Netherlands to wait for a UN decision over Syria - Patriot missiles in Turkey not to be used for Syria Attack

The Members of the Netherlands Foreign Affairs Commission of the House of Representatives discussed Syria Thursday and they took a dim view of a possible military intervention in Syria without getting the support of a UN resolution.

Netherlands will wait for a UN decision over the matter, said Foreign Minister Franciscus Timmermans.

Members of the commission also voiced that the Dutch Patriot missiles in Turkey should not be used for attack purposes stating they were sent to Turkey for defense purposes.

Last night the British parliament voted against British troops getting involved in Syria and in fact handed Mr. Cameron, who was in favor of the intervention, a resounding defeat.

Almere-Digest

Syria: British Parliament Votes Against Syria Resolution as U.S. Ponders Going Solo - by Abby Ohlheiser

The U.K. House of Commons voted against military action in Syria on Thursday, after a difficult political fight by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, who struggled to convince many members of Parliament in recent days that there was enough evidence on the table to justify a strike against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. The government's motion on military action in Syria failed by 13 votes. Earlier today, the government there released the first intelligence reports outlining the case for Assad's culpability in a deadly chemical strike last week.

In an emergency session Thursday evening, a first motion, an amendment by the opposition Labour party, would have demanded compelling evidence from the U.N. before approval of British military action. It failed to pass by 112 votes in the House of Commons. While the U.S. has made their intention to move forward with limited military retaliation against the regime without U.N. support, the issue was more divisive in the U.K.. Cameron's motion on military action lost by a slim margin, 285 to 272, so it's possible that he could try again to pass something supporting U.S. military retaliation against Syria, but it's not clear what, exactly, that would be. The bottom line, here, is that a direct British response towards Syria is off the table.

Read more: U.K. Parliament Votes Against Syria Resolution as U.S. Ponders Going Solo - Abby Ohlheiser - The Atlantic Wire

Turkey: Economy faltering - Erdogan’s Top Economic Adviser Takes Heat from Business - by Erdal Sağlam

The Turkish economy was long expected to enter a difficult period, like all developing economies, due to global factors. The troubles, however, are growing as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan keeps hardening his attitude against the private sector over the Gezi Park protests.

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, who oversees the economy, has a proven record of sound economic management, illustrated by the hitherto positive results. But now he is up for a far harder task.

Erdogan had already demoralized the business community and complicated economic management when he blamed the Gezi Park protests on an “interest rate lobby” and accused certain companies, business people and foreigners. And now tax inspectors, escorted by police, have launched an inspection targeting Turkey’s largest business group Koc. The move is seen as a “punishment” for the refuge that Koc’s Divan Hotel offered to protesters fleeing the heavy-handed police, which Erdogan had publicly condemned.

The incident sparked heavy criticism both in the public opinion and the business community, raising concern over market economy processes and fears of further political escalation.

Babacan has watched the developments in silence. It’s obvious, though, that the existing climate is hampering his ability to steer the economy.

According to the prevailing opinion among business people and local and foreign market players, Erdogan’s interventions in the economy are taking place against the backdrop of Babacan’s discontent.

During recent contacts in Ankara, well-known businessmen, who wished to remain anonymous, questioned whether Erdogan was genuinely looking for a domestic and foreign conspiracy behind the protests. I saw first-hand how they struggled to understand whether Erdogan’s attitude was a political tactic or an impulsive reaction to something he truly believes in. The businessmen were curious about how Babacan views the prime minister’s attitudes and asked questions to understand where he stands.


As the wrangling goes on, financial data show that Turkey’s foreign debt stock, especially its short-term portion, continues to grow and that the already troubling current account deficit is further expanding.
There is no doubt left that the course of the global economy will be no longer that favorable to emerging economies such as Turkey. The latest financial data, too, signals economic volatility. And with Erdogan’s mounting pressure on the business community, things are becoming even harder for the managers of the economy.
 
Read more: Erdogan’s Top Economic Adviser Takes Heat from Business - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Syria: UN Experts to Bring Syria Samples to European Labs

The United Nations says some of its chemical weapons experts in Syria will personally take samples to laboratories around Europe after leaving Damascus on Saturday morning.

