France Reportedly Threatened to Ditch Euro
French President Nicolas Sarkozy muscled Chancellor Angela Merkel by threatening to pull his country out of the euro currency union unless Germany helped Greece with its debt crisis, a Spanish newspaper reported Friday.
The claim came as European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet pointedly suggested Germany should take a leadership role in ensuring the fiscal management of its neighbours in the wake of the Greek crisis.
According to El Pais newspaper, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a meeting of his Socialist Party this week that Sarkozy had made the threat at a Brussels summit of EU leaders last Friday, at which the deal on a rescue package was sealed.
Spain, France and Germany all denied the report, but it increased investors’ concerns over the euro single currency, which plunged to an 18-month low on Friday.
Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, has been the most reluctant euro nation to help the Greek government.
However the French president demanded “a commitment by everyone, for everyone, to help Greece, each according to his means or France would re-examine its situation in the euro,” Zapatero was quoted as saying.
“Sarkozy banged his fist on the table and threatened to withdraw from the euro, which twisted the arm of Angela Merkel,” a Socialist official who heard Zapatero’s account was quoted as saying.
The Brussels summit finally agreed a €110 billion, three-year package of loans and credit guarantees for Greece, which had risked defaulting on its huge debts.
“France, Italy and Spain put up a common front against Germany and Sarkozy went so far as to threaten to break the traditional Franco-German axis,” according to another person at the meeting. France and Germany are traditionally considered the central motor of EU initiatives.
Spain and Portugal also face major debt problems and Zapatero announced new austerity measures on Wednesday.
Meanwhile Trichet, the French boss of the ECB, told financial daily Handelsblatt that Germany was an example of fiscal responsibility and therefore was well-placed to perform a monitoring role of other European nations. He said the ECB, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission would all be watching closely to make sure Greece stuck to its promised austerity measures, but national governments — notably Germany — also had to play their part.
“Germany is the largest economy in the euro area and a country which has a tradition of sound fiscal management. I count on the very active role of all countries including Germany insert the function of surveillance,” Trichet said, according to a transcript of the interview posted on the paper’s website.
Trichet also dismissed suggestions that the bank’s decision to buy government bonds might spark inflation.
The ECB announced Monday that it would buy government bonds, which helped calm markets jittery about the continent’s debt crisis.
Asked whether the 16-nation eurozone has to face inflation as a result of the bond purchase program, Trichet replied: “No, not at all.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: New General Strike on May 20
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MAY 12 — Unions for public sector employees (ADEDY) and their private sector counterparts (GSEE) have announced that a new wave of strike action will take place on Thursday May 20 and not, as previously announced, on May 19. A statement says that the step has been taken so as not to interfere with school exams. In the statement, ADEDY and GSEE announce that there will are more mobilizations ahead to be decided after the strike, the fourth general action since the beginning of the crisis. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Merkel: EU Facing Biggest Threat Since Communism
Europe’s currency crisis constitutes its “greatest test” since the collapse of communism, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Thursday, as she called for the eurozone’s economic policies to become more tightly meshed.
If monetary union failed and the euro ceased to exist, there would be “incalculable consequences” for Europe, she said.
“If the euro fails, other things will fail. The idea of European unity will fail,” Merkel said in her speech at an award ceremony in honour of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in the western city of Aachen.
“It is the greatest test Europe has faced since 1990, if not in the 53 years since the passage of the Treaties of Rome,” she said, referring to the foundations of European integration.
Europe’s common currency has been battered by the Greek debt crisis and subsequent bailout, amid fears the eurozone could even break up, with countries going back to their national currencies.
The euro had to be protected because it stood for “European integration,” Merkel said, adding she was confident that “today’s currency crisis” could be overcome.
She said current events should be an opportunity to overhaul the internal workings of the European Union to allow tighter dovetailing of the member state’s economic and fiscal policies. Europe had grown since the Maastricht Treaty set the foundation for monetary union in 1992, “but the internal composition has not kept pace,” Merkel said.
“We must use the opportunity of the crisis to make up for the failures that were also not corrected by the Lisbon Treaty,” she said.
Picking up the theme, Tusk, who was receiving the annual Charlemagne Prize for contribution for European unity — a prize Merkel won in 2008 — said the crisis was “paradoxically a chance for Europe to strengthen and grow together.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Municipalities Face €15-Billion Shortfall
Germany’s local governments are slipping into their budget worst crisis since World War II, with total deficits of €15 billion forecast for this year, the German Association of Cities warned Friday.
The association’s president, Frankfurt Mayor Petra Roth, told the Frankfurter Rundschau that the dismal environment for tax revenues in 2009 meant a new record deficit was looming.
It would be €3 billion worse than previously thought, Roth said, and would nearly double the previous record deficits of 2003. Over the past year alone, municipalities had spent at least €7 billion more than they took in, she said.
“Our budgets are completely overstretched,” Roth said, adding that she welcomed Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recent statement ruling out tax cuts for the time being.
However, Roth rejected Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble’s recent call for an overhaul of local government financing, and warned against “experimenting” with business taxes — which is the municipalities’ most important source of revenue.
Schäuble’s planned commission on tax reform should focus on modernising the business tax, not abolishing it, she said.
She blamed poor federal government policies for the dire situation of the municipalities, saying that about half the shortfall were due not to the economic situation, but to tax policies.
The Finance Ministry’s approach in its efforts to reform the tax system had been “ineffectual,” she said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Strauss-Kahn: Morocco Has Resisted Better
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, MAY 12 — “Thanks to its diversified economy, Morocco has put up better resistance to the International economic crisis and will be able to rediscover a high level of growth,” according to the director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who has been interviewed by the Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram Hebdo. The interview was quoted by the agency MAP. “Morocco is a good example” of diversified economy, a recipe that the head of the IMF suggests to all countries in order to limit the damage of international disruption. The counter example given by Strauss-Kahn is Nigeria, whose GDP (without hydrocarbon) has decreased significantly in the last few years and is having trouble rising again. Giving his judgement on the economy of the continent as a whole, the IMF’s director said he was “optimistic”. “Globally, Africa is coming out of the crisis better than we could have imagined and we are now seeing that most countries are heading towards growth,” he added. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Google Clamps Down on Obama’s Social Security Story
Now offering warning that some sites referencing dispute ‘may harm’ computers
Internet behemoth Google apparently is clamping down further on consumers’ access to a report about President Obama’s Social Security number, which points out the number was designtaed for a Connecticut applicant, by warning that some sites carrying information on the situation “may harm your computer.”
WND had reported two days earlier, in the wake of the revelations about Obama’s Social Security number and the questions raised by the report, that Google was suppressing access to information about the report, linking to completely unrelated stories when consumers would search for the issue on the site’s news tab.
Now a similar search of the web portion of the site brought up several warnings. For a reference to the report at hunsbergers.net, another at cleanclock.com, and a third at ccweldingco.com — all just on the first page — Google warned “This site may harm your computer.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Government Protects Islam, Rejects Trademark
Political correctness ‘is everywhere, folks, in every aspect of our lives’
A federal agency has rejected a request for a trademark by the organization “Stop Islamization of America” because its name may “disparage” Muslims.
The group launched by Atlas Shrugs blogger Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch has drawn national attention for its bus-sign campaign offering support for Muslims who want to leave Islam. SIOA currently is organizing opposition to plans for an Islamic mosque at Ground Zero in New York City.
Now the group reports the U.S. government has refused its request for a trademark designation for its name.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, Off the Cliff We Go!
Like blind pigs led to slaughter, the entitlement generation in America is staring right down the double barrel of doom and gloom, watching other nations leap off the same cliff they are headed for, and still, they remain unable to connect the dots in order to save themselves.
The tangled web of lies we have worked so hard for so many years to weave, now ensnares the very people who erected this house of cards and as we rocket towards the cliff, the average American citizen seems none the wiser despite increasing signs from around the globe that this cannot end well for anyone.
In my recent column — Greece Today—USA Tomorrow — Under Obama—I might have understated America’s position in the timeline of events that will most likely end with the utter collapse of pretty much every nation on earth, including the good ole USA.
At the time, I believed that the USA was months behind Greece in the impending economic collapse category. Now I see that the USA might be only days or weeks behind Greece in this regard as the same folks responsible for the collapse all over the globe begin to behave just like their brethren in Greece, right here in American cities.
Citizens have lost their collective minds. Before we can begin an education process, say, Economics 101—You Can’t Spend More Than You Make, — we must first put the people through a deprogramming effort.
[…]
The Root of All Evil
Above all others, four groups are responsible for the complete destruction of our nation and nations around the globe.
- Public Sector Labor Unions
- Lawyers & Law Professors
- Public Communications Industry
- Money Changers & Currency Traders
Over the last ten years alone, Public Sector Labor Unions have invested over $187 million in American politicians (policy makers), over 91% of it to Democrats. The Public Communications Industry that forms public opinion by way of information flow has given over $800 million to American policy makers, more than 60% of it to Democrats.
Lawyers are the single largest financial supporters of today’s Democrats, having given more than $1.2 billion to policy makers over the last ten years, more than 71% of it to Democrats.
Money changers, currency traders in particular, those responsible for wrecking currencies all over the globe, like George Soros, have invested more than $41.5 million in policy makers over the last ten years, more than 65% of it with Democrats.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Kerry-Lieberman’s Great American Rip-Off
Al Gore’s venture capital firm of Kleiner Perkins has invested more than a billion dollars in dozens of companies that are Kerry-Lieberman dependent.
There are only three things you need to know about the Kerry-Lieberman cap-and-trade bill that was released Wednesday—it will accomplish nothing for the environment; it will cost a lot of money and it will financially enrich and politically empower a host of scoundrels.
[…]
Sales of permits to emit CO2 will fill federal coffers with more money for politicians to hand out to special interest groups. Many CO2 emission permits will be handed out for free to special interests who will be able to turn around and sell them in the market for guaranteed profits. Wall Street will get to profit from the trading—just assume that every time you switch on a light a bell will ring at Goldman Sachs notifying it of yet more profits from nonproductive financial shenanigans. Al Gore’s venture capital firm of Kleiner Perkins has invested more than a billion dollars in dozens of companies that are Kerry-Lieberman dependent. Talk about Gore-porate greed.
Kerry Lieberman contains a host of mandates and programs for energy efficiency, so-called green technologies and other corporate welfare programs. Companies like GE would profit from electric utilities being forced to buy expensive “renewable” technologies and from consumers being forced to buy more expensive appliances.
Worse than the transfer of wealth from the hard-working to the hardly-working, is the transfer of power from Americans over their own lives and businesses to governmental goons and busy-bodies. The Environmental Protection Agency—the most rogue federal agency of all—would be responsible for administering Kerry-Lieberman. While EPA control over the economy and the power to enforce that control would be immensely expanded, American business and individuals would have essentially the same ability as now to defend themselves against the EPA—pretty much none.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Lies, Fraud: Can Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald Open an Investigation?
Worldnetdaily carried a headline earlier this week regarding Barack Hussein Obama, aka Barry Soetoro, aka Barry Obama, aka Barack Dunham, aka Barry Dunham using a social security number issued in the state of Connecticut.
NEW YORK — “Two private investigators working independently are asking why President Obama is using a Social Security number set aside for applicants in Connecticut while there is no record he ever had a mailing address in the state.
