US Military Will Offer Path to Citizenship
NEW YORK TIMES: Stretched thin in Afghanistan and Iraq, the American military will begin recruiting skilled immigrants who are living in this country with temporary visas, offering them the chance to become United States citizens in as little as six months.

Immigrants who are permanent residents, with documents commonly known as green cards, have long been eligible to enlist. But the new effort, for the first time since the Vietnam War, will open the armed forces to temporary immigrants if they have lived in the United States for a minimum of two years, according to military officials familiar with the plan.

Recruiters expect that the temporary immigrants will have more education, foreign language skills and professional expertise than many Americans who enlist, helping the military to fill shortages in medical care, language interpretation and field intelligence analysis.

“The American Army finds itself in a lot of different countries where cultural awareness is critical,” said Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, the top recruitment officer for the Army, which is leading the pilot program. “There will be some very talented folks in this group.” >>> By Julia Preston | Saturday, February 14, 2009

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le Pentagone va recruter des étrangers en leur offrant la citoyenneté

ETATS-UNIS | Le Pentagone va recruter parmi les immigrés hautement qualifiés présents sur le sol américain mais n'ayant pas le statut de résident permanent, leur offrant un accès privilégié à la nationalité américaine, a rapporté dimanche le New York Times.

Les étrangers ayant le statut de résident permanent, ou les titulaires de la "green card" (permis de travail sans restriction de temps), avaient déjà la possibilité de travailler pour le Pentagone mais c'est la première fois depuis la guerre du Vietnam que les portes de l'armée s'ouvrent aux étrangers disposant de visas provisoires (et à condition qu'ils soient aux Etats-Unis depuis au moins deux ans), a expliqué le quotidien new-yorkais. >>> AFP | Dimanche 15 Février 2009

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Religious Divide Drives Bikie War
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: AN ANCIENT religious enmity is at the centre of a new conflict in the Sydney bikie scene, with a new gang comprised mainly of Sunni Muslims warring with a group of bikies with a Shiite Muslim background. >>> Dylan Welch, Police Reporter | Monday, February 16, 2009

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Hindus in Valentine's Day Attack on Lovers
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Valentine's Day in India has been marred by a spate of attacks on young couples as Hindu radicals battle what they claim are foreign influences corrupting Indian culture.

Six men from the Hindu group, Shiv Sena, were arrested in Agra, the home to the Taj Mahal, after they cut the hair of overtly romantic couples in a park on Valentine's Day.

In Pune, western India, two couples were stopped by activists from the same group and forced to "marry" on the spot by exchanging flower garlands. Five more members of Shiv Sena were arrested in Delhi for threatening couples.

In the central Indian city of Ujjain, a mob of Hindu fanatics beat a brother and sister they mistook for a couple displaying affection. Meanwhile activists blackened the faces of many couples they said were behaving inappropriately in the cities of Aurangabad and Bijnaur.

Valentine's Day has recently become hugely popular in India but public shows of affection are still considered taboo by many.
Hindu mobs were not the only ones targeting couples on Valentine's Day. A policeman in the northern state of Haryana was caught on camera attacking a female college student accused of being "involved in immoral activities". The graphic video showed the officer, Molla Ram, repeatedly spinning a woman around by the hair. He was later suspended.

The Valentine's Day violence comes amid a "culture wars" debate over the influence of foreign culture in India. >>> Matt Wade in New Delhi | Monday, February 16, 2009

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Obama Disses Brits, Will Media Miss?
NEWSBUSTERS: Barack Obama loves Lincoln. It seems not a day goes by that he isn't quoting the Civil War icon or comparing himself to that great man. But it looks like we are finding one great leader that Barack Obama doesn't like so much: Winston Churchill.

It appears that President Obama is dissing the Brit's most famous and stalwart leader by quickly returning the most famous bust of the man loaned to this country by the United Kingdom in the aftermath of 9//11. The return of the bust of Churchill flustered the British government because they didn't ask for it to be returned. Our best ally was nonplussed and even quickly told Obama he could keep it in the Oval Office where Bush had displayed the piece of art. Obama told them no thanks which made the Brits even more amazed.

