"‘Queremos a catedral, não minaretes‘. Extrema-direita mobiliza-se contra a mega mesquita de Colónia" in Der Spiegel Online, 19 de Junho de 2007

The Pro Cologne citizens' initiative wants to prevent the construction of Germany's largest mosque in Cologne. The group, which held a rally in Cologne last Saturday, is drawing support from right-wing activists across Europe. It's a sunny Saturday in the German city of Cologne and the Ehrenfeld district is witnessing a showdown. The Social Democratic member of parliament Lale Akgün, Cologne's mayor Elfi Scho-Antwerpes and Mehmet Yildirim, the general secretary of the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB), are standing next to a Shell gas station. They are holding red roses and flyers featuring Cologne's famous cathedral, a synagogue and a drawing of a mosque. Fifty meters (164 feet) away, about 150 demonstrators from the citizens' initiative Pro Cologne (Pro Köln) stand waiting. They have assembled on the other side of Venloer Street, not far from the premises where DITIB currently operates a mosque on the site of a former factory and where a new, larger mosque with a dome and minarets is to be built soon. That's what Cologne's politicians have decided, in any case -- all political parties voted in favor of the project. Only Pro Cologne stands opposed. A man in a black suit flits past Scho-Antwerpes. "That's someone from Pro Cologne," the mayor mumbles. "Unfortunately he always says hello to me. It's terrible."She doesn't want to have anything to do with the citizens' initiative, which is under observation from the North Rhine-Westphalia branch of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, because its "generalizing and sweeping defamation of foreigners is suspected of violating human dignity." The citizens' initiative, which is listed as a far-right organization in the Office for the Protection of the Constitution's annual report, has held five seats in Cologne's city council since 2004.

At this rally, Pro Cologne has recruited help from the far-right fringe of the political spectrum in Austria and Belgium: the leader of Austria's populist right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ) Heinz-Christian Strache, and Bart Debie from the extreme right Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) party in Antwerp. Standing behind the police barriers are Pro Cologne members with very short hair, salon-tanned faces and white armbands designating them as security personnel provided by the organizers of the rally. Several dozen citizens wait for their prominent visitors, armed with German flags and wooden crosses. A few adolescents with Iron Cross necklaces and Pitbull sweatshirts have joined the throng. Asked why they are here, they decline to reply. Others, however, are more than happy to air their views. Pro Cologne's Bernd Schöppe sees the construction of the mosque as "one more step towards the Islamization of Europe." Fellow demonstrator Thomas Bendt also believes the mosque is intended as a symbol of Muslim fundamentalist power. The mosque won't act openly, he believes. "If men and women are going to pray separately in the new mosque, that's not the kind of freedom we want," he says. A woman who prefers to remain anonymous even believes that once the Muslim community has grown sufficiently large, it will attack Cologne's cathedral. She wants to feel at home somewhere, she says, without feeling she is in a foreign city.

'We Want the Cathedral Here, not Minarets'
Ehrenfeld residents watch the activities on the street from their balconies above the demonstration area, which has been closed off by the police. The residents have suspended signs that read "Red Card for Racists." Left-wing counter-demonstrators from an anti-fascist group bellow "Nazis out!" Suddenly the anti-mosque demonstrators grow restless. Smoke rises in the air shortly before Strache, the Freedom Party leader, reaches the rally and walks with swift steps through the crowd of Pro-Cologne sympathizers. The police suspects a smoke bomb at first, but cannot clarify where the smoke is coming from. Round signs showing a red line across a stylized mosque are unpacked, and loud classical music is heard from within the Pro Cologne ranks. The protesters begin marching. Those at the front of the silent march carry a large banner featuring a quote from German writer Ralph Giordano: "There is no fundamental right to the construction of a large mosque." The Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor Giordano has sharply criticized the construction of the mosque - and now the right-wingers have co-opted him for their cause. Giordano, however, is vigorously resisting Pro Cologne's efforts to enlist him for their cause. He has dubbed the right-wing citizens' initiative the "local variety of Nazism."

"We want the cathedral here, not minarets."
Roughly 1,000 policemen are out in force, and the situation remains mostly calm. Later, it transpires that other right-wing demonstrators organized their own "spontaneous" demonstration. The demonstration was broken up and about 100 people were taken into custody, according to a police spokesman. In contrast, several hundred citizens followed the call from trade unions, political parties and associations to rally in favor of the construction of the mosque. "Freedom of religion means that Muslims are allowed to build a representative mosque in Cologne," says Wolfgang Uellenberg van Dawen, the leader of the Cologne branch of the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB). But a different tune can be heard in front of Ehrenfeld's local town hall, where Strache is giving a speech. "We want the cathedral here, not minarets," he shouts, adding that "the left-wing counter-demonstrators live off our welfare contributions." Björn Clemens, a Pro Cologne sympathizer from Düsseldorf, also makes his views clear. "Whoever believes himself to be in the grip of Islam should go back to his home country," he shouts. "Pack your bags and go home."

Fear and Loathing
The domed structure, which is to have two 55-meter (180-foot) minarets, will be Germany's largest mosque, with room for about 2,000 believers to pray in. Ever since Giordano has made his views on the mosque public, the issue has been attracting attention in Germany's national media. Most recently, Cologne-based writer Dieter Wellershof weighed up the arguments on both sides in an article entitled "What Does The Mosque Stand For?" published in the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Many citizens who feel skeptical about the mosque, but who don't want to have anything to do with Pro Cologne, seem to be asking themselves the same question. The feeling of fear and uncertainty has increased among the local population, says one Ehrenfeld resident, who is herself in favor of the mosque. But Pro Cologne is inciting people to hatred, she adds. "And yet people in Cologne aren't like that. They want to live in a multi-cultural city." "I feel afraid," confesses one elderly woman with carefully curled hair. "I'm not sure exactly what of - probably the right-wingers most of all." She says she is not opposed to the Muslims receiving a new mosque, but adds that, as a local resident, she is concerned about the "traffic problems" that would result. "I'm just afraid of fundamentalist Muslims gaining more and more ground," says one female shop assistant. But it's hardly possible to voice this fear because of the risk of immediately being labeled right-wing, she says. "I think Pro Cologne is horrible," she adds. Only the two extremes, "the young, far-left demonstrators and the right-wingers from Pro Cologne," are attracting attention, and that's sad, she says. "It's like an absurd carnival," she says.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,489257,00.html
JPTF 20/06/2007

"A honra ‘justifica‘ ataque suicida contra Salman Rushdie" in Telegraph 19 de Junho de 2007

Sir Salman Rushdie, the author, was facing fresh threats to his life yesterday following his knighthood. A senior minister in the Pakistani government said that the decision was a justification for suicide bombing, after the parliament in Islamabad condemned the honour as "blasphemous and insulting" to the world's Muslims. As Pakistani MPs issued a demand for the award to be immediately withdrawn, the religious affairs minister, Mohammad Ejaz-ul-Haq, said: "The West always wonders about the root cause of terrorism. Such actions [giving Sir Salman a knighthood] are the root cause of it. "If someone commits suicide bombing to protect the honour of the Prophet Mohammad, his act is justified." The parliament passed a unanimous resolution deploring the honour as an open insult to the feelings of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims. Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, the minister for parliamentary affairs who tabled the motion, said that the knighthood was "a source of hurt for Muslims" and would encourage people to "commit blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad". Mr ul-Haq then called on Pakistan and all other Muslim states to "break off diplomatic relations with Britain" if the knighthood was not withdrawn. The minister was later forced to clarify his potentially highly inflammatory statement, saying that he was speaking about the wider causes of terrorism and not of Sir Salman specifically. Pakistan's condemnation came after Iran expressed similar sentiments at the weekend and will again raise concerns for Sir Salman's safety almost 20 years after the publication of The Satanic Verses. Pakistan's religious parties ordered supporters on to the streets of two provincial cites yesterday. Effigies of both the Queen and Sir Salman were burned while some protesters chanted "Kill him! Kill him!" Sir Salman, 59, who said he was "thrilled" to be knighted, was forced to live in hiding for nine years after Iran's late spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill him for allegedly insulting Islam's holy Prophet in The Satanic Verses. It was not until 1998, when the Iranian government said that it would not support the outstanding fatwa, that the author took the decision to return to public life. Last night British officials were waiting nervously for further reaction to the award at a time when Pakistani society is becoming increasingly radicalised. At the Multan protest, Asim Dahr, a student leader from the group Jamiat Turaba Arabia said that Sir Salman should face Islamic justice. "This Queen has made a mockery of Muslims by giving him a title of 'sir'. Salman Rushdie was condemned by Imam Khomeni and he issued a decree about his death. He should be handed over to the Muslims so they can try him according to Islamic laws." Robert Brinkley, Britain's High Commissioner to Pakistan, said: "It is simply untrue to suggest that this in any way is an insult to Islam or the Prophet Mohammed, and we have enormous respect for Islam as a religion and for its intellectual and cultural achievements." However, the Muslim peer, Labour's Lord Ahmed, told BBC Radio 4's PM that he was "appalled" to hear of a knighthood for "a man who has not only been abusive to Muslims, but also to Christians".
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=2HH4IZMPU21T3QFIQMGSFF4AVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2007/06/19/wrushdie119.xml
JPTF 2007/06/19

“Milhares de Igrejas vão fechar nos próximos anos Reino Unido” in Times, 15 de Fevereiro de 2007

Thousands of churches face closure, demolition or conversion in the next decade with experts warning of the imminent demise of some branches of the Christian religion in Europe. In some parts of the country, the closing churches are even being turned into centres of worship for other faiths. A disused Methodist chapel in Clitheroe on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, is the latest, just granted planning permission to become a mosque for the town’s 300 Muslims. There are more than 47,000 churches in Britain today. More than seven out of ten of the population, 42 million people, count themselves Christian. It sounds a lot. But behind the figures lies a story of apparently irreversible decline in the country’s established religion. Where Christianity is growing, on the Pentecostal and evangelical wings, worshippers often prefer modern, functional warehouse-style buildings to the traditional neo-Gothic landscape of British ecclesiastical architecture.

