Once again, I have clustered the entries below and left out some of the headlines in order to reduce the size of the headline list. If you want to make sure you’ve exhausted a particular topic, click on the headline for it and then scroll down to see possible additional articles.Thanks to ACT for America, C. Cantoni, DK, heroyalwhyness, Insubria, JCPA, JD, Paul Green, RRW, TB, Tuan Jim, VH, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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AIG Offers First Takaful [Shariah-Compliant] Homeowners Insurance Product for U.S.
Risk Specialists Companies, Inc. (RSC), a subsidiary of AIG Commercial Insurance, is introducing what it says is a first in the U.S.: a homeowners insurance product that is compliant with key Islamic finance tenets and based on the concept of mutual insurance.
The Takaful Homeowners Policy is underwritten through RSC member company A.I. Risk Specialists Insurance, Inc., in conjunction with Lexington Insurance Co. and in association with AIG Takaful Enaya. Headquartered in Bahrain, AIG Takaful Enaya was established in 2006 to provide Takaful products, including accident and health, auto, energy, property and casualty products.
The Takaful home policy is the first installment in Lexington Takaful Solutions, a series of Shari’ah-compliant (Takaful) product offerings in the U.S.
According to Ernst & Young’s 2008 World Takaful Report, Takaful was estimated to be a $5.7 billion market globally with over 130 providers in 2006. The Takaful market is estimated to be in excess of $10 billion by 2010.
Takaful is similar to mutual insurance and cooperative risk sharing but there are key differences including a clear segregation of funds owned by participants and those owned by the insurance operations entity. Investments of funds are also restricted to avoid companies involved in entertainment, alcohol, pork and other elements prohibited by Islamic law.
Muslim countries only account for 5 percent of the global insurance market although they represent 25 percent of the world’s population, according to AIG, which launched its Takaful operation in October 2006.
The Takaful Homeowners Policy builds on LexElite, the homeowners policy from Lexington that is sold throughout the U.S. The Takaful Homeowners Policy is available in all 50 states.
| — Hat tip: ACT for America | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Citizenship Accusations Come to a Head
As we have reported earlier in our article “Barack Obama and the Citizenship Scandal,” it has been alleged that Barack Obama is ineligible to become president for two reasons: evidence has come forward that Obama was born in Kenya, not the United States as required by the Constitution (because only one of Obama’s parents is an American); and even if he was born here, his mother relinquished his citizenship by marrying an Indonesian and becoming a naturalized Indonesian citizen.
This story has gained credence, separating it from Internet rumors, because Obama has reputedly hired three law firms (firms, not lawyers) to make sure that no one gets access to his birth records in Hawaii or his college transcripts from Occidental College and Harvard. (It is speculated that the transcripts will show he applied for aid to foreign students.)
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Somali Suicide Bomber Given Decent Burial in Minnesota
You gotta be kidding! This guy, 27 years old, blows himself to bits and takes along 29 other people (I bet there were women and kids among those killed) and our FBI scoops up the body parts and brings them to Minnesota for a funeral. I wonder what that cost the US taxpayer? Have we gone completely around the bend?
And then, would reporters find someone other than Omar Jamal to speak for the Somalis. Jamal was found guilty in 2003 of immigration fraud and ordered deported. Hat tip: Blulitespecial.
Family and friends did not wish to talk about the circumstances of his death.
Community activist Omar Jamal is one of the few who will.
“Honestly I look at him seriously as a victim and not as a criminal, I think of him as a young victim,” says Jamal.
A victim? The killer was a victim? He was 27 years old, not 17. Jamal, that doesn’t make him a “kid!” If the killer is the victim, what does that make the 29 people he murdered? Aren’t they the real victims?
Nobody made this 27-year-old American citizen go to Somalia. This is just infuriating. Stop all Muslim immigration to the US or we will be seeing more decent burials for American suicide bombers.
| — Hat tip: RRW | [Return to headlines] |
The Cleanest State Meets the Pushiest Person
Until now, Minnesota was always famous for its clean elections. Indeed, Democratic consultant Bob Beckel recently attested to the honesty of Minnesota’s elections, joking: “Believe me. I’ve tried. I’ve tried every way around the system out there, and it doesn’t work.”
But that was before Minnesota encountered the pushiest, most aggressive, most unscrupulous person who has ever sought public office, Al Franken.
On Election Day, Franken lost the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota to the Republican incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman by 725 votes. But over the next week, Democratic counties keep discovering new votes for Franken and subtracting votes from Coleman, claiming to be correcting “typos.”
In all, Franken picked up 459 votes and Coleman lost 60 votes from these alleged “corrections.”
As the inestimable economist John Lott pointed out, the “corrections” in the Senate race generated more new votes for Franken than all the votes added by corrections in every race in the entire state — presidential, congressional, state house, sanitation commissioner and dogcatcher — combined.
And yet the left-wing, George Soros-backed Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie, stoutly defended the statistically impossible “corrected” votes. There’s something fishy going on in Minnesota besides the annual bigmouth bass tournament.
Fortunately, the very outrageousness of the “corrections” scam brought national attention to the Minnesota recount, at which point it became more difficult to keep “finding” votes for Franken. Under the glare of the national media, the steady accretion of post-election ballots for Franken came to a screeching halt, rather like a child who, after being caught red-handed, tactfully removes his hand from the cookie jar.
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Cluster Weapon Ban Treaty Could End Development and Trade in Weapons Sought by Finland
“Finland’s hopes to acquire cluster weapons to replace the infantry land mines that the Defence Forces are giving up are not likely to be realised for a long time, if ever.
Defence policy leaders say that a “pause for thought” is underway in Finland’s cluster weapons acquisition project.
According to unofficial assessments released on Wednesday, an international treaty signed in Oslo on a ban on cluster weapons could lead to a situation in which the types of cluster weapons that Finland hopes to get are no longer developed, or not sold internationally.
Finland did not sign the treaty, saying that cluster weapons are an important part of its defence strategy. The Finnish Defence Forces say that cluster weapons are the best way to compensate for the infantry land mines, which Finland was also reluctant to give up. [Under the landmine ban treaty that Finland was signatory to — they have to get rid of all their mines by 2013 — Tuan Jim]
“We know that the treaty will alter the international market in cluster weapons”, said Defence minister Jyri Häkämies (Nat. Coalition Party) on Wednesday.
He did not want to say what technical and political changes might result from the treaty. One practical change, in his view, is that the planned purchase of cluster shells for mortars from Spain is to be cancelled.
The United States is one possible source of the weaponry, but experts do not know if it will continue to develop and sell the types of weapons systems that Finland wants.
According to Jarmo Viinanen, the head of the Office of the President, the broader impact of the ban on cluster weapons was taken into consideration in late October, when the government’s committee on foreign and security policy decided on Finland’s stand on the treaty.
“When the decision was made, we knew that the treaty would affect the price level, availability, and development of the weapons by virtue of its existence”, Viinanen says.
According to the decision by the President and the government, Finland will not sign the treaty now, but that a study on cluster weapons will be conducted, and the matter will be revisited annually.
Supporters of a ban on cluster weapons hope that countries such as Finland, which opted out of the treaty, will feel a need to abide by it anyway.
The signing of the treaty began in Oslo on Wednesday morning, and by Thursday, about 100 countries had signed it, said sources at the Norwegian foreign ministry.
Finland and Poland are the only EU countries to opt out of the treaty. Other non-signatories are Russia, the United States, Israel, and China.
The representatives of some countries went to Oslo to sign the treaty before moving on to Helsinki for the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting.
According to one expert assessment, those opting out of the treaty might now start focussing on developing a type of weapon that is not banned under the treaty.
One such weapon might be a “kinetic” cluster bomb, which would splinter into objects that are do not explode, but which cause damage by their impact..
Finland currently has EUR 30 million worth of artillery cluster shells in its arsenal, says Colonel Petri Hulkko at the Ministry of Defence. This is only a small proportion of the acquisitions that have been planned. “
Note from Tuan Jim: All bolding by me. Why Finland signed the landmine treaty is beyond me given their location and historical situation. While cluster munitions are useful, they should serve as a complement rather than an alternative to landmines as a border control/defensive measure. This is the same reason why the US will never sign the landmine treaty (or cluster munition treaty for that matter) — all these “blanket” bans are really overkill. There is one reason and one location that is paramount to our continued “use” of mines — the Korean peninsula. Visit the DMZ and it’s pretty clear why.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Czechrep to Promote Simpler Farm Policy as EU Head — Gandalovic
Prague — The main agricultural priorities which the Czech Republic wants to promote during its forthcoming EU presidency are a simpler and cheaper common farm policy and fewer differences in direct payments for old and new EU member states, Czech farm minister Petr Gandalovic said today.
Other important topics will be above all the policy of food quality and the countryside development. The ministry also wants to lead a discussion about the use of pesticides in farming, Gandalovic told reporters.
The ministry today also made public the calendar of around 20 events linked to agriculture which will take place while the Czech Republic will chair the EU in the first half of 2009.
The top event will be the meeting of EU farm ministers to discuss the shape of the common agricultural policy at end-May and early June in Brno.
Other important events include a conference of ministers attended by European Commissioner for Agriculture Mariann Fischer-Boel to be held on March 12 and March 13 in Prague.
The most important event on the question of food safety will be the conference of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
The Czech Republic will take over the EU presidency from France as of January 1, 2009.
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
E. Europe Free Hajj…reverts First
CAIRO — New Muslims in several East European countries are being given the lion’s share of free hajj packages offered by Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz.
“The Islamic Center of Brno has received 20 free hajj packages from the Saudi Embassy,” Munib Hassan Al-Rawi, the director of the Islamic Waqf Society in the southern Czech city of Bruno, which runs the center, told IslamOnline.net.
“The priority was given to new Muslims with the hope that the spiritual journey would further strengthen their new beliefs.”
