Tarik Kafala, a senior executive at the BBC, says that the word “terrorist” should not be used to describe the mujahideen who killed seventeen people in Paris earlier this month. According to him, the word is loaded and undefined. He says reporters should simply describe what happened, and avoid the value judgments.
In other news, the Department of Defense has announced an essay contest to honor the memory of Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the late king of Saudi Arabia. The competition will be hosted at the National Defense University in Washington D.C.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Diana West, ESW, Fjordman, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, KGS, Nick, Papa Whiskey, Phyllis Chesler, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Bookmakers Slash Odds on Greece Leaving the Euro
Bookmakers slashed the odds on Greece abandoning the euro after an anti-austerity coalition swept to power on Monday, with one of the companies even suspending betting.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ECB ‘Cannot Create Growth’, Warns Top Official
The ECB has “done its part” by promising to buy government bonds but can do “nothing” to lift the European economy in a “lasting way”. Speaking at the World Economic Forum Saturday, ECB executive board member Benoit Coeure added that governments needed to “do their part” to kick-start economic activity.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Euroflop: Europe Dilutes the Euro
by Peter Martino
Every criminal printing money can now argue in court that he should be given a medal for “stimulating the economy.”
The refusal of some European countries, such as France, to tackle their high debt level and lack of competitiveness, is now also affecting the non-eurozone.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Euro Membership Depends on Complying With Agreements: Dijsselbloem
Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem warned Greece Monday that its euro membership depended on Athens sticking to prior agreements, after the radical left Syriza party won elections with a vow to renegotiate its debts.
“Membership of the eurozone means that you comply with everything you have agreed with,” Dijsselbloem said as he arrived for talks of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels. “On that basis, we’re ready to work with them.”
Syriza and its 40-year-old leader Alexis Tsipras took 149 seats in the 300-seat parliament in Sunday’s election, putting the country on a collision course with its international creditors, especially Germany.
Dijsselbloem played down suggestions that any compromise with Greece could include striking out some of the debts it incurred in exchange for a massive 240-billion-euro ($269 billion) EU-IMF bailout, as Tspiras has vowed.
Greek’s debt load stands at a colossal 175 percent of GDP, which many believe is unsustainable.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Japan Trade Deficit Expands to a Record $109 Bn in 2014
Japan’s trade deficit swelled to a record $109 billion in 2014, official data showed Monday, weighed down by post-Fukushima energy bills.
The shortfall of 12,781 billion yen ($109 billion) was up 11.4 percent from the 2013 deficit and the worst since records began in 1979, according to the finance ministry.
In December alone, however, the deficit almost halved from the year before’s level to 660.7 billion yen, thanks to lower oil prices.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
David Clarke, Wisconsin Sheriff: ‘Al Sharpton Ought to Go Back Into the Gutter He Came From’
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke didn’t pull any punches in his assessment of the Rev. Al Sharpton — who vowed to keep fighting for justice for slain Ferguson teen Michael Brown, despite the feds’ decision to drop a civil rights investigation — and characterized him on national television as less than intelligent and unworthy of respect.
“The grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, got it right,” Sheriff Clarke said, during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.” “Officer (Darren) Wilson has been exonerated. The thing I want to know is how does he get his reputation back?”
Sheriff Clarke then directed anger at Mr. Sharpton, who spoke sharply in the wake of Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision not to prosecute Mr. Wilson, a former police officer, on civil rights charges.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The 41-year-old Columbus-area man was armed with several knives when he used a woman’s ID to try and buy a plane ticket Wednesday afternoon, police said. When he returned to his illegally parked car, Abdul-Rasheed lunged at cops with a knife before being shot several times, officials said.
| [Return to headlines] |
Obama to Visit Saudi King Salman After Curbing Domestic Oil Expansion
Barack Obama didn’t have time to travel to France in observance of the Charlie Hebdo massacre. He doesn’t have time to meet with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, either.But it seems Obama is willing to make time to visit Saudi Arabia — and bearing quite a gift in the process.
He’s traveling to Saudi Arabia Tuesday “to meet with new King Salman to pay respects after the death of King Abdullah,” and announcing the closing down of even more domestic oil production potential while on his way there. Usually Obama waits until he’s face-to-face to bow to a Saudi king. This time it appears he took care of the formality well in advance.
[Taking his “Tom show” to the center of the Muslim world. Obscene. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Op-Ed: NY Times Lethal Anti-Israel Journalism Strikes Again
by Phyllis Chesler
Like the White House, the New York Times is potentially guilty of incitement to genocide and defamation; certainly, they are guilty of slanting the news about Israel in every way possible.
This time, the Paper of Propaganda, has published a 1250 word piece that takes up three columns on page A4 and another three columns on page A9—and it has four photos as well.
Even as the Muslim and Arab worlds are on fire; even as Syria has displaced three million refugees; even as Islamic Sunni terrorists have massacred other Muslims, and have tortured Yazidi women and girls; even as Muslim terrorists are massacring civilians in the West—Rudoren has chosen to feature, in a high profile way, the regrets of IDF soldiers who fought in the 1967 war of self-defense. Now, some claim they have been “censored” and that the “abuses” they committed have haunted them ever since.
| — Hat tip: Phyllis Chesler | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon Creates Essay Contest to Honor Saudi King
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey has established an essay competition to honor the late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the Pentagon announced Monday.
The competition, to be hosted at the National Defense University over the next academic year, will focus on issues related to the Arab and Muslim worlds, according to the official DOD News.
“This is an important opportunity to honor the memory of the king, while also fostering scholarly research on the Arab-Muslim world, and I can think of no better home for such an initiative than NDU,” Dempsey said in a statement.
Abdullah, 90, who ruled since 2005 and was the power behind the throne of his ailing predecessor, King Fahd bin Abdulaziz for a decade before that, died late Thursday and was succeeded by his brother and crown prince, Salman bin Abdulaziz…
| — Hat tip: Diana West | [Return to headlines] |
The Parisian extremists who murdered 17 people in a series of attacks including the Charlie Hebdo massacre should not be called ‘terrorists’, a senior BBC executive has said.
Tarik Kafala, who runs BBC Arabic, said the term ‘terrorist’ was too ‘loaded’ and ‘value-laden’ to describe Said and Cherif Kouachi and their accomplice Amedy Coulibaly.
The Kouachi brothers shot dead 12 at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris and Coulibaly killed four at a Kosher deli after shooting dead a policewoman.
All three were eventually shot dead by French special forces after the Islamists all burst out of their hideouts two weeks ago.
