Monday, August 09, 2010
ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has emphasized the need for preparing a well thought out and comprehensive development plan for Makkah to make it one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
“We’ll be responsible before God and coming generations if we do not work to make Makkah one of the most beautiful and modern cities in the world,” the governor told a meeting of top executives.
He said Saudi Arabia has the potentials to achieve this goal. “We have a strong and determined leadership that provides all-out support to this direction. We have also enough funds and good people who are capable of achieving this objective.” >>> Galal Fakkar | Sunday, August 08, 2010
ARAB NEWS: MUSCAT: Oman has no plans to block BlackBerry services, the small Gulf state said on Monday, as regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia worked with the device's maker on a solution that could avert a ban of some services.
Offering the services was part of its "philosophy of free market in the sector," Oman's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said in a statement reported by state news agency ONA. >>> Reuters | Monday, August 09, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – NILE GARDINER: What the great French historian Alexis de Tocqueville would make of today’s Obama administration were he alive today is anyone’s guess. But I would wager that the author of L’Ancien Régime and Democracy in America would be less than impressed with the extravagance and arrogance on display among the White House elites that rule America as though they had been handed some divine right to govern with impunity.
It is the kind of impunity that has been highlighted on the world stage this week by Michelle Obama’s hugely costly trip to Spain, which has prompted a New York Post columnist Andrea Tantaros to dub the First Lady a contemporary Marie Antoinette. As The Telegraph reports, while the Obamas are covering their own vacation expenses such as accommodation, the trip may cost US taxpayers as much as $375,000 in terms of secret service security and flight costs on Air Force Two.
The timing of this lavish European vacation could not have come at a worse moment, when unemployment in America stands at 10 percent, and large numbers of Americans are fighting to survive financially in the wake of the global economic downturn. It sends a message of indifference, even contempt, for the millions of Americans who are struggling just to feed their families on a daily basis and pay the mortgage, while the size of the national debt balloons to Greek-style proportions. >>> Nile Gardiner | Saturday, August 07, 2010
Michelle Obama’s super-glitzy holiday with Sasha in Marbella is probably costing the American taxpayer at least one million dollars. Any estimates which are less than this are risible.
To any person with sound judgement, this is an incredible sum to spend on a holiday in these austere times, especially for someone in public office. The average American is hurting, and hurting badly. How sensible is it, then, for the Prez, or his wife, to go on such an extravagant trip abroad? The fact that it can be done doesn’t mean that it should be done.
Excuse me for asking, but what was the purpose of the trip? Was it to take Sasha on a nice short break? If it was, then Obama and Michelle are guilty of giving their children false values. As the leader of a nation which is broke, and in deep depression, neither he nor his wife should spend taxpayers’ money as though there’s no tomorrow; because at this rate, there really will be no tomorrow!
In times of severe economic hardship, people in public office should show solidarity with the people that put them into office: They need to suffer a little too. That way, they gain in support and respect. The way that the Obamas are doing things, all they do is lose in popularity and increase people’s contempt for them. Obama will surely pay a heavy price at the next election. – © Mark
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LOS ANGELES TIMES: China, Russia, India and Turkey move into the lucrative void left by U.S. and EU sanctions that aim to halt Iran's nuclear program.
Reporting from Washington — Efforts by the United States and its European allies to build a united front to halt Iran's nuclear program are facing increasingly bold resistance from China, Russia, India and Turkey, which are rushing to boost their economies by seizing investment opportunities in defiance of sanctions imposed by the West.
The Obama administration and the European Union opted to try to toughen United Nations sanctions against Iran with their own unilateral restrictions on foreign companies that do business with Tehran's energy sector, hoping that squeezing the country's most lucrative industry can force the Islamist government to bend on its nuclear program.
But the four countries condemned the additional sanctions, and in recent weeks went further: Since the new U.S. sanctions took effect July 1, all four have moved ahead with trade and investment deals that violate the sanctions or threaten to do so in the future.
The countries say they will honor the weaker set of sanctions imposed on Iran in June by the U.N. Security Council, but are under no obligation to follow the more stringent rules that the United States and European Union tacked on in July.
The U.S. sanctions prohibit petroleum-related sales to Iran, yet China and Turkey have sold huge cargoes of gasoline to Tehran, and Russian officials say they will begin shipping gasoline as well later this month, according to industry officials. The four countries also have signed deals or opened talks on investments worth billions of dollars in Iran's oil and gas fields, petrochemical plants and pipelines.
The countries "are making it very clear they are not going to go along with the new American and European efforts to ratchet up pressure on Iran," said Ben Rhode, an analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. Continue reading and comment >>> Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times | Sunday, August 08, 2010
THE NEW YORK TIMES: LONDON — Last month, the British government abolished the U.K. Film Council, the Health Protection Agency and dozens of other groups that regulate, advise and distribute money in the arts, health care, industry and other areas.
It seemed shockingly abrupt, a mass execution without appeal. But it was just a tiny taste of what is to come.
Like a shipwrecked sailor on a starvation diet, the new British coalition government is preparing to shrink down to its bare bones as it cuts expenditures by $130 billion over the next five years and drastically scales back its responsibilities. The result, said the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a research group, will be “the longest, deepest sustained period of cuts to public services spending” since World War II.
Until recently, the cuts were just election talking points, inchoate warnings of a new age of austerity. But now the pain has begun. And as the government begins its abrupt retrenchment, the implications, complications and confusions in the process are beginning to emerge. >>> Sarah Lyall | Monday, August 09, 2010
THE AUSTRALIAN: NOW that Tom Friedman in The New York Times has endorsed the construction of an Islamic centre at Ground Zero, no one can be against it.
But since he has not even made a real argument for it, aside from recounting his experience at a Broadway jamboree in the White House, where the only Muslim name was the President's middle one, which is nothing more than a non sequitur, the column stands alone with neither evidence nor logic.
Still, everybody is for it . . . except Abe Foxman and his Anti-Defamation League who are correct but had better keep quiet lest they bare the stigma of prejudice that comes from being against something whose only justification is that it has no reason.
So what is the real positive excuse for a mosque at Ground Zero? Perhaps to demonstrate that we don't hold anything against the men who did it.