Hajj 1429 Ibrahim’s Call(Special Page)
Al-Rawi noted that the Saudi Embassy has given most of the free hajj packages to Czech’s only two Islamic centers in the capital Prague and Brno.
Nearly 100 pilgrims, including 50 beneficiaries of the Saudi grants, will be flying to Istanbul, Turkey, en route to Saudi Arabia to perform hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.
Every able-bodied adult Muslim — who can financially afford the trip — must perform hajj at least once in a lifetime.
The Czech Republic, which has a population of more than 10 million people, is home to around 15,000 Muslims.
The number of new Muslims is estimated between 1500-2000, many of them embraced Islam in the 1990s.
In 2004, Prague acknowledged Islam as an official religion, giving Muslims rights on equal footing to Christians and Jews.
Hajj Visas
The same tendency of giving priority to new Muslims when it came to free hajj was evident in Hungry [sic].
The Saudi Embassy distributed 50 free hajj trips among Islamic centers in the country.
“We got five packages and gave them to new Muslims,” Yehia Al-Jalal, the secretary general of the Hungry Muslim Association, told IOL.
He noted that they have been working tirelessly for years to secure free hajj trips for new Muslims.
“Nearly 70 new Muslims have benefited from such packages over the past seven years,” he added.
The Muslim group organizes special courses for would-be pilgrims to better acquaint them with the rituals of hajj.
Hajj consists of several ceremonies, which are meant to symbolize the essential concepts of Islam and to commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family.
There are 5,000 reverts among the between 35,000 to 40,000 Muslims in Hungary.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
France, 200 Large Mosques to be Built
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, DECEMBER 3 — Around 200 large mosques are to be built in France over the next few years for the country’s 5 million Muslims, 20-30% of whom are practicing followers of the Islamic faith. Projects to build religious buildings are taking shape in various cities including Marseille, Strasbourg, Paris and Tours, reports Le Monde. This morning the large mosque in Creteil, a southern banlieue of Paris, was inaugurated after two years of construction work costing around 4.5 million euro. Around 300 people have taken part in prayers at the holy building, which will be able to accommodate around 2,000 worshippers. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Maroni, Must Extend the Mancino Law
(AGI) — Rome, 3 Dec. — The application of the Mancino law — which sees the disbanding of groups preaching or inciting racism — to groups who promote terrorism. This is the idea of the Interior Minister, Roberto Maroni, as communicated to journalists just before his terrorism briefing to the Chamber.
Maroni stressed that, with the arrest of two Moroccans in Macheiro, “for the first time, terrorists have been arrested who want to conduct an attack in Italy and not abroad.” Speaking on Roberto Cota’s proposal to hold a moratorium on the construction of mosques in Italy, Marone underlined that “to say no as a reflex, just because it was the Lega who suggested it would be to go down the usual little path marked out for us by prejudice.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: “Additional Tax Burden of 500 Million Euros” Says Sky Boss
Sky Italia CEO Mockridge says government has failed to keep election pledges and announces campaign
MILAN — “It’s a tax that hits more than a fifth of Italian households right in the middle of a serious economic crisis”. Tom Mockridge, Sky Italia’s CEO, hammers home the concept. Nor does he hide his “great surprise” at the government’s decision to double — from 10% to 20% — VAT on pay TV subscriptions. Rupert Murdoch’s satellite broadcaster is the Italian market leader by a very long chalk. “At a time when governments the world over are cutting taxes and increasing public spending to bolster consumption, we were certainly not expecting the Italian government to move in the opposite direction”, he explains. “And it’s even more surprising if you consider that the People of Freedom’s entire election campaign hinged on a promise not to increase the tax burden. That’s without considering that last Friday’s increase will hit digital television, one of the few sectors of the Italian economy that continues to grow”.
The government’s anti-crisis decree doubles VAT for pay TV subscribers but not for consumers of pay-per-view programmes, among whom are the owners of the 2.4 million smart cards distributed by the Berlusconi family-controlled Mediaset group. Just a coincidence?
“I see no connection between the two issues”.
Do you think that Parliament will eventually amend the decree?
“I don’t know. I just hope that families who have opted to take out pay TV subscriptions make their voices heard”.
How does Sky Italia intend to respond?
“We’re preparing a media campaign to warn our subscribers about the increase in VAT. We have a duty to them to do so. Naturally enough, Sky chair James Murdoch agrees, as does Rupert Murdoch, who heads Sky Italia’s parent, News Corporation. If anything, I am surprised that the government did not inform Italians about the decision to raise taxes when it presented the anti-crisis plan”.
Experts reckon that doubling VAT for Sky’s 4.7 million subscribers will generate 210 million euros in extra taxes. The increase will range from 1.2 euros per month for a basic 15-euro subscription to six euros a month for the most expensive package, which is set to rise to 68 euros. What impact will this have on Sky Italia’s accounts?
“We’re talking about an extra tax burden of roughly 500 million euros but in reality there are lots of factors. We’ll have to see if any subscribers decide to cancel their contracts because of the tax increase. I hope not but I can’t rule it out. We’ll keep on doing our job and will be seeking to offer increasingly attractive programmes. We’ve been doing that ever since we bought Stream and Tele+ five years ago, investing more and more in Italy and so supporting the country’s economy”.
Today, Sky has about 5,300 employees and contract workers, as well as a supply base of almost 4,500 other workers. Could the increase in VAT impact on employment?
“At the present time, I see no reason for concern”.
Currently, Sky invests about one billion euros a year in Italy. Will the VAT decree make you change your ideas?
“It’s not a question of changing our ideas. We’re a private company driven by the law of supply and demand. Obviously, we have to adapt to market conditions. If the subscriber base shrinks, we’ll have to cut back on investments, including the purchase of broadcasting rights for films and sports events such as football”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Gov’t Recognises Danger Posed by Militants, Says Diplomat
Rome, 29 Nov. (AKI) — Italy recognised the dangerous potential of terrorists by arresting those with alleged links to separatist Tamil militants, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Italy, Hemantha Warnakulasuriya told Adnkronos International (AKI). In an interview with AKI in Rome, Warnakulasuriya, said the Italian government had taken the lead in Europe in clamping down on anyone who tried to extort money from the Sri Lankan community to support the rebel Tamil Tigers.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, known as Tamil Tigers, is a militant organisation that has waged a violent secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s in a bid to create a sovereign Tamil state in the north and east of the country.
Italian authorities in June arrested 28 suspected Tamil sympathisers in nine Italian cities including Rome and Naples. Warnakulasuriya said others had been arrested elsewhere in Italy.
“The Italian government supports Sri Lanka in its fight against terror agents. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is a terror organisation whose tentacles spread all over the world,” he told AKI. “It is an organisation against civilisation and democracy.
“The Italians realised this and prosecuted those involved.”
But the ambassador stressed that every Tamil was not a terrorist or a rebel sympathiser.
“The entire Tamil population are not or do not support the Tigers but they have money extorted by agents,” he said. “It is nothing but extortion when people dont want to contribute.”
The ambassador spoke to AKI ahead of a visit to Italy by the President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was due to arrive in Rome on Sunday.
Speaking about the Mumbai terrorist attacks the ambassador said Sri Lanka and India needed to strengthen cooperation to fight terrorism and work with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangla Desh to protect South Asia from extremists.
He said India had underestimated the risks posed by terrorists and were unprepared for an attack of this scale.
On Saturday Indian officials said at least 195 people had been killed in the violent siege on two hotels and a Jewish centre in Mumbai and another 295 had been injured.
Twenty-two foreigners are believed to have died in the attacks.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Northern League Seeks a Ban on Mosques
Anti-immigration Northern League Party of Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni is seeking a moratorium on the building of mosques as a preventative measure to future terrorist attacks.
The demand for blocking mosque building comes as a reaction to the recent arrest of two men suspected for planning attacks in Milan, Italy’s northern financial hub.
La Stampa, a local Italian newspaper quoted Maroni on Thursday stating that “Islamist terrorism” runs deep in Italy and must be stamped out.
“These arrests show that Islamist terrorism is entrenched in Italy, and that we must be vigilant,” Maroni told the paper.
“Unfortunately it is not easy to distinguish between places of worship and those that recruit terrorists and finance the planning of attacks,” he added.
Ally of the conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the Northern League began a motion in the lower house of parliament banning the construction of places of worship for Muslims and cultural centers in Italy.
The motion comes as a preliminary step to curb the increasing number of mosques until parliament passes an official law on their establishment.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Young Muslims Defend Islam Even if They Do Not Practice it
THE HAGUE, 04/12/08 — Most Muslim adolescents in the Netherlands prefer to maintain their own boundaries than the rules of Allah. But they reject criticism of Islam, according to a study by the Forum Institute for Multicultural Development.
Muslim youngsters increasingly often make up their own rules for their faith. They are less influenced by what their parents or the community thinks, but make their own choices. As a result, variations in their lifestyles and opinions are growing, according to the ‘Belief and Happiness’ study released yesterday.
Many boys and girls do call themselves ‘Muslim’ but do not consider it so important to follow all the rules of the religion. They do not visit mosques regularly and boys in particular often use alcohol or cannabis. Many girls wear a headscarf, but some combine this with sexy clothes.
There are some traditions, such as the fasting month of Ramadan, in which almost all youngsters participate. It is also striking that almost all interviewees reject open criticism of Islam. The young Muslims in general also have much respect for orthodox peers.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: ‘Foreign Minister Refuses to be in Talk-Show With Ehsan Jami’
THE HAGUE, 05/12/08 — Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has refused to sit around one table with Ehsan Jami, says Jami. TV talk-show Pauw & Witteman had invited them both on 10 December, the day on which Jami will present a film about the Prophet Mohammed.
“A Pauw & Witteman editor has phoned me to say that Verhagen pronounced his veto on me,” said Jami on Elsevier magazine’s website yesterday. “Verhagen will not sit at the table with me on principle.”
