Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP, said he felt too unsafe to attend his own “UKIP carnival” in Croydon. The fiasco was intensified when a steel band hired for the occasion refused to play. The band had two members of Jamaican descent, and at least one of them said he considered UKIP “racist”. To make matters worse, the local UKIP candidate referred to Croydon as an unsafe dump.
In other news, the recent massive flooding in the Balkans may pose a public health hazard due to the thousands of drowned farm animals left behind by receding floodwaters.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, JP, Nick, 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.
Italy: Bankruptcies Rise 4.6% in First Quarter
Overall closures fall 3.5% over the same period
(ANSA) — Milan, May 15 — The number of bankruptcies in Italy in the first quarter of 2014 rose by 4.6% over the same period last year, business information provider Cerved said Thursday.
However the total number of company closures fell by 3.5% compared to the first quarter of 2013, the same source said.
In all 23,000 Italian companies closed between January and March this year.
“This improvement is due to a drop in the number of voluntary liquidations, which fell by 5%, and of non-bankruptcy procedures, which fell by 1.4%,” Cerved CEO Gianandrea De Bernardis said.
Some 3,811 Italian companies went bankrupt in the first quarter of 2014, according to the agency.
Bankruptcies rose throughout the country with the exception of the northeast, which registered a drop of 1.8%.
In northwest Italy bankruptcies rose by 3.7%, in the south and on the islands by 5.7% and in the centre by 10.3%.
The sectors worst affected by default were services (up 7.3%) and construction (6.3%). The figures came as national statistics agency Istat said in its preliminary estimates that Italy returned to negative growth in the first quarter of 2014, with gross domestic product (GDP) dropping 0.1% compared to the last three months of 2013.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Olive Oil, Honey Could Help Lift Greece Out of Recession
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is calling on manufacturers of traditional foods and beverages, from fish-roe producers to honey makers, to play a bigger role in transforming the country into an export economy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
‘Anti-Muslim’ Bus Ads in US Capital Spark Controversy
A new series of advertisements on Washington, DC buses calling for an end to US aid to Islamic countries have raised concerns of ‘anti-Muslim’ sentiment. Sponsored by the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), the nearly five-metre long ads feature a 1941 photo of Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler with Haj Amin al-Husseini, a Palestinian community leader who later served as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. The advertisements are scheduled to appear on 20 city buses through June.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
CIA Wins Secrecy for Bay of Pigs History
The Central Intelligence Agency has the right to keep secret a draft history of its involvement with the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion more than five decades ago, a split federal appeals court panel ruled Tuesday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled, 2-1, that the CIA can withhold the volume about the 1961 operation against Cuba in its entirety under a Freedom of Information Act exemption that protects government agencies’ interest in receiving candid advice.
The National Security Archive, which collects government records on foreign policy and security issues, requested the history known as “Volume V” in 2005.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Cosmic Anniversary: ‘Big Bang Echo’ Discovered 50 Years Ago Today
Humanity’s understanding of the universe took a giant leap forward 50 years ago today. On May 20, 1964, American radio astronomers Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), the ancient light that began saturating the universe 380,000 years after its creation. And they did so pretty much by accident.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Has Social Living Shrunk Our Brains?
TWENTY thousand years ago, the average human brain was 10 per cent larger than it is today. Some people, such as David Geary, a psychologist at the University of Missouri in Columbia, claim that the dip in cranial capacity marks our dwindling intelligence. Others, like John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, attribute it to improved brain efficiency.
But for Bruce Hood, the author of The Domesticated Brain and a psychologist at the University of Bristol, UK, the shrinkage is best explained by changes in society. “We have been self-domesticating through the invention of culture and practices that ensure that we can live together,” he writes. Our brains, he believes, are getting downsized by domesticity.
Domestication tends to have that effect. According to Hood, every species that has been domesticated by humans has lost brain capacity as a result. Bred for passivity, their testosterone decreases, reducing the size of all organs. Dogs are a good example.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Latinos in the U.S. Have a Strong Belief in the Spirit World
While we do not have data on how many Americans overall believe in the presence of spirits, a recent Pew Research survey found widespread belief in this among Latinos in the United States. More than half (57%) said that people can be possessed by spirits, and 44% said magic, sorcery or witchcraft can influence people’s lives.
In our survey, about one-in-eight Hispanic Catholics in the U.S. (12%) said they have witnessed an exorcism. Even more Hispanic Protestants (37%) — including 59% of Pentecostals — said they have seen “the devil or evil spirits being driven out of a person.”
Varying percentages of U.S. Hispanics also hold other spiritual beliefs, which in some cases may reflect a mix of Christian and indigenous or Afro-Caribbean influences.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Michelle Obama: Talk About Race
Marking the 60th anniversary of the historic Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, First Lady Michelle Obama said on Friday that racial and other prejudices still plague the nation and she called on young people to lead the way forward.
“This issue is so sensitive, it’s so complicated, so bound up with a painful history,” Obama told soon-to-be graduating high school seniors in Topeka, Kansas—the city that was at the center of the Supreme Court’s decision. “No matter what you do, the point is to never be afraid to talk about these issues, particularly the issue of race, because even today, we still struggle to do that.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Lost the War on Al Qaeda, While Claiming to Have Won it
by Daniel Greenfield
Last year Obama delivered his own “Mission Accomplished” speech at the National Defense University. Its broad theme was that the War on Terror was over; it was time to shut down Guantanamo Bay and stand down from a war footing.
The distinction between political Islam and Islamic terrorists, like the distinction between core Al Qaeda and its affiliates or between its open affiliates and fellow Jihadists, was always fluid. Obama’s insistence on the absoluteness of these distinctions is why he lost and why Al Qaeda is winning.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pluto-Bound Probe Faces Crisis
NASA scientists scramble to find an object in the outer Solar System’s Kuiper belt in time for a close-up visit.
Nearly 4.3 billion kilometres from Earth, and most of the way to Pluto, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is in danger of missing out on half of its mission. Project managers face a looming deadline to identify an icy object in the outer Solar System for the probe to fly by after it passes Pluto.
A visit to a Kuiper belt object, or KBO, was always meant to be a key part of New Horizons’ US$700-million journey, which began in 2006. But there is only a slim chance that astronomers will find a suitable KBO with their current strategy of using ground-based telescopes — and securing time on the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope is far from guaranteed.
New Horizons will fly past Pluto in July 2015.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pruden: Running Out of White Folks
Another great national crisis is at hand: We’re running out of white folks. There just aren’t enough of them to suit the Democrats.
Last week the nation observed the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the declaration of the U.S. Supreme Court that legal segregation of the races in the public schools is unconstitutional.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Schmacon, Anyone? Company Unveils All-Beef Bacon Alternative
If Howard Bender has his way, restaurants could soon be serving up eggs with a side of Schmacon. Bender, the CEO of Schmaltz Products LLC, is the inventor of a new all-beef bacon alternative, called Schmacon, that pairs smoky and sweet flavor with a meaty and crisp texture. Company officials say Schmacon is lower in fat, calories and sodium than traditional pork bacon.
“Schmacon is delicious and unlike anything else on the market,” Bender, a deli entrepreneur and a trained chef from the Culinary Institute of America, said in a statement. “Beef factors heavily into deli menus, and seeing what was going on with bacon, I envisioned a beef product that could capture some of the same magic.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Some Blacks Feel Targeted After Firebombing at L.A. Development
The Boyle Heights development, once controlled by a Latino gang, had seen crime drop dramatically. African American families were beginning to move back into the rows of garden apartments — more than 20 years after the firebombing of two black families prompted most African Americans to flee.
Then on Monday night, someone threw flaming Molotov cocktails at four apartments in the development. It had all the hallmarks of the racial attacks of previous years.
Residents said the firebombing was a particular shock because of how relatively good relations between blacks and Latinos have been in recent years.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
1814: Denmark Lost Norway But Gained Democracy
When Denmark lost Norway in 1814 it set off a chain reaction that would later lead to Danish democracy.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Abu Hamza Embodies Britain’s Self-Destructive Madness
by Douglas Murray
A jury in the US has taken less than two days to find Abu Hamza guilty on multiple terrorism charges. He can now expect to spend the rest of his life in prison.
But even if we can now ignore the man himself, the Abu Hamza story deserves to be remembered because of what it tells us about our society. If anyone is still in any doubt about our recent madness, I would urge them to watch this 5-minute clip from a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary aired in 1999. It shows, among other things, some video recordings from an Islamic Revival Movements Conference at the Quaker movement’s Friends House, London, in 1999. Speakers included Omar Bakri and Abu Hamza. If you go to about 1 minute 30 seconds you can see Abu Hamza standing in front of this room full of Muslim men teaching them ideas for how to bring down an aircraft.
He then urges his audience that they should ‘Invent your own ideas and never give up.’
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Act More Austrian, Arab Tourists Told
Ski town brochure urging Arab visitors to take off their burkas and stop haggling draws comparisons to apartheid.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Airbus, Alenia Aermacchi, Dessault Propose European Drone
Consortium submits proposal to three defence ministers
(ANSA) — Rome, May 19 — A consortium of major European aerospace companies — Alenia Aermacchi, Airbus Defence and Space, Dassault Aviation — on Monday said they had made a formal proposal for developing a European unmanned aircraft system to the defence ministers of Italy, France and Germany. The proposal comes after the companies’ joint call for the development of a European drone at last year’s Paris Airshow, and after several European nations had announced a need for unmanned aerial systems, a joint statement by the three companies said.
The statement added that the EU Defence Summit in December 2013 alluded to an urgent need. “The offer proposes a Definition Phase which has been prepared by joint development teams” of the companies, the statement continued, and is “backed by an industrial agreement on workshare and a cooperative agreement”.
“Now is the time to drive technology forward and secure Europe’s capability in building the next generation of military air systems as well as maintain talent and expertise in our industry,” said Giuseppe Giordo, chief executive of Alenia Aermacchi, a subsidiary of the Italian State-controlled defence and transport conglomerate Finmeccanica. Airbus Defence and Space, a division of the multinational EADS Group, is Europe’s largest defence and space company. Dassault Aviation is based in France.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Only 12 Pilots for 15 Eurofighters
Cuts to the defence budget cause problems for ‘Bundesheer’
(ANSA) — VIENNA — Fifteen Eurofighter aircrafts in service, but only twelve pilots available to fly them. This is the most obvious bad consequence of budget cuts to the Bundesheer, the Austrian armed forces, according to daily newspaper ‘ Salzburger Nachrichten’. In an article dedicated to the ‘Sparkurs’, the forced spending review adopted by the Armed Forces of Vienna because of the cuts decided by the government. This article also underlines how the flying hours of the Eurofighter aircrafts have been reduced along with the number of pilots available to fly these aircrafts (in April, from 18 to 12), and this news was confirmed by Vienna’s Defence Ministry. The pilots who have been made redundant should be used as trainers in the future. Some problems due to austerity in defence budgets are now beginning to affect even the car fleet of the army, according to Salzburg’s daily newspaper, which underlines that these cuts, however, will not affect the safety of military operations.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Vienna Mayor Wants Right Wing Group Banned
Vienna’s Mayor Michael Häupl (SPÖ) has called for a ban on a right wing group calling themselves Die Identitaere Bewegung (The Identity Movement).
