Electrical Fire at Saudi Wedding Kills 25

BBC: At least 25 people have died and 30 others were hurt in a fire at a wedding in eastern Saudi Arabia, officials say.

Hundreds were inside the courtyard of a home in the village of Ain Badr, in the Abqaiq region, when the blaze began.

A high-voltage power line reportedly fell down and sent sparks flying after it was hit by celebratory gunfire.

The power line is also believed to have touched a metal door at the only exit from the courtyard, causing the electrocution of many of the victims.

Most of those killed and injured are reported to have been women.

The local newspaper al-Youm cited Civil Defence chief Gen Abdullah Khsheiman as saying a women-only marquee was set on fire. » | Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Discovery Channel - End of the USSR
Documentary about collapse of the Soviet Union


Part 3
Part 4

Sandy Leaves 145,000 Canadians Without Power, One Dead
REUTERS CANADA: (Reuters) - Sandy toppled trees and power lines in the Canadian province of Ontario, leaving at least 145,000 people without power on Tuesday, including 55,000 in Toronto, the country's financial center.

Strong winds whipped up debris, killing a Toronto woman on Monday.

The Toronto Stock Exchange was set to remain open, making it a North American island of equity trading for the second successive day, with U.S. stock markets closed.

Numerous flights on Air Canada, WestJet Airlines, Porter Airlines and other carriers between the U.S. Northeast and Toronto's Pearson International Airport and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport were canceled. » | Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Janet Guttsman | Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Hurrikan "Sandy": "Zerstörungen unvorstellbaren Ausmaßes"

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Der öffentliche Verkehr ist zusammengebrochen, Teile New Yorks sind überflutet: Nur allmählich kehrt Leben zurück in die Straßen der Stadt. Hurrikan "Sandy" dürfte Zerstörungen von historischem Ausmaß verursacht haben; besonders dramatisch ist die Lage im Bundesstaat New Jersey, sagte Gouverneur Christie.

New York - Es war vor einem Sturm der Superlative gewarnt worden, nun werden die Ausmaße seiner Zerstörungskraft allmählich messbar: Ersten Schätzungen zufolge beläuft sich die Schadenssumme auf zehn bis 20 Milliarden Dollar. Damit wäre "Sandy" eine der teuersten Naturkatastrophen in der Geschichte der USA.

Millionen Menschen an der Ostküste der USA waren am Montagabend zu Bett gegangen, ohne zu wissen, wie die Welt vor ihren Fenstern am nächsten Tag aussehen würde. Wenn sie denn überhaupt Schlaf finden konnten: Gegen acht Uhr am Abend war das Zentrum von "Sandy" auf die Küste New Jerseys getroffen, es folgte eine extrem stürmische Nacht.

Der Gouverneur von New Jersey, Chris Christie, zeigte sich bei einer Pressekonferenz schockiert über die Schäden in seinem Staat. "Das Ausmaß der Zerstörung an der Küste von New Jersey ist unvorstellbar", sagte er CNN. Die Behörden seien weit davon entfernt, den meisten Bewohnern die Rückkehr zu gestatten, sagte der Politiker. » | bim/dpa/Reuters/AP/AFP | Dienstag, 30. Oktober 2012

Tote und Milliardenschäden: Sandy trifft US-Ostküste heftig

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Wirbelsturm an US-Ostküste – "Sandy" hinterlässt Trümmer und Chaos: Mit dem neuen Tag wird an der US-Ostküste das Ausmaß der Zerstörung deutlich. Mindestens 16 Menschen sind durch Wirbelsturm "Sandy" gestorben, Millionen haben keinen Strom, allein in Queens wurden Dutzende Häuser zerstört. Experten rechnen mit Schäden von bis zu 20 Milliarden Dollar. » | wit/bim/dpa/AP | Dienstag, 30. Oktober 2012

Superstorm Sandy: Fire Rips Through Queens Destroying At Least 50 Homes
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A blaze swept through more than 50 homes in the New York City borough of Queens early on Tuesday in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.


The New York Fire Department said on its Twitter page that more than 50 homes had been "completely destroyed" by the six-alarm blaze.

Over 190 firefighters were at the blaze in the Breezy Point section. A fire department spokesman said two people have suffered minor injuries.

Fire officials say the blaze was reported around 11pm on Monday in an area flooded by the "superstorm" that began sweeping through earlier. » | Tuesday, October 30, 2012

WIKI: Queens, New York »

Occupy Protesters Were Right, Says Bank of England Official
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The anti-capitalist protesters who occupied St Paul’s Cathedral were both morally and intellectually right, a senior Bank of England official said last night.

Andrew Haldane, a member of the Bank’s financial policy committee, said the Occupy movement was correct in its attack on the international financial system.

The Occupy movement sprang up last year and staged significant demonstrations in both the City of London and New York, protesting about the unequal distribution of wealth and the influence of the financial services industry. Members of the movement occupied the grounds of St Paul’s and remained camped there for more than three months until police evicted them in February last year.

“Occupy has been successful in its efforts to popularise the problems of the global financial system for one very simple reason; they are right,” Mr Haldane said last night. Mr Haldane, the Bank’s executive director for financial stability, was speaking to Occupy Economics, an offshoot of the Occupy movement, at an event in central London.

In a speech entitled Socially Useful Banking, he said the protesters had helped bring about a “reformation” in financial services and the way they are regulated.

