Millions of unemployed youths in Arab world
Arab ministers at EU-sponsored meeting in Jordan
(ANSAmed) - ROME - Over one year and a half after youth unemployment sparked the Arab Spring, finding work to the millions of unemployed under the age of 30 is one of the greatest challenges confronting Arab Mediterranean countries. Nine Arab ministers are meeting in Jordan on September 25 to discuss the issue, which according to the most recent European data is a real social catastrophe. The talks, which are organized by the EU agency European Training Foundation (EFT) will be attended by Arab labour and education ministers along with their counterparts from Italy and Cyprus to discuss the future of the region - first and foremost the after-school training helping youths get a job.
Data provided by the European Training Foundation, which is organizing the meeting, showed that the issue of unemployment is worsened by the fact that some 60% of the population in Arab Mediterranean countries is under the age of 30 and by 2020 this age group is expected to reach100 million.
Currently at least 30 million youths who have low qualifications or none at all have mediocre, low-paid jobs and are often moonlighting. The region has the highest number of unemployed under 30 worldwide - on average over 25% - with Tunisia topping the list (42%). Women fare even worse - one in four doesn't have a job- and university graduates have more difficulties in finding a job than those with a lower education.
According to the World Bank, 42% of companies in the region blame schools saying they do not prepare youths to meet the demands of the labour market. The situation of young people who do not attend school and are not actively looking for a job also raises concerns - a group which in some countries represents 40% of youths.
Data provided by the European Training Foundation, which is organizing the meeting, showed that the issue of unemployment is worsened by the fact that some 60% of the population in Arab Mediterranean countries is under the age of 30 and by 2020 this age group is expected to reach100 million.
Currently at least 30 million youths who have low qualifications or none at all have mediocre, low-paid jobs and are often moonlighting. The region has the highest number of unemployed under 30 worldwide - on average over 25% - with Tunisia topping the list (42%). Women fare even worse - one in four doesn't have a job- and university graduates have more difficulties in finding a job than those with a lower education.
According to the World Bank, 42% of companies in the region blame schools saying they do not prepare youths to meet the demands of the labour market. The situation of young people who do not attend school and are not actively looking for a job also raises concerns - a group which in some countries represents 40% of youths.
Jordan to receive USD $560 million aid from US and EU
(ANSAmed) - AMMAN, SEPTEMBER 19 - Faced with serious financial shortage, Jordan is expecting to receive a life line of $650 million from the US, the EU and some European countries to finance the state budget, finance minister Jafaar Hassad said today.
Nearly $400 million will be handed to the kingdom as grants, and rest, totaling $250 million will be loans paid under easy loan agreements, said the minister, noting that the government also is reaching out to Arab gulf states to fund the budget.
The government said it will channel part of the funds to projects in the fields of water, education, energy and business.
The government this year said the budget deficit reached JD1.2 billion and the figure could go higher towards end of the year. The government says it needs additional funds to pay for subsidies on energy including fuel and electricity, which could reach up to $ 2 billion.
Jordan has been faced with serious challenges to balance its books this year amid dwindling state revenues. The government heavily relies on foreign aid to pay for an army of civil servants, who consume nearly 60 percetn of the capital expenditure.
Nearly $400 million will be handed to the kingdom as grants, and rest, totaling $250 million will be loans paid under easy loan agreements, said the minister, noting that the government also is reaching out to Arab gulf states to fund the budget.
The government said it will channel part of the funds to projects in the fields of water, education, energy and business.
The government this year said the budget deficit reached JD1.2 billion and the figure could go higher towards end of the year. The government says it needs additional funds to pay for subsidies on energy including fuel and electricity, which could reach up to $ 2 billion.
Jordan has been faced with serious challenges to balance its books this year amid dwindling state revenues. The government heavily relies on foreign aid to pay for an army of civil servants, who consume nearly 60 percetn of the capital expenditure.
PNA: EU Commissione, 100 mln extra funds for Palestinians
Money for water, supporting refugees and part of West Bank
(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, SEPTEMBER 17 - The European Commission today announced new funding of 100 million euros for the Palestinians in the areas of water and sanitation and supporting refugees, as well as a package of support to Area C (the part of the West Bank under direct Israeli occupation), among other things.
‘’The decision - EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Stefan Fule said - shows our commitment to help the people of Palestine in the areas which are vital to their everyday lives, such as water, public services and infrastructure. It also shows our determination to do all we can to support Palestinian refugees living outside the OPT– providing them with an education and access to essential healthcare and social services’’. The EU is the largest donor to the Palestinian territories. The funding announced today brings the EU's aid for 2012 to a total of 200 million euros, to which a further 100 million euros of 2011 credits to be spent in 2012 should be added.
The new funding will specifically go towards improving the access, the quality of water and solid waste management in Gaza, as well as working with other donors on land-fill and sanitary solid-waste disposal. Additional funding for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNWRA) will provide support on education, health, relief and social services for Palestine refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
‘’The decision - EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Stefan Fule said - shows our commitment to help the people of Palestine in the areas which are vital to their everyday lives, such as water, public services and infrastructure. It also shows our determination to do all we can to support Palestinian refugees living outside the OPT– providing them with an education and access to essential healthcare and social services’’. The EU is the largest donor to the Palestinian territories. The funding announced today brings the EU's aid for 2012 to a total of 200 million euros, to which a further 100 million euros of 2011 credits to be spent in 2012 should be added.
The new funding will specifically go towards improving the access, the quality of water and solid waste management in Gaza, as well as working with other donors on land-fill and sanitary solid-waste disposal. Additional funding for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNWRA) will provide support on education, health, relief and social services for Palestine refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
Syrian organization files complaint against Charlie Hebdo
France-Belgium
Protests against anti-Islam film reach Europe
19 September 2012
Presseurop
De Morgen, Le Figaro
De Morgen, 19 September 2012
Protests against the film The Innocence of Muslims, which erupted in violence in several countries around the world, have spread to Europe, and notably to France, the country that is home to the largest Muslim population on the continent (four to six million people), and Belgium. “Islamists want to demonstrate again in Paris", announces Le Figaro, which reports that a call for a 22 September demonstration in Paris against the US made film ridiculing Mohammed and Islam, is circulating on social networks. At a first unauthorised demonstration outside the American embassy in the French capital, 152 people, mainly Salafists (proponents of a radical branch of Islam), were detained by police.
In its editorial, the conservative daily insists –
It is our duty to respond firmly to avoid being overwhelmed. Public authorities should use every means to forbid the further demonstrations that the Salafists want to organise, and punish the instigators. France cannot allow itself be walked over.
Commenting - – but not directly citing – the front page of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo which shows a Muslim in a wheelchair – who could be the Prophet – being pushed by an Orthodox Jew, Le Figaro warns –
Let’s not fall into the trap of responding to their intimidation with stupid provocations. Publishing caricatures of the Prophet is as facile as it is irresponsible.
Agitation is also ongoing in Belgium: “Extremists threaten Moroccan residents of Antwerp who have expressed criticism,” headlines De Morgen, in the wake of violent demonstrations in the Borgerhout neighbourhood of Antwerp on 15 and 16 September, triggered by young extremists at the behest of the radical group Sharia4Belgium, and resulted in 230 arrests.
So as to avoid further clashes, the Flemish city’s mayor, socialist Patrick Janssens, has banned further demonstrations in Borgerhout from 19 September. For De Morgen’s editor in chief, Wouter Verschelden, debate in the run-up to municipal elections on 14 October is now focused on “this small group of marginals represented by Sharia4Belgium etc” –
A handful of youths, who are barely old enough to grow a beard, peddling provocative and hateful language. A language which seems to be especially successful with 12-15 year olds, kids with too much free time and too little parental authority.
Verschelden argues that the Muslim minority does not know how to respond to the threats of a small number of “marginal rioters”, and he is also critical of the media attention focused on these youths, because that is exactly what the extremists want. For him, it is not the instigators, but the urban context and multiculturalism that should be called into question.
http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/2721571-protests-against-anti-islam-film-reach-europe
France: Islam, the cartoons that are sparking outrage
(By Tullio Giannotti) (ANSAmed) - PARIS, SEPTEMBER 19 - French weekly Charlie Hebdo, whose satire is a symbol of political incorrectness in the country, published today cartoons mocking Prophet Mohammed.
In one cartoon, the prophet only wearing a turban is lying in bed as he pronounces a line recited in a cult scene by Brigitte Bardot in the Jean-Luc Godard movie 'Le mepris': 'et mes fesses? Tu les aimes, mes fesses? (and my bum? Do you like my bum?).
Some of the most shocking cartoons are inspired by the controversy sparked by a US-produced movie mocking the prophet.
One of the cartoons portrays the naked prophet on all four legs with a yellow star on his bottom: 'Mohamed, a star is born', reads the cartoon.
