European Union: Positive News

[LokeshC]

^^^^

Thank you and have a nice day lol.

Thanks again for making my day.

Regardsu,
Phrom Dutyy yindoo who cant yyyuuuuse engleaash.

[sudarshan]

Funny - the western opposition to "eating with hands" is simply because it is different from what they do.

Consider:

A fork or spoon or knife reduces the original 27 degrees of freedom of a hand to just *1.* And it still needs to be wielded *by hand.* But that is - civilized.

These same people go ga-ga over the Chinese and Japanese chopsticks, which reduce the original 27 degrees of freedom of a hand to just *2.* But - this is still a 100% improvement over a fork or knife (or even a spork!! ). And these are all still wielded *by hand.*

But - eating with the original implements = barbarous. So the idea is simply to distance yourself from food, because that is their notion of "civilized?" Food=dirty, disgusting, toxic - eww, who will even think of touching that, except savages. But - throw it in your mouth, chew and swallow it, that's ok . Or puke it back like the Romans did - that is culture for you .

Is it about bacteria, by any chance? Bacteria are everywhere, including in the spork, the fork, the spoon, the chopsticks, or the food itself. A lot of hand bacteria are beneficial. Some bacterial load might actually help tune the immune system (as opposed to slathering 99.9% germ-killing hand-sanitizer on everything). Plus, these people admit to eating pizza or fried chicken by hand anyway . So what *is* it all about, other than that it is different from what they do? If it were the sophisticated Chinese eating by hand instead of the bloody Injuns, I think these people would be okay with that. Some Shiv-level pisko-analysis needed here.

Now back to European positivity - is the Brexit ever really going to happen?

[shiv]

we also don't pour our coffee into a saucer plate, blow on it, and then noisely sip it from the saucer plate anymore either.

Hoo boy talk about the uncouth ignorance of the mleccha! That is NEVER done with coffee. Only tea. Coffee is poured from a height of 1 meter to create a 1 cm thick layer of froth - and at most one may get a second cup, not saucer, to re-pour and re-create froth. But both coffee and tea must be slurped for proper enjoyment.

That said - when you have a cup for tea, why have a saucer if it can serve no function other than helping to cool your tea? Pointless accoutrements for appearances - like having different spoons for soup, dinner, dessert etc. "Eating" soup with a spoon it itself a completely absurd and irrational thing.

[shiv]

Funny - the western opposition to "eating with hands" is simply because it is different from what they do.

If you go back just 50 years - you find that the concept of "washing hands"itself was alien in Europe. In the 1980s - the first time I sat down for a crap in a hospital toilet in the UK I was amazed to find a roll of toilet paper with the words "Now wash your hands please" written on it. When I was a boy we were informed that people in the west needed to wear perfume because they did not bathe every day. There were actually surveys published in British newspapers in the 1980s about how often people bathe on average. I think it was (back then) something like once on 3-4 days for the French. Once in 2-3 days for Brits and only Yanks came near showering (not bathing) every day.

My father actually went on "The" Queen Elizabeth a luxury liner to the US in 1945 - but it was a troop ship back then on which returning American GI's asked my father if he was a "Maharaya". In any case there was this lady who asked the Indian students if they wanted to bathe and when they said yes she had hot baths (in bathtubs) readied for them. The next day they asked for it again and the woman was amazed and said "But you had a bath only yesterday"

Washing oneself and washing hands is a fundamental thing taught in India. One washes ones hands regularly before and after meals, before handling food or children, after crapping or peeing. That is normal in India. It was not normal in Europe (and perhaps the US, I don't know) till the 1960s at least. Even hospitals had a bowl of antiseptic into which doctors would dip their hands and rinse - and even this idea was "discovered" by a chap called Semmelweis in the mid 1800s Perhaps this was due to lack of flowing water or the water was normally too cold or frozen for half the year, I don't know.

