Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams: Bankers Have Failed to Repent
TIMES ONLINE: The Archbishop of Canterbury has waded into the debate on bankers' bonuses, warning that financiers feel no "repentance" for the excesses of the boom that led to financial meltdown.

Dr Rowan Williams, the head of the Church of England, said the Government should have acted to cap bonuses and he warned that the gap between rich and poor would lead to an increasingly "dysfunctional" society.

Dr Williams told BBC2's Newsnight programme: "There hasn't been a feeling of closure about what happened last year.

"There hasn't been what I would, as a Christian, call repentance. We haven't heard people saying 'well actually, no, we got it wrong and the whole fundamental principle on which we worked was unreal, empty'."

Asked if the City was returning to business as usual he said: "I worry. I feel that's precisely what I call the 'lack of closure' coming home to roost. It's a failure to name what was wrong. To name that, what I called last year 'idolatry', that projecting of reality and substance onto things that don't have them."

His remarks referred to an article he wrote in The Spectator a year ago in which he warned that society was at risk of turning to idolatry in its worship of wealth. >>> Robert Lindsay | Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Finger-wagging Is Just Not Enough, Mr President
TIMES ONLINE: Apparently, during his big speech on financial reform last night, there were audible groans on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange when President Obama said that he had “always been a strong believer in the power of the free market”.

This was presumably because that particular element of the President’s audience thinks he is anything but. Applied to their own corner of the US economy, though, why they think as they do is anyone’s guess. One year on from the collapse of Lehmans, it looks to be business as usual on Wall Street, with big bonuses in the offing amid signs that, as Mr Obama said, the lessons of the crisis have been ignored by some.

But for all his finger-wagging, for all his promises to undertake serious financial reform, the President has actually done remarkably little so far.

Apart from trying to convince Americans that big government bailouts of financial institutions have come to an end, last night’s speech was all about trying to get that process back on track, which is why a key element of Mr Obama’s plans — a new consumer protection agency to oversee financial products such as mortgages and personal loans — was again flagged.

Yet the measure looks some way from ever reaching the statute book due to a formidable lobbying effort by the financial services industry.

Other elements of Mr Obama’s proposals, such as measuring and seeking to regulate systemic risk, are even further away. Similarly, while the Administration has tabled proposals which would ensure that many over-the-counter derivatives are traded on regulated exchanges, centrally cleared and more accurately reported, these plans are a long way from being enacted.

Part of the problem is that Mr Obama’s fellow Democrats, despite controlling Congress, seem far more determined to push through healthcare reforms before they ever turn their attention to an overhaul of financial regulation.

All of this is hugely regrettable and helps to explain why so many ordinary folk on Main Street believe that the President is in thrall to Wall Street.

Meanwhile, in fairness to those NYSE traders who groaned at Mr Obama’s comment last night, the President is giving them good reason to doubt his free-market credentials. >>> Ian King, Business commentary | Tuesday, September 15, 2009

L’ancien président de la république ne fumera pas sur la couverture de ses mémoires
GALA.fr: La loi Evin a fait une nouvelle victime. D’après le Parisien, l’ancien président de la république ne fumera pas sur la couverture du premier volume de ses mémoires. Jacques Chirac (fumeur jusqu’à la fin des années 80) devait apparaître une cigarette à la main, sur le premier tome de sa biographie. Seulement, l’entourage de l’homme politique à l'origine de la lutte contre le cancer en France a finalement refusé cette photo, par souci de légalité...

Le premier tome des mémoires de Jacques Chirac sera publié avec un retard d'un mois. D’après le Parisien, le prédécesseur de Nicolas Sarkozy va devoir changer l’illustration du livre. En cause, une photo le représentant en train de fumer.

Le cliché en question mettait en scène Jacques Chirac (fumeur jusqu’en 1988) avec une cigarette à la main. Seulement, l’entourage de l’homme politique, à l'origine de la lutte contre le cancer en France, a refusé cette photo par souci du respect de la loi Evin (relative à la lutte contre le tabagisme et l'alcoolisme).

En France, la loi proposée par Claude Évin en 1991 interdit la publicité pour le tabac et l'alcool. Et Jacques Chirac n’est pas le seul à avoir fait les frais de ce texte. On se souvient qu’en juillet dernier, le beau Alain Delon voyait sa cigarette gommée sur les affiches du parfum Eau Sauvage de Dior. >>> | Mardi 15 Septembre 2009

Chirac Smoked Out
TIMES ONLINE – BLOG: Jacques Chirac, the last President, has become the latest victim of the anti-tobacco zeal that prevails these days in France. Chirac's publishers have just delayed for a month the release of the first volume of his memoirs because his staff objected to a cover portrait in which he is holding a lit cigarette.

A dangling clope was a trademark of the younger Chirac, as it was of most French stars of the last half century. The picture is a nice atmospheric shot from the 1980s of the pensive prime minister of the time. It would not have made much sense without the cigarette, though smokes have been purged in recent years from pictures of Catherine Deneuve, Alain Delon,Jean-Paul Sartre,Albert Camus, Charles de Gaulle, André Malraux, the late writer-politician, and Jacques Tati, the late film-maker.

"The release of the book has been put back because of the cover photograph," said Elizabeth Franck, spokeswoman for the NiL publishing house. "Photographs of the young Chirac smoking are quite common. Everyone has seen them (but) when Mr Chirac's staff saw the photo on the cover mock-up, they preferred to change it for a portrait of his face alone," Franck told us.

The bon vivant Chirac, 76, stopped appearing in public with cigarettes in 1988 and made cancer research one of the main priorities. His presidency ended with a smoking ban spreading in public places. Nicolas Sarkozy, his successor, is a private smoker. He enjoys one fat Cuban cigar a day in the Elysée Palace -- but never touches alcohol.

The Chirac decision has been attacked as another case of excessive obedience to the anti-smoking fervour which took hold in Chirac's years in the Elysée, from 1995-2007. "Political correctness has struck again", said Le Parisien.

The doctoring of pictures has become an issue in the cultural world, with critics accusing publishers, advertisers and museum directors of air-brushing history in the way that banished Soviet politicians were once erased from Kremlin portraits.

It's pretty clear that historic pictures are not covered by the 1991 anti-tobacco legislation, known as the Evin law. This prohibits "all propaganda or publicity, direct or indirect, in favour of tobacco and its products."

Géard Audureau, chief of the Non-smokers' Rights campaign organisation, called the Chirac cover-change silly. "This is an image of the young Chirac from a time when he smoked. It does not shock me to see a smoking president because it was the reality in that period," he told us. "It is an old-fashioned picture which does not promote tobacco." >>> Charles Bremner | Monday, September 14, 2009

Gaddafi Doctors to Be Trained by NHS as Row over Britain’s Relations with Libya Intensifies
MAIL ONLINE: Libyan doctors are to be trained by the NHS following an agreement signed by a Cabinet minister with Colonel Gaddafi's regime weeks before the release of the Lockerbie bomber, it emerged today.

The agreement is the latest in a series of moves to normalise relations between Britain and the north African state, which was an international pariah for years after being blamed for the 1988 bombing of PanAm flight 103 over Lockerbie, which killed 270 people.

But the Department of Health dismissed as "nonsense" suggestions that the agreement had any link with the recent release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi or trade deals with the oil-rich regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed by former Health Secretary Alan Johnson in spring 2008, Libyan medical staff will be able to get a year's instruction in Britain.

Training opportunities will be available in the UK for Libyan medical staff in areas such as intensive care, anaesthetics and endoscopy, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, the Evening Standard reported.

Links have also been formed between London's Moorfields Eye Hospital and the main eye hospital in Libyan capital Tripoli.

The agreement was later discussed in a visit to Libya by then health minister Dawn Primarolo and was raised again when Mr Johnson's successor Andy Burnham met health minister Mohamed Hijazi during a trip to the country on constituency business earlier this year, said the Department. >>> | Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Stoning to Death: Bringing the Horrors of Islam to Life!


First you'll hear a speech, then a man gets flogged. The stoning of two women starts 6 minutes into the video. Watch till the end.

The stoning of women is practiced in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.

Warning: even if the film quality is poor, the images are extremely powerful and are not recommanded for all. [This is NOT suitable for children, for those who have a weak stomach, or for those who are of a nervous disposition.]

