German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung will next week announce plans for the future strength of German troops in Afghanistan, a spokesman said on Saturday, June 21. It's thought another 1,000 troops could be deployed. Jung wants to increase German deployment in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from the current upper limit of 3,500. Media reports have said the figure could rise to 4,500. A defense ministry spokesman said Jung would make clear the exact number at the end of next week. Jung said in a radio interview Saturday that any increase in troop strength would be used for training and civil reconstruction projects. "We want to increase training three-fold. Next year we want to train 7,500 Afghan troops. To achieve this we need to formulate a new upper limit for our mandate which will give German troops greater flexibility," he told German public radio.
Jung wants to increase German deployment in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from the current upper limit of 3,500.
Media reports have said the figure could rise to 4,500. A defense ministry spokesman said Jung would make clear the exact number at the end of next week.
Jung said in a radio interview Saturday that any increase in troop strength would be used for training and civil reconstruction projects.
"We want to increase training three-fold. Next year we want to train 7,500 Afghan troops. To achieve this we need to formulate a new upper limit for our mandate which will give German troops greater flexibility," he told German public radio.
Germans to boost Afghan mission Germany is preparing to send more troops to Afghanistan following repeated requests from the US and other Nato countries, but it is unlikely to give in to pressure to deploy forces in the embattled south of the war-torn country. (...) German troops are deployed as part of the Isaf peacekeeping force, mostly in the relatively stable north. Angela Merkel, the chancellor, said at the time that she had "absolutely no time" for such a redeployment, arguing that "continuity and stability" were more important. This stance has essentially not changed, according to government officials and defence experts in Berlin. The defence ministry refused to comment.
Germany is preparing to send more troops to Afghanistan following repeated requests from the US and other Nato countries, but it is unlikely to give in to pressure to deploy forces in the embattled south of the war-torn country.
(...)
German troops are deployed as part of the Isaf peacekeeping force, mostly in the relatively stable north. Angela Merkel, the chancellor, said at the time that she had "absolutely no time" for such a redeployment, arguing that "continuity and stability" were more important.
This stance has essentially not changed, according to government officials and defence experts in Berlin. The defence ministry refused to comment.
A solar power plant described by its operators as the biggest in the world began generating electricity at the site of a former East German air base on Sunday, June 22. The Waldpolenz Solar Park is built on a surface area equivalent to 200 soccer fields, the solar park will be capable of feeding 40 megawatts into the power grid when fully operational in 2009. In the start-up phase, the 130-million-euro ($201 million) plant it will have a capacity of 24 megawatts, according to the Juwi group, which operates the installation. The facility, located east of Leipzig, uses state-of-the-art, thin-film technology. Some 550,000 thin-film modules will be used, of which 350,000 have already been installed. The direct current produced in the photovoltaic solar modules will be converted into alternating current and fed completely into the power grid. After just a year the solar power station will have produced the energy needed to build it, according to the Juwi group.
The Waldpolenz Solar Park is built on a surface area equivalent to 200 soccer fields, the solar park will be capable of feeding 40 megawatts into the power grid when fully operational in 2009.
In the start-up phase, the 130-million-euro ($201 million) plant it will have a capacity of 24 megawatts, according to the Juwi group, which operates the installation.
The facility, located east of Leipzig, uses state-of-the-art, thin-film technology. Some 550,000 thin-film modules will be used, of which 350,000 have already been installed. The direct current produced in the photovoltaic solar modules will be converted into alternating current and fed completely into the power grid.
After just a year the solar power station will have produced the energy needed to build it, according to the Juwi group.
ISTANBUL: As Turkey's governing party braces for a high court ruling that could close it down and bar many of its members from politics, party officials like to talk about what they did that caused so much trouble. "Watch out, you're talking to a sinner," said Sadullah Ergin, an official in the party, Justice and Development, whose founders, some of them former Islamists, now want Turkey to be a more open society for practicing Muslims. Ergin's offense, detailed in a more than 160-page indictment of the party and its officials that has paralyzed Turkish politics since it was filed in March, was saying that a ban on women wearing head scarves in universities violated human rights, adding his signature to a draft law that helped cancel it and talking about it on a television talk show. Most of all, his crime lay in his association with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of the party, known as AK, the initials of its Turkish name. With its control of the presidency, the Parliament and the government, the party has come further than any other in modern Turkey in breaking the grip of the secular establishment on power.
