G20: Summit in Paris. Focus on Shadow Finance, Raw Materials
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, FEBRUARY 18 — This evening the financial summit of G20 countries will be officially opened, the first under French presidency. The summit aims for a first consensus on some economic stability problems, like the shadow banking system, the situation of raw materials and exchange rates. The Finance Ministers and central bank governors of the world’s main economic powers are expected in the French capital. They will be welcomed with an official dinner at the Elysée by President Nicolas Sarkozy. Seminars and high-level meetings started yesterday however, while the delegations’ ‘sherpas’ are already working to prepare the final statement. The meeting of emerging countries will be held this afternoon.
This morning a seminar has been scheduled behind closed doors (with a section that is open to the press this afternoon), attended by the main central bankers of Germany, the United States, Japan and China. Italy is represented by Mario Draghi in a double role as governor and ECB chairman. Yesterday Draghi, who is gaining support to become the next ECB president, held a speech in which he underlined the approaching challenges to the stability of the financial system, including the problem of banks that are “too large to go bankrupt”, whose public rescue has given rise to moral risk, and the shadow banking system, which escapes any form of regulation and represents a source of potential risk.
These two new issues have been put high on the G20’s agenda as well as the unbalances of the monetary system, raw materials and regulation. Yesterday Draghi issued a warning, quoting the current chairman of the ECB Trichet, that the “democracies would not accept” a new crisis. He revealed that the money “of taxpayers should not be used in case of future crisis”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Faces Up to a Greek ‘Restructuring’
So-called “euro-bonds” would be “politically unrealistic and legally impossible”, the German minister for Europe told reporters yesterday. Werner Hoyer cited the forthcoming judgment of the German constitutional court on last May’s bailout of Greece as one reason why Germany would have to proceed with “caution” as the EU framed new rescue strategies.
Speaking at the German Embassy in London, Mr Hoyer said there had been “no agreement” as yet on the size of any future bailout fund and that “restructuring” of its sovereign debt remained an option for Greece. However, he also heaped praise on the efforts of George Papandreou, the Greek Prime Minister, to secure public finances and force through unpopular austerity measures.
Mr Hoyer was asked if the eurozone’s governments had not fallen behind events again, as Portugal faced renewed pressure in financial markets. He indicated that the lessons of the past year — when Greece and Ireland both had to be rescued to the tune of almost €200bn — suggested that it was much more important to get an agreement right than to get one early.
Mr Hoyer, a Free Democrat member of the ruling coalition, acknowledged that there had been a decline in pro-European sentiment within Germany as a result of the financial burdens placed upon it by successive sovereign debt crises. But he focused on the constitutional court judgment as the key factor preventing Berlin from backing bonds issued collectively by the eurozone — or anything that resembled what he called a “liability union”.
In December the finance ministers of Luxembourg and Italy, Jean-Claude Juncker and Giulio Tremonti — the former being chair of the eurozone group of finance minister — called for such bonds to be issued to reassure financial markets nervous about individual nations falling into default.
The acceptability of the euro, Mr Hoyer indicated, had been damaged by the outgoing president of the Bundesbank, Axel Weber, no longer being a candidate to succeed Jean-Claude Trichet as head of the European Central Bank. Mr Weber would have been the “personal embodiment” of financial stability for many Germans, Mr Hoyer said.
Europe’s finance ministers met on Monday and agreed to set up a new European Stability Mechanism, with bailout funds of €500bn for future rescues, after the present arrangement ends in 2013, but postponed a decision on where the money will come from. The present European Financial Stability facility, a temporary rescue system, has a fund of €440bn.
Many commentators believe that the current joint IMF/EU fund is unequal to the task of rescuing a large state such as Spain. Yet the German government is still holding to the line that the funding has not been agreed.
Berlin also seems determined to avoid having to underwrite the debts of other eurozone members, and Mr Hoyer’s resistance puts his government at odds with others, such as Italy and Luxembourg.
While he acknowledged that the EU could not allow “salami attacks” to erode the strength of the single currency, Mr Hoyer placed much more emphasis on the new Franco- German-designed “competitiveness pact”, aimed at addressing fundamental imbalances.
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Construction Firms in Trouble
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, FEBRUARY 18 — Greek construction firms are close to their collapse due to the State’s insolvency which, according to the association of construction companies (Sate), totals 1.8 billion euros. The current situation, Sate claims, could lead healthy companies to bankruptcy and could put important projects on halt. It also risks the loss of more jobs in the sector, at a moment when already a quarter of all workers are unemployed. In a letter sent to Development Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis, Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou and Infrastructure Minister Dimitris Reppas, the association of Greek construction companies asks for immediate government intervention to support the sector and avoid catastrophic consequences.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Hotels Prices Down 7% in February
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, FEBRUARY 18 — Athens’ hotel room prices remained stable in February, with the average price for an overnight stay in a standard double room at 85 euros, down from an average rate of 107 euros in European capitals, a survey by www.trivago.gr showed on Thursday. As ANA reports, Greek hotel prices were down 7.0% in February, compared with the same month last year, while hotel prices in Cyprus were unchanged over the same period. Nurnberg (+51%) recorded a significant increase in hotel prices because of an international toy fair in the city. UK cities such as Edinburgh (+20%), Birmingham (+14%) and Manchester (+9%) also recorded increases in February.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Ships Could Soon Avoid Small Greek Islands
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, FEBRUARY 17 — March is fast approaching and remote Greek islands may well find themselves without a ferry service unless the current mist over their coastal shipping link lifts, daily Kathimerini reports. The four-month extension to the routes from last year, given in November due to the non-completion of tenders, will expire at the end of this month. Coastal shipping companies appear reluctant to undertake the so-called “unpopular” routes to islands in the Aegean Sea with little demand, arguing that state subsidies will have to increase as fuel prices have risen by 35% compared to 2010.
Industry sources suggest that some 120 million euros will be required for 2011 subsidies to the industry, against a budget provision for just 91.2 million euros by the Maritime Affairs Ministry. The Coastal Shipping Transport Council met Tuesday with company representatives demanding the reactivation of the Coastal Shipping Transport Account that was abolished four years ago. The account subsidized companies rapidly, helping them cover their everyday needs, while payment today is delayed by about six to eight months, with smaller shippers struggling to survive.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: New Rumasa Towards Crack, 5,000 Investors at Risk
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, FEBRUARY 18 — Four months to renegotiate debt amounting to 700 million euros, and should it fail to do so the Nueva Rumasa group will go bankrupt, 28 years after the bankruptcy and seizure of the old holding company. It is about to collapse, destroying the savings of thousands of investors and thousands of jobs, is the industrial empire which since 1986 has been the property of José Maria Ruiz-Mateos, specialised in a growth strategy based on the purchase of companies during times of crisis, as was the case for the brands Clesa, Cacaolat Ryalcao and the forest agriculture company purchased in 2007 from Parmalat for 188 million euros. Yesterday the 80-year-old patriarch of the Ruiz-Mateos family announced a preliminary creditor settlement, the step taken before interrupting payments, involving the 10 largest companies of the holding which incorporates approximately 100 companies and employs some 10,000 workers. In effects the Royal Bank of Scotland demanded payment of its debt worth 36 million euros, and asked for the seizure of assets; the same behaviour was followed by the Social security treasury. The crisis harshly affected the holding even though more than 5,000 investors endorsed Nueva Rumasa bonds and shares worth dozens of million of euros, ignoring seven warnings issued by the National stock market commission concerning the hazards of the investment.
During a press conference reported today by the media in which he appeared in the company of his six sons but none of his seven daughters, José Maria Ruiz-Mateos claimed that he was the victim “of a beastly campaign created by the banks and the media” against his person, as already occurred on 23 February 1983. The president of the holding company assured that “If I wasn’t capable of returning up to the last cent to our investors, to the people who trusted in us handing over their savings, and if I had no faith, I’d shoot myself in the head”. In 2008 Nueva Rumasa took advantage of assets being sold by US multinational company Kraft to purchase the Apis and Fruco brands; in 2009 it purchased the H10 group, the Tranchettes, Santé and Quesillettes brands, in addition to Carnicas Olibentinas.
Nueva Rumasa decided to launch its bond programme, offering annual interest rates up to 12%, on 23 January 2009, anniversary of the day when Rumasa was seized by the government then led by Felipe Gonzales because of a deficit amounting to more than 111 million pesetas. Yesterday José Maria Ruiz-Mateo insisted non the fact that the group will repay the money to the savers. Earlier he had posted on his website that he had ‘rigorously’ paid out all interest due since February 2009, when he launched his bond operation. Since then, according to sources quoted by the media, Nueva Rumasa drained 140 million euros, used to “break forward” and purchase new empty shells while the crisis strangled business and made banks cut off credit.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Labour’s Crazy Town Hall ‘Non-Jobs’, Including the Walking Co-Ordinator on £32,000-a-Year and the Roller Disco Coach
Town hall jobs hit nearly 3million under Labour amid a shocking explosion in non-jobs, official figures reveal.
The recruitment bonanza saw local authorities keep on hiring even through the recession.
Further figures show that almost 750,000 council workers — one in four — is not employed to deliver a frontline service such as roles in education, social services or bin collections.
Instead, an analysis reveals an explosion in ‘non-jobs’, positions that do not seem to have any noticeable effect on families’ lives.
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Sen. Yee Harpoons Shark Fin Bill
The mayoral candidate backs Chinese cultural practices over environmental goals to protect sharks from destructive harvesting
Yee, who announced his mayoral candidacy last November, held a press conference Monday in San Francisco’s Chinatown to denounce new state legislation that would ban the sale of shark fin. Yee has recently battled on behalf of Chinese-Americans to allow live animals to be imported into California for sale in markets and to allow noodles to be served at room temperature. “It seems that there are more and more examples where individuals or groups of individuals are trying to limit our heritage and our culture,” Yee, flanked by supportive restaurateurs and chefs, told reporters before evoking memories of racism against Chinese-Americans.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Texas Rep. Removes Blog Post With Article Critical of Islam
In the wake of the Fort Hood shootings in November 2009, state Rep. Gary Elkins (R-Houston) posted on his blog a commentary by Christian eschatologist Hal Lindsey, who disputed the label of Islam as a “religion of peace,” writing that “Islam’s own foundational books and its history show conclusively that is not true.” The post remained on the front page of Elkins’ blog until today, when he removed it after the Texas Independent relayed concerns from a Muslim civil liberties group.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for a Texas representative, who is supposed to be a representative of the people, to have things like that up on his blog,” said Mustafa Carroll, executive director for the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “He’s not saying things just as an individual. He’s saying things as a representative of a whole community, a whole group of individuals.”
Elkins, who hadn’t added to his blog since posting Lindsey’s article Nov. 11, 2009, said in an interview today that he didn’t place much importance on the post and didn’t think its content was relevant to current pressing legislative issues, such as the state budget. He said he hadn’t read the commentary since posting it, and had deleted it without re-reading it.
“I don’t post that much. I guess I thought it might be interesting for people to find out what was going on,” Elkins said.
Lindsey’s 2009 article is still available on his website The Hal Lindsey Report. Here is a screenshot of the article posted on Elkins’ blog, the stated purpose of which “is to inform the constituents of District 135 about events and legislation moving at the State Capitol.”
In the article by Lindsey — a best-selling author and professional predictor of impending Biblical Rapture — he argues that commands in holy text to spread Islam through violence override other messages of peace.
“Since every verse of the Koran is held to be absolutely infallible and binding upon the faithful, it presents a real problem. The ‘war verses’ not only over-ride the peaceful verses of the early Meccan ‘revelations,’ they contradict them,” writes Lindsey, a Houston native who studied at Dallas Theological Seminary.
Saying he didn’t remember the exact content of Lindsey’s commentary, Elkins said, “At the time I must have agreed with it, or I wouldn’t have posted it.”
Comparing selections from the New Testament to selections from the Quran, Lindsey writes, “What a contrast, Christians are to proclaim and plead with people to receive the gift of pardon the Lord Jesus Christ died in their place to purchase for them. Muslims are commanded to bring the world into submission to Allah at the point of a sword.”…
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Sneak Attack on America
…And yet, the Muslim Brotherhood — while preparing for an ever-larger role not only in Egypt but throughout the Middle East — is also making major inroads, through its many proxies, right here in America.
And it is doing so by employing the exact same dual strategy the left has successfully employed for decades to transform America.
Whether it’s Marxism or Shariah Islam, efforts to transform America always seem to involve two fronts. And though we generally win the overt, intimidating, threatening battles, we always lose the covert, seductive, “peaceful” battles — and thus we lose the war.
To understand how Islam has made such remarkable inroads into Europe and the U.K., and how the same fate awaits America if we don’t wake up, let’s get our bearings by taking a quick trip back to pre-transformation, “normal” America.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Belgians ‘Celebrate’ 249 Days of Indecision
With a mixture of anger and self-mockery, Belgium yesterday claimed a new world record for political failure.
Eight months after last June’s elections, the country’s linguistically-divided political parties have been unable to agree on a coalition government or a programme for constitutional reform. Whether 249 days of a caretaker government is actually a world record is open to dispute, but young Belgians have decided to celebrate it anyway.
The mocking celebrations, organised by text message, Facebook and Twitter, span the linguistic, economic and cultural frontier. They have been interpreted by some commentators as an implicit, or explicit “vote for Belgium” and as a rejection of calls for a separation of the prosperous, Dutch-speaking north from the depressed, but recovering, Francophone south.
In the medium term, however, the protests are unlikely to disturb the circular political logic of a country which is no longer able to live together but is also incapable of falling apart.
In Dutch-speaking Leuven yesterday, a long queue of students, from both communities, took part in a “chips revolution”. They assembled in the town square to claim a free portion of a national dish which is loved on both sides of the cultural divide. In French-speaking Louvain-la-Neuve, another Belgian gastronomic speciality, free beer, was on offer.
In Ghent this weekend, 249 young people — one for each day without government — will strip naked as part of an open-air dance to congratulate “our wonderful politicians” on breaking the world record.
The existence of an arty-intellectual, urban, young, Belgian-minded elite, straddling the linguistic communities, is not new. The emergence of a network of pro-Belgian protesters, linked by the new media, is unprecedented.
Simon Vandereecken, 23, has a Flemish surname and a French Christian name. His family, and his friends, are scattered on both sides of Belgium’s linguistic and cultural divide.
“OK, we may be an invented country, and a bizarre country, but Belgium does stand for something,” he said. “At our best, we represent a willingness to accept cultural differences, a wry tolerance, a capacity to make fun of ourselves, to overcome antagonisms and to live together.”
Mr Vandereecken is a graphic artist sharing a small flat in Brussels. Last month, he and a half dozen other young people — Flemings and Francophones — organised the first online rebellion against the political impasse. Their “shame march” through Brussels attracted 35,000 people, divided roughly equally between Belgium’s two “linguistic sexes”.
Moderate politicians and commentators on both sides have been encouraged by the protests. They point out, however, that separatist feeling amongst middle-class, suburban Flemings, continues to grow.
So much of the daily business of Belgian government has already been devolved that the absence of a national administration is awkward but not calamitous. The budget deficit last year was lower than forecast because there was no government to make spending plans.
The country is loosely strung together by its debts, its monarchy and it football team. It is bolted together by the insoluble conundrum of Brussels, a largely French-speaking city which is the capital of Europe and the capital of Belgium but also, according to Flemish history, the capital of Flanders…
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Bloodthirsty Brits First to Drink From Ancient Skulls
Had you attended a dinner party 15 millennia years ago, you might have been served blood in a cup like this — constructed from a human skull. At 14,700 years old, it is one of the earliest known examples of human skull-cups in the world. Along with other human bones, the macabre cups were discovered by palaeoanthropologists at Gough’s Cave in Somerset, UK. Analysis of marks on the three skull-cups has revealed some of the steps in the manufacture process. “The cut-marks and dents show how the heads were scrupulously cleaned of any soft tissues shortly after death,” says Silvio Bello from London’s Natural History Museum. Later, the face bones and the base of the skull would have been removed, before the cranial vaults were meticulously shaped into cups by retouching broken edges. “All in all,” says Bello, “it was a very painstaking process given the tools available.” While there is historical documentation of the use of human skulls as drinking cups and food containers, archaeological examples of them are extremely rare.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: Champagne Exports Growing Again
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, FEBRUARY 15 — After two years of crisis, the export of wine and other alcoholic beverages from France rose again in 2010, increasing by 18% to 9.1 billion euros.
The most significant contribution to the recovery came from champagne, for which exports came close to 2 billion euros, followed by cognac, with 1.85 billion, and Bordeaux wine, with 1.5 billion. In geographical terms, the revival occurred especially in the United States and in Asia, while there was a more timid recovery in Europe. The wine and alcohol sector has now reached a positive import-export balance of 7.9 billion euros, putting it in second place in France for the contribution to the balance of payments, ahead of chemistry and perfume but behind aviation.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
French Far-Right Sees Boost From Planned Islam Debate
France’s far-right National Front said on Friday that a planned national debate on Islam and secularism would boost its support and improve its chances in the presidential election next year.
Party leader Marine Le Pen, who took over last month from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, mocked the planned debate as a new opinion poll showed she could score a strong 20 percent in the first round of the presidential vote.
President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government wants the debate, due in April, to discuss whether France’s five-million-strong Muslim minority supports the official separation of church and state.
Le Pen said it could end up backfiring on Sarkozy and his ally Jean-Francois Cope, the UMP party leader who announced on Wednesday that the debate would start in April.
