Greek police arrested six people on suspicion of having links with terrorism after a series of raids across the country.
The five men and a woman, aged between 21 and 30, were detained after police uncovered a haul of weapons, police chief Lefteris Oikonomou told a press briefing on Sunday.
Two of the individuals arrested were wanted for alleged connections with the left-wing group Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei. The organization is believed to be responsible for a series of parcel bombs sent to international embassies and European leaders, including Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, last month.
The first two suspects were detained on Saturday after officers found three Kalashnikov assault rifles, semi-automatic guns, handguns, grenades and explosives - along with stolen car license plates, face hoods and wigs - in a basement garage just outside Athens.
Further arrests were later made around Athens, the central town of Agrinio and on the island of Crete.
Counter-terrorism police said the weapons were typical of those used by the left-wing guerrilla group Sect of Revolutionaries which has claimed responsibility for the murder in July of Sokratis Giolas, a prominent investigative journalist. However, early ballistics tests revealed no link with extremist activity.
Sect surfaced after shooting of teenager
The Sect of Revolutionaries first came to notice after serious rioting in Greece following the death of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos, who was hit by a police bullet in December 2008.
Greece has a long history of domestic terrorism, with more than 40 people killed in attacks in the last three decades.
Greece briefly halted the sending of mail and parcels abroad after a package addressed to Merkel arrived at the chancellery office in Berlin.
Another package, addressed to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, was discovered on board a plane at Bologna Airport.
DW-World
Monday, 6 December 2010
Churchmen unite to blast the BNP (uk)
Church leaders in South Derbyshire have joined forces to condemn the British National Party (BNP) ahead of its annual conference being held at a secret location in the district at the weekend.
The political party is staging the event from December 10 to 12 at an as yet undisclosed, ‘firstclass venue’ in the area.
Despite widespread speculation circulating in the area, details about the exact location remain unconfirmed, with the BNP refusing to disclose its choice of venue for ‘security reasons’.
In a letter sent to the Mail leaders of eight churches in the area have signed a joint declaration to make it clear they are having nothing to do with the conference and do not support the party’s actions in any way.
The letter states: “We reject their claim to speak for Christians, as an affront to our beliefs and a danger to the unity of our whole community.
“We wish to affirm our belief that all human beings are created equal and to encourage everyone to join with us in working to build a society where that is fundamental.”
The letter was signed by Rev Jane Webb, chairman of Churches Together in Gresley, Swadlincote and
District, Major Anthony Clifton from the Salvation Army, Rev David Horsfall for Swadlincote parish, Rev Ian Hunter, Rector for Hartshorne and Bretby parishes, Rev David Perrett, vicar of Church Gresley parish, Rev Lesley de Pomerai, vicar for Walton on Trent, Linton and Castle Gresley, Croxhall and Rosliston parishes, along with Rev Sue Rolls, Superintendent Minister for Methodist Circuit, and Teresa Tilley, the leader of Gresley Mission Room.
John Ryde, a spokesman for the British National Party East Midlands region, who refused to reveal the exact location — but confirmed it will be held in the area, said: “We respect the views of these church leaders, but then again, I want to ask them to respect our views and opinions which is what Christians are supposed to do any way.”
The event was described in a letter, posted on the BNP website to ‘fellow patriots’ by leader Nick Griffin, as ‘a spectacular combination of political speeches, audio-visual displays, training, policy debates, stalls and entertainment, all within a four-star venue complete with restaurant, bar and a whole range of suitable accommodation to fit your needs’.
A spokesman for Derbyshire Police said: “We are not aware of the conference venue at this time and we are still trying to engage with the BNP to find out if it will be taking place in South Derbyshire.”
Burton and Stafordshire news
The political party is staging the event from December 10 to 12 at an as yet undisclosed, ‘firstclass venue’ in the area.
Despite widespread speculation circulating in the area, details about the exact location remain unconfirmed, with the BNP refusing to disclose its choice of venue for ‘security reasons’.
In a letter sent to the Mail leaders of eight churches in the area have signed a joint declaration to make it clear they are having nothing to do with the conference and do not support the party’s actions in any way.
The letter states: “We reject their claim to speak for Christians, as an affront to our beliefs and a danger to the unity of our whole community.
