The news feed is abbreviated tonight because I had to be out most of the day, so I collected the material and scheduled it in advance.
Normal service will resume tomorrow.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JP, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Cypriots Rush to Banks in Wake of Bailout Levy
Cypriots have rushed to local banks to drain their accounts following a bailout agreement that includes a tax on bank deposits. Cooperative banks have shut their doors in response to the rush.
Cypriots headed to local cooperative banks and ATM machines Saturday in an effort to protect their savings from a new tax. The deal, agreed to as part of an international bailout, was brokered early Saturday morning.
Eurozone lenders have agreed to give Cyprus a rescue package worth at least 10 billion euros ($13.08 billion) becoming the fourth country to receive a sovereign bailout.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cyprus Bailout Figure Said 10 Billion Euros
(ANSAmed) — NICOSIA, MARCH 15 — With a new President in place trying to get a handle on an economic crisis that has seen banks pushed toward insolvency, Cyprus may need a bailout of some 10 billion euros, far less than the 17 billion euros originally predicted.
That was the estimation of The Netherlands’ Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who heads the Eurogroup, the finance chiefs of the Eurozone’s 17 countries that include Greece and Cyprus.
Speaking to Dutch national broadcaster NOS on the sidelines of a debate with Dutch Parliament, he said that reports Cyprus would receive 17 million euros were mistaken. “That’s going considerably lower, in the direction of ten billion,” Dijsselbloem said. He didn’t give specifics about the package to be discussed on March 15 but said Russia might help more than it already has and Cyprus would not be left with an unsustainable debt load, as GreekReporter websites noted. The Dutch Parliament later approved the country’s participation.
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades is in negotiations with officials of the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) on the size of the bailout and what kind of austerity measures will be implemented in return.
The country’s banks were nearly ruined by their big holdings in Greek bonds that the Greek government devalued by 74% last year in a bid to write down that country’s debt. Cypriot banks were also highly exposed in the Greek market where pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions have forced more than 25% of Greeks to be unable to pay their loans and credit cards.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Real-Estate Market Down to 1985 Levels
Prices dropped in nearly all major cities except Verona
(ANSA) — Rome, March 14 — Italy’s housing market dropped to 1985 levels last year, with only 444,000 units being sold throughout the country, the Italian tax agency, Agenzia delle Entrate, said Thursday.
Fourth-quarter sales for 2012 fell across the country 29.6% by volume, the worst figure since 2004. Mortgages were also down by 38.6%. Real-estate prices are down in the country’s 12 largest cities by population, with the exception of Verona where sales were up 0.2%.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘10,000 Italian Shops Closed Down in Jan-Feb’
Sharpest drop in 20 years says Confesercenti
(ANSA) — Rome, March 15 — Some 10,000 shops closed down in recession-hit Italy in January and February, the sharpest drop in 20 years, small-business association Confesercenti said Friday.
If the trend of 167 closures a day continues, it said, Italy will have lost 60,000 shops by year’s end.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Jones Outraged Over Islamic Medal
A Bronze Star presented to a military officer for his PowerPoint on handling Islamic materials has provoked outrage from U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-Farmville, and a letter to top Air Force command. Jones’ letter to the Air Force Secretary Thursday said, “I find it ironic at best that an effort to protect the sensibilities of those practicing the Islamic religion has been rewarded by the Air Force with a medal normally reserved for acts of heroism on the battlefield, while at the same time our Christian military chaplains are being denied the constitutional right to express their individual religious convictions.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Paramus Road Mosque Hearing Postponed Again
New Zoning Board hearing date set for late April.
Due to a lack of quorum Thursday night, the Zoning Board hearing on the proposed Paramus Road mosque and multicultural center was pushed off until April. Zoning Board Attorney Stuart Platt told the audience the hearing will be rescheduled for April 25. A number of the board members had illnesses and other issues which prevented them from being able to make the meeting Thursday, Platt told the audience. The hearing was to pick up from the last hearing back in November…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) — Some days ago, according to Al-Furat, the Iraqi Sat-ehannel some internal news agencies and others, Austrian-Shia attempt has been fruitful and Shia has been recognized. This news is not correct. To Correct and Complete This news, we interviewed “Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin Muhammad Arisch Waldmann”, the caretaker at the Ahl ul-Bayt (a) World Assembly in Austria. “Austria is the First country in Eurozone that has recognized Islam in 1912. Attending a significant ceremony, Shia activists marked this important event,” in regard to records at Islam and Shiism in this country, he said…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Croatia, Malta, Greece Rank Highest for Use of Dumps
France incinerates more than EU average (35% against 23%)
(ANSAmed) BRUSSELS, MARCH 4; Too much garbage in Croatia, Malta and Greece ends up in dumps compared to other European Union countries, according to a report by European statistics agency Eurostat. In 2011, Croatia and Malta buried 92% of their solid urban waste, Greece dumped 82%, against an EU average of 37%, the report said.
Another four EU aspiring members dumped all their waste or close: Turkey 99%, while Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Macedonia 100%.
Also well below the European average were Portugal at 59%, Spain at 58% and Italy at 49%. France was among the most virtuous EU Mediterranean countries with only 28% of garbage dumped.
