Thursday, March 04, 2010
BBC: UKIP MEP Nigel Farage has been asked to apologise for remarks he made about the President of the European Council.
Mr Farage described Herman van Rompuy, the former Belgian prime minister, as a "damp rag" and "a low-grade bank clerk".
The Parliament is asking for an apology but Mr Farage has said he will not comply. Watch video here >>> | Tuesday, March 02, 2010
BBC: More than 120 gay couples have received marriage licences in the US capital, Washington DC.
The District of Columbia became the sixth US jurisdiction to allow same-sex unions after the Supreme Court threw out a last-minute legal challenge.
Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont also issue same-sex licences.
Many queued for hours outside Washington's marriage bureau to be among the first to get their licences.
The BBC's Madeleine Morris, in Washington, says that the couples were motivated both by a desire to marry as soon as they could, and a fear that further legal challenges could overturn the decision to allow same-sex marriages. >>> | Thursday, March 04, 2010
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: LOI | Cette loi fait de la capitale fédérale le sixième endroit du pays à autoriser le mariage gay.
Les couples homosexuels peuvent depuis ce mercredi s’inscrire pour se marier à Washington, au lendemain du rejet par la Cour Suprême fédérale d’un appel contre la légalisation du mariage gay dans la capitale américaine. Adoptée en décembre dernier par le conseil de district de Columbia et jugée constitutionnelle mardi, cette loi fait de la capitale fédérale le sixième endroit du pays à autoriser le mariage gay. >>> AP | Mercredi 03 Mars 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Anti-Muslim populist hopes to establish Freedom party at local government level for first time as general election looms
The Dutch went to the polls today to elect local authorities in a ballot seen as a gauge of the national mood and the strength of the far right, 10 days after the government collapsed and three months before national elections.
With almost 400 local authorities being elected, the focus was on only two, the votes in the capital The Hague and the central town of Almere, because of the campaign by the anti-Muslim populist Geert Wilders to establish his Freedom party in local government for the first time.
Wilders, who likens the Qur'an to Hitler's Mein Kampf and wants Muslim immigrants deported, is bidding fair to win the general election in June, with the latest opinion polls giving him 27 of the 150 seats in The Netherlands' highly fragmented political scene.
The maverick rightwinger is expected at the House of Lords on Friday on an invitation from the UK Independence Party for a screening of his incendiary anti-Islamic film, Fitna, after the Home Office barred him from entering Britain last year, a ban that was rescinded.
Today the town halls in The Hague and Almere were under heavy security because of the tension fanned by the Freedom party campaign. In both towns and elsewhere scores of men and women turned up to vote wearing headscarves, in an ironic protest against Wilders's demand for a tax on Muslim headgear and for the wearing of headscarves to be banned in all public buildings.
His Freedom party is running for only two local authorities because of a lack of resources and candidates.
While local elections in Holland are usually a subdued affair focused on issues such as cycle paths and rubbish collection, today's poll was dominated by immigration and Afghanistan. >>> Ian Traynor, Europe editor | Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Here Obama goes again, wagging his finger as though only he could know what is good for American people. Big daddy knows best. So you listen to me, children!
How do the American people put up with this arrogance? Doesn’t Obama realise that he is supposed to be leading a democracy? Obama seems to have so little political experience. The fact that he came to high office as an empty suit is more and more evident with each passing day.
America’s health system does indeed need reforming, but the baby should not be thrown out with the bathwater; rather, the system needs to be controlled better, and it needs a lot of tweaking into shape. But a European healthcare system – a national health care system as there is in Britain or France – probably would not go down well in America. It would probably not sit well with the psyche of the American people, the people living in the ‘land of the free’.
I often wonder whether Obama understands his compatriots very well; he certainly indicates that he is ignorant of their character and ways. In a few words, he doesn’t seem to understand what makes his fellow countrymen tick.
If he rams this legislation through Congress, he will pay a very high price for his folly in future elections. It will ensure that his presidency will be nothing longer than one term. – © Mark
TIMES ONLINE: President Obama declared for the first time today that he is prepared to steamroll his troubled health reform legislation through Congress with only Democratic support, a move Republicans denounced as the “nuclear option”.
Signalling that his patience had now snapped after a year-long fight over health reform, Mr Obama laid the ground for Democrats in Congress to muscle the Bill through using a high-risk legislative maneuvre known as reconciliation, which overrides a Republican filibuster.
Although he did not use the word “reconciliation”, Mr Obama made clear that is the uncompromising route he now intends to take with his top domestic priority. White House aides and top Democrats on Capitol Hill have also stated in recent days that, in the face of unanimous Republican opposition, the legislation will now be forced through.
By using reconciliation, Democrats can get the health reform package through the Senate with a simple majority, rather than needing the Bill to pass the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a Republican filibuster. Mr Obama’s party ceded their 60-stong majority in the upper chamber after losing the late Edward Kennedy’s Massachusetts seat in January.
That shock defeat was in large part due to growing public hostility to Mr Obama’s health reforms, which many see as too expensive at a time of exploding deficits. Forcing the Bill through Congress is, therefore, a high-risk strategy that Republicans vowed to exploit.
In a speech from the White House, Mr Obama conceded the risks involved. “I don’t know how this plays politically, but I know it's right”, he said. >>> Tim Reid, Washington | Wednesday, March 03, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: It is not an obvious choice of dress for a first lady at a state dinner but then not all first ladies have Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's advantages.
The wife of Nicolas Sarkozy selected a figure hugging Roland Mouret dress that left only a very little to the imagination as she arrived with her husband at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
And while many may not have got away with it, Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy carried off the outfit, which she teamed with Christian Louboutin heels, with grace.The dinner was held in honour of Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian President, and his wife Svetlana, who have been on a three-day visit to France. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy arrives at state dinner in figure-hugging dress >>> | Wednesday, March 03, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni wears RM by the designer Roland Mouret: Carla loved the French designer's creation so much, that she has ordered three more of his designs. >>> Hilary Alexander, Fashion Director at Paris Fashion Week | Wednesday, March 03, 2010
KRONE.at: Da hilft kein geboxter Unschuldsblick: Fotos beweisen eindeutig, dass Frankreichs "First Lady" Carla Sarkozy-Bruni beim Staatsempfang ihres Mannes für den russischen Präsidenten Medwedew ohne Büstenhalter als BH-lose Gastgeberin dagestanden ist. Aber Madame! Carla Sarkozy-Bruni ohne BH beim Staatsempfang >>> | Donnerstag, 04. März 2010
NZZ ONLINE: Die niederländischen Lokalwahlen werden als Gradmesser für die Popularität des Rechtspopulisten Geert Wilders und von dessen Partei für die Freiheit (PVV) betrachtet. Der Brüsseler NZZ-Korrespondent Peter Winkler hat mit Wilders gesprochen.
Herr Wilders, Sie haben mit Ihren Aussagen zum Islam einigen Aufruhr ausgelöst. Gegen Sie läuft auch ein Gerichtsverfahren wegen Diskriminierung, Beleidigung einer Gruppe und Anstachelung zu Hass. Worum geht es für Sie?