Last Saturday a march by the group in central Vienna resulted in clashes between protesters and police after it was obstructed several times by a left-wing counter-demonstration. “A group like this should have been banned a long time ago,” Häupl said at his weekly press conference. “This is a neo-fascist organization that quite clearly falls under the prohibition act,” he added.
The Verbotsgesetz (Prohibition Act) is an Austrian law which banned the Nazi Party and aimed to suppress any potential revival of Nazism.
Die Identitaere Bewegung is a young political movement which believes that foreign cultures should be kept away from their own, in order to preserve an ancestral identity. They spread an anti-Islamic, anti-immigration message via social media.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Middle Eastern Tourists Told How to Behave
Middle Eastern tourists visiting some of Austria’s most exclusive destinations have been provided with a special guide on how to behave themselves.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Arab Guests Get Good Manners Guide From Salzburg Tourism Officials
Tourism chiefs in Salzburg have created an etiquette guide for Arabs in a bid to stop them trying to haggle over prices, cooking in their rooms, and dumping their litter around the region.
The pamphlets are being handed out to Arabic guests in the lakeside resort of Zell am See, regarded as one of the most picturesque and expensive of Austria’s tourist destinations
But it is not just the Burka that is causing problems. Zell am See prides itself on the natural beauty of the region and they claim that the Arabs are leaving rubbish all over the place as well. They are also accused of ignoring the traffic laws everybody else has to observe, in particular parking, and the pamphlet partly came about as a result of discussions between local police and tourism officials over driving issues.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Bernabei’s Lux Vide Named in Vatican Scandal
Company says loan repaid through shares in company
(See related) (ANSA) — Rome, May 20 — The television production company at the centre of a Vatican scandal reported on Tuesday is owned by Ettore Bernabei, a former director-general of Italian public broadcaster Rai.
Bernabei is considered a friend of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone who, according to published reports Tuesday in German daily Bild, is under investigation by Vatican prosecutors probing allegations that the former secretary of state embezzled 15 million euros from Vatican accounts.
Bild, citing unofficial Holy See sources, said the money was moved in December 2012 to an unidentified television producer who was a friend of Bertone.
Bild also reported that the money relates to a convertible bond for television production company Lux Vide, owned by Bernabei.
ANSA was told by company producers Matilde and Luca Bernabei that the bond was repaid with Lux Vide shares to a value they said was estimated by international accounting firm Deloitte.
Lux Vide, they said, is 52% controlled by the Bernabei family and ended fiscal 2013 with revenues of approximately 41 million euros.
Bertone has denied any wrongdoing, saying that the transaction was conducted in a normal manner and that former pope Benedict XVI “had been informed of the financial transaction at Lux Vide”. “I repeat there is no problem,” said Bertone. The cardinal had been appointed Vatican secretary of state by Benedict in 2006 and served in the position until last year, when Pope Francis replaced him with Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
During Bertone’s time in the role, the Vatican was rocked by the so-called VatiLeaks scandal which saw confidential Church documents leaked to the media by the Benedict’s butler in 2012.
As well, earlier this year, Pope Francis shook up administration of the scandal-plagued Vatican bank, replacing four members of a five-cardinal oversight committee.
Bertone was among those ousted after less than a year into the start of their five-year mandate which began under Benedict.
Much of the damage to the image of the Vatican bank, officially known as the Institute of Religious Works (IOR), happened under Bertone’s command, when it came under scrutiny for allegedly not doing enough to prevent money laundering.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Bertone ‘Probed’ In Vatican, Reports Germany’s Bild
Former secretary of state reportedly suspected of embezzlement
(ANSA) — Berlin, May 20 — Vatican prosecutors have opened an investigation into allegations that former Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone embezzled 15 million euros from Vatican accounts, German daily Bild reported Tuesday citing unofficial Holy See sources. The newspaper said the money went to an unidentified television producer friend of Cardinal Bertone’s.
It said it was moved in a transfer in December 2012 despite resistance from the Vatican Bank.
Bild reported that Renè Bruelhart, the head of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (AIF), said that he could “neither confirm nor deny” the reports that Bertone is being probed. Bertone was appointed Vatican Secretary of State by Benedict XVi in 2006 and served in the position until last year, when Pope Francis replaced him with Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
His time in the role was hit by the so-called VatiLeaks scandal, which saw confidential Church documents leaked to the media by the Benedict’s butler in 2012.
The leaked documents included letters a prelate sent to Benedict and Bertone on alleged corruption and mismanagement in the administration of the Vatican City. The prelate, Carlo Maria Vigano’, was subsequently switched from his position as secretary-general of the governatorate of Vatican City State to a new post as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.
Last month Bertone strongly denied Italian media reports claiming that the prelate had a luxurious 700-square-meter flat renovated for himself while Pope Francis makes do with humbler lodgings at a Vatican guest house.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Credit Suisse Admits Helping US Tax Cheats
Pays $2.6 bn fine
(ANSA) — Rome, May 20 — Credit Suisse on Monday pleaded guilty to helping thousands of US clients evade paying taxes to the US government.
The Swiss banking giant agreed to pay a $2.6 billion fine.
US Attorney General Eric Holder said Credit Suisse helped US “tax cheats dodge US taxes”.
The Swiss said it deeply regretted the past misconduct.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Cyprus: Poll: Abstentions in Euro Elections Could Exceed 50%
(ANSAmed) — NICOSIA, MAY 16 — The abstention rate in the upcoming May 25 European Parliament elections will exceed 50% in Cyprus, as daily Cyprus Mail online reported quoting the results of a poll commissioned by ANT-1 TV and released late on Thursday.
Less than half of the participants said that they will be voting (40.6%) making this the lowest percentage recorded since Cyprus joined the EU in 2004. The Disy-Evroko ticket is expected to come in as the winner, with 24.9% of the vote. In all polls commissioned for the euro elections up to now, the ruling party comes as the clear winner.
Main opposition party Akel (Communist) is expected second with 15.5%, Diko (Right) with 8.4%, and the Social-Democrat Edek and Green Party coalition barely scraping together 4.5%, barely ahead of the newly formed Citizen’s Alliance at 4.4%. Asked whether they were interested on the euro elections, 36.2% of those polled said: “Not at all”, while 25.4% answered “a little”, 21.3% said “yes” while only 17.3% said they were “very interested”. According to the poll, young voters are amongst those least interested.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Finland: Fringe Right Party Comes Fourth in Youth Election
Finland’s mock European election, organised for young people by the Allianssi youth network, saw Alexander Stubb of the centre-right National Coalition take a runaway victory. The big surprise in the poll was relatively large support for the right-wing populist Independence Party, which advocates withdrawal from the EU.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
First Briton Convicted of Terrorism Linked to Syria
(AGI) London, May 20 — Mashudur Choudhury, 31, from Portsmouth, has been sentenced for crimes linked to terrorism after flying to Syria to take part in the conflict there. This is the first sentenced passed in Great Britain linked to the crisis in Syria. The young man was arrested at Gatwick Airport last October when he returned home after attending a training camp in Syria. Choudhury was found guilty of preparing for acts of terrorism and the sentence will be made know on June 13.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
French Dad Uses Mozart to Fight Drug Dealers
A father in the Parisian suburbs who became fed up with drug dealers hanging out in front of his apartment building is using an original method to try to chase the young men away — a nightly dose of classical music.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Polls: Nazi Golden Dawn Party Increased Its Ratings
In Athens, Saronic Gulf islands and Peloponnesus
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MAY 20 — The Greek neo-Nazi party Chrysi Avghi (Golden Dawn) saw its ratings soar in the Sunday elections, after it nearly tripled its ratings in Athens and managed to elect councilors in 12 of the country’s 13 electoral districts as daily To Vima online reports today. In Athens, the party spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris may have failed to make it to the second round, finishing in fourth place behind Aris Spiliotopoulos, but his 16.92% of the vote translates into 35,949 voters, about three times as many the detained party leader Nikos Michaloliakos received in the 2010 municipal race (5.29% — 10,222 votes). While the neo-Nazi party saw its ratings in Athens increase, particularly in western and central neighborhoods such as Kolonos, Votanikos, Sepolia, Patisia and Kypseli, support for the Golden Dawn in Piraeus was nearly halved since the general elections of 2012. The ratings of the extremist party nearly doubled its influence in the Saronic Gulf islands (Hydra, Poros, Spetses, Kythira, Aegina) since the general elections, while in Thessaly, MP Panagiotis Iliopoulos managed to maintain his ratings, despite being detained in Korydallos and facing charges of participation in a criminal organization. Overall, the neo-Nazi party performed best in the districts of Central Greece, (9.02% and 2 councilors), in Peloponnesus, (9%), Central Macedonia (8.74% and 3 councilors), Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (5.95% and 2 councilors).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Haglund: Sweden and Finland Closer to NATO Than Ever
Finland’s Ministry of Defence Carl Haglund says he believes Russia’s actions in Ukraine have brought Finland and Sweden closer to NATO now than they ever were in the past.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Anti-Trust Launches Probe in Booking, Expedia
Agency investigates competition allegations
(ANSA) — Rome, May 19 — Italy’s anti-trust authority said Monday that it has launched a probe into travel websites Booking and Expedia. The authority is investigating allegations the sites may hinder competition in the reservations business and consumers’ ability to find the best available travel offers.
Investigators are looking into suggestions the websites limit price competition through agreements with hotels that condition pricing through other sales channels, including the hotels’ own websites.
The decision to open the probe was taken at a May 7 meeting after concerns were raised by the hotel association Federalberghi, the anti-trust-market-protection unit of the Italian finance police, and the Italian Association for Computers and Automated Calculation (AICA).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Centre-Left MP Questioned in Jail in Corruption Case
(AGI) Messina, May 17 — Centre-left Democratic Party MP Francantonio Genovese was questioned at length in Gazzi prison in Messina on Saturday morning, in connection with the investigation into professional training. Investigating magistrate Giovanni De Marco questioned Mr Genovese, who is in custody for conspiracy to embezzle, money laundering and fraud.
The two magistrates conducting the investigation, Prosecutor Sebastiano Ardita and Deputy Prosecutor Fabrizio Monaco, were also present, along with Genovese’s defence counsel, Nino Favazzo.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: M5S Leader Grillo Not Willing to Discuss Fiscal Compact
(AGI) Turin, May 17 — Five Star Movement leader Beppe Grillo said “We have no intention of discussing the fiscal compact”.