France incinerates 35% of garbage against the 23% European average, well above the 17% registered in Portugal, 17% in Italy, 9% in Spain, 1% in Malta and Greece’s 0%.
French nationals are however below European average when it comes to recycling; 19% against 25% — and behind Slovenia’s 35% and Italy’s 21%. Greece and Spain are still trailing behind at 15% as well as Portugal at 12%.
According to Eurostat’s data, on average 15% of garbage in the EU becomes compost, with Spain and France topping the average at 18%, while Italy remains behind at 13%, followed by Portugal at 8%, Slovenia at 6% and Greece at 3%.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Education: Greek Students Flock to Holland
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 15 — More than 1,600 Greek students are enrolled in college in The Netherlands, ranking them third behind German and Chinese as the largest grouping. The number has almost tripled since 2006 when there were only 450 Greek students there, as GreekReporter website writes. They said they chose Holland because of the many English language programs, the relatively low tuition and the chance for scholarships. They prefer the Polytechnic and the Economic Schools and then the schools of Humanitarian Studies and Fine Arts. The cost of living in the Netherlands depends of the city of choice with Amsterdam, the capital, being the most expensive. The biggest problem that they face is finding a place to live because of the densely populated neighborhoods and relative lack of housing.
New students have the support of the Association of Greek Students which provides all the useful information and organizes festivals and other activities. According to the association the cost of living is estimated to be 800-1100 euros a month along with the rent.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
European Muslims See Dialogue Hope in Pope Name
(Reuters) — Muslims in Europe see hope for better relations with Roman Catholicism after the new pope took the name Francis, recalling the 13th-century saint known for his efforts to launch Christian dialogue with Islam.
Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio chose the name after his election on Wednesday in honour of St. Francis of Assisi, who is revered for his radical poverty and humility. Francis met the sultan of Egypt in 1219 on a peace mission during the Fifth Crusade…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Europe: Muslims Seek Improved Interfaith Dialogue
The relationship between Islam and Christianity has been rocky, to say the least. Muslims around the world are hoping the new Catholic pope will strengthen dialogue between faiths.
Pope Francis’ predecessor, Benedict, learnt early on in his reign of the Holy See just how much can go wrong in dialog with Islam. In 2006, a year after taking office, Benedict gave a controversial speech in Regensburg, Germany. In it, he quoted a Byzantine emperor who accused the Prophet Mohammed of being inhumane and doing only evil deeds. It provoked Muslims around the world and from Algiers and Islamabad, churches burned…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
France: A Year After the Toulouse School Slaughter, The Hatred That Drove it Still Thrives
In the easterly part of Toulouse, where the detached houses range from washed white to poached salmon and burnt peach, sits the Ohr Torah school. Set within a formidable compound, gated behind walls flanked by security cameras, it has been this way for a long time, for the safety and security of the children. Since last March, however, the walls have become a little higher, the front gate a little sturdier, the security cameras more numerous…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
by Soeren Kern
More recently, Salafists have issued death threats against German politicians, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “The groups aim to change our society in an aggressive belligerent way so that democracy would be replaced by a Salafist system, and the rule of law replaced by Sharia law.” — Hans-Peter Friedrich, Ministry of the Interior, Germany
Germany has banned three ultra-conservative Salafist Muslim groups which the Interior Ministry says want to overturn democracy and install a system based on Islamic Sharia law.
The ban, which took effect in the western German states of Hessen and North Rhine-Westphalia on March 13, comes amid Islamist death threats against German politicians — and just days after German intelligence announced that the number of Salafists in Germany has jumped over the past year.
The Interior Ministry said that it had banned the groups “DawaFFM” and “Islamische Audios,” as well as “An-Nussrah,” which is part of the “Millatu Ibrahim” group that was outlawed in June 2012.
In an effort to enforce the ban, hundreds of German police officers raided the homes of radical Islamists in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gladbeck and Solingen, and seized computers, cellphones and electronic storage devices, as well as money, documents and Islamic propaganda videos in Arabic and in German.
German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said: “Salafism, as represented in the associations that were banned today, is incompatible with our free democratic order. The groups aim to change our society in an aggressive, belligerent way so that democracy would be replaced by a Salafist system, and the rule of law replaced by Sharia law.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Bans Three Muslim Groups as Anti-Democratic
Germany yesterday banned three ultra-conservative Salafist Muslim groups which the Interior Ministry said wanted to overturn democracy and install a system based on sharia, or Islamic law. The ban, which took effect in the western states of Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia in the early morning, is the latest step taken by German authorities who have increased surveillance of Salafists who espouse a radical version of Islam. The ministry said it has banned the organisations “DawaFFM” and “Islamische Audios”, as well as “An-Nussrah”, which is part of the “Millatu Ibrahim” group that was outlawed in June. Some 20 people were searched and assets belonging to the organisations were seized, said the ministry…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Two Guerrilla Groups Claim Responsibility for Athens Bomb Attack
ATHENS, March 15 (Xinhua) — Two Greek guerrilla groups claimed on Friday responsibility for a bomb attack at a courier firm in Athens on March 10, which caused material damage, while warning of more violence ahead, local media reported. The so-called “Informal Anarchist Federation” and the “International Revolutionary Front- Intact Revolutionary Cell” groups released a statement saying that Sunday’s attack was to “take revenge” on an employee of the firm who helped in the arrest of terrorists two years ago…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Grillo Slams Party Politics on German TV
M5S leader describes Italy as economic and moral ‘wreck’
(ANSA) — Berlin, March 15 — Beppe Grillo, leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), on Friday accused Italy’s political parties of wrecking the country in an interview with German TV.