Just one-tenth of the nation’s Christians actually goes to Church, a trend that is seeing churches are closing at a rate even faster than new mosques are opening. Latest figures show that practising Muslims will in a few decades outnumber practising Christians if current trends continue.

A generation ago, the churches in Britain seemed unassailable. Although the first mosques in Britain opened at the end of the 19th century, by 1961 there were just seven mosques, three Sikh and one Hindu temple in England and Wales. This compared with nearly 55,000 Christian churches. Sometimes, with denominations such as the Methodists split into three different types, there could be as many as seven or eight churches in one small town to cater for all the Catholics, Anglicans and different groups of Protestants.

By 2005, churches had plummeted 47,600. According to latest data from the organisation Christian Research, another 4,000 will go in the next 15 years.

In the Church of England alone, still with 16,000 churches on its book, 1,700 churches have been made redundant since 1969 when the Pastoral Measure enabling this process came into effect, although the Church is anxious to emphasise that more than 500 have also opened during that time. The new Fresh Expressions initiative is also having a dramatic impact, and although Sunday attendance is under one million, monthly attendance figures give the established Church 1.7 million regular worshippers. Since the 1960s however, the number of mosques now active in Britain has grown to equal almost exactly the number of Anglian churches closed in Britain. The Islamic website Salaam has 1,689 mosques in its data base.

Anglicans distressed about their church’s decline can take heart from the fact that none of these is in one of their churches. Covenants attached to redundant Anglican churches makes it almost impossible for them to be used by another faith. None have become mosques and just two have become Sikh gurdwaras. Also, the Church of England has opened more than 500 new churches since 1969.

Redundant Anglican churches tend to get turned into houses, offices or restaurants instead. In Cheltenham, 19th-century St James’ is now Zizzi’s, an Italian pizza restaurant, with an enormous pizza oven in the sanctuary.

But Methodist churches, down from 14,000 in 1932 to 6,000 at present and closing at the rate of 100 a year, are often sold with no restrictive covenant attached. Even where one is attached, it can be reversed by appeal to Methodist head office.

Inayat Bunglawala, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “In 1990, when I left had just left university, there were about 400 mosques in the UK. In the last 17 years it has gone up three-fold. Many existing mosques are also being refurbished and enlarged. In Bolton where I was born, the mosque we used to go to was a converted church.”

Belgium-based Chris Gillibrand, a regular commentator here and who campaigns against the closures of Roman Catholic churches throughout Europe on his weblog, said: “On present demographic trends, the self-destruction of European Catholicism will be complete in twenty years. Priests and laity share responsibility. In stark contrast to Muslim communities, Catholic families are smaller and the fullness of the faith has not been passed to their children, who are often lapsed.”

He continued: “It is ironic when so many churches are being transformed into cultural centres that real culture is so endangered. Living culture is much more than a half-remembered history and exhibitions of meaningless modern art, whose main purpose is often just to shock.”

According to Peter Guillery of English Heritage, the trend is not new. Brick Lane’s 18th century Huguenot church in London’s East End became a Methodist chapel in 1819. It was converted into east London’s main Orthodox Jewish synagogue from 1898 and then into a mosque in 1976, this last adaptation staving off demolition after a ten-year search for an alternative use.

Multi-faith use is growing. Art and Christianity Enquiry, a Christian arts trust, is next month planning a seminar on how many buildings in Britain are actually being shared by different faiths groups.

And pockets of Christianity are still surging ahead. London’s TA Property Consultants has more than 300 evangelical and pentecostal churches on its book, looking for premises that can accommodate congregations of 500 worshippers or more.

But overall the present growth in places of worship for other faiths is unprecedented, for new builds as well as conversions.

Oxford professor Ceri Peach has recorded how town and city planners are becoming more flexible. From demanding that temples and mosques were hidden away, behind factories or rows of trees, some are starting to allow discreet pinaccles and minarets. Others are even permitting “the bold and the magnificent”. In a recent paper for The Geographical Review, he warned: “The new cultural landscape of English cities has arrived. The homogenised, Christian landscape of state religion is in retreat.”

There is an interesting case study we looked at in Clitheroe in Lancashire. When the small Muslim community that has been settled in this small town on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales for 40 years sought permission to turn a derelict Methodist chapel in the town into a mosque, the letters page of the Clitheroe Advertiser was flooded for weeks with protests. Ribble Valley council finally approved it at the end of December, but it will be years before the battle is forgotten. In many respects, the story of this chapel’s decline as a Christian centre of worship and renaissance as a Muslim one encapsulates the difficulties facing both the Muslim and the Christian communities in Britain.

Mount Zion Methodist Chapel survived for 55 years but was closed as a church way back in 1940. It was then made over to industrial use, and the choir stalls made way for Singer sewing machines. From 1992 it was used by Lappet Manufacturing, making 40,000 high-quality headscarves a week for export to Muslims in Saudi Arabia. They moved out in 2004. Meanwhile, Clitheroe’s Muslims tried for years to establish a place of worship in the town, but never got their plans approved. At one point, the council was even criticised for maladministration by the Local Government Ombudsman for the way it reached a decision not to sell land for a mosque.

When the chapel proposals came up before the council, nearly 1,000 people signed letters objecting, compared to 429 who supported it. Members voted eight to five in favour last December.

The chapel, which will take about 18 months to restore and convert, will become a community centre as well as a mosque. Ironically, when LS Lowry painted the chapel in his picture A Street in Clitheroe, he embellished it with a few fancy pinnacles of his own. As one local told The Times: “If it was good enough for Lowry, why can’t it be good enough for us?”

Registered mosques in UK (figures from Christian Research)
2005 - 635
Projections
2010 - 685
2020 - 800
Many mosques are not registered however.
The website Salaam.co.uk has 1,689 mosques in its database.
Churches in the UK
2005 -47,635
Projections
2010 - 46,735
2020 - 43,890
Alternative uses found for the 1,696 Church of England churches made redundant since 1969 include:
Civic, cultural or community - 245
Residental - 223
Arts, crafts, music and drama - 38
Light industry, office, shopping - 62
Demolition - 374
Worship by other Christian bodies - 121 (Source: Church Commissioners)
JPTF 2007/06/18
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2007/02/thousands_of_ch.html

“Não haverá diálogo com a Fatah, apenas a espada e a espingarda” in Times 15 de Junho de 2007

