To BNP or not to be?

The Tories didn’t so much peep on the immigration dog whistle as sound a klaxon in a disgraceful campaign.

A hateful leaflet produced by Romford Conservatives in East London is so grotesque it could carry a BNP logo. The inflammatory charge that Labour “opened the floodgates” is false and way beyond responsible political debate.
Tory home affairs spokesman and local MP Andrew Rosindell admitted to me he was in the area when it was distributed. The right-winger said he was canvassing but didn’t see the alarmist flyer pushed through letter boxes by members of his team.
That’s a shame because it includes two photos of him, including one picture with David Cameron.
The statement “promoted by Andrew Rosindell MP” on the bottom, he said, was a legal obligation on Romford Tory Party because he’s standing for election.

The leaflet, he added, “fell short of what I would have done” and he’ll have a word with the councillors responsible.

So it was a disappointment that I needed 10 minutes to coax the statement “I would not have used the words ‘opened the floodgates’” from the MP.
Cameron described immigration as a sensitive issue, to be dealt with carefully. Yet in Romford, his party wears hobnailed boots.
Apeing the BNP to defeat the BNP is to become the BNP.

Daily Mirror

Blond bombshell Geert Wilders returns to Britain, looking for a fight

Boyish, topped with a bouffant mane of bleached blond hair, cheerful and cherubic, Geert Wilders is the unlikely new face of the far Right in Europe. But appearances are deceptive. The leader of the Dutch anti-immigration Freedom Party has emerged as one of the most divisive politicians in Europe, the purveyor of a virulent brand of anti-Islamic rhetoric that calls for a tax on Islamic headscarves and a ban on the Koran, which he likens to Mein Kampf.
Mr Wilders is facing trial in a Dutch court for “inciting hatred”. Last year he was banned from Britain and turned away at Heathrow when he arrived here planning to show his short film, an incendiary anti-Islamic diatribe that the Dutch Prime Minister described as serving “no purpose other than to offend”.
On Friday, after successfully appealing against the Home Office ban, Mr Wilders will return to Britain at the invitation of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) to show his controversial film to an invited audience at the House of Lords. The English Defence League is expected to demonstrate in his support and Muslim groups are all but certain to mount protests.
To his enemies, the 46-year-old Dutchman is an old-fashioned racist demagogue in a new suit; a bottle-blond bigot. To his growing ranks of supporters he is a champion of free speech, a bulwark against what he calls “the Islamic invasion of Holland”. He may be dismissed by some as a crank but he is an increasingly powerful and popular one. On February 20 the Dutch centrist coalition Government collapsed, deeply divided over keeping troops in Afghanistan, paving the way for a general election in June in which the Freedom Party is expected to do extremely well. Polls suggest that the party will triple its tally of seats, becoming at least the second-biggest parliamentary party and quite possibly the overall winner. Mr Wilders is likely to be a key player in any coalition, with a profound impact on the political agenda.
Nicknamed “Mozart” on account of a platinum hairdo that looks strikingly like an 18th-century wig, Mr Wilders has played on the dischords in Dutch society with virtuoso skill. As in Britain, many Dutch voters are alarmed by the scale of immigration, battered by the global economic crisis, culturally anxious and increasingly receptive to his grim warnings about a “tsunami of Islamification”.

The political heir to Pim Fortuyn, the Dutch populist politician who called for a halt to Muslim immigration and who was murdered in the 2002 election campaign, Mr Wilders has portrayed himself as the only politician in his country brave enough to stand up to militant Islam, a threat that he has compared to Nazism. “A century ago there were approximately 50 Muslims in the Netherlands. Today there are about one million. Where will it end? We are heading for the end of European civilisation,” he predicts. Promising strict limits on immigration, he has also called for a “head-rag tax” of €1,000 (£922) a year on Muslim women wearing headscarves.
In 2008 he released a 15-minute film entitled Fitna (the Arabic word for “strife”) which provoked outrage across the Muslim world: it opens with an image of the Koran, followed by footage of terrorist attacks and a litany of stonings, beheadings, honour killings, homophobia and child marriages. It ends, predictably, with the Danish cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad that sparked fury in 2006. Al-Qaeda is believed to have ordered the killing of Mr Wilders after the film was released. Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, has described the Dutch politician as “offensively anti-Islamic”. His most incendiary remarks are aimed at the Koran, which he calls a fascist book. “The Koran incites to hatred and calls for murder and mayhem,” Mr Wilders told the Dutch Parliament. “It is an absolute necessity that the Koran be banned for the defence and reinforcement of our civilisation and our constitutional state.”

In January a Dutch court ordered the public prosecutor to try Mr Wilders on charges of fomenting hatred and discrimination. Mr Wilders indicated that he would call witnesses in order to prove Koran-inspired violence, including Mohammed Bouyeri, the man convicted of murdering the Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh in 2004.
Although he faces 16 months in prison if convicted, the trial represents a political goldmine for Mr Wilders and helps to explain his recent rise in opinion polls. If he is convicted he will paint himself as martyr to political correctness; if he is acquitted he will claim vindication. The trial has been suspended until after the election.
Inadvertently, Britain also did much to boost his standing in February last year by banning him from entering the country as an “undesirable person”, citing EU laws enabling member states to exclude someone whose presence could threaten public security. Mr Wilders loudly condemned Gordon Brown as “the biggest coward in Europe” and some 84 per cent of Dutch voters objected to the way that Mr Wilders had been ejected by Britain.

The ban was later overturned by an asylum and immigration tribunal. On Friday, at the invitation of the UKIP leader Lord Pearson of Rannoch and Baroness Cox of Queensbury, he will show Fitna to MPs, peers and guests before giving a press conference at Westminster.
“The issue of militant Islam is the greatest issue facing our Judeo-Christian culture,” Lord Pearson said. “I don’t agree that the Koran should be banned but we want it discussed ... mild Muslims should stand up and debate their militant co-religionists.”
Mr Wilders has sought to distance himself and his party from the traditional standard-bearers of the extreme Right in Europe, such as Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front in France and the late Jörg Haider of the Freedom Party in Austria. He has made no contact with the BNP. “My allies are not Le Pen and Haider,” he says. “I’m very afraid of being linked with the wrong rightist fascist groups.” His prime political role models are said to be Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill.

The son of a printer, Mr Wilders was raised Roman Catholic but is now an atheist. He worked in a Dutch social insurance agency before becoming a speechwriter and then MP for the liberal People’s Party, which he left in 2004 to form his own party.
As a prime terrorist target he lives under 24-hour police guard, changing his location nightly. He is seldom seen in public and gives few interviews. Even contact with his wife, a Dutch-Hungarian former diplomat, is limited by security concerns, This way of life, under constant threat, is “a situation I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy”, he once remarked.
“They are trying to shoot him all the time,” says Lord Pearson, noting that Mr Wilders will be coming to Britain with five state-hired Dutch bodyguards. “He has a really, really tough existence.”

Mr Wilders opposes expansion of the EU, most particularly Turkish membership, and Dutch military deployment in Afghanistan, but the core of his message lies in an appeal to defend traditional Dutch culture against perceived encroachment by Islam. “Islam is the Trojan Horse in Europe,” he told the Dutch Parliament. “Stop all immigration from Muslim countries, ban all building of new mosques, close all Islamic schools, ban burkas and the Koran ... Stop Islamification. Enough is enough!”
Some polls suggest that after the June elections Mr Wilders may lead the biggest single parliamentary party, raising the prospect that a former fringe provincial politician with extreme views and peculiar hair could end up leading the country. “At some point it’s going to happen and then it will be a big honour to fulfil the post of prime minister,” he says. If that comes to pass it will mark both the triumph of a new, more subtle brand of right-wing politics in Europe, and the final demise of the stereotyped image of the Netherlands as a nation of bland liberal views and easygoing tolerance.

