Monday, December 31, 2012
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group.
And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as “racism”.
It warns that converts from Islam face being killed in Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Iran and risk severe legal penalties in other countries across the Middle East.
The report, by the think tank Civitas, says: “It is generally accepted that many faith-based groups face discrimination or persecution to some degree.
"A far less widely grasped fact is that Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers.”
It cites estimates that 200 million Christians, or 10 per cent of Christians worldwide, are “socially disadvantaged, harassed or actively oppressed for their beliefs.” » | Edward Malnick | Sunday, December 23, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
"In the fight for the family, the very notion of being – of what being human really means – is being called into question," the Pope said in Italian during an end-of-year speech.
"The question of the family ... is the question of what it means to be a man, and what it is necessary to do to be true men," he said.
The Pope spoke of the "falseness" of gender theories and cited at length France's chief Rabbi Gilles Bernheim, who has spoken out against gay marriage.
"Bernheim has shown in a very detailed and profoundly moving study that the attack we are currently experiencing on the true structure of the family, made up of father, mother, and child, goes much deeper," he said.
He cited feminist gender theorist Simone de Beauvoir's view to the effect that one is not born a woman, but one becomes so – that sex was no longer an element of nature but a social role people chose for themselves. » | Source: AFP | Friday, December 21, 2012
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
The future will be another country. They will do things differently there.
The Census is not just a description of the state of things on a day in 2011, it is a prophetic document telling us where we are going, whether we like it or not. I don’t.
For the past 60 years or so, we have lived in a nation that was more or less familiar to anyone who had grown up in the pre-war Britain of 1939.
Even the devastation of conflict had not transformed it out of recognition.
People behaved, thought, worked, laughed and enjoyed themselves much as they had done for decades.
They lived in the same sorts of families in the same kind of houses. Their children went to the same kinds of schools. And they had grown up in a land that was still identifiably the same as their grandparents had known.
And so it went back for centuries.
As recently as 1949, the prices of most goods were roughly the same, and expressed in the same money, as the prices of 1649.
A short-distance time-traveller between 1912 and 2012 might be perplexed and astonished, but he would not be lost.
That period is now coming to an end. I suspect that anyone in Britain, travelling between 2012 and 2112 would be unable to believe that he was in the same place.
What is the most significant single fact in the Census? I do not think there is one. Several are shocking or disturbing, if you are not fond of change, and delightful if you are. Read on and comment » | Peter Hitchens | Saturday, December 15, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
With her face on every banknote and coin in circulation, it is only natural that the Queen takes a sharp interest in the nation's finances, as she showed on a visit to the Bank of England today.
Her Majesty suggested the financial crisis of 2008 had happened because the Financial Services Authority “didn’t have the teeth” to rein in the biggest risk-takers.
The Duke of Edinburgh, meanwhile, had a typically blunt piece of advice for the Bank’s executives: “Don’t do it again!”
The Queen and the Duke grilled Bank of England staff during a visit which included a tour of a vault stacked with £27 billion worth of bullion.
Suit Kapadia, one of the Bank’s financial policy experts, said he wanted to answer a question the Queen asked academics at the London School of Economics in 2008 about why no one saw the financial crisis coming.
“Oh!” said the Queen, looking slightly taken aback.
Mr Kapadia said the City had got “complacent” because it thought risk was being managed better than it was, and the financial system had become too interconnected.
The Queen agreed: “People got a bit lax … perhaps it was difficult to foresee.”
She asked if the financial system was less interconnected now and concurred with a suggestion that part of the problem had been the lack of powers given to the Financial Services Authority. “They didn't have the teeth,” she said. » | Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | Thursday, December 13, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Mr Berlusconi, 76, is in a steady relationship with Francesca Pascale, who at 27 is nearly a third his age, supporters of the former premier said.
There had been rumours of the relationship for months, and the pair was photographed together recently while watching Mr Berlusconi's football team, AC Milan.
But the romance was confirmed by one of the media tycoon's most vocal cheerleaders, Daniela Santanche, an MP in his People of Freedom party, as well as the Italian press, with one newspaper describing the young woman as Italy's new "first lady".
"Berlusconi introduces her as his girlfriend, and for me it is a beautiful thing. I know her as his girlfriend," said Miss Santanche.
"Let's say she is a person who is very close to him," said Licia Ronzulli, a Euro MP in his party. "She's more than a friend." » | Nick Squires, Rome | Wednesday, December 12, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Up to a quarter of households in parts of London have no one who speaks English as their main language, according to figures contained in the census.
In a string of boroughs across the capital, between 20 and 25 per cent of all families do not have anyone who regularly speaks the language and in thousands of others only children do so.
Findings released by the Office for National Statistics earlier this week showed a transformation in the make-up of British society over the last decade, with the number of foreign-born residents rising by 50 per cent.
