The climate summit in Copenhagen — known as COP15 — dominates the news today. The AGW mafia is doing its best to suppress the impact of “Climategate” and make sure that the right accords are agreed to. Follow the links to see photos of some of the Green demonstrators in Copenhagen.In other news, Russia’s Ministry of Education has announced that it will make the teaching of Arabic language and culture part of the regular curriculum, even as early as elementary school.
Thanks to Barry Rubin, C. Cantoni, CSP, Esther, Gaia, Insubria, JD, MJP, Sean O’Brian, Steen, TB, The Frozen North, TV, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Davis Boy, 12, Honored for Saving Dad’s Life
Daniel Marsh is a hero.
The 12-year-old Davis boy grabbed the wheel of the family station wagon when his father, Bill Marsh, suffered a nearly fatal heart attack and blacked out while driving Nov. 9.
Daniel steered the speeding car away from oncoming traffic and slammed it into a wall to stop it. Then he thumped his dad’s chest with his fist, as he’d seen on TV, until his dad’s heart started beating again.
Hospital employees, who heard Daniel’s story as he sat anxiously beside his father’s bed in an emergency room, nominated the seventh-grader as a hero with the American Red Cross of Yolo County.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Frank Gaffney: How to Lose a War
If a picture is worth a thousand words, perhaps the picture of President Obama that did not get taken during his recent visit to Elemendorf Air Force Base in Alaska is worth a million of them.
The men and women Elmendorf who play a vital role in the air defense of our nation and, if necessary, in the projection of dominant aerospace power overseas understandably wanted to have as the backdrop for an important presidential address their best weapon system, the F-22 Raptor. There was only one problem: President Obama had made the cancellation of production of this state-of-the-art air superiority fighter one of his signature “defense” initiatives.
Mr. Obama’s handlers freaked out at the prospect of a photo op that could prove as inopportune, and perhaps politically costly, as the image in 1988 of then-Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis looking ridiculous in the helmet of a main battle tank crewman. So, the Air Force was ordered to substitute a decades-old, and increasingly dated, F-15 to frame the President’s speech…
| — Hat tip: CSP | [Return to headlines] |
Robobees: Insect-Like Robots Are Creating a Buzz
Researchers at the Autonomous Vehicle Laboratory at the University of Maryland are using a $12 million grant to study the way insects, birds, snakes, and bats navigate and communicate.
Their Micro Air Vehicles, or MAVs, could be used to carry out dangerous air surveillance and save lives on the ground.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Something Wicked This Way Comes
[Comments from JD: Book review of Muslim Mafia.]
From the moment the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, Americans have been on a journey we never wanted to make. A particularly malevolent enemy has altered all our lives, and the one thing we can’t afford to do is ignore this evil.
As in every era in which America faced a dire threat, there are heroes among us who put themselves on the frontlines. Two such men are David Gaubatz and Paul Sperry, authors of a new book, “Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America.” This is one of the most important books I’ve read in many years, and I would go so far as to say you can’t afford to be without it.
Gaubatz, a former agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, went undercover to pry open the secrets of radical Muslim front groups like the Council on American Islamic Relations, or CAIR. What he and Sperry have uncovered and set forth in their book is nothing short of apocalyptic. They reveal a plan to take over America that is so diabolical, one struggles to separate it from a Tom Clancy novel.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Sees Homegrown Muslim Extremism as Rising Threat
This may have been the most dangerous year since 9/11, anti-terrorism experts say.
Reporting from Washington — The Obama administration, grappling with a spate of recent Islamic terrorism cases on U.S. soil, has concluded that the country confronts a rising threat from homegrown extremism.
Anti-terrorism officials and experts see signs of accelerated radicalization among American Muslims, driven by a wave of English-language online propaganda and reflected in aspiring fighters’ trips to hot spots such as Pakistan and Somalia.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
BBC Weatherman Was Sent Climate Change Emails
A BBC weatherman has admitted he was sent the controversial emails about how to “spin” climate data — more than a month before they were made public.
It has raised questions about why the BBC did not report on the matter sooner, and will reignite the debate over whether the Corporation is “biased” on the issue of climate change.
Thousands of emails and documents allegedly stolen from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and posted online indicate that researchers massaged figures to mask the fact that world temperatures have been declining in recent years.
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Paul Hudson, weather presenter and climate change expert, has disclosed he was sent the leaked emails, a month ago, and claims the documents are a direct result of an article he wrote.
In his BBC blog written last week , he said: “I was forwarded the chain of emails on the 12th October, which are comments from some of the world’s leading climate scientists written as a direct result of my article “Whatever Happened To Global Warming”.
“The emails released on the Internet as a result of CRU being hacked into are identical to the ones I was forwarded and read at the time and so, as far as I can see, they are authentic,” he added.
The BBC has previously accused of failing to cover the climate change debate objectively. Earlier this year, Peter Sisson, the veteran newsreader, claimed it is now “effectively BBC policy” to stifle critics of the consensus view on global warming.
He said: “The Corporation’s most famous interrogators invariably begin by accepting that “the science is settled”, when there are countless reputable scientists and climatologists producing work that says it isn’t.
“But it is effectively BBC policy… that those views should not be heard.”
Godfrey Bloom MEP told The Daily Telegraph: “The BBC has blocked sceptics of climate change for four years now, no debate is allowed on the BBC. It is biased reporting and it is censorship.
“The corporation is in breach of their charter obligations as the BBC has a duty to inform as well as entertain and without proper coverage of this important story, licence fee payers have a right to ask questions about the point of the BBC.”
A BBC spokeswoman said: “Last week Paul spotted that these few emails were among thousands published on the internet following the alleged hacking of the UEA computer system.
“Paul passed this information onto colleagues at the BBC, who ran with the story, and then linked to the-mails on his blog this Monday.”
Lord Lawson, the former chancellor, has called for an independent inquiry into the email scandal, warning the credibility of UK science is at stake.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Chuck Norris: Copenhagen is on Fire This Week, And There’s Far More Heating Up Than Just the Climate.
While heads of state and others gather this week at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (Dec. 7-18), bonfires have already been blazing for weeks on that European front.
Let me see if I can summarize the chestnuts roasting on that Copenhagen fire.
Shocking e-mail exchanges from scientists at an eminent global-warming research center in the United Kingdom have proven that key climate-change scientists have suppressed evidence to “trick” or “hide the decline” of global temperatures.
Rather than focus on the audacity of the climate-gate cover up, Obama’s top science adviser, John Holdren, downplayed the e-mails, telling Congress that the controversy involved a small group of scientists. And others like Sen. Barbara Boxer blamed the hackers who exposed the e-mails rather than the scientists who deceived the world with false global climate reports.
Similarly, the U.N. was caught recently deleting documents that would disclose how member states are leading (or not leading) the way in self-greening efforts.
The scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters documented that ice melt on Antarctica was the lowest in 30 years during the 2008-2009, a fact being intentionally ignored by NASA.
[Comments from JD: Lots of links in Chucks article.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
COP15: Russia Behind Climategate?
There are claims abroad that hackers supported by Russia were behind Britain’s Climategate.
The plot thickens as to who was responsible for leaking confidential e-mails purporting to show the alleged manipulation of climate statistics and the climate debate by British scientists.
According to a report in Britain’s Independent, the computer hackers who accessed and then published the e-mails may have been none other than Russia’s FSB intelligence service. According to the report, the e-mails were first posted on a server in the Siberian city of Tomsk.
“It’s very common for hackers in Russia to be paid for their services,” Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, the vice chairman of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, is reported to have said, with the inference that the retrieval was backed by some measure of officialdom in Russia.
He added that the publication was a “carefully made selection of emails and documents that’s not random. This is 13 years of data, and it’s not a job of amateurs.”
“We are spending a lot of useless time discussing this rather than spending time preparing information for the negotiators,” Ypersele went on to say in another report in The Times.
The Times also quoted the Director of the UN Environment Programme Achim Steiner as saying that ‘Climategate’ was a misnomer, and should be called ‘Hackergate’.
“Let’s not forget that the word ‘gate’ refers to a place where data was stolen by people who were paid to do so,” Steiner says although refraining from comment on the substance of the e-mails.
But in the same report, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer suggested that attention by the media to the issue could was not necessarily unwelcome.
“I think it’s very good that what is happening is being scrutinised in the media because this process has to be based on solid science. If quality and integrity is being questioned, that has to be examined,” de Boer is quoted by The Times as saying.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Danes Support Nuclear Power
From Danish: 54% of Danes support nuclear power as a way to fight climate change. In 2007, 73% opposed nuclear power, and in the 1980s, 80% opposed it.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: New Muslim Party Sees the Light
A new Muslim party will aim to address both Muslims and the most vulnerable groups in society to gain more political influence
The Interior and for Social Affairs Ministry’s electoral board has allowed for the establishment of a new Islamic political party in Denmark, reports TV2 News.
According to its founder, Ras Anbessa, Danmarks Muslimer will seek to recruit a majority of Muslims to gain more influence in Danish politics.
‘Danish society is characterized by the fact that Muslims must not turn out as a group to vote. But we are continually identified as a separate group, so we might as well stand together and work on creating some positive initiatives, said Anbessa.
He said that it was especially the most vulnerable groups in society to whom the party will try to reach out.
‘We have to go in and identify the people we believe are in the worst situations and come up with some serious and effective means to solve their problems,’ said Anbessa.
He identified the homeless, disabled, young people, elderly and the nation’s integration policies as being the new party’s key targets.
But the party’s name alone may work to its disadvantage, according to Professor Kasper Møller Hansen, political science expert at the University of Copenhagen. He believes it indicates religion as being important for the party — something that won’t win over many non-Muslim Danes.
Although the party was approved by the ministry, it must still obtain the 20,000 signatures necessary to be eligible to be on the ballot for the next election. But Anbessa said the primary objectives of the party — at least for now — are not about getting into parliament.
‘One thing we’ll do is knock on the doors of opposition party members and ask them to more strongly publicise the differences between them and the government parties, because I don’t think people can really see that right now,’ he said.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
France: Sarkozy’s Great Web Debate on National Identity is Hijacked by Racists
Controversy: All French citizens were invited to take part in Nicolas Sarkozy’s Great Debate on national identity
It seemed like a good idea at the time — a website where the French could take part in a debate about their national identity.
But Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy’s hopes for a civilised exchange of views have been dashed.
Thousands of racist contributions have been posted with the general theme that foreigners should go home.
‘France has become an African colony in a way which cannot be reversed,’ reads one, while another says: ‘Before France had colonies, now it’s been colonised itself.’
Others read: ‘Nobody in France asked to be invaded by strangers’, ‘Being French is to be born in France to two French parents’, and ‘Immigrants who want to impose their lifestyles on us should go home.’
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Frank Vanhecke Leaves Vlaams Belang Party Executive
Just one day after the new party executive of the extreme right wing Vlaams Belang was approved, chairman Frank Vanhecke resigned. During a meeting of the Vlaams Belang party council on Saturday a crisis within the party was supposedly avoided when a vision text was approved by chairman Bruno Valkeniers and the new party executive. But the resignation of the former VB chairman Frank Vanhecke from the executive indicates that the internal problems are far from over.
Frank Vanhecke was one of the dissident voices against the new party executive. As Euro MP for Vlaams Belang he automatically has a seat in the party executive. But just one day after the approval of the new executive Vanhecke has resigned.
He explains that his resignation is in protest at what he feels is a take-over of power by the Antwerp city council. Within Vlaams Belang it appears that not everyone is pleased with the attempts by Filip Dewinter and Gerolf Annemans to take control of the most important posts in the party.
“During the party council meeting on Saturday I called on people not to vote in favour of the tabled proposal for a new party executive. Through my resignation I am just being consistent,” said Mr Vanhecke. He stresses that he remains a member of the party.
Vlaams Belang facade is showing cracks
Last week Marie-Rose Morel also resigned from the party executive. Morel and Filip Dewinter do not see eye to eye on many issues.
Ever since she joined Vlaams Belang (in 2004) the popular politician from Schoten (near Antwerp) clashed with Filip Dewinter and Gerolf Annemans.
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
‘Hire Non-Swedes for Sensitive Posts’: Säpo
Swedish security service Säpo wants to make it easier for foreign nationals to fill sensitive positions within the Swedish state as part of a “necessary modernization”.
The government is set to review the laws governing Säpo’s role in determining who can be hired for government positions requiring a security clearance, the Sydsvenskan newspaper reports.
Currently, the law gives Säpo the power to stop foreign nationals and others deemed to be inappropriate for sensitive positions.
But as the Swedish labour market becomes woven ever more tightly within the larger EU labour market, Säpo believes its policies of automatically shutting foreign citizens from sensitive jobs with the Swedish state are outdated.
“This type of modernization is necessary. We do after all have free movement in Europe,” Säpo director general Anders Danielsson told the newspaper.
Previously, a cabinet decision was required before hiring a non-Swede for positions requiring a security clearance.
Säpo hopes the change will allow it to hire competent foreign staff.
Danielsson also believes that the agency will have to perform checks on an increasing number of people employed at private companies contracted to carry out vital functions within society, such as operating nuclear power plants.
Currently, Säpo isn’t allowed to investigate the backgrounds of people employed at privately owned nuclear plants.
“There’s pressure from public opinion here. People think that Säpo should be checking on the people who run our nuclear reactors,” he told Sydsvenskan.
Danielsson also wants Sweden’s state agencies to adapt to NATO standards and bolster protections of digital information.
He also added that it’s becoming more difficult for Säpo to define what exactly constitutes “national security” and to protect “Swedish interests” in a globalized age.
In Danielsson’s eyes, an electronic attack is currently the biggest threat facing Sweden, as such an attack could not only compromise the country internally, but also make Sweden more vulnerable to military and other external threats
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘No U.S. Contact on Knox’
Clinton has not criticised verdict, Frattini notes
(ANSA) — Brussels, December 7 — There has been no contact between the United States and Italy about Amanda Knox’s conviction for murdering British student Meredith Kercher, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Monday.
He said he did not expect any such contact concerning the guilty verdict handed down on Kercher’s American house-mate and fellow student, who supporters claim did not receive a fair trial.
Frattini was asked about US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s stated willingness to discuss the case with the Senator from Knox’s home state of Washington, Maria Cantwell.
Cantwell claimed Seattle native Knox had been found guilty despite “a clear lack of evidence” and the verdict reflected “anti-American” sentiment.
Speaking on his way in to a NATO meeting in Brussels on Afghanistan troop reinforcements, the foreign minister stressed that Clinton herself had not criticised the verdict.
“Who is criticising? A petition led by (Knox’s) relatives, certainly not Hillary Clinton. Let’s not get confused”.
Clinton’s interest in the case “seems right and normal to me,” Frattini said.
He said he himself heard petitions from activists and MPs who claim two Italians detained in the United States had unfair trials.
He cited a businessman from Trieste, Enrico Forte, who has been in a Miami jail for ten years after being convicted of murder; and a Tuscan computer expert, Carlo Parlanti, serving eight years in California after being convicted of sexual violence in 2005.
“It is right that Hillary Clinton should listen to an American Senator,” Frattini said. Knox, 22, and her Italian ex-boyfriend, Raffael Sollecito, 25, were sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively by a Perugia court just after midnight Friday.
The jury found Knox guilty of delivering a fatal knife wound after a sex game aimed at “punishing” Kercher for complaining about Knox’s behaviour went wrong. Sollecito was found guilty of pinning Kercher down with a second man, Ivory Coast national Rudy Guede, who is appealing an earlier 30-year sentence for Kercher’s murder.
Leeds University exchange student Kercher, 21, was found with her throat cut on November 2, 2007 in the house she shared with Knox in the medieval Umbrian university town.
During the trial, which began in February, the prosecution showed the jury a knife police found in Sollecito’s apartment which was found to have Knox’s DNA on the handle and Kercher’s on the tip.
The defence said the DNA evidence was unsafe, the knife was too big to be consistent with Kercher’s wounds, and argued there was a lack of a clear motive.
Kercher’s family said they were happy with the verdict.
Knox is reportedly under suicide watch in a Perugia jail while Sollecito was moved Monday to a high-security jail in nearby Terni.
Knox and Sollecito’s lawyers are already preparing appeals, the first of two they are entitled to.
One of Italy’s best-known attorneys, Giulia Bongiorno, led Sollecito’s defence.
She said she was confident the convictions would be overturned or the jail terms greatly reduced on appeal.
The first appeal is expected to take about a year, legal experts say.
A second and final appeal, which could also be filed by the prosecution if they are unhappy with the first one, would go to the supreme Cassation Court. photo: Knox
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Liberals Plan to Overturn Swiss Minaret Ban
Swiss liberals are considering a new referendum to overturn the ban on new minarets.
Club Helvetique, a group of over 20 Swiss intellectuals, will draw up an action plan to overturn the ban, which has drawn widespread criticism abroad and prompted hundreds of people to take to the streets this weekend in Zurich, Basel and Berne.
“A new initiative is the most democratic way of achieving this,” constitutional lawyer Joerg Mueller told Sonntag.
Voters adopted the ban in a referendum a week ago, defying the government and parliament which had warned the right-wing initiative violated the Swiss constitution, freedom of religion and a cherished tradition of tolerance.
Two complaints questioning the legality of ban had already been handed to Switzerland’s Federal Court, Sonntag said.
Libya leader Gaddafi said the ban had done a great favour to al Qaeda militants, who would use it to attract recruits in a holy war against Europe, news agency SDA reported.
“The activists are now saying: ‘we told you that they are our enemies…join al Qaeda and declare jihad on Europe ‘.”
Politicians from the SVP, Switzerland’s biggest party, and the conservative Federal Democratic Union gathered enough signatures to force the referendum on the initiative which opposed the “Islamisation of Switzerland”.
Its campaign poster showed the Swiss flag covered in missile-like minarets and the portrait of a woman covered with a black chador and veil associated with strict Islam.
“The Club Helvetique is an association of bad losers,” Sonntag reported SVP Vice-President Christoph Blocher as saying.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Most Spaniards Reject ‘Nation’ Of Catalonia
Madrid — Some 80 percent of Spaniards reject the term ‘nation’ to describe Catalonia, an opinion poll said Sunday, as the country’s highest court prepares to rule on the legality of the region’s statute of autonomy.
To the question “Do you think Catalonia is really a nation”, 79 percent replied ‘no’ and 18 percent ‘yes’, according to the poll released by the newspaper El Pais.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Pressured by France, Germany, UK
From Danish: France, Germany and the UK pressured Obama last week to come to Copenhagen. It was Sarkozy’s suggestion that Obama was presenting himself as an indecisive leader that got Obama to change his attitude and come to the final negotiations of the climate summit.. This according to senior diplomatic sources in Brussels.
[Where, coincidentally, HIllary Clinton just wrapped up a visit]
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Pope to Meet Irish Bishops
Benedict to discuss child abuse report
(ANSA) — Vatican City, December 7 — Pope Benedict XVI will meet Irish bishops Friday to discuss the latest sex abuse scandal rocking the Irish Catholic Church, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said Monday.
“I can confirm that the Holy Father has invited Cardinal Sean Brady, president of the Irish Episcopal (bishops’) Conference and the archbishop of Dublin, Msgr Diarmuid Martin…to assess the painful issue of the Church in Ireland following the recent publication of the Murphy Commission report,” Lombardi said.
The papal nuncio (envoy) in Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, and the heads of the relevant departments of the Roman Curia will also be present, Lombardi said.
The Murphy report, released November 26, found that the Catholic church in Dublin covered up decades of sex abuse on children.
Four former archbishops of Dublin — three now dead and one retired — failed to report child sex abuse to the police from the 1960 to the 1980s, the report said.
The report listed 320 people who complained of abuse between 1974 and 2004 and said a further 130 complaints against priests in Dublin had been made since May 2004.
It said that it was only in 1995 that the archdiocese started notifying civil authorities.
In the wake of the report, the head of the Irish Survivors of Child Abuse group urged Benedict to go to Ireland and apologise for his clergy’s behaviour.
The Murphy report is the second of two detailing abuse this year. In May the Ryan report published records of 70 years of abuse at orphanages and industrial schools run by Catholic religious orders across Ireland.
Since the mid-1990s the Catholic Church has been hit by child abuse scandals in the United States, Australia, Canada and Ireland.
The Church says some 80% of the estimated 5,000 priests involved acted in the US, where huge settlements have been made to victims.
In April 2008 Pope Benedict made a six-day tour of the US, visiting Washington and New York but not Boston, the epicentre of America’s clergy sex abuse scandal.
However, he met and prayed with six Boston victims in Washington, saying “no words” could convey his shock and regret about the abuse.
During the visit, victims’ groups reiterated their criticism of the Church’s treatment of former Boston archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law who resigned in December 2002 when unsealed court records revealed he had moved paedophile priests among church assignments without notifying parishioners.
After his resignation, he was transferred to Rome where he now holds several authoritative posts including archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome.
The abuse scandal led to the bankruptcy of several US dioceses including Washington, Arizona and California.
POPE ASKED FOR ‘EVERY EFFORT’ TOWARDS TRUTH.
In June 2009, after the Ryan report, Benedict asked Irish bishops to make every effort to “establish the truth” and ensure “justice for everyone”.
“The Holy Father once again urged the bishops and all in the Church to continue to establish the truth of what happened and why; to ensure that justice is done for all; to see that measures put in place to prevent abuse from happening again are fully applied, and, to help to bring healing to the survivors of abuse,” said the Irish Bishops Conference.
Ireland, a nation that once looked to the Church for leadership, has seen increasing numbers turn from it.
Calls for criminal cases against priests have been made by the country’s top politicians including President Mary McAleese.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Palin Made Me Cry
From Swedish: Swedish journliat Staffan Heimerson says he was touched by Palin’s book and her description of Trig. He thinks her magical realism writing is similar to that of the greatest female authors: Selma Lagerlöf, Fay Weldon, Sigrid Undset. He expects to see a lot of her in 2012.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Anna Anka Faces Split With Hollywood Husband After Latest Row
Singer-songwriter Paul Anka has filed for divorce from his Swedish wife Anna following a violent spat at the couple’s Hollywood home last week.
The recently crowned queen of Swedish reality television called police last Thursday after she and her husband became embroiled in an argument over Anna’s decision to fire one of the couple’s housekeepers, the Aftonbladet newspaper reports.
The following day, the 68-year-old Paul Anka filed for divorce from his 38-year-old Swedish wife, whom he married in 2008.
“They’ve been fighting like cats and dogs recently,” a source with insight into the relationships told the newspaper.
Anna recently catapulted herself into Sweden’s celebrity spotlight through her starring role in the TV3 reality television programme Svenska Hollywoodfruar (“Swedish Hollywood Wives”).
She then ignited a heated public debate in Sweden by publishing an article on the opinion website Newsmill in which she criticized Swedish dads for “their nappy-changing and equality”.
She went on to suggest that a man’s infidelity is ultimately his wife’s fault.
“Sexually it is the woman’s responsibility to ensure that the man is satisfied, if she does not then she only has herself to blame if he is unfaithful,” she wrote.
Anna Anka’s ratings success prompted TV3 to offer her a Christmas-themed special consisting of six episodes, the last of which is set to go head to head with public broadcaster SVT’s annual Christmas Eve broadcast of Donald Duck and other Disney cartoons — one of the most-watched television programmes in Sweden.
According to the celebrity news site TMZ.com, police arrived at the Anka residence after receiving two calls of a domestic dispute last Thursday.
Anna said she felt threatened by her husband, claiming Paul had pointed a gun at her. However, a subsequent review of the mansion’s surveillance tape showed no evidence that such an episode took place.
Anna Anka has moved out of the couple’s home, however, and is currently living in the Four Seasons hotel, where crews from TV3 continue filming her Christmas special.
According to TV3, the taping is continuing as planned, but Paul Anka will not be featured in any of the episodes.
“The idea never was to have Paul participate. This is about Anna Anka’s Christmas,” TV3 spokesperson Max Lagerbäck told the Expressen newspaper.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss Inviting Qaeda Hits
TRIPOLI — LIBYAN leader Moamer Kadhafi said the Swiss referendum banning the building of new minarets was an invitation for Al-Qaeda to launch attacks in Europe, the official news agency JANA reported on Sunday.
‘They pretend they are ‘fighting Al-Qaeda and terrorism’ whereas in fact they have just rendered it the greatest service,’ he said, referring to Switzerland with disdain as ‘the mafia of the world.’
On November 29, more than 57 per cent of Swiss voters approved a rightwing motion to ban minarets on mosques, a decision that has sparked an international backlash and charges of intolerance.
‘Al-Qaeda militants are now saying: ‘We warned you that they were our enemies… Look at what they are doing in Europe. Come and join us for a jihad (holy war) against Europe,” Kadhafi said.
The Libyan leader, speaking at an academic ceremony on Saturday in Zliten, 160 kilometres (100 miles) east of Tripoli, said Muslim countries now had an argument not to allow the building of new churches. ‘I don’t think anyone in the Muslim world will from now on authorise the construction of a church,’ Kadhafi said.
He warned Switzerland of an economic fallout of a rift with the Muslim world. ‘You must think of your interests. You need gas, ports, the sea, solar energy, investments,’ Kadhafi said. — AFP
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Fear Being Branded Racist and of Offending Minorities Hampers Social Workers’ Action Over Forced Marriage
Women and young girls at risk of being taken abroad and forced into marriage are being failed because local officials fear ‘offending’ minority communities, according to a Government report.
Social workers are being slow to use new court orders aimed at stopping potential victims being spirited overseas to be married without their consent, the report said.
It pointed to ‘a fear of being accused of racism or not being culturally sensitive’.
Judges who rule on applications for the orders warned of a ‘political correctness agenda’ hampering efforts to help.
Schools were accused of failing to alert pupils to the issue, for fear of offending parents.
Children as young as nine have been taken overseas by their parents and forced to marry complete strangers. Around 70% of cases are from families originally from Pakistan and 10% of Bangladeshi origin.
At least 1300 Britons have been involved in forced marriages in the last four years. As well as very young children, cases have involved adults with mental health problems.
Last month a Muslim father who threatened to kill his wife for blocking a forced marriage in Pakistan for their daughter became the first person to be prosecuted for breach of an order.
Aurang Zeb, 43, from Blackburn, was sentenced to 200 hours community service, and placed under a community supervision order.
The Ministry of Justice study, published last week, looked at the use of Forced Marriage Protection Orders (FMPO) since they were introduced twelve months ago.
A form of court injunction, they allow courts to confiscate the passports of potential victims.
Families can be instructed to reveal where the woman was sent if she has already left the country.
The report praised police for being ‘active’ in bringing cases to the courts. But it pointed to ‘issues’ with social services, who have tried to negotiate between victims and their families instead of offering immediate protection.
In some ‘closed’ minority communities community leaders were acting as ‘gatekeepers’ to forced marriage instead of challenging the practice, the report found.
Charities helping victims of forced marriage backed the report’s findings.
Kiran Cheema, regional adviser at Karma Nirvana, which runs a helpline for victims said schools had refused to put up posters warning children because parents might object.
‘The reason for not enough orders is because people are worried about cultural sensitivities,’ she said.
‘They are worried about stepping on people’s toes in regards to their culture. That’s why people don’t bring those orders forward — because they are afraid.’
Since the powers were introduced twelve months ago, in parts of England and Wales with large south Asian communities, 86 orders have been issued, nearly half to girls under 18.
The report said: ‘Degrees of use varies by locality, and there is concern about underuse in some areas due to fear of approaching the courts, compounded by fear among some agencies of offending the local communities.’
Justice Minister Bridget Prentice called for ‘all agencies’ to take action against forced marriages as quickly as possible.
She said: ‘We are all responsible for protecting those at risk of forced marriage within our society and it cannot be done by one person or one agency alone.
‘I would urge all agencies to take appropriate action at the earliest possible opportunity and engage in a multi-agency effort to eradicate forced marriage.
‘Forcing someone to marry is widely recognised as a human rights abuse and is simply unacceptable within our society, and our common culture of values based on equality and respect between men and women.
‘My department will continue to take a leading role in disseminating the lessons learned during this first year and to provide agencies with the information and tools to be able to access protection for victims.’
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
UK: It’s a Return to the Star Chamber as Europe Finally Tramples Magna Carta Into the Dust
I have a copy dated MDCCLXVI (1766) left to me by my father, and to him by his father. The customary law is Saxon, Celtic, even Visigoth.
“All men in our Kingdom have and hold the aforesaid liberties and rights, well and in peace, freely and quietly, fully and wholly, for ever.”
“No free man shall be taken or imprisoned, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way destroyed, unless by lawful judgment of his peers.”
“No constable or bailiff shall take another man’s corn or chattels without immediate payment, nor take any horses or any man’s timber for castles.”
“Any one may leave the Kingdom and return at will, unless in time of war, when he may be restrained for some short space for the common good”.
Here is a nice one, as the Square Mile falls under the control EU authorities with “binding powers”.
“The City of London shall have all its ancient liberties and free customs.” Merchants should be free from “evil tolls”.
The founding texts of the English Constitution — charter, petition, bill of rights — have one theme in common: they create nothing. They assert old freedoms; they restore lost harmony. In this they guided America’s Revolution, itself a codification of early colonial liberties.
Europe’s Constitution — the Lisbon Treaty, as we know it — began as a sort of Magna Carta. EU leaders agreed at Laeken in 2001 that the Project needed restraining after Danes and Swedes rejected EMU, the Irish rejected Nice, and youth torched Gothenburg in anti-EU riots.
People do not want Europe inveigling its way into “every nook and cranny of life”, they said. Needless to say, insiders hijacked the process. A Hegelian monstrosity emerged. The text says much about the heightened powers of EU bodies, but scarcely a word to restrain EU bailiffs and constables.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights — legally binding in the UK as of Tuesday, when Lisbon came into force — asserts that the EU has the authority to circumscribe all rights and freedoms.
The text was modified after I threw a tantrum in the Daily Telegraph during the drafting process, comparing it to the “general interest” clause used by Fascist regimes to crush dissent in the 1930s.
