Eight UN soldier-observers from the Philippines crossed over from Syria into Israel after a 21 of their fellow observers were taken hostage by Syrian rebels. Their commanders ordered them to take refuge in Israel for fear that they might also be captured. Israeli troops were careful not to cross the border, but remained inside Israel when they welcomed the Filipino soldiers.
In other news, North Korea has abrogated its non-aggression pact with South Korea in retaliation for the intensified sanctions imposed yesterday by the United Nations. The Norks also repeated their threat to start a nuclear war with the United States.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
ECB President Waves Off Italian Market Jitters
Many reforms on ‘auto pilot’ says Draghi
(ANSA) — Frankfurt, March 7 — Pointing to the hung Italian elections, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi on Wednesday waved away talk of market jitters and said many of Italy’s fiscal reforms are set on auto pilot. However, “Italy, like other countries, must continue with structural reforms, the only way to restore growth and capitalize on the consolidation of financial results,” Draghi said at his monthly news conference.
On the possibility of ECB aid being extended to Italy, Draghi said that any country who seeks aid from its program OMT, known as Outright Monetary Transactions, must first agree to abide by strict policy conditions. Outgoing Premier Mario Monti has been hesitant to accept offers by the ECB to help prop up Italy’s public finances by purchasing the state debt.
Draghi said that the ECB’s rules on how it deploys its bond-buying program “are what they are”. “OMT remains, is in place and is a very effective backstop.
But you know the rules,” Draghi said. Draghi refused to comment on the possibility of an Italian referendum, proposed by anti-establishment leader Beppe Grillo, to exit from the eurozone.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU Socialists Campaign for Exit Strategy From Austerity
Call for investments, deficit revision or Italy’s risk
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS — One week from the umpteenth EU summit on the European economic crisis, to be held after Italy’s inconclusive general election, Europe’s centre-left bloc is calling for an exit strategy from austerity policies which have failed. At stake is not only Europe’s economy, with a rising number of protest votes and populist movements gaining ground due to dissatisfaction over harsh austerity measures, but of democracy as well. Investments are needed as well as a revision of the criteria and timing of the deficit as EU policies need to be more ‘realistic’, a position also backed by economists and international organizations. The deputy secretary of the OECD, Pier Carlo Padoan, said debate should ‘move from the quantity to the quality’ of austerity measures. Results so far obtained should not be thrown away, he warned, though austerity should ‘slow down and be reviewed in its quality, improving its composition so it brings more growth and equality’. An example cited by Padoan was cutting down production aid rather than raising taxes so ‘the effect on public finances is the same but the impact of social retribution is very different’.
Investments should also be made on the green economy. But in order to do all this, EU Socialists are demanding that investments be deducted from the deficit, an idea also cited by Italy’s outgoing premier Mario Monti and proposed years ago by French economist Jean-Paul Fitoussi.
The timing to meet the 3% deficit goal set by Brussels should also be reviewed, giving countries more time to meet the target without foregoing budget ties so as not to stifle economic recovery. The request has been stressed by French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici as well as by Spain’s Socialist leader Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, a plan which has the support of Italy’s Democratic Left leader Pier Luigi Bersani who said he is ‘confident that right now a slowdown is possible’.
Another key point is to revise the role and policies of the European Central Bank (ECB) and make the EU budget anti-cyclical. Otherwise the risk, warned Fitoussi, is that all of Europe will witness ‘a fall of the value of democracy’, like in Italy and other EU countries.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU-17: Record Current Account Surplus of 59.5 Billion
In 4th trimester; EU-27 goes to +5,1 billion in trade
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, MARCH 8 — The euro zone’s balance of payments registered a record surplus of 59,5 billion euros — worth 2,5% of GDP — in the fourth trimester of 2012, the highest data since 1999, according to Eurostat. With a surplus totalling 34,1 billion, the EU-27 recorded a +5,1 billion euros in goods trade, up from the -15,6 billion recorded in the fourth trimester in 2011.
For the euro zone, data on the fourth trimester (+59,5 billion) followed the +41,0 billion surplus registered in the third trimester, the +14,9 in the second and -4,6 billion in the first. Surplus in the fourth trimester of 2011 totalled 36,6 billion.
‘Italy is one of the main contributors’ of the euro zone’s 59,5 billion surplus, Eurostat sources said, adding that data on individual countries will be released in April. The record surplus was made up of +42,2 billion in the trade of goods, +22,1 billion in the trade of services, +12,3 billion in incomes and -17,0 billion in transfers.
As far as the balance of payments of the EU toward third countries is concerned, the 34,1 billion surplus also signalled a record high since Eurostat started collecting data in 1999.
Particularly significant was the change in the trend of trade balance of goods: -15,6 billion in the fourth trimester of 2011, -32,6 billion in the first trimester 2012, -11,1 billion in the second, -2,6 billion in the third and +5,1 in the fourth.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Europe’s Predictable Crisis Revival
Back in December last year, there was a growing sentiment that the worst of the European crisis could be behind us. I did not believe these claims then, and few would believe them now.
The events of the past few weeks, in which I took a break from this column, have only confirmed my earlier fears. The unclear result of the Italian election and its popular rejection of EU-sanctioned reforms is the most visible sign that Europe has re-entered its familiar crisis mode (Four reasons the euro crisis isn’t over, December 20). But it is not the only sign.
To be clear, the euro crisis is not back but it has never been away. There were four reasons why I was certain in December that the euro crisis had not been solved:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Samaras Puts Off Meeting With Troika
No agreement yet on the reduction of civil servant number
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 7 — The meeting between troika representatives and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras which was due to take place today has been postponed until next week as a number of issues remain unresolved between the Greek government and its lenders as daily Kathimerini reports. Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said on Wednesday that there was a “long road ahead” in the talks between the two sides, which are taking place as part of the latest review of the Greek fiscal adjustment program. A positive review will help unlock the final sub-tranche of loan funding that Greece is due to receive in the first quarter of this year, worth 2.8 billion euros. Among the issues that have yet to be settled are the reduction of civil servant numbers via a mobility scheme or through direct dismissals, a payment plan for companies and individuals that owe social security contributions and a program giving bank customers longer to repay their loans. The coalition government had been hoping the troika would accept a 60-installment payment plan for social security fund debtors but representatives of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund have not consented. Athens is also proposing that for the next four years some low-income households, pensioners, the unemployed, large families and disabled people be allowed to only repay the interest on their loans, which will be set at a fixed rate of 1.5%. The length of the moratorium and the interest rate are both thought to trouble the troika, which prefers a two-year period of interest-only repayments. A plan to streamline government ministries, which is close to completion, will result in around 2,000 employees being put into the mobility scheme in due course. The aim is for a total of 25,000 civil servants to enter the scheme up until the end of the year.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Pay 14% Lower Than in Germany, Italy Below Eurozone Average
Older employees paid 61% more than new hires, says Istat
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 4 — Italy is far removed from Germany not only as far as GDP, productivity and spread levels are concerned but also on salaries. In Italy, retributions per hour are 14% lower than in Germany, well below the euro zone average, ranking 12th in the 27-member European Union. The data comes from a report on salaries, inter-generational differences and education in EU countries by Italian statistics agency Istat called ‘The structure of retributions’ in 2010.
According to Istat, a further disparity concerns new hires and an older generation of workers. The gross salary per employee totals 28,558 euros but this average hides great inequality: workers with at least 15 years of experience in a company are paid 61,4% more than those hired in the last five years. Moreover, a significant gap was registered in the salaries of men and women, who are paid over 20% less than their male co-workers.
