Barack Obama Wants 'New Beginning' for Islam and America
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama has vowed to forge a "new beginning" for Islam and America in a landmark speech to global Muslims in Cairo, evoking a vision of peace after smouldering years of "suspicion and discord".

Barack Obama laid out a new blueprint for US Middle East policy, vowing to buckle mistrust, forge a state for Palestinians and defuse a nuclear showdown with Iran. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
In what may be a defining moment of his presidency, Mr Obama laid out a new blueprint for US Middle East policy, vowing to buckle mistrust, forge a state for Palestinians and defuse a nuclear showdown with Iran.

In the domed Great Hall of Cairo University, Mr Obama warned the US bond with Israel, the source of much Arab distrust of the United States, was unbreakable, and rejected "ignorant" rants by those who deny the Nazi Holocaust.

But, in a sharp break from the policies of his predecessor George W Bush, Mr Obama also rebuked Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to halt settlement expansion on the West Bank.

"I have come here to Cairo seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world," he said in a speech targetting the globe's 1.5 billion Muslims on television, the Internet and on social networking sites.

"So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace," said Mr Obama, who was greeted with a standing ovation as he stepped up to the podium.

Letting divides fester would "promote conflict rather than the co-operation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity," he added.

"This cycle of suspicion and discord must end," said the US president vowing to fight "negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.

"But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America," he said.

Quoting the region's three holy books, the Koran, the Torah and the Bible, he evoked a future of "mutual interest and mutual respect".

The US president, laying out a staggeringly ambitious foreign policy, to match the audacity of his sweeping domestic program, spoke directly, and without adornment on the chasms between America and global Muslims. >>> | Thursday, June 04, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama Speech: The Full Transcript


"I am honoured to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt's advancement. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum.

We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world – tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of coexistence and co-operation, but also conflict and religious wars. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalisation led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam.

Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. The attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights. This has bred more fear and mistrust.

So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the co-operation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. This cycle of suspicion and discord must end.

I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles – principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.

I do so recognising that change cannot happen overnight. No single speech can eradicate years of mistrust, nor can I answer in the time that I have all the complex questions that brought us to this point. But I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly the things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors. There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground. As the Holy Koran tells us, "Be conscious of God and speak always the truth." That is what I will try to do – to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart.

Part of this conviction is rooted in my own experience. I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk. As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith.

As a student of history, I also know civilisation's debt to Islam. It was Islam – at places like Al-Azhar University – that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality. >>> | Thursday, June 04, 2009

Or read it here:

NZZ Online:
In englischer Sprache >>> | Donnerstag, 04. Juni 2009

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD PHOTO GALLERY: Obama in Egypt:
>>>

Barack Obama Reaches Out to Muslim World
Watch Obama live: here >>>

Chicken Injected with Beef Waste Sold in UK
Image: Google Images
THE INDEPENDENT: Muslims and Jews conned into eating meat bulked out with cow and pig products

Cafes and restaurants across Britain have been selling chicken secretly injected with beef and pork waste, The Independent can reveal today.

In a hi-tech fraud run by firms in three EU states, food manufacturers are making bulking agents out of porcine and bovine gristle and bones that help inflate chicken breasts, so that they fetch a higher price.

The swindle was only detected by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) using new scientific techniques because the non-chicken material had been so highly processed it passed standard DNA tests.

Thousands of restaurateurs and cafe owners are likely to have been conned into buying chicken containing the powder – which binds water into chicken breasts – while diners have been unwittingly consuming traces of other animals when eating out.

Britain's two million Muslims, Jews and Hindus are forbidden from eating either pork or beef. Muslims would ordinarily eat halal chicken and Jews kosher chicken sold through approved caterers and butchers. >>> By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent | Thursday, June 04, 2009

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Calls Holocaust a "Great Deception"
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the Holocaust a "great deception" on Wednesday, reiterating a view that has been denounced by moderate rivals in this month's election.

The conservative president, quoted by state broadcaster IRIB, made the remark during a speech containing his latest verbal assault on Israel, which the Islamic Republic does not recognise.

Describing Israel as "the most criminal regime in human history" he went on to refer to the "great deception of the Holocaust".

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday condemned the words as "unacceptable and profoundly shocking". >>> | Wednesday, June 03, 2009

BBC: Iranian Poll Rivals Clash on Live TV

Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been accused of undermining Iran's dignity, in a live TV debate with his main rival 10 days ahead of elections.

Former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi said Mr Ahmadinejad's firebrand style had caused problems for Iran.
It is the first time an Iranian president has taken part in a televised election debate.

The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Tehran, said it was a remarkable, no-holds-barred fight which will have amazed Iranians.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, began by accusing opponents of spreading lies about his government.

Mr Mousavi responded by mocking Mr Ahmadinejad's foreign policy, which he said had undermined the dignity of Iran. He said Iran had been "downgraded" in the eyes of world by President Ahmadinejad's firebrand style and statements.

He also criticised the government for repressing student protests.

Mr Ahmadinejad countered by criticising Mr Mousavi's wife for campaigning on his behalf, and he accused her of not having the right qualifications for her post as a university professor.

Our correspondent says it is hard to say which candidate won the debate, but it has brought the election alive. >>> | Wednesday, June 03, 2009

New Hampshire Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
THE NEW YORK TIMES: BOSTON — The New Hampshire Legislature approved revisions to a same-sex marriage bill on Wednesday and Gov. John Lynch promptly signed the legislation, making the state the sixth in the nation to let gay couples wed.

The bill had been through several permutations in an effort to satisfy Mr. Lynch and certain legislators that it would not force religious groups that oppose gay marriage to participate in ceremonies celebrating it.

Mr. Lynch, who previously supported civil unions but not marriage for gay couples, said in a statement that he had heard “compelling arguments that a separate system is not an equal system.”

“Today,” he said, “we are standing up for the liberties of same-sex couples by making clear that they will receive the same rights, responsibilities — and respect — under New Hampshire law.”

The law will take effect on Jan. 1. >>> By Abby Goodnough | Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Editorial: Warm Welcome to Barack Obama
ARAB NEWS: For too long the Arab world has been waiting in vain for a US administration that will address the rights of the Palestinians within a viable sovereign state of their own. For too long America’s friends and allies within the region, among whom the best and most long-standing has been Saudi Arabia, have been urging on successive US presidents the reality that the terrible injustices done to the Palestinians underpin the violence and extremism that has gripped the region. For too long Washington has not listened to our message that its slavish and unquestioning support for a bullying and expansionist Israel has, in fact, sabotaged America’s wider foreign policy goals in the Middle East and throughout the Muslim world.

As today we welcome President Barack Obama to the Kingdom, dare we hope that we are greeting a US leader who is at last listening to the advice and warnings that have so long been ignored in Washington? Saudi Arabia has itself provided one of the major building blocks for a lasting resolution. The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, first proposed by King Abdullah when he was crown prince and later endorsed unanimously by the Arab League summit in Beirut, remains in place. It negates Israeli protests that they have no partners for peace, because it offers 22 Arab states who will recognize Israel as part of a comprehensive and just settlement for Palestinians. Once the Arab countries recognize Israel, the rest of the Muslim world will follow suit.

The American president has to cut through much lumber left by his predecessors. At the heart of it lies a legacy of often-deep distrust that has built up in the Arab world.

From time to time Washington promises to tackle the Palestinian issue, especially when it wanted Arab support for the Iraq war or its confrontation with Iran. Because it failed to honor this pledge, it encouraged extremism among Palestinians who felt the betrayal bitterly and gave the bigoted thugs of Al-Qaeda an excuse for their fanatical violence. Obama’s people say that when he addresses the Arab world in Cairo tomorrow, he will be speaking from the heart. No doubt. But he should know that he needs also to be speaking to the hearts of Arab people themselves, who have learned to disbelieve Washington’s warm words and will only now judge America by its deeds.

No one believes the president has a magic wand. In the Likud government of Benjamin Netanyahu he faces an apparently intransigent negotiator. But it is often the most inflexible sticks that break first. Despite the powerful Zionist Washington lobby, Obama has the power to bring about radical change for the Palestinians, for Israelis too and for the whole region. He is a man who has dedicated himself to change and indeed represents it in his own presidency. His domestic and international agendas are daunting. But it seems he recognizes how pivotal a Palestinian settlement is to a large portion of US interests. His welcome here today is, therefore, all the warmer for the high hopes with which we greet him. [Source: Arab News | Wednesday, June 03, 2009

US in Nuclear Disclosure Blunder
Image: Google Images
BBC: A document providing confidential details of US civilian nuclear sites was accidentally posted on the internet, the government has admitted.

