Evidence has been found of an ancient gold trade route between the south-west of the UK and Ireland. A study by archaeologists at the University of Southampton suggests people were trading gold between the two countries as far back as the early Bronze Age (2500BC).

The research, in collaboration with the University of Bristol, used a new technique to measure the chemical composition of some of the earliest gold artefacts in Ireland. Findings show the objects were actually made from imported gold, rather than Irish. Furthermore, this gold is most likely to have come from Cornwall.

According to lead author Dr Chris Standish, “This is an unexpected and particularly interesting result as it suggests that Bronze Age gold workers in Ireland were making artefacts out of material sourced from outside of the country, despite the existence of a number of easily-accessible and rich gold deposits found locally.”

Standish said that, “It is unlikely that knowledge of how to extract gold didn’t exist in Ireland, as we see large scale exploitation of other metals. It is more probable that an ‘exotic’ origin was cherished as a key property of gold and was an important reason behind why it was imported for production.”

The researchers used an advanced technique called laser ablation mass spectrometry to sample gold from 50 early Bronze Age artefacts in the collections of the National Museum of Ireland, such as; basket ornaments, discs and lunula (necklaces). They measured isotopes of lead in tiny fragments and made a comparison with the composition of gold deposits found in a variety of locations. After further analysis, the archaeologists concluded that the gold in the objects most likely originates from Cornwall, rather than Ireland – possibly extracted and traded as part of the tin mining industry.

Dr Standish said, “Perhaps what is most interesting is that during this time, compared to Ireland, there appears to be much less gold circulating in Cornwall and southern Britain. This implies gold was leaving the region because those who found it felt it was of more value to trade it in for other ‘desirable’ goods – rather than keep it.”

Today, gold is intrinsically linked with economic wealth, is universally exchangeable and underpins currencies and economies across much of the globe. However, gold may not always have had this value – in some societies, gold was seen to embody supernatural or magical powers, playing a major role in belief systems rather than economic ones. The value and significance placed on gold may have varied from region to region.

Dr Alistair Pike, a co-author from the University of Southampton, added: “The results of this study are a fascinating finding. They show that there was no universal value of gold, at least until perhaps the first gold coins started to appear nearly two thousand years later. Prehistoric economies were driven by factors more complex than the trade of commodities – belief systems clearly played a major role.”

The post Archaeologists Discover Evidence Of Prehistoric Gold Trade Route appeared first on Eurasia Review.

(EurActiv) — Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta was questioned Friday (5 June) by prosecutors at the National Anticorruption Directorate. They decided to place him under criminal investigation.

The case, concerning Ponta’s work as a lawyer in 2007-2008, is being handled by the DNA anti-corruption agency.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has called on the Prime Minister to resign. Ponta refused. “I was invested by the Parliament, and only the Parliament can dismiss me,” he stated.

Accordint to DNA, ”Prosecutors of the Section for combating corruption have ordered the start of criminal investigations against Victor Ponta, lawyer at the time of the acts committed.” The offenses are specified as follows: Forgery of documents by private signature (17 offenses); Complicity in tax evasion in continuous form; and money laundering.

The accusations are related to another DNA investigation targeting Dan Șova, currently a member of the Parliament, and a member of the Social Semocratic Party, of which Ponta is leader.

Prosecutors say that there is evidence suggesting that Ponta received money from the Law Practice of Dan Șova, based on a legal convention, without, however, performing any real activities. Ponta and Șova are alleged to have agreed to create fake legal activity reports to justify the payments.

A DNA report discusses the necessity of beginning criminal investigations against Ponta concerning three other conflict of interest offenses, related to his position of Prime Minister. The document states that it was a conflict of interest, according to Romanian law, when Ponta appointed Șova, on three separate occasions, to positions within the government.

As Ponta is also a member of the Romanian Parliament, DNA will request that Parliament approve the beginning of a criminal investigation against the Prime Minister, on conflict of interest charges.

The dramatic events coincide with a visit to Bucharest of Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, who is in charge, among other things, of the so-called Cooperation and Verification mechanism, which scrutinises Romania, and provides advice on how to improve the country’s under-performing law enforcement services.

In recent months, Romanian anti-corruption officials have been able not only to indict, but to convict several high profile figures.

The post Romania’s Prime Minister Ponta Under Investigation appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Michael Paczkowski*

What’s Up For Grabs?

On June 7, Mexico will hold its 2015 mid-term federal elections. The mid-terms in Mexico come every three years, occurring as a halfway point in the six-year presidential term; this will then be the most important round prior to the 2018 presidential elections. At stake will be 500 federal deputies, nine governors, 17 state legislatures, and 903 municipalities/delegations, 83.5 million Mexicans are registered to vote.[1] Among the diputados (deputies) to be elected into the Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies), 300 will be directly elected by plurality from single-member districts, while the remaining 200 deputies will be elected through proportional representation, each party’s share of the national vote.[2] The gubernatorial seats up for selection are Baja California Sur, Campeche, Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, Nuevo León, Querétaro, Sonora, and San Luís Potosí.[3]

Mexico states (4)

Ten parties are listed on the ballot:

1. Partido Revolucionario Institucional (the Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI)
2. Partido Accion Nacional (the National Action Party, PAN)
3. Partido de la Revolución Democrática (the Party of the Democratic Revolution, PRD)
4. Partido Encuentro Social (the Social Encounter Party, PES)
5. Partido Nueva Alianza (the New Alliance Party, PNA)
6. Partido Verde Ecologista de México (the Ecological Green Party of Mexico, PVEM)
7. Partido Humanista (the Humanist Party, PH)
8. Partido del Trabajo (the Labor Party, PT)
9. Movimiento Ciudadano (the Citizens’ Movement)
10. Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (the National Regeneration Movement, MORENA)

The PRI, a centrist party, dominated the federal government for 71 years (1929-2000). The PRI has in recent years offered an ideological platform of privatization and neoliberalism, and is historically linked with high government corruption. The PAN, a center-right party, follows a closely conservative stance in Mexican politics, advocating for free trade, small government, and privatization. The PRD, a left party, adheres to a social democratic platform, supporting the dissolution of all barriers to social and economic equality in Mexico. The PES, a center-right party, follows a conservative platform, supporting campaigns such as anti-abortion. The PNA, a center-right party, follows of a liberal ideology, previously aligning with the PRI. The PVEM, a center-right party, advocates for environmental protection and sustainability in Mexico. The PH, a center party, adheres to a humanist ideology with an emphasis on agrarianism as the government’s focus. The PT, a leftist party, follows a similar platform of democratic socialism and often aligns with the PRD. The Citizens’ Movement party, a leftist party, claims a social democracy ideology, often allying with the PRD and the PT. The MORENA, a leftist party, is one of Mexico’s newest, founded by Andrés López Obrador in 2014 under an ideology of democratic socialism.

The Public’s Concerns

According to a study conducted by BMI Research, a global industry analysis corporation, the Mexican public’s highest concerns in the mid-terms are government corruption, criminal activity, and drug trafficking. 79 percent of Mexicans believe that crime is the nation’s biggest problem, while 72 percent believe that drug cartel-related violence and corrupt political leaders are tied for the nation’s second most significant issues.[5] Many are worried about the effectiveness of the nation’s campaign regulatory agency, the Instituto Nacional Electoral (the National Electoral Institute, INE), in preventing the flow of monetary contributions by criminal and drug organizations into the pockets of candidates.[6] In 2013, the INE was created to replace the Instituto Federal Electoral (Federal Electoral Institute, IFE), to better combat the presence of dirty money in electoral campaigns. However, Mexico suffers from a long history of creating new agencies to replace failing ones, without any major institutional changes other than a difference in label.[7] Many are worried that the INE will fall victim to the same fate. Meanwhile, mid-term elections are highly susceptible to influence by organized crime money.[8] The public remains apprehensive of the political clout that many crime organizations have accrued and can use to readily sway electoral outcomes.

The Standings

Currently, the PRI, the PAN, and the PRD maintain the majority of seats within both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The PRI holds 42 percent of the Senate (58 of the 128 seats), 43 percent of the Chamber of Deputies (214 of the 500 seats), and 19 state governorships. The PAN holds 32 percent of the Senate (42 of the 128 seats), 23 percent of the Chamber of Deputies (113 of the 500 seats), and 4 state governorships. [9] The PRD holds 17 percent of the Senate (22 of the 128 seats), 20 percent of the Chamber of Deputies (99 of the 500 seats), and 3 state governorships.[10] The remaining seats and governorships are divided among the rest of the parties.

According to a poll on March 15, the PRI stands at 32 percent, the PAN stands at 22 percent, the PRD 14 percent, the MORENA 8 percent, and the PVEM 7 percent, while the remaining five parties combined poll at 17 percent of potential voters.[11] These findings indicate that the PRI will most likely maintain the plurality of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies while only losing a small number to other parties.

Although the PRI remains first in the polling statistics, the PAN is a threatening contender, trailing by only ten percentage points. However, it seems unlikely that the PRI will fall from its dominant poll standings in the month leading to the elections, even as party leader, President Enrique Peña Nieto’s approval ratings continue to sag.

Peña Nieto & The PRI

The Peña Nieto Administration and the ruling PRI have suffered a decrease in approval ratings following the September 26, 2014 disappearance of 43 university students from the Rural Teachers’ College of Ayotzinapa in Iguala, Guerrero. The students are feared to have been killed by a local criminal group.[12] The perceived ineffectiveness of Peña Nieto and his administration in addressing the disappearance of the students has sparked widespread unrest, destabilizing his efforts at economic and social reform. The incident is seen as just the latest failure in dealing with the rising toll of civilian deaths in recent years.

According to a study conducted in spring 2014 by the Pew Research Center, “since 2012, negative attitudes towards the president have increased 10 percentage points.” [13] Still, the president maintains higher approval ratings than the many other leaders; when asked to compare with Andrés Manual López Obrador, Mexico City’s previous mayor of six years under the PRD label, or Marcelo Ebrard, the PRD’s 2012 presidential candidate and subsequent founder of MORENA, Peña Nieto polled higher.[14] The problem is that many perceive the PRI to be innately corrupt.