But it seems that Europeans did understand that food should not be handled by dirty hands and they had no concept of washing hands. Perhaps that is why they handled food with implements which could then be wiped clean and stored away for the next meal. The west is once again heading back towards the absurdity of not washing one's hands - with the increasing acceptance of "hand sanitizers" as adequate. On the question of "wiping clean" one microbiologist challenged me to put my hand in a bowl of red chilli powder and then rub my eyes after wiping my hands as well as I could using paper or a cloth. He asked me to compare that experience with washing the hands in plain water. Tells you something about the difference between washing and wiping.

Finally there are some weird Western habits that are completely unacceptable in India. Putting ones feet on a table with shoes on is totally ridiculous. It is completely hypocritical to ask people to remove ones shoes before entering a clean zone like an ICU in a society where it is considered normal to allow shoes up at table level. We place hands, elbows and other objects that go near our mouths, nose and eyes on the table why pretend that one must not rub one's face with shoes if shoes are allowable on tables or on beds for that matter.

Just sayin,..

[sanjaykumar]

It would be remiss to attribute differing methods of consuming food or hygiene to a moral ascendancy or degeneracy.

Tempting but unwise.

I used to wonder why third-worlders remark on how filthy westerners are. It seems somewhat ironic and would be shocking for westerners to learn.

However there are some very specific factors that come into play. An important one is that it is the culture of people in warm climates to bathe, water is available and it is comfortable, at least tepid. Until recently, water availability in colder climes has been not trivial in the winter, either to fetch or thaw or use with comfort. Further Christianity was disapproving of physical cleanliness, including cleaning the face let alone bathing.
Of course the Romans had public baths 2000 years ago. But the Russian ambassador did remark that the Sun King, Louis XIV, stank like a wild animal.

When the Spaniards were welcomed as gods in the new world, they stank so fiercely that the Aztecs would have a nosegay close to keep from vomiting.

From personal experience, cultural expectations of personal hygiene vary widely, middle class westerners are mercifully odour free and bathe regularly. Working class, less educated westerners are still struggling out of the medieval ages. It is somewhat remarkable that they are totally habituated to their odour, which is a bouquet, the top note of which is stale tobacco and the fixative smells suspiciously like feces.

[sanjaykumar]

The above observations would not be complete without a mention of the curry smell of many Indians in the west.

Again habituated to cooking odours, they don't even think of ventilating the kitchen. Please just use the damn stovetop range hood fan.

[shiv]

I used to wonder why third-worlders remark on how filthy westerners are. It seems somewhat ironic and would be shocking for westerners to learn.

I think it is necessary to document as a narrative of my generation that the west really has moved from not bathing (as in a tub) every day to showering nearly every day over a span of the last 40-50 years. At least in the UK, showers were an "add-on" - an afterthought to a bathroom with a tub. The west has also loudly and very publicly moved from complete ignorance of hand hygiene to a general awareness of the need for hand cleanliness either by washing or by using a disinfectant sanitizer. This has been accompanied by the provision of washbasins in toilets that previously were not required to have a washbasin - and again all this has happened in the last 40-50 years.

In fact I see a (sensible) recognition among doctors of the fact that neckties can carry infection and dirt from patient to patient, but a simultaneous generation of paranoia that shaking hands can spread germs. That is true of course. Hence the namaste. Indian concepts like "jootha" - ie contact of a utensil or food item with someone's mouth/saliva are not yet acknowledged in the west as anything to worry about so multiple people sharing a plate of food and sometimes a spoon is considered OK. That stands in contrast to the paradoxical anxiety that shaking hands is risky, but rubbing cheeks with a "mmmmmuaah" in greeting may be safe.

The latest absurdity I read in some lay popular science portal is the "wisdom" that it is a myth to think that a food item that falls on the floor needs 5 seconds to get contaminated as bacteria take that long to get into it. I did not even know that people believed that food would be safe if eaten off the floor in less than 5 seconds. Imagine smearing shit on a plate and wiping it off in less than 5 seconds and then eating off the plate.

Having said that in India "hygiene" is a very deeply jati related thing and some jatis segregated themselves strictly from others because of a perceived lack of hygiene. Most westerners were considered to be completely ignorant of basic hygiene - like some other "unhygienic" jatis

I might also add here that I suspect (with no proof whatsoever) that the early educated migrants to the west from India were predominantly from what we call "forward castes" simply because when the west wanted educated people from India - it was predominantly the forward castes who were educated. India reacted to this by introducing reservation, but no such restriction was there for emigration to the west

[sanjaykumar]

The term is fastidious, I have wanted to do a comparative study on levels of fastidiousness across cultures.

I suspect Brahmanical culture is the most fastidious on the planet. It is possible that the Japanese are a distant second but if one extends the meaning of fastidious to include its usual sense and include diet....yes its the 5 AM rising, Tulsidas reading, garlic avoiding, vegetarian, teetotal, asleep at sunset Brahmins. Jains on the same exalted plane.

[shiv]

The term is fastidious, I have wanted to do a comparative study on levels of fastidiousness across cultures.

I suspect Brahmanical culture is the most fastidious on the planet. It is possible that the Japanese are a distant second but if one extends the meaning of fastidious to include its usual sense and include diet....yes its the 5 AM rising, Tulsidas reading, garlic avoiding, vegetarian, teetotal, asleep at sunset Brahmins. Jains on the same exalted plane.

Funnily enough the exact same level of fastidiousness in hygiene is observed in operating theatres and electronics/genetics clean rooms but diet is a different matter. One sociological touchstone would be the linkage of vocation with physical acts (rituals?) necessary for that vocation. While "scrub nurse" is a vocation, "brahmin" is called a caste. But that epithet is a "foreign imposed" one. Brahmin was a vocation.

[GShankar]

Eating with hands - funny thing.

When I was FoB in US - 2nd day at work, went for lunch with a couple of "co-workers". Funnily enough, both were non-white. One was chines and the other from Ecuador. Lunch was chinese food and like usual, I ate with my hands. Those 2 guys never came to lunch with me again.

However, all over the country, chicken wings seem to be a grand exception. It is eaten with both hands; sauce all over face and hands; open-mouth eating and finger licking sound. It is disgusting when one notices enough.

And not to mention those sea food - Lobsters, crabs, prawns. They seem to relish.

But Indians, eating rice and sambar (aka curry I think..) with hand? How un-civilized.

[TSJones]

I'll tell ya another thing, I check the silverware over when I eat at restaurants. A lot of times I find crud on them.

And sometimes the server acts angry with me when I request clean silverware!

I come from a society that only tolerates dirt when you are paid to handle it.

[panduranghari]

^^
My daughter pointed this out when studying Romeo and Juliet (who was 13) . English language classes teach this text, and the books are not accompanied by disclaimers about how such behavior is not appropriate any more.

On those lines, I did mention to my SHQ sometime back -why does the hero have to kiss the sleeping beauty? Its down right lechrous behaviour.

[vera_k]

I forget...are they underage?

[rsingh]

Eating with hands - funny thing.

When I was FoB in US - 2nd day at work, went for lunch with a couple of "co-workers". Funnily enough, both were non-white. One was chines and the other from Ecuador. Lunch was chinese food and like usual, I ate with my hands. Those 2 guys never came to lunch with me again.

However, all over the country, chicken wings seem to be a grand exception. It is eaten with both hands; sauce all over face and hands; open-mouth eating and finger licking sound. It is disgusting when one notices enough.

And not to mention those sea food - Lobsters, crabs, prawns. They seem to relish.

But Indians, eating rice and sambar (aka curry I think..) with hand? How un-civilized.

Chinese food eating with hand..............lahore -via) Qwait how do you do that?

[GShankar]

Not sure if you know, in Tamilnadu, we eat rasam and rice with banana leaf (as the plate). At the end, there won't be a drop of rasam left in the leaf.

Eating chinese food with hand? child's play..