ISTANBUL: As Turkey's governing party braces for a high court ruling that could close it down and bar many of its members from politics, party officials like to talk about what they did that caused so much trouble.
"Watch out, you're talking to a sinner," said Sadullah Ergin, an official in the party, Justice and Development, whose founders, some of them former Islamists, now want Turkey to be a more open society for practicing Muslims.
Ergin's offense, detailed in a more than 160-page indictment of the party and its officials that has paralyzed Turkish politics since it was filed in March, was saying that a ban on women wearing head scarves in universities violated human rights, adding his signature to a draft law that helped cancel it and talking about it on a television talk show.
Most of all, his crime lay in his association with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of the party, known as AK, the initials of its Turkish name. With its control of the presidency, the Parliament and the government, the party has come further than any other in modern Turkey in breaking the grip of the secular establishment on power.
June 20 (Bloomberg) -- Starting July 1, marijuana will be the only leaf that can be smoked in public places in the Netherlands. Cannabis devotees aren't celebrating. Local pot smokers, who usually cut joints with tobacco, and owners of the ``coffee shops'' where they are allowed to light up will have to change their habits when the nation implements the indoor tobacco ban. Puffing a pure marijuana cigarette in public will still be permitted; smoking one with tobacco will merit coffee shop owners a 300-euro ($466) fine for the first offense and 2,400 euros for a fourth. ``Every customer will have to learn how to smoke pure,'' said Robert Kempen, co-owner of The NooN and Mellow Yellow in Amsterdam, which sell marijuana and hashish. The rule makes him ``sick to death,'' he said, rolling himself a joint.
June 20 (Bloomberg) -- Starting July 1, marijuana will be the only leaf that can be smoked in public places in the Netherlands. Cannabis devotees aren't celebrating.
Local pot smokers, who usually cut joints with tobacco, and owners of the ``coffee shops'' where they are allowed to light up will have to change their habits when the nation implements the indoor tobacco ban. Puffing a pure marijuana cigarette in public will still be permitted; smoking one with tobacco will merit coffee shop owners a 300-euro ($466) fine for the first offense and 2,400 euros for a fourth.
``Every customer will have to learn how to smoke pure,'' said Robert Kempen, co-owner of The NooN and Mellow Yellow in Amsterdam, which sell marijuana and hashish. The rule makes him ``sick to death,'' he said, rolling himself a joint.
Optimism was the name of the game at the European Summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. Still it was clear: After the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Union doesn't know what to do next. And more hurdles are just over the horizon. Everything was supposed to look just as it always had. The 27 European Union leaders smiled broadly and slapped each other on the back; optimism was on full display when they stepped to the microphones. The EU summit in Brussels even came to an end just when it was supposed to on Friday evening. No delays and, most importantly, not a hint of crisis. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen didn't have any more answers than the rest of Europe at the EU summit in Brussels. There was even progress made, if one believes the list of successes read out by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who holds the EU's rotating presidency until the end of the month. There were new employment measures to announce, visa policy for the Balkans had been improved and Slovakia's adoption of the common European currency, the euro, was discussed. All of it, said Jansa, was "a clear sign that the EU works." His foreign minister, Dimitrij Rupel, echoed Jansa by saying that the summit had been "encouraging." And as for "our Irish friends," as European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso put it, "they have asked for more time and they will get more time." Yet despite all of the forced bonhomie, it was difficult to conceal the truth about the Brussels gathering: It was a summit of paralysis. It was so short because there was nothing to discuss or negotiate. In answer to the central question -- what to do now that the Irish have rejected the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum a week and a half ago -- there was silence. The EU decided to wait until the next summit in October to talk about it.
