MFS - The Other News

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation updated:  Japan 5.1 !More info here.

• Japan : For the most accurate info on the nuclear disaster go to : Paul Langley's Nuclear History Blog.Here.

• Israel Should Be a U.S. Campaign Issue.(WSJ).By Douglas J. Feith. Pro-Israel organizations have long been active in American politics, promoting friendly relations between the U.S. and Israel. Jewish groups, in particular, have helped ensure that candidates' attitudes toward Israel would be an important element in congressional and presidential elections. Yet now, two venerable Jewish organizations, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), are saying that it is improper to do this in the case of President Obama. They have taken the initiative to shield Mr. Obama from the political consequences of his cold treatment of Israel.The AJC and ADL are jointly promoting a "national pledge for unity on Israel." Its essence is that "America's friendship with Israel . . . has always transcended politics" and that "U.S.-Israel friendship should never be used as a political wedge issue."Explaining this effort, ADL chief Abraham Foxman lamented that presidential candidates have recently "challenged their opponents' pro-Israel bona fides" and "questioned the current administration's foreign policy approach vis-à-vis Israel."True, every political movement wants unity in support of the common cause. But since when have American supporters of Israel believed that a candidate's attitudes toward Israel should be kept out of electoral politics? Since never.President Obama came into office determined to distance the U.S. from Israel and to portray Israel as the impediment to Middle East peace. He insisted on an unprecedented Israeli settlement freeze, exceeding the demands at that time of the Palestinian Authority itself. And he went along with the PA's refusal to renew direct negotiations with Israel, agreeing that the Palestinians could use U.S. officials to conduct indirect talks. Meanwhile he offered "engagement" to Israel's Iranian and Syrian enemies, a vain policy that failed as the courted regimes rebuffed the offer and brutalized their own pro-freedom demonstrators.Mr. Obama also orchestrated a public imbroglio with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, walking out of a White House meeting with him in 2010 and refusing to be photographed with him. Quarrels between the men this year have been openly bitter.This vexed Mr. Netanyahu and the Israeli public in general, which overwhelmingly views Mr. Obama as anti-Israel, and it antagonized not only the president's domestic political opponents but also many Democrats in Congress. When Mr. Netanyahu addressed Congress in May, most Democrats, including the leadership, joined in the numerous standing ovations that were obviously intended to contrast the affection for Israel on Capitol Hill with the bad feeling emanating from the White House.So anyone truly intent on preserving unity among Israel's friends could do so by building on the substantial bipartisan opposition to Mr. Obama's policies on Israel. Instead, the AJC and the ADL are working to protect Mr. Obama.These organizations exist in large part to defend the Jewish state from unfair criticism, pressure and attacks. But they are defending President Obama from well-grounded charges that he has subjected Israel precisely to that.If the AJC and ADL want to defend Mr. Obama straightforwardly, they could do so. They might argue that his record on Israel is not unremittingly hostile. They could try to balance some of the healthy features of the U.S.-Israeli relationship—for example, the continuation of defense cooperation—against the bad parts. But it's not a strong argument, which explains why they are claiming to uphold a venerable (though previously unheard of) principle of unity that precludes criticism of a president's position on Israel.Whatever the AJC and ADL say, Mr. Obama can expect to pay a substantial political price in 2012 for his antagonism toward Israel and feckless courting of its enemies.Read the full story here.

• BREAKING NEWS! Greece in Uproar After Cannes-Humiliation: Live Blogging.(KeeptalkingGreece).Greece is in uproar after French President Nicholas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel imposed the date and the referendum question and froze the 6th aid tranche of 8 billion euro until Greeks say YES to referendum. It was short after midnight when Merkel and Sarkozy announced the referendum conditions putting a grave stone on Greece’s sovereignty, while PM George Papandreou was on stand by to make his own statements.Merkel and Sarkozy stated the referendum must be on December 4th and that the question should be “YES or NO to €uro” and not on the loan-agreement as it was proposed by Papandreou.As early as 4 in the morning the political developments started to take the country by storm.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said NO to referendum on “EURO YES or NO”upon his arrival in Athens form Cannes.Many wondered that Venizelos did take the same plane with the PM, while the majority wondered why Papandreou did not announced his resignation the moment he got out of the plane…One after the other, ruling party PASOK deputies and government ministers openly said NO to referendum; some declared that they will not give the government a confidence vote on Friday.Some PASOK MPs demand ‘national unity government’ right away and want Papandreou to resign as PM.At least 5 PASOK deputies deny vote of confidence, i.e. Papandreou government is officially dead and the PM has finished his political career.An extraordinary Cabinet meeting is scheduled for 12 o’clock noon.

Important Updates:

 12.35.Sources from PM’s environment: Papandreou is not thinking of resignation; he will wait and hear what ministers say at the Cabinet meeting – “the Referendum belongs to the past”.

14:21 pm. Unconfirmed information on Greek news websites: Papandreou will submit to the President a request for a national unity government after the Cabitnet meeting, that hasn’t started yet, although it was scheduled for 12 noon.There are rumors that Loukas Papadimos will be lead the transition government as PM. However, Greece is always good for surprises…

14:26 pm. Cabinet meeting started with more than 2h delay - Papandreou will ask the ratification of the loan-agreement with broader majority, i.e. 180 votes out of 300 (state NET TV).

14:45. First leakage from the Cabinet meeting : Papandreou allagedly said “We needed to threat with a referendum so that Samaras will take his responsibilities“.What??? It was just a ‘threat’???

15:12.Papandreou allegedly proposed coalition government during the Cabinet meeting.When will he resign? I don’t think, it will happen as soon as possible… then there is a PASOK parliamentary group meeting in the afternoon and I’m sure he wants to go there as a PM and not a ‘George Papandreou, former PM’….

15:17. Unverified info: Papandreou allegedly said at the Cabinet meeting, that he will not resign but will ask the confidence vote tomorrow at the Parliament (ALTER TV).

15:19. Scenarios on the table of the Greek political Drama:

1.  Coalition government PASOK – Nea Dimokratia – PM not elected person.
2. National Unity Government with participation of as many as possible political parties – PM not elected person.
3. PM resigns and a new government arise with intervention of President of the Republic. Or he intervenes without the PM’s resignation.“Interim” government is the same government as now until the country goes to elections. Interim government cannot ratify the ‘loan-agreement’.“Transition” government is a new government until the country goes to elections.

15:31. Papandreou allegedly said at the Cabinet meeting, he considers as ‘towards a positive direction the Samaras’ proposals” and that he authorized Minister Reppas and PASOK official Athanasakis to go and visit Samaras.

15:47.While government sources leak to the press that two PASOK officials are on the way to meet major opposition Nea Dimokratia party leader Antonis Samaras to negotiate ‘transition government’.ND spokesman Michelakis dismissed the ‘contact’ claims, saying there has been no contact.Not even a phone call to check whether Samaras is there….? We turned into a political and media circus today….