The study, published on February 25, followed a four-year research at a European level, taking into consideration companies with at least 10 workers in the industrial and services sectors, except public administrations.
In Italy, workers with at least 15 years of experience earned 36.247 euros compared to the 22.461 of employees who had been hired within the previous five years. The distance was less significant when the annual gross salary per hour was considered — 19,9 euros against 13,7 euros. Moreover, the dossier showed that workers with an open-ended contract had an annual gross salary which exceeded by approximately 14,000 euros that of employees with short-term contracts.
As far as gender differences were concerned, the average annual retribution pro-capita was 31.394 for men and 24.828 for women, who earned 21% less than their male colleagues.
‘This difference is partly due to the different number of hours paid per year’, explained Istat, which is higher for men.
The difference is in fact less significant when salaries per hour are considered: in 2010, women were paid almost 10% less per hour than men.
Italy ranked 12th in the 27-member EU when salaries of Italian workers were compared to those of their European counterparts, below the euro zone’s average but slightly over the average of the whole European Union. According to the ranking, which takes into consideration the gross hourly salary of full time employees in October 2010, Italians were paid 14,6% less than Germans, in nominal terms, 13% less than Britons and 11% less than French workers.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Record 89,304,000 Americans ‘Not in Labor Force’ — 296,000 Fewer Employed Since January
The number of Americans designated as “not in the labor force” in February was 89,304,000, a record high, up from 89,008,000 in January, according to the Department of Labor. This means that the number of Americans not in the labor force increased 296,000 between January and February.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) labels people who are unemployed and no longer looking for work as “not in the labor force,” including people who have retired on schedule, taken early retirement, or simply given up looking for work.
The increase marks the second month in a row, after rising in January from 88.8 million in December. Those not in the labor force had declined in December from 88.9 million in November.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The holiday giant, a fixture on the high street for more than a century, today announced that one in six of its 15,500 workforce in the UK and Ireland will be laid off.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Budget Day: Thousands of Public Sector Staff Set to Walk Out Over Pensions and Pay
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said that the strike will mark the start of ‘a rolling programme of walkouts and disruptive action’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
California Senate Approves $24 Million for Gun Confiscation Program
The California Senate approved a $24-million expenditure on Thursday to speed the confiscation of guns from people who have been disqualified from owning firearms because of criminal convictions or serious mental illness.
Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) said budget cuts to the Department of Justice have hampered a program that targets people who purchased firearms legally but were later disqualified because of a subsequent conviction or determination of mental illness.
As a result of the cuts, there is a backlog of 19,000 people who have improper possession of more than 40,000 guns, including 1,600 assault weapons, and the number is increasing faster than their firearms can be confiscated.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
CNN Promotes Daryl Hannah’s Global Warming Film by Former Eco-Terrorist Spokesman
This is CNN, where environmental activists can launch their blistering attacks on man-made global warming skeptics without much of a challenge. On Tuesday’s Starting Point, actress and activist Daryl Hannah promoted her new documentary “Greedy, Lying Bastards” that hits the funding and supposed falsehoods behind global warming skepticism.
Hannah was able to slam “false information” by the Koch brothers, compare herself to Martin Luther King, and call for the “eradication” of Citizens United during the interview. CNN completely ignored that the director and writer of her film, Craig Rosebraugh, was a fomer spokesman for eco-terrorist groups for years before abandoning his work.
At least The Oregonian newspaper took the trouble to provide such background context for the film that CNN ignored.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cupcake Plastic Army Figures Declared “Insensitive” By School
The nationwide panic over anything remotely related to guns continues apace as a third grader in Michigan was reprimanded by school officials when he brought a cupcake to school with a plastic toy soldier on top of it.
The school allows students to bring cupcakes to class when it is their birthday. However, these tasty treats were immediately labeled “insensitive” by teachers after the boy’s mother placed a soldier on top of each of the 30 cakes.
The toy solider, a favourite of kids for generations, and recently rejuvenated by the Pixar “Toy Story” series of films, is now apparently terroristic, according to the principal at Schall Elementary School, who confiscated the evil figurines.
The head called the boy’s father, Casey Fountain, and told him that his actions were inappropriate considering “recent gun related tragedies”.
Fountain was fuming and decided to take the story to local news station WNEM TV5.
The School is standing by the decision. The principal refused to speak to reporters, but released the following statement:
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Feinstein: All Vets Are Mentally Ill and Government Should Prevent Them From Owning Firearms
During the Senate Judiciary meeting today to markup a potpourri of bills designed to deny the American people their rights under the Second Amendment and disarm them, Senator Dianne Feinstein opposed an amendment to her so-called assault weapons ban legislation that would allow veterans to continue buying firearms the bill would outlaw.
Feinstein basically said all veterans have PTSD and should have their Second Amendment stripped. In response to the amendment, she said the following:
[…]
Feinstein’s remark, however, reveals a deep-seated mistrust and contempt for America’s veterans. It also reveals the fear by government of the revolutionary potential of veterans, a fear dutifully expressed by the Department of Homeland Security when it said returning veterans are “right wing extremists” who may challenge the government.
Incidentally, Feinstein is way off the mark. Although PTSD is a relatively new definition, soldiers returning from combat have experienced anxiety disorders since time immemorial. It is nothing new. She is merely exploiting a modern psychology term in order to add substance to her argument that veterans are insane and as such must have their Second Amendment rights nullified.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Playing for Keeps on Gun Control
It is time to play for keeps, because the Marxist in the White House in exercising undue influence over their legislative process in order to compromise their liberty.
The inordinate backlash over the push for new, more stringent gun control laws in the United States is only “inordinate” to those who either understand nothing about the nation’s founding, the Constitution, and the Second Amendment, or those who wish to subvert same. Interestingly, the state of Colorado (where I happen to live) has become ground zero for the gun control discussion.
In the case of Colorado, the controversy has reached a fevered pitch, as legislators continue to advance draconian, wholly unconstitutional measures concocted by New York’s fascist Mayor Bloomberg and his Demand a Plan organization. Last month, Vice-President Biden personally leaned on Colorado legislators to get these bills passed. So, with sanction from the White House itself, these legislators forged ahead in typical autocratic progressive fashion.
The Colorado measures have not been popular, not that this matters to liberal Democrats.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
School Now Offering Counseling to Kids Upset by Strawberry-Tart Gun!
It’s called doubling down. First, a teacher at the Park Elementary School in Baltimore flips out, because 7-year-old Josh Welch bites his strawberry tart, trying to make it look like a mountain—but it ends up looking (sort of) like a gun.
Obscene gun shape disguised as common toaster pastry. The teacher reports Josh, who is then suspended for two days.
Now, an assistant principal at the school has sent a letter to parents offering counseling to kids who may have been upset by the incident. I kid you not.
“…If your children express that they are troubled by today’s incident…our school counselor is available to meet with any students who have the need to do so…”
What happens when a little kid shows up in the counselor’s office and says he’s angry at the lunatic teacher who upbraided Josh Welch?
Does the school suspend that little kid, too?? Does the counselor try to convince the kid he was really upset because he saw a danish bitten into a few right angles?
“You see, Jimmy, this is classic case of displacement. You think you’re bothered by the teacher. But really, it was that tart. Do you get it? Your agitation may be sign of ADHD. I’m going to refer you to a psychiatrist. He can give you medicine. It’ll make you feel better.”
Park Elementary school isn’t retreating from their suspension of Josh Welch. They’re doubling down. And what are the parents of the students doing ? Nothing. They’re knuckling under. They’re shrugging it all off. Why? Let’s see. Oh yes. They’re rank cowards.