Optimism was the name of the game at the European Summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. Still it was clear: After the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Union doesn't know what to do next. And more hurdles are just over the horizon.
Everything was supposed to look just as it always had. The 27 European Union leaders smiled broadly and slapped each other on the back; optimism was on full display when they stepped to the microphones. The EU summit in Brussels even came to an end just when it was supposed to on Friday evening. No delays and, most importantly, not a hint of crisis.
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen didn't have any more answers than the rest of Europe at the EU summit in Brussels. There was even progress made, if one believes the list of successes read out by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who holds the EU's rotating presidency until the end of the month. There were new employment measures to announce, visa policy for the Balkans had been improved and Slovakia's adoption of the common European currency, the euro, was discussed. All of it, said Jansa, was "a clear sign that the EU works." His foreign minister, Dimitrij Rupel, echoed Jansa by saying that the summit had been "encouraging."
And as for "our Irish friends," as European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso put it, "they have asked for more time and they will get more time."
Yet despite all of the forced bonhomie, it was difficult to conceal the truth about the Brussels gathering: It was a summit of paralysis. It was so short because there was nothing to discuss or negotiate. In answer to the central question -- what to do now that the Irish have rejected the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum a week and a half ago -- there was silence. The EU decided to wait until the next summit in October to talk about it.
Thank you Ireland. (and thank you, French left)
For some reason, the "elites" that get blamed for being out of touch are only the instinctively socialist and meddlesome bureaucrats, not the "reformist" politicians and pundits who have the power.
Bleh. The "non" voters endorse that system, they get what they deserve. Nice. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Britain's high court has ruled that Abu Hamza al-Masri, a Muslim preacher, should be extradited to face terrorism charges in the United States. Al-Masri, who is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Britain for inciting his followers to murder non Muslims, has been indicted in the US on 11 charges. Justice Igor Judge and Justice Jeremy Sullivan, who heard al-Masri's appeal at a lower court ruling, gave his lawyers two weeks to apply to the House of Lords for a further appeal. Al-Masri, 51, who says he lost his hands and the sight of one eye in Afghanistan, once led Finsbury Park mosque in London.
Britain's high court has ruled that Abu Hamza al-Masri, a Muslim preacher, should be extradited to face terrorism charges in the United States.
Al-Masri, who is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Britain for inciting his followers to murder non Muslims, has been indicted in the US on 11 charges.
Justice Igor Judge and Justice Jeremy Sullivan, who heard al-Masri's appeal at a lower court ruling, gave his lawyers two weeks to apply to the House of Lords for a further appeal.
Al-Masri, 51, who says he lost his hands and the sight of one eye in Afghanistan, once led Finsbury Park mosque in London.
A Sunday newspaper has added a new twist to the controversy over the Swiss government's shredding of nuclear documents. The NZZ am Sonntag carries an interview with Abdul Qadeer Khan, "the father of Pakistan's atom bomb", in which he denies supplying the Swiss Tinner family with the plans for a nuclear weapon which the government destroyed at the end of 2007. The Tinners - father Friedrich and sons Marco and Urs - are accused of helping to supply parts for Libya's nuclear weapons programme through a trafficking ring run by Khan. The weapon plans were seized as part of the investigation into the Tinners' activities.Khan told the Zurich-based newspaper that neither Pakistan nor he himself "had anything to do with what Tinner or his sons had on their computers."
The NZZ am Sonntag carries an interview with Abdul Qadeer Khan, "the father of Pakistan's atom bomb", in which he denies supplying the Swiss Tinner family with the plans for a nuclear weapon which the government destroyed at the end of 2007.
The Tinners - father Friedrich and sons Marco and Urs - are accused of helping to supply parts for Libya's nuclear weapons programme through a trafficking ring run by Khan. The weapon plans were seized as part of the investigation into the Tinners' activities.
Khan told the Zurich-based newspaper that neither Pakistan nor he himself "had anything to do with what Tinner or his sons had on their computers."
