Iran: Sanctions Won’t Stop Atomic Work
Photo of Jalili courtesy of YNET NEWS
YNET NEWS: EU envoy says meeting with Iranian negotiator Jalili on Iran's nuclear program was 'disappointing'; Jalili says demand that Iran halt works 'unacceptable'

The European Union said it was disappointed after talks with Iran Friday seen as a last chance to avert US pressure for tougher international sanctions over Tehran's disputed atomic program.

The absence of a breakthrough at the London talks means six world powers meeting in Paris on Saturday will try to agree on new penalties to propose to the United Nations, despite differences in their approach to halting Iran's nuclear program.

"I have to admit that after five hours of meetings I expected more. I am disappointed," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told reporters, adding he would meet Iran's negotiator Saeed Jalili again before the end of December.

Jalili told reporters after the meeting it was "unacceptable" to demand Iran halt its uranium enrichment program and that any new UN sanctions would fail to prevent Tehran from pursuing its atomic work.

"If some countries want to use the UN Security Council and its resolutions to stop Iran's atomic work, surely they will not be successful," Jalili said. >>>

Mark Alexander

Sudan Jails 'Harsh and Crowded'
Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Briton Gillian Gibbons has been imprisoned for 15 days in Sudan - a country with some of the world's worst prisons, according to campaigners.

Justice Africa, a UK-based research group, said even a Sudanese person, used to the hardship of daily life, would find conditions hard.

A US State Department report described the jails as "harsh and overcrowded".

However, the Sudanese authorities have not confirmed where Mrs Gibbons will serve her sentence. >>>

Mark Alexander

We’ve Been Robbed of Our Englishness
TIMESONLINE: As the nation settled down on Wednesday night to watch England play Croatia, I sensed an air of optimism in the land. A feeling that all would be well. I mean hey, England were holding their own against Brazil when Croatia didn’t even exist as a nation state. So what chance would these swarthy-looking Yugo-ruffians have? They were minnows in a tank of sharks. They weren’t going to be beaten. They were going to be eaten.

Hmmm. I’m afraid I knew we were going to lose moments before the match began. I looked at our players mumbling their way through the national anthem and realised they didn’t really care about playing for England. Because they don’t really know what England is. And truth be told, neither do I.

When I was their age it was crystal clear. Newspapers would report: “Fog in the Channel: Europe cut off.” Peter Ustinov would arrive at JFK airport and, having studied the signs saying “US citizens” and “Aliens”, he’d ask a security guard where the British should go. We were separate, different, better.

We had hardback dark blue passports with a personal message from the Queen on the inside cover “requiring” that foreign border guards allow the bearer to do whatever he or she pleased without let or hindrance. Slap one of those down on a Frenchman’s desk and the crack of invitation grade cardboard would have the greasy little oik sitting up straight; that’s for sure.

We had saved the world from tyranny so often we’d lost count; we’d brought decency, truth and cricket to every continent and every coral pinprick. We’d sailed iron steamships into America when they were still using coracles. We were defined by our brilliance, our superiority, our technical know-how. >>> By Jeremy Clarkson

Mark Alexander

Papst kritisiert Atheismus und Privat-Christentum: Enzyklika zum Thema Hoffnung
Photo of Pope Benedict XVI courtesy of The Telegraph
NZZ: Papst Benedikt XVI. verurteilt den Atheismus macht ihn für einige der schlimmsten Verbrechen in der Geschichte verantwortlich. In seiner neuen Enzyklika «Spe salvi» (Gerettet durch Hoffnung) mahnte das Oberhaupt der römisch-katholischen Kirche die Christen, ihre Hoffnung in Gott und nicht in Technik, Reichtum oder in politischen Anschauungen zu suchen.

(ap/sda) Papst Benedikt XVI. hat die Hoffnung in den Mittelpunkt seiner zweiten Enzyklika gestellt. In dem 76-seitigen Dokument «Spe salvi» (Gerettet durch Hoffnung oder in der Hoffnung), das am Freitag veröffentlicht wurde, kritisierte der Papst den modernen Atheismus, der «zu den schlimmsten Formen der Grausamkeit und Verstössen gegen die Gerechtigkeit» geführt habe.

Die Christenheit wird von der Kritik nicht ausgenommen: Sie konzentriere sich zu sehr auf die individuelle Erlösung und ignoriere die Botschaft Christi, dass wahre christliche Hoffnung eine Erlösung für alle bedeute. >>>

ORIGINALTEXT:
Lateinisch
Deutsch
Englisch
Französisch
Spanisch
Italien

Mark Alexander

Iran Holocaust Drama Is a Big Hit
Photo and image courtesy of the BBC and Google Images
BBC: The scene is wartime Paris. Swastikas adorn the Champs Elysees.
Jackbooted Nazis are rounding up Jews for the concentration camps, while terrified Parisians look on.

It is a familiar plot for a television blockbuster. And this time the formula has been as popular as ever, drawing in massive audiences week after week.

The only difference is that this is a series made for Iranian state TV, and it has been piling up the ratings in the country whose president once questioned the very existence of the Holocaust.

The fact that Zero Degree Turn has been allowed on TV, shows the official sensitivity over the accusations of anti-Semitism that have followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's various comments about Israel and the Holocaust. >>> By Jon Leyne

Mark Alexander

Taslima Nasreen Removes Comment
BBC: Controversial Bangladeshi feminist writer Taslima Nasreen has said she will withdraw some "controversial" lines from one of her books.

The lines are from Dwikhondito (Split into two) which, some Muslim groups say, are derogatory to Islam.

The book was banned by the government in India's West Bengal state where a quarter of the population is Muslim. >>>

Mark Alexander

The Barbarians of Khartoum Call for Gillian, the Teddy Bear Teacher, to Be Killed by Firing Squad!
BBC: Thousands of people have marched in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to call for UK teacher Gillian Gibbons to be shot.

Mrs Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, was jailed by a court on Thursday after children in her class named a teddy bear Muhammad.

