Notice once again how many immigration stories there are in these articles. One story concerns a batch of illegal Somali immigrants who were forcibly drowned in the Gulf of Aden by their traffickers. They were evidently en route to the Arabian peninsula, and not Europe.Thanks to Abu Elvis, C. Cantoni, Insubria, Steen, TB, TV, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Details and articles are below the fold.
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Obama’s Kenya Ghosts
About 50 parishioners were locked into the Assemblies of God church before it was set ablaze. They were mostly women and children. Those who tried to flee were hacked to death by machete-wielding members of a mob numbering 2,000.
The 2008 New Year Day atrocity in the Kenyan village Eldoret, about 185 miles northwest of Nairobi, had all the markings of the Rwanda genocide of a decade earlier.
By mid-February 2008, more than 1,500 Kenyans were killed. Many were slain by machete-armed attackers. More than 500,000 were displaced by the religious strife. Villages lay in ruin. Many of the atrocities were perpetrated by Muslims against Christians.
The violence was led by supporters of Raila Odinga, the opposition leader who lost the Dec. 27, 2007, presidential election by more than 230,000 votes. Odinga supporters began the genocide hours after the final election results were announced Dec. 30. Mr. Odinga was a member of Parliament representing an area in western Kenya, heavily populated by the Luo tribe, and the birthplace of Barack Obama’s father.
Mr. Odinga had the backing of Kenya’s Muslim community heading into the election. For months he denied any ties to Muslim leaders, but fell silent when Sheik Abdullahi Abdi, chairman of the National Muslim Leaders Forum, appeared on Kenya television displaying a memorandum of understanding signed on Aug. 29, 2007, by Mr. Odinga and the Muslim leader. Mr. Odinga then denied his denials…
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EU Support for Sunshine Ski Slope
An EU grant helped fund a ski slope on the island of Bornholm
The EU provided a 750,000 kroner grant for the development of a ski slope on the island of Bornholm, despite the slope only being open for two days last year due to the lack of snow. The Baltic island is one of Denmark’s sunniest regions.
EU spokespeople for the Liberal, Conservative and Social Democratic parties blasted the grant as another example of a European ‘subsidy jungle’.
Even the farm owner who applied for the grant in 2006 was surprised to receive such a generous donation from the EU, reports Ekstra Bladet newspaper.
‘I didn’t reckon on them supporting something so crazy, but once the money had arrived, there was no excuse not to get started,’ said Ole Harild, the man responsible for the ski slope.
The grant went towards the cost of developing the slope for skiing and tobogganing, together with a ski lift and other machinery.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-Red Brigade Woman ‘Risked Dying’
Sarkozy explains No to extradition of former terrorist
(ANSA) — Rome, October 13 — French Premier Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday explained his decision not to extradite a former member of the Italian Red Brigades (BR) terrorist group by saying she ‘‘risked dying’’ if she had spent more time in jail.
Sarkozy said he had spoken personally with the doctors of 54-year-old Marina Petrella, who has spent several months at a Paris hospital being treated for depression and the effects of a prison hunger strike.
‘‘It was necessary to break the hunger and thirst strike. There is a humanitarian clause (in France’s extradition law) and I used it,’’ he said.
Italy had been ‘‘kept up-to-date’’ with the decision-making process, said the premier, whose office announced on Sunday that France would not hand over Petrella.
‘‘I don’t think there can ever be misunderstanding when there is a humanitarian issue,’’ he said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: 13 Dead During Crossing, 5 Arrests in Siracusa
(AGI) — Siracusa, Oct 13 — Five Nigerians have been charged with the death of 13 immigrants, all men, while trying to reach the coast of Portopalo di Capo Passero (Siracusa). The police has arrested the five who were also on board of the boat which left Libya with 71 people, among whom women and children, almost all from Ghana and Nigeria. Only 58 made it to Sicily.