“In addition, the records indicate the number was issued between 1977 and 1979, yet Obama’s earliest employment reportedly was in 1975 at a Baskin-Robbins ice-cream shop in Oahu, Hawaii.
“WND has copies of affidavits filed separately in a presidential eligibility lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia by Ohio licensed private investigator Susan Daniels and Colorado private investigator John N. Sampson.
“The investigators believe Obama needs to explain why he is using a Social Security number reserved for Connecticut applicants that was issued at a date later than he is known to have held employment.”
This issue has been around for quite some time; I wrote a column about it November, 5, 2009:…
| [Return to headlines] |
We Have to Talk About Elena Kagan
The coverage of President Obama’s most recent nominee to the United States Supreme Court, Elena Kagan, has been nothing less than incredible. Of course, the word incredible can be used in several contexts, some good and some bad. To clarify, I am using it in a context meant to mean bad…very bad…incredibly bad.
[…]
But the larger and much more serious point here is that President Obama has nominated someone to the United States Supreme Court who has espoused a dedication to the principles and ideology of Socialism while stating, in no uncertain terms, that she would rationalize the abandonment of free speech rights. This, the Obama Administration and the irrelevant media present as a “moderate” nominee.
Our Framers did not intend for the nomination of an individual to the United States Supreme Court to be an exercise of politics. They intended for Presidents to nominate those with a loyalty and dedication to not only the United States Constitution, but to the whole of the Charters of Freedom, as well as the Natural Rights philosophies embraced by our Framers in the creation of the Charter and our country. They even provided a process where the President’s choice, should it be made of political opportunity, would be vetted by the Senate so as to assure that no ideologues would pass through the doors of the United States Supreme Court.
Today, not only do we have a nominee to the United States Supreme Court who embraces the philosophies of Socialism and a disregard for the sanctity of free speech as demanded by Article I of the Bill of Rights, we have a Senate whose majority embraces the goals and philosophies of the Progressive-Socialist 1960’s twirling-in-the-street in Haight-Ashbury, “revolutionaries.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Power vs. Privacy: Smart Grid Could Turn Appliances Into Spies, Experts Warn
Do you want your fridge talking about you behind your back?
With the rapid adoption of a North American “smart grid” aimed at helping consumers conserve electricity, it’s also possible that smart appliances will be able to transmit information about their activities (and yours) through the power lines. Your electricity utility may not yet be able to determine when you snack, do laundry or shower, but privacy advocates are sounding the alarm that systems need to be put in place to guard details about a household’s electricity usage from prying eyes.
A paper released last November by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario and the U.S.-based Future of Privacy Forum proposes building privacy controls right into the smart grid before the system is fully rolled out.
Although different utilities define the smart grid in different ways, the key feature is a two-way communication system between a household’s meter and the electricity utility so that energy consumption can be tracked with incredible — sometimes even minute-by-minute — detail.
“The Smart Grid will enable third parties to peer into your home,” says commissioner Ann Cavoukian. “You can imagine how tempting the marketing opportunities will be.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
French Ban X-Ray Scans for Illegal Immigrants as Radiation Makes Them ‘Too Dangerous’
British officials searching for illegal immigrants in trucks have been told to stop using an expensive new X-ray scanner because of radiation fears.
The machine was unveiled last month as part of a £15million investment in UK border controls in Calais.
But now France’s nuclear regulator has warned it can only be used to look for illegal goods.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Iranian Revolutionary Guards Must be Included in EU List of Terrorist Organizations
Statement by Hon. Fiamma Nirenstein (PDL), Vice-President of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Italian Parliament
“As some European parliamentary assemblies are trying to address the Iranian issue, I recently presented a parliamentary question to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to know the position of the Italian Government regarding the possibility of including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps ( IRGC) in the EU list of terrorist organizations. This is turning into a crucial topic, considered the international community discussion regarding the reinforcement of sanctions on Iran for its nuclear activities.
The Revolutionary Guards, which the famous Basij militias are affiliated to, are the main tool of internal repression of the Iranian regime. They support international terrorism and encourage the provision of weapons to Hamas, Hezbollah and to the anti-Western militias active in Iraq.
In Iran, the influence of the Revolutionary Guards is rooted in all the aspects of the political, military, economic and social life of the Country. Because of their control over a large part of the economic activities, especially in the military and nuclear development sectors, in 2007 the U.S. designated the Revolutionary Guard Corps under Executive Order 13382, as “entity of proliferation concern”. At the same time, the Quds Forces, an IRGC special unit responsible for extraterritorial operations, have been included to the list of organizations that support terrorism (Executive Order 13224), with the aim of prohibiting any financial relationship with these groups or personalities that can be traced back to them.
Europe is recently active in the same direction: the Dutch Parliament has already approved a resolution that commits the Government to take action at European level to place the IRGC on the EU list of terrorist organizations. The same request has been forwarded in a petition signed by many MPs from various parties of Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, France, Netherlands and UK.
Considering the previous efforts made by the Italian Government, which in 2003, thanks to the current Foreign Minister Mr. Frattini, had successfully promoted the inclusion of Hamas in the EU list of terrorist organizations, it seemed right to me to turn to the Government — through a parliamentary question I submitted with the colleagues, both from majority and opposition parties, Giorgio La Malfa, Furio Colombo, Paolo Corsini, Renato Farina and Gennaro Malgieri — to ask about the possibility to include the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, whose activity is a major cause of instability in the Middle East, in the EU terror list”.
This is the text of the question:
Parliamentary question in the Foreign Affairs Committee
To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
Whereas -
A petition signed by parliamentary representatives of Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, UK has been recently promoted. This petition urges to add the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to the EU list of terrorist organizations. The appeal supports the view that the EU, as Iran’s most important trading partner, finds itself in a unique position to affect change, and bring support to the Iranian domestic opposition. In this regard, a motion has been approved by the Dutch parliament in November 2009;
Since the beginning of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the IRGC has been used as a tool instrumental to the suppression of the Iranian society. The IRGC’s influence is deeply rooted in every aspect of the Iranian society, from the political sphere to the military, economic and social life of the Country;
The IRGC, to which the Basiji militia is affiliated, has played a primary role in the bloody suppression of Iranian demonstrations that have been occurring since June 2009, after the Iranian presidential elections. Since the beginning of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s mandate — who actually started his career within the IRGC — the organization keeps growing as major component of the current Iranian regime;
The IRGC has the control over a great part of the Iranian economic activities, in particular with regard to the military and nuclear developments of the country;
This organization has a very active role in the support to international terrorism, especially with its direct backing to Hamas, Hezbollah, and to the anti-Western forces in Iraq;
For these reasons, and in particular because of IRGC’s activity in the supply of weapons to Hezbollah and its involvement in the Iranian nuclear development program, on October 25, 2007 the American administration designated the Revolutionary Guard Corps under Executive Order 13382, as “entity of proliferation concern”. Moreover, the Quds Force, a special unit of the IRGC responsible for extraterritorial operations, was added to the list of organizations that support terrorism, especially because of its sustain to the Iraqi Shiite militias, and terror activities in Lebanon and Afghanistan (Executive Order 13224, October 25, 2007, U.S. Department of Treasury); the result of these executive orders wants to be the financial isolation of such organizations;
nel 2003, il Governo italiano, con l’attuale Ministro degli esteri, si fece promotore, con successo, dell’inserimento di Hamas nella lista delle organizzazioni terroristiche dell’Unione europea -:
In 2003, the Italian Government, with the special effort of the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, promoted the introduction of Hamas in the EU list of terror organizations;
To know:
which is the position of the Italian Government regarding a possible inclusion of the IRGC within the EU terror list;
if the Italian Government aims at promoting a discussion concerning the IRGC’s activities and responsibilities, with the purpose of eventually introduce this latter into the EU list of terror organization.
(Act n. 5-02859)
Fiamma Nirenstein, Giorgio La Malfa, Furio Colombo, Paolo Corsini, Renato Farina, Gennaro Malgieri
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Firms ‘May Face Fines for Emission Breaches’
Rome, 13 May (AKI) — More than half a million Italian firms risk stiff fines for failing to comply with environmental regulations. Italian business groups said the issue arose after a delay in the official publication of guidelines that firms must provide on their C02 emissions.
A statement signed by Italy’s confederation of private employers, Confindustria, small business and artisans’ associations said the delay was “inexplicable”.
“Thirteen days after the government approved the extension of the deadline to 30 June, it has still not been published in the official gazzette to 30 June,” the statement said.
“This is an incomprehensible delay that risks making 500,000 companies break the law, with the risk of stiff sanctions,” the statement said.
The statement called for deadline extension to be published in Italy’s official gazette “rapidly”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Naples Businessman Arrested for ‘Mafia Links’
Naples, 13 May(AKI) — Italian police in Naples on Thursday arrested a businessman suspected of giving support to one of the southern city’s most powerful mafia families and seized his property worth around 20 million euros. Among property seized was a luxury car dealership, police said.
Paolo Diana, 67, was arrested for mafia association and fraud.
Public prosecutor Federico Cafiero de Raho said 11 mafia informers collaborated in the investigation.
Diana is suspected to providing the Casalesi crime clan cars, money and logistic support for carrying out deadly attacks. He allegedly allowed his home to be used as a base during a war between different Casalesi factions and for use by mafia fugitives.
“The investigation uncovered that Paolo Diana effectively engaged in stable relations with members of different factions of Casalesi the Cammora cartel,” the police said.
Investigators said over the last 20 years Diana has declared no income and paid no taxes.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Agriculture: De Castro, Stop Fearing the South
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MAY 13 — “The time has come to relaunch North-South cooperation and take a step forward in relations between the two shores of the Mediterranean”. This is the warning launched by President of the European Parliament Agriculture Committee, Paolo De Castro, taking part this morning in the Green Med Forum in Rome. “We must stop fearing competition from the south,” said De Castro, “because the fruit and vegetable balance of trade is abundantly in favour of countries of the northern shore”. “Our agricultural products, especially citrus fruits, have not lost the competition with the south, but with European countries like Spain”, reminded De Castro, underlining that trade cooperation between north and south brings advantages to all the countries. “We must work,” he added, “to offer opportunities to all countries along the Mediterranean basin and we must realise new strategic alliances to be on the markets in a competitive way”. “Strange phenomena, such as American apples in Egypt,” concluded De Castro, “are the result of the scarce organisational integration between the two shores”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Illegal Rubbish Dumps Found in Frosinone
Frosinone, 13 May (AKI) — Twelve illegal rubbish dumps filled with 3,000 tonnes of dangerous refuse have been uncovered by police in central Italy. Police said the 12 dumps stretch for a total of 220,000 square metres in the central province of Frosinone, 130 kilometres southeast of Rome.
Twelve people were reported to police in the investigation known as ‘Operation Dirty Country’ conducted by Italian finance police in the areas of Cassino and Sora in the Lazio region surrounding Rome.
According to police, the rubbish was deposited in many areas, and tonnes of asbestos were found littering the countryside and waterways. Dangerous garbage was also found near kindergartens, parks and protected areas.
More than 100 police were involved in the operation and they divided the garbage into various types of contaminated substances: electrical consumer goods, building materials containing asbestos, car tyres and car body parts, batteries and solvents.
Police said the asbestos particles were “particularly dangerous” because they were in a “crumble” form that can release millions of cancerous fibres which were a huge risk to public health.
