Freed Guantánamo Inmates Are Heading for Yemen to Join al-Qaeda Fight
Said Ali al-Shihri, Ibrahim Suleiman al Rubaish (ID not confirmed); Abdullah Saleh Ali al Ajmi; and Abdullah Mahsud. Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: At least a dozen former Guantánamo Bay inmates have rejoined al-Qaeda to fight in Yemen, The Times has learnt, amid growing concern over the ability of the country’s Government to accept almost 100 more former inmates from the detention centre.

The Obama Administration promised to close the Guantánamo facility by January 22, a deadline that it will be unable to meet. The 91 Yemeni prisoners in Guantánamo make up the largest national contingent among the 198 being held.

Six prisoners were returned to Yemen last month. After the Christmas Day bomb plot in Detroit, US officials are increasingly concerned that the country is becoming a hot-bed of terrorism. Eleven of the former inmates known to have rejoined al-Qaeda in Yemen were born in Saudi Arabia. The organisation merged its Saudi and Yemeni offshoots last year.

The country’s mountainous terrain, poverty and lawless tribal society make it, in the opinion of many analysts, a close match for Afghanistan as a new terrorist haven. >>> Tom Coghlan | Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Québec: Be Aware of Islam

French Minister Defends National Identity Debate
THE TELEGRAPH: The French government has claimed its attempts to define "national identity" have overwhelming public support despite accusations it has exploited xenophobic fears.

President Nicolas Sarkozy launched a "great debate" in November, calling it a "noble" meditation on what it means to be French.

But now he is facing increasingly vocal calls – including from within his own camp – to scrap what critics say has become a dangerous slanging match over immigration and a perilous attempt to woo back the hard Right vote three months ahead of regional elections.

on [sic] Monday, the man Mr Sarkozy tasked with leading the debate trumpeted it as an "immense popular success".

Eric Besson, the minister of immigration and national identity insisted that the debate had not "veered off course" into caricature nor was it solely "focused on immigration and Islam".

He announced the results of a TNS Sofres poll he ordered suggesting that 80 per cent of French felt national identity was "weakening".

"The vast majority of contributions are perfectly respectful of our republican values," he said in a press conference.

Mr Besson was responding to claims that a website set up to encourage discussion has turned into an immigrant-bashing forum. About a fifth of the 50,000 entries had to be erased. "They're not publishable," Mr Sarkozy was reported to have complained.

The president called for calm in a televised New Year's address. He said: "Let us be able to debate without tearing ourselves apart, with insulting each other, without losing unity."

Disquiet has grown at what many regard as a threatening presence of Islam in France – home to around six million Muslims. This was compounded by Switzerland's recent vote to ban the building of minarets on mosques.

Right-wing MPs are now promoting a ban on the burka, while another law put before parliament last month would outlaw the waving of foreign flags at weddings in town halls. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Monday, January 04, 2010

Shariah Finance

Women in Islam: The Stoning of Soraya M.

Shohreh Aghdashloo: 'The Stoning of Soraya M.' Interview

Do You Know What Sharia Law Is?

La Roumanie de Ceausescu ou l'espionnage généralisé
L’EXPRESS.fr: Après la chute de Ceausescu, il y a vingt ans, le pays a tardé à ouvrir les archives de la Securitate, l'ex-police politique. Aujourd'hui, chacun peut consulter son dossier. Et peut-être découvrir qu'il a été trahi par un voisin, un ami ou l'un des siens... >>> Par Delphine Saubaber, Marion Guyonvarch | Jeudi 17 Décembre 2009

L’EXPRESS.fr: Roumanie: Nicolae et Elena Ceausescu: un couple infernal et mégalomane >>> Par Marianne Rigaux (ESJ) | Lundi 28 Décembre 2009

L’EXPRESS.fr: Ceausescu: vie et mort d’un dictateur >>> | Vendredi 25 Décembre 2009

Unmarried Couples Caught in Malaysia Hotel Raids
BBC: Fifty-two unmarried couples could face charges of sexual misconduct and jail terms after being caught in hotel rooms by Malaysia's Islamic morality police.

Scores of officers conducted raids on budget hotels on New Year's Day in the western state of Selangor.

Those detained in the early hours of New Year's Day were mainly students and young factory workers.

The Muslim couples are expected to be charged with the offence of close proximity, or Khalwat. >>> Jennifer Pak, BBC News, Kuala Lumpur | Monday, January 04, 2010

The Lebanon: Fashion
BBC video: Peace brings 'rebirth' of Lebanese fashion design >>> | Monday, January 04, 2010

Johnson 'Will Back' Wootton Bassett Islamic March Ban
BBC: The home secretary has said he will back any request from police or local government to ban a radical Islamic group marching through Wootton Bassett.

Alan Johnson said he felt "revulsion" at the thought of Islam4UK's proposed march through the Wiltshire town.
Wootton Bassett has become famous for its repatriation ceremonies for fallen British service personnel.

Islam4UK says it wants to parade empty coffins through the town to draw attention to Afghan war casualties.

Mr Johnson said: "The idea that anyone would stage this kind of demonstration in Wootton Bassett fills me with revulsion.

"I find it particularly offensive that the town, which has acted in such a moving and dignified way in paying tribute to our troops who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, should be targeted in this manner."

He added: "If the Wiltshire Police and local authority feel that a procession of this kind has the potential to cause public disorder and seek my consent to a banning order, then I would have no hesitation in supporting that request." >>> | Monday, January 04, 2010

New Councilman Hopes to Cultivate SLC Diversity
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: From small-town roots, Stan Penfold now pledges to be a progressive force.

All he really wanted to do was garden. Now, Stan Penfold is poised to sow the seeds of progressive policy in Salt Lake City.

It is quite a baptism for the city's newest councilman, a self-described unlikely politician, elected to lead the liberal Avenues and Capitol Hill areas.

But so too was growing up Mormon in Humboldt County, Calif., "the pot capital of the planet," Penfold smiles.

"I remember having to navigate that," he says, eating a fish platter at downtown's Oyster Bar. "I was this strait-laced kid around everybody that drank and smoked pot. The experience taught me it's sort of OK to be who you are."

That mantra has paid dividends throughout his life. It helped him comprehend the strange land of Utah when he moved here to practice landscape horticulture nearly 30 years ago.

And, as an openly gay man (thought to be the capital council's first), it helped him grow comfortable despite being immersed in the state's conservative culture.

"I discovered I kind of liked it here," says Penfold, the decade-long executive director of the Utah AIDS Foundation who travels the world and always expected one day to return to California. "Nobody was more surprised than I was."

Now, after three decades of building a life, career and penchant for a growing community, the erstwhile gardener is ready to dig in to city politics. He replaces Eric Jergensen, a moderate who stepped down after eight years. Rather than being a lightning rod for gay rights -- "the city has done a remarkable job on the social-issue stuff," he says -- Penfold will focus on the grass-roots stuff -- improving quality of life where residents live.

"I want Salt Lake City government to see a city of neighborhoods," he says. "People function well when they are recognized." >>> Derek P. Jensen | Saturday, January 02, 2010

ADVOCATE.COM: Gay Man Joins Salt Lake City Council >>> Advocate.com Editors | Sunday, January 03, 2010

Obama Effigy Spotted in Jimmy Carter's Hometown

Pat Condell: Islamist Dickhead

Anjem Choudary on March for Shariah as a Solution for UK’s Problems

Justice on London's Streets, the Jewish Way
THE INDEPENDENT: With his dark-blue uniform, earpiece and walkie-talkie, Nochem Perlberger could pass for a police officer as he patrols the leafy streets of London’s Stamford Hill neighbourhood. Like an officer of the law, he responds to emergency calls, visits crime scenes and pursues suspects.

