There are several stories tonight about a growing intolerance of non-Muslim religions in Malaysia, which used to practice a mild form of Islam and respect other religions. Times are changing. Also, notice the controversy about pigs in a Muslim-majority city in the southern Philippines.Thanks to C. Cantoni, DC, Fjordman, Gaia, Insubria, JD, TB, VH, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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AP Exclusive: Pentagon to Recruit Aliens on Visas
WASHINGTON (AP) — Struggling to find enough doctors, nurses and linguists for the war effort, the Pentagon will temporarily try to recruit foreigners who have been living in the states on student and work visas as well as on refugee and political asylum status. (…)
| — Hat tip: DC | [Return to headlines] |
Pro-Amnesty Activist Joins Obama White House Staff
An 18-year veteran of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), who advocated for federal legislation to give the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States a path to citizenship, has been tapped for President-elect Barack Obama’s White House staff. Cecilia Muñoz, who currently serves as senior vice president for the office of research, advocacy and legislation at the NCLR, will serve as director for intergovernmental affairs in the Obama administration.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Right Wing Journalist Seeks to Block Obama’s Presidency
It may come as something of a shock to those millions planning trips to Washington for the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama that he isn’t really legally capable of taking the oath.
It’s the birth certificate thing. That’s because he was born in Kenya to an alien father and isn’t a natural-born American as the Constitution requires and the copy of his Hawaii birth certificate looks fake to many and the state won’t release the original, which makes everything that much more suspicious.
The United States Supreme Court officially takes up the issue of whether to ponder whether Obama can become president in formal discussions today in Washington. The Lawsuit was filed by an American journalist from Lebanese origins.
Joseph Farah is trying to prevent Obama from reaching the White house in January 20. The right-wing journalist and chief.in.editor of a successful newspaper in New York tried to topple former US president Bill Clinton. He also runs an anti-Arab and Muslim website
Legal records show it is only the tip of an iceberg of nationwide efforts seeking to derail Obama’s election over accusations that he either wasn’t born a U.S. citizen or that he later renounced his citizenship in Indonesia.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
The Left’s Man at Commerce
Media coverage of Bill Richardson’s appointment as Secretary of Commerce this week, like their coverage of the presidential election, has focused on style over substance. Richardson wanted to be Secretary of State. Was he galled by being passed over? Would Hispanics recoil? One reporter even asked why Richardson shaved his beard. None of the coverage has delved into the substance of Richardson’s career. The new Commerce Secretary is a man whose judgment once led him to negotiate the ceasefire that catapulted the Taliban into power in Afghanistan and perhaps to perjure himself in the Monica Lewinsky case. His accomplishments include presiding over one of the most egregious thefts of American nuclear secrets in history, for which he was repeatedly called upon to resign his last cabinet appointment. Even leftist Democrat Robert Byrd refused to support him in any future confirmation hearing. Richardson currently supports adopting a strengthened Kyoto Treaty but opposes a secret ballot for union elections. He has apparently fibbed about being threatened by Osama bin Laden, hints at a government cover-up of contact with UFOs and extra-terrestrials, and he has compiled a record of self-pity that makes Charlie Brown look phlegmatic.
Whatever criteria led Obama to name Richardson Secretary of Commerce, it was not familiarity with the private sector. The Washington Post reported Wednesday, ‘Richardson, who was one of Obama’s rivals for the Democratic nomination, has spent almost his entire career in prominent government roles.’ Like his political benefactors, the Clintons and Obama, Richardson has no experience in wealth creation. Worse, the 61-year-old New Mexican is an ally of two economy-crippling forces: labor and environmentalism.
[…]
In 2007, presidential hopeful Richardson told the Asia Society, ‘I would advocate, immediately upon becoming President, reconvening the Kyoto nations, scrapping the treaty and bringing forth a stronger one because we’ve lost six years.’ Tony Blair’s socialist government found European nations would see their electric bills increase 26 percent, hundreds of thousands of lost jobs, and an overall economic contraction of 1-3 percent of GDP. Americans could expect to lose 1.1 million jobs and $338 billion annually for several years ? and this for complying with the weaker Kyoto. A stronger version, in this economy, would likely trigger a second Great Depression.
[…]
For all the damage new environmental or economic restrictions could do, Bill Richardson’s most damaging legacy has been his contribution to 9/11. Had he not intervened, the Taliban may have been wiped out three years earlier.
As David Horowitz and I noted in our book, Party of Defeat, “In 1998, [Bill Clinton] dispatched UN ambassador Bill Richardson to Afghanistan to impose an arms embargo on the friendly forces of the Northern Alliance, the effect of which was to help the Taliban” (p. 45). In April 1998, Richardson convinced the Northern Alliance and the Taliban, then locked in a civil war, not only to lay down arms and impose an arms embargo. Congressman Dana Rohrbacher set the scene: “I cannot stress this more forcefully: it was a pivotal moment. The Taliban could easily have been defeated — UN Ambassador Bill Richardson arrived on the scene to convince the anti-Taliban forces to stand back, and we thus saved this fanatical, anti-Western regime from being destroyed and being defeated.” Both sides agreed, and Richardson congratulated himself on “a good day’s work” — a bit prematurely. He wrote in utter shock that he “quickly learned that the Taliban had no intention of making peace with the Northern Alliance” (Richardson, p. 231). The ceasefire held approximately one month, long enough for Pakistan to violate the arms embargo the Northern Alliance had observed, replenishing the Taliban’s arsenal. The rest is terror history.
[…]
In October 1998, Richardson’s DOE sold the EHI Group a $9 million supercomputer from Sandia National Laboratories for $30,000. The buyer, a Chinese national, had stated he wanted to use it for spare parts, but DOE learned he intended to ship it to Beijing. Nearly a year later, the Department had to pay $88,000 to get it back, by which time the sensitive information on its disc may have been recovered and turned over. Rep. Curt Weldon summed the situation up well in a letter he penned to Richardson, demanding his resignation: “Ironically, at the very time the Cox committee was investigating the transfer of sensitive technology to China, your employees were selling some of our most sophisticated systems to them at bargain-basement prices.” From 1997-8, the Clinton administration allowed 191 supercomputers to be exported to Red China, checking exactly one to see if it was being used for weapons production.
What the Chinese couldn’t buy, they would steal — often under the dozing eye of Bill Richardson.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
From Christmas Rumanian Children to be Repatriated
(AGI) — Rome, 4 Dec. — It could be the last Christmas in Italy for the over 2,500 Rumanian children entrusted to Italian families or institutes: from December 20 each of them can be repatriated. On that date the procedures on the repatriation of Rumanian children without parents present in Italy will come into force, following last June’s bilateral decision. What looks like a mere act of bureaucracy at first glance, will be a drama for many children, who will be taken away from an environment that had become familiar to them. Many of them have already gone through traumatic experiences, forced to beg or abandoned by their original family. In Rumania they will be handed over to institutes or so-called ‘maternal assistants’, but in the end they will be returned to their biological family, the same that caused all their problems. By the end of December 2006 the number of children that have to be repatriated was 2,700, but since Rumania entered the EU their number has probably doubled. After the first meeting on November 17th, a second will follow in Bucharest on January 28th. The Interior Ministry insists that each case must be assessed individually with the help of psychologists and social workers. Not all of them will necessarily be sent back, and the process will be a difficult one, choosing between respect for the children and the need of Rumania to have them back. Italy asks to be allowed to follow the result of the reintegration of the children in Rumania (in a first stage from 0-6 months, in a second from 1-2 years).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Steps Up Terrorism Prevention
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 5 — Security is to be stepped up at the Vatican and at other sites of major Christian importance in Italy in the wake of strengthened concerns that Italy could become a target for terrorists. In a note to all police stations, the Department of Public Safety has asked forces to intensify patrols and checks and to increase visibility at the Vatican as well as in churches, sanctuaries and pilgrim destinations in the run up to Christmas. Surveillance should also be intensified at embassies, government buildings, airports and stations as well as crowded shopping centres, according to the note. Police are also asked to “intensify the observation and surveillance of people considered suspicious and dangerous” as well as to improve information-gathering via the “constant monitoring” of Internet websites, chats and forums visited by extremists. Italy’s chief of police, Antonio Manganelli, stressed Friday that there was no reason for alarm but that it was necessary for the country to keep up its guard against possible attacks. On Wednesday Foreign Minister Franco Frattini warned that Italy can no longer be considered only a “logistical base” for terrorists after two Moroccans were arrested Tuesday on charges of planning attacks on targets in Milan and towns in the Lombardy region. Arrests of suspected terrorists in Italy in the past have largely been connected with the recruitment of suicide bombers to be sent to Afghanistan and Iraq. Others have been arrested on charges of providing financial and logistical support to terrorists operating in Tunisia and Algeria. Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said Friday that the government intended to speed up the ratification of the so-called Prum Treaty, which facilitates the comparison and exchange of data between the police forces of European Union countries. The treaty foresees the institution of a European DNA database containing the genetic codes of illegal immigrants and people who commit crime in a bid to help counter terrorism as well as illegal immigration. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Catholic School Cuts Reversed
Critics claim ‘climbdown’, govt denies
(ANSA) — Rome, December 5 — The government on Friday removed cuts to state funding for Catholic schools from its budget after a protest from the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI).
