Greece: Majority Supports Government, Fears Collapse, Survey
Samaras has 45% approval
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, JULY 13 — The government of Antonis Samaras has made a good impression so far, the first survey carried out since national elections on June 17 revealed. The poll was carried out by the Public Issue institute on behalf of the Kathimerini daily.
According to the survey, 45% of those interviewed said they were satisfied with the government so far against 43% who said they had a negative opinion.
Up to 51% said they were confident the Samaras government had the ability to manage Greece’s crisis, though 51% said they were pessimistic about the country’s outlook. Another 47% said they didn’t believe the government would make it.
As far as the opposition is concerned, 56% of those interviewed said they were not satisfied with Syriza, its main party, while 31% said they had quite a good opinion. An important trend that emerged from the survey was the decline of support for left-wing parties — Syriza, Democratic Left and Greece’s Communist Party — while conservative parties — Nea Dimokratia, Anexartiti Ellines and Chryi Agvi — remained stable.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greece Asks for 2 Year Extension to Meet Bailout Conditions
(AGI) Athens — The new Greek government led by Samaras has asked for a 2 year extension to met bailout conditions. In a speech made to parliament, Prime Minister Antonios Samaras said, “We are requesting two years to meet the objectives.” In exchange the premier is ready to commit to a more ambitious privatization plan than previously envisaged and to merge or close dozens of public bodies before the end of the year as well as changing the status of the country’s properties.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: 24,000 State Jobs Due to be Eliminated
Rome,. 9 July (AKI) — Around 24,000 Italian state employees are due to lose their job because of 26 billion euros in spending cuts.
Around 11 thousand of the workers are employed in government ministries and public bodies that are not related to economic functions, while the other 13,000 work for local administrations, according to the technical report of the Italian government’s so-called spending review. The report said around 8 thousand jobs will come from early retirements.
Prime minister Mario Monti and his government of unelected technocrats last week approved the cuts that will be spread out over the next three years in a move to delay implementing a rise in value-added taxes.
The government came to power in November after Silvio Berlusconi resigned as a debt crisis threatened to cause Italy to default on interest payments for its 1.9 trillion euro debt.
Monti’s austerity measures have been blamed on causing Italy’s recession to deepen and causing a rise in unemployment.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Drug Trade Thrives in Recession-Battered Cadiz
Record 36% unemployment drives youth, kids to crime
(ANSAMed) — MADRID — Stuck between the recession and record 36% youth unemployment, the people of Cadiz province in northern Andalusia are increasingly turning to hashish trafficking to make the rent and feed their kids, according to data released by the narcotics division of the public prosecutor’s office and reported in Spanish media today.
Cadiz province faces Morocco across the Atlantic Ocean, and also includes Ceuta, the Spanish enclave on Moroccan soil just across the Strait of Gibraltar. Last year, 693 of a national total of 2,134 properties seized from drug traffickers were located in Cadiz, which is the only Spanish province with a special anti-narcotics magistrates division and three public prosecutors fighting the drug lords. While just 11% of hash seizures were made in Cadiz in 2004, that figure rose to 23% in 2007, to 40% in 2009, and to 46% in 2010, according to data released by the drug squad. In the coastal town of Barbate, pop. 23,000, there were 300 drug trafficking convictions, in a province whose inhabitants represent 3% of the national population, but where 15% of drug trafficking cases are brought.
And of the 282 tons of hash seized throughout Spain in 2011, 115 tons were intercepted in Cadiz, according to the Spanish Coast Guard. A figure which the national narcotics division puts at 160 tons, but which in any case only represents 20% of the drugs that reach mainland Spain from Morocco, in a trade worth an estimated 300 billion euros a year.
More and more drug mules with previously clean rap sheets are being arrested at the border, with 47 arrests in one April weekend alone, according to anti-drug prosecutors. The increased labor supply has pushed prices down: while drug mules commanded 4,000 euros for a 20-minute run across the Strait two years ago, this year they make under 2,000 euros, according to the drug squad. Salaries are even lower for the lookouts, usually youths with cell phones on motorbikes, many of whom are now underage. Drug dealers make 200,000 euros on every ton of hashish, net of source price and intermediaries’ salaries, according to police sources. In Cadiz, 1 kilo of hash is worth 1,500 euros, but it gets sold at 4 times that price by smaller dealers all over Europe.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spread Doesn’t Reflect ‘Fundamentals’ Of Italian Economy
High borrowing costs not justified, says Bank of Italy governor
(ANSA) — Rome, July 11 — The high borrowing costs Italy is currently paying to service its huge public debt are not justified, given the many strengths of the country’s economy, Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco said on Wednesday.
The spread between 10-year Italian bonds and the German benchmark is very high at the moment despite Premier Mario Monti’s government adopting a series of structural economy reforms and measures to restore the nation’s public finances to health and move it from the centre of the eurozone crisis. “The spread is a lot higher than what is justified by the fundamentals of our economy,” Visco said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Biggest Financial Fraud in History Receives Scant Media Attention
The chances are good that if you ask someone on the street what LIBOR is, they would guess it to be an obscure country in Africa. The reality, of course, is that LIBOR is something that affects everyone, to the extent that it “sets” the interest rate you’ll be paying for your mortgage, car loan, credit cards, and the rate of return you’ll receive on your pension, 401K, savings and all financial instruments. In total, it establishes the pricing of financial products across the world to the tune of up to $800 trillion. Trillion.
We are now finding out that the entire system has been rigged, enriching the “elect” and financially looting the rest. If you are reading this, you have been robbed, although the corporate media remains silent about who robbed you, how it was done, and which government and non-government officials were complicit and benefited. Why? Perhaps the most compelling reason is that when the “average” person learns the depths at which corruption exists between the various banks, governments and government officials, there will be a revolution like the world has never seen. Additionally, they too, along with many elected and appointed officials, have aided and abetted the fraud. Yes, it’s that bad, and it’s about to break wide open.
LIBOR is an acronym for the London Interbank Offered Rate, which is the average interest rate set by a group of international banks and charged by and between banks. Sixteen-(16) banks set the LIBOR rate: Bank of America, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Barclays Bank, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HBOS, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, Lloyds TSB Bank, Rabobank, Royal Bank of Canada, Norinchukin Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, and West LB. LIBOR sets short and long term interest rates for 10 currencies and for 15 different time spans, ranging from one day to one year. The rate is calculated daily by a company named Thomson Reuters, which is the parent company of Reuters News, and is overseen by the British Banking Association (BBA).
Although based in London, the LIBOR rate impacts all financial products across the globe.
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Simply stated, a group of about 20 international banks, including many associated with setting the LIBOR rate and a number of U.S. banks have been fraudulently and systematically rigging global interest rates for the past decade, if not longer.
The fraud was “discovered” when Barclay’s Bank was found to have been involved in submitting false numbers to LIBOR to enhance their trading position. The “scandal” as it is called in the media, instead of the wholesale fraud and robbery that it is, now involves numerous other banks who reportedly acted in collusion to fix global interest rates.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
There Will Never be Enough Jobs in America Again
Well, we just had another bad jobs report. The U.S. economy created just 80,000 new jobs during the month of June. Normally, about 125,000 new jobs need to be created every month just to keep up with population growth. So it is a bit odd that the official unemployment rate did not rise above 8.2%. What is even more alarming is that the Social Security Administration is telling us that 85,000 U.S. workers “left the workforce” and enrolled in the Social Security Disability Insurance program during the month of June. That means that the number of Americans enrolling in Social Security Disability actually exceeded the number of new jobs that was created. That is definitely not a sign of recovery. Unfortunately, this is about as good as things are going to get. Right now corporate profits are at an all-time high and usually after a recession has ended the percentage of working age Americans that have jobs bounces back very strongly. But that has not happened this time, and when the next economic crisis hits things are going to get a lot worse.
The headline to this article states that there will never be enough jobs in America again.
How could that possibly be true?
Well, the sad truth is that it is very hard to make a profit on an employee in the United States today.
Every year, the control freaks that run things just keep dumping more taxes, more laws, more regulations and more demands on employers. Hiring even a low level employee today is very complicated and very expensive.
[…]
The United States has been losing millions of jobs to lower wage countries, and the fierce competition for the jobs that remain is driving down wages in this country.
As a result, many of our greatest cities that were once the envy of the entire world have become cesspools of filth, decay and wretchedness.