“60 percent of the country believed corruption had worsened during [Peña Nieto’s] term,” according to a February 2015 poll in Business Insider.[15]

Amid growing concerns of the administration’s failure to curtail violence and corruption, many are worried that the economy will not recover in the upcoming fiscal year. His economic program is unpopular, receiving harsh criticism for his immense reform of the energy sector, debatably the largest upheaval in Mexico’s economic sector in the past 50 years. Under the Peña Nieto Administration, a comprehensive energy reform bill was signed in December 2014 that ended the 75-year-old oil monopoly and state-owned corporation Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex).[16] The bill allows for domestic and foreign companies to directly compete with Pemex, whereas previously private companies were solely able to work for Pemex under service contracts.[17] With plunging oil prices, the reform bill holds the possibility to only further stifle foreign investment, the reciprocal of its intended effect. Many Mexicans believe that the energy reform bill is a surrender of Mexican reserves to foreign companies. The widespread public disapproval with Peña Nieto’s energy reform bill will most likely translate to a weakened position for the PRI in the mid-term elections. Nevertheless, the party still remains dominant in the polls, mainly due to the even greater unattractiveness of the other parties.

The PAN

Harsh criticism of the PRI will likely increase the PAN’s odds of a more favorable outcome in the mid-term elections, decreasing the momentum that the PRI has experienced in the recent years. Additionally, a victory by the PAN in several of the governorships could increase their presidential chances in the upcoming 2018 elections, as the PAN currently only holds eight of the 31 governorships, compared to the PRI’s 20.[18] The PAN will look to these mid-term elections to regain control of Mexico’s lower congress, the Chamber of Deputies, and increase their holds on various governorships.

The Difference

On the surface, both the PRI and the PAN have similar legislative platforms in three major areas: rule of law and corruption, the economy and financial policy, and energy. The PRI and the PAN agree upon reducing state and municipal corruption, increasing education, improving human rights, raising the minimum wage, and monitoring the implementation of the energy reform to increase the presence of international investors.[19]

However, the PRI and the PAN’s specific platforms differ. The PRI’s focus is on the execution of security measures, previously announced by Peña Nieto, such as a centralized state police force, the usage of public financing to develop particular industries and economic sectors, the implementation of unemployment insurance, and the creation of policies to increase crude oil production.[20] Conversely, the PAN wants to create public agencies to oversee the compliance with anti-corruption rules, promoting multi-year investment projects in infrastructure, and increase the usage of renewable energies.[21] The PAN increasingly diverges from the PRI in its emphasis on lesser economic involvement by the state.

Violence Ahead

As the mid-terms loom, a wave of violence against various candidates has erupted. Enrique Hernández, a MORENA candidate for mayor of Yurécuaro, and Héctor López Cruz, a PRI candidate for the city council of Huimanguillo, were both killed on May 14, 2015.[22] According to security analyst Alejandro Hope, “the violence, although nothing new, is a sign of the control that organized criminal groups hope to achieve through the elections.” [23] The violence serves as an intimidation tactic. In states such as Michoacán and Guerrero, territorial disputes between drug cartels, armed groups, and government soldiers have additionally contributed to the escalated tension. The tension in the state of Guerrero has only further fueled criticism of government corruption, following the disappearance of 43 students in September 2014 in the region. Overall, since 2008, 24 political candidates have been killed and nine kidnapped—the majority being in Guerrero—leading up to elections.[24]

Contrary to such tactics, the violence should only further reinforce Mexican voters’ desire to participate within the elections, viewing such as an avenue to reduce the violence that plagues the nation.

Conclusion

Although the PRI continues to rank highest in the polling statistics, the PAN remains a viable threat. Peña Nieto’s administration and the PRI face a real battle, attempting to assuage the public’s concerns of government corruption and national violence, which have increased on their watch.

Meanwhile, the nation remains tense as mid-term elections approach, and violence continues to plague the country. Mexico stands at a crossroad. Ultimately, it will be the Mexican people’s decision whether or not to fulfill their citizen duty and vote come Election Day.

*Michael Paczkowski, Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs

Notes:
[1] “The Parties.” The Mexico Institute’s 2015 Election Guide. September 17, 2014. Accessed June 1, 2015. https://mexicoinstituteonelections2015.wordpress.com/the-parties/

[2] Wall, Allan. “Mexico Holds Mid-Term Congressional Elections June 7.” Banderas News. March 23, 2015. Accessed May 28, 2015. http://www.banderasnews.com/1503/nr-mexicos-mid-terms-scheduled-for-june-7.htm

[3] Noriega, Roger. “Midterm Elections in Mexico May Not Provide Momentum for Peña Nieto.” American Enterprise Institute. May 22, 2015. Accessed May 25, 2015. https://www.aei.org/publication/midterm-elections-in-mexico-may-not-provide-momentum-for-pena-nieto/

[4] http://www.mapsofworld.com/mexico/maps/mexico-political-map.jpg

[5] “Political Risk Analysis – Ruling PRI To Lose Support In Midterms Due to Iguala Crisis.” Latin America Monitor. BMI Research Group. Accessed May 20, 2015. http://www.latinamericamonitor.com/political-risk-analysis-ruling-pri-lose-support-midterms-due-iguala-crisis-jan-2015

[6] Wood, Duncan, and Pedro Valenzuela Parcero. “Corruption, A Central Issue in The Campaigns.” The Mexico Institute’s 2015 Election Guide. April 20, 2015. Accessed May 22, 2015. https://mexicoinstituteonelections2015.wordpress.com/category/key-moments/the-expert-take/

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid

[11] “Elecciones 2015: Aventaja el PRI; MORENA y el Verde, Casi Empatados (Encuesta de ‘Reforma’).” Aristegui Noticias. Marzo 30, 2015. http://aristeguinoticias.com/3003/mexico/elecciones-2015-aventaja-el-pri-morena-y-el-verde-casi-empatados-encuesta-de-reforma/

[12]Noriega, Roger, and Jose Cardenas. “Mexico’s Security Crisis: Will Iguala Be a Wake-up Call?” American Enterprise Institute. November 24, 2014. Accessed May 24, 2015. https://www.aei.org/publication/mexicos-security-crisis-will-iguala-wake-call/

[13] “Mexican President Peña Nieto’s Ratings Slip with Economic Reform.” Pew Research Center. August 26, 2014. Accessed May 27, 2015. http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/08/26/mexican-president-pena-nietos-ratings-slip-with-economic-reform/

[14] Ibid.

[15] Woody, Christopher. “Anger Could Derail Mexico’s Economic Recovery.” Business Insider. May 7, 2015. Accessed May 24, 2015. http://www.businessinsider.com/anger-could-derail-mexicos-economic-recovery-2015-5

[16] “Mexico Signs Energy Reform into Law Ending 76yr Monopoly.” RT Business. August 12, 2014. Accessed May 24, 2015. http://rt.com/business/179824-mexico-signs-energy-reform-law/

[17] Ibid.

[18] “Political Risk Analysis – Ruling PRI To Lose Support In Midterms Due to Iguala Crisis.” Latin America Monitor. BMI Research Group. Accessed May 20, 2015. http://www.latinamericamonitor.com/political-risk-analysis-ruling-pri-lose-support-midterms-due-iguala-crisis-jan-2015

[19] Valenzuela Parcero, Pedro. “Legislative Proposals from the PAN, PRI, and PRD.” The Mexico Institute’s 2015 Elections Guide. May 4, 2015. Accessed May 21, 2015. https://mexicoinstituteonelections2015.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/legislative-proposals-from-the-pan-pri-and-prd/

[20] Ibid.

[21] Ibid.

[22] Lewis, Renee. “Violence Grips Mexico Ahead of Miterm Elections.” Al Jazeera. May 21, 2015. Accessed May 26, 2015. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/21/violence-escalates-ahead-of-mexico-elections.html

[23] Bonello, Deborah. “Two Candidates Slain amid Violence Ahead of Mexico’s June 7 Elections.” The Los Angeles Times. May 15, 2015. Accessed May 26, 2015. http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-elections-violence-

20150515-story.html

[24] Ibid.

The post 2015 Mexican Mid-Term Elections: A Battle Between PRI And PAN – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

(EurActiv) — Greece bought time in debt crisis negotiations with official creditors, after it bundled four looming IMF loan payments into one, to be paid by the end of June.

The rare move, permitted by the International Monetary Fund only once before, allowed Athens to avoid a Friday deadline to remit about 300 million euros to the crisis lender, as it weighs the newest proposal from its IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank creditors.

Negotiations, which went into late hours Wednesday (3 June), are aimed at unlocking the final tranche of the bailout agreement, €7.2 billion.

Athens desperately needs the funds to honour debt payments amid fears a debt default could lead to a messy Greek exit from the eurozone.

For days the IMF had dismissed reports that Greece would invoke the “bundling” solution to the looming debt payment – essentially putting it off three weeks.

The announcement of it taking that option came just a few hours after IMF chief Christine Lagarde said she was “confident” Greece would make the 300 million euro remittance on Friday.

“The Greek authorities have informed the (IMF) today that they plan to bundle the country’s four June payments into one, which is now due on June 30,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said, citing rules allowing debtor countries to regroup “multiple principal payments falling due in a calendar month.”

A Greek government source said “we used an option that IMF rules offer us, and which give us additional time for negotiating.”

Lagarde: creditors showing flexibility

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras took back to Athens the latest proposals from the “troika” of lenders after a four-hour meeting late Wednesday with European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker.

Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who attended the talks over dinner in Brussels Wednesday, told reporters it was a “very good meeting”.

Greece is seeking less harsh fiscal and reform requirements attached to the loans from the three official creditors, who in turn have expressed dissatisfaction with efforts by the Tsipras government to roll back some earlier reform promises.

A Greek government source on Thursday laid out the key differences between the two sides, describing the troika’s position as “extreme” and “unacceptable”.

The debtors were insistent on higher primary budget surplus targets than Athens would like, financed by increased rates of sales tax, cuts to civil servants’ salaries and to national pensions, the source said.

Low targets for the primary surplus – the government budget surplus before counting in payments on the national debt – would free up more money for social spending, and the Greek government has been adamant there will be no further cuts to salaries and pensions.

