The EU should be stronger and more united. Great Britain should belong to the Union.
Die EU sollte stärker und geeinter sein. Großbritannien sollte der Union angehören.
L'UE devrait être plus forte et plus unie. La Grande-Bretagne devrait appartenir à l'Union.
Monday, January 03, 2011
Republican Attacks 'Corrupt’ Obama
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A senior Republican has accused Barack Obama of heading “one of the most corrupt administrations” ever seen in the United States.
Darrell Issa, a Congressman from California who will take over the powerful Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the House of Representatives, is set to subpoena dozens of Obama officials as he investigates a litany of issues. He has promised that the new Congress that convenes this week will vigorously pursue fraud and government waste.
His tough words indicated that the Democratic president is in for a rough ride over the next two years, when the Republicans will control the House after their victory in November’s mid-term elections.
Republicans have also renewed their vow to repeal health care reform, the signature achievement of Mr Obama’s first two years in office.
Though such efforts would be defeated in the Senate, where the Democrats still hold a diminished majority, and could be vetoed by the president, Republicans are convinced that they can force the administration into making changes to the law, which provided health insurance to nearly all Americans.
They are also examining how Congressional authority can be used to deny funding to elements of the bill. >>> Alex Spillius, Washington | Monday, January 03, 2011
Iraqi Immigrant Accused of Killing Daughter for Being Too Westernised
MAIL ONLINE: Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 50, faces life in jail if convicted of so-called 'honour killing' / Prosecutors claim a history of violence and threats against pretty 20-year-old
An Iraqi immigrant accused of killing his daughter because he believed she was too Westernised is to go on trial in Arizona this month.
Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 50, faces life in prison if convicted. The case raised awareness about incident of so-called 'honour killings' in the U.S.
In October 2009, he slammed his Jeep into his daughter, Noor Almaleki, 20, prosecutors said.
The woman, who longed to live a normal American life, was in a coma for two weeks before succumbing to her injuries - in a case that caused outrage from people nationwide.
Faleh Almaleki moved his family from Iraq to the Phoenix suburb of Glendale in the mid-1990s. He and Noor had a tumultuous relationship, according to police and court records and her close friends.
At 17, she refused to enter into an arranged marriage in Iraq, enraging her father, according to a court document filed by prosecutors.
At 19, Noor moved into her own apartment and began working at a fast food restaurant but quit and left her new place after her parents kept showing up at her work, insisting that she return home, the document said.
Later in 2009, she moved into the home of her boyfriend and his parents, Reikan and Amal Khalaf.
They say that she claimed her parents had beaten her.
Almaleki is accused of regularly harassing his daughter and the Khalafs.
Welfare Bill Soars as Coalition Counts Cost of Austerity Drive
THE GUARDIAN: Slowdown in economic growth makes reducing deficit harder, says Office for Budget Responsibility
Rising unemployment will cost the government £1.5bn more than expected in welfare benefits, according to official forecasts that reveal the hidden cost of the coalition's austerity drive.
As big increases in VAT are due to bite from Tuesday, analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility shows slowing economic growth will make it harder to reduce the deficit by forcing more people to seek state support.
The Treasury watchdog calculates the government will have to pay out £700m more in unemployment benefit than previously forecast. Similarly, a higher number claiming jobseeker's allowance as well as falling into lower wage brackets will see the government needing to pay out another £700m more in housing assistance over the next four years.
Though the OBR data, released last month, confirms the government is still making substantial savings from its changes to both benefits, the shadow work and pensions secretary, Douglas Alexander, said the OBR's fresh assessment suggested it was government strategy that was leaving these higher numbers exposed.
He said: "The growing cost of the risk the government is running with the economic recovery is now emerging. The result of policies which undermine growth and jobs is a longer dole queue and a higher welfare bill." >>> Allegra Stratton and Julia Kollewe | Sunday, January 02, 2011
Norman Tebbit: The Government Goes Easy on Suspected Terrorists – Thanks to the Lib Dems
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH – EXTRACT: Now, according to the Sunday Times, the junior partners in the Coalition have won the row over control orders on suspected terrorists. The Prime Minister, it claims, has sided with the Lib Dems against his own Home Secretary. Mr Clegg takes the high-minded view that the security of this country and its people are secondary to the “human rights” of suspected terrorists. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, who has responsibility for such matters, is known to take a different view, putting the human right of law-abiding citizens not to be blown to bits by demented suicide bombers first. Read the whole article here and comment >>> Norman Tebbit | Monday, January 03, 2011
The Christmas Broadcast, 1957
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Incredible! Journey to Islam and Seeking Knowledge - Abdur Raheem McCarthy
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Final Address (January 02, 2011)
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban, poised to take over presidency of the European Union, is fighting back against criticism from Germany and other countries over a new Hungarian law that some fear could be used to curb press freedom.
The law, which was passed last week by the Parliament in Budapest and comes into force on Jan. 1, empowers the newly created National Media and Communications Authority to impose heavy fines for coverage that it considers unbalanced or offensive to human dignity or common morals.
Dunja Mijatovic of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, which monitors press and human rights freedoms throughout the region, said he was concerned that the legislation, “if misused, can silence critical media and public debate in the country.”
