Ben Gvir :"we're the bosses in Jerusalem"...[ 1064 ]

Clashes erupt as extreme rightists march through East Jerusalem

By Nir Hasson and Liel Kyzer, Haaretz Correspondents

Tags: Israel news, George Mitchell

Last update - 13:29 25/04/2010 Hundreds of police officers deployed in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan on Sunday as extreme Israeli rightists set out to march in an attempt to demonstrate Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem. The march began just as U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell met Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem for a second round of talks since Mitchell's arrival in the region. Since Thursday, Mitchell has also held talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as part of an attempt to launch indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Advertisement In anticipation of violence in East Jerusalem, police dispatched a helicopter, a zeppelin and an observation balloon as precautionary measures in the volatile region. Silwan residents flooded the streets in efforts to prevent the march from going ahead. Palestinian flags were hung in the windows and dozens of shoes were scattered in the streets as a symbol of protest. Dozens of masked men rioted in the streets, lighting tires on fire and hurling stones at police officers in the area. As the march began, the masked men hurled two firebombs at right wing activists. Itamar Ben Gvir Some 50 activists, headed by extreme rightists Itamar Ben Gvir and Baruch Marzel, marched from the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City to the center of Silwan, protesting what they termed "illegal construction" in the area. The construction they referred to is the building of Palestinian homes without city permits. Baruch Marzel "We've proven to Netanyahu, Obama and Mitchell that we're the bosses in Jerusalem," said Ben Gvir during the march. Prior to the event, the right wing activist said in a radio interview that "There is no doubt that the fact that Mitchell is in the area only pushes us to try harder." "It seems to me that the man sitting in the prime minister's chair is a little confused," he continued. "Netanyahu is acting like he is an employee working for Obama or Mitchell. It began with the settlement construction freeze that he caved on, and today he says that it is a provocation for us to carry Israeli flags several hundred meters from the Western Wall. What will he say tomorrow? That Obama and Mitchell asked to remove the flag or change the national anthem and he'll do that too?" "I don't work for Mitchell, and Israel is not a U.S.-sponsored state, and the time has come that we understand that," he went on to say. The clashes continued even once the march had ended, with local residents setting fires and calling out anti-Israel slogans. Two police officers were lightly hurt as stones were hurled at them. One female officer sustained injuries to her shoulder and was evacuated to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. A request Saturday night by Netanyahu to postpone the march was rejected by Israel's attorney general, who said there were no legal grounds to prevent the march from going ahead. Jawad Siyam, the director of the Silwan Information Centre, said the march did not only serve the goals of the settlers, but also of the Israeli government. "The goal is to expel the Palestinian population of Silwan," he claimed, noting that 300 Israeli settlers lived in the neighborhood surrounded by 55,000 Palestinians. Chagit Ofran, of the Israeli Peace Now group, said the march was "a provocation by the extreme right wing" and showed that the Israeli government has "lost control over Jerusalem." On Friday, right-wing activist Ben Gvir refused a police request to cancel the march through the Arab neighborhood. Ben Gvir was in the news earlier this year for penning a letter to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, threatening to protest his upcoming visit to Israel. Polce have said they want Ben Gvir to cancel the march because it would stretch the police force thin when they are busy securing Mitchell during his visit. Ben Gvir said in response to the police request: "We will not cancel the march. Mitchell is not the prime minister. There is no legal reasoning to this request; it is our right to march, even if Mitchell doesn't like it."

Foreign Office : Public apology to Pope.. [ 1063 ]

Foreign Office sorry for Pope paper

Sunday., 25.04.10

The Foreign Office has been forced to issue a public apology after an official document suggested Britain should mark the Pope's visit this year by asking him to open an abortion clinic, bless a gay marriage and launch a range of Benedict-branded condoms.

The Foreign Office apologised over a document about the Pope's UK visit

The document, obtained by the Sunday Telegraph, also suggested Benedict XVI could show his hard line on the sensitive issue of child abuse allegations against Roman Catholic priests by "sacking dodgy bishops" and launching a helpline for abused children.

The ideas were included in a paper titled "The ideal visit would see..." which was distributed to officials in Whitehall and Downing Street preparing for the historic visit in September. A cover note said the paper stemmed from a brainstorming session and accepted that some of the ideas were "far-fetched".

