	Generational Dynamics
	Forecasting America's Destiny ... and the World's

\| HOME \| WEB LOG \| COUNTRY WIKI \| COMMENT \| FORUM \| DOWNLOADS \| ABOUT \|

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 22-Apr-2012
22-Apr-12 World View -- Sectarian violence in Karachi, Pakistan, leads to rise of Islamist terrorists

Web Log - April, 2012

22-Apr-12 World View -- Sectarian violence in Karachi, Pakistan, leads to rise of Islamist terrorists

France and Germany demand right to close borders with other EU countries

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

South Africa's president Jacob Zuma dons Zulu attire for his sixth wedding
India's National Stock Exchange experiences 'flash crash'
France and Germany demand right to close borders with other EU countries
Sectarian violence in Karachi, Pakistan, leads to rise of Islamist terrorists

South Africa's president Jacob Zuma dons Zulu attire for his sixth wedding

South Africa president Jacob Zuma in traditional Zulu wedding garb (EPA)

South Africa president Jacob Zuma in traditional Zulu wedding garb (EPA)

Dressed in a leopard skin and carrying a Zulu spear of the type that was used by Zulu warriors led by Shaka to exterminate millions of indigenous Africans in the Mfecane war of the 1820s, Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa, got married for the sixth time on Saturday. According to the official statement, "President Jacob Zuma has today, 20 April 2012, married Ms Bongi Ngema at a traditional ceremony known as umgcagco at his home in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal." Zuma has been married six times, but one wife divorced him and another committed suicide, leaving the 70-year-old Zuma with a mere four wives. AFP

France and Germany demand right to close borders with other EU countries

The European Union and the euro currency were both adopted because survivors of World War II wanted a way to guarantee that Europe should never again experience horrors like the two world wars. A critical symbol of European unity is the Schengen agreement, signed in 1995, allowing the EU citizens to travel freely from one country to another without a visa. But now, France's interior minister Claude Gueant and Germany's interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich are joining hands to call for countries to have to right to close borders for 30 days at a time when conditions warrant. Opponents are saying that this must be a joke, since ending the Schengen agreement would lead to the demise of the European Union. In fact, Denmark closed its borders with Germany last year, in the midst of the war in Libya, when illegal immigrants were flowing from northern Africa into Italy and, from there, into other EU countries. (See "6-Jul-11 News -- Denmark's border controls called a 'European crisis'") Since then, Greece's porous border with Turkey has led to calls for more border closures. Opponents of the new proposal point out that "Illegal immigrants usually don't go via the border checkpoint anyway, so controls wouldn't make any sense." Deutsche-Welle

India's National Stock Exchange experiences 'flash crash'

Flash Crash

Flash Crash

An apparent "flash crash" occurred on India's National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday, when the "Nifty Futures" index fell 6.7% within a few seconds. The index recovered most of the loss, and closed down 0.96% at the end of the day. However, the sudden plummet was reminiscent of the May 6, 2010, flash crash that occurred on the New York Stock Exchange, with the S&P 500 index falling about 8% before recovering. In both cases, the cause was computerized algorithm trading, also called "high frequency trading" (HFT), where computer programs are designed to sell when they sense the market is falling, thus potentially causing a computerized stock market panic. However, the NSE claims that nothing out of the ordinary happened on Friday, despite the sudden 6.7% fall. Business Standard (Mumbai) and Reuters

Sectarian violence in Karachi, Pakistan, leads to rise of Islamist terrorists

Political violence was introduced to Karachi in the mid-1980s by the Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM), which emerged as the ethnic party of the muhajir, refugees from the Muslim-majority areas of the British India in 1947. It was renamed in the late 1990s as the Muttahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM - United National Movement), when a subgroup, the MQM-Haqaqi split off, resulting in bitter violence. In the 2000s, large numbers of Pashtun/Taliban tribesmen migrated to Karachi, resulting in more violence. Today, Karachi is one of the most violent cities in the world where at least 396 persons have lost their lives in ethnic, sectarian, and political violence in the first three months of 2012. Forty-seven of these murders were targeted killings while 24 of them were political and ethnic killings. The growing violence and subsequent chaos in Karachi has paralyzed the Pakistani security forces and created a vacuum which is being filled by Islamists, a situation that became abundantly clear in May 2011, when Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacked the Mehran naval base in Karachi with impunity. Jamestown

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 22-Apr-12 News -- Russia and West agree on Syria resolution, but disagree on details thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (22-Apr-2012) Permanent Link
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Donate to Generational Dynamics via PayPal

Web Log Pages

Current Web Log

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 22-Apr-2012 22-Apr-12 World View -- Sectarian violence in Karachi, Pakistan, leads to rise of Islamist terrorists

South Africa's president Jacob Zuma dons Zulu attire for his sixth wedding

France and Germany demand right to close borders with other EU countries

India's National Stock Exchange experiences 'flash crash'

Sectarian violence in Karachi, Pakistan, leads to rise of Islamist terrorists

Web Log Pages

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 22-Apr-2012
22-Apr-12 World View -- Sectarian violence in Karachi, Pakistan, leads to rise of Islamist terrorists