Critics claimed the executive had climbed down in the face of Vatican pressure but the government said the restoration of the funds had been planned all along.
Economy Undersecretary Giuseppe Vargas said 120 million euros of the 130-million-euro per annum cut would be restored via an amendment to the budget bill which is now going through parliament.
‘‘They can rest assured,’’ he said, referring to CEI’s schools.
Earlier, CEI threatened to ‘‘mobilise’’ its schools against the cuts.
Catholic schools were set to ‘‘mobilise across the country,’’ said CEI’s education chief, Msgr Bruno Stenco.
‘‘We didn’t expect any cuts from this government. On the contrary, we expected increases. Putting Catholic schools on the list of excess funding to be cut is inconceivable,’’ Stenco said.
In 2000, despite opposition from those seeking to uphold a Constitutional ban on state funding for private schools, CEI obtained from a previous centre-left government an annual allocation of 530 million euros for its parish schools, which mostly cater to young children.
This is 0.1% of what the state school system gets, Stenco said, calling it a ‘‘pittance’’.
In 2004, Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti lopped off 154 million of the 530, or about 33%, for three straight years, and the upcoming budget was set to take away 130 million for another three years, Stenco said.
Up till now, he said, the Catholic Church ‘‘has been silent and we have made up the shortfall year after year with amendments, difficulties and delays’’.
He said the Church must now ‘‘draw its conclusions’’ and take action because ‘‘without state contributions, elementary schools risk closure’’.
‘‘State subsidies barely cover staff pay,’’ the CEI education chief said. He reiterated the Church’s longstanding argument that Catholic schools are not strictly private because they fulfill a social function.
Opponents of the subsidies to the Church schools criticised the government for climbing down and contrasted its allegedly ‘‘servile’’ attitude with staunch resistance to this year’s protests from the state sector against bigger cuts and wide-reaching reforms.
‘‘The CEI whistles and Tremonti responds,’’ said Communist Refoundation leader Paolo Ferrero.
But government party members claimed the amendment was in the works before the CEI protest.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Maroni, New ‘Mosque’ Every 4/5 Days
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 5 — There are two mosques in Italy which are just that: in Milan and in Rome. However, every 4/5 days a mosque is opened in the form of an Islamic cultural centre. So said in an interview Italy’s Interior minister, Roberto Maroni. “Every four or five days, mosques are opened as cultural centres like the one in Macherio”, he said, referring to the centre mentioned by the two Moroccan citizens arrested in Milan and accused of preparing attacks in Italy, “where there is prayer, teaching of the Koran and provision of food and drinks”, even with public contributions, added the minister, drawing attention to the fact that the Milan centre is a not-for-profit organisation. Respecting the rules when opening such centres “goes for all Italians and all the more so for those who are not Italian”, said Maroni, inviting councils and police to “make thorough checks”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Top Muslim Representative Responds to Vatican Official
Rome, 5 Dec. (AKI) — A top Muslim representative has responded to remarks by a top Vatican official who said marriages between Muslims and Catholic Christians should not be encouraged. “Mixed marriages do not exist. The so-called mixed marriage with a Muslim, in reality, is a normal marriage. Islam has nothing to do with it,” said Ejaz Ahmad, member of the Italian government’s consultative Islamic Council and representative of Rome’s Pakistani community told Adnkronos International (AKI).
“Marriage with a Muslim can fail, as it can fail with an Italian…cultural differences mean richness and not a threat.”
“I have known my wife Valentina for more than 18 years and we have been married for 14. Our problems are work, the house and our children’s health and our strengths are both Islam and Catholicism, thus our children are growing with both sets of values.”
Ahmad was responding to a statement by Monsignor Mariano Crociata, the new Secretary General of The Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), saying that “Mixed marriages with Muslims are not to be encouraged.”
“This is the challenge: remain Islamic but integrating yourself in a society that is not majority Muslim. This will ensure the possibility of coexistence,” said Crociata.
“The passing of years brings a return to cultural conditions, social, religious and judicial relations of the place of origin, with sometimes dramatic consequences that can fall on the children,” Crociata continued.
However, Crociata also said: “We must ensure that the Muslims present in our country can cultivate their religion in an appropriate way.”
He made the remarks on Thursday, echoing the call by the Vatican’s Cultural Council chief Gianfranco Ravasi backing the construction of mosques, as long as they are used solely as places of worship.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
More Italians Now Risk Insolvency
‘Crisis panic’ new national fear
(ANSA) — Rome, December 5 — The current global financial crisis has placed almost half of Italian families at risk of insolvency, according to a new study by the socio-economic think tank Censis, released on Friday.
An estimated 48.8% of Italian families, some 12 million people, now face a ‘‘concrete risk of default’’ on debts they have accumulated through ‘‘risky investment products, mortgages and consumer credit’’, Censis explained.
Another 71.7% of Italians, Censis added, fear that ‘‘the tempest on the markets will have direct repercussions on their standard of living’’.
This has created a ‘‘generalised panic’’ in Italy and become a national concern on top of existing fears about crime, immigration, jobs and other social problems, Censis observed. According to the study, the fear of Italians of losing their standard of living was across the board and included young and old, men and women and people in the north as well as the south.
Among the families at risk of default, Censis said 2.8 million, or 11.8% of the total, had invested in risky products like stocks and mutual funds. And almost half of these had invested all their life savings.
Censis also pointed out that almost two million Italian families, 8.2% of the total, had to grapple with mortgage payments on the home they lived in and of these 250,000 had great difficulties in making payments.
Another 3.1 million Italian families, 12.8% of the total, have accumulated debt through consumer credit, mostly credit cards, and 971,000 had debts of over 30% of their family income.
ITALIANS TIGHTENING BELTS TO WEATHER FINANCIAL STORM. In order to survive the current financial crunch, more Italians are tightening their belts with 25% spending less in order to make ends meet, Censis said. Reductions in spending were most common among the elderly, especially those who lived alone, followed by couples with at least one child and people with low levels of education. The Censis report also found that the crisis has led many Italians to shy away from managed investments. Just over 29% of Italians currently prefer to hold on to their cash, 23.4% put it into bank and savings accounts and, if a deal presents itself, 22.2% in real estate. Given the situation on the stock market, 16.4% of Italians with extra cash opted for stable, guaranteed state bonds, Censis found.
ITALIANS CUTTING DOWN ON CIGARETTES AND ALCOHOL.
Looking at general lifestyle changes in Italy, Censis found that Italians have cut down on cigarettes, alcohol and some drugs use in recent years,.
The percentage of Italians who smoke dropped from 25.8% to 23% from 1993 and 2006, with people smoking more than a packet a day down 10.8% to 7.5%, the report said. Alcohol consumption was down in the same period, falling from 8.7 litres a head annually to 6.7 litres, although the report noted an increased tendency to drink outside meal times. In regard to illicit drugs, Censis found that the number of people reported for heroin use was down from 9,760 to 6,560 between 2001 and 2007, while deaths from overdoses dropped in the same period from 825 to 589. However, the use of other drugs was up, with people reported for cocaine use increasing from 8,221 in 2001 to 13,087 in 2007. ITALIAN POPULATION CLUSTERING.
