Asian Shares Plunge Because of a Weaker Euro and China
The Euro is at its lowest point against the yen. Fears persist that Asian exports to Europe will drop further. China cuts growth forecast. For the Japanese government, the slowdown in the world economy becomes more widespread.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Asian stock markets fell on Monday amid fears of the ongoing debt problems in the eurozone and slower Chinese growth forecast.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (HSI) fell 3 per cent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index retreated 1.3 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 1.9 per cent whilst South Korea’s Kospi Index (KOSPI) slid 1.8 per cent.
The euro slipped to 94.73 yen after touching 94.63, the lowest in 12 years.
Shares reflect the fragility of the eurozone, made worst by Spain’s heavily indebted Valencia region, which asked the central government for financial help to avoid bankruptcy.
The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds shot up above 7 per cent, a level that is untenable.
The eurozone is a key market for Asian exports and there are concerns that demand from the region may decline in the near term.
To the already difficult situation, the Japanese government added the opinion that the global economy is cooling.
“The slowdown in the global economy is becoming more widespread,” the Cabinet Office said in a monthly report released in Tokyo today.
Song Guoqing, an academic member of a monetary policy committee with China’s central bank, said that China’s growth will slow down further.
“The consensus is that China’s economic growth rate will be close to 8 per cent in coming months, but I personally am more pessimistic because there are problems on the export side,” Song said at a forum in Beijing on Saturday. In his view, China’s growth may be 7.4 per cent.
The end of the month should also see the release of US figures. All expectations are for slower growth.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Can Greece Still be Saved?
Greece’s reform process is showing clear signs of lagging as the government requests more time to meet bailout conditions. International lenders are travelling to Greece this week for more talks and inspections.
Greek newspapers are bracing their readers for a visit from the troika of international lenders this week. Officials from the European Union, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) are preparing to examine Greece’s reform efforts closely and, perhaps, mercilessly.
So far, Athens’ political class has let a number of reforms slide or pushed them back in light of drawn out elections. Now the troika wants to get down to brass tacks — but will have to do so with a coalition government elected on the promise of renegotiating the terms of the Greek bailout — or at least pushing back its deadlines.
Tax breaks for low-income brackets and the middle class are planned if the bailout terms can be renegotiated. But that could be a reasonable goal with or without a complete renegotiation, says Vassilis Korkidis, president of the National Confederation of Hellenic Commerce (ESEE).
“The troika has set savings targets but largely given us a free hand for realizing them. We can use alternative means of reaching those targets that don’t involve constantly raising taxes and fees,” Korkidis argued.
Korkidis also believes that lower taxes could have helped stem the rampant tax evasion in recent years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fears Over Sicily’s Future as Euro Flow Stops and Bankruptcy Looms
A bleak combination of routine corruption, misused funds and mafia influence is taking the beautiful, troubled island to the brink of the abyss
As Andrea Vecchio heads down the corridor from his office in Palermo, two men parked behind a desk doing nothing leap to their feet to salute him. But Sicily’s new assessor for infrastructure is not impressed. “Just look around,” he exclaims. “No one here is doing any work at all.”
Vecchio, a sprightly, grey-bearded entrepreneur and tough anti-mafia campaigner, has been drafted in to slice through Sicily’s public-works red tape and tackle its idle hordes of civil servants, but even he may be too late to save the sun-drenched island’s economy.
Long renowned for its sultry beauty and deadly mafia bosses, Sicily has now been dubbed “Italy’s Greece”, an island awash with misspent EU funds, state jobs traded for votes and a €5bn debt pile that some fear could push Italy’s delicate economy into the abyss. Union and business leaders last week implored the Italian prime minister, Mario Monti, to take control of Sicily’s disastrous local finances and, after credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded the island, Monti himself warned Sicily could default.
“Something has finally snapped here, it’s the end of an era,” said Maurizio Bernava, head of the CISL union in Sicily, who claims that pay cheques for transport and refuse collection workers could dry up within months.
“Sicily is on the brink of collapsing, with the risk that we won’t be able to pay salaries or even run ferries from the island,” said Vecchio.
A cash injection of €400m (£311m) from Rome allayed fears of imminent meltdown, but Sicily continues to pay about 144,000 regional staff, nurses, consultants and temporary workers, including around 26,000 forestry workers — more than British Columbia in Canada — many working limited hours and holding down second jobs.
Full-time office staff total 20,000, one for every 239 inhabitants compared with one for every 2,500 in the northern region of Lombardy, while public officials treat themselves to top wages, notably former waste boss Felice Crosta, who retired on a €500,000 annual pension.
The problem is called clientelismo — handing out jobs in return for votes, a practice that has proliferated since Sicily was granted autonomous status in 1946. “The habit of hiring scores of temporary staff, who will then vote for you in the hope of winning a permanent post, is shameful,” said Vecchio. The current governor, Raffaele Lombardo, has promised to end the practice and has hired reformers such as Vecchio to flush out loafers, but the jury is still out on his efforts. “Lombardo sees the times are changing, but has the same Christian Democrat background as his predecessors and has quietly been busy hiring dozens of consultants,” said Enrico Del Mercato, co-author of La Zavorra, which lifted the lid on Sicily’s civil service.
Nothing sums up the excess in Sicilian politics better than Palermo’s Palazzo dei Normanni — which resembles a baroque palace mixed with an Arab fort and sits on a rise overlooking the city’s elegant turn-of-the-century villas, swaying palms, brutal modern suburbs and the piles of rubbish left over from a recent dustmen’s strike. It is home to the regional council .
Named after Sicily’s Norman occupiers and built on Phoenician and Arab foundations, the palazzo has been refurbished by successive waves of rulers. Between votes, Sicily’s 90 councillors can today duck into the Norman chapel, which gleams with wall-to-wall gold-leaf Byzantine mosaics and is topped with an Islamic-style painted wood ceiling.
Parliaments have been sitting on and off in the same room in the palazzo — where friezes on the walls and ceiling depict the exploits of Hercules — since 1560, and councillors have never had it so good, after voting through wages and benefits reckoned to cost Sicilians about €500,000 a year per elected member. A measure awarding members €5,000 for their funeral expenses was only halted thanks to public outrage.
This week the chamber was deserted as members paid tribute to magistrate Paolo Borsellino on the 20th anniversary of his murder by Cosa Nostra, the mafia often hailed as the reason Sicily remains an economic backwater and still front-page news in Italy.
Magistrates now suspect Cosa Nostra agreed to halt a bombing campaign in the early 1990s in return for relaxed jail conditions for mobsters, and that Borsellino and fellow magistrate Giovanni Falcone were killed when they stumbled on evidence of the talks between bosses and government officials.
In Sicily, the mob’s influence is still shaping politics…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Germany’s Schaeuble Confident Concerning Italy’s Outlook
(AGI) Rome — Interviewed by French daily Le Figaro, Germany’s Schaeuble describes Monti as “a chance for Italy and Europe”.
Addressing EuroZone debt tensions, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble expressed confidence that “Italy will have no problems, adding “Italy is now taking good decisions, the kind deferred under the Berlusconi government.” Schaeuble went on to express hopes that the Mario Monti government will “continue to benefit by both Parliament and the public’s support.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: A Tenth of Industry Jobs Lost Since 2007 Claims Union
Rome, 23 July (AKI) — A total of 675,000 jobs were lost in Italian industry — a tenth of the workforce — between 2007 and 2011 according to Italian trade union Cisl.
Industrial output slumped 20.5 percent and orders by 17.9 percent over the period, Cisl said. Exports declined by almost one-fifth during the global 2009 recession but increased 14.5 percent in 2010 and by 10 percent in 2011 thanks to the quality of Italian goods.
The building sector contracted by a whopping 29.3 percent between 2007 and 2011, Cisl said.
Italy’s stagnating economy has suffered from near-zero growth for decades and has been in recession since the second half last year, led by collapsing domestic demand amid higher taxes and steeper borrowing costs.
Unemployment is currently running at close to 10 percent and youth unemployment hit a record 36.2 percent in May, while Italy’s debt reached 123.3 percent of economic output (GDP) in the first quarter of the year, second only to Greece, according to EU statistics office Eurostat.
Italy’s massive debt load currently stands at an unstainable 1.9 trillion euros.
The emergency goverment is now focusing on measures to boost growth after implementing 30 billion euros of austerity measures and trying to push through a hotly contested 26-billion-euro package of public-spending cuts and sell-offs to rein in Italy’s debt.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
President EU Parliament Sees Risk of ‘Social Explosion’
(AGI) Berlin — The economic crisis could set off “a social explosion” in all of the “old continent”. The alarm comes from the president of the EU Parliament, Martin Schulz, the day after the demonstrations in Spain. Interviewed by the German tabloid “Bild”, Schulz said that “a social explosion due to the high rate of unemployment amid youth in Europe” is looming.
