Protesters Shot Dead as Assad Forces Open Fire
THE INDEPENDENT: Security forces opened fire yesterday as thousands of anti-government protesters took to Syria's streets in a weekly ritual of defiance as they push for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, activists said.

At least seven people, including a child, were reported killed. Four were shot dead in Barzeh, a Damascus district, said human rights activist Mustafa Osso.

State television said unidentified "gunmen" had opened fire, killing three civilians and wounding several security force members. » | AP | Saturday, June 25, 2011

Outcry in America as Pregnant Women Who Lose Babies Face Murder Charges

THE GUARDIAN: Women's rights campaigners see the creeping criminalisation of pregnant women as a new front in the culture wars over abortion

Rennie Gibbs is accused of murder, but the crime she is alleged to have committed does not sound like an ordinary killing. Yet she faces life in prison in Mississippi over the death of her unborn child.

Gibbs became pregnant aged 15, but lost the baby in December 2006 in a stillbirth when she was 36 weeks into the pregnancy. When prosecutors discovered that she had a cocaine habit – though there is no evidence that drug abuse had anything to do with the baby's death – they charged her with the "depraved-heart murder" of her child, which carries a mandatory life sentence.

Gibbs is the first woman in Mississippi to be charged with murder relating to the loss of her unborn baby. But her case is by no means isolated. Across the US more and more prosecutions are being brought that seek to turn pregnant women into criminals.

"Women are being stripped of their constitutional personhood and subjected to truly cruel laws," said Lynn Paltrow of the campaign National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW). "It's turning pregnant women into a different class of person and removing them of their rights." » | Ed Pilkington in New York | Friday, June 24, 2011

My comment:

Americans are losing the plot! This development is totally ridiculous, and will lead to women refusing to have babies for fear of being incarcerated. The West is already short of babies. This sinister development will exacerbate the problem.

Having a baby should be the joyous result of the expression of love between a couple. The threat of a protracted jail term looming over a pregnant woman will destroy the love and turn it into fear. Another ridiculous idea from America! – © Mark

Wie Nordkorea die Wirtschaft ankurbeln will
In der vierten Folge der fünfteiligen Serie über Nordkorea berichtet das «10vor10»-Team über kommunistische Manager. Die Fabriken in Nordkorea sind veraltet und schlecht ausgelastet. Exportiert werden nur noch Bodenschätze – vor allem nach China

Fatal Cocktail of Common Drugs Putting Elderly at Risk
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Hundreds of thousands of older people are being put at increased risk of death or developing dementia by taking combinations of common medicines to treat routine illnesses, according to a new study.


Well-known brands of hay fever tablets, painkillers and sleeping pills pose a previously unknown threat to people’s health when taken together, British scientists claim.

Many are available over the counter at pharmacies as well as being prescribed by GPs, nurses and chemists.

Today the scientists behind the study call for doctors to recognise how dangerous these drug combinations can be and to prescribe harmless alternatives instead.

Researchers from the University of East Anglia and the University of Kent identified 80 widely used medications that, when used in combination, were found to increase the risk of serious health problems.

The drugs, including common allergy treatments Piriton and Zantac, as well as Seroxat, an anti-depressant, are thought to be used by half of the 10  million over-65s in Britain. Many of the drugs, when taken in combination, were found to more than treble an elderly patient’s chance of dying within two years. » | Nick Collins, Science Correspondent | Friday, June 24, 2011

Wilders Acquittal a 'Slap in the Face for Muslims'

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders was acquitted of inciting hatred against Muslims by a court in Amsterdam on Thursday. But the right-wing populist's statements and the verdict have reignited the debate over free speech.

His supporters have hailed Geert Wilders' acquittal as a victory for free speech, while his many detractors have slammed the decision not to punish a man who described Islam as "fascist." The Dutch right-wing populist politician was cleared of inciting hatred against Muslims by a court in Amsterdam Thursday after the judge ruled that his comments -- which also included comparing the Koran to Hitler's "Mein Kampf" -- were "acceptable within the context of public debate."