“The last time (Sarkozy) used that, there was a debate about national identity and the National Front scored 15 percent in the regional elections,” she told France Info radio.
“So keep it up, Mr Cope — a little debate here, a little blah-blah about Islam and secularism there, and I think we’ll end up winning 25 percent in the presidential election.”
Critics said Sarkozy’s government-sponsored debate on national identity in 2009-2010, which led to a ban on full face veils in public, turned into a public forum to air complaints about Muslims and make the minority feel stigmatised.
Defence Minister Alain Juppe, a senior Sarkozy ally, also warned about a debate. “We have to steer and master this debate, because it can get out of hand,” he told the daily Le Figaro.
ANOTHER LE PEN SHOCK?
The Ifop poll published on Friday showed Le Pen could win 20 percent in the first round, which would put her in third place behind Sarkozy but in striking distance of Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry, the main opposition candidate.
Jean-Marie Le Pen shocked France by besting Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in the first round in 2002. He went on to challenge President Jacques Chirac in the run-off but lost.
Le Pen said the Islam debate would “come up with solutions that are the opposite of what the French want.
“They will propose public financing of mosques, a change in the law separating church and state, a foundation to allow Muslims to finance mosques while not paying taxes … I think this is exactly what the French don’t want.”
On Thursday, a government minister suggested changing the 1905 law on secularism to allow public financing of mosques, but government spokesman Francois Baroin promptly slapped that down…
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
French Journalist Convicted on Racism Charge Over Drug Dealer Comment
The controversial French journalist Éric Zemmour has been found guilty of incitement to racial hatred after telling a TV chatshow that drug dealers were mostly “blacks and Arabs”.
The Paris trial sparked a fierce debate over freedom of speech and the extent of France’s racism problem, which is poisoning the republican ideal that all citizens are equal regardless of colour.
Zemmour, a well-known media commentator and columnist for Le Figaro, prides himself on his outspoken defiance of what he deems political correct, woolly liberals.
He appeared on a chatshow last year when the debate turned to the question of the French police’s excessive use of stop and search powers against minorities. He said: “But why are they stopped 17 times? Why? Because most dealers are blacks and Arabs. That’s a fact.”
According to the French model, where everyone is theoretically equal under a state blind to race or religion, it is illegal to count ethnic minorities or race statistics. So there are no figures on the ethnic identity of criminals.
Zemmour was also fined for telling another TV channel that employers “had a right” to turn down black or Arab candidates. Job discrimination over race and ethnicity is thought to be widespread in France.
Zemmour, whose parents were Jewish Berbers who emigrated from Algeria in the 1950s, told the court he was not a “provocateur” but a faithful observer of reality who refused political correctness. He was backed by several centre-right politicians and some on the left.
The state prosecutor accused him of using the “old stereotype that linked immigration to crime”.
The Zemmour case has reflected an increasingly uneasy debate over immigration in France as Nicolas Sarkozy tries to win over the far-right vote before his difficult re-election battle next year.
The Front National, led by its new, young, female face, Marine Le Pen, is scoring its highest ever ratings in the polls after exploiting mistrust of Islam by criticising Muslim street prayers and halal-only restaurants.
After what was attacked as a disastrous national debate on “immigration and national identity”, Sarkozy is now seeking to outmanoeuvre the extreme right by launching a nationwide consultation on the role of Islam in the French secular state.
The debate, to be run by his ruling UMP party, will begin in April and will seek to impose rules on how Islam should work in France, which has the biggest Muslim population in western Europe. Sarkozy told party members it was crucial because “yesterday’s racists are today’s populists”.
He said: “I don’t want prayers in the streets, or calls to prayer.” He said the decision to ban the niqab in public places from April was a good thing and now “we need to agree in principle about the place of religion”.
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Lone Wolf Attacks 15 Sheep Overnight
Authorities urged farmers in the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to secure their fences on Tuesday after determining that a lone wolf likely killed and severely injured a total of 15 sheep in a single field overnight.
The animals were attacked on a meadow in Müritz county, and evidence points to a wolf, the state Environment Ministry said in a statement.
Injuries on the animals, along with tracks in the field probably belong to a single wolf that belongs to a pack in Brandenburg, the neighbouring state to the south.
The pack leader from Ostprignitz-Ruppin county has probably been observed crossing state lines regularly, the ministry said. In late January a private reindeer breeder reported several of his animals had been killed by a wolf too, they said.
State Environmental Minister Till Backhaus urged animal owners in the region to take extra precautions against the wolves, adding that officials would soon be meeting individually with livestock owners to help with the matter.
“The state is legally required to protect these animals,” Backmann said in the statement. “Unlike place where the wolf never totally disappeared, the people in our state are no longer used to dealing with wolves and the possible conflicts they create.”
The state will likely pay damages to the farmer whose sheep were killed, the statement said.
Such incidents have become more common in Germany as wolves have begun to flourish after being wiped out in the 19th century.
In August, 2010 some 15 lambs were killed and another 20 animals were severely injured in an attack in Brandenburg near the High Fläming Nature Park.
According to the environment ministry there, the rare and protected canines live in seven parts of the state, mainly on old military training sites and abandoned mining facilities. In total some 60 wolves live in Germany, mainly in the northeast, but experts believe they are constantly spreading across the country.
This February, the ÖJV ecological hunters’ association urged people in the southern state of Bavaria to remain calm following confirmation that a lone wolf has been spotted near the southern community of Brannenburg.
The Canis lupus, or grey wolf, was hunted in Germany beginning in medieval times. The species disappeared from the country in the 19th century, when they were driven east to Poland and Russia. But the wolf has been making a slow return to Germany despite residents’ fears and several lethal incidents with angry hunters.
In June 2009 a hunter in Saxony-Anhalt was charged with killing a male wolf that lived with a female and their young cubs at the military training facility in Altengrabow.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Teens Arrested for Brutal Metro Attack
Four teenagers have been arrested for beating a man into a coma in a Berlin metro station. The attack has caused widespread outrage for its senselessness and brutality.
The police took the teens, three aged 17 and one only 14, into custody on Tuesday under suspicion they assaulted a 30-year-old house painter in a U-Bahn station in the German capital’s Lichtenberg district.
The teenagers allegedly attacked the victim and his coworker late on Friday evening. While one man could escape with minor injuries, the other was beaten and kicked so badly he remains in a coma with serious brain trauma.
Berlin’s Interior Minister Ehrhart Körting said on Wednesday he was shocked by the sheer brutality of the crime.
The teens, reportedly with Albanian, Kenyan, Kosovar and Iraqi backgrounds, claimed the painter and his colleague had provoked them by chanting the Nazi salute “Sieg Heil” at them. However, the authorities said they believe this is likely only an attempt to justify the attack after speaking to witnesses.
The assailants reportedly do not have previous criminal records, but are likely to be charged with attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm.
The authorities also lamented the apparent cowardice of bystanders for not trying to stop the attack.
“Particularly shocking for us is that during the attack several people walked by without helping,” an investigator told Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel.
Even worse, the police are investigating the possibility an unknown witness stole the victim’s jacket as he lay unconscious on the U-Bahn platform.
The beating is reminiscent of an incident in Munich in 2009 that led to the death of Dominik Brunner. Two German teens beat and kicked the 50-year-old businessman at an S-Bahn commuter train platform after he tried to protect a group of younger children from their bullying. Brunner died shortly afterwards of heart failure.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Biker Reportedly Stopped Berlin Metro Attack
A member of the Bandidos motorcycle gang reportedly prevented youths who severely beat a man in the Berlin U-Bahn metro from attacking his co-worker. Other witnesses of the assault, however, stood by doing nothing.
According to the Friday report in daily Bild sourced to “high-ranking security officials,” the biker intervened when the four teens appeared to be about to attack the second man who had attempted to flee. The suspected Bandidos member reportedly showed the youths a weapon he was carrying and they backed off.
A spokesman for the Berlin prosecutor’s office, Martin Steltner, would not confirm the information about a weapon. But he did say investigators were trying to track down the man as a crucial witness in the case.
“The youths were apparently intimidated by his appearance and ran away,” he said.
The condition of the assault victim, a 30-year-old house painter, is still critical. A spokesman at the Berlin hospital where he is being treated said on Friday that he was in an artificial coma and that a prognosis about his recovery would have to wait until Monday.
The brutal attack, which took place in the U-Bahn station in Berlin’s Lichtenberg district late last Friday, was carried out by four male teenagers. The three 17 year-olds and one 14 year-old are in police custody and are likely to be charged with attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm.
Investigators have lamented the inaction of some witnesses. They say that while several people saw the attack, only one person put in an emergency call. It is thought that one witness might have even stolen the victim’s jacket as he lay unconscious on the platform.
The victims’ rights group Weißer Ring has called on the federal government to launch a campaign urging people to show more civil courage and not merely look away during such incidents.
“Prizes and commendations for courageous action evidently aren’t enough,” said the organisation’s spokesman Helmut K. Rüster. “Something has to change in people minds so that they don’t just look away when they see violence.”
He warned that people should not become inured to violence in everyday life.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Islamists Threaten Sweden With Terror
A radical Islamic magazine has threatened Sweden with acts of terror. “It is time for the Swedish government to rethink its position towards Islam and the Muslims before Mujahidin strikes again” claims the magazine. Drawings and sculptures representing the Prophet Mohammed and the Swedish forces in Afghanistan are usually used as motives for Islamic threats against Sweden.
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Lawyers Contest Jurisdiction in Ruby Case
Trial should be seent to special ministers’ court, they argue
(ANSA) — Milan, February 17 — Lawyers for Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday challenged the jurisdiction of Milan magistrates for an April trial of the premier on charges of paying an underage girl for sex and abusing his position.
“The parliament has already said that the competence (should belong to) the tribunal of ministers,” they said, referring to a special court that deals with alleged offences committed by ministers while carrying out their duties. The lawyers, Pietro Longo and Niccolo’ Ghedini, reaffirmed that the premier was acting in an official and not private capacity when he phoned Milan police in May to inquire about the girl, known as Ruby Heartstealer, who had been detained for alleged theft.
Berlusconi, who denies abuse of office, has insisted he wanted to avoid a diplomatic incident because he had been told Ruby was the niece of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
If the case goes to the ministers’ tribunal, Berlusconi critics say, it could be killed because parliament would not vote to authorise it.
The lawyers also said the jurisdiction for the crime of allegedly using an underage prostitute should be in Monza, not Milan.
The defence team’s moves were expected and the issue could drag on for months, legal expert say, after the trial starts on April 6.
Longo and Ghedini also commented on the all-female composition of the panel of three judges who will be presiding over the trial.
They said they were unfazed, stressing “it’s a question of statistical probability, seeing that women are now in the majority in the judiciary”.
Hundreds of thousands of women demonstrated across Italy Sunday for “dignity” and called for Berlusconi to quit.
The premier said Wednesday he was not “a bit” worried by the trial, whose two alleged offences carry a maximum combined sentence of 15 years.
Berlusconi and Ruby, whose real name is Kharima El Mahrough, deny having sex while she claims thousands of euros he gave her were gifts.
The premier has vowed to forge ahead with reforms but his key ally the Northern League has reportedly set a May deadline for the passage of its cherished federalism package.
If that does not pass, it says, there should be a snap vote two years before the end of the government’s term in 2013.
Berlusconi has only suffered slightly in opinion polls despite the alleged scandal although his standing has dipped among church-going Catholics.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Heritage Laurel Sought for White Truffles
Piedmont tuber hunters petition UNESCO
(ANSA) — Asti, February 9 — A smelly, white fungus prized for use in continental haute cuisine could soon be enshrined for its outstanding value to humanity. Truffle hunters of southern Piedmont have petitioned UNESCO to recognize the white truffle under its world heritage program.
The news emerged at an annual assembly for the Italian truffle sector, and was confirmed by Piero Botto, president of the Asti and Monferrini Trufflers Association and the National Center for the Study of Alba Truffles.
“The recognition would benefit the image and economy of the three provinces of Asti, Alessandria and Cuneo,” Botto told ANSA.
The Piedmontese provinces, along with Tuscany, are famed for their white truffles. White truffles are more pungent, rare and expensive than black ones, which have a longer growing season and are more common in the center and south of Italy.
Members of the truffle-loving elite bid as much as six figures for a single specimen at international auctions each autumn. The top bid last season came from Hong Kong at 105,000 euro for a white truffle weighing 936 grams. On average white truffles sold for 300 euro per 100 grams, however, registering a slight decline from 2009, when they sailed off the block at 330 euro per 100g.
The world record price was set three years ago by Chinese business magnate Stanley Ho, who forked out $330,000 for a Tuscan truffle weighing 1.5 kg — one of the largest truffles found in the last 50 years. Russian and Arab business tycoons have been known to get in on the action, as well as celebrities like David and Victoria Beckham.
Truffle spores nestle and grow in the roots of about 50 species of trees — mostly oaks, but also hazels, poplars, mulberries and willows — and are rooted out by specially trained dogs.
Rising demand over recent years has led to fierce competition between among truffle hunters, and there have been reports of chicanery, including hamstringing or even poisoning champion dogs of rivals.
Some of the northern and central fields have been depleted, partly because of poachers who sell their catches on the black market.
The season that just closed saw a total harvest of 2000 kg, a slight decline over 2009.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Letter Says Twins “Rest in Peace”
Addressed to Alessia and Livia’s mother. Before committing suicide, father wrote: “They didn’t suffer”
MILAN — It’s only a brief message but if true, it is enough to snuff out all hope of finding the two missing twins alive: “The girls rest in peace. They didn’t suffer”. The message is in one of the two letters Matthias Schepp, the father of twins Alessia and Livia, sent to his wife Irina before he committed suicide. It does not leave much room for optimism over the fate of the two young girls, although investigators are continuing their searches. So far, they have at least reconstructed the first part of the journey Matthias Schepp began with his daughters and continued alone. The pieces of the puzzle are beginning to fall into place but the picture emerging is one nobody wanted to see. In the background are websites about poison and poisoning, and a journey to resorts that may have been destinations of death. The story of the two girls who vanished when their father, Matthias Schepp, ran off with them and then killed himself, is looking increasingly disturbing. Examination of Mr Schepps’ computer is reported to have revealed visits to web sites that have worried investigators. As well as logging on to websites of ferry companies connecting Marseilles with Propriano in Corsica, he is believed to have consulted web pages on poisons and poisoning. The letter appears to confirm the latest, terrible, suspicions.
RETURNED FROM CORSICA ALONE — The other point that worries family and investigators is the report that Matthias Schepp was seen at the harbour in Bastia as he was embarking on a ferry for Toulon. He was said to be alone without the twins. The sighting reinforces suspicions that Mr Schepp sent to Switzerland a parcel posted at a small post office in the province of Marseilles. No one knows what is in the parcel yet but shortly after it was franked, the licence plate of Mr Schepp’s car is understood to have been photographed on its way into Italy at the Ventimiglia border.
INQUIRIES IN PUGLIA — The search continues. Police will view for the fourth time security camera footage from a bar in Cerignola whose owner is convinced she saw Matthias Schepp and the two girls on 3 February. Mr Schepp committed suicide by throwing himself under a train that evening and there are no further reports of the two girls. Investigators who have already viewed the footage are certain that the woman is mistaken but the conviction with which the bar owner insists she saw the twins with their father has prompted Foggia flying squad chief Alfredo Fabbrocini to look at the film again. The woman herself will probably be interviewed again today. Searches continue in the Cerignola area and today, helicopters and dog units will be deployed to comb zones near the railway station where Mr Schepp killed himself. Ponds and cisterns are being searched by fire service divers.
SCHENGEN AREA ALERT — Events are also being monitored closely by the interior ministry. In answer to a question from reporters at the presentation of a handbook on tug-of-love children, interior minister Roberto Maroni revealed that an Amber Alert had been activated for the twins. This dedicated system for missing minors instantly circulates photographs and reports to all Schengen-area countries and to Interpol.
English translation by Giles Watson
www.watson.it
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Milan: New Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis, The Regional Authority Studies the “Zamboni” Method
The director of the Centre for Vascular Illnesses in Ferrara is in our Region. His trials will start in five private centres in Lombardy. Concern for the multiplying of non-coordinated research
Research, not a treatment. This is the starting point if we want to talk about what has already been tagged as the “Paolo Zamboni” method for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The doctor specialised in Vascular Surgery arrived today at the Regional Council in Milan to meet the members of the Health Care Commission. He presented his trials carried out in Ferrara in the Centre for Vascular Illnesses of the University that he is the director of. “In my research” he explains “I noticed that some malformations obstructing main cerebrospinal veins may be linked to some forms of multiple sclerosis. At that point, we set up a think tank of neurologists, vascular surgeons and radiologists. And that’s how we created the protocol that is activate in Emilia Romagna.” In short, therefore, the “Zamboni” method assumes a relationship between multiple sclerosis and Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficency (CCSVI — here is an explanation), that is the compromised flow of blood in the veins draining the central nervous system. For patients in these conditions, according to the doctor, angioplasty can make improvements.
The trials have already been activated abroad and in some Italian Regions, but they are still not in operation in Lombardy.
Up until today, in this Region, only five private centres — in Busto Arsizio, Como, Bergamo, Milan San Donato and the “Besta” Institute- got in touch with Zamboni and will start, according to a precise protocol, his trials. At the same time, other centres such as the Ospedale del Circolo in Varese, activated very few days ago a combined study for the diagnosis of CCSV (in this case controlled from the Italian National Health Care System, differently from the above-mentioned centres). This study is independent from Zamboni’s activities.