On 10 December, Human Rights Day, Jami plans to present his Mohammed film. He says Verhagen was invited by Pauw & Witteman earlier than him, and the talk-show has decided at the request of Verhagen to drop him from the list.
The minister’s spokesman Bart Rijs denied on Elsevier.nl that Jami’s film about Mohammed was the reason Verhagen does not want to sit down with him on TV. “It is up to Pauw & Witteman to invite people and it is then up to the minister to accept the invitation.”
In 2007, Jami set up a Central Committee for Ex-Muslims, to make apostasy discussible. In 2008, the committee was discontinued, because according to Jami nobody dared to apply to it.
Jami was attacked by two Muslims on the street in September 2007. Despite this, he was booted out by Labour (PvdA), for which party he was a council member, for his “harsh tone” on Islam. Verhagen presents, as well as the government, the Christian democrats (CDA).
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Public Procurement: EU Proceeds Against Cyprus and Greece
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 28 — The European Commission has decided to refer Cyprus to the European Court of Justice over the award of a public contract for Vasilikos Power Station. The Commission has also decided to send a reasoned opinion to Greece concerning its compliance with a judgment of the European Court of Justice. The Commission has decided to refer Cyprus to the European Court of Justice over the tendering procedure launched by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) for the award of the public contract for the design, supply and construction of the 4th Unit of the Vasilikos Power Station. The Commission has also decided to send Greece a reasoned opinion, following the judgment of 18 December 2007 in which the Court of Justice found that the Greek legislation, which allows a negotiated procedure to be used without a prior call for tenders for the award of public contracts for the supply of certain types of medical equipment is not in conformity with Community public procurement law. The Commission took the view that the measures communicated by the Greek authorities to comply with the Court’s judgment were incomplete. The Greek authorities have failed to reply to the letter of formal notice sent to them in connection with this case.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Caritas; ‘2008 Roofless Day’ on November 23
(ANSAmed) — ROME, NOVEMBER 23 — The 2008 Roofless Day is going to be celebrated in Spain on November 23rd with the slogan “Not having a home means much more than living without a roof”, as reported by Sir catholic agency. Spanish Caritas, FACIAM (Federacion de Asociaciones de Centros para Integracion y Ayuda a Marginados, Federation of Associations of Centres for Outcast Aid And Integration), and FEANTSA Spain (Federacion Europea de Asociaciones Nacionales que trabajan con personas sin hogar, European Federation of National Associations working with people with no fixed abode) promoted it to draw attention on the remarkably humanizing meaning of the home as place for growth and personal independence. The role of the home cannot be replaced by anything else for citizens, for it gives them personal independence. The people living in the street cannot enjoy this value. The three organizations denounced that it is often impossible to assert the social right to a dignified and adequate dwelling, above all, for the people with no fixed abode. On the basis of the data made known by Caritas, FACIAM and FEANTSA on the occasion of the 2008 Roofless Day, 82.7% of the people with no fixed abode are men aged about 38 on the average, with the approximate income of 302 euros a month. One third of the roofless people is teetotal and has never used drugs; and one half of the population with no fixed abode is looking for a job. 51.8% are Spanish and 48.2% are foreigners. “Having a home means talking about my neighbourhood, my neighbours and my friends’, about a place for sharing, giving and receiving’. But the roofless are deprived of this humanizing environment of personal development”, pointed out Caritas, FACIAM and FEANTSA. They also underlined that “in fact, at present, there are no living policies for people with no fixed abode”. Therefore, on the occasion of the 23rd November Roofless Day, the three organizations claim “public policies and welcome attitudes from the whole society and from single citizens, in such a way that the social rights of every human being may find their juridical, social, personal and community reflections in the creation or reconstruction of the right to a home”. In particular, public bodies are asked to supply house policies providing for the creation of social dwellings. Moreover, those policies should be meant to include the most vulnerable groups, especially the people with no fixed abode. Finally, there were an appeal to the whole society, which was asked “to open and share its assets, and to include the roofless people in the social networks of the neighbourhood”, and an appeal to all citizens, who “should not let themselves be conditioned by stereotypes”. They would rather show “a real ability to welcome the people living in uncomfortable conditions through parish, municipal, cultural, social or recreational communities”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Legal Action From EU Over Breaching Green Law
(ANSAmed) — BRUXELLES, 28 NOV — The European Commission is pursuing legal action against Spain involving three breaches of EU environmental law. Two of the breaches relate to obligations for the treatment of waste water, with more than 400 towns and cities listed as not having water treatment up to EU standard. The final warnings are the last step before the Commission takes Court action. In the other case, Spain will receive a final warning for a breach in relation to open-cast coal mining in a Natura 2000 site in Castilla y León. Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: “I am very concerned that in a Member State where water is a valuable and a scarce resource, a high number of towns and cities are discharging waste water that has not been properly treated into rivers and the sea, including in sensitive areas”.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Nazis Suspected of Political Arson Attacks
Police suspect Swedish neo-Nazi groups of burning down a Stockholm cultural centre and setting fire to an apartment occupied by a young family in two separate arson attacks in the last week.
In both cases, the perpetrators are thought to have deliberately targetted people affiliated with the Syndikalist trade union.
On Saturday evening, the Cyklopen social centre in the Högdalen suburb burned to the ground in what police believe was a deliberate attack. The fire broke out at the same time an anti-racist group was scheduled to meet at the centre, though the meeting had been cancelled a few days earlier.
Two nights later, a couple and their young child were forced to evacuate their Högdalen apartment after flammable liquid was poured through their letterbox and the premises set on fire, Dagens Nyheter reports.
The father, 27, and mother, 24, fled to the balcony as the apartment became engulfed in flames. They managed to pass their 2-year-old daughter down to their neighbour one floor below before hoisting themselves over over the balcony to safety.
“We are working on the theory that Nazis were behind this,” police investigator Christer Söderheim told the newspaper.
With both parents active in the Syndikalist movement, Söderheim said he believed the two recent attacks were linked.
The events of the last few days come nine years after Syndikalist Björn Söderberg was murdered by two Nazis outside his front door in the Stockholm suburb Sätra.
Swedish security police Säpo said it was not unusual for clashes to intensify in the period leading up to December 6th, when Swedish neo-Nazis stage an annual march in the small town of Salem to mark the violent death in 2001 of 17-year-old white power advocate Daniel Wretström.
“It’s more intense this year than ever before,” Säpo spokesman Johan Olsson told Svenska Dagbladet.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Terror Threat in the Netherlands ‘Substantial’
The risk of terror attacks in the Netherlands is thought to be high, despite the apparent quiet after the release of the anti-Qu’ran movie Fitna made by MP Geert Wilders.
The Netherlands’ anti-terrorism czar, Tjibbe Joustra, says in an interview with newspaper de Volkskrant that a violent reaction to Fitna may still come:
“After all, the reaction to the Danish cartoons of the Prophet came months after they were published, and reactions flared up again earlier this year.”
On the basis of public and secret information Mr Joustra’s National Anti-terror Co-ordination Centre says that the threat level is ‘substantial’, which is just one level below the maximum.
One of the factors behind the high rating is that the Netherlands is often listed as a potential target by terror-fighting organisations in other countries. The provocative movie Fitna is to blame for that, Mr Joustra says.
Different from Denmark
That the release of Fitna in March 2008 did not create any upheaval in the Netherlands is due to the widespread discussion ahead of time of the right-wing nationalist MP Geert Wilders’ film (pictured). Muslims, who were targeted in that film, were involved in the Dutch debate even before it was released.
Mr Joustra contrasts the Dutch approach with the attitude in Denmark:
“Danish Muslims who were worried about the cartoons and wanted to talk about them, were not taken seriously. You can’t just say ‘well, we’ve got freedom of expression here’ and leave it at that.”
The Dutch government took an active part in explaining to everyone how freedom of expression works, and showed understanding for the pain felt by some people when others express their opinions. The Netherlands’ anti-terrorism co-ordinator is convinced that this cautious and inclusive approach is why the reaction to Fitna in the Netherlands was muted. But he remains of the view that the threat remains.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Civil Liberties in Spotlight Parliament Raid
What hope is left for general public if MP is ‘quizzed for telling the truth’?
London — In the 2-1/2 years since 52 London commuters were killed by suicide bombers, Britons have become accustomed to news of police swoops on the homes of suspected terrorists.
But a counterterrorist unit’s series of raids last week sparked shock and anger because of the unlikely target ?” a Conservative member of Parliament.
Officers didn’t just search the home of Damian Green ?” they arrested him, raided his office, and detained him for nine hours as part of an investigation into the leaking of government documents.
The raids have led to an outcry among lawmakers, the press, civil liberties groups, callers to phone-in shows, and writers to letter columns who have long accused the government of eroding civil liberties in the fight against terrorism. Many are calling for protection from a “police state.”
A debate has already been under way about whether too many “Big Brother” laws are coming into force, most notably after recent government attempts to institute a national identity card and to extend the number of days some suspects can be held without charge. The affair also comes in the wake of an outcry earlier this year over the bugging of an MP visiting a constituent in prison.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Government Changing Tune — ID Cards Not ‘Voluntary’
Rule change would make any Brit who ever leaves country, returns subject to requirement
When the Government introduced its ID card legislation several years ago, it made one thing clear. Even though it would be obligatory to register on the ID database when obtaining a new passport, it would not be compulsory to carry a card.
This has led some people to assume that the scheme is voluntary. It is not, except insofar as someone whose passport has expired is happy never to travel abroad again. But ministers recognised that the scope for ID “matrydom” was high if people were forced to carry an ID card.
The last identity system was abolished in 1952 following a celebrated case prompted by the refusal of a man called Clarence Willcock to produce his card when required to by a police officer. Mr Willcock reasoned that as the war that necessitated their introduction was over, he had no need to carry ID with him. The Government wanted to avoid creating an army of Clarence Willcocks so deliberately did not make it a legal requirement to carry ID.