In London itself less than half the population described themselves as white in the national headcount conducted last year.
Headline figures showed that there are around a million households in which no one speaks English as a “main language” – just over four per cent of the total.
But a detailed breakdown of the figures published with alongside the main census data show that in some areas the proportion is more than five times this level. » | John Bingham, Social Affairs Editor | Wednesday, December 12, 2012
THE JERUSALEM POST: Paris says it will deport foreign-born imams, disband radical faith-based groups if they suffer a "religious pathology."
PARIS - France will deport foreign-born imams and disband radical faith-based groups, including hardline traditionalist Catholics, if a new surveillance policy signals they suffer a "religious pathology" and could become violent.
A French Islamist shooting spree last March that killed three soldiers and four Jews showed how quickly religiously radicalized people could turn to force, Interior Minister Manuel Valls told a conference on the official policy of secularism.
His warning came two days after President Francois Hollande announced the creation of an agency to track how the separation of church and state is upheld in this traditionally Catholic country with Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish minorities.
Valls and two other cabinet ministers told the conference on Tuesday evening the Socialist-led government would stress the secularist policy called "laicite [sic]" that they said was weakened under the previous conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy.
"The aim is not to combat opinions by force, but to detect and understand when an opinion turns into a potentially violent and criminal excess," he said. » | Reuters | Wednesday, December 12, 2012
THE NEW YORK TIMES: ROME — Pope Benedict XVI sent his first Twitter message on Wednesday, saying, “Dear Friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart.”
The 85-year-old pontiff will be tweeting in eight languages under the handle @Pontifex, a Latin term for pope that means “bridge-builder.” He clicked on his first tweet from a computer monitor in the Vatican hall where he holds his weekly audience. » | Rachel Donadio | Wednesday, December 12, 2012
NEWS.COM.AU: AUSTRALIAN troops are bracing for violent protests in Afghanistan over the likely release this month of a new film mocking Islam.
Riots were sparked across the Islamic world in September after a 14-minute trailer for the "Innocence of Muslims" video was released on YouTube. Troops are now on heightened alert to the risk of another round of protests because a derivative film called "The Innocent Prophet" is slated to be released on Friday.
The new footage created by an ex-Muslim originally from Pakistan has already inflamed tensions in his former home country ahead of its release.
Coalition forces are prepared for extreme reactions to the provocative video that could hamper their efforts in neighbouring Afghanistan, which is already a tinder box of religious sensitivities.
Defence forces are warned to be wary of inadvertently offending locals as part of their preparations for deployment to the main Australian base in Uruzgan province or other centres of Kabul and Kandahar.
Cultural sensitivity training is a standard element of soldiers' pre-deployment training in Australia.
But the key points are drilled into all military and civilian personnel going to work in Afghanistan in another intensive four day program at the Al Minhad Air Base outside Dubai.
The training includes appropriate ways to handle and store the Koran, which is generally wrapped in a cloth and only opened after the reader has ritually cleansed themselves. » | Staff Writers, The Courier-Mail | Monday, December 10, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
TELEGRAPH BLOGS – DAMIAN THOMPSON: Poor Rowan Williams: wrong to the end. Christianity is not "fading away" in Britain, he says. Yes it is, as the census figures clearly illustrate.
Since the last census in 2001, the number of Britons identifying themselves, however loosely, as Christians is down 13 percentage points to 59 per cent.
The number of respondents who say they have no religious faith is up 10 points to 25 per cent. Meanwhile, staggeringly, the Muslim population has grown from 1.55 million to 2.7 million, an increase of 1.15 million from 2001 to 2011.
The surge in Islamic belief is entirely a consequence of immigration. The spread of agnosticism and atheism is (though I haven't yet seen the breakdown by age) largely generational. » | Damian Thompson | Tuesday, December 11, 2012
My comment:
That new dark age draws nigh; nay, it has already dawned. – © Mark
This comment also appears here
La France a demandé au Parlement européen de lever l'immunité parlementaire de l'eurodéputée d'extrême droite Marine Le Pen, après des propos, tenus en 2010, faisant un parallèle entre les prières de rue et l'Occupation nazie, a-t-on appris de source proche du dossier.
«Le ministère de la Justice a transmis le 26 novembre au président du Parlement européen, Martin Schultz, une requête pour une main-levée parlementaire concernant Marine Le Pen», a indiqué Pierre Rancé, porte-parole du ministère.
Selon une source proche du dossier, cette demande est liée aux propos de Marine Le Pen, le 10 décembre 2010 à Lyon (centre-est), faisant un parallèle entre les prières de rue et l'Occupation. » | afp/Newsnet | mardi 11 décembre 2012
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Nach dem Bombenalarm im Bonner Hauptbahnhof hat es eine erste Festnahme gegeben: Die Ermittler fassten den Salafisten Omar D. in einem Internetcafé - er ist ein alter Bekannter der Staatsschützer.