Or to show that we have nothing against the culture from which they came. And nothing against the societies across all Islam that cheered the news of the 3000 dead.
But, of course, these are not accurate assertions of our emotions, then or now. Even as we try to understand them, we despise them. No mosque built on the ground where mothers and fathers, children and grandparents, relatives and friends and lovers were sacrificed will ever console or conciliate.
At best, it will remind of the cool brutality and fierce passion that animated these ghoulish people of faith to murder on a scale so huge almost to daunt the imagination. Ironically it will backfire because it will (rightly) remind visitors of the religious identity of the perpetrators. >>> Marty Peretz, The Australian | Tuesday, August 10, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: A statement on homosexuality that has garnered more than 100 rabbinic signatures is a watershed for Orthodox Judaism
If you think the Christian world has a problem with gay people, you should try orthodox Judaism. For centuries homosexuality has been taboo; it's not what nice Jewish boys or girls do. The biblical proscription against "men lying with men as though with a woman" (Leviticus 20:13) is considered the very bedrock of Jewish morality. For traditional Judaism marriage is the highest state of social bonding – a true union of body and soul. Despite some odd exceptions in biblical and rabbinical literature, (Jeremiah is told by God to stay single, Ben Azzai, one of the greatest of the Mishnaic teachers, remains a bachelor by choice), even celibacy was frowned upon. Part of this opposition was no doubt based on a response to the cultural environment – pagan in the biblical era, Christian in the rabbinic one. But despite major shifts in sociological contexts, the ban against homosexuality was rigidly enforced throughout the centuries. Whilst in other areas the rabbis often showed great flexibility and understanding, this particular area remained off-limits.
In recent years, however, homosexuality, among even the most Orthodox sectors of Judaism, has become a growing feature of contemporary Jewish life. In both America and Israel – the world's two largest Jewish communities – it has not been uncommon for rabbis and others to "come out", often suffering the consequences that such a confession entails. Moreover, reports of homosexual relations between rabbi-teachers and their students have been a regular feature of news items in both communities. In Israel and the US these behaviours have been the subject of a number of feature and documentary films. Continue reading and comment >>> Mordechai Beck | Monday, August 09, 2010
THE INDEPENDENT: It is the time of the year when school is out for Israel's ultraorthodox students. But this year, a Jewish morality police is patrolling in force to make sure they do not have too much fun.
Leading rabbis and heads of religious colleges, or the yeshivas, have warned students to continue their studies of the Torah, dress appropriately and avoid "the great danger, spiritually and concretely, of hitchhiking". The ultraorthodox, who make up roughly 10 per cent of all Israelis, live a closeted life. They voluntarily choose not to own a television or radio, and are barred from using the internet.
But Rabbi Mordechai Blau, leader of the group, Guardians of Sanctity and Education, feared that some temptations would simply prove too much, and deployed an army of snoopers to photograph members of the ultra-orthodox community, also known as Haredi, at a mixed-sex pop concert.
Revellers who ignored warnings to shun ultra-orthodox popstars from Brooklyn, New York, now face being slung out of their yeshivas, or having their children barred from attending the religious schools of their choice. >>> Catrina Stewat in Jerusalem | Monday, August 09, 2010
LE FIGARO: Ce commerçant polygame, compagnon de la femme verbalisée en avril pour conduite avec un niqab à Nantes est accusé de viols et violences par une ancienne maîtresse.
Connu pour avoir contesté la contravention de sa compagne pour conduite avec un niqab, Lies Hebbadj a été mis en examen dimanche pour viols aggravés. L'épicier nantais, déjà inculpé de fraudes aux aides sociales, se trouvait en garde à vue depuis vendredi soir à la suite d'une plainte déposée contre lui par une ancienne compagne. >>> Par lefigaro.fr | Lundi 09 Août 2010
Liens en relation avec l'article >>>
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: ALLEMAGNE | Hambourg a annoncé lundi la fermeture d'une mosquée. Selon les services de sécurité, elle avait été utilisée par des participants aux attentats du 11 septembre 2001 aux États-Unis. >>> ATS | Lundi 09 Août 2010
MAIL ONLINE: Tony Blair will cash in on his experience as Prime Minister by flogging a special edition of his memoirs at a wallet-busting £150.
The red cloth-bound, slip-cased publication of A Journey resembles a Bible or hymn book and bears the signature of the former PM, who was often compared to a vicar for his preachy tone.
Mr Blair – who became increasingly evangelical during his premiership – has already been forced to change the name of his memoirs from ‘The Journey’ to make the book sound less messianic.
The globe-trotting politician has now decided to charge an inflated price for the tome, despite reaping a £4.6 million advance from his publishers Random House.
The ‘deluxe’ edition was already discounted by a modest £15 on the publisher’s website this week. Mr Blair said the book had been a 'fascinating and enjoyable' experience but so far at least it has also been a financially rewarding one.
Political insiders expressed astonishment that Mr Blair – who has raked in at least £20 million since quitting Downing Street in 2007 – was daring to charge so much for the book in the midst of a recession. Signed Blair Bible? Greedy Tony Wants £150 for a Limited Edition Copy of His Memoirs >>> Gerri Peev | Monday, August 09, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told an inquiry into the Israeli naval raid on a Gaza aid flotilla that he could not "afford to ignore a threat to Israel's existence".
Netanyahu was the first witness to testify to the state-appointed inquiry into the lethal clash at sea on May 31 in which Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish activists, after boarding their vessel from a helicopter at night.
The May 31 raid took place in international waters off the coast of Israel after the aid flotilla ignored several Israeli warnings not to continue its course to Gaza, which is ruled by the Hamas Islamist movement and sealed off by an Israeli naval blockade.
Netanyahu took his seat before the seven-man panel and listened to a brief introductory address by its chairman before cameras were switched off.
"The state of Israel and the (Israel Defence Forces) operated according to international law," he said. "As prime minister I can't ignore Hamas as a threat to Israel's existence." >>> Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Monday, August 09, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, once imprisoned for his links to the terror group behind the Bali bombings, has been arrested for alleged involvement with a new militant network.
His lawyer, Muhammad Ali, said the arrest took place on Monday morning in West Java's Ciamis district.