16:10.Papandreou told Cabinet meeting that “there will be no referendum!”  No wonder, then after the Cannes humiliation and fiasco, hardly a PASOk deputy would approve a referendum. The referendum-bill would need 151 votes in a parliament voting session.

16:23.Nea Dimokratia and Samaras rejected coalition government talks with PASOK officials. ND say they accept talks only via the President of the Republic.Latest info says that the President is awaiting for the political parties to decide.

17:25.Cabinet meeting concluded – Parliamentary group meeting to start any minute.I’m afraid the PM will go so far as to the confidence vote tomorrow, Friday at midnight. The man has nerves made of steel….Read this continious evolving Greek tragedy here.

• George Soros Trader Involved in Bankrupt Firm Tied to Obama.(NewZeal).A major figure in liberal Democrat Jon Corzine’s bankrupt firm, MF Global, used to work for hedge fund operator and Democratic Party financial patron George Soros. MF Global Holdings Ltd., now under FBI investigation, had hired Munir Javeri as Global Head of Trading.“He is no longer with the company,” a spokesman for the firm informed Accuracy in Media. The spokesman added that he had no contact information for Munir Javeri and couldn’t say when he left the firm. He had been Vice-President of Soros Fund Management from 2003-2004 and was given an “inducement award” in the form of stock options after being hired by MF Global.Hundreds of millions of dollars are reportedly now missing from the firm’s customer accounts. The firm is said to have experienced major losses because of questionable investments in European bonds.MF Global was not a hedge fund, although it accepted money from hedge funds such as Cadian Capital Management LLC.The bankruptcy of MF Global is being described as the eighth-largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history. Steve Schaefer of Forbes says it is “the largest bankruptcy (by assets) of a public company this year, and by a huge margin.”Meantime, Corzine, MF Global chairman and CEO, has been aggressively raising funds for Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. “Obama has had a lot to say about Occupy Wall Street but probably won’t say anything about Jon Corzine,” the Republican National Committee said in a statement.News reports suggest that Corzine, a former head of Goldman Sachs, simply misjudged the European crisis and that his firm went bankrupt as a result. But Soros, by contrast, has been forecasting the disintegration of Europe for months and suggesting that the only solution is a European treasury that could provide a common source of funds to rescue bankrupt economies.Liberal Democrats in the U.S. today formally proposed a financial transactions tax to provide more federal revenue. On Thursday, National Nurses United, joined by the AFL-CIO and assorted “community activists,” are holding a demonstration in Washington, D.C. to press for a global version of the financial transactions tax.Corzine, in addition to being a senator from New Jersey, served as governor, only to be defeated for re-election in 2009 by Republican Chris Christie.Although Corzine is getting plenty of publicity for the demise of his financial firm, the role of the former Soros money manager has gotten short shrift. The New York Times simply mentioned that Corzine had “replaced old-line traders and brokers with more aggressive hires from Goldman Sachs, UBS and Soros Fund Management.”The Soros connection raises questions, in view of the hedge fund operator’s controversial sources of cash, avoidance of Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, and announced political designs upon the U.S. and the world. Soros is number seven on the Forbes list of wealthiest Americans and his fortune now totals $22 billion, up almost $8 billion from last year.At the time of Javeri’s hiring by MF Global, news organizations trumpeted the development with such headlines as, “Jon Corzine Has Hired An Ex-Soros Trader To Make MF Global Surge.” The media coverage reflected the media awe for Soros and his hedge fund managers.“In this newly created role,” MF Global said in a press release about the hiring of the former Soros money man, “Mr. Javeri will work with the firm’s various product lines to manage and enhance the firm’s trading capabilities across asset classes and geographic regions. Additionally, he will oversee the firm’s Principal Strategies Group, a newly initiated proprietary trading operation. The group engages in opportunistic trading across a variety of asset classes. Mr. Javeri has extensive trading and asset management experience. Most recently, he was a partner and portfolio manager at Gandhara Advisors, a multi-billion dollar equity hedge fund. Prior to that, he was a global macro investor at Soros Fund Management.”Despite the hype, MF Global is now in ruins.To make matters worse, MF Global had close financial ties to the Federal Reserve. The firm was designated a primary dealer by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which means that it participated directly in Treasury auctions and provided analysis and market intelligence to trading desks at the New York Federal Reserve.At his news conference today, however, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke insisted the Fed was not the supervisor of MF Global and had never given the firm a “seal of approval.”But a “seal of approval” for Corzine had come from Obama.The New York Times reports that President Obama’s first major re-election fund-raiser in New York was held at Corzine’s Manhattan home, with tickets going for $35,800 each.Adding some detail, the news website northnewjersey.com reported that the private 60-person event reportedly raised $2 million for Obama and that Corzine and MF Global associates Bradley Abelow and Joseph Patt then gave separate contributions of $35,800 each to Obama Victory Fund 2012. Corzine “was one of the president’s most elite bundlers, supporters who tap friends and business associates to bring in checks,” The New York Times reported. The article said that he personally had helped Obama raise more than $500,000 this year.It added that “When White House officials sought to broker a meeting between disgruntled Wall Street executives and Mr. Obama’s new chief of staff this year, they turned to Mr. Corzine, who organized a sit-down at the Four Seasons. Mr. Corzine was on the list. There had even been talk of his being named the next Treasury secretary.”In addition to the $38,500 to the Obama Victory Fund 2012, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show Corzine made personal contributions of $5,000 to Obama for America on May 19 and $25,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on September 28 of this year.For his part, Soros gave $75,000 this year to the House Majority PAC, a so-called “Super PAC” designed to help win back the House majority for Democrats in 2012. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former House Speaker and now Democratic Minority Leader, supports the financial transactions tax, as does Soros.Hmmm...........Read the full story here.

• Brilliant: DHS head Napolitano monitoring Twitter for civil unrest.(DougRoss).Let me guess: this little surveillance project will cost billions: The world has seen a wave of civil unrest sweep across nations this year and as a result the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is taking measures to prevent any sign of social disturbance from happening within America. One of the measures include monitoring social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter, for clues on growing civil disobedience...
  ...the DHS would create new guidelines to focus on “gleaning information from sites such as Twitter and Facebook for law enforcement purposes.” However, she went on to mention, that the guidelines would be implemented under strict laws “meant to prevent spying on Americans.”Still, many social media users express concern that the government would track what they do on social sites.Here's a free, money-saving tip for our beloved baritone DHS head: why not just send an agent to each of the Occupy protests to take pictures of the leftist kooks vandalizing private businesses?Or, better still, just read the funny papers:
  Anti-Wall Street protesters in Oakland have vandalized a Whole Foods store and shattered windows at two downtown banks.Windows were shattered at a Bank of America branch, where someone also spraypainted "Class War" and "Shut it Down," near Lake Merritt and a Chase bank at 20th and Webster streets.Remember, folks: President Obama, Vice President Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and a host of other radical leftists support this civil unrest.Hmmm.........Everyday edging closer to a 'Stasi like' America, guess who's going to be 'The Leader'?Read and see the full story here.
  