However, did learn the use of chopsticks and everyone (chinese included) around me goes ooh and ahh when I crush a pack of doritos or cheetos or kur-kure with chopsticks at work, so that I don't have to wash my hands afterwards and my keyboards are safe.

PS: Last on this. Back to positivity in EU.

[Philip]

"Deutsche Bank,Deutsche Bank,unter alles...?"

Germany's banks are a timebomb. And if they crash, it'll be 2008 all over again, writes ALEX BRUMMER
By ALEX BRUMMER CITY EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 00:37 GMT, 28 September 2016

The crash in the value of the shares and bonds of Germany’s largest lender, Deutsche Bank, is the biggest threat to economic stability and the future of Europe’s monetary union since the financial crisis of eight years ago.
Unless Angela Merkel’s Berlin government gets to grips with the parlous condition of its banking system, the Eurozone risks a convulsion every bit as far-reaching as the one that started with the collapse of the American investment bank Lehman Brothers, bringing lending to a shuddering halt and leading to what has become known as the ‘Great Recession’.
The most remarkable aspect of this looming banking catastrophe is that it is taking place in Germany — the European Union’s supposedly invulnerable powerhouse economy.
Yet there is a straightforward explanation for this.

The fact is that, unlike Britain and America, Angela Merkel’s government failed properly to address the cracks in its financial system — particularly in respect of overexposed banks with too many bad debts on their books — that first surfaced during the credit crunch of 2007-08.
And, even though Germany’s public finances are in better shape than most of its European partners, growth in the country — as in the rest of the Eurozone — has been woefully slow since Greece went into meltdown in 2010.
As the Nobel Prize winning economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz told me earlier this month: ‘If you look at the growth numbers, you would say that Germany is not a good, well-performing economy.’
On top of its huge underlying difficulties, the U.S. Department of Justice has just imposed a whopping great fine of £10.8 billion on Deutsche, on account of its role in disguising rotten loans in the form of highly complicated debt packages or ‘derivatives’ which it sold on to financial institutions around the world.
These derivatives were in fact valueless, because they were based on loans in so-called sub-prime mortgages in America that would never be paid back.
The trouble is that the bank — which has a British boss in straight-talking Yorkshireman John Cryan — almost certainly won’t be able to pay the fine.
Because of its bad debts and the poor economic performance of the Eurozone, Deutsche generates very little profit and ran up £5.9 billion losses last year.
Yes, it set aside a reserve of £5 billion to pay the expected fine.
But it has no means of finding the rest of the cash it needs without asking shareholders for new funds, which it says is unnecessary, or receiving a bailout from Chancellor Angela Merkel or the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank.
Little wonder its shares have fallen 50 per cent in the past year, hitting record lows this week.
And while Britain, being outside the Eurozone, will escape much of the fall-out from Deutsche’s catastrophic failures, there will certainly be some repercussions — not least because Deutsche Bank employs 11,900 people in the City of London, making it one of the most significant foreign banks in the Square Mile.
And it is not just Deutsche Bank which is in trouble.

Was Carney too quick to cut interest rates? ALEX BRUMMER...
ALEX BRUMMER: Mark Carney must now pray this 'big bazooka'...
Apocalypse NO! Britain is confounding the doom mongers and...
t
In the latest manifestation of Germany’s banking problems, Commerzbank, the nation’s second largest, has just announced that it is to cut 9,000 jobs and axe the dividends it pays to shareholders in a desperate effort to cut costs and build up its capital reserves.
Elsewhere in Germany, the so-called Landesbanken or regional banks are reportedly burdened with bad loans and desperately need a major overhaul.
All of which is potentially worrying. But Germany is loath to bail out and thereby stabilise its banking system — as Britain did.
And this is for deeply held historical and political reasons, as I shall explain.
First of all, the bitter experience of the hyper-inflation in the Weimar Republic after World War I — remember all those wheelbarrows of useless cash — means that there is huge revulsion against bailouts in the German political system, which regards the printing of money and inflation as cardinal sins.