Hat tip: Apostates of Islam >>>

This is the barbarity that the law-makers of Aceh province have voted to make law; and this is the religion that our politicians – almost to a man – are in denial about. They call it the 'religion of love and peace', when anyone with an atom of common sense and intelligence knows full well that Islam symbolizes anything but either love or peace. Islam is a cruel, heartless cult. And I use the word 'cult' not as an insult but because that is what Islam truly is. A cult, by definition, venerates a particular figure. In this case, Muhammad. All devotion in a cult is directed towards that figure. In Islam, all devotion is directed towards Muhammad; indeed, Muslims are to love their prophet more than they love their own mothers, fathers, wives, or children. Therefore, the old name for Islam, Muhammadanism, is a very apt term for Westerners to use. Perhaps we should revert to the term! – © Mark

Pan African Parliament Declares Solidarity with Al-Megrahi
"What happened to Megrahi reminds us of the long suffering inflicted on Africa by the its enemies the colonialists and their heinous crimes and discrimination. The Europeans think that they are the strongest and make us fear them but we will face head on their injustice and defend our rights, marching along with Leader Muammar Gaddafi the President of the African Union." – Mr. Mustafa Abudaina from Algeria, Pan African Parliament (PAP) member

THE TRIPOLI POST: Tripoli– The Pan African Parliament declared on Wednesday its solidarity with Abdulbaset Al-Megrahi and wished him quick recovery after his release from captivity in Scottish and Netherlands prisons for more than eleven years.

The 150 strong Pan African parliamentarian delegation expressed its support with Al-Megrahi when they made a visit to him at Tripoli Medical Center.

Speaking to Megrahi and the large audience in his presence, The President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Hon. Dr. Moussa Idriss Ndele, MP said "we wished that this meeting had took place at the Parliament's headquarters [in in Midrand, South Africa] and gave you a red carpet welcome."

Mr. Ndele added that that would have been in response to the big welcome given to the Bulgarian nurses by the European Parliament despite their crime and with disregard to the feelings of over 400 Libyan children who were infected with AIDS and their relatives.

Al-Megrahi waived his hand to the African parliamentarian delegation as he responded to their words of support and get well wishes. >>> | Sunday, September 13, 2009

Freed Iraqi Shoe Thrower Tells of Torture in Jail
THE GUARDIAN: 'My flower to the occupier': Defiant journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi stands by protest against visiting George Bush

Watch Guardian video here
The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush has marked his release from jail by angrily defending his action and claiming he was tortured after his arrest.

Muntazer al-Zaidi's supporters and family gave him a rapturous welcome, sacrificing six sheep to mark his release and hanging laurels of flowers around his neck.

Wearing an Iraqi flag, Zaidi gave a detailed account of being tortured after his arrest, and vowed to reveal the names of senior officials in the Iraqi government and army who he said had been involved in his mistreatment.

Listen to Guardian audio: Iraqi shoe thrower released: 'The mood is one of celebration': An Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at former President George W Bush has been released to scenes of jubilation in Baghdad, reports Martin Chulov >>>
Appearing with a missing front tooth, he told of beatings, whippings and electric shocks after his arrest. He said he now feared for his life, and believed US intelligence agents would chase after him.

"These fearful services, the US intelligence services and its affiliated services, will spare no efforts to track me as an insurgent revolutionary ... in a bid to kill me," he told the news conference.

"And here I want to warn all my relatives and people close to me that these services will use all means to trap and try to kill and liquidate me either physically, socially or professionally."

The reporter said he was abused immediately after his arrest, and the next day. He said he was beaten with iron bars, whipped with cords and electrocuted in the backyard of the building in the Green Zone.

"In the morning, I was left in the cold weather after they splashed me with water," he said.

He went on to defend his assault on Bush. "Simply put, what incited me toward confrontation is the oppression that fell upon my people and how the occupation wanted to humiliate my homeland by placing it under its boots," he said.

Zaidi said "throwing shoes against the war criminal Bush" was his answer to the cries of those bereaved by the conflict.

"The criminal murderer is standing here expecting us to throw flowers at him; this was my flower to the occupier."

Zaidi also talked of seeing "many, many massacres in every inch of our homeland" and of "witnessing the screams of victims and the cries of bereaved women". >>> Martin Chulov in Baghdad | Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Des femmes et de l'or pour Mountazer Al-Zaidi
COURRIER INTERNATIONAL: L’homme qui a jeté ses chaussures à la tête de George Bush pourra vivre sur un grand pied à sa sortie de prison. Une avalanche de cadeaux devrait saluer la libération du journaliste irakien Mountazer Al-Zaidi. "On a eu des promesses d’argent, l’émir du Qatar a promis un cheval en or, le colonel Mouammar Kadhafi a dit qu’il lui remettrait la plus haute décoration libyenne, et d’autres ont dit qu’ils lui offriraient une voiture de sport", a déclaré son frère Dargham, cité par la BBC. D’ores et déjà, son employeur, la petite chaîne de télévision Al-Baghdadia, lui a acheté un appartement de quatre pièces, rapporte le Guardian. Sans parler des propositions de mariage. "Un Irakien qui vit au Maroc nous a appelés pour lui offrir sa fille", rapporte son rédacteur en chef Abdul Hamid Al-Saij. "[…] Après l’événement, beaucoup de femmes ont voulu l’épouser, mais nous n’avons pas pris leur nom." Le reporter, devenu un héros pour le monde arabe, devrait être libéré lundi 14 septembre, au terme de neuf mois de prison. "C’est ton baiser d’adieu, chien ! Au nom des veuves et des orphelins d’Irak", avait-il crié à l’ex-président américain lors de son lancer de chaussures. [Source: Courrier International] | Lundi 14 Septembre 2009

Le lanceur de chaussures contre Bush sort de prison
Mountazer al-Zaïdi affirme avoir été torturé en détention et exige des excuses du Premier ministre irakien. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Mountazer al-Zaïdi, le journaliste devenu célèbre après avoir lancé sur l'ex président américain ses souliers fin 2008, souhaite désormais créer un centre pour les orphelins et les veuves, auxquels il avait dédié son geste.

Libre après neuf mois de détention. Le journaliste irakien Mountazer al-Zaidi, propulsé au rang de héros du monde arabe après avoir lancé ses souliers à la tête de George W. Bush, a quitté mardi la prison de la base militaire de Mouthanna. La libération anticipée du reporter pour bonne conduite aurait dû avoir lieu dès lundi mais elle avait dû être repoussée suite à des problèmes administratifs.

Son avocat s'est félicité de la libération et a rendu hommage à l'indépendance de la justice irakienne. Lors d'une conférence de presse, Mountazer al-Zaidi a réclamé lui des excuses au premier ministre Nouri al-Maliki. Il affirme en effet avoir été torturé lors de son emprisonnement. «Au moment où Nouri al-Maliki expliquait à la télévision qu'il ne dormirait pas tant qu'il ne serait pas rassuré sur mon sort, j'étais frappé à coups de câbles électriques et de barres de fer. mes geôliers ont simulé des noyades [une technique employée par la CIA]».

Le reporter était entré dans l'histoire en décembre dernier en projetant ses souliers, taille 43, contre l'ancien locataire de la Maison-Blanche, qui les avaient évitées de justesse. Le journaliste s'était écrié «C'est le baiser d'adieu, espèce de chien». Condamné en première instance à trois ans de prison pour «agression contre un chef d'Etat en visite officielle», sa peine avait été réduite en appel à un an. Dans la culture arabe, jeter ses chaussures à la tête de quelqu'un et le traiter de «chien» est considéré comme une grave insulte. De nombreuses demandes en mariage >>> C.J. (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP | Mardi 15 Septembre 2009

New Dark Age Alert! MPs Pass Law to Stone to Death Adulterers in Indonesian Province
As darkness falls over the world, our politicians continue to be in denial about the dangers of Islam. I speak not of radical Islam, but of Islam itself. For Islam truly is the problem; and it’s the greatest problem facing the civilized world today.

The silly word games our politicians play, the useless, banal games to try and separate this Islam from that one, the games they play to exonerate themselves from action – action which they are too cowardly to take, are really not helpful. On the contrary, these games hinder our ultimate success over the cult that is Islam, over the world’s greatest force for darkness, backwardness, inhumanity, and barbarity.

We need to roll back the frontiers. We need to push back the enveloping tide of ultimate backwardness – the evil forces which will take us back to the ‘New Dark Age’. The process of taking the world back to benightedness has begun; it needs to be halted forthwith, it needs to be halted without further delay. – © Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: Married people who commit adultery could be stoned to death under new law unanimously passed on Monday by MPs in the devoutly Muslim Indonesian province of Aceh.

Muslim women are seen in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia Photo: The Telegraph
The law, which will come into effect in 30 days, also decrees that homosexuals could be caned and jailed for eight years.

Those convicted of rape or consuming alcohol could be face up to 200 lashes of the cane meted out in public.

The 69-seat house in the semi-autonomous province voiced no reservations over the new law, an extension of the Sharia code already in force.

