The Spanish soccer club Real Madrid removed a cross from its logo in order to avoid offending a bank in Abu Dhabi. The club and the bank have entered into a “strategic partnership”, and the club’s logo will appear on a credit card put out by the bank. As far as analysts can determine, the club’s decision had nothing to do with Islam.
In other news, two “Minnesotans” who attempted to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State were sought by the FBI. One of the men was apprehended, but the other got away.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, Phyllis Chesler, Steen, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
EU Unveils €315 Billion Plan to ‘Kickstart’ Economy
New EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker unveiled Wednesday an eagerly awaited 315-billion-euro investment plan to “kickstart” the economy, saying it would show the world that Europe was back in business after years of crisis.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greeks Struggle to Get by Despite Economic ‘Recovery’
Greece’s economy has begun outpacing the rest of the eurozone. Even so, with one in four Greeks unemployed, many find the news that the economy is recovering laughable. Joanna Kakissis reports from Athens.
The number of Greeks at risk of poverty has more than doubled in the last five years — from about 20 percent in 2008 to 44 percent in 2013, according to a report by the International Labor Organization.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Carige Says it is Seeking an Industrial Partner
Hopes to accelerate share sale to raise bank capital
(ANSA) — Genoa, November 24 — The Carige Foundation said Wednesday that it is seeking an industrial partner for its troubled bank and plans to sell its prestigious seat in Genoa to raise funds.
Banca Carige was named by the European Central Bank, along with Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank (MPS), for capital shortfalls following extensive stress testing.
Carige has said it intends to boost capital through a share sale.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Budget Committee OKs Cap on Golden Pensions
Changes to take affect as of January 1, 2015
(ANSA) — Rome, November 26 — The House budget committee on Wednesday approved an amendment to the government’s 2015 budget bill capping so-called golden or high-end pensions as of January 1 next year. Italy reportedly shells out approximately 3.3 billion euros a year to some 33,000 recipients of golden pensions, which can amount to upwards of 90,000 euros a year or 7,500 euros a month gross. In contrast, as many as 6.8 million pensioners have to survive on pre-tax pensions of less than 1,000 euro a month, of which two million live on less than 500 euro monthly, Italy’s INPS pension agency disclosed in July this year.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Interest Down on Six-Month Bond at Auction
Treasury sells six billion euros worth of BOTs
(ANSA) — Rome, November 26 — The Treasury sold all of the six billion euros’ worth of six-month BOT bonds that it put up for auction on Wednesday at an average interest rate of 0.272%, down from 0.379% at a sale in October.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Norway: Falling Oil Prices May Cause New Recession
The worldwide fall in oil prices could mean Norway will move towards a new economic downturn, predict experts on Wednesday.
Two professors at BI Norwegian Business School (Handelshøyskolen BI) in Oslo have stated if oil prices do not return to the levels they were at a few months ago, then Norway may sink into a new recession.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
2 Men Charged With Trying to Support Islamic State
One of two Minnesota men accused of planning to join the Islamic State group was stopped at an airport by FBI agents before traveling to the Middle East, but the other man slipped by authorities, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.
Abdullahi Yusuf, 18, was stopped at the Minneapolis airport in late May. Authorities are still looking for 20-year-old Abdi Nur, who left for Istanbul, Turkey, the next day and didn’t return in June as scheduled, according to the court documents.
Yusuf was arrested on his way to school at Inver Hills Community College. His attorney argued for his release during a Tuesday hearing in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, noting he had been going to school and work despite knowing for months that he was under investigation. But a magistrate judge ordered him held until a detention hearing Wednesday.
Yusuf, who lives in Inver Grove Heights, a suburb of St. Paul, and Nur, of Minneapolis, are charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Nur also is charged with providing material support to a foreign terror group.
U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said both young men conspired to join the Islamic State “to engage in a campaign of terror in support of a violent ideology.”
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Congress Must Rescue Administration Held Hostage by Iran
by Jonathan S. Tobin
This morning’s announcement that the West has formally agreed to extend its nuclear talks with Iran for another seven months confirms something that we already knew about Obama administration attitudes on the issue: it is far more afraid of disrupting any chance for détente with the Islamist regime than in sticking to its principles or its promises about halting the threat posed by Tehran’s program. But while sending the talks into a second overtime period allows Iran to keep moving ahead with its nuclear program and lets Secretary of State John Kerry and his negotiators to relax a bit, this decision should wake up Congress. The failure of the administration to escape the trap that it has set for itself by letting the next stage of the talks drag on endlessly should re-energize the existing bipartisan coalition in favor of toughening sanctions on Iran to get back to work and pass a new bill.
It should be remembered that a year ago in the aftermath of the signing of a weak interim deal with Iran, the administration successfully fended off efforts to increase sanctions on the Islamist regime by claiming that doing so would disrupt the negotiations. President Obama and Kerry both promised that the next round of talks would have a limited time frame that would prevent Iran from continuing the same game that it has played with the West for the last decade…
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Ferguson Violence Broke the Mold in Three Ways — One of Which is Just Unfolding Now
Even as the president, live from the White House, said “there is inevitably going to be some negative reaction, and it will make for good TV,” the news channels split their screens to show police shooting tear-gas canisters at protesters in Ferguson, Mo. — a presidential appeal for calm competing against frightening scenes of angry confrontation.
Monday night’s reaction to a grand jury’s decision not to indict the Ferguson police officer who killed an unarmed young black man in August consisted of peaceful protest in some places and vandalism and looting in others — a burst of violence so widely and persistently predicted that it seemed as much self-fulfilling prophecy as organic expression of rage.
Spontaneous or organized, riots have sporadically pierced the social compact through two and a half centuries of this country’s struggles over equality and opportunity. But August’s violence in Ferguson broke the mold in three important ways — one of which is just unfolding now. These were rare suburban riots, racial violence coming to the very place where many Americans — both white and black — had fled after the urban unrest of the 1960s. These were the most significant explosions of racial frustration since the election of the nation’s first black president, and so Ferguson forced the country out of the fantasy that America had entered a “post-racial” era.