Partly because of the protests, he suggested, both bank executives and policymakers were persuaded that banks must behave in a more moral way, and take greater account of inequality in wider society. » | James Kirkup, Deputy Political Editor | Monday, October 29, 2012

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Turkish Police Use Teargas to Break Up Pro-secular March
Police in the Turkish capital Ankara use teargas and water cannons against an illegal protest marking the foundation of the secular Turkish republic. Opposition to the Islamic-leaning government fear that the country's secular tradition is under threat, and so defied the ban marching to the mausoleum of Mustafa Atatürk, Turkey's first president

Attack Hits Northern Nigeria Church
Goodluck Jonathan, Nigerian president, has condemned an attack on a church in northern Nigeria, and has vowed to crush terrorists in his country. At least eight people were killed when a suicide bomber drove a car filled with explosives into the church packed with Sunday worshippers. Two two more people died later in reprisal attacks. Al Jazeera's Paul Brennan reports.

WIKI: Boku Haram »

Greece Arrests Editor for 'Lagarde List' Leak
Greek police arrested the editor of a weekly magazine for publishing a list of more than 2,000 names of wealthy Greeks who have placed money in Swiss bank accounts, police said. The so-called "Lagarde List", which led to the arrest of editor Costas Vaxevanis on Sunday, was given to Greece by French authorities in 2010 with names to be probed for possible tax evasion - has been a topic of heated speculation in the Greek media. It is named after International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, who was French finance minister when the list was handed over. Al Jazeera's John Psaropoulos reports.

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US East Coast Prepares for Hurricane Sandy
Millions of residents prepare for what has been reported to be the biggest storm ever to hit the mainland United States.

At Least 6 Dead, Many Injured in Car Bomb Attack in Damascus Suburb Jaramana
A crowd gathers in front of a building damaged after a car bomb in Jaramana district, near Damascus, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA October 29, 2012 (Reuters / Sana)

Haßprediger willkommen in Germanistan

Salafist rechtfertigt Mord an Ungläubigen in Deutschland

Let’s Have a Post-Election Peace Accord
ABC NEWS: For more than 230 years we have called ourselves the United States of America, but we are fast becoming the Divided States of America.

In this incredibly tight election, there are a few things we know. Whatever the results are, they will show an incredibly polarized electorate. Nearly 95 percent of the partisan bases of each party will vote for their candidate. And because the election will be extremely close, the victor likely will have little mandate to govern and little cooperation from the opposite party in Congress.

In addition to the partisan divide that exists in this country, there also has developed an unfortunate divide at other levels. The election results will further highlight this problem.

The race divide is well documented and has increased. Blacks and Latinos will give near-universal support to President Obama, while a majority of white voters will go for Mitt Romney. Younger voters overwhelmingly support Obama; older voters back Romney. There will be a consistent divide between the sexes, with a majority of women supporting Obama and a majority of men siding with Romney. The income divide continues to grow, as lower-income voters support the president and wealthier ones endorse Romney.

There also is a spiritual divide in this country. Folks who have a strict interpretation of religion and faith will go for Romney, and voters who don’t attend church regularly or have a more progressive view of spirituality will choose Obama. Further, there is a marriage divide, especially among women, in which single women will vote for the president and many married women will vote for Romney. And then there’s the geographic and community divide. The large urban centers will vote overwhelmingly for Obama, and small towns and rural communities will be just as enthusiastic for Romney. Most of the voters on the East and West coasts will vote for Obama, while the middle of the country by and large will go for Romney.

We are becoming more a nation of tribes in which we align ourselves with a certain side and are unwilling to unite for the benefit of the country as a whole. As many sociologists and historians have pointed out, democracy can’t survive or function in tribal cultures. We are on a fast road to a broken democracy with an inability to reach consensus on the big issues. » | Matthew Dowd | Sunday, October 28, 2012

Wintereinbruch in der Schweiz (Oktober 28.)
Die Zeitumstellung ist in der Schweiz von heftigem Schneefall begleitet worden. In Bern wurde ein neuer Schneerekord für diesen Zeitpunkt gemessen. Den Wetterbedingungen fiel ein Super-League-Spiel zum Opfer.

Tunisian Salafists Attack Alcohol Sellers in Capital

AHRAM ONLINE: A group of Tunisia Salafist Muslims attack alcohol vendors in one of the most secular Arab states

Clashes broke out between alcohol sellers and hardline Salafist Muslims in the Tunisian capital, a security official said on Sunday, wounding a police commander in the latest illustration of religious tensions in the home of the Arab Spring.

Tunisia, whose authoritarian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was overthrown by a popular uprising last year, now has an elected Islamist-led government.

The struggle over the role of religion in government and society has since emerged as the most divisive issue in the North African country, which for decades was considered one of the most secular countries in the Arab world.

On Saturday night, a group of hardline Salafist Muslims attacked alcohol vendors in their small shops, a security official said. Police intervened to stop the violence. » | Reuters | Monday, October 29, 2012

Egypt's Coptic Christians Vote for New Pope amid Increased Sectarian Tensions

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Egypt's Coptic Christians are set to vote for a new leader on Monday to succeed Pope Shenuda III, who died in March leaving behind a community anxious about its status under an Islamist-led government.

The death of Shenuda, who headed the church for four decades, set in motion the process to elect a new patriarch to lead the community through the post-revolution era in Egypt, which is marked by increased sectarian tension.

Five candidates – two bishops and three monks – are vying to become the 118th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa in the Holy See of St Mark the Apostle.

A council of senior clergy, current and former Coptic public officials, MPs, local councillors and journalists will cast a vote for their preferred candidate. » | Source: agencies | Monday, October 29, 2012

Two-thirds of Australians 'Obese'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Two-thirds of Australia's adult population are overweight or obese, a study has found, with rates continuing to climb despite a drop in smoking and drinking.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said people were continuing to pile on the kilos despite other findings indicating a switch to healthier habits.

The study found two thirds of the population are now classified as overweight or obese, which had increased over the past four years.

"The proportion of overweight adult Australians has increased by more than two percentage points, meaning that nearly two-thirds of the population are now classified as overweight or obese," said statistician Paul Jelfs.