However, he is a member not of the constabulary but of the Stamford Hill Shomrim Rescue Patrol, a group of Orthodox Jewish men who, for the past two years, have been “policing” the streets of their community in Hackney.

Set up nearly two years ago, the group now has 22 patrolling members, a headquarters and even a 24-hour emergency number, staffed by six operators, which residents call to report crime. “Every house and child in the community knows this number off by heart,” said Mr Perlberger, one of the group’s committee members.

In the five months since the Stamford Hill Shomrim hotline was established, they have dealt with more than 2,000 calls including break-ins, thefts and muggings. On average, they identify three to five suspects a week and hand them over to the police. >>> Mark Hughes | Monday, January 04, 2010

Angst vor möglichem Terroranschlag in Sanaa: Botschaften der USA und Grossbritannien bleiben vorerst geschlossen
NZZ ONLINE: Die USA und Grossbritannien fürchten sich vor einem möglichen Terroranschlag in der jemenitischen Hauptstadt Sanaa. Mehrere Botschaften blieben am Montag geschlossen. Derweil kann Jemen einen Erfolg in der Terror-Bekämpfung vorweisen.

Die Gefahr eines Terroranschlags in Jemen ist dieser Tage besonders gross. Die Terrororganisation Kaida hat angekündigt, einen grösseren Anschlag auf die jemenitische Hauptstadt verüben zu wollen. Damit wollen die Extremisten die Bombardements der letzten Tage auf ihre Stellungen rächen. Kaida-Kämpfer getötet >>> hoh. | Montag, 04. Januar 2010

Wien: Paare schließen erste "Homo-Ehen"
Meine Herren! Bemühen Sie sich doch ein wenig bei der Auswahl Ihrer Hochzeitskleider! Hochzeitstag ist speziell! In Wien kann man gut einkaufen! – Mark. Bild: Die Presse
DIE PRESSE: Vier homosexuelle Paare haben zum frühestmöglichen Termin am Montag eine eingetragene Partnerschaft geschlossen. Frauen haben sich bisher noch keine angemeldet.

Am Montag haben in Österreich die ersten "Trauungen" von homosexuellen Paaren stattgefunden. Dank Feiertagen und Wochenende war es der erstmögliche Termin für die Schließung der neuen eingetragenen Partnerschaft.

Gleich vier Paare wagten in Wien den Schritt - wenn auch ohne mediale Öffentlichkeit. "Es war auch für mich ein sehr spannender und berührender Moment, weil ja österreichische Rechtsgeschichte geschrieben wurde", sagte die Chefin der für Standesämter zuständigen Magistratsabteilung 35, Beatrix Hornschall.

Alle vier Zeremonien im Margaretener Amtshaus liefen dabei eher sachlich ab: Keines der Paare wurde von Freunden oder Verwandten begleitet, und auch eine Zeremonie im Festsaal wurde nicht gewünscht, erklärte Hornschall. Alle Paare seien bereits sehr lange zusammen gewesen, eines bereits seit 50 Jahren. Alle kamen aus Inner-Gürtel-Bezirken. >>> APA | Montag, 04. Januar 2010

L'Iran lance un «ultimatum» aux Occidentaux
«La communauté internationale a juste un mois pour se décider» a déclaré, samedi, le ministre iranien des Affaires étrangères, Manouchehr Mottaki (ici en décembre dernier). Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Le pouvoir iranien menace « d'enrichir l'uranium à un niveau supérieur» d'ici à un mois. La France rejette ce qu'elle qualifie de «pirouette» de la part de Téhéran.

Menacé de nouvelles sanctions, l'Iran a donné, ce week-end, un «ultimatum» d'un mois aux grandes puissances pour qu'elles acceptent une contre-proposition à leur offre d'enrichir l'uranium à l'étranger, faute de quoi il poursuivra lui-même sa production. «La communauté internationale a juste un mois pour se décider» à accepter ou non les conditions de Téhéran, a déclaré, samedi, le ministre iranien des Affaires étrangères, Manouchehr Mottaki, cité par la télévision d'État. Sinon, a-t-il prévenu, «Téhéran enrichira l'uranium à un niveau supérieur ». Dans une tentative de clarification, jugée ambiguë par les diplomates occidentaux, le porte-parole du ministère a indiqué dimanche que cette date limite résultait d'un «accord» passé il y a un mois avec l'Occident.

À l'origine de ce jeu de ping-pong compliqué, se trouve la fameuse offre présentée en octobre dernier par l'Agence internationale de l'énergie atomique (AIEA) pour tenter de régler l'imbroglio nucléaire qui oppose Téhéran à la communauté internationale. Cette proposition suggérait à l'Iran d'envoyer en Russie 70 % de ses stocks d'uranium faiblement enrichi (à 3,5 %) afin qu'ils y soient retraités à un peu moins de 20 %, pour être ensuite conditionnés en France et réexpédiés en Iran sous forme de combustible utilisable par le réacteur de recherche civil de Téhéran. Ne pas pénaliser l'opposition >>> Delphine Minoui - Correspondante du Figaro au Moyen-Orient | Lundi 04 Janvier 2010

États-Unis : Obama affaibli après l’attentat manqué
Barack Obama après sa première intervention à Hawaï au sujet de l’attentat manqué de Detroit. Crédits photo : Le Temps
LE TEMPS: Les républicains reviennent à la charge contre le président démocrate accusé d’avoir négligé la sécurité du pays. Par précaution, les Etats-Unis, aussitôt suivis par la Grande-Bretagne, ont annoncé dimanche la fermeture de leur ambassade au Yémen craignant l’imminence d’un attentat

Le jeune Nigérian de 23 ans Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab n’a peut-être pas réussi à activer les explosifs qu’il portait cousus dans ses sous-vêtements le jour de Noël. Mais sa charge explosive ne menaçait pas seulement les passagers du vol 253 entre Amsterdam et Detroit. La polémique sur la lutte contre le terrorisme ne cesse depuis lors d’enfler à Washington. Alors que les yeux sont déjà fixés sur l’échéance électorale de novembre, l’opposition républicaine entend tirer parti de cette rentrée politique pour prouver que la première année au pouvoir de Barack Obama n’a servi qu’à saper la sécurité des Etats-Unis.

De Hawaï, où il a passé ses vacances, Obama s’y est pris à trois reprises pour tenter de démontrer qu’il prenait la question au sérieux. Après avoir admis les «défaillances» du système de sécurité mis en place après le 11 septembre 2001, le président a fini par lier explicitement samedi la tentative d’attentat à Al-Qaida, et plus précisément à sa branche œuvrant dans la péninsule Arabique. Dimanche, les Etats-Unis, aussitôt suivis par la Grande-Bretagne, dévoilaient la fermeture de leur ambassade au Yémen craignant l’imminence d’un attentat. Peu auparavant, ils avaient annoncé qu’ils doubleraient le montant consacré à la lutte antiterroriste dans ce pays pour le porter à quelque 130 millions de dollars annuels. Graves lacunes >>> Luis Lema | Lundi 04 Janvier 2010

We Have Been Beaten in Jail, Say First Openly Gay Couple in Malawi
Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga performed a public engagement ceremony. Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Since they became the first openly gay couple in Malawi to be engaged, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza have been arrested, put in prison and charged with offences that could lead to a 14-year jail sentence.

Between true love and gay martyrdom, however, is the brutal reality of life in a Malawi prison. Yesterday, in their first interview since being jailed, the pair claimed that they had been beaten in prison, and demanded to go to court to prove their innocence.

While Mr Chimbalanga, 20, who dresses as a woman, spoke defiantly of his love for the man he plans to marry, Mr Monjeza, 22, said that he was “drunk” when they met and was considering ending their engagement. The couple, who denied three charges of unnatural practices between males and gross indecency, performed a public engagement ceremony in front of 500 onlookers last weekend. They were arrested two days later.

