Budget Deal: Cuts of $38 Billion Include Accounting Gimmicks, Target Obama Priorities
More than half of the $38 billion in spending cuts that lawmakers agreed to last week in the 2011 budget compromise that averted a government shutdown would hit education, labor and health programs.
Funding for federal Pell grants, job training and a children’s health-care initiative would face cuts, senior congressional aides said. A multitude of other programs — from highway and high-speed rail projects to rural development initiatives — also would experience significant reductions.
But some of the worst-sounding trims are not quite what they seem, and officials said they would not necessarily result in lost jobs or service cutbacks. In several cases, what look like large reductions are actually accounting gimmicks.
The legislation includes $4.9 billion from the Justice Department’s Crime Victims Fund, for instance, but that money is in a reserve fund that wasn’t going to be spent this year. Crime victims would receive no less money than they did before the deal.
The bill contains some policy provisions, including language preventing Guantanamo Bay detainees from being transferred into the United States for any purpose. And it eliminates funding for four Obama administration “czars”: the “health care czar,” “climate change czar,” “car czar” and “urban affairs czar.” But those positions are already vacant, and Democrats beat back a GOP effort to defund other “czar” positions.
Republicans were able to terminate more than 55 programs in the areas of health, labor and education, resulting in a total savings of more than $1 billion. In addition, two minor components of President Obama’s health-care law will be eliminated: the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan and the Free Choice Voucher programs.
The bill would cut U.S. contributions to the United Nations and international organizations by $377 million, and to international banks and financial institutions by $130 million. It also would prohibit pay raises for foreign service officers, although other federal employees would not be affected…
| — Hat tip: DS | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Prevents Budget Cuts to Favorite Programs
WASHINGTON — A close look at the government shutdown-dodging agreement to cut federal spending by $38 billion reveals that lawmakers significantly eased the fiscal pain by pruning money left over from previous years, using accounting sleight of hand and going after programs President Barack Obama had targeted anyway.
Such moves permitted Obama to save favorite programs — Pell grants for poor college students, health research and “Race to the Top” aid for public schools, among others — from Republican knives.
And big holes in foreign aid and Environmental Protection Agency accounts were patched in large part. Republicans also gave up politically treacherous cuts to the Agriculture Department’s food inspection program.
The full details of Friday’s agreement weren’t being released until overnight as it was officially submitted to the House. But the picture already emerging is of legislation financed with a lot of one-time savings and cuts that officially “score” as savings to pay for spending elsewhere, but that often have little to no actual impact on the deficit.
As a result of the legerdemain, Obama was able to reverse many of the cuts passed by House Republicans in February when the chamber passed a bill slashing this year’s budget by more than $60 billion. In doing so, the White House protected favorites like the Head Start early learning program, while maintaining the maximum Pell grant of $5,550 and funding for Obama’s “Race to the Top” initiative that provides grants to better-performing schools…
| — Hat tip: DS | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: China to Continue to Invest in Debt & Savings Banks
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, APRIL 12 — China will continue finance Spain’s public debt and to invest in the process of restructuring the country’s savings banks through its investment funds, Chinese Prime Minister Wan Jiabao assured during a meeting in Beijing today with Spanish Premier Jose’ Luis Rodriguez Zapatero during a meeting.
Cited by EFE, Wan Jiabao said that by investing into Spain, his country wants to demonstrate confidence in what he considers to be “China’s best friend in Europe”. The Chinese Prime Minister did not specify the amount of future investments, but sources from the Spanish delegation are confident that they will be enormous. Last year, China made investments to finance the Spanish public debt on two occasions. Currently, they possess 12.5% of Madrid’s debt, equivalent to about 25 billion euros. Zapatero will be in China starting today to attract new investments to his country and announced Spain’s intention to initiate a “large-scale programme in China to attract tourists”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Private Financing on the Rise, Including Islamic Banks
(ANSAmed)- DAMASCUS, APRIL 12 — According to data from the Central Bank of Syria, activity in the commercial banking sector increased by 11.2% in 2010, reaching an overall value of about 46.2 billion dollars, reports the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) office in Damascus. The private banking sector, which is made up of 14 banks, 3 of which are Islamic banks, continued to increase its business by 30% (with an overall value of 610 billion Syrian pounds), while the 6 state-run banks posted more moderate gains of 5% (1.54 billion Syrian pounds). The private sector accounts for a 29% share of the overall activity in the sector. Total deposits into private banks increased by 16% and loans grew by 17% compared to 2009.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Taxpayers Foot $850m Bill for Wall St.’s Pension Fees
New York City taxpayers are helping to pay $850 million in Wall Street investment fees — even as these financial gurus have produced only meager results for strapped city and state pension funds.
City Comptroller John Liu this week released a comprehensive analysis of NYC pension costs over the past decade, revealing why they have risen from $1.2 billion to $7.7 billion.
Liu said one of the major factors in the shortfall was higher than expected investment and administrative fees, which were $71 million in 2005, and have risen more than four-fold to $313 million.
Nearly all of the increase was due to the pension funds shifting asset allocation in favor of private equity and real estate — chasing bigger returns — but which also have higher investment fees, he wrote.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Big Bailout Scam
Suppose that my rich neighbour down the road mortgaged his mansion up to the hilt to bet on the horses, ran up millions in debt and asked me, an ordinary punter, to pay off his debts plus interest. Suppose that foolishly I accepted, and while I struggled to pay it off while barely able to feed my family and pay off the mortgage, my super-rich neighbour acquired an even bigger mansion. To make matters worse, he used all sorts of clever dodges in the Caymans to pay negligible taxes, while if I failed to pay mine I knew I’d be sent to prison.
It may sound like total madness, but that’s pretty well what’s happening to a growing number of Europeans (including Brits) today.
How did we get here? In Britain, the 2008 credit crunch produced a massive recession which played havoc with government finances. In Ireland the government took over the entire debt of its banking system, while in Greece, the rich paid minimal taxes and successive governments, unwilling to challenge them, indulged in creative accounting. That’s somewhat simplified, but it’s the essence of the story.
Perhaps most galling of all is the injustice of using Keynesian economics to justify the need for state intervention in banking bailouts while claiming today that the profligate state caused the problem, as politicians now argue in London, Brussels and Frankfurt. How long will sensible people go on accepting this nonsense before venting their anger on our ruling classes?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Van Rompuy Backs Greece’s Anti-Crisis Efforts
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 12 — The President of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, said today during his visit to Athens that he supports the efforts made by the Greek government to carry out reforms and make changes to get out of the serious economic crisis that has hit the country. “The message I want to send is that we support the work that is done and that continues to be done. The reforms are necessary for Greece to become competitive in the future”, said Van Rompuy during his meeting with Greek Premier George Papandreou, underlining “the need to fight fraud, bureaucracy and corruption and to strengthen social bonds”. Papandreou and Rompuy also discussed the new proportions the immigration problem is taking on, not only for Greece but for the entire south-east European area. Greece’s Prime Minister has asked for the reinforcement of Frontex by the European Union and for the revision of the Dublin 2 Treaty on political asylum. Van Rompuy has underlined that Europe has shown its solidarity with the countries that receive large immigration flows by constituting Frontex.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Legislators Lied, And Manipulated the Facts to Get You to Think That They Saved Our Government
Recently, despite all the partisan bickering, Congress came to an agreement to shave $38 billion off the federal budget. They would have us all believe that they saved the world, that if it were not for their heroic actions, our government would have come to a screeching halt and life as we know it would come to an end. The funny thing is that quite a few people fell for this rubbish.
Hopefully, after reading the following information, you will begin to see how your legislators lied, and manipulated the facts to get you to think that they saved our government, and averted our nation’s financial ruin.
[…]
Congress agreed to shave $38 billion off the federal budget. Seems like a whole lot of money, doesn’t it? Well, if you do the math, $38 billion is only about 1% of the total federal budget.
Currently our national debt stands at a staggering $14.2 trillion.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Navy Raygun Disables Boat With New High Energy Laser
With their new high-energy laser weapon, the U.S. Navy has succeeded in combining buccaneers and Buck Rogers. Called the Maritime Laser Demonstrator, the ray gun quickly disabled a small boat in a recent test. Such lasers could one day protect military vessels from the same kind of tiny boat that almost sunk the destroyer U.S.S. Cole by augmenting the small machine guns already aboard American warships,.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
East German Cosmonaut Sigmund Jähn: ‘Capitalism Now Reigns in Space’
Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of the first manned space flight. In a SPIEGEL interview, legendary East German cosmonaut Sigmund Jähn talks about what it was like being the first German in space and the future of space travel.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Frattini Tells EU’s Ashton Italy ‘Clearly Committed’ To EU
(AGI) Luxembourg — Italy’s Frattini today rebuffed requests from the EU’s Ashton to clarify on statements by minister Maroni. Interior minister Roberto Maroni yesterday said “Italy’s EU membership needs to be rethought”; his statements had sparked comments by Catherine Ashton requesting clarification. Franco Frattini for his part underscored Italy’s ongoing and solid commitment to the EU, submitting that Ashton “is in no position” to demand such clarification.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Fury as EU Migrants Carry Out 500 Crimes Every Week in Britain
More than 54,000 criminals from EU countries have been convicted in the last two years
CRIMINALS from other European Union nations are being convicted of more than 500 offences a week in the UK, disturbing police figures showed yesterday.
Poles and Romanians were among the worst cases, raising fresh concerns about the wisdom of expanding the EU eastwards.
The overwhelming majority of the foreign crooks could not be sent home after serving prison sentences because their deportation has been forbidden under Brussels freedom-of-movement laws.
Last night, the revelation of the EU crime wave ignited fresh anger at the collapse of border controls caused by laws from Brussels.
