Dubai Grants USD 9.5 Bln More to Dubai World
(ANSAmed) — ROME — The emirate of Dubai has allocated another 9.5 million dollars to shore up Dubai World, doubling the emergency funds for the holding company which went into default in November. The chairman of the Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee, Sheik Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, has said in a statement that “our financial support demonstrates our commitment to finding a just and equal solution for all the interested parties”. Nakheel, the Dubai World real estate agency at the heart of the crisis, will receive eight billion and its bonds have risen sharply on the markets since Dubai World promised to repay the bondholders entirely if its 23.5-billion restructuring plan is accepted by the banks.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
France, Germany Agree on Plan to Help Greece
BRUSSELS, March 25 (Reuters) — France and Germany agreed on a standby aid plan for heavily indebted Greece on Thursday that would involve money from European Union member states and the International Monetary Fund, the French president’s office said.
French officials said President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had explained their agreement to EU President Herman Van Rompuy, and countries that use the euro would discuss it later on Thursday. A French official said the deal, agreed in Brussels shortly before an EU summit, opened the way for bilateral loans to be made available under a system mainly involving the euro zone but also using money from the Washington-based IMF.
“There is agreement on the idea of a European framework. This European framework will be made up of coordinated bilateral loans,” a French official said.
“This European framework would be complemented by IMF loans with clear mention of the fact that the financing would mainly be European.”
The money would be used only if there were “very serious difficulties and there was no other solution,” he said.
A German official said euro zone states would have to agree to activate the plan, giving Berlin a veto.
The borrowing rate would not be subsidised but would take into account the economic state of the country using the loans.
“This is the framework set out to help countries that could be under very strong market stress,” the French official said.
Greece has not asked for money to help service its debts but has said it favours a standby package being made available to reassure investors without Athens having to use the money.
Merkel and Sarkozy also said the Greek debt and deficit crisis showed the need to strengthen economic governance in the euro zone — meaning closer coordination of policy — to deal with any threats like those in Greece.
An EU official said any agreement would include increased budgetary surveillance of euro zone countries.
“The IMF is a key part of it,” the EU official said. “There are two parts. There is a part on bilateral loans and there is a part on … surveillance.”
Paris and Berlin called for Van Rompuy to draw up a report before the end of this year laying out all the options for strengthening preventive mechanisms and sanctions.
| — Hat tip: Henrik | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Eurobank, Incomes to Drop Also in Private Sector
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 25 — Eurobank expects to see income levels drop by around 10% for public sector workers and by at least 2.7% for freelance professionals and those working in the private sector, and has forecast a sizeable drop in consumption levels in 2010. According to the bank, the increase in fuel and food prices, as well as recent tax measures, will push the general level of prices up, thereby raising the annual average growth rate for the consumption index to 2.7%, compared with the 1.2% seen in 2009. According to the same analysis, the public deficit could reach 133% of GDP by 2013. Moreover, in a survey conducted by Alpha Bank, the year underway will be marked by a 2.5%-2.8% drop in GDP, a rise in unemployment and inflation, a fall in consumption levels and, at the same time, substantial improvement in public finances, on which the economic recovery of the next few years will be based. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Rehn: Working Towards Accord at EU Summit
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, MARCH 25 — “The EU Commission is ready, and with EU states we are trying to come up with a solution within this week’s EU Council meeting,” EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn said in speaking before the European Parliament. Rehn said that “Greece has taken convincing measures to cut its deficit by 4% this year and we are at a turning point.” However, he added that “we cannot allow such a scenario as what is currently underway in Greece to reoccur. For this reason, we encourage the EU Council to adopt a mechanism which can be activated immediately if necessary. Any aid to Greece will have to be linked to very strict conditions.” This afternoon in Brussels the summit of EU heads of state and government is set to begin, an appointment from which a strong signal is expected, able to lift the Eurozone out of the climate of uncertainty created over the past few weeks as well as to restore confidence in the euro. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
It Has Nothing to Do With Healthcare
Here we are 37 years after legalized abortion, 45 years after the “great society,” and 75 years after Social Security was enacted. Had 50 million babies not been murdered, they probably would have been working Americans today that could have helped to fund the government Ponzi Schemes for the now retiring Baby Boomer generation. But of course, that was not part of the plan. The real plan is population control. Now that the Baby Boomers are old enough to be a drain on the already insolvent social security and Medicare, the world order planners need a program to quickly eliminate the costs of this huge portion of the population. And how do they accomplish this plan? Quite simply, government controlled health care will guarantee rationing, especially to the elderly whose last years are the most costly. Eliminate the care, and the elderly pass more quickly without the drain on the government Ponzi Schemes. The plan is to eliminate the huge and costly group of Baby Boomers who are now draining Social Security and Medicare.
Here’s what former Senator Tom Daschle said in his book, Critical, “. . . The elderly have a responsibility to die, knowing that they are not going to survive their chronic illnesses, so that society can save money and pump funds into care for the younger, more worthy recipients.” (I wish Tom would go first)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Fiat Dismisses Claims of Job Cuts
Turin, 24 March(AKI) — Italian carmaker Fiat has swiftly dismissed as “conjecture” an Italian media report claiming that the company plans to cut 5,000 jobs. The Italian newspaper, La Repubblica, on Wednesday published a report saying the company plans to shed 15 percent the people who work on their Italian assembly lines and reduce the number of models it produces.
“Every piece of news which speculates about the operations, actions, timeframe, extent and the amount is the fruit of conjecture, and comes from outside the (Fiat) group,” the Turin-based company said in a statement.
The company stressed that it was important to remember that due to the severe impact of the economic crisis on the vehicle industry, Fiat was doing everything possible to avoid job cuts.
Fiat said it had authorised 30 million hours of temporary layoffs for its workers on reduced pay in 2009.
“At the moment the group is working on the preparation of its business plan for 2010-2014 and any journalistic preview is absolutely premature and without any foundation,” the company said.
In its report, La Repubblica said Fiat’s new business strategy includes a plan to cut 5,000 production jobs.
The article also said the carmaker intends to cut the number of models from 12 to 8, while planning to raise the number of vehicles it produces in Italy from 600,000 to 900,000 — an increase of 50 percent.
The job cuts are expected to be announced by Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne when he presents the company’s 2010-2014 business plan to financial analysts on 21 April, the newspaper said.
While Fiat intends to cut the number of models from 12 to 8, it plans to raise the number of vehicles it produces in Italy from 600,000 to 900,000 — an increase of 50 percent.
Under the plan, Marchionne is expected to foreshadow job cuts of 2,000 to 2,500 at its largest manufacturing site, the Mirafiori plant in the northern city of Turin, the daily said.
The job cuts seem certain to provoke further conflict with local trade unions already fighting plant restructuring and plans to close the Termini Imerese plant in Sicily.
In January Fiat said it had to restructure its Italian factories in order to save money and become more competitive.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Unemployment Hits 14-Year High
Rome, 24 March (AKI) — Italy’s unemployment rate in 2009 has posted its biggest jump in 14 years as Europe’s fourth largest economy felt the impact of the recession. In its latest report, the government statistics agency Istat said there were 2.15 million Italians out of work.
The country shed 380 thousand jobs last year, lifting the unemployment rate to 8.6 percent, from 7.1 percent in 2008, Istat said Wednesday. It was the biggest rise since 1995, Istat said in a briefing with reporters.
The data “confirms the gravity of unemployment,” said Cesare Damiano, head of the opposition Democratic Party in the lower house’s Labour Commission.
Italy’s unemployment rose amid a 5 percent economic contraction in the country in 2009 — the worst recession since World War II.
Italy’s gross domestic product totalled more than 1,520 billion euros in 2009.
While the country emerged from a recession in the third quarter, it contracted again in the fourth quarter.
Many economists think the country may register another contraction in the first three months of this year.
On 12 March CGIL, Italy’s largest union with around six million members, staged a one-day strike to protest what it perceives as prime minister Berlusconi’s failure to remedy rising unemployment.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Food Products Purchases Down, -3.3% in Jan
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 25 — Retail sales of food products in Italy dropped in January by 1% compared with December and by 3.3% compared with the same month in 2009, reported the Italian national statistics institute ISTAT, which noted that the month-on-month figure was the worst since April 2007, while the year-on-year one was the worst since March 2009, when it was at -5.2%. ISTAT noted that, overall, retail sales in January dropped by 0.5% compared with December and by 2.6% compared with January 2009. The on-the-month figure is the worst since December 2008 (when it as at -0.7%). ISTAT also noted that the drop in sales in December (-0.5%) is the synthesis between the -1% in food sales and the 0.3% in non-food ones. Compared with January 2009, food sales dropped by 3.3%, while those of non-food ones dropped by 2.3%. ISTAT also reported that the indexes refered to the current sales value, thereby incorporating both trend seen in quantity and that of prices. The on-the-year trend was strong especially in large-scale retail (-3.1%), while enterprises working on small surface areas saw -2.2% in January. On the overall drop of 2.6% in January sales figures, pharmaceutical products stood out (-4.2%) as well as IT equipment (-4.3%). Doing better in the crisis was clothing and footwear (-1.2% for both), photography and optical equipment (-0.6%) and the toys, sports and camping sector (-0.9%). (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Vegetables Exports in Andalusia Down
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 25 — In 2009 Andalusia Community (Spain) reduced its exports of vegetables by 5.20% over the previous year, Green Med Journal newsletter reported. The value of exports totalled 1,696.6 million euros, or 11,84% of the total. Exports of vegetables amounted to 2,964.7 million euros, a decrease by 8.70% (20.68% of total). According to statistics, the main customers of Andalusia in 2009 were France, with 1,525.2 million euros (-13.15%) and Germany, with 1,463.5 million (-7.73%). (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Audacity of Food Stamps and the Coming Great Obama Depression
Democrats made history all right this weekend, but not the kind they think they voted for. While they may actually believe their healthcare bill will usher in some sort of new golden age in which Americans, immigrants and unicorns live together in perfect harmony, back in the real world the only things their monstrous healthcare bill will accomplish is the loss of millions more sorely needed jobs and transformation of what has been a terrible, but temporary recession, into the Great Obama Depression.
This catastrophe, coming strait at the nation like an out of control freight train, can be traced to a fundamental but important character flaw present in most Democrats and their communist loving overlords. Apparently none of them ever learned one of the most basic lessons in life: There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
ObamaCare may sing the siren song of healthcare equality for all (communism), but it sure as heck doesn’t come up with a way to pay for it. Obama and Democrats point to CBO scores that say ObamaCare will reduce the federal deficit by $138 billion over the first 10 years, but this is of course nonsense. It doesn’t include the $208 billion “doc fix” we all know is coming, it presumes Medicare will save $500 billion over the next decade by rooting out fraud (good luck with that), and it includes revenues from existing healthcare programs already being used to pay for services (double counting), in addition to other accounting shenanigans.
Closer to reality former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin estimated the bill will add $538 billion to the deficit over the first 10 years alone and cost $2.3 trillion. And the first decade includes only 6 years of healthcare benefits!
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Greek Situation is a Warning to Other Euro Countries
A Greek professor and banker talks about his country’s problems and the role of the ECB. “In the West, the banks dragged down the governments. Here, the government brought down the banks.”
By Marloes de Koning in Athens
During the last big demonstration in Athens, the EFG Eurobank in the centre of the Greek capital, directly opposite the parliament, was splattered with red paint. The banking industry is held responsible for the sacrifices that have to be made by citizens now that Greece is forced to make heavy cutbacks. Gikas Hardouvelis, chief economist of the bank and a professor at the University of Piraeus, sees things differently. “The banks too are victims of the financial crisis,” he said in his office around the corner from the besmirched building. “In the West, the banks dragged down the governments. Here, the opposite is true: the government brought down banks and healthy businesses.”
Hardouvelis (54) spent 20 years of his career in the US before returning to Greece in 1994. He looks at his own country with the enthusiastic amazement of a scholar. And recent times have given him some very interesting material to study. He has had to adjust the graphs he uses in his university lectures on almost a daily basis. Every time the financial markets react to announced cutbacks, or European leaders make statements about the prospect of financial aid to the country, the situation changes.
But the predicament of banks in Greece does not amuse him quite as much. Before the crisis, he pointed out, their position was excellent. His EFG Eurobank currently still has 83 billion euros in assets, and employs 230,000 people in ten countries. “We are still healthy,” Hardouvelis said. “We have enough capital. The 2009 profits were half those of 2008, but we still made a profit.”
Banks in Greece had been benefiting from the way consumers were catching up with the rest of Europe after the country joined the eurozone nearly ten years ago. Back in 2001, few Greeks had a mortgage or large loan. Today, they are almost on par with the European average. Credit here still grew by 5 percent over 2009, despite the worldwide credit crisis. “In the years before, growth was 15 to 20 percent,” Hardouvelis said. That growth was acquired through traditional services; Greek banks had not yet begun offering high-risk, toxic products.
Until the full extent of the country’s budget deficit, now at 12.9 percent of GDP, came to light last year, Greece seemed to be sailing through the credit crisis without much trouble. The global recession did shrink the Greek economy, but only at about half the rate of the EU average.
Did the Greeks really think the credit crisis would pass them by?
Hardouvelis: “Hope was we would avoid recession. But it hit us and credit raters got their eye on us.”
Did the European Central Bank make the crisis worse for Greece?
“Yes. The moment the credit rating agencies lowered the Greek rating last December, the ECB made it clear it would withdraw liquidity from the banks. In unofficial talks to banks, including this one, they were encouraged to stop borrowing. That contributed to the markets thinking Greece wouldn’t make it. Frankfurt said, ‘shape up; I am not going to lend you any more’. The timing was very bad. Treating the Greek banks this way was a mistake.
“In fact, double standards were applied. In 2008 and 2009, careless Western banks that saddled their countries with major problems were rescued. Now healthy Greek banks are stuck with problems just because they have the misfortune of operating from a country that is not doing great, where the creditworthiness of the country is affecting banks. The role of the ECB in such a case is to support the banks. A central bank ought to help banks, not screw them.”
The ECB is still lending money, so the problems are not so bad?
“The ECB changed its mind early this year and is indeed still lending to Greek banks. And we need that, because as soon as the country became the centre of attention, other banks — which I believe were inferior to the Greek banks — stopped lending us money. This left us no one to turn to but the Greek central bank [which in turn borrows money from the ECB]. That dependence is the exact opposite of what the ECB aimed for in December.
“Banks are well capitalised. Greek banks could easily stop lending to improve their liquidity. But then they would cause the recession to deepen and we don’t want that. But we need a bit of support.”
Hardouvelis showed his most recent prognosis for the Greek economy: a contraction of at least 2.8 percent of GDP in 2010. In its latest austerity plan, the Greek government still counts on it shrinking only 0.8 percent. A number even the government has now admitted is too optimistic.
The global recession hit Greece later than other countries, Hardouvelis said. “It found us with two major imbalances. We had a weak, conservative government that tried to solve every problem by throwing money at it, and we suffered from a structural lack of competitiveness. Greek products are becoming increasingly expensive and we are selling less abroad.”
“Membership of the eurozone has worked like a sleeping pill. Before, if our competitiveness was deteriorating, we could devalue our currency. But with the euro, that decision is made by the ECB, not in Greece itself. We seemed to have everything in order, because our interest rates were low. But the Greek economy relies on consumption for 73 percent of its GDP, the highest rate in the eurozone. Politicians failed to wake up. Greeks were never big savers and lately investments had dropped. Consumer demand was boosted, but the ability to produce and sell was not.”
Do you have faith in the latest reorganisation measures?
“Yes. The measures announced this month are very specific: salary cuts, surcharge reductions, freezing state pensions, raising various taxes, such as VAT and duties.”
Will the government succeed in carrying out these measures?
“I believe so. Seven out of ten people who work for the government sit around doing nothing. All you have to do is put them to work. Half of them are capable people who are just bored to death. When I say our government is inefficient, I mean it has been abandoned. Citizens only saw it as a job provider and so did politicians who did not look more than two years ahead. They only thought about how many people they could fix up, because that would mean they had their votes.”
Would help from the IMF have been a solution for Greece?
“It would have been okay to have the IMF here. Then the austerity measures would have been supplemented by a pool of cash. Now you only have the austerity measures and a vague promise by the EU.
“But Greece realises that bringing in the IMF is a European choice. And doing so would send a very bad signal about the stability of the eurozone. It would show that the Brussels’ bureaucracy, which knows where the weak spots in the union are, is unable to repair them. If it can’t do that, the eurozone won’t survive in the long term. If I believed in the future of a united Europe, I would not want inside the IMF involved. If you were to bring in the IMF you would admit you were not able to run a stable economy.”
And, do you believe in that united future?
“I do. Europe will take its time to reach agreements on new fiscal instruments.”
Doesn’t the EU run the risk of tarrying too long with new financial regulations?
“Only if the crisis moves to Spain, a big country, will Europe speed up. As long as the crisis stays in Greece the hardliner view will prevail. It will serve as an example. ‘The more Greeks suffer the better’.”