Finally, what distinguishes Ferguson from the crowded historical catalogue of racially-motivated street violence is what has happened in recent weeks: The unseemly buildup to the announcement of the grand jury’s conclusion that no crime was committed in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown has produced an expectation of ugliness. What occurred Monday night — and may continue in the days ahead — is rioting as planned event, so pervasively predicted, so extensively prepared for as to obscure the power and meaning of the protests…
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Ferguson Protesters Rally Across US for Second Day
Protests took place across the nation for the second consecutive night in wake of a grand jury declining to indict Ferguson officer Darren Wilson on charges for killing 18-year-old Michael Brown in an August shooting.
Demonstrations in Ferguson quieted down Tuesday night into early Wednesday evening. Guard units protected the Ferguson Police Department, leaving crowd control, arrests and use of tear gas to local officers. In one commercial area Wednesday morning, a soldier was stationed at every few storefronts, and some were on rooftops. In all, 45 people were arrested, most for failure to disperse.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Ferguson Shooting: Protests Spread Across US
A dozen US cities have seen new protests over the decision not to charge a white policeman who killed a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri. Demonstrations from New York to Seattle were largely peaceful but rioting broke out in Oakland, California. There was some unrest in Ferguson itself, with police making 44 arrests, but the town did not see destruction on the scale of Monday night.
The officer who killed Michael Brown there says he has a “clean conscience”.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Legal Scholars Praise Ferguson Grand Jury for Fairness Beyond the Norm
Legal experts across the country agree that while the process that led to a grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for killing Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, was unusual, it was not unfair. Rather if it was anything unusual, it was in its fairness and openness.
Lawyers and academics told The Washington Times that, despite their personal opinions on the case, which has sparked riots over police brutality, St. Louis county prosecutor Robert McCulloch sought unbiased justice in presenting the jury with every piece of evidence and then making that evidence public.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Nuclear Power: Desperately Seeking Plutonium
NASA has 35 kilograms of plutonium-238 to power its deep-space missions — but that will not get it very far.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Catalan Leader Maps Out 18-Month Plan to Secede From Spain
Catalan leader Artur Mas has announced a plan to proclaim independence for the region within 18 months after the next regional elections are held.
Mas, of the nationalist CiU bloc, addressed a crowd in Barcelona on Tuesday to defend the need for unity among all pro-sovereignty parties.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Comet Landing: UK Team’s Data Bonanza From Philae
Scientists say they detected what might be complex carbon compounds on the surface of the comet the craft landed on two weeks ago.
The results are from the Ptolemy instrument, which is a miniaturised on-board laboratory.
The detection of carbon supports a view that comets may have brought key chemicals to Earth to kick-start life.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Court Says Italy Breaching EU Law on School Contracts
Unlimited renewal of temporary contracts ‘unjustified’
(ANSA) — Brussels, November 26 — The European Court of Justice said on Wednesday that Italy was breaching European law with the “unlimited renewal” of temporary contracts for workers in State schools.
Several unions hailed the decision, while some experts said it could open the floodgates of litigation from thousands of school employees perennially working on temporary contracts.
The European court was commenting on a petition against the State by a number of people who were recruited as teachers and administrators on temporary contracts, working for various periods, but who were never employed for less than 45 months over a period of five years.
“The unlimited renewal of such contracts to cover the fixed and permanent needs of State schools is not justified,” the court said. “Italian legislation does not contain any measure designed to prevent the misuse of successive fixed-term employment contracts…
“Italian legislation excludes compensation for the damage suffered on account of the misuse of successive fixed-term employment contracts in the education sector. Nor does it permit such contracts to be converted into contracts of indefinite duration…
“Even though the education sector displays a particular need for flexibility, the Italian State cannot dispense with observance of the obligation to lay down an appropriate measure designed to duly punish the misuse of successive fixed-term employment contracts”.
Mimmo Pantaleo, the head of the education arm of Italy’s largest trade union confederation, the leftwing CGIL, said the court’s decision would make legal history.
“This is destined to pave the way and give hope to hundreds of thousands of precarious workers who have been covering vacant positions for years, enabling schools, research agencies and universities to function,” Pantaleo said.
Carlo Rienzi, the head of consumers association Codacons, said the State now faced a mountain of litigation.
“There will be serious consequences for the Italian State,” said Rienzi. “The decision of the European court paves the way for an avalanche of appeals from 150,000 precarious workers in schools, who have had their contracts renewed on a temporary basis in total disregard of European law, suffering major economic damages”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU to Release More US Trade Pact Documents
The EU will release more documents about a huge but controversial trade pact with the United States that has been opposed by campaigners, EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said Tuesday.
Talks on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) have been hobbled by concerns over transparency about a key component of the deal.
Malmstroem said all documents that are shared by the European Commission with member states and European Parliament would now be made public.
Until now, the Commission — the EU’s executive branch leading negotiations on the pact — has only made a selection available.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Foreigners Essential for Scientology in Denmark
At the moment, around 4,000 to 5,000 foreign Scientologists are in Copenhagen taking part in courses and receiving guidance, while another 2,000 or so work permanently in Copenhagen, according to the belief organisation.
And the stream of foreigners heading to Scientology’s European headquarters in Denmark are essential to the belief organisation’s business, according to Peter B Andersen, a professor in religion sociology at the University of Copenhagen.
“Scientology educates people from all over Europe to the highest possible level on the continent in their building on Jernbanegade,” Andersen told Kristeligt-Dagblad newspaper. “And that’s also where its international administration is located.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
A propaganda video from the Islamic State was released two days ago, in which three “French” jihadists call on the Muslims of France to join their brothers in Syria. The original video lasts about seven minutes.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Google Maps Puts “Mosque” Back Into Córdoba Monument’s Name
For a while, the Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba (Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba) disappeared from Google Maps. The famous monument was being described simply as Catedral de Córdoba, even on the dot that signals its location on the map.
But an activist group called Plataforma Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba. Patrimonio de tod@s — roughly translated as “Platform for the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba. Heritage of everyone” — drew attention to the oversight, prompting the search engine to revert to the building’s original name just two days later.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Greenland Independence on Hold in Snap Election
Many in Greenland still want to break free from Copenhagen but economic issues and a spending scandal have overshadowed nationalism in the run-up to Friday’s election.
Greenland voters are on Friday expected to focus on the Arctic territory’s economic future rather than independence from Denmark, in a snap election prompted by a corruption scandal.
