The big story of the day was the capture by Somali pirates of the Danish-owned merchant ship with an American crew. The crew managed to free themselves, and sent the pirates away in a lifeboat, with the ship’s captain as a hostage.In other news, two Spanish aid workers are accused of buying themselves wives while they were serving in Third World countries, and then abusing their brides when they brought them back home to Spain.
Thanks to Barry Rubin, C. Cantoni, CSP, Insubria, islam o’phobe, JD, RB, Reinhard, spackle, Steen, TB, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Algeria: Elections; Bouteflika’s Adversary Dreams of Chavez
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, APRIL 6 — Louisa Hanoune, the first woman in Algeria and in the whole Arab world to aim for the highest State office in 2004, is once again in the running for president. Even though she has no chance of winning against Bouteflika on Thursday, she could manage to win second place. This would signify huge success in a country where the Family Code, inspired by Islamic law, makes women “minors” for life. But the 54-year-old seasoned leader of the Trotskyit Workers’ Party (Parti des Travailleurs, PT) with her black kohl-lined eyes and hair held back in a neat bun, doesn’t like being described as the “women’s candidate”. “I am the people’s candidate,” she told ANSA, “I have the courage needed to change things, the courage displayed by Chavez who was able to give a voice once again to the people, the people who are free, sovereign and involved. I certainly fight for the women’s rights guaranteed by the Constitution that have been blurred by the Family Code which was born in a time of repression,” she explained, “a result of the single-party system (FLN, Front de Libération Nationale, ed.) and not the will of the people”. According to Hanoune, “Algeria is ready for a female president”. But in a recent survey, 70% of those interviewed said that they did not want to be governed by a woman. The nationalisation of the country’s energy sources, the fight against the privatisation process started in 1995, the protection of local industry “against the invasion of foreign goods” up to the breaking of the EU Association Agreement and an agricultural reform in order to “give back the land to those who work it” are the central points of her programme. “The work of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Union have created a disaster,” comments Hanoune, who wants to create a model of Venezuela. She predicts “the collapse of the already declining capitalist system during this global economic crisis”. Arrested several times in the past for having fought in the illegal “Socialist Workers’ Organisation” (OST), Hanoune founded the PT in 1990. Against the annulment of the 1991 elections won by the Islamic Front for Salvation (Front Islamique du Salut, FIS), “at the beginning of the Algerian tragedy”, she has moved, albeit with some reservations, towards Bouteflika’s Reconciliation Policy. Accused of “flirting with the Regime”, she could, according to some people, head for an important ministry, whilst for others, “she will be forced to remain in opposition”. Together with Hanoune (who won 1% of the votes in 2004) are 4 other minor candidates: Fawzi Rebaine (Adh 54, nationalist), Djahid Younis (El Islah, Radical Islamic), Mohamed Said (PJL, a new party not yet recognised) and Moussa Touati from the Algerian National Front (FNA, nationalist). The Maghreb wing of Al-Qaeda has sided against the re-election of Bouteflika. In a statement from the group, quoted by the SITE Intelligence Group (centre for surveillance of Islamic internet sites), the president has been described as the ‘confirmed enemy” of Muslims. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
IMF Will Create Global Money of the NOW
The argument on behalf of the SDR was that holding international reserves in SDRs posed less of a valuation risk on the reserves than if a country was holding a single reserve currency—like the US dollar. Most people believed that the SDR currency died with Carter’s aspirations for a second term. Because globalism is not popular in the United States, the SDR simply went underground with the US media never mentioning its existence after President Ronald Reagan found a vault full of SDRs when he assumed the White House. Reagan disposed of them.
On Thursday, April 2, 2009 Foreign Policy magazine, the periodical of the Council on Foreign Relations, reported that because the United States, Britain and China “cold-shouldered most of Europe,” they were forced to implement what they called “toothy regulatory measures” that places the burden on the IMF to become the “first responder” in global financial crisis.
[…]
Medvedev, on behalf of the money barons, told the G-20 attendees that “…[I] t is not our goal to destroy existing institutions or to weaken the dollar, pound or euro. We are simply calling for a joint assessment of how the global currency system can most favorably be developed for the sake of the global economy.” Then, before Obama realized he had been spiked in the back, Medvedev called for the G-20 to form working groups to draft two studies. One study will examine the best means to widen the currency basket to include other national currencies in order to make the emerging economies feel like participants of the global economy. The second focused on creating a new global currency to replace all of the national currencies in the world. Expect this to be ramrodded through the super majority Democratic Congress before the US national election in 2012. If it appears to the Democratic leadership that they will likely lose their super majority, be prepared for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to try to ram it through Congress before the midterm elections on Nov. 2, 2010.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A Man Exposed
At a time when the American people (of all colors) are losing their jobs, homes, and standard of living, AKA has, in his first 90 days in office, in the face of a rapidly declining economy,
1. signed a record $787 billion piggy package of pork barrel spending that will, in the end, cost over $4 trillion (H.R. 1). 2. signed a record $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill of nothing but pet projects (H.R. 1105). 3. presented a record 2010 budget, the cost of which is not yet fully known but will be in the trillions; the largest federal budget in history.
In the words of one columnist,
“President Bush, yes, spent money like a drunken sailor, and left the nation with a record $400-billion deficit. President Obama, however, is spending far more money than Bush, with a record $1.8-trillion deficit projected for his first year.”
[…]
What about that bent-kneed bow before the Saudi King? Just another gaffe by AKA or is there something more to it?
Thomas Lifson of the American Thinker thinks so. He states that such a gesture is one of fealty: the loyalty sworn to a feudal lord by a vassal or tenant; to show loyalty or allegiance (Encarta Dictionary; English (North America).
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
It Isn’t Capitalism, It’s Greed
Why is the economy not growing? Why are none of the “jump-starts” being injected into the economy by Fed Head Helicopter Ben Bernanke and Treasury Tim (Forgot to Pay My Taxes) Geithner not working? Why will hundreds of billions of dollars President Obama got approved to stimulate the economy not work? Why didn’t the first $800 billion work — or the checks that were sent out to all Americans so they could spend the money and stimulate the economy?
What is the problem?
The problem is, the American people have begun doing the right thing — saving — while the government continues doing precisely the thing that got us into the economic mess in the first place: Overspending.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Belgium: Top Court Upholds Headscarf Ban in Schools
Brussels, 7 April (AKI) — Belgium’s top administrative court, the Council of State has ruled that schools may ban girls from wearing the Muslim headscarf. The court said the ban was not discriminatory and reinforced the principles of equality and solidarity.
The Movement against Racism, anti-Semitism and Xenophobia (MRAX) however slammed the ruling as “ideological, factious and anti-democratic”.
It said the group was considering whether to appeal the ruling at the European Court of Human Rights or the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. It will decide on its course of action later this month.
MRAX had sought to outlaw a rule at two Belgian schools prohibiting pupils from wearing ‘any type of head-covering or political or religious symbol’.
Muslim women in the neighouring Netherlands last month formed a group to fight for the right to wear the heardscarf at work, after numerous employers told them it was against company policy.
Turkey’s Islamist-leaning government tried last tried to lift a ban on female students wearing the Muslim headscarf at university, but this was blocked by the country’s constitutional court.
The headscarf is a sensitive issue in officially secular Turkey, where it is seen as the symbol of political Islam.
Legislation is in place in France banning the wearing of religious symbols including the Muslim headscarf in public schools and offices
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Conservative Liberty and Left Wing Liberty
Some years ago I harangued a meeting on the threat to liberty, and found myself sharing a platform with John Wadham, then the director of Liberty (formerly the National Council for Civil Liberties). I teased him by saying that he was only interested in left-wing freedoms and rubbish about human rights. He said that in that case I should join his organisation and try to steer it in the directions I preferred.
I did join, and I still remain a member, but have little time to attend meetings, especially on Saturdays when normal people are free but Sunday newspaper journalists are at work, so I have made little impact. No impact, in fact. No thanks to me, Liberty is now much more friendly to politically conservative people, recognising that some (but not all) of us are allies in the battle against the security and surveillance state. That is because our current left-wing government has set itself up as the greatest enemy of English liberty in modern times, under the pretext of the ‘War on Terror.’
What is the difference between conservative liberty and left-wing liberty? Does it matter? (Yes) Can they be reconciled? (Not for long.) I’m grateful to Lord Hoffmann for an interesting and clever speech last week, which made this much clearer than before. Leonard Hoffmann is no fool. He knows his stuff. A lot of the speech, which you can find on the web by Googling “Universality of Human Rights” and “Hoffmann” is perceptive and clever. I am specially grateful to him for quoting Jeremy Bentham’s enjoyable savaging of the ghastly French ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man’, the founding scripture of several gory tyrannies.
This vicious document, a series of foggy statements of the obvious, qualified with sub-clauses making them useless when most needed, actually contained one rather clear section (article 27) which would eventually allow its own authors to have their heads sliced off by the Guillotine they had themselves set up. Should we be sorry about Robespierre and the rest of them being devoured by their own revolution? In my case, not very — though nobody ever seems to learn from these events, and the Russian Bolsheviks ended up in the same fix, devoured by their own revolution.
Otherwise the French declaration was more or less like all the other scrolls of atheistical, grandiose blethers about ‘rights’ which have been endorsed, acclaimed and adopted all over the world since then, culminating in the United Nations Universal Declaration and the European Convention — and now rivalled by the EU’s own Charter of ‘fundamental’ rights, soon to be used to interfere still more in our lives. Some might also draw attention to the Soviet constitution of 1936, acclaimed by many Western leftists as the finest ever drawn up, just in time for the mass purges and the Moscow Show trials.
[…]
That is why left-wing rights increase the power of the state. Conservative rights, as expressed in the hard, cool, terse language of the 1689 Bill of Rights, and its Scottish Equivalent the Claim of Right, and in the grand simplicity of the 1628 Petition of Right, concentrate on saying quite clearly what government cannot do. And in the space that is left, when the ruler is restrained by such things, free men can live, write, speak and think.
Listen carefully to most left-wing liberty campaigners, including Lord Hoffmann, and you will see and hear no sign that they even know these documents exist. Indeed, you often hear them (and David Cameron too) calling for a ‘British Bill of Rights’ as if such a thing had not already been written. It has. Treasure it. I once held it in my hands, during the filming of a TV programme on liberty for Channel Four. It is still there. More people should read it. These are real guarantees, clear, enforceable and effective. And as long as we have cared and known about them, we have been able to benefit by them.
The problem today is that too many people know nothing of the real source of our freedom — and they are confused by the idea of ‘Human Rights’ into believing that a perfect society can be created by everyone endorsing a document. They’re wrong. In the end, I suspect I can be only a temporary ally of ‘Liberty’ and of its new chief Shami Chakrabarti. But in the long run we’ll have to disagree about what liberty is, and what it is for — in a civilised fashion.
| — Hat tip: islam o’phobe | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Honour Crimes Increasing
Almost three hundred percent rise in calls for help and over 400 honour crimes registered over last four years
Increasing numbers of young people are seeking help to deal with so-called honour crimes according to new figures from the National Organisation of Shelters for Battered Women and their Children (LOKK).
Since 2005, LOKK has being offering advice to young ethnic minorities who have come into conflict with their families.
Kristeligt Dagblad newspaper reports that the organisation counselled 101 people in 2005 who knew someone, or who were themselves, trapped in such a situation. In 2008 that number had risen to 397.
Lene Johannesson from LOKK said that they especially received many calls from young women subjected to honour related attacks. Many of the calls come from young immigrant women who have found a Danish boyfriend against their parents’ wishes.
‘But we also deal with those who just want to behave like other Danish kids — going out at night and making their own decisions about education and so on,’ explained Johannesson.
Many of the girls who contact LOKK have already been verbally threatened by their parents.
‘There have been threats about locking them up or sending them back to their homeland. We also see threats of violence,’ said Johannesson.
Since 2006, the National Police’s investigation unit has registered more than 400 honour crimes in Denmark, ranging from threats and violence, to forced marriages and being sent back to the home country for ‘re-educating’.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Minority Youths Fear Honour Crime
The number of minority youths who seek help because of family threats has almost quadrupled since 2005.
