Sunday, November 15, 2015
Turkey: Lavrov Calls on World Leaders to Build Universal Anti-terrorist Front
Germany: After Paris, President Gauck Speaks of a "New Type of War"
Les Souverains choqués, attristés, révulsés
PARIS MATCH: Aux lendemains des attentats meurtriers de Paris, les souverains de l’Europe, mais aussi de Jordanie et du Maroc, ont fait savoir qu’ils avaient adressés leurs condoléances à François Hollande et qu’ils partageaient la douleur des Français.
Dans une dépêche officielle adressée au président de la République française François Hollande, le prince Albert II de Monaco a indiqué: «Les attaques qui viennent de frapper Paris au cœur nous révulsent. Mon pays partage le chagrin et l'effroi de la France amie, meurtrie par ces crimes terroristes». Après avoir fait part d’une «profonde émotion» et dit s’incliner «devant la mémoire des si nombreuses victimes et la douleur indicible de leurs familles», le souverain de la Principauté écrit: «En mon nom personnel, en celui de ma Famille et de la population de Monaco, je veux vous assurer de notre profonde et réelle solidarité, en union avec toutes les personnes qui se mobilisent contre le fléau terroriste. Aux côtés de la République française, nous savons qu'il ne l'emportera pas.» » | Dominique Bonnet | samedi 14 novembre 2015
Dans une dépêche officielle adressée au président de la République française François Hollande, le prince Albert II de Monaco a indiqué: «Les attaques qui viennent de frapper Paris au cœur nous révulsent. Mon pays partage le chagrin et l'effroi de la France amie, meurtrie par ces crimes terroristes». Après avoir fait part d’une «profonde émotion» et dit s’incliner «devant la mémoire des si nombreuses victimes et la douleur indicible de leurs familles», le souverain de la Principauté écrit: «En mon nom personnel, en celui de ma Famille et de la population de Monaco, je veux vous assurer de notre profonde et réelle solidarité, en union avec toutes les personnes qui se mobilisent contre le fléau terroriste. Aux côtés de la République française, nous savons qu'il ne l'emportera pas.» » | Dominique Bonnet | samedi 14 novembre 2015
Labels:
attentats à Paris,
France
UK: Victims of Paris Attacks Honoured at Trafalgar Square Vigil
Labels:
London,
Paris attacks,
Trafalgar Square,
UK
New Dark Age Alert! Germany: Neo-Nazi March Honours National Socialism in Wunsiedel
Labels:
Germany,
Neo-Nazism
Saturday, November 14, 2015
How Can Anyone Be Shocked?
One of the most surprising aspects of the terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday night is how "deeply shocked" members of the European political establishment appeared to be.
Angela Merkel, David Cameron and the Pope all expressed their condolences -- and "deep shock" -- at the well-coordinated, citywide terror attacks in six different places across Paris, which as of this writing have claimed at least 128 lives and more than 200 wounded. French President François Hollande confirmed that Islamic State terrorists perpetrated the attacks, carried out with suicide bombings, hand grenades and assault rifles. According to witnesses, terrorists were heard yelling, "Allahu Akbar" ['Allah is the Greatest"] and "this is for Syria" as they shot into the audience at the Bataclan Theater, where a rock concert was underway.
Although the writing has literally been on the wall in blood for the past decade and a half, the West, especially Europe, continues to be taken aback every time a new terror attack occurs, as if each one were the first. » | Judith Bergman | Saturday, November 14, 2015
Labels:
France,
Islamic terror,
Paris
Merkel zu den Anschlägen von Paris: "Wir weinen mit Ihnen"
Tensions in Germany Rise Amid Flood of Asylum-Seekers
ABC NEWS: As a local lawmaker in the east German city of Magdeburg who regularly speaks out against the far right, Soeren Herbst has endured years of animosity. But the sight that greeted him outside his home last week made the Green Party politician realize that the abuse had reached a new level.
Someone had sprayed a gallows on the front of his house, along with Herbst's name and the word "Volksverraeter" — traitor to the German people.
"Now we indeed have a new situation," Herbst said in a telephone interview the day after the incident. "You start worrying about your safety and that of your family."
The incident reflects a growing public tension in Germany. While it's the extremists on the far right who are grabbing most of the headlines, mainstream Germans are increasingly being drawn into inflammatory rhetoric — and at times anti-foreigner sentiment. The country's normally staid — some might say dull — political debates have in particular become inflamed with vitriol amid the influx of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in recent months.
Nazi comparisons, once considered beyond the pale of polite political discussion in a country still grappling with its genocidal past, have become a common slur. The co-founder of anti-Islam group PEGIDA, Lutz Bachmann, last week likened Germany's justice minister to Nazi demagogue Joseph Goebbels; in response, a senior official in Justice Minister Heiko Maas' party labeled Bachmann a "crazy fascist."
"The situation that we have at the moment is leading to a split in society where people are drifting apart," said Joachim Trebbe, a communications researcher at Berlin's Free University. » | Frank Jordans, Associated Press | Berlin | Saturday, November 14, 2015
Someone had sprayed a gallows on the front of his house, along with Herbst's name and the word "Volksverraeter" — traitor to the German people.
"Now we indeed have a new situation," Herbst said in a telephone interview the day after the incident. "You start worrying about your safety and that of your family."
The incident reflects a growing public tension in Germany. While it's the extremists on the far right who are grabbing most of the headlines, mainstream Germans are increasingly being drawn into inflammatory rhetoric — and at times anti-foreigner sentiment. The country's normally staid — some might say dull — political debates have in particular become inflamed with vitriol amid the influx of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in recent months.
Nazi comparisons, once considered beyond the pale of polite political discussion in a country still grappling with its genocidal past, have become a common slur. The co-founder of anti-Islam group PEGIDA, Lutz Bachmann, last week likened Germany's justice minister to Nazi demagogue Joseph Goebbels; in response, a senior official in Justice Minister Heiko Maas' party labeled Bachmann a "crazy fascist."
