The latest essay in Takuan Seiyo’s “From Meccania to Atlantis” series has been published at the Brussels Journal.

The current installment is called “Part 13 (2): Harpo, Gekko, Barko, Sarko”, and describes how the Democrats are deliberately breaking the USA as the final opposition to the New World Order. Here are some excerpts:

All Body Snatchers who have access to a microphone crow about this coming epiphany, but the most instructive gloating comes from Janet Napolitano. In a typical inverse reality mode of Snatcher State, Ms. Napolitano is in charge of domestic security for the United States, tasked among others with protecting its borders and enforcing its immigration laws. “ Timing is everything in the arts of war or politics “, said Ms. Napolitano in her speech on the blessings of busting the United States for good with a demographic bomb too, on top of all the other heavy petards.

The art of war — if only the foggy “conservatives” had a clue.

It’s within the same time bracket that the Barko people chose to unleash the Cap-and-Trade economic catastrophe on their country, under the risible pretext that their failure to do so would lead to a catastrophe. It’s in this time bracket that Mr. Obama chose to appoint an Afrocentric Black Communist, Van Jones, as “Green Jobs” Czar, and a Socialist International operative, Carol Browner, as “Energy and Climate Change” Czar. And that confluence of Third-worldism, socialism and climate change hokum provides the clue as to what the monetary bonfire of hokum stimulus is about too.

Mikhail Gorbachev, no stranger to Trotskyite thinking, has reportedly said that the threat of environmental crisis will be the “international disaster key” that will unlock the ‘New World Order’ (6). But even without Gorbachev’s decryption, that key is on plain view every day during the United Nations-staged Copenhagen climate commedia dell’arte.

The idea is to transfer wealth from the rich to the poor — on a scale undreamt of even by Karl Marx himself. All in the name of equality. No longer the equality of a German coal-mine owner and a German coal miner, but the equality of a German surgeon and a Gambian porter. From each according to his ability, to each according to his need, globally. Or, to paraphrase Charles Krauthammer, taxing hard-working citizens of Western democracies in order to fill the treasuries of Third World kleptocracies.

This is the biggest heist in the history of the world, and the Holy Grail of socialists everywhere, not the least at Socialist International. And the United States is the one obstreperous territory that has stood athwart the road to this progressive progress, starting with George W. Bush’s refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol.

That’s why the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize went to Barack Hussein Obama. Thorbjørn Jagland, who presided over this travesty, had been, among his other socialist posts, a vice president of the Socialist International. And Barko with his crew steer America’s ship now, with an intention that presidential candidate Obama hinted to the knowing so vividly.

– – – – – – – – –

America’s backbone is its middle class of mainly white, Christian anti-socialists. The last such backbone remaining in the world, with the possible exception of Australia. Crush it, and you have shattered the last obstacle standing before The New World Order. Break it, and you have changed the course of history as profoundly as the French Revolution has, in the same Jacobin direction.

That’s what the spending has been all about, and that’s why they stuffed so many back-breaking projects into the same impossible time frame. That’s why Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s majordomo, said that no serious crisis should go to waste.

And that’s why the next chapter in our contrarian cogitations will bear the title Requiescat in pace. The key to ending this nightmare is not in putting one’s electoral faith in a Sarko to replace a Barko while Harpo is running around in the background, but in recognizing that the whole enterprise is a mad circus decayed beyond redemption. The only true choice left is to get up and walk out of the circus tent.

Read the rest at the Brussels Journal.

Our Flemish correspondent VH has translated several articles featuring the latest culturally enriched news from the Netherlands. First, an article from Elsevier concerning corporal punishment administered to children in mosques:

Children physically punished in the mosque

By Marlou Visser

The city council in the Hague this week found that many children are punished physically during Koran lessons in the mosque. According to the “Partnership of Moroccan Dutch” [Samenwerkingsverband van Marokkaanse Nederlanders, SNM] this is also common elsewhere in the Netherlands.

The GGD [health department] in The Hague wants to investigate the alleged child abuse.

Since April of this year 49 tips about child abuse in the mosque were received. The municipality filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor

We know from our own network that it happens more often that children receive corporal punishment,” Farid Azarkan, Chairman of the Interest group of Moroccans in the Netherlands [belangenvereniging van Marokkanen in Nederland], said on Wednesday to the Dutch newswire ANP.

The SMN writes in a press release that corporal punishment violates the rights of the child. It calls on the Boards of the mosques to punish the teachers responsible for the violations.

In addition, Ahmed Marcouch, the Moroccan-Dutch [Socialist] District Chairman for Slotervaart in Amsterdam had already indicated that during the Koran Lessons and Arabic lessons children are physically punished.

According to Marcouch, integration is thus severely damaged. Marcouch then recommended Koran lessons in public schools.

This idea was not well- received by the Amsterdam PvdA [Socialists, who have ruled Amsterdam for decades].

Note from VH:

Marcouch is very likely a closet Salafist and Muslim Brotherhood infiltrator in Dutch politics. For example, he has openly shown great admiration for Sayyid Qutb and the Islamo-Nazi Al Qaradawi, whom he wanted to invite as a bridge-builder after the murder of Theo Van Gogh.

Also from Elsevier, an opinion piece about the growing trend towards swimming pools that are segregated by sex:
– – – – – – – – –

Segregated swimming is supported apartheid

“Muslim women do not swim with men.”

by Paul Lieben

Splash! It is rather ironic that almost to the day that segregated swimming is abolished in The Hague, Amsterdam is planning to introduce it.

It is also significant for the (self-chosen) struggle of administrators and politicians with the increasingly inappropriate demands of the Islam.

All sorts of fallacies are again invoked to keep or to introduce segregated swimming. It was also common in the Netherlands in the old days. In the old days, yes, but we are past that stage.

And if there are young Moroccans harassing girls and women (which is less often mentioned in the debates), they should just ban those little creeps from the pool.

Another interesting argument against abolition: otherwise the Muslim women who want to swim become isolated, so this is just the prelude to integration. This is really a laughable argument for anyone who knows what goes on in such an apartheid-hour

The shutters were literally down in the swimming pool “De Houtzagerij” [The wood mill]. There was obviously no man allowed, but also no male staff. What a celebration of integration that was! And ineffective: moving on to regular swimming hours was out of question.

Unreal wishes

Municipal pools are expensive, and there is often a shortage of opening hours. It is then not done to cut up the publicly paid hours on absurd people and their wishes. If they absolutely have to swim separated, then they may go to the hammam or any gym that offers that, assuming that they are not publicly funded.

Socialist MP (PvdA) Pierre Heijnen complained on his blog that in his time as alderman and when Wim Deetman (CDA, Christian Democrat) was mayor of The Hague, that would never have happened… the stopping of segregated swimming hours.

What he as a progressive (in name at least) should ask himself is: why did that never happen, and why did I never tried to put and end to that as an alderman?

The Hague

And oh yes, the issue of separate swimming in The Hague has been put on the agenda there by me personally. I once noticed it and put it into the Integration Note. Alderman Sander Dekker and others have now made good use of that.

Thanks for your support still, boys and girls! Go for a swim!

Finally, from RKnieuws.net:

Halal Christmas dinner at Catholic school in Weert

The Roman Catholic Odaschool in Weert will serve Christmas dinner this year with halal-only meat for the approximately 400 students. This is primarily to address the concerns of a dozen Muslim families.

Christmas dinner at the school is organized every year in cooperation with the parents’ association. According acting director Margo Janssen, the Odaschool, with a dozen Muslim students, decided for practical reasons to serve the children only halal meat (meat from animals slaughtered according to Islamic requirements).

Christian thought

“In previous years we took into account the Muslims and therefore we had to separate the meat for them. Now everyone gets halal meat, so we don’t have to do that.” Furthermore the action, according to the acting director, fits with Christian thought, for it is good to take account of others.

Eight complaints received

Jean Paul van der Donk, chairman of the parents’ association, said that eight complaints have been received from angry parents. According to him it is important that parents understand the consideration for the Muslim-friendly meat was not for religious reasons, but purely for practical reasons. “As an aside, it is also not forbidden for Catholics to eat halal meat, while opposite is the case for Muslims.”

VH adds this note, a comment from GeenStijl:

We are not talking about a public school here that really should apply the “drop dead with your filthy religion”-mentality, but with a specifically Roman Catholic Christian school. Serving halal-only meat is also explained in the “ it is good to take account of others, a very Christian thought” way. Right. Well, we do know a few more that way. Those Catholics are simply in a pragmatic process to hedge themselves, in case the Muslims are later found to be right, and they see those 72 virgins pass by their noses. Muhammad 1-0. Bon appetit!

For a complete listing of previous enrichment news, see The Cultural Enrichment Archives.

Fjordman has posted a review of Avatar in the Brussels Journal. Some excerpts are below:

Since I am a certified sci-fi geek and most science fiction movies are quite bad this habit unfortunately forces me to watch a large number of bad movies. It’s one of my little perversions. I have just watched the most expensive B-movie ever made, the US$ 237 million Avatar by director James Cameron, famous for having produced films such as The Terminator, Terminator 2, Aliens and Titanic. Briefly summed up I would say that while it is visually spectacular, as is everything Mr. Cameron makes, Avatar has to be one of the most anti-Western and especially anti-white Hollywood movies I have seen in a long time.

The hero is the U.S. Marine Jake Sully who has been sent to the planet-like moon Pandora because humans desire the mineral resources found of Pandora, which is inhabited by a race of tall, blue-skinned aliens, the Na’vi. They have a non-industrial civilization technologically inferior to ours but apparently spiritually richer and in perfect ecological harmony with the natural environment. The hero predictably falls in love with the native culture and connects with a native girl.

– – – – – – – – –

“Going native” is in itself not an original theme; it resembles Dances with Wolves, only with aliens instead of Sioux. Neither is the preference for pre-industrial civilization, which was after all shared by a good man such as Tolkien in his The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien had personally experienced the meaningless horrors of trench warfare during the First World War and this naturally affected his view of industrialized society. What is different about the movie Avatar is how it portrays whites as a bunch of raging monsters, something which Tolkien never did.

Basically, the white characters are portrayed as brutal, greedy and insensitive beasts who rape the environment and destroy other cultures with a smile in the search for profit…

Read the rest at the Brussels Journal.

Think of it as a virus that spreads from one hateful mind to another, doing far more damage than anything the Taliban can inflict. In fact, you could eliminate the Taliban tomorrow and the Jihad would continue unabated.

A confluence of two pieces of information.

The first is an op-ed from The New York Times, linked above. The author calls the phenomenon www.jihad.com – good name. I’ll bet someone has it set up and running by now.

As I was reading the essay, Fjordman was sending us an email about the specifics of the www.jihadists.

Let’s look at what Mr. Friedman says, and then what Fjordman found. Mr. Friedman first:

Let’s not fool ourselves. Whatever threat the real Afghanistan poses to U.S. national security, the “Virtual Afghanistan” now poses just as big a threat. The Virtual Afghanistan is the network of hundreds of jihadist Web sites that inspire, train, educate and recruit young Muslims to engage in jihad against America and the West. Whatever surge we do in the real Afghanistan has no chance of being a self-sustaining success, unless there is a parallel surge – by Arab and Muslim political and religious leaders – against those who promote violent jihadism on the ground in Muslim lands and online in the Virtual Afghanistan.

This underlines the point many have made before. These folks don’t invent or create anything. They’re parasites who use what the West has made in an attempt to destroy us. Muslims have only ever been interested in the West for whatever kinds of mayhem they could cut out of the pattern of our culture. They’re selective, these destroyers are.

For example, the printing press wasn’t permitted into Iran until the 19th century. And then it was only permitted to be used for running off copies of the Koran. As usual, the limit didn’t work, but that doesn’t mean Islam ever stops trying to use and abuse without contributing anything back to those it steals from.

Prairie Pundit has a typical example of their derivative ingenuity in a story from the MSM about the interception of information gathered by predator drones. He has the how and the what at his site. The point is this, though:

The drone intercepts mark the emergence of a shadow cyber war within the U.S.-led conflicts overseas. They also point to a potentially serious vulnerability in Washington’s growing network of unmanned drones, which have become the American weapon of choice in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

[…]

The stolen video feeds also indicate that U.S. adversaries continue to find simple ways of counteracting sophisticated American military technologies.

U.S. military personnel in Iraq discovered the problem late last year when they apprehended a Shiite militant whose laptop contained files of intercepted drone video feeds. In July, the U.S. military found pirated drone video feeds on other militant laptops, leading some officials to conclude that militant groups trained and funded by Iran were regularly intercepting feeds.

As Prairie Pundit points out (and the MSM omits to say) this problem can be solved by tweaking the programs in use. The Jihadists can only run behind, playing catch-up with Western technology. It proves they’re smart enough to do that, but are missing the brain chip that supplies original, creative thinking. This missing piece has kept Muslims poor, dumb, and angry and resentful because they know their world view is second-rate.

It didn’t have to be that way, but if you’re not permitted to think for yourself, if your reason for being is Submission, then you’ll always be running behind, full of anger and hatred at those you are programmed to attempt to destroy.

Mr. Friedman continues in his op-ed:

Last week, five men from northern Virginia were arrested in Pakistan, where they went, they told Pakistani police, to join the jihad against U.S. troops in Afghanistan. They first made contact with two extremist organizations in Pakistan by e-mail in August. As The Washington Post reported on Sunday: “ ‘Online recruiting has exponentially increased, with Facebook, YouTube and the increasing sophistication of people online,’ a high-ranking Department of Homeland Security official said. […] ‘Increasingly, recruiters are taking less prominent roles in mosques and community centers because places like that are under scrutiny. So what these guys are doing is turning to the Internet,’ said Evan Kohlmann, a senior analyst with the U.S.-based NEFA Foundation, a private group that monitors extremist Web sites.”

[NOTE: NEFA does a lot more than just monitor these “extremist” sites. See here for the home page and look at Target America. This is a series of power point presentations going all the way back to June, 2007. Some featuring KSM, the soon-to-be star of our questionable Attorney General’s trial in New York City. – D]

The Obama team is fond of citing how many “allies” we have in the Afghan coalition. Sorry, but we don’t need more NATO allies to kill more Taliban and Al Qaeda. We need more Arab and Muslim allies to kill their extremist ideas, which, thanks to the Virtual Afghanistan, are now being spread farther than ever before.

Only Arabs and Muslims can fight the war of ideas within Islam…

As Mr. Friedman says, they need a civil war because they have a violent minority with murderous ideas about the rest of humanity:

What is really scary is that this violent, jihadist minority seems to enjoy the most “legitimacy” in the Muslim world today. Few political and religious leaders dare to speak out against them in public. Secular Arab leaders wink at these groups, telling them: “We’ll arrest if you do it to us, but if you leave us alone and do it elsewhere, no problem.”

He notes, as we have and as our readers and contributors have said over and over —

Where was the outrage last week when, on the very day that Iraq’s Parliament agreed on a formula to hold free and fair multiparty elections – unprecedented in Iraq’s modern history – five explosions set off by suicide bombers hit ministries, a university and Baghdad’s Institute of Fine Arts, killing at least 127 people and wounding more than 400, many of them kids?

Not only was there no meaningful condemnation emerging from the Muslim world – which was primarily focused on resisting Switzerland’s ban on new mosque minarets – there was barely a peep coming out of Washington. President Obama expressed no public outrage. It is time he did.

Don’t count on it. President Obama is a chum of the Muslim Brotherhood and it is they who start most of the violence in one form or another, and keep it going. And when they murder our own troops in our own bases, President Obama can’t even stand up to that. He’s a puppet, as are our military brass.

Friedman puts the problem succinctly:

A corrosive mind-set has taken hold since 9/11. It says that Arabs and Muslims are only objects, never responsible for anything in their world, and we are the only subjects, responsible for everything that happens in their world. We infantilize them.

– – – – – – – – –
It’s our p.c.-gagged leaders who do this. The average citizen finds the behavior of these people intolerable. The average citizen finds the bland “Religion of Peace” mouthings of our leaders despicable.

In fact, look for real problems when Obama’s decision to move some of the Gitmo terrorists to Illinois bears fruit. That poor town will be a Lone Ranger terrorist magnet. I feel so sorry for the people who live there. My guess is that those who can leave will do so. Not easy in this economy, though. But wait till they find out the promises that a federal prison will improve the local economy are empty and deliberately misleading.

Just one more reason to kick the Democrat can down the road in 2010 and 2012.

Meanwhile, Fjordman sent on some related material he found on line. He is quoting from a site called “Half Sigma” which claims to be unfettered politically (scroll down for the quote). This long comment is from one reader in particular, who has been monitoring one of the hate sites:

Unfortunately much of the world still IS in the dark ages, with all thought controlled by Islam. I recently stumbled upon a website frequented by Pakistanis in the west, or at least who have been educated in the west, judging by the fact it is mostly in English, and most of the writers seem to be native English speakers. The tone of the posts at this site is truly shocking. I have read “While Europe Slept”, but hearing this stuff coming straight from the Muslims themselves is rather stunning. The Muslims who post at the Pakistani site (it seems only Muslims post there) are probably more progressive than a lot of other Muslims, yet many of their views are right out of the 6th century. One of the most surprising things is how racist they are. Not only do they regularly make racist remarks about Jews and white people, but also about Indians and Arabs. The SWPL’s who regularly defend these folks, and say we are Eurocentric colonizers for not appreciating their culture, REALLY need to read this stuff.

As an example, here are some comments about an incident where a Muslim woman in France was not allowed in a public pool wearing a full body swim suit, a “birkini”. Here are some comments:

—————————————–

President Nicolas Sarkozy wants all the muslims to naked like the kufar…

and the king of arab allow French Military in UEA

what the hell is going on???

This is a sign Al-Qiyamah is comming

————————————

..the burqini is made of swimsuit material, which is allowed in the very same swimming pool. And I’m someone who believes in “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. But France is now a country where, basically, secularism has become the official religion, they are enforcing it upon those that aren’t secular.

———————————————-

I doubt it is unhygienic since it’s made to be used in water as a body costume. The real krux of the matter is: This is probably the first time in many years that someone has been punished for trying to not be a prostitute in public (IMG:style_emoticons/PDFEmotionIconsv10/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/PDFEmotionIconsv10/laugh.gif) But this isn’t entirely surprising, as homosexuals and feminists are highly touted in USA/UK and this diseased way of thinking is spreading

——————————————–

Swiss are banning construction of citadels in Geneva where over 400,000 muslims stay mainly Turks, Bosnians and Albanians

dont forget these flithy white European people are the same evil sadistic crusaders who will always try to dominate and fight war with muslims and islam

they tried to stop islam for centurys and removed islam from spain to turkey, but this time we have one up on them!!! we have immigration in such larges numbers in Europe mashallah

muslims in Europe number over 55 million set to double by 2025 inshallah

—————————————-

agreed.

not just immigration bro. we make babies, their women are infected with a feminist, self serving lifestyle which has destroyed the family system in Europe. Europe is in a demographic death spiral. show me one European country where the birthrate is at the required 2.2 for a replacement population? No economic model can deal with a falling population. thats why immigration is needed. and where will these immigrants come from? either Africa or Asia. that means a good majority will be muslim. watch the next 50 years.

——————————————

thats why i hate europe they are racists and filthy

——————————————-

It is all western hypocracy and nothing more…

The burkini allows Muslim women to go out and swim, where as the bikini deters them.

The burkini is a reconsiliation of Islamic laws and modern lifestyle–allowing a Muslim woman to follow her passions, while maintaining her dignity and religuous rights.

Banning it on the grounds that its unhygenic, or pulls the swimmer down is rubbish.

As fro those who say that if muslims have so much problem living there, then why dont they move elsewhere…..Do they have to? They are not living there for free..If they have invested so much money, energy, youth and effort into the land, and if the country has given then citizenship, then they deserve to live with their dignity.

I wonder why the people in the west are very touchy about the right of a woman to dress in the tiniest of clothes or nothing at all, but frown upon the her right to cover up, or take on a hijab.

They want to respect the right of even holding incestous relationships, prostitution etc, yet hell breaks loose if a Muslim man marries twice.

———————————————–

But one reason for this double standards is that Muslim population is growing at a much higher rate in european countries, and if the secular europeans fail to secularize the new Muslim generation, they risk losing their lifestyle..

——————————————–

exactly. in 25 years there will be tens of millions of muslims in Europe. That is their worst nightmare. France doesnt include religion on its census form but estuimates of the French Muslim population range between 7 and 10 million.

——————————————–

The person who found these remarks says:

The comments come from here: http://forum.pakistanidefence.com/index.php?showtopic=84064 (no, I’m not going to link to it; you can cut and paste if you want to put on your Wellies and wade through the

sludge – D)

Gagdad Bob at One Cosmos would say that these people suffer from mind parasites. He’s right. These mental encrustations are passed down from one unholy generation to another. They prove how strong evil is, that men can be so attracted to killing and subjugation. On the other hand, they show a fatal weakness, at least so far. Even with all the hundreds of years of slaughter as their version of statecraft, the Islamic fringe still hasn’t subverted its mortal enemy. And to think it can do so by breeding is a sad fallacy, especially with financial Armageddon facing us.

Who is going to feed all those breeders? It sure won’t be the ethnic Europeans, who will be turning inward to survive the horrible damage done by greedy elitists who thought they could “plan” something as dynamic and unstable as an economic system.

Yes, there is a greater evil than Islam, and we participated in its creation, however unwittingly. Will the coming implosion of evil greed go faster than the Muslim breeding machine, thereby making their population gains moot?

I think so…

…Either way, it is going to be rough sailing.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has promised that the United States will contribute towards an international fund that would amass $100 billion every year to help poor countries cope with the effects of climate change.

In other news, Islam is the growing religion among Native Mexican tribes in the restive state of Chiapas.

And don’t miss the report from New Zealand on the semi-lascivious holiday billboard of Joseph and the Virgin Mary that aims to “challenge stereotypes” about the birth of Jesus Christ…

Thanks to C. Cantoni, CSP, Esther, Fjordman, Gaia, Insubria, JD, KGS, Lurker from Tulsa, Sean O’Brian, TV, VH, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
– – – – – – – – –

	Financial Crisis
	Jobless Jordanians Exploited by Organ Traffickers
	USA
	20 Senators Demand Probe of Health-Care Vote ‘Threat’
	Air Force Academy Says Religious Climate Improving
	Less Health Care for More Money: What’s the Catch?
	Muslim Congregation to Sue Lilburn Over Mosque, Attorney Says
	Pepsi Not Advertising in Super Bowl Next Year
	US Would Contribute to $100bln Climate Fund: Clinton
	Europe and the EU
	Blizzard Dumps Snow on Copenhagen as Leaders Battle Warming
	Brussels Stays Out of Crucifix Controversy
	Church of Sweden Pastor Accused of Rape
	Dutch Muslim TV Recognises Ahmadiyya Sect
	France: Halimi’s Photo Used for Muslim Dating
	Ireland: Bishop Resigns Over Child Sex Abuse
	Italy: Bomb Explodes at Top Milan University
	Italy: Proposed Web Bill Sparks Censorship Row
	MEPs to Receive Extra £32,000 a Year on Top of Pay Rise
	Minaret Appeal Filed With Strasbourg Court
	Muslims Mull Mosque Debate After Swiss Vote
	Netherlands: Koran School Beating Claims Investigated
	Severely Cold Across Europe
	Spain: Nine Arrested in Tarragona for Ordering Woman Executed for Adultery
	Spain: Sharia Law in Tarragona
	Sweden: Diplomat and Wife Jailed for Smuggling Cigarettes
	Sweden: Half-Naked MP Makes Indecent Christmas Party Proposal
	Switzerland: “National Muslim Body is Not a Priority”
	Switzerland: Linguists Unite Against English Invasion
	UK: 3,000 Victims of Home Snatchers: Record Numbers of Elderly Are Forced to Sell Their Homes to Pay for Care
	UK: 4,000 Prisoners Given ‘Absolutely Revolting’ Perk of Having Satellite Television in Cells
	UK: Climategate Goes Serial: Now the Russians Confirm That UK Climate Scientists Manipulated Data to Exaggerate Global Warming
	UK: Council Snoopers Watch US on 60,000 CCTV Cameras
	UK: Father Found Guilty of Honour Killing of Daughter, 15, After She Fell in Love With Man From Different Branch of Islamby Daily Mail Reporter
	UK: Identity Minister Forgets ID Card
	UK: Met Office ‘Manipulated Climate Change Figures’ Says Russian Think Tank Linked to President Putin
	UK: Once a Crook, Always a Crook: 12 Years on, Canal Boy Jailed as Serial Burgler
	UK: Tulay Murder ‘A Wake-Up Call’ Over ‘Honour Killings’
	UK: You’re Not Worthy: Council Snubs Move to Honour British Army’s Most Decorated Regiment
	Balkans
	Bosnia: Council of Europe, Warning Over Lack of Reforms
	North Africa
	Algeria: Ten Arrested in Anti-Terror Operation
	Drugs: Moroccan Hemp Fields Cultivation -60%
	Egypt: Exorcism and Apparitions in Cairo’s Poor Areas
	Egypt: Algerian Artist Complains Exclusion From Biennial
	Minarets: Egypt, Swiss Banks Could Lose Fund if Ban Enforced
	Morocco: Italy Commemorates Elisa Chimenti in Tangiers
	Israel and the Palestinians
	Christmas: Gaza Christians to Bethlehem, Israeli Go-Ahead
	PNA: PLO Extends Abbas Mandate, Elections Off
	Rare Gender Identity Defect Hits Gaza Families
	UK-Livni: A Blunder for Peres But Storm Settling
	Middle East
	A Policy of “Ethnic Cleansing” Against Christians Under Way in Mosul, Mgr Sako Says
	Dubai: Wife of Qaeda Number 2 Urges Women Not to Join Jihad
	Dubai: Teachers Urged to Adopt Modern Methods
	Dubai Records 6,000 Offences on Its Beaches
	In Baghdad, Hemlines Rise as Violence Falls
	Insurgents Hacking U.S. Drones
	Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones
	Iran Test-Fires Advanced Missile
	Iran: Tehran Tests ‘Long Range Missile’
	Lebanese Woman Opens Bank Account in Rights Precedent
	Plot Targeting Turkey’s Religious Minorities Allegedly Discovered
	Saudi Arabia: Mosques Told to ‘Ease Off’ Mayor
	Yemen: Up to 34 Al-Qaida Militants Killed
	Caucasus
	Azerbaijan: Discontent Over Mosque Demolition Continues in Baku
	Muslim Revival Brings Polygamy, Camels to Chechnya
	Suicide Bomber Wounds 18 People in Russia’s South
	South Asia
	Christian Members of Heed Bangladesh Accuse Director of Corruption
	Club Promotes Polygamy in Indonesia
	Faisalabad: Two Christians Imprisoned for Blasphemy Released
	French, US Troops in Major Operation East of Kabul: Military
	Get Out of Afghanistan Now
	India: How Christian is Sonia Gandhi?
	India: Muslim Leaders Exhort Youth to Join Civil Services
	Pakistan: Code Broken, Al-Qaida Attack Feared
	Sarkozy Accused of Corruption in Karachi Bomb Scandal
	Far East
	Socialist Kim Jong-Il Bans ‘Capitalist’ Hairstyle
	Australia — Pacific
	Bias Denied as Swan Valley Mosque Rejected
	New Zealand: Poor Joseph. God Was a Hard Act to Follow
	New Zealand: Semi-Nude Mary and Joseph Spark Outrage
	New Zealand: Christians Outraged by Poster Showing Mary and Joseph After Sex
	Sub-Saharan Africa
	‘Somali Pirates’ Held by Dutch Freed: Defence Ministry
	Latin America
	Islam is the New Religion in Rebellious Mexican State Chiapas
	Nicole Ferrand in the Americas Report: Pro-Iran Chavista Daniel Ortega Overturns Term Limits
	Venezuela’s Chavez Sees US Threat in Dutch Islands
	Immigration
	International Deal to Resettle 78 Tamils in Several Countries
	Shock for Worthing Day-Trippers After Illegal Immigrant Found
	UK: A Gaping Hole in Our £1.2bn ‘Eborder’ Net: Crackdown is Hopelessly Diluted to Meet EU Law
	Culture Wars
	College Prof: Christian Crosses Like Swastikas
	Thousands Demand Obama Dump ‘Safe Schools Czar’
	General
	Earth’s Upper Atmosphere Cooling Dramatically
	Jihad Forbidden for Women
	Real or Fake? “White People Stole My Car” Is Big on Google
	Reuters Plans Islamic Finance Portal
	Sea Rose Eight Metres in Warmer Age: Study

Jobless Jordanians Exploited by Organ Traffickers

So he flew to Egypt earlier this year, had a kidney removed, and was paid 5,000 dollars. But it was a Faustian bargain.

“I regret it with all my heart. I don’t know what I was thinking,” Ali told AFP. “I got all 5,000 dollars after I donated the kidney, but I did not see or know the person I gave my kidney to.

“Now I know I made a bad mistake out of ignorance. I don’t have a job, and poverty and hard conditions blinded me to what I was doing.”

Ali was just one of dozens of cash-strapped people in Jordan who sold a kidney to brokers who prey on the poor.

Mohammed, 29, said he too was promised 5,000 dollars for a kidney, but after the operation he was given less than half of the money in late 2008.

“I couldn’t do anything about it. They told me ‘take it or leave it’,” said the father of two.

“I still can’t find a job, I’m still poor and now all the money is gone. My life did not improve.”

Ripped off and deceived

Mohammed said he was deceived into thinking he would “still have a normal life” after the operation.

“I’ve been feeling exhausted since my kidney was removed. I know I am not well but I don’t know what’s wrong. I can’t see a doctor because I hear police are looking out for people like me,” he added in a hoarse voice.

“My life has changed. I can’t even sit and talk comfortably with my wife and children. This is always on my mind.”

Reliable data on organ trafficking is not available, but Jordanian officials insist it is not a pressing issue. Organ trafficking is banned, with penalties of up to five years’ jail and 28,000 dollars in fines.

In September, 11 Jordanians were extradited by Cairo and charged in Amman with trafficking in human organs, mainly kidneys, and selling them illegally in Egypt for up to 30,000 dollars each.

Other suspects are being interrogated and seven more are on the run, police said.

In the tiny desert kingdom, official figures show that 70 percent of the nearly six-million population is under the age of 30 and that unemployment is running at 14.3 percent.

However, independent estimates put the jobless figure more than double, at 30 percent.

In 2007, a year in which more than 80 cases of trafficking were uncovered, Jordan created a National Commission to Promote Organ Donation in a bid to end illegal trafficking and encourage people to donate their organs.

Everything is for sale, including human organs

“Traffickers work on commission, preying on poor people to convince them to sell their kidneys and then facilitating their travel to a third country for the operations,” said state coroner Momen Hadidi, the commission’s rapporteur.

“More than 800 people die every year in Jordan in road accidents. We should be encouraging the relatives of these victims to donate the organs of their loved ones. That way we can begin to reduce the demand,” he said.

According to a recent government study of 130 cases in which kidneys were sold, nearly 80 percent of “donors” were Palestinians from Baqaa in northwest Amman, the largest refugee camp in the country.

Most were under the age of 31, lived in absolute poverty and had no criminal record.

The study said operations to remove the kidneys used to take place in Iraq, but since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, young men are now sent to Egypt, India and Pakistan.

A senior doctor and scientific adviser to the queen played down the extent of the problem.

“There is no organ trafficking problem in the kingdom. Such things are simply small scale improprieties,” nephrologist Mohammed Lawzi said.

“Most people who sell their kidneys cite poverty as a reason but they don’t use the money to improve their financial situation.”

Lawzi advises King Abdullah II’s wife Queen Rania, who heads the Jordan Society for Organ Donation.

“Many donors are drug addicts seeking an easy way to get money,” he said. “This happens all over the world, not just in Jordan.”

A problem and a crime

But University of Jordan sociologist Seri Nasser disagreed.

“It’s a problem and a crime in Jordan, just like it’s a problem and crime all over the word,” he said.

“Materialism rules these days and everything is for sale, including human organs, and for some people that means profit,” said Nasser, who felt that tackling unemployment and poverty would help in the fight against such trafficking.

“People sell their organs mostly because they are poor and jobless. They think ‘it’s my kidney and I can sell it’,” he said.

The World Health Organization believes that organ trafficking is increasing, with brokers reportedly charging wealthy patients between 100,000 dollars and 200,000 dollars for a transplant.

Donors, often impoverished and ill-educated, may receive as little as 1,000 dollars for a kidney although the going price is more likely to be about 5,000 dollars, it said.

A recent joint study by the United Nations and the Council of Europe called for a new international convention to stop trafficking in organs, tissues and cells.

The study pointed to a high number of unreported cases of trafficking because of low risks and huge profits for perpetrators.

It stressed the need to collect reliable data and called for an internationally agreed definition of trafficking in human body parts.

Between five and 10 per cent of kidney transplants performed annually around the world are estimated to be the result of organ trafficking.

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20 Senators Demand Probe of Health-Care Vote ‘Threat’

Did White House say it would close Air Force base if Nelson didn’t play?

Twenty senators are demanding an investigation into reports the Obama administration threatened to close Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska if that state’s Democratic senator, Ben Nelson, didn’t join other Democrats in voting for health-care reform.

The group of 20, all Republicans, today called for a hearing in a letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and the committee’s top Republican Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

— Hat tip: JD

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Air Force Academy Says Religious Climate Improving

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — The Air Force Academy says religious tolerance has improved dramatically since allegations five years ago that evangelical Christians harassed cadets who didn’t share their faith. Even the school’s most vocal critic agrees.

“This is the first time we feel positive about things there,” said Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which battled the academy in court over claims that evangelicals at the school were imposing their views on others.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Less Health Care for More Money: What’s the Catch?

The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof recently wrote a column about John Brodniak of Oregon, who developed a cavernous hemangioma, causing him great pain as blood leaks into his brain.

According to Kristof, Brodniak can’t get medical help because we don’t have universal health care. Senators who vote against Obamacare, Kristof said, are morally equivalent to someone who would walk past a man “writhing in pain on the sidewalk.”

In another article in the Times, William Yardley wrote about Melvin Tsosies — also of Oregon — who ended up with $200,000 in medical bills after having a heart attack.

As of March 2008, Yardley reported, Tsosies was waiting to find out if he would win the Oregon lottery for health insurance. But with 600,000 uninsured state residents and a “universal” health care program with only enough money to pay for about 24,000 of them, Tsosies is more likely to win a Powerball lottery.

How can this be happening? Oregon already has “universal health care”! (Probably just a coincidence, but isn’t Oregon also the only state with physician-assisted suicide?)

Once again forgetting about the existence of the Internet, the Times neglects to mention its own erstwhile enthusiasm for Oregon’s universal health-care plan, introduced back in 1990.

Back then, the Times published an editorial titled “Oregon’s Brave Medical Experiment,” hailing this technocratic monstrosity as an example of “hardheaded compassion” designed to make “health coverage available to many more families.”

Ron Wyden — then a congressman from Oregon, now a U.S. senator at the forefront of pushing “universal health care” onto the nation — said: “This is a strong dramatic step toward universal access of health care.” He predicted, “this is going to be copied everywhere.”

No wonder Wyden is such an ardent proponent of national health care — it will force states that didn’t adopt these idiotic universal health-care schemes to bail out the ones that did.

— Hat tip: JD

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Muslim Congregation to Sue Lilburn Over Mosque, Attorney Says

The attorney for a local Muslim congregation said he will file federal and state lawsuits on Thursday against the Lilburn City Council after it rejected plans for a giant mosque in a city neighborhood, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned.

Doug Dillard, who represents the congregation of Dar-E-Abbas, said he will appeal under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and four constitutional amendments in lawsuits against the Gwinnett County municipality.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Pepsi Not Advertising in Super Bowl Next Year

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Pepsi will not advertise its drinks in next year’s Super Bowl, ending a 23-year run so the company can focus on a new marketing effort that will appear mostly online.

Pepsi beverages have been advertised in the Super Bowl since 1987. Frito-Lay, a unit of parent company PepsiCo Inc., will still advertise.

The company, which is based in Purchase, N.Y., wouldn’t say how much it spent last year on Super Bowl ads, but it was one of the biggest advertisers, buying several minutes of commercial time. Ad time last year cost about $3 million for 30 seconds, on average.

The Feb. 7 NFL championship game will be televised on CBS. Package delivery company FedEx also said Thursday it will not advertise again in the Super Bowl due to costs, the same reason the company gave last year for sitting it out.

Pepsi recognizes Super Bowl ads can be effective for marketing, spokeswoman Nicole Bradley said, but the game doesn’t work with the company’s goals next year.

“In 2010, each of our beverage brands has a strategy and marketing platform that will be less about a singular event and more about a movement,” she said.

Notable Super Bowl ads from Pepsi over the years have included celebrities such as Cindy Crawford, Britney Spears and Will.i.am.

The nation’s second-biggest soft drink maker is plowing marketing dollars into its “Pepsi Refresh Project” starting next month as its main vehicle for Pepsi. The project will pay at least $20 million for projects people create to “refresh” communities.

A Web site will go live Jan. 13 where people can list their projects, which could range from helping to feed people to teaching children to read. People can vote starting Feb. 1 to determine which projects receive money.

Pepsi estimates the effort will fund thousands of projects and says other businesses will pledge money, too.

— Hat tip: Lurker from Tulsa

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US Would Contribute to $100bln Climate Fund: Clinton

COPENHAGEN — The United States would contribute towards a fund worth 100 billion dollars a year by 2020 to help poor countries cope with climate change, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday..

