Russian troops stormed two Ukrainian military bases in Crimea today, injuring at least one person. There are reports that the soldiers beat up foreign journalists during the operation.
In other news, more PVV politicians have quit the party after Geert Wilders’ led the controversial chant about “fewer Moroccans” in the Netherlands. It’s unclear exactly how many members have departed.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Jerry Gordon, JP, KP, MC, Steen, 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.
Clashes as Spanish Anti-Austerity Rally Draws to Close
There were clashes between police and protesters as thousands of people rallied in the Spanish capital, Madrid. Demonstrators from across the country voiced opposition to austerity measures.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Fiscal Bomb’: Around 45% of UK Graduates Cannot Pay Back Student Loans
In a dramatic reassessment of UK student finance, the government estimates around 45 percent of graduates will be unable to pay back their loans. The shortfall could cancel out the profits made by the disputed tripling of tuition fees in 2012.
British Universities Minister David Willetts has said that the amount of graduates who will fail to pay back their student loans has greatly exceeded previous estimates. Before tuition fees were increased threefold in 2012, the government predicted that only 28 percent of loans would ever be paid back. However, in light of projections for the coming years, the government has reassessed this figure and almost doubled it to 45 percent.
This increase could potentially nullify the 10 billion pounds ($16 billion) in profits made by increasing tuition fees to 9,000 pounds ($15,000) a year in 2012. If the amount of students unable to pay back their loans grows to 48.6 percent, economists predict the government will start losing more money.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Troika Wants to Reduce Unions’ Powers
Employers will regain the right to stage lockouts lost in 1982
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 17 — Greece’s international lenders say the country’s state-financed labor unions are too powerful and want their powers reduced, including the right to strike.
The government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, which has been subject to a series of strikes and protests over austerity measures he administered on orders of the troika of the Eu-Imf-Ecb has reportedly consented although it was reported the Labor Ministry will seek the consent of the General Confederation of Greek Labor on the larger issues. The troika wants the practice stopped of unions being allowed to grant workers up to 20 days a month off for union activities after it was said most of them use it to keep second jobs while being paid for their primary jobs from which they were absent but still getting paid, drawing down two checks. Another measure that is being considered is making strikes illegal unless they have been approved by at least 50% of each union’s registered members. Employers will also regain the right to stage lockouts, which they lost in 1982 even though it applies in many other countries in Europe.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
IMF’s Property Tax Hike Proposal Comes True With UK Imposing “Mansion Tax” As Soon as This Year
One could see this one coming from a mile away.
It was a week ago that we highlighted the latest implied IMF proposal on how to reduce income inequality, quietly highlighted in its paper titled “Fiscal Policy and Income Inequality”. The key fragment in the paper said the following:
Some taxes levied on wealth, especially on immovable property, are also an option for economies seeking more progressive taxation…
We summed this up as follows: “if you are buying a house, enjoy the low mortgage (for now… and don’t forget — if and when the time comes to sell, the buyer better be able to afford your selling price and the monthly mortgage payment should the 30 Year mortgage rise from the current 4.2% to 6%, 7% or much higher, which all those who forecast an improving economy hope happens), but what will really determine the affordability of that piece of property you have your eyes set on, are the property taxes. Because they are about to skyrocket.“
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Government is Fine-Tuning Privatisation Plan, Says Padoan
(AGI) Cernobbio, March 22 — The Government is fine-tuning a new privatisation plan, with the aim of improving companies’ efficiency and “consistently” reducing public debt, said Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan at the Cernobbio Forum organised by Confcommercio, the Italian retailers association.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Large Protest in Spain to Protest Government Austerity Measures, Spending Cuts
Tens of thousands of demonstrators from across Spain have marched in central Madrid to protest government measures they claim have eroded civil rights in the country.
The protest includes trade unions, civil servants and organizations representing people evicted from their homes for not being able to make mortgage payments after losing their jobs. One woman carried a banner saying, “My daughter can’t be here because she’s had to emigrate.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
OPEC Oil Embargo, 40 Years Later: Has Anything Changed?
Forty years ago this month, the entire world breathed a heavy sigh of relief — though that sigh, and the reason for it, are largely forgotten today.
In March 1974, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), made up primarily of Arab nations, decided to end a six-month embargo that had crippled much of the global economy, frayed the Western world’s social fabric and exposed mankind’s utter dependence on one limited resource: oil.
Much has changed in the decades since, but is the United States (or any Western power) closer to the “energy independence” that was presented as a critical goal by President Richard Nixon — and every president since?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spanish Citizens Living Abroad Exceed 2 Mln
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MARCH 20 — An increasing number of Spanish citizens chose to live abroad due to the economic crisis, according to data published on Thursday by national statistics agency Ine. Spanish nationals abroad went up 6.6% in 2013 to over two million, based on data updated till January 1 this year.
In 2013, 126,800 Spanish citizens moved abroad, with a total of 2.058,048 nationals living outside Spain. Overall, 34.2% of Spanish citizens living abroad were born in Spain; 59.6% were born in the country where they are now living, mostly immigrants who returned to their homeland; and 5.8% originally came from another country.
According to data provided by Ine, two out of three who recently registered as Spanish citizens living abroad were born outside Spain. About 63.2% chose to live in America, 33-6% in Europe and 3.1% in the rest of the world. Foreign countries with the highest number of Spanish residents include Argentina (404,111), France (215,183), Venezuela (188,585) and Germany (122,218).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Process of Killing the U.S. Dollar
I wrote about it nearly one year ago to the day. The Obama agenda is to simply “kill the U.S. dollar,” where the ultimate objective is to implement an international currency in tandem with a system of global governance.
Some people laughed, saying it was hype. Others held a death grip onto their normalcy bias, saying it was not possible. Exactly a year later, the stage is being set for the murder of the U.S. dollar. This is a process that has been long in the planning, and is no accident, nor is it a result of the amateurish handling of our economic affairs by the Obama regime or the last few presidential administrations. It is a deliberate process, covered by the fog of the geopolitical machinations between the U.S., Russia and the controlling power elite.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
ABC Pulls Plug on ‘Alice in Arabia’ After Muslim Org Backlash
Just days after the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) expressed concerns over potential stereotyping in the pilot for ABC Family’s “Alice in Arabia” and requested a meeting with execs, the network has decided not to pursue the show that had been announced Monday.
An ABC Family spokesperson said Friday, “The current conversation surrounding our pilot was not what we had envisioned and is certainly not conducive to the creative process, so we’ve decided not to move forward with this project.”
The show’s premise centered on an American teen kidnapped by her Saudi Arabian family after tragedy befalls her parents.
The pilot was penned by Brooke Eikmeier, who served in the U.S. Army as a cryptologic linguist in the Arabic language and trained to support NSA missions in the Middle East.
CAIR previously challenged actual and potential anti-Muslim stereotypes in “Executive Decision,” “24,” “The Siege,” “True Lies,” “Rules of Engagement,” “Obsession,” “The Third Jihad,” “Jihad in America” and “The Sum of All Fears.” The org has also acted as a consultant on films including DreamWorks Animation’s “The Prince of Egypt.”
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Adrianne Haslet-Davis, Boston Marathon Bombing Survivor, Dances Again
BOSTON (AP) — Despite losing part of her left leg in the Boston Marathon bombing last year, a professional dancer is back on stage. Adrianne Haslet-Davis, 33, from Boston, performed for first time since the being injured on Wednesday at the 2014 TED Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“I’m thrilled to have danced again,” Haslet-Davis said statement released after her performance. “I was always determined to dance again, and I knew that I had to, that I would, and here I am,” she said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bangladesh Consul General in New York Kept Man as Slave for 18 Months
A Bangladeshi man says he was lured to the U.S. with the promise of a “good” $3,000 a month job working for his country’s counsel general — and wound up spending 18 months in their luxury Manhattan apartments in “slavery-like conditions.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Can Any Real Conservative Win in America?
The recent CPAC conference and poll is beyond disturbing. It’s downright frightening…
CPAC is allegedly a political action committee of, by and for “conservative” political operatives. But you won’t be able to prove that by the results of the most recent meeting, which resulted in 2016 Presidential support for Libertarian Rand Paul and constitutionally ineligible Ted Cruz, a Cuban from Canada.
Clearly, current members of CPAC, like current members of the Republican National Committee (RNC), have totally lost sight of what it is to be a “conservative.” When even the conservative PACs are promoting non-conservatives and ineligible candidates, how in the h*ll can anyone take a serious stab at electing a real American conservative today?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Cass Sunstein: Truth is a Disease
Prospect of millions of Americans awake and questioning government is worrisome for the state.
In his latest foray in defense of the many lies of the state, former Obama administration bureaucrat Cass Sunstein compares disbelief to a destructive contagion. He insists there is a “close relationship between conspiracy theories and social networks, especially close-knit or isolated ones” and after a particular “belief begins to spread, a lot of people within the network might accept it as well, on the theory that a spreading belief cannot possibly be wrong.”…
Such obtrusive tactics, however, may not be necessary. Earlier this week we learned that the U.S. government is handing control of the internet over to the internationalists. This will, ultimately, result in limiting if not eliminating the primary medium for dispensing truth and challenging official self-serving narratives, so many debunked and dispelled as propaganda and outright lies thanks to the availability of the internet.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
How Obama’s con is pillaging America. The president and his administration have taken a duly enacted law and made a complete and unconstitutional mockery of it.