Speaking in public in Turin, he said: “If Europe is a community then the debt must be spread out and borne by all. We are not willing to discuss the fiscal compact, we’re not even reading their proposals. We shall not do like the little moron, who just went to brown-nose that big-arsed whale”, he added, referring to the Prime Minister Renzi’s visit to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: One Million Cancer Patients Seek Treatment Away From Home
Southern Italians head north at nearly 2-bn-euro cost
(ANSA) — Rome, May 15 — Nearly one million Italians with cancer diagnoses seek medical treatment outside of their regions each year at a reported two-billion-euro cost, Italy’s Federation of Assocations of Volunteers (FAVO) said Thursday. Presenting its 6th annual report in Rome on Thursday’s National Day of Cancer Patients, FAVO reported on “Journeys of Hope”, where ten of thousands of patients from primarily southern regions such as Campania, Calabria and Sicily are traveling to northern regions for better care and treatment.
Patients are choosing to leave their cancer treatment centers in their regions due to waiting lists and lack of necessary facilities, the report stated.
“The tools to improve the situation exist but are not yet applied”, said FAVO President Francesco De Lorenzo, adding that the European Union’s National Cancer Plan established in 2011-2012 has not “yet been realized”.
Socioeconomic research institute CENSIS underlined the disparate situation where quality of life may be “good” as in the case of 42% of colon cancer patient surveyed, while only 9% of the same patients considered rehabilitation services “sufficient”. Emilia Grazia di Blasi, chair of the Senate health committee, said “How can we present ourselves to Europe when we have endless waiting lists, delays in access to medicines and an archaic relationship between hospitals and territories?” The report also noted an additional concern regarding fertility. Preservation techniques are available to only a small percentage of cancer patients, and more often than not, patients are given zero information about fertility possibilities.
“The possibility to preserve fertility is one more incentive for a patient to try to get better”, said Elisabetta Iannelli, FAVO secretary, “and the numbers (of patients) are low and don’t constitute a high cost but the ethical value is important”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Milan Taxi Drivers Protest Over Uber App
Smartphone service ‘unfair competition’
(ANSA) — Milan, May 20 — Taxi drivers in Milan on Tuesday continued their protest for the fourth consecutive day over the introduction the Uber app, a service allowing passengers to connect with nearby drivers at the push of a button on their smartphone. At Milan central station drivers refused to take fares with the exception of the elderly and people bound for hospital in opposition to the new Uber service, which they say is in violation of laws setting out the roles and characteristics of taxi drivers and chauffeur car rentals.
Based in California, Uber allows users to to see where the closest participating car is and book it after agreeing a set fare paid by credit card.
In other parts of the city drivers remained divided in their response, with some continuing to work as usual and others abstaining in protest against what they described as “unfair competition”.
“We don’t have any other way to protest against something that is illegal. Illegal, you understand?” a taxi driver told ANSA.
“Do you know that the drivers who register with the new service can be private individuals with their own car? What if they have a criminal record? What if their car insurance is not up to date? If they haven’t had their vehicle checked?” he continued.
“The thing that makes us angriest is that none of the people who demand rules and checks of us has supported us”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Put on Spot About Merkel Insult
‘Did you call her an unf**kable lard-arse?’ asks BBC’s Paxman
(ANSA) — Rome, May 20 — Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi has been put on the spot regarding derogatory comments he allegedly made about German Chancellor Angela Merkel. In an interview to air Tuesday, Jeremy Paxman for the BBC’s Newsnight asked the Italian media magnate if it is true he “called Angela Merkel an ‘unf**kable lard-arse’“. A promotional clip shows the three-time premier gesticulating and shrugging his shoulders, but stops short of his full response. Berlusconi allegedly made the comment in a telephone conversation with a newspaper editor that was secretly recorded three years ago as part of an investigation linked to his “bunga bunga” sex parties.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Defence Minister Says Talks Then Arbitration for Marines
‘We will not accept any further delays’ Pinotti says
(ANSA) — Catania, May 20 — Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti on Tuesday confirmed the intention of holding dialogue with India’s new government over two Italian marines detained in the country for alleged murder, but said Italy would seek international arbitration in the event of further delays. Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone have been held in India under mobility restrictions for over two years pending trial after allegedly shooting dead fishermen Valentine (aka Gelastine) and Ajesh Binki aboard their trawler during an anti-piracy mission in February 2012. “Because of their functional role our two naval fusiliers must not be tried in India because they are soldiers who were on an anti-piracy mission on Italy’s behalf,” reiterated Pinotti.
Last month the Italian government announced it was opening a “new phase” in the saga, replacing its special envoy on the case and sending its ambassador back to New Delhi to help steer the case towards arbitration by an international organisation such as the UN.
“This government has internationalised the affair by asking for international arbitration,” Pinotti continued.
“We are in talks with the Indian government, which is new and we shall see what position it takes,” said the defence minister in relation to the new centre-right government led by Narendra Modi which emerged victorious from India’s marathon general elections in mid-May. “Thereafter, however, we will not accept any further delays: our marines have been awaiting charges for two years,” said Pinotti.
“After these talks we will proceed with arbitration”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Alleged Bribes Were ‘Gifts’ Says Expo Suspect
Frigerio denies bribe-taking, Paris admits fiddling tenders
(ANSA) — Milan, May 20 — A prime suspect in alleged graft at Milan’s Expo 2015 world fair has admitted he received money but said the sums were “presents” and not bribes, judicial sources said Tuesday.
Gianstefano Frigerio, the alleged pointman for centre-right bribes, said May 12 he had taken cash from businessman Enrico Maltauro but these were “gifts” and had “nothing to do with tender-rigging”, the sources said.
On Monday evening Angelo Paris, the former procurement manager arrested along with Frigerio and alleged centre-left middleman Primo Greganti, admitted “tinkering with” tenders in exchange for promises of career advancement.
Also on Tuesday, a judge rejected a request by former MP Luigi Grillo, an ex-member of Silvio Berlusconi’s party, to be allowed out of jail to house arrest.
Similar requests by Frigerio and Paris were rejected Monday.
Premier Matteo Renzi has given national anti-graft czar carte blanche to clean up tender procedures at the highly anticipated event, where almost 150 countries will gather to discuss new ways to defeat hunger sustainably from May 1 to October 31 next year.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Campania Regional Assembly Speaker Arrested
Romano suspended of attempted corruption
(ANSA) — Caserta, May 20 — Paolo Romano, the speaker of the Campania regional assembly, was put under house arrest on Tuesday on suspicions of attempted corruption.
Romano, who is a candidate in Sunday’s European Elections for the New Centre Right (NCD) party — a junior partner in Premier Matteo Renzi’s coalition government — is suspected of trying to exert undue pressure in appointments with the Caserta health authority.
Parties from various parts of Italy’s political spectrum have been hit by a long string of corruption scandals in recent years, contributing to growing skepticism about the ruling class and the rise of anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), which is second in the polls ahead of Sunday’s vote.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘Did You Call Merkel an ‘Unf**kable Lard-Arse’?’
Jeremy Paxman, the BBC’s hard-nosed interviewer, asked Italy’s gaffe-prone former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi whether he called German Chancellor Angela Merkel an “unf**kable lard-arse” in an interview that will be aired on Tuesday night.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Far Right Protests Muslim Women Swim
Members of the far-right Forza Nuova party have marched on a Venice swimming pool to protest a time slot to integrate Muslims, Italian media reported on Monday.
Forza Nuova supporters from across the north east, including Verona and Vicenza, travelled to mainland Venice to protest at the swimming pool, Vicenza Today reported.
They approached the Polisportiva Bissuola di Mestre sports centre in a convoy of a dozen cars shouting, “A free swimming pool!” the news website said. Protesters also unfurled a banner — “We are at the swimming pool — you go back to Medina” — targeting women of Saudi Arabian origin.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Wilders No Longer Trusts His Party Secretary: NRC
The fact that PVV party leader Geert Wilders tried to sabotage a book written by his long-serving party secretary shows he has lost faith in one of his closest colleagues, according to the NRC.
Martin Bosma, who has been with the anti-immigration party from its inception, is not only party secretary but also Wilders’ speech writer and media strategist.
His book about South Africa is considered controversial. In the manuscript, which is in the hands of the NRC, Bosma writes that the ‘left’ is planning to put the European population in the Netherlands in the same position as white Afrikaners (of Dutch ancestry) found themselves in South Africa when apartheid ended.
Bosma writes that ‘the Afrikaners are the guinea pigs in a multicultural laboratory’ and that ‘the Afrikaners are us in 50 or 100 years’.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Wealthy and well-educated citizens of Oslo clump continuously tighter together.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Prehistoric Europeans Regulated Mind-Altering Substances
Elisa Guerra-Doce of the Universidad de Valladolid examined the remains of leaves, fruits, and seeds of psychoactive plants; residues suggestive of alcoholic beverages; psychoactive alkaloids found in artifacts and prehistoric skeletal remains; and artistic depictions of mood-altering plant species and drinking scenes at archaeological sites in Europe.
Guerra-Doce contends that these substances aided in communication with the spiritual world and were highly regulated as part of a belief system. “Far from being consumed for hedonistic purposes, drug plants and alcoholic drinks had a sacred role among prehistoric societies,” she told Science Daily.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Road Work Reveals 9,000 Years of Scottish History
WIGTOWNSHIRE, SCOTLAND—Road construction in southwest Scotland has uncovered evidence of human settlement in the area dating back 9,000 years. Among the discoveries are two necklaces made of jet beads that date to 2000 B.C., a brooch dating to the Roman period, a Bronze Age cemetery complex, and an Iron Age village. The necklaces had been made in North Yorkshire and are the first of their kind to have been found in southwest Scotland.
“In addition, numerous smaller sites have been discovered which seem to relate to the use and exploitation of the land both through hunting and farming,” Rod McCullagh of Historic Scotland told The Scotsman.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: ‘We Wanted a Revolution, But it Didn’t Go So Well’: Husby Teens
Revolution or riot, hooligans or heroes? One year after the Stockholm unrest that shocked the world, Husby residents tell The Local that nothing has changed — “We wanted to be heard, but they keep forgetting us”.
“We became visible as a neighbourhood, even to politicians,” says baker Ali Safari, who peddles baklava — both Persian and Arabic — alongside Iranian cookies in an airy café right next to the tube station.
Amal feels Husby residents have been painted as hooligans, although she adds that some of the teenagers who took part did have a political motive, and she sympathizes with them. “We wanted to start a revolution, but it didn’t go so well,” she says with a laugh.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Microbreweries Face Hops Shortage
The recent craft beer trend has hops producers struggling to keep up with the demand.
The number of microbreweries has been growing at an exponential rate, not just in Sweden.
