The European Union Times |
- Over 2 Million Europeans Sign Petition Against TTIP
- Russia ‘monitoring’ US nukes move to UK
- Greek Lesbos Island In State Of Emergency, Mayor Begs for Illegals Removal
- US troops training Ukrainian soldiers near Russia’s borders
- Muslims ask Moscow authorities for separate beaches for men and women
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Posted: 08 Jun 2015 03:39 PM PDT
 The Self-Organized European Citizens’ Initiative Stop TTIP, the group behind the petition, note that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is “a threat to democracy, the environment, consumers and labor standards.” More than 2 million Europeans have signed a petition against the controversial free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, which critics say benefits big corporations, not citizens. The Stop TTIP activists originally planned to reach the 2-million threshold by October 2015. The European Commission is scheduled to vote on the TTIP resolution on Wednesday. Last month, campaigners called on the European Union to vote down the investor-state dispute settlement, which has been their major concern in the draft deal as they say it favors foreign investors. Anti-TTIP activists have repeatedly pointed out that the deal was negotiated in notable secrecy, without due government or expert oversight. The Stop TTIP group also opposes a free trade deal with Canada, known as the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement. Source           |
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Posted: 08 Jun 2015 03:31 PM PDT
 Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters in the capital on Monday that such a move would lead to escalation of tensions and that Russia is “monitoring” the matter, Moscow-based news agency Interfax reported. “The issue is being discussed, it is a buzz word, but any move aimed, so to speak, at escalating tensions will definitely not be in anyone’s interests,” Peskov said. “Indeed, the issue by itself can hardly build confidence and maintain a balance of interests on the European continent.” The announcement was made after Britain said Sunday that it was considering hosting US cruise missiles in an alleged bid to counter “concerns” caused by the Russian military’s development of “asymmetric warfare doctrine”. “There have been some worrying signs of stepping up levels of activity both by Russian forces and by Russian-controlled separatist forces,” British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond claimed during an interview with state-funded BBC. “We would look at the case. We work extremely closely with the Americans. That would be a decision that we would make together if that proposition was on the table. We would look at all the pros and the cons and come to a conclusion,” said Hammond. The Kremlin press secretary said the details of the matter are “not available at the moment but we are monitoring this issue very closely.” With Washington-Moscow ties in tatters following the onset of the Ukraine crisis, a possible US deployment of more arms to UK could fuel the tensions in the Eastern European state, which has seen many killed, injured, and displaced after Kiev started crackdown on pro-Russia protesters in the east in April 2014. The conflict initially erupted after Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea voted for reunification with Russia in March last year. Source      |
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Posted: 08 Jun 2015 03:26 AM PDT
 Exclusive photos including selfies and prayers shots of their “transfer” to Athens! The island of Lesbos receives hundreds of illegal immigrants daily. With inflows management now impossible, the Mayor has appealed to have these persons transferred from the island to Athens. The situation appears to be dramatic in Mytilene, since the influx of immigrants is massive and the local government is looking for solutions to address the situation. The municipality of the island decided to transfer the immigrants to the municipality’s Driving Education Park, while they also sent a message to both the citizens of the local community, and to the government. “As you know, due to the constantly increasing number of arrivals of illegal immigrants and refugees on the island of Lesbos, the situation is now unmanageable and highly criticalstated the mayor in that message and continued “this pose risks to the health and safety to both the citizens of the island and the migrants themselves due to lack of organized sanitary facilities and as many of them are staying in public places.” Mr. Galinos noted that there is a need for additional police forces to ensure the safe transfer of immigrants by ferry from Lesvos to Athens. Exclusive photos:     Source      |
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Posted: 08 Jun 2015 02:53 AM PDT