U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq says the team's final report will depend on the lab results and that it could take "more than days."

However, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expects to receive an initial report on the investigation soon after the experts leave Damascus. Haq said Ban is flying back to New York on Thursday, cutting short a visit to Austria to be ready to receive the report.

The team's mandate is only to determine whether chemical weapons were used in an attack that reportedly killed hundreds of people last week. But Haq suggested that the findings might indicate who was behind the attack.

Read more: UN Experts to Bring Syria Samples to European Labs - ABC News

Spain: Demonstration in Barcelona to support people of Egypt and Syria - by Claudio Perrone

Large numbers of people from different ethnic groups have concentrated in Barceloto demonstrate  in support and solidarity with the people of Egypt and Syria

Read more: Demonstration in Barcelona to support people of Egypt and Syria | Demotix.com

Israel, the convenient puppet master - by Khaled Diab

When news emerged that Hosni Mubarak was to be released from prison, I joked that Egypt was actually in the throes of a grand plot to punish the Egyptian people for having dared to topple their dictator. Part of this 'conspiracy' was the planting of provocateurs –Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, Mohammed Morsi and Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi – to lead the country off a cliff.

One of the most outlandish was the assertion by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, perhaps trying to fill a little of the void left by former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that Israel was behind the ouster of Mohammed Morsi.

His evidence? A Jewish-French intellectual, unnamed by Erdogan, who said, in 2011, that the Muslim Brotherhood would not take power, even if elected, because “democracy is not the ballot box.” The intellectual in question, an aide later revealed to AP, was none other than Bernard-Henri Levy.

Unfortunately, Erdogan did not elaborate on how BHL, as he is often called in France, came to work for the Israelis. Nor did he explain how Levy managed to brainwash millions of Egyptians into coming out to the streets to demand Morsi's departure, providing the army with the necessary cover and support to mount its coup, or what inside track the French philosopher enjoys with General Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

Although this conspiracy theory may actually appeal to Levy's overinflated sense of himself – whose shallow philosophy has been described as “God is dead but my hair is perfect” – he is not a one-man intelligence agency. In fact, he is little more than the French equivalent of the “liberator of Kabul” John Simpson and “gut feeling,” “cab driver told me,” world-shaper Thomas Friedman.

In fact, anyone who actually watches the YouTube video can see that Levy is taking part in a panel discussion and is expressing his view that even if the Brotherhood won at the ballot box, he would not personally regard this as democratic. “Democracy is not only elections, it is values,” he asserted.

But, sadly, Erdogan is not alone in spreading absurd rumours of this kind. In Egypt itself, there are some people in most camps who allege that Israel, usually in collaboration with the United States, is the master puppeteer behind the crisis there. For instance, one poster at the Rabaa protest shows U.S. President Barack Obama dressed as pharaoh leading al-Sisi like a dog wearing a Star of David collar, while another - which has stirred controversy in Egypt - shows a Star of David stamped on the neck of a soldier. On the other side of the political spectrum, a caricature that appeared in a leading newspaper shows pro-Morsi protesters asking how to say "Occupy Egypt and save us" - in Hebrew.

Note EU-Digest: unfortunately as the saying goes, "where there is smoke there could be a fire", and who knows, eventually Recep Tayip Erdogan could turn out to be the master puppeteer?

Read more: Israel, the convenient puppet master - Opinion Israel News Broadcast | Haaretz

Britain: Anti-war student protest in Cambridge joined by MP ahead of Syria vote - by Chris Havergal

Cambridge MP Julian Huppert held aloft a banner reading ‘Bombing Syria is not the answer’ at a peace protest in the city last night.

He joined members of Stop the War Cambridge outside the Guildhall to oppose the expected intervention in the Middle East conflict.

Dr Huppert, with all the region’s parliamentarians, will take part in a debate in the House of Commons on how to respond to the alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
One of the protesters, James Youd, said only the Syrians could decide on their future.

He said: “I think this is a very dangerous road to go down, because where do we stop?
“We are told the objective is to stop the use of chemical weapons but I think the objective is to get rid of Assad and then we are intervening in a civil war. That is something for the people of Syria, however bloody and horrible it is, to decide.

