10,000 March in Athens Against Austerity Plan, Arrests
(AGI) Athens -Ten thousand people marched in Athens to protest the austerity plan imposed by the EU and the IMF; clashes reported. Demonstrators were protesting against the austerity measures introduced by the government to help reduce the country’s budget deficit. The demonstration, organised by the trade unions, which also called a 24-hour strike, turned violent in central Athens where police used tear gas against the protesters who had reached the Parliament building.
According to the police, several people were arrested and two officers were wounded in the clashes.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Geithner ‘Flat Out Lying’ About Debt-Limit Debate
Treasury secretary claims Social Security threatened by borrowing freeze
When Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner claimed Social Security payments were threatened by a refusal by Congress to raise the debt limit, he was “flat-out lying,” says the organizer of a campaign to freeze the nation’s borrowing at $14.3 trillion.
In a letter to Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., disclosed over the weekend, Geithner claimed freezing the debt limit would result in less revenue for Social Security, according to the letter.
[…]
Joseph Farah, the force behind the “No More Red Ink” campaign, an online, grass-roots lobbying effort to persuade House Republicans to freeze the debt limit, says Geithner’s claim is “provably wrong” and suggests he should resign as treasury secretary if he doesn’t understand why.
“Whether you like Social Security or not, it’s an established fact that it does not operate on borrowed money, it does not contribute a dime to the deficit and the fund has a surplus,” said Farah. “This is sheer political mau-mauing by Geithner — the guy who had trouble filling out his own tax return.”
By law Social Security cannot use borrowed money. It is supported by three sources:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greece’s Islands Will Not be Offered as Loan Collateral, Warns Prime Minister
As EU finance ministers prepare for a meeting on the Greek crisis, George Papandreou insists: ‘To ask us for an island or a monument as a guarantee is nearly an insult’
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s ‘Super Mario’: Respected ECB Favorite
Mario Draghi, known in Italy as “Super Mario,” has stature abroad and respect at home for restoring the image of the Italian central bank, and is now the favorite to be the next European Central Bank, or ECB, chief.
The banker, once a pupil of Jesuits, a rigorous branch of the Roman Catholic Church, and later a banker at Goldman Sachs, is well known in Italy for his discretion and able handling of the banking system.
And he has acquired international status during the economic crisis by overseeing a process of global reforms.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave cautious backing on Wednesday for Draghi to pilot the eurozone central bank, which is facing the latest in a string of deep strains after the global financial crisis and now a European debt crisis.
Draghi, if appointed to the post, one of the top jobs in global central banking, would succeed Frenchman Jean-Claude Trichet, whose period in office ends in October. Draghi, as central bank head in Italy, already sits on the policymaking council of the ECB.
The publicity-shy 63-year-old has cultivated relationships across the political spectrum in Italy. But he has steered away from the social scene in Rome and has not publicly expressed any personal political ambitions.
The economist, who is sometimes referred to in the press as “Super Mario,” is known as a protege of Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, an influential former central bank governor who served as Italy’s president between 1999 and 2006.
Draghi restored credibility to the Italian central bank. The bank’s image had been tarnished by a scandal involving former governor Antonio Fazio.
Fazio was accused of insider trading in 2005 for allegedly rigging the competition to take over an Italian bank and he is under investigation.
Draghi, appointed to replace Fazio in 2005, quit his job as a senior investment banker at Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs where he started in 2002.
He took firm action during the economic crisis and so helped spare Italy’s banking system from the worst of the scourge of toxic assets.
He has also played an important role in recent months in ensuring that several Italian banks increase their capital to meet the new standards of Basel III.
The crisis has given Draghi international status as head of the Financial Stability Board, which has been charged by the Group of 20, or G20, leading world economies to avoid a new financial crisis with new rules for banks.
Born in Rome on September 3, 1947, Draghi is married and has two children.
He graduated in economics from Rome University and has a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, in the United States.
He taught economics in various Italian universities and went on to represent Italy at the World Bank between 1984 and 1990, and was then appointed director general of the Italian Treasury in 1991.
He held that post for 10 years under nine governments from both the right and the left and became a crucial player behind a wave of privatizations in Italy between 1996 and 2001.
His pointed analyses of the economic situation in Italy are closely watched in Italy but his regular calls for reform have led to tense relations with Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti.
Draghi’s name was even mentioned last year as possible leader of a technocratic government if Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was forced to resign but the rumor quickly fell by the wayside.
His stint at Goldman Sachs has given him important connections in the English-speaking financial world but has led to some criticism because of the Wall Street bank’s bad reputation during the economic crisis.
An able diplomat, Draghi has devoted himself in recent months to winning over German skeptics to his candidacy. He praised the German economic model and multiplied statements in favor of price stability.
After winning public support from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, it was only German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s backing that was needed.
In an interview with Die Zeit weekly on Wednesday, she said, “Germany could back his candidacy for the position of ECB president.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Allahu Akbar
No sooner does a Yemeni Muslim begin hammering on the cockpit door shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’, then the media speculates that he must have gotten confused looking for the bathroom. And on September 11, four groups of Muslim men with boxcutters got confused looking for the nearest post office.
The lead is invariably buried. Paragraphs fly by until it’s mentioned that the confused fellow may have been a Muslim. If it’s mentioned at all. And his cry of Allahu Akbar is translated as God is Great to render it more acceptable to readers. But like so many Islamic translations, it’s right enough to be wrong. Allahu Akbar doesn’t mean Allah is Great, in a ‘Isn’t ‘Allah and the Virgins of Paradise’ a great band’. It’s more like Allah is Greatest or Superior. And if you’re on the right side of the cockpit door, the one doing the shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ means that Allah is superior to your country and to you. And one of his followers is about to do his best to show you why.
News stories which, like fruit punch, carry 70 percent propaganda to 30 percent juice, are always eager to explain to their readers, that ‘Allahu Akbar’ is just one of those things that Muslims shout at random occasions. Feel happy, shout, ‘Allahu Akbar’, feel sad, shout, ‘Allahu Akbar’ till you feel better, feel a touch of homicidal rage against the infidels coming on, shout ‘Allahu Akbar’ and open fire. If you believe them, then ‘Allahu Akbar’ is the Swiss Army Knife of Arabic ejaculations. Whether you’re at a soccer game or a beheading, it’s the verbal black dress that fits any occasion.
The message of Allahu Akbar is the message of the Koran 61:9. ‘He it is who has sent his Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to make it victorious over all religions even though the infidels may resist.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Administration Seeks to Test Anthrax Vaccine in Children
According to BioPrepWatch.com , the Obama administration is seeking to obtain a green light to conduct an anthrax vaccine safety experiment on US children. The stated rationale for such a trial, articulated by Dr. Nicole Lurie, US Dept. of Health and Human Services, is that there are no data about the safety of exposing children to the anthrax vaccine. And if an emergency arises, a trial “would present an array of logistical, clinical and communication challenges during a public health crisis.”
No child would benefit from exposure to a vaccine that has generated thousands of adverse event reports—including deaths—in adults.
Current law allows the FDA to issue an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for “protections against biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear agents that may be used to attack the American people.” The FDA Commissioner “may allow countermeasures to be used in an emergency to diagnose, treat, or prevent serious life-threatening diseases or conditions caused by such agents, when there are no adequate, approved and available alternatives.”
In the absence of a national emergency from an anthrax bioterrorist attack, an anthrax vaccine trial in children would violate federal legal and ethical standards which prohibit exposing children to greater than minimal risk if a child does not have a condition that would benefit from the experimental intervention. 45 CFR 46 Subpart D
The Anthrax vaccine is highly controversial and US courts prohibited mandatory vaccination of the military from 2004-2006:
Even when anthrax-laden letters were mailed to several congressional leaders in 2001, Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Bill First, a doctor, criticized the anthrax vaccine on CNN stating,
“There are very real and potentially serious side effects from the vaccine and anyone who elects to receive the vaccine needs to be made aware of that. I do not recommend widespread inoculation for people with the vaccine in the Hart Building …There are too many side effects and if there is limited chance of exposure- the side effects would far outweigh any potential advantage.”
Between 2001 and 2004, the FDA Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) received 4,136 spontaneous adverse event reports: 347 (8.4%) were reported as serious.
*Serious adverse events include: death, hospitalization, permanent disability, or are life-threatening. There were 16 deaths.