Paul Nuttall, a UK Independence Party Euro-MP, said: “A sovereign nation should be able to decide who is allowed to live within its borders and who is not.
“If somebody commits a crime here, they should be booted out.”
Figures released by the Association of Chief Police Officers following a Freedom of Information request show that more than 54,000 criminals from EU countries have been convicted in the last two years.
Senior police officers complain that the influx of lawbreakers, often with poor or no English, is putting a massive strain on their resources. One said even cautioning a foreign criminal could take six hours.
A spokeswoman from ACPO said: “The growing number of new communities has certainly brought greater complexity to the pattern of crime and have contributed to already stretched resources.
“We have to adapt all the time to deal with new and emerging problems. However we pride ourselves on our strong relationships with our local communities and the way we deal with the issues that emerge.”
The figures were compiled as part of a system between EU police forces where officers must notify their counterparts in another EU member state if one of its citizens is convicted of a crime.
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ACPO’s statistics show that a total of 26,956 notifications were made during 2010 and 27,379 in 2009 — equivalent to 520 crimes a week.
During 2010, 6777 Poles and 4,343 Romanians — by far the largest immigrant communities — were convicted in the UK.
In the list was Pole Piotr Zasada, 33, jailed for life last year after he stabbed his ex-girlfriend and threw her out of a second-floor window in Bournemouth.
A further 4,176 offenders were from Lithuania and 2,423 from Ireland. Excluding Ireland, the largest numbers of offenders all came from nations that joined the EU between 2004 and 2007.
A Home Office spokesman said: “We are committed to removing foreign lawbreakers from the UK. We removed 5,235 foreign national prisoners in 2010.”
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Judge Rules Against Lactalis, Tips Scale in Parmalat Fight
Delay to shareholder meeting upheld, forcing Lactalis’ hand
(ANSA) — Milan, April 11 — A judge in Parma on Monday ruled to permit postponement of Parmalat’s shareholder meeting from this week to late June.
The decision — deposited in a sealed envelope Friday and opened Monday — marks a major defeat for the French dairy giant Lactalis, as it buys time for a hostile Italian counter-offensive and applies pressure on Lactalis to concede some control of Parmalat.
Lactalis became Parmalat’s largest shareholder last month, having garnered a 29% stake in a bid to become the shareholder of reference of its Italian rival.
News of the French company’s legal setback arrived the same day Italy’s Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) — a state-controlled financial body — met to modify its charter so it can create a fund with powers to buy Parmalat equity.
An Italian government decree — modeled after a 2006 French decree that enabled the French public sector to foil the threat of Pepsico’s control over Danon — authorizes the CDP to take stakes in threatened companies belonging to industries deemed strategic to the Italian economy.
CDP Chief Executive Giovanni Gorno Tempini met with top managers of Italian banks Intesa SanPaolo, Unicredit and Mediobanca last week to lay a plan to block Lactalis’s ascent to the helm of Parmalat.
On Saturday Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy’s top business daily, aired the hypothesis that the CDP might launch a three-billion-euro public offering aimed at scooping a 60% stake in Parmalat.
The same report said Lactalis was ready to compromise if it lost the ruling in Parma, reporting it could cede equity to rivals to create a new holding company called “Latco” with 30% of Parmalat’s equity. Ownership of “Latco” would be divided equally between Lactalis, the CDP fund and Italian lenders, and GranLatte.
GranLatte, a cooperative, holds a 77% stake in Granarolo, a major Italian dairy brand and Parmalat rival.
The secretary general of the Uila-Uil union, Stefano Mantegazza, on Friday called the possible Parmalat-Granarolo tie-up “a true tragedy” for industry employment, since the companies’ production capabilities largely overlap and would invite consolidation.
EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Michel Barnier met Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti last week seeking clarification on the government decree. Sources described the meeting as “cordial”.
“The only thing that interests us in this case is that European rules on competition and the free circulation of capital…are respected,” wrote Barnier in a statement.
Italian and French industry heads spoke in synchrony denouncing government protectionism at the Paris B8 Summit (G8 Business Summit) of industry association heads from eight industrialized countries Thursday.
Emma Marcegaglia, who leads the Italian industrialists’ association Confindustria, underlined that the association “did not support” the Italian government’s recent intervention to protect strategic enterprises, with Parmalat first in line, because Confindustria “is for the free market”.
Her counterpart, Laurence Parisot, who heads the French industry association Medef, said his group supported a free market “where the best wins, within the rules”.
Italy’s Civil Service Minister Renato Brunetta defended Italian government intervention Sunday stating, “The government had to intervene because there were no colleagues of Marcegaglia ready to make an alliance to save the company,” making reference to Parmalat.
“We would have been happy not to do it,” he added.
“If, then, courageous captains and capital worthy of the name — and we know who they are — were to arrive, the government would take a step back.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Fiat Raises Chrysler Stake to 30%
Italian carmaker aiming for majority stake
(ANSA) — Turin, April 12 — Fiat said Tuesday that it had raised its stake in Chrysler from 25% to 30% after the US carmaker hit the second of three sets of performance targets laid down by the American government.
It is the second time this year that Fiat, which has turned around Chrysler after taking control of it without having to put in any cash as part of a 2009 US government bailout package, has increased its stake.
Fiat went from 20% to 25% in January when it met the first test by producing a fuel-efficient engine at a formerly idle plant in Michigan.
The second milestone has now been reached thanks to Chrysler surpassing a target for sales outside North America.
A statement said that Fiat now has “the opportunity to further increase its ownership in Chrysler Group to 35% through an additional performance-related milestone relating to commercial production in the United States of a 40-mile-per-gallon vehicle based on Fiat platform technology”.
Once this is achieved, Fiat will have the chance to buy an additional 16% to own a majority 51% stake, after Chrysler repays US and Canadian government loans, in view of a merger between the two companies.
Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of both carmakers, is aiming to reach the 51% mark by the end of this year, although he is not certain this will be possible.
“I don’t know if I can do it this year (although) that’s my intention. It depends on whether we manage to refinance the debt with the government,” he said Monday at the presentation of two new Jeep models near the northern Italian city of Vercelli.
Emma Marcegaglia, the president of Italy’s industrial employers’ confederation Confindustria, welcomed the news that Fiat had raised its stake in the US carmaker. “It’s a positive development,” Marcegaglia said. “Fiat is decisively continuing with its policy of merging with Chrylser and it seems that this is taking definitive shape”. The United Auto Workers union’s retiree health-care trust owns 59.2% of Chrysler, with the US Treasury holding 8.6 percent and Canadian government entities owning the remaining 2.2%. Marchionne is upbeat about the companies’ future together, telling a Fiat shareholders’ meeting two weeks ago that he expected them to generate combined revenue of over 100 billion euros by 2014.
The forecast of soaring sales came despite Fiat’s share of the European market dropping to 7.6% in February compared to 9.2% in the same month last year.
Marchionne said Fiat will reverse this even though overall car sales in Europe are expected to fall, thanks to “the launch of new models in the second half of the year”.
Marchionne’s plans to up Fiat’s stake in Chrysler and comments he made earlier this year that the merged company’s headquarters could be moved to the United States have sparked fears Fiat’s presence in Italy could diminish.
He subsequently said that Fiat’s “heart will stay in Italy” while stressing that “our base will be in many different places” and that the question of the location of the group’s legal headquarters will not be addressed until 2014.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Solid Waste: Another Night of Fires Around Palermo
(AGI) Palermo — Another night of fires in the Palermo Province municipalities in which waste collection is managed by Coinres.
Due to its financial difficulties, the consortium is incapable of providing the service. The largest fires were set in Carini and Partinico, where fire-fighters had to intervene on a dozen sites, and also in Cinisi. During the last few days, schools have been closed in Partinico because of trash lying in the streets.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Anti-Mafia’s Grasso Slams Govt’s Justice Reform
(AGI) Florence — Italy’s anti-mafia chief Pietro Grasso characterised the govt’s plans for judicial reform as “plain intimidation”. “It is anything but a justice system reform: it is designed to intimidate, block and threaten magistrates, especially prosecutors”. Grasso spoke during the presentation of an anti-mafia theatre show in Florence.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: ‘No Way Now for Iceland to Join EU’
The Netherlands has said that after Iceland’s second rejection by referendum of an agreement intended to resolve a bitter banking dispute between the Hague and the small island, there is now “no way” Iceland will be able to join the European Union.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
The ‘Desk Murderer’: Exhibition Marks 50-Year Anniversary of Eichmann Trial
Fifty years after infamous Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann first stepped into his bulletproof glass box in Israel, a new Berlin exhibition revisits the trial of the notorious “desk murderer.” The proceedings, which started on April 11, 1961, morphed into a global media event, breaking the silence surrounding Hitler’s bid to wipe out Europe’s Jews.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK: London’s Westminster University Votes in Islamic Extremism Linked Leaders
The Union of Jewish Students has said it is ‘unacceptable’ that two students linked to extreme Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir have been elected to lead a university student union.
Tarik Mahri and Jamal Achchi were elected by University of Westminster Students Union members despite the NUS’s no-platform policy for the radical group.
The pair promoted themselves, along with a third candidate, as the ‘three brothers’ and appealed to fellow students to back them to tackle student debt and finance issues.
Mr Mahri, who will take on the role of union president this summer, describes himself as an ‘outspoken’ political activist and has used Twitter to post messages supportive of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Mr Achchi shared posts promoting Hizb ut-Tahrir ideologies on the social publishing site scribd.com. They include one document explaining methods that could be used to establish an Islamic Caliphate.