And do you think their kids realize that? Are you kidding? Of course they do. The kids are registering how easily their mothers and fathers are copping out. The kids see there’s a robot-setup at work. The school does something that makes no sense at all. A kid is being punished for no reason at all. And the parents are taking it. The parents are mush.
It’s all a joke, yes. The strawberry tart. The gun shape. But beyond that, the two-day suspension of Josh Welch wasn’t a joke. And nobody cares.
This is the real lesson the school is imparting. “See, we can do anything we want to. We can do the most ridiculous thing in the world. And nobody will lift a finger to stop us.”
Now the kids think, “What else can we be suspended for? Suppose we don’t like those tarts and don’t eat them? Can they kick us out for that? If a shoe lace is untied? Can one of the prison guards report us to the principal?”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
SPLC Letter to Holder and Napolitano: Patriot “Hate” Groups Pose Domestic Terror Threat
The Southern Poverty Law Center sent a letter earlier this week to Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano urging the government to establish a task force to investigate the supposed domestic terror threat posed by the likes of Alex Jones, We Are Change, Oath Keepers, the Constitution Party, the Tyranny Response Team and thousands of other Americans outside of the orbit of the establishment.
The letter sent by the president and CEO of the SPLC, J. Richard Cohen, begins by reminding Holder and Napolitano that the organization “wrote Attorney General Janet Reno about the growing threat of domestic terrorism” prior to the Oklahoma City bombing in October, 1994.
“Today, we write to express similar concerns. In the last four years, we have seen a tremendous increase in the number of conspiracy-minded, antigovernment groups as well as in the number of domestic terrorist plots.” Today’s “ominous threats,” Cohen warns, come from citizens concerned about federal government attacks on the Second Amendment. “Because of the looming dangers, we urge you to establish an interagency task force to assess the adequacy of the resources devoted to responding to the growing threat of non-Islamic domestic terrorism.”
Utilizing the standard SPLC modus operandi and fear tactics, Cohen conflates a small number of racist white supremacist groups with the larger and more diverse patriot community. He also characterizes growing concern on the part of millions of Americans in response to egregious violations of the Constituion as dangerous and deems the federal government response to this “domestic terror” threat as entirely insufficient. “In light of these questions and the disturbing trends we have described in this letter, we believe it is time to take a fresh look at the issue,” he concludes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Exclusive: Erik Rush decries how ‘a radical Marxist’ is ruling his state by pro
On March 4, despite hundreds of Coloradans flooding the State Capitol in Denver and honking horns on the streets that encircle the building all day long, and the presence of 25 county sheriffs opposed to seven Democratic gun-control proposals, the measures all passed the Colorado House along party-line votes. Democrats currently control both houses of the Colorado legislature, as well as the governor’s office. Legislators’ testimony during the hearings was replete with smug, ignorant sanctimony, blithering idiocy and outright lies.
The Democrat members of the Colorado legislature have shown themselves to be enemies of the Constitution of the United States of America and the people of the state of Colorado. What occurred in Colorado on that day was nothing short of a disgusting outrage and a chilling precursor of things to come.
Two factors regarding this development are particularly distressing. The first is the revelation that the Colorado legislature is lousy with knee-jerk dullards who operate at the level of those who suspend grade-school children from school for possessing napkins and toaster pastries that bear rudimentary resemblance to firearms. As has become clear in recent weeks, many are themselves from the ranks of low-information voters with scant knowledge of the Constitution, or progressive zealots who seek to abolish same.
The second factor is the influence of President Barack Hussein Obama writ large on the whole affair.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The True Meaning Behind Holder’s Response to Rand Paul
The federal government has defined a laundry list of banal behaviors and political activities as potential terrorism, from paying for a cup of coffee with cash to buying storable food in bulk. The definition of a potential terrorist — and remember the government only has to accuse someone of being a terrorist as a pre-cursor to killing them with a drone strike — has been watered down to such an extent that the Department of Homeland Security now considers Americans who are “suspicious of centralized federal authority,” and “reverent of individual liberty” as potential terrorists.
[…]
Furthermore, as the Washington Post reported yesterday, the Obama administration is now preparing to extend the legal basis for its drone strikes to target people who have no direct connection to actual terrorists.
“Officials said legal advisers at the White House, the State Department, the Pentagon and intelligence agencies are now weighing whether the law can be stretched to cover what one former official called “associates of associates,” reports the Post.
This could mean that Americans who unknowingly communicate with somebody who communicates with somebody else the government accuses of being a terrorist could become a target for a drone strike.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UCD Researcher Says Gun Law Study Flawed
Noted gun violence researcher Dr. Garen Wintermute, of the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program, says a just released study that implies that gun laws save lives is inconclusive.
The study, by Dr. Eric Fleegler of the Boston Children’s Hospital, was released in the online version of the Journal of the American Medical Association. It looked at the number and strength of gun laws in each state and compared them the number of firearms fatalities.
There is a correlation.
“What they found was that the more laws a state has on balance lower was its firearm mortality rate,” said Wintermute.
But he also said there is no evidence that gun laws were responsible for fewer gun deaths.
“The fact that two things are present at the same time doesn’t mean one of those things caused the other,” said Wintermute.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The message, from the manager of Daw Mill Colliery near Fillongley, Warks., read: ‘I apologise for the late note […but] the company will formally announce the closure of Daw Mill without chance of reprieve tomorrow.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Czech Republic Baffled by Unprecedented Cyber Assault
AFP — The Czech Republic has been hit by an unprecedented wave of cyber attacks this week, with investigators stumped over their origin amid concerns they could lead to worse mayhem.
“We don’t know anything about the motivation for now, because no one has claimed the attacks,” Radek Holy, spokesman for the National Cyber Security Centre, told AFP following attacks on media, banks and telecommunications websites.
“The character of the attacks gives us absolutely no clues about the reasons” behind them, he added.
On Monday hackers launched a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack on leading Czech news websites, blocking their servers with hundreds of thousands of requests.
They targeted Seznam.cz, the most popular Czech search engine, on Tuesday before taking on the Prague Stock Exchange, the central bank and several commercial banks on Wednesday, and then two national mobile operators Thursday.
According to Karel Kucharik, head of the country’s police cyber crime squad, this week’s assault constituted “the biggest attack of its kind in the Czech Republic since the Internet was launched.”
Hany Farghali, spokesman for targeted Telefonica Czech Republic, said the IP (Internet provider) addresses behind the attacks were Russian.
“I can confirm that we are cooperating on the international level,” Czech police spokeswoman Marketa Johnova told AFP, without disclosing details “for tactical reasons.”
But Holy was sceptical about the Russian link.
“We definitely can’t say this attack has come from Russia. The IP addresses are not only Russian, they are from other parts of Europe too,” he said, explaining the attackers were taking control of drone computers.
The computers’ “owners may not even know about it,” Holy added.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Danish restaurant Noma, crowned the world’s best restaurant three years running in one poll, on Friday apologised after 63 guests fell ill with sickness and diarrhoea after visiting the haute cuisine establishment.
According to the Danish health authorities, the guests fell ill during a five-day period in February and the outbreak could have come from a sick kitchen staff employee.
