Turkey May Need to Raise Interest Rates, Merrill Lynch Says
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, APRIL 1 — Turkey’s Central Bank is risking its credibility by keeping borrowing costs low as inflation accelerates and may be forced into faster increases in interest rates, Bloomberg reports quoting Bank of America Corp.-Merrill Lynch & Co. as saying. The bank is “drifting toward a more reactionary monetary policy stance” and risks a repeat of 2008 when inflation forced it to reverse a series of cuts, analysts including Turker Hamzaoglu said an e-mailed report Thursday. Turkey lowered the benchmark rate by a total of 10.25 percentage points in the 13 months through November and has held it unchanged at 6.5% ever since. Yesterday the Central Bank in Ankara repeated its goal of keeping rates “at low levels for a long time,” even after inflation accelerated to its fastest pace in 15 months in February. Elections are due by July next year and “our fear is that we enter 2011 with a 5.5% inflation target made difficult by pre-election spending while recovery raises inflation pressures,” the report said. The inflation rate rose to 10.1% in February from 8.2% a month earlier. It has risen every month since hitting a 39-year low of 5.1% in October. The Central Bank’s target for the end of this year is 6.5%, and its latest forecast, issued on January 26, is for 6.9%. The economy expanded 6% in the last three months of the year as it emerged from recession, according to figures announced in Ankara Thursday. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
“Militia” Used as Manipulation
Mainstream media has recently reported the story of the alleged “Militia” group in Michigan which supposedly had plans of killing police officers as a sort of “freedom task” — in the name of Jesus Christ no less. In reality, “This is a group that [is] neither a militia [n]or a Christian group.”[1] This is not the first highlight of news where the media has misused the concept of a “militia” as a representation of everything evil and insane. Virtually every mainstream reference of “militia” today implicates terrorism, anti-American and wacko-extremists — right along with those Al Qaeda terrorists who are attempting to destroy America just because “we are free.”
From 1776 to 2010, the concept of a militia has been turned completely on its head. What was once seen as a necessary component of maintaining and protecting freedom against attacks by a tyrannical domestic government is now seen as a disgusting roach that must be stomped out of existence. Am I suggesting that some of these people who would classify themselves as a “militia” group are legitimately sound and constitute the real purpose of a militia? No. Just as I do not suggest that doctors who perform abortions upon the mother’s mere “choice” constitute actual doctors whose first purpose of treatment is to “do no harm.” We all know that a few people can give a bad name to the rest. What I am talking about here is manipulation to further enslave the people of the States, and empower those who control the federal government and global agenda.
There is without doubt a push and agenda by elitists, major media, politicians, and revolutionaries (who despise the ideals held by our founding generation) against the concept of a Second Amendment militia — one whose purpose is to provide for the protection of freedom within the state by citizens of that state: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”[2]
[…]
Of course, the underlying presumption and foundation for the implementation of well-regulated militias was the evil inherent in human nature — particularly those who possess political power. They recognized that these militias would not only serve a practical effect of resistance against tyrants, but also a mental effect of inhibition.
The founding generation had personally experienced the efforts of Great Britain to disarm the people of the colonies. They knew the potential reality that government would attempt to disarm the people and eliminate the militias so that the people would be good little subjects to the government. To tyrants, obedience is all that is required to be a good citizen.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
America’s Growing Social Insecurity
According to a recent report released by the Social Security Administration, this year Social Security will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes. While this report may simply sound like other depressing financial headlines that are unleashed on a daily basis, this one has some teeth. According to projections by the Congressional Budget Office, Social Security was not supposed to experience an upside down year until 2016.
This report highlights the mounting problems facing Social Security in the future. Last year, Social Security recipients were informed that they would not receive a cost-of-living adjustment to their benefits in 2010. This was the first year that benefits did not have a COLA increase since the automatic adjustments were put into place back in 1975.
To understand the full extent of America’s growing Social Security crisis, one must have a basic understanding of America’s changing demographics.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Destroying America With the EPA’s Carbon Lies
Lisa Jackson, Obama’s EPA director, has just announced the agency’s new auto regulations of gas mileage based on global warming. In addition, the agency asserts the right to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions under the Clean Air Act. There is NO need to limit greenhouse gas emissions because there is NO “global warming.”
There is absolutely no scientific justification for this and, indeed, many observers believe the EPA lacks the legal authority regarding its stance on CO2.
There is NO need to limit greenhouse gas emissions because there is NO “global warming.”
Greenhouse gases are purported to be the primary cause of this fraud. The EPA, like a dozen other U.S. agencies, has been pushing the global warming fraud for decades. One more lie, even a whopper about CO2, is of little concern to the EPA at this point.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Forget Cap and Trade: EPA Regulation of CO2 Emissions Will Begin in 10 Months
So much for the spectacle of Democrats and Republicans fighting their way through Congress over the future of Cap and Trade energy legislation. Thanks to EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson in little noticed press releases from March 29 and April 1, the “final decision” that “greenhouse gases (GHGs)” and “carbon pollution” will be regulated (taxed) by the federal government is complete and the imposition of “construction and operating permit requirements for the largest emitting facilities will begin.”
The first misleadingly titled release “EPA Formally Announces Phase-in of Clean Air Act Permitting for Greenhouse Gases/Agency reiterates no stationary source requirements until 2011” makes it clear the EPA absolutely will regulate (tax) stationary sources of greenhouse gases (power plants, factories, farms, homes, etc…) starting Jan 2011.
Administrator Jackson is quoted as saying “This is a common sense plan for phasing in the protections of the Clean Air Act. It gives large facilities the time they need to innovate, (and) governments the time to prepare to cut greenhouse gases”. The amount of time being 10 whole months from now when apparently vast new supplies of energy derived from pixie dust and the tears of clowns will come online to power the U.S. economy. Not only has the final decision been made to regulate (tax) the release of CO2, but limits for emissions will be set by the government in the near future, presumably without the inconvenience of public hearings: “The agency will make a decision later this spring on the amount of GHGs facilities can emit before having to include limits for these emissions in their permits.”
[…]
The purpose of the new emissions standards is to greatly increase the price of energy in America leading to $8 or more for a gallon of gas and electricity bills which will “necessarily skyrocket” according to Obama. This may lead to increased energy efficiencies, but it will also force businesses to lay off millions of workers during a time of 10% unemployment (and 20% underemployment) to pay for higher energy costs and will ultimately transform what has been a terrible recession into another Great Depression.
The fact that not one shred of evidence proves CO2 is responsible for global warming does not appear to concern the EPA or Obama. On the contrary, even ClimateGate scientists agree that the world has not warmed since 1995. By all accounts the earth is entering a cooling period likely to last 30 or more years due to solar and ocean cycles, which have a far greater effect on global temperatures than CO2.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Highly Decorated Army Surgeon Refuses All Military Orders Until Obama Proves He is a Natural Born Citizen
A decorated active duty Army medical officer, Lieutenant Colonel Terry Lakin (selected for promotion to Colonel), is calling upon his chain of command and his Congressional delegation to force President Obama to release his original birth certificate. He is the highest ranking officer to go public over this controversy and in late February, was notified that he is subject to near-term deployment to Afghanistan.
His military orders include a requirement that he provide “copies of his birth certificate.” LTC Lakin is prepared to provide a certified copy of his certification of vital record that lists his birth hospital, physician’s name and other key information. He has provided this document for many other required processes, such as his commissioning into the military as an officer, and his marriage license.
| [Return to headlines] |
Is State Sovereignty Dead?
We are hearing more and more these days of state sovereignty, Tenth Amendment Resolutions, enumerated powers of Congress, and separation of powers; but what really do those in Congress, who make federal law, really know and understand about this topic?
I think many of you know, and I have written in the past, that this nation was founded on the principle of not amassing too much power in any one branch of the government. History of the constitutional convention and ratifying speeches, on the other hand, show many examples of states being the primary government entity when it came to the people.
In a 2008 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report (RL30315) dated February 1 entitled “Federalism, State Sovereignty, and the Constitution: Basis and Limits of Congressional Power” answered many questions I have had concerning why the government does what it does (assuming power it may not have) as well as reinforcing the fact that they know that what they are doing is absolutely unconstitutional and have opted to take an extralegal position to support passing their agenda.
[…]
Glenn Beck, for all his showmanship, does bring to light some very good facts; one such fact was an alignment of natural resources of oil, oil shale, and natural gas that resides in massive abundance within the western states and Alaska. Want to take a guess at what areas massive land grabs of the federal government have taken place? You got it right on top of those mineral deposits! However, when you read the legislation that steals the land from the people of those states no mention of the resources below ground are made (deception) they are told it is to preserve the natural beauty of the land. They place this land under the National Parks service with armed Park Rangers who have police powers. And do you know which enumerated power allows them to take land for no enumerated power? There is none; this is theft of the citizens of the states where these “parks” are located. It is theft of the resources of the people of those states and by extension theft of all the people of this nation.
The single greatest land owner in the nation is the federal government yet the enumerated power in the Constitution only grants them a Capital (10 square miles), forts, magazines (places for stuff that goes boom), arsenals (equipment that uses the stuff that goes boom), dock-Yards (Navy stuff), and other useful buildings (post offices, federal buildings, and such) that is it, they have not additional power to take any land.
Now proponents of the federal governments “eminent domain” power say that the federal government has the right to take any property for public use based on the Fifth Amendment which states “…Nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
Again this goes right back the ability to legislate is based upon enumerated powers — the enumerated powers are not changed because Congress wants to legislate something not enumerated. Can the federal government use emanate domain to place a Fort or a post office at a specific site? Absolutely! Can the federal government use emanate domain to take land for a military installation? Absolutely! Can the federal government use emanate domain to take 1.5 million acres for wilderness preservation? Absolutely NOT! Why? Because the federal government has not been granted that power under the Constitution and without that enumerated, specific grant of power then the lawful use of that power is void and it is done solely on the basis of power and not lawful right.
[…]
As we have seen, at least in our lifetime, changing of the guards in Washington DC has done absolutely nothing to resolve the problem. In most instances the only difference between the two major parties, at least on the big issues, is not where we are going but only bickering on how to get there. In my opinion the only place this will be resolved will be within the states of the Union; but for this to happen we need a small handful of states to grow a spine and intestinal fortitude by standing up to the federal and say enough is enough.
This is called State Nullification — Each state has the power to stop the federal government in its tracks but it will take effort and sacrifice. Each state must:
1. Declare that they will no longer accept federal funds or the requirements that come with those funds to support unconstitutional programs.
2. That all lands owned by the federal government within the state that are not held for the direct enumerated powers of the government (parks, monuments, etc) will revert back to the states and the people.
3. All federal incorporation charters to and within the states are revoked and only state charters will be recognized.
[Comments from JD: List continues at url.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
What Should States Do When the Federal Government Usurps Power?
Advice From James Madison, Father of the U.S. Constitution
1. In Federalist No. 46 (1st para), James Madison says the ultimate authority over both the State and federal governments resides in the People. What, then, are the People of a State to do if the authorities in their State refuse to resist encroachments & usurpations by the federal government?
2. Democrats, including Democrat State officials, place party loyalty over the Constitution and their own State. It is the Democrats who are destroying our country. What do we do? (1) Learn how to talk to Democrats. (2) Defeat them at all levels in the upcoming elections. (3) Continually petition State officials of both parties to resist unconstitutional federal encroachments. As other States organize to resist such federal encroachments, keep urging your State officials to join in.
3. Federalist No. 46 (7th para) discusses how individual States or several States carry out resistance to the federal government’s unconstitutional encroachments. If a particular State takes an action which the federal government doesn’t like, but which has the support of the People of that State, the federal government can’t do anything about it unless it is willing to apply some type of pressure.
When several States oppose an unconstitutional encroachment by the federal government, Madison says they have powerful means of opposition: the disquietude of the people, their repugnance (e.g., baby-killing enshrined into public policy), the Peoples’ refusal to co-operate with the officers of the federal government; the opposition of the State officials; and all those legislative devices State Legislatures can invent to thwart & impede the federal government in its unconstitutional schemes.
So, in para 7, Madison contemplates that not all States will oppose unconstitutional encroachments by the federal government. But he shows that this need not impede the States who do. Such States need not implement in their States the federal government’s lawless usurpations. Have we forgotten how to just say, “NO! You have no authority under the Constitution to do this, and the Sovereign State of X and the Sovereign People of the State of X won’t permit this.” If we have taken the Oath to support the Constitution (Art. VI, clause 3), then we are bound by Honor to support it!