Eine himmelblaue Sporttasche mit dunklen Riemen, ein billiges Allerweltsprodukt, entdeckt auf Gleis 1 des Bonner Hauptbahnhofes, hat eine landesweite Großfahndung der Polizei ausgelöst. Nach Informationen von SPIEGEL ONLINE befanden sich in dem Beutel Butangas und Ammoniumnitrat sowie ein Metallrohr, ein Wecker und Batterien. Die Ermittler stuften die Chemikalien als "zündfähiges Material" ein - eine Bombe in der ehemaligen Hauptstadt, der Verdacht fiel schnell auf die Salafistenszene der Stadt. » | Von Jörg Diehl, Düsseldorf | Dienstag, 11. Dezember 2012
For Germans, it was a vision of the future. Debonair in his sleek dark suit, the suave politician gave a regal wave to the crowd, sharing a secret smile with Chancellor Angela Merkel, standing at his side. She looked on, adoring, her dour features quite transformed as the crowd roared their approval for the man beside her.
Suddenly, the fraulein’s [sic] sombre features rearranged themselves into an uncharacteristic broad grin. He merely adjusted his lilac tie, and permitted himself a quiet smile. Later, he delivered a paean to the leader, saluting her success in steering Germany through stormy economic waters, saying: “Dear Angela Merkel, we thank you and stand as one behind you”.
Just who is this sophisticated European statesman? Meet David McAllister. He was last week mooted as Merkel’s heir apparent at Germany’s ruling conservative Christian Democratic Union party conference in Hanover. Bizarrely, however, his supporters at the congress waved banners proclaiming “I’m a Mac!” – for this leader-in-waiting is a not-so-secret Scot. The son of a wartime British Army captain, McAllister is the first dual German-British citizen to hold prominent public office.
Until last week, he stood out in Germany’s political scene mainly for his strange name, which the Germans struggle to pronounce. Last week, his reputation vaulted far beyond his unusual heritage. With the nation watching, McAllister, 41, played host to Merkel and the Christian Democratic Union as the party gathered at his northern Germany power base in Lower Saxony. It was a triumph for both politicians. Mrs Merkel was re-elected party leader, while McAllister was effectively anointed as her political son and likely successor.
If Germans were in any doubt that a man who married in a kilt, supports both Hanover FC and Glasgow Rangers and still has a taste for Irn-Bru could one day be their leader, they were dispelled amid the near giddy scenes that greeted his and Merkel’s combined appearances. » | Alex Spillius and Zoe Brennan | Sunday, December 09, 2012
BBC: The Church of England and Church in Wales will be banned in law from offering same-sex marriages, the government has announced.
Other religious organisations will be able to "opt in" to offering ceremonies, Culture Secretary Maria Miller told MPs.
David Cameron has said he wants churches in England and Wales to be part of the plans.
But Mrs Miller said they had strong opposition and would not be included.
Labour, which is backing the government's plans, applying to England and Wales, urged ministers not to be "too reserved" in promoting the changes.
The Church of England and Roman Catholics, among other denominations, have voiced opposition to same-sex marriage.
But some religious groups, including Quakers, Unitarians and Liberal Judaism, are in favour. » | Tuesday, December 11, 2012
BBC: The number of foreign-born residents in England and Wales has risen by nearly three million since 2001 to 7.5 million people, the 2011 census shows.
The most common birthplaces outside of the UK for residents are India, Poland and Pakistan. The number of ethnic white British has dropped to 80%.
The number of people living in England and Wales is up 7% to 56.1 million. (+ video) » | Tuesday, December 11, 2012
MAIL ONLINE: ’British Whites’ are in the minority in London now » | Hugo Gye | Tuesday, December 11, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: An influential young pro-Kremlin politician is trying to get the Latter-day Saints banned from the country.
Yekaterina Steniakina is one of Russia's young politicians, the leader of the influential pro-Kremlin movement called the Youth Guards. She has dyed blonde hair and a forceful voice, and she's determined to change many things about the present state of her country starting with the Mormons.
Ms Steniakina is leading the charge to change Russia's legislation and ban Mormon missionaries from the nation. Though the number of Mormons living inside the country is small around 400 foreign missionaries and 21,000 registered members at last count they are a relatively visible presence in Russia's larger cities. The missionaries hand out the Book of Mormon to those who might be interested, give free English lessons, and spend three hours a day cleaning public places or helping people around their homes.
Ms Steniakina, who says the Latter-day Saints are a "totalitarian cult" sent by the FBI and the CIA "to fool and covert" unwitting Russians, is making her anti-Mormon campaign her top priority for the next political season.
