Social network service A social network service fo-cuses on building online commu-nities of people who share inter-ests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the inter-ests and activities of others. Most social network services

are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services. Social networking has created new ways to com-municate and share information. Social net-working websites are being used regularly by millions of people, and it now seems that social networking will

be an enduring part of everyday life. The main types of social networking services are those which contain directories of some categories (such as for-

mer classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages), and re-commender systems linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, with MySpace and Facebook being the most widely used in North America; Nexopia (mostly in Can-ada); Bebo Facebook, Hi5, MySpace, Tagged, Xing; and Skyrock in parts of Europe; Orkut

and Hi5 in South America and Central America; and Friend-ster, Orkut, Xiaonei and Cyworld in Asia

and the Pacific Islands. There have been some attempts to standardize these services to avoid the need to duplicate entries of friends and inter-ests (the FOAF standard and the Open Source Initiative), but this has led to some concerns about privacy.

History of social networking services

The notion that individual computers linked electronically could form the basis of computer mediated social in-teraction and networking was suggested early. There were many early efforts to sup- port social networks via computer-mediated communi-cation, including Usenet, ARPANET, LISTSERV, bulletin board services (BBS), and EIES: Murray Turoff's server-based Electronic

Information Ex-change Service (Turoff and Hiltz, 1978, 1993). The In-

formation Routing Group developed a schema about how the proto-Internet might support this. Early social networking websites started in the

form of general-ized online com-munities such as Theglobe.com (1994), Geocities

(1994) and Tripod (1995). These early commu-nities focused on bringing people together to interact with each other through chat rooms, and share personal information and ideas around any topics via personal homepage pub-lishing tools which was a precur- sor to the blog-ging phenomenon. Some communities took a different approach by simply having people link to each other via email addresses. These sites included Classmates.com (1995), focusing on ties with former school mates, and SixDe-grees.com (1997), focusing on indirect ties. User profiles could be created, messages sent to users held on a “friends list” and other members could be sought out who had similar interests to yours in their profiles. Whilst these features had existed in some form before SixDegrees.com came about, this would be the first time these functions were available in one package. De-spite these new developments (that would later

catch on and become immensely popular), the website simply wasn’t profitable and eventually shut down. It was even described by the web-site’s owner as "simply ahead of its time.” Two different models of social networking that came about in 1999 were trust-based, developed by Epinions.com, and friendship-based, such as those developed by Jonathan Bishop and used on some regional UK sites between 1999 and 2001. Inno-vations included not only showing who is "friends" with whom, but giving users more control over content and connectivity. Between 2002 and 2004, three social network-

ing sites emerged as the most popular form of these sites in the world, causing

such sites to become part of mainstream users globally. First there was Friendster (which Google tried to acquire in 2003), then, MySpace, and finally, Bebo.

By 2005, MySpace, emergent as the biggest of them all, was reportedly getting more page views than Google. 2004 saw the emergence of Face-book, a competitor, also rapidly growing in size. In 2006,

Facebook opened up to the non US college community, and together with allowing exter-nally-developed add-on applications, and some applications enabled the graphing of a user's own

social network - thus linking social networks and social networking, became the largest and fastest growing site in the world, not limited by par-ticular geographical follow-

ings.

Social networking began to flourish as a component of business internet

strategy at around March 2005 when Yahoo launched Yahoo! 360°. In

July 2005 News Corporation bought MySpace, followed by ITV (UK) buying Friends Reunited in December 2005. Various social networking sites have sprung up catering to different lan-guages and countries. It is estimated that com-bined there are now over 200 social networking sites using these existing and emerging social networking mod-els, without counting the niche social networks (also re-ferred as vertical social networks) made possi-ble by services such as Ning.

Business applications

Social networks connect people at low cost; this can be beneficial for entrepre-neurs and small businesses looking to expand their contact base. These networks often act

as a customer relationship management tool for companies selling products and services. Com-panies can also use social networks for advertis-ing in the form of banners and text ads. Since businesses operate globally, social networks can make it easier to keep in touch with contacts

around the world. One example of social network-

ing being used for business purposes is LinkedIn.com, which aims to interconnect professionals. It claims to have more than 20 million registered users from 150 different in-dustries. Professional networking sites function as online meeting places for business and industry pro-fessionals. Other sites are bringing this model

for niche business professional networking. Virtual communities for business allow individuals to be accessible. People establish their real iden-tity in a verifiable place.

These individuals then interact with each other or within groups that share common business interests and goals. They can also post their own user generated content in the form of blogs, pictures, slide shows and videos. Like a

social network, the consumer essentially be-comes the publisher. A professional network is used for the business to business marketplace. These networks im-prove the ability for people to advance profes-sionally, by finding, con-necting and networking with others. Business professionals can share ex-periences with others who have a need to learn from similar experiences. The traditional way to interact

is face-to-face. Interac-tive technology makes it possible for people to network with their peers from anywhere,

at anytime in an online environment. Profes-sional network services attract, aggregate and assemble large business-focused audiences by

creating informa-tive and interactive meeting places.

Corpo-rate So-

cial Networking Networking with colleagues, supporting alumni and employee community initiatives and creat-ing an environments for staff to socialize has always been a high pri-ority for corpora-tions. Mod-ern compa-nies are spread far and wide and achieving close com-

munities with staff is difficult to achieve. That is why corporate social networking is high on the agenda for many types of companies, institutions and organizations. Social networking provides the ideal

platform for employees to communicate, infor-mation share and discuss real issues affecting the business. Senior management can also use these platforms create healthy staff communi-ties, pro-vide inter-active company news and bring to-gether the resources from former colleagues. These series of articles will look at how compa-

nies are deploying these networks in modern day business with case studies on best prac-tices, step-by-step methodology, while build-ing a solid business case for corporate net-works.

We will also hear from experts on why compa-nies need employee commu-nities, learn about current employee behavior while understanding the needs of the modern employee. We will evaluate how a positive working community can increase pro-ductivity and employee satisfaction and how a sound corporate network can support this. Asia boasts the fastest growing so-cial networking and social media market on the planet. There are also more mobile internet users, with the Asia Pacific region, than anywhere else in the world. This article will be supported by some of the largest global brands and organisations who are using social media to effectively excecute mar-keting and PR strategies. The event will also learn from re- gional heads of the popular social net-working sites to provide in-sight on market condtions and learn how they adapted their service to expand to this region. The event will also debate and analyse current trends, market

forces and examine how brands and organi-sations are exploiting this new media to market products and services.

Mobile social network Mobile social networking is social network-ing where one or more individuals of similar interests or commonalities, conversing and connecting with one another using the mobile phone. Much like web based social networking,

mobile social networking occurs in virtual com-munities. A current trend for Internet social networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook is to turn mobile. There are two basic types of mobile social networks. The first is

companies that partner with wireless phone carriers to distribute their communities via the default start pages on mobile phone brows-ers, an example is Juice-Caster. The second type is companies that do not have such carrier rela-tionships (also known as "off deck") and rely on

other methods to attract users, for example MocoSpace, mobimii and Mobi-kade. Advances in

software technology have facilitated the exis-tence of these mobile virtual communities. Industry wireless net-work technologies in-clude SMS, WAP, Java, BREW and i-mode. Japan, Korea and China have much higher usage of mobile social networks than Western coun-

tries, generally thanks to better mobile networks and data pricing (flat rate notably is widespread in Japan). Most of them are extensions of PC-based services, but others are

pure mobile-focused offerings. Leaders in the space are Mixi (Japan, web+mobile), Mobile Game Town (Japan, mobile), Cyworld (South Korea, web+mobile), Tencent QQ (China, web+mobile), TX.com.cn (China, mobile). In Japan where 3G networks achieved over 80% user penetration, numerous other mobile SNS have popped up. With the current software that is available, interactions within mobile social networks are not limited to exchanging simple text messages on a 1-to-1 basis (SMS) but are constantly evolv-ing towards the sophisticated interactions of Internet virtual com-

munities.

Mo- bile com- munity

In most mobile communities, mobile phone users can now create their own profiles, make friends, participate in chat rooms, create chat rooms, hold private conversations, share photos and videos, share blogs by using their mobile phone. Some companies provide wireless ser-vices (for example, Sonopia) which allow their customers to build their own mobile community and brand it. Other companies provide new innovative features which extend the social networking experience into the real world. Mobile communities are becoming more and more popular among young Americans. The mobile social networking forum is the perfect event for professionals to learn and discuss the future development of mobile social media. This event will provide a focused plat- form for the global mobile social media industry. The confer- ence aims to address core issues such as monetization, future technologies/services, engaging social groups with brands and how businesses can get the most out of mobile social and business networks.

which was a precur- sor to

event will provide a focused plat- form for the global mobile social media industry. The confer- ence aims to address core issues

electronically could form the basis of computer mediated social in-teraction and networking was suggested early. There were many early efforts to sup- port social networks via computer-mediated communi-

Internet virtual com-

learn from re- gional heads of the popular social net-working sites to provide in-sight on market condtions and learn how they adapted their

network can support

Asia boasts the fastest growing so-cial networking

Editor’s Choice

Global Social Networking with mobile telecoms in the recession

SOCIAL NETWORK GOING MOBILE

Mobile Social Networking Reach – US and Europe

% of mobile subscri-bers who access social networks over the mobile Internet

Number of mobile sub-scribers who access so-cial networks per month, over their phone

United States 1.6% 4,079,000 United Kingdom 1.7% 812,000 Italy 0.6% 293,000 Spain 0.8% 291,000 France 0.6% 255,000 Germany 0.2% 141,000

The cover story is compiled and edited by Y.A. Shanchoy

Editor & Publisher

Freeing the truth and unvei-ling the news is our vision through this single pla-tform, instrumented by print & web/internet media.

lunedì 9 marzo 2009- syndicated with KINGSHUK Regd DA no. 327 Bangladesh - Vol. 35 No. 7

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NEWS FROM ENAR, YFJ, FARE, EAPN, AAMEE, ECRE, MRCI & UN

Latest ENARgy on social inclusion and equality ENAR has issued the latest edition of its newsletter ENARgy,

on the theme “Social inclusion and equality”. The articles in this edition of ENARgy analyse social inclusion from an equality perspective, presenting a range of views from diffe-rent actors, including the European Parliament, academics, the European Anti-Poverty Network and SOLIDAR. The newsletter also features the experiences of ENAR members in the United Kingdom and Malta in their engagement with the National Action Plans on social inclusion and a focus on the specific exclusion that Roma communities face.