Health inspectors criticised the restaurant for not alerting authorities soon enough and for not taking proper action after the employee was struck ill upon returning home after work.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
EU Commission Opens Inquiry on Cyprus Airways
Investigation into public support measures; 31.3 mln in 2013
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, MARCH 06 — The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into a number of public support measures in favour of Cyprus Airways. At this stage, the Commission has doubts whether these measures are in line with EU state aid rules. A capital increase of Cyprus Airways took place in early 2013 and it appears that the Cypriot State contributed 31.3 million, whereas private participation was minimal. At this stage, the Commission has doubts that the capital increase was made on market terms. In addition, the Cypriot authorities notified to the Commission a rescue aid loan of 73 million for Cyprus Airways in December 2012. It appears that loan payments have already been made in 2013. This would violate the so-called “standstill obligation” in EU state aid rules, according to which state aid must not be granted before the Commission has approved it. Moreover, Cyprus Airways had already received rescue and restructuring aid in 2007. Finally, the Cypriot State is planning to grant ex gratia compensation to redundant personnel of Cyprus Airways, in addition to what they are entitled under the Cypriot law. The Commission notes that the ex gratia compensation to redundant employees may constitute an advantage to the company.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Luxury goods worth more than £11 million are to be seized from a Saudi princess to pay her shopping bills, a Paris judge ordered today.
Maha Al-Sudairi, who was once married to the country’s late Crown Prince, helped herself to millions of pounds worth of goods whenever she visited the French capital.
As well as art works and jewellery, they included £5,500 worth of luxury chocolates, and £1.4m on the hire of two Rolls Royce Phantoms and ‘around 30 chauffers’ to take her shopping.
Last year, Mrs Al-Sudairi took over an entire floor at the four star Shangri-la Hotel with 60 servants for six months, but failed to settle the £5.5m bill.
When King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia refused to pay for her stay, she claimed diplomatic immunity and moved to the Royal Monceau Hotel nearby.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: EU Commission: Inquiry on Support to Larco Mining
Over 105 million euros measures, doubts if in line with EU rules
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, MARCH 06 — The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to verify whether State support measures granted by Greece to Larco General Mining and Metallurgical Company S.A. (Larco) for an amount of over 105 million euros comply with EU state aid rules. The Commission has doubts that the measures are in line with EU rules, in particular the rules on state aid for the rescue and restructuring of companies in difficulty. It appears that Larco may have benefited from several state aid measures in the past in excess of 105 million euros. These include a capital increase in 2009 and several State guarantees for loans in the period 2008-2010, the possible non-collection by the State of a debt since 2004, and a waiver of a tax fine pre-payment in 2010. Based on its financial data, Larco appears to have been in difficulty at least since 2008.
The EU Commission will now investigate whether these measures constitute state aid in the meaning of EU rules. Public support measures constitute state aid if they were not made on terms that a private player operating under market conditions would have accepted. If any of the measures do involve state aid, the EU Commission will then examine whether they are compatible with EU state aid rules.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Grillo Tells Time His Movement Saves Italy From Violence
M5S ‘channels’ anger at elected officials
(ANSA) — Rome, March 7 — Italian comic Beppe Grillo, the head of Italy’s 5-Star Movement, on Thursday warned that if his movement failed in its anti-establishment mission, Italy would descend into violence.
In an interview with Time Magazine, Grillo said: “I channeled all the (people’s) anger into this movement. They should thank us one by one: if we fail, Italy will be guided by violence in the streets”.
Grillo, whose 5-Star Movement emerged as the potential kingmaker in Italy’s inconclusive February 24-25 national elections, also accused Italy’s political parties of faking competition in the interview.
The parties “say they are one against the other, but, behind the scenes, they are the same thing. Left and right in Italy have always pretended to fight. Now they will have to do in broad daylight the deals which they have done in the shadows for the past 20 years. And if they do, they are politically dead,” Grillo said.
On a lighter note, Grillo said he saw himself continuing in his role as a comic. Asked by Time what he saw himself doing a year from now, he replied: “I will do a world tour. I will do shows. And I will be what I am”.
Asked if he still considered himself a comedian, Grillo replied: “An extraordinary comedian”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Consumer Group Presses for Mahony Probe
Codacons calls on prosecutors to meet with victims experts
(ANSA) — Rome, March 7 — An Italian consumer association is pressing forward in its motion to investigate Cardinal Roger Mahony and his role in allegedly covering up instances of priest sex abuse in the United States. On Thursday, Codacons filed a motion with Rome prosecutors to convene with the leaders of US-based SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) as expert witnesses. Named in the motion were SNAP directors David Clohessy and Barbara Dorris, who are in Rome advocating for issues related to sex abuse in the Church to be a priority in electing a new pope at the upcoming conclave.
Last Friday, Codacons submitted a request to investigate Mahony if he went to Rome, which he did. Shortly before arriving, the retired archbishop of Los Angeles was summoned to answer questions under oath about a visiting Mexican priest who in 1987 is believed to have molested 26 children.
In its initial motion, Codacons said “we must bring to light whether there were any Italians who were victimized”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Cabinet Tightens Discipline for Civil Servants
State employees in non-compliance may be fired
(ANSA) — Rome, March 8 — State employees who violate a code of conduct approved on Friday by the Italian cabinet will be subject to new disciplinary measures that include dismissal. The series of measures was passed by after a proposal by Civil Service Minister Filippo Patroni Griffi.
The code, issued as part of an anti-corruption law and in line with OECD recommendations on state ethics and integrity, indicates standards of conduct and says that any violation should be subject to disciplinary action.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Says Cannot Tolerate ‘Judicial Persecution’
Ex-premier handed one-year jail term over wiretap
(see related stories) (ANSA) — Rome, March 7 — Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday that the one-year prison sentence he was given over the publication of an illegally obtained wiretap was the result of intolerable “persecution”.
“It’s truly impossible to tolerate judicial persecution like this, which has lasted 20 years and revs up every time there are particularly complex moments in the country’s political life,” he said.
Berlusconi’s centre-right coalition came second in last month’s inconclusive general election.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Nat’l Journalist Association Fights Back at Grillo
(AGI) Rome — M5S Beppe Grillo’s criticism of journalists does not bode well for a man who wants to moralize the country, INJA said ..
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: LNP’s Maroni Says Grand Coalition Govt is the Way Ahead
(AGI) Milan — On Thursday, the Northern League’s Maroni made the case for a 5-year grand coalition government to avert a re-run .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Prosecutor Wants Autopsy of MPS Spokesman After Suicide
Troubled bank asks for silence ‘in respect of David Rossi’
(ANSA) — Siena, March 7 — The public prosecutor investigating the apparent suicide Wednesday of David Rossi, the former head of communications of troubled lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), asked for an autopsy to be carried out on the body, reversing an earlier decision Thursday.
Initially, the prosecutor, Nicola Marini, said that only an “external inspection” was needed.
In a statement released by the bank, MPS said it “asks for silence as a form of respect towards David Rossi”.
Rossi is believed to have jumped from his office window.
His house and office were recently searched as part of a probe into financial scandals at the bank, but he was not under suspicion of wrongdoing.
In his office he left a note to his wife that said, “I made a mess”.
Investigators Thursday found other scraps of paper in his office which appeared to indicate he was attempting to write a letter to his wife to explain his decision.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Bridgestone Unlikely to Change Stance on Bari Closure
Sources close to company say plan set to go through
(ANSA) — Tokyo, March 8 — Tire-maker Bridgestone is unlikely to change its plan to close its factory in the southern Italian city of Bari next year, according to sources close to the Japanese company.
The closure of the plant, which makes car tires in the Modugno suburb of Bari, will throw 950 people out of work if, as announced, it takes place in the first half of next year.
“We are waiting for the date, that is the only thing I can say for now”, said Bridgestone’s Chief Communications Officer Makoto Shiomi.
