New Dark Age Alert! Afghanistan und Pakistan: Wenn wir nicht zum Krieg gehen, kommt er zu uns
WELT ONLINE: Es wäre eine weltweite Apokalypse: Atomwaffen in der Hand von Osama bin Laden. Das zeigt, dass es in Afghanistan und Pakistan für den Westen um alles geht. Dort entscheidet sich in diesen Monaten, ob die Islamisten die Erde erben oder ob der Weltentwurf des Westens noch eine Chance hat.

Die Situation in Afghanistan und Pakistan zeigt dem Westen die Grenzen seiner Macht. Bild dank der Welt
Was als Blitzkrieg begann in den Bergen Afghanistans, Antwort auf die Zerstörung des World Trade Center in New York, ist zum Abnutzungskrieg geworden und reicht weit über das Land am Hindukusch hinaus. Deutschland kann sich dem nicht entziehen. Das neue Codewort der Obama-Strategie in Südasien heißt AfPak. Es zeigt an, dass der Afghanistan-Konflikt bei genauer Betrachtung aus vier Kriegen jeweils verschiedener Art besteht. Sie verschließen sich einfachen Lösungen, sind indessen für die Sicherheit der USA und der Alliierten, eingeschlossen Deutschland, entscheidend.

Da ist zuerst der Krieg in Afghanistan, wo die Isaf-Truppen noch immer hinreichend Unterstützung finden in der Bevölkerung, die allerdings ethnisch zerklüftet und zerrissen ist, der eigenen Regierung nicht traut und überleben will, notfalls durch Geschäfte mit beiden Seiten. Dahinter erstreckt sich der Grenzkonflikt in den unwegsamen, unregierbaren Regionen Westpakistans, wo die al-Qaida ihre Sanktuarien findet und die Amerikaner nicht kämpfen dürfen, die Pakistaner kaum können.

Damit verbunden ist, drittens, der Kampf auf Leben und Tod in Pakistan zwischen den Dschihadisten und einer schwachen Regierung, die Armee und Geheimdiensten kaum trauen kann. Zuletzt und vor allem geht es um den Kampf der USA an der Hightech-Front gegen die al-Qaida und deren gewalttätige Verbündete. Der Schlüssel liegt weiterhin in der Frage, wem Afghanistan gehört. Dort entscheidet sich in diesen Monaten, ob die Islamisten die Erde erben oder ob der Weltentwurf des Westens noch eine Chance hat.

„Graveyard of Empires“ (Totenacker der Imperien) nannten die Briten das unwegsame Land, als sie noch über Indien herrschten und den Khyberpass gegen die Russen behaupteten. Den Russen wurde Afghanistan zum Trauma, vor 30 Jahren Anfang vom Ende ihres Imperiums. Gegenwärtig entscheidet sich die Zukunft Pakistans in Afghanistan, die Zukunft Afghanistans in Pakistan. Für Amerika und die Verbündeten geht es um den höchsten Einsatz im zentralen Krieg des neuen Zeitalters. Damit verbunden ist der Preis aller Preise: etwa 60 nukleare Gefechtsköpfe, gegenwärtig noch unter verlässlicher Kontrolle der pakistanischen Armee – aber wie lang? In der Hand Osama Bin Ladens und seiner Leute würde daraus das Instrument der weltweiten Apokalypse. >>> Von Michael Stürmer | Sonntag, 10. Mai 2009

Sarkozy et Merkel relancent 
le couple franco-allemand
LE FIGARO: La chancelière allemande avait invité dimanche le président français à un meeting de la CDU, à Berlin, pour marquer la bonne entente entre les deux pays.

Nicolas Sarkozy, accompagné de Rachida Dati et Brice Hortefeux, lors du meeting commun avec Angela Merkel, dimanche à Berlin. Photo grâce au Figaro
Parfois soupçonné, outre-Rhin, de tiédeur à l'égard de l'Allemagne, Nicolas Sarkozy s'est livré à une offensive de charme à Berlin. Venu participer, dimanche, à un meeting commun avec Angela Merkel pour le scrutin européen du 7 juin, le président français a su trouver les mots pour témoigner de son amitié à la République fédérale, qui fête son soixantième anniversaire le 22 mai. Devant les jeunes de la CDU, le parti chrétien-démocrate de la chancelière allemande, il a défendu sa vision d'une «Europe qui agit» en soulignant l'importance de l'axe Paris-Berlin pour faire avancer les choses.

