Thus far I haven’t managed to post about Sarah Maple, the British (Muslim) artist who has gotten herself in trouble with sacrilegious photography. Now she’s being actively threatened; check out the news article below.Other stories of note concern the licensed brewing of European beer in the Muslim Middle East and the suppression of writers and publishers in Tunisia and Algeria.
Germany: just like Tunisia, only colder!
Thanks to Abu Elvis, C. Cantoni, Cimmerian, Henrik, Insubria, Islam in Action, JD, JEH, KGS, LN, Steen, TB, turn, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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ACORN ‘Shock Troops’ Tied to Election Crimes Facing Fraud Investigations, Prosecutions, Over Aggressive ‘Voter Registration’ Drives
ACORN’s “shock troops” have been linked to or convicted of perjury, forgery, identity theft and election fraud in recent years, and now are facing investigation for alleged violations of federal election law in 12 states, according to a new report from Matthew Vadum, a senior editor for the Capital Research Center. Vadum, whose work with the Research Center includes studies of non-profit organizations, has released a report titled, “ACORN: Who Funds the Weather Underground’s Little Brother?” documenting the troubled past and current problems facing the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Can the ‘Black Jesus’ Escape an Assassin’s Bullet?
Excluding the sneaking suspicion that the American electorate has collectively lied to the opinion pollsters for fear of appearing to be racists, it seems that only one thing can now prevent Barack Obama’s date with destiny: an assassin’s bullet.
This might sound alarmist, but drive past Obama’s £1 million mansion in the affluent Chicago suburb of Hyde Park — one of the few mixed neighbourhoods in a city still shockingly segregated four decades after Martin Luther King based his civil rights crusade here — and you realise how seriously the threat is taken.
To the anger of his neighbours, who can no longer park in their own driveways without being subjected to airport-style vetting, the house is protected night and day by a dozen armed officers with ‘Secret Service’ emblazoned on their bulletproof vests.
The road, off-limits to all but local residents, is blocked by huge concrete slabs which detract from the eye-catching display of pumpkins that Obama’s wife Michelle and two young daughters have laid around their front gate for Halloween.
Is an audacious attack really expected? Given that Obama has an unprecedented level of protection for a Presidential candidate, it is clear the authorities believe his life is in danger…
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Life of the New Party
By Stanley Kurtz
A variety of evidence now indicates, with a high degree of likelihood, that Barack Obama was a member of the far-left New Party, which also endorsed him in his first run for the Illinois state senate in 1996. Obama’s New party ties graphically illustrate the connection between his troubling “associations” and the core economic issues of the presidential campaign. The New Party’s agenda was radically redistributionist. More important, the New Party’s specific strategy for achieving its economic goals precisely paralleled Obama’s now infamous 2001 radio remarks on “major redistributive change.” So let’s take a tour of New Party ideology, after which we can explore the ever-increasing evidence that Obama himself was in fact a New Party member.
Left of Liberal
Obama’s New Party-endorsed first run for office began in late 1995. So it’s of interest that New Party co-founder Joel Rogers published an essay describing the Left’s need for the New Party in the March/April 1995 issue of The New Left Review. (The New Left Review, can fairly be described as a prestigious outlet for writing that is largely Marxist/Socialist in content.) Since the revelation of Obama’s New Party ties, Rogers has striven to paint his outlook as mainstream and moderate. Yet this 1995 article, contemporaneous with Obama’s run for office as a New Party-endorsed candidate, gives the lie to that claim.
It’s notable that New Party supporter and left-extremist Noam Chomsky is one of the few readers thanked in Rogers’s acknowledgments. From there, Rogers quickly links his political prescription to the claim that there are fundamental problems in the way American society is structured. Above all, Rogers expresses disdain for liberals, who characteristically refuse to take steps to gain “social control of the economy” or to put “serious constraints on capital.” Mere liberals (embodied for Rogers by Bill Clinton) are corrupt tools of “unconstrained capitalism.”
In Rogers’s view, then, American capitalism needs to be tamed and transformed in fundamental, structural, ways, a task which mere liberals are unable and unwilling to undertake. Rogers does also slam America’s use of force in pursuit of its foreign policy goals, and decry our legacy of “four hundred years’ racism.” Yet his focus is clearly on the need to transform the very structure of the American economy.
This is why Rogers addresses himself, not to Clintonian liberals, but to “progressives.” For Rogers, the key difference between the two is that liberals are unwilling to generate a popular movement from below that would remove command of the economy from the hands of corporate capitalists. Liberals are content to manipulate the public from above, when what’s actually needed, says Rogers, is “mobilizing outside the state.” Only such grassroots mobilizing can hope to challenge corporate power…
| — Hat tip: turn | [Return to headlines] |
Mr. Obama: Personal Responsibility, Personal Accountability
By Frosty Wooldridge
How will Obama fix it?
[…]
He will shove Marx’s ideas onto hard working American citizens. It’s going to look like
this example from an unknown Internet blog:
“Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read “Vote Obama, I
need the money.” I laughed.
“Once in the restaurant my server wore an “Obama 08” tie, again I laughed as he had given
away his political preference—just imagine the coincidence.
“When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was
exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I
told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in
need—the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.
“I went outside, gave the homeless guy $5 and told him to thank the server inside as I’ve
decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.
“At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless
guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I
gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed money more.
“I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in
practical application.”
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Obama Would Fail Security Clearance
by Daniel Pipes
With Colin Powell now repeating the lie that Barack Obama has “always been a Christian,” despite new information further confirming Obama’s Muslim childhood (such as the Indonesian school registration listing him as Muslim), one watches with dismay as the Democratic candidate manages to hide the truth on this issue.
Instead, then, let us review a related subject — Obama’s connections and even indebtedness, throughout his career, to extremist Islam. Specifically, he has longstanding, if indirect ties to two institutions, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), listed by the U.S. government in 2007 as an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas-funding trial; and the Nation of Islam (NoI), condemned by the Anti-Defamation League for its “consistent record of racism and anti-Semitism.”
First, Obama’s ties to Islamists…
| — Hat tip: Henrik | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Accepting Untraceable Donations Won’t Use Basic Security Measures to Prevent Illegal, Anonymous Contributions
Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is allowing donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor’s identity, campaign officials confirmed.
Faced with a huge influx of donations over the Internet, the campaign has also chosen not to use basic security measures to prevent potentially illegal or anonymous contributions from flowing into its accounts, aides acknowledged. Instead, the campaign is scrutinizing its books for improper donations after the money has been deposited.
The Obama organization said its extensive review has ensured that the campaign has refunded any improper contributions, and noted that Federal Election Commission rules do not require front-end screening of donations.
In recent weeks, questionable contributions have created headaches for Obama’s accounting team as it has tried to explain why campaign finance filings have included itemized donations from individuals using fake names, such as Es Esh or Doodad Pro. Those revelations prompted conservative bloggers to further test Obama’s finance vetting by giving money using the kind of prepaid cards that can be bought at a drugstore and cannot be traced to a donor.
The problem with such cards, campaign finance lawyers said, is that they make it impossible to tell whether foreign nationals, donors who have exceeded the limits, government contractors or others who are barred from giving to a federal campaign are making contributions.
“They have opened the floodgates to all this money coming in,” said Sean Cairncross, chief counsel to the Republican National Committee. “I think they’ve made the determination that whatever money they have to refund on the back end doesn’t outweigh the benefit of taking all this money upfront.”
The Obama campaign has shattered presidential fundraising records, in part by capitalizing on the ease of online giving. Of the $150 million the senator from Illinois raised in September, nearly $100 million came in over the Internet.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Wins Shaman Vote: Video
October 30, 2008—Barack Obama has already won a landslide among one demographic. Shamans in Peru burned incense over a llama fetus and threw flowers on posters of Obama and John McCain to send good vibes to the candidates.
| — Hat tip: Abu Elvis | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands of Students Found Registered in Two States
An ongoing analysis of data matching voter registration lists in other states with the list of newly registered voters in Virginia has confirmed that there are thousands of students who attend college in Virginia who are registered here as well as in their home state. Even more alarming, some of these students have applied for absentee ballots in their home state after having just registered to vote here.
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Quebec Demands Immigrants Sign-Off on ‘Shared Values’
MONTREAL — Future immigrants to Quebec will be required to sign a declaration promising to learn French and respect Quebec’s “shared values,” the government announced on Wednesday.
In a document with echoes of the controversial code adopted last year by the rural town of Hérouxville, immigrants will be informed that Quebec is a democracy where men and women are equal and violence is prohibited.
“Quebecers have said yes to immigration, but they said yes to immigration on the condition that these immigrants integrate into our society,” Immigration Minister Yolande James said as she announced the policy, which takes effect in January. She added that immigrating to Quebec “is a privilege not a right.”
| — Hat tip: Islam in Action | [Return to headlines] |
What’s the Canadian Islamic Congress Doing for Halloween?
By Ezra Levant
That’s not a sentence that I thought I’d ever write, though it does lend itself to a few obvious jokes about what costumes their president for life, Mohamed Elmasry, would choose to wear, and whether they would make him more or less scary than he is when he’s being himself.