CLAE migration festival The Comité de liaison des associations d’étrangers (CLAE),

member of ENAR Luxembourg, is organising its 26th Festi-val of migration, culture and citizenship from 13 to 15 March 2009 in Luxembourg. The festival aims to welcome and to raise awareness of the fact that a common culture is emer-ging in this country, through organisations’ stands, concerts, a book fair and a food fair.

ENAR fact sheet ‘Towards sound governance’ ENAR has published a fact sheet on good governance, which

has emerged over the last decade as one of the keys to success in terms of democratic accountability, positive and concrete outputs delivery and financial sustainability from international organisations down to national governments and local councils, but also civil society organisations, cor-porate industries and social partners. This fact sheet aims at informing ENAR members about the basic principles of sound governance to help them strive for their implementa-tion at all levels of the Network, from the European Board down to the National Coordinations and their grassroots members. These basic principles can of course be transfer-red to any other NGO.

ENAR issues a five-point call for action to the Czech Presidency

ENAR has issued a five-point call for action to the Czech Pre-sidency of the EU to act upon during its mandate, in its Memorandum to the Czech Presidency. ENAR calls on the Czech Presidency to put the fight against racism and discri-mination at the heart of its commitments.

ENAR/EDF fact sheet on EU law and equality ENAR, in cooperation with the UK-based Equality and Diver-

sity Forum, has issued a fact sheet on European law and equality. European law has had, and continues to have, a powerful effect in broadening and strengthening national laws on equality of the EU’s member states. The fact sheet explains the relationship between European and national law in this area.

NEWS FROM ENAR The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) is a network of European NGOs working to combat ra-cism in all EU member states and represents more than 600 NGOs throughout the European Union. ENAR is determined to fight racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, to promote equa-lity of treatment between European Union citizens and third country nationals, and to link local/regional/national initiatives with European Union initiatives.

In 2009-2010, the European Youth Forum (YFJ) will be striving to achieve greater participation and inclusion of young people with migrant background. To this aim, different perspectives will be taken into account: on one hand the YFJ aims at empowering young people with migrant background to represent their interests. On the other hand the YFJ aims at achieving greater inclusiveness of its Member Organisations and in particular at building their capacity to reaching out more to young people with migrant background. In view of achieving these objectives, the YFJ is currently undertaking a mapping study on existing good practices, experiences, expertise of civil society organisations on inclusion and representation of young people with migrant background or migrants from other vulnerable groups such as migrant women, migrant LGBT people, migrant people with disabilities, refugees, migrant children etc. Source http://www.surveymonkey.com The European Youth Forum (YFJ) is a platform made up of 99 National Youth Councils and international youth NGOs from across Europe.

YFJ is collecting best practices on working with migrants and migrant issues

FARE Unite against racism Hundreds of delegates gathered in Warsaw for a conference on racism in football on 3-4 March that attracted administrators, campaigners and players. The conference was a three way partnership between UEFA, FARE - Football Against Ra-cism in Europe and FIFPro and signals a renewed determination to tackle issues that remain a feature of European football. Workshops debating anti-Semitism, institutional discrimi-nation and Roma minorities will take place over the two days. One topic high on the agenda was Euro 2012, the first time an

international tournament will be staged in Eastern Europe. http://www.farenet.org/default.asp?intPageID=5

European Youth Forum Position on the Durban Review Conference The European Youth Forum has issued its position on the Durban Review Conference which presents 5 points which should be addressed during the Review of the World Conference against Racism, Xenophobia and other Forms of Intolerance in April 2009.

The Spring Alliance has launched

http://www.springalliance.eu You can now join the fight online to ensure that the European Union puts people and the planet first and discover how you can get involved in the Spring Alliance. The Spring Alliance, initiated by the Social Platform, the European Environmental Bureau, the European Trade Union Confederation, is a partici-patory movement to ensure that the European Union puts people and the planet first. It aims to be much broader than that and wants to become a network of members from all cor-ners of civil society and beyond: social organisations, trade unions, environmental organisations, development NGOs, fair-trade associations, anti-poverty campaigners, consumer orga-nisations and representatives from the research and business community. Contacts: Spring alliance c/o European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Boulevard de Waterloo 34, Brussels B-1000, Belgium. +32(0)2-790-88-12. Fax: +32(0)2-289-10-99 info@springalliance.eu This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN) has released 10 demands for the next European Parliament. With 78 million people in the EU facing poverty, with growing inequalities within and outside the EU, with a growing sense of precarity and anxiety among large sections of the population, the demands set out an agenda for the EU to seriously com-mit to the fight against poverty and to the achievement of greater social cohesion. “The economic and social model pursued by the EU during these past 5 years has too often prioritised ‘market freedoms’ over social rights and environmental con-cerns” said Ludo Horemans, President of EAPN. “Too often this model has exacerbated the position of ‘the poor’ and undermined social commitments by prioritising “growth and jobs” at any price” he continued. “The European Elections must offer a real debate about the type of EU we want” insisted Fintan Farrell, Director of EAPN. “The ten demands put forward by EAPN contribute to that debate and seek to ensure that the people who least benefited from the eco-nomic boom are not made to pay the price for its excesses” he concluded. EAPN’s 10 demands are:

Make Social Cohesion and the fight against poverty and inequality in the EU and the promotion of global equity a named EU priority.

Set and monitor EU and national level targets for poverty and inequality reduction as part of a highly visible EU stra-tegy against poverty.

Set benchmarks for active governance in decision-making processes at EU and Member State levels, ensuring the participation of antipoverty NGO’s including people experiencing poverty.

Make progress on developing an EU framework to defend high level social standards and to guarantee a dignified life for all.

Ensure access for all to affordable quality services.

Put the commitment to ‘Decent and Quality Work” back at the centre of the European Employment Strategy.

Support social economy and inclusive entrepreneurship.

Strengthen EU anti-discrimination legislation.

Mainstream the fight against poverty across all policies.

2010 has been declared the EU Year against Poverty and Social Exclusion: MEPs can play a positive role as ambassadors for the year.

EAPN puts forward 10 Demands on social cohesion and the fight against poverty for the next European Parliament

The European Commission announced on 18 February that it has started preparing the European Year of Volunteering 2011. This announcement follows an intensive two and a half year campaign led by an alliance of nineteen European networks active in volun-teering and coordinated by the European Volunteer Centre (CEV). These networks believe that the decision to work towards 2011 as the European Year of Volunteering brings the Commis-sion closer to the people of Europe and to their real concerns. It has responded to the voice of its citizens: over 100 million Euro-peans contribute to society as volunteers, putting into practice shared values of solidarity, social cohesion and active citizenship. CONTACT: Markus Held, CEV Director, cev@cev.be

European civil society networks welcome European Commission de-cision to work towards the European Year of Volunteering 2011

The "Active Ageing of Migrant Elders across Euro-pe" (AAMEE) project invites voluntary organisations and initiatives from all EU member states that are active in the field of migrant elders to take part in the AAMEE Good-Practice Exchange Programme for voluntary organisa-tions.The AAMEE project aims at active ageing and impro-ving the quality of life of migrant elders through better econo-mic, social and cultural inclusion. The objective of the AAME-E Good-Practice Exchange Programme is to initiate and to promote the work of voluntary organisations from and for migrant elders in the fields of, for instance, culture and leisu-re, lifelong learning, care and housing. Dr. Claus Eppe, AA-MEE Project Leader Ministry for Intergenerational Affairs, Family, Women and Integration of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germa-ny, Horionplatz 1, D - 40213 Düsseldorf, e-mail: in-fo@aamee.eu Tel.: 0049 211 8618 4574

AAMEE good practice exchange programme for voluntary organisations

The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), through its member agencies across Europe, has collected a number of refugee stories in support of its advocacy on Access to Europe. The case studies were gathered with the help of ECRE member organisations. The stories demonstrate the devastating impact that restrictions on access can have on people's lives. The testimonies have been grou-ped into four recurring themes: dangerous journeys, human rights violations in transit countries, abuses suffered at the EU borders and lack of access to the asylum procedure. ECRE Brussels Office Secretariat Rue Royale 146, 2nd Floor 1000 Brussels Belgium tel: +32 (0)2 234 3800 fax: +32 (0)2 514 5922 email: ecre@ecre.org http://www.ecre.org

Access to Europe: ECRE refugee stories

The Human Rights Council opened this week its tenth regular session which meets from 2 to 27 March in Geneva. High Commissioner for Hu-man Rights Navi Pillay will present her first annual report to the Council and engage in an interactive dialogue with representatives of governments, non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions. The Council will also consider reports of independent experts on a wide range of human rights subjects. There will be panel discussions and debates on thematic issues such as the right to food, the rights of the child and the rights of persons with disabilities. The High Commissioner took the opportunity in her opening address to underscore the importance for gover-nments and all other players to actively participate in the Durban Review Conference. Calling on governments to transcend political differences and work together to eliminate racism and xenophobia, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has issued a series of proposals and recommendations in preparation for a major anti-racism conference, to be held in Geneva in April. The High Commissioner’s report, issued on 23 February, has been sent to UN Member States, currently planning the April 20-24 Durban Review Conference to assess implementation of the wide-ranging Programme of Action agreed at the 2001 World Conference against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa. The High Commissioner, Secretary-General of Review Conference, appealed to governments not to allow any single issue to dominate discussions of such vital importance to human dignity to the exclusion and detriment of others.

UN Human Rights Council opens its annual main session

Migrant Rights Centre Ireland national confe-rence on working conditions for migrant workers The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland is organising its national conference on the theme “Are fair and decent working condi-tions for migrant workers possible in a changing labour market?” on 26 March 2009 in Dublin. The conference will bring together key stakeholders to consider this core question of whether fair employment standards for migrant workers are possible, as well as to consider ways of ensuring that the rights of migrant workers are promoted. The conference will draw on an array of expertise from the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland, and from local campaigners to trade unions, business representatives and State agencies. http://www.mrci.ie/news_events/index.htm

Social Polis conference The conference of Social Polis, the Social Platform on Cities and Social Cohesion, will take place at the University of Eco-nomics in Vienna on 11-12 May 2009. This will be an impor-tant event for strengthening the platform by creating oppor-tunities for discussion and exchange of experiences. The major aims of this conference are: Presentation of Social Polis; The current project process and intermediary results; Outlook on future organization of Social Polis; Interaction between EC, lead partners, stakeholders and participants; Space for discussion on the topic "Social cohesion"; Outlook on future challenges and need for research, policy and practi-ce on social cohesion. The deadline is 28 February 2009. Source: http://www.socialpolis.eu

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975 million Mobile Web users expected by 2012 i.e. Boom in the bust. Human Trafficking Malaysia

Indian border security force (BSF) handed over 49 Bangladeshi natio-nals to BDR at Benapole check post. Most of them hailed from Chitta-gong and Cox's Bazar. Atique, one of the returnees, said the manpower agents had recruited 405 Bangladeshis for employment in Malaysia. Each of them paid Tk 13,000 to the manpower agents. Of them, 305 died in the high sea. "My two bro-thers are among those died….We all faced starvation for 15 days on the sea." They were earlier re-scued in a precarious condition from Anda-man Sea. They were

reportedly recruited by the manpo-wer export agents for employment in Malaysia and sailed in six trawlers in December. But they were dumped on way in the high sea. Indian coastal guards rescued 445 Bangladeshi and Myanmar natio-nals.