Will this approach work?
“Probably. And if it does work, it will work for Greece too.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
The Only People Who Still Might be Fooled Are the American Taxpayers, Who Are Ultimately Responsible When the Bills Come Due
The Wall Street Journal ran an editorial last August pointing out that the American people are just about the only ones fooled by the government’s use of off-balance sheet, SIV-type accounting to hide the debts of Fannie, Freddie, Social Security and Medicare:
[…]
The larger issue is the integrity of the national balance sheet. As government spending soars, the political temptation to use off-balance-sheet vehicles of various sorts will only increase. Barney Frank is even pushing a bill to make the feds guarantee U.S. municipal debt. The danger is that the federal government will itself become the next Enron, with its biggest liabilities hidden from view, officially denied or tucked away in special purpose vehicles like Fannie Mae. Until the next crisis hits.
[…]
Foreign debt holders know about America’s financial situation, which is why purchases of Treasuries by foreign central banks are declining.
But the American people are in for one rude shock …
[Comments from JD: Not just America. One article I read (I didn’t bookmark it) mentioned that Canada’s debt per capita is worse than the US.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Alinsky Trainer Developed 1st Obama Volunteers
Group modeled on Marxist icon teaches tactics of confrontation, intimidation
The executive director of an activist organization modeled after Marxist community organizer Saul Alinsky and described as teaching tactics of direct action, confrontation and intimidation was part of the team that developed and delivered a group of volunteers for President Obama’s 2008 campaign, WND has learned.
Jackie Kendall, executive director of the Midwest Academy, was on the team that developed and delivered the first Camp Obama training for volunteers aiding Obama’s campaign through the 2008 Iowa Caucuses.
Camp Obama was a two-to-four day intensive course run in conjunction with Obama’s campaign aimed at training volunteers to become activists to help Obama win the presidential election.
[…]
Camp Obama director Jocelyn Woodards told reporters her job was to ensure volunteers had “real concrete ways to be involved and organize in their local communities. We go through everything from canvassing, phone banking, volunteer recruitment, our campaign message, how to develop an organization locally.”
Another radical who taught at Camp Obama was Robert Creamer, a Chicago political consultant who pleaded guilty to bank fraud and withholding taxes while heading Citizen Action of Illinois. Citizen Action is a spin off of Midwest Academy.
Creamer, husband of Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., one of Capitol Hill’s most visible cheerleaders for Obama’s health-care plan, wrote a book on how “progressives” can promote their agenda. The book was endorsed by Obama’s senior adviser David Axelrod as providing “a blueprint for future victories” on reform.
Creamer wrote that success in passing health-care reform could ensure a “wave of progressive change.”
“If we succeed in winning health insurance reform, we will have breached the gates of the status quo,” he wrote. “We will demonstrate that fundamental change is possible. Into that breach will flow a wave of progressive change.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Court Told ‘Citizen’ Obama Actually May be Alien
‘Under British Nationality Act … he was a British subject’
Forget the dispute over the “natural born citizen” requirement of the U.S. Constitution for presidents, Barack Obama may not even be a “citizen,” according to a new filing in a long-running legal challenge to his eligibility to occupy the Oval Office.
“Under the British Nationality Act of 1948 his father was a British subject/citizen and not a United States citizen and Obama himself was a British subject/citizen at the time Obama was born,” says a new filing in the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in the case Kerchner v. Obama.
“We further contend that Obama has failed to even conclusively prove that he is at least a ‘citizen of the United States’ under the Fourteenth Amendment as he claims by conclusively proving that he was born in Hawaii.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Dates That Destroyed America
The decision by Congress to socialize medicine in the US ranks among the most draconian, most egregious, most horrific actions ever taken by the central government in Washington, D.C. This bill rocks the principles of liberty and constitutional government to the core. It changes fundamental foundations; it repudiates historical principle. Oh! The same flag may fly on our flagpoles, the same monuments may grace our landscape, and the same National Anthem may be sung during our public ceremonies, but it is not the same America. The Congress of the United States has now officially turned America into a socialist state.
On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the health care bill into law, and as such, this date — along with March 21 — joins a list of dates that have each inflicted unconstitutional, socialistic, and sometimes even tyrannical action against the States United and have, therefore, contributed to the destruction of a free America.
April 9, 1865
This is the date when General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to U.S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Regardless of where one comes down on the subject of the Civil War, one fact is undeniable: Abraham Lincoln forever destroyed the Jeffersonian model of federalism in America. Ever since, virtually every battle that free men have fought for the principles of limited government, State sovereignty, etc., have all stemmed directly from Lincoln’s usurpation of power, which resulted in the subjugation and forced union of what used to be “Free and Independent States” (the Declaration of Independence). In fact, the philosophical battles being waged today regarding the recent health care debacle (and every other encroachment upon liberty and State power by the central government) have their roots in Lincoln’s tyranny.
July 9, 1868
This is the date when the 14th Amendment was ratified. This amendment…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Education Department Buying 12-Gauge Shotguns
Washington, Philadelphia officers get dozens of Remingtons
Civil libertarians are viewing with alarm a decision by the government to purchase dozens of shotguns for representatives of the U.S. Department of Education offices in Washington and Philadelphia, even though the government attests that the 12-gauge weapons are simply to replace other guns.
“Viewed in conjunction with the destruction of the Bill of Rights through Patriot Act type legislation, we can see a pattern developing of an emerging Homeland Security state and a total surveillance society,” said attorney and former Marine Corps officer Darrell Castle.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
New Rally Cry: Don’t Submit!
‘We’re not going to roll over and let Pelosi have her way’
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has a message for the Americans people: Do not submit to “Obamacare,” the massive health-care reform bill President Obama just signed into law.
“I want to let people know that we hear you,” she told WND. “We want this bill repealed, too, and we’re not just going to roll over and accept Obamacare. We’re not going to roll over and let Nancy Pelosi have her way because it was just a handful of Democrats leadership that pushed this bill onto the backs of 300 million Americans. We don’t have to accept this.”
While Bachmann explained that she is not advocating civil disobedience, she said people must not give into apathy and believe the health-care bill cannot be overturned.
Asked whether the health-care bill really has a chance of being repealed, Bachmann replied, “It’s very difficult. I won’t put rose-colored glasses on.”
Americans must prepare to take the fight to the polls this election, she explained, and they must vote for constitutional conservatives to make up majorities in the House and Senate.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Obstructs Oversight of FBI in Anthrax Case
Despite bipartisan congressional support for examining the FBI’s gross mishandling of the post-9/11 anthrax attacks, President Barack Obama is telling Congress that he doesn’t want the agency to be scrutinized and held accountable.
Dr. Steven Hatfill, one of the innocent victims of the FBI investigation, is preparing to go public with his account of how the Department of Justice (DOJ) violated his rights and tried to ruin his career and reputation. He will be the subject of a forthcoming Atlantic magazine article and will be sitting down for an interview by the NBC “Today Show’s” Matt Lauer. The DOJ paid Hatfill $6 million in damages after finally admitting that he was not involved in the anthrax attacks that killed five people.
Hatfill is adamant that justice has not been done because the formerly high-ranking officials who lied to the press about him and violated his rights have not been held accountable for their crimes.
Conservative “hero” John Ashcroft, then the Attorney General, had publicly labeled Hatfill a “person of interest” in the case. The lives of Hatfill and his friends and associates were turned upside down as the FBI unleashed dozens of agents and spent tens of millions of dollars in a fruitless effort to link Hatfill to the crime.
Expert observers of the controversial case, known officially as “Amerithrax,” also believe the FBI failed to seriously consider the role of foreign terrorist organizations and their sponsors in the anthrax mailings.
An amendment to the intelligence spending bill sponsored by Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) calls for the anthrax murder case to be re-opened and a foreign connection to be investigated. It passed the House. The amendment asks the intelligence community’s inspector general to specifically look into the foreign angle.
But rather than get to the bottom of what really happened and whether the U.S. still remains vulnerable to a foreign-sponsored biological terrorist attack, Megan Eckstein of the Frederick (Maryland) News-Post reports that Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag sent a letter to four congressional leaders on March 15 rejecting the probe and suggesting that if this measure remains in the intelligence spending bill, Obama may veto it.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Unconstitutional Health Care Treachery
The U.S. federal government controlled only 13% of the U.S. economy when Obama took office a short fourteen months ago. Today, after consuming the auto industry, the bank and investment industry, the insurance industry and the health industry, the Fed will control roughly 50% of the U.S. economy.
For those who don’t know how to properly interpret such a massive maneuver, I refer you to Obama’s base of support, the Democratic Socialists of America
“Democratic socialists believe that both the economy and society should be run democratically—to meet public needs, not to make profits for a few. To achieve a more just society, many structures of our government and economy must be radically transformed through greater economic and social democracy so that ordinary Americans can participate in the many decisions that affect our lives. Democracy and socialism go hand in hand. All over the world, wherever the idea of democracy has taken root, the vision of socialism has taken root as well…”
This is the “social justice” and “spreading of wealth” that Obama promised during his campaign in 2008. He has kept that promise to, as Marx put it, — “Take from some according to their ability, and give to others according to their needs.”
[…]
For any federal law to be “constitutional,” it must meet this minimum standard…
1. It must be within the limited federal powers enumerated in the Constitution 2. It must enjoy the support of the vast majority of “the governed,” from which all federal powers are derived 3. It must not infringe upon the individual rights of any citizen 4. It must not infringe upon the rights of any state, protected by the Tenth Amendment 5. It must become law by way of legal legitimate legislative process
Obama’s Health Care treachery violates all five of these standards and as a result, it cannot be allowed to stand. This is about much more than health care.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Praying in Park Puts Man in Jail for 9 Days
Letter warning of warrant arrives after defendant taken into custody
A Christian who prayed in a public park with six other people is serving a nine-day jail sentence for disorderly conduct even though his case is under appeal and charges against the others were dismissed or overturned.
Julian Raven of Elmira, N.Y., said he was “surprised by police at his office,” handcuffed and taken into custody this week, according to the Alliance Defense Fund, which is defending Raven.
“According to his wife, police escorted him out of a court hearing … in handcuffs in front of his crying children to begin serving his nine-day jail sentence,” the organization said in a report.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Coming of an American Reichstag?
A federal intelligence source reported in an interview last evening that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have been called in to “actively investigate incidents of violence and threats” made to at least ten Democrats and one Republican lawmaker since Sunday. Their involvement was reportedly requested by top House leadership and one unnamed, high-level White House official. According to this source, who agreed to speak to this writer under the strict condition of anonymity, “a ‘watch list’ has already been created that specifically names and turns their focus on various pro-life and tea-party organizations and individuals who are considered a threat to domestic security, continuity of government operations, and to the lives of lawmakers and their families.”
[…]
According to this federal official, lawmakers and White House officials were stunned by the strong response against the health care bill, citing the protests at the Capitol. “Based on what I’ve heard, I don’t think they were expecting the type of response seen in not only the demonstrations, but in poll numbers and by conservative talk radio and television. “They have been monitoring all aspects of this situation, not just the physical assemblies,” he stated. “Watch lists are being created and updated to include anyone who appears to be organizing or acting as a gallivanting force behind the actual protestors.”
The media outlets have also been reporting the allegations of racial slurs and anti-gay remarks shouted at Representatives John Lewis, Andre Carson, and Barney Frank this weekend, supposedly during the protests of members of the Tea Party. According to this source, there does not appear to be any direct evidence of such behavior beyond the allegations themselves.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Nationalization of Your Body
Mark Steyn
All this week, in the wake of the health care bill, we’re looking back at some of my broader takes on the issue, and its implications. I think most of the points in this piece from last summer stand up pretty well:
Health care is a game-changer. The permanent game-changer. The pendulum will swing, and one day, despite their best efforts, the Republicans will return to power, and, in the right circumstances, the bailouts and cap-&-trade and Government Motors and much of the rest can be reversed. But the government annexation of health care will prove impossible to roll back. It alters the relationship between the citizen and the state and, once that transformation is effected, you can click your ruby slippers all you want but you’ll never get back to Kansas.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Party of American Slavery in Full Abhorrent Power Again
The political party that promoted the slavery of Africans, established Jim Crow laws, created the Ku Klux Klan, refused to follow court orders barring segregation—and so on and so on—is now is full raging power within the borders of the United States of America. However, this time only the colors of its victims’ skins appear to have changed. This time, people from ALL ethnic backgrounds are being enslaved by the US Marxist Party’s (aka former “Democrat Party”) overseers and rulers. And this time, the tyrants will not allow something like ‘free elections’ to take them out. Most of them— including their dictatorial leader Barack Hussein Obama—realize that the chances for their reelections to power are, at best, marginal.
Note: Since prior to Obama’s selection and usurpation of the office of POTUS, I have warned that any and all “free” elections would probably soon be a thing of the past. The Marxist way is to not allow them, in the first place. Therefore, it was of extreme interest to me that Rush Limbaugh—in a recent program—commented: “Obama’s gonna’ need their votes in 2012. The Democrats are going to need their votes in every election from now on — if we have elections, and I’m not joking.” It appears that even some talk show icons are finally realizing the truth of the Obama Evil.
Let’s really face what’s happening, shall we? Any tyrant or set of tyrants who does not care what 60-70% of the population says and believes—if said beliefs don’t go along with their programs—also doesn’t care about “allowing” that same population to vote them out of office. Therefore, the logical thing to do is to disallow elections—altogether; or go the alternative of strictly managed and massive election fraud and intimidation. Don’t forget that Obama’s bought-and-paid-for US Attorney General Eric Holder has already thrown out the legally obtained conviction of New Black Panthers in a lawsuit that showed some of the worst election intimidation on record.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Three Ways to Close the Obama Care Building!
As bad as this health care picture is, there are ways to bring it to an immediate halt. We shall describe three solutions here. If they were implemented immediately and across the board, ObamaCare would go the way of the dodo bird.
1. As Walgreens and Rite Aid are already doing in Washington State, pharmacies across the country need to stop taking any more Medicare and Medicaid patients … period.
2. Every health care insurer in America needs to put a freeze on insuring any new groups or individuals.
3. All private general practitioners and health care specialists need to cease accepting any new Medicare and Medicaid patients and doctors should declare a one-week holiday from any and all surgeries. If they did the one-week “surgery holiday” just before the November 2010 election, the wrath of the American voter against the Democrats would be unprecedented and overwhelming.
These are drastic measures but they would bring the “ObamaCare Building” down in months, instead of years.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“It’s Time for Turkey to Snap Out of Its Self-Delusion”
Some would argue that the integration of Germany’s Turkish minority has made progress in recent years.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again suggested that Germany establish Turkish-language high schools for its immigrant population of Turkish descent. Regardless of the idea’s merits, it is unlikely to endear him to Merkel before the chancellor’s trip to Ankara on Monday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a career-long skeptic of Turkish membership in the European Union, will fly to Ankara on Monday to declare goodwill between the two nations and declare that a “privileged partnership” between Europe and Turkey would still be a nice idea.
But just days before her departure, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has done his part to ensure that the visit may be a tense one. In an interview with the influential German weekly paper Die Zeit, Erdogan proposed that Germany establish Turkish-language high schools for its Turkish minority.
“In Turkey, we have German high schools, why shouldn’t there be Turkish high schools in Germany?” Erdogan told the paper. “On this issue, Germany hasn’t seen the signs of the times.”
The comments recall a speech Erdogan gave in Cologne in which he also called for Turkish-language education for those in Germany of Turkish descent. “It is your natural right to teach your children their mother tongue,” he told German Turks then.
Not surprisingly, the reaction from German politicians to Erdogan’s comments, published on Wednesday, was swift and critical. Wolfgang Bosbach, a parliamentarian from Merkel’s Christian Democrats said “I don’t believe integration would be furthered were we to establish Turkish high schools in which lessons were conducted in the Turkish language.” Politicians from the center-left Social Democrats were likewise skeptical as were parliamentarians from Merkel’s coalition partners, the business-friendly Free Democrats.
Erdogan had only recently raised eyebrows in Germany by inviting parliamentarians of Turkish-descent in Germany and other European countries to Istanbul for what was “purely a lobbying event,” according to Özcan Mutlu, a Berlin state legislator from the Green Party, who attended. Leaders in Ankara wanted powerful members of the Turkish diaspora to work as representatives for Turkish interests abroad, he said. Mutlu himself recoiled from the idea. “We are not an extended arm of the Turkish government,” he said.
The Turkish leader’s comments are unlikely to sway Merkel from her skepticism of a full Turkish membership in the EU. In a Wednesday interview, she told the Germany-based Turkish newspaper Milliyet that “there are intertwined relations between Turkey and the EU. There are 35 chapters in the (EU accession) talks. I am confident that 27-28 of them can be taken up (without accession) and this will really mean a privileged partnership.”
German commentators take a look at Erdogan’s comments on Thursday as well as the prospects of Turkish membership in the European Union.