“The theme of the last election was very much: ‘How do we progress towards independence?’ and more specifically: ‘How do we kick start the mining industry?’“ said Ulrik Pram Gad, a University of Copenhagen researcher specialising in Greenlandic politics.
“This time the election is much more down to earth. It’s about economic policy,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Has the Imagination Disappeared From Lego?
The Brick 2014 show for Lego enthusiasts is about to take place in London, but critics say the toy has become less creative, with too many specialised pieces and instruction manuals. Is this true?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Says He Could ‘Direct’ N. League Chief
‘Salvini a goleador, he might like to be Milan vice president’
(ANSA) — Rome, November 25 — Ex premier Silvio Berlusconi said Tuesday he could be a “director” behind Northern League chief Matteo Salvini, whose party raked in an unexpectedly high number of vote in regional elections Sunday. “He’s got a very straightforward way of talking but he needs a strong midfield at his back,” Berlusconi said of Salvini, whose party was an erstwhile majority coalition ally under previous Berlusconi administrations.
“I have no political ambitions…but I can be the director behind Salvini,” said Berlusconi, whose leadership of his Forza Italia (FI) party is being questioned by his former confidant Raffaele Fitto and other FI officials after the party’s poor showing in Sunday’s regional vote.
“I am always glad of votes that go to the League,” the media mogul continued, speaking at a book launch in Rome. “Now it has this goleador Salvini, I think he’d like to be Milan vice president”.
“Being the striker isn’t the same as being team captain,” Berlusconi said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi Tells Fi Members to Not Air Laundry in Public
Forza Italia meeting adjourned so MEPs can attend
(ANSA) — Rome, November 25 — Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi denied Tuesday that his party was in trouble, and said that Forza Italia members should solve their own issues internally.
He spoke after a meeting of the FI leadership, which said they would reconvene on Wednesday so members now sitting in the European Parliament can return from Strasbourg, where Pope Francis spoke earlier in the day, to take part.
The party was reviewing the results of regional elections in Emilia-Romagna and Calabria on the weekend that saw the FI fall dramatically in its total vote.
In Emilia-Romagna, the FI total vote was less than 10%.
Berlusconi told the meeting that internal polling shows that internal disputes would hurt FI at election time, and urged greater cooperation between the parties of the centre-right.
That would include the New Centre Right (NCD) party, which split last year from FI over Berlusconi’s failed attempt to bring down the coalition government then led by Enrico Letta of the Democratic Party (PD).
Berlusconi also appealed to FI members to avoid airing the party’s dirty laundry in public.
After Sunday’s regional losses, a prominent MP from within Berlusconi’s party labelled the results as a call for action, saying the party must bring in new blood.
“I sincerely hope no one will dare minimize or seek alibis for the dramatic results in Calabria and Emilia Romagna,” said Raffaele Fitto, a one-time confidant of Berlusconi who now leads a dissenting minority within FI that is not happy with the fact that the ex-premier has entered into negotiations over electoral law reform with centre-left PD Premier Matteo Renzi. Berlusconi said earlier this month that he would work on “relaunching and refounding FI” and that he had “recovered unity” with Fitto.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: RAI TV Licence Fee Not in Jan Electric Bills After All
Govt sources say no time to put measure into budget law
(ANSA) — Rome, November 26 — Government sources have said that annual TV licence fee to fund State broadcaster RAI is unlikely to be inserted into Italian households’ electricity bills from January after all.
On Tuesday Communications Undersecretary Antonello Giacomelli had said that the fee would be inserted into electricity bills in the new year in a bid to stop widespread evasion of the unpopular tax.
But the sources said this was unlikely because, for technical reasons, Premier Matteo Renzi’s executive will not have time to include the measure in the 2015 budget bill, which must be approved by the end of the year. The sources said, however, that the government still intended to find ways to simplify and reduce the licence fee, and a specific bill may be presented early in 2015.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi to Run in Primaries Like Everyone Else Says Fitto
Ex premier’s one-time confidant warns FI needs ‘renewal’
(ANSA) — Rome, November 26 — Prominent Forza Italia (FI) MP Raffaele Fitto said Wednesday the ex center-right premier must run in party primaries like everyone else.
“Primaries hold for everyone within the party,” Fitto said.
“There are millions of voters who no longer give us their vote, and who may not support us for much longer…I believe these voters can find renewal in us”.
Fitto’s remarks came as the veteran FI leader and media mogul has come under fire from within his own ranks after the party’s poor showing in Sunday regional elections.
“I sincerely hope no one will dare minimize or seek alibis for the dramatic results in Calabria and Emilia Romagna,” Fitto said Tuesday.
The one-time Berlusconi confidant now leads a dissenting minority within FI that is not happy with the fact that the ex-premier has entered into negotiations over electoral law reform with centre-left PD Premier Matteo Renzi. Berlusconi said earlier this month that he would work on “relaunching and refounding FI” and that he had “recovered unity” with Fitto.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lawmakers Call for Google Breakup in Europe
European lawmakers are calling on the EU to break up Google in order to promote competition in Europe. Lawmakers will vote on the resolution this Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Go to Syria to Fight, Says Rotterdam Mayor, But You Can Never Come Back
Dutch nationals who have decided they want to travel to Syria to join Islamic militias should be allowed to go but should be banned from coming back to the Netherlands, Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb says in Wednesday’s AD newspaper. ‘I want to make sure those who are considering going to Syria know exactly what is at risk,’ Aboutaleb said. ‘If you think this society is depraved, then go. But there is no way back. Hand over your passport and risk getting bombed.’ Aboutaleb’s position directly contradicts the official line taken by the government, which aims to stop people travelling to Syria and Iraq in the first place.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Norway Police Carry Guns Amid Heightened Terror Fears
They do not normally carry weapons but terrorism fears in Norway ahead of Christmas mean that police on patrol will be armed for the next four weeks at least.
Security services believe an attempted terror attack is ‘probable’ in the months ahead, with police and soldiers likely targets.
Authorities say they fear the return of jihadists who have been fighting in Syria, estimating that around 60 people with Norwegian links have joined extremist groups in the war-torn country.
Norway’s army has advised its members not to wear their uniforms when off-duty.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Deplores Persecution of Religious Minorities
Francis condemns ‘shameful, complicit silence of so many’
(ANSA) — Strasbourg, November 25 — Pope Francis on Tuesday deplored persecution against religious minorities around the world who he said are “subjected to barbaric acts of violence”.