The hipster staple, India pale ale, IPA, uses up to four times as much hops as regular beer. And Högström can see no sign that the IPA trend is abating.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
I can of course understand why men like Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson should feel at home in the EU. But why do decent politicians, like Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg, continue to compromise their integrity by throwing a supportive arm around the EU at a time when it looks more and more like a criminal organisation?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tripadvisor Probed by Italian Antitrust Authority
Travel website suspected of improper practices, says watchdog
(ANSA) — Rome, May 20 — The Italian Competition Authority has begun proceedings for improper commercial practices against the popular travel website Tripadvisor, the Antitrust watchdog said in a statement Tuesday. The inquiry aims to establish whether the company adopts appropriate measures to prevent and reduce the risk of publication of false reviews. The decision to open proceedings follows numerous reports from consumers, hotel and restaurant owners and the national consumer union, the Antitrust authority said. On Monday the anti-trust authority said that it has launched a probe into two other big travel websites, Booking and Expedia.
The authority is investigating allegations the sites may hinder competition in the reservations business and consumers’ ability to find the best available travel offers, it said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turk Angered in German Hospital Over Crosses on the Wall
Politically Incorrect, translated by Frau Katze
A Catholic hospital may not have crosses on the walls in the opinion of one Turk. On the morning of May 10, a 34 year-old Turk visited the Catholic St. Josef Hospital in Schweinfurt. He went there suffering a case of stomach flu. Then, in the treatment room he suddenly refused any further treatment, because there were too many crosses on the walls for him. He then verbally attacked the nurse with obscene words such as “fascist” and “bitch.” He acted aggressively enough that the hospital had to call the police…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Abu Hamza is Gone, But Britain Remains the World’s Leading Recruiting Ground for Al-Qaeda
When will we ever learn? While David Cameron and Theresa May rightly rejoice over the conviction in New York yesterday of Abu Hamza on a range of terrorism charges, they still have not come to grips with the fact that London and other parts of the UK remain a major operational base for Islamist terror cells…
[Reader comment by CassandraKing on 20 May 2014.]
Islamism seeks out weakness and cowardice and moves to exploit it whenever and wherever they find it.
An insanely weak and liberal justice system hamstrung by the lunacy of a progressive liberal construct called human rights that favours foreign criminals and terrorists using sometimes dozens of frankly ridiculous appeals designed to sabotage the legal system and rig it in favour of lawyers all too eager to play the system for years.
A weak cowardly government more interested in pandering to the minority human rights activists who have had a major input in designing a system that favours their warped ideology, a government that dare not upset the millions of muslims it has imported. The islamification of the UK is not accidental it is a detailed and quite deliberate cartel establishment plan to turn the UK into an islamic state before the end of the century.
But it goes deeper, the close relationship between the establishment and nations like Saudi Arabia that is pouring money into the islamification of the UK as it builds the ‘bayonets of islam’ mosques and madrassas and cultural centres as a mark of ownership. And note that there are no churches in Saudi Arabia and no cultural centres or Christian schools, Saudi money is being used to bribe our ruling class and assist in the creation of the first islamic state in the West.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Bhatti: Accountant Stole From Kid’s Charity
STRATHAVEN A Pakistani accountancy student who stole £667,000 from government departments and a children’s charity in a cheque fraud has been jailed for three years. Muhammad Bhatti, 27, opened 31 bank accounts which were used to divert funds from dozens of stolen cheques into his own pocket. He claimed to be fully qualified when he opened a client account with the Royal Bank of Scotland. Despite having no proof of his alleged credentials the bank did not question his authenticity and he was able to set up accounts posing as various companies and organisations.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Court: Two Guilty of Sexually Abusing Girls in Peterborough
Tuesday 1pm: Two Peterborough men have been convicted of a total of 24 charges of abusing teenage girls as young as 13.
Yasir Ali, (28), of Grange Road, Peterborough and Daaim Ashraf, (19), of Almoners Lane, Peterborough, were convicted at Cambridge Crown Court today (20 May).
Ali was convicted of 15 charges comprising: four rapes; seven charges of trafficking for sexual exploitation; two charges of making indecent images of children; engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and intimidation.
Ashraf was convicted of nine charges comprising: five counts of trafficking for sexual exploitation; sexual assault; sexual activity with a child; engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and intimidation…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Foreign Languages at Polling Stations ‘Threat to Democracy’
The “integrity of the ballot box” is under threat because councils are allowing interpreters in polling stations, a minister has said.
Voters who do not speak English are at risk of being pressured or influenced by translators, undermining local democracy, Brandon Lewis said.
It follows allegations of “remarkable swings” to Labour in recent elections in Tower Hamlets, East London, in cases where it is claimed Bengali interpreters wrongly directed people on how to vote.
Mr Lewis, the local government minister, said council officials, the police and the public are unable to scrutinise the electoral process if officials are speaking to voters in a foreign language.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Homes Raided After Brit Teen Killed in Syria
Abdullah Deghayes, whose uncle was a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, died fighting alongside his brother.
The family home of a British teenager killed fighting in Syria is one of four houses searched by counter-terrorism police investigating his death. Abdullah Deghayes, whose uncle was a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, died in the war-hit country last month after leaving the UK in January. The 18-year-old’s two brothers Jafar and Amer also travelled to Syria, according to their father Abubaker Deghayes…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Hassan: Clubber Raped by Three Somalians
Chadwell Heath, Essex; Shoreditch, Bow, East London; Tottenham, North
LONDON A hairdresser was sexually assaulted by three Somalian men after they found her drunk and alone in a sandwich shop, a court heard today (Tues). The 24-year-old was picked up by Yusuf Ali, 23, Mohamad Saeed, 18, and Mohamed Hasan, 27, having been out celebrating at Piccadilly Institute for a friend’s birthday. After leaving the popular club just after midnight the woman walked to Subway in Leicester Square to pick up some food where she got talking to the group. They offered her a drink from a bottle which she accepted before being handed a polystyrene cup she thought had whiskey in it.
| — Hat tip: Nick | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Labour and Tory Ratings Suffer as Farage Attacks Backfire
George Osborne planning to mount attack on Labour and Ukip as polling suggests voters do not regard Ukip leader as racist
Labour and Tory polling is showing that attacks claiming Nigel Farage is a racist have backfired since voters do not regard him as such and see the assaults as a sign that the political establishment are ganging up to undermine him…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Mashudur Choudhury: Serial Liar and Jihadist
A Portsmouth man accused of trying to join Islamist fighters in Syria has become the first person in the UK to be convicted of a terrorist offence relating to the conflict. A jury at Kingston Crown Court found Mashudur Choudhury guilty of preparing for acts of terrorism after a two-week trial. But what exactly was Choudhury up to — and why does this conviction matter?
If there is one thing that is true about Mashudur Choudhury, it is that he is a liar and a fantasist…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Mashudur Choudhury Becomes First British Person Convicted for Terror Offences in Syria
A man who travelled to Syria to join a terrorist training camp has become the first person in the UK to be convicted of terror offences in relation to the conflict. Mashudur Choudhury, 31, travelled to the Middle Eastern country in October and was arrested at Gatwick Airport when he returned later that month…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Nigel Farage Fails to Attend Croydon Rally as UKIP Carnival Erupts
Party leader stays away from election rally after arguments break out in street and candidate describes town as a dump
Nigel Farage has failed to turn up to his mini street carnival in Croydon after rows broke out in the street over whether his party was racist and one of his local candidates described the town as an unsafe dump.
The event quickly turned into a farce as two members of a hired steel band said they were uncomfortable about playing at the event. Marlon Hibbert, whose parents are Jamaican, said he thought Ukip was racist and he had had no idea it was Farage’s party that made the booking…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Nigel Farage Feels Too ‘Unsafe’ To Attend His Own ‘UKIP Carnival’
Carnival descends into verbal clashes between Romanian protestors and Ukip supporters on the streets of Croydon as Mr Farage fails to turn up
Nigel Farage has failed to attend his own Ukip “carnival” on the streets of Croydon because he felt “unsafe”, after the event descended into verbal clashes between Romanian protesters and his party’s supporters.
The rally, part of a series of staged a series of events from Ukip in a bid to demonstrate they are a non-racist party, hit trouble after the protesters arrived bearing signs attacking the party…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Prince Charles Says Birth of Grandson Focuses World’s Challenges for Him
Prince Charles says the need for change to ensure the well-being of the planet has come into sharper focus for him since he became a grandfather last year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Reaction: Girls as Young as 13 Abused by Men in Peterborough
Tuesday 12.30pm: The director of children’s services in Peterborough has welcomed guilty verdicts against two men who sexually abused young teenagers.
Yasir Ali (28) of Grange Road, Peterborough and Daaim Ashraf (19) of Almoners Lane, Peterborough, were convicted at Cambridge Crown Court following a lengthy trial today (20 May). The court had heard how a number of teenage girls were abused in the city by the pair.
Video showing Ali and Ashraf at a hotel in Peterborough where some of the abuse happened has been released following the convictions.
The convictions follow from a similar trial at the Old Bailey in London earlier in the year when five men were convicted of abusing young girls…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Two More Prisoners Abscond From an Open Prison
Police warn public not to approach knife robber and thief who are on the run from an open prison in Doncaster
Two more prisoners have absconded from an open prison, South Yorkshire Police have said. Knife robber, Damien Burns, 39 from Scarborough and Dean Jackson, 27, from Newcastle upon Tyne, who was on remand for a theft related matter, walked out of HMP Hatfield in Doncaster on Monday evening.
Police have warned the public not to approach the two men if they see them. Burns was jailed in 2007 and was serving an indeterminate sentence for robbery at knife point. The escape follows two similar incidents in recent weeks with armed robber, Michael ‘Skullcracker’ Wheatley and convicted murderer Arnold Pickering, both absconding from custody…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UKIP ‘Mini-Carnival’ In Croydon Ends in Disaster After Steel Band Refuses to Play
The event seemed doomed from the start.
Earlier today, it emerged that Ukip would be holding a ‘mini-carnival’ in Croydon in an attempt to counter recent accusations that the party is racist. The main attraction would be Nigel Farage.
The thought of the Ukip leader embracing Afro-Caribbean traditions in hope of appealing to ethnic minority voters was just too good for most journalists to miss, so they were out in force when the event kicked-off earlier this afternoon…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
US Fines Credit Suisse $2.6 Billion for Tax Crime
Credit Suisse pleaded guilty and was fined $2.6 billion on Monday for helping Americans avoid taxes, the first time in 20 years a major bank has been punished on US criminal charges.
US authorities said the “brazen” Swiss bank, one of the world’s largest wealth managers, helped thousands of rich people hide money in accounts under false names and in fake foundations for decades.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Balkan Floods Raise Fresh Landmine Fears in Bosnia
In the wake of the worst floods to hit the Balkans in more than a century, officials fear that the heavy rainfall may also have exposed and dislodged thousands of landmines left in Bosnia after the 1992-1995 war.