The air of desperation surrounding ObamaCare gets thicker and thicker with each passing day. And no matter how dishonest President Obama, his administration officials, Democrats and their media allies, are in their attempt to fool the public, painful truths about this disaster can no longer be obscured.
We begin with premiums. As revealed by The Hill, they are about to “skyrocket,” with costs in some parts of the country increasing by as much as 200 percent. Unsurprisingly, this revelation runs completely counter to the Obama administration’s claims, most recently advanced by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in last week’s testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee. “The increases are far less significant than what they were prior to the Affordable Care Act,” the Secretary said.
Except that they’re not. A report by eHealth explains that premiums in the individual health market have risen 39 percent for individuals, and 56 percent for families, since February 2013. Minus the subsidies, the average cost of an individual plan is now $274, and a family plan is now $663 per month, up from $446 last year. And despite Sebelius’s contention, these figures are higher than those recorded between 2005 and 2013, when individual and family premiums rose at a rate of 37 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
By Mark Steyn
Excerpt: Dr Michael E Mann, serial litigant and Mustafa Prize winner, has a new column out, as he does every couple of days, called “Why Global Warming Will Cross a Dangerous Threshold in 2036”. The lads at MSNBC summarize it thus:
One Scientist Argues 2036 Could Be Point of No Return for Climate Disaster
I think he means that, on its current pace, that’s the year the DC court will deliver its verdict in Mann vs Steyn. One can understand why he’s concerned:
If his calculations are accurate, we have less time than you might think.
“If his calculations are accurate”? You’re not questioning his science, are you? As for having “less time than you might think”, that rang a very faint and distant bell:
| — Hat tip: KP | [Return to headlines] |
Facing Tough Senate Races, Reid, Fellow Dems Turn Their Attack on Koch Brothers
Political attacks on the Koch brothers have emerged as a key, practically everyday part of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his Democratic Party’s 2014 election strategy — accusing the wealthy conservative donors of trying to buy elections and block aid to Ukraine.
The attacks began in earnest last month when the Nevada Democrat in notable floor speeches accused Charles and David Koch of being “un-American” and “trying to buy America” and continued straight through this week.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Judicial Watch Information Request Reveals Problematic Cable on Marc Rich Pardon for Clintons
On the very day that tax evader and renegade oil speculator Marc Rich died on June 26, 2013 in Lucerne, Switzerland, Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Rich was pardoned on the very last day of former President Clinton’s second term in January 2001 in a series of pardons shepherded by current US Attorney General Eric Holder. President Clinton had been entreated by Rich’s, ex-wife, Denise, a major Democrat fundraiser, aided by representations from ADL director , Abe Foxman, who was reported to have earned a large fee for facilitating the pardon. Despite Marc Rich engaging in back door oil deals with the late Saddam Hussein, the apartheid South African government and the Palestinian Authority, President Clinton had signed off. He has subsequently rued granting Rich’s pardon.
Judicial Watch finally received the results of the FOIA request and published the redacted copy on its website, yesterday. Reading it, one can only surmise whether this might prove to be a problem for several people; former US Ambassador to Israel during the Clinton era, Martin Indyk and then Israeli Foreign Minister, now President , Shimon Peres.and possibly ex-Mossad head, Efraim Halevy.
Peres assumed the Israeli Premiership after PM Rabin’s tragic assassination by an Israeli extremist in November 1995. The period referenced in the Judicial Watch post followed the arrival back of the PLO-Fatah under the late Yassir Arafat in furtherance of the ill-fated Oslo Accords signed in September 1993 at the White House under Clinton’s auspices. Arafat became the first President of the PA and, in 1996 began a series of attacks on Israeli joint patrols in the disputed territories the period of a near decade long Palestinian violence against Israel. Indyk is currently Secretary Kerry’s Special Envoy facilitating negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on a purported final status agreement. This redacted cable could be problematic for Hillary Clinton’s possible candidacy for the Democrat Presidential nomination in 2016?
Here is the Judicial Watch report:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
National Journal: Could the U.S. Face a Cruise Missile Threat From the Gulf of Mexico?
The United States is puzzling over how to block cruise missiles that theoretically could be launched from the Gulf of Mexico, even after throwing some of its most advanced technologies at the problem.
Russia and Iran have been cited as possible threats that might, at some point, lurk in the waters just off U.S. shores.
A 2013 military exercise pitted systems such as Patriot interceptors, Aegis warships and combat aircraft against potential cruise-missile or short-range ballistic missiles fired from the Gulf. But the drill highlighted a particular vulnerability to cruise missiles lobbed from that region, U.S. Northern Command head Gen. Charles Jacoby indicated in congressional testimony last week.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Backdoor Censorship of the Internet
Be prepared for the possibility that the world wide web will become nothing more than the official propaganda arms of freedom haters worldwide.
Slipping quietly under the radars of many people is the decision by the U.S. government to release its effective control of the internet and to hand over the “keys” to international bodies such as the United Nations and its front group, the ICU (International Telecommunications Union).
This decision was more or less finalized when the Obama administration Department of Commerce decided not to renew the contract whereby ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), a non-profit corporation created to basically administer the internet, controls the assignment of domain names for websites and the like. As such, ICANN’s control will effectively end in September 2015, and the “world community” will become responsible for governing the internet through “world institutions” via the UN.
Anyone who cannot see what an incredibly dangerous assault on free speech this is, not just in the United States but also worldwide, is simply not paying attention…
Once the “wild, wild West” of internet freedom of speech becomes subject to the input of unelected UN bureaucrats from that large, large part of the world that doesn’t hold freedom of speech to be a basic civilizational ideal, we can expect to find the internet becoming significantly less open. And let’s face it, most of the countries in the world do not believe in freedom of speech. Indeed, a large functional majority of them do not. The Islamic world alone comprises 57 of the 193 members states of the United Nations. What do you do when they get together with China and its vassals, Russia and its lackeys, and the dictatorships of Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa to agree to ban criticism of Islam, the advocacy of decentralization and liberty, criticism of their regimes, and anything else that authoritarian regimes find disagreeable? Simply refuse to grant domains to “objectionable” groups and ideas, and you can strangle their expression in the cradle.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Officials Give Up on Evicting Pythons — Big But Nearly Invisible in the Wild — From Everglades
Last year, Florida organized a month-long hunt, called the Python Challenge, and enlisted volunteers to help remove its top-priority invasive species from the Everglades. When it was over, the state fish and wildlife commission and other experts came to this conclusion: Evicting the snakes is impossible.
Up to 100,000 pythons are estimated to be living in the Everglades, and more than 1,500 thrill-seekers, amateurs and skilled hunters who flocked to the event from across the country caught only 68.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Single People Are Likelier to be Poor
Marriage is hard work, but the alternative might be less attractive, at least financially. A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office suggests single people older than 65 are significantly more likely to fall below the poverty line than married people.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Solar and Wind Power Losing Worldwide Support
The U.S. has the greatest energy reserves, coal, oil and natural gas, of any nation in the world, but Obama has been waging a “war on coal”, delaying the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada, and slow to issue permits to explore for new sources of energy reserves on federal lands. The impact on the economy is incalculable, but it is driving up the cost of energy for everyone and every industry.
Meanwhile, Obama keeps talking about “green jobs” and doubling the nation’s supply of renewable energy in the next three years.” This another fantasy to which he clings.
As Taylor Smith, a senior policy analyst for The Heartland Institute, points out “Despite years of favorable public policy, including renewable power mandates and billions in subsidies, solar power still produces only about 0.2 percent of the nation’s electricity. The National Conference of State Legislatures says power from most large, utility-scaled solar installations still costs about 35 percent more than electricity from natural gas plants; many other experts estimate the levelized cost is even higher.”
U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that the United States is producing less electricity now than it did when Obama took office even with the inclusion of wind energy.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Special Report: SPLC: Profits of Hate (Video)
In 1996, USA Today called the SPLC “the nation’s richest civil rights organization” with a $68 million bank account. It’s now grown to $224 million.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
What happened to the watchdog media? Sadly, in this day of Obama, they have turned into the lapdog media.
Everyone knows that most members of the mainstream news media are card carrying liberals; however, even staunch left wingers should have enough integrity to fulfill their responsibilities to the public. Our country has benefited from a vigorous “fourth estate,” but that crucial oversight is sorely lacking today.
Of course when Republicans are in office, liberal journalists become quite aggressive and love to launch investigations. When Democrats are in office, these same journalists help the politicians cover up their misdeeds. The identical press that blasted George W. Bush throughout his administration is totally uninterested in examining President Obama’s failed policies, broken promises and weak leadership.
[Comment: Fourth Estate has now become a Fifth Column.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese, Italian Nationals Arrested Over Deadly Prato Fire
Seven killed in garment-factory blaze
(ANSA) — Prato, March 20 — Italian police arrested a number of people, both Chinese and Italian nationals, on Thursday over a deadly blaze at a Chinese-owned garment factory.
Seven Chinese workers died while sleeping in the factory in December and three others were injured.
In total five people were detained or put under house arrest, ANSA sources said.
They could face charges that include multiple manslaughter.
Soon after the fire, investigators put four Chinese nationals under investigation, three managers and the owner of the plant. The blaze sparked by stoves in a makeshift kitchen caused the roof of the factory to cave in.
The case was seen as highlighting a high degree of exploitation at Chinese-owned garment firms in Italy, especially the Tuscan city of Prato. According to the labour ministry, many of Prato’s thousands of Chinese textile workers reside and work in Italy illegally.