The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:
“As he did two years ago, Erdogan recommends building Turkish gymnasiums (university-prep high schools) in Germany. The reactions then were unequivocal: We don’t need them. There were no dissenting opinions. Of course, if Nicolas Sarkozy had called for more French schools in Germany it would have been welcomed as a plea to cement French-German goodwill. But there’s a problem when it comes to learning Turkish. It is not highly regarded here — even after 50 years of Turkish immigration.”
“Germany is relinquishing a big opportunity. International concerns desperately want qualified workers who can speak several languages…. It is precisely for this reason that Istanbul is establishing a German-Turkish university. Its students are expected to know German and Turkish — far better, in fact, than immigrant children tend to learn both languages at home.”
The conservative daily Die Welt argues:
“Erdogan has (again) expressed how little he cares about integration of Turkish immigrants. He sees them as a sort of national reserve, to be called up at will to represent the interests of Turkey. This appears more important to him than opening career opportunities for Turks in Europe.”
“It has taken Germany many years to accept that one-time guest workers will not return to their homelands but have become — with their children and grandchildren — members of German society. It has also taken Germans a long time to accept that the Turks’ integration problems are, in fact, problems for everyone. It’s therefore fatal for Erdogan to nudge the Turkish diaspora back into a linguistic ghetto. Maria Böhmer, Germany’s (conservative Christian Democrat) immigration appointee, has tried to free Turkish immigrants from this ghetto with her campaign, ‘No future without a common language!’ It’s about time for Turkey to snap out of its own self-delusion.”
The Financial Times Deutschland writes:
“As a gift for her hosts on Monday, Merkel will bring an old shoe in her bag: the ‘privileged parnership’ idea, a sort of second-class EU citizenship which the Turks are meant to accept instead of full membership. The Turks, though, seem unwilling to be treated as poor relations from the east — and they’re right.”
“The question isn’t whether Turkey is ready for the EU. The EU is not ready for Turkey. Compared to other candidates, the country looks quite prepared in the near future to meet conditions for membership. At the same time it seems that the EU’s recent swift growth has come close to overwhelming the union. The general hope that the Lisbon treaty would make the new, 27-member EU more efficient has not been fulfilled.”
“The Turks are just now discovering their possibilities, their international weight. The percentage of people in Turkey who hope for EU membership and believe it’s important has, simultaneously, weakened. It’s an intricate situation for the Europeans. They can’t meet their membership promises, but they also can’t tolerate losing Turkey to the Middle East. The EU needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the EU.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Green Lasers Target Aircraft
Three aircraft have been targeted by green lasers on approach to Copenhagen.
A further three aircraft have been targeted by green lasers as they approached Copenhagen’s international airport overnight according to police.
Police say that in two of the incidents, lasers were targeted from a sports club area in Tåstrup near Copenhagen while the third came from an area near the Danish Broadcasting Corporation headquarters, according to Ritzau.
Wednesday night’s events came following a similar event last week during which a Swissair flight preparing to land at Kastrup Airport was targeted by a green laser from a field in nearby Sweden.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Erdogan Urges Germany to Allow Dual Citizenship
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday urged Germany, where some three million people of Turkish origin live, to loosen its rules for dual citizenship.
“I find it very regrettable that Germany is among the countries in the European Union that does notallow it (dual citizenship)” he told the German weekly Die Zeit.
“I hope that Germany will also allow it one day,” he said ahead of a visit by Chancellor Angela Merkel to Turkey next week.
Germany only allows citizens to hold the nationality of another state in exceptional circumstances, such as in the case of European Union citizens.
A child of foreign parents born in Germany can obtain dual citizenship if one parent has lived in the country regularly for at least eight years. But the child must choose one of the two nationalities by his 23rd birthday.
Erdogan, who raised hackles in 2008 for opposing the assimilation of people of Turkish lineage in German society, underlined his support for Turkish secondary schools in Germany.
“In Turkey, we have German high schools — why shouldn’t there be Turkish high schools in Germany?” he asked.
He also said Ankara would settle for nothing less than full membership in the European Union — a stance putting himself on a collision course with Merkel, who only supports a “privileged partnership” for Turkey.
“There are intertwined relations between Turkey and the EU. There are 35 chapters in the (membership) talks. I am confident that 27-28 of them can be taken up and this will really mean a privileged partnership,” she told Turkish daily Milliyet on Wednesday.
“Some issues, like institutional integration, will be left out of the scope,” she told a group of Turkish reporters.
Merkel however stressed the European Union placed “great importance” on the need for Turkey to follow a foreign policy consistent with the bloc’s stance.
Germany’s objections that the sizeable mainly Muslim country is not fit for membership are backed by another EU heavyweight, France, but Ankara points out that it has already opened negotiations aimed at becoming a proper member of the bloc.
“A privileged partnership is unknown to EU treaties,” Erdogan told Die Zeit. “For Turkey it would be a huge mistake to agree to that. And most of the other EU countries don’t accept this suggestion either.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
EU-Turkey: Bagis in Brussels Seeking Progress in Negotiations
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, MARCH 25 — The Turkish Minister for European Affairs, Egemen Bagis, is seeking to make progress on Turkey’s EU membership process, opening new chapters in negotiations. This is the objective of a series of encounters today in Brussels. In particular “soon we expect to open chapters on social policy and employment, competition, food safety, energy, education and culture”, he said after meeting with Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger and Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier. For the energy chapter, Bagis reiterated the existance of Cyprus’ veto, hoping for a realisation by the Europeans that “70% of the energy resources that they need are found in the areas adjacent to Turkey” and therefore a greater attention to cooperation on this front is needed. “The opening of the energy chapter,” he said, “would be a significant event.” This evening a meeting is expected to take place between the Turkish minister and European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Trust in Catholic Church Plummets Amid Abuse Scandal
Trust in the Catholic Church has taken a heavy blow, a poll released Wednesday revealed, with barely one in six Germans saying they had confidence in the Church in the wake of the child sex abuse scandal.
German-born Pope Benedict XVI has also suffered a crippling blow to his authority, with fewer than one in four people saying they trusted him personally, the poll published by Stern news magazine found.
Just 17 percent said they trusted the Church and 24 percent the Pope. That compares with 29 percent and 38 percent respectively in a similar poll taken at the end of January.
The poll taken by the Forsa surveying firm found that, even among Catholics, only a minority trusted either the Church or the Pope. Just 39 percent had confidence in the Pope, down from 62 percent at the end of January, while 34 percent trusted the Church, down from 56 percent.
Among non-denominational Germans, just 5 percent said they trusted the Church.
By comparison, the Protestant Church’s standing has barely been affected by the recent resignation of its leader Margot Käßmann, who was caught driving drunk. Some 42 percent of Germans said they had faith in Church compared with 44 percent at the end of January.
Among Protestants, trust was at 65 percent, actually a slight rise on the 64 percent registered six weeks ago.
The poll came as the Greens called the government’s planned “round table” on child sex abuse inadequate.
“With sex abuse cases, it’s about serious criminal acts, which aren’t in the least bit suited to a round table,” the party’s parliamentary leader Renate Künast told news magazine Der Spiegel.
In recent weeks, hundreds of alleged victims have come forward with claims of child abuse, predominantly in the Catholic Church but also in some other organisations.
Chancellor Angela Merkel was avoiding “a genuinely critical debate,” Künast said, adding that the round table was unlikely to come up with concrete proposals.
The federal cabinet made arrangements Wednesday to establish the round table, with the committee holding its first meeting on April 23. It appointed former Social Democrats politician Christine Bergmann as an independent commissioner to head the roundtable.
Committee members will likely include Family Minister Kristina Schröder, representatives of the Education Ministry, Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a well as abuse victims, experts and relevant associations.
But the Greens maintain that an independent commission of the German parliament is needed to overhaul the system of dealing with child sex abuse. This should include a compensation fund and money set aside for victims’ therapy, Der Spiegel reported.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Samaras to Papandreou, Country United Today
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 25 — Antonis Samaras, the leader of Nea Democratia, the main opposition party in Greece, spoke on the phone with Prime Minister George Papandreou about domestic developments in their respective EU Parliament groups, the European People’s Party and the European Socialist Party, and together coordinated the stance that will be taken at today’s summit in Brussels. Samaras, according to news agency ANA-MPA, informed the premier about the positions of his party regarding the economic situation in Greece and the support mechanism, and expressed his solidarity, underlining that today Greece is united. The Nea Democratia leader told Papandreou that he is against a possible involvement of the International Monetary Fund, stressing that this possibility does not “adhere to European philosophy” and is not in line with that of the European single currency. Finance Minister Papaconstantinou, who travelled with Papandreou to Brussels, has been instructed by the premier to keep Samaras informed about the results of the summit.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Molotov Bombs at Government Party Headquarters
(ANSAmed)- ATHENS, MARCH 25 — Early this morning a group of around 15 hooded individuals threw Molotov bombs at a police squad in riot gear guarding the Athens offices of the government party Pasok. The ANA-MPA news agency reported that the attackers had hurled 5 Molotov bombs at the police, four of which exploded in the street. One of the bombs did not go off and was instead removed by bomb-disposal experts. The attack did not result in any casualties, and police are attempting to track down the attackers, who managed to escape. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Probe Moves to Rome
Prosecutors have two weeks to weigh talk-show ‘pressure’ case
(ANSA) — Rome, March 25 — Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was on Wednesday placed under investigation in Rome in a probe into his alleged pressure to stop a talk show on state broadcaster RAI.
Rome prosecutors are investigating the premier on suspicion of using threats to have purportedly hostile political talk show Annozero shut down.
Berlusconi’s lawyers had themselves asked prosecutors in the southern Italian city of Trani, where the probe started, to send the relevant papers to a special court in Rome that deals with allegations against ministers.
The Rome prosecutors now have two weeks to assess the case and recommend whether to shelve it or send it on to the special court.
Berlusconi is under investigation along with a member of Italy’s media watchdog Agcom, Giancarlo Innocenzi, for allegedly trying to find ways to pull Annozero off the air.
The premier has described the probe as “laughable” and said his wiretapped remarks, leaked to the press, were only a reflection of what he had been saying openly for years.
He also claimed it had been his “duty” to intervene.
Berlusconi has charged that Annozero host Michele Santoro, whom he previously blackballed for four years for alleged “criminal use of the airwaves” during the 2001 elections, was still being allowed to “unacceptably” subject people to “trial by the media”. A member of the judiciary’s self-governing body, the Supreme Council of Magistrates, Cosimo Ferri, is also involved after allegedly receiving a request for legal advice on ways of stopping unfavourable coverage.
Also under investigation, for allegedly telling Berlusconi about the probe, is the head of RAI’s flagship news programme, Augusto Minzolini.
The premier has claimed the probe has been “timed” to hurt his People of Freedom (PdL) party’s chances in regional elections in 13 of Italy’s 20 regions on Sunday and Monday.
In some 15 investigations stemming from his business activity, the media magnate, Berlusconi has consistently claimed a group of allegedly left-leaning magistrates and prosecutors are conspiring against him.
Berlusconi, who has never been definitively convicted of wrongdoing, is involved in two trials in Milan.
In one, he faces charges of alleged bribing British tax lawyer David Mills to hush up incriminating evidence in two previous trials.
In the other, he is accused of alleged tax fraud in the trading of film rights by his Mediaset media group.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Greek Melkite Church in Rome as a Bridge to Islam
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 25 — Alongside Rome’s famous ‘Bocca della verita’, which attracts flocks of tourists each day, the early Christian basilica of St Maria in Cosmedin opens a door which allows you to immerse yourself in the incense-laden atmosphere of the Eastern liturgy without moving from the heart of Rome. This is Italy’s only place of worship for the faithful of the Greek Melkite Catholic Church, whose head is the Melkite Patriarchate of Antioch (the other Patriarch of Antioch is Greek-Orthodox), as for all Christians in Italy belonging to the Eastern Churches. But the vocation of this church is a predominantly ecumenical one. It has recently founded the ‘Bocca della Verita’ Cultural Centre which offers courses in Arabic for Italians and in Italian for immigrants, and it promotes dialogue with other faiths including Islam. Msg. Mtanious Hadad, the Rector of the Basilica and representative of the Patriarch to the Holy See, stands out by the friendly manner in which he greets his visitors after Sunday Mass. “We are Orthodox in our liturgy and Catholics in our faith”, Father Antonio — as he prefers to be called — explains, and “the Vatican looks on us as a bridge with the East: we are the voice of the absent Orthodox faithful”. They work together with the other Roman churches, and “it is not our intention to win over souls”. What we would rather do is promote “an encounter between the Western Church and the Eastern, which is integrated in European culture, as well as in Arab culture”. Also in order to show that “not every Arab is a Moslem and not every Moslem is a fanatic”. Which is the thinking behind the decision to celebrate Mass in Arabic every Thursday afternoon: a religious service combining the 6-7th Century liturgy of St John Chrysostomos (in which “the Eastern Church does not read, but sings the divine liturgy”, as a pamphlet explains) and the language of the Koran. “Interreligious dialogue arose in the East as early as the 7th Century,” the Syrian-born Father explains, “good relations between the faiths are not a recent invention. Divisions had their own causes, such as crusades and economic interests. And dialogue is not about a Sheikh meeting a Patriarch in a 5-star hotel, but about being among the people, with the Koran and with the Gospel, without proselytising and respecting the other”. But how far is Italian society capable of accepting others? “There is still too much ignorance here, which instils fear. We have to get to know Islam, not to fear it. But this also goes for Moslems, who may be ignorant of Christianity too, and be ignorant of the existence of Christians in the Arab world, as happens in Algeria and in Morocco. But in Syria, Lebanon and in Palestine we have been living together for centuries”. And what would you say to a figure from the Northern League, such as Calderoli, the man with the anti-Islam t-shirt? “I would invite him for coffee and then I would ask him: what do you want to do about the ten thousand Italians who have converted to Islam, take away their identity cards? A true Christian has no need to exclude the other, and exclusion breeds anger and fanaticism”. As for the persecution of Christians in the Middle East: “We are reverting to religious fanaticism everywhere at the moment, as in Lebanon, but there is no need to stress these aspects”. Meanwhile, the church of St. Maria in Cosmedin is due to hold the Synod of Bishops of the Eastern Churches in October. “We shall be present, and we hope that our Patriarch, Gregoire III Laham, will do the same as Maximus IV at the Second Vatican Council and say something on the subject of our opening to other churches and to the Arab community”.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Strawberry Cultivation Declines in 2010
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 25 — According to figures released by Ferrara-based Fruit and Vegetables Service Center (CSO — Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli), Italy accounts for 3500 hectares of land devoted to strawberry cultivation in 2010, 7% less compared to 2009, as reported by Green Med Journal newsletter. A decrease in areas planted with strawberries on the Italian territory was expected, especially as a result of a year like 2009, when prices have certainly not offered great satisfaction to the producers. CSO estimates for 2010 show a general decline in strawberry crops in all regions of Italy, with the exception of Sicily, where land surfaces stayed substantially stable. In the northern regions a veritable collapse of strawberry cultivation is observed: -18% over last year in Emilia Romagna region, — 5% in Veneto and -4% in Piedmont. Regions of the South such as Campania, Calabria and Basilicata, which in recent years invested in strawberry, this year reduced the surfaces by 10%. However, underlined Cso, this downward trend in strawberry cultivation, is in line with trends in Spain where from 2008-2009 to the 2009-2010 campaign over 1,100 hectares of strawberries have been lost just in Huelva, which is the area that concentrates the highest supply. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Långholmen Wins Opt-Out on ‘Swedish Player’ Rule
In a decision with some parallels to the landmark Bosman ruling, the Swedish Football Association has granted The Local’s partner football club Långholmen FC a temporary dispensation from regulations requiring a quota of Sweden-bred players in match day squads.
Långholmen crowned champions in final day drama (5 Oct 09)
The Local and Långholmen — a winning team (19 Jan 09)
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After the celebrations surrounding last season’s dramatic promotion to division 3, the Stockholm club sobered up with a start when it was discovered that the move from the local leagues into the national system meant a new set of regulations to follow, including one stipulating that half of the team must qualify as homegrown players.
The chance discovery of the Swedish FA regulations by one of Långholmen’s members sent shockwaves through Sweden’s perhaps most international club, which has a playing staff representing 21 nationalities.
“We panicked as our championship winning team from last year had only five players who qualified as homegrown players,” Mats Gustavsson, Långholmen FC chairperson, told The Local.
Långholmen applied to the Swedish FA’s competition committee for a dispensation from the rule but their initial request was rejected.
“We were obliged to reject the application as there was no room for manoeuvre within the regulations for providing a dispensation,” said Swedish FA lawyer Lars Helmersson to The Local.
But the expat community club decided to contest the decision and, with the backing of an association representing the interests of division three clubs, appealed to the board of the Swedish Football Association.
The FA board returned their affirmative decision last Tuesday, much to the relief of a Långholmen still uncertain about where and with whom they would be playing in 2010, with less than a month to the big kick off.