Es geht um Freiheit. Das ist auch der Grund, warum ich meiner Partei den Namen «Partei für die Freiheit» gegeben habe. Ich glaube, es ist nicht nur unser Recht, sondern unsere Pflicht, für die Freiheit zu kämpfen. Ich glaube, dass der Islam – nicht Muslime, das möchte ich betonen, ich habe nichts gegen Menschen – als Ideologie eine Bedrohung für unseren Rechtsstaat, unsere Demokratie und unsere Freiheit ist. Darum geht es, dafür kämpfe ich, und deshalb bin ich auch vor Gericht.
Freiheit, alles zu sagen?
Wenn man für die Freiheit kämpft, ist es dann egal, was man sagt?
Nein, natürlich gibt es Grenzen. Ich glaube sehr an die Freiheit, an so etwas wie das First Amendment in der amerikanischen Verfassung, und es wäre schön, wenn dieses auch nach Europa exportiert würde. Aber selbst dann muss man Leute bestrafen, die zu Gewalt aufrufen oder Andere diskriminieren, wie zum Beispiel Ladenbesitzer, die sagen: Christen oder Juden oder Muslime sind nicht erwünscht. Man soll sagen können, was man denkt, aber nicht: «Tötet diesen Mann!»
Es gibt diese rote Linie, aber darüber hinaus, davon bin ich überzeugt, sollte man nicht mehr viel verbieten. Die Leute sollten sich verteidigen können. Wenn wir als Politiker nicht zu Gewalt aufrufen oder diskriminieren, sollte die Diskussion im Parlament geführt werden, nicht vor Gericht. Das Gericht sollte kein Korrekturmechanismus sein für Dinge, die man nicht hören will oder mit denen man nicht einverstanden ist. >>> Interview: win. | Mittwoch, 03. März 2010
Das gesamte Interview mit Geert Wilders lesen Sie morgen im Auslandteil der NZZ.
lePARISIEN.fr: Nicolas Sarkozy a affirmé que «la France et la Russie» avaient débuté lundi des «négociations exclusives» pour l'achat par Moscou de quatre navires de guerre français, lors d'une conférence de presse conjointe à Paris avec le président russe Dmitri Medvedev. Il s'agit de quatre BPC (bâtiments de projection et de commandement) Mistral. >>> leparisien.fr | Lundi 01 Mars 2010
lePARISIEN.fr: Le président russe Dmitri Medvedev a marqué lundi à Paris son accord pour de nouvelles sanctions contre l'Iran, à condition qu'elles n'aient pas de conséquences humanitaires pour la population iranienne. «La Russie est prête, avec nos autres partenaires, à réfléchir à l'introduction de sanctions», a-t-il déclaré à l'issue d'un entretien avec son homologue Nicolas Sarkozy.
«Nos appels (à l'Iran) pour travailler à un programme nucléaire pacifique sous le contrôle de la communauté internationale n'ont pas porté leurs fruits jusqu'à présent», a regretté le président russe. «Malheureusement, ces derniers temps, nous n'avons pas beaucoup avancé. Au contraire, la situation s'est détériorée», a-t-il jugé. >>> leparisien.fr avec l’AFP | Lundi 01 Mars 2010
LE TEMPS: La Libye a décidé d’imposer un embargo économique «total» sur la Suisse dans la foulée de la crise diplomatique entre les deux pays, a déclaré mercredi à l’AFP le porte-parole du gouvernement libyen, Mohamed Baayou
«La Libye a décidé d’imposer un embargo total sur tous les échanges économiques et commerciaux avec la Suisse», a indiqué M. Baayou.
Elle a décidé par ailleurs d’»adopter d’autres alternatives en ce qui concerne les médicaments et les équipements médicaux et industriels» suisses importés par Tripoli, a-t-il précisé. >>> AFP | Mercredi 03 Mars 2010
NZZ ONLINE: Libyen verhängt ein totales Wirtschaftsembargo gegen die Schweiz. Der nordafrikanische Staat begründet den Schritt mit der diplomatischen Krise zwischen den beiden Staaten. Das sagte ein Sprecher der libyschen Regierung am Mittwoch der Nachrichtenagentur AFP.
Libyen werde Medikamente, medizinische Geräte und Industriegeräte, die das Land bisher aus der Schweiz bezogen habe, aus anderen Ländern importieren, hielt Baayou fest. >>> sda | Mittwoch, 03. März 2010
AL ARABIYA: Libya has decided to impose a "total" economic embargo on Switzerland, government spokesman Mohammed Baayou said on Wednesday, after Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi declared holy war on Bern.
"Libya has decided to impose a total embargo on all economic and commercial exchanges with Switzerland," Baayou said.
The country will "adopt alternative (sources) for medicines and medical and industrial equipment" imported from Switzerland, he added.
The announcement comes just hours after Libya protested against a U.S. State Department official poking fun at Ghaddafi after he called for jihad against Switzerland in an ongoing diplomatic spat with that country. >>> Tripoli, Agencies | Wednesday, March 03, 2010
WELT ONLINE: Libyen will den Streit mit der Schweiz jetzt auch auf wirtschaftlicher Ebene austragen und hat einen Handelsboykott verkündet. Ohnehin sind die Geschäfte zwischen den Ländern bereits um mehr als die Hälfte zurückgegangen. Unter anderem stehen Arzneimittel und medizinische Geräte auf der Embargo-Liste.
Gegen die Schweiz werde ein vollständiges Wirtschafts- und Handelsembargo verhängt, sagte ein Regierungssprecher. Der Handel zwischen beiden Ländern ist wegen der seit mehr als anderthalb Jahren andauernden Krise bereits um mehr als die Hälfte zurückgegangen.
Unter anderem sollten Arzneimittel und medizinische Geräte künftig anderswo beschafft werden, sagte Regierungssprecher Mohammed Baaju. Die Schweizer Exporte nach Libyen beliefen sich im vergangenen Jahr auf 156 Millionen Schweizer Franken und fielen damit um fast 45 Prozent geringer aus als noch im Vorjahr. Verglichen mit einem Exportvolumen von insgesamt 180 Milliarden Schweizer Franken ist das Geschäft mit Libyen eher gering. Libyen verkaufte 2009 Waren im Wert von 718 Millionen Franken an die Eidgenossen, dies bedeutete gegenüber dem Vorjahr ein Minus von über 78 Prozent.
Die Beziehungen zwischen Libyen und der Schweiz gelten als zerrüttet, seit im Juli 2008 ein Sohn des libyschen Machthabers Muammar el Gaddafi in Genf vorübergehend festgenommen wurde. Tripolis zog seitdem seine Bankguthaben aus der Schweiz ab, verwies Schweizer Unternehmen des Landes und kündigte einen Lieferstopp für Erdöl an. Libyen verhängt Embargo gegen die Schweiz >>> AFP/cl | Mittwoch, 03. März 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: A complex network of 156 caves used by the Taliban and al-Qaeda has been discovered by the Pakistan army dug into rocky mountains close to the Afghan border.
The tunnels, which are thought to have been created over five to seven years, were carved into sheer rock within view of the snow-capped peaks of eastern Afghanistan.