Specifically, she's agitating to add language that would ban "the West [from converting] our citizens into non-traditional religions" ie anything other than Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. She already has a seat in Moscow's city hall, and she is certain Russia's president Vladimir Putin will back her push, if it makes it all the way to the Duma. » | The Daily Beast, Anna Nemtsova | Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Sunday, December 09, 2012
Les températures ont chuté à -24 degrés dimanche à l’aube dans les Grisons et elles se sont également montrées glaciales sur une bonne partie de la Suisse romande. Il a fait -11 à Bière (VD), -10 à Mathod (VD), -9 à Viège et Sion (VS), -7 à Nyon (VD) et -6 à Fribourg. » | ats/Newsnet | dimanche 09 décembre 2012
TAGES ANZEIGER: Kälteste Nacht im noch jungen Winter: Die Schweiz hat eine frostige Nacht mit Temperaturen weit unter null Grad hinter sich. Im Muotatal sank das Thermometer auf minus 29 Grad. Auch die nächsten Tage werden eisig. » | jcu/mw/wid/sda | Sonntag, 09. Dezember 2012
leJDD.fr: A minuit pile dans la nuit de samedi à dimanche, Sarah et Emily se sont mariées à Seattle, dans l'Etat de Washington. C'était la première des centaines d'unions homosexuelles attendues dans la journée dans cet Etat du nord-ouest des Etats-Unis qui a voté le 6 novembre dernier pour la légalisation du mariage entre personnes du même sexe, comme le Maine et le Maryland. » | dimanche 09 décembre 2012
A few years ago I had to ring up the War Graves Association in South Tyrol.
An Alpine glacier near the Austrian-Italian border was melting and had revealed the bodies of three soldiers, killed in the bloody mountain battles of the World War I.
The phone was answered by a man who spoke German with a strong Tyrolean accent.
"Were these soldiers from the Austrian army or the Italian army?" I asked.
"They were part of the Austrian army," he said.
"And where were they found?" I asked.
"In the Ortler Alps," he replied. "It used to be Austria, but now it is Italy - unfortunately."
South Tyrol, once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was annexed to Italy in 1919, at the end of the World War I. The Italians wanted to have control of the Alps, south of the Brenner Pass.
Many people here are native German speakers. And a few of them, like the man from the War Graves Association, are still not reconciled to the fact that the province has been part of Italy for almost a century.
In the 1920s and 30s, the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini encouraged Italians from the south to settle in the region.
German was widely banned, in schools, in courts and in public offices, and place names were "Italianised".
It all contributed to what one local author described to me as the "longstanding hostility" between the two language groups. » | Bethany Bell, BBC News, Bolzano, Italy | Saturday, December 08, 2012
Over the years I have met some pretty hardened Russian men on my travels. Muscular guys, able to handle their drink, and most importantly - fond of a joke.
But rather like the ice in a Siberian winter, there are those who take a far colder, harsher view on life.
They call themselves skinheads - although shaven heads are no longer mandatory.
In recent years skinheads have been held responsible for many of the far right attacks on immigrants across Russia. Many of the perpetrators have been locked up. Some have since been freed.
Maxim is one such former convict. We meet in the garden of a Moscow burger restaurant. We sit not far from the sizzle of beef on a grill, surrounded by the yelping and chanting of children, hyperactive after sugary drinks.
It was not, perhaps, the most appropriate place to meet a notorious ultra-nationalist, one who has done time for incitement of racial hatred. Especially one whose nickname, Tesak, means machete.
Munching on his burger, he made it clear to me that he was angry, fearful and by the looks of his two young, well-built henchmen, possibly quite dangerous.
"I think immigrants should be housed in separate workers' villages," he told me. He went on to explain how he felt they were sponging off society and putting Russian women in danger of attack.
Then he got out his knife. » | Tom Esslemont, BBC News, Russia | Saturday, September 01, 2012
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: After 14 years in power, the seemingly indefatigable Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has announced a relapse of his cancer and designated vice president Nicolas Maduro as his heir apparent.
In what appeared like a presentation of his final will, the president indicated he would like Maduro to take over the reins of power in a post-Chavez period, urging Venezuelans to vote for him in the next presidential elections.
"You choose Maduro as president of the republic," said Chavez told the nation. "I am asking you this from all my heart."
The 58-year-old leftist firebrand is popular with the long-neglected Venezuelan poor for his oil-funded health and education programs but blamed by his critics for rising crime, corruption and inflation.
A charismatic orator, Chavez was weakened after being diagnosed with cancer last year. The operations and chemotherapy left him bald-headed for a while and he gained weight.
Inspired by Cuba's Fidel Castro, he is a self-sufficient revolutionary, controlling the Western Hemisphere's largest oil reserves and one of the most important foreign sources of crude for the United States.