Redad more: Anti-war protest in Cambridge joined by MP ahead of Syria vote | Cambridge News | Latest News Headlines From Cambridge City & Cambridgeshire | National News By Cambridge News

The Netherlands - Built to thrill: 12 crazy man-made adventures including Worlds Best Safari in Flevoland

Especially now that summer is coming to a close, there's nothing quite like catching the wind in your hair, reaching out for the next rock hold high above the valley floor, or whizzing down some woodsy trail on your finely tuned mountain bike… well, almost nothing.

USA Today has listed 12 of the greatest man-made adventures on the planet, including awe-inspiring (and safe) wildlife encounters, outdoor thrills brought indoors and amazing "natural" features that were deftly built with human hands.

From a transplanted marshland safari in the heart of the Netherlands, to a cool indoor ski center under the steaming Dubai sun, all the way to a barnacled sunken warship teeming with marine life.

Here is the best safari—Oostvaardersplassen, Netherlands: This 22-square-mile nature preserve is an artificial marshland reclaimed from the sea by clever Dutch engineers. A series of dikes protects the area, and grazing species such as red deer, ponies and graylag geese stem overgrowth, keeping the space open for endangered bird species. Safari seats are limited, however, as only 400 excursions—including photo safaris, cycling trips and ranger-led animal-spotting walks—are organized annually, so as not to disturb the fragile ecosystem. The assembled bird population includes egrets, cormorants and herons, as well as ravens and white-tailed eagles—creatures that otherwise wouldn't breed locally.

Read more: Almere-Digest

USA: Fifty years ago today in Washington, DC, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. electrified the nation - by G. Roberts, R. Fenton and B. Golding

Fifty years ago today, tens of thousands of New Yorkers swelled the ranks of the estimated 250,000 civil-rights marchers who thronged the National Mall in Washington DC and heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his famed “I Have a Dream” speech -- and it forever changed their lives.

“When I listened to him, I felt trembles going down my spine,” recalled retired sanitation worker Robert Walton, 88, of Far Rockaway.

“It touched me. I felt empowered. It made me feel like I was an American citizen.”
“As long as I live I will never forget that day,” he added.


Read more: Fifty years ago today in Washington, DC, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. electrified the nation - NYPOST.com

German confidence up as powerhouse of EU economy continues to expand - by Ben Chu

German firms are feeling more confident than at any time in the past 16 months, according to the latest survey of the sector.

The Ifo think tank’s business survey index for August outstripped market expectations by rising to 107.5, up from 106.2 in July.

That is Ifo’s highest since April 2012 and signals that the powerhouse of the European economy, led by Angela Merkel, is continuing to expand. GDP is estimated to have grown by 0.7% between April and June, having flatlined in the first quarter.

“The German economy continues surfing on the waves of optimism,” said Carsten Brzeski of ING.

Read more: German confidence up as powerhouse of EU economy continues to expand - Business News - Business - The Independent

Syria: Rushing to war with Syria would be a monumental mistake - Europe should have no part of it - by RM

Regardless of all the sabre rattling and eagerness of the US, Britain, France,Israel and Turkey to rush to war with Syria - it would be a monumental mistake to do so and the EU should have no part in it.

America's rush to war against Syria is not only dangerous, unnecessary, but also unwanted and unconstitutional.

U.S. voters continue to show little interest in getting involved in the civil war in Syria despite new allegations that the Syrian government may have used chemical weapons against civilians. Only 31% of Likely U.S. Voters polled by Rasmussen polls think the United States should provide increased military assistance to protect the citizens of Syria if it is confirmed that the Syrian government used chemical weapons.

The fact that the public is now being flooded by videos of dead people, including babies, supposedly taken of victims from chemical weapons use with the caption: " viewers are being cautioned that these are gruesome pictures and should apply discretion when watching them "  is not only pure "Gobels Style" propaganda, misleading the public, and  adding oil to the fire.

If the people orchestrating the release of these horror videos are the same as the ones who have been spying on EU-Citizens and more than 80 countries around the world, the world better wake-up to and smell the coffee.

Commentator Patrick J. Buchanan recently asked in a US TV show: "Who made the US President the Wyatt Earp of the Global Village?" The entire world needs to ask that same question?  Enough is enough.