Now it turns out that they are planning to sneak in just such a power presumably hoping that no-one noticed. But the eagle-eyed lawyers at Liberty spotted that clauses in the draft Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Bill — confirmed as part of the Government’s programme for this session of parliament in the Queen’s Speech — give state officials the power to make anyone who has ever entered the country, at any time, prove who they are.
This would effectively cover any British citizen who has ever left the UK, even for a holiday, because they will have “entered” the UK on their return. It will mean that for the first time in more than half a century that the police will be able to demand your papers.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: One in 10 Children Maltreated?
No, this is ideology dressed up as science — with the cynical aim of undermining family life…
The Today programme on BBC Radio Four claims an audience of several million people. It is the leading radio news programme.
Yesterday it devoted its prime slot to an extraordinary series of articles in the latest Lancet medical journal.
According to Today, the journal alleges that one in ten children in high-income countries such as Britain is maltreated.
[…]
Research of this sort is not disinterested and dispassionate. Some social scientists set out to “prove” what they want to be true, and they rely on the co- operation of compliant journalists with a loose grip on statistics eager to agree with them.
The story here, embraced by the BBC without critical inquiry, and given vast and unwarranted prominence, is that the nuclear family is dysfunctional. At its centre lies widespread sexual abuse.
Do not think the apparent demise of the Left means the old culture wars are finished. There is a tradition stretching from Marx to Lenin to Stalin, and more recently taken up in a thousand university social science departments, antagonistic to marriage and the family.
They are seen as old-fashioned, bourgeois institutions dangerously independent of the State. In the word of one brilliant author on the subject, the family is regarded as “subversive”.
[…]
Professor Jane Barlow, and many like her, will use these studies to say that the authorities should be more active in taking children away from their parents and placing them with foster parents.
The attraction of such an arrangement for the State is that it then owns the children. They can be taken away from the foster parents and placed with new ones.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: The Big Brother State — by Stealth
Thousands of unaccountable civil servants given access to our most intimate personal information
Personal information detailing intimate aspects of the lives of every British citizen is to be handed over to government agencies under sweeping new powers. The measure, which will give ministers the right to allow all public bodies to exchange sensitive data with each other, is expected to be rushed through Parliament in a Bill to be published tomorrow.
The new legislation would deny MPs a full vote on such data-sharing. Instead, ministers could authorise the swapping of information between councils, the police, NHS trusts, the Inland Revenue, education authorities, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, the Department for Work and Pensions and other ministries.
Opponents of the move accused the Government of bringing in by stealth a data-sharing programme that exposed everyone to the dangers of a Big Brother state and one of the most intrusive personal databases in the world. The new law would remove the right to protection against misuse of information by thousands of unaccountable civil servants, they added.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Teenager Banned From Wearing Christian Chastity Ring at School Via Uk’s Daily Mail
A 12-year-old girl has been banned from wearing a silver chastity ring at school.
The item of jewellery owned by Kioni Lansbury represents her intention to stay a virgin until she marries.
But her school has deemed it potentially dangerous and against uniform rules.
Kioni, who is a regular church-goer, was inspired to wear the ring by the American pop group the Jonas Brothers, who have all made pledges of celibacy.
Purity rings are popular in America where organisers have persuaded a vast number of teenagers to abstain from sex.
Kioni, of Ottery St Mary in Devon, said: ‘Lots of girls sleep around. I want to keep myself pure.
‘Many of my friends want to get one. If people can wear head scarves, why can’t I wear a ring?’
| — Hat tip: heroyalwhyness | [Return to headlines] |
Young Somalis Missing in Europe, Too
Dozens of young Somali men in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area have disappeared in recent months, causing community members and U.S. intelligence officials to fear that they are joining jihadist groups in Somalia.
[…]
Jamal said the Somali community has seen young men disappear in a number of countries across the world, including Canada, the Netherlands and Australia. Multiple sources within the Somali community have corroborated this account.
Dahir Jibreel, who previously served as the TFG’s permanent secretary in charge of international cooperation, said, “Other young Somalis went missing in Europe, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.” Jibreel said many of the disappearances occurred simultaneously…
| — Hat tip: RRW | [Return to headlines] |
Energy: Italy-Albania Sign 1 Bln Euro Accord for Wind Farm
(ANSAmed) — PALERMO, DECEMBER 2 — The most important of the four Italian projects in the Italy-Albania agreement signed today in Tirana in the presence of Silvio Berlusconi and Albania’s Prime Minister Sali Berisha is from the Sicilian group Moncada Energy. Businessman Salvatore Moncada signed an agreement with the Energy Minister Genc Ruli to begin construction in the second half of 2009 of the biggest wind energy farm ever planned in Europe, for 500 MW, in the south east of Valona, and an underwater cable of 500 MW as an electricity connection between Albania and Italy. The works, an investment of 1.015 billion euro, is the largest share of Italian activity in Albania in today’s agreement which totals 2.2 billion euro. The project was formally approved by the Albania authorities (with the exception of the latter which will be released in the following days). The Moncada Energy group already has the preparations under way. The construction of the wind farm will create 500 professional jobs in Albania, while management will provide 100. The technical transfer process will require twenty Sicilian technicians and experts from the Moncada group. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey-Montenegro Sign Free Trade Agreement
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, NOVEMBER 27 — Turkey and Montenegro signed a free trade agreement on the sidelines of a Balkan economy summit in Istanbul. Turkish Minister for Foreign Trade Kursad Tuzmen and Montenegròs Development Minister Branimir Gvozdenovic signed the protocol, which Tuzmen characterized as “an important step” amid a global financial crisis, Anatolia news agency reported. “The crisis will eventually be over. Growth rates are expected to return to former levels within two years time. And in the mean time we will take measures to lead Turkey out of the crisis with minimum damage by increasing trade and investments,” Tuzmen said. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Drugs: Algeria, 18 Tonnes of Cannabis Seized in 2008
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, DECEMBER 2 — Since the beginning of 2008, Algerian authorities have seized 18 tonnes of cannabis and 900 thousand psychotropic pills, of which only 60 thousand were destined for the local market. This the data that was presented by the Director of the National Office for the fight against drugs, Abdelmalek Sayeh, during the fifth encounter of Mednet, the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation network to fight drug trafficking. “About 840 thousand pills were destined to the foreign market, particularly Europe”, said Sayeh underlining that also cocaine, 800 thousand grams were seized in 2008, “is destined almost exclusively to the international market”. If cocaine “is coming from Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Cape Verde, Mauritania, and Niger”, cannabis is coming from Morocco “which, with 60pct of global production, is the largest producer in the world of this substance”. 23 thousand people, of which 17 thousand are consumers and 5 thousand are traffickers, with a range in age between 16 and 35 years old, have been arrested in Algeria this year. Created in 2006, Mednet, “has allowed important exchanges in only two years between member countries”, added Sayeh and “Algeria is hoping that this network can be enlarged to the entire Mediterranean area”. Current Mednet members are: Algeria, Italy, Spain, France, Lebanon, Morocco, Portugal, and Tunisia. After yesterday’s meeting, organised by the Pompidou group of the Council of Europe, today there will be a seminar on synthetic drugs. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Mediterranean and Middle East Strategic for NATO Alliance
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 2 — The Mediterranean and the Middle East are areas of strategic interest for NATO and the working breakfast between the 27 member states plus counterparts from the Countries of the Mediterranean dialogue — Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia — which opened the NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting, was an opportunity for confirming the importance of this relationship. At the general headquarters of NATO in Brussels the focus was on a wider political dialogue between the two groups and on a common attention to a regional dimension which is seen as crucial and strategic. These objectives were underlined in a letter sent by eleven NATO ambassadors (France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Slovenia, Turkey and the USA) to Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, in which he was reminded that NATO’s interest in consolidating security and stability in the Mediterranean is tied closely to Euro-Atlantic security. The fight against terrorism is a common priority — said NATO sources — and recent decisions to combat piracy have opened new paths for bilateral cooperation. In particular, here at NATO, the idea is to take full advantage of all the opportunities afforded by the ‘Nato Training Cooperation Initiative’, which aims to train local security forces, relying heavily on finance provided by ‘trust funds’. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
NATO: Scheffer, Mediterranean Dialogue is Success Story
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 2 — The NATO-Mediterranean dialogue is “a real success story” for the secretary general of the Atlantic alliance, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. At the end of the working lunch between the foreign ministers of the 26 NATO countries and their Mediterranean colleagues (from Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia), the secretary general expressed satisfaction about the meeting which dealt with matters such as the Middle East and the piracy off the Somali coast. It is the first time that NATO has dealt with the matter of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, in a departure from its traditional agenda. “Today, we reasserted”, said Scheffer, “that the collaboration between NATO and Mediterranean countries is strategic for both sides and closely linked to matters of security”.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
NATO: Middle East and Pirates Worry Mediterranean Ministers
(by Chiara De Felice) (ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 2 — The NATO-Mediterranean dialogue, ‘‘a success story’’ for Secretary General of NATO Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, moves away from the traditional agenda and confronts the taboo of the Middle East: Foreign ministers from the 26 countries plus their counterparts from seven Mediterranean countries — Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia — decided to extend the cooperation that started in 2004 and tackle the Israel-Palestinian conflict for the first time. The problem of piracy along the Somali coast also dominated the agenda. ‘‘Today we have reaffirmed that cooperation between NATO and the Mediterranean countries is strategic for the two shores, closely linked to the question of security’’ said Scheffer at the end of the working breakfast, where the 26+7 discussed the Middle East, piracy and practical cooperation above all. The discussion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was ‘‘long, detailed and in-depth’’ said NATO spokesman James Appathurai. This is a novelty for NATO, which so far has kept the Middle eastern headache out of its agenda. ‘‘An important step forward’’ for several Arab countries, including Jordan, and a necessity for NATO members who are involved in security on the two shores. Guaranteeing the security of the Mediterranean is one of the objectives of at least 11 of the 26 member countries (France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Slovenia, Turkey and the USA), who sent a letter today to the Secretary General to remind him that Euro-Atlantic security cannot be separated from the strengthening of security and stability in the Mediterranean. The priority for all is a redoubling of the fight against terrorism. NATO and Israel updated their programme of individual cooperation, reinforcing the part regardiing the fight against terrorism and the organisation of joint military manoeuvres. The ministers then faced the question of piracy along the Somali coast, a common problem, as all have ships which cross the gulf of Aden. But the Arab countries are especially concerned about the Suez canal and the borders of the EU mission (with also uses NATO vessels) against forays by bandits in the sea. Some countries, such as Egypt, do not accept that it should be the EU who decides the details of such a sensitive mission, with its delicate legal issues, which would allow the arrest of the pirates. ‘‘Egypt will not participate in the EU mission off Somalia as long as the UN has not established precise regulations and set out a plan of action which includes all aspects of the operation’’ said Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit. The other Mediterranean partners agree, asking that the UN establish the legal framework and set the limits of the mission. The next meeting of ministers will be in Almeria, Spain, in May 2009. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Economy: Little Trade Between North African Countries
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, DECEMBER 2 — The volume of economic and commercial trade between the five North African countries, worth a total of 137 billion dollars, represents only 2% of their exports. On the other hand, 66% of exports go to countries in the European Union, 13% goes to other industrialized countries and 19% goes to the rest of the world. The slow economic integration process acknowledged between the five North African countries (Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania, with a population of 100 million) accounts for 2% of their gross domestic product. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Journalists Come Out Against Press Censorship
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, DECEMBER 2 — In protest at a court decision to impose a press black-out on the trial concerning the killing of Lebanese singer, Suzanne Tamim — in which MP and businessman Hisham Talat Mustafa is implicated — the directors of several Egyptian newspapers, both party-aligned and independent, have today called for a meeting with the judiciary to lift the ban. Furthermore, as an act of solidarity with five colleagues facing charges for having published news about the legal affair, the directors and three editors of the newspapers Al Misr El Youm and Al Wafd have also threatened to publish their stories. Their decision was made official during a meeting held at the headquarters of the right-wing liberal party , Wafd, by the directors of a dozen weekly papers, expressing the fear that legal institutions could intervene further to limit press freedom. In a statement, they repeat “our total respect for the judicial institution and stress the absolute prerogative of judges over the organisation of trial hearings, but express concern at the bans being imposed with increasing frequency of late, seen as an attempt to exploit the legal system to increase restrictions on press freedom and the circulation of information”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Top Cleric Unaware of Hand Shake
CAIRO: Egypt’s leading Muslim cleric Mohammed Tantawi has denied he knowingly shook hands with Israeli President Shimon Peres at a religious conference, saying he did not recognize him, a newspaper reported yesterday.