Mr Kafalam runs the BBC’s largest non-English language TV, radio and online news services, which have a weekly audience of 36million people.
He told The Independent: ‘We try to avoid describing anyone as a terrorist or an act as being terrorist. What we try to do is to say that ‘two men killed 12 people in an attack on the office of a satirical magazine’. That’s enough.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
Council Worker Suspended Over ‘Kick Islam Out of Britain’ Facebook Post
Town hall bosses take action after IT technician Dave Balderstone replied to British National Party message with Islamophobic comment
A town hall worker has been suspended after posting an Islamophobic comment on Facebook.
Dave Balderstone, 46, replied to a British National Party post with the message: ‘Kick Islam out of Britain — we need our country back.’
Manchester council bosses took action last week after a member of the public contacted the M.E.N. in disgust.
Mr Balderstone, of Manley Road, Chorlton, has now been suspended from his position as an IT support technician while the post is investigated.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Cable Thieves Mess Up DSB Morning Commute Again
Cable thieves are once again making it tough for Monday morning commuters to get to work. Employees from Banedanmark worked through last night to replace the stolen cables on the Køge Bugt line, but the work is not quite finished and several train lines are affected.
Last night’s cable theft comes just two days after a similar theft on the Køge Bugt line just two days ago.
The thieves look for places where valuable copper cables are still in use. Banedanmark replaces the copper strands with less-sought-after aluminium when thieves strike.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Syriza Win Means EU Needs ‘Flexibility, Respect’
Italian foreign minister urges ‘realistic’ talks with Greece
(ANSA) — Rome, January 26 — Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Monday the European Union must respect the result of Sunday’s elections in Greece, won by leftwing anti-austerity party Syriza.
“Two keywords are needed now in Europe,” the minister said.
“Respect for democracy when a country votes…and flexibility”.
The Greek election result “undoubtedly goes towards fulfilling the demand for an end to rigidity that Italy has also posited — as long as it is managed via realistic, flexible negotiations by both the EU and Greece,” Gentiloni added.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Tsipras Triumphs, “Troika is Over, Austerity Failed”
But Syriza does not have absolute majority, neo-Nazis third
(by Patrizio Nissirio) (ANSAmed) — ATHENS, JANUARY 26 — It is a victory that feels historic: Alexis Tsipras and his anti-austerity left-wing party Syriza have triumphed in key political elections in Greece, falling just short of an outright majority of seats. With 99.81% of votes counted, the party has obtained 36.34% and 149 seats.
The vote could have the impact of an earthquake on EU economic policies and even on the entire European path over the coming years. “Hope has won”, wrote Syriza on its Twitter account, changing its pre-election slogan “Hope is arriving”.
Late last night, facing a delirious crowd, a beaming and determined Tsipras used all the words of his winning electoral, celebrating the collective victory of Greeks. “Citizens of Athens, Greece has turned a new page. Today the Greek people have made history. Let’s make the sun shine over Greece again”.
“Today we close the vicious circle of austerity. Hope, dignity, optimism have returned”, he continued, thanking delegations from all over Europe that had come to support Greeks, including a large one from Italy. “This is unprecedented”.
“The Greeks have shown the road for change to Europe, a new Europe based on solidarity: the troika is a thing of the past.
The vote against austerity has been loud and clear”. The new Greek government, he assured nevertheless, will negotiate “a just and advantageous solution for all sides”, ready “to cooperate with all the European friends” to make “Europe return to stability and growth”. “But tomorrow will be the day of diligence. Tonight is the time to celebrate”.
Austerity policies promoted by the government of Premier Antonis Samaras, with the support of Pasok of Evangelos Venizelos, have been shattered by the vote after they impoverished Greece more than creating employment and growth.
Both parties were crushed by the election, which has cast a shadow over their political future. Well behind Syriza, which totalled 149 seats and 36.34% of the vote (as many as 10 points more than in previous political elections in 2012), Nea Dimokratia only garnered 27.7% of the vote and 75 seats. Golden Dawn ranked third with 6.28% (17 seats). Potami (center-left) obtained 6.05% (17). The Communists of Kke won 15 seats, Independent Greeks (center-right) got 4.75% and 13 seats and Pasok (Socialists) 4.68% (13 seats). Along with a low turnout — almost 40% did not head to the polls — the vote was also marked by another strong and worrying signal: the xenophobic Golden Dawn party, which is openly pro-Nazi, conquered enough votes to become the third-largest party in the country although all its leaders are currently in jail (where they voted) after being shaken by investigations for setting up a criminal organization. If a coalition became necessary, and Syriza and Nea Demokratia failed, the ball would fall into Nikos Michaloliakos’ court. He is still detained.
President Karolos Papoulias in that case would give him a mandate over the phone, according to well-informed sources.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Greek F16 Crash at Spanish NATO Base Kills at Least 10
During pilot training program
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, JANUARY 26 — At least 10 were killed and 13 injured including seven seriously in an accident Monday at the Las Lanos base in Albacete, when a Greek F16 crashed during a NATO pilot training program, TVE quoted a defense ministry source as saying. The aircraft went down during the take-off stage.
The Chief of the Air Staff, General Francisco Javier García Arnáiz, has gone to the base and Defense Minister Pedro Morenes is expected to arrive in the coming hours. The F16 crashed in the training area of the base used for NATO pilot training, and thus the casualties are assumed to be of different nationalities. The two pilots of the Greek aircraft, whose names have not been released, were among those killed.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Tells Jihadists to Strike ‘Everywhere in Europe’, SITE
Spokesman renews call for ‘lone-wolf’ attacks
(ANSAmed) — ROME, JANUARY 26 — The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization has called on its followers in Europe to carry out attackers on “crusaders in their territory” and wherever they are found. The call was made by ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad Al-Adnani, reports the SITE Intelligence Group website. The message is entitled “Die in Your Rage”. Adnani tells jihadists to take as an example what a “single Muslim” was able to do in Canada and its Parliament, and what other “brothers” had done in recent months in France, Australia and Belgium. The reference was to terrorist attacks in recent months.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ceci Cellars Dedicates Lambrusco Wine to Pope Francis
Bottle garnished with Swarovski crystals, white velvet
(ANSA) — Bologna, January 21 — Ceci Cellars dedicated a bottle of its Otello Nerodi Lambrusco wine to Pope Francis to mark the pontiff’s audience with important Italian wine producers on Wednesday.