“Primary surpluses play an important role in growth. (A target) one percentage point lower signifies a sum of 1.8 billion euros that could be dedicated to the economy and not just to service debt,” the source said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande acknowledged “the necessity” to lower primary budget surplus targets during phone talks on Wednesday with Tsipras, according to separate Greek sources.

Athens has already made compromises on pension reform and sales tax.

Differences over a property tax and debt restructuring were also key sticking points, with the sole note of agreement on social security reform, the Greek government source said.

Seeking breakthrough

The country’s current 240-billion-euro bailout programme is due to run out at the end of June, and it and its creditors have been seeking a breakthrough in four-month negotiations.

The two sides have been far apart. Tsipras’ government has presented its own 47-page blueprint on how to overhaul the struggling Greek economy without resorting to harsh austerity measures that stifle economic growth.

Asian markets reacted to the IMF move with caution, as analysts said the decision was a delay, not a solution.

“The proverbial can has been kicked down the road toward the end of the month,” said Raiko Shareef, markets strategist at the Bank of New Zealand, according to Bloomberg News.

Tsipras’ leftist Syriza party was elected in January on promises to end five years of painful austerity measures that saw the Greek economy contract by a fifth.

The 40-year-old leader said that after months of often bad-tempered talks between Athens and its creditors, “there was proof from the Commission that it is at least disposed towards reaching a realistic agreement very quickly”.

Juncker said his officials were preparing “the next round of negotiations”, and European sources said another high-level meeting could be held in Brussels as early as Friday. Tsipras was also due to brief parliament on the talks on Friday evening, the government said.

Greek media said the government was hoping for a deal by June 14.

Any deal that does eventually emerge faces a major hurdle as the reforms would have to be approved by the Greek parliament.

Early elections?

Speaking on Friday, Greece’s Deputy Social Security Minister Dimitris Stratoulis, a hardliner in the government, said early elections could be called if the country’s international lenders do not soften their terms for a cash-for-reforms deal.

“The lenders want to impose hard measures. If they do not back down from this package of blackmail the government … will have to seek alternative solutions, elections,” he said.

Stratoulis is closer to the far-left faction of the ruling Syriza party, and it was not unclear if the statement represented a wider view within the party. But it underlined the deep anger at the proposal from lenders and a growing sense that the party will seek alternatives to avoid accepting the plan.

The post Greece Skips IMF Payment appeared first on Eurasia Review.

These days Lebanon, as with this region, is being shaken by political and ‘terrorism” crises, threats to stability, growing popular unrest, and ideological and theological sacrum bellum turbulence. Forces not seen since the beginning of the last century with the end of the Ottoman Empire and its replacement with the hegemonic Sykes-Picot diktat.

Yet, with all of Israel’s swelling international legitimacy problems, the Zionist regime still occupying another country, Palestine, can sound its bugle, which having no valves or other political pitch-altering complications, blast-summons its agents in Washington and elsewhere to get busy and circle the wagons.

Netanyahu indeed has blown his rams horn this week in the run-up to the June 30 “deadline” (to be extended yet again if necessary) for a 5+l agreement on the Iranian nuclear file. Israel’s agents have leapt up and are flooding Congress and the mass media with op-eds from no fewer than 14 pro-Zionist organization since May 15 Nakba Day, ranging from half a dozen articles, publications and mailings from the Washington Institute For Near East Policy (WINEP)), to the Middle East Forum’s, Steven J. Rosen in the Washington Times, Dennis Ross in the New York Times, Congressional Testimony featuring James L. Jeffrey before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, and many more.

Unfortunately, in contrast to the AIPAC-ZOA organized blitz, many who oppose Zionist aggressions continue to waste their energies and actually aid their Zionist opponents by indulging in largely irrelevant, unproven, counterintuitive, counterproductive wing-nut conspiracy-theory blogging partly because this form of internet pollution is easy and does not require old fashioned research or marshaling of empirical facts or much thinking. So it remains no real contest for the Zionist lobby as they continue to dominate Congressional hearings and mainstream Op-eds, not to mention Fox news and CNN type outlets.

A WINEP memo, authored with AIPAC and the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is making its way to powerful opinion and policy makers this week on the subject of Iran and Hezbollah’s involvement in three regional wars and what opportunities it presents Israel to replace Hezbollah’s summer of 2006 “Devine Victory” with a summer of 2015 “Devine Destruction.”

Simultaneously, the Israeli army, according to Congressional staffers on the House Foreign Affairs committee, has forwarded to key allies detailed plans to evacuate more than a million civilians in southern Lebanon before obliterating Hezbollah and everything south of the Litani River—for starters. They carefully locate Mediterranean ports near Tyre and Saida where US Naval ships can rescue endangered Americans, hopefully doing a better job than the US Embassy did back in July-August of 2006. A senior military official confirmed these plans on 6/3/2015.

As this news wafted across the US Congress, Republican Presidential candidate Se Lindsey Graham, on cue began leading cheers for another Zionist aggression against Lebanon as he seeks Jewish campaign funding. As part of his entrance into the 2016 US Presidential race, a centerpiece of which will be his cash cow “Bomb Iran” plank, his staff has begun distributing a recent press release from the anti-Arab, anti-Muslim Zionist Organization of America (ZOA). It declares that “ZOA is very shocked and deeply critical of President Barack Obama’s recent statement, in an interview on Israeli TV, that military action against Iran would be ineffective in preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power. This statement contradicts his repeated commitments that “all options are on the table.” Clearly, when the President publicly states that a course of action would be ineffective he is removing it from the list of options of what he is prepared to do.”

An Israeli military intelligence source told the Jerusalem Post on 6/3/2015 that during the coming war, Hezbollah rocket and missile fire will be met with civilian evacuations, massive Israeli aerial strikes, and then by a ground offensive. “If we have no choice, we have to evacuate 1 million, 1.5 million residents in Lebanon, and act,” the source said. “Failure to evacuate the civilian population would result in many thousands of non-combatant deaths, according to Israeli army assessments” following a week-long drill simulating destroying Hezbollah on multiple fronts, including massive use of the Israeli air force. The Israeli embassy in Washington citing US-Israeli intelligence, including claimed sources inside Hezbollah, is telling Congressional leaders that Hezbollah is “in deep distress in Syria, cannot win that war and is in strategic trouble despite attempts by its Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to deliver morale-boosting speeches.”

Among the Zionist lobby’s current arguments is that Hezbollah is nothing more than Iran’s Lebanon branch of its Baji (people’s) militia and that with respect to the nuclear issue, is an argument being pushed by the Middle East Forum that “Iran is a revolutionary power with hegemonic aspirations seeking to assert its dominance in the region and uses an assortment of terrorism, proliferation, military proxies, and occasionally old-fashioned diplomacy to further its dominance. Do not expect Iran to compromise its principles any time soon.”

While conceding that a military confrontation with Iran could be costly and risk escalation, WINEP is telling the US Congress: “It is unlikely to produce either a U.S. defeat or a “war” in the sense normally used in American political debate — endless, bloody ground combat by hundreds of thousands of troops as in Iraq or Vietnam would not be necessary and this could be over quickly.”

Meanwhile, Dennis Ross, a former Middle East adviser to President Obama, reportedly believes that another Israeli war in Lebanon is just a matter of timing. He is currently working on trying to get the Gulf States more deeply involved against Iran. Ross frequently argues that “The Saudis see Iran trying to encircle them with its Quds Force killing Sunni Muslims in Syria, mobilizing Shia Muslim militias in Iraq, providing arms to the Houthi rebels in Yemen or fomenting unrest among Saudi Shia. Ross told AIPAC this week that Iran set the recent bombs in Saudi Shia mosques to frighten Shia into compliance with its projects. A tactic it has used many times before in Iraq and Ross argues that fundamentally, the Saudis believe that America’s friends and interests are under threat, and the U.S. response has ranged from indifference to accommodation such that an Israel war could be a ‘game-changer ’ in the region.

But it with respect to Hezbollah, that Israel and her agents see real nice prospects. The Zionist organizations talking points on Hezbollah include, but are not limited to the following:

Hezbollah continues to incur heavy losses in Syria and has entered a fight that neither it nor Iran can win. Its supporters in Lebanon are increasingly raising questions about why Hezbollah is killing Sunni’s in Syrian, Iraq and Yemen- and how this helps Lebanon. AIPAC argues that no one is Lebanon, except for a small percentage of hard core Party of God supporters believes its claimed justifications about “takfires, terrorists and IS” will destroy Lebanon unless Hezbollah fights in three countries.

Former Mossad director Efraim Halevy claims that Hezbollah, given what he labels its military entanglements in Syria, is unable to focus on fighting Israel and is incurring severe losses in manpower.

Handouts from Tel Aviv and Israeli embassy political officers in Washington and provided to friends of Israel for circulating, point out that Hezbollah’s support among Sunni’s in Lebanon is now essentially nil and is also weakening fast among its own Shia base as hundreds of sons are dying killing Sunni Arabs in the east rather than fighting Israeli soldiers in the south.

Congress is being advised that in Lebanon the rhetoric of Hezbollah Secretary-General is wearing thin and becoming shopworn with jokes in Lebanon’s media and even in Shia areas about the coming Devine Defeat. Senator John McCain complains Hezbollah is forcing the Lebanese army to fight a non-Lebanese war against IS (Da’ish), Iran’s most feared enemy that has little if anything to do with Lebanon.

Chiming in are yet more Israeli officials making the case that war with Hezbollah will almost certainly shift momentum in the U.S. Congress decisively against the pending nuclear deal with Iran — a deal that critics say will increase Iran’s maneuverability in the region, including its support for Hezbollah. The idea being that war with Hezbollah might be a positive game changing development to undermine the current majority support in Congress and the American public a majority of who currently back a US-Iran nuclear deal.

The case for military action against Hezbollah was recently made also by the anti-Arab, Palestinian-loathing Dore Gold, who is close to Netanyahu and was just appointed director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Accusing the UN of having failed to stop Hezbollah, Gold argues that “Either the IDF will have to destroy the weapons now being stored in southern Lebanon, or let Hezbollah fire thousands of rockets into Israel. What would you do?”

