Disses and Death Threats: Rapper in Germany Fears for Life after Fatwa

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Cologne-based rapper Najafi has drawn the wrath of Shiite Muslims after publishing a song that appeared to make fun of the 10th imam. Following a fatwa by an Iranian ayatollah, he has received death threats, and there is a $100,000 bounty on his head. Now he is under police protection but insists he will keep making music. By SPIEGEL Staff

It's every rapper's dream: You stick it to the world, not caring what people think or say about you. If they hate you, they should go ahead and diss you, the more the better. No one can tell you what to do. After all, isn't that what rap is all about?

That dream came true last week for an Iranian rapper living in exile in Cologne. But in the tough reality of life, the dream has turned into a nightmare for Shahin Najafi. Najafi rapped about a man who has been dead 1,143 years: the 10th imam, Ali al-Hadi al-Naqi. He implored the imam to return to modern-day Iran to sort out the regime there. Of course, to a certain extent he also poked fun at the imam -- the sort of thing a rapper does in a world that's becoming more and more difficult to provoke. Najafi also designed an image for YouTube: a dome of a mosque in the shape of a women's breast, with the nipple at the very top.

He wanted to be provocative. It was rap, after all. The song's message was hard-hitting and crass.

What he provoked, however, was not the usual outcry on the Internet, but a response from the Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpayegani in the Iranian city of Qom. It was a religious opinion, one that Persian newspapers have turned into headlines, albeit with a few weeks' delay. The ayatollah expressed himself in broad terms, not even mentioning Najafi by name. But anyone who wants to can easily interpret the ayatollah's opinion as a call to murder. And that is now Najafi's problem, because there are many who want to read it that way.

The Next Salman Rushdie

Hardly anything can become as emotionally charged in the cultural struggle between the enlightened and the orthodox as an apostasy fatwa practically asking for somebody's execution. Hardly anything is as capable of stimulating emotions and the masses. And, for this reason, hardly anything is more likely to be used as justification for a propaganda war where both sides are convinced they are right. The West wants to defend freedom of expression, while the radical religious culture wants to defend its faith. » | SPIEGEL Staff | Wednesday, May 16, 2012

A Multifaith Songs of Praise? Not On My Watch Says BBC Religion Chief

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Songs of Praise is to remain Christian despite calls for it to be turned it into a multifaith programme, the BBC’s first Muslim head of religion has pledged.

Aaqil Ahmed said that it was vital that religious programming promoted “diversity” but insisted that Songs of Praise would always remain Christian.

Mr Ahmed’s appointment three years ago attracted controversy in some quarters and even complaints to the corporation.

In an interview in 2010 he accused the Church of England of “living in the past” by complaining about a fall in the number of hours given to religious broadcasting.

But speaking to an audience invited by the Catholic Communications Network in London he said it was “childish” to think that religion was being cut back on the BBC.

Religious output on the BBC had risen under his tenure to 600 hours of radio a year and 170 hours on television, he said. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Greece On Brink of Collapse
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Europe’s financial crisis lurched into a perilous new phase as dire predictions emerged of a collapse in Greece’s economy, with a run on its banks bringing an inevitable end to its membership of the euro.

As leaders in Athens accepted the need for a new general election to end a national stalemate, the International Monetary Fund said Europe’s leaders should prepare for the possibility of a Greek departure from the single currency.

Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, warned she was “technically prepared for anything” and said the utmost effort must be made to ensure any Greek exit was orderly. The effect was likely to be “quite messy” with risks to growth, trade and financial markets. “It is something that would be extremely expensive and would pose great risks but it is part of options that we must technically consider,” she said.

Raising tensions still further, Germany warned Greek voters that the wrong result in next month’s election will force their country out of the single currency.

Greece’s president warned, perhaps most alarmingly, that its banks risk running out of money, posing a “threat to our national existence”.

The escalating turmoil sharpened fears in financial markets, with European shares and the euro itself falling again. On the stock markets, the Eurostoxx 600 fell 0.7 per cent to a year-low; Germany’s Dax dropped 0.8 per cent and Spain’s Ibex was down 1.6 per cent. In London the FTSE100 slid 0.5 per cent. Following this month’s inconclusive election, Greek parties yesterday failed again to agree a new government. A new election, most likely to be held in mid-June, could see more gains for parties that want to reject the austerity measures that are a condition of international efforts to bail out the debt-crippled state. » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels and James Kirkup | Tuesday, May 15, 2012

WIRTSCHAFTSWOCHE: Fliegt Griechenland nun aus dem Euro? : Die Regierungsbildung ist gescheitert. Griechenland taumelt Neuwahlen entgegen – und dem Euro-Aus. Fliegt Griechenland nun aus dem Euro und warum hoffen die Griechen nun ausgerechnet auf Frankreichs neuen Präsidenten François Hollande? Die wichtigsten Fragen und Antworten. » | Von Tim Rahmann | Dienstag, 15. Mai 2012

None Injured after Hollande's Plane Is Struck by Lightning
FOX NEWS: PARIS – Socialist Francois Hollande took over as France's president Tuesday and jetted off to Berlin hours later for talks on Europe's debt crisis -- only to have his plane struck by lightning. No one was hurt.

The Falcon 7X aircraft was hit by lightning shortly after take-off Tuesday, and returned to the Villacoublay air base outside Paris as a precaution for inspection, Defense Ministry spokesman Gerard Gachet said.

