PrairiePundit

Austin American-Statesman: 3:20 p.m. update: A 75-year-old woman was injured after picking up an exploding package outside her Southeast Austin home on Monday in the second blast reported in the city and the third similar incident in two weeks, Austin police said. Interim Police Chief Brian Manley confirmed that evidence suggested that this bombing was related to two previous blasts from “box-type deliveries” that killed a teenager earlier in the day and a 39-year-old man 10 days ago. Manley warned the public about receiving unexpected or suspicious-looking deliveries in an “average-size delivery box,” but declined to offer more specifics about the packages to protect the integrity of the investigation. He said the devices can be detonated by moving or by opening the boxes. “Assigning a motive is not possible at this stage in the investigation,” Manley said, adding that police were willing to investigate any avenue. “We will leave no stone unturned because we will not allow...

NY Times: Austrians Vote for President in Test of Far Right’s Strength Most observers expect a tight race between Norbert Hofer of the right-wing Freedom Party and Alexander Van der Bellen of the Greens. The conservatives are concerned about the assimilation of Muslim refugees and the disruption they bring to the country.  The Greens are environmental extremists.  Liberals are more willing to put citizens at risk from radical Islamists than conservatives are.

Daily Mail: Firearm sales in Austria are up 350% due to 'unease' over increasing number of migrants... months after dealers warned they had virtually sold out of shotguns The final months of 2015 showed increases in gun permit applications in Austria, while dealers reported huge demand for self defence weapons such as tasers and pepper sprays. They are clearly not following Barack Obama's lead on the subject of guns.  The police in Europe have been ineffective in many cases in dealing with the sexual assaults by Muslim refugees.

Independent: Austria has sent hundreds of refugees back to Slovenia for lying about their nationality, a police spokesman said. "We assume that some are trying to take advantage of the situation, knowing very well that they have little chance of being granted asylum in Austria and Germany," the police spokesman said. While carrying out spot checks on the 3,000 daily arrivals, translators and police apparently noticed an increase in people whose nationalities and language skills did not match. ... The UK is threatening criminal prosecution of those making bogus claims of nationality.  This is another aspect of the failure to impose a military solution in Syria that has led to the mass migration.

CNN: An unnamed "friendly" intelligence service has warned several European cities of possible terror attacks, according to a statement released Saturday by police in Vienna, Austria. The attacks would involve explosives or guns and occur sometime between Christmas and New Year's Eve, according to the statement, which did not name the cities that have been warned. The warning did include the names of several possible attackers the Vienna police have investigated without finding "concrete further results." "Overall, this is a lead, which stipulates a higher than general abstract state of danger," the Vienna police said. In response to the terror threat warning, Vienna and other police in Europe have heightened the security alert by increasing police observation and surveillance at public venues, especially at key events and high-traffic areas. Among the precautions, police will initiate more thorough security checks, ensure quick readiness in ...

Guardian: Israel reacts angrily to Austria's withdrawal from Golan Heights Austria to remove all 380 of its troops from the 1,000-strong UN force on the Israel-Syrian border due to clashes in Syria There is nothing like a little activity to put a UN "peacekeeping force" into full retreat.   It is why most of the proposals for Middle East peace agreements are impractical.