We are going to continue to bleed jobs because both major political parties are fully convinced that merging our labor pool with the labor pool of the rest of the world is a grand idea.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
“Muslim Terrorists Misunderstood” Study Says
by Matt Lacy
A new taxpayer-funded study that was released this week claims that rather than wanting to force their religion on people, Muslim terrorists are simply understood [sic] and only kill people because they are victims of those who oppose Islam. The 147 page study, titled “How Islamist Extremists quote the Qu’ran” states it analyzed the most frequently cited or quoted verses listed in the Center for Strategic Communication’s database of over 2,000 extremist texts from 1998 to 2011.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Bachmann’s Muslim Witch Hunt
by Alex Seitz-Wald
The tide of Islamophobia that threatened to drown the political scene in the summer of 2010 during the debate over what critics called the “ground zero mosque” has since receded and Muslim conspiracy theories have largely vanished from the political debate. But with another election looming, the tide may be rising again, and Rep. Michele Bachmann is predictably already ahead of the crowd.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Can Women Change the Face of North American Mosques?
The North American mosque is evolving and redefining its purpose and practices. A recently-released report by a group of mainly Muslim organisations, The American Mosque 2011, provides the first factual glimpse into changes in North American mosques. Initially serving primarily as a place to perform religious rituals, mosques are developing into community building institutions.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Don’t Know Much About History, Religion, Time-Space Continuum
[Comment: Scroll down half way in the article.]
The head of the religion department at Luther College in Iowa recently argued that Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity, was in fact, a Muslim.
“‘Was Jesus a Muslim?” asks Prof. Robert F. Shedinger in the beginning of a book he published this year entitled Was Jesus a Muslim?
…at least he’s not a history professor, since he’s not familiar with the concept of history, or of one thing happening after the other. It’s good that he’s also not a physics professor, since he doesn’t seem to be up on the laws of the universe.
Jesus could no more have been a Muslim than he could have been a Mets fan or a reader of Professor Shedinger’s book, because you cannot be or do a thing which does not yet exist.
Other possible Shedinger book titles. “Was Buddha a Mormon?” and “Was Thomas Edison a Star Trek fan?”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
I Do Not Like This, Uncle Sam, I Do Not Like the Go Green Scam
Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal said in his column, “sweltering in the dark is a glimpse into America’s future if the “greens” have their way. Electrical power is the central nervous system of our modern economy. Yet every initiative by green groups is focused on reducing our access to electrical power.” (When the Moore Family Lost Power, WSJ, July 4, 2012)
Clean and renewable energy, like wind and solar, only provide 3 % of our electricity, far short of powering the largest economy on earth. After billions of dollars of subsidies in solar and wind energy, companies are still going bankrupt, long after Solyndra LLC’s demise. The excuse is that they cannot compete against the Chinese. Recently, Abound Solar Inc. of Loveland, Colorado, suspended operations and sought bankruptcy in Wilmington, Delaware, after receiving $400 million in Department of Energy loan guarantees.
[…]
Dick Morris wrote in “Screwed” that China has hacked our electric power grid in 2009 and created secret openings so that an attacker could get back in with ease. “Hackers left behind software that could be used to cause disruptions or even shut down the system.” Richard Clarke wrote in the Wall Street Journal that “there is no money to steal on the electrical grid, nor is there any intelligence value that would justify cyber espionage. The only point to penetrating the grid’s controls is to counter American military superiority by threatening to damage the underpinnings of the U.S. economy.” Entering the grid is much more efficient than exploding a bomb that would trigger an EMP. (Dick Morris, China Has Hacked Our Electric Power Grid, May 10, 2012)
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
My Doctor is Now the IRS
The Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, “A Brief Overview of the Law, Implementation, and Legal Challenges,” gives a new definition to Nancy Pelosi’s statement that we had “to pass Obamacare to find out what’s in it.” Not only did Congressmen not read the 2,700-page law before they voted and passed it by twisting arms and briberies, but they now have to be informed of the disaster they have created. (C. Stephen Redhead, Hinda Chaikind, Bernadette Fernandez, Jennifer Staman, July 3, 2012)
[…]
I predict that most private insurers will be pushed out of business. Americans will be forced into a government health insurance exchange, a privilege for which they will have to pay a tax determined by the omnipotent government. A 15-member bureaucratic death panel will deny as much medical care as possible based on age and utility of a “unit” (person) in order to save money.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Paterno Won Sweeter Deal Even as Scandal Played Out
In January 2011, the same month that Joe Paterno learned of an investigation into his longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky and testified before a grand jury, he began negotiating with his superiors to amend his contract. The timing was something of a surprise, because the contract was not set to expire until the end of 2012, according to university documents and people with knowledge of the discussions.
By August, Mr. Paterno, who was the football coach at Penn State, and the university’s president, both of whom were by then embroiled in the investigation into Mr. Sandusky’s sexual assaults on boys, had reached an agreement. Mr. Paterno was to be paid $3 million at the end of the 2011 season if he agreed it would be his last. Interest-free loans totaling $350,000 would be forgiven, and he would have use of the university’s private plane.
The university’s full board of trustees was kept in the dark about the arrangement until November, when Mr. Sandusky was arrested and the contract arrangements, along with so much else at Penn State, were upended. Mr. Paterno was fired, two top university officials were indicted and the trustees came under assault from the coach’s angry supporters.
Board members who raised questions about whether the university ought to go forward with the payments were shut down, and in the end, the board, bombarded with hate mail and threatened with a defamation lawsuit by Mr. Paterno’s family, gave the family virtually everything it wanted, with a package worth roughly $5.5 million.
The details of Mr. Paterno and his family’s fight for money seem to deepen one of the lasting truths of the Sandusky scandal: the significant power that Mr. Paterno exerted on the state institution, its officials, its alumni and its purse strings.
| [Return to headlines] |
The End of Privacy: Government to Deploy Laser-Based ‘Molecular Strip-Search’ Devices Across Airports and Roadside Checkpoints
Within the next two years, a spooky, powerful and invisible new technology will be deployed by the U.S. government that can instantly scan and identify every molecule on your body or person: the cocaine residue on your dollar bills, prescription drugs in your purse, marijuana in your pocket and even trace powder residue from your practice session at the gun range.
And it can detect all this invisibly, silently, from a range of 50 meters away.
These laser detection devices are slated to be widely deployed across airports, roadside checkpoints, sports stadiums and anywhere else the government wants to surveil the public. Data collected by these devices can even be tagged to your identity so that the government compiles a database of which chemicals were detected on you at each location, for each day of your life.
This information, of course, can then be used by the government to target people they call “terrorists” — anyone who believes in liberty, the Constitution, the founding fathers or limited government. Once nationwide gun confiscation orders are handed down from Washington, these scanning devices can be used to detect trace levels of gunpowder on people merely strolling through a public place. If you’re carrying ammunition or have recently practiced with firearms, you’ll be flagged, tagged and dragged into the very secret military prisons expanded by President Obama under the National Defense Authorization Act which nullifies due process and the Bill of Rights.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Lamps of Liberty Are Going Out
Insofar as it works at all, Big Government works best in small, highly developed, northern Continental nation-states with a sufficiently homogeneous population to have sufficiently common interests. You can get by with it for a while in Mediterranean Europe, mainly because of a somewhat desultory attitude to the rule of law: In Italy and Greece, there are prohibitions against everything, but nobody obeys them and so, after a fashion, life goes on. Anglophone nations are generally disposed to abide by the law, and so, if there are a bazillion regulations, the average citizen will make a sincere effort to comply. But if you’re, say, Australia and you’re attempting to design a health-care system for 20 million people across an entire continent, it’s just about doable.
But no advanced society has ever attempted Big Government for a third of a billion people — for the simple reason that it cannot be done without creating a nation with the black-hole finances of Stockton, Calif., and the Black-Hole-of-Calcutta fetid, airless, sweatbox utility services of Rockville, Md. Thanks to Obamacare, in matters of health provision, whether you’re in favor of socialized medicine or truly private health care, Swedes and Italians are now freer than Americans: They have a state system and a private system, and both are relatively simple. What’s simple in micro-regulated America? In health care, we now have what’s nominally a private system encrusted with so many statist barnacles that it no longer functions as either a private or a state system. Thus, Obamacare embodies the strange no-man’s-land of statism American-style: The U.S. is no longer a land of republican virtue and self-reliant citizens but it’s not headed for the sunlit uplands of Scandinavia, either.