But Chavez embraced many US enemies over the years, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, late Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
He once famously called former president George W Bush "the devil." At first he was warmer toward current President Barack Obama, but Chavez soon returned to type and started portraying the United States again as an evil imperialist power. » | AFP | Sunday, December 09, 2012
Saturday, December 08, 2012
Face à la menace croissante de ses opposants armés qui se rassemblent autour de Damas, Bachar el-Assad se préoccuperait de trouver une terre d'asile, écrit le quotidien israélien Haaretz. Selon le journal, son vice-ministre des Affaires étrangères, Fayçal Meqdad, aurait remis des lettres classées secret-défense aux dirigeants de Cuba, du Venezuela et de l'Équateur, durant la visite qu'il a effectuée la semaine dernière dans ces trois pays.
Un porte-parole du gouvernement vénézuélien a affirmé que la missive de Bachar el-Assad portait sur «les relations personnelles entre les deux présidents». À Caracas, qui a livré du pétrole et du gaz à Damas, Hugo Chavez reste un soutien d'Assad, malgré la sanglante répression que Damas mène contre les insurgés depuis plus de vingt mois (au moins 40.000 morts). » | Par Georges Malbrunot | vendredi 07 décembre 2012
Banned from normal teenage pastimes and strictly segregated from the opposite sex, Iranian students have found another way of getting their kicks -- taking drugs like ecstasy.
"All my friends take these pills", states 21 year old Maran. "We've even created a new expression for it. We say 'tonight, we're going to blow ourselves up". At a university rock concert, pills are readily available. Students may be strictly segregated and forced to remain seated at all times but even that isn't going to stop them partying. "We do it because pleasure is a foreign word in this society", states Goldis. "The mullahs want us to mourn endlessly". Another escape they have is skiing. The mountains are packed with people looking to escape the restraints of daily life. "Up here I feel like I'm in another country", states Sannaz. "Boys and girls can meet much more easily -- it's a good place to find a boyfriend".
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi addressed his nation on Thursday night. But instead of striking a conciliatory tone aimed at calming the tense situation in his country, he continued to toe the Muslim Brotherhood line. More violence is almost sure to be the result, and Morsi himself shoulders the blame.
In the end, Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi took all of 35 minutes for his nationally televised speech Thursday night. And his intention was clear. During the entire day leading up to the appearance, Morsi's advisors had repeatedly explained that the president wanted to explain himself and his policies to the people of Egypt and to inject calm into what has become the most severe crisis since the revolution against his predecessor Hosni Mubarak.
And it was certainly entertaining. Originally, the palace had announced that the speech would take place at 6 p.m. on Thursday, but then the "Address to the Great Egyptian Nation" kept getting pushed back until finally, at 10:30 p.m., Morsi turned up on national television in front of an Egyptian flag.
He need not have made the effort. The Islamist president didn't accomplish a single one of his goals with his address, nor did he really try. Instead, his flowery rhetoric served merely to further deepen the deep divide between his supporters and the political opposition from the youth movement, the left-leaning and secular parties and even the judiciary. » | Matthias Gebauer in Cairo | Friday, December 07, 2012
Thursday, December 06, 2012
BBC: A plan to build the UK's biggest mosque in Stratford, east London, has been rejected by councillors.
Thousands of supporters gathered outside Newham Council's town hall ahead of the decision.
The huge mosque would have been four times the capacity of St Paul's Cathedral with room for almost 10,000 worshippers.
The Islamic missionary group Tablighi Jamaat has been trying for 10 years to build a mosque in Newham.
Supporters outside the town hall, some of whom had come from Birmingham and Bradford, held signs reading: "15 years of waiting. Not a day more. Vote yes to the Riverine Centre". (+ video) » | Wednesday, December 15, 2012
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Une mère de famille a été reconnue coupable mercredi au Royaume-Uni du meurtre de son fils de sept ans qu'elle avait frappé à mort sous prétexte qu'il ne parvenait pas à mémoriser le Coran.
S. E., 33 ans, diplômée de mathématiques en Inde, traitait son fils comme un "chien", le frappant avec un bâton quand il ne réussissait pas à mémoriser des versets du Coran, selon les compte-rendus du tribunal de Cardiff au Pays de Galles.
Elle a été reconnue mercredi coupable de meurtre et d'entrave à la justice. Elle sera fixée sur sa peine début 2013.