Triumphant Hamas fighters are planning to celebrate their final Gaza victory with Friday prayers today in the captured administrative compound of the routed secular President.The pledge came from a leading preacher as the Islamist forces overran the last Fatah strongholds. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President and Fatah leader, declared a state of emergency last night and dissolved the Hamas-led Government. He said that he would call new elections “as soon as the situation allows”. The President cut an increasingly weak figure, however, and such orders appeared simply to acknowledge the realities of the unfolding chaos. Ismail Haniya, the Prime Minister, shrugged off his dismissal, insisting that his Government remained in place. His defiance was echoed by senior Hamas figures. “There will be no dialogue with Fatah, only the sword and the rifle,” declared Nezar Rayyan, a top Hamas leader, on the Islamist movement’s radio station as Fatah broadcasters were bombed off the air. “God willing, I will deliver the next Friday prayers sermon in the Muntada (presidential compound) and we will transform the al-Saraya security compound into a big mosque.” Within hours of that pledge, both compounds were in Hamas’s hands. Fatah leaders, fearing the fighting was about to spread to the West Bank, ordered their militias there to start arresting Hamas members, although some rank-and-file Fatah gunmen said that they would go even further and kill their rivals if they caught them. Hamas activists were being detained across the West Bank, in the towns of Jenin, Nablus, Jericho, Ramallah and Bethlehem, even as the green flags of Hamas appeared on more captured Fatah security compounds in Gaza City after heavy fighting. Mr Abbas has found his leadership skills called into question during the crisis, with Fatah fighters complaining that they had received no directions from the top. After five days of fighting, Mr Abbas finally ordered his men in Gaza to fight back yesterday, but too late. More than 110 people have been killed this week, including four children who were blown up while playing with an unexploded bomb in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. The heaviest fighting focused on the Fatah-run preventive security compound — once a British Mandate fortification inherited from the Ottoman Empire, and known as the al-Saraya building — and the military intelligence base in Gaza City. Both were pounded by mortar, rocket and machinegun fire before surrendering to the withering onslaught. “What happened today in the preventive security headquarters was the second liberation of the Gaza Strip,” Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, said. “This time it was liberated from the herds of the collaborators” with Israel, he said, referring to the common Hamas charge that Fatah has fatally compromised itself by seeking peace with the Jewish state, something the Islamists refuse to do. “Last time, it was liberated from the herds of the settlers” during the Israeli pullout of 2005. Hamas called for Fatah fighters to surrender, assuring them that they would not be harmed as long as they had not “collaborated” with Israel. “We are very close to you, closer than you know. Put down your arms and come out,” Hamas radio stations said.About 100 Fatah fighters fled to Egypt yesterday. There was growing concern both in Israel and the US at the level of violence and the prospect of a new Islamist state wedged under Israel’s southern border. “It has to be defined as a hostile and dangerous entity and be treated as such, because it is,” said Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli defence official. Washington also expressed its concern at the prospect of an outright Hamas victory. “It’s obviously a source of profound concern,” Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, said. Israel sealed the border it controls all around Gaza, wary that the firing would wash up on its doorstep. The Fatah police commander at the Erez crossing point on the northern border yesterday sent his men home without uniforms or weapons, after their relief shift simply failed to materialise. On the Israeli side a border guard confirmed that his Fatah counterparts were still nominally in control of the Palestinian section of the border. Asked what would happen if Hamas showed up on the other side, he shrugged and said: “I don’t know, maybe there will be war.” In the nearby Israeli town of Sderot, which has borne the brunt of Hamas missile attacks in recent months, the prospect of the Islamist movement forming a state so close was met with grim resignation. “That means things will be very difficult for us, it will get worse,” said Shula Almog, a librarian in Sderot.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article1935047.ece
JPTF 2007/06/15

“A China coloca a economia à frente do ambiente” in BBC News, 4 de Junho de 2007

The remarks come in China's first national plan on climate change. It says that China will cut greenhouse gas emissions by using more wind, nuclear and hydro power, and by making coal-fired plants more efficient. The plan has been released as China's President Hu Jintao prepares to attend a G8 meeting in Germany, where climate change will be high on the agenda. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a new United Nations' protocol on climate change. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has told the BBC that rich countries must agree firm targets to reduce emissions.

No firm targets
"The first and overriding priorities of developing countries are sustainable development and poverty eradication," says the Chinese plan. "China will continue to actively tackle climate change issues in accordance with its national sustainable development strategy in the future." It is estimated that some 200 million Chinese are either unemployed or under-employed. In explaining the plan, the chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, Ma Kai, said rich counties who have already industrialised would instead have to do more to tackle climate change. Mr Ma said they were responsible for most of the greenhouse gases produced over the past century and had the money to tack the problem. Mandatory emission caps "would hinder the development of developing countries and hamper their industrialisation", he added. The BBC's Quentin Somerville in Beijing says China's environmental record is a poor one. It is already the world's second largest emitter of carbon dioxide and is expected to overtake the US later this year. Beijing has already said it wants to reduce energy use by a fifth by 2010, deal with heavily polluting factories, and increase the amount of renewable energy it produces. They are a strong declaration of intentions, but so far China has missed almost every environmental target it has set itself, our correspondent says.

Summit
The Chinese plan is likely to come under discussion at the G8 summit, with Germany calling for tougher emissions levels, while the US has stressed technological innovation as a key to tackle global warming. US President George W Bush has proposed uniting a group of big emitters who would set non-binding targets by the end of next year. But some analysts say this has been interpreted as a way of undercutting other initiatives - for example by the G8 or United Nations. Meanwhile Australia - the only other major economic power apart from US not to have signed up to the Kyoto Protocol - has promised to set up a carbon trading scheme to cut pollution. Prime Minister John Howard said he would set a target next year for limiting greenhouse gas emissions and also pledged to put in place a carbon trading scheme by 2012. He promised that Australia's carbon trading scheme would be better than those in place in Europe.

'Tragic'
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the leaders of the world's richest countries to agree firm targets in cutting polluting emissions. In a BBC interview, Mr Ban said it was now up to the richest countries to show leadership when they meet in Germany. "It will be tragic if we don't take any action," he said. "My main message is that to galvanise this political will at the leaders level so that we can take necessary action." The UN secretary-general has made tackling climate change one of his top priorities and called for a meeting of world leaders on the subject in September. He wants the UN to be in the lead when it comes to agreeing what should replace the Kyoto Protocol, the current agreement curbing greenhouse gases, when it expires in 2012.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6717671.stm
JPTF 4/06/2007

“As emissões de CO2 aumentaram três vezes mais rápido do que o esperado” in Telegraph, 4 de Junho de 2007

Global emissions of carbon dioxide are increasing three times faster than scientists previously thought, with the bulk of the rise coming from developing countries, an authoritative study has found. People wait to collect water after a drought hit part of south west China. The impact of global warming is clearer each day. The increase in emissions of the gases responsible for global warming suggests that the effects of climate change to come in this century could be even worse than United Nations scientists have predicted. The report, by leading universities and institutes on both sides of the Atlantic, will create renewed pressure on G8 leaders who are meeting this week in Heiligendamm, on Germany's Baltic coast. Top of the agenda are proposals by Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, to halve global emissions by 2050. There were violent clashes at the weekend in the nearby city of Rostock between police and protesters during a march by tens of thousands demonstrating about the summit. The latest study was written by scientists from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States, the University of East Anglia and the British Antarctic Survey, as well as institutes in France and Australia. It shows that carbon dioxide emissions have been increasing by three per cent a year this decade, compared to a 1.1 per cent a year rise in the 1990s. Three quarters of this rise came from developing countries, with a particularly rapid increase in China. The rise is much faster than even the most fossil-fuel intensive scenario developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) during the 1990s. It suggests that IPCC reports this year predicting reduced harvests, dwindling water supplies, melting glaciers and the loss of species may actually be understated. It also comes after the International Energy Agency warned recently that China was likely to overtake the United States as the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases by 2010, rather than a decade later as previously assumed. Both China and India are resisting any move that could curb their growth. Meanwhile, President George W Bush indicated last week that he did not favour the European Union's proposed approach of trying to limit the temperature rise to below two degrees centigrade. He still opposes the use of "cap and trade" financial mechanisms, which Europeans believe are the only way of transferring clean technologies to the developing world. However, he has indicated a willingness to "lead" talks to devise a post-Kyoto treaty that would include the world's top 15 polluters by the time he leaves office in early 2009. A report by leading aid charities, including Oxfam and Christian Aid, will say today that between one billion and four billion people are likely to suffer from drought and 250 million run short of food if average temperatures rise by more than two degrees. Antonio Hill, of Oxfam, said: "G8 counties face two obligations in this year's summit - to keep global warming below two degrees and to start helping poor countries to cope with harm already caused."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=QEXCIR53CAY4BQFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/06/04/neco04.xml
JPTF 2007/06/04

“Independência do Kosovo: Rússia prepara-se para dizer não” in The Economist, 1 de Junho de 2007

Increasingly it is clear that Russia is poised to block Western plans to push through the UN a plan to grant independence to Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province. This poses a big dilemma for the EU which unlike the US cannot just walk away from the issue and which, not least because of its own miscalculations, is facing the prospect of yet another Balkan crisis. Kosovo is formally still a part of Serbia but has been run as a UN protectorate since 1999. The plan of the UN envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, for the province's final status, supported by the US and main EU states explicitly recommends putting Kosovo on the road to independence. Kosovo is to have all the main attributes of an independent state, even during a transitional period of continued international (EU) supervision that is meant also to guarantee minority rights. It would be allowed to seek admission to international organisations, have its own security and defence forces, central bank, government, constitution and other trappings of statehood. Unsurprisingly, the Ahtisaari plan has been rejected by Serbia and accepted by the Kosovo Albanians. For the latter, the prospect of continued, transitional international tutelage is seen as a small price to pay for the attainment of independence, which in time would become complete.

Security Council focus
The Ahtisaari Proposal forms the basis of a Western draft UN Security Council resolution overturning Resolution 1244 from 1999, which preserved formal Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo. However, Russia's long-standing opposition to an imposed settlement has steadily hardened in recent months, with threats of a possible veto in the Security Council becoming ever more explicit in statements by Russian officials. The strategy of the US and other supporters of Kosovo independence has been to first achieve maximum possible unity in support of the plan among Western nations and within the UN, and then to isolate Russia and to ratchet up the pressure on Moscow to back the plan, or at least not veto it. The strategy has largely succeeded in achieving broad EU acquiescence despite reservations among some member states (many of which have their own actual or potential secessionist movements). EU divisions still exist, but Kosovo has been taken off the agenda of recent EU meetings to give a show of unity and help increase the pressure on Russia. The necessary support of at least nine members of the Security Council has also been secured, after several waverers—uncomfortable with dismembering a UN member state—have been persuaded to support the plan. Of the 15 current members of the Security Council, in addition to Russia and China, only South Africa and Indonesia have yet to come on board.