The survivors told the investigators that they have seen the arrested Nigerians throw some of the 13 victims into the water, after they showed themselves nervous during the voyage. Others would voluntarily have left the boat out of desperation. Once on land the police had already identified and arrested three people smugglers, among also one of the five arrested Nigerians charged with homicide. The other four were detained in the temporary shelter of Cassibile. The arrests were confirmed this morning by the investigating judge of the Court of Siracusa.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Real Estate: Spain, 2 Houses for Price of 1 Against Crisis
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, OCTOBER 10 — “Two houses for the price of one”. This is the tempting offer made by one of 17 real estate agencies participating until Sunday in the Mediterranean Real Estate Trade Show (Simed) in Malaga, to deal with a crisis which in Spain has brought the sector on its knees. Much smaller than usual, with only 30 stands compared with last year’s 109, and on 3,500 square metres from last year’s 16,500, the Show tries to attract potential buyers with knock-down offers. The figures published by the Association for agencies and constructors of Spain demonstrate the existence of a crisis: on the Costa del Sol alone sales collapsed by over 70% in the past 1,5 year. The sector estimates that there are around 24,000 new houses without a buyer. Therefore at the Simed real estate agency Salsa, as reported by El Pais today, proposes a 4-room luxurious chalet for 780,000 euro plus VAT, plus, as a gift, a one-room flat near a golf course in Velez (Malaga). (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Santander Negotiates to Buy US Sovereign
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, OCTOBER 13 — The Bank of Santander is negotiating the acquisition of capital of the US banking group Sovereign Bancorp, 25% of which it already controls, according to sources from the credit institution in a communication sent today to the National Committee for Market Value. In the statement the group explained that “an agreement has not been reached for the moment” with the US bank. As the Wall Street Journal today predicted, Emilio Botin decided to consolidate his position in Sovereign Bancorp which has suffered huge losses in the storm which is hitting the financial world. The US daily valued the group, with its 750 affiliates and around 12,000 employees, at around 2,530 million dollars, almost 1,900 million euros, at a price of 3.81 dollars (2.8 euros) per share. Santander already owns 25% of shares in Sovereign, 20% of which were bought in October 2005 for 2,400 million dollars (1,800 million euros) in an operation which represented its launch into the US market, with interests aimed at the Spanish market. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK Muslims ‘Not Ready for Sharia Courts’
SHARIA courts have no place in the British legal system because the Muslim community is not advanced enough, a Government minister says.
The comments by the new minister for race relations Sadiq Khan carry particular weight because he is a Muslim.
He also warns that the growing number of tribunals based on Islamic codes could “entrench discrimination against women”.
Mr Khan makes clear he is not minded to follow controversial calls by Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to accept sharia law in Britain. He does not rule out that the Muslim community in Britain would one day be “advanced enough” to have its own courts.
“But now is not the right time,” he said.
Supporters of sharia courts in Britain say they can be justified because of Jewish community courts in the UK that resolve family disputes.
Mr Khan admits he has seen good examples of Jewish courts. But he says sharia does not have the level of sophistication that there is in Jewish law “which has a long history”.
He said: “There are not the same areas of concern that there are with sharia law.”