The figure compares to 56.3 percent in 1995 and 61.2 percent in 2007-08. » | Telegraph reporters | Monday, October 29, 2012

The Man Who Could Determine Whether the West Is Drawn into Mali's War

THE OBSERVER: Iyad Ag Ghaly has united Islamist groups and taken over Mali's north. Can he be persuaded to relinquish his grip?

The video is a peculiar affair: a portly figure, heavily bearded, inspects his Islamist fighters in the northern Malian desert. Taken at the beginning of the year and posted on YouTube, much of the 12 or so minutes is taken up with prayer, interspersed with shots of fighters attacking the small garrison at Aguelhok and shots of dead soldiers.

The man pictured is Iyad Ag Ghaly – nicknamed "the strategist" – the Tuareg Islamist leader of Ansar Dine, the "defenders of the faith". It is this man's actions in the coming weeks that might determine whether there is a foreign-led intervention in Mali against him and his allies – al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and Mujao (the Movement for Openness and Jihad in West Africa).

Earlier this year it was the alliance of these three groups – Ansar Dine, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and Mujao – that captured large parts of Mali's north, including the cities of Kidal, Timbuktu and Gao. Since then, they have imposed an unpopular and extreme interpretation of sharia law that has seen stonings, amputations and the destruction of shrines. » | Peter Beaumont | Saturday, October 27, 2012

Hurricane Sandy: New Jersey Residents Ordered to Evacuate Coast as Hurricane Approaches
Residents living [a]long New Jersey's coastal areas are ordered to evacuate as hurricane Sandy approaches. Several states have declared states of emergency. Meanwhile streets in parts of Norfolk in Virginia are flooded making the roads impassable to drivers. Several building were blocked off to keep water out

Greek Magazine Editor in Court for Naming Alleged Tax Evaders

THE GUARDIAN: Kostas Vaxevanis at centre of political storm after publishing names of wealthy Greeks alleged to have Swiss bank accounts

A magazine editor in Greece will appear in court after publishing the names of more than 2,000 wealthy Greeks alleged to have Swiss bank accounts, triggering a row over tax evasion that threatens the stability of the government.

Kostas Vaxevanis was arrested on Sunday, after his weekly journal, Hot Doc, printed the list of names, which including prominent members of Greece's political and business elite.

The editor was giving a live radio interview when police arrived, and broke off saying he had to go "to be arrested". At the same [time] he tweeted about the arrest, comparing the police to German stormtroopers in the second world war. In another tweet he wrote: "They're entering my house with the prosecutor right now. They are arresting me. Spread the word."

Police officials said that Vaxevanis had illegally published personal details without proof that the people involved had broken the law. But he and other critics of the government have portrayed his arrest as part of a cover-up intended to obscure claims that the finance ministry had had the list for more than two years without taking action against those named. » | Julian Borger | Sunday, October 28, 2012

Cow Kills Butcher During Islamic Eid Festival
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A cow, panicked at the prospect of slaughter, killed a Palestinian man attempting to butcher it during an Islamic festival in Gaza on Saturday.

More than 70 other people have been injured during this year's Eid al-Adha in the Gaza Strip, either with knife wounds on injuries sustained from bolting animals, local health officials said.

During the Festival of the Sacrifice, a four-day celebration that ends on Tuesday, Muslims butcher a sheep, goat or cow to commemorate the story of Abraham - the Islamic prophet Ibrahim - who was rewarded by God for his willingness to sacrifice his first-born son. » | Phoebe Greenwood, Tel Aviv | Monday, October 29, 2012

Tsunami Hits Hawaii After Canada Earthquake
REUTERS CANADA: HONOLULU (Reuters) - Hawaii was hit by a tsunami on Saturday night prompting the authorities to order at least 100,000 people on the island state to move to higher ground.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the first tsunami wave was three feet high and less forceful than expected. Some forecasts had predicted a wave of up to six feet high.

"The tsunami arrived about when we expected it should," Senior Geophysicist Gerard Fryer told reporters at a news conference, saying: "I was expecting it to be a little bigger."

Other waves were expected.

The tsunami hit with little warning and an alert, issued at short notice due to initial confusion among scientists about the quake's undersea epicenter, caused massive traffic congestion as motorists made a mass exodus from low-lying areas. » | Reporting by Jorene Barut and Suzanne Roig in Honolulu; Writing by Steve Gorman and Tim Gaynor; Editing by Andrew Osborn | Sunday, October 28, 2012

REUTERS CANADA: 7.7 magnitude quake hits Canada's British Columbia: (Reuters) – A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 hit Canada's Pacific coastal province of British Columbia late Saturday, setting off a small tsunami, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, officials said. » | Jeffrey Hodgson | Sunday, October 28, 2012

What Took the Media So Long to Ask Questions on Libya?
Interest from the press on White House response slow to develop

USA: Millions on East Coast Brace for Impact ahead of Rare Storm
Monster storm ready to strike East Coast

Archbishop of Canterbury Contender Criticises Banks

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The frontrunner to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury has accused banks of having “no socially useful purpose” and being “exponents of anarchy” in a speech warning that the battered financial services industry cannot be repaired.

The Rt Rev Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham, says the sector must be rebuilt “from the ruins” of the financial crisis to become something that “helps people rather than being there for people to help it”.

Bishop Welby, who is a member of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, called for the introduction of formal banking qualifications, for the Government only to only support financial institutions that have a “clear and explicit social value”, and to offer an easier tax regime and lighter regulation for banks that demonstrate a “social purpose”.

Speaking at a conference in Zurich, Switzerland, Bishop Welby said: “At the moment clearly these are merely ideas in the mist.

"But one principle seems to me to be clear, we cannot repair what was destroyed in 2008, we can only replace it with something that is dedicated to the support of human society, to the common good and to solidarity.

