Japanese Stocks Plunge More Than 13% on Radiation Fears
Stock markets plunged in Japan and across the rest of the Asia-Pacific region on Tuesday amid fears of the impact of the nuclear disaster and resulting concerns about radiation exposure.
The Nikkei 225 index, already badly mauled on Monday, plummeted as much as 13.5 percent on Tuesday to its lowest in two years, exacerbating the 6.2 percent slump the previous day, as warnings about a potential nuclear disaster in the country aggravated the pain already felt by the quake and tsunami. The broader Topix, or Tokyo Stock Price index, sank 12.5 percent.
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U.S. Stocks Off Sharply at Open After Slide in Tokyo; Dow Falls 2% in First Minutes
The prospect of a nuclear catastrophe in Japan drove stocks down around the world. After the benchmark index in Tokyo fell more than 10 percent, stocks opened sharply downward on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling 284.87 points (2.38 percent) while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index dropped 35.27 points (2.72 percent). Major European indexes also posted falls of 2 to 4 percent.
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Barack Obama Calls for More Stringent Gun Control
Two months after the shooting of a US congresswoman, President Barack Obama has called for more stringent enforcement of existing gun laws, citing the “awful consequences” of gun violence in American society.
In an article for The Arizona Daily Star, Mr Obama said legislation to bolster criminal background checks for gun buyers had not been properly implemented, with too many states providing “incomplete and inadequate” information.
He suggested rewarding states that provide the most comprehensive information to the criminal background database.
“We should make the system faster and nimbler,” the president added. “We should provide an instant, accurate, comprehensive and consistent system for background checks to sellers who want to do the right thing, and make sure that criminals can’t escape it.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Frank Gaffney: Busting Taboos at the King Hearings
It is not everyday that Congress breaks a major taboo and, in so doing, performs a real service to the nation. Last Thursday, however, was one such day: Representative Pete King (Republican of New York) demonstrated impressive leadership in convening and conducting a four-hour-long hearing on “extremism” in the American Muslim community.
For his efforts, the Homeland Security Committee’s chairman was subjected to tremendous personal attacks and partisan sniping — the wages of taboo-busting. While those responsible for inflicting such slanderous criticism claim, in the words of one group, to have “defeat[ed] a major threat of Islamophobia,” the real story is that Mr. King began a conversation about an issue that has long been deemed politically untouchable. He also established that there is, indeed, a problem of “extremism” within the American Muslim community…
| — Hat tip: CSP | [Return to headlines] |
General Electric-Designed Reactors in Fukushima Have 23 Sisters in U.S.
The General Electric-designed nuclear reactors involved in the Japanese emergency are very similar to 23 reactors in use in the United States, according to Nuclear Regulatory Commission records.
The NRC database of nuclear power plants shows that 23 of the 104 nuclear plants in the U.S. are GE boiling-water reactors with GE’s Mark I systems for containing radioactivity, the same containment system used by the reactors in trouble at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. The U.S. reactors are in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Vermont.
In addition, 12 reactors in the U.S. have the later Mark II or Mark III containment system from GE. These 12 are in Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington state. See the full list below.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
If You See a 10-Foot-Tall Backpack, You Damn Well Better Say Something
But since things are rarely that obvious, well, say something anyway. The MBTA launched a new “if you see something, say something” campaign with the help of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who spoke outside South Station, so we don’t know what would have happened if there had been bag checks inside and she tried to get on the Red Line:
| — Hat tip: AC | [Return to headlines] |
Lieutenant Governor Murray and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano Launch Transit Security Awareness Campaign
“If You See Something, Say Something” Urges Public’s Help
BOSTON — Monday, March 14, 2011- Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano today launched the updated, “If You See Something, Say Something” MBTA security awareness campaign during a visit to Boston’s South Station. The campaign urges the public to take an active role keeping the city and the transit system safe and secure.
“We are pleased that Secretary Napolitano has joined us to kick off this campaign,” said Lieutenant Governor Murray. “By partnering with federal, state, and local agencies s well as the public, we will raise awareness and encourage all riders to take an active role in reporting suspicious behavior, as we work to keep our transit system safe for every one.”
“Our partners in Boston have long demonstrated their understanding that we each have a role to play in security,” said Secretary Napolitano. “I encourage Bostonians on the ‘T’ or anywhere else in town—if you see potentially suspicious behavior, say something to local law enforcement.”
The “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign is funded by a $1 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security’s Transit Security grant program. It promotes a collaborative effort of state and local agencies working together educating the public to be more aware of their surroundings, and report any behavior that may appear suspicious to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities. The MBTA originally adopted the campaign in 2003, based upon a campaign implemented by New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority.
“Safety for our customers and our employees is a top priority of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and MBTA,” said Transportation Secretary and CEO Jeffrey Mullan. “The MBTA Transit Police and MBTA employees are on the front lines in keeping the system safe, and we depend upon the public’s assistance in this daily effort.”
“We have re-energized our message to customers reminding them to be aware of their surroundings while on the system and in our stations,” said General Manager Richard Davey.” If you see something out of the ordinary it is worth reporting.”
“Public safety for all citizens that utilize our transit system each and every day is certainly most important above all else. This campaign allows passengers that board the subway stations and platforms to be instrumental in preventing a potential crime,” said Representative Bill Straus, Chair, Joint Committee on Transportation. “Repeated announcements asking riders to report suspicious activity to law enforcement authorities will certainly enhance awareness for transit commuters to be continuously aware of their surroundings.”
“Police departments have always relied on the public to give them information so they can better do their jobs. This initiative is just another way to remind the public of the importance of speaking up when they see something that just doesn’t seem right,” said MBTA Transit Chief Paul MacMillan.
The 2011 revitalized campaign uses posters and vehicle car cards along with unique elements customers may encounter during their commute to distribute the “See Something Say Something” message. MassDOT and the MBTA will also use social media including the MassDOT blog, YouTube and Twitter to ask for the public’s help.
Tips on keeping a watchful eye when in transit include the following:
- Watch for backpacks, packages, or bags placed in out-of-the way locations;
- Watch for packages that contain attached batteries, wires, cell phones, or notes;
- Watch for packages that emit a suspicious cloud, mist, gas, or odor;
- Watch for suspicious behavior such as individuals who abandon a package, and then hastily depart;
- Watch for a group of people acting in a rehearsed manner;
- Watch for people carrying spray bottles or aerosol canisters.
Please ….”If You See Something, Say Something”
| — Hat tip: AC | [Return to headlines] |
MBTAThinks Bigger is Safer With Latest Ads
In case you haven’t heard one of those relentless public-service announcements from the T police chief imploring riders “If You See Something, Say Something,” there’s a 12-foot backpack now sitting in South Station to drive home the point.
Not to mention a Brobdingnagian-scaled “package” coming to North Station and a supersized postal tube destined for Back Bay Station.
The giant props — they look like they were used on the set of “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” — are part of a $125,000 campaign aimed at renewing the call for the riding public to be vigilant about the potential for bombs being left in transit hubs.
In addition to the huge props — which alone cost $25,000 — the MBTA’s new campaign also features signs on buses and trains and a YouTube video. The clip shows an Orange Line train pulling out of a station, exposing that enormous red backpack sitting on the subway platform as if left behind by Shrek. “It’s never this obvious,” flashes across the screen.
“Items like these get people’s attention,” MBTA General Manager Richard A. Davey said yesterday at a press conference with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in South Station, touting the reinvigorated “See Something, Say Something” campaign, funded through a $1 million Department of Homeland Security grant to the T. “We need the public to be engaged with us. We need those eyes and ears out there helping us.”
I asked Davey after the press conference why the MBTA needs to call more attention to its well-worn “Say Something” message? After all, you can’t stand on a subway platform for very long without hearing Transit Police Chief Paul MacMillan beseeching you to be alert.
“It’s so ubiquitous that it almost becomes part of the background noise,” Davey explained. “Any good brand, be it Pepsi or Ford, always remarkets their brand from time to time to get some new attention. This is one the most important brands we have, which is encouraging our customers to report suspicious activity or suspicious packages. I think it was time to refresh that campaign.”
OK, so it’s a little stale. But does the government, in the midst of a recession, need to spend $125,000 to give it some new life? How about using that money to get a few more transit cops posted in South Station?
Last month, Bob Marino, president of the union that represents 190 transit cops, talked to me about how thin the department is spread, with just a handful of officers assigned to sprawling districts that can reach from Worcester to Newburyport.
“Right now, we lack a presence,” Marino told me yesterday. “There are not enough resources to do this job. And that’s where ‘See Something, Say Something’ comes in. We have to depend on the public because we don’t have police officers in every station, on every train, nor anything close to that.”
| — Hat tip: AC | [Return to headlines] |
Angela Merkel Switches Off Seven Nuclear Power Plants
German chancellor’s safety move follows government halt over extending 17 ageing nuclear stations
Angela Merkel’s U-turn on nuclear energy became even more gear-crunching on Tuesday when she announced the temporary closure of seven of Germany’s nuclear power stations.
The chancellor said that reactors built before 1980 would be taken offline while an urgent review of their safety was carried out.
“Safety has the priority in all our deliberations,” Merkel declared after she met politicians from affected German states.
This latest announcement came just a day after Germany’s coalition government announced a three-month delay in its decision to extend the lifespan of Germany’s 17 elderly nuclear power stations.
German papers mulled over Merkel’s dramatic wavering in policy in response to the unfolding disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan.
Critics claim that the chancellor’s real reason for switching the stations off is elections in three German federal states — in particular Baden-Württemberg, where Merkel’s Christian Democrats are running neck and neck with the centre-left Social Democrats (though an opinion poll on Tuesday put Merkel’s CDU party five points ahead). One of the controversial reactors is in the southern state. Elmer Jehn, a columnist writing in Hamburger Morgenpost, said Merkel was guilty of realpolitik. He linked her “reversal” on nuclear power to the poll in Baden-Württemberg on 27 March, writing: “Since Japan, every sensible person knows that nuclear energy is dead.”
[Except for the fact that nuclear power remains one of the cleanest and most cost-competitive energy sources compared to petroleum based generation methods. Merkel is baring Germany’s neck to Russian and Middle Eastern resource suppliers with her overreaction to Japan’s crisis. Look for a lethal summer heat wave or next winter’s deep-freeze to bring about a sudden policy shift. Of course, by then more than a few people will probably have paid with their lives for this bit of environmental grandstanding. Germany has excellent technological resources to accurately assess the fitness and operability of its domestic reactors.— Z]
Unsurprisingly, the catastrophe in Japan dominates newspapers’ front pages.
[However, no one bothered to point out that, unlike Japan, Germany does not reside on, or anywhere near, the Pacific Rim’s notoriously unstable “ring-of-fire”.— Z]
The tabloid Bild reprints a full-page photograph of Fukushima’s reactor No 3 going up in smoke, just above an image of an embattled Merkel. The headline says: “Here the next nuclear reactor explodes … and here Angela Merkel announces an atomic U-turn.” Bild notes that German firms are now selling a record number of Geiger counters, which can cost up to €500 (about £450) each.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: Scrapping Nuclear Might Not be Answer
De Standaard, 10 March 2011
“Belgium should not abandon nuclear power”: so sums up De Standaard on its front page the recommendation of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in a report on Belgium published March 9. According to this organisation founded by the OECD, “Belgium should reconsider leaving behind nuclear power”, especially since there is no “clear strategy that could meet the challenges of the future, such as energy security and global warming,” the IEA warns. In 2003 the Belgian government decided to close all its nuclear power plants before 2025; yet 55 percent of electricity and 20 percent of the energy consumed in Belgium comes from these plants, reports Le Soir, maintaining that abandoning nuclear power “would exacerbate the imbalance in capacity, which could drive up [electricity] prices”. De Standaard adds that, according to the IEA, “the effectiveness of [Belgian energy] policy is hindered by the overlap of responsibilities between the federal and regional governments”, which is why, the newspaper believes, policymakers should “abandon the ideological discussions” on energy and finally put in place enduring measures.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Up to 10 Years in Prison for Anyone Receiving Bribes
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 14 — Tax inspectors who accept even 1 euro in bribes will be jailed according to a stricter code of conduct that has been drawn up by the Finance Ministry. A set of proposals tabled in Parliament as part of the latest bill on tax reforms includes a tougher set of penalties for both ordinary citizens as well as civil servants.
