Saturday, May 14, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Army could soon be marching on a breakfast made from entirely British ingredients for the first time in over 40 years, after an innovative experiment involving pig farmers.Any member of the Armed Forces who is fighting on the front line is entitled to a full English every morning. However, for generations the bacon has not been British because it has been too expensive; instead troops have been offered cheap Danish or Dutch bacon.
The Conservative party, when in opposition, vowed to end this scandal. But latest Ministry of Defence figures indicated that not a single rasher of the £1.5 million-worth of bacon consumed by the Armed Forced over the last year was British.
Now, pig farmers have started an innovative trial with the MoD to ensure that solely British bacon is supplied to troops, even though this country consumes so much bacon it is forced to import more than half of what it eats.
The experiment involves turning 4-year old sow pigs into rashers. Bacon has historically always been made from young male, or boar, pigs. Sows, whose sole purpose is to breed, have been considered tough and inedible in Britain and their meat is sold to German bratwurst makers and Italian salami makers. Long-standing butchers said the only time sow meat, which tends to be very fatty and dark in colour, has been sold as a cut of meat was during rationing in the Second World War. » | Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor | Saturday, May 14, 2011
My comment:
I suspected it all along, know this article has proved it: David Cameron is a 'Little Englander.' What a hare-brained idea this is! What on earth is shameful about our military men consuming Danish bacon? We're in the EU, don't you know?! And even if we weren't, there'd still be nothing "shameful" about it.
Were I to be in the forces, having to consume sow bacon would be enough to put me off my full English. Who the hell wants to breakfast on dark, tough, sow bacon? Good God, it's enough to drive a man to Islam – in earlier times I might have said 'to drink,' but I'm sure some nutcase out there would object on the grounds of political correctness, so 'to Islam' will do – I think I'd rather make do with toast and marmalade.
Give me high-quality Danish bacon every time if good quality British bacon isn't available. Cameron can stuff his sow's bacon! Anyway, why can't we afford the best British bacon for our troops? Why does the British government always have to behave like a bunch of cheapskates? I'd bet you dollars to doughnuts that Cameron hasn't been raised on cheap alternatives, so why push them on our military – the men who risk their lives to keep us safe? – © Mark
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A British woman has been beheaded in front of horrified tourists in a supermarket on the Spanish holiday island of Tenerife, allegedly by a man who claimed he was a 'Prophet of God'.
The woman, who was described as being in her 60s, was in a shop in the town of Arona, about 10 miles from the popular beach resort of Los Christianos [sic], when she was stabbed and then decapitated.
According to witnesses, the attacker, who is thought to be a homeless man of Bulgarian origin, entered the store, grabbed a knife and launched a frenzied and unprovoked assault.
The attacker, who apparently had a history of violent behaviour, then decapitated her before leaving the store carrying her head. Today Spanish newspapers said police had arrested a 28-year-old man named locally as "Deyan Valentinov D", declining to give his full surname.
It was also claimed that he had spent time in a psychiatric hospital and thought he was a "Prophet of God". Local news website site CanariasalDia.com quoted the local mayor, José Reverón, as saying that the man, who lived in a semi-derelict house, had shouted: "God is on Earth".
Mr Reverón added that the attacker was known to local police for his often threatening behaviour in the street, and had once knocked a man's teeth out, raising questions as to why he had not been kept him under closer supervision. » | Andy Bloxham, and Martin Evans | Saturday, May 14, 2011
Related »
The ‘Prophet of God’ Was Known to Be Violent »
NEWS IN THE SUN: Woman Decapitated in Los Cristianos »
EL PAÍS: Un hombre decapita a una mujer en una tienda en Tenerife: El presunto agresor, con antecedentes, entró en el establecimiento y asesinó a la mujer, con la que no consta que tuviera relación » | Pedro Murillo | TENERIFE | Viernes, 13 de mayo 2011
Related article »
MAIL ONLINE: Osama Bin Laden was plotting to assassinate Barack Obama during the 2012 Presidential election, intelligence has revealed.The Al Qaeda leader was obsessed with killing the U.S. President, who he believed 'violated the Muslim faith'.
Bin Laden took 'very personally' U.S. military campaigns in Afghanistan and the Middle East and was so disgusted, he could not even watch Mr Obama on television.
Videos found in Bin Laden's final hideout in Pakistan show the terror leader at home changing the channel every time Mr Obama comes on, unable to even look at his image.
The extraordinary details emerged from the enormous cache of intelligence seized from Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad during the raid in which he was killed.
The 200million pages of data give chilling details about Bin Laden's lust for jihad on the West.
The CIA said it learned more from ten days of studying the 'treasure trove' of computers and handwritten journals than in the past ten years.
The terrorist leader had also built up a 'fairly extensive' stash of pornography at his final mansion hideout in Pakistan.
According to CIA sources, until his last days Bin Laden was plotting a terror campaign to target Los Angeles, New York and London that would have topped 9/11.
The planned attacks were part of a campaign to drive Western troops out of the Middle East. Continue reading and comment » | Daniel Bates | Friday, May 13, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Government claims attack by Nato on Brega guest house killed 11 imams as Gaddafi broadcast quashes rumours he had been injured in an air strikeLibyan officials have accused Nato of "barbarically slaying" 11 Islamic imams and wounding 45 others by bombing a guest house in the eastern city of Brega, where they had gathered for a peace march into rebel-held territory.
Officials in Tripoli showed video footage of up to seven corpses whom they identified as imams killed when a bomb was dropped on the building in which they were sleeping.
The group had reportedly travelled to Brega from across the war-torn country. They had appeared on state-run television on Thursday and, according to government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, planned to move to the nearby city of Ajdabiya on Friday and then to Benghazi.
It was impossible to corroborate the government claims. However, funerals for the victims have been arranged across the country on Saturday and Christian priests joined Muslim leaders in condemning the deaths at a central Tripoli mosque late on Friday.
Nato had not offered a detailed response to the Libyan claims by Friday night. A Nato official initially said the site hit had been a "command and control centre" for the Libyan military, but did not elaborate further. » | Martin Chulov | Friday, May 13, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Retribution granted to woman who had acid thrown in her face by man she refused to marry
In a literal application of the sharia law of an eye for an eye, Iran is ready for the first time to blind a man with acid, after he was found guilty of doing the same to a woman who refused to marry him.
Majid Movahedi, 30, is scheduled to be rendered unconscious in Tehran's judiciary hospital at noon on Saturday while Ameneh Bahrami, his victim, drops acid in both his eyes, her lawyer said.
Bahrami who had asked for an eye for an eye retribution in the court, was disfigured and blinded by Movahedi in 2004 when he threw a jar of acid in her face while she was returning home from work. "He was holding a red container in his hand. He looked into my eyes for a second and threw the contents of the red container into my face," she told the court in 2008.
According to Iranian media, Bahrami's lawyer, Ali Sarafi, has said: "A very good sentence has been given and an appropriate method has been adopted so that the convict will be blinded by few drops of acids in eyes after he is rendered unconscious."
In a highly publicised dossier in November 2008, a criminal court in Tehran ordered qisas (retribution) on Movahedi after he admitted throwing acid at Bahrami, and entitled her to blind him with acid. He was also required to pay compensation to the victim. Bahrami refused to accept the "blood money" and told the court: "Inflict the same life on him that he inflicted on me." » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Friday, May 13, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Largest rally in recent weeks comes on day ousted president's wife detained on suspicion of illegally acquiring wealthTens of thousands of Egyptians returned to Tahrir Square in Cairo on Friday in a show of national unity against sectarian tension, and to demonstrate their solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The largest rally to be held in the Egyptian capital in recent weeks took place as Suzanne Mubarak, wife of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, was detained by investigators for 15 days on suspicion of illegally acquiring wealth.
Cheers erupted in the square as news broke of Mrs Mubarak's incarceration. The 70-year-old former first lady now joins her husband, two sons and more than 20 other ministers and business figures from the Mubarak regime on the list of those being investigated for crimes against the state.
Last week former interior minister Habib Al-Adly was sentenced to 12 years in prison for financial fraud. He also stands accused of having ordered the killing of peaceful protesters, a charge that can carry the death penalty.
In a sign of how vibrant and fragmented Egypt's political landscape has become since the toppling of Mubarak in February, protesters came together on Friday to support a multitude of causes from local anti-corruption campaigns to unity with Arab uprisings elsewhere in the region.
Following a week of sectarian violence in Cairo in which at least 15 people were killed in clashes at a church in the poor neighbourhood of Imbaba, many demonstrators held aloft placards depicting the Christian cross and Muslim crescent, and chanted: "We are all Egyptians." » | Jack Shenker in Cairo | Friday, May 13, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: John Galliano will stand trial on June 22 on charges of verbally abusing three people with anti-Semitic and racist slurs, according to a Paris court.The criminal trial to determine what happened in February and October at a Paris café where the three say the 50-year-old accosted them will last a day, the court said. Galliano, who did not attend the hearing, has said he was provoked.
"The question is to know who said what at what moment," Galliano lawyer Aurelien Hamelle said before the hearing.
The Gibraltar-born designer's behaviour prompted a swift departure from the 65-year-old Paris fashion house, which also owns Galliano's namesake label. Galliano was fired less than a week after being arrested when a drunken rant led a couple to call police to a café in the fashionable third arrondissement, when a third person came forward to say she had been insulted by the designer and a video of a slurring Galliano was posted on the website of The Sun newspaper.
Galliano, who filed defamation claims against the couple in February, added to his legal turmoil last week, when he filed a criminal claim alleging his former lawyer Stephane Zerbib embezzled 2.8 million euros (£2.5 million) from Galliano's company, Cheyenne Freedom. » | Thursday, May 12, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Two suicide bombers have killed at least 80 people at a paramilitary training centre in northwestern Pakistan in apparent revenge for the killing of Osama bin Laden.
The Pakistan Taliban immediately claimed responsibility and said bigger attacks were to follow.
The attack on Friday morning in Charsadda district is the bloodiest since US forces killed bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2.
A suicide bomber on a motorbike struck at the gates just as young recruits boarded buses to go on leave after their course.
Police in Shabqadar, close to the border with Afghanistan, said a second explosion came seconds later.
At least 65 of the dead were recruits at the Frontier Constabulary training site while the rest were civilians. More than 100 people were also injured.
"This was the first revenge for Osama's martyrdom. Wait for bigger attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan," Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said afterwards.
"Two of our fedayeen (suicide bombers) carried out these attacks." » | Rob Crilly, in Islamabad and Laura Roberts | Friday, May 13, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: European interior ministers agree to 'radical revision' of Schengen amid fears of a flood of migrants from north AfricaEuropean nations moved to reverse decades of unfettered travel across the continent when a majority of EU governments agreed the need to reinstate national passport controls amid fears of a flood of immigrants fleeing the upheaval in north Africa.
In a serious blow to one of the cornerstones of a united, integrated Europe, EU interior ministers embarked on a radical revision of the passport-free travel regime known as the Schengen system to allow the 26 participating governments to restore border controls.
They also agreed to combat immigration by pressing for "readmission accords" with countries in the Middle East and north Africa to send refugees back to where they came from. » | Ian Traynor | Thursday, May 12, 2011
Verbunden »
THE GUARDIAN: EU warns Denmark over border controls: José Manuel Barroso says he doubts whether Denmark is complying with European and international law » | Ian Traynor in Brussels | Friday May 13, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: The al-Qaida leader's in-laws describe him as a sincere husband and her as a brave woman who was not a fundamentalist
The family of Osama bin Laden's youngest wife have broken their silence to describe how the 29-year-old Yemeni, currently in the custody of security services in Pakistan, refused the chance to leave her husband, saying instead she was determined be "martyred" alongside him.
The relatives of Amal Ahmed al-Sadah, who became the al-Qaida leader's fifth wife in late 1999, spoke of a "sincere" husband – though one who apparently exaggerated tales of his own bravado for the sake of his in-laws.
Sadah, who Pakistani officials say was wounded in the calf during the operation that killed her husband, was among at least a dozen women and children detained by Pakistani security officials after the raid on the Abbottabad compound where Bin Laden had been living for several years. It is believed the American special forces team that carried out the operation was forced to abandon plans to evacuate survivors after losing of one of their four helicopters because of a technical problem.
Among those detained are two other women who have also been identified as wives of Bin Laden by Pakistani officials. However, this is unconfirmed. If true both would be Saudi nationals. The children appear to be a mixture of Bin Laden's own and his grandchildren. They include Sadah's daughter, Safiya, who was born shortly before the 9/11 attacks.
Pakistani officials have repeated that all those detained will be repatriated to their countries of origin. » | jason Burke | Thursday, May 12, 2011
THE HUFFINGTON POST: WASHINGTON — Despite having no Internet access in his hideout, Osama bin Laden was a prolific email writer who built a painstaking system that kept him one step ahead of the U.S. government's best eavesdroppers.