"Financial services are crucial to human development, but they only do their job when the work they carry out is done in a way that is truly a service." » | Graham Ruddick | Saturday, October 27, 2012

Imran Khan Detained and 'Interrogated over Drone Views' by US Immigration

THE GUARDIAN: Former cricket captain turned politician detained on flight from Canada to New York to be questioned over his views on jihad

Imran Khan, the former Pakistan cricket captain turned politician, was taken off an international flight from Canada to New York and questioned by US immigration officials over his views on drone strikes and jihad.

Khan, who has been at the forefront of a high-profile campaign as leader of the Pakistan Movement for Justice party (PTI) to end US drone strikes in northern Pakistan, had been in Canada to give a speech and was on his way to a fundraising dinner in the US on Friday.

Khan recently attempted to lead a high-profile march into south Waziristan which included US peace activists from the Code Pink group with some 15,000 of his supporters.

He claims that the drone strikes kill large numbers of innocent civilians – a claim denied by the US.

"I was taken off from plane and interrogated by US Immigration in Canada on my views on drones. My stance is known. Drone attacks must stop," Khan tweeted yesterday after his questioning.

He added: "Missed flight and sad to miss the fundraising lunch in NY but nothing will change my stance."

A US state department spokeswoman confirmed Khan's questioning. "We are aware that Imran Khan was briefly delayed in Toronto before boarding the next flight to the United States," she told Pakistani media.

"The issue was resolved. Mr Khan is welcome in the United States." » | Peter Beaumont | Saturday, October 27, 2012

La Jordanie renforce sa défense contre la Syrie
LE FIGARO: Inquiet de la dégradation de la situation à sa frontière nord avec la Syrie, Amman a acquis auprès de ses alliés américains douze lanceurs de missiles.

Inquiet d'une possible attaque par un régime syrien aux abois, le royaume hachémite a récemment acquis auprès de ses alliés américains douze lanceurs de missiles de type Himar, capables d'attaquer une division entière, affirme au Figaroune source militaire française au Moyen-Orient.

«Chacun des douze lance-missiles de calibre 220 millimètres est monté sur un camion de type Doge et peut tirer une vingtaine de munitions», précise cet expert, qui évalue à quelque 500 à 600 le nombre de missiles fournis à Amman lors de leur livraison, cet automne. » | Par Georges Malbrunot | vendredi 26 octobre 2012

Berlusconi’s Scandal-filled Career

Berlin Plans to Replace Historic Gas Lamps
Cost-cutting in Berlin may lead to cutting parts of the city's history. Plans are underway to replace nearly all of its historic gas street lamps. The city's politicians say they're too expensive to maintain. Al Jazeera's Nick Spicer reports from Berlin.

Hurricane Sandy Moves Up US Atlantic Coast
Category 1 system menaces large swathe of Eastern Seaboard as forecasters predict catastrophic hybrid "Frankenstorm"

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Burmese Government Accused of Failing to Stop Anti-Muslim Violence
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Burmese government has been accused of failing to protect its religious minorities after human rights campaigners claimed that entire districts of a Muslim-inhabited coastal town were destroyed in communal violence.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch released satellite images which it said showed that more than 800 buildings and houseboats had been razed in the town of Kyaukpyu, in western Burma's Rakhine state.

It said the victims of the violence were mainly Rohingya Muslims, thousands of whom have fled the area since tensions with Burma's majority Buddhist population flared anew. Officials say that at least 67 people have been killed and 95 wounded in the past week.

Long-running tensions between the two groups first flared back in June, when accusations that a group of Muslim men were responsible for the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman led to 80 deaths and 75,000 people fleeing their homes.

While the Rakhine Buddhists claim to have been the victim of pogroms themselves, the Rohingya Muslims claim to have borne the brunt of the violence. » | Colin Freeman | Saturday, October 27, 2012

Berlusconi schwankt zwischen Auswandern und Comeback
WIENER ZEITUNG: Ex-Premier kündigte bereits an, doch weitermachen zu wollen.

Rom. Empört und verbittert reagiert Italiens Ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi auf die Verurteilung zu vier Jahren Haft wegen Steuerbetrugs. In einer ersten Stellungnahme nach der Urteilsverkündung sprach der Medienunternehmer von einem "politischen" Urteil und griff die verantwortlichen Richter scharf an. Er habe Lust, alles liegen und stehen zu lassen und auszuwandern, berichtete die römische Tageszeitung "Il Messaggero".

Doch dann machte der Ex-Premier, wie so oft, einen Schwenk. Er wolle weiterhin in der Politik bleiben, gewissermaßen aus selbstlosen Motiven: "Dieses Urteil wird Folgen haben. Ich fühle mich verpflichtet, weiterhin in der Politik zu bleiben, um die Justiz zu reformieren, damit anderen Bürgern nicht das geschieht, was ich erlebt habe", sagte Berlusconi im Interview mit seinem TV-Sender "Canale 5" am Samstag. » | Samstag, 27. Oktober 2012

"Super Storm" Sandy Heads Toward U.S. Northeast Coast
REUTERS.COM: Hurricane Sandy was downgraded on Saturday morning but remained highly menacing as it pulled away from the Bahamas, making a slow path toward the U.S. northeast coast where it threatens to become one of the worst storms in decades.

The late-season storm has been dubbed "Frankenstorm" by some weather watchers because it will combine elements of a tropical cyclone and a winter storm and is forecast to reach the U.S. coast close to Halloween.

Forecast models show it will have all the ingredients to morph into a so-called "super storm", stirring memories of the 1993 'Storm of the Century', whose impact in the United States was particularly destructive.

