Monday, July 12, 2010

Gesetzesnebel beim Rauchverbot

WELT ONLINE: Die meisten Länder haben schwachen Nichtraucherschutz - Bayerns Verschärfung könnten aber andere folgen

Das erfolgreiche Volksbegehren für ein striktes Rauchverbot hat in Bayern für Klarheit gesorgt: Künftig dürfen die Gastwirte des Bundeslandes das Qualmen in ihren Räumen nicht mehr erlauben. In Deutschland aber könnte diese Entscheidung zu einem Flickenteppich unterschiedlicher Vorschriften führen. Denn ein einheitliches Bundesgesetz ist nicht in Sicht. Einzelne Bundesländer planen, dem Vorbild Bayerns zu folgen. Andere wiegelten bereits ab. So könnte es bald sein, dass einige Länder den Qualm aus ihren Gaststätten komplett verbannen und andere nicht. >>> von Markus Scheele | Montag, 12. Juli 2010

Qualmen auf Reisen: Wo darf ich im Ausland noch rauchen?

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Auch im Land der Gauloises und Gitanes gilt in Cafés, Bars und Restaurant: Geraucht wird draußen. Seit Januar 2008 gilt in Frankreich ein striktes Rauchverbot. Foto: Bild

BILD: Bilder von rauchenden Menschen in der Öffentlichkeit werden immer seltener – Nichtrauchen scheint zeitgemäß zu sein. Erst recht nach dem strengen Rauchverbot in Bayern. Schließlich ist der Tabakgenuss schädlich für die Gesundheit.

Doch nicht nur in Deutschland, auch im Ausland wird die Luft für Raucher dünner. Denn die Europäische Union kämpft entschieden für ein „100 Prozent rauchfreies Europa“, wie es in einem aktuellen Dossier der EU heißt.

Das bekam kürzlich auch Österreich zu spüren. Seit dem 1. Juli 2010 darf in Österreichs Lokalen nur noch in abgetrennten Raucher-zimmern gequalmt werden. Bei Verstoß drohen dem Raucher Strafen bis zu 1000 Euro und dem Gastwirt ein Bußgeld bis zu 10 000 Euro.

Bisher hatte Österreich eine recht liberale Einstellung zum Qualmen in der Öffentlichkeit. In einem Raucherparadies-Ranking der „Los Angeles Times“ vom Januar kam Österreich sogar auf Platz vier. Angeführt wurde dies übrigens von Griechenland.

Den ersten Schritt zum Rauchverbot in Lokalen, öffentlichen Einrichtungen und Verkehrsmitteln machte am 1. März 2004 Irland. Auch in Frankreich und Italien gelten Rauchverbote für sämtliche öffentlich zugängliche Gebäude, inklusive Bars und Diskotheken. In Kalifornien sind sogar die Strände „smokefree“. Wer dagegen verstößt und erwischt wird, muss bis zu 100 Dollar Strafe zahlen.

Wie es mit dem Rauchverbot in den europäischen Urlaubsländern steht, welche Strafen bei Missachtung drohen und wo es die letzten Raucherparadiese gibt, lesen Sie gleich hier: Die letzten Raucherparadiese >>> Donnerstag, 08. Juli 2010

Tabac : Bloomberg plus fort que Schwarzenegger

JIM.fr: New York – C’était au début du mois de mai. Arnold Schwarzenegger, gouverneur de Californie, un état où certaines municipalités n’hésitent pas à interdire de fumer dans tous les lieux publics, y compris dans certaines rues, avait estimé que la prohibition du tabac dans les parcs et sur les plages était une disposition trop extrême.

Il avait en effet considéré qu’il s’agissait d’une « intrusion inappropriée du gouvernement dans la vie des gens ». L’argument avait été considéré comme difficilement recevable par les partisans de la mesure, poussés par de nombreux exemples nationaux et étrangers dans leur démarche. En effet, un nombre croissant de municipalités dans le monde a banni les cigarettes des parcs et plages : les plus illustres étant Chicago qui punit d’une amende de 500 dollars tout contrevenant ou encore Vancouver qui a adopté un règlement municipal dans ce sens qui devrait entrer en vigueur le 1er septembre. New York pourrait prochainement rejoindre les deux illustres cités. >>> Martine Pichet | Lundi 12 Juillet 2010
University Fires Catholic Professor Who Said Homosexual Acts Violate Natural Law

CATHOLIC CULTURE: Following a student complaint, the University of Illinois refused to renew the contract of Dr. Kenneth Howell, an adjunct religion professor, who wrote in an e-mail that “Natural Moral Law says that Morality must be a response to REALITY” and that “sexual acts are only appropriate for people who are complementary, not the same.” Dr. Howell, who taught courses on Catholicism at the university and was recognized for excellence in teaching in 2008 and 2009, wrote the e-mail to his students to help them prepare for their final exam; in the e-mail, he compared utilitarianism and the natural moral law.

“Teaching a student about the tenets of a religion is one thing. Declaring that homosexual acts violate the natural laws of man is another,” the offended student complained to the head of the religion department; he also sent complaints to the director of the university's LGBT Resource Center and the professor who founded the university’s queer studies major. “The courses at this institution should be geared to contribute to the public discourse and promote independent thought; not limit one's worldview and ostracize people of a certain sexual orientation.” Read on and comment >>> | Monday, July 12, 2010

FOX NEWS: University of Illinois Instructor Fired Over Catholic Beliefs: URBANA, Ill. -- The University of Illinois has fired an adjunct professor who taught courses on Catholicism after a student accused the instructor of engaging in hate speech by saying he agrees with the church's teaching that homosexual sex is immoral.

The professor, Ken Howell of Champaign, said his firing violates his academic freedom. He also lost his job at an on-campus Catholic center.
>>>
Associated Press | Friday, July 09, 2010
Fox Exclusive Interview with Netanyahu

Terror Experts Blast Obama for Dropping References to Islamic Extremism

FOX NEWS: WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration's recent move to drop rhetorical references to Islamic radicalism is drawing fire in a new report warning the decision ignores the role religion can play in motivating terrorists.

Several prominent counterterror experts are challenging the administration's shift in its recently unveiled National Security Strategy, saying the terror threat should be defined in order to fight it.

The question of how to frame the conflict against Al Qaeda and other terrorists poses a knotty problem. The U.S. is trying to mend fences with Muslim communities while toughening its strikes against militant groups.

In the report, scheduled to be released this week, counterterrorism experts from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy argue that the U.S. could clearly articulate the threat from radical Islamic extremists "without denigrating the Islamic religion in any way."

President Obama has argued that words matter, and administration officials have said that the use of inflammatory descriptions linking Islam to the terror threat feed the enemy's propaganda and may alienate moderate Muslims in the U.S. Continue reading and comment >>> Associated Press | Monday, July 12, 2010
Polanski Extradition to U.S. Is Blocked by Switzerland

THE NEW YORK TIMES: BERN, Switzerland (AP) -- The Swiss government has rejected a U.S. extradition request for Roman Polanski on a charge of having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.

The Justice Ministry said Monday in a statement that national interests were taken into consideration in the decision, and that Polanski was now a free man. [Source: The New York Times] | The Associated Press | Monday, 12, 2010

Roman Polanski Free After Swiss Reject US Extradition Request

THE TELEGRAPH: Roman Polanski is free after the Swiss government rejected a US extradition request on a charge that the film director had sexual intercourse in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.

The Justice Ministry said in a statement that national interests were taken into consideration in the decision, and that Polanski was now a free man.

"The reason for the decision lies in the fact that it was not possible to exclude with the necessary certainty a fault in the US extraditionary request," the Swiss Justice Ministry said in a statement.

Polanski had suggested the case against him was unjust and riddled with discrepancies.

Polish-born Polanski, 76, won a best director Oscar for his portrait of life in the Warsaw Jewish ghetto of the Second World War in "The Pianist".

The announcement follows months of uncertainty over whether Polanski would have to return to the United States after having been arrested in September 2009 upon arrival in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival.

His arrest prompted an outcry in the global film industry and in some political circles in France, where he has been a long-time resident, with directors from Woody Allen to Martin Scorsese to Jean-Luc Godard showing public support for the director.

After a short jail stint, Polanski, who holds dual French and Polish citizenship, was put under house arrest in December 2009 at his chalet in luxury ski resort Gstaad while Swiss officials awaited the outcome of US legal proceedings.

Polanski pleaded guilty to having sexual intercourse with the girl but fled the United States on the eve of his 1978 sentencing because he believed a judge might overrule his plea and put him in jail for 50 years. >>> | Monday, July 12, 2010

Polanski est libre de ses mouvements

LE FIGARO: La Suisse a annoncé lundi son refus d'extrader le cinéaste franco-polonais, assigné depuis le 4 décembre dans son chalet de Gstaad.

Il aura fallu presque un an à la justice suisse pour trancher. Roman Polanski «ne sera pas extradé vers les Etats-Unis et les mesures de restriction de sa liberté sont levées», a annoncé lundi la ministre suisse de la Justice. «Les clarifications approfondies qui ont été menées à bien n'ont pas permis d'exclure avec toute la certitude voulue que la demande d'extradition américaine présentait un vice», a fait valoir Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf au cours d'une conférence de presse. >>> Par Flore Galaud | Lundi 12 Juillet 2010

Roman Polanski est libre!

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: BERNE | Le cinéaste franco-polonais ne sera pas extradé vers les Etats-Unis, vient d'annocer la conseillère fédérale Evelyn Widmer-Schlumpf. Roman Polanski est libre.

La demande d'extradition américaine de Roman Polanski pouvait présenter un vice. Les clarifications approfondies n'ont pas permis d'exclure une telle éventualité avec toute la certitude voulue, a expliqué lundi la conseillère fédérale Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf.

L'Office fédéral de la justice (OFJ) a demandé le 3 mars 2010 aux autorités américaines de lui faire parvenir, à titre de complément à la demande, le procès-verbal d'une audition du procureur Roger Gunson, alors chargé du dossier, menée le 26 janvier 2010. >>> ATS | Lundi 12 Juillet 2010

Die Schweiz liefert Polanski nicht aus: Der Regisseur ist wieder ein freier Mann

NZZ ONLINE: Die Schweiz liefert Starregisseur Roman Polanski nicht aus. Justizministerin Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf begründete den Entscheid mit einer mangelnden Kooperation der USA. Seit Freitag, 11 Uhr 30, ist Polanski ein freier Mann.

Die Schweiz liefert den vor knapp 10 Monaten verhafteten Regisseur Roman Polanski doch nicht an die USA aus. Justizministerin Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf begründete den Entscheid mit einer mangelnden Kooperation der USA.

Polanski hatte argumentiert, er habe die Strafe schon abgesessen. Er sei für den sexuellen Missbrauch einer 13-Jährigen im Jahre 1977 bereits verurteilt worden und habe damals nach einem Schuldbekenntnis für eine diagnostische Untersuchung 42 Tage in einem kalifornischen Gefängnis verbracht. Der damalige Richter, der inzwischen verstorben ist, habe zugesichert, dass Polanski keine weitere Haftstrafe absitzen müsse, erklärte der Regisseur.

Die USA sind offenbar nicht bereit, hierüber Klarheit zu schaffen. Wie die Justizministerin vor den Medien erklärte, hat sich die Schweiz vergeblich um das entsprechende Protokoll bemüht. In dieser Situation könne die Schweiz den Regisseur nicht ausliefern. Denn ein Mangel im Auslieferungsgesuch der USA sei damit nicht auszuschliessen.

Polanski stehe nicht länger unter Hausarrest, erklärte Widmer-Schlumpf. «Er ist seit 11 Uhr 30 ein freier Mann», betonte sie. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> tsf | Montag, 12. Juli 2010

Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf über eine mögliche Entschädigung für Polanski

SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Der Regisseur wird nicht an die USA ausgeliefert. Zur Begründung wies das Schweizer Justizministerium darauf hin, dass ein Mangel im Auslieferungsgesuch der USA nicht ausgeschlossen werden könne.

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THE GUARDIAN: The prurient hounding of Roman Polanski is over at last: The Swiss decision not to extradite the director is just – it was a vengeful demand and his victim wanted the case closed >>> Agnès Poirier | Monday, July 12, 2010
Al-Shabaab Islamists Suspected in Deadly Ugandan World Cup Bombings

THE TELEGRAPH: Somali Islamists carried out two bomb attacks in Kampala, killing at least 64 people as they watched the World Cup final, Ugandan authorities said on Monday.



Suspicion fell on the al-Shabaab rebel group, which claims links with al-Qaeda, after the severed head of a suspected Somali suicide bomber was found at one of the blast sites.

If those suspicions prove true, it would be the first time that al-Shabab has carried out an attack outside of Somalia.

The explosions ripped through two bars packed with football fans watching the final moments of World Cup in an Ethiopian-themed restaurant and at a gathering in a Kampala rugby club on Sunday.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni toured the blast sites on Monday and vowed to bring the attackers to justice: “We shall go for them wherever they are coming from."

Al-Qaeda-inspired al-Shabaab militants in Somalia have threatened to attack Uganda for sending peacekeeping troops to the anarchic country to prop up the Western-backed government. >>> | Monday, July 12, 2010
Fury: Police arrest a protester on the streets of Oakland last night as riots broke out over the killing of 22-year-old Oscar Grant by a white officer last year. Photo: Mail Online

Riots in California After Police Officer Who Shot Dead Unarmed Black Man Is Cleared Of Murder

MAIL ONLINE: 53 arrests as protesters furious at verdict storm the streets

Violent protests erupted in the city of Oakland in California today after a Los Angeles jury convicted a white former transit officer of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man.

Police in riot gear watched over a crowd of protesters as emotions ran high with 500 people marching in the street and 83 people arrested.

