Swiss Nudist Wins Appeal Against 'Indecent Behaviour'
THE TELEGRAPH: A Swiss man fined for nude hiking has won an appeal of the 100-franc (£60) penalty because a court decided that the charge of "indecent behaviour" did not apply.

The 47 year old went to the court in eastern Switzerland's Appenzell Ausserrhoden canton to defend his right to hike naked, after he refused to pay a fine of 100 francs imposed following a complaint from a woman who saw him.

The woman had complained to the authorities about his "indecent behaviour."

The nudist's lawyer argued however that his client was not behaving in an indecent manner, and that the woman must have followed him to observe his actions.

In addition, the lawyer noted that the canton's penal code did not prohibit hiking naked.

The hiker said he has been rambling nude over the past two years, and that he always sticks to little used tracks.

The court waived the fine on the nudist and instead ordered the state to cover legal costs of 2,000 francs. >>> | Friday, May 28, 2010

English Defence League: Inside the Violent World of Britain's New Far Right
THE GUARDIAN: Undercover Guardian investigation reveals plan by English Defence League to hit racially sensitive areas in attempt to provoke disorder over summer

MPs expressed concern tonight after it emerged that far-right activists are planning to step up their provocative street campaign by targeting some of the UK's highest-profile Muslim communities, raising fears of widespread unrest this summer.

Undercover footage shot by the Guardian reveals the English Defence League, which has staged a number of violent protests in towns and cities across the country this year, is planning to "hit" Bradford and the London borough of Tower Hamlets as it intensifies its street protests.

Senior figures in the coalition government were briefed on the threat posed by EDL marches this week. Tomorrow up to 2,000 EDL supporters are expected to descend on Newcastle for its latest protest.

MPs said the group's decision to target some of the UK's most prominent Muslim communities was a blatant attempt to provoke mayhem and disorder. "This group has no positive agenda," said the Bradford South MP, Gerry Sutcliffe. "It is an agenda of hate that is designed to divide people and communities. We support legitimate protest but this is not legitimate, it is designed to stir up trouble. The people of Bradford will want no part of it."

The English Defence League, which started in Luton last year, has become the most significant far-right street movement in the UK since the National Front in the 1970s. A Guardian investigation has identified a number of known rightwing extremists who are taking an interest in the movement – from convicted football hooligans to members of violent rightwing splinter groups.

Thousands of people have attended its protests – many of which have descended into violence and racist and Islamophobic chanting. Supporters are split into "divisions" spread across the UK and as many as 3,000 people are attracted to its protests.

The group also appears to be drawing support from the armed forces. Its online armed forces division has 842 members and the EDL says many serving soldiers have attended its demonstrations. A spokeswoman for the EDL, whose husband is a serving soldier, said: "The soldiers are fighting Islamic extremism in Afghanistan and Iraq and the EDL are fighting it here … Not all the armed forces support the English Defence League but a majority do." >>> Matthew Taylor | Friday, May 28, 2010

Watch* Guardian video: The English Defence League uncovered: Formed less than a year ago, the English Defence League has become the most significant far-right street movement since the National Front. The Guardian spent four months undercover with the movement, and found them growing in strength and planning to target some of the UK's biggest Muslim communities >>>

*Warning: video contains very strong language. Viewer discretion is STRONGLY advised.

THE GUARDIAN: Muslims must refuse to rise to EDL provocation: By ignoring planned EDL demonstrations and looking toward dialogue to dispel myths, Muslims can facilitate cohesion >>> Samia Rahman | Saturday, May 29, 2010

Facebook Rival Launched in Pakistan After 'Blasphemous' Prophet Images Published
THE TELEGRAPH: Web developers in Pakistan have launched a version of Facebook for the Muslim world after the social networking site was blocked for showing “blasphemous” images of the Prophet Mohammed.

Six young IT experts in the city of Lahore have set up MillatFacebook – using the Urdu word for nation – which they hope will become a hub for Muslims around the world.

Omar Zaheer Meer, one of the founders, said the site was launched on Wednesday and had already attracted 8,000 users.

The aim, he said, was to register their disapproval of the images of the Muslim prophet and to offer an alternative to a site that has also been criticised for its lax and confusing privacy controls.

"We are saying that we are technologically independent and that you can't make money from us and then not respect our views," he said.

Thousands of people in Pakistan have demonstrated against the US-based social networking site for hosting a contest calling for cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

The country's courts ordered internet service providers to block the social networking site last week, along with others that featured sacrilegious content. YouTube, Wikipedia and hundreds of other pages have all been subject to temporary bans.