Schulz called for the rapid creation of, “new European programs to finally create more jobs for this generation.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
World Shares Dive and Euro Battered to 11-Year Low as Spanish Government Stares Into Financial Abyss
- FTSE 100 Index of Leading Shares Down 2.4% to 5,516 as Spain Faces Crisis; French and German Markets Down 3.5-3.9%
- Shares plunge on Wall Street open: Dow Jones falls 1.8%
- Euro falls to 11-year low against the yen and two-year low versus US dollar
- More Spanish regional governments expected to call on central government for help, sparking fears Spain will need full bailout
- Spanish sovereign borrowing costs soar to crisis levels: 10-year bond yields at 7.59%, unsustainable in medium term
..The London stock market fell sharply into the red today and the euro hit an 11-year low against the yen as fears mounted that Spain could be on the verge of insolvency.
Markets went into crisis mode after the Spanish region of Murcia yesterday went to the central government for a bailout — following Valencia, which took the same step on Friday.
With fears that more regions will follow and tip Spain into effective bankruptcy, the cost of borrowing for the Spanish government soared and that sent the FTSE 100 index of leading shares plunging 135.4 points or 2.4 per cent to 5,516.4. Shares on Wall Street also tanked on the open, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling 227.1 points or 1.8 per cent to 12,595.5.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Bachmann, Gaffney, and the GOP’s Anti-Muslim Culture of Conspiracy
Where did Michele Bachmann get the idea that Muslim radicals have infiltrated the highest levels of government? Look no further than activist Frank Gaffney, says Jonathan Kay.
Earlier this month, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) appeared on the FOX Business show Money Rocks to make the case for depriving the children of immigrants of their 14th Amendment rights. Gohmert claimed that on a recent airplane trip to the Middle East, one of his traveling companions had struck up a conversation with a grandmother who described her family’s involvement in a Hamas plot to send pregnant women to the United States. Gohmert summarized the lesson for viewers this way: “We’re bringing them over here on tourist visas, some illegally, letting them be born here and saying, ‘This is an American citizen. So come back in 20, 25 years when you’re ready to blow us up.’“
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Colorado Muslims Wonder if Theater Shooter Might Have Been Noticed
by Chuck Murphy
AURORA — In 2009, Najibullah Zazi sent three e-mails from his Aurora apartment to a suspected terrorist in Pakistan asking about the ingredients necessary to bake something for an upcoming marriage. Agents monitored his calls. They followed him across the country. They became particularly alarmed when they learned he had purchased large quantities of hydrogen peroxide, a hair dye. Almost three years later and 15 miles away, James Eagan Holmes was filling his home with armament.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Colorado Shooting Suspect Appears in Court
The young man suspected of killing 12 people and injuring 58 others at a movie premiere in Aurora, Colorado, last week has appeared at a preliminary court hearing. If convicted, James Holmes could face the death penalty.
The 24-year-old sat silently in the courtroom in Centennial, Colorado, as the judge and lawyers discussed procedural matters. His court-appointed attorney spoke for him.
Television footage showed Holmes in a red prison jumpsuit with a bush of hair dyed orange. He seemed to have difficulty keeping his eyes open during the hearing.
At the hearing, which took less than 10 minutes, the judge set no bail and ordered Holmes to remain in police custody.
Next Monday Holmes will be formally arraigned and the charges against him will be read out.
The state prosecutor in charge of the case is expected to call for the death penalty. Due to procedural requirements, that decision is not expected for months.
Holmes was arrested on Friday outside an Aurora movie theater after a shooting rampage. Police say he opened fire in the middle of a screening of the latest “Batman” film, “The Dark Knight Rises.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Frank Gaffney: America’s ‘Iron Lady’
Movie theaters across America have recently called to mind former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a woman whose visionary leadership and fortitude — particularly in the fight against Soviet Communism — earned her the sobriquet “the Iron Lady.”
Lady Thatcher’s partner in dispatching that toxic ideology to the “ash-heap of history,” Ronald Reagan, famously declared in 1961 — at a time when the USSR was still very much a going concern — that “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” Today, it is threatened by another totalitarian ideology that some have aptly described as “communism with a god”: the supremacist Islamic doctrine known as shariah.
Fortunately, it turns out that, as we confront our time’s most imminent threat to freedom, we have found America’s Iron Lady: Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Her Thatcheresque qualities are evident in the fearless and visionary leadership she is providing in opposing shariah’s most formidable champions, the Muslim Brotherhood…
| — Hat tip: CSP | [Return to headlines] |
GSA Waste Watcher Also a ‘Boom-Whacker’
Susan Brita, deputy administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), emerged as a whistleblower star this spring, praised for her role in uncovering an $800,000 taxpayer-funded Las Vegas conference with clowns, a mind reader and in-room parties that became a national symbol of egregious government waste.
“As deputy administrator, as a civil servant and as a taxpayer, I share your anger and disappointment in GSA’s conduct,” Ms. Brita told a House panel in April.
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat who represents the District of Columbia, later issued a press release calling Ms. Brita a hero.
But all the while, an internal website on the GSA’s vast computer network showed images of Ms. Brita at another wasteful GSA conference. This time, she wasn’t the whistleblower, but just another high-level GSA official having a good time.
Weeks after the now infamous 2010 GSA Las Vegas gathering, she and hundreds of other GSA employees went to another big taxpayer-funded event, this one held much closer to headquarters just a few miles outside Washington.
With estimated costs of more than a quarter-million dollars, the one-day conference included a private commissioner’s party, a drumming troupe, more than $20,000 in catering charges, hors d’oeuvres, mini-pastries, a guitarist and violinist, and giveaways to government employees who took home free time-and-temperature picture frames and drumsticks.
[…]
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Kentucky Teenager Could Face Jail Time for Tweets Outing Boys Who Sexually Assaulted Her
A Kentucky teenager faces contempt court charges for Tweeting the names of the two teens who pled guilty to sexually assaulting her, reported the Louisville Courier Journal today, in a case that inspires questions about the uses of social media in the legal system.
Seventeen-year-old Savanna Dietrich, tweeted the names of the boys in response to the frustration she felt over her attackers plea bargain. Now, Dietrich could face an $500 dollar fine and up to $180 days in jail for the act if she is found guilty of being in contempt of the court.
Her contempt hearing is scheduled for July 30th.
According to Dietrich, the sexual assault occurred when she passed out at a party last year. Her attackers then molested her, and they also allegedly videotaped the incident and shared it with their friends online.
After Dietrich visited Louisville, Kentucky police with her parents, the juvenile defendants were charged with first-degree sexual abuse and misdemeanor voyeurism, reports the Courier Journal.
But Dietrich says she was extremely unhappy with the “slap on the wrist” plea bargain her attackers were given. Enraged, she took to her Twitter account, says the Courier Journal, determined to publicly expose the boys for their act.
“They said I can’t talk about it or I’ll be locked up,” one of her Tweets read. “So I’m waiting for them to read this and lock me up. ____ justice.
“Protect rapist is more important than getting justice for the victim in Louisville.”
[…]
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N.C.A.A. Fines Penn State $60 Million for Sandusky Case
The N.C.A.A. announced significant penalties against Penn State and its football program Monday, including a $60 million fine and a four-year postseason ban, in the wake of the child sexual abuse scandal involving the former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
The punishment also included the loss of some scholarships and the vacating of all of the team’s victories from 1998 to 2011, but stopped short of forcing the university to shut down the football team for a season or more, the so-called death penalty. Still, the penalties are serious enough that it is expected to take Penn State’s football program, one of the most successful in the country, years before it will be able to return to the sport’s top echelon.
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Shootings Renew Fire at Gun-Law Adequacy
[…]
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper dodged a question by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” about whether Colorado should revisit its gun laws, saying that shooting suspect James Holmes would have found a way to create “horror” even if he hadn’t been able to acquire guns.
“This wasn’t a Colorado problem. This is a human problem,” said Mr. Hickenlooper, a Democrat. “Even if he didn’t have access to guns, this guy was diabolical, he would have found explosives, he would have found something else, some kind of poisonous gas. He would have done something to create this horror.”
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Sunday that Mr. Obama’s views on gun-control laws hasn’t changed.
“The president’s view is that we can take steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them under existing law,” Mr. Carney told reporters traveling with the president aboard Air Force One to Colorado. “And that’s his focus right now.”
But gun-control advocates pointed to the types of weapons allegedly used by Mr. Holmes, a 24-year-old doctoral student at the University of Colorado, when the gunman in an Aurora theater at a Thursday midnight showing of the “The Dark Knight Rises” opened fire, killing 12 people and wounding 58 others.
He was dressed in protective clothing that moviegoers assumed was a costume — a common thing to do at superhero movies on opening weekend — and was armed with a 100-round rifle magazine, along with other weapons.
“Weapons of war don’t belong on the streets,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein said on “Fox News Sunday,” adding that the country needs to have a “sane” debate about banning military-style assault weapons.
One of Washington’s strongest advocates for gun control, the California Democrat led the effort to ban assault weapons in 1993. She tried to extend the ban for another 10 years when it expired in 2004, but the measure failed in Congress.
“This is a powerful weapon. It had a 100-round drum,” Mrs. Feinstein said. “This is a man who planned, who went in, and his purpose was to kill as many people as he could in a sold-out theater. We’ve got to really sit down and come to grips with what is sold to the average citizen in America.”
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, who became a leading gun-control advocate after her husband was killed and son injured in the 1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting, said mass shooters have one thing in common: a gun that can be loaded with lots of ammunition.