An increasing number of young people from minority ethnic groups are seeking help as a result of family threats or violence, according to new and as yet unpublished figures from the National Organisation of Shelters for Battered Woman and their Children (LOKK) according to Kristeligt Dagblad.
Since 2005, LOKK has offered advice to young people from ethnic minorities who experience serious conflicts with their families.
Major increase
In 2005 the organization advised 101 people who were either involved themselves in so-called honour-related issues, or who knew someone who was. That figure had grown in 2008 to 397 people.
“This is probably because more people have become aware that they can approach us for help. But the figures show that the problem continues. Despite the fact that there have been efforts to foster integration for several years, young girls in particular are still the targets of honour-related abuse,” says LOKK Secretariat Head Lene Johannesson.
Danish boyfriends
Most of the approaches to LOKK some from young ethnic minority women who have found an ethnic Danish boyfriend contrary to the will of their parents.
“But their approaches can also be because they want to be able to act like normal Danish young people. To be out in the evenings and make their own choices about education and the suchlike,” says Johannesson.
“Most of the girls who approach us have already had a verbal conflict with their parents during which threats have been made. These can be threats that they will be confined to the house or sent back to their ethnic country. Or it can be a threat of violence,” Johannesson adds.
Mediation
LOKK tries to help these girls to find out what they can do. The organisation offers, for example, mediation between the young people and their parents. The organisation can also provide practical information such as where to get help to move away from home if that becomes necessary.
“If the situation is serious, we often help the girls on to a crisis centre. That happens with quite a few of them,” Johannesson says.
Flight from forced marriage
The Dannerhuset, which is a crisis centre for battered women, takes in several young minority women each year who have been the target of family violence.
“Often this is about them refusing to enter into forced marriages. These women do not necessarily want to reject their cultural origins, but they want to be able to choose who they have a relationship with. They want to decide about their own lives themselves,” says Dannerhuset Senior Consultant Henriette Højberg.
400 honour crimes since 2006
Since 2006, the National Police Investigation Centre has registered 400 so-called honour crimes in Denmark.
These range from threats, compulsion, violence and confinement to forced marriages and forced repatriation to the family’s original home country.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Earthquake: Franceschini, Government Accepts Foreign Aid
(AGI) — Rome, 7 Apr. — Dario Franceschini, the head of the Democratic Party is asking the cabinet to accept international aid. “The PD line towards the dramatic situation in the Abruzzo is right,” Franceschini confirmed, “there shouldn’t be any controversy in this state of emergency, since we should be uniting the forces of the country. And once again, as shown by the extraordinary work of the men from the Civil Protection, the Firemen and policemen and the volunteers, Italy is showing that in the most difficult situations it is giving the best of itself. It is important for the country to be united at this time, since there are still lives to be saved below the ruins, there are people who have lost their homes and need a roof over their heads, food and medical assistance.” “However, the government is carefully judging whether the offers of help from other countries should be accepted with urgency or not, since these countries have offered to make people from their own Civil Protection available. There would be no harm in this: in the past Italy too has sent its own men to deal with the earthquake emergency in Turkey, the fires in Spain and the floods in Germany. In the meantime, as we announced yesterday, the PD has offered to make its own means and volunteers available to the men from the regional Civil Protection. There are already about 15 camp cookers ready to send to the earthquake-hit zone, which were previously used at party meetings in Umbria, Tuscany and Emilia.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Earthquake: Berlusconi, Thanks But No to Foreign Assistance
(AGI) — Rome, 7 Apr. — Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has said: “We are able to respond to the needs on our own, we are a proud nation”. His words were in response to the opposition’s requests for Italy to accept assistance from aboard for the earthquake emergency. “We would like to thank all the countries for their solidarity,” the PM said, “but we ask them not to send any aid. We are able to respond to the needs on our own, we are a proud and healthy nation. We would like to thank them but we can manage on our own”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Exclusive: Sharia Infiltrates German Courts, Schools, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Dr. Sami Alrabaa
Once again a German court ruled by referring to Shrai’a (Islamic law), which predominantly incites to denigration of women, hatred, violence.
Most recently, Lisa, a German woman (46) married to an Egyptian, called the police seeking protection for herself and her 17-year-old daughter from assaults by her husband. Magdi, Lisa’s husband, threatened to kill their daughter who had been raped by a man. Magdi, a practicing Muslim, believes that his daughter committed “Zena” (adultery). He told his wife that he was always suspicious of his daughter who clandestinely had a German boyfriend. Lisa filed a divorce case against her husband, and requested deporting him.
The judge, Matthias Rau, at a court in Hanover, Germany, ruled (January 21, 2009), Lisa had to wait for at least one year before she is legally divorced. Her husband cannot be deported. “He must be re-educated, in hopes he would renounce his Islamic understanding of ‘Zena,’“ the judge said.
The German judge argued, “Muslims have a different understanding of rape than Europeans, and this must be taken into account.”
In an interview with a German radio, NDR on February 18, 2009, Rau said, “Sharia aligns rape to adultery, Zena, and victims — women — are often punished instead of prosecuting the perpetrators and convict them.”
Helmut Wagner, another German judge, this time in Essen, ruled March 2, 2009, Muslim girls in Germany can not be forced to swim in public and learn about the evolution theory at school. The parents of three school girls requested a verdict freeing their daughters from taking part in swimming classes and lessons which teach the evolution theory. Wagner argued, “These things contradict tenets in Islam, the religion of these girls, and hence in light of freedom of religion, the Muslim girls cannot be forced to do or learn things which are incompatible with their religion.”
The Attorney General was indignant. He objected to Wagner’s verdict by saying, “How would this judge rule if a Muslim kills someone who commits apostasy. According to the Koran, he must be killed. Would the judge let the perpetrator free?” The Attorney General cites the Koran which says, “If they (Muslims) turn (their) back (to Islam), then seize them and KILL them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.” (Sura 4, verse 89).
The attorney General added, “In Islam, polygamy is permissible. Should also this be sanctioned in Germany for Muslims? It seems to me that some German judges are more royal than the king and more Catholic than the Pope. Some Arab countries use Western legal codes.”
In another case, the judge, Hans-Dieter Bachmann at a court in Dortmund, also ruled (February 12, 2009), with reference to Sharia. He said, according to the Koran, a Muslim father can beat his 15-year-old daughter who refuses to wear a headscarf, and he cannot be punished, and quoted the following passage from the Koran, “The men are made responsible for the women, and God has endowed them with certain qualities, and made them the bread earners. The righteous women will cheerfully accept this arrangement, since it is God’s commandment, and honor their husbands during their absence. If you experience rebellion from the women, you shall first talk to them, then (you may use negative incentives like) deserting them in bed, then you may (as a last alternative) beat them.” (Suran 4 on Women).
Numerous cases have now been ruled with reference to Sharia in Germany. Earlier in 2007, Christa Datz-Winter, a judge in Frankfurt, also referred to a passage in the Koran that gives the right to a husband to beat his wife. She procrastinated the divorce of a Moroccan women from her Moroccan husband, Both live in Germany.
Instead of using Paragraph 1565 of the German Federal Law, Datz-Winter preferred to use the hardship criteria as defined in the Koran, and added in her verdict, “Both the wife and the husband are Muslims. In Islam, the husband is allowed to castigate his wife. This fact cannot be ignored, and cultural and religious motives must be considered in this case.”
Andrea Bramsche, a lawyer in Stuttgart, Germany, told the prominent weekly newspaper, Die Zeit online, (February 19, 2009), “What is going on in German courts? Are we here in Saudi Arabia or Iran? Even some Muslim countries are obviously more secular than we are. Syria, Lebanon, and Tunisia, for example, apply the Napoleon code, and Turkey uses the Swiss code. Besides, would a Saudi judge rule allowing a German to drink alcohol in Saudi Arabia because the Bible allows that?”…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
France: Poll,45% Say Holding Executive Hostage Was Acceptable
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, APRIL 7 — In a study by the CSA Institute published today in Le Parisien, 45% of those surveyed said that the situation in which workers who are victims of restructuring plans that call for lay-offs hold executives hostage, is acceptable. Some 50% believe that holding company executives hostage is “unacceptable”, while 5% were undecided. Among those polled, 56% of workers and 50% of employees judged taking hostages as “acceptable”, compared to 47% among executives and professionals. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ex-Guantanamo Detainee Says Muslims Enjoy Ever-Greater Freedoms
Milan, 7 April (AKI) — Former Guantanamo Bay detainee and Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Hajj says that Muslim immigrants enjoy more political and religious freedoms in Italy than in their own country of origin. He arrived in Italy to collect an international award from Italy’s National Reporters Union and has also met with Milan’s Muslim community.
“During my stay in Italy, I was able to see that Muslims here respect the law and at the same time they are happy to be living in this country, because they enjoy a degree of freedom that they do not have in their countries of origin,” said Al-Hajj (photo) in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI).
“Here they can gather and meet in complete freedom, study religion, but also engage in politics or simply exchange ideas. However, Italians must understand that Islam teaches us to love our neighbour and respect the laws of the country that hosts us,” he said.
Al-Hajj — a Sudanese citizen and former Arab TV network Al-Jazeera cameraman — was seized in December 2001 by Pakistani intelligence officers while travelling near the Afghan border and handed over to the US military in January 2002, which held him on suspicion of being an ‘enemy combatant’.
Al-Hajj — known in Guantanamo as prisoner 345 was transferred to the military prison and held there for nearly six and a half years. He was freed by US authorities on May 2008 and flown to his native Sudan.
He claims to have been tortured, beaten and sexually assaulted at the US prison in Cuba.
“We look at Europe, and particularly Italy, as a place where we can organise numerous initiatives, because you are the model of respect for human rights for the entire world.”
Al-Hajj remembers meeting an Egyptian detainee while in Guantanamo, who called himself Sharif. The man had lived in Italy and spoke positively about the country, he says.
“He spoke to me very well about Italy. He told me that he worked at a factory in the north. He also said he was innocent and said he wanted to return to Italy once freed from jail in Cuba,” he told AKI.
Al-Hajj also claims that the British human rights lawyers group Reprieve said Sharif had been questioned by Italian intelligence officers, who gathered information regarding his employer in Italy.
“It seems that his employer always spoke well of Sharif, going as far as asking to return him to Italy, and that he was willing to take him back at the factory,” he said.
He then launched an appeal to Italian authorities to host those Guantanamo detainees who were living in Italy before their arrest. US president Barack Obama has ordered the closure of Guantanamo within a year.
“We ask Italy to host the ex-Guantanamo detainees who were resident there before the arrests, because these are innocent people that love your country and wish to return and live in full compliance with the law,” concluded Al-Hajj
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy-Spain: CNR and CSIC, Agreement to Study Migration
(by Paola Del Vecchio) (ANSAmed) — MADRID, APRIL 3 — Joint research on migration in terms of language and culture between Italy and Spain, two neo-Latin countries that have been jointly investigating common issues for decades, is the main topic of the agreement to boost scientific cooperation between the two nations that was renewed today in Madrid by Italy’s president of the National Research Council (CNR) Luciano Maiani and the president of the ‘Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas’ (CSIC), Rafael Rodrigo. As explained to ANSAmed by representatives of the two scientific institutions, the understanding was reached during a meeting in Madrid’s Institute of Culture attended by the Italian ambassador to Spain, Pasquale Terracciano, and goes beyond the present exchange of researchers who stay for brief periods with the various CNR and CSIC centres since its main aim is to strengthen the creation of new joint projects. Luciano Maiani stated that “the accord includes recurring high level meetings between CSIC and CNR and research groups to identify new initiatives to be developed. Italy and Spain can represent a single axis in Europe for Latin America; research in Europe has made major steps forward and is currently drawing many researchers from the Latin American region who previously would have headed for the USA”. Opening activities are part of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy and in cooperation in various activities for the bicentenial of Mexico’s independence together with the Italian ‘Accademia dei Lincei’. The three institutions will participate in an exhibition of historical archives which include original images used in the 1651 edition of the volume ‘Mexico’s treasuré, the first book on zoology, botany and mineralogy. Rafael Rodrigo pointed out that “CSIC and CNR have been cooperating in research activities for decades. Now we have decided to boost cooperation so that researchers from both institutions may develop synergistic projects in their respective areas of skill to enhance the common culture and history of the two countries”. The meeting was attended by the vice president of CSIC’s International Relations department, José Juan Sanchez Serrano, and by the director of CNR’s Cultural Identity Area, Tullio Gregory, and it was announced that a mixed research project on migration may be started in 2009. Gregory noted that “this is a disciplinary project which involves various CNR departments and the CSIS Institute of Human Sciences to study the passage of people through Spain and Italy that goes beyond the social, economic and legal point of view to include language, integration and education. In short, we want to study the relationship between our societies and a multiethnic society”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lisbon Not Done Deal for Irish
So a harsh, tax-raising budget from the deeply unpopular Irish government. I wonder how this will impact on the planned autumn referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. The consensus view in Dublin and Brussels is that the economic crisis will reverse last summer’s “No” vote. I am doubtful. The logic goes that Ireland would have been much worse off outside the euro and the EU and so people will deliver a vote “for” the EU. The first is open to debate of course, but I have seen few disagree strongly. I would be grateful if any of you can point me to those who argue against the feeling that the euro was and is a good thing for Ireland.