“Economically and morally Italy is a pile of rubble,” the gadfly comedian told Germany’s principal state channel ARD. “Italians turned their backs on political parties because they have destroyed and drained our country,” Grillo continued.
His M5S took an unexpected 162 seats in recent parliamentary elections in what was widely seen as a protest vote by a disaffected electorate. Grillo added that “for years” parties on both left and right have been acting “only in their own interest”.
“The European dream will dissolve because the economy is not moving any more,” he concluded. So far M5S has ruled out any form of alliance with the centre-left coalition led by Democratic Party (Pd) secretary Pier Luigi Bersani, which polled most votes in the February elections but failed to win a working majority in both houses of parliament, leading to political deadlock.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Party Ex-MP Turns Self in at Naples Jail
Cosentino accused of collusion with the Neapolitan mafia
(ANSA) — Naples, March 15 — Nicola Cosentino, a Mob-linked former MP for ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PdL) party, turned himself in at a Naples prison Friday.
Cosentino had been free as parliament voted not to ratify two arrest warrants relating to accusations of corruption and collusion with the Casalesi clan of the Neapolitan mafia, the Camorra.
But his privileges as a lawmaker ended Friday when the new term of parliament started after the PdL did not include him on its list of candidates for last month’s general election.
Cosentino, a former industry undersecretary, had two recent petitions for the arrest warrants to be revoked turned down by courts.
He is accused of corruption, re-using illicit capital and allegedly helping the Casalesis invest in a shopping mall near Caserta northwest of Naples.
Berlusconi said in the run-up to the election that he “regretfully” was forced to drop Cosentino, who is a PdL heavyweight in the Campania region around Naples, a former party leader and still a big potential vote-catcher there.
Prosecutors have alleged that Cosentino was the “national reference point” of the Casalesis, who come from the Campania town he was born in, Casal di Principe.
Cosentino denies wrongdoing and Berlusconi has described the case against him as an example of alleged judicial persecution.
The Casalesis are the Camorra clan whose death threats have forced anti-mafia writer Roberto Saviano into round-the-clock police protection.
Saviano’s 2006 bestseller Gomorrah, Italy’s Other Mafia, was turned into a film that won second prize at Cannes in 2008.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Ex-PD Senator Arrested in Puglia ‘Health Scam’
Alberto Tedesco suspected of fraud, embezzlement, corruption
(ANSA) — Bari, March 15 — A former Senator in the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), Alberto Tedesco, was arrested Friday over a suspected Puglia healthcare scam after his parliamentary immunity elapsed with the opening of the new legislature in Rome.
Tedesco, a former health councillor in the southeastern Italian region, was placed under house arrest.
He is suspected of conspiracy, corruption, embezzlement, fraud and contract-rigging, police said.
Puglia Governor Nichi Vendola, leader of the leftwing SEL party and a key PD ally, was cleared in the case last month.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Indicted in Court of Justice Over Lazio Trash
‘Response inevitable’ says environment minister
(ANSA) — Rome, March 15 — Italy has been indicted in the European Court of Justice for the “situation of waste management in the Lazio region” around Rome, the environment ministry announced Friday. Environment Minister Corrado Clini called the move “inevitable”. Last fall he warned that rubbish could start piling up in Rome’s streets in a crisis reminiscent of the problems Naples has had in recent years if a new dump site is not found. The Italian capital has been on the verge of having trash problems for some time with its huge dump at Malagrotta filled to well beyond capacity and local administrators, environmental groups and residents unable to agree on an alternative.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Court Rules That There is No Proof Against Berlusconi
(AGI) Rome, Mar. 15 — The Italian Court of Cassation has ruled that there was “insufficient information to sustain charges…namely the fictional presence of various companies in the purchase of television and film rights” in the Berlusconi/Mediatrade case. This ruling, issued on March 6, confirms the sentence issued by Rome’s Preliminary Hearings Magistrate recommending Berlusconi’s exoneration.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Norway Agency to Report Find of Pork in Halal Food
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority said Friday it would file a police complaint against a food company after finding large quantities of pork in its halal-labeled products.
Kebab meat sold by Norwegian group Kuraas to restaurants contained between five and 30 percent pork even though it was marked as halal, the agency found.
“We will file a complaint against the producer,” Catherine Signe Svinland, an adviser at the food safety watchdog, told AFP.
“In a halal product, there should be no pork at all and when we find such quantities … we don’t believe it’s an accident but it is in fact fraud,” she said.
The group denied it had intended to mislead customers.
“We buy huge quantities of halal meat and we can show invoices corresponding to what we bought and sold,” marketing manager Kenneth Kuraas told news agency NTB.
“Pork ending up in these products is simply due to routines not being followed,” he added.
Kuraas later explained that a labeling error may have been to blame.
“Our theory is that it happened when the meat was labeled,” he said.
Since pork consumption is prohibited under Islam, the Kuraas company sent a letter of apology to the Islamic Council, an umbrella organisation representing Muslims in Norway.