In a speech to the European Parliament he said Christians in particular are facing deadly attacks. “Communities and individuals today find themselves subjected to barbaric acts of violence: they are evicted from their homes and native lands, sold as slaves, killed, beheaded, crucified or burned alive, under the shameful and complicit silence of so many”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Real Madrid Lose Christian Cross From Club Crest to Appease Abu Dhabi Bank
Real Madrid have removed the cross from their club crest as part of a lucrative three-year deal with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi.
It is believed the European champions’ new crest, minus the Christian cross, was created so as not to offend Muslim sensibilities in the United Arab Emirates, where a marketing drive will take place.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Rosettawatch: Homing in on Philae’s Resting Spot
It has been two weeks since the Philae spacecraft touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, but the European Space Agency still doesn’t know if it successfully drilled the comet’s surface. They don’t even know where it finally came to rest. Meanwhile, its orbiting companion Rosetta is continuing its mission.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Soccer Club Real Madrid Removes Cross From Logo to Appease UAE Bank
If spreading religious intolerance is the goal, a Middle Eastern bank has scored by prompting Real Madrid to alter its world-famous logo so that a small cross does not appear on an officially-licensed credit card.
The Spanish soccer giant unveiled the adjusted logo that will adorn a new credit card issued by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, reported The Algemeiner. The new logo looks exactly like the club’s 83-year-old trademark, except for the absence of a tiny Christian cross that normally sits at the top.
The logo change was agreed to by the world’s wealthiest sports team, valued at nearly $3.5 billion, in order to avoid offending Muslim sensibilities as the team and the bank enter a three-year “strategic alliance,” according to Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Spain’s Health Minister Resigns Over Corruption Scandal
(AGI) Madrid, Nov 26 — Spain’s Health Minister Anna Mato has resigned over a corruption scandal in the ruling People’s Party. According to Ms Mato, the judge dealing with the Gurtel corruption inquiry, Pablo Ruz, has accused her of being involved in crimes of which her former husband, the former Mayor of Pozuelo de Alarcon (Madrid), stands accused. Former Interior Minister Angel Acebes has been acquitted. Forty-three people have been indicted, including three People’s Party treasurers (Alvaro Lapuerta, Angel Sanchis and Luis Barcenas), a former senator and several local politicians. Ms Mato was the target of fierce criticism in October over her handling of the Ebola emergency after a Spanish health worker became infected with the virus. She was still married to Sepulveda at the time of the alleged crimes (1999-2005). According to Judge Ruz, she stood to benefit, either singly or along with other members of her family, from gifts such as rail and air tickets, hotel stays and luxury goods. Only one citation for civil liability has currently been issued to Ms Mato. The judge believes Sepulveda was involved in an organisation that gave kick-backs to high-ranking municipal and regional officials in return for public tenders.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
The Netherlands’ Newest “Accomplishment”
by Abigail R. Esman
The Netherlands, that country that so bravely pioneered movements such as gay marriage and the legalization of marijuana, seems on the brink of pioneering yet another: the official Islamization of Europe’s parliaments.
That, anyway, would seem to be the wish of Tunahan Kuzu and Seleuk Ozturk, the founders of the country’s newest political party, which they established only a few days ago after splitting from the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA), or Labor Party, in a dispute over Dutch Turkish organizations and the Dutch Turkish community at large. Although their party, Group Kuzu/Ozturk, has not yet been entirely defined, its creators describe it in sweeping terms as “the party the Netherlands longs for,” aimed at promoting “a society in which everyone is treated equally.”
Except that does not seem to be what they actually have in mind…
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands Protest at US Embassy in London Over Ferguson Case
London (AFP) — Thousands protested in London on Wednesday in sympathy with demonstrations across the US over the killing of a black teenager by a white police officer.
The roughly five thousand London protesters held signs reading “Black lives matter” and chanted “Hands up, don’t shoot”, the slogan adopted by protesters in the US.
At a rally outside the United States embassy, relatives of black men killed by police in Britain addressed the crowd.
“We need to send a message to Mike Brown’s family,” said Carol Duggan, the aunt of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old black man whose shooting by police in 2011 was followed by riots.
“We feel the pain, we know the pain, of losing somebody at the hands of the police.
“That is why we stand in solidarity with the community of Ferguson. I feel they are very strong and brave people.”…
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Tony Blair ‘Applauds’ Renzi Reforms
Hails Italy premier as ‘brave new European leader’
(ANSA) — Rome, November 26 — Former British prime minister Tony Blair on Wednesday praised Premier Matteo Renzi on the day after his signature Jobs Act cleared a major hurdle towards becoming law after it was approved by Italy’s Lower House.
“Renzi is one of the new European leaders that has the courage to change,” the former Labour leader told Sky TG24 in an interview.
“I applaud what he is doing, which is absolutely right for Italy and for Europe. It’s hell when you first make the changes, but afterwards you wish you’d made more of them”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Protest at EDL Founder Tommy Robinson’s Oxford Union Talk
Academics and politicians have signed an open letter protesting at the decision to allow English Defence League (EDL) founder Tommy Robinson to speak at the Oxford Union later.
A number accuse the ex-EDL leader of continuing to “incite racial hatred against Muslims”.
Mr Robinson said the group was being fascist for “wanting to silence someone with a difference of opinion”.
The Oxford Union is yet to comment on the row.
‘Spread his poison’
It is the third attempt to get Mr Robinson, real name Stephen Lennon, to talk at the union — the first having been cancelled amid security concerns and the second because he was sent back to prison.
Mr Robinson has now left the EDL but more than 200 people have signed the open letter, including film director Ken Loach, claiming he “continues to communicate with EDL members and issue anti-Muslim statements via social media”.
The letter said: “The Oxford Union is helping a vile fascist spread his poison.”
Mr Robinson said the Oxford Union was upholding the notion of freedom of speech.
“I don’t think for a minute the leader of Oxford Union agrees with me, and he’s probably taking some flack for this,” he said.
Asked about his speech, he said: “I’m not going to incite hatred against anyone.”
He said he would cover topics such as explaining his background and journey and why he chose to leave the EDL.