À leur arrivée, pour le premier meeting commun de deux dirigeants dans une campagne européenne, Merkel et Sarkozy ont été longuement ovationnés. Pour le président français, l'amitié entre la France et l'Allemagne est «le trésor le plus précieux pour l'Europe et le monde entier». «La France vous aime, la France vous admire, la France est votre amie, a-t-il lancé aux jeunes conservateurs allemands, rassemblés sur la Potsdammer Platz. La France ne vous craint pas. Elle veut vous ressembler dans l'excellence.» Interrogé par le quotidien populaire Bild, Sarkozy avait expliqué, dimanche, les raisons de son attachement à l'Allemagne, donnant ainsi de lui une image plus chaleureuse. >>> De correspondant du Figaro à Berlin, Patrick Saint-Paul | Lundi 11 Mai 2009

L’ÉDITORIAL DU FIGARO: Un couple franco-allemand en devenir

Après avoir eu longtemps du mal à se comprendre, Nicolas Sarkozy et Angela Merkel multiplient les gestes qui montrent que la France et l'Allemagne sont décidées à travailler ensemble.

Le meeting organisé hier soir à Berlin en vue des élections européennes était l'un de ces gestes. Le dîner en tête-à-tête qui a suivi, également.

Nicolas Sarkozy n'aime pas perdre son temps dans d'inutiles apparitions à l'étranger. S'il s'est prêté à cette réunion électorale à deux, qui sera suivie d'une autre, en France à la fin du mois, c'est parce qu'il a compris que rien en Europe ne pouvait se faire sans l'Allemagne.

La démarche est la même que celle de ses prédécesseurs. Depuis de Gaulle et Adenauer jusqu'à Chirac et Schröder, en passant par Giscard et Schmidt ou Mitterrand et Kohl, chacun des grands « couples » franco-allemands a connu des débuts difficiles avant de symboliser l'entente retrouvée et de porter la construction européenne.

En Allemagne, la personnalité de Nicolas Sarkozy intrigue. La manière dont il a mené la présidence française de l'Union européenne, au dernier semestre de l'an dernier, a séduit bien des hésitants.

Son volontarisme, sa détermination à obtenir des résultats sont des qualités appréciées outre-Rhin. Tous ceux qui trouvaient la chancelière un peu hésitante face à la crise y ont vu un aiguillon salvateur. Du coup, Nicolas Sarkozy est fondé à se faire l'avocat d'une Europe « qui agit » grâce à la coopération franco-allemande. Et Angela Merkel sort avantagée de son association avec le président de la République. >>> De Pierre Rousselin | Lundi 11 Mai 2009

The Warlords Casting a Shadow over Afghanistan
THE INDEPENDENT: They are brutal, bloodthirsty – and becoming increasingly influential in Afghan politics.

Gulbuddin Hekmetyar, Faryadi Zardad and Mohammad Qasim Fahim. Photo courtesy of The Independent
One of the most feared of the Afghan warlords, Faryadi Zardad, was notorious for robbing, raping, torturing and killing travellers on the road between Kabul and Jalalabad. He kept a savage assistant in a cave who would bite and rip the flesh of his victims; other captives were murdered or imprisoned until they died of their sufferings or bribes were paid for their release.

Uniquely among the warlords of Afghanistan, many guilty of actions similar to his own, Zardad is in prison for his crimes. In 1998, as the Taliban overran Afghanistan, he fled to Britain on a fake passport. He was running a pizza restaurant in south London in 2000 when he was unmasked by the BBC, and in 2005 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Britain.

Zardad must consider himself exceptionally unlucky. Other warlords, who were once his comrades in arms, are now part of the political elite in Kabul, prominent members of the government or multimillionaire owners of palatial houses in the capital.

At the time Zardad was torturing and killing at his much-feared checkpoint at Sarobi on the Kabul-Kandahar road in 1992-96, he was a valued military commander in the forces of Gulbuddin Hekmetyar, the leader of the fundamentalist Hizb-e-Islami party.

Rockets and shells fired into Kabul by Hekmetyar's soldiers devastated the city and killed thousands of people before it was captured by the Taliban. More recently, Hekmetyar's forces, who are particularly strong in Logar province just south of the capital, have been fighting as allies of the Taliban.

But in the latest twist in Afghan politics, in which leaders switch sides and betray each other as swiftly as any English duke in the Wars of the Roses, Hekmetyar is reportedly about to start negotiations to join the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai. Under a power-sharing deal, his party would supposedly fill several ministerial posts and governorships in return for abandoning the Taliban. He himself would go into exile in Saudi Arabia for three years at the end of which the US would remove him from its list of "most wanted" terrorists. >>> By Patrick Cockburn | Monday, May 11, 2009

Melanie Phillips: Our Democracy's Going Down the Plughole with the Home Secretary's Dirty Bathwater
Luton South MP Margaret Moran claimed £22,500 of taxpayers' money for treating dry rot in a house in Southampton, many miles from her constituency or Westminster. Photo courtesy of MailOnline
MAIL Online: They still just don't get it, do they. With details continuing to pour out about the epic abuse of Parliamentary expenses, MPs are displaying about as much ethical sensibility as the lumps of meat they have charred on their ill-gotten barbecues.

The details and scale of what they were up to are beyond belief.

'Flipping' the designation of their main and second homes to manipulate the expenses system to their advantage and to avoid paying various taxes.

Claiming help with mortgage payments for houses that were already paid for.

Getting the taxpayer to reimburse them for eyeliner, plastic bags, nappies, mock Tudor beams, Maltesers, nail polish, plasma TVs, Christmas tree decorations, horse manure, bath plugs; and on and surreally on.

Yet in the face of such baroque dishonesty, MPs claim that the real villain is the media for publishing the leaked details. So they've set the police on to probing the disclosures. But if the police should be investigating anyone, it's surely the MPs themselves.

Outrageous

Not, it seems, in the parallel universe of Westminster. According to MPs, none of them has behaved immorally. Not one. None of them should be censured or lose the party whip, let alone be prosecuted.

Instead, utterly deaf to the mounting public fury this is causing, they are coming up with one excuse after another.

Apparently, something called 'the system' - which, it seems, has nothing to do with them - is to blame. But the 'system' is simply what the MPs themselves devised.

Like sheep, they all went along with these scams, so that's supposed to make them all right. 'It wasn't my fault, m'lud, that I claimed for a barbecue - it was the system.' Sounds awfully like 'I was only obeying orders' in another era.

In a kind of spivs' chorus, they whine in unison that it was all 'within the rules'. But rules can be manipulated for corrupt or otherwise indefensible ends.

Luton South MP Margaret Moran claimed £22,500 of taxpayers' money for treating dry rot in a house in Southampton, many miles from her constituency or Westminster. She justifies this on the outrageous grounds that her partner works in Southampton and it is 'her right' to have a family life with him.

Her right?

Other people cope with this kind of messy situation every day, paying for it out of their own pocket. Why should Ms Moran imagine it is her right to be paid for doing the same thing? >>> Melanie Phillips | Monday, May 11, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: Alan Duncan Claimed Thousands for Gardening: MPs' Expenses

Alan Duncan, the senior Conservative MP who oversees the party’s policy on MPs’ expenses, claimed thousands of pounds for his garden – but stopped after agreeing with the fees office that his expenditure “could be considered excessive”.


Mr Duncan’s gardening claims raise serious questions about whether expenses by some MPs can be justified as entirely necessary for their parliamentary work. In a three-year period, he recouped more than £4,000. He has not been asked to repay the money despite later concerns over the garden claims.

The bill for £3,194 for gardening in March 2007 was not paid by the fees office, which wrote to Mr Duncan suggesting that the claim might not be “within the spirit” of the rules.

However, by then the multi-millionaire MP for Rutland and Melton had claimed £4,000 of gardening costs that were approved. In a letter to the MP, the office said that it expected gardening costs “to cover only basic essentials such as grass cutting”. Mr Duncan submitted receipts showing that his gardener was being paid £6 an hour for up to 16 hours a week in grounds of less than an acre.

In March 2007, Mr Duncan claimed £598 to overhaul a ride-on lawn-mower and then a further £41 to fix a puncture a month later.

Mr Duncan also claimed £1,400 a month for his mortgage interest on his home in Rutland. He bought the large detached house without taking out a mortgage on the property itself in January 1992, shortly before he was elected to parliament.

However, it was not until January 2004 that a mortgage was secured against the property. >>> By Holly Watt | Sunday, May 10, 2009

THE SPECTATOR: A Parliament of Thieves

Like any sensible person I've been thoroughly amused and appalled by the scandal of MPs expenses. Appalled because the extent of MPs' avarice is sufficient to shock even an iron-souled cynic; amused because watching MPs try to justify their gluttonous appetite for taxpayer-funded freebies affords a certain pleasure that one might consider vindictive if only it weren't so entirely merited. This isn't a tragedy, it's a stinking farce.