The 266-page document included the precise location of stockpiles of fuel for nuclear weapons, the Obama administration said.

The Government Printing Office website took down the posting on Tuesday after experts expressed concern.

US officials insisted the information detailed was not a security threat.

The document, which lists itself as "sensitive but unclassified", contains maps and information on hundreds of US civilian nuclear sites.

No military installations are included but the document does cover the nuclear weapons laboratories at Los Alamos, Livermore and Sandia.

Enriched uranium

An internet site of the Federation of American Scientists in Washington had highlighted the document's existence on Sunday, saying it was "a one-stop shop for information on US nuclear programs". >>> | Wednesday, June 03, 2009

The US Is Now a Muslim Country! It’s Official. The Saviour of the US Says So!
Barack Hussein Obama is a danger to the US, and a danger to the free Western world.

I have always been deeply suspicious of his Muslim roots. His latest pronouncement that the US can be considered to be one of the biggest Muslim nations of the world has confirmed my suspicions.

What is this man playing at? To say that the US is a Muslim nation, still less one of the largest Muslim nations in the world, is as stupid as it is dangerous. On what has he based his statement? The USA has a population of about 5 million Muslims; Indonesia has about 207 million. So how can the US be considered a ‘large Muslim nation’? The man is a fool! And an appeasing fool at that!

To me, Barack Hussein Obama comes over as a snake oil salesman. He is far too smooth an operator. I dislike listening to him speak, and I certainly find it hard to trust him. From now on, I shall find it virtually impossible.

I shudder to think about what he is going to say in his major speech in Cairo. I’m sure you do, too.

This man makes Neville Chamberlain come over as Genghis Khan! – ©Mark

YOUTUBE: The Munich Betrayal 1938


YOUTUBE: Appeasement


YOUTUBE: Hamas In Their Own Voices

Obama: We Are No Longer a Christian Nation

EU Oligarchs Help Far Right Prosper
THE AUSTRALIAN: THE leaders of the European Union hate elections to the European Parliament. Why? Because these caricatures of democratic decision-making expose the contempt with which the European public regards the oligarchy that runs the EU.

A survey of 27,000 EU citizens commissioned by the European Parliament indicates that on average only 34per cent of them planned to vote in the elections. In Britain, 30 per cent of the respondents indicated they would definitely not vote.

Voter apathy tells only part of the story. There is considerable evidence that lack of interest in the EU elections is fuelled by a powerful sense of distrust, dissatisfaction and frustration. One German survey of 12,000 Europeans shows 60 per cent of the respondents assumed that one reason why so many of them are not inclined to vote is because they are "being lied to in election promises". Almost half said they "cannot improve anything by voting". In Poland and Finland, about two-thirds of the respondents expressed this fatalistic attitude.

Typically the EU political elite presents voter apathy as the unfortunate consequence of public misperception. They suggest that their good works are not appreciated by a public that simply does not get what they do. Public disengagement is rarely presented as an indictment of EU institutions. "It's not that people are staying away from these elections because they are critical of the European Union and its political process," claims Hermann Schmitt of the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research. From this perspective the public's lack of interest is interpreted as simply a problem of presentation. That is why the European Commission sought to woo young voters with cool election ads on MTV networks.

However, there is considerable evidence that public disengagement is not the unintended consequence of poor public relations but the outcome of a project that explicitly attempts to distance political decision-making from the gaze of European citizens.

The distinct feature of the EU's political process is that it is self-consciously founded on the principle of insulated decision-making. From the standpoint of the European political elites, one of the virtues of EU institutions is that they insulate them from the kind of public pressure and forms of accountability that they experience in their national parliaments. Consequently the EU is able to adopt policies that would often prove contentious and difficult to justify in a more open national parliamentary setting.

In effect, politicians can continually hide behind the EU's invisible decision-making process and claim "it wasn't my idea" before adding that "unfortunately we have no choice but to go along with this Europe-wide directive".

Insulated decision-making relies on institutions that are in effect outside the realm of public scrutiny. As Bruno Waterfield writes in an important study for the Manifesto Club, "a unique form of 21st-century statecraft has emerged" that allows "expanding areas of public authority to retreat into a closed, private world of bureaucrats and diplomats". In effect most EU legislation is formulated by the hundreds of secret working groups set up by the Council of the EU.

Most of the sessions of the Council of Ministers are held behind closed doors and the unelected European Commission has the sole right to put forward legislation. Yet most of the decisions taken by the European Council are concerned with subjects that were previously discussed in national legislatures. These are public-free institutions that are designed to bypass conventional forms of democratic accountability.

The inevitable consequence of the institutionalisation of insulated decision-making is that it diminishes the capacity of European politicians to motivate and inspire their electorate. What appears as a problem of presentation is actually an expression of a style of communication that is suitable for behind-the-scenes manoeuvring but not for public engagement. Invariably they come across as what they really are, bureaucrats, rather than as political leaders. Their ineptness has been exposed time and again as they proved unequal to the task of gaining support for the proposed EU constitution in national referendums.

Is it any surprise that they have decided that referendums are not needed for implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon? >>> Frank Furedi | Thursday, June 04, 2009

Barack Obama on Middle East Mission

THE JERUSALEM POST: Obama Starts Outreach Bid in S. Arabia

President Barack Obama began his latest bid to repair ties with the Muslim world on Wednesday by seeking the counsel of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's two holiest sites in Mecca and Medina.

"The United States and Saudi Arabia have a long history of friendship. We have a strategic relationship," Obama said as he visited the monarch's desert horse farm. The US president called Abdullah wise and gracious, adding: "I am confident that working together that the United States and Saudi Arabia can make progress on a whole host of issues of mutual interest."

In turn, Abdullah expressed his "best wishes to the friendly American people who are represented by a distinguished man who deserves to be in this position."

Meanwhile, according to a report in the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi,
Obama intended to appeal to the Saudi leadership to open an interest office in Tel Aviv as a goodwill gesture towards Israel that would signify the beginning of normalizing relations between Jerusalem and Riyadh.

According to the report, the office would allow Israelis to apply for visas to visit Saudi Arabia as tourists and allow El Al aircraft to fly through Saudi air space.

There are indications that the Saudis will not accede to proposed gestures, but rather insist that Israel first make confidence-building measures, such as dismantling West Bank settlements or committing to a two-state solution, said the paper.

It is known that Israel has trade relations with Saudi Arabia, but this is a sensitive issue that is often kept quiet by both parties.
According to the Manufacturers Association of Israel, Israeli exports to Saudi Arabia amounted to around $33,000 in the first quarter of 2009.

In addition, every year, hundreds of Israeli Muslims head to Saudi Arabia to participate in the Hajj, the main annual pilgrimage to Mecca. They usually travel through Jordan where they are given temporary Jordanian documents, but the Saudi authorities are well aware that these tourists are Israeli and they turn a blind eye to the fact that they are citizens of Israel.

As the creator of the Arab Initiative, Saudi Arabia plays an important role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The plan was launched in 2002 as the Saudi Peace Plan and relaunched in 2007 under the title, the Arab Initiative. At least two points of the plan - making Jerusalem the capital of a Palestinian state and acknowledging the "right of return" for Arabs who fled Israel in 1948 and their descendants - are unacceptable to Israel.

The Obama administration has been seeking Arab acceptance to modify the plan in order to make it more palatable to Israel, even though the Arab League has said the plan is not subject to changes. >>> By AP and the Media Line | Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Muslim World Readies for Obama's Speech in Cairo

BBC: Barack Obama Launches Key Mid-East Mission

US President Barack Obama has arrived in Saudi Arabia at the start of a Middle East tour aimed at increasing US engagement with the Islamic world.

Mr Obama will spend a few hours in Riyadh before heading for Egypt, where he will make a keynote speech in Cairo.

He says he wants to revive Mid-East talks and overcome misapprehensions.

As he arrived, a recording said to be by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden accused Mr Obama of planting seeds to increase hatred of the US.

Apart from a stop-over in Iraq in April, this is Mr Obama's first time in the region since becoming president. >>> | Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Watch BBC video of Obama’s arrival in Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah greeted Obama in a ceremony at Riyadh's main airport >>>

THE WASHINGTON POST: King Abdullah Greets Obama in Saudi Arabia: New Bin Laden Tape Airs Just After President's Arrival

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – American flags are hanging next to the green banner of the Saudi kingdom on the street-light poles of this desert capital, a celebratory nod to the arrival of President Obama, who on Wednesday landed here to begin a five-day tour through the Middle East and Europe.

Obama will hold a day of meetings with King Abdullah on Iran's nuclear program and the dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace process, among other issues, before traveling to Egypt to deliver what is being billed as a major address on the American relationship with the Muslim world.

At a tarmac welcoming ceremony, Obama was greeted by the 84-year-old Saudi leader. The two strode down a red carpet lined by ranks of Saudi soldiers, U.S. and Saudi flags flying taut in a brisk, dry wind. A military band then played "The Star-Spangled Banner."

The leaders were then scheduled to travel to King Abdullah's farm at Jenadriyah, not far from Riyadh. The king hosted a dinner there last year for then-President George W. Bush featuring an Arabian horse show and a falconry exhibition. >>> By Scott Wilson, Washington Post Staff Writer | Wednesday, June 03, 2009

leJDD.fr: Le monde arabe attend Obama

"Changer les relations [des Etats-Unis] avec le monde musulman." Tel est l'objectif de Barack Obama, lors du discours qu'il prononcera au Caire jeudi. Irak, Iran, Afghanistan, Proche-Orient... la liste des sujets sur lesquels le président américain est attendu est longue. Ces derniers jours, Barack Obama a accentué la pression sur Israël. Mais le monde arabe attend désormais des actes.

Barack Obama a presque tenu sa promesse. Durant la campagne présidentielle, le candidat démocrate promettait de prendre la parole devant un "forum" musulman majeur au cours des 100 premiers jours de sa présidence s'il était élu. Le nouveau pensionnaire de la Maison blanche le fera jeudi, avec plus d'un mois de retard. Après un détour par l'Arabie saoudite mercredi, Barack Obama prendra la parole jeudi sur le campus de l'université du Caire. "Je veux saisir cette occasion pour délivrer un message plus large sur la façon dont les Etats-Unis peuvent changer, pour le meilleur, leurs relations avec le monde musulman", a-t-il déclaré la semaine dernière, alors qu'il recevait le président de l'Autorité palestinienne, Mahmoud Abbas, à Washington.

Le choix du Caire ne doit rien au hasard. Rare allié américain dans la région, l'Egypte est le premier pays arabe à avoir conclu la paix avec Israël. "Le choix de l'Egypte est le message. Barack Obama choisit un pays arabe modéré - et de surcroît au coeur du processus de paix israélo-arabe - pour prononcer son discours. C'est aussi un signe positif envoyé à Israël", analyse pour leJDD.fr, Courtney C. Radschn, responsable du site de la chaîne de télévision émiratie basée à Dubaï, al-Arabiya. Chawki Freïha, rédacteur en chef du site d'informations sur le monde arabe Mediaarabe.info, va plus loin. "En choisissant l'Arabie saoudite et l'Egypte, Barack Obama privilégie le front anti-iranien, celui des Arabes modérés qui ont peur de l'influence croissante de l'Iran et de la Syrie dans la région." Le choix du Caire vise surtout à rassurer les pays arabes modérés, qui craignent de faire les frais de la politique d'ouverture vers l'Iran - et de fait la Syrie - prônée par la Maison blanche. >>> Par Marianne ENAULT, leJDD.fr | Mercredi 03 Juin 2009

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: La main tendue d'Obama au monde musulman

VISITE | Le président américain Barack Obama a entamé à Ryad une visite au Proche-Orient, placée sous le signe de l’ouverture envers le monde musulman et la quête de la paix entre les Arabes et Israël, s’attirant les attaques du chef d’Al-Qaïda.

Le point d’orgue de sa mini-tournée sera son discours de réconciliation à l’adresse du 1,5 milliard de musulmans dans le monde qu’il prononcera demain jeudi au Caire, après huit ans de tensions sous son prédécesseur George W. Bush.

Cette ouverture de l’administration Obama au monde musulman a suscité l’inquiétude d’Israël, alors que les relations entre les deux alliés traversent un moment délicat en raison des divergences sur la relance du processus de paix avec les Palestiniens.
L’avion présidentiel s’est posé vers 14 h 20 locales (13 h 20 suisse) à l’aéroport international de Ryad, où M. Obama effectue sa première visite.

Le président américain a été accueilli au pied de l’appareil par le roi Abdallah. Les deux hommes se sont embrassés avant de se diriger au milieu d’une haie d’honneur vers une estrade pour écouter les hymnes nationaux des deux pays. Ils devaient ensuite tenir des discussions bilatérales. >>> AFP | Mercredi 03 Juin 2009

Bin Laden: Obama Planted 'Hatred Seeds'
YNET NEWS: Al-Qaeda leader says US president continuing in steps of his predecessor Bush, tells Americans to be prepared for consequences of White House's policies

Bin Laden spoiling celebration. Photo courtesy of YnetNews
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden said US President Barack Obama had planted seeds for "revenge and hatred" towards the United States in the Muslim world.

"Obama and his administration have planted seeds for hatred and revenge against America," the militant leader said in a recording aired by al-Jazeera television on Wednesday.

Bin Laden said Obama was continuing in the steps of his predecessor George W. Bush and told Americans to be prepared for the consequences of the White House's policies.

The Qatar-based station did not give further details in a news flash. Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia at a start of a tour that will also take him to Egypt where he will deliver a speech to Muslims.

On Tuesday, al-Qaeda's deputy leader criticized the upcoming speech, saying it will not change the "bloody messages" the US military is sending Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His bloody messages were received and are still being received by Muslims, and they will not be concealed by public relations campaigns or by farcical visits or elegant words," said Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaeda's No. 2, in a new audio message posted on militant Web sites.

Al-Zawahri said the Egyptian officials who will welcome Obama are US "slaves" and have turned the country into an "international station of torture in America's war on Islam." He was likely referring to suspected Islamic militants who have been captured by the US and sent to Egypt for interrogation, a process known as rendition. >>> News agencies | Wednesday, June 03, 2009

YNET OPINION: Obama-style Orientalism

US administration’s approach sure to lead to another Mideastern clash

If Barack Obama, the “world’s policeman,” is unfamiliar with the Israeli film The Policeman, his Israeli advisor Rahm Emanuel would do well to tell him about one unforgettable scene from Ephraim Kishon’s Oscar-nominated movie: Officer Azoulay “fighting” pedestrians who fail to cross the street at crosswalks and moped drivers who park illegally – he reports to police headquarters that “everything is under control,” while terrible robberies take place right behind his back.

And now, to the moral of the story: North Korea is challenging America on the nuclear front, while Pakistan’s nukes are about to fall into hostile hands. Iran’s Ahmadinejad constantly provokes the West and threatens to eliminate Israel. Obama’s PR team is looking for a way to market the withdrawal from the divided and bleeding Iraq as an achievement of creating a new democracy, and the Taliban in Afghanistan – which was ostensibly “defeated” by the US – is suddenly alive and kicking again.

Yet despite all this, policeman Azoulay-Obama is preoccupied with the “obstacle for peace in the Middle East,” demanding that Netanyahu curb settlement activity and remove illegal outposts. In exchange for this, Obama demands that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas put an end to Palestinian incitement… If this is the innovative and creative approach promised to dwellers of the Middle East by Obama’s advisors and Mideast experts, we shall soon be longing for the bad old times.

Only four months after being sworn in, the Free World’s leader is again embarking on a predetermined American collision course. Obama chooses to walk the same path as his predecessors in the White House, while using the same terms and statements and adopting the same static and dull way of thinking.

The US, and only the US, is responsible for the fact that initiatives to advance peace in our region have reached a dead-end. For years now, various American leaders have endorsed a patronizing approach, premised on assessments which Palestinian Academician Edward Said dubbed “Orientalism” in the 1970s. Today, this approach is summed up by the statement: “Be quiet, we know what’s good for you.”

Moreover, for years now, several US secretaries of state have been held captive by several “moderate” Arab states such as Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, which have been demanding an American price tag for their “moderation.” This comes in the form of heavy pressure on Israel to grant gestures and concession to the Palestinians, based on the false expectation that the Palestinian will also “moderate” later on. >>> Moshe Elad | Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Col. (res.) Moshe Elad is a lecturer at the Western Galilee Academic College

THE TELEGRAPH: Osama bin Laden Tape Overshadows Barack Obama's Attempts to Engage Middle East

President Barack Obama's arrival in the Middle East to build a better US relationship with the Muslim world has been overshadowed by the release of a new tape from Osama bin Laden.

The recording emerged just as Mr Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia at the start of a Middle East tour aimed at improving ties with Middle East countries.

The al-Qaeda leader claimed United States policy had led to a campaign of "killing, fighting, bombing and destruction" in the Swat area of north-west Pakistan and Americans would "reap what the White House leaders have sown".

he release of the audio tape appeared to be timed to undermine Mr Obama's attempts to restart the Arab-Israeli peace process.

Bin Laden said: "Elderly people, children and women fled their homes and lived in tents as refugees after they have lived in dignity in their homes. Let the American people be ready to reap what the White House leaders have sown.

"Obama and his administration have sown new seeds to increase hatred and revenge on America. The number of these seeds is equal to the number of displaced people from Swat Valley." >>> By Richard Spencer in Cairo and Toby Harnden in Washington | Wednesday, June 03, 2009

ZEIT ONLINE: Al-Qaida ruft zum Widerstand gegen Obama auf

Die Islamisten warnen vor der Kairoer Rede des US-Präsidenten an die islamische Welt mit drastischen Worten: Obama sende "blutige Botschaften"

Der Vizechef der Extremisten-Organisation al-Qaida hat die ägyptische Bevölkerung dazu aufgerufen, nicht auf die "geschliffenen Worte" von US-Präsident Barack Obama bei seiner Rede in Kairo hereinzufallen. "Ägyptens freies, gerechtes und ehrenvolles Volk: Stehe vereint vor diesem Kriminellen", sagte der gebürtige Ägypter Ajman al-Sawahri in einer Audio-Botschaft. Obamas blutige Botschaften würden nicht verdeckt durch Kampagnen in der Öffentlichkeit, theatralische Besuche oder geschliffene Worte. >>> © ZEIT ONLINE, kg, dpa, Reuters | Mittwoch, 03. Juni 2009

TIMES ONLINE: Osama bin Laden Emerges to Attack Barack Obama for ‘Antagonising Muslims’

Osama bin Laden emerged from the shadows yesterday to deliver a scathing attack on President Obama minutes after the US leader landed in Saudi Arabia to begin his landmark visit to the Middle East.

In advance of Mr Obama’s keenly awaited speech to the Islamic world in Cairo today, bin Laden accused him of “antagonising Muslims” and inflaming hatred against America by backing Pakistan’s recent crackdown on militants in the Swat Valley.

Bin Laden’s message came a day after his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, surfaced to attack the White House’s new incumbent. Middle East analysts say the two tapes indicate growing concern in al-Qaeda’s leadership about Mr Obama’s arrival on the world stage when their influence over the increasingly splintered terror network is waning.

As Mr Obama held talks with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, after landing in Riyadh, the al-Qaeda leader’s audiotape was being broadcast on news channels globally. It is his third public message this year but the first time he has used such murderous and threatening language against Mr Obama. >>> Tim Reid in Washington | Thursday, June 04, 2009

From Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin: Obama Administration Supports Saudi Immunity in 9/11 Lawsuit
WORLD NET DAILY: Brief seeking to deny Americans access to court remedies for attack

The Obama administration has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to protect Saudi Arabia and four of its princes from being held accountable for their alleged role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the United States that killed almost 3,000 Americans, according to a report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

Through its solicitor general, Elena Kagan, the Obama administration has asked that the Saudis be held immune under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, or FSIA, even though there is ample U.S. evidence of complicity by the Saudi government and the named princes in support of al-Qaida's attack.

While the FSIA generally protects a sovereign state, there are exceptions under which its provisions can be invoked. Such interpretations are left largely to the courts to determine.

Families of the 9/11 victims, however, have expressed outrage over the Obama administration's filing. They regard the action as undermining the continuing fight against terror. >>> © 2009 WorldNetDaily | Monday, June 01, 2009

Fitzgerald: What's Behind Opposition to the "Settlements"
JIHAD WATCH: Opposition to what are so tendentiously called "the settlements" is not about the "settlements" at all. It is about whether Israel is going to be allowed to decide for itself the minimum conditions of its own survival, or whether others -- apparently to include an Administration so deeply unlearned in the history of the area, and in the claims, and rights, of the Jews to build these "settlements" (simply Jewish villages and towns) on land that was always intended for Jewish settlement by the League of Nations in its Mandate for Palestine. That was one among many mandates created after World War I, several of which led to the creation of Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq -- that is, three of the now-22 members of the Arab League. Other mandates were intended to make provision for some of the many other non-Arab or non-Muslim peoples -- but the Kurdish state and the Armenian state as originally envisioned were still-born, and the Jews received not all of historic Palestine, but only Western Palestine, while again the Arabs took the lion's share for themselves.

It is not the "settlements" that are at stake, but whether or not Israel will control the small sliver of territory, the "West Bank," without which the Jordan Valley, and the historic invasion route from the east, cannot be controlled. For if Jewish settlements are stopped, if the decision is taken out of Israel's hands, and if its claims are de-legitimized, it is just part of a deliberate, unending, and most cunning attempt by Muslim Arabs to push Israel back, so as to whittle away at it, and step by step to weaken Israel and demoralize its population. This has been written about and spoken about so much in the Arab media that it is inexcusable for those who make policy to continue to have failed to notice it.

This would be done in stages. Mahmoud Abbas is the leading proponent, at present, of this Two-Stage Solution. That is what he means when he says "we choose peace as a strategic option." Not "peace" tout court, but "peace as a strategic option." First, by opposing the Jewish claim to have any natural expansion in what are so wrongly called "settlements," this would condemn Jews, but not Arabs, to keeping their population from increasing in the "West Bank." That would inevitably lead to their shriveling. It would start the process of forcing Israel to yield, to give up those Jewish villages and towns, to give up their rightful claim that was already shrunken by 77% when Great Britain created, back in 1922, the Emirate of Transjordan out of Eastern Palestine. Eastern Palestine was originally intended for inclusion in the Mandate for Palestine.

If Israel cannot allow even for natural growth in its "settlements" -- meaning apparently no babies are to be born beyond the replacement level, while the Arabs in the "West Bank" and in pre-1967 borders of Israel, like the Muslims living everywhere, are permitted to have eight and ten and twelve children per family, we know the result. And if Israel's settlements are paralyzed, and painted even in the Untied States -- never mind the U.N. -- as illegitimate, the pressure on Israel, which is already immense, would likely force the Israelis, despite their own need to survive, to give up the "West Bank" that offers them the only strategic depth they possess. Israel without the "West Bank" is nine miles wide, from Kalkilya to the sea. It can be cut in two with ease by the fabulously well-armed, and overwhelmingly more numerous Arabs. Unless Israel is prepared at once to use nuclear weapons, it can be overrun. And not only must Israel continue to control the Jordan Valley and the historic invasion routes from the East, but it must also control the aquifers under the "West Bank" that are so vital. >>> Hugh Fitzerland | Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Barack Obama on Landmark Mission to Rebuild Ties with Muslim World
A T-shirt on sale in Cairo to mark Mr Obama's Middle East visit. Photo courtesy of TimesOnline
This headline could read: Obama Goes a-Brown-nosing in the Muslim World. – ©Mark

President Obama’s arrival in Saudi Arabia today marks the first leg of a landmark Middle East visit to reach Muslims and mend ties damaged under the eight-year Administration of his predecessor, George Bush.

The three-day visit, including an address to the Muslim world at Cairo University tomorrow, is seen as a vital step in his efforts to relaunch peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians.

Mr Obama has signalled that he will take a more even-handed approach than Mr Bush, who gave Israel a free hand to expand the growth of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Israel has bridled at US demands that it should freeze all construction in the settlements and East Jerusalem. Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defence Minister, flew to Washington last night to lobby the US President one more time. Israel says that the half million Jews who live in the territories cannot be prevented from having children, marrying or building houses.At the outset of his trip Mr Obama issued his sternest warning yet to Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister. “I believe that strategically the status quo is unsustainable when it comes to Israel’s security,” Mr Obama said in an interview with the US broadcaster NPR.

“Over time, in the absence of peace with Palestinians, Israel will continue to be threatened militarily and will have enormous problems on its borders.”

He said that the sobering message to Israel was meant as a friendly warning. “Part of being a good friend is being honest,” said the President, who held talks with Mr Netanyahu last month at the White House. Mr Netanyahu has refused to accept the idea of an independent Palestinian state, which Washington sees as a cornerstone of Middle East peace. >>> James Hider in Cairo | Wednesday, June 03, 2009

THE NEW YORK TIMES BLOGS – THE CAUCUS: Obama Says U.S. Could Be Seen as a Muslim Country, Too

HAHN, Germany — As President Obama prepared to leave Washington to fly to the Middle East, he conducted several television and radio interviews at the White House to frame the goals for a five-day trip, including the highly-anticipated speech Thursday at Cairo University in Egypt.

In an interview with Laura Haim on Canal Plus, a French television station, Mr. Obama noted that the United States also could be considered as “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.” He sought to downplay the expectations of the speech, but he said he hoped the address would raise awareness about Muslims.

“Now, I think it’s very important to understand that one speech is not going to solve all the problems in the Middle East,” Mr. Obama said. “And so I think expectations should be somewhat modest.”

He previewed several themes and objectives for the speech, which aides said the president intended to tinker with — and rewrite — aboard Air Force One during his 12-hour flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“What I want to do is to create a better dialogue so that the Muslim world understands more effectively how the United States, but also how the West thinks about many of these difficult issues like terrorism, like democracy, to discuss the framework for what’s happened in Iraq and Afghanistan and our outreach to Iran, and also how we view the prospects for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” Mr. Obama said.

The president said the United States and other parts of the Western world “have to educate ourselves more effectively on Islam.”

“And one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world,” Mr. Obama said. “And so there’s got to be a better dialogue and a better understanding between the two peoples.” >>> By Jeff Zeleny | Tuesday, June 02, 2009

LE FIGARO: Obama en campagne
dans le monde arabe

Un commerçant du Caire a présenté lundi une plaque souvenir qualifiant Barack Obama de «nouveau Toutankhamon du monde». Crédits photo : Le Figaro
Le président américain amorce mercredi soir en Arabie saoudite une tournée qui sera marquée par un grand discours, jeudi au Caire, en direction des musulmans.

C'est une «conversation» peu ordinaire qui va s'engager cette semaine entre l'homme le plus puissant de la planète et plus d'un milliard de musulmans. Depuis l'époque de sa campagne électorale, Barack Hussein Obama, chrétien, métis, mais fils d'un musulman du Kenya, a lentement mûri le projet de s'adresser aux peuples d'islam pour regagner leur cœur et entreprendre de tisser une nouvelle relation entre eux et l'Amérique, après des années de frustrations et d'incompréhension.

L'heure est venue. Jeudi, entre les murs accablés de chaleur de l'université du Caire, qui le reçoit avec la participation de l'université islamique al-Azhar, puissance co-invitante, le président Obama prononcera un discours très attendu à l'attention des opinions publiques musulmanes, avant de gagner l'Europe pour des visites du souvenir hautement symboliques au camp de Buchenwald en Allemagne, puis au cimetière de Colleville en Normandie. Il veut effacer le grand malentendu de l'époque de l'administration précédente qui en était venue à confondre trop souvent islam et terrorisme islamiste. Il a toujours pensé que le choc des civilisations n'est pas inéluctable. Il l'a déjà dit lors de son discours d'investiture, puis dans une interview à la chaîne al-Arabya et dans son adresse devant le Parlement turc en avril. Il va le répéter haut et fort pour tenter d'apaiser cette haine de l'Occident qui agite le Moyen-Orient, notamment sa jeunesse, cible privilégiée de son appel au dialogue. «Obama veut convaincre la rue musulmane que l'Amérique a changé, il estime que le terrorisme islamique est une question cruciale pour la sécurité nationale, qui va bien au-delà de la question du conflit israélo-palestinien», décrypte un diplomate français. >>> Laure Mandeville, Envoyé spéciale du Figaro à Riyad | Mardi 02 Juin 2009

LE FIGARO:
«Les Etats-Unis, un des plus grands pays musulmans» >>> lefigaro.fr | Mardi 02 Juin 2009

Obama interviewé sur Canal + - Le Figaro
Le président des Etats-Unis a notamment évoqué la politique américaine au Moyen-Orient.

Mots-clés : barack obama interview dday

Video de redacweb

New Dark Age Barbarism! British Hostage Edwin Dyer 'Executed by Al-Qaeda' in Mali
THE TELEGRAPH: A British hostage Edwin Dyer has been executed by Al-Qaeda's North African branch in Mali, according to a statement issued by Gordon Brown.

Edwin Dyer: The group had threatened to kill Mr Dyer if the UK Government did not release Jordanian extremist Abu Qatada, who has been in prison since 2005 and is awaiting deportation to Jordan. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
"We have strong reason to believe that a British citizen, Edwin Dyer, has been murdered by an Al-Qaeda cell in Mali. I utterly condemn this appalling and barbaric act of terrorism," Mr Brown said in a statement.

"This tragedy reinforces our commitment to confront terrorism. It strengthens our determination never to concede to the demands of terrorists, nor to pay ransoms.

"I want those who would use terror against British citizens to know beyond doubt that we and our allies will pursue them relentlessly, and that they will meet the justice they deserve."

One report suggested that Mr Dyer had been beheaded but a statement from al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) did not say how he was killed.

The group had threatened to kill Mr Dyer if the UK Government did not release Jordanian extremist Abu Qatada, who has been in prison since 2005 and is awaiting deportation to Jordan. A multimillion-euro ransom is also thought to have been demanded.

AQIM "killed Dyer on May 31, finding that Britain is unresponsive and does not seem to care for its citizens", the US-based monitoring SITE group quoted an online statement as saying. >>> | Wednesday, June 03, 2009

MPs' Expenses: Hazel Blears Resignation Deepens Gordon Brown's Cabinet Crisis
THE TELEGRAPH: Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, has resigned from the Cabinet, deepening the political crisis now engulfing Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister.

Hazel Blears: Communities secretary has stood down from the Cabinet. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
Dealing a fresh blow to Mr Brown’s fragile political authority in the wake of the MPs' expenses scandal, Miss Blears said the Labour Party has lost its connection with the British people.

“I have told the Prime Minsiter [sic] I am resigning from the Government,” Miss Blears said in a statement. “I am returning to the grassroots. I want to help the Labour Party to reconnect with the British people.

"My politics has always been rooted in the belief that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things.

"The role of a progressive Government should be to pass power to the people.

"I want to help the Labour Party to reconnect with the British people, to remind them that our values are their values, that their hopes and dreams are ours too."

Today's statement was notable for the absence of any expression of backing for the Prime Minister.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Theresa May said the Government was no longer capable of governing and that a General Election was now essential.

"The Government has no answer. They are racked by infighting and they are unable to deal with the real issues that matter to people," she told the BBC News channel. "We need a General Election." >>> By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent | Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Rats Desert Sinking Ship: Shamed Jacqui Smith Leads Ministers Scrambling for the Exit
Jacqui Smith. Photo courtesy of MailOnline
MAIL Online: Gordon Brown's grip on government was faltering last night as Jacqui Smith led a ministerial scramble for the exit.
The Home Secretary plunged his Cabinet reshuffle into chaos by letting it be known she is resigning.

An emotional Miss Smith told friends 
she could not stand the pressure on her family over revelations that her husband's porn films were charged to the taxpayer.

She becomes the biggest casualty of the MPs' expenses scandal.

Miss Smith told Mr Brown of her decision two months ago, but he asked her to keep it secret until he finalised the Cabinet shake-up.

Instead, the news came out just 48 hours ahead of elections expected to be a Labour disaster. >>> By James Chapman | Wednesday, June 03, 2009

SAVAGE NATION:
Take hope, Michael! You’re winning! >>>

GEERT WILDERS:
Take heart, Geert! You’re winning, too! >>>

Immigration Law Denies Equal Protection For Same-Sex Life Partners
COMMON DREAMS: Legislation Is Needed To Bring U.S. In-Line With Other Democracies

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow on a bill that modifies U.S. immigration law to provide equal protection to same-sex life partners of citizens and permanent legal residents. As part of the hearing, entitled "The United American Families Act: Addressing Inequality in Federal Immigration Law," the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to lawmakers urging the Committee to pass S. 424, "Uniting American Families Act."



Currently, same-sex partners of U.S. citizens and permanent residents are denied the same rights as married heterosexual couples. Consequently, gay citizens and permanent residents are barred from activities such as sponsoring their foreign partners for permanent residency. U.S. immigration law lags behind the immigration laws of many other democracies that permit equal sponsorship protections including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. >>> | Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Greenland Votes in Landmark Polls
BBC: The people of Greenland are voting in parliamentary elections seen as a turning-point on the territory's path to partial independence from Denmark.

Scandals and social problems have embarrassed PM Hans Enoksen. Photo courtesy of the BBC
Greenland is the world's largest island - larger than all of Europe combined - but has just 39,000 eligible voters.

Last year, Greenlanders approved plans to give their government more powers.

Greenland receives large subsidies from Denmark, but the retreat of its ice-cap because of global warming is opening up gas and oil exploration opportunities.

Financial scandals

In many ways, this election is a turning point for Greenland, which is on the threshold of the new self-rule arrangement that will give the new Greenland parliament and government the right to decide on most of the issues concerning the country.

In effect, Greenlanders will be able to decide on just about everything apart from defence and foreign affairs - issues upon which the authorities in the capital, Nuuk, will continue to negotiate with Denmark. >>> By Julian Isherwood, BBC News, Copenhagen | Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Listen to BBC video: Mikkel Lund of the Greenland Broadcasting Corporation says the winner will lead the country to greater autonomy >>>

Greenland National Broadcasting Company >>>

Egypt Models Mix Faith with Fashion
Watch YouTube video here >>>

The Son Rises: Kim Jong-un Anointed Amid Missile Fears
South Korean protesters shout slogans beside pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il (left) and a boy believed to be the leader's third son Jong-Un, during a rally denouncing North Korea's missile threat, in Seoul on 19 February 2009. Photo courtesy of The Independent
THE INDEPENDENT: He may like drinking, he may like basketball and he probably went to school in Switzerland. What appears increasingly certain, however, is that Kim Jong-un, the youngest of Kim Jong-il's three sons, has been anointed as the North Korean leader's successor.

Reports from South Korea said that North Korea's military chiefs, Communist Party officials and state employees were told to put their support behind the 26-year-old who had been chosen by his father to take the world's only communist dynasty into its third generation. Several South Korean politicians said they had been briefed on the developments by their intelligence services. One, Park Jie-won, said the regime in the north was already "pledging its allegiance to Jong-un".

It was once assumed that Kim Jong-il's eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, 38, was being groomed to take over from his father. However in 2001 he was discovered trying to enter Japan on a fake passport and reportedly told officials he wanted to visit Tokyo's Disney resort. According to claims by the North Korean leader's former sushi chef, Kim Jong-il considered his middle son, Kim Jong-chol, too effeminate for the role.

And so attention has turned to Kim Jong-un. Indeed, back in January a flurry of reports appeared, saying that the youngest son had been chosen as the successor but that the decision had not at that stage been widely circulated. In contrast, the latest reports suggest he is now being hailed as "Commander Kim," and people are learning the lyrics to a new song praising him as the next leader. >>> By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent | Tuesday, June 02, 2009

L’HEBDO: L’apprenti dictateur parle le berntütsch

Corée du Nord. Kim Jong-il a choisi son fils cadet pour lui succéder à la tête de l’Etat stalinien. On ignore presque tout de lui. Révélations sur le séjour en Suisse de Kim Jong-un.

Tous les vendredis, Kim Jong-un enfilait ses skis et partait dévaler les pistes de Zweisimmen ou de Grindelwald avec ses camarades de classe bernois. Dix ans plus tard, le cadet de Kim Jong-il, qui a eu 26 ans le 8 janvier, est pressenti pour devenir le prochain leader de la Corée du Nord. Celui qui régnera sans partage sur un pays de 24 millions d’habitants, un doigt sur le bouton nucléaire. Les élections qui se dérouleront le 8 mars dans l’Etat stalinien seront décisives: si Kim Jong-un accède au Parlement et est nommé à la puissante Commission de la défense, ce sera la preuve qu’il est devenu le dauphin officiel du «cher leader».

Le passage du témoin pourrait d’ailleurs se dérouler plus vite que prévu: Kim Jong-il souffrirait de graves problèmes de santé. Il aurait subi une attaque cérébrale en août. Kim Jong-un – dont le jeune âge et le statut de cadet ne le prédestinaient pas à remplacer son père, selon la tradition confucéenne – semble avoir été un second choix. Longtemps destiné à ce poste, l’aîné Kim Jong-nam (37 ans) a perdu toute crédibilité aux yeux de son père lorsqu’il s’est fait pincer en 2001 au Japon en possession d’un faux passeport de la République dominicaine. Il voulait se rendre à Disneyland Tokyo incognito. Quant au second fils, Kim Jong-chol (27 ans), il souffrirait d’une maladie qui le fait produire trop d’hormones féminines. Célèbre transfuge, l’ex-cuisinier de Kim Jong-il, le Japonais Kenji Fujimoto, raconte que son père le trouve «trop efféminé», alors que son jeune frère – amateur de voitures allemandes et de sushis – a «une grande force intérieure, une condition physique superbe, est capable de boire beaucoup et ne s’avoue jamais vaincu». Il serait clairement le favori. >>> Par Julie Zaugg, Titus Plattner | Jeudi 05 Mars 2009

Un antisémite à l'Unesco?
Farouk Hosni, ministre égyptien de la culture et candidat à la direction de l'Unesco. Crédits photo: L’Express
L’EXPRESS: Le ministre égyptien de la culture Farouk Hosni était le favori pour devenir le prochain directeur général de l'Unesco. Mais la polémique sur des propos tenus en 2008 le rattrape et embarrasse les capitales occidentales.

C'est l'histoire d'une élection jouée d'avance qui s'est transformée en dossier politique brûlant. Avec pour acteur principal Farouk Hosni. Ministre de la culture en Egypte depuis 21 ans, il est candidat pour succéder au Japonais Koïchiro Matsuura à la tête de l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'éducation, la science et la culture (Unesco). Sur les rangs depuis 2007, il partait favori au nom de la "normalisation culturelle" avec le monde arabe. Plusieurs pays occidentaux, dont l'Espagne, lui ont accordé leur soutien.

Mais une polémique fait désormais vaciller Farouk Hosni. On lui reproche d'avoir prononcé en 2008 des propos virulents à l'encontre d'Israël. Répondant à un parlementaire qui s'inquiétait de la présence de livres israéliens dans les bibliothèques égyptiennes, le ministre de la culture avait déclaré: "Brûlons-les. S'il s'en trouve, je les brûlerai moi-même devant vous". Dans une tribune publiée le 21 mai dans Le Monde, l'écrivain Bernard-Henry Levy, le cinéaste Claude Lanzmann et le Prix Nobel de la Paix Elie Wiesel dénoncent les paroles d'un "homme dangereux, un incendiaire des coeurs et des esprits".

"Je regrette les mots que j'ai prononcés", répond Farouk Hosni, affirmant être "un homme de paix". Mais la pilule a du mal à passer auprès des organisations de lutte contre l'antisémitisme. "Ces excuses viennent beaucoup trop tard, regrette Shimon Samuels, directeur pour les relations internationales du Centre Simon Wiesenthal. D'autant plus que cet acte n'est pas isolé. Ca dure depuis 21 ans". Le Comité juif-américain lui reproche par exemple d'avoir tout fait pour empêcher l'ouverture d'un musée du judaïsme au Caire. >>> Par Jim Jarrassé | Dimanche 31 Mai 2009

Thrifty Queen Sofia
Spain's Queen Sofia has given the British Royal family a lesson in fiscal responsibility by taking a £13 budget airline flight to London. Photo courtesy of MailOnline
MAIL Online: Queen Sofia of Spain has given the British Royal Family a lesson in cost-cutting - by taking a £13 budget airline flight to London.

The 70-year-old monarch flew with low-cost airline Ryanair from northern Spain to Stansted on Sunday evening to visit her brother, who is recovering from heart surgery in a London hospital.

A source at the Spanish royal palace said it was 'common practice' for members of the House of Bourbon to fly on scheduled flights.

The source added: 'Members of the Royal Family regularly travel on regular scheduled flights both nationally and internationally.

'The King is the only member of the Royal Family who always travels on military flights.

'Whenever possible the royals use Spanish airlines, but in this case Ryanair was the best option for getting from Santander to London.

'It may well be first time the royals have used Ryanair.'

The source could not say whether the queen had had to pay any of the extra charges Ryanair imposes for having bags other than hand luggage, or for checking in at the airport rather than online.

Her bargain bucket air fare comes in stark contrast to the British Royal Family, none of whom - with the exception of one or two of the younger royals - have ever flown on a budget flight. >>> By Tom Worden and Rebecca English | Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Missbrauch-Studie: Millionen Kinder werden laut Unicef zu Sex-Opfern
WELT ONLINE: Nach Schätzungen der Unicef werden 150 Millionen Mädchen und 73 Millionen Jungen weltweit jährlich zum Sex gezwungen. Hunderttausende werden über Grenzen verkauft, um sexuelle Dienste zu leisten. Auch wenn die Hauptschwierigkeiten im Ausland liegen – Probleme gibt es auch in Deutschland.

Weltweit werden nach Schätzungen der Vereinten Nationen jährlich rund 150 Millionen Mädchen und 73 Millionen Jungen unter 18 Jahren zum Sex gezwungen. Wie aus einem Bericht des UN-Kinderhilfswerks Unicef hervorgeht, werden zudem jedes Jahr hunderttausende Kinder über Grenzen hinweg verkauft – viele von ihnen für sexuelle Zwecke. >>> AFP/AP/fsl | Dienstag, 02. Juni 2009

Barack Obama Is Blind to His Blunders over Islam
TIMES ONLINE: The new President's approach discourages change in Middle Eastern countries that need it most

For the past week or so, the Middle East has been abuzz with speculation about Barack Obama's “historic address to the Muslim world” to be delivered in Cairo on Thursday. During his presidential campaign, Obama had promised to make such a move within his first 100 days at the White House.

In the event, the first 100 days came and went without Obama delivering on his promise. Nevertheless, he granted his first interview as President to Saudi television and, later, made a speech at the Turkish parliament in Ankara. On both occasions he highlighted the Islamic element of his background and solemnly declared that the “United States is not and will never be at war with Islam”.

Obama has aroused more curiosity in the Middle East than any previous US leader, partly because of his Arabic-Islamic first and middle names. The choice of the date for Obama's address indicates his attention to detail. It coincides with the anniversary of the start of the first battle between Islam, under Prophet Muhammad, and Christendom in the shape of a Byzantine expeditionary force in AD629. The “address to Islam” also marks the 30th anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhallah Khomeini's demise and the appointment of Ali Khamenei as the new “Supreme Guide of the Islamic ummah”. More importantly, it also coincides with the rebuilding of the Ka'abah, the stone at the heart of Mecca, which had been destroyed in a Muslim civil war.

Rich in symbolism, Obama's “address to Islam” is also full of political implications. Obama is the first major Western leader, after Bonaparte, to address Islam as a single bloc, thus adopting the traditional Islamic narrative of dividing the world according to religious beliefs. This ignores the rich and conflict-ridden diversity of the 57 Muslim-majority nations and fosters the illusion, peddled by people such as Osama bin Laden and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that Islam is one and indivisible and should, one day, unite under a caliphate.

By adopting the key element of the Islamist narrative, that is to say the division of humanity into religious blocs, Mr Obama also intends to send a signal to the Middle East's nascent democratic forces that Washington is abandoning with a vengeance George W. Bush's “freedom agenda”.

Mr Bush's analysis had been simple, or as Mr Obama suggests, simplistic: the 9/11 attacks were the result of decades of US support for repressive regimes in the Middle East that had produced closed systems in which terror thrived. In an address to university students in Cairo in 2005, Condoleezza Rice explained the “Bush doctrine” in these terms: “For 60 years, the United States pursued stability at the expense of democracy in the Middle East - and we achieved neither. Now we are taking a different course.” >>> Amir Taheri | Tuesday, June 02, 2009

President Hails Gay Pride Month
USA TODAY – THE OVAL: President Obama has issued a proclamation honoring "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Pride Month 2009."

Gay pride month is observed every June to commemorate the "Stonewall riots," an uprising that took place in 1969 when police tried to arrest gay patrons at the Stonewall Inn in New York City. The bar is shown here on the 25th anniversary of those events -- widely viewed as the beginning of the modern gay rights movement. >>> Kathy Kiely | Monday, June 01, 2009

Europe Braces for Extremist Gains in Elections
ASSOCIATED PRESS: MANCHESTER, England — In some of Manchester's bleakest neighborhoods where unemployment is rife and anxiety about an immigration influx is palpable, one of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's worst fears is unfolding before Thursday's European Union elections.

The British National Party, which doesn't allow nonwhites as members and is against membership in the European Union, is gaining ground in former Labour Party strongholds that once threw their support behind Brown and his predecessor, Tony Blair.

Widespread voter discontent across Europe is expected to give extremist and fringe groups like the BNP gains in the European assembly elections, victories that could mire the EU in even more confusion.

"I think the BNP could do a lot better for the country," Chris Rowlinson, 38, said Tuesday. "It would be sort of like the positive things what Winston Churchill did for the British people."

The recession, corruption, a culture of excess — these issues and others have angered many of the 27-nation bloc's 375 million voters. Turnout is expected to be low for the European parliament election on Thursday through Saturday. If people vote at all, many will cast protest ballots against mainstream parties.

Britain has felt the biggest voter backlash after an expense scandal tarred all three main political parties. Data leaked to a newspaper showed that lawmakers submitted expense claims for everything from pornography to chandeliers and moats at country estates — all while people were losing jobs, homes or pensions.

In northern cities like Manchester, where gritty housing projects stand near abandoned textile warehouses and recycling plants, voters have turned against Brown over fears that jobs will be lost to foreign workers or immigrants. The Manchester area is also home to one of Britain's largest Muslim communities. >>> By Paisley Dodds | Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Turkey Urges Police Action on BNP Flyers
THE SUNDAY TIMES: The country's government is considering referring the party to the police over racist promotional material

The Turkish government has demanded the withdrawal of election leaflets distributed in Scotland by the British National party, claiming they are intended to incite racial and religious hatred.

Flyers promoting the BNP’s European election campaign suggest that millions of Turkish Muslims would flood into Britain if the country were to be granted full EU membership.

One BNP leaflet being handed out on the streets of Glasgow said taxpayers’ money “shouldn’t be wasted on expanding Europe so that millions of Muslims in Turkey can join the invasion of foreign job snatchers”.

Another urges voters to “oppose the dangerous drive backed by the other main parties to give 80m low-wage Muslim Turks the right to swamp Britain”.

Officials at the Turkish embassy in London have complained to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and have suggested the matter be referred to the police because the leaflets potentially breach race relations legislation.

“It is obvious that these are racist and highly inflammatory statements which insult both Turkey and the Turkish nation as a whole and put hundreds of thousands of Turks and Turkish Cypriots who live and have been born in Britain at risk of racist abuse and attacks,” said Orhan Tung, a spokesman for the embassy.

“I think the leaflets are a clear breach of both the Race Relations Act and the Racial and Religious [Hatred] Act, which makes it an offence to distribute written material with the intent to stir up religious or racial hatred.

“We believe that the relevant British authorities such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission should consider taking legal action against the party in question.”

The Equality and Human Rights Commission also criticised the material and warned that Scotland needed immigration to counter the effects of an ageing declining population. >>> Jason Allardyce | Sunday, May 24, 2009

BNP: BNP Counterattacks with Hard-Hitting Turkey ‘Not in the EU’ Leaflet

The British National Party has responded to the disgraceful attempt by the Turkish government to interfere in British elections with a hard-hitting leaflet opposing that country’s entry into the EU. Under the heading “If you want Turkey for a neighbour, vote Tory, Lib or Labour”, the leaflet calls on British people not to holiday or in any way support Turkey.

The full text reads as follows: “Stop Turkey entering the EU and don’t let them tell you how to vote,” the leaflet starts, referring to the attempt last week by the Turkish embassy to get a BNP election leaflet banned.

“What a nerve! Turkey is a state where the army commanders threaten to grab power whenever a party which they don’t like is set to win an election. Turkey throws people into prison for writing about the brutal genocide of more than a million Christians by the Turkish army in 1915 — the same time they were raping and murdering thousands of British POWs on the Kut Death March. >>> BNP News | Sunday, May 31, 2009

BNP: BNP Protests against Turkish Interference in Election

British National Party activists in London demonstrated today outside the Turkish embassy in Belgrave Square against that government’s attempted interference in the European election on Thursday.

The BNP delegation took advantage of the sunny weather to peacefully demonstrate their opposition to last week’s call by the Turkish embassy for the BNP’s election leaflet to be banned and for the party to be criminally prosecuted.

The ‘offending’ part of the BNP’s leaflet warned against Turkey becoming a member of the European Union which would result in millions of low wage Turks being able to flood Europe and Britain, further exacerbating the problems already caused by the EU’s ‘freedom of movement’ regulations.

The BNP is the only political party campaigning against Turkish membership of the EU. All the other parties have declared themselves in favour of Turkish membership. >>> BNP News | Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Growing Islamic Radicalism in the UK? No Problem! Now There’s a Telephone Hotline to Help Out
BBC: A telephone help-line offering advice about the true teaching of Islam is being launched in the UK today.

Callers to the Islamic Hotline will get answers to their questions within 48 hours, from scholars trained at one of the world's principal Islamic universities.

The Islamic scholars behind the telephone helpline hope it will combat radicalism in Britain and help ordinary Muslims answer difficult questions about their faith.

The Islamic Hotline believes it has good news for British Muslims - keeping the laws of Islam is not as difficult as you thought.

But it also sounds a warning - the UK has a large and growing population of young Muslims who are dangerously out of touch with the older generation, and often cut off from the real teaching of their religion.

The hotline's backers have singled out Britain as the country most urgently in need of the service.

El Hatef, as the hotline is known in Arabic, was set up in Egypt eight years ago to counter radicalism by bringing the minds of the nation's best Islamic scholars to bear on people's doubts and questions about their religion. 'Real Islam' just a phone call away >>> By Robert Pigott, Religious affairs correspondent, BBC News | Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Smith To Resign As Home Secretary
Jacqui Smith. Photo courtesy of MailOnline
BBC: Jacqui Smith is expected to stand down as home secretary in a reshuffle, Whitehall sources have told the BBC.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is set to shake-up his cabinet after Thursday's European and English local elections.

Ms Smith has been criticised for listing her sister's London house as her main home for expenses - and her husband's claim for an adult movie.

It is understood Ms Smith, the first woman home secretary, intends to defend her Redditch seat at the next election.

Mr Brown confirmed to the BBC he is planning a reshuffle but refused to be drawn on individual ministers' roles. >>> | Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Listen to BBC video: Jacqui Smith speaking to John Humphrys on Today: April 7, 2009 >>>

British Mother and Her Lover Jailed for Two Months for Adultery in Dubai
MAIL Online: The British mother of two accused of cheating on her estranged husband in Dubai has been jailed for two months.

Sally Antia, 44, was arrested for breaching the emirate's strict morality laws on May 2 this year after her husband Vincent informed police that he believed she was having an affair.

She pleaded guilty to adultery. Her lover Mark Hawkins, who had previously denied the allegation, was also jailed for two months.

Their sentences will be backdated from the date of their arrest on May 2 this year.

Mr Hawkins appeared nervous ahead of the sentencing yesterday and refused to divulge details of the affair.

During an interview with Sky News he continually asked: 'Have you seen Sally? How is Sally?'

He said there were 'quite a few other Britons' in the jail in Dubai with the pair, and admitted he found the situation 'hard, extremely difficult to deal with'.

'It is extremely difficult to get information on what is happening in the outside world, the officers only speak Arabic.

'Making phone calls to anyone is also difficult, and when you do, you are only allowed a few minutes a day.'

But he admitted that not knowing what would happen to him or Ms Antia was the worst, saying: 'I just hope at least something will happen (in court tomorrow), so that I can finally know what is going to happen to me.'

Vincent Antia was accused of informing on his wife to improve his chances of winning custody of their children. >>> | Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Merkel und Sarkozy gegen EU Mitgliedschaft der Türkei in Europa

The Trillion Dollar Question: China or America?
THE TELEGRAPH: Who is going to come out of the economic crisis stronger and with the whip hand - China or America, asks Niall Ferguson.

A delegation led by US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, second from right, meets a Chinese led by vice-premier Wang Qishan in Beijing. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
Two years ago, economist Moritz Schularick and I coined the word "Chimerica" to describe what we saw as the key relationship in the then-booming global economy: China plus America. Cheap Chinese labour was making US corporations highly profitable. Spendthrift American consumers, in turn, were keeping Chinese corporations busy with export orders. And the Chinese monetary authorities were converting export surpluses into dollar denominated reserves with the aim of preventing their own currency from appreciating. The unintended consequence was a multi-billion dollar credit line to the United States, financing America's deficit at rock-bottom rates.

It was those low long-term rates – combined with monetary policy errors by the Fed, excessive bank leverage and reckless financial engineering – that inflated the American property bubble, the bursting of which triggered this crisis.

To simplify the story, think of an unhappy marriage in which one partner does all the saving, while the other does all the spending. (We all know at least one couple like that.) But then the partner with the retail therapy habit maxes out on his/her credit cards. At the same time, the parsimonious partner finds her/his job under threat. What previously was a stable relationship is suddenly on the rocks.

In February, the People's Daily acknowledged the "global importance and influence" of Chimerica, but warned of an impending "period of chillness". Could this be one of those great turning points in history, when the balance of power tilts decisively away from an established power and towards a rising challenger? It is possible. Financial crises often accelerate the gradual shifting of the geopolitical tectonic plates; they are to history what earthquakes are to geology. >>> By Niall Ferguson | Monday, June 01, 2009

Niall Ferguson's 'The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World' is published in paperback by Penguin this week

Netanjahu lehnt Siedlungsstopp als «unsinnig» ab
Netanjahu: «Wir werden das Leben in Judäa und Samaria (Westjordanland) nicht einfrieren». Bild: Berliner Zeitung
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Jerusalem/Gaza - Israels rechtsorientierter Ministerpräsident Benjamin Netanjahu geht auf klaren Konfrontationskurs zum Hauptverbündeten USA. Die Forderung Obamas und seiner Regierung nach einem vollständigen Siedlungsstopp Israels im palästinensischen Westjordanland sei «unsinnig».

Das sagte Netanjahu am Montag vor einem parlamentarischen Ausschuss in Jerusalem. «Wir werden das Leben in Judäa und Samaria (Westjordanland) nicht einfrieren.» Bei einem heftigen Feuergefecht zwischen Palästinenserpolizisten und Kämpfern der militanten Hamas- Organisation in Kalkilia im Westjordanland wurden unterdessen sechs Menschen getötet. Ein Expertenteam der Vereinten Nationen nahm am Montag in Gazastreifen Untersuchungen zu möglichen Kriegsverbrechen während Israels Offensive zur Jahreswende auf.

Netanjahu sagte vor dem Knesset-Ausschuss für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik, Israel werde keine neuen Siedlungen bauen und Außenposten räumen, die ohne Genehmigung der israelischen Regierung errichtet wurden. Das Schicksal der bestehenden Siedlungen müsse in künftigen Verhandlungen über eine Friedensregelung in Nahost entschieden werden. US-Präsident Barack Obama hatte am Donnerstag nach einem Treffen mit dem Palästinenserpräsidenten Mahmud Abbas in Washington einen Stopp aller israelischen Siedlungsaktivitäten in den besetzten Gebieten gefordert. Netanjahu will aber ein «natürliches Wachstum» in den mehr als 120 bestehenden Siedlungen und damit einen Siedlungsausbau erlauben. Oppositionsführerin Zipi Livni warnte vor einem «Zusammenbruch» der Beziehungen zwischen Israel und den USA. >>> © dpa | Montag, 01. Juni 2009

Das kuwaitische Parlament mit einem Eklat eröffnet: Protest gegen unverschleierte Frauen
NZZ Online: In Kuwait hat am Pfingstsonntag der Emir, Scheich Sabah al-Ahmed, das neugewählte Parlament mit einem Aufruf zu speditiver Arbeit eröffnet. Aber mehrere Abgeordnete marschierten aus Protest gegen die Präsenz zweier unverschleierter Parlamentarierinnen aus dem Saal.

vk. Limassol, 1. Juni

Der Emir von Kuwait, Scheich Sabah al-Ahmed, hat am Sonntag das neugewählte Parlament eröffnet. Er wählte nach dem relativen Wahlerfolg im vergangenen Monat einen forschen Kurs und konfrontierte die Volksvertreter mit einer weitgehend unveränderten Regierung. Ende letzter Woche hatte er ein neues Kabinett, wieder unter seinem Neffen Scheich Nasser Mohammed, eingesetzt, in dem die wesentlichen Posten unverändert blieben. Er hatte sogar den skandalumwitterten Scheich Ahmed as-Sabah, welcher vor zwei Jahren wegen Korruptionsvorwürfen der Parlamentarier als Energieminister hatte abtreten müssen, wieder einbezogen und zum Vizeregierungschef für Wirtschaftsfragen ernannt. >>> | Dienstag, 02. Juni 2009

What Recession? Saudi Royals Defy Credit Crunch to Plan £50m 'Super-home' with 50 Rooms in London
Roomy: Three houses will be knocked together to build a 50 room 'super-home'. Plan courtesy of MailOnline
MAIL Online: Saudi royals are planning to knock three houses together to build a 'super home' worth up to £50million in London.

The hi-tech mansion to end all mansions will have 20 bedrooms and 50 rooms in total and the street is a ten minute walk from the Saudi embassy in Mayfair.

Contractors will dig down to create two storeys underground that will house a luxury indoor pool, communications room, servants' bedrooms, dumb waiter and garages big enough to fit limousines in.

At 12,000 square feet it will be the biggest home of its kind in central London and will also feature a security station, gym and large strong-room for valuables.

The house was formerly occupied by Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Britain and the grandson of the Kingdom's founder, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, 56, his wife, Princess Fadwa bint Khaled bin Abdallah Al-Saud, and their children.

According to the London Evening Standard, the new owner is believed to be another high-ranking Saudi prince.

Two mews houses will be demolished and linked via underground rooms to a freshly renovated Grade-II listed five-storey Regency house in the terrace behind. It will become a 'single family dwelling'. >>> | Monday, June 01, 2009