Another cartoon portrays the front page of Closer, the gossip magazine which published pictures of a topless Duchess of Cambridge, but instead of depicting Kate Middleton the cartoon shows 'Madame Mahomet' with a beard and the line 'revolts in Arab countries'.
Another shows a 'problematic teenager' who 'doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't do drugs and doesn't have sex' and causes his mother's despair: 'Help, my son is a salafite!'.
Finally, a cartoon shows Pope Benedict taking off a fake beard with a headline reading: 'Scandal movie, the actor interpreting Mohamed finally unmasked'.
Charlie Hebdo, which critics accuse of being racist and publishing trash, has always inspired strong reactions with its provocations and 'politically incorrect' cartoons and reports.
In July the magazine celebrated its 20th anniversary with a special number.
First created in 1970, inspired by Charlie Brown and 'Hara Kiri Hebdo', it was censored for the front page published on the day following General Charles De Gaulle's death: 'Tragic ball at Colombey, one dead', read the headline. The paper had great success but the many lawsuits forced it to fold in 1981 after publishing 580 numbers. It was re-issued 11 years later and has often clashed with leaders of all religions due to its liberal inspiration.
The first caricatures of Mohamed date back to February 2006; they sold 400.000 copies and led to an attack by Islamists. At the end of 2011 the newsroom was completely destroyed by an arson attack and a special online number called 'Sharia Hebdo' was hacked.
Meanwhile, Charlie journalists moved to the newsroom of Liberation and then to a new office where journalists are preparing a special issue for the publication's 20th birthday which should is expected in October.
Charlie Hebdo has a weekly circulation of 100.000 copies and 15.000 subscribers.
In one cartoon, the prophet only wearing a turban is lying in bed as he pronounces a line recited in a cult scene by Brigitte Bardot in the Jean-Luc Godard movie 'Le mepris': 'et mes fesses? Tu les aimes, mes fesses? (and my bum? Do you like my bum?).
Some of the most shocking cartoons are inspired by the controversy sparked by a US-produced movie mocking the prophet.
One of the cartoons portrays the naked prophet on all four legs with a yellow star on his bottom: 'Mohamed, a star is born', reads the cartoon.
Another cartoon portrays the front page of Closer, the gossip magazine which published pictures of a topless Duchess of Cambridge, but instead of depicting Kate Middleton the cartoon shows 'Madame Mahomet' with a beard and the line 'revolts in Arab countries'.
Another shows a 'problematic teenager' who 'doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't do drugs and doesn't have sex' and causes his mother's despair: 'Help, my son is a salafite!'.
Finally, a cartoon shows Pope Benedict taking off a fake beard with a headline reading: 'Scandal movie, the actor interpreting Mohamed finally unmasked'.
Charlie Hebdo, which critics accuse of being racist and publishing trash, has always inspired strong reactions with its provocations and 'politically incorrect' cartoons and reports.
In July the magazine celebrated its 20th anniversary with a special number.
First created in 1970, inspired by Charlie Brown and 'Hara Kiri Hebdo', it was censored for the front page published on the day following General Charles De Gaulle's death: 'Tragic ball at Colombey, one dead', read the headline. The paper had great success but the many lawsuits forced it to fold in 1981 after publishing 580 numbers. It was re-issued 11 years later and has often clashed with leaders of all religions due to its liberal inspiration.
The first caricatures of Mohamed date back to February 2006; they sold 400.000 copies and led to an attack by Islamists. At the end of 2011 the newsroom was completely destroyed by an arson attack and a special online number called 'Sharia Hebdo' was hacked.
Meanwhile, Charlie journalists moved to the newsroom of Liberation and then to a new office where journalists are preparing a special issue for the publication's 20th birthday which should is expected in October.
Charlie Hebdo has a weekly circulation of 100.000 copies and 15.000 subscribers.
Mohammed cartoons: france defends 'freedom of satire'
French muslims appeal for calm amid heightened tensions
(ANSAmed) - ROME, SEPTEMBER 19 - After sparking violence across North Africa and the Middle East which caused the death of the US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, first a film and now cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed are raising tensions in France. French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published today cartoons satirising Mohammed which have been slammed by, among others, the Arab League.
In one of them Mohammed is portrayed lying naked on a bed as he shows his bottom and pronounces the line of a cult scene in Jean-Luc Godard's movie 'Le mepris' in which Brigitte Bardot asks: 'et mes fesses? Tu les aimes, mes fesses? (and my bum? Do you like my bum?).