Police have closed off the area and the garbage has been moved while investigations are continuing.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Palermo Garbage Crisis Enrages Residents
Palermo, 13 May (AKI) — Furious residents in the southern Italian city of Palermo set bins and improvised dumps full of rotting rubbish alight on Thursday in protest against the city’s chronic garbage crisis. Fire services scrambled to put out blazes in the city centre and outlying areas.
Meanwhile, police arrested four people suspected of illegally transporting toxic and and dangerous waste materials.
Prosecutors questioned Sicily’s governor Raffaele Lombardo on Wednesday as ‘a person of interest’ concerning alleged impropriety in the construction of much-needed incinerators for the region.
The prosecutors said they had obtained ‘useful information’ from Lombardo, Adnkronos has learned.
Prosecutors in the eastern Sicilian port city of Catania have requested Lombardo his brother Angelo be arrested for mafia association, although Catania’s chief prosecutor Vincenzo D’Agata denied he had signed their arrest warrants, Italian media reported on Thursday.
Lombardo’s predecessor Salvatore Cuffaro is currently on trial for mafia association and is expected to be sentenced later this year.
Cuffaro is currently a senator for the centre-right Union of the Democratic Centre party.
Waste disposal in Italy has long been in the grip of organised crime.
The months-long refuse crisis in Palermo, has received far less media attention than a similar emergency two years ago in the southern city of Naples, when hundreds of thousands of tonnes of stinking rubbish piled up on the city’s streets for months.
When he took office in May 2008, prime minister Silvio Berlusconi immediately sent in the army to Naples and deployed Italy’s civil protection chief Giudo Bertolaso to end the crisis.
Bertoloso was appointed an under-secretary within the Cabinet Office, a post he still holds.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Amalfi Coast Mayor Wants Rid of Garden Gnomes
‘They spoil natural environment,’ he says
(ANSA) — Naples, May 14 — A mayor on the Amalfi coast wants to get rid of garden gnomes in his pretty clifftop village.
“They cause an alteration of the natural environment,” Raffaele Ferraioli, mayor of Furore, told a local daily.
But some lovers of their statues of Snow White and her companions have vowed to resist the mayor’s wishes.
“I’m against it. The next thing you know they’ll have us asking permission to plant a flower,” a villager told Corriere del Mezzogiorno.
Sources on the Furore council, however, said a ‘No gnome’ ordnance had already been lined up.
“They could be on their way out any minute,” they said.
It is not known how many gnomes are in the village, which has a population of 810.
Furore, which gets its name from the waves crashing below it, is a little-known gem midway between Amalfi and Positano.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Venice Gate to the East Again With Ro-Pax Line
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MAY 14 — Venice resumes its tradition of trade with the Middle East. On May 20 the first Ro-pax (roll on/roll off passengers) of Visemar Line will leave the port of Venice, headed for Alexandria, shipping both goods (fruit and vegetables) and passengers for the first time on this route. The project is a cooperation of Venice Green Terminal (an association of 14 shipping companies) and Venezia Logistics, the company of the Port Authority that was created for the development of intra-Mediterranean sea links, railroad links (national and international) and river-sea transport. “The initial cost of the new ship of Cantieri Visentini is 100 million euros”, Venice Green Terminal Vice President Andrea Cosentino told ANSAmed from the Green Med Forum in Rome, which will close its doors today. The ship can transport up to 2,860 metres of vehicles, 70 cars, 360 passengers and 100 refrigerators. A door-to-door express service which guarantees delivery of highly perishable fruit and vegetables in 72 hours from Alexandria to the entire Danubian region. After 20 years, Cosentino points out, Venice returns to the Middle East. Apart from the port of Alexandria, Visemar Line will also link Venice with Tartous, in Syria. “This is also something new”, added Casentino. “Entering Syria means paving the way for trade with Iraq, Jordan and the Mashrek in general”. “The advantage of this new dedicated line” Cosentino explains, “does not only involve the commodities sector, but also the sector of tourism. We have already received many bookings from passengers for the summer season. These passengers can in fact reach Egypt in only three days, taking their car or motorbike with them, and two and a half days for the return trip”. This will contribute to the development of “on the road” and desert tourism, and is a return for Arab migrants to return home. The new goods warehouse will be ready in September. “The terminal, which will be managed by Venezia Green Terminal, will cover a surface of 3,400 square metres, with an initial investment of 3 million euros” said Capt. Alberto Lisatti, general director of Venezia Logistics. “A significant investment that will allow us to stockpile up to 2 thousand euro pallets, seven days per week, 24 hours per day”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
More Swedes Denied Sick Benefits
The number of Swedes who have been denied sick benefits has risen sharply over the past year, according to new statistics.
Over 8,200 people this year have either been refused the benefits or seen their compensation reduced. The spike is due to new health rules and better procedures for judging who is capable of working.
About 30 percent more saw their sick pay compensation reduced in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to recent figures from the Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) as reported by news agency TT.
In the last two years, the number who have seen their sick pay compensation reduced has more than doubled.
“The increase in the numbers with reduced compensation has to do with how we apply the rehabilitation chain,” said Bertil Thorslund, an analyst at the agency. “Medical decisions probably also support such an impact. They result in illnesses not lasting as long.”
Radical changes have been made to Sweden’s system of sick benefits. Sweden has long had the highest levels of sick leave in the European Union, according to official figures, despite having one of the world’s healthiest populations by other measures.
Previously, it could be many years before a sick person’s work capacity was tested. They are now subject to time limits provided by the government in 2008, which means that working capacity is tested against the entire labor market after six months.
The government also introduced also introduced new guidelines for the sick in 2007, the so-called medical decision support.
“The agency has always had the mandate to test someone’s ability to work across the entire job market, but there have been no deadlines before,” said Thorslund.
During the first four months of this year, more than 8,200 people were denied sick benefits, of which about 3,300 saw their sick pay compensation reduced and about 4,900 were rejected and received no compensation at all.
The number who were refused sick pay rose 38 percent during the first four months compared with the same period last year. The percentage of refusals increased from 1.6 percent in 2007 to 2.8 percent in 2009.
The increase in denials may be related to the agency becoming better at investigating work capacity or that the application and interpretation of the law is more uniform at the various offices now than before.
However, no one knows for sure the reason behind the jump.
Thorslund described the developments as “a mystery that we do not understand.
“The increase is probably not due to any rule change. We have discussed it and not found any good explanation,” said Thorslund.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco Bans Unislamic Names in Netherlands
THE HAGUE, 29/01/09 — Moroccans in the Netherlands are not allowed to give their children any Berber names any more. In this way, Islamic identity is being stressed, Trouw newspaper reported yesterday.
By far the biggest group of Moroccans in the Netherlands are of Berber origin, a region in the mountainous north of Morocco. “They will now be forced to give their children a Moroccan-Islamic name,” according to Trouw. “Morocco wants to secure the Moroccan identity of its nationals in this way, including the Moroccan Dutch.”
The Moroccan government in Rabat sent all embassies and consulates abroad a list of banned name this week. Christian names were already forbidden. “We forbid Berber names because they conflict with the identity and because they open the door to the spread of meaningless names,” said Idris Bajdi, a top official in Morocco, in the newspaper.
Labour (PvdA) MP Samira Bouchibti, a Moroccan national (by royal Moroccan decree) like all other Moroccans who moved to or were born in the Netherlands, is angry. “We must get rid of these lists of names and this interference. I want to be able to decide myself how I name my children. This is discriminatory.”
Bouchibti also criticised her party leader Wouter Bos, who said at a PvdA party meeting earlier this week that dual passports “belong in the Netherlands.” Bouchibti: “Bos has no enforced dual nationality and therefore does not know what it means in practice.” Bos considers dual nationality can foster intergation.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Portugal: Azulejos, Symbols of Art and Tradition
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MAY 7 — They were born five centuries ago, but to the naked eye, they seem timeless, as if constantly able to adapt to passing fashions and trends. ‘Azulejos’, typical in Spain and Portugal, are no longer simple ornaments, as they once were, but rather have grown to be symbols of sensitivity, fantasy and culture. Azulejos are almost always square ceramic tiles about ten centimetres in width, although they sometimes have different shapes and dimensions. Azulejos “are” Lisbon, in the way that they allow an understanding of the Portuguese capital, an understanding of its recent history, the evolution of a society open to the outside world but so closely linked to its traditions. In Lisbon, these tiles, often featuring geometrical shapes, but also portraying animals and flowers, are everywhere and at times have apparently random colour schemes that remain fascinating nevertheless. Azulejos do not only embellish apartment buildings and their facades, such as on public buildings (some of which have become famous for this very reason) but also streets. There are thousands of square white calcareous tiles dotted over pavements, themselves becoming characteristic of the city, especially when they alternate with those cut in black basalt. This occurs in Praca do Rossio (where the tiles are reproductions of waves) and near the Monument to Discoveries (where drawings made with azulejos celebrate the great Portuguese navigators), as it does in Praca do Commercio (where dolphins are the dominant theme). Azulejos also cover the lesser-known areas of the Portuguese capital — Alfama, Graca and Santa Apolonia. A real masterpiece is the church of Sao Vincente de Fora, with its 15,000 painted tiles. In one room of the Palacio dos Marques da Fronteira, there is a quite marvelous sequence of panels with 18th century azulejos. A number of miradouros (small shared areas usually found in the higher parts of the city, that feature meeting places and spaces to sit and socialise) enriched by a knowing use of azulejos, such as Santa Luzia. Today Lisbon has decided to resume “investing” in azulejos, which are seen not only as a simple furniture addition, but well and truly an art form. Among the various initiatives aimed at developing this great heritage is the creation of the Museo Nacional del Azulejo in a restructured space in Lisbon’s Madre de Deus convent. (ANSAmed).
2010-05-07 16:01
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sardinia Protests as Liguria Tops Clean Sea Table
Seventeen Ligurian resorts included but only two in Sardinia. Regional cabinet members complain at “skewed judgements”
MILAN — Which are the best places in Italy to go swimming? Where is the cleanest water? And which places have the best environment-friendly facilities behind the foreshore? These are the key questions for the 2010 edition of five-star beaches, which sees Liguria topping the list with 17 resorts. Menfi in Sicily flaunts a record 13 consecutive flags since 1998 for a total of 14 awards (the first dates from 1992).
SARDINIA PROTESTS — With only two Blue Flags for Sardinia in the overall classification, the regional authority is up in arms. Officials challenge the criteria used by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), pointing out that the island’s tourist appeal “is absolutely beyond question” and that 143 of the Sardinia’s 560 beaches are accessible to all. The regional cabinet members for the environment and tourism, Giuliano Uras and Sebastiano Sannitu, went on the offensive, declaring their “astonishment, and also disappointment, at an initiative that each year reads from the same old script”. They deny “the authority and scientific validity of the selections since these are not based on objective criteria”.