“Police responded in 90 seconds and yet he was able to take down 70 people,” the New York Democrat said.
But like Mr. Hickenlooper, Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republican, insisted the issue wasn’t about guns, but about an individual who would have found a way to carry out acts of violence no matter what tools were available to him.
“This isn’t an issue about guns, this is an issue about sick, demented individuals,” Mr. Johnson said. “I wish I could wave the magic wand and pass a law to prevent something like this in the future, but I don’t think there’s a solution in Washington.”
[…]
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The Who: Tickets for Canceled 1979 R.I. Concert Valid for 2013 Show
Fans still holding tickets for a canceled 1979 show in Rhode Island by British rock band the Who finally can use them.
The Who’s 1979 concert in Providence was canceled by then-Mayor Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci, who cited safety concerns after a stampede before a show in Cincinnati killed 11 people. The band hasn’t been to Providence since.
The Who this week announced it will end its latest tour in Providence on Feb. 26 at the same venue where its show was canceled 33 years ago, now called the Dunkin Donuts Center.
General Manager Lawrence Lepore said on Thursday the venue will honor tickets from the canceled 1979 show. Mr. Lepore said many ticketholders got refunds for the canceled show in 1979, but others may have held on to their tickets as memorabilia.
“Somewhere, someplace, someone’s got it stashed,” he said. “The question is, are they willing to give that up? If they are, we’re willing to take it.”
[Those still living, anyway-D]
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Too Sane to be President
Some politicians are too young to get the top job in a democracy, while others are too old. Alternatively, they might be thought too boring or — just as likely — too interesting. Certainly, one needs to look the part: so if you’re too short, too fat, too bald or too weird, then forget it. However, none of these drawbacks apply to Jon Huntsman — the former Governor of Utah, former US ambassador to China and former Republican candidate for the 2012 Presidential nomination. No, his problem is that he is too sane.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Bias Against Islam is Deeply Rooted in Western Minds: Yusuf Fernadez
After many years of a negative portrayal, bias Against Islam and Muslims is deeply rooted in Western minds and it will be very difficult to eliminate it, Spanish journalist Yusuf Fernandez says. Fernandez, who is the secretary of the Muslim Federation of Spain and an editor of Al Manar Spanish website, made the remarks last week in an interview with the Tehran Times. He stated that the neo-fascism and far-right bigotry are increasing throughout Europe as much as fascism and Nazism did in the 1930s and this is one of the reasons why Islamophobia is now rapidly spreading in Europe and has become a major concern for the Muslim minorities in the European countries.
Following are excerpts of the interview:
Q: Muslims are subject to prejudice and discrimination in the Western societies, even though they have always contributed to the progress and growth of these societies. As a spokesman of an Islamic organization in a European country, what are your views regarding the rise of Islamophobia in the U.S. and Europe? And how is it possible to confront and eliminate it?
A: The Islamophobia is a real problem in the Western societies, not only for Muslims but for the whole society because it is a hatred phenomenon, which is harmful for all people. Today, many politicians attack Islam and Muslims just to gain votes and in some countries girls are banned to wear headscarves at high schools or work places. Opening a mosque is also becoming more and more difficult in some countries. Muslims need to work seriously against Islamophobia through media work and in courts although sometimes it is difficult because many Muslim communities lack the resources to do so. In order to fight against Islamophobia, Muslims should look for allies, especially human right organizations, which are supporting Muslim victims with information campaigns and legal procedures.
[…]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Bucharest and Sofia: Still Incorrigible for Commission
România libera, Adevarul, Sega & 2 others
Two reports published on July 18 by the European Commission regarding the rule of law in Romania and in Bulgaria, both of which joined the EU in 2007, stress both countries’ lack of democracy and poor records in the fight against crime. These two findings have sparked a debate in the both their national presses.
“The [ruling coalition] USL’s attack on the rule of law is steering us away from Schengen,” argues daily România Libera. The paper blames the USL for the severity of the European Commission’s report regarding the country’s current deficit in justice and in democracy. This “failure” is the result of a rapid escalation of events based on —
… a series of abusive, unconstitutional decisions culminating with the publication of emergency decrees in forbidden areas such as restricting the powers of the Constitutional Court (banning it from ruling on Parliamentary decisions) or the changes to the referendum law.
As for daily Adevarul, it notes that the European Commission report comes within the framework of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (MCV) “outlining the conditions under which our entry into the EU and that of Bulgaria was agreed to in 2007.” It further notes that the tone of the report is worrisome —
Romania has been handed the most critical report on justice since its entry, basic European values are not respected; the confidence of the EU is undermined, monitoring will be intensified with more routine evaluation missions sent to Bucharest.
In a leader article, the Bucharest daily stresses that the continuous progress made over the past few years was destroyed in just a few days and blames Prime Minister Victor Ponta, interim President Crin Antonescu and media mogul Dan Voiculescu —
What has the Ponta-Antonescu-Voiculescu trio managed to do? To convince Europe that our fragile democracy can be destroyed with a snap of the fingers. And that the rule of law is an illusion which vanishes under the assault of emergency decrees. […] This image will be hard to erase. Even several years from now, when we try to enter the salons of high society, we will be reminded of the horrors of July 2012.
As for Bulgarian daily Sega, it notes that “the European Union’s devastating report did not prevent [Interior Minister Tsvetan] Tsvetanov from swaggering.” A few hours before the report was published, speaking in Parliament, Tsvetanov made a “desperate attempt” to attenuate the criticism from Brussels —
‘We have implemented 100% of the European recommendations’, the Minister said. But the report states something quite different. It says that organised crime remains Bulgaria’s principal challenge.
Faced with what many consider as “the worse report since the country’s entry in 2007,” some, like the daily Standart, look for the silver lining —
The sermon from Brussels takes us away from Schengen. But on the other hand, it shields us from a wave of illegal immigrants…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Interior Minister Horrified by Violent Anti-HSR Protests
(AGI) Rome — Interior Minister Annamaria Cancellieri has said she is horrified by last night’s violent anti-High Speed Rail protests in the Val di Susa while she remains supportive of police force officers who behaved very well in a delicate situation. Cancellieri also said that the state will not be intimidated by the use of premeditated violence. “What happened last night in the Val di Susa,” said the minister, “was not a quiet protest. It was violence, pure and simple violence that has nothing whatsoever to do with problems linked to the construction of the Turin-Lyon railway line.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Lombardy Councilor to Resign in Time to Avoid Life Pension
(AGI) Rome — After remaining silent for weeks, in an interview with Vanity Fair Nicole Minetti promised she will resign before October and avoid having a life pension paid by the Lombardy Region. “Rather than be paid a life pension by the Lombardy Region I will resign the day before acquiring that right next October. I swear it,” she said in the interview, before leaving for a week-long holiday in Los Angeles. The PDL’s councillor in Lombardy also added, “I alone will decide when to resign, I do not need to be given orders or to be put under pressure. I do not want to give anyone the satisfaction of throwing that privilege back in my face for evermore.” The magazine will be in newsstands on July 25th.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Priest Arrested in Palermo, Paid Minors for Sex
(AGI) Palermo — Davide Mordino, one time parish priest at the San Calogero Basilica in Sciacca, has been arrested for pedophilia. Police carried out an arrest warrant issued by Palermo Investigating Magistrate maria Pino, on the request of Prosecutors Laura Vaccaro and Alessia Sinatra the on the 41 year old priest. According to the Prosecution, the man abused several youths between 14 and 18 years of age up until December 30th of 2009, paying money for their sexual attentions. The arrest measure was carried out in Palermo, where the priest had been transferred. The matter came to light during the “Mata Hari” anti-drug operation, when it was discovered that one of those being investigated entertained the priest with sexual favors. Further controls and wire-tapping allowed police to reconstruct that the priest tricked the minors saying he had to subject them to a “body sensitivity test” on behalf of the University of Palermo, and after this approach began paid sexual relations with them, paying 50 to a maximum of 300 euros. The priest also made his victims sign a false form letter-headed “Mediaset” for their participation in television programs, thanks to his having a television announcer as a relative. The man is now in jail in the Palermo Ucciardone Prison.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
New House Arrest Law Eases Prison Overcrowding in Italy
(AGI) Rome — There are 66,236 people in Italian prisons of which 25,927 are awaiting trial. From January to June of this year, 2,589 prisoners have been sentenced to house arrest because of the so-called ‘svuotacarceri’ (empty the prisons) law 199/2010, which allows convicts to serve the final months of their sentence at home. There were 4,065 people in 2011 and 231 in 2010 who were able to take advantage of this law. “These are figures that speak for themselves,” said Giovanni Tamburino, head of the Penitentiary Administrative Department, “and show the undoubted easing effect of the provision without which we would have more than 70,000 people in our prisons.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Reform of Italy: “40 Provinces: 10 Metropolitan Areas”
(AGI) Rome — More than half of the Italian provinces are going to be cut and 10 metropolitan areas introduced. These are the changes envisaged for Italy’s territorial map thanks to the reorganization decided by the Government in line with the spending review. Minister Patroni Griffi explained that the restructuring “singles out areas with at least 320,000 inhabitants and a surface area of at least 2,500 sq km as the new territorial groupings to be created, whose dimensions can in no way be any smaller than the above requirements”. “This — Minister Patroni Griffi explained — constitutes the second phase in the reform already outlined in the spending review: sizing criteria have been singled out on the basis of which all the provinces will have to be reorganized. Now — he added — a consultation is opened with the Councils of all the local Administrations and Regions and the final phase of this process will be finalized with a legislative provision implementing the complex reorganization of the local Administrations throughout the national territory”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘Islamophobia’ Silencing Muslims?