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Bosnia: General Electric Makes 400 Million Euro Investment
(ANSAmed) — SARAJEVO, OCTOBER 9 — According to sources close to the American company, General Electric is to sign a contract by the end of October with the Government of Republika Srpska for a series of investments worth around 400 million euro. A note from the ICE office in Sarajevo reports that the major part of the investments, around 300 million euros, will be directed to the energy sector, while the remaining 100 million euros will be invested in the health sector. The Government of Republika Srpska has revealed that, for energy sector investments, there are also talks in progress with the German company, RWE. From the same source it has been revealed that the Republika Srpska does not intend to privatise existing energy facilities. The investments of General Electric, and potentially also those of RWE, will be directed towards the realisation of new projects. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Industry: GE and Boeing Interested in Investing in Serbia
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, OCTOBER 8 — US company General Electric has expressed an interest in building a locomotives factory in Serbia, according to reports by Vice Prime Minister Mladjan Dinkic. Dinkic, quoted by the Italian Trade Commission in Belgrade, said that representatives from GE would visit the Serb capital in mid-October to evaluate the possibility of taking part in modernising the Serb railway infrastructure. Dinkic, also Serbia’s Minister for the Economy, is interested in finding suppliers in Serbia. “Serbia has a strong interest in pushing big US companies like IBM, Dell and Intel to come here. Apart from the automobile industry, the IT sector is one of our country’s priorities” he concluded. Serbia’s president, Boris Tadic, has also indicated that Boeing is interested in investing in a factory in Serbia to supply repairs and services, despite the serious crisis in the air transport sector. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Nobel Peace: Kostunica, Ahtisaari Has Ethnical Prejudices
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, OCTOBER 10 — The concession of the Nobel Peace Prize to Martti Ahtissari was greeted today with bitterness by the former national-conservative Premier of Serbia, Vojislav Kostunica, staunch opposer of the legitimacy of the divorce between Kosovo and Belgrade. Kostunica criticised the negotiator and ex Finnish president for having open the doors, with his solution, to the “creation of the false nation of Kosovo”, but also for having inspired anti-Serbian ethnic prejudice. “Ahtisaari will be remembered for his affirmations according to which Serbians are guilty taken as a people”, Kostunica declared, claiming this expression to be “unacceptable and coarse”. The former Premier, Tanjug newsagency reports, then emphasized that this prize — and the declaration that came from Oslo today that Pristinàs independence would have been a development “without alternative” — are not acceptable and should push “Serbia to show more decision and firmness in the defence of its legitimate sovereignty over Kosovo”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Copts in the Egyptian Press: Controversy Aplenty
by Robeir al-Faris
Our reading of the Cairo press this month takes us to the daily State-owned Rose al-Youssef which printed a fatwa by Sheikh Aly Hamed al-Rifai of the grand mosque of the Mediterranean town of Marsa Matrouh. The fatwa bans serving any food or beverages to non-Muslims during the day throughout the month of Ramadan, out of respect to the feelings of the fasting Muslims. The fatwa remarked that Islam is the State’s official religion and that non-Muslims must respect that. In his daily column in Rose al-Youssef, Hany Labib wondered why the government allows poorly informed imams to issue fatwas or to dictate their rules on non-Muslims as well.
The priest’s wife
Wafaa’ Qostantine’s case is again in the limelight. The story goes back to 2004 when Qostantine, who was a priest’s wife from a small Delta village disappeared from her home and it was rumoured she had converted to Islam. The incident led to demonstrations by angry Coptic crowds who claimed she had been abducted and forced to convert. A few days later Qostantine was brought by the police; she made her by-now famous declaration before the prosecutor: “I was born Christian, have lived as a Christian, and will die Christian”. Since she had originally left because of family problems, and since she could not go back to her ‘normal’ life, Qostantine was allowed to stay on at St Bishoi monastery in the Western Desert where she remains today. A few weeks ago, however, the Islamist writer Zaghloul al-Naggar told the independent weekly al-Khamees that he got to know from a trusted source that Qostantine who, according to Zaghloul, had actually converted to Islam in 2004 and refused to renege on it, had been killed at the monastery. Zaghloul’s declarations gained wide publicity with many claiming that the Church was holding Qostantine captive, forcing her to remain Christian. However, Ibrahim Eissa, editor in chief of the independent weekly al-Dostour wrote a cynical piece criticising such unjustified claims, and sneering that some acted as though Qostantine’s conversion to Islam would solve all the problems on earth for Muslims. Later the weekly, independent al-Masry al-Youm printed an unsubstantiated news item that the Church had decided to let Qostantine appear in a televised interview on Aghapi satellite channel, to prove she was alive and well.
Qostantine’s husband, Fr Youssef Moawwad, died two years ago.