In their book The Size of Nations, Alberto Alesina and Enrico Spolaore argue that, if America were as centrally governed as France, it would have broken up long ago. But hey, that’s no reason not to try it! In a land where everything else is supersized, why not government? Obituaries for the late Andy Griffith generally glossed over his career finale as a pitchman for Obamacare. But he was a canny choice to sell the unsellable, for is not “health” “care” “reform” the communitarian virtues of beloved small-town Mayberry writ large? The problem is you can’t write Mayberry large. And, if you attempt it, it leads not to Mayberry but to Stockton, Calif., and to a corrupt, dysfunctional swamp.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Treasure Coast Muslims Prepare for Holy Month of Ramadan
Treasure Coast Muslims will begin the ritual dawn-to-dusk fasts of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan next week in the wake of a heat wave that shattered records across the nation. The 29 to 30 days of fasting will begin with the sighting of the new crescent moon, expected June 19 or 20. “It’s hard, and then again, it’s a blessing from God,” said Hamid Slimane, who worships at the Islamic Center of Muslim Friends of Florida, on U.S. 1 in Fort Pierce. “Can you imagine people overseas fasting in the desert, in 50-degree Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures? And they keep on going. It’s the most blessed, spiritual month.”
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Uzbek Man Gets More Than 15 Years for Obama Threat
An Uzbek man who came to America pursuing an Ivy League medical degree but wound up working seven days a week at a mall kiosk in Alabama was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison Friday for plotting to kill President Barack Obama. U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon imposed the sentence on Ulugbek Kodirov, 22. He had faced up to 30 years in prison.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Why the West Loves Lying to Itself About Islam
Say that you get a tempting offer from a Nigerian prince and decide to invest some money in helping him transfer his vast fortune from Burkina Faso or Dubai over to the bank across the street. The seemingly simple task of bringing over the 18 million dollars left to him by his father hits some snags which require you to put in more and more of your own money.
Eventually you have invested more than you ever would have ever done up front, just trying to protect the sunk cost, the money that you already sank into Prince Hussein Ngobo’s scheme. And to protect your self-esteem, you must go on believing that, no matter what Prince Ngobo does, he is credible and sincere. Any failings in the interaction are either your fault or the fault of some third party. Anyone who tells you otherwise must be a Ngobophobe.
Now imagine that Prince Ngobo’s real name is Islam.
That is where Western elites find themselves now. They invested heavily in the illusion of a compatible Islamic civilization. Those investments, whether in Islamic immigration or Islamic democracy or peace with Islam have turned toxic, but dropping those investments is as out of the question as writing off Prince Ngobo as a con artist and walking away feeling like a fool. Western elites, who fancy themselves more intelligent and more enlightened than the wise men and prophets of every religion, and who base their entire right to rule on that intelligence and enlightenment, are not in the habit of admitting that they are fools.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Quebec Muslim Activist Becomes First Woman Charged Under 9/11 Terror Laws Over Hezbollah Gun-Running Plot
A Quebec activist who fought the stereotyping of Muslims was charged with supporting terrorism on Friday after an RCMP investigation linked her to an alleged scheme to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Mouna Diab, 26, was charged with committing a crime “for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group,” the RCMP said in a statement. She faces a possible life sentence if convicted. The Laval woman was arrested at Montreal’s Trudeau airport last year and accused of violating an international arms embargo targeting Lebanon, but police added the far more serious terrorism charge on Friday.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Europe is in More Danger Than at Any Time Since the 1930s. One Nationalist Demagogue Could Cause an Earthquake
by Thomas Pascoe
Ours is a complacent continent. Despite impending events that would have precipitated a revolution in almost any other place at almost any other time in history — either a collapse of the currency or the complete secession of budgetary control to a supra-natural body in the EU — we expect the fabric of European society to endure without major changes. I think we are wrong. There is a presumption of perpetual peace in Europe which rests in turn on a presumption of the perpetuity of our existing capital structures. Once the latter are undermined, the former is called into question. The great wars of the secular age have all been fought between ideologies which seek to restructure the relationship between capital and the people. As popular support grows for such plans, Western Europe is entering its most dangerous phase since the 1930s.
[…]
[Reader comment by davejon on 14 July 2012 at about 10:40 am.]
“Politicians in the modern era have sought to divide and rule” — yes, like “rubbing our noses in diversity” (Andrew Neather)? Nationalism reacts against unnatural processes like mass immigration and multiculturalism, and a reaction against the governing elites is way overdue. Nationalism cannot be blamed, but the elites can.
[Reader comment by danoconnor on 13 July 2012 at 8:40 pm.]
White Nationalists (and ONLY White) are the Orwellian Emmanuel Goldsteins of the modern West, that the establishment and media drag out every now and again for the usual — Two Minutes of Hate — session, as a way for the ruling elite to intimidate and guilt trip their native populations into shutting up while they go about looting their economies and electing a new people through third world voter import gerrymandering. White genocide.
The Establishment, the media, and the multicult apparatchik Liberatti are afraid that if too many of their native peoples wake up to the enormity and the future consequences of the crime that is being committed against them, that they will lose their perks, power and privilege, and lose the goverments, the universities, and the media. They would rather that we, through a relentless tsunmai of mass immigration are rendered outnumbered, powerless and finally consumed by the “Other” than admit for one moment that they had been wrong.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
France: Cergy Muslims Finally Have Their Mosque
Inaugurated today in Paris suburbs, 1.500 capacity
(ANSAMed) — PARIS, JULY 6 — The new, modern-style, green-domed mosque in the suburban town of Cergy opened today.
At 2,000 square metres, it has capacity for 1,500 people and cost 3.75 million euros to build.
The town pitched in by guaranteeing half of a 2.2 million loan taken out by the Cergy Muslim Federation, and by leasing the land at a nominal price for 99 years. The rest came from donations from Federation members.
“It is our responsibility to progressively build a French Islam, one that will find put down roots in our country,” said Interior Minister Manuel Valls, who attended the opening of the mosque. “This was made possible by two things: Muslim unity, and political will,” Socialist Mayor Dominique Lefebvre said.
“We want it to be clear that we paid for this, through donations,” Imam Tahar Mahdi said.
There have been projects to build a mosque in Cergy since the 1980s. Lefebvre, who was elected in 1996, has played a fine balancing act with French law, which bans public funding of religious sites. The new mosque also has a cultural center, a tea room, a funeral parlor, and schoolrooms.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Church Considers Beatifying Former Chief Exorcist
Father Candido Amantini known for unique rituals
(ANSA) — Rome, July 13 — Catholic church officials began their probe Friday into the life of Rome’s former chief exorcist as they consider whether he should be beatified.
For 36 years, Father Candido Amantini was Rome’s chief exorcist. Ordained as a priest in 1937, Amantini was born in Bagnolo, Italy in 1914 and died in 1992.
For years, Amantini was the only exorcist in Rome, dealing with long queues of the faithful. His biographers say he developed his own rituals in addition to the Roman ritual of exorcism in his work at Rome’s Scala Santa, the Church of the Holy Staircase. Beatification is the third of four steps in the Catholic church’s canonization process.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Showgirl: Journalist Accepted Houses, Money From Berlusconi
‘Gestures of affection, not payment for sex’ witnesses say
(ANSA) — Milan, July 13 — An Italian TV journalist testified to accepting two houses from ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi and a former showgirl said he gave her 60,000 euros but both denied ever offering sex for payouts. “He bought me two houses, he gave me the money as a gesture of affection for our friendly relationship, not intimate,” said Silvia Trevaini, who works for Berlusconi’s television empire Mediaset.
Prosecutors questioned Trevaini about nights she spent at the ex-premier’s villa in Arcore outside Milan and why he paid her 440,000 euros, which she said went towards the two homes. Prosecutors then questioned Imma De Vivo, an ex-showgirl who along with her twin sister Eleanora also spent evenings at Berlusconi’s mansion.
“I’m not working at the moment. I’ve recently gotten some help from Berlusconi, three payments, two for 15,000 euros and one for 30,000,” she said. The De Vivo sisters were both questioned for 72,000 euros received in their father’s name from the ex-premier’s account, money they said went towards living expenses.
Both denied ever having “sexual relations for money” with the premier, and described the evenings at his villa as occasions full of “dance routines and shows, like what you see in resorts,” according to Imma. Prosecutors say Berlusconi had sex with 33 alleged prostitutes at his villa over the course of several evenings.