Defense officials say the president and his entourage were transferred to another aircraft, a Falcon 900, and took off shortly thereafter. Hollande is due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss Europe's financial crisis.

It was a stormy presidential beginning for a man who promised to be a more "normal" president and less flashy than predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy. » | Associated Press | Tuesday, May 15, 2012

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Nicolas Sarkozy déjà effacé du site internet de l'Elysée

REUTERS FRANCE: PARIS - Nicolas Sarkozy, à peine revenu à la vie civile, a été effacé mardi du site internet officiel de l'Elysée mais la question de l'avenir de l'ex-président de la République reste ouverte.

"Je changerai de vie, vous n'entendrez plus jamais parler de moi", avait dit l'ancien chef de l'Etat à des journalistes.

Dans l'immédiat il a prévu de partir en vacances avec son épouse, Carla-Bruni Sarkozy.

Selon d'anciens collaborateurs, il ne participera pas à la campagne des élections législatives des 10 et 17 juin. "Il va se reposer et voyager", explique l'un d'eux.

A des interlocuteurs, il a confié ces derniers jours qu'il les informerait de ses décisions sur son avenir professionnel à la rentrée. A d'autres, il a dit avoir déjà reçu des offres. Mais il n'a donné à personne de détails sur ses intentions. » | Emmanuel Jarry | mardi 15 mai 2012

Lien en relation avec l’article »

Greece Calls New Election After Coalition Talks Fail

REUTERS.COM: Greece abandoned a nine-day hunt for a government on Tuesday and called a new election that threatens to hasten the nation's slide towards bankruptcy and a future outside the euro zone.

An inconclusive election on May 6 left parliament split between supporters and opponents of a 130 billion euro bailout deal which is reviled by Greeks for imposing deep wage, pension and public spending cuts.

A second election is expected to produce a similarly divided parliament, with opponents of the EU/IMF rescue consolidating their gains and raising the likelihood of an anti-bailout coalition that reneges on the deal keeping Greece afloat.

"For God's sake, let's move towards something better and not something worse," Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos told reporters after a meeting of party leaders failed to agree on a government of technocrats. "Our motherland can find its way, we will fight for it to find its way."

European leaders have said they will halt the aid if promises given in return for the bailout are not kept. If so, Greece could go bankrupt as early as next month. Analysts say that this will almost certainly herald a Greek return to its drachma national currency. » | Lefteris Papadimas and Dina Kyriakidou | ATHENS | Tuesday, May 15, 2012

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France's Hollande Gives Sarkozy Terse Sendoff
REUTERS.COM: French President Francois Hollande gave his predecessor a terse send-off on Tuesday, omitting to wave Nicolas Sarkozy off from the steps of the Elysee palace and giving him only a cursory mention in his inaugural speech.

After a bruising election battle, Sarkozy was gracious in defeat, dropping all invective when he conceded within minutes of the May 6 result and inviting Hollande to accompany him at a ceremony two days later to commemorate the end of World War Two.

Yet the Socialist newcomer kept it to the bare minimum when he saw the outgoing conservative off with a brisk handshake after a 40-minute private meeting to pass on state secrets.

In a remark that seemed squarely aimed at Sarkozy's pushy and hyperactive style, Hollande said in his maiden address that he would run a "dignified" and "sober" presidency.

In past handovers, the incoming president has lingered over the handshake with his predecessor and taken a few moments to see him off from the Elysee Palace courtyard.

Back in 2007, the more tactile Sarkozy gave his predecessor Jacques Chirac a friendly departing pat and applauded as he left the premises. When Chirac won in 1995, he gave Socialist Francois Mitterrand a warm send-off that expressed admiration for a skillful veteran adversary.

In his speech, Hollande, the first Socialist leader in 17 years, listed the achievements of all other Fifth Republic presidents from General Charles de Gaulle to Chirac. But his only mention of the Sarkozy was to wish him luck in the future.

A television commentator called the perfunctory comment "the union minimum". » | Reporting By Catherine Bremer; Editing by Paul Taylor | Reuters | PARIS | Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Related »

More US Women Have Fingers on the Trigger
New statistics point to an uptick of gun purchases among women in the United States. The National Shooting Sports Federation reports an annual increase of over 83 per cent in the number of women purchasing guns for what they cite as self-defence. The National Rifle Association (NRA), the controversial US gun lobby, has also seen an increase of up to 20 per cent in female attendance at shooting clinics. Al Jazeera's Cath Turner reports.

Hollande Sworn in as President of France
Francois Hollande pledges "new path" for Europe as he becomes country's first left-wing president in 17 years.

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Vom Regen durchnässt legt Hollande am Triumphbogen einen Kranz nieder (unkommentiert)

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Vereidigung von François Hollande (unkommentiert)

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Hollande Names Longtime Ally Ayrault as Prime Minister
FRANCE 24: Jean-Marc Ayrault, the leader of the Socialist Party in parliament, was named as France's new prime minister by François Hollande on Tuesday. Ayrault is a longtime ally of the new president and a known moderate.

France’s new president, François Hollande, appointed veteran lawmaker Jean-Marc Ayrault as his prime minister on Tuesday, hours after being sworn in to the country's top job.

Ayrault, 62, is the mayor of the northwest city of Nantes and a longtime leader of the Socialist Party in parliament.

A close ally of newly elected French President François Hollande for the past 15 years, he was seen as more moderate in his views than other candidates for the post, including Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry.