“We wish to affirm our belief that all human beings are created equal and to encourage everyone to join with us in working to build a society where that is fundamental.”
The letter was signed by Rev Jane Webb, chairman of Churches Together in Gresley, Swadlincote and
District, Major Anthony Clifton from the Salvation Army, Rev David Horsfall for Swadlincote parish, Rev Ian Hunter, Rector for Hartshorne and Bretby parishes, Rev David Perrett, vicar of Church Gresley parish, Rev Lesley de Pomerai, vicar for Walton on Trent, Linton and Castle Gresley, Croxhall and Rosliston parishes, along with Rev Sue Rolls, Superintendent Minister for Methodist Circuit, and Teresa Tilley, the leader of Gresley Mission Room.
John Ryde, a spokesman for the British National Party East Midlands region, who refused to reveal the exact location — but confirmed it will be held in the area, said: “We respect the views of these church leaders, but then again, I want to ask them to respect our views and opinions which is what Christians are supposed to do any way.”
The event was described in a letter, posted on the BNP website to ‘fellow patriots’ by leader Nick Griffin, as ‘a spectacular combination of political speeches, audio-visual displays, training, policy debates, stalls and entertainment, all within a four-star venue complete with restaurant, bar and a whole range of suitable accommodation to fit your needs’.
A spokesman for Derbyshire Police said: “We are not aware of the conference venue at this time and we are still trying to engage with the BNP to find out if it will be taking place in South Derbyshire.”
Burton and Stafordshire news
INTEGRATING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN GERMAN SCHOOLS STILL A BATTLE
When Marcel was old enough to start school, his mother picked out one of the public elementary schools in their neighborhood for him. The school, however, said he couldn't attend. Why? They said they weren't set up to deal with a kid in a wheelchair. For decades that's the way it was in Germany. Children with disabilities were sent to separate schools, each one specialized for a different disability. That is all set to change now that Germany has ratified a United Nations resolution that says that all children with disabilities have a right to be educated at a regular school. It's set to be a long process. Currently the majority of German children with disabilities don't go to regular schools. So far the city-state of Bremen is the only German state to open all its schools to everyone. In North Rhine-Westphalia, where Marcel lives, that could be a long way off, although he did eventually find a spot in what is called an integrated or inclusive school. "We had a hard struggle with the administration," his mother told Deutsche Welle, "because I didn't want him to go to those special schools for the handicapped. I wanted him to go to a normal school with all his friends from the neighborhood and I didn't want him to be separated from real life." Marcel's mother said she's convinced that if she hadn't put up such a fight and even threatened to take the school district to court he would never have been given a spot in one of the few schools in the area that teaches the disabled and the non-disabled together.
Still not an option at many schools
The elementary school that refused to accept Marcel years ago still doesn't take kids with disabilities, saying on its website that "because this is not an integration school, we cannot support children with disabilities and therefore we cannot accept them." The school is an old, brick building in a Bonn neighborhood peppered with half-timber cottages with green shutters. Inside the school, a wide staircase winds its way up four flights of stairs. At the very top the school principal, Jutta Fremerey, has her office. "We can't take kids in wheelchairs, just because of the building," said Fremerey. "And there are lots of buildings in Germany where it wouldn't be possible. At least not yet." Fremerey was not the principal when Marcel tried to attend. She said she supports the idea of having children with disabilities in the same classroom as children without disabilities in theory, but that a lot needs to change before that would be feasible nationwide. She would need at least two teachers per class, she said, and one of them would have to be specially trained for teaching disabled children. She said she'd need small extra rooms where kids could get more personal attention and all of the lessons would have to be adapted for each of the children with disabilities. "Because there are lots and lots of totally different types of disabilities and everyone needs something different," Fremerey said. "The blind child needs something completely different from the child who can't hear. The mentally disabled child needs completely different conditions than a child with emotional or social problems. Those different requirements need to be addressed." According to Anne Waldschmidt, a professor of disability studies at the University of Cologne, that kind of differentiation should be expected of a teacher. "Integration or inclusion means more personalized ways of teaching … to differentiate the subjects and the topics and to give every child the chance to learn according to personality and to individual interests and at their own pace," she said. "So that means the whole atmosphere is more individualized and that there isn't a standard approach."