She said the contribution would be “in the context of a strong accord in which all major economies stand behind meaningful [greenhouse-gas] mitigation actions and provide full transparency as to their implementation.”

In such circumstances, “the United States is prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilizing 100 billion dollars a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs,” she said.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Blizzard Dumps Snow on Copenhagen as Leaders Battle Warming

Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — World leaders flying into Copenhagen today to discuss a solution to global warming will first face freezing weather as a blizzard dumped 10 centimeters (4 inches) of snow on the Danish capital overnight.

“Temperatures will stay low at least the next three days,” Henning Gisseloe, an official at Denmark’s Meteorological Institute, said today by telephone, forecasting more snow in coming days. “There’s a good chance of a white Christmas.”

Delegates from 193 countries have been in Copenhagen since Dec. 7 to discuss how to fund global greenhouse gas emission cuts. U.S. President Barack Obama will arrive before the summit is scheduled to end tomorrow.

Denmark has a maritime climate and milder winters than its Scandinavian neighbors. It hasn’t had a white Christmas for 14 years, under the DMI’s definition, and only had seven last century. Temperatures today fell as low as minus 4 Celsius (25 Fahrenheit).

DMI defines a white Christmas as 90 percent of the country being covered by at least 2 centimeters of snow on the afternoon of Dec. 24.

— Hat tip: KGS

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Brussels Stays Out of Crucifix Controversy

The European Commission yesterday steered away from the controversy over the Italian crucifix issue, saying it had no competence to give its opinion or challenge a decision of a court outside its jurisdiction.

The Commission’s position was made clear by Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot in reaction to a resolution in the European Parliament calling on the EU to challenge the recent judgment handed down by the Council of Europe’s Court of Human Rights.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Church of Sweden Pastor Accused of Rape

A 60-year-old Church of Sweden pastor faces a remand hearing this Friday for the alleged sexual abuse of two children during an overseas trip with a group of candidates for confirmation.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Dutch Muslim TV Recognises Ahmadiyya Sect

A Dutch Muslim broadcasting company which applied for airtime has recognised the Ahmadiyya sect as a major current in Islam. Such a recognition is unique in the world.

Ahmadiyya is a sectarian movement within Islam which is not recognised as Islamic by the main institutions of orthodox Islam. Many Dutchmen of Surinamese origin belong to Ahmadiyya.

Its recognition by the aspiring broadcaster (SMO) was revealed in a leaked e-mail message of which Radio Netherlands Worldwide possesses a copy. In the message SMO expresses its willingness to share its hoped-for broadcasting licence with another company, provided that it too recognises Ahmadiyya.

The Dutch public radio and tv system allots time to one religious broadcaster per denomination. The previous Muslim licence holder is to cease transmissions after internal strife between groups representing differing approaches to Islam.

SMO is one of five broadcasters having applied for the Islamic airtime slots. It is expected that the Dutch broadcasting authorities will announce next week which of them will be licensed and hence subsidised.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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France: Halimi’s Photo Used for Muslim Dating

From French: The Qiran.com site used a picture of Ilan Halimi — a French Jew tortured and killed by Muslims in 2006 — in its Google AdSense advertising. A British surfer discovered the picture on news sites, most notably France Soir. Qiran.com acknowledges the error and said the ad was immediately removed. The site sends it most sincere apologies to Ilan Halimi’s family. According to Qiran.com, the photo was used by one of the members, and the company uses member photos in it advertisements.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Ireland: Bishop Resigns Over Child Sex Abuse

Msgr Donal Murray cited in Irish ‘cover-up’ report

(ANSA) — Vatican City, December 17 — An Irish bishop resigned on Thursday after being criticised in a report that found the Irish Catholic Church covered up the sexual abuse of children in Dublin for decades.

Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop Donal Murray, former auxiliary bishop of Dublin, the Vatican said.

Msgr Murray, 64, who came to the Rome last week and offered his resignation, is the first official to resign since the publication last month of the Murphy report.

In a statement to his parishioners, Murray said: “I know full well that my resignation cannot cancel out the pain that the surviving victims of abuse suffered in the past and continue to suffer every day”.

“I humbly ask for forgiveness once more from all those who were abused when they were little children”. The Murphy report, released November 26, found that four former archbishops of Dublin failed to report child sex abuse to the police from the 1960 to the 1980s.

It 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.

The archdiocese only started notifying civil authorities in 1995, it found.

The pope discussed the Murphy report last Friday in the Vatican with Cardinal Sean Brady, head of the Irish Church, and the archbishop of Dublin, Msgr Diarmuid Martin.

There had been speculation that Murray, currently bishop of Limerick, would resign at the meeting.

Instead he stayed on in Rome as the Vatican weighed his fate for shunting around a paedophile priest, Father Thomas Naughton, instead of reporting him in the 1980s.

Naughton, 78, was jailed Wednesday for three years for abusing a boy at least 70 times between 1982 and 1984. The Murphy report found that Msgr Murray, who tendered his resignation as archbishop of Limerick earlier this month, had acted “inexcusably”. After his meeting with the bishops and the heads of the relevant Vatican departments on December 11, Benedict vowed to get to the bottom of the scandal and make sure abuse can never happen again.

In a statement issued by the Vatican, he noted that one of the crucial aspects of the report was the role played by the leaders of the Irish church, “who bear the ultimate responsibility for the pastoral care of children”.

Speaking out for the first time in the wake of the report, the pope said he was “shocked and anguished”.

He expressed his “deep regret for the actions committed by some members of the clergy who betrayed their solemn promises to God as well as the trust placed in them by the victims, their families, and society in general”.

“The Holy Father shares the sense of outrage, betrayal and shame felt by so many of the faithful in Ireland.

The pope asked Catholics in Ireland and around the world to pray for all those affected by these “hateful crimes”.

He vowed “to find the best way to develop effective and sure strategies to prevent (such events) recurring”.

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 was 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.

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.

YEARS OF SCANDAL IN FOUR COUNTRIES.

Since the mid-1990s the Catholic Church has been hit by child abuse scandals in the United States, Australia and Canada as well as 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.

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.

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Italy: Bomb Explodes at Top Milan University

Milan, 16 Dec. (AKI) — A partially exploded bomb was found at a university in the northern Italian city of Milan on Wednesday. Early reports say the bomb was left by an anarchist group at Bocconi University just outside the city.

The anarchist group, which calls itself “Sisters of Freedom” claimed responsibility for having placed the bomb in a corridor with a timer, after making an anonymous phone call to Italian daily Libero.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Italy: Proposed Web Bill Sparks Censorship Row

Online fanclubs for Berlusconi attacker ‘show new law needed’

(ANSA) — Rome, December 16 — Proposed legislation against hate speech on the Internet sparked a heated debate about censorship and the freedom of expression on Wednesday amid controversy over online groups applauding the attack on Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.

The proposal, by Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, came amid outrage over a dozen or more groups on the popular social networking site Facebook praising a man who hurled a statuette at the premier, breaking his nose and two of his teeth.

A number of the groups contained overtly violent messages directed at the premier, prompting the interior ministry to demand the California-based website take the groups down.

Facebook administrators agreed saying the content would eventually have been removed anyway as a violation of the website’s user agreement.

But Maroni said the incident demonstrated the need for legal guidelines “allowing prosecutors and police to intervene when online content constitutes a crime”.

The statement caused alarm among free speech advocates on both sides of the political divide who feared the measure could pave the way for online censorship.

The interior minister promised that was not what he had in mind.

“Right now, prosecutors can identify a crime on the Internet, but they can’t do anything about it,” he said.

“What we need is a legal framework for enforcing Italian laws online”.

Maroni said he would welcome input from the opposition, where most of the criticism for the initiative has come, “to arrive at a bill we can both agree on in parliament”.

The interior minister added that the government would abstain from rushing the law through as a decree law, provided the opposition agreed to put it on the fast track.

He said he would discuss the issue during a visit later in the day with President Giorgio Napolitano, and that more details about the proposal would become available after the government’s cabinet meeting on Thursday.

But the leader of the Catholic-centrist opposition group UDC, Pier Ferdinando Casini, said “any attempt to censor the Internet is absurd and undemocratic”.

“It’s like wanting to stop people from using the telephone, because they might say ugly things to each other,” he said.

“The Internet is a means of communication and the government needs to understand that people use it today just like they used to use the telephone”.

But Telecom Italia CEO Franco Bernabe’ said “I don’t think the government wants to censor the Internet so much as prosecute people for using it to commit crimes like slander and instigation, which are already against the law”.

Public response to the news included an online petition on Facebook asking the government “not to gag the Web”.

The largest online community in the world with over 350 million users, Facebook was the center of a prior free speech controversy in October over a group called “Let’s Kill Berlusconi”.

The group agreed to change its name under pressure from Facebook administrators, but was eventually removed altogether when users tried to change it back.

As of Wednesday, the website said its European office had already removed a handful of groups espousing violence against the premier.

But it said a number of “non-threatening” pages dedicated to his attacker would be left up, “because controversial and even offensive content isn’t reason enough to remove them”.

According to a recent study, one in four Italians has an account on Facebook making it the second most visited website in Italy.

— Hat tip: Insubria

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MEPs to Receive Extra £32,000 a Year on Top of Pay Rise

MEPs are to receive an increase to their staff allowance that will see it climb to £220,000 a year to help them implement the EU Lisbon Treaty.

The European Parliament was forced to clean up the rules over the payment of staffing expenses last February following press exposure of MEPs misusing or abusing the allowance.

Despite the high-profile scandals, an internal document seen by The Daily Telegraph has proposed a nine per cent increase in the parliamentary assistance allowance “following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty”.

“With more power comes more work,” said a parliament official.

Marta Andreasen, a UKIP MEP and member of the European Parliament’s budgetary control committee, said: “It is disgraceful that MEPs have just awarded themselves an extra 1,500 euros per month. When the political class is held in such contempt to be awarding themselves extra money is incomprehensible.”

MEPs can use the extra cash to employ extra staff or increase the salaries of existing assistants. The increase, which comes at a time of swingeing cutbacks and austerity in national public sectors, will take the annual allowance to £203,000 in 2010.

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

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Minaret Appeal Filed With Strasbourg Court

An appeal against the decision by Swiss voters to ban the construction of minarets has been submitted to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

It was lodged on Tuesday afternoon, said Pierre de Preux, a lawyer acting for Hafid Ouardiri, the former spokesman of the Geneva mosque.

Ouardiri wants the Strasbourg court to rule that the ban is incompatible with the European human rights convention.

De Preux told the AP news agency that a letter had been sent to the federal government and to all the members of the Council of Europe to inform them of this step.

The chairman of the Strasbourg court, Jean-Paul Costa, earlier this month described the case as “legally complicated”. Plaintiffs must have exhausted the legal system in their home country before going to Strasbourg, but Switzerland’s highest court cannot hear cases that result from a popular vote.

In a national vote at the end of November, 57.5 per cent of those taking part voted in favour of an initiative to ban the construction of minarets.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Muslims Mull Mosque Debate After Swiss Vote

The Swiss vote to forbid the construction of mosques with minarets has sparked calls for a similar ban in Germany. Robert Rigney samples the mood of the country’s Muslim community.

Most people wouldn’t consider Switzerland a very trendy place, but Meho Travljanin worries the small, alpine nation’s xenophobia could soon become fashionable throughout much of Europe.

“My fear is that the discussion has spread from Switzerland to all of Europe,” says Travljanin, referring to the country’s controversial referendum in November banning the building of mosques with minarets.

An official at the Bosnian Cultural Centre in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district, Travljanin believes other countries including Germany could now attempt similar bans as the Swiss vote helps fan fears of a growing Islamification of Europe.

“Over time of course mosques will be built,” says Travljanin. “The fact is that there are more and more Muslims in Germany and in Europe. And it is also a fact that that these people are here to stay and that these people are going to want their places of worship.”

Prior to the Swiss referendum, Germany was already in the midst of a debate about the nearly 200 mosques which are currently being planned. If all are built, they would double the existing number of Muslim houses of worship in the country.

Although Germany has had a sizeable, mostly Turkish, Muslim community since the sixties, the building of mosques in Germany is a relatively new phenomenon. Up until now most Muslims in Germany have prayed hidden from view in old factory buildings, basements, converted offices and garages.

“We say that one should not be afraid of a minaret,” says Ender Cetin, spokesman for the Turkish —Islamic Union. “We ask the question is it better to have a courtyard mosque where the normal citizen might be afraid to enter? Or is it better to have a familiar mosque with dome and tower?”

Cetin’s office in the Sehitlik mosque in Berlin, a four-year-old traditional Ottoman style construction complete with marble façade, dome, and twin minarets. It is located on land that has been linked to Turkey for 140 years, since the Ottomans were present in Prussia.

He sees the Swiss vote and reactions by some German politicians as putting considerable pressure on the Muslim community.

“It pushes us into the corner a bit,” says Cetin. “Of course a minaret is not necessary. We don’t need a minaret for prayer. It just shows that we have arrived.”

The mosque that has garnered much attention in Germany recently is being built in Cologne. A 2,000-capacity building with twin minarets that will reach 170 feet high, the house of worship was designed by German architect Paul Böhm, who is not Muslim. Construction on the mosque began last year, causing an outcry among locals who described the structure as too big and affront to the city’s Christian traditions. One critic went so far as to describe the mosque as a “declaration of war” culturally.

In response to the vehement opposition encountered in Europe, some Muslims in Germany are rethinking how a mosque should look.

Alen Jasarevic is a Bosnian-German architect of a critically acclaimed new mosque in the town of Penzberg in Bavaria. At first glance it doesn’t look like a mosque at all: it is modest, unassuming, disarming, modern, transparent and discreet.

The façades, which are clad in pale sandstone, give a little indication of the building’s function. But the entrance features two concrete slabs that swing out of the wall like open gates, inviting visitors into the house in German and Arabic script. Most remarkable is the minaret, a tall column illuminated from within with words in Arabic calling the faithful to prayer visually.

“I want to show the society here that we can keep up, that we can be innovative, that we understand our faith as not merely something from the past, but rather something that continuously develops and which can create such buildings,” says Jasarevic.

He explains he wanted to create a building that could be accepted by the German public, something that was open to everyone, “not like an Ottoman mosque which lands like a UFO” in Germany.

Travljanin from the Bosnian cultural centre agrees innovation could be the answer to Europe’s mosque debate.

“I think that Muslims, no matter where they live in Europe, of course have to try to fit in with the architectural structure of cities,” says Travljanin. “And this is in keeping with Islam. There were no minarets in the beginning of Islam.”

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Netherlands: Koran School Beating Claims Investigated

The Hague city council has launched an investigation into a number of cases of alleged physical child abuse during Koran lessons at the city’s mosques.

The claims came to light during the routine health check on 10-year-olds and child social workers have drawn up a list of 49 potential cases. Sources within the Moroccan community have also told officials that children have been beaten, the city council says.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Severely Cold Across Europe

A severely cold day to come across Europe with temperatures will below freezing all day across central and eastern parts of Europe. An area of snow is forecast across England, northern France into Belgium, Holland into Denmark and Sweden and some of this will be heavy.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Spain: Nine Arrested in Tarragona for Ordering Woman Executed for Adultery

The woman managed to escape after an Islamic Sharia court sentenced her to death

December 6 — The Catalan autonomous police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, have revealed details of an operation in Tarragona where nine men were arrested for kidnapping and plotting to kill a woman who an Islamic Sharia court had found guilty of adultery. The suspects were arrested last month after a lengthy investigation, and seven were remanded to custody, charged with kidnapping, attempted murder and illicit association.

The woman in question was kidnapped in March and held in a house in countryside outside Valls, to the west of Barcelona, and told police that she would have been executed if she had not managed to escape her captors.

The police investigation resulted in raids on three properties in Reus and Valls in the early hours of 14th November. It’s understood from El País that the suspects taken into custody are from the Maghreb area of North Africa and are followers of the ultra-conservative Salafist movement. As leading members of the local community, they are believed to have set up the Sharia court when the woman was accused of adultery by her husband’s family after she was seen in the company of another man.

Sources quoted by El País said the local community had accepted the Sharia court’s decision to order the woman’s execution.

— Hat tip: VH

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Spain: Sharia Law in Tarragona

A woman was sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery

December 11- A TARRAGONA court has sent seven man to prison without bail and released two others with charges, accused of judging a woman according to Sharia law and planning to kill her for adultery.

They are charged with illegally holding the woman, criminal association and attempted manslaughter. The nine men were arrested in November after a secret operation which began in March and saw several homes in Valls and Reus searched. They were taken to different police stations so they had no way of communicating with each other.

They are believed to belong to a Salafist movement, an orthodox sector of Islam which has a great following in the area. The detainees had created an Islamic Tribunal and illegally tried the woman for adultery, which according to Sharia law is punished with death by lapidation.

They were keeping the woman, who is married to a Moslem man and had fallen pregnant by another man, in a local farmhouse, from which she was able to escape and call the Catalan police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, who made her a protected witness. They had previously kidnapped her from her home in Tarragona. If they are found guilty at trial, they could face more than 23 years in prison.

The two who have been released with charges have had their passports taken away, are forbidden from leaving the country and have to appear in court twice a month. The victim has been taken to an unknown location to prevent attacks from her husband’s relatives

— Hat tip: VH

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Sweden: Diplomat and Wife Jailed for Smuggling Cigarettes

A North Korean diplomat and his wife have been sentenced to eight months in prison by a court in Stockholm for attempting to smuggle more than 230,000 cigarettes into Sweden.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Sweden: Half-Naked MP Makes Indecent Christmas Party Proposal

A Social Democrat member of the Swedish parliament awoke shamefaced this week after making lewd advances in a state of undress to a female colleague at a Riksdag Christmas bash.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Switzerland: “National Muslim Body is Not a Priority”

Better ties between Muslims and the Swiss population should be a priority, and not the creation of a national Muslim umbrella organisation, says an Islamic expert.

The idea of a single body representing the country’s diverse Muslim groups is one of a number of hot topics doing the rounds in Switzerland, which is still reeling from the surprise anti-minaret vote two weeks ago.

For Stéphane Lathion, head of a research group on Islam in Switzerland at Lausanne University, focusing on a national Muslim umbrella organisation right now would be like “putting the cart before the horse”.

“The priority is building ties on a daily basis between Muslim associations and the Swiss population at the local level; not just annual open-door events or inter-religious dialogue, but getting people to talk together more and for associations to take position on specific Muslim issues as well as on social issues regarding the whole of society,” Lathion told swissinfo.ch.

Hafid Ouardiri, general secretary of the Geneva-based interfaith foundation Entre-Connaissance, echoed this sentiment.

He felt a Muslim umbrella organisation in Switzerland “was a dream shared by many”, but said “you can’t put in place an umbrella organisation without working on the grassroots and communal ties in order to become credible”.

On Sunday Hisham Maizar, president of the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Switzerland, one of the largest groups, called for the creation of a single umbrella organisation in an interview in the French-language Le Matin Dimanche newspaper.

“We would all benefit by being united at the national level,” he said, but admitted that it was a “slow and difficult” ongoing process.

The alpine country of nearly seven million people is home to 350,000-400,000 Muslims, mainly from Bosnia, Kosovo and Turkey, but also from North Africa and the Middle East.

They are represented by a myriad of diverse organisations, from secular to conservative, which are mostly present at the cantonal level. But uneasiness about exactly what they all do — providing Arabic or Qur’an lessons, or other things — needs to be overcome via greater transparency, said Lathion.

Post-vote talks

In the absence of a national body, Ouardiri and Maizar will be two of a handful of Muslim representatives taking part in post-vote talks with Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf on December 22. The groups already had a discussion in September about integration.

In the wake of the minaret ban, the former spokesman for the Geneva mosque felt both the Swiss authorities and the Muslim community now had a “huge task” before them.

“The authorities are aware of the delays that have occurred,” Ouardiri said. “We kept drawing their attention to integration problems, but we were forced to focus on security issues.”

Ouardiri said whether they liked it or not, both groups now faced an emergency situation that would last for some time and would be difficult to manage.

“We have to retake control of the debate, reassure people and move forward; we have to live together,” he said.

Peaceful rally

On Saturday a peaceful rally in front of parliament in Bern against the “false perception of Islam in Switzerland” attracted around 700 people. The rally was not endorsed by any of Switzerland’s main Muslim groups.

“It’s not the best way to reach those who think differently or to reduce their fears and prejudices,” Taner Hatipoglu, president of the Zurich Association of Islamic Organisations, told Swiss television.

But Melanie Muhaxheri, president of the Organisation of Muslim Women in Switzerland, who was present at the rally, disagreed.

“As a Muslim I intend to stand up for my rights,” she said. “First minarets, then talk about burkas. What next?”

“I am a Swiss citizen and this is my home, so I want the same religious freedoms as Christians, Jews and Buddhists.”

Muhaxheri felt an umbrella group was a sensible but difficult idea to achieve: “They have always talked about it, but nobody could ever agree.”

For Lathion the next steps are clear: “Muslims need to continue their explanatory work, to try to explain to people that their fears are ill-founded and that they are Swiss citizens and not dangerous.”

“And Swiss politicians need to make a public mea culpa, admitting they did not do their work correctly.”

But he is concerned as this hasn’t happened over the past two weeks.

“I thought that after the salutary vote Swiss people would wake up and we would finally have a real debate on the issue, but in fact we are witnessing extremely dangerous populist one-upmanship by pseudo-centrist parties.”

Simon Bradley, swissinfo.ch

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Muslims and minarets in Switzerland

Switzerland is the first European country to forbid the construction of minarets.

On November 29, 57.5% of votes cast were in favour of a people’s initiative entitled quite simply: Against the construction of minarets.

Several plans for building minarets in the German-speaking part of Switzerland were the catalyst for the initiative. Local residents collected signatures against the planned towers.

They were supported by the rightwing Swiss People’s Party and the Federal Democratic Union, which coordinated efforts.

The Muslim community accounts for about 4.5% of the Swiss population.

There are about 200 mosques and prayer rooms in Switzerland, but only four have a minaret.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Switzerland: Linguists Unite Against English Invasion

Largely unnoticed by English speakers, our fellow Europeans are sullenly suffering the colonisation of their native languages by Anglo-American terms.

Linguistics experts met in the Swiss capital Bern on Tuesday to share ideas on how to deal with the growing language divide within French, German and Italian-speaking communities.

Who can get by these days without knowing the meaning of whistleblower, laptop, roaming or task force? They are all words that have entered into common usage in Swiss national languages.

Behind the laughter at the many comic examples of pseudo-English which have popped up, there is dismay at the unstoppable stream of borrowings and fear for the very survival of the continent’s languages.

Guest speaker Alfred Gilder, terminology chief at the French finance ministry, captured the mood of the conference with the battle-cry “modernise or die!”.

“If a language is not capable of creating new words to describe new advances, it will die,” he warned.

Gilder summed up his philosophy of linguistic integrity by using a drinking metaphor. “I like Bordeaux very much and I like whisky too but I would never mix the two!”

Beginning of the end

A point echoed by several speakers was that English has become so dominant in certain fields, such as finance and science, that courses in some disciplines are now exclusively being taught in English in some countries. The beginning of the end, as Gilder sees it.

The conference, attended by some 200 delegates, was organised by the Swiss Federal Chancellery.

Vice-chancellor Thomas Helbling told swissinfo.ch that Switzerland, with its tradition of language diversity had possibly less to fear from the influence of English. But he stressed that the home languages needed to be preserved.

“I definitely think that we should learn a second national language before English. It is part of our tradition and culture to speak to each other, as you can see at today’s conference where three languages are in use on the floor.”

Global dominance

Of course borrowing words and expressions from other languages is a natural function of language development and English itself has absorbed countless influences in its history — from Latin, French and Hindi, to name but a few.

What is different about the current dominance of English is that it is the first truly global language and it is spewing out words at a pace that other languages have no chance to compete with.

This rapid evolution favours those who can ride the English wave but creates a language divide, akin to the digital divide, for those who are poor in English.

Germanic expert Jürg Niederhuaser illustrated this problem neatly by quoting the head of a research department in a Basel pharmaceutical company, who said:

“In the section I lead, people like to joke that without English you won’t get so much as a cup of coffee.”

“ What must be avoided is that the lingua franca becomes lingua unica. “

Bénédicte Madinier, French Ministry of Culture

Uniformity

Bénédicte Madinier, another guardian of the French language who works for the French Ministry of Culture, spoke of the linguistic uniformity that is fast becoming established worldwide.

“It is not a question of denying the interest, the necessity of an international language of communication, a lingua franca, …. What must be avoided is that the lingua franca becomes lingua unica,” Madinier said.

Madinier has a role in the French establishment’s complex system of screening new English words and either approving them for adoption into French or coming up with a new French form.

The French can boast to have possibly the only language on the planet which put forward its own version of the word computer which is still in popular usage — “ordinateur”. But such victories are few and far between.

False friends

The English influence is so pervasive now that languages are cobbling together words that either exist in a different form or mean something quite different in English.

So you want to get your hair done? In French-speaking Switzerland you have to ask for a “shampooing” followed by a “brushing”. Those crow’s feet bothering you? It might be time for a “facelifting”.

Or perhaps you want to order an overhead projector for your speech? That will be a “beamer” to your Swiss hosts. And if you happen to point out a vintage car to a German-speaker, don’t forget to call it an “oldtimer”.

Last but not least is “last but not least”, the most overused English expression among the Swiss, which pops up without fail in every speech and presentation, as any English speaker living here will testify.

Clare O’Dea, swissinfo.ch

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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UK: 3,000 Victims of Home Snatchers: Record Numbers of Elderly Are Forced to Sell Their Homes to Pay for Care

The scale of Labour’s betrayal of pensioners was laid bare tonight as it emerged that every year at least 3,000 elderly people are forced to sell their homes to pay for residential care.

The scandal of Britain’s crumbling care system has reached such proportions that a third of all those paying the cost of their care end up without their house.

Critics say it is appalling that, after more than a decade of Labour promises, a record number of people who have saved all their lives are still having to put their houses up for sale, while those who have squandered their money get free care.

— Hat tip: JD

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UK: 4,000 Prisoners Given ‘Absolutely Revolting’ Perk of Having Satellite Television in Cells

More than 4,000 prisoners are being allowed to watch free satellite television in their cells.

Robbers, burglars and other criminals are able to tune in to their favourite shows in return for ‘good behaviour’, with one in 20 prisoners having access to Sky TV from their bed.

Tory MP Philip Davies, who uncovered the figures, said: ‘No end of my constituents would love to have Sky TV but they cannot afford it, so it is a bit galling for them — through their taxes — to be paying for prisoners to be watching it in their cells.

[…]

The news will fuel concerns that prisons are too soft. Earlier this year, the Prison Officers Association warned that conditions in jail were so good many inmates did not want to leave.

— Hat tip: JD

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UK: Climategate Goes Serial: Now the Russians Confirm That UK Climate Scientists Manipulated Data to Exaggerate Global Warming

Climategate just got much, much bigger. And all thanks to the Russians who, with perfect timing, dropped this bombshell just as the world’s leaders are gathering in Copenhagen to discuss ways of carbon-taxing us all back to the dark ages.

Feast your eyes on this news release from Rionovosta, via the Ria Novosti agency, posted on Icecap. (Hat Tip: Richard North)

[…]

The IEA believes that Russian meteorological-station data did not substantiate the anthropogenic global-warming theory. Analysts say Russian meteorological stations cover most of the country’s territory, and that the Hadley Center had used data submitted by only 25% of such stations in its reports. Over 40% of Russian territory was not included in global-temperature calculations for some other reasons, rather than the lack of meteorological stations and observations.

[…]

What the Russians are suggesting here, in other words, is that the entire global temperature record used by the IPCC to inform world government policy is a crock.

As Richard North says: This is serial.

— Hat tip: JD

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UK: Council Snoopers Watch US on 60,000 CCTV Cameras

The number of town hall-controlled Big Brother CCTV cameras has trebled in a decade, it emerged last night.

There are now 60,000 cameras trained on members of the public by council snoopers — one for every 1,000 people in the UK.

The huge increase has cost hundreds of millions of pounds, including at least £170million in Home Office grants — although there are doubts over whether the cameras actually help catch criminals.

[…]

Director Alex Deane said CCTV was seen as a ‘cheap alternative to policing’ but its ‘ability to deter or solve crimes is sketchy at best’.

‘The quality of footage is frequently too poor to be used in courts, the cameras are often turned off to save money and control rooms are rarely manned 24-hours-a-day,’ he added.

‘We would all feel safer with more police on the beat, there would be fewer crimes and those crimes that do occur would be solved faster.‘

— Hat tip: JD

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UK: Father Found Guilty of Honour Killing of Daughter, 15, After She Fell in Love With Man From Different Branch of Islamby Daily Mail Reporter

Mehmet Goren murdered 15-year-old Tulay for her doomed ‘Romeo and Juliet’ romance with Halil Una, an older man from a different branch of Islam.

After the teenager lost her virginity to her lover she was viewed as a ‘valueless commodity’ by her father — and had to be killed to restore the family’s reputation.

Mr Unal was a Turkish Sunni Muslim but the Gorens were from the Alevi branch of the faith and an Alevi-Sunni relationship ‘would not have been tolerated’, the Old Bailey heard.

Sentencing, Mr Justice Bean, said Goren’s attempts to appear a ‘thoroughly modern and enlightened family man’ failed to deceive the jury.

‘The reality is that your enigmatic smile conceals a violent and dominating personality,’ he told the killer, who showed not a flicker of emotion.

‘Your wife Hanim has finally had the courage to break free of the domination and reveal what she knew of what you did in January 1999.’

He said Goren planned the murder of his daughter with ‘considerable care’, even forcing her to write a letter relating a false account of what had happened to her to try to throw police off the scent.

Goren disposed of the schoolgirl’s body ‘with such ingenuity that it has never been found’, he added.

‘You did all this simply because you regarded it as unacceptable that she, rather than you, should choose the man she wanted to marry.

‘The term “honour killing” is a convenient shorthand, but it is a grotesque distortion of language.

‘There is nothing honourable about such a hideous practice or the people who carry it out.’

The judge made clear Goren would not be eligible for parole until 2030, when he will be nearly 70.

The Old Bailey had heard how Tulay — who had told a friend she might be pregnant — vanished from the family home in north London in January 1999.

The day before she disappeared, her mother Hanim returned home to find her daughter trussed up so tightly her hands and feet had turned purple and black.

In harrowing evidence, Mrs Goren told the court how she had tried to untie Tulay but her daughter told her ‘Mum don’t untie me, I want to die.’

The case ground to a halt for several moments after the anguished mother, 45, screamed across the court at her husband.

‘Look at my face. Tell me what you did to Tulay,’ she demanded, adding in Turkish: ‘Tell me where her bones are.’

Jurors also heard how Goren, 49, ordered his eight-year-old son Tuncay to kiss Tulay goodbye as he would never see his sister again.

The day afterwards she vanished. Police believe she was drugged, tortured and stabbed to death by her father who then temporarily hid her body in the back garden.

The jury cleared Goren’s two brothers Ali, 56, and Cuma, 43, of Tulay’s murder. All three men were also found not guilty of conspiring to murder Tulay’s boyfriend.

Thirteen days after Tulay’s murder, Goren attacked Mr Unal — who reported Tulay missing — with an axe in a pub car park in Leytonstone.

He recovered from his injuries and Goren — who was described as a ‘psychotic bully’ — was jailed for GBH.

It emerged that Goren had once tried to gas his whole family to death and on another occasion to inject his wife with rat poison.

The attack and Mr Unal and Tulay’s disappearance were treated separately and it was two months before detectives began to suspect Tulay had been murdered.

Police submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in 2000 but on advice from a senior prosecution barrister no one was charged over her death.

Goren, of Woodford Green, had been arrested shortly after his daughter’s disappearance but was arrested again in 2008, along with his two brothers, after a review.

All three were charged and brought to trial.

But it was the bravery of Mrs Goren, who had endured 30 years of torment at the hands of her husband, which eventually led to his conviction.

Breaking the conspiracy of silence which has often thwarted honour cases, she took the stand to give damning evidence.

Police and lawyers praised both her and Tulay’s sister Nuray and lover Halil Unal for their courage in speaking out.

Scotland Yard and the CPS today admitted past gaps in their knowledge and understanding of domestic violence in British Muslim families.

But a senior detective today pledged: ‘No victim will be turned away on the basis that honour-based violence is nothing to do with the police.’

Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw QC described the murder as ‘truly shocking’ and ‘a wake up call to the British authorities.’

Police had become involved in the weeks leading up to the murder when Mehmet beat up Mr Unal, then complained about the relationship to officers and demanded his daughter take a virginity test.

Tulay ran away and told them he had beat her, and that she would rather be taken into care than return home, before being persuaded to go back by her mother.

After the case, Nuray Guler, Tulay’s older sister, called on her father to tell the family where she was buried.

She said: ‘For my father, I have only one request. I ask that he finally discloses the whereabouts of my sister.

‘I wake up at night wondering where Tulay may be. In quiet moments during the day I ask myself if she suffered or knew what was in store for her.

‘I ask that he put an end to the nightmares that haunt us and allow us to retrieve Tulay in order that she may rest in peace alongside her sister Hatice.’

Hatice died in a car crash seven years after her sister went missing.

— Hat tip: Gaia

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UK: Identity Minister Forgets ID Card

Identity minister Meg Hillier arrived at a photocall to promote identity cards, but then realised she left her own at home.

She travelled to Liverpool to announce a further roll-out of the controversial identity cards across the North West.

Ms Hillier checked her handbag for the card before putting the slip-up down to the demands of looking after her baby.

Residents of Lancashire, Merseyside, Cheshire and Cumbria can now apply for the ID card.

The cards cost £30 each and enable the holder to travel across the EU without their passport.

Passport offices

They were made available to people living in Manchester at the end of November.

After Ms Hillier realised she was without her card she posed empty-handed in front of the Liver Building.

The MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch made the journey from London to Liverpool by train on Monday, ahead of an official announcement made by the Home Secretary.

Applications for the cards will open on 4 January. From February, applicants will be able to enrol at passport offices in Liverpool and Blackburn.

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

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UK: Met Office ‘Manipulated Climate Change Figures’ Says Russian Think Tank Linked to President Putin

An explosive new claim that the Meteorological Office in Britain ‘manipulated’ climate change figures has come from a leading Russian think-tank founded by a former adviser to Vladimir Putin.

As the Copenhagen summit comes to a climax on Friday, it was alleged that Siberian weather statistics were selected in a way that masks evidence not showing global warming.

The think tank strongly disputes the use of data from the Met Office’s Hadley Centre for Climate Change which were released in a bid to diffuse the recent row over hacked emails from the Climate Research Unit in East Anglia.

The emails were seized upon by global warming sceptics as evidence that academics were massaging the figures.

The Moscow-based Institute of Economic Analysis (IEA) claimed the Hadley Centre used statistics from weather stations in Russian and Siberia that fitted its theory of global warming, while often ignoring those that did not.

— Hat tip: JD

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UK: Once a Crook, Always a Crook: 12 Years on, Canal Boy Jailed as Serial Burgler

It was 12 years ago when social workers sent teenager Clinton Bowen on a three-month canal holiday in an effort to wean him from a life of crime.

Not surprisingly, the ‘punishment’ caused a furore. Even less surprisingly, it doesn’t appear to have worked very well.

Now 28, he’s grown up to be a serial burglar who specialises in raiding the homes of the old and vulnerable.

Canal Boy, as he became known, has just been jailed for five years after targeting the elderly in a series of burglaries to fund his drug addiction.

— Hat tip: JD

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UK: Tulay Murder ‘A Wake-Up Call’ Over ‘Honour Killings’

Mehmet Goren, the father of 15-year-old Tulay Goren, has been found guilty of murdering her after she fell in love with the wrong man. Tulay’s death serves as a “wake-up call” over the issue of such “honour killings”, a jury at the Old Bailey heard.

[…]

Tulay’s case is far from being an isolated incident, however. Police believe that about 12 women a year are the victims of “honour killings” in the UK. Many more suffer violence.

Honour killings have mostly occurred in families of South Asian and Middle Eastern origin. None of the world’s major religions condone honour-related crimes.

[…]

“In every case we have looked at, there’s always a conspiracy,” said Commander Steve Allen, the Association of Chief Police Officers’ lead on honour-based violence and forced marriage.

“There will be a meeting of the family, potentially involving other members of the community, to discuss and decide when the killing is going to be carried out, where, how and by whom,” he told the BBC.

In Tulay’s case, the Old Bailey jury also heard from Professor Yakin Erturk, a sociology professor at Ankara University and expert on “honour killings”. She was the first to give expert evidence at a case of this kind in the UK.

She said it was only in the past 15 years that such killings had become a recognised problem in Turkey, although there are an estimated 200 cases a year.

Prof Erturk, who is also the UN’s special rapporteur on violence against women, described a culture where a cousin slit a woman’s throat in the street for requesting a song on a radio station.

Since Tulay’s death 10 years ago, police have made “remarkable” progress, said Cdr Allen.

Officers are now taught to recognise the risks of “honour-based violence” from the moment a report is made.

There is an awareness that some victims may be taken abroad, that the risk of violence against other family members exists and that some families will go to considerable lengths to find those who “escape”.

But the need to challenge “perverted” notions that a woman can compromise the “honour” of a family or community because she keeps the “wrong company”, has a boyfriend or is “too Western” in her dress or appearance remains, said Cdr Allen.

“There’s an absolutely crucial issue about the need for leadership within affected communities. There’s no middle ground here, you either condemn these practices or you collude with them.”