In his verdict, leading judge Marcel van Oosten said that while Wilders' statements were indeed offensive to Muslims, they were also part of a legitimate political discussion. Wilders' claim that Islam is a violent religion and his demands for a ban on Muslim immigrants should be viewed in the context of the larger societal debate over immigration policies, the judge argued.

The verdict has sparked a re-examination of free speech in a multicultural Europe, with some asking just how far the basic democratic right to speak one's mind actually extends.

German commentators were deeply divided over the issue on Friday. While some argued Wilders should have been punished, others suggested that free speech trumps any discomfort with extreme opinions. » | David Knight | Friday, June 24, 2011

Witness - To the Last Drop - Part 1
A small town Canada is facing the consequences of being the first to witness the impact of the Tar Sands project, which may be the tipping point for oil development in Canada. Filmmaker Tom Radford describes witnessing a David and Goliath struggle

Uncertainty over Return of Yemeni President

Dutch MP Acquitted in 'Hate' Trial
Dutch politician Geert Wilders has been cleared of "hate speech" charges.

A court in Amsterdam said that Wilders' statements were "rude and condescending" but not a criminal offence according to Dutch law.

The case has reopened discussions over freedom of speech in the Netherlands.

Al Jazeera's Tania Page reports from Amsterdam, the Netherlands.



My comment:

This video is a perfect example of biassed reporting. That Geert Wilders was acquitted yesterday is cause for celebration, not criticism: it marks the triumph of freedom over enslavement, the triumph of freedom of speech over oppression, the triumph of the enlightenment of the West over the darkness of the East.

Millions died during World War II for the freedoms we enjoy today. Let not Islam take those freedoms away! The growth of Islam in the West is indeed a serious threat to our Western way of life. Western politicians need to awaken from their slumbers. They have been lulled into a false sense security by the myths that the liberal media has peddled about the peaceful nature of Islam.

Islam is what it has always been: a belligerent, conquering ideology clothed in a deity. The West needs to be mindful of this at all times. There are many peaceful, delightful Muslims. This is very true. But what happens to societies in which Islam gains the upper hand is there around us for all to observe. And never forget this: Where there is no separation of politics and religion, there is no hope of democracy. Without democracy, there is no hope of freedom.

Geert Wilders has won a significant victory in The Netherlands. It is to be hoped that this victory will be a seminal moment for the West. It is to be hoped that this will mark a turning point in the West’s fortunes. Long live freedom of speech! Long live democracy! – © Mark

Sayeeda Warsi Takes on Critics in the Rightwing Press

THE GUARDIAN: Yorkshirewoman and the first Muslim to be first full member of British cabinet pulls no punches against Daily Mail columnist

Sayeeda Warsi rolls back in her chair and bursts out laughing. "I don't read her, actually. I call her Mad Mel," Lady Warsi says of Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips, who has denounced her as "stupid".

Warsi, a proud Yorkshirewoman, rarely pulls her punches. As the first Muslim to sit as a full member of the British cabinet, she fell foul of Phillips in January after she declared in the Sternberg lecture that Islamophobia had "crossed the threshold of middle-class respectability".

Phillips' barbed response was to describe Warsi, the Tory co-chair, on her Spectator blog as "at best a stupid mouthpiece of those who are bamboozling Britain into Islamisation, and at worst a supporter of that process".

Warsi had a mini falling-out with Downing Street after No 10 became alarmed that her lecture appeared to place her at odds with David Cameron on the highly sensitive subject of British Muslims and extremism.

A few weeks after Warsi's speech, Cameron laid the ground for a review of funding for Muslim groups when he asked whether it was right to support groups which "present themselves as a gateway to the Muslim community" while doing little to combat extremism.

Cameron's speech to the Munich security conference in February was interpreted as an endorsement of Michael Gove, the education secretary, who called on the west to wake up to the threat posed by Islamist extremists in his book Celsius 7/7. » | Nicholas Watt | Thursday, June 23, 2011

Muslim Tory Minister Says Pakistan's Treatment of Women Fails Islam

THE GUARDIAN: Lady Warsi says women are being denied rights granted 1,400 years ago in Qur'an

Pakistan is failing to live up to one of the tenets of Islam which guarantees rights to all women, according to Sayeeda Warsi, the Conservative party co-chairman and minister without portfolio, who is the first Muslim to sit as a full member of the cabinet.