On 5/12/2015 the New York Times reported that Israeli is preparing for “what it sees as an almost inevitable next battle with Hezbollah.” An Israeli official added “We will hit Hezbollah hard.”

If so, it wouldn’t be the first time that an Israeli confrontation with Hezbollah would be motivated by the hope that war with Iran was looming. During the July 2006 Zionist invasion of Lebanon, which as Aurélie Daher reminds us caused more than 1,200 civilian deaths, 4,400 injuries, 200,000 people rendered homeless and more than 25% of the population displaced, Israel’s then-Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh announced that the Lebanon war was all about Iran: “War with Iran in inevitable. Lebanon is just a prelude to the greater war with Iran.” Sneh timing was off, but as Trita Parsi and Paul Pillar have suggested, an Israeli war this summer would likely assure that, despite Obama’s efforts, US-Iran peace is beyond Obama’s reach.

Some in Lebanon and Washington believe that Israel may attack Hezbollah in Qalamoun as well as South Lebanon. Israel already bombed Qalamoun twice in April 2015.

Were Iranian troops in Syria to intervene directly on behalf of Hezbollah in Qalamoun, Nicholas Saidel, Associate Director of the Institute for Strategic Threat Analysis & Response (ISTAR) at the University of Pennsylvania argues that this escalation would likely lead to mission creep, and an eventual war between Iran and Israel, and quite possibly an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Meanwhile, the Zionist regime and some of its US lobby are arguing that “once Obama leaves office next year and a purebred 100% American patriot is in the Oval Office things can finally be put right in this region and we will knock some heads.”

And if anyone is still alive– in the words of wisdom from |Alan Dershowitz, “We can let Allah sort it all out.”

The post Israel Signals It’s Ready To Destroy Hezbollah – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Saudi Arabia Armed Forces repelled on Friday an offensive by Yemeni Houthi rebels in the Jazan-Najran sector of the country, the Saudi government said.

The Saudi government claimed that the attack was orchestrated by a Republican Guard group that is close to the former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, with support from the Houthi militias.

At the same time, the Saudi state news agency is reporting that Saudi forces shot down early Saturday a Scud missile that the Yemeni Houthi rebels fired into the southwest region of the kingdom near the city of Khamees al-Mushait. The Scud missile was shot down by two Patriot missiles, the Saudi press is reporting.

If confirmed, this would be the first use of Scud missiles in the conflict.

The post Saudi Arabia Says Repels Houthi Attack, Including Use Of Scud Missile appeared first on Eurasia Review.

In this week’s address, US President Barack Obama recognized Immigrant Heritage Month, an occasion that allows us to celebrate our origins as a nation of immigrants. The basic idea of welcoming people to our shores is central to our ancestry and our way of life. That’s why the President asked everyone to visit whitehouse.gov/NewAmericans and share stories of making it to America. And as we celebrate our heritage and our diversity, the President promised to continue to fight to fix our current broken immigration system and make it more just and more fair, strengthening America in the process.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
June 6, 2015

Hi everybody. One of the remarkable things about America is that nearly all of our families originally came from someplace else. We’re a nation of immigrants. It’s a source of our strength and something we all can take pride in. And this month – Immigrant Heritage Month – is a chance to share our American stories.

I think about my grandparents in Kansas – where they met and where my mom was born. Their family tree reached back to England and Ireland and elsewhere. They lived, and raised me, by basic values: working hard, giving back, and treating others the way you want to be treated.

I think of growing up in Hawaii, a place enriched by people of different backgrounds – native Hawaiian, Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese and just about everything else. Growing up in that vibrant mix helped shape who I am today. And while my father was not an immigrant himself, my own life journey as an African-American – and the heritage shared by Michelle and our daughters, some of whose ancestors came here in chains – has made our family who we are.

This month, I’m inviting you to share your story, too. Just visit whitehouse.gov/NewAmericans. We want to hear how you or your family made it to America – whether you’re an immigrant yourself or your great-great-grandparents were.

Of course, we can’t just celebrate this heritage, we have to defend it – by fixing our broken immigration system. Nearly two years ago, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate came together to do that. They passed a commonsense bill to secure our border, get rid of backlogs, and give undocumented immigrants who are already living here a pathway to citizenship if they paid a fine, paid their taxes, and went to the back of the line. But for nearly two years, Republican leaders in the House have refused to even allow a vote on it.

That’s why, in the meantime, I’m going to keep doing everything I can to make our immigration system more just and more fair. Last fall, I took action to provide more resources for border security; focus enforcement on the real threats to our security; modernize the legal immigration system for workers, employers, and students; and bring more undocumented immigrants out of the shadows so they can get right with the law. Some folks are still fighting against these actions. I’m going to keep fighting for them. Because the law is on our side. It’s the right thing to do. And it will make America stronger.

I want us to remember people like Ann Dermody from Alexandria, Virginia. She’s originally from Ireland and has lived in America legally for years. She worked hard, played by the rules and dreamed of becoming a citizen. In March, her dream came true. And before taking the oath, she wrote me a letter. “The papers we receive…will not change our different accents [or] skin tones,” Ann said. “But for that day, at least, we’ll feel like we have arrived.”

Well, to Ann and immigrants like her who have come to our shores seeking a better life – yes, you have arrived. And by sharing our stories, and staying true to our heritage as a nation of immigrants, we can keep that dream alive for generations to come.

Thanks, and have a great weekend

The post Obama: Celebrating Immigrant Heritage Month – Transcript appeared first on Eurasia Review.

An Egyptian court on Saturday annulled a lower court’s decision to consider Hamas a terrorist organization.

The final verdict was issued by an appellate court based on a petition by the Egyptian government.

“We welcome the verdict and consider it an important and positive step,” Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan told Anadolu Agency.

On Feb. 28, a lower Egyptian court had designated Hamas as a “terrorist” organization over claims that the group had carried out terrorist attacks in Egypt through tunnels linking the Sinai Peninsula to the Gaza Strip.

Original article

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A distinguished Chinese scholar, speaking at a BRICS forum in Moscow recently, ascribed the growing India-China trade deficit to India’s ban on iron exports. While this contention is partially true, the data does not validate this argument, and nor does his view account for the other reasons for the deficit.

By Rajrishi Singhal*

India’s growing trade deficit with China has become a permanent fixture in all bilateral discussions held between the two countries. The gap has been increasing and, according to provisional data for 2014-15 presented to the Rajya Sabha, the gap is now over $48 billion. [1]

This concern was also voiced at the VIIth BRICS Academic Forum held recently in Moscow, especially during a break-out session on ‘Trade: Integrity of the Rules-Based Trade Regime and BRICS Role’.

The Chinese scholar on the panel for this session—Zhao Zhongxiu, dean of the School of International Trade at the University of International Business and Economics, Beijing— provided a rationale for the large trade deficit. He said the deficit was due to India’s ban on exports of iron ore.

Zhao’s contention is valid to some extent—courts in India have been imposing varying levels of embargo—either area-specific or by occasionally capping output—on iron ore mining and exports since 2010, aimed at curbing illegal mining and clandestine exports.

But Zhao’s explanation is only partially true—various other reasons have been adduced in the past for the growing trade deficit between the two countries.

Source: Ministry of Commerce, Government of India [2];

In 2014, the Supreme Court lifted the Goa mining ban partially by imposing an annual output cap of 20 million tonnes. The Centre also reduced the export tax for low quality iron ore to 10% in April 2015. The impact of these decisions on exports will become evident over the next few months.

However, Zhao’s contention seems a little laboured when viewed through the lens of overall India-China trade figures. The data doesn’t seem to validate his argument.

India-China trade figures

As Table 2 shows, India’s exports to China suffered a severe setback in 2012-13 and dropped by $4,541.67 million. This is also the year that iron ore exports to China suffered a pronounced drop. On first look, therefore, the fall in overall exports can be attributed to a drop in iron ore exports.

But that would be a mistake. That’s because the drop in ore exports to China is only $2,754.07 million—and this means that China did not buy $1,787.6 million of other goods that year.

India’s exports have continued to languish thereafter, with the provisional data for 2014-15 showing a precipitous drop in export receipts from China: overall exports are unfortunately back to 2009-10 levels. However, there has not been a concomitant drop in China’s exports to India; in fact, it is quite the opposite, with provisional numbers showing a sharp recovery in China’s exports to India.

So, if India’s exports have been falling each passing year, while China’s have grown apace, leading to an unsustainable trade deficit, surely it has to do more with reasons other than dwindling iron ore exports.

It would have been only fair if Zhao had also mentioned India’s abiding contention: the tariff and non-tariff barriers (such as phytosanitary standards) that China imposes on Indian exports of pharmaceuticals, agri-products, or IT enabled services. Zhao should have also enlightened the Forum about India’s insistent demands for simplification and greater transparency in China’s procedures related to registration, inspection, and approvals of imports from India. Otherwise Zhao is presenting only half the picture.

*Rajrishi Singhal is Senior Geoeconomics Fellow, Gateway House. He has been a senior business journalist, and Executive Editor, The Economic Times, and served as Head, Policy and Research, at a private sector bank. This feature was written for Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations.

References
[1] Parliament Questions to Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, P 10, 13 May 2015, <http://commerce.nic.in/pquestion/RS20150513.pdf>

[2] Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, Export Import Data Bank, < http://commerce.nic.in/eidb/ecomxcnt.asp>

[3] Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, Total Trade, <http://www.commerce.nic.in/eidb/iecnt.asp>

The post India-China Deficit: Beyond Iron Ore – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

The visit of U.S. Defence Secretary Carter will help cement trust and expand the scope of India-U.S. defence cooperation. However, there are several important details around technology transfer that still need to be worked out before co-production of weapons can begin.

By Seema Sirohi*

The growing defence cooperation between India and the United States is considered to be the brightest spot on the tapestry of bilateral relations. It appears less burdened by complaints and counter-complaints than, say, the trade and economic relationship.

Both sides see each other as partners in need with basic convergence of views on crucial issues of maritime security, freedom of navigation and the need to maintain the rule of law in the wilds of the oceans—the Pacific and the Indian—where a new power is rising.