Elmasry, readers will recall, is famous for two things: appearing on Michael Coren’s TV show to declare that all adult Israelis are a legitimate target for terrorist attacks, and for filing a “human rights” complaint (three of them, actually) against Maclean’s magazine for publishing a book excerpt from Mark Steyn’s America Alone. Here’s an essay I wrote about the great man for the National Post, before he launched his fatwa against Maclean’s.
Well, news comes from Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs that Zijad Delic, the Canadian Islamic Congress’s executive director and Elmasry’s right hand man, will be giving a lecture at Foreign Affairs’ headquarters in Ottawa. That’s right: the Jew-hating, terrorist-condoning Canadian Islamic Congress will be lecturing Canadian diplomats and bureaucrats, on government property and the taxpayers’ dime.
I can hardly wait to hear the reviews from Delic’s talk. Will he start off with a defence of Saudi-style censorship, as he did in this article? Or will he skip straight to the good stuff, such as the CIC’s praise for Iran’s Mahmoud Ahamdinejad and his nuclear ambitions? I hope Canada’s diplomats are taking notes!
Here’s a copy of the memo sent out to all staff at DFAIT headquarters earlier this week…
| — Hat tip: JEH | [Return to headlines] |
Credit Crunch ‘May Turn Whites to Far Right’
Britain faces a surge in far-right extremism if white working-class families do not get help with the economic crisis, the race watchdog warned yesterday.
Trevor Phillips, of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, wants action so Britons can compete for jobs with skilled migrants.
He dismissed suggestions immigration should be capped. But he warned the UK faces the same flare-ups of racial tension seen in Austria, Belgium and Holland if ministers to do not do more for working-class whites.
Mr Phillips said: “The name of the game today is to tackle inequality.
“In most parts of this country the disadvantaged won’t be black or brown, they’ll be white.”
Labour MP Jon Cruddas, who is battling the far-right BNP in his Dagenham seat, warned the extremist party could benefit from economic misery. He said: “They will be trying to feed off this.”
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Cyprus: Government to Amend Law Banning Entry to “Idiots”
(ANSAmed) — NICOSIA, 9 OTT — The Cyprus Interior Ministry is currently reviewing the law that prevents “idiots or mentally ill” people from entering the island. The law on paper actually bans entry to persons that are “idiots or insane or mentally ill or for any other reason they may be unable to care for themselves”, as Cyprus Mail reports. Interior Minister Neoklis Silikiotis made the announcement yesterday, in response to an article by Alithia newspaper, which brought the issue to light. Silikiotis said the law, which also bans entry to prostitutes or any person that lives off prostitution, was being revaluated in accordance to European directives. The minister admitted that the law was outdated and contained criteria that could be described as “monstrous”, but he insisted they had never been implemented. He said ministry officials were currently working on the new legislation and that the criteria would be changed and made clearer. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Gallery Attacked Over ‘Insulting’ Artworks
A gallery showing inflammatory images of veiled Muslims, including a bare-breasted woman partially clad in a burqa, is under police surveillance after being attacked earlier this week.
Windows and doors at the SaLon Gallery in west London were smashed after a series of abusive, anonymous phone calls and angry protests about the images from Muslims. The gallery has complained to police.
The solo exhibition of paintings by Sarah Maple includes a veiled woman holding a pig, which is interpreted as a flagrant disregard of the Islamic ban on eating pork. The show — entitled “This Artist Blows” — also includes two self-portraits: one of Maple wearing a headscarf has an image of Kate Moss’s naked breast attached to it; another shows Maple in a T-shirt bearing the slogan “I love jihad”. In another, a veiled Muslim woman wears a badge that says “I love orgasms”.
Last night, Maple, a 23-year-old of Kenyan and British parentage, defended her work, saying she had not meant to cause offence but to explore her Britishness and her Muslim faith. She voiced concern about her safety and said she hoped the exhibition of 39 pictures, which opened this month, would not be taken down before its official closing date of 23 November.
“I do think some people have just reacted to my work without thinking about the concepts behind it,” she said. “I’m a practising Muslim and initially, when I started making the work, it was really personal, about my background with my father being British and my mother who is a Muslim and how I felt growing up. I was exploring the question of fusing those two together and whether it could be done.”
[…]
A spokeswoman for SaLon said the gallery in Bayswater, a part of London with a large Muslim population, was receiving about 12 abusive phone calls a day and emails condemning the show. Staff had to call police last week after an angry woman came in to complain. “She was in a full burqa and was irate and upset. Her behaviour was quite threatening,” added the spokeswoman.
While some of Maple’s paintings can be seen through the gallery’s front window, the more controversial works are behind a curtain downstairs.
Mokhtar Badri, the vice-president of the Muslim Association of Britain, said that while he thought the exhibition provocative, he defended freedom of expression and condemned any violence inspired by the display. “I urged the gallery and the artist to respect the community in the area, but if Muslims see the work and dislike it, it is completely wrong to use any violent expression of that,” he added.
Inayat Bunglawala, of the Muslim Council of Britain, agreed: “People may well have strong views on the use of Islamic imagery in Sarah Maple’s exhibition. However, there can be no justification whatsoever for hooliganism of this sort or issuing threats.”
| — Hat tip: Cimmerian | [Return to headlines] |
Imams Head to Morocco for ‘Training’
An estimated 40 Moroccan imams who work at mosques in the Netherlands went back to Rabat for ‘training’ last Friday, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday.
The paper says the imams made the trip at the cost of the Moroccan government and without consulting mosque officials.
‘This is an undesirable situation,’ a spokesman for the Dutch Moroccan alliance SMN told the paper.
MPs have asked for an explanation about the trip ahead of Thursday afternoon’s debate on alleged spying in the Netherlands by Moroccan nationals.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Iranian Court Finds Way to Acquit Christians of ‘Apostasy’
Compass Direct News: An Iranian judge has ordered the release of two pastors charged with “apostasy,” or leaving Islam, but the defendants said the ruling was based on the court’s false claim that they confessed to having never converted to Christianity.
Mahmoud Matin Azad, 52, said he and Arash Basirat, 44, never denied their Christian faith and believe the court statement resulted from the judge seeking a face-saving solution to avoid convicting them of apostasy, which soon could automatically carry the death penalty.
Azad and Basirat were arrested May 15 and acquitted on Sept. 25 by Branch 5 of the Fars Criminal Court in Shiraz, 600 kilometers (373 miles) south of Tehran.
A court document obtained by human rights organization Amnesty International stated, “Both had denied that they had converted to Christianity and said that they remain Muslim, and accordingly the court found no further evidence to the contrary.”
Azad vehemently denied the official court statement, saying the notion of him being a Muslim never even came up during the trial.
“The first question that they asked me was, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘I am a pastor pastoring a house church in Iran,” he told Compass. “All my [court] papers are about Christianity — about my activity, about our church and everything.”
Members of Azad’s house church confirmed that the government’s court statement of his rejection of Christianity was false.
“His faith wasn’t a secret — he was a believer for a long, long time,” said a source who preferred to remain anonymous.
| — Hat tip: Henrik | [Return to headlines] |
Mortgage Crisis: King Sure That Spain Will be in Washington
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, OCTOBER 28 — King Juan Carlos said that he was “sure” that Spain will take part in a summit in Washington on November 15, where G-20 countries will debate about the international financial and economic crisis. During an official visit to Peru, in official statements to the media, the head of State confirmed that “Spain must be there” because “it is enough to look at economic data”, he observed referring to statistics that ranked the country in the eight in the list of world powers. “Then there are also a series of historical circumstances”, added the monarch, explaining why Spain is not a member of the G-7 or the G-20 which includes emerging countries. Over the past weeks the Spanish government laid out a diplomatic offensive at all levels to assure itself a place in Washington. For José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in front of the Psoe Executive Committee, he defined Spain’s presence at the world financial summit as “unavoidable”, according to reports from the media, stating also ideological necessities of “bringing in more progressive voices”. “In Spain, Europe, and the world, the exit from the crisis with be given by democracies”, said the socialist premier. Zapatero aimed at British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Brazilian President Luis Ignazio Lula de Silva, as allies with whom to unite forces in a search for a “profound change” to the neo-conservative ideological model, which has entered into crisis. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Traffic Agency Bans Reverse Oral Sex
Officials with Sweden’s Road Administration (Vägverket) have denied a driver’s request for a licence place with what at first glance appears to be a completely innocent combination of characters.
Recently, the agency received a request from an individual who wanted a licence plate reading X32IARO.
Despite no obviously offensive reference in the desired combination, Vägverket nonetheless rejected the application.
“It looks like something completely different when seen through a rear-view mirror, and on the road, many end up reading things through the rear-view mirror,” said Vägverket spokesperson Mikael Andersson to the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.
When read in reverse, as it would be seen through a rear-view mirror, X32IARO suddenly appears as ORALSEX.
Andersson explained that the agency has no specific set of rules for how applications are reviewed and that the hidden meaning of seemingly harmless set of letters and numbers just happened to be uncovered by a Vägverket employee reviewing the application.
“It’s not like we have a checklist for how we check the applications, but it requires a certain degree of creativity to discover inappropriate words,” said Andersson.
The guiding principle is that a licence plate shouldn’t be offensive, regardless of whether it’s read forwards or backwards.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: ‘One-Eye’ Defence Fails for Drunken Driver
A Swedish woman stopped by police for driving while intoxicated did her best to get officers to turn a blind eye toward her offence.