"The situation that we have at the moment is leading to a split in society where people are drifting apart," said Joachim Trebbe, a communications researcher at Berlin's Free University. » | Frank Jordans, Associated Press | Berlin | Saturday, November 14, 2015
Labels:
Germany,
migrant crisis
France: Hollande Blames ISIS for 'Act of War' against Paris
Le Président de la France : Déclaration à l'issue du Conseil de défense : Après les attaques à Paris, le président François Hollande s'est exprimé à l'issue du Conseil de défense ce matin »
France: 'We Are At War' - Sarkozy
Warning! Disturbing Images! Paris Attacks: People Clamber Out of Bataclan Concert Hall to Escape Gunfire
THE GUARDIAN: Paris attacks: Hollande holds Islamic State responsible for 'act of war' – live »
Labels:
France,
Islamic terror,
Paris
National Borders Must Be Closed across Europe to Halt an 'Islamic Invasion' Says Far-right Dutch Politician Geert Wilders
DAILY MAIL: 'We close our borders to migrants, not refugees,' Geert Wilders said / Polls showed his PVV would win 38 seats in the 150-seat Lower House / Holland is bracing to take in 60,000 asylum seekers by the end of the year
The best way to deal with Europe's growing refugee crisis is to close national borders to stop an 'Islamic invasion', Dutch anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders says.
As the popularity of his far-right Freedom Party (PVV) skyrockets amid Europe's largest movement of migrants since World War II, Wilders has his sights set on becoming the next prime minister of the Netherlands in elections due in 2017. 'The only way to deal with it (the refugee crisis) is to regain our national sovereignty and close our national borders,' Wilders said.
Talking to AFP, he continued: 'I'm not asking for anything strange, I am asking that our government close its doors as Hungary did ... that we close our borders to those we consider to be migrants, not refugees.'
Reviled and supported in equal measure, Wilders' fiery rhetoric is finding fertile ground among working and middle-class Dutch, who fear social upheaval as thousands of asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan and other conflict areas reach the Netherlands. Read on and comment » | Ted Thornhill for MailOnline and AFP | Friday, November 13, 2015
The best way to deal with Europe's growing refugee crisis is to close national borders to stop an 'Islamic invasion', Dutch anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders says.
As the popularity of his far-right Freedom Party (PVV) skyrockets amid Europe's largest movement of migrants since World War II, Wilders has his sights set on becoming the next prime minister of the Netherlands in elections due in 2017. 'The only way to deal with it (the refugee crisis) is to regain our national sovereignty and close our national borders,' Wilders said.
Talking to AFP, he continued: 'I'm not asking for anything strange, I am asking that our government close its doors as Hungary did ... that we close our borders to those we consider to be migrants, not refugees.'
Reviled and supported in equal measure, Wilders' fiery rhetoric is finding fertile ground among working and middle-class Dutch, who fear social upheaval as thousands of asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan and other conflict areas reach the Netherlands. Read on and comment » | Ted Thornhill for MailOnline and AFP | Friday, November 13, 2015
Friday, November 13, 2015
Multiple Attacks Roil Paris; President Hollande Is Evacuated From Stadium
The shooting broke out at a concert hall. Some reports said as many as 18 had been killed in the 10th and 11th Arrondissements of Paris. Others said hostages had been taken.
It was unclear whether there was a link in any of the violence to terrorism but French media reported that Kalashnikov rifles were involved in the shootings — a favored weapon of militants who have attacked targets in France — and that many rounds were fired.
The shootings occurred near the former headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, the satirical newspaper where shootings in January traumatized France.
Police sirens sounded throughout central Paris on Friday night. » | Adam Nossiter | Friday, November 13, 2015
Angela Merkel's Future Under Scrutiny for the First Time as German Asylum Process Criticised
THE TELEGRAPH: A popular talk show […] the possibility of a coup against the German chancellor after her own party made implicit criticisms of her policy
Angela Merkel’s political future is being questioned for the first time in Germany as divisions continue to grow in her government over her “open-door” refugee policy.
Guests on a popular television political talk show debated the possibility of a coup against the German chancellor from within her own party.
The discussion came as civil servants at the government refugee agency published warned identity checks for Syrian asylum-seekers were ineffective and open to abuse by economic migrants and terrorists.
Wolfgang Schäuble, the finance minister, warned that Germany was facing an “avalanche” of refugees set off by a “careless skier”.
And Thomas de Maiziere, the interior minister, twice acted unilaterally to introduce stricter controls on Syrian asylum-seekers without informing Mrs Merkel. » | Justin Huggler, Berlin | Friday, November 13, 2015
Angela Merkel’s political future is being questioned for the first time in Germany as divisions continue to grow in her government over her “open-door” refugee policy.
Guests on a popular television political talk show debated the possibility of a coup against the German chancellor from within her own party.
The discussion came as civil servants at the government refugee agency published warned identity checks for Syrian asylum-seekers were ineffective and open to abuse by economic migrants and terrorists.
Wolfgang Schäuble, the finance minister, warned that Germany was facing an “avalanche” of refugees set off by a “careless skier”.
And Thomas de Maiziere, the interior minister, twice acted unilaterally to introduce stricter controls on Syrian asylum-seekers without informing Mrs Merkel. » | Justin Huggler, Berlin | Friday, November 13, 2015
Labels:
Angela Merkel,
coup d'état,
Germany
Refugee Camps Multiply in France, as Calais Migrants Flee Fearing ISIS Moving In
Labels:
Calais,
France,
ISIS,
migrant crisis
Lebanon: Police Forensic Experts Inspect Double Bomb Site in Southern Beirut
Germany: Merkel Welcomes Australian PM Turnbull with Full Military Honours
Iran : la visite de Rohani, "une insulte aux juifs de France"
Le Crif a estimé jeudi que la visite de Hassan Rohani à partir de dimanche en France, une première pour un président iranien depuis dix ans, constituait "une insulte" pour la première communauté juive d'Europe. Dans un communiqué, le Conseil représentatif des institutions juives de France (Crif) "condamne avec fermeté les propos du président iranien Hassan Rohani qui a déclaré sur France 2 (mercredi soir) : Israël n'est pas un État légitime". » | Source AFP | jeudi 12 novembre 2015
Labels:
Crif,
France,
Hassan Rohani,
Iran,
les Juifs en France
A Brutal New Germany: What's Happening to My Country?
