Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting: Gunman Gets Death Penalty

THE GUARDIAN: Robert Bowers perpetrated the deadliest attack on Jews in US history after killing 11 people at Tree of Life synagogue in 2018

A jury has imposed the death penalty on a man who spewed antisemitic hate before fatally shooting 11 worshippers at a synagogue in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community.

Truck driver Robert Bowers, 50, perpetrated the deadliest attack on Jews in US history. Bowers defiled a place of worship when he entered the Tree of Life synagogue on 27 October 2018, and opened fire with an AR-15 rifle, shooting everyone he could find in a mass murder clearly motivated by religious hatred. » | Guardian staff | Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Aux Etats-Unis, l’auteur de la tuerie antisémite de Pittsburgh en 2018 condamné à la peine de mort : Robert Bowers avait tué 11 personnes le 27 octobre 2018 dans la synagogue Tree of Life. Il s’agit de l’attaque la plus meurtrière contre des juifs dans l’histoire des Etats-Unis. »

Noam Chomsky on Pittsburgh Attack: Revival of Hate Is Encouraged by Trump’s Rhetoric

The nation is continuing to grieve the 11 Jewish worshipers who were gunned down at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh Saturday in what is being described as the worst anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. Funerals were held Thursday for three more victims of the shooting: husband and wife Sylvan and Bernice Simon, and Richard Gottfried. Robert Bowers, who is accused of the mass shooting, pleaded not guilty Thursday. Bowers is charged with 44 counts, including murder and hate crimes. We speak with Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned professor, linguist and dissident, about the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh and other recent white supremacist and right-wing attacks.

Pittsburgh Rabbi Has a Powerful Message for Our Leaders

Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers calls on elected leaders and officials to stop using hateful words and rhetoric to divide the country as his community grieves the loss of 11 members.

Sommet : Le G20 se pose en nouveau gouvernement mondial
LE TEMPS: Le groupe des pays les plus puissants du monde s’est accordé sur un encadrement de la finance et une réforme du FMI

Vendredi, les chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement réunis à Pittsburg (Pennsylvanie), ont «désigné» leur enceinte comme «le premier forum pour notre coopération économique». Exit le G8. Il laisse la place à une organisation plus vaste, représentant plus de 80% de la richesse de la planète, qui fait la part belle aux pays émergents.

Dans leur communiqué final, les Etats membres détaillent comment ils entendent se donner davantage de moyens pour renforcer cette coopération. Certaines de ces mesures restent vagues (sacro-sainte souveraineté des Etats oblige), très peu de sanctions ou de mesures contraignantes sont prévues pour convaincre les éventuels récalcitrants. Au final, les membres du G20 se sont octroyés à eux-mêmes la mission «d’agir ensemble pour générer une croissance globale forte, durable et équilibrée.» Ils s’en prennent notamment «au comportement téméraire et au manque de responsabilité» qui a amené à la crise financière actuelle. «Nous ne permettrons pas, assènent-ils, un retour aux pratiques bancaires ordinaires («banking as usual»).» >>> Luis Lema | Lundi 28 Septembre 2009

Protests, Clashes Hit G20 Summit City
MAIL&GUARDIAN ONLINE (ZA): Protesters smashed shop windows and threw rocks at police on Thursday as police used pepper gas and batons to disperse marches against capitalism at the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh.

Protesters wore bandannas and goggles and held aloft a large black sign declaring "No hope in capitalism" and another saying "Kick Capitalism While It Is Down."

One sign simply said "I'm mad as hell."

Protests -- usually against some aspect of capitalism -- have often marked summits since trade talks in Seattle in 1999, when demonstrators ransacked the centre of the city, targeting businesses seen as symbols of US corporate power.

"We have seen police use rubber bullets, batons and gas," said Noah Williams, a spokesperson for the anti-capitalist Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project.

Officials said there were 15 arrests -- one for inciting a riot, four for aggravated assault and 10 others for failing to disperse.