4. Note that Madison doesn’t say the States should file lawsuits in federal court. And WHY would Sovereign States, which formed a federation for the limited purposes enumerated in Art. I, Sec. 8, U.S. Constitution; ask one branch of the federal government (judiciary) to opine on whether a “law” approved by the two other branches (legislative & executive) exceeds the enumerated powers of Congress or encroaches on the reserved powers of the States and the People (10th Amendment)? All three branches of the federal government have been unified against The Constitution, the States, and the People for a very long time! Why do States put themselves in the position of supplicants to a Court which has already shown itself to be contemptuous of the Constitution, and of the States’ and The Peoples’ reserved powers?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Asylum Seekers Are Lured to the UK by Its ‘Enormous’ Benefits, Says Calais Mayor in Blistering Attack on Britain
Britain’s ‘enormous’ state handouts to asylum seekers were furiously criticised yesterday — by the Mayor of Calais.
Natacha Bouchart said these payouts were the lure for thousands of foreigners using the French port as a staging point to cross the Channel illegally.
She said the UK government’s policy was ‘imposing’ migrants on the town, costing the local economy millions.
Mrs Bouchart, 45, a member of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ruling UMP party, said she was so disgusted by what was going on that she refused to have any meetings with British government representatives.
She said the British system was predominantly to blame for thousands of Africans, eastern Europeans and Asians trying to clamber aboard lorries and trains in Calais every day.
‘Requesting asylum is easier with them (the British) than in France. The asylum seeker is given accommodation and receives up to £40 a week according to their case, when the annual income of the average Eritrean is around $200 (£135).
‘That seems enormous and it’s attractive to them.’
In Britain, asylum seekers can receive payments as soon as a claim is lodged. In France, an asylum seeker generally is given nothing for six months.
That is because the French bureaucratic system means it routinely takes a minimum of six months to have a claim for asylum — and with it the opportunity to receive state support — accepted.
Once accepted, the claimant can receive a range of benefits — but almost all prefer to try to reach Britain and secure immediate benefits.
Married asylum-seeking couples in the UK receive £66.13 a week, while single people get up to £42.16. They are also entitled to free NHS care, housing and education for any children.
Home Office Minister Phil Woolas has been seeking closer cooperation with France in the hope of preventing the crisis in Calais from escalating.
Ministers have been alarmed by figures showing the number of migrants caught trying to reach Britain by stowing away on lorries at Calais has doubled over the last year to more than 2,000 a month.
The count of 6,031 in the first three months of this year compares with 2,919 caught by port security services trying to gain access to trucks queueing for ferries between January and March 2008.
The pressure on the port of Calais is being matched at the Channel Tunnel terminal outside the town, which has reported a 50 per cent rise in illegal migrants over last year. Most are trying to board lorries waiting for places on freight trains.
Mrs Bouchart said she had received many requests for a meeting with UK officials to attempt to sort out the mess.
‘I’ve never followed them up because I consider them provocative. To receive in the city hall a representative of the British governmentis to support what it imposes on us.’
The mayor pointed out that the Calais Chamber of Trade was having to pay £12million a year to secure the port area — money she suggested the French government should provide.
‘Each day the town of Calais finds itself under psychological pressure because of the presence of the migrants.
‘That blocks our economic development. That stops some businesses from establishing themselves and that costs a lot.’
Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green said: ‘The Mayor of Calais is right that the long-term chaos in our immigration system, from badly-protected borders to the Home Office not sending an officer to many appeal hearings, encourages people to try their luck.
‘The answer for Britain and the people of Calais is a well-run immigration system with a proper Border Police Force.’
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of MigrationWatch UK, said: ‘Gallic logic has reached the inescapable conclusion that Britain is a soft touch for asylum seekers.
‘You only have to say the word asylum and you have an 80 per cent chance of staying in Britain, more often than not illegally.’
In response, Mr Woolas said: ‘The illegal migrants in Calais are not queueing to get into Britain — they have been locked out by one of the toughest border crossings in the world. These successful controls have been possible thanks to the close co-operation of the French government.
‘Benefits are only available to those who play by the rules, work hard, pay taxes and learn to speak English.
‘I have made it clear that those trying to cheat our system will not be tolerated, which is why last year UK Border Agency staff worked tirelessly at our French and Belgium controls — stopping more than 28,000 attempts to cross the Channel illegally.’
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Berlusconi Has Got One Thing Right: His Finance Minister
Giulio Tremonti took Italy out of crisis and voters should thank his boss
I t’s been years since I thought I could write a word in favour of Silvio Berlusconi. The girls, swimming pools full of them; the suffocating control of Italy’s media; the endless speeches about reform that never happens. I’d long concluded that Italy would be better without a Prime Minister who had become the story rather than the agent of change.
That is still my view. But I have to admit two points. First, many Italians back him. Yesterday his conservative coalition won four regions from the opposition in local elections, despite predictions that it would lose. There is no choice but to credit some of that to the “Mediterranean man” factor, as Italian pundits call it. Voters forgive or even admire him for behaviour that would disqualify him from British politics, never mind the puritanical US.
His spokesman says, baldly: “Divorce happens to many people, even nice ones,” glossing over the provocations that led Veronica Lario, Mr Berlusconi’s wife, to file for this particular divorce.
But a bigger reason for voters’ indulgence is that Italy has fared surprisingly well in the global financial turmoil. Let me be more precise — it is not that Mr Berlusconi has run the economy well, but that he appointed Giulio Tremonti as Finance Minister in May 2008 and had the wit to keep him in place. Mr Tremonti, a good candidate for Europe’s best finance minister, has turned a near-disastrous position into a survivable one…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Blue Chip Bosses’ Pay Falls 21% — to €2.5m
The average pay package of a CEO at a top Dutch stock-exchange listed company fell 21% to €2.5m last year, according to research by the Volkskrant.
The research covers 23 of the 25 companies on the blue-chip AEX index. Only Bam and Boskalis have yet to publish their annual reports with details of executive remuneration packages for last year.
Of the 23 CEO’s studied, 19 had a pay cut in 2009. Four had a pay rise (ASML, Heineken, Aegon and Corio).
The biggest earner was KPN CEO Ad Scheepbouwer, who earned €7.3m in fixed salary and bonuses. Second on the list was Nancy McKinstry of electronic publishers Wolters Kluwer whose total package amounted to €4.2m.
Biggest loser was Shell’s new CEO Peter Voser, whose salary and bonus package was €3.1m, a 64% cut on his predecessor Jeroen van der Veer. Shell is currently reforming its remuneration policy for senior staff.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Catholics Have Forgotten How to Fast
L’Avvenire newspaper says sense of self-denial has disappeared. “We should be more like the Muslims”
ROME — What’s for lunch tomorrow? Or will we be having any lunch at all? For Catholics, Good Friday is a day of fasting, with prayer and almsgiving traditionally taking the place of food, to protect believers from the instincts that shape our will and to bring them closer to God. But even the Italian bishops’ conference daily, L’Avvenire, says that fasting is a “forgotten virtue”. Massimo Salani, a professor of the history of religion, expressed his concern in its pages. “Catholics no longer have a sense of self-denial at table”. Professor Salani’s concern is equally clear over the phone: “Inevitably, faith will adapt to the times but the concept of fasting has not developed. It’s simply been eliminated”. Meanwhile, such things appear to have survived more successfully in other religions.
Last year, the invitation to take a cue from Ramadan came straight from the Vatican. Presenting Benedict XVI’s proposal to return to lenten fasting for Easter, Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes suggested that Catholics should be inspired by the seriousness with which Muslims abstain from food and water until sunset during their holy month. Yet there is a fundamental difference. Mario Scajola, a former Italian ambassador who converted to Islam and sits on the board of the World Muslim League, says: “For us, the Ramadan fast is one of the five pillars of our religion. On a par with the five prayers every day or, for those who can afford it, the pilgrimage to Mecca. I don’t think that the Good Friday fast has the same force for Catholics”. But Islam isn’t the only fast-conscious faith: Jews fast on Yom Kippur and Orthodox Christians are perhaps the strictest self-deniers. It’s hard to shake off years of secularisation that has had a greater impact in the West than elsewhere.
Yet is fasting really such a “forgotten virtue” for Catholics? In Venice, the diocese has launched a “Venerdigiuniamo” [Let’s Fast on Friday] initiative and posted material on internet. On the six Fridays of Lent, those who want to can skip lunch, meet in church to pray and give the cost of the missed meal to the poor. Reports from the lagoon say that it has been a great success. “I decided to take part to make space for God in my day, which is always full of often pointless things to be done”, writes fast participant Chiara De Pieri on the diocesan web forum. In fact, the Church itself downgraded fasting before rediscovering its importance. The Second Vatican Council reduced the number of fast days to just two, Good Friday and Ash Wednesday, when there had previously been many more. It was a “huge mistake”, according to sociologist Franco Ferrarotti. He says: “The Church thought it was being more modern by relaxing the rules. Instead, it lost its authority”. More than just fasting could be involved. Roberto Cipriani, professor of sociology at the Roma Tre university, notes: “It’s the practice of religion in general that is declining. Attendance at Sunday mass, for example, has dropped in Italy from 31% in 1993 to today’s 25%”. Why doesn’t this happen with other religions? “I wouldn’t be so sure. Observance of Ramadan among immigrants is high for social, as well as religious, reasons. Fasting makes them feel part of a group”. However, fasting is still widely practised in immigrants’ countries of origin. “That’s true, but it’s also true that it gets a lot of media attention. When Ramadan starts, it’s headline news. Have you ever seen a TV news story about the Good Friday fast? Lots of people may actually be fasting but we don’t know about it”.
Lorenzo Salvia
English translation by Giles Watson
www.watson.it
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Charter of Fundamental Rights to be Re-Written as Epic Poem
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS — The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) wants the EU’s human rights charter recast as an 80-minute-long epic poem, accompanied by music, dance and “multi-media elements.”
“The FRA intends to launch a negotiated procedure for the creation and implementation of an artistic concept for the presentation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in Poems,” reads the agency tender issued this month.
The Vienna-based agency has opened a process of contracting a poet to devise a composition based on the articles of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and hire a company of performers to accompany a presentation of the poem with music, a dance interpretation of the piece and “multimedia elements”, as well as what the tender refers to as “etc.”
The inaugural reading of the poem, whose working title is ‘The Charter in Poems’, is to take place at the bloc’s 2010 Fundamental Rights Conference on 7 December.
In a move that is likely to provoke the ire of francophones, already smarting from what they view as the galloping advance of the English language within the EU institutions and European communication with citizens at the expense of French, the tender required that poem be composed in the language of Shakespeare as English is, according to the tender document, the “literary language”.
However, “the performance itself need not be limited to just English, and indeed is encouraged to include other official languages of the EU.”
Friso Roscam-Abbing, spokesman for the FRA, told EUobserver that the poetic re-visioning of the charter aims to make the “dry, legal language of the charter, which is very inaccessible, more relevant to European citizens.”
“We hope to raise the visibility of the charter via a nice, literary manifestation of the document in a way that brings the charter to life.”
“We are also in the process of developing a children’s competition, putting it into children’s words to express what the legal language means to them.”
Mr Roscam-Abbing said that the requirement that the poem be written in English was “a mistake in the tender announcement.”
“It will be put out in all three of the working languages of the EU: English, French, and German, plus Dutch.”
Five bidders have responded to the tender. Mr Abbing said he could not reveal from which member states the poets hailed.
The author or authors of the Charter in Poems must also transfer all intellectual property rights and publishing rights to the Fundamental Rights Agency.
Although the tender has now closed, poets may still contact the agency to be involved, according to Mr Roscam-Abbing.
The development comes as European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, a poet in his spare time himself, announced this week he is to publish in April an anthology of his three-line Japanese haiku poems.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Draft Scenarios for Post-Afghanistan Military
By Jaus Müller
A survey by the ministry of defence envisions the possible future of the Dutch armed forces. It finds that the need for military power is still very real in an increasingly dangerous world.
A few more months and Dutch soldiers will begin to retreat from the Afghan province of Uruzgan. The Netherlands’ armed forces have focused mainly on Uruzgan-like missions in the last years. The military has been made into an expeditionary force capable of handling numerous foreign missions with a lean organisation.
Scroll down to see a graph specifying the composition of the Dutch military.
Two years ago, defence minister Eimert van Middelkoop established a working group to investigate some existential questions. Why does the Netherlands need armed forces in the first place? What kind of military will the Netherlands need in years to come? Where will future threats come from?
Military of tomorrow
Professors, scientists, think tanks, civil servants and former soldiers were asked to advise on these matters for the report that was published on Monday. The survey, entitled Explorations: a Starting Point for the Armed Forces of Tomorrow, focuses on the 2020-2030 time frame.
The report is partially a pre-emptive strike against those who are looking to cut the defence budget. The military is a likely target of cutbacks now the mission in Uruzgan is ending and the government has announced broad expenditure cuts of 29 billion euros to combat the consequences of the economic crisis. The report wants to offer a “long—term perspective” illustrating the importance of the armed forces.