Mine removal experts estimate that more than 120,000 landmines waiting to be detonated remain planted across Bosnia, the legacy of a war that killed 100,000 people and displaced more than a million.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Belgrade: March in Support of Russian People in Ukraine
BELGRADE — More than a thousand people walked along the streets of Belgrade in support of the Russian people and the referendum in Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
Demonstrators carried flags of Russia and Serbia, a photo of Vladimir Putin and Tsar Nicholas, carrying the slogan “Glory to Russia” as well as flags of Donetsk, Odessa, Lugansk and Kharkov.
In front of the Temple of Saint Sava, Milica Djurdjevic, spokesman for the “Srpski Sabor Zavetnici”, organizers of the march of support, recalled the glorious history of the two nations.
She pointed out that despite the fact that the Belgrade authorities fell under the influence of their mentors in the West, who are asking from Serbia to turn back to the Russian Federation, the Serbian people will never forget the historic alliance between the Serbs and Russians.
“Dear Orthodox brothers and sisters, in moments of your great suffering in Ukraine, we thank you for using every opportunity to point out to the international community the question of Serbia’s sovereignty and the violence that was perpetrated against our people by NATO aggression in 1999 without the consent of the UN Security Council, and the secession of Kosovo supported by the Western powers.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Tons of Drowned Livestock Pose New Health Threat in the Balkans
A new calamity emerged Tuesday in the flood-hit Balkans as rescue workers battled overflowing rivers: tons of drowned livestock posing a health hazard.
With the rainfall stopping and temperatures rising, the withdrawing floodwaters revealed a harrowing sight: thousands of dead cows, pigs, sheep, dogs and other animals left behind as their panicked owners fled rapidly advancing torrents.
“There are tons of dead animals that we must dispose of,” Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told a government meeting Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Launches Erasmus Program for Social Firms in Med
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, MAY 20 — Creating exchanges of experiences between social firms on the two shores of the Mediterranean and neighboring countries in the south is the aim of SEED EUROMED (Social Entrepreneur Exchange and Development in the Euro-Med region), a new European cooperation project.
The program kicked off in March this year and will last two and a half years. It is co-funded by the European Commission with 227,000 euros over a total budget of 300,000 euros, thanks to the ‘Euro-Mediterranean Initiative for Youth Employment Promotion’ of EuropeAid. SEED EUROMED will involve Great Britain and France together with Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
‘‘The project goes along the same lines as the Erasmus program for young entrepreneurs, with the idea of replicating it with partner countries in the southern Mediterranean, considering specific local situations’’, said Luisa De Amicis, who heads a project of one of the participating partner groups, Euclid Network.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria Could be West Africa’s ‘Anti-Terrorist Gendarme’
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MAY 20 — After being a detached onlooker on area turbulence for some years, and driven perhaps by the explosion of the Libyan crisis, Algeria now seems poised to take on the role of ‘Magreb gendarme’, as it has been asked to do by the United States and, most recently, France.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Defends ‘Very Active Role’ In Libya
Italian premier question’s Europe’s seriousness amid turmoil
(see previous) (ANSA) — Brussels, May 20 — The European Union on Tuesday insisted it was fully committed to helping resolve the turmoil in Libya after Italian Premier Matteo Renzi questioned its seriousness. “The EU already has a very active role in Libya. We’re doing everything possible. We’re working with our international partners, we have a delegation in Tripoli that’s extremely active,” said Michael Mann, spokesman for European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton. Earlier Tuesday Renzi said he would continue to press for more international assistance, as political instability in the North African country has led to greater migrant traffic to nearby Italy.
The premier said it was unclear “what Europe’s intention is”, and added he intended to bring up the issue at next Tuesday’s European summit and at the G7 meeting of June 4 and 5.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ENI’s Oil Production in Libya Uninterrupted Despite Violence
‘No evacuations for now’ says Italian energy giant
(see related) (ANSA) — Rome, May 19 — Eni is monitoring the situation in Libya after an armed attack on Tripoli’s parliament, and is working “with continuous attention to personnel safety,” the Italian oil giant said Monday. On Sunday renegade anti-Islamist troops stormed the building and suspended the Islamist-dominated House, accusing it of empowering extremists.
On Monday an Eni spokesman told ANSA that “for the moment, Eni has not taken steps to evacuate employees (from the area), production activities are continuing in line with the first-quarter trend”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Renzi Calls for UN Refugee Camps in Libya
Premier warns fundamentalists may capitalise on turmoil
(ANSA) — Rome, May 20 — Italian Premier Matteo Renzi on Tuesday called on the United Nations to set up refugee camps in conflict-hit Libya. “Should the UN’s refugee agency set up refugee camps on the Libyan coasts or not? I think it should,” Renzi said.
“The absence of international community and of the UN in Libya risks opening the door to…fundamentalists who weren’t there before”.
On Monday the Italian embassy on Monday advised Italians in Libya to consider temporarily coming home following recent political violence in the capital Tripoli. On Sunday renegade anti-Islamist troops stormed the interim parliament and suspended the Islamist-dominated House, accusing it of empowering extremists. At least two people were reported killed and 66 hurt in ensuing violence, some of the worst since the 2011 uprising that ousted strongman Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
The turmoil that has followed Gaddafi’s death has been a big factor in the escalating migrant crisis Italy is enduring, as human traffickers are capitalising on the lack of a strong central government in Tripoli. Last week he EU’s border agency Frontex said arrivals in Italy, the first port of call for many migrants trying to enter Europe from North Africa, in the first four months of 2014 rose by a dizzying 823% over the same period in 2013.
From January to April 2014, 25,650 migrants arrived in Sicily and 660 in the Puglia and Calabria regions, it said.
Renzi has accused the European Union of looking the other way as Italy struggles to cope with the crisis.
On Tuesday he said he would continue to press for more international assistance.
“The way in which Europe is dealing with Libya is clear for everyone to see,” said Renzi.
“Special envoys will be sent from the individual countries and we’ll do that too. But what is Europe’s intention? “I intend to bring the issue up at next Tuesday’s European summit and at the G7 meeting of June 4 and 5, as I did with the UN Secretary General (Ban Ki-moon)”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Khalifa Haftar Pledges to “Purge” Libya of Muslim Brotherhood
Maj. Gen. Khalifa Haftar, commander-in-chief of a breakaway military force denounced by the Libyan central government, has pledged to “purge” Libya from Islamists in a broad-ranging interview with Asharq Al-Awsat. “The (Benghazi) operation, God willing, will not take too much time. This is a purge to conclusively get rid of this disease at this stage,” Haftar said in reference to Libya’s Islamists.
The former Libyan Army chief announced an unsuccessful coup against Libya’s central government in February. Earlier this month, forces loyal to Haftar launched an assault on the eastern city of Benghazi with the objective of retaking bases held by Islamist militias.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Parliament Overrun by Militia, Tripoli Denounces Coup
Army of ex-rebel, Gen. Haftar, also attacks Benghazi, 80 victims
(by Rossella Benevenia) (ANSAmed) — ROME — Tanks and shootouts were reported over the weekend as even the parliament building in Tripoli was overrun by a militia group. A building nearby was set on fire, several cars were damaged and lawmakers and parliament employees were forced to flee the building to avoid tanks and pickups driven by gunmen dressed as civilians.
The situation in Tripoli degenerated on Sunday, when fighting moved from Cyrenaica — where between Friday and Saturday Benghazi was targeted by air raids carried out by troops under retired general Khalifa Haftar who is leading an offensive “against terrorists” with 80 victims reported and 140 others injured — to the seat of institutions led by a new premier for less than a fortnight. Ahmed Miitig was appointed to end chaos and anarchy but many, also among civilians, consider him to be too close to Islamic fundamentalists. So far, he has been unable to limit violence carried out by a number of heavily armed groups who are out of control.
So far, it is unclear whether the violent attack on the General National Congress (GNC) is linked to the offensive led by Haftar in eastern Libya. But GNC President Nouri Abou Sahmein, the same man who on Saturday denounced a coup after air raids on Benghazi, blamed Haftar for the operation.
Other sources explained that gunmen arrived driving tanks from a road connecting the capital to the airport and they left driving southwards along the same road, claiming they were powerful Zintan militia. These brigades are currently holding the son of late leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, and have always refused to hand him over to central authorities. They have also fought Islamic fundamentalists since the start of the 2011 uprising.
In February, the group had sent the GNC, the highest authority in the country, an ultimatum to hand over power: they were slammed for attempting a coup and did not officially obtain anything. They subsequently did not follow on their threat to attack Tripoli en masse.
A short while later, the transitional government announced a “compromise”, without elaborating. Zintan brigades maintained their power intact and kept Saif al-Islam Gaddafi prisoner.
Indeed the man, who is on trial in Tripoli with his father’s top former aids including ex-intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, appeared in video conference from southern Libya during the trial’s hearings.
According to some observers, the possible connection between Zintan militias and retired general Khalifa Haftar could be the fight against Islamic fundamentalism which in Benghazi has its leading jihadist group Ansar al-Sharia, which is listed by the US as a terrorist organization with likely links to al Qaida.
The fight against al Qaida could be behind the support obtained by Haftar from parts of the army which provided aircraft, helicopters and heavy weapons in the east. An unspecified number of high officers and soldiers also claimed they were part of a “Libyan national army”, embracing its slogan: “We will not give up until we have reached our objectives” which were defined as defending “the people from terrorists”.
Power is not the aim, they claimed, but rather “responding to the population’s calls” after three years of war and a dire economic crisis with a blockade on oil terminals and exports, a major source of revenue for the country.
After a day of violence and tensions in the North African country, Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini expressed concern. “Before the situation gets out of control and Libya enters an irreversible conflict, the international community, from the European Union to the UN, needs to mobilize all diplomatic tools so that a transition towards democracy is completed successfully with the involvement of all sides”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Egypt Against Interference, Denies Involvement
Haftar tells pan-Arab daily Egyptian Brotherhood active in Libya
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, MAY 20 — Egypt opposes interference in Libya’s domestic affairs, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Egypt supports Libya’s unity, the statement also said, and “is against any interference in the country’s domestic affairs, condemning anyone inside or outside Libya who has involved Egypt in ongoing developments” because Cairo “considers the issue as purely Libyan”.
Libya, the statement concluded, “has our full support to avoid division and bloodshed”.
The statement responded to media reports alleging that the operations of General Khalifa Haftar are supported by the Egypt of General Sisi, who has been cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood for months.
On Tuesday, government daily Al Ahram quoted an interview given by Haftar to leading pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsar in which he stressed that he wanted to rid Libya of the Muslim Brotherhood and other radical Islamists, accusing them of creating chaos in the country.