The former premier is accused of paying for sex with an underage Moroccan runaway called Ruby and trying to cover it up by abusing his office.
Berlusconi has stressed that both he and Ruby deny having sex and has quipped “33 women in two months is too many even for someone who likes pretty girls, like me”.
He claims to be the victim of biased prosecutors who have allegedly been conducting a witch-hunt against him since he entered politics in 1994.
The charge of having sex with an underage prostitute carries a jail term of up to three years, and abuse of office 12 years.
The Ruby trial, which opened last April, is expected to run for years, with dozens of witnesses called by the prosecution and defence including George Clooney and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Minister Sent to Trial for Mafia Association
Palermo, 3 July (AKI) — Judges have ordered a minister in the last Berlusconi government, Saverio Romano, to stand trial for mafia association. Romano, a member of the Italian parliament denies wrongdoing and claims he requested the trial himself.
“I and my defence counsel asked for a fast-track trial before the judge ordered me to stand trial,” the former agriculture minister, told Adnkronos.
He claims the charges against him are “politically motivated”. A sentence could be delivered in the case as soon as by 17 July.
Romano was accused of being “at the beck and call” of the Sicilian mafia in evidence given by several mafia informants during the trial of jailed Sicily governor Salvatore Cuffaro. A former senator for the centrist Catholic UDC party, Cuffaro was in 2010 sentenced to 7 years in prison for abetting the mafia.
Besides testimonies by mafia informants, phone intercepts also form part of the evidence for the prosecution, although Romano’s defence claims these are “inadmissible”.
Romano was appointed agriculture minister in March 2011 in a cabinet reshuffle. His appointment was widely seen a reward for his decision to quit the opposition UDC party, in which he was elected to parliament, and to support then-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s ruling coalition in a crucial no-confidence vote in December 2010.
Berlusconi resigned as prime minister in November 2011 as the country’s financial crisis spiralled out of control, raising the real possibility that Italy could miss payments on its 1.9 trillion euros of debt. He was succeeded by an unelected technocrat, Mario Monti.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Tourist Found at Rome Station Was Not Raped
(AGI) Rome — The 22-year-old Australian tourist found this morning near Rome’s main station was not raped and appeared to have agreed to a sexual encounter. She was taken to hospital by ambulance. Detectives are investigating the matter and according to reports the girl had not been raped. It has been confirmed that the girl had consumed large quantities of alcohol.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Will Continue to Strive for Religious Freedom in EU
(AGI) Rome — Giulio Terzi has said on Twitter that “Italy will continue its efforts in the EU for the freedom of religious belief.” Italy’s Foreign Minister was responding to reports of further Christian massacres in Nigeria, saying “these repeated barbarities must never pass unnoticed.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland: Woman Told to Accept Abuse or Leave Country
Switzerland’s supreme court has intervened to stop a young Kosovan woman having to decide whether to remain with her abusive husband or lose her Swiss residency permit.
The 21-year-old Kosovan woman came to join her husband in St. Gallen in the east of Switzerland some 21 months ago, newspaper Tages Anzeiger reported.
The husband, who is seven years older than his wife, forbade her from attending German-language or integration courses and would only allow her to leave the house in the company of her mother-in-law.
When the woman tried to resist what she described as slave-like conditions, she was put out on the street. Her family back in Kosovo also rejected her for her behaviour.
The St. Gallen migration board then decided not to renew her residence permit because she could not show that she was a victim of marital violence, or that she would face persecution in Kosovo. Her complaints to the Cantonal Security and Justice Department and to the Administrative Court were also rejected.
The kind of experience she had gone through was to be expected in a Muslim marriage, the authorities said.
In addition, having only met the man five times prior to the marriage, she must have known that such problems might occur.
The supreme court then stepped in and said that the previous decision-makers had not reached the appropriate conclusions. The court found that psychological abuse was also a form of violence, and said that there was no place for such behaviour in a liberal society.
A person affected by domestic violence should not “be faced with the dilemma of whether to remain in the abusive situation or to accept the loss of the right to residence,” the court concluded.
The Federal Court has now referred the case back to the St. Gallen justice authorities and told them to retry the case.
Lyssandra Sears (news@thelocal.ch)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Bristol Roads Closed for Pride and EDL
Marches and demonstrations in Bristol have led to a number of road closures and one man has been arrested.
Supporters of the English Defence League (EDL) are due to gather at Redcliffe Wharf at 13:00 BST before marching to Queen Square for a rally. A counter demonstration at the same time by We are Bristol starts and finishes at Castle Park. One man has been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order and remains in police custody. Many EDL protesters have been arriving at Bristol Temple Meads railway station where a number of cafes and businesses have closed for the day. BBC reporter Steve Brodie said thousands of police were on duty in the city and the two groups were being kept apart.
Avon and Somerset Police warned residents and businesses in the affected areas to expect a large police presence. A force spokesman said it would facilitate peaceful protests but would tackle anyone who became involved in violence or disorder. A separate and unrelated march organised by the city’s gay community set off from Berkeley Square at 11:00.
The colourful procession snaked down Park Street to College Green where the Pride festival runs until 19:00. A full list of road closures can be found on the city council website.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: EDL March in Bristol: Protesters Urged to Avoid Fountains Area
POLICE in Bristol have warned groups involved in an anti-English Defence League march tomorrow to avoid the Centre. Officers confirmed that counter protest group We Are Bristol will meet in Castle Park but urged protesters not to gather at the fountains on St Augustine’s Parade, as previously planned. The routes of the marches by the far-right EDL, which says it is protesting at the “Islamification” of Bristol, and opponents who say it attracts violent, racist supporters, will pass within 200 metres of each other. Police are aiming to contain the two protests to ensure a trouble-free day.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: EDL March in Bristol: Muslim Community Statement
THE Muslim community in Bristol today said its members will not be taking part in a counter protest against the English Defence League.
Zaheer Shabir, Chair for Building the Bridge on behalf of the Muslim Community issued the following statement:
It has been made clear by many communities in Bristol that the English Defence League is not welcome here on the 14th July. As a vibrant and diverse Muslim community in Bristol, we have met extensively in recent weeks maintaining a clear, concise and unanimous message that we will NOT be involved in any kind of counter protest. These meetings have allowed us with a further opportunity to demonstrate how the Bristol Muslim community meets any challenge with dignity and unity.
Despite there being a possibility, the Muslim community did not encourage anyone to sign the e-petition demanding a ban on EDL marching in our City of Bristol. The number of meetings we have had with the Police and Bristol City Council clarify their position on the EDL march, the UAF counter protest and the Gay Pride family event. We have decided to be a part of the positive attitude of Bristol in conducting ourselves in the usual manner.
We support Bristol City Council and the Police in ensuring that these events do not disrupt Bristol in its usual daily business and we are positively encouraged by that. In a proactive manner, the Muslim community leadership have met with the EDL to create a pathway for future dialogue. This was the first of its kind in the UK and positive assurances were given by the EDL representatives. We have also met with UAF and We are Bristol to clarify our position on the counter protest requesting them not to confuse and entice Muslim youth to join their counter protest. They have not proactively engaged with the Muslim community leadership so we are not assured on any matters whatsoever.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: London 2012 Olympics: Games Could Need More Troops, Lord Coe Suggests
More Armed Forces personnel could be called up to provide Olympic security, officials have admitted.
Lord Coe, the chairman of the London 2012 Olympic organising committee (Locog), said on Friday that he could not rule out asking for the current deployment of 17,000 to be increased. Asked if more troops will be required when the Games begin in two weeks, Lord Coe replied: “We are working on it at the moment.” Ministers were this week forced to assign an extra 3,500 soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines to security duties at Olympic sites after G4S, the private security firm being paid £284million for guard work, failed to provide enough staff.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Olympics: ‘I Don’t Know if Guards Speak English’, Says G4s Chief
The head of the firm at the centre of the Olympics security fiasco has admitted he does not know if the guards hired speak fluent English.
Nick Buckles, chief executive of G4S said he deeply regretted the company’s failure to recruit enough staff, which will see troops called in to fill in the gaps. He said attempts to recruit 10,000 workers had been “complex” and that the firm had underestimated the scale of the task. But when challenged about whether those recruited by G4S even spoke fluent English, Mr Buckles struggled to answer the question.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “That is a difficult question to answer. They all have a right to work in the UK and have been vetted to very high standards.” When the question was repeated he admitted: “I can’t say categorically.”
