President Barack Obama seems to have won over enough Congressional Democrats to push forward with his plan to move Guantanamo prisoners to a facility in rural Illinois, but the official announcement Tuesday triggered a firestorm of criticism that could undercut his stated goal of depriving Al Qaeda of a key propaganda point. “In taking this action, we are removing from terrorist organizations around the world the recruiting tool that Guantanamo has come to symbolize,” National Security Adviser James Jones told reporters. “Today’s announcement that the federal government will acquire the Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Illinois, to house federal inmates and a limited number of detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is an important step forward as we work to achieve our national security objectives,” another top administration official said in a conference call with reporters. But some critics said they feared that the Illinois facility, like the one in Cuba, could end up being a place where detainees are held indefinitely without trial. Kirk Lippold, commander of the U.S.S. Cole when it was attacked by terrorists in 2000, said Obama was unwisely inviting all the dangers of Guantanamo onto U.S. shores. “The Administration is now adding economic manipulation to its bag of tricks to convince the American people that somehow they will be better off if terrorists are held and tried in our towns and communities, instead of a state-of-the-art detention facility built for that purpose,” Lippold said. “Gitmo North is not the answer.”
Greece cranked up a campaign on Tuesday to salvage the credibility of its debt-ridden economy, sending a minister on a tour of European capitals after promising spending cuts that left the EU demanding action not words. The European Union’s top economic enforcer urged Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to deliver “concrete measures” to fix the country’s budgetary chaos, a day after the newly-elected Socialist premier pledged to restore order. The EU was now awaiting “the spelling out in the stability programme, which is expected in the course of January, of concrete measures that will strengthen fiscal adjustment in 2010 and ensure a fast consolidation of public finances,” said EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia. Papandreou warned on Monday in an address keenly awaited by nervous financial markets that Greece “faces the risk of sinking” under 300 billion euros’ worth of debt. The country had “lost every trace of credibility” after casting doubt on its official statistics for the second time in five years, he said. Greece’s public deficit now is likely to come to 12.7 per cent of output this year, far exceeding the eurozone limit of 3.0 per cent. The country suffered a downgrade to its credit rating last week that roiled markets worldwide and raised fears for the solvency of other indebted eurozone members. The prime minister on Tuesday summoned an all-party meeting on fighting corruption, which eats up billions of euros in Greece annually.
The British Ministry of Defence continues to dismiss allegations that the government is planning to downgrade the British Bases in Cyprus, in the context of a drive to cut expenditure in all sectors, due to the priority placed on Afghanistan. Asked about relevant reports, a spokeswoman for the Ministry said ''this is speculation, as no final decisions have been made. We routinely review our spending to ensure Afghanistan remains the top priority. Although some hard decisions will have to be made, no measures will affect operations,'' she added. According to the ''Times'', part of the Sovereign Base Area in Cyprus would be sold and that decisions in that direction would be taken after talks between the UK Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister's office. Britain, a former colonial power, is one of three guarantor powers of Cyprus' independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty, in accordance with the 1960 treaties that established the Republic of Cyprus. It maintains two military bases on the island and has recently repeated an offer to give up part of the bases territory, should an agreement be reached between the island's two communities. The other two guarantor powers are Greece and Turkey. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Peace talks are underway to find a negotiated settlement that will reunite the country.
Italy's government on Tuesday said it plans to rush out new measures like blacking out hate sites on the Internet to protect politicians after a weekend assault on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi left him hospitalized. The 73-year-old billionaire businessman, who is nursing a broken nose, fractured teeth and gashed lips after being hit in the face by a spiked souvenir, will be discharged from hospital on Wednesday with orders to rest for two weeks, his doctor said. Berlusconi -- whose political fortunes look set to gain as a wave of sympathy floods in -- put on a brave face in his first public message to Italians since entering hospital. "I repeat to everyone to stay calm and confident," Berlusconi said in the message to supporters on his website. "Love always wins over jealousy and hatred." As Italy spent a second day soul-searching over whether a vitriolic political climate prompted the assault, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said the cabinet would on Thursday issue urgent measures to keep Italians and their leaders safe. Citing the risk of a "dangerous spiral of copycat attacks" and absolving security forces of all blame, Maroni said the government is considering obscuring Web sites or social network groups that incite violence. It will also consider new rules for gatherings in public places. Conservative lawmakers have been incensed by Facebook groups that have sprung up praising Massimo Tartaglia, the 42-year-old Berlusconi assailant with a history of mental illness. Tartaglia has written to him apologizing for his "cowardly and rash act." But allies say the normally irrepressible premier is badly shaken and at one point even asked a visiting priest: "Why do they hate me to this point?." In a letter sent to Berlusconi from his jail cell, Tartaglia expressed "heartfelt regret for a superficial, cowardly and rash act in which he did not recognize himself," his lawyers said. They said he acted alone and without any political or militant motive.