She was sentenced to 15 days for insulting religion, and she will then be deported.

The marchers took to the streets after Friday prayers to denounce the leniency of the sentence. Shoot UK teacher, say protesters >>>

THE GUARDIAN:
Protesters demand execution of 'blasphemy' teacher

TIMESONLINE:
Mob calls for execution of teddy teacher as peer launches rescue mission

DAILY MAIL:
Thousands of Islamic fanatics wielding knives demand jailed teddy bear teacher is executed

Mark Alexander

Bin Laden: Europe Must Quit Afghanistan
Photo of OBL courtesy of The Guardian
THE GUARDIAN: The al-Qaida leader, Osama bin Laden, called on European governments to end their military cooperation with the US in Afghanistan in a new audio message broadcast today.

With his fifth public message this year, bin Laden sought to exploit tensions between European capitals and Washington over the ongoing Nato military campaign in Afghanistan.

He reiterated that he was responsible for the September 11 attacks on the US, not the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan at the time.

"The American tide is ebbing," he said in a message addressed directly to the European public. "It is better for you to restrain your politicians who are thronging the steps of the White House." >>>

Mark Alexander

Jail and Deportation for Gillian Gibbons
Britain humiliated yet again! Humiliating subjects of the Queen must surely STOP! Isn’t it time to bring back ‘gunboat diplomacy’?

Photo of Gillian Gibbons courtesy of the BBC
BBC: A British teacher has been found guilty in Sudan of insulting religion after she allowed her primary school class to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, has been sentenced to 15 days in prison and will then be deported.

She had been accused on three counts of insulting religion, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs.

The Foreign Office said it was extremely disappointed by the verdict after a day-long hearing in Khartoum.

The Sudanese ambassador is being called back to the Foreign Office to explain the decision. Officials there say the mood has changed as a result of the verdict.

Staff complaint

Earlier, Foreign Secretary David Miliband had met the Sudanese ambassador to discuss the case, stressing it was an "innocent misunderstanding".

In September, Mrs Gibbons allowed her class of primary school pupils to name the teddy bear Muhammad.
The court heard that she was arrested on Sunday after another member of staff at Unity High School complained.

Sudan's top clerics had called for the full measure of the law to be used against Mrs Gibbons and labelled her actions part of a Western plot against Islam. UK teacher jailed over teddy row >>>

Mark Alexander

Avoid Munich Mistake – By Uzi Landau
YNET NEWS – OPINION: Ex-MK Landau advises Condoleezza Rice to steer clear of Chamberlain-style appeasement policy

Dear Secretary of State, Ms. Condoleezza Rice:

I don’t know what’s the weather like in Maryland these days, but in any case, kindly accept my suggestion: Even if it rains, do not use a black umbrella.

My name is Uzi Landau, I served as a minister in two Israeli governments, and have been a Knesset member for 22 years, but I write this letter to you as the son of Olga Perle, who escaped Nazi Germany with her family in 1937. Her parents realized that the Nazi monster’s evil government cannot be satisfied. To the Western world’s regret, then-British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was not wise enough to understand this.

Chamberlain’s appeasement policy and attempt to curry favor with Hitler reached its peak in the 1938 Munich Conference. Even though Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles, armed the Wehrmacht in violation of agreements, and took over Austria through the famous Anschluss, ahead of Munich he did not hesitate to demand the dismantlement of Czechoslovakia and annexation of parts of it to Germany.

Chamberlain sacrificed his ally. Upon his return to Britain, with his black umbrella, he declared: “I believe it is peace for our time.” And the rest is history.

Today, Nazi Germany has been replaced by Iran and al-Qaeda; instead of Hitler, we have Ahmadinejad and Bin Laden. Ms. Rice, would you like to be remembered as the Chamberlain of the 21st Century?

Iran and al-Qaeda stimulate global terror. Palestinian terrorism is their ally. The ideology that motivates them is a desire to defeat and occupy the West in order to see Islam reign supreme. If you doubt this, apparently you have not listened to Ahmadinejad’s speeches at the United Nations and in Columbia University: Not merely a vision of a world without Israel, but rather, a world without democracy.

Just like Germany, which armed itself to the teeth, Iran too neglects the welfare of its poor citizens and invests in the planned production of dozens of nuclear bombs a year and the development of ballistic missiles that can reach the US. For Iran, Israel is merely Little Satan. America is Big Satan. The scent of Munich is in the air. Can’t you feel it? >>>

Mark Alexander

Speak for Yourself, Mr Miliband!
…Britain has a “real respect” for Sudan’s Islamic religion - David Miliband, Foreign Secretary
How can we have “real respect” for a religion whose adherents behave as Muslims do? And how can we have respect for Shari'ah law, with its barbaric practices?

Teddy row teacher 'made innocent mistake' By Aislinn Simpson and Blake Evans-Pritchard

Mark Alexander

Kidnap Fears for Teddy Bear Teacher as Islamic Fanatics Demand Execution
DAILY MAIL: A major security operation was under way today as a British teacher charged with inciting hatred and insulting religion was brought before a court in Sudan.

Trucks protected by armed police transported Gillian Gibbons from her cell at the CID headquarters in Khartoum where she had been kept in custody following her arrest on Sunday for allowing pupils to name a school teddy bear Mohammed.

Security was also tight at the city's court building as fears that extremists might stage a kidnap attempt ran high.

Mrs Gibbons, looking tired and distressed and wearing a dark blue jacket and blue dress, was not handcuffed.

Before the hearing began the public and press were cleared from the court room but only moments later the case was adjourned for two hours.

The prosecutor-general said Mrs Gibbons, whose case has drawn international condemnation, can expect a swift and fair trial under Sudanese law.

Mrs Gibbons faces 40 lashes and a year in jail after after being charged with insulting Islam.

She was charged after behind-the-scenes political moves to avoid a court case collapsed amid growing Islamic anger in the east African country.

A Sudanese official said it was "unlikely" that Mrs Gibbons would be convicted.