Prosecutors had wanted Johannes Mehserle, 22, to be convicted of murdering Oscar Grant. Justice Department officials have announced they will look into whether the case warrants federal prosecution.

Mr Grant was shot as he lay face down on a train platform on New Year's Day in 2009 on an Oakland train platform in an incident that was compared to the 1992 beating of Rodney King.

During protests last night, at least a dozen businesses were damaged, bank windows were smashed, fires were started and a small bomb exploded near a police station but caused no damage.

'This city is not the wild, wild west,' said Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts. 'This city will not tolerate this sort of activity.' >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Monday, July 12, 2010
Reckless by Name, Reckless by Nature!

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: A Tory MP was so drunk during a late night debate about the Budget in the Commons that he was unable to vote, it has emerged.

Mark Reckless was one of a number of MPs accused of being “well-refreshed” and “convivial” during the late night sitting which finished at 2.48am on Wednesday.

The 39-year-old new MP for Rochester and Strood had been drinking alongside scores of MPs on the Commons Terrace and was not the only one said to be worse for wear.

John Randall, the deputy chief whip, was accused by Angela Eagle – the shadow Treasury minister – of having indulged in “rather a liquid evening”.

Stephen Pound, the Labour MP, said Miss Eagle could not be heard in the Commons “because of the well-refreshed ejaculations from the benches opposite”.

Mr Reckless, who became an MP at the general election in May, was understood to have had difficulty standing and has scant recollection of the night. Tory MP 'too drunk to vote in Commons debate' >>> Caroline Gammell | Sunday, July 11, 2010
Hundreds of Traditionalist Clergy Poised to Leave Church of England

THE TELEGRAPH: Hundreds of traditionalist clergy are set to leave the Church of England over plans to introduce women bishops.

Leading Anglo-Catholic clergy warned that the failure to provide concessions to opponents of the historic reform would force many of them to defect to Rome.

In a highly-charged debate at the General Synod, the Church’s parliament, members rejected a compromise deal put forward by the archbishops of Canterbury and York which would have averted a schism.

The archbishops’ plans would have seen the creation of a new class of male-only bishops to look after conservative evangelical and Anglo-Catholic parishes opposed to female leadership in the Church.

Canon David Houlding, a prebendary at St Paul’s cathedral, estimated that as many as 200 traditionalist clergy could leave the Church, taking thousands of worshippers with them.

“People’s patience is running out and many will now be asking whether they should try and practice their Catholic faith in the Church of England,” he said.

“The vote was a severe blow to the archbishop [of Canterbury] and it has pushed us closer to the door.” >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Monday, July 12, 2010

A Divided Church Faces Its Darkest Hour

THE TELEGRAPH: By rejecting a compromise over women bishops, the General Synod has plunged the Anglican Church into crisis. Jonathan Wynne-Jones reports.

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Humiliated: the authority of Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has been wounded by his defeat in the Synod Photo: The Telegraph

On Saturday night, the Archbishop of Canterbury suffered the most humiliating defeat of his time in office when the Church rejected his compromise deal over women bishops. It followed a week in which Rowan Williams had found himself at the centre of a storm over the blocked appointment of Jeffrey John, the homosexual Dean of St Albans, to be Bishop of Southwark.

Castigated by liberals who accused him of betraying his old friend by not securing his promotion, the Archbishop arrived at the General Synod in York also facing a mutiny over his plans to avert an exodus of traditionalists opposed to women's ordination.

On the eve of one of the most pivotal debates in the Church's recent history, liberal bishops had met to discuss how they would derail proposals put forward by Dr Williams and Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York.

They were well aware of the impact that their rebellion would have on Dr Williams's authority. But they were still prepared to take drastic action because of their despair at his suggestion that a new tier of male-only bishops should be created to minister to traditionalists. This would undermine the role of women bishops, they believed. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones | Monday, July 12, 2010
World Ruled by Women Would Be a Better Place, Says Martin Amis

THE TELEGRAPH: Martin Amis has declared himself a feminist and claimed that the world would be a better place if every country was ruled by a woman like Angela Merkel.

The author singled out the German chancellor for particular praise as he called for a new era of female-dominated politics.

“I have a dream. I see a day when politics is feminised, where female values move into the public sphere in a way they haven't quite done yet,” he told the audience at the Telegraph Ways With Words literary festival.

“I think there have been 20 female heads of state since the Second World War – some by inheritance, some by widowhood.

"But they have all had to pretend they are tougher than men. That’s why Hillary Clinton said if Iran tries anything she will wipe them off the map. Margaret Thatcher was quite devoid of feminine qualities.

“In an imaginable future, the values of women will rise. I met Angela Merkel and I sensed with her that she did bring certain feminine qualities to bear on the political situation in Germany. I want every country to be ruled by an Angela Merkel.” >>> Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor | Monday, July 12, 2010

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Republicans Could Win Control of Congress, White House Admits for First Time

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The White House has admitted for the first time that Republicans could win control of the House of Representatives in crucial elections in November.

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Robert Gibbs, the White House Press Secretary. Photo: The Sunday Telegraph

Robert Gibbs, the president's spokesman, acknowledged that deep frustration with the economy could see the Democrats' 75-seat majority in the lower chamber wiped out.

"There is no doubt there are enough seats at play that could cause Republicans to gain control, there is no doubt about that," Mr Gibbs told NBC's "Meet the Press".

All 435 seats in the House are up for grabs in the Nov 2 election as well as 36 of the 100 seats in the Senate, which the Democrats expect to hold.

The party is considered particularly vulnerable in southern and midwestern states, districts that turned Democratic in the latter years of the Bush administration. A consensus has emerged among Washington observers that the House would be lost or the ruling party's majority reduced to a handful of seats.

Such outcomes would make it difficult for President Barack Obama to push through his agenda, which is likely to include major reform of energy and immigration. It would not augur well for his re-election bid in 2012. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Sunday, July 11, 2010
Bloody Dhimmitude! The Stupid, Weak, Fawning Brits!

MAIL ON SUNDAY: Schools are being urged to rearrange tests, cancel swimming lessons and stop sex education to avoid offending Muslims during Ramadan.

Head teachers in Stoke-on-Trent have been issued with the guidance for treatment of Muslim pupils who may still be fasting when the new term starts in September.

But critics dismissed the advice as ‘over-zealous’ bureaucracy and said all pupils would be forced to miss out on activities as a result.

During Ramadan, all Muslims who have reached puberty avoid eating or drinking between sunrise and sunset to encourage discipline and self-restraint.

To help them with this, Stoke council advises schools not to schedule exams or hold parents’ meetings and social events after school.

They should also avoid swimming lessons because some parents and pupils consider the risk of swallowing water too great.

It even advises schools to cancel sex education because Muslims are expected to avoid sexual thoughts while fasting.