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Recipe for Revolution: Mobilizing for Social Transformation
As a young teenager, I witnessed the historic visit of Nikita Khrushchev to my mid-west hometown. At the time, our respective nations were embroiled in the Cold War. Distinguished as first secretary of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party, Khrushchev had famously insisted, ‘We will bury you”of course, ‘not with a shovel”but ‘[America’s] own working class will [do it].’[1] While driven downtown in an open convertible, Khrushchev nodded and waved to a wary Iowan crowd that intentionally stonewalled fanfare typically afforded public figures.
With the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, many boomers heaved a shared sigh of relief. Khrushchev’s threats were proven toothless, the Cold War was history, and it was time to kiss and make up. Thereafter, the leader of the Free World looked Vladimir Putin in the eyes and, as a friend, discerned ‘his soul.’ In doing so, President George W. Bush necessarily overlooked Putin’s KGB infamy.
Communism’s Dead; Case Closed
Decades later, there are more Communist Party members in the world than ever before, and over 1.5 billion today live under communism’s iron fist. Hence, the ‘mission accomplished’ proclamation of 1989 is shown to have been unwarranted. Fact is, communism didn’t die with Karl Marx, nor did it collapse with the Berlin Wall; but there’s a price to pay for saying so. Progressives mock ‘conspiracy theorists’ and accuse them of McCarthyism. Mere mention of this emotive term suggests ‘proof’ that none can gainsay without reaping the scorn of enlightened folk who somehow know better.
Not So Fast, America!
Consider this: Technically speaking, communism is the final phase and goal of socialism, that is, ‘big government.’ Significantly, there are no examples in history of big government that hasn’t abused its people. Even so, diehard partisans concede that, in the U.S., both major political parties enable it; and communism’s call for world revolution, workers’ democracy, equality, and ‘real’ freedom lingers to this day.
Mobilizing for social transformation, communism boasts strong footholds in South Africa, South- and Central- Americas, Cuba, Viet Nam, Russia’even the European Union. Advanced by ‘progressives,’ the end goal is global governance, core values for which are socialist at best, Marxist at worst.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Great Seducer: IMF Chief is Dragged Off Plane at JFK and Charged Over Sex Attack on Maid in New York Hotel
A potential challenger to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and head of the International Monetary Fund, was hauled off a plane at New York’s Kennedy Airport yesterday, arrested and charged with a sex attack on a hotel maid.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, 62, nicknamed ‘The Great Seducer’ in France, was about to fly to Paris when police boarded the Air France jet.
New York prosecutors confirmed that Strauss-Kahn has been charged with a criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment in the alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid in New York City, police said.
Strauss-Kahn is expected to be brought before a state court judge later today.
His attorney, Benjamin Brafman, said in an email he ‘will plead not guilty’.
At 4.45pm yesterday plain clothes detectives from the New York Port Authority, which polices the airport, boarded the plane, Air France Flight 23, ten minutes before it was scheduled to leave, and took Mr Strauss-Kahn into custody.
He was taken to the offices of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit, which deals with sex-related crimes and was being questioned by detectives last night.
The maid was taken by police to a local hospital.
She told police she was asked to clean the spacious $3,000-a-night suite, which she was told was empty.
She then alleges Strauss-Kahn emerged naked from a bathroom, chased her down a hallway, pulled her into a bedroom and began sexually assaulting her.
John Sheehan, a spokesman for the hotel, said its staff were cooperating with the authorities in the investigation.
William Murray, a spokesman for the IMF in Washington, said the fund had no immediate comment.
Strauss-Kahn, who is married to a leading French television news reporter, Anne Sinclair, had been considered a leading contender to run on the socialist party’s ticket against President Nicolas Sarkozy in next year’s French elections.
Yesterday far right presidential contender Marine Le Pen said his bid for the top job was now ‘doomed’.
But he has been dogged by scandal…
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
The World’s Richest Dinner Party
The heads of Apple, Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter — oh, and the U.S. President, too. Has there ever been a more powerful power lunch? And who got the bill?
It’s difficult to imagine a wealthier set of guests than those invited to the home of Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr earlier this year, in the mega-wealthy enclave of Woodside, California. Together they represent companies worth nearly $1 trillion.
By all accounts, Obama didn’t have an easy ride — many of the diners are generous political donors and the President was criticised for slow progress on policy promises. The dinner lasted two hours, and is expected to be the first in a series that Obama holds with Silicon Valley’s leaders.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Time to Dump the U.N.
For more than 50 years, the U.N. has tried in vain to become a government for the world. It now pretends to be a world government.
Even the most enthusiastic Progressives have to be thoroughly disgusted with the U.N. officials who, like Navi Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, demand a full report from the U.S. about the bin Laden operation. Other U.N. advocates are convinced that the United States has violated some international law.
Usama bin Laden did not attack the United Nations; he attacked the United States. What the U.S. did to bring bin Laden to justice is none of the U.N.’s business. This jaw-jacking from the U.N. crowd is just more of the same useless noise that has been flowing from the obsolete institution for several years.
The United Nations is useless in the face of conflict. Rwanda and Darfur are great examples of U.N. incompetence. The U.N. shuffled papers and made speeches while hundreds of thousands of people died. The recent uprising in the Middle East has left the U.N. talking to itself, utterly helpless to do anything about the slaughter taking place there.
For more than 50 years, the U.N. has tried in vain to become a government for the world. It now pretends to be a world government, and is working diligently to gain the power to tax so it can become an independent, unaccountable world government.
The Convention on the Law of the Sea gives a U.N. agency the authority to tax member nations on any activity that takes place under the sea. The U.N. denies that it has taxing authority, only the authority to impose a $250,000 permit fee, and charge royalties for any product that comes from the seabed. What’s worse, this treaty requires that:
‘Sovereignty over territorial seas is exercised subject to this convention and other international law.’ (Article 2(3))
Fortunately, common sense has prevailed in the Senate despite the best efforts of Bill Clinton, George Bush, and so far, the Obama administration. The treaty remains unratified by the U.S.
[…]
There is no justification for the United States to pay 22-percent of the U.N. budget, and 25-percent of the U.N. peacekeeping budget. Payments to the U.N. do not stop with the annual dues to the U.N. General Assembly. The U.S. pays 22-percent of the budget of every U.N. agency to which it belongs. The UNFCCC, for example, has a separate budget from the U.N. The U.S. funds 22-percent ‘ at least. This money goes to pay the expenses of many of the delegates from developing countries who consistently vote against the interests of the United States. This is nothing short of madness.
It is high time the U.S. got out of the U.N. and kicked the U.N. out of the U.S.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Imams Arrested for Alleged Pakistani Taliban Links
Miami (CNN) — Two South Florida imams and a third family member were arrested Saturday on charges of providing support to the Pakistani Taliban, the Justice Department said.
In addition, three others in Pakistan were also indicted on the same charges.
FBI agents arrested Hafiz Khan and his son Izhar Khan in South Florida, the department said. They are expected to make their initial court appearance in federal court Monday.
Another of Hafiz Khan’s sons, Irfan Khan, was arrested in Los Angeles and will appear in court there.
Also charged are three Pakistani residents: Ali Rehman, Alam Zeb and Amina Khan. Amina Khan is Hafiz Khan’s daughter, and Zeb is his grandson.
The four-count indictment alleges that all six defendants conspired to provide material support to a conspiracy to kill, injure and kidnap people abroad, and that they provided support to the Pakistani Taliban.
Hafiz Khan is the imam at Flagler Mosque in Miami. Izhar Khan is an imam at the Jamaat Al-Mu’mineen Mosque in Margate, Florida.
The indictment and arrests were not linked to the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, two U.S. officials said. The charges relate to alleged crimes committed between 2008 and 2010.
“Despite being an imam, or spiritual leader, Hafiz Khan was by no means a man of peace. Instead, as today’s charges show, he acted with others to support terrorists to further acts of murder, kidnapping and maiming,” U.S. Attorney Wilfredo A. Ferrer said. “But for law enforcement intervention, these defendants would have continued to transfer funds to Pakistan to finance the Pakistani Taliban, including its purchase of guns.”
The charges were the result of a three-and-a-half-year investigation, and federal authorities became suspicious by the number of financial transactions between the United States and Pakistan, authorities said.
“They went out of their way to disguise their transactions,” Ferrer said.
Authorities said their investigation focused on the mosque leadership.
The indictment describes a number of occasions where Hafiz Khan transferred money to Pakistan, and where money was withdrawn once there.
“Khan solicited and distributed funds for the Pakistani Taliban, both personally and on behalf of others, and worked with the co-defendants and others to support the Pakistani Taliban’s jihad,” the indictment states.