Italians are gravitating towards 14 urban areas in the country to make their homes, Censis observed in its study on lifestyle trends.
According to the report, six out of ten Italians, or 36.4 million people, now live in these areas, which make up 17% of the country’s surface area. Censis identified the 14 areas as two ‘mega-regions’ (Lombardy and Veneto), six cities (Turin, Rome, Verona, Naples, Palermo and Cagliari), four coastal strips (Liguria, the upper and lower Adriatic coasts and the eastern coast of Sicily) and two other ‘territorial belts’ in Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands Relaxes Sheep Exports for German Muslims
THE HAGUE, 06/12/08 — Agriculture Minister Gerda Verburg has relaxed the rules for transport of sheep for slaughter to accede to Muslims in Germany.
Due to the Blue-tongue animal disease, restrictions apply to livestock exports. But Verburg has in consultation with Germany adapted the rules to allow sheep from enclosed Dutch areas to be transported to all areas in Germany.
Because of the Islamic sacrificial feast, there is big demand for sheep for slaughter, according to Verburg. Germany does impose conditions on the transportation, for example, they can only go to specially selected abattoirs.
Sheep in particular can get Blue-tongue, though goats and cattle are also susceptible. The disease is not dangerous to humans.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: New Integration Minister Prepared to Enter “Phase of Conflict”
THE HAGUE, 06/12/08 — Integration Minister Eberhard van der Laan has made it clear in a Lower House debate that he intends to pursue a different course from his ousted predecessor Ella Vogelaar. The new minister said integration is in “a phase of conflict”. And he plans to stop the subsidy to the Marokko.nl website.
After a period in which immigrants experienced distress on leaving their country, there is now anger both among them and among the white population. Immigrants sometimes feel driven into a corner, while the Dutch feel the same, because, for example, their women are called names on the street and homosexuals discriminated against, was the tenor of the views outlined by Van der Laan. “Integration is in the phase of conflict,” as he summarised it.
Attempting to remove the impression that integration was not going well was the core business of Vogelaar. She had to resign last month after Labour (PvdA) lost confidence in her, replacing her with the relatively unknown Van der Laan. He was presented as the man who would combine the soft with the tough approach.
It appears that PvdA is indeed seeking a new course. Van der Laan indicated in the debate he was “shocked” by the Marokko.nl website. The site is subsidised by the government, but the minister wants to stop this. “I do not want to make any contribution to a site where such inflammatory texts appear.”
Van der Laan was referring to texts such as “May Allah reward these heroes with paradise.” This appeared on Marokko.nl following the recent attacks in Mumbai. Earlier, similar texts appeared after two Dutch soldiers were killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Marokko Media, publisher of the much-visited Marokko.nl, received a 138,000 euro subsidy from the government’s Encouragement Fund for the Press for the site. The Party for Freedom (PVV) earlier unsuccessfully asked Vogelaar and Media Minister Ronald Plasterk (also PvdA) to close the subsidy tap for the “hate site”.’
Van der Laan does now appear likely to take action, though he did keep his options open. He is launching an investigation, expected to be completed in a few weeks. “But I do not want to make any contribution to a site where such inflammatory texts appear,” the minister already said.
The PvdA minister was also positively inclined towards Christian democratic (CDA) proposals for tightening up the requirements for ‘imported brides.’ Marriage migrants could then only come to the Netherlands if they have at least completed a vocational education course and speak Dutch or English, according to one of many CDA proposals. Van der Laan said most CDA proposals “appeal” to him but he did not yet go into them in detail.
Despite the “phase of conflict” that Van der Laan seemed to deem unavoidable for integration to get further, he is optimistic about integration, among other reasons due to falling unemployment among immigrants and the better figures they are achieving at school. According to the minister, “the key to integration lies with language and upbringing.”
Meanwhile, Education State Secretary Marja van Bijsterveldt (CDA) is earmarking 50 million euros for better language and arithmetic teaching in secondary vocational education (MBO). About 30 percent of youngsters leave MBO annually without speaking and writing sufficient Dutch to have a chance for a job, according to Van Bijsterveldt. The money comes from the funds for language courses for older immigrants, left over because these courses attracted few participants this year and last.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
School: Protesting French Teachers Occupy School at Night
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 2 — Yesterday evening, about twenty teachers decided to occupy the Albert Einstein di Sainte Genevieve des Bois high school in the le-de-France, in northern France, spending the night there. The details of the unusual protest by the teachers were reported in the online edition of the Paris daily newspaper Le Monde. Not connected to any trade union, the teachers decided to protest against the planned reform of the educational system by the minister for education, Xavier Darcos. The idea to occupy the school premises during the night came about on 20 November, a day of national industrial action. Believing the strike to be not a very effective tool, the teachers of the Einstein school chose to protest without penalizing their pupils. The occupation, organised into shifts, “is not against change”, explained the teachers, who however added that “the hours spent on most subjects were to be reduced”. The fear is that the new system planned by Minister Darcos will mean “reduction in educational provision”, “increased inequalities” and a “deterioration of the role of teacher”. The demonstrators intend to continue the night time occupation until 10 December, a day of further national industrial action organized by unions. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Protests Build Against Neo-Nazi Demo
Police have stopped a group of militant activist on their way to Salem, south of Stockholm to disrupt a neo-Nazi demo scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Elsewhere protests grow against the annual demonstration.
Six leading county councillors have argued in a cross-party debate article in Saturday’s Dagens Nyheter that the police and the courts are wrong to give permission to what they consider an organised riot.
Salem, a county located within the region of Stockholm, has become an arena for known violent offenders and their organisations to march in the name of democracy, the councillors write.
Salem has been the scene of an annual march held on or around December 9th each year since 2000. The march is organized by neo-Nazi groups as a memorial to the death of Daniel Wretström, a 17-year-old neo-Nazi killed at a bus station between the town and neighbouring Rönninge.
The demonstration has become the largest recurring political demonstration by neo-Nazi groups and has surpassed demonstrations to mark the death of Swedish king Karl XII on November 30th.
Several militant left-wing groups arrange counter demonstrations every year and the otherwise quiet suburb is transformed into a hotbed of anger that often boils over into violent clashes.
Objections to the demonstrations have been building in recent years as local residents fear for their safety and against the notoriety that the march brings to their town.
Streets are closed in central Salem and widespread disruption in caused to shoppers and others going about their Saturday business. Many bus routes are taken out of service and commuter train services to Salem are considered by many to be too dangerous to use.
The police presence in the town is large, with 400 officers from across Sweden drafted in on Saturday to hold neo-Nazi and opposing groups apart. The authors of the debate article argue that the large police presence is sufficient evidence that violence is a very real risk.
Salem county tried in 2007 to have the police permit given to the neo-Nazis reconsidered in court but their request was rejected. The council is now pushing for the Supreme Administrative Court to consider their case.
The atmosphere is particularly tense this year as a consequence of fire bombing attacks in nearby Högdalen at the end of November and beginning of December.
The police have this year given permission for two Salem demonstrations.
The right wing Salemfonden have been given permission to march between 4pm and 7pm.
The opposing Nätverk mot rasism (network against racism) have been given permission for a standing demonstration between 12pm to 3pm. The network however wants to conduct a march and appealed against the decision by the county administrative court. The appeals court rejected their petition however.
Police on Saturday morning stopped a group of militant activists from Germany and Denmark in their vehicles by the motorway in the vicinity of Alby in south-western Stockholm.
“It was clear that they were on their way to Salem to stir up a fight,” said Michael Fertz to news agency TT.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Anti-Terror Law Used to Bust … Paperboys
Village council goes undercover to nab 8 youngsters working without permit
They creep around in the dark spreading misery, rumour and secrets from inside Westminster.
Even so, paperboys and girls are hardly likely to pose a threat to national security.