 NBC News reported on Sunday that 300 American paratroopers are involved in the direct training that could be seen as a “major provocation” by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The US forces are working with over 700 Ukrainian soldiers in three rotations during the six-month mission that started in April. “From what we saw at day one to where they are at right now, they’ve proven their willingness to learn,” Capt. Nick Salimbene said. “They’re getting better on a day-to-day basis,” he told NBC News. The location of the mission is about 700 miles away from the front lines in eastern Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had earlier criticized the training. “The participation of instructors or specialists from third countries on Ukrainian territory, where the domestic Ukrainian conflict is unresolved, could destabilize the situation,” he said. American officials confirmed that they are training only soldiers of the National Guard inside Ukraine’s borders. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama is in Germany to meet with the leaders of the G7 countries to discuss “Russian aggression” in Ukraine. The United States and its Western allies have imposed sanctions against Russia, accusing the country of supporting pro-Russian forces in the Ukraine conflict. The Kremlin denies the allegation. The White House said in a statement on Sunday that Western sanctions against Russia will remain in place until Moscow fully implements the Minsk agreement. In an interview with Press TV on Sunday, former US Army officer Joachim Hagopian said the “aggressive” policies of the US toward Russia are “morally reprehensible” and a violation of international law. The agenda of the “maniac” neoconservatives in Washington is to provoke a global war with Moscow, he said. “If anybody is in the wrong and doing what is morally reprehensible and illegal… is America not Russia,” Hagopian added. Source      |
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Posted: 08 Jun 2015 02:39 AM PDT
 The suggestion of bigoted Muslims to organize separate beaches for men and women has been supported by representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, Jewish and Buddhist religions, without anyone actually using their brains to think about what should FAMILIES with kids do? SEPARATE? Make separate holidays? The request to the Moscow City Hall has been prepared and filed by Albir Krganov who is a deputy chairman of the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of Russia and also a member of the Public Chamber’s Commission for Harmonization of Relations between Ethnic and Religious Groups. The activist claimed that “hundreds of thousands” of religious residents of Moscow were deprived of ability to visit city beaches that are currently shared by men and women. “As not everyone can afford a trip abroad, and we consider it necessary to open additional recreation zones for the residents of the capital city who cannot stay on common beaches for religious or moral reasons,” Krganov wrote in his letter. The activist added that countries like Israel, Turkey, and Germany have separate beaches for men and women and that the effect from this is positive. In the Russian Federation such beaches exist in the city of Kazan, the capital of predominantly Muslim republic of Tatarstan (or better said Backwardistan). The letter was signed by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s department for relations with the society, Vsevolod Chaplin, President of the Association of Russian Jewish Communities Aleksey Boroda and representative of the Traditional Buddhist Community of Russia Andrey Balzhirov, Izvestia reported. A member of the Public Chamber’s commission for family women and children, Sultan Khamzayev, said in comments with Izvestia daily that the initiative was necessary as it was in the interest of not only religion but also secular morals. Vice President of the Russian Union of Tourist Industry, Yuri Barzykin also threw support behind the plan, saying that separate beaches could help members of all confessions find a comfortable place for themselves. However, State Duma deputy Valery Rashkin (Communist Party) urged caution in putting the separate beaches project into reality. “I am convinced that the society must not adjust itself in accordance with some religious or moral values of its separate members. There are dedicated places – like churches and mosques where people can unite in accordance with their ideas about the world and the rules of life. We should limit ourselves to these sites,” Rashkin told Izvestia. There is no precise data on the number of religious people in Moscow but last year the City Hall estimated that there were about 2 million migrant workers in the city – the overwhelming majority of which come from traditionally Muslim ex-Soviet Republics in Central Asia. Last July a spokesman for Russia’s Council of Muftis urged Moscow authorities to build more mosques in the city, saying this would prevent the overcrowding of city streets on major holidays. This was not the first suggestion of this kind, but so far all such suggestions have been rejected. In 2013, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin told reporters that the majority of mosque-goers were not permanent residents of the city and that migrants should go home once their working contracts expire. He added that the three existing mosques could very well serve the needs of the permanent residents of Moscow who adhere to Islam. Source     |