With the purpose of understanding how to run the research and the trials in Lombardy, the Commission wanted to meet Zamboni. The decision was also due to a circular letter sent by Fazio, the Health Care Minister, addressed to all Regional Authorities, and referring to the criteria they need to stick to in order to activate the trials of Zamboni.
The Regional Authority of Lombardy is moving, indeed, to follow in Emilia Romagna’s wake and to outline a protocol. Luca Merlino, the vice director of the Health Care department explains, “We are thinking about a network of three or four centres capable of carrying out the trials. Once we are “certain” of the safeness of the procedures, we will be able to finance the Regional Health Care System.”
The Democratic Party strongly insists on this idea of seeing the Regional Authority as “director”. Alessandro Alfieri commented, “Different protocols have been set up in a non-coordinated way. We need to be cautious and activate a director that can establish a connection between the studies (as it was done in the Ospedale del Circolo in Varese), among the research carried out by doctor Zamboni in 5 centres in Lombardy, and among the other trials developed independently by private individuals as soon as possible. All this would be done in order to avoid to feed the expectations of the ill and of their families, who deserve that the trials are conducted with the utmost fairness”
Gabriele Sola, a colleague of his at IDV, shares the same position, “It is essential to be in charge of a coordinating work among the hospitals in order to collect data and give scientific insight to the trials.”
Translated by Federica Corio (Reviewed by Prof. Rob Clarke)info@ssml.va.it
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Political Videos Provoke PVV Leader
A series of videos aimed against the anti-Islam Freedom Party (PVV) on a Dutch website have caused quite a stir. One of the videos entitled ‘Freedom’, in which children quote xenophobic and Islamophobic statements made by Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders, has prompted particularly fierce reactions.
Many people have condemned the video as ‘ridiculous’, ‘scandalous’ and ‘disgusting’ on the website of populist newspaper De Telegraaf, although a number of people also expressed agreement. Most of the netizens who posted their reaction on the site of conservative magazine Elsevier also condemned the video. About 90,000 people have watched the Freedom video since it was first posted on YouTube.
Screw loose
The site (Tegenstemwijzer.nl) went live on Wednesday and has already attracted more than 50,000 visitors. Geert Wilders said he “could not find words” to express how he felt about the fact that young children were used to make anti-Freedom Party videos: “The people who made this video and the parents who gave permission for their children appear in it really have a screw loose. It’s simply too disgusting. I really believed we’d seen just about everything in the pogrom against the Freedom Party and our voters, but this filth really takes the biscuit.”
Common decency
A spokesperson for the website said the children in the video are literally quoting Geert Wilders. Director Dana Nechustan wonders why “it would be considered shocking when children quote statements made by a prominent politician.” The producers said they felt they had not transgressed the boundaries of common decency.
The site is aimed at people who would normally vote for either the Christian Democrats (CDA) or the conservative VVD, but are upset by their collaboration with the Freedom Party. The anti-Islam Freedom Party provides the CDA-VVD minority cabinet with parliamentary support. The site wants them to vote for a different party in the upcoming provincial elections.
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Ruby: Phone Calls and Bank Transfers in Ruling for Immediate Trial
Conclusions of investigating magistrate Cristina Di Censo who ordered Berlusconi’s trial
MILAN — Silvio Berlusconi’s “evident purpose” was to conceal the offence of having paid sexual relations with a minor. He wanted “to ensure his impunity”, which “the young, unbiddable Karima El Mahroug could easily have jeopardised”, when he put pressure on Milan police headquarters to have the 17-year-old Moroccan girl handed over to regional councillor Nicole Minetti in a “grossly irregular procedure”. In the 27-page ruling notified yesterday to Silvio Berlusconi and the aggrieved parties, magistrate Cristina Di Censo explains why in committing the prime minister for trial over Rubygate she thinks that public prosecutors Ilda Boccassini, Piero Forno and Antonio Sangermano have the “manifest evidence” (which is distinct from guilt) required by the criminal code to skip a preliminary hearing and bring the charge in court. The trial will commence on 6 April before the judges of the court’s fourth criminal section.
Abuse of power by premier
According to the prosecutors, Silvio Berlusconi received a call on his personal mobile phone on the evening of 27 May from the Brazilian prostitute Michelle Conceicao. The PM, who was in Paris at an international summit, called the head of secretariat at Milan police headquarters, Pietro Ostuni, to induce him to hand “Ruby” over to Ms Minetti instead of sending her to a residential centre for minors. Magistrates maintain that in making the call to prevent his relations with the girl becoming public, Mr Berlusconi committed the crime of extortion (abuse of power). The premier’s defence lawyers claim that no offence was committed and, should one have been perpetrated, it ought to be judged in the ministers’ tribunal, not an ordinary court. This view is shared by Chamber of Deputies, which rejected the application to search the office of Giuseppe Spinelli, the administrator of Silvio Berlusconi’s personal portfolio and the man alleged to have made payments to the bunga bunga girls. Ms Di Censo replies to these objections, pointing out that after examining the sources of evidence, she was persuaded that the public prosecutors’ allegations were far from baseless and that there were several elements that the court should assess. “It is evident that the alleged, illicit intervention” on Mr Ostuni, and through him on his two subordinates who dealt with the episode that evening, was performed by Mr Berlusconi “clearly abusing his position as prime minister”. This occurred “beyond any institutional or functional prerogative” of the prime minister. In other words, Mr Berlusconi brought to bear the emotional pressure that his status could exercise on the officers. It was not appropriate pressure from a prime minister, who has no jurisdiction over the “identification and custody of minors” and has no “powers of hierarchical intervention over the police force, which is under the sole authority of the ministry of the interior”.
Mubarak’s grand-daughter “not logical”
In a memorial included with the records, Silvio Berlusconi’s defence counsel, lawyer-parliamentarians Niccolò Ghedini and Piero Longo, maintain that on the evening in question the PM intervened to “safeguard international relations with Egypt” since he “erroneously” believed Karima El Mahroug to be the Egyptian president’s grand-daughter. The claim is “openly contradicted by the logic of events” says the magistrate. First, when Silvio Berlusconi spoke to Mr Ostuni, “he referred in general, uncertain terms to the minor’s illustrious relations” and secondly, there is no evidence that “in order to safeguard diplomatic relations with Egypt, the Prime Minister’s Office in any way contacted “that country’s authorities to verify [Ruby’s] citizenship and identity”. When it became clear that the girl was a confused 17-year-old Moroccan runaway from a Sicilian reception centre, she “was not handed over to a diplomatic delegation of any kind but entrusted to the custody of regional counsellor Nicole Minetti”. Ms Minetti, 25, was elected at the last regional poll on Roberto Formigoni’s blocked list at the recommendation of Mr Berlusconi, whose dental hygienist she had been. She is charged, along with TG4 news director Emilio Fede and entertainment entrepreneur Lele Mora, with complicity in prostitution and under-age prostitution in an inquiry from which the prime minister’s position was removed and which will be closed next week when the records are deposited.
Ensuring impunity — Ruby is unbiddable
The investigating magistrate writes that the “outcome of the episode” in police headquarters is “historically certain” and confirms “the prosecution’s reconstruction”. In other words, Mr Berlusconi intervened by reason of a direct “interest” that “regarded the girl and not [the girl’s] non-EU relatives”. Just what was this interest? Preventing what Ruby knew about the Arcore parties from getting into the hands of the police. The trial will establish whether, as the prosecutors allege, “removing the minor from the control of the police” had for Mr Berlusconi the purpose of concealing the crime of under-age prostitution and “ensuring impunity”, which “the young and unbiddable Karima El Mahroug could well have jeopardised”. For the magistrate, the two offences are not divisible into separate trials and should be heard together before the court of Milan. There is therefore no “violation of the law in the public prosecutor’s decision to keep the two charges unified”.
Fourteen pages of evidence — Cars and girls
Documents gathered in the course of inquiries, arranged by topic, fill 14 of the 27 pages of the ruling for an immediate trial. “Many different sources of evidence” all “refer and pertain to the acts alleged”. These range from the night at police headquarters to the police officer’s service reports, which two months after the fact triggered part of the investigation, to Ruby’s five questioning sessions with the public prosecutors between 2 July and 3 August and the questioning of women who took part in the parties, including Brazilian Iris Berardi, present late at night before and after she came of age. There are phone taps, none involving parliamentarians, and very recently acquired bank records. Controls were made on cheques and bank transfers from current account 2472 held by Mr Spinelli at the Banca Poplare di Sondrio. The money was used to purchase motor vehicles whose ownership had previously been traced to some of the women. There are transfers of money involving Mr Berlusconi, Mr Spinelli, Mr Mora and Mr Fede as well as an analysis from phone records of those attending Arcore parties as recently as November and December 2010. “Evidence of a documentary, electronic eavesdropping and investigative nature”, according to magistrate Cristina Di Censo, “converges in favour of the criminal reconstruction presented by the prosecution”. “As the record stands”, these elements appear to be “effectively rebutted by the content of investigations” carried out by the premier’s defence which, however, “at various points clearly clash with elements put on record by the public investigator”. This is yet another reason for sending everything to trial.
Aggrieved parties — Minister Maroni
The aggrieved parties are Ruby, the alleged victim of under-age prostitution, and the three officers at police headquarters who were the victims of the alleged abuse of power: They are Giorgia Iafrate, who handed over the Moroccan girl to Ms Minetti, head of secretariat Pietro Ostuni and officer Ivo Morelli, director of the general prevention office. Since interior ministry staff members were the premier’s victims, it is logical that the ministry itself, though its current representative the Northern League’s Roberto Maroni, should be one of the aggrieved parties.
Giuseppe Guastella
17 febbraio 2011(c) all rights reserved — unauthorized reproduction forbidden
English translation by Giles Watson
www.watson.it
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Slovenia in EU Court for Complementary Insurance
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, FEBRUARY 17 — The European Commission has decided to defer Slovenia to the European Court of Justice because its laws on complementary health insurance are not fully in line with the Community directives on the free circulation of capital and on the freedom to provide services. In particular, the Slovenian laws impose that foreign health insurers must appoint a representative in Slovenia to manage relations with the national authorities. According to Brussels, this is in breach of EU regulations, which do not provide for insurers who establish themselves in the territory of the Member State where they provide services. Furthermore, Slovenian law prevents health insurers from distributing profits to their shareholders, which runs against the Community rules on capital circulation. These measures represent a hurdle for insurance companies of other Member States, damaging competition and limiting the choices available to Slovenian consumers.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Greenpeace ‘Attacks’ Cofrentes Plant
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, FEBRUARY 15 — Around 15 Greenpeace activists early this morning managed to enter the nuclear power station of Cofrentes, in Valencia, after disabling the security measures. They have climbed the installation’s cooling tower and attached a banner to it at an altitude of 125 metres, saying: “Nuclear danger”.
The action of the environmentalists, reported live on the webpage of Greenpeace Spain, continued when a second banner was unfolded, on which was written: “Close Cofrentes now”.
The operation started this morning at 6 am and is part of the campaign in which Greenpeace asks the nuclear safety council (Csn) and the socialist government to close the station, not renewing the license which expires on March 19. Sources of the nuclear station, quoted by Europa Press, say that a guard has been mildly injured in the action and that two others suffered bruises when they tried to stop the Greenpeace activists. The activists have forced a double fence that surrounds the installation in order to access it. The incursion caused the plant, which is managed by Iberdrola, to call the ‘state of alert’, communicating this fact to the Csn and activating the necessary security protocols. The management of the station has said that the security staff “has taken control of the situation”, though some activists are still on one of the cooling towers. The installation “continues to function normally with all safety systems online”, the Csn guarantees in a statement. Greenpeace announces on its webpage that “the independent journalist and photographer Pedro Armestre has been arrested in the nuclear plant of Cofrentes”. The nuclear power station has had to deal with several safety problems in the past months: on February 7 a problem was discovered in the opening of the valve of the safety circuit. In October 2010 a similar problem forced the station’s management to call the state of pre-alert.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The German Hair Force: A Failed Experiment in Military Manes
For 15 months during the 1970s, Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr, allowed soldiers to wear their hair long, reflecting trends in society. The move angered the country’s NATO partners during the height of the Cold War and earned the military the disparaging nickname of the “German Hair Force.”
Since the very birth of the concept of a military, deterrence has always been one of the key tools in an army’s arsenal. The greater a force’s deterrent potential, the less likely it would be attacked. Part of that is being well-armed. Of course, it also helps when an army’s soldiers come across as tough and ready to fight.
During the 1970s, deterrence had already been a central part of NATO’s strategy for decades, as part of its efforts to defend itself against the threat represented by the Eastern bloc. But there were differing opinions at the time over just what a tough soldier’s outward appearance ought to be. Those opinions diverged even further when, in 1971, Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr, lifted a rule that conscripts could only have close-shorn hair. The change meant that recruits could grow their hair soldier-length — and it made the blood of tradition-conscious military veterans boil, both inside and outside of Germany.
The only restriction on soldiers’ hairstyles was that men with shoulder-length manes had to wear hair nets, like workers at a fast food restaurant. The development outraged Germany’s NATO allies. Who on earth were these hairballs in uniform going to scare away, they asked?
Special Status
In many world cultures, men with longer hair have always had a special status. The Nazirites, who are mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible, didn’t cut their hair because they wanted to demonstrate their closeness to God. Many heroes in Greek mythology also had long hair. The Roman historian Tacitus even reported that male members of Germanic tribes were only allowed to cut their hair after they had killed an enemy. In the centuries that followed, it was largely upper-class men who wore their hair long — including in the military. At some point in the 19th century, though, the hirsute look fell out of fashion.
Men with long hair first established themselves as symbols of the counterculture in the United States after World War II. Tony Curtis’s pomaded forelock became stylish in the 1950s. And Elvis Presley and the Beatles, with their mop tops, helped bring the long-hair trend to Germany, too. In the 1960s, it became an expression of protest against the state and society.
The new fashion also came to the attention of the Bundeswehr. Year after year, increasing numbers of new recruits turned up at the barracks with flowing locks. By then, another thing had changed, too. The recruits no longer saw themselves as soldiers who had to blindly follow orders, but instead as citizens in uniform. Some were firm in their refusals to visit the base’s barber.
The battle to permit longer hair in the Bundeswehr began in earnest with a high school graduate named Albrecht Schmeissner, who hailed from the university town of Tübingen. Later he would become a member of the Green Party’s national executive board. But back in 1967, the young man joined the military with a haircut that could best be compared with a lion’s mane. Among the rank and file, he had to frequently contend with quips about whether he was a man or a woman. He countered repeated orders that he go to the barber by referring to his constitutional rights as well as military regulations. The latter stated that hair must be cared for, but did not contain any stipulations about the maximum length permitted.
When Schmeissner finally caved in, 45 days into his career as a soldier, it wasn’t just the result of the harassment he had received. His officer had sought to press insubordination charges against the young soldier, submitting a large photo of the soldier and his bounteous tresses as evidence. The soldier reluctantly surrendered to the scissors.
Bundeswehr Briefly Capitulates to a Changing Society
The case in itself was an isolated one, but it did underscore a number of growing problems in the Bundeswehr. Men with long hair had arrived in the establishment by then. Hosts of German TV newscasters, football players and even young stars in major political parties were wearing their hair below their ears.
Ultimately, the troops were forced to capitulate to changes in society. An order was issued on Feb. 8, 1971 by then German Defense Minister Helmut Schmidt, who would later become chancellor. Nicknamed the “Hairnet Decree,” it read: “The Bundeswehr must take into account developments in general taste and cannot ignore them.” Long hair would be permitted in the future, but with one condition: “Hair and beards must be kept clean and well-kept. Soldiers whose work and safety might be impaired through their hairstyle must wear a hairnet to work.”
With a single sheet of paper, barbers on German bases suddenly experienced a precipitous decline in business. Barbers complained publicly and some even left the bases in order for their businesses to survive.
Conservatives in society also complained, fearing that the troops’ combat capabilities would suffer. The Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper quoted one concerned mother, who described her son as hard working and orderly. “But now he has to go to the Bundeswehr and I am worried he will get scruffy.”
The new rules made the Bundeswehr the butt of bad jokes around the world, with many calling it the “German Hair Force.”
[…]
The Hair Force, it seemed, had not been a good idea.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Three Guilty of UK Revenge Attack on War Criminal
Three murderers were today found guilty of carrying out a revenge attack on a Bosnian-Serb war criminal in a British prison.
Indrit Krasniqi, 23, Iliyas Khalid, 24, and Quam Ogumbiyi, 29, entered former general Radislav Krstic’s cell at top security Wakefield Prison and slashed him with knives or blades in revenge for his role in the killing of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica.
The Muslim defendants, who are serving life sentences for murder, were cleared of attempted murder by a jury at Leeds Crown Court but convicted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The judge, Mr Justice Henriques, told the jury the three men will be sentenced on Monday.
The verdicts were returned after almost 12 hours of deliberation.
The jury was told all three defendants were convicted murderers serving life sentences but not the details of their previous crimes.
Krasniqi, an Albanian national, is serving a life sentence of at least 23 years for the 2005 kidnap and murder of 16-year-old Mary-Ann Leneghan in Reading, Berkshire, and the attempted murder of her friend.
Miss Leneghan and her friend were abducted, bundled into a car and driven to a hotel room where they were drugged, raped and tortured with cigarettes, knives, a metal bar and boiling water.