The Islamic halal method of killing an animal requires its throat to be slit and the blood to be drained.
On Thursday halal chicken sausages served to pupils in central London schools and nurseries were revealed to contain traces of pork.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Scotland: Islamophobia Awareness Conference: Edinburgh 2013
Muslim Bashing…so wrong…so stop it now!
Saturday 16th March 2pm to 5pm
Augustine United Church, 41 George 4th Bridge, EH1 1EL
Speakers:
Inayat Bunglawala: Muslim writer (inayatscorner.wordpress.com)
Yvonne Ridley: Journalist and war correspondent
Eddie Truman: Co-founder of Islamophobia Watch
Craig Murray: Former UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan
Margaret Woods from Unite Against Fascism
Organised by Edinburgh Stop the War, Radio Ramadan, Muslim Women’s Association of Edinburgh, SACC, Unite Against Fascism
Stalls and food at the event. No charge for entry but donations to cover costs welcome
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Britons Afraid to Challenge Radical Islam, Says Former Obama Adviser
British people are too afraid to offend a “vocal and aggressive” section of the Muslim community who demand that their cultural values are accepted by wider society, according to a former adviser to Barack Obama.
Professor Lawrence Krauss said he had been shocked when taking part at a debate hosted by an Islamic group at a leading British university to find that men and women were segregated. The professor, a leading physicist and prominent atheist, threatened to walk out unless organisers agreed to let men and women sit together, which was eventually agreed — but was then astonished to find himself being accused of intolerance by angry members of the audience.
He said there had been no such problems when he recently took part in a similar debate in Australia. But he suggested in Britain people were often too polite to object to such practices as well as being cowed by those eager to protest whenever they felt “their cultural norms are not being met”. He said: “People are not only afraid to offend, but afraid to offend a vocal and aggressive group of people…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Dart, Alom and Mahmood Plead Guilty to Terror Charges
Three British men have pleaded guilty to preparing for terrorism acts overseas.
One of the men used to be a police community support officer and another was a recent convert to Islam. Richard Dart, Jahangir Alom and Imran Mahmood all pleaded guilty at a hearing at the Old Bailey ahead of their expected trial. They were arrested in London weeks before the Olympic Games in July 2012. They will be sentenced later…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: London Could Become Western Hub for Islamic Finance, Says Government
The Government has set up a ‘task force’ which will be charged with raising London’s profile as a centre for Islamic financial transactions.
The UK’s first Islamic Finance Task Force will be led by Greg Clark, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and Foreign Office minister Baroness Warsi. The co-chairs will be supported by experts from the banking industry and UK Islamic Finance Secretariat. “We expect the global market for Islamic financial services to experience significant growth over the coming years, but feedback from decision-makers in the Middle East and South East Asia suggests there is a lack of awareness of the UK industry and that we should be doing more to promote the sector,” Baroness Warsi said. “There are also major opportunities to attract investment into the UK as demand for Islamic finance increases from private investors and sovereign wealth funds.”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Muslim Ex-BBC Guard Richard Dart Plotted Terror Attack on Wootton Bassett
A white Muslim convert who had worked as a BBC security guard today admitted plotting a terror attack in the repatriation town Wootton Bassett. Richard Dart, 29, also planned to wipe out members of the security services including “MI5 or MI6 heads” after he received training at Pakistani terror camps over two years. Bearded Dart, wearing a green fleece and traditional white Muslim robes, appeared via video link at the Old Bailey to admit engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism between July 2010 and July last year. Co-defendants Imran Mahmood, 21, of Northolt, and former PCSO Jahangir Alom, 26, of Stratford, also pleaded guilty to the same charge. As well as receiving terror training, the gang gave information to other radicals about travelling to Pakistan and obtaining information about UK security while they were out there…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: My Brother the Islamist Plotted Terror Attacks
BBC film’s subject targeted town that saluted dead soldiers.
A white Muslim convert who labelled British troops “murderers” planned a terrorist attack on Wootton Bassett and the intelligence agencies. Richard Dart, along with Jahangir Alom, a former police community support officer, and a third man, Imran Mahmood, wanted to stage an atrocity in the Wiltshire town famed for the crowds that lined its streets during the repatriation of dead soldiers. They also discussed targeting “heads” of MI5 and MI6.
Dart, 29, a former BBC security guard and the son of Dorset teachers, was radicalised by the hate cleric Anjem Choudary. He was the subject of an award-winning BBC documentary in 2011, My Brother the Islamist, filmed by his stepbrother. In one scene, during a demonstration, he accuses soldiers returning from Afghanistan of being “murderers” and calls for an Islamic state in Britain. Alom, 26, worked as a PCSO in east London between 2007 and 2009 before becoming a fanatic. He later married the sister of two convicted terrorists. The men, all British, were arrested last July, weeks before the Olympic Games…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Nigel Farage: Beware UKIP’s Smiling Assassin
by Judith Woods
The Ukip leader Nigel Farage his party of ‘cranks and gadflies’ have become a clear and present danger to David Cameron and the Conservative Party
Oh dear. Without wishing to add to David Cameron’s woes, it is my unhappy duty to inform him that I have arrived at the Strasbourg parliamentary offices of the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage — and the number on the door is 007. Coincidence? Given that our man in Europe, or at least the only one of our MEPs anyone has ever heard of, represents a clear and present danger to the Conservatives, perhaps not. Moreover, Farage, dapper in Savile Row suit and silky socks nattily embroidered with purple £ signs, has the deceptively urbane air of, if not a trained killer, then a smiling assassin…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Peace Campaigners to Organise Festival on Same Day as EDL March
Peace campaigners are to unite against the English Defence League when they hold their biggest march of the year through Newcastle
Peace campaigners are to unite against the English Defence League when they hold their biggest march of the year through Tyneside. Hundreds of members of the right- wing organisation will walk from Newcastle’s Central Station to the Bigg Market in protest over plans for an Islamic School at the former Byker Grove building in the city’s West End.