With gay rights campaigners warning that the case marks a new wave of homophobia in Africa, the pair have been held since then at Chichiri prison in Blantyre, where the warders appear bemused by the level of hysteria surrounding their charges.

In an interview with The Times at the weekend, Mr Chimbalanga — visibly more at ease than Mr Monjeza, who appeared confused and disorientated — said: “I love my husband and laws should not prohibit love.” >>> Raphael Tenthani in Malawi and Valentine Low | Monday, January 04, 2010

More Balls from Ed Balls!
TIMES ONLINE: Labour will announce today that primary school children will be able to learn Mandarin and Arabic in a bid to keep up with other countries. Labour to offer Arabic and Mandarin lessons to primary pupils >>> Joanna Sugden | Monday, January 04, 2010

Barack Obama Is Vulnerable on Terror – And He Knows It
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama is playing politics over the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack and Republicans sense he is weak on the issue, writes Toby Harnden in Washington

Barack Obama said both human and systematic failures allowed the foiled Christmas Day attack on Northwest flight 253 to take place. Photograph: The Telegraph
In his weekly radio address yesterday, President Barack Obama patted himself on the back for having "refocused the fight - bringing to a responsible end the war in Iraq, which had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks".

He then told people to remember that "our adversaries are those who would attack our country, not our fellow Americans", before decrying "fear and cynicism" and "partisanship and division" - the code phrases for horrid Republicans used during his 2008 election campaign.

Complacency, faux moralising and partisan shots at Republicans. It was a neat summary of where Obama is going wrong after the Christmas Day debacle when the Nigerian knicker bomber managed to waltz onto a Detroit-bound flight.

For a man who campaigned denouncing the politicisation of national security under President George W Bush, it is worth noting how intensely political Obama's treatment of what might henceforth be known as Underpantsgate has been. >>> | Saturday, 02. January 2010

Stevie Wonder: I Was Made to Love Her

Anger at Threat of Islamist March in Wootton Bassett


Muslim Cleric Anjem Choudary Vows to Continue Wootton Bassett March
THE TELEGRAPH: Muslim extremist Anjem Choudary has vowed to go ahead with a protest march through Wootton Bassett claiming those who honour the war dead are no different to those who support the 7/7 Tube bombers.

Anjem Choudary. Photograph: The Telegraph
The controversial cleric, who heads up Islam4UK, has organised a march of 500 people through the Wiltshire town, in memory of Muslims "murdered in the name of democracy and freedom".

Wootton Bassett has become the main focal point for the nation to show its respect to the troops killed in Afghanistan, with hundreds lining the streets each time a body is repatriated to nearby RAF Lyneham.

But Choudary said it was unacceptable to honour those killed in the conflict and he would march through the town with supporters to voice opposition at the gatherings.

Asked why he was against crowds honouring fallen British soldiers, he said: "The same could be said about the Germans fighting for Nazism in the Second World War. Those involved in 7/7 and 9/11 considered themselves to be soldiers. >>> Martin Evans | Sunday, January 03, 2010

MAIL ONLINE: 120,000 sign up to Facebook protest to stop Islamic extremist march through Wootton Bassett: More than 120,000 people had last night signed an internet petition protesting about plans by Islamic extremists to march through Wootton Bassett.

Hate preacher Anjem Choudary sparked outrage by saying his radical group Islam4UK would parade through the town renowned for honouring soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

The firebrand cleric said 500 of his supporters would carry 'symbolic coffins' in memory of the Muslim civilians ' murdered by merciless' coalition forces. >>> Ian Drury and Andy Dolan | Monday, January 04, 2010

Islam4UK Letter to the Families of British Soldiers (who have died or who are currently in Afghanistan) >>>

Islam for the UK (Islam4UK) >>>

Islam vs Democracy, Freedom and Secularism >>>

«ARBEIT MACHT FREI» : Auschwitz-Schild für britischen Nazi-Freund?
20MINUTES.ch: Hinter dem Diebstahl des Schriftzuges «Arbeit macht frei» vom Eingangstor der KZ-Gedenkstätte Auschwitz steckt angeblich ein wohlhabender britischer Nazi-Sympathisant.

Das Schild sei gestohlen worden, um es an einen wohlhabenden Sammler von Nazi-Erinnerungen in Grossbritannien zu verkaufen. Der Schriftzug sollte demnach über eine Gruppe schwedischer Rechtsextremisten weiter an den Sammler gehen, berichtet das britische Boulevardblatt «Sunday Mirror». >>> sda | Sonntag, 03. Januar 2010

Prison d'Evin : l'enfer de la section 209
Une cellule de la prison d'Evin, décorée à l'aide de portraits d'imams chiites, en juin 2006. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Dans la prison d'Evin, à Téhéran, les prisonniers de droit commun sont entassés dans des cellules collectives. Les détenus politiques échouent, eux, dans la fameuse section 209.

«L'Iran est devenu une prison. Evin est devenu une université !» Le slogan, répété à cor et à cri, lors de chaque manifestation iranienne, en dit long sur la répression en cours à Téhéran, à l'heure où de nombreux manifestants, intellectuels, étudiants, ténors du courant réformiste et journalistes s'entassent à Evin, un des plus importants centres de détention de la capitale iranienne. Combien sont-ils ? Les estimations varient de plusieurs centaines à plusieurs milliers, et selon la Campagne internationale pour les droits de l'homme en Iran, «plus de 1.000 personnes auraient été arrêtées pendant la nouvelle vague de l'Achoura» (en référence aux manifestations du week end).

Située sur les hauteurs de la ville, la prison d'Evin, dont la réputation n'est plus à faire, a été inaugurée en 1971, soit huit ans avant la révolution. Ironie du sort : un grand nombre de détenus actuels, à l'instar du défenseur des droits de l'homme Emadeddin Baghi, en sont familiers, pour y avoir déjà séjourné au temps du chah. En général, les prisonniers de droit commun sont répartis dans des cellules collectives. >>> Delphine Minoui, correspondante du Figaro au Moyen-Orient | Mercredi 30 Décembre 2009

Welt Online Kommentar: Westliche Demografie-Sorgen bei der Terrorabwehr
WELT ONLINE: Islamisten aus den Unruhestaaten Afghanistan, Jemen, Pakistan, Somalia haben in den vergangen Tagen die westliche Welt in Atem gehalten. Für den Kampf gegen den Terror sollen nun Hunderte Millionen weitere Euro bereitgestellt werden. Dabei hilft gegen den demografischen Nachteil des Westens kein Geld der Welt.

Die "New York Times" sieht den "Jemen im Chaos". Dort erhält Abdulmutallab aus Nigeria die Ausbildung für seinen Mordversuch an 289 Menschen, die an Weihnachten 2009 zwischen Amsterdam und Detroit unterwegs sind. Die Londoner "Times" beklagt den zeitgleich den "failed state" in Somalia, wo die Aufständischen hunderte von Kämpfern in den Jemen schicken wollen, um ihren dortigen Al-Qaida-Genossen gegen Amerika und die einheimische Regierung zu helfen. Die Pariser "Le Monde" erkennt am selben Tag ein "islamistisches Nest" in Pakistans Nordwesten, wo am 2. Januar 2010 bei einem Attentat auf ein Volleyballspiel fast 100 Menschen zerrissen werden.

Großbritanniens Premierminister Gordon Brown beruft daraufhin – parallel zum Afghanistan-Gipfel – eine Jemen-Konferenz zum 28. Januar 2010 nach London. Do[r]t sollen Hunderte Millionen Euro für die Lösung der "tiefer liegenden Probleme" (underlying causes, "Times") in all diesen Ländern bereitgestellt werden. Worin sie bestehen, wird allerdings nicht präzisiert.