The network was found during an offensive against Islamist militants in the country's semi-autonomous tribal areas in which 75 militants were killed. >>> | Wednesday, March 03, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: This 14-month-old boy born without pores in his skin has baffled medics by developing fish scales.
Doctors believe Song Sheng, of Jinhu, eastern China, may be suffering from a rare genetic condition that means his body cannot cool itself.
Song Sheng - called fish boy by locals - began developing scales within days of his birth caused by his lack of pores. >>> | Monday, March 01, 2010
To make a donation to help Song Sheng click here.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Europeans are blaming financial transactions arranged by Wall Street for bringing Greece to the brink of needing a bailout. But a close look at the country's finances over the nearly 10 years since it adopted the euro shows not only that Greece was the principal author of its debt problems, but also that fellow European governments repeatedly turned a blind eye to its flouting of rules.
Though the European Commission and the U.S. Federal Reserve are examining a controversial 2001 swap arranged with Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Greece's own budget moves, in clear breach of European Union rules, dwarfed the effect of such deals.
Predicaments of the sort Greece is facing—years of overspending, leaving bond investors worried the country can't pay back its debts—weren't supposed to happen in the euro zone. Early on, countries made a pact aimed at preventing a free-spending state from undermining the common currency. The pact required countries adopting the euro to limit annual budget deficits to 3% of gross domestic product, and total government debt to 60% of GDP.
But an examination of budget reports to the EU shows Greece hasn't met the deficit rule in any year except 2006. It has never been within 30 percentage points of the debt ceiling. >>> Charles Forelle and Stephen Fiddler | Wednesday, March 03, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Winston Churchill, who died today aged 69, never quite managed in 27 years as a Conservative MP to shrug off the burdens of having had the wartime leader as his grandfather and the ebullient, self-destructive Randolph Churchill for a father.
Faced with the choice of emulating Sir Winston or pursuing a career outside politics, he opted for the former, proved competent if mercurial, but lacked the exceptional flair to establish himself in his own right.
Churchill was at a disadvantage not only through his legacy but because his preoccupation with it led some to consider him bumptious; alone of more than 650 MPs, he insisted on signing Commons motions without using his Christian name.
He caused a furore in 1995 when he negotiated the payment to the Churchill family of £12.5 million in National Lottery funds for his grandfather’s personal papers to remain at Churchill College, Cambridge, rather than be sold abroad, himself retaining the copyright for 20 years. It had not been widely appreciated, even among historians, that the papers were eligible for sale as the family had already received £393,000 for them in 1946.
There were suggestions that Churchill needed the cash to offset his losses as a “name” at Lloyds, to finance his divorce from his first wife or even to bail out his mother, Pamela Harriman, who had almost exhausted the £100 million railroad fortune of her final husband. The Churchill trustees insisted first that he would only receive some of the investment income, then said they would consider a request to fund the divorce.
Randolph Churchill had observed of his son: “His name is such a disadvantage”, but young Winston saw both sides: “A famous name can be terrible if you are lousy, but if you are any good, it helps.” It may have seen him bullied at school, but later it did secure him the best tables at restaurants. It did not always carry weight, however; when after the Gulf War he introduced himself to a squaddie in the desert, he received the reply: “Yes, and I’m Rommel.” >>> | Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Excuse me, but shouldn’t boys of twelve be playing with their friend Willy instead of playing with their own willy? – © Mark
MAIL ONLINE: Extra small condoms for boys as young as 12 are going on sale in Switzerland after a sexual health group campaign.
Called the Hotshot, the condom has been produced after government research showed 12 to 14-year-olds did not use sufficient protection when having sex.
The study, conducted on behalf of the Federal Commission for Children and Youth, interviewed 1,480 people aged between 10 and 20.
It found more 12 to 14-year-old were having sex, in comparison with the 1990s.
Nancy Bodmer, who led the research at the Centre for Development and Personality Psychology at Basel University, said: 'The result that shocked us concerned young boys who display apparently risky behaviour.
'They have more of a tendency not to protect themselves. They do not have a very developed sexual knowledge. Swiss government produces extra small condoms for boys as young as 12 >>> Alexandra Williams | Wesnesday, March 03, 2010
20MINUTES.ch: Le dénouement est proche dans la crise qui oppose la Libye et la Suisse, a assuré mardi le chef de la diplomatie libyenne Moussa Koussa.
«Nous sommes proches d'une solution en ce qui concerne la crise avec la Suisse, même si cette dernière a la grande responsabilité de ne pas avoir mis en oeuvre jusqu'à présent ce qui a été convenu entre nos deux pays afin de résoudre» notre différend, a déclaré Moussa Koussa en marge d'une réunion du Congrès général du peuple (le pouvoir législatif libyen), à Syrte.
Cette rencontre a eu lieu mardi à l'occasion du 33e anniversaire de la proclamation de la Grande Jamahiriyya, le régime populaire et socialiste mis en place par Mouammar Kadhafi en 1977, huit ans après son accession au pouvoir. >>> ats | Mercredi 03 Mars 2010
20MINUTES.ch: La famille du Suisse emprisonné en Libye Max Göldi a lancé un appel pressant au chef de l'Etat libyen Mouamar Kadhafi.
Une demande de grâce doit être déposée en fin de semaine par l'avocat libyen de l'otage helvétique.
Moritz, le frère de Max Göldi, a déclaré mardi soir lors de l'émission «10vor10» de la télévision alémanique SF, qu'au nom de sa mère et de toute la famille, il avait appelé la famille Kadhafi «à faire tout ce qui était en leur pouvoir pour que la demande de recours en grâce soit entendue». >>> ats | Mercredi 03 Mars 2010
20MINUTEN.ch: Der russische Strafvollzug «legitimiert Gewalt» und sei von «Schweinehunden» durchsetzt, schreibt der inhaftierte Ex-Ölmanager Michail Chodorkowski in einem Zeitungsartikel.
Ungeachtet der Reformversprechen von Kremlchef Dmitri Medwedew herrschen in Russlands Justiz aus Sicht Chodorkowskis weiter Gewalt und Willkür. «Das verbrecherische Fliessband der Justiz zerstört jedes Jahr die Würde und das Schicksal tausender Menschen und produziert damit eine gewaltige Menge, die es hasst», schrieb der Kremlkritiker und einstige Chef des zerschlagenen Ölkonzerns Yukos in einem Beitrag für die Zeitung «Nesawissimaja Gaseta» vom Mittwoch. >>> sda | Mittwoch, 03. März 2010
20MINUTEN.ch: Im Fürstentum Liechtenstein ist die heile Welt aus den Fugen geraten. Rechstextreme Kreise gehen immer offener auf Ausländer los. Regierungsvertreter sehen «rechtsextreme Einstellungen bis tief in die Mitte der Gesellschaft in Liechtenstein».
Am letzten Freitag wurde ein Kebap-Bistro in Nendeln kurz vor der Eröffnung durch Molotow-Cocktails verwüstet. Es handelt sich um den zweiten Anschlag mit einfach herstellbaren Brandsätzen im gleichen Ort innert dreier Monate.
Ende November 2009 hatten Unbekannte Molotow-Cocktails gegen zwei Wohnhäuser in Nendeln geworfen. Hausbewohner konnten die Flammen löschen, bevor grösserer Schaden entstand.
Ein weiterer Anschlag ereignete sich vergangenen September in Triesen: Unbekannte sprengten den Briefkasten einer liechtensteinischen Familie und deponierten vor den Trümmern einen abgeschnittenen Schafskopf.
In allen Fällen fand die Polizei keine Hinweise auf die Täterschaft, wie Sprecherin Tina Enz der Nachrichtenagentur SDA sagte. Daher könne man weder eine Verbindung zwischen den drei Fällen noch eine zu rechtsextremen Kreisen bestätigen. Unverkennbare rassistische Tendenz >>> sda | Mittwoch 03 März 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: A Muslim woman is thought to have become the first passenger to be stopped from boarding a flight after refusing to go through a full body scanner for religious reasons.
The passenger was at Manchester Airport for a flight to Islamabad when she was selected at random to pass through the security screen.
She was warned she would not be allowed to board the Pakistan International Airlines flight if she did not comply with the request but she decided to forfeit her ticket.
Her female travelling companion also left the airport after she cited ''medical reasons'' for not wanting to go through the scanner.
More than 15,000 people have already passed through the £80,000 Rapiscan machine at the airport's Terminal 2. The Government introduced the scanner at Heathrow and Manchester airports last month.
Security staff use the X-ray machine to check for any concealed weapons or explosives but it has attracted criticism for also showing clear outlines of passengers' genitals. Civil liberties campaigners have criticised the scanners as an invasion of privacy.
Sources at Manchester Airport said the flight to Pakistan about two weeks ago was busy and that no other passengers objected when chosen to go through the full body scanner after check-in. >>> | Wednesday, March 03, 2010
My oh my, Geert Wilders really does seem to have got you rattled, Mr Macintyre.
But let’s get some facts straight. Geert Wilders is not “far-right” just because he states truths that you, Mr Macintyre, don’t want to hear. This is clearly a case of shooting the messenger, and one of trying to shoot him down with ad hominem attacks. Geert Wilders is merely pointing out the dangers of the growth of Islam in his country. The Channel 4 documentary, Dispatches, entitled 'Britain's Islamic Republic', testifies to the validity of what Mr Wilders says.
In a free society, we should be allowed to hear and say things which may not be popular. It’s called ‘free speech’, remember? It’s what our ancestors died for.
So if Muslims don’t want to hear what Mr Wilders has to say, then it’s just too bad. We so-called infidels don’t want to hear half the nonsense and abuse that Muslims come out with either, but nobody has the courage to shut them up. By the way, Mr Macintyre, it’s Muslims who are trying to kill us, not the other way round. Your logic seems to be warped and twisted. – © Mark
TIMES ONLINE: Boyish, topped with a bouffant mane of bleached blond hair, cheerful and cherubic, Geert Wilders is the unlikely new face of the far Right in Europe. But appearances are deceptive. The leader of the Dutch anti-immigration Freedom Party has emerged as one of the most divisive politicians in Europe, the purveyor of a virulent brand of anti-Islamic rhetoric that calls for a tax on Islamic headscarves and a ban on the Koran, which he likens to Mein Kampf.
Mr Wilders is facing trial in a Dutch court for “inciting hatred”. Last year he was banned from Britain and turned away at Heathrow when he arrived here planning to show his short film, an incendiary anti-Islamic diatribe that the Dutch Prime Minister described as serving “no purpose other than to offend”.
On Friday, after successfully appealing against the Home Office ban, Mr Wilders will return to Britain at the invitation of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) to show his controversial film to an invited audience at the House of Lords. The English Defence League is expected to demonstrate in his support and Muslim groups are all but certain to mount protests.
To his enemies, the 46-year-old Dutchman is an old-fashioned racist demagogue in a new suit; a bottle-blond bigot. To his growing ranks of supporters he is a champion of free speech, a bulwark against what he calls “the Islamic invasion of Holland”. He may be dismissed by some as a crank but he is an increasingly powerful and popular one. On February 20 the Dutch centrist coalition Government collapsed, deeply divided over keeping troops in Afghanistan, paving the way for a general election in June in which the Freedom Party is expected to do extremely well. Polls suggest that the party will triple its tally of seats, becoming at least the second-biggest parliamentary party and quite possibly the overall winner. Mr Wilders is likely to be a key player in any coalition, with a profound impact on the political agenda. >>> Ben Macintyre | Wednesday, March 03, 2010
LE FIGARO: Le président américain a subi dimanche son premier «check-up» depuis son arrivée à la Maison-Blanche. Malgré un bilan satisfaisant, Barack Obama peine à arrêter de fumer et possède un taux de cholestérol trop élevé.
Finies les cigarettes et les sucreries concoctées par les grands chefs. Barack Obama va devoir se serrer un peu la ceinture. Le président américain a subi dimanche son premier «check-up» depuis son arrivée à la Maison-Blanche. Et, à 48 ans, bien qu'il soit en «excellente santé » et «bon pour le service», le chef de l'Etat a toujours du mal à abandonner la cigarette.
Il doit «poursuivre ses efforts pour arrêter de fumer», a ainsi expliqué son médecin, le capitaine Jeffrey Kuhlman, après une heure et demi d'auscultation. Plus de trois ans après avoir décidé d'arrêter - sur demande express de sa femme Michelle - le président éprouverait encore des difficultés à ne pas succomber de temps à autre à une blonde. En l'occurrence à des Marlboros, sa marque préférée. >>> Par Flore Galaud | Mardi 02 Mars 2010
BBC: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has likened the country's budget crisis to a "wartime situation".
He said Greece was at risk of bankruptcy if it did not take radical extra measures to cut its debts.
The comments come as Mr Papandreou is due to announce further big budget cuts following the pressure from the EU.
The government in Athens has pledged to reduce its deficit from 12.7% - more than four times eurozone rules - to 8.7% during 2010.
It also also seeking to reduce its 300bn euros ($419bn; £259bn) debt.
'Blow to wallets'
"We find ourselves in a wartime situation, faced with the negative scenarios affecting our country," Mr Papandreou told the parliamentary group of his Socialist Party (Pasok).
He said that Greece had to avoid "a nightmare of bankruptcy" in which the state would not be able to pay salaries or pensions.
Mr Papandreou has used some dramatic phrases to describe Greece's fiscal problems over the past few months, but this was his most alarmist to date, the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens says.
The prime minister was effectively telling Greeks to prepare themselves for another blow to their wallets, our correspondent adds. >>> | Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Ukip's European leader Nigel Farage has been fined £2,700 after refusing to say sorry for a colourful outburst against the new European president.
Mr Farage used Herman Van Rompuy's maiden speech to the European Parliament last week to describe him as having the "charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low grade bank clerk".
He was summoned in by EU officials to explain his comments but said his only apology would be to bank clerks.
Yves Leterme, Belgium's Prime Minister, has demanded a public apology for the "slander" and Mr Farage's added "insult" that Mr Van Rompuy was a "quiet assassin" hostile to the sovereignty of nation states because he came from the "non-country" of Belgium.