Itinerary
9am Geert Wilders will arrive at Heathrow, his second visit to Britain since overturning a ban by the former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. He declared his trip in October last year “a victory for free speech”

11am Screening of his film Fitna in a committee room of the House of Lords. The 17-minute film, which has been shown in the US Capitol, presents verses from the Koran alongside footage of terrorist attacks. The screening has been organised by Lord Pearson of Rannoch, leader of UKIP, and Baroness Cox, a former Conservative peer

12.30pm Press conference near Parliament. UKIP organisers are expecting protests

1pm The far-Right group the English Defence League plans a demonstration to welcome Mr Wilders to Britain. A UKIP source said: “That is what horrifies me more than anything else. Bring protective clothing.”

BBC News

Bill would honor Miep Gies (USA)

A bill honoring the life of the woman who hid Anne Frank's family and salvaged her diary is winding its way through the U.S. House of Representatives.
The non-binding resolution seeking to honor the life of Miep Gies is sponsored by Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio) and has 60 co-sponsors.

Gies helped to hide the Frank family from 1942 until they were turned in by an unknown informant in August 1944. Gies discovered the diary pages of Anne Frank and saved them in her desk for Anne's return. When Anne's death in Bergen-Belsen was confirmed, Gies turned the documents over to Anne's father, Otto.
The bill commends Gies, who died on Jan. 11, just shy of her 101st birthday, “for her bravery during Nazi occupation of the Netherlands and her dedication to preserving the memory of Anne Frank and the Holocaust.”
JTA

BNP member teacher faces misconduct charge

A teacher accused of expressing religious intolerance on the internet will answer a misconduct charge today.

Technology teacher Adam Walker, a member of the British National Party, is due to appear at a General Teaching Council committee hearing in Birmingham today.
Mr Walker, from Spennymoor, County Durham, is alleged to have demonstrated views suggestive of racial and religious intolerance while using a school laptop.
The allegation, brought against him by the GTC, states that he engaged in unacceptable professional conduct while employed at Houghton Kepier Sports College in Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland, between February and March 2007.

This is London

FBI Informant’s Retrial for Neo-Nazi Threats Opened Monday (USA)

Jury selection and opening statements are scheduled to begin yesterday in the second federal trial of hate blogger and former FBI informant Hal Turner.


Turner’s first trial ended in a mistrial on Dec. 7, with jurors leaning 9-3 in favor of acquittal. He is charged with threatening to assault and murder three federal judges in Chicago. Turner stated in blog entries that they “deserve to be killed” and posted their exact work locations.

Meanwhile, documents filed in federal court last month provide more details about Turner’s past role as a paid FBI informant. His traveling companion during his FBI-financed trip to Brazil was longtime National Alliance member Tripp Henderson of New Jersey, who in a posting to a National Alliance E-group once urged lone wolves to start a race war by shooting undocumented immigrants. On Jan. 31, 2005, Turner and Henderson left for the 10-day excursion to Sao Paulo to woo potential supporters willing to donate between $500,000 and $1 million to the National Alliance. Turner was then able to provide information to the FBI on 12 white supremacists from multiple countries, according to the documents. During the six-week period following the trip, Turner — whose FBI code name was “Valhalla” — received a $3,000 advance payment, in addition to $2,000 he’d already been paid during that fiscal year.

Turner’s intelligence also led to the conviction of James Mazzone (also known as James McManus), who was sentenced to 10 years in state prison for narcotics sales, according to the documents. Mazzone, an Aryan Nations leader, was listed on the group’s website as the New Jersey contact for the neo-Nazi organization.

Turner’s history as an FBI informant figured prominently in his first trial, with the defense arguing that the FBI had not prosecuted Turner when he made similar statements against public officials while an informant. (The FBI severed its relationship with Turner in August 2007, nearly two years before he published the comments for which he was charged.) As it did during the first trial, the government asked that Turner’s defense not be allowed to refer to his work as an FBI informant, calling it “an irrelevant sideshow designed to distract and confuse the jury.” U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter, who also presided over Turner’s first trial, denied the request on Feb. 19, along with the defense’s motion to bar testimony from the alleged targets of Turner’s threats: Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook and Judges Richard Posner and William Bauer. Prosecutors opted not to put the judges on the stand during Turner’s first trial, but plan to do so this time. In interviews with the FBI filed in court, all three judges said they regarded Turner’s blog posts as threats, but did not change their routines or seek additional personal security because of them.

The government is expected to begin making its case Today in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, which was also the location of Turner’s first trial. The three judges will be the government’s first witnesses, according to court documents.

Posted in Extremist Crime by Sonia Scherr on March 1, 2010
SPLCenter

Scotland United denounces planned SDL Lockerbie protest

Members of the far-right Scottish Defence League want to hold a rally in the town, but a counter movement today called for the event to be cancelled

A Scottish anti-fascism movement says far-right protesters should be stopped from demonstrating at Lockerbie.
The Scottish Defence League (SDL) unveiled plans to hold a "respect vigil" at the town's memorial to the 270 people who died when Pan Am flight 103 was blown up over Dumfriesshire.
The group, which says it is against the "Islamification" of Britain, also wants to use the event as a protest against Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, who was branded a "traitor" over his decision to release Libyan bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.
On Monday, Scotland United released a statement saying the SDL and its sister organisation, the English Defence League, should not be allowed to demonstrate in Lockerbie. The group is backed by all of Scotland's mainstream political parties, as well as trade unionists, charities and faith groups.
In a statement, undersigned by supporters, Scotland United said: "We strongly oppose plans by the Scottish Defence League and English Defence League to demonstrate in Lockerbie. The SDL is a racist group whose aim is to divide us by making scapegoats of one community, just as the Nazis did with the Jews in the 1930s.

"Whatever one's personal or political views on the release of Mr Megrahi, we believe that such a march is totally inappropriate and a cheap publicity stunt. Any attempt to use Lockerbie would cause further distress and suffering to those who have lost loved ones and would be abhorrent.
"We have a simple message for these racist and fascist groups. There is no place for your organisation in Lockerbie or in Scotland, and we condemn any organisation that wishes to capitalise on the murder of 270 innocent men and women. We call on the SDL and all other groups to cancel their action and stay out of Lockerbie."

Dumfries MSP Elaine Murray has also lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament, blasting the SDL and EDL's plans as "deplorable" and calling for the march to be called off.
The Scottish Defence League denies it is a racist or violent organisation. In the limited public content on the group's Facebook site, it states: "This group is for people that can join us to protest the Muslim extremists that support terror in our land and burn our national flag."
The group has worked to keep details of planned actions more secret, since police prevented some members entering Edinburgh for a planned march last month.

Immigrants Rally for a Nationwide Strike in Italy

In an effort to heighten awareness about the contributions made by foreign workers to the Italian economy, the promoters of the first strike by immigrants in the country invited workers to stay home and to boycott shopping for one day.
Similar protests took place in other European countries on Monday (the initiative started in France and found supporters in Spain and Greece, as well). A comparable boycott, “A Day Without Immigrants,” championing full rights for immigrants living in the United States, took place in 2006.
But demonstrations Monday had a particular resonance in Italy, where anti-immigrant rhetoric has increased recently in anticipation of regional elections at the end of the month, and where foreign labor makes up nearly 10 percent of the work force.