In the French executive branch, which does not include a vice president, the prime minister heads all other government ministries, oversees domestic affairs and is second only to the president in importance. (+ video) » | Ségolène ALLEMANDOU | mardi 15 mai 2012

Jean-Marc Ayrault, Premier ministre "normal" de François Hollande : À peine investi président de la République, François Hollande a dévoilé le nom de son Premier ministre. Il s’agit de Jean-Marc Ayrault, un parlementaire chevronné réputé pour son sens du consensus et sa proximité avec le nouveau chef de l’État. » | Par FRANCE 24 | mardi 15 mai 2012

Jean-Marc Ayrault, the fluent German speaker »

Verwandt »

Man Sets Himself On Fire Outside Anders Behring Breivik Trial

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A man has set himself on fire outside the courtroom where Norwegian extremist Anders Breivik is being tried on terror charges.

Norwegian newspaper VG [Verdens Gang] posted a video clip of the man who appeared to be Norwegian, shouting, “Shoot me! Shoot me!” when he reached the court security, before pouring an inflammable liquid over himself and setting himself alight.

"There were police officers on site and the fire was put out quickly," police operations leader Finn Belle said. "The man received burn injuries and was transported to Oslo University Hospital."

Despite damage to his stomach and chest, the man was conscious and groaning as he was taken away on a stretcher.

Belle said police had yet to determine if the self-immolation had anything to do with the trial. » | Richard Orange | Tuesday, May 15, 2012

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Conflict with Far-Right Party: Young German Muslims Defend Right to Protest

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A debate about violent Salafists has erupted in Germany after radical Muslims clashed with supporters of the anti-Islamic Pro NRW party during its recent election campaign. Three young Muslims who took part in a demonstration against the party in Cologne described their pious worldview to SPIEGEL.

After the water cannons have withdrawn and the Muhammad cartoons have been stowed away, three young men get into a car in front of Cologne's main train station. They are bearded and have the look of religious men. They seem somewhat dissatisfied.

Malik says: "It's sad and humiliating that so few people came."

Martin says: "Brother, it's Tuesday afternoon. Many of us work."

Koray shrugs his shoulders. He took the day off, he says, so why shouldn't other people do the same?

Furious and Speechless

Malik, Martin and Koray had left Hamburg in the morning to protest in Cologne against the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that members of the right-wing extremist party Pro NRW intended to display in front of a mosque. Against the will of the police, the Cologne Administrative Court had approved the display of the drawings made by the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. One of his drawings was among a series of cartoons published by Danish newspapers in 2005 that led to worldwide protests by Muslims, who were offended by the pictures. Many Muslims believe that visual depictions of Muhammad should be prohibited.

Malik, Martin and Koray were furious and speechless at the judges' decision. They went to Cologne fearing that there would be injuries again, as there had been in two other nearby cities, Solingen and Bonn, a few days earlier.

In those incidents, furious young men with beards and dressed in long robes, hoodies and camouflage jackets had assaulted members of Pro NRW and the police. In Bonn, they were armed with wooden slats and stones, and 29 officers were injured, including two who were hospitalized with severe stab wounds. Murat K., the suspected knife attacker, is now in custody. Police arrested a total of 109 protesters.

Germany is now embroiled in a debate over violent Muslims. Politicians and federal security officials see a new form of aggression taking shape, and some are asking themselves whether radical youth invoking Islam could instigate an uprising in Germany. » | Hubert Gude, Souad Mekhennet and Christoph Scheuermann | Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan | Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Verbunden »

Frankreichs Präsident will Wachstumspakt

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Obama setzt sich für gleichgeschlechtliche Ehen ein

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Griechenland soll den Euro behalten

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Murdoch Insider Rebekah Brooks Charged in Phone Hacking Investigation

Nicolas Sarkozy a quitté le palais de l'Elysée
FRANCE 24: AFP - Le président de la République sortant, Nicolas Sarkozy, a quitté mardi le palais de l'Elysée après avoir passé ses pouvoirs au socialiste François Hollande.

Après près de 35 minutes d'entretien en tête à tête, Nicolas Sarkozy, main dans la main avec son épouse Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a descendu le tapis rouge jusqu'à la voiture avec laquelle il a quitté la cour d'honneur du palais présidentiel. » | AFP | mardi 15 mai 2012

France's New First Lady Steps into the Spotlight

FRANCE 24: Valérie Trierweiler, the partner of France's newly-elected president François Hollande, has vowed to continue her career as a TV presenter and journalist. Meet the former storyteller who is about to step into the role of France's first lady.

Valérie Trierweiler may not be a former international supermodel, but she has recently generated as many headlines as the woman she is about to replace, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. The soon-to-be new first lady of France has come under the scrutiny of the international press for her unmarried status, marking the first time an incoming French presidential couple are not legally man and wife.

The 47-year-old Trierweiler has covered plenty of political campaigns as a journalist for the glossy weekly magazine Paris Match before becoming part of the story in 2005, when her friendship with François Hollande progressively “deepened”, as she put it in her own words. » | Mehdi Chebil | dimanche 13 mai 2012

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EN DIRECT- La passation de pouvoirs entre Hollande et Sarkozy
LE FIGARO: François Hollande succède aujourd'hui officiellement à Nicolas Sarkozy. De la cérémonie d’investiture à la nomination de son premier ministre et sa première rencontre ce soir avec la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel, le nouveau président de la République a une journée extrêmement chargée. Suivez la en direct avec la rédaction du figaro.fr » | mardi 15 mai 2012

English Language Al-Qaeda Training Manual Revealed
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: An English language guide for Westerners seeking to join al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been published, with recommendations on how to cope with the hardships and dangers of life as a jihadist.

The guide includes rules such as keeping clean, not using mobile phones and thinking of virgins in paradise when bomber-drones are overhead.

Described as a “must-read” source, it has emerged on the internet less shortly after it was leaked that AQAP had been penetrated by a British spy who managed to smuggle out the latest version of their “underpants bomb”.

The guide was written by Samir Khan, an American who served as the top propagandist for the Yemen-based branch of the terrorist movement, which is considered the most dangerous to the West. He was killed by a drone attack in September, alongside AQAP’s chief ideologue, Anwar al-Awlaki,

Khan writes that he had been under the impression that he would be fighting most of the time after joining. “The reality is not quite like that,” he said.

The first section is titled “cleanliness” and says: “In some cases, you will be staying with a few brothers in a tight room or house”. “In order to avoid unnecessary problems, encourage yourself and your brothers to clean the room(s) on a regular basis. As for yourself, a daily shower is ideal but not possible in many cases.” » | Duncan Gardham | Monday, May 14, 2012

Utoya Survivors Face Anders Behring Breivik

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Five young men and women wounded by Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik during his gun rampage last July gave gripping descriptions of their struggles to escape death.

One witness, Frida Holm Skoglund, 20, was so affected by her ordeal that she asked Breivik to leave the courtroom before she would speak. He viewed proceedings via a video link from an adjoining room.

Wearing a headband made of daisies, she described in a low voice how she had pulled a bullet from her wounded leg before leaping into the water to swim the exhausting 600 yards to the mainland.

“I touched my thigh and felt something sharp there,” she said. “I pulled it out and I saw, I felt the bullet. It was not until later that it hurt,” she said.

She had run to the southern tip of the island, leapt into the water and swum. When she turned around around, she saw that those who had hesitated had been shot dead.

The witness [sic] tatements are expected to take up much of the fourth week of Breivik’s trial for the brutal massacre of 77 people in Oslo, and the nearby island of Utoya, last July. Breivik pleads guilty to carrying out the killings, but claims they were “necessary” to alert Norway to the threat he believes is posed by Islamic immigration into the country.

At the end of today’s session the 33-year-old extremist complained to the judge that the psychiatrists who have assessed his sanity will have their statements broadcast on national television, while the testimony he read out on the first day of the trial was not.

“I find it completely unacceptable that my ideological explanation will not be broadcast, while the experts’ testimony allowed broadcast. This will be skewed and will made me look insane,” he said. » | Richard Orange | Malmö | Monday, May 14, 2012

Related »

Merkel Tells Greece to Back Cuts or Face Euro Exit

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Greece may be forced to leave the euro if the country refuses to implement spending cuts agreed with the European Union, Angela Merkel warned.

Raising the spectre of a Greek exit, the German chancellor said “solidarity for the euro” was threatened by the on[-]going political crisis in Athens.

Stock markets around the world fell sharply with fears mounting that a euro break-up could lead to renewed financial turmoil. The FTSE-100 index of Britain’s major companies fell by two per cent to 5465, with bank shares hit particularly hard.

The cost of Spanish government borrowing also hit a record high since the single currency was introduced because of concerns that the crisis will spread.

Today, François Hollande, the new French president, will be sworn in and, in an indication of the concern gripping Europe, will almost immediately travel to Berlin to hold talks with Mrs Merkel that will be dominated by Greece’s plight.

Attempts to form a new government in Athens have been thwarted for the past nine days, although the country’s president will meet all major parties this afternoon to discuss the forming of a “technocratic” administration rather than a coalition.

An out[-]going Greek minister warned that the country could descend into “civil war” amid the chaos of a euro exit. “If Greece cannot meet its obligations and serve its debt the pain will be great,” Michalis Chrysohoidis was quoted as telling a local radio station. “What will prevail are armed gangs with Kalashnikovs and which one has the greatest number of Kalashnikovs will count … we will end up in civil war.” » | Robert Winnett, David Blair and Bruno Waterfield | Monday, May 14, 2012

Related »

Newsweek Portrays Barack Obama with Rainbow Halo in Latest Cover
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Newsweek has depicted Barack Obama with a rainbow halo, labelling him America’s “first gay president”.

The accompanying article, written by openly-gay conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan, asserts that the US president’s choice to “come out” in favour of gay marriage was well calculated.

In a statement about his piece, Mr Sullivan argued that there are similarities between Mr Obama and the homosexual community.

“When you step back a little and assess the record of Obama on gay rights, you see, in fact, that this was not an aberration. It was an inevitable culmination of three years of work,” he wrote.

“He had to discover his black identity and then reconcile it with his white family, just as gays discover their homosexual identity and then have to reconcile it with their heterosexual family.” » | Amy Willis, Los Angeles | Monday, May 14, 2012


Andrew Sullivan’s article »

Related here and here

Gulf Considers Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Union
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Gulf leaders gathered in Riyadh on Monday to discuss developing their six-nation council into a union, a Saudi proposal likely to start with the kingdom and unrest-hit Bahrain.

But the proposed union between the regional kingpin Saudi Arabia and the fellow Sunni-ruled kingdom of Bahrain has been slammed by legislators in Shiite Iran.

The exact nature of this union, first floated by Saudi King Abdullah in December, remains unclear, but Bahraini State Minister for Information Samira Rajab said it could follow the "European Union model."

Pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat quoted a Gulf Cooperation Council official as saying that the summit might lead to a "declaration of intentions on a union between Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar" which Kuwait might join.

Remaining GCC members, the United Arab Emirates and Oman - whose respective leaders Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan and Sultan Qaboos are not attending the Riyadh talks - would later join the union, the daily added.

Bahrain Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman said on Sunday the "option of a (GCC) union has become urgent," adding that these nations must cooperate to ensure security in the region. » | Agencies | Monday, May 14, 2012

Anti-Putin Demonstrators March in Moscow
Prominent Russian writers have led a massive protest march through the streets of Moscow against a law banning their right to gather without permission. The demonstration, which had about 20,000 participants, was just one of several impromptu anti-government protests in the last week. Al Jazeera's Robin Forestier-Walker reports from Moscow.

Experts Warn of Jakarta's Earthquake Exposure

Seismologists in Jakarta have said the Indonesian capital is more vulnerable to a major earthquake's destruction than in the past due to a rapid increase of unsafe homes, shops and other fragile structures. Experts claim the city is dangerously unprepared for a potential disaster when compared to other similarly at-risk cities such as Tokyo or San Francisco. Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen reports from Jakarta.

Afghanistan: Girl Power
People & Power follows the young Afghan women taking the battle for gender equality onto the streets of Kabul.

Anti-bailout Bloc to Shun Greek Crisis Talks
Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras says he will not join Monday's last round of coalition talks convened by president.

Related »

Time to Admit Defeat: Greece Can No Longer Delay Euro Zone Exit

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: After Greek voters rejected austerity in last week's election, plunging the country into a political crisis, Europe has been searching for a Plan B for Greece. It's time to admit that the EU/IMF rescue plan has failed. Greece's best hopes now lie in a return to the drachma. By SPIEGEL Staff

There are many things Alexis Tsipras likes about Germany. The leader of Greece's Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) party drives his BMW motorcycle to work at the Greek parliament in the morning, Germany's über-leftist Oskar Lafontaine is one of his political allies, and when it comes to his daily work, his colleagues have noticed a certain tendency toward Prussian-style perfection.

Tsipras could easily count as a friend of the Germans, if it weren't for the German chancellor. Greek magazines have frequently caricatured Angela Merkel dressed in a Nazi uniform, because she imposes her fondness for balanced budgets and austerity on the rest of Europe. The Greeks, says Tsipras, want to "put an end" to the Germans' requirements and their "brutal austerity policy."

Tsipras is the new political star in Athens. While the country's washed-up mainstream parties struggled for days to form a new government, the clever young politician has been dominating the headlines with his coalition movement of Trotskyites, anarchists and leftist socialists.

In the recent elections, Tsipras' Syriza party advanced to become the second-largest political force in the country, and Tsipras is making sure his gray-faced opponents from the Greek political establishment know it. Surrounded by cameras and microphones, he stood in the Athens government district last Tuesday, put on his winner's smile and called upon the two traditional parties, the center-left Socialists (PASOK) and the conservative New Democracy, to send a letter "to the EU leadership" and cancel the bailout deal that Athens made with the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Tsipras knows what many Greeks are thinking. At the end of last week, his poll numbers rose to a new record level of almost 28 percent.

Turning Point

Two years after the government in Athens requested the first emergency loans in Brussels, the European debt crisis is reaching a turning point. Europe and the international community pumped about €240 billion ($312 billion) into the Balkan nation, government employees were let go, pensions were slashed and a series of restructuring programs were approved.

But even though the country is virtually being governed by the European Commission and the IMF, Greece's debts are higher than ever and the recession is worsening. As the political situation becomes increasingly chaotic, new elections seem all the more likely.

At the Chancellery in Berlin, the television images from Athens now remind Merkel's advisers of conditions in the ill-fated Weimar Republic of 1919-1933. Back then, the Germans perceived the Treaty of Versailles as a supposed "disgrace." Now, the Greeks feel the same way about the austerity measures imposed by Brussels. And, as in the 1920s in Germany, the situation in Greece today benefits fringe parties on both the left and the right. The country's political system is unraveling, and some advisers even fear that the tense situation could lead to a military coup.

Greece has been in intensive care for years, but the patient, instead of recovering, is just getting sicker and sicker. In a confidential report, which SPIEGEL has seen, experts from the IMF arrive at a devastating verdict. The country, they write, has only "a small industrial base" and is characterized by "structural incrustations" and an "excessively large role of the public sector." » | SPIEGEL Staff | Monday, May 14, 2012

Equalities Chief: 'Fatuous' to Deny Race Factors in Rochdale Case
BBC: Racial and cultural factors cannot be dismissed as playing a part in the Rochdale sex grooming case, the out-going head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has said.

Trevor Phillips told The Andrew Marr Show it is "fatuous" to deny racial and cultural factors. Nine men of Pakistani and Afghan origin were jailed for offences including rape last week.

Mr Philips also said he was worried that in a closed community people may have been afraid to speak out about what was happening. Watch BBC video » | Sunday, May 13, 2012

Related »

Rochdale Grooming Case: Trevor Phillips Insists Race Relevant
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Claims that ethnicity was not a factor in the Rochdale sexual grooming case are "fatuous", the head of the equalities watchdog said today.

Trevor Phillips, the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said the fact that the men convicted were Asian and their victims white could not be ignored.

He expressed concern that the men came from closed communities which may have turned a blind eye to what was happening - either out of fear or because the girls concerned were from a different community.

And he said it would be a national scandal if it turned out the authorities had failed to intervene to protect the children because of fears that it would lead to the "demonisation" of the Asian community.

A gang of nine Asian men was last week found guilty of plying girls as young as 13 with drink and drugs so they could "pass them around" and use them for sex.

Following the trial at Liverpool Crown Court, Greater Manchester Police sought to play down suggestions of any racial element to the case. » | Sunday, May 13, 2012

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Gaddafi Clung to a Fading Reality
As the uprising spread, the Libyan leader still banked on popular support, and wondered why his allies were defecting.

Decision Expected This Month: Pope Likely To Allow Breakaway SSPX to Rejoin Church

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Pope Benedict XVI is expected to allow the Society of St. Pius X, an ultraconservative, controversial splinter group, back into the Catholic Church in an agreement likely to be taken before the end of May, SPIEGEL has learned. But Holocaust denier Richard Williamson, an SSPX bishop, opposes an agreement.

Pope Benedict XVI may reach a decision by the end of May to allow the ultraconservative Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) to rejoin the Catholic church, SPIEGEL has learned.

At a meeting this coming Wednesday, the four cardinals of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees Catholic Church doctrine, plan to agree a proposal for reuniting the society with the Catholic Church, and will it submit it to the pope.

The Swiss-based SSPX, rejects some of the reforms made at the historic 1962 Second Vatican Council. It defied Rome in 1988 by illegally consecrating four bishops, which led to their excommunication by the late Pope John Paul. » | SPIEGEL | Sunday, May 13, 2012

Autriche: Commémoration dans un ancien camp nazi
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Environ 10'000 personnes se sont rassemblées dimanche pour commémorer le 67e anniversaire de la libération du camp de concentration nazi de Mauthausen.

Les manifestants, venus de plus de 50 pays ont rendu hommage aux dizaines de milliers de déportés victimes des crimes de la dictature nazie et ont témoigné de leur volonté de lutter «contre le fascisme, le racisme et toute forme de discrimination», a déclaré le président du Comité autrichien Mauthausen (MKÖ), l'Autrichien Willi Mernyi.

Même si le camp de concentration de Mauthausen n'a pas été un camp d'extermination, comme ceux d'Auschwitz, Maidanek, Sobibor, Treblinka, Chelmno ou Belzec, tous situés en Pologne, 15.000 juifs et des centaines de roms y ont trouvé la mort, sans compter les milliers de juifs hongrois décédés en 1945 durant «les marches de la mort» jusqu'à Mauthausen. » | afp/Newsnet | dimanche 13 mai 2012

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: "Der Islam stilisiert sich selbst zum Opfer"

WELT ONLINE: Gerade erhielt sie den Axel-Springer-Ehrenpreis für ihren Mut: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, bekennende Islamkritikerin und späte Mutter, nennt den Islam bigott gegen Frauen, Ungläubige, Homosexuelle.

Anfang Mai erhielt die Islamkritikerin und Publizistin Ayaan Hirsi Ali den Freiheitspreis des Verlags Axel Springer, den ihr Verlegerin Friede Springer in Berlin überreichte. Hirsi Ali, deren Familie sie genital verstümmeln ließ und zwangsverheiraten wollte, war einst aus Somalia geflohen und hatte in den Niederlanden nicht nur Asyl gefunden, sondern auch Heimat.

Als Parlamentsabgeordnete kritisierte sie den laschen Umgang der Politik mit integrationsunwilligen Muslimen und erhielt Morddrohungen. Die Stimmung drehte sich gegen sie, weil man ihr vorwarf, bei den eigenen Einwanderungsangaben geschummelt zu haben. 2006 ging sie nach Amerika ans konservative American Enterprise Institute. Die so fragile wie furchtlose Frau ist mit dem britischen Historiker Niall Ferguson verheiratet. Er brachte ihr kurz vor der Preisverleihung ihr kleines Schwarzes samt High Heels. Sie lachte und sagte: "Thank you, darling sweet." Man denkt an Leonhard Cohens "She called it love, I called it service". » | Von Andrea Seibel | Sonntag, 13. Mai 2012

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Other Voices – Islam and Muslims: Same-sex Marriages
LAS VEGAS SUN: Physical intimacy is not simply a biological action and reaction. It is bigger than that. It is more about the value system that one prefers and adopts because it affects not only the individual, family and the society but human civilizations and cultures as well as the rise and fall of nations.

On the one hand are Freudian followers who argue that civilization is a byproduct of repressed sexuality and on the other hand are those who in the words of J.D. Unwin believe that “in human records there is no instance of a society retaining its energy after a complete new generation has inherited a tradition which does not insist on pre-nuptial and post-nuptial continence.”

Unwin, a sociologist at Cambridge University, published “Sex and Culture” in 1934. He studied 86 societies and found no exceptions to the rule that the cultures flourished during eras that valued sexual fidelity and discipline. He demonstrated through empirical data that whenever sexual mores loosened, the societies declined, and whenever they followed rigid sexual discipline they rose again.

In our recent history, the fall of the Soviet society offers a recent example where Vladimir Lenin espoused a “glass of water” theory about sex, explaining that sexual desire is just like desire for food or water. The theory collapsed, and with it collapsed the Soviet society.

However, new interpretations are being offered to explain the Freudian ideas. Barbara Ehrenreich, a widely read and award-winning author of 21 books, wrote not very long ago that sex, preferably among affectionate and consenting adults, belongs squarely in the realm of play. This “de-moralization” of sex is promoting a new sexual ethics that legitimizes and justifies everything in the name of pleasure and freedom.

What was presented as his personal opinion by President Barack Obama about same-sex marriage is an effort to legitimize the de-moralization of sex to develop a new culture where every sexual activity is fine as long as individuals engaged in the act have their consent and pleasure. » | Dr. Aslam Abdullah | Sunday, May 13, 2012

Kansas Lawmakers Pass Effective Ban on Islamic Law
WSBT.COM: KANSAS CITY, Kansas (Reuters) - Kansas lawmakers have passed legislation intended to prevent the state courts or agencies from using Islamic or other non-U.S. laws in making decisions, a measure critics have blasted as an embarrassment to the state.

The legislation, which passed 33-3 in the state Senate on Friday and 120-0 previously in the House, is widely known in Kansas as the "Sharia bill," because the perceived goal of supporters is to keep Islamic code from being recognized in Kansas.

The bill was sent to Republican Governor Sam Brownback, who has not indicated whether he will sign it.

In interviews on Saturday, a supporter of the bill said it reassured foreigners in Kansas that state laws and the U.S. Constitution will protect them. But an opponent said the bill's real purpose is to hold Islam out for ridicule. » | Kevin Murphy | Reuters | Saturday, May 12, 2012

Merkel's Party Routed in Big German State

REUTERS.COM: Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives suffered a crushing defeat on Sunday in an election in Germany's most populous state, a result which could embolden the left opposition to step up its criticism of her European austerity policies.

The election in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), a western German state with a bigger population than the Netherlands and an economy the size of Turkey, was held 18 months before a national election in which Merkel is expected to fight for a third term.

She remains popular in Germany for her steady handling of the euro zone debt crisis, but the sheer scale of her party's defeat leaves her vulnerable at a time when a backlash against her insistence on fiscal discipline is building across Europe.

According to first projections, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) won 38.8 percent of the vote and will have enough to form a stable majority with the Greens, who scored 12.2 percent.

The two left-leaning parties had run a fragile minority government for the past two years under popular SPD leader Hannelore Kraft, whose decisive victory on Sunday could propel her to national prominence.

Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) saw their support plunge to just 25.8 percent, down from nearly 35 percent in 2010, and the worst result in the state since World War Two.

"This is not a good evening for Merkel," said Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University. » | Stephen Brown | Reuters | (Reporting by Stephen Brown and Tom Kaeckenhoff in Duesseldorf; Writing by Noah Barkin,Madeline Chambers, Sarah Marsh in Berlin) | Sunday, May 13, 2012

REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Rot-Grün gewinnt in NRW - Debakel für die CDU » | Sonntag, 13. Mai 2012

US Election 2012: Mitt Romney Rejects Gay Marriage Whilst Courting Evangelical Christians
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivers the commencement address to the graduating class of Liberty University, the world's largest Christian university, telling them that marriage is between "one man and one woman".

Read the article here | Contains video from Reuters | Sunday, May 13, 2012
Lien en relation avec cette vidéo »

US Resumes Weapons Sale to Bahrain
The US will resume selling weapons to Bahrain despite concerns over its treatment of protesters. The announcement followed a meeting between Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, and Bahrain's crown prince. Imran Khan reports.

Concerns Al-Qaeda May Be Behind Damascus Attacks
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government and the opposition have traded accusations over Thursday's attacks in Damascus.

Présidentielle américaine: Mitt Romney à l'épreuve des chrétiens évangéliques

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le candidat républicain à la présidentielle américaine de novembre a passé samedi un grand oral à la Liberty University, un bastion des chrétiens évangéliques qu'il courtise.

Mitt Romney, probable opposant de Barack Obama à la présidentielle américaine de novembre, a passé samedi un grand oral à la Liberty University, un bastion des chrétiens évangéliques qu'il courtise.

Son discours intervient trois jours après la prise de position du président en faveur du mariage gay.

Levée de fonds

Dans un stade plein à craquer, devant plus de 20'000 personnes et environ 6000 jeunes diplômés, l'ex-gouverneur du Massachusetts a suivi les traces d'autres candidats républicains, comme Ronald Reagan ou George Bush père. Eux aussi avaient pris la parole dans cette université de Virginie (est) fondée par le pasteur télévangéliste Jerry Falwell, mort en 2007.

Quelques heures après la partie de basket de Barack Obama avec George Clooney à Los Angeles après une réunion de levée de fonds et trois jours après ses déclarations en faveur du mariage homosexuel, le discours solennel de Mitt Romney dans la plus grande université chrétienne du pays semblait destiné à lui faire prendre le contre- pied du président. » | ats/Newsnet | samedi 12 mai 2012

Mothers Forced to Sell Their Children: Mail Reveals the Distressing Human Toll of Greece's Euro Meltdown
MAIL ONLINE: The economic crisis across Europe has perhaps been most keenly felt in Greece, where people have taken to the streets in violent and emotional protests against the austeri[t]y measures imposed on the nation. / In this heartbreaking dispatch from the streets of Athens, SUE REID finds mothers who have been forced to sell their own children in the battle for survival.

Once a month, usually on a Saturday, Kasiani Papadopoulou packs a bag with children’s presents and takes the bus from her one-bedroom flat in a dusty suburb of Athens up into the cool hills outside the Greek capital that overlook the sea.

The 20-mile journey is an emotional one for her, but she would not stop making it for anything in the world.