The second half of the proposition seems to me much more contentious. In most referendums voters will take the opportunity to give an unpopular government a good kicking, whatever the question on the ballot paper. Can the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, really buck the trend?
Then there is the assumption, common in the EU establishment, that you can’t be “for” the EU and against the Lisbon Treaty. The Irish people may not agree.
As the referendum grows nearer voices will be raised again suggesting that if the Irish say “No” then the rest of the EU will move ahead without them. Aside from the morality or wisdom of this I am not sure it has any meaning. Sure, an Irish “No” might mean a lot of ill will from from other member countries’ governments at a time when Ireland needs all the friends it can get. Certainly some EU countries can proceed to “ever closer union” while others decline to take part, the euro and the passport-free area being the most important and obvious examples.
But Lisbon is not like the euro or the Schengen agreement. How on earth could 26 countries operate under Lisbon while Ireland operates under the Nice Treaty? So most nations would be represented, as per Lisbon, by a new president of the European Council while Ireland sticks with the old system of a six-month rotating presidency by nation states? And Ireland keeps 27 commissioners but the others reduce their numbers? It doesn’t make sense. I am not one to wish summer and spring away, but autumn in Ireland will be fascinating.
| — Hat tip: islam o’phobe | [Return to headlines] |
Outrage at Women Who Were Filmed Stripping Off on WWI Memorial in France
Two men who filmed their wives stripping naked at a sombre World War I memorial have been sentenced for insulting the memory of heroic soldiers.
The women who exposed themselves for the cameras at the Vimy memorial in northern France were also sentenced for exhibitionism.
The poignant monument pays tribute to hundreds of Canadian soldiers who fell at the 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge, one of the bloodiest battles in the Somme.
The two couples claimed they made the sordid film ‘on the spur of the moment’ while out walking.
But a court in Arras, northern France, heard the memorial — two huge stone obelisks visible for miles — had become a site used for public sex acts and ‘dogging’.
The couples were only stopped when a guard at the memorial spotted the sordid antics and called the police, the court was told.
Prosecutor Eise Bozzolo said: ‘The women were seen stepping up onto the plinth of the monument and taking off their skirts.
‘Then they started removing their tops, and neither of them was wearing any underwear, suggesting the stunt was planned.
‘Who knows how far this sleazy scene would have gone if they had not been seen by a security guard who called the police.’
He added: ‘The memorial has long been used for exhibitionism and other sex acts. It is an insult to all the men who died saving France.’
The court heard how three months after the incident in November 2007, another couple filmed themselves having sex on the monument, and were only caught when they posted the footage on the internet.
A spokesman for the French government’s war veterans ministry said today: ‘We are shocked at the latest profound insult to some of the bravest men the world has ever seen.’
The two men and two women who appeared in court on Tuesday were each given two-month suspended prison sentences, jointly fined £550 and ordered to pay a symbolic one euro in damages to Canada, which lost 60,000 troops in the Great War.
Arras police said many similar sordid incidents had been reported at other war memorials in the battlefields of the Somme in northern France.
A spokesman added: ‘There has been a rise in the the number of people who seem to take some kind of perverse pleasure in performing sex acts at sensitive sites that should be shown the utmost respect.’
The imposing Vimy memorial — which was unveiled in 1936 by King Edward VIII — is set in a park granted in perpetuity to Canada and attracts half a million visitors a year.
Every year, police in the Somme investigate dozens of incidents of vandalism and desecration of the region’s war memorials, which pay tribute to the millions of British and Allied troops who died in the 1914-18 war.
In one of the worst examples in July 2006, thugs demanding an end to the Iraq war daubed foul slogans on a memorial in to British and American troops in Etaples.
They painted a Swastika and wrote in bright red paint, ‘Saddam Hussein will win and spill your blood’ and ‘Death to the Yankees’.
Two years ago, vandals smashed the headstones of ten British soldiers at the Hibers Trench cemetery near Arras, trampled flowers and left the ground strewn with chunks of shattered masonry.
| — Hat tip: spackle | [Return to headlines] |
Slovenia: New Visa Facilities for Serbian Citizens
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, APRIL 7 — Slovenia has introduced new visa facilities for Serbian citizens who wish to travel to that country, the Slovenian Tourist Organization announced at a press conference held at the Slovenian Embassy in Belgrade. Embassy Consular Department Head Jozef Kecek said Serbian travel agencies can now accredit a representative to the Slovenian Embassy, who will be able to submit unlimited numbers of visa applications. This will make it possible for Serbian tourists to avoid having to schedule a time slot for this purpose and an interview in the Embassy premises, Kecek said. Furthermore, the procedure for obtaining a visa has also been simplified. In keeping with the Schengen requirements, a visa can now be obtained in a minimum of three days’ time, Kecek said. The Slovenian diplomat announced that, of all the Schengen system countries, Serbian citizens have asked for the biggest number of visas precisely from Slovenia. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Madrid Permits Work for Wives of Turkish Diplomats
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, APRIL 6 — The Spanish Council of Ministers approved an agreement that permits work for the spouses of Turkish diplomats serving in Spain, local media reported. Turkey and Spain signed the agreement mutually permitting work for the spouses of the diplomats of respective countries at the First Turkey-Spain Inter-governmental Summit held yesterday. Spain has similar agreements with 25 other countries. Another agreement involving the recognition of driver’s licenses has been signed at the Istanbul summit. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Postmodern Alliance
Americans can sleep easier after months of jitters over the decisive issue in U.S. foreign policy. We’ve all been on edge for weeks, but it’s time to take a deep breath and relax; a bright new era has dawned. So when you tuck the kids in tonight, rest assured their future is secure. It’s official—Croatia and Albania have joined NATO.
Now that Zagreb and Tirana have integrated into the august institution that is the North Atlantic alliance, we can take stock of the benefits their membership brings. As of April 1, the U..S. enjoys the express obligation to enter into war with a party that would attack either country, as stated by Article V of the Washington Treaty. The Pentagon will also have the opportunity to allocate further millions (if not more) to ensure that Albania remains an arsenal of democracy.
Policymakers in Washington know a geopolitical bonus when they see it. But what capabilities do the Croats and Albanians bring to the perpetually expanding 28-seat table of the Euro-Atlantic community? Both nations have deployed military contingents to Afghanistan, respectively numbering around 300 and 135 troops. It would be uncharitable to denigrate these contributions; both countries are small and strapped for resources. Besides, their governments care little about the wisdom of stabilizing Afghanistan, while getting into NATO has clearly been a priority. The route from the Adriatic coast to the North Atlantic just happened to lie through Kabul.
For the Croats and Albanians, this is just step one of two; NATO membership is seen as a sure way into the European Union. The process is by now a predictable mechanism. The two Balkan nations are treading a path that countries from Estonia to Bulgaria have already taken into the EU. It is understandable that states on the wrong side of the old iron curtain would want to take part in the subsidies and economic possibilities that EU membership offers. These opportunities, however, come at a price. Brussels expects the imposition of its bureaucratic regulations and secular liberal ideology with the aim of slowly grinding ancestral faith and cultural identity into dust.
While it is easy to see why various governments in Eastern Europe would want entrée into NATO, it takes a feat of imagination to articulate a U.S. strategic rationale for their accession. Spokesmen at Foggy Bottom will wax poetic with tributes to common democratic values, “human rights,” and regional stability, speaking in the spirit that animates Western governing elites. There has long been an absence of national interest in NATO expansion; rather the process has concerned the expansion of an ideology and its pretenses to universal dominion. The case of Albania’s accession into the North Atlantic alliance is a helpful illustration of liberal internationalism at work. The country had already been used as a logistical base in 1999 for Operation Allied Force, NATO’s “humanitarian” bombing of Serbia. That campaign resulted in the occupation of Kosovo and the Kosovar Albanians’ declaration of independence under U.S. aegis in 2008. As a poster child for the Western ruling classes’ promotion of Islam in Europe, Tirana will be used to cement Kosovo’s status and continue an anti-Serb policy in the Balkans. Albania’s NATO membership will also reinforce the nation as a platform for Turkish influence in southeastern Europe and strengthen organized crime networks across the continent.
NATO entrenchment in the Balkans, facilitated by American intervention, must be viewed in the context of Washington’s intentions in the former Soviet Union. Broad consensus among U.S. policymakers exists for the eventual spread of “Euro-Atlantic norms” to states such as Ukraine and Georgia, using the tried-and-tested playbook of “institution building,” engineered uprisings, and possible intervention. At this point, however, NATO expansion is no longer a matter of little strategic import and becomes a very dangerous affair. On the basis of claims to the universal legitimacy of its values, the U.S. is seeking to expand its alliance deep into Russia’s traditional sphere of influence. No surer recipe for conflict between the Kremlin and the West could be found.
Because U.S. policy elites conceive the triumph of liberal ideology as universal and inevitable, they cannot tolerate impediments to its realization, and Russia presents a major roadblock. Competition for energy corridors and the insatiable US desire for new avenues of power projection on the Russian periphery are only aspects of a greater struggle. How can Washington fulfill its revolutionary mission of global democratic capitalism with surly retrograde tsarists, clinging to antiquated notions of sovereignty and the balance of power, standing in its way? If the U.S. cannot successfully enforce “openness” across the Eurasian landmass, then its entire system of hegemony will be called into question.
After the collapse of Soviet power, NATO ceased to be an organization with finite objectives and transformed into the coercive instrument of a global enterprise that recognizes no higher logic than itself. Expansion, in the words of its public relations manager, has been elevated to “a principle which allies hold dear.” NATO has become the postmodern alliance—theoretically unlimited in scope and denying the essences of faith, culture, and nation to pave the way for the primacy of finance and the morally autonomous consumer. It is fitting that this latest round of enlargement was certified on the first of April, if only to commemorate the foolishness that reigns in Washington and Brussels.
| — Hat tip: islam o’phobe | [Return to headlines] |
UK Bosses Held Captive in France
Workers are holding three British bosses captive at an adhesives factory in France over plans to close the site.
The executives and a local manager were taken hostage at British firm Scapa on Tuesday night, police said.
European finance director Ian Bushell said unions representing staff carried out the “non-aggressive” action — the latest of several similar incidents.
A truck was blocking the entrance to the plant in Bellegarde sur Valserine in the south east, Mr Bushell added.
‘Totally unacceptable’
It is thought around 100 employees face redundancy at the firm, which manufactures adhesive films and tapes for the car and construction industries.
Speaking from the UK, Mr Bushell confirmed police were at the site and that he expected negotiations to resume on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, French president Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed to end the practice of “boss-napping” after militant workers targeted four factories in the past month.
He said the practice was “totally unacceptable” and warned people found guilty would face prosecution.
The presidents of three universities have also been taken hostage by students protesting at education cuts.
Mr Sarkozy said: “What is this business of sequestering people? We have the rule of law, and I will not let matters go on like that.
“We can understand that people are angry, but this anger will subside with answers and results, not by aggravating matters with actions that are contrary to the law.
“I am insisting the police and courts arrest and prosecute those workers who take the law into their own hands in this way.”
| — Hat tip: Reinhard | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Imam Wins Libel Payout From Muslim Paper Over Claim He Held ‘Non-Islamic’ Beliefs
[Comments from JD: Note that the article is vague about the definition of Qadiani.]