Article 52 now reads: “Subject to the principle of proportionality, limitations may be made only if they are necessary and genuinely meet objectives of general interest recognised by the Union.”
Don’t be misled by this inverted wording. What it states is that the EU may indeed limit rights in the “general interest”. In other words, our Magna Carta has been superceeded.
It is the European Court (ECJ) that decides what is “proportional” or “necessary”, and it cannot be trusted. The ECJ behaves like the Star Chamber of Charles I, as I learned following three cases where it rubber-stamped the abuse of state power against whistleblowers Bernard Connolly and Marta Andreasen, and German journalist Hans-Martin Tillack.
Mr Tillack was arrested by Belgian police and held incommunicado for ten hours. Incommunicado on the basis of a fabricated allegation by two EU officials. Police went through his notes and computers, identifying his network of informants inside the EU apparatus.
Mr Tillack took the case to the ECJ. It ruled in favour of the system. It always does.
This is our new Supreme Court under Lisbon, its jurisdiction vastly expanded from narrow commercial law (Pillar I) to the breadth of Union law (Pillars I, II, and III).
As my colleague Daniel Hannan writes, Lisbon gives the EU “legal personality” to enter treaties as a state, and contains an escalator clause that lets it aggregate further power without need for ratification by national parliaments — it draws charisma (papal usage) from itself.
French and Dutch voters rejected this leap from a treaty organisation to a unitary state when given a chance in 2005. The revamped version was slipped through by parliaments — except in Ireland, where voters said No, until coerced by events into acquiescence. In Britain, Labour did this knowing with absolute certainty that citizens would have voted No. You can conjure a Burkean argument to justify the denial of a referendum, but that is to traduce Burke.
“Yes’ votes are always pocketed in perpetuity: ‘No’ votes are good only until the weather changes. Those who feign not to see the asymmetry of this are being cynical.
By acting in this way, the EU has crossed a subtle line. It is no longer legitimate.
So what can a dissenting citizen do? Do we retreat into realpolitik, betting that the EU Project can go only so far before it provokes into an even bigger backlash from Europe’s tribes, and will in any case spend much of the next decade dealing with bitter fall-out from a currency that pits North against South?
Or do we let out a primordial scream, and agitate for total withdrawal from the EU — knowing that our backs are pressed against the wall, that this Government has spent us to the brink of a debt-compound spiral? Morgan Stanley has warned of a Gilts crisis next year. So have others. This is a perilous for time for heroics.
Makes you weep.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Middle Classes and the Rich Face Biggest Fall in Living Standards for Decades
Britain’s middle classes face the biggest financial squeeze for decades that will drastically affect their living standards, according to new research.
The findings show the typical family will face a decline in their income of around £300 — or 2.4 per cent — next year through higher taxes, mortgages and rises in the costs of food and other goods.
The richest in society will also see their spending power cut by up to nine per cent — which amounts to almost £5,000 a year.
They may be hit even further by this week’s Pre Budget Report, which is expected to tighten the screw on higher earners.
But the less well-off are expected to actually see their spending power rise next year. A single mother who receives around £10,000 a year is due to have an extra £130 annually.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Return of Gordon Brown’s Stealth Tax as ‘Thousands More Face 40% Increase’
Fears are growing that 70,000 more Britons face paying the top rate of income tax under plans from Alistair Darling.
The Chancellor will trigger the increase by freezing personal allowances for taxpayers in his Pre-Budget Report on Wednesday, say accountants.
It is also thought that the threshold for higher-rate income tax will be held at the current level.
Although ministers may justify the freeze by citing falling inflation, the plans mean those workers earning around £43,000 who do get pay rises would end up paying much of it to the Government.
Experts say freezing the allowances would be a ‘stealth tax’ because UK earnings rose 1.2 per cent in the year to September according to the Office for National Statistics.
The personal allowance is usually increased every year, meaning workers can earn a little extra money before paying more to the Inland Revenue.
But the desperate state of the nation’s finances means it is likely to remain at £6,475 for under-65s for the next year.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Record Rise in Seizures of Pit Bulls as Gangsters Shun Guns
Seizures of illegal pit bull terriers have soared to record levels as young men and gang members use them to intimidate enemies and provide protection.
The dogs are being used as lethal weapons because the penalty for owning them is far lower than for carrying a knife or gun.
They are also increasingly seen as a sign of status among young men, while the ease with which they can be purchased is helping to fuel an explosion in illegal dog fights.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Montenegro Moves Closer to NATO Membership
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS — Nato ministers on Friday offered Montenegro a formal plan to join the alliance, just days after the EU announced it would lift visas for its citizens.
“With a sustained effort at further reform, today’s invitation to join the Membership Action Plan (MAP) will be a stepping stone to the ultimate goal: full membership in Nato,” the secretary-general of the military alliance, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a press conference in Brussels.
He added that Bosnia and Herzegovina, for which a similar request was rejected, will get the plan once it has achieved the “necessary progress in its reform efforts.”
The move for Montenegro comes just a little over three years since it declared independence from Serbia, much faster than older candidates Georgia and Ukraine, who had also applied for MAP.
The former Yougoslav republic of 650,000 people had to “start its army from scratch”, but did not meet opposition from any Nato member or from Russia, as was the case with Georgia and Ukraine.
Russia’s two neighbours have been granted another form of intensified co-operation with Nato, the so-called commissions, which their backers present as MAP without the actual name.
In addition it remains unclear whether Kiev and Tbilisi will have to formally have a membership action plan, a step created to introduce some rigour into the membership preparation stage.
Ukrainian foreign minister Petro Poroshenko, for his part, presented a relaxed front on Montenegro becoming a Nato member ahead of his country.
“If Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina have the intention of providing their country security in the form of Euro-Atlantic integration, we can only welcome this decision,” he told journalists at a press conference after meeting with Nato ministers on Thursday.
But he pointed out that the period before joining MAP was “unexpectedly short” for Montenegro and that “nobody raised flags against it.”
One of the reasons picked up by France and Germany for opposing MAP for Ukraine was low public support for Nato accession. But in Montenegro’s case, it was not seen as a factor that most people there also oppose the military alliance, as they still remember the Nato bombing of Serbia. Polls conducted in October show Montenegrin support for Nato membership at 35 percent.
The Ukrainian foreign minister did not want to comment on what he called ‘double standards’. Instead, he played down the importance of the plan, which he called a “bureaucratic formality”, and noted that a lot of countries became Nato members without it.
Before, 1999 when MAP was created, membership did not depend on fulfilling this step.
For Montenegro, the plan does not mean automatic membership as the government in Podgorica still has a number of outstanding reforms ahead. New Nato member Albania, for instance, spent 10 years in the MAP stage before joining earlier this year.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
EU-Morocco: Summit to Strengthen Relations in 2010
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 7 — A summit in the first half of 2010 will mark a new step in relations between the European Union and Morocco, during the Spanish presidency of the EU. The objective is to reach an advanced state in bilateral relations, which are currently under scrutiny by the 27 EU members. The EU-Morocco Council of association announced the news today in Brussels, saying that it represents an important step in strengthening relations, said Frank Belfrage, Swedish Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs for the Union presidency. Belfrage said that Morocco is a strategic partner for the EU at a regional and international level. It is of the utmost urgency to finalise the ongoing trade negotiations added European Commissioner for External Relations and Neighbourhood policy, Benita Ferrero Waldner, in the areas of agriculture and services. In particular, the agriculture negotiations will help reduce rural poverty in Morocco and relaunch European agricultural exports. On the matter of strengthening relations between the EU and Morocco in all sectors, a proposal is under scrutiny by the member States explained the European Commissioner. The proposal is supported by France, said French Minister for European Affairs, Pierre Lellouche.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya-Egypt: Customs Barriers Lifted
(ANSAmed) — TRIPOLI — The tenth session of the Egypt-Libya Joint High Commission to re-launch cooperation between the two countries ended with resolutions to double trade between Libya and Egypt, abolish customs duties and regularise the flow of Egyptian workers in Egypt. The details emerged at the meeting between the prime ministers of Egypt and Libya, Ahmad Nazif and Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmudi. Last Saturday Libya and Egypt consolidated their cooperation with the signing of 3 executive programmes, 4 memorandums of understanding and one industrial accord. The next session of the Egypt-Libya Joint High Commission, according to the final document signed in Tripoli, will be held in Cairo in February and will focus on the creation of industrial and free trade zones, with all the necessary services. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Missionaries Arrested in Morocco
17 people including one Swiss citizen have been arrested in Marocco, accused of trying to spread Christianity.
According to the Moroccan interior ministry, authorities intervened after hearing about evangelical missionary efforts. They feared that the mission could lower the religious values of the kingdom.
The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has not yet confirmed the arrest of the Swiss. The other detainees, are said to be from Guatemala, South Africa and Morocco itself.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss ‘Mafia’ Inviting Qaeda Hits With Minaret Ban: Kadhafi
TRIPOLI — Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi said the Swiss referendum banning the building of new minarets was an invitation for Al-Qaeda to launch attacks in Europe, the official news agency JANA reported on Sunday.
“They pretend they are ‘fighting Al-Qaeda and terrorism’ whereas in fact they have just rendered it the greatest service,” he said, referring to Switzerland with disdain as “the mafia of the world.”
[…]
The Libyan leader, speaking at an academic ceremony on Saturday in Zliten, 160 kilometres (100 miles) east of Tripoli, said Muslim countries now had an argument not to allow the building of new churches.
“I don’t think anyone in the Muslim world will from now on authorise the construction of a church,” Kadhafi said.
He warned Switzerland of an economic fallout of a rift with the Muslim world. “You must think of your interests. You need gas, ports, the sea, solar energy, investments,” Kadhafi said.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
IDF: Palestinians Launched S-5k Rocket
Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip have begun launching Russian-manufactured S-5K rockets into southern Israel, Army Radio reported on Sunday.
On Sunday morning, security forces discovered remnants of a projectile that was fired by Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
On Israel’s Construction Freeze: U.S. Fails to Deliver: Instead of Praising, Europe Demands More
…By Barry Rubin
Israel acceded to a U.S. request to freeze construction on existing Jewish settlements; the Palestinian Authority (PA) refuses even to negotiate or to give anything in exchange for this concession. Who did Europe reward and was the United States able to mobilize praise for the former or criticism for the latter?