One local council, however, thought it necessary to use swingeing anti-terror laws against them.
Cambridgeshire County Council used the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) to spy on eight paperboys thought to be working without permits.
It sent undercover council officers to lurk outside a Spar in the village of Melbourn and take notes on the movements of the boys.
The evidence was used in a criminal prosecution of the shop’s owners for employing five of the boys without the correct documentation.
Cambridgeshire’s approach is just the latest example of local authorities using the RIPA for minor misdemeanours.
Such activities have been likened to those of the Stasi, the East German secret police.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Youths Who Gang-Raped Girl in Stairwells Are Named
Seven schoolboys aged as young as 13 who joked as they took turns to rape a 14-year-old girl because she “disrespected” a gang member can be identified today for the first time.
The girl was subjected to an ordeal lasting several hours in stairwells around a housing estate in East London, parts of which were filmed on mobile phones.
O’Neil Denton, known as Hitman by the Kingshold Boys gang, now aged 16, ordered his friends to snatch the girl from the streets of Hackney after she was said to have insulted him. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was attacked while walking home from school in April last year.
After being disturbed, Denton and some of the group took their victim to another stairwell where she was forced to commit a sex act at knifepoint. The boys rang friends during the attack, and a crowd began to gather, including Weiled Ibrahim, now aged 17, Jayden Ryan, Yusuf Raymond, and Jack Bartle, aged 16, and Alexander Vanderpuije and Cleon Brown, both 15. The final, and worst, assault took place on the ninth floor of another block of flats where the girl was raped repeatedly during a 50-minute ordeal. When she tried to fight back, junior members of the gang kicked her and smashed her head against a wall.
Nicola Merrick, for the prosecution, said: “The victim knew, of course, she was going to be raped again. She could hear Ibrahim and others saying there were other boys who would rape her badly.”
Eventually 15 boys assembled on the stairwell…
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: 936 People Died of AIDS Over the Last 23 Years
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, DECEMBER 1 — Over the past 23 years, ever since 1985 when the first case of AIDS was registered, a total of 2.287 HIV positive persons were registered in Serbia till November 20 this year, 1.432 of whom got AIDS while another 936 have already died, it has been announced on the occasion of the World AIDS Day, reports Tanjug nesws agency. At the same time, in the period from January 1 to November 20 this year, 87 people were registered in Serbia as HIV positive, and 34 of them got AIDS while 16 did not manage to survive. So far, Serbia has been successful in resisting an epidemics, but it should undertake additional steps in that respect, Minister of Health Tomica Milosavljevic said today. Addressing a news conference, Milosavljevic reminded that Serbia had been implying the National Strategy for the Fight against HIV/AIDS ever since February 2005, and that in 2006, a special office had been set up as part of the Institute of Public Health of Serbia which was dealing with that issue at the national level.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Energy: Cooperation in Wind Power With EU Discussed
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, NOVEMBER 24 — A project for the setting up of a 200-megawat wind farm in the Jabal al Zeit area for a cost estimated at 2.3 billion Egyptian pounds (some 329 million euro) was discussed in a meeting in Cairo between Electricity and Energy Minister, Hassan Yunis, and a EU team. Wind energy is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The minister said the economic and environment studies of the project have been finalised. Other similar projects with a 720 magawat will be set up in Jabel al Zeit with the cooperation of Japan and Spain, he said. Another project is being set up in al Zafarana on the Red Sea with the cooperation of Denmark and Japan. By 2010 wind electricity farm in Zafarana will have a 240 megawat capacity, he said. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Fishing: Pesca; Mazara Del Vallo Hosts Kasbah Fest
(ANSAmed) — MAZARA DEL VALLO (TRAPANI), DECEMBER 5 — At the opening of ‘Kasbah Fest’, a three day event in the historic centre of Mazara del Vallo (Trapani), to show the spirit of fraternity and fishing which makes up the number one resource of economic earnings for the town: from today until Sunday it will be possible to witness exhibitions of customs, art exhibits, photo shows and free tastings. Moreover, the initiative ‘At the Table with Poor Fish’ whish will set out a menu for 12 euro in restaurants which participate in the event (www.pescepovero.it). The event was inaugurated, this morning, in the presence of the mayor, Giorgio Macaddino, and of the vice-consuls of Tunisia, Walid El Hajem and Morocco, Meshrafi Nawfal. “With this initiative promoted by the city with funds from POR Sicily aimed at the promotion of cheap fish — the mayor, Giorgio Macaddino, declared — we intend to consolidate the already intense relationship of friendship and collaboration with the communities and the authorities present in North Africa. With our North African brothers — he added — we cry together for the victims that the sea has claimed, and we are joyous for those that have been saved”. During his speech, the mayor emphasised the commitment for action in order to re-launch the historic centre with efforts to improve infrastructure. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Mideast: Adonis, Monotheism Obstacle for Dialogue
(ANSAmed) — ROME, DECEMBER 5 — From the conception of science to that of the State. The obstacles to a “sincere and creative” dialogue between Arabs and the West are many and originate in the “specific and unique” message that “excludes the others” that is a part of every monotheistic religion. This is what the Syrian poet Adonis, considered by many critics to be the greatest living Arab poet, affirms according to whom “if we want real dialogue based on the equality of human beings” and not on “simple tolerance”, “we will have to remove these obstacles”. Adonis spoke in Rome where he will take part at the international conference ‘Re-Building Dialogue with the Arab World’, which was inaugurated by the Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno. According to Adonis, there is the need to address the reasons for which the message is “specific and unique” in monotheistic religions which “exclude the others” in praxis and changed in “ideology”, transforming “the divine word into an instrument of power”. This is how “the so called dialogue between monotheistic religions is founded on a radical difference” that is that each of them exclude the other from their own vision of God”. The consequences are that “Mediterranean thought moves in a sort of ideological prison”. An example? “Jewish fundamentalists define the territory they occupy as ‘freed Biblical territory’. Muslims respond by contesting these claims”. But now, Adonis reasons, “if the same God is a prisoner of the revelation of his books to man, the same man in all of his thoughts, actions, reasoning and heart, is a prisoner of this written revelation”. Therefore, “the liberation from this prison” is the “condition” needed “to create sufficiently rational dialogue”. The question, the Syrian poet concludes, “isn’t simply the decline of religion” but “correcting the defects in the monotheistic vision of man in the world”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Preparing a ‘Go it Alone’ Air Strike Against Iran’s Nuclear Facilities Without Consulting the U.s.
Israel is preparing to go it alone in a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, it was reported yesterday.
Officials in the Israeli Defence Ministry told the Jerusalem Post that while they prefer to act in consultation with the U.S., they were preparing plans that would allow them to act in isolation. ‘It is always better to coordinate,’ a senior Defence Ministry official told the newspaper. ‘But we are also preparing options that do not include coordination.’
His comments came after President Bush refused to promise U.S. assistance in an attack, which would need to cross Iraqi airspace that is currently controlled by America. According to the newspaper, Israeli military strategists are drawing up plans for an air strike against the emerging nuclear weapons programme in Iran, which experts believe is just three years away from becoming operational. […]
At a military parade in Tehran in the summer, banners adorning six Shehab-3 missiles declared: ‘Israel must be wiped off the map’ and ‘We will crush America under our feet.’ […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Rocket Fire on Western Negev Continues
Palestinian rocket fire on the western Negev continued Friday, with eight Kassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip throughout the day. One rocket landed in Sderot, and the others landed in open areas near the city and within the Gaza Strip. No casualties or damage were reported in the attacks.