Thought vs. thought
The recently published novel by Youssef Zeidan Azaziel produced controversy aplenty in the Egyptian press. Azaziel is the name of a devil which haunted the wilderness during the biblical times of the Exodus. The story is written in the form of the translation of an ancient manuscript which cites the details of a meeting between the writer and Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople in AD428-31, in which Nestorianisn is strongly defended. Zeidan appeared on a televised interview and declared the novel was fully fiction, nevertheless the book ruffled not a few feathers among Copts. Anba Bishoy, secretary of Holy Synod, said the novel contained a lot of falsities against Christianity and that he was currently in the process of writing a book to refute all the unjustified claims it included. Fr Abdel Messih Baseet said the Church was absolutely against the confiscation of books and that thought could only be fought with counter-thought. Father Rafiq Greiche, the official spokesman of the Catholic Church in Egypt, wrote in Rose al-Youssef that the author of the book is reviving Nestorius’s thought which denies that the Holy Virgin gave birth to God, supporting thus the Islamic belief that Christ is not God.
Worth remarking is that, despite the heated controversy, the Church never called for confiscating the book, but insisted it would refute the claims it made.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libyan Airline Cuts Flights to Switzerland
Libya has stepped up its pressure on Switzerland by reducing the flights of its state airline, a spokesman for Geneva airport confirmed on Saturday.
The Friday and Sunday flights of Afriqiyah Airways between Tripoli and Geneva have been cancelled with immediate effect, leaving only one connection a week, on Tuesdays.
The measure comes at the end of a week in which Libya also announced that it was stopping oil supplies to Switzerland and withdrawing its deposits in Swiss banks.
Diplomatic tensions between the two countries started in July following the arrest in Geneva of one of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi’s sons. He and his wife were accused by two servants of mistreatment. The servants later received compensation and the charges were dropped.
The Swiss foreign ministry said on Friday it had not received any official information from Libya about its current actions, but said efforts were continuing to solve the problems between the two countries.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Threat to Withdraw Billions of Dollars From Swiss Banks
Tripoli, 10 Oct. (AKI) — Libya has threatened to withdraw seven billion dollars worth of assets held in Swiss banks, cut economic ties and stop supplying the country with oil.
The remarks were made by Libyan state news agency Jana on Friday after what the country claims to be the poor treatment of Libyan diplomats and businessmen.
“Due to the poor treatment a number of Libyan diplomats and businessmen received from the police in the canton of Geneva, the Great Jamahiriyah (Libya) has decided to stop pumping crude oil for Switzerland and withdraw Libyan assets deposited in Swiss banks which are worth 7 billion dollars,” said an unnamed foreign ministry source, quoted by state news agency, Jana.
“All forms of economic cooperation with Switzerland will stop until the motives of this bad treatment are made clear,” said the statement.
The remarks were made three months after the arrest of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Motassim Bilal, also known as ‘Hannibal’.
‘Hannibal’ and his wife, Aline Skaf, a former model who at the time was nine months pregnant, are alleged to have beaten two servants at a five-star hotel in Geneva.
They were jailed on 15 July for two days and later freed after posting 300,000 euros in bail. ‘Hannibal’ denied the charges.
According to the Swiss state news agency Swissinfo, Switzerland imports about 20 percent of its oil consumption from Libya, while the North African nation owns one of the country’s two oil refineries and 320 filling stations.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
TLC: Vodafone-UK Opens Customer Service Call Centre in Egypt
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, OCTOBER 13 — Leading international mobile operator Vodafone-UK opened a customer service call centre in Egypt’s last week. The centre, housed at Vodafone-Egypt headquarters, was opened by Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tareq Kamel in the presence of Richard Daly, Vodafone-Egypt Chief Executive Officer. The centre will serve Vodafone customers in the United Kingdom and it is expected to respond to no less than half a million calls monthly through a 500-strong Egyptian workforce. The opening of Vodafone-UK call centre in Egypt consolidates Egypt’s position as a promising market for the outsourcing business and reflects Egypt’s great success in attracting foreign investments in this sector thanks to the highly-competitive potentials it possesses, Kamel said. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Mideast: Israel, Calm Night in Akko, Police Controls City