Secondly, the strict enforcement in Brussels of rules banning state subsidies to private enterprise makes it extraordinarily hard for Merkel and her hardline finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, to pump emergency capital or loans into the banks.
But there is a third, and far bigger, reason why Berlin is prepared to risk pushing its economy over a precipice before it opts to bail out its banks — even though the country is rich enough to do so.
As a member of the Eurozone, Germany would have to seek permission from the European Central Bank in Frankfurt — which governs Europe’s banks — to bail out Deutsche Bank.
But for the past six years, Berlin has fought tooth and nail against the ECB writing off debt and bailing out banks in Greece and the weaker economies of Southern Europe.
So rigid has been the monetary orthodoxy in Berlin and Frankfurt that when banks in Cyprus were overwhelmed in 2012-13 as a result of the austerity in Greece, an EU bailout was not ven considered.
Instead, wealthy depositors in the Cypriot banks saw up to 10 per cent of their money seized and used to rebuild the capital of the banks.
Merkel is terrified that if Germany’s banks were bailed out, then other countries — such as Italy — would demand similar bailouts.
For it is Italy’s banking system — rotten to the core and with an astonishing level of €350 billion (£300 billion) of bad loans — that is the elephant in the room.
The Italian PM, Matteo Renzi, is desperate to rescue his banking system and restore the supply of credit to consumers and businesses in an effort to jump-start a stagnating economy which faces surging youth unemployment.
But his efforts to put together a comprehensive bank rescue have largely been torpedoed by hardliners in Frankfurt, Berlin and Brussels who fear they will lose all control over bank regulation and credit control in the Eurozone if they go soft on Italy.
How exquisitely ironic that Germany, having insisted that Greece, Italy and others should not be bailed out, finds itself needing bailouts itself.
If Merkel did try to pump billions of euros into her banking system to shore it up, there would be a tidal wave of requests for rescues which could bring the whole edifice of the Eurozone tumbling down.
But then Germany’s banking predicament is surely proof that the one-size-fits-all Eurozone doesn’t work.
No, the EU is facing a financial catastrophe of enormous proportions just at a time when the world is already facing huge uncertainty from the economic slowdown in China.
Here, in Britain, we should surely be thankful that, after the Brexit vote, we are preparing to jump clear of the clattering train as it heads for a ravine.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z4LYVqUuUZ
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[chanakyaa]

2017 is expected to be the year EU may find itself struggling for its dear existence...this may be the beginning.

French parliament readies to impeach President Hollande

[IndraD]

EUROPE TREMBLES: Brussels in crisis as far right Le Pen storms into shock poll lead over rivals in France primaries

A series of bombshell surveys suggested that the Front National chief will wallop all of the conservative candidates in the first round of the race to become the next leader of France.

Eurosceptic Ms Le Pen, who has vowed to lead the country out of the EU, scored between four and nine per cent higher than either of the two centre-right politicians she is expected to battle for the keys to the Elysee Palace.

However, she still faces an uphill task to clinch the top job because of the nature of France’s voting system, which requires candidates to win more than 50 per cent of the electorate over a two-round process.

Polling conducted earlier this year indicates that the controversial FN chief will eventually lose out to whichever conservative candidate she comes up against by a comfortable margin in the second part of the contest.

Regardless, the fact that a third or more of French voters are now prepared to back a candidate who openly advocates dismantling the EU project will send shivers down the spine of a Brussels elite struggling to comprehend the surging populist tide on its doorstep.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/734 ... onal-front

[Bhurishravas]

Russia pulling out of International Criminal court is good news for everyone IMHO.
ICC is European Union`s baby. And EU has been trying to shove it down the throat of other countries including India. The less credibility it has the better for countries like Bharat who arent interested in it. And for genuine reason.

Before Russia, a couple of African countries have also pulled out of ICC.

[IndraD]

'Ireland should LEAVE EU before it's TOO LATE' Anger as Dublin faces HUGE membership bill

A Freedom of Information request by an Irish councillor revealed the nation’s contribution will rise by almost 25 per cent by 2021.