He said he was not allowed to talk about certain issues because he was out on prison licence.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Vandals Cut Down Iconic Cross on Ireland’s Highest Mountain
The Cross on the summit of ??Carrauntoohil in Co Kerry? has been cut down.
Kerry Climbing reported on their Facebook page that they heard from two walkers this morning that it had been cut down with an angle grinder.
Members of the group climbed the summit and confirmed that it has been cut down with only one foot of it left in the ground, and the rest of the cross strewn on the ground nearby.
The group said: “We were guiding a group today and on the way to the summit heard reports of the cross having been cut down.
“This was confirmed when we summited and saw the cross strewn on the summit. Very shocking sight. “
Piaras Kelly of KerryClimbing.ie said: “No matter what anyone’s personal views on having crosses on peaks are, this goes beyond that. It’s an iconic cross on an iconic peak.”…
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Gentiloni in Favor of Potential Peacekeeping Operation
But “rigorously under UN sponsorship”, says FM in interview
(ANSAmed) — ROME, NOVEMBER 26 — Italy must not “repeat the mistake of putting boots on the ground before having a political solution to support” although “certainly a peacekeeping operation in Libya, rigorously under UN sponsorship, would see Italy on the frontlines”, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told Rome daily La Repubblica in an interview published on Wednesday.
The minister however stressed that Italy would act provided intervention “was preceded by a negotiating process towards new elections guaranteed by a government of ‘wise men’, in the absence of which showing uniforms only risks deteriorating the situation. We are working on it, with countries in the area and the United Nations”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Arrest Mandate for Ex General Haftar
More airstrikes on pro-Islamist bases in Tripoli
(ANSAmed) — CAIRO, NOVEMBER 26 — The Tripoli prosecutor’s office on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for former general Khalifa Haftar, currently allied with government armed forces, after he conducted airstrikes the previous day on pro-Islamist militias supporting Omar Al-Hassi’s ‘parallel government’ in the capital, report Libyan sources. Libyan military planes conducted further airstrikes Wednesday on pro-Islamist Libya Dawn bases in Tripoli, say military sources, adding that “the army has entered eastern areas of the capital”. The sources noted that the Al-Burari battalion of Libya Dawn had defected to the government army. Two Libyan army soldiers have meanwhile been killed and five others injured in fighting against the Ansar Al-Sharia-linked Revolutionaries’ Shura Council in Benghazi, the Egyptian news agency MENA quoted the director of the Al-Galaa hospital in eastern Libya as saying.
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A Decade Later: “The New Anti-Semitism” Comes of Age
by Fern Sidman
Originally written after 9/11, the updated version of this important work shows how much worse Jew-hatred has become. It cannot be wished away.
When I began reading Professor Phyllis Chesler’s updated book “The New Anti-Semitism”, I seemed to hear a collective sigh saying “this hasn’t come a minute too soon.” And thanks to the excellent research and prophetic analysis of the acclaimed author, lecturer and activist, the reader is afforded the necessary context and perspective with which to understand the invidious phenomenon of contemporary Jew hatred.
Originally written over a decade ago, Chesler’s premise was and still is that classical anti-Semitism as espoused by such nihilists and evil madmen as Hitler and the scores that preceded him has now been deemed to be “politically correct” by the trendy denizens of Western academia and the “intellectual” crowd.
Chesler was among the first to have seen and denounced the suicidal alliance between Western intelligentsia and fundamental Islam. The anti-Semite needed a new and more acceptable veneer and the tiny place on the globe known as Israel could serve as the perfect cover. So Zionism does not equal racism, but anti-Zionism does. In fact, it is part of what makes the new anti-Semitism “new.”
The al Aqsa intifada and the traumatic events of 9/11 served as the impetus for Dr. Chesler, as she drew a correlation between the kind of terrorism that had become endemic to the state of Israel and the Jihadic terrorism that was let loose upon the world. “War and a new kind of anti-Semitism had been declared,” she writes.
In the decades prior to 9/11 and the advent of al Qaeda, Chesler was acutely aware of the festering increasingly ubiquitous anti-Semitism and details major events that she personally encountered during her years as part of the vanguard of the second wave feminist movement. The reader can palpably feel the resentment she encountered from those who championed the “politically correct” cause against Israel, now known as liberalism.
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Egypt Reopens Gaza Crossing for First Time Since October Bombing
The Rafah border crossing to Gaza will be opened temporarily, Egyptian officials have said. More than 3,500 Palestinians have been stranded in Egypt since the crossing was closed following a suicide attack in October.
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Europeans Debate Common Stand on Recognizing Palestinian State
Members of the European Parliament have begun debating a common approach among the European Union’s 28 member states to recognition of a Palestinian state.
A growing number of Europeans are calling for such unilateral recognition, frustrated by deadlock in the Middle East peace process and what they view as Israel’s intransigence.
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Italy ‘Should Recognize Palestine Only When Useful to Talks’
FM Gentiloni for two-state solution on 1967 line of demarcation
(ANSAmed) — ROME, NOVEMBER 26 — Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Wednesday in the lower house of parliament that Italy should recognize Palestine only when it “will be the most useful to relaunch talks” between it and Israel.
“The recognition of the State of Palestine is an important, startegic goal for the Italian government, not a symbolic act,” he said. To solve the conflict, he said, the two-state solution should be achieved: “an Israeli one enjoying full security and a Palestinian one on the June 1967 line of demarcation”.
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Christian Militia Fights Islamic State in Northern Syria
In the north of Syria, Christian and Kurdish militias are fight to keep Islamic State out of their city.
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Gulf: Yes to Unified Minimum Contract for Domestic Workers
Eight hours of work, rest, stop to passport confiscation
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, NOVEMBER 26 — The undersecretaries of labor ministries from Gulf Cooperation Council countries have decided to introduce a unified minimum contract for domestic workers.
The document, aimed at domestic help and nannies living with families in the bloc’s countries — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab emirates and Oman — sets a maximum of eight hours of work a day, with a maximum of two hours of extra work, and a guaranteed return ticket to the country of origin.
“Decent lodgings must also be guaranteed, as well as a day of rest a week”, said Jamal Al Dosari, director general of the labor authority in Kuwait at the end of a meeting of undersecretaries in the emirate.
