Female terror suspect no longer in France

The French female terror suspect on the run is no longer in France and appears to have left before this week's terror attacks struck that nation.

A Turkish intelligence official told the Associated Press on Saturday that a woman with the same name and resembling a widely distributed photo of Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, flew to Istanbul on Jan. 2. Authorities believe she traveled to Sanliurfa near the Syrian border on Jan. 4, then disappeared. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to the AP because he wasn't authorized to speak on the record.

Boumeddiene had been wanted in connection with the Thursday shooting death of a policewoman, Clarissa Jean-Philippe, 27. A police bulletin on Friday described her as armed and dangerous, and a massive manhunt had been underway for her Saturday in Paris.

On Friday, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins revealed Boumeddiene, the widow of slain supermarket gunman Amedy Coulibaly, exchanged 500 phone calls in 2014 with the wife of Cherif Kouachi, one of the suspects in the Charlie Hebdo attack.

Heavily armed police mounted simultaneous attacks on two hostage standoffs Friday, killing Cherif Kouachi, 32, and his brother, Said Kouachi, 34, who had holed up in a warehouse north of Paris. Just minutes later, officers stormed the kosher supermarket where Coulibaly had opened fire, killing four before taking hostages. Coulibaly was killed during the police assault.

In an interview with French broadcaster BFMTV during Friday's standoff, Coulibaly — also a suspect in the policewoman's attack — claimed the assault on the officer and the Kouachi brothers' assault on French magazine Charlie Hebdo were "coordinated."


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Who's who: The 5 Paris terror suspects
Authorities are digging for more information about the phone calls and consider Boumeddiene an "important witness" who must be questioned, said Christophe Crepin, spokesman for the UNSA police union.

"She has had a relationship with an individual whose ideology has been expressed in violence, and by the execution of poor people who were just doing their shopping in a supermarket," Crepin said. In the eyes of French officials, "she is a dangerous woman," he said.

Boumeddiene and Coulibaly wed in July 2009 in an Islamic religious ceremony — a union that is not recognized by French law. Boumeddiene, who has an Algerian background, altered her name to "make it sound more French," the Daily Mail reported.

New images emerged of the female terror suspect late Friday, with several showing her dressed in a hijab, clutching a crossbow. One has her aiming the weapon at the camera. Another photo shows her in a bikini with Coulibaly.

Turkish violations keep Greece on standby

  
Despite recent meetings with top-ranking Turkish government officials and the mutual expression of good intentions from both sides, Greek authorities remain on standby following a spike in violations of Greek air space by Turkish fighter jets, Kathimerini understands.

Turkish aircraft entered Greek air space without clearance a total of 81 times within the space of three weeks in December following a period of relative calm, putting Greek defense officials on edge.

Turkish violations during Greek pre-election periods are not unusual and there are many who believe the Turkish show of force is more a message to Turks rather than Greeks by Ankara which faces its own domestic upheaval. However, with Greece bracing for fresh political and financial upheaval as snap elections loom, the Turkish overflights, and the return of a Turkish seismic vessel to Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone, remain serious causes of concern.

“Anything that is repeated more than once is not a coincidence,” a Hellenic Air Force official remarked.

Turkey’s recent behavior in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean was a key focus of discussion at a meeting between outgoing Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos, Defense Minister Nikos Dendias and Greece’s military leadership, Kathimerini understands.

Double Standards Of West Toward Serbia And Albania 



BELGRADE – Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic stated on Saturday that the West continues to implement the policy of double standards toward Serbia ad Albania. 

Photo: MFA Commenting on the recent video displaying the greater Albania map taken at the residence of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Dacic recalled that he has on several occasions publicly voiced doubts concerning the adequate response of the Western partners to such situations. In an interview for the Belgrade-based daily Politika, Dacic said that if it were otherwise and somebody in Belgrade decided to display a map of a greater Serbia on a government building or the Bokeljka villa (where meetings of high state delegations are organised), it would be regarded as a problem and would be discussed by both the European Commission and the Security Council. 

We do not accept the idea that someone is allowed to do everything they want, Dacic said and added that everyone should be valued according to their merits and contributions. He also expressed the belief that the appearance of the video displaying the map of a greater Albania represents a move that is absolutely adverse to the publicly voiced wish of Tirana concerning the normalisation of relations and the invitation for Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to pay a visit to Albania. 

According to Dacic, this confirms that the ideas about a greater Albania are not a figment of Serbia’s imagination and are in fact real, and they represent a major threat to the stability in the entire region. Rama organised a light display to project the shape of the map of a greater Albania onto the walls of his villa in Tirana to mark the New Year celebrations. 

The map displayed on the villa walls is the same one that caused a major diplomatic scandal at the football match between the teams of Serbia and Albania in October 2014, Politika says. Rama posted the photo of the illuminated villa displaying the flag on the official page of his Facebook profile, which gave rise to a bout of enthusiasm among his supporters, Politika says.

Read More at inserbia.info/today/2015/01/double-standards-of-west-toward-serbia-and-albania/ © InSerbia News

Globalization is barbarous, multinationals rule world – Marine Le Pen


Published time: December 08, 2014 

Globalization is a barbarity, believes Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front party, adding that now the world is in hands of multinational corporations and large international finance.
“Globalization is a barbarity, it is the country which should limit its abuses and regulate it [globalization],” Le Pen wrote on her Twitter account.
The problems of multinational corporations and their worldwide influence were also highlighted by France’s far-right leader.
“Today the world is in the hands of multinational corporations and large international finance,” Le Pen said.

