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News digest: 12 February 2013
Albania
activists protest fatal riot verdict (Balkan Insight):
"Activists rallied on Saturday in front of Tirana's main
court, protesting against the acquittal of senior officers accused
of killing three protestors in the January 21, 2011 riots."
See also: US
pans Albanian verdicts on proteters' deaths and Albanian
judges accuse US of interference (Balkan Insight)
Bulgarian
charge of Hezbollah bombing was an "assumption"
(Inter Press Service): "Bulgarian Interior Minister
Tsvetan Tsvetanovs dramatic announcement Tuesday on the
Bulgarian investigation of the July 2012 terror bombing of an
Israeli tourist bus was initially reported by Western news media
as suggesting clear evidence of Hezbollahs responsibility
for the killings"
CZECH REPUBLIC: Lower
house passes EU-Iraq partnership agreement (Prague Daily
Monitor): "The Czech Chamber of Deputies, like the Senate
in end-January, passed Thursday an EU-Iraq partnership agreement
that contains a commitment to cooperate in fighting and averting
terrorism"
CZECH REPUBLIC: Nova
TV: Swastika spray-painted on Václav Klaus Jr's school
(Prague Daily Monitor)
CZECH REPUBLIC: Presidential
amnesty applies to suspended sentences for far rightists
(Prague Daily Monitor): "The Brno City Court has
remitted suspended sentences imposed on six ultra-right radicals
for their statements at a May Day rally in Brno in 2009 since
the presidential amnesty applies to them, Workers' Party of Social
Justice (DSSS) deputy head Jiri Stepanek told CTK Friday"
EU: BNP
and far-right parties could lose European funding (BBC
News): "The BNP and other far-right parties in Europe
could lose their funding from Europe after a move from socialist,
liberal and green MEPs"
EU: Commission's
backstop power to interfere in data protection law enforcement
good for business, it claims (Out-Law.com): "It
would be "bad for business" if the European Commission
did not have "backstop" powers to intervene whenever
it felt that regulators across the EU were enforcing data protection
laws inconsistently, the Commission has claimed"
Germany
weapons case pits man against gun clubs (Deutsche Welle):
"Does the "right to life" outweigh the right
to shoot guns recreationally? Germany's constitutional court
will soon decide. The case pits one man against Germany's gun
clubs - and centuries of tradition"
Gemany's
drone conundrum: 'New wars' demand new mindsets (Spiegel
Online): "Germany's government recently announced plans
to do a 180-degree policy shift by deploying armed drones in
combat. It argues that remote-controlled killing machines are
no different than any other weapons, but experts say the "new
wars" have completely different -- and revolutionary --
rules"
GREECE: Afghan
man killed in central Athens, suspect arrested (Ekathimerini):
"A 47-year-old Georgian man has been arrested in central
Athens on suspicion of killing a 28-year-old Afghan man"
GREECE: CIA's
Kiriakou expresses doubts about agency, Greek terrorism (Ekathimerini):
"John Kiriakou, the Greek-American CIA analyst who was
sentenced last month to more than two years in jail for revealing
the identity of a covert operative, has revealed to Kathimerini
his thoughts about the possible emergence of new terrorist activity
in Greece and his concerns about the future of the US intelligence
agency." See also: Kiriakou
says Greek gangs criminal, not terrorist (Greek Reporter)
GREECE: Coalition
split over plans to change law governing strikes (Ekathimerini):
"A report that the government is considering making changes
to labor regulations that would make it more difficult for unions
to call strikes has threatened unity in the coalition government"
GREECE: Hospital
director removed after allowing Golden Dawn to check personal
nurses (Ekathimerini): "The director of a public
hospital in Tripoli, the Peloponnese, has been removed from her
position after allowing members of Golden Dawn to enter the premises
and check the details of private nurses"
GREECE: Migrants
face prosecution for minor riot (Ekathimerini): "Eight
undocumented immigrants faced a prosecutor in the northern city
of Orestiada on Friday after being implicated in a minor riot
that broke out on Thursday night in a detention center in Fylakio,
near the Turkish border"
GREECE: Police
deny terrorist, heist suspects tortured (Greek Reporter):
"Greek law enforcement officials have reiterated their
assertion that four men arrested for bank robberies and believed