Under the proposed legislation, as daily Kathimerini reports, it would a felony for an employee of the Finance Ministry, which includes tax officials, to accept a bribe, even if it is just 1 euro.
The jail sentences for such offenses will be up to 10 years.
Black market traders also face jail terms of between five and 20 years, according to the draft law.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Probe Opened Into ‘Bid to Change Ruby’s Birth Certificate’
Berlusconi lawyer filed suit after newspaper report
(ANSA) — Milan, March 14 — Rome prosecutors on Monday opened a probe into a reported bid by unidentified Italians to change the birth certificate of a teen Moroccan belly dancer Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi allegedly paid for sex.
The investigation was opened after leftwing daily Il Fatto Quotidiano last week reported that on February 7, two “emissaries” visited the small town where Karima el Mahroug aka Ruby was born to try to bribe a local registrar to move back her date of birth by two years.
That would have meant she was not 17, but 19, when prosecutors claim she had sex with the premier, between February and May of last year. Paying for sex with prostitutes is a crime in Italy only if they are under 18.
Berlusconi and Ruby deny having sex and she says money she received from him was a gift.
She has said she told him she was 24 when they met and he has confirmed this.
The Rome probe, into the possible crime of attempted bribery, was opened on the basis of a suit filed by Berlusconi’s top defence lawyer, Niccolo’ Ghedini. Ghedini last week said his client could be “seriously damaged” by the Il Fatto report, which had to be “cleared up”. The lawyer noted that the reported bribe would have been a “clumsy and vain attempt at falsification”.
“Anyone who knows Moroccan law knows that falsifying a certificate at a town council registry would be completely useless and laughable since copies are kept by several government authorities,” they said.
“In any case, it is an affair which surreptitiously attempts to gravely damage Premier Berlusconi who is totally exempt of any possible illicit conduct”.
The possibility that Ruby might be older than first thought was first raised by pro-Berlusconi newspapers.
On February 8 Il Giornale, a daily owned by Berlusconi’s brother, reported that the premier’s defence team was set to make a request to Morocco for her original birth certificate.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Plastic-Bag Ban May Spread Around Europe
Environment Commissioner to study similar EU-wide measure
(ANSA) — Rome, March 15 — Italy’s ban on non-biodegradable plastic shopping bags could be extended to other parts of Europe after the EU’s Environment Commissioner said he wanted to study similar measure for all 27 EU member states.
Italy banned plastic bags as of January 1 to stop the lasting pollution they cause to the air, sea, rivers and forests, with research showing they remain in the environment as potential traps for wildlife for 15 to 1,000 years.
“Current industrial trends are unsustainable. The effects on the environment of the massive use of plastic bags, above all on the sea, are clear to everyone,” said Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik.
Environmental organizations welcomed the prospect of the Italian lead being followed at the European level.
“Potocnik’s intention to study similar measures gives hope for the future of the environment and, above all, for the future of the Mediterranean, where it is estimated that 500 tonnes of plastic waste are floating,” said Stefano Ciafani of Italy’s Legambiente.
Italians had been using a total of 20 billion plastic shopping bags every year before the ban came into force.
Shops and supermarkets now provide customers with biodegradable bags, although some outlets are still finishing off their stocks of plastic bags, with the government’s blessing.
Producer associations have criticized the ban, arguing that the EU does not have specific regulations prohibiting plastic shopping bags and that they are not a threat to the environment because they can be recycled.
They have also pointed out that alternative, biodegradable shopping bags break more easily and are much more expensive.
Legal challenges to have the ban lifted in Italy and at the EU level have so far been unsuccessful though.
Italian Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo expressed pride that “Italy was the first country to implement a law which other member states, starting with Austria, have requested information about in order to imitate it”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Japan’s Nuclear Woes Rekindle Debate on Italian Plans
Left in renewed blast against government power programme
(ANSA) — Milan, March 14 — Japan’s nuclear woes in the wake of Friday’s devastating earthquake and tsunami reignited debate in Italy about its nuclear energy plans just as the Senate is scheduled to solidify them Tuesday and Wednesday. A legislative decree would establish the location and type of four new nuclear reactors to be built in the country, as well as a site for nuclear waste. Construction would begin in 2013 and be completed in 2020. If approved, the plan would mark Italy’s first foray into nuclear power since a ban was imposed by a referendum after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, and which was overturned by a law passed last year. The Senate environmental committee began assessing the nuclear plan last Tuesday.
Explosions and risk of partial core meltdown at nuclear reactors in Fukushima set off furious new criticism among the government’s leftwing opposition, who have been quick to point out Italy’s seismic vulnerability among other objections to Italy’s plan. “It is a good thing that through the drama in Japan we arrive at a more serious discussion on energy questions,” said Senate Deputy Speaker and Radical Party leader, Emma Bonino.
“To invest 30 billion euros of public money to obtain 4% of our final energy consumption in 20 years makes no economic sense”.
“The drama of the earthquake in Japan is at risk of transforming itself into an apocalyptic disaster because of the failure of nuclear reactors,” declared Paolo Ferrero, head of the far-left Communist Refoundation party. “Against this backdrop, we ask the Italian government to immediately renounce nuclear energy: the life of the people is not a poker hand for a few businessmen friends of Berlusconi and his clique”. “The Italian government should immediately stop nuclear folly and cease to sabotage the referendum,” said Green Party leader Angelo Bonelli. “Nuclear (energy) is an attack on life and on the future of present and future generations, and it would be pure folly, given that we’re dealing with a technology for which security does not exist”.
Government and the nuclear industry figures fought to defend Italy’s nuclear ambitions.
“The alarm over the Japanese nuclear plants damaged by the earthquake has re-opened the debate in Italy in a way — wrong as always — born of the emotional moment of the incident, without reflection on things that are absolutely evident,” said Foreign MInister Franco Frattini. “(In Japan) we are speaking of a country with an extremely high seismic risk, of nuclear plants that are decades old and thus not the latest generation, which despite the disaster of a magnitude 9 earthquake, have not exploded. “Italy is not a country comparable to Japan for its seismic intensity. And no one has imagined making a nuclear plant in a seismic zone of Italy.
“I do not believe the disaster in Japan justifies questioning the Italian plan for nuclear energy,” Frattini concluded, saying also that young generations should not be burdened with “the price of dependency on oil-producing countries”, because “we’re seeing what is happening with Libya”.
The chair of the Italian Nuclear Forum, Chicco Testa, told the La Stampa newspaper: “The data demonstrate that the different sources of electric energy — carbon, gas and hydroelectric — have created more victims in the post-war period than nuclear. “Of course, that does not mean we should lose sight of the risks”. “Nuclear (technology) must learn from accidents like these to improve,” said Luciano Maiani, president of the National Research Center, a network of state-funded centers for scientific research. He added “There are no zero-risk enterprises”.
Italy struck an accord with France in 2009 for the joint construction of four nuclear plants in Italy and five in France.
This led to several other company accords signed in April of last year, including an important one between Italy power utility Enel, Ansaldo Energia and the French energy giant EdF.
That agreement established the areas of potential cooperation in the development and construction of at least four reactors in Italy using the advanced third-generation European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) technology developed by EdF.
The Italian public appeared to be largely opposed to the nuclear revival according to opinion polls last year that said between 50% and 60% were against atomic energy, which had been entirely phased out by 1990.
Roughly 60% of Italy is at risk of earthquake, according to a report in the Corriere della Sera newspaper, and roughly 25% of the territory is at risk of a severe earthquake. The devastating 2009 earthquake in Aquila took place in a zone considered at moderate risk, the report said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: D66 Flirting With PVV in Limburg
THE HAGUE, 15/03/11 — In the Lower House, centre-left D66 is the sharpest critic of the Party for Freedom (PVV), but in Limburg, the party is prepared to cooperate with the anti-Islam movement of Geert Wilders.
The PVV emerged as the biggest party in Limburg in the Upper House elections on 2 March. These elections were also for the provincial council members. The initial talks have begun in the coalition formation for a new provincial administration.
The conservatives (VVD) have already indicated they see a coalition with the PVV and the Christian democrats (CDA) as viable. What is surprising is that D66 also sees possibilities for joining a coalition.
The leader of D66 Limburg, Jeffrey Vossen, has “found that D66 and PVV are quite often in agreement.” He does add that there are “of course some differences.”
In the Lower House, D66 is the party with the harshest words about the PVV. D66 leader Alexander Pechtold has repeatedly called the PVV “racist” and ruled out ever joining a coalition with Wilders.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The West’s Nightmare: Europe’s Leaders Fear Libya Could Become Next Afghanistan
The Europeans and Americans would like to help the rebels in Libya, but the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan have spurred fears of a military intervention. So far, the only thing the EU has been able to agree on are financial sanctions. In Germany, leaders fear getting sucked in to the civil war. By SPIEGEL Staff
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There are times when some politicians and diplomats in Europe and the United States wish that someone would die. They wish that a head of state or government would give the order to dispatch a number of aircraft or launch a few missiles. They don’t speak openly of this, of course, but they do say these things under their breath. “Why doesn’t somebody just shoot him?” they ask. Usually, this hope is directed by Europe toward America.
This is again such a time. A number of politicians and diplomats are quietly hoping that they will hear one morning on the radio that Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi has died during the night. According to this scenario, the news bulletin will then inform listeners that an American bomber squadron has safely returned to its aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean.
The current situation calls to mind former US President Ronald Reagan. He tried to eliminate Gadhafi back in April 1986. At the time, Reagan ordered 36 laser-guided bombs to be dropped on the Bab al-Azizija military compound, Gadhafi’s command center in the suburbs of Tripoli. Gadhafi survived. Reagan was derided for the failed mission and sharply criticized for the attempt. Some Western countries view such actions as murder — and thus unacceptable.
When it comes to war and the West, it always boils down to a question of ethics. Now all eyes are directed toward US President Barack Obama. What will he do? He has the arsenal required to make a renewed attempt, but he apparently also has greater scruples.
Merkel Skeptical
The same holds true for the Europeans. At their summit in Brussels on Friday, European Union leaders called for Gadhafi to immediately resign. Although a military operation has not been ruled out, it has been made contingent on the approval of the United Nations, the Arab League and the African Union. Speaking after the meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel underscored that she was highly skeptical about a no-fly zone. The EU is relying on economic sanctions for the time being.
This is a nightmarish situation for the West. For years, Europe and America have courted Gadhafi and regarded him as a valuable business partner, without giving so much as a second thought to the suffering of his people. Now a large proportion of this oppressed population is fighting for its freedom, but the West is doing little to halt the advances made by Gadhafi’s loyal supporters. The West wants to help, but it remains helpless.
In this situation, the countries of the West are damned if they do, damned if they don’t. If they only sit back and watch, they tacitly accept that Gadhafi will probably crush the rebellion and take terrible revenge. If they intervene, they will have to be prepared to kill, and innocent people may die. And if they enter into this conflict, they will need a concrete exit strategy.