If you enjoy this post, please digg it by http://digg.com/educational/10_Mobile_Social_Networks_to_Check_Out Dada

Dada is a mobile SNS that enables users to update personal blogs with pictures and video, download mobile entertainment, connect with and meet other local singles in real time and stay in contact with all their friends. Dada can be used on both PC and

mobile and dada.net is its portal destination page. The 3 main products wi-thin the portal are Dada Dating, Dada Life (personal space and social networ-king), and Mobile Entertainment. See: Dada Leads Mobile Social Networking Charge Strands

Recommendations company Strands started out as a music discovery mobile social networking service. Its mobile features include a mobile Web portal, a personalized radio station, and a personal version of partyStrands (its service for party organizers, bars, clubs and DJs). Strands' mobile social networking service basically enables its users to find music and network with their friends via their mobile phones. See: MyStrands Revamp - More Integration Between Mobile, Online and Physical Worlds

Itsmy The itsmy.com mobile community wants to be MySpace for your phone. By

connecting people and content in both the U.S. and E.U., itsmy has already gathered up more than 1 million registe-red mobile users with 4 million mobile home and content pages and continues to grow. Recently, itsmy announced they've now launched 100,000 personal mobile TV chan-

nels - one for each of its top 10% of content uploading customers. See: itsmy Launches Personal Mobile Broadcasting Frengo In April mobile social networking company Frengo released a toolkit for deve-

lopment of Open Social and Facebook applications on mobile phones. The Open Social Mobile Toolkit supports MySpace, Hi5, Bebo, and Facebook and allows develo-pers of applications on those networks to extend them to

the mobile phone. In addition to extending support for the Open Social and Facebook platforms to the mobile phone, the Frengo toolkit allows developers to monetize applications via the company's social advertising platform or via premium SMS. See: Frengo Launches Mobile Open Social Toolkit Twango In July 2007 Nokia acquired the media sharing service Twango. Twango com-

bines online storage with social networking, allowing users to organize and share photos, videos and other personal media. ReadWriteWeb wrote an in-depth profile of Twan-go in January '07, in a post entitled Twango Tackles Lucra-

tive Media Sharing Market. Nokia planned to use Twango to enable users to share multimedia content through their desktop and mobile devices. See: Nokia Acquires Media Sharing Startup Twango Shozu Shozu is not strictly speaking a social network, but it enables you to share

your videos and photos via your mobile phone - e.g. from your Flickr account, YouTube, Facebook. RWW reader Honor said in a past post that "it allows me to send the pictures I take with my n80 to Facebook and share with my friends, or email people pictures while I am at an event, shopping for stuff for them etc..." The final 4 services are from Corvida's post on ReadWriteWeb entitled: The Future of Mobile Social Networks: 4 Promising Services

Brightkite We recently profiled Brightkite as a winning mobile social network in the arena. Brightkite allows for your network of friends to keep track of where

others may be at any moment. Since no GPS is requi-red, users can send updates to the service via text mes-saging or email, to update their profile with location updates, pictures, and notes. With a host of privacy settings to prevent any form of stalking, Twitter users

are increasingly using the network to update friends with status locations sent to their Twitter streams. Brightkite may be one of the best mobile networks to use, especially when going to a conference or big event in town. Zyb Taking a different approach from Brightkite, Zyb aims to be a mobile contact organizer for your social network. While we already have our address books

for this, Zyb looks to provide a way for you to backup and synchronize your contacts online. You can store your phone numbers, calendar and texts, manage this information online, and transfer your information to a new phone if there ever comes a time. You can also use Zyb to find out who has you in their phones as a contact and even discover friends of friends.

Think of Zyb as an expansion on your Facebook pictures and contacts only more mobile. Groovr Groovr is your mobile network's night out on the town. Post a picture, messa-ge, or video to your Groovr profile and have it sent to all your friends too.

Instant chat? Groovr's got you covered. However, some of the-se features are redundant. Can't we already send messages, pictures, and videos to our friends without a third party? The

only feature we found remotely unique is a city's Explore page on Groovr. All of your posted items are sent to the corresponding cities Explore page. Here's a peek at San Francisco on Groovr:

Bosses bemoaned the downturn and demanded free radio spectrum to stimulate the Mobile telecoms in-dustry. This disconnect is likely to continue for some time. Despite hopes to the contrary, the industry is not immune to the recession. Makers of handsets, which consumers are replacing more slowly, will be hard hit: unit sales are expected to fall by at least 10% this year, having increased by 6% in 2008 to 1.2 billion. But at the same time the industry is going through a transfor-mation that promi-ses to fuel rapid growth in the years to come. To draw a parallel from computing, it is as if the personal computer (PC), its graphical user-interface, high-speed internet access and open-source software had all taken off at the same time. Conventional han-dsets are very good at making phone calls and sending text messages, but doing anything more complex, such as browsing the web, is painful. And do not even think of adding new software: installing applications is agony. With the latest smart-phones, however, which account for around 15% of han-dsets sold, voice calls and texting are just two features among many. New applications, often linked to a service on the internet, can be downloaded from an online “store” with a few taps on the touch-screen or miniature keyboard. Users are presented with an embarrassment of riches: there are thousands of mobile applications, ran-ging from the useful (to-do lists and e-book readers) to the ridiculous. Predictably, such flexible devices, and the programs that run on them, were pioneered by a newcomer to the mobi-le industry: Apple. By the end of 2008 it had sold more than 17m of its elegant iPhones, and there have been over 500m downloads from its “App Store” since its launch last July. Others have followed in Apple’s footsteps. For instance in Barcelona, Microsoft and Nokia, the world’s largest software firm and handset-maker respectively, announced their own application stores. Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of the BlackBerry, and Google, the world’s biggest internet firm, have done the same. The popularity of software downloads to smart-phones, along with the rapid growth of mobile broadband (see article), have industry leaders making forecasts for the growth of mobile-data traffic that are reminiscent of some of the more outrageous predictions during the internet boom. Nokia Siemens Networks, a maker of network gear, expects mobile-data traffic to grow 300-fold by 2015. But not everyone will be a winner. As handsets slowly turn into computers, the mobile industry will at last un-dergo the shift that has been predicted for several years: from being vertically integrated to being sliced into di-stinct, horizontal technology layers, such as networks, devices, operating systems and applications. The vertical “sausage” that was the industry is becoming a layered “hamburger”, says Carl-Henric Svanberg, the boss of Ericsson, the largest maker of mobile-network gear. This will transform the economics of the industry. Histo-rically, network operators have been in the strongest position, explains Ben Wood of CCS Insight, a market-research firm. They owned the radio spectrum, built the networks, maintained the relationships with customers—and then grabbed most of the spoils. But in the new world, predicts Mr Wood, they will have to share reve-nues and profits with providers of software and services,

such as Apple, Google and Facebook. When the internet first reached mobile phones in the late 1990s, operators tried to keep subscribers in “walled gardens” of services that they controlled. When this ulti-mately failed (having held back the entire industry), it became fashionable to predict that operators would end up as “dumb pipes”—simple data conduits that do not add much value. That outcome may be desirable, but it is

not the most likely. Operators are too powerful simply to roll over, says John Delaney of IDC, a market-research firm. They have assets other firms need, such as the infrastructure for customer sup-port, and the means to pinpoint users or target advertising. In fact, operators have started to offer such building blocks to underpin other firms’ mobile services and have

launched an effort to standardise them, called OneAPI. If operators cannot control the mobile internet, might others, such as Apple, Google or Nokia, become gatekee-pers? After all, the rise of the PC catapulted two firms into dominant positions: Microsoft and Intel, the world’s biggest chipmaker. With a share of about 90% and 80% in the markets for PC operating systems and processors respectively, they make most of the money. But it seems unlikely that the mobile-phone industry will produce such quasi-monopolies. For one thing, everyone saw what happened with Microsoft in PCs. It was to a-void a similar situation that Google developed its own operating system for smart-phones, called Android, and then proceeded to give it away as open-source software. Google did not want to be “blocked by another business model”, as Andy Rubin, the firm’s Mr Android, puts it. Nokia has also opened up Symbian, the operating system that powers its smart-phones. So even though Apple and Microsoft are maintaining a tighter grip on their own smart-phone operating systems, this layer of the industry hamburger seems bound to become a commodity. An Intel-like monopoly in chips also seems implausible. Although Intel is making a big push into the mobile in-dustry with its latest line of low-power chips, called A-tom, plenty of other firms already supply such chips—most of them based on designs developed by ARM, a British firm. Conversely, it seems unlikely that handsets will ever become as much of a commodity as PCs. The handset market is maturing and most growth will come from software and services (which is why Nokia has laun-ched Ovi, an attempt to create a global one-stop shop for such offerings). But handsets are much more personal than PCs and offer more scope for innovation. Then, of course, there is the question of how big the new hamburger will be. Informa, a market-research firm, projects revenues from content and data services of $240 billion by 2012. Although most applications on Apple’s App Store are free, consumers spend some cash there: a sixth of American iPhone users spent over $100 in the past year, according to ABI Research, another market-research firm. It remains to be seen whether this promi-sing new source of revenue proves sustainable. But de-spite the economic turmoil elsewhere, the industry seems justified in its confidence that the smart-phone is finally emerging as a powerful, innovative and lucrative new computing platform.

Mobile telecoms in the recession

Boom in the bust From The Economist print edition of Mar 5th 2009 Despite the recession, the mobile industry is enjoying a promising transformation Illustration by David Simonds

Human Trafficking to Malaysia from Bangladesh

Ethnic discrimination on the Belgian labour market, neo-Nazi extremism in Austria and abuses against Roma in nine EU countries are some of the findings of the 2008 US government report on human rights. The report, issued on 25 February by the State Department for each country of the world, says that the Belgian government "generally respected the human rights of its citizens," but found several problems, such as over-crowded prisons, lengthy pre-trial detention, poor detention conditions prior to expulsion and "ethnic discrimination in the job market." Neo-Nazi incidents and "rightwing extremism and xenophobia directed against ethnic minorities" were a cause of concern in Austria. Despite being discriminated against in emplo-yment and housing, the situation of Roma people in Austria had "significantly improved in recent years," with children being moved out of "special needs" into mainstream classes. This was however not the case in nine other EU countries: Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia, Roma-nia and Bulgaria, where discrimination and even vio-lence against Roma is on the rise.

Source: http://euobserver.com/851/27689

Thousands turned out in central Dresden on 14 February to protest a march by far-right sup-porters on the 64th anniversary of the Al-lied firebombing of the city. Organisers of the alliance that formed as a counterweight to the neo-Nazi march through the eastern German city said around 11,000 people participated at several demon-strations. Police put that number at just under 10,000. They were protesting a "mourning march" held by members of the extreme-right in the capital of the state of Saxony. For a decade, anti-immigrant and skinhead groups have marked the anniversary of the bombing of Dresden by Allied air raids, which took place on 13-15 February 1945, at the end of World War Two. Many of the groups marching were affiliated with the National Democratic Party (NPD), a far-right political party which entered the Saxony state assembly in 2004. Source: http://www.deutsche-welle.de

On Dresden Anniversary, Massive Protest Against Neo-Nazi March in Germany

US criticises EU countries for human rights abuses

Syndicated newspaper of Italy with KINGSHUK registered DA no. 327 Bangladesh

lunedì 9 marzo 2009 www.newsandviews.eu NEWS&VIEWS

4

International Mother Language Day in Bolzano, AITech-Assinform, DIGITAL EUROPE, Bangladesh Expatriates Leaders & Biplabi Nari Sanghati

The multiethnic Associa-tion Integration from Bol-zano was born in 2004 with the goal to simplify the integration in Southtyrol. The association, which is formed by compan-ions from Asia, Latin America and Europe, who got together to finalize this goal, organizes on Saturday 21st of Febru-ary 2009 from 9,30 am to 7,00 pm o’clock, at the “Pfarrheim” of Bolzano, which is situated in Dome Square nr. 8, for the 4th time the International Mother Language Day in Bolzano, the 10th year of this very important day, instituted by the UNESCO in 1999. The program is an explaining about the sense and the origin of the International Mother Language Day in Italian, Ger-man, Spanish and Bengali, with the flower ceremony at the Shaheed Minar, made by a southtyrolean artist, Mi-chael Mair, followed by the presentation of the book “Creativity in Mother Lan-guage” with texts from stu-dents of the primary schools, Goethe, Dante, Neri and Bosco from Bolzano. There will follow discourses, moderated by Prof. Marco Ferretti from the Italian Pedagogic Institute of Bolzano, from the city council member for school Margarete Rottensteiner, director of the Ladin Culture Office A. Oswald Prinoth and the 2nd Secretary of the Bangladesh Embassy in Rome, Miah Md. Mainul Kabir. Following discourses of Prof. Salvatore Saltarelli from Professional School of Bolzano, Mr. Fer-nando Biague, university researcher, Mr. Antonio Vac-caro, responsible of Radio Tandem and Tritan Myftiu, spokesman of the Immi-grants Associations Com-mittee. There will follow a multieth-nic buffet with an intercul-tural and linguistic meeting with various representatives of the Immigrants Associations and linguistic laboratories with

the speakers from Radio Tandem Multicolor. All the after-noon along the Embassy of Bangladesh will offer counselor practices for Bengali citizens. As a closing ceremony we will offer folk dances from various countries of the world. For info: 338/7971158 or 328/5319777. Mohitur Sheikh Rahman Bablu, president Ass. Integration Nuris Isabel Mendoza Obregón, vice-president Ass. Integration

Assinform is the Italian asso-ciation of Information & Com-munication Technology com-panies and an affiliate of the Confindustria (Confederation of Italian Industry) system. It was established through the unification of two major in-dustry associations (AITech and Assinform). It has a solid member base of more than 420 companies which cover most of the industry that in Italy counts over 370.000 employees and 25.000 busi-nesses, accounting for 20 bil-lion Euro in revenue (2% of national GDP). It is the major reference point for the Italian ICT industry: ranging from software companies, systems and equipment manufacturers, providers of applications, net-works and services to Value Added Service and IT related content providers. It is an important chapter of Confin-dustria Servizi Innovativi e Tecnologici, the Federa-tion that brings together or-ganisations from the vast ser-vices sector, which includes businesses that offer services relevant to the innovation and new technology sectors: such as IT, telecommunications, digital media and multimedia content. Owing to its position, a new configuration and an experi-ence of over 30 years of ser-vice, Assinform is the focal point for IT businesses looking for appropriate support in order to be competitive and well represented. The associa-tion's programmes include a broad range of activities to uphold and represent Mem-bers and the interests of the IT sector and to affirm a key role for them in contributing to the growth of the Italian economy. Coordination of the associa-tion's activities is overlooked by the Board led and presided by Ennio Lucarelli. Federico Barilli is Director of the Asso-ciation and responsible for managing activities, initiatives and programmes, which in-clude:

dialogue with the institu-tions;

facilitating supply and de-mand to meet;

monitoring and analysing national and international markets;

fostering contacts among organisations and compa-nies;

providing services to mem-bers.

One of the Association's pri-mary activities is however monitoring and analysis of the market. Assinform publishes an annual Report - Rapporto Assinform sull'Informatica, le Telecomu-nicazioni e i contenuti Multi-mediali, a tradition that goes back 38 years - which is firmly established as the most impor-tant reference for the status and trends of the ICT market in Italy. MEMBER’s LIST 3COM ITALIA A.P. SYSTEMS Srl ACCENTURE SpA ACER ITALY Srl ACI INFORMATICA SpA ADOBE SYSTEMS INCORPO-RATED ADS AUTOMATED DATA SYS-TEMS SpA AICOD Srl AIVE SpA ALCATEL LUCENT ITALIA ALEKSO CONSULTING SpA ALMAVIVA SpA ALTAIR INFO Srl AMADEUS ITALIA SpA AMD SpA ANDROMEDA INFORMATICA Srl ANTESI Srl APC ARAKNOS Srl ASG ADVANCED SOFTWARE GROUP SpA ASSINDUSTRIA ANCONA AXWAY BETWEEN SpA BIZLOGICA Srl BMC SOFTWARE ITALIA BRAIN COMPUTING Srl BREMP Srl BT ITALIA SpA BTO Srl BUSINESS OBJECTS ITALIA SpA C&C SISTEMI Srl CADAN Srl CEAS CENTRO DI ANALISI STRUTTURALE CEDACRI SpA CEDAF CEGEDIM ITALIA SpA CINECA CISCO ITALY Srl COLT TELECOM SpA COMDATA SpA COMPUSHOP

COMPUWARE SpA CONFINDUSTRIA CATANIA CONFINDUSTRIA GENOVA CONSORZIO NETCOMM COSMIC BLUE TEAM SpA CPI PROGETTI SpA CSC ITALIA DATA WARE Srl DATAGRAPH Srl DATASIEL SISTEMI E TEC-NOLOGIE DI INFORMATICA SpA DAXO DEDAGROUP SpA DELFO ITALIANA DELL SpA DFLABS Srl DIALCOM CONSULTING SaS DIFFUSIONE INFORMATICA Srl DRAKE Srl DS GROUP EASYNET ITALIA SpA E-BAY ITALIA Srl EBILLING SpA EDICOM Srl EDIM INFORMATICA Srl EDITORIALE BRESCIANA SpA EDITRICE QUADRATUM SpA EDS ITALIA SpA ELEA SpA ELSAG-DATAMAT SpA EMC2 COMPUTER SYSTEMS ITALIA SpA ENERGEE3 Srl ENGINEERING INGEGNERIA INFORMATICA SpA EOSYS Srl EQUALIS Srl ERICSSON ESRI ITALIA SpA EUTELIA SpA EVERIS ITALIA SpA EXALEAD Srl EXIMIA FORMATECH Srl FUJITSU SIEMENS COMPUTERS SpA FUTURETECH Srl GFI ITALIA SpA GFM-NET Srl GI GROUP GOOGLE ITALIA GREEN BIT SpA GRUPPO LOTTOMATICA SpA GRUPPO PRAGMA Srl GRUPPO PRO SpA GRUPPO RESI INFORMATICA SpA GST SpA GULLIVER Srl GUTTADAURO COMPUTERS & SOFTWARE Srl HEWLETT PACKARD ITALIANA Srl HITACHI DATA SYSTEMS IBM ITALIA SpA INAZ Srl INF.OR Srl INFOCAMERE INFORMATICA SOFTWARE ITALIA INSIEL SpA INTEGRA Srl INTEL CORPORATION ITALIA SpA INTEROUTE SpA INTESA SpA ISED SpA ITALSEL Srl ITALTEL SpA K TEAM SERVICES AND TECH-NOLOGIES Srl KELYAN SpA KIBERNETES Srl LASER MEMORY CARD SpA LENOVO Srl LINNEO Srl

MAGGIOLI INFORMATICA MICRO FOCUS Srl MICROSOFT Srl MOBTEC Srl MOVENDA SpA NESSPRO Italy SpA NETAPP - NETWORK APPLI-ANCE Srl NEXUS INFORMATICA SpA NOLAN NORTON ITALIA Srl NORDCOM SpA NORTEL NOUS INFORMATICA Srl OCTO TELEMATICS Srl ORACLE CORP. PALM PANASONIC ITALIA SpA PARSEC Srl PARTECS Srl PAYPAL ITALIA PLANTRONICS ITALIA Srl POSTECOM SpA PRIDE SpA PROMOTOR ICT PROSOLVIA-TECH SpA QUALCOMM Inc. RAI-RADIOTELEVISIONE ITAL-IANA SpA REPLY SpA RETIS SpA RIBES INFORMATICA SpA RITEL SpA S.T.S. Srl SAGA SpA SAP ITALIA SAS INSTITUTE Srl SAVEDATA Srl SERCO SpA SESA SISTEMI Srl SIA-SSB SpA SIAV SpA SINAPTO Srl SINTECOP SpA SIRTI SpA SISCOM SKYLINE Srl SOFTEC SpA SOFTWAREONE ITALIA Srl SOGEI SpA SOLVI Srl SOPRA GROUP SpA STRATOS Srl STUDIO K Srl SUN MICROSYSTEMS ITALIA SYMANTEC Srl TD GROUP SpA TECHEDGE SpA TELECLIENT SYSTEM INTEGRA-TION SpA TESI SpA THEOREMATICA SpA TIETOENATOR ITALIA SpA TINN Srl TL.TI Expo SpA TOSHIBA EUROPE GMBH T-SYSTEMS ITALIA SpA TXT E-SOLUTIONS UBIQUITY Srl UGS ITALIA SpA UNIONE INDUSTRIALE DI TORINO UNISYS ITALIA Srl VALUE TEAM SpA VEM SISTEMI SpA VISIANT SpA WEB MODELS Srl WOLTERS KLUWER ITALIA WORKITALIA RISORSE Srl ZUCCHETTI

DIGITAL EUROPE

DIGITALEUROPE was formed in 1999 as the European Information & Communications Technology Industry Association by the consolidation of the two former European federations of the information and telecommunications industries. Reflecting the movement of the marketplace and the rapid increase of co-operation and fusion found therein, we next expanded the scope of our representation to include the consumer electronics industry. In 2001, we merged our activities with EACEM – the European Association of Consumer Electronics Manufacturers. The new joint association changed its name to European In-formation, Communications and Consumer Electronics Technology Industry Association. Today, we combine 39 national digital technology associations from 29 European countries with over 62 direct company mem-bers. DIGITALEUROPE altogether represents more than 10,000 enterprises in Europe with more than two million employees and revenues of over €1,000 billion.

Leaders of Expatriates Development Soci-ety of Bangladesh called on the govern-ment to take necessary steps to facilitate the process of migration to Italy. Italy is an important labour market of Bangladeshi youths and currently around one lakh skilled manpower are working in Italy. The leaders said this at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters' Unity auditorium in the city. But recently a visa processing agency ap-pointed by the Italian embassy in Dhaka has been harassing around 2,000 aspirant workers and violating the Italian law, they said, alleging that they did not give them the work permit visa. The visa processing centre named 'VFS Global -- Italian Visa and Legalisation Application Centre' does not cooperate with the hopeful migrant workers and take

service charges in addition to the visa fees, they mentioned. They complained that without showing any cause, some 2000 applicants were re-fused after harassing for around 10 months, while some 200 to 300 applications are kept in the centre for more than seven months. But there is no way to say anything against the agency, the leaders added. On behalf of the work-ers, they urged the government to take necessary steps in a diplomatic way so that the Italian embassy offers refusal letter if they fail to provide visas to the aspirants. The government should formulate a moni-

toring cell and provide legal services to resolve the problems to those who are trying to mi-grate to Italy or other countries, they added.

The leaders said non-resident Bangla-deshis in Italy have been sending around $300 million currently to the country.

Italy is a poten-tial sector for the Bangla-deshis and it will take 80,000 seasonal work-ers from differ-ent countries in 2009. Chairperson of the society Abu Syed Khan, Executive Direc-

tor Shah Mohammad Taifur Rahman, Director (Information) Iqbal Hossain and Organising Secretary Khan Kamal Nazrul spoke at the programme.

'Facilitate process of migration to Italy' Sunday, March 1, 2009 , Daily Star

Biplabi Nari Sanghati demonstrates at Sha-hbagh, Dhaka-Bangladesh in the capital de-manding steps against repression and equal rights for women. The demonstration was organised in observance of International Wo-men's Day .

Syndicated newspaper of Italy with KINGSHUK registered DA no. 327 Bangladesh

lunedì 9 marzo 2009 www.newsandviews.eu NEWS&VIEWS

5

Tragedy Strikes again for Intelligence failure - BDR disaster in Bangladesh

Intelligence failure caused BDR disaster M. Shahidul Islam WEEKLY HOLIDAY FRONT PAGE 06.March 2009

Every crisis must traverse a slotted path to come to its end. The BDR mutiny of February 25 was just the beginning of a major

crisis that has long way to cross the finishing line. That is why the carnage and the genocide of February 25 have begun to alter the internal political dynamics of the country while the prospect of foreign military intervention remains as vibrant as it was on February 25. Threat to sovereignty The Hindustan Times reported on March 2 that the crisis in Bangladesh had put on alert the armed forces of India who re-main stand by for what they said 'humanitarian intervention' inside Bangladesh. The paper claimed, since the day of the BDR mutiny, Indian Air Force (IAF) transport bases - equipped with IL-76 heavy-lift and AN-32 medium-lift aircrafts- were asked to stay prepared to

assist the Bangladesh govern-ment, if requested by Dhaka. Quoting an unnamed senior IAF officer, the paper claimed that the largest Indian air-

base located in Jorhat, Assam, - which is also the closest one to Bangladesh- stands ready to conduct such a mission. The Indian readiness to intervene was reinforced further by another statement made on March 4 in Hyderabad by the Direc-tor General of the BSF, M L Kumawat. "After this crisis in Bang-ladesh, we have given direction to all our troops and personnel deployed on Indo-Bangladesh border to remain on high alert," he said. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also said on March 3 in a local

seminar that the "Conspiracies against Bang-ladesh are not over yet...There is still a plot to foil the coun-try's democ-racy, inde-pendence and sovereignty," she said, add-

ing, "My own safety is at risk." Yet, the squabbling between the government and the opposition continues in disregard to a host of impending internal and exter-nal threats to the country's stability and the sovereignty. The internal political ambiance has been sharply polarized since the Prime Minister pointed a finger of suspicion toward the opposi-tion leaders for the BDR carnage in the parliament, resulting in

the opposition leaders to be more aggressive in blaming the government for the trag-edy and its handling. Meanwhile, the victims - the military officers, their fami-lies, colleagues in the service and outside - kept blaming the higher command of the military for its failure to launch a rescue mission soon after the massacre began. The higher command, on the other hand, keeps making excuses that it had no order to intervene militarily to sub-

due the mutineers despite there being a quickly- organized- preparedness to do so. Crisis mishandled The pain is made more unbearable when certain facts are made known. For example, observers were awestruck at the PM's dis-closure that the assassinated Director General (DG) of the BDR, Maj. Gen. Shakil Ahmed, had called her from his cell phone upon being shot at and requested for help. Although the PM had called the army chief instantly who is learnt to have said, "The military needs an hour and a half, or two, to launch an appropri-ate mission," no further instruction came from the political lead-ership to enter the BDR compound during the more than 30 hours long stand off in order to see where thousands of bullets were being fired, and, at who. The military mission thus aborted, a visibly uncoordinated po-

litical mission kept the crisis prolonged for nearly 40 hours. During that time, none had the clue that one of the most heinous carnages of history had occurred within the Pilkhana BDR com-pound, at a time when the Prime Minister declared a general amnesty to the mutineers and sent her political colleagues to talk to the rebel soldiers inside the BDR head quarters without ensuring first the safety of the en-trapped officers and their family members. Consequently, serious uproars are being raised about the failure of the PM to order the launching of a rescue mission and the absence of pressure for the release of the hos-tages first, unharmed, as a precondition to the de-clared amnesty. Besides, the PM, as the country's defence minis-ter, failed to gather enough intelligence to know the true extent of the killings that were going inside the BDR head quarters. Also surprising is the fact that the PM allowed an MP of the ruling party to launch a publicity campaign to clear the three miles radius of the BDR headquarters, which has further facili-tated the fleeing of the murderers from the spot. Horrendous discovery All that being part of history now, one wonders how it all hap-pened, who did it, and why? While that is precisely the undertaking of the investigators who will unearth the real intent of the carnage and identify the cul-prits, the incident demonstrates a serious lapse in military intel-ligence. The following facts, gathered from over a dozen of reli-able sources, further corroborate that fact. One: Investigators have learnt that a team of 25 trained foreign commandos entered Bangladesh illegally from India through various bordering areas on or within January 11, 2009. They were received and sheltered in Dhaka by individuals working under cover as diplomats. Two: At the same time, a small group of 10-12 BDR members, including two Deputy Assistant Directors (DADs), were re-cruited as the internal moles and coordinators to provide precise information to the foreign team via three senior political leaders of the country until the hours of the carnage. Three: The occasion for the operation was chosen carefully to ensure availability of all senior BDR officers who had gathered in Pilkhana for the annual BDR day celebration. Over 3,000 extra troops also came to Pilkhana for various administrative duties as well as to launch a tattoo show for which the BDR has been historically famous. Four: The mutiny was slated for February 24, while the PM was in Pilkhana to take salute in the BDR day parade. In considera-tion of likely collateral harm to the political personalities and other dignitaries who accompanied the PM, the date was changed. However, final coordination and reconnaissance were done that day by some guests who attended the parade, mas-querading as VIPs. Five: Upon conclusion of final reconnaissance, at about 10.30 PM, on February 24, a segment of the foreign killing squad and over 25 BDR soldiers - plus three young - leading politicians of the country - met in a briefing in one of suburban Dhaka resi-dences. The precise timing of the operation and the responsibili-ties of each small group were decided in that meeting. Six: As per plan, one of the DADs ensured that members of the

BDR cell would be posted on duty on gate number 4 that morn-ing when the DG would sit for the slated Darbar in the Darbar hall. Seven: On February 25, the D-day, the foreign commando team entered the Pilkhana compound through gate number 4, at 8.10 AM, using a BDR vehicle (Bedford) which the designated DAD had arranged to send for them about an hour ago. Dressed in sports gear (long camouflage trouser, vest, and PT shoe) - in order to be able to quickly change into civil clothes while fleeing after the massacre - the killers entered the Pilkhana compound undetected. Eight: The BDR vehicle that carried the killers was followed by an ash-colour pick up van which carried initially used arms and ammunition from outside. In order to begin the massacre, one of the Bengali speaking commandos, armed, was ordered to enter the Darbar hall without permission to engage the DG into a provoking altercation. Nine: Once the DG was shot, other officers, all unarmed, tried to obstruct the lone killer. Within seconds, the action group of the killer team entered the Darbar hall and started killing other officers while the cover up group cordoned the area.