to belong to a terrorist cell were not beaten while in custody,
despite photos that show they were clearly bruised and injured"
GREECE: Racist
rally outside aid group's clinic fuels tension (Ekathimierini):
"The main leftist opposition party SYRIZA on Friday launched
a scathing attack against the ultra-right Golden Dawn following
reports that around 60 of the party's supporters staged an anti-immigrant
rally outside the offices of the aid group Doctors of the World
in the rundown district of Perama, near the port of Piraeus,
on Thursday"
GREECE: Villa
Amalia to be revamped with EU funds, mayor says (Ekathimerini):
"European Union structural funds will be used to renovate
Villa Amalia, the squat that was cleared by police last month,
Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis told Skai on Friday"
IRELAND: Martin
ups pressure over wrong details given to UN body (Irish
Independent): "Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin
has upped the pressure on the Government on the Magdalene Laundries
issue by pointing out that it gave wrong information on its role
to a key UN body"
IRELAND: Tesco
staff forced to wear arm monitors that track work rate (Irish
Independent)
Kosovo
urged to work on EU visa 'roadmap' (Balkan Insight):
"The EU has urged Kosovo to strengthen its battle against
organized crime and corruption as part of its drive to secure
an eventual end to visa requirements"
'Nato
cannot act as the world's policeman' (EUobserver): "Nato
head Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said that the alliance would only
take action against Syria if Turkey is attacked. Speaking to
EUobserver in his office in Brussels last week, the secretary
general of what calls itself "the word's most powerful military
alliance," said he feels "frustration" when he
hears about the "outrageous" human rights abuses being
committed by Syrian forces. He said Nato is not going in because
the UN has not asked it to"
NETHERLANDS: Man
jailed for throwing tea light holder at queen wants compensation
(Dutch News): "The man jailed for five months for
throwing a glass tea light holder at the queen's golden coach
in 2010 is demanding 100,000 compensation from the state
for wrongful imprisonment"
NETHERLANDS: Police
shot dead five people last year (Dutch News): "Dutch
police shot dead five people last year and injured a further
19 in firearms incidents, according to public prosecution department
figures"
Romania
and Hungary row over minority flag (Balkan Insight):
"Romania and Hungary have exchanged diplomatic accusations
after Hungary's ambassador to Bucharest and other Hungarian officials
complained that ethnic Hungarians were being bullied about flying
a local flag"
UK: Does
the state owe a duty to inform the wronged? (UK Human
Rights Blog): "The Court of Appeal dismissed this claim
by a childrens NGO for an order that the Secretary of State
provide information to certain children to the effect that the
SoS and his contractors had unlawfully used bodily restraint
upon them whilst they were trainees in Secure Training
Centres"
UK: Iraq
war activists to get £4,000 compensation over 2003 protest
(The Guardian): "Anti-war protesters who were prevented
by police from attending a mass rally outside an RAF airbase
have been awarded more than £4,000 each in compensation"
UK: Scottish
councillors join in condemnation of gypsies and travellers
(Institute of Race Relations): "Community councillors
in Scotland have accused Gypsies and Travellers of self-segregation,
claiming that the younger generations have a chip on their
shoulder"
UK: Warwick's
foreign staff may now see London without telling 'Big Brother'
(Times Higher Education): "A university has dropped
"intrusive" plans to monitor the location of foreign
staff via an email system after it was denounced by unions as
"Big Brother" surveillance."
UK: Web
publishers responsible for 'inevitable database rights infringement
of users, says Court of Appeal (Out-Law.com): "Website
operators can be held responsible for database rights infringement
by their users if that infringement was "inevitable"
as a result of actions of the site operators, the Court of Appeal
has said"
UK-ROMANIA: The
truth about Romania's gypsies: Not coming here, not stealing
our jobs (The Independent): "New Neighbours of
2014, Part 1: Right-wing politicians and media are stoking fears
that Romanian Gypsies plan to flock to Britain. But the reality
is very different, the residents of the country's worst slums
tell Jerome Taylor"
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