Iraq and Afghanistan
As politicians in Europe and America grapple with the issue of Libya, they are strongly influenced by the disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Two predominantly Muslim countries have been attacked and occupied, also with the aim of creating a better world according to Western models. But these have not been success stories. The regimes backed by the West have been dubious, to say the least, and the security situation remains precarious. After more than nine years of fighting, war continues to rage in Afghanistan.
The negative experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan have sown doubt in America and Europe about the morality of these missions. Gadhafi benefits from these misgivings, but that doesn’t mean that they are wrong.
There is no easy solution for Libya à la Reagan — whose botched bombing mission didn’t solve anything anyway. There is only a long and difficult search for a way to help the country’s population, without upsetting the population in Europe, which would like to avoid at all costs another protracted war in a Muslim country.
As a preliminary step, the US has severed all ties with the “existing Libyan Embassy” in Washington, but continues to maintain diplomatic relations with Libya. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to northern Africa this week to meet with Gadhafi’s rivals. According to the State Department, she has already contacted members of the opposition, both inside and outside of Libya.
Obama Rules Out Unilateral Action
Military action is also being discussed. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels last Thursday: “We agree that we will continue with the planning of all military options.”
But the Obama administration has ruled out taking unilateral action. White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley recently said: “All options are on the table. But it has to be an international mission.”
Since a UN resolution currently appears unlikely, NATO is the only organization that comes into question for joint military operations. A high-ranking US government official said in Brussels last Wednesday: “The US believes that NATO is the natural choice for a military operation.”
But Obama continues to hesitate, and this lack of action is drawing increasing criticism. James Clapper, the US Director of National Intelligence, recently warned a Senate committee that the opposition won’t be able to topple the dictator on its own. Republican Senator and former presidential candidate John McCain and independent Senator Joe Lieberman are both criticizing Obama’s reluctance to intervene. They say that he has to do more to support the opposition. McCain, for his part, is calling for a no-fly zone…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UK: [Unite Against Fascism] Model Motion: Defend Multiculturalism — Appeal
MPs, musicians, artists, campaigners, academics, trade unionists and others have signed a joint statement to condemn prime minister David Cameron’s recent declaration that multiculturalism had “failed” and his attacks on Britain’s Muslims. Thousands of others have also signed the online petition. The organisers have now launched an appeal to raise £8,000 for an advert in the Guardian to show the scale of opposition to Cameron’s attack and support for our multicultural society. We would also like trade union branches and community organisations to add their names to the statement and make a donation to the appeal.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Afghan Asylum Seeker Who Lived in £1.2million House Faces Jail Over £30,000 Benefit Fraud
A refugee from Afghanistan living in a £1.2million mansion paid for with a colossal £3,000 a week housing benefit faces jail after admitting benefit fraud.
Toorpakai Saiedi, 38, a mother of seven, shocked Britain when it emerged that New Labour rules allowed her to live in the luxury home at taxpayers’ expense.
One of her seven children even boasted that having the house paid for was like winning a lottery jackpot — and suggested it was ‘mad’ for the state to pay out so much.
The case caused such outrage that Conservative chancellor George Osborne has totally overhauled housing benefit laws as a result, affecting thousands of claimants. From next month the maximum payable is to be reduced to just £400 a week.
But Saiedi’s next accommodation at public expense could be in a prison following her guilty pleas to four counts of benefit fraud.
For despite being scarcely able to believe her luck at the mass of benefits that flowed her way after her family arrived in Britain, she was greedily building up savings and hiding a private income of £16,000 a year, and keeping them secret from the authorities.
Today she wore a blue veil and spoke through a Farsi interpreter to admit swindling the taxpayer out of £30,000 in housing benefit, working tax credit, and council tax credit, by not telling officials about her Barclays bank account.
Prosecutor Henrietta Paget told Isleworth crown court that by concealing the account Saiedi was able to collect illegally around £29,000 in benefits between August 2006 and September 2009 while living in her palatial home in Acton, west London.
At the time she was receiving benefits totalling £170,000 a year, including an astonishing £150,000 paid to a private landlord for the rent of the property — the equivalent to £12,500 a month.
The charges involve Saiedi not disclosing the bank account to Ealing council officials when claiming for council housing benefit and council tax benefit, and similar deception when claiming tax credit from the Department of Work and Pensions.
Judge Jonathan Lowen warned she may face imprisonment as he ordered a pre-sentence report and, without any irony, demanded she must not move from her luxury mansion without informing the court.
Judge Lowen said: ‘I am asking for a pre-sentence report. It is not intended to limit any sentencing. All options remain open including custody.
‘You have been granted bail on the condition that you do not move from your current address without informing the court and that you must co-operate in the preparation of the report.’
Saiedi claimed asylum after coming to Britain in 2001 with her children, a year after her husband Haji Rahmat Shah Saiedi, 47, had arrived in London.
The family, who were granted leave to remain, said they were wealthy farmers near Bagram airbase, 20 miles from the Afghan capital Kabul, but claimed they were forced to flee because of Taliban threats.
They then lived in a series of ever larger properties, all paid for by local authorities — first in a three-bedroom terrace house in Enfield, north London, and then in a five-bedroom semi in Ealing, before moving into their controversial seven-bedroom palace.
But three years ago the huge cost of their imposing state-funded home became public, attracting a storm of headlines and criticism.
When the family invited a newspaper through their front door, they revealed a haul of expensive games consoles, including a £160 Nintendo Wii and £250 Playstation 3, top of the range mobile phones and two laptop computers, worth around £350 each.
And on top of the seven bedrooms, the house boasts two large reception rooms, one featuring an enormous plasma TV, two kitchens, a dining room, a breakfast room, three shower rooms and a 100ft garden.
Saiedi’s son Jawad, a student who said he idled his days away driving around in cars and playing snooker, said at the time: ‘When the council chose to put us here we did not say no.
‘If someone gave you a lottery jackpot, would you leave it? When I heard how much the council was paying, I thought they were mad.’
The family’s private landlord, Ajit Panesar, who bought the house in March 2008 for £1.2million, has said of the rent he receives: ‘I have done nothing wrong. I can’t help it if the law says I should get paid the amount of money.’
Saiedi was freed on bail until she is sentenced at the same court next month.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Baroness: Let Schools Deal With Hate Speech
Communities minister Baroness Hanham has said the government expects schools and universities to tackle hate speech themselves — and that she believed that an adequate framework was already in place. She answered questions on antisemitism on campus, online and at school during a session in the House of Lords yesterday.
Baroness Deech, a former member of the Jewish Leadership Council, called on the Government to urge university vice chancellors to take more action to stop hate speech on campus and asked what steps it is taking to prevent race and religious hatred material imported from overseas being used in faith schools. Baroness Hanham said: “The number of antisemitic incidents in the United Kingdom is a very depressing reminder that this unacceptable behaviour remains a cause of great concern. “The last place that we want antisemitism to take a hold is in our schools or universities. “We expect universities to have measures in place to ensure that their students are not subject to threatening or abusive behaviour, and those institutions have a strong legal framework to help them to deal effectively with this. With regard to people coming in from outside and talking on campuses, again, a range of guidance, providing a practical framework, is available to higher education institutions to help them to support tolerance.”
Lord Boswell, a member of the all-party group inquiring into antisemitism, said he was concerned about the “plethora” of hate speech online and the use of the word Jew as a term of abuse in the playground. Baroness Hanham said it was up to schools to “stamp it out at the very earliest stages”. She said that the internet was “difficult to handle”, “daunting and challenging” and that it wa s made more difficult by other countries which had a different “balancing point” from the UK. “What is on the internet goes beyond hate, and very soon we will have to find a way of obliterating and blotting out such unacceptable material,” she said. Baroness Hussein-Ece, lead commissioner on religion and relations for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, criticised former Dior designer, John Galliano, for his antisemitic rant earlier this month.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: British Muslims Express Sincere Condolences to Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami Victims
The Muslim Council of Britain sends its sincere condolences to the people of Japan and the victims that tragically lost their lives as a result of last Friday’s earthquake, which occurred off the north-east coast of Japan. The undersea earthquake triggered a tsunami that has devastated north-eastern coastal towns and swept inland almost 10km, leaving havoc, death and destruction in its path. Many thousands have lost their lives and countless more remain without electricity, food or water.
This is set to become the worst natural disaster to hit Japan in recorded history — and Stephen McDonald from UK charity, Save the Children, estimates that “up to 100,000 children have been displaced because of last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami.”
The Secretary General of the MCB, Farooq Murad, said: “It is certainly a most terrible and heart rending disaster. Our thoughts and prayers are with the suffering people of Japan. We all urgently need to step up and take action now. We encourage everyone to make donations to the many charitable agencies that are available and ready on standby.”
MCB affiliates who are some of the UK’s most leading Muslim charities are now working to collect funds, to help with major relief efforts in the disaster struck areas. Muslim charities are launching emergency appeals to support the victims of the tsunami. While others remain on standby to help where ever they are needed the most..
Mosques across the country will also be launching appeals to their congregation this Friday to help raise funds for Japan. Mosques will also be delivering sermons to raise awareness in the Muslim community of the natural disaster.
[JP note: Just when things couldn’t get worse for the Japanese, they now have to contend with sincere condolences from the Muslim Council of Britain. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, sincere about the MCB and they debase the word by using it.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Englishmen Should Not be Ashamed to Wear a Good Beard
Britain is turning into a nation of intolerant facial fascists, says Michael Deacon.
Last week, a television presenter enraged his viewers. What was his crime? He hadn’t mispronounced the surname of the Culture Secretary, or rung an elderly actor to keep him abreast of his granddaughter’s sex life. Worse than that: he’d grown a beard. Richard Westcott, of BBC Breakfast, is usually clean-shaven. But when, one morning, the lower part of his face sported a lustrous coating of silver bristles, the public erupted.. “Disgraceful,” wrote one viewer. “Dirty,” fumed another. “Is he sleeping rough?” demanded others.
The next day, Mr Westcott’s face was once more as smooth as a cue ball. “The world just isn’t ready for a beardy reporter on the telly,” he said sadly.
I was appalled. To think that, in the tolerant and inclusive Britain of 2011, a law-abiding citizen should be persecuted for his capillary predilections. It is facial fascism.
I suppose I can see why some male viewers would seek to smear Mr Westcott. Not every man is capable of growing a beard; for many, stubble sprouts unevenly in pitiful little patches. If I were unable to grow a beard, I might well resent a man who could, just as I might resent a man who earned more than I do. I would blame him for making me feel small.
A beard is a sign not merely of manliness but of authority. The beard is to Britain what long hair was to Samson. In Victorian times, when every man wore a beard the size of a yew tree, Britain ruled the world. In the early 20th century, when the beard was trimmed to a moustache, we scraped through two world wars but lost an empire. Today, when Mach3 Turbo multi-blades are the norm, our national pride derives largely from beating the Swedes at Olympic cycling.
Normally, I sport stubble. It slims the face, which is handy if, like mine, it looks like a moon made of suet. But today, in a show of solidarity with my bearded brethren, I am defiantly exhibiting the full “Captain Haddock” — as you can see from the photograph above.
The facial philistines can do their worst. We shall not be moved — or shaved.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Pakistan Aid is ‘Anti-Christian’: Stinging Attack on Government From Church Leader
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland today accused the British Government of pursuing an ‘anti- Christian’ foreign policy by increasing its overseas aid to Pakistan.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien said Government plans to double aid to the country to more than £445million did not require any commitment to religious freedom for Christians.
The Cardinal said that conditions should be attached to any aid payments, requiring a definite commitment to protection for Christians and other religious minorities — including Shia Muslims.