A young widow of 30, she travels to see her two daughters and son — aged 14, 13 and 12. Kasiani was forced to give them away a year ago when her money ran out and she was unable to pay for their food, her rent or send them to school with shoes or books.

At the charity home where the three are now cared for, the children excitedly shout ‘Mama’ as they run down the steps to greet her. Her eldest daughter, Ianthe, hugs her tightly and gives her a kiss.

When, a few hours later, it is time to say goodbye, Kasiani is always close to tears. The youngest, Melissa and Markos, cling to her before she leaves to go home alone.

‘It is not easy for a mother to leave her kids,’ she says to me, her voice cracking with emotion when I spoke to her this week in Athens.

‘At Christmas, at Easter, on their birthdays, I am always so sad because I do not see them. Some people judge me over what I’ve done — even my own family and neighbours — but they do not understand the truth. I’ve done what is best for my children.

‘I cannot count the number of doorbells I have rung of government departments, asking officials to help me and my family. They make promises but do nothing. They have no money either. Our country is in crisis.’

Kasiani’s children were born in a country which has been brought to its knees by crushing debt. This was built up by Greece’s huge profligacy after joining the European Union and then milking the system for everything it could get.

The public sector wage bill doubled in the past decade as perks and fiddles reminiscent of Britain in the union controlled 1970s flourished. Paying taxes became optional for the middle and upper classes and corruption was rife.

Until two years ago, the big fat Greek gravy train carried on racing towards the buffers. Even pastry chefs and hairdressers were listed among the 600 ‘professions’ allowed to retire at 50 (with a state pension of 95 per cent of their final year’s earnings) on account of the ‘arduous and perilous’ nature of their work.

Now drastic austerity measures imposed by Eurozone finance leaders mean that benefits, state pensions and pay rates have been pared to the bone as taxes are hiked heavenwards in a last ditch attempt to balance the books and stop the country going bankrupt. Read on and comment » | Sue Reid | Friday, May 11, 2012

Islamismus in Deutschland: Salafisten werben im Web um Konvertiten

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Die Salafisten in Deutschland verzeichnen wachsenden Zulauf, Sicherheitsbehörden sind alarmiert. Bei der Anhänger-Werbung setzen die Islamisten vor allem auf das Internet. Viele Videos wirken zwar unfreiwillig komisch - doch Experten warnen davor, die Gefahr zu unterschätzen.

Hans ist 80 Jahre alt, Rheinländer und seit April Muslim. Warum er zum Islam übergetreten ist? "Das hat sich so ergeben", sagt Hans lakonisch im Singsang-Dialekt seiner Heimat. Hans ist die Hauptfigur eines der unzähligen Videos, mit denen Salafisten im Internet für ihre Sache werben.

Pierre Vogel, einer der bekanntesten Anführer dieser fundamentalistischen Bewegung in Deutschland, hat das Video auf seine Webseite gestellt. 15 Minuten lang soll Hans im Interview mit einem Salafisten Auskunft über seinen Weg zum Islam geben. Konkret sieht das so aus, dass der Fragende Suggestivfrage an Suggestivfrage reiht, die Hans meist nur mit einem kurzen "Ja" beantwortet. Dazwischen spricht Hans das islamische Glaubensbekenntnis, das dem alten Mann nur zögerlich über die Lippen geht.

Quintessenz des Gesprächs: Bei Hans im Haus lebt seit mehreren Jahren eine muslimische Familie, deren Oberhaupt Timor ihn schließlich vom Übertritt überzeugt habe. "Das war eine Überraschung auf Gegenseitigkeit", erzählt Hans, "man hatte sich kennengelernt, und ich kann nur Positives über die Leute sagen." » | Von Christoph Sydow | Donnerstag, 10. Mai 2012

Why Obama's Support for Gay Marriage Is a Huge Political Gamble
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama's surprise announcement that he supports gay marriage resonated through the American political landscape last week, writes John Avlon. It was a profile in courage moment from the American president - but one loaded with political risk.


Consider the fact that just the previous day the citizens of North Carolina voted to ban gay marriage and all forms of civil unions by a 20-point margin, enshrining unequal treatment in their state constitution.

This is not an unusual result when gay marriage has gone to the voters in the past – more than 30 states have taken the same step, while in the half dozen states where marriage equality is legal it has been achieved via state legislatures or judicial decision.

In other words, gay marriage might be morally right, especially in the eyes of the progressive base, but it is a proven loser at the ballot box. And the Obama campaign has bet big on winning North Carolina in November, deciding to hold their Democratic convention there in August. Read on and comment » | American Way: John Avlon | Saturday, May 12, 2012

Henryk M. Broder im Dialog (2009)



WIKI: Henryk M. Broder »

WIKI: In English »

Arrests Made in Second Rochdale Sex Grooming Scandal

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A second sex grooming case has been uncovered by police who smashed the Rochdale child sex ring.

Several men have been arrested by Greater Manchester Police on suspicion of sexually abusing the same girl.

The alleged abuse is believed to have taken place over a six-year period when the girl was in her teens.

Sources who spoke to the Manchester Evening News described her as ‘extremely vulnerable’. Detectives have carried out video interviews with the girl, who told them she knew the men only by nicknames.

A string of suspects were tracked down by officers and a number of arrests have now been made.

The men are thought to be from Asian and Afro-Caribbean backgrounds.

It comes just days after nine Asian men from Rochdale and Oldham were jailed over the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 13-years-old. » | Julie Henry | Saturday, May 12, 2012