Category Archives: Global Politics

Pope denounces 1915 ‘genocide’ during visit to Armenian memorial – France 24

A sombre Pope Francis, “with pain in my heart,” paid tribute on Saturday to the 1.5 million Armenians massacred in 1915, an event that he has labelled a genocide, risking Turkey’s ire. Francis, on the second day of his trip to Armenia, made an early morning stop at the Tzitzernakaberd, the “Genocide Memorial and Museum,” a towering granite needle flanked by an eternal flame on a hillside overlooking the Armenian capital. There, visibly moved, he took part in a prayer service along with President Serzh Sarksyan and leaders of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Source: Pope denounces 1915 ‘genocide’ during visit to Armenian memorial – France 24

NATO couldn’t stop Russian attack on Baltics: US general – The Local “Err… when did generals in US Army start being public mouthpieces for neo-con propaganda?”

“Russia could take over the Baltic states faster than we would be able to defend them,” Hodges was quoted as saying in a German-language article by news weekly Die Zeit. The general said he agreed with an assessment by military analysts that says Russian forces could conquer the capitals of Baltic states Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia within 36 to 60 hours. Hodges also said NATO forces had found numerous deficiencies during the recent “Anaconda” military exercise in Poland, according to the article from Thursday’s edition of Die Zeit released early to AFP. Heavy military equipment could not be moved fast enough from western to eastern Europe, he said, while also voicing concern about the alliance’s communication technology.

Source: NATO couldn’t stop Russian attack on Baltics: US general – The Local

Greens swallow hard and vote for stricter immigration laws – Radio Sweden | Sveriges Radio – Petra Kelly would be weeping over and fighting this delusion!

The Swedish parliament is set to vote on stricter asylum laws today. The Green party sees it as a painful, but necessary move, to stop even stricter proposals going through. The proposed law will make temporary residence permits the rule and during that period, there is virtually no right to family reunion, unless you are able to earn a living here. For the Green Party, the smallest party in government, this has been a painful decision, but a necessary one, says Maria Ferm, who is the party’s spokesperson on migration. “We were afraid that the alternatives would be even worse. You have several big opposition parties in Sweden, who want to close the borders completely and stop migration, and we were afraid that those kind of proposals would be implemented,” she said.

Source: Greens swallow hard and vote for stricter immigration laws – Radio Sweden | Sveriges Radio

What Donald Trump Learned From Joseph McCarthy’s Right-Hand Man – The New York Times

The year was 1977, and Mr. Cohn’s reputation was well established. He had been Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Red-baiting consigliere. He had helped send the Rosenbergs to the electric chair for spying and elect Richard M. Nixon president. Then New York’s most feared lawyer, Mr. Cohn had a client list that ran the gamut from the disreputable to the quasi-reputable: Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno, Claus von Bulow, George Steinbrenner. But there was one client who occupied a special place in Roy Cohn’s famously cold heart: Donald J. Trump. For Mr. Cohn, who died of AIDS in 1986, weeks after being disbarred for flagrant ethical violations, Mr. Trump was something of a final project. If Fred Trump got his son’s career started, bringing him into the family business of middle-class rentals in Brooklyn and Queens, Mr. Cohn ushered him across the river and into Manhattan, introducing him to the social and political elite while ferociously defending him against a growing list of enemies. Decades later, Mr. Cohn’s influence on Mr. Trump is unmistakable. Mr. Trump’s wrecking ball of a presidential bid — the gleeful smearing of his opponents, the embracing of bluster as brand — has been a Roy Cohn number on a grand scale. Mr. Trump’s response to the Orlando massacre, with his ominous warnings of a terrorist attack that could wipe out the country and his conspiratorial suggestions of a Muslim fifth column in the United States, seemed to have been ripped straight out of the Cohn playbook.

Source: What Donald Trump Learned From Joseph McCarthy’s Right-Hand Man – The New York Times

Facebook takedown: Social media censorship in Philippines? – IFEX – Two faced Facebook fails users…

News broke on June 1 that Facebook had deleted veteran journalist Ed Lingao’s May 24 post that criticized Duterte’s statement that he would allow the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Lingao said the post was deleted for allegedly violating Facebook’s “community standards.” A follow-up post documenting the comments he received from social media users was also deleted. Lingao posted an edited version of his original post but it was also taken down. Facebook restored it later, apologizing for the “mistake.” Lingao, however, was not the only affected Facebook user. Journalists Nonoy Espina and Inday Espina-Varona were barred from posting and commenting in their own Facebook accounts. Espina-Varona said “some other friends in the media, some artists and social activists” had also been suspended from using their account. The Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines’ (EJAP) official Facebook account, Ejap Pilipinas, was also taken down on June 4 for allegedly violating Facebook’s “authenticity policy.” On June 3, prior to the takedown, EJAP released a statement criticizing Duterte’s remarks about the killing of journalists. Following its removal, the statement circulated in other social media accounts and pages, including that of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

Source: Facebook takedown: Social media censorship in Philippines? – IFEX

British rock band Radiohead slams Islamist attack on fans in Istanbul | News | DW.COM | 18.06.2016

Similar attacks like those on the Velvet IndieGround record store and altercations during gay pride events have taken part also at art galleries in the area in the past. Critics say that Turkey’s Islamic-rooted government under the leadership of the AK Party (Justice and Development Party) has been undermining the country’s secular tradition, culminating in the Gezi Park protests in the summer of 2013, which resulted in 22 deaths without leading to any change.