Now faith leaders and councillors are gathering to organise a peaceful city centre festival on the same day to celebrate Newcastle’s ethnic diversity…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Philip Davies MP: Win the Blue Collar Vote or Prepare for Opposition
Philip Davies is the Member of Parliament for Shipley and Parliamentary Spokesman for Blue Collar Conservatism. For more information about Blue Collar Conservatism you can visit the website.
The Conservatives cannot hope to win the next election without gaining substantial support from blue collar Britons. Blue collar voters have been vital to every Conservative election victory since the age of mass suffrage. 2010 was no exception, with our biggest swings coming from C2 and D voters. Today somewhere between 35% and 40% of people are employed in some form of manual work but, according to Lord Ashcroft’s polls, the numbers describing themselves as working class are as high as 58%…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Sharia Halal Board on Halal Meat Contamination
Muslims have been let down by the government, the Sharia Halal Board has said. Last week it was revealed that another batch of halal meat products made for schools were found to contain pork DNA, which is not allowed. The Sharia Halal Board (SHB) said this is haraam (forbidden) food being served as halal. The council facing criticism from the SHB is Westminster Council, which has been accused by the Board for failing the Muslims of its borough in a “great way”…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: The Police Worker Who Turned to Islamic Extremism
Jahangir Alom spent two years policing communities he would later turn on.
The 26-year-old worked as a Metropolitan Police community support officer in east London between 2007 and 2009. Though a civilian role, he dreamed of becoming a chief inspector before meeting some “brothers” who turned him to extremism. He abandoned his policing role and changed his name to Abu Khalid and uploaded videos on the internet explaining why he had stopped “implementing kuffur (non-believer) laws on the streets of London”. Just weeks before his arrest, Alom also married Ruksana Begum, whose brothers were already convicted terrorists. Begum was arrested along with her new husband and was jailed for a year in December for having two editions of the banned al-Qaeda online magazine Inspire on her mobile phone…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican: Investigative Reporter and Human Rights Activist Rues Election of Francis
Rome, 14 March (AKI) — Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s election as Pope Francis represents a defeat for opponents and victims of Argentina’s brutal 1976-1983 military dictatorship, the author of a controversial book told Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper on Thursday.
“I am among those who fought to oppose his election as pope and I have lost my battle,” investigative Argentinian journalist an human rights activist Horacio Verbitsky told La Repubblica.
In his 2005 book The Silence, Verbitsky claimed that Bergoglio, who was head of the Jesuit order from 1973-1979, withdrew his order’s protection from two liberal Jesuit priests, paving the way for their abduction in 1976 by the Argentinian military and torture during six months in detention.
The book is based on interviews with one of the Jesuit two priests, who fell foul of the military for their work in poor neighbourhoods. After its publication, both priests were expelled from the Jesuit order.
Bergoglio has called the allegations against him “slanderous” and claims on the contrary that he moved behind the scenes to save the lives of the two priests and others that he secretly hid from the death squads.
In 2006, on the 30th anniversary of the military coup that brought the generals to power, Bergoglio, then head of the Argentine Episcopal Conference, issued a public apology for “errors commited” by the Catholic Church during the dictatorship.
The wider Catholic church backed Argentina’s military government and has been accused of a complicit silence and worse during the murders of thousands of people who included at least two bishops and numerous priests.
The topic is a contentious one, clouded by sketchy and contested evidence. Documents have been destroyed and many of the victims and perpetrators are now dead.
“There’s no conclusive proof,” Verbitsky admitted.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Christians in Libya Being Rounded Up and Beaten
Christians living in Libya have been rounded up, beaten, and accused of proselytism, in the latest sign of the militant Islamism affecting the country since the revolution.