So, Barack Obama, the man that would "fix" our "bad image" with the rest of the world, we were told by the media, has just dissed Churchill after only a month in office? And, according to one of the only stories I can find on this incident, the British government has been made nervous about the relationship between England and the U.S. because of the casual return of their generously loaned Churchill bust. >>> By Warner Todd Huston | Sunday, February 15, 2009

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Pourquoi Benoît XVI veut aller à Jérusalem
Le Pape veut clore trois semaines d'une crise sans précédent. Il compte sur son prochain voyage en Israël pour effacer les séquelles de l'affaire Williamson.

Rome est assiégée, il faut aller à Jérusalem ! De mémoire romaine, la crise affrontée par le Pape, ces trois dernières semaines, est sans précédent. Il y avait eu, en 2006, le malentendu de Ratisbonne avec l'islam. Il est aujourd'hui pardonné. Après tout, Benoît XVI «débutait» dans sa fonction, et ce faux pas a été minutieusement rattrapé depuis. Il laisse des traces qui ne sont rien face à l'ampleur du trouble, hors et dans l'Église catholique, lié à la levée des excommunications de quatre évêques lefebvristes, dont un négationniste, Mgr Richard Williamson.

Cet acte a ouvert une crise interne inédite : règlements de comptes publics - du jamais-vu - au sein de la curie romaine. Contestations épiscopales, en Allemagne, en France et en Autriche. Le cardinal Christophe Schönborn, archevêque de Vienne, a même dû convoquer pour ce lundi une réunion extraordinaire de la conférence des évêques pour «limiter les dégâts» de cette affaire et ceux de la nomination d'un nouvel évêque controversé à Linz. Cet acte romain a aussi créé une crise externe ouvrant un nouveau contentieux avec le monde juif, dossier déjà très lourd, et une confusion générale dans l'opinion mondiale.

Passé la stupeur de l'onde de choc ecclésiale et internationale, le Saint-Siège a cherché par tous les moyens à calmer la tempête. À trois reprises, le 28 janvier, le 4 février et le 19 février, le Pape a redit, avec des mots différents, une même conviction : le négationnisme est «intolérable et inacceptable» tout comme sa racine, l'antisémitisme. Il est allé jusqu'à reprendre à son compte, pour ses «amis juifs», la prière de Jean-Paul II devant le mur de Jérusalem, exprimée lors du jubilé de l'an 2000. Le Pape avait demandé «pardon à Dieu» pour «toutes les injustices» dont «le peuple juif a eu à souffrir».

Jérusalem, lieu source, dont Benoît XVI attend, en fait, la sortie définitive de cette crise, puisqu'il vient de confirmer qu'il «prépare une visite en Israël». En mai prochain probablement. Annoncé une première fois en novembre 2008, ce voyage en Jordanie et en Israël - presque annulé en janvier avec la guerre à Gaza - pourrait avoir la magie que sa visite en Turquie opéra après l'affaire de Ratisbonne. Le recueillement de Benoît XVI dans la grande mosquée Bleue d'Istanbul apaisa les esprits inquiets. Dans un autre registre, les échanges avec les responsables juifs en Israël pourraient sceller une réconciliation déjà en route. Et en finir avec le point qui fit vraiment scandale : la levée de l'excommunication d'un évêque qui a confirmé son négationnisme. Une réconciliation déjà en route >>> Par Jean-Marie Guénois | Dimanche 15 Février 2009

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Obama Warned over ‘Welfare Spendathon’
THE SUNDAY TIMES: The new administration's economic stimulus plan may undo reforms that cut the dole queues, critics say

RONALD REAGAN started it, Bill Clinton finished it and last week Barack Obama was accused of engineering its destruction. One of the few undisputed triumphs of American government of the past 20 years – the sweeping welfare reform programme that sent millions of dole claimants back to work – has been plunged into jeopardy by billions of dollars in state handouts included in the president’s controversial economic stimulus package.

As Obama celebrated Valentine’s Day yesterday with a return to his Chicago home for a private weekend with family and friends, his success in piloting a $785 billion (£546 billion) stimulus package through Congress was being overshadowed by warnings that an unprecedented increase in welfare spending would undermine two decades of bipartisan attempts to reduce dependency on government handouts.

Robert Rector, a prominent welfare researcher who was one of the architects of Clinton's 1996 reform bill, warned last week that Obama’s stimulus plan was a “welfare spendathon” that would amount to the largest one-year increase in government handouts in American history. >>> The Sunday Times | Sunday, February 15, 2009

THE SUNDAY TIMES: No Excuses if Obama Can't Fix 'His' Recession

If, like John Maynard Keynes, you believe that spending, any spending, will revive a flagging economy, the freshly minted, 1,000-page American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, calling for $504 billion in deficit-financed spending, is for you. Well, not quite. It seems that most of the money will not be spent very soon. About 30% won't hit the economy until 2011, and the balance is likely to be tied up in the procurement processes of the federal and state governments until well into 2010, and beyond. Besides, much of the spending will end up boosting other economies — subsidies for wind machines will benefit workers in the other countries in which such machines are manufactured, not our very own horny-handed toilers. And much of the spending will not create jobs for the unemployed: laid-off car workers do not have the skills to design the software to manage the "smart grid" that is the apple of the greens' eye.

If you have not jumped onto the new Keynesian spending bandwagon, but believe with Christina Romer, chairman of Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, that tax cuts are more certain than spending to turn the economy round, you should love this bill, with its $286 billion in tax cuts and credits. Well, not quite. True, individuals earning less than $75,000 a year and families earning less than $150,000 will receive credits of $400 and $800, the earned income-tax credit for working families with three or more children is increased, and there is something for pensioners, disabled veterans, families of college students and a host of others.

Reflection suggests, however, the tax-cut contingent is doomed to disappointment. Much of the money will be saved or used to pay down credit-card balances, not bad things, but not very stimulative. Much will be spent in Wal-Mart, earning Congress the applause of Chinese trainer and t-shirt manufacturers. And much will never be claimed: the specific subsidies for college education are simply too small to have much effect on college enrolments. If you are a supply-side enthusiast… >>> Irwin Stelzer*

*Irwin Stelzer is a business adviser and director of economic policy studies at the Hudson Institute

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Zahl der Geburten in Deutschland nimmt zu
Foto dank der Welt
Wenn die Wirtschaft in der Krise steckt, hat die Familie Konjunktur. So sieht das Familienministerin Ursula von der Leyen und die Zahlen geben ihr Recht. Seit 2007 werden in Deutschland wieder mehr Kinder geboren. Und der Trend hält auch in der Krise an. Besonders in einer Altersgruppe nimmt der Wunsch nach Kindern zu.

In Deutschland kommen wieder mehr Kinder zur Welt. 2007 seien 12.000 Kinder mehr als 2006 geboren worden, sagte Bundesfamilienministerin Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) der Zeitung „Bild am Sonntag“. Im vergangenen Jahr habe der Trend angehalten. Bis September seien 3400 Kinder mehr zur Welt gekommen als 2007.

„Besonders bei Frauen zwischen 30 und 40 Jahren hat die Zahl der Kinder zugenommen“, sagte von der Leyen. Gerade in diesem Alter überlegten Paare, ob sie ein Leben mit Beruf und Familie meistern können. Vor allem bei Männern nehme der Kinderwunsch zu. 



Die Vaterrolle ändere sich. „Die Männer wollen heute mehr Zeit mit der Familie verbringen“, sagte die Ministerin. Zudem hätten junge Menschen das Gefühl, die Gesellschaft lasse sie als Eltern nicht alleine.

Die Wirtschaftskrise werde auch nicht zu mehr Schwangerschaftsabbrüchen führen, sagte die Ministerin voraus. In rauen Zeiten sei die Familie für viele Menschen der wichtigste Halt. „Wenn die Wirtschaft wankt, hat die Familie Konjunktur“, sagte von der Leyen. >>> WeltOnline | Sonntag, 15. Februar 2009

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Tausende demonstrieren gegen Neonazis
"Dresden macht vor, wie man gegen Neonazis kämpft": Am Jahresstag der Zerstörung im Zweiten Weltkrieg demonstrieren die Dresdner gegen den Neonazi-Aufmarsch.

Mehrere Tausend Menschen haben in Dresden gegen einen Aufmarsch von Neonazis zum 64. Jahrestag der Zerstörung der Stadt im Zweiten Weltkrieg demonstriert.