Last summer police received a tip about the woman’s erratic driving near Östernärke in central Sweden, reports the Nerikes Allehanda newspaper.
Upon catching up with the woman’s vehicle, which was swerving across all lanes, officers tried in vain with sirens and lights to get the woman to pull over.
After being followed for three kilometres, the woman finally stopped at the side of the road as officers pulled up alongside.
A breath test revealed the woman’s blood alcohol level was nearly ten times Sweden’s legal limit of 0.02 percent.
In pleading her case on the side of the road, the 56-year-old woman argued that her driving wasn’t affected because she’d been careful to keep one eye closed to prevent her from seeing double.
Unfortunately, the court saw right through her defence, and sentenced the woman to two months in prison for aggravated drunken driving.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Commander in Line for EU Military Post
European defence chiefs agreed on Wednesday to the appointment of Håkan Syrén, Supreme Commander of Sweden’s Armed Forces, to be the new chair of the European Union Military Committee (EUMC).
The appointment would him the EU’s highest ranking military officer.
The decision won’t be formalized until November 10th when EU foreign and defence ministers take a final on the issue, according to Swedish military spokesperson Roger Magnergård.
Syrén’s approval, which is expected by most observers, will most likely require him to step down from his current duties as Sweden’s Supreme Commander before his term expires in December of next year.
“The new assignment would of course mean that I have to leave my post early. When exactly that might happen still remains unclear,” said Syrén in a statement.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Carlsberg Finalises Turkish Unit Sale to CBC Group
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, OCTOBER 24 — Danish brewery group Carlsberg said yesterday it had finalised the sale of its 95.6% stake in the Turkish unit Turk Tuborg Bira ve Malt Sanayii AS (Turk Tuborg) to Israel-based partner Central Bottling Company Group (CBC). The deal was closed in July 2008 and the price amounts to USD 80 million (EUR 62.6m). The divestment is part of the group’s optimisation efforts, Carlsberg president and CEO Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen said upon the signing of the deal on July 23. The Turkish company will now continue production of the Carlsberg and Tuborg beer brands on a licence basis. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: Libyan Minister to Work With Italy
(ANSAmed) — VALLETTA, OCTOBER 29 — The deal reached between Italy and Libya on illegal immigration measures shows Tripolìs commitment to cooperate with Mediterranean countries bearing the brunt of the problem. This was said by Libyan Foreign Minister Abdurrahman Mohammed Shalghem, who is on an official visit to Malta. Shalghem, who met with Maltese Foreign Minister Tonio Borg, said that Libya is suffering from an “invasion” of immigrants. “We have the same problems that you have in Europe,” said the government representative from Tripoli. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco: EU Commission to Distribute School Kits in Tangiers
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, OCTOBER 28 — The European Commission Delegation in Morocco, together with other partners, is distributing 3,000 school-kits for children living in the district Béni Makada, in Tangiers. This effort is part of the ‘Social Housing in Tangiers’ project, co-financed by the EU with over 70 million dirhams. The kits consist of school bags, exercise books, pencils, pens, caps and T-shirts and will be given to girls and boys aged four and five years. It is an action designed to make the beneficiary families more aware of the importance of schooling for their children, the Delegation says in a press release.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Educational Trips to Morocco for Castille Students
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, OCTOBER 29 — More than 35,000 students in the Castile-La Mancha schools will be able to participate in 60 educational and cultural trips in Spain and Morocco, in the framework of a regional activity plan provided for this school year by the Education and Science councilman. The programme, reported by the public committee, was realised in collaboration with the Moroccan government and the International Institute of Mediterranean Theatre. Entitled “The arrival of the other”, it will allow students to participate in trips to the Meghrebi country to make an “intercultural and coexistence experience” a possibility between the Castile-La Mancha and Moroccan students. It is, inform sources, an activity plan which complements education, in which last school year over 500 schools in the region participated, aiming to teach young learners the values of coexistence and sharing, as well as historical awareness and geography and environment. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Heineken Beer to be Brewed by Sonobra Company
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, October 17 — Heineken, Holland’s renowned beer, is now also to be brewed in Tunisia. To this end, Tunisian group Boujbal has constructed a factory in Grombalia, around thirty kilometres from the capital heading towards Hammamet, giving life to the Sonobra company. Production, management promise, will be completely identical to that of the parent company. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Yemen, Netherlands Celebrate Years of Cooperation
For the first time in Yemen, a Vocal Jazz group performed at the Sana’a Culture House, celebrating thirty years of Dutch-Yemen development cooperation. The Yemeni audience was blown away by this new type of music, clapping their hands and stomping their feet along with the predominantly expat audience. Yemeni’s in the crowd were especially amazed by the harmony of the group, who performed without instruments and acted while signing.
A large number of foreign diplomats and high ranking Yemeni officials enjoyed an hour of music performed by the Dutch Biltstars.
Saturday October 25th, Yemen and the Netherlands celebrated with the Biltstars’ performance the 30th anniversary of the signing of the “Agreement on Technical Cooperation” between Yemen and the Netherlands. This Agreement marked the beginning of Dutch-Yemeni development cooperation, which has continued without interruption until today. Over three decades the two countries have implemented a wide range of activities in Yemen in many fields, including education, health, water, governance, human rights, and women’s empowerment.
The Dutch Embassy invited the the Biltstars, a nine-person, mixed top vocal jazz group from the Netherlands to perform. Like in Yemen, singing is a popular method of cultural expression in the Netherlands. Unlike in the Arab world where most singing is either by a sole lead voice, or in ‘unison’ by a group of singers (for example ‘nasheed’ in Yemen), in the Netherlands mixed voice singing is very popular. There are many (both amateur and professional) performers in hundreds of groups all over the country. A-capella (using voices only, without instruments) close-harmony singing is one of the more difficult forms, mastered by the Biltstars in its best form. They perform not only by singing, but also with a subtle choreography. The embassy is proud, with the cooperation of the Yemeni Ministry of Culture, the Biltstars were able to present for a Yemeni audience their best performance in the one-and-half hour show on Saturday 25 October.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria: Benchicou, New Book Seized by Police
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, OCTOBER 20 — The new book by Mohamed Benchicou, former director of the Algerian newspaper Le Matin, already detained two years, was seized by Algerian police who raided the printing works where it was being printed. “All of the documents as well as the manuscript of Journal d’un homme libre (Diary of a Free Man)”, Benchicou said during a press conference in Algiers “were seized by police after a raid at the Mauguin printing works in Blida”. “This is authority wanting to launch a message to all creators in order to silence them”. In the new book, Benchicou tells the story of the most recent period in his life, since his release from prison the 14th of June 2006. “It is the second part of ‘Le Geoles d’Alger’ (‘The Prisons of Algiers’). I tell of the last two years of my life as a free man, but it is also critical of the fighting between clans for the third term of President Bouteflika”. Benchicou, author of the 2004 book ‘Bouteflika An Algerian Impostor’, the sale of which is still banned in Algeria, spent two years in prison (2004-2006) officially for “the illegal transfer of capital”. Le Matin closed down after he was sentenced, to reappear a year ago, but only in an online version. ‘Le Geoles d’Alger’ was also removed from the last international salon of Algerian literature. Journal ‘un homme libre, Benchicou assured ‘‘if it doesn’t come out in Algeria, it will be published in France and on Internet”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy ‘Warned’ Libya of US Attack
Gaddafi told of 1986 Tripoli bombing plan the day before
(ANSA) — Rome, October 30 — Italy warned Libya about the United States’ plan to bomb Tripoli a day before the attack in 1986, Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam said at a Rome press conference Thursday.
The warning by then Italian premier Bettino Craxi may have helped save the life of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and most of his family, whose house in Tripoli was hit during the bombings, Shalgam added.
‘‘Premier Craxi sent an Italian friend we had in common to tell me, ‘Watch out, on April 14 or 15 there will be an American raid against Libya,’’ said the minister, who at the time was the Libyan ambassador in Rome.
The then Italian foreign minister, Giulio Andreotti, confirmed Shalgam’s story, adding that the U.S. bombing of Tripoli and Bengasi on April 14 had been ‘‘a totally improper initiative, an international error’’.
U.S. president Ronal Reagan ordered the bombing in retaliation for a terrorist attack attributed to Libyan agents on a Berlin disco, La Belle, which was full of U.S. soldiers.
Three people died and over 200 were injured when a bomb hidden under a table exploded on April 5.
British prime minister Margaret Thatcher was the only European premier who gave permission for U.S. forces to use airbases for the retaliatory attack, which lasted 12 minutes and hit military bases and barracks in the two cities as well as Gaddafi’s residence and some civilian buildings.
Over 20 people were killed in the bombings, including Gaddafi’s 15-month-old adopted daughter, although the rest of the Libyan leader’s family was able to flee moments before.
‘‘It was difficult to know the exact time and place of the attack,’’ Shalgam explained.
The Maltese press has claimed in the past that then premier Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici called to warn Gaddafi when U.S planes were spotted in Maltese airspace.
Libya reacted to the bombings by launching missiles against U.S. coastguard stations on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa ‘‘and certainly not against Italy’’, Shalgam said.