Source: British rock band Radiohead slams Islamist attack on fans in Istanbul | News | DW.COM | 18.06.2016

Zakia Jafri’s Fight Isn’t Over: Only 11 Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Gulbarg Massacre – The Ladies Finger

On 28th February, 2002, during the infamous Gujarat riots, 69 people living in Gulbarg Society, a Muslim locality in Ahmedabad, were dragged out of their homes by a Hindu mob. At least 35 were burnt alive, and 69 were killed in total. Over 14 years later, on 2nd June, 2016, a Special SIT Court convicted 24 people of the murders, and yesterday, completed their sentencing. Eleven people convicted for murder were sentenced to life imprisonment. Of the remaining 13 convicted on charges like arson and rioting, 12 were sentenced to a term of seven years imprisonment, while one was sentenced to 10 years. The Court has requested the Centre not to remit the sentences of those accused to life imprisonment even after they complete a term of fourteen years in prison, at which point the Centre has the discretion to remit the sentences. Amongst those brutally murdered in this massacre was Congress MP Ehsan Jafri. His widow Zakia Jafri has been relentlessly fighting for justice for him and the other victims of this massacre for 14 years. In June 2006, she filed a complaint alleging that the police refused to register an FIR against Narendra Modi, who was then the Chief Minister of Gujarat, and several other ministers and top administrative officials. Her plea went unheard by the Gujarat High Court in 2007. In 2008, the Supreme Court took cognisance of the matter and ordered the Narendra Modi-led government in Gujarat to re-investigate some cases from the riots, including the Gulbarg Society one.

Source: Zakia Jafri’s Fight Isn’t Over: Only 11 Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Gulbarg Massacre – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

Old New York Police Surveillance Is Found, Forcing Big Brother Out of Hiding – The New York Times

“It’s the whole mother lode,” said Gideon Oliver, a civil rights lawyer who two years ago filed a lawsuit on behalf of a historian seeking records about a group that was a target of surveillance. The boxes, according to a written index, contain extensive files about the Black Panthers, the Nation of Islam and the Young Lords, as well as public demonstrations and civil unrest. Files on individuals are also among the documents; at least 15 boxes primarily contain photographs, Mr. Oliver said. The city’s Records Department, in a statement, said it was working to develop rules regarding public access to the documents, though no timetable or process has been set.

Source: Old New York Police Surveillance Is Found, Forcing Big Brother Out of Hiding – The New York Times

Not Politically Correct Reflections on Brexit | Inter Press Service

What then is the positive side of Brexit? While I do not see any for Britain or Europe, this could have a great influence on the tide of history. It could give birth to a new Europe, much more homogenous, formed by what could be called the Carolingian Europe. Charles the Great, in the 8th century, was able to unify most of Europe, and made France and Germany the basis of the kingdom. As Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, he also brought the south of Europe into the Empire. That Empire was based on the values of Christianity, with the strong support of the Pope. This new Europe will have to discuss foundational values to be viable, beyond its economic basis. And the errors made during this present version of “Europe”, will have to be discussed and avoided in the new one. Eventually it could become attractive to those who have left, who will have mean while found out that integration is a crucial issue in our globalized world. But more relevant, the turmoil and decline of England after Brexit, will be a extraordinarily message to other European countries. It will show that populism, nationalism and xenophobia, that the European integration was supposed to consign to the dustbin of history, can be useful tools for winning an election, but not to run a country. The England of the past will never come back, and reality will creep in. When England invaded China, to oblige its citizens to buy opium from the British Empire, there were 30 million British, and 323 million Chinese. Today Britain has over 60 million people, immigrants included, and China 1.374 millions. England was supposed to be a cradle of democracy. If a campaign of fear can win in a supposedly civilized country, it means more education must be done for a vibrant democracy. There is only one problem in this scenario of hopeful thinking, and it is the Germany to which Lord Hume was referring 50 years ago. His dominant Germany, from which the only way to be free was to become second to the US, will be in place and more reinforced by the end of the Great Kingdom, and the exit of Poland and other countries. Today’s Germany is not the Germany of Bonn, cofounder of Europe, with European statesman like Konrad Adenauer, Helmut Schmidt, Helmut Kohll, placing Europe at the top of their priorities. Today’s Germany Is the Germany of Berlin, with politicians basically intent to achieving German priorities. They will have to solve a fundamental problem: they want to run or do they want to integrate? And Brexit would have the advantage of also bringing this issue to the fore..

Source: Not Politically Correct Reflections on Brexit | Inter Press Service