The trust between India and the U.S. has grown over the years as have sales of weapons, totaling $9 billion. The two sides have moved from deep suspicion to talking about collaboration on developing India’s next generation aircraft carrier. That’s a long distance to cover in a short span of 10 years.

The visit of U.S. Secretary of Defence, Ashton Carter, this week is an important opportunity to push the defence relationship further by cementing the trust a bit more, especially by clarifying issues of technology transfer.

Carter takes an interest in India and is more engaged than some of his cabinet colleagues for whom South Asia begins and ends in Pakistan. He is known as a straight talker, a problem solver and a streamliner of processes.

The backdrop to Carter’s current travels is China and the U.S. “rebalance” to Asia. He attended the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore where he confronted China for its unprecedented land reclamation spree in the disputed South China Sea. Beijing has been “creating” new islands out of sandbars capable of supporting men and military.

While other countries have also reclaimed land in the disputed waters and created outposts, China has reclaimed 2,000 acres in just the past 18 months. Carter said it was “more than all other claimants combined and more than in the entire history of the region.”

He announced a new Southeast Asia Maritime Initiative to bolster countries in the region and build their capacities. He then went to Vietnam, a country under pressure from China. The U.S. is considering selling weapons to Vietnam.

India too is concerned about Chinese behavior and felt it necessary to issue a separate joint statement with U.S. in January—the first such joining of voice—on the need to follow rules in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.

On the bilateral front, Carter’s India visit is timed to sign the Defence Framework Agreement, which has been renewed for another 10 years. The latest version reportedly expands the ambit of cooperation beyond the original document signed in 2005. It will also incorporate the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative or DTTI, under which the two countries are exploring joint production of weapons.

During President Barack Obama’s visit to New Delhi in January, India and the U.S. announced four projects for co-production, including the next generation Raven unmanned aerial vehicles and protective gear against chemical and biological weapons.

In addition, working groups were announced to explore cooperation on jet engine technology and aircraft carrier design. Both areas are of immense importance to India but according to reports in the Indian media, the U.S. is reluctant to part with the latest jet engine technology, which New Delhi wants.

India’s Defence Research and Development Oraganization wants to partner with GE on the latest F-414 engine for the future Tejas Light Combat Aircraft. So far the U.S. side has been reluctant despite the scope of future engine deals which may leave India no choice but to consider an international tender, according to Ajai Shukla, a prominent defence analyst.

U.S. analysts agree that Washington is unlikely to part with cutting-edge technology because that’s what gives its defence industry the edge. The DTTI initiative can start at the lower end to test how the two bureaucracies, private industry and other suppliers connect. “You can’t produce a Lamborghini right away,” one American official told me earlier this year.

Also at issue is India’s refusal thus far to sign what the U.S. calls three “foundational agreements” which allow sharing of classified information, logistics and geo-spatial cooperation. While Washington says they are routine and have been signed by all of its partners, New Delhi is uncomfortable.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was reportedly briefed on the agreements and has tasked his senior advisers to take a fresh look. The Indian side is also not keen on the monitoring requirements the U.S. imposes on the technology it sells.

If Carter and Manohar Parrikar can bridge the confidence and trust gap, the visit will have been more successful than most.

*Seema Sirohi is a Washington-based analyst and a frequent contributor to Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations. Seema is also on Twitter, and her handle is @seemasirohi This feature was written for Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations.

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(EurActiv) — Relieved of his duties as leader of the National Front delegation in the European Parliament after calling for the “de-Islamification of France”, sources told AFP that Aymeric Chauprade is now the subject of a legal inquiry.

Extreme right MEP Aymeric Chauprade is under investigation by the French authorities for his controversial video response to the Paris terror attacks in January, French legal sources say. His comments had already cost him the leadership of the French National Front’s (NF) Brussels delegation.

In a press release published on his website on Thursday 4 June, the NF politician announced that he would use his immunity as a member of the European Parliament to refuse a police summons to give evidence in the investigation.

Parliamentary immunity

MEPs are protected against coercive measures like police custody, but their parliamentary immunity does not extend to protection from trial. According to a legal source, Aymeric Chauprade’s recent police summons was to a free hearing.

An inquiry was opened by the Paris prosecutor following complaints by several organisations, including the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Licra), the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) and SOS Racism.

The MEP is accused of inciting hate, violence and discrimination on the grounds of religion.

Aymeric Chauprade posted this video on the Internet after the terrorist attacks in Paris, between 7 and 9 January.

In the passage under investigation, Chauprade said: “We are told that the majority of Muslims are peaceful. Of course, but so were the majority of Germans before 1933 and National Socialism.” He also called on the French people to “fight the Islamification of our country”.

The video, in which the MEP denounced a “powerful fifth column” in France that could “turn against us at any moment” triggered strong reactions in France and beyond. Many MEPs were also shocked to learn that these comments, uttered during a European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, had been recorded using the institution’s own technical services.

In response to the outcry, Marine Le Pen, the president of the National Front, stripped Aymeric Chauprade of his functions as her international affairs advisor and head of the party’s European Parliament delegation.

In spite of his demotion, Chauprade accompanied his party leader on her visit last month to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Egypt, one of the most prestigious Sunni Islam institutions. Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb reportedly shared with Marine Le Pen his “serious reservations” over her “hostile position towards Islam and Muslims”.

The National Front leader later spoke of her “many converging points of view” with the Grand Imam.

The post National Front MEP Under Investigation For Islam Comments appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Regional integration is the key to the development of Africa, but it requires strong political will to succeed, panellists in the closing session of the World Economic Forum on Africa heard Friday.

Donald Kaberuka, President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Abidjan, a World Economic Forum Foundation Board Member, said: “Infrastructure is a means to an end; it is not an end in itself.” So, for integration to work, the man-made barriers to trade need to be removed.

Claver Gatete, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of Rwanda, said that it has taken a decision by the leaders of East African Community (EAC) states to have multiple trade barriers removed along the route from Kenya’s port at Mombasa to Rwanda. This has cut down the travel time from 22 days to five and halved the cost of transport between the countries.

The panel also flagged the cost and difficulty of moving around the continent, which is an added cost for business and has a significant effect on growth. Although the situation has improved, with 30 countries now having no visa requirements for Africans or visas issued on arrival, it is still an issue. Kaberuka said it is important to find out what fears lay behind visa policies to see if they could be addressed.

Again, East Africa was flagged as a region that has made significant progress in this regard, with requirements for visas, passports and even mobile phone roaming charges no longer applicable for nationals of the EAC countries wishing to move around the region.

Nhlanhla Musa Nene, Minister of Finance of South Africa, said Africa’s resources have to be used efficiently to lay the foundation for future generations. “Growth in our GDP is of critical importance. But what is important is the quality of that growth; whether that growth takes everyone on board. It is whether that growth continues to be sustainable and creates an environment that will cater for the next generation,” he said.

Makhtar Diop, Vice-President, Africa, World Bank, Washington DC, said that the conversations at the World Economic Forum on Africa are the same as those being held among policy-makers in the developed world about quality of growth, employment, inclusiveness, climate change, economic diversification and taking the economy to the next phase. “So the message I am taking from this meeting is that Africa is becoming a real part of the dialogue on economies. It is not an exception anymore,” he said.

Antony Jenkins, Group Chief Executive, Barclays, United Kingdom, and a Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum on Africa, said that the company is optimistic about Africa’s future, but urged the continent to seize the opportunities that have been presented by low growth in other regions in a world that is increasingly competitive and interconnected.

Jenkins cautioned that while it is temping to look for models for creating growth in other parts of the world, he would advise against it. “I think that’s looking in the rear-view mirror. It is very important to look to the future.” Diop concurred, saying Africa needs to create its own model for the future from the success stories on the continent and elsewhere.

South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu closed the 2015 meeting with a blessing. Next year’s World Economic Forum on Africa will take place in Kigali, Rwanda.

More than 1,250 participants took part in the 25th World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, from 3 to 5 June 2015. The theme of the meeting was “Then and Now: Reimagining Africa’s Future”.

The post East Africa Shows Benefits Of Successful Regional Integration appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Pope Francis has celebrated Mass in front of tens of thousands of Catholics at a stadium in Bosnia-Herzegovina, BBC News reports.

The pontiff’s visit to the capital, Sarajevo, is aimed at promoting peace and reconciliation across the country. The Pope is also meeting members of the Muslim, Orthodox Christian and Jewish communities during his one-day trip.

Bosnia remains divided along religious and ethnic lines, 20 years after its civil war which depleted the Catholic population.

“War never again!” Pope Francis urged in his homily before 65,000 worshippers at Sarajevo’s Kosevo stadium.

“War means children, women and the elderly in refugee camps; it means forced displacement, destroyed houses, streets and factories. Above all countless shattered lives,” he said.

“You know this well having experienced it here,” he added in reference to the 1992-95 Bosnian conflict, which left some 100,000 dead and two million displaced.

The Pontiff also warned that the world faced “a kind of third world war being fought piecemeal and, in the context of global communications, we sense an atmosphere of war”.

The war between Christian Orthodox Serbs and Muslim Bosniaks in the early 90s resulted in deep ethnic divisions. There was also a Bosniak-Croat conflict within the wider war.

Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Catholics, from the Bosnian Croatian community, are estimated to number 10-15% of the population.

Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said a central aspect of the visit would be boosting the morale of Catholics, many of whom left the country after the conflict.

“In December the 20th anniversary of the war will be remembered but the traces and the wounds of war are still there,” he told AFP.

The Pope was welcomed in Sarajevo by children wearing traditional costume representing Bosnia-Herzegovina’s three main faiths.

He also spoke to the three-member presidency and called on the country to reject division and continue working for peace to create “a melody of sublime nobility and beauty, instead of the fanatical cries of hatred”.

Speaking to reporters on his flight to Sarajevo, he described Sarajevo as the “Jerusalem of the West”.

“It is a city of very different ethnic and religious cultures. It is even a city that has suffered much during its history. Now it is on a beautiful path of peace. I am making this trip to talk about this, as a sign of peace and a prayer for peace.”