Ten: In the following hours, part B of the mission began by in-ducting other troops into the team under gun point and the armoury - as well as the intelligence equipments - was looted. The foreign killers and their local henchmen used BDR soldiers on gunpoint to show the locations of other officers, their fami-lies, and the offices where vital national security documents remained preserved. Highly classified border security maps, troop deployment plan and initial action plan, etc. were taken away by the foreign com-mandos. Eleven: Eyewitnesses say, two of the last for-eign commandos - one male and one female - left the BDR compound in the afternoon on Feb-ruary 26, following the surrendering of arms by BDR members who knew nothing about the mutiny even a minute before. These two are presumed to be the leaders of the foreign commando team. None of the above could have been materialized if the two main national intelligence outfits of the country (DGFI and NSI) have had prior clues about what was being conspired to destroy the armed forces of the country. The foreign commandos took control of BDR's own intelligence outfit, RSU, at the initial stage and used RSU equip-

ments to communicate among themselves during the mutiny. The commanding officer of RSU too was assassinated during the carnage. That aside, there were other intelligence lapses during the mu-tiny. In the more than 30 hours while the mutiny prolonged, nei-ther the NSI, nor the DGFI, had any clue about who were being shot at and what exactly went on inside. They also ignored SMS messages from fellow officers, on ground that there was no order from the gov-ernment to do anything. In reality, these two agencies were too busy, as they often are, in ensuring security to the VVIPs and VIPs; not the country and its vital institutions that they are oath-bound and mandated to serve and protect. Failure of security This horrendous lack of intelligence also led to the absence of any special security being arranged at the venue of the DG's Darbar from where the carnage began and spread, despite Stan-dard Operating Procedure (SOP) dictating military commanders to post armed sentry around any gathering of troops or officers, in peace and in war. As such, the entire security of the day was as usual; the main

gates manned by regimental guards, and, gate number four manned by soldiers from that tiny cell created by the two alleged DADs, indoctrinated to be part of a mutiny that tried to rid the BDR of its military command for ever. Now that the threats to the nation's sovereignty has exacerbated following this tragedy, the wishes of the foreign powers and their henchmen must be thwarted at any cost. In order to do that, the political leadership and the armed forces must ensure that innocent BDR members do not face any perse-cutions while the force itself may be renamed as Border Guards Regiment (BGR) and its command may be vested to a newly created Para-Military Division (PMD) within the Armed Forces Division (AFD) of the ministry of defence. That having done, all eligible BGR members must be sent to the country's borders to uphold the nation's sovereignty at any cost, with a renewed sense of dedication and determination. It's time for the nation to prove: greater the challenge, more determined we are.

FOREIGN MILITARY INTERVENTION LIKELY?

Syndicated newspaper of Italy with KINGSHUK registered DA no. 327 Bangladesh

lunedì 9 marzo 2009 www.newsandviews.eu NEWS&VIEWS

6

Italy unveils stimulus Spending, Bellucci gets Women’s World Award, Sicily to get longest bridge

Italian actress pays tribute to Yemeni forced- marriage girl Vienna, Italian actress Monica Bellucci recei-ved a prestigious world prize for women Thur-sday night and paid tribute to a preteen Yeme-ni girl who was prevented from attending the ceremony after becoming a global icon against forced marriages. Nojoud Muhammad Nasser, 10, was not allo-wed out of Yemen to accept the honour in the World Hope category. Receiving her World Actress Award, the 44-year-old Bellucci said ''(Nasser) is too dange-rous for her country, that's why they won't let her out''. Nasser made headlines in April 2008 when she won a Yemeni court battle to divorce a 30-year-old man who sexually abused her. Bellucci, whose credits include Malena, Matrix Reloaded, The Passion of the Christ and The Brothers Grimm, was awarded the acting prize ''for outstanding merit,'' organisers said. Another Italian actress, Claudia Cardinale, was honoured in Vienna for her humanitarian and pro-women work. The Tunisian-born 1960s-70s sex symbol, 70, received the Benazir Bhutto World Tolerance Award. Another Italian prize winner was designer Angela Missoni, daughter of high-end knitwear icon Ottavio Missoni, who received the World Fashion Award. Other honorees included Northern Irish Nobel

peace laureate Betty Williams, who called for a protest outside the Yemeni embassy over the Nasser case; US pop singers Anastacia and Kelly Clarkson; Australian ex-supermodel Elle

Macpherson; and British singer and actress Marianne Faithful who received the Lifetime Achievment Award. Past winners of the event have included German former supermodel Claudia Schiffer; the late Pakistani prime mini-ster Bhutto; US actress and human rights cam-paigner Susan Sarandon; and US talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

The Women's World Awards were set up in 2004 to be ''a global platform aimed at reco-gnizing the works of extraordinary, strong and successful women committed to the cause of improving the world''.

BELLUCCI GETS WOMEN'S WORLD AWARD

ITALY’S prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has breathed new life into a multi-billion-pound plan to build the world’s longest suspension bridge between the island of Sicily and the Italian main-land. Proclaiming that, “Yes, there is a recession, but it’s not tragic”, the centre-right prime minister earmarked £1.2 billion for a project predicted to cost £5.4 billion as part of an ambitious package to boost Italy’s economy. The bridge, the subject of fierce debate for three decades and a symbol of Italy’s chronic planning delays, would stretch for more than two miles across the Strait of Messina from Sicily to the region of Calabria. It would have the world’s longest main span of 10,826ft. The current record-holder is Japan’s Akashi-Kaikyo bridge, with a central span of 6,532ft. Almost 200ft wide, Italy’s new bridge would be supported by two 1,306ft pillars, each higher than the Empire State Building in New York, and carry six motorway lanes, a railway for up to 200 trains a day and two pedestrian walkways. Berlusconi has long championed the bridge as a stimulus to the economically depressed south. Supporters see it as a huge job-creation scheme and a boost for tourism. Opponents say it will be an ecological disaster, vulnerable to high winds, earthquakes and tidal waves, and a boon for the mafia. Berlusconi, 72, is confident that work will begin next year and be completed in 2016. Opposing the scheme, the centre-left Democratic party’s new leader, Dario Franceschini, said with a dig at Italy’s richest man: “Obviously Berlusconi, in his golden bunker, has no idea what ordinary people are going through.”

Sicily to get longest bridge

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi urged Italians on Friday not to change their lifestyles during the economic crisis, as he set aside funds to build a bridge to the island of Sicily and increa-sed welfare aid. Italy earmarked €1.3 billion, or $1.7 billion, to

start construction of the bridge, which would link Sicily to the mainland, and the gover-nment said it would make an additional €4 billion available to a welfare fund. "Our greatest fear is that people will change their lifestyles just because they're afraid, and thus worsen the crisis," Berlusconi told repor-ters after a Cabinet meeting in Rome. "Some in the media continue to paint this crisis as a tragedy, which is an exaggeration." Business confidence is at a record low, Italy's economy contracted by the largest amount in more than 25 years in the fourth quarter, and the Bank of Italy said this week that the eco-nomy would shrink 2.6 percent this year. The government has already set aside €5 billion for poor families and €2 billion for car rebates and

incentives to buy energy-saving appliances. Fiat, the biggest manufacturer in Italy, said this month that March sales would be unchan-ged or higher than a year earlier thanks to the incentives. Sales of Fiat-branded cars fell 25.6 percent in Italy in February. "Not only domestic companies, but even the chairman of Volkswagen felt the need to call and thank me for the efficacy of our measures" to spur automobile sales, Berlusconi said. The finance minister, Giulio Tremonti, defen-ded the government's moves to offset the slump. The opposition has accused Tremonti of being slow to use public money to help prop up the economy. "We've spent more than other countries to help out the real economy," Tremonti said. "Other countries have had to shell out money for bai-louts, but they've done less for the economy." Tremonti has pledged to underwrite as much as €12 billion in bonds to help Italian banks increase capital. Berlusconi said Friday that the bonds would help stimulate as much as €150 billion in lending to businesses. A plan to restart the construction of low-income housing will be approved at the next Cabinet meeting, Berlusconi said. The funds the government has set aside for the bridge to connect the toe of the boot-shaped peninsula to Sicily represent about a fifth of the total estimated cost of the project. Berlu-sconi resurrected the plan to build the bridge after the previous government, led by Romano Prodi, canceled the project in 2006 to focus on other infrastructure works. Italy approved a total of about €8.5 billion in public funds Friday to be allocated over three years for public works projects.

Italy unveils stimulus spending

Potrebbero essere considerati i primi resti di una "donna vampiro", quelli trovati in un sito archeologico a Vene-zia nell'isola del Laz-zaretto Nuovo. Il te-schio ha un piccolo mattone in bocca, secondo le usanze indotte dalle supersti-zioni dell'epoca a cui risale, il Medioevo. Quando la peste dila-gava si pensava che gli untori fossero donne-vampiro. Perché spes-so chi moriva di peste emetteva un rivolo di sangue dalla bocca. Secondo la leggenda le vampire "non-morte", sepolte a fianco dei cadaveri degli appe-stati, si nutrivano del sangue di questi ultimi per poi riuscire fuori dalla tomba e contagiare altre persone. Così gli

addetti alla sepoltura inserivano quindi un palo nella bocca delle sospette. E così che è

stata ritrovata la "vampira" italiana, con un mattone in bocca che le ha frantumato tutti i denti. Nudi per la pace nel mondo: ad Asuncion, in Paraguay, un grup-po di attivisti ha mani-festato contro le guer-re, le violenze e il nu-cleare scendendo in piazza con la sola arma del body painting. Le ragazze hanno sfoggia-to un mezzo busto colorato con i simboli della pace e dell'anti-nucleare dipinti sul

corpo nudo, mentre gli uomini

Gucci's skin-tight black leather pants drew the eye to giraffe-like legs extended further by spike heels. A zebra effect alternated suede and patent leather patches on the thigh, while other leg-gings were of lycra, creating a sensual look bordering on fetishism. Gucci designer Frida Giannini tamed the eroti-cism of a short black patent-leather raincoat with more demure tops, such as spotted crepe de chine tunics with kimono sleeves in fuchsia, violet and metallic blue. She has fun with furs, using blue fox for a jog-ging outfit and black astrakhan speckled with silver for a jacket. Meanwhile Moschino had a thing for houn-dstooth, writ large or small, in coats swelling wide at the hips, baggy high-waisted trousers and even tights. There was lots of black, punctuated by a scarlet raincoat, vermillion rose motifs and a flambo-yant red bow at theneck. Nail polish matched, or forearms sported two-tone gloves in tan and black up to the elbow. Bottega Veneta's Tomas Maier rolled out his dresses-only collection over bare legs, accen-tuating the sensuality of his styles and mate-rials all the more. He cut a bustier dress from chocolate brown leather, another in chestnut is split in the back, a third is done in silk cloque. The lines are uncluttered in his minimalist couture, the edges sharp, while the colours are soft and powdery, here and there contrasting with stronger shades of grape or lilac. Evening gowns are more sophisticated, swee-ping to the floor in elegant soft pleats, slinky in empire or greek goddess styles. Anna Molinari of Blumarine outdid herself with the colours - shocking pink, yellow, lime

green and light blue - setting the scene by u-sing the display in a Warhol image of herself as the show's backdrop. They came in solid tones, one over the other - a pink coat over a yellow or blue shift - all adorned with look-at-me crystal bangles and necklaces. Or the more psychedelic colours in the collec-tion were thrown together in leopardskin

prints on sassy leggings and frocks. Those and the Sharon Stone-style shifts under thigh-length coats aroused basic instincts that extended to evening wear with Wilma Flintsto-ne rag skirts fashioned out of midnight-blue chiffon silk. Krizia offered up a stark palette of black, white, red and grey that nevertheless had lots of room for manoeuvre, with thin white stripes going both ways on ample black wraps, a ruby red velvet shirt dress, and shimmering high-waisted black trousers. Furry wrist-to-elbow muffs, sometimes with gloves, caught the eye, while the hair done in faux mohawks added a hint of punk to an ele-gant silhouette.