Many of the proposals appeared to mock the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church on issues like abortion, homosexuality and contraception and the difficulties which it is currently experiencing over cases of child abuse.

On Saturday evening, the Foreign Office apologised for what it described as a "foolish" document and said the individual responsible had been transferred to other duties.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband was said to have been "appalled" to hear of the paper, and Britain's Ambassador to the Vatican, Francis Campbell, has met senior officials of the Holy See to express the Government's regret. The paper was attached as one of three "background documents" to a memo dated March 5 inviting officials to attend a meeting to discuss themes for the papal visit.

In a note, the official responsible for sending out the memo - a junior civil servant in his 20s - said: "Please protect; these should not be shared externally. The 'ideal visit' paper in particular was the product of a brainstorm which took into account even the most far-fetched of ideas."

An investigation was launched after some recipients of the memo objected to the disrespectful tone of the paper.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "This is clearly a foolish document that does not in any way reflect UK Government or Foreign Office policy or views. Many of the ideas in the document are clearly ill-judged, naive and disrespectful. The text was not cleared or shown to ministers or senior officials before circulation. As soon as senior officials became aware of the document, it was withdrawn from circulation.

"The individual responsible has been transferred to other duties. He has been told orally and in writing that this was a serious error of judgment and has accepted this view. The Foreign Office very much regrets this incident and is deeply sorry for the offence which it has caused. We strongly value the close and productive relationship between the UK Government and the Holy See and look forward to deepening this further with the visit of Pope Benedict to the UK later this year."

Τάδε έφη ......Αλαβάνος [ 1062 ]

Αλαβάνος: “Να απαγορευτεί στον Παπανδρέου η έξοδος από τη χώρα”

Άγγελος Ανδρέου -: 25/04/2010 12:00 - Τελ. ανανέωση : 25/04/2010 12:23

Ο Παπανδρέου και ο Παπακωνσταντίνου το μόνο που κάνουν είναι να επιδεικνύουν ότι έχουν το proficiency, δήλωσε μεταξύ πολλών άλλων ο πρώην πρόεδρος του ΣΥΝ Αλέκος Αλαβάνος, υποστηρίζοντας πως πρέπει να απαγορευτεί στον πρωθυπουργό και τον υπουργό Οικονομικών να ταξιδεύουν έξω από τα σύνορα της Ελλάδας.

Μιλώντας σε εκδήλωση στη Θεσσαλονίκη, που διοργανώθηκε από την εφημερίδα, ο Δρόμος της Αριστεράς, ο Αλέκος Αλαβάνος τόνισε:

“Λυπάμαι που το λέω αυτό, αλλά πιστεύω ότι θα έπρεπε να απαγορευτεί η έξοδος από τη χώρα τόσο στον κ. Παπανδρέου όσο και στον κ. Παπακωνσταντίνου. Διότι αυτή η συμφωνία υποδούλωσης στην ΕΕ και στο ΔΝΤ, για πάρα πολλά χρόνια, της Ελλάδας και του ελληνικού λαού είναι απαράδεκτη. Και θέλω να ελπίζω ότι όχι πια μόνο οι εργαζόμενοι στο Δημόσιο αλλά σε κοινό μέτωπο με τους εργαζόμενους στον ιδιωτικό τομέα, που ήδη καταλαβαίνουν ότι τους πιάνουν οι ρυθμίσεις, θα την ακυρώσουν πολύ γρήγορα στην πράξη".

Στην ομιλία του ο κ. Αλαβάνος υπογράμμισε ότι "δεν μας αξίζει μια κυβέρνηση με πρωθυπουργό και υπουργούς της να επιδεικνύουν στις διεθνείς τηλεοράσεις ότι έχουν proficiency στην αγγλική, όπως ακριβώς οι κυβερνήσεις με τους Αμερικανούς γιάπηδες στις κατεστραμμένες σοσιαλιστικές χώρες το 1990 και να αποδεικνύουν συνεχώς ότι δεν έχουν απολυτήριο δημοτικού στην προστασία της ελληνικής οικονομίας".