Recently, I just returned to Germany after spending a couple of years in the United States as a foreign correspondent. In that time that I've been back, I've become concerned, wrought with worry that my own country is losing its civility. » | A Commentary by Markus Feldenkirchen | Thursday, November 12, 2015
Labels:
Germany
David Cameron: Airstrike on Mohammed Emwazi 'Act of Self Defence'
UK: Anti-Modi Activists Picket Downing Street to Protest Indian PM's Visit
Der Anfang vom Ende
ZEIT ONLINE: Merkels "Wir schaffen das" ist abgeschafft. Sie selbst schweigt dazu. So endet der Mythos von der Krisenmanagerin, die nie verliert.
"Mama Merkel" ist nicht mehr da. Die Kanzlerin, die Anfang September ihre Arme für Syrer öffnete, sie unbürokratisch ins Land und sich dafür weltweit bewundern ließ, sie hat sich abgewandt von denen, die alle Hoffnungen auf sie richten. Nur sie spricht nicht darüber.
Seit dem Wochenende haben mehrere Ankündigungen Verunsicherung ausbrechen lassen unter den Flüchtlingen. Wird es für sie künftig noch möglich sein, die Familien nachzuholen? Werden sie ihren sicheren Schutzstatus verlieren, gar wieder zurückgeschickt in die für sie so ungastlichen Länder Ungarn oder Italien?
Die Koalition befindet sich zwar im Kommunikationschaos, aber das Signal ist bereits jetzt glasklar: Deutschland macht dicht. Wie die Kanzlerin dazu steht, das wissen wir nicht. Hat sie inzwischen auch die Sorge, dass die deutsche Hilfsbereitschaft und -fähigkeit an ihre Grenzen geraten ist? Allein im September ließen sich in der Bundesrepublik 85.000 Syrer, 18.000 Iraker und 19.000 Afghanen registrieren. Die Stimmung in den Erstaufnahmelagern und davor wird aggressiver. Tausende schlafen in Zelten, sie haben noch nicht mal einen Asylantrag gestellt. In der Union wächst die Sorge um die Mehrheit und vor der AfD. Und in der EU ist kaum jemand bereit, den Deutschen zu helfen. Weiter lesen und einen Beitrag abgeben » | Ein Kommentar von Lisa Caspari | Mittwoch, 11. November 2015
"Mama Merkel" ist nicht mehr da. Die Kanzlerin, die Anfang September ihre Arme für Syrer öffnete, sie unbürokratisch ins Land und sich dafür weltweit bewundern ließ, sie hat sich abgewandt von denen, die alle Hoffnungen auf sie richten. Nur sie spricht nicht darüber.
Seit dem Wochenende haben mehrere Ankündigungen Verunsicherung ausbrechen lassen unter den Flüchtlingen. Wird es für sie künftig noch möglich sein, die Familien nachzuholen? Werden sie ihren sicheren Schutzstatus verlieren, gar wieder zurückgeschickt in die für sie so ungastlichen Länder Ungarn oder Italien?
Die Koalition befindet sich zwar im Kommunikationschaos, aber das Signal ist bereits jetzt glasklar: Deutschland macht dicht. Wie die Kanzlerin dazu steht, das wissen wir nicht. Hat sie inzwischen auch die Sorge, dass die deutsche Hilfsbereitschaft und -fähigkeit an ihre Grenzen geraten ist? Allein im September ließen sich in der Bundesrepublik 85.000 Syrer, 18.000 Iraker und 19.000 Afghanen registrieren. Die Stimmung in den Erstaufnahmelagern und davor wird aggressiver. Tausende schlafen in Zelten, sie haben noch nicht mal einen Asylantrag gestellt. In der Union wächst die Sorge um die Mehrheit und vor der AfD. Und in der EU ist kaum jemand bereit, den Deutschen zu helfen. Weiter lesen und einen Beitrag abgeben » | Ein Kommentar von Lisa Caspari | Mittwoch, 11. November 2015
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Isis Releases New Video Threatening Attacks in Russia ‘Very Soon’
THE INDEPENDENT: The militant group reportedly suffered significant losses on the battlefield on Thursday
The Isis militant group has released a new video threatening to launch attacks in Russia “very soon”.
Issued by the group’s foreign language propaganda wing, the al-Hayat Media Centre, the video combined footage of the Charlie Hebdo shootings and graphic depictions of executions with a threat that “soon, very soon, the blood will spill like an ocean”.
It was issued on Thursday afternoon in an apparent bid to distract international attention from the significant losses it was suffering on the battlefield in Iraq.
Subtitles on the video described Russia as “dying”.
“The kafir throats will tremble from the knives. The Kremlin will be ours,” it said. Read on and comment » | Thursday, November 12, 2015
The Isis militant group has released a new video threatening to launch attacks in Russia “very soon”.
Issued by the group’s foreign language propaganda wing, the al-Hayat Media Centre, the video combined footage of the Charlie Hebdo shootings and graphic depictions of executions with a threat that “soon, very soon, the blood will spill like an ocean”.
It was issued on Thursday afternoon in an apparent bid to distract international attention from the significant losses it was suffering on the battlefield in Iraq.
Subtitles on the video described Russia as “dying”.
“The kafir throats will tremble from the knives. The Kremlin will be ours,” it said. Read on and comment » | Thursday, November 12, 2015
India PM to Visit UK amid Demands to Return British Crown Jewel to India
WIKIPEDIA: Koh-i-Noor »
Greece: Athens Burns amid General Strike against Austerity
Labels:
austerity,
general strike,
Greece,
Syriza
EU Flag Burned as Tens of Thousands Join Warsaw Nationalist Demo
THE TELEGRAPH: Organisers said that up to 50,000 were on the march which marked the anniversary of Poland's independence after the First World War
Tens of thousands of protesters poured into Warsaw's streets on Wednesday for a demonstration organised by the far right, marching under the slogan "Poland for the Polish" and burning an EU flag.