The experts have drafted four possible policy scenarios. The first assumes that the Netherlands only wants to protect its own territory. The second focuses on maintaining the international rule of law through short-term operations lasting no longer than a year. A third scenario presumes the Netherlands will participate in (long-term) stabilisation operations. The fourth scenario imagines the armed forces as a Swiss army knife of sorts: a multi-purpose instrument to be used both at home and abroad, depending on diverse weapons systems to complete varying missions. This last scenario most resembles today’s armed forces.
All four of these policy options have been examined in the light of three different budgetary scenarios: one assuming the Dutch defence budget will remain unchanged at 8 billion euros annually, and two that assume either an increase or decrease of 1.5 billion.
A dangerous world
The defence report warns against rigorous measures. “An analysis of the global, European and national security situation does not give reason to reduce our defence efforts for the time being,” the experts wrote. The working group summed up a number of future challenges. It stated that the position of West will become “less dominant” due to the rise of China. The future stability of Russia is “very uncertain”. Migration will increase the pressure exerted on Europe’s borders. Climate is changing and natural resources are becoming scarcer. The world’s population is growing, but Europe’s is only growing older.
Acting foreign minister, Maxime Verhagen, has emphasised potential future threats emanating from the area between the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan. “The security surrounding us is more fragile than we think,” Verhagen said. The Netherlands’ interests are best served by an expeditionary force, he argued. “Security far away means security at home.”
The report finds that Western armed forces have done little so far to respond to this growing threat. The current recession has caused Nato and EU members to (temporarily) cut their defence budgets, even though military expenditure worldwide is still on the rise.
At what price?
The report goes on to analyse the effects a budget cut or increase would have on the armed forces. Extra money would go a long way to alleviating current “financial bottlenecks” but is not strictly necessary according to the report. A 1.5 billion euro budget cut however, would “lead to a reduction of the armed forces and a corresponding reduction in ambitions”.
The working group did little to answer the questions it posed to itself two years ago. What do the Dutch armed forces stand for? What interests do they serve?
It is now up to politicians to pick up the gauntlet and decide on the Dutch military’s future. But in these times of crisis, the Netherlands’ place in the world will probably be a less urgent consideration to them than the price they are willing to pay for it.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
EU Proposes Rules on New Democratic Instrument
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS — The European Commission is bracing itself for the prospect of politically sensitive requests from EU citizens once a key direct-democracy clause contained in the Lisbon Treaty takes effect.
Under the rules, signatures from 1 million EU citizens on any issue obliges the commission to consider a legislative proposal in the area.
How to implement the relatively detail-free article — hailed as a key step in overcoming the EU’s democratic deficit, has been exercising legal minds within the commission since well before the treaty came into place.
On Tuesday, administration commissioner Maros Sefcovic laid out the requirements for exercising the citizens initiative, which he hopes to have up and running by December.
“I truly believe that the citizens’ initiative is a real step forward in the democratic life of Europe,” he said, adding that it would get citizens “more interested in Brussels.”
The commission is suggesting that the one million signatures must come from at least a third of member states (nine) and reach a certain threshold in each of countries concerned. The voting age is set at the same age as for voting in the European elections.
Signatures can be collected over a one-year period but the organisers should ask the commission whether the request is admissible after 300,000 signatures have been gathered from three member states. Admissibility will be judged on whether the request falls within the commission’s powers.
Once a citizens’ initiative has been registered, the commission has to say whether or not it is going to propose legislation in the area within four months. But, critically, there is no time constraint on when the commission actually then produces a draft law.
Organisers of an initiative — an EU citizen or an EU political party — have to present detailed information to prove they are not lobbyists.
The process has several elements that could potentially delay the process, including the requirement that the organisers have their online vote collection system approved by the member state concerned.
Safeguards
The commission has also built some safeguards into the new system’s operating manual, saying it deserves the right to reject requests that are “devoid of all seriousness” or “abusive.” Applications can also be rejected on the grounds that they go against “European values.”
These catch-all phrases could be used to deflect politically awkward initiatives such as a call to halt enlargement to include Turkey, for the re-introduction of the death penalty or for a ban on the building of minarets, something recently passed by referendum in non-EU member Switzerland.
Mr Sefcovic said that while the commission will not “limit the democratic debate on [any] issues,” the requests must be “genuine, European and within the powers of the commission.”
He said that the commission is not prepared to be used as a platform for “making fun of the European Union,” through obviously frivolous initiatives such as proposing a fictitious person to become president of an EU institution.
Referring to some of the politically sensitive issues, he noted that a death penalty initiative would fall because it would breach EU values. Meanwhile, if issues raised provoked a conflict between different freedoms — such as religious freedom and freedom of speech — they would be discussed according to the “prevailing freedom that we are trying to protect.”
“I am sure that if the issue of Turkey or future enlargement will come to our table, then this will be the future discussion the college [of commissioners] will have,” said the commissioner.
However, the commission has already nipped one potential initiative in the bud, saying it does not have the legal powers to move the seat of the European Parliament to Brussels. Its official seat is in Strasbourg, with the lengthy and costly monthly trip a constant source of complaint from lobbyists, green activists and a large swathe of MEPs themselves.
In addition, eager citizens will not be able to initiate treaty changes.
Mr Sefcovic admitted the commission had little idea how citizens will take to the new democracy too, but noted that “people can be very easily mobilised” online. A review of the rules is planned in five years to “see if [the commission] got it right.”
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Sexual Mistreatment Scandal
Catholic Abuse Hotline Overrun Amid New Allegations
A hotline set up by the Catholic Church in Germany to counsel victims of sexual abuse was overrun on its first day, with almost 4,500 calls. Further allegations have continued to emerge even as Chancellor Angela Merkel says the church is taking “necessary measures.”
It was a much criticized idea. Earlier this month, Germany’s Catholic Church announced that it was planning a hotline for sexual abuse victims to call should they be in need of counselling or advice. Given the ever-increasing wave of abuse allegations being levelled at clerics in Germany this spring, however, many critics doubted whether victims would phone up the organization that was responsible for their suffering in the first place.
The critics were wrong. On Wednesday, the first full day of the hotline’s operation, fully 4,459 people phoned up — far more than the therapists hired to man the phones could handle. Indeed, they were only able to conduct 162 counselling sessions, ranging from five minutes to an hour in length. Andreas Zimmer, head of the project in the Bishopric of Trier, admitted that he wasn’t prepared for “that kind of an onslaught.” Zimmer insisted, however, that those who leave a message will be called back.
The hotline (0800-120-1000, free from within Germany) launched on Tuesday, is just one of many ways that the Catholic Church in Germany is attempting to win back trust even as the flood of abuse allegations shows no signs of receding. Bishops have insisted on full disclosure and have begun the process of reviewing church guidelines on reporting abuse allegations.
‘Necessary Measures’
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday evening praised the church’s efforts in an interview with RTL television. She said the hotline was a “very good” development and said she appreciated that German bishops have committed themselves to finding the truth. “There is no alternative to truth and clarity,” she said, adding that the church has taken “the necessary measures.”
This week, however, has been another difficult one for the Catholic Church in both Germany and elsewhere in continental Europe. Germany’s national Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported allegations on Wednesday and Thursday that Augsburg Bishop Walter Mixa beat youth who lived at a children’s home in the Bavarian town of Schrobenhausen when he was priest there in the 1970s. The paper has six declarations under oath of incidents of physical abuse, including slaps and punches to the head. “He punched me in the face with full force,” the paper quotes a former resident, Jutta Stadler, now 47, as saying.
Earlier this week, the bishopric of Trier reported that 20 priests are suspected of having sexually abused children between the 1950s and 1990s. Bishop Stephan Ackermann, who was appointed last year, said on Monday that three of the cases had been passed on to public prosecutors, with two more soon to follow. He has asked potential further victims to come forward. “We want to investigate all leads,” he said, calling the scandal “horrifying.”
‘Person of Faith’
Since initial reports of sexual abuse in Catholic schools emerged in Germany in late January, hundreds of victims have come forward in countries across Europe, including Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark and elsewhere. Swiss bishops on Wednesday said that they had underestimated the problem and were now encouraging victims to contact the authorities. In a public admission of guilt, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn said in a service at St. Stephan’s Cathedral in Vienna that “some of us talked about God, but did terrible things to our charges. Some of us perpetrated sexual violence. For some of us, the appearance of an infallible church was more important than anything else.”
The new allegations come on the heels of a New York Times report last week which indicated that Pope Benedict XVI had known about one particularly egregious case in the United States. The Rev. Lawrence Murphy spent years molesting children at a school for the deaf in Wisconsin, but when the case came to the attention of the Vatican many years later, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then led by Cardinal Ratzinger before he became pope, declined to take action, citing Murphy’s advanced age at the time.
The pope made no mention of the scandal during his pre-Easter mass at the Vatican on Thursday. But in reference to the Times article, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told the Associated Press that “the pope is a person of faith. He sees this as a test for him and the church.” The pope was set to wash the feet of 12 priests on Thursday evening in a gesture of humility.
Even as much of the focus of the growing abuse scandal has been on the Catholic Church, cases from secular boarding schools have also been made public in recent weeks in Germany. In addition, more than 25 former residents of former East German children’s homes have reported having been sexually abused during their time in the homes. Manfred Kolbe, a Christian Democratic parliamentarian whose constituency includes a memorial to a former East German youth re-education facility, told the Berlin daily Tagesspiegel that sexual abuse in children’s homes “seems to have been widespread.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Strikes and Demonstrations in Athens Continue
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS — Workers of trade union Pame, close to the Greek communist party, this morning occupied the Labour Ministry, asking the government for economic support. They ask for a special subsidy of 1,000 euros for the unemployed, a freeze of their bank loans and healthcare for all. Today at 10am local time, the jobless will demonstrate in the centre of Athens. A protest march will lead to the Labour Ministry. Employees of local authorities will strike for four hours today in the whole country and have also organised a protest march, to the Interior Ministry. The 2-day strike of lawyers against the government decision to apply VAT on their services, continues. (ANSAmed).
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Ireland: Gerry Adams Admits He’s Proud of IRA Association… But Still Denies Membership
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has insisted he is proud of his association with the IRA.
But the politician stopped short of admitting membership of the paramilitary organisation.
His comments coincide with the publication of a book, Voices From The Grave, in which former Belfast IRA leader Brendan Hughes links Adams to the abduction and murder of Jean McConville in 1972.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italians in Cancer Advance
New ‘ally’ of tumour inhibitor found
(ANSA) — Rome, March 31 — Italian researchers say they have found new allies of a protein known to inhibit cancer growth.
The researchers from the University of Trieste and the National Laboratory of the Inter-university Consortium for Biotechnology (LNCIB) say the discovery may pave the way for new treatment.
Working with fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), the researchers found a number of promising candidates that trigger a cancer-suppressing protein called p53, and went on to see if the same substances had been conserved in the evolution from flies to man.
“We worked on the hypothesis that a simple organism like Drosophila could be a useful tool to chart the interactions of p53,” said Trieste University researcher and LNCIB Molecular Oncology Unit Chief Giannino Del Sal.
“We identified several partners, many of them unexpected”.
Another LNCIB researcher, Licio Collavin, said: “The interaction of almost all these proteins with p53 has been conserved throughout evolution, from the insect to man, and some of them are important for p53 function in human cells”.
One protein in particular, GTPB4, appears to set off p53 when it is inhibited in tumour cells in a laboratory setting, Collavin added.
“We have noted that high levels of this protein correlate with greater survival rates in breast cancer”.
The Italian study appears in the latest number of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Italian Elections Marks Surge of Right Wing Support Across Europe
A far-Right party has emerged as a key winner in the Italian elections marking a continuing trend of support for Right wing parties across Europe.
Nick Pisa in Rome
The Northern League is now a key figure in Silvio Berlusconi’s coalition
The Northern League, an anti immigration party, which has now become pivotal in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s ruling coalition, has seen it’s support more than double in the last five years.
Led by firebrand Umberto Bossi, who once called for the Italian navy to shell boats carrying illegal immigrants towards the country, his victory mirrors those recently by far right parties in Hungary, Holland and France.
In the last regional elections held in 2005 the League secured just 5.7 per cent of the vote but in subsequent polls they have seen their popularity grow and this time it was 12.7 per cent.
James Walston, a political commentator at the American University of Rome, said: “The League has done very well and they will be flexing their muscles for the remaining three years of government.
“They will push for further devolution and immigration and race will also be on top of their agenda and these two are issues which are of concern to many Italians.
“The League is very well organised and they have succeeded in taking a lot of the working class vote from the Communists and Democratic Left and they also appear to have taken votes from Berlusconi’s own party.”