A powerful Sudanese newspaper urged authorities to call a hardline Islamist leader linked to Osama bin Laden to give evidence at her trial, to stress how offensive the case was to Muslims.

Extreme Islamic groups said Mrs Gibbons "must die" and urged Muslims to hold street protests after prayers tomorrow. >>> By Olinka Koster, Liz Hull and Rob Grilly

Mark Alexander

Annihilation of Infidels
Vijay Ayyagari writes: To paraphrase Karl Marx, a specter is haunting the world — the specter of universal jihad. From New Delhi to New York, Moscow to Madrid, Bali to Baghdad, cosmopolitan cities the world over have experienced terror, mass murders and destruction by universal jihadists.

Universal jihadists demand theological, racial, political and cultural supremacy — Islamic imperialism — over the rest of the world. This conflict is between the divine law of Islam and secular, man-made Western jurisprudence. In Islam, religion and politics are inseparable. The Quran is not only the holy book of Muslims; it is also a political doctrine that clearly spells out how Muslims must deal with non-believers.

Islam’s message is limited to its believers. Islam has no universal message. Literal Islam is the eternal aggressor that pretends to be the perennial victim. The only choice that non-believers have, according to Islamic doctrine, is to convert, or submit and become dhimmis — subjugated under Islamic restrictions — or be annihilated.

Our war is for intellectual freedom, and the alternative is unconditional surrender of the mind. Islamic civilization is an oxymoron. Islamic civilization is the conglomeration of the civilizations of conquered nations. For example, in mathematics, the so-called Arabic numeral system and algebra are of Hindu heritage. Most ostensible Arab scholars were Assyrian Christians, Sephardic Jews, Zoroastrian Persians, or Hindu and Buddhist Indians who had been forcibly converted and were usually only one or two generations away from their original traditions.

Demographic conquest is the most permanent form of conquest. The Indian state of Kashmir, for example, was a Hindu majority state for thousands of years. Through invasion, forcible evacuation and conversion lasting centuries, Kashmir became a Muslim majority state, leading to an armed insurgent conflict by separatist Muslims seeking to impose Sharia law. Pakistan, one of the modern-day sponsors of Islamic terrorism, threatens to use nuclear weapons against India to take Kashmir. The jihadi struggle in Kashmir is a grand theological rehearsal. The ultimate goal of Muslim Pakistan is the total conquest and Islamization of a divided and secular India. Why is the United States shocked that Pakistan has turned into a dictatorship? Annihilation of Infidels >>>

PLEASE NOTE: The fact that this article appeared on the website of a political party, in this case the BNP’s website, should in NO WAY be construed as an endorsement of that party. I, Mark Alexander, am not affiliated to ANY political party. I strive to be independent and fair. I bring you this article today for the simple reason that it is a truly excellent summary of the dangers that the free world faces. Bravo Vijay Ayyagari! Bravo!

Mark Alexander

No Mr Johnson, We Are Not Wrong, the Real Problem Is Islam Itself!
The was a time when the British government - the prime minister, his cabinet ministers, and the MP’s - had balls. Alas, those days are long gone! - ©Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: Oh come off it, I thought yesterday afternoon, when I heard that the Sudanese authorities had actually gone ahead and charged her. Surely they are out of their minds.

When the news broke yesterday teatime that poor Gillian Gibbons was facing prosecution in Khartoum for inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs, I am afraid my normal good humour momentarily deserted me.

How dare they! I spluttered, and for a brief undignified moment, I had fantasies of a return to the age of Palmerston.

Here is an innocent British citizen, a good and patently well-meaning 54-year-old British teacher. She has decided to make a new life for herself by giving instruction to children in one of the poorest countries on Earth. She has got herself into a muddle over the name of a teddy bear - and now she is facing 40 lashes or six months in jail.

There was a time when Britain would have sent a gunboat to rescue her. There was a time when MPs would have been holding furious debates on the matter, and bandying phrases such as "civis Britannicus sum".

In the old days there would have been démarche from Britain to Sudan, warning that His Majesty's government would not suffer a hair on her head to be disturbed. British Muslims should protest teddy lunacy >>> By Boris Johnson

MY COMMENT TO BORIS JOHNSON:

Boris, you obviously live in cloud cuckoo land! Islam is the problem, and it always will be, for it is a politico-religious system (90% politics, 10% spirituality) based on barbarity and Arab hegemony. Get with the story!

If they harm that poor teacher, then we should have a national 'name your dog Muhammad week' in retaliation. Better still, call for an 'international name your dog Muhammad week'!

I am sick of reading stories from the politically correct, stating that Islam is really a noble, loving and peaceful religion. Don't you naïve people realize that the Jihad is being waged against the West?

Wake up BEFORE it is too late! - ©Mark

Mark Alexander

If Britain Will Stand for This Nonsense, Then It Deserves All It Gets! Countries Used to Go to War for Less Than This! A Country Must Protect Its Citizens!
THE TELEGRAPH: The British schoolteacher who allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Mohammed has been charged in Sudan with insulting religion and inciting hatred.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, was also charged with showing contempt for religious beliefs.

"Khartoum north prosecution unit has completed its investigation and has charged the Briton Gillian (Gibbons) under Article 125 of the criminal code," the Sudanese news agency SUNA said, quoting a senior justice ministry official. 



The Foreign Office confirmed the charges in the case which is now set to go before the court on Thursday. Teddy bear row teacher charged in Sudan >>> By Katie Franklin, Caroline Gammell and Blake Evans-Pritchard

YAHOO NEWS (UK & IRELAND):
Teddy Row Teacher Charged in Sudan

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Teddy Row Teacher Charged

Mark Alexander

’R’ is for Repatriation
With the disturbing riots taking place in France at the moment, especially with the guerrilla tactics employed by the ‘rioters’, it is important that we start asking ourselves some serious questions. One of these questions is what are we going to do about people who don’t wish to integrate, what are we going to do to safeguard our way of life for our children, and for our children’s children. For this reason, I have decided to republish an earlier essay of mine, entitled ‘’R’ is for Repatriation’. The option of repatriating individuals determined to destroy our peaceful way of life is not an option only for people on the far-right, it is also an option for sensible people like you and me. We need to give this some serious consideration before it’s too late, before there’s a bloodbath!:

The West is on a dangerous course. It has embarked on a dichotomous journey. It is on the road to self-destruction.