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke out strongly against the new law.
“As a country that is about to take over the president of the E.U., Hungary will have a particular responsibility for the image of the whole union in the world,” said a spokesman for Mrs. Merkel.
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselbron questioned whether Hungary was ready to represent the E.U. “The plans clearly violate and the spirit of E.U. treaties,” he said. “It raises the question of whether such a country is worthy of leading the E.U.”
But Mr. Orban hit back against his critics. “We are not even thinking in our wildest dreams about making amendments to the law,” he said in an interview with the Hungarian private television channel Hir TV. “I am not inclined to react with wobbly knees to debates in parliament or Western reactions. There is not a single passage in the law that does not correspond to the media law in E.U. countries.” >>> Judy Dempsey | Saturday, December 25, 2010
Who Will Confront the Hatred in Hungary?
THE GUARDIAN: The European Union seems happy to ignore the repression that is happening under Viktor Orbán [sic]
All sides agreed that there should be no fuss when Hungary's Viktor Orbán took over the presidency of the European Union yesterday. The EU's technocrats would allow Orbán to play the big guy on the international stage, as long as he let Brussels run Europe behind the scenes. Brussels assured Orbán's rightwing Fidesz party in return that it would not look too closely at how he runs Hungary.
Both parties will maintain the pretence that Hungary is a decent democracy and not discuss the ugly little state that is growing within Europe's borders. The silence of Europe's rulers will suit Fidesz nicely. Ever since it won a landslide victory over the corrupt and incompetent Hungarian left, it has been turning Hungary into a… well, I will not call it a fascist country or even a neo-fascist county, but just note that an old, foul stench wafts from the "new society" Orbán's patriots are building on the Danube.
You can catch a smell of it in Fidesz's propaganda. Its first act was to order public buildings to display a passage from its manifesto. "In spring 2010, the Hungarian nation gathered its strength once again and brought about a successful revolution in the polling booth," the citizenry was informed. They should rejoice because Fidesz will lead Hungary to a bright new tomorrow based on "work, home, family, health and order". >>> Nick Cohen | Sunday, January 02, 2011
SKY NEWS: A new video of North Korea's leader-in-waiting has been broadcast on state TV as it emerged a train carrying his birthday gifts derailed in a possible act of sabotage. Tim Marshall reports.
New Irish Exodus To America
SKY NEWS: The number of people travelling from Ireland to New York to find work is rising, according to the city's Irish community leaders.
Katie Couric * : "Maybe We Need a Muslim Version of the Cosby Show"
THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE: >>> NewsGuy | Saturday, January 01, 2011
Agitation autour de l’affaire Sakineh
LE TEMPS: Une annulation de la lapidation de l’Iranienne condamnée à mort pour adultère est «possible», selon un responsable régional de la justice ce dimanche, après une série de déclarations plus ou moins mises en scène qui ont eu lieu tout ce week-end
De grandes manoeuvres semblent avoir commencé autour de cette Iranienne condamnée à la lapidation pour adultère, et dont le sort fait l’objet d’une forte mobilisation notamment en Occident depuis cet été. La peine de mort de Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani pourrait en effet être annulée, du moins si on en croit un haut responsable de la Justice iranienne, le chef de la Justice de la province d’Azerbaïdjan oriental, Malek Ajdar Sharifi, qui a déclaré ce di manche [sic] que «tout était possible». >>> LT / AFP | Dimanche 02 Janvier 2011
Übergewicht ist in Deutschland fast Normalzustand
WELT am SONNTAG: Die Bundesregierung will mehr gegen die weit verbreitete Fettleibigkeit unternehmen – alarmiert durch neue Zahlen.
Das neue Jahr hat begonnen, die guten Vorsätze sind gefasst. Ganz vorn rangiert dabei der Entschluss, endlich die überflüssigen Pfunde loszuwerden. Studien zeigen: Die Deutschen haben eine Schlankheitskur auch dringend nötig: Schon 15 Prozent der Kinder und Jugendlichen bringen zu viele Pfunde auf die Waage. Mit dem Alter nimmt der Anteil der Übergewichtigen dramatisch zu. Beim Eintritt ins Rentenalter sind heute sieben von zehn Frauen und Männern zu dick. Und der Anteil der Fettleibigen wächst. Die Kluft zwischen dicken und dünnen Deutschen wird immer größer.
Ein Teil der Bevölkerung ernährt sich gesund und achtet auf sein Gewicht. Wer aber ohnehin schon zu viel wiegt, kümmert sich nicht um Kalorien und langt noch kräftiger zu. "Die Dicken werden immer dicker", sagte Professor Helmut Heseker, Präsident der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Ernährung (DGE), der "Welt am Sonntag". Übergewicht sei "in einer Überflussgesellschaft inzwischen fast der Normalzustand", warnte Heseker. >>> C. Ehrenstein und M. Hollstein | Sonntag, 02. Januar 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Cabinet said to be poised to approve alternatives to the restrictive conditions imposed on some terror suspects
Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, is said to have won his cabinet fight to scrap control orders, the restrictive conditions that impose virtual house arrest on some terror suspects.