by Bruce Bawer
In the wake of the incident of the “Allahu akbar”-shouting Olympic torch-snatcher in London, the headline on a July 8 article in the Guardian by a British Muslim journalist named Mehdi Hasan may seem, shall we say, a mite ironic: “We mustn’t allow Muslims in public life to be silenced.” The piece was a bid for pity. “Have you ever been called an Islamist?” it began. “How about a jihadist or a terrorist? Extremist, maybe? Welcome to my world….Every morning, I take a deep breath and then go online to discover what new insult or smear has been thrown in my direction….the abuse is as relentless as it is vicious.” Hasan’s claim is that this “abuse” — mostly by readers commenting online on his articles — is evidence of “Islamophobia” and is part and parcel of a widespread, insidious attempt to suppress the voices of Muslims in the public square.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Commonwealth Soldier Kicked in the Teeth by Britain
A Commonwealth soldier who served for 13 years in the Army has been refused British citizenship.
Lance Corporal Bale Baleiwai has spent his whole adult life in the British Army. He has a glowing service record, a row of medals and a starring role in Army recruitment advertising.
His reward is a deportation notice. After 13 years fighting for Britain, it has given him three weeks to leave the country. “When I had the uniform on, I was a British soldier,” he says.
“Now I have taken it off, I’m just a problem they want to get rid of.” L/Cpl Baleiwai was British enough for two tours in Iraq, dodging the bullets on escort duty. He was British enough to patrol Belfast and Bosnia. In Afghanistan, he was British enough to spend seven months as a gunner in a brigade recce force, under daily Taliban fire that killed three of his comrades.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Olympic Torch Carried Through Stepney Green Park by First Bangladeshi Woman Football Referee in Tower Hamlets
Hundreds of people lined the streets this afternoon as the first Bangladeshi woman football referee in Tower Hamlets carried the Olympic flame through Stepney Green Park.
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After the torch was taken off the stage Tower Hamlets’ ceremonial mayor, Cllr Rajib Ahmed, performed a musical piece which was followed by a brief speech from the borough’s Mayor Lutfur Rahman. A variety of dance and musical performances spanning different cultures followed.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Olympic ‘Terror Visas’ Racket
Pakistan passport gang is smashed
A VISA scam giving potential terrorists the chance to sneak into Britain with Pakistan’s Olympic team has been smashed by The Sun.
We infiltrated a crime ring offering false passports, visas — and access to London 2012 as bogus support staff.
We uncovered a ring of corrupt Pakistani officials and travel staff conspiring with a prominent politician to bypass stringent security.
First they provided our undercover investigator with a genuine Pakistani passport in a false name.
Then leading Lahore politician Abid Chodhary spelled out how for around £7,000 he could get our man a two-month visa — and smuggle him into London 2012 as part of Pakistan’s Olympic squad.
The Sun secretly filmed Mr Chodhary as he explained how easy it was to get into the Olympic Village by masquerading as a member of the athletes’ support team.
We were told we could even take part in Friday’s opening ceremony.
At no point did any of the corrupt officials question our reason for wanting to sneak into Britain.
An investigation was under way yesterday after we alerted MI6, the Home Office, the UK Border Agency and the British High Commission in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.
One intelligence operative said: “The Sun has unearthed a sophisticated network of corruption. The idea of unknown agents being flown in to the UK to be put up in the Olympic Village beggars belief.
“Terrorists would have the biggest platform to perform their atrocities. A member of al-Qaeda could fly to the UK on a genuine passport in another name and the authorities would be none the wiser.
“For all of our sakes this staggering loophole needs closing fast.”
Our investigation centred on the Lahore-based Dream Land travel agency — prosecuted nine years ago for human trafficking.
We approached one of its staff and a meeting was arranged in Lahore with a fixer called Bobby…
| — Hat tip: Seneca III | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Rochdale Grooming Trial: Investigation to Focus on Victims, Not Ethnicity, Says DPP
Kier Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, has said that a review into child sexual exploitation would focus on the failure to listen to victims rather than the ethnicity of the perpetrators.
Following the conviction earlier this year of a number of Asian men who abused white girls in Rochdale, questions were raised about the cultural backgrounds of those involved, and whether this had allowed exploitation to flourish.
In particular, it was suggested that practices such as arranged marriages encouraged some Asian men to view girls from other communities with a lack of respect.
But Mr Starmer said a review he was launching into child sexual exploitation would seek to find out why girls in Rochdale who had complained they were being abused were not listened to. Its primary focus would not be on the ethnicity of those who took advantage of them.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, he said: “That’s one of the things we’re looking into, but for my part I’m less concerned about that than I am about whether we’ve made proper decisions about the credibility and reliability of victims.
“So, if you focus on the victim these are often very, very vulnerable individuals or groups of individuals and my primary concern at the moment is what assumptions have been made about those victims as to their credibility and has that been a blockage in the system…
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Three Arrested at EDL Anti-Mosque Protest in Chelmsford
Three men were arrested today on suspicion of committing racially aggravated public order offences at a protest staged by members of the English Defence League. Around 30 people took part in the demonstration in Chelmsford city centre, a spokesman for Essex Police said. A 35-year-old man from Rochester in Kent, a 19-year-old man from Dagenham, Essex, and an 18-year-old man from Yateley in Hampshire are currently in custody.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican: Spokesman Blasts Reports of Accomplices in Leaks Scandal
Vatican City, 23 July (AKI) — Spokesman Federico Lombardi has sharply criticised recent media claims that several of Pope Benedict XVI’s oldest associates were accomplices in the leaks of confidential Vatican documents, calling the reports ‘unojective’, ‘unfounded’ and ‘false’.
“Newspaper articles have been published in recent days in Italy and Germany on the subject of investigations into the leaking of reserved Vatican documents, articles which hint at serious suspicions of complicity on the part of certain persons close to the Holy Father,” Lombardi said Monday in a statement.
“The Secretariat of State expresses its firm and total disapproval of those publications, which are not based on objective criteria and seriously damage the honour of the people concerned, who have served the Holy Father faithfully for many years”.
The media reports speculated that Ingrid Stampa, an employee of the Vatican Secretariat of State, Cardinal Paolo Sardi and Bishop Joseph Clemens may have testified before the ‘Vatileaks’ commission, but Lombardi downplayed the claims.
“Many have been called to appear, but this says nothing about their being suspected of shared responsibility or ‘complicity,’“ he said.
Lombardi also denied the media reports that the three had been dismissed by the Vatican.
The sole official suspect in the ‘Vatileaks’ scandal, the Pope’s butler Paolo Gabriele, has been granted house. Gabriele, 46, was arrested on 23 May after documents and copying equipment were found at his apartment in the Vatican
The Vatican launched a probe after an Italian investigative journalist published secret documents including private papal correspondence that revealed corruption and venomous intrigue between rival groups of cardinals.
Gabriele is accused of ‘aggravated theft’ and if sent to trial and convicted faces six years in prison.
Gabriele’s lawyer claims he acted alone out of love for the Pope, who he wanted to help. But several Vatican watchers have said that Gabriele must have had at least some help and was possibly manipulated.
A commission of cardinals that has questioned 28 lay people and clergy in the the “Vatileaks” scandal had submitted a report to the Pope, Lombardi stated.
“The fact that the results of the investigations have not yet been made known by the authorities concerned, in no way legitimises the publication of unfounded and false interpretations and theories,” Lombardi said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Azawad Calls for International Support Against Al Qaeda
by Acherif Ag Intakwa
[NOTE by Anna Mahjar-Barducci: Azawad is a new country in North Africa that just seceded from Mali. It borders Algeria and was declared independent by a Touareg movement, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad [MNLA], which is secular. Shortly after the MNLA declared independence of Azawad, Qatar, Algeria and Mali financed jihadist groups to fight against the Touaregs. The MNLA, however, killed the deputy commander of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb]
Azawad, a new nation, is in a war against countless terrorist organizations backed by Mali, Algeria, and Qatar. Today, Azawad wishes to make the same speech of the State of the Union made by George W. Bush on January 29, 2002. But as long as the U.S. and the free world do not support Azawad, it will be a mere wish while terrorism is spreading all over Africa.
The MNLA and Azawad and the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad [MNLA] were attacked on June 27, 2012 by the AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), MUJAO (Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa), and Boko Haram.
For months, these terrorist organizations have been recruiting both inside and outside Azawad. For months, terrorists from Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Somalia, Pakistan, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Libya and many more countries came to Azawad to destroy not only this new country but also the civilized world. For months, the new “axis of evil” supported these terrorist organizations financially, military, in media, and technologically.
This aggression, in which two of the bravest officers of the MNLA were killed, created a state of the union between Azawadians that has never been stronger.