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, OCTOBER 13 — A precarious calm reigns today over Akko (Saint John in Acre), the Israeli city of 50 thousand inhabitants where, since Wednesday, there have been confrontations between the Jewish and Arabic populations. The night passed without incident, according to the police, but Akko is still under police control. Yesterday, Israel’s two chief Rabbis, Shlomo Amar (Sephardic) and Yona Metzger (Ashkenazi), both called for peace. The Head of State, Shimon Peres, is expected in the city to call for calm. The Culture Minister, Ghaleb Majadleh, the highest-placed Arab in Israeli politics, spent yesterday in Akko trying (so far in vain) to convince the Mayor, Shlomo Lankry, to authorise the staging of the annual alternative theatre festival. According to Lankry, the conditions are not right to hold the cultural event, which usually attracts thousands of visitors. In a radio interview, Majadleh accused the Chief-Rabbi of Akko, Yashar, of having fanned the flames of the conflict in the last few days. Hamas, in Gaza, and the Islamic Movement, in Israel, have urged the Arab population to hold a steadfast position. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon: Agreement Reached With IMF for Aid Programme
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, OCTOBER 13 — The International Monetary Fund has reached a preliminary agreement with the Lebanese Government for the implementation of the second Post Conflict Assistance Programme (PCAP II). The agreement pledges the availability of 39 million dollars from the Fund. According to the Beirut office of ICE, the Lebanese Finance Minister has let it be known that an agreement has been reach with the International Monetary Fund on fiscal, monetary and economic objectives for 2009. He clarified that the financial aid from the IMF would probably generate investments from other sources. The IMF has declared that, since the 2006 war, Lebanon has succeeded in sticking to its task of improving the public finances and reducing the debt-GDP ratio, while the Central Bank has increased its reserves of foreign currency. Lebanon continues to be in a fragile state, however, due to the high public debt and its need for foreign investment. PCAP II will be aimed to support fiscal and economic policy until June 2009. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Top General: NATO Not Losing Afghan War
The top NATO general in Afghanistan said that he rejects the idea that NATO is losing the Afghanistan war to an increasingly bloody Taliban insurgency.
But US Gen. David McKiernan also said Sunday he needs more military forces to tamp down the militants, and he painted a picture of a chaotic Afghan countryside where insurgents hold more power than the Afghan government seven years after the US-led invasion. He said better governance and economic progress were vital.
“It is true that in many places of this country we don’t have an acceptable level of security. We don’t have good governance. We don’t have socio-economic progress,” he told a news conference in Kabul.
“We don’t have progress as evenly or as fast as many of us would like, but we are not losing Afghanistan,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Abu Elvis | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: Odyssey of 51 Moroccans on GNV Ferry
(ANSAmed) — SASSARI, OCTOBER 10 — Around 50 Moroccan immigrants have been on board of the ferry Fantastic of ‘Grandi Navi Veloci’ for days, after last Wednesday the Spanish border police refused the group to enter the country because of false documents. The ship arrived this morning in Porto Torres, after calling at Genoa yesterday. A considerable police force keeps the Moroccans from leaving the Fantastic. The 51 Moroccans left Tangier on Tuesday headed for Barcelona, paying for their tickets. Their attempt to enter Europe failed however, when the Spanish police discovered that their documents were false. This started the odyssey of the 50 who, despite the fact that their movement on the ferry has been restricted, have caused discomfort for the other passengers. The ship was surrounded by the police in Sardinia, also because some illegal immigrants tried to jump into the sea. Tonight the ship will leave for Genoa, then again Barcelona, before returning, on Monday to Tangier, where the 50 will go ashore. (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) — SASSARI, OCTOBER 10 — Around 50 Moroccan immigrants have been on board of the ferry Fantastic of ‘Grandi Navi Veloci’ for days, after last Wednesday the Spanish border police refused the group to enter the country because of false documents. The ship arrived this morning in Porto Torres, after calling at Genoa yesterday. A considerable police force keeps the Moroccans from leaving the Fantastic. The 51 Moroccans left Tangier on Tuesday headed for Barcelona, paying for their tickets. Their attempt to enter Europe failed however, when the Spanish police discovered that their documents were false. This started the odyssey of the 50 who, despite the fact that their movement on the ferry has been restricted, have caused discomfort for the other passengers. The ship was surrounded by the police in Sardinia, also because some illegal immigrants tried to jump into the sea. Tonight the ship will leave for Genoa, then again Barcelona, before returning, on Monday to Tangier, where the 50 will go ashore. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: Shengen Committee Visits Lampedusa