Bashir is best known as the founder and spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group responsible for the 2002 bombings on Indonesia's resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, many of them foreign tourists.
He spent several years in prison for his involvement with the group, but was released in 2006.
He was re-arrested for alleged involvement with a new terror cell in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh, the lawyer said.
Authorities discovered the new group in February and said it was allegedly planning to assassinate the president and carry out Mumbai-style attacks targeting foreigners. >>> | Monday, August 09, 2010
Sunday, August 08, 2010
C-SPAN: Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer argue that the Obama administration is interested in destroying free market, placing limits on free speech, and putting international over domesticinterests. The authors present their thoughts on President Obama's planned and recently passed legislation and how conservatives can counter what they deem are attacks on American freedoms. Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer discussed their book at Book Revue bookstore in Huntington, New York.
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The career of Denmark's left-wing opposition leader is on the line after most Danes did not believe her claims that Stephen Kinnock, her husband, had not deliberately evaded the country's high taxes.
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, leader of Denmark's Social Democrats has seen her position as favourite to become the country's prime minister in elections next year take a hit after a scandal over misleading tax returns.
The daughter-in-law of Lord Kinnock, the former Labour leader, cut short her summer holidays last week after it emerged the couple gave differing accounts to the authorities over how much time he spent in the country.
Mrs Thorning-Schmidt, who is nicknamed "Gucci" for her love of expensive clothes, made a property conveyance declaration to the justice ministry that Mr Kinnock spent all his weekends in Denmark in order for him to become the joint owner of their home but in a separate declaration, the tax authorities were told that Mr Kinnock did not spend any more than 33 weekends a year in the country[.] >>> Bruno Waterfield | Sunday, August 08, 2010
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THE TELEGRAPH: France's lurch to the right * continued after Brice Hortefeux, the country's interior minister, called for immigrants who practise polygamy or female genital mutilation to have their citizenship withdrawn.
Mr Hortefeux said there were "possibilities to have nationality withdrawn in the case of polygamy, genital mutilation and serious wrongdoing." In all cases the radical punishment would not just apply to immigrants, but also to those who have a foreign background, even if they were born in France.
It follows President Nicolas Sarkozy calling for all foreigners who attack police in the kind of riots which blighted Muslim housing estates earlier this month to also lose their nationality. >>> Peter Allen in Paris | Sunday, August 08, 2010
* What on earth is "right wing" about this? To me, it just seems like common sense. What IS 'The Telegraph' talking about? More of this is what we need. The UK should follow suit. Is 'The Telegraph' implying that standing up for one's own values is a "lurch to the right". If so, it is talking total bloody nonsense! – © Mark
THE NEW YORK TIMES: PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (AP) -- U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha had lunch with Spain's king and queen on Sunday at the royal family's holiday retreat on the resort island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean.
Mrs. Obama and her daughter arrived at Marivent palace shortly before 1 p.m. and were greeted at the front door of the residence by King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia and Princess Letizia.
The king, a keen yachtsman, has for decades spent August vacations at the palace with its dramatic cliff-top views of the sea on the Balearic island's southwestern coast near Palma de Mallorca.
Lunch was Andalusian-style chilled gazpacho soup, chargrilled turbot, veal escalopes with mustard, Oriental rice with sauteed mushrooms, a Mallorca-style vegetable ratatouille and sliced fruit with ice cream, accompanied by wines from the northern regions of Rueda and Rioja, the palace said. >>> The Associated Press | Sunday, August 08, 2010
LE MONDE: Après avoir prêché ces derniers mois la rigueur, le sacrifice et le travail pour sortir de la crise, le chef du gouvernement espagnol a décidé de montrer l'exemple. Cet été, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero ne partira pas en vacances. Pour la première fois depuis sa première investiture en 2004, il restera la plus grande partie du mois d'août dans son bureau du palais de la Moncloa à Madrid pour préparer les réformes économiques qu'il présentera à la rentrée. C'est une question de "responsabilité" dans une situation "très sérieuse pour l'Espagne", a-t-il souligné lundi 2 août. En septembre, il devra en effet convaincre les députés d'approuver le budget de l'Etat pour 2011, qui s'annonce d'ores et déjà "restrictif et austère", a-t-il prévenu le vendredi 30 juillet lors de la présentation du bilan de la gestion du gouvernement pour le premier semestre 2010. >>> Madrid, correspondance | Jeudi 05 Août 2010
NZZ am SONNTAG: New Yorker Muslime wollen am ehemaligen World Trade Center ein Gemeindezentrum bauen. Konservative attackieren die «Ground-Zero-Moschee» als Beleidigung der Opfer von 9/11.
Anfang Woche hat die Denkmalbehörde von Manhattan den Abbruch eines seit den Anschlägen von 9/11 leerstehenden Gebäudes am Park Place, 180 Meter nördlich von Ground Zero, genehmigt. Dort wollen New Yorker Muslime das Gemeindezentrum «Cordoba House» bauen. Orientiert am goldenen Zeitalter der muslimischen Herrschaft in Spanien, soll es eine «Plattform für Toleranz und interreligiösen Dialog» werden. Doch derzeit provoziert das Projekt weit über New York hinaus Streit und Vorurteile.
Nachdem republikanische Lokalpolitiker das Vorhaben im Juni als Wahlkampfthema entdeckt hatten, heizen nun Konservative wie Sarah Palin und Newt Gingrich die Debatte an. Gingrich bezeichnete das Vorhaben als «islamistischen Angriff auf unsere Zivilisation». Auch ein Verein der Angehörigen von Terroropfern betrachtet das Cordoba House als Verhöhnung der Opfer von 9/11. Ein anderer Angehörigen-Verein unterstützt das Vorhaben dagegen. Nun hat das christlich-fundamentalistische American Center for Law and Justice Klage gegen das Cordoba House erhoben. Die Republikanische Partei hat zudem ein Video produziert, das die «Ground-Zero-Moschee» als Symbol des Terrors darstellt und eine gewaltige Moschee mit goldener Kuppel zeigt. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> Andreas Mink, New York | Sonntag, 08. August 2010
DIE PRESSE: Ali Yüksel, Berater des türkischen Minister-präsidenten, heiratet eine vierte Frau. Kritiker werfen Erdogans Regierung vor, eine Umwandlung der Türkei in einen islamischen Staat anzustreben.
In der Türkei ist eine neue Debatte über die Polygamie entbrannt. Ausläser ist Ali Yüksel, ein Berater von Ministerpräsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Er ist bereits zum dritten Mal verheiratet und hat angekündigt, eine vierte Frau zu ehelichen. Das berichteten die Zeitungen "Cumhuriyet" und "Hürriyet" diese Woche.
Die Vielehe ist im Islam erlaubt, in der laizistischen Staatsordnung aber verboten. Der Fall nährt in den Augen von Kritikern Erdogans ein weiteres Mal den Verdacht, wonach die islamisch orientierte Regierung eine Umwandlung der Türkei in ein Staatswesen mit religiöser Gesellschaftsordnung anstrebe.
Yüksel, war im Juni zum Berater des Ministerpräsidenten bestellt worden. Sein polygamer Lebensstil ist seit 2004 bekannt. Der fundamentalistische Theologe Yüksel erklärt, er versuche alle seine drei Frauen gleich zu behandeln, unabhängig davon, wie sehr er sie liebe.
Seine erste Frau Dilber Yüksel sagte in einem Interview, sie habe sich im Alter von elf Jahren in ihren "Prince Charming" verliebt. Er behandle alle seine Frauen gleich. Jede Nacht verbringe er mit einer anderen von ihnen. Gegen eine vierte Frau habe sie nichts einzuwenden, versicherte sie - es sei das gute Recht ihres Ehemannes. >>> Ag. | Freitag, 06. August 2010
DIE PRESSE: Der Schweizer Finanzminister Hans-Rudolf Merz ist wegen seines erfolglosen Besuchs in Libyen und der Aufhebung des Bankgeheimnisses in die Kritik geraten. Nun kündigt er an, sein Amt im Oktober aufzugeben.
Der Schweizer Finanzminister Hans-Rudolf Merz tritt im Oktober von seinem Amt zurück. Das kündigte er am Freitag an.
Der 67-jährige war im Dezember 2003 in die Regierung gewählt worden. Wegen eines erfolglosen Blitzbesuchs in Libyen und der Aufhebung des Schweizer Bankgeheimnisses geriet er ins Kreuzfeuer der Kritik. In der Regierung vertrat er die Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei (FDP). >>> Ag. | Freitag, 06. August 2010
THE NEW YORK TIMES: While a high-profile battle rages over a mosque near ground zero in Manhattan, heated confrontations have also broken out in communities across the country where mosques are proposed for far less hallowed locations.
In Murfreesboro, Tenn., Republican candidates have denounced plans for a large Muslim center proposed near a subdivision, and hundreds of protesters have turned out for a march and a county meeting.
In late June, in Temecula, Calif., members of a local Tea Party group took dogs and picket signs to Friday prayers at a mosque that is seeking to build a new worship center on a vacant lot nearby.
In Sheboygan, Wis., a few Christian ministers led a noisy fight against a Muslim group that sought permission to open a mosque in a former health food store bought by a Muslim doctor.
At one time, neighbors who did not want mosques in their backyards said their concerns were over traffic, parking and noise — the same reasons they might object to a church or a synagogue. But now the gloves are off.
In all of the recent conflicts, opponents have said their problem is Islam itself. They quote passages from the Koran and argue that even the most Americanized Muslim secretly wants to replace the Constitution with Islamic Shariah law.
These local skirmishes make clear that there is now widespread debate about whether the best way to uphold America’s democratic values is to allow Muslims the same religious freedom enjoyed by other Americans, or to pull away the welcome mat from a faith seen as a singular threat.
“What’s different is the heat, the volume, the level of hostility,” said Ihsan Bagby, associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky. “It’s one thing to oppose a mosque because traffic might increase, but it’s different when you say these mosques are going to be nurturing terrorist bombers, that Islam is invading, that civilization is being undermined by Muslims.”
Feeding the resistance is a growing cottage industry of authors and bloggers — some of them former Muslims — who are invited to speak at rallies, sell their books and testify in churches. Their message is that Islam is inherently violent and incompatible with America. >>> Laurie Goodstein | Saturday, August 07, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: The Chief Rabbi has expressed concern over comments made by David Cameron in which he described Gaza as a "prison camp".
Lord Sacks said many in the Jewish community felt "dismay" about the Prime Minister's remarks and urged him to show more "balance" when discussing the Middle East.
He made the comments during a sermon at St John's Wood synagogue last Saturday.
A spokeswoman for the Chief Rabbi, who leads the largest group of synagogues in the UK, said: "In a wide ranging sermon, the Chief Rabbi made a passing reference to the dismay many in the Jewish community and far beyond feel about the Prime Minister's comments on Gaza.
"The Chief Rabbi emphasised the importance that previous Prime Ministers have always placed on displaying balance, even when being forthright." >>> Ben Leach | Saturday, August 07, 2010
THE OBSERVER: The client of human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei has been sentenced to death in spite of retracted testimony
An 18-year-old Iranian is facing imminent execution on charges of homosexuality, even though he has no legal representation. Ebrahim Hamidi, who is not gay, was sentenced to death for lavat, or sodomy, on the basis of "judge's knowledge", a legal loophole that allows for subjective judicial rulings where there is no conclusive evidence.
Hamidi had been represented by human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who has since been forced to flee Iran after bringing to international attention the case of another of his clients, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old Iranian mother of two who has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. Mostafaei was due to arrive in Norway yesterday to begin a life in exile while continuing his campaigns on behalf of his clients, including Hamidi.
At the same time, human rights activist Peter Tatchell has written to the foreign secretary, William Hague, urging him to contact the chief justice of Iran and ask that the execution be halted.
"Ebrahim's case is evidence that innocent heterosexual people can be sentenced to death on false charges of homosexuality [in Iran]," said Tatchell, co-founder of the London-based gay rights group OutRage.
Hamidi was arrested two years ago in the suburbs of the western city of Tabriz in the East Azerbaijan province after a fight with members of another family. Three of his friends were also involved in the incident and were subsequently arrested. Later, the four were accused of homosexual assault on a man and of attempting to abuse him sexually.