Russian opposition
Russia insists that a solution must be the result of a compromise between Serbia and Kosovo, and not be imposed on one side. It has been strongly critical of the Ahtisaari plan as being one-sided and it has complained about what it sees as blackmail at the heart of the process and urgency to resolve the issue (the threat of violence in Kosovo unless it gets independence). During his much-publicised speech in Munich in February President Vladimir Putin accused the West of trying to "play God" on Kosovo. A month late Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking to the State Duma, insisted that Russia was not afraid of wielding its veto, adding "that's a matter of principle". The May 30th meeting of G8 foreign ministers underlined the depth of Russian-Western disagreement. Mr Lavrov insisted on direct Serbia-Kosovo talks before the UN considers independence, and questioned why long-running disputes such as Palestine were not being tackled first. Although in the meeting Mr Lavrov reportedly refused to give a direct answer to the question of whether Russia would veto, in the subsequent press conference he said he couldn’t conceive of the Security Council approving an independence resolution.

Vital interests
Russia's motives on Kosovo have been widely misunderstood. A frequent assumption has been that Moscow was only acting as a spoiler or using the issue as a bargaining chip to extract Western concessions on other matters. Another wrong assumption is that Russia would seek to use Kosovo independence as a precedent to secure the formal break-up of CIS states such as Georgia and Moldova (this is the exact opposite of what is in Russia's interest). Russia is a conservative power that has an interest in a UN-based order (which has been heavily eroded in recent years), whose foundation stone is respect for national sovereignty. Kosovo is seen in Moscow as yet another example of the West's selective adherence to international legality. At stake for Russia are the principles of state sovereignty and the inviolability of borders. This is a much more important consideration than support for a fellow Slavic country and historic ally, Serbia. Discomfort for Russia also stems from the fact that a change in borders will have resulted from a war that NATO waged in 1999 in the face of Russian opposition and without UN authorisation. Russia is troubled by the precedent that granting Kosovo independence would set for others with separatist aspirations in the CIS, Balkans and elsewhere. It would be the first instance since the collapse of the Soviet Union and former Yugoslavia in which a sub-republican unit became independent. Indeed leaders or spokesmen for some of the 50-odd separatist movements around the world are already drawing explicit comparisons, arguing that Kosovo will underpin their own independence aspirations. Although not primary, other factors also help explain Russia's stance. It would not be that simple for the Russian government to abandon Serbia, even if Moscow had been more circumspect in voicing its opposition to the Ahtisaari plan. Among the Russian elite there is still a sense of humiliation that Russia was not able to protect a traditional ally from NATO in 1999. The possibility of intra-Western and especially intra-EU discord if there is no new UN Resolution might be attractive to Russia, given its currently troubled relations with the West. Finally, Mr Putin might want a tangible foreign policy success to round of the final year of his presidency. Frustrating what Russia sees as yet another instance of the US seeking unilaterally to reorder world affairs might fit the bill.

What will Moscow do?
The Western powers seemed intent on pushing a Resolution based on the Ahtisaari plan (under Chapter VII provisions) through the Security Council in May or June. The realisation that Russia was prepared to use its veto, and the discomfort in particular of many EU states with the possible absence of a UN imprimatur, has caused a recent stepping back by the US and others, and a readiness to extend the timetable, perhaps until September in order to try to overcome Russian objections. It is thought that the Putin-Bush meeting at Kennebunkport, Maine, on July 1st-2nd might be the final opportunity to hammer out an agreement. It is, however, very difficult to see how a Russian-Western compromise can be cobbled together even over a more extended timeframe, given fundamental disagreement on the core issue—where sovereignty resides. Russia has circulated within the Security Council elements for an alternative Resolution, close to the Serbian position, that reaffirms Resolution 1244 (and thereby precludes Kosovo independence), takes note of some elements of the Ahtisaari Comprehensive Proposal for the governance of Kosovo and calls for further Serbian-Kosovo Albanian negotiations. This might also open the way for the EU to replace UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Kosovo is at present just one of many points of disagreement in the increasingly fractious relations between a resurgent Russia and the West. Although crude horse-trading over Kosovo is not on the agenda, this is the context in which the extremely difficult task of trying to achieve a Western-Russian compromise over Kosovo will take place in the coming weeks and probably months. Possible amendments to the Ahtisaari plan that have been mooted (a Russian official to oversee minority rights and perhaps some delays in Kosovo's independence and/or UN membership) are likely to be dismissed as window dressing and will not secure Russian agreement. For Russia to accept anything that remotely resembles the Ahtisaari plan would represent an embarrassing climb-down and loss of face. It would also imply acquiescence to the opening of a dangerous "Pandora's box", from Russia's point of view, of disputed post-communist borders.

The EU's quandary
The situation poses an immense dilemma for the EU. The US can in the end sidestep the UN process, as it has before on other issues, recognise Kosovan independence unilaterally and even pull its troops out of the province. The EU, on the other hand, cannot just walk away. To follow the US in recognising Kosovo independence, in contravention of existing UN Resolutions, would split the EU and make it very difficult to assume intended responsibilities in the province. Ignoring the UN as during the 1999 NATO intervention, does not look like a palateable option for most EU states this time around. On the other hand, to back off and effectively shelve Kosovo independence for the time being risks causing a major backlash among Kosovo Albanians, whose expectations of independence are sky-high--not least because leading EU states, and especially the European Commission, ruled out other options early on in the process. The dilemma is part of the EU’s own making and the result of miscalculation. Whereas similar intractable conflicts have defied resolution for decades, leading EU nations and the European Commission presumed that Kosovo could be resolved in a year, and that Serbian and Russian opposition could be surmounted. Some in the EU also seem to have got carried away with what they saw as an opportunity to reinvigorate a rudderless EU and impart a new sense of purpose to the EU’s fledgling common foreign policy. Instead, the EU is stumbling headlong into yet another Balkan crisis. Despite the fact that the US and Russia have the decisive input, major EU countries have shared responsibility for the process and the EU will now be left bearing the brunt of the burden of managing the fallout.
http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9278316
JPTF 2007/06/01

“A conquista chinesa de África” in Der Spiegel, 30 de Maio de 2007

China is conquering Africa as it becomes the preferred trading partner of the continent's dictators. Beijing is buying up Africa's abundant natural resources and providing it with needed cash and cheaply produced consumer goods in return.

Thomas Mumba was a devout young man. He spent his free time studying the Holy Scriptures and directing the church choir at the United Church of Zambia in his hometown of Chambeshi. Mumba, a bachelor, was also committed to abstinence -- from beer and from sex before marriage. A larger-than-life depiction of Jesus Christ surrounded by a herd of sheep still hangs in his room. The poster is pure "Made in China" kitsch, like most things here in the Zambian copper belt, located more than a six hours' drive north of the capital Lusaka.


Mumba, a shy, slight young man, bought the Chinese-made religious image at a local market and hung it up at home. It was cheap, cheaper than goods from Europe, at any rate. Mumba's Chinese Jesus cost him 4,000 kwacha, or about 75 cents. "It was his first encounter with the evil empire," says Thomas's mother Justina Mulumba, two years after the accident that would change her entire life.

Thomas Mumba died on April 20, 2005 when an explosives depot blew up in the Chambeshi copper mine. He had just turned 23 and had been working in the mine for two years. To this day, no one knows how many people died that day, because the mine's Chinese owners attempted to cover up what they knew about the accident. Besides, they had kept no records of who was working near the explosion site on the day of the accident.

According to the memorial plaque, there were 46 victims, but it could just as easily have been 50 or 60. Only fragments of the remains of most of the dead were recovered. Mukuka Chilufya, the engineer who managed the rescue team, says that his men filled 49 sacks with body parts that day. The Chinese have deflected all inquiries about the explosion.

Justina Mulumba wears a mint-green dress as she kneels at her son's grave, whispering almost inaudibly: "Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do." The cemetery is by the side of the road, only a short distance from the plant gates. Chinese trucks drive by, churning up the dry African soil and briefly coating the entire cemetery in a cloud of red dust.
The drivers are in a hurry to get their trucks, filled with copper, to the port of Durban on the Indian Ocean, where the copper will be loaded onto ships bound for China. Mumba wasn't the only one whose fate was sealed by copper. All of Zambia depends on copper, which is by far this southern African country's most important export, well ahead of cobalt. Copper accounts for more than half of all its export revenues.

The precious metal attracted scores of white colonizers to the country north of the Zambezi River in the early 20th century. The British flag flew over Northern Rhodesia, as Zambia was then called, until 1964. That was followed by the era of independence and of Socialist leader Kenneth Kaunda, who initially benefited from rising copper prices.

Kaunda, a religious man, was obsessed with bringing education to the people of his country. But he had little understanding of economic matters. He had so many schools built that the government eventually found itself lacking the funds to pay the teachers. When Kaunda decided to nationalize the foreign-owned mines to raise cash for the government's coffers, it was his bad luck that copper prices soon plunged.

Feeding China 's Hunger for Raw Materials
In the early 1990s, Zambia abandoned its socialist planned economy, Kaunda withdrew from politics and the ongoing slump in copper prices precipitated an economic crisis. In the late 1990s, when then-president Frederick Chiluba felt compelled to give in to pressure from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to privatize the unproductive, unprofitable state-owned mines, the price of a ton of copper was barely $900.

At the time, no one in Africa -- or, for that matter, in New York, London or Geneva -- foresaw India's and China's rise as economic powers, or the attendant thirst for resources. When rising demand suddenly drove up copper prices to previously unanticipated levels, it was yet another stroke of bad luck for poor Zambia that the country had already sold off much of its copper-mining rights to the Australians, Canadians, Indians and Chinese.

A ton of copper costs $8,000 today. Zambian mines are currently producing 500,000 tons a year, a number that could soon increase to 700,000. This is good for the foreign mine owners, but the Zambians see next to nothing of the profits.

The Chinese need the copper for their booming industry. The metal is used primarily to make wires, cables, integrated circuits and metal products like pipes and toolmaking machines -- in other words, in almost every branch of industry, from automobile manufacturing to the construction industry.

By 2004 China was already the world's second-largest importer of copper ore, after Japan. "If copper scrap and residues are added, China imports a quarter of the world's copper production," writes the research department of Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank in a report titled "China's Commodity Hunger." The report concludes that the demand for copper will "remain high."

Privatization couldn't have gone worse for the Zambians. But in the age of the dragon descending upon Africa, things could get far worse. Michael Chilufya Sata sits in a cramped, smoke-filled office behind mountains of paper, smoking one cigarette after another. Sata, who as head of the Patriotic Front is Zambia's most important opposition leader, is also a demagogue.

For many Zambians Sata is a saint, but for others he is a reincarnation of the devil -- that includes the government, which has had him thrown in jail repeatedly. In one instance he was accused of sabotage when he and his supporters allegedly smuggled explosives into a copper mine, and he was recently arrested on charges of having provided false information about his financial circumstances.

Sata captured more than 29 percent of the vote in the September 2006 presidential election, while the winner in that race, current President Levy Mwanawasa, claimed 43 percent. But Sata believes that the election was rigged. According to opinion polls, he was initially clearly in the lead in the capital and in the copper belt. But when the tide turned in favor of the incumbent, Sata cried election fraud and violence erupted in the streets of Lusaka for several days.

If there is one issue which Sata uses to mobilize the masses, it is the Chinese. He has warned voters that they plan to export their dictatorship to Africa, colonize the continent and introduce large-scale exploitation. Unlike Western investors, says Sata, the Chinese have little interest in the Africans' well-being.

The politician quickly talks himself into a rage. Chinese have little interest in human rights, he says. They are only interested in exploiting Africa's natural resources, which they have carted off using their own workers and equipment, and without having paid a single kwacha in taxes. Sata sums up his position as follows: "We want the Chinese to leave and the old colonial rulers to return. They exploited our natural resources too, but at least they took care of us. They built schools, taught us their language and brought us the British civilization."

A majority of Zambians likely agree with Sata. On his recent and third trip to Africa, Chinese President Hu Jintao canceled his planned visit to the Zambian copper belt at the last minute, fearing demonstrations by disgruntled workers and the resulting embarrassing TV images. Only last year, protestors in Chambeshi were injured when police fired into their midst.
Artigo integral em http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,484603,00.html
JPTF 31/05/2007

“A Polónia investiga Teletubbies 'gay'” in BBC, 29 de Maio de 2007

The spokesperson for children's rights in Poland, Ewa Sowinska, singled out Tinky Winky, the purple character with a triangular aerial on his head. "I noticed he was carrying a woman's handbag," she told a magazine. "At first, I didn't realise he was a boy." EU officials have criticised Polish government policy towards homosexuals. Ms Sowinska wants the psychologists to make a recommendation about whether the children's show should be broadcast on public television. Poland's authorities have recently initiated a series of moves to outlaw the promotion of homosexuality among the nation's children. Tinky Winky's psychological evaluation is being treated fairly light-heartedly by many people here. One radio station asked its listeners to vote for the most suspicious children's show. Some e-mailed in, saying that Winnie the Pooh had only male friends. Even Ms Sowinska has backtracked a little, insisting that she does not believe the Teletubbies is a threat to the nation's children. But the evaluation is still going ahead and her office can recommend that the show should be taken off the air. Poland was criticised recently after its education ministry announced plans to sack teachers who promote homosexuality. Last month the European Union singled out Poland for criticism in its resolution condemning homophobia in the 27-member bloc.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6698753.stm
JPTF 2007/05/29

“Turquia: não ao Club Med, sim à UE” in Courrier International, 24 de Maio de 2007

Certains qualifient, non sans ironie, le projet d'"Union méditerranéenne" de Nicolas Sarkozy de Club Med. C'était pourtant bien autre chose que cette chaîne de villages de vacances français existant en Turquie, qu'a en tête le président français. Il s'agirait d'un "club", sur le mode de l'Union européenne, qui concrétiserait une union politique et économique des pays du pourtour méditerranéen. Au cours de sa campagne électorale, Nicolas Sarkozy a défendu à plusieurs reprises cette idée. Mais qu'est-ce donc que cette union ? Qui seront ses membres ? Avec quel objectif est-elle censée fonctionner ? Dès lors que dans ses discours, le nouveau président français attribue à la Turquie un rôle important dans cette union, il est nécessaire pour nous de comprendre l'intention réelle de Nicolas Sarkozy. Il apparaît déjà que ce projet est encore loin d'être mûr. Le ministre des Affaires étrangères et les autres ministres concernés vont sans doute essayer de donner un peu de substance à cette idée. Ce que l'on sait en tout cas, c'est que cette union réunirait en son sein des pays du sud de l'Europe, d'Afrique du Nord et du Proche-Orient. Il s'agirait de favoriser la coopération aux niveaux économique et commercial entre ces pays et de trouver des solutions communes en matière d'environnement et de flux migratoires. Les pays membres de cette union - ils seraient 17 – réaliseraient également des projets communs grâce au soutien d'une "Banque d'investissement méditerranéenne". Enfin, l'union serait dotée de mécanismes de direction calqués sur le modèle de l'Union européenne. Tout cela est bien beau sur le papier. Mais quelle est la probabilité de réussite d'un tel projet du point de vue pratique ? Le doute est de rigueur. En effet, il apparaît impossible de mettre ensemble bon nombre de pays méditerranéens. Les différences et les désaccords sont énormes. La plupart des pays d'Afrique du Nord et du Proche-Orient ont entre eux des rapports conflictuels et ne se sentent pas particulièrement proches de l'Europe. Par ailleurs, sur la base de quelles valeurs cette "union" devrait-elle se construire ? La démocratie, les droits de l'homme et les libertés fondamentales sont des concepts étrangers pour beaucoup de pays méditerranéens. Il n'est donc pas évident de déterminer ce que devraient être les critères et les objectifs de ce "club". C'est pour infléchir la politique de l'Union européenne et renforcer l'influence française en Méditerranée que Sarkozy a lancé ce projet. L'idée de donner un rôle à la Turquie dans ce club fait partie de la stratégie développée dans ce contexte. Il s'agirait donc pour Ankara d'une sorte de "compensation" sensée contrebalancer le refus de Sarkozy de voir la Turquie intégrer l'Union européenne. Or, la Turquie n'a d'autre objectif que de rejoindre l'Union européenne. Sarkozy ne semble pas avoir compris que ce projet d'adhésion à l'UE est une façon pour la Turquie de se projeter vers l'avenir dans le but d'accéder à une véritable modernité. En termes de "clubs régionaux", la Turquie est déjà active, quand elle n'est pas l'initiatrice, de projets de coopération régionale, comme par exemple la "Zone de coopération économique de la Mer Noire" (ZCEMN). Ankara peut donc certainement prendre part à cette "Union méditerranéenne", mais chacun doit savoir que ce "Club Med" ne constituera jamais pour la Turquie une alternative à l'Union européenne.
JPTF 25/05/2007
http://www.courrierinternational.com/article.asp?obj_id=74233

“Ásia ameaça afastar universidades britânicas do topo da tabela” in Times, 21 de Maio de 2007