Rund 12.500 Teilnehmer kamen am Samstag nach Veranstalterangaben zu mehreren Auftaktkundgebungen des überparteilichen Bündnisses "Geh Denken", das sich gegen die Vereinnahmung des Tages durch Rechtsextremisten stellt. Zeitgleich zogen laut Polizei etwa 5.000 Neonazis und mehr als 2.500 Autonome durch die Innenstadt.

Bundesverkehrsminister Wolfgang Tiefensee (SPD) sagte mit Blick auf die Kundgebungen der Rechtsextremisten, man dürfe nicht nur still gedenken. "Es gibt in vielen Städten Versuche von Rechts, Präsenz zu zeigen", sagt er. "Sie versuchen, ihre geringen Kräfte zu zentralen Veranstaltungen zu konzentrieren." Dagegen gelte es, selbst auf die Straße zu gehen. "Dresden macht vor, wie man gegen Neonazis kämpfen kann."

Seit Jahren versuchen Rechtsextremisten, die Gedenktage an die Zerstörung Dresdens kurz vor dem Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges in einen "Bomben-Holocaust" umzudeuten. Bei der Bombardierung der Stadt am 13. und 14. Februar 1945 waren schätzungsweise mehr als 25.000 Menschen ums Leben gekommen. >>> AP/dpa/sonn | Samstag, 14. Februar 2009

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Watch BBC video: Thousands attend neo-Nazi rally >>>

DIE PRESSE: Österreich – Bundesheer: Unteroffizier zeigt Hitlergruß

Ein Soldat soll im Kosovo bei einer Feier mehrmals die Hand zum Hitlergruß gehoben haben. Außerdem soll er ein T-Shirt mit rechtsradikalem Aufdruck besitzen. Er wurde wegen des Verdachts auf Wiederbetätigung angezeigt.

Beim österreichischen Bundesheer-Kontingent im Kosovo herrscht schon wieder Aufregung. Nachdem kürzlich ein junger Soldat versehentlich angeschossen wurde, wird jetzt ein Unteroffizier der Wiederbetätigung verdächtigt. >>> APA | Freitag, 13. Februar 2009

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Der Fluch der «Satanischen Verse»
NZZ Online: Vor zwanzig Jahren erging gegen Salman Rushdie die Fatwa und radikalisierte die britischen Muslime

Die Aufgabe seines Berufsstandes, sagt der Dichter Baal in Salman Rushdies «Satanischen Versen», sei das Anzetteln von Auseinandersetzungen – «und wenn aus den Wunden, die seine Verse reissen, Ströme von Blut fliessen, so werden sie ihn nähren». Zweifellos hat Salman Rushdie seit dem Valentinstag 1989 oft über diese Äusserung nachgedacht. Angefangen hatte die Kampagne gegen ihn, als sein neuer Roman im Oktober 1988 in Indien offiziell gebannt wurde. Auf Verbote in Pakistan, Saudiarabien und Ägypten folgte im Januar 1989 die Kunde aus der englischen Stadt Bradford: Dort, auf einem öffentlichen Platz an einen Pfahl genagelt, wurde das Buch vor einer schaulustigen Menge verbrannt. Richter und Zuschauer waren extremistische Muslime.

Ein literarisches Werk verboten und verbrannt – weil es religiöse Gefühle verletzte? Westliche Verstandesmenschen, die so fragten, bekamen bald noch mehr zu hören. Am 14. Februar 1989 wurden Rushdie und seine Verleger vom schiitischen Ajatollah Khomeiny, dem Führer der Islamischen Revolution in Iran, zu madhur ad-dam (jene, deren Blut vergossen werden muss) erklärt. Die Fatwa und ihre Motive >>> Georges Waser | Samstag, 14. Februar 2009

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Lauter Wahnsinn!
EU-Abgeordnete drängen die Kommission, die Beitritts-Verhandlungen mit Ankara zügig fortzusetzen.