They were then driven to a park to be executed.
Khalid was jailed for life in 2008 and told he must serve a minimum of 30 years in prison for the murder of 23-year-old Stacey Westbury.
He was jailed under his previous name — Christopher Braithwaite — for sexually assaulting and killing Miss Westbury whose body was found at her home in Fulham, west London, in August 2007.
The Old Bailey heard how she was alone with her 10-month-old son in his cot when Braithwaite attacked her.
The court was told how the attack happened eight days after he was released on bail over separate rape allegations.
Ogumbiyi is serving a life sentence for stabbing a man to death with a knife on the doorstep of a flat in Haringey, north London, in 2003.
His minimum tariff was set at 14 years.
The three men were convicted following a two week trial. They showed no emotion as the verdicts were returned.
Julian Goose QC, prosecuting, told the jury of seven women and five men the former soldier suffered a number of injuries on May 7, last year, including one 12cm slash across his neck.
Mr Goose said: “The cut was deep and long.
“It was deliberately aimed to cut vital vessels in the neck so as to kill him.”
He told the jury: “The motive for the attempt to murder him was as a punishment or revenge.
“This was, we say as the prosecution, a planned and determined attack in which the three defendants intended to kill Radislav Krstic.
“The three defendants are practising Muslims.”
Mr Goose told the jury: “He (Krstic) is a Bosnian Serb national who was serving a 35-year sentence for his involvement as a General-Major in the Bosnian Serb Army which killed many Bosnian Muslim men in Srebrenica in 1995.”
He went on: “Mr Krstic’s background was known to others within Wakefield Prison, including many of the prisoners.”
Krstic, who has a false lower right leg, took to the witness box with four prisoner officers sitting behind him.
He spoke using an interpreter.
Krstic told the court how he thought he was going to die when he was attacked.
Through the interpreter, he said: “They looked at me with a scary look.
“I truly understood why they came. They came to kill me.”
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
UK: A Quiet Rebellion Against the Big Society
Financial Times London
With his flagship policy, David Cameron wants to replace big government with local community initiatives, but he’s now seeing that when you cut state spending, you cut also at the roots of civil society.
Emma Jacobs — Jim Pickard — George Parker
In austerity Britain, a quiet rebellion is brewing. Not the violent street protests seen in Greece or the mass union demonstrations staged by the French, but something just as troubling for David Cameron.
Nine months into his premiership, £81bn of cuts are starting to bite. The fierce fiscal experiment — a spending squeeze on a scale not seen in any other big economy — has been cheered on by hawks around the world, from the International Monetary Fund to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
But in The Bell, a pub in Mr Cameron’s backyard, genteel rage is bubbling. Its source? The threat to close the Charlbury public library, housed in a double-fronted property built from the yellow Cotswold stone typical of towns and villages in the prime minister’s Witney constituency.
Rosalind Scott, 69, a bespectacled former social worker in a burgundy cardigan, is as potent an opponent of Mr Cameron’s austerity agenda as the students who last year wreaked havoc in central London in protest at cuts to university funding.
“The library is essential to our community,” she says. “The problem with losing a library is that you lose a place where people meet each other.” Last Saturday Mrs Scott organised a protest attended by 200 people. Such events are being organised across the country as Mr Cameron pushes ahead with Plan A — he says there is no Plan B — to eliminate the underlying deficit of 4.8 per cent of national income within four years. Read full article in Financial Times (registered users) or in Presseurop’s nine other languages…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Climate Zealots Made My Life Hell for Being a Sceptic Says Johnny Ball, Who Was Victim of Porn and Blog Smears
As a climate change sceptic, Johnny Ball doesn’t mince his words.
He once declared spider flatulence to be more damaging to the environment than fossil fuels.
But the veteran children’s TV presenter is paying the price for his outspoken remarks.
Yesterday he revealed he has become the victim of a vicious hate campaign by environmentalist ‘zealots’.
Mr Ball — father of Radio Two DJ Zoe Ball — popularised maths and science for millions of youngsters in the 1970s and 1980s with his eccentric TV shows.
More recently he has carved out a career giving talks in schools and at science festivals and teachers’ conferences.
But he says zealots are trying to sabotage his career because he has described climate change as ‘alarmist nonsense’.
He claims the internet has been used to try to discredit his opinions.
Bloggers have run campaigns stating Mr Ball ‘should not be allowed near children’.
And an imposter has even tried to cancel his booking at a training day for maths teachers in Northampton.
In a sinister twist, websites have also been set up in his name which contain pornographic images.
Mr Ball, a 72-year-old grandfather, believes his career has been destroyed and says his bookings have fallen by 90 per cent since the smear campaign began four years ago. Police are investigating his claims.
He criticised those who terrify children by telling them that they ‘are all going to hell in a handcart in 39 years’ because of climate change.
And in 2009 he was booed off stage for making his spider remark.
Yesterday he said the campaign against him amounted to a ‘witch-hunt’.
He said: ‘This was clearly a criminal act to damage me and my career business. People have every right to make up their own minds on my stance. But to deliberately smear my name in ways that are clearly criminal is so very disappointing.
‘I would hope it is not the way fair and sensible debate is going in this far more open, modern society.’
Mr Ball is a prolific author of maths books who has also produced five educational stage musicals. He said he has been sceptical of climate change arguments since the 1960s when scientists warned of an impending ice age.
And he said that anyone who seeks to make a common sense, measured comment about climate change is branded a ‘heretic’.
Yesterday, he called for the views from both sides of the climate change camp to be heard.
He highlighted a recent Independent Panel on Climate Change ruling that stated that there must be no more exaggeration about the issue.
Explaining his views on climate change, he told the Times Education Supplement: ‘The reason I take this stance is because several films have been introduced into schools which imply that the earth may not be able to sustain human life as we know it, in around 39 years’ time, which is unscientific, alarmist nonsense.
‘Of course mankind is a great burden on the earth, but at every turn we are learning to manage and better control our impact and the damage we do.
‘However, my main concern is that the alarmism is actually frightening schoolchildren to an alarming degree.
‘It is suggesting to them that the previous generation have all but ruined the planet, and unless they switch stand-by lights off, for instance, we could all be going to hell in a handcart.
‘This does nothing to promote confidence in our young. It sends the message that all technology is harmful. Yet, in truth, great strides are being made.
‘Gas-fired power stations now produce twice as much power for the same fossil fuel as they did 15 years ago. Cars have far cleaner exhausts and have doubled their mileage and tyre wear, and they are all recyclable or reclaimable.
‘These are success stories.’
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Islamic Terrorists Lose Jail Battle
The segregation of two high-profile Islamic terrorist prisoners accused of intimidating and bullying other prisoners over matters of faith has been upheld as lawful by the High Court.
Ricin plot conspirator Kamel Bourgass and “liquid bomber” Tanvir Hussain both claimed their human rights were violated when they were put in segregation units for extended periods.
But Mr Justice Irwin, sitting in London on Friday, rejected their claims that they had been treated unlawfully and unfairly. The judge said the procedures adopted to place them in, and keep them in, segregation did not breach their common law rights, or their rights under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to fair treatment.
In both cases, segregation followed allegations that the men were trying to influence and dictate the beliefs of other prisoners. They denied the accusations.
Prison authorities considered it was necessary to separate them from other inmates “for good order and discipline”. The judge said Bourgass was accused of attempting to exert control over other prisoners, especially fellow Muslims whom he “pressurised” to attend prayers.
He was reported to have told them “when and how to pray and what to eat and read”, was suspected of being involved in organising an assault on one prisoner who needed 50 stitches to his face, and had also attempted to persuade fellow inmates “not to speak to staff — especially female staff”.
Bourgass denied the allegations and said he had never been involved in bullying or trying to convert non-believers to Islam. In the Hussain case, the judge said security intelligence suggests he had preached his interpretation of Islamic ideals through his cell window, and that interpretation was “in line with his terrorist beliefs and conviction”.
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
UK: If We Want Our Human Rights, Then Bring Them Back Home
David Cameron and Theresa May, the Home Secretary, both say that they are “appalled” by the decision of the Supreme Court. The court rejected Mrs May’s appeal against an earlier ruling that the human rights of sex offenders had been breached.
At present, those found guilty of serious sex offences have to be on an offenders’ register for life. When they move house or travel abroad, they have to notify the authorities. The Supreme Court held that such offenders should be allowed to ask for their place on the register to be reviewed.
What is appalling about that? Faithful readers of this column will know that it has been fairly foul about how “human rights” now work (I was at it again last week, and shall be again later in this article), but the Supreme Court was not being unduly soft on what the tabloids call “sick paedos”. It was not saying that a sex offender should necessarily be removed from the register, only that he should have the right to ask. So he should. One of the offenders petitioning was convicted of rape, aged 11. Is it really right that he should be on a register for the whole of his life without having any chance of review? This case shows why we need independent courts. Courts are at their best when they look at rights in terms of process — has someone’s case been properly heard? Has the accused been given due notice? This procedural fairness is what is meant by the phrase “natural justice”. It is naturally unjust to deny someone the right to be heard in perpetuity, and it needs judges to insist on this, because, in the face of public rage, no one else will. At present, the rage is against paedophiles, hence the weaselly words of Mr Cameron and Mrs May. But it is precisely because this power of judicial independence is so important that the “human rights” crisis is so serious. People can accept the decisions of their courts, even when they do not like them, if they have faith in the basic process. Are the judges fairly appointed? Are they British? Are they ultimately answerable? And are the rights which they uphold framed and interpreted in a way which recognises our own circumstances, history and customs? If the basic process is flawed, people will come to question the rule of law itself. The European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg fails on all these counts. Only one of its judges is British. All are political appointees from 47 countries, often quite ignorant of the law, and sometimes from countries with very low levels of freedom. We can’t put them in, and we can’t get them out. And when they opine, they do not stick to natural justice, but give their views, in accordance with all-embracing human rights doctrine, about everything under the sun. They clothe politics in legal robes…
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Schools’ Counter Terrorism Project Reviewed
A Home Office counter terrorism programme that encourages teachers and community leaders to identify and report Muslim teenagers and others they suspect to be at risk of becoming involved with violent extremists is to be re-evaluated.
MPs have criticised the £12.5m Channel project for triggering accusations about teachers and community leaders being asked to spy on Muslim youths.
Th Home Office funded-project was set up in April 2007 as part of the government’s wider Prevent counterterrorism programme, which is now under review. In the first 20 months of its operation 228 people aged 15 to 24 and nearly all male were identified as potential terrorists at risk of radicalisation and referred to the police. Although the majority were Islamists they also included far-right racists.
Teachers and community leaders were asked to identify individuals who had not committed any criminal offence but who were accessing terrorist websites or frequently talking about taking part in violent activity.
Fears about the “anti-Islamic” ethos of the project has led to many of the 7,500 schools potentially involved opting out.
Professor Ted Cantle, who chairs the Home Office community cohesion review team, told the Times Educational Supplement that ministers are unlikely to continue the Channel project in its current form.
“There will be a separation between counter-terrorist work and the efforts of schools to integrate communities. I hope the present government doesn’t make the same mistakes, which have alienated communities,” he said.
“I don’t think the identification of children at risk of terrorism will continue. It has caused an awful lot of trouble. Most teachers don’t have an in-depth understanding of Muslim communities.”
Graham Robb of the Youth Justice Board said senior police officers had made clear that existing child safety procedures run by schools and social services were satisfactory for dealing with vulnerable children.
The Home Office said: “There are no plans to abolish the Channel Project.
“We believe the Prevent programme isn’t working as well as it could and that is why we are reviewing it. We want a strategy that is effective and properly focused.
“Part of the review involves looking at the funding of our delivery partners. It is right that we make funding decisions based on value for money for the taxpayer.”
Sir Norman Bettison, the West Yorkshire chief constable responsible for the national programme, has in the past cited the example of Hasib Hussain, one of the 7/7 bombers, who had been regarded as a model student. But when the police contacted his former teachers they told him they had written comments praising al-Qaida in his school exercise books but it had not been seen as substantive at the time…
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
UK: The World’s Most Dangerous Broadcaster
I have only just caught up with the BBC1 documentary on the Dutch politician Geert Wilders that was transmitted on Tuesday evening. Did I say documentary? ‘Europe’s Most Dangerous Man’ was a vicious hatchet job that was a disgrace to journalism. More than that, it could be argued that by presenting Wilders as a latter-day Nazi who was likely to foment war in Europe between Muslims and non-Muslims, it was in effect inciting violence or the murder of a politician who is already under armed guard 24/7.
This travesty of a documentary was made by two radical Dutch film-makers for a production company called ‘Red Rebel’. Questions need to be asked how the BBC could transmit something on such an inflammatory subject which ignored the most basic standards of journalistic fairness, — and was effectively the broadcasting equivalent of a flier distributed by the Socialist Workers’ Party.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Tablighi Jamaat Mosque Accused of Encouraging Muslim Isolationism
An Islamic group fighting to keep its east London mosque, near to the Olympics site, has been described by opponents as a “supremacist movement” that encourages isolationism from wider British society.
Tablighi Jamaat, a global proselytising movement with tens of thousands of members in the UK, is trying to overturn an enforcement notice on its mosque, called the Riverine Centre, after temporary planning permission expired in 2006.
A planning inquiry at Newham town hall will determine whether the group can continue to use the modest collection of buildings. On Thursday it heard that followers of Tablighi Jamaat were taught to “shun integration with all unbelievers in order to be uncontaminated Muslims and to isolate themselves from wider society”.
According to evidence from Dr Taj Hargey, an imam who runs a progressive Islamic educational centre in Oxford, the “isolationist dynamic” of Tablighi Jamaat has caused the growth of a “separatist Muslim enclave” in the streets around its Dewsbury headquarters.
Hargey was called as a witness by Newham Concern, a local campaign group which has long opposed Tablighi Jamaat and its ambitions to expand its facilities. The group is behind plans to build a much larger facility at the site, dubbed a “megamosque” by the media, although it currently has no planning application in place.
Hargey told the inquiry that Tablighi Jamaat had “achieved very little for the community” and rejected the group’s assertions that closing the mosque would lead to the marginalisation of Muslim youth.
He said: “Over the past 14 years that TJ has occupied the site it has furnished no proven track record of opening their facilities to the wider Muslim community, let alone non-Muslim community. In that time they have not even managed to create any facilities for women. The facility itself currently contributes substantially to marginalisation”. He described it as a “supremacist movement with adverse implications for the government’s community cohesion policies”.
Newham Concern also called Tehmina Kazi, from the group British Muslims for Secular Democracy, as a witness.
Kazi, speaking in a personal capacity, said the government’s national planning policy sought to promote “mixed and balanced communities” and that Tablighi Jamaat was “particularly inward-looking” because it only engaged with other Muslims. “The main issue is not that they are a socially conservative movement, but the fact they have been reluctant to engage in dialogue with people who are different.”…
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
UK: UCL: On the Frontline of the Student Extremism Debate
Two reports about the future of British universities have made small headlines. The implications were, in fact, bigger than the small headlines suggested. One report emanated from a working group of vice-chancellors, chaired by Malcolm Grant, provost of University College London. The group was set up to reflect on the case of the alleged “underpants bomber”. Was Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab brainwashed by extremists while an engineering student at Grant’s institution, or was he infected afterwards during his prolonged stay in the Yemen?
UCL’s earlier assessment was that his education in terrorism happened after he left them. Critics of UCL’s initial findings discern whitewash. Abdulmutallab could throw light on the matter but his American lawyers have advised him to keep mum until his trial in October. It will be a tense month in Gower Street.
The pre-released conclusions of Grant’s committee were summed up in the Guardian’s headline, “Report urges universities to debate with extremists”. The vice-chancellors themselves put it more delicately: universities should “engage with rather than proscribe”.
The other report, delivered the same day, came out under the chairmanship of Professor Edward Acton, vice-chancellors of the University of East Anglia. Acton summarised the “dire consequences” his committee foresaw if new visa regulations on overseas (ie non-EU) students were implemented. Following the abuse of student visas by some of the 9/11 terrorists, America has led the way in the kind of salutary obstruction the government intends. It has had a manifestly deleterious effect on the American university system. Whether or not it has made the homeland safer it is a matter of fierce debate.
Those of a suspicious disposition might think a prophylactic purge is taking place. Those of an outright paranoid disposition will join it all up with the withdrawal of teaching support for arts, humanities and — oddly — social science. Anything, that is, with ideology in it. As Stefan Collini has been arguing in a series of articles in the London Review of Books, there seems to be an undeclared policy to stop universities thinking.
UCL has found itself on the frontline of the debate on student extremism. There are good historical reasons why that should be so. The institution was originally set up in opposition to Oxbridge exclusion (via religious tests) of Jews, Catholics and nonconformists. Those, that is, with ideas uncomfortable to the establishment. UCL was “the godless place in Gower Street” not because it promulgated atheism but because it believed in openness. God tended to get in the way.
UCL has now embarked on an experiment to take its openness a step further into the constructive engagement Grant’s committee advocates. The college authorities, permitted and encouraged an Islamic Awareness Week, 7-11 February, under the auspices of the Islamic Society of which Abdulmutallab was once president. Rather unwisely, perhaps, UCL’s Islamlic Society advertised the programme on their website as: “An EXPLOSIVE series of events dedicated to understanding the essence of the Islamic faith.”