Although the guidance was specifically drawn up to help Muslims, it will affect every pupil in the 89 schools in the Potteries. Council forces schools to rearrange exams and cancel lessons to avoid offending Muslims during Ramadan >>> Claire Ellicott | Sunday, July 11, 2010
Iran Halts Woman's Stoning 'For Now'

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Iran's judiciary chief has halted "for the moment" the execution by stoning of a woman accused of adultery, according to the state news agency.

Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, was sentenced to death by stoning after being found guilty of adultery by an Iranian court, a ruling that sparked outcry in Western countries. >>> | Sunday, July 11, 2010

Related articles here
Clintons Close In On $11m Estate

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Bill and Hillary Clinton are reportedly closing in on an $11 million (£7.3 million), 20-acre estate near New York as they prepare for the daughter Chelsea’s wedding at the end of the month.

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Hillary, Bill and Chelsea Clinton. Photo: The Sunday Telegraph

The former president and the current Secretary of State are set to become neighbours to the likes of Richard Gere, Martha Stewart and Glenn Close in Bedford Hills, 40 miles north of New York.

Clover Hill Farm has high fences, two guesthouses and six bathrooms in the main 7,000 sq ft mansion, ample room for future grandchildren and the Secret Service agents.

The home, which features a wine cellar, a heated pool, artist studio and stable, has been put up for sale by Paul Wallace, whose Manhattan property firm the Broadstone Group was declared bankrupt in May. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Sunday, July 11, 2010
Late-blooming Lesbians: Women Can Switch Sexualities as They Mature

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Women are embracing lesbianism in their thirties, according to research indicating that shifts in sexual orientation may be more widespread than previously thought.

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Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi, who nine years before their wedding was married to a man. Photo: The Sunday Telegraph

While “late-blooming lesbians” are not uncommon in history – the married writer Virginia Woolf had an affair with the poet Vita Sackville-West – the phenomenon of mature women switching sexualities is now attracting academic scrutiny.

One study even indicates that as many as two-thirds of women who feel lesbian attractions may have changed their sexual orientation over time.

The findings appear to pose a challenge to the scientific consensus that a person's sexuality is determined more by their genes than environment.

Christan Moran, a researcher at Southern Connecticut State University in the US, said that many women who develop lesbian feelings in later life refuse to “come out” for fear of society’s reaction.

Women in long-term heterosexual relationships, especially those with children, face even greater problems reconciling themselves to their new identities, she said. >>> Matthew Moore | Sunday, July 11, 2010
Anne Frank Graphic Novel Published

NEWSOXY: Anne Frank biography and graphic novel.

Anne Frank graphic novel and biography will be published this month. Frank's graphic novel will detail Anne's life during Jewish wartime. Anne Frank is one of the most talked about Jewish victims and the novel is supposed to be graphic in detail.

The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam is a museum committed to the Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank, who hid from Nazi persecution with her family and four other people in hidden rooms at the rear of the building. As well as the preservation of the hiding place and an exhibition on the life and times of Anne Frank, the museum acts as an exhibition space to highlight all forms of persecution and discrimination. The Anne Frank House has decided to publish a graphic biography to make the young writer's story easily accessible to a wider audience. >>> John Lester, Staff Writer | Sunday, July 11, 2010
Sarkozy gerät zunehmend unter Druck

SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Frankreichs Präsident muss sich und seine Regierung gegen schwerwiegende Korruptionsvorwürfe verteidigen. Angeblich soll die Loreal Erbin Liliane Bettencourt 2007 Sarkozys Wahlkampf illegal unterstützt haben.

10vor10 vom 06.07.2010

Verbunden: hier klicken
Huit islamistes présumés arrêtés au Yémen

leJDD.fr: Les autorités yéménites ont arrêté huit membres présumés d'Al-Qaïda, dont un Saoudien en fuite, soupçonnés de planifier des attentats dans le pays, a rapporté le ministère de la Défense dimanche. Lundi dernier, deux membres d'Al-Qaïda avaient été arrêtés à la suite de l'assaut de la maison dans laquelle ils s'étaient retranchés dans la province orientale d'Hadramout. Trois soldats yéménites avaient été tués lors d'affrontements. [Source: leJDD.fr] | Dimanche 11 Juillet 2010
Leading Doctors Call for Urgent Crackdown on Junk Food

THE OBSERVER: Presidents of two royal colleges of medicine urge government to restrict advertising and sponsorship by makers of unhealthy foods and introduce diet health warnings

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McDonald's currently sponsors the youth coaching scheme run by the Football Association. Photograph: The Observer

Leading doctors today weigh in on the debate over the government's role in promoting public health by demanding that ministers impose "fat taxes" on unhealthy food and introduce cigarette-style warnings to children about the dangers of a poor diet.

The demands follow comments last week by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, who insisted the government could not force people to make healthy choices and promised to free businesses from public health regulations.

But senior medical figures want to stop fast-food outlets opening near schools, restrict advertising of products high in fat, salt or sugar, and limit sponsorship of sports events by fast-food producers such as McDonald's.

They argue that government action is necessary to curb Britain's addiction to unhealthy food and help halt spiralling rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Professor Terence Stephenson, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said that the consumption of unhealthy food should be seen to be just as damaging as smoking or binge drinking. >>> Denis Campbell, Health correspondent | Sunday, July 11, 2010
Kill the Ground Zero Mosque TV Ad



HT: Always On Watch >>>
Nicolas Sarkozy Scandal Goes Back to Hungarian Roots

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The case of L'Oréal heiress, Liliane Bettencourt, has enraptured France and forced Nicolas Sarkozy into the spotlight.

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One secret cash payment to Mr Sarkozy's presidential election campaign was said to be worth as much as €150,000, or £125,000

Before becoming a scandal about money, politics, art, history, café society and power, the Affaire Bettencourt, now threatening the Sarkozy presidency, is the story of two ferociously ambitious young Hungarian outsiders and their success at storming the citadels of the French establishment.

One, Nicolas Sarkozy, the son of a womanising émigré aristocrat and a doctor's daughter, used to be told by his (twice) remarried father on visiting Sundays that he would never amount to anything much in France, because of his foreign name, small stature and below-average school grades.

The other, François-Marie Banier, né Banyiaï, was regularly beaten by his Renault migrant worker turned ad-man father for being a dilettante, an aesthete, and a high-school drop-out. (By coincidence Pál Sarkozy, Nicolas's father, also dabbled in advertising for a while).

Mr Sarkozy has mentioned the slights he suffered as the least well-off boy of his chic school in Neuilly, Paris's richest suburb. Mr Banier neglected even to complete his baccalauréat, haunting luxury hotel lobbies from his teens on, becoming in rapid succession the favourite of such luminaries as the painter Salvador Dali, the Nobel-prize playwright Samuel Beckett, and the couturiers Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin. The Communist poet Louis Aragon enthused about the first novel Mr Banier published, aged 22.

Mr Sarkozy came to the attention of Charles Pasqua, the Gaullist party stalwart and key power-breaker [sic] who was to help shape most of his career, with his first public speech at a national rally: he was just 20 at the time.

