A Nigerian immigrant to Britain pretended to marry his own daughter so that he could claim she was his wife, and could thus be brought into the UK. This in itself is no big news — you expect immigrants to scam the system if they can — but the real scandal is that the Home Office was informed about the situation by a whistleblower, and did nothing.In other news, a Christian pastor in Somalia was shot and killed by Islamists on his way home from a worship service in an underground church.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Esther, Gaia, Insubria, JD, JP, RRW, The Frozen North, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Thousands of Jobs Scammed or Created
President Obama has repeatedly stated that his stimulus package has “saved or created” hundreds of thousands of jobs. And hundreds of thousands of jobs have been created. In Unicornland.
According to the Recovery.gov website — a website that the Obama administration has spent $18 million “stimulating” — millions have been spent and hundreds of jobs have been created in heretofore unknown areas of America: 30 jobs using $761,420 of federal cash in the fictional 15th Congressional District in Arizona (there are only eight congressional districts in Arizona); $19 million in spending and 15 jobs created in mythical districts in Oklahoma; $10.6 million on 39 jobs in invisible Iowan areas; $68.3 million spent in the magical 1st Congressional District of the U.S. Virgin Islands; $35 million spent and 142 jobs created in the glittering fairy-tale kingdom of the 99th district of the Northern Mariana Islands; and the list goes on.
The biggest problem, amazingly enough, isn’t the Obama administration’s incredible creation of districts from scratch. It’s the Obama administration’s use of stimulus funds to pay off its political allies.
On Sept. 11, 2009, Democrat Rep. Eric Massa of the 29th Congressional District of New York — yes, this district actually exists — wrote President Obama a letter regarding the Obama administration’s $74.6 million grant to Canandaigua Power Partners, LLC, and Canandaigua Power Partners II, LLC, in Cohocton, N.Y. These companies, according to Massa, “act as shell companies that deceptively operate on behalf of First Wind, which is currently under investigation by New York State Attorney General Cuomo for corruption charges in Cohocton and across the Northeast.”
In fact, wrote Massa, “Constituents in our region see these projects as criminal actions … the award of $74.6 million to corrupt companies that have changed names time and again forming new LLCs and new Inc.s but maintaining their business model of lie, cheat and corrupt at the expense of taxpayers has stirred great unrest.” Remember, this is a Democratic congressman.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
(Somali Refugee) Boys in the Hood
This is pretty outrageous, check out the film that Youtube removed, here, at City Pages. A bunch of Somali thug teens rough up bikers and little kids in Minneapolis. Police are now investigating, and you gotta laugh, these brilliant fellows put their names prominently on the film…
| — Hat tip: RRW | [Return to headlines] |
Army Plans Fort Hood Probe
Goal Is to Learn Whether Officials Failed to Heed Suspect’s Troubling Behavior
The Army is preparing an internal probe into the Fort Hood shootings that will focus on whether military personnel should have done more to sound alarms about the sole suspect in the rampage, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, according to officials familiar with the matter.
Military officials said the new probe will closely examine Maj. Hasan’s six years at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he did his residency and worked as a psychiatrist before his July transfer to Fort Hood in Texas.
Since the shootings, some of Maj. Hasan’s former colleagues have said he performed substandard work and occasionally unnerved them by expressing fervent Islamic views and deep opposition to the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
That has prompted questions about whether hospital officials should have alerted law-enforcement authorities about Maj. Hasan months ago, which may have helped prevent the shootings. The attack killed 13 people and wounded dozens.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Blue-Collar Town Elects a Muslim Mayor
GRANITE FALLS, Wash. — Granite Falls residents are suspicious of any newcomers, let alone a Muslim native of Pakistan who moved to this rugged, blue-collar logging and mining town to open his own bar.
But 54-year-old Haroon Saleem has thrived, winning over the town with hard work and an easy smile. He has become so popular that, on Nov. 3, he won the mayor’s job in a landslide, getting 61 percent of the more than 800 votes cast — a result that residents say would have been inconceivable not long ago.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Clint Eastwood Says America is Becoming More ‘Juvenile’
We’re “becoming more juvenile as a nation,” he said. “The guys who won World War II and that whole generation have disappeared, and now we have a bunch of teenage twits.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
FBI Probe Biggest Plot Since 9/11
The FBI say they hope to prevent another attack like 9/11 Newsbeat has been given exclusive access to one of the biggest anti-terrorist operations in America since the 9/11 attacks.
The FBI is worried a group linked to al-Qaeda is training up a new generation of terrorists.
They’re thought to be targeting young Somali immigrants, radicalising them to carry out attacks on their home country and possibly the US in the future.
The November cold in Minnesota is brutal. The fierce winds brush against your skin like a sharp knife.
The grey high rise flats in Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis, are clustered together and are home to hundreds of Somali immigrants.
A group of young boys are sitting on the concrete steps watching the traffic as it whizzes by.
It’s not clear why teenagers like these are giving up their comfortable lives in America and returning to their war torn homeland.
But over the past three years, authorities believe 20 young Somali men have gone back to fight in the bitter civil war, which is reported to have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
None of them have come back and three are thought to be dead.
Illegal refugees
According to census figures there are 35,000 Somalis living in America but the figure is almost certainly a massive underestimate as many live in the country illegally.
Some of them came to the US as refugees looking for a safer place to settle and raise families.
Their country has been a war zone since the collapse of its government in 1991.
Now an extremist Muslim group, which America calls a terrorist organisation, is trying to gain control.
The US believes al-Shabaab has ties to al-Qaeda. It’s a shadowy organisation which is made up of radical Islamists.
It controls much of southern and central Somalia and has imposed strict Sharia law in those areas.
Burhan Hasan was 17 when he went missing from Minneapolis. His mum, Zeinab Bihi, thinks he was poached by al-Shabaab and taken back to Somalia to fight on its behalf.
She said: “Someone called me from Somalia and said Burhan is dead today and when I asked some details they said I can’t give you details and hung up the phone. He was shot in the head.”
Risk to US
The FBI were reluctant to spell out the threat, but they do believe something sinister is happening in the local Somali community.
They’re calling it their biggest terror investigation since 9/11.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the civil war in Somalia They’re not just concerned about those who may be travelling from America to Somalia either.
They’re also worried about who may come back, war hardened and perhaps prepared to plot attacks on American soil.
EK Wilson, one of the special agents investigating the case, says they have to consider all possibilities.
He said: “There is no credible threat or evidence they want to carry out a terrorist threat on US soil but it’s not something we can rule out.
“Counter terrorism is our number one priority so we’re focusing our attention on this one.”
Agents won’t say if mosques or religious leaders are involved but they do think victims are being radicalised in America before being trained as fighters in Somalia.
Community in fear
The Somali community is frightened. At a Somali market, a group of young men are watching football on a big screen while eating rice and potatoes.
Somali men at this market were reluctant to talk They cheer and laugh as the the match reaches its climax.
But as soon as we ask about the disappearance of their fellow Somalis, the mood changes. A look of excitement turns into a look of fear.
An 18-year-old Somali man, who refused to give his name, said: “I am very scared and I feel uncomfortable in this country. I just hope the government know what they’re doing here and they don’t mess with the wrong people.”
As for the American people, many of them are scared too. Their biggest fear is another 9/11.
The evidence of al-Shabaab’s activities isn’t clear but the families of the missing are desperate for answers.
Zeinab Bihi says it doesn’t make sense that her son would go to Somalia without telling her.
She said: “He was a nice kid and very smart. I just don’t know what happened to him.”
| — Hat tip: RRW | [Return to headlines] |
Lawmakers Ask IRS to Investigate CAIR
Group’s lobbying activity illegal, members of Congress believe
A senator and five Congress members are urging the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations to determine whether the controversial Muslim group’s lobbying activities on Capitol Hill violate its nonprofit status.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Lou Dobbs: My Downfall at CNN Started When Barack Obama Became President
Former CNN veteran Lou Dobbs suggests his form of advocacy journalism fell out of favor when President Obama was elected and his ratings began to decline.
Dobbs, who had come under fire from watchdog groups because of his on-air, anti-immigration stance, told Bill O’Reilly Monday on the Fox News Channel that he never heard directly from CNN management that he made the network look bad — but there was a tonal change when Obama became President.
“You know, I discern more of a difference between then, which was under the Bush administration whom I was criticizing, and now, when it is the Obama administration and an entirely different tone was taken,” Dobbs said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Major Hasan Dined With ‘Jihad Hobbyist’
Friend of Accused Shooter Called Himself “Extremist,” Watched Al-Qaeda Videos
Ever since he told a British reporter that he felt “no pity” for the victims of the Fort Hood massacre, Duane Reasoner Jr., an 18-year-old Muslim convert who frequently dined with accused shooter Major Nidal Malik Hasan and attended the same mosque, has ducked the media. His parents ordered ABC News off their property over the weekend and on Monday, Reasoner again dodged ABC — this time by using a pass to drive onto the Fort Hood Army base, home of the soldiers for whom he said he felt no pity.
For the most part, Reasoner has stayed close to the one-story Copperas Cove, Texas house he shares with his parents, who have reportedly worked on the base and who, according to a friend of Reasoner’s, are “not particularly supportive” of the faith adopted by their son.
But while Reasoner may not be making himself available in person, his presence on the Web is unmistakable. During the past two years, Reasoner has shown a marked interest in jihadi Web content and videos of figures associated with al Qaeda, including Osama Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Anwar al Awlaki, the radical Yemeni-American cleric and al-Qaeda recruiter who exchanged e-mails with Major Hasan and told the Washington Post he considered himself Hasan’s confidant.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Kooks
Another kooky Barack Obama appointee became publicly known this month and quickly was thrown or voluntarily threw herself under the bus. Anita Dunn, the White House communications director (who led Obama’s war on Fox News), said that Mao Zedong was one of her two favorite “political philosophers” whom “I turn to most” for answers to important questions.
History identifies Mao as a ruthless savage, not as a philosopher. He probably holds the record for ordering the mass murder of more people (50 million to 100 million) than anyone else in history.
Dunn tried to claim that her statement was a joke, but anyone can look at her actual speech on Youtube and see that she spoke in deadly earnest. Dunn was part of Obama’s inner circle and a senior media adviser during the 2008 presidential campaign.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Critics Should be Bowing Their Heads
The American right has worked itself into a lather over Obama’s bow to Japan’s emperor. They owe him an apology
[Note from JP: Typical Guardian nonsense.]
To most reasonable people, it was a well-intentioned show of respect to a head of state who greeted his guest on the steps of his home before ushering him inside for lunch.
But Barack Obama’s greeting to Japan’s emperor, Akihito, at the weekend has worked the American right into a lather over what they see as their president’s unseemly deference to a symbol of hereditary power.. The outrage was initially confined to commentators such as William Kristol, who, in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, wondered “why President Obama thought that was appropriate. Maybe he thought it would play well in Japan.” Now no less a figure than Dick Cheney has waded in. “There is no need for an American president to bow to anyone,” the former vice-president told the politico.com website.
By contrast, when Cheney met Akihito, he restricted the niceties to a stiff-backed handshake … but then Cheney is all charm.
Sean Hannity at Fox News claimed the Japanese were “mortified” by the addition of a handshake to the traditional greeting.
They were nothing of the sort: the handshake, though not strictly necessary, has crept into bowing etiquette, particularly in international business and politics. What better way to illustrate the meeting of two cultures?
Far from embarrassment, there is consternation here that some Americans should be so incensed by their president’s impeccable manners. If anyone was belittled it was Akihito, who stands eight inches shorter than the 6ft 1in Obama. Etiquette experts in Japan have praised the president’s efforts, while an Imperial Household Agency spokesman said the greeting looked “natural and appropriate”.