There are two mutually exclusive forces at play here: On the one hand, there are the liberals who are trying to be more open to other cultures, and who are trying to destroy the very institutions upon which the West has thrived for so long; and on the other, we have a frightfully conservative force at work in the form of Islam, whose adherents are trying to take us back to mediæval times, take us back to a bygone age.

The one side, the liberal side, for example, is trying to give gays rights, and destroy the institution of marriage; the other, the conservative, Islamic side, a growing force in our society, will try and undo all the liberal policies ever passed. Normal conservatives in the Western sense of the world will look like the screaming liberals of today in years to come, for their brand of conservatism is as nothing in comparison with the ultra conservative, ‘orthodox’ Islamic values that will be foisted upon our unsuspecting people when Islam grows ever more in strength here in the West.

We are on a road that leads to no good place. This journey is one which will end in tears.

It should be increasingly obvious to all thinking people that we have allowed a people to immigrate to the West who, by and large, have no intention of integrating into Western societies, and who wish to change the nature of Western societies into their own, pre-conceived notion of how a society should be – a society which conforms to the extremely strict codes of behaviour as set out in the Shari’ah.

Ask yourself how these two forces can be reconciled! Of course, they cannot be. The one is modern and forward-thinking; the other is 1400 years old, and belongs to the Dark Ages. Nobody, however intelligent, however resourceful, is going to be able to bring about such a reconciliation of such competing forces. And the longer this problem is allowed to fester, the more difficult it will become to solve.

Already we have seen demonstrators out in the streets in their droves demanding that anyone who insults Islam be beheaded! Already we have seen calls for the introduction of Shari’ah law here in the UK and in Europe. Already we know that the ultimate goal of Muslims in the United States is to introduce it there, too; and to replace the Constitution with an Islamic one. Omar M Ahmad, the then Chairman of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), stated the following as far back as 1988:

”Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Qur’an … should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.”

That says it all!

The French author, Michelle Houellebecq, in an interview given to the French literary magazine Lire, said the following: ”The dumbest religion, after all, is Islam. When you read the Koran, you’re shattered. The Bible at least is beautifully written because the Jews have a heck of a literary talent.”

Michelle Houellebecq might well have had it right about Islam; but aren’t we Westerners the dumbest people of all to allow these Muslim immigrants to come here to the West and live off the fat of the land and tell us that they are going to take us over, tell us that their religion is going to become dominant, tell us that Shari’ah law is going to be introduced at the earliest convenience?

I mean: How stupid and tolerant can we be?

Look, it’s really quite simple. Islam brooks no compromise: It is their way or no way. This is quite, quite clear now to all sensible, aware people. Clearly, these people have no appetite for assimilation, and they are not going to change.

What they want to do is to bring Islam to every corner of the world, and they are on a mission to achieve this. We have to decide whether we want to live their backward way, or whether we want to fight for our liberty and democracy, concepts anathema to Muslims all over the globe. We cannot have it all ways, we cannot, as they say, have our cake and eat it too.

Tough decisions are never easy to take. It takes a person of determination and resolve to take them. But when faced with this dilemma, it is only tough decisions that will do. Or are we going to slip and slide, through inaction, down the road to dhimmitude, or ultimate surrender to Islam. Are we going to submit to Allah, are we going to pay the jizyah, or the tax on infidels, or are we going to allow our fellow citizens to be killed. For those are so clearly the only three options once Islam takes hold.

Moreover, imagine what sort of society we shall be forced to live in. Adulteresses will be stoned to death, beheadings will take place in the public square, thieves will have their hands and feet cut off alternately, and homosexuals will be hanged in the street, or thrown off the local minaret! If you don’t believe me, take a trip to Saudi Arabia or Iran. In those countries, you will see just what happens to such people.

We have gone badly wrong. We have allowed into our societies people quite unwilling to assimilate. Interestingly, these backward people are convinced of their own superiority! Isn’t that an interesting phenomenon?

If we value our Judeo-Christian culture, if we value our freedoms, if we value our democracies, if we value our civilized way of life, if indeed we value our civilization, then we have but one option, for there truly is only one way to solve this intractable problem. We have to start thinking about the repatriation of these difficult people.

We start by repatriating the illegal, Muslim immigrants, and those who preach hatred and the destruction of our civilization. That will be a good start. We really do not have to put up with this nonsense any longer. Enough is enough!

The repatriation can take place in a humane manner; we don’t need to be cruel. We can even give these people money to resettle somewhere else. But believe me, repatriation is the only sensible option at this stage. We cannot afford to play fast and loose with our children’s future. We have a duty to our children to leave them our Western civilization as free and whole as we inherited it. To do anything else would be a dereliction of our duty.

Repatriation is not an option of the far right only. This is not a question of left and right politics anyway. This is a fight for the survival of the West. We must step up to the plate. We must behave with strength, resolve, and determination. Only when we do so will we silence these people. For make no mistake about it, Muslims understand one thing, and one thing only: Strength!

©Mark Alexander

All rights reserved

Sharia Law by 2040?
COMMON SENSE AGAINST ISLAM: With the latest population forecast by the Office for National Statistics it seems we could get sharia law in the next 30 - 40 years. The talk is of immigration and birthrate being the main reason for this. Well I cannot see the white indigenous population reverting to large families of 5 - 6 children but that’s what Asians are producing now. None of the reports mention any of that, they don’t want to frighten us. >>> By Ray Boyd

Mark Alexander

The Most Hated Family in America
BBC: They call themselves the most hated family in the US and they picket funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq. So what did Louis Theroux make of the Phelpses after three weeks?