Also Friday, three mortar shells fired from the northern Gaza Strip landed in the Eshkol region. No casualties or damage were reported. On Thursday, a Kassam rocket landed near Sderot, causing no casualties or damage. […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
AIDS: Turkey, Activists to Demonstrate for the First Time
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, DECEMBER 1 — People living with Hiv and activists fighting against the spread of Aids will for the first time in Turkey be visible by holding a demonstration in Istanbul today, on the occasion of World Aids Day, daily Today’s Zaman writes. Ministry of Health figures show that there are 3,170 people who are Hiv positive in Turkey, but it is estimated that the number is higher. For the whole 2007 approximately 200 people were diagnosed with Hiv but for the first half of 2008 it has spread to another 250 people, according to information collected by the Positive Life Association (Pyd). “We, as people who are Hiv positive, their relatives, activists fighting against Aids, women’s organizations, youth organizations, doctors, artists, representatives of the private sector, volunteers and residents of Beyoglu, are going out on the streets today to say that Hiv is the problem of men, women, young people, teachers, policeman, housewives, businessmen and grocers, in short, all of us,”, the Pyd declared. The first Hiv case in Turkey occurred in 1985 and for a long time was perceived as a disease afflicting homosexuals. “Turkish society still does not have enough information about Aids”, Nejat Unlu, the chairman of Pyd, said. “In order to estimate a more accurate number of those who are Hiv positive, the World Health Organization (Who) suggests multiplying the reported numbers by at least eight for developing countries, such as Turkey. This means that the real number in Turkey is around 20,000, with most of them are not aware of the fact that they are Hiv positive,” Unlu stressed. The Ministry of Health opened 11 centers this year for those who are Hiv positive or have developed Aids. In these centers it is possible to get information about the disease and get free tests anonymously. After diagnosis, the Social Security Authority (Ssk) pays for treatment, which costs 10,000 US dollars annually. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Covert Marine Operation Uncovers Syria’s Return to Plutonium Production
In the face of Damascus’ refusal to allow UN inspectors access to three suspect “research laboratories, Western agents recently carried out a daring covert operation to collect water samples from the Orontes river in Syria where it drains into the Mediterranean, DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources reveal. Their discoveries were presented to a closed session of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency’s board on Nov. 27-28.
Situated on the river bank near Homs is one of the three research institutes where Syrian, Iranian and North Korean technicians and scientists are suspected of reprocessing plutonium for Syria’s clandestine military nuclear program. The Orentes samples confirmed the suspicion that Syria has gone back to the plutonium project which was cut short when Israeli destroyed its reactor at Al Kibar in September 2007. […]
Their discovery tied in with a separate report reaching the nuclear watchdog board [IAEA] that Iran and North Korea were frantically drafting in nuclear specialists to help Syria revive its plutonium reprocessing project. The product is to be stored in protected hideouts.
It was the view of some board members that Tehran and Pyongyang had determined to prove that the Israeli attack had not put Syria off its nuclear program. Both were even more insistent on showing the world that the Iranian nuclear program of which the Syrian project was a part was unstoppable.
Syria and North Korea accordingly renewed their clandestine nuclear cooperation accord on Oct. 22, so making sure of an uninterrupted flow from Pyongyang of nuclear materials, technology and experts for Syria’s covert nuclear facilities.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia: Risk of Attacks and Lodging Problems for Faithful Heading to Mecca
More than two and a half million Muslims will participate in the traditional pilgrimage: 1 million 750 thousand from outside of the country, and 750 thousand Saudis or immigrants to the kingdom. High alert over the risk of attacks, but the real threats are traffic, illegal occupation of public land, and problems finding lodging.
Mecca (AsiaNews/Agencies) — More than 2.5 million Muslims from all over the world will gather in Mecca beginning on December 6, to celebrate the Hajj, the traditional Islamic pilgrimage that constitutes the fifth pillar of Islam. There are expected to be about 1.75 million foreigners, joined by 750 thousand Saudi citizens or immigrant workers in the kingdom.
The Saudi government will have to address two problems in order to guarantee smooth proceedings for the pilgrimage: the danger of attacks, although there are no specific threats at the moment, and the problem of logistics, which ranges from housing the pilgrims to chaotic traffic in the city to illegal occupation of public land to the payment of the pilgrimage tax.
The pilgrimage has often been marked by violence, because of the immense crowds in the city streets, in addition to the more specifically religious places. In 2006, more than 364 people died during the ritual of “stoning the devil” — in which stones are throwing against images of the demon — and 76 died when a hostel collapsed. Deaths have also been caused by demonstrations or attacks: the most serious of these was probably the one that took place in 1979, when hundreds of people — the exact number has never been determined — perished following an attack by a group of fundamentalists who were able to take control of the Grand Mosque.
On the matter of security, Prince Naif, the Saudi interior minister, has stated that security forces are ready to face any kind of threat, and will be able to guarantee the safety of the faithful during the pilgrimage. “We don’t have any information (about threats) but we have taken all precautions.” He also expresses the hope that “the holiness of this Islamic event will be respected,” and that no one will endanger the lives of the Muslim faithful.
The bigger problems are in the area of logistics: because of the spike in lodging prices during the pilgrimage season, many of the faithful improvise their own solutions. About 500 Syrian pilgrims, imitated by another small group, have rented the rooms of a private school in the city, without official permission from the authorities.
Public safety officials have also communicated that pitching tents around the sacred sites or in the city streets will not be allowed, because this causes problems for traffic and public safety. Saeed Al-Qahtani, director general of public security, says that “tents used by some pilgrims who squat on the streets disrupt the movement of pedestrians, obstruct traffic and cause inconvenience to pilgrims.” The tents block ambulances and emergency services personnel, preventing assistance from reaching the faithful who fall ill during the pilgrimage. Illegal occupation of public land is also contrary to the Sunna and to the precepts of Mohammed. The director of public security finally raises the alarm over accidents: the rise in the number of vehicles on the road, aggravated by problems of tiredness and recklessness, is often the cause of accidents leading to death or injury.
Finally, there is some good news for foreign pilgrims: beginning this year, it is possible to pay the tax to enter Saudi Arabia and participate in the pilgrimage directly over the internet, avoiding the long hours of waiting — often without food or water — at the government offices around the airport.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Transport: Turkey-Iran to Build Railway Connection
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, NOVEMBER 27 — Iran and Turkey have agreed to build a 220-km-long railway in Turkey to connect Iran’s railway to Southeast Turkey, according to financial website ReporterNet. The daily quoted the Iran’s Minister of Roads and Transport Hamid Behbahani who spoke in the sidelines of a meeting with Turkish officials. The 220-km-long railway will be built around Van Lake in Turkey. Iran’s share in the construction will be 40% with Turkey’s amounting to 60%. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘World Efforts to Harness Iran’s Nuclear Program a Failure’
Efforts made over the last five years by the international community to harness Teheran’s nuclear program have failed, the world’s chief nuclear inspector admitted. International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei told the LA Times on Saturday that “We haven’t really moved one inch toward addressing the issues” and said that he thought “the policy has been a failure.”
Addressing the series of sanctions imposed on Teheran as a response to its refusal to end its nuclear development, Baradei said that these actions have perhaps caused a “more hardening of the position of Iran… Many Iranians who even dislike the regime [are] gathering around the regime because they feel that country is under siege.”
Despite this position, Baradei insisted that the path of diplomacy is the correct form of solution and that international trust is what will prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. In this context, Baradei indicated that he hoped Iran and the US could begin talking. In order to arrive at what he called a “grand bargain,” the West must give Teheran “the power, prestige and influence” it desires. Baradei said he felt positive that Iran and the West would eventually reach a settlement.
Baradei used the opportunity to reject claims Iran planned to use nuclear weapons against Israel. Baradei insisted that world leaders must also take into consideration other issues facing Iran. Rather than focus on its nuclear weapons program alone, he urged members of the international community to address the state’s security concerns, poverty and alleged injustices, although he emphasized that the nuclear issue remained “the tip of the iceberg.” […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Demand for Migrant Workers on the Rise
Jakarta, 4 Dec. (AKI/Jakarta Post) — Demand for Indonesian migrant workers overseas is growing, especially in hospitals, hotels and transportation and construction companies, according to a senior official. Head of the National Labor Placement and Protection Agency Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat said his office prioritied sending migrant workers to work in the formal sector.
“From a safety point of view, it is better for workers to be in the formal sector because they are protected by labor laws,” he said.
He said Indonesia’s migrant workers employed in the informal sector, such as housemaids, far outnumbered those employed in the formal sector. Of Indonesia’s estimated 4.3 million migrant workers, 64 percent are employed as domestic maids.