Councillor James Charity of Galway County Council believes the shocking figures, provided by the Department of Finance (DoF) and exclusively seen by Express.co.uk, show the country must urgently assess whether it would be better off following the UK’s lead and quitting the bloc.

The figures show Ireland’s EU budget contribution has grown rapidly from €1.529bn in 2006 to €1.952bn last year, and is set to further grow.

Estimates put forward by Irish ministers show the contribution will continue to expand, from €2.075bn this year to an eye-watering €2.425bn in 2021.

[IndraD]

Austria far-right candidate Norbert Hofer defeated in presidential poll giving relief to Brussels & leftists, pro EU people today. Hofer displayed views similar to Trump and was pro Ru
More http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38202669

[Neshant]

Not sure what all this has to do with the EU but i recall someone telling me that European utensils evolved from weapons. i.e. Stabbing (fork), cutting (knife) and bludgeoning (spoon) weapons. Europeans were meat eaters well before agriculture. They ate the animal they caught with the same weapons used to kill the animal.

Either the animal was stabbed, cut or bashed over the head which is where fork, knife and spoon came from.

Anyway back to the topic of the EU. It will be interesting to see what happens southern Europeans refuse to pay their debts. Attempts were made to transfer their debts onto the rest of the world via the IMF "loans" (which would not be repaid) but that won't fly.

[Yagnasri]

Italian PM lost referendum and is resigning.

One more tragic thing. Media reports indicate one of the EU official's daughter Maria Ladenburger was raped and murdered by an Afghan migrant at Freiburg in Germany. Accused admitted having committed the crime.

Brits are slowly coming to their senses.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... ublic.html

[pankajs]

One more bestern liberal democracies goes rogue ... No more Freedom of expression or freedom of religion or freedom to wear what one wants.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/eu ... story.html
Angela Merkel calls for widespread ban on ‘full veil’ Islamic coverings

Her call could add Germany to the growing list of European nations imposing some restrictions on Islamic coverings as debates sharpen across the continent over religious tolerance, perceived threats to European identity and possible security threats from Islamists.

It could also signal a pragmatic shift to the right for Merkel. In the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump in the United States, the tolerant Merkel became a symbol of what’s left of liberal democracy. But her handling of the refu­gee crisis — which hit her approval ratings and caused internal party dissent — is seen as a critical weakness as she launches her bid to win a fourth term next year.

Merkel on Tuesday issued a reminder that she is still a conservative politician. Speaking to a cheering conference of her center-right Christian Democratic Union, she used her strongest language yet to back a ban on Islamic coverings first proposed by conservative elements in her party. Details are still being discussed, but some are calling for a law that would make it a regulatory offense for women to cover their faces in courtrooms, administrative buildings and schools, as well as while driving or attending demonstrations.

<snip>

"We don't want any parallel societies,” she said. “Our law takes precedence before tribal rules, codes of honor and sharia.”

<snip>

But Muslims often say that these restrictions — all carried out in the name of secularism — are hypocritical, targeting one particular group in a society that in theory is committed to liberty, equality and fraternity. France’s public holidays, they say, are all Christian in origin, and secularism often becomes a means of attacking Islam in a country still reeling from a string of terrorist attacks committed by Islamic State militants.

of course she needs to make a show of being tough after election of Trumpet.

[pankajs]

Lest now hear from the protectors of freedom of faith/Speech/Expression/etc.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/12/06 ... klash.html
Merkel's call for burqa ban in Germany draws backlash

German Chancellor Angela Merkel signaled support Tuesday for a nationwide ban on full-face veils worn mainly by Muslim women – a move that had an American Islamic advocacy group crying foul, claiming it impedes freedom and increases “Islamophobia.”