His methods, described in new detail to The Associated Press by a counterterrorism official and a second person briefed on the U.S. investigation, served him well for years and frustrated Western efforts to trace him through cyberspace. The arrangement allowed bin Laden to stay in touch worldwide without leaving any digital fingerprints behind.
The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive intelligence analysis.
Bin Laden's system was built on discipline and trust. But it also left behind an extensive archive of email exchanges for the U.S. to scour. The trove of electronic records pulled out of his compound after he was killed last week is revealing thousands of messages and potentially hundreds of email addresses, the AP has learned. » | Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman | Thursday, May 12, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Humans are naturally predisposed to believe in gods and life after death, according to a major three-year international study.
Led by two academics at Oxford University, the £1.9 million study found that human thought processes were “rooted” to religious concepts.
But people living in cities in highly developed countries were less likely to hold religious beliefs than those living a more rural way of life, the researchers found.
The project involved 57 academics in 20 countries around the world, and spanned disciplines including anthropology, psychology, and philosophy.
It set out to establish whether belief in divine beings and an afterlife were ideas simply learned from society or integral to human nature. » | Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor | Thursday, May 12, 2011
DAILYINDIA.COM: London – A Muslim extremist group has reportedly posted a video in which it has warned Britain's Prince Harry to 'watch his back'.
The Muslims Against Crusades video is said to have been aired in response to a propaganda hate video following the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, the Daily Mail reports.
The three-minute video was posted last week.
It is believed Prince Harry is being targeted to avenge the death of Al Qaeda leader bin Laden, as also for the fact that he dressed as a Nazi and served the British Army in Afghanistan.
The film is designed to incite hatred against Prince Harry - who has recently been promoted to captain in the Army - and it appears to have worked. [Source: Daily India] | ©Asian News International | London| Monday, May 09, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A taxi driver was banned from displaying a crucifix on his dashboard after a teenage customer complained that it looked “phallic”.Clair Cook, who runs AnD taxis, was asked by her local council to ensure that the object was removed after being told that the 15-year-old boy had been offended by it.
She described the complaint as “ridiculous” and said the driver of the car was a devout Roman Catholic.
Miss Cook claimed that if the symbol had been of any faith other than Christianity, the council would have treated the case with far greater sensitivity.
The row follows a series of previous cases in which employees have been censured for displaying Christian symbols. » | Friday, May 13, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A British woman has been beheaded in front of horrified tourists in a supermarket on the Spanish holiday island of Tenerife.
The woman, who was described as being in her 60s, was in shop in the town of Arona, about 10 miles from the popular beach resort of Los Christianos [sic], when she was brutally stabbed to [death] and then decapitated.
According to witnesses, the attacker, who is thought to be a homeless man of Bulgarian origin, entered the store, grabbed a knife and launched a frenzied and unprovoked attack on the woman.
He then decapitated her before leaving the store carrying her head.
Holidaymakers and locals on the Spanish island described their complete shock and horror after witnessing the scene, which took place at around 10.30am local time (9.30am GMT) on Friday.
British journalist Colin Kirby, 50, who lives in Tenerife, was walking past the store when he saw the attacker emerging. » | Andy Bloxham, and Martin Evans | Friday, May 13, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: British woman beheaded in Tenerife supermarket: Man ran into supermarket on Spanish island, grabbed knife, killed woman then rushed out carrying head » | Giles Tremlett in Madrid and Karen McVeigh | Friday, May 13, 2011
Thursday, May 12, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: America funding technology to break web censorship in repressive regimes, such as China and IranThe United States is playing a game of "cat and mouse" on the web, funding new technology aimed at breaking internet censorship in repressive regimes including China and Iran, officials have said.
Michael Posner, the US assistant secretary of state for human rights, said projects being funded by the US government included technology that acts as a "slingshot" – identifying censored material and throwing it back on to the web for users to find. The project is part of a $30m (£18m) state department project to encourage civil liberty online.
"We're responding with new tools. This is a cat-and-mouse game. We're trying to stay one step ahead of the cat," Posner said. Censored information would be redirected to email, blogs and other online sources, he said. He would not identify the recipients of funding for "reasons of security".