Speaking at the launch of a report into the persecution of Christians worldwide, Cardinal O’Brien said: ‘I urge (UK Foreign Secretary) William Hague to obtain guarantees from foreign governments before they are given aid.
‘To increase aid to the Pakistan government when religious freedom is not upheld and those who speak up for religious freedom are gunned down is tantamount to an anti-Christian foreign policy.
‘Pressure should now be put on the Government of Pakistan — and the governments of the Arab world as well — to ensure that religious freedom is upheld, the provision of aid must require a commitment to human rights.’
He said the report highlights the ‘huge surge’ in Christians fleeing persecution worldwide, with 75 per cent of all religious persecution taking place against Christians.
He said: ‘This reality is both shocking and saddening. In countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, Christians face violence, intolerance and even death because of their beliefs.
‘This is intolerable and unacceptable. Here in Scotland we value our freedoms, particularly the freedom of religion and the right to practise our faith free of persecution.
‘Yet this detailed and at times harrowing report reminds us that not all of our fellow Christians enjoy such freedom to worship.’
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Quilliam’s Libyan Connection
Since writing a piece for this week’s Jewish Chronicle urging people to back the anti-extremist think tank Quilliam, I received some disturbing information warning me off. I believe this came from a source close to government. The claims made against Quilliam were serious and my support for the organisation needs to be examined in the light of what they said.
The most worrying suggestion was that Quilliam had been chasing money from some very unsavoury sources, including Saudi Arabia and, of all places, Libya. My informant also suggested that the Home Office was concerned about how much tax payers’ money Quilliam was spending on offices and travel. All these claims have since been rebutted by Quilliam co-founder Maajid Nawaz. He says Quilliam has indeed had approaches from the Saudis (rather than the other way around), but on the condition the think tank stop its criticism of the Wahhabi kingdom. No money has been received from Libya either, I am told.
It has also been pointed out to me since I wrote the piece that Quilliam founder Ed Husain was critical of Israel during operation Cast Lead and it has been suggested that his comments at the time vilified and delegitimized Israel. It is true that Quilliam issued a press release condemning Israeli action, although I believe Mr Husain’s comments fell short of delegitimisation. Ed Husain is no longer with Qulliam, while Maajid Nawaz remains at its head.
Readers of the Jewish Chronicle should look carefully at the words of Mr Nawaz on The Guardian’s Comment is Free website in January 7th 2009 condemning Hamas commander Mahmoud Zahar for saying that Jewish children everywhere were legitimate targets: “Yes, Israel is not free from blame, as our Quilliam Foundation press release stated, it has acted with utter disregard for human life. There is however, one crucial difference that slices through this debate like a hot knife through butter. Israel does not have an active policy of deliberately capturing children to murder them, or even deliberately murdering civilians for that matter. Israel acts irresponsibly, with impunity and total disregard for the consequences of its military onslaught, and this leads to the deaths of many Palestinian civilians and some children. But it does not deliberately select children to murder, nor justifies doing so. Hamas just has.”
Many, if not most, readers of the JC would take issue with this characterisation of Israel, as would I. But Mr Nawaz’s position on Hamas is categorical and courageous. And it is, after all, the job of Quilliam to take on the Islamists. It is not required of its leadership to support the actions of every Israeli government in every instance.
So to Quilliam’s Libyan problem. In August 2010 Quilliam appointed former Libyan jihadi Noman Benotman as a senior analyst. I knew Mr Benotman as a useful contact for stories on London jihadis during my time at The Observer.. He was always thought to have been a prominent member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group [LIFG] and fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan. He certainly seemed phenomenally well-informed and plugged in and we met on several occasions around the time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. More recently, Mr Benotman has become an advocate for de-radicalisation programmes and even returned to Libya to help his home country’s authorities “turn” jihadis. His work was not secret, nor was Saif al-Islam’s interest in promoting this work. This ultimately led to six prominent members of LIFG renouncing violent jihad and the release 600 former activists from prison..
A Wikileaks cable from the US embassy in Tripoli from late 2009/early 2010 said the following: “The revised LIFG ideology is the result of a two-year initiative, led by Saif al-Islam al-Qadhafi in his capacity as QDF [Qadhafi International Charity and Development Foundation] chairman and brokered on behalf of the Libyan government. According to press reports and Libyan officials, Saif worked closely with the UK-based former LIFG leader, Noman Benotman, on the effort to work on a revised ideology with the LIFG in exchange for amnesty.”
The problem for Quilliam is that Saif al-Islam is now toxic. Once he could parade through western capitals as the reasonable, democratising face of the new Libya. Now it is clear he is as psychopathic as his father and quite prepared to support the systematic massacre of his fellow Libyans.
I believe Noman Benotman made a terrible error of judgement by believing that it was possible to work with Saif al-Islam to deradicalise jihadis, just as the Labour government was wrong to believe it could work with Gaddafi to further its interests in the war on terror. The price of such compromise is always too high. Your enemy’s enemy is not always your friend. Why should Libya’s deradicalisation programme have been any more credible than Saudi Arabia’s or Egypt’s or that proposed by dangerous opponents of Quilliam in Whitehall who believe this work must be left to radical “street” Islamists? An authoritarian is an authoritarian, whether Islamist, Baathist, Arab nationalist, or, in the case of Gaddafi, some unique combination of totalitarian psychoses. Mr Benotman recently condemned Gaddafi’s tyranny in the pages of the New York Times, we now need full disclosure in this country of his dealings with the tyrant’s son.
The Libyan connection has dripped its poison through the political and academic life of Britain as Tony Blair, Jack Straw, Mike O’Brien, the LSE, Anthony Giddens, the British Council, the Foreign Office and several other government departments have discovered in recent weeks. As anti-Semitic states go, Libya is difficult to beat. When Gaddafi came to power there were only a handful of Jews left in the country after the pogroms of the post-war period. One of the new dictator’s first actions was to confiscate all their remaining land and property and that of any Jewish exiles. This was before he graduated to funding international terrorism and bumping off Libyan dissidents, the so-called “stray dogs” of his regime. One of these was the father of my friend Huda Abuzeid, who was murdered in his grocery shop in west London. Gaddafi’s hired assassins pushed kebab skewers through his face in a particularly brutal “hit”. Those who thought it was a good idea to treat with Gaddafi seemed to forget that he was prepared to kill on the streets of our capital city as well as over the skies of Scotland.
Quilliam has always provided an intelligent and sober critique of Islamist ideology. There is a question, of course, whether it should receive government money to do so, but I remain convinced it would be a tragedy if it closed its doors. However, in order to retain the support of those who have argued for its survival, it must clarify, reassess and ultimately consider severing its Libyan connection. Otherwise it will risk losing all the friends it has.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Who’s Afraid of Islamophobia? Panel Discussion and Book Launch
The City Circle is pleased to present:
Date: Friday 11 Mar 2011
Time: 6:45 pm
Venue: Abrar House, 45 Crawford Place, off Edgware Rd, London W1H 4LP
Is Islamophobia on the rise, in decline, made up, or real? Is the term a misnomer? Does the concept need refining or retiring? There’s no shortage of claims and counter-claims about Islamophobia, or of people wanting to pronounce on it, from politicians and policy makers to pundits, soothsayers and doomsayers. The urgency is plain, but confusion abounds. Should the focus be on the violent extreme right, on populist xenophobia, or on the insidious prejudice of the chattering classes? Do Muslim troublemakers bring it on the rest of us?
Are the tabloids to blame, the broadsheets any better, the blogosphere a more even playing field? Is Islamophobia a post 9/11 phenomenon, an age old theological hatred, or a new ideological Cold War? What’s history or colonialism got to do with it? What of Orientalism? Are Muslims ‘the new Irish’? is Islamophobia ‘the new Antisemitism’? Is Islamophobia a form of racism? Or, quite simply, racism? Is Islamophobia a Western, or a global phenomenon, including among and by Muslims? Is it one or multiple? More importantly, what are the priorities and foremost challenges in tackling Islamophobia?
In Thinking Through Islamophobia: Global Perspectives S. Sayyid and AbdoolKarim Vakil bring together 28 contributors from a variety of disciplinary and geographical backgrounds to address these and other questions in a pioneering collection of critical engagements with the term and concept. Join Avtar Brah and Brian Klug as they discuss the collection with the editors and the public in a panel organised by City Circle and Hurst Publishers to launch the book.
Copies of the book will be on sale at a special promotional launch price of £10.00 (normal price £15.99).
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Wiesenthal Center Slams Sweden for ‘Jewish Tax’
US-based Jewish rights group the Simon Wiesenthal Center on Tuesday criticised Sweden for not doing enough to protect the Jewish community in Malmö following a string of crimes against Jews in the southern Swedish town.
The group among other things blasted Swedish authorities for making the community pay the equivalent of a “Jewish tax,” since they themselves had to foot the bill for most security measures, including setting up anti-attack barriers in front of the synagogue during religious celebrations.
“It is long overdue that the Swedish authorities assume the costs of the security of the Jewish institutions, especially in a community of 800 people that’s been suffering from incidents,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the centre’s associate dean, told AFP.
“That’s a disaster waiting to happen,” he cautioned, also lamenting numerous attacks on Malmö’s Muslim and Roma communities.
A spokesman for Democracy Minister Birgitta Ohlsson, who met with Cooper in Stockholm Tuesday, told AFP that “discussions” were going on within the government about the issue, but would not provide further details.
Representatives from the organisation are currently visiting the southern Swedish city of Malmö for meetings with a number of Swedish officials, including Mayor Ilmar Reepalu, who has previously been criticised for remarks about the city’s Jewish community.
The Wiesenthal Center still feels the situation for Jews in Malmö is serious and has proposed a number of measures to improve the situation. However, a travel advisory issued in December will likely remain in place for the time being.
“If the status quo is maintained, the Wiesenthal Center’s travel warning will remain,” the group said in an email sent to the TT news agency.
Following a meeting on hate crimes between Reepalu and Cooper, it appeared that differences remain in how both of them view the situation in Malmö.
While Reepalu told reporters the meeting was “very good, direct, and open”, Cooper was more sober, explain that “we have a lot of work ahead of us”, according to the Sydsvenskan newspaper.
Malmö, which is Sweden’s third largest city with a population of around 300,000, is home to some 800 Jews, alongside a large, mainly Muslim, immigrant community.
Some 400 anti-Semitic acts were registered in Malmö in 2009 alone, accounting for more than half of the total number of hate crimes in that city, and several Jewish families have left in recent years due to the threatening atmosphere, according to local Jewish representatives.
In December, shortly after Stockholm suffered its first-ever suicide bombing, the Wiesenthal Centre issued a rare warning, cautioning Jews to avoid traveling to Malmö and telling the ones already there to be very careful.
Referring to numerous instances of harassment against people who are visibly Jewish, Cooper asked “How could that happen?”
“In a country that rescued the Jews coming from Denmark during World War II, how come a rabbi can (no longer) go to the synagogue with his two children?”
In early 2009, a Davis Cup tennis match in Malmö between Sweden and Israel was forced to play behind closed doors due to security concerns amid massive ant-Israeli protests over the Gaza war.
Malmö mayor Ilmar Reepalu has also faced harsh criticism for not taking the threat against the city’s Jewish community seriously enough and for comparing Zionism to anti-Semitism.
After meeting with Cooper Monday, he stressed to the TT news agency that he in no way was making light of the situation.
“Every single Jew who feels fearful and afraid is one too many. This is completely unacceptable,” he said, adding that it was up to the national government to provide more funds for addressing the problem.
