United Nations: UN rights chief slams ′demagogues′ Trump and Wilders

Speaking in The Hague on Monday, United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein accused US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump of spreading "humiliating racial and religious prejudice" and warned of a rise of populist politics that could turn violent.

Zeid said Trump and Dutch nationalist Geert Wilders (picture above, left) are among the "populists and demagogues" - which also included Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, leader of France's National Front (FN) Marine Le Pen, and the UK's leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage - who have mastered propaganda like the "Islamic State" (IS), saying that they "benefit from each other."

"All seek in varying degrees to recover a past, halcyon and so pure in form, where sunlit fields are settled by peoples united by ethnicity or religion," Zeid told the inauguration of the Peace, Justice and Security Foundation, adding that promises to recover such a past were fiction.

"Its merchants are cheats," he said, accusing populist leaders of using "half-truths and oversimplification" to feed the fears of "anxious" individuals.

It was a simple formula "to make your target audience feel good by offering up what is a fantasy to them, but a horrendous injustice to others."

"Make no mistake, I certainly do not equate the actions of nationalist demagogues with those of Daesh," Zeid said, using the Arabic term for IS. "But in its mode of communication, its use of half-truths and oversimplification, the propaganda of Daesh uses tactics similar to those of the populists."

Wilders ahead in opinion polls

Ahead of the Netherland's elections in March next year, Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV) launched its campaign platform last week, vowing to "close mosques, Islamic schools and ban the Koran" if elected.

The PVV, which has been leading in opinion polls, also vowed to reverse the "Islamization" of The Netherlands by closing the borders, shutting asylum seeker centers, banning migrants from Muslim countries and stopping Muslim women from wearing a headscarf. Wilders also wants to leave the European Union (EU).

Zeid said on Monday that he was angry "because of Mr. Wilder's lies and half-truths, manipulations and peddling of fear."

"We must pull back from this trajectory," Zeid warned, adding that there was a risk "the atmosphere will become thick with hate" which could "descend rapidly into colossal violence."

Reacting to Zeid's speech, Wilders said in a text message to French news agency AFP that the Jordanian prince was "an utter fool."

"Another good reason to get rid of the UN," the populist politician said.

"Islam and freedom are incompatible whatever this Jordanian bureaucrat says," Wilders added.



Read more: UN rights chief slams ′demagogues′ Trump and Wilders | News | DW.COM | 06.09.2016

Freedom of the Press? As Turkey confiscates DW footage of interview with Minister Kilic

Immediately following the recording of a television interview with the Turkish Minister of Youth and Sports, Akif Kilic, for DW's talk show " Conflict Zone," Turkish authorities confiscated the video footage. The interview with DW host Michel Friedman took place in Ankara on the evening of September 5.

The interview at the ministry of youth and sports in Ankara included questions which had been divulged to the ministry in advance.

Host Michel Friedman asked about the coup attempt in July as well as the mass layoffs and arrests that took place in its aftermath. He asked about the media situation in Turkey as well as the position of women in Turkish society. The minister was asked to further explain several quotes made by President Erdogan regarding these subjects.

Immediately following the interview, the minister excused himself. As soon as he had left the room, the minister's press officer announced that DW would not be allowed to broadcast the interview. When Friedman and his editorial colleague protested, the video material was confiscated by employees of the Turkish ministry of youth and sports. It was made clear to the TV crew that they would not be able to leave the ministry in possession of the video footage.

DW Director General Peter Limbourg spoke out about the behavior of the Turkish authorities today. He said: "This incident is proof of a blatant violation of press freedom in Turkey. What we are experiencing constitutes an act of the Turkish regime's coercion. It no longer follows the rule of law and has nothing to do with democracy. It cannot be that a minister willingly responds to an interview and then tries to block the transmission in such a manner just because he did not like the questions posed. We are requesting the Turkish authorities to return the video material straightaway and we will consider our legal options."

Immediately following the incident, DW appealed to the Turkish ministry of youth and sports as well as to the Turkish directorate-general for press and information and demanded the release of the video material. A deadline set for today at noon local time expired without any response. During several phone conversations with representatives of the ministry of youth and sports this morning, Deutsche Welle repeatedly requested the video footage. The response has remained unchanged: the ministry is not in agreement with the broadcasting of the interview.