Gambling and drinking were already banned after Aceh introduced elements of Sharia law in 2001, when it became compulsory for women to wear headscarves. >>> Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok | Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Berlin: Geschäftsbesuch am Sonntag
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Behörden kontrollieren künftig strenger, ob Läden am Wochenende offen sein dürfen

Ladenbesitzer und Geschäftsinhaber, die sonntags ihre Läden geöffnet haben, müssen künftig mit Besuch staatlicher Behörden und möglicherweise auch mit erheblichen Ordnungsstrafen rechnen. Und einige werden sonntags wohl geschlossen bleiben. Denn der Senat, die Gewerkschaft Verdi und das Landesamt für Arbeitsschutz, Gesundheitsschutz und technische Sicherheit (Lagetsi) drängen darauf, dass Läden sonntags nur in Ausnahmefällen geöffnet sind, wenn sie zum Beispiel Reisebedarf anbieten. So legen es das Arbeitsschutzgesetz und das Ladenöffnungsgesetz fest, das seit 2006 gilt. "Der Sonntag hat eine besondere Bedeutung. Arbeit an diesem Tag muss eine Ausnahme bleiben", sagte Erika Ritter, Landesfachbereichsleiterin Handel bei Verdi. >>> Von Stefan Strauss | Dienstag, 15. September 2009

Sarkozy droht mit Boykott des G-20-Gipfels: Grenzen für Managerboni als Knackpunkt
NZZ ONLINE: Der G-20-Gipfel im amerikanischen Pittsburgh könnte möglicherweise am Unwillen des französischen Staatspräsidenten Sarkozy scheitern. Sollten dort Begrenzungen für Managerboni nicht diskutiert werden, will Sarkozy das Gipfeltreffen platzen lassen.

Frankreichs Staatspräsident Nicolas Sarkozy will den G-20-Gipfel Ende des Monats in Pittsburgh platzen lassen, wenn dort keine Grenzen für Managerboni beschlossen werden. «Wenn es keine konkrete Entscheidung gibt, werde ich den Gipfel verlassen», zitierte ihn die regierungsnahe Zeitung «Le Figaro» am Montag. Die Drohung sei ernst gemeint, sagte der Generalsekretär des Élysée-Palastes, Claude Gueant, dem Sender RTL. Sarkozy sei «sehr entschlossen», ein Abkommen zu erreichen.

Der Staatschef hatte bereits vor dem Londoner G-20-Gipfel im April mit einer «Politik des leeren Stuhls» gedroht, sollte man sich dort nicht eine Zügelung der globalen Finanzmärkte einigen können. Obwohl sich die Europäer dort nicht mit allen ihren Forderungen durchsetzen konnten, blieb Sarkozy am Tisch.

Auf dem nächsten G-20-Treffen will der Franzose gemeinsam mit Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel eine Deckelung von Managergehältern und Bonuszahlungen durchsetzen. Das bisherige System belohnt kurzfristiges Risiko und gilt damit als eine der Ursachen der Weltfinanzkrise. >>> ap | Montag, 14. September 2009

Norwegische Sozialdemokraten regieren weiter: Partei von Ministerpräsident Stoltenberg bleibt stärkste Kraft
NZZ ONLINE: Die Mitte-Links-Regierung in Norwegen hat die Parlamentswahlen knapp gewonnen. Der sozialdemokratische Ministerpräsident Jens Stoltenberg erklärte sich zum Sieger und kündigte die Fortsetzung der rot-rot-grünen Koalition an.

Nach der Parlamentswahl in Norwegen bleiben die Sozialdemokraten voraussichtlich weiter an der Regierung. Nach dem vorläufigen Ergebnis bei Auszählung von 99 Prozent der Stimmen wurde die Arbeiterpartei von Ministerpräsident Jens Stoltenberg mit einem Anteil von 35 Prozent als stärkste Partei bestätigt. Ihre Koalitionspartner, die Sozialistische Linkspartei und die Zentrumspartei, erhielten jeweils 11 Prozent. Das Bündnis kommt damit auf 86 der 169 Sitze im Parlament von Oslo.

«Es sind noch nicht alle Stimmen ausgezählt, und es ist knapp, aber zurzeit sieht es so aus, dass wir weitermachen können», sagte Stoltenberg in einer Fernsehdebatte. Führende Oppositionspolitiker räumten ihre Niederlage ein. >>> ap | Dienstag 15. September 2009

Ahmadinejad reçoit l'ambassadeur du "petit Satan"
LE FIGARO – BLOG: Au pays des mollahs, tout finit par arriver ! Après cinq longs mois d’attente, le nouvel ambassadeur britannique en Iran vient de présenter ses lettres de créances à Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, le président de la République islamique.
« Nous regardons vers l’avenir, a déclaré ce dernier en recevant Simon Gass. Nous espérons que le gouvernement britannique a tiré les leçons et corrigera son comportement passé », a ajouté Ahmadinejad.

Déjà passablement mauvaises, les relations entre Téhéran et Londres se sont encore dégradées, après l’élection présidentielle de juin, remportée – grâce à des fraudes – par Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Le guide suprême, Ali Khameneï, accusa ouvertement les médias britanniques d’avoir soutenu les manifestants. Et une dizaine d'employés locaux de l’ambassade de Grande-Bretagne furent même arrêtés pendant quelques jours.

Jusqu’à très récemment, la Grande-Bretagne était considérée comme le « petit Satan » par l’Iran. Le prédécesseur de Simon Gass, Jeffery Adams, subissait – certes, avec un flegme tout britannique - les petites vexations que lui infligeaient ses homologues iraniens, quand ces derniers le convoquaient au ministère des Affaires étrangères, pour lui rappeler les déclarations « hostiles » de son patron à Londres. Avec les commentaires >>> Par Georges Malbrunot | Lundi 14 Septembre 2009

Prozess gegen mutmaßliche El-Kaida-Mitglieder
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Koblenz - Zwei mutmaßliche Mitglieder der islamistischen Terrororganisation El Kaida müssen sich seit Montag vor dem Koblenzer Oberlandesgericht verantworten. Die Bundesanwaltschaft wirft den 31-jährigen Männern vor, Geld und Kampfgerät für das Terrornetzwerk El Kaida beschafft zu haben.

Einer der beiden aus aus [sic] Sindelfingen in Baden-Württemberg stammenden Männer soll zudem für die Anwerbung von «Kämpfern» in Deutschland zuständig gewesen sein. Er habe zwei potenzielle «El Kaida-Kämpfer» rekrutiert, von denen einer sich später auch in einem Terrorcamp in Pakistan im Umgang mit Waffen und Sprengstoff ausbilden ließ, sagte Staatsanwältin Carola Bitter. >>> © dpa | Montag 14 September 2009

Musharraf avoue avoir détourné l'aide américaine
Pervez Musharraf (ici en mars 2009) réside depuis plusieurs mois à Londres. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: L'ancien général-président a utilisé des fonds destinés à la lutte contre les talibans pour renforcer son dispositif militaire face à l'Inde.

Retiré du pouvoir depuis plus d'un an et quasiment en exil à Londres depuis plusieurs mois, Pervez Musharraf continue de faire des vagues. L'ancien général-président pakistanais, qui a démissionné le 18 août 2008, vient d'admettre qu'il avait détourné l'aide américaine consentie au Pakistan pour lutter contre les talibans dans les zones tribales, en bordure de l'Afghanistan, au profit d'un renforcement militaire à la frontière avec l'Inde. «C'était dans l'intérêt du Pakistan, voilà pourquoi j'ai agi ainsi», a-t-il déclaré à la chaîne de télévision pakistanaise Express News. «Et je me moque bien de savoir si cela met les États-Unis en colère», a-t-il poursuivi, soulignant dans la foulée qu'il n'avait pas eu d'autre choix que de faire alliance avec les Américains en 2001. «Ils menaçaient de bombarder le Pakistan !», a-t-il rappelé.

Cette confession tardive est un pied de nez à Washington, qui n'a jamais osé «froisser» son allié pakistanais en lui demandant des comptes sur les 11 milliards de dollars déboursés en sa faveur depuis 2001. Elle place aussi le gouvernement civil d'Islamabad dans une position difficile à l'heure où, aux États-Unis, le Congrès doit se prononcer sur un nouveau paquet financier pour le Pakistan. Cet apport d'argent frais est avant tout destiné à aider le pays à faire face à la crise humanitaire sans précédent engendrée par les opérations de l'armée contre les talibans. Au printemps, plus de deux millions de personnes ont fui la région de Malakand et la vallée de Swat. Depuis la semaine dernière, de nouveaux réfugiés déferlent sur Peshawar en provenance de la passe de Khyber où le conflit fait rage. Clinton attendue en octobre >>> Marie-France Calle, correspondante du Figaro à New Delhi | Lundi 14 Septembre 2009

Dhimmitude! Les regrets d'Hortefeux face à une «polémique injuste»
«L'islamophobie n'a pas sa place dans notre pays», a assuré Brice Hortefeux, sans convaincre tous les invités. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Dans un geste symbolique après la diffusion de la vidéo équivoque, le ministre de l'Intérieur et des Cultes a rompu le jeûne du ramadan avec le CFCM et condamné l'islamophobie tout comme l'islamisme.