• In the Shadow of the G-20 Stars.Euro Chaos Marginalizes Obama's Role in Cannes.(Spiegel).In his first trip abroad since spring, United States President Barack Obama will arrive in Cannes, France on Thursday morning for the G-20 summit. One thing is already clear: The most powerful man in the world will not be the center of attention here. "The surprising announcement of the Greek referendum and the potential of Greek government collapse will completely overshadow the summit as the specter of default grows by the hour," says Heather Conley, former deputy assistant secretary of state in the State Department's Bureau for European and Eurasian Affairs, and now a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.It's not that Obama lacks any opinion on this crisis. Indeed, it could come to affect him directly, because a euro recession also has the potential to drag American banks down. Such a situation would likely have a negative impact on US unemployment rates and Obama's chances of re-election next year as well. The president regularly speaks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "If Europe does not deal with the problem of undercapitalized banks, it could easily blow up and turn into another worldwide conflagration," Obama's former chief economic advisor Austan Goolsbee said in a recent interview with SPIEGEL. "Europe as a whole has certainly been too hesitant. Germany is part of the leadership in the euro area -- and it has not yet stepped up and done what has got to be done." When European Union leaders recently agreed on what was supposed to be a solution in Brussels, Obama quickly released this statement: "We welcome the important decisions made … by the European Union which lay a critical foundation for a comprehensive solution to the euro-zone crisis."But Obama also knows that he can't intervene with too much gusto. As much as it might like to be right now, Washington isn't the capital of Europe. Figuratively, at least, that would probably be Beijing right now. Europeans are hoping that Chinese President Hu Jintao will agree to invest billions in the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). The US already suffered the painful experience of objections to its schoolmaster-like interventions after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called for the Europeans to take stronger measures in combating their currency crisis, in addition to essentially inviting himself to a meeting of his EU counterparts in the Polish city of Wroclaw in September. He only wanted to share his experience in handling the last global finance crisis, he said at the time. The response, however, bordered on the devastating. Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said it was "odd" that the US would feel obliged to dispense advice to Europe, and Geithner was excluded from the more detailed consultations over the euro's future. Meanwhile the US, the motherland of the 2008 financial crisis, remains bogged down in another crisis of credibility that includes the president. "Obama's position will be very weak," says Jacob Kirkegaard, a research fellow at the Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC. "He has very little to show to the other leaders when he makes the claim for coordinated stimulus in the G-20." Obama hasn't even succeeded in pushing his own proposals for stimulus and job creation or to reduce the national deficit through Congress. Besides, it would seem odd for a country that just had its credit rating slashed to lecture the rest of the world on ways out of the financial crisis. Particularly when images of America's social divisions highlighted by the Occupy Wall Street protests are making their way around the globe. But Obama will have to reign in the Europe bashing in Cannes. Because of the euro crisis he'll hardly have an opportunity to have other debates that are important to him, such as the fundamental question over whether the global economy should be stimulated with more government money to create more jobs, or if austerity is more important. If Obama wants a decent chance of re-election, he will need to drive the US unemployment rate below 9 percent. A global economic stimulus program could certainly help him achieve that.However, a similar suggestion by the Americans at the Toronto G-20 summit in 2010 fell flat. Experts hold out little hope that a similar proposal would have any success now. "There won't be a big clash over stimulus vs. austerity because everyone has no interest in making the G-20 appear divided at this point in time," says Kirkegaard. Not only would that undermine market confidence, he adds, but it would lead to more uncertainty. "They will agree that everyone should do what they can -- according to national circumstances, which of course means potentially nothing."CSIS fellow Heather Conley offers a similar take. "The Obama administration would like to focus on a US-led global growth agenda," she says. "Pressure will be applied to China and Germany to spur domestic demand to rebalance global growth, but I think Greece will overwhelm this story too."Read the full story here.

• Related - German Economists on Greek Referendum.'The Euro Zone Could Face Ruin'.By Christian Teevs.In depth analysis here.

• China refuses to commit to EFSF until the situation with Greece has been clarified.(BBC).European leaders hoped that China would buy EFSF bonds, injecting capital in the region's financial markets.The EFSF was one part of a three pronged rescue plan put together to solve eurozone's debt crisis. Last week, eurozone leaders agreed to boost the EFSF capacity to 1tn euros. European leaders had been seeking investment from China, which has $3.2tn (£2tn) in foreign exchange reserves."The fund has not established details of its investment options so we still can't talk about the issue of investing," said Zhu Guangyao, China's deputy finance minister.Last week, Klaus Regling, the chief executive of the EFSF, travelled to Beijing in a bid to persuade the country's leaders to invest in the fund.Though no deal was finalised, it was thought the Chinese authorities may agree to help the troubled economies, not least because the region is one the biggest market for Chinese exports and a crisis may dent demand for Chinese goods and hurt its export-dependent economy. However, the decision by the Greece government to hold a referendum on the latest bailout package has seen the authorities take a cautious approach."Like our European friends, we did not expect [the call for a] Greek referendum," said Mr Zhu."It was an independent decision taken by Greece. I hope this period of uncertainty would be contained," he added. The decision by the Greek government has also resulted in the eurozone leaders withholding the next 8bn euros of rescue loans for Greece until after the referendum.French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel have called on Greece to decide whether it wants to continue to be a part of the eurozone.The two are expected to meet with other eurozone leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit to discuss the deepening crisis. Greece's referendum call has already resulted in the EFSF being forced to cancel bond sales targeted at raising 3bn euros.However, Mr Zhu said despite these concerns, he expected eurozone leaders to solve the crisis soon. "We have confidence in Europe. We hope the European Union and the euro zone will implement these crucial plans to stabilise financial markets and foster economic growth," he said.Read the full story here

