Sunday 23 November 2014

The European Union Times

Spaniards hold anti-abortion protest in Madrid

Posted: 22 Nov 2014 02:46 PM PST

Anti-abortion supporters try to display a banner with air balloons reading “Every life matters” during a march in Madrid.

Tens of thousands of people have held a rally in the Spanish capital city of Madrid, calling on the government to revive a plan to limit women’s access to abortion.
The protesters from across the country marched through the city on Saturday and waved white flags with the slogan “Every life counts.”
They also whistled irritably as they passed by the headquarters of the ruling Popular Party.
Tightening Spain’s abortion law was one of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s promises before he was elected in 2011. However he dropped the plan last September due to differences within his own party.
The demonstrators, who were furious at the retreat, threatened to punish his government in next year elections if it fails to restrict abortion.
“Rajoy, we may not vote,” read a huge white banner at Saturday’s march.
“I am disappointed. This may change the vote,” said Jose Vicente Romero, 50, a protester who travelled several hours from Alicante with a group from his church, adding, “Abortion is not a right. Abortion is a tragedy.”
A reform plan, formulated by former justice minister, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, would have put an end to a woman’s right to freely choose an abortion up to 14 weeks of pregnancy.
Ruiz-Gallardon had proposed to allow abortion only in cases of rape reported to the police, or a medically certified threat to the mother’s physical or psychological health.
The anti-abortion groups that organized the demonstration urged the government to restore the reform plan and improve adoption procedures.
Abandoning the plan “would confirm the total lack of protection for the two victims of abortion: the unborn child, who lacks judicial protection, and the mother, who is given no alternative,” they wrote in a manifesto.
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Police pepper sprays protest in Germany as activists storm new EU central bank HQ

Posted: 22 Nov 2014 02:31 PM PST

German police used pepper spray and clashed with anti-EU protesters, who stormed and vandalized the new European Central Bank building, which is under construction now in central Frankfurt.
Calling themselves Blockupy, thousands of activists gathered in the city center on Saturday and marched to the goal of their protest, the new ECB office, which is to be inaugurated next March.
The cost of the new office is almost 1.3 billion euros and this fact has caused a lot of criticism while the policy of austerity is applied all over Europe.
“While our colleagues, friends and comrades in Southern Europe continue to rebel against the depletion and impoverishment policies of the Troika, the ECB moves into its new palace,” Blockupy website says. “Blockupy moves on to the road. We will make our own move to the new building and give back to the ECB the garbage – in and with many moving boxes – that should have been thrown into the dustbin of history: racist and sexist division, impoverishment, privatization of public funds and goods and wars to secure resources.”
As the protesters reached the ECB building, about 80 activists climbed over the fence and began throwing stones and bags with paint into the building.
Police responded with pepper spray as they tried to disperse the crowd. Local law enforcement reported about nine injured police officers, while mass media reported one policeman wounded.
The protest was a part of “Blockupy Festival „#talk #dance #act – Come down from the balcony!” held in Frankfurt from November, 20th to 24th. The activists from European countries gathered to “talk about common issues, places and steps of our protests”, Blockupy website says.
Blockupy is a network of European leftist organizations protesting against European economic reforms.

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Democratic Congressman Proposes Moat Around White House

Posted: 22 Nov 2014 02:05 PM PST

“Would a moat, water, six feet around, be kind of attractive and effective?”
Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen suggested building a moat around the White House Wednesday during a House Judiciary Committee meeting with the U.S. Secret Service.
Speaking with acting U.S. Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy on the agency’s recent scandals, Cohen suggested that a large body of water surrounding the White House could possibly keep out potential trespassers.
“Would a moat, water, six feet around, be kind of attractive and effective?” Cohen asked.
Seemingly stunned by the suggestion, Director Clancy instead suggested the possibility of a larger fence, arguing that the public’s accessibility to the White House has historic value.
“Sir, it may be. One of the things we balance is obviously the accessibility of the White House. We recognize the historic nature of the White House and how the American people should have access to the White House,” Clancy said. “So we are now in the process of working with our partners at the National Parks Services to see if we can do something with the fence.”
Ironically, a White House moat may be fitting given President Obama’s ruling mentality, a trait most recently noted by Republican Senator Ted Cruz.
“The elections were a referendum on amnesty, and the voters soundly rejected it. There was no ambiguity. Undeterred, President Obama appears to be going forward,” Cruz wrote in Politico. “It is lawless. It is unconstitutional. He is defiant and angry at the American people. If he acts by executive diktat, President Obama will not be acting as a president, he will be acting as a monarch.”
Despite the President’s dictatorial actions, fellow Democrats continue to stroke his ego, pushing for the further erosion of the legislative branch.
In just one example last February, Vice Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee Donna Brazile encouraged the President to “move forward” without Congress.
Armed with his pen and his phone, President Obama will undoubtedly use his short time left to push the boundaries on executive action.
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1 in 3 women victim of domestic abuse – WHO