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

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UK: You’re Not Worthy: Council Snubs Move to Honour British Army’s Most Decorated Regiment

They have fought bravely in Iraq and Afghanistan and count Victoria Cross hero Johnson Beharry among their number.

But the troops of the most decorated regiment in the British Army are the victim of an extraordinary snub by a council in Surrey, which says they are not ‘appropriate’ recipients of a public honour.

More than 2,000 people in Epsom have signed a petition to hand the freedom of the borough to the soldiers of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, which has won 57 Victoria Crosses in its 350-year history.

But a furious row has erupted after Liberal Democrats and independent councillors united to block the move — which would not cost taxpayers a penny — because the regiment, based in nearby Guildford, is ‘not local enough’.

The regiment said it would be a ‘huge honour’ to have the freedom of the borough and march through the streets of the town when they come home from fighting the Taliban.

More than 30 other councils have bestowed the same honour on the regiment, including Tunbridge Wells in Kent, 50 miles away.

— Hat tip: JD

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Bosnia: Council of Europe, Warning Over Lack of Reforms

(ANSAmed) — STRASBOURG, DECEMBER 17 — The Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly at the Council of Europe launched a warning today over the lack of progress by Bosnia Herzegovina in carrying out the constitutional reforms necessary for giving stability to the country. Commenting on the report approved today by the Committee, which will be discussed and voted on during the next Assembly session (January 25-29 2010), the parliamentarians charged with drawing up the document said that because of the lack of reforms the country is not able to keep step with the neighbouring countries in the process of integration into the EU and NATO, and is less able to fulfill the commitments undertaken as a member of the Council of Europe. Because of the continued conflict and obstructions put in place by various bodies and political parties, the gap between Bosnia Herzegovina and its neighbours is growing day by day, says the report. A strong warning is made in the document, with an invitation to introduce the necessary reforms in time for them to go into effect before the elections set for next October. The Committee also believes that broad dialogue should be begun immediately over the challenges that the country must face in order to gain stability. This dialogue must also include the other local players in the European Union and neighbouring countries. Lastly, the report strongly condemns the statements and actions of politicians in the Republika Srpska who are undermining the institutions and placing the authority of the High Representative in doubt. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Algeria: Ten Arrested in Anti-Terror Operation

Algiers, 16 Dec. (AKI) — Algerian authorities have arrested ten suspected members of an Al-Qaeda cell in an anti-terrorism operation in the past two days, news reports said on Wednesday. The suspects were arrested in separate raids in the Algerian capital, Algiers, and in the east of the country, according to reports.

In the anti-terrorism operation in Algiers, police arrested six suspected members of cell linked to the Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb — the terror network’s African branch.

The suspects allegedly gathered “large” sums of money for Al-Qaeda which they had extorted from small businesses on the outskirts of Algiers.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Drugs: Moroccan Hemp Fields Cultivation -60%

(ANSAmed) — RABAT, DECEMBER 17 — In 2009, the total surface area on which hemp was grown in the country dropped by 60% from 134,000 to 56,000 hectares, according to Khalid Zerouali, head of emigration and border control for the Moroccan Interior Ministry. Saying that he was satisfied with the results achieved, Zerouali cited the case of Larache in north-western Morocco, which has been declared “hemp-less city” for the fifth year in a row, as well as the 18 town councils of the Chefchaouen (north-west) province in which hemp growing has been entirely eradicated. According to Zerouali, also the struggle again trafficking networks is one of the main pillars of the Morocco’s strategy against drugs. He added that in 2009 a total of 1,345 people had been arrested, 50% of whom foreigners, and 180 tonnes of hashish seized.(ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Egypt: Exorcism and Apparitions in Cairo’s Poor Areas

(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, DECEMBER 16 — Exorcisms and alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary are occurring in Cairo, in two of the city’s poorest neighbourhoods, and the two phenomena are drawing in throngs of the faithful, mostly Christian Copts but Muslims as well. The most recent event is the one which occurred last Friday in the El Waaraq neighbourhood, located in the Giza area. The Egyptian Gazette reports that many claim to have personally witnessed the Virgin Mary on the roof of St. Michaels church with her arms opening in their direction, while the smell of incense and a flock of doves surrounded the area. This event allegedly occurred at least twice, but a Church appointee was unable to capture it on video. People are now awaiting for the return of Copt pope Shenouda III to return to Cairo from the USA on the day after tomorrow. He is expected to set up a committee that will look into the alleged apparitions, and to decide on the now sizeable amount of money offered by the faithful. Independent newspaper Al Masri El Yom reports that the hundreds of people that gather in front of the church every night have now been joined by street vendors who sell food, drinks and cigarettes, while a nearby bar has taken advantage of the situation to offer its chairs for the price of five liras (slightly more than 50 cents). Some people are even lighting fires for warmth, seeing that the temperature at night drops down to 9 degrees. Another independent paper, Al Dostour (which speaks of thousands of Copts drawn in by the alleged apparitions) pointed out that even Muslims worship the Virgin Mary insofar as mother of the prophet Jesus. It also revealed that president Nasser, coming out of the heavy defeat during the 1967 Six-Day War, personally showed up to witness another apparition of the Virgin Mary that occurred in the Heliopolis area the following year. Daily News Egypt reported that exorcisms have instead been taking place for some time every Thursday in the Copt monastery of St. Simon on Moqattam Hill, in the squatter settlements area of Mansheryet Nasser. The exorcisms are carried out by father Ibrahim, who draws in many Christians and Muslims who are eager to receive his help. The ritual is apparently similar to the classic one provided by the Catholic church in such cases, and the possessed apparently behave as stated by tradition: forceful attempts to escape exorcism, screams and inhuman sounds, loathing of the holy, words spoken in other languages. In other words, the repertoire which repeatedly occurred through the centuries in the West until positivist psychiatry made its appearance, and which still occurs and is certainly not foreign to the Muslim culture. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Egypt: Algerian Artist Complains Exclusion From Biennial

(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, DECEMBER 16 — Algeria is not among the countries included in the Biennale opening in Alessandria tomorrow. At fault are the political and diplomatic tensions with Egypt following that fateful World Cup qualifying football match. It is the artists who bear the brunt, and in this specific case Zineb Sedira, who, as AFP reports, has expressed “consternation” at being caught up in theis “soccer-based affair” between the two countries. During the hottest days of the crisis — following acts of violence on the part of Egyptian fans, which were met in more than ample measure by their Algerian counterparts to the cost of Egyptian businesses in that country — even the union organisations representing artists and musicians took nationalistic stances, announcing that there would be no more collaboration with their foreign colleagues. And the person in charge of fine arts, Mohsen Shaalan, who also chairs the Alexandria Biennale, announced on November 21 that Algeria’s attendance had been cancelled. “It was my opinion that we shared the same values,” the artist wrote in an open letter to the high commission of the Biennial for Mediterranean Countries, “and that we celebrated the same artistic virtues in overcoming national barriers other nationalistic trivia”.(ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Minarets: Egypt, Swiss Banks Could Lose Fund if Ban Enforced

(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, DECEMBER 17 — A joint committee of religious affairs, human rights and foreign relations of the People’s Assembly has recommended forming a parliamentary delegation to head for Switzerland to meet members of the Swiss parliament to warn of the gravity of a referendum held weeks ago on banning new mosque minarets. During a meeting on Wednesday, the committee called on Arab and Muslim businessmen to withdraw their assets from Swiss banks if the ban becomes law, MENA reports. MP Moustafa el-Feqi called for legislating an international law prohibiting any form of prejudice against religions, especially Islam, after the result of the recent referendum. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Morocco: Italy Commemorates Elisa Chimenti in Tangiers

(ANSAmed) — RABAT, DECEMBER 17 — Forty years after her death, yesterday evening in Tangiers Italy commemorated Elisa Chimenti, the writer who — alongside her doctor father — lived her entire life in Morocco and Tunisia. The evening in honour of ‘Elisa Chimenti, Mediterranean Woman’ was organised by the Italian consulate in Casablanca by the Casa Italia association in Tangiers, and was a chance to illustrate the plan for a foundation dedicated to the writer with offices in the Italian Institutions building, where she taught for many years. Re-launching the figure of Elisa Chimenti is intended as a way to analyse the relations between those living on the two shores of the Mediterranean while moving beyond existing stereotypes, and to show Italians and Moroccans how Mediterranean they are. It is significant that this happens in Tangiers, a cultural crossroads in which Elisa Chimenti highlighted Arab, Jewish and Berber roots. Ileana Marchesani and Karine Joseph, heads of the publishing houses Senso Unico and Sirocco, have announced an upcoming publication of an anthology on the writer’s works. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Christmas: Gaza Christians to Bethlehem, Israeli Go-Ahead

(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, DECEMBER 16 — According to reports in the country’s media, Israeli authorities have today announced their intention, during the Christmas period, to open the passes from the Gaza Strip to its tiny Christian community to allow them to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem, which lies in the West Bank. The Gaza Strip has been under an Israel blockade since the fundamentalist party Hamas seized power there. The decision also bears the hallmark of the urging of the Catholic hierarchy, as of other Christian churches. The Palestinian Christian minority, while sizeable in the West Bank, number no more than a few hundred in the Gaza Strip (which has a total population of around one and a half million). In all their numbers there are estimated by different sources at between 300 and one thousand. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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PNA: PLO Extends Abbas Mandate, Elections Off

(ANSAmed) — RAMALLAH, DECEMBER 16 — As widely anticipated, the Executive Committee of the PLO has decided to extend the mandate of Mahmoud Abbas as President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), reaffirming its decision indefinitely to postpone the presidential and political elections called for January 24. The news has come on the margins of the two-day meeting underway in Ramallah. Speaking to ANSA, Nemer Hammad, a member of the executive committee and advisor to Mahmoud Abbas, said that the postponement also affects the Legislative Council (the parliament) and will hold until it is once more possible to call the elections which were cancelled due to the lack of an agreement with Hamas, the fundamentalist faction in control of the Gaza Strip. The election have been informally set for June 28 20120, but on condition that “national reconciliation” is achieved in the meantime. The Executive Committee also outlined a document approving the policy line presented by Mahmoud Abbas himself just yesterday: this subordinates a re-start of the peace process with Israel to a complete freezing of building activity in the settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. At the same time, any “return to violence” as an arm in political struggle was renounced. The PLO decision in effect deepens the split between Al Fatah (the lay party under Mahmoud Abbas which dominates the executive committee, but whose sway does not extend beyond the West Bank) and its Hamas rivals, who today confirmed through their leader in Gaza, Mahmud A-Zahar, that they do not recognise the legitimacy of decisions taken by the PLO, nor the role of the President of the PNA, “in the absence of a popular vote”.(ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Rare Gender Identity Defect Hits Gaza Families

There are an unusually high number of male pseudohermaphrodite births in the Gaza neighborhood of Jabalya, where Nadir and Ahmed live.

Dr. Jehad Abudaia, a Canadian-Palestinian pediatrician and urologist practicing in Gaza, says he has diagnosed nearly 80 cases like Nadir’s and Ahmed’s in the last seven years.

“It is astonishing that we have [so] many cases with this defect, which is very rare all over the world,” Abudaia says. He attributes the high frequency of this birth defect to “consanguinity,” or in-breeding.

“If you want to go to the root of the problem, this problem runs in families in the genes.” Abudaia says. “They want to get married to cousins… they don’t go to another family. This is a problem.”

— Hat tip: Esther

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UK-Livni: A Blunder for Peres But Storm Settling

(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, DECEMBER 16 — The President of Israel, Shimon Peres, today added his voice to the wave of protest coming from Israel at the arrest warrant issued, and then retracted by a UK court, for the former Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni. Its agreement to the proceeding, which was issued on the basis of a statement made by a pressure group of Arab origins, accusing Israel of war crimes in connection with last winter’s offensive against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, “was one of London’s worst political blunders of the past years”, Peres stormed. The co-founder of the centrist Kadima party, which is currently in opposition, was speaking to Israeli media before leaving to attend the climate summit in Copenhagen. On its breaking yesterday, the affair sparked off a minor diplomatic storm between Israel and the United Kingdom, leading to the summoning of the UK Ambassador to Tel Aviv, Tom Pillips, although the government of Benyamin Netanyahu today shows signs of softening its tones. A spokesperson for the Israeli foreign office told ANSA, that no “further comments” are expected following yesterday evening’s reassurances by the British foreign minister, David Miliband, on the desire of Gordon Brown’s cabinet to introduce reforms in the justice system of England and Wales which would exclude a repetition of episodes such as this. Livni was indeed forced to postpone a planned visit to London: reforms would allow “political leaders of a friendly country” to visit the United Kingdom freely. The spokesperson also confirmed the telephone clarifications that have come in the past hours from Miliband to his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, as well as with Livni herself. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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A Policy of “Ethnic Cleansing” Against Christians Under Way in Mosul, Mgr Sako Says

The archbishop of Kirkuk says security measures will be strengthened during Christmas for fear of new attacks. Two attacks are carried out in Mosul yesterday; two churches are hit, one baby girl is dead and 40 people are wounded. Source tells AsiaNews that the Christian community is “destined to die” in the city.

Kirkuk (AsiaNews) — A policy of “ethnic and religious cleansing” is underway in Mosul; in fact, it has worsened as Christmas approaches, Mgr Louis Sako told AsiaNews. For the archbishop of Kirkuk, this means that “security measures must be strengthened or the holiday season”. Meanwhile, tensions and fear are palpable in the city, made worse by a new attack against two places of worship, killing one person and wounding 40 more. A Christian source, anonymous for security reasons, said that the “community is destined to die”.

In the late morning, a car bomb exploded in front of the Church of the Annunciation in the al- Mohandiseen neighbourhood, damaging walls and windows. The attackers also threw grenades against the nearby Christian school, killing a baby girl and injuring 40 more people, including five high school kids. Saad Younes, father of the 8-day-old child, said that the blast occurred when his daughter and sister-in-law were leaving the nearby hospital.

A second attack targeted the Syro-Catholic Church of the Immaculate in al-Shifaa, a neighbourhood in northern Mosul. An explosive device went off in the street in front of the building’s gate. No one was killed or injured.

Yesterday’s attacks are the latest episodes in a series of violence against Christian places of worship. On 26 November, terrorists razed to the ground the Church of Saint Ephrem and the Mother House of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine. A source told AsiaNews that most nuns left; only a few have remained but “are afraid of going out”.

Such attacks are a “warning” for Christians to leave en masse. Many “families have fled north, into Kurdistan, but are jobless and have no hope for the future. The Christian community is destined to die,” the source said.

Mgr Louis Sako shares this concern. For the archbishop of Kirkuk, “ethnic and religious cleansing” is underway in Mosul. The central government and parties are concerned only about the elections, scheduled for 7 March 2010, especially about “sharing the oil”.

The city’s political situation is complex. Arabs control local power; Kurds do not participate in the municipal council; and there is a strong presence of fundamentalist groups and members of Saddam Hussein’s old regime.

“The situation is very tense,” Mgr Sako said. “Just last week to Christian brothers were killed and two more were abducted. Where was the local government? And the Central government? Where are the representatives of the ruling parties?” the prelate asked.

Nevertheless, he said he hopes to see the Christian community achieve greater cohesion within to build a “strong power base” that can reject violence.

For the prelate, one possible response is for “Churches and Christian parties to make a strong statement, reiterating their steadfastness, and their commitment to Iraq, peace and coexistence between ethnic groups and religions. [. . .] To destroy this mosaic is to destroy Iraq,” he said. (DS)

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Dubai: Wife of Qaeda Number 2 Urges Women Not to Join Jihad

DUBAI — The wife of Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has appealed to Muslim women not to join the jihad themselves but to support their menfolk in holy war, US monitoring groups said on Thursday.

In a letter released by Al-Qaeda’s media arm As-Sahab entitled “A Message to the Muslim Sisters,” Omayma Hassan Ahmed Mohammed Hassan also called on the female faithful to resist Western pressure to shun the hijab, or headscarf, the monitors said.

The SITE group said that Zawahiri’s wife discouraged women from pursuing an active role in fighting, calling on them instead to support their husbands and male mujahedeen, and properly rear their children.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Dubai: Teachers Urged to Adopt Modern Methods

DUBAI — His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has urged education officials and experts to have students as the focus of the process of education as well as to avoid dictation in the teaching process.

He made these remarks at a two-day workshop organised by the Ministry of Education at Bab Al-Shams resort to develop a long-term education plan for the country’s schools. Present at the meeting was Minister of Education Humaid Mohammed Obaid Al Qattami.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Dubai Records 6,000 Offences on Its Beaches

More than 6,000 people have been stopped by the police for offences on Dubai’s beaches, records show.

Infractions range from ogling women, to kissing, to people swimming fully clothed or in their underwear.

Dubai’s authorities have stepped up their policing of what they regard as offensive behaviour.

The Gulf emirate is popular with tourists and Western expats. But most of the people stopped are workers from developing countries.

The police records detail offences logged in the first 10 months of 2009.

[…]

The country might have boomed on the back of it foreign workers and tourists, but many locals resent their behaviour.

Undercover police patrols of its packed beaches were initiated several years ago. Floodlights expose misbehaviour at night.

Couples kissing or touching, men watching women or taking photographs, and topless sunbathers can be stopped, questioned and even charged if they are repeat offenders.

The police say they have taken legal action against people accused of drinking, taking drugs and homosexuality.

But police statistics also reveal that the majority of those caught are from developing countries. The people who have largely built Dubai — but remain unwelcome on its beaches.

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

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In Baghdad, Hemlines Rise as Violence Falls

At the height of Iraq’s sectarian violence, being covered up in public was a matter of life and death for women. The dangers from Islamist fanatics were too great for women to dare to go without a headscarf or wear tight jeans or a short skirt. But times are changing in some parts of Baghdad. Some say it is a sign of greater freedom and security.

The hot fashion items for this season? Short skirts, tight jeans with long boots, and short jackets for cold days.

That may not sound exceptional, or even very trendy, but this is the fashion forecast from Baghdad, where the climate for more revealing women’s wear has been steadily improving. Many Iraqi women say it is a sign of returning security and freedom after years of war and sectarian tensions.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Insurgents Hacking U.S. Drones

[Translated by VH]

Shi’ite insurgents in Iraq have managed with cheap software to intercept video images transmitted from unmanned U.S. aircraft, known as predator drones. The rebels may therefore be better able to predict attack plans of the Americans and know which routes are under strict surveillance.

The successful hacking by insurgents is reported by The Wall Street Journal. High placed Americans have stessed to the newspaper stressed that the insurgents did not manage to take over the control of the unmanned aircraft. But the action does show that the strategy whereby the Americans in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq increasingly rely on drones is coupled with great risks.

The hacked video images prove that the insurgents by simple means already are able to formulate a response to the advanced American technology. The video images were hacked with software programs like SkyGrabber, that are sold for $25. The Americans were alarmed after a video from the drones was found in computers of Shi’ite insurgents. There is evidence that Islamic terrorists in Afghanistan have managed to hack video from the drones.

The Americans increasingly rely on unmanned aircraft, in an attempt to reduce casualties among their troops. Over a third of the budget for the U.S. Air Force is reserved for drones.

— Hat tip: VH

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Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

WASHINGTON — Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations.

Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes’ systems. Shiite fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber — available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet — to regularly capture drone video feeds, according to a person familiar with reports on the matter.

U.S. officials say there is no evidence that militants were able to take control of the drones or otherwise interfere with their flights. Still, the intercepts could give America’s enemies battlefield advantages by removing the element of surprise from certain missions and making it easier for insurgents to determine which roads and buildings are under U.S. surveillance.

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

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Iran Test-Fires Advanced Missile

TV pictures showed the launch of the Sajjil-2 rocket, which experts say has the range to be able to hit Israel and US bases in the Gulf.

Correspondents say it is not the first time this missile has been tested, but the timing is likely to add to current tension over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The West says Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.

The US said the test “undermined Iran’s claims of peaceful intentions”.

— Hat tip: JD

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Iran: Tehran Tests ‘Long Range Missile’

Tehran, 16 Dec. (AKI) — Iran has successfully test fired its longest range missile, according to state television. The Sajjil-2 missile test fired on Tuesday has a longer range than previously tested missiles which could travel 2,000 kilometres, Iran’s Arabic language satellite channel said.

The missile would put be capable of reaching targets in the Middle East as well as Israel and US bases in the Gulf.

The latest test came on the same day that Iran’s judiciary announced it had evidence against opposition leaders claiming that they had stoked anti-government tension on the streets after disputed elections in June.

The announcement by judiciary chief Sadeq Larijani may be a sign that opposition leaders are about to be arrested.

“We have enough proof about the leaders of this plot against the system,” Larijani said.

The announcement of the test came only hours after the US approved legislation to impose sanctions on foreign companies that help to supply fuel to Iran.

In September Iran was heavily criticised after testing its Sajjil and Shahab missiles.

At the time, the White House called them “provocative”, and reiterated demands that Iran come clean on its nuclear programme.

Neither Israel nor the United States have ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve their differences.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Lebanese Woman Opens Bank Account in Rights Precedent

A Lebanese woman opened a bank account in the name of her underage children on Thursday, setting a precedent in a country where females often face legal discrimination.

“I’ve been trying to open a bank account for my two sons for 10 years now, but I was continuously told that only my husband could sign the papers,” Lebanese-American Barbara Batlouni told AFP.

“It’s unfair. They’re my children too and I don’t see why I cannot, as their mother, teach them to manage their finances,” she said at the headquarters of Bank of Beirut and the Arab Countries (BBAC).

— Hat tip: Esther

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Plot Targeting Turkey’s Religious Minorities Allegedly Discovered

CD indicates naval officers planned violence against non-Muslim communities.

ISTANBUL, December 16 (Compass Direct News) — Chilling allegations emerged last month of a detailed plot by Turkish naval officers to perpetrate threats and violence against the nation’s non-Muslims in an effort to implicate and unseat Turkey’s pro-Islamic government. Evidence put forth for the plot appeared on an encrypted compact disc discovered last April but was only recently deciphered; the daily Taraf newspaper first leaked details of the CD’s contents on Nov. 19.

Entitled the “Operation Cage Action Plan,” the plot outlines a plethora of planned threat campaigns, bomb attacks, kidnappings and assassinations targeting the nation’s tiny religious minority communities — an apparent effort by military brass to discredit the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The scheme ultimately called for bombings of homes and buildings owned by non-Muslims, setting fire to homes, vehicles and businesses of Christian and Jewish citizens, and murdering prominent leaders among the religious minorities.

Dated March 2009, the CD containing details of the plot was discovered in a raid on the office of a retired major implicated in a large illegal cache of military arms uncovered near Istanbul last April. Once deciphered, it revealed the full names of 41 naval officials assigned to carry out a four-phase campaign exploiting the vulnerability of Turkey’s non-Muslim religious minorities, who constitute less than 1 percent of the population.

— Hat tip: JD

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Saudi Arabia: Mosques Told to ‘Ease Off’ Mayor

JEDDAH — The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has warned imams and those giving Friday sermons to refrain from apportioning blame over the Jeddah floods and to instead concentrate on “consoling bereaved families” in this and coming Friday sermons.

“A lot of families of victims are going through a terrible time at the moment because of the disaster and the emotional, physical and financial tragedies it has left in its wake, so the ministry has advised that sermons keep to consolation and care from the aspect of Shariah,” said the Manager of the Ministry’s Endowments and Mosques in Jeddah, Sheikh Faheed Al-Barqi..

“This is part of the ministry’s continuous program of the state’s involvement in helping the public tackle problems of all types, as the Friday sermon is the pulse of the people,” Al-Barqi said.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Yemen: Up to 34 Al-Qaida Militants Killed

SAN’A, Yemen — Security forces struck several al-Qaida hideouts and training sites in Yemen on Thursday, killing up to 34 suspected militants, including four would-be suicide bombers who planned attacks at home and abroad. At least 17 suspected militants were arrested.

The operations against al-Qaida in the San’a area and a southern province came as Yemen is under U.S. pressure to act more vigorously against the terror network on its territory.

An impoverished nation in the Arabian Peninsula’s southwestern corner, Yemen has struggled in its efforts to deal with al-Qaida’s growing presence as well as its homegrown Islamic extremism.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Azerbaijan: Discontent Over Mosque Demolition Continues in Baku

After last week’s clampdown of demonstrations in Baku to object a bid which allows the demolition of an iconic mosque, Azeri intellectuals have condemned the government.

Residents of the Azeri capital of Baku took to the streets last week after Baku’s Second Economic Court, in what is widely believed to be a politicized verdict, ordered the Fatemeh Zahra Mosque in Baku to be razed.

To break up the demonstrations, police and security forces attacked protesters with clubs and batons, leaving some in a critical state.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Muslim Revival Brings Polygamy, Camels to Chechnya

GROZNY, Russia (Reuters) — Adam, 52, keeps his three wives in different towns to stop them squabbling, but the white-bearded Chechen adds he might soon take a fourth.

“Chechnya is Muslim, so this is our right as men. They (the wives) spend time together, but do not always see eye to eye,” said the soft-spoken pensioner, who only gave his first name.

Hardline Kremlin-backed leader Ramzan Kadyrov is vying with insurgents for authority in a land ravaged by two secessionist wars with Moscow. Each side is claiming Islam as its flag of legitimacy, each reviles the other as criminal and blasphemous.

Wary of the dangers of separatism in a vast country, Moscow watches uneasily as central power yields to Islamic tenets. It must chose what it might see as the lesser of two evils.

Though polygamy is illegal in Russia, the southern Muslim region of Chechnya encourages the practice, arguing it is allowed by sharia law and the Koran, Islam’s holiest book.

By Russian law, Adam is only married to his first wife of 28 years, Zoya, the plump, blue-eyed mother of his three children, with whom he shares a home on the outskirts of the regional capital Grozny.

His “marriages” to the other two — squirreled away in villages nearby — were carried out in elaborate celebrations and are recognized by Chechen authorities.

The head of Chechnya’s Center for Spiritual-Moral Education, Vakha Khashkanov, set up by Kadyrov a year ago, said Islam should take priority over laws of the Russian constitution.

“If it is allowed in Islam, it is not up for discussion,” he told Reuters near Europe’s largest mosque, which glistens in central Grozny atop the grounds where the Communist party had its headquarters before the Soviet Union fell in 1991.

“As long as you can feed your wives, and there’s equality amongst them, then polygamy is allowed in Chechnya,” he added.

Islam is flourishing in Chechnya which, along with its neighbors Dagestan and Ingushetia, is combating an Islamist insurgency which aims to create a Muslim, sharia-based state separate from Russia across the North Caucasus.

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

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Suicide Bomber Wounds 18 People in Russia’s South

NAZRAN, Russia — A suicide car bomber struck a group of policemen in Russia’s restive North Causasus on Thursday, killing himself and wounding at least 16 officers and two civilians, officials said.

The bomber attacked the group of policemen at a checkpoint in the city of Nazran in the province of Ingushetia, said Madina Khadziyeva, a spokeswoman for the Russian Interior Ministry’s branch in the province. Ingushetia neighbors Chechnya to the west.

The explosion wounded 16 officers and two civilians, many of whom are in critical condition, said Svetlana Gorbakova of Russia’s top investigative body.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Christian Members of Heed Bangladesh Accuse Director of Corruption

More than US$ 300,000 has been embezzled. Employees sound the alarm. Projects to benefit 8.5 million poor are in jeopardy. Elgin Saha is said to have turned NGO set up to “bear witness to the Christian message” into a “family business.” Donations from around the world dry up.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) — Christian members of Heed Bangladesh, an NGO involved in healthcare, education and economic development, have accused Elgin Saha, the organisation’s executive director, of turning the charity into a “family business”, putting more than US$ 300,000 of donations in his own pockets.

Speaking at a press conference held on Monday in Dhaka, employees of the NGO said they want to see “justice” done and have the money returned. They supported their claim with evidence of illegalities in how the organisation’s funds were managed.

The charges are very serious indeed. Elgin Saha (pictured here with his family) is accused of placing his wife Teresa Saha, son Timon Saha, sisters and other relatives in key positions within the association in order to siphon money donated by Christians around the world.

Between July 2007 and June 2008, Heed Bangladesh received about 53,000,000 taka (US$ 770,000) from Christian-based donor associations in Australia, Switzerland, Netherlands and Great Britain.

One of the employees, David Biswas, said that the NGO was created in order to “bear witness to the message of Christ before the nation.” However over time, it has become a “family business” for Elgin Saha, and this is jeopardising projects that would benefit “8.5 million poor people.”

Another employee said that “some projects have [already] been cancelled” after donors began complaining.

“Christmas is coming and our future is in danger. We could end up in the street,” he said.

Elgin Saha has denied the allegations of corruption, blaming instead the employees of being involved in a “conspiracy” against him.

Meanwhile, the NGO Affairs Bureau is looking into the case after receiving formal complaints alleging corruption, saying that the government will take proper action shortly.

In order to make their point, Heed Bangladesh employees began a protest outside the organisation’s offices, which they say would continue until “justice is done.”

“Let us hope that Jesus will bring us good news for Christmas and save our lives,” they said.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Club Promotes Polygamy in Indonesia

It is a scene of peaceful serenity. Rows of men kneel in deep prayer inside a large hall on the outskirts of Jakarta. The women sit just behind them, their heads bowed in quiet contemplation.

It could be afternoon prayers anywhere in Indonesia, a vast Muslim-majority archipelago, but this scene happens to be inside the sprawling headquarters of Jakarta’s newest club — the “Global Ikhlwan” polygamy club.

Tucked away in a leafy suburb a few hours out of Jakarta, the club was set up in Indonesia earlier this year, but has its origins in Malaysia.

It says it has more than 1,000 members worldwide — as far away as Australia and the United States.

In Indonesia, the law allows men to marry more than one woman — but only under strict conditions, which makes the practice of polygamy less common here than in other Muslim nations.

But that could change if the controversial new polygamy club is a success.

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

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Faisalabad: Two Christians Imprisoned for Blasphemy Released

Gulsher Masih and his daughter Sandal were indicted for allegedly ripping some pages of the Koran. The story fabricated by a group of extremists, incited by mosques in the village. Human rights activist: discriminatory laws and the mentality of people need to be changed.

Faisalabad (AsiaNews) — Gulsher Masih and his daughter Sandal, from a village near Faisalabad, indicted and arrested on charges of blasphemy against Islam in October last year, were released on December 14. Khalil Tahir, Gulsher and Sandal’s lawyer, confirmed the ruling of the court in Faisalabad to AsiaNews.

The two Christians were accused of blasphemy under Article 295 paragraph B of the Pakistan Penal Code October 9, 2008. They were charged with having torn some pages from the Koran in the village of Tehsil Chak Jhumra, located in the district of Faisalabad.

Some Muslims who were walking near the Gulsher home accused Masih and his daughter Sandal of “having torn pages of the Koran and thrown them on the street”. The story spread among the mosques of the village, sparking the revolt of an angry mob. Residents of neighbouring villages also took part in the assault, marching with torches to the village, shouting “Death to blasphemers”.

The crowd began throwing stones at the walls of the Gulsher house and hit doors and windows with sticks. They also hurled rocks at an adjacent Protestant church. After months of suffering, the two Christians were declared innocent: the judge Raja Mohammad Ghazanfer dropped all charges and ordered their immediate release.

Khalil Tahir, a Christian MP and lawyer, told AsiaNews that “although it is very difficult to defend Christians accused of blasphemy in Pakistan, thank God I was able to successfully demonstrate their extraneousness to the facts. All charges against them were groundless, because based on personal disagreements. “

Tahir is the director of Action Against Discriminatory Laws (Adal), non-governmental organization that provides free legal assistance. He adds that “the problem is not only the discriminatory laws,” but also “the use of the norm for personal purposes, we must work hard — he concludes — in both directions, to eliminate discriminatory laws and to change people’s mentality”.

According to data collected by the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) of the Catholic Church of Pakistan, from 1986 to August 2009, at least 964 people have been charged under the blasphemy law: among these 479 were Muslims, 119 Christians, 340 Ahmadis , 14 Hindu and 10 of unknown religion. There have been at least 33 extra-judicial killings, committed by individuals or angry crowds. Last on this sad list is Fanish, who died last September, for whom Christians are still waiting for justice.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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French, US Troops in Major Operation East of Kabul: Military

UZBEEN VALLEY, Afghanistan — More than 1,100 soldiers, including 800 French legionnaires as well as US and Afghan commandos, launched a major operation Thursday east of the Afghan capital, military officials said.

Five US special forces were wounded, in the fighting in the Uzbeen Valley, a Taliban stronghold where 10 French soldiers were killed in an ambush in August 2008, the officials said.

The operation, codenamed “Septentrion”, was aimed at “reaffirming the sovereignty of Afghan security forces in the north of the Uzbeen Valley,” Colonel Benoit Durieux of the French Foreign Legion said.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Get Out of Afghanistan Now

I’ll say it, again.

It’s time to bring all U.S. soldiers home from Afghanistan now.

I don’t know where Code Pink is these days.

I don’t know where that anti-war movement went.

I don’t understand why the escalation of a war by leadership that cannot define victory is not a problem for more Americans.

This week WND reported the details of America’s new rules of engagement in Afghanistan. The situation is much worse than I imagined.

In effect, the war against al-Qaida and the Taliban has deteriorated into a police action not much different than the one cops in America wage every day against common criminals at home.

— Hat tip: JD

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India: How Christian is Sonia Gandhi?

Hindu extremists accuse her of being a “Vatican spy,” but the chairperson of the ruling UPA party coalition is very reserved about her religion. Unlike other women who were widowed by terrorism, she has rejected vengeance against those who killed her husband Rajiv; like Gladys Staines who forgave Dara Singh, the extremist responsible for burning her husband and two children to death.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) — To ask how Christian is a person is surely a provocative and impertinent question. First of all, because nobody has the right to judge another person and second, because there are hardly any criteria to measure the religiosity of a person. Nevertheless, recent and past events give us a chance to look into this question.

Sonia Maino, born and grown up in Italy, a Catholic country, met in England her future husband, Rajiv Gandhi, student and the first son of Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India. While she was simply one of the daughters-in-law of the Prime Minister, nobody bothered to remark her origin and her religious connections. However, when Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister, after the assassination of the mother in1984, then the Sangh Parivar started worrying about the possible religious connections of Sonia and her influence on Indian affairs. They called her the spy of the Vatican and saw in her the beginning of the conversion of the whole India. This aggressiveness made her over-conscious of the implication of her Italian and Catholic origin and she never appeared practicing any Christian devotion in public or making any religious statement. Also at the state funeral of Mother Teresa, when Communion was offered to all the Catholics, she abstained.

On the contrary, LK Advani, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), freely proclaims his esteem of Jesus Christ. Invited in November for the Golden Jubilee of the Archdiocese of Delhi he said, “I revere Jesus Christ for his message of universal peace and brotherhood. I deeply value the contribution of our Christian brethren”

The situation of Sonia became more difficult after the assassination of her husband by the Tamil terrorist in 1991. Immediately after that, she refused to enter the political arena and left the government in the hand of Narasihma Rao, a Congress leader, which was followed by the government of opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Then she accepted the chairmanship of the Congress Party and was able to bring it back to govern India in 2004.

Rajiv and Sonia got two children: Raul, that seems to be the natural political heir of the dynasty, he is still bachelor, and Priyanka who got married to a Protestant Christian and they have two children.

The recent events that can make us think happened on the anniversary of terror attack in Mumbai. Three days before the first anniversary, Kavita Karkare and Smita Salaskar, wives of the slain Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar respectively, met UPA (United Progressive Alliance, the coalition at the government) chairperson Sonia Gandhi at her residence. After the meeting, the two widows told the media that Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving captured terrorist, should be hanged.

“It was difficult to overlook the paradox of that meeting, wrote Monobina Gupta. Here were three widows — wives of two policemen and Sonia Gandhi herself- each had been a victim of unbridled violence fuelled by revenge. Each had suffered tragically. Karkare and Salaskar said the conversation was personal and they reiterated to Gandhi that ‘families of the victims and those of the martyrs wanted Kasab hanged’.

Few will forget how Sonia Gandhi, after losing her husband in a cold-blooded terrorist assassination, granted clemency to Nalini, the assassin. She had Nalini’s death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. Like Kasab, Nalini was the sole surviving conspirator of the five-member squad responsible for the Rajiv Gandhi’s murder. Compassion for Nalini’s five-year-old daughter had clearly taken precedence over Sonia’s personal longing for retributive justice.

Priyanka Gandhi was in her teens when her father was blown up. Seventeen years on, treading in her mother footsteps, she went to meet Nalini in the prison to “come to term with the violence haunting the entire family”. Later she said, “I don’t believe in anger, hatred and violence. And refuse to allow it to overpower my life.”

Another beautiful example of Christian forgiveness is the one of Gladys Staines who forgave Dara Singh, the man who torched to death her missionary husband Graham Staines and their two young sons while they were asleep in the jeep.

“Was it her religious faith or her gender that made her so brave?” asks Monobina Gupta. Gladys gave the answer on several occasions, saying that Christians can be recognized when, like Jesus on the cross, they forgive their tormentors.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

[Return to headlines]

India: Muslim Leaders Exhort Youth to Join Civil Services

MUMBAI: Muslim community leaders are trying to inspire the youth to aim for the civil services. Three days after the Haj Committee of India launched its coaching centre for civil services exams at Haj House near CST, another initiative kicked off on Wednesday. The community leaders presented some IPS officers as role models.

The officers, who lauded the efforts of civil society in motivating youth, asked students to shed their defeatist mentality and try to crack the civil services exams.