Jusuf Hadžajlija, nicknamed Khomeini, has been arrested in Konjic, Bosnia-Herzegovina, under suspicion that he committed war crimes. Hadžajlija, a Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak), is accused of crimes against Croat victims in the village of Trusina near Konjic, committed on April 16, 1993. During that time the suspect was the assistant of the commander in charge of security of the 45th Mountain Brigade of the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Hadžajlija will now be handed over to a prosecutor with the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia-Herzegovina, who will then decide whether to remand him in custody.
Georgia's breakaway province of Abkhazia on Tuesday won recognition by the South Pacific island nation of Nauru, one of the world's smallest states. Russia recognized Abkhazia and another Georgian separatist province of South Ossetia as independent states after the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. Only Venezuela and Nicaragua followed Russia's example before the Republic of Nauru's move. Russia said it hadn't tried to encourage other nations to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but the Kremlin rewarded Venezuela and Nicaragua with lucrative arms and energy deals. It was not immediately clear whether there were any deals with Nauru. But, Temuri Yakobashvili, Georgia's Cabinet minister in charge of issues related to the breakaway regions, alleged that Russia had offered financial support to the island. "It's more commerce than politics," he said. Abkhazian separatist government spokesman Kristian Dzhaniya said that Abkhazia and Nauru signed an agreement to establish diplomatic ties in Abkhazia's provincial capital of Sukhumi. Nauru is one of the world's smallest states with a population of about 10,000 people and an area of some 21 square kilometers (about 8 square miles). "The size and the number of population don't matter," Abkhazia's separatist President Sergei Bagapsh said at the signing, according to the RIA Novosti news agency. "Nauru is a member of the United Nations." Bagapsh has written to Nauruan President Marcus Stephen asking him to formally recognize Abkhazia's independence and invited him to visit. Nauruan representatives also visited another breakaway region, South Ossetia, over the weekend and promised to consider recognizing it as independent.
The faithful say she comes in a flash of light amid a swirl of pigeons. Hundreds, if not thousands, have been lining up for hours every night at the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church in a Cairo neighborhood just off the Nile. Many of them claim that a mysterious light hovering above the church's domes is an apparition of the Virgin Mary who will bring Christian Copts prosperity and relief in a time of national and religious struggle. The crowds began appearing Thursday evening when a number of residents spotted a flickering light. No one was sure where the illumination was coming from, and word quickly spread that the light took the shape of the Virgin Mary wearing a blue gown and standing in the sky between the church's two high crosses. Since then, many Copts, and more than a few Muslims, have spent their evenings camping outside the church to either be blessed by a glimpse of the "miraculous" scene or to figure out just what's happening in the night sky. It has turned into a pilgrimage for the curious and the devout at a time when Egypt is beset by poverty, high unemployment and a bruised sense of identity, especially after the national soccer team's recent loss to Algeria knocked it out of contention for the World Cup. "The scene on Saturday was huge when we saw the lightning and white pigeons flying around us. White pigeons always accompany apparitions like these," one Copt told The Times. Copts form 10% of Egypt's population of 80 million, and many firmly believe that this is the fourth time an apparition of Virgin Mary has taken place. The most famous incident was claimed to have happened in 1968, a few months after the country's military defeat at the hands of Israel and the latter's occupation of the Sinai peninsula. At the time, some people assumed that she has appeared to help Egypt -- a predominantly Muslim nation -- through a time of crisis. Some Copts believe the Virgin is again appearing at a time of turmoil. There has been no official word from the Coptic Church.