At the very least it was an improvement on the cringeworthy efforts of celebrities, Madonna included, who greet their Japanese fans with a nod of the head, palms pressed together in prayer. Sorry, Madge … wrong country. But the vitriol continues. In his LA Times blog titled, “How low will he go?” Andrew Malcolm called Obama “undignified” and his behaviour deeply misguided in the presence of a man whose father occupied the chrysanthemum throne when Japan and the US were at war.
Stephen Colbert exploited the bow’s rich comic potential with a reference to George Bush Snr’s “greeting” to his Japanese counterpart Kiichi Miyazawa in 1992: a lapful of vomit. The conservative pundit Bill Bennett told CNN: “It’s ugly. I don’t want to see it. We don’t defer to emperors.”
Which is fine, because Obama wasn’t deferring to anyone.
The angle and length of a bow in Japan depends on who is bowing to whom. Etiquette demands that a 90-degree bow should be reserved for such occasions as meeting the emperor or another VIP, or as a sincere expression of apology or regret. Context is everything. I have seen teachers perform an “Obama” in front of graduating pupils, and departing senior editors practically kiss their kneecaps before a newsroom of lowly hacks. Deference, or simple gratitude and civility?
The Obama administration has stepped in to defend the president. “I think that those who try to politicise those things are just way, way, way off base,” an unnamed official said. The state department, meanwhile, attempted to clear up any confusion over how Americans should behave abroad. Thanks to their ignorance, Cheney, Kristol et al now owe Obama an apology. A perfectly executed dogeza, foreheads pressed to the ground, would be a good start
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Role of ACLU Decisive in Moving KSM Trial to New York
That the ACLU cheers this latest attack on American national security is no surprise. After all, they are up to their ears in making sure Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his friends get sprung, although the mainstream media seems to be ignoring the ACLU’s role. I wrote last year at Pajamas Media that the “John Adams Project” would undoubtedly play a role in securing three hots and a cot for Khalid Sheik Mohammed while he awaits his day in an American court:
What is it? In a nutshell, the ACLU has assembled a “Dream Team” of attorneys with an $8.5 million budget to defend terrorists currently held at Guantanamo. Who’s the primary object of the ACLU’s affection? Khalid Sheik Mohammed.
The ACLU, true to form, impugns the professionalism and competence of men and women of infinitely more honor than their accusers by referring to tribunals as a “kangaroo courts.” But could the ACLU really be so scandalized that this mass murderer will stand before a military tribunal? Could the ACLU truly be standing up for his “fundamental rights”?
What is the true purpose of a multi-million-dollar campaign to get KSM off the hook?
The ACLU explains: “The ACLU chose to focus on Mohammed’s defense,” Romero said, because he appears to be “the government’s top priority in the prosecution. And whether or not they are able to convict Khalid Sheik Mohammed under these rules may well determine the fate of the almost 300 other men who are detained at Guantanamo.”
So that’s it. The ACLU wants to set KSM and 300 other terrorists free or at least make it impossible for the tribunals to serve their function. Because KSM is the worst of the worst, because he is the terrorist in custody most responsible for 9/11, the ACLU is his champion.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
When America ‘Did’ Security
Go back only to World War II. Can you imagine telling enemy prisoners in advance exactly how gentle their interrogations will be? Or exactly how many more troops the president is considering sending to a war zone, and we’ll let you know when he decides? Or the secretary of state announcing when the Battle of the Bulge gets rough that we’re “limiting our goals in Belgium”? (And can you imagine Gen. Patton’s reaction when he’s briefed accordingly?) Or our major media routinely handing crucial intelligence to the enemy nicely gift-wrapped on Page 1? Or an American ambassador openly disagreeing with a plea for more troops from the American commanding general? (I say “openly” knowing Ambassador Karl Eichenberry’s comments weren’t supposed to “look” open. They were deliberately leaked to take the pressure off President Obama to accede to Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s appeal for more troops in Afghanistan. Do you hear any White House anger over that “leak”? That leak was about as accidental as ballet.) It’s as though they never heard of doors you could go behind and close.
Can you imagine any White House before this one bulging with lovers of Mao Zedong, Karl Marx, teenage homosexual activity, trees and animals having lawyers to sue humans, the ridiculing of free speech (from a stalwart of the FCC, no less), even polygamy? What exactly does CNN mean when it says it’s not an American but rather an international network? And are we sure we know what Mike Wallace was saying when he insisted that, as a combat correspondent, he would not tip off American troops even if he learned of an enemy ambush? Maybe we don’t want to know.
[…]
Back in the days when America understood security we had classifications like confidential, secret and top-secret. Americans took such things seriously. During World War II my mother worked in the civil-defense headquarters of Greensboro, N.C. She refused to tell me where it was. During the Korean War the Army assigned me to a desk job at an intelligence agency. Here’s what’s remarkable. All of us GIs at that agency lived in a group of barracks together. I don’t recall one single instance of any of us asking or telling another what kind of work we were doing. We were told not to.
My badge, worn at all times, had a bar running diagonally across it indicating I did not have a full security clearance. I had only a “partial” clearance. Why should an outspoken patriot from North Carolina with absolutely no questionable item on his record be denied a full clearance? I’ll play out the argument for you. ARMY: “Your grandparents are all from Communist countries.” YOUNG FARBER: “No, Sir. Those countries are Communist now but when my grandparents left they weren’t Communist yet.” ARMY: “OK, but how do we know how many in their families survived World War II and how they feel about Communism and America and whether anyone in your family carries out communication with those relatives within the Soviet bloc through mail-drops in neutral countries like Sweden and Switzerland? Partial clearance. Case closed!” That’s when America “did” security.
[…]
An American GI named Fred Howard told me how easy it was to get German prisoners talking. They simply dressed up an appropriate-looking American in the uniform of a Russian colonel who continually walked around the POW camp. Whenever a German prisoner asked, “Who’s he?” the American would say, “Oh. That’s Colonel Volkov of the Russian Army. Every Tuesday we give the Germans who won’t talk over to him and they’re bused over to the Red Army base in Leipzig.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why the Left Excuses Communist Horrors
Alan Kors, University of Pennsylvania history professor, gave the evening’s keynote address. What he revealed about the dereliction and character weakness of academics, intellectuals, media elites and politicians is by no means complimentary, but worse than that, dangerous. Professor Kors said that over the years, he has frequently asked students how many deaths were caused by Josef Stalin and Mao Zedong and their successors. Routinely, they gave numbers in the thousands. Kors says that’s equivalent to saying the Nazis are responsible for the deaths of just a few hundred Jews. But here’s the record: Nazis were responsible for the deaths of 20 million of their own people and those in nations they conquered. Between 1917 and 1983, Stalin and his successors murdered, or were otherwise responsible for the deaths of, 62 million of their own people. Between 1949 and 1987, Mao Zedong and his successors were responsible for the deaths of 76 million Chinese.
Professor Kors asks, why are the horrors of Nazism so well-known and widely condemned, but not those of socialism and communism? For decades after World War II, people have hunted down and sought punishment for Nazi murderers. How much hunting down and seeking punishment for Stalinist and Maoist murderers has there been? In Europe, especially Germany, hoisting the swastika-emblazoned Nazi flag is a crime. It’s acceptable to hoist and march under a flag emblazoned with the former USSR’s hammer and sickle. Even in the U.S., it’s acceptable to praise mass murderers, as Anita Dunn, President Obama’s communications director, did in a commencement address for St. Andrews Episcopal High School at Washington National Cathedral where she said Mao was one of her heroes. Whether it’s the academic community, the media elite or politicians, there is a great tolerance for the ideas of socialism — a system that has caused more deaths and human misery than all other systems combined.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Why We Should Put Jihad on Trial
An open trial will also provide a catalyst for reflection among Americans on both 9/11 and its aftermath. The years before the attacks have been thoroughly hashed out through the report of the 9/11 commission and by memoirs and histories. The eight years since, a time of unremitting warfare, has had no similar opportunity for taking stock. Regrettably, no trial can provide closure for the traumas of that day. But a judgment in New York, where the greatest suffering was inflicted, will remind us both of the narrow viciousness of the terrorists’ cause and of the enduring strength of our own values.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Soldiers Could Get Uniforms for Urban Jungle
Camo tailored for Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver — but not Ottawa
OTTAWA — Future Canadian soldiers could be wearing new uniforms designed to provide camouflage on the streets of our largest cities.
The Defence Department will know by March what designs might work for what is being called a Canadian Urban Environment Pattern.
Those designs are to be based on the “unique requirements” of the urban settings of Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, according to an outline of the project being co-ordinated by scientists at Defence Research and Development Canada in Suffield, Alta.
Ottawa, the nerve centre of government and the military, was left off the list because it doesn’t rate as a major metropolitan centre.
[…]
However, Eric Graves, the editor of Soldier Systems Daily, a U.S. website that reports on the uniform and equipment industry, questioned whether it made sense to have camouflage based on the landscape of Canadian cities. Various studies indicate the world’s population in developing nations is becoming more focused in urban areas and military officers often talk about future warfare being in those areas.
“It makes zero sense for the Canadian military to produce an urban pattern based on their own cities unless they plan on fighting there,” Graves noted.
“If that’s the case, then it is the perfect choice.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Boeing Sued for Dutch Accident
From Dutch: Boeing is being sued by 14 victims of a planecrash this past February. The victims claim the company was aware of problems with its altimeters.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
EU Presidency Race Descends Into Chaos as Leaders Struggle to Agree on Candidate
The race to anoint the first president of Europe was descending into farce as EU leaders prepared to gather in Brussels tonight.
With no agreement on a candidate, the EU’s 27 heads of government will arrive in Brussels this afternoon for a special summit called to select a president and foreign minister.
Despite weeks of intensive behind the scenes negotiations brokered by the Swedish president Fredrik Reinfeldt the leaders are no closer to deciding who should take the new posts.
A frustrated Mr Reinfeldt said tonight’s dinner in Brussels, which was meant to be a rubber-stamping exercise, ‘might take all night’.
Diplomats have warned the meeting could even run into the weekend or have to be reconvened next month.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi revealed the chaotic state of negotiations yesterday when he said a deal was ‘a very long way away’.
The chaos is an embarrassment for EU officials who had hoped for a smooth transition to the positions, which were created by the Lisbon treaty.
Former Latvian president Vaira Vike-Freiberga, herself a candidate for the presidency, yesterday condemned the secretive way in which the decisions were being made.
She called on the EU to ‘stop working like the former Soviet Union’ and said a woman should get one of the key posts.
Some diplomats believe the lack of a preferred candidate means it is still possible that Tony Blair might get the £270,000-a-year job, despite earlier suggestions that his bid is fading.
Downing Street yesterday said that Gordon Brown remained ‘full square’ behind the former PM’s bid.
Mr Blair’s supporters last night played down some reports that he is on the verge of throwing in the towel.
But Britain is deadlocked with Germany over the decision.
Reinhard Bettzuege, German ambassador in Brussels, let slip yesterday that Chancellor Angela Merkel is backing the Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy for the presidency.
Mrs Merkel is said not to be a fan of Mr Blair, reportedly commenting that she didn’t like the idea of ‘having to listen to Mr Flash all the time’.
Mr Van Rompuy, 62, is the frontrunner but has been unable to cement his position.
Britain has signalled its opposition to Mr Van Rompuy, who supports the introduction of new EU taxes.
There are still no official candidates, and yet more than half a dozen politicians are said to be in the running.
Mr Van Rompuy may reign victorious simply by virtue of being the least offensive candidate.
Mr Blair is the best known of the candidates and was the early favourite.
But some EU leaders fear being overshadowed by him on the world stage.
Others chafe at the prospect of being led by a man so closely associated with the Iraq War.
Mr Brown is believed to have a ‘Plan B’ if it becomes clear tonight Mr Blair is out of the race. At that point Britain will try to nominate a candidate for one of the top economic jobs in the newly constituted European Commission.