In a sign of Britain's impatience with Pakistan, Lady Warsi said the world's first Islamic republic is denying rights granted 1,400 years ago in the Qur'an.

As she prepares to become the first British minister to address the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) next week, Warsi said in a Guardian interview that, in a "nutshell", Pakistan is not living up to the ideals of its founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Warsi says she is able to deliver a tough message to Pakistan because she is unencumbered by "colonial baggage". She said she had raised the issue of women's rights last July in Rawalpindi, in a speech in Urdu at the Fatima Jinnah University, named after the younger sister of the founder of Pakistan. "Why is it that today you're being denied the rights that your faith gave to you 1,400 years ago?" Warsi asked, recalling her central message to her female audience. » | Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent | Thursday, July 23, 2011

Close Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Aide Arrested
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, suffered a further blow on Thursday after one of his closest aides was arrested, in an escalation of a feud with the Islamic state's Supreme Leader.

Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh who was forced to resign as deputy foreign minister on Tuesday just days after his appointment after a backlash from mainstream conservatives loyal to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was arrested on Thursday on corruption charges.

Mr Malekzadeh was a senior official in the high council of Iranian foreign affairs, run by Mr Ahmadinejad's chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, whom conservatives accuse of disloyalty.

Western officials based in Tehran said Mr Ahmadinejad was under pressure after an unsuccessful power grab in which he had tried to install loyalists in the powerful intelligence and oil ministries. » | Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Thursday, June 23, 2011

Geert Wilders 'Delighted' after Being Cleared of 'Hate Speech'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Geert Wilders, the prominent Dutch anti-Muslim politician, has been cleared of "hate speech" crimes for comparing the Koran to Mein Kampf and Islam to Nazism in an Amsterdam court.

Judges ruled that although Mr Wilders, whose anti-Islam Freedom Party came third in Dutch national elections last year, had made "hurtful and shocking", his comments were legitimate in terms of a lively Dutch public debate on multiculturalism.

Mr Wilders, 47, was put on trial after complaints of incitement to racial hatred were levelled against him by Muslims after he released a film which presented Islam as the biggest threat to world peace.

Fitna, meaning "strife" in Arabic, juxtaposed pages of the Koran with images of September 11 2001 terrorist attacks and fundamentalist burka clad Muslims with placards warning Europe to "be prepared for the real holocaust".

The flamboyant, peroxide blond Dutch MP, who now holds the balance of power in the Netherlands by lending parliamentary support to the minority government, also described the Koran as "fascist", comparing it to Hitler's book Mein Kampf, a text that is banned in the Netherlands.

In one opinion piece cited during the trial, he wrote: "I've had enough of Islam in the Netherlands; let not one more Muslim immigrate." » | Bruno Waterfield | Thursday, June 23, 2011

’Happy Hour’ Re-defined! EU Officials Use 'Love Hotels' in Their Lunch Break

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: EU officials are the main customers in Brussels "love hotels" where couples can rent brothel-style rooms by the hour to conduct illicit affairs with colleagues.

One popular haunt is the Treviso Hotel on Place Stephanie in the expensive and trendy Ixelles municipality of Brussels where many of the EU's well-heeled Eurocrats live.

The "love box" hotel bills itself as a venue for couples "with room service and discretion assured" in glamorous rooms rented out at £66 an hour.

Anne De Schepper, the hotel's manager, told The Daily Telegraph that the long lunch break was the preferred time of day for her clientele of EU officials to commit adultery. » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Thursday, June 23, 2011

Turkish and Syrian Forces in Tense Cross-border Standoff
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Turkish and Syrian forces engaged in a tense cross-border standoff on Thursday as a fresh military operation against Syrian dissidents threatened to spark a major regional crisis.

An elite Syrian army unit advanced to within quarter of a mile of the Turkish border, expanding an onslaught against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.

Escalating an already acute refugee crisis, hundreds of Syrian civilians cut their way through a border fence into Turkey as they fled an advance into the frontier village of Khirbet al-Joz by the army's Fourth Division and Presidential Guard, led by Mr Assad's feared brother Maher.

The offensive brought Syrian and Turkish troops into eye-contact for the first time, significantly worsening the increasingly noxious relationship between the two neighbours.

Turkey has watched Mr Assad's brutal operation to quell opposition in Syria's restive northwest with growing alarm and has resorted to increasingly muscular diplomacy to demand an end to military operations close to the border. Most significantly, Turkish officials last week raised the possibility of a limited military incursion into northern Syria to protect civilians.

The offensive has already seen more than 10,000 refugees flee into Turkey.

With thousands more hiding out on the Syrian side of the border, the crisis is only liken to worsen as the army pushes northwards. » | Adrian Blomfield | Thursday, June 23, 2011

Fitna: The Movie
To mark Geert Wilders’ acquittal in The Netherlands, and to celebrate of freedom of speech, I am re-posting "Fitna” today

Comment on Always On Watch’s website »

Muslim Conversion: Islam Will Conquer the World?
All the signs, figures and statistics show that Islam is going to dominate the world. The only hope for Non-Muslims is to manipulate Muslim and secularize them, though Islam and true Muslim never can be dragged from the right path. Islam will prevail over all other Deens. As Allah has promised it in Qur'an

Prescription Drug Abuse On Rise in US
The UN is to release a report on the fight against illegal drugs like cocaine, hallucinogens and heroin on Thursday.

In the US, government surveys have found that hospital admissions for drug abuse have trippled in the past decade.

However, it is the abuse of prescription medication that has begun to cause more worry in the US.

Al Jazeera's Tom Ackerman reports from Virginia, USA.

Scarlet Fever Kills Second Child in Hong Kong
Scarlet fever has killed a second child in Hong Kong - the first people to die from the disease in the city in a decade.

The strain currently doing the rounds is said to be twice as resistant to antibiotics as the last.

Al Jazeera speaks to doctor Lo Wing Lok, an infectious diseases specialist in Hong Kong.

Turkish Rations Feeding Gaddafi Troops
Libyan rebels have been fighting Gaddafi's forces for weeks in the Nafusa mountain range in western Libya.

The rebels are slowly making gains, though, and as Gaddafi's forces flee, they leave behind much of their equipment.

Most of that equipment is quite old: There is a box of ammunition from Gaddafi's stockpiles, for example, dating back to 1978.

Among the supplies at three different bases, Al Jazeera discovered military rations which - according to their labels - were manufactured in Turkey. Bread packets some of inside the rations were produced in March, according to their labels - meaning they were shipped to Libya after the fighting began.

The rations are produced by UNIFO, a Turkish company which specialises in portable rations and meals ready-to-eat, according to its web site.

Al Jazeera's James Bays reports from Libya.

Maid's Beheading in Saudi Arabia Halts Indonesian Domestic Worker Scheme

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Indonesia will suspend sending domestic helpers to Saudi Arabia after the beheading of a maid convicted of murdering her Saudi employer.

Migrant worker Ruyati binti Sapubi, 54, was executed after she was convicted of murdering her Saudi employer, Khairiya bint Hamid Mijlid, with a meat cleaver.

The maid carried out the killing after she was denied permission to leave the kingdom and return to her family in Indonesia, according to officials in Jakarta.

"The Indonesian government has decided to impose a moratorium on sending workers to Saudi Arabia," labour minister Muhaimin Iskandar was quoted by state news agency Antara as saying.

The report did not provide further details but local media indicated the move was aimed at domestic workers, who make up about 70 per cent of the 1.2 million Indonesian workers in the Gulf state.

The suspension will take effect on August 1 and will remain until the Saudi government agrees to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to protect Indonesian workers' rights, Iskandar said.

Saudi Arabia apologised for failing to inform Indonesia of the beheading, while Jakarta formally protested to Riyadh over the execution.

"The ambassador apologised and regretted the situation and said that such a thing wouldn't happen again in future," foreign ministry spokesman Michael Tene said.

Indonesia recalled its ambassador to Riyadh earlier this week for consultations. » | Thursday, June 23, 2011