The European Union Times |
- Microsoft, Facebook to lay giant cable under Atlantic
- Muslims Demand Right to Turn University of Berlin into Mosque
- Islam should be taught in all German schools - Bavarian bishop
- Global Elite Ignore Dire Warning at G7 About Economic Collapse
- French Soldier Stabbed by ISIS Sympathizers Over Syria Bombings
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Posted: 27 May 2016 01:56 PM PDT
 Tech giants Microsoft and Facebook say they will build the “highest-capacity subsea cable to ever cross the Atlantic,” connecting the US and Europe to address heightened demand for global cloud services. The “MAREA” cable will “help meet the growing customer demand for high speed, reliable connections for cloud and online services” for the two companies, Microsoft said Thursday. MAREA’s estimated bandwidth capacity will reach 160 terabits per second, the company said, and will have eight fiber pairs instead of two, which is common for such cables. The 6,600km (4,101 mile) submarine cable system will span from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to Bilbao, Spain, becoming the first cable of its kind to connect the US and Southern Europe, Microsoft said. The cable system will be managed and run by Telxius, a global telecommunications infrastructure company created by Spanish telecom giant Telefónica in February. MAREA will also connect to other network hubs in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Microsoft said the cable’s origins in Virginia, south of current cable hubs in the New York and New Jersey area, “helps ensure more resilient and reliable connections.” “If you look at the cable systems across the Atlantic, a majority land in the Northeast somewhere,” said Najam Ahmad, Facebook’s vice president of network engineering, according to WIRED. “This gives us so many more options.” Microsoft touted MAREA’s expectations for the companies’ cloud services. “Microsoft and Facebook designed MAREA to be interoperable with a variety of networking equipment,” Microsoft said in its announcement. “This new ‘open’ design brings significant benefits for customers: lower costs and easier equipment upgrades which leads to faster growth in bandwidth rates since the system can evolve at the pace of optical technology innovation.” The project will start in August and is expecting to take 14 months to complete. The companies did not offer information on the projected cost of the work. Undersea cables of this kind are common, but these projects are typically developed through larger partnerships among telecom and technology companies. Last year, Microsoft said it had joined a group of Asian companies to construct a cable — the New Cross Pacific Cable Network — to cross the Pacific Ocean. Source           |
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Posted: 27 May 2016 01:38 PM PDT
 Angela Merkel welcomed one million third world migrants to Germany in 2015. Germany is expecting another million this year. This week Muslims demanded their right to turn the University of Berlin into a mosque. Welcome to the new Germany!      |
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Posted: 27 May 2016 01:30 PM PDT
 Islam must be taught in all German schools to help “immunize” pupils from radical leanings, Bavarian bishop of the Lutheran Church argues, calling on Muslim organizations to take responsibility for religious education. Introduction of “extensive Islam classes” in all German schools would best safeguard young Muslims from “fundamentalists’ temptation” towards them, Head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany (EFD), Bavarian Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm said, Heilbronne Stimme newspaper reported on Friday. Muslim schoolchildren must also have an opportunity to critically familiarize themselves with their religious traditions, the bishop believes. “In the meantime, they can learn something new about Islam – and this is to be based on the Basic Law [the German Constitution],” he added. Either the government or the religious communities should have a lead role in introducing Islam as a school subject, Bedford-Strohm said. “I wish that Muslims in Germany could have clear communication with the state. Then Islamic organizations may also take responsibility for the religious education in schools, like the Christian churches do.” Public universities should establish Islamic theology faculties as well, the Bavarian bishop went on: “The Islamic tradition would therefore be approached critically based on scientific criteria. “Tolerance, religious freedoms and freedom of consciousness must apply to all confessions. These rules could best be implemented when you have religion as part of public education.” The bishop’s proposal adds to a heated debate on the role of Islam in German society, as the country struggles to find the right balance between multiculturalism and national identity. According to the latest statistical estimates, the number of Muslims is growing rapidly in Germany and beyond, with this process being fuelled by the ongoing refugee influx. According to 2015 figures by Pew Research Center, the Muslim population has been growing throughout Europe, from four percent in 1990 to six percent in 2010. This trend is expected to continue through 2030, when Muslims are projected to make up eight percent of Europe’s population. Hardliners, mostly represented by the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party (AfD) as well as far-right PEGIDA movement, claim that Islam is not, and will never be, part of Germany, advocating a ban on mosques to prevent what they call “a long-term land grab.” That extreme is best reflected in “Germany abolishes itself,” a notorious book written by ex-head of the Deutsche Bundesbank, Thilo Sarrazin, in which he claimed that Muslims may well overwhelm the German population within a couple of generations at the current pace, and that Muslims’ intelligence is lower as well. At the same time, there are voices in the establishment arguing that the government has to influence Muslims with the “German version of Islam,” based on democratic values, pluralism and the rule of law. Recent proposals also included training Imams and religious leaders locally, with all prayers in mosques to be offered exclusively in German. Germany has the largest Muslim community in Western Europe after France, having roughly 3 to 3.5 million Muslims. Islamic education has been offered to children with Muslim backgrounds on a voluntary basis in various federal states, but these religious classes generate public controversy. Source      |
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Posted: 27 May 2016 01:15 PM PDT
 On Thursday leaders at the G7 in Japan ignored a dire warning issued by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the perilous state of the global economy and the risk “of the re-emergence of a Lehman-scale crisis.” The collapse and bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008, at the time the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, was the seminal event of the subprime financial crisis. Its implosion resulted in the loss of more than $10 trillion in market capitalization from global equity markets. Japan warned “the risk of the global economy exceeding the normal economic cycle and falling into a crisis if we did not take appropriate policy responses in a timely manner.” Abe presented data showing that commodities prices have fallen 55 percent since 2014, paralleling the drop experienced during the 2008 financial crisis. Instead of heeding Shinzo Abe’s warning, the G7 insisted in somewhat Orwellian language the worst for the world economy is over and the G7 countries “have strengthened the resilience of our economies in order to avoid falling into another crisis,” according to Mark O’Byrne, writing for GoldCore. The G7 is comprised of Britain, Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United States. The rosy assessment is countered by reality on a number of fronts, most notably a worsening debt crisis and anemic recoveries across the board, from the United States to the Eurozone and Japan. In recent weeks bank shares have fallen precipitously and selloffs are occurring in Spain, Italy, Greece and Germany. Economic troubles are intensified by an uncertain geopolitical situation in the Middle East and tensions between the United States, Russia and China. Instead of focusing on a looming economic catastrophe, the G7 leaders warned against a Brexit. UK voters will decide on leaving the union during a referendum scheduled for June 23. “A UK exit from the EU would reverse the trend towards greater global trade and investment, and the jobs they create, and is a further serious risk to growth,” they said. Source      |
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Posted: 27 May 2016 01:07 PM PDT
 The soldier was jogging near this base in the south of France.The trooper, from the 8th regiment of marine parachutists, is said to be “seriously injured” in hospital after being set upon whilst out jogging alone near his army base. The alleged attack took place at around 8.40pm yesterday evening in the southern town of Saint Julien du Puy, which lies around 70 miles to the east of Toulouse. Reports in French media stated that the 30-year-old sergeant said he was punched and slashed several times with a knife, sustaining a serious wound to his thigh. The soldier has reportedly told police that the men shouted at him that the attack was in revenge for France’s airstrikes against ISIS in Syria. Passers-by who discovered the stricken sergeant then called the emergency services, who rushed him to hospital in a “serious condition”. It is believed that he was not on duty at the time, but was still wearing some of his military uniform. Source     |