— Hat tip: Esther

[Return to headlines]

Pakistan: Code Broken, Al-Qaida Attack Feared

Terrorists reportedly use wedding invitations to deliver instructions

LONDON — Officers for Britain’s Security Service, MI5, have discovered that a top al-Qaida terrorist in Pakistan has been using invitations to Muslim weddings as a code to launch attacks, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

It’s feared that recent references to a “wedding” could refer to a forthcoming attack in the United Kingdom, even though no actual location is specified in the message.

— Hat tip: JD

[Return to headlines]

Sarkozy Accused of Corruption in Karachi Bomb Scandal

A lawyer has accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy of being “at the heart of the corruption” which allegedly led to the deaths of 14 people in a bomb attack in the Pakistani city of Karachi in 2002. Families have started legal action against former Prime Minister Edouard Balladur in the case.

— Hat tip: Esther

[Return to headlines]

Socialist Kim Jong-Il Bans ‘Capitalist’ Hairstyle

[translated from the Dutch by VH]

The North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has banned silly hairstyles. The idea for the ban arose because Jong-il had was annoyed by the “capitalist style” hairdo of one of his employees.

“Is she a real Korean woman? Why has she traded in our traditional beauty for bad foreign habits of capitalists?” the leader of the Socialist police-state Kim Jong-il said. From now on men have to wear their hair short cut, women may have long hair but it must be tied up.

The new rules for the Korean population are not only confined to the hairstyle of the men and women. Western clothing like short skirts, tight trousers and wide pant legs are not allowed to not be worn anymore.

— Hat tip: VH

[Return to headlines]

Bias Denied as Swan Valley Mosque Rejected

PLANS to build a mosque for the Bosnian Muslim community of Perth’s Swan Valley have been almost unanimously rejected by the local council on the grounds it would not fit in with the area’s rural character.

The proposal for the two-storey mosque with a 21m-high minaret had been strongly opposed by the community, with the City of Swan receiving 139 objections from 143 submissions during a public comment period last year.

Opposition to the building also drew support from the anti-immigrant Australian Protectionist Party. Eleven out of 12 councillors present at a meeting on Wednesday night voted against the development.

— Hat tip: Esther

[Return to headlines]

New Zealand: Poor Joseph. God Was a Hard Act to Follow

An unholy row has broken out in New Zealand over a church billboard aimed at “challenging stereotypes” about the birth of Jesus Christ.

The mischievous biblical bedroom billboard was defaced just over five hours after it was erected. The controversial billboard, erected by St Matthew-in-the-City Church about 11am, shows Joseph looking down dejectedly and Mary looking sad. Underneath is a caption, “Poor Joseph. God is a hard act to follow.” The church has said it erected the billboard to inspire people to talk about the Christmas story. The church’s archdeacon said its mischievous biblical bedroom billboard had provoked support and disapproval in about equal measures. Archdeacon Glynn Cardy said the church had received emails and phone calls since it made the public aware of the billboard yesterday.

The billboard has already raised the wrath of the traditional values pressure group Family First. “The church can have its debate on the Virgin birth and its spiritual significance inside the church building, but to confront children and families with the concept as a street billboard is completely irresponsible and unnecessary,” Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said. “The church has failed to recognise that public billboards are exposed to all of the public including children and families who may be offended by the material.” Catholic Church spokeswoman Lyndsay Freer said the image was inappropriate and disrespectful.

The archdeacon said the plan behind the billboard was to lampoon the literal interpretation of the Christmas conception story.

— Hat tip: VH

[Return to headlines]

New Zealand: Semi-Nude Mary and Joseph Spark Outrage

Anglican church defends Christmas billboard campaign showing couple in bed together

A New Zealand church has sparked outrage by erecting a billboard depicting Mary and Joseph lying semi-nude beneath the sheets.

In an unorthodox take on the Christmas tale, the billboard depicts a forlorn Joseph and Mary looking to the sky with a caption which reads: “Poor Joseph. God is a hard act to follow.”

The St Matthew-in-the-City church said it wanted to inspire people to talk about the Christmas story.

But within five hours of the billboard going up in downtown Auckland a man was standing on his car roof painting over the raunchy image.

Archdeacon Glynn Cardy said the church meant to challenge a fundamentalist interpretation of Christ’s birth.

“What we’re trying to do is to get people to think more about what Christmas is all about. Is it about a spiritual male God sending down sperm so a child would be born, or is it about the power of love in our midst as seen in Jesus?”

Cardy said one person had threatened to tear down the billboard but that of the 20 odd emails and phone calls he had received “about 50% said they loved it, and about 50% said it was terribly offensive”.

The Catholic church joined those on the attack, accusing the Anglican church of disrespect.

“It’s flying in the face of our 2,000-year-old beliefs,” a Catholic church spokesman, Lyndsay Freer, said.

The conservative Family First organisation said the Anglican church could debate the Bible story away from the public eye. “To confront children and families with the concept as a street billboard is completely irresponsible and unnecessary,” Family First’s national director, Bob McCoskrie, said.

A complaint has been lodged with New Zealand’s advertising watchdog, the Advertising Authority, but Cardy was unrepentant.

“I don’t see why one person’s protest should deny other people the enjoyment of the billboard.”

[Return to headlines]

New Zealand: Christians Outraged by Poster Showing Mary and Joseph After Sex

A risque church billboard showing the Virgin Mary and Joseph in bed apparently after having disappointing sex has caused outrage among Christians in New Zealand.

The large poster depicts a dejected-looking Joseph lying next to Mary, whose eyes are turned heavenwards, under the words: “Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow.”

Both figures, painted in classical fresco style, appear to be naked.

Within hours of the billboard being erected outside the Anglican church of St Matthew’s in the City, in central Auckland, it had been attacked by a man who clambered on to the roof of his car to smear brown paint over it.

— Hat tip: Esther

[Return to headlines]

‘Somali Pirates’ Held by Dutch Freed: Defence Ministry

THE HAGUE — A band of suspected Somali pirates captured by the Dutch navy after a failed attack on a cargo ship are to be freed after no country would agree to prosecute them, Dutch officials said Thursday.

“The European Union has decided… that the (Dutch warship that captured the pirates) Evertsen must let the 13 Somali pirates go,” the Dutch defence ministry said in a statement.

“The European Union has tried in vain since their arrest to find a country which would agree to prosecute them,” the statement added.

— Hat tip: Esther

[Return to headlines]

Islam is the New Religion in Rebellious Mexican State Chiapas

More and more Mayan and Tzotzil people in the Mexican state Chiapas are becoming Muslims. It’s fifteen years since the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas and the region has undergone some profound changes. One of them is the emergence of Islam as a new religion in the state. The Muslim community, dominated by converted Mayans and Tzotzils , is slowly gaining ground.

— Hat tip: Esther

[Return to headlines]

Nicole Ferrand in the Americas Report: Pro-Iran Chavista Daniel Ortega Overturns Term Limits

In recent years, we have been witnessing a pattern in Latin America, where Presidents are elected democratically and then abuse their powers to extend their time in office. Coincidently, these new caudillos are all leftist populists and followers of Hugo Chavez from Venezuela, who started the trend. After 10 years in power, the controversial leader won a referendum in February that abolished term limits for presidents — a move he says is critical to carrying out his “Bolivarian Revolution.” His allies Evo Morales in Bolivia and Rafael Correa in Ecuador have followed suit, each winning the right to consecutive reelection through constitutional reform, after illegally appointing people of their own political parties to key justice positions.

Most recently, former Honduran President and Chavez’s ally, Manuel Zelaya, was close to securing an indefinite time in power, when he was stopped in his tracks by a resilient opposition who, in spite of being pressured by the OAS and the United States to reinstate the former leader, has stuck to its democratic principles. This loss was almost too much for Chavez, who wants to have control over Latin America to carry out his “Revolution of the XXI Century.” Luckily for him, Daniel Ortega from Nicaragua whose first five-year term began in 1985 has stepped to the plate and has won a Supreme Court ruling last month that paves the way for his reelection in 2011. And he did it in the right moment too, just when the focus of the US administration and the OAS has been on Honduras. Few have paid attention to Nicaragua’s alarming situation that affects both regional and US national security…

— Hat tip: CSP

[Return to headlines]

Venezuela’s Chavez Sees US Threat in Dutch Islands

COPENHAGEN — Hugo Chavez accused the Netherlands on Thursday of allowing the United States to use Dutch islands off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast to prepare a possible military attack against his country.

The Venezuelan leader said the U.S. military, to prepare for a possible offensive, has sent intelligence agents, war ships and spy planes to Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire, which are self-governing Dutch islands.

“They are three islands in Venezuela’s territorial waters, but they are still under an imperial regime: the Netherlands,” Chavez said during a speech at a climate change conference in Denmark. “Europe should know that the North American empire is filling these islands with weapons, assassins, American intelligence units, and spy planes and war ships.”

— Hat tip: Esther

[Return to headlines]

International Deal to Resettle 78 Tamils in Several Countries

AUSTRALIA is on the verge of clinching a deal with New Zealand, Canada, Norway and possibly the US to help resettle the 78 Tamil asylum-seekers rescued by the Australian Customs vessel the Oceanic Viking.

The Australian understands a number of countries have indicated a willingness to take some of the Sri Lankans, who were rescued in October after their boat foundered.

However, while sources say “a significant” number of the Sri Lankans are expected to be resettled in third countries, Australia is still set to take the majority.

News of the expected breakthrough came as a boat carrying 55 people was intercepted off Ashmore Reef on Tuesday night.

The interception — the 54th this year — will push the immigration detention centre on Christmas Island to a boatload from breaking point.

According to an Immigration Department spokesman, there are currently 1443 detainees on the island.

But when the 55 intercepted on Tuesday arrive the number will jump to 1498, just 62 shy of the centre’s current capacity of 1560.

There is a growing expectation the government will begin transferring asylum-seekers to detention centres on the mainland, possibly as early as next week. At least three countries — New Zealand, Canada and Norway — are believed to have indicated to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees a willingness to take some of the 78 Tamils.

The US is also understood to be interested, although it is not clear if a formal offer has been made.

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

[Return to headlines]

Shock for Worthing Day-Trippers After Illegal Immigrant Found

WORTHING day-trippers received a shock when a would-be illegal immigrant was found hiding in the wheel arch of their coach. Around 40 passengers on a Worthing Coaches trip to Cite Europe, in Calais, France, were left stunned when immigration officers at the ferry port found the hidden man, believed to be an Afghan national, during routine checks.

After the coach drivers were questioned by port officials for around an hour, the group were allowed to continue on their way.

Passenger Rod Melling, from Worthing, said the man was believed to have hidden on the coach when it was parked at Cite Europe.

He added: “The drivers said they could be in serious trouble for having not spotted this person when they left Cite Europe and that they had been told by the officials they could be liable for a fine of up to £2,000.

“However, after further delay they were apparently told they would not be prosecuted, at which news the passengers all applauded, as we liked the drivers and would not have wanted them to be held responsible for this incident.”

Paul Barringer, sales director of Lucketts Travel, the parent company of Worthing Coaches, said: “The drivers were spoken to by the authorities.

“They checked the circumstances and were perfectly satisfied the drivers and us had followed the normal procedures.

“Our coaches make the trip several times a week and it’s the first time in my three years with this company I’ve known it happen. It’s a very rare occurrence.”

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

[Return to headlines]

UK: A Gaping Hole in Our £1.2bn ‘Eborder’ Net: Crackdown is Hopelessly Diluted to Meet EU Law

Labour’s £1.2billion ‘electronic borders’ scheme to protect Britain from illegal immigrants and terrorists descended into a shambles last night.

The project’s success depends on logging every passenger movement in and out of the UK so police, border guards and the security service know who is here.

But, in order for the scheme to be ruled legal by EU bureaucrats, the Government has been forced to make a raft of concessions to Brussels.

These include EU citizens and their relatives — regardless of nationality — being allowed to enter the UK even if they refuse to hand over their personal details in advance.

Effectively, the crucial compulsory element of the eborders scheme has been stripped away for millions of people.

Even non-EU citizens will be entitled to fly to Britain without providing the details in advance to eborders so they could be scrutinised. They could, however, then be refused entry.

— Hat tip: JD

[Return to headlines]

College Prof: Christian Crosses Like Swastikas

Student: ‘I felt humiliated and that my spirituality was being demeaned’

A student says a Dallas public community-college teacher compared crosses to swastikas while explaining a school ban on religious items made in ceramics classes.

[…]

Mitchell said she then asked him if he considered a swastika offensive.

He responded, “Of course.”

“She then proceeded to compare the cross to a swastika,” his complaint states. “She stated that many individuals view the cross as an offensive symbol in the same was that many people are offended by swastikas, and that his crosses would therefore not be fired by the department.”

Another student identified only as E.D., claims the department told her to “expand her horizons” when she constructed a cross in ceramics class. She said the adjunct professor teaching the course specifically said she could make any item except a cross.

E.D. said Watral phoned her and told her to “pick up her damn crosses” from the school. But she said when she went to retrieve them, they were destroyed.

— Hat tip: JD

[Return to headlines]

Thousands Demand Obama Dump ‘Safe Schools Czar’

Jennings accused of promoting ‘explicit and vile sexual content’

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following includes descriptions of adult themes and objectionable subject material.

Demand for the removal of homosexual advocate Kevin Jennings from his position as chief of the Department of Education’s Office of Safe Schools is growing, with the Washington Post saying the appointment was wrong and thousands joining a petition.

— Hat tip: JD

[Return to headlines]

Earth’s Upper Atmosphere Cooling Dramatically

SAN FRANCISCO — When the sun is relatively inactive — as it has been in recent years — the outermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere cools dramatically, new observations find.

The results could help scientists better understand the swelling and shrinking of our planet’s atmosphere, a phenomenon that affects the orbits of satellites and space junk.

The data, from NASA’s TIMED mission, show that Earth’s thermosphere (the layer above 62 miles or 100 km above the Earth’s surface) “responds quite dramatically to the effects of the 11-year solar cycle,” Stan Solomon of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., said here this week at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

Knowing just how the energy flowing out from the sun naturally impacts the state of the thermosphere also will help scientists test predictions that man’s emissions of carbon dioxide should cool this layer. (While that may seem to contradict the idea of global warming, it has long been known that carbon dioxide causes warming in the lowest part of the atmosphere and cooling in the upper layers of the atmosphere.)…

— Hat tip: Fjordman

[Return to headlines]

Jihad Forbidden for Women

[Translated by VH]

Muslim women must stay home, support their husbands and take care of their children. It is not the purpose that they join fighting in the Jihad against the West. Says [one of the wives] of Ayman al-Zawahiri in a “press release” from al-Qaeda.

Al-Zawahiri’s wife encouraged Muslim women, despite everything, to continue to wear headscarves. They must resist attempts by Western countries to ban wearing the hijab.

The call is a setback for Hamas. The Palestinian terror organization regularly sends women on suicide missions.

— Hat tip: VH

[Return to headlines]

Real or Fake? “White People Stole My Car” Is Big on Google

For the past week, the phrase “white people stole my car” has been Googled like crazy.

Perplexingly, though, there were few results yielded by this popular search and most links lead to some fairly nasty malware. Finally, the above screenshot surfaced, which seems to at least solve the mystery of why the phrase was so popular on Google. As the screenshot above implies, Googling the term “white people stole my car” results in the search engine asking if black people stole my car. Well that’s… really not cool, Google!

But is it real or fake? As of now, Google does not correct the phrase in a racially insensitive way. And while it does appear that at one time Google did, it’s entirely possible and plausible that someone misspelled “black people stole my car,” got the correction shown, and altered the search text as a prank.

I tried to re-fake a screenshot, but it seems that Google is not correcting any searches to say “black people stole my car” anymore. Bummer.

— Hat tip: TV

[Return to headlines]

Reuters Plans Islamic Finance Portal

CAIRO — Realizing its importance and potentials, the international financial services information company Thompson Reuters is planning to launch a news portal covering information about the Islamic financial industry in early 2010.

“At present there is no global connectivity for the industry and this platform will be able to connect up players from across the globe,” Rushdi Siddiqui, Thomson Reuters global head of Islamic finance, told Gulf Daily News on Wednesday, December 16.

“It will help to increase work flow in the industry with real time news across developments in all asset classes as well as provide data and analytical tools.”

— Hat tip: Esther

[Return to headlines]

Sea Rose Eight Metres in Warmer Age: Study

Sea levels were likely eight metres higher around 125,000 years ago when polar temperatures were 3-5 degrees C warmer, says a new study published Wednesday to show the effects of global warming.

The research by the US universities of Harvard and Princeton was released in the journal Nature as the world’s nations met in Denmark to forge a strategy to head off harmful effects of global warming blamed on greenhouse gases.

— Hat tip: Esther

[Return to headlines]

Some nasty right-wing extremists recently vandalized the war memorial in Burton, East Staffordshire.

At least that’s the opinion of the chairman of East Staffordshire Racial Equality Council. After all, who else but the far right is likely to deface a war memorial?

Here’s the report from The Burton Mail-News:

Vandals deface the town war memorial

A ROYAL British Legion boss says vandals have “dishonoured those who have given their lives for our country” by defacing Burton’s war memorial.

Roy Whenman, vice-chairman of the town’s Legion branch, received calls from members saying an extremist message had been written on the statue. Having been informed at 9.20am, borough council chiefs had cleaned the graffiti from the relic, situated outside Burton College, in Lichfield Street, by 9.40am.

If you open the linked article and look at the photo, there’s no sign of any graffiti visible. The only evidence we have of it is the eyewitness reports.

Mr Whenman, of Birches Close, Stretton, has described whoever committed the offence as “diabolical”.

He said: “There’s nothing worse, in my eyes, than discrediting a war memorial. It dishonours those who have given their lives for our country.

[…]

“What I would say to them is there are other ways of expressing your anger about certain issues.”

Aha! What might be those “certain issues” be? The article doesn’t specify, but there are theories of who the diabolical vandals might have been:

Dennis Fletcher, chairman of East Staffordshire Racial Equality Council, said he suspected someone from the far right was responsible.

He said: “My reaction is one of horror. Just two nights ago at our general committee meeting we were talking about the harmony between communities in the borough.

“I suspect members of the far right have done this to stir things up and there are generally very good inter-cultural relations in East Staffordshire.”

OK, the far right was involved. So what did the graffiti say? “Wogs go home”, perhaps? Or “Down with the Pakis”?

In any case, based on what Mr. Fletcher said, racism was definitely involved:

“Graffiti of any type is terrible but when it includes racist material it has to be considered utterly unacceptable.”

Alas, no information about what was actually written on the memorial.

Significantly, at the bottom of the report is this tantalizing disclosure:

The Mail has manipulated the main picture to remove some of the content of the message.

It seems the message was so horrible that it had to be cropped out or painted over to spare the tender sensibilities of the Mail‘s readers. At that point I was fairly salivating to catch a glimpse of the horrible extreme right-wing racist xenophobic hate screed that was written on the memorial.

Fortunately, other photos are available, and Kim at Uriasposten has found one of them. Take a look at his post; the graffiti is quite legible:
– – – – – – – – –
Islam will dominate the World

To the right of that sentiment is something about “Osama”.

Oh, those diabolically clever right-wingers — mimicking Muslim extremists just to give Islam a bad name!

How could the BNP stoop so low?

You realize what this means, of course: whenever somebody spray-paints “Pakis go home” on a wall, then Labour Party activists must be responsible. Or maybe the communists. Or the anarchists. Someone on the “far left”, in any case. I mean, it stands to reason, doesn’t it?

No?

It doesn’t work that way, you say?

Funny about that.

Hat tip: TB.

I’ve written recently about Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, the Austrian anti-jihad activist who is facing a “hate speech” charge for her outspoken informational seminars about Islam. Last week I posted Elisabeth’s account of a meeting in which she was heckled by Muslim women who took offense at what she had to say.

The Austrian newspaper NEWS.at, which instigated the “hate speech” charge when it published an article about one of Elisabeth’s presentations, is leading the campaign against her “xenophobia”.

It’s interesting to note that the Muslim women mentioned in the article define themselves as Muslims first, and Austrians second — if, in fact, they consider themselves Austrians at all.

Here’s the article from NEWS 51/09, page 38 (unavailable online), as translated by AMT:

Round Two of Defamation of Islam

Defamation Seminars. Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff continues her seminars for FPÖ. Now the public is fighting back.

For a short moment one could have thought that Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff was the victim of big misunderstanding. NEWS reported about the defamatory seminars she holds for the FPÖ political academy, where she teaches about “Muslims who kill and rape because of their religion” and where she equates Muslims with terrorists. However, her radical attitude appeared much weaker when she gave an interview in the magazine Profil. “I believe my democratic are rights are being taken away from me,” she complains, and argues with seeming repentance. “Of course I know the difference between Muslims and Islamists.”

A sudden catharsis? Not at all. ESW showed her true opinion on the internet even before the article in Profil was published. She had the entire interview published in right-wing blogs and websites and was admonished and criticized by other critics of Islam for having been too mild in her answers and for her liberal views. She promptly defended herself: “Did you consider that I might have chosen my words carefully? That I might have followed a strategy with what I have said? I do know the difference between a Muslim and an Islamist.”

Next Seminars

– – – – – – – – –

She shows her Islam-hating world view just as publicly during her seminars as she does online. Last week FPÖ Pinkafeld invited the “expert” to the town of 5,400 in order to speak about Islam. All “interested people of all parties and religious affiliations” were invited. The call was heeded by a few Muslim women. Already after the first seminar in October they had voiced their concerns to the SPÖ-mayor of Pinkafeld regarding the content of the seminar. Now, at the second seminar, these concerns became larger. “I was shocked by what this woman said about Islam,” says Mrs. S., who out of fear does not want to give her full name. “I am very hurt by the lies that are told about Muslims. I was born in Austria, I speak the language and I am Muslim. Austria is my home, and I will not have it taken away from me.”

Citizens’ Movement in Pinkafeld

Mrs. S. is now planning an information evening with seven other Muslim women in order to inform the public about the daily life of a Muslim. “Apparently there is a great need for information. We are all mothers and want to be part of the decision-making process about which kind of society our children grow up in.”

This seminar will be open to all those interested, unlike the FPÖ-seminar. The NEWS-photographer was rudely asked to leave the room. He was not even allowed to listen to the defamations presented by Sabaditsch-Wolff without a camera.

Previous posts about the hate speech case against Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff:

2009		Dec		5		Fighting a Hate Speech Charge in Austria
				11		Heckling the Counterjihad
				14		Whose Law?

Our Flemish correspondent VH has translated a couple of Belgian articles concerning Vlaams Belang.

First, from Filip Dewinter’s website:

Rap singer and co-author of threat against Dewinter sentenced

In the trial in the criminal court in Antwerp of the members of the rap group “The Cicatris”, the singer and co-author of the rap song, Kevin VanBrabant, was sentenced to 80 hours of autonomous community service and must pay compensation of 800 euros. If the community service is not completed, this will be converted into a prison term of 8 months. Because the court, due to technical reasons, chose a split treatment in the judicial process, there is no ruling yet on the other offender, Samir Belasri.

Filip Dewinter: “Strict sentencing is a strong message that death threats and calls for violence are not tolerated.”

Together with 23-year-old Samir Belasri (28-1-1986) of Wielsbeke, 27-year-old ex-Hotelschool Hasselt student Kevin VanBrabant from the city of Peer was the co-author and singer of the rap song in which Filip Dewinter in gross terms was threatened with death. The text of the rap leaves nothing to the imagination: “*** racist with a big mouth, you will die by a fatal gunshot wound”. It further states that “The decisions you make will be paid for with your life, on one day or night they will decline you”, “you will certainly become familiar with a bullet in your head and you cannot help it “, “It is time for riots, time for revolution, death to Filip Dewinter, the words of Cicatris”, and “Shot in the dark, a knife in your back […] Have you learned nothing from Theo Van Gogh and Pim Fortuyn?”

[..]

Filip Dewinter is satisfied with the severity of the punishment. “The clear verdict of the court ensures that a strong signal that is sent that death threats and calls for violence will not be tolerated. Obviously, it is the announced intention of such death threats to silence all those who hold politically incorrect opinions. On the other hand, through such calls to violence unstable people are given incentive to add deeds to the word. Creating an environment in which in the long run it is legitimate to murder a controversial politician has nothing to do with free speech, but everything with a call for violence, “said Filip Dewinter.

VH adds this background material:

Samir Belasri in 2005: “In recent years we have been thrown out of almost ten schools’’. Samir Belasri and Karim Ben Ammar: “We once even seized teachers and threw chairs! That we cannot explain away, but on the other hand, we have been constantly challenged by the teachers.” He was then student “Sales” at the Free trade Institute (professional education) in the East Flanders city of Deinze, where the board advocated refraining from traditional sanctions, and sent the culprits to do little jobs in factories for punishment instead. Belasri is member of the immigrant football club Isobar.

Rap critic Leclerc: “I think the lyric goofs by calling the leader of Vlaams Belang “a hypocritical bastard”. You can say a lot about the man, but not that he is hypocritical. Typically a label that fits better with the ruling elite. […] Cicatris of course ultimately remains a little obedient commoner, and kicking against the VB and its leaders is scoring relatively easy in a country where the anti-VB ideology simply seems the obligatory political discourse as imposed from above.”

[See also: “Death Threats for Dewinter”.]

And from the Vlaams Belang website, concerning the continuing immigration into Brussels:
– – – – – – – – –

Demographic explosion in Brussels

Last week VB wrote that partly because of marriage, immigration flow into this country continues unabated, despite the official halt to immigration.

The weekly magazine Le Vif / L’Express wrote in May of this year that the number of cases of family reunification in 2008 has increased by up to 20%. In a subsequent issue Le Vif quoted from a report by demographer Nicolas Perrin, who had calculated that 49% of the inhabitants of Brussels are immigrants or of foreign descent.

In its latest issue the magazine further examines our capital under the microscope. According to the Federal Planning Bureau, the population of Brussels between 2000 and 2060 will increase by up to 38%. In 2020 Brussels will already have added 150,000 new inhabitants. “A phenomenon that is due to the birth rate of citizens foreign descent in Brussels, and the flow of international migration,” Le Vif wrote, and adds that immigration indeed increases even with accession to the European Union. Poland is cited as an example, which since accession has seen five times as many of its nationals move to Brussels than before. So now we know what awaits us if Turkey becomes a member of the EU…

The Vlaams Belang proposals on immigration issues can be read here.

A brief note from Fjordman:

The notoriously Islamophile Council of Europe, which cooperates closely with the EU and the Islamic world, wants to ban Europeans from opposing the Islamization of their lands:

Statement by Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland

Strasbourg, 30.11.2009 – “Bearing in mind that it is a fundamental right of democratic States to debate and vote on issues of importance to their societies, the referendum held yesterday on the construction of new minarets in Switzerland raises concerns as to whether fundamental rights of individuals, protected by international treaties, should be subject to popular votes.

The ban on the construction of new minarets is linked to issues such as freedom of expression, freedom of religion and prohibition of discrimination guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights. Therefore it would be up to the European Court of Human Rights to decide, should an application be submitted to the Court, whether the prohibition of building new minarets is compatible with the Convention.”

[Post ends here]

Stephen Bosworth, President Obama’s envoy to North Korea, delivered a letter from the president to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il while visiting Pyongyang. The administration has acknowledged that a letter was delivered, but declines to divulge any information about its contents.

In other news, the leaders of the oil-producing countries of the Persian Gulf have moved a step closer to creating a common currency, thereby displacing the dollar as the preferred currency to denominate oil contracts.

Thanks to Barry Rubin, C. Cantoni, Esther, Insubria, JD, Lurker from Tulsa, REP, Sean O’Brian, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
– – – – – – – – –

	Financial Crisis
	Gulf Petro-Powers to Launch Currency in Latest Threat to Dollar Hegemony
	Michele Bachmann Warns: Financial Bill Worse Than Healthcare Measure
	To Congress: Your Loan Has Been Called
	Wamu Asks to Probe Fed Over Collapse
	USA
	‘Chilling’ New Video: How to Slit Throats
	Could Hillary Clinton Replace Biden as Obama’s Vp?
	Feds Bug Chicago Terror Suspects
	Millions of ‘Lost’ Bush Emails Recovered
	Paying Off ‘La Raza’
	Senator Tom Coburn Slows Health Care Bill With Read-a-Thon
	‘Sinister Muslim’ Stereotype Fades
	Swine Flu Shots for Children Are Recalled
	Europe and the EU
	Analyst Warns EU Against Admitting Turkey
	Berlusconi Attack a ‘Wake Up Call’ For Italy
	France Set to Compromise Over Burka Ban by Only Outlawing Them in Public Buildings
	France: UMP MPs: Law Banning Wearing Burqa on the Street
	Germany: Police Union Moots European Database for Violent Protesters
	Germany: Severed Pig’s Ear Sent to Muslim Organisation
	Italy: Cuneo Prosciutto Wins EU Label
	Italy: Video Game Invites Players to Attack PM
	Italy: High-Speed Trains Spark Commuter Fury
	Mosque Madness: German Group Hopes for EU Referendum on Minarets
	Refugees Hijack Polish Train in Protest Over Living Conditions
	UK: March of the Wardens: Town Hall ‘Enforcers’ With Police Powers Increase by a Fifth in a Year
	UK: Natwest Handed Al Qaeda Terrorist 100% Mortgage to Buy £93,000 Home He Turned Into a Bomb Factory
	‘We Will Sue Terrorists in Britain’
	Balkans
	Croatia: Presidential Election, Leftwing Candidate Leads Polls
	Serbia: Vojvodina Parliament Adopts New Statute
	Mediterranean Union
	Gaza: Euromed Human Rights, EU Must Turn Words Into Action
	North Africa
	Agriculture: Morocco, 40bln Euros From France for Irrigation
	British Officials Speak to Lockerbie Bomber, Thought to be Missing
	Egypt: Court Overturns Niqab Ban in Universities
	Haidar: Tension Algeria-Morocco After Rabat’s Accusation
	Law Must ‘Protect Egypt’s Women From Harassment’
	Mystery as Lockerbie Bomber Goes Missing From Home and Hospital
	Stakelbeck: Former Radical Muslim Now Supports Israel
	Israel and the Palestinians
	Gaza-Egypt Tunnel Collapses, Three Dead
	Israel Attacks UK Over Livni Arrest Warrant
	Palestinian Refugees, UNRWA Appeal to Arab Nations
	Restoration-Conservation, Italy Offers Know-How to Israel
	The Palestinians Tell the World Their Strategy: Why Make Peace With Israel When We Can Get Everything From You Instead
	Middle East
	Brown Warns of Further Sanctions After Iran Test-Fires Long-Range Missile
	Gulf: Treaty for Common Currency Enters Into Vigour
	Human Rights: Lebanon, Domestic Worker Abuse Punished
	Iranian Official Says 70 Per Cent of University Students Against Ahmadinejad
	Two Killed in Kurdish Demo in Turkey
	Russia
	Has Russia Outplayed the US in Nukes Deal?
	Caucasus
	World’s Smallest and Largest States Have Recognized Abkhazia
	Far East
	Envoy Delivered Obama Letter to N. Korea Leader: Report
	North Korean Plane Leased by UN
	Taipei Smugglers Facilitate Iran Nukes
	Wei Jingsheng: Traitor West, Bewitched (By Money) From Russia, China and Vietnam
	Sub-Saharan Africa
	S. Africa Gets Halal Hotel
	Somali Refugees ‘Forced to Join Yemen Rebel War’
	Immigration
	Austria Eyes Language Tests for Migrants
	Netherlands: Minister wants to make it easier to reject refugees
	Over 1.1 Million Dutch People Have Two Nationalities
	Sweden: Easier Asylum for Iraqi Minorities
	General
	NATO: Reducing Emissions is a Security Imperative

Gulf Petro-Powers to Launch Currency in Latest Threat to Dollar Hegemony

The Arab states of the Gulf region have agreed to launch a single currency modelled on the euro, hoping to blaze a trail towards a pan-Arab monetary union swelling to the ancient borders of the Ummayad Caliphate.

“The Gulf monetary union pact has come into effect,” said Kuwait’s finance minister, Mustafa al-Shamali, speaking at a Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) summit in Kuwait.

The move will give the hyper-rich club of oil exporters a petro-currency of their own, greatly increasing their influence in the global exchange and capital markets and potentially displacing the US dollar as the pricing currency for oil contracts. Between them they amount to regional superpower with a GDP of $1.2 trillion (£739bn), some 40pc of the world’s proven oil reserves, and financial clout equal to that of China.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar are to launch the first phase next year, creating a Gulf Monetary Council that will evolve quickly into a full-fledged central bank.

The Emirates are staying out for now — irked that the bank will be located in Riyadh at the insistence of Saudi King Abdullah rather than in Abu Dhabi. They are expected join later, along with Oman.

The Gulf states remain divided over the wisdom of anchoring their economies to the US dollar. The Gulf currency — dubbed “Gulfo” — is likely to track a global exchange basket and may ultimately float as a regional reserve currency in its own right. “The US dollar has failed. We need to delink,” said Nahed Taher, chief executive of Bahrain’s Gulf One Investment Bank.

The project is inspired by Europe’s monetary union, seen as a huge success in the Arab world. But there are concerns that the region is trying to run before it can walk.

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

[Return to headlines]

Michele Bachmann Warns: Financial Bill Worse Than Healthcare Measure

A Republican congresswoman, who has been in the forefront of the fight against the healthcare bill, the climate control bill and other contentious measures, warned in an impromptu interview on Breitbart.tv Thursday evening, that a fast-tracked, under-the-radar mega-bill by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., designed to overhaul the regulation of the entire financial services industry — and headed at the time for passage by the House — is “even worse.”

“I know that’s hard to believe, but it is worse in the sense that every American makes financial transactions,” said Michele Bachmann, who represents the people of Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District. “We all use credit cards, we all write checks. This will all now be controlled by government, and government will ration credit. You can’t have capitalism without capital, and government will decide who gets capital and who doesn’t.”

[…]

According to Bachmann the bill makes bailout permanent and gives the president the authority to make future bailouts at his own discretion.

“He never again has to come back to Congress to get money,” she said. “He can just go straight to the Treasury, pull out all the money he wants for a favored industry. … His [credit] czar could place a private business on the systemic risk list — doesn’t have to be a failing business, could be a healthy business — and the president can bail out anyone that he wants to.”

Bachmann noted that the financial services sector represents 15 percent of the nation’s economy, and some analysts have estimated that since Obama took office, 30 percent of the economy has been brought under federal control and essentially nationalized.

Said Bachmann: “If President Obama gets his way and has government take over healthcare, that’s another 18 percent — 48 percent of the economy the government will have been taken over. The financial services sector is another 15 percent of the economy. If they succeed in [passing H.R. 4173], and if they succeed in taking over the energy sector with the national energy tax, that’s 69 to 70 percent of the economy they will have taken over in less than 18 months.

“So it isn’t that socialism has occurred in our lifetime, it’s in the last 18 months!” she exclaimed.

— Hat tip: JD

[Return to headlines]

To Congress: Your Loan Has Been Called

Leaders are considering a hike of roughly $300 billion to the nation’s $12.1 trillion deficit, though the final figure has not been nailed down, congressional aides said on condition of anonymity.

Democratic leaders had previously hoped to raise the limit by at least $1.8 trillion, enough to take care of the government’s debt needs through the November 2010 congressional elections.

What was your first hint the former $1.8 trillion increase attempt was a bad idea? Perhaps this?

Or was it China buying a literal zero of Treasury debt in October?

Or was it the TIC report this morning (which I’m sure you had “early”) that showed a near-zero appetite for foreign funding of our idiotic spending proclivities?

Or was it the fact that this morning PPI numbers came in hot, especially in crude goods, strongly implying that we’re in for a nasty bout of either cost-push price inflation or collapsing corporate profits?

Perhaps it is the numerous anecdotes of “seasonal help” already being laid off, stacks of “Black Friday” merchandise still in the stores, and Best Buy’s earnings report this morning in which they disclosed margin compression in the 4th quarter — which promptly hammered their stock for 7.2%.

None of this should be a surprise.

We have fixed nothing in the last two years. We have not forced bad debt to default yet worse, despite the incessant pumping and attempted “forcing” of credit into the system via government borrowing the pump has now officially failed, as the new Z1 data shows.

Note that despite all the Federal Deficit spending — $1.4 trillion last fiscal year (ending in September) and $300 billion more in the last two months — approaching two trillion dollars — the total credit outstanding in the system — including the new Federal borrowing — went negative in the third quarter of this year.

The bottom line:

Your attempt to play “pump prime” over the last two years has FAILED.

For the first time in the modern era you have run into the mathematical realities of too much debt for the amount of payment capacity in the private sector.

You can either stop now, or you can stop when the government’s ability to borrow is cut off forcibly by radical increases in the bond interest-rate curve.

You WILL stop gentlemen. The only question remaining is whether it will be voluntary or whether the market will force an involuntary cessation of Treasury Coupon issuance.

Attempting to avoid this by monetizing debt, as Bernanke has done while being your handmaiden (while lying about his actions to The American People AND in sworn testimony before Congress) forced currency devaluation which in turn (as expected) cuts off foreign debt demand.

That in turn, as you are now seeing, causes the coupon increase to happen anyway.

You’re trapped folks, exactly as I predicted you would be two years ago.

I stand impressed that you got away with this for as long as you did, but I also stand behind the view I expressed in 2007 — that the root problem is an excessive level of debt in the system at all levels, a level of debt that exceeds capacity to pay, and as a consequence any and all attempts to restart the credit-driven consumption economy would fail, and if pressed too far the government will fail.

The evidence strongly suggests that you are getting awfully close to your last chance to stop being stupid before the market hands you a lesson that has the potential to destroy both our economy and government.

You would do well to listen.

— Hat tip: REP

[Return to headlines]

Wamu Asks to Probe Fed Over Collapse

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) — Bankrupt holding company Washington Mutual Inc (WAMUQ.PK) asked a federal court to compel the U.S. Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury and more than a dozen others to turn over documents relating to its collapse in 2008.

The company wants to investigate discussions between JPMorgan & Chase Co (JPM.N), regulators, competitors and rating agencies it said led to the seizure of Washington Mutual, or WMI, according to a filing in bankruptcy court on Monday.

It said the alleged misconduct includes JPMorgan “disclosing confidential information, in violation of the confidentiality agreement, to government regulators, ratings agencies, media and investors in an effort to harm WMI by driving down WMI’s credit rating and stock price.”

Washington Mutual said it needs to determine if it has valuable claims against regulators and others that could be pursued on behalf of its creditors.

The company was the largest U.S. savings and loan when it was seized by the government in September 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, and sold for $1.9 billion to JPMorgan in what Washington Mutual has called a “fire sale.”

The company has been investigating possible claims against JPMorgan since the middle of 2009 and cited some of the documents provided by the bank to justify expanding its investigation.

It cites an internal JPMorgan email it said shows that a week before Washington Mutual was seized, the bank’s executives were contacted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp regarding their interest in Washington Mutual.

The request to expand its investigation also relies on information from a suit filed by American National Insurance Co, which is suing JPMorgan for its losses on its investments in Washington Mutual securities.

American National said in its suit that JPMorgan used former JPMorgan executives who went to work for Washington Mutual as part of a long-term plan to acquire the savings and loan.

JPMorgan declined to comment.

The case is In re Washington Mutual Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington), No. 08-12229.

— Hat tip: REP

[Return to headlines]

‘Chilling’ New Video: How to Slit Throats

Jihad maneuvers taught at New York compound

A new video released by the Christian Action Network shows Muslim women at a compound in New York state practicing throat-slitting techniques and assault weapons attacks.

The video was distributed by the makers of the movie “Homegrown Jihad: The Terrorist Camps Around the U.S.,” which documents how a jihadist group has developed dozens of training camps across the nation.

WND reported at the time how Jamaat ul-Fuqra has built 35 compounds — mostly in the northeastern corridor of the U.S.

— Hat tip: JD

[Return to headlines]

Could Hillary Clinton Replace Biden as Obama’s Vp?

The hot rumor in Washington: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could replace Vice President Joe Biden on the 2012 Obama re-election ticket. It would be a reward for her work at State and ready her for a 2016 run, as some strategists think Biden would be too old then to run for president.

— Hat tip: Esther

[Return to headlines]

Feds Bug Chicago Terror Suspects

Unaware they were being secretly recorded on a long car ride, two Chicago men spoke openly in September of how they knew about plans for the terror attacks that killed nearly 170 people last year in Mumbai, India, federal investigators alleged for the first time Monday.

In a conversation about a month before one of them was arrested on his way to Pakistan, the two men are alleged to have chatted about how they had known that the terror spree, in which 10 gunmen ran between hotels and other public places shooting people indiscriminately, was about to begin.

— Hat tip: Esther

[Return to headlines]

Millions of ‘Lost’ Bush Emails Recovered

Millions of White House emails that went missing during the Bush administration have been recovered following an extended court battle.

Around 22m messages spanning more than 90 days were declared missing in 2007, shortly after a scandal arose over the decision to fire nine federal prosecutors who had not toed the White House line.

The Obama administration said that its computer technicians had successfully recovered the lost data, in what campaigners called a victory in the attempt to clear up the “electronic data mess” left behind by Bush officials.

— Hat tip: Esther

[Return to headlines]

Paying Off ‘La Raza’

If you were president of the United States, would you hire an alleged former spy for Fidel Castro to be ambassador to El Salvador, a country teetering on the brink of hard-core socialism?

President Obama just did.

On Dec. 9, Obama nominated Mari Del Carmen Aponte to be ambassador to El Salvador, despite the fact that in the late 1990s, the FBI discovered that she was working with Cuban intelligence officers. According to Insight Magazine, “When the FBI eventually questioned her about her involvement with Cuban intelligence, she reportedly refused to cooperate.”

Why would Aponte escape the Obama administration’s scrutiny? Because she is a former board member of the National Council of La Raza, or NCLR, the largest Hispanic advocacy organization in the United States, with 300 affiliated community-based organizations, many of which run like local ACORN offices. In fact, the day before Obama nominated Aponte, NCLR-affiliate Chicanos Por La Causa, or CPLC, was raided by the Phoenix Sheriff’s Office, which was investigating a kickback scheme between CPLC and indicted Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox. CPLC allegedly gave Wilcox $297,000 in undisclosed loans in exchange for her votes to award over a million dollars in county contracts to CPLC.

— Hat tip: JD

[Return to headlines]

Senator Tom Coburn Slows Health Care Bill With Read-a-Thon

WASHINGTON — The Senate is in health care gridlock after a Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn forced the clerk to read aloud a 767-page amendment.

Coburn, a Republican, had sought approval to require that any amendment considered by the Senate must be offered 72 hours in advance and with a full cost report.

When he was rebuffed by Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, Coburn invoked his right to require that an amendment by another Democrat be read aloud. That sent the Senate into limbo, since the amendment by Vermont Democrat Bernie Sanders is 767 pages long.

“It’s unfortunate that Senator Reid waited until the last minute to introduce his bill and now wants to rush it through the Senate,” said Senator Tom Coburn. “This reading will provide a dose of transparency that has been lacking in this debate.”

It’s unclear how long the procedural standoff will continue. Democrats are struggling to pass their bill by Christmas

— Hat tip: Lurker from Tulsa

[Return to headlines]

‘Sinister Muslim’ Stereotype Fades

In film and on TV, Hollywood eases away from its terrorist standard

Muslim voices are finally being heard by and from Hollywood, and it’s in Tinseltown’s best interest to listen.

Negative stereotypes of Muslim characters date to at least the black-and-white era, but by the 1990s and the end of the Cold War, one-dimensional Muslim terrorist characters were the generic “bad guy” in countless movies and television shows, including True Lies (‘94) and Executive Decision (‘96). Even the cartoon Aladdin (‘92) portrayed villains with Middle Eastern accents while the hero and heroine had standard American voices.

Such repeated portrayals have colored public perceptions of Muslims and Middle Easterners. The events of 9/11 crystallized and, for some, affirmed the stereotype. But nearly a decade later, Hollywood seems to be changing its tune toward Muslims and Arabs.

— Hat tip: Esther

[Return to headlines]

Swine Flu Shots for Children Are Recalled

Slight decrease in potency is called safe, still protective

Vaccine-maker Sanofi Pasteur announced Tuesday a voluntary recall of 800,000 doses of a children’s swine flu shot — about 10,000 of which have been distributed in Maryland — after tests showed the vaccine had lost some of its strength.

The recall is an issue of potency, not safety, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health officials are urging parents not to worry if their child received a recalled shot. The vaccine still works against the virus since the reduction in strength was slight and not found to be “clinically significant,” according to the CDC.

“This is a hiccup, but it’s not a hiccup in terms of vaccine safety,” said Frances Phillips, the state’s deputy secretary for public health services. “Parents whose children got the one-time syringe don’t need to call their pediatrician. There’s no particular action that parents need to take in connection with this recall, which is a really good thing.”

— Hat tip: Esther

[Return to headlines]

Analyst Warns EU Against Admitting Turkey

Increasing Islamic influence could spread jihad

Turkey’s increasingly militant Islamic influence should prompt the European Union to reject its efforts to join the organization out of hand, according to Jonathan Racho, an analyst with International Christian Concern.

He says, bluntly, admitting Turkey would present a danger to other EU nations, because the jihad move there then could transfer freely to other nations.

“There’s been an increasing Islamization of Europe through immigration of Muslims from Muslim nations. If Turkey joins, then the EU rules would allow the free movement of Turkey’s Islamists throughout Europe,” Racho said. “This possibility is a clear reason for Europe to deny Turkey’s admission into the EU.”

[…]

Concern also comes from news that three Muslim men broke into the Meryam Ana Syriac Orthodox Church in the eastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir and threatened to kill the priest if he didn’t tear down the bell tower.

The three men say their move is in retaliation for the recent Swiss vote prohibiting any further minarets being built on mosques in the country.

— Hat tip: JD

[Return to headlines]

Berlusconi Attack a ‘Wake Up Call’ For Italy

With their prime minister recovering from his injuries following Sunday’s violent attack, Italians are reflecting on just how divisive politics have become in their country. German commentators hope that a more reconciliatory tone will result.

Two days after being wounded in a rally in Milan, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is recovering in the city’s San Raffeale hospital. Outside the hospital, an already polarized populace is reacting to the attack with a mix of glee, shock and even some soul-searching.

The attack came Sunday evening after Berlusconi finished delivering a speech in front of Milan’s Duomo, the city’s massive Gothic cathedral. Video footage of the attack shows Massimo Tartaglia, 42-year-old man with a history of mental illness, hurling a souvenir statue of the cathedral at Berlusconi’s face, leaving the prime minister with a fractured nose, two broken teeth and cuts on his lips and face.

For months, Berlusconi has denounced the “climate of hate” he believes he is enveloped by. Indeed, the prime minister is having to juggle a number of problems on numerous fronts: His wife has filed for divorce citing his fondness for young women; the country’s highest court ruled in October that he was not immune from prosecution while in office and could therefore stand trial in three ongoing cases, including one for corruption; there are rumors about his consorting with prostitutes; and a Mafia turncoat recently alleged that he had ties to the country’s criminal underworld. Furthermore, on Dec. 5 — which was unofficially designated “No Berlusconi Day” — tens of thousands of protesters marched in Rome demanding his resignation.

In Tuesday’s newspapers, German commentators see the attack as a distressing indicator of just how low political and public discourse has sunk in Italy. They are hopeful, though, that the attack will get people to rethink the situation and prevent more violence.

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

“We now know that what happened in Milan was the relatively spontaneous act of a mentally ill man acting alone. Likewise, there is no real proof that the tenor of the political debate in his country encouraged him to this outburst of violence.”

“Nevertheless, the man’s act has once again set in motion a discussion about the state of political conflict in Italy. The political climate is heated up — and it’s mostly Berlusconi’s fault. And that’s not just because his personality is strongly polarizing. It’s also because whenever he is feeling pressure — which he currently is from many sides — he attacks his opponents and state institutions with very sharp words, which enrage many people. Recently, he even went so far as to say that there might be a ‘civil war’ if certain judicial reforms (that were very important to him) should fail. Still, it would be inappropriate to claim at this point that the prime minister has himself to blame for being attacked.”

Conservative Die Welt writes:

“The man who gravely wounded Italy’s prime minister has been in psychological treatment for 10 years. Thus, you could dismiss his act as that of a crazy person and only question whether Berlusconi’s security detail failed to do its job. But in truth — and this is something that most Italian commentators on both the left and the right agree upon — this act was the culminating point of Italy’s political crisis. This is the expression of the climate of hatred that has characterized political conflict in the country for some time now and that has split the political environment, which is worse than it ever has been, into two irreconcilable camps.”

“Both sides have played a role in poisoning the atmosphere. In recent years, the left has hardly pursued any other issue as intensively as it has its demonization of its rival, Berlusconi. And, for years, in the context of his legal problems, the prime minister and his followers have not shown prosecutors, judges and sometimes even the president the respect they deserve as representatives of legal and democratic institutions. However, this of course in no way makes it right for someone to violently attack the prime minister.”

“Thus, in recent months and years, political debate in Italian has become increasing less compromising and contained while, at the same time, nothing has been done to resolve the country’s pressing problems. The doctors are estimating that Berlusconi will need 24 days to get better. The country’s political class should take advantage of this period to reflect on how they tone down public debate. If political polemics exceeds all boundaries once again and ignores the limits of both propriety and good taste, the next unstable soul will soon turn hate-filled words into action. The silver lining is that the prime minister’s wounds are not life-threatening. But this wake-up call will be heard and understood.”

— Josh Ward

— Hat tip: Insubria

[Return to headlines]

France Set to Compromise Over Burka Ban by Only Outlawing Them in Public Buildings

France is moving towards outlawing burkas in some public buildings — but will stop short of the complete ban that President Nicolas Sarkozy has suggested.

A parliamentary inquiry is likely to rule against full Islamic veils on the basis of sexual equality and public safety laws, it emerged today.

But an outright ban of either the burka or niqab is doubtful due to fears it would violate the right to religious freedom and could be legally challenged.

— Hat tip: JD

[Return to headlines]

France: UMP MPs: Law Banning Wearing Burqa on the Street

(ANSAmed) — PARIS, DECEMBER 16 — Banning Muslim headscarves, or burqas, by law not only in public places but also on the street has become a possibility with a draft law put forth by a group of representatives of the right-wing majority party, UMP, in the name of “security and the values of the Republic”. With an exception for the Carnival period, explained one of the MPs, Francois Baroin, “everyone must have their face uncovered in public. The visibility of one’s face is one of the conditions of living together.” Those who continue to wear burqas must be punished, according to the proposed law, with a fine ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 euros. In the meanwhile, today the parliamentary mission charged with reviewing the use of the burqa and niqab will meet for the final time in front of government ministers, Brice Hortefeux (Interior), Xavier Darcos (Family and Social Relations), and Eric Besson (Immigration). A report will be published by the end of January, less than two months from a regional vote in March. “A total ban on wearing burqas would be difficult to defend in front of the European Court of Human Rights,” commented a government advisor to Le Figaro, even though Besson is certain of the need to ban this sort of clothing in order to defend “the dignity of women”. A position also supported by UMP President to the National Assembly, Jean-Francois Copé, who considers a law banning headscarves covering the face to be “indispensible. Wearing burqas, stressed the UMP group promoting the draft law, “is a radical practice of the Muslim religion, which is incompatible with the values of the French community and equal rights principles.” Communist André Gerin is also in favour of a “broad law” banning individuals from being “masked” while among the public: “this is not about condemning women, it has to do with fighting a medieval ideology.” (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

[Return to headlines]

Germany: Police Union Moots European Database for Violent Protesters

A German police union on Wednesday called for the creation of a European database of violent demonstrators following incidents on the fringes of the UN global warming talks.

Danish police have detained 1,500 people at protests around the climate change conference in Copenhagen since it began on December 7, though most have been released without charge.

On Monday night officers made 210 arrests after storming a giant squat in the city, using tear gas and dogs to quell protesters who threw petrol bombs and started fires in the street.

Rainer Wendt, the head of German police union DPolG, said on Wednesday that a database would help combat serial agitators who travelled to major events simply to cause trouble.

“We need a European database of troublemaking demonstrators to stop fight tourism,” Wendt told daily Bild.

This would allow police to stop known troublemakers going to major events such as the climate talks or meetings of the G8 group of industrialised nations, Wendt said.

He said it was “incredible that German fight tourists can travel to Denmark to protest violently against climate change.”

The Danish authorities have deported four Germans arrested on Sunday for violence against police and weapons offences.

Police in Copenhagen have been given powers to preventatively detain potential troublemakers.

Some campaign groups have accused the police of heavy-handed tactics, but Wendt said he thought the approach had been “appropriate.”

Security measures have been gearing up as around 115 heads of state and government arrive in Copenhagen for the climax of the talks on Friday.

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

[Return to headlines]

Germany: Severed Pig’s Ear Sent to Muslim Organisation

A package with a severed pig’s ear was delivered to a Muslim organisation in Cologne on Wednesday by unknown perpetrators, the group’s leader said.

The gruesome delivery was accompanied by a note calling it a “precious relic of all Muslims” and a piece of the Prophet Muhammad, Ali Kizilkaya from the Islamic Council of Germany said.

Below this was the phrase, “Greetings from Michel Friedman — Jews in Germany,” likely in reference to the TV talk show host and former vice-president of the German Jewish Council. Both Muslim and Jewish religious customs consider pigs to be unclean animals and consumption of pork is forbidden.

Kizilkaya speculated whoever sent the package likely only wanted to “offend the Muslims” and start a row between them and Jews in Germany.

He said the Islamic Council had received an increasing amount of hate mail recently, but decided to involved the police following the incident.

Kizilkaya also accused “some politicians” were stoking prejudices against Muslims in the wake of Switzerland’s vote last month to ban the constructions of mosques with minarets.

“We Muslims and our mosques are a part of Germany,” he said.

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

[Return to headlines]

Italy: Cuneo Prosciutto Wins EU Label

Italy stretches lead in quality-food standings

(ANSA) — Brussels, December 15 — A ‘prosciutto crudo’ made in a northern Italian mountain valley on Friday increased Italy’s domination of the European Union quality-food rankings.

The Crudo di Cuneo, made according to traditional methods handed down for centuries in an Alpine valley near the city of Cuneo, earned the EU’s most prestigious laurel, a Protected Domination of Origin (PDO) certificate. The cured ham, which needs the valley’s unique microclimate to prosper, is the third Italian food product to get a PDO in less than a week.

On Friday a chestnut from the Tuscan village of Caprese Michelangelo and the Piennolo tomato from the slopes of Mt Vesuvius also won the coveted seal.

Earlier last week real Neapolitan pizza was awarded a long-awaited Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) label.

Before the most recent recipients, in late October, a traditional sour cherry jam produced near Modena, ‘Amarene Brusche di Modena’ was awarded a PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) seal.

‘Ciauscolo’, a large sausage from the Marche region, got a PGI in August.

Some 850 European products have been awarded one of the EU’s three protected-origin laurels.

Italy far outdistances France and Spain for the number of its products which have qualified for one of the three EU quality seals, about 180.

Other recent additions have included Sicily’s ‘Pagnotta del Dittaino’ bread with a PDO label; Roman suckling lamb, abbacchio romano, which earned a PGI label; and Modena’s balsamic vinegar with a PGI label.

Italian culinary glories like Parmigiano, buffalo mozzarella, mortadella, lardo di Colonnata, Ascoli olives, pesto sauce and Pachino plum tomatos have been protected for some time but lesser-known munchies like Mt Etna prickly pears and Paestum artichokes have also swelled the ranks along with saffron from San Gimignano and L’Aquila.

A range of salamis, rices, honeys and nuts are also on the protected list.

Several up-and-coming regional wines have earned TGIs.

PDO identifies a product whose characteristics are exclusively dependant on a geographical origin and whose productive phases all take place in the specified area.

PGI defines a product whose characteristics can be connected with its geographical origin and that has at least one productive phase located in the specified area.

TGS distinguishes a product, whose raw materials, composition or recipe, production method or transformation, are of a traditional type.

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Italy: Video Game Invites Players to Attack PM

Rome, 15 Dec. (AKI) — A video game has surfaced on the Internet challenging players to strike Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi as many times as they can with replicas of the northern Italian city of Milan’s Cathedral. The game appeared just two days after Massimo Tartaglia made headlines around the world for striking Berlusconi in the face with a small alabaster souvenir statuette of the Milan landmark ..

The Brasilian video game invites players to manoeuvre Berlusconi’s head into the firing line as replicas of the gothic landmark and the world-famous Leaning Tower of Pisa fall down on him.

Each time one of the replicas hits Berlusconi’s head, his smiling countenance turns into a bloody grimace. The 90-second game invites players to improve their score.

The 73-year-old premier was on Tuesday still recovering in hospital after the attack in which he suffered a broken nose and two broken teeth, heavy bleeding and cuts to his face.

He is expected to be discharged from Milan’s San Raffaele hospital on Wednesday but doctors have said he will take three weeks to recover from his injuries.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Italy: High-Speed Trains Spark Commuter Fury

Sit-ins at Bergamo and Florence, petition at Cremona. “Ready for a fight”. Greater inconvenience and new increases, say commuters. Railway company denies downsizing services

MILAN — The Italy of rail-borne protest has two faces. One belongs to the executive on the Milan-Turin Frecciarossa high-speed train, which left Turin’s Porta Nuova station 20 minutes late as passengers crowded into the restaurant car in search of somewhere to sit. The other is that of the office worker, shivering in an unheated carriage on the Genoa-Livorno Frecciabianca (also late), who sent a disappointed text message to the Ligurian commuters’ committee: “I’m on the train. The Frecciabianca is exactly the same, only more expensive”.

Some stops have been cancelled, some Eurostar City and Intercity services have been withdrawn and local services are running slower to give high-speed trains priority. But ticket prices have also gone up. Three days after Trenitalia’s new timetable came into force, commuter grumbles are getting louder in Piedmont, Veneto, Lombardy and Puglia among users of regional services, and particularly among medium and long-distance travellers.

The protests have taken various forms. Signatures have been collected to defend the Bergamo-Cremona-Roma Pendolino service and the stops at Follonica and Cecina. The Piedmont regional authority, which has lost direct connections to the north east and south of the country, has written to the government. There have also been sit-ins on the tracks, organised by commuters on the Florence-Orvieto-Rome route, and in the stationmaster’s office at Bergamo, as well as heated arguments at the ticket counter over the new refund system (25% for delays of between 60 and 119 minutes; 50% for more than 119 minutes). Meetings have been convened at the prefecture to stop, as one long-serving campaigner puts it, “the protest from becoming a question of public order”. On Monday, protesters asked the prefect of Turin to “give us our trains back”. Trenitalia replies: “Commuter trains, regional trains and subsidised services have hardly been affected at all. For the other services, operating in a free market, there are more trains and faster journey times that justify the new prices, which are still among the lowest in Europe”.

Yesterday, protesters went into action on the 7.40 am Frecciarossa from Turin. The train was packed, first and second class. One reason, as Altroconsumo reports, is that the difference between the two tickets is just one euro. “Since you get a free newspaper and coffee, first class is better value. It’s actually cheaper than second class, which has gone up by 30%”. The train was so busy that passengers invaded the restaurant carriage to find somewhere to sit. “Everybody out or I call the police”, warned the guard. The railway police duly arrived and the train stayed where it was for 20 minutes. When it finally departed, the restaurant carriage was full and, according to Trenitalia, “there were plenty of seats free in the last carriage”. On Monday, 98 passengers had to stand on the Milan-Turin service. “Guariniello, help us”, commuters implored the assistant public prosecutor, who was on board the Frecciarossa. That morning, there were protests from commuters in the unheated carriages of the 6.05 am Intercity service, which also departed late. Cesare Carbonari, the spokesperson for Turin-Milan commuters, was scathing: “They’ve replaced the Eurostars with broken-down Intercity rolling stock and reduced the number of carriages. There are 210 fewer seats per train. They’ve stopped all direct services to the north east and Puglia. It’s to encourage people to use the high-speed trains”. His words chime in with the report sent to the transport minister, Altero Matteoli, by the Piedmont regional authority’s councillor for transport, Daniele Borioli. A total of 22 Eurostar City services have been eliminated, there are no direct trains for Venice, Trieste, Bari or Lecce and trains no longer stop at Verbania or Arona.

Like Piedmont, Liguria feels “isolated and abandoned”. “Abandoned like the many regions and towns without a high-speed rail service”, says Sonia Zarino, spokesperson for the Ligurian commuter committees. The new timetable: “Genoa has gained some services with Milan and Rome but has lost the direct service to Florence, as well as nine trains to and from Turin. The Tigullio area is more isolated than ever”. Fares: “Take the Rome-Chiavari route. A second-class Eurostar City ticket has gone up from 45.60 euros to 50.50 euros and the journey time has been cut by five minutes. That’s almost one euro a minute”. On services to France: “A disgrace. The two railway companies failed to reach an agreement so you have to change at Ventimiglia. You can’t consult a single timetable or buy a ticket for Nice. Is this the railway of a civilised country?”

Alessandra Mangiarotti

English translation by Giles Watson

www.watson.it

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Mosque Madness: German Group Hopes for EU Referendum on Minarets

Last year, a right-wing group called Pro Cologne tried to prevent the construction of a mosque in the western German city. Now, a related group wants to ban minarets in Europe.

Just weeks after Swiss voters banned minarets in the country, a German right-wing group is hoping to use a new European Union law to hold a minaret referendum across the 27 member bloc.

Last month, the Swiss voted to ban minarets. Now, it may be Europe’s turn.

Just a few weeks after Swiss citizens decided in a referendum to ban the further construction of minarets, a right-wing group in Germany is running a similar anti-mosque campaign to gain votes ahead of the state election in May 2010. According to an article in the German daily Die Welt, the North Rhine-Westphalia group Pro NRW — an outgrowth of the anti-Muslim right-wing group Pro Cologne — hopes to unite other European right-wing associations behind the campaign against Muslim prayer houses.

“We will run a state election campaign that is decidedly critical of Islam. We will use the posters from the Swiss minaret ban,” Markus Wiener, general secretary of Pro NRW, told Die Welt. “We see the construction of mosques as an aggressive and powerful symbol of a Muslim conquest,” he added.

To be sure, Wiener said the campaign is directed “not specifically against Islam,” but instead at the “problem of non-European immigrants who come from predominantly Islamic cultures.”

A Little Help from their Friends

Pro NRW is even getting a little help from the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), the masterminds behind the Swiss vote. Wiener says SVP has granted Pro NRW permission to use its posters in the campaign. In addition, SVP politician Andreas Glarner has become a member of Pro NRW.

The right-wing group is hoping force a European Union-wide referendum on the issue. The Lisbon Treaty, which has now entered into force, contains a provision for referenda subsequent to the collection of one million signatures in favor of the measure in question. Just how such a process might work, however, has yet to be sufficiently established.

Wiener plans to discuss a possible referendum at an anti-minaret conference planned for early next year.

Pro NRW stems from Pro Cologne, which is under observation by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency. Pro Cologne staged a 2008 effort to block the construction of a Cologne mosque, which, when completed, will be Germany’s largest. The project was eventually approved.

Pro NRW has seen some modest success in this year’s municipal elections, increasing their number of seats in various city councils from 15 to 46. The group is currently preparing for state-wide elections to be held on May 9.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Refugees Hijack Polish Train in Protest Over Living Conditions

About 230 refugees from Russia and Georgia hijacked a train in West Poland on Tuesday protesting against life conditions in refugee camps and bad attitude of the local population.

None of the refugees traveling on Wroclaw-Dresden passenger train had a ticket. Polish conductors offered them to buy tickets but they refused to do so and did not leave the train.

The protesters said they wanted to take the train to Strasbourg, but polish police made them disembark as the train approached the border with Germany.

— Hat tip: Esther

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UK: March of the Wardens: Town Hall ‘Enforcers’ With Police Powers Increase by a Fifth in a Year

The number of town hall snoopers and private security guards armed with sweeping police powers has rocketed by a fifth in only 12 months.

There are now 1,667 park wardens, dog wardens, car park attendants and shopping centre guards permitted to hand out fines for ‘crimes’ such as littering, dog fouling and criminal damage.

They may take photographs of the people they have fined, and demand names and addresses. A further 478 civilians have been given the power to stop vehicles to check for out-of-date tax discs.

The hope is that the army of civilians will free police officers from having to perform these unpopular tasks.

But critics said the so-called Community Safety Accreditation Scheme amounted to ‘state-sanctioned vigilantism’.

[…]

‘Councils are completely unequipped to police the pretend policemen they are licensing.

‘Even worse, the number of these officers is rising because councils want to send them out to collect the ludicrous fines for regulations we shouldn’t have imposed on us in the first place.’

— Hat tip: JD

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UK: Natwest Handed Al Qaeda Terrorist 100% Mortgage to Buy £93,000 Home He Turned Into a Bomb Factory

A bank has sparked outrage by handing over a 100 per cent mortgage to an Al Qaeda terrorist who smuggled himself into Britain.

Albanian Krenar Lusha, 30, was given £93,000 after NatWest failed to complete full checks on his UK status.

He used the cash to buy a house in Derby, where he stored bomb-making equipment and information on how to carry out attacks.

The illegal immigrant also managed to get a UK driving licence, secure a £30,000-a-year engineering job and was even offered a second mortgage — which he declined.

— Hat tip: JD

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‘We Will Sue Terrorists in Britain’

(IsraelNN.com) The Almagor terror victims group says it will file charges in Britain for the arrest of Arab terrorists who visit the country, under the same laws used to take aim at Knesset Member Tzipi Livni of the Kadima party.

Almagor director Meir Indor said the group will also sue British officials over the country’s cooperation with Arab terrorists during the Mandatory period, when Britain failed to prevent Arab mobs from murdering Jews. He announced that it has begun to collect information from families of terror victims from the pre-State days, as well as background information on the top officials of the Palestinian Authority.

The charges will mirror those that were brought against the State of Israel for failing to prevent the massacres in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon during the 1982 Peace for Galilee Operation, also known as the First Lebanon War. At that time, the Lebanese Forces Christian militia entered the camps, populated by Palestinian Arabs and some Lebanese civilians, and slaughtered hundreds. This had followed the recent assassination of their Christian Phalangist leader and president-elect, Bashir Gemayel. The IDF, which at the time surrounded Beirut’s Palestinian refugee camps, had allowed the Lebanese Forces militia to enter the two camps in order to clear out PLO terrorist nests — and Israel was blamed for the massacre.

Not the First Time

Indor noted that his group has a great deal of experience in the European public court system. For instance, Almagor once filed a lawsuit in a Belgian court against then-PLO terrorist chairman Yasser Arafat, who had filed criminal charges against Israeli statesman Ariel Sharon. Indor said this prompted a legislative process that led to the end of both cases. “Belgium took advantage of the charges against Arafat in order to close both of them,” Indoor said.

Indor is also convinced that Almagor’s efforts in Spain helped stymie a similar effort against Israeli security personnel. In that case, the group began to open an investigation in Yugoslavia on a NATO bombardment that had allegedly involved Spanish troops.

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

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Croatia: Presidential Election, Leftwing Candidate Leads Polls

(ANSAmed) — ZAGREB, DECEMBER 15 — The candidate of the social-democrat left (SDP), Ivo Josipovic, should encounter no problems in the presidential election on December 27, with the battle for second place still undecided, according to the polls released today by the country’s main newspapers. Josipovic, professor of law and member of parliament for the SDP, the biggest opposition party, has been stable for months at 30% of preferences of interviewed voters. For the first time on second place, with 14.3%, is Nadan Vidosevic, centrist and manager and president of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, expelled after the announcement of his candidature from his party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). On third place, with 11.8%, stands the mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandic, also a dissident of his party, the SDP, for deciding to run against the will of the party leadership. On fourth place, with 10.6% in the polls, another HDZ dissident, former minister of education Dragan Primorac, followed by the left-wing liberal (HNS) Vesna Pusic (8.2%). The small differences, all within the statistical margin of error, show that the Croatian diaspora, particularly those in Bosnia and Herzegovina, may in the end decide who will go to the second ballet against Josipovic on January 10. This group traditionally votes rightwing and represents around 5% of the electorate. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Serbia: Vojvodina Parliament Adopts New Statute

(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, DECEMBER 14 — The Parliament of Vojvodina approved today a new statute which provides greater autonomy to the region, according to the Tanjug news agency in Novi Sad, district capital of the region. The document was passed by 86 out of 120 parliamentarians. Members of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS, ultra-nationalist) and the Serbian Party for Progress (SNS — moderate nationalist) boycotted the vote, saying that the new statute would lead to secession by Vojvodina. The draft law was approved by the Serbian parliament at the end of November. By adopting the law, Vojvodina will get back the autonomy which it enjoyed until former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic took it away in 1990. Milosevic applied the same measures to Kosovo, which led to the armed revolt and unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008. In the new statute, Vojvodina will be able to sign agreements with foreign regions, but not with the states. The Vojvodina Assembly will not be permittted to dismiss texts which have the force of law. Novi Sad has been designated an administrative centre for the region, rather than its capital. Finally, the region may set up a bank for development. Vojvodina, with 2 million inhabitants, is one of the most prosperous regions in Serbia. It includes 25 different ethnic minorities, the largest of these being Hungarians (350,000 people). (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Gaza: Euromed Human Rights, EU Must Turn Words Into Action

(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 15 — One year after operation ‘Cast Lead’, the European Union remains powerless against the dramatic situation in Gaza, and has failed to turn words into action. Despite attempts by the 27 members to actively promote the solution of two independent States, it is at the same time condoning systematic violations of international law and human rights by Israel. This was the message which the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) sent to Brussels today as the anniversary of the offensive carried out by Israel in the Gaza Strip between December 27 2008 and January 18 2009 approaches. The network, which consists of around 80 groups, says that the impunity of those responsible for the violations of international law constitutes an obstacle to any real possibility of peace. And so far the EU has not worked hard enough to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice, even while calling for investigations on the part of the Israelis and Palestinians. The EU as a whole has failed to actively support an independent investigation, and to search for the people responsible for the violations carried out by Israelis and Palestinians, said Miri Weingarten, from the Israeli NGO B’Tselem. In addition, the member States were seen to be divided when it came to supporting the recommendations of the Goldstone report to the UN. This report is considered extremely credible from the legal point of view by human rights groups. In terms of pressure, from a diplomatic point of view the EU, in its conclusions, has still not declared that the blockade of Gaza is collective punishment, which is illegal under international law, said Nathalie Stanus of Emhrn, while noting an increase in the tones of the declarations made on December 8. Again, despite the fact that the siege of Gaza continues, and that Brussels has blocked a decision to move relations with Israel to a more advanced stage, the attitude towards Tel Aviv is still business as usual. For example, they signed an agreement on November 4 to liberalise trade in agricultural produce, explained Maysa Zorob from Al Haq, a Palestinian NGO. This has led to an appeal to the EU to put the issue of human rights at the centre of its policies towards Israel and the Palestinians. One of the recommendations is an appeal to Israel, Hamas and the PNA to begin independent and credible investigations into human rights violations, as well as supporting checks into violations of international law on the part of the UN. The network of Euro-Med NGOs is calling on the 27 member States to help the Palestinians without releasing Israel from its obligations. In effect the EU must raise its voice, adding a clause that a continuation of relations between the EU and Israel are conditional upon an improvement in human rights conditions in Gaza, including an end to the blockade, in the West Bank and in particular East Jerusalem too. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Agriculture: Morocco, 40bln Euros From France for Irrigation

(ANSAmed)) — RABAT, DECEMBER 15 — The French development agency AFD has granted Morocco a loan of 40 million euros to finance agricultural irrigation projects. The accord was signed in Rabat by Morocco’s Economy and Finance Minister, Salaheddine Mezouar, and the Director General of AFD, Michel Severino, in the presence of the French Ambassador, Bruno Joubert. The project envisages the construction of an irrigation network which should benefit 20,000 farmers in a further step towards a more rational management of water resources. The Moroccan minster pointed out that AFD has advanced loans worth 1.5 billion euros to Morocco over recent years and that the money has gone to education, healthcare, agricultural and solar energy projects. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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British Officials Speak to Lockerbie Bomber, Thought to be Missing

Fears over the whereabouts of the Lockerbie bomber have been put to rest after British officials spoke to him at his home in Tripoli.

Local authority staff from the East Renfrewshire Council had been concerned after attempts to contact Abdel Baset al-Megrahi failed yesterday.

There were also reports that mystery surrounded the bomber’s whereabouts after he could not be contacted either at his home or in hospital.

Earlier this year Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, was granted compassionate release from the life sentence he was serving in a Scottish jail.

Criminal justice social work staff from the council are charged with monitoring him, and usually call Megrahi in Tripoli every two weeks.

They had not been scheduled to contact Megrahi this week but they tried to contact him yesterday after The Times of London had been unable to speak to the bomber.

Those attempts failed but today council staff were able to speak to him.