The Bari plant is one of eight in Europe owned by Bridgestone.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Romania: The EU Must Stop Stepping on Our Toes
Jurnalul National Bucharest
Germany has announced that it will veto the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen Area. Perhaps it is time for Romanians to stop being the victims of their partners’ political games, writes a Romanian journalist in a leader article
Dan Tomozei.
In the midst of an election year, Germany is playing a card already put on the table by Italy, the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom showing that remnants of superior and contemptuous behaviour towards the East are still alive and well.
Thus, the official announcement by the German Interior Minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, warning that Romania and Bulgaria will be greeted by a “veto” at the meeting of the Justice and Internal Affairs council scheduled for March 7, is a confirmation of the obsessions and internal political games of the countries of the EU — a far cry from the principal of equality of treatment for members of the Union.
Romania is once again left on the doorstep of the Schengen Area, and, once again, for reasons that have nothing to do with the requirements for joining. Undoubtedly, Friedrich (CSU — Christian Social Union), a coalition partner of [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel and her Christian Democratic Union, reflects the point of view of the coalition in power in Germany (CDU/CSU) and highlights the electoral stress under which the coalition must operate.
Germany’s legendary rectitude has evaporated when one of the leaders of the EU “engine” confuses domestic politics for European politics. Referring to an internal electoral issue, the allocation of social benefits, the German minister speaks about the corruption of the visa system in Romania and Bulgaria. “Those who come only to collect social benefits, and who thus abuse the right of freedom of movement, must be stopped,” such is the comment of a minister in power.
Incendiary language
The Schengen problem was already treated in the same manner by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. This diversion tactic, used by the old Europeans to distract public opinion from sensitive domestic issues, is part of a set of tools that renders the EU less and less credible because it is less and less capable of solving its problems…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Sex Abuse Survivors Name Three ‘Promising’ Papal Contenders
Other ‘dirty dozen’ cardinals put on blacklist
(ANSA) — Rome, March 7 — A group representing American survivors of sexual abuse by priests on Thursday named three cardinals they said were ‘promising’ candidates for pope because of their record on child sex-abuse claims.
The three lauded by the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) were Cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines and Christoph Schoenborn of Austria, and Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin. Martin is a longshot candidate since he is not a cardinal, while the other two have been named as ‘papabili’, or papal contenders. SNAP said Cardinal Tagle is one of very few prelates who have spoken clearly about the “culture of shame” that surrounds victims of sex abuse and has been helpful in defrocking at least one convicted priest. At a Vatican abuse symposium in 2012, Tagle mentioned coverups and argued that the church should stop “waiting for a bomb” and instead prevent the scandal from happening, rather than try to “prevent it from exploding”. The group applauded Cardinal Schoenborn for “famously and publicly criticizing” Cardinal Angelo Sodano, now dean of the College of Cardinals, for allegedly obstructing the investigation of Schoenborn’s predecessor, Cardinal Herman Groer, who was accused of abusing children. Schoenborn was later disciplined by Pope Benedict XVI for his remarks. SNAP lauded Martin, the primate of Ireland, for acknowledging that there were likely thousands of abuse victims throughout Ireland, and that clergy abuse epidemic “will shock us all”. “There’s a real danger today of people saying the child abuse scandal is over… It isn’t over,” Martin told the Irish press in 2012 as the scope of priest sex abuse in the country continued to unfold. Martin, SNAP underlines, “also went against the norm when he willingly turned over documents to secular officials relating to abusive priests”.
The list of papal preferences was presented at a hotel in Rome where clergy sex-abuse victims held signs and childhood photos and urged Catholic officials to provide training in dioceses for clergy and parishioners on abuse prevention. David Clohessy, director of SNAP, said the group was not officially “endorsing” any of them. “While SNAP has serious doubts about the role nearly every top Catholic official has played in the Church’s continuing abuse and coverup crisis, the group is highlighting three potential ‘papabili’, calling them ‘promising’“.
On Wednesday the group named a ‘Dirty Dozen’ of cardinals they said should not be candidates for pope. Those cardinals, who will attend an upcoming conclave, are: Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico; Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras; Timothy Michael Dolan of New York; Angelo Scola and Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, both from Italy; Australia’s George Pell; Dominik Duka of the Czech Republic; Donald Wuerl of Washington DC; Marc Ouellet from Quebec; Sean O’Malley from Boston; Argentina’s Leonardo Sandri; and Peter Turkson from Ghana.
The Vatican replied that it would not be swayed by the list.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
A grandmother who spent £10,000 turning a field into a landscape garden has been ordered to rip it up because it breaches greenbelt planning rules.
Planning bosses said the garden, home to fish, frogs, newts, birds, insects and a variety of plant life, ‘erodes the character and quality of the area’ and is ‘inappropriate for the greenbelt’.
The have also told Jean Bailey to return land to ‘agricultural use’, but the 74-year-old said she would rather go to prison then lose her ‘pride and joy’.
The retired florist spent seven years creating the garden in Harriseahead, Staffordshire, which she dedicated to her late husband John.
Mr Bailey was a keen gardener and housing association clerk, and died in 1994 of cancer aged 56.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Lib Dems Are a Bunch of ‘Nutters and Cockroaches’, Says the Party’s Own President
The Liberal Democrats are a ‘bunch of nutters and cockroaches’, the party’s president Tim Farron has claimed in an astonishingly frank interview about their future prospects.
Mr Farron admitted the Lib Dems are in a ‘critical state’ but he was trying to ‘breed and train a bunch of nutters’ willing to work tirelessly to defy the opinion polls and win elections.
Despite being rocked by sex and court scandals, he claimed the party had the resilience and ability to survive of ‘cockroaches’ but warned: ‘One day someone will stand on us if we are not careful.
[Comment: Hilarious…Daily Mail actually included a photo of a cockroach in their article.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Murderer Brian Lynch Absconds From Open Prison During Daytrip to City Centre
Brian Lynch, 44, has not been seen since 3pm yesterday when he went missing in Preston city centre. He was jailed in 1988 for the killing of 21-year-old Chi Yeung Yip in Clayton, Manchester.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Met Police Officer Who Called Black Men ‘Monkeys’ Is Sacked for Gross Misconduct
Pc Kevin Hughes, who was based at Newham, has been sacked by the force for gross misconduct while colleague David Hair has received a final written warning after the pair were cleared of racially-aggravated harassment last November.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Red-faced police chiefs have made a grovelling apology to the victims of a burglary after officers took six days to respond to their terrified 999 call.
The victims, who have asked not to be named, returned to their home, in Thurrock, Essex, to find a 4×4 car in their drive and a gang of men raiding their house.
When the husband and wife confronted the men, one claimed to be cleaning their block paving.
But as the quick-thinking couple called police, the gang ploughed their vehicle through the garden wall and made a quick getaway.
[Comment: If you want an immediate response insult someone on Twitter. — Ged , Alicante, Spain, 08/3/2013 16:02]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
19-month-old Harry Connolly, from Northamptonshire, died of dehydration and acute kidney failure. The last doctor to treat him, Aboo Thamby, diagnosed a virus and told his mother to feed him rice and yogurt.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A 60-year-old man left fighting for his life following an apparent trolley rage incident in a supermarket before Christmas has died.
Michael Buckley, 60, was struck with a shopping trolley and knocked to the ground during an altercation at a branch of Marks & Spencer in Bromley, Kent, on December 22.
But police revealed today that Mr Buckley, who is thought to be from the Forest Hill area, passed away on Tuesday.
He had been taken to hospital but a few days after the incident suffered complications and was left in a critical condition.