Obwohl man gerne einmal etwas anderes vortragen würde, ist zu den ungenannten Problemen etwas sehr Simples in Erinnerung zu rufen. Das ganze Unruhequartett Afghanistan-Jemen-Pakistan-Somalia eliminiert auf die eine oder andere Weise überzählige junge Männer, kämpft also mit youth bulges, bei denen mindestens 30 Prozent der männlichen Bevölkerung 15 bis 29 Jahre alt ist. >>> Von Gunnar Heinsohn | Sonntag, 03. Januar 2010

Western Embassies Close in Yemen after 'Direct al-Qaeda Threat'
TIMES ONLINE: Three Western embassies closed in Yemen today over security concerns about possible militant attacks after the failed bombing of a US-bound plane on Christmas Day.

The US Embassy said it had received a threat by al-Qaeda, which US intelligence agencies believe has a growing presence in the impoverished Arab country.

A British Foreign Office spokeswoman cited security reasons for its the closure of its embassy, but declined to say if any specific threat had been made.

Spain has also decided to close its embassy in Sanaa on Monday and Tuesday, the newspaper El Mundo said, quoting embassy sources.

In Washington, a senior aide to President Obama said that the United States had information that al-Qaeda was planning an attack against a target in Sanaa.

John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism chief, said there were “indications al-Qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against a target inside of Sanaa, possibly our embassy".

A statement on the embassy’s website announcing the closure did not say how long it would remain closed.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said a decision would be taken later as to whether the British Embassy would reopen tomorrow.

The moves came after Mr Obama blamed a Yemen-based al-Qaeda affiliate for masterminding an attempt by a Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, to detonate a bomb on a Detroit-bound passenger plane. >>> | Sunday, January 03, 2010

The Met Office Gives Us the Warmist Weather
The Met Office forecast an unusually mild winter, but snow fell on Britain to usher in 2010. Photo: The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: The UK's official weather forecasters are determined that winters should be mild, in the face of the frozen facts, says Christopher Booker

Shortly after midnight on Friday morning, as 200,000 merrymakers were departing from the Thames after enjoying a spectacular fireworks show in sub-zero temperatures, flakes of snow began to fall on Whitehall. In light of the Met Office's prediction that this would be a "mild" winter, with temperatures above average, it seemed an apt way to start the New Year. But hasn't the time come for us to stop treating the serial inaccuracy of Met Office forecasts as just a joke and see it for what it is – a national scandal?

The reason the Met Office so persistently gets its seasonal forecasts wrong is that it has been hi-jacked from the role for which we pay it nearly £200 million a year, to become one of the world's major propaganda engines for the belief in man-made global warming. Over the past three years, it has become a laughing stock for forecasts which are invariably wrong in the same direction.

The year 2007, it predicted, would be "the warmest ever" – just before global tempratures plunged by more than the entire net warming of the 20th century, Three years running it predicted warmer than average winters – as large parts of the northern hemisphere endured record cold and snowfalls. Last year's "barbecue summer" was the third time running that predictions of a summer drier and warmer than average prefaced weeks of rain and cold. Last week the Met Office was again predicting that 2010 will be the "warmest year" on record, while Europe and the US look to be facing further weeks of intense cold. >>> Christopher Booker | Saturday, January 02, 2010

TIMES ONLINE: Cold snap in Britain will continue 'for next 10 days' >>> | Sunday, January 03, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Snow paralyses Beijing as China braces for deep freeze: Snow storms paralysed Beijing on Sunday, leaving hundreds of flights delayed or cancelled, keeping schools closed, and bringing forecasts of some of the lowest temperatures in decades. >>> | Sunday, January 03, 2010

TIMES ONLINE: Transport paralysed in Asia's worst winter in 60 years >>> Richard Lloyd Parry | Monday, January 04, 2010

Watch BBC video: Severe winter weather over Europe >>> | Tuesday, January 05, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Britain braced for heaviest snowfall in 50-years: The heaviest snowfall in almost 50 years is hitting parts of Britain as Arctic weather brought nationwide chaos. >>> Martin Evans | Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Panic Room Saved Artist Kurt Westergaard from Islamist Assassin
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Just when Denmark thought the worst was over, Islamic fury has come back to haunt it with an assassination attempt on the artist whose cartoon of the prophet Muhammad as a suicide bomber had an explosive impact four years ago on the Muslim world.

An axe-wielding Somali extremist broke into the home of Kurt Westergaard on Friday night as the 75-year-old cartoonist was looking after Stephanie, his five-year-old granddaughter.

Westergaard, whose little ink drawing of Muhammad with a bomb in his turban sparked riots throughout the Middle East in 2006, has received numerous death threats. He pressed an alarm button to summon police when the attacker entered the house in Aarhus, Denmark’s second city, by breaking a window.

He did not have time to collect the child from the living room before locking himself into a “panic room”, a specially fortified bathroom. He said the assailant had shouted “swear words, really crude words” and shrieked about “blood” and “revenge”, as he smashed the axe in vain against the bathroom door. >>> Matthew Campbell | Sunday, January 03, 2010

Looking Back on 2009 – Memorable Moments: Who Could Ever Forget Jill and Kevin’s Big Day?

Happy New Year! Bonne année! Glückliches Neues Jahr! Felice anno nuovo! Feliz año nuevo!
Image: Google Images. Please click on the bottle for music.
Wishing you ALL a VERY HAPPY, HEALTHY & PROSPEROUS 2010, and thanking you ALL for your continued and loyal support.

PD James Accuses 'Unwieldy, Bureaucratic' and Wasteful BBC of Losing Its Way
THE TELEGRAPH: Crime author PD James has torn into the BBC, accusing it of losing direction, paying large salaries and ageism in an interview with director general Mark Thompson.

PD James. Photo: The Telegraph
Baroness James of Holland Park, who is best known for creating the detective Adam Dalgliesh, repeatedly asked Mr Thompson to justify why so many managers were paid more than £100,000 a year.

The former governor of the BBC was questioning the director general in her role as a guest editor of the Today programme on Radio Four.

She likened the Corporation to a "large unwieldy ship" that was "bringing on more and more cargo and adding more decks, more officers - all comfortably cabined and usually on better salaries than their predecessors had enjoyed - and with customers feeling they paid too much for the journey and weren't sure where they were going".

The Conservative peer said the BBC had changed for the worse since its inception in the 1920s and was "very unwieldy, very bureacratic" and "less clear about what it should be doing".

There was “immense concern", she said, "about the salary structure – if indeed there is a structure – and the extraordinarily large salaries that are paid”. >>> Alastair Jamieson | Thursday, December 31, 2009 (New Year’s Eve)

BBC Pay, Bureaucracy and Ageism: PD James Speaks for the Nation
THE TELEGRAPH: If you did not hear the interview conducted by PD James with BBC director general Mark Thompson on the Today programme today then I suggest you set aside 15 minutes or so to do so.

Reading the BBC news website’s account of this spectacular skewering you could be forgiven for believing that Mr Thompson gave a stout defence of the Corporation’s inflated salaries, oversized bureaucracy, patronising ageism and appalling reality TV shows. In fact, Thompson gave a faltering, stumbling performance, unable to answer in any convincing way the points that Lady James put to him, especially when she asked him to justify the huge salaries being paid to BBC executives. Thompson must have said “you know” more times than a footballer, and sounded even more inarticulate. >>> Philip Johnston | Thursday, December 31, 2009

La «face cachée» de Margaret Thatcher
Exigeante, irascible et ayant un goût certain pour le whisky : tel est le portrait de l'ancien premier ministre britannique Margaret Thatcher (ici en 1979) émergeant d'archives officielles déclassifiées mercredi et couvrant ses premiers mois à Downing Street. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Des documents déclassifiés, rendus public mercredi, montrent une «Dame de Fer» brutale avec ses collaborateurs, amatrice de whisky et un peu pingre.