A leading member of the Muslim community today accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages after a newspaper wrongly claimed that he held non-Islamic beliefs.
Dr Taj Hargey, chairman of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford (MECO), had brought proceedings against a newspaper which claimed he was not really a Muslim.
The publisher and editor-in-chief of The Muslim Weekly had accused the doctor of being a Qadiani — and therefore a non-Muslim — in an article three years ago.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Newspaper Seller Who Died in G20 Protests ‘Was Attacked Twice by Riot Police’
Riot police targeted the man who died at the G20 protest on two separate occasions, it was claimed this afternoon.
The newspaper seller was manhandled by an officer 15 minutes before a colleague was videoed striking the 47-year-old with his baton before shoving him to the ground, it was alleged.
Photographer Anna Branthwaite claimed Mr Tomlinson was pushed to the ground and struck twice with a baton by another officer.
He was then dragged to his feet by the policeman who continued to push him along the street, she claimed.
It was also revealed that riot officers twice charged G20 protesters trying to help the man who died after being shoved to the ground by an officer, it was claimed this afternoon.
[…]
Liberal Democrat justice spokesman David Howarth said the footage was ‘sickening’ and called for a full-scale criminal investigation.
‘This video clearly shows an unprovoked attack by a police officer on a passer-by. It is sickening.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Outrage Over Veil of Secrecy for a Brutal Triple Killer and His Imminent Release
There was anger last night after a triple killer was granted anonymity by a High Court judge.
The public and relatives of his victims will be denied the right to know that he is being considered for release.
The man, who committed the ‘horrific’ murders decades ago, is likely to be given a new identity if he wins his battle to be freed.
Taxpayers could be expected to pick up a bill running into tens of thousands for his new life.
At a hearing in London yesterday, Mr Justice Silber said the man’s crimes were in ‘by far the most serious and sadistic category of murder cases’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: One-in-Six Rapes Carried Out by Foreign Attackers
FOREIGNERS carried out one in six rapes in Britain last year, police figures have revealed.
And migrant workers, illegal immigrants and even tourists were responsible for up to a third of all sex attacks in some areas.
In Greater London, the worst area affected, foreigners were charged in connection with one in three rapes, statistics obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show. Other areas with large immigration populations — Cambridgeshire, Merseyside, Hertfordshire, Avon and Somerset — also recorded high numbers of non-UK citizens charged with sex attacks.
Police blame the influx of eastern Europeans into Britain following EU enlargement in 2004 for compounding the problem and have called for tougher border controls.
Last night critics said the figures provided further evidence of Labour’s mishandling of the immigration system.
Conservative MP David Davies said: “The immigration system is a complete shambles.
“We need to make sure that anyone who has convictions for serious offences in their own country is not allowed into Britain. Anyone found guilty of this heinous crime should be given a long prison sentence and then be deported to their country of origin, whatever that country’s human rights record.”
Sir Andrew Green, of MigrationWatch UK, said: “This is the downside of the free movement of people.” More than 11,500 women and 1,000 men were raped in the UK over a 12-month period in 2007-8, according to the latest Home Office statistics.
But police say it is increasingly difficult to bring foreign rapists to justice due to the large number of migrant workers and illegal immigrants now living in Britain.
One senior police officer said: “You always have the risk of flight but with an illegal immigrant it is even more difficult because there is no record of them having come into the country in the first place.”
Cases include that of Latvian serial rapist Viktors Dembovskis, 42, who raped and murdered 17-year-old Jeshma Raithatha as she walked home from school in London. In another case, illegal immigrant Jamaican Peter Delisser, 36, was twice deported but sneaked back into Britain where he raped and beat a teenage girl in Bristol.
A Home Office spokesman said: “Our high-tech electronic borders programme has so far screened 80 million travellers against watch-lists, leading to 3,000 arrests.”
| — Hat tip: RB | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Police Violated Paedophile’s Human Rights by Telling Employer About 20-Year-Old Sex Conviction, High Court Rules
A paedophile won a legal battle yesterday after claiming his human rights had been breached by police who told his employer he had a conviction for molesting a three-year-old boy.
The case, which has cost taxpayers tens of thousands, could now have a huge impact on what police can and cannot tell employers about the past of known sexual offenders.
But last night charities said officers should have been ‘applauded’ for passing on the information.
Claude Knights, director of children’s charity Kidscape, said: ‘Whose rights do we care about here?
‘It’s all very well him arguing his human rights have been violated. But what about the rights of his victims and potential victims?’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Tearaway Pupils Are Terrorising US at Home, Say Teachers
Teachers are being terrorised in their homes by tearaway pupils, union leaders heard yesterday.
School staff are increasingly reporting obscene late-night phone calls, broken windows, cruel graffiti daubed on garden walls and damage to their cars, according to the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.
Too many schools are failing to take a tough line on troublemakers and are ‘fluffy’ places where unruly children are encouraged to talk to ‘mentors’ rather than being properly disciplined, delegates told the union’s annual conference in Liverpool.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Veiled Women and the Emergence of Global Political Islam
Seyla Benhabib interviewed by Giancarlo Bosetti
“The veil appears as a regression only if we assume progress to be teleological and linearly moving towards secularization”. Yale political philosopher Seyla Benhabib has discussed in Genoa the struggles over cultural identity in the scenario of contemporary Europe. In occasion of her lecture, we propose here a conversation with the Editor in chief of Reset Giancarlo Bosetti.
The role of the woman and the woman’s body is the focus of possible cultural conflicts in Europe. As a philosopher concerned on politics and jurisdiction, your interest must be addressed to this topic involving pluralism, minorities rights and their treatment in Europe.
There are several points, one is about the constitution of identities. In situations of migration and immigration in general, and in the situation of the coexistence of cultures that don’t know each other, that are not familiar one with another, there’s always the issue of preserving the boundaries of identity. The burden of preserving identity seems to fall on the private sphere, because to the immigrant, the one that moves to other cultures, public economy and the form of the law of the state by en large seem to be what we share. Identity becomes particularly under these conditions more and more refocused on the private sphere which places women and the control over women bodies in strategic position.
Issues of identity and gender converge on the woman.
I think identity in general has to do with gender differences issues and the distinction between the boundaries of the male and female sex, but particularly under the conditions of immigration and the mixing of different cultures there is an emphasis on this “private sphere” and that is to say mainly the sphere of women, considered to be what constitutes what we are. That’s why sometimes you see such violent reactions, if the woman in minority culture or immigrant cultures suddenly breaks away, for example in the context of Islam, and wants to join the majority culture. I think that the point is to understand why there is this emphasis on the strategic and existential importance of the position of woman. When individuals from different faiths, languages and culture live together, have to live together, without sharing much in the same civic culture, they look at identity markers that they can interpretate. In this context visual communication becomes centered on things as the symbolism of the foulard, in front of which one will say “here she is, an oppressed Muslim woman”.
Which is not necessarily true…
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Bosnia: Deficit Balance of Payments, 1 Bln Euros From IMF
(ANSAmed) — SARAJEVO, APRIL 7 — Agreements between the International Monetary Found and the Bosnian government will result in a loan totalling 1 billion euros, to be delivered on April 15. The information was relayed by a spokesperson for the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kemal Kozaric. According to the Italian Trade Commission’s (ICE) office in Sarajevo, the loan is due to balance the country’s payments, currently encumbered by 2 billion euros of foreign debt. In the first two months of this year, said Kuzaric, Bosnian exports registered a decrease of 22% with respect to the same period in 2008. Imports, too, decreased 23.5%. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
NATO: Albanian and Croatian Flags Fly From Today
(by Chiara Spegni) (ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, APRIL 7 — Two new flags are flying outside NATO general headquarters in Brussels from today: the Albanian black eagle on a red background and the red, white and blue tri-colour with checkerboard coat of arms of Croatia. The flag-raising ceremony heralded the entry of the two Balkan countries into the Atlantic alliance, which began on April 1. Welcoming Albania’s Premier Sali Berisha and Croatia’s Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was secretary general of NATO, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who has just a few months left of his mandate. “The entry of Albania and Croatia is the clear demonstration that geographical Europe is now no longer the final destiny”, said Scheffer, while the Albanian and Croatian flags were raised next to those of the other 26 members of the Alliance. “This is the most important day since the declaration of Albania’s independence” noted Berisha. Croatia’s entry into NATO “is the realisation of a strategic objective” since Croatia’s independence in 1991, confirmed Croatia’s premier Ivo Sanader. Both Berisha and Sanader stressed the need to open the doors of the Alliance to other countries in the western Balkans, in particular Bosnia Herzegovina and Kosovo. The two leaders also expressed hopes for a resolution to the bilateral dispute between Skopjie and Athens which is blocking the entry of Macedonia, already ready to join. “NATO’s enlargement into the Balkans” agreed the two leaders “is fundamental and very important for the stability of the region”. Albania and Croatia joined the NATO family last Wednesday, just in time to take part in the summit to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Alliance in Strasbourg on April 3 and 4. The leaders of the two countries received a copy of the original version of the Treaty which founded the Alliance 60 years ago from the hands of the US President Barack Obama. Both Croatia and Albania already take part in NATO operations, with 530 and 142 soldiers respectively. The membership of the two countries was decided at the summit of the Atlantic Alliance in Bucharest, in April last year. On that occasion the invitation to Macedonia was frozen however, due to the veto by Greece over a bilateral dispute over its name with Skopjue. Since 1949 NATO has seen the number of member countries grow from 12 to 28 through six different enlargement phases. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: Opportunity Bank to Increase Credit Range by 40%
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, APRIL 3 — In 2009, Opportunity Bank in Serbia will provide over 35 million euros in loans to small businesses, which is 40% more than in 2008, bank representatives announced, reports BETA news agency. “Small businesses hold great significance for the country’s economic development and for the reduction of unemployment, especially at a time of economic crisis,” the chairman of Opportunity Bank’s board of directors, Rodger Voorhies, told journalists. The bank is taking part in the Serbian government’s program of subsidizing liquidity loans, and is one of the rare banks in Serbia that grant start-up loans. At the beginning of 2009, the bank received a grant of 5 million euros from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which is its founder and a shareholder. Opportunity Bank began operations in Serbia in July 2002 as a savings bank, and in May 2007 was transformed into a full-service bank. In 2009, it plans to expand its network of branch offices as well as business offices, of which it currently has ten.(ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: Foreign Investors Freeze Investments
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, APRIL 7 — In response to the actual crisis, foreign investors already conducting their business in Serbia and those interested in potential investing in Serbia, presently have frozen decisions over further investing, reports daily Blic. About 800 million euros of investments shall have to wait for better time, Aleksandar Radosavljevic, new president of the Council of foreign investors and the first man of ‘Carlsberg’ in Serbia says. “The crisis is equally affecting both domestic and foreign investors. The companies are mainly using the existing resources to respond to decreased economic activity thus postponing the announced investment cycle. However, there are certain opposite examples, too”, said Radovic. “Our members have come in this market with goal of long-term presence. Consequently, foreign investors present in Serbia have plans for further expansion of business. Many of them have set regional centers here and with the production capacities located in Serbia they cover the CEFTA region. ‘Carlsberg’ is one of such companies”, Radovic told Blic. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Cooperation: Sicilian Delegation in Morocco for Accords
(ANSAmed) — PALERMO, APRIL 2 — The first institutional calls for the Sicilian delegation in Morocco, under the leadership of the President of the regional asssembly, Francesco Cascio. The delegation met the Speaker of the Moroccan lower house, Mustapha Mansouri, to sign the launch of a collaboration between the parliaments, with the purpose of arriving at joint legislation aimed at developing trade ties between Sicily and the Kingdom of Morocco. There was also a meeting of the delegation with the Speaker of the House of Advisors (the Senate), Maati Benkaddour, with whom it was agreed that the house should also take part in the “inter-parliamentary group” which has up to now been held between Sicily’s regional assembly and the House of Representatives. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy-Libya: Exclusive Industrial Zone for Italy, Scajola