BRÜSSEL. „Wir brauchen die türkische Mitgliedschaft für die Energiesicherheit in der EU.“ Mit diesen klaren Worten ließ am Mittwoch der EU-Parlamentarier Hannes Swoboda (SPÖ) aufhorchen. Die EU-Kommission solle in den Beitrittsverhandlungen mit der Türkei dringend beginnen, über das Kapitel Energie zu verhandeln, erklärte er gemeinsam mit Fraktionskollegen anlässlich der Bewertung der Beitrittsbemühungen der Türkei durch den außenpolitischen Ausschuss des EU-Parlaments. Die Verhandlungen sollten beschleunigt werden, so die Sozialdemokraten. Erweiterung: „Brauchen türkischen Beitritt wegen Energie“ >>> Regina Pöll | Mittwoch, 11. Februar 2009

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Christians Face Discrimination in Workplace, Say Church Leaders
Almost two thirds of the Church of England General Synod believe Christians are the victims of discrimination in the workplace.

A survey of members of the Church's parliament found that 63 per cent of them felt that Christians faced discrimination at work.

The majority also consider that freedom of belief has been eroded under the Labour government.

While 59 per cent agreed that they have seen a decline in religious liberty over the last decade; 38 per cent of members disagreed.

The findings follow a series of high profile legal battles fought by Christians who claim to have suffered as a result of their beliefs. >>> By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, February 14, 2009

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A Sorry Parade of Bankers Can't Put Things Right
The Government wrecked both our private and our public finances and if Gordon Brown doesn't get a better grip of the banking industry, the IMF will have to do it for him, says Michael Fallon.

‘We are profoundly and, I think I can say, unreservedly, sorry at the turn of events” was how the former chairman of HBOS put it. “I think I can say, unreservedly”? “The turn of events”? Only somebody as deeply immersed in the British establishment as Lord Stevenson of Coddenham could get away with destroying a great British bank, taking £17 billion of taxpayers’ money, and then offering up the kind of shaded apology more appropriate for somebody caught out by a sudden cold snap.

This won’t do, and the parade of hapless bankers in front of the Treasury Committee last week did not give us the answers we need to the crisis in British banking. Instead, we were shown a sorry picture of a sales-driven, deals-driven, bonus-driven culture wholly alien from the banks our fathers knew. >>> By Michael Fallon | Saturday, February 14, 2009

THE (SUNDAY) TELEGRAPH: Lloyds Plan to Pay £120 Million in Bonuses to Staff Threatens New 'Fat Cat' Row

Lloyds banking group has drawn up plans to pay about £120 million in bonuses to staff even as it teeters on the brink of majority state ownership, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

Sources close to Lloyds said the bank had drafted the bonus proposals and was "in consultation" about them with UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the Treasury body that owns a 43 per cent stake in the bank.

The proposed payouts would be distributed among thousands of workers in Lloyds' retail and commercial banking businesses, who received about £150 million in bonus payments last year.

They are likely to inflame the growing row over City bonuses which was stoked last week by The Sunday Telegraph's disclosure that Royal Bank of Scotland, almost 70 per cent of which is owned by the taxpayer, was looking to pay staff as much as £1 billion in bonuses this year.

The disclosure comes as the Government and Lloyds attempt to find a way to pump billions more of taxpayers' money into the troubled bank without the Government being forced to take a majority stake. >>> By Mark Kleinman, Patrick Hennessy and Edmund Conway in Rome | Saturday, February 14, 2009

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Führen die anderen Religionen nicht zu Gott?
TAGES ANZEIGER: Der Absolutheitsanspruch kommt von Christus selber. Er hat gesagt: Ich bin der Weg, die Wahrheit und das Leben. Niemand kommt zum Vater ausser durch mich. Er hat die Apostel ausgesandt, alle zu taufen. Folglich ist es ausgeschlossen, dass ein Muslim durch den Islam gerettet wird. Zwar kann der Muslim im Islam gerettet werden, wenn er den Schöpfer anerkennt, seine Sünden bereut und sich nach Erlösung sehnt. Niemand wird verurteilt, wenn er die Wahrheit nicht kennt. Schlägt er aber bewusst die christliche Wahrheit aus, macht er sich schuldig. Pius-Bruder: «Wir verkünden ewige Wahrheiten» >>> Von Michael Meier | Samstag, 14. Febraur 2009

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Polish Church under Growing Pressure
Twenty years have passed since the end of communism in Poland and there are signs that the institution that led the struggle against the regime, the Catholic Church, is under threat in the modern democratic consumerist society.

Under communism, becoming a priest was a step up the social ladder.

But now the number of young men entering seminaries is falling, and a survey suggests that more than half of the country's serving priests would like to do away with celibacy to have a wife and family.

