Semitic contents. The Spokesperson of Jewish Society at the University of Bonn says, "​Just imagine sitting in your university and suddenly, dozens of anti-Semitic fliers with hate speech fly out of the printer next to you. Your university has usually been a safe place but now you face death threats against you, your family, and your friends, and you can't do anything to stop the attack. On top of that, you find out that your school was one of several in the country that was targeted." Bonn-based German newspaper General Anzeiger reports:

Germany-based activists linked to the terrorist outfit Hezbollah could be getting large amounts of financial support from the German government, the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung reveals. In one instance, city of Berlin is set to grant €100,000 to a 'refugee project' allegedly run by Hezbollah sympathisers. ‘Refugee Impulse Club’, as the group is called, has also been nominated for a €10,000 prize offered by the German Ministry of Culture. The nomination alone brings €2,500 to the group. Hezbollah, the Iran-funded Shia terrorist group, controls most of Lebanon and has made large territorial gains in Syria fighting on behalf of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Hezbollah also acts as the long arm of Iranian regime, with a long history of involvement in international terrorism under the direction of Tehran. According to a German intelligence report, Berlin is home to some 250 active Hezbollah members. Estimated 950 Hezbollah members and 300 Hamas members are thought to be operating on German soil. Berliner Zeitung reports:

Even before the smoke could settle over the site of yesterday’s bus blast in Jerusalem that left 21 people wounded -- two of them seriously -- the Palestinian leadership is praising and celebrating the  terror attack. The armed-wing of PLO-Fatah, active in the territory under Palestinian Authority control, applauded the Jerusalem bus blast, calling it the beginning of a new phase in Intifada, the renewed campaign of terror against Israel. Hamas, the Islamist outfit controlling Gaza said it “welcomed” the Monday’s terrorist attack, calling it “natural reaction” to supposed Israeli crimes. In the eyes of these terrorist groups, the mere presence of Jews in their historic homeland amounts to a provocation and the Jewish sovereignty over the land of Israel constitutes a crime -- severe enough to justify a deadly campaign of terror and incitement that started much before the State of Israel was even proclaimed.

Infiltration of German Army by Islamic State (ISIS) and other Jihadists has reached an alarming level, German media reports suggest. Some 29 former German Army soldiers have joined the ranks of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, reveals a newly surfaced German military intelligence report. Additionally, the military is investigating 65 suspected jihadist serving as active duty German soldiers. According to German newspaper Handelsblatt, since 2007 German Military Counter-Intelligence Agency (MAD) has investigated 320 active duty soldiers for having suspected links to Jihadist circles. The newspaper also confirmed that until recently no backgrounds checks were done on soldiers handling sensitive combat equipment. The screening was only limited to soldiers accessing classified material. German government is trying to downplay the level of Islamist infiltration of country’s defense establishment. According to Parliament's commissioner for the military, Hans-Peter Bartels, there is no clear evidence of ‘Islamist organisation attempting to systematically infiltrate’ the German military.

Terrorist group Hezbollah is using the conflict in Syria to prepare for a war with Israel, reveals a report published by the UK-based research group BICOM. In 2015, Iran funnelled a billion dollars to the Lebanon-based terrorist group. According to a strategic analysis released by Britain Israel Communications & Research Centre (BICOM) on Monday, Iran-backed Hezbollah's missile stockpile is now estimated to be around 100,000-150,000, with large portion of it hidden among Lebanon's civilian population. Hezbollah entered the Syrian civil war 5 years ago to fight on behalf of Iran-backed dictator Bashar Al Assad. Since then 5,000 of its 20,000-strong fighting force is pinned down in Syria. The terrorist militia now controls territory within Syria, creating a base for Iran -- a fallback option in case Assad regime were to collapse. The Obama-Kerry Nuclear Deal gave Iran a signing bonus of  $150 billion. Flushed with fresh cash, regime in Tehran is making up for the past cuts it had to make in funding its proxy terrorist group across the Middle East including Hezbollah.