In any country, let alone one as patriotic as the US, few actions are as provocative as protesting at a soldier's funeral.

The Phelps family pickets mourners across the country, to mark what it describes as God's revenge on the US for tolerating homosexuality.

Their actions are in the name of the Westboro Baptist Church, which numbers 71 and is headed by "Gramps", preacher Fred Phelps. The church, which is based in Topeka, Kansas, mostly comprises his extended family.

Louis Theroux, himself no stranger to people with unconventional views, says the Phelpses are the most extreme people he has ever met. But in the following interview, he reveals how three weeks with them left him perplexed by their motivation. >>>

Mark Alexander

Police Say Paris Rioters Armed as Clashes Escalate
· Officials claim they face urban guerrilla tactics
· Violence is described as worse than in 2005

THE GUARDIAN: Officials in Paris last night warned that rioters in the suburb of Villiers-le-Bel were armed with hunting rifles and air rifles as clashes with police continued to escalate.

More than 70 police officers were injured on Monday night, three of them seriously, in clashes with rioters armed with molotov cocktails and firecrackers. One officer was shot in the shoulder with an air rifle.

"We're dealing with an urban guerrilla tactic, with the use of conventional arms and hunting rifles," said Bruno Beschizza, of the Synergie police union. >>> By Emilie Boyer King

THE GUARDIAN:
Paris Riots in Pictures

THE TELEGRAPH:
French police blame 'urban guerrillas' for riots By Henry Samuel

LE FIGARO:
Banlieues : retour de flames

Émeutes urbaines : Sarkozy monte en première ligne

NZZ:
Dritte Nacht der Gewalt in Pariser Vorstädten: Ausschreitungen und Brandstiftungen auch in Toulouse

Mark Alexander

Forecasters Say UK Population May Grow to 108m by 2081
· Most likely estimate is for 85 million within 75 years

· Official figures predict growth in immigration

THE GUARDIAN: Britain's population could almost double to 108 million within 75 years, according to government projections published yesterday.

The Office for National Statistics said that, based on high estimates of growth in immigration, fertility and longevity, the current population of 60.5 million could rise to 75 million by 2031 and 108.7 million by 2081.

But the projections drawn up by the Government Actuary's Department to help Whitehall plan pension and welfare provision also show that in a scenario of low fertility, low life expectancy and low migration, the population would increase to 66 million by 2056 and then dip to 63 million by 2081.

The ONS says its "principal projection", the one it thinks most likely, is that Britain's population will reach 71 million within 25 years, 78 million within 50 years and 85 million by 2081. Statisticians have tentatively estimated that 69% of Britain's future population growth is likely to come directly or indirectly from migration including a rising birth rate attributed to a growing number of young migrants. >>> By Alan Travis

DAILY MAIL:
Rising immigration could double population of Britain by 2081 By Steve Doughty

Mark Alexander

Cars Burned in Southern France
BBC: At least 10 cars have been burned and a fire broke out at a library in Toulouse, southern France, following consecutive nights of rioting in Paris.

There was also more violence in Paris as youths set cars and a shop on fire in the Villiers-le-Bel suburb, the Associated Press news agency reports. >>

BBC:
In Pictures: Paris Riots Continue

Mark Alexander

British Teacher Awaits Judge's Ruling on 'Blasphemous' Teddy Bear
If these people are upset about children naming teddy bears 'Muhammad', I wonder how they would feel if people started naming their dogs 'Muhammad'? What if the West decided to have an international ‘Name Your Your Dog Muhammad Week’? Then they they really would have something to bitch and moan and whine about!

TIMESONLINE: A British teacher facing 40 lashes in Sudan over a school teddy bear named Muhammad will discover today whether she will be charged with blasphemy.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, is being questioned for a second day by police in Khartoum on suspicion of insulting Islam's prophet for allowing her seven-year-old pupils to give the toy the name of the prophet. >>

Mark Alexander

Paris Rioters 'Criminals' says PM
BBC: French PM Francois Fillon has said that youths who have rioted for two nights in the Paris suburbs are "criminals".

More than 80 police officers were injured, four seriously, during the second night of clashes, police unions have said.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has called an emergency meeting for Wednesday on his return from a trip to China. >>

Mark Alexander

Increasing Danger of War Through Incomprehension Between United States and Iran
LE FIGARO INTERNATIONAL: It must be acknowledged that in connection with the Iranian nuclear question a single line is now taking shape, and it is that of confrontation. It is as though two crazy trains were rushing headlong towards each other on the same track, without anyone being able to halt them or divert them onto a different track. The engineer on the US train is called Dick Cheney (the conservative vice president who orchestrated the disastrous attack on Iraq in 2003,) and the engineer on the Iranian train is called Mahmud Ahmadinezhad (the highly nationalistic and religious president of the Islamic Republic.) In English, this is what is known as a collision course.

Why is the US train still racing towards disaster (a bombardment of Iran, which would immediately bring about a blaze throughout the Persian Gulf, as a pasdaran general has just warned?) Three factors in Washington could explain it. The first is that George W. Bush, convinced by Cheney, does not want to go down in history as the US president that allowed Iran to become a nuclear military power. The second is that the policy of steadfastness with Tehran enjoys strong bipartisan support in Congress. The third is that the two foreign lobbies that exert the strongest influence on Bush (the Israeli and the Saudi lobbies) are agreed on the principle of US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The Israelis, because they do not believe that the rationale of deterrence would work with such an «enlightened» leader as Ahmadinezhad. And the Saudis, because they cannot bear the idea of Iranian hegemony over the Gulf.