The contract also tackles abuses denounced by human rights organizations in the past. Employees will not be allowed to confiscate or keep passports any longer, nor prevent domestic workers from leaving the house or travelling.
Some 2.5 million domestic workers are employed by families across the six oil monarchies. Most are from the Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia.
Labor ministers still need to sign the contract so it can become effective and the issue of the controversial Kafala system remains open. Under this sponsorship system, workers cannot be hired by a new employee unless those currently employing them give their consent.
The system’s rigidity has so far been justified by the initial investment in visas and training expenses undertaken by the employee.
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ISIS’ Oil Wealth: U.S., Allies Work to Stem Its Growth
The self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is thought to be the wealthiest terror group in history. While exacting this claim is difficult, ISIS’ overtake of key oil fields and refineries in Iraq and Syria among their other criminal exploits have left them with substantial wealth. Stopping the terror network by suffocating its financial strength has been the latest focus of the United States and its allies. While the effort to target ISIS territory (including oil fields) via airstrikes has proven to be successful, it does not address the sophisticated and long-standing oil smuggling routes and networks that ISIS has discovered and taken advantage of.
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IT Firms: Likely Link Between Regin Virus, Intelligence Agency
Software analysts seem to agree that the Regin malware program is so advanced and discreet that it was most likely produced by an intelligence agency. The now-infamous initials NSA and GCHQ are being bandied about.
Symantec virus hunter Candid Wüest told DW that it was “quite clear that this is a mass-surveillance tool,” detailing the Trojan’s advanced data-gathering capabilities. He also noted that the major targets of the program, found in the greatest concentration in Russia and Saudi Arabia, offered potential clues as to the country of origin.
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Lebanese Foreign Minister Warns Cyprus Could Become Jihadi Gateway in, Out of Mideast
Lebanon’s foreign minister says more attention should be paid to the possibility of Cyprus becoming a gateway for aspiring foreign jihadis to transit in and out of the Middle East.
Foreign Minister Gibran Bassil warned after talks Wednesday with his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides that the small island nation could be used “as a European country for foreign fighters to move from Europe toward the Middle East” and vice versa.
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Saudi Arabia: Haia Unit Cures Hexed Man
HAFR AL-BATIN — The anti-witchcraft unit of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) cured a hexed 40-year-old man. The Eastern Province Haia spokesman Dubaikhi Al-Dubaikhi said a man came to the commission’s center in Hafr Al-Batin saying that he found a strange object lodged in the ceiling of his house. Officials investigated the matter and found that it was a witchcraft tool used on the man to distance him from his wife and family. The Haia cured the man according to Islamic teachings and he was finally able to return to his wife and family after many years apart.
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Tribesmen Blow Up Yemen’s Main Oil Pipeline
Armed tribes have attacked Yemen’s main oil pipeline, halting the flow to a crucial export terminal. The country almost exclusively depends on its oil and gas shipments abroad to secure foreign currency.
Yemen relies on oil and gas exports for 90 percent of its foreign currency earnings.
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Turkey’s Remaining Assyrian Christians Dream of Better Times
Now no more than 80,000 members of various Christian communities — including Armenians, Assyrians, Catholics, Chaldeans and Greek Orthodox — are estimated to live in Turkey, a country of some 75 million Muslims.
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Turkey Accuses Dutch Government of Racism, Dutch Papers Say
The Dutch government is acting in an aggressive and racist way towards the Dutch Turkish community, Dutch media quote Turkey’s foreign minister as saying on Wednesday. The claim is reportedly made in a letter which has been sent by the Turkish foreign ministry to the Dutch parliament and is quoted in Turkish newspaper Hürriyet. In the letter, the minister says the initiatives and statements made by the Dutch government could damage bilateral relations between the two countries.
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Turkey Warns Dutch Authorities About ‘Racist Policies’ Toward Turks
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has warned Dutch authorities about aggressive and racist policies toward the Turkish community living there, while urging the Netherlands to end initiatives and statements that may be harmful to the advancement of bilateral relations.
Bilgiç also mentioned a survey that depicted Turkish young people in the Netherlands as being “prone to extremism and supporting terrorism.”
“Aggressive and racist accusations toward Turks that are part of Dutch society and to a friendly and allied nation are unacceptable,” read the statement.
“We have difficulty in understanding why these racist attacks, which are incompatible with our long history with the Dutch nation, have been on the agenda recently,” Bilgiç said.
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Turkish Professor Begins Serving Time for Headscarf Charges, First Imprisonment in Such a Case
A former professor at Ege University in Turkey’s Aegean city of Izmir will enter jail on Nov. 27 to serve his two-year sentence for preventing a female student with a headscarf from entering the faculty building, becoming the first individual to be sentenced according to the law.
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There are other theories about what might be behind the falling oil price. One idea is that Saudi Arabia is deliberately keeping supplies up and the price down to make shale oil less profitable and weaken a source of competition.
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Driven by Fear of Russia, Estonians Flock to National Guard
Each day an average of three people have joined Estonia’s national guard this year. Estonians worry Russia could one day turn its aggression on them, and they want to be ready. Isabelle de Pommereau reports from Tallinn.
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Reports Multiply of Kremlin Links to Anti-EU Parties
Austria’s far-right FPO party has defended its relations with the Kremlin, amid signs of a wider Russian strategy to build ties with anti-EU parties.
The FPO leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, in a statement published on Tuesday (25 November), said “we are convinced of our neutrality and we do not get financial donations or credits” for the party’s pro-Russia politics .
The statement comes after Austria’s left-wing SPO party raised questions in Austrian media about FPO’s independence.
The SPO spoke out when Strache posted pictures on Facebook of himself and other FPO top men at a high-level conference in Moscow.
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Vladimir Putin has said there was nothing bad about the Nazi-Soviet Pact, the non-aggression treaty which led to the carve-up of Poland at the outset of the Second World War, suggesting Britain and France were to blame for Adolf Hitler’s march into Europe.
The Russian president made the comments at a meeting with young historians in Moscow, during which he urged them to examine the lead-up to the war, among other subjects.
The comments are likely to cause dismay in eastern Europe, amid wider debate in Russia about growing attempts to use history as a means of shoring up Mr Putin’s rule.