In his statement made to DW's Turkish language department Übeydullah Yener, press officer of the Sport Minister said "There was no authorisation for the interview. The questions asked were not the ones that were planned. Mr. Friedman himself knows exactly why this happened. Some statements were right out allegations. In such a situation, there was no authorization granted."

Read more: Turkey confiscates DW footage of interview with Minister Kilic | World | DW.COM | 06.09.2016

The Netherlands: "Turkish PM Erdogan should first look at messTurkey is in before criticising other nations",says Dutch Citizen from Turkish descent

Turkish Government Critical of the Netherlands

The Turkish Foreign Ministry criticized Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte Tuesday September 5, for his recent remarks about   what he called "Turkish people" living in the Netherlands, saying the prime minister generalized a single incident to reach an overall conclusion.

Turkish foreign minister Tanju Bilgiç, who as a Dutch member of parliament said,"should be better informed", keeps referring in his statements to Turkish people living in the Netherlands", but  they are in fact Dutch Citizens from Turkish descent, some even second and third generation descent.

Unfortunately, if Mr Tanju Bilgiç and Mr. Erdogan like it or not, the people in question are Dutch citizens and automatically fall under Dutch law.

Obviously,  as the Dutch PM Rutte also said, if any Dutch Citizen from foreign descent feels more attracted and loyal to his former country of origin and has difficulty to integrate in his new home country, he is always free to go.

The Turkish Foreign Minister spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç, however, said that the remarks made by the Dutch prime minister on the Dutch TV channel NPO 1, about the Turkish nation and people, are not appropriate for a prime minister to make, adding that Rutte used an isolated incident and turned it into a precedent about "Turkish people" living in Netherlands.

Tanju Bilgiç also noted "in a time where xenophobic statements and attacks are on the rise, these remarks will harm our efforts to help Turkish people participate in the social life of the country they reside".

Several non-demonstrating Dutch citizens of Turkish origin, who were also interviewed afterwards on Dutch TV and Radio stations, said  they could not believe the arrogance of the Turkish government in trying to meddle in not only Dutch government affairs, but also in those of many other EU bations.

One person interviewed noted: ""why doesn't Prime Minister Erdogan look at the mess he created in Turkey before being critical of other countries ? "

In the meantime Dutch police on Monday, September 4, detained a 42-year-old Dutchman of Turkish descent for alleged death threats and hate speech after the failed Turkish coup in July, which has ratcheted up tension among Dutch citizens from Turkish descent in the Netherlands. 

EU-Digest

Smartphones: This Is Why Phone Batteries Keep Exploding

Smartphone batteries are both our best friend and our worst nightmare. Whether it’s because they can never quite make it until we get home, or that they need charging twice a day they’re the gadget we simply can’t live without.

In extreme cases though, the smartphone battery can prove itself to be more than a little dangerous, with cases cropping up every year of phones ‘exploding’ in owners’ pockets.

Samsung’s monumental decision to recall the Galaxy Note 7 for this very reason is further evidence that while we need them, lithium batteries are far from perfect.

So why do phone batteries keep exploding?

It’s not just Samsung that has suffered from this problem, indeed any gadget or device that uses a lithium battery is at risk from this same problem, and so to better understand why here’s a fantastically simple explanation of how your smartphone battery works, courtesy of TED Talks.

So now we better understand how they work we can begin to understand what makes them vulnerable to the extremely rare incidents like catching fire.

The key causes of a battery fire will be either an extremely rare manufacturing fault or a power surge, both of which will cause a short circuit.

In the case of a power surge this can be caused by using a cheaper, or non-official charging unit to charge your device. This could then charge the phone too quickly, causing lithium plates to form which will then cause a short circuit.

A short circuit being caused by something as simple as a knife produces an extraordinary amount of heat.

Every smartphone from a well-known manufacturer will have in-built technology which prevents this, but of course in extremely rare cases this can fail due to overheating, or a manufacturing fault at the factory.

GeekSquad recommends that you look out for the warning signs which can include the battery bulging or the phone getting abnormally warm.

Some tips on how to prevent your phone from overheating:

    Don’t charge your phone under a pillow. A phone already gets warm from charging and this will only make things worse.
    Never leave your phone in direct sunlight. While some smartphones will have safety features which prevent use (the iPhone) it’s better to not take the risk,
    Be considerate of tasks which you know will be very heat intensive: Recording 4K video, downloading lots of apps and movies, playing graphically intensive games on your phone.
    Cases will protect your phone but they’re not going to help your phone cool down, be mindful of a very large thick case.
    Always use an official and approved charger and plug.