The comments are part of an overall US strategy to raise the importance of cyberspace in foreign affairs. The Pentagon is preparing to unveil an "international strategy for cyberspace" that will make online security an official domain of warfare like land, sea and air. » | Dominic Rushe in New York | Thursday, May 12, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: The Libyan leader, not seen in public since 30 April air strike that killed his son, has appeared on state televisionLibyan state television has shown footage of Muammar Gaddafi meeting officials in a Tripoli hotel, ending nearly two weeks of doubt over his fate since a Nato air strike killed his son.
The Libyan leader, who had not been seen in public since the 30 April bombing of his Tripoli compound killed his youngest son and three of his grandchildren, appeared on Wednesday in his trademark brown robe, dark sunglasses and black hat accompanied by officials.
"We tell the world these are the representatives of the Libyan tribes," said Gaddafi, pointing to officials and naming a few of them.
"You will be victorious," an old man told Gaddafi, referring to the three-month-old revolt in the North African country against the Libyan leader's 41 years of rule.
A screen behind Gaddafi showed a morning chatshow on al-Jamahirya state television. A zoom-in on the screen showed Wednesday's date displayed in the corner.
Reuters journalists based at the same hotel said rooms had been sealed off during the day for an event, but they had not seen Gaddafi. In the past the Libyan leader has made high-profile entrances accompanied by a large staff of minders and aides. » | Reuters | Thursday, May 12, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron today invited Libyan rebel leaders to establish a formal office in London, as fighting in the troubled country continued.The Prime Minister made the offer after holding talks with Mustafa Abdul Jalil, chairman of the Interim National Transitional Council, in Downing Street.
Mr Cameron said the British presence in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi would also be boosted.
He said: "These steps continue our very clear intention to work with the council to ensure Libya has a safe and stable future, free from the tyranny of the Gaddafi regime." » | Thursday, May 12, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: John Demjanjuk, the former Nazi death camp guard, has been found guilty of almost 30,000 counts of accessory to murder and been jailed for five years.
The judge in the court in Munich said he was convinced that Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk was a guard at the Sobibor death camp "and that as a guard he took part in the murder of at least 28,000 people."
Demjanjuk sat in a wheelchair before the judges as they announced their verdict, but showed no reaction.
The court sentenced him to five years in prison. It was not immediately how much credit he would get for time already served.
Demjanjuk's defense has said it would appeal a conviction.
Prosecutors had called for a six-year jail sentence for Demjanjuk, who was deported to Germany in 2009 from the United States, where he lived for decades after World War II.
Demjanjuk was brought into the packed courtroom in a wheelchair on Friday, as usual, wearing a light-blue baseball cap, dark glasses and an army-like green coat which he took off after arriving.
Demjanjuk has kept silent throughout the proceedings, sitting in a wheelchair or lying on a stretcher. His health was often a cause for concern during the trial, leading to frequent delays. » | Thursday, May 12, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Spain: Lorca shaken by earthquakes – More than 300 troops and extra police with search and rescue teams were being drafted into the city, where 10 died » | Giles Tremlett in Madrid | Thursday, May 12, 2011
Related »
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: Newt Gingrich is entering the 2012 presidential race a familiar face - a 20-year veteran of Congress who served a polarizing turn as House speaker before assuming a career as a prolific political commentator and author.But Gingrich, who officially announced his White House bid Wednesday, is bringing a decidedly different approach to this contest than he did to his previous stint in public office.
In his speeches and campaign appearances, Gingrich is expected to lay out a political vision that intertwines fiscal and social conservatism, drawing from a newfound interest in religion he has infused into his work in recent years.
It's a message he's expected to make Friday at the Georgia Republican Party convention in what advisers are billing as a formal announcement speech that will marry the concept of American exceptionalism with an emphasis on God-endowed rights. » | Matea Gold, Tom Hamburger, Los Angeles Times | Thursday, May 12, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Hord of writings on computers, flash drives and in diary reveal morbid emphasis on another atrocityOsama bin Laden went to the bizarre length of trying to calculate how many more American deaths it would take to force the US to retreat from the Middle East, his writings have revealed.
The al-Qaida leader was convinced that only a massive blood-letting on the scale of 9/11 would have the necessary shock factor to effect a change in US policy around the region. He told his followers that a sprinkling of smaller attacks would not have the desired effect.
The revelation of Bin Laden's morbid emphasis on another mass atrocity comes from the large stash of his writings that was discovered in his hideout in Pakistan and brought by Navy Seals to the US after they killed him. The hord, which has been compared in size to a small college library, included five computers and about 100 removable digital storage devices or flash drives. It also included a diary that Bin Laden wrote by hand.