L'ancien premier ministre britannique Margaret Thatcher fut bien plus tranchante et politiquement incorrecte que les historiens ne le soupçonnaient. Des documents déclassifiés couvrant son arrivée à Downing Street en 1979, ont dépeint, à la surprise de la presse d'outre-Manche, une «Dame de Fer» inflexible faisant preuve «d'un degré de racisme personnel choquant», d'après le Guardian. Les archives rendues publiques mercredi montrent notamment une Margaret Thatcher peu tolérante vis-à-vis des boat-people vietnamiens.

Le premier ministre «pensait que c'était une mauvaise idée d'attribuer à ces immigrés des logements sociaux alors que les citoyens blancs n'en recevaient pas. Cela créerait des émeutes», note un compte-rendu d'une rencontre entre Margaret Thatcher et son ministre des Affaires étrangères. Selon le Telegraph, qui relate l'anecdote, le ministre essaie de convaincre la «Dame de Fer» de laisser 10.000 réfugiés vietnamiens s'établir en Grande-Bretagne d'ici à 1981. «En accueillir moins renverrait une très mauvaise image de l'Angleterre», plaide-t-il. Mais pour la chef de file des Tories, la Grande-Bretagne abrite déjà trop d'immigrés. «A quelques exceptions près, il n'y avait aucune raison humanitaire pour autoriser l'entrée des 1,5 million habitants d'Asie du Sud et d'ailleurs qui sont là. Il faut bien établir une limite».

«Tous les citoyens qui ont envoyé un courrier disant soutenir les boat-people devraient en héberger un chez eux», poursuit-elle. Evoquant la situation en Rhodésie (ancien nom du Zimbabwe) dont Robert Mugabe, opposant au régime ségrégationniste d'alors, est devenu l'homme fort, elle confie en revanche «avoir moins d'objection à accueillir les réfugiés [blancs] de Rhodésie, de Pologne ou de Hongrie qui sont beaucoup plus faciles à assimiler».

Les archives de Downing Street dévoilent aussi les projets les plus étranges de la «Dame de Fer». Margaret Thatcher proposa ainsi à son homologue australien d'acheter en commun une île indonésienne ou philippine pour héberger les boat-people. L'hostilité de Singapour fera capoter le plan. Finalement face à la pression de l'ONU, le premier ministre acceptera d'ouvrir les frontières à 10.000 Vietnamiens sur trois ans, avec une préférence pour ceux parlant anglais. Annotations laconiques au vitriol >>> Constance Jamet (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP | Mercredi 30 Décembre 2009

Sam Cooke: Wonderful World

Americans Blame Britain for Rise of Islamic Extremism
It’s true that Britain has failed to come to grips with the problem of Islam; and the British government should take the blame for this. However, these senior US policymakers who seem to think that only Britain has the problem are living in cloud-cuckoo-land.

It is also true that Muslims in America are rather better integrated (for the moment at least); but long-term, we ALL have a huge problem with Muslims living here in the West. Truth to tell, we should never have allowed so many Muslims in. Fact is, Prophet Muhammad exhorted his followers NOT to INTEGRATE with the infidel; so American Muslim or British, they are ALL a problem for us here in the West. And this is an undeniable fact also.

So don’t be so smug and naïve over there, Stateside. You’ll have your troubles, too. Just wait; they are a-comin’. – © Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: Britain has been accused of being a “menace to the outside world” as American anger over the UK’s perceived failure to tackle Islamic extremism intensified.

Senior policymakers in the United States said the attempted suicide bomb attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is thought to have become radicalised in London, was further evidence that one of the biggest threats to US security came from Britain, where the capital has been dubbed “Londonistan” by critics.

There was also criticism of the “ghettoisation” of British Muslims, compared with the “assimilation” of Muslims in America.

Muslim immigrants to the US were much better integrated in society and considered themselves Americans “within a generation” because the US embraced the “melting pot” concept, said Marc Thiessen, former chief speechwriter for President George W Bush and a former Pentagon aide.

“That doesn’t exist in Europe in the same way and particularly in Britain, which is a more socially stratified society than the US,” he said. “They live in Muslim ghettoes and feel alienated from the larger society and not accepted.” >>> Toby Harnden in Washington | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Godless and Free

Iran : Rassemblements massifs en faveur du régime islamique
Crédits photo : Le Temps
LE TEMPS: Des centaines de milliers de manifestants pro-gouvernementaux se sont rassemblés mercredi dans plusieurs villes d’Iran, à l’appel des autorités. Ils ont clamé leur fidélité au régime clérical et accusé les dirigeants d’opposition de semer le chaos dans la République islamique

Des dizaines de manifestations en province ont rassemblé des foules importantes, selon les médias officiels. Les manifestants dénonçaient «les hypocrites séditieux» et réclamaient parfois leur «pendaison», selon des images de la télévision iranienne.

A Téhéran, des centaines de milliers de personnes ont participé à plusieurs cortèges pour dénoncer le «complot» visant a «renverser le régime islamique», selon les termes d’un communiqué officiel. Des drapeaux américains et britanniques ont été brûlés.

Ces rassemblements ont été organisés à l’appel des autorités. Mais les administrations ont également appelé à descendre dans la rue, tout comme des corps officiels comme les Gardiens de la révolution, des écoles théologiques, des associations locales, certains bazars comme celui de Qom, qui a fermé, et certaines entreprises d’Etat.

Les médias étrangers, soumis à des restrictions, ne pouvaient pas couvrir les éventuels rassemblements d’opposition. «Mort à Moussavi» >>> ATS | Mercredi 30 Décembre 2009

NZZ ONLINE: Demonstranten in Teheran fordern Moussavis Tod:Oppositionsführer laut Staatsagentur aus Teheran geflüchtet – oder weggebracht >>> sda/dpa/afp/Reuters | Mittwoch, 30. Dezember 2009

US 'Stopped Dutch Installation of Full Body Scanners'
TIMES ONLINE: The United States prevented Dutch authorities from installing full body scanners before the suspected Christmas Day bomb plotter passed through security at Amsterdam's airport, the Dutch government claimed today.

The Dutch claimed that they had been trying to install the machines for flights to the US since 2008 but had been blocked by US officials who wanted passengers to all destinations screened.

In light of the failed attack all passengers travelling from Holland to the US will now have to go through full body scanners the Dutch Interior Minister announced following discussions with the Americans.

Guusje ter Horst said the millimetre wave scanners that can see beneath passengers' clothes will be in use at Schiphol airport within three weeks and remain a permanent fixture for all flights to the US. >>> Joanna Sugden | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Iran Oppostion Leader Mir Hossein Mousavi 'Flees Tehran'
TIMES ONLINE: The leader of Iran's opposition was to have fled Tehran, state media reported tonight.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, defeated in hotly disputed elections in June, was said to have left the Iranian capital on a day marked by pro-government rallies at which crowds chanted "Death to Mousavi". Another of the leaders, Mahdi Karroubi, was also said to have fled.

The news comes three days after Mr Mousavi's nephew, Ali, was killed during a protest against the regime in which at least eight lost their lives.

He was said to have been shot in the chest. Opposition figures have claimed he was deliberately targeted and had received a number of death threats. >>> Times Online | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

MAIL ONLINE: Iran's opposition leader flees as tens of thousands of government supporters swarm Tehran chanting 'death to Mousavi': Iran's police chief threatened to show 'no mercy' in crushing any new protests by the country's opposition supporters today.

Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam warned protesters to stay off the streets or face harsh consequences. >>> Mail Foreign Service | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

MAIL ONLINE: >>> Mail Foreign Service | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Warning! Graphic Content Two Convicted Bank Robbers Cut Loose from Gallows

Where Is the New Margaret Thatcher to Rescue Us?
MAIL ONLINE: Abroad, our reputation lies in shreds. At home, an exhausted government is drifting, rudderless, from one crisis to the next.

Unemployment is rising sharply. The public finances are in chaos. The unions are threatening havoc and inflation is set to soar...

No, this isn't the tail-end of 2009 - though the parallels are painfully obvious.

This is the Britain of early 1979, in the dying months of the last Labour administration, as brought vividly back to life by papers released today under the 30-year rule.

Then, as now, our country's problems were stacking up so fast that national ruin seemed inevitable.

But as the papers so graphically remind us, waiting in the wings in the spring of 1979 was a politician with a radical blueprint for revival and the indomitable courage to turn it into action.

Even 30 years on, Margaret Thatcher remains a hugely controversial figure.

For many on the bien-pensant Left, she is still the butt of sneers, reviled as the petit-bourgeois grocer's daughter who ruthlessly destroyed jobs in the old nationalised industries.

For growing numbers of others, however - and the Mail has been among them from the start - she is recognised as the woman who rescued Britain from the edge of the precipice and did more for ordinary workers than anyone since the war.

Whichever side you may be on, it's impossible not to admire the sheer vigour and straight-talking honesty, brought to light in the 30-year-rule papers, with which she stood up for Britain and set about her task of reconstruction.

Foreign presidents, Tory grandees and obstructive civil servants can hardly have known what hit them when this whirlwind blew into Downing Street on May 3, 1979. >>> Daily Mail Comment | Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Margaret Thatcher Complained about Asian Immigration to Britain
“People are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped by people with a different culture. If we do not want people to go to extremes we ourselves must talk about this problem and we must show that we are prepared to deal with it. We are not in politics to ignore people’s worries. We are in politics to deal with them.” – Margaret Thatcher (World in Action)

THE TELEGRAPH: Margaret Thatcher thought it was "quite wrong" for immigrants to get council houses ahead of "white citizens", previously unpublished government papers show.

Files released to the National Archives show that soon after becoming prime minister, Lady Thatcher privately complained that too many Asian immigrants were being allowed into Britain.

The documents, which are published today under the “30 year rule”, shed further light on Lady Thatcher’s attitudes on race and immigration, political issues that have remained controversial ever since.

They show that in July 1979, Lady Thatcher met Lord Carrington, her foreign secretary, and William Whitelaw, then home secretary, to discuss the plight of hundreds of thousands of "boat people" fleeing persecution in communist Vietnam.

The prime minister, who had publicly said that she sympathised with fears that Britain was being “swamped” by immigrant cultures, reacted sharply to the ministers’ suggestions that thousands of the Vietnamese refugees should be welcomed.

Lord Carrington, who had visited refugee camps in Hong Kong where some of the boat people were being held, gave a "vivid account" of the conditions there, the minutes show.

He suggested that Britain take 10,000 of them over two years. Failure to take a significant number would lead to a "damaging reaction" at home and abroad, he said, and anything less than 10,000 would be "difficult to sustain" on the world stage.

But Lady Thatcher said that there were already too many people coming into Britain, according to the minutes. >>> Jon Swaine | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: Files from 1979 too sensitive for release remain secret: Government files from 1979 regarded as too sensitive to release under the “30 year rule” were kept secret. >>> Jon Swaine | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: Lady Thatcher attacked French president over Europe funding: The French president received a “handbagging” from Lady Thatcher over Britain's funding of Europe within weeks of her entering Downing Street. >>> Jon Swaine | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Iran: Regime droht Oppositionsführern mit dem Tod
DIE PRESSE: Die iranische Führung verschärft den Ton gegenüber Opposition. Ein Vertreter von Irans geistlichem Oberhaupt Ayatollah Khamenei fordert die Todesstrafe für Oppositionsführer.

Die iranische Führung verschärft den Ton gegen die seit Tagen demonstrierende Opposition und droht ihren Führern mit dem Tod. Ein Vertreter des obersten Führers Ayatollah Ali Khamenei forderte am Dienstag die Todesstrafe für die Spitze der Reformbewegung, weil sie Feinde Gottes seien. >>> Ag | Dienstag, 29. Dezember 2009

The Fall of the Islamic Republic of Iran: Only a Question of Time Now
The Iranian Revolution of thirty years ago is now grinding to a halt. Islam has proven to be a brutal force to reckon with; yet the people will tolerate it no longer. Its time is up. The régime is coming to the end of its lifetime. It's drawing its last breath.

The mullahs and Basij (بسيج) can extend the life of the régime a little longer by the use of brute force; but in reality, they have come to the end of the life of the régime. The people can tolerate such brutality no longer. Common sense must prevail.

When the religio-political system falls, as it surely must, then the good people of Iran, the people who have culture and history, will be able to resume a more normal life – a life free of Islamic restrictions. The sooner this happens, the better. We can only look forward to that inevitable day. – © Mark

Gaddafi's Playboy Son 'Attacked Model Wife in £4,000 Claridge's Suite'
MAIL ONLINE: The playboy son of Colonel Gaddafi was at the centre of a police inquiry last night over claims he attacked his wife in a top London hotel on Christmas Day.

Moutassim Gaddafi - known as Hannibal - was staying with his wife, the model Aline Skaf, 29, and their children in a luxury suite at Claridge's when the fight broke out.

Police were called to the family's £4,000-a-night suite at 1.30am after hotel staff heard a woman's screams for help.

But when officers arrived they found the Libyan despot's 33-year-old son locked in the room with his wife - with his bodyguards blocking their way.

Three of the security staff were arrested at the scene for obstructing police officers.

Mr Gaddafi, however, was able to slip away after calling the Libyan ambassador, who informed officers that he had diplomatic immunity.

The Porsche-loving playboy and notorious hell-raiser was then whisked away in an embassy car. >>> Rebecca Camber, Tamara Cohen and Neil Sears | Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Hannibal’s wife, Aline Skaf. All praise is due to Allah, don’t you know? Photo: Google Images

Detroit Terror Attack: A Murderous Ideology Tolerated for Too Long
A whiff of common sense here. People are beginning to wake up from their slumbers. Surely, the tide must be beginning to turn. It must turn if the West is to be won.

This viewpoint from The Telegraph is refreshing indeed; yet it doesn’t go far enough. Radical Islamism is a symptom of a fanatic belief in Islam. In many ways, it is the true belief of a Muslim, one who, in their eyes, submits to the will of Allah, but who in anyone else’s eyes can only be thought of submitting to the ideology of a death cult: Islam.

If we are to win this war being waged against the West, otherwise known as the Jihad – an intermittent war which has been waged against the “infidel West” since Islam’s inception – then we have to come to the realization that Islam is not a religion per se, but a religio-political system which recognizes NO SEPARATION OF POLITICS AND RELIGION. The separation of politics and religion is the sine qua non of democracy. No democracy can exist without it. Islam is the true enemy of democracy and freedom. No true democracy will ever exist where Islam is the dominant ideology. This is so not only because Islam recognizes no separation of mosque and state, but also because Islam recognizes no diversity. None whatsoever! Islam recognizes one religion – Islam, and one way of life – the Islamic way of life. In an age of multiculturalism and diversity, it is incredible that we should tolerate such an intolerant ideology in our midst, for truly, if Islam gets the upper hand here in the West – and it is looking increasingly likely in the long- or medium-term, then there will be no diversity. There will be only Islam. Apostates will be killed, as will homosexuals. It will then be a case of convert, die, or pay the jizyah, the special tax levied on the infidel in return for some measure of protection. Remember this: Multiculturalism and diversity are anathema to Islam!