British, French and German universities will be overtaken by those in China and India within a decade unless they improve quality and access, the European Commissioner for Education said last night. Jan Figel told The Times that Europe’s top universities would no longer dominate world rankings unless they modernised and received more funding. The concern, echoed by vice-chancellors and employers, is not only that British universities will lose students to more attractive institutions abroad, but that business will follow them with jobs and investment. Britain is the second most popular destination for overseas students, second to America, with Cambridge and Oxford the only European universities in the Top Ten of both the Times Higher and the Shanghai Jiao Tong indices of university world rankings. Europe has 200 universities in the top 500, but the United States has 37 in the top 50.“If you look at the Shanghai index, we are the strongest continent in terms of numbers and potential but we are also shifting into a secondary position in terms of quality and attractiveness,” Mr Figel’, 47, told The Times. “If we don’t act we will see an uptake or overtake by Chinese or Indian universities. Indian technology is seen as the third best in the world. China itself decided it wants several top universities by 2015.” Although China and India have a tiny number of universities in the Times Higher top 100, including Beijing, Tsinghua and the Indian Institutes of Technology, and none in the Shanghai top 100 index, Mr Figel’ believes that Europe’s supremacy in tertiary education is in imminent danger of being lost to Southeast Asia as well as the US, particularly in science. Drummond Bone, the president of Universities UK, the umbrella group of vice-chancellors, believes that European universities must work together to create the critical mass to attract students and investment. He said that the danger of falling down the league tables was that Europe could fall into a downward economic spiral. “Overseas students don’t come to the UK or Europe, our students are attracted elsewhere and then if you’ve got the students going elsewhere the businesses go elsewhere.” Logica CMG is a British company that specialises in high-tech software systems. It supports a third of the world’s satellites and employs 40,000 people worldwide, including 2,500 in India. Martin Read, the group’s chief executive, says that Britain cannot compete on numbers with China and India. British universities maintain high standards and teach students to think for themselves, but he is concerned about the lack of home-grown science, technology and maths graduates. “If we’re not getting sufficient numbers of high-quality graduates, we have a problem, because we don’t have a framework for business to work in,” he said. “Businesses will start to relocate if they can’t find them in their own country.” Not only is Europe failing to produce enough engineering, maths and technology graduates to fill the jobs, but innovation is so weak, that more than 400,000 European engineers now work in the US. Mr Figel’ said: “We have ideas – the world wide web was British, as was the CD-Rom, and the MP3 player was German. But all three were finalised and distributed around the world by the United States.” The answer, he suggests, is to attract more EU students with better quality degrees, to invest more in universities and to make EU degrees more easily transferred between countries, as proposed under the Bologna Process on schedule for 2010. Europe spends about 1.1 per cent of GDP on higher education compared with the United States, which spends 2.7 per cent of GDP. China and India spend about 0.5 per cent and 0.37 per cent of GDP, respectively. But China is aiming to raise its investment to 4 per cent GDP in the coming years.

How they are ranked
Shanghai Jiao Tong University world rankings
Universities are ranked by several indicators of academic or research performance, including alumni and staff winning Nobel prizes and Fields Medals, highly cited researchers, articles published in Nature and Science, articles indexed in major publications and the per capita academic performance of an institution

Times Higher World University Rankings
Universities are measured against a combination of peer review of more than 1,300 academics worldwide, and the amount of cited research produced by faculty members, the ratio of faculty to student numbers, their success in attracting foreign students and internationally renowned academics

East and West
Tsinghua University
— Top-ranking university in mainland China, at 151= in the world, according to Shanghai Jiao Tong unversity index; 62= in the Times Higher world rankings
— Founded in 1911 as a government school preparing students for study in the US; the first undergraduates were enrolled in 1925
— 32,000 full-time students, including 13,700 undergraduates, 13,400 Master’s students and 5,000 studying for PhDs
— 2,857 faculty professors, 47 research institutes, 29 research centres, 13 national laboratories accounting for 10 per cent of all national laboratories in China and 27 postdoctoral research stations. The library has a collection of 3.5 million volumes. 30,000 computers are connected to the campus

Cambridge University
— Top-ranking European and British university, 2nd in the Shanghai Jiao Tong world ranking index; 3rd in the Times Higher world ranking index
— Origins date back to as early as 1200, when the town had at least one reputable school. By 1226, the scholars had formed a body, represented by a Chancellor, and were regularly studying
— 14,605 full-time home and European students, as well as 3,198 overseas students in 2004-5
— 8,570 staff, including 2,703 academic staff and 2,457 contract researchers
— Fees range from £3,000 a year for home or EU students and £21,417 for overseas students. Income was £525.5 million last year, of which fees amounted to 11 per cent
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article1816777.ece
JPTF 2005/05/21

As eleições parlamentares de Julho na Turquia: “partidos procuram amor em todos os sítios certos” in Turkish Daily News, 17 de Maio de 2007

por GÖKSEL BOZKURT - DUYGU GÜVENÇ

The above "personnel advertisement" is imaginary. But it sums up the mood in Ankara, as parties rush to recruit candidates that will burnish and balance their images at home and abroad. The search is on for so-called "vitrin" candidates, a Turkish word for "window front" that might as well translate as "showcase." As general elections approach, virtually all political parties launched the hunt for new faces to promote themselves, signing up - or trying to sign up - former ambassadors, military officers, businessmen, football players and even wrestlers. And now, minority groups. The Turkish Daily News has learned that a Turkish citizen of Armenian origins, Kagem Karabetyan, is being mentioned as a candidate, most likely for the traditionalist Justice and Development Party (AKP), known for its roots in political Islam. Karabetyan apparently wants to run for election but is still awaiting a formal invitation. With or without Karabetyan, the AKP is expected to have a Christian candidate on its lists, but his name is not expected to be on the top of the list, reducing the likelihood of ultimate election. Faruk Çelik, parliamentary group leader of AKP, confirmed that some non-Muslims have applied to run for the party. But Çelik is not sure whether they will be listed as the party's candidates. “It is the right of every Turkish citizen to run for election. AKP will welcome the applications from members of minorities if the qualities of the candidates are in line with our values. One cannot become a candidate just because he is a member of a minority,” Çelik told the TDN. In Turkey, there are around 200,000 members of minority communities. The last minority deputy was Cefi Kamhi in the 1990s.

Wrestlers, football players, musicians
The strategy of AKP depends on nominating famous people as their candidates. Wrestler Hamza Yerlikaya, Turkey's most famous football striker Hakan Şükür and musician Şahin Özer are among these. The ruling party also plans to nominate retired military officers to run for the election.

CHP and minority candidates
The Republican People's Party (CHP) has not listed any non-Muslim candidates to run for election. “We should encourage members of minority communities to become candidates. Greeks, Armenians and Jews should be represented in the Turkish Parliament as well. There are many people who are struggling for Turkey but we cannot reach them because of unexpected elections,” said Şükrü Elekdağ, a CHP deputy. “Kamhi was the one who did evoke the Jewish lobby when Turkey needed its support. I wish he was in Parliament again,” Elekdağ added. CHP has also invited İpek Cem, the daughter of former Foreign Minister İsmail Cem, and artists like Tolga Çandar, Şahnaz Çakıralp to be its election candidates.

MHP flirts with the Alevis
Meanwhile, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) is trying to establish dialogue with the Alevis, a distinct Islamic sect long at odds with much of Turkey's nationalist movement. Timur Ulusoy, the president of the Hacı Bektaşı Veli Association, is a candidate running for the nationalist party. A prominent figure among Alevis, Mehmet Heder is also on the list of MHP. Former ambassador and former columnist for the TDN, Gündüz Aktan, has also applied to run for MHP.

YDP invites Ulusoy
The New Democrat Party (YDP) invited the President of the Turkish Football Federation, Haluk Ulusoy to be a candidate. Mehmet Ali Bayar, a former diplomat, has declared himself a candidate for the YDP from İzmir.