The court documents also list several conversations between Hafiz Khan and the other defendants where he calls for attacks against the Pakistani government and inquires whether money had been delivered to the Pakistani Taliban.
The elder Khan also built a madrassa in Pakistan’s Swat Valley that provided shelter for the terrorist group, the indictment states.
“The main defendant Khan operated and controlled a madrassa to shelter members of the Pakistan Taliban and to train children to become military fighters for the mujahideen,” Ferrer said.
He said authorities are aware of several unindicted co-conspirators in the United States and Pakistan.
“You can purchase in Pakistan a gun for as little as $10. He had money coming from all sources,” Ferrer said. “More evidence will come forth as the investigation continues.”
Yazid Ali, president of the Jamaat Al-Mu’mineen Mosque in Margate, Florida, said his worshippers were shocked by the news. They are cooperating with authorities, he said.
“I would like everyone to know that Masjid Jamaat Al-Mu’mineen does not support terrorism, for this is forbidden in Islam. The Quran clearly tells us do not spread corruption on earth,” Ali said. Masjid is Arabic for mosque.
He added that the mosque has received threats, prompting a police car to be stationed in the parking lot.
Nezar Hamze, executive director of Florida’s Council on American-Islamic Relations, told CNN that he is concerned about possible fears the charges might stir in the community, even though authorities emphasized their investigation had nothing to do with Islam or the mosques themselves.
“The teaching of Islam in any way shape or form does not financially support terrorism,” Hamze said. “These allegations would be completely against Islam.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark’s Human Rights Record Under the UN’s Microscope
A representative of the Danish government last week faced three hours of questions regarding the country’s human rights record at the United Nations’ Human Rights Council in Geneva — the first of two grillings the state faces as part of a UN appraisal of which the results will be released in September. In preparation for the questioning, the government had prepared a 23-page report about human rights in Denmark. However, the UN examiners were free to choose which direction the questions to the permanent secretary for foreign affairs, Claus Grube, should take.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: The Trial of the Man Believed to be Behind a Failed Bombing Attempt Last September is Set to Begin in Copenhagen Municipal Court Tomorrow.
Lors Doukaiev, a 25-year-old Belgian who lost a leg at age nine when he stepped on a landmine on a playground in Grozny, Chechnya, is believed to have accidentally set off a bomb at Hotel Jørgensen on September 7 last year.
The homemade bomb exploded accidentally in his hands, causing no injury to anyone except himself. It is not known what the intended target of the bomb was, but investigators believe he was preparing to send a letter bomb to the offices of Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which published drawings of the prophet Mohammed in 2005.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: ‘We Want the Cathedral, Not Minarets’
Far-Right Mobilizes against Cologne Mega-Mosque
At this rally, Pro Cologne has recruited help from the far-right fringe of the political spectrum in Austria and Belgium: the leader of Austria’s populist right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ) Heinz-Christian Strache, and Bart Debie from the extreme right Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) party in Antwerp. Standing behind the police barriers are Pro Cologne members with very short hair, salon-tanned faces and white armbands designating them as security personnel provided by the organizers of the rally. Several dozen citizens wait for their prominent visitors, armed with German flags and wooden crosses. A few adolescents with Iron Cross necklaces and Pitbull sweatshirts have joined the throng. Asked why they are here, they decline to reply.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Marine Le Pen Dubs Strauss-Kahn “Discredited” After Arrest
(AGI) Paris — French ultranationalist leader Marine Le Pen says the arrest in New York on sexual violence of International Monetary Fund’s director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has ended his political ambitions and he is “completely discredited.” According to the latest polls, Le Pen was second behind the Strauss-Kahn in the race for the French presidency, which takes place in 2012.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Poles Dying for US Citizenship
Gazeta Wyborcza, 11 May 2011
“US Army citizen,” headlines Gazeta Wyborcza, reporting that many young Poles with green cards (permanent US residency permits) are joining the American army to obtain US citizenship. Having completed 14 weeks of training, they are swiftly sent on missions to Afghanistan and Iraq. To date, twenty of them have been killed in action. Dangerous as it may be, many are swayed by the promise of a $1,400 (€975) salary, 30 days of paid holidays, insurance and, most importantly, immediate US citizenship. Under Polish law, it is a crime to serve in a foreign army (without special permission), which is why the Polish Ministry of Defence does not keep figures on the number of Poles recruited by the US military. According to a US Army recruiter cited by the daily, approximately 500 have already signed up and more may follow in their footsteps. “America is the land of dreams and the US army helps to make those dreams come true,” remarks one Polish recruit quoted by Gazeta Wyborcza.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Slovenia: Pro-European Feelings in Constant Decline
(ANSAmed) — LJUBLJANA, MAY 11 — Feelings of belonging to Europe have been in constant decline in Slovenia in the past years, though they are still relatively high and spread over more than half the population. A recent survey carried out by an opinion institute in Nova Gorica has in fact shown that 65% of interviewed persons said that they have a European identity, as well as a national one, and that they feel like EU citizen. This figure was 80% in 2008, 73% two years ago and 68% last year. According to the opinion institute, this downward trend can be attributed to the economic crisis, which has caused people to see the EU as a mainly monetary organisation, characterised by economic interests, and less by common values like democracy and a constitutional state. In 2004 Slovenia was the first republic of former Yugoslavia, and so far the only one, to join the EU.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Boy, Aged Nine, Caught Drink Driving… But Police Let Him Go Because He Can’t be Held Responsible
Police records have shown a boy aged nine was arrested for drink driving.
The youngster, from Cumbria, was breathalysed and taken into police custody.
But when officers discovered his age they were forced to release him without charge as he was too young to be held accountable for his actions.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: MP Saves Life of Commons Colleague — by Realising His Headache is a Brain Tumour
A Tory MP saved the life of a fellow politician complaining of a headache at the House of Commons — but who was in fact suffering from a potentially lethal brain tumour.
Conservative MP Guy Opperman had emergency surgery to remove the growth after he was rushed to hospital on the orders of Tory colleague Daniel Poulter, a qualified doctor.
At first, medical staff at the Commons thought Mr Opperman, 45, had a headache. He was about to go home when a quick-thinking doorkeeper sought out Dr Poulter for a second opinion.
Within minutes, Dr Poulter realised Mr Opperman’s symptoms suggested something far more serious.
He told him to go straight to St Thomas’ Hospital, a few hundred yards from Parliament across the Thames.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
While the European Left Dithers, The Right Marches Menacingly on
Immigration: The longer the left’s response is confused, the more the populist right begins to make xenophobia acceptable
It is hard not to be very uneasy. Every month, there is another milestone passed in the ever onward march of Europe’s populist, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, nativist right. “If they want to turn Stockholm, Gothenburg or Malmo into a Scandinavian Beirut with clan wars, honour killings and gang rapes, let them do it. We can always put a barrier on the Øresund bridge,” said Pia Kjaersgaard, leader of Denmark’s People’s party recently. On Wednesday, she got her way.
Denmark is unilaterally to introduce border and customs controls on its borders with Germany and Sweden — an event Kjaersgaard and her party celebrated with pink champagne and Danish bacon crisps. Her detestation of foreigners, and Muslim immigrants in particular, are the central force in Danish politics. Border controls were the price of her support for the minority government’s controversial package of welfare and pension cuts.
Customs and identification checks on the 60,000 cars daily crossing the bridge between Denmark and Sweden may appear to be an irritant just to the travellers concerned, but in fact they represent a dagger pointed at the heart of one of the EU’s great accomplishments. The free movement of people in Europe is underwritten by the Schengen Agreement — a “beautiful achievement”, according to EU commissioner for home affairs Cecilia Malmström: she is right.
But Denmark chose to put itself outside EU law and mortally wound the agreement. EU interior ministers — reacting to Europe’s new paranoias — were to agree just hours later to give countries the right to do just what Denmark has done. But wider agreement is uncertain and in any case might take months. So the Danes jumped the gun. The EU be damned. Kjaersgaard would like to leave it anyway.
