Obama warnt vor wirtschaftlicher Katastrophe: Präsident verstärkt im Ringen um Konjunkturpaket Druck auf Kongress
NZZ Online: Präsident Barack Obama verstärkt im Ringen um die Verabschiedung seines Konjunkturpakets den Druck auf den Kongress. Die Rezession werde sich zu einer «Katastrophe» für das Land auswachsen, wenn das Paket nicht rasch verabschiedet werde, warnte Obama am Mittwoch. >>> ap | Mittwoch, 4. Februar 2009

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Spuren von Islamisten-Netz führen in die Schweiz: Polizeiaktion gegen al-Kaida in Spanien
NZZ Online: Spuren des in Spanien aufgedeckten Islamisten-Terrornetzwerks führen in die Schweiz. Das Bundesamt für Polizei, Fedpol, bestätigte am Mittwoch entsprechende Medienberichte aus Spanien.

In Spanien sind in den vergangenen Tagen fünfzehn Personen festgenommen worden, die offenbar Verbindungen zur Terrororganisation al-Kaidas haben. Nun haben spanische Medien auf Spuren hingewiesen, die in die Schweiz führen. Die Bundeskriminalpolizei stehe in Kontakt mit den spanischen Behörden, sagte Fedpol-Sprecher Guido Balmer auf Anfrage der Nachrichtenagentur SDA. Nähere Angaben machte er nicht. >>> sda | Mittwoch, 4. Februar 2009

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Illegal Workers Face EU Crackdown
BBC: Euro MPs have backed tough new rules aimed at preventing employers from hiring illegal workers, but a final vote will be held later this month.

Employers who break the rules could be forced to pay fines, make up wage shortfalls, or face a ban for up to five years from public contracts.

The "sanctions directive" already has the backing of the European Commission and EU member states' governments.

The UK is opting out, doubting the EU's authority to impose criminal sanctions.

Up to eight million non-EU illegal migrants are thought to work in the EU. Figures provided by 21 member states suggest a total of 893,000 to 923,000 illegal immigrants entering the EU each year.

The new rules, steered through the European Parliament by Italian Socialist MEP Claudio Fava, are set to take effect in 2011. >>> | Wednesday, February 4, 2009

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Top Iranian Official: Zionists Brought Obama to Power
HAARETZ: A representative of Iran's supreme leader said Barack Obama taking office as U.S. president did not mean Tehran's ties with Washington would change, a news agency reported on Wednesday.

"The Zionists brought Obama to power to help America pass through its current challenges," said the representative to the Revolutionary Guards in northwestern Zanjan province, cleric Hojjatoleslam Ali Maboudi.

"Any government has 'red lines' and our 'red lines' are rejecting the arrogant policies of America and the Zionist regime," he said.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ultimate authority over policy in the Islamic Republic, has yet to comment on Obama's presidency or his offer to extend a hand of peace if Iran "unclenched its fist."

The leader has representatives to many institutions and regions. Though not a perfect guide, their comments can give an indication of views prevalent among Iran's leadership. >>> Reuters | Wednesday, February 4, 2009

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North Korea Still Worst Persecutor of Christians
CHRISTIAN TODAY: Reclusive North Korea has yet again topped Open Doors’ list of the worst persecutors of Christians in the world.

North Korea ranked number one on the persecution watchdog’s 2008 World Watch List, the seventh year in a row that the communist country has come out on top.

Open Doors and other Christian rights groups say North Korea denies its citizens the right to freedom of worship and report imprisonment and torture of people caught practising the Christian faith.

"It is certainly not a shock that North Korea is No 1 on the list of countries where Christians face the worst persecution," says Carl Moeller, President and CEO of Open Doors USA.

"There is no other country in the world where Christians are persecuted in such a horrible and systematic manner.”

No 2 on the list was the Wahhabi kingdom of Saudi Arabia, while Iran came in at No 3. Both countries are ruled by a strict interpretation of Shariah law under which apostasy is punishable by death.

In the last five months, Compass News Direct reported that a daughter of a member of Saudi Arabia’s religious police was murdered after she wrote online about her faith in Christ, while a 28-year-old Christian man was allegedly arrested by Saudi authorities for telling of his conversion and criticising the kingdom’s judiciary on his website.