Three adults in the classroom
Marcel's school, which is also in Bonn, has the manpower to do just that. In addition to the various subject-matter teachers that teach his class math, German, English or history, a special education teacher is also present all day long. Bringing the number of adults in the classroom to three is Marcel's attendant, who only occasionally has to get Marcel a book he needs but can spend the rest of the time helping other kids in the class one-on-one. Marcel is totally integrated into his class, his special education teacher Daniel Mays said, as are the five students with learning disabilities. "Being with the other kids, it gives you the feeling of just being normal," Marcel said. His classmate May said she doesn't forget that Marcel is in a wheelchair, but that it doesn't make much of a difference in their friendship. "I think it's like with anybody else," she said. "When I'm with other guys I act the same way." Despite these successes only two of six classes in each grade at the school are integrated and it is not required to take on more disabled children.
Slow progress
Germany may officially be on board with bringing differently abled children together, but it still has a relatively low rate of integration. According to the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, only about 15 percent of children with disabilities are educated in a regular classroom in Germany. In neighboring France and Poland, for example, it's about 31 percent and 46 percent, respectively. According to Mays, who has done his own statistical analysis for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, any recent increase to Germany's level of integration is undone by the fact that more and more children who already attend regular schools are being identified as having a disability, usually a learning or emotional disability. At the same time Germans are having fewer children than in the past and the number of pupils drops each year. "Now we have the UN convention for the rights of people with disabilities and Germany ratified it a year ago. We have to change our system into an inclusive system," Marcel's mother said. "But no one is willing, really willing to do it. There are several examples like this school here. They've been doing it for many years. But it's just two classes per grade level that do integration. Why isn't it all of them?"
dw-world
Still not an option at many schools
The elementary school that refused to accept Marcel years ago still doesn't take kids with disabilities, saying on its website that "because this is not an integration school, we cannot support children with disabilities and therefore we cannot accept them." The school is an old, brick building in a Bonn neighborhood peppered with half-timber cottages with green shutters. Inside the school, a wide staircase winds its way up four flights of stairs. At the very top the school principal, Jutta Fremerey, has her office. "We can't take kids in wheelchairs, just because of the building," said Fremerey. "And there are lots of buildings in Germany where it wouldn't be possible. At least not yet." Fremerey was not the principal when Marcel tried to attend. She said she supports the idea of having children with disabilities in the same classroom as children without disabilities in theory, but that a lot needs to change before that would be feasible nationwide. She would need at least two teachers per class, she said, and one of them would have to be specially trained for teaching disabled children. She said she'd need small extra rooms where kids could get more personal attention and all of the lessons would have to be adapted for each of the children with disabilities. "Because there are lots and lots of totally different types of disabilities and everyone needs something different," Fremerey said. "The blind child needs something completely different from the child who can't hear. The mentally disabled child needs completely different conditions than a child with emotional or social problems. Those different requirements need to be addressed." According to Anne Waldschmidt, a professor of disability studies at the University of Cologne, that kind of differentiation should be expected of a teacher. "Integration or inclusion means more personalized ways of teaching … to differentiate the subjects and the topics and to give every child the chance to learn according to personality and to individual interests and at their own pace," she said. "So that means the whole atmosphere is more individualized and that there isn't a standard approach."
Three adults in the classroom
Marcel's school, which is also in Bonn, has the manpower to do just that. In addition to the various subject-matter teachers that teach his class math, German, English or history, a special education teacher is also present all day long. Bringing the number of adults in the classroom to three is Marcel's attendant, who only occasionally has to get Marcel a book he needs but can spend the rest of the time helping other kids in the class one-on-one. Marcel is totally integrated into his class, his special education teacher Daniel Mays said, as are the five students with learning disabilities. "Being with the other kids, it gives you the feeling of just being normal," Marcel said. His classmate May said she doesn't forget that Marcel is in a wheelchair, but that it doesn't make much of a difference in their friendship. "I think it's like with anybody else," she said. "When I'm with other guys I act the same way." Despite these successes only two of six classes in each grade at the school are integrated and it is not required to take on more disabled children.