Instead of starting another war in the Middle East and risk a global conflict, why can't the two major opponents in the Syrian conflict, Russia and the US, call their "lackeys" in the conflict (Assad, the rebels,Israel and Turkey) to order and hammer out a solution. It would certainly earn them a lot of respect from the world.

EU-Digest

Turkey-Syria: The Syria conflict leaves Turkey no alternative: It’s either Kurds or Kurds - Fulya Ozerkan

After embarking on a peace process with Kurdish rebels in Turkey, Ankara is now softening its position on the increasingly autonomous Kurdish minority in war-torn neighbouring Syria, analysts say.

The Turkish government has long kept a wary eye on Kurdish ambitions in Syria, fearing the creation of a Kurdish state there could serve as a magnet for Turkey's own Kurdish population.

Ankara's unease only increased after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces last year withdrew from majority Kurdish areas in the north of the embattled country and entrusted the security there to Kurdish militia.

At the time, Turkish newspapers published alarming pictures of Kurdish flags fluttering from buildings and reported that parts of the area had fallen into the hands of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) or its Syrian branch, the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

But since then the Turkish government has signalled a willingness for dialogue with the PYD instead of viewing the group as a threat, observers say.

:Read more: Middle East Online::Syria conflict leaves Turkey no alternative: It’s either Kurds or Kurds:.

Germany weighs options on Syria

Germany is mulling its options on how to respond to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria. The government says it will wait for a report from UN weapons inspectors before deciding its next move.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Monday that if suspicions of chemical weapons use in Syria are confirmed, "then Germany will be among those [countries], that consider it right for there to be consequences."

Ever since the alleged chemical weapons attack outside Damascus last Wednesday killed more than 350 people, Western powers have urged a swift response, possibly including military action against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Syrian ally Russia has warned of "catastrophic consequences" for the region if a military intervention is carried out.

Read more: Deutsche Welle

Syria crisis: warplanes spotted in Cyprus as tensions rise in Damascus

Warplanes and military transporters have begun arriving at Britain's Akrotiri airbase on Cyprus, less than 100 miles from the Syrian coast, in a sign of increasing preparations for a military strike against the Assad regime in Syria.

Two commercial pilots who regularly fly from Larnaca on Monday told the Guardian that they had seen C-130 transport planes from their cockpit windows as well as small formations of fighter jets on their radar screens, which they believe had flown from Europe.

Residents near the British airfield, a sovereign base since 1960, also say activity there has been much higher than normal over the past 48 hours.

Read more: Syria crisis: warplanes spotted in Cyprus as tensions rise in Damascus | World news | The Guardian

Restaurants: Europe's best hidden eats - by Anne Banas

From local holes-in-the-wall to trendy clandestine establishments, travelers to Europe have plenty of ways to veer off the tired tourist track when they dine. At these hidden spots, whether a secret late-night bakery in Lisbon or a dynamic pop-up in London, diners can immerse themselves in the local culture and be in the know despite being far from home.

On a recent stopover in Lisbon, I met up with Frederico Duarte, Lisboeta and co-author of Fabrico Proprio, a book (and ongoing project) on the design of Portuguese pastry. He led me on a late-night trek in search of the city's underground bakeries, an adventure that became the inspiration for this story on hidden eats in Europe.

Read on to discover these pastry havens, plus lesser-known dining spots in other great European cities.

Read more: Europe's best hidden eats

Emerging Europe Is a Haven in Selloff - by C. Connaghan and L. Davidson

Propelled by the euro zone's recovery, Europe's emerging markets are rising above the storm that has hit other developing economies.

Stock markets in Central and Eastern Europe are up 1.2% in the past three months, compared with a 7.5% drop in emerging markets overall, according to index provider MSCI. These markets have risen 2.3% when Russian companies, which have been hard hit by falling commodity prices, are excluded.

Currencies such as Poland's zloty and the Bulgarian lev also are up against the dollar since May, while India's rupee and Turkey's lira have slid to record lows.