Immigration “weighs down on wages,” while the minimum wage is now becoming the maximum wage, said Le Pen, adding that now France is “dying of physical, legal and fiscal insecurity.”
Le Pen is a vocal critic of Transatlantic Free Trade Area (TAFTA), also known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States. France is now in the process of negotiations with the US on the controversial deal.
People protest on October 11, 2014 against the Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) being negotiated between the European Commission and the exploitation of shale gas in the center of the southwestern French city of Narbonne (AFP Photo)

People protest on October 11, 2014 against the Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) being negotiated between the European Commission and the exploitation of shale gas in the center of the southwestern French city of Narbonne (AFP Photo)

France’s far-right leader criticized the deal for a lack of transparency in the talks.
In February she promised to send “numerous representatives to the European Parliament will lead the battle against TTIP.”

In France there are many critics of the agreement who say that the deal would increase corporate power and make it more difficult for governments to regulate markets for public benefit. Also, with the majority of TTIP negotiations being held secretly, it’s unclear to what extent the EU’s preferences have been met.

READ MORE: ‘No to TAFTA’: France celebs campaign against EU-US trade deal, sign petition
TAFTA opponents also claim that the treaty will bring a big influx of genetically modified foods from the US, such as hormone-treated beef and genetically modified corn.
In November, reports emerged that France would not support the TTIP between the EU and US as long as a controversial stipulation is included.

READ MORE: #NoTTIP: Mass protests slam US-EU trade deal as 'corporate power grab'
It’s not only people in France who oppose the deal. Demonstrations against the deal have also taken place in Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic and Scandinavia.

Clash of Christian & Muslim values: What’s behind the Charlie Hebdo tragedy?

Published time: January 10, 2015 16:20

A general view shows firefighters, police officers and forensics gathered in front of the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7, 2015

Clashes, Conflict, EU, Europe, France,Human rights, Politics, Religion,Terrorism, Violence
The underlying factor behind the Charlie Hebdo tragedy is a difference between Christian and Muslim cultures, David Young, UKIP's Poole parliamentary candidate, told RT. He views the massacre as an isolated incident unrepresentative of Islam as a whole.

RT: How do you assess the response of the French security forces to the two hostage situations?
David Young: Remarkably effective and one could only congratulate the French authorities for the speedy neutralization of the threat and the way they quickly brought these people to justice if one can say that.

RT: Do you think that France might potentially change its policies in regards to immigration in light of what we’ve seen developing lately?

DY: I don’t really think so. France has a very large Muslim population. The challenge for all Western countries is to do what we can to avert radicalization of Muslims, who by and large are peace-loving people. And there are many Muslim voices coming out saying what we see here is the extreme fundamentalist type of Islamists, [who] are not representatives of Islam. The challenge for all of us is to do what we can to prevent further radicalization and prevent further tension between the populations that we have in our countries, which are already significant in terms of difference.
RT: Might security forces use this situation to demand more powers, as happened in the US with the Patriot Act?

DY: Yes, I think that is a possibility. We tend to see this when tension mounts. But this wasn’t a general nonspecific type of massacre. It was extremely targeted at something that caused deep offence to a certain type of fundamentalist Muslim mentality.

Firefighters carry an injured man on a stretcher in front of the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7, 2015.(AFP Photo / Philippe Dupeyrat)
Firefighters carry an injured man on a stretcher in front of the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7, 2015.(AFP Photo / Philippe Dupeyrat)

I don’t think sweeping new powers will stem this type of attack. This was a very, very precise focused attack against a very specific offence. That was a violation of our Western principles of freedom of speech … and we have a straight conflict of cultures here. From that point of view, as the government announced at the time of the massacre, they [the terrorists] were avenging the slur on the name of Muhammad. Whatever [powers] law and order might be given, you’re not going to be able to protect individuals 24/7 throughout their entire lives.
RT: It’s surely not just the cartoon - there are wider issues. So what is pushing these Muslims to extremism? What is to blame for this?
DY: I think there is a rising climate of tension. And it has to do with the continuing Middle East conflict, it has to do with Western boots on the ground in Islamic territory. I hadn’t realized until I traveled to the Middle East on business myself a few years ago how offensive it is to many Muslims to have non-Muslim boots on the ground in their territory. We in the West don’t understand that generally.
People gather at the Place Royale in Nantes on January 7, 2015.(AFP Photo / Georges Gobet)
In the case of the offences against Muhammad there is whole history of cases from the Danish newspapers, the case of the British woman, who in Sudan got into trouble for naming a teddy bear Muhammad. We would do well and we would be wise to seek not to cause offence to those who will be offended by things we don’t see as offensive.

RT: So in your view this cartoon was wrong?

DY: What we have is a clash of cultures. We have our Western principles of freedom of expression, which is very important and very valid and which I certainly would subscribe to. But, on the other hand, we have a culture which sees these things as deeply offensive. If there was offence, for me as a Christian, I don’t feel required to avenge God because Christian God says: “Vengeance is mine!”
People gather at the Place Royale in Nantes on January 7, 2015.(AFP Photo / Georges Gobet)

So it is not incumbent on me to exercise justice, which is God’s prerogative to exercise. From the perspective of these particular fundamentalist Muslims there is a different obligation on them. That is the way they see it. So we have a direct conflict of views. And faced with that situation, I think we would only provoke further tension if we try to or risk causing further offence by continuing with [our] cherished liberty of expression, which cause deep offence to radicalized Muslims. That will only tend to raise the temperature and radicalize further Muslims, who otherwise wouldn’t become radicalized. We should try to understand the difference.

