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Sunday, September 8, 2013

File:Prof. Scott Lucas 1.jpg

The United States President Barack Obama announced last Saturday he was seeking Congressional authorisation for military intervention in Syria.

Looking for more-qualified input, Wikinews interviewed: professor Scott Lucas, an expert in American Studies, from the UK’s University of Birmingham; the President of the International American Council on the Middle East, Majid Rafizadeh; and, professor Eyal Zisser, a Syrian expert, from Tel Aviv University.

Discussing the risks involved with US military intervention in Syria, Wikinews posed a range of questions to these experts on the region’s political climate.

((Wikinews)) Is it possible for the US to take military action to deter further use of chemical weapons without getting dragged into the civil war?

• Prof. Scott Lucas: The US is already involved in the civil war — the question is to what extent.

The US has given political support to the opposition and insurgency since late 2011, and from summer 2012, it has pursued covert support to the opposition fighters.

However, the Obama Administration has been hesitant about overt support for insurgents throughout the conflict, and that has affected co-ordination of covert efforts. In June, the Administration finally said it would provide overt military assistance, but then pulled back and failed to deliver any public aid.

Had it not been for the August, 21 chemical weapons attack, that position would have persisted.

• Majid Rafizadeh: It depends on the scope of the military operation. If United States conducts limited military operation, as the adminstration argues, and if US only targets some of the Syrian government’s military installments, it is less likely that United States will be drawn into the Syria’s civil war. It would be a political suicide for Syria, Iran or Hezbollah to respond.

On the other hand, if Assad observes that the balance of power is tilting against him inside the country, he might use chemical weapons in the future despite US limited strikes.

• Prof. Eyal Zisser: Yes, it[sic] the attack is limited. And If the Americans only use missiles. They can cause severe damage, but leave Assad in his palace, and not being dragged into the civil war.

((WN)) Will military intervention from the US affect long term relations between the United States and Russia?

• SL: Of course, significant military intervention by Washington will affect relations between the US and Russia, but the long-term effect cannot be predicted.

It is dependent on Russia’s reaction — so far, Moscow has been able to pressure the US into caution, but a decision for intervention by the US might call Russia’s bluff, so to speak, and force some caution by the Russians. Already, Moscow has said it will not join a fight against any US military action.

And, of course, the long-term relationship is dependent on the political and military success of any US intervention.

• MR: Military intervention, in the classic sense of putting troops on the ground, will definitely affect US-Russian long term political relationships. It might heighten the diplomatic tensions. However, the limited military operation is less likely [to] change US-Russian long term economic, geopolitical, and political relationships.
• EZ: No. They need each other in many other places of the world. Russia knows that the US is a super power and will not be interested in a real conflict with Washington.

((WN)) The British Parliament voted against military intervention in Syria, do you think this has affected their relations with the United States?

• SL: No — had the Obama Administration been united and decisive for intervention, there might have been some effect. But the Obama Administration’s divisions mean its first priority is getting some coherence in Washington, rather than blaming London.
• MR: I don’t think so. I believe that [the] UK has been [the] staunchest ally of the United States for decades. One instance of opposing parliamentary vote will not have impact on US-UK relations.
• EZ: Maybe. But Britain is not an important power any more, so the affect will be only in the symbolic field.

((WN)) Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia could back Syrian intervention if there was conclusive proof of regime guilt. What sort of evidence would be needed and can this level of assurance be given?

• SL: This is not a scientific question — we already have extensive evidence establishing the near-certainty of major regime attacks with chemical weapons on 7 towns on August 21.

Putin’s statement was a political move: it ostensibly re-confirmed the Russian opposition to US intervention while giving Moscow a way to step back if the UN inspectors return a damning report.

• MR: It is difficult, if not impossible, to provide Moscow with the evidence that they are looking for. In order to provide that specific information several criterions should be met. First of all, the soil of the location where the alleged chemical weapons are used, should immediately be examined after the incident. The Syrian government has not allowed immediate access to these places and usually reports come out days after. Second, and more fundamentally, a concrete and observable evidence is needed for Russia showing that Assad’s government has used it as opposed to the rebels.
• EZ: No the Russians are not after the truth but after their interests even if Assad admits that he used such weapon the Russians will be against any intervention.

((WN)) Would US military intervention on Syria be a violation of International law?

• SL: This is a grey area, especially as there will not be an endorsement by the United Nations Security Council. Supporters of the action say it can be justified under the recent doctrine of humanitarian intervention, but that is more a political rather than legal judgement.
• MR: Legally speaking, it is [in] violation of [the] United Nations Charter. According to [the] UN Charter, use of force is permitted only in case of self-defense or UNSC’s [United Nations Security Council] approval. Neither of these two cases apply for US use of military force against Syria. However, this does not mean that our current international law is devoid of any shortcomings. The International system has some shortcomings because of the structure of the UNSC, where one member can veto a resolution and block actions.
• EZ: Technically — yes because they did not get an approval from the UN.