The trouble is that the Danish People’s Party is not alone…
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: EU: Survey Shows Drop in Support to 55%
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MAY 11 — In Serbia the number of citizens in favour of the country becoming a European Union member is in decline. According to the latest survey published by the Blic daily paper, those supporting Serbia’s becoming a member state now number 55%, compared with the 57% seen in December 2010 and the 65% in December 2009, when the obligation of visas for Serbian citizens visiting EU states was lifted. “It is clear that there has a been a slight drop in enthusiasm” for the EU, the paper was told by Milica Delevic, the director of the Government office for issues concerning EU integration. According to political expert Vladimir Goati, the drop in enthusiasm for the EU is linked to the many promises made by politicians as concerns progress towards the EU without corresponding results seen. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Al Qaeda Militant Arrested in Tunisia
(AGI) Tunis -Tunisian state television has reported that an al Qaeda militant found wearing a suicide vest and in possession of a number of bombs has been arrested. The mas is allegedly a member of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and was arrested near Ramda in southern Tunisia near the boder with the Libya.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Israel Protest Outside Cairo Embassy
(AGI) Cairo — The uprising that in Egypt led to the fall od Hosni Mubarak appears to be taking the feared path. Dozens of people protested today outside the Israeli Embassy in Cairo demanding the expulsion of the ambassador and the breaking off of diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv. Egyptian troops intervened fired into the air to disperse the protesters .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Bishop of Tripoli: Bombs on Civilians, Destroying an Entire People to Take Down Gaddafi
At night, the NATO bombing hit civilian buildings. Four children were injured. For Mgr. Martinelli, the UN must bring peace not war. Italy’s grave responsibility in the operation of fury against the Libyan population.
Tripoli (AsiaNews) — “They are dropping bombs as if they were jewels. There is no criteria, there is only the will to end it” says Mgr. Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli. The bishop confirmed the wounding of four children during the NATO bombing during the night between Monday and Tuesday on the Libyan capital. “The bombs hit civilian buildings — he said — some of them were dropped near a hospital.”
In the night between May 9th and 10th, NATO has taken over the bombing of the Libyan capital, to flush Gaddafi and and force him to surrender. The raid hits the headquarters of state television and official news agency, but the government says was badly damaged also the High Commission for Children. Explosions were reported near the bunker of Bab al Aziziyah, where it would shut the rais.
According to Mgr. Martinelli the bombs are provoking increasing unease among the population. “On the streets — he says — you see mothers and little children, left to themselves.” The prelate is highly critical of those who define the war on Libya as a humanitarian effort to protect the people and carried out with the United Nations approval. “The United Nations was created to defend the weak — he said — to bring peace, not war.” Archbishop Martinelli speaks o fan intesifying in NATO operations whose goal is to destroy Gaddafi and his people. “They say the Rais has not been sighted for many days. If he they can’t see him then tehy should leave him in peace. To take him out they can not destroy all his people. “
For the prelate, Italy has a grave responsibility in the Libyan crisis and “the bombs dropped against Tripoli is a serious sign of aggression against this people.” “If the great who started this operation, do not stop and do not listen to the appeals — adds the bishop — then we can only rely on God to give them wisdom and judgement.” (S.C.)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco: Areas of Marrakech Flooded After Rain
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, MAY 10 — Significant damage has been caused in Marrakech, with torrential rain battering the city since last night. A number of homes are reported to have been flooded, while the city’s roads have also suffered the knock-on effects, and are now either completely or partially flooded. Civil protection authorities contacted by the MAP agency say that the areas most disrupted by the flooding are Belbekkar, Daoudiate, Nakhil and Amerchich.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Muslims Attack Christian Protesters in Egypt, Over 100 Injured
by Mary Abdelmassih
(AINA) — Muslims attacked Coptic Christian protesters at Maspero thrice on Saturday, killing one and injuring over 100. The first attack occurred near midnight when two bearded Muslims wearing Salafist attire attempted to enter the rally via an entrance that was not guarded by security but by the Christian youth who were checking all persons at the entrance. One or both of the Muslims opened fire with guns. One escaped and the other was apprehended by the Christian youth and subsequently handed over to the police. His identity papers showed that he was called Ramadan Abdallah, graduate of al-Azhar high school.
At the same time another Muslim group was attacking the protesters from the bridge overlooking the site where the sit-in is staged. According to eyewitness Emad Abdelmalak from Assuit, who was also injured, a minibus stopped at the bridge overlooking the sit-in site, a dozen men came out of it carrying Molotov cocktails and stones. He said the Salafis were very organized, they came in minibus, attacked and disappeared.
Five Christians were shot, one seriously in the eye, in these two attacks, said Father Mettias Nasr, one of the Rally organizers, to Al Ahram newspaper.
The third attack occurred at nearly 1 AM when the Muslims of Boulak, a poor area near Maspero, came with guns and Molotov cocktails. They surrounded the Christians on all sides and fired guns and threw Molotov cocktails at them. Scores of Christians were severely injured and taken away to the Coptic Hospital. A boat in the Nile belonging to the TV authorities was completely torched (video).
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Hannan, a Copt who was working at the rally canteen, told Coptic activist Mariam Ragy “We were shocked when we heard shots, and Molotov cocktails, empty bottles and stones were hurled at the crowds.”
Samuel Sobhy, one of the rally organizers, said he was attacked by a man with a knife, who injured his leg and hand. The Muslim attacker was caught and turned over to the police. Sobhy said that Muslims came to disrupt the protest, but as soon as Copts heard of the attacks, they started to flock to Maspero .
Fearing that protesters may be killed, Father Filopateer Gameel read the absolution of sins for all Christians present.
Father Botros from Moqattam Church called Way TV, a US based television network, saying the same thing happened during the Muslim attack on them. “These are not thugs, they are criminals hired by Security authorities and the army to break up the Coptic sit-in. The army and the security should be held accountable. We have rights and we will take them.” He said that his church as well as other churches will go to Maspero tomorrow after mass to join in the protest.
Father Filopateer Gameel said that he had received a threat last night from a number of Muslims that they will attack the protesters and subsequently informed the security authorities, who told him they could not do anything and he should call the army. He held the Interior Minister el-Essawy responsible for what happened and for failing to perform his duty. He said the minister said on TV that this sit-in has to end by any means, and therefore, he gave the “green light” to the Muslims to carry out their threat.
The Copts have held an open-ended sit-in in Maspero, in front of the State TV building, since May 7, demanding the release of seventeen Christians unjustly detained and sentenced by a military court for 3-years on March 16, as well as over 400 others detained unjustly. They are also demanding the Muslim perpetrators who torched the church in Soul, Moqattam, Abu Qorqas, Embaba and Alexandria on New Year’s Eve be brought to justice.
Copts have called for a million-man rally on Sunday, May 15.
| — Hat tip: Mary Abdelmassih | [Return to headlines] |
UN: Ban Voices Alarm at Mounting Violence in Egypt and Tunisia
Geneva, 11 May (AKI) — United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday condemned a recent uptick in violence in Egypt and Tunisia, and urged the countries to build democracy following the revolts that overthrew their autocratic rulers in recent months.
Addressing a press conference in Geneva, Ban described the popular uprisings in North Africa as “one of the greatest opportunities to advance democracy and human rights in a generation.
“This opportunity is precious but at the same time fragile,” he said. “It must be nurtured and carefully handled by the people who created it.”
At least 12 people were killed at the weekend in Cairo, Egypt, during clashes between Muslims and Coptic Christians, while in Tunisia fresh protests led to renewed violence and the imposition of an evening curfew.
Ban said he was particularly disturbed by the bouts of sectarian violence in Egypt.
“After the prolonged display of national unity that led to the peaceful transition of power, it is critical that the Egyptian people maintain that unity of purpose to achieve their democratic aspirations,” he stated.
Turning to the rising tensions in Tunisia, he called on “all parties to solve their differences through peaceful dialogue, and to rely on existing institutions that have been created by the transitional government.”
The UN chief urged authorities in the two countries to “honour the responsibility and trust they have been given. People went on the streets to call for accountability, democracy, human rights and better prospects… their leaders must work to meet these demands.”
He reiterated that the UN stands ready to provide the necessary assistance to Tunisia and Egypt to help them make progress.
Also on Wednesday, Ban called for an immediate cease-fire in war-wracked Libya, saying that he had spoken with Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi and would be sending a special envoy to Tripoli “as soon as possible.”
Thousands may have been killed in the conflict between pro-democracy rebels and forces loyal to longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi which began nearly three months ago.
Several Nato members, eager to avoid a protracted stalemate in Libya, have been pushing the alliance to be more aggressive in its UN-mandated bombing campaign and to strike Gaddafi’s centres of power, despite concerns about further civilian casualties.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
USA Has Spent $750 Million on Libyan Attacks So Far
(AGI) Washington — Outgoing Defense Secretary Robert gates has said that the United States has so far spent $750 million in attacks on Muammar Gadaffi’s troops in Libya, “to protect civilians.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Bloodshed Along Israel Borders Kills 12 on Nakba Day
MAJDAL SHAMS, Golan Heights (AFP) — Israeli gunfire killed 12 people and wounded hundreds Sunday as Palestinians marched on Israel’s borders with Lebanon, Syria and Gaza in a mass show of mourning over the creation of the Jewish state.