Jumhur said thousands of Indonesians were employed as nurses in the Middle East.
They work in hospitals or private homes, earning between Rp 5 million (403 dollars ) and Rp 6 million monthly in the private sector and from Rp 10 million to Rp 12 million at state-run hospitals.
South Sulawesi is set to send up to 1,000 nurses to Kuwait.
“We are ready to send another batch of 1,000 nurses to Kuwait. We have already sent 2,129 migrant workers to various Asia Pacific and Middle Eastern countries this year, including nurses, drivers, construction workers and plantation workers,” South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo said.
“Around 95 percent of migrant workers facing problems work in the informal sector,” Jumhur added.
They are susceptible because their work is not regulated by labour laws, so we prioritise those in the formal sector. We will increase our scrutiny in the housemaid selection process.”
He said the recruitment process for jobs in the formal sector took into account skills and expertise, command of English and knowledge of manpower regulations, especially those concerning rights and obligations.
This year, migrant workers from South Sulawesi sent home a total of 4 billion rupees in remittances to their families.
“The most important thing is that our migrant workers become the motivating factor for others as a way to minimize unemployment. We hope in 2010 the number of migrant workers from South Sulawesi will reach 20,000,” he said.
Responding to questions on how Indonesia can protect its migrant workers from rights violations, Jumhur said his office was continuously coordinating with recruitment agencies in the province to safeguard migrant workers’ rights and jobs.
He said his office had also coordinated with foreign recruitment agencies to provide Indonesian migrant workers with insurance, outreach centers and monitoring posts in airports as places for them to lodge complaints.
“We definitely coordinate with our representatives overseas, such as our embassies, to oversee our migrant workers, although we do not hope for much,” he said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia: Ex-Law Minister: Malaysia Racial Unity Threatened
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s former law minister accused the ruling party Thursday (4 Dec) of pandering to the ethnic Malay Muslim majority and threatening decades of harmony among the country’s racially diverse communities.
The United Malays National Organization governing party expelled Zaid Ibrahim on Tuesday (2 Dec) for attending opposition gatherings, less than three months after he resigned from the Cabinet to protest the use of a law allowing detention without trial.
Zaid said Thursday he was sacked for speaking too bluntly about sensitive issues. In recent months, he has criticized affirmative action policies for Malays, saying they were discriminatory and failed to inspire cooperation among different racial groups. “It’s as if we don’t want (multiracial) unity,” Zaid told a news conference. “UMNO has become more ethnocentric … but that is not our role. UMNO’s role is to be the provider, the one who takes care of everyone, the one who has the trust of all the communities.”
Zaid said some party officials also often made racially provocative remarks that could hurt the feelings of the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities. […] The ruling party’s decision-making council said Tuesday it decided to expel Zaid because he flouted party rules by attending events organized by opposition groups.
Malays make up nearly 60% of Malaysia’s 27 million people and get privileges in state contracts, jobs, housing and education under an affirmative action program launched following 1969 racial riots that were fueled partly by Malay discontent over Chinese financial clout. Many ethnic Chinese and Indians feel marginalized by the policy. Critics say it mainly benefits a well-connected Malay elite and breeds cronyism, corruption and inefficiency.
UMNO is the linchpin of a 13-party multiethnic governing coalition. Wide-ranging public dissatisfaction over government policies sparked a surge in support for the opposition in March general elections, resulting in the ruling coalition’s weakest performance in its 51-year rule.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia: Pas Now Wants a Partial Ban on Sale of Alcohol
SHAH ALAM: Selangor PAS [Parti se Islam Malaysia; Malaysian Islamic Party] wants a ban on the sale of beverages with 5.8% alcohol content at convenience stores and petrol kiosks in neighbourhoods where 90% of the residents are Muslims.
Selangor PAS commissioner Datuk Dr Hasan Ali said the state did not have a blanket ruling on alcohol sale and the restriction would stop outlets selling such beverages to Muslims. “This idea will not be enforced with immediate effect but after consultation with owners of the 7-Eleven stores and petrol kiosks.
“We will discuss on their need to sell such beverages in a Muslim neighbourhood,” he said.
Dr Hasan clarified that shops licensed to sell alcoholic beverages such as wine outlets and beer houses would not be included as they catered to a niche group of non-Muslims. It was reported that Selangor PAS had proposed a blanket ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages at convenience stores and petrol kiosk shops in the state.
Selangor Mentri Besar [Governor] Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim later clarified that there was no total ban on alcohol sales considering that the state has multiracial communities. He said enforcement would be stepped up so that the outlets do not sell alcohol to Muslims, especially students.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia a Role Model, says Bill Clinton
KUALA LUMPUR — BILL Clinton has expressed admiration for Malaysians, saying that their ability to respect other people’s faiths should be emulated by all.
The former US president said the world would be a better place if it emulated Malaysia’s harmony and social tolerance. ‘Malaysia is the model that there is hope for the future. The people here who are from varied races, religions and all sorts of background who have learned to work together and stay together’.
‘This is what the world should be like,’ he said, adding that memories of ‘this remarkable nation will forever be in my mind’.
The 42nd US president, who visited the KL Bird Park earlier, said he met two Muslim women who came up to greet him. ‘It is this ability to respect people’s faith that I admire in Malaysia. If only everyone could look another person in their eye and welcome them to their common space, what a different world we would have.’ […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Mumbai: What’s in a Code Name? Ask a Terrorist
Dead men tell no tales, but survivors do. The sole terrorist captured alive in the Mumbai terror attacks, Ajmal Mohammad Amin Kasab, has revealed that all the ten attackers used Arabic code names, concealing their genuine identity. The code names were commensurate with the task assigned to each of them.
The masterminds of the mission—who led the attackers—were called Zaim and Nasi al-Din, meaning ‘General’ and ‘Protector of Islam’, respectively. These two were not only the brains behind the mission but also the vanguard, as they guided the rest of the team and led the charge into the Taj Mahal hotel.
The man who led the attack on the Trident-Oberoi was named al-Haman—Arabic for happy and enthusiastic, Crime Branch sources confirmed. Another was called al-Abbas, or fearless—a reflection of his role in the attacks.
Held at an undisclosed place and under constant interrogation, Kasab has disclosed that the team was trained in the hill areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Their commander was Abdul Baith. One of them knew the Quran by heart—a hafiz—and gave them sermons on the way to Mumbai. Kasab has also recounted how the ten of them dispersed in teams of two to various targets as soon as they landed at the Gateway of India on Wednesday evening (3 Dec). […]
Kasab has reportedly recounted how rigorous their training was. He said he was “forcibly” sent to a Lashkar-e-Tayyaba camp by his father. Their masters had warned them not to get nabbed. “Die or return alive with hostages and seek safe passage out by the same sea-route,” they were told.
All the ten terrorists were trained by ex-army personnel, some for over a year, according to the Mumbai police commissioner Hasan Gafoor.
Gafoor also said the two blasts which took place in taxis on November 26 night were due to bombs placed by the terrorists. […] “The blasts were carried out to increase the area of chaos,” Gafoor said.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistani Organization Accused of Links to Mumbai Attacks Holds Open House
Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which the US says is a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba militants, invited reporters to tour its compound near Lahore, Pakistan. With India accusing Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) of last week’s deadly attacks on Mumbai, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), an organization that the US and India say is a front for the LeT, invited the press to its facilities in Pakistan Thursday in an effort to show that it is only an Islamic charity.
The Times (of London), one of the news organizations invited to Markaz-e-Taiba, the JuD’s main facility outside Lahore, Pakistan, writes that “Indian accounts [suggest] Markaz-e-Taiba is the dragon’s lair,” but “the reality… appeared rather more civilised.” […]
The BBC, which also attended the open house, writes that if Markaz-e-Taiba is really a center for the training of militants, “the atmosphere in the school and the entire complex is remarkably open and easy.” […] The BBC also notes that the students, taking ordinary physics and chemistry classes, “smile and shyly pose for the camera, just like any other normal children in a school setting.”