[…]
Staff at M & S had said the woman appeared to have launched the attack because the man had failed to get out of her way fast enough.
One M&S employee said the victim was left sprawled on the floor in agony after what appears to have been a ‘moment of madness’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Seven teenage thugs involved in a riot that forced a shut down at a young offenders institution could be in line for compensation — after a judge ruled the facility violated their human rights by banning them from the gym as punishment.
The seven, all serving sentences for serious crimes, were amongst a baying mob of 24 youths who invaded a football pitch at Ashfield Young Offenders Institution in February last year.
In terrifying scenes at the institution, near Bristol, the teenagers tore up astroturf and used parts of demolished goal posts as weapons to threaten staff.
[Comment: Another Judge who has most obviously attended the Common Purpose Course all paid for by the Taxpayers. Time to close down this Propaganda Department so these unfortunates can be returned to reality and rejoin the human race. — Lizzie-M1 , Alexandria-UK_GB., 08/3/2013 19:12 ]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Lisa Smirl, from Brighton, saw three different doctors with a range of symptoms over a year-long period. By the time the cancer was diagnosed, it was terminal.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican: Conclave Won’t be Short as No Agreement on a Candidate Says US Cardinal
Rome, 8 March, (AKI) — This month’s papal conclave to elect a successor to Benedict XVI will not be brief as there is no consensus on a candidate, US cardinal Donald Wuerl told Italian daily La Stampa on Friday.
“It won’t be short. Much depends on the the first few days, also because no clear choice of candidate has yet emerged…it is all in the hands of the Lord,” Wuerl said.
Seventy-two-year-old Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, is one of the 115 cardinal electors who will take part in the conclave, for which no date has yet been agreed on.
Cardinals on Friday were holding their seventh round of pre-conclave talks at the Rome.
Wuerling is one of two US cardinals included on a “Dirty Dozen” list of 12 cardinals who the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests lobby group (SNAP) on Wednesday urged not to take part in the conclave.
SNAP said the 12 cardinals were either linked to alleged coverups of sexual abuse by paedophile priests or were placed on the list because of their public remarks related to the abuse scandal.
The group said its accusations were based on media reports, legal filings and victims’ statements.
The child abuse scandal was one of several to have rocked Benedict XVI’s eight-year tenure as pope. He abdicated on 28 February saying he lacked the physical and mental strength to continue to lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.
Previous papal conclaves have lasted days, weeks or even months.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Activists Raped, Both Men and Women Victims
(ANSAmed) — ROME — Women are being systematically raped in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, Egyptian activist and psychiatrist Sally Toma told a March 8 conference organized here by Democratic Party (PD) MEP Silvia Costa. But also men are sexually abused by men in uniform.
Organized groups are roaming Tahrir Square, raping women in order to scare half the population away from demonstrating, while men are being beaten and raped in military barracks and police stations: they might outnumber the female sexual assault victims, Toma told in her update on the situation of women two years after the revolution.
In Cairo, women activists and demonstrators are being targeted by civilians. “They are sent by extremist groups led by the Salafist movement or by the (Muslim) Brotherhood”, explained Toma. “They move in groups of five to six people, molesting not for sexual gratification, but for the pleasure of harming others”. Women told her “they had knives held to their vaginas, while others were abducted, stripped and driven around the city, exposed to public shame,” Toma recounted. This is a way to keep at least half the demonstrators away, she said. “Women decide to leave Tahrir Square in fear of what has already happened to other women and to their friends.” But the women of Tahrir “are tough”, said the activist, who coordinated marches and meetings even before January 25.
“We women will remain,” she told ANSAmed in an interview. The sexual assaults against male activists are something new, Toma went on. Abducted off the streets, they are dragged to police stations and military barracks, where they are sexually abused by men in uniform. Many of these male victims are among her patients, said Toma, who now works almost full time helping these rape victims overcome the trauma. “I deal with post-traumatic situations. I’ve always worked with victims of sexual abuse and torture”, she explained, adding that many young activists are coming to her to tell her their stories. “There is no official data”, but the violence has increased in the past two months, Toma added. While many victims refuse to come forward out of shame, she estimates there were 1,000 rapes last year. “I work with my patients on how to channel the rage, sadness or shame, trying to reduce the desire for revenge”, said Toma, adding that many return to the street, only to be raped again. “This has happened to many of my patients. Some of these kids got raped two, three times in a row. We want to stop this vicious circle”. Toma currently directs the Cairo Institute of Human Rights Studies, which is supported by the United Nations Democracy Fund and which educates activists on how to act on the political level. It also provides training on how to form pressure groups at the local level in cities outside Cairo. “The revolution must move forward throughout the country, not just in Tahrir. We train them, we teach them how to denounce abuses and violations, how to contact NGOs and humanitarian organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. We have trained a large network of activists. It is made up of small cells, in which everyone knows one another and supports one another”.
Meanwhile, women activists are not giving up the streets: today’s March 8 women’s demonstration in Cairo has been called to protest the Muslim Brotherhood, Toma said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egyptian Superhero Breaks Taboo on Sexual Violence
Egyptian women have a new ally in their fight against sexual harassment — a superhero taking on the country’s sexual predators. FRANCE 24 talked to the creator of “Supermakh”, a comic character inspired by Superman.
Supermakh — or, Superman with an Egyptian twist. Dressed in white underwear and a floral motif cape, the comic superhero is fighting against Egypt’s rampant sexual harassment of women.
“I put a bit of myself in the character of Supermakh, and also a bit of the average Egyptian who would like to do something but is not always able to help out. It’s a superhero who succeeds, but not every time…” Makhlouf, the creator of Supermakh, told FRANCE 24.
After a brief appearance in the opposition newspaper El Doustour in 2007, the Cairo superhero reappeared on the cover of Tok Tok, the first Egyptian zine launched in the tumultuous pre-revolutionary days of January 2011.
In that story, Supermakh helps a young woman who tries to avoid the pressing demands of a strange Santa Claus.
“The story was popular, especially with girls,” said Makhouf.
In a country plagued by sexual harassment, most female readers probably identified themselves with the character of the girl in the comics.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Palestinians Clash With Israeli Forces in West Bank, Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Clashes broke out between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank and at a holy site in Jerusalem on Friday as tensions rose just weeks before a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.
Trouble broke out after the funeral in the West Bank of Palestinian who died of wounds on Thursday after being shot by Israeli soldiers during a confrontation two weeks ago.
More than 5,000 people attended the ceremony but afterwards a group of about 100 mourners threw stones at Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, a military spokeswoman said. ? In Jerusalem’s Old City, Israeli police fired stun grenades at Palestinian worshippers who threw rocks and firebombs at them after Friday prayers at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Dozens of officers in riot gear entered the politically sensitive area, one of Islam’s holiest sites, to break up a crowd of several hundred protesters.
Palestinian medical workers said about 35 protesters were injured at the plaza, none seriously. A number of policemen were slightly hurt, a police spokesman said.
As well as the al-Aqsa Mosque, the plaza houses the golden Dome of the Rock shrine, which marks the spot from which Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammad made his night journey to heaven.
Jews revere the sacred compound as the site of their Biblical Temple, destroyed by Roman troops in the 1st Century…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Daniel Pipes: 50 Years of Syrian Misery
The horrors of today’s Syria — repression, civil war, barbarity — resulted from many developments; one of the most important occurred 50 years ago today. That’s when the pedantically named “Military Committee of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba’th Party,” whose leadership included Hafez al-Assad, took power in Damascus in what has come to be known, again pedantically, as the “8 March Revolution.” The Ba’th (or Baath) party has ruled the country ever since, first under Hafez (1970-2000) and then under his son Bashar (since 2000).