Need you ask?
It is now confirmed that my analysis of the State Department statement on the construction freeze was correct. It was intended as a statement supporting key Israeli demands-recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and changes in the 1967 borders-while also meeting major Palestinian demands, an independent state based on those borders.
Equally unnoticed, however, is the fact that the United States did not even get its European allies to endorse its new position. Once again, despite all the Obama Administration’s apologies, flattery, and concessions, it could not even obtain the smallest things in exchange from those given such rewards.
The main U.S. effort was to get the Quartet of mediators (U.S., Europe Union, Russia, and UN) to endorse the new U.S. stance. The proposed statement would have urged resumed negotiations without preconditions to seek an agreement which…
| — Hat tip: Barry Rubin | [Return to headlines] |
Shalit: Media Reports Medical Exam by French Doctors
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, DECEMBER 7 — The news reported on the BBC Arabic and the Arab paper Al Hayat according to which four French doctors had examined the soldier Gilad Shalit (held prisoner by Hamas in Gaza since 2006) has made a splash in Israel. However, Shalit’s father Noam has said that he was not aware of this new development. According to the BBC and Al Hayat, it is the visit time that the Israeli soldier has ever been examined by those not belonging to the armed wing of Hamas. The doctors, with different specialisations, went into Gaza accompanied by a German mediator involved in negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the past few months. It was also reported that — during their visit — the zone of Gaza into which they had gone was constantly flown over by Israeli drones. However, so far the news has not been confirmed in Israel, and the soldier’s father has told the press that he knew nothing about it. On Friday an Israeli Labour deputy said that he believed there would be a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas “within the next two weeks”. Afterwards, however, he said that he had simply been expressing his opinion and not — as it had first seemed — information he had gathered in the Israeli prime minister’s office. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK MPs Back Swedish Presidency on Jerusalem
A group of nearly 50 members of the British parliament have written a letter voicing their support for a controversial Swedish EU presidency proposal to recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
“We, Parliamentarians in the UK, would like to put on record our support for the Swedish Presidency’s draft document calling for a viable state of Palestine, comprising the West Bank and Gaza and with East Jerusalem as its capital,” writes Martin Linton, chair of British-Swedish All-Party Parliamentary Group and chair of Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East.
“We pay tribute to the Swedish Presidency for raising this and for standing firm against attempts to derail this initiative.”
The letter, signed by an additional 47 mostly Labour MPs, comes as EU foreign ministers gather on Monday for two days of meetings in Brussels during which Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt will present a proposal outlining the EU’s concerns about the “stalemate” in the Middle East peace process.
The draft version of the proposal, which includes a specific reference to East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestine, was published last week in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, sparking outrage and concern over the EU’s stance toward the peace process.
Opposition leader and former foreign minister Tzipi Livni slammed the measure in a letter to Bildt following the Haaretz report.
“I wish to convey my deep concern regarding what appears to be an attempt to prejudge the outcome of issues reserved for permanent status negotiations,” wrote Livni, according to Haaretz.
“Whatever the intention of the Council’s conclusions, I believe that any attempt to dictate for either party the nature of the outcome on the status of Jerusalem, is not helpful and wrong.”
Speaking to Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newpaper, deputy foreign minister Daniel Ayalon declared that “the Europeans will not dictate the results of the (Israeli-Palestinian) peace process.
“The Swedish initiative is dangerous and it may hinder the efforts to resume negotiations by radicalizing the Palestinian stand,” he added.
Israeli envoys have been tracking the proposal for weeks, with Israel’s ambassador to the EU claiming that Sweden was putting the EU on a “collision course” with Israel, according to Haaretz.
While Bildt has refrained from directly addressing Israel’s fears ahead of the Brussels meetings, writing on his blog on Sunday, he did refer to the need for “a clear European voice” on the situation in the Middle East in order to “create a situation where forward steps are actually possible”.
Reached by The Local on Monday, a spokesperson for Bildt declined to comment on the proposal.
“We have no comment before the meeting,” Irena Busic told The Local.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Big Spender Mohammed Unshaken by Dubai Crisis
IT IS “business as usual” for the Irish bloodstock interests of the troubled ruling family of Dubai, the Maktoum clan.
With 5,000 acres and some of Ireland’s leading stud farms — including he famous Kildangan Stud — the family’s personal fortune is not caught up in the country’s property empire Dubai World which announced last week that it was suspending payments on its €50bn debt.
During the last two weeks, many Irish breeders were at the Tattersalls Sales in the UK and it was business as usual.
At the sale of top quality foals Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum was still buying race horses two days after the announcement of Dubai World’s proposed debt repayment crisis .
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
‘Climategate’ Shakes Trust in Scientists: Saudi
AFP — Saudia Arabia told global warming talks on Monday that trust in climate science had been “shaken” by leaked emails among experts and called for an international probe.
“The level of trust is definitely shaken, especially now that we are about to conclude an agreement that … is going to mean sacrifices for our economies,” said Mohammed al-Sabban, the kingdom’s top climate negotiator, told delegates at the opening of December 7-18 UN talks.
Al-Sabban called for an “independent” international investigation, but said that the UN climate science body was unqualified to carry it out.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
France Urges Firmer Sanctions on Iran
AFP — France called on Sunday for tougher sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear programme.
“The time has come to seek firmer sanctions against Iran,” secretary of state for European affairs Pierre Lellouche said on the French Jewish radio station
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Jordanian Man Kills Pregnant Sister in “Honor Killing”
The December 6 Jordan Times reports that a 36-year-old man stabbed to death his married sister, who was nine months pregnant He stalked her and stabbed her seven times, killing her and her unborn son. He then promptly gave the knife to the police, explaining that it was an honor killing. He displayed neither shame for his crime nor fear of the legal consequences..
The unnamed man gave two reasons for killing the unnamed victim, a 34-year-old mother of three: first, she “would often leave her husband’s house,” and second, he had caught her committing adultery. It is not clear whether this means that he observed her having sex with another man, as many of us would assume; or, perhaps, he saw her sitting with another man in a coffee house. (Last January a 17-year old boy killed his 13-year-old sister because she had taken a slip of paper containing a phone number.)
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Kuwait: Imam Jailed for Collecting Al-Qaeda Money
Kuwait City, 7 Dec. (AKI) — A court in the oil-rich emirate of Kuwait has sentenced a prominent local imam to seven years in jail after he was found guilty of having collected money to help fund the Al-Qaeda terror network.
According to the local daily al-Jarida, the unnamed imam, preached at the al-Hamdi mosque and apparently asked the faithful for donations to build a second mosque.
However, the news report said that the money was instead diverted to two other accomplices who were due to travel to Pakistan for training at an alleged Al-Qaeda camp.
The fighters would then go to Afghanistan to fight coalition forces there. During their stay, the fighters were also to meet an important Saudi member of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
The newspaper said that both accomplices also had a role in the financing of the Iraqi insurgency.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon: Anti-UNIFIL Terrorist Cell Dismantled, Press
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT — Lebanese secret services have arrested four alleged members of a terrorist cell which was planning attacks on UNIFIL, the UN force deployed in southern Lebanon in which 2,000 Italian soldiers are involved. The press in Beirut this morning reported on the matter. Anonymous sources quoted by the daily paper Al Akhbar said that UNIFIL, which until the end of January 2010 will be commanded by the Italian general Claudio Graziano, “may be targeted over the next three weeks”. An Nahar daily said that the cell included the 21-year-old Tareq Baydun (a university student studying chemistry), his two brothers and his father, all residents of Majdal Anjar, a stronghold of Sunni fundamentalism in the eastern Bekaa Valley a few km from the eastern border with Syria. According to daily As Safir, Tareq Baydun had entered into contact with the internet site of the Ziad Jarrah Battalions, a group with links to al Qaeda which claimed responsibility for rocket launching in October from southern Lebanon at northern Israel. The press in Beirut added today that security forces had found automatic rifles, detonators, computers and a handbook on how to make bombs in the Bayduns’ house. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
One Dead as Violence Flares in SE Turkey
Turkish riot policemen drag a Kurdish demonstrator during clashes in mainly Kurd Diyarbakir yesterday.
DIYARBAKIR (AFP) — A student was shot dead yesterday during clashes between Turkish police and demonstrators protesting the prison treatment of the founder of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), sources said.
An estimated 15,000 protesters marched in the city of Diyarbakir, in the majority Kurdish southeast, in support of jailed rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the PKK.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Says Trust in Climate Scientists “Shaken”
Saudia Arabia told global warming talks on Monday that trust in climate science had been “shaken” by leaked emails and called for an international probe as the head of the United Nation’s panel of climate scientists strongly defended findings that humans are warming the planet.
“The level of confidence is certainly shaken. We believe this scandal is definitely going to affect the nature of what can be fostered (in Copenhagen). The size of (economic) sacrifices must be built on a secure foundation of information which we found now is not true,” Saudi delegate, Mohammed al-Sabban, said.
Al-Sabban called for an “independent” international investigation, but said that the U.N. climate science body was unqualified to carry it out.
“The IPCC, which is the authority accused, is not going to be able to conduct the investigation,” he said, referring to the Nobel-winning U.N. Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC).
The Saudi negotiator rejected IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri’s defense of the integrity of the panel’s findings — delivered earlier in the plenary session — as “general statements.”
“In light of recent information… the scientific scandal has assumed huge proportion,” al-Sabban said.
“We think it is definitely going to affect the nature of what can be trusted in the negotiations.”
Hacked emails
Climate change skeptics have seized on a series of hacked emails written by climate specialists, accusing them of colluding to suppress others’ data and enhance their own.
The emails, some written as long as 13 years ago, were stolen by unknown hackers and rapidly spread across the Internet, showing that scientists had manipulated evidence.
In one email, confirmed by the University of East Anglia as genuine, the head of its Climatic Research Unit (CRU), Phil Jones, said he wanted to ensure a specific paper which doubted climate science was excluded from the IPCC’s 2007 report.