A person convicted of homosexuality in Iran can be lashed, hanged or stoned to death. The law includes a variety of penalties for different acts: 99 lashes if two unrelated males sleep "unnecessarily" under the same blanket – even without any sexual contact. A boy raped by an adult man would also be lashed if the court decided that he had "enjoyed" the experience. >>> Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Sunday, August 08, 2010
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The Duchess of York’s debts have risen to almost £5 million, causing alarm in the Royal family, which now fears her best option is bankruptcy.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that at least one senior financial adviser to Buckingham Palace has recommended voluntary bankruptcy even though this would cause acute embarrassment to the Queen, the Duke of York and others.
The Queen is said to be “deeply concerned” by the debts, which are more than twice as large as previously thought.
David Cameron, the Prime Minister, has even been briefed on the issue and the problem is believed to have been discussed recently during one of his weekly private audiences with the Queen.
No senior member of the Royal family has ever been declared bankrupt, but this course of action is increasingly likely.
“One key adviser believes the right thing is for the Duchess of York to go bankrupt. He says it will be a week-long wonder, then everyone will say, 'It’s not altogether surprising’ and then they will forget about it,” a senior royal source said.
However, the Duke of York, who along with his private office is masterminding the “rescue plan”, knows that the Duchess is desperately keen to avoid bankruptcy. Such a move would also be particularly embarrassing for him because he is the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Development. >>> Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter | Saturday, August 07, 2010
THE AGE: AS THE US economy endures high unemployment and a jittery stock market, President Barack Obama has preached sacrifice and fiscal discipline. But the pictures coming out of a sun-splashed Spanish resort may be sending a different message.
First lady Michelle Obama is in the midst of a five-day trip to a luxury resort along with a handful of friends, her younger daughter, aides and Secret Service. Her office said the Obamas would pay for personal expenses, but would not reveal the taxpayer cost for the government employees.
Elected officials - Democrats and Republicans - were reluctant to weigh in, not wanting to appear critical of the President's wife. But the trip provided fodder for television news shows, talk-show hosts and bloggers. Critics portrayed the foreign getaway as tone-deaf to the deep economic anxiety back home. Every first family takes vacations: the criticism aimed at Mrs Obama is that she chose to visit a foreign country rather than remain in the US and support its fragile economy. >>> Peter Nicholas and Katherine Skiba, Washington | Sunday, August 08, 2010
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WA TODAY: The Danish royal court says Denmark's Crown Princess Mary is pregnant and expecting twins.
The court said in a statement on Friday the 38-year-old princess, who was born and raised in Hobart, is due in January. She is expected to give birth at Rigshospitalet, the national hospital, in Copenhagen.
The announcement follows weeks of intense media speculation that the princess is pregnant. >>> AP/AAP | Saturday, August 07, 2010
leJDD.fr: Fidel Castro s’est exprimé samedi devant le parlement cubain lors d’une séance extraordinaire convoquée à sa demande. Une première depuis que le chef historique de la révolution cubaine a cédé le pouvoir à son frère Raul.
Seulement douze minutes à la tribune mais déjà un événement. L’apparition de Fidel Castro à la tribune du parlement cubain est sa première apparition depuis son opération intestinale, il y a quatre ans. L’occasion d’une séance extraordinaire au Parlement au cours de laquelle l’ancien président a évoqué le risque d’une guerre nucléaire entre les Etats-Unis et l’Iran. Accueilli par les vivats de l’hémicycle, le chef historique de la révolution cubaine s’est contenté de douze minutes de discours déjà écrit, lui qui était habitué à de longs monologues de plusieurs heures. Un discours de 12 minutes >>> Mustapha Sandid, leJDD.fr | Samedi 07 Août 2010
Saturday, August 07, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: The English Defence League proposes to march though Bradford at the end of the month. Matthew Taylor speaks to local politicans and activists about what the consequences could be for a city that has already seen more than its fair share of racial tension and unrest
RUSSIA TODAY: Eyewitnesses have been sharing their video on the Internet of the deadly wildfires. This one was shot by a group of men trying to escape from a burning village in the Nizhny Novgorod region using the only paved road.
Related here and here and here
NZZ ONLINE: Der irakische Diktator Saddam Hussein soll dem österreichischen Rechtspopulisten Jörg Haider Millionen gezahlt haben.
Der 2008 verunglückte österreichische Rechtspopulist Jörg Haider soll laut Medienberichten Millionen vom früheren irakischen Präsidenten Saddam Hussein erhalten haben.
Das österreichische Nachrichtenmagazin «profil» meldete unter Berufung auf ein Dokument des irakischen Innenministeriums, Haider habe im Jahr 2002 bei einem Besuch in Bagdad 1,25 Millionen US-Dollar von Saddam Hussein bekommen. Parteifreund Ewald Stadler, der Haider begleitete, erhielt dem von «profil» zitierten Dokument zufolge sogar 3,75 Millionen Dollar. Stadler wies dies zurück. >>> ddp | Samstag, 07. August 2010
PROFIL: Haider kassierte 2002 fünf Millionen Dollar / Ewald Stadler wird auch als Empfänger genannt
Der Fall Haider wird zum Problem für die Republik Österreich: Laut einem internen Dossier des irakischen Innenministeriums hat Jörg Haider 2002 fünf Millionen Dollar von Saddam Hussein kassiert. Über Liechtensteiner Briefkästen sollen Schwarzgelder an politische Entscheidungsträger in Österreich, Deutschland und Kroatien geflossen sein. >>> Von Emil Bobi, Michael Nikbakhsh und Ulla Schmid | Samstag, 07. August 2010
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: In Österreich wird vermutet, dass der verstorbene Rechtspopulist Jörg Haider mehrere Millionen von Muammar Gaddafi entgegengenommen hat. Damit soll er den Wahlkampf der FPÖ finanziert haben.
Verbunden: hier und hier
THE TELEGRAPH: The proposed creation of an Islamic centre at Ground Zero has New Yorkers pitting appeals for tolerance against appeals for respect for the bereaved, writes Alex Spillius.