David Miliband and Lord Mandelson say they have ruled themselves out of the running to be EU foreign minister.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Napolitano, Turkey Added Value for Europe
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, NOVEMBER 17 — “Turkey represents an added value for Europe”, said Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano after talks with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul. It is necessary to continue, he added, negotiations for entry “without obstructionism” or second thoughts regarding the “thoughtful, not superficial and still valid” decision of the European Council in 2004. “In a world profoundly changed as the one we live in”, said Napolitano, “the European Union could play a decisive role only if it is more united, more integrated with more consistent and various presences. In the sense that Turkey is an added value for Europe”. Napolitano repeated Rome’s support of Rome entry process of Turkey to the European Union, “Italy remains faithful to the commitment signed in the 2004 Council of Europe together with other countries in the European Union. Any opinion on Turkey joining can be expressed but the 2004 decision remains a firm point”. Abdullah Gul thanked Napolitano for these considerations and for supporting the adhesion process. “Europe which tore down the Berlin Wall twenty years ago perhaps wants to build another one somewhere else to exclude Turkey? If this is so, it is a lack of vision of the interests of Europe itself”, said the Turkish president, underlining that there are common visions between Italy and Turkey on this point and numerous points of the international agenda. Napolitano also pointed out the full identity of opinion with the UN reform and the common participation in Nato and EU missions in Afghanistan, the Balkans and other regions. The meeting showed the excellent level of bilateral relations, called by Napolitano “exceptionally positive with ulterior possible of development”. On the economic plan, he said this prospective will be discussed in December during the Italy-Turkey summit. Napolitano also referred to the talks scheduled today in Rome between Turkish prime minister Erdogan and Italian premier, Silvio Berlusconi during the FAO summit.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Maroni: Possible Nat-Radical Islam Relationship
(AGI) — Milan, 17 Nov. — “We are following this phenomenon also in relation to others that we have been following up to this point: certain incidents of unrest in the antagonist area and primarily the eventual possible relationship with the Islamic radicalism”. The Minister of the Interior, Roberto Maroni, during the Stelline convention, commented on the leaflet signed by the Nats addressed to diverse publication editors. Maroni recalled that the first kamikaze case in Italy took place in Milan. “Unfortunately it is all concentrated here — he emphasised — and this is the reason for the maximum care and attention”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Opposition Leader Vows to Fight New Trial-Length Bill
Rome, 13 Nov. (AKI) — Italy’s opposition leader Pierluigi Bersani on Friday vowed centre-left politicians would fight the passage of a controversial bill to shorten the length of criminal trials. The opposition claims the bill has been drafted to help prime minister Silvio Berlusconi solve his legal problems.
The premier is a defendant in two trials due to resume later this month.
“We will strenuously oppose this draft legislation,” said Bersani (photo), who leads Italy’s Democratic Party — the largest opposition party.
“Our goal is to stop such laws being passed. Yet again, this country is being sacrificed to serve Berlusconi’s interests,” he said.
Berlusconi and his supporters in the conservative ruling coalition tabled the bill in the Italian parliament this week, claiming it is a long-overdue attempt to reform Italy’s notoriously slow and cumbersome judicial system, where trials take years and sometimes never reach a verdict.
Centre-left opposition leaders are vowing to hold street protests over the bill, which Italy’s association of magistrates has said would have a “devastating effect” on justice by letting at least 100,000 suspects off the hook over the next two years.
Both Berlusconi trials would be “timed out” if the bill becomes law, according to financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore and other reports.
The bill proposes shortening trial to six years for offences carrying a sentence of ten years, from the first verdict through two rounds of appeals.
The measure would apply only to crimes that carry a prison sentence of up to 10 years. It could not be used by repeat offenders or for crimes such as criminal association or child pornography.
Berlusconi’s lawyer Niccolo Ghedini, who is also an MP , spearheaded the bill. It was drafted after a ruling by the Constitutional Court last month which threw out a law granting Berlusconi immunity from prosecution while in office.
The ruling paved the way for two corruption trials to re-open in which the premier is a suspect.
In one of the pending trials, Berlusconi is accused of tax fraud involving his broadcaster Mediaset’s purchase of TV rights in the United States. The charges currently expire in 2012.
The trial was set to resume next Monday, but the premier’s lawyers have reportedly sought a postponement, claiming that he will be attending a global food summit opening in the Italian capital, Rome, on that date.
In a second trial due to resume on 27 November, Berlusconi is accused of paying his former tax adviser, David Mills, 600,000 dollars to give misleading evidence on his behalf in two corruption trials in the 1990s.
These charges are due to run out in 2011.
Berlusconi denies all the charges against him and has long claimed his legal woes are the result of persecution by “Communist” Italian prosecutors.
But some of Berlusconi’s own allies are lukewarm about his repeated attacks on the judiciary and the prospect of new measures which could be perceived by Italians as self-interested.
Earlier this week, his ally Gianfranco Fini, the speaker of the lower house of parliament, gave crucial but reluctant backing to the bill.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: CDA Irritation Over Multicultural Sinterklaas
THE HAGUE, 19/11/09 — The Christian democrats (CDA) are put out that the Christian cross on the mitre of Sinterklaas is disappearing in more and more municipalities with the apparent intention of keeping radical Muslims calm.
Sinterklaas is the Dutch variant of Santa Claus. Tradition has it that the holy bishop arrives from Spain on his steamboat on around 20 November every year to give all good children presents on 5 December, after which he disappears again.
Sinterklaas has had no cross on his mitre in Amsterdam any more for some years, but rather the logo of the city. The capital acknowledges that this is because the population’s composition has become “multi-ethnic”.
According to CDA, more and more municipal executives are opting to drop the cross for a neutral headdress. This damages a tradition, says the government party.
CDA has sent written questions to Labour (PvdA) Ministers Guusje ter Horst (Home Affairs) and Ronald Plasterk (Culture). They are urged “to fight for the preservation of a typically Dutch festival, including all symbols and references that belong to it.”
CDA MP Koppejan: “We consider it fine that in Dutch society, ethnic groups have come along with their own festivals, customs and religions. But this must not mean that the Christian origin of our own festivals is renounced.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Romania Named Most Corrupt Country in EU
Romania is the European Union’s most corrupt country, anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International said today (Tues) as it unveiled its 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index today (Tue).
The organisation said policy decisions since the start of negotiations for EU accession had undermined the country’s political institutions and contributed to the perception that the risk of corruption in the country had increased.
“Being in the EU ironically appears to reduce pressure for anti-corruption reforms. As a consequence, Romania is facing a degradation of its public integrity climate, marked by the lack of strategic coordination of legislative and institutional anti-corruption measures,” it said.
Romania came 71st in the group’s list of 180 countries and was seen as more corrupt than Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece as well as Namibia, ranked 56th, Cape Verde, ranked 46th and Botswana ranked 37th.
New Zeeland, Denmark and Singapore were seen as having the lowest levels of corruption.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Salzburg Hotel Boss Promises Personal Prayer Room for Cruise
Salzburg hotel managers have promised Tom Cruise a private prayer room when he comes to the province this week.
Sepp Schellhorn, head manager of the Hotel Seehof in Goldegg, Salzburg, said he would go as far as setting up a prayer room for the devout Scientologist to make his star guest happy.
“I would arrange a prayer room for (him) if that’s what he is demanding,” Schellhorn — who heads the Austrian Hotels Association — told Kurier newspaper today (Tues).
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Scotland: Devout Muslim Who Crossed Busy Road for Prayers Killed in Collision
A DEVOUT Muslim was killed when he crossed a busy dual carriageway after saying his prayers, it was revealed yesterday.
Mohammed Mushtaq, 58, of Aberdeen, died after being knocked down by a motorcycle on Friday. Mr Mushtaq, a father of three, had borrowed a van to move furniture and was heading back to Aberdeen when the accident happened.
Mr Mushtaq parked the van at the side of the dual carriageway for his afternoon prayers. It is understood he decided to cross the dual carriageway because the ground near where he parked was too wet. He was killed instantly when a BMW bike collided with him.
Mohammed Farooq, a friend of Mr Mushtaq, said: “He had found a spot in a field where he could pray. When he was finished, he crossed back over the road and was about to get into the van when the motorcycle hit him. I only wish he had waited until he was home.”
Mozibul Islam, a member of the Aberdeen Interfaith Group, said
“He had some difficulty with his hearing and he must not have heard the motorcycle.”
| — Hat tip: The Frozen North | [Return to headlines] |
Sharks Off the British Coast: Oil Tankers Refuse to Unload Until Prices Rise… Keeping Your Fuel Costs Soaring
These tankers have been parked off our shores for months, refusing to unload their oil until prices have risen even higher. The delay makes millions for speculators… and keeps your petrol costs soaring. Laden with fuel, three oil tankers sit idly within sight of the British coastline, playing a waiting game that is driving up petrol prices for hard-pressed motorists.
They are part of a flotilla of ten vessels refusing to unload their cargo until market speculation has driven up its price to the level they want.
And as the value of that cargo is currently rising by over £1million a day, driven partly by profiteering traders and speculators, it is unlikely to see a petrol station any time soon.
With such tactics, it is not hard to see why prices at the pumps are forecast to have risen by 26 per cent in a year by this Christmas.
AA president Edmund King said: ‘Traders and speculators seem to be storing up oil until the price rises. Drivers can expect more hikes in the pipeline. Motorists are paying the price of this at the pumps.’
Residents near Brixham in Devon have watched with growing anger as the tankers have anchored in Lyme Bay for the past two months.
The price of a barrel of oil has increased from $40 a barrel a year ago to $80, with the cost expected to soar even higher in the next few months.
Even from the start of the tankers’ stay in Lyme Bay, the value of the oil they carry has risen from £313million to £378million — an increase of £65million, or more than £1million a day.
It means a 21 per cent profit for doing nothing more than simply watching and waiting.
Record amounts of fuel are now being stored in such a manner around the world — indirectly helping to push up petrol prices on the forecourt.
Oil pumped out of the ground by the major producers such as BP, Shell and Exxon goes by pipeline to tankers which then circle the globe.
In the course of their journey the oil may be bought and sold to different traders many times on the international commodity markets, often in just one day.
Some of these unidentified oil traders may be big-name players within the industry, but others could be the ‘Arthur Daleys of the international oil world’, say City experts.
The price drivers pay at a forecourt — currently touching 110p-alitre or £5-a-gallon — is largely determined when the oil reaches an onshore refinery, from where it takes two months to work its way through to the pumps.
But until it gets to the refinery speculators are free to drive up the price thanks to the age-old capitalist model of supply and demand.
If the price is not high enough, the tankers simply cruise around the high seas — or park in a safe haven — until it goes up sufficiently high to sell on in the UK or elsewhere.
City analysts say the refusal to unload ultimately drives up the price motorists pay at the pumps.
Experts say every $2 rise in the price of oil puts 1p on the price of a litre — adding 50p to every fill-up.
In total, the Lyme Bay tankers carry a million tons of oil.
Once refined, that will create 250,000 tons of petrol — equivalent to 340million litres — enough to fill up nearly seven million Ford Mondeos.
A spokesman for Brixham coastguards said the huge ships were now a familiar sight in the bay: ‘Some have been there two months or more,’ she said.
‘They’re awaiting orders. The cargo will be worth more now than when they first arrived.’
As the Mail reported on Tuesday it was disclosed that petrol prices were on track to have soared by 26 per cent this year — fuelled by speculators and tax rises — and were set to hit 110p a litre by Christmas.
They are already at 108.6p a litre with diesel just short of an average £5 gallon at 109.8p a litre.
The last time prices were so high was when oil was trading at $100 a barrel in September 2008.