According to the findings of Professor Jozef Baniak, a sociologist who specialises in religion at the department of theology at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, more than 12% even admitted they were presently living in stable relationships with women.

In the land that produced the late Pope John Paul II, most churches are still full on Sundays.

But Polish society has been changing rapidly, and according to Father Wieslaw Dawidowski, an Augustinian friar in Warsaw, that is reflected in the behaviour of its priests.

"What worries me is the number of priests who are living a second life that is working as a Catholic priest which presumes to be a celibate, and at the same time having an affair with a woman," he said. >>> By Adam Easton, BBC News, Warsaw | Sunday, February 15, 2009

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Iran: La coiffeuse qui aimait les livres
L'EXPRESS: De son salon, à Téhéran, elle a fait une bibliothèque. Et un espace de liberté où, trente ans après la révolution islamique, les femmes se retrouvent et débattent.

Chez Farkhondeh Gohari, on entre sans rendez-vous. Femmes au foyer en tchador noir, adolescentes aux mèches rebelles dépassant du foulard, étudiantes sans le sou, elles sont des dizaines à se presser, chaque jour, devant sa porte. Avec une seule requête: quel livre emprunter cette semaine?

"Pour moi, ce sont toutes des soeurs. Je suis ici pour les aider, à ma façon", murmure l'hôtesse entre quelques gorgées de thé fumant - la seule récréation qu'elle s'accorde, avant d'aller classer les livres de sa bibliothèque de Shahr-e Rey, une ville populaire au sud de Téhéran.

Ce n'est pas une rebelle, Farkhondeh Gohari, dans son voile clair et son manteau informe. Rien à voir avec les pin-up du nord de la capitale, qui narguent les gardiens de la morale islamique en arborant des foulards ultracolorés. Ni avec certaines féministes qui finissent régulièrement au cachot pour avoir eu le courage de dénoncer ouvertement le régime clérical et la discrimination envers les femmes.

Pourtant, alors que la République islamique souffle ses 30 bougies, ce petit bout de femme tout en rondeurs bataille, sans bruit, pour une plus grande émancipation de ses consoeurs. Avec pour seules armes quelques livres empilés sur de modestes étagères en bois. "Il y en a pour tous les goûts: des livres de cuisine, des romans de Dostoïevski, des essais de Jean-Paul Sartre, des méthodes d'anglais, des poèmes persans. Quoi qu'on lise, la lecture libère l'esprit", dit-elle.

Voilà quinze ans déjà que, par un beau matin de mars, cette quinquagénaire au caractère bien trempé, mère de quatre enfants, a décidé, sur un coup de tête, de transformer son salon de beauté en un salon de lecture. Un pari fou couronné de succès. "Ca a commencé avec 50 livres achetés d'occasion. Aujourd'hui, j'ai une sélection de plus de 7000 ouvrages. La demande ne cesse d'augmenter", se félicite-t-elle.

Au début, c'est un peu par hasard qu'elle endosse sa mission, à cheval entre le social et l'humanitaire. "J'étais en train de coiffer une jeune mariée, se souvient-elle, lorsqu'une voisine a frappé à la porte. Elle voulait à tout prix me convaincre d'assister à un atelier sur la prévention sanitaire organisé par la municipalité." >>> Par Delphine Minoui | Samedi 14 Février 2009

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Kidnappers Threaten to Kill American Abducted in Pakistan within 72 Hours
Kidnappers threatened on Friday to kill an American employee of the United Nations within 72 hours and issued a grainy video of the blindfolded captive saying he was "sick and in trouble."

John Solecki would be killed unless authorities released 141 women the kidnappers claimed were being held in Pakistan, according to a letter accompanying the video, which was delivered to a Pakistani news agency.

The video and the demands indicated that Mr Solecki, the head of the UN refugee agency in Quetta, a city near the Afghan border, was alive and that his captors wanted to negotiate.

Mr Solecki, who appeared blindfolded and with a shawl draped over his shoulders in the 20-second clip, said his message was addressed to the United Nations.

"I am not feeling well. I am sick and in trouble. Please help solve the problem soon so that I can gain my release," he said.