The result comes just ten days after the National Front won nearly 10 per cent of the overall vote in the regional elections, capturing 118 seats in 12 regions.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, the party’s 81-year old leader, said: “It’s the phoenix rising from the ashes. The National Front has returned to the forefront of French politics.”
In Holland, the far-Right politician, Geert Wilders, is poised to become the next Dutch prime minister after he made significant gains in the regional elections at the beginning of this month. If the pattern is repeated in the national elections on June 9, his Freedom Party could win 27 out of 150 seats, becoming the largest single party.
In Hungary, according to opinion polls, the far-Right Jobbik party is poised to become the second biggest party in parliament in next month’s elections.
After the election results yesterday, the Corriere Della Sera asked readers on its website why the League had done so well and one wrote: “Because it is the only concrete and viable party currently in Italian politics. It has concrete objectives and good internal party discipline.”
The League is now a key figure in Berlusconi’s coalition and as a result its members have been given key cabinet posts including Roberto Maroni as Interior Minister.
Mr Bossi described the League’s performance as a ‘tsunami’ but assured his government partners in Rome that the balance of power in the coalition would not change and said the result of the regional vote could only give momentum to federalist reforms.
The League’s advance appeared to be at the expense of Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PDL) party which saw its share of the vote fall to 26.7 per cent from 35.3 per cent in the European elections, 37.4 per cent in the general elections and 29.3 per cent in the 2005 regional vote.
The League has campaigned against the building of mosques and are also pressing for legislation on the wearing of burkas.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Exhibits: ‘The Mutants’ At Villa Medici, Changing Identity
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 29 — A pluriethnic, plurinational identity that is constantly changing: the French Academy has dedicated the expo with the title “The Mutants”, opened today in Rome, to this topic. In this exhibition, the first since he became director of the French Academy in Rome, Eric de Chassey has chosen an issue that is always in the news, choosing five artists who will embody the multicultural aspect of modern societies. Five works of Adel Abdessemed and Djamel Tatah (Algeria), Adrian Paci (Albania), the French-American Stephen Dean and the American Ellen Gallagher Adrian (who has lived in Rotterdam and New York for years), all children of the same generation (born between the mid-’60s and the early ‘70s), will be presented in Rome. These artists, according to De Chassey, belong to an age in which individual identity in the Western World “is shaped by migrations and colonial and postcolonial situations, in which integration and assimilation no longer exist, only hybridisation”. The five protagonists have chosen different ways of expressing themselves at the exposition that will remain open until June 6: from painting to drawing, video, photography and video installations. Today de Chassey also presented the programme of Villa Medici for the year in progress, from theatre to film, from modern French music to exhibitions. The first, from June 20 to September 26, unites Ellsworth Kelly and Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres. The second, “La pesanteur et la grace” will be hosted by the Academy from October 12 to January 6 2011, and will unite five international artists around the topic of abstraction. In 2012 de Chassey wants to organise an event on contemporary art in the Middle East, in collaboration with Maxxi. But the director of the Academy always has the Mediterranean area in mind in his artistic choices. “I love the Mediterranean, in particular the artists from its southern shore” he told ANSAmed. His statement is supported by his selection of the sixth artists present at “The Mutants”: Rachid Taha, invited to open the event today with a musical performance. The French-Algerian musician and composer is one of the main figures in modern rock-pop-rai. He is responsible for the readaptation of “Rock the Casbah”, the song dedicated by the Clash to the first Gulf war. “My music” Taha explained before his performance “is like couscous”. A friend of Djamel Tatah — who painted him in one of the paintings present at the exhibition — the French-Algerian musician likes to call himself “French for all days and Algerian forever”. Like Tatah, he is a dedicated artist with a clear opinion. In his music he denounces, or as he specifies “observes”, the injustice suffered by immigrants. Like his painting friend, he often speaks of “fascism”. “A reality that unites many Arab nations and some Western countries”, he adds. But they are also the product of these changing times, of art that is changing and opens its doors for artists who have become French after years, however never forgetting their origins. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Voters Disaffected by Politics
Sharp drop in turn-out a message to parties, Maroni says
(ANSA) — Rome, March 29 — A sharp drop in turn-out in key regional elections seen as a test for Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s government is a clear sign that Italian voters are disaffected with politics, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni warned on Monday.
The results were not expected till later Monday but a seven percent drop in the number of Italians who voted in the March 28-29 elections in 13 of Italy’s 20 regions means that all the political parties will need to work “to regain their trust,” Maroni said.
Pollsters had warned that the number of Italians who would not bother to vote would be higher than in previous ballots.
Mario Pagnoncelli, head of the Ipsos agency, told ANSA last week he believed most voters were disaffected with politics “because while they are worried about the economic crisis and unemployment, politicians talk about other issues”.
Voters are also “fed up” with judicial probes involving both centre-right and opposition politicians and “there have a been a number of those recently,” he added.
Pundits are also watching to see if Berlusconi’s key Northern League ally may overtake his People of Freedom (PdL) party in the two northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto where the League is fielding its own candidates.
Although Northern League leader Umberto Bossi has “ruled out repercussions in the coalition”, Berlusconi said in an interview published Friday that voters needed to bear in mind that “the PdL is the coalition linchpin”.
Observers say that, despite Bossi’s proclaimed loyalty to Berlusconi, a strong showing for the League would nevertheless create problems within the PdL because it would weaken House Speaker Gianfranco Fini’s strength in the coalition and the premier’s own charisma.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Press Looks at Election Results
Northern League expected to boost influence in coalition
(ANSA) — Rome, March 30 — While Premier Silvio Berlusconi appeared to be the clear winner of Sunday and Monday’s vote in 13 out of 20 regions, his ally the Northern League boosted its clout in government, according to reports in the foreign and domestic press.
In the vote Berlusconi’s center-right government coalition held on to Veneto and Lombardy and took from the center left Piedmont in the north, Lazio in central Italy and Campania and Calabria in the south. Five years ago, the center right lost six of the eight regions it held.
The center left this year retained Liguria in the north, the central regions of Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Marche and Umbria and the southern regions of Puglia and Basilicata.
“Silvio Berlusconi holds off opposition challenge as coalition shifts right,” headlined the Times of London which wrote that the regional vote was a test of his popularity.
After noting the “unusually low turnout”, the Times remarked that the balance of power within Berlusconi’s government “looked set to shift towards the right-wing, anti-immigration Northern League”.
“Berlusconi makes gains in regional elections,” headlined the Financial Times which wrote that “the real winners were seen as the ‘no vote’ by a third of Italians who stayed away, and the anti-immigration Northern League, which is allied to Mr.
Berlusconi”.
The Guardian drew attention to the fact that the absenteeism was unprecedented but justified by the fact that despite the deep economic crisis the election campaign “did not focus on unemployment nor other key economic questions”.
The Economist wrote that the regional vote “made several things clear about today’s Italy. The first was that it is not France. Defying predictions…Berlusconi did not get a trouncing at the polls of the kind President Sarkozy suffered a few weeks ago”.
In Spain, El Pais wrote that Italian voters had “sent a message that they were disenchanted with the whole political class”.
Although the electorate appeared to be “tired” of Berlusconi always focusing the campaign around himself, “it rewarded the center right and did not allow a center left, stunned and without vigor, to take off,” the Spanish daily observed.
According to El Mundo, the center left “continues to be unable to present itself as a strong, viable opposition force.
At the same time, the Spanish daily added, Berlusconi cannot claim victory because “the best results for the center right were thanks to the Northern League, which can now almost hold the government hostage”.
In France, Le Figaro headlined “The Right advances in the regional elections,” and observed that the results of the elections “should satisfy the premier who was engaged in an intense election campaign”.
Both Germany’s conservative Frankfurter Allgeneine Zeitung (FAZ) and the liberal Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) highlighted the element fo surprise in the Italian vote, with FAZ impressed by the way the center right increased the number of votes it raked in. FZ said the result will strengthen the national government while another German daily, Die Welt, wrote that “the xenophobic Northern League has particular cause to celebrate”.
ITALIAN PRESS FOCUSES ON BOSSI AND CENTER LEFT DEFEAT.
The reactions of the foreign press mirrored those of Italian dailies which also paid more attention to the poor showing by the center left.
“Berlusconi and the League win,” was the lead headline for the Milan Corriere della Sera which is another front page report headlined Bossi advances in the north, “And now I want Milan,” in reference to Northern League leader Umberto Bossi plans to run for mayor.
The daily also quoted Bossi’s demand “Federalism right away” and his intention to be the “referee” of reforms.
According to La Repubblica of Rome, “The Right wins jumping on Bossi’s bandwagon” while “the Left loses Piedmont and Lazio”.
The daily also quoted Berlusconi who said “The country is with me, now reforms right away”.
Il Giornale of Milan, owned by the Berlusconi family, headlined “Berlusconi and Bossi fly,” adding “Italians reward good government”.
For the financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore, “the government holds, the League takes flight,” but in regard to the lower voter turnout observed that it was “a sign of bad politics”. photo: Premier Berlusconi casting his ballot
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Unemployment Rate Holds at 8.5% in February
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 31 — In February and for the third month in a row the unemployment rate in Italy stood at 8.5%, its highest since January 2004, national statistics bureau Istat reported on Wednesday. However, the jobless rate among young people between the ages of 15 and 24 climbed to 28.2%, up 0.8 of a percentage point over January and four points higher than in February 2009, Istat added. The unemployment rate for young people was also 7.6 percentage points above the average for the European Union, 20.6%, where the overall unemployment rate in February rose to 9.6% from 9.5% in January and 8.3% in February of last year. Unemployment in the 16-nation euro area climbed to 10% in February, its highest since August 1998. According to Istat, in February there were 2.127 million people in Italy looking for work, a 0.2% increase over January and 16.2% higher than in February of last year. Compared to January, there was an increase of 1.5% in the number of men seeking employment as opposed to a decline of 1.3% among women. In respect to February of last year, 24.7% more men and 7.8% more women were seeking jobs. The number of people holding jobs in February totalled 22.806 million, down 0.1% from January and 1.7% lower than in February 2009. This put the employment rate at 56.8%, 0.1 of a percentage point below January and 1.3 points down from February 2009. Last year the number of people holding jobs in Italy fell for the first time since 1995. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Two Sicilians Arrested ‘For Prostituting Wives’
Misilmeri, 1 April (AKI) — Two unemployed men in Sicily were arrested on Thursday for allegedly making their wives work at home as prostitutes while the accused took care of their children in another room.
The arrests in Misilmeri, Italy near Palermo were made following a year-long investigation that was launched when police became suspicious about the comings and goings of men into the apartment.
The women allegedly charged 50 to 100 euros per encounter and an advertisement for the service was placed in local newspaper “Giornale di Sicilia.”
In a telephone interception police said they heard one of the arrested men tell his wife to make money for upcoming installment payments vehicles.
“We have only 1,000 euros at home and tomorrow I have to make a payment on the car and motorcycle. See what you can do,” he said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Conservatives Gain Ground in Regional Polls
Rome, 30 March (AKI) — Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s ruling conservative People of Freedom Party (PdL) wrestled four regions from the centre-left in crucial regional elections. The poll which closed late on Monday was widely seen as a test of Berlusconi’s popularity and his party performed better than expected despite an unusually low turnout.
Less than 65 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots, down some eight percentage points from elections in 2005.
Berlusconi’s coalition won a total of six of the 13 regions where voting took place, while the vote leaves the opposition centre-left in control of the other seven.
The gains came despite a series of recent personal and political scandals affecting the prime minister.
The PdL’s junior coalition partner, the anti-immigrant Northern League, won the northern Veneto and Piedmont regions, prompting speculation that a cabinet reshuffle could be imminent.
“We must have more regional autonomy immediately and I will run for mayor of Milan,” said Northern League leader and founder, Umberto Bossi.
A total 64.2 percent of the 41 million people who were eligible to vote in 13 out of 20 Italian regions cast their ballots.
The polls were seen as a key test of Berlusconi’s popularity amid signs of growing disillusionment among voters, and fears of job losses and a faltering economy.
Candidate Renata Polverini (photo) won the governorship of the key Lazio region surrounding Rome despite being handicapped by a pre-election bungle.
Polverini won 50.6 percent of votes against 48.9 percent for her centre-left opponent Emma Bonino, a former European Commissioner, prompting triumphant reactions from PdL party politicians.
“The results of these elections are a victory for the government beyond every prediction,” said Italy’s minister without portfolio Gianfranco Rotondi on Tuesday.
“After bringing Renata Polverini to victory despite the PdL having been prevented from registering its list of candidates, Silvio Berlusconi is the eighth king of Rome.”