The U.S. bombing was one of a series of events that led up to the 1988 hijacking and bombing of a Pan Am passenger plane over Lockerbie, Scotland, in which 270 people died. Libya assumed responsibility for the Lockerbie incident in 2003.
Shalgam was in Rome for a press conference on a friendship and cooperation accord which aims to resolve issues related to Italy’s colonial occupation of Libya.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini repeated an invitation for Gaddafi to visit Italy, where he said he would be welcomed ‘‘as a friend’’.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Publishing: Tunisia, Weekly Paper Confiscated
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, OCTOBER 23 — The Arab-language Tunisian weekly ‘Mouatinoun’ (Citizen), out yesterday, has been confiscated. Daily paper ‘Le Temps’ said that the decision was taken based on article 73 of the law on the press for “statements against the law”. The file concerned has been sent to the Public Prosecutor.(ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
TV: Algeria; Minister, Private Broadcasters Not Expected
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, OCTOBER 28 — The opening up of the Algerian television sector to private broadcasters still seems to be a long way off. According to the Algerian communications minister, Abderrachid Boukerzaza, “the moment for the opening-up of the audiovisual sector to private operators has still not arrived”. “If private companies entered the sector there would be problems with planning and financing”, said Boukerzaza on national radio, clarifying that currently “just 10% of the programs broadcast by the State are produced privately: still too little” to think about private television. Currently there is only the State-run ENTV, which in the next few months, said Boukerzaza, will launch five new thematic channels dedicated to culture, the Koran and information. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jerusalem Museum Sparks Muslims’ Outrage
Muslim authorities expressed outrage on Thursday after the Israeli High Court gave the go-ahead for the construction of a Museum of Tolerance on the site of a Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem.
The Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, called the court ruling a “grave decision” which “harms the Muslim holy sites.”
He said it was difficult to believe the project’s promoters would want to build a Museum of Tolerance “whose construction constitutes an act of aggression.”
The High Court on Wednesday rejected appeals by two Muslim organizations which complained that the museum would be built over part of an ancient Muslim cemetery.
“We will mobilize in the Arab and Muslim world so that it puts pressure to halt the project,” said Sheikh Raed Salah who heads Israel’s Islamic Movement.
Arab-Israeli MP Mohammed Barakeh called the decision an Israeli attempt to “wipe out the Arab and Muslim character of Jerusalem”.
The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre is the main promoter of the museum, designed by renowned U.S. architect Frank Gehry.
“Moderation and tolerance have prevailed, said Rabbin Marvin Hier, the dean of the centre, following the court’s decision.
“All citizens of Israel, Jews and non-Jews, are the real beneficiaries of this decision,” he said.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Knesset’s Right-Wing Factions Merge to Form New Party
Factions comprising National Union-National Religious Party agree on merge, declare birth of new right-wing party intended to appeal to broad voter demographic, including seculars, that will serve as ‘political home’ for entire right-wing movement. No leader has emerged yet, and no one knows how said leader will be elected
Members of the factions comprising the National Union- National Religious Party met on Wednesday evening and agreed to unite their ranks, merging to form a new right-wing party.
The new party is intended to appeal to a broader range of voters, moving outside the factions’ comfort zone to include secular citizens as well.
“We’ll put the emphasis on Judaism, Zionism and a Jewish identity,” said officials within the fledgling political entity, which will be given a new name.
At present time, however, it remains unclear who will head the new party. Even the method of his or her election remains vague. At Wednesday’s meeting the factions voted to dissolve their previous individual codes and agree on a new list of guidelines for the unnamed party.
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
Mideast: Hamas Announces Liberation of PLO Prisoners
(ANSAmed) — GAZA, OCTOBER 30 — The Hamas premier announced that the Islamic party which holds power in the Gaza Strip will free political prisoners belonging to PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) and Islamic rival organisation Jihad. Ismail Haniyah explained the decision, which should be enacted in the next few hours, as a gesture of good will in view of the meeting between all of the Palestinian components expected in Cairo on November 9. Speaking to a meeting of the Gaza police body, the head of the Islamic government said that the decision for his government is going in the direction hoped for by the other sides to liberate political prisoners. Hamas spokesperson, Taher Al-Nunu, specified that the number of political prisoners in the Gaza Strip amounts to “about 20 people”. Independent Palestinian journalist sources told ANSA that the number of prisoners “is a few hundred”. On November 9, in Cairo, the start of a national reconciliation conference between all 15 Palestinian groups in the West Bank and Gaza is expected: the 13 ‘lay’ groups that are part of the PLO, the most important of which is Al-Fatah, and the two Islamic movements, Hamas and rival Jihad The result of the reconciliation, who Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is putting on as much diplomatic pressure as possible, is to reach a Palestinian government of national unity, which can act as a direct or indirect interlocutor with Israel, in a hopeful resuming of the peace process. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Olmert Apologizes to Mubarak for Official’s Taunt
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apologized to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday after rightwing MP Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday that if Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak does not wish to visit Israel he can “get lost”.
The fiery ultra-nationalist Lieberman, a former strategic affairs minister, was speaking in parliament where he heads the Yisrael Beitenu party which has 11 of the 120 seats.
Avigdor Lieberman, who quit Olmert’s governing coalition in January in protest at peace efforts with the Palestinians, blasted Israeli leaders for regularly flying out to Egypt to meet Mubarak without insisting on “reciprocity”.
“If he wants to speak to us, let him come here. If he doesn’t want to come here, he can get lost,” Lieberman said in a speech to parliament.
In apologizing, Israel is apparently aware that Lieberman’s comments may cause offence in Egypt even though he is no longer in the government.
Mubarak attended the 1995 funeral of assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin but has not come to Israel since. Ties between Israel and Egypt, which signed a landmark peace accord in 1978, were strained by the breakdown of talks on the Palestinian track which led to an eruption of violence in 2000.
Olmert’s office said that he had spoken with Mubarak by telephone and apologized for Lieberman’s “crude statements”.
“The prime minister stressed that Israel views Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as a strategic partner and a close friend,” Olmert’s office said in a statement.
Israeli President Shimon Peres, who met Mubarak at an Egyptian resort on the Red Sea last week, deplored Lieberman’s “impolite remark”.
“I just talked to him (Mubarak) on the phone, and I am so glad that he is trying to see what are the chances of furthering the causes of peace in all of our region,” Peres said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Bush to Attend Interfaith Conference
WASHINGTON — US President George W. Bush has accepted Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s personal invitation to attend a Nov. 13 UN interfaith conference, the White House said Wednesday.
Bush “appreciates King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia’s initiative in calling for this dialogue and remains committed to fostering interfaith harmony among all religions, both at home and abroad,” said spokeswoman Dana Perino.
The New York meeting, which aims to promote dialogue among the world’s monotheistic religions, will be a follow-up to an interfaith conference held in Madrid in July which was spurred by an initiative by King Abdullah.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Energy: Turkey, Iran May Sign Investment Deal in November
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, OCTOBER 23 — Turkey and Iran have resolved problems on planned investment in the South Pars gas field and they may sign a production accord in November, media reports said today. Turkey is opposed to an Iranian plan to build a new pipeline to transport natural gas to Europe and urged for the planned Nabucco project pipeline to be used instead, the Hurriyet daily website reported. In a separate report, TV station NTV said Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler will visit Iran next month and sign the deal after both parties agreed on the investment model and plan of three natural gas fields in the country’s South Pars region. Turkey and Iran had earlier failed to conclude expected energy accords during the visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Turkey in August. The United States, which is seeking to isolate Tehran over it nuclear program, opposes the plan. Guler had earlier denied that the natural gas deal with Iran would be suspended and he said he would visit Tehran to sign when the next deal was ready. Under the deal, Turkey’s state-owned petroleum company TPAO will explore in Iran’s South Pars field and gas will be piped to Turkey for consumption or re-export to European markets. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
How the Mutawas (Morality Police) Keep the Saudi Society Clean From Vice
by Sami Alrabaa
Four months ago Salaman Al Huraisi, a 28-year old hotel security guard was tortured to death in the headquarters of the Saudi Commission for the Protection of Virtue and Suppression of Vice. Its 10.000 men are known as the “Mutawas” (pious men). Maher Al Hamizi, the lawyer of the Huraisi family said, an autopsy has shown that Salman’s skull was split open and his eyes were dislodged from their sockets. After midnight of a humid hot day, a GMC loaded with Mutawas stormed into Al Huraisi’s house in a poor area of Riyadh. While shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) they broke down the house’s doors and tore personal belongings looking for alcohol. His alleged crime: he drank beer.
Human Rights Watch reported, Sina, 25-years old Mongolian girl, who was shopping in a glitzy Riyadh mall was spotted by two Mutawas. They canned her and shoved her into their GMC because she did not cover her face. They denounced her as Filipina Gahba (Filipina whore), drove her to their office where they raped her and sent her to prison.