There were, in fact, no bangs, merely a benign occupation of the campus, videos, lectures and much tweeting. It was all done in an invitational, unconfrontational way. As one walked through the cloisters of the main building, students — some bearded, some veiled to the eyes — offered, deferentially, to explain what Islam was. Sweetmeats were offered and accepted. It was mildly feather-ruffling, for those who revere the godlessness of their institution, but not infuriating.
Constructive engagement goes further than giving inoffensive students the run of the place for a day or two. Last October UCL announced that it would become “the first British university to open a campus in Doha, Qatar”. Qatar is a hugely oil-rich, geographically tiny emirate, whose predominantly Sunni population lives under the severities of sharia law. Cynics will ask whether UCL’s new campus there would sponsor a Jewish awareness week. The college’s supporters will reply that such a thing is more likely to happen after “engagement”. My own, partisan, view is that UCL’s openness is morally justified and, in pragmatic terms, is more likely to produce desired results than interlocking bans, proscriptions, censorship and exclusion. But there are clear risks…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Universities Failing to Fight Extremism, Says Watchdog
The government’s counterterrorism watchdog believes Britain’s universities are reluctant to deal with radicalisation on campus and says a report by vice-chancellors that rejects demands to ban controversial speakers is “weak”.
Lord Carlile, who is in charge of overseeing the government’s counterterrorism strategy, Prevent, urges ministers to develop a “new narrative” for combating extremism, supporting moderate Muslim theologians against al-Qaida. “You have to meet like with like,” he says.
He is scathing about the conclusion reached by Universities UK, representing 133 universities — and says their report contains a “glaring omission”. He told the Guardian: “[There] is a total failure to deal with how to identify and handle individuals who might be suspected of radicalising or being radicalised whilst within the university.”
The vice-chancellors’ report says universities should “engage, not marginalise” extreme political views on campus. It says universities should confront “aberrant behaviour” and refer it to police but it is “emphatically not” universities’ function to engage in censorship or surveillance of students.
The report adds that “by being places where ideas and beliefs can be tested without fear of control”, universities act as a safeguard against ideologies that threaten Britain’s open society.
The report puts the vice-chancellors at odds with a new stance adopted by the government after the prime minister’s Munich speech a fortnight ago in which he said ministers would no longer engage with extreme political views, including those of non-violent extremists.
Carlile agreed with David Cameron: “I think it is important that we should put out a clear narrative, particularly abroad, as to what is and what isn’t acceptable in this country; about the extent to which we are prepared to acknowledge that freedom of speech may or may not extend to non-violent groups.”
A government source said: “This is heads in the sand stuff. Universities wouldn’t tolerate racists and fascists on campus and they need to take a similar attitude to Islamist extremists.”
Carlile, who will step down next week after nearly a decade as the government’s independent reviewer of terror laws, said there was a problem with universities. He added: “Although academic independence is extraordinarily important, [it] does not mean that you owe no duty of care. Universities owe a duty of care to all their students. That includes the non-radicalised students who are intimidated by radicalisers and the radicalised, because they may be very misguided.”
He went on: “In exercising their duty of care, academics in British universities need a much stronger knowledge of, let’s call it, the traffic lights which might indicate that someone like Roshonara Choudhry [the King’s College London student who stabbed MP Stephen Timms in his constituency surgery] is being radicalised and is changing her behaviour in a particular way. [They] need to get together and create a training programme for their staff which enables those individuals to be identified, just as a member of the public who felt concerned about a friend or member of their family becoming dangerously radicalised might put in a call to the police — which does happen…
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Bosnia: Large Deposits of Chromium Discovered
(ANSAmed) — SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 14 — British company Mineral Mining has announced the discovery of large deposits of chromium in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH), worth several hundred million euros, reports daily Nezavisne novine.
According to Newswire Today, this site might produce between 10,000 and 12,000 tonnes of chromium ore a year. The British have also announced intention to build a small plant for the production of chromic acid, possibly operational from late 2012.
With this discovery BH can become a player in the growing and lucrative chromium market, along with Turkey, the company’s release reads.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Kosovo: UN Tribunal ‘Received Human Organs Trafficking Documents’
Belgrade, 18 Feb. (AKI) — A high official of the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on Friday confirmed that the tribunal received documents on human organs trafficking in Kosovo and Albania during 1999 Kosovo war, but wasn’t its author.
“We were not the authors of these documents, but they were sent to us,” Frederick Swinnen, a political adviser to the Hague-based court’s chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz, told Radio Free Europe.
“We received the material from other sources,” he added.
Serbian and French media reported that the 30-page document was sent to by its representative in Pristina on 30 October 2003, but that the tribunal failed to investigate the report.
The document, allegedly compiled by the United Nations mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) describes in detail how organs were taken from Serb prisoners in a clinic in northern Albania and sold on the black market in the west.
The document said that between 100 and 300 Serb civilians were taken prisoner by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and transported to northern Albania where their organs were removed and they were left to die.
Swinnen said the report contained “facts described in detail”, but the tribunal couldn’t act without having the names of witnesses. In addition, the tribunal embarked on its exit strategy in 2004 and was ordered by the UN Security Council to end all investigations, he added.
UNMIK’s report, according to French and Serbian television, was based on statements of at least eight witnesses who took part in the operation, but revealed no names. According to one witness, a former KLA member, organs were transported by commercial flights from Tirana airport to Istanbul.
“The biggest delivery was when we ‘worked out’ five Serbs, we earned a fortune,” he said. “In other cases, there were two or three Serbs,” the witness added.
A top human rights investigator, Dick Marty, said in his report for the Council of Europe last month that high KLA officials were involved in organs trafficking.
The alleged organ trafficking couldn’t have happened without the knowledge of the KLA’s then-political director and current Kosovo prime minister Hasim Thaci, Marty said.
Kosovo and Albanian officials have rejected Marty’s allegations as “Serbian propaganda”, saying they would welcome an international investigation.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria: Al-Arabiya TV Network Airs Audio Message ‘From Abducted Italian Woman’
Algiers, 18 Feb. (AKI) — An Italian woman kidnapped in the Algerian desert in early February said she was alive and being held by Al-Qaeda’s North African branch, according to an an audio tape broadcast by Al Arabiya.
“I am Maria Sandra Mariani, the Italian who was kidnapped on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 near Jant in Algeria,” said the message in French aired by the Dubai-based Arabic satellite TV channel.
“I am still held captive by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s Tariq ibn Ziyad brigade led by Abdul Hamid Abu Zayd,” the message continued.
“I ask Al-Arabiya to please publicise this message. Thank You.”
At the time she disappeared, the 56-year-old Italian was reportedly travelling alone with tourist guides in from a local agency and had planned a month-long stay in Algeria from 20 January.
Since the news of Mariani’s abduction broke, the Algerian army and police have been searching for the two 4x4 vehicles she and her tour guides were travelling in.
Al-Arabiya said Mariani’s guide and driver were kidnapped with her but were later released.
Under pressure from Algerian security forces in the north, AQIM has moved some of its operations to the vast and porous desert area between Niger, Mali, Algeria and Mauritania.
AQIM militants have abducted several foreigners, but most of their earlier activities had been in areas of the desert south of Algeria’s borders.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria: Appeal on Net, On the Streets Today for Revolution
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, FEBRUARY 18 — On the eve of the protest organised in Algiers by opposition parties for the second successive Saturday, trade unions, associations and bloggers have made an appeal over the Internet for young people to take to the streets today after the traditional Friday prayers, both in Algiers and across the country.
In a video posted on Youtube and Facebook and entitled “The day of the Algerian revolution”, one of Algeria’s most well-known bloggers, Hchicha, called for a protest “led by the people and not by political or other parties”.
“The Algerian people deserves its revolution and deserves peace and dignity,” Hchicha said.
“A protest against Bouteflika that is not led by Said Sadi [the leader of the opposition Rally for Culture and Democracy party] or by Ali Benhadj [from the Islamic Salvation Front], but by all Algerians,” reads one of the many Facebook pages to have sprung up in the last few days.
Tomorrow, in spite of the ban imposed by the authorities, the rally by the National Collective for Democracy and Change is due to go ahead.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Almost All Terrorists Escaped From Egyptian Prison
Raises fear of further instability in strategic shipping region
The vast majority of Islamic terrorists who were being held inside Egypt’s prisons have escaped in recent weeks, WND has learned.
The information raises the prospect of further instability in Egypt, in particular in the region of the Suez Canal, which carries about 8 percent of global seaborne trade.
According to information obtained by WND from Egyptian security officials, out of hundreds of jailed terrorists, only nine Islamic terrorists currently remain in any Egyptian prison.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Caroline Glick: Lara Logan and the Media Rules
Among the least analyzed aspects of the Egyptian revolution has been the significance of the widespread violence against the foreign media covering the demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
The Western media have been unanimous in their sympathetic coverage of the demonstrators in Egypt. Why would the demonstrators want to brutalize them? And why have Western media outlets been so reticent in discussing the significance of their own reporters’ brutalization at the hands of the Egyptian demonstrators?
To date the most egregious attack on a foreign journalist in Cairo’s Tahrir Square took place last Friday, when CBS’s senior foreign correspondent Lara Logan was sexually assaulted and brutally beaten by a mob of Egyptian men. Her own network, CBS, took several days to even report the story, and when it did, it left out important information. The fact that Logan was brutalized for 20 to 30 minutes and that her attackers screamed out “Jew, Jew, Jew” as they ravaged her was absent from the CBS report and from most other follow-on reports in the US media.
The media’s treatment of Logan’s victimization specifically and its treatment of the widescale mob violence against foreign reporters in Cairo generally tells us a great deal about the nature of today’s media discourse…
| — Hat tip: Caroline Glick | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Tourism Authority Director, We’ll Return Even Stronger
(ANSAmed) — MILAN, FEBRUARY 17 — According to Mohamed Abdel Gabbar, the Director of the Egyptian Tourism Authority in Italy, speaking at the International Tourism Exchange exhibition: “The country will be even stronger and more competitive than in the past. Not all of the Egyptian tourism destinations are having problems and all of the archaeological sites are open as usual, except for the museums, where inspections are currently taking place. I urge everyone,” concluded the director, “to proceed with confidence towards a new future of peace and prosperity.” The director of the Egyptian Tourism Authority was addressing the tourism sector, the press and tourism agencies and tour operators in particular, who bring millions of tourists to Egypt each year. Calculations indicate that in 2010 the country hosted nearly 15 million international visitors, including 351,000 Americans (a 9% increase on 2009), about one million Italians, 1.2 million Germans and 1.4 million from Great Britain. Previously, Egypt has had to deal with problematic situations for the tourism sector, but has always been able to react positively. The country is looking to give Italian tour operators a sign of confidence this time as well in order to provide them with a sense of security that Egypt can regain its role as a great tourism destination thanks to its archaeological and cultural heritage, natural beauty and special tourism opportunities.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: EP: EU Policy Failed in Region, Change Needed
(ANSAmed) — STRASBOURG, FEBRUARY 17 — The time has come for the European Union to review and improve its strategy to assist, both politically and financially, the democratic transition in Egypt, including the organisation of free elections. In effects up to now in the eyes of Brussels the objective of stability has overshadowed the importance of values such as democracy, social justice and human rights in relations with countries in the Mediterranean area, which must be granted priority. Such is the message issued today by a resolution of the EuroMPs, who also asked to freeze the assets of all the Egyptian leaders responsible for the misappropriation of public funds.
Jerzy Buzek, the president of the European Parliament, stated that “The European Union must reassess its policy on Egypt and the whole region, as part of the revision of the European neighbourhood policy. The EU must strengthen its financial support to neighbour countries in a political transition”.
According to the EuroMPs Catherine Ashton, the High representative of the EU policy, should set up a task force including EuroMPs to coordinated the response to Egypt’s financial and political needs. In the meantime it has been decided that a delegation of EuroMPs will visit the Country in the upcoming weeks.
The European Parliament also approved the proposal to increase by 1 billion euros the total amount of loans by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to projects outside of the EU, in particular to support projects for SMEs and infrastructures in the Mediterranean.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Demonstrations Without Leadership Favour Muslim Extremists
Arabic language pamphlets issued by the Iranian government are being handed out. They hail the Islamic revolution. Recently released from prison, Muslim fundamentalists are now becoming more visible in the streets of Cairo. “The situation is unclear; we are waiting day by day to see how it will end,” a source tells AsiaNews.
Cairo (AsiaNews) — “In the absence of a leader who can talk to those in power, protesters in the street are too weak. This has helped Muslim fundamentalists find their way into talks with the government,” a source anonymous for security reasons told AsiaNews. “Foreign hands are pulling the strings in Egypt,” he said.
“You can see more and more fundamentalists in the streets. Many have in fact been recently released from prison,” the source said. At the same time, the Arabic translation of a recent speech by Ayatollah Khamenei praising the Egyptians for their courage has found its way in pamphlets handed out in the streets. In it, Iran’s spiritual leader urges Egyptians to carry out an Islamic revolution.
Site, a US-based intelligence monitoring service, reported that al-Qaeda released a message to the Egyptian people, calling for a jihad against Mubarak’s pro-Western regime. It also warned them against “pagan idols” like democracy and Westernisation.
Despite the danger of fundamentalism, young Christians and Muslims, continue to demonstrate. Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of people crowded Tahrir Square for what was perhaps the largest protest since the start of the uprising. At present, tens of thousands of young people continue to occupy the square, waiting for the big demonstration on Friday. “Young people want the president to go before they can accept the government’s proposals,” the source said.
To appease the crowds, Vice President Omar Suleiman accepted to meet with opposition delegations. He pledged changes to the constitution and free elections very soon. He did not say the president would resign, for that would bring the country to the brink of chaos. Instead, Suleiman stressed that change can only come through dialogue. The alternative would be a military coup.
The crisis could have a positive outcome for Christians. Recently, Christian representatives have used the debate over constitutional change to demand greater protection. They wrote to the vice president calling for the removal of certain articles that harm the rights of Christians. So far, no answer has been come.
Still, pressures from Muslim fundamentalists could sink the demand for improved protection. “The situation is unclear; we are waiting day by day to see how it will end,” the source said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood, Protect Revolution
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, FEBRUARY 18 — The Egyptian revolution has started to bear fruit and the Egyptians cannot allow opportunists to take over and annul what has been gained in the uprising. This claim was made today on the website of the Muslim Brotherhood by the supreme leader of the organisation, Mohamed Badie, on the occasion of the “day of victory” declared in a large demonstration that is in progress in Tahrir Square. State television network Nile Tv broadcasts live images on a screen that is divided in three parts, of the enormous crowd that has come together on the square, of a large counterdemonstration in favour of former President Mubarak in Mahmud Square in the Mohandessin district and of a presenter who leads a debate between women representing both sides.
“This Egypt cannot be deluded”, Mohamed Badie continued in his message, guaranteeing that the brotherhood is not interested in the presidency of the republic or in a parliament majority, in the free and fair elections promised by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which temporarily manages the presidency. The Muslim Brotherhood — banned since 1974 but tolerated — is getting unprecedented exposure since February 11, the day Mubarak yielded his power to the military. A representative of the brotherhood has been allowed to join the commission that has been formed by the military to modify the Egyptian Constitution in 10 days, and the traditionally pro-government State media have no problems reporting statement and interviews with the brotherhood.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Christians Fear Implementation of Islamic Law
Raise objections to U.S. about inclusion of Muslim group in writing constitution
JERUSALEM — Members of the Coptic Christian community in Egypt quietly met this week with U.S. officials to object to the inclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood in a committee that is forming a new Egyptian constitution, WND has learned.
Egypt’s ruling military council last week appointed a committee to amend the Egyptian constitution. The new committee consists of eight members, including Sobhi Saleh, who is a lawyer and a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood seeks to create an Islamic caliphate in Egypt. Both Hamas and al-Qaida are violent offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood.
A top source in Egypt’s Coptic Christian community told WND he and other Coptic Christians held a meeting on Monday with officials at the U.S. embassy in Cairo to raise objections about the inclusion of the Brotherhood in the constitutional committee.
The source said the Christian community pointed out that the official Muslim Brotherhood charter, amended in 2007, calls for the imposition of Shariah Islamic law in Egypt.
Among other things, the charter, obtained by WND, states that non-Muslims cannot hold government positions and must pay to the state the jizya, or special Islamic protection tax.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: The Fall of Pharaoh Zahi?
Two weeks ago, at the height of the Egyptian popular uprising, I asked whether it might spell the end for the controversial head of Egyptian antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass. Now, with President Mubarek stepping aside, and the central protest in Tahrir Square winding down, smaller protests against particular ‘regime personalities’ have begun — and the Big Z appears to be well and truly in the cross-hairs. Around 200 archaeologists have gathered outside the headquarters of the SCA (Supreme Council of Antiquities) with a list of demands, one of which is the prosecution of Dr Hawass “for corruption and accountability for the theft of 18 masterpieces from the Cairo Museum”. This Associated Press article makes clear that many professional archaeologists and students have had enough of the self-serving ego of the antiquities chief.
One would think that ZH is a canny enough operator to work his way out of this current mess though…despite the backlash, his monopolisation of Egyptian archaeology does give his CV enough ‘oomph’ for him to perhaps argue that only he is qualified enough to guide Egyptology forward in such uncertain times. However, according to this report he may already be packing his bags.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt OKs Iran Warships Through Suez Canal
Israel called it a provocation; canal official said only war could have blocked request
CAIRO — Egypt has agreed to let two Iranian naval vessels transit the Suez Canal, a move that comes despite expressions of concern by Israeli officials, the Egyptian-government’s MENA news agency reported Friday.