At least 5,000 police are on duty and authorities have published a helpline number if members of the public spot any suspicious activity during the visit.

On Friday local media reported jihadists claiming to be from Islamic State had issued a video, calling for action in the Balkans. However, it is not thought to be linked to the papal visit.

It is 18 years since Pope John Paul II travelled to Sarajevo during a severe snowstorm in 1997. A monument was erected in his honor in 2014.

The post Bosnia: Pope Francis Celebrates Mass In Sarajevo appeared first on Eurasia Review.

The vast majority of India’s 1.3 billion people live in its 630,000 villages. They have seen little or no benefit from the country’s economic growth. Over 80% do not have ‘approved sanitation’ according to UNICEF, and are forced to defecate in public. Village health care, where it exists, is poor and inaccessible. Education is basic, with large class sizes and schools lacking desks and chairs, let alone books.

The caste system dominates all areas of life and, although the constitution of India prohibits discrimination based on caste, violent exploitation and prejudice are the norm. Add economic and gender divisions to this medieval Hindu social system and a multi-layered structure of separation begins to surface. At the bottom of the social ladder are girls and women from the Dalit caste (previously known as the untouchables), who are born into a life of exploitation, entrapment and potential abuse. As an International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) report for the UN makes clear, “discrimination and violence systematically deny them opportunities, choices and freedoms in all spheres of life”.

The police are negligent, discriminatory and corrupt, and village justice, as dispensed by the ‘Panchayat’, is archaic. The village council or Panchayat “consists of five members … [and] sits as a court of law”, adjudicating in cases, which the Encyclopedia Britannica describes as relating to ‘caste’ offences. These ‘offences’ are trivial one and all, and range from a Dalit woman taking water from a well reserved for higher caste families, to breaching eating, drinking, or smoking restrictions to—God forbid—having a relationship with a man from a neighbouring village. The punishments meted out by the Panchayat are extreme, often brutal, always unjust.

Victimised

The most common victims are Dalits, of whome there are an estimated 167m in India (16% of the population). They tend to be poorly educated, landless, with few employment opportunities and so dependent on the very people who mistreat them—men and women of the higher castes. It is a dependency based on vulnerability, allowing exploitation and abuse.

Dalit girls and women are victimised and violated in villages, towns and cities up and down the country. The Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) records that they are murdered and burned alive, “raped, held captive in brothels and temple ceremonies, and forced to work as bonded laborers”, while young girls are kidnapped and trafficked into prostitution or trapped into domestic servitude. All because they happen to have been born into a particular family, in a particular place.

Kessi Bai has lived in Thuravad village in Rajasthan for 21 years. In November last year the 45 year-old mother of five was accused, with no evidence, of murder, by a mob of villagers led by the village council. She was violently punished: stripped naked, her face was blackened with charcoal, her head was shaved and she was repeatedly beaten with wooden sticks. Her husband and son were locked inside their home while she was paraded for six hours around neighbouring villages on a donkey.

The procession returned to Thuravad at around 8pm, she was thrown from the donkey and again beaten, before the police finally arrived. When I met this frail, desperately poor Dalit woman in December, she would not show her face and wept repeatedly. She has not left her house since the distressing incident.

In a similar recent case in Utter Pradesh, the Daily Mail reports, “15 Other Backward Castes (OBC) villagers stripped five women of the Dalit community, paraded them naked, caned them and then put them on show on the highway because one of their daughters had allegedly eloped with a Dalit’s son”.

And most shocking of this trinity of injustice: last January in the remote village of Subalpur in West Bengal, a 20 year-old Dalit woman who was “found in the company of a married man from another village”, was, the Guardian reported, “dragged out by her neighbours … tied to a tree then raped by up to 15 men as punishment for the illicit liaison”.

The woman, known only as ‘W’, has since been regarded as a ‘woman of bad character’, who “‘spoiled the atmosphere of the village’ by going against local customs”. These medieval ‘traditions’ of suppression and division enforced by the Panchayats, which are widespread in India’s villages, support a deeply patriarchal society and have no place in any civilised country.

National Neglect

The Panchayat is elected by villagers and is paid for by the Indian government—it is in effect the first level of local governance. All members are duty-bound to maintain communal harmony and to discharge their office, the official legislation says, in “a fair and judicious manner without fear or favour, affection or ill-will”. As with many areas of Indian life, however, what is universally lacking is the implementation of such liberally acceptable legislation.

Complacency and corruption are two of the major obstacles to the observation of universal human rights and the realisation of democracy in India. If the government, under the leadership of the Hindu-nationalist Naredra Modi, wishes to build a truly democratic state, it needs to enforce its legislation on caste, ensure village Panchayats operate within the law and provide Dalit women with the justice and support they so badly need.

The post Dalit Women And Village Justice In Rural India – OpEd appeared first on Eurasia Review.

Our nation has a penchant for creating unnecessary complexity and obstacles for its people in areas such as the tax, health insurance and student debt miasmas. The prison industry adds to this with what it euphemistically calls “collateral consequences.” In simple language, this means a series of state-based statutory punishments – rooted in the medieval English practice of “civil death” – that greet ex-felons who have served their time and paid their debt to society.

Our country’s overall policy is that once punished, ex-felons are released from prison to be free to re-integrate themselves into society as normal productive human-beings, yet we have a quagmire of unnecessary laws that prevent full rehabilitation. Many states prevent ex-felons from voting, and obstruct them when they try to obtain housing, enter college or get needed public benefits or employment. This simply does not make sense because such laws encourage recidivism, not rehabilitation. Some ex-felons then resort to unlawful means to feed, clothe and house themselves and their families.

If you’re into cognitive dissonance, you can visit the websites of two organizations dedicated to righting this wrong. They detail the myriad of state laws and how ex-felons find themselves in a labyrinth of bureaucracy or end up in jail again. (Visit the Vera Institute of Justice — http://www.vera.org/ — and the Sentencing Project — http://www.sentencingproject.org/ – for more information.)

Let’s consider an ex-felon who serves his/her sentence and wants to live a law-abiding life. Eleven states say they have no voting rights – permanent disenfranchisement. Other states have exceptions to the exceptions depending on the ex-felon’s status, parole, etc. Only Maine and Vermont have no restrictions for ex-felons and, in fact, in these two states ex-felons can vote via absentee ballot while in prison.

In the nineteen-seventies, three ex-felons in California sued to get back their right to vote. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a majority opinion by Chief Justice Rehnquist, rejected their argument that they are being denied equal protection of the laws under the U.S. Constitution (Richardson v. Ramirez 418 U.S. 24(1974)).

Moreover, under many state laws, landlords, community colleges and universities, student loan creditors and social welfare agencies can outright reject ex-felons.

Is it enough to affect the prospect of an honest election? According to the Sentencing Project, 5.85 million Americans are currently denied their right to vote. Furthermore, the institutional racism of the school-to-prison pipeline results in one of every thirteen African-Americans being denied their right to vote. With such racial bias, it is no wonder that we have such underrepresentation of many groups by our elected officials.

Additionally, the results of 2000 and all the negative consequences of 8 years under President Bush could have been entirely different had ex-felons not faced such discrimination because Florida is one of the states that has complete felon disenfranchisement.

In 2000, the consulting firm to Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, during the Jeb Bush governorship, somehow confused thousands of names of voters with the names of ex-felons and took away their right to vote. These law-abiding citizens could have more than made up for the 537 vote gap between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Without such voter restriction laws, this farce of a “mix-up” would have never occurred. Neither the consulting company, nor Ms. Harris incurred any penalty for such a portentous tampering.

Studies have shown, not surprisingly, that reducing the isolation of ex-felons by lifting these harsh post-punishment restrictions reduces the recidivism rate. Many states are responding to the obvious and are passing amendments chipping away at these post-prison sanctions with bewildering stratifications of ex-felons and parolees. So there is some progress, especially on the voting ban. (By the way, a blanket ban on voting from prison violates the European Convention on Human Rights.)

But do these state laws, that arbitrarily punish the already punished, even pass the smell test? We are supposed to be a country under the rule of law, which includes what is called “due process.” That means you cannot be punished by the states without procedures that allow you to confront your accusers and defend yourself in open court before judge and jury, with rights of appeal. Remember, the Supreme Court ruled decades ago that if you are poor you must be given an attorney to defend you in criminal cases.

Under the draconian systems of “collateral consequences,” or post-punishment penalties, ex-felons find themselves on one chopping block after another. They may ask – “Why are we being denied, excluded, or deprived, without even a hearing, of rights accorded everyone else after we’ve served our full sentence?”

More constitutional lawyers should test various provisions of the U.S. Constitution as they apply to various restrictions affecting ex-felons. The legislative process, known for being slow and haphazard, cannot adequately rectify the undue burdens of ex-felons who have been stripped of their civil rights.

This issue affects all members of society. It hurts the individuals, their families, and their communities. In addition, it costs the taxpayers more and more money each year to imprison people who fall victim to recidivism. It is not in anyone’s interest to undermine rehabilitative programs and prevent ex-felons from more fully entering society.

Not very smart for a country that thinks so much of itself.

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The Islamic State released a clip this week warning rebel groups on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights — on the border with Israel — that the organization had set its sights on the area and planned to control it.

This is the first time the group publicly stated its intention to take over the Syrian Golan, currently in the hands of various Syrian rebel groups primarily.

“I advise you to beware,” a Daesh fighter is seen in the clip as saying, according to a Channel 2 translation. “Why are you fighting under an unknown flag? Why do you not adhere to the laws of Allah and fly his flag?”

“The groups you belong to… have joined the infidels and received aid from them and [together] operate out of a command room in Amman,” he went on in reference to the US-led coalition against the group which routinely carries out airstrikes on its positions in Iraq.

The Golan Heights, on the Syrian side of the border, is primarily in rebel hands. An Israeli officer speaking to the Times of Israel this weekdescribed the al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra as sitting “on the fence” and said that the radical Sunni group has positions “100 yards” from Israel’s border. The Free Syrian Army, he said, “is spread out.”

Daesh’s nearest known position to the Syrian Golan is some 50-60 kilometers away. Last week, according to Channel 2, the group took over towns 60 kilometers from Quneitra.