Muhammed Sadeeq, a Bangladeshi, told Spiegel On-Line, his brother Ahmed died after being hauled into a local Commission headquarters for being in a car with a woman who was not his close relative. The Mutawas did not believe that Ahmed was employed as the family’s driver. Ahmed was a diabetic. The Mutawas refused to allow him get his medication…
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Iran-Turkey Gas Pipeline Delay to Hurt Turkish Economy
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, OCTOBER 28 — Turkey could face a serious gas shortage at the beginning of next year if the planned pipeline to carry Iranian natural gas to Turkey is not completed on time, the statés Petroleum Pipeline Corporation warned the government, as reported by Turkish Daily News. Heavily dependent on foreign energy supplies in previous years Turkey has faced shortage risks posed mainly by Iran’s decision to cut the flow of natural gas to Turkey. In order to avoid this, Turkish and Iranian officials agreed to build an additional pipeline to secure the flow. Any halt to the flow of gas is also a matter of concern for the production of electricity since more than 50% of the country’s electricity is produced by natural gas. Gas flow problems derive from the limited capacity of the existing pipeline where gas loses compression while passing through Iranian cities on the Tabriz-Urumiyah line. As a result the amount of gas Turkey received from Iran fell to 4-5 million cubic meters per day from an expected level of 18-29 million cubic meters forcing Turkey to compensate the loss by raising gas imports from Russia. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Light Dawns on Girls’ Education
RIYADH — King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, on Wednesday launched a SR20 billion girls’ university project in Riyadh, the first exclusive state university for women in the Kingdom.
The King named the university after Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman, the sister of King Abdul Aziz, founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
‘Nourah’ in Arabic means ‘light.’
The university will offer courses in subjects like medicine, pharmacy, management, computer sciences and languages. With a planned built up area of three million sq.m., the university will be among the world’s largest for women.
“Higher education for girls in the Kingdom has achieved a dimension never reached before,” said Minister of Finance Ibrahim Al-Assaf during the foundation-stone laying ceremony at the site outside Riyadh.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Mortgage Crisis: Gulf Markets Down, Riad and Dubai OK
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, OCTOBER 28 — With the exceptions of Saudi Arabia and Dubai, the Gulf stock markets have not managed to avoid a fourth consecutive day of losses despite the interventions announced and put into action in the last few days. In Riad, trading concluded with a solid performance of +5.31%, an encouraging response to yesterday’s declarations by the central governor who assured that Saudi banks were served by the good liquidity in the system. Yesterday, the index of the Dubai market was 4.17% into the red. There was a tepid day of gains for the Dubai Financial Market which closed at +0.32% (2,932.06 points) with a good performance from real estate shares. The other United Arab Emirates market, the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchage had a bad day however, closing out the session at -1.45% to 3,273.45 points with heavy losses in the construction and energy sectors. The Kuwait Securities Exchange was down 205 points despite the announcement yesterday that the government would support the Gulf Bank and guarantee deposits. The Qatar markets was down too, to 6,435.55 points compared to 6,792.40 registered yesterday and so was the Bahrain market: 2,119.05 points compared to 2,142.96 points yesterday. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Wives Can Use Karate Against Violent Husbands
Fatwa asserts a woman’s right to self-defence. Issued in Turkey it has been approved by Egyptian religious scholars as well as a prominent Saudi religious figure. It has however raised concerns among conservatives that it might “stir up rebellion” within families.
Riyadh (AsiaNews) — Women can use karate, judo and taekwondo in self-defence against violent husbands, this according to a fatwa that conservatives fear might “stir up rebellion” within families.
Originally issued in Turkey the fatwa was backed by Islamic scholars in Egypt and now has the seal of approval of Sheikh Mohsen al Obeikan, an adviser to the Saudi Ministry of Justice and a member of the Saudi Shura Council.
Contacted by Asharq Al-Awsat, Al Obeikan explained however that women can only hit their husbands in self-defence.
In his opinion the principle of self-defence is rooted in the Sharia, the Qur’an and the Hadith. The Qur’an in fact says that the “recompense for an injury is an injury equal thereto (in degree)” and “. . . whoever then acts aggressively against you, inflict injury on him according to the injury he has inflicted on you”.
The original fatwa was issued by a well-known Turkish religious scholar, Fethullah Gulen, who ruled that it is within a woman’s right to defend herself by countering violence with violence, and that women should learn martial arts to protect themselves against their husbands.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Families Reject Unstable Members
A senior official at the Saudi Ministry of Health said psychological patients in the kingdom are facing many challenges, on top of which are lack of services and rejection by families, according to a press report on Wednesday.
Head of the psychological and social division at the Ministry Dr. Abdul-Hamid al-Habib said 33% of psychological patients are facing rejection from their families, the London-based al-Hayat reported.
On the other hand, a Saudi study stated that 30% of Gulf patients suffer from depression due to marital problems and that married couples that frequent psychiatric clinics are always diagnosed with psychosomatic disorders (physical ailments triggered by psychological diseases).
According to the study, 80% of psychological disorders afflicting children are triggered by marital problems at home or separation from the parents, which makes them subject to delinquency, Kuwaiti daily al-Qabas reported.
A study published in Farha magazine stated that divorce rate reached 21% and that 33% of married couples get divorced. Divorce rate rose by 20%, and 65% of traditional marriages do not last long.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey in Talks With Japan on Iraq Oil Exploration Projects
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, OCTOBER 20 — Turkey’s state-run energy company Turkish Petroleum undergoes talks with major Japanese companies, including Nippon Oil and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, to jointly develop oil deposits in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, the company’s Chairman Mehmet Uysal said. “There is a good possibility of discovering oil fields in northern Iraq,” Uysal, said in an interview with Kyodo News. He added that this is a chance for Japan to gain a foothold in the oil-rich area of North Iraq. “We hope to cooperate with Japan in the exploration as well as the development (of the oil fields),” he added. Turkey has secured oil exploration licenses in Iraq after long discussions between the two countries’ energy ministries. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
US Commander in Iraq Pledges to Help Ankara to Fight PKK
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, OCTOBER 27 — The top US commander in Iraq has held talks in Turkey on cooperation in the fight against Kurdish rebels, military sources revealed. Gen. Ray Odierno met with the deputy chief of the Turkish general staff, Gen. Hasan Igsiz, to discuss Us-Turkey military coordination. The meeting centered on the US military’s ongoing assistance to Turkey in its effort to defeat the Kurdish rebel group known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and Odierno pledged US support in technical assistance and information sharing. “General Odierno fully committed to work with both the Turkish and Iraqi governments in the common fight against terrorism”, the military said in a statement. (ANSAmed).
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Coexistence Important, Says Forum
JEDDAH — Coexistence of different peoples and cultures is vital for peace to prevail in the world, the fourth session of the Forum of Strategic Vision Group, Russia and the Islamic World, has said.
A communiqué issued at the end of the forum here on Wednesday said coexistence was essential in eliminating violence, fanaticism and terrorism and spreading the culture of leniency and mutual cooperation according to common values that are endorsed by religions, cultures and different civilizations and promoting common humanitarian values within societies.
The communiqué welcomed the interfaith dialogue meeting at the United Nations in New York in November that will discuss King Abdullah’s initiative to promote interfaith dialogue
Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowment, and Guidance, Sheikh Saleh Aal Al-Sheikh, moderating the forum said King Abdullah’s historic visit to meet Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican last November reflected the King’s far-sighted vision for a peaceful world and a more constructive international partnership.
Most conflicts stem from complete ignorance of the other, so human beings need to communicate to peacefully co-exist, he said.
Dialogue with the other is an Islamic essence and it does not mean giving concessions, said Sheikh Saleh Bin Humaid, Chairman of the Shoura Council. “It is all about getting to know the other to clear any misunderstanding,” he said.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Russia-Libya: Gaddafi in Moscow, Old Ties Resurface
(by Beatrice Ottaviano) (ANSAmed) — MOSCOW, 29 OCTOBER — Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi is expected in Moscow on October 31 for a three-day official visit, the first in 23 years. Kremlin sources state that his agenda includes meetings with president Dmitri Medvedev, premier Vladimir Putin, and other leading Russian political and economic figures. The focal point of this return trip hinges on Tripoli’s interest in the purchase of Russian armaments, a possible coordination of energy policies (Russia is setting up a sort of cartel for methane which already includes Iran and Qatar), an exchange of views on major international topics (including the Middle East and the economic crisis), and adding impulse to bilateral cooperation. Muammar Gaddafi’s trip, a rare one for the Libyan colonel, follows Vladimir Putin’s visit to Tripoli last April. That mission, a first for post-Soviet Russia, opened the doors to new trade, also thanks to Moscow’s erasure of Libya’s old debt towards the USSR (4.5 billion dollars). An act of generosity that has a price: in exchange, Russia requested that Libya place orders with its companies. Putin and Gaddafi had reached an agreement for the construction, entrusted to Russian companies, of a 500 km road between the cities of Benghazi and Sirte, a project worth 2.2 billion euro. According to financial paper ‘Vedomosti’, this time around the Libyan leader wants to invest in the purchase of 30 Sukhoi military aircraft, T90 tanks, a diesel submarine and S-300 Pmu2 anti aircraft artillery, in addition to Tor-M1, Buk and Grad missile systems. Turning to energy, Russia’s Gazprom and its Libyan counterpart signed a memo of cooperation for the exploration and exploitation of deposits located in Libya and other African countries. A recent stopover by Russian military vessels in the port of Tripoli is viewed as an indicator of improving bilateral relations. In his path towards the West, Gaddafi has in recent years refrained from his old anti-American slogans: but according to Russian observers he may define with Moscow a common position over the US attack against an alleged terrorist hideout in Syrian territory. The Russian opening to Tripoli (also accompanied by a general reactivation of old Soviet ties with African countries, especially for the export of armaments) falls in line with the concerted diplomatic offensive that Moscow is orchestrating worldwide since August’s conflict with worsened already unstable relations with Washington. Russia is reaching out in all directions for allies to counter US global economic, political and military weight and is promoting its candidature as a trustworthy international mediator, from the Middle East and Iran to North Korea and beyond. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Siberian Oil for China
The two sides sign an agreement to build a pipeline from Siberia to China. Prime ministers Wen and Putin praise Sino-Russian co-operation and deals and plan to work together to reform the world’s financial system to play a “greater role.”