• Palestinians want to gain control of Joseph's tomb and other Judea and Samaria sites.(SMH).Jerusalem: Significant religious sites throughout the West Bank, including the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem and Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, will be among the first to be pushed forward for world heritage status now Palestine has been granted membership of UNESCO.A Palestinian Authority spokesman there were many sites and shrines in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that until now had been unprotected because of a lack of recognition and funding.''Now we will be able to protect them and make sure they are known around the world,'' he said. ''We believe that becoming a member of the UNESCO is an overdue right for a country that has such a significant amount of heritage sites.''Tourism - particularly religious tourism - is a hotly contested issue between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The authority claims agreements such as the 1994 Paris Protocol severely restrict tourism and therefore economic development in the Palestinian territories.Joseph's Tomb in Nablus - a site important to Christians, Jews and Muslims - has been at the centre of deep sectarian conflict. With UNESCO membership, the Palestinian Authority would now be responsible for ensuring the site was protected, the official said.(Yeah Whatevah!).Palestine was admitted as a member of UNESCO's general assembly on Monday. Among the 107 nations in favour of Palestinian membership were Russia, China, India and France. The 14 voting against included the US, Australia, Canada and Germany. More than 50 nations abstained, including three critical Security Council members - Portugal, Colombia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. However France, which holds a permanent Security Council seat, surprised many in the hall by supporting Palestinian admission to UNESCO. The US response to Monday's vote was swift, announcing it would not make a $US60 million payment due this month. The US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said: ''Today's vote to grant Palestinian membership in UNESCO is no substitute for direct negotiations [between Israel and the Palestinians] but it is deeply damaging to UNESCO.''In response to the vote, Israel raised the possibility of cutting ties with the Palestinian Authority, green-lighting new settlement construction and withholding the tax revenue Israel collects on the Palestinian Authority's behalf, according to ''unnamed officials'' quoted in Israeli media. ''Israel rejects the decision of the General Assembly of UNESCO … accepting Palestine as a member state of the organisation,'' a government statement said. ''Israel believes that the correct and only way to make progress in the diplomatic process with the Palestinians is through direct negotiations without preconditions.''The Palestinian Authority is waiting on the outcome of the UN Security Council vote on its application for full statehood, which could take place a soon as November 11.Hmmm......We all know how well the Palestinians take care of non Islamic 'religious holy places'. Read the full story here.

• French Drancy Imam: "Stop supporting the Islamists"!(IVE).The imam Hassen Chalghoumi, whose association represents 80 imams in France, unambiguously condemns the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, and he reproaches the West for being “naive and too indulgent vis-à-vis the Islamists”.Interviewed by France-Soir, in the opinion of the imam of Drancy the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo must sound the alarm: “I say to the people of France, to Europe and the West in general, but I say also to journalists: Wake-up! Stop supporting political Islam. Do not be naive. These people are intolerant. They threaten even the Muslims they consider too moderate.” "I know the double language of the Islamists"Hassen Chalghoumi is worred about the “innocence” of westerners faced with the success of the Islamist movements: “What is happening today in the Arab world is very serious. When the Islamist party Ennahda comes to power in Tunisia, when forty per cent of the Muslims in France voted for it, I am devastated. I know the double language of the Islamists. I am a Muslim, I am a Tunisian… these people want to install Sharia and everyone is rejoicing.”According to the imam Hassen Chalghoumi, “Europe must wake up. It cannot give support to Islamist parties in Muslim countries. On the contrary, it should only support democratic parties”. The French-Tunisian imam declares “the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, which in the beginning were noble and democratic, are being reclaimed by the Islamists.”This imam, who describes himself as “a man on the ground confronting reality”, reproaches western politicians and media with “giving too much of a platform to the Islamists, of being too indulgent to the Muslim Brotherhood”: “the journalists don’t want to see,” he says. “But this attack against Charlie Hebdo shows that there are people who do not accept others’ points of view at all. They want to impose their laws even in France. They are fanatics. For me, all points of view should be expressed, and the response is not violence but dialogue or recourse to justice.” "Why has France played Al Qaeda’s game in Libya?”The imam of Drancy does not understand why “the Americans are rejoicing about the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, why France has played Al Qaeda’s game in Libya, why several European countries have sheltered Islamist leaders who, today, are returning to their countries with lots of money, financed by Qatar especially, to take ownership of the Arab revolutions.” According to him, “an Islamist party should never be supported, because if the Islamists win in Tunisia, in Libya and in Egypt, the entire Arab world will change radically, and we will pay a very high price.”Read the full story here.(GoogleTranslate).

• Iran is attempting to engineer and test nuclear weapons, the damning nuclear evidence.(Telegraph).The research by the UN’s watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, will add a substantial layer to seven years of investigations that is likely to inflame tensions in the Middle East.Yukiya Amano, the organisation’s director-general, is unlikely to draw a definitive conclusion that Iran is making nuclear weapons, but according to Western diplomats the facts will make any other conclusion implausible.They believe the IAEA has substantiated evidence from intelligence reports, interviews with Iranian scientists and on-the-ground inspections that Iran is carrying out a nuclear weapons programme in parallel to its civilian energy goals.The agency will sound the alarm over Iranian scientists’ work to develop a ballistic missile warhead capable of carrying a nuclear device. It has already uncovered evidence that Iran has been carrying out research into triggers for nuclear weapons.Inspectors have also questioned Iranian scientists on simulation programmes that they believe are designed to design and test a potential weapon.“This is the product of a vast amount of work by the IAEA which will show the level of evidence they’ve accumulated and make clear a number of supplementary indications they have uncovered,” said a Western diplomat. “It makes an inescapable case that Iran has ambitions to militarise the uranium it has been enriching at its production facilities.”Another official said: “The Iranians have been very evasive, and quite clever about it at times. It’s been difficult to discover the smoking gun. But this will be more detailed than before. The director-general will point to black holes in the Iranians’ explanations. It will undoubtedly increase the pressure.”The Armed forces are conducting contingency planning for a potential attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities amid concerns of a resurgent nuclear programme, sources have said.Any such attack would be planned as a back-up to US action, providing air support, reconnaissance, and submarine missile strikes.Ministry of Defence planners say there is a “shortening window of opportunity” as the Iranians re-enforce their nuclear production facilities which are dug into mountaintops.However America has been reluctant to take action to end the resurgent Iranian nuclear programme and the plans may well stay on the shelf.“We have contingency plans on everything,” a senior military source said. “It doesn’t mean anything will come of it but at least someone is thinking about this sort of thing.The source added: “You have got to get there early enough – once they are dig into the ground, it gets much more difficult.”Last month, the Obama administration began pressing the UN inspectorate to release more of its classified information on Iran. It was moved to act by the revelation of an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington, while diplomatic attention generally was able to return its focus to Iran with the conclusion of Nato’s involvement in Libya.The Iranians, despite a fourth round of UN sanctions last year and further punitive measures from the European Union and the US, have remained defiant.Indicating that a rapid reassessment of policy was under way, Israeli newspapers suggested that an attack could take place either before the onset of winter or in the summer of next year.The dramatic disclosures came as the Israeli defence ministry confirmed that it had fired “a rocket propulsion system” from its Palmach airbase after a white streak was spotted in the skies above the centre of the country early yesterday. The ministry, which insisted that the launch had been long planned, censored further details. But Western experts concluded that Israel had fired a Jericho-3 ballistic missile, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and could form a component of any attack on Iran.It also emerged that Israel’s air force simulated a long-range attack at a Nato base in Sardinia last week.The exercise, which was not initially disclosed in Israel, included an air-to-air refuelling component. Potential targets in Iran lie between 950 and 1,400 miles from Israel’s borders. Any mission to destroy them would would require aerial refuelling.Read the full story here.