Tensions along the Israeli-Syrian frontier spiralled as thousands of protesters from Syria tried to force their way onto the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, prompting the army to open fire in one of the worst incidents of violence there since a 1974 truce accord.
Syria lashed out at Israel for the bloodshed, warning it would bear full responsibility for its “criminal” actions, while Lebanon filed a complaint to the United Nations, urging it “to make the Jewish state halt its aggression and provocation,” Lebanon’s official NNA news agency reported.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Israel would protect its borders faced with those who sought its destruction.
“Their struggle is not over the 1967 borders, but it questions the very existence of Israel, which they describe as a catastrophe which must be resolved,” he said in a televised address.
“We are determined to defend our borders and our sovereignty.”
A Druze doctor from Majdal Shams who rushed to the scene told AFP he saw at least two bodies, with local paramedics confirming the same toll, saying one had been shot in the head, and the second in the chest.
They also treated 20 people for light to moderate injuries.
Along the Lebanese border, Israeli gunfire killed 10 people and wounded 110 as thousands of mainly Palestinian refugees demonstrated along the tense frontier, medical sources said.
And along Gaza’s northern border with Israel, 125 people were injured, five of them seriously, when troops opened fired as more than 1,000 Palestinians marched on the Erez crossing.
At least half of the wounded were minors, medics said.
The Israeli army issued a statement saying “hundreds of Syrian rioters” had crossed onto the Israeli side, and in response troops had “fired selectively” towards them, injuring an unspecified number.
Protesters in southern Lebanon had tried to cross the border into Israel, the statement added, saying troops had fired warning shots towards them.
Three army officers and 10 soldiers had been injured during the two incidents, it said, blaming Damascus and Beirut for the violence.
Elsewhere, at least 29 others were injured in clashes across annexed east Jerusalem and in the West Bank.
Israeli troops also shot dead a Palestinian in an area east of Gaza City but medics said the incident was not related to the nakba protests.
In southern Gaza, more than 5,000 demonstrators also held a mass rally in the southern city of Rafah, which lies on the border with Egypt, an AFP correspondent said.
They waved Palestinian flags and held up huge replica wooden keys to homes they fled or were expelled from during the Arab-Israeli war which accompanied the creation of the Jewish state.
The unrest coincided with a visit to east Jerusalem and the West Bank by UN humanitarian agency chief Valerie Amos, who called for a halt to the violence.
“I am extremely concerned at the level of violence today, and at the number of deaths and injuries in the region. The situation cannot continue in this way. It is innocent people who are losing their lives,” she said in a statement.
Since Friday, Palestinians and Arab Israelis staged a series of events in the run-up to Sunday’s anniversary, marking the anniversary of Israel’s creation in 1948, in an event referred to in Arabic as the “nakba” or “catastrophe.”
In the southern city of Hebron, 12 people were hit by rubber bullets fired by Israeli troops as an estimated 2,000 demonstrators held a protest, medical and security sources said.
And 17 people were hospitalised in Ramallah after being hit by rubber bullets during heavy clashes close to the Qalandiya crossing near annexed east Jerusalem, as thousands gathered for a protest, medical sources said.
Police arrested 36 people after a day of clashes in the east Jerusalem, while in Tel Aviv, police were investigating after a truck driven by a 22-year-old Arab Israeli ploughed into a bus and four cars, killing one and injuring another five.
The driver blamed the incident on a burst tyre, but police said they investigating whether the driver had been acting on nationalist motives.
In Jordan, six people were injured as police tried to stop 200 students from marching on the border, while in Turkey, about 100 demonstrators held a protest outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, AFP correspondents said.
The protests began on Friday and quickly turned deadly when an east Jerusalem teenager was shot in the stomach during clashes in Silwan. He later died, with his death blamed by the family on a Jewish settler.
More than 760,000 Palestinians — estimated today to number 4.8 million with their descendants — were pushed into exile or driven out of their homes in the conflict that accompanied the Jewish state’s foundation.
Figures from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees show there are one million refugees in the Gaza Strip, 750,000 in the West Bank, two million in Jordan, 475,000 in Syria and 400,000 in Lebanon.
| — Hat tip: AC | [Return to headlines] |
Damascus TV Reports 4 Syrians Killed by Israel on Golan
(AGI) Damascus — Damascus TV has reported that the four people shot and killed by Israeli soldiers on the Golan Heights were Syrians. They were protesting on the other side of the border on ‘Catastrophe Day’, as the Arabs call the the statement of Israel’s independence in 1948 that resulted in the exodus of 700,000 Palestinians.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Israel-Palestinian Violence Erupts on Three Borders
Violence erupted on Israel’s borders with Syria, Lebanon and Gaza on Sunday, leaving at least eight dead and dozens wounded, as Palestinians marked what they term “the catastrophe” of Israel’s founding in 1948.
Israeli troops shot at protesters in three separate locations to prevent crowds from crossing Israeli frontier lines in the deadliest such confrontation in years.
[…]
“We are seeing here an Iranian provocation, on both the Syrian and the Lebanese frontiers, to try to exploit the Nakba day commemorations,” said the army’s chief spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Yoav Mordechai.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Palestinian Refugees Call for Third Intifada During Deadly Clashes at Israel-Lebanon Border
A turnout of some 50,000 Palestinian refugees at the Israel-Lebanon border exceeded organizers’ expectations and spurred calls for a peaceful ‘third intifada.’ But it is too soon to tell whether a fresh mass uprising will gain traction.
Maroun er Ras, Lebanon
At least six people were killed and scores wounded Sunday when Israeli troops opened fire on a massive crowd of Palestinian refugees who gathered on Lebanon’s southern border with Israel to demand a return to the homes they were forced to leave 63 years ago.
Another four Palestinians were reportedly killed when they infiltrated the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria during another demonstration to mark the anniversary of the “nakba,” or “catastrophe,” as many Palestinians call the day Israel was founded in 1948.
Security on both sides of the Lebanon-Israel border was tight as an estimated 50,000 Palestinians were bussed from refugee camps all over Lebanon to the tiny hill village of Maroun er Ras which overlooks the border with Israel.
The huge turnout defied the expectations of the organizers, who had predicted some 20,000, and spurred calls for a peaceful “third intifada.” But it is too soon to tell whether a fresh mass uprising will gain traction.
“This is a peaceful message to Israel and the world, God willing, this will be the beginning of a peaceful third intifada,” says Mahmoud Zeidan, a Palestinian organizer from the Ain al-Hilweh camp in the southern Lebanese town of Sidon.
With the narrow winding road leading to Maroun er Ras blocked by parked buses, entire families — from toddlers to stooped and wrinkled old men — began climbing the steep northern slopes of the hill to reach the village. Colorfully dressed Palestinians steadily walked up the verdant flower-speckled hillside in narrow winding columns, red, green and black Palestinian flags fluttering in the spring breeze.
The atmosphere on the climb up the hill to Maroun er Ras and the view of the border was cheerful and friendly, almost like a picnic outing. But on the southern side of the hill overlooking the border, the situation quickly grew tense.
Hundreds of Palestinians scrambled down the rocky slope to reach the frontier fence. A crowd of some 300 to 400 reached the fence itself and began hurling stones at Israeli soldiers.
Lebanese soldiers belatedly attempted to stop the numbers growing at the fence and formed a line across a dirt track about 400 yards from the border. Short bursts of machine gun fire and individual rifle shots broke out as Israeli soldiers shot at the crowd.
Casualties were stretchered from the border to a handful of ambulances parked nearby. As the casualties increased, dozens more ambulances began to arrive on the scene. The silhouettes of Israeli troops could be spotted on the ramparts of a border outpost watching the scene.
Inside the outpost, a tank revved its engines and emitted a thick cloud of smoke, partly obscuring the position.
Checked by the thin line of Lebanese soldiers, Palestinian tempers raged as the young men attempted to push through to reach the border. A group of supporters of the Islamic Jihad militant group chanted “God is greater” and “We will liberate Palestine with the Kalashnikov.”
Every few minutes, the surging crowd of Palestinians gained sufficient momentum to push past the angry Lebanese soldiers, cheering and whooping as they dashed toward the border fence to join their comrades.
The scattered machine-gun fire and casualties did little to deter the Palestinian demonstrators. If anything, each fusillade appeared to galvanize them further.