Under alternative measures awaiting government approval, suspects will no longer have to wear electronic tags or have a home curfew imposed on them, and will be allowed to use mobile phones and home computers for the first time, according to the Sunday Times. [£]
They will also be allowed to travel wherever they want in Britain, but not abroad, it is claimed.
The report comes after a group of human rights organisations upped the pressure on the government over the issue. The Liberal Democrats promised to scrap control orders as part of their election manifesto commitments, but the issue has caused wrangling within the coalition government, under pressure from the Home Office and MI5 to retain the controversial measures. >>> Karen McVeigh | Sunday, January 01, 2011
Egyptian Christians Mourn Dead in Suicide Bomb Attack on Church
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Dozens of grieving Egyptian Christians attended Sunday Mass at the Saints Church in Alexandria guard where 21 worshippers were killed in an apparent suicide bombing.
Riot police in armoured vehicles were deployed outside the blood-spattered church as Egyptian newspapers warned that "civil war" could break out unless Christians and Muslims close ranks after a deadly attack on a Coptic church that triggered angry protests.
The authorities said that a suicide bomber blew himself up outside Al-Qiddissin church in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria early on New Year's Day, killing 21 people and wounding 79 others.
The service was marked by the grief and anger felt by a congregation devastated by the attack, which took place Saturday outside the church's door about 30 minutes into the New Year.
Many sobbed while others cried hysterically, screamed in anger or slapped themselves. "They died, they died," a woman kept saying.
Some lamented that attacks on Christians and churches often happen during usually happy occasions like Christmas and New Year. Others complained that the government was not doing enough to protect churches. >>> Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Sunday, January 02, 2011
Australian Woman Swept Off Bridge Is First Victim of Queensland Floods
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Australian police have recovered the body of a woman whose car was swept from the road in heavy flooding in the country's northeast, the first victim of the catastrophe.
A woman drowned after trying to cross a flooded causeway in Australia, becoming the first victim of relentless flooding that one official has described as reaching "biblical proportions," police said Sunday.
Days of pounding rain last week left much of northeastern Australia swamped by a sea of muddy water, with flooding affecting about 200,000 people in an area larger than France and Germany combined. The rain has stopped, but rivers are still rising and overflowing into low-lying communities as the water moves toward the ocean.
On Saturday night, two cars trying to cross a flooded causeway were swept into a river in Burketown, in western Queensland state, police said.
"We're just grateful there weren't more casualties," Queensland's Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Alistair Dawson said. "We're focused on preventing any more."
About 1,000 people were living in evacuation centers across the state, and it may be a month before floodwaters dry up, Dawson said. >>> Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Sunday, January 02, 2011
Obama Can Fix It!
MAIL ONLINE: President Barack Obama today set out an ambitious New Year's resolution for 2011 - repair the struggling U.S. economy.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, the president said recent data showed the economic recovery was gaining traction even though millions of Americans were still out of work.
'Our most important task now is to keep that recovery going,' said Mr Obama, who is currently enjoying a family vacation in Hawaii.
Ottawa dénonce les violations des droits de l'homme en Iran
CYBERPRESSE.CA: Le chef de la diplomatie canadienne a dénoncé samedi l'usage de la peine de mort et de lourdes peines de prison en Iran, appelant ce pays à améliorer la situation des droits de l'homme.
«Je suis particulièrement préoccupé par le sort incertain de deux Canadiens ayant la double nationalité qui sont toujours détenus en Iran», a écrit Lawrence Cannon dans un communiqué.
M. Cannon cite le cas de Saeed Malekpour, un résident permanent du Canada, qui a été condamné à mort et dont la peine «pourrait être exécutée à tout moment».
Le Canadien d'origine iranienne Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, qui s'est rendu en Iran en 2008 pour rendre visite à sa mère malade, a lui aussi été condamné à mort sous l'accusation de crimes contre l'État. >>> Agence France-Presse | Samedi 01 Janvier 2011
Son of Iranian Woman Sentenced to Be Stoned Wants Her Sentence Commuted
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: The son of an Iranian woman, whose death sentence by stoning for adultery sparked world outrage, demanded Saturday that his mother's verdict be commuted.
In his first public meeting with journalists, Sajjad Qaderzadeh told reporters in the northwest city of Tabriz that he had been freed on Dec. 12 after posting a $40,000 bail and now wants to devote his life to saving his mother.
“We lost our father and we don't want to lose our mother. We demand that her verdict be commuted,” Qaderzadeh told reporters. >>> Nasser Karimi, Tabriz, Iran – The Associated Press | Saturday, January 01, 2011
Inondations «sans précédent» en Australie
LE TEMPS: Réfugiés par milliers, destruction des récoltes et transports bloqués: le nord-est de l’Australie faisait face vendredi à de graves inondations, dont le coût est déjà estimé à plusieurs milliards de dollars. Et un autre cyclone était en formation au large de la côte ouest, de l’autre côté du pays
Sur une surface aussi vaste que celle de la France et de l’Allemagne réunies, des dizaines de villes et de villages de l’Etat du Queensland, région agricole et minière, sont depuis mardi envahis par les eaux et coupés du reste du pays.
Les intempéries, provoquées par le récent passage du cyclone Tasha, ont pris la forme d’un véritable déluge d’eau qui a coupé les routes, endommagé les liaisons ferroviaires et perturbé la production de charbon. >>> ATS | Vendredi 31 Décembre 2010
Banned Speech: Hillel Neuer Takes on U.N. Human Rights Council
The Myth of Islamic Tolerance and Peaceful Coexistence - Egypt's Coptic Christians
The Coptic Church: 1,8 Million Christians Embraced Islam in Egypt
The Sad Truth Behind Egypt - The Treatment of Copts
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Islamic Crusades 2: Before Islam... Egypt, Iran, Iraq
Car Bomb in Egypt Kills At Least 21 Outside Christian Church
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A car bomb has killed at least 21 people outside a church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria.
The blast hit worshippers as they emerged from a New Year's mass at the Mass at the Saints Church in the Mediterranean port city in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Nearly 1,000 Christians were attending the service and were just leaving the church when the car exploded at 12.30am on New Year's Day.
Sectarian tensions have been on the rise in Egypt and after the blast, enraged Christians clashed with police and stormed a nearby mosque.
Fights and stone throwing broke out between groups of Christians, Muslims and the police.
Although no one claimed immediate responsibility for the attack, authorities in Egypt blamed al-Qaeda for the attack.
Al-Qaeda's Iraq affiliate threatened Egypt's Copts late last year after claiming an attack on a Baghdad church on October 31 that left 44 worshippers, two priests and seven security forces dead. >>> | Saturday, January 1, 2011
ÉGYPTE - La communauté copte endeuillée par un attentat meurtrier
LE POINT: Une explosion devant une église copte d'Alexandrie a fait plusieurs dizaines de victimes pendant la nuit du nouvel an.
Un attentat kamikaze a fait des dizaines de victimes à la sortie d'une messe du nouvel an, à Alexandrie. Photo : Le Point
La nuit de la Saint-Sylvestre a été endeuillée, en Égypte, par un attentat qui a frappé la communauté chrétienne égyptienne, la plus importante du Moyen-Orient. L'explosion, non revendiquée, s'est produite vers minuit et demi alors que des fidèles sortaient de l'église des Saints (al-Qiddissine), située dans le quartier de Sidi Bechr d'Alexandrie. L'attaque a fait au moins 21 morts et 79 blessés.
L'hypothèse d'une voiture piégée initialement mentionnée par les autorités a été écartée en milieu de journée par le ministère de l'Intérieur, qui a déclaré que le massacre avait "probablement" été perpétré par un kamikaze. La bombe, de fabrication locale, contenait des bouts de métal "pour atteindre le plus grand nombre" de personnes, selon un communiqué du ministère. Le président Hosni Moubarak a condamné dans une allocution télévisée un "acte criminel odieux qui a visé la nation, Coptes et musulmans", et dénoncé, sans plus de précisions, "l'implication de mains étrangères" dans ce massacre. Continuez à lire et vous pouvez écrire un commentaire >>> Source AFP | Samedi 1 Janvier 2011
Friday, December 31, 2010
Happy New Year! Bonne année ! Gutes Neues Jahr! !Feliz año nuevo! Feliz Ano Novo! Felix sit annus novus! L’Shannah Tovah! S Novim Godom! Hauoli Makahiki Hou! Es guets Neues! Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! ! سنة سعيدة
Muslim Reconquest of Spain Nears Completion: El Cid, Where Art Thou?
Spanish taxpayers now pay for massive mosque constructions
Image: The Last Crusade
THE LAST CRUSADE: Proof that history repeats itself comes with the news that Muslims have initiated their re-conquest of Spain.
The number of Muslims in Spain has climbed from 100,000 in 1990 to over 1.5 million in 2010.
Mosques are being constructed on a grand scale throughout the country.
The city of Barcelona, widely known as a European Mecca of anti-clerical postmodernism, has agreed to shell out nearly $30 million in public funds for the construction of an official mega-mosque with a capacity for thousands of Muslim worshipers.
The new structure in Barcelona will rival the massive Islamic Cultural Center in Madrid, currently the biggest mosque in Spain. An official in the office of the Mayor of Barcelona says the objective is to increase the visibility of Muslims in Spain, as well as to promote the “common values between Islam and Europe.”
In the past decade, more than 1,000 mosques and Islamic prayer centers have sprouted up throughout the once devoutly Catholic country.
Twelve new masjids are scheduled to open in northeastern Spain within the next three months.
The construction of new mosques comes at a time when municipalities linked to the Socialist Party have closed dozens of Christian churches across Spain by the enactment of new zoning laws.
The Barcelona mosque project was announced during a weeklong seminar titled “Muslims and European Values,” sponsored by the European Council of Moroccan Ulemas and the Union of Islamic Cultural Centers in Catalonia.
A representative of the Barcelona mayor’s office who attended the conference told the Madrid-based El País newspaper that the municipality would get involved in the mosque project because “although religion pertains to the private realm, this does not mean it does not have a public role.”