The seventh king of Rome was Lucius Tarquinius Superbus , who reigned from 535 until the Roman revolt in 509 BC which led to the establishment of the Roman Republic.
The centre-left, which governed 11 regions to the center-right’s two going into the race, maintained its hold on seven regions, but lost in Piedmont and Lazio by a few percentage points.
The PdL took 26.7 percent of the vote across the 13 regions compared with 31.4 percent in 2005, while the opposition Democrat Party got 25.9 percent compared with 32.4 percent in 2005.
The centre-left Italy of Values party led by former prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro increased its voter share almost fourfold taking 6.9 percent of votes compared with 1.5 percent in 2005.
The Northern League almost doubled its share of votes taking 12.7 percent compared with 5.7 percent in 2005.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Judaism: Siracusa Centre of Mediterranean Jewish Community
(ANSAmed) — SIRACUSA, MARCH 30 — The Federation of Jewish communities in the Mediterranean was launched in Siracusa: “Established on March 22, with its headquarters in Siracusa, the organisation will unite the Jewish population in Southern Italy and Malta,” underlined Head Rabbi Isaac Ben Avraham, whose Italian name is Stefano Di Mauro, “many of whom continue to avoid revealing their origins today. After 500 years,” he continued, “we will be able to have more say in our countries and in direct relations with Israel.” The federation has the task of representing and protecting Jews, drafting agreements and making alliances, establishing relationships and memberships with other national and international organisations with similar purposes. On April 1 at 10:30AM the chief rabbi will explain the federation’s programme at the synagogue in Siracusa. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Kohlhammer’s Misgivings About the Failed Integration of Muslims in Europe
Merkur 01.04.2010 (Germany)
Siegfried Kohlhammer has some serious misgivings about the failed integration of Muslims in Europe, for which he pointedly does not blame European societies: “No other migrant group complains so frequently about discrimination and lack of respect, or makes such exorbitant demands which, when not met, is pegged as further proof of Islamophobia. When, in 2005, the British Home Secretary Charles Clarke explained that there could be no talks about introducing the Caliphate and Sharia law or abolishing sexual equality and freedom of opinion, one representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain saw this as ‘an attack on Islam’. A Danish Muslim leader complained in 2004 that the secularism of Danish society was an ‘abominable form of oppression’. And no other group of migrants threatens so unashamedly, so successfully and with such impunity to respond with violence as soon as they feel offended or challenged.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Ex-General ‘Inaccurate’ About Gay Soldiers
A former US general who told a senate hearing earlier this month that Dutch military chiefs blamed the 1995 massacre of Srebrenica on gay soldiers now says his comments were ‘inaccurate’.
John Sheehan’s comments caused an outcry in the Netherlands and were soundly condemned by Dutch defence staff.
Sheehan has now written to general Henk van den Breemen, chief of the defence staff at the time of the massacre, whom he claimed had made the comments.
‘I am sorry that my public recollection of those discussions of 15 years ago inaccurately reflected your thinking on some specific social issues on the military,’ the letter states.
‘It is also regrettable I allowed you to be pulled in to a public debate,’ he continued. ‘To be clear, the failure on the ground in Srebrenica was no way the fault of individual soldiers’.
Some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica, which was under the protection of Dutch UN troops
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Headscarf Ban Not ‘Break Point’: Wilders
The anti-Islam party PVV is prepared to be flexible about its proposed ban on headscarves in public buildings in order to join local government coalitions in Almere and The Hague, party leader Geert Wilders said on Friday.
The PVV was the biggest party in Almere and second biggest in The Hague after the local elections last month but is unlikely to end up in power. The party failed in its attempts to form a coalition in Almere and has been ruled out in The Hague.
Wilders said it was wrong to say the headscarf ban was an essential precondition for the party to take part. ‘It is not true. We want to govern, nationally and in Almere. I have only named one breaking point and that is the state pension [age],’ he told news agency ANP.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Has Immunity in Abuse Trials — Vatican
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) — Pope Benedict, accused by victims’ lawyers of being ultimately responsible for an alleged cover-up of sexual abuse of children by priests, cannot be called to testify at any trial because he has immunity as a head of state, a top Vatican legal official said on Thursday.
The interview with Giuseppe dalla Torre, head of the Vatican’s tribunal, was published in Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper as Pope Benedict led Holy Thursday services in St Peter’s Basilica and Catholics marked the most solemn week of the liturgical calendar, culminating on Sunday in Easter Day.
In the morning the pope blessed oils for Church services during the year, and in the evening in the Rome basilica of St John’s in Lateran he washed the feet of 12 priests to commemorate Jesus’ gesture of humility the night before he died.
But on the day Catholics commemorate Christ’s founding of the priesthood, the pope did not refer in any of his sermons to the crisis of confidence sweeping the Church as almost daily revelations surface of sexual abuse of children in the past, accompanied by allegations of a cover-up.
Dalla Torre outlined the Vatican’s strategy to defend the pope from being forced to testify in several lawsuits concerning sexual abuse which are currently moving through the U.S. legal system.
“The pope is certainly a head of state, who has the same juridical status as all heads of state,” he said, arguing he therefore had immunity from foreign courts.
Lawyers representing victims of sexual abuse by priests in several cases in the United States have said they would want the pope to testify in an attempt to try to prove the Vatican was negligent.
But the pope is protected by diplomatic immunity because more than 170 countries, including the United States, have diplomatic relations with the Vatican. They recognise it as a sovereign state and the pope as its sovereign head.
Dalla Torre rejected suggestions that U.S. bishops, some of whom have been accused of moving molesters from parish to parish instead of turning them in to police, could be considered Vatican employees, making their “boss” ultimately responsible.
Church Not a Multi-National
“The Church is not a multi-national corporation,” dalla Torre said. “He has (spiritual) primacy over the Church … but every bishop is legally responsible for running a diocese.”
Dalla Torre also rejected suggestions by some U.S. lawyers and critics of the Church that Vatican documents in 1962 and 2001 encouraged local bishops not to report sexual abuse cases.
He re-stated the Vatican’s position that the documents, one of which called for procedures to remain secret, did not suggest to bishops that they should not report cases to authorities.
“Secrecy served above all to protect the victim and also the accused, who could turn out to be innocent, and it regarded only the canonical (church) trial and did not substitute the penal process,” he said.
“There is nothing that prohibited anyone (in the Church) from giving information to civil authorities.”
The Vatican has taken off the gloves in its response to media reports alleging the pope mishandled a series of abuse cases before he was elected.
It launched a frontal attack on the New York Times on Wednesday night by posting a long statement on its website by Cardinal William J. Levada, who succeeded the pope as head of the Vatican’s doctrinal department.
Levada asked the newspaper “to reconsider its attack mode about Pope Benedict XVI and give the world a more balanced view of a leader it can and should count on.”
The Vatican has denied any cover-up over the abuse of 200 deaf boys in the United States by Reverend Lawrence Murphy from 1950 to 1974. The New York Times reported the Vatican and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, were warned about Murphy but he was not defrocked.
The Times said its reports were “based on meticulous reporting and documents.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Slate Reviews Paul Berman’s New Book on the Islam Debate Between Pascal Bruckner and Timothy Garton Ash.
Slate 25.03.2010 (USA)
It is not only in Germany that the debate (launched by Pascal Bruckner’s article at signandsight.com and Perlentaucher back in 2007) about Islam criticism or rather “Enlightenment fundamentalism” continues to rage. Back in 2007, Paul Berman entered the fray with his lengthy profile of Tariq Ramadan. He has since developed this into a book and it is due for publication later this year: “The Flight of the Intellectuals”. Ron Rosenbaum takes up Berman’s question of why, in 1989, the intellectuals were prepared to defend Salman Rushdie whereas they have refused to show solidarity with Ayaan Hirsi Ali: “Berman may disclaim it, but I think the subtext of his critique of Ali’s nitpickers is that, in the two decades since the Rushdie affair, standing up against Islamist death threats requires more physical courage than the intellectuals are willing to muster. They would rather allow pettifogging criticism to be a fig leaf, a way to distance themselves from danger.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Two Arrested After Fight in Cordoba’s Former Mosque
Trouble erupts as tourists break ban on Muslim prayers in Spanish cathedral which was once world’s second biggest mosque
A confrontation between Muslim tourists and guards employed by the Roman Catholic bishop at the world-famous Cordoba mosque saw two people arrested and two guards injured last night.
Trouble broke out when the visitors knelt to pray in the building, a former mosque turned into a Christian cathedral in the 13th century, where a local bishop, Demetrio Fernández, recently insisted that a ban on Muslim prayers must remain.
Half a dozen members of a group of more than 100 Muslims from Austria had started praying among the marble columns and coloured arches of the vast building when security guards ordered them to stop.
“They provoked in a pre-planned fashion what was a deplorable episode of violence,” the bishop’s office said in a statement.
Cathedral authorities said the guards had invited the visitors to continue viewing the inside of a 24,000 sq metre building that was once the world’s second biggest mosque, but without praying.
“They replied by attacking the security guards, two of whom suffered serious injuries,” the bishop’s office said.
Local newspapers reported that a dozen police officers had been called into the building and that these, too, had been attacked when they tried to arrest the two visitors.
The local Diario de Cordoba newspaper quoted anonymous police sources as saying that a knife had been taken off one of those arrested.
A group of local Muslim converts have long campaigned for the right to pray at the mosque building. “The building is very big and the main cathedral occupies only a part of it,” said Mansur Escudero of the Junta Islamica group.
“They publicise the building as a mosque because that brings in tourists, but they do not allow the Muslims who pay money to go inside to pray,” he said.
Escudero said a space for Muslim prayers would not inconvenience visitors or disturb the cathedral and would promote dialogue and understanding between the two religions. He said there were frequent incidents of Muslims being prevented from praying.
“They argue that canon law does not allow Muslims to pray there, though they have been happy to permit visiting Saudi princes and other dignitaries, including Saddam Hussein, to pray,” he said.
“A new bishop was appointed recently and one of his first public statements was to say that Muslim prayers would not be allowed as this would create confusion,” he said. “It seems the guards have instructions to prevent prayers with violence, if necessary.”
Cathedral authorities reiterated their ban on prayers. “The shared use of the cathedral by Catholics and Muslims would not contribute to the peaceful coexistence of the two beliefs,” the statement from the bishop’s office said.
“This one-off incident does not represent the genuine attitude of Muslims, many of whom maintain an attitude of respect and dialogue with the Catholic church,” it added. “We deplore the damage done to the image of our city and to the peaceful coexistence of visitors and citizens.”
Church authorities also recalled that archeologists had shown that, prior to the construction of the mosque in the eighth century, a Christian temple had stood on the same spot.
The 23,400 sq metre mosque occupies an area equivalent to three football pitches and boasts 1,300 columns and more than 300 yellow and red horseshoe arches. There are only three larger mosques in the world — at the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the Turkish capital Istanbul, and the Moroccan port city of Casablanca.
Yesterday’s incident coincided with the city’s famous Easter Week celebrations, where groups of nazarenos (penitents) dressed in long robes and tall conical hats carry statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary from local churches around the streets.
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
The Orwellian Times in Belgium: Burqa Bans? Or the Banning of Free Speech?
by Phyllis Chesler
A Parliamentary committee in Belgium has just voted to ban the burqa. The language of the ban is strategically neutral in terms of religion and ethnicity: It bans “face coverings,” not “niqab” or the “burqa.” This is the only approach that might work but I doubt that the full Parliament will approve it; and, if they do, I predict that Muslims, both men and women, as well as their western accomplices, will don burqas as a form of “resistance” and sit in jail for a week or pay their fines. No doubt, the European Union will ultimately find that such a ban violates human and religious rights.
In my view, the burqa is a form of severe sensory deprivation and social isolation. If the West imposed this upon Muslim women— it might be viewed as torture and quickly challenged as a human and woman’s rights violation. But for now, it is erroneously viewed as a private, religious right—and not as the visible statement of political Islam and jihad that it really is.
Guess what? Last night, at the University of Antwerp, the poet and critic of Islam, Benno Barnard, tried to deliver a lecture with the provocative title “The Islam Debate. Long Live God, Down with Allah.” Forty Muslim protesters allowed Barnard two minutes before they began yelling “Allahu Akbar” and stormed the podium—which effectively ended the lecture. Barnard said:
“Isn’t it appalling that an intellectual wants to give a lecture in the year 2010, and needs police protection? Actually, this is my best lecture ever. This incident shows what I’ve been trying to make clear for years: that the Islam is a completely intolerant system.”
The rioters were not arrested. Someone—Barnard? The University? The city of Antwerp? had to pay for Barnard’s bodyguards so that he would not be killed as he tried to exercise his right to express his views. I doubt that the European Union would find that Barnard’s civil or human rights were violated. Sympathy for the “offended” victim rules Europe and is what Obama’s America seeks to emulate.