The extent of oil speculation is even beginning to alarm producer countries. The Arab-dominated OPEC oil cartel warned last week it will increase supply and thus reduce the price if the speculators do not relent.
One of the giant crude oil tankers, the 159,300-ton SKS Segura, registered in Norway, first arrived on September 24 — more than eight weeks ago.
The 50,300-ton Tristar Kuwait tanker, registered in the Bahamas, has been awaiting orders in Lyme Bay since September 2.
Another anchored in Lyme Bay is the 43,000-ton Alkman, also registered in the Bahamas, which arrived on November 1.
The 72,000-ton Petali Lady, registered in Liberia, has been anchored in Lyme Bay since September 27.
And the 99,000-ton Danishregistered Torm Ingeborg has been there since October 10.
This is not the first time tankers have anchored in Lyme Bay. Several ships did the same last April before moving on.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Spain Confirms Sovereignty Over Gibraltar Waters to London
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, NOVEMBER 16 — The Spanish government sent an official communication to the British government to the effect that it does not recognise areas beyond those handed over in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, in which Spain passed the city and castle of Gibraltar to the British crown, along with the port and fortifications, but not the isthmus or the territorial and air space. The communication, according to diplomatic sources quoted by the Europa Press agency, is the response to a protest presented by the British government in London in September, which considers the patrols carried out by the Spanish Civil Guard into the waters around the Rock of Gibraltar to be incursions. The rock currently has the special status of a dependency of the British Crown, and London claims the waters as belonging to it. Today El Mundo reported recent incidents between the British navy and the Gibraltar police on one side and the Spanish Civil Guard on the other, in the disputed waters at the three-mile limit from the coast. On more than one occasion, Britain and Gibraltar intervened on Civil Guard patrols who had entered the waters inside the three marine miles, ordering them to move back. Sources say that the Civil Guard has been coming in and out of the disputed waters for years, carrying out patrols or in pursuit of crimes. There has been no contact between the United Kingdom and Gibraltar to tackle this kind of incident since the so-called Brussels Process, the framework in which disputes over sovereignty are handled, was suspended unilaterally by London. A spokesman from the British Embassy in Madrid stated to Europa Press that the waters in question belong to Gibraltar, and repeated the British governments willingness to continue to work with the Spanish executive and that of the Rock of Gibraltar to make progress in cooperation between local agencies, within the Forum for Dialogue constituted by the three governments in 2004. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Industry Minister Leaves Greenpeace After 18 Years
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, NOVEMBER 16 — Spain’s Industry Minister, Miguel Sebastian, left Greenpeace after 18 years of environmental activism due to an incompatibility of the objectives of the environmental organisation and the energy policy developed by the Spanish government, announced the head of Spain’s Greenpeace in Spain, Juan Lopez de Uralde, to the media today. According to Uralde, Sebastian did not only decide to keep the Santa Maria de Garoa (Burgos) nuclear facility, extending its useful life, but managing the facility characterises an energy policy that is contradictory to his activism in Greenpeace. For the Greenpeace representative, it is sufficient to look at the Industry Ministry’s energy policy, including carbon subsidies, which are like an award for polluters to see these contradictions. Underlining that Greenpeace is an organisation that has been against nuclear energy since its founding in 1971, Lopez de Uralde pointed out that the group defends and energy policy based on efficient energy consumption, the development of renewable energy resources, and respect for the environment, compared to the current model of unlimited production and increasing production from sources that pollute, are dangerous, and not renewable, such as nuclear and combustible fossil fuels. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Bully, 13, Who Chased Girl to Death
A girl who was 13 when she drove a vicar’s adopted daughter to jump to her death from a third-floor window was convicted of manslaughter today.
Hatice Can, now 15, was led sobbing to the cells and was comforted by her mother after the verdict was read out.
She and Oluwakemi Ajose, who was 17 at the time, had denied causing the death of 19-year-old Rosimeiri Boxall at council-owned temporary accommodation in Blackheath.
Ajose, from Charlton, had been best friends with the vicar’s daughter but they fell out when Can and Rosimeiri rowed over a boy.
On the day of the attack Ajose and Can had been drinking vodka before launching an attack on Rosimeiri.
She was beaten by the two defendants who could be seen on mobile phone film laughing, with Can urging Ajose to punch “lower, lower”.
The sound of her being slapped and punched echoed around the courtroom. Her hair was pulled and hairspray was aimed at her face.
Rosimeiri leapt in desperation from the window. As she lay dying, Can is said to have shouted: “Serves you right, bitch.”
The judge ordered that Can’s name can be published as a deterrent to bullies around the country.
“There is a legitimate public interest in the case and its outcome and the potential deterrent effect on others and the consequence of serious bullying,” he said.
Can had received the guilty verdict in silence but minutes later suddenly burst into tears which prompted at least four women on the eight woman, four man jury also to start weeping.
The judge told them: “These things are always distressing.” In contrast Ajose was poker faced as she was led away.
The Rev Simon Boxall, vicar of Open Gateway Community Church in Thamesmead, and his wife Rachel had adopted Rosi as a toddler in Brazil and brought her to Britain in 2005.
The couple raised her as their own alongside their four natural sons but were left heartbroken when Rosi left home at 18 and began to get into the wrong company.
Rosi had gone to stay at Ajose’s flat in Blackheath, which had been given to her under a social services scheme. Ajose also let Can, who had run away from her home in Belvedere, to stay there.
The court heard that on the day of the attack neighbour Raffaelina Asli tried to intervene but Rosi, although scared, refused to leave the building.
When Mrs Asli later heard terrifying screams she hammered on Ajose’s flat door to be told by Can: “F*****g hell she has escaped, she had gone out the window, she has f*****g jumped.”
The two girls, who have police cautions for theft and violence, will be sentenced at a later date.
Rosi’s adoptive parents had attended every day of the trial and were in court when the unanimous verdicts were announced.
They said in a statement that Ajose and Can must face now up to what they have done, but added: “We want them to know that we forgive them. Forgiveness means that we refuse to be shackled by bitterness and our prayer is that forgiveness will allow the girls to be released from the burden of what they have done, so that they can now grow into the sort of people that God intended them to be.”
They said they have never regretted adopting Rosi, cherish the “pure joy” she brought into their lives and look forward to seeing her again in heaven.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Honour Killing Theory as Mother-of-Two is Found Dumped in the Street With Her Hand Severed
A mother was found dying in a street with serious head wounds and her right hand cut off as she went to pick up her children after work.
Geeta Aulakh, who has two young sons, died four hours later in hospital from her horrific injuries.
Police later arrested her estranged husband, 31-year-old Harpreet Aulakh, along with five other men.
[…]
She was separated from her husband, whom she had married against her parents’ wishes, and friends described him as a ‘waste of space’. The couple were believed to be in the middle of divorce proceedings.
Police are investigating several theories behind the murder, including jealousy, access to the children or bringing dishonour on the family.
A friend said: ‘It’s horrific but hugely symbolic that Geeta’s right hand was cut off.
‘She was a Sikh and all Sikhs wear a metal bangle, the kara, on their right wrist.
‘It is a permanent reminder to live a moral and good life and once it’s on you can’t get it off. So her murderer was both dishonouring her and perhaps trying to show she had been dishonourable — which is just barbaric.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican in Favour of Limits on Veto Power in UN
Each permanent member of the Security Council should agree not to exercise its veto power in cases of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and serious violations of international humanitarian laws and similar acts.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) — In his address to the 64th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Mgr Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See, said that the Vatican is in favour of reforming the veto power of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom and France) so that certain issues that affect most of the international community can be discussed and not blocked by a single nation.
Given the fact that the abolition of the veto is not feasible, “its reform is more suitable and realistic,” said Mgr Migliore. Placing limits on its use would be a positive development because “[o]n so many occasions in history its use has slowed down and even obstructed the solution of the issues crucial to international peace and security, thereby allowing the perpetration of violations of freedom and human dignity.
“The reform of the veto is all the more necessary at a time when we experience the obvious paradox of a multilateral consensus that continues to be in jeopardy because it is still subordinated to the decisions of a few,” the Vatican diplomat said.
For this reason, the Holy See joins all those who share “the view put forward by other delegations that the Security Council’s permanent members should commit themselves to a practice of not casting a veto in situations where genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, serious violations of international humanitarian law or similar acts are involved.”
“At the minimum, in an effort to reach a timely and more representative solution for such grave situations, the number of affirmative votes supporting the Security Council’s decisions should require the concurring vote of no more than two permanent members.” At present, all five must agree.
For Mgr Migliore, “the permanent members should show great accountability and transparency in using the right of veto” before a resolution is drafted “in order to ensure that States are not effectively vetoing texts before they can be considered by the Council.”
“Indeed, knowing that a permanent member would vote against their adoption, many proposed drafts are never formally presented to the Council for a vote,” the diplomat said.
Finally, Mgr Migliore expressed hope for “more open” dialogue and cooperation between the permanent and other members of the Security Council” to explore all diplomatic channels to settle questions.