According to military assessments, IS fighters continue to advance westward toward the Israeli border.

Original article

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By Uma Purushothaman*

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12 nation free trade agreement, is an integral part of the US rebalance to Asia. If established, the TPP would cover one-third of global trade and 40 percent of the global economy. The idea behind the TPP is to create a set of global rules of trade before the Chinese do. The TPP will set standards for free data flow and intellectual property as well environmental, labour and governmental standards.

Though negotiations on the TPP started in 2005, they have still not concluded and the pact is not yet operational. In addition to negotiations among the 12 participating nations, nations have had to contend with domestic opposition. This is particularly true of the US which joined the negotiations in 2008.

President Barack Obama has asked for “a fast track authority” or Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) from Congress for concluding the TPP. A TPA gives authority to the President to negotiate agreements which the Congress can disapprove or approve but cannot amend. The fast track authority has been used before concluding other trade agreements. For instance, the Trade Promotion authority of 2002 was used to conclude free trade agreements with Chile, Singapore, Australia and Bahrain, among others. This TPA lapsed in 2007, forcing Obama to seek a renewal of the authority to provide the momentum required to ensure that the TPP negotiations go through.

But this move has run into opposition on the Hill, despite committees in both houses having cleared bipartisan legislation for it. The key opposition has come from Obama’s own party. Democrats are deeply troubled by the lack of adequate Congressional consultation during negotiations on the agreement as they feel it impinges on the Congress’ constitutional authority over trade policy. So, over a hundred and fifty House Democrats have written a letter to the President stating that they will not support giving him fast track authority for the TPP agreement. Another point of criticism is that the text of the draft agreement is not available to the public. Though members of Congress can read the draft agreement, they can do so only under heavy restrictions. Moreover, they are not allowed to publicly discuss what they have read. Democratic Presidential candidates like Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley have opposed the deal while the frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, is currently hedging her bets.

But what has really driven the Democratic opposition is the resistance from the workers’ Unions. There is concern that the TPP will lead to low paying jobs leaving American shores, causing unemployment in the US. There is also fear that due to this, income inequality will deepen. As Senator Warren said, such deals “benefit multinational companies at the expense of workers”. Other who oppose the pact include environmental groups like the Sierra Club which fears that the TPP could lead to increased stress on natural resources and species including trees, fish, and wildlife. NGOs like Doctors without Borders are concerned that the TPP will “restrict access to generic medicines, making life-saving treatments unaffordable to millions” while the Consumers Union worries that the pact will increase the price of prescription drugs. Opponents of the deal have given legislators a petition with 2 million signatures.

Opponents have also been bolstered by support from some American companies who fear that they will not be able to deal with competition from other countries. In fact, 250 tech companies wrote a letter to Congress decrying the TPP. Their reasons for opposing the TPP are that the “TPP would create limits to fair use by making copyright law more strict, make online enforcement of copyright infringement expensive and onerous for start-ups and small companies, criminalize journalism and whistle blowing, and harm consumer and user rights.” Thus, there is a broad coalition of opposition to the TPP.

Obama’s sales pitch has been that the TPP will create better paying jobs, support wage growth and promote growth in the US and the Asia Pacific. The Obama administration has pushed for the deal describing it as “the most progressive trade deal in history”. The TPP, the administration argues, will support made-in-America exports by removing trade inhibiting tariffs and simplifying customs, enforce fundamental labour rights, promote strong environmental protection, and improve transparency and regulations to help U.S. companies engage in and benefit from increased trade in the Asia Pacific. Obama has also said that the benefits of the agreement far outweigh the costs.

Ironically, for Obama, in his push to have the TPP passed, his greatest allies may not be his fellow Democrats but the Republicans with whom he has had an acrimonious relationship. The TPP may be the only issue on which the Republicans and Obama see eye to eye, thanks to the Republicans’ traditional advocacy of trade liberalisation.

Democratic opposition has been so strong that it initially blocked consideration of the fast track authority by the Senate (60 votes are required for this and 44 Democrats opposed it in the 100 member Senate). Though the Senate later passed the fast track authority, it now has to get approval from the House of Representatives. Obama has been lobbying intensely as he needs at least two dozen or so votes from Democrats in addition to those of the Republicans to get the authority. He has even promised those Democrats who support the deal that he will campaign for them against any primary challengers, a reflection of the importance he attaches to passing the TPP. Polls show that a majority of American favour free trade agreements and Obama might be able to obtain the TPA to fast-track the negotiations since both the House and Senate are controlled by Republicans.

But as a Washington Post editorial suggests, the debate over the TPP and the opposition that Obama has faced from his fellow Democrats shows that the populist wing within the Democratic Party, represented by Senator Warren, is becoming stronger. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the upcoming elections.

*The writer is a Research Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation

The post Can Obama Overcome Domestic Opposition To The TPP? – Analysis appeared first on Eurasia Review.

By Isaac Schlotterbeck*

On May 10, the Colombian government announced that the country would cease the use of aerial spray techniques in its anti-narcotics program. Aerial spraying has been used to control illegal coca crops, which provide drug cartels with the raw material needed for cocaine production. The decision came only days after the World Health Organization stated that the primary ingredient in these sprays, glyphosate, is “probably carcinogenic”.[1] Following Bogotá’s statement, several alternative methods of fighting illegal coca production have been suggested. One of the more bizarre proposals suggests mobilizing the Eloria Noyesi moth, commonly known as the Tussock Moth, as a form of bio-control. A number of prominent Colombian lepidopterists support this proposal as a safe and cost-efficient alternative in combatting illegal coca production.

Proposed Method & Testimony from Experts

The use of the Eloria Noyesi for anti-narcotic operations appears plausible because its caterpillars feast on coca plants. This proposed anti-narcotic methor calls for lab breeding of the moths, under controlled conditions, which would then be released into areas where illegal coca production has been suspected. Colombian botanist, Alberto Gómez, has been one of the primary proponents of this alternative proposal.

Gómez explains how the, “Eloria Noyesi only lays its eggs on coca plants” and that the caterpillars then consume 1.5 times their body weight each day in coca leaves.[2] Furthermore, Gómez believes that this species solely consumes coca plants. In a small-scale laboratory test he observed, “If you close this moth in a jar with a banana leaf, it dies of hunger before eating it”.[3] These facts provide a baseline of evidence to prove the potential of this alternative technique. Gonzalo Andrade, a biology professor and butterfly researcher at Bogotá’s National University, also believes that the government should seriously consider the use of the Eloria Noyesi as a less harmful form of fighting illegal coca production.[4]

Additionally, it is interesting to note that Alberto Gómez previously proposed this method in 2006 to Juan Manuel Santos, when the latter was Minister of Defense. According to Gómez, Santos thought that his proposal “was an interesting idea;” however, the proposal did not receive funding from Colombia’s anti-narcotics program.[5]

Nickname & Historical Examples

The insatiable appetite that the Eloria Noyesi caterpillars have for coca plants is well-documented in Colombia society. In fact, the species’ nickname, el gringo, is based on its dependency on the coca plant.[6] This connection is based on the fact that “gringo” means foreigner in Spanish and, stereotypically, foreigners have been the largest consumers of cocaine.

There have been multiple instances recorded where the Eloria Noyesi species decimated coca production. Alberto Gómez says he “got the idea of using the moth for coca eradication in 1982, when news emerged that a plague of ‘gringo’ moths had devastated coca fields in Colombia’s Putumayo province”.[7] Additionally, Fernando Araújo Vélez highlights an instance in Bolivia in which Eloria Noyesi was responsible for the elimination of coca crops adjacent to the River Igaparaná in Bolivia in the early 80s”.[8]

The last documented instance of Eloria Noyesi affecting coca crops occurred in Peru and caused significant financial damages in that country. A book published by the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress titled Alternative Coca Reduction Strategies in the Andean Region highlights this Peruvian occurrence. The text states, “Eloria Noyesi was reported to ‘swarm’ and destroy almost 20,000 hectares of coca in Peru, causing losses to drug traffickers estimated to be at least $37 million [USD]”.[9] Furthermore, the book argues how many coca producers have to resort to insecticides in order to stop Eloria Noyesi from damaging their crops.[10]

These three historical instances of Eloria Noyesi affecting coca production provide the argument of Gómez and Andrade with a historical support. The fact that this species has successfully ruined coca production and affects the thinking of coca growers speaks to the threat that it poses.

Biocontrol & Proposals

While some people may think that this idea “seems like it came from a chapter of the Simpsons”; it is important to consider that “the use of animals to control plagues is not unreasonable and is called biocontrol”.[11] According to Anthony Shelton, an entomologist at Cornell University, “There are many successful cases of biocontrol… it is a more permanent solution to the problem”.[12] He cites cases in the United States, Australia, and Chile to prove his point that biocontrol, generally speaking, can be an effective method.

Another piece of evidence that supports the implementation is the fact that this species is native to Colombia. Gonzalo Andrade has stated, ”We would not be causing any impact because the moth is naturally distributed over a wide range in Colombia. If it was not like that, I would be the first to say ‘I do not support this’”.[13] This piece of evidence is crucial in the arguments of the proponents of this method. After all, life span of the moth does not exceed 30 days, and for this reason, overpopulation is hardly of concern.[14]

Alberto Gómez has even provided a plan for a program that would rely on rural farmers, perhaps providing them with additional revenue. Gómez proposes, “Farmers could be taught how to breed the butterflies. In Costa Rica successful trials with farmers cultivating butterflies for exportation have occurred and here we could do the same with the butterfly that eats coca”.[15] Implementation of a program such as this could be challenging; however, it could provide additional economic infrastructures in usually isolated rural areas.

Concerns

The primary concern regarding the plausibility of this anti-narcotic alternative is the potential for environmental degradation. If these moths consume plants other than those that produce coca, their large-scale release into the wild could have severe ramifications on those ecosystems. Further research needs to be conducted before policy makers decide on the issue. Gonzalo Andrade, for example, is concerned that the moth may harm the other species of coca plants that have traditional uses. He hopes that further research will be conducted to solidify the notion that the Eloria Noyesi only consumes the two species coca plants that can be utilized for cocaine production.[16] Professor Shelton, whose concern is based on protecting the other plant species, shares the sentiment that more research be conducted prior to implementation.[17] The need for further research is currently the only roadblock that stands between this alternative method and implementation.