Governors in states along the U.S. East Coast declared emergencies on Friday, with officials urging residents to stock up on food, water and batteries. » | Kevin Gray | MIAMI | Saturday, October 27, 2012

WEATHER.COM VIDEO: Sandy: Major Impacts Expected in Northeast »

Medina: Saudis Take a Bulldozer to Islam's History

THE INDEPENDENT: Authorities are building a mosque so big it will hold 1.6m people – but are demolishing irreplaceable monuments to do it

Three of the world’s oldest mosques are about to be destroyed as Saudi Arabia embarks on a multi-billion-pound expansion of Islam’s second holiest site. Work on the Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina, where the Prophet Mohamed is buried, will start once the annual Hajj pilgrimage ends next month. When complete, the development will turn the mosque into the world’s largest building, with the capacity for 1.6 million worshippers.

But concerns have been raised that the development will see key historic sites bulldozed. Anger is already growing at the kingdom’s apparent disdain for preserving the historical and archaeological heritage of the country’s holiest city, Mecca. Most of the expansion of Masjid an-Nabawi will take place to the west of the existing mosque, which holds the tombs of Islam’s founder and two of his closest companions, Abu Bakr and Umar.

Just outside the western walls of the current compound are mosques dedicated to Abu Bakr and Umar, as well as the Masjid Ghamama, built to mark the spot where the Prophet is thought to have given his first prayers for the Eid festival. The Saudis have announced no plans to preserve or move the three mosques, which have existed since the seventh century and are covered by Ottoman-era structures, or to commission archaeological digs before they are pulled down, something that has caused considerable concern among the few academics who are willing to speak out in the deeply authoritarian kingdom. » | Jerome Taylor | Friday, October 26, 2012

Al-Zawahiri Urges Muslims To Capture Westerners, Calls Obama 'Professional Liar'
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES: Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has called on the Muslims to kidnap westerners as a means to free the imprisoned jihadists and to restart the Egyptian revolution, the SITE Intelligence Group has reported.

"We are seeking, by the help of Allah, to capture others and to incite Muslims to capture the citizens of the countries that are fighting Muslims in order to release our captives," said al-Zawahiri, referring to the kidnapping of Warren Weinstein, a 71-year-old American aid worker in Pakistan, last year, Reuters reported.

Al-Zawahiri, a physician by training, urged the Egyptians to press for the law of Islam in the country and fight till the Shariah law was implemented.

"The battle isn't over, but it has started… The revolution in Egypt must continue and the Muslim Ummah must offer sacrifices until it achieves what it wants and until it snatches from the corrupt forces ... the dignity and honor of Egypt," al-Zawahiri said, according to an AFP report.

In the first part of the eleventh episode of his series, "A Message of Hope and Glad Tidings to Our People in Egypt," he lashed out at the U.S. for supporting Israel and called President Barack Obama a “professional liar.” » | Sreeja VN | Saturday, October 27 2012

Large Majority Of Muslim-Americans Support Obama In Decade-Long Shift Toward Democrats
THINK PROGRESS: The Council on American-Islamic Relationsreleased poll results this week showing that 68 percent of American Muslims support President Obama while just 7 percent support Mitt Romney (1 in 4 remain undecided). These results reflect a new reality for Republicans: American Muslims are rushing toward Democrats. In 2008, 49 percent of Muslim-Americans felt “closer” to Democrats. Now that number has shot up to 66 percent. That’s in contrast to the population as a whole, where Democratic favorability has actually gone down 11 percent. » | Hamed Aleaziz | Thursday, October 25, 2012

New Account of Hitler's Last Days Released
Newly-released files reveal that Hitler told Himmler "everyone has deceived me" in his last days in the bunker and said the "German people deserve to perish".

Newly-released diaries contain an account of the Joint Intelligence Committee's report on Hitler's final days in his bunker.

Dr Stephen Twigge, head of the Modern, Domestic, Diplomatic and Colonial team at The National Archives in Kew, west London says the dictator is portrayed as, "a rather depressed, demented, mad individual."

That assessment comes as little surprise, but the historian says the diaries give the world a new insight into Hitler's last days.

Fear and Loathing in Athens: The Rise of Golden Dawn and the Far Right

THE GUARDIAN: In austerity-ravaged Greece, neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn is on the rise. Their MPs give fascist salutes, while on the streets black-shirted vigilantes beat up immigrants. And some of their most enthusiastic supporters are in the police

You can hear it from blocks away: the deafening beat of Pogrom,Golden Dawn's favourite band, blasting out of huge speakers by a makeshift stage. "Rock for the fatherland, this is our music, we don't want parasites and foreigners on our land…" It's a warm October evening and children on bicycles are riding up and down among the young men with crew cuts, the sleeves of their black T-shirts tight over pumped-up biceps, strolling with the stiff swagger of the muscle-bound. They look relaxed, off-duty. Two of them slap a handshake: "Hey, fascist! How's it going?"

Trestle tables are stacked with Golden Dawn merchandise: black T-shirts bearing the party's name in Greek, Chrysi Avgi, the sigma shaped like the S on SS armbands; mugs with the party symbol, a Greek meander drawn to resemble a swastika; Greek flags and black lanyards, lighters and baseball caps. I lean over to talk to one woman stallholder, dressed in Golden Dawn black with thickly kohl-rimmed eyes, but as soon as she opens her mouth a man in a suit strides up: "What are you writing? Are you a journalist? Tear that page out of your notebook. No, no, you can't talk to anyone."

Tonight is the opening of the Golden Dawn office in Megara, a once prosperous farming town between Athens and Corinth. The Greek national socialist party polled more than 15% here – double the national average – in the June election, when it won 18 seats in parliament. (One was taken up by the former bassist with Pogrom, whose hits include Auschwitz and Speak Greek Or Die.)