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Police Clamp Down on Counter Demos in Bristol
The police have today used their powers under the Public Order Act to prevent a counter demonstration to the presence of the right-wing and anti-Islamic EDL from going ahead in Bristol City Centre tomorrow (Saturday). Organisers of the rally, which had significant trade union backing, have been issued with legal notices enforcing restrictions on the counter demonstration, and have been told that they face potential prosecution if the rally goes ahead as planned.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Walsall Mosque Scheme Moving Nearer
Fresh plans to push ahead with the transformation of a controversial new mosque in Walsall have been submitted to the council.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Association won an appeal in 2010 to convert a disused warehouse in Vicarage Place into a mosque, despite hundreds of objections and plans being thrown out by Walsall Council in December 2009. Permission is now being sought to demolish part of the building and make alterations to the inside and outside, including the addition of a dome and minaret. Hundreds of people descended on the town hall in Walsall to oppose proposals for the mosque in 2009, and four petitions were submitted against the application bearing 848 names. There were concerns about the location of the site and traffic congestion fears, as well as objections from other Muslims disagreeing with the Ahmadiyya interpretation of Islam. But an appeal was lodged soon after the refusal.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: We Are No Longer Being Governed, Just Patronised by Self-Regarding Pygmies Who Play at Politics
by Simon Heffer
David Cameron has never been wildly popular with his parliamentary party. However, they have tended to respect him, believing that he would, one day, lead them to the outright electoral victory that has eluded them since 1992. This week, that respect haemorrhaged away. Backbenchers who, for the past seven years, have rebuked me for my criticism of Mr Cameron, now concede the Prime Minister is making a series of grave mistakes. And his decision to allow Nick Clegg, his Coalition partner, to humiliate himself and the Government by proceeding with his Bill to reform the House of Lords is the gravest yet. In the wake of the failure to timetable the Bill, many Tories now ask what the point of the Coalition is, other than to keep Mr Cameron and his friends in jobs.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Boon of ‘Arab Spring’ Is Ongoing Democratic Progress
by Gwynne Dyer
The good news about last weekend’s election in Libya, as relayed by the Western media, was that the “Islamists” were defeated and the Good Guys won. The real good news was that democracy in the Arab world is still making progress, regardless of whether the voters choose to support secular parties or Islamic ones. The Libyan election was remarkably peaceful, given the number of heavily-armed militias left over from the war to overthrow the Gaddafi dictatorship that still infest the country. Turnout was about 60 per cent, and Mahmoud Jibril, who headed the National Transitional Council during last year’s struggle against Gaddafi, won a landslide victory.
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And if Egyptians don’t like what their Islamic government does, they can always vote it out again at the next election.
Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Salafite Party Hibz Ettahir Not Legal Yet
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, JULY 13 — The legalization of Tunisia’s Hizb Ettahir Party, the political mouthpiece of the Salafite movement which is tolerated in the country, has been denied again, party leader Ridha Belhak said yesterday.
Belhai said he received a letter from Prime Minister Hamadi Djebali motivating the decision. In an interview with radio Mosaique, Belhaj did not make the motivation public but slammed the Ennahdha Parti of which Djebali is deputy leader saying ‘the prisoners of yesterday have become today’s decision makers’.
Belhaj said the fact that his party is still banned is ‘an honour’ as it is ‘dictated by the West’ and added he has not taken part in Ennahdha’s congress because he had not been invited as leader of his party.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas Says Egypt’s Mursi Will End Gaza Blockade
Leader of terror group Ismail Haniyeh says he is confident Egypt’s new president will shield Palestinians from Israeli attack.
The head of the Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip said on Friday he was confident Egypt’s new president would shield the Palestinian enclave from Israeli attack and fully open its borders to end a trade blockade.
Mohamed Mursi, who won power in last month’s presidential election in Egypt, is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and ideologically close to Hamas.
The Gazan Islamists long complained that his predecessor Hosni Mubarak, ousted from power last year in a popular revolt, sided not just with Israel, but also with their political rival — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement.
So far, Hamas has seen little sign of a policy shift since Mursi took office and diplomats said the Egyptian leader had so many domestic problems that he could ill-afford to dedicate much time to re-tooling Cairo’s relations with the Palestinians.
However, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s Gaza government, told worshipers in a mosque that change was coming.
“We are confident that Egypt, the revolution led by Mursi, will never provide cover for any new aggression or war on Gaza,” he said. “We are confident that Egypt, the revolution led by Mursi, will not take any part in blocking Gaza,” he added…
| — Hat tip: Andy Bostom | [Return to headlines] |
Palestine — Foreign Political Interference Dressed Up as Humanitarian Aid
Attempts by foreign Governments and international aid agencies to politically influence the outcome of negotiations begun under the Oslo Accords in 1993 — now seriously threaten the total abandonment of those Accords.
The battleground for such foreign interference is Susiya village — located in Area C which comprises about 60% of the West Bank — but where only 5% of the current West Bank Arab population live.
Area C has remained under the total administrative and security control of Israel for the last 45 years.
All the Jewish towns and villages in the West Bank have been established in Area C.
Allocation of sovereignty in Area C was to be determined in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords and the Bush Roadmap of 2002.
Those negotiations have hit a brick wall with the continuing refusal of the Palestinian Authority to resume such negotiations unless Israel places a total ban on further building in the West Bank for the duration of those negotiations.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Shas Paper Against Haredi Draft: We’ll Leave Israel
In editorial, Rabbi Moshe Shafir warns of ‘chaos’ and ‘anarchy’ in case IDF exemption for ultra-Orthodox annulled. ‘When there is no government, there is civil war,’ he writes
The Shas daily “Yom Leyom” (“Day to Day”) has suggested some original ways to protest the government’s plan to draft yeshiva students, including leaving the country altogether and filing charges againt Israel in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
In a piercing op-ed published Thursday, the newspaper’s editor, Rabbi Moshe Shafir, warned of “anarchy” or “chaos” in case the haredim will no longer be exempt from army service.
“Not one haredi will enlist without the authorization of the rabbis. We’ll devote our lives to the Torah at any price,” wrote Shafir, a forefront Shas spokesperson.
In his column, Shafir warned of mass ultra-Orthodox demonstrations and said “lawsuits in the UN and the international courts, such as those filed by Israel’s Left, will be effective.
“Holocaust-type photos of dozens of children wearing yellow badges may even leave the last German submarine in the shipyard,” the rabbi said, referring to the sale of German Dolphin submarines to Israel.
Turning to Israel’s secular community, Shafir warned that the haredim may resort to a “tax revolt” and launch strikes that will “make spaghetti of your country.” He also warned of a mass haredi exodus “which will gradually turn you into a minority in the face of an Arab majority.
“We will also make it difficult to realize your melting pot ideal — the prisons are already filled with Eritreans,” he said in the editorial.
Yom Leyom also criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “lacking leadership” and leaving important decisions in the hands of “random teenagers.”
“When there is no (leader), there is no government, and when there is no government, there is civil war,” the rabbi wrote. “And in war there are casualties on both sides.”
Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, head of the Har Bracha yeshiva, suggested that the government exempt women from IDF service before recruiting haredi men.
“The interaction between men and women in the army is the main obstacle, and the leaders of the haredi public use it as the main argument (against the recruitment of haredim),” he wrote in a column published in the haredi newspaper Besheva.
“The army must prepare for the absorption of thousands of soldiers who devoutly keep the mitzvoth.”
The rabbi said that like other religious people, the ultra-Orthodox must also be offered tracks similar to the hesder yehivas that will allow them to combine army service with Torah studies.
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
Arab Spring: This Youth Movement Has Women Covered
by Mark Steyn
The mistake made by virtually the entire Western media during the Arab Spring was to assume that social progress is like technological progress.
Media types like to talk about “the narrative”: News is just another form of storytelling, and certain plot lines grab you more than others.
The easiest narrative of all is anything involving young people. “I believe that children are our future,” as the late Whitney Houston once asserted. And, even if Whitney hadn’t believed it, it would still, as a point of fact, be true. Any media narrative involving young people presupposes that they are the forces of progress, wresting the world from the grasping clutches of mean, vengeful old men and making it a better place.