“The Israeli shooting against peaceful demonstrators on our southern border is a blatant, intolerable aggression and we call on the international community and UNIFIL to hold Israel accountable for the crime,” said Saad Hariri, the Lebanese caretaker prime minister. UNIFIL is the term for the UN peacekeeping force deployed in south Lebanon.
By early evening, the Shiite militant group, Hezbollah, had placed its cadres on full alert.
| — Hat tip: AC | [Return to headlines] |
Palestinian ‘Nakba’ Protests Turn Deadly. Israel Sees Iran’s ‘Fingerprints.’
Eight people were reportedly killed in separate incidents along Israel’s borders with both Syria and Lebanon — and dozens were wounded in the West Bank and Gaza — during the Palestinians’ annual ‘nakba’ protest against Israel.
Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli security forces in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem on Sunday during protests to mark the anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, a day many Palestinians call “nakba,” meaning “catastrophe.”
Dozens were wounded in those protests, which come after Palestinian rival political groups Hamas and Fatah recently signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo, making an already-dormant peace process appear even further away. But attention is already turning to deadly clashes that erupted on Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Syria, reportedly resulting in the deaths of eight people.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accuse Iran of orchestrating two waves of fighting along its northern borders, as Palestinian protesters tried to infiltrate from Syria and Lebanon during nakba protests, reports the Israeli daily Haaretz, citing IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai as saying the protests bore Iran’s “fingerprints.”
“The IDF confirmed opening fire as scores of Palestinian refugees spilled into the town of Majdal Shams, which runs along Israel’s border with Syria. At least four people, apparently Palestinian refugees, were killed,” reports Haaretz. “[Mr. Mordechai] also confirmed that the IDF fired at a crowd of Lebanese protesters who approached the border with Israel and began vandalizing the fence. The spokesman had no details on the number of casualties, but Lebanese sources said there had been four fatalities.”
In the West Bank, Agence-France Presse reports that at least 24 Palestinians have been injured so far in clashes with Israeli security forces, including five people injured by rubber bullets near the West Bank crossing of Qalandiya. Israeli security forces shot tear gas and rubber bullets at youths hurling rocks at them, reports AFP. One of the protesters was wounded seriously.
The Palestinian news agency, Maan, reports that demonstrators set tires on fire and threw stones at security forces near Birzeit University north of Ramallah, where police responded with rubber bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades.
In Gaza, 19 people were wounded near Erez, the main crossing into Israel. AFP reports that troops fired on protesters who were marching toward the border and throwing rocks at the security forces. The Haartez reports that Israeli forces fired two tank shells toward the demonstrators, and fired several rounds with machine guns. The tank shell landed in an empty field several hundred yards from the protesting youths.
Haaretz also reports that protesters clashed with police in East Jerusalem, near Isaweya. And the Jerusalem Post reports that an Israeli man was injured when protesters threw rocks into his car in A Tur, another East Jerusalem neighborhood. A Palestinian youth was killed in East Jerusalem over the weekend. According to his friends, he was shot from a Jewish settler building, reports Haaretz.
Israel had put extra troops and police on duty in the West Bank to prepare for Sunday’s demonstrations. The Jerusalem Post reports that as many as 10,000 border police officers had been placed in areas where conflict was expected, and that police were instructed to “to avoid using live fire as much as possible, and were provided with large quantities of “less lethal weapons and means for dispersing demonstrations,” according to Haaretz.
The Associated Press reports that Ismail Haniyeh, the Gaza leader of Hamas, said in a dawn sermon that Palestinians mark the occasion “with great hope of bringing to an end the Zionist project in Palestine.” Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the US and Israel, refuses to give up violence or recognize Israel’s right to exist, and calls in its charter for the destruction of Israel.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, in the West Bank, said Palestinians hope this will be the year “in which our people achieve freedom and independence,” reports the AP. Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has said he will seek UN recognition of a Palestinian state in the fall.
“I regret that there are extremists among Israeli Arabs and in neighboring countries who have turned the day on which the State of Israel was established, the day on which the Israeli democracy was established, into a day of incitement, violence and rage,” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet.
| — Hat tip: AC | [Return to headlines] |
Bin Laden: Yemeni Sheik Tells How He Found His Wife
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MAY 11 — A Yemeni Sheikh with links to Al Qaeda, Rashad Mohammed Said Ismael, has told the British daily the Guardian about how in 1999 he found a wife for Osama Bin Laden. At the time, Osama asked Said to find him a wife and the sheikh found Amal Ahmed Al-Sadah in Yemen who was 17 years old at the time. Her family was paid 5,000 dollars and the wedding took place in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 2000. Today the 29-year-old Amal is being held in custody in Pakistan after the raid in Abbottabad. Rashad told about how in 1999 Bin Laden (even at the time one of the world’s most wanted men) called from Afghanistan, asking him to find him a girl to marry. In Osama’s words, his fifth wife had to be “devoutly religious, obedient, young (preferably between the ages of 16 and 18), well-mannered, from a good family, and above all patient. She must put up with my exceptional situation.”. Rashad found the right girl in 17-year-old Amal Ahmed Al-Sadad, daughter of a state employee and his former student.
The sheikh went to the girl’s house and proposed the marriage, explaining to her all the inconveniences which could have resulted for her from living with a man being hunted. In any case, she agreed and her family received 5,000 dollars from the terrorist. Amal, her older brother and the sheikh then left for Pakistan, from which Bin Laden took her to Afghanistan. The wedding was held in Kandahar in Yemeni style. Amal gave Osama a daughter and over the past few years had been living in the Abbottabad house along with the Al Qaeda leader’s two Saudi wives. In the raid by the Navy Seals she suffered an injury to her leg. Rashad would now like to bring her back to Yemen.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Obama vs. Israel
Is Obama a Muslim? Does Obama hate Israel? Will Israel be attacked again? Will Iran nuke Israel? Has Maghreb and Middle Eastern turmoil flummoxed the White House? Why did Obama bow to Saudi Arabia’s king? Questions, questions, questions?
Watching President Barack Hussein Obama try to pick winners and losers in the Middle East would be amusing if it were not so deadly serious. Not a word about Syria’s slaughter of its protestors. A demand that Libya’s Gadhafi step aside and a quick retreat behind NATO’s skirts. Throwing Egypt’s Mubarack under the bus when saying nothing would have sufficed. And then there was the infamous and inauspicious start to his presidency with the ‘World Apology Tour’ that included a stop in Cairo.
Obama may preempt PM’s speech to U.S. Congress
A May 11th Reuters news article published in the Jerusalem Post was titled ‘Obama may preempt PM’s speech to U.S. Congress.’ Benyamin Netanyahu, at the invitation of Speaker John Boehner, will address the Congress on May 24. If President Obama delivers a speech about ‘political change in the Middle East and North Africa’ prior to the PM, it will be impossible to deny that it is a deliberate effort to rebut in advance anything Netanyahu says.
Israel just celebrated the 63rd anniversary of its founding. Successive American administrations have struggled and failed to secure any peace between it and its sworn enemies. The reason is simple and obvious. Only Egypt and Jordan negotiated peace treaties with Israel and then only after having been decisively defeated in war.
Neither the Palestinian Authority, nor Hamas wants peace, nor does Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy group based in Lebanon. Not all the handshakes, Oslo Accords, and other diplomatic dances will change this.
[…]
Call me a cynic but I believe that the decision to kill Osama bin Laden was not taken until the 2012 elections became a priority. Why? Because three terrorist attacks, including the Fort Hood murders, had previously been swept under the rug by the Obama administration. Moreover, the Obama Justice Department continues to threaten CIA agents with jail for the aggressive interrogation techniques that led to finding bin laden.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Syria-EU: Carte Blanche for Assad
SME Bratislava
While determined to bring at end to Muammar Gaddafi’s violence against the Libyan people, Europe has been largely silent about the terror exacted by the Basher Al Assad regime in Syria. And the sanctions against his regime announced on the 10 May are further proof of Europe’s powerlessness.
Peter Morvay
The refusal of the Western allies to intervene in the uprising in Syria, as they did in Libya, may well be blamed on a lack of resources. The Assad regime’s crackdown on protesters in Syria, nonetheless, is hardly more humane or acceptable than what Gaddafi has done and continues to do in trying to quell the uprisings of his own rebellious serfs.
In Syria, however, any military intervention would be much more complex, and in view of the country’s strategic location, in the hornet’s nest of the Middle East, the consequences could be incalculable. No wonder the West is in no hurry to rush in — particularly now when it has seemingly got bogged down in stalemate in Libya.