The idea to build a mega-mosque funded by Spanish taxpayers comes after Noureddine Ziani, a Barcelona-based Moroccan imam, said the construction of big mosques would be the best way to fight Islamic fundamentalism in Spain. “It is easier to disseminate fundamentalist ideas in small mosques set up in garages where only the members of the congregation attend, than in large mosques that are open to everyone, with prayer rooms, cafes and meeting areas,” Ziani told the Spanish news agency EFE. Read on and comment >>> TheLastCrusade.org
Emergency workers say at least three people are dead
Nicolas Sarkozy s'engage à protéger l'euro
Les voeux du président de la République ont été enregistrés pendant la journée dans la salle des fêtes de l'Elysée. Ils ont été diffusés en différé à 20 heures simultanément sur Dailymotion, sur les principales chaînes de télévision et stations de radio. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: «La fin de l'euro serait la fin de l'Europe», a expliqué le président lors de ses vœux aux Français. Il souhaite que l'année 2011 soit «utile», la France ne pouvant pas «se payer le luxe d'une année d'immobilisme pré-électoral».
Il avait préparé son texte plusieurs jours à l'avance. Nicolas Sarkozy a apporté un soin particulier au rituel des vœux de la Saint-Sylvestre, après une année 2010 difficile, marquée par la défaite de la droite aux régionales, l'affaire Woerth-Bettencourt, ou encore la delicate réforme des retraites, sur fond de morosité économique.
Se posant en président «protecteur», comme son entourage l'avait pressenti, il a mis l'accent sur l'importance de l'Europe pendant la crise. Le président a mis en garde contre ceux qui proposent de sortir de l'euro. «L'isolement de la France serait une folie. La fin de l'euro serait la fin de l'Europe», a déclaré le chef de l'Etat. Or «dans la tempête, (elle) a su faire face, certes pas assez complètement et souvent pas assez rapidement, mais l'Europe a tenu et l'Europe nous a protégés», a-t-il affirmé.«Je m'opposerai de toutes mes forces à un retour en arrière qui ferait fi de 60 ans de construction européenne», a-t-il appuyé dans cette déclaration radio-télédiffusée qui était également retransmise par Dailymotion. >>> Par lefigaro.fr | Vendredi 31 Décembre 2010
Début novembre, Al-Qaida avait qualifié les chrétiens de "cibles légitimes". Photo : Le Monde
LE MONDE: Au moins deux chrétiens ont péri et 16 personnes ont été blessées jeudi 30 décembre dans dix attentats commis en moins de deux heures contre des maisons appartenant à des chrétiens de Bagdad, a annoncé un responsable du ministère de l'intérieur. "Au total, 14 bombes avaient été posées près de maisons appartenant à des chrétiens. Dix engins ont explosé", a-t-il indiqué.
Ces attaques ont été perpétrées à partir de 19 h 30, heure locale, dans plusieurs quartiers de la capitale irakienne contre une communauté visée à de nombreuses reprises ces deux derniers mois. L'attaque la plus sanglante a eu lieu dans le quartier d'Al-Ghadir, dans le centre de Bagdad, où une bombe artisanale a explosé vers 20 heures, tuant deux chrétiens et faisant trois blessés. Les autres explosions, toutes dues à des engins artisanaux, n'ont fait aucun mort, mais blessé treize autres chrétiens. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | Jeudi 30 Décembre 2010
Geert Wilders will mit Anti-Islam-Buch provozieren
WELT ONLINE: Der niederländische Rechtspopulist Geert Wilders plant ein islamkritisches Buch: inspiriert von Thilo Sarrazins "Deutschland schafft sich ab".
Der niederländische Rechtspopulist Geert Wilders will 2011 mit einem islamkritischen Buch international und insbesondere in den USA für Furore sorgen. „Das Buch ist vor allem für den amerikanischen Markt bestimmt, und es geht darum, wie wir die Islamisierung weltweit besser bekämpfen können“, sagte Wilders in einem Interview mit der Zeitung „De Telegraaf“.
Der Chef der Partei für die Freiheit (PVV) will mit der Veröffentlichung die weltweite Ausbreitung der von ihm gegründeten „International Freedom Alliance“ zur Zurückdrängung des Islam fördern. „Wir können in den Niederlanden eine ganze Menge tun, aber wir wollen auch international ein Signal an die arabische Welt senden, dass hart zurückgeschlagen wird durch eine Partei, die hier viel zu sagen hat.“ >>> dpa/lha | Freitag, 31. Dezember 2010
Das neue Jahr hat schon begonnen
Grandioses Feuerwerk in Australiens Metropole Sydney
Sieben Tonnen Feuerwerk wurden zum Jahreswechsel in Sydney in den Himmel geschossen. Bild: NZZ Online
NZZ ONLINE: Im Pazifik ist das neue Jahr bereits einige Stunden alt. Die Bewohner von Kiribati haben traditionellerweise als erste auf dem Globus den Jahreswechsel gefeiert. In Sydney gab es wiederum ein grosses Feuerwerk.