Muslims argue that any representation of the Prophet Mohammed is blasphemous. >>> Rob Crilly in Islamabad | Friday, May 28, 2010

Blue
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Merkels fürchterliche Dhimmitude! Reise and den Golf: Merkel wirbt um Verständnis für islamische Werte
WELT ONLINE: Zum Abschluss ihrer Reise durch die Golfregion hat sich Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel für ein engeres Verhältnis zwischen Europa und den arabischen Staaten ausgesprochen. Wichtig sei Toleranz auf beiden Seiten. Deutschland müsse sich zudem anstrengen, den Anschluss an die Boom-Region nicht zu verpassen.

Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (CDU) wird vom Ministerpräsidenten Prinz Chalifa Bin Salman Al-Kahlifa im Gudaibiya Palast in Manama (Bahrain) mit militärischen Ehren empfangen. Bild: Welt Online
Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel hat um mehr Verständnis in Europa für die Werte der islamischen Welt und einen besseren Austausch mit arabischen Staaten geworben. „Wir in Europa vergessen manchmal, über wie viele Jahrhunderte der arabische Raum in Wissenschaft und Kultur weit vor uns lag“, sagte Merkel in einer Grundsatzrede in dem Museum für Islamische Kunst in Doha, der Hauptstadt von Katar.

Wichtig seien auf beiden Seiten religiöse Toleranz und Meinungsfreiheit. „Wir brauchen Respekt vor den unterschiedlichen Wertevorstellungen.“ In Deutschland gestalteten Muslime die Gesellschaft aktiv mit – „nicht zuletzt in der Fußballnationalmannschaft“.

Die globale Entwicklung mache einen Austausch über die Grenzen hinweg mehr denn je möglich – vor allem auch in der Wirtschaft. Hier müsse sich Deutschland anstrengen, um den Anschluss in der wirtschaftlich rasant aufstrebenden Golfregion nicht zu verpassen. „Von dem Tempo können wir uns manchmal eine Scheibe abschneiden“, sagte sie. „Zu schnell sind wir mit Sicherheit nicht.“ >>> dpa/pku | Donnerstag, 27. Mai 2010

Video abspielen: Saudi Arabien – Merkel will Wirtschaftsbeziehungen fördern >>>
Bildergalerie – Unverhüllt: Merkel testet in Saudi-Arabien Grenzen >>> | Mittwoch, 26. Mai 2010

Euro Plunges as Spain’s Debt Downgraded
TIMES ONLINE: The euro plunged and US stockmarkets dived tonight after Spain was stripped of its top-level credit rating by a leading rating agency over concerns about its economic growth.

In the latest blow to the eurozone, which is struggling to cope with the fallout from the Greek fiscal crisis, Fitch Ratings downgraded Spain’s sovereign credit rating — a measure of how easily it can meet the interest payment on its debt — by a notch from the top AAA rating to AA+.

Standard & Poor’s, another ratings agency, downgraded Spain’s rating for the second time to AA last month but Moody’s, the other major ratings agency, has maintained the rating at AAA.

Any downgrade in a sovereign credit rating will push up the interest that a country must pay on its debts. Brian Coulton, Fitch’s head of EMEA sovereign ratings, said that the process of cutting the country’s debt could slow economic growth.

Fitch queried Spain’s forecasts for economic growth, highlighting that the inflexibility of the labour market and the restructuring of regional and local savings banks could act as a drag on growth. >>> Gráinne Gilmore, Economics Correspondent | Friday, May 28, 2010

Gaddafi the Younger Looks to Consign Libya's Pariah Status to the Past
THE GUARDIAN: Saif Gaddafi, son of the Libyan leader, has engaged a New York PR firm to present the face of a modern reforming state

Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi addresses a seminar at LSE this week. Photograph: The Guardian
It looked, for a while, just like the bad old days: a handful of angry demonstrators on one side of a London street, shouting "Gaddafi is a murderer" and waving placards as a larger group of men on the other pavement lobbed back Arabic insults over the heads of the watching policemen. But the past was swiftly banished when Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, began to speak from the podium in a university lecture hall packed with businessmen, diplomats and students.

Saif, 37, is the face of modern, reforming Libya, emerging from its long years as a pariah state to become a dazzling mecca for western investment, with a reinvigorated energy industry, billions of dollars in cash reserves, a re-opened US embassy, and even plans for mass tourism.

