Archive for October 27th, 2012

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27/10/2012

Spain – One in Four Workers Jobless; Banking System Sinks Deeper

Human Wrongs Watch

By Pepe Canales, Madrid, 27 October 2012 – Yet another bad day for Spain. On Friday 26 October, while ministers of the ruling conservative political bloc Partido Popular (Popular Party!) were once more trying to inject a new dose of fake, forced optimism, two official reports came to ruin their day, and this of millions of citizens.

Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajo | Wikipedia Commons

On the one hand, the nationalised bank, Bankia, hit new record losses with 7,053 billion euro (some 8,5 billion USD), the largest hole in the history of Spanish financial system.

Bankia was chaired until recently by former International Monetary Funds chief and outstanding Popular Party politician, Rodrigo Rato, who was vice-president of Jose Maria Aznar’s right wing government (1996-2004).

Just to give an example of the magnitude of this new collapse, Bankia has lost during three months only– this year’s third quarter, the huge amount of 2.605 million euro.

And government officials fear that Bankia’s losses will amount to up to10,000 million by the end of 2012.

The news has a strong impact on the already ill Spanish economy as Bankia accounts for 46 per cent of the total needs of capital injection of the country’s entire banking sector.

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27/10/2012

Greece – Fifth Austerity Package Set to Sentence Health System to Death

Human Wrongs Watch

Athens, 27 October 2012 – Greece Prime Minister Antonis Samaras called an emergency meeting on Saturday 27 October with the ministers of finance, labor, health and administrative reform to discuss the new package of measures required by foreign creditors, i.e. the so-called Troika formed by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, for the disbursement of 31.5 billion euros worth of funding.

**Massive protests in Athens | Credit Kotsolis at English Wikipedia

Samaras aimed at striking a deal by Sunday 28 October over the new package of reforms, with his junior coalition partners, such as socialist PASOK’s Evangelos Venizelos who on Friday 26 Oct. said that he would not back certain cutbacks to social security benefits while a number of PASOK deputies have said they will not vote for some of the privatization bills.

Another coalition member, Democratic Left’s Fotis Kouvelis demands an improvement in the terms concerning labor reforms, which it strongly opposes. (Read the following report on the impact of the new austerity package).

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27/10/2012

“Liberated” Iraq: UN Condemns ‘Atrocious Violence against Innocent Worshipers’

Human Wrongs Watch

New York, 27 October 2012 – The top United Nations envoy in Iraq on Saturday ]27 October] condemned “in the strongest terms” a series of attacks that killed and injured a number of people during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

**US lead an international military coalition to ‘liberate’ Iraq. Photo credit: User:Acdx

At least 20 people have reportedly been killed today [27 October] in the attacks, which took place in various parts of the country.

Among those targeted were pilgrims practicing their religious duties, either visiting relatives, the graves of dead family members, or shrines during Eid, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said in a news release.

“This is an atrocious act of violence against innocent worshipers of various faiths,” said Martin Kobler, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of UNAMI.

“The targeting of worshipers is an appalling crime,” he added, urging those responsible for the attacks to show respect for Iraqis during the religious holiday.

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Posted in Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords | 1 Comment »

27/10/2012

China Threatens Force if Japan Challenges Sovereignty

Human Wrongs Watch

Moscow, October 27 (RIA Novosti*) – Beijing vows to make no concessions on its territorial sovereignty and threatens to use force, against Japan among other countries, in response to any challenge to its territorial integrity, Xinhua news agency said citing a senior diplomat.

Senkaku Islands | RIA Novosti

“We want to live in friendship with all countries including Japan, but we have to uphold our principles and bottom line,” Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun was quoted as saying at a news conference.

Earlier in the month, Tokyo lodged an official protest with Beijing after Chinese surveillance ships entered the territorial waters of disputed islands in the East China Sea.

“However, should anyone want to challenge China’s bottom line on the issue of sovereignty, China will have no alternative but to respond forcefully so as to remove disturbance and obstacles and move steadily on the path of peaceful development,” the high-ranking Chinese diplomat added.

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Posted in Asia, Market Lords, The Peoples, War Lords | 1 Comment »

27/10/2012

End Endemic Discrimination against Muslim Community – UN to Burma

Human Wrongs Watch

“Buddhist and Muslim communities continue to suffer from the violence in Rakhine State, so it is imperative that the Government pursues a policy of integration and long-term reconciliation between the two communities,” a United Nations independent expert said. “This will necessarily involve addressing the underlying causes of the tensions, which includes the endemic discrimination against the Rohingya community.”

UNHCR has distributed relief supplies to tens of thousands of people in communities affected by the unrest in Rakhine state. Photo: UNHCR Myanmar

Expressing concern about renewed deadly violence, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, called for the underlying causes of the tension and conflict between the Buddhist and Muslim communities in Myanmar’s Rakhine state to be addressed as a priority.

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Posted in Asia, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords | 2 Comments »

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