[…]
The mistake made by virtually the entire Western media during the Arab Spring was to assume that social progress is like technological progress — that, like the wheel or the internal combustion engine, women’s rights and gay rights cannot be disinvented. They can, very easily.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Memoir of a Middle-East Maven
Robert Low admires the autobiography of “the world’s most eminent Middle East historian”
At the age of 95, Bernard Lewis has written (with the help of his partner) a fascinating account of his extraordinary life and the events and influences that have made him the world’s most eminent historian on the Middle East. His admirably terse style and the freshness of his recollections could be the work of a man 30 years his junior but we are fortunate that he has waited until now to write his autobiography, for he can place the past 30 tumultuous years, with the rise of militant Islam and the Middle East in constant turmoil, in their historical context. He is, for instance, pessimistic about the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and similar Islamic movements.
[…]
His courage in placing historical accuracy above political opportunism, for instance in his work on slavery in Muslim countries, has made him persona non grata among the politically correct brigade that rules so many Western campuses and Middle Eastern faculties. He is notably scathing about Edward Said and demolishes not only Said’s claim to scholarship but also his motives: “I often found myself wondering where ignorance ended and deceit began.”
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia: 18-Year-Old Shia Protester Shot Martyred by Saudi Forces in Awamiyah + Pic
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) — Saudi security forces have martyred a young protester during an anti-regime demonstration in the city of Awamiyah in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province. Abdallah Ja’afar al-Ojami, 18, was shot martyred by security forces on Friday as the protesters were demanding the immediate release of a prominent Shia cleric. Tension has been high in the Province since last week after security forces detained Sheikh Nemer al-Nemer with almost daily protest rallies in the oil-rich region.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Is Assad Threatening Israel?
Ron Ben-Yishai analyzes recent reports on movement of Syria’s chemical and biological weapons
Had the reports that Syria’s regime is taking chemical weapons out of storehouses reflected reality, they should have raised concerns around here. Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Army Chief Benny Gantz have already declared that Israel is closely monitoring Syria’s chemical and biological arsenals for fear that President Bashar Assad will order their transfer to Hezbollah in a desperate move before he falls — or worse, use these arms himself against Israel in a suicidal gesture.
However, for the time being it appears that Syria’s regime is not significantly changing the location and deployment of its chemical and biological weapons. At most, they are being moved to safer bases and storage areas, far away from regions controlled by the rebels or sites of battles.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: No Hookah Pipe Smoking for People Under 18
Hookahs must carry same health warnings as cigarettes
(ANSAMed) — ANKARA — Islamic nationalist Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s efforts to rid the nation of the smoking habit continue, as the National Assembly today voted to ban the use of hookah pipes by people under 18.
From now on all hookahs must carry the same health warnings as cigarette packaging, while the appearance of smoking products or implements is severely forbidden in advertising, including in non-tobacco related campaigns.
This follows on a 2009 nationwide ban on smoking in public places, offices, shops, bars, restaurants, stations, airports, stadiums, trains, taxis, airplanes, and children’s play areas.
“Turkey is in the front lines among Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) countries in the fight against tobacco,” said Muharrem Balci, president of the Islamic group Yesilay (Green Crescent) told Turkish media. One third of Turks still smoke, according to statistics.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Yemen: Deadly ‘Suicide’ Blast Hits Police Academy in Capital
Sanaa, 11 July (AKI) — At least 20 people died and dozens were injured in a large explosion believed to be a suicide bombing of a police academy in the capital Sanaa on Wednesday, Arabic satellite TV channel Al-Arabiya reported.
The suspected suicide blast took place as cadets were leaving the academy as classes finished, Al-Arabiya said.
There have been a string of bomb attacks since a US-backed military offensive drove Al-Qaeda linked militants out of Yemeni strongholds they seized during protests against former president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s rule.
The militants have vowed to carry out attacks across Yemen and in May a suicide bomber in army uniform killed over 90 people during a rehearsal for an army parade in the capital, striking at the hear of Yemen’s military establishment.
The attack was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, described by US officials have described as the most dangerous wing of the global militant network.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Forces Say Kill 8 Militants in Caucasus
(Reuters) — Russian special forces have killed eight militants, including two regional commanders of insurgent groups, in the country’s turbulent North Caucasus region, officials said on Saturday.
More than a decade after federal forces drove separatists from power in a war in Chechnya, Russia is still struggling to contain an Islamic insurgency across the mainly Muslim Caucasus region. Islamist insurgents claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport that killed 37 people in January 2011 and twin bombings that killed 40 people in the Moscow metro in 2010.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: Two Attacks Target Head of Women’s Rights and Intelligence Chief
Two attacks, yesterday and this morning. Hanifa Safi head of the women’s affairs department of the province of Laghman killed by a bomb planted in his car. Ahmad Khan, top military chief and close to Karzai died in a suicide bombing that killed 22 people. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Kabul (AsiaNews / Agencies) — Attacks against leading Afghan personalities continue. This morning at Aybak (Samangan), a bomb killed Ahmad Khan, head of the province of Samangan. The attack, which occurred during a wedding party, left more than 22 dead and 40 wounded. It came just one day after the tragic death of Hanifa Safi (pictured), head of the Department for women’s affairs of the eastern Afghan province of Laghman (eastern Afghanistan), among the most influential women in Afghanistan, who was killed by a bomb placed under the car in which she was traveling with her husband. At the moment nobody has claimed the two attacks. This morning, Taliban leaders issued a statement in which they deny any involvement.
Experts say the attack against Khan is related to the diatribes among Afghan ethnic groups for control of the country. Originally from Uzbekistan, he was a strong supporter of President Karzai’s Pashtun faction, which in recent years has woven several alliances with ethnic Uzbeks and Tajiks in an effort to give way to reconciliation with the Taliban.
If the death of Khan seems to have ties to political roots in the internal battle for power, no one can explain the murder of Hanifa Safi. She was engaged for years in defending the rights of Afghan women and was a symbol of change after years of Taliban rule. Jan Kubis, UN representative in Kabul, said that the entire population is shocked by this news. “The killing — he says — of a courageous person who dedicated her life to serving her country, devoting herself to improving the status of women is an insult to all of Afghanistan.”
Khan and Hanifa Safi join the sad list of leaders and politicians engaged in dialogue who have been killed between 2011 and 2012. Among these, Burhanuddin Rabbani, President of the Council for Peace in Afghanistan and head of dialogue with Taliban, killed by a suicide bomber Sept. 20, 2011.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: Top Afghan MP Killed in Suicide Attack at Daughter’s Wedding
A prominent Afghan MP and strongman was assassinated by a suicide bomber at his daughter’s wedding in a blast that killed at least 22 guests.
The lone suicide bomber killed Ahmad Khan Samangani and other high-ranking local security officials when he struck at the entrance to a hall where the wedding was being held. The provincial head of the Afghan intelligence service was among those killed and local hospitals reported at least 40 others were wounded. The blast struck at around 8am in Aybak, capital of the northern province of Samangan, a local police spokesman said.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: Taliban Admission of Unwinnable War Could Open the Door to Peace
Either side ought to provide the platform for serious peace talks
by Julian Borger
The recognition by the US-led coalition in Afghanistan and now by a senior Taliban commander that the war in Afghanistan is unwinnable by either side ought to provide the platform on which serious peace talks are conducted. But getting from a conducive environment to actual negotiations can take years. There is pride to be swallowed, there are constituencies to be appeased, and then there is the constant temptation to struggle on for just one more fighting season in the hope of piling up bargaining chips to bring to the table. All the while children, women and men, civilians and fighters alike, continue to die in a prolonged endgame leading inexorably to a predictable stalemate. What matters most now is whether that endgame is negotiated or fought out.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Canada’s Afghan Legacy: Failure at Dahla Dam
by Paul Watson
SHAH WALI KOT, AFGHANISTAN-Heavy snow falling high in the Hindu Kush lifts the spirits of farmers far to the south as they scrape out a living in the Taliban’s desert heartland.
The harder winter pounds the distant peaks, the happier they are. Their fate rides on the rivers of meltwater that flow south each spring, winding through a parched land, filling a network of canals that bring new life to dust-blown furrows. Kandahar’s dirt-poor farmers feel blessed this year: winter was harsh in the mountains, so spring brought lots of water to give their crops a good start. But now the water is running low as the scorching summer heat rises. And the farmers worry that most of God’s fleeting gift will hurry past them along the province’s main irrigation system, as it has for decades, leaving crops to shrivel under a punishing summer sun.