Officials have shut down 600 plants in the past four years over infractions, and in the first nine months of 2013, 76% of Prato’s clothing factories were cited at some point.
Critics say it’s easy for companies shut down by the government to reopen under a different name without implementing the proper changes.
According to the labour ministry, Prato hosts “many more” undocumented workers than the average Italian city.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Media Round on Wilders’ ‘Deeply Menacing’ Message
Two Dutch broadcasters and the right-wing populist daily Telegraaf have taken the unprecedented step of publishing website editorials condemning Geert Wilders’ anti Moroccan stance.
Wilders ‘is manipulating his voters at the expense of an entire group of Dutch citizens with a Moroccan background. He is effectively sidelining all Moroccans in the country,’ the Telegraaf said in its online statement.
‘This has nothing to do with normal politics, nor is it decent or respectful.’
The Telegraaf goes on to say that those who place themselves outside the constitution ‘by consciously turning their political message into the sort of deeply menacing politics which we saw off in the past will find himself sidelined by society. If he doesn’t see this himself he will become completely alienated,’ the paper concludes.
Hitler comparisons
BNR News Radio editor Sjors Frohlich says in his editorial that his first action as an editor was to abolish editorials — ‘BNR only reports and has no opinions’ — but that Wilders’ latest action convinced him to write his own personal commentary.
Earlier comparisons of Wilders with Hitler he dismissed as over the top but ‘after last night I at least understand where the people who make the comparison come from. Especially since Wilders was consciously and deliberately manipulating his audience,’ Frohlich said.
Wilders, Frohlich suspects, is aiming for a conviction which will see him in jail. ‘Here is the PVV’s new campaign image: the leader of free speech thrown in jail. His will be the martyrdom usually reserved for extremist Muslims,’ he writes.
There are many Moroccan listeners to BNR because they make good entrepreneurs, he said.
‘They also make excellent radio staff, I know. Wilders has been trying to stigmatise them all. But entrepreneurs and journalists don’t get upset very easily, no matter how hurtful Wilders’ comments were. They are on to him. But what about 8, 9, 12 year-old children. What were they greeted with when they went to school the next morning?’
Walk out
BNR, he says, will continue to report the news without expressing an opinion. Nevertheless, he calls on politicians to finally act.
‘The sometimes cowardly and half-hearted reactions no longer suffice. It would be a magnificent gesture if the first time Wilders speaks in parliament everybody would get up and walk out.
‘Independence and freedom of speech are precious but sometimes you have to make a statement. I call upon all politicians: make that statement!,’ he concludes.
Memories
RTL editor Pieter Klein’s editorial takes the shape of an open letter to Wilders entitled ‘Shame on you Geert’. Klein also mentions the lack of an editorial opinion: ‘We don’t have one on the euro, on loose pavement tiles, on Moroccans’, he writes.
‘The reason I’m writing you this letter is that you’ve done it: even RTL News feels you have gone too far. That chant. Knowingly using the oldest rhetorical trick in the book and than that empty, idiotic promise: “We’ll sort it!”. Sickening. (…) How can you be surprised at the comparisons with the past? You were aiming for them. Juden Raus, Hitler, Goebbels, memories of deportation.’
‘You won’t care, but for the first time in 25 years RTL News is taking a stand. That is, you are forcing us to take a stand. Precisely because The Netherlands belongs to all its citizens we can’t not say anything. This is still not a real editorial but it’s getting close. Your “fewer Moroccans” remark stinks. You are so far off the scale of decency that silence is no longer an option,’ Klein writes.
Old tricks
Klein supposes that Wilders will probably use his ‘old trick’ of grouping RTL with other media hostile to the PVV. ‘But you can say what you like about RTL News. We don’t care.
‘Meanwhile we will produce balanced reports on the explosive debate you have caused and we will hear all parties. (…) You will always be welcome in our studios and you will be treated as we have always treated you: fairly and without prejudice.’
Klein concludes by exhorting Wilders: ‘Geert surprise us: hang your head in shame.’
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Finland: Foreign Language Speakers Overtake Number of Swedish-Speakers
People whose first language is other than Finnish, Swedish or Sámi presently account for around 90% of the nation’s population growth. The largest single group are Russian-speakers.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
France: The Al-Qaida Connection in the Merah Affair
The French Islamic terrorist who killed four Jews and three soldiers two years ago in southern France was part of an al-Qaida connection, the daily paper Le Parisien revealed on Friday.
Since March 2012, the newspaper has followed closely developments in the investigation, reporting regularly on the efforts of French anti-terrorist examining magistrates who have been working on the affair. After 24 months of inquiry, they recently obtained the first evidence of Mohammed Merah’s links with one of Osama bin Laden’s lieutenants, the paper said, quoting judicial sources.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
French Jew Brutally Assaulted in Paris
Attackers beat Jewish teacher, draw swastika on his chest in savage assault.
A Jewish teacher was savagely beaten by a group of Arab men in a brutal anti-Semitic attack in Paris, according to the Bureau for National Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism (BNVCA).
The attackers — who shouted “death to the Jews” and “filthy Jew” during the assault — broke the victim’s nose and drew a swastika on his chest after tearing open his shirt.
“One of the perpetrators opened the victim’s shirt and with a black marker drew a swastika on the man’s bare chest,” BNVCA president Sammy Ghozlan wrote in the BNVCA report, according to JTA.
The victim — identified only as K. Richard — told police the men had cursed him in Arabic and French, and appeared to have been of North African descent.
He was ambushed after leaving a kosher restaurant and was wearing a kippa (skullcap) at the time of the assault.
Anti-Semitism in France has hit headlines in recent years and has seen a marked increase, with the majority of attacks being blamed on extremists from the country’s sizable Muslim community.
Earlier this year, thousands of supporters of anti-Semitic comedianDieudonne chanted hate slogans including “Jews out of France!” in a rally in central Paris.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
A German religious forum took an unexpected turn yesterday when three topless protesters had to be dragged out of the building.
The Berlin Islam Week event, held in one of the city’s town halls, was stopped in its tracks by members of extreme protest group Femen, who charged into the hall with slogans attacking ‘religious oppression’ and Sharia law daubed on their bodies.
Photographs from the moment the women were dragged out by policemen show a bemused-looking woman filming the event on her phone as unimpressed guests look on.
Other images show the three on stage during a discussion, where speakers were confronted with the messages written on their bodies and also on banners which they waved above their heads while shouting.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic Law is Adopted by British Legal Chiefs
Islamic law is to be effectively enshrined in the British legal system for the first time under guidelines for solicitors on drawing up “Sharia compliant” wills.
Under ground-breaking guidance, produced by The Law Society, High Street solicitors will be able to write Islamic wills that deny women an equal share of inheritances and exclude unbelievers altogether.
Nicholas Fluck, president of The Law Society, said the guidance would promote “good practice” in applying Islamic principles in the British legal system.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Wins Prize for Robotics Thesis
Robots take on human-like movements, potential for prosthetics
(ANSA) — Pisa, March 20 — An Italian doctoral graduate has won an honor for the best thesis on robotics in Europe. Manuel Catalano, of the University of Pisa, won the Georges Giralt Award for his study into a new generation of robots that take on human-like movements by adapting their body to the surrounding environment, thanks to special motors called variable impedance actuators (VIA).
His research was instrumental to the development of the Pisa-Iit Softhand, a robotic hand that has potential in the world of prosthetics. (photo: archive picture of robotic hand)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italian School Among Best 100 in Spain
(AGI) Madrid, March 21 — The Italian School in Madrid is one of only six foreign schools that have been put on the list of 100 best schools in Spain. The list was published by newspaper El Mundo on Friday. The Italian institute was credited with allowing students to express their skills, stimulating their creativity and developing a customised approach based on dialogue with students and their family. The newspaper also praised the institute’s perfect integration into the Italian diplomatic mission in Spain.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: WWF Calls on Italy to Save Marsican Brown Bear
Another female of dwindling species found dead
(ANSA) — Rome, March 17 — The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Italy on Monday called Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti to act immediately to save Italy’s highly threatened Marsican brown bear, also known as the Apennine brown bear, after a female was found dead recently.
This subspecies of brown bear lives in the Abruzzo National Park, and numbered an estimated 30-40 individuals of 2006.
The death of the female is “another hard blow to any hope of saving this unique animal from extinction,” the WWF said in a statement.
“We need our institutions to commit to averting this forewarned extinction with significant, albeit unpopular action,” the environmentalist group said.
Saving this bear will mean making its habitat safe from encroaching herds by suspending grazing concessions, cracking down on farmers who deliberately use poison to destroy wildlife in favor of their herds, shutting down some mountain roads and connecting the areas in which the bears roam and hunt, and a vaccination campaign, according to the WWF.
“If tests reveal this female was poisoned, we will need decisive repressive action. If we find she was killed by disease, we will need a radical shift in land management, with ever stricter regulations to contain evermore out-of-control herding by humans,” said WWF Italy President Dante Caserta. A young female bear from this dwindling species was run over in the Abruzzo region on October 23.
“We risk losing the only Marsican brown bear population in the world, a key piece of our natural heritage,” Caserta said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Young, Healthy, Maybe Pregnant Wolf Shot Dead With Rifle
‘A barbaric act’ says local mayor in Abruzzo
(ANSA) — Chieti, March 17 — A four-year-old, apparently healthy and possibly pregnant grey wolf was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the forehead, in the hills of the Abruzzo region of Italy, forest rangers said Monday.