(ANSAmed) — LAMPEDUSA (AGRIGENTO), OCTOBER 10 — In the midst of the unending wave of landings in Lampedusa (this morning a large boat with some hundreds of immigrants aboard was intercepted three miles off the south-western coast by the Coast Guard) the Schengen committee headed by Margherita Boniver has arrived to survey the situation. The aim of the mission is not only to visit Lampedusa’s first contact immigration centre, but to listen to the international humanitarian organizations which are collaborating with local police to face what seems to be an emergency without end. Some 400 non-EU immigrants landed on the island, another 81, who were not able to reach land due to the maritime conditions, remained on board an Italian Navy vessel which is expected in the next few hours at the base in Augusta. As a part of the Shengen delegation there are the Parliamentary Representatives Ivano Strizzolo, vice-president of the committee (Democratic Party), Ida D’Ippolito Vitale (PDL Party), Vincenzo Taddei (PDL) Piergiorgio Siffoni (Lega Nord Trentino) and Mario del Vecchio (PD). (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: 200 Land in Lampedusa
(ANSAmed) — LAMPEDUSA (AGRIGENTO), OCTOBER 10 — There has been a new landing of illegal immigrants in Lampedusa: in plain sight of the delegation from the Schengen Committee, headed by Margherita Boniver and a large number of television cameras, over 200 immigrats — intercepted this morning three miles off the south-western coast and rescued by the Coast Guard — disembarked from two patrol boats as soon as they were moored in the island’s harbour. The non-EU immigrants, exhausted, afraid and in decisively critical conditions (many were without shoes or pants on) are receiving their initial medical exams from representatives of ‘Doctors Without Borders’. Yesterday, 400 non-EU immigrants landed in Lampedusa. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: UNHCR, 100 Somalis Lost in Gulf of Aden
(ANSAmed) — GENEVA, OCTOBER 10 — About one hundred boat-people, the majority Somali, are reported lost in the Gulf of Aden after the traffickers that were transporting them from the Horn of Africa forced them to throw themselves into the water off the coast of Yemen, affirmed today in Geneva the High Commissioner of the UN for refugees (UNHCR). It is feared that they are dead. It is yet another tragedy of this kind in the Gulf of Aden. According to the eye-witness reports of some of the survivors, the vessel was carrying about 150 passengers and had left from the Somali port of Marera, near Bosaso, and had taken three days to cross the Gulf of Aden. Five km from the coast, the majority of the passengers, all except for the 123 who boarded another smaller vessel, were forced to throw themselves overboard. According to the survivors, 47 people reached the beach, stated the spokesman for the UNHCR, Ron Redmond. Searching continues to find other survivors. To escape the violence in Somalia, numerous people try to reach Yemen, but the results are dramatic. Since the beginning of the year, 32 thousand people have landed in Yemen after completing the crossing. At least 230 people have died, and 365 are still unaccounted for including the victims of the most recent incident. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UN: Refugees ‘Forced Overboard’ by People Smugglers Near Yemen
New York/Geneva, 10 Oct. (AKI) — Around 100 people are believed to have died off the coast of Yemen after being forced overboard by people smugglers in the Gulf of Aden, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday.
Some 47 survivors of the tragedy told the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that a smuggling boat carrying about 150 passengers left the Somali port of Marera, near Bossaso, on Monday and spent three days crossing the Gulf of Aden.
The UN agency was told that when the boat arrived about five kilometres off the coast of Yemen, all but 12 of the passengers were forced overboard.
“The twelve were placed in a smaller boat, while the others had to try to swim to shore,” UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond told reporters in Geneva.
“Survivors said they counted a total of 47 people reaching shore, and later saw Yemeni authorities burying five bodies.”