Westerners have faffed around, played around with our language for far, far too long. We have come up with all kinds of weird and wonderful expressions, euphemisms all, and all thought-up and devised so as not to appear Islamophobic, so as not to point the finger at a religion and thereby appear religiously bigotted, and to keep the peace at any price. The euphemisms are well-known to all by now: Islamism, radical Islamism (as though there could ever be a non-radical Islamism!), radical Jihadism (again, as though there could ever be a benign, non-radical Jihadism), and so on and so forth. There are but three words that we need in our vocabulary: Islam, Muslim, and the Jihad. An Islamist is a devout follower of the faith of Islam. A believer that dots the ‘i’s’ and crosses the ‘t’s’. Contrary to popular Western myth, he is not one who has perverted his faith; rather, he is the real thing. Just as much the real thing as Coke is to cola.

The Muslims considered by the West as being peaceful and law-abiding are actually people who do not follow central aspects of their faith such as the Jihad, the killing of apostates, honour killings, and other repugnant tenets of that faith.

That The Telegraph has now had the courage to liken ‘Islamism’ to Nazism is to be lauded. It should be noted, however, that this fact has been pointed out on this website since the website was started. Naturally, it was also pointed out in my book. Having taken this bold step forward, The Telegraph now needs to take the next step and call a spade a spade.– © Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: Telegraph View: Jihadist Islamism is comparable to Nazism in many respects. The British public realises this; so do the intelligence services.

Friday's attempt to blow up a transatlantic airliner by a British-educated Islamist was foiled by the bravery of its passengers and crew. We cannot assume that we will be lucky next time. And the indications are that there will be a next time. According to police sources, 25 British-born Muslims are currently in Yemen being trained in the art of bombing planes. But most of these terrorists did not acquire their crazed beliefs in the Islamic world: they were indoctrinated in Britain. Indeed, thousands of young British Muslims support the use of violence to further the Islamist cause – and this despite millions of pounds poured by the Government into projects designed to prevent Islamic extremism.

Is it time for a fundamental rethink of Britain's attitude towards domestic Islamism? Consider this analogy. Suppose that, in several London universities, Right‑wing student societies were allowed to invite neo-Nazi speakers to address teenagers. Meanwhile, churches in poor white neighbourhoods handed over their pulpits to Jew-hating admirers of Adolf Hitler, called for the execution of homosexuals, preached the intellectual inferiority of women, and blessed the murder of civilians. What would the Government do? It would bring the full might of the criminal law against activists indoctrinating young Britons with an inhuman Nazi ideology – and the authorities that let them. Any public servants complicit in this evil would be hounded from their jobs. >>> | Tuesday, December 29, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: Obama tries to find new words to fight terrorism: Barack Obama has launched a new offensive against jihadi terrorism – which is to say, a new rhetorical offensive. Having discovered that the earlier Obama doctrine of “reaching out” to the Islamic fundamentalist enemies of western democracy has made no difference whatever to their determination to blow innocent people out of the sky (or, in the case of Iran, to build a nuclear bomb), he is opening another verbal front. >>> Janet Daley | Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Argentine Gay Couple Becomes First in Region to Marry
BBC: Two Argentine men have become the first same-sex couple to marry legally in Latin America.

Alejandro Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, tied the knot in a civil ceremony in the southern city of Ushuaia, in Tierra del Fuego province.

Gay marriage is illegal in Argentina. However, the Tierra del Fuego governor issued a special decree allowing the couple to wed there.

Roman Catholic leaders in the country expressed alarm at the move.

A judge in the capital, Buenos Aires, prevented the couple from marrying there earlier this month. Church anger >>> | Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Two Gay Weddings on Two Continents, But Only One Happy Ending
THE GUARDIAN: Argentinians celebrate first same-sex marriage, while couple in Malawi are arrested and charged

Jose Maria Di Bello, left, and Alex Freyre kiss during their wedding in Argentina. Photograph: The Guardian
It was a tale of two weddings continents apart, but there was to be only one happy ending.

In Argentina, Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre made history as the first same-sex couple to marry in Latin America. Thousands of miles away, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza became the first gay men to tie the knot in Malawi.

The different reactions to the two ceremonies, however, suggested that while gay rights in Latin America are advancing, in Africa they are going into reverse.

Although Di Bello and Freyre had to rely on subterfuge, a progressive provincial governor and a 1,500-mile trip to the continent's southern tip, their union was greeted as a breakthrough. Chimbalanga and Monjeza, however, were swiftly arrested and charged with gross public indecency. Campaigners warned that the move indicated a conservative backlash against homosexuality across Africa. >>> David Smith in Johannesburg and Rory Carroll in Caracas | Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Malawi 'Gay Wedding' Couple Deny Indecency Charges
BBC: Two gay men arrested in Malawi after getting engaged have pleaded not guilty to charges of gross public indecency.

Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza appeared at a court in Malawi's biggest city Blantyre, where they will ask for bail on Monday.

The pair held a traditional engagement ceremony over the weekend - believed to be the first gay couple in Malawi to start the process of getting married. >>> | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Homophobic Malawi
iAFRICA: A gay couple was jailed for "gross indecency" in Malawi after the country's first same-sex public wedding ceremony over the weekend, as several African states were clamping down on homosexuality.

A police spokesman told AFP that Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, the first Malawian gays to publicly wed in a symbolic ceremony on Saturday "will appear in court soon to answer charges of gross indecency."

Homosexuality is banned in the conservative southern African country where the public discussion of sex is still taboo.
Malawi's penal code outlaws homosexuality and sodomy, which is punishable by a maximum of 14 years in jail.

Countries such as Uganda, Senegal and Burundi have intensified their efforts to repress homosexuality in a continent where 38 out of 53 countries have criminalised consensual gay sex.

Hundreds of people attended Saturday's ceremony held at a guesthouse in Blantyre and spiced with traditional and hip-hop music. The couple wore traditional robes. >>> | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Proteste in Iran: Teherans Machthaber rächen sich mit neuen Festnahmen
ZEIT ONLINE: Das iranische Regime versucht, die Lage im Land unter Kontrolle zu bringen. Für Ahmadineschad sind die Proteste ein Schauspiel des Westens, das er "zum Kotzen" findet.

Härte gegen Opposition, Drohungen gegen das Ausland: Das Regime in Teheran will die Kontrolle zurückgewinnen. Bild: Zeit Online
Nach den gewalttätigen Protesten vom Wochenende geht die Regierung nun mit äußerster Härte gegen die Oppositionsanhänger vor. Das Regime um Präsident Mahmud Ahmadineschad und dem geistlichen Oberhaupt Ajatollah Ali Chamenei versucht mit aller Macht, Herr der Lage zu bleiben.