Pictures of the handshake during a UN-sponsored religious dialogue last month caused a furor in the Egyptian opposition press and demands by an opposition MP that the government-appointed Tantawi be sacked.
Tantawi, who heads the Islamic Al-Azhar University, told Al-Masri al-Yom that he did not know the octogenarian Peres, who has occupied various positions in the Israeli government since its founding in 1948 and is a Nobel peace prize winner.
Those who published the pictures of the handshake were “a group of lunatics,” he added. “I shook his hand without knowing what he looked like,” he said. “The handshake was in passing… because I don’t know him to begin with.
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace deal with Israel, in 1979, but since then has refused a “normalization” of relations until Israel hands back occupied Arab lands.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Italy-Tunisia: Mixed Marriages, Sometimes a Love Story
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, DECEMBER 1 — “Come to Tunisia on a holiday and you could get married”. It looks like an advertising campaign by the Tunisian tourism office but it is actually the phenomenon of marriages between Italians and Tunisians which although small, is growing continuously. Figures from the Italian Embassy in Tunis report that the number of marriages between citizens of the two countries has gone from 250 in 2006 to 273 in 2008. The number is set to increase thanks to the many young and not so young people moving to North Aftica, attracted by the lower cost of living which allows them to have a better lifestyle than they would in their homeland. The Italian community in Tunisia includes new entrepreneurs, students, employees of international organisations and of course, tourists who, once the initial problems of adjustment have been overcome, often arrive at the point where they decide to get married. There are cases of couples with large age differences, an Italian man of 70 and a Tunisian woman of 20, and vice-versa, which raises suspicions that the marriage is not a love match, but there are cases like that of Fawzi and Mara. They met three years ago in Jerba, she was a 24 year-old beautician from Piacenza on holiday with friends, he was a tour guide, thirty years old with a degree in Italian language and literature. It wasn’t love at first sight but it came after six months of telephone calls, emails and webcam chats. After a two and a half year long-distance relationship they decided to get married and live in Tunisia. Apart from the fairytales and long-distance romances there are concrete problems. Fawzi has never left his country, he studied Italian but he has never seen the Spanish steps (Piazza di Spagna), he has applied for a tourist visa, but has always been rejected. The marriage allows him to obtain Italian and European citizenship, and to travel freely without queuing for visas, a freedom of movement which the Italian passport symbolises for young Tunisians. Mara is a young Catholic who jokes about the future religious upbringing of her children who will be “baptised and circumcised”, but she doesn’t seem to be fully aware of Tunisian regulations and what would happen if love ended, and marriage along with it. Tunisia is in fact a Muslim country. Islam is not only her husband’s religion, but it is also the law which regulates the whole legal and social system. Although Tunisia signed the 1967 convention which declares equality between men and women in terms of choice of spouse, difference in religion constitutes an impediment to the celebration and registration of marriage between a Muslim women and a non-Muslim man. A marriage between a Christian man and a Muslim woman is not allowed unless the man converts to Islam. The Tunisian authorities do not allow a Tunisian woman to marry a non-Muslim man in her country and it is unlikely that permission would be given to get married abroad. There is no problem however, if a Christian woman (and in theory a Jewish one) wants to marry a Muslim man. The non-Muslim bride is not obliged to follow her husband’s religion, although the children are. As for inheritance, in Islamic law, a Christian wife inherits only through a bequest, and no more than a third of the inheritance. If it is true that the meeting of people from different cultures is the vehicle for greater integration between people, mixed couples must be prepared to face situations which derive from the diversity of citizenship, but even more from differences in religion, especially if they decide to live in a Muslim country like Tunisia. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Mumbai: Minister, Morocco Must be Vigilant Following Attacks
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, DECEMBER 2 — The Moroccan minister of the interior, Chakib Benmoussa, declared in a speech to the Senate yesterday evening that the Mumbai attacks were leading Morocco to be both vigilant and prudent, as it is one of the target countries for terrorists. “Just like abroad, there are groups in Morocco whose aims do not involve the democratic process. The information available to us leads us to be vigilant and to show prudence as we are one of the target countries’“, said the minister. “A [terrorist] group went into India four months ago, set up supply routes, met other groups and carried out attacks which, unfortunately, had many victims. For us, prudence is a duty”, he continued. Morocco had its own ‘Mumbai’ on May 16 2006 when five simultaneous attacks took place in Casablanca, killing 45 people including two suicide bombers. Further attacks (on a lesser scale) took place in Casablanca in March and April of 2007 in which several people were injured. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Terrorism: Algerian Minister, Paying Ransom is Financing it
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, DECEMBER 2 — “To back away from pressure, give in to blackmail, and the claims of kidnappers does nothing other than encourage terrorists”, said the Algerian Minister responsible for African and Maghreb Affairs, Abdelkader Messahel, who without holding back accused European countries of “paying ransoms demanded by terrorist organisations for the liberation of hostages”, which continues “to finance terrorism”. This is a “flagrant violation of international conventions,”, added Messahel — as reported by the press — during a seminar on the fight against financing terrorism, organised in Algiers by Caert (The African Centre For Study and Research On Terrorism). Only with “firmness and determination, we can win the fight against financing terrorism, particularly in the North African regions”. According to the local press, European countries have paid Al Qaida In The Islamic Maghreb (ex Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat) about 10 million euro in ransom payments in four years: the Austrian government reportedly paid 5 million euro at the end of October for the liberation of two tourists kidnapped in the Tunisian desert. Another 5 million euro was paid in 2004 for the release of 32 western tourists held in the Sahara Desert in Algeria. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Decoupling Syria From Iran: Constraints on U.S.-Syrian Rapprochement
by David Schenker
Damascus’ foray into diplomacy with Israel has had little discernable effect on Syria’s longstanding, unhelpful policies vis-à-vis Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestinian politics.
While moving Syria into the Western camp would be a great accomplishment, it’s not clear that this development would necessarily constitute a long-term strategic setback for Iranian efforts to undermine U.S. policy in Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, and Iraq. In the absence of Syria, Iran would still be capable of supporting Hizbullah, Hamas, and its Shiite allies in Iraq.
Developments in Damascus point to an erosion of state security and a domestically-weakened regime. Internationally, however, Syrian diplomatic gains are irrefutable and have buoyed the regime.
In this fluid environment, the Assad regime is betting that an Obama administration will provide relief, and the opportunity to reassert itself in Lebanon and reintegrate into the international community.