Open Doors said 2008 had been one of the toughest years for Christians in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 with a major crackdown on house churches and a large number of Christians arrested. >>> By Jenna Lyle | Wednesday, February 4, 2009

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Obama n'a pas fumé... à la Maison Blanche
Photo grâce à la NZZ
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: WASHINGTON | Barack Obama a affirmé mardi qu'il n'avait pas touché à une cigarette à la Maison Blanche depuis son installation le 20 janvier dans la plus célèbre résidence des Etats-Unis.

Interrogé sur la chaîne de télévision CNN qui lui demandait s'il avait arrêté de fumer depuis son arrivée à la Maison Blanche, M. Obama a répondu: "Non, je n'ai pas fumé en ces lieux et vous savez, c'est parfois difficile, mais je m'y astreins".

Il n'a ainsi pas spécifiquement dit avoir arrêté de fumer depuis qu'il est devenu président.

Barack Obama n'a que très rarement été vu en train de fumer en public mais ses biographes assurent qu'il a du mal à résister à la cigarette.

Son épouse Michelle n'aurait accepté qu'il se présente à la présidentielle début 2007 qu'à la condition qu'il voie ses deux filles au moins une fois par semaine pendant la campagne... et qu'il arrête de fumer. [Source: Tribune de Genève ] AFP | Mercredi 04 Février 2009

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Obama Not Smoking at the White House

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is having at least some success in his plan to quit smoking in office.

Obama told CNN's Anderson Cooper he hasn't had a cigarette on the White House grounds. But he acknowledged that quitting has been difficult.

Cooper did not ask if Obama had smoked outside of the White House grounds since he was sworn in on Jan. 20. >>> ©Associated Press | Tuesday, February 3, 2009

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Gaskammern geleugnet: Vatikan fordert Widerruf
DIE PRESSE: Der britische Bischof Williamson soll sich "eindeutig und öffentlich" von seinen Aussagen zum Holocaust distanzieren, verlangt der Vatikan. Sonst werde er nicht voll in die Kirche aufgenommen.

Der Vatikan hat den traditionalistischen Bischof Richard Williamson am Mittwoch aufgefordert, seine Leugnung des Holocaust zu widerrufen. Williamson solle sich "eindeutig und öffentlich" von seinen Äußerungen distanzieren, bevor er wieder voll in die Kirche aufgenommen werden könne, hieß es in einer Erklärung des Vatikan. Noch wenige Stunden zuvor hatte der Papst bei seiner wöchentlichen Generalaudienz im Vatikan keinen Kommentar zur Causa Williamson abgegeben. >>> DiePresse.com | Mittwoch, 4. Februar 2009

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Vatican: Holocaust Denier Must Recant

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican demanded Wednesday that a bishop who denied the Holocaust recant his positions before being fully admitted into the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican also said in a statement that Pope Benedict XVI didn't know about Bishop Richard Williamson's views when he agreed to lift his excommunication and that of three other ultraconservative bishops Jan. 21.

The statement was issued by the Vatican's Secretariat of State a day after German Chacellor Angela Merkel urged the pope to make a clearer rejection of Holocaust denials, saying there hadn't been adequate clarification from the Vatican.

Williamson was shown on Swedish state television days before his rehabilitation was made public saying historical evidence "is hugely against 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed" during World War II. >>> By Nicole Winfield Associated Press Writer © 2009 The Associated Press | Wednesday, February 4, 2009

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le Vatican demande à Richard Williamson de renier ses propos

POLÉMIQUE | L’évêque intégriste négationniste Richard Williamson doit "prendre sans équivoque et publiquement ses distances" avec ses déclarations sur la Shoah a annoncé mercredi le Vatican.

Le Vatican a aussi affirmé dans un communiqué que le Pape Benoît XVI n’était pas informé des propos tenus par l’évêque britannique qui a nié l’existence des chambres à gaz, lorsqu’il a accepté de lever son excommunication en même temps que celle de trois autres prêtres intégristes la semaine dernière.

Mgr Richard Williamson s’est excusé depuis auprès du pape pour la «peine et les problèmes» qu’il a causés par ses propos, mais il ne s’est pas rétracté.