The Iranian train is also racing inexorably towards a collision. Ali Larijani’s resignation, announced Saturday morning, from his post as secretary general of the Iranian Security Council, points to a radicalization of the regime and a concentration of power in Ahmadinezhad’s hands. Having hitherto been Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Larijani, a refined, cultivated, and thoughtful man, advocated finding a compromise solution with the West. Neither the United States nor the radicals in his own country gave him the time to devise one and establish it. By adhering to its precondition for a start to direct negotiations (Iran’s suspension of its uranium enrichment programme,) the United States has destroyed any prospect of negotiations. Indeed, Iran believed that if it suspended its enrichment activities (which were declared to have an exclusively civilian purpose,) it would no longer have anything left to negotiate. >>

Mark Alexander

Abdullah Gül : «Les réformes vont être relancées»
LE FIGARO: Pour le Président de la République turc, le projet français d’Union méditerranéenne ne peut pas être une alternative à l’adhésion de son pays à l’Union européenne.

Venu à Paris pour promouvoir l’organisation à Izmir de l’Exposition universelle de 2015, le président Abdullah Gül répond aux questions du Figaro.

Malgré l’opposition du Président Sarkozy à une adhésion de la Turquie à l’Union européenne, les relations entre Paris et Ankara semblent s’améliorer. Pourquoi ?

Les relations entre la Turquie et la France sont historiques. Elles remontent à l’empire ottoman et aux débuts de la république, lorsque la France était pour nous une porte ouverte sur l’Occident. Les Français figurent parmi ceux qui connaissent le mieux le potentiel économique de la Turquie. Il y a sans doute plus de voitures Renault à Istambul qu’à Paris. La diplomatie française apprécie le rôle de la Turquie dans la région et dans le monde. Les aleas conjoncturels ne peuvent changer des relations aussi importantes. Les soucis entre nos deux pays ne peuvent qu’être provisoires et temporaires. >>

Mark Alexander

L'Australie se donne un nouveau premier ministre, Kevin Rudd, "blairiste" de l'hémisphère Sud
LE MONDE: Dimanche 25 novembre, au lendemain de sa victoire écrasante sur le Parti libéral de John Howard, le nouveau premier ministre travailliste australien, Kevin Rudd, est allé à la messe en famille. Puis il a annoncé que l'Australie signerait le protocole de Kyoto.

Ces quelques gestes symbolisent les raisons du succès de Kevin Rudd et de sa campagne pour "un nouveau leadership". Arrivé il y a moins d'un an, en décembre 2006, à la tête du Labor, ce diplomate de 50 ans a su jouer sur la lassitude de l'électorat à l'égard de M. Howard qui, à 68 ans, dominait la politique australienne depuis douze ans, et exploiter ses deux erreurs majeures de jugement, tout en se posant comme le défenseur des familles et des valeurs australiennes en menant une campagne centriste et en se définissant comme "économiquement conservateur".

Les Australiens ont trouvé un mot pour cela : le "me too-ism", la technique du "moi aussi". Une fois marquée sa différence sur le changement climatique, que John Howard a fatalement négligé, et sur l'Irak, où le premier ministre conservateur a engagé l'Australie aux côtés des Etats-Unis, Kevin Rudd s'est parfois montré plus royaliste que le roi, reprochant à M. Howard d'encourager l'inflation par un programme de dépenses publiques excessives, défendant un système d'"immigration ordonnée" et refusant les engagements réclamés par les Aborigènes. Il rejette l'étiquette de "gauche" à laquelle il préfère celle de "moderniste". >>

Mark Alexander

Ahmadinejad Offers to Be an Observer at US Presidential Election
THE GUARDIAN: He denounces it as the "Great Satan" and frequently dismisses its power, but the overtures of the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to the US seem to grow ever more extravagant.

Having failed to win a response with an 18-page letter to President George Bush or to a request to visit the site of the September 11 2001 attack on New York, Ahmadinejad has offered himself as an observer in next year's presidential election. >> By Robert Tait

Mark Alexander

Paris Continues to Burn
WATCH GUARDIAN VIDEO: Second night of rioting in Paris
Mark Alexander

Is This What They Call the ‘Cream of the Crop’?
WATCH GUARDIAN VIDEO: Free speech debate sparks protests
Mark Alexander

Mummy and I
Supersarko decides to travel to China en famille.
Mark Alexander

Irving and Griffin Spark Fury at Oxford Union Debate
Photo courtesy of The Guardian
It is to be noted that the people demonstrating against free speech at the Oxford Union were trying to take our liberties away from us all by intimidation. They forget that millions of people have died for this cherished freedom as recently as the last century. These demonstrators are naïve in the extreme, and totally without understanding.

Just because we find someone else’s views offensive - and David Irvings’s views on the Holocaust most certainly are – this does not mean to say that that person should have no right to express them.

Those demonstrators wanted to close down all that we Britons have held dear for so long. Many of those demonstrating have surely come to this country from abroad. They have probably fled tyranny themselves. Now they want to impose their own tyranny and restrictions on us!

It is also to be noted that there were banners displayed in those demonstrations in favour of a “multicultural” Britain. One can but wonder if these same demonstrators realise how little multiculturalism there will be in the United Islamic Kingdom!

These people are supposed to be intelligent. Intelligence is usually accompanied by insight and foresight. As far as I can see, they have shown themselves to have very little insight, foresight or understanding of what living in a free society means. Free means free for ALL people, not just free for students who worship at the altar of multiculturalism. There are other people out there with different views, and their views should be heard. Remember Voltaire’s words of wisdom: ”I disapprove of what you say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it.” Voltaire must be turning in his grave! - ©Mark

· Demonstrators breach security cordon
· Speakers forced to address audience separately

THE GUARDIAN: A debate on free speech at the Oxford Union descended into chaos last night after scores of demonstrators broke through a security cordon and staged a sit-down protest in the union's famous chamber.

Scuffles broke out in the hall as the demonstrators - there to voice their opposition to the presence of discredited historian David Irving and BNP leader Nick Griffin - clashed with organisers and security guards.

Order was eventually restored and the event went ahead with Griffin and Irving forced to speak in separate rooms as hundreds of students and anti-fascist campaigners surrounded the venue chanting and singing.

During his speech Griffin described the protesters as a "mob which would kill".

