Riot police have deployed tear gas during a Paris protest against the Uber taxi app. Taxi drivers have burned tires and blocked roads in the French capital, citing unfair competition.
Daily Archives: 25. Juni 2015
Showdown over Uber: French taxi drivers shut down roads around Paris
Roads around Paris became car parks as French taxi drivers blockaded routes to the airport and the main ring road around the city in a protest against Uber.
Riot police intervened as the protest turned violent, with reports cab drivers were seeking out and harassing chauffers of the ride-sharing service.
The Mysterious Death of a UN Hero
(17.März) From the Archive: In reopening the investigation into the mysterious plane crash that killed UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold in 1961, the United Nations is appealing to member states to release long-secret files related to this cold case from a tense moment in the Cold War in Africa, which Lisa Pease examined in 2013.
By Lisa Pease (Originally published on Sept. 16. 2013)
Luftangriffe der Saudis und Kämpfe töten nahezu 100 Menschen im Jemen
Die Kämpfe zwischen den Houthis und den Resten der pro-Saudi-Regierung dauern seit Monaten an, wobei nur wenig auf signifikante territoriale Veränderungen hindeutet. Stattdessen hinterlassen sie nur große Zahlen von Toten unter der Zivilbevölkerung im gesamten Land und eine immer größer werdende humanitäre Krise.
Armenian protests resemble Ukrainian Maidan coup scenario – Russian MP
Upper House MP Igor Morozov has said that the current mass rallies in Armenia resemble the first phase of the latest coup in Ukraine, adding that the crisis could be being managed by the United States from their major diplomatic mission in Yerevan.
“Armenia is now close to a coup d’etat with use of firearms. This is going to happen unless President Serge Sargsyan learns some lessons from the Ukrainian Maidan and makes some conclusions,” the senator told RIA Novosti in comments over latest developments in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan.
PACE Criticizes Azerbaijan For Using Karabakh As “Alibi” For Human Rights Crackdown
Other concerns discussed during the meeting included the president of Azerbaijan’s increasing executive power, the lack of representation of opposition groups in parliament, the increasing number of reprisals against independent media and advocates of freedom of expression, and the closing of the OSCE Baku office.
Azerbaijan’s success indicated in US Department of State report
The country actively opposed terrorist organizations that were seeking to move people, money, and material through the Caucasus, according to the report.
Modernes Strategieverständnis (II)
Das „Weißbuch 2016 zur Sicherheitspolitik und zur Zukunft der Bundeswehr“, das zur Zeit unter Ägide des Bundesverteidigungsministeriums erarbeitet wird, basiert auf der Definition Deutschlands als weltpolitische „Ordnungsmacht“.
Proteste gegen Uber in Frankreich: Taxifahrer blockieren Zufahrt zu Pariser Flughafen
Brennende Reifen, Jagdszenen auf der Schnellstraße und Reisende, die zu Fuß zum Flughafen laufen: Mit Protesten gegen Uber haben Taxifahrer in Frankreich den Verkehr blockiert.
(Karikatur aus #Griechenland). Und grüßt uns die Genossen. @dielinke #Euro #Kapitalismus #Imperialismus
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@FGunay1 money buys anyone. Saudi paid over half a billion $ to Nujaifi 13 days after fall of Mosul. Sickening
(25.Juni 2015)
Iraq’s parliament speaker says Sunnis hope cooperation in Anbar crisis will yield gains
(23.Januar 2014) “The idea is we need to give greater authorities to the Sunni provinces” and make Sunni tribal fighters “an integral part of [Iraq’s] military force,” said Osama al-Nujaifi, the speaker of parliament. (…)
With Maliki’s agreement, the administration is also seeking to re-create the Sunni “Awakening” of 2006-2007, when Sunni tribesmen in Anbar received arms and money directly from the U.S. military to subdue militants in the province. The new arms are to be funneled through the Iraqi government.
Al Nujayfi’s Message to Washington
On January 23, 2014, during a cold and frosty morning in Washington D.C., the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings Institution hosted an informational event to help the American public understand the current agonies of Iraq, with a focus on the Sunni community.
The Center hosted Usama al Nujayfi, Speaker of Iraq’s Council of Representatives, to give his regards on his provision about Iraq’s future.
Official: armed tribesmen seize two Iraqi cities
(21.Juni 2014) Armed tribesmen and not militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have seized two cities in Anbar, Al Arabiya News Channel reported the governor of the Sunni-majority province as saying on Saturday.