Carly McKenzie, UJS campaigns director, said: ‘This is a truly unacceptable and deeply concerning move by UWSU. Hizb ut-Tahrir ideology directly contravenes the values held by students and their union. How these candidates can seek to properly represent all students is beyond me. What’s the use of the NUS no platform policy?’
Last month UJS formally complained to the union about the candidates. The election was later postponed, with the union executive saying the delay was due to problems with the election rules which gave some candidates an unfair advantage. The same candidates were allowed to stand when the election reopened. Mr Mahri and Mr Achchi were successful, while the third of the ‘three brothers’, Adeel Anwar, narrowly missed out on the role of vice-president for communications.
In February last year an event with a Hizb ut-Tahrir representative, due to take place on the university’s campus, was cancelled following pressure from NUS. Mr Mahri is a British rapper and political activist of Algerian descent. He also supports the creation of an Islamic Caliphate. His Twitter postings reflect anti-American, anti-Israel leanings, and include the messages supportive of Hizb ut-Tahrir ideals. Jamal Achchi was elected vice-president for education. He is a fourth year Arabic and international studies student, who describes himself as a ‘political activist’ and youth worker.
NUS president Aaron Porter is believed to have contacted outgoing UWSU president Robin Law to voice his concerns at the election result. Mr Porter said: “Our rules state individuals or members of organisations or groups identified as holding racist or fascist views are not allowed to stand for election or go to, speak at or take part in conferences, meetings or any other events.” The NUS will formally consider issues around the university vote at a committee meeting next month.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Race Fears Erupt After Council Votes Overwhelmingly for Britain’s First BNP Mayor
A town just three miles from the scene of major race riots is set to become the first in the UK to have a BNP member as its mayor.
Councillors have voted overwhelmingly for John Cave to take over as civic leader of Padiham, Lancashire.
But critics have warned the appointment reflects poorly on the town and argued that he cannot serve the whole community without ‘rejecting his party’s philosophy.’
Councillor Cave has previously claimed that party politics were behind those who opposed his selection.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Two Students ‘Linked to Extremists’ Are Elected as College Union Leaders
A leading London university student union has elected two senior officials with links to an extremist Islamist organisation.
Westminster University union has elected the pair despite a strict ban on radical groups by the National Union of Students. Arabic student Jamal Achchi, 26 — voted vice-president this month — has circulated documents published by Hizb ut Tahrir, a group that Prime Minister David Cameron said should be banned as it “seeks to poison young minds against our country”. Mr Achchi used Scribd, a social networking site, to post Hizb ut Tahrir memos calling on Muslims to overthrow democracy and establish the Khilafah, a worldwide Islamic theocracy run by mullahs.
In his union election manifesto, he wrote: “I have been a politically active student throughout the duration of my studies… I am a fighter, and NEVER back down!” He ran on a ticket with Tarik Mahri, 23, voted president in the election on April 1. Just under 13 per cent of 23,000 students voted. Concerns have also been raised about Mr Mahri’s ideological beliefs. He is a member of the “Global Ideas” society which was banned by the university last year for inviting senior Hizb ut Tahrir member Jamal Harwood to address students.
Mr Mahri has posted anti-capitalist messages with the hashtag #bringbackkhilafah on his Twitter page. He also posted on Facebook a rap he wrote titled “Khilafah’s Coming Back” which refers to “the Kufr”, a derogatory term for non-Muslims. Both men will take up their posts at the end of June.
The National Union of Students has a strict ban on Hizb ut Tahrir amid fears it radicalises vulnerable young minds. When NUS president Aaron Porter discovered Mr Mahri and Mr Achchi had won the election, he contacted Westminster student president Robin Law to air his concerns. Hizb ut Tahrir used to be led by firebrand cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, 52, who was thrown out of the UK five years ago, and has since been charged with fundraising for al Qaeda in Lebanon. Tony Blair pledged to ban the group after the July 7 London bombings but it still exists today.
Fears over the radicalisation of London students grew when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who studied mechanical engineering at University College London, tried to blow himself up in a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. An ex-member of Hizb ut Tahrir, Shiraz Maher, said today: “Hizb ut Tahrir despises democracy and believes Shariah law must be imposed over the whole world, by force if necessary. I think unless we challenge this we are sleepwalking into a very dangerous future.” Aaron Porter said: “Our rules state individuals or members of organisations or groups identified as holding racist or fascist views are not allowed to stand for election or go to, speak at or take part in conferences, meetings or any other events.” He said the issues surrounding the Westminster University vote “will be considered formally next month by the relevant committee”.
Steve Barfield, 48, an English literature lecturer at Westminster, said: “How can they represent women or gay and lesbian students who are already struggling against sexism and homophobia, if this seems to be their political agenda?” Mr Mahri won with 1,084 votes. His closest rival got 742. Mr Achchi won with 1,132 votes, a majority of 112. James Brandon of Quilliam Foundation, a counterterrorism think tank, said: “It is particularly shocking as universities are known to be breeding grounds for terrorism.” A University of Westminster spokesman said: “If our students have concerns that the actions of fellow students step beyond acceptable behaviour or statutory regulations, then we have appropriate mechanisms in place to deal with these concerns.”
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Croatia: War Crimes: Tension Around ICTY Verdict on Generals
(ANSAmed) — ZAGREB, APRIL 12 — People in Croatia are anxiously awaiting next Friday’s judgement of first instance regarding general Ante Gotovina, the highest-ranking Croatian officer to be charged with war crimes by the Hague’s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Gotavina and two other generals have been accused of ethnic cleansing and the killing of Croatian Serbs during and immediately after Croatia’s attack on Serb separatists in August 1995. Operation “Storm” of the Croatian army was carried out on August 4 1995, after many failed negotiation attempts. The entity of Serb separatists in Croatia, the Republic of Serbian Krajina, formed at the start of the war in 1991 with Serbia’s support, was destroyed in just a few days. During the last offensive, according to the bill of indictment, several hundreds of Serbian civilians were killed, and around 150 thousand fled to Bosnia and Serbia. The three generals, Gotovina, Mladen Markac and Ivan Cermak, who headed the military operations, are seen as heroes of the war for independence in Croatia. The bill of indictment was drafted in 2001, but the trial started as late as 2008, after the arrest of Gotovina in Spain, where he had been in hiding under a false name for years. Many organisations of war veterans and right-wing groups, hoping for acquittal, have announced demonstrations across Croatia. Today some of them started “pilgrimages on foot in support of the three generals”, while others have announced protests in the capital on Thursday and the days after under the motto “With courage and pride, with prayer in support of Croatia’s defenders and generals”. The Croatian Catholic Church has invited believers to pray “for our generals”. The initiative has been criticised from political circles.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Barroso: Extra 140 Mln for 2011-2013 Partnership
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, APRIL 12 — The European Union expects to make around 140 million euros extra available to Tunisia, in the context of the new “partnership for democracy”, apart from the 257 million already allocated for the 2011-2013 period. This was explained today in Tunis by European Commission President Jose’ Manuel Barroso after his meeting with Tunisian Premier Beji Caid Essebsi.
“The European Union”, said Barroso in a statement issued in Brussels, “is determined to do something extra for our neighbours in the south who make an effort to carry out reforms, through a partnership for democracy and shared prosperity”. The new EU-Tunisian partnership will be based on three lines of action: direct support to democracy; close partnership with the population; stimulation for inclusive economic growth and job creation. “In order to put these priorities in practice, the Commission will redirect its assistance programmes, which are worth 4 billion euros for our southern neighbours for the period 2011-2013. For Tunisia itself, we plan to make available a supplementary package which could amount to an extra 140 million euros on top of the budget already set aside for the years 2011-2013, which stands at 257 million euros”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: The Rise of Islamic Parties Urges Christians to Flee From Egypt
After the fall of Mubarak over 70 people a week seek information to leave the country, but among the many young people there are those who still believe in the Jasmine revolution and prefer to stay. Holy See’s concern over exodus of Christians, today it expressed its closeness to the people of North Africa and the Middle East forced to migrate because of violence. The chief spokesman of the Egyptian Catholic Church emphasizes the danger of extremist Islamic movements and parties that are pushing for the implementation of Sharia law across the country.
Cairo (AsiaNews) — The rise of Islamic parties in the Egyptian Revolution, and the continued enforcement of the Sharia in the villages outside Cairo are frightening Christians, who are attempting to emigrate to countries with greater religious freedom. According to the Egyptian Federation for Human Rights, more than 70 people a week are asking for information on how to leave the country. The instability of the countries of North Africa and Middle East concerns the Holy See. Today , the third meeting of the Special Council for the Middle East, the secretary general of the synod of bishops stressed that “the precarious situation due to socio-political movements concern the churches who share the joys and concerns of citizens, forced in many cases to migrate because of violence, lack of employment, restriction of religious freedom, the reduced space of democracy”.
Fr. Rafic Greich, chief press officer of the Catholic Church and spokesman for the seven Egyptian Catholic denominations, told AsiaNews that the current situation in Egypt is deadlocked and is very critical especially for the Christian communities.
“In this country — he says — many extremist groups have emerged like the Muslim Brotherhood, but more radical groups such as the ‘Islamic Jihad Movement and the Salafis are also gaining ground.” He stresses the danger of these groups despite the small number of followers, who can make their voices heard. Organized according to military logic, the main purpose of Salafists and jihadists is the spread of Sharia law across the country and use Islam as an ideology. “Often — Fr. Greich emphasizes — the followers of these movements apply sharia law on their own and today the police reported the attempted stoning of a woman. “
“Many Christians — he says — are leaving because they do not know what will happen in the future and prefer to emigrate.” According to Father Greich the presence of the military government is not reassuring, although they have maintained the role of guarantors of security and public order since the beginning of the Jasmine Revolution. “Although the army says it does not want to endorse anyone, we all know that the Egyptian military has a tendency to promote Islam.” “In the 1952 revolution, many of the soldiers who took part in the coup were close to the Muslim Brotherhood and many officers still use religion to control subordinates.”