Depuis la diffusion de la vidéo polémique, Brice Hortefeux multiplie explications et gestes symboliques. Lundi soir, il rompait le jeûne du ra­madan pour la deuxième fois, invité d'honneur du Conseil français du culte musulman (CFCM). Le mi­nistre a profité de ce repas, «de cette rencontre privilégiée», pour s'expliquer. «Je suis ému de penser que, du fait d'un certain tohu-bohu médiatique, et d'une interprétation totalement inexacte, des personnes ont pu être blessées dans leur être et leurs convictions», a déclaré le ministre. «Je veux donc dire mes regrets, au delà d'une polémique inutile et injuste, j'exprime mon respect pour tous les Français, celles et ceux qui vivent sur notre sol, quelles que soient leur religion, leurs convictions», a-t-il ajouté.

Il a également défendu une France tolérante. «L'islamophobie n'a paLs [sic] sa place dans notre pays», a assuré Brice Hortefeux, sans convaincre tous les invités. Certains ironisaient sur le droit «d'insulter les Arabes, et l'ardeur à défendre les musulmans». De son côté, le Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l'amitié entre les peuples (Mrap) qui réunissait lundi son bureau exécutif a décidé «de faire citer devant le tribunal correctionnel le ministre de l'Intérieur du chef de diffamation à caractère raciste», et a même demandé sa démission.

Le président du CFCM a, lui, mis en garde : «Nous assistons à une montée de l'islamophobie en France» a-t-il lancé. Mohammed Moussaoui a évoqué la profanation du cimetière de Notre-Dame de Lorette, les attaques contre des mosquées avant de fustiger un débat sur la burqa «instrumentalisé, qui alimente un climat hostile aux femmes voilées. On nous rapporte des humiliations». Le CFCM refuse que l'on légifère sur la burqa, a-t-il rappelé. Car si le conseil prône «l'islam du juste milieu», il n'entend pas s'opposer à l'islam fondamentaliste.

Prudent, Brice Hortefeux n'a pas souhaité évoquer la burqa avant la fin des travaux de la mission parlementaire, en décembre. Mais il a rappelé : «La République combat l'islamophobie, tout comme elle combat l'islamisme.» Avant de détailler sa vision de la laïcité à la française qui «garantit l'égalité des droits de tous les citoyens». Citant Aragon, il appelle à un dialogue étroit «avec tous ceux qui croient au Ciel et ceux qui n'y croient pas». Luttes d'influence >>> Cécilia Gabizon | Lundi 14 Septembre 2009

Rapport : Racisme: le Conseil de l’Europe critique la Suisse
LE TEMPS: L’organisation, que la Suisse présidera dès novembre pour six mois, dénonce les «zones d’ombre et failles» de l’article 261 bis du Code pénal. Le rapport s’inquiète aussi du sort des requérants d’asile et des Roms

«Elève un peu dissipé. A fourni des efforts mais peut mieux faire. Pas question de se reposer sur ses lauriers.» Voilà, en résumé, comment le Conseil de l’Europe noterait la Suisse dans un cahier d’école. Pas de bonnet d’âne, ni de relégation au fond de la classe près du radiateur, mais pas de prix d’excellence non plus. Dans son rapport publié ce matin, la Commission européenne contre le racisme et l’intolérance (ECRI) mise en place par l’organisation se montre même assez critique. La Suisse devrait cette fois y prêter un peu plus d’attention que d’habitude: elle présidera dès novembre le Conseil de l’Europe pour six mois. Et compte faire des droits de l’homme sa priorité, notamment via une réforme de la fameuse Cour européenne…

Le dernier rapport de l’ECRI consacré à la Suisse remontait à janvier 2004. Depuis, des progrès ont été accomplis, note la commission. Avec la nouvelle loi sur les étrangers entrée en vigueur en 2008, cantons et communes tiennent compte des objectifs d’intégration et «créent des conditions propices à l’égalité des chances et à la participation des étrangers à la vie publique». L’ECRI salue aussi le fait que, depuis janvier 2009, toute décision de naturalisation négative doit être justifiée et susceptible de recours judiciaire. >>> Valérie de Graffenried | Mardi 15 Septembre 2009

Europarat: Schweiz muss Rassismus stärker bekämpfen
DIE PRESSE: Das Europäische Komitee gegen Rassismus und Intoleranz rügt, Diskriminierungen von Immigranten seien in der Schweiz weit verbreitet. "Besorgt" zeigt es sich über das Erstarken der Volkspartei.

Der Europarat hat die Schweizer Regierung zu einem energischeren Kampf gegen Rassismus und Intoleranz aufgefordert. Vor allem Schwarzafrikaner, Muslime und Immigranten aus den Balkan-Ländern seien in der Schweiz weit verbreiteten Diskriminierungen ausgesetzt, rügte das Europäische Komitee gegen Rassismus und Intoleranz (ECRI) in einem am Dienstag veröffentlichten Bericht. Das gelte besonders für den Zugang zu Ausbildung und Arbeitsplätzen. Die Arbeitslosigkeit sei bei Ausländern fast dreimal so hoch wie im Landesdurchschnitt. >>> Ag. | Dienstag, 15. September 2009

Claim Back Holidays Lost to Sickness, Says European Court of Justice
The European Court of Justice, with this ridiculous ruling, has just opened the door to widespread abuse of the system. This is a shirkers’ ruling. It will do nothing to promote productivity and everything to promote indolence and work avoidance. – © Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: Workers who fall ill during their holidays could now claim the time back from their employers following a landmark European Court of Justice judgment that lawyers warned was open to abuse.

The court ruled that employees had the right to ask for statutory leave to be "reallocated" when it was spoilt by sickness.

Under the terms of the judgement, employees would even be allowed to carry any annual leave ruined by illness over into the next holiday year.

The ruling is effectively a new interpretation of the European Working Time Directive on workers' hours, which applies in Britain across the entire private and public sector.

Leading employment lawyers warned it would be costly for businesses and that it left "the door open for abuse" by unscrupulous employees seeking to bolster their holiday entitlement by simply claiming to have a cold or flu while on leave.

A worker could phone up while on holiday and report in sick in the normal way - taking the day off sick, rather than counting it against their annual leave entitlement.

The decision has its origins in a separate ruling on a case brought by a group of British workers earlier this year which said that workers were entitled to accrue holiday during sick leave. However, that had left open the question of what would happen if sickness coincided with scheduled leave.

The new ruling, over a case in Spain, is likely to mean that employers will end up paying for both their employees' sickness absence and a rescheduled holiday.

Owen Warnock, a partner at the law firm Eversheds, said: "Many employers take the view that if an employee is sick while on holiday, that is just bad luck for them.

"The European court has now said that this is not allowed by the working time directive.

"The danger of abuse is clear: an employee could increase his or her holiday entitlement by ensuring that in most years they alleged they were sick while on holiday. It may only be the occasional ‘bad penny’ who does this, but the resentment that it would create with colleagues should not be underestimated." >>> Richard Edwards | Monday, September 14, 2009

L'inquiétante «salafisation» des esprits en Égypte
LE FIGARO: Le mois de ramadan met en évidence le développement de pratiques religieuses radicales dans un pays autrefois connu pour sa modération.

La rumeur s'est répandue comme une traînée de poudre, agitant les rédactions des journaux, alimentant les conversations dans les cafés et les familles : la police d'Assouan, au sud de l'Égypte, arrêterait les personnes qui ne respectent pas le jeûne du ramadan, en buvant, mangeant ou fumant dans la rue ! La «nouvelle» a provoqué une stupéfaction horrifiée chez les musulmans modérés.

Les défenseurs des droits de l'homme se sont emparés de l'affaire, dénonçant une dérive sans précédent dans le pays. «Le pouvoir veut donner des gages aux islamistes en se montrant plus religieux qu'eux», a accusé l'un d'eux. «Le jeûne n'est pas obligatoire», a rappelé un autre - ce qui n'est plus évident en Égypte, où la pression sociale et religieuse est telle qu'il est difficile de s'y soustraire, au moins en public.