US intelligence officers poring through the data told the Associated Press the information underlines how proactive Bin Laden continued to be even when al-Qaida as a movement was on the defensive. Though he didn't appear to have the ability directly to co-ordinate specific attacks from his lair in Abbottabad, he did have input into every major al-Qaida plot, including those across Europe last year, the officials said.
He was also in touch with many of the most dangerous al-Qaida offshoots around the world that some had assumed were working independently, such as the branch in Yemen that has become a leading centre of al-Qaida activity. » | Ed Pilkington in New York and Declan Walsh in Islamabad | Thursday, May 12, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Muammar Gaddafi's officials admits unseaworthy migrant ships are being allowed to sail as a protest against Nato air strikesThe Libyan regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is allowing thousands of sub-Saharan African migrants on to overcrowded, unseaworthy ships in an apparently calculated attempt to use migration as a weapon to pressure Nato and the EU countries backing Libya's rebels.
Libyan officials admit they are not stopping boats teeming with African migrants embarking on perilous journeys to Europe in protest at air strikes, which they say have destroyed the country's coastguard.
Turning a blind eye to people smuggling has had disastrous humanitarian effects, apparently leading to the deaths of hundreds of boat people during unsuccessful attempts to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa, Malta, and other parts of Europe.
Officials are still assessing the death toll from the sinking of an unseaworthy and overcrowded ship that is feared to have claimed hundreds of lives when it went down less than two miles off Tripoli last Friday.
Officials said they were doing nothing to encourage the journeys to Italy, but could see no reason to stop them, because doing so would serve the interests of Nato member states bombing Libya.
"We say to Europe that we can no longer do what we used to do," said the prime minister, al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi. "And that's because Nato has ruined our coastal defences." » | Martin Chulov in Tripoli and Simon Tisdall | Wednesday, May 11, 2011
DIE PRESSE: Bank-Austria-Chefökonom Stefan Bruckbauer geht davon aus, dass der IWF und die Euroländer die Hälfte der Griechenland-Kredite abschreiben müssen. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit der Rückzahlung ist gering.
Wien/Athen. Die EU und der Internationale Währungsfonds (IWF) werden wohl die Hälfte der Hilfsgelder für Griechenland abhaken müssen. Dabei geht es um rund 80 Mrd. Euro. Zu dieser Einschätzung kommt der Chefvolkswirt der Bank Austria, Stefan Bruckbauer. Derzeit bereiten Europas Regierungen die Öffentlichkeit darauf vor, dass das hoch verschuldete Land weitere Milliardenhilfen bekommt. » | Von Christian Höller, Die Presse | Mittwoch, 11. Mai 2011
LE FIGARO: Les adversaires du régime de Kadhafi ont pris mercredi l'aéroport de la troisième ville du pays. La contestation du pouvoir en place gagnerait par ailleurs Tripoli, selon les insurgés.Nouveau tournant dans la bataille de Misrata, ville clé assiégée depuis plus de deux mois par les forces pro-Kadhafi. Après une lutte acharnée, les rebelles ont pris mercredi le contrôle de l'aéroport de la ville, située à 200 km à l'est de Tripoli.
Depuis quelques jours, les troupes de Kadhafi avaient déjà perdu du terrain sur d'autres fronts autour de la ville côtière. Mercredi matin, ils ont tiré une quarantaine de roquettes Grad et des dizaines d'obus de mortier. Mais après de violents combats, les insurgés ont pris vers midi le contrôle total de l'aéroport au sud de la ville, et les tirs ont cessé. Ils avaient auparavant fait 13 blessés dans les rangs rebelles. » | Par Thomas Vampouille | Mercredi 11 Mai 2011
BBC: At least 10 people were killed after a magnitude 5.3 earthquake toppled several buildings in southern Spain, near the town of Lorca, officials say.
The quake struck at a depth of just 1km (0.6 miles), some 120km south-west of Alicante, at 1850 (1650 GMT), the US Geological Survey reported.
Lines of cars lay crushed under tonnes of rubble and a hospital was evacuated as a precaution.
The quake followed a 4.4 magnitude tremor about two hours earlier.
It is not clear how many people were injured, although Spanish media say there are dozens. (+ video) » | Wednesday, May 11, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Iran is ruthlessly exploiting the pro-democracy movement for its own ends.