"I have seen them beat old men and women who are wearing war medals and try and kill them. Had they grown up in Nazi Germany they would have been splendid Nazis."

During his speech Irving said he would not be bowed. "I am not going to write what they want me to write. I am going to write what I find in the archives."

At the end of the event Union president Luke Tryl, who had invited Griffin and Irving, said his only regret was that some people had been intimidated. "At the end of that David Irving came out looking pathetic ... I said in my introduction that I found his views repugnant and abhorrent because I wanted that on record ... I think the principle has been proved," said Tryl.

The meeting was disrupted again when Peter Simpson, a student who had travelled from Essex, heckled Griffin from the floor. Afterwards Simpson said: "I cannot believe people will sit in a room and listen to him spout his despicable ideology." >> By Alexandra Topping

The Oxford Union

THE SPECTATOR:
My Comment

Mark Alexander

Briton Faces Lashes in Sudan Over Teddy Named Mohammed
THE TELEGRAPH: A British primary school teacher in Sudan is facing 40 lashes and up to six months in prison after allowing her pupils to name a teddy bear after the prophet Mohammed.

Colleagues of Gillian Gibbons, 54, claim she made an "innocent mistake" by allowing the class of seven year-olds to choose the name. But she has been accused of insulting Islam’s holiest prophet, arrested and imprisoned.

If charged and found guilty of blasphemy she faces punishment under Sharia law.

Her actions have sparked protests in Sudan and have forced the school to close until January for fear of reprisals.

The divorced mother-of-two from Liverpool is being held at a police station in the Sudanese capital city of Khartoum, and there were reports that an angry mob had gathered.

As the Foreign Office tried to resolve the situation, Miss Gibbons was visited by consular staff who described her as well, despite her ordeal. >> By Caroline Gammell and Aislinn Simpson

Mark Alexander

Riots Break Out for Second Night in Paris
THE TELEGRAPH: Thirty police officers have been injured in a second night of violence between youths and officers in the flashpoint suburb of Villiers-le-Bel in Paris.

About 160 riot police came under attack in the notoriously crime-ridden district, 20 miles north of the centre of the French capital. The violence spread from Villiers-le-Bel to several other areas, police said.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is in Beijing negotiating a trade deal, is facing the first serious test of his law and order credentials. He appealed for calm after the first night of unrest and for "all sides to calm down and for the judiciary to decide who bears responsibility".

The violence was sparked on Sunday by the deaths of two young boys, who were killed when their moped collided with a police car.

The boys who died were said by locals to be "aged between 12 and 13".

Police insisted that their car had not been chasing the boys when the crash occurred soon after dusk. >> By Megan Levy and agencies

THE GUARDIAN:
Sarkozy urges calm as riots return to Paris

Mark Alexander

Welsh Dragon Call for Union Flag
The Welsh Dragon, the flag of Wales, courtesy of the BBC
Tinker with the Union Jack at your peril! Now it’s Wales, soon it will be Islam! Leave well alone!

BBC: The Union Jack should be combined with the Welsh flag, according to an MP who wants the change to be made to reflect Wales's status within the UK.

In a Commons debate, Wrexham's Labour MP Ian Lucas said Wales' Red Dragon should be added to the Union Jack's red, white and blue pattern.

He said the Union Jack currently only represented the other three UK nations. But Stewart Jackson, Conservative MP for Peterborough, said the plan was "eccentric" and would be unpopular.

"I do not believe it would add to the unity of the country," he said. >>

Mark Alexander

Erneut schwere Ausschreitungen in Pariser Vorort: Polizisten durch Schrotkugeln verletzt
NZZ: Auch am Montagabend ist es im Pariser Vorort Villiers-le-Bel zu schweren Ausschreitungen gekommen. Bei den Strassenschlachten zwischen der Polizei und Jugendlichen wurden acht Polizisten verletzt. Zuvor war anlässlich eines Schweigemarschs den jungen Männern gedacht worden, die am Sonntag ums Leben gekommen waren.

(sda/afp) Bei Krawallen im Pariser Vorort Villiers-le-Bel hat es auch am Montagabend wieder Verletzte gegeben. Wie die Polizei mitteilte, wurden acht Polizisten bei Strassenschlachten mit Jugendlichen durch Schrotkugeln verletzt. Bis zu drei Polizisten hätten ins Spital gebracht werden müssen. Mehrere dutzend Jugendliche hatten die Sicherheitskräfte zuvor mit Flaschen und Steinen beworfen. Mehrere Fahrzeuge, darunter ein Polizeiauto und ein Wagen der Kehrichtabfuhr, gingen in Flammen auf. Auch Mülltonnen brannten. >>

THE TELEGRAPH:
Riots break out for second night in Paris By Megan Levy and agencies

Mark Alexander

Bin Laden Message 'to Be Aired'
BBC: Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is to address the people of Europe in a new message, according to the terror network's media production arm.

The claim was made in an advertisement posted on an Islamic militant website on Monday, featuring Bin Laden's image.

As-Sahab did not say when the message would be aired or whether it would be a video or audio recording. >>

Mark Alexander

Oxford Debate Delayed by Protest
BBC: A debate at the Oxford Union has begun after being delayed when protesters forced their way into the building.

BNP leader Nick Griffin and controversial historian David Irving were invited to talk about free speech.

Thirty protesters pushed their way into the hall to stage a sit-down protest at the debating table.

Earlier, 500 people staged a sit-down demonstration outside the gates of the building, preventing about half the students due to attend from getting in.

Anti-racism campaigners said the two men should not be given a platform to speak at the debate in St Michael's Street, Oxford.

Protesters chanted anti-fascist slogans and jeered "shame on you".

The students broke through a security cordon into the building where the debate, scheduled to start at 2030 GMT was delayed.