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Egypt: Court Overturns Niqab Ban in Universities

(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, DECEMBER 14 — The battle over the niqab, the veil that covers the face, leaving only the eyes visible, continues to rage in Egypt. The administrative courts have in fact overturned the ban imposed on wearing the garment on university property and examination halls, but the Minister for Higher Education, Hani Helal, is not throwing in the towel yet: “I’m going on anyway”, he says. “We will follow all the procedures which the law provides to overturn this decision”, he told ANSA. Helal is in Rome for the closing ceremony of the Italy-Egypt Year of Science and Technology. “I am concerned only with universities and higher education institutions, I am not involving myself with issues of a religious nature”, he added. Security and justice are the principles which are guiding his decisions: the niqab is a private matter, while the safety of universities is the issue in question. Last year, the Minister pointed out, there were over 30 cases of boys entering womens dormitories in disguise, and during exams, the teachers need to know who is answering their questions. The legal battle — which is separated into several parts and is therefore not yet over — was begun in recent days by a dozen women students wearing the niqab at the Ain Shams University, the second-largest public university in Cairo. The same case was established at the largest as well, the University of Cairo, which allowed protests to take place, as well as several girls refusing to take their exams. The minister is not respecting peoples rights said Nizar Ghorab, a lawyer acting on behalf of the students. She is basing their case not on religion, but on constitutional principles. The sentence by the Administrative court should be respected, she added, and does not permit referral to the Court of Cassation. As an employee of the State, the Minister is obliged to apply this sentence, otherwise he risks trial, a prison sentence, and the loss of his post. The students case involves the highest religious authorities as well: the grand Imam of Al Azharm, Sayyed Al Tantawi, the grand Mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, and the Minister for Religious Affairs, Mahmud Hamdi Zaqzuq. The issue of the niqab exploded in October, when the Imam of Al Azhar ordered a student to remove her niqab, because it had nothing to do with religion, and it was banned from schools linked to the highest Sunni theological authorities, although only in women-only places. Minister for Education Yustri El Gamal also banned the niqab in public schools, while Ali Gomaa e Zaqzuq — who banned it in the offices of his ministry — also maintained that the niqab is simply a tradition. The lawyer says in any case that the verdict of the State Council affects only the University of Aim Shams for the time being.(ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Haidar: Tension Algeria-Morocco After Rabat’s Accusation

(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, DECEMBER 15 — After the declarations of yesterday from Rabat which defined the Aminatou Haidar affair, the Saharoui activist currently on hunger strike at the Lanzarote airport, as an “Algerian plot”, has reignited the controversy between the two countries over Western Sahara that have divided them for the last 30 years. While the serious health conditions of Haidar are worrying the world’s governments, the Algerian press reacts against the accusations of the Moroccan Communication Minister, Khalid Naciri. “Rabat plunges into the ridiculous”, reads the front page of Le Quotidien D’Oran, “Rabat looks for scapegoat to avoid responsibility for the planned death”, writes La Tribune. The same tones were used in all the press in both French and Arabic, while for the moment Algerian authorities are keeping quiet. “Algeria is in a weaker position”, stated Naciri, “in light of the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco for Western Sahara”. “The case of Haidar is a hateful manipulation” and “Algeria believes to have found the road to attracting international public sympathy”. Rabat “cannot assume responsibility for the dossier, a systematic plot, ordered by Algeria. Too much is too much”, it concluded, “Morocco and Spain are victim of a Machiavellian plan”. “The Western Sahara revolutionary”, as Haidar is defined by the world’s press, 43, is fighting for the independence of Western Sahara, the former Spanish colony occupied by Morocco since its independence in 1975. The activist was pushed back on November 14 by Moroccan authorities at the airport of her hometown, Laayoune, on a return trip from the United States. The woman was put on board a plane for the Canary Islands. She began a hunger strike at the Lanzarote airport, asking to be able to return home and refusing political asylum and Spanish citizenship. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Law Must ‘Protect Egypt’s Women From Harassment’

Egypt’s deputy parliament speaker said women needed a law to protect them from sexual harassment which had reached “savage” levels in the country, Al-Destour newspaper reported on Tuesday.

“There must be a law to protect Egyptian society from collapse,” the newspaper quoted Zeinab Radwan as telling a conference on sexual harassment on Monday.

“There is a savage attack on Egyptian women with sexual harassment on the streets. It has gone beyond all limits with the harassment of children,” she said.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Mystery as Lockerbie Bomber Goes Missing From Home and Hospital

Mystery surrounded the Lockerbie bomber last night after he could not be reached at his home or in hospital.

Libyan officials could say nothing about the whereabouts of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, and his Scottish monitors could not contact him by telephone. They will try again to speak to him today but if they fail to reach him, the Scottish government could face a new crisis.

Under the terms of his release from jail, the bomber cannot change his address or leave Tripoli, and must keep in regular communication with East Renfrewshire Council.

Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic and relatives of the 270 people who died in the 1988 bombing expressed anger about al-Megrahi’s disappearance. Richard Baker, Labour’s justice spokesman in the Scottish Parliament, said the whole affair was turning into a shambles and putting Scotland’s reputation at risk. “This flags up just how ludicrous it is that East Renfrewshire Council, a local council thousands of miles away from Libya, is responsible for supervising al-Megrahi’s conditions of licence,” he said.

Eliot Engel, a New York congressman, said: “I think it was a tremendous mistake to let him out in the first place. I don’t think a convicted terrorist has any integrity to abide by any type of agreement.”

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

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Stakelbeck: Former Radical Muslim Now Supports Israel

As a young man in Egypt, Tawfik Hamid was a member of the Islamic terrorist group, Jamaa Islamiya. One of his cohorts in that group was none other than Ayman al-Zawahiri, currently Al Qaeda’s second-in-command.

Luckily, Tawfik realized the error of his ways, left JI, and became a fierce and courageous critic of radical Islam.

He is also an outspoken supporter of Israel, a stance that has seen members of his Arab Muslim family disown him.

I recently sat down for an extended interview with Tawfik in which he gave a passionate defense of Israel from an Egyptian perspective.

Click on the link above to watch Tawfik on Israel. And stay tuned to see our entire interview, which will air early in 2010.

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Gaza-Egypt Tunnel Collapses, Three Dead

(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, DECEMBER 15 — Three Palestinians were killed today when a tunnel connecting the Gaza Strip to Egypt caved in. The news comes in a report by Egyptian security services. One of the three bodies has been recovered and the search for the remaining two is still under way. Tunnels dug by Palestinians on the Egyptian border are used for smuggling. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Israel Attacks UK Over Livni Arrest Warrant

Tel Aviv, 15 Dec. (AKI) — Israel’s foreign ministry has attacked a move by a British court to issue an arrest warrant against former foreign minister Tzipi Livni. The warrant was issued by a London Court on Saturday over her role in alleged war crimes during Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip in which 1,400 Palestinians were killed.

It was revoked on Monday when it was found Livni was not visiting the UK. Livni was foreign minister post during Israel’s controversial Gaza assault last winter.

“Israel rejects the cynical legal move made in the British court against the head of the opposition, MK Tzipi Livni, at the behest of radical elements, and wishes to point out that Israel and Britain are both engaged in a common struggle against the forces of international terror,” Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement on its website.

Livni cancelled her trip to the UK after a warrant was issued for her arrest on 12 December.

The arrest warrant was rescinded once it was discovered that she was not going to the country.

Livni’s office said she would not travel to the UK due to scheduling reasons.

The foreign ministry also called for the UK to take action to rectify relations between both countries.

“The absence of immediate, determined action to correct this abuse harms relations between Britain and Israel.”

Israel warned Britain that unless action is taken, it would compromise its role in the so-called Middle East peace process.

“If Israeli leaders cannot visit Britain in proper, dignified fashion, this will, quite naturally, seriously compromise Britain’s ability to play the active role in the Middle East peace process that it desires,” said the statement.

On Tuesday, Livni said she would not accept any accusation that compared Israeli Defense Forces soldiers to terrorists.

“I have no problem with the fact that the world wants to judge Israel,” said Livni, quoted by Israeli daily Haaretz.

“We are part of the free world. The problem starts when the world judges us in a way that gives no value to the region.”

In late September, a group of Palestinian families living in the UK sought to obtain an international arrest warrant against Israel’s defence minister Ehud Barak, also for alleged war crimes committed during the Gaza operation.

During the Israeli offensive, termed ‘Operation Cast Lead’, more than 50,000 Palestinian homes were destroyed by the Israeli army, as well as 29 mosques, two churches and 200 schools.

The 22-day Israeli military operation, launched with the stated aim of ending Hamas rocket attacks against Israel, killed some 1,400 Palestinians and injured more than 5,400 others, according to UN figures.

Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians hit by cross-border rocket fire were killed in the conflict.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Palestinian Refugees, UNRWA Appeal to Arab Nations

(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, DECEMBER 14 — An appeal was made today by UNRWA to Arab countries in the headquarters of the Arab League for greater support to the United Nations organisation to help Palestinian refugees in the territories, in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. The UNRWA reserves are nearly exhausted, said representatives of the organisation, but the number of refugees being given aid increases 3.5% every year and the amount needed for 2010 is over 323 million dollars. An amounted necessary, explained Commissioner General Karen Abu Zayd, for a series of projects to create jobs, education, emergency health care and mental heath initiatives for the communities. If these new resources are not forthcoming, underlined Abu Zayd, UNRWA will be painfully forced to cut services. The Arab states contributed only 1% of the 2009 budget, according to statements, while the percentage expected from the Arab League was fixed at 7.8%. Some Arab states have not increased their contribution for ten years, although others, it was pointed out, have guaranteed significant contributions, including the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and the Saudi Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Restoration-Conservation, Italy Offers Know-How to Israel

(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, DECEMBER 15 — A mission of Italian businesses and professionals specialised in architectural conservation and restoring historical buildings to broaden the spectrum of cooperation with Israel, a land that is rich in opportunities in this sector, also with economic prospects in mind. This was the initiative promoted over the past two days in Israel by the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) as part of the events leading up to the mega-government summit between Italy and Israel set to take place in the beginning of February in Jerusalem. The mission, explained the head of the ICE office in Tel Aviv, Marina Scognamiglio, will allow Italy “to demonstrate and make their know-how, experience and technology in the field of conservation and restoration of historic buildings available,” a sector in which the peninsula (which contains almost two-thirds of the historical and artistic works on the planet) can boast “a position of world leadership.” A position that offers undeniable opportunities in a country like Israel, where innumerable historical sites that are associated with the traditions of all three great monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) are located, as well as other interesting sites. Starting with the white modernist Bauhaus architecture of Tel Aviv, which is at the centre of a renewed wave of restoration projects in 2009, due to the 100-year anniversary of the founding of the city that is a symbol of the Zionist achievements. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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The Palestinians Tell the World Their Strategy: Why Make Peace With Israel When We Can Get Everything From You Instead

by Barry Rubin

If you want to understand what’s really going on in the alleged Israel-Palestinian peace process-beyond the babble that progress is being made, it’s all Israel’s fault, and everyone is working hard on it-here’s what you need to know.

For the present, the Palestinian leadership isn’t interested in pursuing negotiations with Israel because it has a different strategy: get everything it wants from others without making any concessions.

First, the Palestinian Authority (PA) came very close to obtaining a European Union (EU) resolution which made it sound like the Palestinian state with its capital in east Jerusalem is an accomplished fact. The rejection of the Swedish-sponsored proposal by more moderate European states staved this off, along with a U.S. reminder that this kind of issue was supposed to be resolved by a negotiated agreement between the PA and Israel.

Nevertheless, the PA no doubt drew hope-albeit erroneously so—from this experience that with a little more time the EU will back its position completely and give it a state on a silver platter.

The other front is the UN. On December 15, a meeting of the Fatah leadership will discuss and probably endorse a plan to seek UN recognition of their state, with no preconditions.

In the words of one Council member, Munib Masri:

“We will ask the UN Security Council to endorse a two-state solution with east Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state, to compensate Palestinian refugees and affirm their right to return to their homeland.”

There is a very interesting phrase at the end of that statement. Masri was referring to the Palestinian demand that all refugees and their descendants can go live in Israel if they want, a formula for massive violence, chaos, and civil war in Israel. Of course, that’s precisely what the PA wants—and will never get. The idea is that the “two-state solution” it is thinking about is merely a transitional step toward wiping Israel off the map, the real goal and the reason why there isn’t any peace.

By defining Israel as the Palestinian homeland, or at least a part of it, Masri shows the two-state solution is not a serious Palestinian goal. If it were, a West Bank-Gaza Strip-east Jerusalem state would be defined as the homeland.

Of course, he adds:

“If Israel remains steadfast in building settlements, then we will seek a one-state solution that is based on a timetable.”

Masri and others in the PA don’t give any credit for Israel’s settlement freeze. Like all Israeli concessions, it is pocketed and then denounced as insufficient, certainly not as warranting any reciprocal Palestinian gesture.

What Masri himself represents is the friends-of-Yasir-Arafat faction which still dominates both Fatah and the PA. This is the mainstream of both institutions and the base on which PA leader Mahmoud Abbas depends to stay in power.

The attractiveness of unilateralism is understandable. Why make a deal with Israel that might require recognizing it as a Jewish state, taking a bit less territory on the West Bank or having to swap some pieces of land with Israel, providing Israel with security guarantees, giving up the dream of total victory and Israel’s elimination, and accepting limits on your military forces when you can just demand, and possibly get, everything you want from the United States, Europe, the UN, or the international community in general?

This is also an ideal strategy in domestic terms since any concessions are unpopular. If Fatah and the PA want to make up with Hamas, avoiding any concessions is vital. And if they don’t want Hamas to make political capital out of their “treasonous moderation” the same point applies.

Of course, that means the conflict will continue, people will die, Palestinians will continue to be (or at least will be perceived as) suffering, and everything can be blamed on Israeli intransigence. There would be no peace and no Palestinian state, but that better suits the PA’s current strategy and again would largely be blamed on Israel.

Is it really so hard to understand that this is what is really happening?…

— Hat tip: Barry Rubin

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Brown Warns of Further Sanctions After Iran Test-Fires Long-Range Missile

Gordon Brown today called for fresh sanctions against Iran after it successfully tested a missile capable of striking Israel.

The Prime Minister described the testing of the Sajjil-2 missile as a ‘provocative act’ which raised fresh concerns about Tehran’s intentions.

A senior British official said the missile test suggested progress on persuading Iran to pursue peace was ‘going backwards’.

— Hat tip: JD

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Gulf: Treaty for Common Currency Enters Into Vigour

(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, DECEMBER 15 — The agreement on the common currency for the countries of the Gulf became effective during the Gulf Cooperation Council summit currently in course in Kuwait, announced the finance minister of the oil emirate, Mustafa Al Shimali. “The governors of the central banks of the GCC will now define a calendar for the institution of a central bank before reaching the objective of a common currency”, he declared to the Kuma press agency. The four states of the oil block to adhere to the project are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar. Oman renounced participation already during the primary phase of the project while the United Arab Emirates revoked their participation in May, in protest for the decision to make Riyadh the seat of the Gulf’s Central Bank.(ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Human Rights: Lebanon, Domestic Worker Abuse Punished

(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, DECEMBER 15 — A historic decision in Lebanon: a civil tribunal sentenced a Lebanese woman for repeatedly beating the Filipino domestic worker she employed until 2006. According to the Beirut press today, the woman was sentenced to fifteen days in jail and payment of about 5,000 euros in compensation to Jonalin Malibago, the Filipino maid who found the courage in July 2006, while recovering in the hospital, to report the abuse she had suffered. As pointed out by Nadim Houry, manager of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) office in Beirut, domestic workers in Lebanon are victims of verbal and physical abuse, excruciating working hours, are completely forbidden to leave the home where they’re employed, have their passports confiscated, and earn extremely low salaries. According to the HRW, at least one domestic worker dies every week, and more than one is injured in the attempt to flee from the home of their employer. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Iranian Official Says 70 Per Cent of University Students Against Ahmadinejad

A rising wave of student protest shows that government militias are losing control over university campuses. President supporters are unable to hold rallies or speak without being interrupted. Government official wants the authorities to confront firmly young people and professors.

Tehran (AsiaNews) — About 70 per cent of university students would vote against Ahmadinejad, this according to Mohammad Mohammadian, who is not a dissident but the head of the supreme leader’s Office of University Affairs.

The admission is further evidence of the growing dissatisfaction among young Iranians who led protests in recent days, a sequel to demonstrations that followed the controversial re-election of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad on 12 June.

Rooz, a dissident Iranian webzine, the recent wave of protests that swept the country’s university campuses is a sign that the regime and its militias have lost control of students.

Even before last 7 December celebration of Student Day, Ahmadinejad supporters were unable to hold rallies on campuses. Their speeches were drowned out by other students shouting.

In order to put a stop to the unrest, Mohammad Mohammadian wants “firmer confrontation” against professors and students guilty of weakening the regime.

Speaking at the 62nd annual conference of university chiefs, he sounded the alarm bell. According to the existing data, “70 per cent of students would vote against Ahmadinejad,” he said.

Recent protests are thus but the tip of the iceberg of widespread dissatisfaction. Government officials have lost control on many campuses; universities in Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan and Hamedan, just to name a few, have been hit by the “green tsunami”, the protest movement that is close to the opposition. The deployment of Basiji militiamen and Revolutionary Guards has been of little consequence so far.

For Mohammad Mohammadian, university professors are the culprits; they are the ones responsible for weakening the regime and must be firmly confronted.

However, as a sign of the tense times, professors at Tehran University’s technical campus demanded an immediate halt to the security forces’ presence in universities.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Two Killed in Kurdish Demo in Turkey

BULANIK, Turkey — Two people were shot dead and several were wounded Tuesday during a Kurdish demonstration in southeastern Turkey on the fifth day of unrest triggered by a court ban on the country’s main Kurdish party.

The violence in Bulanik town, in the mainly Kurdish province of Mus, came after protestors attacked shops during a march to denounce the banning of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), the town’s mayor Ziya Akkaya told the NTV news channel.

A shopkeeper, armed with an assault rifle, opened fire on the crowd after the windows of his shop were broken and his vehicle was torched by the protestors.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Has Russia Outplayed the US in Nukes Deal?

A Russian newspaper claims a new nuclear arms reduction treaty will put Moscow in a stronger position than the 1991 deal with Washington, which expired on December 5th.

Both sides say they expect the deal to be sealed by the end of the year..

A Russian diplomatic victory or a triumph of common sense? As details on a new US-Russian nuke pact are leaked to the press, experts in Moscow are finding more and more reasons to celebrate.

— Hat tip: Esther

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World’s Smallest and Largest States Have Recognized Abkhazia

The tiny Republic of Nauru, the world’s smallest island nation, in the South Pacific, has entered the spotlight of international politics by recognizing the independence of the former Georgian Republic of Abkhazia.

An agreement to establish diplomatic relations was signed by Abkhazia’s Foreign Minister and his Nauruan counterpart in Sukhum.

The Republic of Nauru is the fourth country to recognize Abkhazia’s independence, following Russia, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

The Abkhazian Foreign Minister noted that since his country is recognized by the biggest and the smallest nations, the agreement may pave the way for those in the middle.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Envoy Delivered Obama Letter to N. Korea Leader: Report

US envoy Stephen Bosworth delivered a letter from President Barack Obama to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il during his visit to the country last week, the Washington Post reported.

The White House and State Department confirmed the existence of the letter but declined to detail its contents, the daily said.

“We do not comment on private diplomatic correspondence,” the Post quoted US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer as saying.

— Hat tip: Esther

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North Korean Plane Leased by UN

From Swedish: Hugh Griffiths of SIPRI told Swedish news agency TT that the North-Korean weapons plane was leased by the UN for humanitarian shipments for one year starting March 2003. His report from May of this year shows that 90% of cargo plane companies identified as working in arms shipments were also used by the UN, EU and NATO, as well as leading aid agencies, such as Doctors without Borders and the Red Cross.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Taipei Smugglers Facilitate Iran Nukes

Key pieces of equipment purchased from Europe, shipped to Tehran

LONDON — British MI6 intelligence agency investigators have discovered Iran has set up a new smuggling network in Taiwan to obtain specialized equipment used for the production of nuclear weapons, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

Insiders report Iran has established companies to buy the equipment on the world markets and then smuggle it into Tehran.

[…]

The companies are fronted by local Chinese businessmen, and MI6 officers believe some of them have worked in China’s own nuclear industry before moving to Taiwan. The intelligence officers have also traced bank accounts held by the businessmen to banks in the Cayman Islands.

— Hat tip: JD

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Wei Jingsheng: Traitor West, Bewitched (By Money) From Russia, China and Vietnam

The well-known Chinese dissident analyzes the fall of the Soviet empire, but also shows its rebirth in autocratic states allies of the West. For example China and Vietnam. The need to help young people re-establish a more genuine democracy.

Washington (AsiaNews) A democratic leader from the East Europe visited me recently. Our conversation was about how the current youth seem not interested in the “democracy” topic anymore, not as enthusiastic as the time when they signed the Charter 77. He is thinking of propagating democratic ideology from the universities, to resist the Communist black hand of Russia stretching toward East Europe, or, using the term by their friends in East Europe, the black hand of the KGB.

This black hand has not just helped Russia to restore a quasi-Communist government, in a way similar to the current Chinese Communist Party’s autocratic rule. Its control and influence in the East European countries has also grown rapidly, more and more close to what it had under the former Soviet Union. Many anti-Communist democrats feel that the society has gone backwards, that the Communist Party was not defeated there; instead it was simply transformed into a new style Capitalist autocracy. Yet, behind this Capitalist autocracy are still the old Communist Party and the Lenin-Stalin style autocratic Communist system.

I always felt that the revolution of 1980’s was not really successful, that the happy Westerners are too naive. In the past 2 decades, people’s thought has just completed a circle. Our way of thinking when we were young — those democrats in China, as well as the East European dissidents such as Havel & Sakharov — was to worship the West: from its ideology to its political and economic strength. All were a part of Western democracy. We thought that the West was the only correct model; to copy the Western world would be to solve all the problems. This was not wrong at the time; it was a necessary way to oppose the Communist model.

However, the reality of the last two decades has inspired the people in a new way. The Western world did not help those people in the Communist countries build and strengthen a democratic social system.

The West simply cheered that they had defeated their adversary and finished the Cold War. Instead, the Western world is most fond of the so-called “economic cooperation” with the Communist countries and former Communist countries, to make a lot of money. The efforts for the democratization of China and the building of democracy in the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries are totally out of the interest scope of the Western countries. After the events that happened in both Georgia and the Ukraine, along with the weakened policy toward the Chinese Communists by G. W. Bush and Obama, people’s disappointment in the Western democracy went over the critical point.

Some thinkers and politicians in the West are also thinking the same: What are the problems of the Western democratic system? Is the Western democratic system going downhill?

So now the issue is not just limited to China, or East Europe, or Russia, but an issue of the world, and an issue of how a democratic social system is to develop. Just because the Communist Party in the former Soviet Union and East Europe collapsed, does not mean a diminishing of the Communist autocracy. The Communist countries such as China and Vietnam have successfully transformed into a new style autocracy of inclusion among “All the Capitalists of the World United”. They have been more and more successfully forcing the Western countries to surrender themselves, and thus set up examples for all the autocratic countries in the world. The old style Western democracy has lost more and more of its model function, as well as lost its attraction to the people of the backwards countries.

I see many people within the democrats of the older generation, who are still buried in the ideology that they built when they were young, and insist on accepting the democratic ideas and democratic system of the West completely. But this thinking is already not enough; it is lagging behind the era. Just repeating those advanced thoughts of 30 years ago to today’s youth will not likely convince them. The modern day Internet has greatly expanded young people’s scope. These young people know sufficiently, unlike the time when we were young, when we knew little. The existing problems of this era are all in the scope of their interest.

From my own contacts with the younger generation, if we keep trying to talk about that old democracy theory to them as out of a textbook, they would give a snort of contempt. Most of them have already known these ideas, and they also know the problems of the older democratic system. What they are most interested in is exactly the fresh topic of this era.

This fresh topic is that the autocracy has turned itself from defence to offense and has been rising after its transformation. What method could the democratic countries have in dealing with that? Is the democratic system in decline? Could the democratic society turn around the trend of this decline? Will the older democratic system need its own transformation, etc.? In discussing these topics with the youth, they are very interested and very sensitive. These discussions exactly prove that the young people are not a generation without hope. Instead, we should entrust to the care of these youth.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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S. Africa Gets Halal Hotel

CAPE TOWN — With a few months remaining to the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Dubai-based Coral Hotels & Resorts opens on Tuesday, December 15, the first halal hotel in Cape Town.

“We are proud to say Coral International Cape Town will be open as planned well in advance of 2010 FIFA World Cup,” Hamza Farooqui, Group CEO for Cii Holdings, a leading South African business house, told IslamOnline.net.

The hotel is located on the edge of the historic Bo-Kaap which is a recognized heritage site on the slopes of Signal Hill in Cape Town.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Somali Refugees ‘Forced to Join Yemen Rebel War’

Hundreds of Somali refugees are being forced at gunpoint to join rebels fighting in northern Yemen, a Somali diplomat in Aden has told the BBC.

Hussein Haji Ahmed said they were being intercepted in mountainous territory crossing into Saudi Arabia.

“The refugees have told me that those who refused to join the rebellion were executed,” he said.

Both the authorities in Yemen and Saudi Arabia have alleged that Somalis have been fighting with Houthi rebels.

More than 16,000 Somali refugees have fled to Yemen in recent years to escape the civil war in their country, making the dangerous sea crossing in fishing boats.

Correspondents say some try to make their way to Saudi Arabia in search of better opportunities, paying trackers to take them over the dangerous terrain.

Mr Ahmed told the BBC Somali Service that refugees who made it across the border into Saudi territory were sometimes turned back by security forces, leaving them vulnerable to the rebels.

The Houthi rebels are seeking greater autonomy for their Zaydi Shia community in northern Yemen, and have been fighting the government since 2004.

The Zaydi community are a minority in Yemen, but make up the majority in the north of the country.

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

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Austria Eyes Language Tests for Migrants

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS — The Austrian government is eyeing tougher immigration rules, including asking prospective new residents to learn German before arriving in the country, as is already the case in the Netherlands.

“Mastering German language is a prerequisite for successful integration,” a new action plan for immigration tabled on Tuesday (15 January) by the centre-right minister of interior, Maria Fekter, said.

Under the draft proposals, higher levels of German will be required from migrants already living in the country and for spouses or family members who want to join them.

Until now, a basic level — for instance being able to communicate with a doctor — was enough while applying for a residence permit . But if the new law goes through, language proficiency enabling the migrant to access the labour market will be mandatory, with the government empowered to expel people who do not come up to scratch.

According to the latest available figures, over 800,000 foreigners live in Austria, representing roughly 10 percent of the overall population.

The largest group of immigrants — some 300,000 — are refugees from the former Yugoslavia, followed closely by Turks, who form the largest ethnic minority.

One of the reasons Austria is resisting Turkey’s EU membership is fear that family re-unifications of resident Turks could one day see Turkish people outnumber natives.

Green politicians and civil rights groups have slammed Ms Fekter’s project as a “sharpening” of immigration policy, which is already a playground for far-right groups.

The Red Cross also said that mandatory language classes before entering the country were “expensive and not feasible in practice.” In some countries, people have to travel long distances to the EU embassies or even face danger to do so.

The right-wing opposition said the project was too soft and should be replaced with a “reduction policy” for migrants already in the country, however.

Last week, the government in Vienna decided to keep the quota for legal migration in 2010 at just 8,145 people, the same as 2009. Based on past trends, more than half of the new immigrants will come to Austria for family re-unification, while some 2,500 will be highly-skilled workers.

Similar language tests were introduced in 2006 in the Netherlands, another EU country with a high immigration rate.

— Hat tip: Sean O’Brian

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Netherlands: Minister wants to make it easier to reject refugees

Dutch deputy minister Nebahat Albayrak for immigration proposed significant changes in the way the Netherlands deals with asylum seekers last week. With the support of the cabinet, she presented her plans to speed up application processes for minors and promised to end the collective granting of residency permits to people from especially dangerous countries.

Underage asylum seekers are currently often left dangling in the bureaucratic application procedure for years before finally being deported back to their countries of origin. They are given temporary residency permits as long as they are underage, but these are mostly withdrawn after their 18th birthday.

Under current Dutch law only asylum seekers who can prove they are at serious risk of violence in their home countries qualify for a residency permit. This rule applies to underage asylum seekers as well, but they receive more lenient treatment because they are minors.

“This gives children false hope,” deputy minister Albayrak said explaining her plans last week. Unaccompanied underage asylum seekers, as they are known, can live in the Netherlands for years, attending school until they are suddenly cut off from all public services, including health care, education and foster care facilities, after they become adults. Many of these 18-year-olds disappear and remain in the Netherlands illegally, according to Albayrak.

Under her new plan, the temporary residency permits will be scrapped and all applications from minors should be processed within one year. Her policy dictates both the young asylum seeker and immigration services have three weeks to prepare for the procedure that should then be conducted within eight days. As soon as a child’s application has been rejected, their swift return will be arranged by the so-called Return and Departure Service, a government agency charged with making sure unwanted immigrant are sent back. The agency tries to seek out possible biological parents in the child’s country of origin.

Foster care organisation Nidos, the independent government body responsible for the welfare of underage asylum seekers, hailed the accelerated application time as an improvement. But, according to Tin Verstegen, managing director of Nidos, if children are still not deported within a year or two in spite of increased efforts, they should be given a permanent legal status. The current cut-off point is three years.

Albayrak, however, said she did not intend to reduce this period any further. “This would take away every incentive to cooperate with authorities. Any underage asylum seeker able to frustrate the application procedure for a year would be granted a residency permit automatically.”

Aid organisation Vluchtelingenwerk said it opposes the move, because the accelerated application procedure will be error-prone.

In a related policy shift, the minister wants to end collective protection for asylum seekers, underage and adult, who come from countries listed as extremely dangerous by the government. Currently asylum seekers from the Ivory Coast and Sudan qualify for this status and are given residency permits relatively easily. The automatic acceptance of people from Iraq and Somalia was recently terminated.

Because other European countries do not have a similar system, the policy draws people from these countries to the Netherlands in disproportionate numbers, Albayrak said. In the future, even asylum seekers from hazardous countries will have to prove they will be in serious danger if they return home.

This move has met with even stronger opposition from Vluchtelingenwerk. “This policy will lead to people being deported to life-threatening situations,” managing director Edwin Huizing said.

A majority in Dutch parliament supports Albayrak’s new policies.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Over 1.1 Million Dutch People Have Two Nationalities

A growing number of Dutch people have dual citizenship, according to figures released by the statistics office CBS on Monday. In spite of restrictive government policies, 1.1 million now have at least two passports.

There was a significant increase in dual citizens in the 1990s, when many immigrants chose to be naturalised while retaining their original nationality as well. In 1997 the government introduced the principle beetje vaag that people who become Dutch should renounce their previous citizenship, but some exceptions to this rule exist.

Some countries, including Morocco, don’t allow their citizens to give up there nationality. Naturalised citizens who might suffer financially if they give up their original nationality are not required to do so. Turkish people often qualify, since they stand to lose inheritance rights by giving up their old nationality. Most dual citizens have either Turkish or Moroccan roots.

Since 2003 most new dual citizens are under age. Children born to at least one parent with a Dutch and a foreign passport automatically get both nationalities. Minors whose parents are naturalised are allowed to keep their original passports alongside their newly-acquired Dutch ones. They have to choose which they want to keep at the age of 18.

In February 2007, anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders questioned the loyalty of politicians who hold dual citizenship. His Party for Freedom (PVV) tried to block the inauguration of two deputy ministers in the fourth Balkenende cabinet: Ahmed Aboutaleb, now the mayor of Rotterdam, and Nebahat Albayrak, currently still deputy minister of justice. Aboutaleb was born in Morocco and still hold that country’s nationality. Albayrak also has a Turkish passport.

“It is unacceptable that people with an allegiance to another country are members of our cabinet,” Wilders told NRC Handelsblad at the time. However, his party’s no-confidence motion against the Labour politicians got no support in parliament.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Sweden: Easier Asylum for Iraqi Minorities

From Swedish: the Swedish migration service is considering making it easier for Iraqi religious and ethnic minorities to get asylum, as is already the case for gay Iraqis.

— Hat tip: Esther

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NATO: Reducing Emissions is a Security Imperative

Some may wonder why NATO would be interested in climate change. To me, this is a bit like asking why a person would be interested in a change in gravity. While gravity does not dictate what you choose to do at any given moment, it does tend to push all your choices in a common direction — down. In a similar way, I venture, while climate change will not dictate what some nation-states choose to do, it will push them in a common direction: towards increased instability. For that reason, we must recognize that reducing emissions is not only an environmental imperative, but a security imperative.

— Hat tip: Esther

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This week’s Russia Profile Experts Panel takes a look at Russia’s new European Security Pact:

Last week, the Kremlin published its draft of the European Security Treaty, first proposed in June 2008 as President Dmitry Medvedev’s first major foreign policy initiative. Moscow has been criticized for offering few specifics of this proposal, and thus failed to move its European partners toward a meaningful discussion of its initiative. It has now taken this step by putting forward a draft treaty, consisting of 14 articles. […] Is it possible to imagine that this treaty could serve as a viable replacement of or a substitute for the existing security structures, particularly those offering specific security guarantees, like NATO or the Collective Security Treaty? Would it improve the efficiency of the existing conflict resolution mechanisms in Europe? Would it restrict NATO’s ability to operate in Europe? Would it increase Russia’s influence over security decisions in Europe? Will it receive a broader discussion among European and Transatlantic powers, or will it die the quiet death of many other grand plans for European security?

Srdja Trifkovic, the Director of the Center for International Affairs at the Rockford Institute in Rockford, Illinois, contributed this to the discussion:

Quite apart from its details and nuances, Moscow’s proposal can be taken seriously because it comes after a notable shift in U.S. rhetoric and behavior over the past year. This shift reflects U.S. President Barack Obama’s evolving strategic priorities caused in part by the ongoing crisis in Pakistan and the escalation of fighting in Afghanistan. The two key elements are his U-turn on missile defense deployment in Poland and the Czech Republic, and the quiet acceptance on both sides of the Atlantic that there will be no NATO expansion along the Black Sea coast anytime soon.

The problem is still what to do about NATO, and the Russian proposal offers ambiguous guidance. The alliance has morphed into something it was never intended to be: a vehicle for the attainment of American ideological and geopolitical objectives outside the core area. It is necessary to halt and reverse NATO’s recently invented mission as a self-appointed promoter of democracy and humanitarian intervention and guardian against instability in strange and faraway places.

– – – – – – – – –

Bill Clinton’s air war against the Serbs marked a decisive shift in that mutation. The trusty keeper of the gate of 1949 had morphed into a roaming vigilante in 1999. This event had a profound effect on Russian thinking. A decade later, the National Security Strategy approved by President Medvedev last May identified the two gravest threats facing Russia as Ukrainian accession to NATO and predatory Western designs on its energy and other natural resources. The paper explicitly called the United States a major threat to Russian national security.

Such a conclusion was unsurprising. By virtue of its location, Russia controls the crossroads of Eurasia and therefore access to its fabulous natural resource wealth. Washington craves cheap and easy access to that wealth, and under the presidency of George Bush, the United States had developed an ideology to complement such geo-strategic ambitions. Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described it succinctly 18 months ago: in U.S. foreign policy there is no distinction between ideals and self-interest. U.S. foreign policy is its values, and America will stop at nothing to ensure that its values prevail. The world is divided into two camps: one is made up of states that share U.S. values; the other of states (implicitly Russia and China) which were consigned to a lesser status because their relations with the United States are rooted more in common interests than in common values. Washington has changed its tone since, and that change appears to be for the better. Obama now has an opportunity to execute a paradigm shift and inaugurate a process in which the East-West Security Pact would be just the first step on a long journey, not its conclusion.

In principle the Russian proposal is not ranged against NATO, but it could help the United States sort out the incoherent mess NATO has become by restoring the alliance’s proper legal mission as defender of the territory of its member states. The proposal’s shortcoming, however, is that it neglects the potential scope in Europe for a robust and independent EU defense capability under the auspices of the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP).

To devise a more inclusive European security architecture — one that includes NATO, but more than just NATO — would require the establishment of an organization that would replace the moribund OSCE. A new security architecture embracing the main parts of North America, Russia and Europe, would allow for the collective reallocation of forces so as to counter threats emanating from outside: cross-border terrorism, drug trafficking, sex slavery, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and — most importantly — efforts to export jihad.

These threats, unconventional yet real, are a factor for unity from Vancouver to Vladivostok. That vast region is united above all by the moral, spiritual and intellectual values derived from the Judeo-Christian and Greek tradition, values that are far deeper than any issues which divide it. The real threat to the security of pan-Europa thus defined comes from Jihad, from the deluge of inassimilable immigrants, and from collapsing birthrates. All three are caused by the moral decrepitude and cultural decline, not by any shortage of soldiers and weaponry.

Strategy is the art of winning wars, and grand strategy is the philosophy of maintaining an acceptable peace. In considering Moscow’s proposals in good faith, Western powers would display an aptitude for grand strategy, an inspired grasp of the essential requirements of the moment which has been sadly lacking in Washington for the past two decades.

Muslims make up more than 10% of the population of France, the largest proportion in any Western European country. Not surprisingly, France has also experienced a dramatic surge in anti-Semitic incidents during the last decade or so.

Tundra Tabloids has posted an interview with Ami Cammarella, an Israeli-born French doctor, who talks about the reasons why more and more Jews are deciding to leave France.

Some excerpts:

TT:		Tell us a bit more about the French police.
Dr. Cammarella:		It wasn’t the Nazis that came during WWII to capture the Jews, it was the French policemen. France was a very anti-Semitic country. No one had to push them, really, they were very happy to collaborate with the Nazis, and they were very friendly with them. That’s the reality. But many Jews after the War immigrated to France and could forgive France. “Ok, it was a different era and now we’re friends and France is no longer anti-Semitic. At the end France is a good country to live in as Jews”. […] [one of the chief physicians of the department] told me “You Jews”, he was referring to Israel but he told me “You Jews, you are like the Nazis”. So you see, for him, Jews and Israelis are the same. You’re a Jew, so you are an Israeli, and all Jews are Nazis. Just today, I was listening to the radio, and there was a song of one of the more well known singers in France. In this song, about twenty years ago, it’s not a recent song, he was singing in particular about the Palestinians, living a genocide organised by the Israelis … […] That is why after I began going to Synagogue, not because I had some kind of revelation or became real religious but, I said to myself, OK, you are a Jew, go and see what they say about Judaism. So then I went to inform myself what is about Judaism and that’s how I came to know the friend of our mutual friend, and about Judaism and to be a part of the Jewish community in the north of France. But that wasn’t the first anti-Semitic reaction that I had, it was the only one that I had from someone not an Arab, he was an ethnic French with an old fashioned French name. After WW II it was difficult to express anti-Semitism because of all the horrible things that had happened. If you were to say anti-Semitic things you would be attacked by the law. But I think that anti-Semitism is not dead, not all the people are anti-Semitic of course, but it does exist.