Late on Thursday evening, several hundred protesters took to the streets near the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh campus. Police discharged gas and pellet-filled "beanbags" and protesters broke windows at a McDonald's, a Rite Aid pharmacy, a Subway sandwich shop and a FedEx store.

By midnight, hundreds of police in riot gear moved down Forbes Avenue. With no obvious protesters in sight, they sprayed pepper gas on passersby and even students looking down from the balconies of their residences above the avenue.

"We were just looking, then there were loud sirens and then it was hard to breath and I was coughing up a lung," said student Dustin DeMeglio (19) who was watching as police moved by his apartment building.

Earlier, a crowd broke windows at Boston Market and KFC fast-food restaurants, a BMW dealership and a Fidelity Bank in the area, about a 1,6km from the fenced-off convention centre where the G20 talks were taking place.

Police in body armour with plastic shields threw pepper gas canisters and fired beanbags to disperse the protesters. >>> Michelle Nichols and Jonathan Barnes | Friday, September 25, 2009

Obama und Sarkozy uneins vor G-20-Gipfel: Wie sollen künftige Finanzkrisen verhindert werden?
NZZ am SONNTAG: Die Meinungen, wie künftige Finanzkrisen verhindert werden können, differieren. Doch die US-Banken werden immer grösser.

Im Vorfeld des Weltfinanzgipfels in Pittsburgh übertreffen sich die teilnehmenden Regierungen gegenseitig mit Reformvorschlägen. Dabei wird immer deutlicher, dass die Ansichten, was zur Vermeidung künftiger Finanzkrisen getan werden soll, weit auseinanderliegen. Während die USA vor allem schärfere Kapitalvorschriften für Banken durchsetzen wollen, steht für Europa die Begrenzung der Boni im Mittelpunkt. Damit sind bei dem Treffen am 24. und 25. September hitzige Debatten absehbar.

Der amerikanische Präsident Barack Obama war Anfang der Woche an die Wall Street gekommen, um mit einer Rede am Ursprungsort der Krise den Druck zu erhöhen. Dabei erwähnte er die seit Monaten schwelende Boni-Debatte nur in einem Nebensatz. Dafür machte er sich dafür stark, die geplanten strengeren Eigenkapitalvorschriften für US-Banken auch weltweit einzuführen. «Während die USA ihr Regulierungssystem aggressiv reformieren, werden wir daran arbeiten, dass der Rest der Welt dasselbe tut», sagte Obama. Dahinter steht die Sorge, dass US-Banken einen Wettbewerbsnachteil haben könnten, falls sie in Zukunft höhere Eigenkapitalquoten einhalten müssten als ihre europäischen Rivalen. Institute wie die Deutsche Bank und die UBS hatten vor der Eskalation der Finanzkrise vor einem Jahr einen besonders hohen Verschuldungsgrad. Gegen Exzesse bei den Boni >>> Von Sebastian Bräuer, New York | Sonntag, 20. September 2009

Europe Launches Major Push for New Banker Bonus Rules
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: France, Germany and the EU are launching a major offensive to change the system of bonuses paid out to bank employees. Knowing that it won't work anywhere if it isn't implemented everywhere, they are hoping to make it a major issue at the upcoming G-20 summit in Pittsburgh.

The debate surrounding bankers' bonus payments has finally reached Brussels. In an interview with the daily Hamburger Abendblatt, European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry Günter Verheugen said that the European Union will reach an agreement very soon on limiting the income of bank managers.

Verheugen also told the paper that the European Commission believes that, when it comes to a bank's system of compensation, there should be "no direct relation with a company's short-term profits." Instead, he is confident that the EU's member states and parliament will be able to reach a swift agreement on the issue.

Likewise, Verheugen also voiced his support for measures to impose high taxation rates on the bonuses of bankers whose companies receive state support. "What we're really talking about here," Verheugen told the paper, "is figures arising when a company has been kept alive by the state for a long time." >>> wal/jtw - with wire reports | Wednesday, August 26, 2009