Mr Farage was called to the office of Jerzy Buzek, the President of the European Parliament, and told to publicly apologise to Mr Van Rompuy and Belgium "or else".
"I said he had the charisma of a damp rag and I challenge you to find anyone who would say any different to that," he said, "The only people I am going to apologise to are bank clerks the world over. If I have offended them I am very sorry indeed."
Following the meeting, Mr Farage was informed by Mr Buzek that he would be fined EUR3,000, to be deducted from his MEP allowances, for the comments. >>> Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Tuesday, March 02, 2010
20MINUTES.ch: Le Parlement européen a infligé une amende de 3000 euros à l'eurodéputé britannique Nigel Farage, qui a comparé le 24 février le nouveau président de l'Union européenne, le Belge Herman van Rompuy, à une «serpillière humide».
Nigel Farage, chef du parti UK Independence Party qui demande le retrait de la Grande-Bretagne de l'Union européenne, a refusé de s'excuser pour ces propos. La présidence du Parlement européen a condamné mardi le comportement «incorrect et irrespectueux» de l'eurodéputé, qui va perdre dix jours d'indemnités parlementaires journalières, à 298 euros par jour. >>> ap | Mercredi 03 Mars 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Greece's crippling economic crisis has prompted its best-known singer, Nana Mouskouri, to offer the country her pension in a bid to tackle its massive debt.
Mouskouri, whose best known songs include Greece, Land of Dreams and The White Rose of Athens, served as a member of the European parliament for five years in the 1990s and draws a pension of around £14,700 from Brussels each year.
The diva, who recorded 1,500 songs during a career spanning half a century, said she would donate her pension "until the country emerges from the economic crisis." >>> Nick Squires, in Rome | Tuesday, March 02, 2010
20MINUTES.ch: Nana Mouskouri a décidé de faire don de sa retraite d'eurodéputée à l'Etat grec, face à la crise financière qu'il traverse.
Selon les journaux, Nan Mouskouri a invoqué dans un courrier au ministère son «devoir envers la patrie». Elle indique vouloir renoncer à sa retraite «pour ne pas alourdir le budget public, jusqu'à ce que le pays sorte de la crise économique». >>> ats | Mercredi 03 Mars 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Parisians are traditionally viewed as rude, arrogant and unwelcoming in the popular British imagination.
Now the stereotype has been confirmed - by a French poll that completed the character assassination by labelling the capital's inhabitants "snobbish" and "self-regarding".
"We find them to be hard working and cultivated," the political magazine Marianne said of Parisians in an editorial published alongside the survey.
"But we consider them to be above all way too arrogant, aggressive, flirtatious, stressed, chauvinistic, snobbish, and self-regarding than other French people. >>> Peter Allen in Paris | Tuesday, March 02, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: The transcript of Hillary Clinton’s press conference in Buenos Aires with Argentine President Kristina Kirchner last night, has just been released by the State Department, and it is a real eye-opener. Her remarks represent an astonishing propaganda coup for the Peronist regime in its dispute with Britain over the Falklands, with Washington brazenly backing its position. >>> Nile Gardiner | Tuesday, March 02, 2010
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: LONDRES | Cet homme d'origine pakistanaise estime qu'il les martyrs et leurs actes ne peuvent être considérés comme le djihad.
Un éminent érudit musulman d’origine pakistanaise, Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a condamné mardi les terroristes comme des ennemis de l’islam, dans une fatwa rendue publique à Londres. Il a souligné que les actes de terrorisme ne pouvaient avoir aucune justification au nom de l’islam, condamnant notamment les attentats d’Al Qaïda, dans cette fatwa de quelque 600 pages, présentée au cours d’une conférence de presse à Londres en présence notamment de députés et de représentants d’associations caritatives. >>> AFP | Mardi 02 Mars 2010
*Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
LE TEMPS: Le gouvernement de George Papandréou viserait 4,8 milliards d’économies supplémentaires, pour rassurer les marchés obligataires, Bruxelles et surtout l’Allemagne, encore réticente à lui accorder son aide
Face aux pressions de l’Union européenne et des investisseurs, le gouvernement grec s’apprête à annoncer quelque 4,8 milliards d’euros de réduction budgétaire en plus des engagements d’austérité qu’il a déjà pris.
Les nouvelles mesures d’économie influeraient notamment des taxes plus élevées sur le tabac, l’alcool, une augmentation de la TVA, et de nouvelles coupes dans les primes variables des fonctionnaires, a indiqué mardi une source gouvernementale. >>> Le Temps | Mardi 02 Mars 2010
ASSOCIATED PRESS OF PAKISTAN: LONDON - The UK’s largest Muslim organization-Muslim Council of Britain- has rejected all allegations leveled in a TV documentary claiming that the association was attempting to turn Britain into an Islamic Republic. “We reject entirely the allegation that the MCB is “dominated” by any organisation/s. The MCB, with over 500 affiliates, has a rigorous election process with elected officials from a wide range of Islamic backgrounds.
Simply put, there is no scope whatsoever, real or perceived, for any affiliate/s or group of affiliates to dominate the decision-making process. The Dispatches programme has failed to provide even a single shred of evidence of how “undue influence” by any affiliate or group of affiliates has actually been exercised,” The MCB said in a statement in response to the programme screened on Monday evening by the UK domestic TV Channel 4.
The media spokesman Tufael Ahmed said: “Last night’s Dispatches fronted by Andrew Gilligan has once again resurrected stereotypes. Using out of context quotations, he echoes the rhetoric of far-right extremists, that British Muslims are somehow foreign, alien, extremist and imposing their way of life on the others.”
“The core of the programme accuses the Islamic Forum Europe (IFE) and the East London Mosque of fostering ‘Islamist’ extremism and that the IFE has an undue and pernicious influence over the politics of our country.” >>> APP | Tuesday, March 02, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Telegraph View: Developments in Tower Hamlets are worrying news for British democracy
Radical Muslims, in their unguarded moments, are unrepentant about what they believe to be their religious duty: the replacement of secular, tolerant and liberal democracy in Britain by a rigid theocracy, in which the country is governed by Islamic law. Those who aspire to that goal are usually, and correctly, dismissed as a tiny minority who are unrepresentative of the moderate majority of British Muslims. But it would be wrong to dismiss the extremists as insignificant. The evidence we publish today [Saturday, February 27, 2010] suggests that at least one such group has infiltrated parts of the Labour Party, and has taken over important aspects of the running of the London borough of Tower Hamlets.
If the Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) was open and frank about its aims, voters would be able to make up their own minds about whether they wanted to see its members in any form of government in Britain. It is part of any democratic system worthy of the name that those who abide by the rule of law are entitled to campaign in elections, even if we find their beliefs objectionable. But some members of the IFE demonstrate in private that they have an agenda that they are not willing to share with the electorate. They have also demonstrated that they are unwilling to abide by the procedures which are essential if elections are to be free and fair. As we report today, Jim Fitzpatrick, the MP for Tower Hamlets, believes that the party has been infiltrated by radical Muslims – just as it was infiltrated in the 1980s by the Militant Tendency. The IFE denies any such campaign. But its denials would be more credible if, in public, the IFE was not presented as simply a "social welfare organisation" committed to "community cohesion" and "tolerance" – while in private, it shows itself to be committed to replacing democracy by a theocracy based on Islamic law. >>> Telegraph View | Sunday, February 28, 2010
Related:
Dispatches: Britain’s Islamic Republic >>> Channel 4 | Monday, March 01, 2010
Britain's Islamic Republic >>> Channel 4 | Monday, March 01, 2010
Islamic Radicals 'Infiltrate' the Labour Party >>> Andrew Gilligan | Saturday, February 27, 2010
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The European Union's new diplomatic service is still months from completion. But already, Germany is worried that the bloc's new foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, is handing over too many top slots to Britons.