“I really hope that the state will prioritise Malmö in this matter,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Freedom Fighter | [Return to headlines] |
Gaddafi Feels ‘Betrayed’ By Berlusconi, Moots Qaeda Alliance
Libyan leader tells Italian daily rebellion is ‘lost cause’
(ANSA) — Rome, March 15 — Muammar Gaddafi has told an Italian daily he feels betrayed by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and other European leaders who have turned against him during the rebellion against his 40-year rule in Libya.
Gaddafi also said in an interview published in Tuesday’s Il Giornale that the revolt was doomed to failure and threatened to form an alliance with al Qaeda if Western governments ordered an invasion of his country.
“I was really shocked by the attitude of my European friends,” he told the newspaper owned by Berlusconi’s brother after EU leaders demanded he leave power. “In this way they have threatened and damaged a series of major accords on security that were in their interests along with the economic cooperation we had”.
When asked about Berlusconi, with whom he had close ties before the crisis, he said: “I am so shocked, I feel betrayed, I don’t know what to say to Berlusconi”.
Italy has many business links with Libya and imported a lot of oil and gas from the North African country before supplies were suspended following the rebellion.
The two nations also put in place a controversial ‘push-back’ policy that had slashed the number of migrants to land on Italy’s shores from North Africa before the current crisis brought a wave of new arrivals.
“I think and I hope that the Libyan people will reconsider their economic, financial and security ties with the West,” he said.
As his loyalists’ counter-offensive against rebels continued amid the international community’s indecision over whether to impose a no-fly zone over the country, Gaddafi said his opponents were fighting a “lost cause”.
“They have only two options — surrender or escape,” he said. “The Libyan people are with me. The rest is propaganda”.
He then warned the West against using the military option against him: “If they (the West) behave as they did in Iraq, we will leave the international alliance against terrorism. We will ally with al Qaeda and declare a holy war”.
He also threatened dire consequences if he is overthrown. “If instead of a stable government that guarantees security, these gangs linked to (Osama) bin Laden take control, African people will move on mass towards Europe and the Mediterranean will become a sea of chaos,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Takes Control of Libyan Bank That Oversees Oil Payments
Rome, 14 March (AKI) — The Bank of Italy on Monday announced it had put Libyan-controlled Banca UBAE under special administration after the European Union decided last week to freeze the oil-rich country’s assets.
The Italian central bank’s move was decided on Saturday following the EU’s Saturday decision to extend the freeze on Libyan assets to properties controlled by Libya’s central bank and the Libyan Foreign Bank- the UBAE’s primary shareholders.
UBAE is a Libyan-controlled bank that oversees payments for Libyan oil and gas in Europe that also holds deposits on behalf of institutions belonging to the country’s government.
Italy, Libya’s largest trading partner, receives around 12 percent of its natural gas and 25 percent of its oil from the North African country.
The US, EU and the United Nations have implemented sanctions against Muammar Gaddafi’s government after it opened fire on demonstrators who demanded the end 41 years of dictatorship. Clashes have since escalated into civil war with the better-armed forces loyal to Gaddafi regaining control of oil port of Brega, the fourth rebel-held town to fall.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: France: G8 Partners Are Not Convinced on No Fly-Zone
(AGI) Pariis — There is still no agreement among the G8 Countries on the imposition of a no-fly zone on Libya. Indeed, divisions persist as France has not succeeded to convince its partners to follow it in exerting pressure to pass the provision against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. The comment was made by French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe’ in an interview on ‘Europe 1’ radio broadcasting station, before the resumption of the G8 Foreign Minister meeting that is ongoing since yesterday in Paris. “Up to now, I haven’t convinced the others”, Juppe’ admitted. The highest resistance is reported to be by Russia and Germany.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Gaddafi Says He is ‘Shocked’ By Europe, Especially Berlusconi
Tripoli, 15 March (AKI) — Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi says he feels betrayed by Europe, but is especially dismayed by Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi with whom he has the closest ties.
“I’m really shocked by the behaviour of my European friends, in the first place by Silvio Berlusconi,” he said in an interview published on Tuesday in Italian daily Il Giornale, a newspaper owned by the Berlusconi family.
Italy has frozen assets owned by Libya to conform with sanctions implemented by the United Nations and the European Union after Gaddafi’s armed forces fired on anti-government protesters. The conflict has since escalated and is described by the Red Cross as civil war.
After scrapping its covert nuclear weapons programme and making payments to family members of the hundreds of people killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, international sanctions against Libya were lifted and Gaddafi was let back into the diplomatic fold, awarding lucrative contracts to oil companies, especially Italy’s Eni.
Berlusconi stood out among European leaders by inviting Gaddafi to visit Italy numerous times, even kissing his hand and making him a special guest during the 2009 Group of Eight meeting in L’Aquila.
Italy is Libya’s biggest trading partner, importing around 25 percent of its oil and 12 percent of its natural gas from the country. Italian businesses were also granted preferential treatment for taxes and imports as part of a controversial ‘friendship’ pact signed in 2008.
Italy last month suspended the pact, under which it had agreed to pay 5 billion euros in reparations to Libya for its 1911-1943 occupation and colonisation of the country and to build Libya a new highway.
Joint patrols of the Libyan coast to intercept people-smuggling boats transporting migrants to Italian shores were also put on hold.
Referring to European sanctions, Gaddafi told Il Giornale they have “put in danger and damaged a series of important security agreements.”
“I’m so shocked. I feel betrayed. I don’t know what to say to Berlusconi.”
Rome-based Eni on Friday said its gas and oil production in Libya would soon come to a halt as Libyan and rebel forces fight for territorial gains in the North African country.
Prior to the crisis Eni was producing around 280,000 barrels of Libyan oil per day, out of the country’s total daily output of around 1.6 million barrels.
Gaddafi on Monday urged Russia, China and India to invest in his country’s oil industry while world powers edged closer to imposing a no-fly zone. As members of the United Nations Security Council, Russia and China can veto any UN measure to impose a no-fly zone.
Gaddafi said he would consider new contracts for oil and gas exploration with companies from Italy and other European counties, but only when Berlusconi and other leaders have been swept from power.
“When your government is substituted by the opposition and the same thing happens in the rest of Europe, the Libyan people may consider forming a new relationship with the West,” Gaddafi told Il Giornale.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Gaddafi Invites 3 Countries to Exploit Country’s Oil
(ANSAmed) — TRIPOLI, MARCH 14 — Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has invited Chinese, Russian and Indian countries to exploit the country’s oil after the major international companies left the country wracked by uprisings.
“Yesterday the head of the revolution received the ambassadors of China, Russia and India, with whom he examined the evolution of bilateral relations and the invitation of the three countries to exploit Libyan oil,” reported JANA.
The last load of oil to have left Libya’s oil region was on February 19, and according to the latest news crude oil production is at 500,000 barrels per day, compared with 1.6 million in the period before the uprising. Yesterday Libyan state TV invited “foreigners” to return to the country, saying that Libyan oil ports were “safe”, and that activities were resuming after the end to the “acts of sabotage” carried out by those involved in the uprising.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Gov’t Sources and State TV, Ajdabiya and Brega Taken
(ANSAmed) — TRIPOLI, MARCH 15 — Libyan military forces have conquered the city of Ajdabiya, the last stand of the rebels on the road to Benghazi. So said sources in the Libyan government.
Officials embraced in the hotel in Tripoli where foreign journalists are staying to show their satisfaction.
The city has been freed by the Libyan army which, according to these government sources, was welcomed by a jubilant crowd waving green flags. Ajdabiya, around 200 km south of Benghazi, was the stage of hard clashes between the Libyan military and the rebels in the past two days. “We have driven them back, the city is ours”, say many sources in the Libyan government. At this point the army could head directly to Benghazi, or could decide to move west to cut off enemy lines and besiege the capital of Cyrenaica.
Libyan State television announced that Marsa El Brega, the location of an important oil terminal south-east of Ajdabiya, is “completely under the control” of government forces. Meanwhile a parade of cars is crossing the streets of Tripoli and many automatic weapons are fired to celebrate the two conquests.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: G8 Dismiss Military Intervention
World leaders have refused military intervention in Libya, leading to accusations that it is now too late to help the rebels against Muammar Gaddafi.
France and Britain failed to persuade other Group of Eight nations meeting in Paris to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, where pro-Gaddafi forces made further gains on Tuesday against rebel strongholds.
The French-led no-fly zone proposal was absent from the G8 foreign minister’s closing statement in Paris, following resistance from Russia, Germany and the US.
Reacting to G8 dithering, Alain Juppé, the French foreign minister said: “If we had used military force last week to neutralise some airstrips and the several dozen planes that they have, perhaps the reversal taking place to the detriment of the opposition wouldn’t have happened.” Mr Juppé added: “But that’s the past.”
“Gaddafi is scoring points. We have perhaps missed a chance to restore the balance.” There was, he said, nothing to stop Mr Gaddafi overrunning the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: MPs Against Benefit Stop
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, MARCH 15 — A number of Tunisian members of Parliament have announced that they have challenged the decision with which the administrative tribunal of Tunis has ordered the freeze on compensation and benefits that are enjoyed by components of the two branches of Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Councillors.
Arguments by the MPs in support of their move include the principle that the decision prevents “judicial power, which is represented by the administrative tribunal, from exercising any control or authority over legislative power”.
Deputies and councillors then launched an appeal for an end to “the culture of witch-hunts and eradication” that has spread through Tunisia since the revolution.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Video Shows Egyptian Army Personnel Attacking Christian Demonstrators
by Mary Abdelmassih
(AINA) — Coptic protesters who were in front of the TV building in Maspero, waiting for the curfew to end to go home, came under attack from the Egyptian Army, after Coptic representatives agreed yesterday to suspend their 9-day sit-in until March 25. The army also attempted to assault Father Filopareer Gamil, one of the leaders of the sit- in, but Coptic protesters shielded him with their bodies.
Father Filopateer said that a Coptic demonstration is gathering in front of the hospital where the wounded have been transferred. “An army official came to the hospital to pacify the Coptic youth but they refused to meet with him and are demanding an investigation by the military.”
According to Dr. Gameel Ebeid of the Coptic hospital in Cairo where some of the wounded demonstrators are under medical treatment, 15 Copts have broken limbs, head wounds as well as burns from electrified batons. He said the patients told him that they had agreed with the army to evacuate the area in front of the TV building at 6 AM after the end of the curfew and after cleaning up after yesterday’s demonstration. “Suddenly at 3:45 AM they were attacked heavily by the army unit present at the TV building. The youth started running and those who were caught were stripped of their mobile phones so as not to take photos, and their personal belongings were confiscated. I personally saw 15 patients, 14 of them had their feet broken, wounds in the head and were nearly unconscious from being beaten with electrified batons. One protester underwent an operation to put an implant in his arm.”
Haytham Camil, an eyewitness interviewed by Mariam Ragy, said the army shot some Coptic protesters with live ammunition and there were wounded who were transferred by army ambulances. “We do not know their whereabouts, their names or even how many there are.”
The Coptic advocacy group Katiba Tibya, headed by Father Mattias Nasr, who participated for 9 days in the sit-in, has asked Coptic families who are missing any family members to contact them urgently.
Lawyer Hany Ramsis, one of the organizers of the sit-in who was present at the time of the attack, told Coptic Free Voice “We were surprised by the army attack. The youth were cleaning the place and some families who came from the provinces were packing. There were around 500 people still there at the time of the attack.” He said the soldiers cut the wire fences and started running towards the people, shouting “Allahu Akbar.”
Ramsis was one of the 10 Copts representing the demonstrators who met on March 13 with the Prime Minister and members of the military council to present their demands. The sit-in afterwards was suspended “to give time to the government to meet all their demands,” said the Coptic statement.