Legitimised by democracy and by the media, Golden Dawn is opening branches in towns all over Greece and regularly coming third in national opinion polls. Its black-shirted vigilantes have been beating up immigrants for more than three years, unmolested by the police; lately they've taken to attacking Greeks they suspect of being gay or on the left. MPs participate proudly in the violence. In September, three of them led gangs of black-shirted heavies through street fairs in the towns of Rafina and Messolonghi, smashing up immigrant traders' stalls with Greek flags on thick poles. » | Maria Margaronis | Friday, October 26, 2012

Who, What, Why: What's It Like to Be a Prisoner of the Vatican?

BBC: Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict's former butler, begins an 18-month prison sentence today inside the Vatican walls, after being found guilty by a Vatican City court of stealing sensitive documents from the Pope's desk. What will life be like for the only prisoner inside the world's smallest sovereign state?

The Pope's former butler is being treated "leniently and justly" according to Vatican authorities, and may even benefit from a papal pardon before the end of his prison term, if he shows repentance and apologises to Pope Benedict and all the other people who work for the Holy See for the scandal he caused.

But for the moment he has exchanged his modest "grace and favour" three-bedroom apartment just inside the walls of the Vatican for a sparsely furnished detention room inside the headquarters of the Pope's private police force, the Vatican Gendarmerie.

Not only has he been sacked, but he now risks losing his home as well, situated almost next door to his former workplace, the Papal apartments on the top floor of the Apostolic Palace.

Vatican City has a railway station - with only one train a week bringing in bonded duty-free goods, a Post Office, a radio station, a pharmacy, a supermarket, a fire brigade, a five-star hotel, and one of the world's most visited museums, but it has no prison - and no dungeons. » | David Willey, BBC News, Rome | Friday, October 26, 2012

Schweiz: Tageschau – Nachrichten aus der Schweiz, aus aller Welt

Italian Court Convicts Berlusconi of Tax Fraud, Gives Him 4-years
FOX NEWS: MILAN – A court in Italy has convicted former Premier Silvio Berlusconi of tax fraud and sentenced him to four years in prison.

The conviction Friday was the 76-year-old media mogul's first in a long series of trials, but it did not mean he was going to prison right away. Cases in Italy must pass two levels of appeal before the verdicts are final.

His lawyers declined to comment immediately, but the billionaire businessman is expected to appeal. Berlusconi wasn't in the courtroom for the verdict on the case stemming from dealings in his Mediaset business empire.

A total of 11 people were on trial. Prosecutors had alleged that the defendants were behind a scheme to purchase the rights to broadcast U.S. movies on Berlusconi's private TV networks in his Mediaset empire through a series of offshore companies and had falsely declared the payments to avoid taxes.

Berlusconi's designated political heir as the head of the center-right party he leads, Angelino Alfano, blasted the verdict Friday as "incomprehensible" and said he was confident an appeals court would throw out the conviction. » | Associated Press | Friday, October 26, 2012

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Silvio Berlusconi sentenced to four years in jail: Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister, has been sentenced to four years in prison after a court in Milan convicted him of tax evasion. » | Friday, October 26, 2012

THE WASHINGTON POST: The 3 reasons Silvio Berlusconi might never see prison: » | Max Fisher | Friday, October 26, 2012

CHANNEL NEWS ASIA: Clooney absent from Berlusconi sex trial: ROME: Hollywood star George Clooney failed to appear Friday to give evidence in the trial of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on sex charges, leading the prosecutor to accuse the defence of seeking to slow down the proceedings. ¶ Clooney and his former fiancee Elisabetta Canalis have been named as defence witnesses and Clooney was due to testify Friday but did not appear. » | AFP/al | Friday, October 26, 2012

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Silvio Berlusconi four-year sentence quickly cut to one year: Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister, was sentenced to four years in prison for tax evasion, only for the prison term to be reduced swiftly to one year. » | Nick Squires, Rome and Alex Spillius | Friday, October 26, 2012

Syllabus in Indonesia to Cut 'Non-essentials'
In a bid to lighten the workload of its students, the Indonesian government is mulling over a change to the primary school curricululm that would see the elimination of English, science, and social studies. Religion, the Indonesian language, and nationalism lessons, deemed essential, are set to take the place of the subjects should they be axed. Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen reports from Jakarta.

Nick Clegg Insists on Speaking Dutch at Cabinet Office Meeting
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg holds a meeting in London entirely in Dutch with Herman Van Rompuy, allegedly to outfox David Cameron's 'spy'.

Nick Clegg, who speaks five languages fluently, chose to conduct a recent meeting at the Cabinet Office with Herman Van Rompuy, the European Council president, entirely in Dutch.

Did the Deputy Prime Minister, whose mother is from the Netherlands, do so to outfox a Downing Street official whom David Cameron had allegedly sent to spy on their conversation?

“Nick enjoys being able to talk Dutch,” the Liberal Democrat leader's spokesman tells Mandrake. “Similarly, when he meets leaders from France or Latin America, he’ll speak French and Spanish. It’s very much appreciated when he goes. Read on and comment » | Tim Walker. Edited by Richard Eden | Thursday, October 25, 2012

Débat: Madame Jésus a-t-elle existé?
Une théologienne américaine a dévoilé un fragment de papyrus, écrit en copte et daté du IVe siècle, qui ferait allusion à la femme de Jésus. Un document pas encore authentifié. Si le Christ avait été marié, les positions des Eglises chrétiennes auraient-elles été différentes, concernant notamment la sexualité et le mariage des prêtres? Débat avec Albert Longchamp, jésuite, dir. revue Choisir, et Claire Clivaz, théologienne, prof. Nouveau Testament UNIL.

Barack Hussein Obama: Wenn der Name zum Ballast wird

Doctor Sees 'Proof of Heaven' after Coma
Non-believer says he spent 7 days in heaven

Sununu vs. Richardson
Former governors battle over 2012 race

Romney Camp Responds to Obama's 'BS-er' Comment
Bay Buchanan calls the president's campaign 'one long negative commercial'

Has Obama Become the Candidate He Campaigned Against?
Is the president out of ideas?