Les mouvements juifs ont salué le communiqué du Vatican, affirmant qu’il satisfaisait leur principale demande. «C’était le signe que le monde juif attendait», a déclaré Ronald Lauder, président du Congrès juif mondial. Mardi, la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel avait appelé Benoît XVI à exprimer un rejet «très clair» du négationnisme. >>> AP | Mercredi 04. Février 2009

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Kadhafi élu à la tête 
de l'Union africaine
Photo de Mouammar Kadhafi, élu à la tête de l’Union africaine, grâce au Figaro
LE FIGARO: Le dirigeant libyen a aussitôt fait savoir qu'il fallait désormais l'appeler «roi des rois traditionnels d'Afrique».

A peine élu, et déjà des exigences. Le dirigeant libyen Mouammar Kadhafi a été élu lundi pour un an à la tête de l'Union africaine (UA) lors d'un sommet de l'organisation à Addis Abeba (Ethiopie). Selon des sources concordantes, il a aussitôt fait savoir qu'il souhaitait désormais être officiellement appelé « roi des rois traditionnels d'Afrique ». Pour l'occasion, le dirigeant libyen était d'ailleurs venu dans la capitale éthiopienne accompagné de sept « rois » africains, tous vêtus de costumes traditionnels.

Mouammar Kadhafi succède à ce poste convoité au président tanzanien Jakaya Kikwete. Selon la règle de l'UA, la présidence revenait cette année à l'Afrique du Nord, après l'Afrique de l'Est. Et le dirigeant libyen était le seul représentant de cette partie du continent à avoir fait le déplacement à Addis Abeba. Il n'a pour autant pas été élu à l'unanimité, Kadhafi jouissant d'une mauvaise image auprès de beaucoup de responsables africains. Pour des «Etats-Unis d'Afrique» >>> Flore Galaud (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP | Lundi 02 Février 2009

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Halal Meat Taken Off School Menu After Race Row
CROYDON TODAY: Old Palace School is no longer serving Halal meat on its school menu after parents complained.

The Whitgift Foundation's John Whitgift Schools committee took the decision after some parents were furious pupils were not being given a choice.

The Halal method, in which animals are slaughtered by a single slit to the throat, is the only was of killing livestock allowed under Islam.

But the method is deemed cruel by some animal-lovers, who object to the slow death it involves.

In a letter to parents, after taking advice from religious leaders, chair of the committee Rosemary Jones said: "We have decided that Halal meat should no longer be served to our pupils in line with what we understand is the general policy adopted by multi-faith schools.

"We shall continue to offer a hot vegetarian option and an extensive range of cold salads as an alternative meal for those pupils choosing not to eat non-Halal meat." >>> | Wednesday, January 21, 2009

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Same Old Fudges and Loopholes in Obama's New Era of Ethics
THE TELEGRAPH: The sheen is already coming off the Obama presidency.

What a difference an election makes. On the campaign trail, candidate Barack Obama vowed to fix Washington's "broken politics", which had become "gummed up by money and influence". In the age of Obama, he promised, government would no longer be "a tool to enrich friends and high-priced lobbyists". The stakes were too high to play the "same old Washington games with the same old Washington players". The slogan was: "Change you can believe in."

Now that he is in office, however, the new dawn is looking like a false one. His administration is crammed to the gills with alumni of Bill Clinton's White House; Hillary Clinton, whom Obama mocked as the epitome of what was wrong with politics, is now secretary of state.

There have been attempts to give lobbyists top jobs in the Obama administration. Tom Daschle, a former senator and the personification of the slick operator richly rewarded for his influence-peddling, was nominated as health secretary. As with two other Obama nominees, it subsequently emerged that he had failed to pay all his taxes, and yesterday he was forced to withdraw his name from consideration.

President Obama still sounds a lot like candidate Obama. On day one in the White House, he announced that he was closing "the revolving door that lets lobbyists come into government freely" and making "a clean break from business as usual". His new ethics and transparency rules were, he ventured, "historic measures".

But the sheen is already coming off, as realities takes its toll. Two days after he had looked Americans in the eye and told them that this was a new ethical dawn, the President waived his "historic" rule. William Lynn, a lobbyist for the defence giant Raytheon, was nominated as the deputy Pentagon chief. There would always be "reasonable exceptions", the White House press secretary insisted.