L'ennui, c'est qu'en dépit de l'étrange mutisme du ministère de l'Intérieur sur le sujet il ne s'agit apparemment que d'une rumeur, inspirée, peut-être, par l'initiative individuelle d'un officier, ou par une campagne anticriminalité qui aurait été assimilée par les habitants d'Assouan au ramadan. Mais le fait qu'elle ait été jugée crédible est révélateur de l'évolution des mentalités dans une Égypte où la religion est devenue omniprésente, y compris sous ses formes les plus radicales, comme le wahhabisme ou le salafisme. Des pratiques «importées» >>> Tangi Salaün, au Caire | Vendredi 11 Septembre 2009

Égypte : La «salafisation» de la société
LE TEMPS: Le ramadan met en lumière le développement des pratiques religieuses radicales. Les autorités s’en inquiètent et ont placé les mouvements radicaux sous haute surveillance

La nuit est tombée sur Le Caire. Dans la pénombre, la foule se presse pour les prières de tarawih, des prières surnuméraires, non obligatoires, devenues ces dernières années un temps fort du mois de ramadan en Egypte. Ici et là, quelques croyants sont vêtus à l’occidentale. Mais la grande majorité porte une longue barbe, une djellaba courte pour les uns, une tunique passée par-dessus un pantalon pour les autres. Ou, du côté des femmes, le niqab, le voile intégral.

Loin de l’ambiance de fête créée par les fanous, les traditionnelles lanternes du ramadan, la mosquée elle-même respire l’austérité. Et pour cause: Al-Rayan est l’une des principales mosquées salafistes du Caire. Les tenants de cet islam sunnite rigoriste, inspiré de la vie des compagnons du Prophète, sont de plus en plus nombreux en Egypte et, pour eux, le ramadan est propice au prosélytisme.

«Quand je suis venue prier ici pour la première fois, on m’a donné des conseils vestimentaires pour être une bonne musulmane: couvrir entièrement mon corps, mes mains et mon visage, porter des chaussettes pendant la prière pour ne pas montrer mon talon», témoigne une jeune mère de famille. Les prêches sont l’occasion pour les imams salafistes de marteler leurs principes ultraconservateurs, comme le rejet de la télévision, de la musique ou de toute autre distraction moderne.

Le «niqab» banalisé

De plus en plus suivies, ces règles bouleversent la pratique religieuse des Egyptiens. Si l’Egypte est le berceau de l’islam politique, avec la création des Frères musulmans en 1928, et du djihadisme – l’Egyptien Ayman al-Zawahiri est le théoricien d’Al-Qaida et le bras droit d’Oussama ben Laden –, elle a longtemps été réputée pour sa tolérance et sa modération. Il y a quelques années encore, les Egyptiens regardaient avec étonnement les salafistes occidentaux, à l’apparence si reconnaissable, de plus en plus nombreux à venir étudier l’arabe en terre d’islam en Egypte. Aujourd’hui, les codes vestimentaires salafistes ou wahhabites, «importés» des pays du Golfe et du Pakistan, sont pourtant en passe de devenir la norme dans certains quartiers. >>> Tangi Salaün | Mardi 15 Septembre 2009

Anti-dhimmitude! France’s Hardline Immigration Minister Eric Besson Calls for ‘Debased’ Burkha to Be Banned
MAIL ONLINE: France's hardline immigration minister has launched a fresh demand to ban the burkha - decribed by president Nicolas Sarkozy a sign of 'subservience and debasement'.

Eric Besson said the Islamic full head and body covers were 'unacceptable' and not welcome in France.

His demand for a total ban comes after 58 French MPs called last June for a public inquiry on whether it should be illegal for women to hide their faces in public.

Mr Sazkozy backed the move, saying at the time: 'This garment makes women prisoners and deprives them of their identity.

'I say solemnly that they are not welcome on the territory of the French Republic.'

Women's rights groups and Left-wing MPs went even further, descibing the item as a 'walking coffin' and and a 'mobile prison'.

A burkha refers to a full-body covering worn largely in Afghanistan with only a mesh screen over the eyes, while a niqab is a full-body veil, often in black, with slits for the eyes.

France - home to Europe's largest five million Muslim population - already passed a law in 2004 forbidding students and staff from wearing veils and other religious symbols in schools as part of a drive to defend secularism.

Earlier this year Mr Besson said he though [sic] a law banning burkhas and niqabs would only 'create tensions'.

But he has now said he wants Islamic garments which cover the face - worn by an estimated 2,000 women in France - outlawed everywhere.

He said yesterday: 'I recognise that my views have now evolved.

'The burkha is unacceptable and contrary to the principles of national identity, of sexual equality and of the French Republic.' >>> Ian Sparks | Monday, September 14, 2009

Geert Wilders May Ask 'Muslim Idiots' to Testify in Hate Trial
ARUTZ SHEVA: utch government prosecutors have announced they will put legislator Geert Wilders on trial January 20 on charges of discrimination and inciting hatred. Wilders said he wants to put Islam on trial and that he is “considering calling on radical imams and other idiots as witnesses.”

The Netherlands' largest newspaper called it the “trial of the century." It will begin on January 20, two months before municipal elections in which Wilders’s Freedom party is involved.

“I find it horrible that I’m prosecuted” Wilders said. “This is a political trial, and it’s sad that I'm prosecuted as a criminal for only voicing my political opinions. I hope free speech will prevail. I am convinced that the trial can only lead to my acquittal.”

The charges of the use of hate speech include Wilders's charging U.S. President Barack Obama with “closing his eyes to the great dangers of Islamisation” and comparing the president with Neville Chamberlain, the former British Prime Minister. >>> Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, Israel National News | Monday, September 14, 2009

Remembering WWII: 70 Year Anniversary

Islam: Ignorance Is Not a Strategy
TOWNHALL.COM: Eight years after the tragic events of 9/11, most Americans still know nothing about Islam. Moreover, our political leaders now refrain from even associating terrorism with Islamic radicals at all. To commemorate 9/11, President Obama spoke wistfully at a memorial service at the Pentagon. He called Americans “to serve our communities, to strengthen our country and to better our world.” He never once made mention of Islam, the religion Obama had praised in his White House Ramadan dinner, a dinner called to “celebrate a great religion, and its commitment to justice and progress.”

Despite the President's efforts to re-educate Americans on Islam, research shows that few of us actually know anything about the alleged “religion of peace.” One would think (and hope) that after the events of 9/11, Americans would have seized the opportunity to examine the movement that spawned such heinous acts of terror. On that momentous day, I realized my own gaping lack of knowledge regarding the world's second largest religion. I had studied Judaism, Hinduism, and Christianity, but knew noting about Islam. In the years since 9/11, I have now read the Koran, studied biographies of Mohammed, reviewed histories of Islam, and interviewed scholars of Islam. I wrongly assumed that other Americans were doing the same self-education.

The recent Pew Forum survey regarding how religions are perceived n America reveals some ugly facts about our ignorance.

Only four out of ten Americans could correctly answer two basic questions about Islam:

1) What is the Muslim name for God?
Allah

2) What is the name of the Islamic holy text?
Koran

In other words, 60% of Americans know absolutely nothing about Islam. That kind of widespread ignorance is shameful and deplorable. Acts of terror murder more than 3000 Americans and set off a war that continues to this day; yet the average American chooses not to examine any of the underlying philosophy that birthed the horrors.
Formerly, my training in a politically correct United Methodist theology school had taught me that all religions are basically the same, that all lead to God, and that all have the same essential core teachings. After the past eight years of research, I am embarrassed at the paucity of education I received.

In sum, Islam was conceived as a political movement wedded to a religious faith. Mohammed envisioned Islamic political hegemony from the outset, and immediately organized his own army to pursue that vision. Yes, the founder of the religion of peace led his own army and waged bloody, violent wars against those who would oppose his own reign. Most Americans should know that, but clearly, we do not. >>> Allen Hunt | Monday, September 14, 2009

Obama Is a Girly Man

Charles Darwin Film 'Too Controversial for Religious America'
THE TELEGRAPH: A British film about Charles Darwin has failed to find a US distributor because his theory of evolution is too controversial for American audiences, according to its producer.

Creation, starring Paul Bettany, details Darwin's "struggle between faith and reason" as he wrote On The Origin of Species. It depicts him as a man who loses faith in God following the death of his beloved 10-year-old daughter, Annie.

Creation: Review, background and the facts >>>

The film was chosen to open the Toronto Film Festival and has its British premiere on Sunday. It has been sold in almost every territory around the world, from Australia to Scandinavia.

However, US distributors have resolutely passed on a film which will prove hugely divisive in a country where, according to a Gallup poll conducted in February, only 39 per cent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution.

Movieguide.org, an influential site which reviews films from a Christian perspective, described Darwin as the father of eugenics and denounced him as "a racist, a bigot and an 1800s naturalist whose legacy is mass murder". His "half-baked theory" directly influenced Adolf Hitler and led to "atrocities, crimes against humanity, cloning and genetic engineering", the site stated.

The film has sparked fierce debate on US Christian websites, with a typical comment dismissing evolution as "a silly theory with a serious lack of evidence to support it despite over a century of trying".

Jeremy Thomas, the Oscar-winning producer of Creation, said he was astonished that such attitudes exist 150 years after On The Origin of Species was published.

"That's what we're up against. In 2009. It's amazing," he said. >>> Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor | Friday, September 11, 2009

Government 'Sold Its Soul' Over Libya Deals
Gordon Brown’s government is the crappiest in living memory. It’s worse even than Tony Blair’s government; and that is saying something! The damn lot that make up Gordon’s government should hang their heads in shame. Clearly, to these unprincipled people, the bottom line means everything. Justice counts for nothing; profits count for everything. In behaving as they have done, they have brought the good name and reputation of the United Kingdom into disrepute, they have damaged our special relationship with the United States, and they have given capitalism a bad name.

This government’s deeds are enough to make any normal Brit feel ashamed of his nationality.

Were this to be the USA, we Brits would be out on the streets in our droves, as was witnessed by the mass demonstrations in DC at the weekend, demonstrating against Obama and his agenda. But, being British, we just let it all go over our heads. It’s all like water off a duck’s back. The Britons’ weakness is our extreme tolerance. We keep on tolerating the intolerable! – © Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: Police officers have accused the Government of being willing "to sell its soul for trade deals" following the disclosure that Jack Straw agreed that the killer of Pc Yvonne Fletcher would not be brought to justice in Britain.

In a letter to Gordon Brown, Paul McKeever, the chairman of the Police Federation, said he was ''shocked, appalled and disgusted'' that the UK agreed the murderer would go on trial in Libya.

The Foreign Office has conceded that any trial for the shooting - which took place outside the Libyan embassy in London 25 years ago - will take place in Tripoli.

The agreement was reportedly struck three years ago, when trade deals worth hundreds of millions of pounds were being negotiated.

Mr McKeever wrote: ''Together with the 140,000 police officers throughout England and Wales that the Police Federation represents, I was shocked, appalled and disgusted" at the news of the agreement.

''This is an absolute disgrace. Pc Fletcher was gunned down in cold blood 25 years ago by a cowardly and callous killer who managed to flee to Libya.

''Now we discover your government rolled over three years ago, abandoning any attempt to bring Yvonne's killer to face the UK courts and justice. >>> | Monday, September 14, 2009

Airliner Plot 'Most Wicked Ever Uncovered in Britain'
THE TELEGRAPH: A plot to blow up transatlantic airliners was ''the most grave and wicked conspiracy ever proven'' in Britain, the trial judge has said.

The trio was part of an al-Qaeda-inspired terror cell. Photo: The Telegraph
Sentencing the three Muslim extremists behind the plans, Mr Justice Henriques said the gang was planning a ''grave'' terrorist atrocity which would have been comparable to the Sept 11 attacks.

Airliner bomb plot ringleader Abdulla Ahmed Ali was jailed for life with a minimum of 40 years today for planning what judge Mr Justice Henriques said was an atrocity comparable with the September 11 attacks. Co-conspirator Assad Sarwar was given life with a minimum of 36 years and Tanvir Hussain was sentenced to life with a minimum of 32 years.

The trio, part of an al-Qaeda-inspired terror cell, planned to detonate home-made liquid bombs on board flights bound for major North American cities, Woolwich Crown Court heard. The judge said they were only prevented from accomplishing their goal by the largest-ever counter-terrorism operation in the UK.

Mr Justice Henriques said: ''The intention was to perpetrate a terrorist outrage that would stand alongside the events of September 11, 2001 in history.''

The judge added that the airline bomb plot had ''reached an advanced stage in its development''.

He said the men had ''sufficient chemicals for 20 home-made detonators of commercial strength''.

''I'm satisfied that there is every likelihood that this plot would have succeeded but for the intervention of the police and the security service,'' he said. >>> | Monday, September 14, 2009

Paris: Pervert Capital of the World?
THE TELEGRAPH: Our [The Telegraph’s] writer is an expat newly adrift in the French capital - and what a warm welcome she's receiving.

Paris may be the city of love but it is also the capital of perverts. To experience this, you simply need to be female and walk down the street. You’re almost guaranteed to get your daily dose of dirty old men and if you live on the Left Bank, you really don’t need to go far.

In the space of a few weeks, I have been propositioned by at least a dozen men. As I wait to cross the road, at Saint Michel, a man old enough to be my grandfather leans over towards me and whispers seductively in my ear: "Jolie fesses" (nice bum).

They reveal themselves in broad daylight, in public places. Strolling through the Jardin du Luxembourg on a sunny day, surrounded by pushchair-wheeling mothers and playing children, a middle-aged man standing by the open-air public pissoires, is having a quick one off the wrist.

Now you might suppose, or hope, that this is out of the ordinary behaviour yet my eyes are graced by a similar vision just a few days later. A girlfriend is in mid flow describing the "special" dance scene from Sasha Baron Cohen’s latest film, Bruno, when low and behold, we get our own show right there on the Boulevard Saint Germain.

A respectable looking middle-aged man wearing a suit unzips himself right in front of us and pulls it out. Several similar episodes later, I start to think that maybe this is the norm here in Paris. Or is it me? Do I attract "les vieux cochons"?

I question female friends and colleagues and sure enough they all have similar stories to tell. Perhaps it’s simply that Paris is the pervert capital of the world?

What is it that makes Frenchmen feel that they have the right to proposition women half their age and/or flash at them? Is it something they’re eating? Is someone slipping viagra into their foie gras? Is it something cultural? Or is Paris just "une ville excitante"? >>> Emily Rose | Monday, September 14, 2009

Obama accuse des républicains de vouloir torpiller sa présidence
LE MONDE: Aucours de l'émission "60 minutes", sur CBS, dimanche 14 septembre [sic], le président des Etats-Unis, Barack Obama, a accusé le camp républicain de s'opposer à son projet de réforme du système de santé, avec comme seul objectif de torpiller sa présidence.

"Je pense qu'actuellement nous en sommes à un point où certains au sein du Parti républicain pensent que la meilleure chose à faire est simplement de tuer la réforme, que c'est là une bonne politique", a affirmé le président lors de cet entretien enregistré vendredi. Le président américain a assuré qu'en dépit de leurs efforts, il avait suffisamment de soutiens pour faire passer une large réforme d'un système qui perd des flots d'argent et laisse des dizaines de millions d'Américains sans assurance-maladie. "Je crois que nous aurons suffisamment de votes pour faire passer non pas juste une quelconque loi sur la santé, mais une bonne loi sur la santé qui aide le peuple américain, réduise les coûts, permette à long terme de contrôler le déficit [du budget]", a-t-il ajouté. >>> LeMonde.fr avec AFP et Reuters | Lundi 14 Septembre 2009

60 Minutes Steve Kroft Interviews President Obama on "Healthcare", September 13, 2009
Part 1:



Part 2:

Bin Laden Warns U.S. on Israel Ties: Website
REUTERS: DUBAI - Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden warned the American people over their government's close ties with Israel in an apparently new audio tape posted on an Islamist website on Monday.

"The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby," Bin Laden's latest tape said.

"The reason for our dispute with you is your support for your ally Israel, occupying our land in Palestine."

The message, entitled "A statement to the American people," was around 11 minutes long and was posted a few days after the eighth anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify its authenticity but the website often is used by supporters of al Qaeda.

In the tape, the al Qaeda leader said there had been no real change in American policy because U.S. President Barack Obama had retained people like U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates from the administration of former President George W. Bush.

"If you think about your situation well, you will know that the White House is occupied by pressure groups," Bin Laden said.

"Rather than fighting to liberate Iraq -- as Bush claimed -- it (the White House) should have been liberated."

The website had said earlier this month it would soon carry a "present" to Muslims from bin Laden on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan. >>> Reporting by Andrew Hammond; editing by Michael Roddy | Monday, September 14, 2009

Latest bin Laden Audio Tape Released
TIMES ONLINE: A new audio tape from Osama bin Laden warning the American people over their government's close ties to Israel has been released by al- Qaeda's media branch, according to a US-based terror monitoring group.

The terror group's As-Sahab Media released a video featuring a still image of bin Laden and a 10 minute long audio statement entitled "A statement to the American people", said the organisation IntelCenter.

The release came two days after the United States marked the eighth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people.

On the audiotape, bin Laden said that among "some other injustices," US support for Israel motivated Al-Qaeda to launch the 9/11 attacks.

He also stated that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were driven by the pro-Israeli lobby in the White House and corporate interests, not Islamic militants.

"If you think about your situation well, you will know that the White House is occupied by pressure groups," he said, according to IntelCenter.

"Rather than fighting to liberate Iraq - as Bush claimed - it (the White House) should have been liberated."

He also said that Mr Obama's retention of US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and others from the Bush administration was confirmation of the president's weakness. >>> | Monday, September 14, 2009

In Audio Message, bin Laden Calls Obama 'Powerless'
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: CAIRO -- Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden described President Barack Obama as "powerless" to stop the war in Afghanistan, and Americans' inability to grasp why the Sept. 11 attacks occurred has "cost you a lot without any result whatsoever."

The remarks by the terrorist leader were released two days after the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that he ordered. Mr. bin Laden typically addresses the American people in a message timed around the Sept. 11 anniversary.

Mr. bin Laden, who is believed to be hiding in the mountainous region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, said current White House officials are merely following the strategy of former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney to "promote the previous policies of fear to market the interest of big companies." "Rather than fighting to liberate Iraq -- as Bush claimed -- it [the White House] should have been liberated," he said.

When Mr. Obama became president and retained many of the Bush administration's military leaders, such as Defense Secretary Robert Gates, "reasonable people knew that Obama is a powerless man who will not be able to end the war as he promised," Mr. bin Laden said.

"If you end the war, so to it," Mr. bin Laden said. "But if it is otherwise, all we will do is continue the war of attrition against you on all possible axes." SITE Intelligence Group, a terrorist-monitoring firm, provided a translation of the tape, which was also translated by The Associated Press.

The al Qaeda leader sought to drive home key grievances often voiced in the Arab and Muslim world, where Washington's policies are seen as blatantly favoring Israel at the expense of the rights of Palestinians and other Arabs.

"We have demonstrated and stated many times, for more than two-and-a-half-decades, that the cause of our disagreement with you is your support to your Israeli allies who occupy our land of Palestine," Mr. bin Laden said. >>> Associated Press | Monday, September 14, 2009

If Children Are Taught That Patriotism Is Wrong, Britain’s Very Identity Is At Stake
MAIL ONLINE: One of the most startling aspects of our society at present is the way things that were once considered to be virtues have now become the object of intense disapproval, and vice versa.

A recent survey of teachers by London University's Institute of Education found that some three-quarters of them believed it was their duty to warn their pupils about the dangers of patriotism.

Once upon a time, loving your country enough that you were prepared to die for it was held to be the highest virtue.

Indeed, without patriotism there would be no one serving in the Armed Forces.

For the past 1,000 years, it has given the people of these islands the strength and courage to repel invaders and defeat the enemies of liberty.

Is it not extraordinary that such affection for your country should now be considered so objectionable that children should be told it is positively dangerous?

One teacher said that praising patriotism excluded non-British pupils.

'Patriotism about being British divides groups along racial lines, when we aim to bring pupils to an understanding of what makes us the same.'

But on the contrary, patriotism is what binds us together through a shared sense of belonging and a desire to defend what we all have in common. >>> Melanie Phillips | Monday, September 14, 2009

Mandy Tells Unions: We'll Fight You on Spending Cuts after TUC Chief Predicts 4m Jobless and Riots in the Streets
MAIL ONLINE: Lord Mandelson will today face down union threats of strikes and rioting if there are public spending cuts.

In the most hawkish statement yet from a senior minister on the need for restraint he will say Gordon Brown has decided to stop 'throwing money' at state services.

The Business Secretary, in a major speech, will also insist that the Tories are 'ideologues', hellbent on wrecking the public services.

His intervention comes as union barons raised the spectre of 1980s-style riots if public spending is slashed.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said taking an axe to public services would spark a 'double quick, double dip' recession and push unemployment over four million.

Unemployment could hit 40 per cent in major cities in the North, triggering massive social unrest, he said.

Speaking on the eve of the TUC conference in Liverpool, Mr Barber said: 'Cut the stimulus off and the economy would go into decline again.

'It would take many years before there was any chance of returning to anything like full employment. That would scar for life a whole generation of young people.'

He warned: 'Last time we suffered slash and burn economics we had riots in the streets here.

'I make no prediction that this would happen again, but it would take us back to the days of a deep north-south divide and once again hollow out whole areas of the economy.' >>> Tim Shipman and Kirsty Walker | Monday, September 14, 2009

Editor-At-Large: After Turing, the Shameful Abuse of Gays Goes On
THE INDEPENDENT: It's become fashionable for politicians to say sorry – generally for events they have no control over. It's easier to demonstrate humility for a social injustice that happened more than half a century ago than to admit responsibility for handing Rover cars to a bunch of avaricious buffoons who presided over its demise, resulting in thousands of workers losing their jobs.

Belatedly, Gordon Brown has made a public apology for the "horrifying and utterly unfair" treatment of Alan Turing, the brilliant mathematician and code-breaker whose work undoubtedly helped to bring the Second World War to a swifter conclusion, and who made an important contribution to the development of computers.

Turing was gay, and after being convicted of gross indecency in 1952 he was offered chemical castration or a prison sentence. He submitted to the highly controversial medical procedure; however, his criminal record ensured he lost his security clearance and his job. He committed suicide two years later.

There's been a long campaign to clear Turing's name – more than 30,000 people signed a petition – so it's not as if the Prime Minister woke up one day and decided that this repulsive episode in the history of gay-bashing should be publicly atoned for half a century later. In 1999, Time magazine included Turing in its 100 most important people of the 20th century and some campaigners want him to be posthumously knighted.

I'm glad that Brown felt bad about what happened to Turing, but I wonder whether he spends any time considering the ongoing harassment of homosexuals in one of our former colonies, a country millions of Britons visit and one with very close ties to a large number of British citizens. I'm talking about Jamaica, where last week John Terry, a British diplomat, who was made a MBE for services to tourism, was found murdered at home in Montego Bay. A note attached to his body reportedly called him a "batty man", slang for homosexual.

Whether this particular murder was homophobically inspired or not, the context is not encouraging. The attitude of most Jamaicans towards gay men and women is prehistoric – in a survey last year, 70 per cent questioned said they didn't think homosexuals should be entitled to the same rights as other citizens; only 26 per cent disagreed with that. In a recent poll of Jamaicans, 96 per cent were against legalising sex between consenting males. The Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, has gone on record saying he would never allow gays in his cabinet. Popular musicians including Buju Banton, Bounty Killer, Shabba Ranks, Elephant Man and Beenie Man have all had hits with lyrics that call for gays to be attacked and killed.

In 2006, Time called Jamaica "the most homophobic place on earth". Prominent gay activists have been murdered and homophobic attacks are routine. Homosexuality itself is not illegal, but sodomy is. Organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have long complained about the treatment of gays in Jamaica, to no avail. >>> Janet Street-Porter | Sunday, September 13, 2009

Executive Pay 'Up 10 Per Cent Despite Crash'
THE INDEPENDENT: The pay of executives at the helm of Britain's top companies rose 10 per cent last year despite their organisations suffering huge losses on the stock market, it emerged today.
The full and part-time directors of the FTSE 100 companies took home more than £1bn between them last year, according to The Guardian's annual survey of boardroom pay.

The directors' salary increases were more than three times the 3.1 per cent average pay rise for ordinary workers in the private sector and more than double the rate of inflation last year.

Their bumper pay hikes came at a time when many of their companies were imposing pay freezes and redundancies on staff in a bid to cut costs.

The survey also revealed that the 10 most highly paid executives together earned £170m last year - up from £140m in 2007.

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said: "The Guardian's analysis shows the breathtaking cynicism involved in a lot of executive pay deals, which are unrelated to either personal or corporate performance and involve people who are very well off helping themselves to larger salaries when private sector wages in many companies are being cut."

The increases in executives' basic pay helped compensate for falls in bonuses related to the performance of their companies.
Overall pay for directors of FTSE companies, including bonuses, fell by an average of 5 per cent, with the average chief executive of a bluechip company now earning a basic salary of £791,000.

But taking into account bonus payments, share awards and the value of perks ranging from cars and drivers to school fees and dental work, the average pay package rises dramatically, the newspaper said.

Nearly a quarter of FTSE chief executives received total 2008 pay packages worth more than £5m, and 22 directors now have basic salaries of more than £1m. >>> Rosamond Hutt, Press Association | Monday, September 14, 2009

Executive Pay Keeps Rising, Guardian Survey Finds
THE GUARDIAN: Full and part-time directors of FTSE 100 shared between them more than £1bn

Bart Becht, the chief executive of Reckitt Benckiser, was rewarded with £36.8m in pay, bonuses, perks and share incentive schemes. Photo: The Guardian
Executives at Britain's top companies saw their basic salaries leap 10% last year, despite the onset of the worst global recession in decades, in which their companies lost almost a third of their value amid a record decline in the FTSE.

The Guardian's annual survey of boardroom pay reveals that the full- and part-time directors of the FTSE 100, the premier league of British business, shared between them more than £1bn.

Bonus payouts were lower, but the basic salary hikes were more than three times the 3.1% average pay rise for ordinary workers in the private sector. The big rise in directors' basic pay – more than double the rate of inflation last year – came as many of their companies were imposing pay freezes on staff and starting huge redundancy programmes to slash costs.

The Guardian data also shows that a coterie of elite bosses at the helm of multinational corporations are seeing their overall pay packets soar ever higher. The 10 most highly paid executives earned a combined £170m last year – up from £140m in 2007. Five years ago, the top 10 banked some £70m.

The Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, said: "The Guardian's analysis shows the breathtaking cynicism involved in a lot of executive pay deals, which are unrelated to either personal or corporate performance and involve people who are very well off helping themselves to larger salaries when private sector wages in many companies are being cut." >>> Julia Finch and Simon Bowers | Monday, September 14, 2009

Vladimir Poutine prépare son retour au Kremlin
LE FIGARO: Le premier ministre russe évoque sa candidature à la présidentielle de 2012 à la place de Medvedev.

Vladimir Poutine vient de dévoiler, plus nettement que jamais, son intention de se réinstaller au Kremlin au lendemain de la prochaine élection présidentielle, prévue en 2012. À l'aise et souriant, Vladimir Poutine, qui s'exprimait vendredi devant un parterre de journalistes et experts internationaux dans sa résidence de Novo-Ogarevo, près de Moscou, a démontré qu'il tenait fermement en main les rênes du pouvoir, son avenir, et celui de… Dmitri Medvedev.

Le premier ministre a rappelé qu'il était l'auteur du partage du pouvoir ayant permis à Dmitri Medvedev d'arriver à la présidence en 2008, et qu'il saurait, le moment venu, rééditer l'opération. «En 2008, y a-t-il eu concurrence ?», a-t-il lancé. «En 2012, il n'y aura pas de concurrence non plus. Selon la réalité du moment, nous ferons une analyse et nous prendrons une décision», a précisé Vladimir Poutine, assurant : «Nous nous mettrons d'accord parce que nous sommes du même sang et sur la même longueur d'onde.» Les critiques de Medvedev >>> Thierry Portes | Lundi 14 Septembre 2009

Comment Ben Laden échappe à la CIA
Oussama Ben Laden en avril 1998, en Afghanistan. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Pour échapper aux postes avancés de la CIA, le chef d'al-Qaida sait jouer de l'hospitalité pachtoune.

Pourquoi n'a-t-on toujours pas retrouvé Oussama Ben Laden, l'homme le plus recherché de la planète ? Au dire des services de renseignement occidentaux présents à Kaboul, il se cache dans les montagnes reculées du Waziristan, zone tribale pakistanaise frontalière de l'Afghanistan.

Le «cheikh» ne reste jamais très longtemps au même endroit. Il se déplace avec un tout petit nombre de gardes du corps, habillé comme n'importe quel paysan pachtoun local du Waziristan. Lorsqu'il aborde un nouveau village, il s'assoit avec le chef de la tribu, et s'arrange pour lui offrir, sans l'offenser, un généreux cadeau en numéraire pour l'entretien de sa mosquée. Il devient alors l'hôte de la tribu, intouchable selon le pashtounwali, le code d'honneur ancestral des Pachtouns.

S'il venait à l'idée d'un habitant de chercher à le dénoncer pour toucher la prime de 25 millions de dollars, ce dernier n'aurait de toute façon personne à qui rapporter l'information. Dans ces zones tribales autonomes, il n'y a jamais eu le moindre poste de police, du temps des Britanniques comme du temps des Pakistanais.

Dans les principales villes du Waziristan (Banna, Miramshah, etc.), la CIA a installé des minibases avancées, truffées de technologie, dans des maisons anodines, gardées en permanence par des hommes de l'ISI, le tout-puissant service secret militaire pakistanais. Les agents américains ne sortent jamais de ces bases secrètes, passant leurs journées à décrypter les interceptions téléphoniques, à scruter les images aériennes envoyées par les drones, à débriefer les espions pachtouns dépêchés sur le terrain par l'ISI. >>> Renaud Girard, envoyé spécial du Figaro à Kaboul | Lundi 14 Septembre 2009

Israel ohne Kompromissbereitschaft bei Siedlungsbau: Netanyahu in Kairo mit Mubarak zusammengetroffen
NZZ ONLINE: Der Konflikt um den Bau von israelischen Siedlungen in palästinensischen Gebieten bleibt festgefahren. Auch der US-Nahostgesandte George Mitchell war am Sonntag bei einer neuen Gesprächsrunde mit der israelischen Führung in den umstrittenen Punkten erfolglos.

Nach dem Gespräch mit Israels Präsident Shimon Peres sagte Mitchell, bisher sei in mehreren wichtigen Punkten noch keine Einigung erreicht worden, aber es werde schwer daran gearbeitet. Peres war nach einem Zusammenbruch am Samstag erst kurz vor dem Treffen aus dem Spital entlassen worden.

Der israelische Ministerpräsident Benjamin Netanyahu sagte nach seiner Zusammenkunft mit Mitchell: «Es gibt immer noch genügend Arbeit zu tun.» In einigen Punkten habe man Fortschritte gemacht, doch es gebe auch Fragen, bei denen man nicht weitergekommen sei.

Während der wöchentlichen Kabinettssitzung in Jerusalem betonte Netanyahu, Israel behindere den Friedensprozess nicht und sei bereits «morgen» zur Aufnahme neuer Friedensgespräche bereit. Netanyahu in Kairo >>> sda/Reuters/afp/dpa | Montag, 14. September 2009

Harris Tweed Maker Drops 'Scottish' Marketing Over Lockerbie Release
THE TELEGRAPH: The biggest manufacturer of Harris tweed has dropped the word "Scottish" from its marketing campaign in America amid fears of a consumer backlash over the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

Harris Tweed Hebrides said it had to “de-Scottishify” the product after receiving feedback that sales could suffer.

The company, whose chairman, Brian Wilson, a former government minister, believes it was a mistake to release Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, has removed references to Scotland and Scottish imagery from its promotional material.

Instead, the firm plans to use a neutral image of a model in a tweed frock coat reclining on a couch.

Mark Hogarth, the company's creative director, said it had decided to focus on the brand's island heritage rather than its Scottish credentials ahead of the launch of its fashion collection in New York next month.

He said that he was forced to rethink the marketing campaign because of the anti-Scottish backlash that followed the release of Megrahi, 57, who is terminally ill, last month.

“We are not going to promote ourselves as a Scottish company as we would previously have done,” said Mr Hogarth.

“From everyone we spoke to in the US, the feeling came back that a serious mistake had been made in releasing Megrahi.

“It really wasn't seen as a British decision in the media there, but a Scottish one. While in Scotland and in the UK as a whole there may be a sense of ambivalence about Megrahi's guilt, in the US they are very much as one.

“We have been getting a lot of feedback and we have had to de-Scottishify the image of the brand. If he had not been released we would not have altered anything. >>> Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent | Sunday, September 13, 2009

Iran Snubs Barack Obama's Nuclear Talks
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran has dealt a blow to one of President Barack Obama's most ambitious diplomatic initiatives by dismissing demands to put its nuclear programme at the heart of direct talks with the United States.

Less than 48 hours after Washington and its allies reluctantly accepted an offer of face-to-face negotiations from Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, insisted that the topic of greatest interest to the West would not be on the table.

"From the Iranian nation's viewpoint, the nuclear case is closed," he told Britain's ambassador to Tehran, Simon Gass. "Having peaceful nuclear technology is Iran's lawful and definite right and Iranians will not negotiate with anyone over their undeniable rights."

In a rambling five-page document presented to western diplomats last week, Iran proposed negotiations on a wide array of economic and regional security issues but made no mention of its nuclear activities.

After responding with initial coolness, the United States defied expectations by taking up the offer to negotiate directly for the first time since Mr Obama came to power. The US president had promised during his election campaign to hold unconditional talks with Iran. >>> Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem | Sunday, September 13, 2009