• UK and U.S. 'draw up joint plan to attack Iran'.(DailyMail).The UK and U.S. are drawing up plans to attack Iran amid growing tensions in the Middle East, it was claimed last night.Barack Obama and David Cameron are preparing for war after reports that Iran now has enough enriched uranium for four nuclear weapons.President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s hardline regime in Tehran has been linked to three assassination plots on foreign soil, according to senior officials in Whitehall.Iran has come sharply back into focus following the end of the Libya conflict.And the unrest has been inflamed by sabre-rattling from top politicians in Israel.Yesterday it was revealed that Tel Aviv had successfully test-fired a rocket capable of carrying a nuclear warhead which could strike Iran.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak are reportedly agitating for a pre-emptive attack against the Islamic stateThe UK would be likely to agree to any U.S. decision to invade, even though the Ministry of Defence are stretched to breaking point by swingeing budget cuts and wars in Afghanistan and Libya.An MoD spokesman said: ‘The British government believes that a dual track strategy of pressure and engagement is the best approach to address the threat from Iran’s nuclear programme and avoid regional conflict. ‘We want a negotiated solution – but all options should be kept on the table.’A special unit at the MoD has been instructed to work out the UK's strategy if the Army should invade Iran.War planners will look at potential deployments of Royal Navy ships and submarines equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles and RAF fighter jets armed with precision-guided Paveway IV and Brimstone bombs and missiles, surveillance planes and air-to-air refuelling.Senior Whitehall figures have expressed alarm that Iran appeared ‘newly aggressive – and we are not quite sure why’. Western intelligence has also suggested that Iran is hiding the material for a covert nuclear weapons programme in fortified bunkers which cannot be reached by conventional missiles.Barack Obama is understood to have no wish to attack Iran in the run-up to the White House elections next year. But Washington may be pressured by Israel if Iran’s nuclear programme is not curtailed.Mr Netanyahu is apparently also lobbying Cabinet members for a military strike, despite the likelihood it would draw a retaliation from Iran.But a report by the UN's nuclear watchdog due to be published next week will provide fresh evidence of Iran's activity, bringing the Middle East a step closer to another devastating conflict.It is the latest of a series of quarterly bulletins on Iran's arms programme, but will contain an unprecedented level of detail on research and experiments carried out in recent years.It comes as a draft report revealed China is continuing to provide advanced missiles and other conventional arms to Iran, in violation of UN sanctions against the regime.The report, from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, revealed China sold $312million of arms to Iran, second only to Russia.It also noted that after Russia began cutting back arms transfers to Iran in 2008, China became the largest arms supplier to the Iranian military.Most of the weapons transfers involved sales of Chinese anti-ship cruise missiles, including C-802 missiles that China promised the U.S. in 1997 would not be exported to Iran.The report says: 'Because of the relatively short range of these missiles, China's provision of them to Iran does not violate the Iran, North Korea and Syria Non-proliferation Act of 2006, which seeks to prevent the transfer of only those missiles that can carry a 500kg warhead more than 300km.'It is possible, however, that these transactions violate the Iran Freedom Support Act, or the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2010, which both use the ambiguous term "advanced conventional weapons."Read the full story here.

• Mass drill held in central Israel.(YNet).Home Front Command held a rocket attack simulation in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area on Thursday morning. The security and rescue forces took part in the exercise, which concentrated mainly in the city of Holon. Roads were not be closed for the purpose of the drill, and the public's participation was not be required. Participating in the drill were NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) units and national reserves forces especially called up for the exercise. The Holon City Council, Edith Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Magen David Adom emergency services, firefighters and police forces also joined in. A siren sounded at 10:05 am across the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, including in Holon, Bat Yam, Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv, Giv'atayim, Giv'at Shmuel, Bnei Brak, Kiryat Ono, Ganei Tikva, Savyon, Yehud and Or Yehuda. The siren might have also been heard in Ramat HaSharon, Petah Tikva, Gat Rimon, Kfar Ma'as, Be'erot Yitzhak, Beit Dagan, and Rishon Lezion. During the drill, Israeli forces simulated a mass casualty event in which some 400 citizens and soldiers were injured by rocket attacks, including chemical warheads, and evacuated to Wolfson Hospital.On Wednesday, the defense establishment tested its ballistic missile propulsion system out of the Palmachim Airbase, and Home front Command conducted a drill that simulated rocket attacks. Also on Wednesday, Iran's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Hassan Fairouz Abadi responded to the alleged Israeli threat, warning that Tehran would retaliate with a "surprising punishment" if Israel decided to pursue such a "mistake."  Hmmmm.........Keeping the 'ennemy' on alert could go both ways - they get tired of the 'false alerts'or they get good at reacting to alerts and you're in deep SHIITE'. Read the full story here.

• US House panel okays legislation to sanction Iran's central bank.(JPost).Washington - A US congressional committee approved tougher sanctions on Iran on Wednesday, hitting out at Tehran's central bank following an alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington.The bipartisan legislation has good prospects for clearing the House of Representatives in the near future. In the Senate, lawmakers in both parties are working on similar legislation, increasing the likelihood that some version will become law."I hope we can ... have these bills on the president's desk in time to hand the Iranian regime a nice holiday present," said Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a sponsor of the House bill.The legislation requires the US president to impose sanctions on Iran's central bank if he determines it is facilitating terrorism or the development of nuclear weapons, or supporting Iran's elite military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."I believe the central bank of Iran is not only engaging in those activities; I believe it is the ultimate engine of those activities," said the author of the central bank provision, Representative Howard Berman, a Democrat.The sanctions would effectively block from the US economy any foreign bank involved in significant transactions with Iran's central bank. The legislation was approved by the House panel on a voice vote.It would extend and tighten existing US sanctions on Iran's energy and banking sectors that were approved by Congress last year as part of Washington's efforts to deter Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The British government said on Wednesday that it is keeping its options open in relation to military action against Iran."We want a negotiated solution - but all options should be kept on the table," a Foreign Office spokesperson said on Wednesday."The British government believes that the dual track strategy of pressure and engagement is the best approach to address the threat from Iran's nuclear program and avoid regional conflict."Read the full story here.