Union security officers said the protesters got into the building by jumping over the wall while others created a diversion by gathering and crushing at the front gate. >>

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Students against fee speech

THE TELEGRAPH:
Protesters break into Oxford Union debate By Ben Farmer in Oxford

THE TELEGRAPH:
Context should not affect free speech

TIMESONLINE:
Rival students clash as Holocaust denier turns up for Oxford debate

Mark Alexander

Turning Free Speech into a Negotiable Commodity
SP!KED: ‘Why make a big deal about free speech?’ a student asked me after one of my lectures recently. Such a cynical attitude towards the principle of free speech is common today. An army of self-selected censors is currently demanding: ‘How dare the Oxford Union invite Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party, and the anti-Semitic historian David Irving to participate in one of its debates?’ The fevered response to tonight’s debate on free speech and extremism at the Oxford Union highlights the exhaustion of a genuine democratic commitment to freedom of expression. If there is one powerful argument in favour of holding the debate, it is as a way of countering this illiberal outlook.

There was a time when those who called themselves radical or progressive marched and struggled for the realisation of the right to freedom of speech. These days, so-called progressives are far more likely to demonstrate against the right of people that they don’t like to speak openly. They demand the censorship of public expressions of extremist views. Mainstream public figures and officials embrace the role of the censor, and proclaim that freedom of speech is not an ‘absolute right’. In an era that finds it difficult to uphold any absolutes – absolute truth, absolute good – the devaluation of speech from an absolute freedom to a conditional one fits in well with the prevailing ‘common sense’. However, once a right ceases to be an ‘absolute’, it becomes a negotiable commodity. Devaluing the freedom of speech so that it becomes a relative right (in other words, a privilege) simply means upholding the right to speak of those whom we like, and censoring the views of people we find obnoxious or offensive.

The censorious response to the Oxford Union debate comes at a time when attacks on freedom of speech are being widely institutionalised. In recent years, numerous laws have been introduced to punish various forms of speech as ‘incitement to religious hatred’, ‘glorifying terrorism’ or ‘expressing homophobic views’. The New Labour government is set to launch a new crusade against the expression of extremist views on university campuses. Such illiberal attitudes are not confined to Labour. Julian Lewis, the Tory shadow defence secretary, sought to capture the limelight with his very public resignation from the Oxford Union over the Irving/Griffin debate. Of course, Lewis informed us, he is not against free speech – well, he is not absolutely against it. ‘I think there are people who are confusing this with an issue of free speech’, he said. In fact, there is no confusion here; this is a free speech issue. >> By Frank Furedi

Mark Alexander

The Limits to Freedom of Speech
Freedom of speech is indivisible: Either you have it, or you don’t. Period! It cannot be limited without losing freedom of speech altogether. And in any case, once you start saying that this or that cannot be said, then who is to decide what is seemly? If we start limiting our freedom of expression in this manner, we will soon be on a slippery slope: We might well find ourselves in a situation as has happened in Khartoum just recently, a situation in which a teacher has been arrested for allowing her classroom children to call a teddy bear Muhammad. That poor young lady has been arrested for blasphemy!

BBC: The debate at the Oxford Union featuring BNP leader Nick Griffin and historian David Irving highlights fundamental questions about the limits to free speech.

Some protestors called for the debate to be cancelled, both because it might offend people and because it could stir up racial hatred.

But there are others who think people should be allowed to say whatever they think - regardless of the offence it might cause, and even if there is a potential threat to public order.

For some anti-fascist campaigners like Donna Guthrie, the fact that David Irving's views are offensive to large numbers of people is enough to prevent him from speaking.

'Racial attacks'

"Irving is a Holocaust denier, and giving him a platform is an insult to the millions who were murdered by the Nazis."

Ms Guthrie - National Campaigner for the group Unite Against Fascism - said there had also been a rise in racial attacks whenever Nick Griffin's BNP party gained seats on local councils.

She added: "Free speech is not uncontrolled. Speech does not happen in a vacuum. We know that when a fascist organisation speaks, there are real consequences."

In Britain there are laws protecting our right to free speech. But they are so hedged with qualifications that there is still plenty of room for arguments. >> By Julian Joyce

Mark Alexander

Protest Expected at Oxford Debate
"The measure of our country's respect for free expression is our willingness to allow it for the most objectionable and offensive lawful speech" - Evan Harris, Liberal Democrat MP

BBC: Protests are expected later outside the Oxford Union when two controversial figures arrive for a free speech event.

Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party, and David Irving - jailed for denying the Holocaust - are to take part in an Oxford Union debate.

Their inclusion has led to objections from student groups and MP Dr Julian Lewis has resigned his membership of the debating union in protest.

The Oxford Union says it is important to give people of all views a platform.

A rally against the inclusion of the two men was held last week with speakers including Holocaust survivors.

The decision to give Mr Griffin and Mr Irving a platform has also been condemned by the president of the Oxford Student Union and race equalities watchdog Trevor Phillips.

Mr Griffin has repeatedly insisted the BNP is not a racist group. >>

LISTEN TO BBC AUDIO:
Free speech debate ‘theatre’?

Mark Alexander

Police Hunt Neo-Nazis Who Cut Swastika Into Woman's Hip
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Yet another far-right assault in eastern Germany: Police are hunting four men who sliced a swastika into the hip of a 17-year-old woman after she tried to stop them harassing a six-year-old girl. Witnesses have been slow to come forward.

German police say they have received two leads but have made no arrests yet in the case of a 17-year-old girl attacked by four far-right youths who cut a swastika symbol into her hip in the eastern town of Mittweida this month.

The men had been outside a supermarket pushing and harassing a six-year-old girl from the former Soviet Union. The teenager shouted at them to stop and they responded by turning on her. They threw her to the ground, three of them held her and the fourth cut the 5 centimeter Nazi symbol into her thigh with what she said was an "object similar to a scalpel."

He also tried to cut a Germanic symbol into her cheek but she defended herself so violently that they failed, police said. Police have located a 19-year-old suspect but so far none of the people who witnessed the attack have come forward to testify and the local court has refused to issue an arrest warrant against him because of a lack of evidence. >>

Mark Alexander