However, according to the priest, there are many young people who look at the situation from a positive point of view and after the fall of Mubarak many Christians, Catholics and Orthodox, have joined the democratic parties and this trend is especially dividing the Coptic Orthodox Church. “The Coptic Orthodox — he explains — are very weak at this time. Shenouda III, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church is very old and sick, but he is very autocratic, and any decision regarding the community must have his permission. He strongly condemned young people who participated in the Jasmine Revolution, giving credit to President Mubarak to the last. “ Fr. Greich points out that this has created a deep rift within the community that led young people to no longer pay attention to elderly priests. (S.C.)
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-Egyptian Leader Mubarak Collapses With Heart Problems Hours Before He Was Due to be Questioned Over Corruption
Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was taken to hospital with heart problems just hours before he was due to face allegations of corruption and violence against protesters.
The 82-year-old former leader was taken to hospital at Red Sea resort Sharm el-Sheik today, where he has been in internal exile since he was toppled following protests on February 11.
Mubarak’s two sons were also summoned and were being questioned at the prosecutor’s office in the provincial capital of El-Tor.
Dozens of demonstrators picketed the hospital where Mubarak was reportedly receiving treatment, denouncing the president and carrying a sign reading “Here is the butcher.” They scuffled with supporters of Mubarak amid a massive security presence.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
France Says NATO Not Fulfilling Its Role in Libya
France says NATO is not fulfilling its role properly to protect civilians in Libya by destroying the regime’s heavy weapons. This comes after the rebels rejected a cease-fire proposal brokered by the African Union.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Defense Minister Reluctant to Bomb Libya
(AGI) Rome — Announcing that next Monday he will meet with American Defense Secretary, Bob Gates, Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa said that Italy had been asked to participate in attacks on Libya, but that the government is reluctant to comply. “We have received more or less formal requests to participate more actively in attacks on Libya, but we are reluctant, not due to ethical reasons, but because we have already made available our bases, fighter jets and support for the naval embargo.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Tripoli Vicar: Christian Churches’ Document to UN
(ANSAmed) — VATICAN CITY, APRIL 11 — Tripoli’s Christian communities are drafting a joint document in favour of a quick diplomatic solution to the Libyan crisis, which they intend to deliver to the United Nations on Wednesday April 13. This is according to the Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli, Monsignor Innocenzo Martinelli, whose comments were reported by the Fides agency.
“I have just returned from an important meeting with the World Islamic Call Society, in which, together with the various Christian communities present in Tripoli, we expressed our desire to draw up a common statement demanding that the crisis be resolved as fast as possible and an end to the bloodshed. By tomorrow we will have drafted a joint text and we will deliver it to the United Nations on Wednesday April 13. Those who we have talked to expressed their great appreciation at this step taken by Christian churches”.
There are 5 Christian communities present in Tripoli: Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Union Church and Anglicans.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Frattini: Italian Bombs Would Risk Boomerang Effect
(ANSAmed) — LONDON, APRIL 11 — “Italy’s colonial past in Libya is an element that cannot be forgotten. If an Italian warplane were to bomb Libya and accidentally hit civilians, the military operation would be counterproductive,” said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, speaking at a press conference in London with his British counterpart William Hague, responding to a question on the subject. The Italian head of foreign policy also reiterated that any possible Italian air strikes would be discussed within the government and Parliament. “Tomorrow Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa will meet with his British and French counterparts to discuss how to make military pressure on Libya more effective,” he added. Frattini also announced that the president of the Libyan Rebel Council Mustafa Abdul Jalil, who should have been in Rome tomorrow, will be in the Italian capital on Friday to meet with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Jalil will not be able to meet with head of state Giorgio Napolitano, who will be on an official visit to Bratislava and Prague.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Foreign Office, NTC Asks Allies for Money and Arms
(ANSAmed) — LUXEMBOURG, APRIL 12 — The Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) asks the international community for concrete support: “part” of the funds cashed by the asset freeze on firms or people with ties to Gaddafi’s regime should be made available. But the NTC also hopes to see “more effective action from the side of NATO, or, the possibility to be assisted by the delivery of weapons. Not to attack, but to defend themselves”. This statement was made by spokesman of the Italian Foreign Office Maurizio Massari, referring to today’s meeting in Rome between Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and NTC foreign affairs representative Ali al Isawi.
Ali al Isawi is now in Luxembourg for an informal meeting with the EU Foreign Ministers, in which NTC special envoy Mahmud Jibril participates as well.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Rebels Want Gaddafi’s Italian Assets Used for ‘Humanitarian’ Purposes
Rome, 12 April (AKI) — Rebels aiming to topple Muammar Gaddafi want billions of dollars in frozen assets belonging to Libya and the North African leader to be considered the property of the Libyan people and spent on humanitarian initiatives, according a source familiar with talks in Rome between rebel and Italian leaders.
Libyan National Transitional Council foreign minister Ali Al Issawi during a meeting on Monday at the Italian foreign ministry in Rome also reiterated the rebel request that Nato step up air attacks against forces loyal to Gaddafi, the source said.
A Libyan opposition group earlier this month asked the US Treasury for immediate access to frozen assets of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to pay for humanitarian needs in rebel-held areas.
Italy last month frozen Italian assets reportedly worth 3.6 billion euros.
The US has frozen in excess of 34 billion dollars in assets as part of sanctions against Gaddafi and his top officials.
Italy and France are the sole Western countries to recognize the Transitional Council as the legitimate Libyan government. The rebels during the meeting with Italian leaders asked them to push other European countries to recognise the Council’s legitimacy.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Mubarak Suffered a Heart Attack During Questioning
(AGI) Cairo — Former Egyptian President Hosni Munarak suffered a heart attack while being questioned by public prosecutor Abdullah al-Shazli, state television reported. According to police sources, Mubarak is now being treated at a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Following Closure of ‘Third Palestinian Intifada’ Facebook Pages, New Ones Are Launched
Despite the closure of several Facebook pages promoting the campaign for the Third Palestinian Intifada, set for May 15, 2011, hundreds of Facebook pages promoting the same aim still exist. Many of these pages feature statements in praise of martyrdom, jihad, and the killing of Jews.
Below are descriptions of two Facebook pages featuring such calls:
[please also see screen capture images at link]
Page Called “The People Want the Official Page of the Third Palestinian Intifada Restored”
Facebook page called “The People Want the Official Third Intifada Page Restored” currently has some 16,000 members. The page states: “This is a message to the Facebook administration: We ask that you restore the official page of the Third Palestinian Intifada.” Another message reads: “Facebook has become the only means of communication among the Arab peoples, and a means for mass dissemination of [information about] the scandals of the Arab rulers, and the only reason for the liberation of most of the Arab countries from oppression and corrupt rule — yet when the time comes to liberate Palestine, Facebook’s administration stands against the people’s desire for freedom.”
The page’s administrators wrote: “After the two [Third Intifada] pages have been shut down, we remain here, with all our might. We will not give up. We ask everyone to dissseminate this so that we can make our voices heard.”
The page’s profile picture is of a little boy carrying an M-16 rifle, against the backdrop of a Palestinian flag intertwined with the emblem from the Tunisian flag, symbolizing the Arab uprising that began in Tunisia.
The page also states: “Eighty million people defend Egypt; 31 million defend Iraq; 21 million defend Syria; 10 million defend Tunisia; seven million defend Libya, but 1.2 billion Muslims will rise up for you, Palestine, on May 15, 2011. O Palestine, millions of martyrs are marching toward you.”
Praising Jihad and Martyrdom
The page includes various posts praising struggle, resistance, and martyrdom for the sake of Palestine, for example: “We will die and Palestine will live” and “Millions of martyrs marching to Jerusalem.” It also features extensive coverage of operations by Hamas and its military wing, the ‘Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades. The page’s administrators denied any connection to Hamas, noting: “Clarification: We do not belong to Hamas or to the Al-Qassam [Brigades]. But these two [bodies] are [the only ones] operating right now on the scene. We belong to Palestine [as a whole].”
Condemnation of Jews
There are also statements against Jews on the page, such as the slogan “Khaybar, Khaybar, o Jews, the army of Muhammad shall return,” as well as calls condemning Jews translated into broken Hebrew: “Dear Jews, don’t be afraid, death will be swift. Expect an Arab deluge, we are coming. We will help the religion of Allah and Palestine to triumph”; “Death to the Jews, murderers of the prophets”; and “The offspring of the sons of Zion are going to Hell.”
Burning Israeli Flags: “A Gift for the Facebook Administration”
The page shows photos of burning Israeli flags. One is headed “This is the photo that the Facebook administration doesn’t like” and a second is headed “Another gift to the Facebook administration.” In another post, the page’s administrators noted: “O Israel, burn, the Arab rebels are coming.” One of the page’s wall photos shows a map of Palestine (disregarding the existence of Israel) in the colors of the Palestinian flag.
Page Called “The Third Palestinian Intifada — This Is Jihad — Victory or Martyrdom, Allah Willing”
A second Facebook page, with over 1,000 members so far, is called “The Third Palestinian Intifada — This Is Jihad — Victory or Martyrdom, Allah Willing.” This page too publicizes the Third Intifada, set for May 15, 2011. Its profile picture states: “We are at your command, Al-Aqsa.” The page info reads: “Allah is our goal, His Messenger is our model, the Koran is our constitution, Jihad is our path, and death for the sake of Allah is our supreme desire.” The page’s administrators note that, on April 22, 2011, there will be “a protest of millions demanding an Israeli exodus from Palestine,” which will prepare world public opinion for the May 15, 2011 intifada.”