((WN)) Does the United States seem to be wanting to engage in regime change in Syria as opposed to preventing further chemical attacks?

• SL: No, the Obama Administration has been uncertain about — and many of its members opposed to — regime change, and that is still the situation. The military, in particular, is opposed to significant, long-term intervention because of its concerns over a fragmented, diverse opposition and what happens if Assad falls.
• MR: If there was an efficient alternative to Assad, US would have seen the regime change to its political benefits and interests. However, United States does not seem to have articulated any precise agenda towards Syria yet. The policy is more ” Wait and See” policy; observing and reacting as things unfold in Syria and the region.
• EZ: No Obama does not want it, he finds himself being dragged into a war he has no interest in.

Saturday, September 4, 2021

Since June 2019, the people of South Gippsland Shire, located at the southernmost tip of Australia, have been without a local council, after a state government inquiry found “high levels of tension” within the council. Administrators were appointed by the Victorian state government in July 2019, who have governed the shire since then. However, South Gippsland’s council is scheduled to be restored with an election to be held via post from October 5-22, 2021.

Wikinews interviewed one of the candidates standing in this election, Sue Plowright. She is an independent contesting the Coastal-Promontory ward, which covers towns such as Venus Bay, Waratah Bay, Yanakie, Foster, Port Welshpool, and Toora. The Coastal-Promontory Ward elects three councillors to the South Gippsland Shire Council.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Dani Jarque, the Captain of the Spanish football team Espanyol, has died from a heart attack at the age of 26.

Jarque was practicing during pre-season training at Coverciano in Italy earlier in the day. He was staying in the team hotel ahead of a match planned for Sunday against Bolonia.

Jarque was sharing a room with another player, Ferran Corominas who says Jarque was talking to his girlfriend when he went to dinner on Saturday night. When Jarque fell silent over the phone, his girlfriend called the hotel who alerted Corminas. He then went back to the hotel room and found Jarque unconscious. Although he was taken to a local hospital, all efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.

“The doctor carried out CPR on the player and used a defibrillator, which showed that the arrest was non responsive. RCD Espanyol, broken with pain, wish to put themselves at the absolute disposition of the family of our captain Dani Jarque, to whom go our warmest thoughts,” said the team in a statement to the press. The team has canceled their planned practices in Italy and will return to Spain.

Jarque had been named captain of the side last July, replacing Raúl Tamudo. He joined team Espanyol at the young age of 12 and played his first match in 2002.

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Demonstrations took place across the UK over the holiday weekend, echoing the message personally delivered to Iain Duncan Smith at a Capita-sponsored talk last week. Chants of “Axe, axe, axe the bedroom tax” could be clearly heard throughout Edinburgh’s demonstration. At the end of his minute-long tirade at the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Willie Black labelled Duncan Smith a “ratbag”; several people turned up with this printed on their tee shirts.

Wikinews photographed the march from Edinburgh’s St. Andrew’s Square to the Scottish Parliament. Various estimates put the number in-attendance between 1,200 and 1,600.

Other protests took place in London, with an estimated 1,000 at Trafalgar Square and Downing street. Glasgow saw around 2,500 take to the streets. Those demonstrating equated the package of changes that see benefit rises at a below-inflation 1%, and housing benefit cut by 14% for those with one spare room, 25% if they have two or more spare rooms, with the ‘poll tax’ which saw riots in England during Margaret Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister.

Head of the UK’s National Housing Federation David Orr commented: “It’s bad policy, it’s bad economics, it’s bad for hundreds of thousands of ordinary people whose lives will be made difficult for no benefit — and I think it’s about to become profoundly bad politics.”

With the policy coming into effect now, protesters are intent on a “can’t pay, won’t pay” civil disobedience campaign.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Today at midnight, the Republic of Cyprus and the Republic of Malta, both small island states in the Mediterranean and former British colonies, adopted the euro as their official currency; less than four years after their accession to the European Union. Because Cyprus and Malta are in different time zones, Cyprus adopted the euro one hour before Malta did the same. In both countries the euro was welcomed with outdoor celebrations, including a fireworks display in Malta’s capital Valletta. According to the BBC Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris has said the euro “will benefit consumers and businesses alike because of the eurozone’s low inflation, low interest rates and large market.”

The BBC reports that Cypriot and Maltese leaders “made symbolic withdrawals of euros from cash machines just minutes into the New Year.” TIME reports that Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had to wait a little while before getting his hands on the new currency because “an automated teller machine did not work when Gonzi tried to withdraw euros, and he was obliged to use a different ATM.”

The Cypriot pound (CYP) and the Maltese lira (MTL) will remain in use during a dual circulation period that will last until the end of this month, at which point they will cease to be legal tender. However, it will still be possible to exchange them for Euro free of charge after the end of this period. Commercial banks in Cyprus will exchange Cypriot pounds for Euro until 30 June, but only for amounts up to CYP 1000 per customer and per transaction in banknotes and up to CYP 5O in coins. The Central Bank of Cyprus will exchange coins until the end of 2009 and banknotes until the end of 2017. Maltese commercial banks will exchange Maltese lira for Euro until the end of March, with a limit for non-customers of MTL 250, whereas the Central Bank of Malta will exchange coins until 1 February 2010 and banknotes until 1 February 2018.

The single currency has replaced the Cypriot pound and the Maltese lira at a rate of one euro to 0.585274 Cypriot pound and 0.4293 to the Maltese lira, or 1.71 euro per Cypriot pound and 2.33 per Maltese lira. This conversion rate had been fixed on 10 July 2007 by Ecofin, the council comprising the finance ministers of the EU Member States.

Cyprus and Malta are the 14th and the 15th country to join the Eurozone, which already includes Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Slovenia. All EU Member States are required to join the Eurozone once certain conditions are fulfilled, except Denmark and the United Kingdom which have negotiated a so-called opt-out that allows them not to adopt the single currency.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the de facto independent Turkish-controlled area in the north of Cyprus, will not join the Eurozone. Northern Cyprus is not part of the European Union and is recognised only by Turkey. As a result, the Turkish lira will remain the official currency in the north of the island; however, TIME reports that “many Turkish Cypriot merchants will also accept euros along with Turkish lira.” Cypriot Euro coins are inscribed in both Greek and Turkish.

The euro will also be legal tender in the Sovereign Base Areas, British military bases in Cyprus.

The national sides of the Cypriot Euro coins feature three separate designs for the three series of coins. The 1, 2 and 5-cent coins feature the mouflon, or wild sheep, the 10, 20 and 50-cent coins feature the Kyrenia ship, the wreck of a 4th century BC Greek merchant ship discovered in 1967 and salvaged closed to Kyrenia, and the €1 and €2 coins feature the Idol of Pomos, a prehistoric sculpture from the village of Pomos, three national symbols of Cyprus. The designs were jointly created by Tatiana Soteropoulos and Erik Maell.

The Maltese euro coins’ national sides will also feature national motifs. The 1, 2 and 5-cent coins will feature the altar of the Mnajdra temple grouping, a complex of three Neolithic temples on the southern coast of Malta and one of the oldest free-standing temple groupings in the world, the 10, 20 and 50-cent coins will feature the Coat of Arms of Malta, and the €1 and €2 coins will bear the Maltese cross, a symbol associated with an order of Christian warriors known as the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta, which was based on Malta for more than 250 years after they had been given the islands by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The designs of Maltese engraver Noel Galea Bason were selected after two rounds of public consultations in which people were invited to vote via SMS.

Both Cyprus and Malta have taken a number of steps to address fears of undue price rises. 7,130 Cypriot companies have subscribed to a Fair Pricing Code launched by the authorities and the Cypriot government urged companies to round their prices down. In Malta, the FAIR initiative, a fair pricing scheme, was put in place in January 2007. This scheme, which provides for administrative fines for those failing to respect their commitment, now involves 80% of all retail outlets. Malta, according to the BBC, has also signed 12 price stabilisation agreements with importers, which will last until March 2008.

In both countries, the authorities will monitor retailers to ensure they do not exploit the changeover for unfair gain by rounding up their prices, contributing to inflation.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Following on from the seizure of US$1.5 billion in former Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thai bank accounts, the ousted PM is claiming assets in Swiss bank accounts have been frozen.

When queried, the Swiss embassy in Bangkok said that there had been no request for an asset freeze, and that such action would only take place in the event of a successful prosecution.

Thaskin was removed from power in September, 2006 by Thailand’s military in a bloodless coup and was accused of corruption. Aside from having his Thai accounts frozen, Thaskin is the subject of arrest warrants in Thailand for “official misconduct”; charges that he denies. “Neither my family nor I has done anything illegal,” Thaskin said in a newspaper interview. “It is defamation.”

On the reputation of Swiss banking discretion, Thaskin was critical. “Good old bank secrecy is no more,” he commented. “Absolute discretion is a thing of the past.”

The ex-premier currently resides in the United Kingdom where he has purchased Manchester City football club for £81 million.