While introducing one electoral initiative last week, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi accused the left of “wanting an invasion of immigrants,” only to strengthen the opposition’s electoral basis.
Around Milan, electoral posters for the anti-immigrant Northern League party depicted a Native American Indian chieftain with the slogan: “They put up with immigration, now they live on reserves.”

But various studies suggest that immigrant labor has become a fundamental component of the Italian economy.
“Many Italians are convinced that immigrants are a burden, but in fact they have a very positive effect on our welfare system,” said Maurizio Ambrosini, a professor of the sociology of migration at the University of Milan, pointing out that Italian families have become increasingly dependant on foreign caregivers to look after their children and elderly parents. The construction industry, too, is heavily dependant on foreigners, particularly from East European countries, he added. “If anything, Italy constantly needs new waves of immigrants,” he said.

Statistics published last autumn by the Catholic Caritas Migrants foundation suggested that the 4.5 million legal immigrants in Italy (about 7.2 percent of the population) contribute about 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, often in jobs snubbed by Italians.
In its most recent annual report, issued last May, the Bank of Italy estimated that in 2006 foreigners “contributed about 4 percent to revenue from personal income tax, V.A.T. and excise duties, social security contributions, and the regional tax on productive activities.” More specifically, foreign residents contributed “around €4.5 billion in personal income tax and just under €10 billion in social security contributions, equivalent to 3 and 5 percent respectively of revenue from these two items,” according to the bank’s report, which also found that “the increase in the supply of labor resulting from immigration does not seem, on average, to have had negative effects on the wages or job prospects of the native population.”
“Immigrants come here to work, they’re funding our pensions, it makes sense to integrate them,” said Ciro Piscelli, a left-leaning municipal councilman for the town of Rozzano, in the Milanese hinterland. He was one of several hundred people who met in front of Milan City Hall on Monday morning in support of the strike. Like many other southern Italians, Mr. Piscelli emigrated to Lombardy from his native Naples in the 1970s, so he said he “spoke from experience.” Immigrants, he said, “are a resource.”

But such considerations seem to take a back seat whenever trouble involving immigrants arises. Calls to toughen up immigration policies multiplied last month, after rioting between immigrant groups disrupted a Milanese neighborhood last month.
And studies suggest that racist sentiments are rising in Italy, especially among the young. Research commissioned by the national and regional governments and presented to the lower house last month found that nearly half of Italians between the ages 18 and 29 express varying degrees of xenophobic or racist sentiments. “Young people themselves say that they perceive racism as increasing,” said Enzo Risso, the director of the SWG research institute that carried out the survey.
Jorge Carazas, one of the speakers at the rally Monday, came to Italy from Argentina 10 years ago. “We are the country’s new citizens and we want to send politicians a clear message,” he said. “No matter what racist tones the government chooses to adopt, we’re not going anywhere. This is our home.”



NY Times

Islamic scholar Tahir ul-Qadri to issue terrorism fatwa (UK)

An influential Muslim scholar is to issue in London a global ruling against terrorism and suicide bombing.

Dr Tahir ul-Qadri, from Pakistan, says his 600-page judgement, known as a fatwa, completely dismantles al-Qaeda's violent ideology.
The scholar describes al-Qaeda as an "old evil with a new name" which has not been sufficiently challenged.

The scholar's movement is growing in the UK and has attracted the interest of policymakers and security chiefs.
In his religious ruling, Dr Qadri says that Islam forbids the massacre of innocent citizens and suicide bombings.
Although many scholars have made similar rulings in the past, Dr Qadri's followers argue that the massive document being launched in London goes much further.
They say it sets out point-by-point theological arguments against the rhetoric used by al-Qaeda inspired recruiters.
The fatwa also challenges the religious motivations of would-be suicide bombers who are inspired by promises of an afterlife.
The populist scholar developed his document last year as a response to the increase in bombings across Pakistan by militants.
The basic text has been extended to 600 pages to cover global issues, in an attempt to get its theological arguments taken up by Muslims in western nations. It will be promoted in the UK by Dr Qadri's organisation, Minhaj ul-Quran International.
Shahid Mursaleen, spokesman for Minhaj-ul-Quran in the UK, said the fatwa was hard-hitting.
"This fatwa injects doubt into the minds of potential suicide bombers," he said.
"Extremist groups based in Britain recruit the youth by brainwashing them that they will 'with certainty' be rewarded in the next life.
"Dr Qadri's fatwa has removed this key intellectual factor from their minds."

Religious rulings

The document is not the first to condemn terrorism and suicide bombing to be launched in the UK.

Scholars from across the UK came together in the wake of the 7 July London attacks to denounce the bombers and urge communities to root out extremists.
But some scholarly rulings in the Middle East have argued that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is an exceptional situation where "martyrdom" attacks can be justified.
Although Dr Qadri has a large following in Pakistan, Minhaj ul-Quran International remained largely unknown in the UK until relatively recently.
It now has 10 mosques in the British cities with significant Muslim communities and says it is targeting younger generations it believes have been let down by traditional leaders.
The organisation is attracting the attention of policymakers and security chiefs who are continuing to look for allies in the fight against extremists.
The Department for Communities, which runs most of the government's "Preventing Violent Extremism" strategy, has tried building bridges with a variety of liberal-minded groups, but often found that they have limited actual influence at the grassroots.
BBC News

Racist Site Wants Finnish Leadership Dead (Finland)

National Bureau of Investigation is examining an online hate site that calls for the murder of leading Finnish politicians as well as immigrants. The Finnish-language site is registered to a long-time American neo-Nazi.
One of the sites videos was posted on the Goggle owned siteYou Tube.
(Image on the right).

The anonymous author behind the site's writing is suspected of illegal threats and the incitement of hatred against an ethnic group.
The site calls for the hanging or shooting of much of the Finnish political leadership, including President Tarja Halonen and Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. The site also featured a hit list of 50 Finns, named for their role in promoting multiculturalism.
The site is registered to an American named Gary Lauck, a neo-Nazi who became known in 1980s and 90s for smuggling neo-Nazi literature into Europe. Lauck, who served time in a German prison in the late 1990s, later moved his propaganda online.
Göran Wennqvist from the National Bureau of Investigation says it’s been difficult to trace the site’s administrator. Finnish police officials have cooperated with US authorities in the case.
“The concept of freedom of speech is broader in the United States than in Finland. But to my knowledge, these types of direct threats are against the law there too,” says Finnish state prosecutor Mika Illman.
Finnish police are increasingly investigating websites that support intolerance.
 Last week threats of violence were made against Minister of Migration and European Affairs Astrid Thors on Facebook.
yle.fi

KARADZIC CALLS SERB CAUSE 'HOLY' IN GENOCIDE COURT CASE (Netherlands)

Former leader Radovan Karadzic has said the Serb cause in the Bosnian war was "just and holy" as he began his defence at his genocide trial at The Hague. Mr Karadzic, who led the Bosnian Serbs during the war in the 1990s, said there was a core group of Muslims in Bosnia - then and now - who wanted 100% power. Speaking in The Hague, he insisted the Serbs were only acting in self-defence. He insists he is innocent of all 11 charges from the 1992-95 Bosnian war, including genocide and war crimes. The trial had been adjourned since November and the judge rejected a new request for a further postponement.
'Mere mortal'
Mr Karadzic, 64, suspended his boycott and appeared in court along with his lawyer on Monday as the trial resumed. "I will defend that nation of ours and their cause that is just and holy," Mr Karadzic said in translated comments at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). "I stand here before you not to defend the mere mortal that I am, but to defend the greatness of a small nation in Bosnia-Hercegovina, which for 500 years has had to suffer and has demonstrated a great deal of modesty and perseverance to survive in freedom," he told the court. "We have a good case. We have good evidence and proof." After his initial remarks, Mr Karadzic began laying out a detailed account of the events that led up to the outbreak of the war. The wartime leader is trying to show that there was no joint criminal enterprise - no plan or plot - to carry out the genocide or "ethnic cleansing", but that Serbs were only defending themselves from Muslim aggression, says the BBC's Dominic Hughes at the trial.