(ANSAmed) — TRIPOLI, APRIL 2 — Libya will set up an industrial zone to be used exclusively for Italian investments by large, but also preferably small and medium-sized enterprises working in all production sectors. This is the central message of the document on ‘Cooperation in the industrial, economic and trade sectors’ signed by Italy and Libya yesterday evening, by the minister of Economic Development, Claudio Scajola, currently on an official visit to Tripoli, and by the secretary general for Libyan Industry, Economy and Trade, Mohammed Ali AL Hawej. Scajola underlined at the meeting that a mixed committee, composed of two Italian and two Libyan representatives “who will be named in the coming days”, will have the job of establishing the area of industrial development and a whole series of assistance that Libya will provide in order to stimulate Italian companies to work in Libya and to carry out their own industrial projects. “In order to cement the friendship between Italy and Libya,” Minister Scajola said, “we have decided to meet periodically to verify the promotion of the bilateral collaboration set out in the agreement”. Within the strategies to increase cooperation in the economic field, the agreement provides for the “support of training of technical personnel, the adapting of European standards for Libyan goods and greater collaboration between ICE (the Italian Foreign Trade Commission) and the Libyan Export Promotion Centre”. Other sectors to develop include the Chamber, with the promotion of the role of the Italian-Libyan Chamber of Commerce, the investment sector, and trade fairs, to encourage the organisation and the participation of the two countries in international fairs. As far as the industrial sector is concerned, the agreement aims for the exchange of technical information and experience which come from specialised Research Centres that are completely lacking in Libya. After his speech at the Conference ‘Italy-Libya: partners for sustainable development in the Mediterranean’ today, Scajola will meet the Minister for Planning, Abdel Hamid Al Zlitny, Prime Minister Al Mahmudi and the new minister for Foreign Affairs, Moussa Kussa, for a series of bilateral meeting which will focus on the development of the ‘Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership’ signed by Libya and Italy last August 30 in Bengasi and in particular on the development of art. 17 which regards cooperation in the economic and industrial sectors. Yesterday evening the minister also signed, together with Umberto Vattani, president of the ICE and Gamal Al Lamushe, chairman of the Tripoli General Board of Fairs, a memorandum of understanding which provides for Libya’s participation in the Expo Milano fair in 2015, with its own pavilion. The ministerial delegation is expected to return to Italy this evening, after Scajola opens the Italian pavilion at the Tripoli International Fair which starts toady and will run until April 12 with the participation of approximately 40 Italian companies providing a shop window for Made in Italy products. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon: EIB to Grant 70mln Euro to Kesrwan Wastewater Plant
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, APRIL 6 — New 70 million euro EIB loan for Lebanon in favour of water infrastructure in the Kesrwan region, to improve sanitation services to a densely populated and touristic region. As stated in an EIB press release, it will prevent untreated water from being discharged into the sea. The Kerswan water treatment facilities will also benefit from 4 million euro of technical assistance from the European Commission through the newly established Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF). International experts will ensure the sustainable running of the west infrastructure and proper management of the project over its first years of activity.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Med: Bartolini (EUI), True Network From Grass-Roots
(By Luciana Borsatti) (ANSAmed) — ROME, APRIL 1 — In order to set up a true network of relations connecting the shores of the Mediterranean, and leaving aside the feasibility of major strategic projects such as the Union for the Mediterranean, there is “a great need for initiatives coming from below” and for “greater commitment in economic trade”. This is the conviction of Professor Stefano Bartolini, director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies of the European University Institute. His conviction has matured over 10 years of experience in contact with a total of 2,000 researchers from Mediterranean countries who met in the annual Mediterranean Research Meeting, the latest edition of which just ended in Montecatini Terme, in Tuscany. Four days packed with work involved some 300 participants, most of whom came from poorly resourced universities and research centres from the southern shores. There were 18 seminars on major topical issues, ranging from enlargement of the EU (this year interest was extended to the Balkan area as well) to the MENA area agricultural policies, from the relation between religion and democracy to water management and to Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in the financial sector, a workshop set up in cooperation with the Bank of Italy. There is “an imbalance between solemn statements of interest in the southern area of the Mediterranean, going from Barcelona to the Union for the Mediterranean launched by Sarkozy, and its effective economic weight, which only absorbs 3% of trade in Europe”, Bartolini said. In other words, the southern area of the Mediterranean apparently interests Europe “not so much as an economic partner, but rather because of the political value of the fear it generates, ranging from immigration to Islamic fundamentalism”. Instead Europe should be looking at economic trade, and not just in terms of energy resources. Meanwhile the Meeting which just ended in Montecatini achieved the purpose which the event has been seeking for ten years, that of setting up a network of personal and professional contacts between European and south-east Mediterranean researchers who are also offered the chance of gaining access to work and research instruments which they currently lack. The Mediterranean Research Meetings — which are a unique event in Europe — also intend to promote scientific production among participants. The working papers of the 18 seminars in Montecatini should be made available between June and July, whereas the reports introduced during the meeting may be viewed at
2009-04-01 19:12
http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME01.@AM68761.htm
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Public Diplomacy Against Extremism
THE HAGUE, 08/04/09 — The Netherlands is to make more active use of public diplomacy to combat extremism in the Muslim world and elsewhere. Also, a survey will be carried out in 15 countries on the image of the Netherlands, according to Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen.
“It is no longer sufficient in these times to speak to a government,” said Verhagen at a meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations in Istanbul. “Direct contacts with opinion-leaders, religious leaders, social organisations and the population are just as important for cultivating understanding between countries and cultures.”
In order to conduct more focused public diplomacy, Verhagen is having a study of the image of the Netherlands conducted in 15 countries throughout the world. “Among these countries are important allies such as Germany, France, the UK and the US. The Dutch image will also be sounded out in trading partners such as India, China and Brazil and development cooperation partner countries such as Egypt and Indonesia.”
“An active public diplomacy can be a counterbalance to the distorted picture that radicals in some Muslim countries paint of the West. The Dutch embassy in the Egyptian capital of Cairo is organising a regional conference on public diplomacy this month with participants from the Netherlands and the Arab world.”
“We also stress in our public diplomacy that human rights for everyone apply always and everywhere,” added Verhagen. “On this basis, the Netherlands is entering into dialogue. That means we must be prepared to listen to others. Only fanatics are 100 percent convinced of their own rightness.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
A New Government
by Barry Rubin
In the Israeli political game, there are some things too important to play with. Has the new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu safeguarded Israel’s security and foreign relations while meeting party and coalition needs, and what is the likely result of this new government’s policies internationally?
Netanyahu had to put together a complex web of parties and personalities to get a Knesset majority. The result is a cabinet with more ministers than Jerusalem has rabbis.
Yet equally impressive is that of the 30 ministers, almost half of them will deal with some element of national security or foreign policy. Is this a formula for chaos? Possibly.
Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister seems a recipe for disaster. The main problem is not so much Lieberman’s views but the world’s perception in which Lieberman has replaced Netanyahu as the Western media’s favorite “extremist hawkish racist warmonger ultranationalist.” Funny, none of those terms are ever applied to Arab or Iranian leaders.
To some extent, this new demonized personality takes pressure off Netanyahu who looks virtuous by comparison. Perhaps one day the world will even understand that he’s a centrist.
The second problem is Lieberman’s lack of experience—I refrain about making a comparison on this point with the current American president—and undiplomatic mien. The fact that his English is insufficient could be an advantage as Foreign Ministry translators may sometimes be able to recast his words into safer form. He loves being controversial, not a good characteristic for a foreign minister.
Those who know say he can be intelligent and engaging in private. Yet he’s unlikely to be given a chance to show these traits. Or to put it another way, it may be a race between Lieberman and other leaders as to who can insult each other first.
We should remember, however, that when opposition leader Tsipi Livni of Kadima says that Lieberman’s being foreign minister shows she was right not to join the government, that if she’d joined the government Lieberman wouldn’t be foreign minister.
How has Netanyahu tried to cushion this problem? First, to a large extent, he’ll be his own foreign minister. He’s quite good at being articulate and charming.
The other factor, however, is that Lieberman will be guided—if he’s wise enough to listen—by one of Israel’s most able diplomatists, former Ambassador to the United States Danny Ayalon, a member of Lieberman’s party, who will be deputy minister of foreign affairs. Ayalon’s interventions will be critical for Israel’s international policy and reputation…
| — Hat tip: Barry Rubin | [Return to headlines] |
Blair Echoes Obama in Pushing Netanyahu for 2 States
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, APRIL 6 — A Palestinian state next to Israel remains the “only solution” for the Middle East peace process, said Quartet (international mediating body comprising USA, Russia, EU and UN) envoy Tony Blair today in Jerusalem whilst at a meeting with new Israeli Premier Benyamin Netanyahu. Mr Blair thereby echoed US President Barack Obama’s recent declarations in Turkey, and his words seemed to be an indirect response to the apparent intention of the Netanyahu cabinet to set aside the ‘two-State’ question, as expressed in frank terms by the new Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who says that Israel does not feel bound by the joint declaration made at Annapolis in 2007 which fixed the objective. Blair’s statement was neither acknowledged nor commented upon by Israeli spokespersons, whilst a communiqué from the premier’s office warmly greeted Obama’s commitment to the peace process despite ignoring the ‘two-State’ option yet again and limiting itself to announcing renewed negotiation proposals. There was praise for Obama for having reaffirmed “the USA’s principle commitment” to the ‘two-States’ solution from the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in Ramallah, which — having reiterated that it considers the new Israeli government “dangerous for the peace process” — expressed the hope that Washington would now step heavily on the accelerator to get Israel to retreat from the “occupied territories” which have remained in the Jewish state’s control since 1967. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel: Drought, Water Clock for Showers in Summer
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, APRIL 7 — As a third consecutive winter characterised by scarce rainfall comes to an end, Israel authorities are becoming worried over the shortage of water reserves and have readied an emergency plan, which will come into action this summer. The Israeli national water authority has said that among the measures would be the distribution of water clocks to install on shower walls. As the water begins to run, the countdown’ will begin on the water clock and the user will have four minutes to finish his or her shower. Israelis who remain as wasteful’ as before, despite being urged to save water, will have to be ready to pay higher prices for water compared to the average per family set by the authorities. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Palestinian Talks, Fatah-Hamas Coordination Proposed
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, APRIL 7 — The head of the Egyptian secret services, Omar Suleiman, mediating a reconciliation between the Palestinian political groups, in particular between the party of president Mahmoud Abbas, Al Fatah, and the extremist group Hamas, has proposed suspending the ongoing talks and entrusting the management of contacts to a coordinating committee that includes representatives from both sides. “It is a proposal for a temporary action”, Nabil Shaath, the top Al Fatah representative in Cairo and former Palestinian Foreign Minister, told ANSA, “it does not take the place of any entity and its activity will last until the creation of a Palestinian government of national unity. This is a measure to work to reduce differences, bring the institutions back together and heal pre-existing wounds”. Shaath added that representatives from Al Fatah and Hamas (both from Gaza and Damascus, where the head of the movement in exile, Khjaled Mashaal lives) will arrive in Cairo on April 25 and meet on the following day. “I am optimistic, he added, “I think all the obstacles can really be overcome”. The same delegations that took part in the talks in the past months will participate in the meeting; Mussa Abu Marzuq will lead the Hamas group and the former prime minister Ahmed Qorei will lead the Al Fatah group. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Five Christians Killed as Kirkuk Archbishop Questions US Withdrawal
Monsignor Sako warns that US troop pullout is likely to plunge the country in a “civil war.” Between 31 March and 4 April five Christians are murdered in Kirkuk, Baghdad and Mosul. The prelate calls on the faithful to pray during Holy Week so “that the blood of our martyrs may restore peace.”
Kirkuk (AsiaNews) — The US troop pullout is creating a “vacuum’ that could end up in “civil war” and “Iraq’s division”, said Mgr Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk, as he confirmed the death of five Iraqi Christians killed in late March and early April.
Iraq’s “ethnic and religious groups have not become truly reconciled and the security situation remains fragile,” the archbishop said. “The Army and local police are not able to maintain law and order in the country,” he added. For this reason, the departure of US troops could “lead to further violence,” a view made the more cogent by the recent spate of killings in the Christian community
Sabah Aziz Solaiman, 71, was killed during a robbery on the morning of 31 March in Kirkuk. He was murdered in his own home in cold blood after bandits had broken in and taken everything of value on which they could lay their hands. His wife was spared the same fate because she had just gone to work.