“Of course we are happy that we have been given a dispensation, but I think that the main issue here is that hopefully our fight will lead to a change in the rules so that other clubs do not have to go through the same thing,” Mats Gustavsson said.
The regulations, which stipulate that half of the match squad must have been registered with a Swedish club for three years between the ages of 15 and 21, affect all players, regardless of nationality, Gustavsson pointed out.
“The board gave the club’s players a dispensation on the grounds of them being amateurs and having come to Sweden for reasons other than football. The purpose of the rules was never to discriminate against immigrant clubs such as Långholmen,” Helmersson confirmed.
Gustavsson told The Local that while the club has been a little “shell-shocked” by the experience, preparations for the coming season have not been disrupted.
“We did discuss adopting a form of affirmative action policy by recruiting players who qualified under the rules. But this would mean we would have had to turn away players who had the wrong background — dangerously close to sorting people according to skin colour, or sexuality, and nobody wants that,” he said.
The dispensation applies to 13 Långholmen players — all amateurs who have moved to Sweden through work or romantic connections — and extends only for the 2010 season. The Local asked Gustavsson what the future holds for the English-speaking set up, which joined the Swedish league’s bottom rung, division 8, only seven seasons ago.
“We were given the dispensation on the grounds that the players were amateurs. But if we were to win the division and move into division 2 then we would have to put them all on contract… we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said.
According to the Swedish FA regulations, from division 3 and upwards at least half of a match day squad must be made up of homegrown players. The rules were introduced in Sweden in 2006 to replace regulations which limited the number of non-EU players (to three).
“Sweden introduced the regulations after an EU court ruled against the previous praxis of limiting non-EU players. We instead adopted UEFA rules stipulating homegrown players — but these are designed for elite competitions,” said Lars Helmersson.
Helmersson confirmed that the FA’s competition committee has been tasked with reviewing the regulations during the 2010 season to avoid a repeat of the situation that has afflicted Långholmen.
He added that although the UEFA regulations were developed in consultation with the EU and world football body FIFA, they have never been examined in court.
“It is only when they are challenged before the courts that the issue can be looked at legally,” Helmersson said.
On the same day as the Swedish FA told Långholmen of its decision, March 16th, the European Court of Justice ruled in a landmark decision regarding the French player Olivier Bernard, stating that clubs have the right to claim compensation for their investment in the training of young players.
“All of these issues are basically on the same principle as the Bosman case. Until the Bernard ruling I would have said that the ECJ would have found this all consistent with EU law, but now it is anyone’s guess — this indicates that the court is becoming more interested in the justifications for the special status of sport,” said Johan Lindholm, an expert in EU and sports law at Umeå University.
“Within EU law, a lot of questions remain unanswered, especially within football,” he told The Local.
The 1995 Bosman ruling by the ECJ concerned the freedom of movement of workers within the EU. The case had a profound effect on the transfers of football players within the EU, banning restrictions on foreign EU members within the national leagues.
Currently Långholmen’s players are amateur and so would not fall under EU legislation on the free movement of goods and services. However if they were to progress up the league system and become professional then they probably would qualify as “economic actors,” according to Lindholm.
“The basic principle is that anything that makes it less attractive for people to find work would probably qualify as discriminatory.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Church Abuse: ‘Wir haben es nicht gewusst’
The Catholic church in the Netherlands was simply unaware about the abuse of children in its care, cardinal Ad Simonis told a tv show on Tuesday night.
‘Wir haben es nicht gewusst, (we did not know)’ the cardinal said. ‘It is a loaded term, but it is true.’
The phrase was used by Germans after the Second World War as the horror of the death camps unfolded.
Many bishops in the 1950s, 60s and 70s did not know about the abuse, Simonis said. He himself was a bishop in various places for 38 years.
The number of abuse claims made to the church organisation Hulp & Recht has now reached over 1,100.
‘A bishop does not have direct say over religious orders and congregations, so a lot remains hidden from him,’ the cardinal told tv talk show Pauw & Witteman.
The cardinal said there is no direct link between the abuse and celibacy laws for Catholic priests. ‘It can be connected to poor preparation for celibacy and poor choice of candidates,’ he said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Judge Bans Psychopath’s Rap Song From Tbs Clinic
AMSTERDAM, 25/03/10 — A judge has banned a criminal psychopath from releasing a rap song that he recorded in the mental institution where he is being held for setting his girl-friend on fire. The feelings of his victim weigh more heavily than freedom of speech, according to the verdict.
The 22 year old man described as Awa al A. set his then girlfriend, aged 16, on fire with turpentine six years ago, saying he was jealous. For this, he was sentenced to 1.5 years in jail plus TBS, or compulsory psychiatric treatment of unspecified duration in a closed clinic.
With the permission of his therapists, Awa — his artist name — recorded a rap song in the TBS clinic during music therapy. The number is called ‘I am a criminal, I am a psychopath’. According to his lawyer Peter Plasman, it is an indictment of the TBS system — although it gave him the liberty to sing it.
The psychopath wanted to release the song via record company Excelsior on the iTunes music site. A journalist from the Revu magazine, who was allowed into the TBS clinic, helped him producing the single.
The district court in Amsterdam however banned the single because the woman who was burned would otherwise be confronted again by him and the crime. “The victim has a need to be left in peace.” This weighs more heavily than the freedom of expression of the TBS patient, according to the court.
The summary injunction was brought by the woman who he set on fire in Leeuwarden in 2004 and by the State. Plasman, who was representing Excelsior as well as Awa, said afterwards that he would advise his clients to appeal.
The ban imposed by the judge applies as long as the rapper is in a TBS clinic. He, Excelsior and iTunes are also banned from publishing the video-clip made of the rap number. Awa recorded this with a camera smuggled into the clinic.
The Lower House wants an explanation from Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin of the smuggling-in of the camera.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Poll: Cohen and Wilders Popular Among Dutch Students
According to a study by Studenten.nl PvdA (Party of Labor) leader Job Cohen is the most popular political leader among Dutch students.
The social-democrat received the support of 34% of students polled.
In second place with 25% was Geert Wilders, leader of the right-wing PVV (Party for Freedom).
Alexander Pechtold of the left-liberal D66 came in third place with 12%.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Proexport, -27% in Iceberg Lettuce Supply
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 25 — Iceberg lettuce producers from Spanish regions of Murcia and Almeria foresee serious difficulties in supplying the demand of the European retail chains in the coming weeks, as reported by Green Med Journal newsletter. According to estimates of the Production and Quality Service of the Association of Producers-Exporters of Fruits and Vegetables of the Region of Murcia PROEXPORT, whose associated members represent 50% of Spain’s total exported lettuce, the volume of product available for the next weeks will be 27% less compared to last years. Juan Antonio Jimenez, commercial director at Pulp Primaflor SAT (Almeria), explained that “to be able to meet our customers’ demand in the current circumstances some of the producers are forced to bring harvesting forward, so that the product has lesser unit weight than average”. This could also cause gaps in April. “However — he added — as usual, we need to wait and see how the weather and consumption evolve in view of Easter time. The main destinations of Spanish iceberg lettuce are Germany and the UK, which account for 55% of European imports of lettuce. Specifically, in 2008 German consumers bought 236,686 tons of lettuce while the United Kingdom imported 172,414 tons. In 2008 Spain exported 554,165 tons of lettuce of which 439,024 came from the Murcia region, which accounts for 80% of lettuce exported by Spain. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Juan Carlos Defends Thriving World of Bullfighting
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MARCH 25 — King Juan Carlos has joined in the controversy, coming down on the side of bullfighting in Spain, taking a decisively defensive stance on the ‘sport’ as “a thriving cultural and artistic world”. In presiding over today’s award-giving ceremony in Seville of bullfighting trophies for 2009, he was asked by journalists whether his presence was to be interpreted as support for bullfighting. Juan Carlos replied: “of course”. In his prize-giving speech, the King is quoted by the EP news agency as having congratulated the bullfighters on “the essence of sportsmanship” from which “a thriving cultural and artistic world arises”. The monarch also stressed the role played by the breeders as the “preserve the pure breeds of fighting bulls”. Juan Carlos concluded by confirming that his first-born, Princess Elena, is a great fan of bullfighting and will be attending many fights in the coming season. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Cops Fined Over Racist Remarks
Two police officers have each been docked five days’ wages for racist slurs made during disturbances in Malmö’s Rosengård district in December 2008.
The comments came to light when a police video was presented as evidence in a court case against one of the alleged ring leaders for the unrest.
In the film sequence, officers make a number of racist and threatening comments
“You little monkey son of a bitch. Should I make him sterile when I catch him?” said one police officer on the tape.
“Yeah, he’s going to get beaten so badly that he won’t be able to stand on his own two legs,” answered a colleague.
The police disciplinary measure follows an internal investigation after criminal charges against the officer were dropped last summer.
“Your statements are totally unacceptable and are in serious contravention of the values that should run through all police work,” the disciplinary committee told the officers.
One of the officers was initially suspected of having committed agitation against ethnic groups (hets mot folkgrupp) in connection with police efforts to quell disturbances in which a number of people with immigrant backgrounds were involved.
The investigation revealed that the radio traffic was being monitored by the head of the unit, who was sitting at the front of the van.
The officer in question sat furthest back. There was limited communication due to the disturbances. On that occasion, police were using a new radio system with encrypted transmissions.
The unit head said the officer’s statement was not heard by anyone outside of the van.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Taxi Drivers Blockade Stockholm Airport
Independent taxi drivers have blocked road routes in and out of Stockholm’s main Arlanda airport in protest against new taxi system regulations introduced by the Civil Aviation Authority (Luftfartsverket — LFV).
No cars or buses are able to get into or depart from the airport terminals which is the main hub for the Stockholm region.
“There remains a problem on road routes — all of the taxi ranks and routes into the terminals remain blocked,” Anders Bredfell, press spokesperson at Arlanda Airport, told The Local at 11.30am on Thursday.
Arlanda has classified the protest as illegal and has thus handed over the matter to the police.
“As Arlanda Airport is a protected area this is an illegal, criminal activity and our regulations stipulate that it is thus a police matter,” Bredfell said.
Bredfell told The Local that it is still possible to access most of the airport by car and bus, and said that train services were running as normal.
“It is mostly affecting those wanting to leave the airport. But for all concerned I would recommend that you allow extra time,” he said.
The Swedish Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket) ruled on March 17th not to investigate a complaint from independent taxi drivers over the new queue system scheduled for introduction by LFV on Tuesday.
The conflict between the taxi firms and LFV is part of a long running dispute.
The Competition Authority ruled on October 23rd 2009 that LFV should hold off on plans to change the taxi rank system at the airport. LFV then returned with a revised plan which has now been deemed acceptable by the Authority but has incurred the wrath of independent drivers who allege that the major firms are being favouritised.
The new plan divides the taxi firms into seven queues with Stockholm Transfer and Airport Cab, Taxi Kurir, Taxi 020 and Norrbilar all being given a queue each, with Taxi Stockholm getting two. All the remaining independent taxi drivers are assigned to the seventh line.
“While we are not in any participating in the blockade, we have a certain degree of understanding for the protesters — it is their livelihood that is at stake,” Michael Chalkiadakis at Stockholm Transfer told The Local on Thursday.
Stockholm Transfer argues that it is LFV which has not accepted the decision by the competition authority, has appealed a market court decision, and is now awaiting that appeal.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Ambassador Returns to Sweden
Turkey has announced that its ambassador will return to Sweden, despite a vote by parliament in Stockholm to recognize as genocide the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, the foreign minister said on Wednesday.
Ambassador Zergün Korutürk will “again take up her job this week or early next week at the latest”, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Turkish television channel CNN-Turk.
The Swedish parliament on March 11th recognised the massacres of Armenians and other ethnic groups during World War I as genocide, immediately sparking a diplomatic row with Turkey and prompting Ankara to call back its ambassador.
The Swedish government had opposed the resolution.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt apologised to Ankara, a move which his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan called “very positive”.
Foreign Minister Carl Bildt also said that the position of his government, which supports Turkey’s entry into the European Union, “remains unchanged”.
“We think it is a mistake to politicise history,” Bildt wrote on his blog.
“Unfortunately the decision of the parliament will not facilitate the process of normalisation between Turkey and Armenia, nor the work of a commission which should investigate the events of 1915,” he added.
Davutoglu on Wednesday welcomed Stockholm’s position and called the vote “absurd”.
A US Congress panel had branded the World War I massacre of Armenians as genocide a week before the Swedish vote, sparking a diplomatic row, with Turkey also recalling its ambassador from Washington.
Davutoglu said he was wary of sending the Turkish ambassador back to Washington as the two cases were different.
“The Swedes clearly apologised,” he said.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed in systematic massacres during World War I as the Ottoman Empire fell apart. This version has the support of the main body of global research opinion.
Turkey counters that between 300,000 and 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks perished in civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian forces.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Children Left Traumatised After Their Teacher is ‘Gunned Down in Playground’ In ‘Sick’ Hoax Lesson
Schoolchildren were left in tears after their teacher was gunned down by a crazed hoodie in the playground — in a ‘sick’ role-playing stunt.
Terrified children — aged from 10 to 13 years old — watched as the supposed gunman strolled into the playground, took aim and shot the teacher, before running into the school’s science lab.
Other staff in on the stunt rushed to the popular teacher’s aid and appeared to give CPR in an attempt to save his life.
It was 10 minutes before the shocked pupils of Blackminster Middle School in Evesham, Worcestershire, were rounded up and taken into the school hall where teachers explained that the scenario had been mocked up as part of a forthcoming science lesson.
But pupils were left traumatised, with one having a panic attack and others being sick.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Cardiff Fan Sentenced for Racist Attack in London
A Cardiff City fan who attacked a fellow Bluebirds supporter in the mistaken belief he was English has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Probation officer Allan Robertson, 48, of Pontypridd, throttled Michael Bitti then punched him in the head.
He wrongly believed Mr Bitti, 42, was a rival Arsenal fan and started a row with him in a London pub toilet.
Robertson was sentenced to nine months, suspended for two years, at Blackfriars Crown Court.
He was also given a 12-month supervision order and banned from football matches for three years.
The married father-of-three had been found guilty of racially aggravated assault at a previous hearing.
Judge Deva Pillay said Robertson attacked insurance underwriter Mr Bitti without warning and without any provocation whatsoever.
“I have no doubt that you attacked him because you thought, wrongly as it turned out, he was an Arsenal supporter,” said the judge.
“Having pushed him against the far wall of the toilet and having committed that initial assault you resumed that attack once one of your associates had entered the toilet and blocked the exit door.
“This was a cowardly attack upon an innocent man which resulted in injuries. So traumatised was Mr Bitti that he has not since attended an away game.
“I continue to fail to understand what madness possesses you and many others like you who normally live respectable and responsible lives to lose self control and responsibility, and descend into this kind of anarchical behaviour.”
Robertson was also ordered to perform 100 hours unpaid work, and the judge added: “You know what that means, being a probation officer.”
‘Looking for trouble’
The court heard Robertson had resigned from his job and the case had left him facing financial ruin.
His wife and two of his grown-up daughters were in tears throughout the hearing.
The jury had been told Robertson was “charged up and looking for trouble” when he assaulted Mr Bitti at the Phibbers pub in Islington on 16 February last year.
Following the incident, Robertson went to the Emirates Stadium to watch Cardiff lose 4-0 to Arsenal in an FA Cup replay.
He was photographed at the stadium making obscene gestures and behaving like a thug, the jury was told.
Robertson had travelled to London on a coach of Cardiff fans, including his niece and sister.
Exploded in rage
He drank three cans of lager during the journey and went with a small group to the pub for a drink later in the afternoon.
Robertson was said to have taken offence when he heard Mr Bitti talking to his son about whether trouble would “kick off” in the pub.
He assumed Mr Bitti was a rival, asked him about his comments and exploded in rage.
The court was told Robertson swore and racially abused Mr Bitti for being English, and attacked him in front of his teenage son.
Mr Bitti was badly bruised on his hip and head.
Robertson, who had worked for the probation service for 17 years, said he only pushed Mr Bitti out of his way because he had felt threatened, and denied he had uttered a racial slur.
| — Hat tip: GB | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Christian Cops ‘Are Snubbed’
AN ORGANISATION representing Christian cops has been denied official recognition — while a nationwide Scottish Muslim Police Association was launched with a political fanfare and £10,000 of taxpayers’ cash just days ago.
Scotland’s 127-year-old Christian Police Association say they feel they’re treated as “second-class citizens”.
The CPA is run on a shoestring budget and has been consistently refused recognition by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) on the grounds it would be “inappropriate”.
Harry Pearson, branch leader of the Strathclyde CPA, described the situation as “unfair”.
He will write to both ACPOS and Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill to demand the same recognition.
He said the CPA welcomes “any group” concerned with the welfare of officers, and improving relations with communities.
He added: “I find it all the more surprising, therefore, that there appears to be a clear disparity.”