Read more: Emerging Europe Is a Haven in Selloff - WSJ.com

The Netherlands: Dutch Government says no to special asylum arrangements for Egyptian Christians

The Dutch cabinet headed by PM Mark Rutte sees no reason in the present situation for a special asylum scheme for Coptic Christians from Egypt. “There is no question of an organized religious cleansing”, says the Dutch Government

Dozens of churches and other properties of Christians in Egypt have been set on fire in the past week. Small Christian party ChristenUnie wants the cabinet to make more specific efforts on behalf of the Coptic religious minority, for example by designating them a ‘risk group’ as part of asylum policy. They would then be able to obtain temporary asylum in the Netherlands more easily.

But the cabinet is not in favour of this for now, and is also not prepared to relax its visa policy. Every visa application will be considered on its merits, but the visa procedure is not intended for people who want to stay in the Netherlands for longer than 90 days, Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans says in a letter to parliament.

ChristenUnie political party is disappointed. “Coptic Christians appear to be outlawed,” according to MP Joël Voordewind.

Timmermans says in his letter that ''individual Egyptians” have used the unrest to commit violent acts against Christians, but that it cannot be established with any certainty that there is organised viiolence by political movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood. The attacks against this Christian minority are “unacceptable,” but “there is no question of an organised religious cleansing.”

Note EU-Digest:An opposition parliamentarian noted: "this is  a strange and obviously politically motivated decision by the Government who in the past have always opened their arms towards repressed people  from around the world, regardless of their political or religious belief.

Read more: dutch news aft - Netherlands News

Beer nIndustry: Denmark - Carlsberg strike called off

A strike at Carlsberg was called off this morning after the brewer was given the right yesterday to fire the 130 striking employees unless they returned to work.

The employees stopped working last week on Wednesday after a new employee refused to join their union, 3F.
But the labour courts found that the nine-day strike broke their union’s collective bargaining agreement and this morning the employees decided to return to work.

The strike has had a serious impact on production of soda and keg beer with Carlsberg reporting that it had sold out its reserve stock this Wednesday.

“Now we have to start planning our production so that we can recover many of the products that were sold out,” Carlsberg's communications director, Jens Bekke, told Ritzau.
Following the labour court’s ruling, the employees have been fined 65 kroner an hour for each day they went on strike.

Read more: Carlsberg strike called off | The Copenhagen Post | The Danish News in Englis

Cyprus: Government has specific strategy on Cyprus solution

The Cyprus Government has not received any information that the United Nations is pushing for an interim solution on the Cyprus problem, based on the Ghali Set of Ideas, introduced in 1992 by the then UNSG Boutros Ghali.

Speaking to the press after a three-hour meeting in the presidential retreat in the Troodos Mountains, the Spokesman pointed out that the Government has a specific strategy on the resumption of the talks, adding that no information or discussion has taken place at any level related to an interim solution based on the Ghali Set of Ideas.

Stylianides noted that the Government insists that the talks must be well prepared so that they have successful results, pointing out that no preconditions have been put forward before the President of the Republic for the resumption of the talks.

He also revealed that the President will be sending letters to the international community, underlining our insistence on a thorough preparation for the talks.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory.
Repeated UN-led rounds of peace talks have so far failed to bring about a negotiated settlement that would reunite the island.

Read more: Government has specific strategy on Cyprus solution | Cyprus Mail

Belarus Asks IMF for Credit Line as Economy Falters

In spite of Russia’s promise of a $2-billion credit, the Belarusian National Bank has asked the International Monetary Fund for a loan in the same amount. 

An International Monetary Fund mission is to visit Belarus from October 27 to November 6 to examine the country's request for a credit, the Fund's office in Minsk said on Thursday. The office gave no further details of the mission, announced within hours of Belarus's acknowledgement on Wednesday that it was seeking the loan. IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn had announced the imminent dispatch of the mission in a statement issued in Washington on Wednesday.

“The Belarusian economy and its access to external finance,'' have been hurt by the credit squeeze, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in the statement. ``At the same time, changing conditions in trade have negatively affected the country's balance of payments. A Fund mission will begin discussions with the authorities in the next few days.'' 

President Alexander Lukashenko is more willing to balance ties to Russia and closer relations with the European Union and the U.S.

Read more: News < Economics < News < BelarusToday