RT: Do you think the authorities should be doing more to put society back together to resolve these differences, or do you think that because of religion they can’t be resolved? What should be done to resolve these divisions in society between different religious groups?

DY: We have to appeal to mutual understanding. I don’t think we can hope to resolve differences. Even in the Bible we have different thoughts within Christian churches, saying: “Understand one another, yield to those who have different opinions.” The important thing is peace and loving one another. We have to get the principle of love above any other idols, even the idol of free speech.
A lot is said against multiculturalism. I think if multiculturalism entails allowing people to live in ghettos without sharing their common language and without having bridges of understanding, then we get ourselves into trouble. I think in Britain we have done pretty well in integrating communities with very different cultural and religious backgrounds. But the way to preserve this heritage we have is through dialogue and understanding, and attempts to honor the difference. We must honor difference. There is no way to excuse the horror.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

Panepirotic Leaders, Himara Community Press US on Albania Treatment of Greeks


Alarming situation of human rights of the Greeks living in Albania and in particular in Himara Region, has managed to mobilize all the Greek American Epiriot Lobby, by intensifying a series of meetings in the State Department and the US Congress.

In particular, since 2014, Mark is an increase in the Himara Community efforts, in terms of the US Department and in Congress, to the evident hostility official Tirana and the Albanian politics in general, to the continuing violation of the rights the man in the Himara Region.

The culmination came with the arrival of three US congressmen in October 2014 in Tirana, who asked directly at the Albanian government to reconsider attitudes to the Himara Region.

In the same wavelength, The Pan Epirotica Federation of USA President Nicholas Gage, has had intensive meetings in the State Department several times with senior officials, including the new ambassador Donald Lu and Thomas K. Yazdgerdi, the Director of South Central European Affairs.

Himarrioton Society of America Board members, met with new Ambassador to Albania, Mr. Donald Lu, in U.S. Department of State

Senior official of the US State Department Thomas Yazdgerd, once 10 years ago, served as political counselor at the embassy in Tirana USA, showed interest in the problems of the Greek community in southern Albania.

Related:

http://www.gqs.gr/panepirotic-leaders-press-us-on-treatment-of-greek-minority-in-albania/
http://smarkos.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-president-of-pan-epirotic.html

Four killed in Paris store hostage crisis, Charlie Hebdo suspects also dead

Published time: January 09, 2015 16:03
Edited time: January 09, 2015 19:33

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Smoke is seen at left as French police special forces launch their assault at a kosher supermarket (seen at rear) where several people were taken hostage near the Porte de Vincennes in eastern Paris January 9, 2015.(Reuters / Gonzalo Fuentes)

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Four people have been killed at a supermarket in Paris as security forces undertook a hostage rescue operation. A worker in Dammartin-en-Goele has been freed, and the two suspects in the Charlie Hebdo massacre killed.
Several loud blasts were heard and smoke has been rising over the printworks in the industrial zone, Dammartin-en-Goele, north east of Paris.

Police take up a position on a roof in Dammartin-en-Goele, north-east of Paris, where two brothers suspected of slaughtering 12 people in an Islamist attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo held one person hostage as police cornered the gunmen, on January 9, 2015.(AFP Photo / Dominique Faget)

Security forces had the building surrounded for most of Friday before the explosions happened.
The National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN), a special operations unit of the French Armed Forces, launched the assault, reported Le Figaro.
The Hebdo suspects emerged firing on security forces, reported an AFP source. One policeman was reportedly injured in the operation. However, he is not in a critical condition.
While the printing works employee in the same building was initially believed to be a hostage, it has been reported by French media that the two Charlie Hebdo massacre suspects holed up in the printworks, Cherif and Said Kouachi, had not been aware that the worker was in the building with them.

Lilian, a 27-year-old graphic designer, hid in a box for the duration of the situation and sent his father a text saying: “I hid on the first floor. I think they killed everyone. Tell the police to intervene...” reported Le Figaro.
He gave valuable information to the security services, reported France-based television channel BFMTV. Forces reportedly decided to launch the assault when the gunmen started praying.
Meanwhile, the hostages who were held at the grocery store in Porte de Vincennes in Paris are being released. One hostage taker is reportedly dead, after special forces entered the building and killed him, according to Le Monde.

French President Francois Hollande said that four of the hostages in the kosher supermarket had been killed.

A police union source told Reuters that he believed up to 20 hostages in total had been held in the building. A security source also told AFP that as many as four had been critically wounded.
One suspect from the kosher supermarket hostage taking scenario is still at large. She is thought to be 26-year-old Hayat Boumeddiene. Thirty-two-year-old Amedy Coulibaly was killed in the operation. “These people may be armed and dangerous,” said a police statement released earlier on Friday.