Yet the ultimate disposition of the new administration’s policy toward Syria is far from certain, particularly if the Assad regime continues to pursue its unhelpful regional policies. In this regard, Assad’s hopes for a dramatic change in U.S. Syria policy may be short-lived.
| — Hat tip: JCPA | [Return to headlines] |
EU-Israel: Tzipi Livni in Brussels to Review Relations
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 3 — The Middle East Peace Process and Israel’s relations with the EU were at the focus of the meetings Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, had in Brussels. The Israeli minister also appeared before the European Parliament’s (EP) Foreign Affairs Committee. At the Commission, the Israeli Foreign Minister was received by President José Manuel Barroso and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner in charge of External Relations and the European Neighbourhood Policy. The Israeli Minister also met Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), who stressed that in the current transitional period it is important to continue to work together towards peace. According to a Council press release, he reiterated that the EU stood ready to help the parties succeed in their negotiations. In her appearance before the EP Foreign Affairs Committee, Tzipi Livni, firmly stated that continuing negotiations already decided in the Annapolis agreement was essential to achieving peace, but she warned against too much intervention from outside. “Eagerness of the international community can only lead to failure, a failure that nobody can afford — Israel, Palestine or the international community”. It would take time, she said, and a premature closing of the gaps separating the partners would only lead to violence. She was keen to see the EU’s relationship with Israel upgraded. According to an EP press release, she said there was a public perception of Israel as a “state of stagnation that wants to control the Palestinians”. A stronger relationship with the EU would, she said, hopefully change this perception.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas: No Pilgrimage to Mecca for Faithful of Gaza Strip
Their offense is that they asked for permission to leave from the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, controlled by Fatah. An internal power struggle is affecting the Muslims, and is judged as “an abominable crime” by the highest Sunni authority in Egypt. The news is raising ironic comments from Israeli newspapers.
Cairo (AsiaNews) — “An abominable crime.” This is how Mohammed Sayyed Tantaoui, imam of the mosque of Al Azhar, judges the decision by Hamas to block the pilgrimage to Mecca by a group of Palestinian faithful from the Gaza Strip. “Anyone who prevents a Muslim from making the pilgrimage to Mecca commits an abominable crime,” comments the Egyptian imam, the highest Sunni authority in the country, to the official news agency Mena.
In order to meet the needs of the 3,000 Palestinian faithful, Egypt had decided to open the border crossing in Rafa, by which they would have crossed into Saudi Arabia through Nuweiba, on the Red Sea. Hamas, a fundamentalist Islamic group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since June of 2007, has blocked the pilgrims from reaching the crossing point, keeping them inside the border.
The minister of religious affairs for the Hamas government has said that he does not consider the travel visas carried by the pilgrims as valid. They were issued by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, in agreement with the Fatah movement. So it’s an interior power struggle, which is affecting the pilgrims who only want to go to Mecca.
The news has also been picked up by Israeli newspapers, which are commenting ironically on the blockade imposed by Hamas: “What a sensational headline, what a fascinating paradox,” says Haaretz. “What Israel has never dared to do — certainly not to this extent — is being done by a Palestinian government for which Islam is the basis of its platform and provides personal guidance for each of its ministers.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli-Arabs Plan to Go to Gaza by Boat
Two days after the Navy turned back a Libyan ship heading to the Gaza Strip to break the blockade of that Hamas-ruled territory, a Qatari charity group announced Wednesday that it, too, will send a boat to Gaza.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor, acknowledging the intensified efforts to send boats into Gaza, reiterated what the Israeli government has said prior to each such sailing: the government will respond to each case on an individual basis. Palmor said there is a difference between a boat coming from Libya, which is hostile to Israel and boycotts it, and one coming from Qatar, with whom Israel has diplomatic relations, and in whose capital it has a small trade representation.
“Maybe the Qataris will make contact with us,” he said.
Abdallah Naema, executive director of Qatar Charity, was quoted by three Qatari newspapers Wednesday as saying the organization hadn’t asked for Israeli permission to send a ship with activists, medicine and other aid for the Palestinians in Gaza. Naema said he expected the boat to be turned away by Israel. Meanwhile, Israeli Arab leaders said they will head to Gaza on a boat laden with humanitarian aid to defy the government’s blockade of the territory.
Zahi Nujeidat, a spokesman for the Islamic Movement, said dozens of Israeli Arabs will set sail on Sunday from Jaffa.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Middle East: Settlers Facing Eviction From ‘House of Contention’
Hebron, 3 Dec. (AKI) — Israeli settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron on Wednesday were bracing for eviction from a house which the country’s High Court of Justice ruled must be returned to the Palestinians who claim to own it.
Israeli Defence Forces have sealed offf the area around the property after violent protests involving residents of the controversial house, known as the ‘house of contention’, and their right-wing supporters.
“The sector around the house has been decreed a closed military zone,” a military spokesman told the media on Wednesday.
Israelis are now barred from entering the Palestinian areas of the city.
The Jewish residents of the controversial house are convinced the order foreshadows a military operation to enforce last month’s High Court decision that the settlers must leave the house or face eviction.
Palestinians in the area have complained that youths have been throwing stones at them and written hate graffiti such as “Death to the Arabs” and “Mohammed is a pig” on Muslim homes and mosques.
Last week Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak met right-wing groups and settlers to ask them to refrain from violence and to leave the disputed house in Hebron.
About 500 settlers live in enclaves in central Hebron in an area under Israeli military control. The town also has around 170,000 Palestinian inhabitants.
Hebron governor Hussein al-Araj has urged Israeli authorities to halt the violence and enforce the court decision.
Israeli daily Yediot Aharanot said on its website that police had arrested three right-wing activists suspected of hurling stones at a border guard patrol in the city’s Jabel Johar neighborhood overnight. There were no reports of injuries.
Earlier this week, the media said 20 Palestinians and 18 Israelis had been injured in the clashes.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Mideast: Hebron; Olmert, Unacceptable Attacks on Democracy
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, DECEMBER 3 — The outgoing Israeli premier, Ehud Olmert, has today declared that he would “not allow attacks against democracy to develop in Israel”. Mr. Olmert was commenting on the violence caused by several ‘ultra’ colonies in Hebron, the West Bank. “Things have happened which cannot be tolerated by anyone, and particularly by my government”, said Mr. Olmert. He continued to say that “of course of the debate over Israeli land is legitimate, as is the (colonies’ — ed.) desire to see a Jewish presence in a city which is both holy and important for us”, such as Hebron, where the Patriarchs of Israel are buried. But the wishes of the colonies, proceeded the premier, “can certainly not have the upper hand over the decisions of the Supreme Court”, which is asking for the clearance of a building which is contested by the colonies and by Palestinians. “I will therefore not allow attacks against democracy in Israel to develop”, he exclaimed, “order and discipline must be maintained”. The Israeli head of State, Shimon Peres, has also expressed alarm about the violence in Hebron carried out by extremist colonies, which in the last few days has broken out not only with the Palestinian population but also with Israeli security forces. Peres has said that “whoever throws a stone at a soldier, throws it at the entire State of Israel”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Mideast: Egypt Closes Crossing, Imam Al Azhar Attacks Hamas
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, DECEMBER 3 — Egypt has closed the Rafah border crossing, after opening it for four days to allow the transit of pilgrims from the Gaza Strip to Mecca, but they were stopped by the fundamentalist movement Hamas, because its members hadn’t received the visa from Saudi Arabia. The Great Imam of the Al Azhar mosque, sheikh Sayyed Mohamed Tantawi — the highest theological authority of Sunni Islam — accused Hamas of committing a “loathsome crime”, keeping Muslims from “fulfilling their religious duty of a pilgrimage to Mecca”. “Not a single Palestinian pilgrim has crossed the border at Rafah, despite the fact that Egypt has organised all necessary services to receive them, in particular coaches to take them to Saudi territory”. Also the mufti of Egypt, sheikh Ali Gomaa, denounced the “great sin” committed by Hamas, while the fatwa commission declared that “keeping 3,500 Palestinian pilgrims from crossing the Sinai to visit the holy places reveals the hypocrisy of those who attack the Islam”, adding that “who blocks a religious duty is considered to be at war with Islam”. More criticism on the decision of Hamas came from Egyptian deputies, politicians, human rights activists who denounced “a dangerous precedent that will have serious consequences not only for Hamas but for all Palestinians”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
NATO-Israel: Reinforcement of Joint Fight Against Terrorism
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 2 — NATO and Israel today signed an agreement which reinforces their cooperation in the fight against terrorism. According to NATO sources, the individual cooperation programme between NATO and Israel, signed in October 2006, was today updated, reinforcing the part that concerns the fight against terrorism and the organisation of joint military manoeuvres. The agreement was signed by the Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, who participated today in the meeting between NATO and Mediterranean dialogue countries in Brussels. The updating of the NATO-Israel cooperation was preceded last month by the agreement on the exchange of confidential information, the same agreement that the alliance has signed with Egypt.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Qatar-Based ‘Charity’ Funded Libyan Ship Which Attempted to Head Into Gaza
Israeli Islamic Movement Helps Hamas
In ever so exposing the penetration of the Israeli Arab population, the mysterious Israeli Islamic Movement has come out to support Hamas and other Palestinian PLO factions whom are roaming Gaza to which they’re openly firing rockets at Israel.
Though members of the Israeli Islamic Movement are not holocaust deniers like their Hamas counterparts, they openly wave Hamas’ green flags in solidarity with them and many of these Israeli Arabs involved in this mysterious group have said to be linked with the “moderate” Fatah group.
Also, on top of that, a Qatar-based “charity group” was caught funneling money to give “aid” to Hamas “controlled” Gaza with a Libyan ship attempting to penetrate the Israeli naval blockade to which the Israelis at least had the guts to prevent them from entering. The Libyan ship also was unusually large to have aid, more like weapons perhaps being secretly kept in the ship?