At least the European Union's new diplomatic service has a name: The European External Action Service. Beyond that, however, just what the service might look like remains a matter of conjecture. There is no clear leadership framework, nor is there a budget. Nevertheless, the service has become the subject of intense debate in capital cities throughout the 27-member bloc.
Diplomats from Germany and France are displeased with the personnel preferences being shown by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, according to an article in the Guardian. Citing anonymous sources, the paper says there is concern that four of the 12 positions in her Brussels office have been given to Britons and that several important jobs in the new EU diplomatic service have gone to UK diplomats.
Ashton has occupied her new position, created when the Lisbon Treaty entered into force last December, for three months. More time will pass before she submits her official proposal for how the EU's new foreign policy apparatus should look. Ultimately, it will likely include some 130 European Union ambassadors and 7,000 diplomats -- and discussions on how those positions might be divvied up are underway among Europe's 27 foreign ministers. Already, though, the first governments are sounding the alarm. >>> Matthias Gebauer and Carsten Volkery | Tuesday, March 02, 2010
WELT ONLINE: Seit 2005 verhandelt die Türkei mit Brüssel über einen EU-Beitritt. Um das stockende Projekt voranzubringen, soll nun die türkische Verfassung verändert werden. Die Regierung will etwa das Justizsystem europäischen Standards anpassen. Das letzte Wort darüber hat aber vermutlich das türkische Volk.
Die türkische Regierung hat eine Überarbeitung der Verfassung des Landes angekündigt. Damit soll das türkische Grundgesetz an die Normen der europäischen Demokratie angepasst werden, wie Ministerpräsident RecepTayyip Erdogan sagte.
„Es geht nicht darum, die Verfassung von Grund auf zu ändern, sondern wir wollen einige Artikel abändern“, sagte Erdogan vor Journalisten.
Bei der geplanten Reform gehe es vor allem um Artikel zum Verbot politischer Parteien und zur Funktionsweise der Justiz. Erdogans Regierungspartei AKP will dem Parlament seinen Angaben zufolge bis Ende März einen Änderungsentwurf vorlegen.
Da die AKP im Parlament nicht über die erforderliche Mehrheit für eine Verfassungsänderung verfügt, muss er das geplante Reformpaket möglicherweise per Volksabstimmung verabschieden lassen. >>> AFP/jm | Montag, 01. März 2010
ZEIT ONLINE: Den Führerschein machen? Einen Anwalt finden? In Griechenland kostet vieles extra, mit steigender Tendenz. Im Durchschnitt bestach jeder Bürger 2009 mit bis zu 1671 Euro.
Griechenlands Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft sind laut Transparency International (TI) fest im Griff der Korruption. Die Griechen zahlten laut einer von Die Welt veröffentlichten TI-Studie im vergangenen Jahr durchschnittlich 1355 Euro Bestechungsgeld, wenn sie die Ausstellung eines Führer- oder Fahrzeugscheins beschleunigen, eine Baugenehmigung kaufen, schneller in ein öffentliches Krankenhaus aufgenommen oder die Ergebnisse einer Steuerprüfung manipulieren wollten. 2008 lag das durchschnittliche Bestechungsgeld in diesem Bereich bei 1374 Euro. >>> Zeit Online, AFP, Reuters | Dienstag, 02. März 2010
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Corruption is widely regarded as one of the triggers of the Greek debt crisis threatening the euro common currency. A new study by Transparency International suggests that corruption is part of everyday life in Greece, and claims private households paid more than 780 million euros in bribes in 2009.
The Greeks paid an average of €1,355 ($1,830) in bribes last year for public services such as speeding up the issue of driver's licenses and construction permits, getting admitted to public hospitals or manipulating tax returns, according to a new study by Transparency International, the Berlin-based global corruption watchdog.
In 2008, average bribes were even higher, at €1,374, the study said, according to a report in the German daily Die Welt on Tuesday. European Debt Crisis: Greek Corruption Booming, Says Transparency International >>> cro -- with wire reports | Tuesday, March 03, 2010
MAIL ONLINE: Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey today accused politicians of trying to bully Christianity out of public life.
He complained of a 'strident and bullying campaign' to marginalise Christianity in the name of political correctness.
Lord Carey said: 'We have reached the point where politicians are mocked for merely expressing their faith.
'I cannot imagine any politician expressing concern that Britain should remain a Christian country. That reticence is a scandal and a disgrace to our history.'
The powerful intervention from the retired Archbishop, who stepped down from Lambeth Palace in 2002, comes in the wake of strongly-expressed criticism of state attempts to sideline Christianity from other senior prelates.
Last month Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu said that Christianity was being pushed out of public life in a 'ferocious and insidious' manner.
Lord Carey has spoken out strongly on a number of controversial matters since his retirement in a way he avoided while serving as the Anglican primate. In particular, he has backed limits to immigration, criticised Islamic theology, and attacked the 'anything goes' philosophy that has led judges to constrain public debate about the bad behaviour of celebrities for the sake of their privacy.
He told a meeting in the House of Lords: 'Christianity, which has given so much to our country, is now being sidelined as never before as though it is a stranger to our nation.'
Lord Carey told Christians to stand up for their faith and to be more assertive when their heritage is attacked.
'If we behave like doormats, don't be surprised if we are treated as though we are,' he said. 'It is time to return to the public square.' >>> Steve Doughty | Tuesday, March 02, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: One of the biggest bonuses seen this year for any London-based banker was revealed today as HSBC announced it had given Stuart Gulliver, its head of investment banking, a £9.8 million package.
Mr Gulliver was awarded a £9 million bonus on top of his £800,000 base pay for his "exceptional performance" in trebling the profits of his division to $10.5 billion, HSBC said.
The payment came as Michael Geoghegan, HSBC chief executive, confirmed that he will give his £4 million bonus to charity.
HSBC disappointed investors after full-year profits fell by 24 per cent to $7.1 billion (£4.7 billion) following a big write down of the value of its own bonds. Its shares lost more than 5 per cent, down 37.1p, to 682.46p. >>> Patrick Hosking and Catherine Boyle | Monday, March 01, 2010
Monday, March 01, 2010
ARAB NEWS: GENEVA: Iran launched a fierce verbal assault on the West on Monday, charging some European countries of subjecting Muslim communities to insult and violence and suggesting the United States and Europe aided terrorism.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the United Nations Human Rights Council, to which it is bidding for election in May, that some Western states are gross violators of rights and are promoting lewdness to undermine family life.