Posted: 22 Nov 2014 01:59 PM PST

The World Health Organization (WHO) reveals a third of all women globally are victims of domestic violence.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says current efforts to stop domestic violence are inadequate, as a third of all women across the globe are victims of domestic violence, mostly in the Muslim world.
The WHO released on Friday a series of studies, saying one in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence from their partner.
The United Nations agency added that violence against women have dramatic consequences on the physical and mental health of the victims.
The findings also revealed that even in countries with tough, forward-looking laws, many women are still victims of violence, discrimination and lack of adequate access to health and legal services.
In addition, the studies showed that violence against women intensified during conflicts and humanitarian crisis.
Claudia Garcia-Moreno, a WHO physician, said violence against women and girls is an international phenomenon that “historically has been hidden, ignored and accepted.”
“Turning of the head and closing of the eyes have occurred despite global estimates that one in every three women will experience physical violence, sexual violence, or both, from an intimate partner, or sexual violence from someone other than a partner in her lifetime,” said Garcia-Moreno.
“The full extent of abuse is even greater, with multiple different forms of violence around the world often remaining uncounted and under-researched,” she added.
The WHO said real actions can only be made in the violence against women if governments put more resources into the fight and recognize how it negatively effects economic growth.
“No magic wand will eliminate violence against women and girls. But evidence tells us that changes in attitudes and behaviors are possible, and can be achieved within less than a generation,” said co-author Charlotte Watts, professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The authors also called on governments to encourage research into the issue and quickly apply measures that have been already identified as successful.
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Half of UK councils face financial collapse

Posted: 22 Nov 2014 01:47 PM PST

Half the UK’s local councils are at risk of collapse, the government’s official auditor has said, warning that one in six may be unable to provide basic services this year. The warning comes after severe cuts in national government funding.
In a report produced by the government’s official auditor, the National Audit Office (NAO) on Wednesday, 52 percent of councils were said to be at risk of not having enough resources to fund public services, including education and social care.
Additionally, around 16 percent of councils were said to be struggling to fund public services within the current financial year.
“Auditors report that 16 percent of single-tier and county councils (those authorities responsible for social care and education) are not well placed to deliver their 2014-15 budgets,” the report says.
“Auditors are also concerned about the longer-term financial sustainability of single-tier and county councils, reporting that 52 percent of these authorities are not well placed to deliver their medium-term financial strategies.”
However, the Public Accounts Committee, which oversees auditing inspections, said much of the blame was to be laid on the Department for Communities and Local Government, who they accused of not monitoring the financial activities of some councils in the UK.
The Committee’s chair, Labour MP Margaret Hodge, also said austerity measures imposed by the national government had pushed local councils to the brink of their budgets, with “potentially disastrous” consequences.
“Worryingly, local authorities with the highest level of deprivation have seen the biggest cuts, potentially putting vulnerable people at risk. It is authorities with high cuts which have seen the biggest spending reductions for social care services,” Hodge said.
“Between 2010-11 and 2014-15, local authorities with a high cut in spending power had reduced their funding for adult and children’s social care by 12.7 percent and 4.3 percent. This is compared with authorities that had low cuts, which had reduced funding for adult social care by 1.2 percent, but had increased spending on children’s social care by 14.8 percent.”
The NAO also found that local government across the UK was to be cut by around 37 percent from 2010 to 2015-16, with many councils seeing more than a quarter of their overall funding completely slashed.
However, DCLG minister Kris Hopkins defended the government’s cuts, saying austerity was still needed to “tackle the deficit left by the last administration.”
“The reality is since 2010 budgets have been balanced, council tax has fallen by 11 percent in real-terms and public satisfaction with local government has been maintained,” he said.
“But there is still much councils can do to cut waste and make sensible savings, such as using their reserves, making better use of surplus public sector assets, clamping down on fraud, boosting council tax collection rates and sharing back offices.”
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