LIGURIA TOP OF THE CLASS — In the 2010 edition, Liguria leads the pack. The macro-regional league table of the 117 Blue Flags sees the south in front with 39 while central Italy picks up 37, the north earns 35 and the islands have six. Jesolo in Veneto, Pollica in Campania, a new entry from Lazio, Anzio, also the only winner in the province of Rome, and the landmark return after 18 years of Loano in Liguria are some of this year’s 231 beaches, four more than last year. Some 117 municipalities are represented, 115 coastal and two lakeside, or about ten per cent of the international total. Sixty-one marinas won awards. Liguria with 17 flags, one more than last year, leads the league table for regions. On 16 each are Marche and Tuscany, with Abruzzo lagging slightly in fourth place with 13 flags. Campania keeps its 12 flags for the same resorts as last year while Puglia did very well, gaining one flag to join Emilia-Romagna on eight. There is no change in Veneto, with six, as Lazio climbs to five thanks to Anzio’s award. According to the mayor, Luciano Bruschini, it “is the result of sacrifices, the extremely clean sea, purification plants that work, public green spaces and our services. This is an answer to Legambiente, which a few months ago wanted to give us a black flag”. Lazio has now overtaken Sicily and Calabria, which remain on four. Friuli Venezia Giulia and Sardinia confirm last year’s two flags each and are joined by Piedmont, which is now on two (for its lakes). Finally, Molise and Basilicata have one flag apiece.
THE 15 BEST BEACHES — The 117 award-winning resorts include 15 “five-star” sites. These havens of excellence stand out for environmental education, separate collection of waste, the quality of their beaches, cycle paths, accessibility for all, communication and information. The super beaches are Jesolo in Veneto, Celle Ligure, Varazze, Moneglia and Lerici in Liguria, Cesenatico in Emilia-Romagna, Cecina, Bibbona, Castagneto Carducci and Castiglione della Pescaia in Tuscany, Potenza Picena, Civitanova Marche, Porto San Giorgio and San Benedetto del Tronto in Marche, and Pollica in Campania.
BATHING CENTRES — The beaches that won the special bathing centre award are Varazze, Savona, Bibione, Ostuni, Grosseto, Viareggio and Finale Ligure. Long-standing Blue Flag winners include Grado, Lignano Sabbiadoro, Santa Teresa di Gallura, Cesenatico, Gabbicce Mare and Forte dei Marmi. Finally, there is an important comeback as Loano in Liguria earns a Blue Flag for the first time in 18 years.
English translation by Giles Watson
www.watson.it
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Security: EU Summit on Future European Intelligence Service
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MAY 14 — Heads of the EU s twenty-nine secret services, as well as those of Norway and of Switzerland, have been meeting in Alcalà de Henares (Madrid) in a summit set up under the Spanish presidency of the Council of Europe, to step up cooperation and to discuss a future creation of a Europe-wide intelligence service. The meeting was actually held on May 5, but according to an article in today’s edition of El Pais, it was kept secret. In attendance were members of the Counter-Terrorist Group, (CTG), made up of the interior intelligence services of the 27 EU countries and of Norway and Switzerland. The CTG was set up following the attacks on the United States of September 11 2001. It meets twice a year in those countries holding the rotating EU presidency. For the first time, it was also attended by the Co-ordinater of Europe’s Anti-Terrorist unit, Belgian Gilles de Kerchove. The coming into effect of the Treaty of Lisbon on December first last year, which foresees the creation of a European Foreign Action Service (Seae) and the adoption of a common defence policy, will lead to greater information-exchange between the intelligence services and the creation of a common EU service to tackle threats to security in the form of cyber-attacks, illegal immigration, drug smuggling and currency speculator s attacks on the euro. The outcomes from the meeting are to be transferred to the High Representative for Foreign Policy, and the EU’s common defence, Catherine Ashton, over the coming days. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia More Expensive for Tourists Than Greece
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MAY 13 — It is twice as expensive to stay at a mountain resort in Serbia, even in the preseason, than at a Mediterranean resort in Greece, reports daily Politika. Traditionally, this is the part of the year when Serbian tourists chose travel arrangements for Greece, Italy and Turkey. There is some interest in vacations at Zlatibor and Kopaonik, which are more expensive than vacations in Greece. A vacation at Zlatibor or Kopaonik costs as much as ten times more than a vacation in Greece or Turkey in the preseason. Spain is a destination rediscovered by Serbs, however, there are still no mass arrangements.(ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain European Leader for Wind Capacity in 2009
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MAY 7 — Spain overtook Germany for the installation of wind farms in 2009, with an increase on an annual basis of 14.7%, making it the leader in Europe according to data issued today by the Spanish association for wind companies. For installed wind capacity, Spain ranks second in Europe after Germany with 2,450 MW installed and total accumulated wind power of 19,148 MW, a 30% increase. The association estimates that installed wind energy in the world totals 157,900 MW. Regarding the regions, Andalusia, Castile and Leon and Valencia were the areas with the greatest installed wind potential in 2009; Castile-La Mancha and Galicia were those with the least wind potential. An updated analysis on the sector will be outlined at the International Energy and Environmental trade fair, set to take place from May 19-21 in Madrid. (ANSAmed).
2010-05-07 20:21
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Arson Attack on Muhammad Artist’s Home
Police have launched an investigation into arson after the home in southern Sweden of controversial artist Lars Vilks sustained fire damage on Friday night.
Vilks was not at his home in Nyhamnsläge at the time of the attack. An acquaintance of the artist discovered the damage on Saturday morning. Windows had been smashed, there was minor fire damage to the front of the house and plastic bottles filled with petrol were found inside the property, local newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad reports.
Police said the house was empty and the fire had dissipated of its own accord. A forensic examination was carried out on Saturday morning.
“We’ve launched a preliminary investigation into arson,” police spokeswoman Sofie Österheim told news agency TT.
The embattled artist, who was physically attacked at a lecture theatre in Uppsala earlier in the week, said he was now considering moving from his home.
“I don’t think I can live here full time. It’s obvious this is a high risk area. I guess I’ll just be here at certain times,” Vilks told TT.
The artist left the house at 10.30pm on Friday and was not aware of the damage until the morning.
“It wasn’t all that bad from a purely material perspective. They’ve broken window panes and set fire to a curtain by sticking a hand through a window,” said Vilks.
“It’s not so pleasant but I’ve become hardened. I get threats all the time but it’s hard to assess what’s behind it.”
In this case, Vilks believed the perpetrators were amateurs.
“These are the kind of people who drive off with some petrol and try to start a fire. But one thing can lead to another.”
Vilks has had a $100,000 bounty on his head from an Al-Qaeda-linked group since the publication of his drawing of the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a dog in 2007.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Diplomat’s Kidnap Plot Foiled by Phone Tap
Secret documents acquired by a Swedish TV network have shown that a Syrian diplomat’s plot to kidnap his own daughter was first uncovered when his phone was tapped by the security police, Säpo, who were attempting to find evidence of an illegal intelligence-gathering operation.
The confidential appendix to court documents reviewed by TV4 includes details of bugged conversations between the Syrian charge d’affaires and Social Democratic politician Abdo Goriya, who was arrested near his home on Monday.
Goriya, 53, was remanded in custody on Thursday on suspicion of conspiring in April and May to kidnap the diplomat’s 18-year-old daughter, who the diplomat said had “brought dishonour” on him by entering into an amorous relationship with a schoolmate. The Stockholm politician, who has Syrian roots, denies committing an offence, arguing that he simply wished to assist the diplomat with his family problems.
In conversations recorded by Säpo, the diplomat spoke to Goriya of how he had informed his daughter that her relationship was a mortal sin. He forced her to stay at home and beat her for several days running.
The young woman reported her father to the police but later retracted her statement when her mother threatened to commit suicide.
Goriya was brought in as a form of mediator between the girl, her family, and her boyfriend’s family. Although the politician has previously been involved in campaigns against honour-related violence, Goriya backed the diplomat in the wiretapped phone calls, saying it was “awful” that people couldn’t bring up their own children how they liked in Sweden.
The two men discussed how best to get the diplomat’s daughter back to Syria. Goriya offered to help and suggested that the 18-year-old should be lured out of Sweden by means of a holiday in Turkey.
“He then says that her family in Syria can take her by the ear and find somebody suitable for her,” according to the secret court document.
The diplomat’s daughter remains in Sweden and is receiving police protection. The Syrian charge d’affaires, whose diplomatic immunity shielded him from prosecution, has now left Sweden with the rest of his family.
Säpo and the foreign ministry have refused to comment on the nature of the suspected intelligence operation that the security police were seeking to investigate.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Politician: Jews Behind 9/11 and Holocaust
The Centre Party has promised to take action following revelations that one of its candidates for a parliamentary seat believes Jews lay behind the 9/11 terror attacks and the Holocaust.
Conspiracy theories surrounding an array of global events have flourished for years on the website of Ove Svidén, 73, according to a report on public broadcaster SVT’s news show Rapport.
“Who won the Second World War? The Jews! They got a state. A little remnant of a people gets a country. It’s not a coincidence,” Svidén told Rapport.
The politician also tied Jews to the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York. Writing on his website, Svidén describes how the construction of the World Trade Centre was a project dear to the heart of banking mogul David Rockefeller. But in a bid to “kill his darlings”, the ageing patriarch had the iconic twin towers destroyed, the Centre Party candidate argues.
“As a Swede it’s hard to understand the Jewish belief that a victim is necessary if anything is to be gained. But for David Rockefeller this could serve as a diversion and alibi for the person who benefited most from the events of September 9th [sic] 2001,” he writes.
As a self-styled globalist, who puts the interests of the world above those of individual nations, David Rockefeller is routinely labelled by conspiracy theorists as a would-be proponent of a totalitarian world government.
Ove Svidén is a very marginal candidate for a seat in parliament at the September general election, with his name appearing towards the bottom of the Centre Party’s ballot list.
Although his website was largely ignored for years, the party’s Stockholm chairman Per Ankersjö has now vowed to take swift action. Ankersjö said he was shocked by some of the content on the site and pledged to put an immediate stop to the printing of ballots that included Svidén’s name.
“The passages I have seen are so extreme that we’re going to have to examine whether he can stay [on the ballot slip]. I’m going to propose that we remove him. In my view he has breached our guidelines to such an extent that he can’t stay,” Ankersjö told Rapport.
The Centre Party is a junior partner in Sweden’s four-party centre-right ruling coalition.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Jeremy Bowen Admits Enjoying Rupture in Israel-US Relations
BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen has admitted in an analysis article for the BBC News website that the recent strain in relations between Israel and the US has been ‘enjoyable’.
In ‘Analysis: Bleak climate for Mid-East talks,’ (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8660471.stm) published on Sunday 9 May, the head of Middle East coverage at the BBC examined the background to the recent resumption of (indirect) talks between Israel and the Palestinians. In an undeniably candid move, Bowen wrote the following:
‘It has been an unusual and enjoyable new experience to be able to look on as the Israelis argued with their most important ally. The fact that the dispute is over Jewish settlements is even better for the Palestinian [sic].’
His choice of words here reveals a strong personal sense of satisfaction at Israel’s diplomatic difficulties, not in line with the BBC editorial policy that:
‘our journalists and presenters, including those in news and current affairs, may provide professional judgments but may not express personal opinions on matters of public policy or political or industrial controversy. Our audiences should not be able to tell from BBC programmes or other BBC output the personal views of our journalists and presenters on such matters.’
It seems unlikely that the readers of this BBC article would not be able to tell the personal view of Jeremy Bowen in this instance. The fact that he claims openly to have enjoyed watching Israel struggle in its relations with its most important ally more or less precludes the possibility of an interpretation of neutrality.
Whilst the BBC does allow for ‘the authored view of a specialist or professional including an academic, scientist, or BBC correspondent’, it is not clear what is meant by ‘authored view’ and whether this would permit a journalist to openly express happiness when one side in an incredibly controversial conflict suffers a setback.