Der Chef der freiwilligen Basidsch-Einheit der Revolutionsgarden, Mohammed Resa Naghdi, nannte die Oppositionsführer "Ungläubige" und deren Anhänger "Wüstlinge". "Die Basidschis würden nicht zögern, das Land von diesen Hetzern und ausländischen Söldnern zu säubern", sagte der General und drohte mit neuen Maßnahmen. >>> Zeit Online, dpa, Reuters | Dienstag, 29. Dezember 2009

Iran: Die Islamische Republik taumelt ihrem Ende entgegen
ZEIT ONLINE: Sicherheitskräfte versuchen, die seit der gefälschten Wahl im Juni anhaltenden Proteste gewaltsam zu stoppen. Doch längst haben sie das ganze Land erfasst. Von M. Gehlen

Ein Demonstrant hält seine blutverschmierte Hand in die Höhe. Er und Hunderte weitere meist junge Teheraner protestieren gegen das iranische Regime. Bild: Zeit Online
Was für ein Jahr für Iran. Im Februar hatte die Führung noch mit großen Umzügen, triumphierenden Predigten und provozierenden Reden den 30. Jahrestag der Islamischen Republik gefeiert. Als Krönung schoss man damals den ersten eigenen Satelliten ins All, während sich Präsident Mahmud Ahmadineschad stolz inmitten der unterirdischen Uranzentrifugen in Natanz fotografieren ließ. Iran präsentierte sich als kommende Atommacht und unbestrittene Hegemonialmacht des Mittleren Ostens – politisch, technisch und militärisch vorne. So war das selbstbewusste Signal an die arabischen Nachbarn. Und so lautete die Botschaft an die westliche Welt. Zehn Monate danach taumelt die Islamische Republik ihrem Ende entgegen. ... >>> Zeit Online, Tagesspiegel | Dienstag, 29. Dezember 2009

Iranian Protest Is Grassroots and Unstoppable, Say Activists
TIMES ONLINE: Iran’s panicking regime is once again seeking to suppress the Green Movement by decapitating it.

Just as it did after June’s hotly-disputed presidential election, it is arresting high-profile reformists, academics and journalists who support the opposition.

It hesitates to detain Mir Hossein Mousavi lest millions of his supporters take to the streets, but it has locked up his brother-in-law and is widely suspected of killing his nephew. It cannot arrest Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel laureate, as she is abroad, but it has imprisoned her sister.

The tactic will prove as futile now as it did in June. Decapitation will not work because the opposition is a bottom-up movement run not by Mr Mousavi or Mehdi Karroubi, its nominal leaders, but by its grassroots members. It is a massive campaign of civil disobedience. >>> Martin Fletcher: Commentary | Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Liz Hoggard: A Morning-after Pill Is Best Served Without a Sermon
THE INDEPENDENT: I don't expect my pharmacist to impose his or her private scruples

I adore the old-fashioned pharmacy. The place that sells everything from Mason Pearson hair brushes to rose water and proper scents. In summer, I spend hours buying plasters and dressings for feet cruelly betrayed by new sandals. In winter, I lurk around the homeopathic flu remedies. A great pharmacist is an asset to any local neighbourhood.

Part psychologist, part confessor, they give advice about diet, exercise and stress; help patients manage conditions from diabetes and asthma to high blood pressure, and discreetly answer questions about side effects to different drugs. We all know of times when a quick-witted pharmacist has spotted a clinical error made by a frazzled GP. Or raised concerns when a customer returns for a repeat prescription just a little too often. They are highly trained experts (all qualifying pharmacy courses are at Masters degree level and last four years). But I don't expect my pharmacist to impose his or her private moral scruples on me, the customer.

You can now buy the morning-after pill from a pharmacy without a prescription. But at the moment, pharmacists are able to decline services with which they disagree on moral or religious grounds. A significant number, mainly Christians and Muslims, refuse women the morning-after pill because they believe it is a form of abortion. I can't be the only one who has witnessed a distressed young woman brusquely told by a pharmacist that they can't help with emergency contraception. Or sent away, like a naughty child, to another pharmacy, one which (by implication) has laxer morals. >>> Liz Hoggard | Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Les avortements retarderaient l'arrivée du Messie
Le Grand rabbin d’Israël. Crédits photo: Tribune de Genève
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: ISRAËL | Les deux Grands rabbins d'Israël se sont élevés contre les avortements en Israël. Selon eux, les interruptions de grossesse "retardent la rédemption messianique". >>> AFP | Mardi 29 Décembre 2009

To Our Eternal Shame, Britain Is STILL a Hub for Islamic Terror
MAIL ONLINE: So here we go again. Another international Islamic terrorist plot - and yet another British connection.

The attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up an American plane was averted only by luck and courage.

The incident obviously raises alarming questions about gross lapses in security. In particular, how did Abdulmutallab obtain a U.S. visa when he had been on an American watch-list of people with known terrorist connections?

But the deeper and more urgent issue for Britain concerns the key role this country has once again played in a Muslim's trajectory to radicalisation and terror. Abdulmutallab, who claims to have been working for Al Qaeda, was an engineering student at prestigious University College London for three years until 2008.

He was actually refused an entry visa to Britain earlier this year, but only because the institution at which he said he wanted to study turned out to be non-existent.

How, people might well ask, could such a radical have been educated in Britain without the authorities jumping on him?

Did MI5 know anything about him - especially since he was on a U.S. terrorism watch-list for two years?

As yet, we still don't know much about this man's history.

It appears he became a religiously extreme Muslim at a school in Togo, but was further radicalised while studying in London before apparently going to Yemen and linking to Al Qaeda.

Who can be surprised? After all, this is ' Londonistan' - the contemptuous term coined by the French security service back in the Nineties as they watched Britain become the central hub of Islamic terrorism in Europe.

Radicals flocked to the UK, attracted by Britain's toxic combination of criminally lax immigration controls, generous health, education and welfare benefits and the ability to perpetuate their views through the British veneration of the principle of free speech. >>> Melanie Phillips | Monday, December 28, 2009

Roman Polanski 'Overwhelmed' by Messages of Support
THE TELEGRAPH: The film director Roman Polanski said he was overwhelmed by messages of support as he battles extradition to the US to face a decades-old sex case involving a 13-year-old girl.

"In the darkest moments, each of their notes has been a source of comfort and hope, and they continue to be so in my current situation," wrote Polanski in a letter released online.

The 76-year-old Oscar winner made his first public statement since his arrest in September in a letter to the French philospher Bernard-Henri Levy, who has been been one of his strongest supporters.

The director of Rosemary's Baby and The Pianist is living under house arrest at his chalet in the Swiss Alpine resort of Gstaad after being released on bail on Dec 4.

Swiss authorities have said a decision on his extradition to the US is expected in January.

"I have been overwhelmed by the number of messages of support and sympathy I have received in Winterthur prison, and that I continue to receive here, in my chalet in Gstaad, where I am spending the holidays with my wife and my children," Polanski wrote. >>> | Monday, December 28, 2009

Pound May Fall Below Parity with Euro, Economists Warn
TIMES ONLINE: Economists have warned that the pound is on the brink of sinking below parity with the euro due to the Government’s unconvincing plans to tackle Britain’s £178 billion budget deficit.

Douglas McWilliams, the chief executive of the Centre for Economics and Business Research (cebr), said that the British economy was walking “five yards away from the edge of the cliff” and could be toppled by an “unexpected gust”.

The pound is trading at 1.10 against the euro after hitting a low of 1.02 a year ago. However, currency markets are reflecting the expectation of a win for the Conservatives in next year’s election, raising hopes of tougher action to tackle the deficit. Any signs of Labour closing the gap ahead of the election would result in the pound plunging, according to the cebr.

“If I had to bet, I would bet on the side of parity being broken,” said Mr McWilliams, adding that there was significant downside risk for the euro as a result of the divergent economic performances of countries such as Germany and Greece. >>> Nic Fildes | Monday, December 28, 2009

Iran Protests: Opposition Leader Mir Hossein Mousavi's Nephew Shot Dead
THE TELEGRAPH: Iranian security forces have shot and killed a nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi during the fiercest clashes with anti-government protesters in months.


At least eight people are thought to have died in clashes across the country, according to opposition web sites and witnesses.

Amateur video footage from the centre of Tehran showed an enraged crowd carrying away one of the casualties, chanting, "I'll kill, I'll kill the one who killed my brother".

In several locations in the capital, demonstrators fought back furiously against security forces, hurling stones and setting their motorcycles, cars and vans ablaze, according to video footage and pro-reform websites.

Demonstrations also took place in at least three other cities. >>> | Sunday, December 27, 2009