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has criticised Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey over her recent controversial trip to Iran. The lawyer and human rights campaigner was in Geneva on Monday taking part in a panel discussion on human rights abuses in Iran. Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work on human rights and democracy, said she disagreed with Calmy-Rey's conduct during her visit. She has spoken out on human rights issues in Iran and has defended clients in a number of high profile rights cases.During a one-day trip to Tehran in March, Calmy-Rey held talks on Iran's nuclear policy and on human rights, and attended the signing of an agreement on gas supply between Tehran and a private Swiss energy company, EGL
The lawyer and human rights campaigner was in Geneva on Monday taking part in a panel discussion on human rights abuses in Iran.
Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work on human rights and democracy, said she disagreed with Calmy-Rey's conduct during her visit. She has spoken out on human rights issues in Iran and has defended clients in a number of high profile rights cases.
During a one-day trip to Tehran in March, Calmy-Rey held talks on Iran's nuclear policy and on human rights, and attended the signing of an agreement on gas supply between Tehran and a private Swiss energy company, EGL
swissinfo: During their recent visits to Iran, both Calmy-Rey and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour wore headscarves. What's your position on this issue?Shirin Ebadi: I really don't care if they cover their hair or not. What disappointed me was Calmy-Rey's attitude during her visit. She knew about the human rights situation in Iran; I even had the chance to speak to her about it beforehand.But once there she never mentioned the human rights situation in Iran, nor met any human rights defenders, not even myself. The only thing of interest to her was the business deal.Louise Arbour had quite a different attitude. On the first day she met members of civil society and visited women's prisons and showed that these people were also important. swissinfo: In your last report you talk about human rights abuses in Iran. What are these exactly?S.E.: In Iran any criticism is assimilated under "action against national security". There are more and more arrests of journalists, students and women for this reason. This is the case if a woman disagrees with her husband taking a second wife.Newspapers are being closed. Recently a very progressive women's rights monthly newspaper was closed down. Followers of the Bahá'í faith (founded by Baha'u'llah in Iran in the 19th century) are arrested for "actions against national security" and unable to speak to lawyers.In 1975 Iran ratified the pact on social, economic, cultural, civil and political rights, which forbids corporal or degrading punishment, like torture. But the government continues to practice flogging, amputation and stoning.Although the number of death sentences fell by 70 per cent in China, it rose by 60 per cent in Iran, compared with previous years. Even blasphemy is punishable by the death penalty.In Iran it's legal to execute minors. Under the law, the age of criminal responsibility is nine for a girl and 15 for a boy. Today, more than one hundred youngsters under 18 are waiting to be executed.
Shirin Ebadi: I really don't care if they cover their hair or not. What disappointed me was Calmy-Rey's attitude during her visit. She knew about the human rights situation in Iran; I even had the chance to speak to her about it beforehand.
But once there she never mentioned the human rights situation in Iran, nor met any human rights defenders, not even myself. The only thing of interest to her was the business deal.
Louise Arbour had quite a different attitude. On the first day she met members of civil society and visited women's prisons and showed that these people were also important.
swissinfo: In your last report you talk about human rights abuses in Iran. What are these exactly?
S.E.: In Iran any criticism is assimilated under "action against national security". There are more and more arrests of journalists, students and women for this reason. This is the case if a woman disagrees with her husband taking a second wife.
Newspapers are being closed. Recently a very progressive women's rights monthly newspaper was closed down. Followers of the Bahá'í faith (founded by Baha'u'llah in Iran in the 19th century) are arrested for "actions against national security" and unable to speak to lawyers.
In 1975 Iran ratified the pact on social, economic, cultural, civil and political rights, which forbids corporal or degrading punishment, like torture. But the government continues to practice flogging, amputation and stoning.
Although the number of death sentences fell by 70 per cent in China, it rose by 60 per cent in Iran, compared with previous years. Even blasphemy is punishable by the death penalty.
In Iran it's legal to execute minors. Under the law, the age of criminal responsibility is nine for a girl and 15 for a boy. Today, more than one hundred youngsters under 18 are waiting to be executed.