The general said he had already arrested 40 people involved with Brotherhood members in a passport forging ring.
The general’s ‘dignity’ operation was launched because, the general also said in the interview, “the Brotherhood in Egypt is the force behind the arrival of extremists in Libya”. And this, he added, “opened the eyes of Libyans”.
Haftar also told the daily he had been planning his recent operation in Benghazi and Tripoli for two years.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: EU Has Sent 130 Million Euros in Aid Since 2011
Including EUBAM border mission, migrant programs, and democracy
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, MAY 20 — The European Union has given Libya 130 million euros in aid for post-revolutionary reconstruction and transition to democracy over the past three years, the European External Action Service (EEAS), which is the Union’s diplomatic arm, made known Tuesday.
The Union has so far spent 30 million euros on its EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) for Libya. Set up in May last year on Libya’s invitation, this civilian mission to help improve the security of the country’s borders has trained 110 officers and trainees from Libya’s Naval Coast Guard in search and rescue operations, among other results.
The EU is currently running a 30-million-euro program to address some of Libya’s most pressing needs in the fields of reconciliation, elections, human rights, public administration, media, migration, women, education and health care.
In September, it launched a 10-million-euro Security and Justice Support Program for Libya (SJSP), and this year it will green-light 25 million euros in European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) funds to support economic integration, protect the most vulnerable, and strengthen the political asylum system in Libya, according to the EEAS.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco: Füle Reaffirms EU Commitment to Partnership
European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle has reaffirmed the strategic importance of the EU-Morocco partnership: “I come to Morocco to give a new impetus and ambition to our bilateral relations. My first message is to underline the strategic importance of the EU-Morocco partnership,” he said in a statement following a meeting in Rabat with Foreign Minister of Morocco Salaheddine Mezouar yesterday.
Füle said the EU sees a lot of potential for further cooperation in the field of economic development, job creation and the development of basic social services, describing the EU-Morocco relationship as a “success-story” in the southern neighbourhood.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Tobruk Air Base Sides With Libyan General Haftar
(AGI) Tripoli, May 19 — An air base in the Libyan city of Tobruk has sided with former General Haftar, whose troops are fighting against Islamic militias, according to a statement posted on social networks and confirmed by base personnel. Due to unrest in recent hours Libyan authorities have also closed the airport in Benghazi.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Foreign Minister Wants to Arm Syrian Opposition
Denmark is prepared to provide the moderate opposition groups in Syria with weapons, the foreign minister, Martin Lidegaard, has told Berlingske newspaper.
Lidegaard’s predecessor Villy Søvndal opposed the EU decision in May 2013 to lift its weapons embargo against Syria, but Lidegaard thinks differently.
“More weapons in Syria are not unproblematic,” Lidegaard told Berlingske. “But the status quo is an even worse scenario and together with out allies, I want to consider how we can give the moderate opposition the momentum on the battlefield.”
Until now, Denmark has rejected arming the moderate opposition — primarily because of the risk that the weapons will end up in the hands of extremist Islamic rebels.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Exclusive: 100 Americans Are Waging Jihad in Syria
by Eli Lake
The number of American extremists who have flocked to Syria is higher than previously understood, American intelligence sources say. And some of the fighters are coming home.
Western intelligence services have been warning that European and American jihadists have been flocking to Syria to fight. But they’ve been reluctant to say how many Americans have joined the extremist forces there—until now. The latest U.S. intelligence estimates say that more than 100 Americans have joined the jihad in Syria to fight alongside Sunni terrorists there.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Research: Turkey Inks Deal to Become CERN Associate Member
(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL, MAY 13 — Turkey has become an associate member of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) after signing the membership agreement at the organization’s center in Geneva on May 12 as daily Hurriyet online reports.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: 3,249 Children Lost, Many in Far East as Sex Slaves
According to the founder of the Lost Children Platform
(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL — Many of Turkey’s 3,249 missing children are now in the Far East, trapped as sex workers, the Lost Children Platform founder Yahya Durmaz said in an interview with daily Hurriyet. Durmaz, a businessman, founded the platform to find Turkey’s missing children, including around 2,800 girls, and reached out to thousands of volunteers in seven countries.
After contacting the parents and relatives of the missing children, Durmaz followed their trails in several countries, including Syria and Afghanistan, as well as Europe and the Far East, where many children are trapped by human traffickers. Some children are being used as experimental subjects, while some others sold as prostitutes or hired as gang members, according to Durmaz. Claiming that the western Turkish city of Sakarya is an international center for human trafficking, Durmaz added: “The children who were smuggled from the Middle East or refugee children all pass through Sakarya. Some use human trafficking routes through the Aegean Sea, others the Thrace region (neighboring Bulgaria and Greece) and some others the Black Sea.” Some 14,412 children have gone missing in the past five years alone in Turkey, the Gendarmerie General Command announced last month, noting many children are kidnapped for their organs, labor or fighting potential.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
by Robert Ellis
The AKP government has defended itself against serious charges of corruption with a counterclaim that the graft probe launched on December 17 was an attempted coup instigated by “a parallel state” controlled by the Pennsylvania cleric, Fethullah Gülen. One could also argue that the same government is living in a parallel universe controlled by the dyad Ahmet Davutoglu and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
British Journalist for Russia Today TV Arrested in Ukraine
(AGI) Moscow, May 20 — The TV news channel Russia Today reports that one of their journalists, British citizen Graham Phillips, has been arrested by Ukrainian security forces. In releasing the news on their internet site, Russia Today added that Phillips is being held in Mariupol. “At the moment I’m with the Ukrainian forces (…) near Mariupol. I’ve been here for over two hours and I’ve been described, my status, as being detained in terms of I can’t leave,” said Phillips in a phone call to Russia Today. He added that he had been interrogated and that his equipment had been thoroughly searched.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Morgan Stanley: Unprofitable for Visa, MasterCard to Continue Work in Russia
Under Russia’s new legislation, Visa and MasterCard will have to pay $3 billion in ‘security fees’ to continue operating in Russia, more than five times higher than the companies combined revenues, a new Morgan Stanley report says.
Under the new plan, Visa will be required to pay Russia’s Central bank $1.9 billion, and MasterCard will have to fork out $1 billion, according to an estimate by Morgan Stanley, Kommersant reported on Thursday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on foreign payment systems on May 5 that requires foreign payment systems to be levied at 25 percent of an average amount of transfers profit during one calendar day in Russia, to be paid each quarter to the Central Bank. The law will be enacted on July 1.
Morgan Stanley has calculated that it is unprofitable for both Visa and MasterCard to continue to work in Russia.
The Morgan Stanley Report titled “The Russian Bear: Impacts of V and MA” said the fees will be more than five times the two companies’ combined annual revenue in Russia. Analysts at Morgan Stanley report net sales for Visa to be between $350-470 million, and $160 million for MasterCard.
A possible loophole would be to create a separate, non US-owned entity to run the Russian Visa and MasterCard divisions. Visa already has such an operation in Europe.
“MasterCard has worked in Russia for more than 20 years. We are continuing to study all components of the new law, and are sure that some of the provisions will not only create serious difficulties for our operations in Russia, but will damage the Russian market of electronic payments in the long-term,” the company told Kommersant in a statement, adding they “continue to work closely with government agencies, financial institutions, and commercial enterprises in Russia.”
Visa has declined comment on the report.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Prince Charles ‘Compares Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler’
The Prince of Wales reportedly tells woman who had lost relatives in the Holocaust that the Russian President is “doing just about the same as Hitler” in Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Billionaire Appeals Divorce Ruling
Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev is appealing a Geneva court decision to award half his assets — more than four billion francs ($4.48 billion) — to his ex-wife in a divorce settlement.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Jury Convicts Five in Journalist Politkovskaya Murder Retrial
A Moscow jury has found all five defendants guilty in a retrial for investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya’s murder, according to Russian news agencies. It is the first time her killers have been brought to justice.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Serbian Representatives ‘Told Not to Vote’ Against Russia
Serbian government and Parliament officials have been instructed not to back international moves against Russia, a recent report suggests.
The country’s diplomats should “strictly follow the state policy towards the developments in Ukraine, explaining the specific position of Serbia and refraining from voting for documents and resolutions that would jeopardize… relations with Brussels and Moscow,” Serbian daily Vecernje Novosti claims as cited by B92 radio.
It also argues that, despite EU pressure on Serbia to approve measures against Russia, a move which could be linked to progress in accession talks, the leadership in Belgrade is “determined not to deviate from the set course of neutrality”.
Jadranka Joskimovic, a minister without portfolio responsible for EU integration activities, is quoted as saying she hopes member states “will be sensitive to the specific position of Serbia” and that the county’s stance will therefore not affect its prospects for integration.
Serbia, which has close economic ties to Russia and has often positions favouring Moscow, has often underlined the importance of relations between the two countries and has not adopted a pro-European tone on the Ukraine crisis.
EU politicians, however, have not set out support for Kiev in the standoff with Moscow as a condition for Serbia’s membership.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Several Dead and Dozens Injured in Russian Train Crash
A collision between a cargo train and passenger train outside of Moscow has killed at least six people. Dozens more were injured in the accident, which ripped the side off one of the passenger carriages.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine: Military Helicopters Not Bearing UN Symbols
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has denied the Russian authorities’ statements that military helicopters bearing UN symbols are used in the military operation in the eastern regions of Ukraine.
“Indeed, we are using white helicopters that previously fulfilled peacekeeping tasks. However, they bear an emblem of the Ukrainian armed forces,” the press service for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry told Interfax.
The ministry said there are no UN emblems on these helicopters.
The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier said Russia that insists on a probe into the use by the Ukrainian military of helicopters bearing UN symbols, specifically, near Kramatorsk.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine’s Richest Man Speaks Out Against Pro-Russians
Ukrainian billionaire man Rinat Akhmetov, who wields considerable influence in the unrest-hit eastern region of the country, has called for a peace rally against the pro-Russian insurgency just ahead of the presidential poll.
Rinat Akhmetov, who operates a vast industrial empire in the eastern region known as Donbass, issued a strong statement against the pro-Kremlin separatists who have seized a number of towns and cities across Ukraine’s east.
He said the insurgents had done nothing for the region but instead were roaming the streets with assault rifles and grenade launchers engaging in “banditry and looting”.