Azawadians and the MNLA are also confident that their dream cannot come true without the supports of the United States of America and its allies of the free world.
This dream will not come true without international support because terrorist organizations all over Africa designated the Sahel-Sahara region as their new playground, and will do whatever it takes to succeed and spread their evil activities all over Africa.
This dream will not come true without international support because these terrorists organizations are supported by at least three countries: Mali, Algeria, and Qatar — while Azawad and the MNLA is rejected by the free world.
Azawadian and the MNLA strongly believe that one day “The Azawadian flag will fly again over every single official building in Azawad. Terrorists who once occupy Azawadian cities will occupy cells in Taoudenni. And terrorist leaders who urged followers to sacrifice their lives will be running for their own”.
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“As we gather tonight, our nation is at war, our economy is in recession and the civilized world faces unprecedented dangers. Yet the state of our union has never been stronger.”
These two sentences could represent the current situation of Azawad where the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad [MNLA] is fighting with almost empty arms against terrorist organizations backed by nations with the goal of erasing all traces of civilization.
However, these two sentences were made 10 years ago to represent the situation in the United States of America. They were not spoken by Azawadians but by President George W. Bush.
In that time, U.S. and the free world were attacked by Al Qaeda backed by some nations, called the “axis of evil.”
Will the U.S and the free world stand alongside Azawad in the war on terror in the Sahel-Sahara region? Or will the U.S. and the free world allow terrorism to spread all over Africa and intervene only when it is too late?
The U.S. and the free world have to answer these questions. They have to do so quickly because the terrorists and the new “axis of evil” are not wasting time.
[Published with the kind permission of Toumast Press]
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British Woman Converted to Islam in Gaza
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) — Anne William Kennedy, a British citizen, announced on Saturday her conversion to Islam during a press conference held at the headquarters of the Palestine Scholars Association in Gaza City, amid intensive media coverage. The British woman, who changed her name to “Khadija Hassan”, said that she voluntarily converted to Islam after a Palestinian youth “Yusuf Hassan”, a resident of Khan Younis, convinced her to become a Muslim and after studying lots of books on Islam. Khadija expressed happiness for announcing her conversion to Islam and for being in the Gaza Strip, which she considered a country for all Muslims. For his part; the chairman of the Palestine Scholars Association, Dr. Salim Salama, congratulated Anne for taking this step, and offered her, at the end the conference, a copy of the Quran with a translation of some of its meaning to the English language. Kennedy, “Khadija Hassan”, holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science as well as a master’s degree in philosophy and she has been teaching religions in British schools.
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[JP note: Eyelass.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Sets Himself on Fire Days After Burns Victim Dies
A wheelchair-bound Israeli was in serious condition on Sunday after setting himself on fire just hours before the funeral of a man who had set himself alight during a social justice protest on July 14.
“A man in a wheelchair set himself on fire at a bus stop near Yehud” near Tel Aviv, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. “Passersby put out the flames. The man, in his late forties, was in serious condition, he was taken to the Sheba hospital in Tel HaShomer,” he said. “From what we know, he set himself on fire,” Rosenfeld said, indicating that an investigation was under way. Sunday’s apparent self-immolation, carried out by a man who is reportedly a disabled Israeli army veteran, took place just hours before the funeral of Moshe Silman.
Silman died on Friday, six days after setting himself ablaze at a Tel Aviv social justice demonstration.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Bombs Kill 50, Wound 144 Across Iraq
(Reuters) — A string of bomb attacks across Iraq killed at least 50 people on Monday and wounded 144 more, police and hospital sources said, in one of the bloodiest days in the past weeks.
Violence in Iraq has eased since the height of sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007, but insurgents still carry out deadly attacks, especially around the capital, and deadly car bombs on Sunday shattered a lull in violence in the lead-up to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started on Saturday.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Fides Reports Rebel Islamists Killing Christians in Syria
(AGI) Rome — The Fides news agency has reported on groups of rebel extremist Islamists “terrorising people in Damascus” especially Chrstians and Iraqi refugees. Fides has also reported the murder of an entire Christian family by militiamen from the “Islam Brigade”, “Liwa al-Islam”, the same group that claimed responsibility for the attack on Bashar al-Assad regime’s hierarchy. According to the news agency, which is quoting sources in Damascus, these militias stopped the car of a Christian, a civilian state official called Nabil Zoreb, and forced the man, his wife Violet and his two children, George and Jimmy, to get out of the car and then shot them all at point blank range. In the south-eastern part of Damascus, Islamist fighters from the Jihad al Nosra group, close to the Muslim Brotherhood, attacked the homes of Iraqi refugees, looting and burning down the houses, obliging the residents to flee.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Iraq Opposes Arab League Call for Syrian Regime to Go
(AGI) Baghdad — Iraq fears Syria will fall apart if the Assad regime collapses and for this reason has opposed the request put forward by the Arab League to step down and leave the country. Iraqi government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh said, “It is up to the Syrian people and no one else must interfere. The decision by the 22 nations of the Arab League today in Doha was particularly supported by the monarchies of the Persian Gulf.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon: Muslim Religious Leaders Voice Concerns About Political Tension
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s leading Muslim religious figures expressed concern over the weekend about political tensions prevailing in the country, but voiced confidence in the wisdom of political and religious leaders. “We express our concerns over the political tension that the country is witnessing these days. We also express our fears of these tensions having negative and dangerous consequences on the overall situation [in the country],” a statement said following the meeting of religious leaders at Dar al-Fatwa in Beirut Saturday.
The Muslim summit was attended by Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani, Higher Shiite Council vice president Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan, the country’s leading Druze spiritual authority Naim Hasan and the country’s leading Alawite spiritual leader Assad Assi. The leaders also voiced confidence in the “wisdom of political and religious leaders in addition to citizens from all religions and sects.” In the statement, the participants reiterated, “Muslim unity and the need to work toward rejecting strife that might arise from any attempt to add sectarian character to political disputes.” They also reiterated their commitment to “national unity, internal peace, Lebanon’s co-existence message and the Army’s role in maintaining the country and its people’s unity.”
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon: Franjieh Says March 14 Government Could Lead to War
BEIRUT: Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh warned Sunday that if the current Cabinet resigns and is replaced by a March 14 government the country could plunge into civil war, due to the “provocative” demeanor of March 14. “Let’s say [Prime Minister Najib] Mikati resigns and March 14 names [Fouad] Siniora as prime minister; that would be provocative and would lead to war,” Franjieh told Marada-news.com. “If a government is formed from one coalition, March 14, that means we are approaching war due to the provocative atmosphere created by March 14,” he said.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia: Islamic Summit to Tackle Challenges
JEDDAH — King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has called for an extraordinary summit of Muslim leaders to be held next month in Makkah, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) Sunday. King Abdullah has called for “an extraordinary Islamic solidarity meeting to ensure… unity during this delicate time as the Muslim world faces dangers of fragmentation and sedition,” SPA quoted Prince Saud as saying. King Abdullah wishes to convene the summit on Ramadan 26-27 (Aug. 14-15) in a bid at “unifying the ranks” of Muslims, the statement said.
In 2005, the holy city hosted the third extraordinary Islamic summit, which approved a 10-year action plan for the overall development of Islamic states. It called for political participation, equality, freedom and social justice for people in Islamic countries. The two-day extraordinary summit called for preparing a roadmap for common Islamic action to confront the massive challenges being faced by Muslims in political, economic, cultural and scientific fields. King Abdullah, the host of the high-profile summit, termed it a turning point in the history of the Muslim world.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: ‘Children Are Being Executed, Raped, Abused and Tortured’
No child is safe from the bloody conflict in Syria amid reports of the “shocking” scale of brutality against youngsters, a UK-based group said today. War Child said young Syrians were being deliberately murdered in execution-style killings, raped, abused, used as human shields and even enlisted against their will to fight. A report said the Syrian conflict was “disturbingly unique” in its deliberate targeting of children, warning that no child was now safe. War Child urged the UK Government to step up efforts to protect children caught up in the fighting, saying it believed between 500 and 1,300 children had been killed, while eight-year-olds were being enlisted as soldiers.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Israel Fears Assad’s Gas Arsenal Goes to Hezbollah
(AGI)Jerusalem- Israel’s Premier Netanyahu fears that Lebanese Shiite militia might get to Syria’s chemical arsenal if Assad falls. In an interview to the American network Fox News, Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the possibility of an attack to stop the potential transfer of weapons.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Syria Threatens Chemicals in Face of Foreign Attack
Syria’s Bashar Assad faces mounting pressure from rebels, European leaders and the Arab League. As hostilities heat up, Syrian officials have threatened to use chemical weapons in the case of a foreign attack.
The Syrian regime threatened on Monday to use chemical and biological weapons if faced with external aggression. This is the first time Syria has admitted possessing weapons of mass destruction.
“No chemical or biological weapons will ever be used, and I repeat, will never be used, during the crisis in Syria,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said.
“All of these types of weapons are in storage and under security and the direct supervision of the Syrian armed forces and will never be used unless Syria is exposed to external aggression,” he added.