This page too mentions the closure of previous Third Intifada Facebook pages: “Now that the Zionists and Facebook have shut down the main [Facebook] page [promoting the Third Palestinian Intifada], please disseminate this page. Do not take this lightly. Your voice is important. We will not be silent… After the intifada in Tunisia, the Egyptian intifada and the Libyan intifada, the time for the Palestinian intifada has come… Please disseminate this page on websites and forums everywhere, and call on your friends to join it… This page was established on March 6, 2011, [and] with Allah’s help we will reach a million [members] this week… If Facebook closes this page, then all the Muslims will boycott Facebook forever!”
“The Freemasons and the Jews Are the Real Enemy”
This page too features statements against Jews. For example: “Together we will free Al-Aqsa mosque. The beginning will be on May 15, 2011… Our real enemies — they are the [Free]masons and the Jews, may Allah curse them.”
Praise for Jihad and Martyrdom
The page features praise for jihad and martyrdom. One post states: “Be loyal to jihad and make the faith your banner… Always smile in the face of death, if it is [death] for the sake of Allah.” The page also features photos of children with weapons, including a well-known photo of an infant with an explosive belt, and one of a little boy with a rifle.
Here too, the page administrators report widely on Hamas operations, praising them. One example is a video clip featuring a song of praise for the firing of Qassam rockets into Israel.
A forum participant wrote: “I will be the first of the volunteers from the Tunisian army if war is declared on Israel.”
It is noteworthy that this page includes a video from a website promoting the Third Intifada campaign, 3rdintifada.com, which is currently down. At the end of the video, the details of “the official website of the Palestinian Intifada” are shown, as well as the emblem of the Islamic State of Iraq, known as the emblem of Al-Qaeda.
| — Hat tip: AC | [Return to headlines] |
Greece and Israel Sign Cooperation Protocol
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, APRIL 12 — Israeli tourism minister Stas Misezhnikov is currently on a visit to Greece at the invitation of Greece’s culture and tourism minister Pavlos Geroulanos, in a follow-up to talks between the two ministers in Tel Aviv. On Sunday, as ANA reported, Misezhnikov toured Athens, including the Acropolis archaeological site and the New Acropolis Museum, while on Monday he signed a protocol of cooperation with Geroulanos for further enhancing tourism ties between the two countries. Tourist arrivals from Israel last year increased by 57% compared with 2009, while arrivals in January rose by 18% and in February by 33%.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Libya Precedent
“We are facing a diplomatic-political tsunami that the majority of the public is unaware of and that will peak in September.” — Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak
The Palestinian Authority is planning to cash in on the wave of unrest and uncertainty sweeping the Middle East, working behind the scenes to build support for a UN resolution welcoming the State of Palestine as a member whose territory includes all of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
That includes land that Israel has controlled for forty years, including some Israel had intended to keep in any two-state solution scenario. Especially Jerusalem.
In the event that such a resolution was to pass, Israel would automatically be an occupying force on land belonging to a fellow UN member.
Ehud Barak called the situation “very dangerous” and said that “paralysis, rhetoric and inaction” will only serve to deepen Israel’s international isolation.
Unfortunately for Israel, paralysis, rhetoric and inaction when it comes to America’s allies are the Obama administration’s strong suits.
When strong, decisive leadership was demanded during Iran’s failed revolution in 2009, Obama was on the golf course. For six long days, Iran teetered, waiting for some word from the United States.
When Obama finally broke his silence to condemn the Iranian government’s reaction to the demonstrations, his criticism was tempered by his reference to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as “President” Ahmadinejad and to Ayatollah Ali Khameni as “Supreme Leader.”
The demonstrators heard what they needed to hear. Obama recognized Ahamadinejad’s presidency as legitimate while acknowledging Khameni as Iran’s ‘Supreme Leader’.
Since the catalyst for the revolt was Khameni’s legitimization of Ahmadinejad’s election, Obama’s ‘condemnation’ cut the legs out from under the revolution. Obama justified his inaction by saying he “didn’t want to meddle” in Iran’s internal affairs.
When Hosni Mubarak’s reign was imperiled, Obama lost no time meddling in Egypt’s internal affairs, calling for his ouster with no regard for how it might impact Israel.
He lost even less time intervening militarily in Libya, devoid of either legal justification or Congressional support.
But the so-called “Arab Spring” isn’t the catalyst for backing the Israelis into a corner. It is the justification.
One wonders why Obama the great peacemaker would lead the US headlong into an unplanned, ill-conceived and ultimately useless military excursion against, of all people, his pastor’s old friend Muammar Ghadaffi?
Especially without the advice and consent of the Congress? And without any clear threat to any US interests?And without any endgame strategy — or even and endgame?
I am starting to suspect that the only purpose for the attack on Libya is to establish a precedent.
“And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.”(Zechariah 12:3)
Obama had plenty of time to go to the Congress for authorization. He probably would have gotten it, too. But he didn’t, even though bypassing Congress violated the Constitution and could even justify articles of impeachment.
But Obama didn’t even try. Instead, he worked the Arab League as if it was the US Senate and the UN Security Council as if it was the Congress.
Armed only with international authorizations, he proceeded to commit US forces to combat in what the War Powers Act defines as an illegal war.
One can want Ghadaffi removed, Ghadaffi can deserve to be removed, and it might be extremely satisfying for him to be removed, but none of those reasons make the war legal. And Obama knows it, which is why nobody in the administration will call it a war.
Again, we have this problem of discerning whether Obama is a brilliant strategist playing six moves ahead of everyone else — or if he is the most incompetent buffoon ever trusted with the keys to the nuclear football.
In September, 2009 the Palestinian Prime Minister announced his government would seek statehood within two years. Last September, President Obama said that he expected to have a framework for an independent Palestinian state within one year.
And this September, the Palestinian Authority says it is prepared to take his membership before the UN General Assembly. Thanks to the Islamic and Arab majorities at the UN, it is expected to pass the General Assembly easily.
Membership is determined by the General Assembly and not by the Security Council. In the GA there are no vetoes. In the GA, Washington’s voice is no louder than that of Micronesia’s.
What would a unilateral declaration of statehood mean to Israel? It would mean that Israel would then be in daily violation of the rights of a legal UN member state with all the legal and diplomatic consequences thereunto appertaining.
Using the intervention in Libya as our guide, it means that the UN and Arab League would be perfectly justified in ordering no-fly and no-go zones in Israel to defend Palestinian ‘patriots’ seeking to repatriate their own land.
Using that same template, President Obama could order the United States forces to intervene militarily against Israel, without either the consultation or approval of the Congress. If Obama wants to duck questions, he can always order the assault and then go on vacation for a couple of weeks.
In Ha’aretz last week, Ari Shavit compared the risks posed to Israel in 2011 to the biggest military setback Israel ever faced, the 1973 war. The Yom Kippur War was the closest Israel had ever come to being annihilated by the Arab enemy.
He wrote that “2011 is going to be a diplomatic 1973,” because a Palestinian state will be recognized internationally.
“Every military base in the West Bank will be contravening the sovereignty of an independent U.N. member state.” He added, “A diplomatic siege from without and a civil uprising from within will grip Israel in a stranglehold.”
Mikhail Jubran, writing for the Palestinian Chronicle, called 2011 “The Year of Living Dangerously.”
Did you notice that it’s only April?
| — Hat tip: Zenster | [Return to headlines] |
UN Envoy Encourages PNA, Ready to Govern State
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, APRIL 12 — The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) headed by President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has achieved sufficient progress in recent years to aspire to govern an independent and sovereign state, said UN envoy to the Middle East, Robert Serry, in a report released today in the local media and set to head to Brussels tomorrow for a meeting of donor countries.
The report only examines “the six areas” that the PNA already manages autonomously, in which “the UN is more directly involved”, underlining that there are already “institutions at this point that are sufficient enough to guarantee the proper functioning of the government of an actual state”.
Fully passing marks, which come in addition another encouraging report that was published recently — but which is even more detailed — before a meeting in Brussels with the World Bank, acknowledging the PNA’s economic reforms, and the strengthening of the social, healthcare and educational systems, as well as a reduction in public sector corruption. Based on these elements, Fayyad, who will present an introductory report in Brussels, has already said that he wants to reiterate the appeal for international recognition of a Palestinian state. The PNA is determined to formally submit their request to the UN General Assembly in September, even unilaterally if negotiations with Israel promoted by the USA continue to stall. In terms of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, there have not been any new developments. According to the Israeli press, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu could put a long-expected initiative on the table, offering a reduction to Israel’s military presence in the occupied West Bank, but not the general Jewish settlement freeze requested by the Palestinians as a minimum condition to actually resume the peace process.
Meanwhile, mediators from the Quartet for the Middle East (USA, Russia, EU and UN), who were supposed to meet on Friday to try to relaunch the diplomatic process, seem to be ready to postpone their activity after a request from the American administration, as they do not see any real chance for mutual comprehension between the two sides for the time being.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
From an Arab Spring to a Muslim Winter
Most revolutions like to call themselves democratic, because democracy is disruptive to the old order. But their revolutions are only democratic means toward authoritarian ends. The ultimate victory of one faction or another. And they typically have as much use for democracy, as the Muslim armies who captured Alexandria had for its library. As Caliph Omar, successor of Mohammed, and a bookburner of far greater fame than Terry Jones, said of its books, “If they are in agreement with the Koran, then we have no need of them; and if they are opposed to the Koran, destroy them.” So too with democracy, if the voters support us, then they are redundant. If they oppose us, open fire on them.