Moscow (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreed to build an oil pipeline from the Siberian town of Skovorodino to the Chinese border, 70 kilometres away, where it will link up with the Chinese pipeline network to reach the oil hub of Daqing, Heilongjiang. Both leaders also saw eye to eye on playing a greater role in the world.
Yesterday press reports said the deal was in the bag but Putin’ spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the issue was “still being worked on”.
Russia’s Rosneft and Transneft and the China National Petroleum Corporation have until 25 November to sign the final long-term oil supply deal.
The pipeline will have a capacity of 15 million tonnes of oil per year (or about 4 per cent of China’s consumption) and will be a branch of the main East Siberia-Pacific Ocean trunk pipeline, still under construction, which should supply the whole of Asia with Russian oil.
Beijing will provide the Russian companies with billions of dollars to build the pipelines, to be repaid in oil.
Beijing has thus overtaken Japan’s fierce competition. Tokyo sought to get Moscow to build its pipeline to the Pacific Ocean and the Japanese islands.
Wen, who is in Moscow for the Russia-China economic Forum, said the two countries should “deepen co-operation in the energy sphere.”
“Russia and China are growing economies with major influence in the world,” Mr Wen said, adding that they should also step up co-operation in the financial sector to fight the global crisis and join forces to reform the global financial system.
“We need a new system whereby developing nations will have a stronger say. We need to diversify the global currency system, to support its stability through the use of different currencies,” he also said.
Putin agreed. “It’s hard to find another country in the world that is our partner with such a wide range of interaction,” Putin said after the talks.
The Russian prime minister also lambasted the United States for its irresponsible behaviour in failing to prevent the global crisis.
Faced with the world crisis, China’s foreign reserves stand at US$ 1.9 trillion whilst Russia’s are US$ 500 billion, largely from energy sales.
But Russia is still only the 5th largest exporter of crude oil to energy-hungry China.
“We need to build oil and gas pipelines, increase downstream and upstream co-operation, and increase co-operation in the nuclear sphere,” Zhang Guobao, head of China’s State Energy Bureau, said.
The two countries have also signed a number of agreements, including the sale of Russian civilian heavy helicopters and the development a new model of heavy helicopter that brings together Russian technology and Chinese capital.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: Deadly Bomb Blast Targets Ministry in Kabul
Kabul, 30 Oct. (AKI) — At least three people were killed and many others wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside the Information Ministry in the centre of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Thursday. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to the BBC.
“Two of our men opened fire against a guard post in front of the building to clear the way for a third to blow himself up inside,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid is reported to have told the BBC.
After the attack, police are believed to have stopped a fourth terrorist just before he set off his explosives.
Ali Shah Amadzai, deputy police chief for Kabul, said a woman was among the three people killed.
The blast damaged part of the first floor of the ministry, which is several hundred metres away from the presidential palace in central Kabul and ministry officials were immediately evacuated.
Many of the six-storey building’s windows were shattered by the force of the blast and some windows in neighbouring buildings were also shattered.
Thursday’s bomb attack is the latest episode in escalating violence in Afghanistan this year which has marked the bloodiest period since the Taliban was removed from power in 2001.
Analysts believe the Taliban was seeking to further undermine the government of President Hamid Karzai close to the seventh anniversary of the toppling of the Taliban regime.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ban Muslims From Yoga: Malaysian Cleric
Muslims in Malaysia may be barred from the ancient practice of yoga if they engage in Hindu “religious elements” during the exercise, a top Islamic cleric said Wednesday.
Harussani Zakaria, a controversial cleric from the northern Perak state, said the government-backed National Fatwa Council would soon release a decree, or “fatwa”, which would decide if Muslims were allowed to practice yoga.
“If it involves any faith or religious elements it is definitely not permissible but if it is just a form of exercise that is all right,” Harussani told AFP.
“Muslims cannot practice yoga in its original form because it involves another religion,” he said in response to a call to ban Muslims from engaging in yoga.
Stress-buster
The practice of yoga, a popular stress-buster in Kuala Lumpur, dates back thousands of years in India, where it was a favorite of holy men before becoming hugely popular internationally, especially among western celebrities.
Zakaria Stapa, a professor in the Islamic faculty of the National University of Malaysia, had called on Muslims to stop practicing yoga, saying it could cause them to “deviate from their faith”, news reports said on Wednesday.
Muslims in Malaysia practiced yoga not just for exercise but also as part of the growing urban lifestyle and involved “chanting mantras while in various positions”, he said.
“Why should we look for other alternatives to exercise and search for peace? Yoga could cause (Muslims) to stray from their faith because its movements are according to the style and traditions of Hinduism,” he said.
The fatwa council, one of Malaysia’s highest Islamic bodies, last Friday banned women from dressing or behaving like men and engaging in lesbian sex, saying it was forbidden by the religion.
Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, where more than 60 percent of the population of 27 million are Muslim Malays who practice a conservative brand of the religion.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
In Jakarta Christian Priests and Activists First Target of Islamic Terrorists by Mathias Hariyadi
Police spokesman reports that following the arrest of dangerous terrorists it is becoming evident that some groups are shifting strategy, focusing primarily on domestic targets, like Christians, in order, among other things, to prevent inter-faith dialogue.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — Islamic terrorists are moving to a new strategy, opting for attacks against Christian clergymen and activists, targeting vital installations across the country instead of US interests, this according Police spokesman Inspector General Abubakar Nataprawira. Equally the threat of attacks linked to the November execution of three men sentenced for the October 2002 Bali bombings (pictured) remains high.
Inspector General Nataprawira spoke at a press conference, unveiling the results from investigations sparked by the arrest on 21 October in Kelapa Ganding (North Jakarta) of members of a new terror group called Tauhid Wal Jihad.
“They were planning attacks against Christian priests and peace activities involved in peace actions and interfaith activities against terrorism,” the inspector said.
North Jakarta’s main fuel depot in Plumpang owned by Pertamina was also the group’s target list. Also the group was planning to bring weapons into the country and launch a six-month mass drive to recruit new members.
Wahyu, who has been involved in various terrorist attacks in Poso and Ambon (during the 2005-2006 sectarian clashes) and against the police, is among those arrested. He had been on the run since 2005.
Meanwhile some people are wondering whether the brutal assault against Fr Benny Susetyo was part of this strategy.
The clergyman, who is the secretary of Interfaith Dialogue Commission of the Indonesian Bishops of Conference, was savagely beaten by unknown assailants on 11 August in South Jakarta.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
India: Scores Dead in Nine Explosions
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) — A series of nine near-simultaneous explosions ripped through crowded areas in four districts of a northeastern Indian state Thursday.
At least 54 people were killed, while another 224 were wounded in the blasts, in the remote state of Assam, police told CNN.
Officials said the death toll may rise. They sealed off exit points from the state, and rushed in paramilitary forces to secure refineries in the oil-rich region.
Police officers fanned out to heavily populated areas, combing them for unexploded bombs.
“There may be more blasts, you never know. But we are taking all precautions,” Deputy Inspector General of Police N.I. Hussain told CNN’s sister network, CNN-IBN. iReport.com: Are you there? Share your photos, videos
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. But suspicion fell on the separatist group, the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).
The group has waged a 20-year rebellion demanding more autonomy from the central government. Intelligence sources told CNN-IBN that very few other groups have the ability to launch such a coordinated attack.
Three other blasts in the state this year were blamed on ULFA. In addition, the group is blamed for the deaths of 42 migrant workers in a series of small arms attacks in January 2007, for bombing an Indian paramilitary forces bus in 2004, and for attacking a pipeline that supplied oil to three of Assam’s major refineries.
At the same time, the state has seen clashes between local tribal people, known as the Bodo, and immigrants from Bangladesh, with which Assam shares a porous border. Fighting between the two groups killed at least 47 this month.
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India: Deadly Bomb Blasts Cause Chaos
Guwahati, Oct. 30 (AKI) — At least 48 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured as at least 12 bomb blasts struck the northeastern Indian state of Assam on Thursday.
According to police, four bombs exploded in Guwahati, the state capital, in a synchronised attack while eight others struck areas elsewhere in Assam, including towns such as Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Bonghi.
Media reports said that the bombs exploded in the crowded markets of the city of Guwahati, causing widespread damage and clouds of smoke could be seen billowing across the city.
Security forces have been fighting separatist rebels in Assam for decades.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, but police suspect the separatist United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).
The Indian government banned the organisation in 1990 and classifies it as a terrorist group.