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
West Bank: Israel-PNA Cooperation Triggers Growth
(ANSAmed) — NAPLES, DECEMBER 3 — Since the beginning of 2008 an “unprecedented” economic recovery has been taking place in the West Bank, arising from “a new military coordination between the two parties” and by the “determination of the Palestinian Authority to clamp down on Hamas”, an internal report by the Israel Defence Ministry revealed to the Jerusalm Post. The document, which was prepared by the Administration of the Territories by the Israeli defence forces shows a fall of 3% in unemployment since the start of the year among Palestinians in the West Bank, currently at 16%, and an increase in the average daily wage from 70 shekels (around 14 euro) in 2007 to 86.9 shekels (17.4 euro) currently. The figures were gathered in recent months from several sources, including the offices of the Palestinian Authority and the International Labour Organisation of the United Nations. Since the start of the year, thanks to a fall in the terrorist threat, Israeli defence forces have removed 113 road blocks and physical obstacles to road traffic all over the West Bank, allowing better freedom of movement between Palestinian cities. Officers in the Israeli administration, the economic relaunch in the West Bank is due to a series of factors, but mainly to better coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, who are united by the decision of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to keep up a sustained effort to stop the growth of Hamas in the West Bank. The recent good olive harvest is added to the wages increase, enjoying a real boom, and passing from 200 million shekels (33.68 million euro) in earnings in 2007 to 517.5 million (102.56 million euro) in 2008. An increase of 10% was recorded in the number of Palestinian workers in Israeli settlements (from 23,000 in 2007 to 26,000 in 2008) and in the number of work permits issued to West Bank Palestinians 23,00 compared with 21,000 last year. The security coordination with the Palestinian Authority has reached record levels, says the report, citing for example 247 meetings between Israeli officials and those from the Palestinian Authority during 2008, and the opening of 20 Palestinian police stations across the West Bank territory. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Energy: Turkey and EU Keep Holding Talks on Nabucco Project
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, DECEMBER 2 — Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler said on Tuesday that Turkey and EU had been holding talks in regard to the Nabucco project, a pipeline project to pump Asian natural gas to Europe via Turkey. Replying to questions on the Nabucco project in Sungurlu town of central Corum province, as Anatolia news agency reports, Guler said that intergovernmental agreement document had been sent to the relevant parties. The 3,300-kilometer Nabucco project is a planned natural gas pipeline that will transport natural gas from Turkey to Austria, via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. It will run from Erzurum in Turkey to Baumgarten an der March, a major natural gas hub in Austria. Around 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year will be transported to Europe after the Nabucco project is completed. Turkish energy officials said EU and Turkey could sign a transit deal by the end of this year, and the EU attached great importance to the project as EU leaders did not want to be energy dependent on Russia. The Nabucco project is also supported by the United States as it would be an alternative to natural gas supply from Russia, biggest supplier of Europe. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Iran: 49 Arrested for ‘Satanic’ Clothes
POLICE have arrested 49 people this week in a northern Iranian city during a crackdown on “satanic” clothes, according to an IRNA news agency report.
The measures are the latest in a country-wide campaign against Western cultural influence in the Islamic Republic, where strict dress codes are enforced.
“Police confronted rascals and thugs who appeared in public wearing satanic fashions and unsuitable clothing,” Qaemshahr city police commander Mahmoud Rahmani told IRNA.
Mr Rahmani also said that five barber shops were shut and 20 more warned for “promoting Western hairstyles”.
In the past, such crackdowns have lasted a few weeks or months, but the current campaign was launched in 2007 and has not let up.
It includes measures against men sporting spiky “Western” hairstyles or women wearing tight trousers and high boots.
Women are supposed to wear clothing that covers their hair and disguises the shape of their bodies. But some, particularly in cities, wear headscarves pushed back well beyond their hairlines and sport tight-fitting outfits.
Some analysts say the authorities fear such open acts of defiance against the Islamic Republic’s values could escalate if they go unchecked. This worries them when Iran is under pressure from the West over its disputed nuclear work, they say.
“Some individuals, not knowing what culture they are imitating, put on clothing that was designed by the enemies of this country,” Rahmani said.
“The enemies of this country are trying to divert our youth and breed them the way they want and deprive them of a healthy life.”
Mr Rahmani did not say how the offenders would be punished. Usual penalties are a warning or a fine.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has in the past suggested Iran’s enemies may try to stage a “soft” or “velvet” revolution by infiltrating corrupt culture or ideas.
| — Hat tip: DK | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Preparing Strike Against Iran — Report
ISRAEL is reportedly drawing up plans to attack Iranian nuclear facilities and is prepared to launch a strike without backing from the US.
“It is always better to coordinate,” a top Defence Ministry official told The Jerusalem Post.
“But we are also preparing options that do not include coordination.”
Israel would prefer to work in consultation with the US because the US Air Force controls the Iraqi airspace its jets would need to cross on a bombing mission.
“There are a wide range of risks one takes when embarking on such an operation,” a top Israeli official said.
Iran, the world’s fourth-largest crude producer, says its uranium enrichment activities are aimed at making fuel for a network of planned electricity-generating nuclear power plants and not for developing weapons.
A report, published in September in Britain’s Guardian newspaper, claimed that Isreali Prime Minister Ehud Olmert requested a green light to attack Iran in May but was refused by George W. Bush
Iran has already dismissed the possibility of an Israeli strike.
“We think that regional and international developments and the complicated situation faced by Israel itself will not allow it to launch military strikes against other countries,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said, according to the Press TV Web site.
“Israel makes threats to promote its psychological and media warfare.”
| — Hat tip: DK | [Return to headlines] |
Trade: USA to Lift Anti-Dumping Regulations on Turkey
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, DECEMBER 3 — United States decided to lift the anti-dumping regulations on Turkey’s exports of iron and steel, Anatolia news agency reported quoting declarations released by Turkish State Minister, Kursad Tuzmen. Speaking at a conference in Istanbul, Tuzmen stressed that the U.S. was applying anti-dumping regulations on Turkish exports of iron and steel since 1997. “The U.S. decided to end the anti-dumping regulations after a period of reconsideration and as a result Turkey’s exports of iron and steel to the U.S. will be affected positively”, Tuzmen said. Turkey exported iron worth $227 million to the U.S. in 2007. In the first nine months of 2008, Turkish exports of iron to the U.S were worth $152 million. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan: Danish Soldiers Killed
Two Danish soldiers of the Jutland Dragoon Regiment lost their lives today in what appears to have been a Taliban ambush at the village of Spin Masjid just south of Gereshk in Helmand Province in Afghanistan.
Soldiers from the Anglo-Danish patrol had left their armoured vehicle in order to speak to villagers. An explosion followed in which one soldier was mortally wounded. His comrades came under fire as they attempted to help. Another explosion followed, killing one other soldier.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Burma: Rangoon Strengthens Trade Ties With India
Rangoon, 24 Nov. (AKI) — Leaders from India and Burma have strengthened bilateral economic ties after top level talks in Rangoon. India’s Foreign Secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon, met Burma’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, U Kyaw Thu, to extend investment pledges discussed earlier this year. Menon’s visit followed agreements endorsed by the second in command at Burma’s State Peace and Development Council, Maung Aye, in Indian capital New Delhi seven months ago.
On that occasion, the two Asian countries that were once part of the British Commonwealth, decided to reinforce economic relations between the western Burmese port of Sittwe and the northern Indian state of Mizoram and the northeast of the country.
The Indian investment plan, worth around 212 million dollars, has been endorsed by the Burmese military junta and foreshadows further development in the region around the Kaladan river.
Burma recently awarded India the right to “build, operate and use” the port of Sittwe, strategically located in the Bay of Bengal, in a 120 million dollar project.
Both countries are interested in having free commercial access to the Bay of Bengal and Burma has agreed to allow New Delhi to invest heavily in the development of several of ports.
Once a strong supporter of the Burmese democratic movement, the Indian government appears to have changed its strategy, reaching more accords with the military junta.
According to official Burmese statistics, total trade between India and Burma is worth around 995 million dollars. India is Burma’s fourth largest trading partner, after Thailand, China and Singapore.
Meanwhile the country is continuing its crackdown on democracy activists.
More than 100 activists were sentenced to heavy jail terms of up to 65 years in the past two weeks across the spectrum of Burma’s pro-democracy movement.
Many of them took part in protests against the ruling junta provoked by fuel and food price rises in August 2007.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
India: Where Are 14 Other Pakistani-Trained Terrorists?
Captured gunman says only 10 of 24 were sent to Mumbai — concern for New Delhi
The lone gunman captured alive in Mumbai has told interrogators only 10 of the 24 young men in his year-long terrorist training course were sent to Mumbai last week, leaving 14 still in Pakistan, ready to strike again, law enforcement and security sources tell ABCNews.com.
Security officials say they have been warned by Indian and U.S. officials that a second attack on the Indian capital city New Delhi is possible.
Where are 14 other Pakistani-trained terrorists? The lone gunman captured alive in Mumbai has told interrogators only 10 of the 24 young men in his year-long terrorist training course were sent to Mumbai last week, leaving 14 still in Pakistan, ready to strike again, law enforcement and security sources tell ABCNews.com.
Security officials say they have been warned by Indian and U.S. officials that a second attack on the Indian capital city New Delhi is possible.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
India: Six Gunmen Shot Dead by Security Forces at Delhi Airport
Security forces have swarmed through New Delhi’s international airport tonight after the sound of gunfire was heard.
A police official said three gunshots were heard and the situation is still being investigated.
Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said: “It was not a terrorist incident. No one was killed.”
Earlier reports had said six gunmen have been shot and killed by security forces at the airport.
The report on the BBC Web site was attributed to airport officials.
A massive security operation was imposed in India following warnings that terrorists were planning 9/11-style hijackings and possible suicide attacks.
Airports in India went on high alert today following fresh warnings of attacks as officials said India suspects two senior leaders of a banned Pakistani militant group orchestrated last week’s atrocity in Mumbai which left 188 people including a Briton dead and more than 300 injured.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesian Company Says Settlement Reached With Mud Volcano Victims
AFP — Thursday, December 4JAKARTA (AFP) — - Indonesian energy company Lapindo said Thursday it had reached a compensation settlement with thousands of victims of a mud volcano which erupted from one of its gas wells.
The company, part of the business empire of billionaire Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie, said it would pay 30 million rupiah (2,250 dollars) a month to each displaced family until all outstanding compensation is settled.
The volcano has swamped 12 villages in east Java with stinking grey sludge since it burst from a Lapindo well two years ago, killing 13 people and displacing about 36,000 people.
Lapindo said 8,000 families were eligible for the payments, which would begin this month and will reportedly range from 100-150 million rupiah per family.
The deal was clinched late Wednesday after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, facing an election battle for a second term next year, reportedly lost patience with the company’s failure to compensate the displaced families.