FRANCE24’s Robert Parson’s said that Akhmetov is so influential that his appeal could mark a turning point in the conflict.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Tycoon Says Pro-Russia Separatists Are Wrecking East
Ukraine’s richest man Rinat Akhmetov has issued a strong call against pro-Russia separatists fighting government forces in the east, which he described as a “fight against the citizens of our region” that has devastated Ukraine’s industrial heartland.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss court orders Dmitry Rybolovlev, owner of French football club AS Monaco, to pay 4,020,555,987 Swiss francs and 20 centimes, or £2,681,297,538 and 78 pence, to his ex-wife Elena.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Thai PM Calls for Election, Opposition to Keep Up the Fight Despite Martial Law
Thailand’s caretaker government has called for a fresh election as a way of resolving the country’s political crisis. This came after the military imposed martial law throughout the country.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China-US Tensions Mount Over Cyber Spying Charges
China’s Foreign Ministry summoned the US ambassador to China on Monday, urging that the United States drop charges against five Chinese military officers for allegedly stealing trade secrets from American companies, state news agency Xinhua reported.
China’s Defence Ministry also denied that the government or military had ever engaged in cyber spying on businesses. It instead called on the US to immediately stop spying on China, warning that the charges have seriously damaged trust between the two countries.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
For U.S. Companies That Challenge China, The Risk of Digital Reprisal
A Justice Department indictment released Monday — which accuses five Chinese military personnel of the cyberattacks — reads like a chronology of most of the major trade disputes between the United States and China during the past five years. In most instances, the documents say, the American company or union that defied Beijing ended up facing extensive break-ins by Chinese military hackers, in a pattern that could discourage further trade policy challenges.
The Chinese government responded furiously on Tuesday, calling in the newly installed American ambassador, Max Baucus, to protest the release of the indictment, which was accompanied by F.B.I. “wanted” posters of Chinese soldiers in uniform. The Chinese foreign ministry and defense ministry vehemently denied any wrongdoing while accusing the United States of engaging in extensive intelligence gathering of its own.
But behind the acrimony lay an uncomfortable risk for many American companies, as well as businesses from the European Union and elsewhere: Standing against Beijing, or even alerting foreign governments to trade issues, can carry serious repercussions.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Is Indicting Chinese Hackers a Smart Move or Dumb Strategy?
by Robert Daly , Chen Weihua , Rogier Creemers
On Monday, May 19, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder accused China of hacking American industrial giants such as U.S. Steel and Westinghouse Electric — an unprecedented criminal charges of cyber-espionage against Chinese military officials. Responding almost immediately, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Beijing had canceled U.S.-China Internet working group activities and demanded that the United States rescind the charges, which the ministry said were “concocted.” Will the United States succeed? Is Washington opening itself up to more criticism of its own electronic surveillance? And what are the charges likely to do to U.S.-China relations overall?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark to Invest in African Agriculture
The trade and development minister, Mogens Jensen, has announced today that he will launch an agriculture investment fund dedicated to commercial investment in the farming sectors of developing nations — particularly in Africa.
The fund will initially consist of 40 million kroner and be unveiled by Jensen at a food product meeting in Aarhus today entitled ‘Sustainable food production for a growing world’.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nations Double Aid Commitment to South Sudan to $1.2 Billion at UN Meeting in Norway
Norway says wealthy nations attending a fund-raising conference for South Sudan have doubled their aid commitment to $1.2 billion for the world’s youngest country, but the United Nations says more is needed to supply hundreds of thousands of refugees with food and shelter.
The United States committed $290 million, Britain $101 million, the European Union $76 million, Norway $63 million and Qatar $10 million.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria’s Boko Haram is Linked to Al Qaeda, Says Hollande
(AGI) Paris, May 17 — Nigeria’s extremist militant group Boko Haram has established links with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, said French President Francois Hollande at a summit meeting convened in Paris on Saturday. The summit, attended by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, the leaders of Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Benin, and the representatives of the European Union, United States and United Kingdom, was called to discuss the new threat posed by the Boko Haram group after kidnapping 200 school girls in the State of Borno. “Boko Haram is a major threat for all of western Africa and now central Africa with proven links to AQIM”, said Hollande.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Nigeria Bombings: ‘Death Toll Passes 100’
The bodies of at least 118 people have now been recovered from the sites of twin bombings in the central Nigerian city of Jos, the nation’s emergency management agency says.
The first blast was in a busy market, the second outside a nearby hospital. No group has said it carried out the attack but Boko Haram militants have carried out a spate of recent bombings…
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Twin Blasts Kill Dozens in Nigeria Market Attack
At least 46 people have been killed and 45 have been seriously wounded after two car bombs on Tuesday detonated within minutes of each other, ripping through a bustling market in the central Nigerian city of Jos, officials said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Twin Blasts in Central Nigerian City of Jos Kill Dozens
Two bombs hidden in a truck and minibus have exploded in a crowded market in the Nigerian city of Jos. Dozens of people have been killed in the attacks, which could be heard miles away.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Fourteen Arrested for Drug Smuggling From Caribbean
Probe uncovers alleged network of Dominican runners
(ANSA) — Rome, May 15 — Police in the northern city of Asti arrested 14 people Thursday on suspicion of international drug trafficking from the Caribbean to Italy.
The arrests were made after a probe beginning in 2012 uncovered a network of suspected drug runners, mostly Dominican nationals living in Italy.
Investigators reportedly also identified the alleged suppliers, complicit police officers in the Dominican Republic and recipients of the drugs in the Piedmont city and other parts of Italy.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU ‘Looking Other Way’ Says Renzi After Migrant Deaths
Friction with Brussels after latest sea disasters
(By Stefania Fumo) (ANSAmed) — REGGIO CALABRIA — Premier Matteo Renzi on Wednesday accused the European Union of looking the other way as Italy struggles to cope with a mounting migrant crisis.
“Europe explains everything about how to catch swordfish, but it turns its head when we go to rescue people in trouble”, he said. There has been friction between Rome and Brussels this week after two migrant boat disasters south of Italy in which around 60 people are confirmed dead and many more may have lost their lives. Italy launched its humanitarian Mare Nostrum (Our Sea) search-and-rescue border operation in October, after roughly 400 migrants drowned in two wrecks off the coast of Sicily. It is spearheaded by 782 Italian Navy personnel aboard a flotilla of vessels supported by Carabinieri, Coast Guard, police and Air Force units. Earlier on Wednesday, EU border-management agency Frontex Deputy Director Gil Arias Fernandez said that the agency’s budget has been cut this year, even as arrivals in Italy in the first four months of 2014 rose by a dizzying 823% over the same period in 2013. From January to April 2014, 25,650 migrants arrived in Sicily and 660 in the Puglia and Calabria regions, he said. “We requested extra funding in March, and the EU Commission denied that request”, said Arias.
Also on Wednesday, Pope Francis condemned the “shameful massacre” of migrants. Shortly before he spoke, police in southern Italy said they had arrested two alleged human smugglers who authorities say deliberately caused a boat carrying as many as 400 migrants to sink off the coast of Libya on Monday to induce an Italian sea rescue.
So far, 17 people, including 12 women and two children, have been confirmed dead and more than 200 rescued by Italian Navy vessels and merchant ships that raced to the scene, but as many as 200 more are still missing. According to the indictment, the pair may face murder charges after they allegedly blocked the engines and damaged the vessel.
The wreck follows a similar sinking off the coast of Libya on Sunday, in which as many as 40 European-bound migrants died. Premier Matteo Renzi said Monday that “Europe is to blame” for such tragedies. His remarks were echoed Tuesday by Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, who said Mare Nostrum needs to be expanded into a full-scale international mission. In Brussels, a spokesperson for Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said she had written to the Italian government in March offering further EU assistance but got no reply, a claim Alfano flatly denied. “Our ships were there to recover the dead and rescue survivors,” he said. “Europe is not helping us. It lets us accommodate the survivors”.
Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti earlier this month defended Mare Nostrum, saying it has saved some 30,000 lives, including 3,000 minors, and arrested more than 200 human traffickers.
An increasing proportion of the illegal immigrants coming to Italy are political refugees, Pinotti added. “Two thirds of them qualify for political asylum,” she said.
Most of them come from war-torn countries such as South Sudan, Syria, and the Palestinian Territories, authorities said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Foreign Workers Replace Young Swedes for Farm Work
With summer just around the corner, some farmers in Sweden are readying their fields for the harvest. But it’s unlikely any Swedish youths will be out picking in the coming months.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Top Migration Land After U.S. In New OECD Ranking
Germany has risen to become the world’s number two destination for permanent migration, overtaking the U.K. and Canada, after the sovereign-debt crisis spurred southern Europeans to leave home, according to a survey by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
While the U.S. still draws the most settlers, Germany jumped from eighth place in 2009 to second in 2012, with permanent migration rising 38 percent on the year, according to an OECD study entitled “Migration Policy Debates,” published today. Germany attracted 400,000 permanent immigrants in 2012.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Navy Rescues 133 Migrant Children
Italy’s navy on Tuesday rescued two boats packed with more than 500 migrants including 133 minors in the latest influx that has brought in more than 36,000 people so far in 2014.
Almost all of the new arrivals are on boats leaving northern Libya, which is becoming increasingly lawless, and many are originally from Eritrea, Somalia and Syria.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Immigrant Fake-Papers Gang Busted
Five Italians, a Nigerian, an Egyptian in Turin scam
(ANSA) — Turin, May 14 — Italian police on Wednesday busted a Turin gang that provided immigrants with fake marriage and work documents so they could file regularisation papers.
The gang, which included a trainee lawyers and a tax consultant, charged 4-7,000 euros a head, police said. Seven people — five Italians, a Nigerian and an Egyptian — were arrested.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Some 100 Children Aboard Migrant Boats Rescued by Navy
Operations stop overnight due to bad weather, resume Tuesday
(see related stories) (ANSA) — Rome, May 20 — Over 100 children were aboard two migrant boats assisted late Monday by the Italian Navy south of Sicily’s Capo Passero. Rescue operations were halted due to bad weather conditions and resumed on Tuesday, Navy officials said. The Navy said a helicopter from its Grecale frigate detected two wooden boats carrying the migrants. One of the boats was being towed by the other.
Navy officials handed lifesavers to passengers and started transferring migrants aboard the Grecale and the Foscari patrol vessel.
The rescue operations were conducted with assistance from some merchant ships in the area, the Navy said in a statement.
Women and children were transferred first before the operation was temporarily suspended.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: ‘National Asylum Plans Should be Scrapped’
Italy’s under secretary for European politics, Sandro Gozi, on Tuesday called for European countries to scrap their national asylum systems in favour of a broader EU plan.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Martin Schulz Promises EU-Migration Policy
EU Presidential candidate Martin Schulz this morning vowed to work for a rule-based approach to migration.
Addressing a Labour Party activity in Paola he said he wanted to put Europe back on its feet to manage migration as best as it could, in line with its ideals and values.
“Those arriving on our shores must find a place… We must strive to uphold human life and dignity. Every life lost off our shores is a stain on our civilisation,” he said.
He reiterated what he had said during a news conference earlier today that Europe was a continent without a migration policy “and the sooner we face this the better”.
The EU, he said, should act together in a spirit of loyalty and solidarity among all 28 member states.