Conclusion

The release of Eloria Noyesi to fight illegal coca production has quickly gathered attention in Colombia. Aware of the potential ecological pitfalls of this plan, “Colombian officials promise to do their due diligence” before implementing this program.[18] Scientists plan on studying whether or not the Eloria Noyesi will consume other plant species by placing them in environments with only that food source in their laboratories.[19] Once this is known, government officials will then consider the implementation of releasing the Eloria Noyesi species into potential hotspots of illegal cocaine production.

*Isaac Schlotterbeck, Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs

Notes:
[1] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32677411

[2] http://fusion.net/story/135540/could-moths-become-the-next-weapon-in-colombias-war-on-drugs/

[3] http://www.vice.com/es_co/read/una-que-polilla-come-coca-podra-reemplazar-al-glifosato

[4] http://fusion.net/story/135540/could-moths-become-the-next-weapon-in-colombias-war-on-drugs/

[5] Ibid.

[6]http://www.mamacoca.org/Octubre2004/doc/Eloria%20Noyesi%20contra%20la%20coca.htm

[7] http://fusion.net/story/135540/could-moths-become-the-next-weapon-in-colombias-war-on-drugs/

[8]http://www.mamacoca.org/Octubre2004/doc/Eloria%20Noyesi%20contra%20la%20coca.htm

““La gringa” era …a responsable de la eliminación de los cultivos de coca adyacentes al río Igaparaná, Bolivia, a comienzos de los 80”

[9] https://www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk1/1993/9307/930708.PDF

[10] Ibid.

[11] http://www.vice.com/es_co/read/una-que-polilla-come-coca-podra-reemplazar-al-glifosato

“parece sacada de un capítulo de los Simpson, pero usar animales para controlar plagas no es nada descabellado y se llama biocontrol.”

[12] http://www.eldefinido.cl/actualidad/mundo/5249/La-nueva-arma-contra-el-narcotrafico-Orugas/

“Hay muchísimos casos exitosos de control biológico… es una solución mucho más permanente al problema”.

[13] http://cienciagora.com.co/galeria_de_cientificos/agronomia-veterinaria-y-afines-157/miguel-gonzalo-andrade-correa/179/mariposas-y-polillas/page-1.html

“No estaríamos causando ningún impacto porque la polilla está distribuida naturalmente en Colombia. Si no fuera así yo sería el primero en decir ‘a eso no le jalo”

[14] https://www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk1/1993/9307/930708.PDF

[15] http://www.vanguardia.com/colombia/311219-experto-quindiano-asegura-que-una-mariposa-podria-ser-el-reemplazo-del-glifosato

“a los campesinos podría enseñárseles cómo hacer la zoocría de la mariposa. En Costa Rica realizaron ensayos maravillosos con los campesinos con cultivos de mariposas para exportación y aquí podríamos hacer lo mismo con la mariposa come coca”

[16] http://fusion.net/story/135540/could-moths-become-the-next-weapon-in-colombias-war-on-drugs/

[17] http://www.vice.com/es_co/read/una-que-polilla-come-coca-podra-reemplazar-al-glifosato

[18] http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/the-new-weapon-in-the-colombian-war-on-drugs-caterpillars

[19] http://mentalfloss.com/article/64444/scientists-arent-releasing-colombian-cocaine-moths-just-yet

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By Elise Harris and Alan Holdren

On his return flight from Sarajevo to Rome Pope Francis told journalists a final decision on the highly debated Mejugorje apparitions could be close, and disclosed the “cancer” of consumerism as a theme in his coming encyclical on human ecology.

Read CNA’s full English translation of the Pope’s inflight news conference below:

Fr. Federico Lombardi: We saw you “scatenato” (Italian for “unrestrained”) with the young people and so we thought we might be able to ask you some questions ourselves.

Pope Francis: What does “scatenato” mean?

Fr. Federico Lombardi: It means full of energy because truly the young people were very happy. We have chosen three questions by drawing. If you want some more we will ask you more. We’ll let our Croat, Silva Tomasevic, who is here pose the first one.

Silva Tomasevic: Good evening, Holiness. Many Croats arrived on pilgrimage and they are asking if Your Holiness will come to Croatia. But as we are in Bosnia and Herzegovina there is also a great interest in the judgment on Medjugorje.

Pope Francis: The problem of Medjugorje … Benedict XVI in his time created a commission presided over by Cardinal Camillo Ruini and there were other cardinals and theologians, specialists. They made a study and Cardinal Ruini came to me and consigned the study to me after many years. I don’t know, three or four years, more or less. They did good work, good work … and Cardinal Mueller told me that he would do a “feria quarta,” in these times, eh. (Editor’s note: “feria quarta” is a once-a-month meeting in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith during which current cases are examined) I believe that it has been done the last Wednesday of last month, but I’m not sure. But, we’re at this point of making decisions … and then they will be announced… but only some guidelines will be given to bishops on the lines they will take.

In Croatia, for the visit to Croatia, I don’t know when it will be. But, now I remember the questions you asked me when I went to Albania: “But, you’re beginning Europe from a country that doesn’t belong to the European Community.” And I replied, “It’s a sign, to begin to make visits in Europe in the little ones in the Balkans that are martyred, those nations, they’ve suffered so much … and for this (reason this is) my preference.

Fr. Federico Lombardi: We’ll let Anna Chiara Valle of Famiglia Cristiana pose the second question.

Anna Chiara Valle: You spoke of those who deliberately encourage an “atmosphere of war,” and then you said that there are the powerful who speak openly of peace while selling arms under the table. Can you delve deeper into this concept?

Pope Francis: Yes, there is always hypocrisy… For this reason I said it’s not sufficient to speak of peace, peace must be made. And he who only speaks of peace and doesn’t make peace is in contradiction. And he who speaks of peace and encourages war, for example in the sale of arms, is a hypocrite. That’s how it is.

Fr. Federico Lombardi: The third question to Katia Lopez from the Spanish-language group.

Katia Lopez: Holy Father, in your meeting with young people you spoke openly about the necessity of being attentive, cautious with what you see. I’ll say it with the words you used precisely, “creative fantasy”… can you elaborate on this concept?

Pope Francis: We’re talking about two different things. The modality and the content. If the way is a way that hurts the soul which is being too attached to a computer, this is how in your soul you take away your freedom. You make yourself a slave to the computer. It’s curious. So many families, fathers and mothers, tell me, “We are at the table with our children and they have their cellphones and…” It’s another world. It’s true that the virtual language is a reality that we cannot deny. We must take it on the good path because it is a progress of humanity, but when this takes us away from communal life, from family life, from social life and even from sports, from art and I remain hooked to the computer, this is a psychological illness, for sure.

Secondly, the content. Yes, there are dirty things that go from pornography to … (unintelligible in the recording) … to empty programs, without words, for example those that are relativist, hedonistic, consumeristic, and all of these things are encouraged. And we know that consumerism is a cancer of society and relativism is a cancer of society and of this I’ll speak in the coming encyclical that will come out within the month. I don’t know if I’ve answered. I said the word “dirt” to say a general thing, but we all know this… and also there are very concerned parents who don’t allow computers to be in their children’s rooms. Computers must be in the common rooms of the home. These are small aids that parents can find to avoid this.

Fr. Federico Lombardi: Father, thanks… the organization says that we have distribute the food.

Pope Francis: We’ll be on the ground within a half our, they say…

Fr. Federico Lombardi: Thank you, Holiness.

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A new study shows how huge influxes of fresh water into the North Atlantic Ocean from icebergs calving off North America during the last ice age had an unexpected effect – they increased the production of methane in the tropical wetlands.

Usually increases in methane levels are linked to warming in the Northern Hemisphere, but scientists who are publishing their findings this week in the journal Science have identified rapid increases in methane during particularly cold intervals during the last ice age.

These findings are important, researchers say, because they identify a critical piece of evidence for how the Earth responds to changes in climate.

“Essentially what happened was that the cold water influx altered the rainfall patterns at the middle of the globe,” said Rachael Rhodes, a research associate in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University and lead author on the study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation. “The band of tropical rainfall, which includes the monsoons, shifts to the north and south through the year.

“Our data suggest that when the icebergs entered the North Atlantic causing exceptional cooling, the rainfall belt was condensed into the Southern Hemisphere, causing tropical wetland expansion and abrupt spikes in atmospheric methane,” she added.

During the last ice age, much of North America was covered by a giant ice sheet that many scientists believe underwent several catastrophic collapses, causing huge icebergs to enter the North Atlantic – phenomena known as Heinrich events. And though they have known about them for some time, it hasn’t been clear just when they took place and how long they lasted.

Rhodes and her colleagues examined evidence from the highly detailed West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide ice core. They used a new analytical method perfected in collaboration with Joe McConnell at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada, to make extremely detailed measurements of the air trapped in the ice.

“Using this new method, we were able to develop a nearly 60,000-year, ultra-high-resolution record of methane much more efficiently and inexpensively than in past ice core studies, while simultaneously measuring a broad range of other chemical parameters on the same small sample of ice,” McConnell noted.

Utilizing the high resolution of the measurements, the team was able to detect methane fingerprints from the Southern Hemisphere that don’t match temperature records from Greenland ice cores.

“The cooling caused by the iceberg influx was regional but the impact on climate was much broader,” said Edward Brook, an internationally recognized paleoclimatologist from Oregon State University and co-author on the study. “The iceberg surges push the rain belts, or the tropical climate system, to the south and the impact on climate can be rather significant.”

Concentrating monsoon seasons into a smaller geographic area “intensifies the rainfall and lengthens the wet season,” Rhodes said.

“It is a great example of how inter-connected things are when it comes to climate,” she pointed out. “This shows the link between polar areas and the tropics, and these changes can happen very rapidly. Climate models suggest only a decade passed between the iceberg intrusion and a resulting impact in the tropics.”

The study found that the climate effects from the Heinrich events lasted between 740 and 1,520 years.

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