The body was found by horseback riders from the nearby village of Pizzoferrato, and taken by forest rangers for testing. “This was a barbaric act. Instead of safeguarding the land and its biodiversity, there are those who would do anything to destroy it, in every possible way,” said Pizzoferrato Mayor Palmerino Fagnilli, who accompanied forest rangers to the site where the body was found.
Given its condition, the shooting probably took place 2-3 days ago, rangers said.
The grey wolf is a protected species in Italy.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Naples Invalid-Benefit Robbers Caught
Gang of nine ‘scammed 64’
(ANSA) — Naples, March 17 — Police in Naples on Monday broke up a gang who allegedly faked the IDs of invalidity claimants to steal money from their bank accounts.
Nine people were arrested on suspicion of taking large sums from the accounts of 64 claimants at banks where their victims were not customers.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Paolo Ligresti Trial to be Transferred to Milan
Son of disgraced patriarch accused of market manipulation, fraud
(ANSA) — Turin, March 18 — A preliminary hearings judge ruled Tuesday that the trial of Paolo Ligresti, son of a fallen patriarch of an Italian insurance and real-estate dynasty, should be held in Milan, not Turin.
Paola Boemio upheld a request from Ligresti’s defence lawyer asking for the case to be transferred on grounds the press release behind alleged market manipulation at the troubled Fonsai insurance group formerly controlled by the Ligresti family was sent from the Lombardy capital. Paolo Ligresti faces charges of alleged accounting fraud and market manipulation at Fonsai that enabled the family to acquire illegal dividends of 200 million euros.
His father Salvatore and sister Jonella also face similar charges in separate trials, while his other sister Giulia has already been handed a sentence of two years and eight months following a plea-bargain.
The family came under additional scrutiny last year because of allegations that then justice minister Anna Maria Cancelleri used her influence to see Giulia Ligresti released from jail into house arrest.
Cancelleri denied any wrongdoing, saying she had acted on humanitarian grounds as the woman suffered from anorexia and depression.
However Rome prosecutors recently placed her under investigation for alleged perjury.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Bologna to Revoke Mussolini’s 1943 Honorary Citizenship
Ravenna allows former dictator to retain award
(ANSA) — Bologna, March 21 — The central Italian city of Bologna has issued an order to revoke the honorary citizenship awarded in 1943 to dictator Benito Mussolini.
Mussolini founded the Fascist political movement and led Italy from 1922 to 1943, allying Italy with Nazi Germany and Japan in the Second World War.
The Bologna chapter of the Partito Democratico (PD) political party has requested the citizenship of Mussolini be revoked, with mayor Virginio Merola supporting the proposal. The city of Ravenna, which also awarded Mussolini an honorary citizenship in 1943, has recently decided to allow the political figure to retain the award.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Impregilo Posts 99 Mn Net Profit for 2013
Construction giant forecasts income of seven bn in 2017
(ANSA) — Milan, March 20 — Italian construction giant Salini Impregilo posted net profits of 99 million euros in 2013, the company said Thursday.
This compared to net losses of 117 million euros in 2012 due to expected losses taken on a multi-billion dollar project to expand the Panama Canal.
Income last year stood at 3.9 billion euros, a company statement said.
This figure is expected to rise by 10% in the coming year and go up to seven billion euros in 2017 under the group’s new industrial plan. The board of directors approved a dividend of 0.26 euros per savings share in light of the results.
Company shares rose 3% on the Milan stock exchange in early trading Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Illegal Building in Naples Cemeteries
Veranda, sarcophagi among items seized
(ANSA) — Naples, March 20 — A veranda was among several illegal constructions seized by municipal police in a Naples cemetery on Thursday.
The seizure, which also included sarcophagi, tombs and altars at the burial ground in the San Giovanni a Teduccio coastal suburb, came the day after police discovered 300 unauthorized burial recesses at a cemetery in Fuorigrotta. Three people were reported in connection with Thursday’s seizure, part of a clamp-down on illegal building in the city’s burial grounds.
“The discovery gives the measure of illegal building in the city cemeteries that — as has become clear from years of investigations and trials — are now within the reach of the Camorra (mafia),” municipal police officer Luigi Avolio, head of the department responsible for city cemeteries, said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: More Than 50 Alleged Johns Id’d in Teen Hooker Probe
Investigators determine eight girls worked in teen bordello
(ANSA) — Rome, March 18 — More than 50 men are under investigation on suspicion of hiring underage prostitutes working out of an apartment in an upscale Rome neighborhood, judicial sources said Tuesday.
Prosecutors have identified eight young women, two of them minors, as working in the teen bordello allegedly run by Army Major Corporal Nunzio Pizzacalla and pimp Mirko Ieni, who is currently under house arrest.
Wiretaps revealed the husband of right-wing Italian MP Alessandra Mussolini is one of the suspected johns who contacted the girls most often. Mauro Floriani, a former finance police officer, is currently a manager at publicly-owned train operator Trenitalia.
He has three children with his wife, who is the grand-daughter of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and has recently served as president of a parliamentary infant’s rights committee.
He has not been indicted in the ongoing probe, although he made a voluntary statement to police as to why his name was likely to show up on the girls’ phone records.
Ieni was issued another arrest warrant Thursday after investigators determined he was also pimping out of an apartment in the Vescovio neighbourhood of Rome, where he filmed sexual activity unbeknownst to clients.
The underage hooker case made headlines in October when five men were arrested on suspicion of paying two underage prostitutes, who studied together at the same high school in Rome.
The girls allegedly began working in May 2013 after being lured through a social network called ‘Bakeca Incontri’ (Meetings Bulletin Board). They allegedly went to school in the morning and worked in the afternoon.
The Italian unit of international child protection agency ECPAT said there could be as many as 11,000 underage sex workers in Italy.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Venice Cruise Ship Ban Suspended
Regional court cites lack of alternative routes
(ANSA) — Venice, March 17 — A regional administrative court on Monday accepted a request to suspend restrictions on large cruise ships passing through Venice. The request had been submitted by Venezia Terminal Passeggeri, the organization that runs the Venice port, as well as several companies active in the port and a committee representing cruise operators. The court said alternative routes for the ships have yet to be determined.
The suspension lasts until a June 12 hearing on the issue. Last November the government of ex-premier Enrico Letta ordered a halt to large cruise ships passing through the Venice lagoon, effective from November 2014, and a limit on smaller cruise vessels effective in January.
The regulation came in response to the crash of the Costa Concordia cruise ship in early 2012, which killed 32 people off the coast of Tuscany.
Similar regulations had been imposed earlier throughout the rest of Italy, where the cruise industry plays a smaller role in the local economy. Environmentalists warn that the lagoon surrounding Venice, itself a UNESCO heritage site, is at great risk due to its fragile ecosystem.
Other experts warn that the thousand-year-old underwater wooden piles that prop up the city would crumble like toothpicks under the weight of a 114,500-ton cruise ship like the Costa Concordia.
In addition, liners ushering tourists into the heart of the city disrupt the extremely fragile foundation of Venice and its medieval monuments by displacing massive amounts of water in the shallow lagoon.
Over 650 cruise ships pass through the city annually.
The new provisions would tighten daily limits on cruise liners, with no more than five ships over 40,000 tonnes allowed passage, obliging many ships to find alternative docking outside the city itself.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Grillo Warns Renzi: Taxes on Savings Are Unconstitutional
(AGI) Rome, March — Italy’s 5-Star Movement leader, Beppe Grillo, warned Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Saturday that taxation of private savings would be unconstitutional. In his blog Mr. Grillo wrote that paragraph one of article 47 of the Italian Constitution refers to savings and loans by stating that the Italian Republic encourages and safeguards savings in all its forms and it regulates, coordinates and controls credit mechanisms. “Savings are part of our constitutional values that the government must actively encourage and safeguard against any unfair reductions of wealth,” he wrote.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Pope Francis Warns Mafiosi: Repent or ‘End Up in Hell’
Pope Francis has made his strongest attack to date on the mafia, telling organised crime bosses they will end up in hell if they do not “convert” and give up their lives of “bloodstained money (and) blood-stained power.”
Echoing John Paul II’s appeal to mafia dons to renounce their “culture of death”, the Argentinian pope urged mafia members to “stop doing evil” as he held an unprecedented meeting with hundreds of victims’ relatives in Rome.
The meeting near Rome on Friday — organised by a citizens’ group called Libera — was aimed at demonstrating the Roman Catholic Church’s opposition to organised crime, rejecting historic ties with mafia bosses claiming to be good Catholics.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Jewish, Muslim Leaders: Danish Minister ‘Put(s) Animal Rights Before Religious Rights’
A joint delegation of European Muslim and Jewish religious leaders accused Danish Agriculture Minister Dan Jørgensen of putting animal rights before religious freedom on Thursday. Jørgensen enacted a ban on Muslim and Jewish ritual performed without pre-stunning slaughter in February.
Jørgensen denied having made the statement that “animal rights come before religion,” which was attributed to him by Danish media as his rationale for the ban, participants in the gathering stated.
In response, Alexander Goldberg, a Jewish chaplain from the UK told Jørgensen that the affected religious communities would judge him by his actions rather than his words and that “those actions show that you indeed put animal rights before religious rights.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Man Caught Attempting to Smuggle 40,000 Euros in Underpants
Nabbed aboard train at Swiss-Italian border
(ANSA) — Como, March 19 — A 47-year-old Vicenza man was caught with 40,000 euros hidden in his underpants by customs officials in Chiasso, at the Swiss-Italian border.