Millionen von Menschen haben in Australien und Asien mit zum Teil prachtvollen Feiern das neue Jahr begrüsst. Die Menschen in Ozeanien haben als erste das neue Jahr begrüsst. Für die 6000 Bewohner des Inselstaates Kiribati im Pazifik begann das Jahr 2011 um 11 Uhr MEZ. Sieben Tonnen Feuerwerk >>> afp/ddp | Freitag, 31. Dezember 2010
Knighted – for Services to High Gas Prices and Cadbury's Demise?
THE INDEPENDENT: Roger Carr, the tycoon who saw through the sale of the 200-year-old British company Cadbury to the US multinational Kraft in February, has been knighted for services to industry in today's New Year Honours list.
Sir Roger was praised by the City for getting a good deal for shareholders when the Cadbury sale went through in February. Since then Kraft has announced that it is moving the firm's headquarters to Switzerland to avoid UK tax, at a probable cost of thousands of UK jobs.
The award is doubly controversial because Sir Roger also chairs Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, which recently announced a 7 per cent price hike. Soon after that announcement, Centrica raised its full year profit forecast to more than £2.2bn. The regulator, Ofgem, is holding an inquiry into whether major energy companies are "lining their pockets". >>> Andy McSmith | Friday, December 31, 2010
Estonians Happily Enter the Eurozone
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A majority of Estonians are embracing the joining of their economy to the eurozone on Saturday in spite of the deepening crisis of confidence in the single currency.
Estonia will become the single currency's 17th member in 2011. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
The Baltic country becomes the 17th member of the euro and the first from the former Soviet Union. Some 85m euro coins featuring a map of Estonia and 12m banknotes have gone into circulation, starting a two-week phase out of the national currency, the kroon.
Joakim Helenius, chief executive of Trigon Capital, an asset management company, said that 20 years after breaking away from the Soviet Union the euro was a "symbol of hope" for many Estonians, adding, "It symbolises that Estonia has emerged as a full member of the European family."
After a year of convulsions and ever-direr predictions that the euro cannot survive, the majority of Estonians still support joining. A recent, admittedly small, poll showed that 52 per cent backed the move although that was slightly down from November. The Finance Ministry blamed the slippage on an early case of nostalgia for the kroon. >>> Martin Banks in Brussels | Friday, December 31, 2010
New Year Celebrations Around the World
THE GUARDIAN: As they welcome the new year, we'll be keeping you up to date with the celebrations as they happen
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The terrorist threat to Britain is "as serious as it has ever been", David Cameron warns today.
In his new year message, the Prime Minister says that the security services are facing a daily struggle to stop plots that would "do terrible harm to our people and our economy".
The risk of terrorism has been demonstrated by the arrest this month of nine men accused of plotting a Christmas bombing campaign with targets including the London Stock Exchange and Big Ben, Mr Cameron declares.
He also suggests that Britain faces fundamental questions about why young Muslims continue to be drawn into violent extremism. The Islamic community must help address how their minds are "poisoned", he says.
Mr Cameron's stark message comes amid a prolonged row between Coalition ministers over anti-terrorism laws, with the Liberal Democrats pressing for some of Labour's contentious security measures to be watered down.
Mr Cameron says: "For many years now, we have been aware of the threat we face from international terrorism. Recent arrests show that that threat is still very much with us. And it is as serious today as it ever has been." >>> James Kirkup, Political Correspondent | Friday, December 31, 2010
Politically correct goggledygook from the fresh-faced Mr. Cameron. “International terrorism” indeed! Surely you must mean Islamic terrorism, Mr. Cameron. This is the threat we face. Another name for it is the Jihad. If we are to have a brighter, more secure future in Britain, nay in the West, we shall have to start calling things by their real names. Euphemisms just won’t do.
The facts are as plain as the nose on your face, Mr. Cameron. We have one almighty, herculean task ahead of us if we wish to get the better of all the Muslims in our midst who so clearly wish to destroy our free way of life. So get real, Mr. Cameron! Get real!
Kate Middleton's Friend Questioned Over 'Racist' Gun Threat
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A friend of Kate Middleton was interviewed under caution for claiming on Facebook that she planned to shoot illegal immigrants.
Kate Middleton going out to lunch with Emma Sayle. Right: Miss Sayle during preparations to row a dragon boat across the channel with an all-female crew. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
Emma Sayle, 32, posted a message that read: "Just had a two-hour shooting lesson. She will now be using this skill on the top of East London high rises to help with the UK's illegal immigrant problem."
One person who read the comment reported Miss Sayle to police. A file was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service but Scotland Yard said yesterday that the investigation has been dropped and no further action will be taken.
Miss Sayle is the leader of The Sisterhood, an all-female rowing crew which counted Miss Middleton among its members.
She dismissed the complaint as "pathetic", saying it was "created by someone who's obviously got a grudge".
In a second posting on Facebook, she wrote: "Just had a call from the old bill demanding I go in as someone has reported me for apparently making racist comments... hahaha... using my new found gun skills to control the UK's illegal immigrant population is not what I call racist."