Pachauri, head of the IPCC, told a climate conference that its findings were “subjected to extensive and repeated reviews by experts as well as by governments.”
The IPCC concluded in 2007 that it was at least 90 percent certain that humans were to blame for global warming.
“The evidence is now overwhelming that the world would benefit greatly from early action,” Pachauri told delegates at the opening session of the Dec. 7-18 Copenhagen summit.
“The recent incident of stealing the emails of scientists at the University of East Anglia shows that some (people) would go to the extent of carrying out illegal acts perhaps in an attempt to discredit the IPCC.”
“Climategate” row
That paper did in fact appear in the final 2007 report, the university says. Pachauri on Monday defended scientists named in the “climategate” row.
“The internal consistency from multiple lines of evidence strongly supports the work of the scientific community, including those individuals singled out in these email exchanges,” Pachauri told the 192-nation conference.
“Given the wide-ranging nature of (economic) change that is likely be taken in hand, some naturally find it inconvenient to accept its inevitability.”
Another British climate research center, the MetOffice Hadley Centre, plans to publish this week data from more than 1,000 locations around the world to boost transparency and underpin evidence that the world is warming.
“We are confident (it) will show that global average temperatures have risen over the last 150 years,” it said in a statement, adding that the move had the support of the University of East Anglia.
“As soon as we have all permissions in place we will release the remaining station records.”
Emission cuts
A set of so called Cool Globes set up in Copenhagen
The comments came at the biggest climate meeting in history, with 15,000 participants from 192 nations seeking to agree curbs on greenhouse gas emissions and raise billions of dollars for the poor in aid and clean technology.
Campaigners say politicians have 2 weeks to save the planet from catastrophic climate change in the talks, which end with a summit of 105 world leaders — including U.S. President Barack Obama, on Dec. 18.
The summit will have to overcome deep distrust between rich and poor nations about sharing the cost of emissions cuts.
The attendance of the leaders and pledges to curb emissions by all the top emitters — led by China, the United States, Russia and India — have raised hopes for an accord after sluggish negotiations in the past two years.
The goal is to seal an ambitious political agreement in outline form.
Further negotiations would take place in 2010 to fill in the details and — if all goes well — from the end of 2012, the new pact would take effect.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands Stuck in Lebanon Limbo With No Rights or Hope (Via NRP)
I was put on earth to suffer: Palestinian refugee
Saeed Mohamed Hammo technically does not exist as far as the world is concerned. But as he recounts his life as a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon, his story is very much real.
Hammo, 61, is among an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 so-called “non-ID Palestinians” in Lebanon who are considered illegal aliens and who have lived in legal limbo, many of them for decades.
Palestinian refugee Mohammed Hammo poses for a picture with his children
They have no freedom of movement, no right to work and no access to medical services or education.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey’s Erdogan to Meet Obama on Afghanistan, Kurdish Conflict
ANKARA — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets Monday with US President Barack Obama for talks expected to focus on NATO reinforcements in Afghanistan and Ankara’s efforts to curb Kurdish rebels based in Iraq.
Iran’s nuclear programme, which Erdogan has defended much to the dismay of Turkey’s Western allies, is also likely to be high on the agenda.
Erdogan, whose country is a key Muslim ally of the US, visits Washington after Obama announced that 30,000 more soldiers would be sent to Afghanistan and US allies followed suit Friday by pledging at least 7,000 more troops to help defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Even though it has NATO’s second largest standing army, Turkey insists it will not engage in combat missions and offered only three teams to train Afghan security personnel, according to NATO sources.
Some 1,700 Turkish soldiers are currently deployed in Afghanistan, but their mandate is limited to patroling Kabul and training Afghan forces.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey’s Moves Towards Iran Concerning United States
Turkey’s attempts to develop a strategic partnership with Iran are causing concern in America and are likely to dominate talks between its leader and President Barack Obama during a US visit that starts today.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, has introduced a “good neighbours” foreign policy that has tilted the axis of Ankara’s diplomacy in the direction of Iran, Russia and bordering states.
Turkish frustration with a series of setbacks for its bid to join the European Union triggered a search for a foreign policy that reflect its historical interests in the Middle East, Caucasus and Islamic world.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
US Wants to Stop Mankind’s Savior: Iran Leader
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he has documented evidence that the United States is doing what it can to prevent the coming of the Mahdi, the Imam that Muslims believe will be ultimate savior of mankind, press reports said Monday.
“We have documented proof that they [U.S.] believe that a descendant of the prophet of Islam will raise in these parts [Middle East] and he will dry the roots of all injustice in the world,” the hard-line president said, addressing an audience of families of those killed during the 1980’s war against Iraq.
They have devised all these plans to prevent the coming of the Hidden Imam because they know that the Iranian nation is the one that will prepare the grounds for his coming and will be the supporters of his rule.”
Iranian news website Tabnak said Ahmadinejad further revealed plots by both the East and the West to wipe out the Islamic Republic.
“They have planned to annihilate Iran. This is why all policymakers and analysts believe Iran is the true winner in the Middle East,” he went on to proclaim, adding that they were after Iranian oil and other natural resources.
“In Afghanistan, they are caught like an animal in a quagmire. But instead of pulling their troops out to save themselves, they are deploying more soldiers. Even if they stay in Afghanistan for another 50 years they will be forced to leave with disgrace — because this is a historical experience.”
The president said on his last visit to New York he asked officials “Is there not one sane person in your country to tell you these things?”
“They know themselves that they need Iran in the Middle East, but because of their arrogance they do not want to accept this reality. They are nothing without the Iranian nation and all their rhetoric is because they don’t want to appear weak,” he added.
Enemy hype
Referring to his disputed June reelection, Ahmadinejad said, “The enemy… was hyping the issue as if the Iranian nation has been weakened and as if this was the best opportunity to get concessions from them. But your humble son stood in front of the oppressive powers and shouted: You are dead wrong! The Iranian nation will put you in your place.”
“In the recent [post-election] incident, they claimed that they had devised a plan that could bring hundreds of governments to their knees,” he continued. “But he who is on the righteous path will always be victorious and will never see defeat.”
The June 12 presidential election sparked Iran’s worst unrest since the Islamic revolution three decades ago and exposed deep divisions in the establishment. Authorities have denied all allegations of vote-rigging.
On Monday Iran commemorates the killing of three students in 1953 under the former Shah. The opposition is expected to try to use the state-organized rallies to revive opposition protests.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Considering Ban on Food Imports
The UN says every seventh person in the world is experiencing difficulties getting food.
It is an idea that has been around in Russia for 12 years. Keeping the country fed is a matter of national security and therefore comes under the responsibility of the President and National Security Council.
National Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev said the issue was vitally important for the longer term.
“Russia is not fully self-sufficient in food. We are forced to import a number of products and we cannot get rid of this dependence in the near future.”
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Russia to Teach Arabic Culture in Schools
Russia’s Ministry of Education has added Arabic language and culture to next year’s school curriculum in an unprecedented move welcomed by families who said they look forward to introducing their children to Arab culture.
Native Russians welcomed the initiative and expressed their admiration for Arab culture.
“The number of orientalists is very limited and I want to be one,” said Sasha, explaining the reason for his keenness to learn Arabic.
His colleague Vadim said his admiration for Arab culture encouraged him to learn the language.
“I want to be able to speak to the Arab people when I get the chance to visit the Arab world,” he told Al Arabiya.
According to the new government resolution Arabic classes will be introduced as early as elementary school, said Sieda Golinian, headmistress of a school in southern Moscow.
“The majority of our students are either Russian or from other ethnicities that are not Arab,” she told Al Arabiya. “They want to learn Arabic to work as translators or in other financial, political and cultural fields.”
In addition to offering job opportunities, including Arabic in Russian schools will also be of great help to mixed Russian-Arab families, said Selim al-Ali, member of the Council for Arab Expatriates.
“Teaching Arabic in schools will solve many problems faced by children of mixed marriages as they will be able to get in touch with the culture that constitutes half their heritages,” he told Al Arabiya.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
80 Percent of French Oppose More Troops for Afghanistan
Bordeaux — More than 80 percent of French people are against Paris sending more troops to Afghanistan, according to an opinion poll carried out for a regional newspaper.
The Ifop poll for the weekly Sud Ouest Dimanche showed 82 percent opposed to reinforcements for the some 3,300 French troops already in Afghanistan.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Afghanistan Court Sentences Kabul Mayor for Corruption
An Afghan court has sentenced the mayor of the capital, Kabul, to four years in prison on corruption charges.
Mir Abdul Ahad Sahebi was not in court. His whereabouts are uncertain, but a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
The deputy attorney general, Enayat Kamal, said the charges related to more than $16,000 (£9,800) of public money.
It was the first high-profile graft conviction of President Hamid Karzai’s second term. He faces renewed Western pressure to crack down on corruption.
“The court sentenced [Sahebi] to four years in jail, ordered him to return the money he wasted, and fired him from his position,” the prosecutor, Mr Kamal, was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
The case relates to a contract that was awarded without following the proper procedures, prosecution officials told the BBC.
Allegations rejected
Last month, the mayor dismissed corruption accusations levelled by Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal against him and the municipality.
“I categorically reject the allegations,” said Sahebi, who has been in office for the past year-and-a-half.
“I have started a lot of reforms since I became mayor, and many of these charges relate to things that took place before my time,” he said at the time.
Afghan officials said further charges were pending against officials from the Kabul municipal government.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
India in Nuclear Deal With Russia
Russia and India have signed an agreement to increase their civilian nuclear energy co-operation.
The announcement came after talks between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow.
Russia will build a number of nuclear reactors in energy-hungry India as well as increase atomic fuel exports to it.
Russian reports suggested progress had also been made on India’s purchase of a refurbished former aircraft carrier.
The sale of the Soviet-era Admiral Gorshkov was agreed years ago but delivery has been long delayed.
Kremlin sources gave no timing for when the vessel might be handed over to India’s military.
‘Great potential’
Mr Singh called the nuclear deal “a major step forward”.
“Today we have signed an agreement which broadens the reach of our co-operation beyond the supply of nuclear reactors to areas of research and development and a whole range of areas of nuclear energy,” Mr Singh told a Kremlin news conference.