'War trick'
Mr Karadzic pointed to one defining event of the 44-month siege of Sarajevo - the 1994 attack on a market in which nearly 70 people died - saying it was a stage-managed "trick" for which Serbian forces were falsely blamed. Mr Karadzic showed the court pictures of an empty marketplace, claiming it was the scene shortly before, as he put it, hundreds appeared and the attack was reported. He is expected to present a two-day opening statement before prosecutors present their first witness on Wednesday. Mr Karadzic faces two charges of genocide - including the killing in Srebrenica of more than 7,000 men and boys - as well as nine other counts including murder, extermination, persecution and forced deportation. Prosecutors say he orchestrated a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" against Muslims and Croats in eastern Bosnia to create an ethnically pure Serbian state. In his opening statement last October, prosecutor Alan Tieger said Mr Karadzic "harnessed the forces of nationalism, hatred and fear to pursue his vision of an ethnically segregated Bosnia". Mr Karadzic had boycotted the proceedings, insisting on more time to prepare his case. In November, the court appointed British lawyer Richard Harvey to take over the defence if he continued his boycott. Mr Karadzic was arrested in Belgrade in 2008 after nearly 13 years on the run. During his time in power, he was president of the self-styled Bosnian Serb Republic and commander of its army during the Bosnian conflict which left more than 100,000 people dead. He is the most significant figure to face justice at this tribunal since the former Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic, who died of a heart attack in 2006 before his own trial was concluded.

The charges
# Eleven counts of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and other atrocities
# Charged over shelling of Sarajevo during the city's siege, in which some 12,000 civilians died
# Allegedly organised the massacre of up to 8,000 Bosniak men and youths in Srebrenica
# Targeted Bosniak and Croat political leaders, intellectuals and professionals
# Unlawfully deported and transferred civilians because of national or religious identity
# Destroyed homes, businesses and sacred sites

When he stepped into court one, Radovan Karadzic appeared relaxed and controlled. He smiled and joked with his legal team, throwing back his head, with its silver mane of hair, as he laughed. Looking out over the top of his glasses, the former Bosnian Serb leader began his defence in typically flamboyant style, welcoming "active and passive" participants to his trial. The 64-year-old remained seated as he began to outline his case at pace. He spoke so fast at times the red-robed lead judge, O-Gon Kwon, had to ask him to slow down for the interpreters translating his words to the watching world. Mr Karadzic appeared to slow a fraction before continuing with a confident zeal, outlining a defence that claimed his people were under attack from Bosnian Muslims. He told the tribunal "their conduct gave rise to our conduct, and that is 100% true".


As reported by Matt Cole for the BBC News

MYSTERY OF DEAD BRITON AND THE RIGHT-WING CULT (Germany/UK)

It was the kind of phone call every mother dreads. At 4.24am on 27 March 2003, Erica Duggan was woken by her son Jeremiah, a normally ebullient 22-year-old. "Mum, I'm in trouble," he said. In hushed tones, he told her he was in Germany and began spelling the letters of the place he was staying, "W, i, e, s ...". Then the line went dead.
The next call came from the police. German officers had found Jerry's body three hours later on the side of the B455, a busy dual carriageway running south-east out of the city of Wiesbaden towards the Rhine. Witnesses said a man had scrambled into the centre of the road and was hit by a brown Peugeot 406, and then a blue Volkswagen. By the time paramedics and police arrived, Jerry was dead of head injuries.
The subsequent police investigation was perfunctory, classifying his death as a suicide. Witnesses were allowed to leave the scene, cars were moved before being photographed and an external post-mortem was conducted at a nearby mortuary without any detailed forensic checks.

Few parents would find it easy to accept that their child has committed suicide but for Mrs Duggan, a retired teacher from north London whose Jewish family fled the Nazis in the late 1930s, the idea that her son took his life did not make sense.
"He had so many plans for the future and never showed even the slightest inkling of depression," she told The Independent, in her mother's home in Golders Green. "But it's more than just that. The call I got from him just before he died, that was from someone who desperately wanted to live, who was trying to survive. It wasn't from someone intent on killing himself."
Mrs Duggan, in deep doubt of the German police belief that her son's death was suicide, hired private investigators and forensic experts to look at the evidence again, eventually selling her house to pay the costs and moving in with her ageing mother. Their reports have cast serious question marks over the official portrayal of Jerry as suicidal, suggesting instead a man who was either desperately trying to escape unknown assailants when he stumbled out on the dual carriageway, or who had been attacked before he got there.

Yesterday, armed with this new evidence, the Duggan family's lawyers went to the High Court after the Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, took the highly unusual step of granting them permission to seek a second inquest into Jerry's death.
The first inquest, in 2004, rejected the German police suicide suggestion, and returned an open verdict, finding instead that he had died in a "state of terror". But investigators failed to look wider. Supporters hope a fresh inquest will finally force German police to reinvestigate why a British Jew died in mysterious circumstances after spending five days with a far-right political cult led by a convicted fraudster who is known for his virulent anti-Semitic views.
Jerry had been a student at the British Institute in Paris but he had travelled to Wiesbaden to attend what he thought would be an anti-Iraq war conference. "He was an idealistic boy who wanted to change the world," his mother said. "He was angry about the upcoming war and wanted to do something about it. But he was also excited because he was beginning to learn about politics."
The conference was organised by the Schiller Institute, an extremist political think-tank linked to a right-wing conspiracy theorist, Lyndon LaRouche. He is an 87-year-old convicted fraudster who has made eight unsuccessful attempts to run as an independent candidate in the US presidential elections. Some of LaRouche's more unusual claims include that the British monarchy and MI6 are behind the global drugs trade.

In the States, he is largely regarded as an amusing sideshow whose apocalyptic writings attract vulnerable people looking for answers. But underlying much of his work is a deep anti-Semitism that describes the world as being controlled by a mass Zionist conspiracy of bankers, lobbyists and politicians.
The Schiller Institute, run by his German-born wife, spreads that message around Europe; on the night Jerry died, LaRouche addressed the conference in Wiesbaden. In Jerry's notes on the five days he spent there, Mrs Duggan discovered that her son had become aware of the anti-Semitic agenda of many LaRouche followers and had spoken out against them. "There were a lot of comments blaming the Jews for Iraq and he got up to say that he was Jewish and he didn't support the war," she said. "Whatever happened it's clear he fell out with these people very quickly."
La Rouche blames the CIA, MI6 and the KGB for any political or media criticism aimed in his direction. He described the Duggan case as a hoax contrived by "admirers of [former US Vice-President] Dick Cheney and Tony Blair". Mrs Duggan's efforts to investigate her son's death is, he says, a "smear".

Paul Canning, a former Scotland Yard forensic officer, has studied the 79 photographs taken by German investigators of the crash site and Jerry's body. German police said he was hit by the Peugeot, then run over by the Volkswagen. But Mr Canning could not find evidence of tyre marks on the body. Nor was there any blood, flesh or hair on either car.
Mr Canning, who has investigated hundreds of road fatalities, believes this is "inconceivable", reporting that he had never come across a high-speed collision of a car and pedestrian where no traces of blood are found. "I do not believe the images depict how Jerry came to meet his premature death," he added. "It is possible that Jerry lost his life elsewhere, prior to being placed at the scene."
Terence Merston, another former Met Police investigator who has studied the photographs, backs Mr Canning. "Based on my years of experience in attending thousands of crime scenes as a forensic scene examiner, it is my opinion that the evidence at the scene points towards Jeremiah's death being extremely suspicious and not a road traffic accident," he said. "It is also my view that the damage to the Peugeot car has been deliberately caused."
But how did Jerry sustain the head injuries that killed him? A post-mortem by a British pathologist, Dr David Shove, discovered defence wounds on Jerry's arms as well as blood in his lungs and stomach. At the speed that witnesses say he was struck, he would have been killed instantly, but the blood in his lungs and stomach (caused by breathing in and swallowing after a major haemorrhage) suggest he was alive for some time, after intense trauma.
Mrs Duggan said: "What we really need is for Germany to look again at my son's death." But the German authorities are reluctant to act. A bid by German lawyers claiming police breached human rights laws by failing to investigate properly has floundered for four years in the country's highest court, the Federal Constitutional Court. Police in Wiesbaden have refused to reinvestigate, or reopen their files.
Now, a British inquest is the best opportunity the Duggan family has for finding out what really happened to Jerry. "It's been a long and difficult journey but I'm beginning to think we may be nearing the end," a visibly exhausted Mrs Duggan added. "From the moment I got that call it's been a seven-year fight for justice. I can't stop now."

The LaRouche Movement: A 'sinister' cult

*Described in an internal Scotland Yard memo as a "political cult with sinister and dangerous connections", the LaRouche Movement is an international party of activists who follow the writings of its American founder, Lyndon LaRouche, above.

*Now 87 years old, LaRouche began his career in politics as a fervent Marxist living in New York in the 1970s. He then performed a political U-turn to become one of America's most unconventional and populist far-right conspiracy theorists.

*In his writings, a mass conspiracy led by Britain, Russia, the US government and the world's Jews is described as the major cause of global problems.

*He has run as an independent candidate in every US presidential election since 1976 – apart from in the early 1990s when he was convicted for fraud conspiracy and tax evasion.

*Because Britain, and in particular the monarchy, is regarded as the arch-imperialist enemy, the movement has made little headway in the UK.

*LaRouche activists have, however, made inroads at European universities through the Schiller Institute, a Wiesbaden-based think-tank which was founded by LaRouche's German-born wife and regularly features his writings and speeches.

*Former members have accused it of brainwashing members, as well as promoting anti-Semitic, homophobic and misogynistic conspiracy theories.

Czech Prime Ministers Wife Hire’s Bodyguards over Neo-Nazi threat

Security guards have been protecting Dana Fischerova, Czech prime minister's wife, since early January, she says in the issue of the weekly Tyden to be out of Monday, adding that the measure was a reaction to the threats she faced over her helping an attacked Romany family.
Apart from Prime Minister Jan Fischer and his wife, the police also protect their son Jan, 22.
Fischerova, 61, says she has been protected over the threats an unknown man addressed to Anna Sivakova, a Romany whose family house in Vitkov, north Moravia, was burnt down in an arson attack last April.
Sivakova's daughter Natalka, then aged 2, suffered serious burns in the attack. Doctors have described her survival, after many months in hospital and numerous transplant operations, as a miracle.
"The threats were also targeted at me and our Jan," Fischerova told Tyden.
She said she believes that the potential risk will fade away after some time.
Four supporters of the ultra-right wing have been charged with attempted racially-motivated murder in connection with the arson attack in Vitkov. They are to stand a trial in May and June.
Fischer's family also faced right-wing extremists' threats last year. They targeted Jan Fischer jr.
The daily Pravo then wrote that the police guarded Jan over the threats he received from the extremist group White Justice.
Prime Minister Fischer, 59, and his son Jan adhere to the Jewish faith.

Dominic Carman to fight Nick Griffin in Barking, East London, at election

Editorial : it looks like we are not the only ones who want to give Nick Griffin a birthday present. It appears the  Liberal Democrats had the same idea today.  

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The son of George Carman, QC, one of the Britain’s most notable barristers, is to take on Nick Griffin in the fight for Barking at the general election.
The Times has learnt that Dominic Carman, the unauthorised biographer of the British National Party leader, is to stand as a candidate for the Liberal Democrats in the East London constituency. The BNP hopes to topple Margaret Hodge, the Labour incumbent, to claim its first parliamentary seat.
Mr Carman said that his father, a leading barrister of the 1980s and 1990s who died in 2001, would have approved of his decision to run. He told The Times: “I would love to have seen my father have Nick Griffin in the witness box for two or three days and really take him apart: piece by piece, line by line, speech by speech.
“It would have a been a great pleasure and he would have done an excellent job. I just hope I can do a decent job exposing Nick Griffin to a wider audience than would be the case.”
Mr Carman said that his only motivation for running was to try to stop Mr Griffin from taking the seat. He intends to use information from his research into the biography to attack his opponent. It was never released because publishers were unwilling to associate their brand with the BNP leader.
“I will put it to good use in exposing Griffin beyond what’s already been in the public domain,” he said. “It’s very important to fight a strong campaign and it will be critical to challenge Nick Griffin every step of the way. I want to make people think long and hard about voting for him in Barking. It’s very, very important.”

Mr Carman has more than 20 hours of videotaped interviews with Mr Griffin over two years from 2003. He has interviewed Mr Griffin’s family and associates, including the National Front leaders who shaped his views, on numerous occasions. “I do not claim to have a silver bullet — one specific piece of info so damaging that Nick Griffin would lose all credibility. But the cumulative information I have can be presented in such a way . . . it will make him uncomfortable.”
Mr Carman hit the headlines in 2002 when he wrote a biography of his father, who was regarded as one of the country’s best libel barristers. George Carman, QC, was famed for his presence in the courtroom and his ability to captivate a jury. However, his public image changed after his death with the publication of the “warts and all” biography by his son. It detailed the destructive personal side of his father’s life with accounts of a chain-smoking alcoholic who beat his wives.
Mr Carman, who joined the Lib Dems last year, said that he would fight the campaign on local issues such as jobs and housing. “I’m not going to stand and say nothing against the Labour Government, I will argue Liberal Democrat policies in a normal way. But I’m not going to select Margaret Hodge for special criticism. I am going to select Nick Griffin for that.”
He said that his chances of winning the seat were slim. The BNP took almost 17 per cent of the vote in the 2005 general election, just behind the Conservatives, while the Lib Dems achieved 11 per cent. “I have to do what I can,” he said. “This is very important.”
His campaign will start tomorrow morning in Barking.

Times Online

Happy Birthday Nick Griffing? Well No, Not Really.

Its come to our attention that today is Nick Griffins Birthday.
So we thought we would bake him a cake.

Mind you tastes like sh** and is very hard to swallow.


Hmmm he should love it.

Big rise in Afghan child migrants

United Nations aid agencies are warning of a sharp increase in unaccompanied Afghan children applying for asylum across Europe.
The latest figures from the UN refugee agency show an increase of 60% last year, with more than 6,000 under-18s seeking asylum.
Unicef says there is an urgent need to protect children migrating alone.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges countries to protect children of all nationalities.
In 2008, UN refugee agency figures show, 3,800 Afghans under 18 applied for asylum in Europe.
The UN believes the latest figures are the tip of the iceberg; many unaccompanied minors do not apply for asylum because they fear detention and deportation.
A new study from Unicef, the UN children's agency, reveals a lack of coherent policy within Europe towards child migrants and often a failure to protect them.
Aid workers point to a recent case in which two Afghan boys, one only 13, died trying to hide in lorries travelling from Greece to Italy.
A study of care offered by UK local authorities shows, Unicef says, that unaccompanied children often experience racism, are not believed when they try to tell adults their stories, and struggle with the mental trauma experienced on their journey to the UK.
The UN says much more research into the growing phenomenon of child migrants is needed, but that these initial findings show the need to offer better protection is urgent.
BBC News

Netherlands gay protest over Catholic communion snub

Hundreds of Dutch activists have walked out of a Mass in protest at a Roman Catholic policy of denying communion to practising homosexuals.
On this occasion, the church, in 's-Hertogenbosch, had already decided not to serve communion, so the protesters left, shouting and singing.
The dispute began earlier this month when a priest in a nearby town refused communion to an openly gay man.
The Netherlands was the first country to introduce gay marriage in 2001.
Most Dutch people support gay rights, but the Roman Catholic Church teaches that homosexual activity is sinful.
This dispute began during Dutch carnival celebrations earlier in February, when the man chosen to be carnival prince in nearby Reusel was refused communion because of his open homosexuality.
The refusal offended many in the local community.
The Sint-Jan church in the city of 's-Hertogenbosch, also known as Den Bosch, was prepared for the protest and so decided not to give out Holy Communion during Sunday Mass.
Several hundred demonstrators, dressed in pink wigs and clothes, left the church in protest.
The man at the centre of the row has said he just wants equal treatment - if he is regarded as a sinner, he wants the priest to refuse communion to all other sinners too.

BBC News

Anger as National Front is consulted on race policy in schools

White extremists have been consulted over government policy on tackling racism in schools.

A team reviewing race relations policy for Children's Secretary Ed Balls held a meeting in a hotel with a member of the National Front.
It is understood an approach was also made to the British National Party, although the BNP denied it had been approached by the review team
The review was set up by Mr Balls to consider whether members of the National Front (NF) and BNP should be banned from becoming teachers to prevent the promotion of racism in schools.

The revelation that these groups were invited to take part in the inquiry is certain to spark outrage.
The NF disclosed on its website it held a meeting with Maurice Smith, the former chief inspector of schools who is leading the inquiry, and an official from the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
NF press officer Tom Linden said the meeting had taken place in a hotel at 8.30am.

'Before the interview started I thanked Mr Smith for the giving the National Front the opportunity to promote its policies and for including the NF in his review,' he said.

'The interview was mainly about the National Front and its policies towards the education of our children.
'I pointed out that the National Front was not a racist party and that to want to promote and safeguard our own people and their culture and heritage was not racist.
'I felt it was also important to point out that a teacher who was a member of the National Front would be as "professional" as any other.
'I gave a comparison of the amount of Muslims working in the NHS and that there was never any suggestion from the government that Muslim doctors and nurses would treat sheiks and Christians any differently so why would NF members.'

Describing the meeting, he added: 'The interview lasted some 50 minutes and was very relaxed it was almost like having a conversation; it was certainly not intimidating in the slightest.'
But his remarks will infuriate campaigners for groups such as the NF and BNP to be barred from teaching.
Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, has said that wherever they have a presence, they breed and promote 'intolerance, violence and community fragmentation'.

'No right-minded person wants children, young people and staff in schools exposed to their pernicious agenda of hatred and discrimination' she said.

The BNP denied it had been approached by Mr Smith's review team.
A DCSF spokesman said: 'We are crystal clear that any form of hate-based prejudice or extremism being promoted to young people in schools is absolutely unacceptable.

'The far-right is not, and cannot be part of any solution to community problems – that’s what the vast majority of the British people believe.
'Maurice Smith is independent of Government and how he collects evidence for his review is totally up to him.
'But he understandably wants to talk to a wide range of organisations and individuals that have opinions on the issue.
'One of the areas he is looking at is whether teachers should be allowed to be members of nationalist organisations.
'Whatever people’s opinions on these organisations are, it would be impossible for him to produce a comprehensive report on the issue taking into account all the arguments and information available without talking to all parties concerned.

'Any report that ignored certain views could be seen as unfair and biased. We look forward to receiving his recommendations shortly.'

Daily Mail

Simon Darby, BNP leader, interviewed by pupils in their classroom

A senior official in the British National Party was invited to address a classroom on whether the hijab should be banned, The Times has learnt.
Simon Darby, the BNP’s deputy leader, was phoned by 14-year-old students in Rochdale, Lancashire. The pupils, supervised by a teacher, asked him questions over the phone about the French ban on the hijab. The BNP’s policy is to ban Islamic dress in schools.
Andy Rymer, the head of Matthew Moss High School, told The Times that the students were doing a project on news reporting and had suggested contacting the BNP. He said: “We ask kids to be critically curious. This was something they were interested in and wanted to check out. They did so in a supported way with an intelligent teacher.
“(The school) is not encouraging people to contact or spread the philosophy of the BNP. Equally we have a significant number of kids in here for whom those issues are very real.”
However, the move raised concern from some parents and Paul Rowe, the area’s Liberal Democrat MP who separately participated in the discussion.
Mr Rowe said that there were plenty of other political parties that could have been consulted and that it was “inappropriate” for students to discuss issues with the BNP. He said: “I’m concerned that anybody is giving succour to the BNP.”
Some Asian parents at the school, in the Castleton area of the town, spoke of their concern at allowing the BNP a voice in the classroom.
Jamil Khan, whose daughter wears a headscarf to school, said: “I do not feel comfortable with the presence of the BNP in the classroom. They are extremists, full stop. They can only paint the picture one way.”
However, many parents said that they were happy to leave the matter to the discretion of the teacher and the school. Its governors said that as long as the issue was handled carefully, there was no reason to exclude the BNP as the party was active in the area and students would come across it eventually.
Ted Flynn, a governor and local councillor, said: “I’ve no sympathy with the BNP at all. But the pupils are intelligent enough not to be wavered by Nick Griffin and his compatriot’s opinions.”
Mr Raymer said that a group of Asian students were undertaking a project on news reporting and had decided to investigate the British reaction to the French Government’s decision to ban the hijab from schools.

He said they were not satisfied by Mr Darby’s response on the issue as he referred to British school uniforms.
Mr Raymer said: “At the end they were angry their question hadn’t been answered properly. The discussion turned to how journalists operate to get answers.”
On his blog, Mr Darby said: “It was reassuring to think that even in 2010 politically correct Britain there are still teachers who insist on the old adage that if you don’t have access to all the information, you will never come up with the right answer.”
It comes as a government review is due on whether BNP members should be prevented from becoming teachers. Police and prison officers are already barred from joining the party.
A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: “We trust head teachers as professionals to ensure appropriate visitors are invited into their school and that pupil welfare and safety issues are considered.”
The spokesman said the promotion of partisan political views was forbidden, adding that there were safeguards in law to guard against biased or unbalanced teaching.

Times Online

Homophobic Lithuanian law comes into power next week

A controversial law which bans the promotion of gay marriage in Lithuania comes into power on Monday.

The law was amended in December after international criticism. Before, it prohibited the “public dissemination” of any materials which could be seen to promote homosexuality.
Instead, lawmakers approved changes which would ban the “encouraging the sexual abuse of minors, sexual relations between minors and other sexual relations”.
“Other sexual relations” means that campaigning for gay marriage or civil partnerships will be illegal, human rights group Amnesty International has argued.
Gay Pride marches may also be banned.
The law now classifies any information which “denigrates family values” or which “encourages a concept of marriage and family other than stipulated in the Constitution” as detrimental to children and bans it from places accessible to them.
Lithuanian law defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s expert on discrimination, said: “This law will violate the freedom of expression and will directly discriminate against people on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“It will stigmatise gay and lesbian people and exposes advocates for their rights to the risk of censorship and financial penalties.”
He added that the law was an “anachronism” in the European Union and called on Lithuanian authorities to scrap it.
The legislation also prohibits the mention of bisexuality, polygamy, images of straight sex, death and severe injury, the paranormal, foul language and bad eating habits.
It does not specify punishments for breaking the law.

Pink News

Many Poles learning of their Jewish roots (Warsaw, Poland)

When Pawel looks into the mirror, he can still sometimes see a neo-Nazi skinhead staring back, the man he once was before he covered his shaved head with a yarmulke, shed his fascist ideology for the Torah and renounced violence and hatred in favor of God.

“I still struggle every day to discard my past ideas,’’ said Pawel, a 33-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jew and former truck driver, noting with little irony that he had to stop hating Jews in order to become one.

“When I look at an old picture of myself as a skinhead, I feel ashamed. Every day I try and do teshuvah,’’ he said, using the Hebrew word for repentance. “Every minute of every day. There is a lot to make up for.’’

Pawel, who also uses his Hebrew name Pinchas, asked not to use his last name for fear that his former neo-Nazi friends could target him or his family.
Pawel is perhaps the most unlikely example of a Jewish revival under way in Poland in which hundreds of Poles, a majority of them raised as Catholics, are either converting to Judaism or discovering Jewish roots submerged for decades in the aftermath of World War II.
Before 1939, Poland was home to more than three million Jews; more than 90 percent of them were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust. A majority of those who survived emigrated. Of the fewer than 50,000 who remained in Poland, many either abandoned or hid their Judaism during decades of Communist oppression in which political pogroms against Jews persisted.
But Rabbi Michael Schudrich, the chief rabbi of Poland, noted that 20 years after the fall of Communism, a historical reckoning was finally taking place.
He said Pawel’s metamorphosis illustrated just how far the country had come. “Before 1989 there was a feeling that it was not safe to say, ‘I am a Jew,’ ’’ he said. “But today, there is a growing feeling that Jews are a missing limb in Poland.’’
Five years ago, the rabbi noted, there were about 250 families in the Jewish community in Warsaw; today there are 600. During that period, the number of rabbis serving the country has grown from one to eight.
Pawel’s transformation from baptized Catholic skinhead to Jew began in a bleak neighborhood of concrete tower blocks in Warsaw in the 1980s. Pawel said he and his friends reacted to the gnawing uniformity of socialism by embracing anti-Semitism and an extreme right-wing ideology. They shaved their heads, carried knives, and greeted each other with the Nazi salute.
Even as Pawel embraced the life of a neo-Nazi, he said, he had pangs that his identity was built on a lie. His staunchly Catholic father seemed overly fond of quoting the Old Testament. His grandfather hinted about past family secrets.
“One time when I told my grandfather that Jews were bad, he exploded and screamed at me, ‘If I ever hear you say such a thing again under my roof, you will never come back!’ ’’

Pawel joined the army and married a fellow skinhead at age 18. But his sense of self changed at 22, when his wife, Paulina, suspecting she had Jewish roots, went to a genealogical institute and discovered Pawel’s maternal grandparents on a register of Warsaw Jews, along with her grandparents.
When Pawel confronted his parents, he said, they told him the truth: that his maternal grandmother was Jewish and had survived the war by being hidden in a monastery.
Shaken by the knowledge of his Jewish roots, Pawel said he decided to go see Schudrich, who gave him a copy of the Hebrew Bible. At 24, he was circumcised. Two years later, he decided to become an Orthodox Jew.
The Boston

ROMANIAN GYPSIES PROTEST FOREIGN MINISTER REMARKS

Some 200 Gypsies and others are protesting comments by Romania's foreign minister suggesting some Gypsies, or Roma, were born criminals. Protesters gathered Wednesday in front of the government offices in Bucharest held banners that read "If we are Roma, then we are criminals." They also chanted "Down with racism," and "Resignation." Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi earlier this month suggested during a meeting with French state secretary Pierre Lellouche that criminality among Gypsies was a biological trait. He later acknowledged the comments "did not adequately convey the message the minister wanted." Romania has up to 2 million Gypsies, most of them living in poverty and facing deep discrimination.


The Associated Press

Revealed: The African queen who called York home in the 4th century (UK)

Startling new forensic research has revealed that multicultural Britain is nothing new after discovering black Africans were living in high society in Roman York.

A study of various remains and artefacts from the 4th century at the Yorkshire Museum shows North Africans were living there thousands of years ago.
The most exciting results came from analysis of the so-called 'Ivory Bangle Lady' whose remains were found in 1901 on the city's Sycamore Terrace.
Her skull was found buried with a range of jewellery including jet and elephant ivory bracelets, earrings, pendants and a glass mirror indicating she was wealthy and was of high social status.

The research used modern forensic ancestry assessment to show it was likely she was of North African descent and may have migrated to York from somewhere warmer

The fascinating study was carried out by the University of Reading's Department of Archaeology, and senior lecturer Dr Hella Eckhardt said: 'Up until now we have had to rely on evidence of such foreigners in Roman Britain from inscriptions.

'However, by analysing the facial features of the Ivory Bangle Lady and measuring her skull, analysing the chemical signature of the food and drink she consumed, and analysing evidence from the burial site we are now able to establish a clear profile of her ancestry and social status.

'We're looking at a population mix which is much closer to contemporary Britain than previous historians had suspected.

'In the case of York, the Roman population may have had more diverse origins than the city has now.

'This skull is particularly interesting, because the stone sarcophagus she was buried in, and the richness of the grave goods, means she was a very wealthy woman, absolutely from the top end of York society.

'Her case contradicts assumptions that may derive from more recent historical experience, namely that immigrants are low status and male, and that African individuals are likely to have been slaves.

'Instead, it is clear that both women and children moved across the Empire, often associated with the military.'
The research is published in the March edition of the journal Antiquity.
The 'Ivory Bangle Lady' and he possessions will be the centrepiece of a new exhibition at the Museum in August entitled 'Roman York: Meet the People Of The Empire'.
York, known as Eboracum during Roman Times, was a legendary fortress and civilian settlement which was visited by a string of emperors.
The experts believe these factors provided reasons for potential immigration to the area and for the foundation of a multi-cultural community.
Daily Mail

MLA sorry after Twitter hacking (Northern Ireland)

Hundreds of users of the popular web service Twitter may have to change their passwords after an account belonging to an MLA was hacked.