When the term “Arab Spring” entered the collective vocabulary this year, it was meant to encapsulate the youthful exuberance of the pro-democracy movements that had sprung up throughout the Middle East. After enduring decades of stultifying and repressive rule by the ancien re[é]gime, this was the moment that the region’s poor and dispossessed at last laid claim to certain basic rights, such as the freedom to express their political opinions, and to a more equal share of their nations’ wealth.
Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution quickly led to the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, while in Egypt, mass protests forced the resignation of Hosni Mubarak.
Within weeks, the contagion was wreaking havoc throughout the region, threatening the ruling elites in such disparate countries as Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain.
Four months later, however, the worldwide enthusiasm that greeted this seemingly spontaneous outpouring of democratic fervour has been replaced by mounting concern at the way these protests have developed. In Egypt and Bahrain, as well as Libya and Syria, the hopes they inspired have been nipped firmly in the bud. Continue reading and comment » | Con Coughlin | Tuesday, May 10, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Drive-by attackers lobbed two grenades at the Saudi consulate in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi on Wednesday, in the first possible violent reaction to the US killing of Osama bin Laden.
Officials reported no damage and no casualties after two men on a motorcycle threw the explosives at the heavily fortified building in Clifton, the smartest neighbourhood of Karachi, nine days after bin Laden was killed in Pakistan.
"This was an attack on the Saudi consulate. Two motorcycle riders threw two grenades and fled," provincial government official Sharfuddin Memon told AFP.
"There were no casualties. We are seeing this incident in the present context. It could be a reaction of the Osama incident," he added. » | Wednesday, May 11, 2011
BBC: At least 10 people were killed after a magnitude 5.3 earthquake toppled several buildings in southern Spain, near the town of Lorca, officials say.
The quake struck at a depth of just 1km (0.6 miles), some 120km south-west of Alicante, at 1850 (1650 GMT), the US Geological Survey reported.
Lines of cars lay crushed under tonnes of rubble and a hospital was evacuated as a precaution.
The quake followed a 4.4 magnitude tremor about two hours earlier.
It is not clear how many people were injured, although Spanish media say there are dozens. (+ video) » | Wednesday, May 11, 2011
BBC: At least 10 people were killed after a magnitude 5.3 earthquake toppled several buildings in southern Spain, near the town of Lorca, officials say.
The quake struck at a depth of just 1km (0.6 miles), some 120km south-west of Alicante, at 1850 (1650 GMT), the US Geological Survey reported.
Lines of cars lay crushed under tonnes of rubble and a hospital was evacuated as a precaution.
The quake followed a 4.4 magnitude tremor about two hours earlier.
It is not clear how many people were injured, although Spanish media say there are dozens. (+ video) » | Wednesday, May 11, 2011
STERN.DE: Sie wollen unerwünschte "Kriminelle" und Flüchtlinge fernhalten: Die dänischen Rechtspopulisten haben durchgesetzt, dass an der dänisch-deutschen Grenze wieder Kontrollen durchgeführt werden.
Nach zehn Jahren führt Dänemark wieder "permanente Grenzkontrollen" an der Grenze mit Deutschland ein. Künftig sollen Zöllner sowohl Einreisende als auch Ausreisende kontrollieren. Wie Finanzminister Claus Hjort Frederiksen mitteilte, hat sich die Kopenhagener Minderheitsregierung mit der rechtspopulistischen DVP und einem parteilosen Abgeordneten darauf geeinigt. Die DVP hatten auf Plakaten neue Schlagbäume an der Grenze mit Deutschland verlangt. "Das ist einfach gesunde Vernunft", sagte Parteichefin Pia Kjærsgaard lächelnd, als sie eine Mehrheit des Regierungslagers hinter ihre Forderungen gebracht hatte.
Man müsse all die Kriminellen aus Osteuropa und illegal einreisende Wirtschaftsflüchtlinge bremsen, hatte Kjærsgaard in den letzten Wochen verkündet. Sie wiederholte bei Verhandlungen mit Ministerpräsident Lars Løkke Rasmussen erfolgreich das Spiel, mit dem sie in den letzten zehn Jahren den Takt der dänischen Innenpolitik bestimmt hatte. Jahr um Jahr rang Kjærsgaard der Minderheitsregierung neue Verschärfungen beim Zuwanderungs- und Aufenthaltsrecht für Ausländer ab: massive Verschärfungen beim Familiennachzug von Zuwanderern, die Halbierung der Sozialhilfesätze für diese Gruppe und immer neue Hürden für das Erlangen der dänischen Staatsbürgerschaft. Als Gegenleistung gab es ihr Ja zum jeweiligen Haushalt oder anderen Regierungsvorhaben. » | tkr/DPA | Mittwoch, 11. Mai 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A group of Pakistani politicians including a former minister hijacked proceedings in parliament to offer prayers for the death of Osama bin Laden, little more than a week after he was killed in a US Navy Seal raid.