Obama Loses It with This Negative, Undignified Ad! Obama Sexy Lena Dunham Ad: Your First Time

Sixth Circuit: Michigan Can Ban Anti-Islam Ads from Buses

WSJ BLOG: Does First Amendment protect our right to say what we want in advertisements on the side of a city bus?

Yes and no.

A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that a Michigan transit authority could bar from the side of its buses an advertisement that read: “Fatwa on your head? Is your family or community threatening you? Leaving Islam? Got Questions? Get Answers! RefugefromIslam.com”[.]

The group behind the ads is the [the] American Freedom Defense Initiative, which describes its mission as acting “against the treason being committed by national, state, and local government officials, the mainstream media, and others in their capitulation to the global jihad and Islamic supremacism.”

The group had sought in 2010 to place the ads on the buses in Michigan’s four southeastern-most counties, but the authority refused, on the grounds that the ads violated a policy against political advertisements and offensive speech. Read on and comment » | Joe Palazzolo | Thursday, October 25, 2012

Permafrost-Schwund in den Alpen
Das Eis über und unter der Erdoberfläche verschwindet. Hänge im Hochgebirge verlieren zunehmend ihre Stabilität, stürzen ins Tal und gefährden Siedlungen und Infrastruktur. Erstmals haben Experten des Bundesamtes für Umwelt das Ausmass der Erdbewegungen mit Sensoren im Permafrost und hochauflösenden Satellitenbildern analysiert. Das Resultat ist alarmierend.

Zum großen Teil in Schweizerdeutsch übertragen.

Das Alte Ägypten: Großmacht am Nil
Das Programm hier abspielen

Al Shabaab Converts Christians into Jihadists
WORTHY NEWS: NAIROBI, KENYA – The militant Islamist group al Shabaab is targeting converts from Christianity to Islam to wage jihad in Kenya.

Controlling southern Somalia, al Shabaab has been launching border attacks into Kenya with poor youths from Christian backgrounds.

Godffery Ngumi, senior lecturer at the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Kenyatta University, said recent converts can be easily manipulated because they know very little about their new religion.

"It is the recent converts who (are) being used to bomb churches," said Rev. Wellington Mutiso, head of the Evangelical Alliance. "It is not members of the Somali, Boran, or Swahili communities, which have many Muslims, but the other tribes which have been known to follow Christianity …" » | Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent | Friday, October 26, 2012

A Surge of Serbs and Macedonians: Germany Seeks to Halt Influx of Balkan Asylum Seekers
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: With a massive surge in asylum applications from people of the Roma minority from Serbia and Macedonia, Germany's interior minister is calling for new rules to expedite processing these cases. Although many come to the EU for better economic opportunities, they also face racial discrimination at home, advocacy groups say.

After observing an extreme rise in the number of asylum seekers from Serbia and Macedonia in recent weeks, Germany's interior minister is calling for tighter rules for processing the applications.

"Those who originate from safe countries, should be provided with reduced cash benefits in the future," Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, a conservative with Bavaria's Christian Social Union party, told the daily Die Welt.

Two weeks ago, Friedrich advised Germany's federal states that they could better defend themselves against the flood of applicants by providing vouchers for food and services rather than cash benefits to the asylum seekers, many of whom are of the Roma minority. » | dsl -- with wires | Thursday, October 25, 2012

Mitt Romney est un «bullshitter», selon Barack Obama

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Barack Obama aurait traité son adversaire de «bullshitter», soit quelqu'un qui dit «des conneries», lors d'un entretien avec les journalistes du magazine Rolling Stone.

Un magazine américain a affirmé jeudi que le président Barack Obama avait évoqué son adversaire Mitt Romney en termes peu amènes lors d'un entretien avec ses journalistes. La Maison Blanche a appelé à ne pas se laisser «distraire» par un seul mot, alors que le chef de l'Etat devait voter dans son fief de Chicago.

Le directeur de la communication de la Maison Blanche, Dan Pfeiffer, n'a pas démenti jeudi que M. Obama ait employé le mot «bullshitter», soit quelqu'un qui dit «des conneries» dans cet entretien avec le bimensuel «Rolling Stone».

M. Pfeiffer a toutefois souhaité que les médias ne se laissent pas «distraire» par cette expression, et a affirmé que «la confiance est quelque chose de très important dans cette élection». » | ats/Newsnet | jeudi 25 octobre 2012

ZEENEWS: Mitt Romney a ‘bullshitter’: Barack Obama » | PTI | Friday, October 26, 2012

Le majordome du pape incarcéré au Vatican
lePARISIEN.fr: Le majordome du pape sera incarcéré dans la journée de jeudi dans une cellule de la gendarmerie du Vatican, après que le parquet a renoncé à faire appel de la condamnation prononcée contre lui. Paolo Gabriele a été condamné à 18 mois de prison début octobre par le tribunal du Vatican pour avoir subtilisé des documents confidentiels du pape. » | LeParisien.fr | jeudi 25 octobre 2012

Sweden's Princess Madeleine to Marry British-American Banker

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A London-born banker is set to join the Swedish royal family after the announcement of his engagement to Princess Madeleine.

Christopher O’Neill, 38, met Princess Madeleine while the pair were both living in New York and their engagement was announced on the Swedish royal family’s website.

“Chris proposed to me in New York at the start of October, and we are very happy,” Princess Madeleine said in a video recorded at Drottningholm Palace outside Stockholm and posted online [see below].