An Iranian diplomat has said the vessels were heading to Syria for training and that the request to move through the canal is in line with international regulations.
Iranian diplomats have offered assurances that the two ships wouldn’t have weapons or nuclear or chemical material, MENA stated.
White House spokesman Jay Carney, briefing reporters on an Air Force One flight from California to Oregon, said, “We’re monitoring that, obviously.”
“But we also would say that Iran does not have a great track record of responsible behavior in the region,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Islam’s “Uncovered-Meat” Excuse for Sexual Assault
The news that 60 Minutes journalist Lara Logan had been brutally sexually assaulted and beaten in Egypt among chants of “Jew” really hit home. As a teenager and young woman in Egypt, I remember having to endure the humiliation of being pinched and groped in crowded buses and streets of Cairo. Onlookers are usually indifferent, some even laugh, leaving women in Muslim society even more ashamed of their bodies. Women who do not wear Islamic clothes, such as Christians and foreigners, are even more vulnerable. In Cairo, hearing a passing car yelling the “f” word or “whore” to a woman and then speeding up in the busy traffic is not uncommon.
In times of uprisings and revolutions, it is not uncommon for the mob mentality to take over, resulting in assaults and even killing of journalists. But what happened to journalists in Egypt, including Logan, was an outrageous violation of police duty; instead of helping the foreign victims, the police added to the abuse by hours of unnecessary and abusive interrogation of the victims themselves. Egypt and many Muslim countries have a terrible record of sexual harassment. According to a survey conducted in 2008 by an Egyptian Women’s rights group, 83% of Egyptian women have been sexually harassed. The numbers for foreign women is a staggering 98%. Most of the men in the survey admitted they have harassed women and most of them blamed it on women for dressing provocatively. What is worse is that the majority of women in the survey believe that women who dress immodestly deserve the harassment.
Muslim culture has succeeded in turning women against each other and away from defending their human rights and dignity. The system rewards women who turn on other women who do not follow Sharia. A Muslim woman is given her much-craved respect only when she reports and condemns immodest women, turns against her sisters and agrees with a misogynist culture that blames the female victims and not the predators. It was also reported that crowds yelled “Jew” at Logan. That does not surprise me, since a call that someone is a Jew has a meaning in Muslim countries. It means they are fair game for assault or worse; it means they are subhuman and deserve whatever happens to them. Muslim scriptures are full of commandments to kill Jews wherever they are and according to Islamic law, female captives in battle are automatically divorced from their husbands and can be sexually enslaved by their captors. Mohammed himself, who is viewed as the ideal example for men, in all his battles against non-Muslims allowed sexual enslavement of women captives. Such Islamic history lessons send the wrong message to Muslim men and influence how they view and relate to women and take away any feeling of guilt or shame…
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: HRW: At Least 24 Protesters Killed, Dozens Injured
(ANSAmed) — TRIPOLI, FEBRUARY 18 — At least 24 people have been killed and dozens injured in Libya in the clashes between anti-government demonstrators and the police that started on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports quoting eyewitnesses.
“According to many witnesses, the security forces have fired shots into the crowd to disperse the protesters”, writes HRW in a statement, referring to the anti-government demonstrations that were organised in al Beida, Bengasi and other cities in the country.
The hardest clashes took place in al Beida, HRW writes: yesterday at noon at least 70 injured demonstrators had already been treated in hospital, half of the were in serious conditions with wounds caused by firearms.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libyan Exile Groups Claim Protesters Control Beida
(AGI) Geneva — Libyan anti-government protesters, aided by policemen who have deserted, have overpowered Libyan security forces and taken control of Beida, in Cirenaica, the country’s third most important city. The news of the city’s take over was put out by two exiled opposition groups in Geneva. “Beida is in the hands of the people,” said Giumma el-Omami of Libyan Human Rights Solidarity.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Gadhafi Rallies Supporters Amid Widening Protests
Libyan leader Colonel Gadhafi’s regime in Libya deployed security forces throughout the restive country and bluntly warned citizens today against joining the unrest in which dozens of protesters have been killed.
Demonstrations against Gadhafi’s rule have erupted in several Libyan cities this week, especially in the east, and the US-based Human Rights Watch said that 24 people died in unrest Wednesday and Thursday. But a hospital official in the eastern city of Beyida told The Associated Press today that the bodies of at least 23 dead protesters were at his facility, which was treating about 500 wounded — some in the car park for lack of beds.
“We need doctors, medicine and everything,” he said.
The wave of pro-democracy protest that has swept across the Middle East has brought unprecedented pressure on leaders like Gadhafi, who have held virtually unchecked power for decades.
The man who has controlled Libya since 1969 rode in a motorcade through the nation’s capital of Tripoli on Thursday and, according to eyewitnesses, also sent out forces that included French-speaking fighters.
Witnesses in Beyida and Zentan, 75 miles south of Tripoli, said “special militia” units called Khamis Brigades were deployed in their cities.
In Beyida, local police — who are in the same tribe as residents — allied with protesters and prevented attacks from the militia, according to a witness and Mohammed Ali Abdullah, deputy leader of the exiled National Front for the Salvation of Libya.
“I saw African migrants and I saw Tunisians among the militia,” the local eyewitness said.
In Zentan, a female eyewitness said a Khamis Brigades unit attacked the city after protesters set fire to police stations and sprayed graffiti on the walls that read: “Down with Gadhafi.”
Officials with loudspeakers offered money for residents to stop protesting.
Their message was, “we can give you money; whatever you want, we can provide,” said the woman, who was standing at the top of her building. “Then they cut electricity and water. This is a mountain area and the weather is chilly.”
Residents of Tripoli, where small protests took place in central districts, said that they received a text message to their mobile phones. The message warned people “who dare to violate the four red lines” which include Gadhafi himself, national security, oil and Libyan territory, one woman who received the message said.
Already, a newspaper regarded as a Gadhafi mouthpiece had threatened demonstrators.
“Whoever tries to violate them or touch them will be committing suicide and playing with fire,” an editorial of Az-Zahf Al-Akhdar, or the Green March newspaper said on Thursday.
Armoured vehicles, again with French-speaking soldiers, roamed the streets chasing protesters, according to the local eyewitness. Helicopters hovered low over demonstrators’ heads.
“They are trying to scare the youth,” the eyewitness said. “Many were detained.”
In the eastern city of Benghazi, thousands of protesters marched in funeral processions to bury the victims who were shot dead during the past two days.
One of the protesters, Nizar Jebail, owner of an advertising company, said he spent the night in front of the city’s court building. He said he wants not just reforms, “but freedom and equality.”
“There are lawyers, judges, men and some women here, demanding the ouster of Gadhafi. Forty-two years of dictatorship are enough,” he said by phone.
“We don’t have tents yet but residents provided us with blankets and food,” he said. “We learned from Tunisia and Egypt.”
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Egypt Has Approved Iran Warships to Use Suez Canal
This would be first time since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution that Iranian ships have used Suez; U.S. says they are monitoring the ships and criticize Iran’s ‘track record’ in the region.
Egypt has approved the passage of two Iranian warships through the Suez Canal, a source said on Friday, a move that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman described as “provocative”.
“Egypt has agreed to the passage of two Iranian ships through the Suez Canal,” the security source told Reuters.
State TV and the official news agency subsequently reported the news, without citing sources. An army source earlier said the Defense Ministry was considering a request by the Iranians to allow the naval ships to cross the strategic waterway.
Iranian officials have said that the request is in line with international regulations.
The United States is monitoring the possible transit of the Iranian ships and does not believe Iran has behaved responsibly in the region, the White House said on Friday.
White House spokesman Jay Carney, briefing reporters on an Air Force One flight from California to Oregon, said, “We’re monitoring that, obviously.”
“But we also would say that Iran does not have a great track record of responsible behavior in the region,” he said.
It is believed to be the first time since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution that Iranian warships are attempting to pass through the Suez Canal, which links the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
The Real Egyptian Revolution Will Not be Brought to You by CNN
Behind the veil of English speaking Twitter feeds by young activists, is an angry and bigoted population which hated Mubarak not because he is a tyrant, but because he maintained ties to America and Israel, and refused to aggressively persecute Egypt’s Christians. Egypt is not looking for a Western style democracy. What the Arab street really wants is a tyranny that reflects its values.
Few of the gullible Western supporters who follow the revolution by Twitter, understand just how much the ordinary Egyptian taking part in the protests hates them. Behind all the English language signs produced for the foreign press and the articulate bloggers cultivated by the US and EU governments, is the angry mob who believes that Mubarak was a puppet of the CIA and the Mossad. And who believe the same thing about all the earnest CNN and CBS correspondents who came to be photographed against the background of a revolution. No matter how much the reporters propagandized their cause, the mob was certain that they were there to support Mubarak.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Trouble in the Hood
Ever since the first stirrings of revolution in Tunisia and Egypt, one London-based, Oxford University-affiliated Muslim academic has been a fixture in television studios and lecture halls in Europe and North America. Swiss-born, ultra-smooth, with his salt-and-pepper beard neatly trimmed, Tariq Ramadan draws thousands of Muslims to meetings when he travels in the Arab world, though he’s banned from six states in the region, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Yet mention Ramadan’s name in neo-conservative, Islamosceptic circles and the abuse will pour forth, partly because his maternal grandfather was Hassan al-Banna. He was the Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928, and nothing his grandson says dissuades critics from assuming his loyalties lie there. Ramadan, in turn, accuses those critics of assuming “I think with my blood”.
Ramadan has been called a “Muslim Martin Luther”, a label which has since been appropriated by Ramadan’s enemies, to be used ironically to highlight the supposed vacuity of his supporters and those who take at face value the Brotherhood’s claims to moderation.
Jeremy Bowen, the BBC’s Middle East editor, is in the latter category, having called the MB in Egypt “conservative and non-violent”, which might seem at odds with its formal slogan: “Allah is our objective; the Prophet is our leader; the Koran is our law; jihad is our way; dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”
We meet in the Grand Champagne Bar at St Pancras station, sipping tea among bankers who are necking glasses of fizz while waiting for an evening Eurostar.
Ramadan, an observant Muslim who says he prays five times a day, has found an hour before boarding a train for an evening lecture at Cambridge. The night before he had performed at an Intelligence Squared debate in London.
As we talked on Wednesday, Colonel Gaddafi of Libya and the rulers of Bahrain were temporarily united in their frantic efforts to suppress the revolutionary contagion sweeping the region.
Ramadan’s father was also a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, so the family was exiled by Egypt’s President Nasser to Switzerland, where Tariq was born in 1962. He is married to a Swiss-French Muslim convert. He flatly dismisses the notion that the students and professional people of Cairo are dupes for the Muslim Brotherhood.
“This is not an Islamic revolution,” he says firmly. “Look, how many anti-Israel or anti-Western slogans have you seen? This has taken the regimes totally by surprise.” He believes that apart from some underlying economic resentments, the protests still raging across the region really show that “Arabs want exactly what you want — which is freedom, from tyranny and repression.”
Ramadan believes that Western governments have indulged corrupt tyrants such as Hosni Mubarak and the leaders of the Gulf states for selfish economic reasons and misplaced assumptions about security.
“How many years was the West silent? The dictators say it is rule by us or by radical Islamists, and the West says we prefer the security with you to instability with them. So here we are.”
To be fair to Ramadan, as many of his opponents tend not to be, if he has been reluctant to condemn Islam, he has been consistent in his opposition to the corrupt regimes of the Middle East.
He also has a barely disguised contempt for Tony Blair, who he says is discredited in Arab eyes and has no influence as special envoy of the Quartet group — made up of the United Nations, the US, the EU and Russia, it is involved in mediating in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process — and not just because he followed George W Bush into the “illegal” invasion of Iraq.
“All the Arabs heard him say during the first days of protest that Mubarak was a good thing. Then, afterwards, Blair was praising the courage of the Egyptians — are you kidding? Who is going to trust you, and then you say you are going to be the man to help the peace process in the Middle East.”…
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Press: Ben Ali in a Coma
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, FEBRURAY 16 — The former Tunisian President, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, is said to be in a coma in the King Faisal hospital in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
The “unconfirmed reports” were released by the African Manager website, which in turn quoted Wediaz.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Prayers for Rain Followed by Floods
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, FEBRUARY 14 — For the second Sunday in a row, the inhabitants of the southern Tunisian region of Tataouine on the edge of the Sahara desert, yesterday gathered to pray their “prayer for rain,” in an area that has been suffering from draught for the past five years. And duly, during Sunday night, the region was hit by rain storms of such violence as to cause flooding in North Tataouine, closing roads and damaging infrastructure, to such an extent that the army and national guard were called in for assistance. A truck transporting sheepskins was overturned by the force of the floodwater as the driver attempted to cross a ford.
Most of the schools in the area have remained closed.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Polish Priest Found With Throat Cut in a School
(ANSAmed) — ROME, FEBRUARY 18 — A young Salesian priest from Poland has been killed in Tunisia. According to a memo issued by the Salesian Info Agency, the young man was Father Marek Rybinski, a missionary working in Manouba. His body was found in the Salesian school in Manouba and there is no clear indication of the motive for the murder. Father Rybinski had not been seen since yesterday morning at around 10 when fellow priests went to visit him. Having missed his presence at evening prayers and at mass this morning, Don Lawrence Essery, the director of the Silesian mission to Manouba, searched his room and then alerted the local police force. Investigators found Father Rybinski in a store room with his throat cut. He is the second religious person to have been killed in Tunisia in the recent past.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
W. Sahara: Saharawi Activist — Reports Shows Moroccan Guilt
(ANSAmed) — ROME, JANUARY 28 — The Rabat Government has for the first time acknowledged its historic responsibility for having imprisoned, tortured and in some cases killed detainees of Saharawi origins but Moroccan nationality. Nine hundred and thirty-eight detainees were involved, of whom 613 are Saharawi: 352 were killed in prison while the others were released. These claims have been made in Rome today by Saharawi journalist Malainin Lakhal, speaking during a meeting organised by the NGO CISP-Development of Peoples. The journalist cited figures contained in a report published on the website of the Moroccan Royal Advisory Council for Human Rights, which has been identified by Saharawi activists.
“This report,” Lakhal explained, “acknowledges acts committed by Morocco between 1958 and 1992, even though most of the arrests involving Saharawis go back to October 1975, when the Western Sahara was still under Spanish colonial rule”. This means that what Lakhal refers to as “the invasion carried out by Morocco” “started earlier than has always been believed, and that Spain was aware of what was happening”. Lakhal is currently in Italy as part of a CISP project for the preservation of Saharawi culture.
The report bears the names of all of the victims with their dates of birth and a description of what happened to them and the name of the detention camp they were taken to, whether in Agdez or Magouna.
Also present are the names of the 261 Saharawi, who were set free after 1992, having spent 10-16 years in prison without this being known to the world in general. As Lakhal stressed: “This is the first time that Morocco has officially acknowledged the crimes committed against the Saharawi. Even if the dossier goes up to 1992, the violations of human rights committed and the damage done to the Saharawi has never stopped and continues to this day. Unfortunately, until France — which supports Morocco and is de facto the nation that decides European Union policy towards the Maghreb — until France changes its attitude, Morocco will not accept any solution and will oppose any referendum for our self-determination. But the Saharawi people will never cease their struggle for their right to suffrage”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Temporaly Closes Diplomatic Missions in Turkey
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, FEBRUARY 18 — The Israeli Foreign Ministry has temporarily closed some of its diplomatic missions abroad, including the Israeli Embassy in Ankara and the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul, since Friday as security measures. The functions of the Israeli missions are temporarily suspended, while the diplomats are still working, not in the office but from home, daily Hurriyet reports quoting diplomatic sources. Diplomatic operations continue, but the embassy is not offering all functions, including visa applications. It’s not clear when the closure order will be lifted. Officials from the Israeli Embassy in Ankara, when contacted, declined to comment on the issue. The Israeli Foreign Ministry reported Wednesday that four Israeli embassies were temporarily closed in response to threats against Israeli targets overseas. The ministry did not specify which embassies it was referring to.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Anger May Spread to Saudi Arabia
VIOLENT unrest in Bahrain provoked by discontent among the majority Shiite Muslim population risks spilling over to their co-religionists in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, analysts say.
Saudi Arabia, a close ally of Bahrain, has a Shiite minority concentrated in its eastern oil-producing hub that also complains of discrimination. Any spread of unrest into the world’s biggest oil exporter risks pushing crude prices above the 21/2-year high they reached this week. Saudi authorities arrested 38 people after clashes involving Shiite pilgrims in the holy city of Medina two months ago.
“There is tension right now and now you have the added situation in Bahrain that may ignite the spark,” said Christoph Wilcke, an expert on the country at New York’s Human Rights Watch. “This anger has the potential to spill over.”
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Saudi Arabia maintains a strict version of Sunni Islam. It prohibits the public observance of other religions and limits the practice of other branches of Islam.
It has a Shiite minority estimated at between 10 and 15 per cent, according to Human Rights Watch. Most live in the Eastern Province, where the state-owned Saudi oil company Saudi Aramco is based, and in which they are 75 per cent of the population.
Unrest in Bahrain, which is linked by a 26-kilometre causeway with Saudi Arabia, has in the past spread across the border. In 1995 the Saudis arrested a large number of Shiites in the Eastern Province on suspicion of involvement in protests taking place in Bahrain.
Ibrahim al-Mugaiteeb, the president of Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights First Society, said: “The Saudi government has to treat the Shiites the same way Sunnis are treated in the kingdom if they want long-term stability.”