Canada had committed $50 million to cleaning up and repairing the irrigation network and the dam that supplies it, but Afghan farmers and officials complain that the project wasted money, taught villagers to expect handouts and lined corrupt people’s pockets. And after all those costly mistakes, the outdated Dahla Dam’s reservoir is so full of silt that it can’t hold enough water to get crops through the driest months. “I just want to say to Canadians that if you pave our canals with gold, what can we do with it?” chided Meerab Zakirya, 52, a Mandisar village canal manager. He has to answer to about 1,000 angry Daman district farmers when water runs out. “If we don’t have water, our main problem is not solved,” he added, both hands clenched to the arms of a white plastic patio chair. “Me, I don’t need money. I want real work. If you want to do something, do it the right way.”
Similar complaints echo across the thousands of desert farms that Canada has struggled to irrigate, into crumbling schools Canadian aid money built, and through the halls of a deeply corrupt justice system Canada helped support despite good intentions. There are two cardinal rules of development aid: projects must be closely monitored to make sure money isn’t wasted or lost to theft and corruption; and they should be sustainable, so projects survive after foreign experts move on. After a month-long investigation in Kandahar’s war zone, it’s clear that Canada failed on both counts, tarnishing a legacy that thousands of Canadian troops and civilians died or suffered debilitating wounds trying to build.
The war in Afghanistan was Canada’s biggest overseas mission since the Korean War more than half a century ago. It was also the bloodiest and most expensive. Since 2002, 158 Canadian troops have been killed in Afghanistan. Four Canadian civilians also perished: two aid workers, a diplomat and a journalist. Canada spent $1.65 billion on reconstruction and development in Afghanistan from the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 through last year. Ottawa has committed another $300 million from 2011 to 2014 for development projects and humanitarian assistance. Since the Harper government gave up the fight in Kandahar province and pulled Canadian combat troops out last fall, uncomfortable questions remain.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
India: For Karnataka Catholics, The Government is Violating Minority Rights
The state’s chief minister plans to limit minority rights to schools where at least 75 per cent of students belong to minorities. Most minority schools would be excluded. For the archbishop of Bangalore, the government is twisting the law to “harass minorities” and “turn Karnataka into a Hindu state.”
Bangalore (AsiaNews) — Catholic believers and clergy plan to turn to the Supreme Court in an attempt to stop the state government from violating minority rights. Speaking to AsiaNews, Mgr Bernard Moras, archbishop of Bangalore and president of the Karnataka Region Catholic Bishops’ Council (KRCBC), slammed some statements made by the former state’s chief minister, D V Sadananda Gowda, which could cripple minority schools. For the latter, only schools where 75 per cent of the students are from minority communities would be granted “minority status”. Otherwise, they would not be entitled the privileges provided by the Right to Education Act, which imposes compulsory education between 6 and 14.
On 14 April, the Supreme Court ruled that public and private schools must establish a 25 per cent quota for poor students. However, the court exempted minority schools that are not publicly funded. Such a rule would have imposed an undue financial burden on educational facilities that are already open to disadvantaged children and teens. If the proposed Karnataka state law were to be adopted, various minority schools would be forced to close, especially in rural areas, because they could not meet the 75 per cent non-Hindu quota.
For Mgr Moras, who will lead a delegation representing 95 Catholic educational societies before the courts, both diocesan and others, state authorities are only playing with the definition of minority schools in order “to persecute, intimidate and harass” the vulnerable Christian community.
“The Supreme Court has already ruled on the various points of the Right to Education Act and its decision does not need to be interpreted,” the prelate explained. “A minority school is such by virtue of the composition of its management board, not of its student population.”
The archbishop is equally critical of the state government’s attempt to turn Karnataka in a Hindu state. “The authorities have introduced in school textbooks the word ‘saffranisation’ (Hindu nationalist colour) as well as elements of Hindu mythology and philosophy to shape the minds of young people. We challenged this, but no one has done anything, except the government, which has spent 111 million rupees (US$ 2 million) to print its books.”
“We are not alone in this struggle,” Mgr Moras noted. “Sikh and Muslim communities are also concerned. The government is after every minority. All we demand is to see our constitutional rights respected and guaranteed.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
India: Thousands Pray at ‘Mosque’ Site
NEW DELHI: The discovery of Mughal-era ruins near Jama Masjid drew thousands of worshippers to the site on Friday. Delhi Police said close to 9,000 people offered namaaz at the site, believed to contain remains of the 17th-century Akbarabadi Masjid that was demolished by the British after the Revolt of 1857.
Police said members of the Muslim community led by Matia Mahal MLA Shoaib Iqbal took ownership of the remains and initiated steps to repair and preserve them. “This mosque is associated with the freedom movement of 1857. People used to gather here and plan strategies against the British rule. On Friday, people offered prayers here after 155 years. Delhi Police and the administration, too, supported us. We will erect makeshift shades to protect people from the rain while offering namaaz,” Iqbal said. He added that Friday prayers will be regularly offered henceforth.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Eight Men Dressed Like Police Abduct Christian Pastor
The kidnappers get Rev Victor Samuel to follow them claiming his wife had filed a complaint against him. Both she and his family deny the claim. Catholic priest points the finger at police because they “neither denied nor confirmed” whether the kidnappers were “actual agents or criminals.” For Pakistan, it is both “shameful and a failure.”
Toba Tek Singh (AsiaNews) — A strange incident has traumatised the Christian community in Toba Tek Singh (Punjab province). Eight armed men, dressed like police officers, abducted Rev Victor Samuel, the local pastor, on 7 July. The community, which has not heard from him since then, is scared because police neither denied nor confirmed the involvement of fellow agents in his disappearance. For Fr Bonnie Mendes, the incident is “shameful” because “the family, community and nation must know if the state is involved, and, if it is, why it abducted Rev Samuel.”
The clergyman was in his office the day he was seized. At one point, four armed men dressed like police officers suddenly came into his office, with a search warrant issued by a Lahore judge.
The alleged agents told Rev Samuel that his American-born former wife, April, had laid a complaint against him concerning some jewels he was supposed to return to her.
The men questioned him about his marriage, checked his computer and took him and his brother, Sikander Samuel, to a police station on a jeep. However, on the way, the kidnappers let the brother go and drove off with the clergyman. Since then, his fate is unknown.
The family went to the Toba Sek Singh police station where they filed a missing person report. A local police officer, Ahsan Raza, contacted the reverend’s former wife who denied filing any complaint against the clergyman. Instead, she told the officer that she was happily re-married and that she held no personal grudge against Rev Samuel.
The clergyman’s brother Sikander confirmed the woman’s statement. “My brother married April in 2007,” he told AsiaNews. “After three years, she went back to America, only to return to Pakistan the following year. They got a divorce and she marry Kashif Masih, one of Victor’s friends, and now lives in the city of Sahiwal. Their separation was consensual, without any animosity. Their daughter, my nice, lives with her mother in Sahiwal.”
“Had they been real police agents, they would have brought him before a court within 24 hours,” Fr Mendes explained. “If he was abducted, police should conduct a real investigation to tell the country who the kidnappers are. Whatever the case, police have failed. Now Pakistan has another missing person.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Shiite Genocide Continues in Pakistan; Two People Martyred by Firing of Wahhabi Terrorists
‘Rehmat Ali’ Martyred by Firing of a Terrorist group in Quetta
Sipah-e-Sahaba terrorist group martyred another Shia Muslim in Quetta city on Thursday. The terrorists targeted Rehmat Ali son of Juma on Kirani Road. Rehmat Ali succumbed to bullet injuries on the spot. His body was shifted to Bolan Medical Centre.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Mosque Agitator Paul Weston: Islam is Worse Than Nazism
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) — Members of Gungahlin’s evangelical community are distributing extremist material from overseas in their campaign against the construction of a mosque on The Valley Avenue. A senior pastor at a Gungahlin evangelical church contacted The Canberra Times and supplied a video of far-right agitator Paul Weston, the chairman of the British Freedom Party.