Police said 25,000 people joined the march, which marked the anniversary of Poland's return to independence after the First World War, while organisers put the numbers at 50,000.
"God, honour, homeland," chanted the protesters as they marched under a sea of red-and-white Polish flags.
Demonstrators trampled and burned a European Union flag at one point, while a banner added to the anti-EU theme with the slogan "EU macht frei" ("Work [?] makes you free" in German), a reference to the slogan over the gates at Auschwitz.
"Yesterday it was Moscow, today it's Brussels which takes away our freedom," chanted one group of protesters. Other banners read "Great Catholic Poland" and "Stop Islamisation". » | AFP | Thursday, November 12, 2015
Tens of thousands of protesters poured into Warsaw's streets on Wednesday for a demonstration organised by the far right, marching under the slogan "Poland for the Polish" and burning an EU flag.
Police said 25,000 people joined the march, which marked the anniversary of Poland's return to independence after the First World War, while organisers put the numbers at 50,000.
"God, honour, homeland," chanted the protesters as they marched under a sea of red-and-white Polish flags.
Demonstrators trampled and burned a European Union flag at one point, while a banner added to the anti-EU theme with the slogan "EU macht frei" ("Work [?] makes you free" in German), a reference to the slogan over the gates at Auschwitz.
"Yesterday it was Moscow, today it's Brussels which takes away our freedom," chanted one group of protesters. Other banners read "Great Catholic Poland" and "Stop Islamisation". » | AFP | Thursday, November 12, 2015
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Portugal Government Falls Amid Austerity Backlash
Germany: Hamburg Pays Tribute to Deceased Ex-Chancellor of West Germany Helmut Schmidt
Labels:
Germany,
Hamburg,
Helmut Schmidt
Norway: Huge Blaze Engulfs Refugee Accommodation Centre in Hemsedal
Worlds Apart: David Rothkopf, Editor of Foreign Policy Magazine
Theresa May's Proposed Spying Law Is 'Worse Than Scary' United Nations Says
THE INDEPENDENT: The draft Investigatory Powers Bill would give the Government sweeping new spying powers
Theresa May’s proposed surveillance and spying laws are “worse than scary”, the United Nations’ privacy chief has said.
Joseph Cannataci, the UN's special rapporteur on privacy, said the draft Investigatory Powers Bill heralded a “golden age of surveillance” unlike any that had come before.
The draft law, published by the Home Secretary earlier this month, would require internet companies to hand over any and all of their users’ communications as required by authorities.
Other provisions in the bill require the visited websites of all users to be stored on record for a year.
Technical experts have said that the proposed rules on intercepting communications could lead to some services like WhatsApp and iMessage to be de-facto banned because their secure encryption makes it impossible for their host companies to read users’ messages. Read on and comment » | Jon Stone | Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Theresa May’s proposed surveillance and spying laws are “worse than scary”, the United Nations’ privacy chief has said.
Joseph Cannataci, the UN's special rapporteur on privacy, said the draft Investigatory Powers Bill heralded a “golden age of surveillance” unlike any that had come before.
The draft law, published by the Home Secretary earlier this month, would require internet companies to hand over any and all of their users’ communications as required by authorities.
Other provisions in the bill require the visited websites of all users to be stored on record for a year.
Technical experts have said that the proposed rules on intercepting communications could lead to some services like WhatsApp and iMessage to be de-facto banned because their secure encryption makes it impossible for their host companies to read users’ messages. Read on and comment » | Jon Stone | Wednesday, November 11, 2015
ISIS Beheadings of Shiite Hazaras Spark Biggest Protest in Afghanistan in Years
WIKI: Hazaras »
Germany: Former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Commemorated by German Leaders
Labels:
Germany,
Helmut Schmidt
Fourth Republican Debate Highlights: 'Ask Israel' and Fight Isis 'Losers'
Labels:
Republican debate,
USA
Armistice Day: Nation Remembers War Dead
BBC: A two-minute silence has been observed across the UK to remember the nation's war dead on Armistice Day.
The silence began at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month - the time in 1918 when the guns fell silent along the Western Front in Europe.
War memorials, offices, schools, town halls, and churches all hosted events.
The Princess Royal was at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, while veterans and serving personnel laid wreaths at the Cenotaph in London.
Armistice Day follows similar ceremonies on Remembrance Sunday to pay tribute to all those who died in World Wars One and Two and in every conflict since. (+ BBC video) » | Wednesday, November 11, 2015
The silence began at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month - the time in 1918 when the guns fell silent along the Western Front in Europe.
War memorials, offices, schools, town halls, and churches all hosted events.
The Princess Royal was at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, while veterans and serving personnel laid wreaths at the Cenotaph in London.
Armistice Day follows similar ceremonies on Remembrance Sunday to pay tribute to all those who died in World Wars One and Two and in every conflict since. (+ BBC video) » | Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Labels:
Armistice Day
Germany: Merkel Pays Tribute to Dead Former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Survivors Remember Kristallnacht: Susan (Strauss) Taube
To learn more about Kristallnacht, visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum here
Labels:
Germany,
Kristallnacht
Survivors Remember Kristallnacht: Johanna (Gerechter) Neumann
Labels:
Germany,
Kristallnacht
Belgium: EU Slams Turkey’s Human Rights Record in Accession Report
Cameron: Brexit Could Pose National Security Risks
Robert De Niro: We All Need to Get Past the 'Bullsh*t & Nonsense' in US-Russia Relations
Jihadists Shell Latakia University, Bus Stop, Killing and Wounding Dozens of Civilians
François Hollande-Hassan Rouhani Elysée Lunch Binned Over 'Wine Row'
THE TELEGRAPH: Official lunch between the presidents during the Iranian president's historic trip to Paris next week scrapped after French decline request to serve halal meal and no wine
Wine is considered a key ingredient of France's global prestige and the French president perhaps its ultimate ambassador.
So when Iran's president asked for bottles of Bordeaux and Burgundy to be removed from the table at the Elysée Palace during his historic trip next week, the answer was a polite "non".