A rule-based approach to migration, he said, was needed to avoid driving people into the hands of criminal people.
“Those who tell us we do not need a legal migration system serve to the interests of criminal gangs, winning money from the poorest people of the world. Migration needs a long term vision and political commitment to make sure that the EU attracts the skills it needs for its labour market.”
He noted that a quarter of arrivals were children and many lost their life at sea.
“We cannot remain there and watch people die. I want to make Lampedusa a turning point in the EU migration policy… Turning our backs on countries that need help is tempting but I will not accept this attitude,” he promised.
Addressing the people gathered as comrades, he said migration was a common European responsibility, not a Maltese, Greek, Italian or Bulgarian issue.
European response and coordination was needed. No ship master should be afraid of prosecution when saving lives, he said adding that people carrying out their human duty should be honoured and not punished.
He also noted that Malta has one of the highest proportions of asylum seekers in Europe and he wanted to help the country with relocation.
Mr Schulz said that he could not accept the populist claim that asylum seekers were economic refugees.
“Closing borders is not the answer for people fleeing persecution and war… We must fight the causes of migration and never the migrants themselves… This is where we must do more in prevention, particularly with countries such as Libya… We should focus on reforms in human rights, narrowing social and economic realities. When people find a job, food and dignity, they would want to stay at home,” he said.
Mr Schulz said that legal migration did not mean that everybody would be able to relocate to Europe.
“I am in favour of an orderly and controlled legal migration system. Every country must accept its fair share of migrants. Behind illegal migration are criminal gangs,” he said.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told his supporters that with their vote they had to ensure that the EU would have a leader that understood them, someone who was part of them.
“We cannot have Europe which has regulations on everything, some of them irrelevant to our lives and excessive bureaucracy but no common policy on migration…
“If Schulz is elected, he will push for this policy which would see that there are legal ways to reach Europe but the burden will be shared by all EU member states…
“He is telling us that Malta will not be alone. Whoever is concerned about this situation and that Malta was left to deal with it alone must vote Labour to elect Schulz as EU president,” he said.
The EU, he said, should act together in a spirit of loyalty and solidarity among all 28 member states.
A rule-based approach to migration, he said, was needed to avoid driving people into the hands of criminal people.
“Those who tell us we do not need a legal migration system serve to the interests of criminal gangs, winning money from the poorest people of the world. Migration needs a long term vision and political commitment to make sure that the EU attracts the skills it needs for its labour market.”
He noted that a quarter of arrivals were children and many lost their life at sea.
“We cannot remain there and watch people die. I want to make Lampedusa a turning point in the EU migration policy… Turning our backs on countries that need help is tempting but I will not accept this attitude,” he promised.
Addressing the people gathered as comrades, he said migration was a common European responsibility, not a Maltese, Greek, Italian or Bulgarian issue.
European response and coordination was needed. No ship master should be afraid of prosecution when saving lives, he said adding that people carrying out their human duty should be honoured and not punished.
He also noted that Malta has one of the highest proportions of asylum seekers in Europe and he wanted to help the country with relocation.
Mr Schulz said that he could not accept the populist claim that asylum seekers were economic refugees.
“Closing borders is not the answer for people fleeing persecution and war… We must fight the causes of migration and never the migrants themselves… This is where we must do more in prevention, particularly with countries such as Libya… We should focus on reforms in human rights, narrowing social and economic realities. When people find a job, food and dignity, they would want to stay at home,” he said.
Mr Schulz said that legal migration did not mean that everybody would be able to relocate to Europe.
“I am in favour of an orderly and controlled legal migration system. Every country must accept its fair share of migrants. Behind illegal migration are criminal gangs,” he said.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told his supporters that with their vote they had to ensure that the EU would have a leader that understood them, someone who was part of them.
“We cannot have Europe which has regulations on everything, some of them irrelevant to our lives and excessive bureaucracy but no common policy on migration…
“If Schulz is elected, he will push for this policy which would see that there are legal ways to reach Europe but the burden will be shared by all EU member states…
“He is telling us that Malta will not be alone. Whoever is concerned about this situation and that Malta was left to deal with it alone must vote Labour to elect Schulz as EU president,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Migration: EU Project Starts With Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, MAY 14 — Kick-off meeting in Malta of a new EU project on migration. The initiative, according to a press relase of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), is being undertaken with countries with which the EU has concluded (Tunisia and Morocco) or is negotiating (Jordan) an EU Mobility Partnership. Jordan will be participating in the work of the EASO.
Moreover, Morocco and Tunisia will be participating in the work of both EASO and the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex).
The project, financed by the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), will assess and identify the technical assistance needs of Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia and the suitability of the existing EASO and Frontex tools for their possible adaptation.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Migration to Germany Skyrockets
The sovereign debt crisis is driving a surge in migration to Germany. New figures reveal hundreds of thousands of foreign workers flocked to Europe’s largest economy in 2012 — a nearly 40 percent jump in just a year.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Sicily: 100 Children Aboard Two Boats Rescued
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MAY 20 — Over 100 children were aboard two migrant boats assisted late Monday by the Italian Navy south of Sicily’s Capo Passero. Rescue operations were halted due to bad weather conditions and resumed on Tuesday, Navy officials said. The Navy said a helicopter from its Grecale frigate detected two wooden boats carrying the migrants. One of the boats was being towed by the other.
Navy officials handed lifesavers to passengers and started transferring migrants aboard the Grecale and the Foscari patrol vessel. The rescue operations were conducted with assistance from some merchant ships in the area, the Navy said in a statement.
Women and children were transferred first before the operation was temporarily suspended.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Setting Up Emergency Shelter in Texas as Youths Cross Border Alone
With border authorities in South Texas overwhelmed by a surge of young illegal migrants traveling by themselves, the Department of Homeland Security declared a crisis this week and moved to set up an emergency shelter for the youths at an Air Force base in San Antonio, officials said Friday.
The children are coming primarily from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, making the perilous journey north through Mexico to Texas without parents or close adult relatives. Last weekend alone, more than 1,000 unaccompanied youths were being held at overflowing border stations in South Texas, officials said.
The flow of child migrants has been building since 2011, when 4,059 unaccompanied youths were apprehended by border agents. Last year more than 21,000 minors were caught, and Border Patrol officials had said they were expecting more than 60,000 this year. But that projection has already been exceeded.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A mass brawl erupted between rivalling groups of youths who clashed in an area where former Home Secretary David Blunkett warned of rioting due to the high influx of Roma immigrants.
The former Home Secretary warned last November that tensions between local people and Roma migrants in the Page Hall area of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, could escalate into rioting unless action was taken to improve integration.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Notre Dame Won’t Recognize ‘Traditional Marriage’ Student Club
A student group at the University of Notre Dame advocating traditional marriage has been denied official recognition as a campus club at the iconic Catholic institution, although members vow to appeal the decision.
The group, Students for Child-Oriented Policy (SCOP), was rejected in an April 30 letter from the university’s Student Activities Office to Tiernan Kane, the club’s proposed president. The decision was based on a recommendation by the university’s Club Coordination Council, a division of student government, that found the club’s mission “closely mirrored” that of other undergraduate student clubs at the 12,000-student university.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
White Privilege Conference 2014 Part 3 of 4: Getting White Privilege Into the Elementary Classroom
Part three of our ground-breaking four part investigative report on the annual White Privilege Conference in Madison, Wisconsin 2014
Educators advocating teaching children as young as four and five.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk Says SpaceX Making ‘Progress’ Toward Mars Colony
Billionaire Elon Musk said his private spaceflight company SpaceX has made some progress toward establishing a permanent colony on Mars — a longtime goal in the entrepreneur’s push to help make humanity a multiplanet species.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
by Daniel Pipes
The deeply anti-modern and authoritarian nature of Islamism leaves me highly dubious that something civilized and worthy can emerge from this ideology; most likely, recent positive developments are merely tactical and temporary. But I no longer can reject with certainty the possibility of Islamism evolving and somewhat improving.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turning Light Into Matter May Soon be Possible
Scientists may soon create matter entirely from light, using technology that is already available to complete a quest 80 years in the making.
The experiment would re-create events that were critical in the first 100 seconds of the universe and that are also expected to happen in gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the cosmos and one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in physics, researchers added.
As Einstein’s famous equation E=mc2 proved, mass can get converted into energy and vice versa. For instance, when an electron meets its antimatter counterpart, a positron, they annihilate each other, releasing photons, the particles making up light.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The EU “resembles” a criminal organization? That journalist needs to grow a pair.
“The Greek neo-Nazi party Chrysi Avghi (Golden Dawn) . . . . In Athens, . . . the detained party leader Nikos Michaloliakos . . . . While the neo-Nazi party saw its ratings . . . . The ratings of the extremist party nearly doubled . . . , while in Thessaly, MP Panagiotis Iliopoulos . . . despite being detained in Korydallos and facing charges of participation in a criminal organization. Overall, the neo-Nazi party . . . .”
Islam being “nice”? C’mon Mr Pipes? Have you gone into comedy? The whole “faith” is absolutely evil…
Nazism and Stalinism were evil, Bishop; doesn’t mean all Germans or Russians, etc at the time were, but that those who opposed the ideologies in question were intimidated into conforming- like many Muslims today.
This is not an excuse, but an explanation, and unless we are tested by threats of violence against ourselves or our loved ones, and pass that test, maybe we should not be too simplistic in our condemnation. There is less excuse for the PC enablers of Islamism, who have been raised in a relatively free environment.
Mark, Muslims have FREE WILL as to whether they will conform to the evil actions of their religion (i.e., A Muslim man can decide to marry a full grown woman instead of a girl. A Muslim man can decide to take one wife – or four wives. A Muslim man can decide whether to beat his dependents. A Muslim man can decide whether to persecute non-Muslims. Etc.) If Muslim men decided to live moral lives, then Islam would disappear instantly. All Muslim men secure enough benefits from being Muslim that Muslims keep being Muslim. It is a DECISION to BELIEVE and ACT Muslim – a decision that can be undone if desired. To contend otherwise is to treat Muslims as inferiors without FREE WILL. As humans, Muslims have FREE WILL.
Anyone in the EU. Take part in polls
http://www.euvox2014.eu
Opportunity to state a view on islam and immigration.
Just watch the video and see how nobly the Muslim guests are treating the greatly educated British, thanks to LIARS and democracy at work.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2014/may/01/ukip-leader-nigel-farage-egged-nottingham-video
Mark, as I read it, the Bishop was saying that the whole doctrine of islam was absolutely evil, not each and every individual muslim. This is a perfectly fair and reasonable comment to make. I regard islam as nothing less than an arab blasphemy of the Christian faith but I do have muslim friends. I don’t think much of socialism either but some of my best friends are socialists – ideologically misguided but very nice in spite of that.