– – – – – – – – –

TT:		Do you know of other friends of yours that are Jews have left France, are there of any significant numbers who have left for example, Israel or for elsewhere in the last 3-4 years, or you have no knowledge of anything like that?
Dr. Cammarella:		Yes I know of some people who have left for Israel due to anti-Semitism, yes. Just recently, because only recently I became a part of a big Jewish community, before I didn’t know of anyone. So little by little my identity became a Jewish identity and little by little things changed for me… […]
TT:		Was this doctor [an anti-Semitic Arab] very religious or what?
Dr. Cammarella:		He was not a religious man, he was secular in thinking concerning Islam, no problem with a Christmas tree and such like. But he couldn’t be seen with Jews, and that was anti-Semitic. You probably know that in Algeria they hate Jews, and they hate Israel. I recently read that they are probably only ten Jews left in all of Algeria. At the end of the WWII, there were more than 165,000. This French Jewish singer I spoke about, Enrico Macias, tried to go to Algeria many times, and every time the Algerian government told him that no, he cannot enter their country. […] Well the Gaza war is another wake up, what happened in Europe and what happened in France, the reaction was really strong. After that I was sure, absolutely sure that I had to leave France, because for me, France is the most anti-Semitic country in Europe. In particular during the Gaza war there were about 400 anti-Semitic attacks. Three Synagogues were attacked with Molotov cocktails, about ten Jews were beaten (at least officially). I know of one guy, not personally, who was from Paris and he was beaten by ten Arabs in January of this year, in particular his nose was broken and he spent three days in the hospital…and that just because he was a Jew! He was interviewed by YNET, an Israeli internet website, in which he stated that there is no longer a place for Jews in France and prepared for his immigrating to Israel. I don’t know if he has left already or not. All my friends, my Jewish friends didn’t want to believe what they saw, they said, “Well that’s the way it is, Jews being beaten because they are Jews, that’s the history of the Jews through the centuries, no? It doesn’t happen every day, and it’s not Auschwitz so, you have to live with it.” It’s no problem if you hide your identity, to take off very quickly your kippa, immediately when you go out from the synagogue. And why I wish to leave France, to answer your question, it has to do with the politics. In France they are very against Israel in the news, and for me, these very anti-Zionist positions are only anti-Semitic positions. Now since the birth of Israel, it’s a new way of being anti-Semitic and very politically correct. If you are anti-Israel then you are for the poor Palestinians who are said to be very oppressed by the very bad Israeli people. So that’s really what I feel with politics in Europe, and with France in particular. I can’t stand anymore all this almost daily propaganda. My grandmother was killed because of French people who gave her away to the Nazis. And today I can’t stand to see Synagogues being attacked with Molotov cocktails and to listen to them say bad things about Israel and the Jews. 400 anti-Semitic attacks in France, like the one guy beaten up by ten Arabs just because he was a Jew, I can’t take that any more. It’s indefensible. That’s my position of why I’m leaving France.

Read the rest at Tundra Tabloids.

Everybody is familiar with the classic protection racket: the Mafia underling with his thuggish sidekick pays a visit to a business and tells the owner, “This is a nice little operation ya got goin’ here, Frankie. Be a pity if anything was to happen to it, ya know?”

But when cultural enrichment gets thrown into the mix, the racket can become something quite different. Not only does their holy book, the Koran, provide religious justification for the shakedown, the enrichers can use it as a handy how-to manual for their extortion.

The sole rule is that only non-Muslims may be shaken down. And not only are they fair game, but they owe the payments to the community of believers. Allah says so!

Now it seems that some enterprising operators in Denmark have developed a new business model, a culturally enriched extension of the standard protection racket: they are sending threatening letters to individual families, demanding payment and detailing the consequences if the recipients don’t pony up.

Here’s the text of the letter. The bizarre phrases and grammatical errors can be found in the original, which was written in English:

3rd December 2009

Dear [ ],

For some time we have kept you under our scope. You are blessed with a lovely family and we hope you appreciate this fortune of live, nothing is static. We apologize for the poorly chosen time of approach (Your holy month), and will respectfully keep a distance whilst You and Your family enjoys Your RR.

Out lives may sometimes turn down a road we didn’t foresee, on some occasions we can change this course, on others we can’t.

Your live is about to take such a turn, and it is up to you if you want to get it back on track, entirely up to you, we might add!

In our country, we are so familiar to changes, radical changes, so we know what we are talking about. Your part of the world have exploited us for centuries (not you personally though), so in all fairness it would be appropriate if you lend a helping hand.

For some reason we can’t get your government to take appropriate course of action, hence this solution.

We are civilized people, although you my think otherwise, but In order to be taken seriously, we have to stand try our terms and statements.

For this purpose, we have hired “local contractors”, surprisingly easy in Denmark, whom will carry out the more uncivilized part, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,

In short we request you to deliver 215.000,00 Danish Kroner [roughly $40,000] (can be converted into USD or Pound Sterling), details will follow later on. We will give you 6 weeks from today’s date. The amount will not break you financially, we know, and we never use the same beneficial twice.

Obviously there are certain rules, simple ones.

• Do not share this with anyone or anybody.
• Meet our terms, promptly.

If you fail to comply, and we will find out, we will have to initiate the next step, which will be disabling a family member. Second step, if, necessary, will be more fatal. There is no room for negotiation or second chance. Once we press the red button, others will take over.

The people who will carry out this task does not know us and we do not know them. Due to the way they are getting paid, they will perform, trust us!

We hope you will take this seriously, we have nothing to loose.

We will get back to you shortly.

Regards

Below is a translated article about the letters from today’s Jyllands-Posten. Many thanks to our Danish correspondent TB for the translation (N.B.: Sealand (Sjælland) is the largest island of the Danish archipelago, and home to the capital, Copenhagen):
– – – – – – – – –

Threatening letters flourish in Northern Sealand

Several people in the Gentofte Area have received a threatening letter which demands that they pay 215,000 kroner if they love their family. See the letter here.

“If you do not meet our demands, which we will notice, we will have to go to step two, which will mean that one of your family members will be disabled.”

That was the message translated from English in all of the threatening letters that several citizens in the Gentofte Area have received during the last few days.

The letters are addressed personally and were mailed from a central post office in Mid-Sealand on December 3.

A “suitable” blackmail

The anonymous senders demand that 215,000 kroner be delivered within the next six weeks. As a reason for the blackmail, the senders state among other things that:

“Your part of the world has exploited us for centuries (though not you personally), so it will only be suitable if you give us a helping hand.”

In the letter the senders explicitly state that they are civilized people who have felt it necessary to go to extremes, which is why they have hired local hooligans to do the nasty part of the job.

Deliver the letter to the police

According to the senders there will be fatal consequences if the recipient does not comply. Among other things one is not allowed to tell anybody about the letter.

The North Sealand police are currently investigating the matter and ask all people who have received the letter to secure it in a plastic cover and deliver it to the nearest police station, where a report will be made.

For a complete listing of previous enrichment news, see The Cultural Enrichment Archives.

Sikhs who were forced to leave the tribal areas of Waziristan when the Taliban took control have decided that they want to leave Pakistan entirely. Their preference would be to move to India.

Meanwhile, in Edmonton, Alberta, a calendar for the coming year will celebrate local Muslim women, including a third-grade teacher who moonlights as a kickboxer — in sports hijab.

Thanks to 4symbols, C. Cantoni, Esther, Insubria, JD, Lurker from Tulsa, Paul Green, Steen, TB, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
– – – – – – – – –

	Financial Crisis
	City of Tulsa to Receive $1.55 Million in Stimulus Funds
	New TARP? Only This Bypasses Even Congress
	Spanish Saving More Energy
	The Secret Plan to Pass a Global Tax
	USA
	40 Congressmen Call on Special Ops Commander to Dismiss Case Brought Against Navy Seals Over Alleged Punching of Terrorist
	American Airlines’ Talks With 3 Unions Stuck in Holding Pattern
	Homegrown Terror on the Rise in 2009
	Sorry Barack, But You’re in the Same Boat as US Now
	Canada
	Muslim Women Celebrated in New Calendar
	Europe and the EU
	Basque Countries: Lopez Takes Oath Without Religious Symbols
	Denmark Terror Plot Suspect: I’m a Pacifist
	Greece: Decree Calls for Heavy Sentences on Violence Against Animals
	Irish Victims of Child Abuse Angry at Vatican Response — Feature
	Israel Fury at UK Attempt to Arrest Tzipi Livni
	Italy: Police Find More Art Hidden by Tanzi
	Italy: Premier Says Judiciary ‘Political’
	Netherlands: Korans for the Afghans
	Spain: Military Airbus Maiden Flight, 2 Years Behind Schedule
	Spain: First Gay Victim of Francoism Repression Compensated
	Spain: Islamists Sentenced for Barcelona Plan
	Terrorists Have Had it With the Netherlands
	North Africa
	Algeria: Tebessa, Hotspot for Smuggling Into Tunisia
	Algeria: Hepatitis, 70% Cases Contracted at the Dentist
	Israel and the Palestinians
	Hamas Denies Digging Up Christian Bodies
	Minister Reassures Settlers, Freeze Fictitious
	Spain: High Court Appeal Against Inquiry Into Gaza Massacre
	Middle East
	Baghdad Bomber Called Syria Before August Attack: Minister
	Fethullah Gülen: The Neo-Ottoman Dream of Turkish Islam
	Politiken Exclusive: Ahmadinejad Interview
	Saudi Business Woman Closes Firm Over Male Boss Rule
	U.S. To Test Missile Shield vs. Iran-Style Strike
	US Senators Rebuke Turkey for Worsening Israeli Ties
	Russia
	Russia Coming to Iran’s Defense
	South Asia
	Government Does Nothing to Stop Violence Against Pakistan’s Minorities
	India: Girl Shot Dead in Suspected Honor Killing in Khatozi
	India: “We Can Celebrate, But With No Illusions”
	Pakistan: Expelled Sikhs Want to Migrate to India
	Australia — Pacific
	Australia Announces Controversial Internet Filter
	Immigration
	Denmark: Ethnic Population Increase Predicted
	Culture Wars
	Celebs to Kids: America Stinks!
	General
	Anti-Semitism is Making a Loud Comeback
	Do You Fear Carbon Dioxide?
	The Greatest Battle of the 21st Century
	U.N. Climate Chief Turns Carbon to Green
	Want to Save the Planet? Ban Babies

City of Tulsa to Receive $1.55 Million in Stimulus Funds

The city of Tulsa will get $1.55 million in stimulus monies for public safety and public works projects.Associated Press

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The federal stimulus package passed by the U.S. Senate includes $1.55 million for public safety and public works projects in Tulsa.

The city says in a news release Tuesday that the $1.1 trillion dollar spending bill includes $750,000 for natural gas vehicles for Tulsa Transit, $200,000 to update the police department’s records management system and $100,000 for equipment for the Tulsa Fire Department.

“It’s a credit to the value and importance of these programs that they receive this funding,” said Mayor Dewey Bartlett. “Additionally, the support and leadership provided by Sen. Inhofe and Rep. Sullivan in Congress was nothing short of critical in helping secure these allocations for Tulsa.”

The bill now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.

— Hat tip: Lurker from Tulsa

[Return to headlines]

New TARP? Only This Bypasses Even Congress

Barney Frank plan slides through House without committee hearings

While America was distracted by the arguments over health care, Copenhagen, terror trials in New York and a “jobs” summit, a new type of TARP proposal that would set up a tax-and-spend process involving hundreds of billions of dollars and that would bypass Congress has been adopted by the U.S. House.

The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act by U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., was approved recently on a 223-202 vote without a single cosponsor and no hearings. Its major congressional actions were its introduction on Dec. 2 and its adoption on Dec. 11.

It is, according to Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., worse than Democrat plans to have the government take over health care across the nation and the massive new taxes proposed in the global warming “cap-and-trade” proposal, combined.

— Hat tip: JD

[Return to headlines]

Spanish Saving More Energy

(ANSAmed) — MADRID, APRIL 22 — In the present global crisis, 9 Spanish out of 10 have taken energy and water saving measures and three quarters of families recycle. This is the result of the survey into domestic consumption and the environment regarding 2008, published today in Spain by the national statistics institute (INE). According to the survey, 96.9% of Spanish families have taken measures to save water and 85.5% use low-energy lighting, though less than 1% have installed solar panels. The crisis is good for the environment: 86.6% de-frost food without using the microwave; 81.9% use their washing machine or dishwasher only when full; 64.2% drink tap water and 54.7% has a garbage can in the toilet to avoid having to flush materials. Inhabitants of Andalusia are most active in water recycling (31.5%); people in Valencia pay more attention to starting household appliances only when full (91.6%) and the inhabitants of the Balearic Islands are best at washing dishes by hand (74%). In Spain 70.3% of houses are heated, 32.3% of these use gas for heating. Only a minority of families has an air conditioner (35.5%). However in the Murcia region 63.9% of houses has one, in the Estremadura 58%. The use of cars to move around is not declining on the other hand. According to the survey only 21.7 of Spanish use public transport, 45% use their own car. And the rest? By bicycle or, better, on foot. (ANSAmed).

2009-04-22 17:06

— Hat tip: Insubria

[Return to headlines]

The Secret Plan to Pass a Global Tax

With President Barack Obama attacking “fat cat bankers on Wall Street,” left-wing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) see a great opportunity to pass a global tax on financial transactions that could generate at least $700 billion a year from the U.S. and other “rich” countries. They are expecting Obama’s support.

The banks are a key target because of the “anger” that already exists against them for their roles in the global financial crisis, says a detailed 13-page memorandum from Max Lawson of the foreign aid group Oxfam.

Calling the global Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) “an idea whose time has come,” Lawson says in his memorandum that “politically the time is now” to pass such a tax. “It will take some great campaigning but I think we can do this,” he says in a message introducing the memo.

Lawson explains, “The global anger against the bankers; the huge pressure on rich country budgets; the need for money in 2010 to rescue the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals] and from failure; to protect poor countries from the economic crisis; and the need to come up with money for climate change to unlock a global deal. All combine to make a very strong political backdrop.”

The MDGs were established by the United Nations to make sure that the U.S. and other Western nations devote 0.7 percent of Gross National Product to official development assistance or foreign aid. As a Senator, Obama had introduced a bill, the Global Poverty Act, to mandate U.S. compliance with the MDGs at an estimated cost of $845 billion.

Lawson, head of development and finance for Oxfam in Britain, has distributed his 13-page memorandum to members of NGOs in the U.S. and other countries. “There is potentially plenty of money here for all of our issues,” he tells them.

The global tax is being called “the Robin Hood tax,” in order to convince people that it is somehow designed to take money away from rich people in order to help the poor. Another variation on this theme is the claim that the tax is aimed at Wall Street to help Main Street.

In reality, such a tax would affect IRAs, Mutual Funds and pensions by taxing the exchange of financial transactions. It would hand over great sums of money to politicians in the name of bashing the big banks but ordinary Americans and their life savings would be hurt.

As outlined by Lawson, however, the idea is to create the appearance of public support for the plan, ultimately enabling G8 leaders meeting in Canada in June to agree to the global tax and then get acceptance from the G20 leaders meeting afterward.

[…]

Lawson also cites support for the tax from billionaires George Soros and Warren Buffet and such media organizations and figures as Le Monde, The Mail, The Guardian and Paul Krugman of the New York Times.

President Obama “supported [the idea] during his campaign,” Lawson says, but the U.S. Treasury Department under Timothy Geithner has been resisting it.

However, Politico reported on December 3 that Pelosi is now pressuring Geithner to accept the global tax proposal. “Geithner was widely seen as opposing such a levy when it was proposed by Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, at a meeting of G-20 finance ministers last month in Scotland,” the publication reported. But after a telephone conversation, “Pelosi told colleagues that the secretary indicated he was more open to some such fee than had been reported,” it added.

Some elements of the Lawson plan that are designed to secure passage of the legislation seem modeled on the 1999 “Battle in Seattle,” when 5,000 activists marched against the idea of global free markets, producing confrontations with police trying to keep order on the occasion of a meeting of the World Trade Organization. Lawson suggests “two or three global events” and “days of action” where “activists climb up banks” in order to pressure officials to adopt the global tax.

— Hat tip: JD

[Return to headlines]

40 Congressmen Call on Special Ops Commander to Dismiss Case Brought Against Navy Seals Over Alleged Punching of Terrorist

(CNSNews.com) — Forty members of Congress are calling on the military commander who ordered the court martial of three Navy SEALs over the alleged punching of a terrorist to dismiss the charges.

The letter, circulated by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), was sent Thursday to Army Major Gen. Charles T. Cleveland, commander of Special Operation Command Central. Gen. Cleveland ordered the prosecution of the three SEALs.

“In our opinion, prosecutorial discretion should have been exercised,” the 40 congressmen said. “Failing that, we respectfully and strongly urge you to exercise your leadership authority, stop the impending court martial and exonerate these men.”

— Hat tip: JD

[Return to headlines]

American Airlines’ Talks With 3 Unions Stuck in Holding Pattern

Legally, there’ll be no impasse in American Airlines Inc.’s labor talks until the National Mediation Board decides there’s an impasse.

But practically speaking, the talks with American’s three major unions are at a virtual stalemate.

•More than three years after the airline and the Allied Pilots Association began negotiations, the two sides have made little substantive progress. Their last talks, overseen by a federal mediator, were in September.

•American and the Transport Workers Union, which started contract talks in November 2007, have reached agreements for none of the union’s work groups.

•The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which began its negotiations in June 2008, put up picket lines at airports in November and conducted a simulated strike to prod the Fort Worth-based airline. The union is talking strike next year, even though no union can walk out until the mediation board says it can.

And it appears that the board is in no rush to declare an impasse and release the parties from mediation, an action that would set the clock ticking for a potential work action in 30 days.

Bill Haug, secretary-treasurer of the Allied Pilots Association, told members last month that the National Mediation Board has put the union’s negotiations “on ice.” Haug predicted that his union will not be released from mediation for at least a year.

Union president Lloyd Hill said the freeze probably applies to the entire airline industry and no union in particular.

Hill and the union’s negotiating team met mediation board members several months ago. The federal officials brought up “the economic turmoil they perceive in the airline industry, the overall economic cycle and the fact American Airlines has three groups in … mediation,” Hill said.

“And they made a broad-brush comment that you can probably expect that nobody near term is going to get released [from mediation],” he said.

Careful path

The Railway Labor Act, which governs airline labor relations, sets out a careful path to agreements or strikes. The National Mediation Board must first appoint a mediator, who works with the airline and union to try to reach a deal.

If the mediator concludes that the talks have come to an impasse, the board will proffer binding arbitration to both parties. If either side turns down arbitration, the board releases them from mediation and starts a 30-day clock.

After that cooling-off period ends, either side can legally engage in “self help,” such as an imposed contract or a strike.

The existing union contracts became amendable (airline contracts never expire) on May 1, 2008. A combination of events has brought about the current stalemate:

•American’s unions made massive concessions in 2003 to keep the airline out of bankruptcy, in hurried deals negotiated in less than two months. Average salaries remain far below their pre-2003 levels. Employees want as much money back as possible.

•American, which briefly enjoyed a cost advantage over some major carriers, saw those rivals — Delta Air Lines Inc., United Airlines Inc., Northwest Airlines Inc. and US Airways Inc. — go into bankruptcy court and reduce their employee costs. American wants at least parity with those competitors.

•Industry’s profits went into free fall in 2008 as fuel costs soared. Although energy prices moderated, the economy then went into the tank in late 2008. Traffic dropped precipitously, particularly among the high-paying, highly profitable business travelers.

The International Air Transport Association says the industry worldwide lost $16.8 billion in 2008 and will lose $11 billion in 2009 and $3.8 billion in 2010.

Jeff Brundage, American’s top negotiator as senior vice president of human resources, said the spate of bankruptcies created an “unusual situation” in the airline industry.

Typically, other airlines should have higher labor costs because they signed contracts after American’s 2003 contracts, he said. But American’s rivals obtained even deeper concessions because of their bankruptcies.

“It has left American in a position where we have the highest block-hour costs and some of the absolutely highest wages in the industry,” he said. As a result, American is bargaining for increased productivity to cut its costs.

“These are tough conversations, hard conversations in light of the situation over the past decade,” Brundage said.

Stock acrimony

Compounding employee unhappiness has been the annual stock awards made to close to 1,000 American executives, managers and “key employees.”

While the carrier defends the stock awards as part of the variable compensation plans for top people, the bonuses under the “performance unit plan” have become a continuing rallying cry for union leaders and their members.

A common complaint: Employees’ sacrifices are paying for executives’ stock.

“They’ve taken a quarter-billion dollars just in PUP bonuses alone,” Hill said. “That doesn’t even talk about their stock appreciation rights or base compensation or the many other forms of compensation. … The employees want to participate at the same level that management is.”

If the unions push now to be released from mediation, they face the prospect of trying to make their case when American is bleeding money.

American has been particularly hard hit by the industry downturn. It has lost more than $3 billion since the start of 2008 and more than $10 billion since 2001.

In the past eight years, It has been profitable in only two of the last eight years — 2006 and 2007. Analysts expect the carrier to lose more than $200 million in 2010.

Flight attendants union president Laura Glading, who won her office last year on a “restore and more” platform, acknowledged the tough times now but said the airline has never found a good time to reward rank-and-file employees.

“It’s always something. I’ve been with American for almost 32 years, and there’s a transition plan; an expansion plan; there are low-cost carriers; it’s the economy. There’s always something,” she said. “The company never has the money to pay the flight attendants.

“You can’t bargain a cycle,” she said. “You can’t predict the cycles. Right now, we’re in a down economic cycle. At some point, we’re going to be in an up economic cycle.”

The transport workers’ international vice president John Conley, who as director of the union’s air transport division is responsible for its side of the table, said it’s probably not time to ask the National Mediation Board to declare an impasse in the TWU talks.

With negotiations scheduled into next year and four agreements with American Eagle employees also in discussions, “we have a huge oar in the water, a huge stake,” he said. “I don’t think we’re quite at that point yet.”

Brundage said it’s premature to talk about asking the mediation board to declare an impasse and release the airline and unions from mediation.

“The standard for release is for the board to come to the conclusion that further mediatory efforts are unlikely to produce a result,” he said.

“We have a significant number of open items in each of our negotiations. We are making progress on all those items,” he said. “I think it’s inappropriate to even speculate on that at this point because we’re doing what the law requires on both sides.”

— Hat tip: Lurker from Tulsa

[Return to headlines]

Homegrown Terror on the Rise in 2009

The five young Americans accused last week of traveling from Washington to Pakistan to wage jihad cap what appears to be a record year for homegrown terror plots, exposing a dangerous trend that experts say poses the biggest challenge America’s security officials have ever faced.

Not including the Pakistan case, the Rand Corporation says that of the nearly 30 homegrown terror plots uncovered in the U.S. since Sept. 11, 2001, 10 surfaced in this year alone, including two actual attacks — in Little Rock, Ark. and Fort Hood, Texas.

SLIDESHOW: 2009 Homegrown Terror Suspects

That puts “the level of activity in 2009 much higher than that of previous years,” Rand Senior Adviser Brian Jenkins told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last month.

Click here to read Jenkins’ full testimony.

“There’s definitely a rise in jihad recruits and volunteers in the United States, whether they’re concerning plots here in the U.S. or whether they involve material support to terror plots overseas,” says counterterrorism analyst Steve Emerson, author of “American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us.”

Danny Coulson, former deputy assistant director of the FBI, agrees.

“I ran the entire terrorism program for the FBI for a period of time, and just from what you see in the newspaper there have been more American Islamic extremists terrorists arrested than years in the past,” Coulson told FoxNews.com.

A major concern, Coulson says, is that the majority of the suspects in the 2009 cases have no direct links to major terror organizations.

“They’re just homegrown terrorists who sympathize with the same Islamic extremist philosophy, and although they’re not connected by order or by organization, they’re connected by philosophy and religion,” he said.

The smaller cells tend to be less powerful than a central terrorist organization like Al Qaeda, but they are harder to detect, Emerson says.

“When the group of conspirators are small it’s much more difficult for the FBI to penetrate…. The larger the group, the greater the chances the FBI can infiltrate,” he said. “So I think the FBI has a big challenge on its hands, probably the biggest challenge it’s ever faced.”

Scott Stewart, vice president of tactictal intelligence for the global intelligence company Stratfor, says the FBI’s increased ability to infiltrate larger foreign-born plots has actually contributed to the spike in domestic terrorism.

“On 9/11 we had what we call an Al Qaeda all-star attack, where all the operatives had been dispatched from the core,” Stewart told FoxNews.com.

“But then, after the U.S. started taking them down, they really lost the ability to do that kind of operation, and so they’re regressing to the grassroots-type attacks, sometimes with an operational leader that was trained by them in the camps,” he said.

According to Rand, U.S. policy decisions are another contributing factor.

“American foreign policy should not be determined by a handful of shooters and would-be bombers, but we must accept the fact that what America does in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Pakistan may provoke terrorism in the United States,” Jenkins said in his testimony. “Wars are no longer confined geographically.”

Emerson says it’s not the location of the wars, but the way they are perceived.

“I can tell you that the one common denominator in almost all of the cases are the views held by the jihadists that we’ve arrested or identified in terms of their believing that there’s a war against Islam,” he said.

In the case of four ex-convicts accused this year of trying to blow up two New York City synagogues and attack military aircraft, at least two of the men are believed to have adopted these beliefs while in prison.

Frank Cilluffo, director of the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute, says American prisons have become a breeding ground for this kind of radicalization.

“Just as young people may become radicalized by ‘cut-and-paste’ versions of the Koran via the Internet, new inmates may gain the same distorted understanding of the faith from gang leaders or other influential inmates,” he said.

The Internet and those “cut-and-paste” versions of the Koran are the other major factor, he says, in matching the long-held intent for these attacks with the capability to organize them.

“The Internet is very significant here, for those who turn to, say, Google for their facts. There’s a lot of violent narrative out there … it has grown exponentially and continues to grow exponentially,” he said.

“The killer ‘application’ of the Internet is the people,” he added. “Affirmation from like-minded people around the world — it plays that uniting kind of role.”

Cilluffo said that the key to stopping homegrown radicalism is the actual defeat of Al Qaeda, plus a powerful counternarrative aimed at defeating the terrorist organization’s brand.

“Al Qaeda rose to prominence through a story that explains history, justifies violence, and promises victory,” he wrote in an April report. “What’s needed … is a global rethink about how the other side of the story — the side of the often Muslim victims — gets told.”

The answer, he says, is to tell the victims’ stories “compellingly and exhaustively.”

“That narrative could tap online social networks, creating a Facebook of the bereaved that crosses borders and cultures. A series of public service announcements, timed after attacks, could detail the innocent lives snuffed out by Al Qaeda,” he said.

“Giving its victims a chance to make their stories heard as well will cast a harsh light on Al Qaeda’s actions, helping delegitimize and deglamorize the terrorist narrative. End of story.”

— Hat tip: Paul Green

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Sorry Barack, But You’re in the Same Boat as US Now

America boasts of its uniqueness, but its belief that it is exempt from breeding terrorists is flawed

Once a suicide bomber has killed himself and everyone unlucky enough to be in his vicinity, ideologues rush to claim him like rival firms of undertakers fighting over a corpse. If he has posted a video raging about the Iraq war then Bush, Blair and the neo-cons are the “root cause” of the mass murder. If his university teachers had stood back while Islamists radicalised the campus, then liberals who cannot tell their friends from their enemies are to blame.

Not until I read the New York Times last week, however, did I learn that jihadism could be explained away as a jolly jape. Pakistani police, who must cope with the equivalent of a 7/7 massacre virtually every week, had arrested five American citizens, who came from Washington DC and its Virginia suburbs. The Pakistanis claimed that they had exchanged emails written in code for months with a recruiter for the Pakistani Taliban, and were heading for an al-Qaida stronghold. The suspects left behind a video, which Washington police said had jihadist overtones and which a local Muslim leader described as a “disturbing farewell statement”.

Surveying the evidence, the New York Times wondered, “whether the men acted on a lark or were recruited as part of a larger militant outfit”. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, of course, but “a lark”? Maybe Billy Bunter has taken over the newspaper’s foreign desk. More probably, American journalists still believe that radical Islam is an ideology that cannot infect their fellow citizens. If so, they are not alone in their delusion.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Muslim Women Celebrated in New Calendar

A Grade 3 teacher with a passion for kickboxing is one of 13 Edmontonians featured in a new calendar celebrating local Muslim women.

Noreen Bashir will be seen in the calendar wearing boxing gloves and a sports hijab at the gym where she works out almost everyday. The martial arts champion first took up the sport as a way to exercise while recovering from a car accident.

“I’ve … never been part of any kind of project like that before especially in our community and I’m actually very proud to represent the Muslim women of Edmonton,” said Bashir.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Basque Countries: Lopez Takes Oath Without Religious Symbols

(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MAY 7 — The new president of the Basque government, socialist Patxi Lopez, today took the oath as Lehendakari (president) in the Council House of Guernica in the Basque Countries, without references to God and without the traditional Catholic symbols. Surrounded by supporters, unionists and, for the first time, associations of terrorism victims, Patxi Lopez took the oath on a copy of the Constitution and a copy of the Basque Statute of Autonomy, replacing the traditional bible in Basque language from 1856 and the crucifix used until now during ceremonies. The socialist, the first non-nationalist Lehendakari for 30 years, avoided the oath used normally by nationalist Basque presidents: “Humbly before God, my feet on Basque ground, under the shade of the Guernica Oak, before you, representatives of the Basque people, I swear to carry out my functions faithfully”, replacing it instead with a promise “before you, representatives of Basque citizenship and before our ancestors”. The traditional oath used by the Lehendakari had been inherited from the founder of the Basque Nationalist Party, Sabino Arana, and was used for the first time in October 1936 during the Spanish Civil War by José Antonio de Aguirre. Vice Premier Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega and Vice President Manuel Chavez were present for the central government at the ceremony. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Denmark Terror Plot Suspect: I’m a Pacifist

One of the accused in the case involving a plot to blow up Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten says he’s a pacifist

Tahawwur Rana is defending himself against the accusation he took part in planning to blow up the newspaper that published the infamous Mohammed cartoons by saying he only deals in non-violent actions, reports public broadcaster DR.

Rana, who is accused of financing and planning an attack on the paper, has told the police he believes in the late Mahatma Ghandi’s methods.

This stands in sharp contrast to the covert recordings the US police took of Rana and another man accused in the case, David Headley. In those, Rana praises a Pakistani terror organisation and says they ought to have details of their work.

Rana also reveals in those recordings that he knew about the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. He is due in court in Chicago today to try to be released on bail.

In the last week, it has emerged that a third person will be charged in the case. Abdur Rehamna Hashim, a retired major in Pakistan’s army, is suspected of coordinating the surveillance of Jyllands-Posten.

— Hat tip: TB

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Greece: Decree Calls for Heavy Sentences on Violence Against Animals

(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 23 — The Greek Minister for Agricultural Development, Sotiris Hatzigakis, announced the adoption of a bill that calls for heavy sentences for those who are responsible for acts of violence against animals. The measure, a statement from the ministry reads, will be applied to those who maltreat strays and poison animals, as well as those who maltreat circus animals. Some of the bill’s provisions call for the creation of special centres for temporary shelter and vaccinations for stray dogs and cats. Hatzigakis has already held meetings with representatives from over 200 animal rights associations. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Irish Victims of Child Abuse Angry at Vatican Response — Feature

Dublin — Pope Benedict’s “distress” at a report highly critical of the Irish Catholic Church’s handling of cases involving child sex abuse by priests was met with scepticism from victims of abuse in Ireland. The survivors support group One in Four has described the Papal response as “disingenuous and inadequate.”

The Pope’s statement last Friday followed talks between the pontiff and top Irish clerics summoned to Rome to discuss the scandal over how child sexual abuse complaints were dealt with by the authorities from 1975 to 2004.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Israel Fury at UK Attempt to Arrest Tzipi Livni

Israel has reacted angrily to the issuing by a British court of an arrest warrant for the former Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni.

The warrant, granted by a London court on Saturday, was revoked on Monday when it was found Ms Livni was not visiting the UK.

Ms Livni was foreign minister during Israel’s Gaza assault last winter.

It is the first time a UK court has issued a warrant for the arrest of a former Israeli minister.

Ms Livni said the court had been “abused” by the Palestinian plaintiffs who requested the warrant.

“What needs to be put on trial here is the abuse of the British legal system,” she told the BBC.

“This is not a suit against Tzipi Livni, this is not a law suit against Israel. This is a lawsuit against any democracy that fights terror.”

She stood by her decisions during the three-week assault Gaza offensive which began in December last year, she said.

Israel’s foreign ministry summoned the UK’s ambassador to Israel to deliver a rebuke over the warrant.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the situation was “an absurdity”.

“We will not accept a situation in which [former Israeli Prime Minister] Ehud Olmert, [Defence Minister] Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni will be summoned to the defendants’ chair,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement.

“We will not agree to have Israel Defence Force soldiers, who defended the citizens of Israel bravely and ethically against a cruel and criminal enemy, be recognised as war criminals. We completely reject this absurdity taking place in Britain,” he said.

Pro-Palestinian campaigners have tried several times to have Israeli officials arrested under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

‘Cynical act’

This allows domestic courts in countries around the world to try war crimes suspects, even if the crime took place outside the country and the suspect is not a citizen.

Israel denies claims by human rights groups and the UN investigator Richard Goldstone that its forces committed war crimes during the operation, which it said was aimed at ending Palestinian rocket fire at its southern towns.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has also been accused of committing war crimes during the conflict.

Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday: “Israel rejects the cynical act taken in a British court,” against Ms Livni, now the head of the opposition Kadima party, “at the initiative of extreme elements”.

It called on the British government to “act against the exploitation of the British legal system against Israel”.

Addressing a conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Ms Livni did not refer specifically to the arrest attempt.

But she said: “Israel must do what is right for Israel, regardless of judgements, statements and arrest warrants. It’s the leadership’s duty, and I would repeat each and every decision,” Israeli media reported.

‘Strategic partner’

Israel says it fully complies with international law, which it says it interprets in line with other Western countries such as the US and UK.

On Monday Ms Livni’s office denied the reports that a warrant had been issued and that she had cancelled plans to visit the UK because of fears of arrest.

It said a planned trip had been cancelled two weeks earlier because of scheduling problems.

The British foreign office said it was “urgently looking into the implications of the case”.

“The UK is determined to do all it can to promote peace in the Middle East, and to be a strategic partner of Israel,” it said in a statement. “To do this, Israel’s leaders need to be able to come to the UK for talks with the British government.”

Palestinians and human rights groups say more than 1,400 people were killed during Israel’s Cast Lead operation between 27 December 2008 and 16 January 2009, more than half of them civilians.

Israel puts the number of deaths at 1,166 — fewer than 300 of them civilians. Three Israeli civilians and 10 Israeli soldiers were also killed.

The BBC’s Tim Franks says that, privately, senior Israeli figures are warning of what they see as an increasing anti-Israeli bent in the British establishment.

In turn, our correspondent adds, there is clearly concern among British officials that should further arrest warrants be issued, relations with Israel could be damaged.

— Hat tip: 4symbols

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Italy: Police Find More Art Hidden by Tanzi

Most works were in ex-Parmalat chief’s basement

(ANSA) — Parma, December 11 — Police on Friday said they had found another 16 works of art believed to belong to disgraced Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi which were allegedly hidden from creditors of the dairy multinational.

Last week police seized 19 paintings and drawings, including works by Van Gogh and Monet, which Tanzi is believed to have stashed with friends and relatives just before Parmalat collapsed at the end of 2003 in Europe’s biggest case of corporate fraud.

“The success of last week’s operation and reports that many other works were in circulation broke down a wall of silence and a flood of information came in on where the art could be,” Parma prosecutor Gerardo Laguardia said in a press conference on Friday.

“Anyone who has any information or is in possession of similar Tanzi assets should come forward before we find about them,” he added.

Friday’s discovery included paintings by such artists as Bocconi, Segantini, Kandinsky and Chagall.

Police began looking for the hidden art work, said to be worth over 100 million euros, after an investigative TV news program on national broadcaster RAI reported on November 29 that it had discovered that negotiations were in the final stages for the sale of Tanzi’s trove of art to an anonymous buyer, believed to be a Russian billionaire.

The former Parmalat boss immediately denied any knowledge of the collection, some of which was found in the home of his son-in-law Stefano Strini, but has since refused to make any statements.

Strini is said to be under investigation for attempting to arrange the illegal sale, which also included paintings by Picasso, Manet, Gauguin and Ligabue and drawings by Degas, Grosz and Modigliani. Twelve of the 16 works found on Friday were hidden in the basement of Tanzi’s villa just outside Parma, while the others were in the possession of people close to the disgraced Parmalat founder.

Tanzi is currently appealing a 10-year sentence handed down a year ago by a court in Milan for market rigging, while a second trial continues here where he stands accused of fraudulent bankruptcy, accounting fraud, issuing false financial statements and criminal conspiracy. Parmalat was declared bankrupt in December 2003 after it emerged that four billion euros it supposedly held in an offshore Bank of America account did not in fact exist.

The case escalated, eventually leading to Parmalat’s collapse amid debts of some 14.5 billion euros and a fraud scandal which rocked the Italian financial world.

Parmalat has since been put back on its feet by corporate turnaround expert Enrico Bondi who, first as government-appointed administrator and later as official CEO, shed the group’s non-core activities, cut foreign activities and reduced staff.

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Italy: Premier Says Judiciary ‘Political’

President voices concern over Berlusconi’s attack

(ANSA) — Rome, December 10 — Premier Silvio Berlusconi used a foreign forum on Thursday to renew his attacks against Italian magistrates, saying they have turned into a political force which has taken over parliamentary sovereignty.