<snip>

But Merkel’s about-face on the full-face veil swiftly drew pushback from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“We believe everyone should be free to wear the clothing of their choice and that laws targeting the tiny minority of Muslim women who wear face coverings are an expression of increasing Islamophobia in Europe,” spokesman Ibrahim Hooper told FoxNews.com. “Freedom is about making personal choices, not having a decision imposed on individuals by the state. Growing anti-Muslim bigotry should be repudiated, not pandered to.”

[rsingh]

^^
What about personal choice if somebody choose to wear bikini in Barberia?

[rsingh]

'Ireland should LEAVE EU before it's TOO LATE' Anger as Dublin faces HUGE membership bill

A Freedom of Information request by an Irish councillor revealed the nation’s contribution will rise by almost 25 per cent by 2021.

Councillor James Charity of Galway County Council believes the shocking figures, provided by the Department of Finance (DoF) and exclusively seen by Express.co.uk, show the country must urgently assess whether it would be better off following the UK’s lead and quitting the bloc.

The figures show Ireland’s EU budget contribution has grown rapidly from €1.529bn in 2006 to €1.952bn last year, and is set to further grow.

Estimates put forward by Irish ministers show the contribution will continue to expand, from €2.075bn this year to an eye-watering €2.425bn in 2021.

Ireland is developed because of EU. It will be fast backward if it leaves EU. It is Jharkand of EU.

[pankajs]

CAIR is Americans and they fully support bikini in America ...... On Barbaria they have no views.

BUT the definitely oppose all forms of Islamophobia all over the world including in barbaria.

[IndraD]

Italy delivers a body blow to Brussels :
In referendum done 2 days back YES move has lost which would have enabled PM to undertake reforms


Matteo Renzi is preparing to formally submit his resignation after voters dismissed his plans for constitutional reform in a crushing referendum that saw close to 60% of voters opt for “no”. He said “My experience in government ends here … I did all I could to bring this to victory. Renzi has called a cabinet meeting for 1730 GMT, after which he said he would tender his resignation.
The margin of the rejection– close to 20 percentage points – was much wider than expected. On a high turnout of 65.47%, 59.11% of voters chose no; 40.89% went for yes. Overseas voters bucked the trend, voting overwhelmingly (64.7%) for yes.
The vote prompted the euro to initially fall to a 20-month low against the dollar and then bounce back to its highest level since mid-November. But shares in Italian banks have tumbled.
Shares in the world’s oldest bank - Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena - fell sharply. Concerns about MPS were raised during the stress tests on the sector by the European Banking Authority in July, when the bank was ranked as the weakest of the 51 European institutions subjected to the annual assessment.
France’s far right leader Marine Le Pen has welcomed the Italian referendum as an anti-austerity signal to France. She said: “After the Greek referendum, after Brexit, this Italian No adds a new people to the list of those who would like to turn their backs on absurd

[IndraD]

Thousands take to streets of Italy after YES loss demanding exit from EU.

[Vikas]

Why hiding face behind Burqa is considered alright by Islamists in non-Islamic countries especially when the threat of security is so high and they are in the forefront of demanding equal rights for Muslims.

[Philip]

Will our very own Padma Shri Burqa Mutt be allowed a German visa if Fraurer Merkel gets her way?

Trust the Italians to come up with another operatic tragedy! This one called "Mutteo Renzi".

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 56306.html

Italy referendum: How world reacted to shock vote that put EU in crisis mode
Right-wing politicians credit rise of populism, but EU officials play down 'uncertainty'

Peter Walker Tuesday 6 December 2016

Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi promised to resign if he lost the referendum AFP
Matteo Renzi’s overwhelming referendum defeat in Italy has left the world contemplating the implications on global politics and stock markets.

Many international publications interpreted the result as another victory for the wave of anti-establishment populism that saw Donald Trump win the US presidency and the UK vote to leave the European Union.

The Italian referendum, introduced by centre-left leader Mr Renzi, asked voters to approve constitutional reform that would have taken power from the Senate and handed it to the prime minister.

Mr Renzi, the 41-year-old leader since February 2014 – who faced growing opposition from far-right parties – vowed to resign if he lost.