Followers of the Bahá'í faith (founded by Baha'u'llah in Iran in the 19th century) are arrested for "actions against national security" and unable to speak to lawyers.
A sometime client of mine in L.A. is a Baha'i from Iran. He obtained a degree in Electrical Engineering at U of Kentucky and has for about 15 years had his own Consulting Engineer practice in L.A. He has the sort of business ethics that requires him to correct my invoices upward substantially in cases where otherwise I would never know. Turns fixed price jobs into hourly jobs when it is to my benefit.
He told me that since the Iranian Revolution, the Iranian government will not even let self professed Baha'i attend school. Persia was an empire. The national minorities have suffered greatly since the revolution. If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.
Still, I am skeptical that Iran would jeapordize its relationship with Japan -- and its international reputation -- by persecuting apostate Iranians even living overseas in Japan. ... all progress depends on the unreasonable mensch.(apologies to G.B. Shaw)
I am skeptical that Iran would jeapordize its relationship with Japan.
I spent about six months total in Saudi Arabia back in the mid 80s, helping recycle petro-dollars. Part of the time I was the sole representative of my company and was working out of the office of a local company headed by an Australian with a Saudi partner. He had an associate whose father came from one of the Gulf Emirates and whose mother was English. He was naturally multi-cultural and multi-lingual.
He invited me to dinner one night. His wife was Persian and had excellent English. We were having a wide ranging discussion of world conditions, and it seemed like a really good evening. At one point I brought up something from a book I had recently read by Idiries Shah, Seeker after Truth. The wife got this stricken look on her face and asked me: "You have a book by Shah? You have a book by Shah?" I assured her that the book wasn't by Mohammed Pahlavi, the former Shah of Iran and apologized if I alarmed her. I tried to explain who the author was, an Indian, perhaps a Parsi. Her husband understood, but she had trouble regaining her composure. Fortunately, it was getting late. For those who have lived under those circumstances their whole lives can be blighted by the equivalent of PTSD. If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.
Iraqi energy experts have told Al Jazeera that oil and gas fields in the western Anbar province may soon begin pumping gas to European markets. Mukhtar al-Ani, an Iraqi oil consultant, said: "In early January, the Ministry of Oil held talks with a number of potential companies regarding development of the huge Akkas gas field in the north-western desert of Anbar province." According to the ministry, Akkas, which lies 40km from the Syrian border, is believed to contain up to seven trillion cubic feet of gas, which accounts for six per cent of Iraq's estimated total of 112 trillion cubic feet. The field is capable of producing up to 500 million cubic feet per day if fully developed. Akkas is also close to existing Syrian gas facilities. "Iraq earlier signed a preliminary agreement with Syria to supply it with 50 million cubic feet of gas a day from the existing five wells in Akkas ... The Syrians are eager to revive this agreement," al- Ani said.
Iraqi energy experts have told Al Jazeera that oil and gas fields in the western Anbar province may soon begin pumping gas to European markets.
Mukhtar al-Ani, an Iraqi oil consultant, said: "In early January, the Ministry of Oil held talks with a number of potential companies regarding development of the huge Akkas gas field in the north-western desert of Anbar province."
According to the ministry, Akkas, which lies 40km from the Syrian border, is believed to contain up to seven trillion cubic feet of gas, which accounts for six per cent of Iraq's estimated total of 112 trillion cubic feet. The field is capable of producing up to 500 million cubic feet per day if fully developed.
Akkas is also close to existing Syrian gas facilities.
"Iraq earlier signed a preliminary agreement with Syria to supply it with 50 million cubic feet of gas a day from the existing five wells in Akkas ... The Syrians are eager to revive this agreement," al- Ani said.