Crafted by the winemaker from Torrile, near Parma, the bottle was wrapped in white velvet, imprinted with the Vatican State seal, and, in a nod to the Vatican’s flag, had the pope’s name written in yellow Swarovski crystals.
The papal audience, which also included oenologists, sommeliers, journalists and representatives of Italy’s gourmet associations, was organized by Franco Ricci, president of the Italian Sommelier Foundation.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Tax-Dodge Trial Requested for Rocker Giannini
Singer-songwriter accused of evading 3.75 mn euros
(ANSA) — Milan, January 21 — Milan prosecutors on Wednesday asked that rocker Gianna Nannini be sent to trial for allegedly evading 3.75 million euros in taxes. A preliminary hearing was set for March 3.
Nannini, 60, is the elder sister of former Formula One racing driver Alessandro Nannini. The singer-songwriter, probably best known for her 1986 song, ‘Bello e Impossibile’ (Handsome and Impossible), has had hits in various European countries.
Among her international collaborations, in 1987 she performed Brecht and Weill’s Threepenny Opera with Sting and Jack Bruce in Hamburg. In 1990 she and Edoardo Bennato sang ‘Un’Estate Italiana’ (An Italian Summer), the official song of the soccer World Cup Italia ‘90. In September 2006 she recorded the single ‘Ama Credi e Vai’ (Love, Believe and Go) with Andrea Bocelli.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ex-MPS Chief: Ex-Siena Mayor Indicted for Amato Pasta Fraud
Ex-House finance panel chair also sent to trial
(ANSA) — Salerno, January 21 — The former chairman of Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) bank, Giuseppe Mussari, was among 14 people sent to trial Wednesday for the alleged fraudulent bankruptcy of the Salerno-based Amato pasta maker.
Former Siena mayor Franco Ceccuzzi and the former chair of the House finance committee, Paolo Del Mese, were also indicted.
The other defendants are 11 members of the board of the Banca della Campania bank. The trial is set to start April 16.
Mussari is involved in several other cases stemming from his time at MPS, the world’s oldest bank.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Trial Requested for Maradona for Tax Defamation
Soccer great says was victim of Equitalia persecution
(ANSA) — Rome, January 21 — Rome prosecutors on Wednesday requested that former Napoli and Argentina soccer great Diego Maradona be indicted for allegedly defaming the former head of Italian tax collection agency Equitalia, Attilio Befera.
Maradona is involved in a long-standing dispute with the Italian tax authorities, who say he owes them around 40 million euros. In 2012 he said he was the victim of persecution by Equitalia.
The dispute regards alleged unpaid taxes on off-the-books earnings in sponsorship and merchandising deals in his late 1980s glory-day earnings with Napoli and interest on that income.
Maradona, who played for the Italian club between 1984 and 1991, is revered in Naples for helping the city’s soccer team win two Serie A titles and the UEFA Cup.
The former player had a diamond-studded earring and a Rolex watch seized, among other assets, on past visits to Italy.
Befera was also head of Italy’s inland revenue agency, from 2008 to 2014.
A court will now decide whether to send the 54-year-old to trial.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Convicted Paparazzi Agent Pleads Poor Mental Health
Fabrizio Corona asks to serve rest of 9-year sentence at home
(ANSA) — Milan, January 22 — Fabrizio Corona, Italy’s most famous paparazzi agent, on Thursday made a passionate plea with judges to be allowed to serve the rest of a nearly 9-year sentence for two separate convictions at home on grounds of his poor mental state.
“I’m not well, I have serious psychological problems and I ask you to give me a chance,” Corona was quoted by one of his lawyers as saying. The prosecutor stated his opposition to the request and the judges are expected to make a ruling within 10 days. Earlier Corona’s lawyers said their client was suffering from anxiety, depression and panic attacks in the Milan jail where he has been imprisoned for over two years. He still has six years eight months to run following convictions in 2013 relating to the fraudulent bankruptcy of his once high-flying photography agency Corona’s and the blackmail of VIPs with compromising photographs.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Social Security Scam Totals Over 1 Mn Euros
Employer allegedly falsely hired 475 workers, didn’t pay taxes
(ANSA) — Sibari, January 21 — Finance police uncovered a social security scam totalling 1,200,000 euros and issued citations to 475 farm workers on Wednesday, police said.
A local agricultural businessman allegedly falsely hired the workers, which enabled them to receive government social security and welfare benefits despite the fact that for 36,000 work days no employer tax contributions were made, investigators said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Prosecutors Seek Schettino Arrest, Request 26-Year Jail Term
Former captain of Concordia described as ‘incautious idiot’
(ANSA) — Grossetto, January 26 — Former cruise ship captain Francesco Schettino is a flight risk and should be jailed ahead of a court ruling on a prosecution request he be sentenced to 26 years in prison for the January 2012 Costa Concordia shipwreck in which 32 people died, prosecutors said Monday.
Prosecutor Maria Navarro requested that the Grosseto court order Schettino’s arrest, saying he had flight options outside of Italy including a house in Switzerland and many contacts abroad.
Schettino’s lawyer denied the suggestion his client, who faces multiple counts of manslaughter and dereliction of duty charges, would flee the country.
The prosecution request of 26 years in jail amounted to a life sentence, added defence lawyer Donato Laino.
In closing arguments to the court, prosecutor Stefano Pizza described Schettino as an “incautious idiot” in his behavior that allegedly caused the cruise ship to crash off the Tuscan island of Giglio as well as in the chaotic aftermath.
Schettino, dubbed Captain Coward by the media, took 4,200 passengers into danger by steering too close to the island rocks the massive liner struck in Italy’s worst postwar maritime disaster.
Pizza said Schettino combines two definitions found in legal doctrine: that of an “able idiot” or someone who “thinks he’s capable but provokes a dangerous situation and causes damage;” and an “incautious optimist” as someone who “optimistically overestimates his abilities”.
Ultimately, the lengthy list of charges against Schettino showed his actions constituted “monstrously gross negligence,” the prosecution said. High on that list was the fact that Schettino abandoned the sinking ship before all passengers had left the vessel, a crime in both nautical tradition and law, Pizza said. “The captain’s duty to abandon ship last isn’t just an obligation dictated by ancient maritime tradition, but is also a legal obligation designed to minimize injuries,” Pizza said.
During his trial last month, Schettino said that only God was above him when he was at the helm of a ship.
“I, as the commander, am the first after God,” Schettino said when asked about his actions after the cruise ship hit the rocks.
Schettino added that he delayed ordering the Concordia to be evacuated because he was frightened people would “dive into the sea” in panic.