Today Nicolas Sarkozy is president of the French Republic, while François-Marie Banier, a polymath photographer, painter and novelist, has recently been ranked 917th richest individual in the world, having accepted fabulous gifts from a string of wealthy old ladies, ranging from the viscountess Marie-Laure de Noailles to the actress Silvana Mangano - and especially from his latest patron, Liliane Bettencourt, the 87-year-old L'Oréal heiress.

The two men, no longer so young (Mr Banier is 63, Mr Sarkozy 55) nor as pretty as they both once were, stand at each end of a glittering chain of achievements, events, relationships, networks and rivalries now threatening to engulf France in the kind of political meltdown not seen here since the 1930s. >>> Anne-Elisabeth Moutet in Paris | Sunday, July 11, 2010

Les personnes clés de L’affaire Bettencourt >>>

Related articles here and here

An Ugly Fight Over L'Oreal [sic] Heiress' Fortune

LOS ANGELES TIMES: The daughter of France's richest woman says a charmer swindled her frail mother out of $1.25 billion in gifts. The family squabble has grown to include the courts and President Sarkozy.

Reporting from Paris — In a chic Paris suburb, inside the luxury villa of France's richest woman, nobody much cared what the butler saw.

When L'Oreal [sic] heiress Liliane Bettencourt met her advisors or lawyers to discuss secret Swiss bank accounts or lavish gifts to a male friend, the butler would simply bring in refreshments, then leave.

But what the butler heard, thanks to a cheap tape recorder smuggled in with the bone china teacups and silver spoons, has proved an explosive twist to a high-profile battle for the Bettencourt billions.

This month, celebrity photographer Francois-Marie Banier, a 63-year-old socialite dandy, went on trial, accused of tricking Bettencourt, 87, out of art masterpieces, cash and insurance policies worth $1.25 billion.
FOR THE RECORD: This article states that the Bettencourt fortune is $28 billion. The heiress' fortune is listed at $18 billion.
Bettencourt's estranged daughter, Francoise Meyers-Bettencourt, is alleging in a civil lawsuit that he exploited her aging mother's frailty.

The case started out as a run-of-the-mill family dispute among Bettencourt, her only child and Banier over who gets what. It has become a political scandal embroiling government ministers and even President Nicolas Sarkozy. >>> Kim Willsher, Los Angeles Times | Sunday, July 11, 2010
Islamist Preacher Warns France Against Banning the Burka

THE TELEGRAPH: An Islamist preacher barred from Britain for his radical views has warned France against passing a Muslim veil ban, or risk increasing support for al-Qaeda.

"Look what happened in Belgium and in France," Omar Bakri said, referring to Belgium's ban on the burka, or full Islamic veil, and the start of debates by the French parliament on a similar law that is all but certain to be adopted.

"They believe that prohibiting Muslim women to use the burka is going to make them safer. But they are wrong. This is going to make Muslims living in France give more support to al-Qaeda", Bakri told Spain's Cadena Ser radio. >>> | Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Turkey Goes Cool on Joining the European Union as It Falls for the Lure of the East

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: As Europe's top diplomat prepares to travel to Turkey, Colin Freeman finds a country not entirely convinced about their need to join the EU.

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Turkish men make a nationalist gesture with their hands as they chant anti-EU slogans during a protest in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo: The Telegraph

Sipping a lunchtime latte amid the gleaming skyscrapers of Istanbul's financial district, banker Mehmet Canayaz debated whether the European Union should admit Turkey. The prognosis, he admitted, was not good: a dynamic, forward-looking region would end up shackled to an economy with severe debt, financial instability, and an uncompetitive workforce. Best for Turkey, perhaps, to steer clear of the chaotic Brussels club altogether.

"If we don't join, it will be Europe's problem, not ours," said Mr Canayaz, 25, who was relieved to be watching the recent Euro-zone crash from the outside rather than the inside.

"If they do let us in one day, fine. But in coming years, it will be them that needs us, more than us needing them. Their economy isn't as competitive as it once was."

The issue of whether the EU should be allowed to join Turkey, rather than Turkey being allowed to join the EU, is not the way the Eurocrats of Brussels have often chosen to phrase it since the stalled membership talks formally began in 1987.

But when the EU's Foreign Affairs High Representative, Baroness Ashton, arrives in Ankara for fresh accession talks this week, she may well find no shortage of Turks asking the same question the same way round as Mr Canayaz.

Fed up with being rebuffed by France and Germany, proud of their successful economy, and increasingly keen to court their fellow Muslim neighbours to the East, a growing number of Turkey's 73 million citizens are now wondering whether EU membership is quite so important as it once seemed. While nearly three quarters of Turks supported the idea in 2004, some polls less than half doing so now.

Among those whom Baroness Ashton will meet on Tuesday is the man most closely associated with Turkey's re-assessment of its outside interests, foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu. A key figure in the AKP party, the moderate Islamist movement that has ruled Turkey for the last eight years, he is widely seen as the prime mover in his country's cooling off towards the West. >>> Colin Freeman in Istanbul | Sunday, July 11, 2010
Copying the NHS Is the Last Thing the US Should Do

THE TELEGRAPH: The future health care in both countries must involve a mix of state and private provision, says Janet Daley.

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Bad idea: Barack Obama has appointed a man as head of the American public healthcare programmes who professes a passion for some of the most discredited features of our NHS. Photo: The Telegraph

This week, the Coalition will offer an example of how coping with an economic crisis may serve a reforming purpose. Having to cut back the power and the expenditure of the state will provide a rationale for dismantling the monolithic, bureaucratic monster that the NHS has become. In his health White Paper, Andrew Lansley will apparently propose sweeping away the command-and-control structure in which clinical decisions are taken and hospital procedures commissioned by Primary Care Trust administrators, rather than by general practitioners who actually come face-to-face with people in need of medical help.

Fine. But if GPs are to inherit all the authority in this system, then it should be possible for patients to choose – and change – their family doctors easily and without recrimination. For, alas, Mr Lansley has decided to pass on the powers that he is confiscating from the abolished PCT mandarins exclusively to doctors rather than to patients. This is a real missed opportunity, but never mind: he is at least facing the right way, devolving decision-making down to levels where it can be done with more responsiveness and sensitivity to individual needs, rather than with the impersonal, blanket uniformity of a target-driven central authority.

The US government, meanwhile, is galloping doggedly in the opposite direction, bizarrely determined to occupy precisely the ideological ground which Britain is abandoning. Barack Obama has, indeed, appointed a man as head of the American public health care programmes who professes a passion (no other word will do) for some of the most discredited features of our NHS. Dr Donald Berwick is to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which effectively means that he will be in charge of Obamacare – the new universal health care system on which the President has staked his political credibility.

The appointment has created an extraordinary kerfuffle, partly because it was made under highly contentious circumstances – as a “recess” appointment which allowed it to bypass Congressional approval – but primarily on account of Dr Berwick’s widely disseminated statements extolling the virtues of the most disliked aspects of state-funded medical care as we know it.

Dr Berwick professes a love (which he describes in ecstatic terms that will have a tragicomic ring to most British ears) of just those evils of a national health system with which we are exasperated: the calculated rationing of treatment, and the ruthless enforcement of uniform cost limits, which often puts the most advanced medication and procedures out of reach of patients whose lives might have been extended or transformed by them. Dr Berwick thinks that our own dear National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) – which is scarcely ever out of the headlines for denying some poor suffering victim a remedy that is available in other countries – is simply wonderful. Continue reading and comment >>> Janet Daley | Saturday, July 10, 2010

Americans will come to rue the day they ever elected B. Hussein Obama into office. He is nothing other than the iPresident. That ‘i’ stands for the Internet, through which he got elected; but it also stands for incompetence, inexperience, insincerity, incapability, irrationality, immaturity, oh and, of course, Islam! – © Mark
Reinstated, the Foster Parent Struck Off for Allowing Muslim Girl to Convert to Christianity

MAIL ONLINE: A foster parent struck off after a Muslim girl in her care converted to Christianity has won the right to be reinstated.

Gateshead Council’s decision to remove the carer from the register provoked a storm of controversy after it was highlighted by The Mail on Sunday last year.

The carer, who had looked after children for ten years and had a perfect record, was blamed for failing to ‘protect and preserve’ the girl’s Muslim faith when she was baptised, even though she was over 16 and had made up her own mind to change her religion.

Gateshead’s decision was quashed by a court in Leeds last week, prompting criticism of the former head of its children’s services, Maggie Atkinson, who is now Children’s Commissioner for England.

The foster carer, who cannot be named to preserve the anonymity of the girl, said last night that her loss of income had been ‘devastating’.

She added: ‘In addition to losing the Muslim teenager, another girl I was looking after was taken back into care. And I lost the farmhouse I rented to look after vulnerable teenagers.’

She said she was seeking damages from the council. >>> Jonathan Petre | Saturday, July 10, 2010

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Split Looms for Church Over Women Bishops

THE TELEGRAPH: The embattled Archbishop of Canterbury has suffered a devastating blow to his hopes of averting a split in the Church of England over the introduction of women bishops.

Plans put forward by Dr Rowan Williams urging a compromise over the issue were rejected last night by members of the General Synod, including some of his most senior bishops.

The last-ditch proposal was designed to prevent an exodus of traditionalist priests, who are now likely to defect to the Roman Catholic Church.

It represented a significant gamble by Dr Williams, who was heavily criticised by liberals last week after Dr Jeffrey John, the homosexual cleric, was blocked from becoming Bishop of Southwark. Dr John's nomination to the post was revealed by The Sunday Telegraph last week.

The failure by the archbishop to gain sufficient support for his plan is likely to be viewed as a further dent to his authority.

Groups within the church have been campaigning for female clerics to be treated equally and to be allowed to become bishops, without any concessions that would undermine their ministry.

But their proposals have been opposed by traditionalists and evangelicals who do not believe making women bishops is in accordance with biblical teaching. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, July 10, 2010
Affaire Bettencourt : En chute libre, Nicolas Sarkozy parlera aux Français lundi

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Photo : Le Temps

LE TEMPS: Le président français tente de reprendre la main. L’avocat de Claire T. et l’opposition dénonce le manque d’indépendance de la justice

Alors que les Français partent à la plage et que l’affaire Bettencourt menace de se transformer en feuilleton de l’été, le président Nicolas Sarkozy s’adressera lundi à ses concitoyens durant une heure pour répondre à «toutes les questions d’actualité», a fait savoir la chaîne de télévision publique France 2 dans un communiqué. L’Elysée n’a toutefois pas confirmé. Plusieurs ténors politiques, que ce soit à droite, comme Jean-François Copé, ou à gauche, avec Jean-Marc Ayrault, ont appelé ces derniers jours le chef de l’Etat à informer les Français sur ce qui est considéré par les uns comme une «affaire d’Etat» et par les autres comme une cabale contre le gouvernement à l’heure où celui-ci doit défendre la plus importante de ses réformes, celle des retraites.

Menacé de perdre la main alors que les ramifications de l’affaire Bettencourt le mettent directement en cause pour le financement de sa campagne présidentielle au printemps 2007 (à travers le trésorier de l’UMP, Eric Woerth), Nicolas Sarkozy se doit de réagir s’il veut stopper sa chute libre au sein de l’opinion publique. Un sondage réalisé par l’institut CSA pour le journal Le Parisien publié vendredi indique que sa cote s’effondre. En un mois, il a perdu cinq points en intention de vote pour le premier tour de la prochaine présidentielle, passant de 36 à 31%, et il serait battu au second tour par la socialiste Martine Aubry. >>> Frédéric Koller | Samedi 10 Juillet 2010

En Inde, les femmes musulmanes montent au créneau contre les mollahs

LE FIGARO – BLOG – MARIE-FRANCE CALLE: A la fin mai, elles étaient déjà descendues dans la rue pour protester contre une fatwa des Déobandistes leur interdisant d'exercer des métiers où elles ne pourraient pas être "dûment couvertes". Le 29 juin, trois autres femmes musulmanes, des chiites cette fois, ont carrément battu trois mollahs, les accusant d'avoir consenti le talaq (le divorce) à leurs époux alors qu'elles n'avaient pas été consultées.

Tandis qu'en Europe certaines femmes musulmanes s'accrochent à leur droit de porter la burqa, en Inde, une poignée d'entre elles tentent de s'émanciper des règles dictées par les mollahs. Et le mouvement fait tache d'huile. Au printemps dernier, elles avaient été nombreuses à s'insurger contre une fatwa des Déobandistes (sunnites) visant à leur interdire d'exercer des professions où elles ne pouvaient être certaines de pouvoir travailler voilées. Si nombreuses qu'elles avaient attiré l'attention des médias, réussissant ainsi à provoquer un débat national. Continuez à lire et écrire un commentaire >>> Par Marie-France Calle | Samedi 10 Juillet 2010

Talibanism: Women Thrash Muslim Clerics, Husbands

Muslims Protest in Cardiff Against 'Anti-Islam Laws'

”This isn't just about Muslim women being asked to cover their faces, this is an ideological attack on Islam and Muslims” – Muhammad Abu Yaffir, organiser

BBC: Muslims have demonstrated in Cardiff to protest against laws across Europe which they say are anti-Islam.

Saturday's protest was to highlight what they believe is an "ideological attack" on Islam.

Organiser Muhammad Abu Yaffir said: "Muslims feel very strongly about these laws being introduced across Europe".

Last year Switzerland voted to ban the building of new minarets, while France is debating a ban on the Islamic veil.

Mr Yaffir said: "Wherever Muslims feel pain anywhere in the world it is our responsibility to respond to their needs.

"The laws being proposed are a form of oppression and we will respond to this oppression."

Muslims from communities across south Wales were expected at the "standing still" demonstration outside City Hall.

Last year, some 57.5% of Swiss voters voted in favour of a ban on building any new minarets in the country.

