The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| From horse heads to blogs, mafia threats evolve Posted: 03 Dec 2011 07:21 AM PST  Mafia threat have evolved. While Italian mobsters still use bullets, anonymous phone calls and dead animals to make threats, they've also found a new tool of intimidation: anonymous blogging. – Reuters pic Italian mayors and local administrators received 212 threats last year, according to a new report showing the continuing influence of organised crime on Italian society and politics, especially in the nation's underdeveloped south. In the past 20 years, 202 city governments have been dissolved because they were controlled by organised crime syndicates, said the report released yesterday by Avviso Pubblico, an association of local and regional governments. The most common ways to threaten administrators who refused to collude with the criminal syndicates was to burn their cars, mail them envelopes containing bullets, or send boxes with severed animal heads, an act reminiscent of a memorable scene involving the head of a racehorse in "The Godfather". However, a more modern method, anonymous blogging, was used to target Carolina Girasole, mayor of a town of 15,000 in southern Italy. "I don't feel safe," said Girasole, 48, in a telephone interview from Isola Capo Rizzuto in the Calabria region, where the powerful 'Ndrangheta organisation is based. "The blog shows that these people are willing to do and say anything to make us leave. If we don't go, and we don't have any intention to, what will be their next move?" The authors, who write anonymously on a blog hosted by WordPress, "know my movements. They know what I do," she said. Last year, the 'Ndrangheta made 41 per cent of the threats, double the number made by the Mafia in Sicily, according to the study. THREATS As new Prime Minister Mario Monti battles to regain control of Italy's battered public finances and overhaul a stagnant economy, organised crime remains a constant drag on business and employment as well as a threat to law and order. Italy's accounting court estimates that corruption among public officials amounted to €60 billion (RM251.58 billion) in Italy last year, while the Bank of Italy said that as much as €150 billion in dirty money is laundered every year. Organised crime bosses need support from the local population, and for that they need to control local governments and administrators, said Raffaele Cantone, a prosecutor in Naples, where the Camorra organisation operates. "When they can't control the election of the mayor directly, the clans use threats to try to gain back influence," he said during the presentation of the report. In the province that includes Girasole's town of Isola Capo Rizzuto, more than 18 per cent of the city governments said they had received threats, according to the report. E-mails, faxes and even graffiti were used to make threats. Pets were killed, bombs were planted in front of homes and offices, and private orchards of orange, olive and hazelnut trees were cut down. When the threats don't work, killing can sometimes be the next step. One mayor, Angelo Vassallo, was shot and killed last year because of his effort to provide honest and transparent governance in the seaside town of Pollica, south of Naples. Local politician Francesco Fortugno was shot dead in 2005 as he voted in primaries for the Democratic Party in Locri, Calabria. – Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Half of greenhouse gases emitted by five nations: Report Posted: 03 Dec 2011 01:57 AM PST  Smoke coming out from chimneys at a coal mine in Huo Lin Guo Le, China's north Inner Mongolia region. China, the United States, India, Russia and Japan account for half of all carbon pollution released into the atmosphere. – AFP pic The first 10 countries on the list, made available during UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa, account for two-thirds of global emissions, said the report, compiled by British-based firm Maplecroft, specialists in risk analysis. China, the United States, India, Russia and Japan top the ranking, with Brazil, Germany, Canada, Mexico and Iran just behind. Three of the top six nations are energy-hungry emerging giants developing their economies at breakneck speed. China, which eclipsed the United States several years ago to head the list, produced 9,441 megatons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e), a measure that combines C02 with other heat-trapping gases such as methane and nitrous oxide. The method of calculation used combines 2009 figures for energy consumption with estimated numbers for 2010. The majority of the countries' emissions are carbon dioxide, thanks to massive energy demand. Renewable energy use is increasing, but remains dwarfed by fossil fuel use. India produced 2272.45 megatons of CO2e, a significant portion from methane generated by agriculture. "Although per capita energy use in China and India is relatively low, overall energy demand is very large," said Maplecroft Analyst, Chris Laws. "When combined with high use of coal and other fossil fuels, this results in large emissions in both countries." Brazil's output of 1,144 megatons from energy use would be significantly higher if deforestation were taken into account. Among advanced economies, the United States – No. 1 among large nations for per capita emissions – produced 6,539 megatons of CO2e. Russia, at 1,963 megatons, ranked fourth. Its emissions dropped after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but are expected to rise. In Japan, where output was at 1,203 megatonnes of CO2e, safety fears over nuclear power could lead to a greater reliance on fossil fuels – and a spike in carbon emissions, Laws said. He noted, however, that the Japanese government has announced their intention to fill the energy gap with renewable energy sources. "The trend of increasing global greenhouse gas emissions is unlikely to be abated in the short-to-medium term," he said by e-mail. The index of 176 nations ranks countries based on the total annual level of greenhouse gas emissions, combining data on CO2 emissions from energy use and non-CO2 emissions. Data comes from several sources, including the US Energy Information Administration and the US Environmental Protection Agency. The 194-nation negotiations in Durban, under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), run until December 9. – AFP Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Features To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan