Sunday, September 25, 2011
The Labour leader insisted that the party had not set out to mislead the public over immigration but that the party’s policies had “effects on people right up and down the country” and that not enough was done to protect British workers.
Mr Miliband made the admission in an interview on the first day of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool during which the party is under pressure to admit to mistakes made during its time in Government.
In the interview, the Labour leader also refused to criticise trade unions for threatening to strike in a dispute over pension reform.
Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister, was recorded during the last election campaign criticising a pensioner expressing concern over immigration – an incident which is credited with characterising how Labour fell out of touch with the concerns of its supporters.
Yesterday, Mr Miliband was asked if he accepted that Labour had “lied” over the impact of its immigration policies.
“I don’t agree that we lied but I do agree that we got it wrong. I think we underestimated the level of immigration from Poland, which had a big effect on people,” he said[.]
In another interview, he said: “I think we did introduce, we did allow the entry of Poland into the free movement of labour too quickly, and that clearly had effects on people right up and down the country. We’ve clearly got to learn those lessons for the future when it comes to future accession…if you have a more open economy in Europe, you’ve got to put in the right protection for people, for workers.”
The previous Labour Government allowed virtually unchecked immigration from eastern Europe to Britain. » | Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor | Sunday, September 25, 2011
THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: The Labour Government ‘Covered Up’ on Immigration »
THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: Ed Miliband Won’t Call People Who Defraud the Welfare System ‘Cheats’ »
Related »
Freiburg - Die katholische Kirche steht nach Ansicht des Papstes den orthodoxen Kirchen in Deutschland näher als den Protestanten. Bei einem Treffen mit Vertretern der Orthodoxen sagte Benedikt XVI. am Samstag in Freiburg nach Angaben des Vatikans: "Unter den christlichen Kirchen und Gemeinschaften steht uns die Orthodoxie theologisch am nächsten."
Er habe die Orthodoxie "lieben gelernt", sagte er und sprach ausdrücklich von einer "Wiederherstellung der vollen Einheit, die wir erhoffen" - genau diese Worte hatten sich viele für das Treffen mit den Protestanten ersehnt. Die Hoffnung wurde jedoch enttäuscht. Am Freitag war der Papst mit Vertretern der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland zusammengekommen, hatte dabei aber nicht einmal kleine Zugeständnisse gemacht.
Bei seinem historischen Gespräch im Augustinerkloster in Erfurt forderte Benedikt XVI. stattdessen abermals eine Rückbesinnung auf den Glauben als Grundlage für den weiteren Ökumeneprozess. Zwar feierte der Papst einen ökumenischen Gottesdienst in einer evangelischen Kirche - eine weitere Annäherung der Konfessionen blieb jedoch aus. Es gebe in dieser Frage nichts zu verhandeln, wie es Politikern möglich sei, sagte Benedikt. » | ore/dpa/dapd/AFP | Sonntag 25. September 2011
"Si vous voulez la paix, mettez toutes vos conditions préalables de côté", a déclaré M. Netanyahu sur la chaîne de télévision NBC, à l’adresse du président palestinien Mahmoud Abbas.
Celui-ci a réaffirmé dimanche qu’il ne reprendrait pas les négociations sans "un arrêt complet" de la colonisation israélienne.
"Il n’y aura pas de négociations sans légitimité internationale ni un arrêt complet de la colonisation" israélienne, a déclaré M. Abbas devant une foule de partisans à Ramallah (Cisjordanie), à son retour de New York, où il a présenté vendredi la demande historique d’adhésion d’un Etat de Palestine à l’ONU.
Le Quartette pour le Proche-Orient (Etats-Unis, UE, ONU et Russie) a proposé vendredi aux Israéliens et aux Palestiniens de reprendre des pourparlers de paix avec l’objectif d’aboutir à un accord final fin 2012. » | LeMatin.ch & les agences | Dimanche 25 Septembre 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Vladimir Putin has dispelled months of speculation and confirmed he will return to the Russian presidency next year in a move that cements his already vice-like grip on the world’s largest country.
In a glitzy appearance before thousands of cheering supporters in a Soviet-era football stadium in Moscow, Mr Putin, currently the prime minister, accepted a stage-managed proposal from Dmitry Medvedev, the current president, to run for the presidency on a ticket for the ruling United Russia party in March next year.
"I want to thank you for the positive reaction to the proposal for me to stand for Russian president," said Mr Putin, beaming broadly to loud applause. "For me this is a great honour."
The decision means that Mr Putin, 58, is certain to become the next president of Russia in 2012 as the country remains a de facto one party state, with United Russia controlling the state media and all the key levers of power.
Mr Putin told his followers what Russia watchers had long suspected: that the two men had long ago cut a deal to allow Mr Putin to return to the presidency in 2012 after he was forced to stand down in 2008 on a technicality.
"I would like to say directly that the agreement about what should be done, what we should be doing (was) reached a long time ago, several years ago," Putin said. » | Andrew Osborn, Moscow | Saturday, September 24, 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le roi Abdallah d’Arabie saoudite a annoncé dimanche l’octroi aux femmes du droit de vote et d’éligibilité aux élections municipales.
Le roi Abdallah d’Arabie saoudite est intervenu dimanche dans un discours prononcé devant le Majlis al-Choura, ou conseil consultatif. Il a a annoncé l’octroi aux femmes du droit de vote et d’éligibilité aux élections municipales.
La femme saoudienne se voit accorder pour la première fois le droit de vote et d’éligibilité à un scrutin dans ce royaume ultraconservateur, où seules des élections municipales sont organisées. » | AFP | Dimanche 25 Septembre 2011
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Saudi women given right to vote by King Abdullah: Saudi King Abdullah has given the kingdom's women the right to vote for first time in nationwide local elections, due in 2015. » | Sunday, September 25, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Saudi Arabia gives women right to vote: Saudi women will have the right to stand for office and vote in future local elections, says King Abdullah » | Reuters | Sunday, September 25, 2011
Dmitris Andreou made the last sale out of his small estate agents business in June. His wife Mary, makes her living preparing high-school students for English exams.
But her living has dried up. Their savings are exhausted, their disposable income has dropped by about 50 per cent in two years, and they are angry.
"Some days we only buy the basics and a few days lately we were not able to buy even those. We have to count our cents to decide between buying bread, milk or butter," says Mary.
"Some days are better, but some are difficult. We don't buy clothes any more. People don't go out. There is simply no money around out there."
In their neat apartment in an Athens suburb, surrounded by family heirlooms and lace tablecloths, they are a world apart from the anarchist demonstrators who snatch the headlines whenever opposition to the EU-imposed austerity measures is discussed.
But what's happening in living rooms like theirs presents the bigger danger to the future of Greece. People are switching off: from politics, from the mass media, from social life.
"We would like to see the politicians executed," says Maria, not smiling as she delivers the joke. "Most people are saying this: politicians deserve capital punishment – at the Greek equivalent of Traitors' Gate. It would be a nice time for politicians to be heroes, to stand up and defend the people. But they're not." » | Paul Mason, BBC Newsnight's Economics Editor, Athens | Saturdaay, September 24, 2011
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Greece unveils more austerity measures: The struggling nation plans to cut 30,000 state jobs and reduce pensions in an effort to avoid default. » | Anthee Carassava, Los Angeles Times | Wednesday, September 21, 2011
The striking blonde is not only enjoying her role as the wildcard that could upset next year's presidential election, but is profiting from a confluence of events that has made her look less the "devil's daughter" - as she has been called – and more a political diviner.
A decade ago, when the far-right FN warned abandoning the franc for the euro was madness and vowed to pull France out of the common currency, the idea was dismissed as nationalistic folly. Today, the economic crisis engulfing the eurozone, has made the once preposterous idea if not a possibility, then at least a possible solution to the continent's financial woes.
The remarkable turnaround is not lost on Miss Le Pen, who suffers neither false modesty nor self-doubt.
"Much of France now realises we were right to sound the alarm, because what we warned for a long time would happen, is now happening," she says.
"There is a normalisation of our movement that is incarnated by my personality. The effect has contributed to making our analyses more credible.
"Left voters have been betrayed by a political discourse that has no sense. Right voters have been betrayed by a party that has not kept its promises. This has allowed me to position myself as one of the three main candidates." » | Kim Willsher, Paris | Sunday, September 25, 2011
Quelques minutes après le discours de Mahmoud Abbas à l'ONU, le Premier ministre israélien, Benjamin Netanyahou, est monté à la tribune new-yorkaise. "Je tends la main au peuple palestinien avec lequel nous recherchons une paix juste et durable", a-t-il déclaré dans un discours à l'Assemblée générale des Nations-Unies. Mais, dans la foulée, le responsable israélien à dénoncer l'attitude palestinienne. "La vérité est qu'Israël veut la paix, la vérité est que je veux la paix... (…) La vérité est que jusqu'à présent, les Palestiniens ont refusé de négocier," a-t-il ajouté, appelant à la reprise des négociations plutôt qu'à des résolutions onusiennes.
Selon Benjamin Netanyahou, "la base du conflit (au Proche-Orient) est le refus des Palestiniens de reconnaître l'Etat juif", rejetant ainsi la position palestinienne selon laquelle la question de la colonisation est à l'origine du conflit. "Faites la paix avec nous", a-t-il lancé. "Rencontrons-nous aujourd'hui (vendredi, ndlr) aux Nations-Unies", a-t-il ajouté à destination de Mahmoud Abbas. Vendredi, le président palestinien a déposé une demande d'adhésion d'un Etat de Palestine à l'ONU, sur la base des frontières de 1967. Il devait quitter New York vendredi soir. » | A-Ch. D. (avec AFP) - leJDD.fr | Vendredi 23 Septembre 2011
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Es ist sein letzter Auftritt vor einem so großen Publikum während seines Besuchs in Deutschland: Papst Benedikt XVI. ist mit rund 100.000 Gläubigen auf dem Gelände des Freiburger Flughafens zu einer Heiligen Messe zusammengekommen. Am Abend fliegt er zurück nach Rom.
An seinem letzten Besuchstag in Deutschland ist Papst Benedikt XVI. mit rund 100.000 Gläubigen auf dem Gelände des Freiburger Flughafens zu einer Heiligen Messe zusammengekommen. Hinter der Rollbahn des Freiburger Flugplatzes war eine große Altarbühne für den Papst aufgebaut, für die Besucher standen tausende Bänke bereit.
Bei der Ankunft fuhr Benedikt XVI. mit dem Papamobil auf das Gelände. Er winkte, segnete Kinder und lächelte den Gläubigen zu. Einige hielten Plakate mit Grüßen hoch. Es ist der letzte Auftritt des Papstes vor einem so großen Publikum während seines Staatsbesuchs in Deutschland. » | FAZ.NET | Sonntag 25. September 2011
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: NHS maternity units are refusing to tell expectant parents the gender of their unborn baby, an investigation has found.
The hospitals say they are too short-staffed to establish the sex of the foetus during ante-natal screening.
But some medical groups believe the NHS policies are being driven by fears that females could be selectively aborted among cultures which value boys more highly.
There is also concern that it is driven by people threatening to sue over being told the wrong gender of child.
The Council of Europe is due to consider a draft resolution in October which recommends that all its 47 member states - including Britain - instruct hospitals to "withold [sic] information about the sex of the foetus" from parents.
The move is a bid to prevent the practice of selective abortion, which they say has reached worrying proportions in some former Soviet states.
The plans have triggered alarm in this country, where pregnant women who want to know if they are due a boy or a girl expect to find out, usually during 20 week scans to check for abnormalities, and sometimes at 12 weeks.
Now, a survey of maternity units in England discloses that several are already refusing to share the information. » | Laura Donnelly and Will Taylor | Sunday, September 25, 2011
MAIL ONLINE: The BBC has been accused of 'absurd political correctness' after dropping the terms BC and AD in case they offend non-Christians.
The Corporation has replaced the familiar Anno Domini (the year of Our Lord) and Before Christ with the obscure terms Common Era and Before Common Era.
Some of the BBC's most popular programmes including University Challenge, presented by Jeremy Paxman, and Radio 4's In Our Time, hosted by Melvyn Bragg, are among the growing number of shows using the new descriptions.
It states: 'As the BBC is committed to impartiality it is appropriate that we use terms that do not offend or alienate non-Christians.
In line with modern practice, BCE/CE (Before Common Era/Common Era) are used as a religiously neutral alternative to BC/AD.'
But the move has angered Christians, mystified other faith leaders and been branded unnecessary by the Plain English Campaign. Critics say the new terms are meaningless because, just like AD and BC, they still denote years in relation to the life of Christ.
Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, said: 'I think this amounts to the dumbing down of the Christian basis of our culture, language and history. These changes are unnecessary and they don't achieve what the BBC wants them to achieve.
'Whether you use Common Era or Anno Domini, the date is actually still the same and the reference point is still the birth of Christ.' » | Chris Hastings | Saturday, September 24, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Reports kept under wraps by Labour showing that immigrants who came to Britain from Romania and Bulgaria had low education levels and were more likely to claim out-of-work benefits are to be released for the first time by ministers.
The figures are contained in five separate controversial studies commissioned by the last Labour government but never published - amid claims the party wanted to avoid a damaging row about its record before last year’s general election.
Ministers accused Labour of a “disturbing cover up” and promised to publish the reports - which cost the taxpayer a total of £165,000 and have now been seen by The Sunday Telegraph - in full within days.
The documents also contain revelations that immigrants from all countries into Britain are more likely to be out of work than the native population - and are less likely to engage in any form of “civic participation.”
More than one third of London’s population, moreover, has now been born outside the UK. » | Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor | Saturday, September 24, 2011
YNET NEWS: Op-ed: Past experience shows that dreams of utopian Palestinian state will crush and burn
In trying to comprehend the world’s love fest and obsession with a Palestinian state, one must conclude that it is deluding itself into believing that such a state would greatly contribute to the wellbeing of the world.
However, a reality check reveals that such a belief is wishful thinking and has no basis in fact. One should just look at the nature of the autonomous Palestinian entity in the West Bank and Gaza created after the implementation of the 1993 Oslo agreement, with the Palestinian Authority controlling the daily internal affairs of most of the Palestinian people.
According to past evidence the Palestinian state will have the following characteristics: » | Shoula Romano Horing | Friday, September 23, 2011
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: For a decade now, wolves have been quietly advancing through eastern Germany and may be making inroads across the entire country. But people still haven't learned to live with the predator. Some glorify the wolves, others demonize them and many are simply afraid.
They are scenes one might normally expect to see in the Serengeti. But Franz Graf von Plettenberg has the privilege of watching them from his elevated hunting stand in the forests of eastern Germany.
In his case, though, it's a deer (rather than a gnu) that is walking calmly through the heath, even though the evil killer, a wolf (instead of a lion), is within sight, heading for the forest. It's as though the potential prey can sense that this wolf has already eaten his fill.
Plettenberg, a forest ranger, is responsible for close to 35,000 hectares (86,450 acres) of state-owned forest and open country. His territory also includes a military training area that became famous as the home of Germany's first wolf pack in 150 years.
Plettenberg likes the wolf, because it helps him deplete game populations, an important service because too many deer damage the forest. They love to eat the shoots of tender young seedlings and peel off the bark of larger trees and shrubs -- none of which is good news for someone interested in making money with timber.
There are, however, many hunters [who] don't share Plettenberg's point of view. They see the newcomer as a rival challenging them for prey and for control of the forest. "Until now, when hunters have been challenged to justify what they do, they've argued that it's up to them to do the work of wolves that no longer existed in German forests," says Plettenberg. But now that wolves have returned, hunters are complaining that they are driving away game. » | Rafaela von Bredow | Friday, September 23, 2011
Lawrence Russell Brewer, who was executed on Wednesday, asked for two chicken-fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, fried okra, a pound (450 grams) of barbecued meat, three fajitas, a meat lover's pizza, a pint (nearly half a litre) of ice-cream and a slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts.
Prison officials said Brewer did not eat any of it.
Brewer, a white supremacist gang member, was convicted of chaining James Byrd jnr, 49, to the back of a pick-up truck and dragging him to his death along a bumpy road in 1998. » | Michael Graczyk | Saturday, September 24, 2011
The prospect of Vladamir Putin leading Russia until 2024 become more realistic after Russia's ruling duo ended months of speculation on Saturday with President Dmitry Medvedev proposing his predecessor make a run fort the top job next year.
Medvedev told a congress of the ruling United Russia party that he would back Putin in his return to the Kremlin. That means Putin could lead Russia until at least 2024.
Speaking to thousands of flag-waving delegates in Moscow's Soviet-era Luzhniki stadium, Medvedev first accepted Putin's suggestion that he head the party's federal party list in December's parliamentary vote.
The crowd erupted into a gasp of surprise and then applause when he said: "I think it's right that the party congress support the candidacy of head of the government, Vladimir Putin, in the role of the country's president." » | Miriam Elder in Moscow | Saturday, September 24, 2011
ANDREW OSBORN: Vladimir Putin versus Dmitry Medvedev » | Friday, September 23, 2011
The private meeting came on the second day of Benedict's four-day trip to Germany, where record numbers of Catholics have officially left the faith in protest at clerical abuse, and where the Church faces some 600 requests for compensation.
The Pope was "moved and deeply shaken" and assured victims the Church was "committed to the promotion of effective measures to protect children," the Vatican said in a statement.
The meeting took place in a seminary in Erfurt, in eastern Germany, and was similar to those held by Benedict on other recent trips. The wording of the statement also mirrored those issued after previous meetings.
Victims' associations have said the Vatican has not done enough to bring the perpetrators to justice, a view echoed by German victims who joined 8,000 protesters on a march through Berlin, where the Pope began his visit.
Earlier on Friday the Pope visited the monastery where Martin Luther lived before launching the Reformation, and warned his Lutheran hosts that "a new form of Christianity" posed challenges to mainline Protestants and Catholics alike.
While not naming them, it was clear he was referring to the evangelical and Pentecostal churches which have spread rapidly, especially in developing countries, by attracting converts from more established churches.
He appealed for unity between Roman Catholics and Protestants, who began their split from the Catholic Church when Luther, who had lived in Erfurt as a Catholic monk, posted his 95 theses on a church door in 1517.
Few people turned out to see the pope in Erfurt, a Protestant city under tight security for the visit, but about 90,000 Catholics -- 40,000 more than expected -- flooded the nearby Catholic town of Etzelsbach [sic] for a vespers service.
Benedict told the Lutherans: "Faced with a new form of Christianity, which is spreading with overpowering missionary dynamism, sometimes in frightening ways, the mainstream Christian denominations often seem at a loss.
"This is a form of Christianity with little institutional depth, little rationality and even less dogmatic content, and with little stability. This worldwide phenomenon poses a question to us all: what is this new form of Christianity saying to us, for better and for worse?" » | Philip Pullella and Sarah Marsh | ERFURT, Germany | Friday, September 23, 2011
Aïcha Kadhafi, la fille du dirigeant libyen déchu, a assuré vendredi soir que son père allait bien et combattait sur le terrain, s’en prenant aux nouvelles autorités qu’elle a qualifiées de traîtres, dans une intervention téléphonique sur la chaîne Arraï basée en Syrie.
"Soyez tranquilles, votre grand leader va bien, il porte les armes et combat sur les fronts", a dit Aïcha Kadhafi sur la chaîne qui diffuse régulièrement des messages de dignitaires de l’ancien régime.
"Vous pouvez être fiers de votre leader", a-t-elle affirmé s’adressant au "peuple résistant" de Libye, qu’elle a appelé à se "soulever" contre les nouvelles autorités qualifiées de "traîtres". » | AFP | Vendredi 23 Septembre 2011
Officially, bigamy and polygamy are punishable by up to seven years in prison. It was declared illegal in England and Wales in 1604, when the Parliament of James I took action to restrain ‘evil persons’ marrying more than one wife — on penalty of death. But officialdom now turns a blind eye because of cultural sensitivities. – Source: This article
For he has so many children that he struggles to remember their names, and five wives from various countries, including Yemen, Egypt, Turkey and his own birthplace, Pakistan.
Ghulam’s latest bride is a shy 20-year-old called Hafeza. He brought her to Britain from Morocco, soon after his 45th birthday earlier this year. They married in an Islamic wedding ceremony called ‘the Nikah’ in her village, with Hafeza’s pleased parents among the guests.
Thirty miles across the Pennines in Yorkshire, pizza delivery driver Wasim, 27, has an equally complicated domestic life.
He lives in a part of Dewsbury called Savile Town, a network of 11 terrace streets dominated by one of the biggest mosques in Europe, where most residents are Asian with origins in Pakistan or India.
Wasim has three wives, the first of whom lives with him and their three teenage sons. His other two wives have separate houses in Savile Town, one down the road and another round the corner. He visits each two nights a week.
The women have had several of Wasim’s children and he hopes the youngest bride (aged 19) will soon present him with another baby.
I learned of Ghulam and Wasim this week while investigating a subject that is taboo in politically correct Britain. It is the huge rise of bigamy (having two wives) and polygamy (more than two) in our Muslim communities. » | Sue Reid | Saturday, September 24, 2011
If bigamy and polygamy is wrong and punishable by jail for one group of people, it should be wrong and punishable by jail for the other groups too. Political correctness should have absolutely nothing to do with it. Polygamy is either right and allowable, or wrong and disallowable – for ALL. But this corrosive practice will not be stopped by the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, or the Liberal Democrats. It doesn't matter who is in power, none of the politicians have the courage to stop these alien practices. Our politicians are spineless. Totally spineless! And it is for this very reason that this country is being destroyed before our very eyes. In a few years' time, the country will be unrecognisable. It took six years to destroy National Socialism, but when it comes to Islam destroying us, it seems that our politicians are clueless. It helps little to worry about loss of sovereignty to the EU when the country is being destroyed from within. – Mark
Friday, September 23, 2011
M. Ban doit maintenant transmettre cette demande pour examen au Conseil de sécurité, comme le prévoit la procédure de l'ONU. Il le fera "vers le milieu de l'après-midi" en remettant le document frappé de l'emblème de la Palestine à la mission libanaise, qui assure la présidence tournante du Conseil. La réponse mettra, elle, plusieurs semaines à arriver. » | LEMONDE.FR | Vendredi 23 Septembre 2011
Verwandt »
DIE PRESSE: Der britische Thinktank Chatham House untersucht den Aufstieg ausländerfeindlicher Parteien. Welche Gruppierungen fallen überhaupt in diese Kategorie und wie lässt sich der Siegeszug der Populisten stoppen?
London/La. „Der Aufstieg des populistischen Extremismus ist eine der dringendsten Herausforderungen für Europa.“ Zu diesem Schluss kommt die britische Ideenschmiede Chatham House, die zu diesem Thema eine Studie in Auftrag gegeben hat. Der Bericht, der den Titel „Right Response“ (richtige bzw. rechte Antwort) trägt und gestern in London vorgestellt wurde, soll das politische Establishment in Europa mit dem notwendigen Rüstzeug ausstatten, um der Gefahr Einhalt gebieten zu können.
Welche Gruppierungen fallen überhaupt in diese Kategorie? Die Studienautoren definieren populistischen Extremismus relativ weit: Ihre Liste umfasst 27 Parteien und beinhaltet neben der britischen National Front oder der deutschen NPD auch die FPÖ, das BZÖ, die italienische Lega Nord und die SVP – die immerhin die stimmenstärkste Partei der Schweiz ist. Gemeinsame Nenner sind demnach die fundamentale Ablehnung der Immigration sowie eine Strategie, die sich gegen die etablierten Kräfte richtet und die repräsentative Demokratie implizit infrage stellt. » | Die Presse | Print Ausgabe 23. 09. 2011 | Freitag 23. September 2011
CHATHAM HOUSE: Understanding and Dealing with the Spread of Populist Extremism in Europe »
The sky above Rome still had a reddish tint to it as the Alitalia Airbus took off from Ciampino airport at 8:15 a.m. on Thursday, carrying Pope Benedict XVI, several bishops and cardinals and close to 70 journalists on board.
It was the beginning of the pope's four-day visit to his homeland, his first state visit to Germany, and one that has already generated enormous interest in the country, particularly his Thursday afternoon address to the German parliament in Berlin. His core message in Germany is clear: Do not turn your backs on religion; do not turn your backs on the Catholic Church.
But the very first message he sought to communicate on his trip was addressed to his host country Italy. The pope sends a telegram to all heads of state over whose territory he flies when travelling abroad. In addition to the Austrian and Czech heads of state, the pope also wrote to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.
"The moment in which I leave Italian territory is marked by my wish for an intensive ethical renewal for the good of my beloved Italy," he wrote. The message was difficult to misunderstand, a clear criticism of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the slow erosion of the country's values and financial stability over which he has presided. The message was all the more powerful coming as it did just days after the country's credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor's. » | SPIEGEL Staff | Friday, September 23, 2011
Designer Hugo Boss was the favoured tailor of Hitler and won the contract to supply Nazi forces with their uniforms.
After the war he argued that he had supported Hitler "to save the company" rather than because of any National Socialism ideology, but new research shows that he was in fact a loyal Nazi.
A new book publishes records that show that during the second world war [sic] the company used 140 forced workers kidnapped by the Gestapo from Poland.
At its clothes factory based in Metzingen, Baden-Wurttemberg the work force also included 40 French prisoners of war in its production of Wehrmacht uniforms.
"It is clear that Hugo F Boss did not only join the party because it led to contracts for uniform production, but also because he was a follower of National Socialism," wrote Roman Koester, an economic historian at the Bundeswehr University in Munich in his book Hugo Boss, 1924-1945. Read on and comment » | Fiona Govan | Wednesday, September 21, 2011
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A Third Reich Past: Why I Cannot Answer Questions about My Grandfather » | An Essay by Ferdinand von Schirach | Friday, September 23, 2011
La majorité des élus du parti de la gauche radicale, Die Linke, manquait à l'appel, jeudi, pourle discours du Souverain Pontife devant le Bundestag. Pour ces héritiers du Parti communiste de l'ex-RDA, où la liberté religieuse était étroitement encadrée, la visite de Benoît XVI a une résonance particulière. Considéré comme une menace potentielle pour le régime communiste, ¬Joseph Ratzinger était l'un des dignitaires étrangers les plus étroitement surveillés par la Stasi, la police secrète est-allemande.
Le cardinal Ratzinger a éveillé la méfiance de la Stasi en 1974, lorsqu'il est allé à la découverte de la Thuringe, d'Erfurt à Iéna en passant par Weimar. Embarqué dans une Trabant pilotée par l'évêque d'Erfurt, Joachim Wanke, le futur pape a échappé pendant de longues heures à toute surveillance. À tel point que la Stasi n'a eu connaissance ni de son escapade en Trabant, ni d'un incident dans une auberge de Weimar, où le théologien renommé a attendu une table plus d'une demi-heure, rapporte Mgr Wanke. » | Par Patrick Saint-Paul | Vendredi 23 Septembre 2011
Abbas wollte am Freitag trotz einer Vetodrohung der USA die Aufnahme eines unabhängigen Staates Palästina in den Grenzen vor dem Sechstagekrieg von 1967 als UN-Vollmitglied beantragen. Der Antrag gilt als chancenlos, Abbas will damit jedoch ein Zeichen setzen. Die Palästinenser sind nach zwei Jahrzehnten fruchtloser Friedensbemühungen frustriert und wollen mit dem Vorstoß neue Bewegung in Nahost bewirken. » | BLZ / dpa | Freitag 23. September 2011
Im Erfurter Augustinerkloster, in das Martin Luther vor 500 Jahren als Mönch eingetreten war, trifft Benedikt am Mittag Vertreter der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland (EKD) zu Gesprächen und einem ökumenischen Gottesdienst. An die Begegnung werden hohe Erwartungen geknüpft. Am Abend feiert der Papst eine Marienvesper im Eichsfeld. Dorthin strömten schon seit dem frühen Morgen die Pilger. » | BLZ / dpa | Freitag 23. September 2011
In an unprecedented public condemnation on Thursday, Admiral Mullen said that the country's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency was actively supporting a network linked to al Qaeda and blamed for an assault on the US embassy in Kabul last week.
Admiral Mullen accused Pakistan of "exporting" violent extremism to Afghanistan by allowing militants to act as an "arm" of the intelligence service.
"In choosing to use violent extremism as an instrument of policy, the government of Pakistan – and most especially the Pakistani Army and ISI – jeopardises not only the prospect of our strategic partnership, but also Pakistan's opportunity to be a respected nation with legitimate regional influence," he told US senators. "By exporting violence, they have eroded their internal security and their position in the region." » | Rob Crilly, Islamabad | Thursday, September 22, 2011
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Ali Abdullah Saleh has returned to Yemen after spending three months in Saudi Arabia recovering from a June assassination attempt.
Mr Saleh's return comes amid a surge of violence in the capital Sanaa, which has been rocked by clashes between loyalist troops and forces backing a mass protest movement calling for his overthrow.
Within minutes of the announcement, loud bursts of gunfire and explosions were heard echoing through the capital.
"Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of the Republic, returned this morning to the land of the nation safely after a trip for treatment in Riyadh that lasted more than three months," an urgent news break on Yemen Television said. » | Friday, September 23, 2011
We shall probably never know what was said over the Balmoral Castle dinner table by the Queen and Alex Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister, this week. Of all this nation’s great secrets, none are more sacred than what passes between the Head of State and the senior politicians who govern in her name.
There is little doubt that Mr Salmond has struck up an extremely amicable working relationship with Her Majesty, which includes regular visits to the royal residence on Deeside. In fact, while David and Samantha Cameron had a rare overnight stay at Balmoral three weeks ago, Mr Salmond and his wife Moira have probably notched up five or six “dinner, bed and breakfasts” at the castle. He also sees her regularly when she visits her Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
Although he is hell-bent on holding a referendum within the next three years to break up Elizabeth II’s United Kingdom (she’s only Elizabeth I in Scotland, by the way), he has reassured the House of Windsor that Her Majesty would remain Queen of Scots if his separatist plans come to fruition.
He has abandoned his plans for a referendum on the future of the monarchy north of the Border and said that, while he wants to repeal the 1707 Treaty of Union between Scotland and England, he is determined to honour the 1606 Union of the Crowns, which saw James VI of Scotland become James I of England.
Whether this concession made any difference to the Queen’s attitude towards the leader of the Scottish National Party we shall never know, given her steely determination to stay out of political controversy. » | Alan Cochrane | Thursday, September 22, 2011
Le Pakistan a menacé vendredi les Etats-Unis de mettre fin à l’alliance entre les deux pays si Washington continue de l’accuser de soutenir une faction des talibans en Afghanistan, a menacé vendredi la ministre pakistanaise des Affaires étrangères, Hina Rabbani Khar.
La veille à Washington, le plus haut responsable militaire américain, l’amiral Mike Mullen, avait brutalement accusé Islamabad d’exporter, via ses services secrets, la violence en Afghanistan en y soutenant le réseau Haqqani, l’un des groupes les plus actifs au sein du mouvement taliban.
Jamais les Etats-Unis, auxquels le Pakistan s’est rallié lorsqu’ils sont envahi l’Afghanistan à la fin 2001, n’avaient accusé aussi directement Islamabad d’y être impliqué dans les attaques contre les Occidentaux.
"Nous avons fait passer aux Etats-Unis le message suivant: vous allez perdre un allié. Vous ne pouvez pas vous permettre de vous aliéner le Pakistan. Vous ne pouvez pas vous permettre de vous aliéner le peuple pakistanais", a déclaré Mme Khar à la télévision privée pakistanaise Geo TV.
"S’ils choisissent de le faire, ce sera à leurs propres dépens", a-t-elle ajouté, interrogée depuis New York où elle participe à l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies. » | AFP | Vendredi 23 Septembre 2011
Papst Benedikt XVI. hat Muslime als ein Merkmal Deutschlands bezeichnet. Bei einem Treffen sagte der Papst am Freitagmorgen in Berlin: „Die Anwesenheit zahlreicher muslimischer Familien ist seit den 70er Jahren des vergangenen Jahrhunderts zunehmend ein Merkmal dieses Landes geworden.“ Zu Beginn seines zweiten Besuchstags traf Benedikt Mitglieder von Verbänden, Mitarbeiter von Hilfsorganisationen und Islam-Lehrer in der Botschaft des Vatikans in Berlin. Das Gespräch fand nach Aussage eines Sprechers der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz in herzlicher Atmosphäre statt.
Er rief dazu auf, „beständig daran zu arbeiten, sich gegenseitig besser kennenzulernen und zu verstehen“. Nötig seien Dialog und gegenseitigen Wertschätzung. Als „Menschen des Glaubens“ könnten Katholiken und Muslime, ausgehend von ihren jeweiligen Überzeugungen, „ein wichtiges Zeugnis in vielen entscheidenden Bereichen des gesellschaftlichen Lebens geben“ - beispielsweise zum Schutz der Familie, der Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben „in jeder Phase seines natürlichen Verlaufs“ sowie der Förderung einer größeren sozialen Gerechtigkeit. » | FAZ.NET | Freitag 23. September 2011
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TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Benoît XVI: Chrétienté et Islam doivent vivre dans «l’estime réciproque» : «Le dialogue et l’estime réciproque» sont les maîtres mot pour que musulmans et chrétiens vivent dans la paix, a jugé vendredi le pape Benoît XVI. Il reçoit à Berlin des représentants de l’islam en Allemagne. » | AFP | Vendredi 23 Septembre 2011
VATICAN RADIO: Pope Benedict met with members of Germany's Muslim community at the Apostolic Nunziature in Berlin on Friday. Below we publish the provisional text of his discourse:
Dear Muslim Friends,
I am glad to be able to welcome you here, as the representatives of different Muslim communities in Germany. From my heart I thank Professor Mouhanad Khorchide for his kind greeting. His words show me what a climate of respect and trust has grown up between the Catholic Church and the Muslim communities in Germany.
Berlin is a good place for a meeting like this, not only because the oldest mosque on German territory is located here, but also because Berlin has the largest Muslim population of all the cities in Germany.
From the 1970s onwards, the presence of numerous Muslim families has increasingly become a distinguishing mark of this country. Constant effort is needed in order to foster better mutual acquaintance and understanding. Not only is this important for peaceful coexistence, but also for the contribution that each can make towards building up the common good in this society.
Many Muslims attribute great importance to the religious dimension of life. At times this is thought provocative in a society that tends to marginalize religion or at most to assign it a place among the individual’s personal choices.
The Catholic Church firmly advocates that due recognition be given to the public dimension of religious adherence. In an overwhelmingly pluralist society, this demand is not unimportant. Care must be taken to guarantee that others are always treated with respect. Mutual respect grows only on the basis of agreement on certain inalienable values that are proper to human nature, in particular the inviolable dignity of every single person. Such agreement does not limit the expression of individual religions; on the contrary, it allows each person to bear witness explicitly to what he believes, not avoiding comparison with others.
In Germany – as in many other countries, not only Western ones – this common frame of reference is articulated by the Constitution, whose juridical content is binding on every citizen, whether he belong to a faith community or not. » | Friday, September 23, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
More than 1,000 people gathered outside the Palestinian government headquarters in Ramallah for the first officially sanctioned anti-US protest in the West Bank for years after Mr Obama's unexpected words to the UN.
Posing a fresh challenge to the US administration as it struggles to adapt to the shifting political landscape of the region in the wake of the Arab Spring, activists harnessed the Internet to call for mass pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the Middle East in the coming days.
The growing backlash came as many Arabs reacted with disbelief after Mr Obama addressed the UN General Assembly on Wednesday to deliver the most pro-Israeli speech to a non-Jewish audience of his presidential career.
Given that the United States has announced it will use its Security Council veto to prevent the Palestinians joining the UN as a full member state, many in the West Bank had expected Mr Obama's speech to be robust.
But few supposed he would speak as he did. » | Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem and Alex Spillius in New York | Thursday, September 22, 2011
The rumours, which have surfaced before and been furiously denied, were reported in the National Enquirer, which did not name its source.
The magazine claimed Todd Palin was "fed up" following the publication last week of Joe McGinniss's book The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin.
A friend reportedly told the magazine: "The final straw was McGinniss quoting Sarah's brother Chuckie telling a friend they don't have a marriage." » | Los Angeles | Thursday, September 22, 2011
Mr Cameron derided Mr Ahmadinejad from the United Nations podium minutes after the Iranian leader's ferocious attack on Western powers and Israel.
All 27 European delegations left the chamber midway through his speech, a few minutes after the Americans had vacated their seats. The protest was planned in the expectation that Mr Ahmadinejad would prove controversial.
David Cameron, who addressed the assembly shortly after Mr Ahmadinejad, said: "He didn't remind us that he runs a country where they may have elections of a sort but they also repress freedom of speech, do everything they can to avoid the accountability of a free media, violently prevent demonstrations and detain and torture those who argue for a better future."
Mark Kornblau, a spokesman for the US mission to the UN, said: "Mr Ahmadinejad had a chance to address his own people's aspirations for freedom and dignity, but instead he again turned to abhorrent anti-Semitic slurs and despicable conspiracy theories."
The Iranian leader surpassed even his own outspoken standards as he accused the US of using the "mysterious" September 11 attacks as a pretext to launch wars on Iraq and Afghanistan. » | Alex Spillius in New York | Thursday, September 22, 2011
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