The agency and its partners are searching for about 100 people still missing following the tragic incident, the latest in a recent upsurge of people smuggling across the Gulf of Aden from war-torn Somalia.
Just over two weeks ago, at least 52 Somalis died when the boat smuggling them across the Gulf of Aden broke down and they were left adrift with no food or water for 18 days.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
School Takes 1st-Graders to See Lesbian Teacher Wed
‘This is an overt indoctrination of children who are too young’
A public school in San Francisco bused 18 first-graders to City Hall yesterday, so the youngsters could scatter rose petals in celebration of their lesbian teacher’s wedding.
The students, from Creative Arts Charter School, waited on the steps for their teacher with bags of pink rose petals, bottles of bubbles and, at least for some, with political buttons asking Californians to vote down Proposition 8, a ballot measure that seeks to define marriage in the state as a union between one man and one woman.
“She’s a really nice teacher. She’s the best,” 6-year-old Chava Novogrodsky-Godt told the San Francisco Chronicle, wearing a “No on 8” button on her shirt. “I want her to have a good wedding.”
As WND reported, supporters of California’s Proposition 8 have claimed that combining legalized same-sex marriage with the state’s mandate that schools “teach respect for marriage and committed relationships” would result in kindergartners being taught the virtues of homosexual marriage. Opponents have called such arguments fabrications and scare tactics.
Yesterday’s field trip wasn’t quite kindergartners, but it was close.
“It shows that not only can it happen, but it has already happened,” said Chip White, press secretary for the Yes on 8 campaign.
“It’s just utterly unreasonable that a public school field trip would be to a same-sex wedding,” White told the Chronicle. “This is overt indoctrination of children who are too young to have an understanding of its purpose.”…
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An Ideological Axis of Evil: Islamism, Leftism, and Neo-Nazism
An article by Donald Husting
When Mussolini turned form socialist agitator to fascist leader, writes Alan Cassels in his book, Fascism, he, “[…] did not regard his actions […] as a betrayal of socialism at all. He merely changed brands of socialism”. Later, with only minor adjustments to their personal beliefs, Nazi leaders were able to secure high-up positions in Communist East Germany.
The fluid nature of neo-Nazism and contemporary Socialism also needs to be stressed. While Leftists across Europe denounce as “Nazis” and “fascists” any party opposed to Islamism, a review of neo-Nazism shows that neo-Nazis are — to the contrary — pro-Islamist. Neo-Nazism and contemporary socialism in fact are almost inseparable in their positions: pro-worker/trade union, anti-American, anti-colonialism/anti-imperialism, anti-neo-Conservative, anti-Israel, and, though sometimes disguised, anti-Semitic. But, as Islamism has become an increasing concern for the West, neo-Nazis and socialists are especially alike in regard to their support for it…
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
Mortgage Crisis: Islamic Finance is a Safe Sector
(by Fausto Gasparroni) (ANSAmed) — ROME, OCTOBER 10 — Given the earthquake that has shaken global finance and the general collapse of Western and Asian stock markets, “Islamic” characteristics which make up one part of Arabic financial activity could turn out to be an effective way to soften the blow. The West is taking ever greater interest in Islamic finance, which is founded on Koranic teachings, as a way to take shelter from the global crisis. Until now, Arabic finance has not been at all immune from the crisis unleashed by sub-prime mortgages. At the start of last week, for example, there were multi-point falls on consecutive days in the markets. Yesterday however, on the last day of trading before Friday’s closure (due to national holidays), most Arabic markets closed up — thanks in part to injections of fresh liquidity. The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) finished the day at +3.67% to 3.198 points, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) closed at +0.94. The Kuwait Stock Exchange closed up by +3.8%. The small Muscat Security Market registered the biggest growth of the day, closing +8.3%. There were also good days for Qatar (+1.9%) and for the small Bahrain Stock Exchange (+0.45%). The Egyptian ‘Case-30’ market was also up, having lost 16.47% on Tuesday and 7.1% on Wednesday, doing well yesterday to finish at +3.45% after an initial +7% surge. The only market to lose ground yesterday was the principal one in Gulf, the Saudi market, which closed with a loss of -1.5%, despite battling back from an initial -8%. In the same week the three major Saudi finance houses, Al Rahji