The kidnappers have identified themselves as the Baluchistan Liberation United Front, suggesting a link to local separatists who have waged a long insurgency against Pakistan's government, rather than to the Taliban or al-Qaeda. >>> | Saturday, February 14, 2009

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Muslim Girl in Baptism Row Was Fleeing an Arranged Marriage
MAIL Online: The foster mother struck off for allowing a Muslim girl to convert to Christianity took the child in after she was threatened with an arranged marriage.

The woman, a devout Christian, was asked to care for the teenager after the authorities learned of her abusive family background.

Her father beat her just for chatting to boys and warned he would haul her off to Pakistan to marry against her will, a friend claimed.

But council officials were angered when the girl chose to be baptised. They insist the foster mother failed in her duty to preserve the girl's original religion.

As a result, the girl was removed and the foster mother struck off the register last November, despite having worked with children for ten years with a perfect record. >>> By Tom Kelly | Saturday, February 14, 2009

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Saudi-Arabien: Erstmals Frau in Regierung
DIE PRESSE: Nura al-Fajes wird stellvertretende Bildungsministerin. Per Dekret wurden außerdem die Spitzen der Ressorts Bildung, Justiz, Information und Gesundheit neu besetzt. >>> DiePresse.com | Samstag, 14. Februar 2009

CORRIERE DELLA SERA: Arabia Saudita, la prima donna al governo

Nominata dal re Abdullah, ha l'incarico di vice-ministro per l'Educazione femminile, figura inedita nel regno

RIAD - A Riad qualcosa di nuovo. Il re saudita Abdullah ha nominato una donna alla carica di vice ministro dell'Educazione, secondo quanto ha riportato la tv di Stato. È la prima volta: mai in passato una donna aveva fatto parte di un governo in Arabia Saudita, Paese retto da una monarchia ultraconservatrice ispirata al wahabismo. >>> | 14 febbraio 2009

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Religious Police Break Hearts in Saudi Arabia
Happy Valentine’s Day to one and all, including the religious police in Saudi Arabia, the so-called Muttawa or Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice!
ASSOCIATED PRESS: RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Just days before Valentine's Day, a young Saudi woman desperately searched for a red teddy bear to buy for her boyfriend. But all Nof Faisal could find were blue and white ones, minus the "I love you" she wanted hers to declare.

It's not because the store couldn't keep up with demand. It is because fear of the religious police forced the store's owner to strip the shelves of all red items, including the hottest-selling item: heart-festooned red plastic handcuffs inscribed, "Take me, I'm yours."

As Feb. 14 approaches, the police begin inspecting gift shops for items that are red or are intended as gifts to mark the holiday — a celebration of St. Valentine, a 3rd century Christian martyr — which is banned in Saudi Arabia. Such items are legal at other times of the year, but as Valentine's Day nears they become contraband.

At best, shops caught selling Valentine's gifts are ordered to get rid of them. Some salesmen have been detained for days.

The Valentine's Day prohibition is in line with the ascetic Wahhabi school of Islam that the kingdom follows. Marking Christian holidays is banned in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and a country where non-Muslims are banned from openly practicing their religion.

Celebrating any holidays but the two most important for Muslims — Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr_ is taboo because they are considered "religious innovations" that Islam does not sanction. Even birthdays and Mother's Day are frowned on by the religious establishment.

As Feb. 14 approaches, newspapers reprint a fatwa or religious edict issued by scholars a few years ago, declaring "eid al-hob," Arabic for the feast of love, a "Christian, pagan feast" that Muslims should not celebrate. Teachers remind students they must not mark the festival, and girls are warned against wearing anything red. >>> AP | Friday, February 13, 2009

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Saint Valentin: distribution gratuite de "sex toys" à Paris

INSOLITE | Célibataires, jeunes couples, groupes de promeneurs: une distribution gratuite de "sex toys" organisée samedi dans le centre de Paris pour la Saint Valentin, a suscité une vive curiosité, quelques sourires gênés et beaucoup de rires.

"J'ai eu un vibromasseur et des boules de geisha" raconte, ravie, Leila, étudiante de 21 ans. "Je suis super contente. Je suis célibataire, ça me console... Et puis ça coûte super cher ces petits trucs en plastique !" >>> AFP | Samedi 14 Février 2009

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Pat Condell: Freedom Go to Hell!

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