The man, who was onboard a Milan-bound train, told officials he had only 5,000 euros to declare.
However, he was searched after officers noticed suspicious behavior and the money was found in two bundles hidden in his boxer shorts.
Tax police also found another 7,770 euros hidden in a briefcase.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Members of Dutch Far-Right Politician’s Party Continue to Quit After Anti-Moroccan Remarks
Members of far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party are continuing to quit after he led supporters in chanting that they wanted “Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!” Moroccans in the Netherlands.
Meanwhile in Amsterdam, around 3,000 people gathered on Museum square for an anti-discrimination protest.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Shooting the Messenger
By Mark Steyn
Two years ago, I was asked to contribute a foreword to Geert Wilders’ book, Marked For Death: Islam’s War Against The West And Me, which can be purchased through the SteynOnline bookstore, and helps keep my current legal battle afloat. Buying Marked For Death will also help Geert Wilders with his latest legal difficulties…
Meanwhile, across the North Sea, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service is bringing to court the first cases over female genital mutilation. But not for everyone:
The CPS has decided to take no further action in four other cases of alleged FGM. In one of those cases it was alleged that two parents had arranged for their daughter to undergo female genital mutilation while abroad. In another, a suspect contacted an FGM helpline to request the procedure for his two daughters after misunderstanding the purpose of the service for victims.
Oh, dear. What an unfortunate “misunderstanding”. The gentleman had called the Female Genital Mutilation Helpline thinking it was a helpline set up by Her Majesty’s Government to help you find someone to genitally mutilate your daughters. In the rich, vibrant diversity of the modern multicultural state, it’s easy to see why the poor fellow might make that assumption. Just give it a couple more years, sir.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: ‘Exodus’ From Dutch Far-Right Leader After Moroccan Jibe
More members of Dutch populist Geert Wilders’ party abandoned the anti-Muslim leader on Saturday amid an unprecedented storm of protest after he vowed “fewer Moroccans’ in the Netherlands.
Three councillors quit his Party for Freedom (PVV) party in the northern Friesland province, after similar moves by the head of the party’s bloc in the European parliament and two Dutch MPs…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Wilders’ Party in Crisis After Moroccan Comments
PVV’s party leader in European Parliament quits following racially incendiary speech by Geert Wilders.
Divisions within the Dutch far-right Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV) continue to spread this weekend, in the wake of anti-immigrant remarks by its leader Geert Wilders. Last night Laurence Stassen, the leader of the PVV’s four-strong contingent in the European Parliament, announced that she was leaving the party and would be an independent MEP until the elections on 25 May…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: ‘Split’ In Geert Wilders’ Far-Right Freedom Party Following Racist Chant Outrage
A speech made by the leader of the Holland’s far-right Freedom Party has caused a rift among its members, according to Dutch media reports.
Earlier in the week, Geert Wilders encouraged followers to chant racist slogans against Moroccans.
He addressed the meeting:
“So I ask what do you want in this city more or fewer Moroccans?”
“Fewer,” the crowd chanted.
His comments were also promoted on the Freedom Party website. They have triggered indignation among politicians and immigrant groups.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Stonehenge: 7 Reasons the Mysterious Monument Was Built
Researchers recently had the rare chance to thwack the giant megaliths at Stonehenge and noted that they each resonated with sounds like those of metallic or wooden bells. They proposed that the strange monument was once either an ancient long-distance communication system, or a Stone Age church bell system.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Cops Shoot Spear-Wielding Man Dead
Police gunned down a man armed with a spear and a knife on Saturday after he went on the attack against officers. The man died soon after in a Gothenburg hospital.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK Gov Wants ‘Unsavoury’ Web Content Censored
The UK minister for immigration and security has called for the government to do more to deal with “unsavoury”, rather than illegal, material online.
James Brokenshire made the comments to the Financial Times in an interview related to the government’s alleged ability to automatically request YouTube videos be taken down under “super flagger” status.
A flagger is anyone that uses YouTube’s reporting system to highlight videos that breach guidelines. The Home Office explained to Wired.co.uk that the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU), responsible for removing illegal terrorist propaganda, does not have “super flagger” status, but has simply attained the platform’s Trusted Flagger accreditation — a status for users who regularly correctly flag questionable content.
The FT published its article in context of growing concerns around the radicalisation of Britons travelling to partake in the ongoing conflict in Syria, and the Home Office told Wired.co.uk any videos flagged by the CTIRU for review were ones found to be in breach of counter-terrorism laws (29,000 have been removed across the web since February 2010).
This seems to be the impetus for the kinds of extended controls Brokenshire told the FT the government should be looking into, namely, dealing with material “that may not be illegal but certainly is unsavoury and may not be the sort of material that people would want to see or receive”.
“Terrorist propaganda online has a direct impact on the radicalisation of individuals and we work closely with the internet industry to remove terrorist material hosted in the UK or overseas,” Brokenshire told Wired.co.uk in a statement.
YouTube already has a flagging system in place for just these purposes, and will review every complaint. However with 100 hours of video being uploaded to the site every minute, the concern is there is no feasible way of playing whack-a-mole fast enough. This is one issue. How a member of government could propose the authorities do more to deal with material that is simply “unsavoury” though, is another matter entirely. And it’s hard to see how any suggestion of this kind is not censorship.
“It is [censorship],” Jaani Riordan, a barrister specialising in technology litigation, told Wired.co.uk. “Removal of lawful material by government simply because it offends governmental or public policy is without justification. Conversely, a private enterprise, such as YouTube, would always remain free to remove content which offends its Terms of Use or other policies, and there is very limited if any recourse against it for doing so.”
If the government were to force YouTube to remove content, it would be breaching Article 10(2) of the European Convention of Human Rights, related to freedom of expression.
This is why, as with the case of self-harm content or even explicit content, the government prefers to put pressure on private companies to self-censor. In a situation like this, in which we find ourselves today, it is of course impossible to know where these lines will eventually be drawn…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
A 41-year-old housewife and carer found dead at her home was described by neighbours today as a ‘beautiful woman in chains’.
Alison Taylor ‘did absolutely everything’ for her wheelchair-bound husband Ashley, 42, neighbours said, as police investigated the circumstances surrounding her death.
Detectives have arrested a man on suspicion of murder.
Mrs Taylor, a mother of four, was named locally by neighbours as the woman who had died in what was being treated as an ‘unexplained death’ by police.
She and her wheelchair-bound husband were said to have been a reclusive couple who had been together since they were teenagers. Neighbours described them as ‘childhood sweethearts.’
Mrs Taylor was said to be a full-time carer for her husband, who had been unable to walk for the past three years.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
The suspended sentence handed to a Koran teacher who sexually abused an 11-year-old girl will be reviewed by the Attorney General after protests from Muslim women’s groups.
Suleman Maknojioa from Blackburn was given a 40-week suspended sentence for abusing the girl, after his defence argued that his wife couldn’t speak English and the household was dependent on him.
But that decision will now be looked at again after dozens of people complained to the Attorney General’s office. The Crown Prosecution Service could then send the case to the court of appeal to be reconsidered.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
A mother-of-two who was abused on Mumsnet for suggesting her daughter should not be studying a foul-mouthed play as called for age restrictions on school books.
Gerardine Stockford, a vicar’s wife, was horrified when her 14-year-old daughter brought home the gritty drama Mogadishu, which contains 218 uses of the F-word and ten of the C-word — as part of her GCSE drama course.
She expressed her dismay on the parenting forum by setting up a feed, but deleted it after teachers responded aggressively.
The former social worker, 52, believes the use of the sexually explicit play, which also touches on self-harm and violence, shows some teachers do not know the difference between right and wrong and proves that ‘anything can end up in the classroom’.
She also suggests that if there are age restrictions on films and a watershed on television, there should be similar controls at school…
One Mumsnet user, who claimed to be a teacher, responded: ‘Censorship — that’s what you want. So you can impose your middle- England, white, middle-class values on a world that no longer exists.
‘As a teacher, I will say very bluntly how sick and f****** tired I am of parents like you who think they are experts on all f****** areas of the curriculum.’
Another said: ‘This really, really p***** me off … I teach and have had half-***ed complaints from parents on occasion … What really boils my p*** is people having opinions about things they haven’t even read and certainly don’t understand.’
[Comment: Can you believe the potty mouth of such “teachers”?…These
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
[WARNING: Disturbing Content.]
Oxford University has been accused of ‘betraying’ alleged victims of sexual assault by hushing up allegations made against students and members of staff.
More than a dozen men and women have described a ‘culture of silence’ preventing them from reporting claims of sex attacks and rapes.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
An armed robber has received an astonishing third life sentence after twice being freed to strike again.
The lenience of the criminal justice system was highlighted yet again as a judge yesterday apologised to career criminal Derek Rossi’s two latest victims for the fact that he had been at liberty to attack them.
Rossi, 58, was then given his third ‘life’ sentence — but only with an order that he serves 12 years. Critics said that the case showed the phrase ‘life sentence’ was now just a ‘meaningless lie to reassure the public’.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Union Chief Backs Support for Electrolux’s Italian Factories
Electrolux wants salary cuts to continue production
(ANSA) — Padua, March 21 — CISL trade union chief Raffaele Bonanni urged the Italian government Friday to support the survival of home appliance maker Electrolux in Italy.
“Putting Electrolux back on its feet (means) saving a piece of history”, Bonanni said outside a union conference. “We will give very strong signs of support for Electrolux”.
The government said that funding will be available through a solidarity fund that received an additional 15 million euros.