Bank, Samba Financial Group and Riyadh Bank, reassured clients by saying that they were in no way exposed to the global mortgage market. The Governor of Saudi Arabia’s Central Bank, Hamad Saud al-Sayari has affirmed that the country’s banks have not been harmed by the international crisis since they have great reserves of liquidity. The relatively tranquillity that finance on the Arabian peninsula is enjoying is due to two factors: the first is that part of the enormous reserves of liquidity is made up of revenue from the sale of crude oil; and the second factor, according to many experts, is the “Islamic” roots of many banks, insurers and local finance companies. Observance of the precepts of the Koran, in fact, represents an effective antidote against excessive speculative risks typical of the so-called “paper economy”. In fact the religious teachings of the Koran forbid not only interest on debts but also investment in particularly risky sectors or economic activities that are not doing well or whose funds are too exposed. The ex-Foreign Minister of Thailand, Surin Pitsuwan, has also spoken out about the solidity of finance based on “sharia”. Whilst addressing the Asean summit in Dubai, Pitsuwan emphasised how many Western companies, now unable to guarantee themselves through debts to conventional sources of finance, are turning to Islamic bonds, known as ‘sukuk’. “Foreign companies”, he explained — according to Arabian Business online — “have realised that there are alternatives and they are exploring them further. They are looking at new Islamic bank initiatives in order to increase their capital and the resources with which to serve their clients”, adding that this “is a growing phenomenon”. (ANSAmed).
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Pope: I Pray Every Day for the Christians in Iraq and India
Benedict XVI invites the Indian faithful to rejoice in the new saint canonized today, and demands that the authors of violence in Orissa and in other states of India renounce “these acts” and work together to build the civilization of love. The pope calls for the recitation of the Rosary on behalf of reconciliation and peace in North Kivu, and of the work of the synod underway at the Vatican.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) — At the end of the canonization Mass for four new saints, including the first Indian woman saint, Benedict XVI recalled today the “violence against Christians in Iraq and India, whom I remember each day before the Lord.”
Before the prayer of the Angelus, added at the end of the celebration, speaking in English, the pope emphasized that the “heroic virtues of patience, fortitude and perseverance in the midst of deep suffering remind us that God always provides the strength we need to overcome every trial. As the Christian faithful of India give thanks to God for their first native daughter to be presented for public veneration, I wish to assure them of my prayers during this difficult time. Commending to the providential care of Almighty God those who strive for peace and reconciliation, I urge the perpetrators of violence to renounce these acts and join with their brothers and sisters to work together in building a civilization of love. God bless you all!”
After greeting the pilgrims who came to celebrate the other canonized saints, the pontiff recalled that October is the month of the Rosary. And he added: “In this regard, I invite you to pray for reconciliation and peace in certain situations provoking alarm and great suffering: I think of the people of North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and of the violence against Christians in Iraq and India, whom I recall each day before the Lord. Let us also invoke the protection of Mary, Queen of Saints, over the work of the synod of bishops meeting at the Vatican in these days.”
In Iraq, especially in the area of Mosul, there has been an escalation in recent days of the fundamentalist and terrorist persecution against Christians.
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2 comments:
"One story concerns a batch of illegal Somali immigrants who were forcibly drowned in the Gulf of Aden by their traffickers. They were evidently en route to the Arabian peninsula, and not Europe."
I didn't know immigrants dreamed of breathing the free air of Sharia in Saudi Arabia. I guess Somalia really is that bad.
Ha ha ha . . .this morning, king lizard is stunned . . .stunned I tells ya, that WaPo journalist, E. J. Dionne states "John McCain represents the reemergence of the far right."
Quoting CJ: "Yes, really. John McCain, far right extremist. Wow. Meanwhile, Barack Obama associates with people who scream “God damn America,” and with people who are guilty of bombing the US Capitol, and gets a complete pass."
Must be awkwardly uncomfortable in front of a mirror for CJ these days.
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