Mr Putin said that Western historians today try to “hush up” the 1938 Munich Agreement, in which France and Britain — led by Neville Chamberlain, the prime minister — appeased Adolf Hitler by acquiescing to his occupation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
India: Karnataka: Hindu Radicals Attack a Pentecostal Church: Eight Injured, Two Serious
The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) condemns the latest attack against a Christian community: “Religious fundamentalists are a threat to the rule of law.” Instead of stopping the attackers, police arrest a Christian pastor.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) — “The violations of public law and order by Hindu radicals endanger religious freedom and threaten the lives and property of Christians in Karnataka” denounces Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), to AsiaNews after yet another aggression against a Pentecostal community.
Yesterday a group of fundamentalists vandalized the Calvary Apostolic Church in Gangammapalaya and attacked worshippers, wounding eight.
The Hindu radicals barged in the middle of the prayer service, attacking those present. Two Christians, Krupakar and Wilson, are hospitalized with broken legs. The group has warned Christians not to rebuild the church.
Although there is a police station near the place of worship, the officers who intervened “did not stop the aggressors.” On the contrary, says Sajan George, “ they dragged Rev. D’Souza, pastor of the community, in for questioning. It’s shameful!”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan Sentences Bollywood Actress, Husband to 26 Years in Prison for ‘Blasphemous’ Dance
by Phyllis Chesler
Pakistani Muslim Bollywood actress, Veena Malik, her actor husband, Asad Bashir Khan, the owner of the country’s largest media group plus the show’s host and two guests were all sentenced to 26 years in prison for “blasphemy.”
How was “blasphemy” defined?
Malik and her real husband apparently danced and sang as they re-enacted their wedding accompanied by Sufi musicians in a song long associated with the marriage of the prophet Mohammed’s daughter.
While Malik believes that they will be exonerated by a higher court, I am not sure I agree with her.
Earlier this month, a professor, Shafiul Islam, was hacked to death in Bangladesh because he held liberal views and banned the burqa in his classroom at Rajshahi University. The victim, Islam, was also a Baul, a member “of a group of mystic minstrels from a variety of religious traditions, mostly Sufi Muslims and Hindus who celebrate celestial love through music, transcending differences of belief.”
| — Hat tip: Phyllis Chesler | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Pregnant Christian Women Forced to Parade Naked for “Not Working Well”
The 28-year-old woman lost the baby after the trauma. Christian and Muslims activists demand laws and protection for women. In Pakistan, “there is a widespread tolerance” of gender violence.
Faisalabad (AsiaNews) — A 28-year-old pregnant Christian woman in Pakistan was paraded naked for not working up to the expectation of her employer. The victim — who has lost her child in the violent attack — is a resident of the Christian colony of Rana Town, in the district of Sheikhupura in Punjab province (the most populous of Pakistan). She worked as a maid and, according to reports, was forced to walk without naked for at least 30 minutes because she failed to satisfy the demands of her employers. The story only emerged yesterday, coinciding with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
One of her employer’s sons, in the company of four friends, dragged the 28-year old pregnant women from the house and ripped off her clothes and abandoned her naked, on a street corner, where an old woman gave her some clothes to cover herself. Her relatives accompanied her to the hospital for tests to check on the welfare of her unborn child, however doctors found that she was miscarrying and were unable to save the child.
“I was two months pregnant — says the woman, already the mother of four children — and I lost my baby in the incident. Police are not arresting the accused. I will commit suicide if I am not given justice”. Her husband says that investigators have opened an investigation against Mobin Gondal and his four accomplices, but have not applied the law against acts of terrorism as demanded by the victim.
Meanwhile, yesterday in Faisalabad a rally was held to celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, organized by the Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (Awam) and Pakistan Gender Coalition (PGC). The participants appealed to the government to approve a law against domestic violence, forced conversions and crimes perpetrated by — and with the endorsement of — the state apparatus.
The Christian lawyer Hashmat Barkat said that “women of religious minorities [as the above story confirms, ed] are easy targets”. Nazia Sardar, Awam director, points the finger at “the exploitation of labor” without rights or protection. The activist Naseem Anthony blames “a conservative, patriarchal society,” which is “at the base of domestic violence”, because they are “accepted as an integral part of the culture of Pakistan”. This is echoed by a Muslim activist for women’s rights Amna Ehsan, who adds “there is a general tolerance of gender violence.”
With a population of more than 180 million people (97 per cent Muslim), Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world, the second largest Muslim nation after Indonesia.
About 80 per cent of Muslims are Sunni, whilst Shias are 20 per cent. Hindus are 1.85 per cent, followed by Christians (1.6 per cent) and Sikhs (0.04 per cent).
Scores of violent incidents have occurred in recent years, against entire communities (Gojra in 2009, and Joseph Colony, Lahore, in March 2013), places of worship (Peshawar, September last year) and individuals ( Sawan Masih, Asia Bibi, Rimsha Masih and Robert Fanish Masih, who died in prison), often perpetrated under the pretext of the country’s blasphemy laws.
(Shafique Khokhar collaborated)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
N Korea: Schools Begin 81-Hour Course on Kim Jong-un
Students in North Korea will have to complete a three-year course on the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, as part of their secondary school studies, it’s been reported.
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Putin’s Tiger Kills 15 Goats in China
A rare Siberian tiger released into the wild by Russian President Vladimir Putin is keeping farmers in northeastern China on edge.
China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Wednesday that the animal, named Ustin, bit and killed 15 goats and left another three missing on Sunday and Monday on a farm in Heilongjiang province’s Fuyuan county.
Xinhua said the farm’s owner, Guo Yulin, was stressed about the tiger, but that he would be compensated by the local forestry department for the loss of the 18 goats.
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Student Leader Joshua Wong Arrested in Hong Kong
More than 80 people jailed in the last 2 days in Mongkok area
(ANSA) — Hong Kong, November 26 — Student leaders Joshua Wong and Lester Shum were arrested in Hong Kong along with scores of other pro-democracy demonstrators after authorities cleared barricades and tents from the Mongkok district of Hong Kong Wednesday.
More than 80 people have been jailed in the former British colony in the last two days in what could represent a turning point in the fight to wrestle greater political freedom from Beijing’s control.
In the second day of operations to clear the blue-collar neighborhood of Mongkok, the flash point of clashes, police in helmets, some equipped with pepper spray and tear gas, removed metal barricades, tents, canopies and other obstructions.