Who is Karabetyan?
Keram Karabetyan, a Turkish citizen of Armenian origins, is a lawyer in Istanbul. He ran for the True Path Party (DYP) in the 1995 elections. There are claims that Karabetyan will run for MHP, but party decision-makers have not confirmed this.
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=73404
JPTF 2007/05/17

“A Rússia acusada de desencadear ciberguerra para incapacitar a Estónia” in Guardian, 27 de Maio de 2007

A three-week wave of massive cyber-attacks on the small Baltic country of Estonia, the first known incidence of such an assault on a state, is causing alarm across the western alliance, with Nato urgently examining the offensive and its implications. While Russia and Estonia are embroiled in their worst dispute since the collapse of the Soviet Union, a row that erupted at the end of last month over the Estonians' removal of the Bronze Soldier Soviet war memorial in central Tallinn, the country has been subjected to a barrage of cyber warfare, disabling the websites of government ministries, political parties, newspapers, banks, and companies. Nato has dispatched some of its top cyber-terrorism experts to Tallinn to investigate and to help the Estonians beef up their electronic defences. "This is an operational security issue, something we're taking very seriously," said an official at Nato headquarters in Brussels. "It goes to the heart of the alliance's modus operandi." Alarm over the unprecedented scale of cyber-warfare is to be raised tomorrow at a summit between Russian and European leaders outside Samara on the Volga. While planning to raise the issue with the Russian authorities, EU and Nato officials have been careful not to accuse the Russians directly. If it were established that Russia is behind the attacks, it would be the first known case of one state targeting another by cyber-warfare. Relations between the Kremlin and the west are at their worst for years, with Russia engaged in bitter disputes not only with Estonia, but with Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and Georgia - all former parts of the Soviet Union or ex-members of the Warsaw Pact. The electronic offensive is making matters much worse. "Frankly it is clear that what happened in Estonia in the cyber-attacks is not acceptable and a very serious disturbance," said a senior EU official. Estonia's president, foreign minister, and defence minister have all raised the emergency with their counterparts in Europe and with Nato. "At present, Nato does not define cyber-attacks as a clear military action. This means that the provisions of Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty, or, in other words collective self-defence, will not automatically be extended to the attacked country," said the Estonian defence minister, Jaak Aaviksoo. "Not a single Nato defence minister would define a cyber-attack as a clear military action at present. However, this matter needs to be resolved in the near future." Estonia, a country of 1.4 million people, including a large ethnic Russian minority, is one of the most wired societies in Europe and a pioneer in the development of "e-government". Being highly dependent on computers, it is also highly vulnerable to cyber-attack. The main targets have been the websites of:
· the Estonian presidency and its parliament
· almost all of the country's government ministries
· political parties
· three of the country's six big news organisations
· two of the biggest banks; and firms specializing in communications
It is not clear how great the damage has been.With their reputation for electronic prowess, the Estonians have been quick to marshal their defences, mainly by closing down the sites under attack to foreign internet addresses, in order to try to keep them accessible to domestic users. The cyber-attacks were clearly prompted by the Estonians' relocation of the Soviet second world war memorial on April 27. Ethnic Russians staged protests against the removal, during which 1,300 people were arrested, 100 people were injured, and one person was killed. The crisis unleashed a wave of so-called DDoS, or Distributed Denial of Service, attacks, where websites are suddenly swamped by tens of thousands of visits, jamming and disabling them by overcrowding the bandwidths for the servers running the sites. The attacks have been pouring in from all over the world, but Estonian officials and computer security experts say that, particularly in the early phase, some attackers were identified by their internet addresses - many of which were Russian, and some of which were from Russian state institutions. "The cyber-attacks are from Russia. There is no question. It's political," said Merit Kopli, editor of Postimees, one of the two main newspapers in Estonia, whose website has been targeted and has been inaccessible to international visitors for a week. It was still unavailable last night. "If you are implying [the attacks] came from Russia or the Russian government, it's a serious allegation that has to be substantiated. Cyber-space is everywhere," Russia's ambassador in Brussels, Vladimir Chizhov, said in reply to a question from the Guardian. He added: "I don't support such behaviour, but one has to look at where they [the attacks] came from and why." Without naming Russia, the Nato official said: "I won't point fingers. But these were not things done by a few individuals. "This clearly bore the hallmarks of something concerted. The Estonians are not alone with this problem. It really is a serious issue for the alliance as a whole." Mr Chizhov went on to accuse the EU of hypocrisy in its support for Estonia, an EU and Nato member. "There is a smell of double standards." He also accused Poland of holding the EU hostage in its dealings with Russia, and further accused Estonia and other east European countries previously in Russia's orbit of being in thrall to "phantom pains of the past, historic grievances against the Soviet union and the Russian empire of the 19th century." In Tallinn, Ms Kopli said: "This is the first time this has happened, and it is very important that we've had this type of attack. We've been able to learn from it." "We have been lucky to survive this," said Mikko Maddis, Estonia's defence ministry spokesman. "People started to fight a cyber-war against it right away. Ways were found to eliminate the attacker." The attacks have come in three waves: from April 27, when the Bronze Soldier riots erupted, peaking around May 3; then on May 8 and 9 - a couple of the most celebrated dates in the Russian calendar, when the country marks Victory Day over Nazi Germany, and when President Vladimir Putin delivered another hostile speech attacking Estonia and indirectly likening the Bush administration to the Hitler regime; and again this week. Estonian officials say that one of the masterminds of the cyber-campaign, identified from his online name, is connected to the Russian security service. A 19-year-old was arrested in Tallinn at the weekend for his alleged involvement. Expert opinion is divided on whether the identity of the cyber-warriors can be ascertained properly. Experts from Nato member states and from the alliance's NCSA unit - "Nato's first line of defence against cyber-terrorism", set up five years ago - were meeting in Seattle in the US when the crisis erupted. A couple of them were rushed to Tallinn. Another Nato official familiar with the experts' work said it was easy for them, with other organisations and internet providers, to track, trace, and identify the attackers. But Mikko Hyppoenen, a Finnish expert, told the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper that it would be difficult to prove the Russian state's responsibility, and that the Kremlin could inflict much more serious cyber-damage if it chose to.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329864981-103610,00.html
JPTF 2007/05/17

Em França entra Sarkozy, sai Chirac...

“Muçulmanos querem Península Ibérica ‘de volta‘” in PortugalDiário, 15 de Maio de 2007

O apresentador de um programa infantil da televisão palestiniana, Al-aqsa, afirmou que a zona de Andaluz, actual Península Ibérica, e que foi outrora território dividido entre Portugal e Espanha, vai voltar um dia a estar sob o poder islâmico.No vídeo do programa «Os Pioneiros de Amanhã», que foi exibido a 11 de Maio e está disponível no site do YouTube, o apresentador refere que o domínio islâmico, através da vontade de Allah, promove o bem, o amor e a justiça, ao acrescentar que judeus e cristãos «nunca tiveram uma vida» como a que experimentaram na época em que estavam sob influência islâmica. Ao mencionar a zona de Andaluz, que foi um território conquistado e controlado politicamente por árabes e muçulmanos no século VIII até ter sido reconquistada pelos cristãos, o apresentador recorda que «esta querida terra vai voltar para nós um dia». O apresentador acrescenta, ainda, que no mesmo período histórico, os cristãos nunca viram as suas igrejas e mosteiros «tão seguros». No mesmo programa, Farfur, um dos apresentadores que se apresenta sempre vestido de sósia de rato Mickey, é apanhado a copiar na escola primária e explica ao professor que não pode estudar porque os judeus destruíram a sua casa e roubaram-lhe os livros. No final do programa, a jovem Saraa que partilha a apresentação do programa lança ainda uma mensagem aos telespectadores, compostos maioritariamente por crianças e jovens, na qual ressalva que estes devem ajudar a «recuperar» a «glória» da civilização islâmica.

Rato Mickey contra Israel
Numa transmissão anterior de «Os Heróis de Amanhã», que gerou polémica no mundo árabe, o sósia de rato Mickey apelava explicitamente para a resistência violenta contra Israel e os EUA, reforçando sempre a ideia de que a supremacia islâmica «há-de vencer».«Devem rezar na mesquita cinco vezes por dia até que haja uma liderança mundial de origem islâmica», aconselhava o clone da conhecida personagem da Disney aos seus pequenos espectadores.
http://www.portugaldiario.iol.pt/noticia.php?id=809049
JPTF 2007/05/15

O “rato Mickey” do Hamas explica a vida “maravilhosa” de cristãos e judeus sob domínio islâmico no Al-Andalus (Espanha e Portugal)

“Rato Mickey ‘trabalha‘ para o Hamas” in PortugalDiário, 15 de Maio de 2007

A única descendente viva de Walt Disney, Diane Miller, apelidou esta quarta-feira o Hamas de «maquiavélico». O grupo criou um programa de televisão no qual uma personagem vestida de Mickey Mouse incentiva à resistência violenta contra Israel e Estados Unidos, noticia o jornal The Guardian.O programa intitulado «Pioneiros de Amanhã» exibido desde Abril pela estação de televisão al-Aqsa, sob a tutela do grupo que domina o governo palestiniano, é conduzido por um apresentador chamado Farfur que está vestido com um fato da famosa personagem da Disney.Farfur dá conselhos às crianças para beberem o seu leite. Ao mesmo tempo incita, aquilo a que os críticos israelitas apelidam de «propaganda de ódio», contra a ocupação da Palestina. O rato Mickey, sob o pseudónimo de «Farfur», partilha a apresentação com uma jovem chamada Saraa a quem cabe a tarefa de transmitir mensagens acerca da luta contra Israel e os Estados Unidos. Enquanto isso, Farfur diz às crianças que devem rezar na mesquita cinco vezes por dia até que «haja uma liderança mundial de origem islâmica».

Crianças telefonam e simulam combate
Num vídeo que foi difundido através do YouTube, um jovem espectador fala com Farfur pelo telefone e recita um poema que inclui os versos «Rafah canta: oh, oh a resposta é uma AK-47», enquanto o apresentador vestido de Mickey finge participar num tiroteio. Entretanto, outra criança ao telefone diz «é a hora da morte, vamos para a guerra».O vídeo que está disponível no site do Google inclui, também, uma chamada telefónica em que o interlocutor faz um apelo às tropas americanas para saírem do Iraque, assim como tece críticas ao presidente George W. Bush e à secretária de Estado, Condoleezza Rice.