Ο ρόλος της Αριστεράς

Σχετικά με τη στάση που πρέπει να τηρήσει σήμερα η Αριστερά ο κ. Αλαβάνος επισήμανε:

"Νομίζω η Αριστερά πρέπει να κάνει δύο πράγματα. Το ένα να στηρίξει κάθε εστία αντίστασης και προσπάθεια ακύρωσης αυτής της συνθήκης υποδούλωσης και το δεύτερο να προβάλει την εναλλακτική λύση η οποία υπάρχει, παρά το γεγονός ότι είμαστε πάνω σε ένα πεδίο κρισιακό πραγματικής χρεοκοπίας που αφήνει η ΝΔ και το ΠΑΣΟΚ"

Η εναλλακτική λύση για τον κ. Αλαβάνο είναι ότι "εμείς δεν θα πληρώσουμε χρέη τα οποία έχουν δημιουργεί από την οικονομική κρίση ή από την τοκογλυφία. Ότι χρειάζεται αναδιαπραγμάτευση που σημαίνει επιμήκυνση και χαμηλότερα επιτόκια και βέβαια μια σειρά άλλα μέτρα σε σχέση με τις δημοσιονομικές εξοικονομήσεις που θα στρέφονται ενάντια στον μεγάλο πλούτο, ενάντια στους εξοπλισμούς και όχι ενάντια στους εργαζόμενους".

"Η Αριστερά οφείλει να σταθεί με τον τρόπο που στάθηκε στο άρθρο 16. Η κρίση σήμερα είναι πολύ μεγαλύτερη. Τα προβλήματα που διακυβεύονται είναι πολύ μεγαλύτερα από το άρθρο 16".

SNP Legal action over this week's televised debate ... [ 1061 ]

SNP plans legal action over debate

The London Evening Standard, Sun, 25.04.10

The SNP has revealed plans to take legal action over this week's televised debate between the UK party leaders.

The Nationalists are aiming to raise a £50,000 fighting fund over 48 hours to pay for the action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

The party is angry that leader Alex Salmond has been excluded from Thursday's BBC debate between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

They intend to lodge papers with the court on Tuesday, seeking a review of the broadcaster's position to "ensure that Scottish interests are properly represented".

The proposed action would seek to ensure that the debate is broadcast in Scotland with the nation's political make-up "fairly" reflected - either by having SNP representation in the debate or through an agreement to have a further leaders' debate organised before polling day.

Unveiling the plans, Mr Salmond branded the BBC's current stance a "disgrace".

He said: "The decision by the BBC, who are meant to be Scotland's national broadcaster, paid for by our licence fees, not to have the country's political make-up properly represented next Thursday is a democratic disgrace.

"Everyone knows it is a stitch-up demanded by the London-based parties and meekly agreed to by the BBC.

"That's why the SNP are today launching a fighting fund to raise the money needed to challenge the BBC's decision in court. We are mounting an appeal to raise £50,000 by midnight on Monday. That's the money we estimate we need to mount an action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

"It is a huge sum for a party like the SNP. But the issues at stake are too important to ignore."

Newborn at zoo in Tokyo [ 1061 ]

Newborn Malayan tapir on display at zoo in Tokyo

Δημοσίευση ανάρτησης

Newborn Malayan tapir Haku is pictured at Tama Zoological Park in Hino, Tokyo. (Photo courtesy of Tama Zoological Park)

(Mainichi Japan) April 25, 2010

A newborn Malayan tapir calf has been put on display at Tama Zoological Park in Hino, Tokyo.

The male tapir calf was born on April 11 and named "Haku." The mother tapir, Riza, who had already previously given birth twice, is reportedly taking good care of the baby animal.

Malayan tapir calves have striped skin for the first four to six months after birth. They feed on their mother's milk and gradually learn to eat such food as grass, apples and sweet potatoes.

Malayan tapirs are found in waterside forests and wetlands in Southeast Asia, including Southern Myanmar and Southwest Thailand. They search for food near water mainly at night. Adult Malaysian tapirs weigh between 250 and 300 kilograms, and their black and white skin color serves as camouflage to hide them from tigers and other predators.

Due to deforestation and other environmental destruction, the Malayan tapir population has decreased to the level that the animal is now designated as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).

Click here for the original Japanese story