India has been the target of several deadly bomb attacks this year. In September, Delhi was struck by six serial blasts that killed 15 people and injuring more than 50.
In May this year, eight serial blasts rocked Jaipur in a span of 12 minutes leaving 65 people dead and over 150 injured.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Controversial Anti-Porn Bill Passed in Jakarta
Jakarta, 30 Oct. (AKI/ The Jakarta Post) — There were cries of joy and shouts of ‘Praise God’ in the Indonesian Parliament when it approved a controversial anti-pornography bill on Thursday.
The bill was passed despite opposition from minority groups who consider it a threat to the country’s religious, cultural and artistic freedom.
Compared to those who supported the bill, those who opposed it only occupied two rows on the balcony towards the end of the meeting.
“God willing, Indonesians will eventually undergo a moral revival — the basis of a country, and later economic revival,” said anti-porn law activist Lasmiantini of Salima, or Muslim sisterhood.
“We are very happy with the result of our struggle to protect children, and also to protect women,” said Lasmiantini, one of several groups who supported the pornography bill.
“If our husbands are exposed to pornography then our families will be destroyed. Now our children are safe.”
Exposure to pornography contributed to instances of rape and murder and the country was no longer safe for women and children, she said.
The activists cited revisions to the bill which they said would guarantee that only pornography in the public sphere was regulated.
Meanwhile, Save Indonesian Children (ASA Indonesia) chairwoman Wuryaningsih and a Salima leader said, “We should work together to watch out for any excesses.”
“The law may not be perfect but it is a start … We must protect our families,” she said. “We really hope that the (pornography) industry can be regulated.”
Responding to fears among women that they would become unwitting victims of the law, Wuryaningsih said the issue of women was only “political” as if Islamic parties were not behind the law.
“This has nothing to do with the Islamic parties,” Wuryaningsih said.
On Wednesday, hundreds of supporters gathered in Jakarta calling for the government to pass the bill saying it was the only way to reverse signs of what they call ‘social-decay’.
Ninety percent of Indonesia’s 230 million inhabitants are Muslim and the vast majority practice a moderate form of the faith.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Western Boycott Fails as Uzbek Children Still Forced to Pick Cotton
Like every year from mid-September to November Uzbekistan shuts down its schools and forces students to pick cotton at very low wages. But whilst Western companies are boycotting Uzbek cotton, South Asian and East Asian companies continue to buy it, turning hefty profits.
Tashkent (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Many US and European store chains are boycotting Uzbek cotton in protest against the use of forced child labour in cotton harvesting. Undaunted Uzbek authorities have not changed such practice but sought instead other markets.
A report by the International Labour Rights Forum and Human Rights Defenders of Uzbekistan slammed Uzbek authorities for drafting tens of thousands of closely supervised, poorly fed and underpaid school students, some as young as 12 years old, to help in cotton harvesting.
It noted that the practice continues despite the fact that in March and April of this year the Uzbek parliament ratified two International Labour Organization agreements, namely the Convention on Minimal Age of Employment and the Convention on Prohibition and Immediate Action for Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour. Indeed Uzbek officials in May drafted tens of thousands of school-age students to help prepare fields during the cotton planting season.
Cotton is one of Uzbekistan’s main exports and an important source of foreign currency, but adults tend to prefer more lucrative and less demanding seasonal work in Russia, Kazakhstan, and other countries.
By contrast, children picking cotton suffer “heatstroke, burns and a variety of infectious diseases from poor working conditions,” the report said. For many school hours are “truncated. And for some periods schools” are “closed altogether to spur children into the fields.”
Parents who try to keep their children in school and out of the fields are instead subjected to official pressure and public humiliation, told that if they do not co-operate their children will be thrown out of school.
Children end up working 10 to 11 hours a day, from 6 am till dusk, seven days a week for less than 3 US cents per kilo, much less than what an adult would make.
Photographic evidence of what the report says has been posted on the Ferghana.ru website. There one can see children carrying baskets full of cotton on their shoulders.
Now several store chains in Europe as well as those “representing 90 per cent of the US purchases of cotton and cotton-based merchandise” have announced their intention to boycott Uzbek cotton, said Rajan Kamalanathan, Wal-Mart’s vice president of ethical standards. In addition to Wal-Mart, the list of stores includes Tesco, Mark & Spencer, Target, The Gap, Debhenams, Henne and Mauritz.
However, at the 4th Annual Cotton Fair, held in Tashkent on 14-15 October, Uzbek officials signed deals worth approximately US$1 billion to export 950,000 tonnes of cotton fibre. The chief purchasers were China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, which will be able to use Uzbek cotton and sell it as part of their own products.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Europe Asks Hanoi to End “Systematic Violation” of Human Rights
A resolution of the European parliament also makes specific reference to religious freedom, and to the actions of the authorities against “Catholic parishioners,” Buddhist monks, and highlanders
Strasbourg (AsiaNews) — The European parliament is asking that, before the conclusion of the new EU-Vietnam partnership and cooperation agreement, Hanoi put an end to the systematic violation of democracy and human rights. The resolution was approved yesterday by a wide majority — 479 votes in favor, 21 opposed, and 4 abstentions — and calls upon the Commission and Council to ask Vietnam to “stop the current systematic violation of democracy and human rights.”
The European parliament asks for the liberation of political and religious dissidents, guarantees of freedom of expression, the press, and worship, the restitution of confiscated ecclesiastical property, and, finally, that UN representatives be permitted to meet with political and religious prisoners, including the highlanders. A statement released from Strasbourg specifies that the country must “repeal provisions in Vietnamese law that criminalise dissent and certain religious activities on the basis of imprecisely defined ‘national security’ crimes, and end the Vietnamese government’s censorship and control over the domestic media.”
The parliament further suggests asking the Vietnamese government “to release all people imprisoned or detained for the peaceful expression of political or religious beliefs,” including more than 300 Christian highlanders, in addition to Khmer Krom Buddhist monks, human rights activists, authors of petitions on land ownership rights, cyber dissidents, labor representatives, Catholic parishioners, and followers of the Hoa Hoa Buddhist Church and of the Cao Dai religion.
Hanoi is also expected to overturn immediately and completely the house arrests of Thich Quang Do, the supreme patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, and of Khmer Krom monk Tim Sakhorn, and to permit independent religious organizations to carry out their activities freely and without government interference, in addition to giving back confiscated ecclesiastical properties and pagodas and restoring the legal status of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.
The parliament finally asks the Vietnamese government to cooperate actively with UN agencies on human rights, inviting the special relator on religious tolerance and the working group on arbitrary detention to go to Vietnam and guaranteeing officials and special relators of the United Nations unlimited access to all areas of the country. This also includes the central and northern high plains, where they are expected to be allowed to have private talks with political and religious prisoners and detainees, in addition to the highlanders who have returned from Cambodia to Vietnam and are asking for asylum.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Somalia (Puntland): First Arrest After Bosaso Attacks
At least one person was arrested in Bosaso, in Puntland, in connection with yesterday’s two simultaneous suicide bomb-attacks. No developments have instead emerged in regard to the three attacks that, at the same time and analogous modality, struck Hargeisa in nearby Somaliland. The latest toll of the attacks in the two semi-autonomous regions of northern Somalia is of 30 dead, including the five attackers. The man arrested in Bosaso, a cleric, was wounded by police when he was taken away to the city prison on suspicion of being informed of the plans of the attackers. Local sources referred that army patrols presided Bosaso all night. Puntland President Mohamoud Musa Hirsi Adde confirmed that six intelligence officers were killed in the attacks. From Nairobi, at a special summit of the IGAD (Inter-Governmental Authority on Development), the Heads of State of seven East African nations deplored the attacks, calling on the TFG (Somali transitional federal government) to form a new cabinet within 15 days to favour the implementation of the Djibouti peace accord by the Somali authority and armed opposition.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: Do Not Ask Libya to be Europe’s Policeman
(ANSAmed) — ROME, OCTOBER 30 — Italy and Libya will work together to fight illegal immigration but “we cannot ask Libya to be Europe’s policeman”. This was emphasized by Foreign minister Franco Frattini in a meeting at the Foreign ministry on the treaty of friendship and cooperation between Italy and Libya which was signed on August 31 in Bengasi which also provides for cooperation between Rome and Tripoli in this area. Frattini in fact urged everyone to “understand” Libya’s arguments, mentioning that Colonel Muhammar Gaddafi has repeated to Italian negotiators a number of times that Libya “must first of all save the lives of its African brothers”. Therefore, said Frattini, “we must understand Libya’s role in the context of Africa”. However, the Foreign minister assured that, “we will work together to prevent, patrol and protect the southern borders of Libya”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘Super-Immigrants’ and Denmark’s Welfare State
By Annie Magnus
“The Achilles’ heel of the welfare state” read a recent headline in a Danish newspaper, alluding to the economic toll immigration is taking on the country.
“…Unrestricted immigration is a death threat against our welfare,” echoed Pia Kjærsgaard, leader of the right wing party Dansk Folkeparti (Danish People’s Party), defending her fight for a selective approach to immigration.