In France, far-right leader Marine Le Pen said: “The Italians have disavowed the EU and Renzi. We must listen to this thirst for freedom of nations and protection!”

The anticipated presidential election bid of the country's Prime Minister Manuel Valls edged the Italy referendum off from its front pages, but the story is featured on its various news websites.

And the Estonians prepare for war...with Russia and how!

Estonian Dad’s Army preparing for mother of all battles with Russia that could usher in World War Three

An Estonian heavy caliber machine-gun team chats with a local resident during a Nato exercise in Estonia earlier this year
7 DECEMBER 2016 • 8:02PM
Kaidi Peterkop doesn’t think of herself as a solider. And with studies and her recent move to Tallinn, Estonia’s picturesque capital, the 22-year old student certainly doesn’t have much time to think about World War Three.

But with training in small unit tactics, vehicle identification, and battlefield medicine, Ms Peterkop is one of thousands of unlikely volunteers in the frontline of a confrontation that Nato generals fear could lead to war with Russia.

“Of course we think about it,” said Ms Peterkop, a volunteer in the Estonian Defence League, the country’s equivalent of Britain’s Territorial Army, a crucial element of this tiny country’s deterrent.
“But we don’t worry about it. Because we know what we can do,” she said at a meeting in the group's Tallinn headquarters.

[Kashi]

So Merkel after graciously and eagerly letting in over a million refugees into Germany is now singing a different tune?

[pankajs]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/truck ... le-n697926
Truck Plows Into Christmas Market in Berlin, Killing 9, Injuring 50: Police

It wasn't clear whether the truck veered into the holiday crowds on purpose or by accident. But local German media cited police who said initial indications pointed to an attack, not a traffic accident. NBC News could not immediately confirm those reports.

[IndraD]

Night of terror: Numerous dead after suspected terror attacks in Germany, Turkey and Switzerland

Truck ploughs through crowd at Berlin Christmas market
*Russian ambassador to Turkey assassinated at art gallery
*Several injured in Zurich shooting

In Berlin, police are warning people to stay indoors and not to venture outside. Hotels and shops are on 'lockdown'

[IndraD]

MORE Christmas Islamic Terror Foiled in Salzburg, SEVERAL Muslim Migrants Arrested at Refugee Home

http://pamelageller.com/2016/12/christm ... um=twitter

[LokeshC]

Night of terror: Numerous dead after suspected terror attacks in Germany, Turkey and Switzerland

Truck ploughs through crowd at Berlin Christmas market
*Russian ambassador to Turkey assassinated at art gallery
*Several injured in Zurich shooting

In Berlin, police are warning people to stay indoors and not to venture outside. Hotels and shops are on 'lockdown'

Happy holidays, stay at home and don't go to work. Remember to say thanks to your politicians in the next elections.

[IndraD]

omg !!

Joe Walsh ‏@WalshFreedom 11m11 minutes ago
German media reports the driver was a Pakistani known to authorities.

[pankajs]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germa ... SKBN149226
Czech finance minister says 'no place' for migrants in Europe

Czech Finance Minister Andrej Babis said on Tuesday that German Chancellor Angela Merkel bore responsibility for the attack on a Berlin Christmas market and that migrants had "no place" in Europe.

The migration wave hitting the continent must be stopped, Babis added in comments quoted by news website parliamentnilisty.cz.

<snip>

"Unfortunately...(this) policy is responsible for this dreadful act. It was she who let migrants enter Germany and the whole of Europe in uncontrolled waves, without papers, therefore without knowing who they really are," Babis said.

"Germany is paying a high price for this policy."

[pankajs]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germa ... SKBN14915D
German state minister says: 'We are in a state of war'

The interior minister of the German state of Saarland said on Tuesday Germany is in a state of war after a man drove a truck into a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring 48, in a suspected terrorist attack.

"We must say that we are in a state of war, although some people, who always only want to see good, do not want to see this," the minister, Klaus Bouillon, told German broadcaster SR.