UPDATED as of 4.45pm on 12 May 2010: Jeremy Bowen responded to our report via email, saying that there was a ‘glitch in [his] editing process’ and that when calling a chill in U.S.-Israeli relations ‘enjoyable’ he had meant to attribute this view to the Palestinians. The article was subsequently amended on the BBC News website but no acknowledgement of an error was made.
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican: Holy See Signs Deal With Vodafone
Vatican City, (AKI) — The Vatican said on Friday it had signed an agreement with one of Italy’s largest mobile phone networks, Vodafone Italia to supply mobile telephone services to around 2,000 users.
“Vodafone won the tender called by the Governorate of Vatican City State with which it has stipulated a three-year contract, also by virtue of its extensive presence on the international scene and the high standards of service it guarantees,” said the Vatican in a statement
“The accord was signed today in the presence of Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, secretary general of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and Pietro Guindani, president of Vodafone Italia,” the statement added.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Whale Observers on Ships for Corsica
(ANSAmed) — SAVONA, MAY 13 — From June to September, ships from the Corsica e Sardinia Ferries company will carry four researchers who will observe whales living in the Cetacean Sanctuary, the Tyrrhenian sea triangle between Corsica, Tuscany, Liguria and the Cote d’Azur. The Corsican ship company has signed a deal with CIMA, the international centre for environmental monitoring, which monitors whales in the central Mediterranean. The deal is to be followed by the launch of specific initiatives for schools, to raise awareness and teach young students about the environment. The initiative was presented this morning on the campus of the University of Savona. Four specialist observers, university students trained to collect data on the whales, will be present on board the Corsica Sardinia Ferries ships between June and September. In the two year period between 2008 and 2009, the presence of all eight species of cetaceans regularly present in this stretch of sea was signalled, together with the spotting of 326 groups of striped dolphins and 201 common blue whales. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: Smoking Banned in Places of Work
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MAY 10 — Serb President, Boris Tadic, has signed a new anti-smoking law approved by Parliament which introduces stringent measures against smoking in places of work. It was announced by Jasmina Stojanov, the President’s Chief Press Officer. The measure establishes heavy fines for transgressors, from an equivalent of 50 Euros for private individuals up to 10 thousand Euros for companies, and will enter into force in the next months to enable the suitable restructuring of locales, especially cafes and restaurants. The owners of such properties, with a surface area under 80 square metres, will have to choose whether to have smoking or non-smoking facilities. Instead, it will be compulsory for properties with over 80 square metres, to have a non-smoking area of at least half of the cafe or restaurant premises. However, the ban will be total in public offices, schools, hospitals, spots facilities, newspaper offices and premises for the handling of food products. Of Serbia’s 7.5 million inhabitants, 33.6% are smokers. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia to Pay Eur 36 Million Damages to Israeli Company
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MAY 13 — Serbia has to pay EUR36 million damages to Israeli company ImageSet due to the breach of the lease contract on spy satellite, the London Court ruled, reports daily Blic. Serbia also has to pay RSD1.38 million (around EUR13,950) for the costs of the lost dispute. Namely at the Court in London, Serbia challenged the jurisdiction of the International Arbitral Tribunal in Paris to reach the decision on the claims of the Israeli company. The Paris Court ruled against Serbia in 2008, on the basis of the complaint of ImageSet, after that, Serbia tried to challenge the jurisdiction of the Court at the regular Court in London.(ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU Focuses on Southern Shore Partnerships
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS — Despite the effects of the economic crisis, the EU has been confirmed as the leader in trade with partner countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean. The EU is the principal partner for Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Lebanon, and is in second place with Jordan, just after Saudi Arabia. These are some of the figures that have emerged from the most recent balance sheet presented today in Brussels on the 12 countries involved in the neighbourhood policy, from the south of the Mediterranean to Eastern Europe, in the space of five years. The neighbourhood policy “is a partnership for reforms, to spread stability and prosperity,” explained Stefan Fule, the European Commissioner in charge of the policy. The Mediterranean is an area of key interest for Europe and in recent years Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and the Palestinian Authority have asked to make relations increasingly close, with the so-called “advanced status”, which so far only Morocco has obtained. Overall, Brussels has however not seen sufficient progress in the field of fundamental rights and much remains to be done in terms of reforms of justice and administrative systems. On the economic front, trade agreements have been negotiated on agricultural produce with Egypt, Israel and Morocco, whilst there are negotiations underway for the liberalisation of services and the right of establishment with Morocco, Tunisia, Israel and Egypt. Since 2008, a regime of free trade on industrial products was reached with Tunisia. As for air transport, after the agreement with Morocco and then with Jordan, there are currently negotiations underway with Israel, Lebanon and Tunisia, whilst negotiations are expected in the future with Algeria. In the long term, the aim remains to create an area of free trade between the EU and partner countries of the Mediterranean. Here are some of the details of the report: ISRAEL: Limited progress in the Middle East peace process has influenced the advancement of relations with the EU. Negotiations continue on common airspace and director Haifa-Trieste was selected for the pilot project “sea motorways”. PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Capacity to implement reforms is limited by the Israeli occupation, blockade of Gaza and division between the West Bank and Gaza. Real GDP below the level recorded ten years ago, 80% of the population are below the poverty line in the Gaza Strip. MOROCCO: 2009 saw the strengthening of the partnership and now the challenge in 2010 is to put into practice commitments made in the framework of the advanced statute, particularly with regard to regulations and reforms, such as that of the justice system. EGYPT: concerns over the carrying out of reforms for democracy and human rights, important for the advancement of relations with the EU. Negotiations on the liberalisation of services continue. TUNISIA: Difficulties persist in the field of governance and the state of rights, as well as the respect of human rights. Tunisia is the most advanced country with regard to the creation of an area of free trade, after the elimination of customs tariffs for industrial products. LEBANON: In 2009 very slow progress was made on political, social and economic reforms. Progressive elimination of customs tariffs for industrial products up to 2014. JORDAN: Progress on the issue of the respect of fundamental rights, transparency and governance. Euro-Med agreement signed in March 2010 to ensure common standards in air transport and the progressive opening of this market.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco Thanks Italy, New Olive Press Will Help Farmers
(ANSA) — ROME, MAY 13 — It cost over half a million euros and several years of work, now it has been donated to a cooperative of Moroccan farmers. It’s the large oil press built by Bologna NGO CEFA, which since 1972 has been involved in building projects for social purposes and donating them to poor people in developing countries. The press, built thanks to European funds and to the rich contribution of the Christian Workers’ Movement (MCL) and a donation from Enelcuore and the Emilia Romagna region, now stands near Beni Mellal, 200km from Casablanca, once a land of emigration to Italy, and now an area with an abundant olive production. Here most of the oil presses are run traditionally, with a donkey trudging for hours around the press, also yielding a product of dubious quality, which does not even allow the finished product to travel beyond the local area. The end result: a land that produces excellent and abundant olives and oil that is impossible to sell even on the national market. CEFA focussed on developing of the area’s local talent — the olives — to create jobs in a place where, despite the country’s development rate, which grew by 4.4% in 2009, poverty levels are high, also due to widespread illiteracy of almost 60% of the population. The wager on the new oil press focuses on quality extra-virgin olive oil able to be sold and therefore capable of creating jobs and income: ten people will work directly at the oil press, while the affect on the local agriculture sector in general should result in about 400 more seasonal farmers, processing 20 tonnes of olives per day. The inauguration of the press was a popular celebration, women in elegant, coloured dresses, men busy with a typical Moroccan lunch, music, dancing, but mainly warm thanks from those who received the press, moved by the work of the CEFA volunteers and the friendship demonstrated by the investments of the MCL and the other donors. MCL Vice-President Noé Ghidoni at the inaugural ceremony, together with local officials, underlined how olives, “more than any other thing, unite the Mediterranean area. Oil in Islamic and Christian tradition is a sign of purification, strength and wisdom.” CEFA has been working in Morocco for years. Currently a dynamic group of collaborators is at work, with an average age of 31, led by Roman engineer Paola Chianca and assisted by many people on site, who also help with literacy courses in the villages and a myriad of micro-projects that are mainly focussed on the area’s mothers. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria: Restoration of Arch of Caracalla to Resume
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, MAY 11 — Restoration work on the Arch of Caracalla in Tebessa, the eastern Algerian city a few dozen kilometres away from the Tunisian border, will resume. This was reported by sources in the regional government, which specified that the project will be entrusted to a foreign company specialised in archaeological restorations. Restoration work was suspended in 2004 because according to a technical commission at the time, the construction material used was not compliant with the architectural authenticity of the site. The arch was built in the city of Theveste in 211 AD, the year in which Caracalla succeeded his father Septimius Severus as the head of the Roman Empire. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Heavy Investments for ‘Urban Renaissance’
(ANSAmed) — TRIPOLI, MAY 12 — Libya is not only oil, but also houses, streets and railways: this fact is underlined in the figures released during the start of “Libya Build 2010”, the event that also brings Italian small and medium-sized building companies to Libya. Several government sources confirm that most of Libya’s economic activities are centred around the construction sector, for what has been called in the local media the “urban renaissance”, for which 19 new urban areas are being built across Libya. According to some government reports, 53,530 houses will be built in Tripoli alone, with an estimated value of 514,239,756 Libyan dinars (around 309 million euros). Around 3,100 houses have already been completed. According to the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) office in Tripoli, Libya spent more than 19 billion dollars on development projects in the first half of 2009, on a budget of around 39.2 billion dollars for the whole year. The development projects that are currently in progress in the country will cost around 60 billion euros. Libya is Africa’s fourth-largest country with 1,850 km of Mediterranean coastline and a population of more than 6 million. Its economic figures offered to investors are clear. In the past three year the Libyan GDP was higher than 6%. According to ICE data, trade between Italy and Libya is rising constantly, reaching a value of more than 15 billion euros. Italy’s is Libya’s main exporting country with 21% of the country’s imports coming from Italy by the end of 2008, according to IMF figures. Italy is also the third European investor in Libya, excluding oil-related investments, and the sixth on a global scale. In the political and economic relations between Italy and Libya, one should not forget the agreement that was signed on August 30 by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and colonel Muammar Gaddafi, which established that Italy would pay Libya 250 million USD per year for the coming 20 years to finance “basic infrastructures” needed by the Libyan government and carried out only by Italian companies. Important is also the industrial, economic and commercial collaboration agreement that was signed on April 2 2009 in Tripoli by former Economic Development Minister Claudio Scajola and his Libyan counterpart. This agreement included the initiative to institute an industrial area for Italian companies in Libya. This area is located in Misurata and has a surface area of 500 hectares, with an option to expand it up to 1,500 hectares. All the necessary infrastructure to welcome Italian industry is already in place. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Lets Gaza Convoy Pass, Paris Plaudits
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, MAY 14 — France has paid tribute to “the political commitment” of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, who “has allowed” lorries full of cement to be used for repair works on Gaza’s al-Qods hospital to enter the Palestinian Territories via Israel. “Other convoys will follow in the next few weeks, and this summer we will send convoys with material equipment, radiology and laboratory material,” said the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Bernard Valero, remembering that the hospital project was launched by the Minister Bernard Kouchner straight after the Gaza conflict. In 2009, he added, political support for Netanyahu had come on request from President Sarkozy. Damaged in the most recent fighting, the hospital is located in the very centre of Gaza and is part of the Ak Nour hospital complex, which was hit on January 15 2009 by Israeli bombings. Repair work, worth two million euros, began in February. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Threatens to ‘Impose’ Palestinian State
Warns White House can force solution ‘Israelis won’t appreciate’
NEW YORK — If Israel and the Palestinians fail to reach an agreement to create a Palestinian state, the Obama administration will look into imposing a solution on the parties, a senior Palestinian Authority negotiator told WND.