The French parliament is debating plans to ban the wearing of full Islamic veils in public. >>> | Saturday, July 10, 2010
Report: Saudi King Cancels Visit to France

YNET NEWS: Decision comes less than two weeks after Le Figaro quoted Abdullah as saying both Israel and Iran don't deserve to exist

Saudi Arabia's state news agency said King Abdullah has indefinitely postponed a trip to France planned for this week.

The Saudi monarch was to open an exhibition of Saudi antiquities at the Louvre museum in Paris during his visit.

The Saudi Press Agency on Saturday did not say why the trip was postponed. But the decision comes less than two weeks after the French daily Le Figaro quoted King Abdullah as saying both Israel and Iran don't deserve to exist. >>> Associate Press | Saturday, July 10, 2010

LE POINT: Diplomatie – Riyad confirme le "report" d'une visite du roi d'Arabie saoudite en France: L'Arabie saoudite a confirmé samedi le "report à une date qui reste à déterminer" d'une visite du roi Abdallah en France, prévue initialement pour ce lundi et au cours de laquelle il devait notamment rencontrer le président Nicolas Sarkozy. La visite "a été reportée à une date qui reste à déterminer, la plus proche possible pour les deux parties", a indiqué l'agence officielle SPA, citant un responsable gouvernemental anonyme. Le motif du report n'a pas été précisé. >>> AFP | Samedi 10 Juillet 2010

Telefonat mit Abbas: Obama will sich für Palästinenserstaat engagieren

KRONE.at: US-Präsident Barack Obama hat dem palästinensischen Präsidenten Mahmoud Abbas sein Engagement für die Schaffung eines unabhängigen Palästinenserstaates zugesichert. Im Gegenzug versprach Abbas in einem Telefonat mit dem US-Präsidenten sein Eintreten für einen "ernsthaften Friedensprozess" im Nahen Osten, wie ein Sprecher der palästinensischen Autonomiebehörde in Ramallah am Freitag gegenüber der Nachrichtenagentur AFP berichtete. >>> | Samstag, 10. Juli 2010
Morano exclut un projet de loi sur l'adoption pour les couples homosexuels

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Nadine Morano, secrétaire d'Etat à la famille. Photo : Le Monde

LE MONDE: Après la décision rendue jeudi par la Cour de cassation qui permet la reconnaissance en France d'un jugement d'adoption obtenu aux Etats-Unis par deux femmes, la secrétaire d'Etat à la famille a admis que la question de l'adoption par des couples de même sexe "mérite un débat politique". Mais elle a exclu de présenter un projet de loi sur la question.

Nicolas Sarkozy avait dit "pendant sa campagne électorale qu'il n'était pas favorable à l'adoption par des couples homosexuels, donc très clairement, si vous me posez la question de savoir s'il y aurait un projet de loi en ce sens, je vous réponds 'non'", a-t-elle assuré. >>> LeMonde.fr avec AFP | Samedi 10 Juillet 2010
Zahlungsbefehl an Ghadhafi-Sohn: Offene Hotelrechnung in Italien über knapp 400'000 Euro

NZZ ONLINE: Ein italienisches Gericht hat Saadi al-Ghadhafi, Sohn des libyschen Diktators und Fussballer, zur Zahlung von 400'000 Euro verurteilt. Er hatte die Rechnung eines Luxushotels in Ligurien nicht beglichen.

Der drittälteste Sohn des libyschen Staatschefs war vom Besitzer des «Grand Hotel Excelsior» in der Badeortschaft Rapallo an der Riviera angezeigt worden, weil er die Rechnung für seinen einmonatigen Aufenthalt im Sommer 2007 nicht gezahlt hatte. Das berichtete die Mailänder Tageszeitung «Corriere della Sera» am Samstag.

Al-Saadi Gaddafi hatte im Sommer 2007 ein Monat lang in Ligurien verbracht, als er mit dem italienischen Fussballklub Sampdoria Genua über einen Vertrag als Spieler verhandelte, den er dann allerdings nicht unterschrieb.

Der 36-Jährige wohnte mit Bodyguards und einem Hund in einer kostspieligen Suite des Hotels und lud Dutzende von Gästen ein. Schliesslich reiste er nach einem Monat ab - allerdings ohne die Rechnung in Höhe von 395'000 Euro zu bezahlen. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> sda/apa | Samstag, 10. Juli 2010
Australiens Asylpolitik: Gillard verärgert die Nachbarn

FRANFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Nach nur zwei Wochen im Amt hat es die neue Premierministerin Gillard schon mit mehreren Unannehmlichkeiten zu tun. Vor allem ihre Initiative für ein „regionales Auffanglager“ für Flüchtlinge in Osttimor wird kritisiert.

An der Asylpolitik hat sich schon manche Regierung Australiens die Finger verbrannt. Die nächste könnte die der neuen Premierministerin Julia Gillard werden, deren Plan für ein „Regionales Abwicklungs-zentrum“ für Flüchtlinge diplomatisch ins Stocken und innenpolitisch in die Kritik geraten ist. >>> Von Jochen Buchsteiner, Jakarta | Samstag, 10. Juli 2010
Barack Obama: A Socialist in Disguise?




Pastor Manning: 'Obama's Pure, Unadulterated Evil'

Obama’s Brother Lives in a Kenyan Shack

RUSSIA TODAY: U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama’s lost brother has been tracked down in Kenya. George Hussein Onyango Obama, aged 26, was found by journalists from the Italian edition of Vanity Fair. He reportedly lives in pov[erty.]

He has the same father as the U.S. senator, Barack Hussein Obama, but a different mother. Her name has been given as Jael.
The youngest of Obama’s half-brothers says he lives on less than a dollar per month in a 2m x 3m shack. Its walls are decorated with posters of famous footballers and a calendar featuring exotic beaches. The magazine also noted George has a newspaper picture of his brother.

He has only met his famous brother twice. Once when he was five and then in 2006 when Senator Obama visited Nairobi. George admits their meeting was very brief and cool. [Source: RT] | Published: Wednesday, August 20, 2008; Edited: Monday, April 05, 2010
Poster Displaying Nazi Swastika in Warsaw Deemed Legal

BALTIMORENEWS.NET: In Warsaw, the capital of Poland, a large billboard featuring a naked model clad only in a Mickey Mouse mask with a Nazi swastika behind her, has roused the anger of members of the public.

An Italian artist, Max Papeschi, created the piece which is called “NaziSexyMouse” and adorns the side of an entire building in order to advertise a newly opened art gallery.

A city councilor, Norbert Napieraj, is attempting to take legal action against the poster, referring to Poland’s laws banning the display of the swastika; the 2-storey high picture has also been torn by vandals, but was recently replaced. >>> Baltimore News.Net | Saturday, July 10, 2010
Coalitions Are Here to Stay, Says Nick Clegg

THE GUARDIAN: Deputy PM claims Lib-Con government marks end of tribal politics and shift to more complex relationships between parties

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Nick Clegg: 'What we are entering into is a permanent move to greater pluralism, diversity and fluidity in politics.' Photograph: The Guardian

The Liberal-Conservative coalition government is not a one-off but marks "a permanent move that breaks the duopoly of the old parties for good", Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, says in a Guardian interview today that marks his first two extraordinary months in office alongside David Cameron.