Walt Disney fala em «maldade pura»
Esta quarta-feira, Diane Miller, de 73 anos, criticou o facto da conhecida personagem da família Disney, que foi criada em 1928 e é um dos maiores ícones da fábrica de sonhos, ter sido apropriada por terceiros desta forma.«Não é só o Mickey que está a ser utilizado para ensinar as crianças a serem cruéis», lamenta, ao concluir que, neste caso específico, está a lidar-se com «maldade pura» a qual «não pode ser ignorada», frisou em entrevista ao New York Daily News. Entretanto, vários críticos israelitas já reagiram apelidando o programa como um método «certeiro» de ensinar as crianças a «odiar e matar». «Os Pioneiros de Amanhã», o programa apresentado pelo «Rato Mickey», é transmitido, também, na faixa de Gaza por via satélite, sendo difundido para todo o mundo árabe.
http://www.portugaldiario.iol.pt/noticia.php?div_id=&id=806868
JPTF 2007/05/15

“Visto da Rússia: Eurovisão, uma lição de geopolítica aplicada” in Courrier International, 14 de Maio de 2007

por Maxime Ioussine
Le concours de l'Eurovision est depuis longtemps devenu une compétition est-européenne, qui se joue "entre soi". Les Allemands, les Français, les Anglais ne s'y intéressent guère, et les Italiens ont même refusé d'y participer. En revanche, les ex-Soviétiques, les ex-Yougoslaves et les ex-"démocraties populaires" considèrent ce concours avec autant de sérieux que si l'honneur de leur pays en dépendait. Pour l'emporter, ces pays sont prêts à conclure les "alliances régionales" les plus variées, parfois naturelles (Russie – Biélorussie), parfois extravagantes (Croatie – Serbie, les ennemies d'hier). Ce qui compte avant tout, c'est le résultat, la garantie d'obtenir le vote des voisins, quelles que soient les circonstances, même si la prestation de l'interprète a été lamentable. Sans même avoir entendu le chanteur grec, on pouvait par exemple parier que Chypre le placerait en tête, tandis que la Grèce voterait pour le ou la Chypriote. Les Roumains donnent toujours 12 points aux Moldaves, et réciproquement dans la plupart des cas. Mais ces arrangements ne suffisent pas à assurer la victoire. Il faut une alliance de poids, pas seulement bilatérale. De ce point de vue, les Etats nés de l'ex-Yougoslavie et de l'ex-URSS sont les mieux placés. A Helsinki, six anciennes républiques yougoslaves et neuf anciennes républiques soviétiques prenaient part au vote. Le résultat n'a pas fait un pli. Le podium a accueilli dans l'ordre la Serbie, l'Ukraine et la Russie. Cette fois, nous n'avons pas su tirer parti de notre supériorité numérique, nous avons dispersé nos voix, certains accordant les fameux 12 points à l'Ukraine, d'autres à la Russie, d'autres encore au chanteur biélorusse, qui a fini sixième. La première place nous a donc échappé. Les ex-Yougoslaves se sont montrés plus intelligents. Disciplinés, les Croates, Bosniaques, Slovènes, Macédoniens et Monténégrins ont tous placé en tête la chanteuse serbe, ce qui lui a valu 60 points d'office, auxquels sont venus s'ajouter les voix de l'Autriche et de la Suisse, où vivent beaucoup d'immigrés serbes, ainsi que de la Hongrie, qui avait rejoint l'"alliance balkanique" (les Serbes ont voté pour la chanteuse hongroise, échange de bons procédés). Finalement, la Finlande a été le seul pays "désintéressé" à placer la concurrente serbe en tête. Les tactiques de certains pays peuvent sembler paradoxales, mais si on y regarde de près, on découvre toujours leur logique. Par exemple, pourquoi l'Estonie a-t-elle voté en faveur de la Russie alors que le contentieux du Soldat de Bronze est encore brûlant ? C'est très simple : [grâce au vote du public] les russophones vivant en Estonie se sont massivement prononcés pour le groupe [russe] Serebro. Et pourquoi les Turcs se sont-ils soudain mis à apprécier les Arméniens ? Parce qu'en fait, ce ne sont pas les Turcs, ce sont les Arméniens de la diaspora qui s'étaient organisés pour envoyer des votes par SMS. D'où est venue la popularité de Vierka Serdioutchka [le concurrent ukrainien] au Portugal ? Il suffit de savoir que ce pays héberge 300 000 travailleurs ukrainiens… Et pourquoi les spectateurs d'Allemagne, d'Autriche et de Suisse soutiennent-il si ardemment la Turquie ? Songez au nombre d'immigrés turcs dans ces pays… Le concours de l'Eurovision ? Une vraie leçon de géopolitique appliquée!
http://www.courrierinternational.com/article.asp?obj_id=73829
JPTF 25/05/2007

“Chpre envia SOS ao Parlamento Europeu sobre a destruição no Norte da ilha” in The Cyprus Weekly, 14 de Maio de 2007

por Alex Efthyvoulos
The destruction of the cultural heritage in Turkish-occupied north Cyprus is a shame and the European Union must intervene promptly to stop it, Reimer Boge the highly influential Chairman of the EU Parliament’s Budget committee said here this week. He was addressing a large gathering at the opening of an exhibition of photographs at the EU Parliament illustrating the terrible and, in many places irreversible, destruction and desecration of Greek churches, monasteries, cemeteries and other Christian religious monuments in the occupied north of the island. More than 200 people, including many parliamentarians, attended the special opening of the exhibition. Boge pointed out that "this exhibition shows only some of the destructions and damages in the northern part of Cyprus. Unfortunately, many places that are witnesses of thousands of years of civilisation and religions in Cyprus are today ruined and some of them beyond repair. This is a shame... Now is the time for all those feeling responsible and committed to European principles to support and not block the restoration as soon as possible". Boge, who is married to a Cypriot Maronite from Karpasia village in the occupied north, said he has visited Cyprus repeatedly and has learnt "about its fascinating history... and the challenges that have to be solved to guarantee the European principles and values for all citizens of Cyprus. Cyprus has become for me my second home country and I feel very much emotionally and politically committed."

Word of desperation
He recalled that Cyprus is now a member of the European Union, adding that "European cooperation and integration must be based on common rules, values and principles such as tolerance, respect, legality and the protection of these principles, otherwise Europe will cease to exist in future". Yiannakis Matsis, one of the Cypriot members of the EU parliament who organised the exhibition, told the audience that the photos on display "cannot give the extent of the catastrophe. On the spot things are far worse. The cultural heritage of northern Cyprus is sending an SOS signal: A civilisation is disappearing." Matsis said the opening of the exhibition coincided with the celebration of Europe Day and "we are all proud of the role that the European citizens of the 27 member states are playing internationally for the protection of peace and stability in the world and the promotion of human rights and basic European principles."Cyprus is asking desperately for help... My words are words of desperation. Cyprus civilisation does not only belong to the Cypriots. Our civilisation in the northern occupied part of the island is part of the European civilisation. “It belongs to the whole world. Therefore, the question is clear: is Europe ready or not to protect her own principles of cultural heritage? We are here to fight for this".

500 churches totally destroyed
He added that "nine thousand years of recorded civilisation in Cyprus is threatened with complete extinction: 500 churches of all Christian doctrines have been totally destroyed. "Mosaics of the 6th century AD have been cut off from the Virgin Mary church of Kanakaria and sold for millions of dollars abroad. "Frescoes of important cultural value have been taken from churches like Antiphonitis, Ayios Thimonanos and many others."

Starting point.
More than 40,000 Byzantine icons have been sold in the markets of the world". Matsis pointed out that EU Expansion Commissioner Olli Rehn "has been politically committed to allocate part of financial aid to the Turkish Cypriots for the protection and restoration of churches and any other religious monuments. But, unfortunately, we are still waiting..." Boge urged the island communities "to join forces in order to address the open questions related to cultural heritage". He recalled that the Council of Europe conducted a study and prepared a detailed report 20 years ago on the cultural heritage in Cyprus. "Based on the findings I suggest that a committee including members of all communities and independent experts should be established in order to inspect and to record the current situation and prepare a plan with possible solutions". He also recalled that the EU parliament asked the EU commission last December to allocate funds for infrastructure projects and the preservation of cultural heritage in north Cyprus. "We are expecting that the Commission will respond to this demand positively. “Of course, a natural, constructive and a fair approach should be adopted to embrace the protection and preservation of all cultural monuments regardless of their location, origin and faith", he said. He concluded saying: "Let use the exhibition as a starting point to present the cultural heritage problems to Europe and European Institutions, with the hope that they will initiate some actions and solutions".and for prompt EU intervention.
http://www.cyprusweekly.com.cy/default.aspx?FrontPageNewsID=304_1
JPTF 2007/05/14