Nonetheless, India and the US claim the JuD is a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Canada’s National Post reports, due at least in part to the fact that the leader of the JuD, Hafez Mohammed Saeed, founded the LeT to fight the Soviets toward the end of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. After the Soviets withdrew, the LeT turned its focus toward the India-Pakistan conflict in Kashmir, and was reportedly involved in attacks on New Delhi in 2000.
Mr. Saeed claims to no longer have any ties to Lashkar-e-Taiba but U. S.. officials say Lashkar and Jamat are one and the same. “Saeed is LeT’s overall leader and plays a key role in LeT’s operation and fundraising activities worldwide,” the U. S. Treasury said in a statement in May, when it froze the bank accounts of Mr. Saeed and [Zakiur-Rehman Lahkvi, the LeT chief of operations]. […]
The Guardian reports that despite the JuD’s broad invitations to observe the campus, in reality, press access was limited. The Guardian also indicates that the open house may have taken place at least in part due to the insistence of Pakistan’s security agency, which has been accused of supporting the LeT.
…The madrasa, mosque, and other facilities remained out of bounds, and once the official tour was over the media were no longer welcome. Although the group had said anyone was welcome to look around the site at any time, the Guardian’s attempt to take up this offer after the tour was met with a heavy-handed response: burly young men arrived on motorcycles and circled, demanding that we leave. […]
Are we in danger of jumping on the Lashar-e-Taiba bandwagon just as the media did on WMD in Iraq? Or I am simply questioning the obvious? Either way, we probably need to get out there and turn over a few more stones.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Philippines: Suspected Pakistani Militant Nabbed
MANILA, PHILIPPINES: Philippine security forces have arrested a suspected Pakistani bomb maker in the country’s volatile south where Muslim militants are active, the national police chief said Wednesday (3 Dec).
Police and military agents swooped down on a rented watch shop in Shariff Kabunsuan town on Mindanao island on Tuesday (2 Dec) and arrested owner Muhammad Alfariz, said police Director General Jesus Verzosa. Alfariz allegedly possessed mortar shells, wires, a cell phone and other bomb-making material, and may have already assembled several explosive devices, Verzosa said.
He said the suspect was being interrogated in connection with a plot to bomb several targets in Mindanao, where suspected al-Qaida-linked militants are based and Muslim separatist rebels have fought a decades-long insurgency. […] Details of the suspect’s alleged affiliation with militants were murky, but police initially suspected he may have links with the Indonesian-based regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah.
Security officials said last month that about 30 Indonesian recruits of Jemaah Islamiyah and 28 other extremists from unspecified countries are on the run in Mindanao. […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Philippines: Sectarian Tensions Simmer Over a Pig in Cotabato City
In this majority-Muslim Filipino city, a fight over roast pig sheds light on bigger hurdles Christians and Muslims here navigate.
To understand the culture clash wracking the southern Philippines, consider the lechon. That’s the name for the roast pig that’s a Philippines’ signature dish. Sold by the kilo in public markets, it’s a must-have at any Filipino celebration.
But pork is taboo for Muslims, now a majority in this city (about 60 percent, compared with 40 percent Christian), and who see this part of the southern Philippines island of Mindanao as their ancestral homeland. Eating pork is a no-no, and even smelling or seeing it is offensive to some.
So what to do about the street lechon sellers? In Cotabato City last year, shop-owners were ordered to cover their lechon, says Flordeliza Cavite. […] Vendors had to use curtains, paint over windows, or move their pork inside to avoid offending passersby and to comply with the ordinance.
This year, rules were relaxed, she said — possibly the result of a power struggle between the Muslim mayor and the city council (mostly Christians). In a region that’s seen bloody, on-and-off warfare between the Philippines military and Muslim rebels, the lechon problem may seem trivial. But it highlights the tricky compromises needed in order for Christians and Muslims to live here in peace as neighbors.
For the fundamental question now is how to expand and enhance an already-existing, nearby, Muslim autonomous region, while respecting the Christian neighbors’ rights and way of life. The stakes are higher than dead pig displays. Get the balance right, and peace could finally come to Mindanao.. Get it wrong, and the insurgency that’s racked the island for some 40 years will grind on.
That conflict has drained Manila’s coffers, killed thousands, displaced more, and caused a refugee problem in Malaysia. It’s also created a lawless haven in this area for gunrunners, arms smugglers, kidnappers, and terrorists — including some involved in the murderous Bali bombings.[…]
Ms. Cavite worries that if the city becomes part of the Muslim autonomous area, Muslim leaders will ban the public sale of lechon. Her feelings are raw. “Muslims are very bad,” she says. “They will control us Christians.” Other Christian locals say they’ll move if it becomes a Muslim autonomous area.
Their fears are misplaced, says MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu. “Mindanao is totally different than in other parts of the Muslim world — here we are living side by side with Christians. So we will be liberal on [these] issues,” he says. […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Riz Khan — Censorship in Malaysia — December 3, 2008 — Part One
On Wednesday’s Riz Khan show we ask how widespread is censorship of the media and the arts in the Malaysian society?
We will be joined by controversial blogger, Raja Petra Kamarudin, editor of the Malaysia Today website. He has twice been arrested under Malaysia’s controversial Internal Security Act. Also joining the program is veteran journalist Kee Thuan Chye, associate editor of the country’s leading English language newspaper The Star and Jo Kukhatas, an acclaimed dramatist, poet and actress.
This episode of the Riz Khan show was aired on Wednesday, December 03, 2008.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Cambodia: Torture Charge Added Against Khmer Rouge Defendant
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: Judges on Friday (5 Dec) added torture and homicide to the list of charges facing the detained former prison chief of the Khmer Rouge, the communist group that once ruled Cambodia with an iron hand.
The charge against Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, was accepted by judges of the U.N.-assisted tribunal that is attempting to establish accountability for atrocities committed when the Khmer Rouge were in power in 1975-1979. The communist group is considered responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution.
Duch, who headed S-21 prison, the Khmer Rouge’s largest torture facility, already faces charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes under the statutes of the tribunal. […] About 16,000 men, women and children are believed to have been held at S-21 prison, and only 14 are thought to have survived. […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
British Missionary Couple in Muslim African Country Face Months in Jail ‘Hell Hole’ After Being Charged With Sedition
A British missionary couple face up to two years in an African hell hole jail after being charged with sedition in The Gambia. David and Fiona Fulton were arrested last Saturday in the West African Muslim country, and have been separated and held in custody, according to sources. The couple have been jailed over claims they had been speaking out against the government of president Yahya Jammeh, who has ruled Africa’s smallest country with an iron fist for 14 years.
Mr Fulton, 60, who is originally from Troon, Ayrshire, was being held in the country’s notorious Mile II prison — a high security jail outside the capital Banjul, described as a tough former colonial jail built during the days of the British Empire. His wife Fiona, 46, was is understood to be in police custody with the couple’s adopted two-year-old daughter Elizabeth. […]
The Gambia, one of Africa’s smallest countries, is predominantly Muslim but has a significant Christian community, and indigenous beliefs are also practised. A report in the International Herald Tribune said the Fultons were paraded on state television on Wednesday and charged in court in the capital, Banjul, yesterday.
The prosecution reportedly accused the couple of writing letters to individuals and organisations to ‘bring into hatred or contempt, to excite disaffection against the President of the Republic and the government of The Gambia’. […]
President Jammeh, who believes he has herbal treatments that can cure AIDS, has tolerated little dissent since he seized power in a 1994 military coup. Since taking over as a young army lieutenant he has won three widely criticised multi-party elections.
A concerned friend of the couple added: ‘While we are free to speak out, in Gambia you cannot. […]
Pastor Martin Speed, of Westhoughton Pentecostal Church in Bolton, Greater Manchester, said the couple had visited Christians at his church to talk about their work. […] ‘He’s sharing his Christian faith with people. There does seem to be a growing difficulty of Christians in the country of Gambia. We are really concerned about the situation.’
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Romolo Gessi: a Man at the Service of Gordon Pasha.
Italian involvement in Sudan dates back to the 800’s, with various characters having influenced events in the country.