BRUSSELS: Faced with congested skies, airport delays and growing carbon emissions from aircraft, the European Union will this week seek to overhaul its aviation management system in a move that could save €2 billion to €3 billion in fuel costs and cut carbon dioxide output by up to 16 million tons a year. With air traffic likely to double by 2020, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, says it believes that changes to Europe's complex and unwieldy air traffic control structure are vital if the bloc is to manage the growth in aviation and keep to its ambitious climate change targets. The plan for a "single European sky" proposes a big shake-up of air traffic control in Europe, which is currently divided into 650 units administered from 60 air traffic control centers in the 27 nations. By contrast the United States manages double the number of flights for a similar cost from 20 control centers, according to the commission. Under the proposals, scheduled to be released Wednesday, European countries would agree to accelerate the creation of a network of larger air traffic control units, made up of adjacent nations, known as functional airspace blocks, probably by 2012.
BRUSSELS: Faced with congested skies, airport delays and growing carbon emissions from aircraft, the European Union will this week seek to overhaul its aviation management system in a move that could save €2 billion to €3 billion in fuel costs and cut carbon dioxide output by up to 16 million tons a year.
With air traffic likely to double by 2020, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, says it believes that changes to Europe's complex and unwieldy air traffic control structure are vital if the bloc is to manage the growth in aviation and keep to its ambitious climate change targets.
The plan for a "single European sky" proposes a big shake-up of air traffic control in Europe, which is currently divided into 650 units administered from 60 air traffic control centers in the 27 nations. By contrast the United States manages double the number of flights for a similar cost from 20 control centers, according to the commission.
Under the proposals, scheduled to be released Wednesday, European countries would agree to accelerate the creation of a network of larger air traffic control units, made up of adjacent nations, known as functional airspace blocks, probably by 2012.
Press release EUROCONTROL 17/06/2008
EUROCONTROL recently initiated a first series of flight trials at Arlanda Airport in order to validate the airborne controlled time of arrival (CTA) functionality. On 5 June Scandinavian Airlines flights SK049, SK1013, SK009, SK1045 and SK011 were assigned times to the entry point approximately 25 minutes before reaching the Stockholm terminal area (TMA). The pilots of these flights then relied on onboard functions to ensure that the aircraft arrived at the assigned times with an (initially estimated) accuracy of +/- 10 seconds.... The initial wave of flight trials, which will continue until the end of July, will be followed by a second wave - running from September to December 2008. These trials will further investigate the accuracy of the aircraft flight management system in meeting times to points within the terminal area, including the runway. Trials will also be carried out London Heathrow and Amsterdam Schiphol airports. By March 2009, Cassis will deliver a concept of operations based on the SESAR concept as well as a description of the steps that will bring CTA applications into operation. For Stockholm Arlanda, where downlinks of estimated times of arrival and 4D trajectories have been ongoing during live trials, the process of validating CTA applications will continue, using commercial revenue flights.
On 5 June Scandinavian Airlines flights SK049, SK1013, SK009, SK1045 and SK011 were assigned times to the entry point approximately 25 minutes before reaching the Stockholm terminal area (TMA).
The pilots of these flights then relied on onboard functions to ensure that the aircraft arrived at the assigned times with an (initially estimated) accuracy of +/- 10 seconds....
The initial wave of flight trials, which will continue until the end of July, will be followed by a second wave - running from September to December 2008.
These trials will further investigate the accuracy of the aircraft flight management system in meeting times to points within the terminal area, including the runway.
Trials will also be carried out London Heathrow and Amsterdam Schiphol airports.
By March 2009, Cassis will deliver a concept of operations based on the SESAR concept as well as a description of the steps that will bring CTA applications into operation. For Stockholm Arlanda, where downlinks of estimated times of arrival and 4D trajectories have been ongoing during live trials, the process of validating CTA applications will continue, using commercial revenue flights.
Some 300 people gathered Sunday evening at the Beth Haya Mouchka Lubavitch synagogue in Paris's 19th district to pray for the recovery of the Jewish teenager savaged Saturday evening by a gang of youths of Black African origin. The synagogue is located on 49 Rue Petit, near the place where the 17-year-old Rudy Haddad, a member of the local Lubavitch community, was attacked by the youths who beat him with metal bars and smashed his skull. The victim, who suffered several broken ribs and a fractured skull, was placed in intensive care at Cochin hospital in central Paris. ... The multi-ethnic area, which is harbouring several synagogues, has been the stage of several anti-Jewish incidents in the last months, Raphael Haddad, had of the union of French Jewish students (UEJF), said. Speaking on French tv, the new chief rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim, who was elected on Sunday, mentioned the fact that young Jewish girls fear to walk in a neighborhood park on Sabbath."