The dreary pretense - duly repeated by every sticky-fingered parliamentarian - that it is all ok because "no rules were broken" could hardly be more priceless. Nor could it do more to underline the essential fact that these people are fools who in turn treat the public as though they are fools themselves. Only the blindest dolt would think that boasting of obeying the rules might minimise the public's entirely-justified sense of outrage (a wrath that is, I suspect, under-appreciated at Westminster and in the media) when it is the laxness of the rules themselves that occasions so much incredulity and anger.

For it is now clear, if it weren't before, that we are governed by a parliament of thieves for whom no expense is too small or too trivial to be borne by the taxpayer. These knaves and charlatans are strangers to shame and decency. Astonishingly, they make journalists and estate agents seem paragons of probity by comparison. Who'd have thunk that possible? >>> Alex Massie | Monday, May 11, 2009

Opinion – Boris Johnson: Michael Savage Poses No Risk to British Security So Why Won't MPs Say So?
THE TELEGRAPH: It is shocking that not a single MP has stood up to defend free speech, says Boris Johnson.

About 10 years ago my brother-in-law was giving me a lift through the early morning Washington traffic when he suddenly gave a whoop of joy. "It's Howie!" yelled Ivo, turning up the radio. "We gotta listen to Howie!" And it was with mounting disbelief that I listened to the next 20 minutes of the Howard Stern show, a shameless and cynical attempt to scandalise the ear.

That morning Howard was appealing to his listeners to ring in with the most tear-jerking hard-luck story. In return he was offering a nude massage at the hands of an attractive nude masseuse. In a display of Oprah Winfreyesque exhibitionism, the audience was competing for that massage. We heard of divorces, and bereavements, and embarrassing disfigurements. But the winner (I advise sensitive readers to faint now) was a man who rang in to say that he had just been diagnosed with cancer, and might lose his gonads, but had not yet had the courage to tell his girlfriend.

Howard Stern pounced. "What's her number?" he said. With lightning efficiency his producers patched the caller through to his girlfriend, and soon she was being told – live on air – that there was good news and bad news.

The bad news was that her boyfriend had cancer, and the good news was that he was the winner of a nude massage. The poor woman gasped and sobbed. I sat there in exactly the state desired by the producers of the Howard Stern show – appalled, disgusted, but also thrilled by the horror of what was apparently (and I stress apparently) taking place on the radio.

We just don't have shows like this in Britain, I said to Ivo. That's right, he said, and he told me about the shock jocks. He explained the tactics of men such as Stern and Rush Limbaugh, how they shamelessly chased after ratings by causing outrage, how they goosed the secret prejudices of their listeners. Some people tuned in because they actually agreed with what was being said. Most people just enjoyed the theatre, the vehemence, the provocation.

These shock jocks were national institutions, with millions of weekly listeners. They were a new and important part of the American constitution, and that is my first objection to the utterly demented decision by Jacqui Smith's Home Office to announce that Michael Savage, America's third most popular radio show host, is banned from entering this country. It just makes us look so infantile, so pathetic. >>> By Boris Johnson | Monday, May 11, 2009

Kuwaiti Islamist: Homosexuals Should Be Tortured in Public Squares

Tampons, Barbecue Sets, and Bathrobes
THE TELEGRAPH: Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has condemned the "culture of abuse" surrounding MPs' expenses, warning that respect for parliament has reached a new low.

Lord Carey: 'clawing greed' of MPs. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
He said The Telegraph's revelations about the extent to which MPs of all parties have exploited the Westminster system of allowances and expenses had shown the "clawing greed" of MPs.

"The moral authority of Parliament is at its lowest ebb in living memory," Lord Carey wrote in the News of the World. "The latest revelations show it was not just a few MPs with their noses in the trough, but a culture of abuse."

The former archbishop is the latest independent figure to question the morality of MPs' expenses claims.

Sir Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, has accused politicians of a "failure of moral leadership". Martin Bell, the former independent MP, has attacked "scandals of shamelessness".

"It is not just the clawing greed of painstaking claims for such minor items as tampons, barbecue sets and bathrobes, but also the egregious way some have transferred allowances from one second property to another – enabling them to refurbish homes at public expense, then sell them for profit," Lord Carey added, referring to practices that have been revealed by the Telegraph in recent days. MPs' Expenses: Lord Carey, Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Condemns 'Culture of Abuse' >>> By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent | Sunday, May 10, 2009

Pope Visits Christ 'Baptism Site'
BBC: Pope Benedict XVI has visited the reputed site of the baptism of Jesus Christ in Jordan, on the third day of his Middle East tour.

The Pope arrived in a motorcade of electric vehicles to the site at Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan.

Earlier, the Pope held Mass for thousands of people at a football stadium in the Jordanian capital Amman.