The men, Egyptian Copts working in Benghazi, were seized by an Islamist militia but handed over to the government. One, named as Ezzat Atallah, 44, died at the weekend after being “tortured”, his brother, Effat, told The Daily Telegraph. The authorities have condemned an attack on the community’s priest, but in a sign of their powerlessness in the face of sectarian violence, have taken no further action. After the death of Mr Atallah, four men remain in custody out of 60 detained, while 35 of the rest have been deported for illegal immigration…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt Rejects “Popular Committees” of Islamist Volunteers to Maintain Security
CAIRO, March 15 (Xinhua) — Egypt’s Interior Ministry rejected Friday the attempts of some Islamist groups to form so-called “ popular committees” to maintain security in the street after the closure of some police stations and the withdrawal of police forces across the country. “The police is assigned to maintain security, implement the law and arrest lawbreakers,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that no one “will be allowed in any way to interfere in the duty of the police.” The statement came after Islamist group al-Jamaa al-Islamiya in Upper Egypt’s governorate of Assiut formed “popular security committees” allegedly to protect citizens due to the lack of police…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Awqaf Minister — Heavenly Religions Call for Peaceful Coexistence
Awqaf Minister Talaat Afifi stressed that all heavenly religions urge believers for peaceful coexistence and solidarity. Afifi made the remark during his meeting Thursday 14/03/2013 with Armenian ambassador in Cairo Armen Melkonian along with the bishop of Armenian Catholic Church. During the meeting, Afifi stressed that Islam came for the best interest of the human being, reiterating that the divine religions prohibit aggression against people…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Qatar Gives Tunisia Eur 29 Mln for Subsidised Housing
810 housing units; 60% interest-free credit and 40% as gift
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, MARCH 13 — Qatar has decided to invest approximately 29 million euros in Tunisian subsidized housing.
The agreement was signed between the Investment and International Cooperation Ministry and the Qatar embassy in Tunis.
The project provides for the construction of 810 housing units in Sejoumi in the Tunis governorate.
Sixty percent of the costs will be covered by interest-free credit agreements to be repaid over the next 20 years, while 40% will not need to be repaid.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Boosts Milan Expo’s Efforts to Combat Hunger
State can make big contribution to Feeding the Planet theme
(By Paul Virgo) (ANSA) — Milan, March 13 — Expo 2015’s mission to contribute to the fight against global hunger has been given a big boost by Israel signing its participation contract for the Milan fair.
The theme of the Expo, ‘Feeding the Planet — Energy for Life’, centers on fighting famine and malnutrition worldwide through sustainable development, global cooperation and new technology.
And Israel has a big contribution to make in this area.
The Mediterranean country is a pioneer in the fields of agriculture and effective water management thanks to the technologies and practices its experts and farmers have developed to be able to grow food on its largely arid terrain.
“The outstanding innovative expertise of Israel in the field of technology for agriculture in arid areas undoubtedly represents a huge added value for the development of the Expo’s theme,” said Expo 2015 CEO Giuseppe Sala. “This signature seals a partnership that will provide a continuous and fruitful dialogue between all the protagonists of Expo Milano 2015. “Each country is asked to share its knowledge and excellence in order to help solve the food and environmental emergencies which are afflicting the planet”.
Israel’s agricultural excellence centers on innovative, advanced solutions in the fields of irrigation, farming in barren areas, the research and development of new varieties of seeds and organic, eco-friendly agricultural practices.
It has has also achieved success in fighting desertification with land reclamation policies and ambitious irrigation systems that have made previously barren areas fertile. An example is the Kinneret-Negev aqueduct — a 130-kilometer-long system of pipes, pumps and canals that carries water from the Lake Tiberias, in the north of Israel, to the arid south.
“We believe that Israel will make a significant contribution to the theme of Expo Milano 2015.” said Elazar Cohen, commissioner general of the Israeli pavilion, at the signing of the deal. “Our objective is to show visitors the efforts that Israel has put in place in order to feed the world and to showcase the unique spirit of our country in terms of innovation, as well as its culture and ancient tradition”. The deal sees the Mediterranean country take up a strategic position for its pavilion at the exhibition site in an area adjacent to the Italian pavilion. With Israel, Expo Milano 2015 has now signed participation contracts with 35 of the 123 countries that have so far committed themselves to taking part.
The Expo, which lasts six months, is expected to attract over 20d millions of visitors and to be a massive money spinner for Italy’s business capital.
Italy last hosted a world’s fair in 1992 with a Christopher Columbus-themed Expo in Genoa.
Roberto Formigoni, the general commissioner of Expo Milano 2015, said that organizers expect to hit their target of having 130-140 countries sign up by the end of the year.
“There’s still a hint of skepticism (about Expo) in Italy,” said Formigoni, who quit as the governor of Lombardy last year after a series of corruption scandals hit his regional government.
“But in the rest of the world, they look at us with great interest”.
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Qatar: Doha Arab Summit Supports Arab Spring States — Egypt Ambassador
Egypt’s Ambassador to Qatar Mohamed Morsi asserted the importance of the Doha Arab summit, scheduled to be held on 27 March, given its exceptional timing for the Arab World and expressing hope that it would greatly contribute to unifying Arabs and addressing the grave challenges facing them after the Arab Spring revolutions. The summit will address hot issues that would require collective serious work by the Arab leaders to take firm unified stands on them, he said in an interview with the Qatari news agency on Thursday…
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Syria: David Cameron Backs Down From Saying He Wants to Arm Rebels
David Cameron has backed down from earlier statements that he wants to arm Syria’s rebels, with Britain and France isolated from the rest of Europe.
Baroness Ashton, the European Union’s foreign minister, sided with Germany to warn that arming Syria’s rebels could fan the flames of the conflict in the Middle East. David Cameron, the Prime Minister, urged a Brussels summit on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the Syrian uprising against Bashar al-Assad’s regime by lifting EU sanctions that prevent the supply of military assistance and arms to Syria’s opposition…
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Turkey: 22-Ton Bridge Disappears During the Night
Dismantled in a few hours, sensational theft in Kocaeli
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, MARCH 13 — Villagers in Golkuc, near Kocaeli in western Turkey, were astounded when on Tuesday morning a 25-meter bridge which weighed 22 tons enabling them to cross a small river going through the village had disappeared.