Mr Medvedev spoke of “great potential” in the two countries’ relations.
The head of Russia’s state nuclear agency Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, estimated the value of the deal at “several dozens of billion of dollars”.
He said the agreement could involve Russia building more than 12 nuclear reactors in India. Mr Singh put the number at four.
Russia is among a number of countries seeking to expand their activities in India following its landmark nuclear deal with the US in 2005.
That accord ended India’s nuclear isolation after it tested an atom bomb in 1974.
Mr Singh was due to meet Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin later on Monday.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Mangalore: Faction-Fight in Mosque — Two Sustain Serious Injuries
Mangalore, Dec 7: Two groups, one representing Sunni and the other, Jamaat-e-Islam-e-Hind, fought pitched battle in the mosque located in Bardila of Kuppepadav village within the Bajpe police station limits on Sunday December 6. Two persons, one with critical injuries to head, and the other with fractured leg, were admitted to private hospitals, after the incident. They have been identified as B C Mohammed and Fakruddin, both belonging to the Sunni group.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: 366 Killed in 7 Attacks Targeting Mosques in 2009
LAHORE: At least 366 innocent Pakistanis have been killed and 901 injured in the first 11 months of year 2009 in seven bloody incidents of terrorism across Pakistan, targeting mosques with the help of suicide bombers as well as explosive-laden vehicles.
According to the figures compiled by the Pakistani ministry of interior, 52 people were killed on average per month in the seven gory incidents, most of which were claimed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). On average, 33 people were killed every month in the mosque-related acts of terrorism in the first 11 months of the year 2009. The weekly and daily average for those killed during the same period comes to eight and one persons respectively. The odious ploy of targeting jam-packed mosques at prayer time is now increasingly being used by the Tehrik-e-Taliban as this has become a lethal way to create horror. According to the available data, over 50 mosques have been targeted since 9/11 either by the Pakistani Taliban or their like-minded jehadi groups like the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Harkatul Jehadul Islami (HUJI), Jaish-e- Mohammad (JeM) and Jamaatul Furqaan.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Taliban: New Wall Bombs
From Dutch: the Taliban have started using a new type of bombs — wall bombs. These bombs are set up when a patrol passes, and is expected to pass back. When the patrol steps over the trigger wire, the bomb hidden inside the nearby wall explodes.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
North Korea Currency Change Sparks Panic
North Koreans are “devastated” following currency reforms that could wipe out their savings, reports say.
Ordinary people are reported to be desperately trying to buy as many goods as they can with the old currency while it is still valid.
The government told its people on Monday that it was knocking two noughts off the nominal value of banknotes.
Experts say this will help tackle inflation and increase officials’ control over an already impoverished population.
They say the Pyongyang government particularly wants to rein in the activities of free markets that have sprung up across North Korea.
Economic hardship
The North Korean government was initially quiet about the reform — telling its own people, but not the rest of the world.
But on Friday South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said a Japan-based newspaper with links to the North had confirmed the news.
Yonhap quoted an interview the newspaper had conducted with a North Korean central bank official.
The North Korean banker said international sanctions, natural disasters and the fall of the communist bloc had created economic hardship.
This has forced the North to adjust its currency, Yonhap quoted the official as saying.
Under the new system, an old 1,000 North Korean won note will now be worth just 10 won.
[…]
Park Sang-hak, a North Korean defector now living in the South, said: “My contacts [in North Korea] called me to say North Korean people are in despair, crying and shouting — just like a war.”
Some reports say the North Korean authorities raised the amount of money that can be exchanged following the complaints.
Fighting inflation
Another defector, Kim Woon-ho, said people were “devastated” when they heard the news, which apparently came as a surprise.
“Complaints are mounting because the North Korean government is taking money away from its people,” said Mr Kim, who only left the North for the South this year.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Climate Email Mess Hits Australia
LONDON: Australian weather records for an international database on climate change were a “bloody mess”, riddled with entry errors, duplication and inaccuracies, leaked British computer files reveal.
The Herald found the criticism in a 247-page specialist programmer’s log, unearthed among the thousands of files hacked from East Anglia University, which is at the centre of a climate change email scandal.
Labelled “HARRY-READ-ME”, the log catalogues problems with the raw, historical climate data sent from hundreds of meteorological stations around the world.
The Australian data comes in for particular criticism as the programmer discovers World Meteorological Organisation codes are missing, station names overlap and many co-ordinates are incorrect.
At one point the programmer writes about his attempts to make sense of the data. “What a bloody mess,” he concludes. In another case, 30 years of data is attributed to a site at Cobar Airport but the frustrated programmer writes: “Now looking at the dates. something bad has happened … COBAR AIRPORT AWS [automatic weather station] cannot start in 1962, it didn’t open until 1993!”
In another he says: “Getting seriously fed up with the state of the Australian data … so many false references … so many changes … bewildering.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Mogadishu Demonstrators Protest Shebab
Hundreds of people marched in Mogadishu Monday to protest the Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab group, which many blame for a suicide bomb that killed 24 people last week. The group has denied involvement.
People set fire to flags with the Shebab group colours, and chanted slogans against the group.
The march left from the hotel where the attack took place last week. A suicide bomb exploded during a graduation ceremony at the hotel, killing 24 people, including three government ministers and three journalists.
This was the first public protest against the group in Mogadishu, as people risk being killed in retaliation if they publically oppose the movement.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Pirate Payoffs Feed Big-Money Lifestyle in Somalia
A parcel of land here that sold for $12,000 two years ago now costs more than $20,000.. The price of a nice pair of men’s shoes has gone up from $20 to $50.
The reason: pirates.
The influx of millions of dollars in ransoms has changed life in this coastal Muslim community, driving prices up and creating a schism between the pirate haves and have-nots. As piracy ramps up again with the end of the monsoon season, the lifestyle of the pirates — big houses, fast cars and easy drugs — is decried by both religious leaders and ordinary villagers.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Sudan SPLM Arrests Spark Southern Unrest
Protesters set alight the office of Sudan President Omar al-Bashir’s party in a southern town after three southern politicians were arrested in Khartoum.
There were no reports of casualties at the National Congress Party (NCP) building in Wau, and police later freed the three politicians.
The SPLM joined the government in 2005, ending a 22-year north-south conflict.
But tensions between the SPLM and their power-sharing partner the NCP have been rising ahead of next year’s elections.
‘We want freedom’
The vote will be the first presidential, parliamentary and local elections in 24 years.
Monday is the final day for voters to register for the election, and the government declared it a public holiday in an effort to encourage a good turnout.
But the SPLM and the NCP have failed to agree on changes to the election laws.
And about 20 opposition parties called for a gathering in front of the parliament building in the capital to demand electoral reform.
Hundreds of demonstrators turned out, watched by lines of armed police.
The AFP news agency reported that demonstrators marched through Khartoum and its neighbouring city Omdurman waving placards and chanting: “We want our freedom.”
As the protest grew — with some reports estimating thousands of people had joined the rally — police fired tear gas and beat the protesters with batons.
SPLM secretary general Pagan Amum was arrested along with his deputy Yasir Arman and Abbas Gumma, a state minister in the interior ministry.
Reports said dozens of other protesters were detained.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Brazil: Muslim Numbers Soar in Latin America’s Islamic Resurgence
“ALLAH Akbar” blares from the loudspeakers as hundreds of Muslims file into the mosque for prayers. Outside, halal meat stores line the street as in Damascus, Cairo or Baghdad, but this is the working-class neighbourhood of Bras in Sao Paulo, Brazil — the heart of Islam’s Latin American rebirth.
Brazil is experiencing an Islamic boom, with reliable estimates indicating that the Muslim population has increased from a few hundred thousand to 1.5 million this decade alone, out of a total population of 190 million. This is clear as mosques emerge throughout the country, some financed by Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Police Commit 20 Percent of Venezuela Crimes-Minister
CARACAS, Venezuela-Up to one out of every five crimes in Venezuela is perpetrated by crooked police officers, Interior Minister Tareck El Aisammi said Sunday on President Hugo Chavez’s weekly radio show.
The official said police officers accounted for 15-20 percent of all crimes, notably major felonies such as kidnapping and murder.
| — Hat tip: Esther | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuelan Government Takes Over Farms
Venezuelan officials supported by troops and police took control of 31 farms totaling more than 48,000 acres (19,000 hectares) on Nov. 23, accusing owners of not holding proper titles or not putting the land to adequate use.
Agriculture Minister Elias Jaua announced the government’s interventions at farms across the country and insisted it was acting legally.
The affected land included a ranch belonging to former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales, a prominent opponent of President Hugo Chavez who earlier this year fled to Peru and was granted asylum.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela Shuts 3 Banks, Escalates Intervention
Venezuela escalated its intervention in the banking sector Friday, with government officials shutting down three small banks following the closure of four others earlier this week.
Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez attempted to calm depositors by saying the sector isn’t facing a crisis, though problems are clearly evident among some of the country’s smallest lenders.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela Widens Purge of Bankers With New Arrest
CARACAS, Dec 6 (Reuters) — Venezuela on Sunday widened a police sweep against executives from seven troubled banks shut down despite their links with top government officials — a move likely to win support for leftist President Hugo Chavez.
Police arrested the director of the Banco Real, Giuzel Mileira, bringing to six the number of bankers in custody.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Danes’ Anti-Immigrant Backlash Marks Radical Shift
by Sylvia Poggioli
An anti-immigrant backlash, bordering on xenophobia, is sweeping across Europe. Sentiments once associated with ultra right-wing parties are becoming mainstream. Many taboos are being broken — nowhere more starkly than in Denmark — the erstwhile poster child of the welcoming and nurturing welfare state.
Earlier this year, that haven of solidarity and liberalism was shaken by violent protests and deaths in the Muslim world over cartoons of Mohammed that were published in a Danish paper. Suddenly, Danes began to see their own Muslim immigrants as a threat to their national identity.
The cartoon crisis hit hard in the Copenhagen commune of Christiania, a bastion of the counterculture where freedom of speech is the paramount value.
Sculptor/welder Charlotte Steem, one of the commune’s 800 residents, says the violence with which some Muslims reacted to the Mohammed cartoons has undermined many of her convictions.