This is hardly surprising. In fact, it’s the logical outcome of a failure to sort out, ahead of time, how exactly they wanted to — and indeed would be able to — achieve the only meaningful objective of the whole undertaking: Gaddafi’s exit.
Sound reasons for not trying to prevent Syrian tanks from massacring demonstrators cannot serve as an excuse for the European Union, which during this latest crisis has yet again failed utterly to do even the little it could have done, in decent time, and on its own resources. How is it that the strongest sanctions against some of the most prominent members of the Syrian regime were only brought into force on 10 May, and that regime’s head, President Bashar al-Assad, is not even on the list?
How is it that the Union gave the go-ahead to an arms embargo against Syria only on 9 May, almost two months after the outbreak of unrest? Both acts may be little more than gestures. But why couldn’t these gestures have come a little sooner, to send out that truly “clear and firm signal” that European politicians keep talking about? What few gestures that do get made, as usual, are merely further evidence of impotence.
Paradoxically, one explanation may be found in the pain-staking, so-called “construction” of a single European diplomacy. So far, however, the only influence that single diplomacy has brought to bear on the Union’s dream of exerting its military capacities on the world stage has been a negative one. Decisions go on being made the same way as before: the big member states work out an agreement amongst themselves. To make it look a lot less embarrassing, one more round of deliberation must now be added, purely out of politeness, and so the EU foreign policy chief, Lady Ashton, and her entourage, are brought in. No wonder Brussels gets even less done than before.
Translated from the Slovak by Anton Baer
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Sana: Daraa Mufti Withdraws Resignation, Was Threatened
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, MAY 10 — The mufti of Daraa, who was asked by Syria’s ministry of religious affairs to represent the Sunni people of the main city of the southern region heart of the anti-regime protests and of the consequent repression that has been in place for almost two months, withdrew his resignation, according to today’s report by Syrian official agency Sana. The agency, which quoted an interview granted by shaykh Rizq Abdel Rahman Abazid of Daraa, specified that the mufti, who resigned in protest against the repression of the demonstrations, stated that he was forced to make that statement on live television to the Al Jazeera network because he was “under threat”. “After several death threats against me and my son, some young people forced me, through a Thuraya satellite phone, to announce my resignation to Al Jazeera”. Landlines and cell phones have been dead for weeks in Daraa, while the city is still heavily presided by the army and security forces. The mufti announced his resignation on satellite TV on April 23. Abazid, member of an important clan in Daraa, had said that “I submit my resignation after the fall of victims and martyrs killed by police fire. At the highest levels they assure that demonstrators must not be shot against, but then on the field we see that this is not the truth”. Quoted today by Sana, Abazid instead positively welcomed the decision taken by the Syrian regime to send the army to Daraa and other Syrian cities to “maintain security and stability”.
The shaykh also “warned the Syrians about the risk of conspiracies against Syria which aim to divide the nation and disseminate fitna (religious separation, ed’s note)”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey’s Main Battle Tank Will Not Include Any Foreign Products
Turkey’s first domestically produced tank, the Altay, a premier mockup of which is on display at the International Defense Industry Fair, of IDEF, in Istanbul, will not include any foreign parts or products, a senior Turkish official said Wednesday.
The Altay tanks would be produced fully by Turkish means, said Murad Bayar, head of Turkish Aerospace Industries, or TAI.
Bayar made his remarks at a signing ceremony between his Undersecretariat and Aselsan, a Turkish defense industry company, which will build electronic systems for the tank project.
Under the deal, Aselsan will produce Identification Friend-or-Foe, or IFF, systems for Altay tanks.
Otokar officials said Altay tanks would be ready for sale by 2016.
The company is obtaining know-how from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem under a 2008 agreement.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim ‘Honor Killings’? Mothers Strangle Two Brides for Hindu Marriages
Two young brides who married outside of their Muslim families by choosing two Indian men of Hindu faith were strangled to death by their respective mothers, according to New Delhi police.
The reportedly unrepentant mothers told police the girls had brought shame and dishonor to their families.
While marriage between Muslim and Hindu people are upsetting to those of both communities, the two young women — 19 and 26, respectively — fell in love with their husbands and decided to marry them for that reason.
It is widely suspected the two mothers of the girls helped each other kill their daughters by tying them to cots and suffocating them to death with a noose.
Zahida and Husna were neighbors in Baghpat, a town in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, when they fell in love with two construction workers, eloped and got married last week before returning home to make peace with their families.
For their innocent belief that they were loved and their decision would eventually be accepted, the two were killed in cold blood.
No one seems to be able to explain how killing one’s child preserves the family honor — as both women now stand accused of murder. What honor is there is murdering helpless women?? Now, instead of a religious upstart in the family, you have (hopefully convicted) killers.
Go here for the full and tragic story, and go here to see a larger photo of the two mothers. No word as to the fates of the slain brides’ husbands.
These two young brides are just another set of names in a very long list of so-called “honor killings” by the very people who should love and protect them. Go here to view videos of stories about the tragedy of honor killings.
| — Hat tip: AC | [Return to headlines] |
How North Koreans Get Their Laughs
By reinterpreting Party slogans, North Koreans show their sense of humor as well as their growing dislike of the regime.
A phrase like ‘What the Party decides, we do’ ‘ coined in the mid-1980s ‘ is clearly intended to instill a sense of loyalty in the Workers’ Party of Korea.
But given the increasingly dire economic situation in North Korea, people are losing faith in Kim Jong Il. And they are expressing their cynicism through reinterpretations of government slogans, reports the Daily NK.
A phrase like, “What the Party decides, we do” has come to justify in people’s minds the corruption and wrongdoing on the part of the Party. And, as such, has given rise to the sarcastic quip: ‘If you are doing it, surely it is something anyone can do?’
The Daily NK reports that the slogan, ‘The collective farm field is my vegetable garden” (1987) is another good example.
“Originally, by alluding to the collective farm as being public property, this saying dressed labor up as an act leading to personal benefit and encouraged solidarity. However, as rations failed, workers stole grains from farms under the aegis of that very slogan, because after all, ‘Since this is my farm, my taking from it is not theft.’“
By spinning Party slogans, North Koreans also show their sense of humor.
Here’s a few more choice transformations:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Danish Navy Frees 16 Iranians From Suspected Somali Pirate Ship
(CNN) — After a firefight with suspected Somali pirates, Danish sailors freed 16 Iranian hostages on board an alleged mother ship, according to the Danish Royal Navy.
Four suspected pirates were killed and 10 wounded during the firefight Thursday, the Royal Navy said on its website. No one on board the Danish ship Esbern Snare was hurt, and the hostages were also not injured.
The Esbern Snare closed in on the suspected pirate mother ship Thursday while patrolling off the coast of Somalia, according to the statement. “When Esbern Snare tried to stop the mother ship with calls, the mother ship opened fire on Esbern Snare, which immediately returned fire,” the statement said.
After the firefight, the crew could see weapons being thrown overboard from the suspected mother ship, and “there were signs of the pirates surrendering,” the statement said. The crew then took control of the ship.
Sixteen hostages and 28 suspected pirates were on board, along with several weapons and some equipment, the Navy said. Four pirates had been killed and 10 wounded in the firefight, while 14 others were unharmed, said the statement.
The 10 injured were being treated onboard the Esbern Snare, the Royal Navy said. The four suspected pirates who were killed were buried at sea “in accordance with NATO procedures with regards to Muslim traditions.”
The 16 Iranians “can look forward to a quick reunion with their respective families,” according to the statement.
All the suspected pirates were being held onboard the Esbern Snare while Danish authorities looked into possible prosecution, the Navy said.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Ouattara Launches Purge of Ivory Coast Pro-Gbabo Officials
(AGI) Abidjan — Alassane Ouattara, in office for only eight days, has launched a purge of major officials. After five months of bloody standoffs with his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo, the new Ivory Coast President has issued decrees to rid himself of major government players who formerly sided with Mr Gbagbo.