Over 700 users "following" the East Belfast representative Dawn Purvis received a message on Wednesday purporting to be from her.
However the message was sent automatically from her account by malicious software.
The Progressive Unionist MLA has apologised to those affected.
They received a message saying "Hey, is this you?" followed by a link which, when clicked, directed them to a potentially nefarious website.
Those who clicked received a message from Twitter on Friday urging them to change their passwords in case their security has been compromised.
Ms Purvis is the latest politician to be affected by the so-called "phishing" scam.
On Thursday, the Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman revealed her account had been hacked and fake messages sent in her name, including one to Tory spokesman Alan Duncan.
BBC News

Suspected Neo-Nazi Murder Trial Case Reclassified into a Political Murder (Russia)

Moscow investigaotors reclassified it into a political murder the killing of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, who were gunned down by suspected neo-Nazis, a source familiar with the investigation said.
Human rights lawyer Markelov, 34, and Novaya Gazeta journalist Anastasia Baburova, 25, were shot on January 19, 2009 in downtown Moscow, just a short distance from the Christ the Savior Cathedral. Markelov died at the scene and Baburova lost her struggle for life shortly afterwards in hospital.
Last November, Nikolai Tikhonov, 29, and Yevgenia Khasis, 24, members of a radical neo-Nazi nationalist group, were charged with a "murder committed by previous concert by a group of individuals".
The case made headlines all over the world and once again highlighted the dangers faced by journalists and human rights activists in Russia, which has one of the poorest journalist safety records in the world.
"Investigators requalified Tikhonov's charge. He is charged with 'murder on grounds of political, ideological, national or religious enmity,'" the source said.
Tikhonov, who first confessed to the murder, then said he had confessed to it under pressure. In line with Russian law, he can face life in prison if found guilty.
The source said Tikhonov is also suspected of the murder of anti-fascist Alexander Rukhin in April 2007. Three people have already been sentenced to prison terms from three to 6.5 years for the murder.

news.az

Russian Nationalists Randomly Attacking Foreigners With Murderous Results (Russia)

Foreigners who aren’t Caucasian gamble with their lives if they decide to study or do business in Russia. The streets there are roaming with bands of ultraright nationalist groups randomly targeting nonwhite foreigners with murderous attacks.
A young Korean student has become the latest victim. The student, surnamed Kang, was studying in an exchange program at a university in Barnaul, a Russian border city near Kazakhstan, when he was brutally murdered by Russian youths while walking down the street.
Russian police are investigating three suspects in their late teens and early 20s.
The victim wasn’t even robbed, meaning he was likely the target of a random hate crime.
Kang is the fourth official victim of Korean origin in the spree of murderous attacks in Russia on nonwhite foreigners by extreme nationalistic groups.
In February 2005, a teenage student from Korea was stabbed to death in St. Petersburg by two Russians. In February 2007, one student died of internal bleeding in intensive care after being beaten by a mob. In January last year, a female student was terrorized by Russians who attacked her with a flammable material.
Each time, the Russian government promised it would follow up with a campaign to rein in these extremist right-wing groups and end their racist attacks.
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and subsequent economic calamities led to extreme nationalism and neo-Nazism across Russia. More than 20 different types of xenophobic groups are active in Moscow alone.
A recent poll showed that about 15 percent of the young Russian population supports the extreme nationalistic movement.
Last year, 71 foreigners were killed in crimes motivated by racism and xenophobia. The Russian authorities proudly boast that the number has fallen from 110 in 2008.
It will be tough to find anyone willing to invest or study in a country where violence and murders are motivated by skin color and nationality.
Xenophobia and hate crimes should not be tolerated in a country that advocates and runs on a system of laws.
Russia must act more strongly and sternly against racist crimes by deeming them the biggest threat to its future and security.
Authorities must investigate Kang’s case thoroughly and enforce heavy punishment on the offenders.
If such incidents continue to occur, Russia will slowly find itself shunned by other civilized nations and become a pariah on the international scene.
 joongangdaily

Are The Glory Days Of You Tube Coming To An End?

The following item has appeared in the Guardian Newspaper in the UK and we believe that it does make some valid points about Google and You Tube.
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God is everywhere, at least according to those who believe in Him. So is the internet: it's global, ubiquitous and has – according to its evangelists – slipped the surly bonds of nation states. The trouble is that those who use it have to reside within legal jurisdictions.

And therein lies a big problem, one aspect of which surfaced last week, in Italy, where a judge handed out prison sentences to three senior US-based Google executives for "violating privacy" by allowing a video showing a handicapped Italian schoolboy being physically and verbally abused to be posted online.
This judgment provoked astonished indignation on the net, especially among American commentators. "Why," fumed Mike Butcher on TechCrunch, an influential technology blog, "did someone not explain to this idiot judge that the video was NOT uploaded by these Google executives?"

And, he went on: "Italy needs to get its act together and fast. I'm calling on Italian entrepreneurs, many of whom I know and respect, to get involved in this issue. At a time when European countries are weighed down by regulation and stupid rulings like this one, especially during a period of huge economic upheaval, it is not enough to stand by and watch travesties like this go by. Do the young people of Italy and the rest of Europe, so many of whom are huge enthusiasts of the web and the power it gives them to drag themselves up by their bootstraps without the need for state help, deserve to have decrepit judges decide their economic future?"
One can see why Butcher is annoyed. The video in question was made in May 2006 and posted on 8 September to Google Video – the hosting service that Google closed after it bought YouTube. It reportedly showed a boy with Down's syndrome being beaten and insulted by bullies at a Turin school. On 7 November Google took it down "within hours" of being contacted by Italian police. But it had left it up for two whole months despite comments from viewers allegedly protesting about it.
Google points out that "none of the four Googlers charged had anything to do with this video. They did not appear in it, film it, upload it or review it. None of them know the people involved or were even aware of the video's existence until after it was removed". All of which is true, but doesn't quite get around the fact that, as senior executives, they are also responsible for what their company does, and are remunerated from the profits that it makes. YouTube may not yet be a big money-spinner for Google; but it isn't a non-for-profit venture either. And then there's that awkward matter of the two months it took to take down the video.

The company intends to appeal against the convictions, which makes sense on due-process grounds and also because the costs of doing what the judgment implies is necessary – ie previewing every uploaded track before making it public — would be huge. The Guardian's Charles Arthur has calculated that to review the 20 hours of video footage uploaded to YouTube every minute would require 3,600 people working eight-hour shifts, 365 days a year. That would blow a neat hole in even Google's astronomical profits.
Whatever the outcome, though, the legal spat is just the latest symptom of an underlying structural problem, namely the mismatch between the internet's global reach and the fact that we live in a world of sovereign states. Everywhere one looks one finds evidence of the tensions between the two systems: French judges forbidding Yahoo selling Nazi memorabilia on its auction site; German judges objecting to neo-Nazi discussions groups hosted in the US, where they are protected by the First Amendment; the Chinese government objecting to any mention of Falun Gong; British laws outlawing child porn sites; or the Iranian regime objecting to just about everything. Like climate change, the gap between what the internet can do and what local authorities will allow is a global problem requiring a global solution, which is why we're unlikely ever to solve it.

In the case of the Google Three, however, it's likely that they will be vindicated because even if the Italian appeal fails, there is always the possibility of recourse to the European Court in Strasbourg, which will take the view that European Union law, as currently drafted, appears to give hosting providers a safe harbour from liability so long as they remove illegal content once they are notified of its existence. The downside of this, of course, is that Google will have to be much more responsive to complaints, which will make it much easier to have videos taken down because the prudent course will always be to "take down first and ask questions later".

The glory days of YouTube may be coming to an end. And Silvio Berlusconi remains at large.


Th Guardian