La police avait initialement pensé que le petit garçon avait été tué dans un incendie qui avait éclaté dans la maison familiale en juillet 2010 à Cardiff, au Pays de Galles. Mais des analyses ont ensuite révélé que l'enfant était décédé avant le début du sinistre. » | afp/Newsnet | mercredi 05 décembre 2012
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Called "I'm Muslim and proud", the $30,000 commercials - airing on Foxtel and SBS - aim to repair the religion's image in Australia. » | Bruce McDougall | The Daily Telegraph | Thursday, December 06, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Egypt's presidential palace was encircled by anti-Muslim Brotherhood protesters in a violent demonstration in Cairo, as the constitutional crisis caused by Mohammed Morsi's assumption of unchallengeable powers showed no sign of abating.
Mr Morsi was forced to leave the palace through a back door as up to 100,000 people moved in to surround it on all sides. Some stones were thrown, one hitting the rear car in the president’s convoy.
Ignoring volleys of tear gas, the protesters burst through first one then a second line of police set in the way to reach the palace, which was the site of the final act in the overthrow of former dictator Hosni Mubarak last year.
Then, as on Tuesday, demonstrators chanted: "The people want the downfall of the regime".
There were also protests in towns and cities all over the country, including places previously unaffected. Nineteen people were injured when offices of the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood's political front, came under attack in the Nileside city of Minya. » | Richard Spencer, and Magdy Samaan in Cairo | Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Monday, December 03, 2012
A devout Arab Muslim entered a black cab in London . He curtly asked the cabbie to turn off the radio because as decreed by his religious teaching, he must not listen to music because in the time of the prophet there was no music, especially Western music which is the music of the infidel. The cab driver politely switched off the radio, stopped the cab and opened the door. The Arab Muslim asked him, "What are you doing? "The cabbie answered, "In the time of the prophet there were no taxis, so get out and wait for a camel!" [Source: JokeBook*EU]
If London were to recall its ambassador from Tel Aviv for consultations, this would be an unprecedented step.
The diplomatic row follows last Friday’s announcement by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. He promised that his government would respond to the Palestinian decision to seek upgraded status at the United Nations by adding 3,000 new homes to Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
In addition, Israel would also begin the planning process to build in a highly sensitive area known as “E1”. This cuts off East Jerusalem – which the Palestinians claim as their future capital – from the rest of the West Bank. It also divides the northern and southern halves of the West Bank, potentially depriving any future Palestinian state of territorial contiguity.
British and French diplomats saw this decision as a calculated rebuff by Mr Netanyahu, particularly as both countries had supported the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, where eight days of air strikes and rocket barrages claimed 166 Palestinian and six Israeli lives last month.
After Mr Netanyahu’s announcement, Matthew Gould, the British ambassador to Israel, and his French counterpart, Christophe Bigot, are understood to have held a “very tough” telephone conversation with Rafi Barak, the director general of Israel’s foreign ministry. They urged a reversal of Israel’s decision. » | Robert Tait in Jerusalem and David Blair | Monday, December 03, 2012
The Duchess of Cambridge, the former Kate Middleton, is understood to have found out last month that she was pregnant, and had not intended to go public with the news until she was at least 12 weeks pregnant.
But after being admitted to hospital with a bout of acute morning sickness, the Duke and Duchess decided to make the announcement early to avoid any speculation about her condition.
Royal sources refused to say how many weeks pregnant the Duchess is, but confirmed she has not yet reached the 12-week stage.
The Duchess, 30, is suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, which means she needs to be given extra fluids and nutrition, and is likely to remain in hospital for several days. » | Monday, December 03, 2012
Sunday, December 02, 2012
ZEIT ONLINE: In Paris eröffnet eine Moschee für Lesben und Schwule. Der Gründer war einst radikaler Salafist – heute kämpft er für einen fortschrittlichen Islam.
Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed sieht müde und ein wenig blass aus in diesen Tagen, kurz vor der Eröffnung seiner neuen Moschee in Paris. "Ich komme nicht zum Essen und nicht zum Schlafen", sagt der 35-Jährige. Der Rummel um ihn und sein Projekt wird seit einigen Wochen immer größer: Gegner beleidigen ihn, Unterstützer schicken Mails mit Lob und Fragen, Journalisten fragen nach seiner Geschichte – alle wollen etwas von Zahed. Er selbst will nur eines: in einer Moschee beten, in der er sich als homosexueller Muslim willkommen fühlt.
Weil er einen solchen Ort weit und breit nicht fand, schafft er ihn nun selbst. Nach Zaheds Angaben wird es die erste Moschee dieser Art inEuropa sein, Vorbilder gibt es schon in den USA. In arabisch-islamischen Ländern wäre so ein Gotteshaus wohl undenkbar. Für viele konservative Muslime ist Homosexualität nicht mit der Religion vereinbar, gilt gar als unmoralisch und pervers. Homosexuelle Handlungen werden in einigen der Staaten gesetzlich verfolgt, in manchen Ländern droht die Todesstrafe – unter Berufung auf das islamische Gesetz. Ob der Koran selbst über Homosexuelle urteilt, ist umstritten. Zahed ist davon überzeugt, dass gleichgeschlechtliche Liebe dort an keiner Stelle verboten wird.