Welcome to our Orwellian times.
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey-Germany: Diplomacy Prevails Between Merkel-Erdogan
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MARCH 29 — Diplomacy prevailed over tension that arose in the last 48 hours between Ankara and Berlin before today’s visit to the Turkish capital by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Almost all of the dailies that forecast harsh words and glowering glances between Merkel and Turkish Premier Tayyip Erdogan were stunned to see pictures of the two leaders smiling during their televised joint press conference, which they almost left arm in arm. After two hours of meetings, Erdogan reiterated that the government in Ankara is against the imposition of economic sanctions against Tehran to force the country to demonstrate that they do not have a nuclear weapons programme. “In our opinion,” added the Turkish premier, “sanctions are not a viable path and we believe that diplomacy is the best strategy.” Erdogan also said that the focus of the meetings included commercial and cultural issues in addition to the problem of the integration of Turkish immigrants in Germany, the Cyprus issue and Turkey’s EU membership process, which in Merkel’s view should take place under to form of a “privileged partnership”. The day before yesterday, Turkish European Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis clearly stated that the “privileged” partnership between the EU and Turkey does “not exist” and has no “legal basis”. Germany, like France, fears the entrance of a Muslim-majority country of 72 million inhabitants into Europe, due to demographic repercussions and the weight they could already hold on the vote in 20 years time. Merkel pointed out the “friendly” relations between Turkey and Germany, where more than 3 million Turkish nationals live. The chancellor then said that she was “happy to hear that a project to establish a German university in Turkey will be realised. In Germany,” she added, “there are many Turkish-German schools. If Germany has schools abroad, Turkey can also have them. Turkey could also have a school in Germany, but students must learn German. We, “she concluded, “are for the integration of Turkish nationals in Germany”. Today’s visit was Merkel’s second to Turkey since 2006. In the evening she was received by President Abdullah Gul, while tomorrow she will travel to Istanbul where she will meet with representatives of the German community residing in the city on the Bosphorus. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Schizophrenic Held Over Mother’s Stabbing Death… Six Years After He Killed His Father With a Claw Hammer
A mentally ill man who killed his father six years ago was being held last night on suspicion of murdering his mother.
Paranoid schizophrenic Leslie Gadsby, 38, was detained at a psychiatric hospital after killing his father, Arthur, 63, and seriously injuring his mother, Edna, in a frenzied attack with a claw hammer in 2004.
But he was freed under the care of mental health services and earlier this week allegedly stabbed his 70-year-old mother to death at his flat in Tuebrook, Liverpool.
Her body was found after furniture in the flat was set on fire. Police arrested Gadsby wandering near a shopping centre shortly afterwards.
Relatives said Mrs Gadsby had forgiven her son for killing her husband and visited him regularly at his supervised accommodation six miles from her home in Gateacre.
Health chiefs have refused to reveal when and why Gadsby was released from hospital.
Last night politicians called for an urgent investigation into how Gadsby was allowed back into the community with such apparent freedom.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican: Sex Abuse Claims Likened to ‘Anti-Semitism’
Vatican City, 2 April (AKI) — Pope Benedict XVI’s personal preacher has compared criticism of the pontiff and the Catholic Church over child sexual abuse to “collective violence” suffered by the Jews.
During a Good Friday service, attended by the pope, Father Raniero Cantalamessa said that a Jewish friend had written to him to say the accusations remind him of the “more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism.”
The 82-year-old pontiff was present at the early evening prayer service held ahead of a candlelit Way of the Cross procession near the Colosseum.
Thousands of Holy Week pilgrims were in St. Peter’s Square as the church sought to defend itself against accusations that Benedict had played a role in covering up sex abuses cases.
The “coincidence” that Passover falls in the same week as Easter celebrations, said Cantalamessa, a Franciscan who offers reflections at Vatican Easter and Advent services, prompted him to think about Jews.
Cantalamessa said Jews throughout history had been the victims of “collective violence” and drew a comparison with recent attacks on the Church.
“The use of stereotypes, the shifting of personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt remind me of the most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism,” he quoted from the letter.
The pope has been accused of failing to take action against a suspected abuser during his tenure as archbishop of Munich — a claim the Vatican strongly denies.
Critics also claim that when he was head of the Vatican office dealing with sex abuse, he did not act against a US priest who is thought to have abused more than 200 deaf boys in Wisconsin.
Father Cantalamessa, the preacher to the papal household, is the only person allowed to preach to the Pope.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican Preacher Compares Attacks on Pope to Anti-Semitism
Attacks on Pope Benedict and the Catholic Church over a sexual abuse scandal are comparable to the most shameful anti-Semitism, the pontiff’s personal preacher told a Vatican Good Friday service.
Father Raniero Cantalamessa, a Franciscan whose title is “Preacher of the Pontifical Household,” drew the parallel during a “Passion of the Lord” service in St Peter’s Basilica on the day Christians commemorate Jesus’ death by crucifixion.
His comments drew sharp criticism from some Jews.
Cantalamessa, noting that this year the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter fell during the same week, said Jews throughout history had been the victims of “collective violence” and drew a comparison with attacks on the Church over the scandal.
As the pope listened, Cantalamessa read the congregation a part of a letter he received from a Jewish friend, who said he was “following with disgust the violent and concentric attacks against the Church, the pope…”
“The use of stereotypes, the shifting of personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt remind me of the most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism,” he quoted from the letter.
“Shame on Father Cantalamessa,” said Elan Steinberg, vice-president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants.
“The Vatican is entitled to defend itself but the comparison with anti-Semitic persecution is offensive and unsustainable. We are sorely disappointed,” he told Reuters.
The chief rabbi of Rome, Rabbi Riccardo di Segni, reportedly laughed in when asked about Father Cantalamessa’s remarks, The New York Times reported.
“With a minimum of irony, I will say that today is Good Friday, when they pray that the Lord illuminate our hearts so we recognize Jesus,” Rabbi Di Segni told the New York Times, referring to a prayer in a traditional Catholic liturgy calling for the conversion of the Jews. “We also pray that the Lord illuminate theirs.”
This week’s celebrations leading up to Easter Sunday have been clouded by accusations that the Church in several countries mishandled and covered up episodes of sexual abuse of children by priests, some dating back decades.
Shaken by the crisis, the Vatican has accused the media of an “ignoble” attempt to smear the pope at all costs. Some news reports have accused him of negligence in handling sexual abuse cases in previous roles as a cardinal in his native Germany and in Rome.
As revelations of sexual abuse and alleged cover-ups have surfaced almost daily in Europe over the past few weeks, the Vatican has said the guilt of individuals who committed crimes, however heinous, cannot be shifted to the pope or the entire Church.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Wallenberg Lived Longer Than Claimed: Report
Russian archivists have said that Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg may have still been alive after July 17, 1947, Swedish news magazine Fokus reported on Thursday.
Wallenberg is credited with rescuing thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. Since the 1950s, Soviet officials maintained that Wallenberg died in prison in Moscow on July 17, 1947, citing a letter from a prison doctor as evidence, although his death remained unconfirmed.
Archives at the Russian Federal Security Service, the successor of the Soviet KGB, revealed that a particular “Prisoner nr 7” at Lubyanka prison was “with greatest likelihood” a Swede. And the prisoner in question, according to the documents, was interrogated on July 23, 1947.
Historians interviewed by Fokus are excited about the discovery, which they believe might lead to additional information on the same prisoner. Sweden’s ambassador to Russia, Tomas Bertelman, has requested further clarification from the Federal Security Service.
In 1944, a representative of the War Refugee Board, an organisation established by American president President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was dispatched to Stockholm to ask Wallenberg to assist in their wartime efforts to save Hungarian Jews.
Wallenberg was appointed as the First Secretary to the Swedish legation to Budapest. He saved thousands of lives by issuing protective passports and offering immunity to Jews in the Hungarian capital.
When Soviet troops invaded eastern Budapest in 1945, Wallenberg was arrested and transported to Moscow. It is believed the Russians thought he was an American agent since his assignment had originated with an American organisation.
| — Hat tip: Freedom Fighter | [Return to headlines] |
Easter: Israel on Alert; Jewish, Christian Ceremonies Start
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM — Israel and the Holy Land are on the alert this Easter. Today, in a climate that is still tense in Jerusalem in particular, though no serious incidents have taken place, Passover started for the Jews and the Holy Week for the Christians. Most Israeli Jews will have the Passover Seder tonight, a family dinner at the start of Passover, which will continue until next Monday, commemorating the flight from Egypt as told in the Bible. For the Christians, the Holy Week starts today. It will culminate — for the Arab-Christian minority of the Palestinian population and the many arriving pilgrims — in ceremony of Ash Wednesday, the Last Supper on Holy Thursday Via Crucis on Friday and Easter Sunday. These ceremonies coincide this year with Jewish Passover and with the Christian Orthodox celebration, which follows the old Julian calendar and the Catholics and other confessions which follow the Gregorian calendar. The centre of these celebrations — and of security measures — is Jerusalem, mainly focused in the Old City and the eastern district with an Arab majority. The international community has not recognised the annexation of this area by Israel, and the Palestinians claim it as the capital of their future State. Today a massive police force was active in Jerusalem, and the Israeli army has closed the crossing points with the West Bank as a precaution until the night of April 5, while making exceptions for Christians. On Temple Mount (destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD according to Jewish tradition), Israeli police forces today denied access to some militant nationalist Jews and ultra-orthodox believers, who reportedly wanted to ritually sacrifice a lamb on that location. The police only let Muslims older than 50 years enter. Yesterday Sheikh Ikrama Sabri urged Muslims to guard the al-Aqsa Mosque, on Temple Mount, against any ‘provocation’, in the light of the ‘campaign’ for the reconstruction of the Temple launched by a extremist Jewish organisation by hanging posters in large quantities, even on the sides of busses. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza: Flyers Announce Israeli Retaliation
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV — The Israeli Air Force has dropped thousands of flyers on areas in the Gaza Strip along the Israeli border to warn the Palestinian population that harsh retaliatory measures will soon be taken for the killing of two Israeli soldiers on Friday. Reports were from Palestinian sources in Gaza today, who said that two types of flyers had been dropped. On one, a photograph of a child is seen with a rose in the hand, on which the writing “expect the response tomorrow” appears, while on another there is a warning that the response will be harsh and the population is warned to stay away from “terrorists” and to call a telephone number to supply anonymous tip-offs to the Israeli Armed Forces. An Israeli military spokesman questioned by ANSA said that he did not have any information on the dropping of flyers onto the Gaza Strip. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel’s New Catholic Guests
There are 50,000 of them. Come from distant countries. To do the most menial labor. With a first victim, a Thai killed by a rocket launched from Gaza
ROME, April 1, 2010 — In the homily for Palm Sunday, Benedict XVI recalled his pilgrimage one year ago to the Holy Land, and its threefold purpose: to see and touch the places connected to Jesus, to be a messenger of peace, to bring support to the Christians who live in Israel and in the surrounding regions.
Almost no one knows it, but for a few years there have been many more Christians in Israel. And many of them are new. Holy Friday, the day on which Catholics all around the world collect offerings in support of their brethren in the Holy Land, is also dedicated to them.
It is estimated that 50,000 of the new immigrants in Israel profess the Catholic faith. That’s almost twice as many as the 27,000 Catholics of Arab ancestry already living there, belonging to the Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem, plus the tiny community of 500 Catholics of Jewish ancestry.
The new arrivals include, for example, the Catholics who crowd into the church of Saint Joseph in Haifa on Saturday evenings. Beside the altar they raise the standard of El Shaddai, a charismatic movement that is very popular in the Philippines. It is from that faraway country, in fact, that they come. They work in homes and hotels in the area.
The same thing happens in Jerusalem, in Be’er Sheva, and in in Jaffa, a point of reference for the Catholics of the major metropolitan area of Tel Aviv. In Herzlya, there are big crowds for the Mass in a hall made available by the ambassador of Nigeria, another country of origin.
The new arrivals are foreign workers with residency permits valid for five years. In 2008, the Israeli government authorized 30,000 entries. The largest number, 5,800, came from Thailand; another 5,800 from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and other countries of the former Soviet Union; 5,500 from the Philippines; 2,700 from India; 2,300 from Nepal; another 2,300 from China; 1,400 from Romania; and so on from other countries.
But then there are the clandestine immigrants. Many of them, especially the Sudanese and Eritreans, enter via land routes, across the Sinai desert. They enter in such large numbers that the Israeli government has decided to build a wall on the border with Egypt.
The Thais, the most substantial group of legal immigrants, work mainly in agriculture. A little ray of light was cast on their presence last March 18, when one of them, while working in a field, was killed by a Qassam rocket launched from the Gaza Strip.
“Avvenire,” the newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference, sent one of its journalists to the place where he was killed. The result was the story reproduced below.
The author is already familiar to the readers of www.chiesa from a report two years ago from Orissa, the Indian state in which Christians are in the greatest danger.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Asks Hamas to Stop Rockets
(IsraelNN.com) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke Thursday with Hamas head in Syria Khaled Mashaal. The two spoke by phone about recent developments in the Middle East.
Lavrov told Mashaal that Hamas must stop the fire of rockets on Israeli civilians in the Gaza area. He reportedly termed the attacks “unacceptable.”
Gaza terrorists have carried out increasingly frequent rocket attacks in recent weeks; one such attack killed a Thai worker on an Israeli kibbutz (cooperative community). Terrorists fired a rocket at the Eshkol region near Gaza on Monday night, when Jewish residents of the area were celebrating Passover. No injuries were reported in that attack.
In addition, terrorist groups have continued attacking Israeli soldiers along the Gaza barrier, and on Friday killed two soldiers.
According to Russian media, Mashaal told Lavrov that Hamas is not behind the rocket attacks, and has no intention of escalating violence in the Gaza region. Hamas is attempting to put an end to the rocket attacks, he said.
Lavrov and Mashaal also discussed the latest meeting of the Diplomatic Quartet of the United States, Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union. The meeting was held two weeks ago in Russia.
In addition, sources said, Lavrov emphasized the importance of “Palestinian unity.” Hamas has created its own Palestinian Authority in Gaza after breaking away from the Fatah-led PA based in Ramallah, and tensions remain high between the two organizations.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Defence: Turkey’s Spy Plane Program Back on Track
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, APRIL 1 — After facing delays of more than three years, a $1.6 billion program headed by Boeing to construct four specialized planes for Turkey’s military is now back on track, a Turkish defense industry specialist said. “We are close to agreeing with Boeing to a revised timetable for the program,” Murad Bayar, head of the undersecretariat for Defense Industries, or SSM, Turkey’s procurement agency, told the Hurriyet Daily. “We hope to receive the first aircraft before the end of next year,” he said. Boeing officials also confirmed that both sides are working on a new and detailed schedule for the program, dubbed Peace Eagle, also saying that the firm is committed to an airborne early warning and control, or AEW&C, system that meets Turkey’s procurement requirements. The remarks indicate a breakthrough toward resolving the worst conflict between Turkey and the United States-based company. Boeing and the SSM signed the spy plane contract in 2002 in a deal that includes the Turkish air force’s acquisition of four 737-700 AEW&C aircraft, ground radar and control systems, plus ground support segments for mission crew training, mission support and maintenance support. There also is an option for an additional two aircraft.The first plane was originally scheduled for delivery in 2007, but the deal was dogged by delays from the beginning. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Iraqi Government is Harassing Winning Candidates, Sunnis Say
BAGHDAD — In a sign of hardening sectarian divisions, the secular, largely Sunni-backed bloc that won the most seats in Iraq’s recent parliamentary elections says its victorious candidates are being subjected to a campaign of detention and intimidation by the government of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Maliki’s State of Law coalition lost by two seats to Ayad Allawi’s Iraqiya bloc; the prime minister has been contesting the results of the March 7 vote, saying they are fraudulent. State of Law has appealed the outcome in Iraq’s courts and now, Allawi’s bloc says, Maliki is using state security forces in a bid to gain enough seats to emerge the winner.
This week, at least two winning Iraqiya candidates in the capital were told they are wanted, bloc officials and the candidates said. Two others are on the run in the mixed Sunni-Shiite province of Diyala, and another was detained before the elections.
Sunni Arabs see the win by Allawi, a secular Shiite, as their own. Many Iraqis and analysts worry that Sunnis will feel cheated if Allawi loses his lead before the new parliament is certified, a development that could spark retaliatory violence just as U.S. troops are drawing down to a mandated 50,000 by summer’s end.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Just Say “No”: I Get Personally Invited to Help the Obama Administration Engage—And Thus Strengthen—Terrorists
by Barry Rubin
Friedrich Nietzsche famously said, “That which does not kill me makes me stronger.” A good Middle East equivalent, at least among the anti-democratic forces, would be: That which does not scare me makes me bolder.
Can things get worse with the Obama Administration’s foreign-and especially Middle East—policy? Yes, it’s not inevitable but I have just seen personally a dangerous example of what could be happening next. In fact, I never expected that the administration would try to recruit me in this campaign, as you’ll see starting with paragraph seven.
First, a little background. One of the main concerns with the Obama Administration is that it would go beyond just engaging Syria and Iran, turning a blind eye to radical anti-American activities throughout the region.
To cite some examples, it has not supported Iraq in its protests about Syrian-backed terror, even though the group involved is al-Qaida, with which the United States is supposedly at war. Nor has it launched serious efforts to counter Iran’s help to terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan or even Tehran’s direct cooperation with al-Qaida. We know about many of these points because of General David Petraeus’s remarks, buried in his congressional testimony but not trumpeted by the mass media.
Beyond this, though, there has been the possibility of the U.S. government engaging Hizballah. It is inadequate to describe Hizballah as only a terrorist movement. But it is accurate to describe it as: a Lebanese Shia revolutionary Islamist movement that seeks to gain control over Lebanon, is deeply anti-American, is a loyal client of Iran and Syria, uses large amounts of terrorism, and is committed to Israel’s destruction. Hizballah engages in Lebanese politics, including elections, as one tactic in trying to fulfill these goals…
| — Hat tip: Barry Rubin | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: 22 in Custody for Al Qaeda Ties
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MARCH 29 — Twenty-two people believed to be involved in terrorist activities attributed to the Islamic organisation al qaeda were taken into custody this morning by Turkish police during an operation that saw dozens of police officers in action in various cities in the country. This was reported by independent Turkish news agency Dogan, which specified that most people taken into custody were in the provinces of Ankara, Manisa and Aksaray. All those who were taken into custody are still being questioned. Al Qaeda is very active in Turkey as demonstrated by the various operations conducted recently to disrupt the organisation’s activity. On January 22, in what was the harshest blow to al Qaeda yet in Turkey, security forces working simultaneously in 16 cities in Turkey arrested 120 individuals believed to be involved to varying degrees in the group led by Osama bin Laden. Weapons, munitions and numerous documents were seized during the operation. The previous offensive by Turkish police against the terrorist organisation began on January 18 with the arrest of 31 people and continued the day after when another 13 members of the group were captured. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: 16,337 Non-European People Registered as Refugees
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MARCH 30 — There are 16,337 non-European people registered with the UNHCR as refugees in Turkey, Anatolia news agency reports quoting Metin Corabatir, a foreign relations expert of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Corabatir said that 16,337 non-European people included 10,350 displaced persons and 5,987 asylum seekers. Those refugees who have entered Turkey are placed in one of 32 satellite locations in all corners of Turkey and are under the supervision of the Turkish Interior Ministry, Corabatir said. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Aims to Earn USD 8 Billion From Health Tourism
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, APRIL 1 — Turkey’s health tourism sector can earn some 8 billion US dollars by attracting people from Eurasia, Ibrahim Artukarslan, member of the advisory board of the Turkish Health Tourism Organization (TUHETO), said on Wednesday. TUHETO, as Today’s Zaman reports, has begun promoting Turkish health tourism in Kazakhstan, in conjunction with which representatives from 100 Turkish hotels, all members of TUHETO, together with public relations officers from the Acibadem, Sema, German and Memorial hospitals gathered in a meeting yesterday in Almaty to provide information on health options in Turkey. Artukarslan said Turkey is in a good position to compete globally in the health tourism sector. “Turkey can earn up to $8 billion after promotional activities on health tourism,” he said. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Wants to Draw Funds From Gulf Countries
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, APRIL 1 — Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said Thursday Turkey wanted to draw funds from the Gulf countries to finance its current account deficit. Appearing at joint press conference with his Saudi counterpart Ibrahim Abd al-Aziz al-Assaf in Ankara, Simsek said they were working on financial instruments to draw Gulf funds. “The Gulf is a region which has current account surplus. Turkey on the other hand is a dynamic fast growing country which relatively has a savings gap. Turkey and the Gulf region can complement each other,” said Simsek, as Anatolia news agency reports. Simsek pointed out that the financial crisis increased the importance of regional cooperation adding that in this respect a free trade agreement between Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council should be signed at once. Simsek said he urged Al-Assaf to support Turkey in this matter. Simsek underlined the need to increase the direct investments between the two countries adding that Turkey and Saudi Arabia could make joint investments in the areas of telecommunications. Simsek said Turkish contractors undertook projects worth 7 billion USD in Saudi Arabia, adding that this figure could go up in the future. Simsek said he also communicated the guaranty letter problem of Turkish businessmen in Saudi Arabia to Al-Assaf. He said representatives of leading construction companies would meet with Al-Assaf after the meeting. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Commandos Capture 9 Somalis in Aden Gulf
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, APRIL 1 — Turkish SAT Commandos (the Underwater Assault Team) captured nine Somali pirates on a skiff boat in the Aden Gulf early on Wednesday, as Anatolia news agency eports. According to a statement posted in the web-page of General Staff, Turkish frigate TCG Gemlik which serves under an international mission to fight-off piracy in the Gulf of Aden, encountered a suspicious boat in the security corridor of the commercial vessels. The statement said Turkish frigate forced the boat to stop and nine pirates in the boat were captured. TCG Gemlik is the fifth task force Turkey has deployed to the region since February last year. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: Death of British Soldier Takes Afghan Toll to 279 as Pentagon Denies ‘Bribing’ Allies With Money and Equipment
The fatality takes the British military death toll since operations began in Afghanistan in 2001 to 279.
It comes after the Pentagon admitted pouring millions of dollars into training and equipment for smaller allies in the war-torn country — but insisted it was not a bribe.
[…]
The £230million given by the U.S. Pentagon is designed to improve the counter-terrorism operations of allies and could encourage some countries not to abandon the increasingly unpopular conflict.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
India: Hindu Festival Ends in Bloody Clashes With Muslims
One person is dead and hundreds are injured in Hyderabad. Sources tell AsiaNews that politicians trying to get rid of the current chief minister are behind the incident.
Hyderabad (AsiaNews) — An indefinite curfew has been put in place in the Indian city of Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) after one person was killed and 200 people injured in clashes between Hindus and Muslims. The order was imposed last night on the old city as federal authorities sent in 1,800 paramilitary troops.
Clashes (pictured) began on Friday in the Musarambagh area during celebrations of the Hindu festival of Ram Navami, after Hindus tried to resist Muslims removing Hindu flags and banners. This was followed by an incident in which a goshala or cowshed was set on fire, killing four cows, triggering more violence.
On Monday afternoon, the situation seemed under control, but matters took a serious turn when a man was stabbed to death in the evening.
The authorities have not yet confirmed the number of injured, but local sources say it could be as high as 200.
“Several received knife injuries on their wrists. It was a clear attempt to cut nerves, which would have resulted in faster death,” they said.
Sources told AsiaNews that politicians are to blame. “Politicians regularly fan the flames in the old city. The latest violence, which left one dead and hundreds of injured, is part of a power struggle inside the Congress party to get rid of the chief minister. Politicians are causing the tensions for their ambitions of power.”
“Violence in the old city is nothing new,” the sources said. This part of town “has seen clashes between Hindus and Muslims in the past. It is known that politicians hire unemployed youths to create disturbances in the State.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Sunni Cleric Advises on Female Circumcision
Makassar, 1 April (AKI/Jakarta Post) — An Indonesian cleric from a traditional Sunni branch of Islam said on Friday that circumcision on women was not supposed to cause the loss of their sexual pleasure.
“Don’t cut too much. Just cut the small skin on the tip of the clitoris. Otherwise, a woman will lose her sexuality, and you males don’t like that to happen, do you?” prominent cleric Mohammad Masyhuri told a press conference.
Masyhuri said that a proper female circumcision should not cause any damage to woman genitals.
“There should be no bleeding, if you do it properly,” he said.
He suggested that circumcision be conducted on a female baby at the age of 7 days.
Masyhuri was addressing Indonesia’s biggest Muslim organisation Nahdlatul Ulama’s 32nd national congress in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
NU is a traditionalist Sunni group established in 1926 and centred in east Java but has a reputation for moderation.
One of the topics during commission meetings the NU congress on Friday was the Islamic legal perspective on female circumcision.
Masyhuri said the meeting concluded that female circumcision “could be sunnah (recommended) but also could be mandatory.”
“The main point is that it is not haram [forbidden],” he said.