Our form of government is highly skeptical and highly idealistic about people. And so it treats power like a hot potato, hiding it, passing it around and doing its best to keep anyone from holding on to it for too long. And that is well and good. If we were too idealistic about people, our system would quickly degenerate into mob rule. But if we were wholly cynical about them, we would end up just like the places we tried to seed democracy only to bring up rotten apples.
Most people like the idea of democracy, it’s the idea that the people you hate get just as many votes as you do, that they don’t like. That’s why Muslims will play the game of democracy, but only until they score enough goals that they can take the net home with them. Tolerance was only a virtue in Islam, when Mohammed and his handful of followers needed to rely on the goodwill of people who didn’t like them. But once the sandal was on the other foot, the swords really began to fall. And so did the heads. That’s why the Arab Spring is fated to end in a Muslim Winter.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Maid Chops Off 70-Yr-Old Employer’s Genitals
An Ethiopian housemaid who allegedly cut off her 70-year-old employer’s genitals has confessed to committing the act as she was ‘tired of being harrassed by him’, reported ‘Emarat Al Youm’.
The elderly man, a GCC national, called the police early Monday morning to report the incident. The cops rushed to his Deira residence and shifted him to hospital where he had undergo an operation.
The maid revealed during investigations that the old man had been regularly harrassing her. On Monday morning he asked her to give him a massage. She lost her cool, took a knife and chopped his organ off.
The maid was arrested from the place of crime.
Meanwhile, according to Dubai Police statistics about 665 crimes were committed by housemaids in Dubai last year. Of which, there were 305 absconders, 113 rape cases, 85 cases of illegal residence; 68 breach-of-trust cases and 63 thefts.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: White House Intervenes, Repression ‘Outrageous’
(ANSAmed) — WASHINGTON, APRIL 12 — The White House today called Syria’s repression of the protests staged in the country “outrageous”. “ The escalating repression by the Syrian government is outrageous, and the United States strongly condemns the continued efforts to suppress peaceful protesters”, a White House spokesman said. “President Assad and the Syrian government must respect the universal rights of the Syrian people”, he added. Opposition sources say that today security forces launched a massive offensive in the north-west of Syria, against alleged activists and anti-regime dissidents in three towns on the coast, including Banias, which has been under siege of armoured army vehicles since Sunday.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Syria: Opposition: 200 People Killed During Protests
(ANSAmed) — AMMAN, APRIL 12 — The main Syrian human rights movement has estimated that up to 200 people have been killed during protests that have been ongoing in Syria for less than a month, and has called on the Arab League to impose sanctions on the figures in power.
“The uprisings in Syria have produced 200 martyrs, hundreds of people injured and a similar number arrested,” says the “Declaration of Damascus” group in a letter to the secretary general of the Arab League. “We ask you to impose political, diplomatic and economic sanctions upon the Syrian regime, which continues to be the loyal guardian of the legacy of Hafez Al Assad,” says the document, in reference to the “iron fist” imposed by the father of the current President, Bashar Al Assad.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Detains 40 Al Qaeda, Hizbullah Suspects
(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL, APRIL 12 — Turkish police detained 40 suspected members of al Qaeda and the Turkish group Hizbullah in raids in Istanbul on Tuesday, state media said. State-run TRT channel said among the detainees was Halis Bayancuk, whom the channel identified as the head of al Qaeda’s branch in Turkey.
State-run Anatolian news agency said operations were under way in a number of Turkish provinces. Turkish police often arrest suspected militants and describe them as having links to al Qaeda, though details seldom emerge. Al Qaeda militants were behind bomb attacks in 2003 that killed some 60 people and wounded hundreds in Istanbul. Hizbullah, emerged in the late 1980s during fighting between PKK militants and Turkish troops, is said to be founded by “deep state” in Turkey. Turkish Hizbullah has no links to the Lebanese Shi’ite group. It was broken up and its leaders were arrested in 2000 after police unearthed the bodies of more than 60 people the group had tortured to death in raids across the country. But after a series of delays to their trials, 18 Hizbullah members were released in January this year after the introduction of new regulations limiting the period accused could be imprisoned without convictions. It was not clear if any of those freed were among those detained on Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Some 250,000 Children Sexually Abused in Past Decade
(ANSAmed) — ISTANBUL, APRIL 12 — At least 250,000 minors have been sexually abused in Turkey over the past decade, with 7,000 raped in 2010 alone, daily Milliyet reports quoting a survey conducted by a prominent Turkish researcher. The research by Tuncer Gunay also revealed that some 350,000 to 400,000 children are thought to have been sexually abused over the past 20 years by first-degree relatives or other close kin. Of these incidents, just 600 were referred to the country’s courts.
Mistreatment of minors seems to have been harshest on Turkey’s streets, with 30,000 of 50,000 homeless children reportedly having been either raped or sexually abused. Last year, some 4,000 street children were sentenced and sent to correctional facilities, where 250 juveniles over the past five years have reported being raped by their peers or older inmates, Gunay said in his research. Seventy-five percent of all street children have some kind of police record for committing crimes such as theft, extortion, causing personal injury or rape. The well-known researcher, who is working on a book to be published this year about child sexual abuse in Turkey, compiled his survey using various official studies and reports, including data obtained from the Police Department Headquarters, figures disclosed in various panel discussions, newspaper archives and reports from the Social Services and Child Protection Agency, or SHCEK. Figures extracted from a report prepared by the Police Department Headquarters revealed that women were the victims in the majority — 71% — of all cases of sexual assault in 2010. Of the rest, 17% were children and 12% were men. The survey by Gunay also showed that access to 23,000 porn sites, of which 15,000 dealt in child pornography, was barred in 2010 by units responsible for information technologies and telecommunications monitoring.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: June Elections; Only 257 Women Listed as Candidates
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, APRIL 12 — The Islamic-rooted ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, and opposition parties Republican People’s Party (CHP), Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) listed in total only 257 women as MP candidates for the June 12 elections, as Anatolia news agency reports. Women’s organizations had supported a campaign to send at least 275 women to the Turkish Parliament at the upcoming elections on June 12. Here is a list showing the number of women candidates from the four major Turkish political parties: AK: 78; CHP: 109; MHP: 57; BDP: 13.
Total number of women candidates: 257. The current number of women deputies in the Turkish Parliament and their political parties are: AK Party: 30; CHP: 9; MHP: 2; BDP: 7; DSP: 1. Total number of women deputies: 49.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Gagarin’s Legacy: Russia Seeks to Restore Space Glory
Fifty years ago, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to travel to space. His historic trip gave the Soviet Union the lead in manned space missions. By investing billions, Moscow wants to defend its position as a world leader in space travel. Can the Russians overcome a spate of technical glitches and modernize their space program?
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Sending Experts to Assist in Belarus Attack
(AGI) Minsk — Israel is going to send nine experts to Belarus to help the authorities investigate yesterday’s attack on the Minsk ‘Oktjabriskaja’ subway station, in which at least twelve people died and over one hundred were injured. According to the Jewish Embassy, the experts are expert pathologists and criminologists who will soon arrive in the capital of the former Soviet republic.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Lawmaker Asks God to Forgive Him for Surfing Web Porn
Jakarta, 12 April (AKI/Jakarta Post) — Indonesian lawmaker Arifinto said Tuesday he has asked for forgiveness from God after he was photographed allegedly viewing pornographic content on his computer during a House of Representative plenary session on Friday.
“I hope God forgives me…,” he said.
Arifinto decided to resign from his position as a legislator on Monday, with mounting pressure on him following the porn content controversy.
Arifinto on Monday announced he would resign from his seat after he was filmed watching a porn video on his tablet computer during a session of the parliament.
An MP from the Prosperous Justice Party, he claimed the clip was not stored on his computer and had been a link he clicked on inside an anonymous e-mail he had received.
“…this [resignation] is a consequence of what happened to me. I can accept it,” he said.
Arifinto added that he expected other legislators to follow suit should they make such mistakes.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Tajik Fatwa Bans Divorce Via Text Message
Tajikistan’s Council of Ulema is set to issue a fatwa banning so-called SMS divorces, the state religious committee announced Monday.
The move comes amid growing complaints that some Tajik men — working as migrant laborers in Russia — divorce their wives by sending a mobile-phone text message or just making a phone call, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has reported.
Some Sunni Islamic traditions allow men to divorce their wives by merely saying “talaq” — a term for a declaration of divorce — between one and three times.
Tajik religious leaders, however, insist that ending a marriage is not such a simple matter.
“Our country’s laws prohibit men from divorcing their wives over the phone,” the head of State Committee on Religious Affairs Abdurahim Kholiqov told journalists in Dushanbe.
“It is against Tajik laws and it is un-Islamic. The state religious committee and the Council of Ulema have discussed this issue, and the council is going to announce its decision very shortly,” he said.
“Such a way of getting divorced is prohibited,” Kholiqov added.
“This is a wrong and unfair act that violates women and children’s rights,” said Umarali Nazarzoda, head of Tajikistan’s Islamic University.
He called on people to respect family values and prevent their marriages from falling apart.
Nonetheless, if divorce really is necessary, men should handle all its aspects with dignity, said the Islamic scholar.
According to local lawyers, SMS-divorces largely leave wives and children without any financial settlement because it’s simply impossible to track down their husbands working in Russia.
Most of the migrant workers are employed in informal, seasonal work, such as building private houses, without contracts. On top of this, many don’t have an officially registered address in Russia.
There are no official statistics about the number of SMS-divorces in Tajikistan, but local media report that there have been “hundreds” of cases.
| — Hat tip: AC | [Return to headlines] |
China’s Party of Princelings
The arrest of artist Ai Weiwei was ordered at the highest levels, and it suggests that a new dark era has begun.