The coalition, he says, "is not an aberration, but a natural consequence of what has been happening for years, which is a loosening of the old tribal ties between the old parties and their supporters. Something very, very big is happening in politics."

Clegg, who leads the coalition's plans for electoral reform – a crucial part of the deal that brought the Tories and Lib Dems together – predicted more coalitions in the future, claiming that the "more complex set of relationships between political parties in the future reflects a more complex society in which people do not vote in the old blocs.

"I think what we are entering into is a permanent move to greater pluralism, diversity, and fluidity in politics that does not settle down to one associated pattern between parties," said Clegg.

The Lib Dem leader, who says of himself "I am a revolutionary but I am also a pragmatist", added: "There is a Labour assumption that this coalition is an unnatural act, and all we have to do is put it back in a box, and carry on as before. I really think they are missing something much more profound. That is why people out there, as opposed to the Westminster village, are warming as much as they are to the coalition. That is a deep change in the way people regard politics psychologically."

His remarks suggest he could yet envisage different-shaped coalitions in the future. At the same time he says he has found very quickly an ideological overlap with Cameron on decentralisation, public service reform and civil liberties. "What we have learned about each other most of all is that if you are in a coalition you have just got to be constantly open, pragmatic and level-headed about how you make progress together."

By contrast, he says Labour leadership candidates have rushed to the comfort zone of collective bile and vitriol. >>> Patrick Wintour and Nicholas Watt | Friday, July 09, 2010
Europeans Back Burka Ban, Americans Oppose Outlawing Muslim Veil

THE TELEGRAPH: While most Americans oppose banning face-covering Islamic veils, most western Europeans are in favour of outlawing the burka, a new survey has found.

Several European countries have been considering bans on such veils.

France, home to western Europe's largest Muslim community, is expected to see its lower house approve a divisive bill on Tuesday that would make it illegal to wear full-face veils in public.

The government says such veils oppress women.

Only a very small minority of French Muslim women wear veils such as the niqab or burka, and many French Muslims fear a ban would stigmatise the whole Islamic community.

A survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found that an overwhelming 82 per cent of French respondents supported a ban. The poll found 71 per cent support in Germany, 62 per cent in Britain and 59 per cent in Spain.

In the United States, just 28 per cent of those questioned said they would approve a ban. >>> | Friday, July 09, 2010
Obama's Muslim Call to Prayer



Obama Recites The Islamic Call To Prayer In Perfect Arabic: The Adhan (أَذَان)

The Obama Picture They Don't Want You to See!

Fury as UK Envoy Hails Terror Chief: Hague Faces Calls to Sack Our Woman in Beiruit

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Controversy: British Ambassador to Lebanon Frances Guy, pictured with Ayatollah Fadlallah, has sparked anger after praising the Hezbollah cleric in her blog. Photograph: Mail Online

MAIL ONLINE: William Hague was under pressure to sack Britain's ambassador to the Lebanon last night after she heaped praise on the spiritual leader of the terrorist group Hezbollah.

In an extraordinary 'personal statement' on the Foreign Office website, Frances Guy paid tribute to Sheikh Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, who inspired a string of terrorist attacks against Israel and the West.

Fadlullah, who died last weekend at the age of 74, became infamous in 1983 amid claims he had personally authorised the truck bombing of two barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 U.S. Marines and 58 French paratroopers.

He was also behind the kidnapping of dozens of hostages, including Terry Waite, John McCarthy and Brian Keenan. He recently issued a fatwa legitimising suicide bombing.

But writing on the Foreign Office website this week Miss Guy, Britain's ambassador to the Lebanon since 2006, hailed Fadlallah as a 'true man of religion' and said he was the man she admired the most.

Under the headline 'The passing of a decent man', she wrote: 'If I was sad to hear the news (of his death), I know other people's lives will be truly blighted.

'The world needs more men like him, willing to reach out across faiths, acknowledging the reality of the modern world and daring to confront old constraints. May he rest in peace.' >>> Jason Groves and Matthew Kalman | Saturday, July 10, 2010

Related:

THE TELEGRAPH: Britain's Lebanese Ambassador Praises Hizbollah Founder >>> Damien McElroy and Adrian Bloomfield in Jerusalem | Thursday, July 08, 2010
Krauthammer Bashes Obama's Infantile NASA Muslim Outreach Program



NASA Chief Revealed Muslim Outreach Plan to Al Jazeera Before Congress

FOX NEWS: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden revealed his plans to improve relations between America's space exploration agency and the Muslim world to Al Jazeera before Congress, the Washington Examiner reported.

Bolden called a couple of lawmakers with the news on June 28, after his interview with the Middle East news organization but before it aired, the newspaper reported.

"He ran down some of the things from the president's new space policy, and mentioned outreach to Muslims," Rep. Pete Olson, the top Republican on the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics recalled to the newspaper. "That stunned me. I didn't believe it."

Bolden's interview with Al Jazeera ignited a firestorm of controversy that has gone largely unreported by major news outlets. Michael Griffin, the NASA administrator during the latter half of the Bush administration told FoxNews.com that he believes the Muslim outreach plan is "deeply flawed."

"NASA ... represents the best of America. Its purpose is not to inspire Muslims or any other cultural entity," he said.

Bolden sat down with Al Jazeera's Imran Garda on June 17 during a Middle East trip to mark the one-year anniversary since Obama delivered an address to Muslim nations in Cairo, a NASA spokesman told the newspaper.

The interview aired June 30 after the Obama space plan was unveiled and members of Congress were briefed. >>> FoxNews.com | Friday, July 09, 2010
Gingrich: 'The Obama Administration Doesn't Understand America'

Muslim Charged with Plotting Genocide of Canadian Jews

THE TELEGRAPH: A Muslim immigrant who called for "the slaughter of Jews" in online postings has become the first person to be charged with promoting genocide in Canada, police said on Friday.

Salman Hossain, a 25-year-old from Bangladesh who apparently left Canada in May, was charged with five counts of promoting hatred and advocating or promoting genocide over postings on his website and blog, as well as on a third-party website, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said.

He "wilfully promoted hatred and advocated genocide of the Jewish community," said a statement.

Until now, Canada has only prosecuted suspects accused of mass atrocities abroad, in countries such as Rwanda. The Canadian government has also deported war crimes suspects to be tried in foreign courts.

Mr Hossain, who immigrated to Canada as a child, openly called for "violent regime change in Western nations in order to remove the presence of Jews" and "the slaughter of Jews," according to reports.

He also advocated terrorist attacks in Canada, cheered the killing of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, and urged fellow Muslims to overthrow the "Jewish-run Canadian government". >>> | Saturday, July 10, 2010