The negotiator, speaking by telephone from Ramallah, said the PA agreed to resume direct talks with Israel earlier this week only after a U.S. pledge to ensure against any new Jewish construction in eastern Jerusalem and the strategic West Bank.
The PA negotiator told WND the Obama administration told the Palestinians if a deal is ultimately not reached with Israel the U.S. will consider imposing a solution “that the Israelis won’t appreciate.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Welfare System Could Cause Israel to Collapse, Economist Warns
Nearly one in five Israeli men between the ages of 35 and 54 do not work, including Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews, says Dan Ben-David. As their numbers rise, so does the economic peril, he says.
When people talk these days about Israel’s economy, they use words like booming, resilient, even “miracle.”
Weaning itself off socialist-influenced policies that once brought 400% inflation and 60% income-tax brackets, Israel’s economy is now growing despite the international financial slowdown. Debt is manageable, the currency is strong; Israel’s high-tech sector is admired worldwide.
But one Israeli economist is warning that beneath Israel’s back-patting lurks a hidden peril — fueled by demographic trends and political choices — that could eventually mean an end to the country.
Armed with a Power Point presentation he’s been showing to lawmakers, newspaper publishers and anyone else who will listen, Dan Ben-David, executive director of Jerusalem-based Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, says the problem is simple: Not enough Israelis are pulling their own weight.
According to Ben-David, nearly one in five Israeli men between the ages of 35 and 54 — a group that he believes has “no excuse” for not working — are not part of the labor force. That’s about 60% higher than the average among nations in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, an international forum fostering market-based economies that Israel joined Monday.
Officially, Israel’s unemployment rate is about 8%. But that doesn’t include Israeli citizens who are not trying to find work, either because they feel disenfranchised, such as many Arab Israelis, or because they’ve chosen a life of state-subsidized religious study, such as many ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Nearly 27% of Arab men and 65% of ultra-Orthodox Jews don’t work, government figures show. The non-employment rate for ultra-Orthodox men has tripled since 1970, Ben-David said.
“We support a lifestyle of nonworking that is pretty unparalleled in the Western world,” said Ben-David, who is also a Tel Aviv University professor. “On the one hand, we have this state-of-the-art part of the economy. Then there is the rest of the country that is like a huge drag.”
What worries Ben-David most is that the nonproductive part of Israel’s population, which survives largely on welfare, is also the fastest growing.
Today Arabs and the ultra-Orthodox together make up less than 30% of the population, but they account for nearly half of school-age children. If trends continue unchecked, Arab and ultra-Orthodox children could make up 78% of Israeli classrooms, recent studies have shown.
“Eventually it’s going to break the bank,” the economist said. “We’re on trajectories that are not sustainable.”
But not everyone agrees with Ben-David’s dire predictions.
“He’s been very successful at scaring everyone,” said Beni Fefferman, director of the planning and research office in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. According to Fefferman, Ben-David’s analysis “grossly overstates” the extent of the problem, because data over the past decade suggest employment rates among Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews are improving.
But Ben-David said the government has relied too heavily on a quick fix. With heavy lobbying from ultra-Orthodox parties that often prove crucial in forming government coalitions, Israel has increased welfare payments fivefold since 1970, while the standard of living has doubled, he said.
Nearly a decade ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was then finance minister, won praise for slashing welfare payments, including monthly per-child allowances. But last year Netanyahu, in a nod to his right-wing coalition partners, agreed to nearly double some child allowances.
Reasons differ for the non-employment of Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Over the last 30 years, the percentage of working ultra-Orthodox men has decreased because of government programs that subsidize their religious study, experts say.
Such programs are now facing a backlash from Israel’s secular and non-Orthodox citizens. A radio talk-show host recently described ultra-Orthodox Jews as “parasites.” Tel Aviv’s mayor said the fast-growing ultra-Orthodox community was “endangering” the economic strength of the “silent majority.”
But defenders of the ultra-Orthodox credit them with preserving Israel’s Jewish identity, saying that without the high birth rates of ultra-Orthodox families, Israel could see an Arab majority in future generations.
“Some people drive a taxi, others pray,” said Robert Zwirn, 63, a former doctor from Brooklyn who moved to Israel 20 years ago and gradually gave up his practice to adopt an ultra-Orthodox lifestyle. “But the Messiah won’t come on the merit of you driving a taxi. It will be on the merit of our prayer.”
For their part, many Arab Israelis say they want to work but are often shut out due to discrimination, poor schools and inadequate government services.
“If I were Jewish, it would have been much easier to find work,” said Salwa Idreis, 30, an Arab Israeli from Jerusalem who, despite earning a law degree, has been unable to find a job for five years.
“People don’t trust us because we are Palestinian,” said the mother of four. Even Arab-owned law firms won’t give her a job because they think Jewish attorneys will draw more customers, she said.
With a rising rate of non-employment, many working, tax-paying Israelis are opting to leave the country…
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
West Bank: Palestinian Boy Killed, Settlers Accused
(ANSAmed) — RAMALLAH, MAY 14 — A 14-year old Palestinian boy was killed during the night not far from Ramallah, in the West Bank, say local sources, by a shot fired by a settler from a Jewish settlement in the area. As is reported by Maan agency. Based on concurring witness accounts, the episode occurred on state route 60, in the outskirts of the village of Mazra Ash-Sharquieh, and is said to have been provoked by the launching of stones by a group of Palestinian youths against passing cars driven by the settlers. One of these is said to have stopped on the side of the road, and to have used a firearm in his possession to fire on the group, mortally wounding a boy. The victim has been identified as Ayssar Yasser, born in 1996, from Mazra Ash-Sharquieh. Official Israeli military sources this morning confirmed the boy’s death, but, however, have reserved their opinion concerning the exact sequence of events. The sources have in any case announced the opening of an inquiry.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Elections in Iraq: No Fraud After Manual Counting of Votes
Fraud excluded. Allawi confirmed winner over Maliki. But neither can build a majority. Insecurity dominates. Yesterday a suicide bombing in northern Iraq killed 25 and wounded 100.
Baghdad (AsiaNews) — The Electoral Commission in charge of the recount of votes from elections last March have found no evidence of fraud or cheating. The electoral authorities began the hand count of votes at the request of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, who lost the majority in elections. The official announcement of results will take place in two days.
The victory of the secular Iraqiya coalition led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has thus been confirmed with 91 seats. The Shiite group also has the consensus of much the Sunni population. Maliki’s coalition, the Alliance for the Rule of Law, took only 89 seats.
But both leaders are struggling to gather enough seats to form a comfortable majority. Maliki has repeatedly said he is allied with the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), which brings together many Shiites religious groups and in the March 7 elections took 70 seats.
The largest Shia group — perhaps with the support of Tehran — is trying in every way to penalize Iraqiya, accusing it of having included figures from the Baath Party, of the Saddam Hussein administration, among its candidates.
Observers suggest a government alliance between Allawi and Maliki to stabilize the country, but the ambitions of both seem to exclude this possibility.
The difficulty in creating a government risks increasing insecurity in the country, where groups linked to Al Qaeda continue to sow terror. Yesterday, in northern Iraq, a double suicide bombing at a soccer game killed 25 people and wounded over one hundred.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
European Movies in the Spotlight in Damascus
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, MAY 13 — For the second year in a row and until May 18, syrian film fans will once again enjoy european films in one of Damascus’ oldest cinemas. Fourteen european embassies and cultural centres — according to the Enpi website (www.enpi-info.eu) — are showing 16 films, ranging from light romantic comedies to documentary films in the Al Kindi Theatre. Entrance is free. Movies are from Belgium, Netherlands, Hungary, Greece, United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Poland, Austria, Italy, Germany, Denmark and Finland, with works of directors as Ken Loach (Looking for Eric) and Giulio Manfredonia (Si può fare). The festival has been organised in partnership with the syrian national film Organisation of the ministry of Culture, the European Union (Eu) delegation to Syria and the spanish Eu presidency. This year the festival will, for the first time, also reach cities beyond Damascus, with several of the films shown in Lattakia and Homs in September. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon — Holy Land: Mgr Sabbah Looks at the “Martyrdom” Of Christians Caught Between East and West
The Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem talks about the future of the region’s Christians ahead of the Synod of Bishops of the Middle East. He urges the faithful “not to flee history”. Christians’ problems date back to the First World War and the confrontation of East and West. Mgr Sabbah calls on the Muslim world to take real steps towards dialogue and coexistence.
Beirut (AsiaNews) — Sainthood and martyrdom are the two touching words highlighted by Michel Sabbah, the Patriarch Emeritus of the Latins, at the start of the Month of the Christian East, at Beirut’s Saint Joseph’s University. For him, the Churches of the Middle East need above all saints and martyrs. Going beyond the vague remarks that we hear every time the issue of the Christian presence in the region is raised—complaints about Islamic extremism and the community’s demographic decline, whether caused by emigration or a low birth-rate—, the old Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem went to the heart of the problem.
In order to remain in the East, Christians must aspire to sainthood and must be ready, as is the case in Lebanon, to suffer martyrdom “after doing all that is humanly possible” to defend themselves by all legitimate means at their disposal.
Speaking with courage at a conference held in Beirut on “The Future of Eastern Christians”, the patriarch focused on the topic that will be at the centre of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops scheduled for October in the Vatican on “The Church in the Middle East, communion and witness”, in which he will play a prominent role.
After doing all that is possible for self-defence against the threats that hang over the community, Christians must accept the path set by history. “To flee history is to flee the will of God. History is where we meet God,” he said. This caused a stir among participants from the Iraqi community, one of whom spoke on behalf of Mosul Christians. However, these are the words of the Palestinian patriarch of Jerusalem, a man chosen by John Paul II, who fulfilled his duties as patriarch for 20 years (1988-2008) at the cost of a lot of suffering, bitterness and efforts.
“The future of Christians in our region is shaped by internal political and social factors in which religion exerts its own influence,” Mgr Sabbah said, “but also by a powerful external element, namely international politics, which does not take into account the presence of Christians in its plans for the region”. Undoubtedly, this is why Mgr Sabbah urged all of us, Arabs and Christians, to be active players in our history and free ourselves from the notion that “a ‘saviour’ will come from outside”.
In relation to “internal factors”, namely the sociological presence of Christians in our Middle East, practically everything has been said. Their communities bear the signs of the centuries that shaped their original features. Now, they must find new life, renew their heart, and rediscover themselves whilst forgetting another because the cleavage between the Church and the community is spiritual in nature.
The community is moved by the “flesh” and we know what that causes, a thirst for power that leads to greater thirst for more, discrimination that leads to greater discrimination, fanaticism that leads to greater fanaticism. Even proclaiming the Gospel can generate new fanaticism when it is used against at rather than in favour of another community.
For the patriarch, religion “comes across as one more barrier. It accumulates all the capacities of refusal and exclusion of others” when like others it gets involved in a “struggle for power”.