Another cartoon portrays the front page of Closer, the gossip magazine which published pictures of a topless Duchess of Cambridge, but instead of depicting Kate Middleton the cartoon shows 'Madame Mahomet' with a beard and the line 'revolts in Arab countries'.
'First the movie which caused violent reactions and now the cartoons on Mohammed, all this must end', Arab League Secretary General Nabil el Araby said today. The Arab League has been discussing an international accord banning blasphemy and attacks against religious symbols following the violence sparked by the US-produced film satirizing Mohammed.
Meanwhile the French government is taking precautions to avoid the recent clashes following a video posted on YouTube with scenes from the controversial film 'The innocence of Muslims'. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told France Info that 'specific security measures' are being undertaken to protect French schools and embassies abroad, which will remain closed in some twenty Muslim countries on Friday.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced that no demonstration against the movie mocking the prophet will be allowed in France. The idea to organize a demonstration on Saturday had started to circulate on social networks in the past few days and an authorization for the protest had been asked.
But the minister told national Rtl radio that 'there is no reason to let conflicts that have nothing to do with France enter our country'.
'The freedom to satirize is protected in our country and if anyone feels offended they can go to court', he said.
Leading members of the French Muslim community have made an appeal against violence. Dalil Boubakeur, the cleric leading the Grand Mosque of Paris announced that during Friday prayers he will read 'a message calling for the reflection and calm of all mosques' connected to the central mosque of the French capital.
'We want to show what France's Islam is about', he said, 'and give the word back to France's Muslims, the only ones who can talk about Islam'.
Meanwhile Charlie Hebdo is sold out. The website of the magazine 'has received in the past few hours threats and intimidations' one of the weekly's journalists, Zineb El Rhazoui told ANSA. 'We will not be intimidated', the journalist added.
The newsroom of Charlie Hebdo, which some accuse of racism and of publishing trash in its pursuit of the politically incorrect, was completely destroyed after an arson attack at the end of last year and a special online edition called 'Sharia Hebdo' was hacked.
The magazine has a weekly circulation of an average of 100.000 copies and numbers 15.000 subscribers.
In one of them Mohammed is portrayed lying naked on a bed as he shows his bottom and pronounces the line of a cult scene in Jean-Luc Godard's movie 'Le mepris' in which Brigitte Bardot asks: 'et mes fesses? Tu les aimes, mes fesses? (and my bum? Do you like my bum?).
Another cartoon portrays the front page of Closer, the gossip magazine which published pictures of a topless Duchess of Cambridge, but instead of depicting Kate Middleton the cartoon shows 'Madame Mahomet' with a beard and the line 'revolts in Arab countries'.
'First the movie which caused violent reactions and now the cartoons on Mohammed, all this must end', Arab League Secretary General Nabil el Araby said today. The Arab League has been discussing an international accord banning blasphemy and attacks against religious symbols following the violence sparked by the US-produced film satirizing Mohammed.
Meanwhile the French government is taking precautions to avoid the recent clashes following a video posted on YouTube with scenes from the controversial film 'The innocence of Muslims'. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told France Info that 'specific security measures' are being undertaken to protect French schools and embassies abroad, which will remain closed in some twenty Muslim countries on Friday.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced that no demonstration against the movie mocking the prophet will be allowed in France. The idea to organize a demonstration on Saturday had started to circulate on social networks in the past few days and an authorization for the protest had been asked.
But the minister told national Rtl radio that 'there is no reason to let conflicts that have nothing to do with France enter our country'.
'The freedom to satirize is protected in our country and if anyone feels offended they can go to court', he said.
Leading members of the French Muslim community have made an appeal against violence. Dalil Boubakeur, the cleric leading the Grand Mosque of Paris announced that during Friday prayers he will read 'a message calling for the reflection and calm of all mosques' connected to the central mosque of the French capital.
'We want to show what France's Islam is about', he said, 'and give the word back to France's Muslims, the only ones who can talk about Islam'.
Meanwhile Charlie Hebdo is sold out. The website of the magazine 'has received in the past few hours threats and intimidations' one of the weekly's journalists, Zineb El Rhazoui told ANSA. 'We will not be intimidated', the journalist added.
The newsroom of Charlie Hebdo, which some accuse of racism and of publishing trash in its pursuit of the politically incorrect, was completely destroyed after an arson attack at the end of last year and a special online edition called 'Sharia Hebdo' was hacked.
The magazine has a weekly circulation of an average of 100.000 copies and numbers 15.000 subscribers.
Posts