Her Twitter page features a link to an article on a Right-wing website headed "Australia says no to Muslims". >>> Anita Singh | Friday, December 31, 2010
Islamic Law Banned From Courtroom
Council on American-Islamic Relations takes Oklahoma to court
Alan confronts Newt Gingrich on some of his recent comments concerning Sharia Law in America
Pat Condell: Godless Christmas
Barack Obama's Hawaii Holiday 'Costs at Least £1 Million'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama's family holiday in Hawaii is reportedly costing at least $1.5 million (£1 million) as mainland America is battered by storms.
U.S. President Barack Obama hits a shot at the Klipper golf course on his Christmas holiday in Kailua, Hawaii. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
The calculation of Mr Obama's holiday costs included $63,000 for his wife's early flight out, and $16,800 to house Secret Service agents and Navy Seals in beach front accommodation for two weeks.
There will be a further hotel bill estimated at $134,400 for 24 White House staff staying in the Moana Hotel at a rate of $400 a day.
The estimate, by the Hawaii Reporter, also included $250,000 for local police overtime, $1 million for the president's own round trip flight to Hawaii on Air Force One, and $10,000 for a local ambulance to accompany the presidential motorcade. >>> Nick Allen, Los Angeles | Thursday, December 30, 2010
Iraqi Christians Killed in Series of Baghdad Attacks
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: At least two Christians were killed and 12 people wounded in a series of attacks on Christian homes in Baghdad, according to Iraq's interior ministry.
The worst attack was in the central Baghdad district of Al-Ghadir, where a homemade bomb exploded around 8pm (1700 GMT), killing the two Christians and wounding three others, including one Christian, an official from the ministry said. >>>Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Thursday, December 30, 2010
Moroccan Writer Taia Challenges Homosexual Taboo
AFP: TANGIERS, Morocco — Novelist Abdellah Taia, who has won acclaim in France and readers abroad, has challenged a taboo in his native Morocco and won't back down: he is the first writer to come out as gay in a country that bans homosexuality.
For 37-year-old Taia, who has lived in Paris for the last decade, being homosexual and Muslim are not mutually exclusive. He "feels Muslim" and is from a country where Islam is the state religion.
"I am the first Moroccan writer who has spoken openly about his homosexuality, to acknowledge it, but without turning my back on the country I'm from," he said.
"My homosexuality, I already felt it from the age of 13, at school.
"But despite this, I feel Muslim. There is no incompatibility between Islam and choices of sexual identity," he told AFP on a recent visit back to Morocco. >>> Omar Brouksy | Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sharia in the USA
Should U.S. courts honor Sharia law? White House nominee says yes
Mikhail Khodorkovsky Given 14-year Sentence
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Moscow judge ignored pleas for leniency on Thursday evening and handed Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former oil tycoon, a 14-year sentence for embezzlement.
Judge Victor Danilkin gave the former head of oil group Yukos exactly what the prosecution had asked for. The sentence will be counted from Mr Khodorkovsky's 2003 arrest, meaning that he and business partner Platon Lebedev could be released in 2017.
The Russian prison service said it had not yet been decided where the two men would serve the sentence. Both were due to finish eight-year sentences for tax evasion next year.
Defendants' lawyers immediately blamed Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, for the harsh sentence. Mr Putin, who as president turned against Mr Khodorkovsky, said in a reference to the former oligarch that "thieves should sit in jail".
In a statement read out by his lawyer, Mr Khodorkovsky said: "You cannot count on the courts to protect you from the whim of bureaucrats in Russia."
International reaction was again damning. Mr Khodorkovsky is widely viewed as a political prisoner and symbol of a corrupt Russian judicial system. A senior official from the US administration said that the sentencing would complicate Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, said: "The impression remains that political motivations played a role in this trial. This contradicts Russia's frequently repeated intention to pursue full adoption of the rule of law." >>> Roland Oliphant in Moscow | Thursday, December 30, 2010
Ungarns Präsident unterzeichnet umstrittenes Mediengesetz
ZEIT ONLINE: Das ungarische Mediengesetz tritt pünktlich zur EU-Ratspräsidentschaft des Landes in Kraft. Berlin hofft auf Änderungen, doch Ungarn gibt sich unbeeindruckt.
Wenn die konservative Regierung in Ungarn am kommenden Samstag die protokollarische Führungsrolle in Europa übernimmt, dürften die Staats- und Regierungschefs in so mancher europäischer Hauptstadt zutiefst beunruhigt sein. Grund sind die reichlich unorthodoxen Maßnahmen, die das Kabinett unter Führung von Ministerpräsident Viktor Orbán jüngst erlassen hatte. Dazu gehören neben einer Sondersteuer für Unternehmen auch ein neues Presserecht, das europaweit für Empörung gesorgt hat. >>> dpa, Reuters, AFP | Donnerstag, 30. Dezember 2010
«Le Hamas veut contrôler nos vies»
LE TEMPS: Le mouvement islamiste, qui dirige la bande de Gaza d’une main de fer, est de plus en plus critiqué par les Palestiniens du territoire sous blocus israélien. Mais le dire ouvertement peut mener à la prison
Des drapeaux verts, celui de l’islam et… du Hamas, par milliers: de Beit Hanoun, dans le nord, à Rafah, au sud, personne, dans la bande de Gaza, ne peut ignorer que le mouvement islamiste palestinien qui domine le petit territoire côtier a célébré le 14 décembre ses 23 ans d’existence. On en était, en 1987, aux frémissements initiaux de la première Intifada. Que d’eau a coulé depuis lors…
Le Hamas contrôle le territoire d’une main de fer. Tout le monde le dit ou, en tout cas, le pense. Car une chape de plomb a recouvert les esprits. «Si la moindre critique peut vous mener en prison parce que vous avez été dénoncé par un voisin que vous croyiez votre ami, eh bien! la plupart des gens choisissent de se taire, résume un habitant de Nusseirat, dans le centre de la bande. Ils veulent contrôler nos vies, jusqu’à nous empêcher de boire de l’alcool. Ils mettent leurs hommes à tous les postes. Alors, la population fait le gros dos, affecte de s’islamiser, tout le monde va à la mosquée le vendredi, prie tous les jours. Les gens s’adaptent.» >>> Baudouin Loos envoyé special du Temps à Gaza | Mardi 28 Décembre 2010
Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Images: Google Images
'Muhammad Cartoon Plotters' Charged in Denmark Court
BBC: Three men have been charged in a Danish court with attempting to carry out an act of terrorism.
They were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of plotting to attack the offices of a newspaper which printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
A fourth man has been released while a fifth, arrested in Sweden, is still being held in Stockholm.
The three men were remanded in custody for four weeks by a court in Glostrup, west of Copenhagen.
For the first two weeks they will be held in isolation, according to Lykke Soerensen, who heads the legal department of Danish intelligence agency PET.
She told the TV2 channel that isolation was necessary because of concerns that the three men might try to "affect the investigation and affect the witnesses". >>> | Thursday, December 30, 2010
Auschwitz Sign Theft: Swedish Man Jailed
BBC: A Polish judge has jailed a Swedish man for two years and eight months for plotting the theft of the "Arbeit macht frei" Auschwitz entrance sign.
Anders Hoegstroem, a former neo-Nazi leader, admitted theft under a plea bargain last month and will be moved to Sweden to serve his sentence.
The infamous sign was stolen in December last year and recovered in three pieces three days later.
The judge in Krakow also jailed two Poles for up to two-and-a-half years.
One of the pair, named as Andrzej S, apologised in court for the offence, Polish media report.
The 5m (16ft) wrought-iron slogan which translates as "Work sets you free" is a potent symbol of many of the Nazi-era atrocities. During the Nazi Holocaust, 1.1 million people - most of them Jews - were murdered at Auschwitz. >>> | Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sven Lau - Mein Weg zum Islam
Sam Harris: The Problem with Islamic Fundamentalism Is the Fundamentals of Islam
The Nightline Interview - Sam Harris
Aux Maldives, des décorations de Noël déclenchent une vague de protestations
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Un restaurant de l’archipel des Maldives qui avait accroché des décorations de Noël a provoqué des manifestations d’hostilité parmi la population de cet archipel où l’islam est la seule religion officielle, a indiqué jeudi la police.
Les guirlandes incriminées ont été retirées et le restaurant a présenté ses excuses. Le Jade Bistro, situé dans la capitale Malé, était orné de boules et de guirlandes de Noël pour mettre en avant «des dîners de fêtes». Il avait également proposé un menu spécial Noël - sandwiches à la dinde et bûche - mais selon les autorités locales, ce sont les décorations qui ont provoqué la colère de la population.
Aux Maldives, une destination touristique de l’océan indien prisée des Occidentaux, les autres croyances en dehors de l’islam sont interdites aux citoyens et les étrangers ne doivent pas les exhiber en public. >>> ATS/AFP | Jeudi 30 Décembre 2010
New Look for Mecca: Gargantuan and Gaudy
THE NEW YORK TIMES: JIDDA, Saudi Arabia — It is an architectural absurdity. Just south of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the Muslim world’s holiest site, a kitsch rendition of London’s Big Ben is nearing completion. Called the Royal Mecca Clock Tower, it will be one of the tallest buildings in the world, the centerpiece of a complex that is housing a gargantuan shopping mall, an 800-room hotel and a prayer hall for several thousand people. Its muscular form, an unabashed knockoff of the original, blown up to a grotesque scale, will be decorated with Arabic inscriptions and topped by a crescent-shape spire in what feels like a cynical nod to Islam’s architectural past. To make room for it, the Saudi government bulldozed an 18th-century Ottoman fortress and the hill it stood on.
The tower is just one of many construction projects in the very center of Mecca, from train lines to numerous luxury high-rises and hotels and a huge expansion of the Grand Mosque. The historic core of Mecca is being reshaped in ways that many here find appalling, sparking unusually heated criticism of the authoritarian Saudi government.
“It is the commercialization of the house of God,” said Sami Angawi, a Saudi architect who founded a research center that studies urban planning issues surrounding the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, and has been one of the development’s most vocal critics. “The closer to the mosque, the more expensive the apartments. In the most expensive towers, you can pay millions” for a 25-year leasing agreement, he said. “If you can see the mosque, you pay triple.” Read on and comment >>> Nicolai Ouroussoff | Wednesday, December 29, 2010