On 1 April Nimroud Khodir Moshi was gunned down in front of his restaurant in Baghdad’s neighbourhood of Mashtal. His murderers then fled the scene without leaving a trace.
The next day two sisters, 47 and 60 years of age respectively, were killed in the al-Dora neighbourhood, also in the capital.
Finally, the latest deadly incident took place in al-Madida in Mosul, when Abdul Aziz Elias Aziz, an electrical generator repairman, was shot to death in front of his workshop.
For the archbishop of Kirkuk these tragic events are cause for concern. Such violence could drive even more Christians into exile and fuel the “never-ending” exodus that is threatening the 2,000-year old community. Moreover, as many Christians flee, those who do remain find themselves in greater danger.
“As Holy Week begins, let us pray for peace and stability in Iraq,” said Bishop Sako. “Let us pray that the blood of our martyrs may restore peace. The Crucified and Risen Christ calls upon us to persevere and maintain our presence and witness.”
Church sources in Mosul recently warned AsiaNews that Christians are increasingly in danger of attacks.
“The community is being targeted by organised crime groups,” a Chaldean Catholic bishop said. “They are going after Christians because of their commercial activities, attracted by the money and wealth the latter have built up in a lifetime of toil and sweat.”
In the past “these thugs were covered and protected by al-Qaeda.”
Now that the “ideological and confessional” aspect has faded away, “ordinary criminals and organised crime are rearing their head, drawn by money, ready to kill in cold blood.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ihsanoglu Attended the 2nd Annual Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations in Istanbul
The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, participated in the Second Annual Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations (AoC) on 7 and 8 April 2009 in Istanbul, Turkey.
In the first day, the Secretary General addressed the 1st plenary session titled Shaping the Global Agenda in Times of Crisis — Why Does Good Governance of Cultural Diversity Matter?, where he, inter alia, while noting that Islam and Christianity had a lot in common, proposed the notion of “Historic Reconciliation” between Islam and Christianity as an OIC initiative and a project for the AoC or similar fora. Among the panelists of the 1st Plenary Session was the Former Danish Prime Minister and newly elected NATO Secretary General Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen who promised to pay close attention to religious sensitivities and to seek reconciliation with the Muslim world during the performance of his new duty.
In his intervention, the OIC Secretary General underlined that “cultural diversity must be respected if we are to have social peace and harmony in any society”. He emphasized that “multi-culturalism should be accepted as the basic element of our social peace and nobody should see his/her culture or values superior to those of others”.
On the second day of the Forum, the Secretary General attended the Breakfast Session on Intercultural Dialogue and History in the Context of Globalisation: towards a Worldwide Network of Historians and History Teachers organized by the Council of Europe with the collaboration of the OIC subsidiary organ, the Research Center for Islamic Art and Culture (IRCICA).
Later on, Prof. Ihsanoglu addressed the Working Session of the Forum on Islamic and Muslim contribution to European Culture, Societies and Identities organized in partnership of the OIC General Secretariat, the British Council and Anna Lindth Foundation. At this occasion, the Secretary General reiterated his views regarding Islam being a component of the European culture and identity and welcomed the British Council’s project “Our Shared Europe”. He, borrowed Prof. Richard Bulliet’s concept of an ‘Islamo-Christian’ European civilization to state that the problem is not between Islam and the West, but rather with Islam and Christianity due to historical reasons. For this reason, he reiterated his proposed the historic reconciliation between these two abrahamic religions.
On another development, during the Annual Forum, the OIC Secretary General and the UN Alliance of Civilizations High Representative Jorge Sampaio signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which establishes the framework and sets the targets of the bilateral cooperation between the two institutions.
On the sidelines, the Secretary General was received separately by the President of the Republic of Turkey, Mr. Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He also held sideline consultations with the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ali Babacan.
The Secretary General held official talks with a number of participating Ministers of Foreign Affairs, among them was the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, Madame Micheline Calmy-Rey. During the discussions, the two dignitaries touched upon the official relations between the federal Swiss government and the OIC, and examined the issue of the prospective referendum to be held in Switzerland on banning building minarets in Switzerland. Madame Micheline Calmy-Rey informed the Secretary General that the Swiss Government was not supportive of this initiative and the matter would be subject of referendum next summer.
The Secretary General also held talks with Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Mr. Alexander Yakovenko, on, inter alia, the issue of the historic reconciliation between Islam and Christianity. With the Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Ural Mukhamedzhanov, the Secretary General discussed the issues related to the upcoming meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers.
He also met separately with the Secretary General of the Organization Security and Cooperation of Europe (OSCE), Mr. Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr. Terry Davis, with whom he discussed possible projects to boost cooperation with those organizations.
The Secretary General also met with the Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister, Mr. Markos Kyprianou, upon the latter's request and discussed the recent developments regarding the ongoing negotiations in Cyprus.
In another bilateral meeting, the Secretary General discussed with the Ambassador of Australia to Turkey, Mr. Peter Doyle, prospects of cooperation between OIC and Australia and ways and means to develop joint projects destined to improve the conditions of those OIC Member States that are trying to fight poverty and underdevelopment.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Charges Iranian-American Journalist With Espionage
Former Miss America contestant, Miss North Dakota, Roxana Saberi is being held in Iran on espionage charges — which can carry the death penalty
Iran’s judiciary has charged detained Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi with espionage in a move likely to disappoint Washington as it tries to reach out to Tehran.
Iran’s ISNA news agency, quoting a judge who is the deputy head of Iran’s prosecutor’s office, said Saberi had ‘accepted’ the accusation.
Her lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, told Reuters: ‘As they have announced, they have accused her of espionage.’
Saberi, a 31-year-old Iranian-American freelance journalist born in the United States who has reported for the BBC, NPR and other media, was arrested in late January for working in the Islamic Republic after her press credentials had expired.
Under Iran’s penal code, the crime of espionage can carry the death penalty.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Jihadists Exalt Abruzzo Earthquakes
Dubai, 8 April (AKI) — Jihadist users of Al-Qaeda linked websites have been rejoicing at the devastating earthquake that hit Italy’s central Abruzzo region on Monday, describing it as a “divine punishment” for “the enemies of Islam”. The earthquake killed over 260 people, injured hundreds more and destroyed thousands of buildings, leaving 20,000 homeless.
“At last they have had their dark days too. O Allah, kill them and leave them destitute vagabonds,” said one of a series of comments that have appeared on various jihadist websites this week.
The Abruzzo earthquake has made headline news around the world, and Al-Qaeda sympathisers have followed via Arabic TV networks.
The jihadists appear to be engaged in contest to see who can post updates on the death toll from the earthquake fastest.
A series of strong aftershocks since the main quake have caused further damage, hampering rescue efforts and further terrorising the population in the town of L’Aquila and surrounding villages. One man died of a heart-attack following a quake on Tuesday.
Between 20-30 people were still missing on Wednesday.
“O Allah, keep the earthquakes and tragedies coming — cursed be Europe, Israel and the United States,” wrote ‘Ashiq al-Irhab’, which in Arabic means ‘desirous of terrorism’.
Another jihadist site, ‘al-Shura’, has been publishing tolls of the Abruzzo earthquake victims beneath each article, accompanied by a macabre prayer.
The prayer reads: “O Allah, may the death toll continue to rise. Destroy our enemies and help Muslims!”
A user of the ‘al-Shura’ website, Nureddin al-Zanki, writes: “We have a stronger weapon than guns — our prayers, which will further drive up the numbers of victims.”
Similar messages from jihadists have been posted to the ‘Ansar’ and ‘Mujahidin’ websites, whose users have rejoiced in the past at other disasters to hit western nations.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Jordan: Green Light to NATO Cooperation Agreement
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, APRIL 3 — The Individual cooperation programme (ICP) agreement between NATO and Jordan has been authorised within the context of NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue. A statement from NATO reads “Jordan’s decision represents a substantial step forward in its cooperation with the Atlantic alliance”. More specifically, “the Icp will support the promotion of military and political bonds between the Euro-Atlantic and Mediterranean regions. By enhancing cooperation in terms of security between NATO and Mediterranean partners we will have greater stability and security in the region”. The note added that “the accord between NATO and Jordan helps to set political and military cooperation in a more strategic and future-oriented manner”. The agreement comes in the wake of the offer to draw up individual cooperation programmes made by state and government leaders during the 2004 NATO summit in Istanbul and was extended to all the Mediterranean Dialogue partner countries, in other words the cooperation agreement which NATO offered to all countries on the southern shore. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Qatar Predicts USD 1.6 Mln Budget Deficit Due to Oil Price
(ANSAmed) — ROMA, 3 APR — Qatar is predicting a deficit in its budget for 2009-2010, its first since 2001, due to the falling oil price, Arabianbusiness.com reports. The Gulf state insisted, however, it was forging ahead with huge investment in infrastructure development projects in line with its 2030 vision. The budget is based on an oil price of $40 per barrel and the deficit has been estimated at QR5.8bn ($1.6bn). (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Sees Fastest Increase in Population, Report
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, APRIL 7 — Turkey ranked first with the fastest increase in population between 1995 and 2005 among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, a report titled “Regions at a Glance: 2009,” compiled by the organization, has shown. With regard to disparities in productivity and in the utilization of the labor force within countries, Turkey was notably at the top of the list, as Today’s Zaman reports. Turkey’s population increased by 3.3% in the given ten-year period. The increase in urban cities in Turkey stood at around 4% in the same period. By 2005, 38% of the total population lived in large cities in Turkey, the report also showed. Between 1995 and 2005, the average annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth in OECD countries was 2.7%. According to the report, Turkey, Mexico and Poland were at the top of the list with regard to regional disparities in economic performance and competitiveness along with differences in labor productivity (GDP per worker), where labor productivity in the top regions was more than four times higher than in the bottom regions, the report said. Under normal circumstances, labor productivity in rural regions is lower than in urban regions. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: 30-50% Fall Seen in Apartment Prices, Survey
(ANSAmed) — ROMA, 3 APR — An Arabian Business survey suggests UAE people believe house prices will fall between 30-50 percent in 2009. More than 1,000 householders in the UAE took part in the online newspaper poll during March, and when asked how much they expected freehold prices for apartments to rise or fall this year, 60 percent of respondents sayd they expected a decline of between 30-50 percent. The response comes a few weeks after UAE investment bank Shuaa Capital said real estate values in Dubai could plummet by 60 percent by the end of 2009. Declining occupancy rates to around 80 percent would also cause rents to ease, Shuaa added. In a separate report, Jones Lang LaSalle said Dubai property prices and rental rates were likely to start recovering in 2011, following a period of stabilisation in 2010. The company saw 2009 as a year of correction for Dubai’s property market amid the global economic downturn, with the emirate likely to be harder hit than other markets in the region due to its greater integration in the global economy. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: Best of Jewellery Sector on Display in Sharjah
(ANSAmed) — SAN BENEDETTO DEL TRONTO (ASCOLI PICENO), APRIL 8 — The 27th Mideast Watch and Jewellery Show, a spring event which brings together the major goldsmiths of the Middle East, will end on Saturday in Sharjah (United Arab Emirates). Artisan goldsmiths of the Ascoli Piceno ‘Art for Job’ consortium will also be participating in the event. Jewellery, objects made of gold, watches — the entire world of gold and jewellery, with over 350 display stands from all over the world — will be showcased. The previous edition had 70,000 visitors, including both visitors and dealers. The United Arab Emirates is the most dynamic Middle Eastern market for the jewellery sector. Gold, precious stones, jewels and watches have always enjoyed high levels of popularity in the Gulf. It is estimated that the United Arab Emirates spends 30 times more on gold compared to the average in the rest of the world, and is also the 4th most important market for diamonds. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
USA-Turkey: Obama, Encouraged by Dialogue With Armenia
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, APRIL 6 — US President Barack Obama, who is currently on an official visit to Ankara, said yesterday that he had not changed his opinion on a US Congress resolution about the genocidé of the Armenians. He did however specify that he was encouraged by negotiations between Turkey and Armenia and was ready to help with this aim. President Obama was speaking during a press conference with the Turkish president, Abdullah Gul. The US president has in the past decisively expressed his point of view on the delicate issue of the ‘genocide’ of the Armenians in 1915, terminology which Turkey rejects. “The genocide of the Armenians is not a point of view, but a well-documented fact supported by ample historical proof”, Obama wrote on his election campaign website last year. In response to a question at the press conference with Gul, Obama said: “my point of view is well-known and I haven’t changed it”. But he also added that he was “encouraged” by negotiations that have started between Turkey and Armenia in order to ‘resolve a series of old problems, including this one. ‘If the two parties can make progress,” Obama concluded, ‘coming face to face with a tragic page in history, the whole world will be encouraged by it”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese and Russian Cyber-Spies ‘Hack Into U.S. Electrical Grid’
Chinese and Russian cyber-spies have hacked into the U.S. electrical grid, leaving behind software that could be used to disrupt the American electrical system.