Gaddafi junior has no formal position in the Jamihiriya – the "state of the masses" – but he is an energetic champion of change who has a finger in most pies in Libya, as well as jet-setting friends such as Britain's Lord Mandelson. It is widely assumed that he will one day succeed his father, although he insists he is a democrat for whom dynastic rule ended with the 1969 revolution.

Saif got all the difficult old issues out of the way at the start of his speech at the London School of Economics this week; a rare public appearance. He surveyed Libya's decision to dismantle its programme to develop nuclear and chemical weapons, the lifting of UN sanctions, the settlement of claims relating to the Lockerbie bombing and the end of a long row with Bulgaria over medics who were jailed for allegedly infecting children with the Aids virus.

A predictable question about Abdel-Basset al-Megrahi, the terminally ill Lockerbie bomber who was freed from his Scottish prison and allowed to go home to die last summer, produced a response so terse it was almost non-existent: Saif is evidently well-advised by his New York PR company.

The trick is to focus on the country's new-found respectability and its future prospects. >>> Ian Black, Middle East editor | Friday, May 28, 2010

Related articles here, here and here

Gunmen Open Fire on Pakistani Mosque, Killing 20
THE TELEGRAPH: Gunmen armed with grenades stormed two mosques belonging to a minority Islamic sect in the Pakistani city of Lahore, seizing hostages and opening fire on police.



At least 20 people died in the attacks against the persecuted Ahmadi sect during Friday prayers, according to government officials, who said the death toll was expected to rise.

Men armed with AK-47s appeared in the minaret of one of the mosques shooting at onlookers.

"Some gunmen have managed to enter the worship place. We have surrounded it. I have no idea of casualties," said Illyas Saleem, a senior police officer in Model Town, outside one of the mosques, shortly before it was cleared of attackers.

One man was arrested and a dozen ambulances took dead and injured to hospitals.

Witnesses said they saw four gunmen attack with two grenades. A bomb on a motorbike was also detonated outside the building. >>> Rob Crilly, in Islamabad and Farzana Fiaz, in Lahore | Friday, May 28, 2010

President Obama Attacks BP Over ‘Worst Oil Disaster’
TIMES ONLINE: President Obama launched a ferocious attack on BP and the oil industry yesterday as what is now officially the worst spill in US history threatened to derail his presidency.

Seizing the initiative on the first day of potentially good news from the Gulf of Mexico, Mr Obama cancelled or suspended dozens of offshore drilling projects and condemned a “scandalously close relationship” between oil companies and government regulators.

He said: “As far as I’m concerned, BP is responsible for this horrific disaster, and we will hold them fully accountable on behalf of the United States as well as the people and communities victimised by this tragedy. We will demand that they pay every dime they owe for the damage they’ve done and the painful losses that they’ve caused.”

While Coast Guard officials in the Gulf said that BP’s so-called top kill strategy to fill the gushing well with mud seemed to be working, the President warned that there was no guarantee of success yet.

In his first White House press conference in ten months, he said that he would leave it to others to judge whether this was “his Katrina” — a reference to the hurricane that destroyed President Bush’s reputation for competence — but said he was “confident that people will look back and say this Administration was on top of what was an unprecedented crisis”. >>> Giles Whittell, Washington | Friday, May 28, 2010

Hezbollah Theme Park Woos Fighters for Next War with Israel
TIMES ONLINE: Israeli tanks lie smashed and upturned on a remote mountaintop in south Lebanon, while Hezbollah fighters, wearing camouflaged uniforms and carrying rifles, crouch near by in the dense undergrowth.

The scene could be the latest battle between the militant Shia group and Israeli troops, but while the tanks are real, the fighters are plastic dummies and the display is part of a newly opened tourist project to mark the tenth anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from south Lebanon.

That historic event — the first time Israel unilaterally abandoned occupied Arab land — comes at a time of heightened tension in the region amid fears that another war is brewing between Hezbollah and the Jewish state.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, vowed in a speech on Tuesday night that in the next war, his organisation could attack Israel-bound shipping in the Mediterranean.

Addressing Israel, he said: “If you launch a new war on Lebanon, if you blockade our coastline, all military, civilian or commercial ships heading through the Mediterranean to occupied Palestine will be targeted by the Islamic resistance.” Read on and comment >>> Nicholas Blanford | Thursday, May 27, 2010

Silvio Berlusconi
Compares Himself to Mussolini
THE TELEGRAPH: Silvio Berlusconi has compared himself to Benito Mussolini, complaining that like the Second World War leader he does not have enough real power.