Germany and Greece

Go if you must

Angela Merkel appears to have become more sanguine about a Grexit

Jan 10th 2015 | BERLIN

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Merkel points the way for Samaras

IF THE Syriza party wins Greece’s election on January 25th, most think the power to negotiate rests with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. “A small minority, centred on the conservative leadership of the German government,” says Alexis Tsipras, Syriza’s leader, “insists on rehashing old wives’ tales and Grexit stories.”
So it seemed after German officials leaked to Der Spiegel, a weekly, their assessment that Grexit would not only be bearable but might even make the euro stronger. Other problem countries have weathered the crisis (Portugal, Ireland) or are making progress (Spain). The euro zone now has a bail-out fund and a banking union. German banks and insurers have reduced their exposure.

On January 5th Steffen Seibert, Mrs Merkel’s spokesman, insisted that German policy had not changed: it still aimed to hold the euro zone together. Yet all sides are now debating Grexit. Some in Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) said giving in to Greece would encourage other countries, including France, to rebel against spending cuts and supply-side reforms. Sigmar Gabriel, leader of the Social Democrats, Mrs Merkel’s coalition partners, said Germany must not be “blackmailed”.

Other Social Democrats recoiled from this tone. So did the CDU’s conservative Bavarian sister party. “We should not behave as a schoolmaster” to the Greeks, said Horst Seehofer, the Bavarian premier. The whole discussion was “irresponsible”, warned Simone Peter, a leader of the Greens. Sahra Wagenknecht, a leader of the ex-communist Left party, which sides with Syriza, accused Mrs Merkel’s government of “scare tactics” to influence the Greek election.
Carsten Nickel at Teneo Intelligence, a risk consultancy, thinks Mrs Merkel is trying to “send a strong signal to Athens” that aid would still be tied to reforms, but that she will be flexible. A deal with Mr Tsipras could include lower interest or longer maturities for Greek debt. But politics limit her room for manoeuvre. One change is the rise of the new anti-euro Alternative for Germany. It did well in state elections last year but is now riven by squabbles. Any softness on Greece will feed its support in Hamburg’s election in February. Public opinion remains sceptical. The tabloid Bild says that, if Greece can’t play by the rules, Germany should show it the “red card”.
This is the tightrope Mrs Merkel must walk after January 25th. Until then, she is likely to keep quiet. Even Austria, usually as strident as Germany on the euro, has struck a note of caution. Its finance minister, Hans Jörg Schelling, told a German newspaper that it was not appropriate to “meddle in the election campaigns of other countries”. That is the last thing Mrs Merkel can be seen doing.

Albanian GDP grows 3.3 pct in third quarter of 2014

 

TIRANA Fri Jan 9, 2015 

Jan 9 (Reuters) - Albania's economy grew at an annual rate of 3.3 in the third quarter in real terms, after shrinking 0.37 percent in the second quarter, fuelling hopes economic expansion would reach 2.1 percent in 2014, its target for the year.
The Institute of Statistics also said on Friday that gross domestic product grew 1.38 percent in the nine months of 2014. It also estimated GDP grew 0.68 percent in the third quarter over the second quarter of 2014.
Albania's goal is GDP growth of 2.1 percent in 2014 and 3 percent in 2015, much lower than the 6 percent or so it saw annually from 2000 until the financial crisis in 2008. Growth in 2013 was just 1.39 percent.
The Institute of Statistics also revised to 1.42 percent from 1.7 percent annual growth in the first quarter of 2014. It revised its estimate of a contraction in the second quarter to 0.37 percent from 0.6 percent, compared with the second quarter of 2013.
The tourist segment -- trade, hotels and restaurants -- led the gains in the July to September quarter, the peak of the tourist season. The segment expanded 10.41 percent from the same period last year and added 1.71 percentage points to the overall growth.
Construction grew at an annual 7.53 percent in the quarter, after a slump of 22 percent in the second quarter. The decline was attributed to heavy spending on infrastructure before elections in the second quarter of 2013.
Only transport recorded a fall, of 24.07 percent, in the third quarter from the same period in 2013. (Reporting By Benet Koleka; Editing by Larry King)

Six dead in eastern Ukraine in 24 hours

Source: Beta

KIEV -- Six persons - four Ukrainian soldiers and two civilians - have been killed in the fighting in eastern Ukraine in the past 24 hours.

A pro-Russian rebel guards the road near Donetsk airport (Beta/AP, file)

Spokesman for the Ukrainian military Andriy Lisenko confirmed this during a news conference on Friday, saying that eight more soldiers were wounded during the same period of time.
This is the highest number of casualties among the Ukrainian troops since a new ceasefire was announced in the region on December 9.

Lisenko also accused pro-Russian separatists of staging provocations and using mortars and Grad rocket launchers to attack Ukrainian army positions.

Meanwhile, the city authorities of Donetsk, a stronghold of the rebels, said that two civilians lost their lives and seven more were injured when they came under artillery fire from the Ukrainian army. Many buildings were destroyed, according to the same source.

Intensive diplomatic activities are ongoing at the same time in a bid to renew the peace process in eastern Ukraine, where the death toll has reached over 4,700 since April.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced in late December that he would meet with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Kazakhstan on January 15, in the presence of French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Merkel said on Thursday that the date has not yet been confirmed, while an Ukrainian official has been quoted as saying that foreign ministers of the four countries would have a telephone conversation on Friday.

Paris shooting: French far-right leader Le Pen calls for death penalty

Published time: January 08, 2015 12:08

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France's far-right National Front political party leader Marine Le Pen (Reuters/Charles Platiau)

France, Human rights, Politics, Terrorism

The leader of France’s rightwing Front National (FN), Marine Le Pen, has announced she would hold a referendum to reintroduce the death penalty if she wins France’s 2017 presidential election.
READ MORE: Fatal shooting at Charlie Hebdo HQ in Paris LIVE UPDATES
“I personally believe that the death penalty should exist in our legal arsenal,” Le Pen told television channel France 2.
“I always said that I would offer French citizens the possibility to express themselves on the topic through a referendum,” she added.
The announcement followed comments regarding “Islamic fundamentalism,” which she said “causes thousands of deaths every day worldwide.”
Le Pen further said she would speak to French President Francois Hollande about radical Islam and measures needed to protect “the countrymen.”
The last execution occurred in France in 1977. Capital punishment was officially abolished in 1981, although 62 percent of the French population supported it at the time, according to a poll conducted by TNS Sofres. Support for the death penalty, however, has subsequently dropped off.
Following Wednesday's deadly attack on the office of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris, Le Pen made a passionate speech against what she called an "odious ideology."

“We must not be scared of saying the words: this is a terrorist attack carried out in the name of radical Islam,” Miss Le Pen said.
“Time is up for denial and hypocrisy,” she continued. “The absolute rejection of Islamic fundamentalism must be proclaimed loudly and clearly.”
Critics have accused Le Pen of ratcheting up anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiments for political purposes.
Tensions are running high across France following Wednesday’s attack, which left 10 journalists and two police officers dead. Several Muslim places of worship have been the target of attack since Wednesday night. Following reports of an attack on a kebab shop in the Eastern French town of Villefranche on Thursday, four training grenades were thrown into the courtyard of a mosque in the French city of Le Mans. One of the grenades exploded, but no injuries were reported. A gunshot was also reported overnight, with the bullet hitting the mosque.


An assailant also opened fire near a Muslim prayer room in the Port-la-Nouvelle district near Narbonne in southern France on Wednesday night. The door to the room was damaged and a window was broken, but no injuries were reported in the attack. The local prosecutor told AFP the room was empty at the time of the attack.

An investigation into the incident is currently underway.
France is home to Europe’s largest Muslim population, with nearly five million people practicing Islam out of a population of roughly 65 million. President Hollande has called for national unity following the tragedy.
As the president of FN, Le Pen has vowed to drastically curb immigration if elected president.
According to the latest opinion polls, if France were to hold its presidential election today, Le Pen would lead in the first round.
The French presidential election is set to be held in April and May of 2017.

CAS to hear appeals from Albania, Serbia over drone incident

 

 

AP 11:10 a.m. EST January 8, 2015

 

 LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Albania and Serbia are challenging the UEFA sanctions imposed upon them after a European Championship qualifying match was abandoned when a drone with a political banner flew into the stadium.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Thursday it registered the appeals, though no date has been set for the hearing.
"Albania and Serbia seek to annul the UEFA decisions or ... reduce the sanctions that were imposed," the court said in a statement.
UEFA ordered Albania to forfeit the match because team officials refused to send players back out to play in a hostile atmosphere in Belgrade.
Serbia was deducted three points despite the 3-0 default win. UEFA also ordered Serbia's next two Euro 2016 home qualifiers to be played in an empty stadium.
UEFA also fined both federations 100,000 euros ($118,000).
The Oct. 14 match was stopped before halftime when a drone carrying an Albanian nationalist banner hovered above the field. Players clashed over the banner and Serbian fans attacked Albania team members.
Tensions between the countries were fueled by Kosovo, an ethnic Albanian-dominated province, declaring independence from Serbia in 2008.
The Balkan countries are scheduled for a return match in Albania on Oct. 8.
Serbia already served one match of its empty-stadium sanction. It lost to Denmark 3-1 in November and next hosts Armenia on Sept. 4.
In the five-team group, Denmark and Portugal are currently in the two automatic qualifying places for Euro 2016 in France.
Albania is in third place, which guarantees at least a spot in the playoffs. The Albanians have four points from three matches, three ahead of fourth-place Serbia.

 
 
Thousands of Athenians in Solidarity With French Citizens’ Rally



by Aggelos Skordas - Jan 8, 2015


Athenians_Charlie Hebdo With the participation of thousands, holding black banners with the phrase “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”), Athenians expressed their solidarity with the people of France and condemned the deadly attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris yesterday, which cost the life of 12, including four of France’s most exceptional cartoon artists (Charbonnier, Wolinski, “Tignous” and Cabut). Similar acts of solidarity have been organized in Greece’s second largest city, Thessaloniki, as well as other cities across Europe.

“No authoritarianism, no ideology, no reliance on religion, no violence will frighten us to speak, to write and to paint what we want. Nobody will deprive us of the right to peacefully coexist with immigrants, no one will separate the people who want to live in societies of reciprocity and common rules. We are not afraid!” said the call to the citizens of Athens bearing the title “Je suis Charlie – Athènes” that was organized through Facebook. The solidarity gathering took place outside the French Institute of Athens, in the central district of Kolonaki.

More than 3,000 people, including representatives of Greek political parties, peacefully sent the message that freedom of speech is a principle that cannot be subjected to terror of any kind.

The Athens gathering, which was an initiative of the Athenians “for the heinous murder of our European friends and fellow artists that were killed by the bullets of fanatics,” began at 5:00 p.m. outside the French Institute, located at 31 Sina Street, and surrounding streets remained closed for several hours due to mass participation.
- See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/01/08/thousands-of-athenians-in-solidarity-with-french-citizens-rally/#sthash.dlunX4Ro.dpuf

Hands off heroic Greeks !

Hands off heroic Greeks !

Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt

Press release

1 January by CADTM Europe

Jean-Claude Juncker,

Even before the dissolution of the Greek parliament and the ensuing electoral campaign, International and European powers have launched a campaign of lies and threats aimed at cowering the Greek electorate away from voting for SYRIZA (United Social Front) in the upcoming general election to take place on 25 January. Seconded by the mainstream European media, the “leaders”, Juncker, Merkel, Hollande, Renzi, or Schäuble, are preparing yet another brutal intervention into Greece’s home affairs, a country they have already turned into a mess of social ruin through the inhuman and barbarous austerity policies they have dictated.

The result will be decisive in the social war against the vast majority of the European population!

The CADTM does not have the least doubt about the real intentions of those who have used Greece as a European testing ground for the most extreme neoliberal policies and used the Greeks as guinea pigs for social, political and economic shock therapies. We must be ready for an escalation of their campaign. They cannot allow that SYRIZA gain victory and be emulated throughout Europe! They will stop at nothing because they are well aware that the result of the Greek elections will be decisive in the social war they are waging against the vast majority of the European population!

Pierre Moscovivi

It is because the stakes are so high that we can expect the “leaders” of Europe and of Greece to refuse to accept the result of the poll which, for the first time in Greek history, should bring victory to the Greek left. They will certainly try to stifle the left wing government that will be the democratic result, because its eventual success will be interpreted as tremendous encouragement, to the workers and peoples of Europe, to resist.

The CADTM, which has always been alongside the Greek people in their struggle against austerity and the grave infringements of their social and democratic rights, again calls on European and worldwide social movements and radical parties to unflinchingly support the resistance and struggle of the Greek people. The illegitimate, illegal and odious debt that the Greek people have been burdened with is not their debt. The CADTM considers that the creation of an international popular commission to audit Greece’s debt in order to identify the illegitimate, illegal and/or odious parts that should not be repaid, would set a precedent and nourish the debate on debt repudiation in all the peripheral European countries.

Gunther Oettinger

To support the Greek people and the Greek left in their struggle to liberate the country from the grip of creditors and from the dictatorship of the markets is now the duty, not only of grass roots activists, but also of every European citizen that refuses this Europe of austerity that produces misery, racism and barbarism.

CADTM Europe

Bus carrying Serbs attacked with stones in Kosovo

Source: Tanjug

DJAKOVICA -- Ethnic Albanians in Djakovica on Tuesday attacked with stones a bus carrying some 40 Serb refugees from this Kosovo town.

The incident happened in front of a Serbian Orthodox church.
The driver of the bus was lightly injured during the attack, Djokica Stanojevic, who heads an association of displaced Djakovica citizens, told Tanjug.

He explained that the incident happened despite the police escort that was provided to the Serbs.

The attack took place on Orthodox Christmas Eve.

"Once again this year we have not been able to burn the badnjak (ceremonial Christmas oak branches) in the town from which we have been driven out. At the very entrance to the church a group of Albanians waited with stones that they pelted at the bus," Stanojevic explained.

"We turned back, unable to carry the badnjak into the church," he said.

Stanojevic strongly condemned the incident, noting it was not the first of the kind, and asked for "urgent condemnation and reaction of the international community" - so that Serbs displaced from Djakovica could exercise their basic human rights - the right to live, return, move freely, and confess their religion.

France faces rising tide of Islamophobia

Politicians try to calm fears, but the mass shooting at Charlie Hebdo follows a series of attacks across France

Police officers and firefighters gather in front of the offices of the Charlie Hebdo in Paris Photo: Philippe Dupeyrat/AFP/Getty Images

By Holly Watt, Whitehall Editor

1:20PM GMT 07 Jan 2015

French politicians rushed to offer their commiserations in the aftermath of the mass shooting at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, but they have been battling fears about terrorism for years.

The success of Marine Le Pen, the far-Right Front National leader, has been the most visible sign of the rising tide of Islamophobia in France, which increased again in the wake of several attacks in December.

Miss Le Pen said that she was "horrified" by the attack on the satirical magazine, saying she felt "huge sadness for the victims and sent her condolences to the families of the victims."

In December, the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls had to call for calm after a series of attacks – where cars were used as battering rams on festive crowds – at Christmas.

Mr Valls called for “cool-headedness”, while the President Francois Hollande urged the nation not to panic.

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The attacks were seen as a symptom of serious problems in French society, which has a large immigrant population from former French colonies including Algeria.
For decades, France has had problems with the “banlieues”, the suburbs where poor immigrants live in large numbers. With residents having little hope of escaping the impoverished areas, the banlieues have become fertile recruitment grounds for extremists.
The attacks last month marked a new challenge for the French security services. Soldiers were deployed after three separate attacks in three cities across France. In one attack in Nantes, a van driver crashed into a Christmas market, injuring ten people. In Dijon, 13 people were injured after a driver shouting “Allahu akbar” (or “God is great”) drove into pedestrians at five different locations in the city.
Miss Le Pen, the daughter of the right-wing politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, has seen her popularity surge in recent years. She came third in the presidential elections in 2012, behind the Mr Hollande and the former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
The MEP is the focus of a book by the French author Michel Houellebecq which was featured in the most recent edition of Charlie Hebdo.
Mr Houellebecq had to deny claims that his novel Submission – on a Muslim running France according to the laws of conservative Islam – was a "Christmas present" to Miss Le Pen.
There are concerns that racism is on the rise in France. Last year, an image of a 16-year old Roma boy left for dead in a trolley in Paris’ northern suburbs shocked the nation.
Critics say government policy has stigmatised France's 20,000–strong Roma community, who mostly come from Romania and Bulgaria.

Orthodox Christians take a dive in Golden Horn to celebrate Epiphany

Source: Today's Zaman

admin | 07 January 2015

Members of the Greek Orthodox community in İstanbul jumped into the Golden Horn, despite heavy snow, to retrieve a wooden crucifix thrown into the waters as per traditional Greek celebrations of Epiphany, on Tuesday.

Orthodox Christians plunged into the cold waters of the Golden Horn to catch a wooden crucifix thrown in during traditional Epiphany Day celebrations.(Photo: Today's Zaman)

Members of the Orthodox community went to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in İstanbul’s Balat neighborhood for the rite led by Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to commemorate the birth and baptism of Jesus Christ with a ceremony. After the four-hour-long rite, people marched to the Fener dock on the Golden Horn.
Men plunged into the Golden Horn and raced to retrieve the cross, thrown by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, despite the cold weather in İstanbul, where it even snowed in some districts. Todor Pasev from Bulgaria became the first to retrieve the wooden cross from the waters. Bartholomew congratulated the Bulgarian and gave him a golden necklace with a cross on it.
Speaking to the press after the ceremony, Pasev expressed his happiness with being the first. He said it was not possible for anyone to freeze in this cold if they only stayed in the sea for 10 minutes. After responding to questions from reporters, Pasev again jumped into the water to swim.
This competition is held every year, despite freezing temperatures, as part of a ceremony to commemorate Jesus Christ being baptized in the River Jordan.
The Greek Orthodox Church in İstanbul celebrates the birth of Jesus on Jan. 6, like most Eastern Orthodox churches.

Source: http://www.pravmir.com/orthodox-christians-take-dive-golden-horn-celebrate-epiphany/#ixzz3OAYvp3qZ

Vigils held across Europe in support of Charlie Hebdo, press freedom (PHOTOS)

Published time: January 07, 2015 20:16

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A man holds a placard which reads "I am Charlie" to pay tribute during a gathering at the Place de la Republique in Paris January 7, 2015, following a shooting by gunmen at the offices of the magazine (Reuters / Christian Hartmann)

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EU, France, Rally, Shooting, Terrorism, Violence

Thousands gathered for rallies in French cities, standing in solidarity with victims of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris that killed 12 on Wednesday. At the biggest rally, in Paris, people lit candles and held up their pens to support press freedom.
Paris witnessed a large rally on Place de la République, which is located close to the office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
Masked gunmen stormed the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday morning. Ten journalists and two policemen were killed. Police said that three gunmen carried out the assault. They are still at large, while Paris is on high alert.
READ MORE: Paris manhunt: 3 gunmen at large, 12 shot dead at Charlie Hebdo offices

A woman holds up the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo during a gathering at the Place de la Republique in Paris, on January 7, 2015 (AFP Photo / Dominique Faget)

The attack was presumably triggered by cartoons published earlier by the satirical left-wing paper, which portrayed the Prophet Muhammad. The gunmen reportedly called out the victims by name during the attack, shouting: “We have avenged the Prophet."
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People mourned the victims by lighting candles and holding up pens in a show of support for press freedom.

A man raises a pen during a rally at the Place de la Republique in Paris, on January 7, 2015 (AFP Photo / Martin Bureau)

A man holds a placard reading : "Freedom of the press is priceless, fundamentalism, of any kind, will not pass" as others hold up pens and placards reading in French, "I am Charlie" during a gathering at the Place de la Republique, following an attack by unknown gunmen on the offices of the satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo (AFP Photo / Martin Bureau)

Poll shows lead for Greece's Syriza narrowing slightly

ATHENS Wed Jan 7, 2015

Alexis Tsipras (L), opposition leader and head of radical leftist Syriza party, smiles during a meeting with members of the Greens-Ecologists party, at the party's headquarters in Athens January 7, 2015.

Credit: Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis

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(Reuters) - Greek anti-bailout opposition party Syriza's lead over the ruling conservatives has narrowed slightly, according to a poll conducted after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras called a snap parliamentary election for January 25.
The Alco survey to be published in the To Pontiki newspaper on Thursday showed the radical leftist Syriza would win a 33.8 percent share of the vote if elections were held now, ahead of Samaras's New Democracy party which would take 30.5 percent.
That marked a slight drop from a 3.6 point lead Syriza held in the previous Alco survey. Syriza wants to scrap the painful austerity measures agreed by Greece under a 240 billion euro bailout program with its international creditors.

 

 

The telephone survey of 1,000 people, conducted on Jan. 4-6 nationwide, also showed that a party set up by former prime minister George Papandreou last week -- the Movement of Democratic Socialists -- would get 2.7 percent of the vote.
The Alco survey was the first to include the new party, which is expected to siphon away votes from the Socialist PASOK that it split from as well as other leftist parties including Syriza and the centrist To Potami.
There is a three percent threshold for a party to win seats in the Greek parliament.
Greek lawmakers failed to elect a president last week, triggering the dissolution of parliament and the snap election. Syriza has been ahead of the government in opinion polls for months but its lead has shrunk in recent weeks.
Here is a breakdown of recent opinion poll results:
Date Poll Syriza ND Potami GD KKE Pasok IG DL MDS
07/1 Alco 33.8 30.5 4.5 4.4 4.1 3.9 2.4 - 2.7
04/01 Rass 30.4 27.3 4.7 3.8 4.8 3.5 2.5 - -
30/12 UOM 29.5 25 5.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 0.5 -
29/12 Marc 28.1 25.1 6.1 5.9 5.4 4.6 3.0 1.0 -
28/12 Alco 30.3 26.7 4.7 5.6 4.5 4.9 3.2 - -
28/12 Kapa 27.2 24.7 5.8 5.5 5.8 6.1 2.5 - -
23/12 Marc 28.3 24.8 5.8 5.7 5.3 4.5 3.3 1.2 -
17/12 Marc 28.5 24.9 5.6 5.8 5.6 4.8 3.0 1.4 -
15/12 GPO 28.0 23.1 5.1 5.0 5.5 5.1 2.7 - -
15/12 MRB 24.3 20.3 5.7 4.5 5.0 5.5 2.8 1.5 -
ND: conservative New Democracy party
Syriza: Radical Left Coalition party
GD: far-right Golden Dawn party
IG: right-wing Independent Greeks party
PASOK: Socialist party
KKE: Communist party
DL: Democratic Left party
MDS: Movement of Democratic Socialists
UOM: University of Macedonia
(Compiled by Athens newsroom; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Serbian Church launches internet TV station

Source: Vecernje novosti

BELGRADE -- The Serbian Orthodox Church will on Thursday launch its television station, TV Hram ("TV Temple"), that will be available only online.

Patriarch Irinej delivers his Christmas message (Tanjug)

This will coincide with the Christmas holiday period, marked in Serbia according to the Julian calendar, on January 7.
The Church already operates 15 radio stations, the Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti writes.

The first program the TV station will broadcast will be an interview with Serbian Patriarch Irinej, who has given his blessing for the project, the newspaper reported.

The Patriarchy's managing office director and editor-in-chief of television production, Stojadin Pavolovic, says the new outlet will cooperate with electronic and print media from Serbia, Montenegro, and the Serb Republic.

TV Hram has already reached agreement on cooperation with Russian television stations Solyuz and Spas, and stations run by the Greek Orthodox Church.

"Beside the Church-related topics, we intend to present, in the best light, to the country and the diaspora, the goings-on in the Serbian capital city that concern almost every areas, including culture, health care, education, and in relation to that we will achieve cooperation with all state institutions in order to make our program as rich, diverse, and interesting as possible," Pavlovic explained.

Greek membership in eurozone is "irrevocable" - EU

Source: B92, Tanjug

BRUSSELS -- European Commission spokesperson Annika Breidthardt said on Monday Greece's membership in the eurozone "cannot be revoked."

(freeimages.com, stock)

The comments came "amid growing concerns whether upcoming elections in Greece will lead to the country exiting the eurozone," RT is reporting.
French President Francois Hollande said earlier that while "the Greeks are free to choose their own destiny," there were also "certain engagements that have been made and all those must be of course respected."

His statement came after media speculation that Germany was prepared to accept Greece's possible departure from the eurozone, after which a spokesperson for the government in Berlin said Germany was convinced Greece would remain committed to the program of financial consolidation initiated by the EU.

AP reported that "opposition Radical Left Coalition Syriza party underscored it had no intention of pulling Greece out of the eurozone," and accused Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of scaring the nation about the implications of a Syriza electoral win.

According to Reuters, Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said in December his party would "ask Europe to erase a big portion of its debt."

Suicide bomber attacks police station in central Istanbul

Published time: January 06, 2015 16:09
Edited time: January 06, 2015 19:10

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AFP Photo/Bulent Kilic

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A female suicide bomber has attacked a police station in a historic area of Istanbul, leaving one officer dead and one injured.
The woman reportedly spoke English when attempting to enter a police building in Istanbul’s tourist-heavy Sultanahmet district. Her nationality and identity were not immediately established, Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin told reporters.
According to the Hurriyet Daily, the niqab-clad woman said that she had left her wallet in the building as a pretext for getting inside.
The attacker "exploded herself prematurely before going into the police building, as she was prevented by the guards at the entrance," according to Cihan news agency.
Sahin said two police officers were injured, one of them seriously. Media reports later stated that one of them died from his injures.

Police have sealed off streets in the vicinity of the attack and public transportation has been suspended in the area known for its historic landmarks like Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that authorities are investigating any links to particular groups and terrorist organizations.
"The authorities are investigating whether there is a link to any group ... We have given instructions for the most comprehensive investigations," Prime Minister Davutoglu told reporters in Ankara.
The attack comes days after Turkish far-left group DHKP-C claimed responsibility for an attempted grenade attack on a police booth near the prime minister’s office in Istanbul. According to police, the grenade did not explode, but the suspect attempted to shoot at police officers with both a gun and a long-barreled weapon. The suspect was detained last Thursday.
DHKP-C is a Marxist-Leninist secular terrorist organization responsible for numerous assassinations and suicide bombings.