Addressing the European People’s Party convention in Bonn, the premier said the country’s judiciary, including the Constitutional Court, has become a political party which rejects legislation approved by Parliament.

“A strange thing is happening in Italy which we’ll have to deal with: according to the Constitution, sovereignty belongs to the voters and Parliament approves laws. But if the ‘leftist magistrates’ party’ doesn’t like these laws, it asks the 15 members of the Constitutional Court — 11 of whom are leftists — to abrogate them”.

The premier told the assembly, which included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, that his People of Freedom (PdL) party “was working to remedy the situation through a Constitutional reform”.

He particularly singled out the Constitutional Court, saying that it had turned “into a political organ”, attributing the trend to the appointments made by the last three Italian presidents, whom he claimed were all “leftists’.

“Consequently, sovereignty in Italy no longer belongs to Parliament but to the magistrates’ party,” said the premier who has stepped up his attacks since the Constitutional Court in October struck down a controversial immunity law which shielded him from several trials while in office.

The court argued that the Berlusconi government should have used a special Constitutional law to give the premier immunity.

The so-called Alfano law, despite being modified compared to a previous version quashed in 2004, was also overturned because it denied the fundamental principle that everyone is equal before the law, the court said.

“After the Alfano law was struck down…the prosecutors resumed their manhunt,” said the premier, referring to two trials which have resumed in Milan.

Berlusconi is charged by prosecutors with bribing English lawyer David Mills — sentenced to four and a half years — to perjure himself in two other trials and for tax fraud in the sale of film rights by his TV group Mediaset. The premier said that “despite the hundreds of proceedings and thousands of hearings” which ensured him a “world record” for involvement in trials he had always been cleared.

Berlusconi, who has been in power for almost eight of the last 15 years, has been convicted in several corruption cases relating to his business empire but the sentences have always been overturned on appeal or annulled by a new shortened statute of limitations.

He has always denied wrongdoing, insisting he is the victim of a politically motivated judiciary.

“Fortunately, only a portion of judges side with the left and judges sitting in second and third appeal trials (in Italy’s three-tiered judicial system) are fair, similar to those in other countries,” said the premier, accusing the centre left opposition of trying to “get him” through the judiciary.

“Allow me to talk about my country for a moment: Italy is the third ranking economy in Europe, the government has a solid and united majority, a hard-working government and a super premier …someone who had a 60% popularity rating after solving the Naples garbage problem and a 68% popularity rating after (dealing with) the quake in L’Aquila”.

Referring to a spate of scandals over his private life, Berlusconi said the centre-left opposition had whipped these up in a bid to dent his appeal.

“Instead, these attempts have further strengthened me because people say to themselves: mamma mia, who else would be as strong and tough as he is, who else would have Berlusconi’s balls?” Reactions in Italy against the speech were strong and immediate, with President Giorgio Napolitano voicing concern about “the violent attack against the institutions”.

A statement released by Napolitano said the president was “deeply saddened and worried” over Berlusconi’s speech, and called for “a spirit of cooperation” among political parties and the judiciary. House Speaker Gianfranco Fini, who though one of the founders of the PdL has distanced himself from Berlusconi with his recent liberal-minded stances, also took issue with the speech.

Fini told reporters in Rome he did not “share” the premier’s statements and urged him “not to generate confusion about what is taking place in Italy and the government’s real intentions” while abroad.

Berlusconi’s reply to both was immediate and brief: “I’m fed up by the hypocrisy, I’ve got nothing to clear up”.

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Netherlands: Korans for the Afghans

From Dutch: The Netherlands is donating 200 korans to the Afghan army.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Spain: Military Airbus Maiden Flight, 2 Years Behind Schedule

(ANSAmed) — MADRID — The A400M military transport plane has carried out its maiden flight today in Seville, with almost two years of delay to the schedule. The four-engined plane took off at 10:15am from the San Pablo aerodrome, where the Spanish plant Airbus EADS Company is based, in front of an audience of 2,500 people invited from all over the world, reports the company. These included King Juan Carlos and authorities from the seven partner countries of the project: Germany, Spain, France, UK, Turkey, Belgium and Luxembourg, who will analyse the consequences of the delays to the development of the A400M. The airplane will allow helicopters and combat aircraft to refuel in flight and to quickly transport large cargos over long distances. It has a cargo capacity of 37 tonnes, is 45.1 metres long and 14.7 metres high. Its range can reach 6,389km with a cargo weighing 20 tonnes. 184 A400M airbuses have been ordered so far from Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Spain, Turkey and the UK. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Spain: First Gay Victim of Francoism Repression Compensated

(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MAY 5 — In 1976, aged 17, Antonio Ruiz was arrested and detained for 97 days because he was homosexual, in line with the Francoism law on social danger and rehabilitation. Today Ruiz has become the first gay Spanish citizen to receive compensation from the government for repression suffered during Francisco Franco’s dictatorship on the grounds of his sexual orientation, in line with an order agreed by the high authority for public pensions as reported by Spanish media sources. Antonio Ruiz is to receive damages for 4,000 euros, but in a statement made to El Pais, he stressed the symbolic value of the order: “we have fought hard to have the repression suffered recognised, which has always been a taboo topic,” he observed, “and we managed it. Recognition is written black on white, in my hands. This is a great triumph.” Ruiz is president of the association of former social prisoners, after being reported to the authorities by his neighbour, a nun, in 1976. Like many other homosexuals sent to prison, Ruiz was forced to undergo what was known as a rehabilitation project in the prison of Badajoz, in Extremadura, which consisted of electric shocks and study of images of men and women: “when images of men appeared you got an electric shock,” Ruiz recalled. Since 2004, the association of former social prisoners began a battle to get recognition of the retaliation experienced during the dictatorship. Together with the one filed by Antonio Ruiz, there are more than 185 pending requests for compensation which have been filed by homosexuals. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Spain: Islamists Sentenced for Barcelona Plan

(ANSAmed) — MADRID, DECEMBER 15 — Eleven Islamists terrorists were sentenced yesterday for up to 14 years of reclusion by the Audiencia Nacional in Madrid for having planned kamikaze attacks on the Barcelona subway in January 2008. The attack on the subway on the Catalonian capital was foiled thanks to a leak from French secret services, which warned Spanish authorities at the last minute. The head of the cell, which was made up of 9 people from Pakistan and two Indians, the imam Maroof Ahmed Mirza, 40, accused of having planned the attacks, was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison. During the trial there was the testimony of the “protected witness” before the Audiencia Nacional, that of the informer who allowed for the arrest of the Islamist group. The Barcelona cell was connected to Pakistani Taliban militias and to Baitullah Mehsud, the ‘warlord’ who was killed last summer by a US missile.(ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Terrorists Have Had it With the Netherlands

From now on, the threat of a terrorist attack on Dutch soil is only “limited”. Over the past two years the threat was “substantial”, but Muslim extremists prefer to seek refuge across the border, an analysis of the Netherlands’ National Anti-Terrorism Co-ordinator published on Tuesday has revealed.

Politicians in The Hague and other potential targets can breathe a sigh of relief. According to the Dutch intelligence agency (AIVD) local networks of radical Muslims such as the notorious Hofstad group were weakened over the past year by internal divisions and a lack of leadership.

The Netherlands is rarely being mentioned in video threats issued by jihadist groups, despite the rise of anti-Islam opposition politician Geert Wilders. His controversial film Fitna caused a lot of commotion last year, but it seems to have gone off the jihadist radar since.

Other conflict zones

The judgment that the Netherlands is no longer a “preferred target” does not imply that the threat as a whole has got smaller, AIVD’s Director of Internal Security Wil van Gemert warns. If anything, the threat has moved elsewhere.

“There are still plenty of radical youths and people who warmly sympathise with the struggle. But we also see that they are more focused on conflict areas abroad. I’m referring to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia. People are talking about travelling to those areas, or are actually there to receive training.”

Earlier this year four men from the Netherlands were arrested and sent back, because they were allegedly on their way to a jihadist training camp in Somalia.

Symbolic moments

The rest of Europe is also no safer, stresses the AIVD and the Netherlands’ National Anti-Terrorism Co-ordinator. There have been terrorist threats in Germany and Denmark in the past year.

In Germany, the threats were connected with the elections, and the debate over the German mission in Afghanistan. “Extremists are particularly sensitive to such symbolic moments,” says terrorism expert Jeffrey Murer from the University of St Andrews in Scotland.

In the Netherlands 2009 has been a relatively quiet year, and Mr Murer stresses that the increasingly robust debate here over immigration and integration has played a positive role…

— Hat tip: Steen

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Algeria: Tebessa, Hotspot for Smuggling Into Tunisia

(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, MAY 5 — The Tebessa region, which is a just few kilometres from the Tunisian border and 600km south east of Algiers, is becoming a real junction for smuggling all kinds of products into Tunisia. Although the traffic of petrol and diesel is well known, since it is much cheaper in Algeria, not only into Tunisia but also along the western border with Morocco, the newspaper Liberté reports that the smuggling of goods such as used clothes, medicines and archaeological remains has recently been developing. “Foreigners come here with clear ideas, they know what to look for, they arrive with exact maps of what is under the sand and take the historical remains away,” a teacher told the newspaper. The region of Tebessa has many Roman remains, as does the city which was once ancient Thevest. “If you go for a walk you will find Roman coins and other remains,” the newspaper went on, “some sites are completed abandoned,” although “the authorities are establishing new surveillance measures.” In 2007, the Gendarmes set up a special unit to fight the trafficking of archaeological remains. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Algeria: Hepatitis, 70% Cases Contracted at the Dentist

(ANSAmed) — ALGIERS, MAY 6 — In Algeria, 70% of people affected by Hepatitis B and C have contracted the illness at the dentist, reports the Algerian Association SOS Hepatitis. The association has said the high number of cases is due to “archaic” medical devices, inefficient methods of sterilisation, and a general lack of hygiene. The President of the association, Mohamed Bouallag, was quoted saying, “the health of our population is of top priority, a solution can and must be found”. The high cost of machinery for proper sterilisation of medical instruments has been the primary excuse presented by Algerian dentists. According to official data, 2.5% of the country’s population is affected by Hepatitis B, and 2.7% currently carries Hepatitis C. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Hamas Denies Digging Up Christian Bodies

Threatens to sue over allegations Muslims complain of ‘polluting’ earth

JERUSALEM — The Hamas terrorist organization has strongly denied accusations it dug up the bodies of Christians because they were polluting the earth in the Gaza Strip.

“There is no truth to these claims. We will sue anyone who publishes them,” a spokesman for the office of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh told WND.

The spokesman pointed to a scheduled meeting this month between Hamas officials and local Christian leaders as evidence of dialogue and coexistence with Gaza’s tiny Christian community.

— Hat tip: JD

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Minister Reassures Settlers, Freeze Fictitious

(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, DECEMBER 11 — The 10 month freeze on building activity in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, recently decided on by Premier Benyamin Netanyahu in light of pressure from the Obama administration and Washington’s attempts to resume the peace process with the Palestinians, is in reality a fictitious measure. Maintaining the view was Israeli minister Benny Begin, the ‘falcon’ of the Likud party (rightwing, of Netanyahu) close to the settlement movement. “It has nothing to do with an actual freeze, but just with putting some limits on construction”, Begin admitted during a meeting with the public in Tel Aviv, with the evident intention of reassuring the “settlers”, who were on the point of war when the moratorium was announced. Not only. “During these 10 months, another 10,000 residents will be added to the existing 300,000 that already live” in the settlements of the West Bank, the minister, son of the late historic leader of the Israeli right Menachem Begin and who currently belongs to the closed government council that implemented the moratorium, stated. The fictitious nature of the moratorium was affirmed on the opposing front, and with contrary feelings, by the Palestinians as well (who do not consider the measure sufficient to return to peace negotiations) and Israel’s pacifist organisations like ‘Peace Now’. The measure, in effect, as well as being temporary, does not include the settlements in East Jerusalem (which for the Netanyahu government was annexed definitively by Israel), or the thousands of projects for new homes that have been authorised in the West Bank up until just a few weeks ago, as well as the financing and construction of public buildings. (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Spain: High Court Appeal Against Inquiry Into Gaza Massacre

(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MAY 7 — The Spanish High Court has lodged an appeal against the Audienca Nacional Judge Fernando Andreu’s decision to go ahead with the inquest into the death of 14 civilians in Gaza on July 22, 2002, so said judicial sources quoted today by El Pais. This is the second appeal that the High Court has filed against the inquiry opened by the magistrate into the attack on the Hamas leader Salah Shahadeh, which led to the death of 14 civilians, making reference to the principle of universal jurisdiction which Spain agreed in 2005, which recognises the Audienca Nacional’s power to investigate crimes against humanity, in cases of genocide, torture or terrorism, which are considered indefeasible rights. In the appeal, the High Court asked the Penal Court to revoke Judge Andreu’s order to proceed with the enquiry, without affecting his competence to investigate the circumstances of the incident, maintaining the state of Israel’s priority for jurisdiction. The High Court uses severe language in its discussion of the magistrate’s order, which according to the appeal,”lacks a minimum of systematic rigour” and allows for “an opportunistic interpretation” of the event. In his order, Andreu equated the attack on the Hamas leader with “an attack against the civilian population,” which “was illegitimate in its conception” and which was “a product of a clearly disproportionate or excessive course of action.” (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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Baghdad Bomber Called Syria Before August Attack: Minister

Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad Bolani told parliament on Monday that a suicide bomber who attacked the foreign ministry in August made a phone call to Syria before detonating his payload, an MP said.

“He told us that the security services found the SIM card of the bomber in the attack on the foreign ministry, and that the last number that appeared was a number in Syria,” Shiite MP Abbas al-Bayati told AFP.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Fethullah Gülen: The Neo-Ottoman Dream of Turkish Islam

In just a few decades Gülen, the son of an imam, has generated an Islam-based cultural, religious and economic revival. Backed by PM Erdogan he is disliked by secularist. He preaches dialogue with Christians against atheism and dreams that Turkey can be a key player from the Balkans till Central Asia.

Ankara (AsiaNews) — Atatürk’s secularism and the social order guaranteed by the military appear to be teetering in Turkey today. This is due to the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, backed by a moderate Islamist party, but especially to the fact that despite the secular constitution, religion appears to be taking root in society. This trend in turn is supported by one of the best known and more controversial figures in today’s Turkey, Fethullah Gülen, who is seen a the most important modern Muslim theologian and political scientist today.

Son of an imam, Gülen was born in Erzurum in south-eastern Turkey, in 1938. A great disciple of Said Nursî, a mystic of Kurdish origin who died in 1960, he is in favour of a conservative and orthodox vision of Islam without rejecting modernity which he believes must be addressed.

In the 1970s he organised summer camps in Izmir to teach Islamic principles, setting up the first student or ‘light’ hostels. Still tolerated by the state he began building his first schools, then a university, mass media, groups and associations to breathe life into “modern Turkish Islam” whereby religion and nationalism could be one.

Because of some statements, Turkey’s National Security Council condemned in 1998 for “trying to undermine the country’s secular institutions, concealing his methods behind a democratic and moderate image.” For this reason he has been living in voluntary exile in the United States since he was sentenced in absentia.

From his headquarters in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), he continues to build his empire, which includes a network of more than 300 private (Islamic) schools in Turkey and 200 abroad (from Tanzania to China, Morocco to the Philippines and former Soviet Republics with large Turkic minorities), a bank, various TV stations and newspapers, a 12-language website and many charities, a virtual business empire worth billions of dollars.

The key to his success lies in the work of thousands of members of his movement, who are willing to volunteer their time and energy promote education, especially where there are few institutions and limited economic means. Indeed Gülen’s ideas have attracted intellectuals and diplomats who have become his promoters because they see him as a promoter of peace and inter-faith dialogue.

In the 1950s Gülen’s mentor Said Nursî preached that Muslims should join Christians against atheism, trying to contact Pope Pius XII and Patriarch Athenagoras. Following in Nursî’s footsteps, Fethullah Gülen began promoting inter-faith dialogue in Turkey. Stating that his only goal was to “honestly serve humanity,” he developed ties with all Christian Churches in Turkey, including relations with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I and Armenian Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan. He sought an audience with Pope John Paul II which was held in Rome in 1998, and met the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron.

Officially his movement has about a million followers, including tens of thousands of public sector employees in Turkey who are protected by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (one of Gülen’s best known sympathisers).

In 2006 a Court in Ankara acquitted him from charges of creating an illegal organisation for the purpose of overthrowing Turkey’s secular state and replacing it with one based on the Sharia. But despite that and his large following, he has been criticised by a large number of secularists who believe that underneath a veneer of humanist philosophy, Gülen plans to turn Turkey’s secular state into a theocracy.

Secular Kemalists have compared him to Khomeini and fear that his return to Turkey might turn Ankara into another Tehran. The governments of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are also weary and suspicious of his “Turkish schools promoted by Islamic missionaries.”

At the basis of Gülen’s teachings is the notion that state and religion should be reconnected as they were in Ottoman times and that Turkey should play the role of beacon for the Balkans and the republics in the Caucasus. Through him a “neo-Nur” philosophy is integrated into Turkish, if not pan-Turkic nationalism, which explains his success among ethnically related Turkic peoples in post-Soviet Central Asia.

Through hundreds of private schools operating in the Central Asian republics the Gülen movement is giving Turkey a new strategically significant cultural and economic role and leading communities who lost their own identity with the fall of Communism back to their cultural and religious roots in Turkish culture and Islam.

Following this approach Turksoy, an “International Organisation for Development of Turkic Culture and Art”, was set up in Ankara in 1993. Created by the Turkish Ministry of Culture its goal is to sponsor and coordinate initiatives within the “Turkic world.” It came into existence after the culture ministers of Turkey, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkish Republic of Cyprus as well as the autonomous Russian republics of Tatarstan and Bašqortostan signed an agreement of cultural cooperation.

According to the agreement, the new organisation was established as a function of new emerging international relations in order to back cultural restructuring in the Trans-Caucasus region and around the world. More specifically, Turksoy’s goals are: to establish friendly relations among Turkish-speaking peoples and nations; explore, disclose, develop, and protect the common Turkic culture, language, history, art, customs, and traditions as well as pass them down to future generations and let them live forever; and develop an environment that allows Turkic peoples to use a shared alphabet and language.

Given Turkey’s predicament today, the country appears even more divided between secularism and political Islam, torn between a desire to turn towards Europe and the dream of becoming a pan-Turkic regional power.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Politiken Exclusive: Ahmadinejad Interview

In an exclusive interview with Politiken, President Ahmadinejad of Iran says: “Those who believe that nuclear weapons provide political strength are mentally deranged.” — Foto: IRIB

Iran will be using the Climate Summit to further its argument for its nuclear programme, according to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his first exclusive interview with a Danish newspaper since he came to power.

“I believe that nuclear energy is a good replacement for fossil fuel, just as other forms of sustainable energy like the sun and wind are too,” says Ahmadinejad in an interview in the heart of his presidential palace in Teheran.

“This is not just about Iran. It is good for all countries to have access to this technology,” he says.

His statements come at a time when the clerics in Iran have not yet been able to stop the violent domestic tensions that followed the controversial re-election as president of the strongly religious Ahmadinejad.

They also come at a time when the international community is threatening Iran with new sanctions in an increasingly dramatic international power game over the Iranian nuclear programme that Western intelligence agencies believe will be used to produce nuclear weapons.

Iran has hitherto rejected the claim, and in his interview with Politiken, Ahmadinejad further rejects the notion.

“We don’t need nuclear bombs,” he says and denies that Iran could increase its security by having nuclear weapons at its disposal — irrespective of the fact that it is surrounded by international powder kegs such as Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey.

“Those who believe that nuclear weapons provide political strength are mentally deranged,” Ahmadinejad retorts with a string of rhetorical questions.

“Did nuclear weapons save the Soviet Union? No. Have nuclear weapons been able to secure the United States stability in Iraq and Afghanistan? Have nuclear weapons been able to secure peace for the Zionist regime in Gaza? No. They have become useless weapons in our modern age,” President Ahmadinejad says.

Ahmadinejad will be arriving in Copenhagen with his delegation tomorrow and will be presenting two messages to the Climate Summit: That nuclear programmes like Iran’s can help reduce CO2 emissions, and that the rich countries must shoulder a great responsibility in mitigating climate change.

“75 percent of pollution comes from a small group of countries who are now going to have to find themselves under international regulation. They must take the responsibility for creating a healthy climate in the world,” Ahmadinejad says.

Up to the Climate Summit, the Iranian president has had contacts with the leaders of the main developing nations such as Brazil’s President Lula and Venezuela’s fiery Hugo Chavez, both of whom will be coming to Copenhagen to fight the cause of the developing nations.

Several days ago, the American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged South American leaders to ‘think twice’ before becoming too attached to the Iranian government, which she says supports and furthers international terrorism.

Ahmadinejad shakes his head.

“The United States must learn to live within its own borders. Who has actually said that the United States should rule the whole world?”

— Hat tip: TB

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Saudi Business Woman Closes Firm Over Male Boss Rule

(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, MAY 4 — A prominent Saudi businesswoman has announced she is shutting her IT firm in protest at a new government rule that requires her to appoint a male director general, it was reported today. A circular sent to all businesses in the country two months ago from the undersecretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry made it a mandatory requirement for every Saudi company owned by a woman to appoint a male director-general. Aliya Banaja, who owns 2 The Point, has been at the forefront of a campaign to get Hossan Aqeel’s dictate overturned, according to UAE daily Gulf News. Banaja has now said she will close her company, which is the first Saudi IT firm to be run and staffed exclusively by women, in protest and has urged other businesswomen to follow suit. In an interview with Al Watan Arabic daily printed today she said her decision would take effect immediately. “It is not possible for businesswomen to carry out their business activities together with a male commercial agent. We have spoken a lot about this difficult problem. For five years, we have been waiting for the decision taken by the Council of Ministers revoking the requirement to be implemented. But nothing has happened,” she said. Banaja added that she had told other leading business women of her decision, but it was not reported how many other firms could be affected. However, figures collated by the Khadeeja Bint Khowailed Centre, which is part of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, estimates that there are around 20,000 companies run by women. The report did not say how many men and women are employed at these firms but estimated that the firms had a total capital investment of more than SR60bn (over USD 15 billion). (ANSAmed).

— Hat tip: Insubria

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U.S. To Test Missile Shield vs. Iran-Style Strike

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The United States will test its core missile defenses for the first time in January against a simulated long-range Iranian attack, a top Pentagon official said on Monday, amid tensions with Tehran.

Speaking at the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington, Army Lieutenant General Patrick O’Reilly, the head of the Missile Defense Agency, said the roughly $150 million test was a departure from the more standard scenario of a North Korean attack.

It also would be more difficult testing the U.S. Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system against a missile that would be faster and more direct as it races toward the United States than a simulated strike from North Korea.

“Previously, we have been testing the GMD system against a North Korean-type scenario,” O’Reilly said.

“This next test …. is more of a head-on shot like you would use defending against an Iranian shot into the United States. So that’s the first time that we’re now testing in a different scenario.”

— Hat tip: Esther

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US Senators Rebuke Turkey for Worsening Israeli Ties

A bi-partisan group of 10 senators in the 100-member U.S. Senate have criticized Turkey for deteriorating its ties with Israel. They said that Ankara’s recent move to expel the Israeli air force from planned military exercises in Turkish airspace was disappointing.

“Turkey’s exclusion of Israel from the exercise, Anatolian Eagle, which was also to include U.S. and NATO forces, was both unexpected and disappointing,” the senators said in a letter sent to the Turkish Embassy in Washington.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Russia Coming to Iran’s Defense

Signals opposition to increased sanctions

As the United Nations prepares to consider increased sanctions against Iran due to its refusal to halt its nuclear enrichment program, Russia has sent signals that it may take Iran’s side against sanctions as the two nations expand energy cooperation, including nuclear development, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

— Hat tip: JD

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Government Does Nothing to Stop Violence Against Pakistan’s Minorities

This is the conclusion reached by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom in its 2009 report. Taliban leader promises total war against the government, an “enemy of Muslims”. Catholic cabinet minister stresses his government’s commitment in favour of minorities and reiterates that religious freedom is protected under the constitution. A petition campaign is undertaken in Karachi against Swat extremists.

Islamabad (AsiaNews) — Violence against religious minorities is commonplace in Pakistan, one of 13 countries named by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom where the government condones or supports such behaviour.

This year “has seen the largely unchecked growth in the power and reach of religiously-motivated extremist groups whose members are engaged in violence in Pakistan and abroad, with Pakistani authorities ceding effective control to armed insurgents espousing a radical Islam ideology,” the 2009 report stated. Recent events in the Swat Valley confirm the situation.

Calling the Pakistani government and army “enemies of Muslims”, the local Taliban vowed on Monday to march forward till death. “Either we’ll be martyred or we’ll march forward,” Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said, who added that elements in the military and the government were trying to sabotage the peace process to please the United States.

Maulana Abdul Aziz, former imam of the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque), said that whatever situation has emerged in the troubled areas of Swat was a reaction of a military operation conducted on the mosque in 2007 when 86 people officially died.

In the meantime Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti reiterated his government’s commitment to ensure the safety of minorities in the country. “The present government believes in the principles of tolerance, human equality and peaceful co-existence,” the minister said.

Bhatti, a Catholic, slammed demands by the Taliban that non-Muslims pay the Jizia, or poll tax, saying that religious minorities are not conquered native communities but sons of the same soil and rightful citizens of Pakistan.

Explaining that the situation would improve the minister said that Article 20 of the Constitution of Pakistan guarantees that “every citizen shall have the right to profess, practise and propagate his religion” without discrimination.

Last Saturday activists and groups from civil society groups launched a petition campaign in Karachi, collecting signatures against the Taliban and the imposition of Sharia in the Swat valley.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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India: Girl Shot Dead in Suspected Honor Killing in Khatozi

In Khatozi, India a 20-year old girl was allegedly shot dead by her brother because she eloped with a boy from a different community.

The killing is a suspected honor killing.

In a fit of rage, the girl, Rahila, was shot dead by her brother, Wasim, when she returned home, police said.

— Hat tip: Esther

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India: “We Can Celebrate, But With No Illusions”

Ramachandra Guha talks to Valeria Fraschetti

“This general election is an event that deserves to be celebrated not only in India but all over the world.” The famous Indian historian Ramachandra Guha celebrates the largest democracy in the world, which will be voting for a new Parliament until May 13th. Guha, the author of “India after Gandhi” and a columnist for various newspapers, observes, however, that Indian politics are still influenced by two evils: misgovernment and the imbalance between regional and national interests. In this interview, among other things, he explains the weaknesses of the two great national political parties, the Congress Party and the BJP.

In the past some expressed doubts about the capacity of a diverse country such as India, to hold on to its democratic system. Yet Indians have been choosing their representatives regularly for more than half a century. How healthy is Indian democracy?

This general election is an event that deserves to be celebrated not only by India but all over the world. The fact that we hold election regularly; it is truly remarkable that people choose their candidates without fear and do so fairly. It was commonly believed that India was too big, diverse and fragmented to be run by a democracy, as it is a multicultural and multilingual democracy. Yet, now we are at our 15th election and it has the largest ever electorate: 714 million voters. This is a number larger than the population of Europe. It is something to celebrate, but of course there are weaknesses. Instead of just celebrating the conduct of the elections, I think it is important for Indian citizens to look at what happens between elections. The quality of governance provided and the functioning of public institutions are declining. I believe a lot more can be done in public policies for areas such as health, education and the environment. I think it would be good if a serious debate was opened on questions of governance.

One of the features of this election seems to be the growing political strength of regional parties. Do you believe this is a symptom of the deepening of democracy or a mark of emerging latent tensions concerning the central government?

On one level, since India is so large in the religious and even more so linguistically, the proliferation of regional parties and the decline of national parties is a sign of the deepening of Indian democracy. Because of this diversity, it is hard to envisage a single party dominating the entire country. Yes, it did happen with the Congress Party in the first years of independence; it was able to represent the entire country because it was Gandhi’s party. It was the party that helped India gain independence from British rule. But, inevitably, over a period of time those groups that felt marginalised, that were geographically distant and excluded from the power centre of New Delhi, wanted their own representatives, their own parties. So this is what is steadily happening. On another level, the negative aspect of having so many regional parties is that we have to form a national government. We have 28 states, but we are still one country. The presence of so many small parties results in weak multiparty coalition governments.

So does this reverse side of the coin of a more solid Indian democracy mean that needed reforms will languish?

Absolutely. Most of the Prime Minister’s time will be spent on massaging the egos of his coalition partners, while India continues to be a very unequal society. I have identified five sectors — education, health, environment, economy and foreign policy — that a government should handle by implementing far-sighted policies.

How can the socio-economic gap be narrowed?

By empowering citizens, promoting good education and health care for all, planning for long term development through sustainable environmental policies. However, these are the kinds of things one is not going to get with a weak multiparty coalition government…

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Pakistan: Expelled Sikhs Want to Migrate to India

Islamabad, 6 May (AKI/Asian Age) — Scores of Sikh families recently forced out of Pakistan’s tribal areas bordering Afghanistan by Taliban militants, want to migrate and settle in India, according to a report in the Indian daily, The Asian Age.

“We can’t say anything openly against the Taliban as we fear for our lives. What we will prefer is to migrate to India where we will have more freedom,” a Sikh doctor told the daily.

“We have conveyed this to the Pakistan government but they have promised us that things will change and we will be secure,” he said.

Sikhs approached by The Asian Age requested anonymity, fearing Taliban reprisals.

“Most of our people have been giving pro-Taliban statements on television channels. This does not mean we love them, but we fear them. We may have to go back and then there’s the question of survival,” said a Sikh woman who has taken refuge in Islamabad after migrating from Orakzai Agency.

“I have four children, all of them are with me. My husband has a shop (in Orakzai Agency). We can’t say anything against them (the Taliban) on record but the truth is that they are brutal.”

A Sikh shopkeeper named Gurmeet said: “I think the militants are not against any specific religion. They are fighting against humanity. No peaceful citizen can be their friend.”

“Though I would prefer to go back home, I still think India is much better as far as human rights are concerned,” Gurmeet added.

“Several of my family members live in Amritsar and one day I might move there with my wife and children,” he said, referring to the holy Sikh city located in India’s northern Punjab state.

Earlier this month, the Sikhs in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas were forced to leave by Taliban militants who demanded that they pay jizya (Islamic tax).

A local jirga or tribal meeting last week ordered the Sikhs to pay the Taliban militants protection money after militants captured the shops and homes of 35 Sikh families and “arrested” two Sikh community leaders in Orakzai’s Ferozkhel area.

— Hat tip: C. Cantoni

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Australia Announces Controversial Internet Filter

Australia said Tuesday it would push ahead with a mandatory China-style plan to filter the Internet, despite widespread criticism that it will strangle free speech and is doomed to fail.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said new laws would be introduced to ban access to “refused classification” (RC) sites featuring criminal content such as child sex abuse, bestiality, rape and detailed drug use.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Denmark: Ethnic Population Increase Predicted

In 40 years, every sixth person in this country will be defined as ‘ethnic’, statistical study shows

Approximately 21 percent of people living in Denmark in 2050 will be descendents of immigrant, suggests a report from Danmarks Statistik released today.

The figures also indicate that a record number of women with non-Danish ethnic backgrounds will choose to embark on an education. In the last 10 years, the number of 20-year-old women of non-Danish heritage obtaining an education has nearly doubled to 41 percent.

Unfortunately, the statistical trend has also manifested itself negatively on the crime figures. Male descendants of immigrants are represented heavily in crime statistics as they commit 33 percent more crime than all other groups put together.

— Hat tip: TB

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Celebs to Kids: America Stinks!

‘55 rich white men drafted Constitution to protect their class — slaveholders’

Hollywood celebrities and education gurus have teamed together to distribute to schools across the country a dramatic new curriculum that casts American history as an epic march of victims seeking to shrug off the shackles of the warmongering, racist, capitalist, imperialist United States.

The History Channel’s airing of the “The People Speak” last night marks the public coming-out party of a movement that has been in place since last year to teach America’s school children a “social justice” brand of history that rails against war, oppression, capitalism and popular patriotism.

The television special featuring performances by Matt Damon, Benjamin Bratt, Marisa Tomei, Don Cheadle, Bruce Springsteen and others condemns the nation’s past of oppression by the wealthy, powerful and imperialist and instead trumpets the voices of America’s labor unions, minorities and protesters of various stripes.

[…]

Critics of the Zinn Project, however, warn that the curriculum is more about pushing Zinn’s admitted pacifist and socialist agenda on the next generation.

Michelle Malkin blasts “The People Speak” as an effort to promote “Marxist academic Howard Zinn’s capitalism-bashing, America-dissing, grievance-mongering history textbook, ‘A People’s History of the United States.’ … Zinn’s work is a self-proclaimed ‘biased account’ of American history that rails against white oppressors, the free market and the military.”

— Hat tip: JD

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Anti-Semitism is Making a Loud Comeback

CLEARLY, THE media plays a leading role in nurturing and solidifying such beliefs. While many in the US strenuously believe the American media is biased toward Israel, in fact the press in the US is quite tame and balanced in its depiction of Israel and its Jewish majority compared to its counterparts in Europe, Latin America and the Arab world.

In a landmark study of Europeans, Edward Kaplan and Charles Small of Yale University found unequivocally that individuals with extreme anti-Israel views were more likely to be anti-Semitic. As media outlets proliferate via satellite and 24/7 cable TV, the platform for spreading anti-Israel views and consequently anti-Semitism has increased exponentially.

— Hat tip: Esther

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Do You Fear Carbon Dioxide?

For two decades now, politicians, pseudo-scientists and the media have made a concerted effort to persuade us that the biggest threat to mankind comes from manmade, catastrophic global warming resulting from a precipitous increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Are you afraid yet?

I’m not afraid of carbon dioxide, a naturally occurring gas vital to all life on planet Earth.

But I am afraid that, despite the obvious hoax designed to convince Americans to give up their liberties and transfer their wealth to others, so many are willing to go along with the dangerous, well-orchestrated charade.

What is it that makes people so willing to give up their freedom and follow leaders like lemmings headed to their doom?

It’s hard to say — manipulation, coercion, propaganda, promises of security, a dependency mindset, stupidity, weakness of character. They all play a role.

But I want to introduce another factor — lack of faith in God.

I raise this possibility in light of a truly astonishing article in the Financial Post last week that explained where this carbo-phobia ultimately leads.

The answer, of course, for anyone who thinks ahead, is population control.

— Hat tip: JD

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The Greatest Battle of the 21st Century

By Phyllis Chesler, for Human Rights Service

For years, the world stood by and did nothing as the Palestinians perfected their diabolical arts of airplane hijacking and suicide terrorism against the tiny Jewish state. On the contrary, the world cheered the terrorists on. Palestinian terrorists were seen as victims or as freedom fighters, Israelis were viewed as the “genocidal” aggressors. Suddenly, the Palestinians became the “new Jews,” while the Jewish Israelis became the “new Nazis.” Western progressives, including feminists, became more concerned with the occupation of a country that never existed (Palestine) than they were with the occupation of womens’ bodies, world-wide.

This “narrative” Romance was well funded by the Soviets and the Arab League, housed by the United Nations, supported by the Arab and Western media and professoriate, and by international human rights groups. The bombing of synagogues, the boycotting of Israeli academics, demonstrations against the Israeli “occupation” of Muslim land, and the shunning of Israeli athletes became routine all over Europe. The Arab and Muslim media, joined by their mainstream western counterparts have accused the Jews and the Zionists—falsely—of deliberately shooting down a young Palestinian boy, committing a massacre in Jenin, poisoning Palestinian water, spreading cancer and AIDS among Palestinians, rendering Palestinian men sterile, and harvesting the organs of Palestinian prisoners for profit.

The targeting and isolating of Israel continues. Just last week, the EU resolved to promote East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. And, the British government resolved to label products produced by Jewish settlers in order to help consumers boycott them. In the United States, anti-Israel fanatics have started a boycott of Trader Joe’s for carrying Israeli products, even going so far as removing Israeli items from the shelves and putting anti-Israel stickers on them…

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U.N. Climate Chief Turns Carbon to Green

In lucrative carbon trade ‘all roads lead to Pachauri’

NEW YORK — Further examination of U.N. climate chief Rajendra K. Pachauri’s resume shows more extensive international business relationships through which he stands to profit from global warming activism.

WND reported last week A Mumbai-based Indian multinational conglomerate with business ties to Pachauri, the chairman since 2002 of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, stands to make several hundred million dollars in European Union carbon credits simply by closing a steel production facility in Britain with the loss of 1,700 jobs.

Now, the head of the Asian Development Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda, is warning governments that failure to reach a deal at the U.N. Climate Summit in Copenhagen could lead to a collapse of the carbon market. He says rich countries, therefore, should commit up to $100 billion to finance a climate deal that would benefit the developing world.

Pachauri chairs the Asian Development Bank Advisory Group on Climate Change.

[…]

The following are some of the carbon-related business ties Pachauri has established:

— Hat tip: JD

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Want to Save the Planet? Ban Babies

Want to reduce carbon emissions and curb global warming?

Global warming believers say you should stop having babies, Jerome Corsi’s Red Alert reports.

China has declared that controlling population growth is the final solution to climate change.

This pronouncement officially linked the zeal for population control with climate hysteria, surfacing an issue that has been quietly at the heart of Malthusian writings since Obama science czar John Holdren began writing college textbooks on “Eco-science” with Paul Ehrlich of “Population Bomb” infamy.

— Hat tip: JD

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