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia: The Slow Emancipation of Women in Male-Dominated Islamic Society
Under the Islamic monarchy only nobles, wives and daughters of big businessmen can work. But at least 1.7 million women in the country are unemployed and segregated at home. The battle of Reem Asaad, a successful manager, to give dignity to women in the workplace has always been stigmatized by a society governed by Islamic Sharia.
Riyadh (AsiaNews / Agencies) — Among the 100 most influential women in the Arab world, 15 are Saudis. The list is drawn up by the CEO Middle East magazine specialized in the analysis on the Middle Eastern region. Most of them are successful managers belonging to the local nobility, or the wives of big businessmen. Lubna Olayan, who heads the Olayan Financing Company, occupies the second place in the rating, dominated by Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasim, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates. In third place is another Saudi, Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel. However, their status is very different from that of the thousands of women who live in the kingdom, suffering from an unemployment rate of over 30% the result of Islamic laws that segregate women to the private home and prevent them from working.
In Saudi Arabia, women are prohibited from various professions. The few who have jobs, including those operating in high finance, must always be under the control of a male “guardian”. Because of these restrictions, about 1.7 million women are without a job, even if more than 50% have a university education. The Gulf kingdom is the only country in the world that forbids women to drive a car, vote in elections and demands they have the permission of a man to hold down any job, travel or open a bank account.
Reem Asaad, is a successful manager employed at Saudi Fransi Capital Bank, where she is chief consultant in sales and investment. She became famous for having started a legal battle against the kingdom in 2008 to allow women to work in lingerie shops, replacing or alongside their male colleagues.
“It all started in 2008 — says Assad — I was in a shop in the capital and I was rummaging among the products, but I could not find a bra and panties in my size. So I tried to open one of the boxes on display, but I was immediately stopped by the male assistant, who admonished me saying he did not want to have problems with the muttawa, the religious police. “ In the clothes and linen shops, there are no dressing rooms, so you are forced to buy things without trying them on. “But I am a demanding customer — she says. So I went to the checkout I opened the box and asked the clerk to try the bra on his shoulders, causing a real scandal.” Back at home Asaad published the story on her Facebook page, launching an appeal to the government to replace male shop assistants with female staff. In a short time the news spread around the world and was published by the BBC. The embarrassment of the government was such that in 2011 the monarchy proposed a law to place orders in stores. The decree took two years to be approved by the civil and religious authorities, becoming official only last January.
“A bill already existed in 2005 — says the woman — but had never been tested, fearing the backlash of conservative fringes of society.” All openings made in recent years by the monarchy, including the one that allows female deputies to attend meetings of the Shura, are subject to the scrutiny of the religious authorities and society as a whole, dominated by men. “The government can do little — she explains — an example is the driving license for women. Reform will only come if the whole of society is willing to accept it. The same goes for women in the workplace. It is society not the government who in fact makes the final decision. Though there are laws often they are never applied”. The law on female staff in lingerie shops has undergone several changes and finally passed, but with the obligation for all businesses to build a wall up to 1.80 meters high for to divide men employees from women. Nevertheless, Assad stresses that is a turning point for the status of women in the country: “In just a few days, more than 28 thousand women applied to work in the shops in the main cities of the country. This shows a slow but significant change in society. Young Saudi women in 21st century are different from those of other generations. they are willing and want to work in the past women who worked to help rear their family were frowned upon not only by men but by other women too. “
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: 8 UN Soldiers Leave Golan Heights for Israel
Order over fears of new abductions
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, MARCH 8 — Eight UN peacekeepers from the Philippines left the Golan Heights where they were stationed and crossed the border with Israel, Ynet reports. The soldiers, who are members of the UN force charged with monitoring a 40-year-old ceasefire between Israel and Syria, were ordered to leave by their command over fears rebels could abduct them, as occurred two days ago to other UN peacekeepers.
Israeli soldiers stationed on the Golan Heights, Ynet added, met the Filipino soldiers at one of the crossings on the border together with UN personnel deployed in Israel. The Israeli army, Ynet also reported, stressed that its soldiers did not cross the border to welcome the eight peacekeepers who should be taken to the UN base in Ein Zivanit near the crossing of Quneitra.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Globalist Genocide in India Exposed
Medical experts in paediatrics in the country have lambasted the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Bill Gates Foundation for trumpeting India’s polio eradication campaign which they knew 10 years back was never going to succeed. ‘India was taken off the list of polio-endemic countries by the WHO on January 12, 2012 but the polio eradication campaign will have to be continued in some format for ever. The long promised monetary benefits from ceasing to vaccinate against poliovirus will never be achieved’, the well known paediatricians said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A 500-page reform proposal would upgrade the 1918 Code, revised in 1958. Adulterers and practitioners of black magic would get up to five years in prison. Couples living together out of wedlock would also be punished. Activists and some lawmakers see the proposed changes as an intrusion in people’s private life. Now the document goes before the People’s Representative Council.
Jakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Under proposed changes to Indonesia’s Criminal Code, people guilty of adultery, living together outside of wedlock or engaged in black magic could be jailed for years and receive hefty fines. Harsher sentences would promote greater “morality” in public life and punish behaviour deemed “un-Islamic”. Critics counter that such changes are simply another example of the state interfering in the private life of people and that they could lead to unsubstantiated legal proceedings.
The revised 500-page document is intended to modernise the 1918 Criminal Code, which was last updated in 1958. Currently, the Code lacks provisions against witchcraft or black magic but under its revised version, those found guilty of using black magic would face up to five years in jail or up to 300 million rupiah (US$ 30,000) in fines. Out of respect for tribal traditions and customs, “white”, i.e. good magic would remain legal.
The revised Criminal Code is also set to crack down on un-Islamic sexual mores, first and foremost adultery but also living together out of wedlock.
At present, common law relationships are not illegal in Indonesia, but once changes are adopted, couples could get a maximum sentence of one year in prison.
Adultery is already illegal. However, under the new rules, couples could get up to five years behind bars against the current nine months.
The revised document was submitted to lawmakers on Wednesday and must pass through the People’s Representative Council before it becomes law.
This is not the first time that the world’s most populous Muslim nation has made the headlines because of its laws and rules. In the past, proposals to outlaw smoking, ban women from wearing jeans and prevent people from practicing yoga have proven controversial and generated criticism. This is even more so in some parts of the country, like Islamic-dominated Aceh province.
The proposed changes to the Criminal Code would have a major impact on society, giving the state the right to interfere in people’s private life. At the same time, the desire to enforce greater morality would be open to abuses.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
North Korea’s decision to scrap its non-aggression pact with the South comes after Pyongyang threatened to launch a nuclear strike against the U.S.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Two French Jihadists Detained in Mali
Two French nationals who had joined Islamist fighters in Mali have been detained in the past week, France’s defence minister said Friday. About a dozen French citizens are thought to be fighting with Islamists against French troops in the country.
France’s defense minister says two French citizens fighting alongside extremists have been detained over the past week in the West African country of Mali.
French authorities have warned that disaffected French radicals could travel to Mali to join al-Qaida-linked forces, and potentially come home with skills to stage terrorist attacks in Europe.
Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Europe-1 radio Friday that two Frenchmen have been detained in Mali since French forces launched a military campaign there in January.
One was detained by Malian police and extradited to France on Thursday, Le Drian said. He said the other was taken prisoner during fighting in northern Mali and will be extradited Friday.