Hassan Rouhani is visiting Paris as part of a four-day tour of Italy and France beginning November 14, making him the first Iranian president to travel to Europe in a decade.
He had been due to join François Hollande for a formal lunch at the presidential palace on November 17, but the meal was scrapped after the Elysée reportedly rejected Iran's request to serve a halal meal with no wine. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Tuesday, November 10, 2015
LE MONDE : Hassan Rohani refuse de participer à un repas à l’Elysée où sera servi du vin » | Par Yves-Michel Riols | mardi 10 novembre 2015
Wine is considered a key ingredient of France's global prestige and the French president perhaps its ultimate ambassador.
So when Iran's president asked for bottles of Bordeaux and Burgundy to be removed from the table at the Elysée Palace during his historic trip next week, the answer was a polite "non".
Hassan Rouhani is visiting Paris as part of a four-day tour of Italy and France beginning November 14, making him the first Iranian president to travel to Europe in a decade.
He had been due to join François Hollande for a formal lunch at the presidential palace on November 17, but the meal was scrapped after the Elysée reportedly rejected Iran's request to serve a halal meal with no wine. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Tuesday, November 10, 2015
LE MONDE : Hassan Rohani refuse de participer à un repas à l’Elysée où sera servi du vin » | Par Yves-Michel Riols | mardi 10 novembre 2015
Labels:
France,
François Hollande,
halal meat,
Hassan Rouhani,
Iran,
wine
Mort d'Helmut Schmidt : François Hollande salue un grand Européen
Helmut Schmidt, Former West German Chancellor, Dies Aged 96
THE GUARDIAN: Docker’s grandson led West Germany from 1974 to 1982 as it rose to become a global economic powerhouse
Helmut Schmidt, an elder statesman of German politics who led West Germany as it rose to become a global economic powerhouse, has died aged 96.
Schmidt’s doctor, Heiner Greten, told the German news agency dpa he died on Tuesday afternoon in Hamburg. He had been receiving treatment at home after his health deteriorated earlier this week.
The grandson of a docker became chancellor of West Germany in 1974 after the resignation of fellow Social Democrat Willy Brandt, triggered when a top aide to Brandt was unmasked as an East German agent. Schmidt served until 1982, when he lost power to conservative Helmut Kohl.
A centrist, Schmidt steered the country through a wave of homegrown terrorism, preached free-market economics to his party and embodied pragmatic politics in a Europe divided by the iron curtain. » | Staff and agencies in Berlin | Tuesday, November 10, 2015
THE GUARDIAN: Helmut Schmidt: 'Britain's empire has gone, though you think it still exists': Germany's former chancellor believes a lack of leadership has added to the crisis at the European institutions he helped forge » | Larry Elliott, Economics editor | Sunday, December 22, 2013
Helmut Schmidt, an elder statesman of German politics who led West Germany as it rose to become a global economic powerhouse, has died aged 96.
Schmidt’s doctor, Heiner Greten, told the German news agency dpa he died on Tuesday afternoon in Hamburg. He had been receiving treatment at home after his health deteriorated earlier this week.
The grandson of a docker became chancellor of West Germany in 1974 after the resignation of fellow Social Democrat Willy Brandt, triggered when a top aide to Brandt was unmasked as an East German agent. Schmidt served until 1982, when he lost power to conservative Helmut Kohl.
A centrist, Schmidt steered the country through a wave of homegrown terrorism, preached free-market economics to his party and embodied pragmatic politics in a Europe divided by the iron curtain. » | Staff and agencies in Berlin | Tuesday, November 10, 2015
THE GUARDIAN: Helmut Schmidt: 'Britain's empire has gone, though you think it still exists': Germany's former chancellor believes a lack of leadership has added to the crisis at the European institutions he helped forge » | Larry Elliott, Economics editor | Sunday, December 22, 2013
Labels:
Germany,
Helmut Schmidt
Anne Will - "Merkels Flüchtlingspolitik - Große Geste, kleiner Plan?"
'Sick of Islam,' Muslims Turn to Christ
According to The Gospel Herald, a ministry leader in Iraq said his organization can not keep up with the demands for Bibles by Muslim refugees Bible since ISIS invaded their homeland.
"They're just sick of Islam," he said. "People are very hungry to know about Christ, especially when they hear about miracles, healing, mercy and love. As terrifying and horrifying as ISIS is, they did us a great favor because they came and have shown them all the killing, saying that it's all in the Quran verses. So now we don't have to say much -- we just say the truth." » | Joseph DeCaro | Monday, November 9, 2015
Spain: Catalan Independence Vote Divides Barcelona
Refugee Crisis Could Lead to EU Collapse, Luxembourg FM Warns
This viewpoint is shared by a number of other EU politicians - but they have different reasons for believing a break-up is possible.
Labels:
European Union
Monday, November 09, 2015
Angela Merkel Has Set Europe on a Path to Implosion
Labels:
Angela Merkel,
Europe,
Germany
Russia's Syrian Intervention Has 'Given Hope' - Patriarch of Syriac Orthodox Church
UK Volunteer Who Fought ISIS in Syria Barred from Speaking at London University
Labels:
ISIS,
London University,
Syria
Andrew Marr Presents the 1939 Register on Findmypast: Eve of War
Labels:
Andrew Marr,
World War II
Islam Is a Religion of Violence
In the past few weeks, both Russia and the United States have escalated their military campaigns against the Islamic State. As the brutal jihadist group continues to wreak havoc in Syria and Iraq, Foreign Policy asked Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now, and United States Institute of Peace acting Vice President Manal Omar, one of the foremost voices on peace and Islam, to debate what is behind this newest breed of extremism, and how can it be defeated. In the age of al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and Boko Haram, is there a link between the violence these groups perpetrate and the faith they profess?