Several experts have said lives would have been saved if the order to abandon ship had been given sooner.
“I wanted to get the ship as close to the island as possible,” Schettino told the Grosseto court in December. Schettino is the only person on trial after Costa Cruises and a number of crew members and company staff reached plea bargains with prosecutors.
During his December court testimony, he said that he steered the huge pleasure vessel close to Giglio Island to impress passengers for “business reasons”.
Schettino added he also wanted to give passengers a better view of the island and also salute his retired former commander Mario Palombo, who spends time on the island.
Some suggest he did the so-called “fly-by” to impress a Moldovan lover who was with him at the helm of the cruise ship at the time of the crash.
As commander, Schettino replied, he had the power to chart the ship’s course, adding that with his flyby “I killed three pigeons with one stone…paying homage to the island and Palombo,” while fulfilling what he called commercial demands.
Schettino denied he had been distracted by the imminent impact but claimed he was deceived by the “general silence” of his officers on the bridge of the vessel.
“One of the officers should have said to me ‘Commander, we are on the rocks,’ but instead there was a general silence,” Schettino said. The Concordia shipwreck injured hundreds and also claimed the life of a Spanish diver who died while on the salvage operation, taking the total death toll to 33.
The incident also caused massive economic damage for Costa Cruises and residents of Giglio Island, a popular tourist destination.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘L’Onda Di Maometto’ on Satire at Rome’s Teatro Argentina
Actors and journalists stage work written a year ago
(ANSAMed) — ROME, JANUARY 26 — Satire and the role of Western journalists in conflict zones is the focus of a work that will go on stage Monday evening at Teatro Argentina in the Italian capital. Directed by Piero Maccarinelli, the reading — part of ‘Scrittura del Presente’ — is of a text written a year ago by Alberto La Volpe, former director of TG2, and Livio Zanotti, reporter for state broadcaster RAI and others. Entitled ‘L’Onda di Maometto’ (‘Mohammed’s Wave’), consultancy was provided by the dramatist Stefania Porrino. “The text is inspired by a real incident,” La Volpe said, “a commercial that was aired on several foreign television channels announcing that a satirical film dedicated to (the Muslim prophet, Ed.) Mohammed would be made in the US, sparking violent reactions in several countries.” The commercial was not aired in Italy but it did serve to show two journalists how sensitive of an issue it was, spurring them to write a work for the theater, which in La Volpe’s words is “still an ‘agora’ wherein one can hold debate”. Given the recent attack on a satirical magazine in Paris and the killing of journalists by the Islamic State (ISIS), ‘L’Onda di Maometto’ is one of those works that anticipates reality. In the story, an Italian journalist is taken hostage in Pakistan by a group of Islamist terrorists after a film considered insulting to Prophet Mohammed is aired. “Today journalists are a valuable bartering tool. They make the headlines and are a source of negotiations. It was different in the past, when they would go around with a bulletproof vest with ‘Press’ written on it. Journalists were like those from the Red Cross and were protected,” La Volpe said. “Now the risk they run is extremely high, and this is why there are very few journalists in war zones. This is a result of terrorism,” he said. The work, which won the Permio Fersen, aims to increase the public’s questions. It ends with a television new director expressing a doubt as to “if another satire on Mohammed is made, what will we do? Will we broadcast it?”. How far satire can go is one of the issues raised. The work will be read by professional actors and journalists. The television news director will be Silvana Mazzocchi from the Repubblica daily and the deputy director Maurizio Mannoni from TG3. One of the professors of Islamic Studies who will mediate for the release of a kidnapped journalist will be Giancarlo Bosetti, director of Reset and a scholar of Islamic countries. Actors include Claudia Coli (the journalist taken hostage), Riccardo Sinibaldi (the hostage-taker), Laurence Mazzoni (cabinet undersecretary) and Riccardo Donadoni (another professor of Islamic Studies). In the background will be broken pencils, symbolizing those killed in the attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Krakow’s Jewish Community Builds a Future in Poland
Krakow’s Jewish community, once Poland’s biggest until it was decimated in World War II, is seeing a revival. DW’s Naomi Conrad reports on the struggle to change the perception of a city linked to the Holocaust.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Paris Attacks: Do Not Call Charlie Hebdo Killers ‘Terrorists’, BBC Says
The Islamists who committed the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris should be not be described as “terrorists” by the BBC, a senior executive at the corporation has said.
Tarik Kafala, the head of BBC Arabic, the largest of the BBC’s non-English language news services, said the term “terrorist” was too “loaded” to describe the actions of the men who killed 12 people in the attack on the French satirical magazine.
Mr Kafala said: “Terrorism is such a loaded word. The UN has been struggling for more than a decade to define the word and they can’t. It is very difficult to. We know what political violence is, we know what murder, bombings and shootings are and we describe them. That’s much more revealing, we believe, than using a word like terrorist which people will see as value-laden.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
PEGIDA Spokesman: We Are No Nazis
In exclusive Ynetnews interview, spokesperson of anti-Islamization grassroots initiative addresses Jewish world’s concerns about the movement, says ‘we want Jews and Israelis to feel safe in Europe.’
| — Hat tip: ESW | [Return to headlines] |
Poland ‘Disturbed’ By French ‘Russophilia’
Polish agriculture minister Marek Sawicki told press in Brussels Monday he is “disturbed” by French “Russophilia” after it started bilateral talks with Russia on relaxing its ban on French food exports. The European Commission has also outlined a plan to let member states make bilateral deals on food with Russia.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Poll Says 80% of French Want a Return to National Service
Some 80 percent of the French population want a return to compulsory national service in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, and see it as a useful tool for giving alienated youngsters “Republican values”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Scientists Are Mapping the Entire Danish Genome
A world first, scientists have mapped 30 individual genomes completely from scratch.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sun Denies Reports That Page Three Girls Have Disappeared
Tabloid publishes topless picture of Nicole from Bournemouth
(ANSA) — Rome, January 22 — Tabloid newspaper the Sun published a picture of a topless woman on its page three on Thursday in apparent mockery of recent media reports that the 44-year-old feature had disappeared.
Sister newspaper the Times reported Tuesday that The Sun’s topless Page Three girls had been dropped after publisher Rupert Murdoch bowed to pressure from campaign groups. The tabloid neither confirmed nor denied the report, however. And in what observers described as an act of ‘mischief’, on Thursday the Sun featured a topless photograph of Nicole, 22, from Bournemouth, under the headline ‘Clarifications and Corrections’.
It also apologised on behalf of “the print and broadcast journalists who have spent the last two days talking and writing about us.” A trail on the front page read ‘We’ve had a mammary lapse’.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Criticised by UN for Hate Crimes
Sweden needs to do more to protect human rights at home, according to the United Nation’s Human Rights Council, meeting in Geneva.
The UN organisation says more needs to be done to combat hate crimes against muslims and Roma, as well as other forms of ethnic discrimination. Several member states also raised sexual violence and excessive violence by the Swedish police as issues that also need to be dealt with by the Swedish government.
Annika Söder, State Secretary at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, represented Sweden at the meeting.
“It is always important to get opinions and criticism”, she said, “one thing many countries brought up was discrimination and different ‘phobias’ like islamophobia. They are things that I think many countries have problems with themselves and would like to be rid of”, she said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Democrats Elect Jomshof as Party Chair
Sweden’s third biggest party is to get a new party chairman. The xenophobic Sweden Democrats have chosen Rikard Jomshof, one of the tight group around leader Jimmie Åkesson. He replaces deputy speaker Björn Söder, who steps down from the post after a decade.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: We Must Not Call Charlie Hebdo Killers Terrorists, Says BBC Boss
Tarik Kafala, the head of BBC Arabic, the largest of the BBC’s non-English language news services, said the term “terrorist” was seen as “value-laden” and should not be used to describe the actions of the men who killed 12 people in the attack on the French satirical magazine.
“We try to avoid describing anyone as a terrorist or an act as being terrorist,” Mr Kafala told The Independent.
“What we try to do is to say that ‘two men killed 12 people in an attack on the office of a satirical magazine’. That’s enough, we know what that means and what it is.”
| [Return to headlines] |
‘Will Exploit New EU Flexibility Rules’ Says Padoan
New rules allow for deducting some spending
(ANSA) — Brussels, January 26 — Italy will put new European Union guidelines on budget flexibility “to the best possible use”, Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Monday on his way in to a Eurogroup meeting of finance ministers in the Belgian capital.
“We are assessing our options and…will exploit (the new rules) to the best of our ability,” the minister told reporters.
New guidelines from the European Commission issued mid-month will allow countries with deficits under 3% of GDP and those making significant reforms some additional flexibility in deducting certain spending from their deficits.
The new rules are expected will allow Italy to take advantage of the investment clause with the EC’s stability pact.
Under the investment clause, countries can deviate from their medium-term budget objectives during tough times if they are spending on investments aimed at growth.
The Commission said the rules have not changed but the new interpretation will make it easier for Italy and others to spend on infrastructure outside strict deficit and debt controls contained in the EU Stability and Growth Pact.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Female Cyclists Pedal for Acceptance
Yasmine Mahmoud cuts a defiant figure as she weaves her bicycle through the chaotic streets of Cairo, a place where few women dare to pedal.
Every day, like for the past four years, she takes her bicycle from her 10th floor apartment and rides through the Egyptian capital, to the astonishment of bystanders.
“Unfortunately, it’s socially unacceptable in Egypt for a girl to ride a bicycle in the street,” said the 31-year-old executive secretary, as she prepared to set off from the upscale Cairo neighbourhood where she lives.
Women enjoy more freedom in Egypt than in deeply conservative Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, but the most populous Sunni Arab country still considers it inappropriate for them to ride bicycles.
Unlike in many countries, the two-wheeler is considered unsafe for travelling in Cairo’s traffic-clogged roads.
For Egyptian women it is all the more challenging given the city’s notorious sexual violence, and female cyclists in particular are targeted by passers-by.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mubarak’s Sons Released From Egypt Prison: Officials
The sons of deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak have been freed from a southern Cario prison, nearly four years after they were first incarcerated. Like their father, both still face a retrial in a corruption case.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Several Dead in Protests on Anniversary of Egypt Uprising
At least 15 people have died in unrest across Egypt on the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. The clashes follow the death of a woman at a left-wing protest in Cairo on Saturday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The Obama administration has been forced to suspend counterterrorism operations with Yemen in the aftermath of the collapse of its government, according to U.S. officials, a move that abruptly eases pressure on al-Qaeda’s most dangerous franchise.
Armed drones operated by the CIA and the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command remain deployed for now over southern Yemen, where al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is based. But U.S. officials said that the Yemeni security services that provided much of the intelligence that sustained that U.S. air campaign are now controlled by Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, who have seized control of much of the capital.
Even before the disintegration of the government, officials say, the growing chaos in Yemen had resulted in a steady erosion in intelligence-gathering efforts against AQAP and a de?facto suspension in raids by Yemeni units trained, equipped and often flown to targeted al-Qaeda compounds by U.S. forces.
“The agencies we worked with .?.?. are really under the thumb of the Houthis. Our ability to work with them is not there,” said a senior U.S. official closely involved in monitoring the situation. In a measure of U.S. concern over the crisis, officials also signaled for the first time a willingness to open talks with Houthi leaders, despite their suspected ties to Iran and antipathy toward the United States…
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch King, Foreign Minister in Saudi Arabia to Pay Respects
King Willem-Alexander and foreign minister Bert Koenders are in Saudi Arabia on Saturday to take pay their respects following the death of king Abdullah last week. The Dutch government sent its condolences to the Saudi government on Friday. The king died on Thursday night at the age of 90 from a lung infection and was buried in a simple ceremony on Friday. Several MPs have criticised Willem-Alexander for going to Saudia Arabia, given its human rights record. ‘Saudi Arabia is a dictatorship known for its systematic and serious abuse of human rights,’ said GroenLinks leader Bram van Ojik, as quoted by news agency ANP. ‘We are all Charlie, apart from when it comes to oil interests.’
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
ISIS Spokesman Calls for Terror Attacks Around the World While Praising Charlie Hebdo Massacre
Isis has issued another call to arms for jihadists around the world to carry out terror attacks in their home countries.
Abu Mohamed al-Adnani, the spokesperson whose previous statements may have inspired gunmen in Australia and France, said any loyalist who has the opportunity to “shed a drop of blood” should do so.
In an audio recording released on Monday, he also praised the Paris attacks, Sydney siege and a failed plot to murder police officers in Belgium.
The lone gunman who shot a soldier at Canada’s national war memorial dead before storming the parliament building in October was also held up as an example to be followed.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State Group Ousted From Syria’s Kobani; Kurds Celebrate Victory
Jubilant Kurdish fighters ousted Islamic State militants from the key Syrian border town of Kobani on Monday after a four-month battle — a significant victory for both the Kurds and the U.S.-led coalition.
The Kurds raised their flag on a hill that once flew the Islamic State group’s black banner. On Kobani’s war-ravaged streets, gunmen fired in the air in celebration, male and female fighters embraced, and troops danced in their baggy uniforms.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi King Salman Funded Islamists and Anti-Semitic Clerics
President Obama cancelled a day of sightseeing in India with Michelle to travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to pay a condolence call on the half brother successor to the late ‘reformer’ King Abdullah, King Salman. Through the diligence of David Weinberg at the Washington, DC-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) we now know the extent to which Salman funded the Mujahideen in the Afghan secret wars of the 1980’s, contributed to a questionable Islamic charity with terrorist ties and praised anti-Semitic clerics, one of whom was a mentor to the late Osama bin Laden. We wonder if the West Wing and State Department did its due diligence upon the announcement of Salman’s designation as successor to the late Abdullah? If they did, they kept it quiet. We also wonder what views Salman may have on the reform of the Kingdom’s medieval punishment practices, decapitation, lashes for criticism of the Wahhabist extremist ideology, oppression of women and gays, if the later even deign to come out? All of this is spelled out in Adam Kredo’s article in today’s Washington Free Beacon, “Saudi Arabia’s New King Helped Fund Radical Terrorist Groups.”
Here are some of the revelations from Weinberg at FDD, former CIA officers Bob Baer and Bruce Riedel. Will President Obama follow the precedent of bowing to King Salman , when he greeted the late Saudi King Abdullah in London during a meeting? Watch this You Tube video from a Fox New’s O’Reilly Factor report…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Imam: “The Sword is More Truthful Than the Book”
“The sword is more truthful than the book” is an exact inversion of “The pen is mightier than the sword.” And indeed, in our own day the pen has proven to be only as strong as those who wield it, and most of them are cowards. Thus Issa Assiri is declaring victory — and with good reason. “Saudi Imam on Paris Attacks: This Is the Only Language Jewish and Christian Infidels Understand (and Muslims Discovered America),” MEMRI, n.d.:
Following are excerpts from a Friday sermon Imam Issa Assiri, Sa’eed bin Jubair Mosque, Jedda, Saudi Arabia, posted on the Internet on January 9 and 16, 2015:
Issa Assiri: [The papers that published the cartoons] talked about freedom of speech, but after the French journalists were killed for mocking the Prophet Muhammad in their cartoons, what did the papers have to say? What was their response? “The sword is…” Many of these newspapers reconsidered the publishing of the cartoons. Many of them reconsidered their policy regarding such images.
[…]
“The sword is more truthful than the book. Its cutting edge separates sincerity from jest. It is the whiteness of the blade, rather than the blackness of the book’s ink, that dismisses any uncertainty or doubt.” When they faced death… This is the language these Jewish and Christian infidels understand. This is the only language they understand. [After the attack] they changed their policy.
[This is what’s being openly preached in the country to whose new king Barry Hussein is about to pay his respects. — PW]
| — Hat tip: Papa Whiskey | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Assad: We Do Not Speak to Puppets of Qatar, U.S
Today summit with opposition groups in Moscow
(ANSAmed) — ROME — Not all talks are useful, there can be no opposition if it is a puppet of Qatar, of Saudi Arabia or of the US, funded from abroad, Syrian President Bashar al Assad told Foreign Affairs ahead of a summit with opposition groups scheduled Monday in Moscow.
“Opposition means national”, Assad was quoted as saying by Foreign Affairs. “It means working for the interests of the Syrian people. It cannot be an opposition if it’s a puppet of Qatar or Saudi Arabia or any Western country, including the United States, paid from the outside. It should be Syrian. We have a national opposition. I’m not excluding it; I’m not saying every opposition is not legitimate. But you have to separate the national and the puppets. Not every dialogue is fruitful.” Assad also said Syria would be in Russia and take part in talks to set the groundwork for a peace conference, adding he was convinced that a number of countries including France did not want it to be successful.
Asked what he thought of Israel’s agenda, he replied to Foreign Affairs that the Jewish State is “supporting the rebels in Syria. It’s very clear. Because whenever we make advances in some place, they make an attack in order to undermine the army.
It’s very clear. That’s why some in Syria joke: How can you say that al Qaeda doesn’t have an air force? They have the Israeli air force”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: The “War” Between Police and Anti-Corruption Agency Shows President Jokowi’s Weakness
The power struggle currently underway in Indonesia is threatening the country’s stability. The corruption watchdog blocked the appointment of a close associate of former President Megawati to the post of police chief. As a result, the anti-corruption agency’s chief has become the victim of a smear campaign, whilst his deputy chief has been arrested. Human rights activists and civil society groups have taken to the streets to defend the rule of law. The president is a hostage of those powerful groups that backed his presidency bid.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — Top officials with Indonesia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi or KPK) have come under a frontal attack from police brass.
Such a conflict threatens a rift in the country’s top law enforcement institutions and undermines President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
Activists and human rights organisations have in fact taken to the streets to defend the KPK. After starting a twitter campaign with the hashtag #SaveKPK, they appealed to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
The failure to appoint General Budi Gunawan as the new police chief sparked the controversy, leading to the arrest of KPK deputy chief Bambang Widjojanto, as well as a smear campaign against its chief, Abraham Samad.
In the past few weeks, General Gunawan, a close associate of former Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, leader of the party that brought the current president Jokowi to power, has come under the scrutiny of the anticorruption agency. Previous KPK reports had already sunk two other candidates to prominent positions within the new administration.
Behind the scenes, many pushed Gunawan’s candidacy as police chief, including newly elected reformist President Jokowi, who had won the election on a pledge of fighting corruption.
However, the KPK thwarted the appointment — which already had received the parliament’s greenlight — labelling it inadequate and unacceptable.
The president followed this by freezing all appointments pending an inquiry. However soon enough, the anti-corruption commission met its match.
Quickly, KPK chief Abraham Samad became the object of a smear campaign. He is accused of kissing a young woman at a beauty pageantry. In reality, the image of the two together was photomontage.
Police took KPK deputy chief Bambang Widjojanto into custody for interrogation in connection with his role in the Constitutional Court in relation to a fight between two parties each claiming victory in the case of an election to a regency post.
The attacks against the leaders of the anti-corruption agency have generated sparked an outcry across the country, with the members of human and civil rights groups taking to the streets to defend the two officials.
Ordinary Indonesians are appealing to President Jokowi, who, despite his moral and political integrity, seems increasingly hostage to the power games of the forces that led him to the presidency.
The attack against the KPK comes after a series of successes in the past three years, during which it was able to clamp down on bribery and malfeasance.
Some illustrious personages in the world’s most populous Muslim nation have been caught in the KPK net, including some high-ranking officials in the country’s justice system, politics and economy.
For instance, a prominent minister in the previous government as well as the chief justice of the Constitutional Court have been arrested.
The anticorruption agency revealed scandals in the oil industry and the behind-the-scene intrigues that led to the re-election of the former governor of the Central Bank.
Corruption also played a crucial in role in last April’s parliamentary election and July’s presidential poll.
In some trials, a number of defendants ended with up to ten years in prison.
With 16-year sentence, Lutfi Hasan, a former MP and head of Islamist Justice and Prosperous Party (PKS), got one of the toughest verdicts.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
46 Dead in Police Clash With Muslim Rebels in Philippines
Fighting on Mindanao with Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(ANSA) — Bangkok, January 26 — The death toll rose to 46 on Monday in clashes that began Sunday between police and Islamist rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) on the southern island of Mindanao, local media sources said.
Fighting broke out following a surprise police raid in which two terrorist suspects were sought from a Milf splinter group which opposes the peace deal signed last year.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
China’s Labor Force Collapses: Four Million Less in a Year
The National Bureau of Statistics publishes data on 2014. The total population is growing, but not enough to cover the increase in retirees and to ensure the sustainability of the welfare state, the health system and pensions. Competitiveness of national exports also at risk, the real engine of economic expansion in past 30 years.
Beijing (AsiaNews) — The Chinese population and active work force continues to decline. The effects of the disastrous one child law, the imbalance between the sexes, parents forced to have children later in life because of work or forced emigration have reduced the labor force by nearly 4 million units in 2014. Although some economists point out the positive aspects of the data — ie the reduction in the unemployment rate — the majority argues that with this trend the social welfare system, the health sector and the pension system threaten to implode soon.
The figures were released today by the National Statistics Bureau. Late last year, China’s population stood at 1.37 billion people, an increase of 7.1 million compared to 2013. However, the active and working age — healthy people between 16 and 59 years — stops at 915.8 million, a decrease of 3.7 million units.
According to some analysts, the reduction of the basin will help prevent a high unemployment rate. At the same time, however, with these numbers the average cost of labor will rise: this, in turn, will negatively affect the manufacturing sector and competitiveness in exports. This is the very sector that has driven the extraordinary economic expansion of the country began 30 years ago.
Yuan Xin, Tianjin Nankai University demographer, considers a lack of manpower “unlikely” in the short term. The same expert points out, however, how the challenges of the world of work are “increasing” and that Beijing must also reform this sector to make their economic and structural reforms sustainable in the long run.
Also according to the National Bureau data, in 2014 the inhabitants over 60 years of age — and thus with the right to a state pension — increased by 10 million, reaching 212.4 million in total. This is 15.5% of the population, a fact that according to some projections will touch 20% in the next five years. Forced by the one-child law to have a single heir, these seniors are counting on the only worker in the family to secure a decent future.
However, the central government is running out of money to cover the medical costs of the elderly and to pay for their retirement. And the imbalance of the internal labor market forces hundreds of millions of people to leave the area of origin and the family to move in search of employment, often to the other end of the country. Aware of all these risks, the government has amended the family planning law by opening up to the possibility of having two children for couples in which at least one parent is an only child. Immediately after the launch of this reform, one million families applied to be able to have a second child.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
In a TV address, she said she would draft a bill to set up a new body.
Ms Kirchner said the intelligence services had kept much of the same structure they had during the military government, which ended in 1983.
The move comes after the mysterious death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman — hours before he had been due to testify against senior government officials.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Dreams in Malmö of a ‘Swedish Ellis Island’
A real estate company and a local politician in Malmö are both dreaming about housing an immigration museum — a kind of Ellis Island in Malmö, the newspaper Sydsvenskan reports.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Give Refugees Holiday Homes: Berlin Official
Amid rising tensions around the Pegida movement, a Berlin official stirred alarm on Monday with a proposal to commandeer private holiday apartments to house asylum seekers.
The mayor of the capital’s eastern Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, Monika Herrmann, has deemed it “tactically shrewder” to temporarily take over unused private apartments than set up temporary accommodation in places like school sports halls, the Berliner Morgenpost reported.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ghanaian Pickaxe Murderer Gets 20 Years Again
Kabobo deemed ‘semi-infirm’ at time of May 2013 rampage
(ANSA) — Milan, January 20 — A Ghanaian migrant who attacked and killed three passers-by with a pickaxe in Milan on May 11, 2013, had a 20-year prison term upheld by a Milan appeals court Tuesday.
Mada ‘Adam’ Kabobo was first convicted on April 15, 2014 after a fast-track trial in which he was deemed to be mentally semi-infirm.
The appeals court confirmed this assessment.
Kabobo was judged fit to stand trial in October 2013 despite suffering from “schizophrenic psychosis” after he killed pensioner Ermanno Masini, 64, unemployed 40-year-old Alessandro Carole’ and 21-year-old Daniele Carella in the early morning rampage.
Kabobo’s ability to control his actions was “greatly diminished but not totally absent” and he was sufficiently “able to understand” what he was doing to face murder charges, psychiatrists said at the time.
Two other people were injured in Kabobo’s hour-long string of attacks before he was stopped by police.
Kabobo’s defence lawyers, who had requested his acquittal on grounds of total infirmity, said they would appeal against the sentence.
They have already lodged a petition with the supreme Court of Cassation for the Ghanaian to be transferred to a judicial psychiatric hospital in order to receive more appropriate care.
Andrea Masini, son of the victim Ermanno Masini, had described his initial sentence as “insufficient”.
Relatives of the victims are suing the interior ministry for compensation on grounds Kabobo, who came to Italy illegally in 2011 and was later served an expulsion order, does not officially own anything.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Synod to Study Gays in Church, ‘Sensitive’ Topics
Bishops to take up controversial issues
(ANSA) — Rome, January 22 — Catholic bishops preparing for the next synod on the family in October will be studying the “most sensitive issues” raised at the last meeting in October 2014, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, synod secretary general, said Thursday. Those include gays in the Church, communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, and cohabitation outside marriage. Almost 200 bishops from around the world have been taking part in the meetings that came out of extensive surveys of Catholics on challenges facing families.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Pope ‘Surprised: Sorry’ By Reaction to Rabbit Remark
Francis said to be concerned after family planning comments
(ANSA) — Vatican City, January 22 — Pope Francis was “surprised” and “sorry” amid reaction to his comments earlier this week about breeding “like rabbits” that triggered controversy, a senior Catholic Church official said in a report published Thursday.