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[JP note: It is.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Christians: Place Boko Haram on Black List
(AGI) Washington — Nigerian Christian leader asked the US to place Boko Haram on the black list of terror groups. Ayo Oritsejafor, president of Nigerian Christian leaders, believes that placing on the black list only three leaders of the group that claimed dozens of attacks against Christian in Nigeria, “is like saying that Osama Bin Laden is a terrorist without conisdering that Al Qaeda is a terro organization.” This is like “sending a clear message not only to the Nigerian federal government, but also to the rest of the world, that the murder of Christians and Muslims which respect Islam, is an acceptable loss,” criticized Ayo Oritsejafor.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Tension in Onitsha as Muslims Protest Plan to Demolish Mosque
There was palpable tension in the commercial city of Onitsha yesterday when the Muslim community comprising Igbos, Hausas and Yorubas resisted alleged plot by the Anambra state government to demolish their Central Mosque located close to the Bridgehead market. Saturday Nation gathered that the Muslims numbering over 1000 and chanting “Allah is the greatest”, maintained that the plan by the state government to destroy their place of worship was a fallout of the cold war against them in the state.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria: Suicide Bomber Targets Maiduguri Mosque
A suicide bomber has killed five people at a mosque in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, security officials say.
The attack, reportedly by a teenage boy, narrowly missed one of Nigeria’s most revered Muslim traditional leaders, the Shehu of Borno.
The blast happened at a mosque near his palace in the centre of the city as Friday prayers finished. Maiduguri is the stronghold of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. BBC Nigeria analyst Jimeh Saleh says the group has not targeted a mosque before, but it is known to have assassinated Muslim leaders.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Excuses Chavez While American Rots in Cuba
Except for some innuendo in the mainstream press that the Republicans are “desperate” for an issue to use in the presidential campaign, Obama’s mind-boggling statement about Marxist Hugo Chavez of Venezuela not having “a serious national security impact” on the United States is getting little national media attention. But like the private conversation with outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in March, the comments about Chavez, who operates Venezuela as a satellite of Communist Cuba, are nothing less than a scandal.
Obama told Medvedev that he would have more “flexibility” to make concessions to the Russians after he is re-elected. The comments were accidentally picked up by an open microphone.
The exception in media coverage of the Chavez remarks was, as usual, Fox News, where Mitt Romney made headlines by telling Neil Cavuto, “I was stunned by his comments, and shocked by them. This is Hugo Chavez, this is Venezuela. This is Chavez who has invited Iran in, who has invited Hezbollah. Hezbollah, of course, being a surrogate and a proxy for Iran would potentially have access to weapons that could be used against us. This is Chavez who champions the Bolivarian Revolution movement and is spreading dictatorships and tyranny throughout Latin America. This is Chavez who supports FARC and other terrorist activity in nations like Colombia, that are our friends. The idea that this nation, this president doesn’t pose a national security threat to this country is simply naïve. It’s an extraordinary admission on the part of this president to be completely out of touch with what’s happened in Latin America. Latin America is critical to America, United States of America. And the President needs to focus on what’s happening there, what Chavez is doing, what the Castros are doing. These are people who call for terrible acts against America and to suggest that somehow this is isn’t important is, I think, a very misguided and misdirected thought on the part of our President.”
Obama’s remarks come just a few weeks after former CIA officer Brian Latell told the Heritage Foundation that the Venezuelan regime’s spy operations have become an “adjunct” of Castro’s intelligence service, the DGI.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Bring in Migrants to Cut Billions From Deficit, Says Osborne’s Watchdog
OBR figures sound alarm on plans for drastic limits to immigration
Higher levels of immigration over the next 50 years would spare taxpayers from the need to endure much greater austerity, the Government’s fiscal watchdog has said. The ageing population will put growing financial pressure on future taxpayers and governments, and Britain will need to undergo an extra £17bn of spending cuts and tax rises to bring down the national debt to 40 per cent of gross domestic product by 2062, the Office for Budget Responsibility said. This is on top of the £120bn fiscal consolidation the Chancellor, George Osborne, is pushing through as he seeks to close the budget deficit. But higher levels of immigration would help the economy to grow faster and ease the pressure to cut spending, according to the OBR. Boosting immigration would prove controversial, however, because the Coalition has pledged to reduce the annual figure to the “tens of thousands” of people by the end of this parliament in 2015, down from the current official level of 260,000 a year.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Croatia: Assisted Reproduction Law Liberalized
Opposition from Church, conservatives
(ANSAMed) — ZAGREB, JULY 13 — Parliament today approved a new version of the assisted reproduction law, guaranteeing the right to assistance to all couples unable to have children naturally, including unmarried ones, as well as single women.
The measure, which passed by an 88-vote majority on 151 seats, expands the existing law, which is among the most liberal in Europe because it allows for freezing embryos as well as sperm and eggs. But the law still explicitly bans assisted reproduction for lesbian couples.
The law favors the use of sperm and eggs from the couple as a first option, but allows for external sperm and/or egg donors in cases where the couple’s own are not viable or to avoid transmission of hereditary diseases. It also allows for embryo donations. Embryos can be frozen for 5 years in specialized centers, and for an additional 5 years on the couple’s request.
A maximum of 12 eggs can be artificially fertilized, and a maximum of 2 embryos can be implanted in the woman’s body per procedure, which can be repeated a maximum of 6 times.
Surrogate motherhood is still banned. The law also calls for parents to inform artificially conceived offspring of their origin once they come of age, including the identity of their biological donors. Some opponents of this measure argued it will limit potential donations, especially from men.
The new measures were voted against by center-right parties, and was opposed by most religious organizations. The Croatian Episcopal Conference called the new law “profoundly immoral and inhumane, because it will dissolve the fundamental values of family and marriage.” Christian Croatian bishops said freezing embryos “does not guarantee life to people conceived in this way, but rather sentences them to death.” Damir Jelic, vice president of the Croatian Democratic Union, the biggest opposition party, compared the new law to “the human tragedies of the Holocaust and the crimes of the Communist regime.” “No one who feels one or more measures of the new law are unethical is forced to undergo them,” the government said in its defense. “We must give couples who want children but are unable to the opportunity to choose, and to be assisted in their choice by the public health system.” One in 6 couples in Croatia have trouble conceiving, according to Health Ministry data.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: 50% Do Not Want Gay Friend, Survey
Intolerance towards homosexuals remains high
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, JUNE 27 — Homosexuals are still meeting strong intolerance and bias in Serbia, according to a recent survey. A third of people interviewed in this poll would not like to have a gay or lesbian neighbour, and nearly half of them don’t want them as a friend. In the survey, carried out in April by Strategic Marketing based on a sample of 1000 people, 68% of interviewees said they believe Gay Pride is only meant to show a different sexual orientation, while just 29% think the event is organised to denounce the discrimination of homosexuals. Only 26% of people in Serbia, according to the survey, think the state should defend the rights of sexual minority groups, on the same level as any other minority, while 62% have different ideas. Of these 62%, 28% said that homosexuality is a disease, while 34% see gays and lesbians as harmful.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
What is Sharia?
The Muslim way of life, dictated by sharia law, leaves no room for prized Western tolerance, “multiculturalism,” and religious freedom. We take these so for granted that it is hard for us to imagine any other way to live. However, our involvement in Muslim countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and the middle east has exposed the sordid treatment of women and raw tribalism of that culture.
Western hospitality has welcomed millions with this mindset. As we watch their failure to assimilate as generations of other immigrants have done, concern is growing. And the threat is very real. One need only look to Europe. France has Muslim enclaves that are no-go areas for local police. England has whole communities where polygamy, honor killings, jihad indoctrination, flogging of children and women are practiced. Non-Muslims are not welcome or even afraid to enter these areas.
One school teacher in England wrote a telling letter how things have changed since the school chose to accommodate the influx of Muslim students: “Out went nativity plays and in came winter festivals, no making of Easter cards drawing pictures of Easter bunnies, no art classes drawing your friend’s face, in came halal meat for school dinners without asking all parents.
“Boys and girls are to sit apart. No changing for PE for girls. No mixed swimming lessons. No admiring of the teacher’s litter of tiny puppies. No after-school activities. Little girls cocooned in nicabs and hijabs, quiet and demure, and as I have discovered, with sore welts on their backs for not making prayers correctly. One such little child with welts on her back disclosed to me that her brother of 13 years had also been badly beaten and sent away to relatives in another city so as not to have the acts discovered.” (From Europe News, May 24, 2012.)
No need to study sharia law; just look at the results when it is in force.
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Why is Islam So Dangerous?
Islam is dangerous because Western man assumes it works by the same ground rules as the Judeo-Christian culture. But it doesn’t. Islam’s code of ethics was born in the caldron of seventh century middle eastern tribal warfare.
Although we have strayed in recent years, our society is still rooted in biblical concepts. Obedience to the ten commandments ensures a peaceful culture with maximum personal freedom.
A brief comparison with Islam produces a striking difference.
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