“Flesh” can be expressed in political but also cultural terms. Christians may have played an important role at the time of the Nahda in the 19th century, but a lot of time has gone by. Christian civilisation and modernity have a serious score to settle. The West that is extending its cultural hegemony over the world is not Christian. In fact, in some instances, it is openly anti-Christian, when it comes to values about life and morality.
The Arab world as we know it emerged after the World War One, Patriarch Sabbah said. “In fact, all of our states were born after the First World War. Politically, they are not yet a hundred years old.”
The break-up of the Ottoman Empire led to new ambitions and violence rather than new freedom. This is the way of history because the fall of an empire brings the promise of freedom to some peoples but is a curse to others, something Armenians and other Christian minorities living in the Turkish-speaking area know very well.
This is why some people do not subscribe to any philosophy of history or “historical reason” but instead see history as a chaotic flow in which the word progress must be nuanced a thousand times before it can be used; that is, banned a thousand times, used but once.
The Arab world was born out of an empire that was broken up, duped by its new masters acting as its protectors, tied to its tensions, fooled by its own determinisms that progressively undermined its aspirations for freedom.
All this suggests that the issue of Eastern Churches, which has emerged today, is rooted in the First World War. The future of the Church lies in a space caught between political Islam and the confrontation with the West, one that is losing touch with its Christian roots every day, but is still seen by Eastern “minds” through a mental framework inherited from the time of the Crusades.
“When we talk about the future of Christians, we are talking about all this,” Mgr Sabbah said. “It is not only about the growth of Islam, but it is about the confrontation between East and West, a confrontation that is mainly political in nature, but one that affects all other sectors, leaving us Christians and Muslims at the mercy of one political vision or adventure or another” or of other “permanent destabilising factors” like the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The Iranian Church will also be represented at the Synod, the patriarch said, with the same status as its sister Churches in the Arab world.
Similarly, “Christian survival and development in the Arab Middle East is also an issue for Arabs and Muslims,” Patriarch Sabbah said.
The authorities must also meet the challenge of Christian emigration whilst society must show its openness and that it can inspire tranquillity and stability.
In the meantime, Arab Christians are waiting for Arab Muslims to take a step towards them. Even though the situation is not the same everywhere, this is something urgent, just below the surface.
Lastly, Mgr Sabbah does not shy away from blaming “dialogue” and the public reassurances according to which “all is well” because “it is not about power”. For him, the issue is not about “Who dominates whom,” but about how “We can ensure equality.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia: New Diplomatic Area Coming to Jeddah
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MAY 11 — Saudi authorities are planning a modern area built to host all of the consular representations present in Jeddah, and will shortly launch a large infrastructure project for the building of a new diplomatic area on the seafront in the south of the city. The plans were announced by the general director of the Saudi Foreign Minister in the province of Makkah, Muhammad Tayeb, who gave an interview to the local newspaper Arab News, saying that the decision had been taken in order to make the lives of those living and working there “safer, easier and more pleasant”. The 65 diplomatic missions and the 30 consular seats present in Jeddah will be transferred to the new site, which will be very similar to the one built in Riyadh 30 years ago. Living quarters are also planned, for foreigners and Saudis alike, including cultural associations, gyms, games parks and other recreational structures. Works should get underway at the beginning of 2011, and be finished within two years. The final project, the result of collaboration between the local authorities in Jeddah and the Foreign Ministry, is not yet complete, but “once it is finished, it will be inaugurated by the city body during a special ceremony in which all the city’s diplomats will take part,” Tayeb added. According to the Saudi authorities, the project has been positively received by the diplomatic representations present in the city, not least considering that available space will be increased: every consular seat will be even 5,000 square metres, with extension depending on needs and staff present. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Syrian Exile Criticises International Community for Dropping Human Rights
The United States and the European Union want to involve Syria in the Mideast peace process and so are prepared to put aside human rights. However, Damascus continues to have close ties with Hizbollah and Iran and wants to play a role in curbing terrorism in Iraq. This way, it has successfully blackmailed the international community.
Beirut (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Maamoun Al Homsi, a former Syrian lawmaker and a leading Syrian opposition figure, said on Wednesday that the international community is turning a blind eye on Syria’s “worsening” human rights record in order to improve relations with its government.
Mr Homsi, who was jailed in 2001 for five years after demanding greater political freedom, told Reuters that the West is no longer putting pressure on Syria to make political reforms or release of political prisoners.
“It’s very surprising,” he said in the interview, “to see the minimum role the international community is playing. It is as if human rights in Syria is now a dropped issue.”
“The regime sentences us and it seems that the international community ratifies it. I think they [are focused] on mutual interests with the regime,” he said. “We are hurt, disappointed and depressed by the international community’s silence”.
In 2000, when Bashar el Assad succeeded his late father, he raised hopes that change might come to Syria. This was made more credible when he freed hundreds of political prisoners. However, the new president later cracked down on critics.
At that time, the international community was putting pressure on Syria to become more democratic. Today, according to Homsi, everyone is concerned about terrorism and security and is willing to deal with Damascus at any price.
Yet, Syria continues to be friendly with Hizbollah in Lebanon and Iran, whilst stressing the role it can play in ending terrorism in Iraq. This way, it can “blackmail the international community and impose its demands.”
Five years ago, Syria was suspected in the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and came under intense criticism from the international community.
Now the United States and the European Union are trying to bring it into the Mideast peace process, reopening their embassies in Damascus.
The net result is that since the West began its rapprochement with Syria, few diplomats are willing to hear requests from Syria’s opposition calling for improved human rights in Syria.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The U.S. Government Knows That Iran Helps Al-Qaida But Does Nothing About it
by Barry Rubin
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Here’s a story that should mark the pivotal moment in U.S. foreign policy. It should be on the lips of every White House and State Department official. It should fundamentally transform the nature of Obama Administration foreign policy.
It’s that important. But it isn’t that new. The basic information here was supplied almost two months ago and covered by me HERE. Yet in all that time, since General Petraeus publicly revealed this fact, there has not been one word or action that indicates the Obama Administration is responding. Indeed, a new article reveals that President Obama has known about this increased cooperation since shortly after he took office.
So what is this big development? Hard data showing that Iran has been helping al-Qaida. You remember al-Qaida, the group that staged the September 11 and many other attacks against Americans which have killed more than 3,000 of them. It is the only group in the world with which the current U.S. government sees itself at war.
Now in a detailed report, drawing on interviews with U.S. officials, Associated Press documents this relationship. Tehran is responding, in part, to U.S. pressure over the nuclear weapons’ program. The message from Iran is: If you annoy us we can hurt you bad.
Al-Qaida fundraisers and the planners of terrorist attacks have been using Iran as a safe haven. Of course, Iranian officials monitor them closely and know precisely what they are doing. What do you think they are working on? Obviously, planning attacks to kill Americans.
According to AP:…
| — Hat tip: Barry Rubin | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Biometric Passports to Take Effect in June
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MAY 11 — Biometric passports would take effect in Turkey on June 1, Anatolia news agency reports quoting the Turkish Foreign Ministry as saying on Tuesday. Turkish citizens who are willing to get new biometric passports, prepared in international standards, will start getting appointment from the Police Department on May 23. To prevent any problems, new passports will be posted to citizens. Turkey’s consulates will give passports to citizens living abroad. The regular passports will be red, diplomatic passports will be black and special passports will continue to be green in this new system. Around 5 million people actually have passports in Turkey, and almost 2.3 million Turkish passports are renewed or their terms are extended in Turkey and in Turkey’s foreign representations every year. New passports will be valid only for the term written on it, and they will not be extended. The police departments will continue to extend terms of old passports till the end of this year, but will stop extending passports in 2011. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Dervishes Perform in Palermo Square
(ANSAmed) — PALERMO, MAY 14 — A religious rite which has been perpetuated for 800 years in Mediterranean countries and which, through music and dance, enables the attainment of particular interior states defined ‘ecstasy’. In Palermo, a performance by the Tasa Vuff Muzigi Ve Sema, a Sufi confraternity (Islamic mystics) from Konya, in Turkey, considered a sort of exemplar of Islamic culture by the Turkish Ministry of Culture. The event was organised within the ambit of the International Conference, ‘Mediterranean: door to the Orient’, organised by Rome Mediterranean Foundation. San Domenico Square in Palermo was transformed into an open-air stage and gave life to this religious ceremony centred on the ‘sama’, that is, listening. Among the audience and onlookers, also some exponents from the Sufi confraternity present in Palermo and the Sufi musical ensemble ‘Siqilia’. Dervishes or Islamic mystics, wearing a white tunic and a tall headdress, rotated around their leader until they attained a spiritual ecstasy. The music, growing ever more rhythmic, was dominated by the ney, a vertical flute.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Railways for High Speed in Saudi Arabia
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MAY 11 — The General Management of the Turkish railways, which has opened a series of large projects for high speed rail in the country, is carrying out feasibility studies in Saudi Arabia for a high speed link between the cities of Medina and Mecca. A delegation of representatives from TCDD has recently visited Saudi Arabia after a call for tenders was launched by Saudi Arabia for the railway’s construction, putting into service, maintenance and repair works. The delegation was led by the director general, Suleyman Karaman. The deadline for tenders is July 3, 2010. According to Saudi sources, the TCDD is part of a consortium with Chinese China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corporation Limited (CSR), German Siemens and Saudi Bin Laden, which will present a joint offer. Given the geographical structure of the territory, the 450km of railway line will be able to be travelled on at a speed of 360km per hour. The line should be operational from 2012. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesian Police Foil Mumbai-Style Plot
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police announced Friday they had uncovered and foiled a plot to assassinate the president and other top officials, massacre foreigners in Mumbai-style attacks and declare an Islamic state.
The attackers planned to launch their assault during this year’s Independence Day ceremony to be attended Aug. 17 by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the country’s top dignitaries, national police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri told reporters.
The plot also included taking over hotels and killing foreigners, especially Americans, in violence that would have been reminiscent of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, he said. The plot was revealed during interrogations of dozens of suspects arrested since a February raid on a terrorist training camp in the western province of Aceh, Gen. Danuri said.
“They were confident that all state officials and dignitaries would be there,” Gen. Danuri said. “Killing all the state officials would have accelerated the transition from a democracy to a state controlled by Islamic Shariah law.”
Some of the newest information on the plot came from a series of raids this week on militant hideouts in and around the capital that yielded 20 arrests as well as a supply of assault rifles, ammunition, telescopes and jihadist literature. Five suspected militants were killed in those raids.
Most of those arrested were believed to have trained at the Aceh camp, run by a group called al Qaeda in Aceh, a new splinter of the Southeast Asia terror network Jemaah Islamiyah.
“If we had not detected them and their military training had been successful, then they would have assassinated foreigners … as well as police and military posts in Aceh,” Gen. Danuri said.
“Their plan was also to launch attacks in Jakarta against foreigners — especially Americans — and attack and control hotels within certain communities, imitating what happened in Mumbai,” he said.
In November 2008, a group of young Pakistanis attacked luxury hotels, a Jewish center and a busy train station in India’s financial capital, claiming the lives of 166 people.
Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, stipulates religious freedom in its constitution. The country has been engaged in a long battle against militant extremist groups.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Muslim Lender Forces Christian to Sell Kidney
5 ‘armed men’ accompany debtor to hospital
A Pakistani Christian who borrowed money from his Muslim employer — at 400 percent interest — to send his daughter to college has been forced by the lender to sell a kidney to repay a portion of the debt
The report today by Compass Direct said John Gill, a machine operator at Shah Plastics in the Youhanabad area of Lahore, Pakistan, was taken to Ganga Ram hospital by “five armed men” and forced to sell a kidney against his will.