His comments were condemned by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as well as the foreign ministers of Germany and Britain. The foreign ministers were in Brussels along with their counterparts from all 27 European Union states to increase the pressure on Assad.
“It would be reprehensible if anybody in Syria is contemplating use of such weapons of mass destruction like chemical weapons,” Ban told reporters in Belgrade on a tour of the Balkans.
“Threatening to use chemical weapons is monstrous,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
5 NATO Troops Killed in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A person wearing an Afghan national security force uniform turned his weapon Sunday against civilian contractors with the U.S.-led military coalition, killing three. In other incidents, five NATO service members were killed in roadside bombings over the past two days. NATO said the attack on the civilian coalition workers occurred in western Afghanistan but disclosed few other details. The gunman was killed during the incident, which is still being investigated. No further information about the civilians who died was released.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Bangkok: Muslim Students Protest Violence Against Rohingya
During the official visit of Myanmar’s President Thein Sein, some students demonstrate against the “massacre” of Rakhine State ethnic minority. Thai army sources explain that the refugees will be “aided”, but also deported back to Indonesia and Malaysia.
Bangkok (AsiaNews) — This morning a group of Thai Muslim students staged a peaceful protest in front of government headquarters in Bangkok, while Prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra gave an official state welcome to Myanmar President Thein Sein, on a three-day official visit. Meanwhile, Thai military sources confirm that the army is preparing to provide water and food to the Muslim Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar, where they are still subject to violence and persecution. However, top officials clarify that Bangkok is not willing to accept refugees, but rather to “help” them with basic necessities and then move them to “other destinations”. Among these are two Muslim majority nations: Indonesia and Malaysia.
Sarimachi Ashar, a young student in his fourth year of the Faculty of Political Science at Thammasat University and president of the Confederation Muslim students in Thailand, leading the little knot of protesters, said that the Rohingya are “treated as instigators of violence,” rather than “victims “. He complains that the news of accidents in the Rakhine State of Myanmar have been “distorted” and “misleading” because they have overturned the facts. Students attending the event (a dozen in all), with signs and slogans including “Stop the massacre of Rohingya”, also appealed to the Government of Myanmar to give better care to victims of violence and promote policies to protect minority groups.
Meanwhile, Colonel Manat Kongpan, responsible for internal security operations in Thailand, confirms that the Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar are helped with food and water, but will not be accepted by the government in Bangkok. In this regard, the Army is educating people on the coast — especially on the Thai side of the Andaman islands — to warn the competent authorities in case of new landings. According to forecasts, a real exodus from the Burmese border is expected in the coming months, mainly women and children seeking asylum in Indonesia or Malaysia, Muslim-majority nations.
For Professor Umara Pongsapit the problem of the Rohingya, who live in poor conditions, are deprived of citizenship and basic human rights in Myanmar needs to be “urgently” addressed. National and international action is needed, he adds, as well as policies to activate the emergency. Prapasri Petchmeesri, Thai delegate to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Committee for human rights, says that the refusal to grant citizenship to the Rohingya “violates their basic human rights.”
In recent days, human rights groups have accused again the authorities of Myanmar and Buddhists, as the perpetrators of violence and violations against the Rohingya Muslims in the western state of Rakhine. A state of emergency is still in force and a couple of weeks ago, the UN condemned the arrest of some humanitarian workers, including members of the United Nations itself. The source of violent sectarian clashes, is the rape and murder in late May of Thida Htwe, a young Arakanese Buddhist, later avenged in an assault on a bus load of Muslims, with the death of ten people who had nothing to do with murder or rape of the young girl. Since then, the violence has escalated, and triggered a new mass exodus of Rohingya to the coasts of Thailand and Bangladesh. However, the governments in Dhaka and Bangkok are pursuing the policy of expulsions.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Drawdown in Afghanistan at Halfway Mark
KABUL — The top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan said yesterday that this year’s pullout of 23,000 American troops is at the halfway mark. But he cautioned against putting too much emphasis on the drawdown, saying foreign troops will fight through 2014 when the NATO combat mission ends — and beyond.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Indian Bollywood Stars Accused of Misusing Top Muslim Shrine
The head of one of the most important Muslim shrines in India has complained about Bollywood stars misusing the site to pray for their “sinful” films to be commercially successful.
Zainul Abedin Ali Khan, who leads the organisation in charge of the Ajmer shrine in Rajasthan, said that celebrity pilgrims were appealing for movies that often featured immoral subjects that insulted Islam. “Many film stars come here with (a) CD or DVD of their work and offer it while praying for the success of the film or serial, whatever it is, which is absolutely against the Islamic law,” Khan told reporters in Ajmer on Sunday. They are using the holy place, a prime centre of religious belief, for purely commercial purposes and for degrading moral values among people,” the Press Trust of India news agency quoted him as saying. The shrine to Sufi saint Muin-ud-din Chishti, who died in Ajmer in the 13th century, is one of south Asia’s most important pilgrimage sites, attracting millions of Muslim and non-Muslim devotees from around the world every year.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
India: Cops Ask Locals to Keep Peace at Mosque Site
In the wake of violence erupted at the disputed Akabarabadi Mosque’s site at Subhash Park, Delhi police have appealed several local and religious leaders to maintain law and order in the area.
The senior police officials have directed the local area station house officer (SHO) to ask the clergies and local leaders to cooperate with the police in maintaining peace and abide by the High Court’s order. The orders have been issued to the SHO after protesters calshed with the police outside the mosque’s site late on Saturday night. On Saturday, the mob demanded to open the gate of the mosque defying the court order to cordon off the disputed site. When the protesters attacked policemen deployed at the area by pelting stones at them, cops resorted to use of tear shells to disperse the crowd.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
India: Protest Against Mosque Desecration in Kashmir
Srinagar, July 23 (IANS) A mosque in a Jammu and Kashmir village was torched, leading to a shutdown in the area Monday and street protests as locals demanded that the arsonists be brought to justice. According to witnesses, scores of slogan shouting villagers took to the streets in Badgam’s Wohangam village, about 25 km from here. Markets and business establishments shut down and traffic was suspended in the adjacent Magam town on the Srinagar-Gulmarg highway as news about the mosque desecration spread. The mosque had been torched Sunday night. “The wooden frames, doors and windows on the second floor of the mosque was torched by miscreants. This has resulted in tension,” Abdul Rashid, a villager, told IANS over telephone.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
India Calls Army After 11 Die in Bodos-Muslim Clash
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) — India’s army moved in to stop armed clashes over land between settlers and local villagers that have killed at least 11 people in India’s remote northeast over the past two days, police said Sunday. Two days of battles between the ethnic Bodo community and Muslim settlers also injured at least 10 people in Kokrajhar district, nearly 250 kilometers (155 miles) west of Gauhati, the state capital, said S.N. Singh, a police inspector-general. The clashes in Assam state began Friday after assailants killed one person. As the violence spread to more than half a dozen villages in the region, nearly 7,000 people fled their homes and took refuge in state-run relief camps, Singh told The Associated Press on Sunday.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Aceh: Christians Protest Over Burned Church and Authorities’ Inertia
The fire dates to July 18 in Singkil regency. Pews and musical instruments destroyed in the fire. Since May last year the local government, under pressure from Islamists, has sealed off 20 Christian places of worship, four of which are Catholics.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — Concern is growing among Christians in the province of Aceh, victims of a series of recent attacks by extremist groups or unknown assailants. The violence is worsened by the policy of local authorities, who instead of halting attacks, continues closing churches and prayer halls for the (alleged) lack of building permits, required for all construction in Indonesia (religious and non-religious). In the document published these days, the Christian Alliance of United North Sumatra denounces that since last May at least 20 house churches or prayer chapels have been closed down by Singkil regency officials. Among these, ten belonged to the Pakpak Dairi Christian Protestant Church (Gkppd) and four were Catholic.
In a statement released today, the leaders of the United Alliance of North Sumatra say that the attacks are of “growing concern”, given that there is no “protection or recognition” for all religious groups, above all minorities. The situation in Singkil in particular is getting worse, with gross violations of religious freedom which is “ recognized officially by our Constitution.” Christian leaders also point the finger at the central government in Jakarta, which does not intervene in cases where individual local governments violate the rights and freedoms of citizens, particularly non-Muslims.
The statement also recalls the last episode of violence in Singkil regency on July 18. At dawn the Pakpak Dairi Christian Protestant Church (Gkppd) house of prayer was attacked and set on fire by a group of strangers. Pews and several musical instruments were destroyed, but the prompt intervention of the faithful prevented the complete destruction of the building. Inside the structure about 15 liters of petrol were found, so far investigators have not identified any culprit.
The province of Aceh, the westernmost of the archipelago of Indonesia, is also the only one which is subject to Sharia, compliance with which is ensured by the “moral police”, a special force that punishes violations in dress and behavior. In the past, under the leadership of Governor Irwandy Yusuf — head of the guerrilla war — a relative calm and religious harmony between the Muslim majority and “foreigners” of various non-Islamic faiths prevailed. However, recently the situation has changed: attacks against religious minorities have started, the fundamentalist wing has gained more power and freedom of action.
