http://www.youtube.com/v/-k-ZS_dPzAQ?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Continued here: ‘Monsanto monopoly pushes farmers to suicide’
Evolving: Deadly H7N9 virus develops drug-resistance to Tamiflu
With new H7N9 cases waning, the worst thing humans can do right now is let their guard down about the potential dangers of this deadly new virus. The microbe is always mutating and evolving, as a virulent living force of nature and natural selection. … Read More
‘US drone police sheer lawlessness’
http://www.youtube.com/v/2N8Wb6vBWEQ?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Taken from: ‘US drone police sheer lawlessness’
Islam could be dominant UK religion in 10 years – census analysis
A new analysis of the 2011 census by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the number of Christians was falling 50 per cent faster than had previously been thought. Earlier analysis of the statistics showed only a 15 per cent decline, but the ONS found that this figure had been beefed up by 1.2 million foreign-born Christians. Furthermore, the re-analysis showed that the majority of Christians were over the age of 60 and for the first time less than half of young people describe themselves as Christian. As a result the ONS has calculated that in a decade only a minority will classify themselves as Christians in England. Christianity is still the dominant religion in the UK with over 50 per cent of the population regarding themselves as believers. However, this may be set to change as the British Muslim population has surged dramatically over the past 15 years, increasing by 75 per cent in England and Wales. The 2011 census puts the Muslim population of the UK at around 5 per cent, a total that has been boosted by around 600,000 Muslim immigrants who have arrived in the UK over the past decade.Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said to UK daily the Telegraph that the decline of Christianity is“inevitable.” “In another 20 years there are going to be more active Muslims than there are churchgoers,” he said.Moreover the number of people identifying themselves as atheists has increased by 10 per cent, rising from 15 per cent to 25 per cent. The change has been dubbed as a “significant cultural shift” by the British Humanist Association, while the Church of England has shrugged off the statistics, maintaining they still retain a strong base of believers.”While this is a challenge, the fact that six out of 10 people in England and Wales self-identify as Christians is not discouraging. Christianity is no longer a religion of culture but a religion of decision and commitment. People are making a positive choice in self-identifying as Christians,” said a spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales told press in December.In addition the census registered an increase in followers of Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Judaism.‘Sleepwalking into segregation’The rising number of immigrants and different ethnicities in the UK has given rise to increasing levels of segregation. Think tank ‘Demos’ has labeled the phenomenon ‘white flight’, citing the falling number of ethnic whites in areas where they are minorities. Demos’ investigation revealed that new ethnic minorities like Somalis where moving into areas where older most established ethnic populations like Afro-Caribbeans had previously been dominant.The population of London is indicative of the change in the British demographic with 600,000 white Londoners moving out of the capital in the past decade. In spite of the fact that the British capital’s population has grown by more than a million, the number of white British residents has decreased from 4.3 million to 3.7 million.“We do have an integration problem,” said Demos director David Goodhart to RT. The“changing ethnic composition” of the British capital is causing a large exodus of ethnic white out of the city, he added.Goodhart went on to say that the problem of integration was not confined to Great Britain and is prevalent all around the EU despite attempts to eradicate segregation.“Part of the point of the euro was to disperse German power and prevent the rise of nationalism in Europe, but it has done precisely the opposite on both fronts. We now have serious national resentments in countries like Greece,” he stressed.Trevor Phillips, the former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission warned that the statistics did not spell good news for integration in the UK and warned the country was … Read More
Saving Cyprus: IMF approves $1.3bn rescue package
The IMF has approved a three-year, $1.3 billion loan to jump start recovery in Cyprus and restore financial credibility to its indebted banking industry.The funds will be distributed to stabilize the banking industry, tame the state deficit, and to restore economic growth on the island.The IMF announced on Wednesday it had approved the first $111 million (86 million euro) installment of the loan, which was made immediately available to the Cypriot government. The next installment of $1.3 (1 billion euro) will be wired before June 30th, 2013 and fostered by the European Stability Mechanism, based in Luxembourg.The bailout is part of a $13 billion (10 billion euro) monetary package funded by Troika lenders over the next three years.The financial assistance is intended to prevent a further crisis and to revive the economic pulse of the debt-stricken nation.The loan “is intended to stabilize the country’s financial system, achieve fiscal sustainability, and support the recovery of economic activity to preserve the welfare of the population,” the IMF said in a statement.Klaus Regling, chief of the European Stability Mechanism, said on Monday, “The loans granted by the ESM help to maintain financial stability in the euro area and buy time for Cyprus. This time enables Cyprus to undertake the reforms necessary to rebuild its economy on a sustainable basis.”This is the fourth eurozone loan from the IMF crisis lending fund. Greece, Portugal, and Ireland have all received bail-out support from IMF lending. Taking out loans from the IMF increases the organization’s power in the eurozone. The more debt it owns, the more influence it holds over policy.The IMF is optimistic at Cypriot prospects, but is still cautious about a possible debt relapse.“Challenges ahead are significant, including restoring credibility in the banking sector and reducing fiscal deficits and debt to sustainable levels,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said of Cyprus.“There is no room for implementation slippages.”On Wednesday, the EU statistics office confirmed the 17 nation eurozone remained in recession with an overall regional contraction of 0.2 percent in the first financial quarter, from January to March. The Cypriot economy shrank by 1.3 percent.Official figures show France has returned to its second recession in four years, as the economy shrank by 0.2 percent in Q1 of 2013, after shrinking the same amount in the final of quarter of last year.The eurozone’s strongest economy, Germany, also showed some sluggish signs of growth. GDP grew by just 0.1 percent in the first quarter, far less than 0.3% expected by economists, showing sluggish signs of growth.The Netherlands, which entered recession three months ago, also showed contraction, with GDP falling by 0.1 percent in the first quarter of this year. Once one of the strongest-looking members of the eurozone, the Netherlands suffers from rising unemployment and the housing market bubble bursting. … Read More
Scene is set for Cannes Film Festival
Related
Red carpet ready for Cannes film festival 15/05/2013 12:47 CET
Cannes Festival: 1920s Gatsby glamour hits La… 14/05/2013 23:26 CET
Audrey Tautou: French national treasure 06/05/2013 17:02 CET
Spielberg to preside over Cannes jury 26/04/2013 13:58 CET
Cannes gears up for 66th film festival 13/05/2013 21:25 CET
Some of the biggest names in movie- making are in the South of France for the annual film festival in Cannes.
Director Steven Spielberg is presiding over the jury and French actress Audrey Tautou is hosting the event.
Much of the world’s attention is focused on the 20 films competing for the top award, the Palme d’Or.
Baz Luhrmann’s 3D spectacular ‘The Great Gatsby’ is hotly tipped to take the prize. The 1920s-set drama, based on a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is opening the festival.
Euronews correspondent Wolfgang Spindler, who is in Cannes awaiting the stars, reported:
“The red carpet’s rolled out and there’s suspense, with everyone eager to see ‘The Great Gatsby’ leads Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan. Suspense is also in the air over the weather. Will the stars be carrying umbrellas up the red steps? Rain is forecast for the Cote D’Azur this evening.”
More about: Cannes Film Festival 2013, Celebrity News, Cinema, France
Copyright © 2013 euronews
JavaScript is required in order to view this article’s accompanying video
Syrian rebel atrocity video: No apology for ‘revenge’, more clips promised
The video, 27 seconds of footage, was first spotted in April, with the TIME magazine conducting a probe into whether it had been faked for propaganda purposes. On Sunday, the clip emerged on a pro-regime website, triggering a wave of rage online. Human rights organizations, as well as his fellow rebels, have condemned the rebel. However, Khalid Hamad, known by his war nickname Abu Sakkar, didn’t seem to regret his behavior much, labeling it as revenge: “an eye for eye, a tooth for tooth.” In an interview with TIME magazine, he commented on his actions: “We opened his cell phone, and I found a clip of a woman and her two daughters fully naked and he was humiliating them, and poking a stick here and there.” Hamad says as a Sunni he hates Alawite Muslims, which once again signals of the increasingly sectarian side of the Syrian conflict. UN warned of it as early as in December last year.“Hopefully we will slaughter all of [the Alawites]. I have another video clip that I will send to them. In the clip, I am sawing another shabiha [pro-government militiaman] with a saw. The saw we use to cut trees. I sawed him into small pieces and large ones,” Hamad said in the interview.The Supreme Military Council has already compiled a poster calling for Hamad’s arrest, saying it wants him “dead or alive” on official Damascus’s behalf.On Monday, Human Rights Watch issued a report on the matter, saying the rebel was also to blame for the cross-border bombing of a Lebanese village that left two killed not long ago.“It is not enough for Syria’s opposition to condemn such behavior or blame it on violence by the government,” Nadim Houry, the watchdog’s deputy director for the Middle East, told TIME magazine.“The opposition forces need to act firmly to stop such abuses.” However with recent reports showcasing lack of unity in the opposition ranks, a unified response to such acts may stay only in the form of calls. The Red Cross for instance brings the following report from within Syria.“Sometimes it can take more than two weeks of negotiations with both sides. With armed groups, maybe half of them will accept and with half we still have to negotiate. Even if you get the green light from both sides, you would have some groups or snipers who would not really follow instructions and would shoot at anyone who is trying to cross,” head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team Marianne Gasser told Reuters.But while some of the opposition factions denounce Hamad’s actions, there are supporters who make portraits of him with the inscription “We Love You.”“These types of atrocities have been happening in Syria since the beginning of the crisis. The international community just didn’t want to admit it,” Ali Haider, Syria’s minister for reconciliation, told the Telegraph. The minister also pointed out that they had documents that were as “horrific” as the video featuring Hamad.“We have seen one of our pilot’s heads cut off and cooked on a grill. We have seen rebels toasting their success by drinking the blood of their victims,” he claimed.All this comes as the UK and France urge for the arms embargo on Syria to be lifted in order to supply the opposition with weapons. This has already drawn criticism from allies, with Austria reportedly circulating a discussion paper among the EU member states on Tuesday pressing that such a move would violate the international law.Lifting the embargo would “constitute a breach of international and EU law” and be contrary to the “principle of non-intervention and non-use of force” laid down in the UN Charter, Austrian press quoted the document. If the weapons fall with al-Nusra Front opposition group, it would also violate UN Security Council resolutions on Al-Qaeda, given al-Nusra’s recent affiliation claims.At least 70,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began just over two years ago, according to the UN, putting the number of displaced Syrians at more than 850,000. … Read More