Tawfiq al-Saif, a prominent Shiite activist from the eastern region of Qatif, called last year for the government to appoint Shiites as ministers and ambassadors as a first step towards ending their treatment as “second-class citizens”…
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
German Cash & Carry Market Opens 18 Stores in Turkey
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, FEBRUARY 17 — Metro Cash&Carry Turkey’s Marketing Director Ayla Ceylan said that Metro had inaugurated 18 stores in 11 provinces in Turkey. “Metro is planning to open more stores in Turkey, particularly a new Metro store in the Mediterranean province of Antalya,” Ceylan said as reported by Anatolia news agency.
Ceylan said Metro had one million registered customers, and 650,000 active customers, and the company was selling 40,000 products in its stores. Ceylan also said Metro was selling Turkish textile products and canned food in other countries.
Founded in 1964 in Germany, Metro Cash&Carry is the leading international player in self-service wholesale: customer-focused, international and innovative. Metro Cash&Carry is active in 30 countries by the end of 2010, and its total sales were around 30.6 billion euros by the end of 2009.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Grenade Kills Two Yemen Protesters, Toll Hits 10
Anti-regime protesters in the volatile Yemen city of Taez were blasted in a hand grenade attack Friday leaving two dead, while fierce clashes in the southern city of Aden killed four, witnesses said. Clashes also broke out in the capital Sanaa in which four anti-regime demonstrators were injured, according to witnesses and journalists, who were also beaten.
The grenade attack came as hundreds of protesters took to central Taez after the weekly Muslim prayers to demand President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s ouster, in protests that have been raging in the city for the past week. A local official told AFP the grenade was lobbed at protesters from a speeding car with government number plates. Two people were in the car “but we will not identify their political affiliation,” he said. Medics in Aden, meanwhile, said four demonstrators were shot dead as police fired on protests in several areas of the southern port city, which has borne the brunt of the violence that has left 10 people dead since Sunday.
At least 27 were wounded in Friday’s clashes, a medical official in the southern city told AFP.
A witness said that police opened fire at demonstrators who set tyres on fire in a street in Omar al-Mukhtar, killing one of the protesters, Mohammed Munir Khan.
Earlier, three people were shot dead when police fired on protesters in Al-Saada, Khor Maksar and Sheikh Othman districts, as hundreds of people took to the streets around the city to demand Saleh step down. A local official told AFP that the mayor of Aden, Adnan al-Jafri, handed in his resignation Friday in “protest at the deteriorating security in the city.”
In the capital Sanaa, the scene of a sixth straight day of demonstrations, at least four anti-regime protesters were wounded in an attack by Saleh partisans, witnesses said.
Several journalists were severely beaten by supporters of the ruling General People’s Congress (GPC) who attacked the demonstration using batons and axes, an AFP correspondent reported. Thousands of demonstrators, mostly students, had gathered following the weekly Muslim prayers in a main street of Sanaa. “People want to overthrow the regime,” they chanted.
Saleh’s supporters numbered in the hundreds, aided by security agents in plainclothes.
Students have tried for the past week to hold a protest march toward the presidential palace but been intercepted each day by stone-throwing regime supporters armed with batons.
The US embassy in Sanaa on Friday condemned “a disturbing rise in the number and violence of attacks against Yemeni citizens gathering peacefully to express their views on the current political situation…
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Jordan Signs Accord With Turkey
(ANSAmed) — AMMAN, FEBRUARY 17 — Jordan and Turkey signed a landmark deal to boost cooperation in nuclear field as the kingdom moves with its ambitious project to establish nuclear plant.
The deal was signed by Jordan’s chief of nuclear energy commission Khalid Touqan and his Turkish counter part Thafer al Ber, according to the official news agency Petra.
The deal involves operating of nuclear plants, examining them, and putting them in service as well as carrying out needed maintained, said Touqan after the signing ceremony.
The two countries will also work on developing a mechanism of nuclear safety and methods of exploring uranium in the kingdom’s large reserve areas in the south.
“This is a new milestone in relations between Jordan and Turkey. It will provide the kingdom with more support and enable it reach its goal to establish a nuclear energy plants,” Touqan said. Jordan is planning to build its first nuclear reactor in the northern parts of the kingdom.
The programme is vital for the kingdom, which has little natural resources and relies on imported fuel. Jordan has inked deals on nuclear cooperation with France, South Korea, China, Canada, Russia, the UK and Argentina and prepares for similar deals with Romania and the Czech Republic by the end of the year. Officials expressed confidence that the kingdom remains in course to construct two 1,000-megawatt Generation III reactors in the next 15 years, with the intention of building four reactors with the potential to produce over half of the Kingdom’s electricity needs.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jordanian Minister Calls Israel ‘Enemy and Terrorist State’
Jordan’s new Justice Minister Hussein Mjali called Israel an “enemy and terrorist state” in an interview with Jordanian Arabic-news daily. Mjali joined protests in Jordan Monday demanding the release of Ahmed al-Daqamseh, a convicted terrorist who gunned downseven Israeli schoolgirls at Naharayim in 1997.
Mjali commented that “Israel arrests and practices destruction on a daily basis, and it is obvious that Israel would issue a counter-position to our request that Ahmed al-Daqamish be released.”
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry immediately issued a statement following Mjali’s comments saying that the justice minister’s opinions do not represent the official government stance, and that Mjali was practicing his right to freedom of speech.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia: Deal With Isuzu for New Factory
(ANSAmed) — ROME, FEBRUARY 15 — Yesterday Saudi Arabia signed an agreement with the Japanese Isuzu Motors for the construction of a automobile and lorry factory in the city of Dammam. The news was announced by the Saudi press agency, which specifies that the contract has a value of around 500 million Saudi riyal, the equivalent of USD 133 million. The initial production of around 600 lorries will start, according to the director of the new project, Qusai Al Abdelkarim, in the fourth quarter of 2012. The director adds that production will gradually increase to 25,000 lorries of several types per year. By the start of 2017, Saudi Arabia, which currently imports 600 thousand automobiles per year, will export 40% of the output of the new factory.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia: Prince Talal Al Saud Criticises Government
(ANSAAmed) — ROME, FEBRUARY 18 — If Saudi Arabia does not bring in the necessary reforms, the same fate could await the kingdom as has befallen other states in the Arab world. The warning comes from the Saudi king’s eighteenth son, Prince Talal Ben Abdelaziz Al Saud, according to a report in today’s edition of the newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi.
“When you deprive a people of their rights, this people will rebel,” the prince points out, adding that Saudi’s religious institutions have no intention of opposing human rights reforms in general, nor those of women in particular.
Reffering to the appointment of Prince Naif as a second deputy to the country’s prime minister, Prince Talal Al Saud expressed his disapproval of the move, saying it was a negative one for the people. Accroding to the newspaper, the prince came out in favour of the idea of a constitutional monarchy, similar to the British or Swedish model. As for the idea of setting up an Islamic political party in the country, the Prince expressed his doubts about the success of creating the National Islamic Party, as, he said, there is no law governing political parties in the country.
Talal Al Saud went on to express approval for a law blocking public financing of princes: a law which has been passed but never applied.(
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Court Arrests Oda TV Journalists
Oda TV news website owner and founder Soner Yalçin was arrested along with two editors by a court in Istanbul late Thursday evening, daily Hürriyet reported on its website.
The owner and editors of Oda TV were taken to Istanbul’s Besiktas Courthouse on Thursday to give testimony as part of their alleged involvement in the Ergenekon gang.
Editors Baris Pehlivan and Baris Terkoglu were charged with “being a member of the Ergenekon organization” and “inciting hatred and emnity among the public” and were arrested.
Yalçin was later questioned by public prosecutor Zekeriya Öz and was arrested on charges of “obtaining and publishing documents related to state security,” “being a member of the Ergenekon organization” and “inciting hatred and emnity among the public.”
Yalçin, Pehlivan and Terkoglu were sent to Metris prison in Istanbul.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Yemen: 40 Injured in Clashes Pro- And Anti-Regime Protesters
(ANSAmed) — SANAA, FEBRUARY 17 — At least 40 people have been injured in the violent clashes in Yemen’s capital Sanaa between demonstrators of the opposition, who ask for the end of the 32-year regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and supporters of the regime. The news is reported by local journalists, who base their information on indications from both sides. Around 800 supporters of the regime, armed with sticks and daggers clashed with around 1,500 protesters, who responded by throwing stones. “We will not end our protest until the regime falls. We have been patient for too long”, said one of the demonstrators, Saleh
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Mother of Airport Bomber Ashamed, Apologizes
Speaking softly through tears in her family’s tiny home in the North Caucasus, Roza Yevloyeva apologized for her son’s suicide bomb attack on Russia’s busiest airport 3 1/2 weeks ago.
Magomed Yevloyev, 20, detonated explosives strapped to his body at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport on Jan. 24, killing 36 people. Analysts say the attack was proof the Kremlin has failed to quell a bubbling Islamist insurgency along its south.
“We commiserate, and we extend a very big apology to the whole world,” Yevloyeva told Reuters on Wednesday in her first interview with foreign press in the town of Ali-Yurt in Ingushetia.
“We are so ashamed, so bitterly sad. We really worry for all the people who died, whom he wounded,” the 54-year-old school teacher and mother of four said between muffled sobs as she perched on her dead son’s wooden bed.
Islamist leader Doku Umarov, who said he ordered the attack, has since threatened a year of “blood and tears” before Russia’s 2012 presidential elections, saying he has dozens of suicide bombers ready to unleash on Russian cities.
Styling himself as the Emir of the Caucasus, Umarov wants to create a separate state with sharia Islamic law across the Muslim republics of the North Caucasus that he considers to be “occupied” territory.
The robust insurgency in Ingushetia — a sliver of land next to Chechnya, the site of two post-Soviet separatist wars that underpin the militant movement — underscores the threat.
Magomed’s brother Akhmed, 16, and his sister Fatima, 22, have now been arrested and taken to Moscow for questioning. His third sibling is physically disabled and does not leave the family home.
Authorities say Magomed’s arrested siblings helped him prepare his bomb. Now, in the ramshackle family home, heated by a single wood-fired stove and decorated with rugs on the walls, his mother laments losing three of her children.
“Night is the most horrible time for me, because I do not have my children near me. The beds are empty,” said Yevloyeva, whose patterned hijab crowns her pale face.
“Each bed draws me close, as that is where my children slept. Probably every mother feels this way,” she said, patting Magomed’s bed, wedged in the tiny room where three of her children had slept.
After years of the Soviet Union suppressing religion, both regional Muslim leaders and rebels have enjoyed an Islamic revival over the past 20 years…
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Russia’s Chechnya Asks Workers to Wear Muslim Dress
Russia’s Chechnya region has asked state workers to dress conservatively, including headscarves for women and an Islamic dress code on Fridays, in its leaders’ latest assertion of Muslim customs.
A decade after Moscow drove separatists out of power in the second of two wars since the 1991 Soviet collapse, the Kremlin relies heavily on Chechnya’s strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov to keep insurgents in check and maintain a shaky peace.
Against the backdrop of a persistent Islamist insurgency in Chechnya and neighbouring parts of Russia’s mainly Muslim North Caucasus, regional leaders and rebel fighters alike have embraced an Islamic revival.
Kadyrov’s past efforts to enforce a dress code have angered rights activists who say such rules may violate Russia’s secular constitution.
“We recommend that male state workers come to work in a suit and tie, and that women dress in a skirt below the knee and the appropriate headgear,” Chechen government deputy head Magomed Selimkhanov told reporters.
On Fridays — the main day for prayers in Islam — employees of both sexes should observe “a traditional Muslim dress code”, meaning covered arms and legs.
Selimkhanov said his “recommendation” was “purely advisory”. News agency Caucasian Knot reported that he had signed a document stating Muslim dress was “essential” for state workers.
Four years ago Kadyrov issued a “recommendation” that women don headscarves to enter state buildings. A spate of attacks last year on women for not wearing headscarves angered women who said being forced to dress a certain way violated their rights.
“This Islamic dress is part of a problem that has existed in Chechnya for some time now… Every year the Chechen authorities come up with something of this sort,” said Ruslan Badalov, a human rights activist who heads the Chechen Committee for National Salvation.
“It is a Caucasus tradition to look respectful in front of family but this should never be enforced,” he told Reuters.
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Asia/Pakistan — Sherry Rehman, Promoter for Amending the Blasphemy Law, Incriminated for Blasphemy
Lahore (Agenzia Fides) — Sherry Rehman, Parliamentarian from the Pakistan People’s Party, the woman who presented the motion to the Pakistani Parliament to modify the blasphemy law has been formally charged with blasphemy. The decision was taken by a court in Multan, which enlisted the local police to register the charge of blasphemy against Rehman. The court received the denouncement by a local shopkeeper, who accuses the woman of blasphemy in her address on television in November 2010. The local police, for now, have declared her legally incompetent. In recent weeks there have been other attempts to incriminate her but other Pakistani courts have refused to give authorisation.
This news creates “discouragement and deep concern within the Christian community” which, as a local source of Fides confirms, sees its fears being realised: that it has gone beyond the idea of defining “blasphemous”, and therefore, anyone who opposes the law on blasphemy can be incriminated.
Meanwhile cases are multiplying in which extremist Islamic groups openly praise the “holy war”, the civil disobedience and murders. Fides sources in Pakistan’s civil society express growing concern that these attitudes, however, “are not producing any solid responses from the Pakistani Government,” which “should stop these preachers of hate and lawlessness.” Many mullahs use the Friday sermon to convey hostile messages to increase social and interreligious tensions, to override the rule of law.
“Some are even demanding the use of nuclear bombs against India in the name of holy war in Kashmir,” said a note sent to Fides from the Asian Human Rights Commission. Recently, this occurred in Lahore by Hafiz Saeed, leader of the radical Islamic group Jamaat-ud-Dawah, speaking to an audience of over 20,000 militants. Although the leader is wanted for terrorism, he was able to harangue the crowd undisturbed.
“It is absolutely incomprehensible that the Pakistani government close their eyes and allow these terrorists to circulate freely, spreading radical ideas,” says the Fides source. “The authorities can not continue with this conciliatory policy towards religious extremism. Inciting religious war is a crime against humanity.” The Pakistani civil society forum “Citizens for Democracy”, in a note sent to Fides, appeals to the Government to stop and prosecute those who incite religious hatred and murder. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 17/2/2011)
| — Hat tip: LAW Wells | [Return to headlines] |
India: At Hindu Kumbh in Madhya Pradesh, Christians Are “Bugs to Kill”
A major Hindu rally ends, that drew nearly two million people to the banks of Narmada river. Continuous attacks against Christians, some sadhus, however, have criticized this verbal violence. The testimony of Father George Thomas, and exploitation of tribals by the government.
Bhopal (AsiaNews) — With a final volley of verbal attacks against Christians, the Narmada Samajik Kumbh closed yesterday. Commissioned by a group of associations that includes armed Hindu militants, the gathering involved two million people in Madhya Pradesh, and has pushed Christians and other religious minorities to urgently seek government protection for fear of clashes or violence. (02/09/2011 Fear of violence at a 2 million-strong Hindu gathering in Madhya Pradesh).
Father George Thomas, a Catholic priest in charge of mission Mandala, visited, the Kumbh Mela every day. On the, third and final day, he told AsiaNews: on the last day, one of the speakers launched an anti Christian tirade terming Christians as Bed Bugs’“. But he also noted that many people were not interested in political manipulation.
Father George said that most of the anti-Christian speeches at the Kumbh were directed against the Christian missionaries, and their generous work towards the poorest of the poor. In particular, the last speaker said that Christians are here primarily to carry out conversions. He continued comparing Christians to bugs. He said that “Christians are like bed bugs, who hide under the guise of so called missionary work, and drink the blood of the innocent vulnerable people and bed bugs should be killed or else they will continue drinking blood.”
Father George points out that, however, that an interesting thing happened: some of the “sadhu (ascetics), and in particular sadhu Asaramji Babuji stood up and criticized the tone and content of the speech. Babuji said the Kumbh was not the place from which to launch attacks against Christian missionaries. If we have problems with them, he said, we must invite them to discussion, and there is no need to insult Christians. Some other sadhus joined Babuji.
The priest says, however, that in general, participants’ seemed to be pilgrims, only interested in bathing themselves in the Narmada, seeing the crowd and illumination of the place. There were no clear political connotation and the “attacks on Christians and propaganda did not seem to have affected their mood”.