Some 300 people gathered Sunday evening at the Beth Haya Mouchka Lubavitch synagogue in Paris's 19th district to pray for the recovery of the Jewish teenager savaged Saturday evening by a gang of youths of Black African origin.
The synagogue is located on 49 Rue Petit, near the place where the 17-year-old Rudy Haddad, a member of the local Lubavitch community, was attacked by the youths who beat him with metal bars and smashed his skull.
The victim, who suffered several broken ribs and a fractured skull, was placed in intensive care at Cochin hospital in central Paris. ...
The multi-ethnic area, which is harbouring several synagogues, has been the stage of several anti-Jewish incidents in the last months, Raphael Haddad, had of the union of French Jewish students (UEJF), said.
Speaking on French tv, the new chief rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim, who was elected on Sunday, mentioned the fact that young Jewish girls fear to walk in a neighborhood park on Sabbath."
Around 50 non-EU nationals without visas or work permits escaped Sunday from a Paris immigrant detention centre following a fire that police said was started deliberately. "Some 50-odd detainees have yet to be accounted for," an official from the police headquarters covering the Vincennes district south-east of the French capital told AFP. A fresh roll-call was being conducted Sunday evening at France's biggest clandestine immigrant processing centre.
News | Africa - Reuters.com
A 41-year-old Tunisian immigrant died in the Vincennes centre on Saturday, and police said he died from a heart attack while alone in his bedroom. An investigation into his death has been opened, but the MRAP organisation against racism said the death showed that detention conditions in French deportation centres were poor.
A 41-year-old Tunisian immigrant died in the Vincennes centre on Saturday, and police said he died from a heart attack while alone in his bedroom.
An investigation into his death has been opened, but the MRAP organisation against racism said the death showed that detention conditions in French deportation centres were poor.
Sarkozy's applying Le Pen's program, expelling illegal immigrants very harshly. For example, see the story of an elderly Algerian who has all his children and grandchildren in France being illegally expelled because he didn't appeal fast enough . Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
Up to 70 African would-be immigrants to Europe on Sunday tried to push through a border post of the Spanish enclave of Melilla in Morocco, but most of them were repulsed, Spanish authorities said. The Africans were seeking to start news lives in Europe and tried to force their way past border guards on the North African coast on Sunday. "Between 60 and 70 people from sub-Saharan Africa tried to force their way into Melilla at dawn through the Beni-Enzar border post," the local Melilla authorities said in a statement. "The majority of them were pushed back by security forces," it said, adding that "the situation is normal on the border." But several border guards suffered injuries, the statement said.
The Africans were seeking to start news lives in Europe and tried to force their way past border guards on the North African coast on Sunday.
"Between 60 and 70 people from sub-Saharan Africa tried to force their way into Melilla at dawn through the Beni-Enzar border post," the local Melilla authorities said in a statement.
"The majority of them were pushed back by security forces," it said, adding that "the situation is normal on the border."
But several border guards suffered injuries, the statement said.
After a week of what European leaders call reflection, another Irish referendum beckons, to be held early next year. Without it, there might well be an attempt to oust the Irish from the European Union.A Yes vote in a second referendum is not certain, even if the Irish government were to succeed in securing another rent-extracting, treaty-amending protocol. At a time when the Irish economy is about to fall off a cliff, enthusiasm for the EU and its treaties will not increase. In other words, holding a referendum would be as risky as not holding a referendum. A fine mess.So within a couple of weeks, the chances of Ireland ending up outside the EU have turned from zero to a distinct possibility. The same goes for the Czech Republic, another potential non-ratifier. I do not want to get into the legal details of how a country's departure from the EU could be accomplished. Suffice it to say that it can be done within European law as long as there is political will.What strikes me the most about this extraordinary turn of events is the perception in Ireland that a break with the EU would be no big deal. I received a large number of letters from Ireland last week from readers who steadfastly maintain that the country's economic success had nothing to do with the EU and everything to do with domestic policy - in particular with low corporate taxes and skilled labour.