These include the Presidenets of the Economic and Council and the Supreme Court, Laurent Dona Fologo, in his third government role, and Kone Tia respectively. They are to be replaced by Marcel Zadi Kassy, formerly in charge of the state electricity company, and Mamadou Kone’. Jacques Andre’ Daligou Monoko and Felix Tano Kouakou, both members of the Constitutional Council, involved with overturning the Presidential elections of 28th November in favour of Mr Gbagbo. The elections had in fact been won by Mr Ouattara, as initially certified by the Independent Electoral Commission. They will be replaced by Francois Gwei and Hyacinthe Cabogo Sarassoro. Lastly, General Issouf Kone’s has been dismissed as Grand Chancellor of the National Order of Ivory Coast, to be replaced by Mrs Henriette Rose Dagri-Diaabate’, a university teacher and previous Minister of Culture. Under the same decree, Mr Ouatta has set up a Commission for Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation, geared to shedding light on the tragic events that led to Mr Gbagbo’s fall and that of his cronies. It is to be chaired by former Premier Charles Konan Banny. Mr Ouatta has just returned from his first trip overseas, an official 48 hour visit to Senegal.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pirates Release Two Spaniards After 2 Mln Euro Ransom
(AGI) Mogadishu -A 5 million euro ransom was paid to release two Spanish sailors, said Somali pirates. The pirates also said the money was flown to a an Italian building they control. The two hostages were seized by the pirates in December off the coasts of Mozambique. They have now been left free on an Italian ship.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
France: End to Jail for Illegal Immigrants
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, MAY 12 — France is to stop putting foreign migrants behind bars, after a ruling by the European Union’s court of justice. There will no longer be an automatic prison sentence for illegal immigrants found in the country, even if they refuse to be escorted to the border.
The news comes from a memo from the country’s Justice Ministry, which was leaked to the France Presse agency.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Italy-Bound Migrants ‘Extorted’ of Cash and Property
Tripoli, 11 May (AKI) — Libyan security officials have been routinely extorting African migrants of cash and property before they board boats due to transport them to Italy, according to a news report, citing an international aid official and a social worker familiar with the some of the cases.
Jean-Philippe Chauzy, a spokesman for the Geneva-based Organization for Migration, told the Wall Street Journal that interviews with 14 Libyan migrants reaching the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on three vessels over the weekend confirmed a pattern of payments to officials, which he characterized as extortion.
“They’re robbed of whatever savings they carry, mobile phones, watches,” he told the newspaper in a Wednesday report.
Citing accounts by by migrants who survived the capsizing of an overloaded boat near Tripoli’s harbour, the Journal also said that the Libyan navy sometimes escorts the migrant boats, in effect helping direct the refugee traffic as it leaves Libyan shores.
Libya previously patrolled its shores to prevent migrant boat departures, as stipulated in a an according between Libya and Italy. That pact was scrapped when Italy joined allies in a UN-mandated mission against Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.
In that accident a boat on Friday carrying more than 600 people broke up approximately 100 metres from the shore. The death toll remains uncertain.
In excess of another 800 mostly sub-Saharan African have perished at sea while sailing from Libya during a 12-week-old insurgency against Gaddafi’s rule, the Journal said, citing according the United Nations refugee agency.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Maroni Says Migrant Agreement With Tunisia is Working
(AGI) Civitavecchia — At the delivery ceremony for four motorboats to Tunisia Maroni said the agreement with Tunisia is working. Interior Minister Roberto Maroni explained: “The agreement is working and I have to thank Tunisia and the Tunisian police for the action they are taking the results achieved.” The agreement between the two countries was signed on 5 April.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant Tussle in Ventimiglia Leads to 10 Arrests
(AGI) Ventimiglia — Tussles between Tunisian migrants at a holding entre outside Ventimiglia have led to 10 arrests and 2 injured. The migrants, awaiting transfer out of Italy into France, came to blows at 1730 hours. Those injured suffered knifings, one to the abdomen one to the hand. Neither are deemed to be in serious condition.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Prosecutors to Investigate Sacrifices of Migrants at Sea
(AGI) Agrigento- Agrigento prosecutors open an enquiry against unknown people after reports of migrants being thrown into the sea. The accusation was made by a 16 year-old Ghanaian who arrived at Lampedusa on 1 May along with 460 other people. The boy told the Agrigento flying squad that Nigerian sailors had thrown at least five refugees into the sea, including his brother, in propitiatory sacrifices to calm the waters and placate angry spirits.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland: National Languages a Condition for Integration
Learning a national language should be a condition for the successful integration for migrants, according to Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga.
Speaking ahead of the second national conference on integrating foreigners to be held in Bern on Thursday, Sommaruga said Switzerland should not be afraid to insist that migrants become autonomous.
“Knowledge of a national language is not too much to ask. It is a condition for integration,” Sommaruga said.
The justice department is examining the possibility of amending the Swiss constitution to include such a condition. Sommaruga also plans to propose the national parliament amend the law on foreigners, renaming it to become the law on foreigners and integration.
The integration conference will unite federal, cantonal and communal representatives to discuss the direction of a common Swiss integration policy.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ten Immigrants Involved in Ventimiglia Brawl
(AGI) Ventimiglia — About ten Tunisian immigrants have been involved in a brawl near the mouth of the River Roja in Ventimiglia. One person was injured and taken to hospital with a cut hand. Both the police and the Carabinieri were called to the scene and one person has allegedly been arrested. A number of witnesses said they had seen a knife appear and this could be linked to the Tunisian who was hurt.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Winny and Nizar’s Lampedusa Love Odyssey
She is Dutch. Her twice-repatriated Tunisian husband is currently held on island. Family reunion denied
LAMPEDUSA — Winny’s eyes are as blue as the skies over Lampedusa. She’s here to be reunited with the man of her life, a 28-year-old Tunisian who has tried to get into Italy twice in the past few weeks, and twice has been sent back. But this time, his blue-eyed partner wants a happy ending, before the child they are expecting comes into the world.
CUDDLES — The backdrop for this heart-rending love story on Wednesday morning was the reception centre on Lampedusa. It was nearly midday when Winny, a 23-year-old Dutch woman who is six months pregnant, appeared at the entrance. “I absolutely must see my husband. His name’s Nizar”, she told the soldiers on guard duty. A few moments later, the embarrassed guards realised that her partner really was one of the few Tunisians still on the island and Winny was able to spend three hours exchanging cuddles with Nizar. Despite her doctors’ worries, the sweet-mannered but very determined Dutchwoman made the long journey to see her man, and above all to put pressure on the Italian and Dutch authorities so they can be reunited. “I can’t understand why they continue to deny me this opportunity”, says the distraught Winny. “We’re a family. Why can’t we be together anywhere in the world?”…
English translation by Giles Watson
www.watson.it
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
NZ: Schools Arrange Secret Abortions
Schools are helping teenage girls keep abortions secret from their parents.
A MOTHER is angry her 16-year-old daughter had a secret abortion arranged by a school counsellor.
Helen, not her real name, found out about the termination four days after it had happened. “I was horrified. Horrified that she’d had to go through that on her own, and horrified her friends and counsellors had felt that she shouldn’t talk to us,” she said.
She had suspected something was wrong, but her daughter insisted her tears were over everyday teenage dramas.
But Helen confronted her daughter’s friends, who said the counsellor had taken the girl for a scan and to doctors. “I didn’t know that they could do that.”
Helen said teachers could discuss how a student was doing in school or phone parents when their child misbehaved, but would then keep life-changing situations such as abortions secret.
…
Another mother who was worried for her 15-year-old daughter “hit a brick wall” when she approached the school, and eventually discovered it was a friend of her daughter’s who had undergone an abortion. “But I went through the horror of knowing that under the legislation, they did not need to say anything to me.”
She knew of a Year 13 student who had had two abortions — one with her parents’ knowledge, and one without.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
2 comments:
"Winny tells us that Nizar, who worked in Greece for a time as a holiday activity leader, cannot apply for a visa in Holland because he has no income or job."
It's the Dunham-Obama story all over again. Winny's kid (she's pregnant) will probably be our President some day....
Oh yeah, make that our Dear Leader....
Ah ha. Winny met the Tunisian "love of her life" in Greece.
She is stupid and ignorant and he is a chancer having TWICE being refused entry to Holland.
Nizar realised that impregnating an EU citizen might just get him entry to the EU.
After all she was attractive (is she?) and compliant, and there woulf be fun on the way.
WHY oh WHY do European women fall for this. Is it the tanned skin and athletic body or is it the brain? Nah can't be the brain since it is usually defunct.
A much older neighbour - a feisty woman - had a "Shirley Valentine" moment with a Greek about 20 years ago. She was in her forties and divorced.
He came here and immediately started telling her what she could and couldn't do IN HER OWN HOUSE.
He was quickly despatched back to Greece. Maybe the Greeks still maintain Muslim values. Hell they think it normal to retire at 55 with full and generous pension even though the country is bankrupt. Looks Islamic to me. Everyone else must provide.
I'd guess that Nizar would soon ditch Winny once he got citizenship.
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