In elections last April, the victor was Zaini Abdullah, also leader of the separatist guerrillas in exile in Sweden, who has promised to fight corruption and impose Islamic law (see AsiaNews 04/18/2012 Aceh’s new governor Zaini Abdullah pledges more Sharia). The strict application of Sharia is one of the conditions also posed by separatist rebels in Jakarta, to end the armed struggle. As evidence of the growing interfaith tension in the recent past, the area was the scene of violence and attacks against Christian communities, which led to the closure of places of worship (see AsiaNews 07/05/2012 Extremist threats in Aceh: authorities close three churches and AsiaNews 19/06/2012 Hundreds of Muslim extremists attack Christian prayer house in Aceh). Further adding to tensions and violence is the closures of churches and places of worship in the area, arranged by the authorities who claim they are without the proper building permits (the infamous IMB, Izin Mendirikan Bangunan).
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Maoist Militants Throw Chairs at Nepal Prime Minister
More than 500 former fighters carry out the attack, accusing the party’s leadership of corruption and lack of economic transparency. Both the party’s chairman and vice chairman are targeted. In an official press release, the party dismisses the incident as a “simple argument,” but top leaders remain silent.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews) — More than 500 former Maoist fighters attacked Communist Party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, his deputy and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, throwing chairs and other objects after accusing them of corruption and lack of economic transparency. The attack took place during the 7th plenum meeting of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN).
The political leaders involved did not release any statement about the incident. However, later in the evening, the CPN issued an official communiqué in which it said that the incident was a “simple argument,” denying that any physical attack had taken place.
A few days earlier, Saral Sahayatri Poudel, a former commander in the People’s Liberation Army (the Communist party’s armed wing), released a report on the financial status of party leaders and officials after they came to power in 2006. In it, he called on the party’s leadership to be transparent about their expenses and provide compensation to disabled former fighters.
The party itself has set up two commissions to investigate internal financial irregularities.
As evidence of the CPN’s troubled times, six of seven division commanders quit, accusing party Chairman Dahal of conspiring to make some of them the scapegoats for financial irregularities committed by officials close to him.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Nepal: Kathmandu’s Oldest Protestant Church Demolished for Traffic
The incident occurred on July 21. In the building there were about 500 people in prayer. Demolished only the outer walls, but there are also damages the inside of the building.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews) — To ease traffic congestion, Kathmandu authorities have demolished the exterior walls of the largest and oldest Protestant church in the capital, also damaging the interior. The destruction took place on July 21 at 5 am and continued until the beginning of Sunday service, ignoring the 500 people already gathered in prayer in the church. Several private buildings were also destroyed, despite the inhabitants’ protests. To avoid clashes with residents, the city administration deployed hundreds of police in front of the church and the houses to be demolished.
Protestant Christian Rajan Rai, accuses the government of the city of considering places of worship equal to a normal building, regardless of their spiritual and historical significance. “The authorities have no respect for religious sensibilities — he stresses — and ignore the importance of faith for us.”
The case has created tensions between the Kathmandu Metropolitan Development Authority (Kmda), in charge of the project, and the leaders of the local Protestant church, who to date have not made any comments, but according to local sources will denounce the abuse in court.
Keshav Sthapit, Kmda management, defends the actions of public administration: “We have done our job without bias. The expansion of the road system has affected many religious and public buildings. In recent months, were also destroyed Hindu temples, foreign diplomatic offices and many private homes. “ The official said that authorities have opened an inquiry into the disputed building and in the event of irregularities in the operations will provide to pay damages.
Recently established to solve the problem of traffic and pollution in the capital, the project launched by Kmda affects the entire city center of Kathmandu, for a total of 38 km.
In recent years the city has experienced an enormous and rapid urban expansion that has left the old central districts completely congested. The alleys and streets are no longer sufficient to contain traffic — especially motorcycles — which has increased by 213%. Every day over 500 thousand scooters, motorcycles and tricycles from travel through the districts of Kathmandu.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ethiopia: Police Arrest Muslim Protesters as Clashes Continue
Addis Ababa — Ethiopian police on Sunday said that they had arrested several people after violent clashes between police and Muslim protesters continued on Saturday in the capital, Addis Ababa. The clash occurred at Anawar Mosque following noon prayers. “Protesters blocked worshipers from leaving the Mosque compound. They hold them hostage until riot police forces took situation under control” Deputy Police commissioner Girma Kassa said. Kassa said police has arrested several stone-throwing protesters who also attacked private buildings and government institutions but didn’t specify a figure. Eye witnesses told Sudan Tribune that many people have suffered injuries during the clashes which continued on the third day of fasting for the month-long festival of Ramadan. There are no reports of fatalities. A police official said protesters have a political mission and are using the question of religion as a cover to meet own political agenda.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Kenyan Police Arrest Two Suspects, Seize Grenades
Kitale — Kenyan police are holding two youthful terror suspects for interrogation after seizing two grenades from a Guest house in Kitale town, Western Kenya. Divisional Criminal Investigation officer Patrick Wachira said they have commenced investigations to establish the origin of the weapons. “It is true we have arrested two youthful Kenyans and recovered two grenades and some powders we suspect are to be assembled for making explosives,” Wachira told journalists in Kitale yesterday. The officer said the suspects were arrested from the Kitale Guest Hotel where they had been booked on Saturday.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Pirate Attacks in Gulf of Guinea Triple in First Half 2012
(AGI) Abuja — Attacks by pirates off the Gulf of Guinea tripled in the first six months of 2012. The increase goes against the general trend in other parts of the world. A study published earlier this week by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) shows that 32 attacks by pirates have been reported in the first 6 months of the year off the Gulf of Guinea, compared to 25 reported there throughout 2011. Globally, the number of pirate attacks in the first half of 2012 dropped to 177 from 266 in the same period of 2011: this is the lowest number of such attacks since 2008, when 114 attacks were reported. Over 50% of the 32 attacks off the Gulf of Guinea, or 17, took place off the coasts of Nigeria, where only six attacks were reported in the first six months of 2011. In Togo, where no attacks occurred in the first half of 2011, five attacks (possibly carried out by Nigerian pirates) have so far been reported in 2012. Of the 17 pirate attacks off Nigeria, 7 led to the attacked vessels being boarded by the pirates, while 3 ships were hijacked and 61 crew members were taken hostage. According to the study, most of these attacks took place far away from the coasts, which would suggest that pirates can now rely on deep-sea fishing boats.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
VP — Kenya Remains on High Terror Alert
Nairobi — The government has reassured that the country’s security forces are on high alert to prevent terror attacks in Kenya, hours after Al Shabaab militants warned of attacks in the country during the Muslim holy month of Ramadhan. Vice president Kalonzo Musyoka on Friday said the government will not surrender to terrorists and urged Kenyans to join the security agents in fighting terrorism by volunteering any information they may have.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Things Are About to Get Much Worse for Energy Firms in Argentina — Interview With Sam Logan
Angering Spain by seizing and nationalizing a majority of Repsol’s shares in YPF and ramping up the rhetoric over the Falkland Islands as exploration deals promise to make the territory a major oil player overnight, Argentina is making few friends in the fossil fuels industry these days. Sam Logan, owner of the Latin America-focused private intelligence boutique, Southern Pulse, speaks to Oilprice.com about the politics of populism behind Argentina’s energy aggression.
Samuel Logan is the founding partner of Southern Pulse, a private human intelligence organization focused on investigating security, politics, energy, and black market economics in Latin America. Southern Pulse investigators operate from hubs in Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, Brazil, and Chile to leverage Southern Pulse’s HUMINT network, unique access, and deep understanding of the region to mitigate risk for public and private sector clients with exposure to political, security, financial, or legal risk in Latin America.
In the interview Sam Talks about:
- Why Carlos Slim bought shares in YPF
- Why Argentina won’t take any definitive action in the Falklands
- Why things will get worse for energy firms in Argentina
- Argentina’s brewing political crisis
- Argentina’s future relationship with Spain
Interview conducted by Jen Alic of Oilprice.com
[…]
Oilprice.com: How are oil and the Falklands used as symbols of national sovereignty in Argentina?
Sam Logan: The Falklands have long been used as symbols in Argentina, and this is an issue that crosses party lines so there is more political currency available for the Falklands issue across the Argentine political spectrum. There could be more saber rattling, but at this point I don’t see the Argentine government taking definitive action.
Oilprice.com: Would you agree that at the heart of the matter is Argentina’s misguided energy policy, in place since 2003?
Sam Logan: It’s not just energy. This is more about Argentina’s overall economic policies and the steadily increasing economic pressures the Kirchner government is facing. Inflation, currency controls and price controls on gasoline all play a huge role in this market, which extends well beyond the recent actions with YPF. Let’s not forget that until recently Argentina was a natural gas exporter. Due to a long-term political negligence and mismanagement of infrastructure, Argentina is dependent on multinational energy firms to develop deposits and other known reserves — not to mention the potential for hydraulic fracturing. Ultimately, the irrational behavior Argentina has shown against multinational energy firms underscores a brewing political crisis that shows little to no sign of abatement in the near-term. It’s likely to get worse for energy firms in Argentina before it gets better.
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Charlie Catchpole: We Need to Do Something About Immigration as Britain is ‘Bursting at the Seams’
It’s official. Britain is bursting at the seams.