“All the victims who choose the cash and carry scheme, including those who were not represented by the negotiating group, are eligible to receive monthly settlements,” company spokeswoman Yuniwati Teryana said.
“But the victims still need to show us the legal certificates of the property they lost in order to receive the cash.”
The company was supposed to pay the compensation in a lump-sum by December but the global financial crisis and debt troubles within the Bakrie family business empire slowed down the process, officials said…
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
Bangladeshi Al-Qaeda Bomb Expert Arrested in the Philippines
COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 2, 2008) — Philippine authorities arrested a Bangladeshi al-Qaeda bomb expert after soldiers and police commandos raided his hideout in Mindanao, where security forces are battling Moro rebels.
Security forces arrested Muhammad Alpariz in the village called Tapayan in Sultan Mastura in Shariff Kabunsuan, one of six provinces of the Muslim autonomous region, police sources told the Mindanao Examiner.
Sources said only Chief Supt. Felizardo Serapio, Jr., head of one of two newly created Directorates for Integrated Police Operations in Mindanao, is authorized to speak about Alpariz’s arrest.
Regional police officials also declined to give details about the arrest of the foreigner, but said the operation that led to the capture of Alpariz involved “many soldiers and policemen.”
No other details were made available about the foreigner, but sources from the army said troops recovered from Alpariz’s hideout improvised explosives assembled from mortar bombs and blasting caps, including cellular phones and an alarm clock.
Television giant GMA 7, which quoted unnamed sources, reported that Alpariz is a bomb expert and a member of the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya.
It said Alpariz was arrested at about 3 p.m. at his rented shop in Tapayan village.
“Alpariz is described by authorities as an expert in making improvised explosive devices,” it reported.
It said security forces recovered four improvised 60mm and 81mm mortar shells, a 1.5-volt battery, an alarm clock, a cellular phone, a computer set, two boosters for mortar, two electric blasting caps and detonating cords.
Alpariz was immediately brought to Davao City where he is being interrogated.
It was not immediately known if Alpariz was working alone or whether he had links with either the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels or the smaller, but the most violent group called the Abu Sayyaf which authorities claimed had connections with the al-Qaeda and the Jemaah Islamiya.
Alpariz’s capture coincided with sporadic fighting between the MILF and military forces in the southern Philippines. The MLF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for self-determination in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
| — Hat tip: Tuan Jim | [Return to headlines] |
OPEC: Algerian Minister; Russia, Norway, Mexico Should Join
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, DECEMBER 2 — The APS news agency has reported that the Algerian energy minister and current president of OPEC, Chakib Khelil, has said at a conference in Algiers that Russia, Norway and Mexico “ought to become members of OPEC” or “reduce their production in a show of solidarity” with the rest of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. “We hope that these countries become members of OPEC. It would be the best way for them to express their solidarity”, said Khelil, “I do not understand why Russia cannot become a member of our organisation”. In response to the words of the Russian deputy prime minister, Igor Sechin, who spoke of a protocol for cooperation to be examined at the next summit in Orano, Khelil said that OPEC “has no need to make agreements with countries that have the same objectives”. He added: “if these countries have problems with joining the cartel, they need do no more than act on their intention to cut production”. Other than Algeria, the following countries are already members of OPEC: Angola, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar and Venezuela. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Big Brother Police to Get ‘War-Time’ Power to Demand Id in the Street — on Pain of Sending You to Jail
State officials are to be given powers previously reserved for times of war to demand a person’s proof of identity at any time.
Anybody who refuses the Big Brother demand could face arrest and a possible prison sentence.
The new rules come in legislation unveiled in today’s Queen’s Speech.
They are presented as a crackdown on illegal immigration, but lawyers say they could be applied to anybody who has ever been outside the UK, even on holiday.
The civil rights group Liberty, which analysed clauses from the new Immigration and Citizenship Bill, called them an attempt to introduce compulsory ID cards by the back door.
The move would effectively take Britain back to the Second World War, when people were stopped and asked to ‘show their papers’.
Liberty said: ‘Powers to examine identity documents, previously thought to apply only at ports of entry, will be extended to criminalise anyone in Britain who has ever left the country and fails to produce identity papers upon demand.
‘We believe that the catch-all remit of this power is disproportionate and that its enactment would not only damage community relations but represent a fundamental shift in the relationship between the State and those present in the UK.’
One broadly-drafted clause would permit checks on anyone who has ever entered the UK — whether recently or years earlier.
Officials, who could be police or immigration officers, will be able to stop anyone to establish if they need permission to be here, if they have it, and whether it should be cancelled.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Congress Opens Its Temple to the ‘Living Constitution’
Matthew Spalding decries politically correct, statist bent to new visitors center
As an expert in the U.S. Constitution and America’s Founding, I thought I had lost the ability to be shocked by politically correct distortions of our history. Then I visited the new Capitol Visitor Center.
The just-completed Visitor Center, which opened yesterday, is a 580,000-square-foot cavern dug at the foot of the U.S. Capitol at a cost of $621 million (almost 9 times over budget).
[…]
The “educational” part is the Exhibition Hall, the theme of which is “E Pluribus Unum — Out of Many, One.” The etching in marble initially referred to that phrase as the nation’s motto. Now, however, that etching is covered by a bad plaster job, because … well, “E Pluribus Unum” is not the nation’s motto. Our actual motto, “In God We Trust,” is notably absent, along with other references to faith.
Take how the exhibit treats the Northwest Ordinance, the 1787 document that signaled the beginning of America’s westward expansion. It’s selectively quoted to encourage education — carefully shorn of its opening clause: “Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind.”
But what bothered me the most when I toured the Visitor Center at the request of Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina Republican — who raised a warning on this politically correct outrage — is what it does to the Constitution.
[…]
This exhibit is Congress’ temple to liberals’ “living Constitution,” the eternal font of lawmakers’ evolving mandate to achieve the nation’s ideals. There are no fixed meanings in their version, only open-ended “aspirations.” The Constitution is an empty vessel, to be adapted to the times, as required to bring change. It means nothing — or anything.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Gifted Pupil Killed Himself ‘After His School Sidelined Christianity for Alternative Religions’
A gifted teenager killed himself with an overdose of painkillers after his comprehensive school sidelined Christianity in favour of ‘alternative religions’, an inquest heard today.
Tragic Harry Tucker, 15, read the Bible at home because he believed his religious studies teachers focused on the teaching of Islam and Sikhism.
[…]
‘He was deeply concerned that his religious education consisted mainly of alternative religions and ignored Christianity.
‘The religious education concentrated on the Muslim faith at the expense of Christianity.
‘He was reading the Bible himself because it was rarely covered at school. Nothing seemed to change, according to Harry, before his death.’
Mr Tucker had confronted the school about the issue, but they denied there was an imbalance in religious studies.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Forum Calls for Strategic Plan to Reach Out to Non-Muslims
JEDDAH: An international conference organized by the Muslim World League has called for a strategic plan to introduce Islam as a solution to major problems facing humanity and as a religion that promotes peace, freedom and tolerance.
The three-day conference, titled “Introducing Islam to non-Islamic countries: Reality and aspirations,” stressed that non-Muslims living in Islamic countries should enjoy all of the rights enjoyed by Muslims.
It said Muslim countries must introduce Islam to non-Muslim countries as part of efforts to improve foreign relations.
“They should also make use of their good relations with Western countries to enact laws preventing the denigration of Islam and Muslim personalities,” said a final communiqué issued after the conference.
The conferees stressed the need to produce Islamic TV programs in major world languages to introduce Islam to non-Muslims. They also urged Muslims to behave righteously with non-Muslims and understand their culture. “We should come up with innovative ideas to propagate the message of Islam, using the Internet and satellite channels,” it said.
The conference stressed the need to produce special media programs to address non-Muslims and urged support for their social development programs. Permanent and temporary exhibitions must be held to reach out to people, and specialized centers and academic chairs should be established to defend Islam.
It also called for the institution of an international award to honor individuals, organizations and centers that make successful efforts to propagate Islam. It also proposed the establishment of an academy to train preachers.
Other proposals included organizing conferences in different parts of the world. Information about Islamic centers and organizations must be collected to enhance cooperation among them and with the MWL.
The conference noted anti-Islam smear campaign was one of the major challenges facing Islamic preachers in non-Muslim countries and urged Muslims to address this problem with unity. Islamic organizations have been asked to monitor school syllabuses in non-Muslim countries to prevent distortion of facts about Islam and Muslims.
| — Hat tip: Paul Green | [Return to headlines] |
3 comments:
Terror Threat in the Netherlands ‘Substantial’
“After all, the reaction to the Danish cartoons of the Prophet came months after they were published, and reactions flared up again earlier this year.”
Perish the thought that these effing morons might conclude how the Cartoonifada was an entirely orchestrated affair and not any sort of spontaneous reaction to a group of drawings that drew mostly a yawn from Islam until Laban and other Muslim conspirators fraudulently inserted especially inflammatory and unrelated images into the cartoon set so that they could fan the flames of Islamic resentment to a satisfactory level.
Not sure if you guys mentioned it in your earlier articles on the UK/Parliament thing, but what's really obscene about the whole situation with Greene is that the police didn't even have any sort of warrant to search his house - or much more importantly his office in parliament (including copying computer files) - and the "serjeant at arms" didn't even know that she could prevent them from entering without a warrant. That's about the biggest no-brainer I can think of - just in relation to a private residence - the parliament itself is a completely different matter.
On another note, Harper prorogued parliament in Canada (closed till Jan) so he should be able to survive if he can work out a decent budget before then.
Was hitler a racist?
... as Eddington said, the universe is not only stranger than you imagine but it is stranger than you can imagine. And the truth is that Hitler's ideas about race were pretty similar to the thinking of Leftists today. We all know that Hitler used the Jews as a scapegoat but what have you ever read about what his conception of race was? You may be surprised.
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