In the 14 years since the attacks of 9/11 brought Islamic terrorism to the forefront of American and Western awareness and then-President George W. Bush launched the “Global War on Terror,” the violent strain of Islam appears to have metastasized. With tracts of Syria and Iraq in the hands of the self-styled Islamic State, Libya and Somalia engulfed in anarchy, Yemen being torn apart by civil war, the Taliban resurging in Afghanistan, and Boko Haram terrorizing Nigeria, policymakers are farther away from eliminating the threat of violent Islamism than they were when they began the effort. In fact, Western countries are increasingly witnessing domestic attacks such as the murder of British military drummer Lee Rigby and the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, the shootings at Parliament Hill in Canada in 2014, the attacks at satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and at a Jewish supermarket in Paris this past January, and most recently the terrorist attack in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on a military recruiting center and Naval compound.
But does this violent extremism stem from Islam’s sacred texts? Or is it the product of circumstance, which has twisted and contorted Islam’s foundations? » | Ayaan Hirsi Ali | Monday, November 9, 2015
German Teachers Union Warns Girls to Stay Away from Refugee Men
"An immigrant invasion is spilling over in Germany," said an article in a recent teachers union magazine, which went on to recommend girls stay away from "often attractive Muslim men."
The statement from the "Journal of the Philologists' Association of Saxony-Anhalt" that young women should be dissuaded from relationships with Muslims drew ire from state politicians on Saturday.
According to a report by German daily "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung," the original article by the teachers group, signed by leaders Jürgen Mannke and Iris Seltmann-Kuke, told instructors to warn their students of the risk of being molested by refugees and to resist the temptation to engage in "a superficial sexual adventure with the often attractive Muslim men."
The newspaper also reported that the article alleges that these "young, strong, mostly Muslim … often uneducated men" are entering the country "under dubious pretenses." Mannke and Seltmann-Kuke then go on to describe how innocent conversations in public transportation and in supermarkets can lead to sexual assault. » | Elizabeth Schumacher | Saturday, November 7, 2015
Labels:
Germany,
refugee crisis
Germany: PEGIDA Make Human-wall to 'Stop Migrants' at Czech Border
Labels:
PEGIDA
Europe Must Push Families to Have Children and Not Take Migrants, Says Hungarian PM
Viktor Orban waded into the crisis as he spoke of the dangers Europe could face if it tries to solve its demographic and economic problems by taking in large swathes of refugees.
Addressing crowds at a conference in Budapest this week, the outspoken leader said the continent must instead push families to have more children because "the survival of our civilisation and our culture is at stake". » | Levi Winchester | Friday, November 6, 2015
Sunday, November 08, 2015
The Most Important US Election in a Generation – and for Britain Too
Exactly a year from today – how could we forget? – the United States of America will elect its 45th President. Sometimes it is hard to believe the 44th, Barack Obama, is still extant. He does a better impersonation of a nonentity that any president in living memory, quite an accomplishment when one recalls Jimmy Carter.
I covered Obama’s 2008 campaign and watched with dismay as America, wounded and humiliated by the pratfalls and absurdities of the George W Bush years, fell for the smooth, stage-managed articulacy of the vacuum that Obama, even then, was. His record of unachievement should have come as no surprise.
Our Prime Minister says our future lies in Europe, so we may think it of little consequence that Mr Obama has detached America so much from the rest of the world, and that the so-called special relationship between Britain and the United States is, for now, little more than a figment of the imagination. If you seek a monument to US foreign policy look no further than the intervention of Russia in the mess in Syria and Iraq; a mess Mr Obama may not have caused, but which he has contrived to do absolutely nothing to resolve.
Given the unintended consequences of American foreign policy under George W Bush it is tempting to rejoice that America is so disengaged from international relations. But there is such a thing as a world balance of power, and America, by its inertia and (whether it admits it or not) perceived isolationism has altered it. Vladimir Putin now prevails, which, given the true state of Russian power, is preposterous and shameful: and the most pre-medieval variant of Islam imaginable stalks what we once thought of as Western civilisation. » | Simon Heffer | Saturday, November 7, 2015
Labels:
Simon Heffer,
US election
Kaiser Franz Josef und der Erste Weltkrieg 1914 - 1916
Der Krieg könnte zum Sargnagel für die Monarchie werden" meinte der österreichische Generalstabchef Conrad von Hötzendorf im Herbst 1914 im Gespräch mit Kaiser Franz Joseph. Wenn die Monarchie schon zu Grunde geht, dann soll sie wenigstens anständig zu Grunde gehen." antwortete Kaiser Franz Joseph in einer Mischung aus Resignation und Fatalismus. Anständig zu Grunde gehen bedeutet im kaiserlichen Weltbild „am Feld der Ehre".
Am 28. Juli 1914 unterzeichnet Franz Joseph die Kriegserklärung an Serbien. Am Anfang steht eine Mischung aus Kriegslust, politischem Leichtsinn, fatalen Fehleinschätzungen und konstruierten Fakten. Die gewünschte Begrenzung auf einen lokalen Konflikt erfüllt sich ebenso wenig wie der erwartete rasche Sieg im Blitzkrieg. Während das mit Österreich-Ungarn verbündete deutsche Heer gegen Frankreich vorrückt, kämpfen die kuk.-Truppen nicht nur erfolglos gegen die kleine serbische Armee, sondern verlieren auch die ersten Schlachten gegen die Zarenarmee im Osten. Ohne militärische Unterstützung deutscher Truppen wäre die Niederlage Österreich-Ungarns bereits Ende 1914 besiegelt gewesen.
In den tschechischen, ungarischen und kroatischen Heeresverbänden sollten schon bald nationalistische Strömungen die Kampfmoral unterminieren „Für Kaiser, Gott und Vaterland", dieser alten Doppeladler-Devise setzten Frankreich, England und Russland eine gezielt in die Kaiserarmee hineingetragene Freiheits- und Nationalstaatenpropaganda entgegen.
Die Schlachtfelder des Ersten Weltkrieges wurden erstmals zu Schauplätzen breiter optischer Dokumentation durch Film und Photographie. Nicht nur in Österreich wurde die Bedeutung dieser beiden Medien als Propaganda-instrumente erkannt und genutzt. Film und Photographie verdeutlichten auch die völlig neue und schreckliche Form des Krieges: den ersten technisierten und industrialisierten Krieg der Menschheits-geschichte. Die Zeiten auf wenige Tage begrenzter Infanterie und Kavallerieschlachten waren vorbei.