‘If we go to war with them, they will try to turn them on,’ one senior intelligence official said.
The spies were believed to be on a mission to navigate the system and its controls, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow, Medvedev Promises Support
(ANSAmed) — MOSCOW, APRIL 6 — Russia will continue to support the Middle East process and the formation of a Palestinian state despite the difficulties, said Russian president Dmitri Medvedev during a meeting in Gorky, outside Moscow, with President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). The Interfax agency reported the news, quoting the Kremlin’s press office. At the centre of the talks are the development of bilateral relations, prospects for a resumption of the negotiating process in the Middle East and preparations for the Middle East Conference scheduled to take place in Moscow. After his visit to the capital, Mahmoud Abbas will also visit Daghestan, the troubled Russian Republic in the northern Caucasus with a majority Muslim population. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Energy: Armenia; Baku Threatens Ankara to Cut Gas Supplies
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, APRIL 2 — Concerned that the Turkish government might open its border with Armenia before reconciliation is reached, the Azerbaijani government has signaled it might stop selling natural gas to Turkey, daily Hurriyet reports today. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told third parties that Baku would cut gas supplies to Turkey if Ankara reaches an agreement with Yerevan before substantial progress is underway on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, Hurriyet has learned. As a sign of how serious it is, Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia last week for long-term supply of gas at market prices. Turkey and Armenia have been holding talks to normalize ties, which would involve the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of borders. Although Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Armenia in 1991, Ankara has no diplomatic relations with its neighbor. In 1993, Ankara closed its border with Armenia in an act of solidarity with Azerbaijan after Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey and Armenia are said to have come very close to an agreement on the timetable to normalize relations. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
India: Deadly Bombings Hits Northeast
Guwahati, 6 April (AKI) — At least seven people died and over sixty were injured in blasts on Monday in India’s northeast state of Assam. A powerful bomb at a busy restaurant in Guwahati killed four people and wounded at least 56, police said. Blood and body were parts strewn over the entrance to the restaurant and many vehicles were destroyed by the explosion, bystanders said.
Many bystanders helped the injured although angry mobs also pelted police and public transport with stones after the explosion.
A few hours later, a second bomb tied to a bicycle went off in a market in the town of Dhekiajuli, 100 miles north of Guwahati, injuring at least six people, three of them critically, local officials said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for either attack. But police blamed the separatist United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) for the attacks. Intelligence officials say the group is flexing its muscles ahead of India’s general election taking place in several phases from 13 April until 16 May.
The ULFA has links to Islamic militants in neighbouring Bangladesh.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit Assam on Tuesday to campaign for his Congress party.
Last week more than 10 people were injured when a bomb exploded close to where India’s external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee was due to address a rally.
ULFA was suspected of carrying out massive serial explosions in October last year, in which 87 people died.
India has been hit by a series of terrorist attacks by suspected Muslim militants and is on high alert.
The most recent outrage was the deadly assault by gunmen on the city of Mumbai last November in which around 170 people died and scores were injured.
The trial of the man accused of being the only gunman to survive the Mumbai attacks, Ajmal Amir Qasab, has been delayed while a high-security courtroom is constructed.
Qasab has been charged with murder and “waging war” against India.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Orissa: Murderer of Missionary Graham Staines Runs for Election
He is Dara Singh, sentenced to life in prison for the murder of the Australian Protestant and his two young sons, burned alive in 1999. He is running for the legislative assembly of Ghasipura. Cardinal Gracias: his candidacy “does not speak well of the future of our country.”
Bhubaneshwar (AsiaNews) — Dara Singh, responsible for the murder of the Australian Protestant missionary Graham Stewart Staines, is a candidate for the upcoming provincial elections in Orissa, in the district of Keonjhar.
The supporters of Dara, whose real name is Rabindra Kumar Pal, have presented him as an independent candidate for the legislative assembly of Ghasipura. Dara was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of leading the group that in the village of Manoharpur, on the night of June 22, 1999, set fire to the station wagon of Graham Staines, killing the Australian lay missionary and his two sons, Philip, 7, and Timothy, 9.
A fervent supporter of Hindutva (nationalist and fundamentalist Hindu culture) and a fierce opponent of conversion to Christianity, Dara was involved in various trials, including those in the killing of Catholic priest Arul Doss and Muslim merchant Sheikh Rehman, which also took place in 1999, during the Hindu revolts in the district of Mayurbhanj (Orissa).
Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, has greeted the news with “profound sadness.” Interviewed by AsiaNews, the archbishop of Mumbai confesses his concern that “this does not speak well of the future of our country.” Gracias says, “our beloved country, the largest democracy in the world . . . needs leaders who will work to safeguard the Constitution. The founding fathers enshrined in our Constitution, articles to preserve the unity . . . multiethnicity and multilinguistic plurality of India, and we need leaders who are clean, who will work for communal harmony and work for the social uplifting of the people.” For the cardinal, Dara’s candidacy “will not help India,” let alone the district of Keonjhar, “a tribal dominated area, where the nomination will further the divide and augment communal distrust.” The Global Council of Indian Christians has criticized Dara Singh’s candidacy, and has asked the electoral commission to declare it invalid.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican: Pope to Reflect on Persecution of Christians in India
Vatican City, 7 April (AKI) — Pope Benedict XVI will reflect on the plight of Christians in India this Easter when he leads the Way of the Cross ceremony on Friday at the Colosseum in Rome. The Vatican has asked Indian Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil to write the meditations for the ceremony, which depicts Christ’s final hours leading up to his crucifixion.
Archbishop Menamparampil’s reflections will focus on the question of evil in the world, on pain and on the various forms of suffering which are, he writes, a “symbol of the presence of the cross of Christ in our lives”.
Menamparampil “will refer to Christians who suffer persecution in India and in other countries, as well to the violence that destroys ethnic and religious groups, and to conflicts fuelled by economic interests,” the Vatican said in a statement.
Attacks by suspected Hindu extremists on Christians and their churches in the eastern Indian state of Orissa last year left at least 35 people dead. The violence also spread to other states, including the western coastal state of Karnataka, a state on India’s west coast, where at least 11 churches were destroyed.
India is officially secular but most of its one billion-plus citizens are Hindu. Christians make up about 2.5 percent of the population and Muslims, 13.4 percent.
It is the second consecutive year that the pontiff has chosen to draw attention to the plight of Christians in Asia. Last Easter’s Way of the Cross reflections were written by Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, bishop of Hong Kong.
Zen, has frequently criticised China, which broke ties with the Vatican in 1951 after the communists came to power and set up a separate Catholic church outside the authority of the Holy See.
Catholics in China are only allowed to worship with the state-sanctioned church
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Asia: Thousands Gather to Celebrate ‘Successful’ North Korean Missile Launch
North Korea organized a massive rally today to celebrate its widely criticised rocket launch as it sought to bolster the rule of supreme leader Kim Jong Il.
The rally came a day before the rubber-stamp legislature was expected to announce Kim’s election to a third term as chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission, amid lingering questions about his health and who might succeed him.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
China: at Least 11 Million Migrant Workers Drift Back Into the Big Cities in Search of Work
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, government policy designed to reintegrate migrant workers in home villages has failed. Fears are growing that social unrest might grow.
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) — About 11 million rural migrants are currently seeking employment in China’s cities, this according to a new survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). For the China Labour Bulletin, which specialises in labour issues, this is a sign that government employment policies are failing to help migrant workers reintegrate their places of origin and find a job.
The NBS survey of 68,000 rural households in 7,100 villages across the country estimated that the total number of rural workers not engaged in agriculture was about 225 million, with 141 million employed outside their home town. About 50 per cent of these rural migrant workers (70 million) returned home before the Lunar New Year holiday.
In 2008 62.4 per cent of all returning migrants were employed in the eastern provinces where the manufacturing and construction sectors were hardest hit by the collapse of exports. Of these workers 36 per cent were employed in manufacturing and 28 per cent in construction.
About 56 million migrant workers have returned to the cities and around 45 million have already found employment.
The survey indicates that older migrants with stronger roots to the countryside have tended to stay in their home towns where they have often created their own businesses.
But of the estimated 14 million unemployed who stayed in their home towns some 12 million have yet to find a job; it is likely however that they are working for themselves or in the underground economy.
Faced with tens of thousands of plant closures the central government has encouraged migrants to go back to their home towns and villages. But in rural areas employment is scarce and poorly paid.
The large number of unemployed in the cities is cause of concern to central authorities. For months they have been warning about social unrest.
According to the Interior Ministry about 87,000 incidents of mass protest occurred last year for economic reasons.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Piracy: Danish Ship With U.S. Crew Hijacked
Somali pirates have hijacked a Danish-owned vessel off the coast of Somalia.
Somali pirates have hijacked the Danish-owned, U.S.-crewed Maersk Alabama off the coast of Somalia, according to a report from Maersk Group Headquarters in Copenhagen.
According to the report 20 American nationals are aboard the vessel. News reports say that the Maersk Alabama is under charter to an American company.
Although precise details of the hijacking remain unclear, a spokesman for the East African Sailors Aid Programme says the vessel was hijacked some 640 kilometres off the coast of Somalia.
According to GlobalSecurity.org, the Maersk Alabama is owned by the Maersk Line Limited, one of the American Department of Defense’s primary shipping contractors and is part of the U.S. Maritime Security Programme. The 17,000 dwt vessel was previously named Alva Maersk and was built in 1998.
The U.S. Maritime Security Programme subsidises 47 merchant vessels that are militarily useful, as part of a policy designed to support U.S. shipowners and the employment of U.S. seafarers.
A spokesman for the U.S. Navy, however, said that the vessel was not under contract to the U.S. Department of Defense when it was hijacked.
A Lloyd’s List report of the incident said pirates may unwittingly have unleashed a major response in taking U.S. nationals hostage.
“The capture of US nationals is already being seen as potentially significant, given that Washington has a tradition of muscular responses to incidents that involve American citizens being taken hostage,” Lloyd’s List said.
Maersk Headquarters in Copenhagen say on their website: “This morning, at around 0500, Maersk Alabama, a 1,100 teu container vessel, was attacked by pirates and presumed hijacked. The US-flagged vessel has a crew of 20 US nationals and is owned and operated by Maersk Line Ltd in the US. The vessel is deployed in Maersk Line’s East Africa service network and was en route to Mombasa, when it was attacked approximately 500 km off the Somalia coast. Our initial concern is to ensure proper support of the crew and assistance to their families. At this point in time we do not have any further information.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Piracy: Danish-Owned Ship, Crew Retakes US Ship From Somali Pirates
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — In a riveting high-seas drama, an unarmed American crew wrested control of their U.S.-flagged cargo ship from Somali pirates Wednesday and sent them fleeing to a lifeboat with the captain as hostage.
The destroyer USS Bainbridge, one of a half dozen warships that headed for the area, arrived at the scene Thursday morning a few hours before dawn, said Kevin Speers, a spokesman for the company that owns the Maersk Alabama. He said the boat with the pirates was floating near the ship, the first with an American crew to be taken by pirates off the Horn of Africa.
Speers said officials were waiting to see what happens when the sun comes up. Crew members had been negotiating with the pirates Wednesday for the return of the captain.
A family member said Capt. Richard Phillips surrendered himself to the pirates to secure the safety of the crew.
“What I understand is that he offered himself as the hostage,” said Gina Coggio, 29, half sister of Phillips’ wife. “That is what he would do. It’s just who he is and his responsibility as a captain.”
Details of the day’s events emerged sporadically as members of the crew were reached by satellite phone, providing a glimpse of the maneuvering.