“There are a lot of things I don’t understand in [the] Muslim world,” Steem says. She recognizes the free society of her country but says she doesn’t know whether borders can remain open.
Only a few years ago, Denmark was proud of its open-door policy, and even the mildest critique of immigration would have been labeled racist.
But the mood shifted after Sept. 11, and the terrorist attacks in Europe. After many years of leftist rule, a right-wing government came to power, introducing Europe’s toughest immigration laws.
It also introduced restrictions aimed at curbing forced marriages among Muslims.
Today, the Danish political discourse is no longer stifled by political correctness. The tone can even be inflammatory. One politician has called for the internment of some Muslim radicals in Denmark for security reasons.
And last year, a radio station went so far as to call for the extermination of all radical Muslims.
The difficulty of integrating Muslims who don’t share Western values is the No.1 topic of discussion.
Currently, the nation’s best-selling book is called Islamists and Naivists.
“We compare Islamism to Nazism and communism because they are all three of them a totalitarian ideology,” says Karen Jespersen, who co-wrote the book with her husband, Ralf Pittlekow.
Their politically incorrect analysis would suggest they’re right-wingers. But they’re diehard Social Democrats — proud veterans of the student protests of the 1960s.
Jespersen, a feminist and a former interior minister in charge of immigration issues, says the radicals’ goal is the Islamization of Europe. When she was in government, many Muslims told her they were not free to adapt to Western society.
“In the parallel society, they use the term ‘Muslim police,’“ she says. “They are trying to control the more moderate Muslims. If they see their daughters talking to boys, then they go to the fathers and say, ‘I saw your girl talking to a boy, and how can you let her? You have to stop it immediately.’“
The concept of the cradle-to-grave welfare state is so deeply embedded in the Danish psyche that even the conservatives don’t dare touch it. But many Danes say their social pact has been undermined by the large inflow of immigrants — many of whom don’t share Danish civic values and, they say, prefer to live on the dole rather than work for the minimum wage.
“A welfare state can only function if there are restrictions on the border,” says Soren Espersen, a leading member of the right-wing Danish People’s Party, which has had increasing electoral success running on an anti-immigration platform.
The government depends on the party’s parliamentary support to pass bills.
Espersen points out that thanks to new laws, annual immigration has declined to 2,000 last year from 27,000 in 2001. Asylum for refugees has also dropped sharply.
Despite promoting Europe’s harshest immigration law, the DPP rejects being identified with the racism and anti-Semitism associated with French ultra right-wing politician Jean-Marie Le Pen. It’s radical Islam, Espersen says, that today represents the extreme right.
And the only way to combat it is through integration and education, he says.
Commentator David Trads says there is such a broad political consensus that the DPP has become mainstream.
“We want as few new immigrants as possible,” Trads says. “This is new; this is not how it was five years ago.”
One of parliament’s most vocal opponents of Islamic radicals is Syrian-born Naser Khader, who says the integration debate is roiling among Muslims themselves.
Khader says many Muslims in Europe want to break their ties with their land of origin and declare their loyalty to their new Western homelands.
“But the Islamists don’t like this,” he says. “They want the mullahs and imams in Muslim countries [to] decide what the Muslims in Europe should do.”
Khader insists that Islam and the West are not grappling with a clash of civilizations.
“It is clash between ideologies, democracy and not democracy,” he says. “Between those who want democracy, modernity, respect for human rights, equality between gender, and the others who want the opposite.”
Khader says it will be a long battle and won’t be won during his lifetime.
| — Hat tip: The Frozen North | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Immigrant Criminals Cost £292m to Lock Up
THE cost of locking up foreign prisoners has soared to £292million.
There are 7,500 immigrant crooks swamping British jails, the Ministry of Justice has revealed.
Foreign offenders now account for one in every 10 lags. Phil Woolas, the Borders and Immigration Minister, denied giving up on deporting them.
He said: “Our Facilitated Returns Scheme saves the taxpayer money because foreign criminals are removed direct from jail or immigration detention.”
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Want to Sneak Into U.S.? There’s an App for That
American college prof develops cell-phone tool to help illegals cross border
Illegal aliens crossing the U.S.-Mexico border now have a cell-phone tool to chart the best route, find food and locate people who will help them enter the country — courtesy of a professor at a state-funded university.
Ricardo Dominguez, a University of California, San Diego tenured visual arts professor and activist, designed the Transborder Immigrant Tool, an application much like a global-positioning system used in cars, to help illegals find the best locations for food, water and groups to assist them as they sneak into America.
Dominguez is also co-founder of the Electronic Disturbance Theater, or EDT, a group that developed virtual-sit-in technologies in 1998 in solidarity with the Zapatista communities in Chiapas, Mexico. He also helped set up a website-jamming network called the FloodNet system to attack official sites of the U.S. Border Patrol, White House, G8, Mexican embassy and others.
[…]
But Jim Gilchrist, founder and president of the Minuteman Project, told WND the tool goes a step further.
“It helps illegals avoid all of the Border Patrol hot spots,” he said. “It helps them to illegally infiltrate the United States.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Minarets and the Concept of Reciprocity
The mainstream media continue to decry the Swiss referendum on minarets. To date, The New York Times has published one editorial and five additional articles on the subject, including one today. Perhaps The Paper of Record views the 30% of the electorate who actually voted in Switzerland as traitors to their own multicultural, anti-racist, politically correct belief system.
The problem is that the Islamic world today does not share this hallowed belief system. Actually, it never did. Rather, it has destroyed or built over synagogues, churches, and temples, and denied that such infidel places of worship ever existed. Note the fevered Palestinian attempts to claim the Temple Mount, where once the ancient Jewish Temple stood, as really “Islamic.”
The Islamic world does not allow new synagogues or churches to be built. Further: Muslim fundamentalists currently persecute, torture, and murder those Christians who dare remain in the Middle East, and they kidnap, forcibly convert, and “marry” their very young daughters.
It is time to demand—or at least to expect—reciprocity. Otherwise, we are really being racist in having one (higher) standard for Westerners and another (much lower) standard for the barbarians.
Granted: The West is not as barbaric and intolerant as the Islamic world; we do not willingly wish to become intolerant. Yet, tolerating the intolerant is unwise, or as the Jewish sages tell us: Being kind to the cruel results in cruelty to the kind.
Thus, if there can be no churches or synagogues built in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc.—then why should the Swiss or the Europeans allow new, blockbuster size mosques, and sound-splitting loudspeakers emanating from minarets? According to Imam Kurdi, writing in the Arab News,
“And let’s not be hypocrites. If you held a referendum in a Muslim country asking whether the construction of new church steeples should be permitted, you are also likely to get an overwhelming no. So let us not brand this a Swiss phenomenon and let us also remember that it is not the majority of the Swiss population that supported the ban but the majority of those who voted, which if you do the maths comes to 30 percent of the population.” (Thanks to Esther for bringing this to my attention.)
Let me clear. I am one of those westerners who has “dreamed East.” And, as a Jew, I have an undeniably dangerous but familial kinship with Arabs and Muslims. I find the Muslim call to prayer beautiful—but only if I refuse to understand that, as an infidel, an American citizen and patriot, a Jew, a woman, and a Zionist, that my place inside that mosque is that of a sub-human, fair-game target for hatred or worse.
Jews in exile from Arab and Muslim countries have launched a beautiful, haunted literature, one in which they manifest nostalgia for the places which endangered them and forced them to flee. Often, the danger is minimized, the customs romanticized. I am thinking of Andre Aciman, Roya Hakakian, and Lucette Lagnado.
I am in favor of interfaith gatherings. Peaceful voices are sweet to my ears and yet: telling the truth is far sweeter than lying. The truth is:
Mosque and minaret building in Europe probably represent a refusal to integrate; a refusal to separate mosque and state. Perhaps it also signifies an intention to one day vote in Shari’a law as the law of the European land.
It is cause for concern.
| [Return to headlines] |
Spy vs. Spy on Facebook
Crane says that the team’s decision to spread the wealth was instrumental to its success, as it gave people an incentive to share good information, and a feeling of investment in the process. He was less interested in the monetary prize than in the potential for social research.
“On the science side, we’re scratching the surface of this tremendous new system” of social networks. “With this data set we have the potential to understand how to face — and exploit — the challenges that come with living in this interconnected world.”
The practical possibilities of the Network Challenge go far beyond a research lab. Already the powers of social networks are well documented: Earlier this year, information about violence in Iran continued to be dispersed through Twitter even after traditional news sources were squelched. Crane wonders what types of applications might result from data about information dispersal collected this weekend: “Could we design an alert system to help us find missing children? Could we redesign the incentive structure for police rewards?”
DARPA officials plan to meet with participants throughout the week to debrief them on their strategies.
Not everyone believes their motives are pure. After all, what would an intersection between the government and the Internet be without a few conspiracy theories?
“Looks to me that ‘someone’ has lost a balloon with something very important in it, and now is making all this fiction to promote it’s prompt finding,” wrote a commenter on NewScientist.com.
Crane says that the team’s decision to spread the wealth was instrumental to its success, as it gave people an incentive to share good information, and a feeling of investment in the process. He was less interested in the monetary prize than in the potential for social research.
“On the science side, we’re scratching the surface of this tremendous new system” of social networks. “With this data set we have the potential to understand how to face — and exploit — the challenges that come with living in this interconnected world.”
The practical possibilities of the Network Challenge go far beyond a research lab. Already the powers of social networks are well documented: Earlier this year, information about violence in Iran continued to be dispersed through Twitter even after traditional news sources were squelched. Crane wonders what types of applications might result from data about information dispersal collected this weekend: “Could we design an alert system to help us find missing children? Could we redesign the incentive structure for police rewards?”
DARPA officials plan to meet with participants throughout the week to debrief them on their strategies.
Not everyone believes their motives are pure. After all, what would an intersection between the government and the Internet be without a few conspiracy theories?
“Looks to me that ‘someone’ has lost a balloon with something very important in it, and now is making all this fiction to promote it’s prompt finding,” wrote a commenter on NewScientist.com.
| — Hat tip: MJP | [Return to headlines] |
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