• FreedomWaves flotilla en route to Gaza.(BikyaMasr).Cairo: A surprising quest to challenge Israeli blockade of Gaza was launched on Wednesday, taking both international press and authorities by surprise.Two international ships left the Turkish harbor and have now reached international waters, sailing towards Gaza.The event was kept a secret from press until the ships had reached international waters.Activists told BikyMasr.com that they had kept a low profile to avoid subjecting the event to sanctions or sabotage prior to setting sail.A number of ships are still at shore in Turkey waiting to take off, but two ships have successfully reached international waters: The Irish Saoirse (Freedom) and the Canadian Tahrir (Liberation).The ships are bringing considerable amounts of medicine to the isolated coastal enclave, the future use of which has been closely coordinated with medics and clinics in Gaza.On board these ships are 27 activists from 9 countries, including America, Canada, Denmark, Belgium, Germany and Australia and Palestine.“By reaching Palestinians through their own port, the flotilla defies the dehumanization of a whole population and supports the continuing efforts of the people of Gaza to assert their dignity. The Palestinians will accept nothing less than a total end to the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza and all forms of violence and discrimination against them,” organizer Huweida Arraf explained on Wednesday.‘Freedom Waves for Gaza’ is the 11th attempt by international activists to deliver humanitarian aid through the Israeli blockade of Gaza since 2008.Though these new ships also boarded Wednesday from Fethiye, Turkey, organizers stress that the event has no connection to the Turkish government.Organizer Huwaida Arraf, chair of the Free Gaza movement, said that “because Freedom Flotilla 1 was mostly an international effort, and because with the Mavi Marmara Turkish people were killed, it became mainly a Turkish thing … which detracted from the fact that it really was an international effort. So this time we want to show that it’s not just Turkey, it’s an international effort.”This time around no Turkish citizens are on the ships.As the ships hit international waters, Palestinian youth activists were planning to parade a large wooden model of the aid boats through the streets of Ramallah. They plan to have a demonstration outside of the UN office in Ramallah on Thursday, demanding that the UN end its compliance with the Israeli blockade and protect the humanitarian mission.The Israeli Navy tracked the two ships on Wednesday night and estimated that the ships would dock in Gaza between Thursday night and early Friday morning.A senior defense official said Wednesday that “in any case, we will not let them (the ships, red.) reach Gaza. The naval blockade is legal and was even recently approved by the Palmer committee. This is an incident that is intended mainly to draw media attention,” he said.“The Israeli Navy has completed the necessary preparations in order to prevent them from reaching the (Gaza) Strip,” said Lt.-Col. Avital Leibovich, an Israeli army spokeswoman, on Twitter.Authorities are “fully prepared to guard the safety of Israel and its maritime border,” she added.The Israeli Navy will offer the ships to dock and unload equipment at the port in Ashdod or in an Egyptian port.Read the full story here.Track the location of the #FreedomWaves flotilla here.

• Mohamed Elibiary -Why Mr. Obama, why?(DocsTalk).In "Big Sis gives Muslim Brotherhood secret clearance" in WND, November 1, Pamela Geller discusses the alleged security breach by moderate Muslim flavor-of-the-month Mohamed Elibiary -- which I examined here: Homeland Security is on the hot seat. Back in October 2010, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano named the devout Muslim Mohamed Elibiary to the Homeland Security Advisory Council. The Texas Department of Public Safety now says that Elibiary may have been allowed to gain access to a highly sensitive database of intelligence reports, and then allegedly shopped some of the material he found in that database to a media outlet for a story about "Islamophobia" in the Public Safety Department. Who else is the devout Elibiary shopping sensitive intel to? Mohamed Elibiary was one of the speakers at a December 2004 conference in Dallas entitled "A Tribute to the Great Islamic Visionary," that is, the Ayatollah Khomeini, leader of Iran and the violent Muslim global revolution to install a universal Islamic government. When Rod Dreher of the Dallas Morning News challenged him about his appearance at this conference, Elibiary threatened Dreher, writing: "Expect someone to put a banana in your exhaust pipe." I warned about Elibiary's appointment back in 2010.It is bad enough that Napolitano appointed Elibiary to the Homeland Security Advisory Council in the first place, but it gets even worse. When questioned last week by Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, at the U.S. Immigration and Enforcement hearings, Big Sis, Janet Napolitano (with the most disturbing hairdo and hair color that I have ever seen), admitted that she has been giving secret clearance to Muslim Brotherhood-tied operatives here in the U.S.It was jaw-dropping testimony. Looking like a character in a John Waters film, Janet Napolitano is either clueless or complicit, or outright lying to cover for her Muslim Brotherhood appointments. Napolitano denies being aware of a Muslim Brotherhood-tied operative whom she swore in.Rep. Gohmert does a spectacular job pressing Napolitano on her knowledge of the story of Mohamed Elibiary. Gohmert asked if she was aware of Elibiary's activities, and she said she was not. The congressman then further pressed Napolitano on her knowledge of Elibiary's support for the Ayatollah Khomeini. Again she feigned concern and professed ignorance.This is the head of the Department of Homeland Security claiming ignorance about an important manifestation of the most dangerous threat to the homeland, the global jihad and Islamic imperialism and expansion. All of her answers indicate that she is being led by her not inconsequential nose by those who seek in their own words to work toward "eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house."Gohmert asked her if Elibiary's case concerned her at all and … she didn't answer.In his final question, Rep. Gohmert asked Napolitano if they needed to appoint somebody to investigate Elibiary's spying and shopping the intel around (who knows who else Mohamed Elibiary shared this top secret info with?), and she said she would "look into it."Trust me, Rep. Gohmert, she will never investigate; please appoint an investigator. Big Sis is part of the problem.Napolitano has stacked her "Countering Violent Extemism" program with Muslim Brotherhood-tied operatives. They have so twisted and won the narrative that the strategy of Islamic terrorism has been reduced to the status of local crime (violent, yes, but local crime, nonetheless). Read this claptrap. The president of the Muslim Brotherhood-tied Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Mohamed Magid, is a member of her "Countering Violent Extremism" working group and is given secret clearance. ISNA has admitted its Hamas ties. (And remember, Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza.)Elibiary is not alone; nor is Magid. Other stealth jihad appointments at Obama's Department of Homeland Security include Kareem Shora, leader of an Arab group that hailed jihadists, and Arif Alikhan. These appointments were obvious attempts to show the Muslims of the U.S. that anti-terror efforts were not anti-Islam or anti-Muslim. Shora and Alikhan would stand as moderate Muslims within the DHS, living illustrations of the iron dogma that all Muslims aside from a tiny minority were loyal Americans who abhorred Osama bin Laden and everything he stood for.But when he made the appointment, Obama seemed not to care that as deputy mayor of Los Angeles, Alikhan (who has referred to the jihad terrorist group Hezbollah as a "liberation movement") had blocked an effort by the Los Angeles Police Department to gather information about the ethnic makeup of area mosques. This was not an effort to conduct surveillance of Los Angeles mosques, or wiretap them. L.A.'s eeputy police chief, Michael P. Downing, said: "We want to know where the Pakistanis, Iranians and Chechens are so we can reach out to those communities." But Muslim leaders cried racism, discrimination and "Islamophobia" until the LAPD dropped the plan. And Arif Alikhan spearheaded the drive against this initiative.It's to laugh, it's to cry. I-N-F-I-L-T-R-A-T-I-O-N.Hmmmm........."I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes." ~ Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776.Read the full story here.

