theSun | MONDAY MAY 25 2009
news without borders
Firebrand aims to bring down
European parliament
THE HAGUE: Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders,
who has gained international notoriety with his
attacks on Islam, is now aiming to bring down
the European parliament – from the inside.
The 45-year-old, with his platinum dyed hair
and 24-hour protection after multiple death
threats, has made sure his Party for Freedom
(PVV) has been at the centre of the Dutch
campaign for the June 4-7 election to the EU
parliament.
“Every voter who wants to signal that the
European Union is good for nothing in its cur-
rent form can do so by voting for Geert Wilders,”
he said.
Wilders occupies the 10th and last place
on the PVV’s list for the election. But he has
insisted he will not take a seat if elected – having
put forward the unknown Barry Madlener to
head the party’s first EU vote campaign.
Wilders faces a trial at home for his anti-
Islam utterings and was recently barred from
Church leader seeks end
to British expenses leaks
LONDON: The head of the Anglican church
urged a halt on Saturday to “systematic humili-
ation” of British members of parliament in an
expenses scandal, warning it could undermine
faith in democracy.
Media revelations of extravagant expense
claims have infuriated recession-hit Britons and
fuelled pressure for an early parliamentary elec-
tion, with growing numbers of voters appearing
set to reject mainstream political parties.
Claims made by more than 200 of parlia-
ment’s 646 MPs have now been exposed in a
series of reports by the Daily Telegraph newspa-
per based on information passed on by a former
British army officer from an unnamed source.
“Many will now be wondering whether
the point has not been adequately made,” said
Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury
and spiritual head of the Anglican Church.
“The continuing systematic humiliation
of politicians itself threatens to carry a heavy
price in terms of our ability to salvage some
confidence in our democracy,” he wrote in The
Times newspaper.
Hours after his comments were published,
two further members of parliament (MPs) said
they would be standing down at the next elec-
tion, which must be held by June next year.
The Independent newspaper joined the criti-
cism of the continuing exposures, saying they
risked eroding Britain’s democracy if all MPs
were tarred with the same brush.
“What began as a justified critique of MPs’
behaviour has degenerated into crude bully-
EARTHREPORT
Week Ending May 22
Orangutan home under threat
AN Indonesian lowland forest habitat that is
home to about 100 Sumatran orangutans re-
cently reintroduced to the wild could be destroyed
within months if a massive logging plan proceeds, a
coalition of five conservation groups warns. A joint
venture of Asia Pacific Pulp & Paper and Sinar Mas
Group had received a licence to clear the largest
portion of natural forest remaining outside the
Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Jambi province
of Sumatra. The unprotected forest is also home
to about 100 of the last 400 critically endangered
Sumatran tigers remaining in the wild.
Pollution damages DNA
BEING exposed to polluted air for only a few days
appears to cause enough damage to human DNA
to reduce a person’s ability to fight off cancer.
University of Milan researcher Andrea Baccarelli
and colleagues compared blood samples from 63
healthy workers who were exposed to high levels
of air pollution for only three days at a foundry near
Milan. The researchers found changes in the work-
ers’ genes that may have been caused by a chemi-
9
entering Britain to stop him spreading “hatred
and violent messages”, particulary in his movie
Fitna in which he said Islam was fascist.
But he is at the height of its popularity at
home and the PVV hopes to take up to four
of the 25 Dutch seats in the 736-member EU
assembly, despite advocating its demise.
He declared in a recent newspaper interview
that he wants “to bring it down from inside”.
“Wilders holds up Europe, Islam and immigra-
tion as evils,” political analyst Alfred Pijpers said,
recalling how Dutch voters rejected a proposed
European constitution in a 2005 referendum.
Some polls suggest the country is now
more sceptical than ever about continental
cooperation, boosting the PVV’s campaign for
“More Netherlands, less Europe”.
The populist politician wants the June 4 vote
in the Netherlands to serve as a test of attitudes
toward Europe and has urged Dutch voters to
turn out en masse. – AFP
ing,” it said, dismissing as naive the idea the
row had reengaged the public with politics.
“The public is engaged with the pillorying
of MPs. A public flogging will always attract an
audience,” it said.
The speaker of the House of Commons
has resigned, a minister has stepped down,
two MPs have been suspended by the ruling
Labour party and now six have declared they
will not run in the next election.
MP Andrew MacKay, a former senior aide to
opposition Conservative leader David Cameron,
said on Saturday he would stand down to avoid
becoming a distraction during the campaign.
MacKay, 59, had already quit as Cameron’s
senior political adviser after confirming he and
his wife Julie Kirkbride, also a Conservative
MP, had claimed “second home” expense al-
lowances on both their residences.
Former Labour government minister Ian
McCartney, 58, said he would be standing
down from parliament for health problems.
A party spokeswoman said the decision
had nothing to do with the expenses row and
McCartney had not been forced to go. But the
MP’s move came days after he announced he
had voluntarily repaid £15,000 (RM83,000) of
expense claims last year for refurbishing his
second home after the rules were tightened.
European and local elections to be held
on June 4 are expected to reflect the level
of popular disgust, with lower voter turnout
and a move towards fringe parties predicted.
– Reuters
cal transformation linked to gene reprogramming.
The same changes have also been detected in the
blood and tissue samples of lung cancer patients.
Baccarelli hopes a therapy can be designed to
return damaged genes to normal and reduce the
health risks of exposure to air pollution.
Sea level paradox
ONE area of Alaska is bucking the global trend
of rising sea level due to climate change with
land actually emerging from the water. Residents
around Juneau have noticed that coastline for-
merly submerged, or swamped by high tides, is
now high and dry. The New York Times reports that
receding glaciers in the mountains just east of the
capital are resulting in less weight pushing down
on the land. The ground has begun to bounce
back like a cushion, lifting much faster than rising
sea level can keep up with it.
Kangaroo cull halted
A PROGRAMME to reduce the burgeoning
number of kangaroos in a military training area
near Canberra was suddenly suspended after
complaints by an animal-rights group. About
4,000 of the up to 9,000 targeted marsupials had
already been killed when Animal Liberation New
South Wales complained the project was started
without a proper scientific evaluation of the area’s
environment. – Universal Press Syndicate