A debate is raging in New York that has achieved the unlikely feat of pitting rabbi against rabbi, Muslim against Muslim and a former New York mayor against the current office holder.
Ignited by a proposal to build an Islamic centre and mosque just two blocks from Ground Zero in New York, it has turned into an exemplary ethical dispute for the post-9/11 era, pitting appeals for tolerance against appeals for respect for the bereaved.
The stated purpose of the project is to bridge the divide between American Muslims and their non-Muslim compatriots and to foster cross-cultural understanding.
It is led by Faisal Abdul Rauf, an imam who has run a mosque nearby in lower Manhattan for 27 years and who is considered the epitome of Muslim moderation.
Called Cordoba House, the $100 million, 13-storey centre would be open to all faiths. It would include a 500-seat auditorium, swimming pool, book shops, restaurants and a September 11th memorial. One floor will be occupied by a mosque.
Formerly a coat factory, the building has been largely disused since the 2001 attacks, when it was struck by a piece of one of the planes flown by suicidal al-Qaeda terrorists into the World Trade Centre's twin towers.
Last week the city's Landmark Preservation Commission removed the project's only bureaucratic hurdle by unanimously declining to award protected status to the structure, meaning it could be rebuilt from scratch.
The developers have put a down payment on the property on Park Place. Only an outcry, or lack of funding, can stop it now.
To critics, the centre's proximity to the site of the atrocity would be an affront to the dead and to the feelings of families and firefighting colleagues who have survived them.
Some relatives have said that a building representative of the religion in whose name their loved ones were killed is too painful to countenance.
The Anti-Defamation League, a venerable Jewish civil rights group, came out against, arguing that "this is not a question of rights, but a question of what is right".
In a Quinnipiac University poll, a narrow majority of New Yorkers disapproved of the plan, though a majority of Manhattans approved.
The arguments in favour have been led by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, with strong support from the local community board and many Jewish groups and churches. >>> Alex Spillius - American Way | Saturday, August 07, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – DOUGLAS MURRAY: If you were planning to build a new £68 million giant mosque and 13-storey “Muslim community centre”, which site – anywhere in the world – would you think it most thoughtless to choose? The charred ruins of a Bali nightclub? A railway station in Madrid? Or perhaps the site of the most infamous Islamist terrorist attack of all – Ground Zero in New York?
This must count as the most crass idea since the award-winning plan to plant a red crescent (I kid you not) in the field in Pennsylvania in which flight 93 came down on that same day in 2001.
Amazingly, the organisation behind the Twin Towers mosque plan have said they picked the spot precisely because of its location. “Building a mosque where a piece of the wreckage fell … sends the opposite statement to what happened on 9/11,” according to Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the cleric leading the project.
Really? Building a mosque on the site of the Twin Towers sounds to me like having your Islamic cake and eating it. Those guys who brought down the Towers: bad Muslims. Those people who build mosques on the same site: good Muslims. Either way, the point is, it’s a gain for the religion which, misinterpreted or not, inspired the attacks. Continue reading and comment >>> Douglas Murray | Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The building of a mosque/Islamic center near Ground Zero is an act of triumphalism; further, it is in extremely bad taste.
It would be hard to think of doing anything more hurtful to the families of the fallen on 9/11. It would also be hard to try and think up doing anything which could be so disrespectful of those thousands that persished so needlessly.
On 9/11, thousands of people lost their lives because of Islam. It would be hard to conclude anything else. Islam is what inspired the terrorists. They also came from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, it is said, will now be behind the financing of this project: Cordoba House.
To think of anything more despicable than this would be hard indeed. This is an act of defiance and glorification of an act of Islamic terrorism. It also glorifies Islam itself.
Last week, the Landmark Preservation Commission opened up the way ahead for Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf to go ahead with the building of this already infamous edifice. However, this imam should show a modicum of respect for the victims and their families and back off. He has already played the system to his own advantage, and he has won the day – for now. He should still, however, be respectful of the country that has given him a home. He should not abuse the hospitality of the kind Americans who have allowed him to stay in their country.
If Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf really wants Islam to be respected in America, then he has no option but to find another location for his project. If this mosque/Islamic center goes ahead, Islam will become even more despised in America than it already is.
Is this what the Imam wants for his beloved religion?
Do the right thing, Mr Rauf – back off! You’ll do yourself a great favour. You’ll do Islam a great favour too. – © Mark
Related >>>
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Sacrifice is something that many Americans are becoming all too familiar with during this economic downturn. It was a key theme in President Obama's inaugural address to the nation, and he's referenced it numerous times when lecturing the country on how to get back on its feet.
But while most of the country is pinching pennies and downsizing summer sojourns - or forgoing them altogether - the Obamas don't seem to be heeding their own advice. While many of us are struggling, the First Lady is spending the next few days in a five-star hotel on the chic Costa del Sol in southern Spain with 40 of her "closest friends." According to CNN, the group is expected to occupy 60 to 70 rooms, more than a third of the lodgings at the 160-room resort. Not exactly what one would call cutting back in troubled times.
Reports are calling the lodgings of Obama's Spanish fiesta, the Hotel Villa Padierna in Marbella, "luxurious," "posh" and "a millionaires' playground." Estimated room rate per night? Up to a staggering $2,500. Method of transportation? Air Force Two. Continue reading and comment >>> Andrea Tantaros | Thursday, August 05, 2010
Great comment by Yeaman:
Greetings from the Outback, in my case Texas. Secession talk is heating up. 33% of Texans want to bolt. In Arizona, the number is higher. Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahomans are increasingly fed up with the Indonesian in Chief and the Worst Lady. Laugh all you want libs, but we have the oil and the food. You need what we export far more than we need what you export, which is dirty bankers and vitriol. God Bless the Free Republic of Texas! Viva Tejas! [Source: NY Daily News]
Michelle Obama’s super-glitzy holiday with Sasha in Marbella is probably costing the American taxpayer at least one million dollars. Any estimates which are less than this are risible.
To any person with sound judgement, this is an incredible sum to spend on a holiday in these austere times, especially for someone in public office. The average American is hurting, and hurting badly. How sensible is it, then, for the Prez, or his wife, to go on such an extravagant trip abroad? The fact that it can be done doesn’t mean that it should be done.