• Voices of Palestine: Yasser Ghalban.(DocsTalk).By Frank Crimi. Editor’s note: Below is the second profile of Frontpage’s new series, “Voices of Palestine,” which will illuminate the core beliefs, in their own words, of leading figures in the Palestinian death cult. Click the following to view the profiles of Ahmad Bahr, Mahmoud al-Zahar and Ibrahim Mudayris.While Hamas has been dedicated since its founding to the annihilation of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state, it has never lost sight of its larger goal: the creation of an Islamic caliphate that runs across the entire globe.As Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar once said, Hamas won’t stop its resistance “until the Islamic flag is raised, not only over the minarets of Jerusalem, but over the whole universe.” Sharing in Hamas’s Islamist vision is a host of like-minded Islamic terror and militant groups, including al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and the Muslim Brotherhood​. While Hamas and its Islamist compatriots have yet to achieve the completion of their ultimate dream, some have predicted it is only a matter of time. One such person was Yasser Ghalban, a top Hamas leader who shortly before his death in 2006 predicted the West’s demise, a prognostication that in many ways is on track.Yasser Ghalban was a field commander in the Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Since its founding in 1992, the Al-Qassam Brigades have been behind a litany of suicide bombings and rocket attacks against Israeli military and civilian targets.On June 16, 2006, Ghalban, along with his brother and cousin, were killed in an ambush in the Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis by members of the Preventive Security Service “Death Squad,” a rival Palestinian faction. The “death squads,” according to Hamas, were being run by Fatah in the West Bank and Gaza with the aim of assassinating Hamas leaders and activists.A week after Ghalban’s death, Hamas released a series of tribute videos to the slain terrorist. The central theme of those videos was that the liquidation of Jews in Israel by jihad would pave the way for Islam to rule the world. One video starred Ghalban himself, in which he declaimed his own particular vision of how that jihad would unfold. He said: "We will rule the nations, by Allah’s will, the U.S.A. will be conquered, Israel will be conquered, Rome and Britain will be conquered … The Jihad for Allah … is the way of Truth and the way for salvation and the way which will lead us to crush the Jews and expel them from our country, Palestine. Just as the Jews ran from Gaza, the Americans will run from Iraq and Afghanistan and the Russians will run from Chechnya, and the Indian will run from Kashmir, and our children will be released from Guantanamo. The prisoners will be released by Allah’s will, not by peaceful means and not by agreements, but they will be released by the sword, they will be released by the gun."If Ghalban were alive today, he would be pleased with many developments in the region and beyond. For example, in December 2011 the United States is scheduled to pullout all its troops from Iraq, leaving behind a country still racked with sectarian violence and a government seemingly committed to an alliance with the Islamist republic of Iran.In Afghanistan, American and NATO coalition forces are scheduled to withdraw by the end of 2014, despite the fact that a weak and corrupt Afghan government shows no signs of being able to fend off both the Taliban and al-Qaeda.Since 2002 over 500 of Guantanamo Bay’s prisoners have been voluntarily released, with a reported 87 having gone back to join the jihad. Moreover, Attorney General Eric Holder has recently said that the Obama administration is still committed to its efforts to close the detention facility “as quickly as possible.”Finally, increased Muslim immigration to the United States and Europe have produced swells of Muslim communities that are highly resistant to assimilating into their newfound homes, the result being an explosion of Sharia-controlled communities and courts.Hmmmm........"I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."Read the full story here.

• Cyprus Condemns Turkish Violations of Human Rights at UN.(FAG).Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the UN Ambassador Minas Hadjimichael condemned Turkey’s violations of human rights in Cyprus, while speaking Wednesday to the Third Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations. According to an official announcement, Hadjimichael said in his speech that Turkey has violated in 1974 basic human rights and fundamental freedoms, in addition to violating Cyprus’ independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.As Hadjimichael noted, in relation to its population, Cyprus has the highest percentage of displaced persons in the world.The Permanent Representative added that since 1974, the UN has adopted a series of important resolutions, calling on Turkey to respect its obligations under international law.Instead, he said, Turkey continues to commit mass violations of human rights in Cyprus, by violently maintaining the division of people and of territory and by having displaced almost one third of the population, as well as by illegally exploiting Greek Cypriot properties.Moreover, Hadjimichael also referred to the continuous grief of families of missing people, whose fate cannot be established due to Turkey’s refusal to provide information, as well as to the continuation of the illegal settlement of the Turkish-occupied territories, with the transfer of more than 160,000 people from Turkey. Finally, the Ambassador also noted the ongoing destruction of cultural and religious heritage in the northern part of Cyprus.All these violations, he said, have been condemned constantly in a series of UN resolutions, as well as in decisions issued by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). He referred to the recent report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay and added that according to ECHR, Turkey violates 14 articles of the European Convention of Human Rights.On the issue of altering the island’s demographic composition, by continuously transferring settlers from Turkey, Hadjimichael noted that this affects the settlement of the Cyprus problem and it constitutes a blatant violation of the Geneva Convention and a war crime under the Statute of the International Criminal Court.He said that the Turkish Prime Minister Recep tayyip Erdogan, while on an illegal visit in occupied Cyprus last July, referred to this policy of population transfer from mainland Turkey, warning the Turkish Cypriot population not to oppose it.On the issue of missing persons, Hadjimichael expressed his appreciation for the work conducted by UNFICYP and the Committee on Missing Persons but underlined the lack of cooperation by Turkey, which he said is also noted by the Secretary-General himself in his report.Regarding the enclaved Greek Cypriot population that remains in the northern part of Cyprus, Hadjimichael said that they continue to face serious violations of human rights, particularly with regards to their freedom to exercise their religious rights, the right to transfer property to their rightful heirs and the right to education, which is being compromised through numerous cancellations of appointments of teachers and book censorship.On the destruction of cultural heritage, Hadjimichael said that almost 575 churches as well as other Christian monuments and cemeteries have been knowingly destroyed and desecrated, with the most recent example being the demolition of the church of Ayia Thekla last May.The Permanent Representative of Cyprus noted that the President of the Republic of Cyprus is striving for the last three years, through direct talks, to reach a solution to the Cyprus problem, based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation, in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions.A basic element for the successful conclusion of this process, he said, is the immediate termination of human rights violations in Cyprus. As he put it, the aim of the Cyprus government is the restitution and support of fundamental human rights and basic liberties, for all its citizens.He said that in order to achieve this aim, the Turkish occupation of a large part of the island of Cyprus must be terminated and UN resolutions need to be respected.This is of vital importance, not just for Cyprus, but for the credibility and the moral standing of the UN itself, Hadjimichael concluded.Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third.Peace talks are currently underway to find a negotiated settlement that will reunite the country, under a federal roof.Read the full story here.

• Spanish Churches Threatened With Fines Because Bell-Ringing Disturbs Immigrants.(IVE).Spanish churches are being threatened with fines because the sound of their bells disturbs 'neighbours'. The threats are being made by Catalan nationalist mayors acting in response to complaints made by "immigrants". After a protest held by these "immigrants" in Las Garrigàs, a representative of the local authority assured them that the bell of the local church would be decommissioned if the priest continued to ring it each day.This seems to be yet further evidence of the bizarre Catalan Nationalist-Mohammedan alliance that seems to have been formed in parts of Catalonia.Although the article in Spanish does not further specify the character of these "immigrants", I don't think you need to be a genius to reach the obvious conclusion, particularly as Las Gallegas is part of Lérida, which is known to have been heavily colonised by Muslims, and where the mysterious dog poisoning outbreaks occurred. "We've got your dogs, now we want your bells!" seems to be the order of the day.A parish priest is collecting signatures for a petition demanding that the churches be left alone.Hmmmm....."Interfaith dialog in it's 'natural' habitat?Read the full story here.