Although the meeting concluded female circumcision was recommended, Masyhuri said NU would not force all female followers to undergo circumcision.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia: Sultan Commutes Sentence, Malaysian Model Kartika Will Not be Flogged
The sentence of six lashes is replaced by three weeks of community service. The former model was convicted on drinking beer in public; now she will do community work at a children’s centre in Pahang. She tells media that her example should be a warning against drinking alcoholic beverages. Her children are now in her parents’ care.
Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews/Agencies) — The Kuantan Islamic High Court has commuted Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno’s sentence of six lashes to three weeks of community service. The 33-year-old former model, a mother of two, was convicted for breaking Sharia rules against consuming alcohol. She was caught drinking beer in public at a beach resort.
“The sultan has decided that the caning sentence will be substituted with a three-week community service at a children’s home in Pahang from April 2,” Ms Kartika’s father, Shukarno Mutalib, told the AFP news agency.
In a letter to Katrika, Pahang State Islamic and Malay Culture Council informed her that she would begin her sentence on 2 April and her father would take her to the children’s home.
The former model said she was ready to carry out the community service although the decision came as a surprise.
“I hope this community service will serve as a lesson to others to stay away from alcohol,” said the single mother of two. The “children would be left in the care of my parents,” she told Malaysian news agency Bernama.
In December 2007, the former model (pictured here with her children) drank some beer at a public place in the eastern State of Pahang.
Arrested by police, she was indicted on violating Sharia rules.
Under Islamic law, Muslims caught consuming alcohol can be flogged and get up to three years in prison. In most cases however, the accused is usually charged an administrative fine.
Last July, the Islamic courts sentenced Kartika to one week in prison, a 5,000 ringgit (US$ 1,500) fine and six lashes. The authorities pointed out that the stick used to beat the woman would be lighter than that used for men, because the goal is to educate rather than punish. The woman did not oppose the decision and asked it be carried out in public.
Malaysia has a dual legal system, one for Muslims and one for non-Muslims. The lives of the first group are regulated by Sharia whereas the latter are subject to civil law. Non-Muslims can for example drink alcoholic beverages in public.
Only three Malaysian States, Pahang, Perlis and Kelantan, punish alcohol consumption with flogging. The other ten states impose fines.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia Beer Drink Woman’s Caning Sentence Commuted
A Malaysian woman sentenced to be caned for drinking beer has had her punishment commuted.
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor had pleaded guilty to the offence under Malaysia’s Islamic law and was to have received six strokes of a rattan cane.
But her family said religious officials had overturned the ruling, ordering her to carry out community service instead.
Ms Kartika’s original sentence, which had been delayed several times, had provoked fierce debate.
While drinking alcohol is forbidden for Muslims, prosecutions are rare.
Ms Kartika’s family was informed by letter that the sultan of Pahang state, where Ms Kartika was arrested for drinking beer in a beachfront hotel in December 2007, had overturned the ruling.
The religious leader has the power to rule on matters of Islamic law.
“The sultan has decided that the caning sentence will be substituted with a three-week community service at a children’s home in Pahang from 2 April,” Ms Kartika’s father, Shukarnor Mutalib, told the AFP news agency.
“Kartika was expecting a caning, she is surprised by this development as she will be separated from her children for three weeks, but we respect the sultan’s decision,” he said.
“We will abide by the order. Kartika will go on with her life,” he told the Associated Press news agency.
The commutation was welcomed by Malaysia’s Bar Council, which had called caning “anachronistic and inconsistent with a compassionate society”.
“Our view is that no one should be caned. We are against any form of corporal punishment,” council Ragunath Kesavan told the AFP news agency.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Sydney Drugs Syndicate Smashed: Police
A high-tech Sydney drug lab allegedly produced large quantities of ice and other narcotics that were sold for millions of dollars to line the coffers of bikie gangs.
Police shut down the lab following raids on two properties in the harbour city on Thursday and subsequently charged four men, alleged to be the main players in the syndicate.
Two of them were arrested during the first raid on an industrial unit at St Marys in Sydney’s west.
Police say they found 10kg of the drug known as ice with an estimated street value of $5 million, 4kg of pseudoephedrine commonly used in the manufacture of illegal drugs, and firearms and ammunition.
During the other raid at Rockdale in Sydney’s south, police seized firearms, a hunting rifle, eight mobile phones, three drums of ethanol, a money counter and about $80,000 in cash.
The third alleged offender was arrested at the Rockdale address, while a fourth man was detained later in the Sydney CBD.
“The laboratory that was located and has been examined by the chemical operations unit was quite sophisticated, was quite well put together, there was a large amount of chemicals used there and the information that we have had back from that particular unit is that it was very well put together,” Detective Chief Inspector Mark Jones told reporters in Sydney on Friday.
While Insp Jones said more people may be arrested in connection with the syndicate, the four men already charged were allegedly at the helm of the operation.
“We certainly managed to arrest all the main players who were involved in this particular operation,” he said.
Ahmed Nazzal, 27, Hakan Arif, 32, Hussein Kamaleddine, 20, and Kagan Keskin, 25, faced Parramatta Bail Court on Friday, each charged with manufacturing a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.
Arif, Kamaleddine and Keskin made no application for bail and it was refused, with the matters adjourned to April 8 at Sydney’s Central Local Court.
A solicitor for Nazzal made an impassioned plea for bail, which was granted later on Friday by a court registrar, Network Seven reported.
Police say Nazzal is a Comanchero member, while Arif, Kamaleddine and Keskin have links to the gang and Keskin is also associated with the Lone Wolves gang.
“There is certainly some crossover (between gangs) in some of the individuals involved in this,” Insp Jones said.
“As to the exact link and whether they are working together, that’s still to be determined by police.”
Solicitor Lesly Randle, who regularly represents Comanchero members in court, says none of the men are members and that police have “mis-stated” the association.
Police maintain the bikie gang connection and said Thursday’s raids “will make a significant dent, both in organised crime and in particular outlaw motorcycle gangs”.
“We are very much aware that the proceeds and the money seized by police would be used for organised crime purposes,” Insp Jones said.
He added that it was unknown how long the drug lab had been in operation although police had been aware of the operation for some time.
“This has been a complex and protracted investigation,” Insp Jones said.
“There was a large quantity of material, information available to police, (and) a decision was made that this was the appropriate time to arrest, move in and seize the drugs we believed were in the premises.”
| — Hat tip: Nilk | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Armed With Guns and Machetes, They Were Chanting Kill! Kill! Kill!
In this chilling Easter dispatch, PETER OBORNE reports from Nigeria on the terrifying religious hatred between Christians and Muslims — and warns it could spiral into a repeat of the Biafran war which left one million dead.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jon Perdue: The Perils of Peripheral Warfare: Iran & Venezuela Share the Tactics of Asymmetric War
When Epifanio Flores Quispe, the mayor of Requena, Peru received an invitation recently to visit Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, he wondered to himself what had made him so important. Requena is a very small city in the Upper Amazon region of Peru (population 25,000), near a tri-border area with Colombia and Brazil. Although Flores Quispe refused the invitation, he said that he knew other mayors in the region that had accepted.
Requena is just downriver from Leticia, Colombia and Tabatinga, Brazil, two port cities that are the gateways to enter the remote corners of both countries. Analysts in the region speculate that Chávez is searching for friends on the border with Colombia because he considers Colombian President Alvaro Uribe an enemy and a threat.
Peruvian President Alan Garcia actually won the 2006 presidential race against the Chavez-backed candidate, Ollanta Humala, by aggressively denouncing Chavez’s meddling in Peruvian politics and by properly portraying his opponent as a Chavez proxy. Prior to the election, Chavez had been infiltrating parts of Peru by opening “ALBA houses” — supposed medical centers for the poor that also serve as propaganda mills and recruiting centers for budding left wing revolutionaries…
| — Hat tip: CSP | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Structured Approach Needed for Management
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 29 — Immigration as a resource to be optimised, adopting a structured approach that makes it possible to manage immigration, guaranteeing a dignified existence to everyone: this is the goal of the conference ‘Irregular Migration in the Mediterranean Region’, organised by the National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (NIHMP), that started today in Rome. The event will continue tomorrow and was organised within the framework of COST, the intergovernmental structure for European cooperation in the science and technology sector. The general director of NIHMP, Aldo Morrone, has stressed the need for a “common EU policy”. He has asked to launch an “international conference in which the countries of the southern shore of the Mediterranean also participate, to deal with the issue of immigration in a structural way”. He continued that he doesn’t wish “to open the floodgates, which would have serious repercussions for the countries, but it cannot be ignored that many immigrants are running away from wars and violence, and that they have a right, according to the Geneva Convention, to international protection”. The perception abroad on the other hand, Morrone continues, is of a “careless European Union”, a vacuum used by “international terrorism, offering basic services like schools, healthcare and recreation”. Convinced of the inherent potential of the phenomenon, Morrone stressed the need to “invest more, to keep irregular immigrants out of the hands of organised crime and off the black labour market”. More should be done on international cooperation, “investing in the countries from where people are fleeing, starting with the horn of Africa. In Djibouti, NIHMP has signed an agreement with the Italian Foreign Ministry, in particular with the General Direction of Development Cooperation led by Elisabetta Belloni, to assist women who flee from Somalia, with special attention to the health of mothers and children”. The situation in which irregular immigrants find themselves today, and particularly the problems people who claim for asylum in Greece have to deal with, was described by Thanos Maroukis, a researcher of the Ellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP). Referring to the several problems of these immigrants, the Greek expert said he hopes for more collaboration between “the police, poorly equipped and hardly trained to deal with the phenomenon, and non-governmental organisations, together with the country’s immigrated communities, which should be taken into account”.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: New Lazio Governor ‘Voted by Immigrants’
Rome, 30 March (AKI) — Renata Polverini, the new governor of the Lazio region surrounding Rome, won the election with the support of second-generation immigrants, according to an Italian Muslim leader. Polverini, candidate for the ruling conservative People of Freedom party and former trade unionist, beat her centre-left opponent and former European commissioner Emma Bonino in a tight electoral race.
“It was very emotional. A woman, who as a trade unionist always fought for the rights of immigrants, won,” said Gamal Bouchaib, president of Italy’s Movement for Moderate Muslims.
Polverini won 50.6 percent of votes against Bonino’s 48.9 percent in Lazio and voting took place in 13 regions across the country in a poll marked by an unusually low turnout.
Voter turnout in Rome was 56.5 percent, a drop of over 13 percentage points compared with the last regional polls in 2005, and 17 percentage points compared with local polls in which former fascist Gianni Alemanno was elected Rome’s mayor in 2008.
“Thousands of new Italian citizens in the Lazio region, especially second generation immigrants went out to vote, with the result that we have seen,” said Bouchaib.
The ruling conservative coalition gained ground against the centre-left in the 13 regions up for election, wrestling four from the centre-left opposition Democratic Party (PD) to take a total of six, compared with seven regions won by the PD.
“We are especially pleased that Polverini acknowledged our support in a victory address late on Monday in Rome’s Piazza del Popolo,” Bouchaib said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: New Veneto Governor Eyes Abortion Pill Ban
Venice, 1 April (AKI) — The northeast Veneto region’s newly elected governor, Luca Zaia on Thursday said he would try and stop the abortion pill’s introduction. He announced the move the same day the abortion pill (RU486) was due to become available in Italian hospitals.
“We will look at ways of preventing RU486 from reaching hospitals,” Zaia told Adnkronos.
Another newly elected governor in the northwestern Piedmonte region, Roberto Cota, already vowed to stop the abortion pill reaching local hospitals.
Italy is one of the last European countries to make the RU486 pill available. The abortion pill, also known as mifepristone, has been used in France since 1988.
“We strongly oppose this instrument,” Zaia explained.
“It trivialises the delicate procedure of abortion, leaving women on their own and stopping young people from developing a sense of responsibility.”
The Catholic Church and conservative politicians have strenuously opposed the RU486 abortion pill.
In a pre-Easter mass on Thursday Pope Benedict XVI censured the abortion pill urging Christians not to accept “wrong” laws that sanctioned the practice.
Cota tapped in to a strong vein of Catholic opposition to the RU486 pill in a TV interview on Wednesday, saying he was “in favour of life” and would let the abortion pill “rot in warehouses.”
His remarks sparked immediate criticism from Italy’s pharmaceuticals agency.
The AIFA pharmaceuticals agency’s director Guido Rasi said that while Italy’s regions had autonomy over the abortion pill’s distribution, AIFA has approved the drug.
“Sooner or later it must be made available,” Rasi stated.
Cota and Zaia have both ordered local health authority chiefs to halt the RU486’s distribution pending guidance from the central government.
Both are from the ruling conservatives’ coalition partner the anti-immigrant Northern League, which almost doubled its share of votes in the regional polls, taking 12.7 percent compared with 5.7 percent in 2005.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
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