Initial figures from the 2011 census were released last week and the picture they paint of what Shakespeare called “This fortress built by Nature for herself. Against infection and the hand of war” is truly terrifying.
Over the past decade, the population of England and Wales has grown by 3.7million — the biggest surge in our history — and now tops 56million.
When the census results for Northern Ireland and an estimate for Scotland are added in, the number of people living in the UK will stand at a staggering 63million, four million up since the last count.
This rise is equivalent to 10 new cities, each the size of Manchester.
More than half of the population explosion has been caused by immigration, with two-thirds of newcomers arriving here from non-EU countries.Some fortress we’ve become.
And the figures don’t take into account illegal immigrants.
Despite the threat of prosecution and a £1,000 fine, around 1.5million homes failed to return their census forms. In some areas, especially communities where large numbers of migrants lived, one in five properties were left out.
The strain immigration puts on this country’s already hard-pressed welfare, healthcare and education and services is incalculable.
And it can only get worse.
What an indictment of the last government’s “open door” policy which effectively suspended border controls.
Did anyone vote for this?
Tony Blair infamously let slip that he’d wanted to “rub the right’s noses in it”.
So for years anyone who dared voice concern about what was happening would be branded a “racist”.
Now, finally, Labour’s gone into reverse.
Last month party leader Ed Miliband took a deep breath and said worrying about immigration did not necessarily make someone a bigot. Former Labour minister Frank Field went further. Commenting on the census figures, he said: “This is not so much a wake-up call, it’s almost time for the firing squad for politicians who have allowed this to happen.”
Not that the coalition government should be crowing.
The Tories’ pre-election pledge to cut immigration to “tens of thousands” turned out to be a bad joke. It’s higher than ever.
Extremists such as the knuckle-dragging nutters from the EDF have been handed ammunition which they’re bound to use to stir up resentment and hatred come the next election.
But we’re a tolerant and fair-minded lot.
Now the subject is out in the open at last, we’re free to debate it coolly and calmly.
If we don’t, what the future holds for any of us doesn’t bear thinking about.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
UK Border Agency Backlog Worries MPs
The UK Border Agency faces a backlog of more than 275,000 failed migrants who need to be removed from the country, a group of influential MPs has said.
The home affairs committee said this figure was a size equivalent to the population of Newcastle upon Tyne. Committee chairman, Labour MP Keith Vaz, said the agency appeared to have “acquired its own Bermuda Triangle”.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UKBA ‘Is Like the Bermuda Triangle’ As Thousands Go Missing
The UK Border Agency is like a Bermuda Triangle, where hundreds of thousands of foreign criminals and illegal immigrants are missing, MPs have warned.
The agency has 275,000 outstanding cases — equivalent to the population of Newcastle — a report by the Commons home affairs committee said. Keith Vaz, the committee’s chairman, said that the backlog would take years to clear and that the agency appeared to have “acquired its own Bermuda Triangle”. “It’s easy to get in, but near impossible to keep track of anyone, let alone get them out,” the Labour MP said. The latest report on the agency’s work said the committee did not believe cutting the 260,000 student visas issued each year by a quarter would benefit the UK. Students, a market worth £7.9billion, should be excluded from net migration figures, it said. University chancellors have urged the Prime Minister to class international students as temporary migrants.
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| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Debates Male Circumcision
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The case began after a Muslim doctor circumcised a 4-year old boy. Two days later, the wound began to bleed and the child was rushed to a hospital. The hospital informed the authorities, whereupon the public prosecutor brought the doctor to court. When the court acquitted the doctor, the public prosecutor appealed the verdict. Although the Cologne Landgericht again acquitted the doctor on the basis that “the legal status (of circumcision) is very unclear,” the ruling unequivocally condemned male circumcision. Fearing that the ruling would set a precedent to be followed by other German courts, the Medical Association advised doctors to stop circumcisions for religious reasons.
The verdict was applauded by many organizations. Deutsche Kinderhilfe, a non-profit organization to aid children, said that the wellbeing of children had been served by the court. The German Institute for Pediatric Surgery stated that the verdict conformed to medical ethics. The Professional Union of Pediatricians warned “for the trivialisation of this form of physical damage by the circumcision defenders” and said that the right of children to physical integrity should be society’s primary concern.
The International League of Non-Religious and Atheists also welcomed the verdict, stating that religiously motivated circumcision is a form of physical damage and mutilation. Terre des Femmes, an international women’s rights organization, also applauded the Cologne verdict. It said the physical integrity of children should not be restricted for religious reasons.
In the German media, psychotherapists stated that circumcision on six- or seven-year old boys can have a traumatic effect. Jewish organizations pointed out that Jews have been circumcising boys on the eighth day after birth for thousands of years, without any Jewish men later complaining about harmful side-effects. They also emphasized that male circumcision cannot be equated to female genital mutilation.
A joint statement of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe, the European Jewish Association, the German Turkish-Islamic Union of Religious Affairs and the Islamic Center Brussels, said that the Cologne verdict was “an affront to our basic religious and human rights.”
The critics of the Cologne verdict were supported by Cardinal Joachim Meisner, the Catholic Archbishop of Cologne. “We have to speak out against the tendency to restrict religious freedom and the right of parents to raise their children in a religious way,” he said. He was supported by Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, the Vatican’s Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Protestant Church also criticized the verdict. Hans Michael Heinig, the president of the Institute for Ecclesiastical Law of the Evangelical Church, called the verdict “a triumph of antireligious zealots.”
The verdict also drew criticism from Germany’s three major political parties, the Christian-The verdict also drew criticism from Germany’s three major political parties, the Christian-Democrats, Social-Democrats and Liberals. Last Thursday, the governing Christian-Democrats and Liberals teamed up with the oppositional Social-Democrats to call on the government to “present a draft law in the autumn … that guarantees that the circumcision of boys, carried out with medical expertise and without unnecessary pain, is permitted.” The cross-party motion explicitly acknowledges that “circumcision has a central religious significance for Jews and Muslims” and adds that “Jewish and Muslim religious life must continue to be possible in Germany.”
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Watevs! Facebook and Twitter Are Making Young Girls More Aggressive Because of the Way They Write Online
Facebook and Twitter are changing the way girls speak and making them seem more aggressive, it is claimed.
The websites have been credited with promoting terser sentences, which can make youngsters appear rude and disrespectful.
Marie Clair, of the Plain English Campaign, said: ‘Young people’s language in general is becoming more direct in comparison to their parents and the business community because of the communication channels they’re more familiar with.
Those fast communication channels of Facebook, email and Twitter [that] they’ve grown up with mean they haven’t got as much time to deliberate and choose their words.
‘That’s perhaps why they come across as being more aggressive. It’s not intentional. Curtness tends to be short, sharp and to the point. But it’s a fine line between being curt or aggressive and being straightforward.’
She said the phenomenon was more evident among girls as they ‘communicate more than males’. ‘If you’re sending text messages all the time, you’re having conversations that are like shorthand,’ she added. ‘To any outsider, there aren’t those pleasantries that there were when you wrote a letter to someone.’
Deborah Cameron, professor of language and communication at the University of Oxford, said girls were at the forefront of language change such as rising tonal intonation — when the voice goes up at the end of a sentence. ‘People associated that with girls when it first came in, but everyone does it [now],’ she added.
‘Girls are the innovative ones, more than boys are .?.?. The teenage years are a period of life where you find linguistic innovations of all kinds, and girls are generally ahead of the curve.’
‘People often put down as ‘girls’ language’ something that’s actually going to spread through the whole speech community.
‘Examples of that would be high rising tonal intonation, where you let your voice go way up at the end of a sentence.
‘People always associated that with girls when it first came in but actually everyone does it (now). Girls are the innovative ones, more than boys are.’
Professor Cameron said it could be right that teenagers’ language styles in general are getting more aggressive, however there is no ‘hard evidence’ of this at present. Hard-core swearing is still most associated with adolescent and young adult, working class males.
The debate comes as recent research from the United States suggests that modern pop songs could be influencing how girls’ voices actually sound.
Researchers at Long Island University have identified use of a speech pattern called ‘vocal fry’ — a ‘creaky’, guttural sound that pop stars such as Ke$ha and Britney Spears add to lower notes to convey soulfulness.
They recorded speech from 34 women aged 18 to 25 and revealed they had ‘practiced or observed’ this raspy vocal register and ‘modelled it to match popular figures’.
A 2005 study from the University of Valencia in Spain also found that actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow and Reese Witherspoon used ‘creaky’ voices when portraying contemporary American characters in Shallow Hal and Legally Blonde respectively.
Ikuko Patricia Yuasa, a lecturer in linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, told The New York Times that ‘vocal fry’ can be used by women to sound more authoritative.
However, it can also communicate disinterest — something that teenage girls are particularly fond of doing.
| [Return to headlines] |
1 comments:
Let's try and look on the bright side. The news that Moody's have downgraded the Netherlands from their triple A status because of fears that she might be required to bail out Spain must be good news for Geert Wilders. This is exactly why - apart from having control over the country's borders - he argued that the Netherlands should leave the EU, namely because they are going bankrupt bailing out all those bankrupt countries. Let's hope it helps him on 12th September!!
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