The comments come at a time when Denmark has had to accept new rulings by the EU that ease its own relatively strict immigration policies. The conclusion that non-EU citizens no longer need to be legal residents in an EU country to be allowed family reunification in another EU country is against Denmark’s own law. But as Denmark has to follow common policy laws on immigration regardless of national laws, the government has had little choice but to concede to the ruling.
Pia Kjærsgaard calls the EU a “monster” while other angry voices in Parliament, although not as allegorical, have joined in on an intense debate about how best to cover up the loopholes now present in the country’s immigration law.
Why are politicians so skeptical of letting anyone outside of the EU become a Danish citizen?
Calculations by the Danish National Bank may give an answer. Their predictions indicate that the government would have to save nearly $1.6 billion (or raise taxes equivalently) in order to balance the costs of immigrants from under-developed countries living in Denmark. These immigrants tend to have a hard time finding jobs, but are nevertheless automatically included in the welfare state. Benefiting from the generous public services without paying back in the form of taxes would therefore lead to a significant deficit of government spending.
The financial crisis is not helping the case for a more open policy on immigration. The country’s economy is experiencing a downward trend after several years of prosperity, while the unemployment rate — which has been declining in the last years and reached a notoriously low 1.6 % this July — has stopped its downward trend and is predicted to double within the next couple of years.
Thucydides would approve of a new term that has surfaced in the recent discussion of immigration and its impact on the welfare state: “super immigration”. “Super immigrants” have a higher education, bring no family with them, come to work, and leave after some years. According to the Danish National Bank, “super immigrants”, in contrasts to the aforementioned immigrants, would benefit the state economy by an estimated $ 1 billion. These “super immigrants” would be an asset to the state economy rather than a heavy economic burden.
“Super immigrants” are the workforce Denmark wants. Equally important, they are the ones who could rescue a precarious welfare system.
Toughening immigration policies could be incremental for the survival of the existing version of the Danish welfare system. But is it a viable solution to turn immigration into a case of cherry picking in order to save the welfare model? Or is it time to reconsider the model itself?
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: De Facto Couples Will Not Include Gays
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, OCTOBER 17 — The new law that will equate de facto couples with regularly married couples will not include gays. This was stated by Minister Sotiris Hatzigakis in Parliament responding to the extreme left wing party, Syriza which wanted rights to be extended to homosexuals. “The way the law is now is what we need in this moment to face the needs of society” said Hatzigaskis cited by the media, adding that if in the future things change, the issue will be re-examined. The law to be approved by Parliament includes an acceleration for divorces and a simplification for adoptions. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Huff Post Writer Stabs Lesbian Lover 222 Times
A freelance election reporter for the Huffington Post shot herself after stabbing her lesbian lover 222 times with a screwdriver and stuffing the body in the back seat of the victim’s BMW, authorities say.
Carol Anne Burger, 57, an award-winning photojournalist and regular contributor to the online website, reported on the election from their home in Florida. She had experienced an upsetting break up with software executive Jessica Kalish, 56, a woman whom she had married in Massachusetts, the Palm Beach Post reported. The partners were planning to divide their assets, including the home they still shared, after splitting last year. Kalish had met another woman and frequently went on online dates with her.
“Burger, upset at the disintegration of her relationship and disgusted with the U.S. during the past several years, sometimes talked of moving to Panama or Mexico to start again,” the Post reported
Instead, Burger killed the woman in their garage with a Phillips-head screwdriver, stabbing her in the back of her head, back, arms and face. Most of Kalish’s wounds were at least an inch deep. A piercing in the neck damaged her spinal cord and ultimately ended her life, authorities said.
Burger attempted to conceal the killing by hiding the body and calling police to report the victim missing on Oct. 23. Boynton Beach Police Lt. Gary Chapman told the Post blood stains indicate Burger attempted to put Kalish’s body in her car trunk before ultimately hiding her in the back seat. She then drove the car about 2 1/2 miles before smashing the driver-side window and discarding the victim’s keys and wallet. Burger returned to the home and cleaned the crime scene.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Snow Blankets London for Global Warming Debate
How Parliament passed the Climate Bill
Snow fell as the House of Commons debated Global Warming yesterday — the first October fall in the metropolis since 1922. The Mother of Parliaments was discussing the Mother of All Bills for the last time, in a marathon six hour session.
In order to combat a projected two degree centigrade rise in global temperature, the Climate Change Bill pledges the UK to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. The bill was receiving a third reading, which means both the last chance for both democratic scrutiny and consent.
The bill creates an enormous bureaucratic apparatus for monitoring and reporting, which was expanded at the last minute. Amendments by the Government threw emissions from shipping and aviation into the monitoring program, and also included a revision of the Companies Act (c. 46) “requiring the directors’ report of a company to contain such information as may be specified in the regulations about emissions of greenhouse gases from activities for which the company is responsible” by 2012.
Recently the American media has begun to notice the odd incongruity of saturation media coverage here which insists that global warming is both man-made and urgent, and a British public which increasingly doubts either to be true. 60 per cent of the British population now doubt the influence of humans on climate change, and more people than not think Global Warming won’t be as bad “as people say”.
| — Hat tip: Abu Elvis | [Return to headlines] |
Asia, World Leader in Religious Freedom Violations
According to the 2008 Report on Religious Freedom Worldwide that was released today by Aid to the Church in Need, 10 of the 13 countries with “serious limitations” to religious freedom and 15 of the 24 countries with “limitations” to religious freedom are found in Asia.
Rome (AsiaNews) — Asia is by a wide margin the continent with the most violations of religious freedom. Ten of the 13 countries with serious limitations to religious freedom are in Asia, this according to Religious Freedom Worldwide — Report 2008 published by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which was released today in Rome. These countries are: Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, China, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos and North Korea. The other three are Nigeria and Sudan in Africa, and Cuba in the Americas. Religious freedom is also limited in 15 other Asian countries; 9 in the rest of the world.
This year the ACN Report goes international. Translated in seven languages it was released at the same time in Italy, France, Spain and Germany.
Freedom to change one’s religion, to display and practice one’s religious beliefs in private and public, to develop one’s religious life, to pass on one’s creed and spread one’s values are but some of the issue the Report analyses. With sometime alarming data and figures the survey looks at every nation in the world insofar as religious freedom is allowed or not.
ACN President Fr Joaquín Alliende, AsiaNews Editor Fr Bernado Cervellera, Camille Eid and Marco Politi presented the report in a press conference coordinated by Paola Rivetta.
The study of violations of religious freedom ranges from Saudi Arabia, which sees itself as “fully” Islamic and bans all public display of any religion other than Islam (including the possession of Bibles, wearing a crucifix, carrying a rosary or praying in public), to Bhutan, where non-Buddhist missionaries are proscribed and the construction of non-Buddhist buildings is limited or outlawed and where everyone is required to adhere to the dress code of the predominantly Buddhist Ngalop ethnic group, whether in public buildings, monasteries, schools or during public ceremonies.
The book also looks at Myanmar with its bloody repression of monks; North Korea, a country that has banned all religious practices, that has no priest or monk and where 300,000 Christians have likely perished over the past few decades; India, now infamous for its anti-Christian pogroms; China which systematically oppresses Churches, Tibetan Buddhists and Muslim Uyghurs, with prisons full of priests and pastors; and the Maldives, a tourist paradise whose constitution reserves all political, judicial and administrative posts to Muslims, where Sharia law is enforced and all public display by other religions are banned.
As visual support the book includes a map that shows where people are still suffering today because of their faith.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
From Meccania to Atlantis — Part 1: the March of the Body Snatchers
by Takuan Seiyo
[…]
Seeing that Eurabia and Multimerica may be merging into one ideological superstate, if not yet a formal one, naming it would be useful so that it remains an easily identifiable concept.
A good name already exists in literature’s archives. It is the fictional Meccania — an oppressive police tyranny regimented and controlled by the government as much as errant garbage recyclers are monitored by CCTV cameras in the UK, cartoonists are kept in check by the PC compliance pashas of Eurabia, and unruly bananas are proscribed by EC Commission Regulation No 2257/94.
The neat thing is that Gregory Owen’s Meccania, the Super-State was published in 1918. And the other neat thing is that Meccania, probably attempting to conjure a mechanized society of the future, has the name Mecca in it.
Maybe it’s time to start thinking about the common denominator of the besieged ones in Meccania, and develop a joint course of action. Maybe Benjamin Franklin was right when he said that we must all hang together, or we shall all hang separately.
A European who cares about Europe ought to care about America or Australia. Because when America goes, so does his freedom, whatever remains of it. And if Australia goes, he has no place to go in case life in Eurabia has become untenable and Multiamerica slides into a 1984 scenario.
| — Hat tip: LN | [Return to headlines] |
Hirsi Ali, Critic of Islam, Honored for Courage
By Tom Tugend
A tall African-born woman, raised a devout Muslim but now one of Islam’s sharpest critics, last week calmly dismantled some of the favorite shibboleths of American liberalism.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali was in town to accept an inaugural award for her remarkable personal and civic courage from Community Advocates, Inc., in front of some 600 Angelenos of various political stripes.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
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Snow Blankets London for Global Warming Debate
Snow fell as the House of Commons debated Global Warming yesterday — the first October fall in the metropolis since 1922.
"Yaaassss. We will bewail The Great Warmening, even as we freeze to death."
The Great Global Warming Swindle
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