Nun traten, von moderner Kriegstechnik unterstützte Millionenheere zum Massenschlachten gegeneinander an. Fronten die sich früher auf Waldstücke, Dörfer oder einzelne Städte reduzierten, waren nun auf mehrere hundert Kilometer erweitert. Franz Joseph hatte über den Einsatz mörderischer Kampfmittel wie Giftgas zu entscheiden, über Kriegstechnik die seinen im 19.Jahrhundert geprägten militärischen Ehrenkodex zum tragischen Anachronismus machten.
Steigende Engpässe bei der Nahrungsmittel und Rohstoff-versorgung reduzieren spätestens ab 1916 die Kriegsbereitschaft an der „Heimatfront" dramatisch.
Als Franz Joseph am 21.November 1916 stirbt wird das folgende Staatsbegräbnis zum symbolischen Vorboten des Unterganges der Donaumonarchie.
Italy: Clashes Break Out between Leftists & Police during Anti-Lega Nord Demo
Un homosexuel change de religion pour pouvoir devenir prêtre
LE JOURNAL DE MONTRÉAL: Après avoir été rejeté par l’Église catholique en raison de son homosexualité, un homme s’est converti et est devenu prêtre chez les anglicans.
Yves Samson a toujours su qu’il était gai et qu’il souhaitait devenir prêtre.
Alors qu’il était au début de la vingtaine, il a fait des démarches pour devenir prêtre au sein de l’Église catholique romaine. L’ancien évêque de Nicolet, Jean-Marie Fortier l’a alors questionné sur son homosexualité.
Yves Samson, qui était alors célibataire, avait admis son homosexualité. «À cause de la réponse honnête à cette question, tout s’est arrêté là», relate-t-il. Il ne comprenait pas puisque, comme prêtre, il n’aurait pas pu avoir de conjoint ni se marier de toute façon. » | Par Caroline LePage | samedi 7 novembre 2015
Yves Samson a toujours su qu’il était gai et qu’il souhaitait devenir prêtre.
Alors qu’il était au début de la vingtaine, il a fait des démarches pour devenir prêtre au sein de l’Église catholique romaine. L’ancien évêque de Nicolet, Jean-Marie Fortier l’a alors questionné sur son homosexualité.
Yves Samson, qui était alors célibataire, avait admis son homosexualité. «À cause de la réponse honnête à cette question, tout s’est arrêté là», relate-t-il. Il ne comprenait pas puisque, comme prêtre, il n’aurait pas pu avoir de conjoint ni se marier de toute façon. » | Par Caroline LePage | samedi 7 novembre 2015
Berufsverbot vom "Islamischen Staat": Waschen, schneiden, flüchten
Catholic Schools to Ban Islam from Religious GCSE Studies: Senior Muslim Readers Brand Decision 'Very Disappointing' after Church Intervention
Former secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain Sir Iqbal Sacranie said the decision to ban Islam from religious studies undermined greater tolerance between the faiths |
The Roman Catholic Church is at the centre of a row after ordering its schools to teach Judaism alongside Christianity in GCSE religious studies – ruling out Islam or other faiths.
The edict was described as ‘very disappointing’ by senior Muslim leaders. Sir Iqbal Sacranie, former secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the decision undermined Pope Francis’s message of greater tolerance between the faiths, and urged Catholic leader Cardinal Vincent Nichols to think again.
The Church’s move follows last year’s reforms to the GCSE exam. Under the new rules, schools are required to teach two religions rather than one.
The change was designed to drive extremism out of the classroom following the ‘Trojan Horse’ plot, in which individuals were found to have been introducing fundamentalist Islamic teaching into Muslim schools in Birmingham. Read on and comment » | Jonathan Petre for ‘Mail On Sunday’ | Saturday, November 7, 2015
Saturday, November 07, 2015
Panorama - The Battle for British Islam
UAE: Ferraris Fill Dubai as Enthusiasts Show Off Their Supercars
Germany: Riot Police Battle with Counter-demo Trying to Confront AfD Supporters
Niall Ferguson: The Rise (and Fall?) of the West
Labels:
Niall Ferguson,
the West
Was WWI the Error of Modern History? | Interview with Niall Ferguson
Labels:
Niall Ferguson,
WWI
"Chaos angerichtet": Flüchtlingspolitik: FDP- Chef geht auf Merkel los
"Frau Merkel hat das unhaltbare Versprechen gegeben, dass jeder, der ein neues Leben sucht, es in Deutschland finden kann. Sie hat den Eindruck erweckt, die Grenzen unserer Aufnahmefähigkeit seien unendlich", erklärt der FDP- Chef gegenüber der "Welt". Mit ihrer Politik habe sie nicht nur in Deutschland, sondern vielmehr in ganz Europa Chaos angerichtet, lautet der schwere Vorwurf des Oppositionspolitikers. » | red | Samstag, 7. November 2015
WIKI: Freie Demokratische Partei (FDP) » E
Inside the Private Diaries of George Herbert Walker Bush
Ben Carson Opens Up about His Faith, Career and Policy Views
Labels:
Ben Carson
When Will Obama Defend Christians and Defeat Radical Islam?
FOX NEWS: Radical ISIS snakes sliver outside Damascus, just miles from where God revealed himself to the Apostle Paul. The dead bodies of decapitated ISIS victims are rotting in Palmyra, the ancient city that Chronicles tells us was built by King Solomon. ISIS black flags now wave on the same streets where the Lord commanded Jonah to witness to the people of Nineveh. In the ancient Christian village of Sadad, an armed Christian militia will soon clash with ISIS jihadists that have overrun a neighboring city. Sadad is home to many Christian churches and its people even speak Christ’s native tongue: Aramaic.
While President Obama sits silently, the same soil that sustained our Biblical forefathers is now stained with blood. Anyone who who defies these evil Islamic radicals risks death. The White House abandons Christians and denies, disguises and hides the existence of Radical Islam, but I will not!