The 30-year-old princess is the youngest of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia’s three children and is fourth in line to the throne. » | Barney Henderson | Thursday, October 25, 2012

Sarkozy-Nostalgie in Frankreich: Das Phantom des Elysée

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Monatelang war er untergetaucht, abgehakt, fast vergessen. Jetzt ist Nicolas Sarkozy wieder im Gespräch: Gattin Carla Bruni äußert sich zur Karriere des französischen Ex-Präsidenten. Bereitet der einstige Elysée-Chef sein Comeback vor?

"Er ist ein Kämpfer, er beklagt sich nicht. Die Politik ist schonungslos, vor allem während einer Präsidentschaftswahl. Und diese Kampagne war letztlich die schönste seines politischen Lebens. (...) Er hat sich geschlagen bis zum Ende, und als er verstanden hatte, dass er verloren hatte, akzeptierte er einfach seine Niederlage - mit Würde."

Was Carla Bruni - Ex-Model, Musikerin und Gattin des früheren französischen Präsidenten Nicolas Sarkozy - in der jüngsten Ausgabe des Magazins "Elle" über ihren Ehemann erzählt, klingt beinahe wie ein politischer Nachruf. Denn der Mann, der "Tag und Nacht arbeitete" im Dienst der Nation, muss jetzt "sein Leben neu gestalten", ein "neues Kapitel aufschlagen, nach 30 Jahren Politik".

Die Einlassungen der ehemaligen "Première Dame", als "Interview der Wahrheit" auf dem Titel der Modezeitschrift verbreitet, werden als Scoop nach sechs Monaten Stille verkauft: Einblicke auf vermeintlich Intimes ("Nicolas ist durchaus kein autoritärer Ehemann"), Berichte zum Innenleben des "Elysée" ("Dort arbeitet die Elite der französischen Traditionen") und immer wieder rührende Bewertungen des famosen Ex-Staatschefs. "Konstruktiv, kreativ, neugierig, luzid, tolerant", ein Mensch "ohne jeden Anflug von Sektierertum, geistig offen". Und dabei ein Mann, der auch im Urlaub täglich 50 Kilometer auf dem Fahrrad strampelt und mit 57 Jahren "nach vorne blickt": "Er wird erst innehalten, wenn er stirbt." » | Von Stefan Simons, Paris | Donnerstag, 25. Oktober 2012

"Gangster-jihadists" in the Sahara Funded by the West, Experts Say - Reuters Investigates
The fall of northern Mali to a mix of Islamist rebels and criminal groups has raised the prospect of a safe haven for terrorists in the Sahara. The groups fund themselves in part by kidnapping Westerners and then demanding ransom money. Reuters correspondent David Lewis in Mali's capital details the growing threat in the region. For more, follow him on twitter @DG_Lewis.

Most French See Islam Too Influential In Society: Poll
REUTERS.COM: An increasing majority of people inFrance believe Islam plays too influential a role in their society and almost half see Muslims as a threat to their national identity, according to a poll published on Thursday.

The survey by pollster Ifop in Le Figaro newspaper showed that 60 percent of people believed that Islam was "too important" in France in terms of its influence and visibility, up from 55 percent two years ago.

It found that 43 percent of respondents considered the presence of the Muslim community as a threat to their national identity, compared with just 17 percent who said it enriched society. Forty percent of those questioned were indifferent to the presence of Islam, Le Figaro said.

"Our poll shows a further hardening in French people's opinions," Jerome Fourquet, head of Ifop's opinion department, told the newspaper.

The struggle of secular France, whose people are mainly Catholic, to assimilate the largest Islamic population in Europe was thrust into the spotlight in March when Muslim Mohamed Merah, went on a shooting spree in southwest France that killed three Jewish children, a rabbi and three soldiers.

"In recent years, there has not been a week when Islam has not been in the heart of the news for social reasons: the veil, halal food, for dramatic news like terrorist attacks or geopolitical reasons," Fourquet said. » | Reporting By Daniel Flynn | Paris | Thursday, October 25, 2012


ifop pour Le Figaro : L’image de l’islam en France – Résultats détaillés » | Octobre 2012

Hajj Pilgrims Gather on Mount Arafat
Millions of pilgrims gather at Mount Arafat for the annual Hajj, including groups from Syria, who call for an end to the Assad regime in their country.

Millions of Muslims Gather in the Saudi City of Mecca to Perform the Hajj

To the gallery »

Feminists Betray Islamic Women
HUFF POST – THE BLOG: Last week, Afghan girl Mah Gul was beheaded on the instruction of family because she rejected prostitution. Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai was shot in the head by Pakistani Taliban gunmen in the Swat Valley because she campaigned for women's secular education. Absence of outrage by Muslim leaders is shameful, but why are so many Western feminists silent?

In Swat, the Pakistani Taliban systematically restricted girls' education. During 2008, they destroyed about 150 private schools and converted others into madrassas, or religious seminaries. Government schools were closed down, teachers murdered, acid was thrown on to the faces of schoolgirls and several officials were beheaded.

A local Islamist leader explained: "Female education is against Islamic teachings and spreads vulgarity in society."

The attack on Malala and two companions on a school bus has shocked Pakistan, especially in view of the bloody war in Swat fought by the army in 2009 to unseat the Taliban and enforce national law. In Pakistan, more than half the adult population is illiterate and in rural Sindh and Balochistan, femaleliteracy rates are less than 2 percent. "Honor killings," bartering of women for land and animals, domestic violence and rape are endemic.

Many intellectual feminists value cultural practice, but as Afghan women's rights activist Sima Samar asserted, this respect does not apply to traditions that oppress women and violate human rights. Some feminists have joined an unholy alliance with political Islam, disregarding the oppression of women and homosexuals in favor of overarching aims to rid the world of colonialism, neo-colonialism and capitalism. Read on and comment » | Ida Lichter *, M.D. | Wednesday, October 24, 2012

*Author, 'Muslim Women Reformers: Inspiring Voices Against Oppression'