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Over 13,000 Deaths by Boko Haram in Nigeria Since 2009
(AGI) Lagos, Nov 25 — Over 13,000 have died and 1.5 million have been made homeless since Boko Haram militias began their campaign of violence in Nigeria in 2009. The Islamic group, which has created a caliphate in the northeast of the country, killed nearly 500 people in several attacks between April and May of this year. In June, another 400 to 500 people died in the state of Borno and more than 50 were killed in raids on four villages in Chibok. The attacks later spread further north to Kaduna. The militants also kidnapped more than 200 students and dozens of girls and forced them to convert to Islam. Last month, the jihadists increased their attacks in the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. On Nov. 10, a suicide bomber blew himself up in Potiskum, Yobe State, causing 58 deaths. Just nine days later, another 45 people were killed in the region, followed by two more attacks in which over 45 people died.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Businesses to Receive Incentive for Hiring Illegal Immigrants, Report Says
Businesses will have a $3,000-per-employee incentive to hire illegal immigrants or native-born workers under President Obama’s sweeping action on illegal immigration.
Because of a kink in ObamaCare, businesses will not face a penalty for not providing illegal immigrants health care, The Washington Times reports. Illegal immigrants are ineligible for public benefits such as buying insurance on ObamaCare’s health exchanges.
Congressional aides condemned the loophole saying it puts illegal immigrants ahead of Americans in the job hunt.
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Greece: Ship With Over 600 Migrants Onboard Awaited in Crete
Its destination was Italy but was drifting since yesterday
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, NOVEMBER 26 — Container ship Baris with some 700 migrants onboard — one-third are women and children — is expected at midday local time Wednesday at the port of Ierapetra, in the south-eastern coast of the Greek island of Crete, after it was towed by Greek Navy frigate Hydra.
The towing operation of the cargo, which was sailing towards Italy when an engine failed, was difficult due to poor weather conditions, including strong winds and three-meter-high waves.
Health services across the island have been on high alert since Tuesday to deal with the situation. According to private broadcaster Antenna1, the secretary-general of the public order ministry has been in Ierapetra since Tuesday to coordinate operations to assist and house migrants, while officials from the municipality, port and local hospital have all gathered to coordinate medical checkups for passengers, reportedly coming from different African countries, who will also have to be tested for the deadly Ebola virus.
Officials from the hospital in Ierapetra, which has approximately 25,000 residents, have asked authorities to urgently provide doctors, nurses and policemen with the material necessary when they will come in contact with migrants.
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Greek Ships Rescue Hundreds of Migrants
Greek boats were dispatched on Tuesday to rescue 700 migrants stranded on a cargo ship 30 nautical miles southeast of the Greek island of Crete, reports AP. Authorities said they plan on towing the boat to a safe haven. Many are said to be Syrians and Afghans.
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Italy: ‘More Med Policies, Not Only Money’, Renzi
‘Stronger relations with Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria’
(ANSAmed) — ROME, NOVEMBER 24 — Migration issues require a greater allocation of funds and shared responsibility from Europe, but political commitment for the Mediterranean is also needed to deal with the problem at its roots, said Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi on Monday in Vienna. “We must deal with North African issues and create stronger relations with Egypt (I’ll be meeting with President Sisis this evening in Rome), Tunisia (which was my first visit abroad) and Algeria, he added,
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Mexico and Central America Thank Obama for Amnesty Decree
The presidents of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, the leading source countries of illegal immigrants in the United States, hailed Obama’s executive decree to stop the deportation of many of their compatriots.
Obama’s unilateral measures will shield nearly five million illegal immigrant from U.S. immigration laws by granting them work permits, Social Security numbers, and deportation reprieves.
Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are the top four countries where the majority of illegal aliens in the United States originate, according to the latest DHS estimate of the unauthorized immigrant population living in the U.S.
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Pope Says Welcome Migrants, Sea is Not a Cemetery
(ANSAmed) — STRASBOURG, NOVEMBER 25 — Pope Francis called Tuesday for a “united response” among Europeans on migration.
“We cannot allow the Mediterranean to become a vast cemetery,” the pope said in his first speech to the European Parliament.
“The boats landing daily on the shores of Europe are filled with men and women who need acceptance and assistance”.
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Syrian Refugees in Greece Demand ‘Decent’ Living Conditions
About 200 Syrian refugees have been protesting night and day for the past week in front of the parliament building in Athens. They are demanding that the Greek government give refugees and asylum seekers a warmer reception: most of them get no aid for food, housing or medical costs. On Monday, the protesters began a hunger strike in a desperate plea to make their voices heard.
With its Mediterranean border, Greece, like Italy and Spain, is a popular point of entry for Syrians seeking refuge in the European Union. The number of refugees in Greece went up by 223% between early 2013 and early 2014, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). An estimated 8,000 refugees entered Greece in 2013 compared to almost 29,000 in the first 10 months of 2014; the large majority of them are Syrian. The refugees are a strain for a country caught up in economic crisis like Greece, whose government would like to see other European countries help with this burden.
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Germany: Women Executive Quota Coming in 2016
The grand coalition’s freshly minted law mandating that 30 percent of executive positions must be filled by women is being hit with harsh criticisms from the firms who have to comply to it.
After months of back-and-forth bickering, the ruling coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social Democrats (SPD) has signed a women’s executive quota into law on Wednesday.
Starting in 2016, the 108 largest firms in Germany will be required to have a minimum 30 percent of their board positions filled by women, no exceptions.
Businesses who don’t comply will face sanctions and will have to leave some board chairs open in order to meet the quota.
The law is being met with criticisms and concerns from the businesses that will be subject to it, including the argument that it treads on constitutional rights.
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How 3D Printing Could Aid Space Exploration
A new era in human spaceflight and exploration has begun, advocates of 3D printing say.
The 3D printer aboard the International Space Station produced its first part Monday (Nov. 24), manufacturing a piece of itself called an extruder plate. The humble part is just the first of many objects that will be created off Earth over the coming years, helping humanity explore far beyond its home planet and even establish outposts on distant worlds, some experts say.
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Microbes Help Vultures Eat Rotting Meat
Gut bacteria and strong gastric juices show how the birds can live on decaying flesh.
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