Excuse me for asking, but what was the purpose of the trip? Was it to take Sasha on a nice short break? If it was, then Obama and Michelle are guilty of giving their children false values. As the leader of a nation which is broke, and in deep depression, neither he nor his wife should spend taxpayers’ money as though there’s no tomorrow; because at this rate, there really will be no tomorrow!
In times of severe economic hardship, people in public office should show solidarity with the people that put them into office: They need to suffer a little too. That way, they gain in support and respect. The way that the Obamas are doing things, all they do is lose in popularity and increase people’s contempt for them. Obama will surely pay a heavy price at the next election. – © Mark
LE FIGARO: N'hésitant pas à parler de «xénophobie», le célèbre quotidien américain dresse un tableau au vitriol des récentes propositions du président français en matière de sécurité et d'immigration.
Le New York Times se paie une nouvelle fois Nicolas Sarkozy. Dans un éditorial intitulé «Xénophobie : la chasse aux non-Français», le prestigieux quotidien new-yorkais s'en prend aux récentes propositions du président français en matière de sécurité et d'immigration. Nicolas Sarkozy «attise dangereusement les sentiments anti-immigrés» au nom de «calculs politiques à court terme», juge le journal dans son édition de vendredi.
Particulièrement visé, le projet de retrait de la nationalité française aux délinquants d'origine étrangère ayant attenté à la vie d'un membre des forces de l'ordre. «De peur que les électeurs ne comprennent pas qu'une telle loi viserait particulièrement les immigrés musulmans», le ministre de l'Intérieur a «gentiment» ajouté à la liste des griefs la polygamie et l'excision, ironise le New York Times.
«Et ce, dans un pays qui a longtemps défendu avec orgueil le principe d'égalité devant la loi de tous les citoyens français», poursuit le journal, qui note au passage que Nicolas Sarkozy a pour père un immigrant hongrois naturalisé et qu'il a épousé une Italienne ayant également acquis la nationalité française. Il rappelle également à celui «qui aime être appelé Sarko l'Américain» qu'aux États-Unis, la citoyenneté américaine est protégée par le 14e amendement, qu'elle soit de naissance ou acquise. Les tests ADN et la loi sur la burqa déjà dénoncés (Continuez à lire et écrire un commentaire) >>> Par Thomas Vampouille | Samedi 07 Août 2010
NO MOSQUES AT GROUND ZERO: Read and comment >>> Friday, August 06, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: The FBI has warned that al-Qaeda’s new head of “global operational planning” is using his unprecedented familiarity with American society to plot attacks against the United States and other Western countries.
Investigators believe that Adnan Shukrijumah, 35, is “extremely dangerous” in part because of the experience he can draw on having lived in the US for 15 years.Shukrijumah has taken over a position once held by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 11 World Trade Center attacks, who was captured in 2003.
His role puts him in regular contact with al-Qaeda’s senior leadership, including Osama bin Laden, according to an FBI agent.
“He’s making operational decisions is the best way to put it,” said Brian LeBlanc, a Miami-based counter-terrorism agent. “He’s looking at attacking the US and other Western countries.”
“He knows how the system works. He knows how to get a driver’s licence, he knows how to get a passport,” he added. “He out there plotting the attacks and recruiting people.”
Shukrijumah is also suspected of playing a role in plots against the London Underground and in Norway that never came to fruition.
The son of a Saudi Arabian imam, he travelled to the US with his parents as a young child and lived in New York and Florida. He assumed his alleged new role in the terror group after two colleagues on an “executive operations council” were killed by suspected US drone attacks, the FBI said.
The suspect’s mother, Zurah Adbu Ahmed, who still lives in south Florida, said the authorities were using her son as a scapegoat. She said she had not spoken to her son since the September 11 attacks. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Friday, August 06, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: French police forcibly moved more than 100 gipsies from an illegal squatter camp as the authorities launched a campaign ordered by President Nicolas Sarkozy to clear up encampments.
Officers moved in before dawn to seal off the squatter camp, where the local authorities had installed water standpipes and chemical lavatories near the central city of Saint Etienne. The operation took several hours.
The French president announced tough new security measures last month that included plans to dismantle 300 unauthorised camps in three months.
In addition to the destruction of camps, a squad of tax inspectors has been set up to target hidden wealth in the community. Brice Hortefeux, the interior minister, has raised suspicions over the owners of “caravans pulled by certain powerful cars”.
Shortly after launching his measures aimed at gipsies, Mr Sarkozy announced plans to target members of other minority groups, promising to strip French nationality from certain categories of foreign-born criminals. >>> | Friday, August 06, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Saudi Arabia and the makers of the BlackBerry smartphone have reached a deal to prevent a ban on the phone's messenger service.
The agreement, which involves placing a BlackBerry server inside Saudi Arabia, would allow the government to monitor users' messages and allay official fears the service could be used for criminal purposes.
The deal could have wide-ranging implications for several other countries, including India and the United Arab Emirates, which have expressed similar concerns over how BlackBerry maker Research in Motion handles its data.
A Saudi regulatory official said tests were now under way to determine how to install a BlackBerry server inside the country.
The kingdom is one of a number of countries expressing concern that the device is a security threat because encrypted information sent on the phones is routed through overseas computers – making it impossible for local governments to monitor. >>> | Saturday, August 07, 2010
Related >>>
THE TELEGRAPH: Mark Hurd resigned last night from his post at the helm of Hewlett-Packard (HP) following a sexual harassment investigation.
Mr Hurd, chairman and chief executive of the world's largest personal computer manufacturer since April 2005, agreed to step down with immediate effect after he was found to have violated the company's own business conduct standards.
The HP probe was sparked following allegations from a former contractor, with whom Mr Hurd admitted he had a "close personal relationship". The company also said that Mr Hurd submitted false expense reports in an effort to conceal the relationship.
Shares in HP fell as much as 10pc on the news in extended after-hours trading, in spite of the company pre-announcing better-than-expected second quarter sales of $30.7bn (£19.3bn). >>> James Quinn | Saturday, August 07, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: The US, Germany and France have asked citizens to avoid travel to Moscow as Russia struggles to battle wildfires which have claimed 52 lives and choked the capital.