Slow progress
Germany may officially be on board with bringing differently abled children together, but it still has a relatively low rate of integration. According to the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, only about 15 percent of children with disabilities are educated in a regular classroom in Germany. In neighboring France and Poland, for example, it's about 31 percent and 46 percent, respectively. According to Mays, who has done his own statistical analysis for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, any recent increase to Germany's level of integration is undone by the fact that more and more children who already attend regular schools are being identified as having a disability, usually a learning or emotional disability. At the same time Germans are having fewer children than in the past and the number of pupils drops each year. "Now we have the UN convention for the rights of people with disabilities and Germany ratified it a year ago. We have to change our system into an inclusive system," Marcel's mother said. "But no one is willing, really willing to do it. There are several examples like this school here. They've been doing it for many years. But it's just two classes per grade level that do integration. Why isn't it all of them?"
dw-world
Mosque arson arrest teenagers bailed (UK)
Three teenagers arrested following an arson attempt in which a gas pipe was fed through a mosque window have been released on bail.
The incident in Stoke-on-Trent is being treated by police as a deliberate racist attack.
Officers were called to Regent Road at 0630 GMT on Friday after CCTV footage showed smoke emerging from inside the building.
A fourth teenager who was arrested faces no further action.
Police said inquiries were continuing although a forensic investigation had now ended.
"A number of items have been secured by police scenes of crimes officers which will now undergo a series of forensic tests to recover any further evidence which could help identify the persons responsible," a spokesman said.
BBC News
The incident in Stoke-on-Trent is being treated by police as a deliberate racist attack.
Officers were called to Regent Road at 0630 GMT on Friday after CCTV footage showed smoke emerging from inside the building.
A fourth teenager who was arrested faces no further action.
Police said inquiries were continuing although a forensic investigation had now ended.
"A number of items have been secured by police scenes of crimes officers which will now undergo a series of forensic tests to recover any further evidence which could help identify the persons responsible," a spokesman said.
BBC News
Welsh Defence League links with neo-Nazis are unmasked (UK)
One invited other WDL followers to join him in burning a Koran and joked online about how best to kill black people.
Another talks about driving Muslims out of the south Wales valleys.
Examining the evidence in the special programme, Judge Mark Powell QC said: "It's mindless, its racist, the purpose of what they are doing is to inflame racial hatred…I think from what you have shown me it is criminal behaviour and no doubt something that the police would want to look at."
Shadow Welsh Secretary Peter Hain, who has campaigned for years against racist groups, said: "I think every mainstream politician in Wales, wherever they are based, should make it a priority to talk to young people to explain the WDL is in a long line that goes back through the Nazis.
"And I don't say that lightly because, that is the exact political situation in which Hitler was able to come into power because main stream politicians did not deal with the grievances in Germany.
"Now I'm not suggesting the WDL is anything like as powerful as Hitler's Nazi party became, the WDL is a tiny marginalised party, but once you allow these groups to gain credibility that's where you could end up."
Jeff Marsh, who uses a variety of aliases and wears a balaclava to broadcast online to followers, says he has disbanded the WDL because of the racist element.
He has set up another organisation against Muslim extremists called 'The Welsh Casuals'.
He insisted that the group is non-racist.
Another group calling itself the Cymru Defence League has emerged out of the WDL.
The English Defence League now has around 60,000 followers on the social networking site Facebook and thousands have attended protests around Britain.
Saleem Kidwai of the Muslim Council for Wales said most people are opposed to both the defence leagues and Muslim extremists.
"We have extremist groups and they are as ignorant as the Welsh Defence League, or the English Defence League," he stated.
'Significant threat'
"We can condemn them as much as anyone else. They are misguided youngsters being misinformed and used by extremist ideologues who want to use religion for their own political motives.
"That's how we see it. That's why they are banned in all mosques in Wales because people don't like those extremist views and ideals."
The programme also highlights the potential cost, as police forces are called to marshall demonstrations, both by the WDL and the counter-demonstrations they could spark.
It is estimated the bill to the taxpayer could be as much as £500,000.
Det Ch Supt Adrian Tudway, the national co-ordinator for domestic extremism, advises local forces on the threat posed by the various defence leagues.
"I think it's a very significant threat. It's one I know the police service are taking very seriously, together with the Home Office and local authorities," he said.
"Unmasked: Welsh Defence League" is on BBC One Wales at 2030 GMT on Monday 6 December.
BBC News
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