According to reports in the Turkish press on Wednesday, police officials believe that thieves dismantled the bridge as villages were sleeping and took the pieces with a truck. According to Zaman, the bridge could be worth around 9,000 euros. The bridge had made the life of villagers much easier. ‘Now we must once again roll up our pants and cross the stream on foot’, complained a resident.
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Turkey: Case Against ‘Sultan Soap Opera’ Dropped
Erdogan had ‘warned’ the authorities about it
(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL, MARCH 14 — A court in Istanbul has dropped a case against a hit TV show about the Ottoman Empire’s longest-reigning Sultan which Premier Recap Erdogan had fumed about more than once.
Last year the Premier tore strips off producers of “Magnificent Century”, which attracts a huge audience in Turkey as well as parts of the Middle East and Balkans, for sidelining the achievements of the Sultan in favour of the exploits of the harem. Erdogan, a great admirer of Turkey’s Ottoman past and accused by the opposition of holding a “neo-Ottoman” vision of Turkish foreign policy, threatened legal action. “We have warned the authorities and we expect the judiciary to make decisions appropriate,” he warned. Shortly after two more complaints were filed against both the soap producers and its actors who were accused of “insulting the memory of Suleiman the Magnificent” by presenting him as a booze-swilling womanizer and not the ‘great leader’ that he was.
The prosecutor in Istanbul rejected the claims saying that only the descendants of Suleiman himself can bring about legal action. They also pointed out that although the soap is inspired by a historical period, it is ‘only fiction’.
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Afghanistan: Hearing Set for NCO in Urination Video Case
An Article 32 hearing has been scheduled for a noncommissioned officer, the third Marine to appear in a military court in the case of the now infamous video showing U.S. troops in Afghanistan urinating on dead insurgents. Sgt. Robert Richards, with 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, will appear in court March 19 aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C. Richards is the seventh Marine to face punishment in the incident, which cast an embarrassing light on the Marine Corps and prompted its top general to conduct a service-wide briefing on ethics…
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Indian Airports Told Italian Ambassador Can’t Leave
Interior ministry notifies travel ban in marines row
(ANSA) — New Delhi, March 15 — The Indian interior ministry notified all the country’s airports Friday about a supreme court travel ban on the Italian ambassador amid a row over two Italian marines accused of killing two fishermen who failed to return to India as promised earlier this week. The court slapped the ban, lasting until March 19, on Ambassador Daniele Mancini after the Italian government’s decision not to send the marines back to India after they were granted a permit to come home to vote in last month’s general elections.
In other moves India on Thursday put on hold the procedure for its new ambassador to Rome to take up his position and summoned the EU’s ambassador to New Delhi to discuss the case.
The marines, Massimilano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, who had been held in India since February 2012, were allowed to return to Italy for one month for national elections held February 24-25.
Latorre and Girone, who are charged with homicide for allegedly shooting the fishermen while on an anti-piracy mission, were supposed to return to India later this month.
The Italian government has always denied that India has jurisdiction over the matter, as the incident took place in international waters off the country’s coast.
In its letter to the Italian ambassador, the Indian Supreme Court said Mancini “violated” a “sworn declaration” presented on February 9 to the Indian government as “a guarantee of the marines’ return”.
Along with the order to not leave the country, the Supreme Court ordered the ambassador to offer explanations for Italy’s actions by March 18.
An earlier deal, which allowed the marines to return to Italy for Christmas, was respected by both governments and was seen as a positive step — as well as a sign of goodwill — towards a diplomatic solution.
Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi on Thursday said Italy’s decision to not return the pair was legitimate and Italy had a strong case which it wanted to put to independent arbitration.
“We have a very solid position, of which we are perfectly convinced, (as are) many important partners in the international community, (based on) the fact that we are acting in full respect of international law,” Terzi said.
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NATO Troops in Afghanistan ‘In a Similar Situation to Failed Soviet Invasion’
Nato troops in Afghanistan find themselves in a similar situation to the failed Soviet invasion and are also waging a campaign which is “unwinnable in military terms”, according to a provocative Ministry of Defence analysis.
Both the Nato campaign and the 1979 invasion were initially attempts to impose “ideology foreign to the Afghan people”, whose aims were quickly dropped when they ran into difficulty. Nato, like the Soviets, has been unable to “establish control over the country’s borders and the insurgents’ safe havens”, or “protect the rural population”, according to the paper written by retired officers for an internal MOD think tank.
“The [Soviet] 40th Army was unable to decisively defeat the Mujahideen while facing no existential threat itself, a situation that precisely echoes [the Nato coalition’s] predicament”.