“We met with the authorities and we agreed to suspend the sit-in because of the situation of the country, and many Copts were against this decision. However, we cannot accept that our youth would be beaten and humiliated,” Ramsis said. He demands an official apology for what happened, and the commander who gave the order for the attack to be prosecuted.
“We trust the army, but where are my citizenship rights, and where are my rights as a Copt?” Ramsis said he is in possession of video evidence and plans to pursue legal action against the army.
Coptic activist lawyer Sherif Ramzy, who was also assaulted, said that it is a big shame for the Egyptian army that its soldiers shout “Allahu Akbar” before attacking unarmed citizens. “This only shows that the army is infiltrated by Islamists.”
| — Hat tip: Mary Abdelmassih | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Seizes ‘Gaza-Bound Weapons’
Ship boarded in the Mediterranean was carrying Iranian arms to Hamas fighters in Gaza, Israel claims.
Israel’s navy says it has boarded an Egypt-bound ship suspected of carrying Iranian weapons to fighters in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said it intercepted a Liberian-flagged vessel called Victoria some 200 nautical miles off the Israeli coast in the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday.
“According to assessments, the various weaponry on-board the vessel was intended for the use of terror organisations operating in the Gaza Strip,” it said, but did not describe the type of arms found on-board.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said in a statement that he had approved the operation and claimed that the weapons came from Iran.
“We had a solid basis that onboard the ship was weaponry destined for use against Israel. Considerable weaponry, which was destined for terrorist forces in the heart of Gaza, was found onboard the vessel,” he said.
“The operation was carried out at sea in accordance with all international rules. The weaponry originated in Iran, which is trying to arm the Gaza Strip.”
However a Hamas spokesperson denied that the ship’s contents were intended for Palestinian fighters, describing the Israeli statement as propaganda designed to damage the reputation of Hamas in the international community.
Israel said the boat was on its way from a port in Turkey to Alexandria in Egypt, but that “Turkey is not tied to the incident in any way”.
It added that the crew, which put up no resistance when confronted by Israeli forces, would be transferred to an Israeli port for questioning and further inspection.
Israel has previously accused Hamas of shipping arms through Egypt.
The ship is said to be German-owned and operated by a French shipping company.
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Bahrain: Al Jazeera: 3-Month State of Emergency Declared
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, MARCH 15 — A state of emergency that will last for three months was declared today in Bahrain, where since the end of January anti-government protests that mostly involve the Shiite population have been taking place.
“The King of Bahrain announced a national state of security (state of emergency, editor’s note) in the country for three months starting today,” reports Al Jazeera.
The statement cited by Al Jazeera reports that King Hamad Ben Issa al-Khalifa has given army commanders the authority to re-establish order, calling on the army, police and national guard and “all other forces, if they are needed”.
The statement, which was also broadcast on state-run television in Bahrain, seems to refer to the military units sent to the small monarchy by nearby Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after a request to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Dozens of Protesters Take to the Streets in Syria
(AGI) Damascus — Tens of protesters took to the streets in the capital city asking for freedom and political reforms and to peacefully demonstrate against corruption. Opposition websites and witnesses reported about the demonstration and said the police took immediate action and arrested at least 2 protesters. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, following a meeting with his Spanish counterpart Trinidad Jimenez, said the government will engage in reforms within the current year.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Former Turkish President Demirel Warns of ‘Empire of Fear’
The media and the judiciary, both essential components of democracy, are no longer free in Turkey, but stifled by an “empire of fear,” former President Süleyman Demirel has said amid increasing outcry about threats to press freedom.
“An empire of fear has been established in Turkey. The press is the most influenced by this; even some very prominent journalists say they are afraid,” he told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review in an interview Saturday.
“A free judiciary is required for a free media. In the absence of a free judiciary and press, there is no democracy at all. Let me tell you bluntly: Fundamental rights and freedoms are being violated in Turkey,” said Demirel, who served as president between 1993 and 2000 following multiple terms as prime minister.
The veteran politician, who spent nearly four decades actively involved in politics, used a very critical tone in his comments about Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, urging it to comply with the universally agreed-upon rights and freedoms needed for a healthy democracy. “No democracy can function without a free press. That means a free press is an inseparable part of democracy,” said Demirel, who headed two governments toppled by military coups and was later a key actor in the “Feb. 28 process,” the events around the Feb. 28, 1997, military memorandum that sparked turmoil leading to the resignation of the ruling Islamist coalition government.
“Of course, the press should not abuse its freedom by discrediting people or institutions through fake stories,” he added.
Demirel underscored that a free press should protect the public interest, hold regimes accountable and criticize — sometimes even severely — those in positions of power and influence. “But it wouldn’t be a free press if every dissident gets taken to court. This is wrong. Those who look at us from outside say, ‘Journalism in Turkey is dangerous,’“ he said, referring to a story about the issue in the Economist.
Threats to press freedom in Turkey have become a source of renewed debate following the arrests of prominent investigative reporters Nedim Sener and Ahmet Sik, along with some other journalists, as part of the alleged Ergenekon coup-plot case. The latest round of arrests brought the number of journalists behind bars to 68, according to the Freedom to Journalists Platform.
Listen to international warnings
The recent arrests and detention of Turkish journalists were covered by newspapers and magazines around the world and criticized by a variety of international organizations. The European Parliament has openly urged the Turkish government to take measures to secure the environment for journalists and expressed its concerns with regard to the deterioration of this fundamental freedom. In an unusually harsh reaction, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the people who prepared the European Parliament report “unbalanced.”
“I do not understand why we get furious with those who tell us that we should correct our faults. Turkey is a civilized country and has to have civilized ties with other countries,” Demirel said. “In this contemporary world, universal laws and principles walk hand in hand with national laws. And countries sometimes can urge each other to comply with the law.”
The former president added that the issue has nothing to do with sovereignty. “You cannot do whatever you want to do, even in your own country. Why? Not because you are not free and sovereign but because you are civilized,” he said. “What does it mean to be civilized? It means to be a part of the international community.
“Turkey has made agreements with countries and signed international treaties and conventions to be a part of the international community. These agreements are binding. We have committed to protecting human rights,” Demirel said, responding to Erdogan’s reaction against the European Parliament report. “If you violate these agreements, then you have to be ready to receive other countries’ urging. If you want to continue to be a member of this community, then you have to behave in a way the community embraces.”
All sorts of pressure on press
Touching on the structural problems with ensuring press freedom in Turkey, Demirel said media owners who have other business interests outside of journalism are more vulnerable to government pressures. “It’s much easier for the government to oppress them. It will easily find a way to do this. Thus, what we see almost everyday,” he said, noting the world-record tax levy imposed in 2008 against the Dogan Media Group, the parent company of the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review and part of a holding company with broad business interests.
Pressure against media owners in Turkey includes demands that they sack some dissident columnists and journalists, Demirel said. “All sorts of pressure are seen. That does not prove the existence of a free media. You can engage in demagoguery, you can deny the arrest of journalists but you cannot change the fact that dozens of them are in prison today,” he said. “These are not good things and indeed are shameful for Turkish democracy.”
Criticizing the president, warning the PM
When asked about President Abdullah Gül’s statement that he was also concerned about the recent developments regarding press freedom, Demirel said: “A verbal statement is not enough. There is a need for action. Can he take it? As president, he [Gül] can also chair the government, if he wants to do so.”
He added that it is Prime Minister Erdogan who needs to heed the message in Gül’s statement. “If even the president of a country does not hide his concerns, then the prime minister has no luxury to close his eyes and ears to the people’s complaints,” Demirel said, urging Erdogan to ensure that the results of the general elections set for June “will not legitimize such disturbing acts.”
“You could get more than 50 percent of the votes; I got that too. But this is not enough. The problem is the satisfaction of the entire people, not only those who vote for you. Those who voted for others have no less right than your electorate,” he said.
Demirel also cautioned the government that the transfer over the weekend of Ergenekon suspect Mehmet Haberal, who has serious health problems, from a hospital to a prison should “not [be] counted as a victory for your side.”
“These men are not running away. You can always try them. But you cannot convince anyone by saying that you have secret evidence against them. No one will buy it,” he said, adding that the situation in Turkey seems set to worsen if the government does not change its attitude.
“The atmosphere is bad. There is no need to compare it with the past,” Demirel said. “A drop of ink is enough to cloud a bottle of water. There is no need to create more Haberal or Nedim [Sener] cases. This is already enough to prove the absence of justice and freedom in Turkey.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
IDF Seizes Freighter of Iranian Weapons Headed to Gaza
The IDF seized a freighter ship with dozens of tons of weaponry from Iran headed for Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
The ship, known as Victoria, was flying a Liberian flag, and was seized by the navy in the Mediterranean Sea, 200 miles off of Israel’s coast.
The Victoria was boarded by commandos from the Israeli Navy’s Flotilla 13, also known as the Shayetet, arrived in the Ashdod port on Tuesday evening.
An initial inspection of the cargo revealed the ship was carrying weapons. The exact amount is to be determined.
The crew, questioned by the Navy Commando, was not aware that the cargo contained weaponry.
The ship set sail Monday night from the port of Lattakai in Syria and from there it traveled to Turkey. There, it was supposed to unload the weapons, which would travel by land to Gaza. The IDF’s assessment is that the weapons did not originate in Turkey, but that the containers were unloaded there and transferred onto the Victoria.
The port of Lattakai is the same port where two Iranian war ships docked in February on their way to the Suez Canal. At the time, IDF officials raised concerns of the possibility that they were carrying weapons intended for terrorists organizations, but there was no confirmation.
“The operation was approved as necessary in accordance with government directives in light of Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz’s recommendations,” an IDF statement read.
Gantz updated Defense Minister Ehud Barak about the findings on-board the vessel earlier in the morning.
“The IDF and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs alerted German authorities about the interception of the “Victoria” due to the German ownership of the ship,” the statement said.
In addition, the government of Liberia, whose flag it was flying under, was notified, as well as France, due to the French shipping company.
The Israeli Navy has conducted numerous operations over the years against Iranian smuggling to Hamas and Hezbollah.
Foreign reports attribute bombings of truck convoys in Sudan as well as arms ships in the Red Sea in recent years to the IDF.
In November 2009, the Israeli Navy seized the Francop cargo ship, which was carrying 500 tons of weaponry from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon, including Katyusha rockets and grenades. At the time, IDF officers said the amount was enough to sustain Hezbollah for several weeks of war.
The amount of weaponry found on the ship was smaller than that found on the Francop, but IDF sources said the munitions appeared to be of higher quality.
They said that mortar shells of different sizes and ranges have already been found.
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Seizes Cargo Ship ‘Carrying Weapons for Gaza’
A cargo ship bound for Egypt allegedly carrying arms for militant groups in the Gaza Strip has been seized by Israeli commandos.
The German-owned vessel ‘Victoria’ was on its way from Turkey to the Egyptian port of Alexandria before it was seized some 200 miles from Israel, according to the military.
A spokesman said the vessel had set off from the Syrian port of Latakia before stopping in Mersin, Turkey.
Turkey, which has had a strained relationship with Israel since Israeli commandos raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last May, killing nine Turkish activists on board, had no involvement in the arms shipment, the military said.
An Israeli military spokesman said an initial search found three containers loaded with arms. More cargo would be examined after the ship reached Israel.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
India: Husband and Wife ‘Serial Killers’ Arrested
A husband and wife team who turned an Indian marriage bureau into a business empire are alleged to have found the perfect way to keep costs down: kill anyone costing the firm too much money or claiming a share in the profits.
Mishan Singh Tomar and his wife Shashi Kiran were the owners of a thriving travel business, which rented more than 350 cars to some of India’s top companies, and two busy matchmaking agencies, including ‘Perfect Marriage Couple’.