A sailor who spoke to The Associated Press said the entire 20-member crew had been taken hostage but managed to seize one pirate and then successfully negotiated their own release. The man did not identify himself during the brief conversation.
The crisis played out hundreds of miles off the coast of Somalia — one of the most lawless nations on earth. President Barack Obama was following the situation closely, foreign policy adviser Denis McDonough said.
The Maersk Alabama was the sixth vessel seized by Somali pirates in a week. Pirates have staged 66 attacks since January, and they are still holding 14 ships and 260 crew members as hostages, according to the International Maritime Bureau, a watchdog group based in Kuala Lumpur.
Somalia’s 1,900-mile (3,057-kilometer) long coastline borders one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and offers a perfect haven to the heavily armed pirate gangs. They often dress in military fatigues and use GPS systems and satellite phones to coordinate attacks from small, fast speedboats resupplied by a larger “mother ship.”.
The pirates usually use rocket propelled grenades, anti-tank rocket launchers and automatic weapons to capture large, slow-moving vessels like the U.S.-flagged 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama, which was carrying food aid from USAID and other agencies to help malnourished people in Uganda and Somalia.
According to reports from the crew, the pirates sank their boat when they boarded the ship. The captain talked them into getting off the vessel using one of the ship’s lifeboats.
Second Mate Ken Quinn told CNN in a live interview Wednesday that the crew also had held a hostage.
“We had a pirate, we took him for 12 hours,” Quinn said. “We returned him, but they didn’t return the captain.”
Maersk Line Limited CEO John F. Reinhart said his company received a call that indicated the crewmen were safe. But the call got cut off, and the company could not ask any more questions.
It remained unclear how the unarmed sailors could have overpowered pirates armed with automatic weapons.
Capt. Shane Murphy, second in command on the ship, told his wife, Serena, that pirates had followed the ship Monday and pursued it again for three or four hours before boarding it Wednesday morning, family members said.
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Mike Waller: ‘My Darling Comrade Leader’: Barbara Lee & Friends Coddling Dictators
Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) is making headlines again as only she can — by being on the wrong side once again.
Her latest hobby horse is her recent trip to Cuba for a visit with Raul Castro — Fidel’s little brother who for decades ran the army, secret police, intelligence services, and hard currency laundering operations.
Lee led a congressional delegation to Havana for a 4-1/2 hour meeting with Raul Castro, telling reporters, “All of us are convinced that President Castro would like normal relations and would see normalization, ending the embargo, as beneficial to both countries.” Reuters reported that Lee’s delegation “avoided specifics” with Castro “but were struck by his humor, impressed by his involvement in Third World causes and firm in their belief that he wants to end U.S.-Cuba enmity.”
Barbara Lee presently chairs the Congressional Black Caucus. She has a long history of support for the Castro regime and its surrogates. She provided counterintelligence support to the regime in Grenada in 1980, tipping off the Cuban-backed government to a possible anti-communist spy in the office of Marxist-Leninist premier Maurice Bishop…
| — Hat tip: CSP | [Return to headlines] |
Almeria: New Illegal Landings in a Few Hours
(ANSAmed) — MADRID — The good weather of recent days has brought a wave of landings by immigrants to the southeast of Spain. More than seven boats loaded with a total of 105 illegal immigrants have been intercepted by the Civil Guard and the maritime rescue service along the Spanish coastline. According to sources from the maritime rescue service, 6 boats carrying 69 Algerians landed in Almeria, whilst the seventh boat, carrying 36 migrants of sub-Saharan origin, reached the port of Motril at dawn. All of the migrants were in good health and were subsequently transferred to temporary detention centres, while awaiting repatriation. Despite these new landings, the number of illegal migrants arriving in Spain by sea has significantly dropped, due to the strengthening of border controls and an increase in expulsion proceedings, and also thanks to operational cooperation with the EU and with the immigrants’ countries of origin, principally those on the West African coast. The number of illegal immigrants who landed in Spain last year totalled 13,424, a 25.6% drop compared to 2007 when the total was 18,057. As for the Canary Islands, the drop was even more significant. The total of 9,181 in 2008 signified a drop of 26.4% in comparison to the total of 12,478 recorded in 2007 and 31,678 in 2006. The same applies to the Balearic Islands, where there was a 23.9% drop in the total of illegal immigrants landing.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
France: Gov’t Plan Against Illegal Immigration
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, APRIL 7 — Paris has launched a new plan to fight illegal immigration. Among President Sarkozy’s objectives are stricter conditions to legally enter and reside in the country and disrupting illegal human trafficking networks, stated a letter addressed to Immigration Minister Eric Besson. The consequences from the crisis are taking their toll, “the absolute priority is to restore jobs to those who are without work in France,” wrote Sarkozy. Among the objectives for 2009: deport 27,000 illegal immigrants, stop 5,000 human traffickers and conduct 1,500 inspections on illegal jobs. Furthermore, 50,000 students allowed into France to study will follow targeted training to guarantee economic returns when they go back to their countries of origin. The plan also calls for a more careful selection of immigrants allowed to enter the country so as not to worsen unemployment data. In order to achieve this, the plan calls for measures that will allow for temporary labour mobility. The French president also asked his minister “for new integration policies” which take into account the number of immigrants that the country is capable of receiving, based on jobs and housing. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel: Ministers’ Photo Manipulated in Rabbinic Press
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, APRIL 3 — A group photograph of the 30 ministers of Benyamin Netanyahù s new government (Likud) has been altered by two ultraorthodox Jewish newspapers, with image-doctoring reminiscent of the Stalinist era. The orthodox weekly, ‘Shaa’ Tovà publishes the photograph of the ministers in its most recent edition but the two female ministers, Limor Livnat (Culture and Sport) and Sofa Landver (Immigration), are blacked out by the censor’s pen. The orthodox daily, ‘Yeted Neeman’, went even further by placing the images of two of their colleagues over the images of the two female ministers with the result that they appear twice in the same photograph. The editorial staff of ‘Shaa’ Tovà explained that the paper had to change the photograph of the new Israeli government because orthodox rabbis forbid the publishing of photographs of females, for reasons of prudery. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Two Dead Migrants Found on People-Smuggling Boat
Palermo, 3 April (AKI) — Two would-be migrants were found dead aboard one of two packed people-smuggling boats intercepted by the Italian navy in on Friday. The navy intercepted the boats south of the Italian coast and transferred their 136 passengers to the southern Sicilian port of Porto Empedocle.
One of the vessels had 76 immigrants aboard, including 15 women, one of whom was pregnant.
The second vessel carried 60 illegal immigrants, among them five women.
During the warmer months, hundreds arrive on Italy’s southern coast each week in search of a better life in Europe aboard people smugglers’ boats. These mostly set sail from North Africa, notably Tunisia, Libya and Morocco.
Over 36,000 boat people arrived on the southern Italian coast last year — a 75 per cent increase over the number of arrivals in 2007 — according to the Italian government and the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).
Italy has the European Union’s longest coastline — 4,500 kilometres — making it difficult to police and thus a preferred destination for illegal migrants.
The conservative Italian government is seeking to clinch a series of repatriation agreements with various North African countries from which many of the illegal immigrants come.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Two Immigrants Bought as Wives by Aid Workers
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, APRIL 7 — Two Spanish humanitarian workers working in under-developed countries, are thought to have bought themselves a wife, paying a dowry to their families, to then subject them to mistreatment and abuse once resident in Spain. This is the accusation from the NGO Afromujer from Andalusia, quoted by the online edition of the newspaper El Mundo, which has helped the two women for two years, both of whom are younger than 25, as part of the ‘Via Amiga’ programme against this kind of violence. According to the NGO, the two girls, one of whom was born in a central Asian country, and one was born in Nigeria, “suffered serious psychological trauma and all kinds of aggression and abuse,” were forced “to live like slaves chained up by a marriage ring.” One of these was forced by her family to leave her boyfriend, to be sent to her Spanish husband, while the Nigerian girl was “submitted to constant sedation by her husband, who is a well-respected professional, and who left her with child.” Both women were “bought in exchange for a dowry,” against their own will, between 2005 and 2006. Vanessa Casado, the Afromujer coordinator and Amnesty International member explained, “when we at the association found out about the situation of these two girls, we were very surprised because until now we have never seen any documentation of a case like this, even though we have heard of many cases of forced marriages in Spain.” Now both victims of domestic violence will be enrolled on a recovery and psychological support programme, so that they can be supported in building a new life. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Albino African Seeks Asylum From Threat of Witchcraft
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, APRIL 7 — A young African albino who reached the Canary Islands in recent days on a boat crowded with illegal immigrants has asked for asylum in Spain affirming that he is in danger in his country of origin of persecution from witchdoctors for the colour of his hair and skin, reported El Mundo. Moszy, 17 years old, whose country of origin remains a mystery, is a Sub-Saharan African with white skin, almost transparent, due to the total absence of melanin, the newspaper specified. “My body”, he affirmed, “is sought after to be used in rituals of witchery”. According to El Mundo, the primary enemy of albino Africans is ultraviolet radiation, even if they are also victim to discrimination and local superstitions, and there have even been reports of “persecution and murder due to superstitions which consider their organs to attract riches”. The request for asylum of the young albino African will be passed on to the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tony Blair Tells the Pope: You’re Wrong on Homosexuality
Tony Blair has challenged the “entrenched” attitudes of the Pope on homosexuality, and argued that it is time for him to “rethink” his views.
Speaking to the gay magazine Attitude, the former Prime Minister, himself now a Roman Catholic, said that he wanted to urge religious figures everywhere to reinterpret their religious texts to see them as metaphorical, not literal, and suggested that in time this would make all religious groups accept gay people as equals.
Asked about the Pope’s stance, Mr Blair blamed generational differences and said: “We need an attitude of mind where rethinking and the concept of evolving attitudes becomes part of the discipline with which you approach your religious faith.”
The Pope, who is 82, remains firmly opposed to any relaxation of the Church’s traditional stance on homosexuality, contraception or any other area of human sexuality. He has described homosexuality as a “tendency” towards an “intrinsic moral evil”. Related Links
Mr Blair, who now travels the world on behalf of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which aims to promote understanding of the main religions, left the Church of England for Rome soon after leaving office in 2007.
In the interview Mr Blair spoke of a “quiet revolution in thinking” and implied that he believed the Pope to be out of step with the public.
“There are many good and great things the Catholic Church does, and there are many fantastic things this Pope stands for, but I think what is interesting is that if you went into any Catholic Church, particularly a wellattended one, on any Sunday here and did a poll of the congregation, you’d be surprised at how liberal-minded people were.” The faith of ordinary Catholics is rarely found “in those types of entrenched attitudes”, he said.
He also thought that in Islam there would eventually be a change of heart. “I believe that, ultimately, people will find their way to a sensible reformation of attitudes.”
People’s thinking had changed fundamentally, he added. “Now, that doesn’t mean to say there’s not still a lot of homophobia and a lot of things to be done. But the fact that it is unacceptable for any mainstream political party to be anything other than on the side of equality and respect is, in a way, the biggest change. The items of individual legislation matter a lot, but I think it’s the general shift in climate that is perhaps the most important point.”
He said: “When people quote the passages in Leviticus condemning homosexuality, I say to them — if you read the whole of the Old Testament and took everything that was there in a literal way, as being what God and religion is about, you’d have some pretty tough policies across the whole of the piece.”
He continued: “What people often forget about, for example, Jesus or, indeed, the Prophet Muhammad, is that their whole raison d’être was to change the way that people thought traditionally.”
[…]
| — Hat tip: islam o’phobe | [Return to headlines] |
2 comments:
First time an American vessel has been attacked by pirates in about 200 years.
---TH2
Exclusive: Sharia Infiltrates German Courts, Schools, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The judge, Matthias Rau, at a court in Hanover, Germany, ruled (January 21, 2009), Lisa had to wait for at least one year before she is legally divorced. Her husband cannot be deported. “He must be re-educated, in hopes he would renounce his Islamic understanding of ‘Zena,’“ the judge said.
Yeah, sure thing, the "husband" is going to "renounce his Islamic understanding of 'Zena' ".
Please accept my most deeply heartfelt assurances that, right about that same time, winged monkeys shooting bottle rockets are gonna fly outta my butt. Emkay?
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