About a dozen French citizens are believed to have traveled to the region to join the extremists.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Getting Rich by Fighting for the Poor
Obama, like Chavez, has made economic recovery structurally impossible, perpetuating poverty in order to profit politically from the national state of misery.
Hugo Chavez’s death was met with tributes from Iran, Bolivia, China and El Salvador. The Western left did not waste much time adding their withered roses to El Comandante’s coffin. George Galloway called him another Spartacus. Jimmy Carter described him as a leader who fought for the “neglected and trampled”. Michael Moore praised him for declaring that the oil belongs to the people.
Whether or not the oil belongs to the people is a matter of some debate considering how much of it seemed to end up in Chavez’s pocket.
Chavez died with an estimated net worth of 2 billion dollars making him the 4th richest man in Venezuela and the 49th richest man in Latin America. For a while, Chavez weathered attacks from the media empire of Gustavo A. Cisneros, the richest man in Venezuela. Then, before the 2004 election, their mutual friend Jimmy Carter brokered an agreement between them. Cisneros’ media stopped criticizing Chavez and both men bent to the task of getting even richer.
While the Bolivarian Spartacus lined his pockets with oil money, Venezuela’s middle-class was struggling to get by in a country where the private sector had imploded. Income increased on paper, but decreased in reality as inflation increases ate the difference. Around the same time that Comrade Hugo was launching the third phase of his Bolivarian Revolution, inflation had decreased household income 8.8 percent while consumer goods prices increased 27 percent.
On his deathbed, Hugo Chavez devalued his country’s currency for the fifth time by 32 percent, after tripling the deficit during his previous term when the national debt had increased by 90 percent. From 2008 to 2011, Chavez’s oil-rich government increased the debt by nearly 50 billion in a country of less than 30 million. That same year, The Economist speculated that Venezuela might go bankrupt.
Chavez had swollen the ranks of Venezuela’s public employees to 2.5 million in a country where the 15-64 population numbered only 18 million. With 1 public employee to every 7 working adults, the entire mess was subsidized by oil exports and debt. When the price of oil fell, only debt was left.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
How Typical of the Left to Idolise a Despot Who Gloried in Attacking America and Britain
The Venezuelan people have been whipped into hysteria by the propaganda of the sinister — and aggressively anti-American — political machine Chavez left behind as his legacy, writes MICHAEL BURLEIGH.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Venezuela: Ahmadinejad Hails Chavez as He Arrives for Funeral
Caracas, 8 March (AKI) — Iran’s hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday lauded Venezuela’s late president Hugo Chavez as he and other world leaders arrived in the capital, Caracas, for the funeral.
“I feel the loss of a dear brother from Latin America who sacrificed himself for welfare of its people; I am sure that Latin American nations will continue to seek his ideals,” Ahmadinejad told reporters, cited by Iran’s official Irna news agency.
Chavez would “live long in the hearts of nations and will be remembered in history,” he added.
Venezuela’ has declared a week-long period of mourning for Chavez, who died on Tuesday aged 58 after a year-long battle with cancer.
A controversial figure on the world stage for his leftist, anti-imperialist views, he was the country’s president for the past 14 years after being re-elected three times and is viewed by many Venezuelans as a national hero.
Earlier this week Ahmadinejad hailed Chavez a “martyr” and a “wise and revolutionary leader”.
Cuban President Raul Castro and Belarussian leader Alexander Lukashenko were also among 30 heads of state were expected to attend Chavez’s funeral.
After the funeral, Chavez’s body will be taken to a military museum to lie in state for another seven days.
More than two million mourners have already filed past his body at a military academy.
Chavez’s body is to be embalmed and placed on permanent display, vice-president Nicolas Maduro says.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Administration Furthering Amnesty Agenda
In the past month, President Barack Obama released over 2,000 illegal alien migrants into the general population. He didn’t usher them back to the border; he let them out of prison and into the general population. He plans to release thousands more in the coming months.
Additionally, he no longer enforces our immigration laws internally and he doesn’t enforce them at the borders. In other words, America no longer remains a sovereign country, but a destination for millions of third world people.
Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, http://www.fairus.org , spoke with me about it this week:
“After news was leaked through several sources, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials confirmed they have been releasing illegal aliens in federal custody in order, they claim, to satisfy cuts under the sequester,” said Stein. “In fact, according to internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents reviewed by the Associated Press, the Administration released more than 2,000 illegal aliens before the sequester even took effect, releasing roughly 1,000 illegal aliens per week since February 15. In addition, the documents reveal the administration planned to release 3,000 additional illegal aliens during the month of March.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Demonic Duo: “Back-Up Abortion” Prevents Global Catastrophe
Paul Ehrlich & Anne Ehrlich at it again: “The best way, in our view, to achieve (…) population shrinkage is to give full rights and opportunities to women, and to make modern contraception and back-up abortion accessible to all sexually active people”.
In a piece published March 2 titled Food insecurity will eat away at our civilization, neo-eugenicist Paul Ehrlich gives us a condensed version of his recent research endeavors, calling for “back-up abortions” to prevent what his colleague Philip Cafaro calls “interspecies genocide”. In addition, he repeats the conclusions of his recent study for the American Institute of Biological Sciences, proposing mass mind-control and increased environmental regulations.
In their recent summary, the Ehrlichs write:
“The best way, in our view, to achieve (…) population shrinkage is to give full rights and opportunities to women, and to make modern contraception and back-up abortion accessible to all sexually active people. While the degree to which these steps would reduce total fertility rates is a matter of controversy, they would deliver significant social and economic benefits by making huge reservoirs of fresh brain power available to solve our problems, while saving hundreds of thousands of lives by reducing the number of unsafe abortions.”
Paul Ehrlich and his wife are busy little bees these days, publishing their death-talk in practically every scientific institution with a printing press.
[…]
Responding to countless recent studies showing that not overpopulation, but underpopulation seems to be an increasing problem, especially in Europe, the Ehrlichs state:
“That halting population growth inevitably leads to changes in age structure is no excuse for bemoaning drops in fertility rates, as is common in European government circles. Reduction of population size in those over-consuming nations is a very positive trend, and sensible planning can deal with the problems of population aging.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Will Porn be Banned in Europe? EU Set to Vote on Internet Crackdown
A report detailing the ban, was prepared by the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. The vote by MEPs will take place next Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Appropos your news items on the death of Hugo Chavez, especially the one concerning the personal wealth he amassed, about five years ago I heard a very plausible – because the detail lent it considerable verisimilitude – anecdote about Chavez from the former employee of a well known American “slot machine” manufacturer (known as “fruit machines” in the UK and “poker machines” in Australia). Chavez personally ordered several hundred of these gaming machines from the Australian subsidiary of said manufacturer with the promise of further sizeable orders. The head of sales was naturally delighted with such a large order (these machines are surprisingly expensive items and the order boosted his annual sales figures substantially) and, with a contract signed by the head of state of a sovereign oil-rich country, not only didn’t seek the usual deposit and terms of payment, but bore the up-front cost of shipping, insurance, etc.
Chavez’s presidential office took delivery of the machines and, you guessed it, never paid a cent. I can’t recall the precise figures but it was in the scores of millions of dollars. Naturally some heads rolled and careers took a hit. I asked my informant why would Chavez want so many gaming machines? Apparently, apart from the ones Chavez kept for his personal use, they were distributed as presents to party hacks for loyal service to the Chavez regime.
It would be reasonable to expect that this was not the only instance where Chavez did business in this way. Love those revolutionaries who devote their lives to serving the interests of the masses.