The Italian prime minister said he empathised with Il Duce, who had complained that he lacked real authority and that true power lay with officials in his fascist administration.

Mr Berlusconi said he had recently been reading Mussolini's diaries, which had led him to reflect on the challenges of governing Italy in the 21st century.

"I will dare to quote you a phrase from someone considered a dictator, a great, powerful dictator, Benito Mussolini," the 73-year-old media tycoon told a news conference at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris.

"In his diary, I recently read this phrase. 'They say I have power. It isn't true. Maybe my party officials do. But I don't know. All I can do is say to my horse go right or left. And I have to be happy with that.'" >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Friday, May 28, 2010

Obamas Muslim Ties: Ben Armstrong Show with Pamela Geller
Part 1:



Part 2:

Strache gründet "Christlich-freiheitliche Plattform"
DIE PRESSE: Die FPÖ will mit der "Christlich-freiheitlichen Plattform für ein freies Europa souveräner Völker" Migranten aus Ost- und Südosteuropa ansprechen. Die Plattform soll den Erhalt der "abendländischen Tradition" sichern.

Die FPÖ hat eine neue Vorfeldorganisation: Die "Christlich-freiheitliche Plattform für ein freies Europa souveräner Völker" (CFP). Sie wurde am Donnerstag von FPÖ-Chef Heinz-Christian Strache und ihrem Präsidenten Konstantin Dobrilovic präsentiert.

Strache erklärte, das christlich-abendländische Wertesystem sei in Gefahr. Weltwirtschaftskrise, islamistischer Terrorismus und Massenzuwanderung stellten eine immer größere Bedrohung dar. Daher müsse das christlich-freiheitliche Europa über die Grenzen der EU hinaus "den Erhalt und die Förderung seiner Grundwerte, die in der christlich-abendländischen Kultur und Identität verwurzelt sind, sicherstellen". In der CFP sollen sich "freie und stolze Europäer und freiheitlich gesinnte europäische Gruppierungen" organisieren. "Migranten aus Osteuropa hervorragend integriert" >>> Red. | Donnerstag. 27. Mai 2010

Les tories grognent contre David Cameron
LE FIGARO: Le «recentrage» du premier ministre britannique dans le cadre de son alliance avec les LibDems agite les rangs des conservateurs.

Deux semaines après sa prise de fonctions à Downing Street, David Cameron doit déjà faire face aux premiers remous au sein de sa coalition, bâtie avec les libéraux démocrates. La belle image d'unité montrée mardi par les tories avec leurs nouveaux alliés sur les bancs de la Chambre des communes, après le discours de la reine, semble n'être qu'une attitude de façade. Certains députés conservateurs contestent en effet ouvertement les concessions faites aux LibDems.

L'un d'eux, un ancien ministre de Margaret Thatcher, a même publié la lettre qu'il a adressée au secrétaire au Trésor pour protester contre le projet d'augmentation des prélèvements sur les plus-values financières, faisant passer ce taux d'imposition de 18 % à 40 %. «Si le gouvernement faisait plus que doubler le taux d'imposition sur les plus-values instauré par les travaillistes, cela enverrait un signal étrange sur les intentions de la coalition conservateurs-LibDems», met en garde John Redwood dans sa missive. >>> Par Cyrille Vanlerberghe, Correspondant à Londres, Le Figaro | Jeudi 27 Mai 2010

Sean Hannity Show: Pamela Geller Debates Michael Ghouse (Muslim American Congress) 911 Mega Mosque

Freedom Defense Initiative at CPAC: Jihad the Political Third Rail

'Leaving Islam?' Bus Adverts Draw Anger in NYC
THE TELEGRAPH: Advertisements on New York buses offering help to Muslims who wish to leave Islam have been denounced as a "smoke screen for anti-Muslim bigotry".

Pamela Geller, centre, who leads an organisation called Stop Islamization of America, said the adverts were designed to help provide resources for Muslims who were fearful of leaving the faith. Photograph: The Telegraph
The advertisements - paid for by conservative activists - ask readers: "Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family threatening you?" The adverts point to a website called RefugefromIslam.com.

Pamela Geller, who leads an organisation called Stop Islamization of America, said the adverts were designed to help provide resources for Muslims who were fearful of leaving the faith. She said the adverts, which will run on 30 city buses for a month, cost $8,000 (£5,500), which was contributed by the readers of her blog, Atlas Shrugs, and other websites.

"It's not offensive to Muslims, it's religious freedom," she said. "It's not targeted at practising Muslims. It doesn't say 'leave,' it says 'leaving' with a question mark."

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said Ms Geller's advert had been reviewed and did not violate the agency's guidelines. >>> | Thursday, May 27, 2010

US Senate Armed Forces Committee Votes for Repeal of Military Anti-gay Law
THE GUARDIAN: Gay rights groups celebrate key step in scrapping controversial 1993 'don't ask, don't tell' legislation

America moved a vital step closer to repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" anti-gay legislation that forbids homosexuals from serving openly in the US military.

Gay rights activists have long sought to repeal the controversial 1993 law, which has seen thousands of Americans forced out of the armed services since it was brought in under President Bill Clinton.

Now that dream is almost certain to happen, after the powerful Senate armed services committee voted 16 to 12 in favour of an amendment that would pave the way for getting rid of the law. The measure was tacked on to a larger defence bill and the House of Representatives was also expected to pass a similar amendment.

That will clear the hurdle for a full vote in the summer, which the measure is now expected to pass, and then it will be signed off by President Barack Obama.

The amendment, however, contains language that makes repeal of the law contingent on the results of a current Pentagon survey investigating the impact of integrating gay people into the military. If the report concludes repeal will not harm the military's ability to fight wars or recruit soldiers, preparations will be made for integration. The survey's conclusions are due to be announced in early December.

Gay rights groups hailed the Senate vote as historic. "The importance of this vote cannot be overstated. This is the beginning of the end of a shameful ban on open service by lesbian and gay troops that has weakened our national security," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign. >>> Paul Harris in New York | Friday, May 28, 2010

ADVOCATE.COM: Congress Moves To End DADT: The U.S. House of Representatives and a Senate panel have both approved measures that would begin the process of dismantling the 17-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prohibits gays and lesbians for serving openly in the military. >>> Kerry Eleveld | Thursday, May 27, 2010

Beten nur im Religionsunterricht: Ein Berliner Gericht unterstreicht den Wert weltanschaulicher Neutralität an Schulen
NZZ ONLINE: Ein Berliner Gericht hat entschieden, dass muslimische Schüler kein Recht haben, ihr rituelles Mittagsgebet auf dem Schulgelände zu verrichten.

Das Oberverwaltungsgericht Berlin-Brandenburg hat am Donnerstag entschieden, dass ein 16-jähriger muslimischer Berliner Schüler nicht berechtigt ist, sein Mittagsgebet während der Pause auf dem Schulgelände zu verrichten. Damit veränderte das Gericht ein anderslautendes Verdikt des Verwaltungsgerichts aus dem letzten Jahr, das dem Schüler dieses Recht unter Berufung auf das Prinzip der Religionsfreiheit eingeräumt hatte. Der Berliner Senat hatte dieses erste Urteil angefochten. Separater Gebetsraum >>> Ulrich Schmid, Berlin | Freitag, 28. Mai 2010

Italian Priests' Secret Mistresses Ask Pope to Scrap Celibacy Rule
THE GUARDIAN: Forty women send unprecedented letter to pontiff saying priests need to 'experience feelings, love and be loved'

The pope delivers a speech at the conference of Italian bishops at the Vatican. Photograph: The Guardian
Dozens of Italian women who have had relationships with Roman Catholic priests or lay monks have endorsed an open letter to the pope that calls for the abolition of the celibacy rule. The letter, thought by one signatory to be unprecedented, argues that a priest "needs to live with his fellow human beings, experience feelings, love and be loved".

It also pleads for understanding of those who "live out in secrecy those few moments the priest manages to grant [us] and experience on a daily basis the doubts, fears and insecurities of our men".

The issue was put back on the Vatican's agenda in March when one of Pope Benedict's senior advisers, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the archbishop of Vienna, said the abolition of the celibacy rule might curb sex abuse by priests, a suggestion he hastily withdrew after Benedict spoke up for "the principle of holy celibacy".

The authors of the letter said they decided to come into the open after hearing his retort, which they said was an affirmation of "the holiness of something that is not holy" but a man-made rule. There are many instances of married priests in the early centuries of Christianity. Today, priests who follow the eastern Catholic rites can be married, as can those who married before converting to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism. >>> John Hooper in Rome | Thursday, May 27, 2010