The fund was created for such crises as the job situation at Electrolux, said the Minister for Economic Development Federica Guidi.
The Swedish multinational has announced plans to cut salaries in its four Italian factories by about 15% over the next three years. The company says this is the only way to ensure that its products, which include fridges and washing machines, can compete against those produced in lower-wage markets around the world.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican Bank ‘Will No Longer Threaten Church Reputation’
Pope’s Economy Council chief says ‘true bank’ will be elsewhere
(ANSA) — Vatican City, March 19 — The new head of the Vatican Council for the Economy said Wednesday that soon the scandal-plagued Vatican bank will no longer pose a threat to the Catholic Church’s image, while another institution will become the “true bank of the Vatican”.
In statements published by Spanish news agency Europa Press, Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx said “there won’t be future occasions for (the Vatican bank) to hurt the Holy See’s reputation”. Officially called the Institute of Religious Works (IOR), the Vatican bank has come under scrutiny for alleged money laundering and is now working with the Council of Europe’s Moneyval agency to bring it in line with international standards.
A close advisor to Pope Francis, Marx is a member of the panel of cardinals from around the world Francis picked last year to advise him on reforming the inner workings of Vatican and the Church at large. Earlier this month Francis also named him head of the Council for the Economy, and last week Germany’s Catholic bishops named him their leader. Since Francis’ election to the papacy last March, reforming IOR has been a priority. He has even openly expressed the possibility of abolishing it. In Marx’s statements released Wednesday, the German cardinal said “the true bank of the Vatican” will one day be the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), which currently manages Vatican real estate and financial holdings. Plans to turn APSA into a sort of central bank has been the stated intention of the Church since late February, when officials announced the establishment the Council for the Economy now headed by Marx.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Police Investigate Armed Attack Killing Two in Western Kosovo
PRISTINA, March 22 (Xinhua) — A “wide” police operation is taking place in western Kosovo following an armed attack Friday that killed two people and injured seven others.
Police are trying to identify and arrest the suspects, who are thought to have conducted the attack from a Jeep Grand Cherokee found burning outside the city of Peja/Pec, some 80 km west of Kosovo’s capital, Pristina…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Morsi Backers Stand Trial in Mass Court Hearing
A court in southern Egypt has begun hearing charges against 1,200 supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi. The Muslim Brotherhood supporters say the mass trial is politically motivated.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Lawyer: Egypt Judge Says Verdict to be Issued After 2 Sessions in Trial of Over 500
A defense lawyer in the trial in southern Egypt of more than 500 defendants accused of committing acts of violence in reaction to the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi says the judge has declared he will issue a verdict after only two sessions.
The trial of 545 alleged members of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood is one of the largest trials in a crackdown on the group and its allies since Morsi was ousted in July following mass protests against him. El-Koumi said 423 are tried in absentia.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: MP Moussa: Europe Should Do More
We are strategic and example of success, Marshall Plan needed
(by Luciana Borsatti) (ANSAmed) — TUNIS, MARCH 21 — Europe should do more for Tunisia, the first Arabic country to conduct a democratic transition with “success” after the 2011 season of revolutions, sealed with the constitution launched at the end of January.
Thus says the jurist and parliament deputy Fadhel Moussa, president of the Constitutional Justice Commission of the Constituent Assembly. “I was part of the delegation that went to Brussels three weeks ago,” Moussa told ANSAmed from his office as dean of the Faculty of Law, Political and Social Sciences in the University of Tunis.
“We met with the highest leaders of the European Union. All of them have praised the results of our revolution. They complimented us, but in the end we did not received the support that we would have wanted”.
Moussa spoke of a 300 million euro loan from the European Commission launched in recent weeks, after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also gave a green light to a 500 million dollar loan following the birth of the new ‘technical’ government guided by Mehdi Jomaa. The IMF loan is the first installment of a larger aid package, which is conditioned on the adoption of measures “very difficult” to achieve in the current economic situation, the deputy observed.
The Tunisian delegation expected stronger signals from Europe, continued the MP belonging to the left Al Massar party, like concrete help recouping capital kept abroad by the old regime, which is vital in light of the current “catastrophic financial situation”; the possibility of waiting for that capital recovery before repaying debts contracted in the Ben Ali era, which “enriched” powerful figures of the past; or the conversion of debt into development projects, following the example of what Germany did in the past for a 60 million euro loan. The country has serious budget problems both for 2013 and 2014, Moussa underlined, speaking of a two billion euro hole in both cases, which are necessary for current operating expenses. Meanwhile more resources are needed for development in a country in which “two million people (out of a total of 11) live on less than two dollars a day”, he pointed out, where the underground economy “represents 50% of the total” and where the plague of youth unemployment seems to have extinguished much of the hope born during the revolution — a fact easy to confirm speaking to young Tunisians.
“I don’t say that we need the same financing offered to Ukraine,” Moussa added, but even Tunisia has regional and European “strategic” importance given the instability of surrounding countries — from Syria to Egypt to Libya — and of the danger represented by terrorist groups both inside and at the borders of the country.
“There is a relationship between poverty and terrorism,” observed the MP, as young Tunisians paid to go fight in Syria demonstrate; and also “the great quantity of money that circulates in Salafist environments”.
The words shed particular light on the fact that Prime Minister Medhi Jomaa just recently has concluded a tour in the gulf countries (including Qatar and Saudi Arabia), in order to seek new investors.
But even Italy seems deaf to the urgent necessities of the new Tunisia, in the jurist’s view. “We’re working together to check illegal immigration to respect agreements undersigned by Italy,” he said, “But we have not seen significant reciprocity”. And yet, he reiterated, “We are the first Arabic country that has succeeded in doing something positive after the revolution, launching an important message to the world”.
“We would expect a sort of Marshall Plan from Europe” exactly for “the strategic role of Tunisia,” but that has not happened.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UN’s Falk Accuses Israel of Ethnic Cleansing
Days before he is to step down from his position, Richard Falk, the UN’s “human rights expert” who probes Israel’s conduct towards Palestinian Arabs, on Friday accused the Jewish state of a campaign of ethnic cleansing and apartheid policies.
“The realities on the ground are worsening from the point of view of both international law and from the point of view of the Palestinian people,” Falk told reporters, according to AFP. [….]
Falk has a history of anti-Israel statements, and has in the past compared Israelis to Nazis. He also criticized Israel for keeping an Islamic Jihad terrorist in custody, even after a video of him pleading for suicide bombers to “carry the next explosive belt” was exposed.
Last year, Falk publicly called on the UN to investigate and potentially expel the UN Watch watchdog organization, after it mobilized world leaders to condemn his comments blaming the Boston Marathon bombings on “the American global domination project” and “Tel Aviv.” […]
[Using emotive language to remove the speck from his brother’s eye! — MC]
| — Hat tip: MC | [Return to headlines] |
CAIR Twitter Campaign Forces ABC Family Cancellation of Alice in Arabia
The problematic ABC Family pilot of “Alice in Arabia” that we posted on yesterday has been cancelled by the Disney-owned cable TV channel. CAIR launched a Twitter campaign on Tuesday inundating the ABC Family channel with tweets and a letter to the channel’s President demanding control over the production. According to a report in Variety, the social media campaign worked; the pilot has been cancelled. This is yet another example of how the Hamas- Muslim Brotherhood affiliate engages in intimidation tactics to ensure that the media adheres to an air brushed Hallmarkian view of Islam in America. Moreover, with the threat of Lawfare menacing free speech CAIR strived to avoid any mention that Sharia sanctions abduction of American children of Saudi parents to the Royal Kingdom. See our NER article and Iconoclast post; “ An American Child Kidnapped in Accordance with Shariah” and “Rescue from an Abduction to Saudi Arabia: Interview with Floridian Yasmeen A. Davis”.
Here is the Variety report, “ABC Family Pulls Plug on ‘Alice in Arabia’ After Muslim Org Backlash”:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Deadly Double Bombing Rocks Iraq’s Tikrit
At least seven are killed in an attack on a commercial street in the city north of the capital.
A double bombing has rocked an Iraqi city north of Baghdad, leaving at least seven people killed, officials said. The attack on Saturday morning took place when a roadside bomb exploded in a commercial street in the northern city of Tikrit. Minutes later, a car bomb struck policemen who had arrived to inspect the first blast.
The officials said five policemen and two civilians were killed and 18 people were wounded in the bombings. A medical official confirmed the casualty figures…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Erdogan’s Foolhardy Twitter Ban Backfires
The municipal elections in Turkey are less than eight day hence. Premier Erdogan perpetrated a foolhardy and heedless Twitter ban. He is desperate to stave off a possible last minute disclosure about more corruption revelations to possibly be released on Tuesday March 25. With this ban Turkey joins a select group of countries who have similarly banned Twitter; China and Iran. Within less than 24 hours of announcing the ban at a campaign rally Thursday, March 20th in Bursa, Turkey, it backfired. According to the website TwitTurk, more than 500,000 tweets were sent protesting the ban demonstrating how tech-savvy Turks could work around the shutdown of Twitter. Newsweek reported:…
| — Hat tip: Jerry Gordon | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Assad Forces Retake Krak Des Chevaliers From Rebels
Clashes along Lebanese border, air strikes on Arsal
(by Alberto Zanconato) (ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, MARCH 20 — Syrian loyalist forces scored an important military victory Thursday when they seized the medieval Crusader castle of Krak des Chevaliers, on the Lebanese border, in which rebels had been barricaded for about two years. The forces of President Bashar al-Assad in this way have taken another step in their strategy of sealing the border, blocking arms and militias directed at the insurgency.