The Muslim group launched last Wednesday in Fife, with Mr MacAskill the guest of honour.
It will receive an initial £10,000 of funding.
There are 90 Muslim officers in Scotland, and “thousands” of Christian ones.
ACPOS said it will discuss “any concerns”.
The Scottish Government said the CPA had not asked for funding.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Is There Now No Area of Our Lives That the Nanny State Won’t Poke Its Nose Into?
A group of the country’s most eminent doctors is calling for a ban on smoking in cars and in public places where young people congregate, such as parks. They trot out an impressive sounding array of statistics about medical problems in children which they say result from ‘passive smoking’.
On the face of it, the doctors would seem to be talking good sense. Surely young children — who are likely to be ignorant of the dangers of passive smoking, and unable to stand up for themselves — should be protected from careless or inconsiderate adults.
And yet when you study the doctors’ proposals you see they are not merely recommending banning smoking in cars in which children are passengers. They would like to ban all smoking in cars on the basis that children might be present.
So, if these distinguished medics get their way, I will be unable to smoke a cigarette by myself in my own car. Actually I don’t smoke, but you get the point. Similarly, people would not be allowed to puff away on a park bench because a child might happen along and be exposed to passive smoking.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: KFC Diner Told ‘You Can’t Have Bacon in Your Burger Here — We’re Now Halal’
A diner was left fuming after a KFC restaurant took his favourite meal off the menu because it breached their new halal regulations.
Alan Phillips was told he would have to travel five miles to another branch if he wanted the Big Daddy, a chicken burger, topped with bacon, cheese and salad.
The branch, in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, is one of 86 KFC restaurants which is running trials of a scheme where they sell nothing other than halal meat.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Pictured: The Moment RAF Jets Intercepted Russian Bombers Flying in British Airspace
Streaking through the dawn sky, a deadly Russian Blackjack nuclear bomber buzzes British airspace in a dramatic picture released by the RAF.
It was taken by the crew of a Tornado jet scrambled to intercept the supersonic invader as it headed for Scotland earlier this month.
Yesterday defence chiefs revealed the RAF has been scrambled no fewer than 20 times in the last year to repel Russian warplanes.
Analysts said it was part of a growing tendency for the Kremlin to flex its military muscles and test Western response times to its increasingly aggressive incursions.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Paramedic ‘Failed to Carry Out Cpr on Heart Attack Patient and Left His Dead Body in Doorway’
Bryan George left the man in ‘public gaze’ collapsed outside his house and drove off, the Health Professions Council heard.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican: Pope Accepts Resignation of Irish Bishop
Vatican City, 24 March(AKI) — Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of an Irish bishop found to have mishandled allegations of clerical sex abuse in his diocese. Bishop John Magee stepped aside in March 2009 after an independent report found his diocese had put children at risk.
Benedict accepted his resignation on Wednesday a year after he quit as bishop of Cloyne in southern Ireland.
The Vatican said in a statement that the pope had accepted Magee’s resignation in accordance with an article of canon law stating that a bishop who, because of “his illness or some other grave reason has become unsuited for the fulfilment of his office, is earnestly requested to offer his resignation.”
“His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of the Most Reverend John Magee, Bishop of Cloyne,” said the Irish Bishops’ Conference’s statement released on Wednesday.
The inquiry was separate to last year’s Murphy report on decades of abuse mishandling in the Dublin archdiocese and the Ryan report, which detailed physical and sexual abuse at Catholic orphanages and schools in Ireland.
Magee once served as personal secretary to Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I and Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.
The pope on Saturday issued an historic pastoral letter on the damaging child sex abuse scandal in Ireland, in which he apologised for the abuse and rebuked Irish bishops for “grave errors of judgement”.
The letter comes as hundreds of allegations, many of systematic child abuse by Catholic clergy, have emerged this year in several European countries including Benedict’s native Germany, where it has caused outrage.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican Defends Pope From NYT Report
Doctrinal watchdog only informed of predator ‘much later’
(ANSA) — Vatican City, March 25 — The Vatican on Thursday defended Pope Benedict XVI after the New York Times claimed that he helped cover up abuses by a US priest in his former post as doctrinal watchdog.
Vatican Spokesman Father Federico Lombardi stressed that the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was only informed of the case of Milwaukee priest Father Lawrence Murphy, “much later, when the priest was already old and ailing”.
Lombardi also denied the NYT’s claim that there was a longstanding Vatican secrecy rule prohibiting higher-ups from reporting paedophilia cases to the police.
A 1962 canonical law cited by the NYT, he said, “never in fact prohibited reporting abuse to the judicial authorities”.
Lombardi also noted that the criminal case against the now-deceased Father Murphy, accused of molesting some 200 boys at a well-known school for deaf children from 1950 to 1974, was eventually dropped.
The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, headed by Cardinal Ratzinger until he became pope in 2005, “was only informed 20 years later”.
When it was informed, he said, the Milwaukee diocese was instructed to see whether procedures to defrock him were warranted, “but Father Murphy died approximately four months later, without anything else occurring”.
In its report, the NYT said a Milwaukee cardinal went to the Vatican in 1998 to try to have Father Murphy thrown out of the priesthood but Ratzinger’s then No.2 and now Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, did not respond. The pope has come under fire amid widening abuse scandals over a 2001 directive he issued as doctrinal chief saying that investigations should be kept in-house.
Father Lombardi’s statement was issued as an association of US abuse victims, SNAP, protested in St Peter’s Square.
Italian police broke up the demo and took the four people away for questioning.
SNAP chief Barbara Blaine demanded to know “if I’ve done anything wrong” and urged press photographers present to make sure the incident was recorded.
NYT REPORT A DAY AFTER BISHOP RESIGNS.
The NYT report came a day after the pope accepted the resignation of an Irish bishop who served as secretary to three popes over one of the child sex abuse cases that have rocked Ireland.
He is the second Irish bishop to see his resignation accepted.
Msgr John Magee, bishop of the southern diocese of Cloyne, presented his resignation in March 2009 before the full force of the scandal broke with two independent reports, in May and November, which respectively detailed decades of abuse and cover-ups in Church-run schools all over Ireland; and apparently systemic cover-ups of 100s of cases in the Dublin diocese.
Magee, 73, served as personal secretary to Paul VI, John Paul I and Benedict’s predecessor John Paul II, the only man to hold the position three times.
Four Irish bishops offered to resign in the wake of the Ryan and Murphy reports.
Of those, the pope has only accepted that of Limerick Bishop Donald Brendan Murray.
The head of the Irish church, Cardinal Sean Brady, recently said he is considering his future after it emerged he had overseen a case in which two boys, aged 10 and 14, were sworn to secrecy.
In a long-awaited letter to the Irish faithful at the weekend, the pope apologised for the abuse cases and ordered a clerical inspection of Irish dioceses but but took no action against bishops.
The pope’s letter met with a mixed reception and many victims’ groups said it did not go far enough.
Some called for a personal ‘mea culpa’ from Benedict, espcially in regard to his 2001 guidelines.
The letter did not address widening scandals in the Netherlands, Austria and the pope’s native Germany.
On Wednesday fresh allegations were levelled against a priest in Benedict’s former diocese of Munich who was re-assigned to Church work after abusing children.
The pope’s then No.2 took responsibility for that decision.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Croatia-Serbia: Two Presidents Meet, Relations Begin to Thaw
(ANSAmed) — ZAGREB, MARCH 24 — Accusations of genocide that Croatia and Serbia have presented against one another at the International Court of Justice in the Hague could be withdrawn and the dispute could be settled outside of court, said new Croatian President Ivo Josipovic and Serbian President Boris Tadic at the end of the first meeting today in Opatija. The meeting should mark a thawing in still-tense and problematic relations between Belgrade and Zagreb. “It would be opportune to resolve the dispute between the two nations outside of court, but that does not mean that the idea of pursuing those responsible for war crimes would be cast aside,” said Tadic. In 1999, Croatia accused Belgrade of genocide committed by Serbian troops during the conflict between the two countries (1991-1995), to which Serbia responded with counter-accusations three months ago in which they asserted that the Croatian army and state are responsible for genocide perpetrated against the Serbian minority in Croatia. “Relations between our two countries should not be held hostage by war crimes,” observed Tadic. The two presidents said that they are ready to work to encourage the integration of Serbia, Croatia and the entire region of the Western Balkans into the EU. Zagreb is in the final phase of membership and could enter the EU in 2012, while Belgrade presented a request in December, but has not yet received the status as a candidate for membership. After the end of the war and the restoration of diplomatic relations, the situation between Zagreb and Belgrade has constantly improved, but these advancements came to an abrupt halt in 2008 when Croatia acknowledged Kosovo’s independence. In the last two years there has been much friction on a diplomatic level between the two countries. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU Asks for Border Disputes to be Resolved
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MARCH 25 — European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele urged the countries of the Balkans to resolve their existing border disputes bilaterally, saying that this is important for each country that aspires to become an EU member, together with preparations for EU membership. “The issue of border demarcation is part of good neighbourhood relations and regional cooperation, and a process that depends only on countries in the region, and must be resolved bilaterally,” said Fuele in an interview today with Belgrade daily Danas. This, he added, does not only have to do with Serbia. Regional cooperation and good neighbourhood relations, he underlined, are part of European values and it is natural to expect that they be observed by countries aspiring to enter the EU. Among the countries of the Western Balkans that came out of the bloody wars of the 1990s, there are still numerous disputes involving the definitive demarcation of the borders, after the dispute that was recently resolved successfully between Slovenia and Croatia. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Montenegro: Council of Europe Closes Office, Democracy OK
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MARCH 25 — The Council of Europe has decided to close its office in Podgorica because it believes that Montenegro has achieved a satisfactory level of democracy. This was reported today by local daily Pobjeda, focussing on the decision made yesterday by Secretary General of the Council of Europe Torbjorn Jagland. The European organisation, added the daily, will continue its missions in Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia-Bulgaria: Plan on Military Cooperation for 2010 Signed
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MARCH 25 — Officials of Serbian and Bulgarian defense ministries have signed a plan on bilateral military cooperation for 2010 in Sofia, reports Tanjug news agency. The military cooperation between the two countries is developed, and dominant activities are joint training and exercises, as well as cooperation on tasks from the jurisdiction of the military police and from the field of military history and geography, the Serbian Defense Ministry has published on its website. The meeting was dedicated to activities in the framework of the Southeastern Europe Defense Ministerial Process — simulation exercises, military-educational cooperation, etc. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia Aims to Strengthen EU Partnership Agreement
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, MARCH 25 — Tunisia is aiming to assume a more important role within its partnership agreement with the EU, said Chamber of Deputies Speaker Foued Mebazaa at the start of a conference on “The partnership agreement with the EU: results and prospects”. Mebazaa explained the phases of the agreement, which aims to guarantee all of the conditions necessary for the integration of the country’s economy into the global market through reforms and reorganisation of the economy, businesses and human resources. He also underlined how Tunisia, through partnership with the EU, has substantially increased its trade volume with Europe and how European investments have grown, in addition to a diversification of the country’s products. He also mentioned the country’s willingness to strengthen partnership relations with the EU. His talk was followed by numerous speeches from MPs, some of whom reiterated the importance of starting negotiations on the movement of people and the adoption of global agreements on organised emigration. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria: 38 Russian Anti-Aircraft Systems Delivered by 2010
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, MARCH 25 — This year Russia will deliver 38 Pantsyr anti-aircraft systems for a cost of 500 million dollars in accordance with a contract signed in 2006, reports El Khabar daily, citing Russian news agency Interfax. The agreement was signed by Vladimir Putin during a visit to Algiers, the first by a Russian head of state. At the time, Algeria had ordered 6.3 billion dollars worth of weapons, 3.5 billion for combat aircrafts. According to a military source interviewed by Interfax, the Pantsir system is capable of hitting aircraft targets at a distance of 20km and at a height of 15km. It is capable of hitting four targets at a time at a speed of 1,300 metres per second. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
France: Press: Gas Prices +9.7% on April 1
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 25 — Gas prices for private consumers in France will jump by 9.7% starting on April 1, reports Le Parisien’s website, which stated that the energy regulatory commission, CRE, approved a request to increase prices presented by Edf-Suez. Until a short while ago, this was the responsibility of the Economy and Energy ministries, but now Edf-Suez is deciding possible price modifications under the monitoring of the CRE. The 9.7% price hike, reports Le Parisien, will translate into an average increase of 40.3 eurocents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). According to the calculations of the newspaper, about 6 million clients that use natural gas for home heating will see their bills increase by about 70 euros per year, while the increase will amount to 10 euros for households (1.5 million) that only use gas for cooking and 21 euros per year for households (1.2) that heat their water with natural gas. The most recent price increase in France dates back to August 2008 (5.2%). The increase decided by Edf-Suez is the most significant since November 2005. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Switzerland Makes Overture, Ready to Annul Black List
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 25 — Switzerland has made an overture to Libya to resolve the visa dispute which began as a bilateral quarrel and turned into a dispute involving the entire EU. Following weeks of diplomatic mediation by the Spanish president of the EU and by Germany — under the watchful eye of Italy as well — yesterday Switzerland stated its willingness to annul the black list of 188 Libyans considered “persona non grata” on Swiss soil, among whom was Colonel Muammar Gaddafi himself, his family and almost the entire Jamahiriya government. In return, Switzerland would expect Libya to release Max Goeldi, a Swiss national arrested in Libya, and to eliminate visa restrictions for citizens of the Schengen area. The Swiss Federal Council, the executive body of the Confederation’s government, put it down in writing in a statement, noting that the decision was in part linked to European Union mediation. The mediation has been on the agenda of EU diplomatic efforts for weeks, since the Swiss-Libyan tension rose to the point of a halt on Libyan visas for all citizens of Schengen countries and a total Libyan embargo on all Swiss products. Yesterday in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met with Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, to whom she expressed the EU’s satisfaction over the position taken by Switzerland. “The EU now expects Libyan authorities to react in a positive manner by lifting restrictive measures taken against EU nationals.” (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
TLC: Tunisia: 1st in Africa, 39th in World
(ANSAmed) — TUNISI, MARCH 25 — Tunisia ranks first in Africa and 39th in the world in the 9th world report on information technology for 2009-2010. The report, compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Institute for European Business Administration (INSEAD) released today in New York, evaluates the attitude of various countries towards the use of information technology according to three principle criteria: an appropriate political and economic climate for the development of new information technology, the extent of the use of new information and communication technology and the level of technological evolution. The information technology sector in Tunisia accounts of 11% of the GDP. In Tunisia at the end of last year there were 1,230,000 computers used by 3,500,000 people. The rate of connection to the internet is estimated at 27.5 gigbits/second and the number of mobile phone subscribers is 9.72 million. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Oppression Against Former Political Prisoners, HRW
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 24 — Tunisian officials have stopped Human Rights Watch from holding a press conference scheduled for tomorrow in Tunis on oppression against former political prisoners. The accusation was published on HRW’s website. According to Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW director for the Middle East, Communications Minister Oussama Romdhani justified the refusal citing the damage that it would have created for Tunisia’s image. Also, the hotels where representatives of the organisation were supposed to stay were revoked. In the 42-page report entitled “An extended prison”, HRW makes accusations of a series of repressive measures, often arbitrary, against former prisoners, including strict control over their movements, revoking their passports (in some cases restored after 10 years), threats of arrest and restrictions to their freedom of movement. “Once freed, former political prisoners were not allowed to lead a normal life,” said Whitson, “the authorities forced them to live in an open air prison.” According to the organisation, many people are not able to find work, making them social outcasts, or they are subject to all sorts of acts of oppression. The organisation has called for the Tunisian government to respect their rights and to set up a system for their accusations to be examined. The Tunisian authorities say that “the HRW report contains a series of lies and fabrications targeted to incorrectly steer public opinion on the issue of human rights in Tunisia.” They also underlined, reports AFP, that in Tunisia, “the treatment of all former prisoners is in conformity with the law and many of them have benefitted from amnesties and reductions to their sentences that led to their freedom”. Tunisian officials, in their statement, accused an HRW delegation that is currently in Tunisia of “provocative actions”. The delegation, “received by the authorities” and “authorised to meet with whom they choose,” explained the statement, showed “a lack of respect for the laws of the country and its sovereignty”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU More Vocal in Its Criticism of Israel
By Petra de Koning in Brussels
Cancelled meetings with the Israeli prime minister and minister of foreign affairs signify an impasse in the country’s relations with the EU.
The Israeli minister of foreign affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, had come to Brussels to finally discuss closer political and economic cooperation between Israel and the EU. For more than a year, since the Gaza war, little progress has been made in this department. This time, merely discussing the matter proved a bridge to far: the meeting planned for Tuesday was cancelled.
The cancellation follows in the wake of a falling out between Israel and the American administration, which felt snubbed after Israel announced it would be constructing 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem, an area claimed by the Palestinians, during a visit by the American vice president Joe Biden. David Axelrod, a political advisor of the American president Barack Obama called this move “an insult”.
The official reason, as far as the Europeans were concerned, was that the high representative for European foreign policy, Catherine Ashton, had visited the Middle East only a week ago. Everything there was to say had already been said, a spokesperson claimed. The Israelis also realised now would be a bad time to meet. It would only have served to highlight the poor relations of the moment, and no decision regarding more intensive collaboration would have materialised.
The EU have long demanded that Israel stop building and expanding its settlements in occupied Palestinian territory. Now that tensions have arisen between Israel and the US over the same issue, European politicians are becoming ever more vocal in their opinion.
Last week, the Finnish minister of foreign affairs, Alexander Stubb, called the Israeli announcement it would further expand its settlements “completely, utterly unacceptable”.
In Israel, Ashton’s visit to Gaza last week also provoked tensions. The speeches she gave while visiting the Middle-East and the Op-Ed piece she wrote in the International Herald Tribune on Monday were both read carefully by the Israelis. She did mention a “two-state solution”. But why did she fail to say this solution should be reached through negotiations?
After the news that Tuesday’s EU meeting with Israel would not be taking place, the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled his visit to Brussels that had been scheduled for this week. He had planned to meet with the chair of the European Council of government leaders, Herman Van Rompuy. An unforeseen scheduling conflict with Netanyahu’s visit to the American president Barack Obama forced him to call it off, the Israelis said to explain the cancellation.
The EU-ministers of foreign affairs, who had their monthly meeting in Brussels last Monday, said they understood. The EU, a large donor of development aid, is still looking to define its political role in solving the problems troubling the Middle-East. “We are the most important payer in the Middle East,” Corina Cretu, a Romanian social-democratic member of European parliament, said on Monday. “But we certainly aren’t the most important player.”
The EU is part of the so-called Quartet on the Middle East, a joint effort by the US, Russia, the EU and the UN to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The British former prime minister Tony Blair is the special envoy of this Quartet. In his opinion European ministers main role should be supporting him in his attempts to build up the economy and institutions in the Palestinian territories. This would allow them to expand their influence in the Middle-East “from the bottom up”, where Blair believes the real progress is taking place.
On Monday, the Israeli minister Lieberman did have five separate meetings with European ministers of foreign affairs who happened to be in Brussels anyway. Their message was that the Israelis and the Palestinians had to return to the negotiating table quickly. After meeting with Lieberman, the Dutch minister of foreign affairs, Maxime Verhagen, said his Israeli counterpart had been “sceptical” over the “possible results” such talks could have.
Also on Monday, the European ministers collectively expressed their satisfaction over the visit of Catherine Ashton to the Middle East. Ashton had drawn a lot of criticism in the past over the foreign excursions she had -or had not- made at the wrong moment according to EU ministers. Now, they praised Ashton for going on such a major, politically sensitive journey so quickly after assuming office.
After the EU ministers’ meeting, Ashton said the EU would do as Blair had suggested: the Palestinians would be getting more aid allowing them to assume responsibility for their own governance and safety.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Human Rights: UN Passes 3 Resolutions Against Israel
(ANSAmed) — GENEVA, MARCH 25 — The United Nations Human Rights Council has approved three resolutions which condemn Israel for its policies in the Syrian and Palestinian Occupied Territories. The United States voted against all three cases. The resolution which speaks of “serious violations of human rights” by Israeli forces in the territories occupied since 1967 passed by 31 to 9, with 7 abstentions, in a 47-member Council. The resolution also requested an end to military operations in the Territories, an end to the blockade in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. The US and the EU voted against, saying that the document was unbalanced. A second resolution, which requests that Israel halt construction of settlements in the Occupied Territories and remove those already existing, passed with 45 votes and the support of the European Union, though against the opposition of the United States. The third resolution condemns Israel for what it calls the systematic violation of the rights of the population in the Golan Heights, Syrian territory occupied in 1967 and annexed in 1980. The United States voted against the resolution, while 15 countries, including members of the European Union, abstained. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel-USA: Press, Netanyahu With His Back to the Wall
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM — Israeli premier Benyamin Netanyahu has not managed to mend the rift in relations with US president Barack Obama, with the latter instead having put him “with his back to the wall” by setting down a number of demands concerning the peace process with Palestinians. This is, this morning, the concerned view reported in the Israeli press following the premier’s trip to the US capital. “Pressure” is the headline on the daily paper Yedioth Aharonoth, which in its subheading said that “Obama has made requests Israel will find it difficult to agree to”. Maariv, in citing a US government source, said that “Obama is fed up with the delaying tactics” used by Netanyahu, and in a commentary spoke of an “ambush” laid by the US government for the premier. Haaretz: “Crisis with US worsens: Obama demands written pledges from Netanyahu for steps aiming to create a climate of trust” in view of indirect peace talks with Palestinians. The paper said that Netanyahu left Washington “isolated, humiliated and weakened”. On leaving the US, Netanyahu spoke of “progress towards smoothing over disagreement” with Washington, and on his arrival in Israel will immediately call together the seven ministers of his “informal cabinet” for political and military issues to report on US talks and to look into the next steps to be taken.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UN Site Posts Organ Harvesting Claim
Statement written by NGO accuses Israel of “ethnic cleansing, massacres.”
Allegations that Israel harvests Palestinian organs have re-surfaced and are posted on the UN Human Rights Council Web site in the form of a statement written by an NGO.
The International Organization for the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination [EAFORD] accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing and massacres” before it moved on to the issue of what it called “dead, kidnapped and killed Palestinians.”
“Their [Palestinian] human organs, as reported in the press, can be a source of immense wealth through illegal trafficking in the world market,” wrote EAFORD.
“Israeli physicians, Medical Centres, rabbis and the Israeli army may be involved,” it stated.
“After Israeli physicians remove organs they think marketable, the soldiers bury the bodies in graves that carry only numbers and no names, or place them in sealed caskets and deliver them under curfew conditions to the families and supervise the digging of the graves and burial,” stated the NGO document, which is posted on the UNHRC’s Web site.
EAFORD called for a boycott of Israel physicians and medical centers. It also asked the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to report on the matter to the Security Council and to demand that it be sent to the International Criminal Court for action.
EAFORD’s statement along with that of other NGOs can be found on the UNHRC Web site in a section for documents, which were submitted for the council’s 13th session, which is taking place this March in Geneva.
NGOs regularly submit documents to the UNHRC relating to matters under debate. In this session the council is debating the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories.
The fact that the allegations were on the site was first publicized by UN Watch in Geneva, which on Wednesday sent a protest letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the council’s president.
The council and the commissioner’s office, “however unwittingly, helped to propagate an anti-Semitic libel by publishing [the EAFORD’s charges] as an official UN document,” wrote UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer.
He called on the UN council and high commissioner to “immediately cease circulating this racist, hateful and inflammatory text to the ambassadors and other delegates of the UNHRC.”
Neuer told The Jerusalem Post that the UNHRC in the past has asked UN Watch to change the language in documents that UN Watch plans to submit, including in this session where UNHRC asked UN Watch to edit their words with reference to Iran and Libya.
If UN Watch can’t use the word “regime” when talking about Iran, then one would think that a “blood libel” would be unacceptable, Neuer said.
Allegations that Israeli soldiers killed Palestinians to harvest their organs were widely publicized this summer in an article written by Swedish journalist Donald Bostrom for the country’s largest circulated daily, Aftonbladet.
Israel has denied the story. Bostrom later admitted that he relied solely on the testimony of Palestinian families for his story.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said it was “outrageous” that the allegations were published on a UN Web site.
“The only organ that was stolen is in people’s brains,” said Palmor.
“The most preposterous, ridiculous and horrendous of all lies can gain respectability at the UN,” he warned.
“I am deeply revolted by the fact that anyone in their right mind can actually advance such horribly surrealistic accusations,” said Palmor.
According to the NGO Eye on the UN, EAFORD was founded in Libya and accredited at the UN in 1981. Its Web site states that it has focused on the ideological systems of Apartheid and Zionism.
The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had no response to the matter.
Separately on Wednesday, the US chastised the UN Human Rights Council for its continued focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as it opposed four resolutions on that matter which the council passed.
Since the council’s inception in 2006, most of its resolutions censuring countries have focused on Israel.
US Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe told the council “it is too often exploited as a platform to single out Israel, which undermines its credibility.”
Out of the four resolutions which passed Wednesday, one focused on the “occupation of the Golan [Heights],” two focused on alleged human rights violations in the West Bank including settlement construction and Israeli actions against Palestinians in east Jerusalem, and the fourth called for the Palestinian right to self-determination.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Aharon Leshno Yaar, said, “we have witnessed today another anti-Israel show of the human rights council.”
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
UN: Resolution on ‘Cast Lead’ Approved
(ANSAmed) — GENEVA, MARCH 25 — Today in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council approved a resolution on Israeli military operation ‘Cast Lead’: the text calls for the creation of a committee of independent experts who will have the responsibility of assessing the Israeli and Palestinian legal procedures on serious the human rights violations contained in the Goldstone report. Italy is among the countries that voted against the resolution approved by a majority of the 47 member-countries in the council, with 29 ‘yes’ votes, 11 abstentions (Belgium, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, France, Japan, Madagascar, Mexico, Norway, South Korea and the United Kingdom) and six votes against the measure. Aside from Italy, ‘no’ votes were cast by Hungary, Holland, Slovakia, Ukraine and the U.S. The approved text calls for the Israeli and PNA governments to apply the recommendations contained in the Goldstone report, named after South African judge Richard Goldstone who led the independent investigation, decided upon last year by the Human Rights Council, into violations committed by Israel and Hamas during operation Cast Lead (winter 2008-2009). The severe and detailed report — harshly criticised by Israel — calls for both sides to launch credible investigations into alleged war crimes. Today’s resolution also calls for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to examine and define procedures to compensate Palestinians, who suffered damages and losses due to “illegal actions attributable to Israel” during operation Cast Lead. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Bin Laden Warns U.S. Over Fate of Qaeda Figure
CAIRO (AP) — Osama bin Laden threatened in a new message released Thursday to kill any Americans al-Qaida captures if the U.S. executes the self-professed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks or other al-Qaida suspects.
In the 74-second audiotape aired on Al-Jazeera television, the al-Qaida leader explicitly mentions Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who was captured in Pakistan in 2003. He is the most senior al-Qaida operative in U.S. custody and is currently detained at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In 2008, the U.S. charged Mohammed with murder and war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. Pentagon officials have said they will seek the death penalty for him. Four of his fellow plotters are also in custody.
“The White House has expressed its desire to execute them. The day America makes that decision will be the day it has issued a death sentence for any one of you that is taken captive,” Bin Laden said, addressing Americans.
A U.S. counterterrorism official said it is absurd for al-Qaida to suggest it is going to start treating captives badly.
“They may have forgotten Danny Pearl and all the others they’ve slaughtered, but we haven’t,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss classified information.
The official did not confirm that the tape was authentic.
After his March 2003 capture in Pakistan, Mohammed described himself as the architect of numerous terrorism plots and even claimed that “with my blessed right hand,” he had decapitated Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl. Pearl was found beheaded in Pakistan in 2002.
The U.S. is still considering whether to put Mohammed and the four fellow plotters on military tribunal. The Obama administration is also looking into recommendations for civilian trials, and is expected to announce a decision soon.
Al-Qaida is not known to be holding any Americans captive now. But the Haqqani group — the Pakistan-based Taliban faction closest to al-Qaida — is holding American soldier Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl who was captured in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009. It released a video of him in December.
Bin Laden also said President Barack Obama is following in the footsteps of his predecessor George W. Bush by escalating the war in Afghanistan, being “unjust” to al-Qaida prisoners and supporting Israel in its occupation of Palestinian land.
| — Hat tip: Paul Green | [Return to headlines] |
Dubai: Bin Laden Threatens to Execute Americans
Dubai, 25 March (AKI) — In a new message Osama bin Laden said any American taken prisoner would be put to death if accused 11 September mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is executed, according to an audiotape purportedly from the Al-Qaeda leader that was aired on al Jazeera on Thursday.
Senior US officials may recommend that Mohammed, who was being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, be prosecuted in a military trial.
“The White House declared that they will execute the hero Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and his comrades in arms. They think that America will be safe behind the oceans. Justice is to be treated in the same manner,” the message said.
“To the American people, peace be upon those who follow the right path, my message towards you is in regards to our prisoners that you have in your custody. Your president is still following the course of his predecessor.”
Mohammed has claimed responsibility for organising the attacks on the US and bombs in Indonesia, Kenya and elsewhere, and if convicted of murder, conspiracy, terrorism and other charges, could face the death penalty.
“It is fair to treat each other the same. War is a back-and-forth,” bin Laden said in the message.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
GCC Urged to Coordinate for Financial Stability
(ANSAmed) — KUWAIT CITY, MARCH 25 — Gulf central bank chiefs began a meeting Wednesday with a call for more coordination to achieve financial stability and face continued fallout from the global economic downturn, as Middle East Online reports. “This period necessarily requires that our attention is focused on issues related to achieving financial stability,” Kuwait central bank governor Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz al-Sabah said in his opening speech. “Inflationary pressures have greatly declined, but this does not mean they have disappeared”, he added. During his speach Sheikh Salem also called on supervisory and monitoring agencies in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states to adopt “early-warning systems to boost their ability” to deal with financial crises in the future. The meeting, attended by central bank governors of the six-nation GCC, will discuss a host of issues, mainly coordination to confront the effects of the global downturn on the Gulf financial system. Discussion will also focus on the GCC monetary union, which was officially launched at the GCC summit in Kuwait last December, with the participation of only four out the six member states. GCC assistant secretary general for economic affairs Mohammad al-Mazroui told the governors that a key meeting will take place in Riyadh next week. “We are looking forward for the first meeting of the board of directors of the Monetary Council next week, which will signal the launch of its work,” Mazroui said. Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have ratified the pact while the other two members — Oman and the United Arab Emirates — have opted out of the union. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Roma People Live Nomadic Lives After Demolitions in Sulukule
Many Roma people who moved to apartments in the Tasoluk neighborhood provided by the Mass Housing Administration, or TOKI, have returned to their original neighborhoods in and near Sulukule for socio-economic and cultural reasons. Most say the apartment expenses were beyond their incomes and also the life there was not suitable for them because they prefer houses with gardens near relatives and neighbors
Members of Istanbul’s Roma community continue to live like nomads since the demolition of their houses, despite new apartments offered by the government, according to observers and NGOs.
After the houses of the Roma people living in the Sulukule neighborhood of Istanbul’s Fatih district were destroyed during an urban transformation project carried out by the Fatih Municipality over the last three years, renters were allowed to move into apartments built by the Mass Housing Administration, or TOKI, in the Tasoluk neighborhood of Istanbul’s Gaziosmanpasa district.
The initiative is part of government efforts to improve living standards of Roma people in Turkey, but members of the Roma community in Sulukule say they are still suffering from the results of demolitions.
Moving did not solve problems
Moving some Roma people to Tasoluk turned out not to provide a solution since many of them returned to Sulukule only months later after selling their apartments.
“We could only stay four months there [in Tasoluk]. It was not suitable for us,” said Faruk Say, a Roma who returned to Sulukule. After the house he rented with his wife and two children in Sulukule was demolished, Say chose to move to the TOKI apartments in Tasoluk. He said living in Tasoluk was socio-economically difficult for them.
“There was no life for us there. The streets were dark after nine. It was a lonely neighborhood,” said Say. “The monthly expenses of our apartments were more than we could afford.”
“We should be earning 1,000 Turkish liras a month in order to live in the apartments in Tasoluk. There are many expenses other than rent, for example the natural gas, electricity and apartment expenses,” Say said.
Almost half returned
Roma people live and work in Sulukule as either musicians or vendors, making a living with low incomes, and their rents are also low. However, the municipality claimed that the Roma people were given good opportunities in Tasoluk. “They were all renters, but they still had the chance to own an apartment in Tasoluk by paying 250 liras each month,” said Mustafa Çiftçi, the project coordinator from Fatih Municipality.
After 15 years of monthly payments, those renters would be the owners of the apartment, said Çiftçi, adding that they all received 100 liras in rent support from the municipality. However, Çiftçi agreed that almost half of the 127 Roma people who moved to Tasoluk either sold or rented their apartments and returned to Sulukule or nearby neighborhoods.
According to Hacer Foggo, however, the numbers were less. She said only six or seven families remained in Tasoluk, according to Hacer Foggo, a member of the Sulukule Platform. “Most sold their houses starting from 5,000 liras and then returned to their old neighborhood. But now they are moving like nomads from one house to another since they cannot pay the rent,” she said.
Foggo, who works at the Zero Discrimination Association, told the Daily News there should be research done in Sulukule to study the needs of locals before the start of the urban transformation project. “The reasons why some children did not attend school or disabled people were not leaving home should be examined, and social projects to improve their lives should be produced,” she said
Sevcan Küçükatasayar, 20, a former renter in Tasoluk who returned to Sulukule, said they could not live in an apartment building. “We used to live in a big house with a garden. All our relatives were in the same neighborhood. But in Tasoluk, my father opened a tea house and it went bankrupt because nobody went there,” said Küçükatasayar.
Meanwhile, some Roma people said they were happy in Tasoluk. “Those who have a stable job can live there,” said Sahin Kumralgil, who lives in Tasoluk but spends his time in Sulukule.
Many of the Roma who returned to Sulukule are also tired of talking to press and have lost hope for a better future, according to Sükrü Pündük, head of the Roma Association in Sulukule.
Removal of Discriminatory sentence
The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Bursa Deputy Ali Koyuncu also prepared a proposal asking for the removal of a sentence with discriminative connotations from the law, Anatolia news agency reported. The sentence reads: “The Interior Ministry is responsible for the deportation of gypsies and foreign nomads.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Permission for Rite AD Akdamar Church in Lake Van
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MARCH 25 — A religious rite may take place once every year at eastern province of Van’s Akdamar Church upon a proposal by the Van Governorship and approval by the Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertugrul Gunay, Anatolian News Agency reports. The rite at the Akdamar Church may take place each year in the second week of September. Governor of Van Munir Karaloglu said that the decision to permit a rite at Akdamar Church (Church of the Holy Cross) will boost faith tourism in the region and provide important advantages for those in the tourism sector. Akdamar is a ruined Armenian cathedral in Eastern Anatolia. Situated on a small island in the beautiful mountain setting of Lake Van, the Akdamar church dates from the 10th century and is famed for the fascinating reliefs carved on the exterior. The Church was once an important Armenian cathedral. The seat of the Armenian patriarch from 1116 to 1895, the cathedral was founded by King Gagik between 915 and 921 as part of a royal complex that included a palace, monastery, streets, gardens and terraced parks. It was abandoned due to conflict between Armenia and the Ottoman Empire. The building fell into disrepair and was neglected throughout the 20th century. The cathedral was restored by the Turkish government beginning in May 2005. The restoration cost USD 1.5 million and took 18 months to complete. At a ceremony on March 29, 2007, it was officially opened as a museum. The restoration project was seen as a diplomatic step by Turkey to improve relations with Armenia. (ANSAmed). The church was restored recently. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: Government Aims to Further Reduce TB Infections
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, MARCH 25 — The UAE will continue to fight the deadly disease TB (tuberculosis) and will reduce the infection to less than one per 100,000 people in the future, Dr Hanif Hassan, Minister of Health, said yesterday, as daily Gulf News reported. Despite the UAE being one of the few countries with the lowest number of TB cases in the world, said Hassan, the ministry will continue its national programme to eliminate the disease which takes two million lives worldwide every year. The minister attended a ceremony to mark World TB Day in Fujairah yesterday. The ministry will continue to provide free of charge preventive and diagnostic services for all residents in the country, he added. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), a third of the world’s population is affected by TB. Last year, it claimed 1.8 million lives, making the disease the second-biggest infectious killer of adults. Dr Ali Al Marzouqi, Director of Primary Health Care at the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), said there was an urgent need to amend the existing laws on TB and develop a unified health management and information system also with the contribution of the private sector. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
We Are All Deeply Moved!
President Abdullah Gül was “deeply moved” when a chorus of Cameroonian schoolchildren sang a Turkish song during his visit to a college in Cameron’s capital Yaoundé. He was probably even more deeply moved when he won the Chatham House Prize awarded by the prestigious British think tank for being “deemed to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations.”
Naturally, we are deeply moved to have a president who has made a most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations. It’s good to know that international relations, on a global scale, have improved significantly thanks to the Turkish president.
Ironically, the man who has made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations has declared that he will never again talk to President Barack Obama on the Armenian genocide issue. And his country’s embassies in a number of capitals, including Washington, are ambassador-less in a rather silly protest against genocide resolutions. With a few more significant contributions to international relations we may soon have hardly any ambassadors abroad. Alternatively, the Foreign Ministry may establish a general directorate for recalled ambassadors.
On a personal note, I was deeply moved when President Gül took my advice in defense of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s niceties about illegal Armenian workers. Last week, I wrote that the pro-Erdogan intellectual relief teams may claim that the prime minister threatened to expel 100,000 illegal Armenians “in order to illustrate to the world how hospitable Turks are” (TDN, The Exodus — Part II?).
I felt like a presidential advisor when Mr. Gül argued that “the prime minister said that to show we did not hate the Armenians.” I must agree that the president’s choice of wording was a smarter line of defense to salvage the prime minister’s unsalvageable, near-hate speech. But I claim presidential praise for the idea!
In defense of his not too original idea of Exodus II (see 1915-1918 for Exodus I) Mr. Erdogan claimed that he was misquoted. He said, “There is a difference between expelling Armenians and expelling Armenians working in Turkey illegally.” I wasn’t deeply moved with that poor self-defense for a number of reasons.
First, the press did not misquote the prime minister. He was quoted as saying exactly that: expelling 100,000 illegal Armenian workers. Second, the prime minister cannot expel Turkish citizens of Armenians origin in any case — well, he almost cannot. And third, expelling 100,000 officially-tolerated Armenian workers, legal or illegal, is as unpleasant as expelling Armenians.
If Mr. Erdogan spoke of expelling illegal workers regardless of their nationality that would have been something else; but [mass] deportation on the basis of ethnic selection is… well, we all know what…
But, apparently, Turks were “deeply moved” by their prime minister’s ethnic offensive. A survey by pollsters, MetroPOLL, has revealed that 48.8 percent of Turks support the deportation of illegal Armenian workers — while only 33.9 percent disapprove the idea. It must be a “statistical coincidence” that the percentage of Turks on the “go-home-Armenians” camp is almost identical to Mr. Erdogan’s party’s vote in the last general elections (47 percent).
It is hardly surprising if half of the Turks favor the idea of mass deportation targeting one specific ethnicity. But by leaving the survey incomplete, MetroPOLL missed a great opportunity to make a significant contribution to the improvement of political science.
For a better understanding of the Turkish mental calculus, the pollsters should have asked the respondents an accompanying question: Would you approve if the government expelled illegal Muslim workers from Turkey? Any bets that the percentage of Turks who would have responded positively would have been (at most) a fifth of those who favored Exodus II?
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
White House Ignores Iran’s Help to Al-Qaida in Its Passion Over Jerusalem Apartments
by Barry Rubin
The United States is at war with al-Qaida. Al-Qaida carried out the attack on the World Trade Center that killed 3,000 Americans. Al-Qaida is killing Americans in Iraq and elsewhere. So one would think the fact that al-Qaida has found a powerful ally would be a big story in the American media and by a big priority for setting off U.S. government anger.
And this would be especially so if that was explained by one of the most respected men in the country, a man who has access to the highest-level intelligence.
Not at all.
In the same testimony which created lots of discussion regarding remarks on the Israel-Palestinian issue, General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, revealed a bombshell story that has been ignored: Iran is helping al-Qaida attack Americans.
Iran, he said in military-speak, provides “a key facilitation hub, where facilitators connect al Qaida’s senior leadership to regional affiliates.” Translation: Tehran is letting al-Qaida leaders travel freely back and forth to Pakistan and Afghanistan, using its territory as a safe haven, while permitting them to hold meetings to plan terrorist attacks for attacking U.S. targets and killing Americans. While nominally Iran sometimes takes these people into custody, that seems, Petraeus says, a fiction to fool foreigners.
Oh, and Petraeus added that Iran also helps the Taliban fight America in Afghanistan. Regarding Iraq, the general explains, “The Qods Force [an elite Iranian military group within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] also maintains its lethal support to Shia Iraqi militia groups, providing them with weapons, funding and training,”
So, Petraeus pointed out that Iran is helping al-Qaida against the United States and also, at times, Shia groups as well though these have been more quiet lately. In effect, the Tehran regime is at war with the United States. Yet this point is not being highlighted, nor does it stir rage in the hearts of White House officials or strenuous attempts to counter this threat.
There have been stories, some persuasive but not fully confirmed, about Iran’s cooperation with al-Qaida for years. Frankly, I have been reluctant to write about this matter lest it be dismissed as being based on rumors, though even Syrian cooperation with al-Qaida which is crystal clear—the terrorists they are training, funding, equipping, and letting cross back and forth over the Syria-Iraq border are openly al-Qaida—has virtually never been mentioned by U.S. government officials and the point rarely made in the mass media.
But now Petraeus has shown Tehran’s cooperation with al-Qaida to be true, and the U.S. government does nothing while maintaining that diplomatic engagement is still possible and dragging its feet on higher sanctions.
Meanwhile, you can read in the Washington Post a column by Robert Kagan, “Allies everywhere feeling snubbed by President Obama,” reporting how U.S. policies have dismayed allies as they coddled enemies. Readers of this blog heard this point made repeatedly over the last year ago. It is astonishing that policymakers and top opinionmakers still don’t seem to grasp the danger.
But why should they when so much of the debate is dominated by nonsense. Thus, with typical New York Times silliness, Mark Landler writes in “Opportunity in a Fight With Israel”:…
| — Hat tip: Barry Rubin | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Fightback Begins as He Does Deal With Russia to Slash Nuclear Arsenals by More Than a Quarter
America and Russia have agreed to slash their nuclear arsenals by more than a quarter, it was revealed last night.
President Obama is said to have negotiated a deal with his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev and expect to sign a new arms treaty in Prague early next month.
The move comes as the U.S. President switched focus to foreign policy, just days after a bruising healthcare battle that saw him emerge victorious — though he may yet pay the political price.
U.S. officials confirmed the Russian deal last night, although there was no official announcement.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Diplomat Summoned Over Attacks on Christians in Pakistan
Rome, 24 March (AKI) — Pakistan’s charge d’affaires in Italy was on Wednesday called to the Italian foreign ministry in Rome to discuss recent attacks reported against minority Christians in Pakistan.
As recently as Tuesday, a Christian man in the northern Pakistani city of Rawalpindi died after he was set alight by a Muslim mob and his wife was allegedly gang raped in front of their three children.
Muslim hardliners set 38-year-old Pakistani Christian Arshed Masih on fire after he refused to convert to Islam. He received burns to 80 percent of body.
His Christian wife Martha Masih, 33, was believed to have been raped, possibly by three police officers, in the police station where the couple was held for questioning last Friday.
Protests broke out on news of Masih’s death. Several Christian advocacy groups held a demonstration on Tuesday against police in Rawalpindi, which is in Punjab province.
Asih and his family had reportedly been evicted from their service accommodation at the home of an influential local businessman Sheikh Mohammad Sultan.
Sultan, who had since 2005 employed Asih as a driver and his wife as a domestic servant, had pressured the couple to convert to Islam, as had local religious leaders.
Asif’s murder and his wife’s alleged rape followed several reports of attacks against Christians in Pakistan by Islamic militants, including fighters linked to the Al-Qaida and Taliban groups.
Earlier this month, militants stormed the offices of a US Christian aid group in the remote northwestern town of Oghi, killing six Pakistanis including two women and injuring five, police said.
Christians make up less than five percent of the country’s mainly Muslim population of 175 million people.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Kyrgyzstan: Western-Style Democracy Not Suitable for Kyrgyzstan
Anticipating an authoritarian move, President Bakiyev says he believes that a system based on elections and individual human rights might not be suitable for his country. By contrast, people take to the streets to protest against the economic crisis and mark the fifth anniversary of the ‘Orange Revolution’.
Bishkek (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Thousands of people took to the streets today to mark the fifth anniversary of the so-called ‘Orange Revolution’ and protest against President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s policies. Yesterday, the president told parliament that it was time for a review of “Western-style democracy”. In a country reeling from economic hardship with an opposition that is divided and without alternative proposal, the president remarks point towards an authoritarian change of government.
In the meantime, the president has to face protesters brought into the streets for the “broken promises” he made on 24 March 2005 when at the end of a peaceful mass campaign he was able to remove then President Askar Akaev, who was forced to flee abroad.
Demonstrators accuse Bakiyev of failing to curb corruption, making the economic situation worse, tightening his grip on the state with the people feeling caught between rival clans vying for power.
In the capital, Bishkek, a group of protesters tried to reach the building where Bakiyev opened a Kurultai, or national assembly of 750 delegates. The police said they detained 19 people (30 according to the opposition), including leading figures of the opposition.
In the Alai region, police and anti-government protesters clashed. About 40 people were taken into custody.
In recent days, the government shut down radio stations, TV programs and newspapers.
For some experts, the Kyrgyz opposition is too split to mobilise the population and unable to bring forth constructive proposals on how to improve people’s lives.
At the same, analysts note that the presidential clan is concentrating power with the economy under the control of the president’s son, Maksim.
For the president, Western-style democracy might not be suited for his country. Instead, Kyrgyzstan could benefit from a “consultative democracy” based on consultations between those in power and influential social groups in society.
What is more, the current government has solid international support, especially for its role in the US-led war in Afghanistan.
Manas airport, which is located close to the Afghan border, serves a a transit point for the US airforce. The Pentagon awarded contracts for air fuel supply to Bakiyev family-connected businesses.
“The ruling family earns at least US$ 80 million of pure profit by hosting the American air base,” says exiled Kyrgyz opposition member Edil Baisalov.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Rawalpindi, Christian Burned Alive is Buried. Police Suspected of Setting Him on Fire
Arshed Masih’s funeral was held today amid tight security. The silence of the Pakistani media and government on the matter. AsiaNews sources denounce the attempt at misdirection and reveal the last words of the victim: “The police set me on fire” following the instructions of the Muslim employer. In the past his wife repeatedly raped by officers.
Rawalpindi (AsiaNews) — the funeral of Arshed Masih, a 38 year-old Pakistani Christian, burned alive because he refused to convert to Islam was held today in Rawalpindi, under tight security. Hundreds of people attended the funeral, including members of civil society and NGO representatives. So far the police have arrested none of the alleged perpetrators and neither have steps been taken by the Federal Government or Ministry of minority groups. Meanwhile, more details have emerged on the crime: a well-informed source has told AsiaNews that police officers were the ones to set fire to the man, on the “instructions” of Arshed Masih.
The 38 year-old Pakistani Christian, married and father of three children, aged7 to 12, died on 22 March following the serious injuries sustained during the assault. He suffered burns on 80% of his body excluding any possibility of salvation. The violence of his assailants was sparked by the man’s refusal to convert to Islam.
Peter Jacob, executive secretary of the Justice and Peace of the Catholic Church of Pakistan (NCJP), confirmed to AsiaNews, his “strongest condemnation of this act brutal” and underlined that “a team has reached Rawalpindi and launched a parallel investigation into the facts”. He adds that “soon will we release a report, after proper verification of all elements”. The activist denounces, with regret, the silence of the Pakistani media about the incident and the lack of initiatives from the federal government and the Ministry of minority groups.
Meanwhile, rumours have begun circulating that Arshed Masih set fire to himself to protest against repeated violence and torture of his wife Martha Arshed, by police. The abuse allegedly took place in the police station, where the woman was summoned several times by officers after a complaint of theft by Sheikh Mohammad Sultan, the employer of the Christian couple. In the house of wealthy Muslim businessman cash for a value of 500 thousand rupees (about 6 thousand dollars) has disappeared.
Christian sources for AsiaNews in Pakistan deny this version, noting that some “elements” are casting doubt on the sexual violence and overturning the facts “to exonerate the employer and the police.” An eyewitness, present in the hospital when Arshed Masih — still conscious — recounted the events to the investigators, says that “it was the police to set fire” to the man. The victim also added that “the police carried out the instructions of Sheikh Mohammad Sultan, at the scene along with other extremists.”
Since 2005 Arshed Masih and his wife had worked and lived on the estate of the late Sheikh Mohammad Sultan. The pressure on them to renounce Christianity had lately become incessant. The owner had come so far as to threaten “dire consequences”, to persuade them to embrace Islam. The couple were also accused of a recent theft by the owner who has promised to drop the complaint for their conversion.
BosNewsLife.com reports that the Muslim businessman has declined to comment on the crime. However some eyewitnesses have seen him near the place where the accident occurred, but it is unclear whether he actively participated in the attack. Their children — adds the site — are sleeping in the hospital because they are homeless. The mother is still in shock and is unable to speak.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Officers ‘Executed’ In Afghanistan
The attack which left two Swedish officers and their Afghan interpreter dead in February has been described as a “pure execution” in an Armed Forces reported on the incident published on Thursday.
The report did not however rule out friendly fire.
“They did not have a chance to defend themselves,” army inspector Berndt Grundevik said.
The Armed Forces have concluded that the three men died of two hails of bullet which lasted for eight to ten seconds.
The attacker was clad in an Afghanistan police officer’s uniform.
Johan Palmlöv, Gunnar Andersson, and Mohammad Shahab Ayouby, fell immediately to the ground when the party was attacked near Mazar-e Sharif on February 7th.
“The three were killed by an initial hail of shots from a lone attacker,” Grundevik said.
“To shoot at stationary people at that distance makes it very hard to miss.”
Following the shots the Swedish troops pursued the fleeing attacker. They shot him, he dropped his machine gun, but got up and tried to keep running.
The soldiers actions could have prevented a massacre, according to Berndt Grundevik.
In recent weeks several Swedish media sources have speculated that the soldiers could have been hit by shots from their own troops, so-called friendly fire.
“We can not rule out stray bullets from the Swedish personnel,” said the head of legal staff, Stefan Ryding-Berg, who otherwise referred to confidentiality.
A third Swedish soldier, a signaller, was injured in both feet.
The firefight left Andersson and Palmlöv mortally wounded and Shahab dead. A helicopter was ordered but the officers were already in a medical transport vehicle and the decision was taken to drive to the hospital in Marmal.
But on the way to Marmal an armoured vehicle got stuck in terrain and the road was blocked. A new helicopter was called in, but while waiting for the helicopter several more Swedish vehicles joined and the convoy was able to continue to its destination, an hour and 35 minutes after the attack.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Uzbekistan: Tashkent Launches Sterilisation Campaign Against Women to Stem Population Growth
Human rights activists slam the government for forcibly sterilising rural women who already have two or more children. The authorities force doctors to perform operations or lose their job. False claims of illness are made to trick women into agreeing to the surgery.
Tashkent (AsiaNews/Agencies) — The Government of Uzbekistan is conducting a campaign of sterilisation at the expense of rural women. Uzbek authorities are in fact implementing a forced-sterilisation programme to manage population growth, local sources say, citing a US State department report.
Human rights activists told Eurasianet that the campaign began in early 2009. Doctors in the capital Tashkent were sent to rural areas to persuade women with three or more children to undergo surgical sterilisation by highlighting the benefits of such an operation and downplaying any drawbacks.
“There are cases of deception, where doctors are deceiving women, telling them that they have encountered serious illness that makes surgical sterilization a must,” said a report published in February by the human rights organisation Nazhot.
Sources said doctors sent out in recent months have performed up to 12 hysterectomies a day under primitive conditions and often without following proper hygienic procedures.
In its 2009 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, the US State Department noted that in Uzbekistan, there were “isolated reports in Khorezm and Andijan of forced sterilization of women who had more than two children”. In some cases, women chose to deliver in cities because of better hygiene and prevent the authorities from finding out how many children they had.
Uzbek activists have brought the forced-sterilisation issue to light in January at a meeting hosted by the United Nation’s Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
In addition, “With conditions of mass unemployment, it can be expected that doctors will almost completely fulfil the established plan, out of fear of losing their job,” said Expert Working Group, an Uzbek independent think-tank.
“The increased rate of surgical sterilisation among women of reproductive age [. . .] has become a major issue during the weekly meetings among medical personnel in all health facilities in Khorezm region,” the Nazhot report said.
Uzbekistan has a population of 27.3 million people with a growth rate of 1.5 per year.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Green Light to EU’s Guidelines on Sea Rescues
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, MARCH 25 — The European Parliament has given its approval to EU guidelines on searching for and coming to the assistance of craft carrying immigrants in peril at sea, with specific reference to the Mediterranean. A majority of Euro-MPs (336) voted against the motion, preferring “binding” measures for member states, but the rejection of the motion would have required an absolute majority of assembly members (369) which was not reached. The Guidelines include procedures for searching for, assisting and disembarking as part of patrol operations of EU frontiers. According to the provision, member states working with the European Frontex agency, are obliged to go to the assistance of people experiencing difficulties at sea, irrespective of their nationality or status and of the circumstances these people find themselves in. The Guidelines, which come into force with the Parliament’s vote, stress that the member state coordinating operations has to take responsibility for assisting people, the situation of the craft and the presence of children, pregnant women or passengers in need of medical assistance, unless they it is specifically exempted. Disembarking has to be conducted in line with international regulations and bilateral accords between member states and third-party states. The EU’s Internal Affairs Commissioner, Cecilia Malmstrom, expressed her satisfaction with the guidelines. They will “help member states and Frontex to manage our sea frontiers with greater efficiency”. The number of embarkations attempting to cross the Mediterranean, Malmstrom added, “will grow even more rapidly over the coming months because this is what happens every summer and the changes adopted today reduce the risk of the loss of human lives, making Frontex operations on the sea frontiers more efficient”. According to the Commissioner, the proposals contain a very important package of principles as well as clarifications that officers will have to apply when patrolling the maritime borders as part of repulsion operations, obliging them to treat vulnerable persons and unaccompanied minors with extra care. As Malmstrom noted, there is also clarification of “where rescued persons are to be disembarked”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Immigrant Names Son ‘Silvio Berlusconi’
Rome, 24 March (AKI) — A Ghanaian immigrant to Italy has named his son after the country’s flamboyant prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and wants him to follow in the premier’s footsteps. “This boy is going to be a president,” Anthony Boahene told Adnkronos.
“It doesn’t matter he becomes Italy’s president of the cabinet (prime minister) or president of Ghana. I want him to study politics and get an education.”
Boahene, a metalworker who has been in Italy for eight years and lives in the northern Italian city of Modena, said he’s a big fan of Berlusconi, but does not follow politics closely.
“I like everything about Berlusconi — the way he talks and the way he moves,” Boahene added.
“I named my son after Berlusconi because I believe it’s thanks to him that I have a permit of stay. I wanted to give my son the name of a great politician.”
“I don’t want him to be a factory worker like me when he grows up.”
His five-year-old son adores Berlusconi and is a huge fan of the Serie A club AC Milan which is owned by the billionaire prime minister, he said.
But the boy enjoys watching Berlusconi’s campaign ads even more than a Milan game, Boahene said.
“My son believes the prime minister is his grandfather and every time he sees him on TV, he goes mad with excitement,” Boahene added.
Boahene’s son, nicknamed ‘Berlusconi’ at home only joined him in Modena a month ago from Ghana, where he previously lived with his mother.
“When Berlusconi appears, he seizes the TV remote control and won’t allow anyone to change channels,” Boahene said.
Boahene said he cannot understand why Italians are bemused when his son tells them his name. “Why is it strange?” he said.
Berlusconi’s popularity remains high in Italy, despite a series of sexual and corruption scandals and the resumption of bribery and tax fraud trials since a court ruling lifted his immunity late last year.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Immigrants Feel There Are Too Many Immigrants
THE HAGUE, 25/03/10 — Many immigrants themselves consider there are too many immigrants in the Netherlands. Turks are even more negative than the ‘indigenous’ Dutch, according to a survey by the Socio-Cultural Planning Bureau (SCP) commissioned by the integration ministry.
Among Turks, 58 percent feel there are too many immigrants in the Netherlands, compared with 44 percent among the ‘indigenous’ (white) Dutch population. This view is also ascribed to around one-third of the Moroccan, Surinamese and Antillean Dutch.
About one-third of the Turks (35 percent) and Moroccans (29 percent) in the Netherlands have no contact with white Dutch people in their free time. Among the Surinamese, the figure is 14 percent and among the Antilleans, 17 percent. The other way round, 52 percent of the Dutch have no contact with non-Western immigrants in their free time.
The ethnic composition of the neighbourhood influences the degree of inter-ethnic contact. Migrants who live in overwhelmingly ‘black’ districts have contact less often with white Dutch than migrants living in mostly ‘white’ districts, the SCP concludes.
The white Dutch assess Moroccans most negatively. On an assessment scale of 0 to 100, the Moroccan group comes bottom with 45 points, followed closely by the Antillean group (48 percent). The Turkish group gets 55 points and the Surinamese, 58 points.
Non-Western migrants assess the white Dutch more positively. The Surinamese give them an average score of 71 points. Turks, Moroccans and Antilleans give the Dutch 66 points on average, but SCP does not report separate scores from these three groups.
Over one-fifth (22 percent) of the white Dutch would find it unpleasant or very unpleasant if their children were to have an immigrant partner. The other way round, 40 percent of Turks and 35 percent of Moroccan Dutch would find it (very) unpleasant if their children should choose a white partner. Among person of Surinamese and Antillean extraction, this number is much lower (5 and 3 percent respectively).
Among the Turkish Dutch, 37 percent endorse the statement that ‘as an immigrant to Netherlands one is given all opportunities’. This applies to 38 percent of the Antilleans, 40 percent of the Moroccans and 51 percent of the Surinamese Dutch, while 43 percent of the indigenous Dutch endorse the statement.
Around 40 percent of people of Turkish, Moroccan and Antillean extraction say they have personal experiences of discrimination. Among the Surinamese Dutch, this applies to 33 percent.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Seaborne Interception of Immigrants Tested in Court
Italy has been sending boat migrants back to Libya to create a judicial vacuum. This controversial policy will now be tested in Europe’s highest court.
By Mark Schenkel
None of them have ever set foot on European soil. Most are incarcerated in Libyan detention centres. Some may have already been sent back to their countries of origin. Yet, they are filing suit against the Italian state in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The plaintiffs are 24 immigrants from Somalia and Eritrea who tried to sail from Libya to Italy on May 6, 2009. They were intercepted by the Italian coast guard 35 kilometres off the island of Lampedusa and sent back to Libya immediately. Back in the north African country, the would-be immigrants were put in touch with two Italian immigration lawyers, who then brought their case to the ECHR in Strasbourg.
The case is unique, said Thomas Spijkerboer, a professor of migration law at Amsterdam’s Vrije Universiteit. “For the first time, Europe’s highest court for human rights will look into the most controversial policy combating illegal seaborne migration any European state has implemented so far,” he said.
Italy has been confronted with a growing tide of illegal immigration over sea. Last year, it decided to instantly send back intercepted immigrants to Libya, their most common port of departure. Usually, European coastal nations carry intercepted immigrants to their own ports first. There, authorities can treat any applications for asylum individually and check whether prospective deportees could be exposed to danger in the country if they were to be rejected and returned. This is the procedure required by human rights treaties.
As immigrants tend to disappear into the illegal circuit soon after entering Europe, Italy has begun to deport them pre-emptively, intercepting the immigrants far out in international waters. Here, the Italian government argues, the immigrants have not yet entered ‘European’ waters, meaning they cannot claim the right to a formal admissions procedure. The proactive border patrol is very effective, a sharp decline in the number of immigrants since the practice has been introduced proves..
A landmark case
“For the first time, the ECHR can rule on member states’ attempts to prevent seaborne immigrants from ever entering into their judicial systems, magically making the entire immigration problem disappear,” Spijkerboer said. “Italy is trying to create a seaborne judicial vacuum.”
Human rights organisation have condemned the Italian practice, and say the country is putting immigrants’ lives at risk. Libya has a miserable reputation when it comes to the protection of illegal immigrants. Human Rights Watch, the AIRE Centre and even the United Nations refugee body, UNHCR, have voiced their objections to the ECHR. The organisations have specifically intervened in the case Hirsi v. Italy, named after one of the 24 Somalis and Eritreans. “That a UN organisation like the UNHCR has intervened shows just how important this case is,” Spijkerboer said.
The Italian government defended the return of the Somalis and Eritreans last year. Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi then said “normally speaking, no one can apply for asylum” aboard Italian coast guard ships.
The outcome in the Hirsi case is important because it could set a precedent for other southern European nations looking to limit seaborne migration. Spain currently returns intercepted immigrants to Senegal and Mauretania, other common staging points for immigrants. The Spanish patrols have African agents on board, who judge any requests for asylum on the spot. This practice has also been criticised, because some think it is impossible to properly evaluate a request for asylum at sea. Italy on the other hand, does not even consider requests. “If the EHRM rules in Italy’s favour, other coastal states could adopt the same practice”, Spijkerboer said.
While most immigrants to Spain are from western Africa, Italy attracts mostly asylum seekers from the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.
“If you send these type of people back,” Spijkerboer said. “Chances are even bigger you put them in danger. The Italian practice is the most serious.”
Violation of human rights
The Italian lawyer Anton Giulio Lana has been granted the power of attorney to act on the behalf of 24 returned would-be immigrants. Lana was put in touch with his clients by an international NGO that operates in Libya. Speaking on the phone from Rome, Lana explained: “I would rather not say what NGO is helping us. It needs to be able to operate in Libya for the time coming.”
According to Lana, Italy has violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights that prohibits “torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. Deported immigrants run the risk of being exposed to such treatment in Libya. The convention also forbids collective expulsion of foreigners, and according to refugee law, deporting asylum seekers to a country where they could face persecution is illegal.
The agent representing the Italian state in the ECHR replied to an email asking for his perspective writing he would not comment on “a pending case”.
According to Spijkerboer, the law regarding Hirsi v. Italy is crystal clear. “What Italy is doing is not allowed. A European judge should put a stop to it.” The professor has no doubt the 24 immigrants were within Italy’s jurisdiction when they were intercepted, meaning they had a right to European protection, even if they were still on international waters. The Italian coast guard ship was acting on the behalf of the Italian state after all. Prior rulings show that the ECHR shares this view, Spijkerboer said.
A ruling by the ECHR may take a few years, because Strasbourg has a backlog of some 120,000 cases. “The judges will put this case on top of the pile,” Spijkerboer said. “They feel it is important.”
The case’s merits may look good, the judges could still rule it inadmissible nonetheless. For instance, Italy could ask Libya to help the 24 migrants by relocating them to another safe country. This would upend the argument that Italy has put them in an unsafe situation. “That would solve the problem for the 24 plaintiffs,” Spijkerboer said. “But Italy would avoid a conviction and no legal precedent would be set.”
The immigration lawyers could also lose contact with their clients in Libya. Spijkerboer thinks they would then still retain power of attorney but he acknowledged the possibility posed a risk. “That would be high irony: the returned migrants would be unable to claim their European rights because they have lost touch with Europe. It would be rewarding Italian policy,” Spijkerboer said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Planned Parenthood and Girl Scouts’ Weapons of Mass Destruction
[Comments from JD: Warning: graphic descriptions.]
I was at the United Nations Conference on the Status of Women March 7-12, 2010, invited by Women For Life International and Endeavor Forum. As we were walking the halls we started hearing about the meeting for “girls only”, where no adults would be allowed. “Oh that can’t be good,” I said. Anytime I have ever been told I can’t be with my child, it sends up flags. I guess some parents couldn’t see the Girl Scouts as doing anything wrong and willingly gave their girls to them. GS Leaders are trying to deny having “handed out” the objectionable brochures. They, however, in the past have distributed things that many critics deemed as pornography.
It seems that enemies come in all forms. We think we know our enemies but it is getting harder to detect all the time. We buy cookies from them, we trust our precious little girls to them and even the trusted Girl Scouts have succumbed to social degradation. I dare say the founders of 1912 would be appalled.
The brochures this year stated, page 7: “Sex can feel great and can be really fun! Many people think sex is just about vaginal or anal intercourse… But, there are lots of different ways to have sex and lots of different types of sex. Sex can include kissing, touching, licking, tickling, sucking, and cuddling. Some people like to have aggressive sex, while others like to have soft and slow sex with their partners. There is no right or wrong way to have sex. Just have fun, explore and be yourself!.” There is no “parenthood planning” in this education. This is a process of investment as I see it. Teach a child at a young age to be obsessed with sex. Then they’ll become pregnant later while having sex freely. Finally they’ll have the abortions that are the cash cows for Planned Parenthood. This has been their strategy for many years. This is a well thought out plan. This is sex for profit! I recall that as being illegal in most states.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Dogs Suffer Cancer After ID Chipping
‘I saw it growing every day, and I could see it taking his life’
Do implanted microchips cause cancer in dogs and cats?
That’s the question owners are asking after highly aggressive tumors developed around the microchip implants of two dogs, killing one and leaving the other terminally ill.
The owners — and pathology and autopsy reports — suggest a link between the chips and formation of fast-growing cancers.
‘I could see it taking his life’
A 5-year-old bullmastiff named Seamus died last month after developing a hemangio-sarcoma — a malignant form of cancer that can kill even humans in three to six months, explains privacy expert, syndicated radio host and best-selling author Dr. Katherine Albrecht.
Albrecht, an outspoken opponent of implantable microchips, has been contacted by pet owners after their animals experienced what they believe to be side effects from the procedure.
According to a pathology report, Seamus’ tumor appeared between his shoulder blades last year, and by September a “large mass” had grown with the potential to spread to his lungs, liver and spleen.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
2 comments:
Regarding the issue of tumors in dogs and cats growing in the same area where microchips were implanted, I would suggest that there is too little evidence to blame the microchip for this. Obviously, it bears further investigation.
If the same part of the body is being used as a site for the injection of anything else other than the microchip (such as vaccines or treatments for parisitic ailments), it would be necessary to rule out those injections as possible causes of tumors.
1389, yes, but you do the research prior to implanting chips into people. You have to prove that they're healthy, not we have to prove that they're not. Besides, I don't want to get this stuff out of privacy concerns.
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