Obama Forced to Fight Own Party to Spend Taxpayers’ Trillions
TIMESONLINE: President Obama was huddled in talks yesterday with congressional Democrats over proposals that would pare his $3.6 trillion budget, raising question marks over how he would fund promises on healthcare, climate change and tax cuts.

Although the President was braced for ferocious opposition from Republicans, who warn that his spending plans will bankrupt America, he also faces growing hostility from a group of fiscally conservative Democrats alarmed by forecasts of a $9.3 trillion (£6.3 trillion) deficit over ten years. Barack Obama's Pledges in Peril as Blue Dogs Take a Bite at Budget >>> Tom Baldwin in Washington | Thursday, March 26, 2009

MAIL Online: Brown Spooked by the Markets: PM Accused of Heading Down 'the Road to Hell'

In London: Investors won't buy our bonds / In Europe: PM accused of heading down 'the road to hell'

Gordon Brown is in retreat on his Budget plans amid signs of City alarm over the soaring level of Government borrowing.

He pulled back from another debt-fuelled giveaway to kickstart the economy after Tuesday's intervention from the Governor of the Bank of England.

Downing Street insisted there was no rift between Mr Brown and Mervyn King over his bombshell claim that Britain cannot afford another 'fiscal stimulus'.

But the Governor appeared to have spooked the markets when it emerged that a routine sale of Government bonds fell short yesterday.

City experts blamed doubts over Mr Brown's economic policy for the Treasury's failure to find buyers for £120million worth of debt, or 'gilts'.

It was the first time since 2002 that the Government has been unable to sell its debt, and this will be seized on by those who have warned that there is insufficient demand for the volume of debt being sold by the Treasury.

Officials played down the significance of the shortfall, but economists said investors were beginning to doubt the Government's credit rating.

The Tories turned up the pressure on Mr Brown by insisting there was now a question mark over his ability to fund the crippling levels of debt needed to keep the economy afloat.

And the European Union added to his woes when its acting president warned that President Barack Obama's call for more borrowing and spending, backed by Mr Brown, was 'the road to hell'. >>> By Benedict Brogan and James Chapman | Thursday, March 26, 2009

Second Muslim Group Faces Having Links Severed with Government over Extremism Row
MAIL Online: A second leading Muslim group bankrolled by the taxpayer is poised to have its Government links severed in a bitter row over extremism.

The Mosques and Imams National Advisory Body, a central plank of Labour's anti-extremism strategy, has been dragged into the dispute. >>> By James Slack | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Fat Cats in Terror after Anti-capitalists Attack Fred the Shred's Home
MAIL Online: Security will be stepped up around fat-cat bankers after the home of disgraced former RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin was targeted by vandals.

A statement claiming to be from the group responsible for damage at his £3million mansion warned of further attacks, saying: 'This is just the beginning.'

The threat sparked fears of a terror campaign against those blamed for the collapse in the financial system.

The concern is that anti-capitalist groups will copy the tactics of animal rights militants by directly targeting individuals they hold responsible for the credit crunch.

Tensions are already high, with anarchists reported to be plotting mayhem at next week's G20 summit in London.

Their intention is to paralyse the Square Mile by staging sit-in protests and storming financial institutions, with the Bank of England and RBS among the top targets.

Effigies of bankers will be hung from lampposts. Security adviser Dai Davies, a former head of Scotland Yard's Royalty Protection squad, said: 'Risk assessments will have to be carried out by the police on individuals who are concerned about their safety. If there is cause for concern then appropriate advice will be given and pre put in place.

'The developments at Sir Fred Goodwin's home will almost certainly make some other high-profile bankers want to review their own private security arrangements.' >>> By Stephen Wright | Thursday, March 26, 2009

THE GUARDIAN: Banks Braced for City Riots During G20 Summit after Attack on Sir Fred Goodwin's Home

Financial sector staff are warned to keep low profile / Former RBS boss 'shaken' after early morning raid

The last time bankers faced angry demonstrations, some responded by pouring champagne or photocopied £50 notes from windows, but it is unlikely that protesters targeting the City next week during the G20 summit will be met by similar shows of bravado.

Many staff are being advised to dress down next Wednesday and Thursday to avoid being marked out as City workers - if they cannot avoid the protests entirely by working from home. Others have been advised to avoid leaving the office to attend meetings.

Concern about possible violence heightened when the home of former Royal Bank of Scotland chairman Sir Fred Goodwin was vandalised early yesterday morning, leaving three windows shattered and the rear window of his black Mercedes smashed. An anonymous email was sent to media organisations shortly after the attack threatening further action against "criminal" bank bosses.

The former RBS boss, who had not been at home and is at the centre of a row over the size of his pension from the taxpayer-owned bank, was said to have been "shaken" by the incident.

Many in the City believe aggressive media coverage of the financial crisis has declared a virtual open season on financial sector workers.

The financial advisory group Bluefin, which employs 500 staff in London, has set up a phone line offering staff updates next week. Staff have been told not to go to its office in Mark Lane in the City unless absolutely necessary. "As a responsible employer, the safety and wellbeing of our staff is always considered of paramount importance," a spokesman said.

A UBS spokesman said the bank would continue to assess the level of threat as it got nearer the time. "We are telling people to be cautious. If you have client meetings, do you need to have them here? Some of the banks have said dress down or try not to move around. It is all pretty obvious. "It is quite co-ordinated among the banks. We all talk to each other. I think it is different if you are in a landmark building, some are more obvious than others."

Another banker complained that we "are in an era of the demonisation of financial services". >>> David Teather | Thursday, March 26, 2009

Berlusconi an Arbeitslose: "Sucht euch etwas zu tun!"
DIE PRESSE: Italiens Regierungschef erklärte den Arbeitern eines von der Schließung bedrohten Fiat-Werkes: "Wer arbeitslos ist, soll nicht klagen, sondern sich neue Beschäftigung suchen."

Silvio Berlusconi trägt hier die Mütze eines Eisenbahners. Bild dank der Presse.
Der italienische Regierungschef Silvio Berlusconi rät Arbeitslosen, nicht deprimiert zu sein und sich zu beschäftigen. "Wenn jemand den Job verlieren, darf er nicht klagen, sondern muss sich engagieren, um eine neue Beschäftigung zu finden. Wer arbeitslos ist, soll etwas tun, ich würde nicht tatenlos herumstehen", so Berlusconi im Gespräch mit den Arbeitnehmern des von der Schließung bedrohten Fiat-Werks in Pomigliano D'Arco bei Neapel. >>> APA | Donnerstag, 26. März 2009

Den Haag: Iran nimmt Einladung zu Afghanistan-Konferenz an
WELT ONLINE: Der Iran wird an der Afghanistan-Konferenz der Vereinten Nationen Ende März in Den Haag teilnehmen. Unklar sei aber noch, auf welcher Ebene der Golfstaat teilnehmen wolle und wen die Regierung in Teheran entsenden werde. Eingeladen wurde der Iran von US-Außenministerin Hillary Clinton. >>> Reuters/AP/lk | Donnerstag, 26. März 2009

Joschka Fischer über EU: Keine Führung, nirgends
SUEDDEUTSCHE.DE: Auf dem Trittbrett durch die Krise: Nächste Woche treffen die Europäer beim G-20-Gipfel in London erstmals Barack Obama und zeigen ein Verhalten, das ebenso legitim wie fatal ist. Mehr als ein "Formelkompromiss" zur Bewältigung der Finanzkrise ist nicht zu erwarten.

Am Rhein und in Prag werden Nato und EU dem neuen amerikanischen Präsidenten huldigen, schöne Bilder, hehre Reden über die Zukunft des Transatlantismus - alles wie gehabt. Doch vor Straßburg und Prag findet, am 2. April, auf dem G-20-Treffen in London der transatlantische Ernstfall statt. Mit der Wahl Barack Obamas zum amerikanischen Präsidenten sollte alles besser werden - eigentlich. Die transatlantische Kontinentaldrift, die Europa und Amerika in den acht Jahren unter George W. Bush immer weiter auseinander gebracht hat, sollte gestoppt und sogar umgekehrt werden. Diese Hoffnung geht dahin.

Denn die Weltfinanz- und Weltwirtschaftskrise lässt die Differenzen zwischen Amerika und Europa voll ausbrechen. Europa weigert sich, sehr viel stärker als bisher finanziell bei der Bewältigung der beiden Krisen zu helfen. Gewiss, am Ende des Londoner Treffens werden sich die Staats- und Regierungschefs auf eine gemeinsame Erklärung einigen; ein Scheitern kann sich niemand erlauben. Aber die Unterschiede werden bestehen bleiben. Die einen wollen die Krise wegfinanzieren, die anderen wollen sie wegregulieren, und am Ende wird beides in der Erklärung stehen. So etwas nennt man dann "Formelkompromiss."

Die nationalen Medien der beteiligten Staaten werden anschließend ihre jeweiligen Regierungen für ihre "Tapferkeit" und "Durchsetzungskraft" preisen, werden von "Punktsiegen" schwadronieren, aber eine kraftvolle globale Antwort auf die schwerste Krise seit 1929 wird es trotzdem nicht gegeben haben. Keine Führung, nirgends. >>> Eine Außenansicht von Joschka Fischer | Donnerstag, 26. März 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch) – Deutschland & Österreich >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe) – Deutschland & Österreich >>>

MEP Dan Hannan's 'Brezhnev Apparatchik' Attack on Gordon Brown Is a YouTube Hit
THE TELEGRAPH: An MEP's withering attack on Gordon Brown in which he likens him to a "Brezhnev era apparatchik" has become a surprise hit on the internet.

Daniel Hannan challenges Godon Brown
Daniel Hannan, the Conservative MEP for South East England, publicly lambasted the Prime Minister over his economic record after he addressed the European Parliament on the global financial crisis on Tuesday.

With Mr Brown looking on, he told fellow MEPs that Britain was entering the recession in a "dilapidated condition", with an "almost unbelievable" deficit.

In a blistering riposte to the Premier's calls for a concerted international effort to tackle the crisis, he accused the former Chancellor of trying to "spread the blame" and called him a "devalued Prime Minister".

The three-and-a-half minute speech, which drew cheers and laughter from fellow MEPs in Strasbourg, was not covered on mainstream broadcasts.

But it was posted on the video sharing website YouTube shortly after the sitting and attracted 90,000 viewers within 24 hours after being picked up by US news outlets and political blogs.

In the most critical passage, he told the Prime Minister: “When you repeat, in that wooden and perfunctory way, that our situation is better than others, that we are well placed to weather the storm, I have to tell you, you sound like a Brezhnev-era apparatchik giving the party line.

"You know and we know, and you know that we know, that it's nonsense."

Accusing Mr Brown of losing his moral authority by failing to live up to his own rhetoric, he said that 11 years of his stewardship had left the entire country in "negative equity".

Every British child is now born owing around £20,000,” he said.

“Servicing the interest on that debt is going to cost more than educating the child.”

He added that Mr Brown, who hopes to strike a "global new deal" at the summit of G20 leaders in London next month, was “pathologically incapable” of taking responsibility. >>> By John Bingham | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

UN Urged to Reject Bar on Defamation of Religion
REUTERS: GENEVA - Some 200 secular, religious and media groups from around the world on Wednesday urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to reject a call from Islamic countries for a global fight against "defamation of religion."

The groups, including some Muslim bodies, issued their appeal in a statement on the eve of a vote in the Council in Geneva on a resolution proposed by the 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

Such a resolution, the statement said, "may be used in certain countries to silence and intimidate human rights activists, religious dissenters and other independent voices," and to restrict freedom of religion and of speech.

The resolution, its critics say, would also restrict free speech and even academic study in open societies in the West and elsewhere. >>> By Robert Evans | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Galloway to Appeal Canadian Entry Ban
AFP: OTTAWA — Lawyers for British lawmaker George Galloway said on Wednesday they would appeal a Canadian border agency's decision to deny him entry for a speaking tour, over national security concerns.

The firebrand MP was to give a speech in Toronto at the end of the month.

But a spokesman for Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told AFP he was deemed inadmissible by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) for having given cash and vehicles to the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip, which is listed here as a banned terrorist group.

Galloway's lawyer Jamie Liew told a press conference she would send a letter to the Canadian high commission in London denouncing its allegations that he has terror ties, and ask a federal court to review the CBSA decision.

His legal team would also ask for an injunction to allow him to participate in events planned for him in Canada, she said.

The member of the British parliament and his supporters accused Ottawa of "censorship" by refusing to let him tout his anti-war messages here. >>> Copyright © 2009 AFP | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Iran Mulls Death Penalty for Offensive Blogs

Muslims in India

Gordon Brown Launches Damning Attack on Bankers
THE TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, has launched a damning attack on the behaviour of bankers in a speech to Wall Street financiers in New York.

The Premier accused bankers of operating “outside” everyday human values and principles in the run-up to the global economic crisis. He said that “avarice” had developed over the past few decades and now needed to be tackled.

Mr Brown is on a global economic mission ahead of next week’s G20 summit in London. Speaking in New York, he said that new international standards governing banking – and banking bonuses – would now have to be agreed by world leaders.

At a breakfast for business leaders, Mr Brown said that values such as “honesty, integrity and working hard” may have been absent from the financial system in recent years.

“The principles and values we apply in our everyday lives, you have got to ask did we apply them to the running of our financial institutions?,” he said.

“There is a sense that the global economy was outside these standards that we applied in our everyday lives… a world without standards is going to be a world without stability”.

The Prime Minister warned the Wall Street financiers that the major challenge they now face was to ensure honesty in financial dealings. He described it as an “epoch-making era”.

“Markets depend on morality in the end,” he said. “We are building for the first time not just a global economy but a global society.”

Among those attending the breakfast at the five-star Plaza hotel were the president of Citibank, directors of Morgan Stanley, the president of Nasdaq and the president of Goldman Sachs. >>> By Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor in New York | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Political Row in Denmark over Geert Wilders
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who was barred from entering the United Kingdom a month ago, has become the subject of a political row in Denmark. The Danish People's Party and the Conservative Party both want to invite Mr Wilders to a conference in Copenhagen in June on the theme of freedom of speech and radicalisation.

The two parties argue that Mr Wilders is an obvious choice to take part in the conference, following Britain's refusal to let him enter the country, and the fact that his life has been threatened by Muslim fundamentalists. Another point of view >>> By RNW News | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback – The Netherlands) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Denmark) >>>

Mother of Slain French Jew Ilan Halimi Calls for Public Trial
Ilan Halimi’s mother has called for a public trial. Photo (AP) courtesy of Haaretz
HAARETZ: The mother of slain Parisian Jew Ilan Halimi has called for a public trial so that her son's death "will not have been in vain", French newspaper Le Figaro reported Tuesday.

The trial, which will open in Paris on April 29, is scheduled to be held behind closed doors at a juvenile court, because two of the 30 gang members allegedly behind Halimi's murder were minors at the time of the act.

French law allows for a public trial to be held in certain cases where juveniles are involved. >>> By Haaretz Service | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

LE FIGARO: Affaire Fofana : la famille d'Ilan veut un procès public

Enlevé dans le but d'obtenir une rançon, Ilan Halimi avait été retrouvé agonisant près d'une voie ferrée le 13 février 2006. Photo d’Ilan grâce aux Google Images
La mère de la victime souhaite que l'audience fasse oeuvre de pédagogie afin que son fils, enlevé et torturé par une bande en 2006, ne soit pas «mort pour rien».

Le procès de Youssouf Fofana et de ses complices présumés du «gang des barbares», qui répondent du meurtre d'Ilan Halimi, doit s'ouvrir le 29 avril prochain devant la cour d'assises des mineurs de Pa­ris. Bien que la mère de la victime souhaite que les débats soient publics, ils risquent de se tenir à huis clos. Et ce, en raison de la présence, parmi la trentaine d'accusés, de J. et E., mineurs à l'époque des faits. Récemment, en effet, E. a fait savoir à la partie civile qu'elle voulait comparaître sans observateurs.

«Pour Mme Halimi, un procès public aurait une vertu pédagogique. Il permettrait de mieux comprendre l'engrenage criminel, de faire réfléchir parents et adolescents. C'est la loi du silence qui a tué son fils, il serait intolérable qu'elle s'impose encore aux assises, en cas de huis clos», s'indigne son avocat, Me Francis Szpiner. >>> Stéphane Durand-Souffland | Lundi 23 Mars 2009

YOU TUBE: Ilan Halimi zal - Never Forget

How Bush's Grandfather Helped Hitler's Rise to Power
THE GUARDIAN: Rumours of a link between the US first family and the Nazi war machine have circulated for decades. Now the Guardian can reveal how repercussions of events that culminated in action under the Trading with the Enemy Act are still being felt by today's president

Photo courtesy of Die Presse (Austria)
George Bush's grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany.

The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism.

His business dealings, which continued until his company's assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act, has led more than 60 years later to a civil action for damages being brought in Germany against the Bush family by two former slave labourers at Auschwitz and to a hum of pre-election controversy.

The evidence has also prompted one former US Nazi war crimes prosecutor to argue that the late senator's action should have been grounds for prosecution for giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

The debate over Prescott Bush's behaviour has been bubbling under the surface for some time. There has been a steady internet chatter about the "Bush/Nazi" connection, much of it inaccurate and unfair. But the new documents, many of which were only declassified last year, show that even after America had entered the war and when there was already significant information about the Nazis' plans and policies, he worked for and profited from companies closely involved with the very German businesses that financed Hitler's rise to power. It has also been suggested that the money he made from these dealings helped to establish the Bush family fortune and set up its political dynasty.

Remarkably, little of Bush's dealings with Germany has received public scrutiny, partly because of the secret status of the documentation involving him. But now the multibillion dollar legal action for damages by two Holocaust survivors against the Bush family, and the imminent publication of three books on the subject are threatening to make Prescott Bush's business history an uncomfortable issue for his grandson, George W, as he seeks re-election.

While there is no suggestion that Prescott Bush was sympathetic to the Nazi cause, the documents reveal that the firm he worked for, Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH), acted as a US base for the German industrialist, Fritz Thyssen, who helped finance Hitler in the 1930s before falling out with him at the end of the decade. The Guardian has seen evidence that shows Bush was the director of the New York-based Union Banking Corporation (UBC) that represented Thyssen's US interests and he continued to work for the bank after America entered the war. >>> Ben Aris in Berlin and Duncan Campbell in Washington | Saturday, September 25, 2004

YOUTUBE: Bush Family Facts

Islamisation Program

The DANGERS of Sharia Finance in USA

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Sir Fred Goodwin* Attack: Bank Bosses Are Criminals Group Claims Responsibility
THE TELEGRAPH: A group calling itself Bank Bosses Are Criminals has claimed responsibility for vandalising the Edinburgh home of Sir Fred Goodwin, the disgraced former chief executive of RBS bank.

Sir Fred Goodwin’s house vandalised.
In an email sent to local newspapers, the group called for bank bosses to be jailed and warned: "This is just the beginning".

The attack saw the windows of Sir Fred's home, in Edinburgh's upmarket Morningside area, smashed, along with those of a dark-coloured Mercedes S600 saloon parked in the driveway.

Sir Fred is understood to be abroad and the attack is believed to have been reported to police by a member of his household staff at 4.35am on Wednesday morning.

Minutes afterwards, an email was sent by a woman using the name Moira McLeod and the address bankbossesarecriminals@mail.com.

The email read: "Fred Goodwins house in Edinburgh, was attacked this morning.

"We are angry that rich people, like him, are paying themselves a huge amount of money, and living in luxury, while ordinary people are made unemployed, destitute and homeless.

"This is a crime. Bank bosses should be jailed.

"This is just the beginning." >>> By Aislinn Simpson | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

TIMESONLINE:
Anti-capitalist Group Boasts of Attack on Sir Fred Goodwin's Home >>> Lindsay McIntosh in Edinburgh, Martin Waller, Nico Hines | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

*Sir Fred Goodwin was known as 'Fred the Shred' because of his ruthless cost-cutting.

Hazel Blears Cuts Ties to Muslim Council of Britain after It Refuses to Condemn Controversial Senior Member
Hazel Blears insists that the MCB take a firm stand on its deputy secretary-general, Daud Abdullah. Photos courtesy of the MailOnline
MAIL Online: Ministers have severed links with Britain's leading Muslim group in a blazing row over extremism.

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears is angry that the Muslim Council of Britain has refused to condemn a senior member who signed a public declaration in support of Hamas.

The document, signed by the council's deputy secretary-general Daud Abdullah, also seemingly advocated attacks on the Navy if it tried to stop arms intended for Hamas being smuggled into Gaza.

Mrs Blears has said that until the MCB - which was once considered the Muslim group closest to Labour - takes a firm stance against Dr Abdullah, relations with the Government will be suspended.

In response, the MCB said it was 'appalled by the highhanded and condescending action' of Mrs Blears.

Yesterday, the council - which has received at least £150,000 in Whitehall grants - released a provocative statement in response to the Government's anti-terror strategy, which threatens a tougher line against groups which promote extremist views. >>> By James Slack | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Courtesy of MailOnline

British-run Orphanage in Bangladesh 'Is Islamist Training Camp'
Green Crescent madrassa and orphanage was being used as a training camp for Islamic militants. Photo courtesy of TimesONline
TIMESONLINE: An orphanage run by a British charity in Bangladesh has been raided by local security forces who say that it was being used as a training camp and arms factory for Islamic militants.

The Rapid Action Battalion said today that it had arrested four people, including a teacher and three caretakers, and was searching for the head of the charity, a British citizen known only as Faisal.

The arrests came after a raid yesterday on the Green Crescent madrassa and orphanage on the remote southern island of Bhola, Lt Col Munir Haque, an officer involved in the operation, told The Times.

“We found small arms – about nine or 10 in total – plus equipment to make small arms, about 3,000 rounds of ammunition, two walkie-talkies, two remote control devices and four sets of army uniforms,” he said.

“We also found enough explosives and other equipment to make several hundred grenades. We found some ordinary Islamic books, but others that are in line with extremists like bin Laden.” >>> | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Sept civils tués dans un attentat dans l'est de l'Afghanistan
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: KHOST | Une bombe a explosé au passage d'un bus, dans l'est du pays, a-t-on appris auprès du ministère de l'Intérieur.

L'attentat s'est déroulé dans la province de Khost (est), près de la frontière avec le Pakistan, où les insurgés sont assez actifs.
"Un minibus transportant des civils et se dirigeant vers la ville de Khost a été atteint par l'explosion d'une bombe dissimulée sur le bord de la route ce matin", a déclaré à l'AFP le porte-parole du ministère de l'Intérieur, Zemaraï Bashary. >>> AFP | Mercredi 25 Mars 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché et Relié) - Livraison gratuite dans toute la Suisse >>>

De l'alcool frelaté provoque la mort de dix personnes en Iran
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: RASHT | Vingt-sept autres personnes sont hospitalisées dans un état grave. Ce genre d'incident se produit régulièrement en Iran où l'alcool est interdit.

Dix personnes sont mortes après avoir consommé de l’alcool frelaté à Rasht, dans le nord de l’Iran, a annoncé le commandant de la police locale cité mardi par l’agence Mehr.

"En plus de ces dix personnes, 27 autres sont actuellement hospitalisées dont deux dans un état grave", a ajouté Bahman Amiri Moghadam. En novembre dernier, douze personnes avaient trouvé la mort après avoir consommé de l’alcool frelaté à Bandar Abbas, ville portuaire du sud de l’Iran.

Ce n’est pas la première fois que ce genre d’incident se produit en Iran, où la production et la consommation d’alcool sont totalement interdites sauf pour les minorités chrétiennes reconnues, comme la minorité arménienne. Celle-ci est autorisée à produire et consommer de l’alcool, dans la discrétion pour ne pas offenser les musulmans. >>> AFP | Mercredi 25 Mars 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché et Relié) - Livraison gratuite dans toute la Suisse >>>

”The Way to Hell,” Says EU President
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: BRUSSELS: Trans-Atlantic tension over the handling of the global economic crisis intensified on Wednesday when the prime minister of the Czech Republic, which holds the European Union presidency, described the U.S. stimulus measures as the "way to hell."

Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek argued that the Obama administration's fiscal package and financial bailout "will undermine the stability of the global financial market."

Mr. Topolanek's comments, only a day after he offered his government's resignation following a no confidence vote, took European officials by surprise.

The rotating E.U. presidency lasts for six months and the country that holds it is supposed to speak on behalf of the entire 27-nation bloc.

The statement came just a week before a meeting of the Group of 20 leaders of the world's biggest economies in London which aims to forge an international consensus on the economic crisis. His comments also underlined potential ideological strains between Washington and Europe as President Barack Obama prepares to travel to Prague in less than two weeks for a summit intended to bolster transatlantic relations and show that the United States and Europe are united over economic policy. EU President Blasts U.S. Economic Stimulus >>> By Stephen Castle and Dan Bilefsky | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Sarkozy prône
une «éthique du capitalisme»
Nicolas Sarkozy a défendu les valeurs de «l'effort, de la responsabilité, de l'honnêté», devant 4 500 personnes, mardi à Saint-Quentin. Photo grâce au Figaro
LE FIGARO: Mardi soir, à Saint-Quentin, le chef de l'État a fait la pédagogie de son plan de relance.

Quand l'économie va mal, il faut se tourner vers les «valeurs». Nicolas Sarkozy, mardi soir, à Saint-Quentin, est revenu aux deux valeurs qui ont été au cœur de sa campagne : le travail et la responsabilité. Il s'est longuement réclamé de l'une et de l'autre pour accuser ceux qui les discréditent : les capitalistes sans scrupules, les entrepreneurs qui ne sont pas «responsables», mais aussi les manifestants qui, en Guadeloupe, choisissent «l'intimidation» et «menacent la sécurité des biens et des personnes», ou les «voyous» qui «rouent de coups un professeur». Ou encore ceux qui seraient tentés de «céder à la démagogie» et au «populisme» en ne pensant qu'à leurs «difficultés et leurs intérêts».

Nicolas Sarkozy a plusieurs fois appelé au retour à une «éthique du capitalisme», qui serait une «éthique de l'effort, de la responsabilité, de l'honnêteté». «La dictature des marchés, ce n'est pas la liberté», s'est-il exclamé. Les dirigeants qui «préparent un plan social» et perçoivent malgré tout de «grosses rémunérations» sous forme de «bonus» ou de «parachutes dorés», «cela n'est pas responsable, pas honnête», condamne le chef de l'État, qui a réclamé un «devoir d'exemplarité ». Et si l'exemplarité venait à faire défaut, Sarkozy s'est dit prêt à intervenir. En particulier, il proposera à l'automne une loi sur le partage des profits, faute d'accord entre patronat et syndicats sur ce thème d'ici à juin. De quoi contrarier fortement la présidente du Medef, Laurence Parisot, qui refuse toute négociation sur le sujet. >>> Charles Jaigu | Mercredi 25 Mars 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Relié) >>>

Angriff auf Dollar: China verlangt neue Weltwährung
DIE PRESSE: Die Forderung des chinesischen Zentralbank-Chefs nach einer weltweiten Leitwährung beflügelt ökonomische Theorien des "Weltgeldes". Aber auch die Verschwörungstheorien rund um die Weltwährungen Amero und Globo.

Bild dank der Presse
China hat eine neue globale Leitwährung unter Aufsicht des Internationalen Währungsfonds (IWF) gefordert. Der Chef der chinesischen Zentralbank, Zhou Xiaochuan, schrieb in einem Aufsatz, dass die gegenwärtige Krise erneut nach einer kreativen Reform des internationalen Währungssystems hin zu einer internationalen Leitwährung rufe.

Dollar zu unverlässlich

Zhou erwähnte den Dollar zwar nicht direkt, schrieb allerdings, die Krise habe gezeigt, wie gefährlich es sei, sich bei internationalen Finanzgeschäften auf die Währung eines einzigen Landes zu verlassen. "Eine überhoheitliche Leitwährung, die von einer globalen Institution gemanagt wird, könnte sowohl dazu genutzt werden, die globale Geldflüsse zu schaffen, wie auch sie zu kontrollieren", schrieb Zhou. Dies würde die Gefahr künftiger Krisen reduzieren und zugleich die Möglichkeiten zum Krisenmanagement erweitern. >>> ebl/ag | Dienstag, 24. März 2009

The British Way with Corpses Is Best
TIMESONLINE: Open-air funeral pyres are a tradition too far

It seems ironic that Davender Ghai, the 70-year-old Hindu campaigning to be allowed to conduct open-air cremations, is also founder of a charity called the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society. In pushing for something that most Britons would find abhorrent, he is surely doing for Anglo-Asian relations what Timmy Mallett has done for music.

There are many ludicrous aspects to his position, not least his claim that open funeral pyres are “central to our religions” and that he has the support of many “prominent figures in India”. If the belief really was “central”, it would have become an issue some time ago, but Hindus and Sikhs in Britain have been using traditional crematoriums without complaint for decades. >>> Sathnam Sanghera | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Iran Has a Problem as 'Great Satan' Turns on the Charm
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama's conciliatory and nuanced approach towards Iran confronts its leaders with their greatest foreign policy dilemma since the end of the war with Iraq almost 21 years ago, says David Blair.

Photo courtesy of Google Images
If Iran's leaders had the power to choose between a belligerent America threatening "regime change" and a conciliatory US President hailing their "great and celebrated culture", they would probably prefer to bask in firebreathing threats.

When the "Great Satan" looks suitably wicked – and throws around epithets like "axis of evil" – Iran's leaders can sit back and relax. They can afford to stage "Death to America" rallies and be as intransigent as possible.

Their difficulties only arise when the "Great Satan" stubbornly refuses to be remotely satanic. President Barack Obama's conciliatory and nuanced approach towards Iran confronts its leaders with their greatest foreign policy dilemma since the end of the war with Iraq almost 21 years ago.

Mr Obama's message on the occasion of Iran's New Year was a carefully crafted attempt to unsettle its leadership. Iran's "accomplishments" in art and culture had "made the world a better and more beautiful place", said Barack Hussein Obama, the son of a Muslim who carries the name of the founder of the Shia faith.

With his words carried in Farsi subtitles, Mr Obama added that Iran's many achievements had won the "respect of America and the world". This was a calculated appeal to the country's 70 million people, roughly two thirds of whom are under 30.

Any visitor to Tehran is struck by how young Iranians have embraced Western – and specifically American – popular culture. This does not simply extend to fashion, films, music and the regime's famously futile attempts to ban satellite dishes. What struck me on my last visit was how the bookshops outside Tehran University sell dictionaries of American idiom and helpful guides on how to adopt an American accent. >>> By David Blair, Diplomatic Editor | Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Netanjahus Rechts-Koalition steht
Netanjahu am Wahlabend - jetzt ist er am Ziel. Bild dank der Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung
FAZ: Die israelische Arbeiterpartei hat sich nach heftigem Streit für ihren Beitritt zu einer rechtsorientierten Regierung unter dem designierten Ministerpräsidenten Benjamin Netanjahu entschieden. Das bestätigte der Parteifunktionär Ofer Eini im israelischen Rundfunk. Auf einem Sonderparteitag gab es am Dienstag in Tel Aviv eine deutliche Mehrheit unter den etwa 1470 Delegierten. Damit hat Netanjahu jetzt formell eine Regierungsmehrheit von 66 der 120 Sitze in der Knesset.

Der Vorsitzende des rechtsorientierten Likuds verhandelt jetzt noch mit der streng religiösen Partei Vereinigtes Tora-Judentum, die weitere fünf Mandate einbringen könnte. Er hat schon Koalitionsvereinbarungen mit der ultrarechten Israel Beitenu (Unser Haus Israel) und der streng religiösen Schas-Partei unterzeichnet. >>> FAZ.NET/ Ap, dpa | Dienstag, 24. März 2009

Saudi Arabia's Shia Press for Rights
BBC: Underlying tensions between Sunni and Shia in the Middle East have escalated to full-scale crises in the past few years in countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, and, most recently, in Saudi Arabia.

Wahhabism, the dominant Saudi school of Islam, views the Shia as heretics. Photo courtesy of the BBC
Although they only represent 15% of the overall Saudi population of more than 25 million, Shia are the dominant population, according to the International Crisis Group, in key towns such as Qatif, Dammam, and al-Hasa, which are home to the largest oil fields and processing and refining facilities.

In February, clashes between Shia Muslims and the religious police in Madina, Islam's second holiest city, triggered a wave of unrest, resulting in the arrest of dozens of people.

Tensions were eased by King Abdullah's decision to release all the detainees but the situation remains volatile.

Many Shias in Saudi Arabia relate far more to fellow Shia in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Bahrain, than with fellow Saudis who follow the puritan Wahhabi school of Islam. Wahabbis often class the Shia as heretics, or even to have left the faith entirely.

And at a time when many Arab officials point to the predominantly Shia Iran as the most serious security threat they face, there is a general attitude in the Arabic media that suggests Saudi Shia are somehow led by or follow an Iranian agenda.

But Saudi Shias deny this and say they face unfair discrimination.

Accusations of discrimination are backed by many western governments, led by the United States, which repeatedly express their concerns about religious freedom in Saudi Arabia. >>> By Anees al-Qudaihi, BBC Arabic Service | Tuesday, March 24, 2009

US-Finanzminister Geithner will ein enges Korsett für Finanzsystem
TAGES ANZEIGER: US-Finanzminister Timothy Geithner und Notenbankchef Ben Bernanke wollen eine Neuordnung der Finanzmarktregulierung durchsetzen. Lücken in der Kontrolle von Finanzriesen [sic] müssten geschlossen werden.

Stärkere Überwachung der US-Finanzriesen: Ben Bernanke (Notenbankchef) und Timothy Geithner (Finanzminister). Bild dank dem Tages Anzeiger
«Alle Institutionen und Märkte, die ein Systemrisiko darstellen könnten, werden einer strengen Überwachung unterliegen, einschliesslich einer Begrenzung ihrer Risiken», sagte Finanzminister Timothy Geithner in Washington bei einer Befragung durch den Bankenausschuss des US-Repräsentantenhauses.

Es müsse verhindert werden, dass der Staat wieder mit einer Situation wie im vergangenen September konfrontiert sei, als der vor der Pleite stehende Versicherer AIG durch Eingreifen der Regierung gerettet werden musste. Notenbankchef Ben Bernanke sagte in der Sitzung, es bestehe ein «dringender Bedarf», neue Verfahrensweisen für die Kontrolle «systemrelevanter, wichtiger Finanzunternehmen» aufzustellen. >>> vin/sda/ap | Dienstag, 24. März 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch und Gebundene Ausgabe) – Versandkostenfrei innerhalb der Schweiz >>>

Comment Sarkozy a fait la pédagogie de la crise
Nicolas Sarkozy, à son arrivée au sommet européen de Bruxelles, le 20 mars. Photo grâce au Express
L’EXPRESS.fr: Silencieux sur la crise financière jusqu'à fin septembre, le Président de la République a ensuite multiplié les déclarations. Tantôt libérale, tantôt interventionniste, la doctrine économique de Nicolas Sarkozy n'est pas à une contradiction près. Mais sa communication en temps de crise obéit aussi à une logique très calculée. >>> Par Juliette Cua | Mardi 24 Mars 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Relié) >>>

Villagers Burn Girl Alive in India
DAILY EXPRESS: A teenager has been burned to death at her home in India in an "honour killing" by neighbours.

Flag of India courtesy of Google Images
Four residents of her village in Ghaziabad, north India, allegedly set the 16-year-old Muslim girl alight after they suspected her of having a relationship with a boy.



Police claim residents kept a vigil on her house as they noticed the boy visited her frequently when her father was away. 



The four men then beat her, doused her with kerosene and set her on fire. >>> | Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Bibi Netanyahu: Likud Anglos

Porträt: Sie nennen ihn «Bibi» – den Falken: Wie Israels designierter Ministerpräsident Netanyahu am Comeback feilt
NZZ Online: Nur wenige Politiker sind so ehrgeizig wie Benjamin Netanyahu. Er wird in Israel gerne als Falke bezeichnet, weil er als Oppositioneller in den eigenen Reihen bekannt ist. «Bibi», wie der designierte Regierungschef gerne genannt wird, hat wie kein anderer an seinem politischen Comeback gefeilt.

Er gilt nicht nur in Israel als Hardliner. Benjamin Netanyahu ist ein Vollblutpolitiker. Einer, der opportunistisch seine Ziele fokussiert. Er kennt kein Wenn und Aber, geht zielstrebig seinen Weg und räumt, wenn es denn sein muss, auch seine eigenen Weggefährten aus dem Weg.

Aufgewachsen ist der 1949 in Tel Aviv geborene Netanyahu im verschlafenen Städtchen Cheltenham im amerikanischen Gliedstaat Pennsylvania als Sohn eines Professors für jüdische Geschichte. Er stellte die Weichen für seinen Werdegang früh. Netanyahu studierte am renommierten Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Architektur sowie politische Wissenschaften an der Harvard University und besitzt ferner einen Abschluss der Sloan School of Management. Ferner hat er eine Reihe von Publikationen zum Thema Terrorismus verfasst, die ihm auf seiner künftigen Laufbahn zugutekommen sollten. Netanyahu ist zum dritten Mal verheiratet und Vater mehrerer Kinder. >>> hoh | Dienstag, 24. Marz 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch und Gebundene Ausgabe) – Versandkostenfrei innerhalb der Schweiz >>>

Turkey Opposed to Danish Premier as NATO Chief
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey does not back Denmark's prime minister becoming NATO's next secretary-general, a senior Turkish lawmaker said Tuesday.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen is seen as the front-runner to replace Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as NATO secretary-general when his term ends at the end of July.

Turkey, a NATO member, objects to Fogh Rasmussen because of the 2006 prophet cartoon crisis, his reported opposition to Turkey's EU membership and his stance on Kurdish rebels, said Suat Kiniklioglu, top foreign policy official in the prime minister's party.

"It is unacceptable that NATO be headed by an individual who has in the past rudely disrespected our values and religious beliefs," Kiniklioglu said in reference to Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that sparked Muslim protests.

Fogh Rasmussen defended freedom of speech amid the protests. >>> The Associated Press | Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Obama et Sarkozy engagent le dialogue avant le G20
LE FIGARO: Les deux présidents s'entretiendront mercredi, par téléphone, des enjeux du sommet international sur la finance mondiale qui se tiendra le 2 avril à Londres.

Nicolas Sarkozy devrait avoir une conversation par visioconférence mercredi avec Barack Obama (ici, les deux hommes à Paris en juillet 2008) (Crédits photo : Le Figaro)
Rencontres au sommet entre responsables américains et français. Après un entretien lundi soir à la Maison-Blanche entre François Fillon et le vice-président Joe Biden, Nicolas Sarkozy devrait avoir une conversation par visioconférence mercredi avec Barack Obama. À dix jours du sommet des principales puissances économiques mondiales, la France s'active pour défendre ses propositions en vue d'une réforme de la finance mondiale.

En visite aux États-Unis depuis dimanche soir, le premier ministre a enchaîné rencontres et entretiens avec des responsables politiques, économiques et bancaires. Son objectif est de confronter les réponses américaine et européenne à la crise, avec l'espoir de rallier l'Administration d'Obama à l'urgence d'une réforme de la régulation finan­cière. À New York et Washington, François Fillon a solennisé l'enjeu de la réunion de Londres. «Le rendez-vous du G20 est très important pour la résolution de la crise, car c'est d'abord une crise de confiance. L'absence d'accord, un accord a minima ou bien des divisions constitueraient un signal extrêmement négatif envoyé aux peuples et aux marchés» , a confié le premier ministre lors d'une rencontre infor­melle avec la presse après sa rencontre avec des acteurs de la régulation financière. À l'heure du petit déjeuner, François Fillon a pris le pouls de plusieurs banquiers et décideurs économiques américains, dont Éric Dinallo, directeur de la régulation des assureurs de New York, William Dudley, président de la Réserve fédérale de New York, ou encore Tim Ryan, président de l'association des grandes banques de Wall Street. Il est reparti avec le sentiment que la majorité est consciente, selon lui, de l'impact qu'un «mauvais accord» à Londres aurait sur le redressement des économies. >>> Bruno Jeudy | Mardi 24 Mars 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Relié) >>>

Well, What Exactly Did You Expect the Pope to Say?
THE TELEGRAPH: It is absurd to expect him to move with the times.

Image courtesy of Google Images
When is a crowd of a million fans, fainting in the heat and being trampled to death in excitement, a sign of unpopularity? When you are Pope Benedict XVI, that's when. Despite the fact that his week-long tour of the African continent has been playing to record numbers, the Pontiff has had nothing but criticism from the First World press. He's a "disaster", he's "out of touch with the real world", his whole operation needs "a radical shake-up".

The failures, according to his critics, lie both in his medium and his message. The present Vatican has yet to come to terms with the worldwide, 24-hour blogosphere. The press office shuts up shop for the day at three in the afternoon. No one there has got to grips with Google. Stories leap out at strange times of the day and night, and they hadn't seen any of them coming. Bless… but who can blame them? It's a rum old world in which Jade Goody reaches near-sanctification for her telepathic relationship with the media and the Pope gets rubbished because he's baffled by it.

His message that Aids "cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even aggravate the problem" has infuriated health workers the world over. But what exactly is a Pope for? Is he there to make public service announcements in accordance with current scientific thinking, or is he there to stick up for what his Church has long believed in? The relationship between Catholics and condoms was strained long before Benedict XVI got the job. Millions of Catholic couples take the independent decision to practise contraception, but that is no reason for the Pope to change what he preaches. It is absurd even to expect him to move with the times. He's a religious leader, not an interior decorator.

Pope Benedict has yet to say anything I agree with. I don't think rock music is the spawn of the devil; it seemed to me barmy to take back into the church the bishop who had denied the Holocaust; and I wouldn't dream of taking contraceptive advice from a bachelor in his seventies. But then I'm not a Catholic. The Pope, it transpires, is. Deal with it. [Source: The Telegraph] By Gill Hornby | Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Al Jazeera Sets Out to Conquer America!
THE TELEGRAPH: Al Jazeera English, the international television channel belonging to the Emir of Qatar's news network, has a fight on its hands to conquer America.

Al Jazeera English focused on its American dream . Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
The USA has been the downfall of many a foreign export but when you're a broadcaster based in the Arab world, bankrolled by a Middle Eastern autocrat and associated in the popular mindset with terrorist videos, the endeavour begins to look near-impossible.

When the English-language channel was set up in November 2006 to provide impartial competition for CNN and the BBC, the reputation of its Arabic sister channel, Al Jazeera, was already controversial.

Some observers claimed that it broadcast videos sent to the station from terrorist suspects, while US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had wrongly suggested that the network showed hostages being beheaded.

Since this inauspicious start, the Al Jazeera English team has been manning the PR battle lines against lobbyists anxious to keep the channel off US television line-ups.

So how did the Al Jazeera brand begin to convince US audiences that it serves a serious broadcasting purpose?

Tony Burman, managing director of Al Jazeera English and former Canadian TV executive, has found some of the answers while the station has built up an audience of 140m households in 40 countries – including Israel.

Among Mr Burman's priorities has been busting a few myths, hiring journalists from well-established rivals and focusing news coverage on the developing world.

The English-language channel is carried by satellite television operator Sky in the UK. More astonishingly, its commercial team is on the brink of signing several contracts with cable and satellite operators to give it a reach right across the US. Al Jazeera English Focused on Its American Dream >>> By Rowena Mason | Monday, March 23, 2009

UK Population Must Fall to 30m, Says Porritt
THE SUNDAY TIMES: JONATHON PORRITT, one of Gordon Brown’s leading green advisers, is to warn that Britain must drastically reduce its population if it is to build a sustainable society.

Porritt’s call will come at this week’s annual conference of the Optimum Population Trust (OPT), of which he is patron.

The trust will release research suggesting UK population must be cut to 30m if the country wants to feed itself sustainably.

Porritt said: “Population growth, plus economic growth, is putting the world under terrible pressure.

“Each person in Britain has far more impact on the environment than those in developing countries so cutting our population is one way to reduce that impact.”

Population growth is one of the most politically sensitive environmental problems. The issues it raises, including religion, culture and immigration policy, have proved too toxic for most green groups. >>> Jonathan Leake and Brendan Montague | Sunday, March 22, 2009

Nine of AIG's Top Bonus Earners Agree to Repay Cash in Full
THE GUARDIAN: Nine of the top 10 recipients of ­controversial bonuses at the insurer AIG have pledged to hand back the money ­following a public and political outcry over multimillion-dollar rewards at the crisis-stricken company.

New York state's attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, revealed last night that most of the biggest winners from a ­controversial "retention scheme" at AIG have succumbed to pressure by forsaking their awards.

Of those working at AIG's financial products division, which ran up vast losses on toxic derivatives, 15 of the 20 top bonus winners are giving back the money.

Cuomo said: "A number of them have risen to the occasion and I applaud them."

The money being returned amounts to $30m out of the bonus scheme's total payout of $165m. Cuomo, speaking on a conference call, revealed that about $80m of the total went to Americans. Some of the rest is likely to have gone to British staff at AIG's key financial products office in London.

He expressed a hope that more bonuses would be returned and said he expected his office to recoup about $80m. >>> Andrew Clark in New York | Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Hindu Elder Goes to High Court for Right to Open-air Cremation
THE GUARDIAN: Davender Ghai, 70, says he is being discriminated against on grounds of race and religion

Davender Ghai, centre, arriving at court. Photo courtesy of The Guardian
An elderly Hindu man will today ask the high court for the right to have an open-air cremation , claiming that to deny him such a ritual "will enslave his soul in endless earthly entrapment".

Davender Ghai, 70, is challenging Newcastle city council's decision to refuse him an open-air cremation when he dies. He claims that this refusal discriminates against him on the grounds of race and religion, contrary to equality and race relation laws. If successful, say his lawyers, the case could set a precedent for designated natural cremation sites around the country.

They also described today's review as "the most controversial religious freedom case in British legal history".

The local authority argues that open-air funeral pyres are outlawed by the 1902 Cremation Act. In 2006, it blocked his attempt to establish Britain's first approved site for burning bodies outdoors. Ghai, however, claims to have tested the law in July 2006, when he lit the funeral pyre of Rajpal Mehat in Northumberland.

In a witness statement to be read out in court today, Ghai says he is asking for equality not exemption.

"Local authorities routinely ­provide separate Muslim and Jewish burial grounds and out-of-hours registration and immediate or weekend burials. Hindus should cremate before the following sunset, too, and yet we, along with the general public, wait for up to a week.

"No one expects Hindus to marry in a church so why are Hindu funerals shoehorned through chapels of rest designed like Anglican churches?" >>> Riazat Butt, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Tuesday, March 24, 2009

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Das iranische Volk sucht den Frieden mit den USA
WELT ONLINE: Barack Obama hat den Iranern einen Neubeginn bei den internationalen Beziehungen angeboten. Während die Hardliner in Teheran sich unerbittlich zeigen, ist ein großer Teil der iranischen Bevölkerung längst für einen Versöhnungskurs. Die junge Generation wird sich immer mehr darüber im Klaren, das Amerika mehr Chance denn Bedrohung ist.

Sie kommen jeden Freitag. Zu Tausenden strömen sie durch das Tor der Teheraner Universität. Die Männer hocken in der ehemaligen Sporthalle. Die Frauen lassen sich auf einem gepflasterten Weg daneben nieder, dazwischen hängen grüne Plastikplanen. Sie plaudern, wickeln Proviant aus. Als die Worte "Tod für Amerika!" aus den Lautsprechern dröhnen, gerät die Masse in Bewegung: "Tod für Amerika!", brüllen die Gläubigen unter Anleitung des bärtigen Geistlichen zurück. Es ist ein bekanntes Ritual. Und doch: Es ist nur ein Ausschnitt des Ganzen. >>> Von Gabriele M. Keller | Montag, 23. März 2009

American Jewish Committee: Ayaan Hirsi Ali on the Viability of Hope

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Is Europe too Tolerant of Radical Islam?

Fährt der TGV bald nach Mekka?
BLICK: PARIS – Muslimische Pilger sollen künftig im Eiltempo von Mekka nach Medina brausen können – französischer Bahntechnik sei Dank.

Mekka und Medina in Saudi-Arabien sind die beiden wichtigsten heiligen Städte des Islams. Damit die Pilger künftig bequem hin- und herreisen können, wollen französische Unternehmen die Orte von Mohammeds Wirken mit einer TGV-Hochgeschwindigkeitsstrecke verbinden. >>> SDA/hhs | Montag, 23. Marz 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch und Gebundene Ausgabe) – Versandkostenfrei innerhalb der Schweiz >>>

Muslims Majority in Europe Within 20 Years

L'Iran défiant face à la main tendue d'Obama
Le changement n'est qu'un «slogan» dans la bouche d'Obama, a insisté l'ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Crédits photo : AP
LE FIGARO: Le guide suprême iranien, l'ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a indiqué que Téhéran était prêt à changer de politique si les Etats-Unis modifiaient dans les faits et non seulement en paroles leur attitude à l'égard de la République islamiste.

La main tendue de Barack Obama qui a offert, vendredi, dans un message vidéo inédit de surmonter trente années de relations américano-iraniennes hostiles, a été accueillie avec sceptissisme par Téhéran. Le guide suprême du pays, l'ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a indiqué que l'Iran changera de politique si les Etats-Unis modifient dans les faits et non seulement en paroles leur attitude à l'égard de la République islamiste. « Nous n'avons aucune expérience du nouveau président américain. Nous observerons et jugerons. Changez, et notre attitude changera. Si vous ne changez pas d'attitude, sachez que notre peuple s'est renforcé et continuera de résister», a mis en garde le numéro un iranien.

Le changement n'est qu'un «slogan» dans la bouche d'Obama, a insisté le dirigeant religieux, devant des dizaines de milliers de personnes rassemblées dans la ville sainte de Mashhad. Khamenei a reproché aux dirigeants américains de continuer à accuser son pays de soutenir le terrorisme. Le président américain a en effet affirmé dans son adresse que l'Iran ne pouvait obtenir la place qui lui revient dans le concert des nations en utilisant «la terreur et les armes» et avait demandé à Téhéran d'opter pour «des agissements pacifiques». Ali Khamenei estime donc que la rhétorique de Barack Obama ne varie en rien de celle de son prédécesseur George W. Bush. «Obama a insulté la République islamique d'Iran dès le premier jour», a-t-il déploré. «Les responsables américains et les autres doivent savoir qu'on ne peut pas tromper le peuple iranien et lui faire peur». >>> lefigaro.fr avec AP et AFP | Dimanche 22 Mars 2009

Papst hält Messe vor einer Million Menschen
TAGES ANZEIGER: Benedikt XVI. hat am Sonntag bei einer Messe vor Gläubigen in Luanda Kriege und Stammesfehden auf dem afrikanischen Kontinent beklagt und zur Versöhnung aufgerufen.

Die Messe unter freiem Himmel in der angolanischen Hauptstadt war zugleich Höhepunkt und Abschluss seiner siebentägigen Afrikareise. Überschattet wurde der Besuch in Angola von einem schweren Zwischenfall vor einem Auftritt des Papstes am Samstag in einem Stadion, bei dem zwei Frauen in dichtem Gedränge zu Tode getrampelt und 40 Menschen verletzt wurden.

Benedikt äusserte am Sonntag zu Beginn der Messe sein Bedauern über den Tod der Frauen und übermittelte ihren Angehörigen sein Beileid. Den Verletzten wünschte er rasche Genesung. In seiner Predigt beklagte der Papst «Wolken des Bösen» über Afrika, die zu Krieg, Stammesfehden und ethnischen Konflikten geführt und Menschen zu Sklaven gemacht hätten. Der Krieg könne jegliche menschlichen Werte zerstören, erklärte der Papst. Versöhnung sei nur durch Veränderung im Herzen und einer neuen Art des Denkens möglich, sagte das katholische Kirchenoberhaupt.

Am Samstag hatte der Papst in einer Messe in der Peterskirche in Luanda die Christen in Angola zu weiterer Missionierung aufgerufen. Als «neue Missionare» sollten sie Anhänger von Hexerei und Zauberglauben zu Christus bringen. Christen sollten denen, die sich von bösen Mächten, Geistern und Zauberei bedroht fühlten, die frohe Botschaft entgegensetzen, erklärte der Papst. >>> cpm/ap | Sonntag, 22. März 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch und Gebundene Ausgabe) – Versandkostenfrei innerhalb der Schweiz >>>

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s Wife Has Died
ASSOCIATED PRESS: TEHRAN, Iran — The wife of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the father of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, has died after a long illness, state media reported Sunday. She was 93.

Khadijeh Saqafi, who was known as the "mother of the Islamic revolution," died Saturday in Tehran, state TV said. Thousands of people, including Iran's president and supreme leader, attended her funeral at Tehran University on Sunday.

"After a lifetime of patience and perseverance, and months of sick health, the dear and respected wife of Imam Khomeini has finally passed way, leaving friends of the late imam in grief," her grandson Hasan Khomeini said in a statement posted on the Web site of Iran's English-language state television station, Press TV. Wife of Founder of Iran's Islamic Republic Dies >>> Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press | Sunday, March 22, 2009

Failure to Understand Political Islam Is 'Dangerous'
THE DAILY STAR: BEIRUT: The West has fundamentally misunderstood the meaning and significance of political Islam and the world is "a more dangerous place" as a result, a former broker of unofficial talks between Western powers and groups such as Hamas and Hizbullah said on Friday. Alistair Crooke directs Conflicts Forum, an NGO committed to creating dialogue between Islamist movements and the West. He was speaking to promote his new book, entitled "Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution."

He said that the West's failure to consider political Islam, particularly Iran's Islamic revolution, as anything more than an attempt to fill a void left by poor economic decisions and the failure of Arab nationalism has led to ineffectual policy toward the Muslim world.

"The rise of Islamism was not just about filling a void. They did not simply rise out of the decline of nationalism and pan-Arabism," he said. Instead, he argued that the phenomenon is a "huge transformative change that is exciting and energizing millions of people." >>> By Andrew Wander, Daily Star staff | Monday, March 23, 2009

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Hardline Saudi Clerics Urge TV Ban on Women, Music
ASSOCIATED PRESS: RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — A group of Saudi clerics urged the kingdom's new information minister on Sunday to ban women from appearing on TV or in newspapers and magazines, making clear that the country's hardline religious establishment is skeptical of a new push toward moderation.

In a statement, the 35 hardline clergymen also called on Abdel Aziz Khoja, who was appointed by King Abdullah on Feb. 14, to prohibit the playing of music and music shows on television.

"We have great hope that this media reform will be accomplished by you," said the statement. "We have noticed how well-rooted perversity is in the Ministry of Information and Culture, in television, radio, press, culture clubs and the book fair." >>> By Donna Abu-Nasr | Sunday, March 22, 2009

Time to Speak Up about Britain's Islamists
THE TELEGRAPH: We should not be funding groups who are hostile to our way of life, argues Philip Johnston.

The Government will tomorrow launch a new counter-terrorism strategy, called Contest 2. For those who missed Contest 1, a brief explanation is in order. It has four strands: to protect, to pursue, to prepare and to prevent.

Which of these would you consider the most important? I would hazard a guess that most of us would suggest preventing a terrorist attack happening at all is the most crucial aspect of such a strategy. We should be ready, of course, to resist them; and we should track down those who perpetrate them. We should also protect people with straightforward security measures and with good intelligence. But, if we can stop them happening, that would be best.

So it was somewhat odd that when Gordon Brown outlined this updated approach in a newspaper article yesterday, the "prevent" bit seemed less prominent than one imagined it might be. There was talk about "murderous agents of hate" and of "core al-Qaeda" – spook-speak for the central command that is based in the lawless borderlands of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"Terrorists remain intent on inflicting mass casualties without warning, including through suicide bombings," Mr Brown said. Tens of thousands of security guards and store managers have now apparently been "trained and equipped to deal with an incident and know what to watch for" (though this was news to my local shop manager when I went to get the papers yesterday). The strategy will also "address the longer-term causes – understanding what leads people to become radicalised, so we can stop the process". And that was about it for prevent.

There was not a single mention of the undeniable truth that the extremists who will actually carry out atrocities live among us and need to be confronted here and now. According to Mr Brown, "we are developing a strategy to tackle the terrorist threat by tackling the underlying causes, the extremist madrassas and the lawless spaces in which terrorists recruit or train". Not here, mind you, but in Pakistan. His only mention that this may have anything to do with British-based radical Islamism was a reference to "a violent extremist ideology based on a false reading of religion". >>> Philip Johnston | Sunday, March 22, 2009

Bludgeoned to Death at Sydney Airport!
BBC: A man has been bludgeoned to death by a group of Australian motorcycle gang members in full view of dozens of people at Sydney airport.

Witnesses described bikers swinging poles "like swords" at each other's heads as the brawl spilled over two floors of Sydney's domestic terminal.

Four suspects have been arrested and the others are said to have fled.

Police believe the fight broke out when one group of bikers coming off a plane was ambushed by a rival gang.

Police did not name any gangs thought to be involved, but Australian media reported that the brawl, on Sunday afternoon, was between the Hell's Angels and Comancheros gangs.

A 28-year-old man died in hospital from severe head injuries.

Police said about 15 gang members were involved in the fight, which was witnessed by about 50 people. Deadly Brawl at Sydney Airport >>> | Sunday, March 22, 2009

Crise : Obama défend son «pote» Geithner
lePARISIEN.fr: Le président américain Barack Obama réitère son soutien à son secrétaire au Trésor Timothy Geithner, affirmant qu'il n'accepterait pas sa démission si elle lui était proposée, dans une interview à CBS qui doit être diffusée dimanche soir. Ces déclarations interviennent alors que le gouvernement américain devrait présenter, lundi, le plan Geithner destiné à débarrasser les banques de leurs actifs toxiques. L'annonce de ce plan pourrait être l'épreuve du feu pour Tim Geithner.L'opposition républicaine réclame régulièrement sa démission.



Dans cette interview à CBS, Barack Obama assure que ni lui, ni M. Geithner n'ont jamais parlé de la démission du secrétaire au Trésor, mais que «la critique est naturelle» dans ce contexte de crise économique, indique un communiqué de la chaîne de télévision américaine, citant des propos du président américain dont une longue interview doit être diffusée dimanche dans l'émission «60 minutes». Et si jamais Tim Geithner proposait sa démission ? «Je répondrais : Désolé, mon pote, tu gardes ton boulot», rétorque le président des Etats-Unis.



Son secrétaire au Trésor est sous le feu des critiques pour sa gestion de la crise économique actuelle et en raison du scandale politique né du versement d'importants bonus par le géant américain de l'assurance AIG, récemment sauvé de la faillite par l'injection de fonds publics. >>> leparisien.fr | Dimanche 22 Mars 2009

YOU TUBE: Obama Defends Geithner


THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama Will Refuse to Let Tim Geithner Quit

President Barack Obama has insisted he would refuse to accept the resignation of Tim Geithner, the embattled Treasury Secretary, and instead tell him: "Sorry buddy, you've still got the job".

In an interview with the CBS "60 Minutes" programme, Mr Obama pleaded for more patience over dealing with the economic crisis.

He said: "It's going to take a little bit more time than we would like to make sure that we get this plan just right. Of course, then we'd still be subject to criticism.

"What's taken so long? You've been in office a whole 40 days and you haven't solved the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression."

Seeking to channel public outrage over lavish bonuses for financiers from the failed insurance giant AIG, he urged corporate executives to visit Middle America.

"If you go to North Dakota, or you go to Iowa, or you go to Arkansas, where folks would be thrilled to be making $75,000 a year – without a bonus – then I think they'd get a sense of why people are frustrated," he said.

His unstinting support for Mr Geithner came as he prepared to unveil a plan for a long-term overhaul of the crisis-hit American financial system.

Officials said that the plan would include using $100 billion in taxpayer money to ease the credit crisis by leveraging as much as $1 trillion in so-called toxic assets so they could be taken off the books of struggling banks. >>> By Toby Harnden in Washington | Sunday, March 22, 2009

Ausverkauf! Sonderangebot! Daimler holt sich Abu Dhabi als neuen Großaktionär
WELT ONLINE: Der angeschlagene Autobauer Daimler hat sich das Emirat Abu Dhabi als Großaktionär ins Haus geholt. Über eine Kapitalerhöhung steigt die staatlich kontrollierte Investmentgesellschaft Aabar mit 9,1 Prozent bei Daimler ein. Damit wird Abu Dhabi zum wichtigsten Anteilseigner des Autoherstellers.

Unterstützung für Daimler: Das Emirat Abu Dhabi steigt als Großaktionär bei dem angeschlagenen deutschen Autohersteller ein. Bild dank der Welt
Der von der Absatzkrise gebeutelte Autobauer Daimler hat sich ein zweites Emirat als Großaktionär ins Haus geholt. Mit 9,1 Prozent steigt Abu Dhabi zum wichtigsten Anteilseigner auf und verweist Kuwait auf den zweiten Platz. Der Einstieg geschieht durch die Ausgabe neuer Aktien, durch deren Kauf 1,95 Milliarden Euro in Daimlers Kasse fließen, wie der Konzern am Sonntag in Stuttgart mitteilte. Der Anteil Kuwaits wird dadurch verwässert und fällt von 7,6 auf 6,9 Prozent. >>> dpa/lha | Sonntag, 22. Marz 2009

Resistance Grows to Obama's Bigger Government
Photo of Obama courtesy of Reuters
REUTERS: WASHINGTON - A public furor over big bonuses paid by firms bailed out with U.S. taxpayer money is fueling resistance to President Barack Obama's ambitious plans to extend government intervention in the U.S. private sector.

Republican opponents say his commitment of huge sums to try to revive the ailing economy is driven by a philosophical belief in greater government intrusion in many areas, from healthcare to education, dubbing it socialism.

Obama is pursuing these policies just 13 years after President Bill Clinton, a fellow Democrat, disarmed Republican opponents by declaring: "The era of big government is over."

As the enormous cost of the Obama's effort to stimulate the economy grows, many are weighing just how far government should be extending its powers.

"We're in the midst of a huge political battle, which is being obscured behind a financial crisis," said Bruce Kogut, professor of ethics and corporate governance at Columbia University. "If the financial crisis wasn't here we'd be having this battle anyway."

"The question I think we need to figure out as a country is what is the proper role of government?" said David Moss, professor of economic history at Harvard Business School. >>> By Tabassum Zakaria – Analysis, Editing by David Store | Sunday, March 22, 2009