"If you are a lobbyist entering my administration, you will not be able to work on matters you lobbied on, or in the agencies you lobbied during the previous two years," Mr Obama had said. He neglected to add the footnote: "Except when it suits us otherwise." >>> By Toby Harnden | Tuesday, February 3, 2009

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Pope's PR Men Have Put His Future at Risk
THE TELEGRAPH: Lifting the ban on the Holocaust denying Bishop Williamson is disastrous, says Damian Thompson.

The night before Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications on the Holocaust denier Richard Williamson and the other bishops of the ultra-traditionalist Society of St Pius X (SSPX), I emailed a friend in Rome with close links to the papal household. I said: "You do know how awful this is going to look, don't you?" He replied: "Yes, but it's too late."

This week, the future of Benedict's pontificate hangs in the balance. For those of us who regard him as the greatest pope of modern times, this is little short of a tragedy. In the last 18 months, he has reintegrated Latin services into the life of the Church. Orthodox Catholics are thrilled by his intellectually dazzling project to renovate the Church's liturgy. Thousands of Anglicans will cross the Tiber as soon as the Vatican can find a way of protecting them from unsympathetic RC bishops.

Meanwhile, the haughty prelates of the SSPX are finally prepared to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Second Vatican Council, which modernised the Catholic Church in the 1960s. Only Benedict XVI could have achieved this.

But the Williamson fiasco – the incompetence of the Vatican communications service in failing to anticipate the outcry, and the sluggish response – has given Benedict's enemies the opportunity they have been waiting for. Far from being alarmed by the lifting of the excommunications, many liberals are happy to sit back and watch "the Ratzinger project" unravel. >>> Damian Thompson* | Tuesday, February 3, 2009

*Damian Thompson is editor-in-chief of 'The Catholic Herald'

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For God’s Sake, Miliband, Go Back to School; and You, Hillary, for God’s Sake Go Visit Your Hairdresser!

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Pakistan: Wo die Taliban Terror über das Radio verbreiten
WELT ONLINE: Jeden Abend verkünden die Taliban neue Verhaltensregeln über das Radio. Mit Gewalt erobern sie das einst progressive Swat-Tal in Pakistan: Wer den Regeln nicht gehorcht, wird ausgepeitscht und dann geköpft. Der Albtraum von Swat ist eine Blaupause für die Probleme Pakistans. >>> Von Richard A. Oppel Jr. und Pir Zubair Shah, © International Herald Tribune / Aus dem Englischen von Stefanie Bolzen | Dienstag, Februar 3, 2009

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Thief in [Muslim] Headscarf Cons Jewellers
BBC: A jewel thief dressed as a wealthy Muslim woman has stolen rings worth hundreds of thousands of euros from dealers across Europe, police say.

The woman, wearing a headscarf, coat and gold-framed glasses, is suspected of swapping gems for replicas.

In one incident in Paris, the woman allegedly stole a 5.5 carat diamond ring worth 635,000 euros (£574,000).

Detectives say the thief has targeted dealers in Germany, Switzerland and France over a 10-year period.

German police are linking her to thefts from hotels in Germany and Switzerland during that time. >>> | Tuesday, February 3, 2009

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Turkey’s Jews Ask for Equal Democratic Rights
HÜRRIYET: ISTANBUL - The biggest problem of Jews in Turkey is that most people perceive them as foreigners and not citizens of this country, according to the leader of the Jewish community in Turkey.

While the concerns of the Jewish community in Turkey about possible antagonism over Israeli attacks in Gaza remain, the leader of the Jewish community in Turkey said they wanted equality and democracy, not tolerance.

"Everybody can criticize Israel’s policies and we respect that. However, any anti-Israel statement can easily turn into a condemnation of Jews," Silvyo Ovadya told daily Milliyet in an interview published yesterday. "What we are concerned about is the Jewish part, not the Israel part. We do not want people to insult our religion," he said.

Harsh rhetoric against Israel from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, his much-criticized reference to 500 years ago when fleeing Jews were received by the Ottomans and the Education Ministry’s directive to hold a one minute’s silence for Palestinians who had been killed are among the government’s moves that received strong reactions from both within Turkey and abroad. Some observers said Turkey’s Jewish community felt physically threatened by growing anti-Israeli sentiment among the public.