By Wang Dan
A year ago I was asked my opinion on the anointment of Xi Jinping as vice president and leader of the “party of princelings,” as the new generation of Chinese Communist Party leaders is derisively called by some in China. I replied: “A dark era shall soon arrive, a dark era shall soon end.” The April 3 arrest of the respected Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei illustrates this point.
The Chinese word that best describes the party of princelings is heng (brutal). Many top Communist Party officials, including Mr. Xi and Bo Xilai, the party chief of Chongqing City, come from powerful, elite families with a great sense of entitlement and little regard for others. Some suffered what they see as great indignities during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and ‘70s, when they were forced to scrape by on the streets. This hardened them.
Wang Shuo’s novel “Wo Shi Liu Mang Wo Pa Shui” (“I Am A Hooligan, Who Can I Be Scared Of?”) well describes their ruthless personalities. Once such people assume political control, their attitudes reek of heng…
| — Hat tip: AAA | [Return to headlines] |
Japan’s Devastated Coastline: The Pompeii of the Pacific
It is a vast wasteland covered with the debris of houses pushed inland like toy building blocks. The tsunami of March 11, 2011 wiped out entire cities and has shaken the nation’s postwar faith in technology and continuous prosperity. SPIEGEL has taken a chilling trip along the devastated northeastern coast.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Re-Evaluation of Radiation: Fukushima Joins Chernobyl on Nuclear Disaster Scale
Japanese officials on Tuesday increased the level of severity of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, placing it on a level with Chernobyl. Some have criticized the change, but an expansion of the no-go zone surrounding the plant underlines the likely long-term effects of the accident
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Muslim Will Deemed Discriminatory
A man who instructed the funds of his estate be donated only to non-Muslims may have his wishes overturned by the Queensland Supreme Court.
Abraham Werner, who died in Brisbane in 1989, has had his will deemed discriminatory in several states.
The estate executor, Perpetual Trust, has sought a court order to allow them to distribute the funds outside of his strict conditions.
Mr Werner’s will bequeathed almost $700,000 with conditions the executor “first consider destitute male orphans of Asian parentage without any known relatives”.
Further conditions were that his money not go to followers or devotees of Islam, those not in “good health and mentally alert of good intellect and of good behaviour” or to anyone older than 21.
He also wished his funds not to go anyone involved in “using or marketing any form or drug of addiction” and that beneficiaries “must speak English adequately or undertake to learn to speak English within two years”.
Mr Werner, who was originally from Holland, had never married nor had children.
He donated his body to science.
In documents filed last month in the Supreme Court in Brisbane, Perpetual Trust says between 1991 and 2001 it managed to grant funds to charities which fell within Mr Werner’s conditions.
But in 2002 lawyers advised the organisation the criteria they put forward on Mr Werner’s behalf could be unlawfully discriminatory in three Australian states and the ACT.
Lawyers considered the exclusion of “followers of Islam” was unlawful in Tasmania, Western Australia, the ACT and possibly unlawful in New South Wales.
Andrew Thomas, of Perpetual Trust, wrote in an affidavit the organisation “had difficulty identifying potential benefits because it could not advertise for applications given the discriminatory nature of criteria to be applied”.
“Charities that assist disadvantaged children could not provide any assistance to Perpetual Trust as they either could not distinguish between individuals on criteria such as those set out in the will, or were not prepared to,” Mr Thomas said.
He said the organisation ceased dispersing Mr Werner’s funds in 2005.
Almost $600,000 remains in the estate.
The court documents seek an order from the court to allow Perpetual Trust to distribute the remainder of Mr Werner’s money to The Smith Family.
Perpetual Trust say the charity would then pass on the money in a manner as near as possible to Mr Werner’s wishes.
Mr Thomas said Mr Werner’s funds would go to a program The Smith Family operates to assist disadvantaged children.
“Negotiations with The Smith Family .. confirmed it is not able to confirm the religion [of children] and it’s not its practice to collect such information,” he said.
“Perpetual Trust considers that it now has no other option but to make this application to the court for an order to apply the income from the trust [as close as possible].”
The case has been adjourned will return to court on a date to be fixed.
| — Hat tip: Kitman | [Return to headlines] |
MEPs Question French Intervention in Ivory Coast
Members of the European Parliament have questioned the nature of French and United Nations intervention in the Ivory Coast, just hours after a final surge resulted in the capture of the country’s incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Brazil: School Murderer Linked to Islamist Groups
Translation: Julio Lins
Correio da Manhã
A scrapbook found at Wellington Menezes de Oliveira´s home, who on last Thursday has murdered 12 students in a school at Realengo neighbourhood, Rio de Janeiro, points he belonged or has links to a radical islamist group.
In the manuscripts, Wellington revealed belong to an extremist group, said he passed at least 4 hours reading the Coran, sacred book for islamists, displayed fascinated by terrorist acts and quotes two foreigners, Abdul and Phillip, representatives of the organization in Rio. “When I was introduced to them I revealed everything, I was very accepted and there was a great delight”, wrote Wellington, who, in another stretch, shows the intention of visiting islamic countries, like Egypt and Malasya. Wellington´s body, who has suicided when caught up by the police during the killing at school, continues at Rio´s mortuary and could be buried by the State if anyone require it. The five adoptive brothers are scared about the possibility of being lynched if they show up publicly and don´t want to perform the funeral.
Thus, the neighbors of the house where the shooter lived are very scared, because strangers have been vandalizing the residence and properties around.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Frank Gaffney: Protecting Chavez, Endangering America?
President Obama’s recent trip to three Latin American nations was absolutely surreal. For one thing, he launched a war against Libya from there. For another, he lauded and pledged support for offshore drilling in Brazilian waters that he has shut down in our own. And he spoke glowingly of the progress of democracy as though its forces were on the march in the region, rather than those of enemies of freedom.
What might have passed for Mr. Obama’s willful blindness with respect to the rising threat posed by Chavismo — the rabidly anti-American regional campaign named for and sponsored by the dictator of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez — was revealed last week as perhaps something far more worrying, if not downright sinister: A deliberate effort by the Obama Justice Department to impede U.S. access to a key witness to Chavez’s multifaceted malevolence.
If any reminder were needed of the threat posed by Chavez, Sunday’s election in Peru would provide it. The top vote-getter in the first-round of presidential balloting there was Ollanta Humala, a military officer cut from the same radical leftist cloth as his ally and enabler who runs Venezuela increasingly with an iron fist. If Humala prevails in the run-off, his increasingly prosperous nation will join Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua in moving squarely into Chavez’s orbit…
| — Hat tip: CSP | [Return to headlines] |
Dead Woman Among 116 Asylum Seekers Rescued at Sea by Afm [Armed Forces of Malta]
Italians refuse to send rescue boat because migrants in distress were close to Malta than to Lampedusa.
A group of 116 persons fleeing the civil war in Libya were rescued by two Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) patrol vessels.
The rescue mission was made during the course of the night, when their boat was adrift in a position 45 nautical miles (NM) south-west of Malta, and 47 NM East of Lampedusa.
The 50-foot wooden boat, laden with Chadian and Somali migrants, was drifting aimlessly after stopping without fuel and with an engine fault.
The AFM’s Rescue and Co-ordination Centre (RCC Malta) at Luqa Barracks was alerted to the occupants’ situation by the Italian Rescue Co-ordination Centre last night at around 21.15hrs.
An Italian fishing-vessel sighted the persons in distress as they desperately burnt clothes to attract the fishermen’s attention. “Their situation was difficult to assess with the onset of darkness, whilst sea conditions were moderate at the time,” an army spokesperson said.
Italian authorities informed RCC Malta that they would not be sending any of their assets to assist in the rescue, since the boat in distress was located ‘a little closer’ to Malta, than to Lampedusa.
The Maritime Squadron’s P-24 and P-51 patrol vessels were purposely diverted to the boat location to rescue the persons. By 00.28hrs, both AFM vessels were on location, and began the operation to rescue them and provide humanitarian aid. Their group was made up of 94 males, 18 females, and 4 infants (three babies and a 3-year old boy). AFM personnel also found the corpse of a 29-year old female onboard the stricken boat.
Having rescued all of the persons, the two AFM patrol vessels are now heading back to their Haywharf Base in Floriana, Malta.
| — Hat tip: AC | [Return to headlines] |
EU: ‘Disappointment and Anger’ Prompted Italian Threat to Leave Europe
Luxembourg, 12 April (AKI) — Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini on Tuesday said comments made by a fellow minister about dropping out of the European Union were made during the heat of the moment amid a spat over illegal immigration.
“I don’t think he said anything about leaving Europe. He expressed strong disappointment , irritation and anger. Europe is and will be an extraordinary opportunity for us,” Frattini told reporters in Luxembourg.
European Union interior ministers on Monday rejected their Italian counterpart Robert Maroni’s bid to issue temporary visas to more than 20,000 mostly Tunisans that would allow them to travel to other members of the border-free Schengen zone.
Following a meeting in Luxmbourg Maroni, lashed out at the EU, accusing it of abandoning Italy amid a wave of migrants arriving on its southern shores following uprisings in Tunisia and other Arab countries.
I wonder if it really makes sense to continue in this position, being part of the European Union — an institution that mobilizes immediately to save banks and wage wars, but when it comes to showing real solidarity to a country in need, like Italy today, then it hides,’ Maroni said as he left the interior ministers’ meeting.
‘Faced with this social and geopolitical crisis, the answer from governments was, ‘Dear Italy, it’s your own business,” Maroni said. ‘Frankly, it’s better to be alone than with this bad company.’