While ISIS militants – coupled with local Sunni rebels – started their surprise offensive by seizing Iraq’s second biggest city of Mosul on June 10, Anbar governor said armed tribesmen were the ones who claimed control over Rawa and Ana in Anbar.
There is a “tribal revolution” in Iraq: Anbar tribal chief
(17.Juni 2014) Erbil, Asharq Al-Awsat—A prominent Anbar tribal chief has denied that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is responsible for the recent unrest in Iraq, portraying the situation as a “tribal revolution” against the government of Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, in comment that contradicted the prevailing narrative about what is happening in the country.
Iraqi vice president denies taking money from Saudis
Iraqi Vice President Usama al-Nujayfi has dismissed claims made about him in a WikiLeaks scandal that mentions him in official documents as receiving $575 million from top Saudi Arabian officials Anadolu Agency reported
Wie kommerzielle digitale Überwachung funktioniert
Beispiele aus den USA zeigen, dass Versicherungen zunehmend auf Überwachung setzen und KundInnen vermitteln, sie selbst hätten es in der Hand, wie hoch ihre Prämie ist. Wer bereit ist, sich den ganzen Tag überwachen zu lassen und schön brav immer mindestens 10.000 Schritte geht, wird am Ende belohnt. Zeitschriftenartikel, in denen wir erfahren, dass wir auch im Schlaf und überhaupt bei jeder Tätigkeit Kalorien verbrauchen, sollen wohl logisch erscheinen lassen, dass wir uns „Tagesziele“ setzen, deren Einhaltung mit Apps kontrolliert wird. In einem Werbeclip sieht man diverse Aktivitäten und schliesslich zwei Menschen, die schlafend im Bett liegen: „I love that it records from sunrise to sunset and beyond.“
Campaign launched against ‘barking’ European plan to censor photos of buildings
‚Amateur Photographer‘ (AP) is at the forefront of a campaign against controversial European plans to restrict photography of public buildings which threaten to censor millions of amateur and professional photos
EU set to kill street photography
The „Freedom of Panorama“ is the right to take pictures in public spaces, even if you incidentally capture copyrighted works, from building facades to public sculptures to images on t-shirts and ads — and on July 9, the EU will vote whether to abolish it.
Worum geht‘s noch mal?
Schuldenschnitt, Reformen, Grexit – Sie ahnen: Es steht schlecht um Griechenland, haben aber den Überblick verloren? Dann bringen wir Sie hier auf den aktuellen Stand.
Die Opposition wird gegen den Ermittlungsbeauftragten klagen, wenn der #NSAUA die Selektoren nicht einsehen kann. Sagten wir schon.
(17.Juni)
NSA-Ausschuss stellt Selektoren-Ultimatum und lernt neue Geheimhaltungsstufen
(11.Juni) Unterdessen setzte der NSA-Ausschuss der Bundesregierung eine Frist bis zum kommenden Donnerstag für eine Entscheidung, wie mit der umstrittenen Liste der US-Ausspähziele verfahren wird.
Zeitung: Geheimdienst-Gremium stellt wegen Selektoren Ultimatum
(2.Juni) Das Gremium drohe damit, dem Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) keine neuen Genehmigungen zur Fernmeldeaufklärung mehr zu erteilen, wenn die Regierung die Listen mit den Suchbegriffen bis zu diesem Mittwoch weiterhin nicht freigebe.
LVZ: Designierter Sonderermittler Graulich: Nachrichtendienst braucht man gelegentlich, wie das Rote Kreuz oder die Freiwillige Feuerwehr
Der von der SPD als Sonderermittler in der BND-NSA-Spionageaffäre ins Gespräch gebrachte und von der Union bereits akzeptierte Jurist Kurt Graulich hat zu Nachrichtendiensten „ein ebenso entspanntes Verhältnis wie zum Deutschen Roten Kreuz oder zur Freiwilligen Feuerwehr“. Man brauche sie in bestimmten Situationen, sagte Graulich der „Leipziger Volkszeitung“
Narcotics Team ‚Loses‘ $294,000 In Seized Cash Because It Omitted The Location To Be Searched From Its Search Warrant
Mississippi drug warriors had their eye on nearly $300,000 in „forfeited“ funds but threw it all away by issuing one of the most deficient search warrants ever. It‘s not that it was loaded with errors or questionable probable cause assertions. It‘s that it omitted perhaps the single most important element of a search warrant — the location being searched.
Copyright industry buys its very own censorship regime
“Today we saw the payoff for rights holders such as Village Roadshow, who have poured over half a million dollars into the coffers of the major parties over the last financial year[1]. These donations show the influence of money on the direction of Australian politics, where censorship will now be employed to prop-up failing business models,” said Simon Frew, Deputy President of the Pirate Party. “This is at best a misguided attempt to protect rights holders from the ‘menace’ of piracy.
Users Betrayed as Australia Adopts a Copyright Censorship Regime
Since our report last week on Australia‘s Internet censorship bill, the bill did indeed pass the Senate yesterday, and will become the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Act 2015. The new law provides an accelerated process for rightsholders to obtain court orders for ISPs to block sites that have the primary purpose of infringing copyright, or “facilitating” its infringement—a term that the law does not define.
Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
Winston Churchill
Aus aller #Welt: Griechisches Schuldendrama drückt deutsche Verbraucherstimmung – Reuters D…
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Deutsche #Verbraucher strotzen vor Optimismus. #Verbraucherstimmung stieg auf höchstes Niveau seit Oktober 2001
(27.Mai)
Griechenland-Gipfel: Syriza wirft Gläubigern Erpressung und Barbarei vor
– Griechenlands Premier Alexis Tsipras und die Gläubiger des Landes wollen um 9.00 Uhr die Verhandlungen in Brüssel wieder beginnen. Am Abend zuvor war die letzte Gesprächsrunde ergebnislos geendet.
– Auch Finanzministertreffen sollen an diesem Donnerstag in der Eurogruppe wieder zusammenkommen.
– Um 16.00 Uhr werden außerdem die EU-Staats- und Regierungschefs zu einem Gipfeltreffen zusammenkommen. Griechenland ist nur eines von mehreren Themen.
Middle East – Security Council, 7470th meeting
24 Jun 2015 – The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.
UN urges Netanyahu to take steps toward two-state solution; freeze settlements
„Secretary-General (Ban Ki-moon) is encouraged by the recent reaffirmations by Prime Minister Netanyahu of his commitment to ‚the idea of a sustainable two-state solution‘ but notes this must be translated into actions,“ UN political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman told the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
Outrage in Israel as Arab MP says to join Gaza flotilla
An announcement by an Arab Israeli lawmaker that he plans to join a pro-Palestinian flotilla seeking to break Israel‘s blockade on Gaza caused outrage Monday among the country‘s political class.
Shin Bet detains left-wing Israeli activist to glean intel on Gaza-bound flotilla
The Shin Bet security service detained a left-wing activist at Ben-Gurion Airport earlier this week upon her return from a vacation in Greece in an apparent attempt to glean information about Israelis planning to join the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla set to leave Greece any day.
Jerusalem pushes democracies to reject UN Gaza report
A day after the UN Human Rights Council presented its report on last summer’s war in Gaza, Israeli diplomats began trying on Tuesday to convince as many countries as possible on the 47-member council not to endorse the report when, as expected, it comes up for a vote next week.
The United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict
Mary McGowan Davis (United States of America) served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York and as a federal prosecutor during the course of a 24-year career in the criminal justice sector in New York City. She also has extensive experience in the fields of international human rights law and transitional justice. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association for the International Commission of Jurists and the International Judicial Academy, and serves on the Managerial Board of the International Association of Women Judges.
MK Touma-Sliman on UN’s 2014 Gaza Conflict Report: Submit Allegations of War Crimes to ICC
The commission is scheduled to formally present its report to the UN Human Rights Council on next Monday, June 29, in Geneva.
MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Hadash – Joint List) expressed support for the report, calling the operation conducted by the Israeli army (“Operation Protective Edge”) an “ugly war…that cost the lives of about 1,500 Palestinian civilians, including about 500 children, and left over 10,000 people homeless and thousands injured.” Touma-Sliman added: “War crimes of this kind require the report to be submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and for war criminals to be put on trial to avoid the continuing trampling of human dignity and liberty that happened in Gaza in 2014 and continues in the occupied territories every day.”
Russland will im Iran acht Atomkraftwerke bauen
(22.Mai 2014) Russland mischt mit. Überall. In der Ukraine, in China und nun offenbar auch wieder verstärkt auf vermintem Gelände im Nahen Osten: im Iran.
Khamenei says US keen to destroy Iran‘s nuclear industry entirely
The Leader referred to the country‘s real need to 20,000 MW nuclear energy and said, ‚While attempting to destory the nuclear industry and denying Iranians of plenty advantages of the industry, they intend to continue the pressures and keep the sanctions in place.‘
Also saying that the US government needs the nuclear agreement with Iran, he added, ‚If they can reach their targets in the talks, they can secure a big victory beause they can bring the independent-seeking Iranian nation to submission and defeat a nation which could serve as an example for other countries. All their bargainings and breaking promisses is to attain these goals.‘
#Iran‘s leaders can‘t accept that the Holocaust happened. We can‘t accept a nuclear Iran #doublespeak
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U.S. opposes bringing UN Gaza report to Security Council
State Department says U.S. rejects process by which an investigative committee was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council and is against any further work on the report within the UN, in both New York and Geneva.
France to sign deals worth $12 billion with Saudi Arabia
France and Saudi Arabia plan to sign deals worth $12 billion (€10.7 billion), French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday, in the latest sign of growing commercial ties between Paris and the Middle East.
Saudi Deputy Crown Prince’s France visit to see billion-euro deals struck
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that Saudi Arabia and France will sign landmark agreements worth tens of billions of euros in the fields of defense, civil aviation, solar energy and training during the three-day official visit of Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, that began on Tuesday.
Französische Nationalversammlung verabschiedet drakonisches Überwachungsgesetz
(9.Mai) Am Dienstag verabschiedete die französische Nationalversammlung mit überwältigender Mehrheit ein Geheimdienstgesetz, das die massive Überwachung der Bevölkerung durch die Geheimdienste rückwirkend legalisiert. Dieses reaktionäre und undemokratische Gesetz baut offiziell die Überwachungsinfrastruktur für einen Polizeistaat in Frankreich auf und erlaubt der Regierung, Daten über die ganze Bevölkerung zu sammeln.
Das Gesetz wurde mit 348 zu 86 Stimmen und 42 Enthaltungen angenommen und von allen Parteien des politischen Establishments unterstützt, unter anderem von der Mehrheit der amtierenden Sozialistischen Partei (PS) und der konservativen Union für eine Volksbewegung (UMP). Ein Teil der Abgeordneten von Grünen und Linkspartei stimmten dagegen, da sie sicher waren, dass das Gesetz mit überwiegender Mehrheit angenommen werden würde.
Er hat auch für #VDS gestimmt!! #SPD-Vize Schäfer-Gümbel kritisiert Führungsstil Gabriels
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Wie sicher ist Bundestag.de?
Wer sich die Schnipsel des Codes genauer anschaut, die Köhntopp in seinem Beitrag geteilt hat, erkennt Endungen, die es im Web so nicht gibt: zum Beispiel die Adresse „https://statistics.spd.frak/piwik/“. Die Endung .frak dürfte für Fraktion stehen. Die Seite ist vermutlich Teil des Parlamentsnetzes. Die SPD betreibt ein Programm mit dem Namen Piwik. Ein Dienst, um zu analysieren, welche Besucher auf die SPD-Webseite kommen. Daher taucht diese Abkürzung im Link auf.
Solar activity heads for lowest low in four centuries
(1.November 2013) The sun‘s activity is in free fall, according to a leading space physicist. But don‘t expect a little ice age. „Solar activity is declining very fast at the moment,“ Mike Lockwood, professor of space environmental physics at Reading University, UK, told New Scientist. „We estimate faster than at any time in the last 9300 years.“
UK MET Office: Fastest decline in solar activity since the last ice age
the UK MET office has published a study which suggests solar activity is currently plummeting, the fastest rate of decline in 9300 years. The study also raises the odds of Maunder Minimum style conditions by 2050 from 8% to 15 – 20%.
Regional climate impacts of a possible future grand solar minimum
The past few decades have been characterized by a period of relatively high solar activity. However, the recent prolonged solar minimum and subsequent weak solar cycle 24 have led to suggestions that the grand solar maximum may be at an end1. Using past variations of solar activity measured by cosmogenic isotope abundance changes, analogue forecasts for possible future solar output have been calculated. An 8% chance of a return to Maunder Minimum-like conditions within the next 40 years was estimated in 2010 (ref. 2). The decline in solar activity has continued, to the time of writing, and is faster than any other such decline in the 9,300 years covered by the cosmogenic isotope data1. If this recent rate of decline is added to the analysis, the 8% probability estimate is now raised to between 15 and 20%.