"There is a growing trend in applying double standards by the Western countries with regard to the freedom of expression and opinion," Mottaki told the 47-member forum at the start of its main annual four-week session.
"Muslims throughout the world in general and the Muslim communities in Western countries in particular, have been the target not only of massive propaganda campaigns but outright social castigation and open violence, all under the pretext of freedom of expression," he declared. >>> Robert Evans, Reuters | Monday, March 01, 2010
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: POLÉMIQUE | Ahmad Zaki Yamani avait réclamé ces excuses à 16 journaux danois depuis août 2009.
Un avocat saoudien s’est déclaré prêt à engager un procès contre quinze journaux danois s’ils n’acceptaient pas de présenter des excuses aux musulmans pour avoir reproduit les caricatures de Mahomet en 2008, a-t-il indiqué lundi sur le site du quotidien danois B.T. Ahmad Zaki Yamani, agissant au nom de huit associations représentant près de 95 000 descendants du prophète, avait réclamé ces excuses à 16 journaux danois depuis août 2009.
Mais seul le grand quotidien Politiken a répondu à cette exigence, acceptant de conclure un compromis annoncé vendredi dernier et qui a soulevé un tollé au Danemark. "Nous sommes prêts à un long et très coûteux procès contre les autres journaux qui refusent un accord" semblable à celui de Politiken, a déclaré Me Ahmad Zaki Yamani à bt.dk.
L’avocat a indiqué avoir reçu une lettre du directeur de Niqabat al-Ashraf, l’une des huit organisations plaignantes, forte de près de 70.000 membres, qui se dit "très satisfait" par le compromis obtenu avec Politiken et qui lui accorde "un soutien financier pour des poursuites devant les tribunaux contre les 15 autres quotidiens" réfractaires. >>> AFP | Lundi 03 Mars 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Three retired Turkish military leaders have been accused of helping to plan the 2003 Istanbul bombing which claimed 60 lives including three Britons.
The men are alleged to have plotted with al-Qaeda to carry out the attack in the hope of destabilising the government and paving the way for a military coup.
Prosecutors suspect the former heads of the air force, navy and Turkish 1st army were linked to attacks on the British consulate, HSBC headquarters and synagogues.
Roger Short, the consul general in Istanbul, was killed in the attack on the Charles Barry-designed Italianate Palace in the heart of Istanbul in November 2003. Lisa Hallworth, from Denton, Greater Manchester, and former airline worker Nanette Elizabeth Kurma, from Drongan, Ayrshire, were also killed in the blast.
Although an al-Qaeda linked group claimed responsibility for the attack at the time, there have always been questions over its ability to source bomb making materials and evade security controls in a country with a powerful security force.
Investigators claim the bombings were part of "Operation Sledgehammer" which had been formulated by senior military figures eight months earlier to destabilise Turkey and trigger a military intervention to overthrow the government.
Prosecutors have arrested 35 ex-military figures in recent weeks on suspicion of being part of the plot which is also said to have involved plans to provoke Greece into shooting down a Turkish fighter jet. >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Monday, March 01, 2010
THE INDEPENDENT: A respected Islamic scholar will publish a seminal fatwa tomorrow that unequivocally condemns terrorism and warns suicide bombers that they will “go to hell” for their attacks.
Pakistani-born Shaikh Dr Tahir ul-Qadri is launching his fatwa in London as part of a drive to combat the power of jihadist rhetoric on the web and provide English-speaking Muslims with an authoritative theological explanation detailing why terrorism is not permitted.
Although numerous fatwas condemning terrorism have been released by scholars around the world since 9/11, Shaikh Dr Qadri’s 600-page ruling is both significant and unusual because it is one of the few available in English and online. >>> Jerome Taylor, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Monday, March 01, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Lie down, heads up, stop smiling' ... photographer Spencer Tunick directs one of his largest ever groups of volunteers for a nude shot on the steps of Sydney Opera House Watch Guardian video >>> | Monday, March 01, 2010
Surely this should not be done unilaterally; this should be done only in a tit-for-tat manner.
With Iran building the bomb, and with other countries in the Middle East probably intending to follow suit, it is unbelievable that Obama finds it necessary to divest America of its strength. – © Mark
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama is planning "dramatic reductions" in the US nuclear weapon stockpile as part of a sweeping review designed to prove his commitment to the goal of global nuclear disarmament.
Officials said hundreds of nuclear weapons could be cut, in many cases by retiring weapons that are now kept in storage, from the current level of 2,200 warheads.
A senior administration official said the new strategy would point to a greater role for conventional weapons, while "maintaining a strong and reliable" nuclear deterrent.
The president yesterday met Robert Gates, the Defence Secretary, to discuss the "Nuclear Posture Review" which was supposed to be published in December but was delayed reportedly because Mr Obama did not consider it radical enough.
The policy review "will be an important step forward in pursuing the goal of reversing the spread of nuclear weapons and seeking a world without them," said the official. He said it could also rule out the need to develop the nuclear version of "bunker-buster" weapons for penetrating underground targets. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Monday, March 01, 2010
MAIL ONLINE: The pound slumped to a nine-month low against the dollar today as fears over a hung Parliament sparked a sterling sell-off.
The currency fell sharply to as low as 1.478 against the dollar, as well as dropping below 1.10 against the euro.
Pressure on the pound comes as the Conservative lead against Labour in the polls narrows - threatening an indecisive General Election result at the same time markets want firm action to sort out the UK's dire public finances.
Mark O'Sullivan, director of dealing at foreign exchange firm Currencies Direct, said: 'Until the political situation in the UK becomes clearer, sterling will remain very, very vulnerable.'
The sudden drop from 1.52 to below 1.48 is the pound's biggest one-day fall since January last year, according to Chris Turner, head of FX Strategy at ING Commercial Banking.
He warned: 'While UK policymakers may have quietly welcomed the pound's recent weakness, they will not appreciate the kind of fast markets that can see a "sell UK" mentality developing.'
Sterling has lost nearly 10 cents against the dollar in little more than a week - hitting holidaymakers in the pocket, increasing pressure on petrol pump prices and adding to import costs for businesses. Read on and comment >>> | Monday, March 01, 2010
WELT ONLINE: Pawel war ein polnischer Skinhead. Bis er und seine Frau ihre jüdischen Wurzeln entdeckten. Erst waren sie schockiert, dann konvertierten sie. "Ich kämpfe jeden Tag, um meine alten Ideen loszuwerden", sagt der 33-Jährige heute. Sein Weg zeigt auch die erstaunliche Renaissance des Judentums in Polen.
Wenn Pawel in den Spiegel schaut, sieht er manchmal immer noch einen Neonazi-Skinhead zurückstarren. Den Mann, der Pawel war, bevor er seinen rasierten Kopf mit einer Kippa bedeckte, seine faschistische Ideologie für die Thora über Bord warf und Gewalt und Hass gegen die Gnade Gottes tauschte.