On Monday, in informal comments to journalists on a return flight from the Philippines, the pope said that parents can be good Catholics without being “like rabbits” and producing large families.
The pope’s words, using a common expression for people who have many babies, caused shock and offended some people, including parents with several children.
In an interview with Catholic daily newspaper Avvenire, Msgr. Angelo Becciu complained the words were taken out of context, but the pope was “sorry” for any “confusion” he might have caused.
Catholic doctrine forbids artificial birth control, which critics say leaves couples few choices but to have many children.
Becciu, substitute for general affairs at the Vatican, said the pope on Wednesday told him that he was surprised by the reaction.
“He smiled and remained a little surprised that his words — (which were) deliberately simple — have not been fully contextualized,” Becciu was quoted as saying.
“The wording of the pope should be interpreted in the sense that the act of procreation in humans cannot follow animalistic instinct, but is the result of an act… rooted in love and mutual giving,” said Becciu.
On Wednesday, Francis seemed to back away somewhat from his comments during his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square.
There, he said that large families “are a gift from God”.
His comments on the flight from the Philippines came as he described a woman with seven children who faced a caesarean section to deliver the eighth.
Francis said he asked her if she was being responsible by risking her life to have children.
“God gave us the means to be responsible,” Francis said to reporters as he related the story.
“Some think that — and excuse the term — that in order to be good Catholics, they must be like rabbits,” he said.
Becciu on Thursday said: “(The pope) is really sorry that we have created such a confusion”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Calls for ‘Responsible Parenthood’
‘Poverty, marginalization are state terrorism’ says Francis
(ANSAmed) — Rome, January 20 — Pope Francis said Monday on the return flight from what is his seventh international mission that being a good Catholic “does not mean being like rabbits”. “Responsible parenthood is the point,” said Francis on the flight back to Rome from the Philippine capital of Manila, where at least six million people reportedly turned out to attend his Mass. “This is why the church has pastors,” Francis said.
“We must look for a helpful way out, and the synod will do that”. The pope went on to decry the extremes of great poverty and great wealth. “Maybe we are returning to a ‘caste system’, and maybe when people are discarded and marginalized, we can talk about State terrorism,” said the pontiff.
Francis also told how he was once the target of a bribery attempt in Buenos Aires, when he had just become archbishop of the Argentine capital city. “In that moment I thought ‘what do I do?’“ Francis said. “I can insult them, kick them where the sun never shines, or play dumb”.
“I played dumb,” said the pope.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Not often I agree with the BBC line, but he’s right. The word ‘terrorism’ should be deleted from the news vocabulary. All political violence is undertaken for specific reasons; it is never a random act of ‘terror’ unless the perp is insane. Just call it what it is: violent extremism.
Extremism? But it’s the norm isn’t it?
It is terrorism pure and simple! except when dealing with muslims then its just islam!
Tarik Kafala, the head of BBC Arabic, the largest of the BBC’s non-English language news services, said the term “terrorist” was seen as “value-laden” and should not be used to describe the actions of the men who killed 12 people in the attack on the French satirical magazine.
Tarik Kafala? Good old English name that. The BBC ? We all know whose side they are on.
To illustrate this, I have just finished watching the latest edition of BBCs Hardtalk programme in which commentator Zainab Badawi (another good old English name) was interviewing Moazzam Begg, one time Guantanamo detainee and active islamist supporter.
Begg sounded like a fully paid up member of the leftist babble rabble as he proceeded to chunter out biased opinion and bogus facts like a Pakistani Ken Livingstone. Badawi should have known better and should have done better by challenging Begg’s statements and “facts” but in the main she let them stand unanswered.
She mentioned that Begg had been to many islamic hotspots including Chechnya, Pakistan, pallystine etc, etc and she asked him what he had been doing there. His response was to babble into overdrive so that it was difficult to catch what he was saying. Badawi did not ask who was funding him and paying for the upkeep of his wife and children when he took them to Pakistan with him. Probably the UK taxpayer.
He continued by claiming to have been tortured and raped but again, he was not pressed for details. Another lie that Badawi allowed to pass uncontested was Begg’s assertion that 98% of all terrorism in Europe is carried out by white Europeans.
Moazzam Begg is a master of Taqiyya – in the same mould as Tariq Ramadan and he should have been questioned far more closely on his jihadist beliefs and nefarious activities. This was another example of BBC broadcasting bias. How long are they to be permitted to continue in this manner?
the ancestry of this “senior executive” will no doubt be non European therefore it should come as no surprise that semantics in word usage will be a part of the armoury to confuse or blur issues.Like the USSR only party functionaries would be given positions of influrnce,so to in Multi-cultural europe a murder will become “killed”for instance when they mention the Lee Rigby case.
Gateway Pundit appears to have been hacked, the website is down. Looks to me like conservative blogs are really being attacked.
I agree that things are not spoken of in their real context.
Oxford dictionary:
Murder: The unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.
Killing: An act of causing death, especially deliberately.
Terrorism is indeed a vague term. Instead of terrorism or killings, we should be talking about murders, for almost all jihad attacks are premeditated. I wonder if dropping the premeditation out serves a purpose? Perhaps to give an idea of randomity, leaving out the purpose behind these acts?
“Tarik Kafala, a senior executive at the BBC, says that the word “terrorist” should not be used to describe the mujahideen who killed seventeen people in Paris earlier this month. According to him, the word is loaded and undefined. He says reporters should simply describe what happened, and avoid the value judgments.”
Typical lefty logic – no value judgements unless they point the finger at non-lefties, then of course they are OK.
“Tarik Kafala, who runs BBC Arabic, said the term ‘terrorist’ was too ‘loaded’ and ‘value-laden’ to describe Said and Cherif Kouachi and their accomplice Amedy Coulibaly.”
Fine. We’ll just call them Muslims, then.
rather apt. Meanwhile in Germany
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B8Q98bSCEAAT8uT.jpg
No one should care what the BBC or what some Muzzie apologist has to say. The fact is these attacks by Muslims are simply a expression of Jihad which is at the heart of Islam.
And the tactic of terrorism goes hand in hand with Islam and has since it’s inception.