As combat troops leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, the country will again be left “with a severely damaged and very weak economic base”, reliant for years on vast sums of international aid. The paper, Lessons From the Soviet Transition in Afghanistan, was prepared for the MOD’s Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC), to provoke internal debate and challenge current military thinking…
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Swiss Woman Gangraped in Central India
NEW DELHI, March 16 (Xinhua) — A Swiss woman was gangraped by eight men in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh Friday night, a police official said Saturday. “The woman and her husband were touring by bicycle in the state’s Datia district when the incident took place. The accused also looted their belongings before escaping in the forest. The victim was taken to a hospital and medical tests have confirmed rape,” he said on condition of anonymity…
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Philippine Peace Talks With MILF to Resume Despite Sabah Crisis
MANILA, March 16 (Xinhua) — Negotiations between the Philippine government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will resume in Kuala Lumpur on March 25-27 despite the unresolved crisis in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah, a MILF official said.
MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said, “The issue of peace is more important than the issue of war.”…
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Largest Muslim Conference Opens
CAIRO — Australia Muslim community inaugurated on Friday, March 15, their largest conference in Melbourne, hoping to correct misconceptions about their faith to the wider society. “There was a lot of media after September 11 going against Muslims, [saying] that they like to harm people, but it’s not true,” Brunswick cafe manager Houssan Afiouni, who came to the conference with his five children, told The Age newspaper…
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Ham Warns of Islamic Threat in Africa
WASHINGTON — The chief of the U.S. Africa Command warned on Friday that threats from Islamic extremists in Africa are increasing and if unchecked could pose a greater danger to American interests and allies. Army Gen. Carter Ham faced some wary members of the House Armed Services Committee, who questioned a robust U.S. military involvement in Africa after more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ham said the threats in Africa do not match al-Qaida or the Taliban in Afghanistan, “but the trend is not good.”…
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Bavarian Minister Accuses Italy of Immigrant Dumping
Claims italy gives temporary visa and 500 euros to go elsewhere
(ANSA) — Berlin, March 15 — Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann accused Italy on Friday of dumping illegal immigrants on other Schengen countries. Hermann called Italy’s behavior “brazen”, and accused Italian authorities of pushing out undocumented North African immigrants by handing them temporary visas for the Schengen area and “even 500 euros to make them leave Italy”, the German press agency DPA reported.
The Bavarian minister called on German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to remedy the problem at the European level.
Herrmann’s complaints came after German police stopped six African and Iraqi immigrants on an Italian bus headed for Germany along Austria’s Inntal expressway. “Since the beginning of March, (German) agents have come across another 120 similar cases,” added a spokesperson for police in Rosenheim, a town on Bavaria’s border with Austria.
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Drowned Immigrants, Tension Morocco-Spain
Rabat summons Spanish ambassador for explanation
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, MARCH 15 — Diplomatic tensions are high between Morocco and Spain after a shipwreck last December off Lanzarote. The boat was carrying Moroccan would-be immigrants trying to reach Spain illegally. Seven of them died. Morocco’s foreign minister summoned the Spanish ambassador after a video posted on the internet showed that the boat sunk after a collision with a Civil Guard boat. Morocco also officially asked Spain to access the documents on the incident.
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Emergency Contraception a ‘Step Forward’ For Italian Women
More female patients would like information on the subject
(ANSA) — Rome, March 15 — Nearly 70% of Italian women see the availability of emergency contraception (EC), commonly known as the morning-after pill, as “a step forward”, but as many as 90% would like more information on the subject, new research has shown.
The study by BVA Healthcare on behalf of HRA Pharma looked at 1,234 sexually active women in a country where 33% of pregnancies are unwanted.
Of these, 50% currently end in abortion. Timing is all-important in EC and while many women know that it should be taken as soon as possible after intercourse experts say much still needs to be done. “Let’s not forget that EC is used to lower fertility during the cycle, delaying or blocking ovulation,” said gynaecologist Rossella Nappi from Pavia university. “It is clear therefore how rapid administration plays a key role in guaranteeing its success”.
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Bioshock Infinite Grasps the Cultural Chalice
With Bioshock Infinite mixing shooting, religion and politics Andy Robertson sat down with Ken Levine to talk Christianity, artificial companions and video-game violence.
Bioshock tampered with what a video-game is meant to be. Like the genetic enhancements of Dr Steinman, one of the villains of Rapture, Bioshock offered the chance to touch another reality. Unlike the test subjects though, it largely managed to avoid the nasty side effects.
Bioshock joined a small cohort of First Person Shooter games that mix a mature story with shooting people in the head. In that first game you played Jack as he discovered the disturbing underwater world of Rapture and set about surviving with a combination of guns and biological “plasmid” enhancements. As you did so you overheard and become embroiled in a story of history, philosophy and politics…
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http://www.bahamaspress.com/2013/03/16/historic-zion-baptist-church-in-gb-burnt-to-the-ground-early-this-morning%E2%80%A6/
Freeport, Bah — A wild bush fire in the Lucaya community is said to be responsible for the burning of the historic Zion Baptist Church on the island of Grand Bahama.
The incident occurred just around 3am this morning.
…..
Lo and behold the muslims of the Bahamas
http://indianmuslims.in/islam-reaches-the-bahamas-40-years-ago-via-us/
There are many Muslims from India, Pakistan and other countries that have helped develop this community. In 1978 when Jamaat-Ul-Islam, the Revolutionary Islamic Movement, was formed and Br. Mustapha Khalil Khalafani was chosen as its leader. The Muslims established Jamaat- Ul-Islam Mosque in Nassau run by Jamaat Management Consultancy Limited owned by Br. Faisal Abdurrahman Hepburn.