The fall of the castle built by the order of the Knights Hospitaller between the 12th and 13th centuries came after that of the nearby town of Al Hosn, which loyalist forces seized on Wednesday. Control of this strategic town guarantees the security of a highway leading from Homs towards the coastal region of Latakia and Tartus. Both port cities are regime bastions.
On Sunday, the fall of the city of Yabrud east of the border marked the almost complete reconquest of the Qalamoun region, which overlooks the highway between Homs and Damascus.
Al Mayadeen private Lebanese TV, which is close to the Syrian regime, on Thursday broadcast images of soldiers raising the Syrian flag on one of the castle’s towers, which appeared intact.
According to unconfirmed reports, regime forces entered the fortress following an agreement to let the rebel leave without a fight, in order to spare the ancient building.
Approximately 300 rebel militias quit the castle and dozens of wounded were transported to the Wadi Khaled region, over the border in Lebanon, Al Mayadeen reported.
Fighting took place at the Bqayaa border crossing, where hundreds of Syrian rebels and many fleeing civilians are reportedly attempting to enter Lebanon, while several Lebanese border villages have been hit by stray fire.
Several mortar shells on Thursday morning hit the village of Khat al-Petrol, injuring an unknown number of people and damaging several homes, NNA Lebanese news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Syrian helicopter gunships fired on the Sunni, pro-rebel area of Arsal, which is considered to be a base for rebels fleeing Yabrud.
The Syrian government has called on the UN to halt what it said was Israel’s “insolent violations” of cease-fire agreements on the Golan Heights as well as its “direct support of armed terrorist groups”.
This follows on Israeli air strikes during the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, which Damascus said have left one person dead and wounded seven more.
Israel said the strike was carried out in response to a bomb explosion at the border, which wounded four Israeli soldiers.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey’s ‘Sultan’ Erdogan on Ever Shakier Ground
‘Chaos used as a ploy’ to survive corruption scandal, press
(by Francesco Cerri) (ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL, MARCH 21 — For the past eleven years, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been the undisputed master of Turkish politics: an important world leader whose fans see as having a stature comparable only to the founder of the Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a ‘model’ for a Middle East seeking to marry Islam and democracy. Recently, however, Erdogan seems to be slipping ever close to ending up in an ‘Autumn of the Patriarch’ and may be pushed out of power by scandals and corruption charges. Turkish daily Zaman states that on the eve of the crucial March 30 local elections — which may prove decisive for his future — Prime Minister Erdogan has opted for a “strategy of chaos to survive”, calling a prosecutor’s charging of dozens of regime members with corruption an “attempted coup” orchestrated by his former ally, Fetullah Gulen. He has targeted thousands of policemen and hundreds of magistrates, including those tasked with investigations his government feels threatened by, pushing through special laws to take control of the justice system and the internet. So far these measures have backfired. The anti-corruption magistrates have been removed, but the evidence for their charges have continues to be posted on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, causing ever more of a headache for the prime minister and his moderate Islamic party AKP — despite the approval of a ‘gag law’. Wiretaps reveal a shady system of power, a close interweaving of business, favors and bribes with friends under the watchful eye of the ‘sultan’. Erdogan has ordered Twitter blocked and threatened to shut down Facebook and Youtube as well. Tweets nevertheless continue to come out through alternative routes, their stream making its way into the ‘broad river’ of Twitter. The measures seem an act of desperation and every day destroy a bit more the image of the ‘important leader’ in the world, already tarnished by his brutal repression of last year’s Gezi Park protests. The analyst Emre Demir has written that the world is watching “the grand tragedy of a leader forced to destroy his legacy in an attempt to survive. The head of the main opposition party CHP, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, has dubbed Erdogan the nation’s ‘prime liar’ and ordered the members of his party not to address him any longer as ‘premier’, or even ‘sir”. “He must resign or flee abroad,” he ordered, warning the prime minister not to engage in any ‘provocations’ or military actions in Syria prior to the elections. The polls — which no one places much faith in — say that the premier’s party enjoys between 35% and 50%, depending on how close they are to those in power. The CHP is instead not expected to exceed 30% and the MHP under Devlet Bahceli is expected to rake in 20%. Some analysts say surprises may be in store for March 30, and that many AKP voters may be hiding the fact that they have changed their minds. If the AKP fails to rake in sufficient support on March 30, some say that the AKP itself may rise up against its ‘important leader’.
Political rumors quoted in Friday’s newspapers say red-light videos may be in the offing that would prove compromising for some ministers and the premier himself: tactics used in the lead-up to the previous elections to eliminate opposition candidates including former CHP leader Deniz Baykal. They had accused Gulen’s Islamic brotherhood — powerful in the judiciary and the police — of being responsible. Now it is Erdogan accusing Gulen of using the same weapons to bring him down.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Why is Christian Persecution in the Middle East Under Reported?
Coverage of the persecution of Christians in predominantly Muslim countries is an ongoing problem that remains under-reported in the western media. The truth of this persecution is damaging to the media’s narrative on the Middle East.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
German Foreign Minister Accuses Russia of Dividing Europe
During his trip to Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has accused Russia of trying to divide Europe. Meanwhile, Steinmeier called on Kyiv to ensure the rights of ethnic minorities in Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
New Ukraine Province in Play as Ethnic Russians Push New Secession Referendum
As Ukraine appears to have all but conceded Crimea to Moscow, Ukranians in Kherson, the province just north of the peninsula, are believed to be pushing a secession vote of their own in what a local leader angrily denounced as “treason.”
The province has a huge Russian speaking population, and a vote — particularly with politicking from Russia — could go against Kiev as did last Sunday’s referendum in Crimea. In addition to a major push from ethnic Russian politicians, the proposal in Kherson could be boosted by the presence of Russian soldiers, pro-Moscow protesters and the kind of propaganda Ukraine accused Moscow of engaging in before the Crimea vote.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Everywhere one looks today, signs of a resurgent Russia are omnipresent. Although Vladimir Putin has undoubtedly worked hard to craft this image, it is a mirage. Russia is doomed over the long-term, and its short-term maneuvers aren’t enough to compensate for this fact.
Traditionally, Russian power has rested on four pillars: population, energy, weaponry and geography. Three of these are diminishing.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Troops Storm Ukrainian Bases in Crimea
Russian troops have stormed a Ukrainian airbase in Crimea throwing stun grenades and firing automatic weapons in the air. Reports say at least one person was injured during the assault on Belbek base, near Sevastopol. The base is now said to be under Russian control.
Earlier, several hundred unarmed protesters seized a Ukrainian naval base at Novofedorivka, western Crimea. Russia formally annexed the Ukrainian region on Friday. Russian forces appear to be stepping up their efforts to push all Ukrainian forces out of the region.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Shots Fired as Pro-Russian Forces Storm Ukrainian Base in Crimea
Pro-Russian forces stormed a Ukrainian air force base in Crimea, firing shots and smashing through concrete walls with armored personnel carriers. Two officers were injured by gunshot wounds in the assault at Belbek Airbase, a Ukraine Defense ministry official confirmed to Fox News.
Several journalists, including foreign press, were beaten by Russian forces, officials told Fox News.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Shots Fired as Troops Enter Ukrainian Base Belbek in Crimea
Troops have stormed the Crimean base of Belbek, with reports of shots fired. Ukraine has lost control over many of its military facilities this week following the peninsula’s decision to join the Russian Federation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Crisis Gives New Impetus to EU-U.S. Trade Talks, U.S. Says
(Reuters) — Russia’s annexation of Crimea underlines the need for the United States and the European Union to substantially deepen their economic ties, Washington’s top trade official said on Saturday, opening the door to U.S. exports of natural gas to Europe.
Days before U.S. President Barack Obama and EU officials hold a summit in Brussels, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said the rationale “could never be stronger” for a U.S.-EU free-trade pact, despite growing public hostility to it.
“Right now as we look around the world, there is a powerful reason for Europe and the United States to come together to demonstrate that they can take their relationship to a new level,” Froman told reporters.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Indian Official Says Marines Must Stay in India
‘Do not release even if the UN intervenes’ writes Chandy
(ANSA) — New Delhi, March 21 — A senior official in the Indian state of Kerala urged the Indian government to not release two Italian anti-piracy marines in a 2012 case involving the killing of two Indian fishermen. According to local media reports Friday, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to not release the marines “even if the United Nations intervenes”. Kerala is the southern Indian costal state where the killings occured.
UN General Assembly President John Ashe was set to meet with Singh on Friday, and some observers suggested they would discuss a possible release after an appeal earlier this week from Italy’s Minister of Interior Angelino Alfano. Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone are accused of allegedly killing fishermen Valentine (aka Gelastine) and Ajesh Binki after reputedly opening fire on their fishing trawler while guarding the privately owned Italian-flagged oil-tanker MT Enrica Lexie off the coast of Kerala in February 2012.
The two marines have been living and working at the Italian embassy in India pending charges in the case.
In the letter, Chandy asked Singh to “not give into the pressure of Italy”, warning that the release of Latorre and Girone “could weaken the credibility of the judicial system of the country”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia Airlines Cockpit Transcript: No Hint of Trouble
A transcript of cockpit communications from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 from the time it took off until its disappearance 54 minutes later shows no indication of anything amiss or hint of the drama to follow, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nepal: Hindu Man Who Wanted Bigger Dowry Sets Wife on Fire
Birendra Sah also threatened his father-in-law. Police found a can of kerosene and matches at the crime scene. The incident occurred in southern Nepal, a mostly Hindu and Muslim area where violence against women is frequent. For Muslim activist, “We can learn from Catholics to create families based on love and respect.”
Kathmandu (AsiaNews) — Birendra Sah, a Hindu man, set fire to his wife Punam Kumari, 29, in the village of Mirchaiya, in the southern Nepali district of Siraha. The incident occurred yesterday.
According to a preliminary police report, the man was dissatisfied with her dowry, and had threatened her father that he would kill her if he did not come up with more.
“The investigations is still underway,” said Naresh Raj Subedi, the police officer in charge of the case, “but at a crime scene we found a can of kerosene and a box of matches. Some neighbours told us that they heard screams and saw flames. “
The area is mostly Muslim and Hindu, and dowry murders are on the rise, the policeman said, a situation that women’s rights activist Renuraj Bandari confirms.
“In southern Nepal, women are primarily attacked in traditional Hindu and Muslim communities. Data show that rapes, murders and prostitution are on the rise.”
However, Damodar Sharma, a Hindu leader, defends his religion. “The incident has nothing to do with Hinduism, but with attitudes and problems related to poverty and illiteracy among these people.”
Still, such attacks typically occur in Hindu and Muslim communities. There have been no reports involving Catholics or other Christians
Sheikh Chandtara, a Muslim and president of the National Women’s Commission, spoke to AsiaNews about it “I can’t think of a single case involving Catholic families,” she said.
“Most Catholics in our country are educated and live in a peaceful manner. I think Hindus and Muslims should learn about love and peace from Catholic families, so as to create relationships based on respect and harmony.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Road Accident Kills 35 in Southwest Pakistan
A collision between two passenger buses and a petrol tanker killed 35 people in southwest Pakistan on Saturday, officials said, with many of the victims burning to death. A bus travelling to Karachi collided with the tanker in the early hours of the morning in Gadani district on the coast of Baluchistan province, senior administration official Akber Haripal told AFP.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ships to Investigate After Chinese Satellite Spots Possible Missing Jet Debris
A Chinese satellite has spotted a large object along a broad stretch of ocean where officials hope to find a Malaysia Airlines plane that has been missing for more than two weeks, Malaysia’s defense minister said Saturday.
Meanwhile, NASA said Friday it is stepping up its support for a multinational search in the remote southern Indian Ocean for possible debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Transport Minister: Chinese Satellites Spot Debris in Indian Ocean
International search teams have stepped up their hunt in the remote southern Indian Ocean near Australia for a missing Malaysian Airlines flight. Chinese satellites have reportedly captured new images of debris.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China President Kicks Off First-Ever European Tour
China’s President Xi Jinping has begun his first-ever state trip to Europe in the Netherlands. During his trip he is expected to meet US President Obama on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
NSA Reportedly Targeted Chinese Tech Giant Huawei
U.S. intelligence agencies hacked into the email servers of Chinese tech giant Huawei five years ago, around the time concerns were growing in Washington that the telecommunications equipment manufacturer was a threat to U.S. national security, two newspapers reported Saturday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pol Pot’s Daughter, Sar Patchata, Weds in Cambodia
Pol Pot’s daughter was married earlier this week at a lavish ceremony held in the former Khmer Rouge rebel stronghold. Sar Patchata, the communist dictator’s only daughter, was the centerpiece of a two-day ceremony held in Cambodia’s Malai district. It was attended by friends, family and local monks — in addition to at least one alleged war criminal.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ministers and Professors Make Tracks to Mosque Opening
A WHO’S who of Toowoomba’s religious and political leadership will be present when the city’s first mosque is opened on March 30.
Guest speakers will include Member for Groom Ian Macfarlane, Catholic Bishop of Toowoomba Robert McGuckin, Queensland Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry John McVeigh, President of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils Hafez Kassem, Professor Ken Udas representing USQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Jan Thomas, and Councillor Ros Scotney representing the Toowoomba Regional Council Mayor Paul Antonio…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
At Least 59 Killed by Ebola Virus Since February in Guinea
(AGI) Conarky, March 22 — The provisional death toll from the Ebola epidemic that broke out in Guinea on Feb. 9 has risen to at least 59, the country’s health minister reported. The area in question is a large swathe of forest on the border with Sierra Leone and there are fears that the virus could spread. A total of 80 cases in the prefectures of Gueckedou and Macenta have been flagged up.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Guinea Confirms Deadly Mystery Epidemic as Ebola
A mystery illness sweeping through the southern forests of Guinea has been identified as Ebola. There are fears the virus may have been spread across the border into Sierra Leone.
Local experts had not been able to identify the disease, the symptoms of which are diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding, since they were first identified some six weeks ago. However, lab samples were sent to scientists in the French city of Lyon, who confirmed that it was Ebola.
Ebola is one of the world’s most virulent and is so deadly contagions and there are fears it could be used as a biological weapon.
There is no treatment or vaccine for Ebola, which can kill anything between 25 and 90 percent of those who fall ill after being contaminated.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Guinea Deaths: Ebola Blamed for Deadly Fever Outbreak
The Ebola virus has been identified as the cause of an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever now believed to have killed nearly 60 people in southern Guinea, government officials say.
There is no known cure or vaccine for the highly contagious Ebola virus. It is spread by close personal contact with people who are infected and kills between 25% and 90% of victims. Symptoms include internal and external bleeding, diarrhoea and vomiting.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
More Deaths in Venezuela Amid Pro and Anti-Maduro Rallies
Two people have been reported dead in Venezuela, as demonstrators rallied for and against President Nicolas Maduro. More than 30 people have now been killed in unrest over the past five weeks.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tensions Remain High in Venezuela After Death Toll Rises Ahead of Dueling Marches
Two more people were reported dead in Venezuela as a result of anti-government protests even as supporters and opponents of President Nicolas Maduro took to the streets on Saturday in new shows of force.
Maduro has denounced the protests as part of a US-backed, “fascist” conspiracy to stir violence and oust him from power just a few months after his party prevailed in nationwide municipal elections.
While both sides are digging in for a prolonged battle, Venezuela’s economy continues to wobble, with many analysts now forecasting a recession this year and no end in sight for widespread shortages and galloping inflation that hit 57 percent in February.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Dozens of Albanians Deported From Britain
TIRANA, March 22 (Xinhua) — Albanian Minister of Interior Saimir Tahiri received the British Minister of State John Taylor on Friday at Tirana Rinas airport, after his arrival on a chartered flight along with 47 Albanian deportees, according to the ATA news agency.
Tahiri appealed to all Albanian citizens not to seek political asylum in Britain and other European Union countries because Albania is not on the list of countries benefiting this status…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Federal Appeals Court Stays Order That Allowed Gay Marriages in Michigan
Hours after gay couples raced to the offices of clerk across Michigan on Saturday morning to exchange wedding vows, a federal appeals court stayed a judge’s order from a day earlier that had permitted same-sex marriages in the state.
The stay was issued by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, which said it needed more time to consider an appeal by Michigan’s attorney general of Friday’s annulment of the marriage ban by Judge Bernard A. Friedman of Federal District Court in Detroit, who had found the ban unconstitutional.
Several clerks and dozens of gay couples wasted little time acting on Judge Friedman’s ruling. County clerk offices are usually closed on weekends, but at least four of them were open on Saturday, including in Ingham County, home to the state capital, Lansing.
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Feminist Professor Charged With Assaulting Pro-Life Teen (Video)
On the UC Santa Barbara campus, there is a common area known as the Arbor. In this area, groups are allowed to set up booths and displays for various causes and distribute literature. It’s known as a “free-speech” zone, and groups do not need specific permission from the university in order to interact with students.
As reported by the Santa Barbara Independent, a Christian pro-life group known as Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust had staked out an area on campus. The area was staffed by about twelve members of the group and contained three large signs with pictures of late-term abortions.
Rather than letting the organization have its say, Dr. Mireille Miller-Young, an associate professor of feminist studies, took issue with the group. According to Joan Short, one of the students staffing the both, here’s what happened:…
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: President Urges Parliament to Address Euthanasia
‘Don’t ignore issue facing thousands of terminally ill’
(ANSA) — Rome, March 18 — President Giorgio Napolitano urged parliament on Tuesday “not to ignore” the issue of physician-assisted suicide and to produce “ideas on the extreme conditions of millions of terminally ill in Italy”. His comments came in a letter to euthanasia advocates in Italy, where the practice is currently banned. “I will draw parliament’s attention to the need not to ignore the problem of end-of-life choices,” said Napolitano.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lava Fossilised This Jurassic Fern Down to Its Cells
One hundred and eighty million years ago, this Jurassic fern was minding its own business when it was suddenly engulfed by a lava flow. The plant was almost instantly fossilised, preserving it in incredible detail — right down to its individual chromosomes in various stages of cell division.
This image shows a cross section through the stem of the fossil fern, revealing the central cylinder that connects the roots with the rest of the plant. The photo below shows a close-up of the preserved cell walls and the nucleus containing genetic material.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Study Questions Fat and Heart Disease Link
Many of us have long been told that saturated fat, the type found in meat, butter and cheese, causes heart disease. But a large and exhaustive new analysis by a team of international scientists found no evidence that eating saturated fat increased heart attacks and other cardiac events.
The new findings are part of a growing body of research that has challenged the accepted wisdom that saturated fat is inherently bad for you and will continue the debate about what foods are best to eat.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |