“I have always promised you a victory and now I pledge to you a new one in Syria,” Nasrallah said on Saturday, on the 13th anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon. Syria is a crucial ally for Hezbollah and the “backbone” of the resistance, the party leader said as cited by Naharnet. “If Syria falls in the hands of the Takfiris and the US, the resistance will become under a siege and Israel will enter Lebanon.”“If Syria falls, the Palestinian cause will be lost,” he added. Some neighboring countries are ready to do everything, including the full destruction of Syria, in order to depose current regime, but Syria “has true friends in the region” as well, and they will not allow Syria to “fall into the hands of the United States and Israel,” Nasrallah said. Thousands of Hezbollah fighters went to battle for Syria willingly and “aspire to take part in the resistance.” “You will find tens of thousands of fighters that are ready to take all fronts and participate in the battles,” he assured. “No one is forced into the war.”But in the end, political dialogue is the only way to reach reform in Syria, which is required as the current government “has its positives and negatives,” Nasrallah believes.“Several suggestions and settlements that were accepted by the Syrian regime were rejected by regional countries because they do not want Assad’s regime to stay in power.” While part of the Syrian opposition “has a vision and is ready for dialogue” others work “under the Pentagon’s orders” and reject any suggestion of peace talks, he noted.“The events in the last couple of years have proved that there is an axis lead by the United States while the rest are working under its orders. Everyone knows this axis is supported by Israel while al-Qaida and other Takfiri organizations from around the world were paid to take part in it,” Nasrallah explained.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced on Thursday that 104 Hezbollah members have been killed in Syria since last autumn although Hezbollah denies this, saying that only 57 have been killed since the start of the war. Hezbollah had initially denied the involvement of its fighters in Syria but he has admitted they were there since a televised address last month where Nasrallah paid homage to them.Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition talks in Istanbul have so far failed to unite liberal leaders and Islamists of the opposition Syrian National Council, who demand President Assad and his government’s resignation before they will come to the negotiating table.During the meeting Syrian National Council president George Sabra criticized Hezbollah’s involvement in the conflict.“Some of the Lebanese people are being sent as invaders, they are being sent to kill Syrians. And we are sending them back in coffins,” Sabra said. “Syria used to be a safe haven for them whenever they faced a crisis. We say to those who were once in the resistance: ‘You are heading to the wrong direction’”. The Friends of Syria gathering declared it is seeking a political solution to the Syrian crisis welcoming the Russian-American initiative to conduct a peace conference between the government and all factions of the opposition. However in a joint declaration, the group’s member states maintained that Syrian President Bashar Assad should play no role in the country’s future. … Read More
Syrian opposition talks in stalemate as Geneva peace conference looms
The two opening days of negotiations of the Syrian opposition have been fruitless as the Islamist-dominated Syrian National Coalition refused to admit liberal opposition leaders into its ranks. Also, the opposition failed to elect a new leader of the coalition, which remains without a chief since the resignation of Moaz al-Khatib, a former Damascus religious leader, in March. “We are back to square one,” a source in the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) told Reuters before the start of the third day of negotiations. The source said the participants in the talks would now focus on international demands for a broadening of the Islamist-dominated group, leaving leadership issues for later. Still, Syrian National Council representatives believe they could take part in the peace conference – if their central demand for President Bashar Assad to leave power is satisfied, Al Arabiya reports.Still, the leaders of the Syrian National Council believe they could take part in the peace conference – if their central demand for President Bashar Assad to leave power is satisfied, Al Arabiya reports.In an interview to British BBC the Syrian National Coalition’s spokesman Louay Safi declared that President Assad and his associates must leave the scene. He says only this condition will be enough to make opposition participate in a peace conference.“If the government will agree to the framework, yes [we will participate]. We have welcomed the Geneva agreement from day one. We would like to find a political solution. But we don’t want to be deceived again by this regime, which has deceived us many times,” Louay Safi said.The spokesman has not specified, though, who would represent lawful authorities of Syria at a peace conference in that case.Earlier Moscow informed the international community that Damascus had in principle agreed to take part in a peace conference in Geneva.Another conference, the ‘Friends of Syria’ gathering that took place in Jordan’s Amman recently has brought nothing constructive to the peace process in the war-torn Syria either.Representational assembly attended by eleven top diplomats from Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the US issued a number of mutually exclusive statements.On one hand the gathering declared it is seeking a political solution and a diplomatic breakthrough to solve the Syrian crisis. ‘Friends of Syria’ welcomed the Russian-American initiative to conduct new peace conference on Syria.Yet in a joint declaration on May 22, the 11 participant countries maintained that Syrian President Bashar Assad will play no role in the country’s future. The declaration also stressed to bolster support for the armed opposition until a transitional government is formed.“The participants (of the ‘Friends of Syria’ meeting), who have declared themselves spokesperson for the Syrian people, have blocked the way to the international conference by saying that they were going to boost support to the Syrian opposition,” Syria’s SANA news agency commented.“Right now we see this process is making a negative contribution to the [Geneva] decisions,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in Istanbul.“When one party (Assad) is isolated in any mechanism set up to deal with a conflict, we miss the ground for dialogue,” he added.After the ‘Friends of Syria’ gathering in Amman and opposition meeting in Istanbul both have failed to propose any constructive ideas how to put an end to the Syrian crisis, all eyes now are on the US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who are going to discuss peace talks in Syria next Monday in Paris.Russian diplomats, though, have voiced concerns that an international conference on Syria in Geneva cannot be conducted immediately because of the current status of the Syrian opposition.”The demands to urgently set a concrete date for the conference in the absence of clarity regarding who and with what powers will speak on behalf of the [Syrian] opposition just cannot be treated seriously,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich at a press briefing in Moscow.When Russian FM will meet his American counterpart next week, they will have to coordinate the list of participants of the future peace conference. However the question now is who among the Syrian opposition ranks would have authority to speak on behalf of all variegated opposition groups. … Read More
Portugal author under investigation for presidential clown jibe
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Top Portuguese minister resigns over university… 04/04/2013 18:22 CET
Portuguese author Miguel Sousa Tavares has landed himself in hot water after calling the president a clown.
His jibe made the front page of the leading financial daily, where he said the country didn’t need a figure like Italian comedian-turned politician Beppe Grillo, saying “We already have a clown, his name is Cavaco Silva.”
He is now under investigation and could face up to three years in prison for offending the honour of the president. Tavares admitted he may have gone too far with his remarks.
More about: Journalist, Political scandal, Portugal
Copyright © 2013 euronews
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Alex Jones Show: Friday (5-24-13) Paul Hellyer – Edited
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‘Lack of public debate on immigration caused Stockholm riots’
Stockholm is reeling as two schools, a police station and dozens of cars were set ablaze in the fifth night of riots.Twelve people were arrested as rioters and police clashed with stone throwing youths in poor, largely immigrant districts of the Swedish capital.Blogger and social commentator, Mishra Mrutyuanjai, believes Sweden has full right to apply restrictive immigration policies when there aren’t many jobs to offer to the people who come to the country. RT: You are a member of the Swedish Democrats known for their have an anti-immigration stance. Youth unemployment in the suburb at the center of these riots is close to 30 per cent – is that to blame?Mishra Mrutyuanjai: Let me start by saying that I’m a member of the Swedish Democratic Party, which stands for fair immigration policy. It’s not an anti-immigration political party. Secondly, I think what has really caused these riots is, you know, a lack of open debate. And, you know, many rioters including myself have warned for long time that this kind of things do happen and now they’re happening. RT: Riots flared up in an immigrant suburb of Malmo five years ago, and violence is hitting Stockholm now. What can be done to stop it from happening again?MM: What really is required in Sweden is to shed this guard of political correctness. We’ve had this is Sweden… one of my good Swedish friends has said to me: in Denmark, you have an open debate; in Norway, you have a half-open debate; and in Sweden you have, actually, a closed debate. What we, actually, should start doing in Sweden is to start debating about things among other issues like what we recently now see happening in Stockholm. RT: Are there similarities between these riots and others, like the London riots of 2011, or those in the suburbs of Paris that flare from time to time?MM: Well, there are similarities and there are also arguments for that it’s quite unique because one must understand that Sweden is a very generous welfare state. It, actually, had given more to its immigrants than is the case in France or London. But the thing is that it’s a never-ending story like, I mean, the demands keep on increasing. Probably it’s high time that Sweden starts making demands on its immigrants and say: well, you have to learn the language; well, you have something more to do to get employment etc. and etc. RT: Do you think that the measures are you talking about will be able to improve the situation and how soon it can happen?MM: Well, this very generous and open immigration policy has resulted in a kind of ghettoized suburbs. And you see these problems emerging from these suburbs. So, first and foremost, there’s a need of a very realistic immigration policy which means that when there aren’t so many jobs that there’s a need of some restrictive and selective immigration policy. And this is in the interests of immigrants. Mind you, these aren’t just Swedish people saying this. I’ve written this in my blog that immigrants want that they should be getting jobs before they keep on inviting more and more people to Sweden. … Read More
Alex Jones: The True Nature of Evil
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Human rights group Memorial ‘has signs of foreign agent’ – Russian prosecutors
On Friday, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court rejected Memorial’s appeal against the off-schedule inspection carried out on March 26 by the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office and representatives of the Revenue and the Justice ministries. Following the inspection, prosecutors said they had evidence that Memorial’s activities indicated the organization is a “foreign agent,” a prosecutor told the court.In particular, it was discovered that the NGO received “over 52 million rubles ($1.6 million) in 2010 from foreign citizens and organizations,” he explained. In 2011, Memorial got “over 40 million rubles ($1.2 million), including from the Ford Foundation,” as well as other companies registered in the US, the law enforcer added, according to Itar-Tass.The inspection also revealed that Memorial – one of the oldest Russian human rights organizations – was involved in political activities in the country aimed at influencing public opinion and pressuring authorities, the prosecutor stated. Memorial’s defense lawyers are set to appeal the ruling at a higher court, RAPSI agency reported.Memorial, a historic international charity and human rights group, began its work in 1987. Initially, the group’s purpose, inspired by Soviet dissident Andrey Sakharov, was to research political repression in the USSR. It was officially founded in 1989, and developed into a human rights organization.The controversial Russian law that requires all politically active non-governmental organizations that receive funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents” came into force in November 2012. Such NGOs now face heightened controls, including the requirement they file a financial report to officials every quarter, as well as a yearly audit report. Violations are punishable by fines of up to 500,000 rubles ($15,700).Critics have slammed the law as a possible instrument by which authorities can pressure and restrict funding to human rights organizations. Supporters of the law, including some senior Russian officials, maintain that the law’s goal is to better inform the public on activists’ income sources. They have also emphasized that no organization can be shut down under the law.In March 2013, Russian authorities launched major unannounced inspections of NGOs to determine whether their activities corresponded with the objectives declared in their charters. In late April – while the audit was still ongoing – the Ministry of Justice stated that 18 groups would be designated ‘foreign agents.’ … Read More