"Whenever there is a war in the Middle East anti-Semitism goes up in the world. One reason is the inability to distinguish between an Israeli national and a Jew who is a citizen of another country. This is exactly our problem in Turkey, people see us as part of Israel," Ovadya said.

Explaining that their biggest problem was that people saw them as outsiders, Ovadya said they had no problems worshiping or holding religious services. "Of course there are restrictions. For example have you ever seen a Jewish ambassador or military officer? However, our problem is something else. We do our military service, we fulfill all our civic responsibilities and we are raised with Turkish culture and language. When somebody calls us a foreigner despite all that, it offends us," he said. >>> | Tuesday, February 3, 2009

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Pentagon: Iran's Domestic Satellite Launch Is Grave Cause for Concern
FOX NEWS: Iran's launch of its first satellite into space is a grave cause for concern, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Iran's launch of its first satellite into space is a grave cause for concern to the U.S. as the Islamic Republic continues to work toward developing long-range missile capability, the Pentagon and White House said Tuesday.

Tuesday's launch of its first domestically made satellite "does not convince us that Iran is acting responsibly to advance stability or security in the region," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

Gibbs said any effort to develop missile delivery capability, continue an illicit nuclear program, threaten Israel and sponsor terror is an "acute concern to this administration."

"It is certainly a reason for us to be concerned about Iran and its continued attempts to develop a ballistic missile program of increasingly long range," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters Tuesday.

"They (Iran) pose a real threat and it is a growing threat," he said. >>> Fox News, with a contribution from Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin | Tuesday, February 3, 2009

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Papst zeigt Merkel die kalte Schulter
Der Vatikan sieht nach Angaben eines Sprechers keine Notwendigkeit für eine Klarstellung des Papstes zum Holocaust.

In einer Reaktion auf eine entsprechende Forderung von Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel erklärte Vatikan-Sprecher Federico Lombardi am Dienstag: «Die Haltung des Papstes zum Thema Holocaust ist sehr deutlich ausgedrückt worden.» >>> cmp/ap | Dienstag, 3. Februar 2009

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Wilders Asks High Court to Halt Prosecution
Geert Wilders courtesy of Google Images
NRC HANDELSBLAD: Populist politician Geert Wilders is taking his case to the high court, asking the country's highest judicial body to quash the order to prosecute him "in the interest of the law".

The member of parliament has enlisted one of the Netherlands' best known lawyers, Bram Moszkowicz, to fight his prosecution over inciting hatred and discrimination. The lawyer has confirmed he is taking the case to the country's high court, requesting an immediate end to the proceedings.

The Amsterdam appeals court in January ordered that Wilders must be prosecuted for insulting Muslims and describing the Koran as "the Islamic Mein Kampf". Wilders, leader of the opposition Party for Freedom (PVV), claims he is doing nothing other than exercising his right to free speech, both inside and outside parliament. Following formal objections by individual citizens and interest groups, the Amsterdam court order reversed a decision by the public prosecutor's office to refrain from opening a case against Wilders.

Wilders on his website says: "I've hired the best lawyer of the Netherlands for a ruthless fight against the charges that I'm facing." In an earlier case Moszkowicz profited from a state’s request to quash a case in the interest of the law, achieving almost by accident his desired result of halting the prosecution in the Netherlands of Surinam's former strongman Desi Bouterse for his involvement in a series of political murders in 1982. The court declared in 2001 that the Netherlands had no jurisdiction in that case.

Dozens of citizens, companies and authorities plead for the cassation of irrevocable verdicts against them every year in the Netherlands, mostly to no avail. The independent representative of the prosecution at the high court almost never accepts such requests. The procedure is mainly used to correct obvious mistakes, clarify jurisprudence, affirm or rephrase the court's position. The criteria for quashing a verdict "in the interest of the law" is that a greater public interest is at stake.

According to Ybo Buruma, professor of criminal law at the Radboud University, Wilders's request to have his case put before the high court has a minimal chance of success. Buruma thinks that public relations are more involved here than the law. Yet he understands why Moszkowicz is exploring this avenue, given the practical consequences of the verdict in the Bouterse case. >>> By Folkert Jensma | Tuesday, February 3, 2009

This article was translated and edited in partnership with RNW.

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Treblinka Death Camp: A Survivor's Testimony
Watch YouTube video: here >>>
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Bishop Richard Williamson, the Holocaust-denier

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