• Remember Fukushima? It’s 'Alive'!TEPCO finds sign of fresh nuclear fission at Fukushima reactor.(Mainichi). Kyodo -- Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday it has detected signs of a recent nuclear fission in the No. 2 reactor at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant, touching on the possibility that the melted fuel inside may have gone critical temporarily.The existence of the nuclear fission by-products was confirmed later in the day, suggesting the plant's seemingly stable situation could be fragile, almost eight months after the nuclear crisis erupted in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami.The latest revelation may also affect the government's and TEPCO's plans to achieve a state of cold shutdown of the crippled Nos. 1 to 3 reactors by the end of the year, although nuclear disaster minister Goshi Hosono vowed to maintain the timeline stipulated in the road map toward the settlement of the crisis."The temperature (of the reactor) is stable and I don't think (a large-scale) criticality occurred," Hosono told reporters.Water injection to keep the No. 2 reactor cool is continuing, and the government's nuclear regulatory agency said the overall situation is "stable."Workers injected early Wednesday morning water containing about 480 kilograms of boric acid to control a possible nuclear reaction at the reactor. The utility said the reactor's temperature and pressure were basically unchanged.As for the possibility of criticality, in which nuclear fuel sustains a fission chain reaction, the utility's spokesman said such a phenomenon may have happened "temporarily or partially," but he does not think enough energy has been generated to raise the reactor's temperature and pressure.If the nuclear fission continues, the nuclear fuel could melt again.Possible evidence of a nuclear fission was found from gas collected from the No. 2 reactor's primary containment vessel Tuesday, using a new device that can extract gas from a reactor containment vessel. The device is intended to take away radioactive materials from the gas and release the cleaned gas outside.TEPCO said it has found two types of radioactive xenon that are typically generated by nuclear fission and have relatively short so-called half-lives.They are xenon-133 and xenon-135, and as their radioactivity is reduced to about half in about five days and nine hours, respectively, their existence may suggest that a small-scale criticality occurred recently, or that a nuclear fission without a chain reaction may have taken place, according to Matsumoto.The Japan Atomic Energy Agency, which has been asked by TEPCO for further analysis, confirmed xenon later Wednesday, according to the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.TEPCO took another sample of the gas inside the No. 2 reactor around noon on Wednesday and detected a small amount of xenon-135, but xenon-133 was below the detection limit.Matsumoto said the outcome came because the density of the gas inside the reactor may have been uneven.The world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years has resulted in the meltdown of nuclear fuel in the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors at the Fukushima complex. The government has also said the melted fuel may have damaged the bottom of the reactors' pressure vessels and partially accumulated in the outer primary containers.In the wake of the latest revelation, TEPCO said it believes it needs to enhance ways to regularly check the condition of the gas inside all three crippled reactors.Read the full story here.

• Japanese MP drinks Fukushima water under pressure from journalists.(Guardian).It was a simple gulp of water, but one that Japan's government hopes will carry symbolic importance as it seeks to ease concern over decontamination efforts at the scene of the country's nuclear crisis.Yasuhiro Sonoda, an MP in the governing Democratic party of Japan (DPJ), was visibly nervous as his lips met a glass of water collected from inside two reactor buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The 44-year-old had been cajoled into making the gesture by journalists who repeatedly asked him to substantiate government claims that decontamination efforts at the plant were progressing.Sonoda's hands shook as he half-filled the glass from a plastic bottle, before polishing off the water in two swift gulps. He briefly held the glass up to the cameras, as if to prove that no sleight of hand had been involved.Hmmmm.....He must have looked 'radiant'.Read the full story here.

• Electionnaire Egypt site helps users identify with a political party.(BikyaMasr).Cairo: A new website, Electionnaire Egypt, hosted by the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) was launched this week, serving as an interactive electoral questionnaire that will help users find the party that is best suited to their views for upcoming Egyptian parliamentary elections.The site is hosted in both Arabic in English, and was designed by ANHRI to serve as an interactive host made to stimulate public debate and enlighten citizens politically.“Electionnaire Egypt will not constrain any of the voters’ options. In fact, it will encourage discussions on political education in Egypt and will stimulate public debates. This project will help in filling the information gap regarding the general elections, which will be free for the first time,” said ANHRI in a statement on Wednesday.Users of the website click through a series of 29 questions determined by a roundtable of Egyptian members of civil society to help them determine their political leanings.The questions touch on pertinent Egyptian issues of women’s rights, sectarianism, labor rights, economic policies and government overhaul.“An executive body should have the right to exercise control over the media and have the authority to stop publications and revoke licenses. Do you agree?” it says, for instance, highlighting the interim ruling Military Council’s crackdown on media freedoms.The site determines how closely users can identify with 31 of the most prominent parties, based on the parties’ political leanings from July to September of 2011. It also hosts profiles of each party and platform within the context of the questions posed.Egypt’s parliamentary elections are scheduled to begin on November 28, and will take place in several phases, with upper house elections ending on March 24, 2012.The new parliament will adjourn on March 17, 2012.Read the full story here.

• Malaysia to ban Obedient Wives Club Islamic sex book.(BkyaMasr).The Malaysian government said on Thursday that it plans to ban a book by a women’s group advocating obedient sex, saying it is counter to Islamic teachings.The Obedient Wives Club advocate subservience to their husbands and have published a book calling for women to have sex with their husbands whenever they demand.The book, titled “Islamic Sex” is in Malay, but not available at local stores in the country. Many say it is read by hundreds of members of the club, a small Malaysian sect that also practices and advocates polygamy.“I am very disturbed by this kind of book, but I don’t think the government should be banning it because that only makes it more popular,” said Tina Rinbala, a Kuala Lumpur-based researcher of women’s issues. She told Bikyamasr.com that the publication is “horrific and tells women they are lesser beings, which we should fight through education, not banning.”Although the volume contains no explicit images, it does have descriptions of the 56-year-old author’s opinions and experiences of marriage.It tells readers how couples should approach sex, claiming that women in marriages only “satisfy” their husbands’ needs 10 percent of the time.Malaysian authorities have not said when they would formally ban the book, but people caught in possession of it could be fined up to 5,000 ringgit ($1,600), the official said. Anyone who makes copies of it for sale can be imprisoned for three years and fined 20,000 ringgit ($6,400).Members of the controversial club argued the book was intended to be a spiritual guide read exclusively by club members to help them comprehend sex better.Still, Rinbala disagrees and argued it perpetuates stereotypes that are not “part of Islam” and that “people should be advocating equality and certainly this will deliver better sex for couples.”Read the full story here.