Read more{This Is Why Phone Batteries Keep Explodin

Corruption in the European Union: Scandals in Banking, Fraud and Secretive TTIP Negotiations - by Graham Vanbergen

In Brussels alone there are now over 30,000 corporate lobbyists, shadowy agitators as The Guardian puts it, which are responsible for influencing three quarters of legislation in the EU. But even they are left in the shade when it comes to the power being afforded to corporations in the TTIP negotiations.

The US Chamber of Commerce the wealthiest of all US corporate lobbies and DigitalEurope, whose members include all the big IT names like Apple, Blackberry, IBM, and Microsoft are there. So are the Transatlantic Business Council, a corporate lobby group representing over 70 EU and US-based multinationals. ACEA, the car lobby working for BMW, Ford, Renault and others, the Chemical Industry Council lobbying for BASF, Bayer, Dow, and the like, are all there.

The European Services Forum, a lobby outfit banding together large services companies are present as are powerful big Pharma companies and FoodDrinkEurope, the biggest food industry lobby group representing multinationals like Nestlé, Coca Cola, and Unilever are sitting at the negotiating table.

One in every 5 corporate lobby groups, which have lobbied for trade on TTIP (80 out of 372 corporate actors), is not registered in the EU’s Transparency Register. Of 597 closed meetings the EU Commissioners conducted over TTIP, 88% were with big corporations. Just 9% were with public interest groups.

Many, if not most of these corporations are not strangers to scandals of corruption in one sort or another. TTIP if successful, would perhaps be the apex of their achievement.

Transparency International explains the connection between lobbying and corruption thus:

    Any activity carried out to influence a government or institution’s policies and decisions in favour of a specific cause or outcome. Even when allowed by law, these acts can become distortive if disproportionate levels of influence exist — by companies, associations, organisations and individuals. (4)

 It should be clear to anyone that when transparency of policy making, basic safeguards and accountability are limited, this can lead to illegal, undue and unfair influence in a country’s policies and politics. TTIP is the embodiment of a corrupt system where corporations decide what are best, not democratic principles.

In the meantime, Cecelia Malmstrom has faced huge public opposition over TTIP. Millions have signed petitions. Mass protests groups have rallied in many cities across Europe and America, some have turned ugly with protestors facing riot police in Brussels and elsewhere. In response the EU Commission conducted the largest ever survey since its 1951 birth and reluctantly published the results in January 2015 where 97% of 150,000 respondents from 28 nations voiced their unequivocal opposition to the deal. At the same time, the Commission also received individual replies from more than 450 organisations who represented a wider spectrum of EU civil society, including trade unions, NGOs, business organisations, consumer groups, charities, legal firms and academics, all of whom expressed either deep concern or outright opposition – to no avail. (5)

Questioned by a reporter from The Independent on why she continued her persistent promotion of the deal against such massive public opposition, Malmström’s chilling response was: “I do not take my mandate from the European people.” EU commissioners are supposed to follow the elected governments of Europe and so this deal proves it is nothing more than a corporate coups d’état that clearly breaches any definition, no matter how low the bar, of corruption. (6)

This stark reality is highlighted by a report from War on Want who revealed that The European Commissioner for Trade receives orders directly from the corporate lobbyists that swarm around Brussels.

    Given that the European Commission takes its steer from industry lobbies it’s hardly surprising that 70 per cent of Europe’s population think corruption is now centered on politics and corporations.

World's largest gorillas 'one step from going extinct' - by Peter Martel

The world's largest gorillas have been pushed to the brink of extinction by a surge of illegal hunting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and are now critically endangered, officials said Sunday.

With just 5,000 Eastern gorillas (Gorilla beringei) left on Earth, the majestic species now faces the risk of disappearing completely, officials said at the International Union for Conservation of Nature's global conference in Honolulu.

Four out of six of the Earth's great apes are now critically endangered, "only one step away from going extinct," including the Eastern Gorilla, Western Gorilla, Bornean Orangutan and Sumatran Orangutan, said the IUCN in an update to its Red List, the world's most comprehensive inventory of plant and animal species.https://a.msn.com/r/2/AAiuWWd?m=en-us

Click here for the full report

Pakistan-Christianity: Gun and bomb carrying thugs attack Christian enclave

http://nbcnews.to/2ciffAf