Milan's a hit as fashion goes animal MILAN: Top designers appealed to animal instincts at Milan Fashion Week, using motifs from the wild and models wrapped in leather and fur for their autumn-winter collections at the weekend.

Rome, Other European Union countries should follow Italy in boycotting an upcoming United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said. Italy was the first EU country to follow Israel, Canada and the United States by withdrawing from the Durban Review Conference, a follow-up to the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discri-mination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. Critics say both the original 2001 conference in Dur-ban and preparatory meetings for the 2009 meeting undermined UN principles because of open anti-Israel sentiment, and other countries are also considering a boycott. 'I have spoken personally with the Netherlands, France and Denmark: everyone has major doubts and I hope they will follow our example,'' Frattini said. The minister reiterated calls for organisers to remove ''clearly antisemitic expressions and phrases breeding intolerance'' from a draft declaration for the conference, which is due to take place in Geneva on April 20-24. Frattini said Thursday that Italy considered the phrases in the document ''totally unacceptable''. On Friday the spokesman for the United Nations' Human Rights Commission, Rupert Colville, appealed for states to ''put aside political divisions and narrow interests' and participate in the conference. He said that while Italy and the United States ''were disturbed'' by some aspects of the draft document, both countries seemed ready to return to the table if satisfactory changes are made in the text. ''There are more than six weeks before the conference and there's still time for the countries to create a text that is acceptable for everyone,'' he said. 'It's clear that the coun-tries must make a real effort to arrive at a conclusion that can help the millions of individuals in the world who suffer from racism, xenophobia and intolerance,'' he added. Both the World Jewish Congress (WJC) and the European Jewish Congress renewed calls for coun-tries to boycott the conference earlier this week. WJC President Ronald Lauder said in a statement that the conference ''was not about combating racism, but about promoting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda within the framework of the United Nations''. He said that ''no good'' could result from a conference where countries ''such as Libya, Iran, Pakistan and Syria are dictating the agenda'', claiming they were ''attempting to protect their extremist ideologies under the disguise of banning the 'defamation of religion' while at the same time refusing to condemn Holocaust denial''.

Syndicated newspaper of Italy with KINGSHUK registered DA no. 327 Bangladesh

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Over one hundred demonstrators marched in Malmö last weekend in pro-test against police racism. The demonstration began with a short speech in Rosengård, a predominantly immigrant suburb of Malmö, by local resident Pia Ibarra who drew reference to recent revelations of racism within Skåne police. "We have been attacked by the police for years. The frightening thing now is that they do not even try to hide it", Ibarra said. A series of revelations have emerged in recent weeks including a police video with officers making racist and threatening comments and the use of names such as Neger (Negro) Niggersson and Oskar Neger for internal training purpo-ses. Sweden's national police commissioner, Bengt Svensson, has since launched an independent inquiry into racism within the police force in Skåne in a bid to restore confidence in the police. Source Peter Vinthagen Simpson news@thelocal.se/+46 8 656 6518 Demo against police racism in Malmö

Cegetel-SFR fined for discrimination

The Cegetel-SFR telecoms group has been fined 20,000 euros by a tribunal in Nanterre, France, for having advertised a discriminatory

job vacancy in 2009 which exclu-ded foreigners for a “secret defen-ce” position. Two former managers were also given suspended fines of 3,000 and 1,000 euros and will have to pay 1,000 euros of dama-ges, in solidarity with Cegetel-SFR, to SOS Racisme, an anti-racist organisation which brought the case forward and was claiming 100,000 euros. The job advertise-ment specified that the candidate "must be French and preferably of French parents, born in France”. SOS Racisme based its case official texts, none of which foresee a con-dition of origin or nationality in order to be entitled to this position.

New measures to bar tens of thou-sands of foreign workers from outside Europe coming to work in Britain as the recession bites deeper were outlined by the home secretary, Jacqui Smith. The package includes possible moves to prevent the families of skilled migrants working in Britain and restricting skilled migrants to taking jobs only in occupations with shorta-ges. It represents a significant tightening of the new Australian-style points-based immigration system only four months after its introduction last No-vember in the face of mounting "British jobs for British workers" protests and fears that the far-right British National Party, will win seats for the first time in June's European elections. The government has already banned the legal movement of unskilled economic migrants from outside Europe to Britain and the package outlined by the home secretary represents the first move to cut the number skilled migrants coming to work. The migration advisory committee, chaired by LSE professor David Metcalf, has also been asked to assess the economic impact of banning the spouses and other de-pendants of foreign workers from taking jobs in Britain. This move could also affect tens of thousands of people who come to work each year mainly from India, Pakistan and parts of Africa. "These measures are not about narrow protectionism," Smith said. "Just as in a growth period we needed migrants to support growth, it is right in a downturn to be more selective about the skill levels of those migrants, and to do more to put British work-ers first."

Foreign workers could be barred from entering the UK

Italy asks EU to Boycott UN summit, Major Human Trafficking Gang Busted

Demonstration against police racism in Malmö, Sweden

The Plzen authorities on 16 February banned an event which local citizen Tomas Babka has announced as a Protest against Zionism and Jewish influence in society as Babka is a lea-ding representative of local nationalists with contacts with far right Prague radicals, according to the police. The event was banned because of the per-son who organized it as well as becau-se of its purpose, said Hana Josefova, from a Plzen district office. "We have arrived at the conclusion that the meeting could aim at suppressing or limiting personal, political or other rights of citizens due to their ethnic origin, sex, race, and political or religious beliefs, and at instigating hatred and intolerance," Josefo-

Czech town bans far right extremist event

The EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) has released new data on anti-Semitic incidents in the EU in its new report “Anti-Semitism - Summary overview of the situation in the European Union 2001-2008”. FRA Director Morten Kjaerum said: “The Agency’s research shows that during 2007 and most of 2008, the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the EU declined, but that it has been on the rise again since December of 2008. This recent surge in anti-Semitic incidents is reason for great concern. While it is too early to draw conclusions, there are indications that this rise could partly be affec-ted by the situation in the Middle East, as well as by the global financial crisis.” Source: Waltraud Heller at media@fra.europa.eu or Tel. +43 1 58030-642

FRA report on anti-Semitic incidents in the EU

Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot, responsible for freedom, secu-rity and justice, said: "We are actively working to put in place the Common European Asylum System. In this context, it is essential that we align not only our laws but also our practices. The asylum authorities of the Member States have crucial need of material support for their day-to-day operatio-nal requirements. Support teams deployed by the Office will also help to find solutions to emergency situations, such as a mass influx of asylum seekers." For example, an Iraqi has a 71% chance of obtaining protection in one Member State but only a 2% chance in another. The Policy Plan on Asylum adopted by the Commission in June 2008 proposed an ambitious extension and overhaul of European legislation on asylum. This work is in progress but needs to be underpinned by a stepping-up of administrative cooperation between the Member States with a view to aligning national practices. The Office will support Member States in their efforts to implement a more consistent and fairer asylum policy, for example by helping to identify good practices, organising training at European level and improving access to accurate information on countries of origin. It will also be responsible for coordinating support teams made up of national experts that will be deplo-yed at the request of Member States faced with a mass influx of asylum seekers into their territory. It will also provide scientific and technical assi-stance for the development of asylum policy and legislation. If the proposal is adopted quickly, the Office could be up and running by 2010. Its headquarters will be established in an EU Member State by deci-sion of the Heads of State and Government.

European Asylum Support Office proposed by the Commission

Rome, Other European Union countries should follow Italy in boycotting an upcoming United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Foreign Mini-ster Franco Frattini said. Italy was the first EU country to follow Israel, Canada and the United States by withdrawing from the Durban Review Conference, a follow-up to the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. Critics say both the original 2001 conference in Durban and preparatory meetings for the 2009 meeting undermined UN principles because of open anti-Israel sentiment, and other countries are also considering a boycott. ''I have spoken personally with the Netherlands, France and Denmark: everyone has major doubts and I hope they will follow our example,'' Fratti-ni said. The minister reiterated calls for organisers to remove ''clearly antisemitic expressions and phrases breeding intolerance'' from a draft declaration for the conference, which is due to take place in Geneva on April 20-24. Frattini said Thursday that Italy considered the phrases in the document ''totally unacceptable''. On Friday the spokesman for the United Nations' Human Rights Commission, Rupert Colville, appealed for states to ''put aside political divisions and narrow interests' and participate in the confe-rence. He said that while Italy and the United States ''were disturbed'' by some aspects of the draft document, both countries seemed ready to return to the table if satisfactory changes are made in the text. ''There are more than six weeks before the conference and there's still time for the countries to create a text that is acceptable for everyone,'' he said. ''It's clear that the countries must make a real effort to arrive at a conclusion that can help the millions of individuals in the world who suffer from ra-cism, xenophobia and intolerance,'' he added. Both the World Jewish Congress (WJC) and the European Jewish Congress renewed calls for countries to boycott the conference earlier this week. WJC President Ronald Lauder said in a statement that the conference ''was not about combating racism, but about promoting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda within the framework of the United Nations''. He said that ''no good'' could result from a conference where countries ''such as Libya, Iran, Pakistan and Syria are dictating the agenda'', claiming they were ''attempting to protect their extremist ideologies under the disguise of ban-ning the 'defamation of religion' while at the same time refusing to con-demn Holocaust denial''.

ITALY ASKS EU TO BOYCOTT UN SUMMIT 'Major doubts' over racism conference, Frattini says

Police busted a major human trafficking racket whose members referred to the immigrants they shipped from Libya to Italy as 'tuna fish', 'crates of tomatoes' or, if they were minors, 'school satchels' during telephone calls. Thirteen people were arrested in Sicily and Calabria in the south and Lombardy and Emilia Romagna in the north, of whom police said several would face kidnapping char-ges. Investigators described the gang as ''multiethnic and very dangerous''. The gang was largely made up of Sudanese but also included a Tunisian, a Ugandan, an Iraqi, an Eritrean and a Mo-roccan woman. The police operation was an offshoot of one in 2005 which cracked down on a gang of foreigners suspected of having links with international terrorism. Evidence gathered later showed that while the group had no ties to terrorism, it was part of a large in-ternational organization involved in human trafficking with branches in the countries the immigrants originated from as well as in Libya and Italy. Investigators explai-ned that branches in countries like Morocco, Egypt, Tu-nisia, Algeria and Sudan would recruit immigrants who were then taken to the Libyan port of Souara. From there the Libyan members of the organization would take over and arrange to have the immigrants brought to Italy by

sea, usually to the island of Lampedusa. The criminal organization maintained contact with the immigrants even after their arrival in Italy, where a Sudanese gang leader monitored their transfer to immigration

processing centers in the cities of Crotone, Agrigento and Caltanissetta. Through his agents in the centers, the Sudanese gang leader not only arranged for the immi-grants to escape but also organised their transfer to cities in northern Italy. For every immigrant transported from Souara to Italian shores the organisation made be-tween 1,500 and 4,000 eu-ros, and 2,000 euros for minors, police said. Investi-gators were able to ascertain that in at least 20 cases the immigrants were held hosta-

ge by the gang and released only after relatives paid a ransom. The president of the State Security Commission (Copasir), Francesco Rutelli, congratulated the police on busting the racket. ''Human trafficking is by now one of the foremost businesses of organised crime, which has devastating implications and increases our country's insecurity,'' he said. Rutelli added that Copasir would present a report on human trafficking to parliament by the end of April which would recommend further measu-res to help combat the problem.

MAJOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING GANG BUSTED Immigrants called 'tuna fish', 'tomatoes' or 'satchels'

BAGDAD - L'esercito ame-ricano ritirerà 12.000 soldati nei prossimi sei mesi, accele-rando il piano di disimpegno dal paese che raggiungerà il picco massimo il prossimo anno e si concluderà alla fine del 2011. Lo ha annunciato oggi il portavoce del governo iracheno, Ali al Dabbagh. Altri quattromila soldati britannici, ha aggiunto il portavoce, lasceranno il Pae-se entro il prossimo luglio, attuando l'accordo raggiunto tra governo iracheno e gover-no britannico. Fonti del Pentagono a Ba-gdad hanno confermato la decisione spiegando che "due brigate di combattimento che avrebbero dovuto essere sostituite nei prossimi sei mesi non saranno rimpiazzate. Non verranno inoltre inviati nuovi militari di appoggio, con compiti di logistica, inge-gneria e intelligence". Con questo taglio il numero degli effettivi statunitensi in Iraq si ridurrà dagli attuali 140 mila di circa 12 mila unità. Ogni brigata di solito è com-posta di 4-5 mila soldati.

BAGHDAD - THE American ARMY will withdraw 12,000 soldiers in the next six months, accelerating the plan of fulfilment from the country that will reach the greatest summit the next year and will be concluded to the end of 2011. The spokesperson of the iraqui government announced it today, Ali to the Dabbagh. Other four thousand British soldiers, added the spokesperson, will slacken the Country within the next July, carrying out the Agree-ment reached between iraqui government and British gover-nment. Sources of the Pentagon to Ba-ghdad confirmed the decision explaining that "two companies of fight that should have been

replaced in the next six months will not be replaced. They will not come besides sent off new soldiers of sup-port, with tasks of logistics, engineering and intelligence". With this cut the number of the real Ame-rican in Iraq will be reduced from the present 140 thou-sand of about 12 thousand unity. Every company of habit is composed of 4-5 thousand soldiers.

Iraq, gli Usa anticipano il ritiro via 12 mila soldati entro sei mesi

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Highlighting the success of the US strategy of bringing some Sunni Iraqi insurgents to the negotiating table and away from al-Qaeda, Mr Obama told The New York Times that "there may be some comparable opportuni-ties in Afghanistan and the Pakistani region''. The strategy in Iraq had been develo-ped by General David Petraeus, then commander of US forces in the country. "If you talk to General Petraeus, I think he would argue that part of the success in Iraq involved reaching out

to people that we would consider to be Islamic fundamentalists, but who were willing to work with us because they had been completely alienated by the tactics of al-Qaeda in Iraq,'' Mr Obama said in the interview pu-blished in the online edition of The Times. But Mr Obama warned that Afghani-stan was not Iraq, and that reconci-liation efforts could face difficulties. "The situation in Afghanistan is, if anything, more complex. You have a less governed region, a history of fierce independence among tribes. Those tribes are multiple and some-

times operate at cross purposes, so figuring all that out is going to be a much more of a challenge,'' he said. But Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government had long sup-ported dialogue with those members of the Taliban, who are not connec-ted with the "terrorists'' waging an increasingly bloody insurgency in Afghanistan. "It is very good news that the Ameri-can president, his excellency Mr Obama, has backed talks with those Taliban that he termed as moderate,'' Mr Karzai said in Kabul.

Obama considers reaching out to Taliban US President Barack Obama said, in an interview, that the United States was not winning the war in Afghanistan and hinted at possible talks with moderate elements of the Taliban.

THE United States will pull 12,000 troops out of Iraq by the end of September in an acceleration of the US withdrawal, Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said.

"We have agreed that a total of 12,000 US troops will be withdrawn by the end of September 2009,'' he said. "In addition, 4000 British troops will withdraw in July 2009

according to an agreement between the United Kingdom and Iraq,'' Mr Dabbagh said alongside coalition forces spokesman Major General David Perkins of the US army.

US accelerates Iraq exit

Bangladesh: blocked Youtube

On request of the military after boundary guards mutiny (Italian Associated Press Agency) - NEW DELHI, 9 SEA - The government of the Bangladesh blo-cked YouTube on request of the soldiers, after the mutiny of the guards of boundary. Immedia-tely after the mutiny, cost the life to 70 persons, the site of video sharing in fact had been taken of assault to unload relevant short films to the event. The thing worried the soldiers, that suppressed the rebellion also with exceptional methods. The government, in order not to ruin the gia' tense relations, decided to block the site. 09 Sea 12:47

Perturbed by the recent setting on fire of an Indian immigrant and continuous human rights violations faced by certain communities like Roma; Hindus and Jews have appea-led Italy to refrain from xenophobic tendencies. Rajan Zed, acclaimed Hindu state-sman; and Rabbi Jonathan B. Frei-rich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California in USA; in a statement in Nevada today, said that Italy needed to do deep introspection of their hearts and be kind to immi-grants, minorities, and Roma people. Lauding Italian President Giorgio Napolitano for a strong statement against xenophobia, Zed and Rabbi Freirich said that such behavior was not in tune with this great country of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Tintoretto, Verdi, Fellini, and lon-gstanding history and traditions of tolerance. They expressed concern at this alar-ming growing trend for the last a-bout one year, including reported burning of Naples Roma camps, killing of Burkina Faso immigrant, beatings of a Chinese teenager and a student from Ghana, crackdown on Roma settlements. The Human Rights Commissioner of Council of Europe has reportedly repeatedly criticized Italy. If this situation conti-nued, then European Union should intervene in Italy, Zed and Rabbi Freirich stressed. Zed and Rabbi Freirich urged Italy to treat its Roma populace humanely, who reportedly faced widespread discrimination and victimization. Roma in Italy reportedly continue to be exposed to ill-treatment; hate; violence; unacceptably low living conditions, many times with no access to electricity or running wa-ter; higher mortality rates; inadequa-te camping sites; forced evictions without rehabilitation; etc. Both religious leaders urged His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, who is the biggest religious leader of the world and based right in the middle of Italy, to persuade Italian gover-nment to improve its human rights

record and come up with a more compassionate immigration policy. They asked Italian government to

“wholeheartedly” work for putting an end to xenophobia related incidents of violence and give adequate com-pensation to the reportedly brutally beaten (and later set on fire with petrol) Indian immigrant who was asleep. Rajan Zed, who is president of Uni-versal Society of Hinduism, said that Roma in Italy were reportedly in urgent need of protection of their human rights, social rights, right to proper housing and education, etc. Before evicting them from existing settlements, they should be provided proper alternative accommodation. Their continual social discrimination should also be dealt emergently. Zed and Rabbi Freirich pointed out that effective implementation, firm commitment and strong political will was needed to improve the Roma plight, who reportedly continually suffered and faced human rights violations. Roma are said to have migrated from Indian subcontinent to Europe about a thousand years ago. Italy, known for its rich cultural heritage and natural beauty, enjoys the eighth Quality-of-life index rating in the world. Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksha (liberation) is its ultimate goal. Judaism is a monotheistic reli-gion of world’s about 14 million Jews whose most sacred text is Torah.

Perturbed Hindus & Jews appeal Italy to Refrain from Xenophobic Tendencies

Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS), one of the top ranking security think tank of Bangladesh, has published its’ special report on BDR mutiny. BIPSS is a non-party, non-profit organization and independent think tank devoted to studying peace and security issues related South and Southeast Asia. The report said the BDR mutiny may cause serious security consequences for Bangladesh. The primary duty of BDR is to protect the border of Ban-gladesh and conduct anti-smuggling drive. According to the report, BDR will not be able to achieve properly their core objectives. It will be difficult for BDR to ensure prevention of in-bound and/or outbound infiltration through Bangladesh border and will have a negative impact on BDR’s counter terrorism activities. The report also said that the weapons which are now missing can end up with militant terror groups. The report said many security specialists feel that the incident is the result of blanket intelligence failure. A team from the FBI will assist Bangladeshi police investigating last month's bloody mutiny by border guards that killed more than 70 people - mostly army offi-cers. So far arrested 36 suspects out of

the more than 1,000 border guards charged in the mayhem. The mutiny ended through negotia-tions, with offers of amnesty and a show of military force. But when dozens of bodies - inclu-ding those of 56 commanding offi-cers - were discovered dumped into shallow graves or sewers on the sprawling compound, the gover-nment rescinded the amnesty for those behind the mutiny. Four other army officers are still reported mis-sing, and presumed dead. Those found guilty could face the death penalty for murder, arson, looting and hostage-taking.

BIPSS Reports BDR Mutiny Will Negatively Impact Security

Bangladesh: bloccato Youtube

Su richiesta dei militari dopo ammuti-namento guardie frontiera (ANSA) - NEW DELHI, 9 MAR - Il governo del Bangladesh ha bloccato YouTube su richiesta dei militari, dopo l'ammutinamento delle guar-die di frontiera. Subito dopo l'ammutinamento, costato la vita a 70 persone, il sito di video sha-ring era stato infatti preso d'assalto per scaricare filmati relativi alla vicenda. La cosa ha preoccu-pato i militari, che hanno represso la rivolta an-che con metodi eccezionali. Il governo, per non rovinare i gia' tesi rapporti, ha deciso di bloccare il sito. 09 Mar 12:47