Doch auch wer sich in Frankreich als Muslim offen zu seiner Homosexualität bekennt, bekommt Ablehnung und Diskriminierung zu spüren, weiß Zahed aus eigener Erfahrung. Zum Beispiel Anfang des Jahres, als er nach der Hochzeit mit seinem Mann in Südafrika in eine Pariser Moschee ging. "Der Imam hat in seiner Predigt öffentlich die Homo-Ehe verurteilt", erzählt Zahed, "solche Dinge passieren häufig. Die meisten Moscheen sind heute Orte des Konformismus." Zahed glaubt, dass viele Muslime nur deshalb schwulenfeindlich sind, weil sie den Lehren ihrer konservativen Prediger blind glauben. » | Von Johanna Ritter | Freitag, 30. November 2012
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: An Egyptian court has convicted in absentia seven Egyptian Coptic Christians and a US pastor, sentencing them to death on charges linked to an anti-Islam film that had sparked riots in parts of the Muslim world.
The case was seen as largely symbolic because the defendants, most of whom live in the United States, are all outside Egypt and are thus unlikely to ever face the sentence.
The charges were brought in September during a wave of public outrage in Egypt over the amateur film, which was produced by an Egyptian-American Copt.
The low-budget Innocence of Muslims, parts of which were made available online, portrays the Prophet Mohammed as a fraud, womaniser and buffoon. » | Sarah El Deeb | Thursday, November 29, 2012
NBC BAY AREA: Anti-Islam Film to Stay on YouTube: Judge – A federal judge denied a woman's request to get "Innocence of Muslims" taken of[f] the Internet » | Jason Kandel | Saturday, December 01, 2012
Weeks after a causing outrage on Twitter with her comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, her appearance in the Gulf Kindgom of Bahrain yesterday to open a branch of a milkshake franchise literally caused a riot.
While throngs of adoring fans paid up to $1,200 to attend her appearance at a mall, about 100 hardline Islamists took to the streets outside in protest where, according to reports, police used stun grenades to disperse the crowd.
One protestor held a particularly crude banner that read "Syria receives martyrs while Bahrain receives whores." » | IME | Sunday, December 02, 2012
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: KABUL—Taliban insurgents on Sunday launched a coordinated assault on a key coalition base in eastern Afghanistan, detonating a series of car bombs in an apparent attempt to break through the perimeter of the heavily fortified installation and killing at least five Afghans.
The attack, which began shortly before 6 a.m. local time, started when insurgents set off three suicide car bombs outside the perimeter of Forward Operating Base Fenty, a facility adjacent to the Jalalabad airfield, according to a coalition news release. Insurgent attackers then tried to penetrate the base, but were repelled by Afghan and coalition troops, the coalition said. » | Nathan Hodge | Sunday, December 02, 2012
LE FIGARO: Trois églises et des postes-frontières ont été brûlés ce matin dans le nord-est du Nigeria par des membres présumés de la secte islamiste Boko Haram, selon des témoignages recueillis auprès d'habitants. "Des hommes armés, on pense qu'ils sont de Boko Haram, sont arrivés à cinquante en voiture et en moto, vers 8h30, et ils ont attaqué et brulé des postes de sécurité à la frontière" avec le Cameroun, a déclaré à l'AFP Modugana Ibrahim, un habitant de la ville de Gamboru Ngala. » | AFP | dimanche 02 décembre 2012
Saturday, December 01, 2012
VOICE OF AMERICA: The mention of Saudi Arabia often leads people to envision an oil-rich, nearly-empty desert where Islam originated.
An exhibit in Washington, D.C., offers insight into the real history of the Arabian Peninsula, focusing on its pre-Islamic role as a trade route, the influence of nearby cultures, and the evolution of language.
"Roads of Arabia” opened at the Smithsonian’s Arthur Sackler Gallery.
The exhibit, the first about Saudi culture in the U.S., showcases more than 300 objects ranging from ornate pottery and monumental statues, to the jewelry that adorned the remains of a young girl buried nearly years ago.
Many of the objects have never been seen in Arabia, where they came from. » | Faiza Elmasry | Friday, November 30, 2012
New legislation proposed by Lord Justice Leveson would be “potentially dangerous” to Britain’s 300-year-old tradition of press freedom, the New York Times has warned.
In a leader, America’s newspaper of record said statutory underpinning of a new watchdog body would be “a big step in the wrong direction” for a country whose press already operates in a “harsh” legal environment.