„Ich kämpfe immer noch jeden Tag, um meine alten Ideen loszuwerden“, sagt Pawel, ein 33-jähriger ultraorthodoxer Jude und ehemaliger Lkw-Fahrer. Und er merkt ein wenig ironisch an, dass er aufhören musste, Juden zu hassen, um einer zu werden. „Wenn ich ein altes Bild von mir als Skinhead sehe, schäme ich mich“ sagt er. „Jeden Tag, jede Minute. Es gibt eine Menge nachzuholen.“
Pawel, der sich hebräisch Pinchas nennt, hat darum gebeten, seinen Nachnamen nicht zu veröffentlichen. Aus Angst davor, dass seine alten Neonazi-Freunde ihn oder seine Familie ausfindig machen könnten. Unglaubliche Rückbesinnung zum Judentum >>> Von Dan Bilefsky | Montag, 01. März 2010
THE NEW YORK TIMES: WARSAW — When Pawel looks into the mirror, he can still sometimes see a neo-Nazi skinhead staring back, the man he was before he covered his shaved head with a skullcap, traded his fascist ideology for the Torah and renounced violence and hatred in favor of God.
“I still struggle every day to discard my past ideas,” said Pawel, a 33-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jew and former truck driver, noting with little irony that he had to stop hating Jews in order to become one. “When I look at an old picture of myself as a skinhead, I feel ashamed. Every day I try and do teshuvah,” he said, using the Hebrew word for repentance. “Every minute of every day. There is a lot to make up for.”
Pawel, who also uses his Hebrew name Pinchas, asked that his last name not be used for fear that his old neo-Nazi friends could harm him or his family.
Twenty years after the fall of Communism, Pawel is perhaps the most unlikely example of the Jewish revival under way in Poland, of a moment in which Jewish leaders here say the country is finally showing solid signs of shedding the rabid anti-Semitism of the past.
Before 1939, Poland was home to more than three million Jews, more than 90 percent of whom were killed by the Nazis. Most who survived emigrated. Of the fewer than 50,000 who remained in Poland, many abandoned or hid their Judaism during decades of Communist oppression in which political pogroms against Jews persisted.
Today, though, Michael Schudrich, the chief rabbi of Poland, said he considered Poland the most pro-Israel country in the European Union. He said the attitude of Pope John Paul II, a Pole, who called Jews “our elder brothers,” had finally entered the public consciousness.
Ten years after the revelation that 1,600 Jews of the town of Jedwabne were burned alive by their Polish neighbors in July 1941, he said the national myth that all Poles were victims of World War II had finally been shattered.
“Before 1989 there was a feeling that it was not safe to say, ‘I am a Jew,’ ” Rabbi Schudrich said. “But two decades later, there is a growing feeling that Jews are a missing limb in Poland. The level of anti-Semitism remains unacceptable, but the image of the murderous Pole seared in the consciousness of many Jews after the war doesn’t correspond to the Poland of 2010.”
The small Jewish revival has been under way for several years around eastern Europe. Hundreds of Poles, a majority of them raised as Catholics, are either converting to Judaism or discovering Jewish roots submerged for decades in the aftermath of World War II. >>> Dan Bilefsky | Saturday, February 27, 2010
LE FIGARO: Le chef du Kremlin entame ce lundi à Paris une visite officielle à forte dimension économique.
Nicolas Sarkozy ne devrait pas être avare de démonstrations d'amitiés à l'égard de Dmitri Medvedev, qui effectue à partir de ce lundi une visite officielle de trois jours en France, la première pour le président russe depuis son accession à la tête du Kremlin, en mai 2008. Après un entretien à l'Élysée le premier jour, les deux hommes participeront mardi à une cérémonie sur la tombe du soldat inconnu. Ils inaugureront au Louvre une exposition consacrée à la «Sainte Russie», point d'orgue de l'année croisée entre les deux pays, avant de se retrouver pour un dîner officiel.
Après les tensions apparues lors de la guerre russo-géorgienne d'août 2008 (alors que la France était aux commandes de l'Union européenne), les relations de coopération entre Paris et Moscou ont repris de plus belle. En décembre 2009, le premier ministre Vladimir Poutine était déjà à Paris pour un séminaire gouvernemental franco-russe. Pour sa part, le président de la République est attendu le 9 mai à Moscou pour la célébration du soixante-cinquième anniversaire de la Libération, avant sa participation, à la mi-juin, au forum économique de Saint-Pétersbourg.
Il y a encore une semaine, Paris et Moscou plaçaient les questions internationales au centre de la visite du président russe. «Nos positions coïncident ou sont proches», explique le Kremlin. Au sein du régime russe, Medvedev n'est pas l'interlocuteur le plus difficile à convaincre de l'utilité des nouvelles sanctions contre l'Iran, prônées par Paris. >>> Par Pierre Avril | Dimanche 28 Février 2010
RUSSIA TODAY: In anticipation of Dmitry Medvedev’s upcoming trip to France, Paris Match magazine met the president at his Moscow residence to talk about everything from NATO to his relations with Vladimir Putin.
The interview kicked off with questions concerning Russia’s relationship with France, which this year is hosting “Year of Russia” celebrations.
Medvedev’s answer provided a penetrating insight not just into the present state of affairs between the two countries, but their lengthy mutual history as well, which has oftentimes been quite colorful.
Relations with France
“Indeed, the relations between our countries have been developing for many centuries,” the Russian president began. “There have been many historical events when the ways of Russia and France crossed. The history of our states has witnessed both bright moments and sometimes problems, which also brought us together, but in the end the scope of cooperation has been tremendous. A classic example is the life of Queen Anna, daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, who got married to Henry I, King of France. However, it was long ago, though this fact is quite remarkable.”
After making passing references to other remarkable aspects of the French-Russian relationship – including Russia’s interest in the French language, bilateral cooperation during World War II and mutual respect during the Soviet period of Russian history, notably under the leadership of General Charles de Gaulle – Medvedev stressed that “the new Russia enjoys a very good partnership, a strategic partnership with France.”
“We are no longer divided by ideological differences,” the Russian president said. “This does not mean we have no disputes at all, but we actually maintain very good and positive relationships with the French administration, including my personal contacts with President Sarkozy. When we reach an agreement, President Sarkozy always keeps his promises, which is something every politician should be able to do.” On buying foreign-made armaments >>> | Thursday, February 25, 2010 / Monday, March 01, 2010
PARIS MATCH: A la veille de son voyage à Paris, le président russe nous parle de son ami Sarkozy, de la modernisation de son pays et de l’Otan qu’il vit comme une menace. Retrouvez les coulisses de cette entrevue sur notre Podcast.
Un entretien avec Olivier Royant et Pierre Delannoy - Paris Match >>> Jeudi 25 Février 2010
CHANNEL 4 – Dispatches: Dispatches investigates a fundamentalist Islamic group headquartered in Britain, and its claims to have placed its 'brothers' in positions of political power here.
Using undercover recordings, investigative journalist Andrew Gilligan reveals the group's ambitions to create a worldwide 'Islamic social and political order,' and the concerns of a mainstream party that they are being 'infiltrated'; and talks to the Muslims who want to stop it. [Source: Channel 4] | Monday, March 01, 2010
This hour-long documentary will be broadcast on Channel 4 at 8pm this evening. If you miss it, it will be brought to you on this website as soon as it becomes available in suitable format. Please keep checking back. – Mark
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