Germany closed its embassy until further notice and advised citizens against "non-essential" travel to the affected regions.
The US State Department asked nationals to seriously review travel plans.
"Forest fires and extreme high temperatures in the Moscow region and surrounding areas of central Russia have produced hazardous levels of air pollution and caused numerous flight delays and cancellations in Moscow," the department said in a warning set to expire on September 5.
"The hazardous air quality means that persons with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should remain indoors and keep activity levels low. Everyone should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors," it said.
The French foreign ministry also asked citizens to avoid travel to nine affected regions and announced it was sending experts to determine "the most adequate aid" it could offer.
Moscow's iconic landmarks such as the spires of the Kremlin towers or the onion domes of Orthodox churches were largely invisible from a distance on Friday as a heavy smog hung over the city after the worst heatwave in decades broke out in July. >>> | Saturday, August 07, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Russian heatwave kills 5,000 as fires rage out of control: Russia's devastating summer heatwave has cost almost 5,000 lives, according to officials who conceded yesterday that the state was struggling to gain control over the worst wildfires in decades. >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Friday, August 06, 2010
The disaster in pictures >>>
Isn’t there anything that the British government can do in the way of assistance? It seems to me that we British should be doing something to help these poor people? I applaud the French for sending experts to Russia to determine the best way of helping the Russians battle with these dreadful, uncontrollable wildfires. – Mark
Friday, August 06, 2010
THE HUFFINGTON POST: Major court decisions on controversial social issues are sometimes ahead of their times. That was certainly the case with judicial rulings decades ago that struck down laws banning interracial marriage. But despite conservative claims that U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling Wednesday to overturn California's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage is outside the mainstream, the reality is that his decision is in sync with public sentiment.
The gay rights movement has won Americans' hearts and minds. The tide has turned. Opponents can try, but they can't push it back.
Although nobody believes that homophobia has disappeared, polls show that public support for gay rights - including marriage - has increased dramatically in the past decade, especially in the last few years. Moreover, support for gay marriage is much higher among younger Americans, indicating that the future belongs to the advocates, not the opponents, of same-sex marriage. Soon, conservative politicians and groups will no longer be able to use gay marriage as a "wedge" issue to stir controversy and win elections.
The battle for gay marriage is often compared with the struggle to end the prohibition against marraiges [sic] between blacks and whites. In fact, Americans' attitudes about same-sex marriage changed much more quickly. Read on and comment >>> Peter Dreier, E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics at Occidental College | Friday, August 06, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: American employers shed 131,000 jobs in July / Data sparks rally in government bonds but stock indices fall
Employers in the US shed twice as many jobs as expected in July, fanning fears that the recovery in the world's largest economy will not see a revival in employment.
The US government said 131,000 jobs were lost overall, compared with forecasts for a 65,000 fall. The drop was mainly due to work finishing for temporary staff hired by the government to conduct its census. But private hiring was also weaker than expected.
Economists polled by Reuters ahead of the non-farm payrolls data forecast that private sector jobs would rise by 90,000, but in the event only 71,000 were added.
At the same time, June's overall drop was revised to a far steeper 221,000 from 125,000.
The data sparked a rally in government bonds, seen as safer investments when the economic picture darkens. Crude oil futures dropped on the prospect of weaker demand from the US market and stock indices also fell, including the FTSE 100 in the UK.
"This employment report only reinforces a sluggish recovery. Private sector job and income gains are not weak enough to point to a renewed downturn, nor are they strong enough to suggest the recovery is free of such risk," said Stephen Gallagher, economist at Société Générale.
Within July's drop, 143,000 jobs were census staff who were laid off, but there were also a further 59,000 public sector job losses as the US government mirrored its counterparts around the world in tightening budgets. Economists voiced concerns that the private sector outlook was also gloomy, suggesting that Americans will remain wary about their job prospects and do little to power the recovery.
"This is not good news for consumer confidence or spending and will intensify concerns about the pace of the recovery at the Federal Reserve," said James Knightley economist at ING Financial Markets. >>> Katie Allen | Friday, August 06, 2010
20 MINUTES: Le nouveau maire de Reykjavik, le comédien Jon Gnarr, s'est rendu à la Gay Pride de Reykjavik travesti en femme avec rouge à lèvres, perruque blonde et sac à main jaune fluo.
Lorsque le maître de cérémonie a appelé l'anticonformiste élu islandais à venir sur scène jeudi soir, il est apparu vêtu d'une ravissante robe à fleurs recouvrant une poitrine généreuse en expliquant que «le maire n'avait pas pu venir». Père de cinq enfants, Gnarr, 43 ans, était devenu début juin à la surprise générale maire de la capitale islandaise après avoir remporté les élections avec un parti baptisé «Le Meilleur parti». Il avait promis d'être «avant tout un maire amusant». (+ vidéo) >>> | Vendredi 06 Août 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Reykjavik mayor attends gay pride in drag: Reykjavik's comedian-turned-politician mayor, Jon Gnarr, opened the Icelandic capital's gay pride festival this week in drag, in a blond wig and with bright red lipstick. >>> | Friday, August 06, 2010
LE TEMPS: Le leader populiste et xénophobe négociera, à partir de lundi, son soutien à la future coalition de droite entre Libéraux et Chrétiens-Démocrates. Le virage à droite des Pays-Bas ne fait plus de doute
«Ne pas voir» pour parvenir à gouverner. Preuve de la délicate situation politique engendrée aux Pays-Bas par les législatives du 9 juin, le futur gouvernement néerlandais reposera sans doute sur un accord tacite entre les partis conservateurs et l’extrême-onction pour «ignorer volontairement leurs désaccords».
A partir de lundi, le parti Libéral VVD, vainqueur du scrutin avec 31 députés, et le parti chrétien démocrate CDA, grand perdant avec 21 députés contre 41, commenceront à discuter de leur plate-forme de gouvernement avec celui dont leur sort dépendra au États Généraux, le parlement de La Haye: le parti de la liberté (PVV), anti[-]immigration et anti-islam, emmené par Gert Wilders. >>> Richard Werly | Vendredi 06 Août 2010
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