It notes: “Millions of Britons were justifiably outraged over last year’s serial revelations of illegal and unethical behaviour by the powerful and influential tabloid press in Britain. But the regulatory remedies proposed [by Leveson] seem misplaced, excessive and potentially dangerous to Britain’s centuries-old traditions of a press free from government regulation. » | Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | Friday, November 30, 2012
Friday, November 30, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Australia's new plain packaging for cigarettes – which becomes mandatory from Saturday - have been branded "disgusting" by smokers who say they make the cigarettes taste worse.
The new packets, which are blank aside from gruesome health warnings, have been filling shelves for the past two months as part of the toughest anti-tobacco measures in the world.
Despite legal battles and claims of "dirty tricks" by tobacco companies, all cigarettes in Australia must now be sold in drab olive packets featuring macabre images of sick babies, dying cancer sufferers and diseased feet, eyeballs and lungs. Smokers' advice groups have reported being inundated with calls from angry smokers who say their cigarettes now taste "pathetic" and "sickening".
Joe Xia, who owns a busy convenience store just outside Sydney's Chinatown, said the packets are "disgusting" and have been annoying customers who dislike the new warnings.
"People still smoke – now they also complain," he told the Daily Telegraph.
"Nothing will stop them from smoking. But it is hard at night-time. People come from the pub and they see these packets and they get irritated." » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Friday, November 30, 2012
LE PARISIEN: Le Kremlin a démenti vendredi une information selon laquelle une visite du Premier ministre japonais à Moscou en décembre avait été reportée en raison de problèmes de santé de Vladimir Poutine. «Il n'y avait pas de date clairement fixée», a affirmé le porte-parole du président russe, Dmitri Peskov, cité par l'agence officielle Itar-Tass.
Le gouvernement japonais a affirmé vendredi que le Premier ministre Yoshihiko Noda avait dû annuler une visite à Moscou prévue en décembre, et selon des médias, M. Noda a affirmé que ce report était dû à des problèmes de santé de Vladimir Poutine.
Une source gouvernementale a confirmé que l'annulation de la visite de M. Noda avait été décidée à la demande de Moscou, qui avait évoqué «une blessure de M. Poutine».
Depuis plusieurs semaines, les rumeurs vont bon train en Russie sur la santé de Vladimir Poutine, qui a reporté plusieurs de ses déplacements et visites à l'étranger, selon des médias russes. Le président russe, qui entretient depuis des années une image d'homme fort et sportif, souffrirait de l'aggravation d'une ancienne blessure à la colonne vertébrale, ont précisé ces médias. » | LeParisien.fr avec l’AFP | vendredi 30 novembre 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Israel is to build 3,000 new settler homes in east Jerusalem and the West Bank after the Palestinians won recognition as a non-member state at the United Nations, according to reports.
An Israeli official, when pressed by AFP, France's national news agency, confirmed a report that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, had decided to build the 3,000 units in response to the Palestinian success at the UN.
The decision was revealed in a tweet by the diplomatic correspondent of Haaretz newspaper, who said some of the homes would be built in E1, a highly-contentious area of the West Bank which links annexed east Jerusalem with Maaleh Adumim settlement. » | Friday, November 30, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: After the UN General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to make Palestine a non-member state, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticises the decision as leaders from the region react.
An historic resolution that enhanced the Palestinians' position at the UN from "permanent observer" to “non-member observer state”, a status also held by the Vatican, passed the General Assembly by a resounding 138 votes to 9, with 41 countries abstaining, including Britain. » | Friday, November 30, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
BBC: The Queen has welcomed the Emir of Kuwait to the UK for a three-day state visit.
Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah is staying at Windsor Castle, where a state banquet will be held on Tuesday.
Sheikh Sabah, 83, will have a private audience with the Prince of Wales, and meet British industry leaders at an event hosted by the Duke of York.
He will also hold talks with Prime Minister David Cameron. It is the first state visit from Kuwait for 17 years.
Sheikh Sabah was greeted by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Charles in the centre of Windsor near one of the town's two stations as well-wishers looked on.
They then returned to the castle in a carriage, with the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment providing an escort. (+ video) » | Tuesday, November 27, 2012
L'Egypte a connu la plus forte mobilisation contre le président islamiste depuis son élection en juin.
«Dégage!», scandaient de nombreux manifestants, reprenant le slogan emblématique de la révolte populaire qui avait chassé du pouvoir le président Hosni Moubarak en février 2011.
Plusieurs cortèges sont arrivés dans l'après-midi sur la célèbre place du centre de la capitale égyptienne, pour dénoncer également le puissant mouvement dont est issu le président, les Frères musulmans. «Les Frères musulmans sont des menteurs», pouvait-on lire sur une pancarte brandie par un manifestant, tandis qu'une banderole proclamait: «Interdit aux Frères musulmans». » | ats/afp/reuters/Newsnet | mardi 27 novembre 2012
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