Between explorers, adventurers and others who have left their mark, most notable in Sudanese history was Romolo Gessi, on whom several books have been written, including “Gordon, Gessi and Sudan’s re-conquest”.
Gessi’s life was a tumultuous adventure from beginning to end. Born on the ship taking his exiled parents from Ravenna to Constantinople on the 30th April 1831, he died in Suez exactly fifty years later on the 30th April, 1881. His mortal remains were later repatriated to Ravenna, his family’s town of origin.
The following short history of his life and adventures will shed some light on the military expedition led by Romolo Gessi in Sudan.
On the 15th July, 1878, Gessi sailed out from Khartoum on board the steamer “The Bordeen”. The orders issued by General Gordon were clear: the former vice-lieutenant and trusted friend was to lead of one the most powerful expeditions of the time, numbering approximately 10,000 men, with orders to re-conquer the Bahr Al-Ghazal and its neighbouring provinces, which had fallen into the hands of Suleiman’s zealous rebels.
Once there, they were to abolish the slave trade, clear the country of slave traders, and introduce a proper administration.
The campaign, it was assumed, would be gory and horrific, but circumstances appeared propitious and the likelihood of a successful outcome seemed high…
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Pygmies’ Plight
For thousands of years Pygmies have lived in harmony with equatorial Africa’s magnificent jungles. They inhabit a narrow band of tropical rain forest about four degrees above and four degrees below the Equator, stretching from Cameroon’s Atlantic coast eastward to Lake Victoria in Uganda. With about 250,000 of them remaining, Pygmies are the largest group of hunter-gatherers left on earth. But they are under serious threat. Over the past decade, I’ve visited Pygmy clans in several Congo Basin countries, witnessing the destruction of their traditional lifestyle by the Bantu, as taller Africans are widely known. On this trip, this past February, my companion is Manfred Mesumbe, a Cameroonian anthropologist and expert on Pygmy culture. “The Bantu governments have forced them to stop living in the rain forests, their culture’s bedrock,” he tells me. “Within a generation many of their unique traditional ways will be gone forever.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Outrage as U.S. Health Centre Offers ‘Abortion Gift Certificates’ for Christmas
A U.S. health centre has sparked outrage by offering Christmas gift certificates that can be used to pay for an abortion.
The Planned Parenthood clinic says the gift cards can be used for “services” or the recipient’s choice of “birth control method”. The chain of clinics offer a variety of health services, including birth control and terminations.
The gift certificates, which can be used at almost 100 clinics in the state of Indiana, are being made available at their walk in centres and from a website. Betty Cockrum, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Indiana, said the programme was started in response to the state’s ailing economy. She said the gift-certificate programme is the first of its kind by any of Planned Parenthood’s clinics.
Cockrum said the certificates,which start at £15, can be used for a wide range of health services on offer at their centres, but admitted abortion was among them. “They really are intended for preventative healthcare,” she said. […]
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Statement of the OIC Secretary General on the Occasion of the Blessed Eid Al Adha
On the occasion of the blessed Eid Al Adha for the year 1429 AH, the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, released the following statement:
‘On the occasion of the blessed Eid El Adha, I am pleased to extend my sincere and warm congratulations to all peoples of the Islamic Ummah. I hope that the advent of this occasion will augur well-being and hope for the entire Islamic Ummah. May Allah grant the Islamic Ummah and the rest of the world greater security, progress and prosperity.
Eid Al Adha carries a special meaning and is rife with symbolism that brings out the value of sacrifice as an act of submission to God’s Will. This occasion, with its associated rites involving millions of Muslims assembling on the plain of Arafat in an awe-inspiring religious image, is a reminder for Muslims of the imperatives of unity, solidarity and sincerity in discharging their duties of helping one another to achieve strength and empowerment. This will make Muslims readier to defend their sanctuaries and support their Muslim brothers to regain their usurped rights, and provide them with the means to acquire might and preserve dignity.
As the third anniversary of the Extraordinary Islamic Summit held in Makkah Al Mukarramah approaches, we need to recall and laud the initiative launched by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, during the pilgrimage of 1425 AH/2005 AD. The Summit proved a success by the grace and help of Allah and thanks to the unprecedented preparations undertaken by Islamic scholars coming from all disciplines, who managed to articulate a roadmap for joint Islamic action and bring about a qualitative change in this field by adopting the OIC Ten-Year Program of Action.
We are convinced that the political will demonstrated by the OIC Member States, together with the commitment shown by the institutions and the various components of society, underscore their interest and their expectations about the Ten-Year Programme of Action. They feel that the endeavors slated to implement the Program and achieve its stipulations, especially in light of the amended OIC Charter as adopted at the 2008 Dakar Summit, will culminate in securing the right conditions for the triumph of the causes of our Islamic nation and raise the profile of the Ummah and Islam in the world.
Finally, I pray to the Almighty Allah to make us witness more of the Eid, hoping that the Islamic Ummah would have regained by then its outstanding position among the nations of the world, that the bonds of unity would have strengthened among Muslims, that the Muslims would have reclaimed their usurped rights, and that the Islamic Ummah would have achieved the progress and prosperity we all aspire to.
Wa assalamou allaykoum wa rahmatoullahi wa barakatou
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
3 comments:
Nikola Tesla did not solve energy crisis- Nor Albert Einstein- SOLOMON AZAR HAS-period!
I took the ideas of many scientists the world has grown and finalized an ideology and experiment to end the global energy crisis with no greenhouse gases-That was the easy part-now i find myself trying to gain FAITH of my fellowman to spread this story-WHY-
for i did everything alone-a garage scientists who is successful- and now i need to be proven correct- so i come upon the fantastic invention called the net- invented after thousands of years- if not millions of the monkey race of man only to be ridiculed and bullied- like the jackasses that harassed several teenagers to suicide-
what i have found is disgusting and the reason why innocence is raped killed and beaten- why man goes to war over and over again- YOU DESERVE IT-
Truly- as a scientists and observer- i have found the reason for mans madness at times- it is meant to be- to antagonize and harrass each other- hardly any time to just relax in life- always on guard- WHY-
go live one day in nature and see how hard it is- technology is great and makes life far more stable- some grandparents alive right now that remember when the automobile first came out- the refrigerator- the television- medicine for this ailment and so forth-
and to this day half the children of the earth still die from simple drinking water untreated-
GET YOUR HEAD OUT YOUR ASS NOW BEFORE GLOBAL WAR BEGINS-
wars have always come and gone- a natural part of life to keep a civilzation the strongest- or die by your neighbors hands that keeps the torch brighter than another to find answers-
and now in a century man declars war to end all wars forever since ww1-ONE CENTURY NOW-
when will it end-
I am your messenger- over one year i state these words- you will never give me an ear to listen or an eye to witness until i give you a miracle- for part of your animal ways is giving someone attention ONLY after they do something for you-
CATCH 22
you care not to help me or investigate my science deeds because i say messenger of god- thus- only true solution will never be uncovered as YOU are an ignorant and selfish creature that says you love god by majority in the world- yet- does nothing when a disciple asks for help-or anyone for truth- and this is part of my message- i have much to say- and you will surely understand if total economy crumbles and you lose your jobs-and go off to war- for many look for answers why afterwards-
but for first time in human history- a chance comes for peace without global war- your window closes very fast as the military pawns have been set and iran russia pakistan and many others are ready-
ONLY a messenger can create peace between the nations without global war- but it seems man is still a savage monkey race-not children of god- thus- let the lessons continue
"Malaysia, which used to practice a mild form of Islam and respect other religions."
I'd like to see proof of this oft-repeated bromide -- repeated so often it even finds its way into the heart of the anti-Islam movement's literature!
The Israelis planing to attack Iran without American permission. I assumed that's what all those Israelis were doing on Georgian airfields when the Russians attacked. You can fly directly from Georgia over the Caspian Sea without having to overfly anybodies airspace directly into Iran. I also presume that is why the American have stationed three of there 10 battle fleets in the region knowing an attack is coming dampen down the Iranian reaction when it does happen. They certainly weren't sent down there to clear out a nest of pirates. 2009 should be a very interesting year all round.
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