“The decision to extend, limit or abolish the veto lies in the hands of the member states and will depend on the broadest possible consensus on one of the options. We trust that such a decision would be right and it would favour transparency, equality and justice, reflecting the values of democracy and mutual trust in the work of the reformed Security Council.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
EU: Council: First Step in Albania’s Candidacy
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 16 — The EU Foreign Council has given the go-ahead to an evaluation procedure for Albania as a possible candidate for adhesion. The European Commission has been charged with evaluating whether Tirana is in a condition to open negotiations for entry into the Union. Todays decision is the first step in a long process towards the countrys membership into the EU, which has been a member of NATO since April. Considering that the evaluation by the Brussels executive will take between 14 and 16 months, a decision on Albanias official candidacy will not arrive before 2011. If Albania begins negotiations for entry into the EU, it will have to take forward all the economic and political reforms necessary to come in line with the European standards. On of the main challenges, according to Brussels, will be the fight against corruption and organised crime. However, concludes the EU Council, the future of the western Balkans lies in the European Union. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Cinema: EU Backs Palestinian Women’s Film Festival
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, NOV 18 — Until the end of the month, Palestinian film buffs will have the opportunity to attend 84 screenings at locations across the occupied Palestinian territories as part of the EU-funded Shashat 5th Womens Film Festival in Palestine, the only annual womens film festival in the Arab world. The three themes of the festival this year — - according to the Enpi site (www.enpi-info.eu) are Jerusalem on the occasion of Jerusalem being the Capital of Arab Culture, 2009, History of Cinema in Palestine, and Women and War. The 5th Shashat Womens Film Festival is made possible by major support from the EU, which contributed over 47,000 euros to the event. The EU supports film festivals across the Mediterranean partner countries, recently organising European cinema festivals in Syria, Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Jordan. It also funds a regional programme, Euromed Audiovisual, which aims to contribute to intercultural dialogue and cultural diversity through support to building cinematographic and audiovisual capacity in the region.(ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Femise: Reduce Life Standard Gap With Southern Shore
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 17 — The 14 kilometres of the Strait of Gibraltar symbolise a gap of nine years: the difference between people living in Europe and those living on the southern side of the Mediterranean Sea. The Euro-Mediterranean forum of economics institutes (FEMISE) wants to contribute to reducing, or even closing, this unacceptable gap through continuing analyses and the presentation of proposals. “Our focus” explained FEMISE general director Frederic Blanc during the Forum’s annual conference in Brussels, “is not on the convergence of institutions, but on reducing the differences in standard of living. That nine-year gap is a shame, we must lower the differences in infant mortality, in living conditions, in the level of wealth, labour, healthcare. We must aim high, both in Europe and in the south of the Mediterranean area”. In order to succeed in reducing the differences between the two sides of the Mediterranean, the general director of FEMISE has proposed to launch “a real Euro-Mediterranean cohesion policy, the same policy that has allowed Spain, Ireland and to a lesser extend also Greece and Portugal, and now the countries in the east, to develop”. The Forum has formulated a request during the Forum, to create a system of structural funds to speed up development in the region. “The countries in the south of the Mediterranean are able to manage this type of aid” Blanc continued, “but the political will is not there. We shouldn’t let the crisis decrease our aid”. FEMISE has presented a survey on the crisis in Brussels. The report indicates that so far the southern Mediterranean countries have withstood the crisis very well, but at the same time it makes clear that they are feeling the impact of falling demand, of people sending less money home and of the crisis in tourism. Moreover, only 5% of the population is considered poor (having less than one dollar per day to spend), but 20-30% of inhabitants on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea have just 2 dollars to spend every day. These millions of people run the risk of also becoming ‘poor’ due to the crisis. The survey mentions July 2010 as crucial: if the crisis continues after that month, the south will have serious problems with its financial stability and social cohesion. FEMISE was created in 1997 in Marseille to monitor the economic partnership within the framework of the Barcelona Process, which includes the EU, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. Libya participates with the status of observer. In July 2008, with the Barcelona Process in a stalemate, the French presidency at the time of the EU decided to launch the Mediterranean Union. “Since 1997” Blanc concluded “not all our expectations have been realised, there hasn’t been any development, but at least we have managed to create a network, the idea of the Euro-Mediterranean region, where first all that existed were bilateral relations”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jordanian Masadeh Next Secretary-General
(ANSAmed) — Madrid, NOVEMBER 18 — The Jordanian Ahmad Masadeh, current representative of Jordan at the EU, is the only candidate to lead the Mediterranean Union. The Union will have its headquarters in Barcelona and will officially take shape on November 21, with the approval of its articles. After the cancellation of the summit of Foreign Ministers of Mediterranean Union countries in Istanbul, the articles will be approved in Brussels by the ad hoc committee of mostly ambassadors, according to well-informed sources quoted today by El Pais. In the same meeting on the 21th, Masadeh will probably also be appointed as leader of the Mediterranean Union , for which alternately a representative from the southern and the northern shore of the Mediterranean is chosen. The two current presidents of the Union, the French Nicolas Sarkozy and the Egyptian Hosni Mubarak, will have to ratify the nomination. Meanwhile the restructuring of the Mediterranean Union headquarters, the Pedralbes building in Barcelona, is almost finished. The Union will start using the building during the Spanish EU presidency, which starts in January 2010.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Football: Algeria, Also Military Aircraft for Khartoum
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, NOVEMBER 17 — The Algerian government also contributed financially to the transport, with the airline Air Algerie, of Algerian fans for the match tomorrow against Egypt in Khartoum and “in case of necessity” has decided “to mobilise air transport planes from the Algerian military”, reported APS from a statement released by the government. “To guarantee the organisation of flights for the company Air Algerie scheduled for the transport of 9 thousand Algerian fans”, the note specified, “on the instruction of the president of the republic, the government has decided to give direct financial support to the flagship carrier” and, if necessary, using aircraft from the ANP. “As a consequence, Air Algerie has been asked to thank the companies who offered financial assistance and put an end to useless sponsorships”, the note concluded. In recent days different private companies, including the Egyptian company Orascom’s Djezzy, have announced financing for the transport of fans from Sudan. Numerous Djezzy offices were devastated by fans in Algiers with damage estimated at over 5 million dollars. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco: False Information, Al Massae Journalists Sentenced
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, NOVEMBER 17 — The director and a journalist of the Arab language newspaper ‘Al Massae’ were sentenced by a court in Casablanca for having published false information on a news story about drug trafficking. The Map news agency reported the sentencing, citing judicial sources. The director Rachid Nini was sentenced to three months in prison and fined 4,400 euros while the journalist who wrote the article, Said Laajal, got two months in prison and a fine of 2,600 euros. The newspaper, according to the court, wrote that the presumed head of a drug trafficking network talked about the involvement of a judicial official. Other than Al Massae, the most important Arab language newspaper, in the recent weeks there has been an increase of sentencing for journalists for false information about the royal family. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Soccer: Algeria, 5 Mln Dollars Damage for Orascom Attacks
(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, NOVEMBER 16 — Damage caused by Algerian fans to the telephone company Djezzy, a branch of the Egyptian Orascom (OTA), in Algiers, amounts to more than five million dollars. The statement was made during a press conference in Algiers by the company’s communications director Hamid Grine, who explained that “more than 70,000 cell phone for a value of five million dollars were stolen or destroyed.” Grine added, “computers, desks, air conditioners were stolen from the Ota headquarters in Dar El Beida”, a few steps from the Algiers airport attacked last night. Various other offices of the company which has more than 14 million subscribers in Algeria, were devastated in the last 23 hours. The Djezzy Didouche Mourad offices, in the centre of the capital city, were also completely destroyed. “Orchestrated” attacks according to Grine who spoke of “manipulation by some active in the telephone sector”. Hundreds of young people also sacked the Egypt Air company offices, recently attacked again. An attempted assault on the Egyptian embassy in Algiers was fought off by security forces.(ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
TLC: Submarine Cable Between Tunisia and Italy Operational
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, NOVEMBER 13 — ‘Hannibal’, the first submarine cable between Kelibia (Cap Bon) and Mazara del Vallo (Sicily) started operating today. The goal of the connection is to make Tunisia’s international communication faster and more effective. The news was announced by the press agency TAP. President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the general director of Tunisie Telecom, Montacer Ouaili, were present at the opening ceremony. Thanks to ‘Hannibal’, writes TAP, new prospects are opened in the field of international voice connections and internet data transfer, which could reach a capacity of up to 3200 Gigabit per second. This is a way to “contribute to the strengthening of competitiveness of companies and to reaffirm Tunisia’s place in the knowledge society”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
East Jerusalem: Netanyahu Against Building Ban
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, NOVEMBER 17 — Israeli premier Benyamin Netanyahu recently pushed back a request from the US emissary George Mitchell for a ban on the Israeli project in the neighbourhood of Ghilo, inside the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem but in an area that was not under Israeli sovereignty before the 6 days war in 1967. According to military radio, Mitchell’s request left Netanyahu “very surprised”. Israel, the prime minister responded, has no intention of interrupting building inside of Jerusalem. In any case, Netanyahu added, he does not have the legal power to block the construction which includes the building of some dozens of homes.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Erekat Denies PA Unilateralism Plans
The Palestinians will not unilaterally declare an independent state, but rather seek a UN Security Council resolution endorsing a two-state solution along the pre-1967 lines, Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
Israeli officials said Erekat was backtracking on earlier statements calling for a unilateral declaration of independence, even as he said that Israel was “twisting his words.”
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas-Linked Group Offers Cash for Israeli Capture
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A Gaza charity headed by the interior minister of the militant Hamas group on Wednesday offered $1.4 million to any Arab citizen of Israel who abducts a soldier.
Palestinians have frequently called on Israeli Arabs to abduct Israeli soldiers, but this is the first time that money has been offered.
The Waad group from Gaza offered the bounty for Israeli soldiers in an e-mail sent to Palestinian media. The organization, which supports Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, is headed by Hamas’ Interior Minister Fathi Hamad. The minister did not return messages seeking comment.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
PNA: EU Launches Seyada II, Empowering Judicial System
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, NOV 17 — The European Union launched the second phase of the largest project funded by the EU for the development and strengthening of the Palestinian judicial system with a budget of 4.4 millions euros. The ‘Seyada II project according to the Enpi site (www.enpi-info.eu) will help the Palestinian Authority develop a more independent, impartial, efficient, transparent and modern justice system. Seyada II follows the results of the first phase of the project, which focused on training judges and public prosecutors and on institutional and capacity building. ‘The Seyada project said the European Commission Representative, Christian Berger — is a vital element of the EUs assistance programme for the Palestinian Authority. The EU is committed to the establishment of a viable, democratic and independent Palestinian state and it is clear that this ambition will only be realized through maintaining and developing the rule of law across its territory. We hope that the Seyada II Project will deliver assistance that responds to the sudicia authoritys needs affirmed Chief Justice, Judge Issa Abu-Sharar. Seyada II will run until August 2012 and the beneficiaries include the High Judicial Council, the Palestinian Judicial Institute and the Palestinian Bar Association, setting up a legal aid system and strengthening constitutional review.(ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
White House “Dismayed” At Jerusalem Settlement Expansion
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The White House said on Tuesday that it was “dismayed” over Israeli approval to expand the Gilo settlement in Jerusalem and sharply criticized the ongoing evictions and demolition of Palestinian homes.
“At a time when we are working to relaunch negotiations, these actions make it more difficult for our efforts to succeed,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Boycott Israel Campaign Targets Gulf Railway
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, NOVEMBER 18 — The 170 organisations supporting the boycotting, disinvestment and sanctions campaign (BDS) against companies which allow Israels expansion in Jerusalem are focusing on the oil-producing countries of the Gulf, by inviting them not to sign agreements with the two French transportation giants Alstom and Veolia, who are involved in the construction of the holy citys light railway line, reports Gulf News. The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman — are preparing to build a regional railway network, worth over 25 billion dollars, which Alstom has already stated its wish to participate. After the war in Gaza and the Goldstone report, the political climate is ripe to show Israel that continuing with the occupation has an economic price, maintain the organisers of the Bds, a movement which has already successfully managed to exclude the two companies from taking part in bids and with disinvestments worth a loss of 7-8 billion dollars. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Culture Influences EU Perceptions Toward Turks
Cultural factors are among the main elements influencing European perceptions of Turks, according a recent study conducted by a prominent Turkish university.
The research, made public Monday night by the European Studies Center of Bosphorus University, also showed that younger generations in Europe are more supportive of Turkey’s entry to the European Union than are older generations.
The study was based on a poll conducted among 5,000 people in Germany, France, Britain, Spain and Poland between August and September 2009.
The poll’s most striking discovery is the contrast in Europeans’ outlooks toward Turkey as opposed to other candidate countries.
Democracy, human rights, economic development and welfare are the main criteria the five EU countries identify with. The participants also believe the two most important criteria for a candidate country to become an EU member should be its performance on democracy and human rights and its contribution to Europe’s overall welfare.
Yet when it comes to the respondents’ outlook on Turkey’s membership in the EU, only 26.8 percent of those polled said economic factors are important, while 40.4 percent said cultural factors are the main element influencing their opinion.
France comes first among the five countries in judging Turkey’s entry to the EU based on cultural factors.
Islamic culture
More people said they believe that Turkey’s Islamic culture would be an asset to the European Union than did not share this view, with 59 percent saying they believe that Turkey’s membership would increase the EU’s influence in the Islamic world. However, 54 percent said they do not believe that Turkey’s Islamic culture would contribute to preventing a clash of civilizations.
When it comes to the principle of “pacta sund servanda,” which can be translated in English as “promises must be kept,” a majority of those polled said it would be unfair to avoid following through on promises made to Turkey.
Based on these findings, Professor Hakan Yilmaz, the coordinator of the project, suggested that instead of using religious or cultural arguments, “Turkey should use the principle of upholding the law to make its case to the European public.”
Some journalists and academics at the press conference objected to this, saying that few in Europe know that Turkey has been promised membership by the EU since the 1960s.
Younger generations are more supportive of Turkey’s entry into the group of EU member states, with 57 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 24 and 51 percent of those between 25 and 39 expressing a positive outlook about Turkey’s EU bid. This support decreases to 35.2 percent for those ages 65 and above.
When it comes to knowledge about Turkey, Istanbul is the most commonly known name, with 91 percent of respondents recognizing it. The archaeological site of Troy in Turkey’s northwest city of Çanakkale follows Istanbul with 70 percent recognition. A full 50 percent of respondents said they know the Turkish football team Galatasaray, while 48.3 percent know the Mediterranean city of Antalya in the country’s southwest.
The founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, follows Antalya with 40 percent name recognition; Turkish pop singer Tarkan was recognized by 23 percent of respondents, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan by 22 percent, author and Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk by 11.5 percent and finally communist poet Nazim Hikmet Ran by 8.2 percent.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Emirates: Again Problems With Lorries at Saudi Border
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, NOVEMBER 17 — There are once again problems on the border between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. In the past few hours a line of more than 15km has formed, more than 5.000 lorries waiting to cross the border. The news was reported by the daily Gulf News. In June a similar thing happened when vehicles blocked between the UAE border crossing Al Ghuwaifat and the Saudi Bat’ha formed a 32km long line, which stayed there for days and caused serious economic damage to haulage contractors. The drivers suffered much due to the high temperatures and the lack of services. The reasons for the new blockage are yet unclear. “We don’t know exactly what is happening, but each time illegal goods are intercepted, traffic is seriously slowed down” the drivers reported, quoted by the newspaper. In June the Saudi authorities blamed the serious delays to the lack of adequate documents to accompany the goods and to the introduction of a new security system based on fingerprints. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU: Napolitano: Veties Halt Europe-Power
(AGI) — Ankara, 18 Nov. — The Union must become a “Europe-power” in the wake of the implementation of the new Constitution, avoiding obstruction by the “nostalgic demands of the national states” and by the “obstruction and power of veto”. This from the president of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, conducting a conference at the University of Ankara entitled ‘Inheritance of the past and challenges for the future: Turkey and Europe in the new global world balances”.
According to the Head of State the EU “can not stand still for the sake of humanity when faced with fundamental decisions that await it, renouncing the tools that permit the new Treaty comprising stronger cooperations”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Finmeccanica: Dubai Air Show, 26 Mln Euro Contract
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, NOVEMBER 18 — Selex Galileo, the Finmeccanica company present at the air show of Dubai, has won a 26 million euro contract for the supply of SM-1S Seeker Radars. The company hasn’t specified with which Arab country it has closed a deal, but Finmeccanica explains that the radar systems have been ordered in the framework of order for the MARTE MK2/N anti-ship missile system. Originally designed for use by helicopters and already installed in AW101 and NH90 helicopters, the Marte missile will in this case be launched by fast patrol boats. Agusta Westland, another Finmeccanica firm, has reached an agreement with Abu Dhabi Aviation for the creation of a joint-venture in the helicopter maintenance field. The deal also includes the sale of spare parts and the institution of a training centre for helicopter pilots. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Growing Demand Predicted for Fighter Jets
Dubai, 17 Nov. (AKI) — A European consortium set up to build the Typhoon fighter jet expects global demand to hit 300 over the next 20 years, with the Gulf Arab region yielding the biggest potential growth. Eurofighter chief executive Enzo Casolini made the prediction at the Dubai Air Show on Tuesday.
“We estimate the market for fighter jets globally is 800 in 20 years,” Enzo Casolini told reporters.
“For Eurofighter, we target 300 global export contracts. It could vary from 50 to 100 Eurofighters depending on how optimistic I am.”
Casolini said Eurofighter, a consortium comprising Italian aerospace giant Finmeccanica, Britain’s BAE Systems and the European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Company, had seen steady demand from the Gulf Arab states.
He added that the company expected an order backlog of 25 billion euros (37 billion dollars) by the end of the year and revenues of 4 billion euros (6 billion dollars).
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are moving to upgrade their respective air forces, as well as missile defence and naval forces, amid growing international concern about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
In 2007, Eurofighter signed a 7.25 billion dollar deal with Saudi Arabia for 72 Eurofighter Typhoon warplanes.
Casolini said the Middle East would account for one third of Eurofighters in operation in 20 years.
But he declined to predict how long it would take to sell as many as 100 new aircraft.
Finmeccanica has adopted a high profile at the Dubai Air Show after it sealed a partnership agreement in the high tech aeronautics sector with the Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Company in October last year.
The Italian company has predicted strong growth in the UAE market because of the country’s unprecedented economic and industrial diversification and it opened an office in Abu Dhabi last year.
Finmeccanica’s subsidiaries have had partnerships with UAE companies for several years and the company has been selected by the Emirate’s navy to supply naval and underwater systems for a new class of ship.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
‘Religion Loves Tolerance, But is Not Tolerant’
Although Turks identify themselves as religiously tolerant, they do not behave that way in practice, according to a survey. There has been an increase in the number of people identifying themselves as religious since 1999, which might be related to the political atmosphere in Turkey, an academic says
Turkish people strongly identify themselves as religious and also regard religion as a source of tolerance. But when it comes to religious worship, a significant number are not as tolerant of people from other religions, concludes a survey released Tuesday.
Prominent political scientists Ersin Kalaycioglu and Ali Çarkoglu from Sabanci University reported the research findings on religiosity in Turkey under the framework of the International Social Survey Program, or ISSP, which measures religious values from 43 different countries.
International research was conducted three times in the past; the last available data was from 1998. International data from the 2008 research is expected to be available in 2010. Turkey first participated in the survey in 2008 and is the first and only country surveyed with a Muslim majority population.
Eighty-three percent of Turks identify themselves as religious, with 16 percent saying they are extremely religious, 39 percent saying they are highly religious and 32 percent saying they are somewhat religious.
Of the 43 countries surveyed, Turkey, Poland, the Philippines and the United States are among the most religious. Almost half of Turks say they practice religious prayers and also identify themselves as religious. Twenty-eight percent say they pray, but do not regard themselves as highly religious.
According to Çarkoglu, there has been a significant increase since 1999 in the number of people who identify as religious. “This is the most striking conclusion of this survey, though it is not alarming,” he said. He added that the change could be related to peoples’ attitudes toward behaving in accordance with the current political climate.
Another striking discovery made by the survey was that 60 percent of Turks said there is only one true religion, while 34 percent said most religions hold basic truths.
The findings on tolerance toward religions are remarkable as well. Ninety percent of the Turkish population reported having a positive view toward Muslims, but this ratio dropped to 13 percent for Christians and around 10 percent for Jews. Those who said they have highly positive views about non-believers of any religion totaled 7 percent.
When it comes to accepting political candidates from different religions, 37 percent of Turks said they would absolutely not accept this and 12 percent said they would most likely not accept it. However, 23 percent said they would absolutely accept it and 24 percent say they would probably accept it. Eleven percent of Turks said people from different religions should absolutely be allowed to organize public meetings to express their ideas, while 24 percent said they should be allowed to do so.
Thirty-six percent said people from different religions absolutely should not be allowed to organize such meetings, while 23 percent said they should not be allowed to do so.
Following religious rules
Another striking discovery dealt with obeying laws that contradict religious rules. A majority of the participants in the research, 67 percent, said they would continue acting in accordance with their religious beliefs if the Parliament passed a law that contradicted religious laws. Twenty-six percent said they would obey the country’s law in this case.
When it comes to the perception of God, Turks identify with a God who is more like a father than a mother, but as a lover rather than a judge. The perception of God for Turks is closer to the tasavvuf, or Islamic Sufism, tradition in Anatolia. Turks are more inclined to identify with God as a friend rather than a sultan or a spouse, or as the master of the house.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: 21 Years in Prison for Stealing 4 Pairs Used Shoes
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, NOVEMBER 16 — Two Turkish youths responsible for the theft of four pairs of used shoes have been sentenced to a total of 21 years and four months imprisonment — ten years and eight months per pair, reports daily online paper Hurriyet. On October 15 2007 Sukru Unal noticed that his shoes — Turkish people generally leave their shoes outside their homes — had disappeared, and that a young man was getting into a waiting car with the shoes. After a short chase, first in his slippers and later by car, Unal managed to stop the thief and his accomplice with the help of the police. 24-year-old Ufuk Altun, and 26-year-old Zeynel Aslan admitted stealing the shoes, along with three pairs of shoes reported missing by three other people. They were held in prison while Altuns car was confiscated by the police. An expert witness estimated the total value of the shoes at 190 Turkish lire, about 86 euros. But at the end of a two-year trial, the judge sentenced Altun and Aslan to 10 years and eight months imprisonment each, because the pair failed to apologise for the thefts and made no offer to compensate the victims, said the judge in the sentencing. If they had done so, the two would have received a reduction in their sentence to just one year in prison, which they would not have served, being first-time offenders. However, given their attitude, the judge decided to make an example of them. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Court Releases Colonel Suspect of Plot Against AKP
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, NOVEMBER 13 — A criminal court in Istanbul released on Friday a naval colonel, suspect of an alleged plot against the government, as Anatolia news agency reported. The court freed Naval Colonel Dursun Cicek, suspect of an alleged plot against the government, which surfaced with discovery of the “Action Plan against Reactionaries” document allegedly drafted by the Colonel, upon his lawyer’s objection to his arrest. An Istanbul criminal court arrested Cicek on Wednesday after his interrogation. Turkish daily newspaper Taraf published in June a plot document allegedly drafted and signed by Col. Cicek at the General Staff Headquarters in Ankara, outlining what is publicly known as an alleged military plan to smear Justice and Development (AK) Party government. The news story caused wide controversy and stirred heated debates in Turkey which lasted for weeks. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: Black List for People Who Refuse Jobs
(ANSA) — DUBAI, NOVEMBER 16 — A black list for those who refuse at least six job offers: this is the measure adopted by the Emirates organisation for national development (Endp) to point out the seriousness of its actions for those with a lax approach towards possible employment situations. The government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has started a policy to encourage citizens to join the work force and strengthen the presence of Emiratis in the in the labour market. Part of the 16,000 unemployed in the EAU, despite having applied for work in the national production cycle, continues to find ways to decline employments offers ranging from the impossibility of wearing uniforms or working shifts. This repetitive attitude has lead to the adoption of the measure which, according to Endp, is not meant to be punitive but educational. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: Finmeccanica Joint Venture Signs Deal With Indonesian Airline
Dubai, 17 Nov. (AKI) — Italy’s leading aerospace and defence company, Finmeccanica, and its joint venture partner EADS have signed a 600 million dollar contract to supply 15 turbo-prop aircraft to the Indonesian passenger airline, Wings Air. In a statement released on Monday, ATR, the partners’ joint venture, is to deliver the aircraft with an option for 15 others to Wings Air, a subsidiary of Lion Air between 2009 and 2011.
The European Aeronautic, Defence and Space Company is European group based in the Netherlands.
Finmeccanica is playing a prominent role in the Dubai Airshow which opened on Sunday. The Italian aerospace giant is hoping to secure new deals in the Middle East and other parts of the world.
The company has just created an industrial partnership with the Abu Dhabi-based business development and investment firm, the Mubadala Development Company, to produce components for civil aircraft at a plant at Al Ain in the UAE.
The plant was opened in an official ceremony at the weekend.
Under the arrangement, Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica subsidiary, will provide technology, technical assistance and training as well as manufacturing for the new composites plant.
The United Arab Emirates government also recently announced the acquisition of 48 M-346 advanced lead-in fighter trainer aircraft to be manufactured by Alenia Aermacchi, a Finmeccanica company.
The agreement includes the creation of a joint venture to establish a final assembly line for the M-346. It is the result of close collaboration between the Italian government and the defence industry, which have worked together to capitalise on Italian excellence in the aeronautics high-tech sector.
“The selection of the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 by the United Arab Emirates government represents a huge success for the Italian high-tech industry” said Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, chairman and chief executive officer of Finmeccanica.
“It is an endorsement of considerable strategic value for Finmeccanica, as it confirms the supremacy of this advanced next-generation trainer aircraft at international level and paves the way for further successes in the global markets, where others important campaigns are already under way.”
In a statement on its website, Finmeccanica said that the UAE also offered opportunities for Alenia Aeronautica’s C-27J tactical transport aircraft, which is generating considerable interest throughout the Gulf region.