Italy previously had said the boatloads of people arriving on the southern island of Lampedusa represents a crisis and offered to issue temporary visas acknowledging that the major part of the migrants intended to reach family in other countries like France and Germany.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Boat With 116 Refugees in Malta, One Body
(ANSAmed) — ROME, APRIL 12 — A boat that left Libya carrying 116 refugees, most of them from Chad and Somalia, has arrived in Malta after being rescued by the Maltese navy. The body of a 24-year old woman, who died during the crossing, was found on board.
The boat was rescued after a warning from an Italian boat around 40 miles south of the island in search and rescue waters under Maltese jurisdiction. The authorities in Valletta say that Italy refused to send its own boats to the area despite a request from the Maltese navy.
Meanwhile, a new boat arrived in the Sicilian port of Licata at 1:00 this morning carrying 250 refugees, after being rescued 12 miles from the coast by two coastal guard patrol boats. The boat, which had a failed engine, was spotted by a reconnaissance aircraft in the Strait of Sicily and hauled ashore by the patrol boats. The rescue operations were coordinated by the central operations unit of the harbour office of the port of Palermo.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Plays Down Talk of Wanting to Quit EU
Maroni insists migrant visas are valid for Schengen-area travel
(ANSA) — Luxembourg, April 12 — Italy played down talk of wanting to quit the EU Tuesday after Interior Minister Roberto Maroni questioned the value of membership given the lack of European help in dealing with its migrant crisis.
“Europe is and will (always) be an extraordinary opportunity for us,” Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said at the fringes of a meeting of his EU counterparts in Luxembourg.
“Italy without Europe would not only be so small as to be insignificant, it would also be incapable of facing the great challenges in front of us.
“So we will keep going forward with Europe, while demanding a role for Europe that has not been present in this situation”.
Maroni questioned Italy’s EU future after being disappointed in European states’ unwillingness to share the burden of around 28,000 migrants to arrive this year following turmoil in North Africa at an interior ministers’ meeting Monday.
The Italian government has started issuing the mostly Tunisian migrants wanting to reunite with family members in other parts of Europe with temporary visas.
But France and other countries have said they will continue to block the migrants at their borders, despite the Schengen treaty that in theory abolished internal frontiers in much of the continent.
Frattini suggested Maroni had just been letting off steam and that he had good reason to do so.
“I don’t think Minister Maroni said we should leave Europe,” Frattini said.
“He expressed his profound disappointment in a moment of disillusion and anger that we can understand, although we have to stay calm.
“One wonders whether, after the Lisbon Treaty, Europe is a political union or not. In this situation it has not been”.
Frattini said this was shown by the fact that Italy had to reach a bilateral agreement with the new government in Tunisia to boost measures to stem the flow of migrants in exchange for aid and assistance.
“If the Lisbon Treaty had been truly applied, those negotiations would have been conducted by Europe,” the foreign minister said. MARONI SAYS DOUBTS OVER VISAS ‘MISTAKEN’.
Maroni, meanwhile, insisted Tuesday that the contested temporary visas are valid for travel within the Schengen area despite other states’ refusal to accept them and European Commission saying the papers on their own do not guarantee freedom to circulate. France, in particular, has said the migrants must also have a valid identity document and sufficient economic resources to support themselves, among other things.
But Maroni remains convinced the Italian government is in the right.
“We are certain the doubts over whether the papers permit circulation within the Schengen area are mistaken and I expect the Commission to study immediate measures so that these people are accepted where they want to go or repatriated,” he told the House’s constitutional and foreign affairs committees.
Maroni added that Italian government lawyers, some European interior ministers and EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom agreed with this position.
The minister said the countries that had left Italy alone to handle the crisis were “short-sighted”, but stressed that the Commission had been supportive.
He added that he was hopeful that the agreement with Tunisia would stem the flow of migrants from there, but expressed concerns about large numbers of Africans arriving via conflict-hit Libya.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Maroni Says 28,000 Migrants Have Arrived So Far This Year
(AGI) Rome — Roberto Maroni said that 28,000 migrants have arrived so far this year, 25,000 of whom landed in the Pelagie Islands. The interior minister was speaking at a joint session of the Chamber of Deputies’ constitutional affairs and foreign affairs committees. Maroni explained that “There are 23 thousand Tunisians, and 4,681 from other countries classed as refugees.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Maroni: Free to Move in Schengen Area With Permit
(ANSAmed) — ROME, APRIL 12 — “Temporary stay permits will allow their possessors to freely travel in the Schengen area, according to the Attorney General’s Office, Commissioner Malmstrom and other ministers, who yesterday did not challenge the validity of the document,” said Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, speaking to the Constitutional and Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. Thus, Maroni reiterated Italy’s position after a dispute with their European partners, especially Germany and France, which took a particularly harsh stance against Rome’s decision to grant temporary stay permits to immigrants from Tunisia. “The ministers,” explained Maroni, “said that each state will examine if it is possible to enter their territory with the permit. We are certain that it is, therefore controversy over documents that would not allow movement in the Schengen area is inaccurate and I expect the Commission to examine immediate measures to allow these people to be received where they want to go or repatriated.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
More Refugees From Libya, Extra 10 Mln From EU
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, APRIL 12 — The number of refugees fleeing Libya is on the rise and the European Commission has allocated another 10 million euros to deal with the emergency. European Commission Vice President, Antonio Tajani, announced that tomorrow the funds that have been made available for urgent humanitarian assistance to help the people who are leaving Libya will be increased from 30 to 40 million euros through an initiative from European Commission President, Jose’ Manuel Barroso, and Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Kristallina Georgieva. The decision to increase the funding available for the countries affected by the Libyan crisis will be made official tomorrow and is evidence that Brussels “is doing everything possible” to help the sub-Saharan African population that is fleeing from Libya and the countries that are receiving them, said Tajani. The overall number until now has been estimated to be about 60,000, but looks like it is going to become much greater, increasing from tens to hundreds of thousands of refugees.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Immigration Minister Angry With Italy Over Tunisian Visas
Immigration minister Gert Leers is ‘extremely cross’ with Italy for giving humanitarian visas to thousands of economic refugees from Tunisia, the Telegraaf reports.
‘We cannot just accept this,’ the paper quotes Leers as saying after an EU meeting in Luxemburg.
He called on the European Commission to take steps to stop a further ‘flood’ of illegal immigrants from North Africa arriving in Europe.
Instead it is important to help people develop their economies at hom, Leers said. ‘Whole villages are emptying out because all the young men want to come to Europe,’ he said.
According to the Financial Times, Belgium and France have threatened to bring back border controls for travellers from Italy.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Van Rompuy: EU Measures Are Insufficient
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, APRIL 12 — EU president Herman Van Rompuy and Greek premier George Papandreou agreed on the fact that when it comes to immigration “the EU’s measures are not sufficient”. The statement was made by Van Rompuy in a message distributed in Brussels at the end of his visit in Athens.
According to the EU president there will also be “a need to develop new or improved partnerships with the neighbour countries of the South. They will have to cooperate more to combat illegal immigration and the trafficking of human beings, on the return and readmission of immigrants”. Van Rompuy and Papandreou tackled the matter of the EU immigration, asylum and border management policies in preparation for the next EU Council scheduled for June 24. Van Rompuy stated that “These policies are a priority on our political agenda because of the developments in neighbouring countries in the South and Middle East, but also for internal reasons”. Meanwhile today a flight departed from Lampedusa carrying some 30 Tunisians who have to be repatriated and who had complained at the airport demanding to be taken to Italy.
After a lengthy mediation police authorities managed to convince the Tunisians to board the aircraft. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Actions and Personality, East and West
Kitayama and Na found differently. In their study, they had European-American and Asian-American students do an exercise in which they were told to memorize faces and behaviors. For example, they might see a woman’s face and read that Julie checks the fire alarms every night before bed. In a second phase of the experiment, the researchers found evidence that European-Americans had made an inference about Julie’s personality during the first memory task, while Asian-Americans had not.
One way they did this was actually measuring participants’ brain wave patterns. For example, if a European-American had seen the information above and later was shown Julie’s face, immediately followed by personality traits, such as courageous or brave, that clearly go against the traits implied by her behavior, a particular flash of brain activity would happen within a split second, demonstrating “surprise.” But in Asian-Americans, such a brain activity didn’t happen because they hadn’t assumed from Julie’s behavior that she was cautious or neurotic.
This shows that there are real cultural differences in how people perceive others, Kitayama says. “It isn’t just a matter of intentional deliberate effort, but the immediate response to somebody’s behavior appears to be very different.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UN Document Would Give Bugs, Trees Same Rights as Humans
UNITED NATIONS — Bolivia will this month table a draft United Nations treaty giving “Mother Earth” the same rights as humans — having just passed a domestic law that does the same for bugs, trees and all other natural things in the South American country.
The bid aims to have the UN recognize the Earth as a living entity that humans have sought to “dominate and exploit” — to the point that the “well-being and existence of many beings” is now threatened.
The wording may yet evolve, but the general structure is meant to mirror Bolivia’s Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, which Bolivian President Evo Morales enacted in January.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
What the Next 50 Years Hold for Human Spaceflight
Fifty years ago today (April 12), cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin blasted into Earth orbit, marking the beginning of the human spaceflight era. In humanity’s first half-century as a spacefaring species, government-run space programs put people on the moon and began to master low-Earth orbit. The next 50 years should bring a sea change, with commercial companies taking over near-Earth operations and freeing NASA and other space agencies to send astronauts to asteroids and Mars. As a result, by 2061, millions of people may well have gone to space, and thousands may be living there, experts say. We may see permanently manned outposts on the moon, and boots will likely have crunched into Mars’ red dirt.
Since Gagarin’s historic achievement, human spaceflight has been the province of nations, with government agencies such as NASA launching people into space for scientific reasons, or as expressions of national pride. But that’s all about to change, because private spaceflight is set to take off, making access to space far cheaper than it’s ever been.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
