NATO has held an emergency session to decide the international response after Syria shot down a Turkish military jet.
Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said NATO’s 28 members were agreed that Syria’s actions were “unacceptable,” and promised to stand by Turkey.
Ankara summoned today’s meeting after invoking Article 4, the part of the NATO treaty that allows for consultations when one of the allies is attacked or threatened. That’s a notch down from Article 5, which states that an attack on one ally is an attack on all.
It indicates that Turkey won’t seek military intervention – but the country’s “rational response” should not be mistaken for weakness, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned.
Want to know:
Both sides of the debate can claim a partial victory after yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down parts of Arizona’s hotly disputed immigration law while leaving one of its most controversial measures intact.
Undocumented immigrants cannot be considered criminals if they work or seek work in the state, nor can immigrants be obliged to register with the federal government. State police will not be allowed to arrest people on mere suspicion of being an illegal immigrant – but they will be required to check their papers.
Arizona’s Republican governor, Jan Brewer, celebrated what she called a victory for “all Americans who believe in the inherent right and responsibility of states to defend their citizens.” President Barack Obama, meanwhile, hailed the same ruling as a step away from “a patchwork of state laws” on immigration.
The real test will come once Arizona authorities start enforcing the “stop and check” provision, which, while cleared in theory, could be ruled an infringement of civil rights in action. Unfortunately for anyone state law enforcement thinks “looks like an illegal immigrant,” they’ll have to be the test case. But hey, you think you’ve got it bad? Check out five other places where being an immigrant really, really sucks.
Dull but important:
We’ve seen the future of Europe… and it’s centralized.
European Union authorities unveiled their blueprint for “A Genuine Economic and Monetary Union” this morning, ahead of Thursday and Friday’s EU summit. Proposals include a European treasury, a single banking regulator and deposit guarantee scheme, and limits on new debt members are allowed to take on. Collective borrowing could also be “explored,” the report says.
Finance ministers from France, Germany, Spain and Italy meet today; the rest of the EU gathers Thursday for a conference that some say will “lay the groundwork for the second phase of the euro.”
Just because:
“I’m doing this for the money,” says one of Spain’s millions of young, unemployed and indebted citizens. She, like an increasing number of Spaniards in the same boat, are turning to one of the few markets still buoyant, and selling their eggs or sperm.
Trading in eggs and sperm is forbidden under Spanish law, but assisted reproduction centers are allowed to pay donors a “compensation fee” for the inconvenience, transportation costs and time spent away from work – or from looking for work. For those donating, it can be an instant, if invasive, way of making some much-needed cash.
But the rise in donations has also raised questions. What are the health and ethical implications of the emergence of “professional donors”?
Strange but true:
Women of China, the subway authorities have some advice for you: stop dressing so damn hot.
Shanghai Metro has instructed female passengers to “have self-respect” and avoid scanty summer dresses to avoid attracting the attention of subway gropers. The company illustrated its dubious counsel with a from-behind shot of a woman wearing a sheer dress over clearly visible underwear.
Women travelers could cover up during the sweltering Shanghai summer. Or hey, here’s another idea: why not tell the perverts to get off and walk? You can start with the one taking photos of that lady’s lingerie.