The aircraft’s special features including a take-off and landing capability on short runways under 500 metres in length, made it particularly suitable for the region, the company said.
Alenia Aeronautica, the world leader in regional turboprop aircraft, also plans to promote the special versions of the ATR series: the ATR 42MP and ATR 72MP (for maritime patrol) and the ATR 72ASW (for anti-submarine warfare) during this week’s international show.
The UAE is of strategic interest to Finmeccanica, and it opened an office in Abu Dhabi last year. Finmeccanica has had a presence in the UAE for years and has numerous partnerships with Emirate companies.
In 2005, in association with Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), SELEX Sistemi Integrati set up the joint venture Abu Dhabi Systems Integration, ADSI, which is active in the defence and security sector.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Afghan Village Armies Fight Taliban
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — War-weary villagers in northern Afghanistan are taking up arms against insurgents, sick of having the Taliban encroach on their once peaceful patch of the country.
In villages across Kunduz province, where a misdirected NATO air strike killed 90 civilians in September, tribal elders say they have had enough of being caught in the middle of an escalating war.
So they are grabbing their guns, forming their own armies and getting rid of the Taliban insurgents who took control of their region.
“We were fed up with the Taliban,” Abdul Jalil Tawakal, a tribal elder from Qala-i-Zal district told AFP.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Gives US an Afghan Escape Route
The phrase ‘exit strategy’, with its overtones of defeat, has been almost taboo in the Government’s pronouncements on Afghanistan until now. Thanks to President Obama’s instructions to his advisers to include an exit strategy in the various options available, it has become possible for Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband to talk some sense, though still not enough.
The solution of handing over security to the growing Afghan national army, amid claims that we are beating back the insurgents, remains very vague. We are not winning. Far from reducing the number of jihadists, our intervention has helped to recruit them all over the Middle East, and in our own country, too.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Militants Blow Up Girls’ School in Northwest
Bara, 17 Nov. (AKI) — Suspected Taliban militants blew up a girls’ school in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border, officials have told the media. The attack took place in the Yousaf Kely village near the town of Bara and was the third such attack this month.
Militants attacked the government-run school overnight when no one was at the premises, according to a local intelligence official.
“The girls’ middle school was badly damaged because of the explosion, now the school building is almost out of use. The classrooms, desks and chairs were also damaged,” Farooq Khan, told French news agency AFP.
Islamist militants have destroyed hundreds of schools, mostly for girls, in the northwest of the country in recent years.
Nearly 200 schools were destroyed in the northern Swat region during a two-year uprising that began in 2007 in a bid to enforce Islamic sharia law.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama “Forgets” Human Rights to Appease Beijing, Tibetan Leader Says
For Urgen Tenzin, the United States and Western powers have a “moral obligation” towards democracy and human rights. He is disappointed by the US president’s visit to Asia. Too concerned about the economic crisis, the US leader did not defend democratic values. Japan has been able to reconcile development and protection of individual liberties.
Dharamsala (AsiaNews) — The world’s economic crisis and a desire to “appease” the Chinese government are the reasons why US President Barack Obama “did not speak about the Tibetan issue” and human rights, Urgen Tenzin, executive director of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD)), told AsiaNews as he spoke about Obama’s trip to Asia. For him, the international community has a “moral obligation” to defend the rights of all peoples, including Tibetans and Chinese.
“It is unfortunate that president Barack Obama did not mention the Tibetan question,” the TCHRD chief said. He is not alone: “most world leaders are also trying to appease the Chinese.” The power of China is such that Western governments have been forced into silence.
The US president uttered but a few timid words in favour of dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama, pledging US support for rapprochement between the two sides.
During the 60th anniversary celebrations of the People’s Republic of China, the authorities put on display the country’s military might, presenting China as a developed nation, Urgen Tenzin said. “Sadly, this development has very high human and environmental costs.”
Natural disasters are affecting the Tibetan plateau and future generations will suffer the drastic consequences of rampant environmental degradation,
Whilst TCHRD appreciates President Obama’s statement on human rights, it is crucial to recognise that democracy and human rights are interrelated.
When he arrived in Japan, President Obama was greeted with banners that said, “Welcome to Japan! Don’t Forget Human Rights and Tibet”. For Tenzin, such a plea by the Japanese is a good sign.
“Japan is one of the most respected democratic nations in the Asian continent. It is a respected and powerful developed country and this has made it a ‘responsible nation’, urging other countries to respect human rights, religious freedom, individual liberties and democracy. “
“The TCHRD,” Urgen Tenzin said, “appreciates and welcomes this brave move to be outspoken about Tibet and human rights. Not only is Japan a developed democratic power in the Asia, but it now has moral authority and can show its concern for all peoples.” (NC)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Scientology Faces Allegations of Torture in Australia
Australian prime minister considers inquiry after senator tables allegations including forced abortions, assault and blackmail
The Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, has said he would consider an inquiry into the Church of Scientology after a senator tabled allegations against the organisation including forced abortions, assault, torture, imprisonment, covering up sexual abuse, embezzlement of church funds and blackmail.
Senator Nick Xenophon tabled letters from former officials and staff of the Church of Scientology alleging criminal activity, and demanded a review of the organisation’s tax exempt status.
“Scientology is not a religious organisation, it is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs,” he told the senate.
Among the letters tabled was one written by Aaron Saxton, from Perth, who said he engaged in torture and blackmail while working for the church in Australia and at its American headquarters between 1989 and 1996.
Rudd said the allegations were “grave” and that he would consider an inquiry, but said the evidence needed to be looked at carefully. “Many people in Australia have real concerns about Scientology. I share some of those concerns. But let us proceed carefully, and look carefully at the material which he has provided, before we make a decision on further parliamentary action,” Rudd said.
Xenophon, an independent member of the Australian parliament who built a reputation fighting the spread of poker machines in his home state, South Australia, tabled the documents in the senate saying he had also referred the allegations to New South Wales and Australian federal police.
Xenophon said he had received letters from many more former church members who were too afraid to talk to authorities.
The letter from Aaron Saxton claimed he had assisted in the forced confinement and torture of a female church member who was kept under house arrest, Xenophon told the Senate. Saxton also said he was involved in coercing female followers to have abortions to keep followers loyal to the organisation and to allow them to keep working for it.
“Aaron says women who fell pregnant were taken to offices and bullied to have an abortion. If they refused, they faced demotion and hard labour,” Xenophon said. “Aaron says one staff member used a coat hanger and self-aborted her child for fear of punishment.”.
One letter from a former executive director of the Sydney branch of the church, Carmel Underwood, said that when she fell pregnant she was put under extreme pressure to have an abortion.
“Carmel says she also witnessed a young girl who had been molested by her father being coached as to what she should say to investigating authorities in order to keep the crimes secret,” Xenophon said.
Anna and Dean Detheridge from Sydney, who spent 17 years on church staff, said they were “subjected to physical and mental abuse during their time with the organisation”, according to the parliamentary statement.
“Anna and Dean also provided evidence where information they and others have revealed to the church have been used to blackmail and control. They also provided more information about coerced abortions,” Xenophon said.
The Church of Scientology issued a statement accusing Xenophon of abusing parliamentary privilege. “Senator Xenophon is obviously being pressured by disgruntled former members who use hate speech and distorted accounts,” the statement said. “They are about as reliable as former spouses are when talking about their ex-partner.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Arrests Rwandan War Crimes Suspects
Ignace Murwanashyaka, seen here in a March 2005 photo, was arrested Tuesday in Germany.
The Hutu militia FDLR is responsible for much of the violence in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where murder, massacres, rape and kidnapping are widespread. The FDLR’s leaders have lived untouched in Germany for years. Now the authorities have reacted — far too late.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Somali Pirates Paid $3 Million to Free 36 Hostages
Spain offers ransom for crew held aboard tuna trawler for 7 weeks
A crew of 36 held captive for nearly seven weeks aboard a tuna boat was freed Tuesday after the Spanish government reportedly paid Somali pirates $3.3 million in ransom.
More than a dozen armed pirates seized the Spanish trawler Alakrana on Oct. 2 in a plot to collect a huge ransom.
Their plans changed when Spanish naval forces captured two pirates a day after the tuna boat’s seizure.
The pirates then demanded the release of their colleagues for the freedom of the crew. They eventually settled for the money, though, one pirate said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Somalia: Pastor Shot, Killed on Way Home From Worship
Al-Qaida affiliate boasts goal is to eliminate Christianity
Two masked members of the al-Shabaab Muslim militia have shot and killed a pastor as he drove home from a worship service, according to reports.
The shooting killed Mogadishu, Somalia, pastor Ali Hussein Weheliye in the attack in October, but reports of the incident didn’t come out until this week.
Experts at the missions think-tank the Joshua Project estimate that Somalia is 99 percent Muslim. International Christian Concern’s Jonathan Racho agrees with that statistic and says the overwhelming numbers make it difficult to be a Christian in Somalia.
“A vast majority of Somalis are Muslims, but there are hundreds of Christians in Somalia. This pastor was the pastor of an underground church,” Racho said.
“Christians in Somalia have to go underground and they don’t give away their identities because once al-Shabaab knows someone is a Christian, that is a death sentence for that person,” Racho says.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Sudan: Thousands of Police Deployed for World Cup Match
Khartoum, 17 Nov. (AKI) — Up to 15,000 Sudanese police are expected to be deployed for the World Cup qualification play-off between Algeria and Egypt on Wednesday amid concern about potential violence. “We have put all our security forces on their highest level of alert,” Khartoum state governor Abderrahman al-Khidr told reporters in the Sudanese capital.
Khidr said that only 35,000 spectators would be allowed into the 41,000 capacity stadium in Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman to ensure segregation of rival fans.
Algeria and Egypt each have an allocation of 9,000 tickets for their travelling fans.
“We are expecting 48 planes from Algeria and 18 from Egypt,” Khidr said, adding that 2,000 fans were also travelling by road from neighbouring Egypt for the game.
The Khartoum governor said travelling fans needed to be aware of a shortage of hotels in the Sudanese capital.
A rash of violence since the 2-0 Egyptian victory, which forced Wednesday’s play-off to be staged in a neutral location, has heightened security fears around the game.
The Egyptian foreign ministry summoned the Algerian ambassador to seek increased security for its nationals after a spate of attacks against Egyptian targets.
Cairo wants “assurances that the Algerian authorities are doing everything necessary to ensure the safety of Egyptian nationals in Algeria,” deputy foreign minister for Arab affairs Abdel Rahman Salah told reporters.
Wednesday’s play-off will give the victorious team a place in the 2010 finals in South Africa.