Detectives claimed Tomar, 49, and Kiran, 46, had paid a contract killer to murder one of their business partners, a manager in one of their businesses, and a relative whose medical bills they had been paying.
They believe they commissioned their first murder last October to stop Kiran’s ailing brother, Ashok, from claiming his share of her family’s ancestral properties. He was living with Kiran and Tomar at the time at their home in South Delhi, and they were paying his medical bills of 25,000 Rupees per month (£344).
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Politician Says Program to Convert Islamic Sect is ‘Regrettable’
Jakarta, 15 March (AKI/Jakarta Post) — Pramono Anung, deputy speaker of Indonesia’s lower house of parliament, says he regrets the deployment of military officers in West Java in a programme aiming to convert Ahmadis to mainstream Islam.
“(The Indonesian Military) should not be involved in religious affairs. This move is regrettable,” he said Tuesday.
So far under the program, named “Operation Sajadah” (prayer mat), around 15 Ahmadis have declared their conversion to mainstream Islam.
The campaign encourages followers of mainstream Islam to conduct their Friday prayers at Ahmadiya mosques.
Pramono said the military should instead offer to protect the community.
East and West Java and South Sulawesi have issued bans on the sect.
The Ahmadiyah followers in Indonesia have been experiencing persecution in the country. In February a mob of more than 1,500 people attacked an Ahmadi congregation killing three members of the sect.
The Ahmadiyah faith is an offshoot of Islam founded in India during the late 19th century.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Uzbek Government Kicks Out Human Rights Watch
The Uzbek government has moved to shut down the offices of Human Rights Watch, in what will be first time the organisation has been forced out of a country in its 33-year history.
The action comes less than two months after Islam Karimov, the country’s autocratic President flew to Brussels to meet José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission.
“With the expulsion of Human Rights Watch, the Uzbek government sends a clear message that it isn’t willing to tolerate critical scrutiny of its human rights record,” Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday. “Tashkent has apparently calculated that brutalising the population and stonewalling international reporting are cost-free. The EU and the US need to prove this cynical calculus wrong.”
Uzbekistan expelled dozens of charity and media organisations after the brutal suppression of protests in Andijan, a town in the volatile Fergana Valley, in May 2005. At the same time the pressure on domestic human rights activists has intensified.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Fire Erupts at Troubled Reactor; Helicopters May be Used for Blazes
The Japanese government reported early Wednesday that a fire was burning at the No. 4 reactor of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan.
It was not immediately clear what the cause was. There was a fire at the plant on Tuesday, but the government said that had been doused.
The announcement came just hours after officials with the Tokyo Electric Power Company said that they would consider using helicopters in an attempt to put cold water into a boiling rooftop storage pool for spent uranium fuel rods. The rods are still radioactive and potentially as hot and dangerous as the fuel rods inside the reactors if not kept submerged in water.
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Japan Nuclear Crisis: Timeline of Official Statements
Since the first reports of problems at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant emerged on Friday, the Japanese government have been accused of giving conflicting and confusing information about the developing situation. Here is a look at some of the official statements since the crisis began…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Japan: Panicked Residents Start to Flee Tokyo as Radiation Levels Rise After Third Blast at Stricken Nuclear Power Plant
Scores of terrified residents began to flee Tokyo today as a nuclear power plant destroyed by the tsunami threatened to send a cloud of radioactive dust across Japan.
The Fukushima Dai-ichi plant suffered a third reactor explosion last night, another reactor on the site caught fire — and officials today announced the wall of one reactor was cracked.
Radiation levels have soared acoss the country as radioactive material spewed directly into the atmosphere while emergency crews fought to avoid a catastrophic meltdown.
Levels of radiation were ten times higher than normal in the capital today, as experts warned that people in Japan could face an increased cancer risk even if the crisis does not deteriorate.
Although experts said winds are currently blowing most harmful material out across the Pacific,thousands of residents are also fleeing towns nearer the reactor on the north east coast of Japan.
The situation is worse for 140,000 people who live within an 18-mile exclusion zone around the plant. They were today ordered to stay indoors or be exposed to a dangerous level of radiation.
There is now a 30m no-fly zone around the reactor. The emergency has sparked a mass exodus as far away as Tokyo. Planes out of the Japanese capital were crammed.
France advised its citizens to leave Tokyo, Austria moved its embassy from Tokyo 250 miles south-west to Osaka and the US government told Americans to avoid travel to Japan.
The U.S. military told soldiers and families at its bases in Yokosuka and Atsugi to stay indoors. America diverted warships away from the east coast which was devastated by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami which has killed at least 10,000.
[…]
The latest explosion last night is feared to have cracked the main protective barrier around reactor number two at the plant.
The International Atomic Agency said radioactive material is leaking ‘directly’ into the air from the stricken plant at a rate of 400 millisieverts per hour. Anyone exposed to over 100 millisieverts a year risks cancer.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Japan Nuclear Watch: Updated, Fire at Unit 4 Out, Radiation Levels Reported Down
While it is axiomatic that we don’t have all the details at any given time this post is going to attempt to keep everyone updated. Last night Scarecrow, Lobster and Prof Foland in particular did a great job keeping everyone up to speed on the apparent rupture of the Unit 2 reactor at Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. You can find those articles and threads at the links below.
Japan Nuclear Watch: Third Explosion, Possible Cracked Containment At Unit 2
Japan Nuclear Watch: Ministry Press Conference On Third Explosion And Fire At Unit 4
There was also a fire and perhaps explosion at Unit 4 of the same complex. Unit 4 had achieved cold shut down status, meaning that the rods were all in, and the reactor had cooled down for the high temperatures of power production to “cold” status.
That does not mean that it is room temperature, but rather that as long as it is still covered with water it will not be in danger of melting and that they do not have to monitor the production of steam.
It is still unclear at this time what happened at that unit but speculation is that the spent fuel rods which are stored in a cooling pond until they are shipped our for reprocessing were exposed. This would have caused them to heat up and perhaps burst into flame. I have to admit here that I thought that this was really unlikely to happen, but as we are all finding there is a lot that can go wrong when buildings are exploding.
As of now (7:30 EST) the Japanese officials are reporting that the radiation level at the plant, which had spiked to 11,930 microsiervets, has dropped to 596 per hour. A quick word on ‘sievert units”.
In a year from natural sources you will receive around 1,000 microsiervets, the levels at that plant at the highest reported spike were 11 years worth per hour.
Why the drop in the radiation levels? The current thinking is that the some of the rods burned and released the radioactive materials contained in them directly into the atmosphere. There was a intensive and desperate firefighting effort at the Unit 4 site and it seems to have been effective.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Japan: Fuel Rod Fire at Fukushima Reactor “Would be Like Chernobyl on Steroids”
The Fukushima reactor building that exploded March 12 is one of a series of identical General Electric reactors constructed in Japan and the US. In this reactor design, the used nuclear fuel rods are stored in pools of water at the top of the reactor building. These “spent” rods are still highly radioactive: the radioactivity is so great the rods must be stored in water so they do not combust. The explosion at Fukushima Daiichi reactor unit 1 apparently destroyed at least one wall and the roof of the building: some reports stated the roof had collapsed into the building.
Two days later, the nearby building containing the plutonium-uranium (MOX) fueled Fuksuhima Daichii reactor unit 3 exploded. So why bother about the rubble of reactor No 1? The WaPo quotes a nuclear engineer who knows the answer:
Although Tokyo Electric said it also continued to deal with cooling system failures and high pressures at half a dozen of its 10 reactors in the two Fukushima complexes, fears mounted about the threat posed by the pools of water where years of spent fuel rods are stored.
At the 40-year-old Fukushima Daiichi unit 1, where an explosion Saturday destroyed a building housing the reactor, the spent fuel pool, in accordance with General Electric’s design, is placed above the reactor. Tokyo Electric said it was trying to figure out how to maintain water levels in the pools, indicating that the normal safety systems there had failed, too. Failure to keep adequate water levels in a pool would lead to a catastrophic fire, said nuclear experts, some of whom think that unit 1’s pool may now be outside.
“That would be like Chernobyl on steroids,” said Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer at Fairewinds Associates and a member of the public oversight panel for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, which is identical to the Fukushima Daiichi unit 1.
People familiar with the plant said there are seven spent fuel pools at Fukushima Daiichi, many of them densely packed.
Gundersen said the unit 1 pool could have as much as 20 years of spent fuel rods, which are still radioactive.
We’d be lucky if we only had to worry about the spent fuel rods from a single holding pool. We’re not that lucky. The Fukushima Daiichi plant has seven pools for spent fuel rods. Six of these are (or were) located at the top of six reactor buildings. One “common pool” is at ground level in a separate building. Each “reactor top” pool holds 3450 fuel rod assemblies. The common pool holds 6291 fuel rod assemblies. [The common pool has windows on one wall which were almost certainly destroyed by the tsunami.] Each assembly holds sixty-three fuel rods. This means the Fukushima Daiichi plant may contain over 600,000 spent fuel rods.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Danish Far-Right Resists EU Immigration Policies
Danish nationalists have been angered by talk of bringing the country’s legal procedures toward immigrant families into line with EU policies, saying that recent EU rulings on the matter infringe on Denmark’s sovereignty. Right-wing politicians say Denmark should be allowed to make its own immigration laws
This file photo shows Pia Kjaersgaard, leader of Denmark’s right-wing Danish People’s Party. The party is against changing immigration laws.
Efforts to bring Denmark’s legal treatment of immigrant families in line with European Union policy directives and European Court of Justice, or ECJ, court rulings are drawing ire from Danish nationalists.
Current EU policy, which stipulates that migrant workers be allowed to bring family members into their country of residence, has come under attack in recent weeks from far-right politicians calling for Denmark to take hold of its own sovereign foreign policy.
“We’re seriously hoping that this EU rule will be changed to allow for Denmark’s sovereign foreign and migration policy to continue with tighter migration laws,” said Martin Henriksen, Parliamentarian for the right-wing Danish People’s Party.
A European Council Directive from 2003 on the right to family reunification established the “right to family reunification by third country nationals residing lawfully in the territory of the member states” in a move that was aimed primarily at immigrants working in the EU who were separated from their spouses and family. A subsequent directive in 2004 further developed EU policy on the issue. These directives, along with a separate deal agreed upon in the 1980s between Turkey and the EU which specifically addresses the rights of Turkish migrant workers, which Danish judicial experts refer to as the “Ankara-deal,” outline a general EU policy on the issue.
Some have called for the “Ankara-deal” to be scrapped.
“Denmark must leave the Ankara deal,” Karen Jespersen, a former minister for the governing party and a current parliamentarian in the integration committee, told the press. “I would like to see if this deal will really have such impacts and understand whether there is a way out. As the situation is right now, we should take such evaluations very seriously.”
Denmark no longer exempt
The 2003 EU directive explicitly states that its policies do not apply to the United Kingdom, Ireland or Denmark. Recently, Denmark’s status as exempt from this directive has come under attack in recent years after rulings from the ECJ, and, most recently, a Danish court ruling.
“Our own parliament should be deciding foreign policy and our laws about migration, not any other entity and especially not an EU deal with Turkey from the 1980s,” Henriksen told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review in an interview. “We need to be sovereign and decide for ourselves as these mistakes could have negative consequences for Danish culture and society.”
In a 2008 ECJ case, Case C-127/08, it was found that the 2004 EU directive that protected the right of migrant workers to bring their families into the country had no exceptions among EU member states, and that the directive “precludes legislation of a member state which requires a national of a non-member country who is the spouse of a union citizen residing in that member state but not possessing its nationality to have previously been lawfully resident in another member state before arriving in the host member state, in order to benefit from the provisions of that directive.”
A 2010 ECJ ruling reached a similar conclusion, and has been cited as evidence that the EU wishes Denmark to scrap its current legislation on immigrants. In the last two weeks, in what came as a surprise to some observers, a Danish court upheld the rulings of the ECJ despite protests from anti-immigration voices.
Following Brussels’ lead
While several politicians expressed concern about the ECJ ruling in 2010, experts note that Denmark is extremely unlikely to overturn the ruling or change the EU agreement as ministers could face accusations of “administrative wrongdoing.”
“It is extremely unlikely that Denmark [can] change this ruling, seeing that it was decided by European member states at an EU level, making it practically impossible to change unless Denmark convinces all the member states,” Marlene Wind, an expert on EU juridical matters at the University of Copenhagen, told the Daily News. “More likely it is a political scandal about how the current government may have turned a blind eye to their European obligations while implementing unlawfully stringent migration laws.”
Since 2002, Denmark’s conservative government has tightened migration laws through the implementation of what is commonly known as the “24-years rule” with support from the Danish People’s Party. The “24-years rule,” which took effect in 2002, stipulates that anyone who is under the age of 24 cannot marry a foreigner and bring them back to Denmark with the purpose of getting them citizenship. While the rule was initially billed as an attempt to prevent migrant workers from bringing “slave wives” from developing nations, particularly Pakistan, critics of the rule claim that such justification is just a pretense for dramatically restricting migrant family reunions.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Lampedusa Swamped as Migrant Emergency Escalates
Dozens of Tunisians feared drowned, navy blocks Moroccan ship
(ANSA) — Rome, March 15 — Lampedusa’s migrant reception centre is swamped as a migrant crisis caused by turmoil in North Africa escalated Tuesday, with dozens of Tunisians feared drowned after a boat carrying them towards the southern Italian island sank.
Over 1,600 people have landed at Lampedusa, which is close to Africa, on 22 different boats since Monday morning to take the total number of arrivals to Italy since mid-January past the 10,000 mark.
Around 2,800 people are currently packed inside Lampedusa’s migrant reception centre, which is designed to accommodate just 800.
Fearing more arrivals, the Italian navy has stopped a Moroccan ferry carrying over 1,800 fleeing conflict-torn Libya from entering Italian waters, while the crew’s claim they only want to refuel in Sicily before heading home is checked.
In the night between Monday and Tuesday the Italian navy rescued 129 migrants aboard a boat that was taking on water some 20 miles south of Lampedusa.
But only five people are thought to have survived the sinking of a boat carrying as many as 70 people on the night between Sunday and Monday after it left the Tunisian port of Zarzis.
The Moroccan ferry, the ‘Mistral Express’, is currently sitting at the edge of Italian waters near the Sicilian port of Augusta under the watchful eye of a navy vessel.
The ship is carrying 1,836 mostly Moroccan passengers and an 83-strong crew.
The Italian foreign ministry is in talks with the Moroccan authorities, which may have hired the ferry to bring their nationals back home.
The Italian government may arrange for the ship to be refueled at sea in international waters.
European Commission President Jose’ Manuel Barroso has promised the EU will help Italy deal with the emergency after several member states cold-shouldered prevous appeals for support.
“The whole Commission and I, personally, want to offer the utmost support and financial aid. Italy is on the front line along its southern coasts and it has legitimate cause for concern (over to the influx of immigrants),” Barroso said after meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi Monday.
Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front and an MEP who visited Lampedusa Monday, has reiterated her call for the Italian authorities to prevent migrants landing on its shores.
“Turning back ships in conditions of safety before they reach (Italian) territorial waters is the only solution,” she told a press conference in Rome Tuesday.
“The EU is not capable of putting up dams (against the wave of migrants)”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lampedusa: 22 Landings: 1623 Arrivals in 24 Hrs
(AGI) Lampedusa — 22 new landings at Lampedusa in 24 hrs account for 1623 people, among them 6 women and 6 children. The Coast Guard stated that no immigrant appeared injured or in critical conditions. The Coast Guard also indicated that last night a boat capsized in Tunisian waters, some 2 hours out. The news was first given by 5 immigrants rescued at sea by a second boat in the area. According to said witnesses, about 35 people are currently lost at sea. The Coast Guard has alerted the Tunisian authorities.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Le Pen: No Room on European Ship for All
(AGI) Lampedusa — “I would like to take everyone on board the European ship, but it wouldn’t work because it would sink.
There isn’t room for everybody.” The Euro MP, Marine Le Pen, thought to be a hot runner for the upcoming French presidential elections, was responding to journalists’ questions about whether she would change her views on immigration in the light of the crisis in Northern Africa. As she left the Lampedusa reception centre, Ms Le Pen, a member of the French far right, said “this is an economy-based immigration that has nothing to do with war.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Le Pen Tells Italy to Assist Migrants at Sea
(ANSAmed) — LAMPEDUSA, MARCH 11 — The leader of France’s far-right National Front said here on Monday that Italy should not allow migrants to land on this island south of Sicily and only assist them while they are at sea.
Here on what she defined as a ‘fact-finding’ mission, with EuroMP Mario Borghezio, from Italy’s anti-immigrant Northern League, Marine Le Pen said “instead of welcoming them here on Lampedusa, Italy should send out ships with food and water to assist them at sea and keep them from landing on the island”.
On the immigrant question in general, Le Pen said “Europe cannot take them all in, we already have seven million unemployed. It would be nice to take everyone aboard our ship but it is not big enough, we would all sink, them and us”.
At the time Le Pen was making her remarks there were reports that a ship with 1,800 refugees from Libya was heading to Italy.
Last week Le Pen denied that her visit to Lampedusa would intended to be a provocation. “There is no intention on my part to provoke. I believe it is my duty to get an idea for myself of what is going on”. Lampedusa is one of the closest Italian islands to North Africa and for years has been an arrival point for thousands of migrants and refugees seeking to enter Europe.
After an almost two-year lull, hundreds of boat people have recently been fleeing to Lampedusa in the wake of unrest in Egypt, Tunisia and, more recently, Libya.
Le Pen, who last January took over the reins of the National Front from her father and party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, said last week that “the Italian press should stop painting us as a xenophobic party. We are not racist nor xenophobic nor anti-semitic. But we do have every right to believe that immigration is not a good thing”.
Le Pen and Borghezio were met by protests during their visit including a sit-in at the island’s airport. While Le Pen was on Lampedusa, European Commission President Jose’ Manuel Barroso was in Rome where he told Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi that Italy could count on the European Union’s political and financial support in dealing with the migrant emergency.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Marine Le Pen: Sending Back Ships Only Solution
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 15 — “Sending back ships safely before they enter territorial waters is the only solution”, said member of the European Parliament and leader of the National Front, Marine Le Pen. Le Pen referred to possible ways of stopping the migration flows from North Africa in a press conference in the European Parliament seat in Rome. “These ships can also be sent back with the help of the Italian and French Navy”, Le Pen explained, underlining that “the European Union is unable to erect ‘dams”‘ against these flows, “despite what Barroso says. It shouldn’t all come down on the EU, each country must take its own responsibilities”. Today, the leader of the French extreme-right said after returning from a visit to Lampedusa, “bilateral agreements could work better than Barroso’s policies”. In Le Pen’s view, “Schengen art. 2.2 can be used to watch the borders between Italy and France and between Spain and France to deal with illegal immigration”. She added that “this measure was also used during the organisation of the World Cup”. “We don’t want to suppress asylum right but what is happening today is about economic, not political refugees”. Ahead of possible migration flows from Libya, the leader of the National Front party said that “the checks that must be carried out before granting political asylum to refugees can be done off the coast, on the boats that transport these migrants, without letting them come on land”. “The ships that are used to send back the boats transporting migrants”, Le Pen specified, “could have UNHCR officials on board to check the state and conditions of the immigrants and, most importantly, to verify that they really are Libyans. If not, they don’t have that right”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK Border Agency Lost Track of 180,000 Migrants on Expired Visas
An astonishing 181,000 migrants whose right to live in Britain has expired could still be here, auditors have found.
The figure includes workers, students and their relatives whose visas have run out in the last two years, and who have been refused permission to stay on.
The National Audit Office, which uncovered the statistic, said immigration officials ‘cannot be sure’ how many have gone home.
It found the UK Border Agency knew where all the failed applicants had lived in Britain — but has not checked if they are still there.
Worryingly, the only action taken has been letters sent to 2,000 people in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, asking them to leave.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
80% of Children Under Age 5 Use the Internet Weekly
Nearly 80% of children between the ages of 0 and 5 who use the Internet in the United States, do so on at least a weekly basis, according to a report released Monday from education non-profit organizations Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Sesame Workshop.
The report, which was assembled using data from seven recent studies, indicates that young children are increasingly consuming all types of digital media, in many cases consuming more than one type at once.
Television use dwarfs internet use in both the number of children who surf the web and the amount of time they spend on it. The analysis found that during the week, most children spend at least three hours a day watching television, and that television use among preschoolers is the highest it has been in the past eight years. Of the time that children spend on all types of media, television accounts for a whopping 47%.
Heavy television viewing may even be partially responsible for the rising number of children who use the Internet. Parents in one study indicated that more than 60% of children under age three watch video online. That percentage decreases as children get older (the report suggests this is because school-age children have less time at home), but even 8- to 18-year-old children reported in another study that they consume about 20% of their video content online, on cellphones, or on other portable devices like iPods.
Internet and television use among children has become entwined in other ways as well. A 2010 Nielsen study suggests that 36% of children between the ages of 2 and 11 use both mediums simultaneously. Altogether, children between the ages of 8 and 10 spend about 5.5 hours each day using media — eight hours if you count the additional media consumed while multitasking.
The report doesn’t attempt to solve the more-than-decade-old debate of whether all of this screen time is good for children. Instead, it preaches balance: “My mother used to say that too much of anything isn’t good for you, whether it be eating only protein, shooting hoops all day or ‘always being connected’ to the digital world,” said Dr. Lewis Bernstein, executive president at Sesame Workshop, in a press release.
It does, however, point out that time spent in front of books remains constant even as screen time increases.
About 90% of 5- to 9-year-olds who participated in a 2008 Sesame Workshop study reported spending at least an hour every day reading old-fashioned, physical texts.
| — Hat tip: Zenster | [Return to headlines] |
Glossy ‘Jihad Cosmo’ Combines Beauty Tips With Suicide Bombing Advice
Al-Qaeda has launched a women’s magazine that mixes beauty and fashion tips with advice on suicide bombings.
Dubbed ‘Jihad Cosmo’, the glossy magazine’s front cover features the barrel of a sub-machine gun next to a picture a woman in a veil.
There are exclusive interviews with martyrs’ wives, who praise their husbands’ decisions to die in suicide attacks.
The slick, 31-page Al-Shamikha magazine — meaning The Majestic Woman — has advice for singletons on ‘marrying a mujahideen’.
Readers are told it is their duty to raise children to be mujahideen ready for jihad.
And the ‘beauty column’ instructs women to stay indoors with their faces covered to keep a ‘clear complexion’.
They should ‘not go out except when necessary’ and wear a niqab for ‘rewards by complying with the command of Allah Almighty’.
A woman called Umm Muhanad hails her husband for his bravery after his suicide bombing in Afghanistan.
And another article urges readers to give their lives for the Islamist cause.
It advises: ‘From martyrdom, the believer will gain security, safety and happiness.’
More traditional content for a women’s magazine includes features on the merits of honey facemasks, etiquette, first aid and why readers should avoid ‘towelling too forcibly’.
A trailer for the next issue promises tips on skin care — and how to wage electronic jihad.
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