Gill borrowed 150,000 rupees, or about $1,760, from his employer, Ghulam Mustafa, in 2007. Compass Direct said Mstafa confirmed he took over Gill’s home last week after giving the Christian two weeks to pay off the interest.
Mustafa came to Gill’s home with about five armed men and transported him to Ganga Ram hospital, the Compass report said.
The sale generated about 200,000 rupees, or $2,350, leaving the remaining debt at about 250,000 rupees, or $2,945, Gill reported.
The money is due next month.
Mustafa told Compass Direct the debt was figured with a 400 percent interest rate.
“I only offer 50 percent interest to Muslim employees,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The US Military’s New Chicken Heart Medal for Naïve Restraint
A proposal for a new “combat” medal honoring “courageous restraint” is being floated around the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, Afghanistan. The brain child of British Major General Nick Carter, commander for the Regional Command South of the ISAF, will be awarded to service members who hold their fire to save civilian lives, even if their lives or the lives of their comrades are at risk.
The new medal is being touted as a way to prevent civilian casualties. Now let this sink in: Brother O’s politically correct military is actually proposing a combat medal for soldiers who make a conscious effort to avoid a combat action.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
China: The ‘Long March’ Of China’s Oil Companies
Just ten years ago, Chinese state oil companies were seen as neophytes at the game of acquisitions and mergers. After suffering a few losses, they have become major players.
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) — After a decade of setbacks and humiliating failures, Chinese oil companies have become major players in the global energy business. In lieu of frontal attacks to buy up assets, they have successfully learnt that it is best to get a seat on boards of directors around the world.
Analysts note that China’s three state oil companies—China National Petroleum Corp (PetroChina), China Petrochemical Corp (SINOPEC) and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) —have made giant strides. They have larger, more sophisticated mergers and acquisitions departments staffed with lawyers, engineers and country-specific experts, many of whom are bilingual. They are more diligent and have streamlined their bureaucracy to make decisions quickly.
In general, they avoid bottom fishing (taking majority control) in favour of only partial stakes to avoid political repercussions, such as charges of throwing their weight around, which tends to cause nationalist reactions in countries whose assets they want to buy.
A case in point was CNOOC’s failure to buy Unocal Corp in 2005 for US$ 18.5 billion because of stiff opposition from US politicians.
Since then, Chinese oil executives have learnt their lesson and have successfully bought non-controlling stakes in assets in Nigeria and Argentina worth US$ 5.8 billion.
Facing heightened protectionism in the wake of the global financial crisis, CNOOC chairman Fu Chengyu said the company would rather pursue “cooperation that results in win-win situations” than outright takeovers.”
“There has been this opinion in the mainland media, that Chinese companies should go out and bottom-fish in the wake of the global financial crisis,” Fu said. “But in acquisitions, the key is not how cheap an asset is, but whether as an acquirer we can add value to the asset. We shouldn’t be buying simply because it’s cheap.”
A recent survey of 110 mainland executives by the Economist Intelligence Unit suggests the country’s business leaders should listen to his counsel. About 82 per cent of respondents cited a lack of management expertise in handling outbound investments as the biggest challenge facing their overseas acquisition ambition. Only 39 per cent felt they know what is required to integrate a foreign acquisition.
The exception is the oil business. Chinese oil companies have gained experience and learnt the rules of the game. China Petrochemical last month offered US major ConocoPhillips US$4.65 billion for a 9 per cent stake in Canadian oil sands project operator Syncrude.
Analysts noted the price was 25 per cent higher than the market value of Syncrude’s largest shareholder, Canadian Oil Sands, whose primary asset is the Syncrude stake, but for Zhang Xiuping, Deutsche Bank’s head of China mergers and acquisitions, the deal was not expensive, given the rarity of a significant Syncrude stake being offered for sale.
However, the Chinese are not the only players. Asian companies lead the pack with companies from India and especially South Korea, whose companies have become a formidable force after having done acquisitions valued in excess of US$ 3 billion in the past few years.
Europe is not out of picture either. In March, Britain’s BP surprised the market by striking a US$ 7 billion deal for Devon Energy’s international assets.
Overall, deals this year totalled US$ 8.2 billion up to 13 April, compared with US$15.79 billion for all of last year.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key Roasted Over Cannibalism Joke
NEW Zealand Prime Minister John Key found himself in hot water today after joking about an indigenous tribe eating him for dinner.
Mr Key has been at loggerheads with a Maori tribe, the Tuhoe, over negotiations to settle their grievances over land confiscations by European settlers in the 19th century. During a speech to a tourism conference, Mr Key joked about having dinner with the neighbouring Ngati Porou tribe, or iwi.
“The good news is that I was having dinner with Ngati Porou as opposed to their neighbouring iwi which is Tuhoe, in which case I would have been dinner, which wouldn’t have been quite so attractive,” Mr Key said.
A settlement negotiator with the Tuhoe tribe, Tamati Kruger, told Radio New Zealand the joke was in poor taste.
“I’m just astounded that the Prime Minister can make light of what we regard as a very, very serious situation (over the negotiations),” Mr Kruger said.
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“I don’t think it’s becoming at all of a Prime Minister.”
An MP for the Maori Party, which supports Mr Key’s Government and has two leaders serving as Government ministers, said the joke was unfortunate.
“Well the first thing to say is, it’s probably correct, and the second thing is it’s probably not wise in the current climate,” said Te Ururoa Flavell.
Cannibalism remains a sensitive subject in New Zealand, where Maori warriors sometimes ate their defeated enemies until the practice died out in the mid-19th century, according to historians.
| — Hat tip: DK | [Return to headlines] |
Tom Tancredo: Media Ignore Violence From the Left
Judging by the reports on MSNBC and in the New York Times, the May Day rallies for amnesty looked like Fourth of July picnics. The anti-American and anti-law enforcement violence common in those protests was ignored.
Since 2006, when the pro-amnesty demonstrations were filled with Mexican flags and signs advocating “Reconquista,” organizers of these “immigrant rights” protests began to hand out American flags for the cameras. But there were plenty of Mexican flags this time around.
In addition to ignoring the Mexican flags and anti-American placards this May Day, the national media also ignored multiple instances of violence by open-borders advocates.
In San Francisco, three anti-amnesty counter-protesters were sent to the hospital by violent left-wing extremists. The San Francisco ABC affiliate reported:
“Three people were attacked and at least two others were arrested. The people assaulted were part of the Minutemen demonstration, a group in favor of Arizona’s new immigration law. … “They said we were racists, and we were against them, and against their town, and against San Francisco,” said Parker Wilson with the Bay Area National Anarchists.”
The attackers used brass knuckles and mace, giving one of the anti-amnesty protesters a concussion. A police officer witnessed the entire incident, and the leftists were charged with felonious assault.
Outside of the local ABC report and a few stories in a minor San Francisco weekly, no national news outlet or even the major local newspapers bothered to report on this violent politically based hate crime.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sick Businessman Lodges Physical Abuse Complaint Against Ryanair
Rome man suffers from myeloma. Police intervened. “They broke my shoulder”. Civil aviation authority inquiry. Ryanair says company policy was adhered to
MILAN — A man suffering from multiple myeloma claims he was physically abused, and his shoulder broken, on Monday’s Ryanair flight FR9186 from Girona to Rome. The low-cost operator counters that he failed to comply with the instructions given by the crew for his own safety.
GUARANTEED ASSISTANCE — But let’s start at the beginning. Rome-based businessman Angelo Pietrolucci, 57, suffers from multiple myeloma, a painful tumour that progressively weakens the bones until they fracture. He had asked Ryanair for assistance with boarding. “The flight was an hour late and the assistant left me in the waiting area. In the meantime, boarding had started and when the assistant turned up to accompany me on board, the other passengers had been on the plane for a quarter of an hour The front rows were occupied so I sat in row three. But they told me I had to move to the second-last row, number thirty-two”. Angelo Pietrolucci, who was travelling with his wife and grandson, says that he went to row thirty-two very slowly because of his physical condition. And he was complaining. “They might have taken me to the rear entrance. After all, thirty-two is one row from the back”.
A ROW ISSUE — Ryanair maintains that any delay in assistance is not the point at issue. Quite the reverse. The company insists that row thirty-two was the right choice. “Angelo Pietrolucci booked assistance for reduced-mobility passengers, who are assigned seats near the exits”, explained Stephen McNamara, Ryanair’s communications officer in reply to Corriere.it’s email. Despite what Mr Pietrolucci claims, the first rows are not the ones that ensure the safety of passengers requiring assistance, says the airline.
PERSONA NON GRATA — Mr Pietrolucci says that he went to the seat indicated. “When I got to row thirty-two, I was asked to disembark. They said I was a ‘persona non grata’. I asked the cabin crew what the reason was and they said they didn’t know. ‘The aircraft is the captain’s territory and he gives the orders’. They also told me that if I refused to disembark, they would call the police, and the police duly arrived. Three officers told me to leave the plane. If I refused, they were going to handcuff me. And they showed me their handcuffs as they said it. When I ‘passively resisted’, one officer yanked my arm, just where I was operated recently. On landing in Rome, I went to accident and emergency, where they diagnosed a fractured humerus”.
THE AIRLINE — The airline maintains that Mr Pietrolucci and his party refused to sit in the seats assigned when asked to do so by the crew. They were warned that the airport police would be called in should they refuse to comply with the safety instructions. They did refuse, says Ryanair, and the Spanish police was invited onto the aircraft to make the group leave the aircraft. We asked Ryanair what actually happened. Mr McNamara replied that the three assured the police officers that they would comply with the crew’s safety instructions and on that basis, the police allowed them to travel. Mr McNamara said there were no further problems during the two hour fifteen minute flight and none of the passengers complained of pain or discomfort. With regard to the alleged physical abuse and fracture, Mr McNamara said that at no time were Ryanair cabin personnel made aware of, nor did they note, any discomfort on the part of this passenger as a result of the altercation with the Spanish police. He denied any physical contact between the three passengers and cabin crew, adding that Ryanair instructs staff to call the airport police to deal with passengers who become offensive or refuse to follow safety instructions. Mr McNamara said the policy was applied in this case. It was only when the aircraft landed at Rome Ciampino that the passenger requested medical attention, which Ryanair staff requested from the airport. Mr McNamara concluded by expressing Ryanair’s regret that the issue with the group had caused a two-hour delay for the 150 passengers on the plane.
WITNESSES — Angelo Pietrolucci’s response was vehement: “The passengers protested and shouted at the police to leave me alone. Many of them gave me their names and details so they could back up my version”, says Mr Pietrolucci, who is currently being treated with stem cells under the distinguished Professor Franco Mandelli. “It’s not just the broken shoulder. It’s the consequences”.
ENAC INQUIRY — In the meantime, the civil aviation authority, ENAC, has set up an inquiry. ENAC’s president, Vito Riggio, has asked the director general, Alessio Quaranta, to take appropriate action to establish precisely what happened on the aircraft to the seriously ill passenger Angelo Pietrolucci, announced ENAC in a communiqué, which adds that ENAC is keen to see the results of the inquiry as soon as possible.
Luisa Pronzato
English translation by Giles Watson
www.watson.it
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
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