Egypt last qualified for the World Cup in 1990, and Algeria in 1986.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Culture: IMA in Paris, Showcase of Arab World for 22 Years
(by Cristiana Missori) (ANSAmed) — ROME — In its 22 years of existence, ‘l’Institut du Monde Arabe (Ima)’ in Paris has succeeded in its mission: introducing the culture and civilization of the Arab countries to the French and to the many foreign tourists who visit the building. The institute’s president, Dominique Baudis, spoke of an “excellent” result. Baudis visited Rome in the past days to chair the jury of the Medfilm Festival. “If the idea was to make the Institute a showcase, a cultural centre to show the Arab culture and civilization to France and Europe, the mission has been completed” Baudis told ANSAmed from the closing ceremony of the Mediterranean Film Festival. Despite twenty years of financial difficulties, “the numbers speak for themselves” he said: “around one million visitors per year”. L’Institut du Monde Arabe was created in 1987. Valery Giscard d’Estaing expressed his will to see such institute created already in the first years of his seven-year period, and it actually came from the ground under Francois Mitterrand. Today 22 Arab countries are member of the Institute. The initiative shows a certain political-diplomatic far-sightedness from the side of the French. “At the time” said Baudis, former Lebanon and Near East reporter for radio and TF1 television, and later mayor of Toulouse and Euro-MP for the UMP, “no other European country was able to understand what was going to happen in the relations between the West and Islam”. “In the ‘80s” he continued, “there was a wide gap between culture on one side, and international relations on the other”. After September 11, the role of the Ima became increasingly important: “There were more tasks for us, we organised debates and meetings. Our mission was also to make people understand that the combination of terrorism and Islam is an aberration”. Baudis, talking about the dialogue between the West and Islam, remarked that “there are as many reasons for hope as there are for despair. What is certain is, that we can’t just sit on our hands. We must try and avoid the worst. A festival like the Mediterranean film festival is “a good example. “Thirty years ago such a festival would have been unthinkable”. Some of the films shown to the audience in Rome deal with real and difficult issues. “The Mediterranean is full of conflicts and has many problems: from religious extremism to immigration and inequality between the north and the south. All the more reason to talk about these problems”. The Mediterranean Sea, Baudis claims, could be a fault line between the north and the south or it can be transformed into a place of synergy and mutual recognition. “At present both aspects exist”. Each day, I see “thousands of people enter the Institute. Eighty percent of them are no Arabs of Muslims. They are people who are curious and want to know the Arab world. That is a good sign”. The building, situated in the V arrondissement and built by a group of architects, has hosted tens of exhibitions over the years. A few recent examples of these exhibitions are ‘Venice and the East’, ‘The golden age of Arab science’, exhibitions on Islam’s equestrian art — around 400 of the most beautiful artifacts from Turkey, India and the antique Persia from the private collection of the Furusiyya Art Foundation — or the shows dedicated to Oum Kalsoum or to Bonaparte and Egypt.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Integration Minister Critical of Maladjusted Immigrants
THE HAGUE, 18/11/09 — Integration Minister Eberhard van der Laan yesterday sent his Integration Letter 2009 to parliament. In a commentary, he expressed fierce criticism of the doctrine that immigrants are in an underprivileged position. Nowhere in the world is as much support offered to them as in the Netherlands, he said.
In the future, the core idea must be that migrants “make a choice for the Netherlands”, according to Van der Laan. The Labour (PvdA) minister added that they “have a moral obligation to adapt” to Dutch society.
An effort can be expected from newcomers to find themselves a place in Dutch society. “You come here, you must make a success of your future here,” he would want to say to the target group. This message is currently often frenetically avoided, he considers.
Critics see the Dutch language and culture classes for immigrants as a humiliating form of assimilation, but according to Van der Laan, it is rather a gift. Immigrants should make much more use than they do now of the opportunities for integration offered by the government. “There is no country that has organised such a system of integration.”
Van der Laan gave as an example of maladjusted behaviour a mother who knows so little Dutch that she does not even understand which school her children are at. Such problems must be named without political correctness. “The debate can be confrontational as long as it aims to solve the disagreement.”
Van der Laan added there should not solely be an eye for the interests of migrants, but also for what the Dutch society can manage. “I have seen schools in which 98 percent of the pupils are new Dutch (immigrants). Then you see the teachers, with bags under their eyes. We must help them, these teachers, GPs and police officers. It is a tension that cannot go on for ever.”
Nonetheless, things are going better with the integration of immigrants in the Netherlands, according to the minister’s documents. His integration letter sees “progress, slowly but surely.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turin Film Festival: Two Films With Tunisian Ahmed Hafiene
(ANSAmed) — ROME, NOVEMBER 16 — The face of Tunisian actor Ahmed Hafiene is becoming increasingly familiar to the Italian public. After his success in Carlo Mazzacurati’s “La giusta distanza” in 2006, Hafiene returns to Italy with two films that will be presented tomorrow at the Turin Film Festival in the ‘Festa mobile’ section with Marco Campogiani’s first work, ‘La cosa giusta’ and Marco Turco’s ‘La straniera’, adapted from a book by Iraqi writer Younis Tawfik. ‘La cosa giusta’ was filmed in Turin and Tunis and is about two police officers played by Ennio Fantastichini and Paolo Briguglia who are investigating an Arab man suspected of terrorism who is awaiting trial, played by Hafiene. An unusual relationship develops between the three. ‘La straniera’ was filmed in Turin and Marrakesh and tells a love story of two immigrants in Italy played by Hafiene and Kaltoum Boufangacha, named Naghib and Amina. He is an established architect and she is an illegal immigrant who was abandoned by her husband and is now a prostitute. Hafiene is also in Daniele Luchetti’s film ‘La vita non si ferma mai’ and in Isotta Toso’s first film, ‘Scontro di civilta” per un ascensore a Piazza Vittoriò, adapted from a book by Algerian writer, Amara Lakhous. Hafiene was born in Tunis in 1966 and played some of the most important Tunisian films in recent years including Nouri Bouzid ‘Poup’es dargilé in 2002, Abdellatif Ben Ammar’s ‘Le chant de la Noria’ in 2000 and Nawfel Saheb Ettaba’s ‘El Kotbia’ in 2003. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: This Man Married His Own Daughter So She Would be Allowed to Stay in Britain — and the Home Office Knows About it
A Nigerian Home Office worker ‘married’ his own daughter to get her a British visa, the Daily Mail can reveal.
The extraordinary scam was apparently executed by Jelili Adesanya while ministers turned a blind eye.
Mr Adesanya, 54, has lived here for more than 30 years and holds a British passport, but wanted his daughter, her husband and their four sons to join him from Nigeria.
He faked a wedding ceremony complete with a photograph of the happy ‘couple’ which helped fool immigration officials that his daughter, Karimotu Adenike, was really his wife.
Miss Adenike, who is in her mid-30s, was duly granted permission to live in the UK.
The pair are waiting for her to be granted a permanent right to remain before they undergo a quiet divorce and attempt to bring the rest of her family here.
It is expected she would try to remarry her real husband to get them all visas.
But despite being tipped off two years ago, the Home Office seems to have done nothing to stop the scam by one of their own workers.
Until recently, Mr Adesanya was employed as an occupational health nurse for the Home Office, working with immigration officials at Gatwick airport.
A whistleblower sent letters to the High Commission in Lagos and the UK Border Agency including specific details such as names, addresses, passport numbers and even a copy of the wedding photograph.
When there was no response, he sent emails to then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and ministers Vernon Coaker and Phil Woolas on February 1 this year. He heard nothing.
Mr Adesanya, who came to Britain in 1976, flew back to Nigeria on May 29, 2007, and held the bogus wedding ceremony a few days later at a register office in Ikorodu, Lagos.
A source said: ‘They paid people to attend the wedding so that the British High Commission in Lagos would believe it was genuine. The commission then gave Karimotu Adenike a two-year settlement visa in October 2007.
‘On her settlement visa application form, of course, she did not mention that she already had a husband and four children.
‘The date of birth on her Nigerian passport is not her real date of birth.’
Miss Adenike is believed to have aged herself by ten years on her wedding certificate to disguise the age gap with her father.
Although her settlement visa expired last month, she is hoping to be given the right to remain.
David Burrowes, the Conservative MP for Enfield Southgate and Shadow Justice Minister, was also tipped off by the whistleblower and wrote to the Home Office.
This time there was a reply, but it said that although the matter was ‘under investigation’, no further information would be provided because it could ‘breach of our obligations under the Data Protection Act’.
Mr Burrowes told the Mail: ‘I am very surprised and concerned that no action appears to have been taken, because the allegations are extremely serious.’
Mr Adesanya, who lives with his daughter in Dagenham, Essex, vehemently denied the plot and said he had never been questioned about the allegations.
He said: ‘Married my own daughter? I have never heard anything like this in my life. I deny it. She is my wife, not my daughter.’
However, asked to confirm his ‘wife’s’ date of birth, he said he did not know without checking her passport, and refused to allow her to speak for herself.
Unbeknown to him, his daughter had confirmed the arrangement when she told a friend she would shortly apply for her own British passport and ‘divorce daddy’.
Last night Jonathan Sedgwick, from the UK Border Agency, said: ‘These individuals are already under investigation, and I want to make it clear that abuse of our immigration laws will not be tolerated.
‘If we identify marriages which we believe are not genuine, we will challenge them and prosecute where appropriate.
‘We are determined to send home any foreign nationals convicted of these types of crimes once they have served their sentences.’
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
USA: 55% See Immigrant/Native Born Conflict
A majority (55%) of adults said there are “very strong” or “strong” conflicts between immigrants and people born in the United States. Nearly as many — 47% — said the same about conflicts between rich people and poor people, according to a nationally representative survey by the Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends project. The survey found that substantially few Americans — about four-in-ten (39%) — believe there are serious conflicts between blacks and whites, and only a quarter (26%) see major generational divisions between the young and old.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
City Vote Opens Women’s Restroom Doors to Men
But people have chance to speak before ‘gender identity’ move becomes law
The city council of Tampa, Fla., voted unanimously last week to include “gender identity and expression” as a protected class under the city’s human rights ordinance, leading some to fear the council has opened the city’s public bathroom doors to sexual predators masquerading as protected transsexuals.
A statement from the American Family Association explained, “Tampa Police arrested Robert Johnson in February 2008 for hanging out in the locker room— restroom area at Lifestyle Fitness and watching women in an undressed state. The City of Tampa’s ‘gender identity’ ordinance could provide a legal defense to future cases like this if the accused claims that his gender is female.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Halal Food for Polar Girl in Antarctica
Bandar Seri Begawan — Brunei’s very own Polar Girl, Dk Najibah Eradah or Era, together with the Commonwealth women’s team is eager to start the symbolic and prestigious expedition to the South Pole.
Being the only Muslim in the team, she has been accorded her right to have halal food, though precooked. Era, who is now in Patriot Hill along with her teammates, spoke to the Bulletin via satellite phone last night.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Satan, The Great Motivator
The curious economic effects of religion
What makes economies grow? It’s a question that has occupied thinkers for centuries. Most of us would tick off things like education levels, openness to trade, natural resources, and political systems.
Here’s one you might not have considered: hell.
A pair of Harvard researchers recently examined 40 years of data from dozens of countries, trying to sort out the economic impact of religious beliefs or practices. They found that religion has a measurable effect on developing economies — and the most powerful influence relates to how strongly people believe in hell. That hell could matter to economic growth might seem surprising, since you can’t prove it exists, let alone quantify it. It stands as one of the more intriguing findings in a growing body of recent research exploring how religion might influence the wealth and prosperity of societies. In recent years, Italian economists have presented findings that religion can boost GDP by increasing trust within a society; researchers in the United States showed that religion reduces corruption and increases respect for law in ways that boost overall economic growth. A number of researchers have documented how merchants used religious backgrounds to establish one another’s reliability.
The notion that religion influences economies has a long history, but the specifics have been vexingly difficult to pin down. Today, as researchers start to answer the question more definitively with the tools of modern economics, what’s emerging is a clearer picture of how nations’ prosperity can depend, in part, on seemingly abstract concerns like theology — and sometimes on quite nuanced points of belief or religious fervor.
The work is preliminary, but offers the hope of useful findings. Knowing exactly how and when God influences mammon could lead to smarter forms of economic development in emerging nations, and could add to our understanding of how culture shapes wealth and poverty. And it stands as part of a larger movement in economics, in which the field is looking beyond purely material explanations to a broader engagement with human culture, psychology, and even our angels and demons.
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Barro and McCleary, for their part, think religion and policy are difficult to mix. McCleary says the lesson of their results isn’t that governments should boost religion, but simply that they should recognize it has some value, and avoid regulating it too heavily. The bigger application of research into religion, she thinks, isn’t to foster religious imperialism but to build a better-informed economics, and in the long run, better policy. There won’t be manna from heaven. But there might, over time, be less poverty here on earth.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
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