Their actions will heighten suspicions that parts of the Islamabad government or the powerful military establishment sympathised with the al-Qaeda leader, and may have sheltered him from justice.
"Bin Laden was an international figure and above all a Muslim ... I took it as my religious duty to offer prayers for him," said Maulvi Asmatullah, an independent Member of the National Assembly who led the prayers on Tuesday.
The deputy speaker of the house tried to silence the prayers, warning the MNAs that they did not have permission Mr Asmatullah was joined by two members of the Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam party, the country's biggest Islamic party which was part of the governing coalition until late 2010.
Atta-ur-Rehman, a federal minister until his party withdrew from government, was among them.
Their controversial actions underscore Pakistan's complex relationship with Islamist militants. » | Rob Crilly, Islamabad | Wednesday, May 11, 2011
In first of five exclusive reports, Al Jazeera has unearthed evidence that sheds light on kingdom's brutal crackdown.
Al Jazeera is learning more about the full extent of the brutal crackdown in Bahrain against those it believes took part in recent anti-government protests.
The kingdom's oil company has fired almost 300 employees.
And according to an opposition group, police have raided up to 15 mainly girls schools, detaining, beating and threatening to rape girls as young as 12.
Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford reports.
LE POINT: Le dirigeant libyen n'est plus apparu en public depuis le 30 avril et l'Otan reconnaît avoir perdu sa trace.Le doute s'est installé jusqu'au plus haut sommet de l'Otan. "Nous ne savons pas ce que Kadhafi fait maintenant." La petite phrase émane du général Claudio Gabellini, qui s'exprimait mardi soir depuis le QG de l'Alliance atlantique à Naples, dans le sud de l'Italie. Un aveu lourd de sens, quelques heures après d'intenses bombardements des forces alliées sur des bunkers appartenant au colonel en plein Tripoli. "L'Otan ne vise pas des individus", a cru bon de rappeler le général Gabellini, précisant que les cibles de l'Otan étaient uniquement "militaires", à savoir des "bunkers de commandement et de contrôle". » | Par Cyriel Martin | Mercredi 11 Mai 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Duchess of Cornwall yesterday launched an outspoken defence of freedom of the press in Britain, describing it as a cornerstone of democracy.In a surprise intervention, set against the backdrop of the debate over privacy and the courts, she said that she “passionately” believed in freedom of expression and insisted that no aspect of society should be free from scrutiny.
She said that the right to "question, debate and criticise" everything should be a matter of national pride.
But she warned against allowing political correctness to restrict free reporting, saying it was “as severe a form of censorship as any”.
Her comments came a day after a landmark European Court of Human Rights ruling which threw out an attempt by Max Mosley, the former motor racing boss, to introduce new restrictions on the press to protect privacy.
Mr Mosley, whose taste for sadomasochistic sessions with prostitutes was exposed by a Sunday tabloid, wanted the court to force the media to warn the subjects of exposés in advance.
It came as a series of disclosures on the Twitter website, naming celebrities said to be protected by draconian gagging orders, threw the wider system of privacy injunctions into chaos and led to calls for parliament to reassess the law.
Addressing editors and journalists at the London Press Club Awards, the Duchess, whose relationship with the Prince of Wales attracted highly critical media coverage in the past, acknowledged that she might seem an unlikely ally for the press. » | John Bingham | Wednesday, May 11, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama will be able to send any mobile phone in the United States a text message warning of imminent danger, from a terror attack to a natural disaster, under plans announced on Tuesday.From next year, new phones and other hand-held devices will be required to be fitted with special chips to receive the alerts, which will also be sent by state and local authorities. Users will be able to opt out of every type of alert except those from the president, said the Federal Communications Commission.
The system will include alerts about missing children and will supersede all other phone traffic to avoid delays. » | Alex Spillius, Washington | Tuesday, May 10, 2011
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