You don’t negotiate with sin and evil, you destroy it. You don't contemplate what to do with cancer, you kill it before it kills you! » | Mike Huckabee | Friday, November 6, 2015
Patriarch of Antioch: Muslims Want to Conquer Europe with ‘Faith and the Birthrate’
BREITBART.COM: In a stunning interview, the Maronite patriarch of Antioch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, has contended that Islam has a clear, two-pronged strategy to take over Europe: religion and procreation.
The cardinal said that Muslims look on Christians as weak and believe that since they have no children and barely practice their faith, Islam will easily conquer them. Sadly, he said, Muslims take their faith more seriously than most Christians, and they are gaining ground because of it.
“I have often heard from Muslims that their goal is to conquer Europe with two weapons: their faith and their birthrate,” al-Rahi said in a recent interview with Famiglia Cristiana, an Italian Catholic weekly magazine.
For the Muslims, the Cardinal said, “the practice of the faith is essential and fundamental. In Saudi Arabia they go to Friday prayers even if they need a walking stick. They know the Koran by heart, and when they talk they often cite it. The same is not true for Christians who do not refer either to the Bible or the teachings of the Church.”
The Muslims “believe that God’s will is to procreate and that marriage is aimed at this,” he said. “They think that numbers will give them the upper hand.”
Christians, however, “hardly get married anymore, and have few children,” he said. » | Thomas D. Williams, PH.D | Friday, November 6, 2015
FAMIGLIA CHRISTIANA: «VOLETE SALVARE I CRISTIANI? FERMATE LA GUERRA» » | Antonio Sanfrancesco | giovedi 5 novembre 2015
The cardinal said that Muslims look on Christians as weak and believe that since they have no children and barely practice their faith, Islam will easily conquer them. Sadly, he said, Muslims take their faith more seriously than most Christians, and they are gaining ground because of it.
“I have often heard from Muslims that their goal is to conquer Europe with two weapons: their faith and their birthrate,” al-Rahi said in a recent interview with Famiglia Cristiana, an Italian Catholic weekly magazine.
For the Muslims, the Cardinal said, “the practice of the faith is essential and fundamental. In Saudi Arabia they go to Friday prayers even if they need a walking stick. They know the Koran by heart, and when they talk they often cite it. The same is not true for Christians who do not refer either to the Bible or the teachings of the Church.”
The Muslims “believe that God’s will is to procreate and that marriage is aimed at this,” he said. “They think that numbers will give them the upper hand.”
Christians, however, “hardly get married anymore, and have few children,” he said. » | Thomas D. Williams, PH.D | Friday, November 6, 2015
FAMIGLIA CHRISTIANA: «VOLETE SALVARE I CRISTIANI? FERMATE LA GUERRA» » | Antonio Sanfrancesco | giovedi 5 novembre 2015
'Too Many White Christian Faces in Britain' Says David Cameron
Friday, November 06, 2015
Germany Imposes Surprise Curbs On Syrian Refugees
Berlin decided against setting up 'transit zones' for processing refugees on Germany's borders with Austria. |
Angela Merkel has performed an abrupt U-turn on her open-door policy towards people fleeing Syria’s civil war, with Berlin announcing that the hundreds of thousands of Syrians entering Germany would not be granted asylum or refugee status.
Syrians would still be allowed to enter Germany, but only for one year and with “subsidiary protection” which limits their rights as refugees. Family members would be barred from joining them.
Germany, along with Sweden and Austria, has been the most open to taking in newcomers over the last six months of the growing refugee crisis, with the numbers entering Germany dwarfing those arriving anywhere else.
However, the interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere, announced that Berlin was starting to fall into line with governments elsewhere in the European Union, who were either erecting barriers to the newcomers or acting as transit countries and limiting their own intake of refugees.
“In this situation other countries are only guaranteeing a limited stay,” De Maiziere said. “We’ll now do the same with Syrians in the future. We’re telling them ‘you will get protection, but only so-called subsidiary protection that is limited to a period and without any family unification.’” » | Ian Traynor, Europe editor | Friday, November 6, 2015
Justin Trudeau imprime son style à Ottawa
LE MONDE: C’est à pied plutôt qu’en limousine et au son de la cornemuse que Justin Trudeau, 43 ans, a fait son entrée à Rideau Hall, la résidence du gouverneur général du Canada à Ottawa, mercredi 4 novembre, entouré des membres de son cabinet. Voulant donner une image d’équipe « forte, diversifiée et expérimentée », le nouveau premier ministre canadien avait réservé au grand public la primeur de la composition du conseil des ministres. Envahis par plus de 2 000 personnes, les jardins de Rideau Hall étaient parés aux couleurs de l’été indien quand le chef libéral s’est avancé dans l’allée centrale avec sa femme et sa nouvelle équipe. » | Par Anne Pélouas (Montréal correspondence) | jeudi 5 novembre 2015
Labels:
Canada,
Justin Trudeau,
Ottawa
Sinai Plane Crash: Bomb Theory Prevails While Probe Still Ongoing
Netanyahu Freezes Appointment of Spokesman Who Accused Obama of Anti-Semitism
THE JERUSALEM POST: Ran Baratz apologizes to Netanyahu for not telling him about the Facebook posts prior to his appointment; PM distances himself from comments by new adviser who suggested Obama anti-Semitic.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday night froze Ran Baratz’s appointment as his new media chief after past Facebook posts he had written insulting US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry became headline fodder around the world.
Baratz had described Obama actions as “modern anti-Semitism,” referred to Kerry as someone “whose mental age doesn’t exceed 12” and charged that President Reuven Rivlin is unworthy to hold office.
The posts threatened to cast a pall on Netanyahu’s visit to Washington next week, when he is scheduled to hold his first face-to-face meeting with Obama in a year. » | Tovah Lazaroff | Thursday, November 5, 2015
Die Abschaffung Deutschlands - Merkels Asylpolitik ist Verrat am Volk
Thursday, November 05, 2015
Anne Will | Zäune, Transitzonen, Abschiebungen - Richtige Flüchtlingspolitik | 04.11.2015
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