After a week of what European leaders call reflection, another Irish referendum beckons, to be held early next year. Without it, there might well be an attempt to oust the Irish from the European Union.
A Yes vote in a second referendum is not certain, even if the Irish government were to succeed in securing another rent-extracting, treaty-amending protocol. At a time when the Irish economy is about to fall off a cliff, enthusiasm for the EU and its treaties will not increase. In other words, holding a referendum would be as risky as not holding a referendum. A fine mess.
So within a couple of weeks, the chances of Ireland ending up outside the EU have turned from zero to a distinct possibility. The same goes for the Czech Republic, another potential non-ratifier. I do not want to get into the legal details of how a country's departure from the EU could be accomplished. Suffice it to say that it can be done within European law as long as there is political will.
What strikes me the most about this extraordinary turn of events is the perception in Ireland that a break with the EU would be no big deal. I received a large number of letters from Ireland last week from readers who steadfastly maintain that the country's economic success had nothing to do with the EU and everything to do with domestic policy - in particular with low corporate taxes and skilled labour.
Oh, you mean Structural Funds? Those who need them in the rural areas voted no. Shows how much they know. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
Well, I'm not sure about that. I doubt Ireland will be kicked out (it's part of the Eurozone...), so those people may want as much of a statu quo as possible. I'm not sure that the ratification of the Treaty would have meant more structural funds for them... "The womb that spawned that thing is fertile yet"
We have people giving contradictory reasons why they are unhappy about the EU anyway: they want both more EU intervention in social welfare policies but they want to be able to retain their low corporate tax. They want the EU to get involved in protecting local cultural heritage against national infrastructure development, and at the same time they want to strengthen "subsidiarity and proportionality". When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
Governments will start telling the truth when there are media that bother to report what they say with sincerity and fairness. Until then, dirty truth remains politically dangerous keep to the Fen Causeway
Leading British banks have been accused of operating a covert embargo of Cuba out of deference to the US. The accusation comes after revelations that Lloyds TSB and Barclays Bank have been telling clients who trade with Cuba to take their accounts elsewhere.Although none of the major banks are prepared to go on record over their policy towards Cuba, the Guardian has learned that Lloyds TSB, Barclays Bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC are all complying with the US blockade of the island that was condemned in the UN earlier this year by a vote of 184 to four. The US has taken legal action in the courts against multinational companies that deal with Cuba and have offices in the US.Last week a London cigar importer and a Somerset natural food company, which imported Cuban sugar, were told by Lloyds TSB that the bank could no longer carry out transactions involving Cuba. Phil Markey, relationship director at Lloyds TSB, told one client in a letter: "I would like to find a way to continue to make these payments for you - the decision, however, is down to a full risk assessment process within Lloyds TSB."
Leading British banks have been accused of operating a covert embargo of Cuba out of deference to the US. The accusation comes after revelations that Lloyds TSB and Barclays Bank have been telling clients who trade with Cuba to take their accounts elsewhere.
Although none of the major banks are prepared to go on record over their policy towards Cuba, the Guardian has learned that Lloyds TSB, Barclays Bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC are all complying with the US blockade of the island that was condemned in the UN earlier this year by a vote of 184 to four. The US has taken legal action in the courts against multinational companies that deal with Cuba and have offices in the US.
Last week a London cigar importer and a Somerset natural food company, which imported Cuban sugar, were told by Lloyds TSB that the bank could no longer carry out transactions involving Cuba. Phil Markey, relationship director at Lloyds TSB, told one client in a letter: "I would like to find a way to continue to make these payments for you - the decision, however, is down to a full risk assessment process within Lloyds TSB."