“The people — says Fr George — seemed quite uninterested in these talks. The principal location from which they were launched remained empty for most of the time. Yesterday, during one of these speeches, the helicopter Ramansingh, the chief minister of Chhattisgarh appeared, and everyone left the room and came out to watch the helicopter. And even after repeated calls no one came back inside. “
The Kumbh gathering concluded without any major incident. Father George, however, expressed concern “about the impact this Kumbh may have on Christian missionaries. Too many speakers raised anti-Christian sentiments and excited the public. Also this term, ‘bugs’, is extremely dangerous. I remember that in Rwanda the Tutsi were referred to as ‘cockroaches’. These speakers delivered a message of suspicion and hatred and division against Christian missionaries, and our work for human dignity. “
Father George explains to AsiaNews that there are specific reasons behind the attempts to poison minds against Christians and the work they perform. It all comes down to the commitment of Christians for the development of tribals. ‘A little while ago — says the priest — some termed Mandala as a place to plunder the tribals: the Tribal looting Center. In the past, a large sum of money has been allocated to help this district. But perhaps not even a quarter of that sum came to the tribals. They however remained quiet and subdued, because they are poor, illiterate, and without organization. “
“The Church has always been at the forefront in education instead of the people, formally and informally, to help them grow in economic and organizational terms, with self-help groups and cooperatives. We tried to create opportunities for women in society, in various ways. As a result, the tribals of the Mandala have become a ‘voice’ that can not be ignored, and have even to give birth to a party, the Gondvana Gantantra Party. We have not done this to convert everyone to Christianity, but only from the standpoint of human rights and social justice. As a result, some have accepted Christianity, and today most of the tribals, including Hindus, like Christians and their activities”
“The radical Hindu militants (such as RSS, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, one of the organizers of Khumb) see this as a potential threat, because they say that all the tribals are Hindus. But the tradition, the original language and customs first prove that the tribals are not Hindu. The tribal families are matriarchal, Hindu ones patriarchal, the original tribal language Dravidian, the Hindu Aryan. The tribal did not originally cremate their dead, but the Hindus did. The tribal did not accept dowries, but paid a price for the bride to her parents, the Hindus have the dowry system. Now, under the Hindu influence, some customs have changed. Sangh [the Hindu organizations — ed] try to turn the tribals against us with false propaganda and threats” .
Fr. George also tells of the exploitation and humiliation suffered by tribals at the Khumb: “The people of Mandala, and particularly the tribals, have lived for years without the essential services: clean water to drink, roads, electricity. The government is not concerned. But for the Kumbh, the government found the will and means to supply electricity without interruption to the Kumbh and the surrounding areas. A lot of money has been spent on the rally, with the clear and sole intent to say that Christians are not good. The people of Mandala were totally ignored in the organization, and only a few tribes have been involved in the supply of food. All contracts were given to people from outside, profits have gone elsewhere, and Mandala has been left alone to pick up the garbage left from the crowd. Mandala is a tribal district, which means that the land, water and forests are tribal. But all laws were set aside for the Kumbh, the compensation given to the tribals has been minimal. The tribals were made understand that even in their own district they count for nothing. “
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Hardliners Demand Ban on Ahmadiyah Muslim Sect
Jakarta, 18 Feb. (AKI/Jakarta Post) — Hardliners were among hundreds of people from various Islamic organisations who held a protest in central Jakarta Friday demanding the government outlaw the minority Ahmadiyah Muslim sect.
Demonstrators who gathered crowded around the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta represented, among others, members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), Islamic Peoples Forum (FUI) and Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia.
The protesters carried flags and banners that read “Cut off those who contempt Islam”, “Muslims are ready to guide victims of Ahmadiyah infidels” and “Muslims [must] disband Ahmadiyah”.
The demonstration is a reaction to president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s recent statement in which he said that unlawful and violent organisations must be disbanded.
The Ahmadiyah followers in Indonesia have been experiencing a series of sectarian attacks in Indonesia. The latest incident took place earlier this month, when a mob of more than 1,500 people attacked an Ahmadi congregation in Central Java’s strife-hit Temanggung district, killing three Ahmadiyah Muslims.
The Ahmadiyah sect is an offshoot of Islam founded in India during the late 19th century.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Officials Reject Blasphemy Charge Sheet
Islamabad, 18 Feb. (AKI) — A charge-sheet submitted against a teenage blasphemy suspect has been rejected by prosecution officials who maintain that the police have not adopted the proper procedure.
Seventeen-year-old Syed Samiullah is facing a charge of making blasphemous remarks about Prophet Muhammad in answer sheets of a school examination around 10 months ago.
On 29 January, a magistrate sent the suspect to the juvenile prison in judicial custody and directed the police to submit a charge-sheet for the case.
A deputy district prosecutor told Dawn that the charge-sheet was returned to the police with a few objections, adding that under the law a sub-inspector of police was not authorised to investigate such a case.
He further said that it was also wrongly mentioned in the charge-sheet that the alleged offence was committed within the remit of the Shahrah-i-Noor Jahan police station as the examination centre of the suspect was located within the jurisdiction of the Sharea Faisal police station.
According to Section the Pakistani criminal procedure code no police officer below the rank of a superintendent of police shall investigate the offence against any person alleged to have been committed by him under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Legal experts said it was highly deplorable that the relevant police officials had little knowledge of the blasphemy law and its procedure.
They claimed that most police officials were incompetent and lacked knowledge of the law which was one of the major factors behind the low conviction rate in the country and abuse of the blasphemy law.
According to the prosecution, the suspect was a first-year pre-engineering student in a private college.
He allegedly made blasphemous remarks in the answer sheets of the Physics and Islamic Studies papers during the annual examinations of intermediate held in April 2010.
It alleged that during an initial interrogation, the suspect had confessed to having committed the crime and stated that a few weeks before the examination, a couple of his cousins living in Norway had come to Pakistan and during their temporary stay, they used to influence his religious beliefs and tried to persuade him to commit such an offence.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: What to Do? Give Them a Job!
La Repubblica Rome
Italy has requested financial assistance from the EU to cope with the wave of migrants from north Africa. Instead of increasing the budget of Frontex, the border security agency, the EU should rather reform its asylum policy to foster economic integration of immigrants.
Tito Boeri
Citing “burden sharing”, the Italian government is calling on Europe to take over dealing with the landings in Lampedusa, not just with regard to the costs of setting up patrols on our borders — Frontex is already doing that — but in offering hospitality to some of the refugees that have hit the shores of Italy. Rome has asked Budapest, which currently chairs the EU, to convene an extraordinary summit to establish the terms and conditions of this burden sharing that will cover both the accepting of refugees and the handling of asylum claims. We note in this regard that many refugees seem to intend to leave Italy. As a general rule, political refugees — like all immigrants — choose to concentrate in areas already occupied by a community of people speaking the same language they do and sharing the same nationality. The highest concentrations of Tunisians and citizens from north Africa are found today mainly in France and Spain.
The request from Italy, however, may risk being misunderstood by the public in large EU countries — starting with Germany — that are accustomed to accepting ten times that number of political refugees. Small countries like Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden will be even less sensitive, for in the last twenty years they have indeed accepted fifteen times more political asylum-seekers in proportion to their populations than Italy has.
That is why we must go beyond the present emergency and present Europe with consistent demands. First, a series of reforms on political asylum. The issue of political refugees cannot be addressed purely as a diplomatic issue, distinctly separated from larger issues of economic migration. The borders between these two types of migration inflows are very fragile: the processing of asylum claims by member states appears to respond to economic factors (such as unemployment or income per capita in the destination country) rather than to purely political factors, such as war or dictatorships in the countries of origin. In addition, a very serious error has been committed in Europe’s political asylum procedures, which continue to prevent political refugees from working and even from choosing what area of a country they wish to reside in.
The purpose is to prevent too many asylum-seekers. The result, however, is counterproductive, for several studies show that such restrictions do not deter abuse. Quite the contrary. Preventing persons granted asylum from working blocks the economic integration of immigrants and increases the burden on the indigenous taxpayer. Recent studies show that political refugees, forced to live on modest benefits in places they have not chosen to live in, get more easily caught up in petty crime than other citizens, including immigrants who have not won refugee status. It’s an important lesson that we must take into account.
But we must also draw a lesson for the more general question of our immigration policies. If immigrants are “permitted to work,” they are a great resource. And yet we want to complicate their lives foolishly (restrictions on their entry into the country, on the duration of their stay, on the renewal of residence permits, on changing places of employment, etc.). At least some of these refugees are thus likely easy to persuade that petty crime is doubtlessly more appealing than getting regular employment, which has become too complicated. Coordination of policies on asylum and migration should also be based on transparent criteria and shared among all member countries of the EU.
Today, several European countries are trying to introduce systems of points that can establish clearly defined priorities in allocating residence and work permits. These systems are often used to promote the immigration of persons who are skilled, educated and able to integrate more easily into a host country. Nothing prevents introducing humanitarian considerations into the legal system for ensuring priority of access to citizens of countries torn by civil wars, or from countries where the civilian population is regularly subject to violence, torture and arbitrary arrest. Joint border protection, asylum policies in harmony with those on economic migration and based on transparent principles — like the points system — can thus become the strengths of a European immigration policy.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Authorizes 80,000 “Refugees” To Enter Country
President Barack Hussein Obama, in a determination letter to Congress, has announced that he will allow an additional 80,000 immigrants — — mostly from Islamic countries — — to resettle in the United States during fiscal year 2011.
Mr. Obama says that the increase in Muslim immigrants “is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.”
The following “goals” for new immigrants has been set as follows:
Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,000
East Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,000
Europe and Central Asia . . . . . . . . . . 2,000
Latin America/Caribbean. . . . . . . . . . . 5,500
Near East/South Asia. . . . . . . . . . . 35,500
Unallocated Reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,000
Refugee Resettlement Watch and other organizations have expressed grave concern that Mr. Obama is allowing so many immigrants into the country while so many Americans remain out of work and living in poverty.
According to the US Department of Labor, 14.8 million Americans remain unemployed. 6.1 million have been out of work for 27 weeks or over.
This accounts for the sharp rise of Somali communities throughout the country.
However, the definition of refugee is ‘fudged’ in several cases. “Refugees” who have not left their country due to persecution, according to Mr. Obama’s determination letter, can still be called “refugees” if they are from Iraq, one of the Islamic countries of the former Soviet Union, or Cuba.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
Fewer Germans Consider Children Essential Part of Life
More Germans are deciding children are not necessary to having a fulfilling life, according to a survey published this week.
Only 46 percent of childless women and men view children as an essential part of life, the survey for Eltern magazine found.
“Having children is no longer a matter of course in Germany,” said Eltern editor Marie-Luise Lewicki.
Attempting to uncover the reasons behind Germany’s anaemic birth rate of 1.38 children per mother, the magazine interviewed 1,012 childless women and men between the ages of 25 and 45.
Many Germans said the lack of family-friendly measures in the workplace discouraged them from having children, while a dearth of child care makes life with children more stressful than it already is.
“The desire to live without children has risen since the early 1990s,” said sociologist Kerstin Ruckdeschel of Wiesbaden’s Institute for Population Research.
Starting a family remains an attractive option, with two out of three people — 70 percent of men, 61 percent of women — saying they “definitely” or “possibly” want children.
Still, this desire for children hasn’t meant more births — for reasons based largely on Germans’ professional and financial concerns.
The survey showed that 86 percent of people between the ages of 25 and 29 wanted a family eventually, but 79 percent of them want to first establish a solid financial base.
Many childless women and men said financial stability (63 percent) took precedence over having children, while 77 percent viewed their professional and family lives as incompatible.
Another 61 percent saw the failure of the German child-care system as reason enough to decide against having kids.
An unfulfilled love life played a factor for 44 percent of those surveyed, who said they had yet to find the right partner to have children with — although more men (50 percent) cite this as a reason than women (33 percent).
Changing expectations of parenthood also played a role in Germany’s dire birth rate.
Women often exalted the idea of the “Latte-Macchiato Mother” who “achieves everything and also manages to smile,” said Lewicki, who called on young people to see children not as a “project” or “lifestyle option” but rather as a normal feature of life.
But the difficulty of balancing professional and family life was the deciding factor for most would-be parents.
About 81 percent of survey participants believed society values professional success over family, while 79 percent said daily life brings enough stress without children.
Meanwhile, 74 percent were unwilling to modify their lifestyle for the sake of having children, while 47 percent believed the future is too uncertain to have children now.
Those surveyed in eastern Germany (72 percent) were more likely to want children than their peers in the west (66 percent), a fact Ruckdeschel attributed to the surplus of men living in eastern parts of the country.
Tuesday at a press conference in Berlin, Lewicki said it was incumbent on all of German society to help boost the country’s birth rate.
“We can all do our part to see that the desire for a baby actually results in a baby,” she said. “Society should demonstrate to young parents that their children are needed to enrich an ageing population.”
The Eltern and Eltern Family magazines have launched an initiative entitled “Zum Glück: Familie!” (“Fortunately: Family!”) to help galvanize Germans considering having children.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Anti-Laser’ Built for First Time
An anti-laser — which absorbs light rather than emitting it — has been built for the first time.
A laser shines by producing a cascade of photons that bounce around inside a light-amplifying material before exiting from one or both ends. In 2010, Douglas Stone at Yale University and colleagues devised a way to reverse the process, with a material that absorbs rather than amplifies light.
The researchers calculated that if they used a light-absorbing material like silicon, then at certain wavelengths, two identical laser beams shone directly at each other would cancel out inside the material.
Now, a team led by Hui Cao of Yale has done just that using a 110-micrometre-wide slab of silicon.
The researchers chose the wavelength of the laser light so that light waves hitting the outside of the slab from the laser beams were in just the right phase with the waves transmitted through the material to trap the light inside the slab.
The silicon absorbed 99.4 per cent of near-infrared light with a wavelength of 998.5 nanometres, turning it into heat. “Theory and experiment matched very well,” says Stone. “We couldn’t have expected to do any better.”
Future computers may use light to transmit signals efficiently between their chip processors. Anti-lasers could be used to modulate the intensity of that light, or to convert light signals into electrical form for on-chip processing, the researchers say.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Camera Snapshots: Tariq Ramadan, Your Grandfather Was a Colonialist
In a recent article appearing in The New York Times, apologist for the Muslim Brotherhood Tariq Ramadan portrayed his grandfather, Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood as an anti-colonialist.
This is simply not true. Al-Banna was a self-proclaimed colonialist. His own writings prove it.
In an essay titled “Our Mission” written to describe the goals of the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Banna described how the adherence to true Islam fufills the impulse embodied by a number of different “patriotisms” offered by propagandists who compete with Islam for humanity’s allegiance. In the essay, translated by Charles Wendell and published by the University of California Press in 1978 (Five Tracts of Hasan Al-Banna), the author lists a number of patriotisms whose impulses are better fufilled by authentic Muslim practices. After detailing the problems of the “Patriotism of the Sentiment” and the “Patriotism of Freedom and Greatness” al-Banna writes
Or if they mean by “patriotism” the conquest of countries and lordship over the earth, Islam has already ordained that, and has sent out the conquerors to carry out the most gracious of colonizations and the most blessed of conquests. This is what He, the Almighty, says: “Fight them till there is no longer discord, and the religion is God’s” [Q.2.193]. This is support for religious colonialism pure and simple. Readers will have to decide for themselves if Ramadan is either misinformed about his grandfather’s beliefs, or he willfully mischaracterizing al-Banna’s teachings…
| — Hat tip: DF | [Return to headlines] |
Catastrophe Looming? The Risks of Rising Solar Storm Activity
The sun let loose its most powerful eruption in more than four years Monday night (Feb. 14), disrupting radio communications in China and generating concern around the world. But it could have been a lot worse, experts say. Despite its strength, Monday’s solar storm was a baby compared to several previous blasts, and it provides just a hint of what the sun is capable of. A true monster storm has the potential to wreak havoc on a global scale, knocking out communications systems, endangering satellites and astronauts and causing perhaps trillions of dollars in damages.
The 1859 storm shorted out telegraph wires, causing fires in North America and Europe, and spawned spectacular auroras — the light shows visible near Earth’s poles — bright enough to read by, according to some accounts. If the 1859 storm occured these days, it would likely have devastating impacts, since our electrical and communications infrastructures are so much more developed. A recent report by the U.S National Academy of Sciences found that such a severe storm could cause up to $2 trillion in initial damages by crippling communications on Earth and fueling chaos around the world.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spiders Love Sweaty-Sock Smell, Research Finds
The stinky smell of sweaty socks might repulse humans, but scientists now find it enthralls mosquitoes and spiders.
The odor apparently helps the creatures hunt down their victims — the mosquitoes want to feed on people, while the spiders prefer to devour the mosquitoes.
These findings could lead to novel ways to entrap mosquito carriers of malaria that lure both the bloodsuckers and their predators.
All mosquitoes that carry the deadly malaria parasite belong to the genus (group of species) known as Anopheles. Past research found the mosquito Anopheles gambiae was drawn to the scent of humans.
A jumping spider in East Africa, Evarcha culicivora, prefers Anopheles mosquitoes as its prey. Scientists had previously found the spider especially favored blood-engorged mosquitoes, apparently sniffing out such pests.
“Evarcha culicivora is the only known predator that specifically targets blood-carrying mosquitoes as its preferred prey,” said spider biologist Fiona Crossat the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
Cross noted these spiders often ventured into the scientists’ houses in western Kenya.
“They seemed to act a lot calmer around us than other species of jumping spider that we’ve tested,” Cross said. “Knowing that E. culicivora’s prey finds human odor so attractive, we decided we should see if E. culicivora also finds human odor attractive.”
In a lab in western Kenya, researchers experimented with mosquitoes and spiders with a clean sock and one worn for 12 hours. The 109 spiders they tested — male and female, old and young — all significantly preferred spending time in chambers with the smell of the stinky sock.
“It might creep some people out to know that there is a spider in this world that actually loves us,” Cross told LiveScience. “It really is quite unprecedented that a spider should find human odor attractive.”
These findings could lead to new ways to help kill mosquitoes carrying malaria.
“Evarcha culicivora will never be the magic bullet for malaria, but it might be a small piece in the malaria puzzle, and it’s something that’s there in the environment for free,” Cross said. “Why not do what we can to find out about this remarkable predator?”
Cross and her colleague Robert Jackson detailed their findings online Feb. 16 in the journal Biology Letters.
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