Jordan's 200,000 Roman Catholics, and other Christians, were given a special holiday to enable them to attend.

The Pope was accompanied to the alleged baptismal site by King Abdullah of Jordan and his wife Queen Rania. He blessed the cornerstones of two churches on the site.

'Courage of conviction'

But the BBC's David Willey, travelling with the Pope, said the 20,000-seat stadium was not completely full.

Our correspondent says the situation for the dwindling Catholic minority in the Middle East has worsened considerably since the last Papal visit to Jordan nine years ago.

He says many Catholic families have emigrated. >>> David Willey | Sunday, May 10, 2009

Watch BBC video: The Pope addressed the issue of a region divided by conflict >>>

Israel Prepares Red Carpet Welcome for Pope Benedict XVI
HAARETZ: Israel is planning the visit by Pope Benedict XVI down to the last detail, even holding dress rehearsal Sunday to prepare for the pontiff's arrival at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Monday.

The rehearsal, orchestrated by the Israel Airports Authority, will involve all the relevant bodies, a red carpet, an honor guard and the Israel Defense Forces Orchestra.

The pope is scheduled to take off for Israel on a special Royal Jordanian flight from Amman at 10:30 A.M. Monday, and will arrive at Ben-Gurion about 45 minutes later.

The vice president of Royal Jordanian, Hussein Dabbas, who is in charge of the company's Israel office, will accompany the pope on the fight.

In addition to the pope's 40-person entourage, some 70 journalists will also be on the flight.

President Shimon Peres and senior government officials will be at the official welcome ceremony.

The Shin Bet security service's VIP protection unit is responsible for the immediate security for the pope and for the top officials present to welcome him.

From Ben-Gurion, Benedict will be flown by Israel Air Force helicopter to the helipad on Mount Scopus, to avoid closing the Tel Avic-Jerusalem road with a papal motorcade.

Benedict XVI will stay at the papal nuncio's residence on the Mount of Olives. >>> By Zohar Blumenkrantz and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondents and Agencies | Sunday, May 10, 2009

'No Jews' Policy Employed at Austria Hotel
HAARETZ: A hotel in the Austrian region of Tyrol that said it does not accept Jewish guests has caused shock in the local media and tourism industry, the daily Tiroler Tageszeitung reported Sunday.

A Vienna family of seven had had tried to make a reservation at the Haus Sonnenhof apartment hotel in the village of Serfaus, but the owner replied by e-mail that although the room was free, she did not want to take in Jewish guests because of "bad experiences" in the past. >>> By DPA | Sunday, May 10, 2009

Obama promette: "In Egitto un nuovo passo verso l'Islam"
LASTAMPA.it: Ma i Fratelli Musulmani minacciano: vuole ingannare gli arabi

Barack Obama sceglie l’Egitto per compiere un «nuovo passo verso l’Islam» ma dal Cairo i Fratelli musulmani lo accusano di preparare «un inganno per dividere la nazione araba». Il 4 giugno il presidente americano inizierà con un «discorso all’Islam» il viaggio che lo porterà nell’ex lager di Buchenwald, a Dresda e sulle spiagge della Normandia in un percorso studiato per sottolineare i valori che più ha a cuore in coincidenza con il 65° anniversario dello sbarco alleato che diede inizio alla liberazione dell’Europa dal nazifascismo. Aver inserito il «braccio teso verso l’Islam» in questo itinerario significa per Obama voler ribadire che «una delle sue missioni da presidente è il dialogo con i musulmani» come suggerisce il portavoce Robert Gibbs ricordando quanto disse nel giorno dell’insediamento, l’intervista ad Al Arabiya e il recente discorso ad Ankara sull’America «non in guerra con l’Islam». >>> Maurizio Molinari | Domenica, 10 maggio 2009

Taliban-Style Justice Stirs Growing Anger
THE WASHINGTON POST: Sharia Being Perverted*, Pakistanis Say

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 9 -- When black-turbaned Taliban fighters demanded in January that Islamic sharia law be imposed in Pakistan's Swat Valley, few alarm bells went off in this Muslim nation of about 170 million.

Sharia, after all, is the legal framework that guides the lives of all Muslims.

Officials said people in Swat were fed up with the slow and corrupt state courts, scholars said the sharia system would bring swift justice, and commentators said critics in the West had no right to interfere.

Today, with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Swat and Pakistani troops launching an offensive to drive out the Taliban forces, the pendulum of public opinion has swung dramatically. The threat of "Talibanization" is being denounced in Parliament and on opinion pages, and the original defenders of an agreement that authorized sharia in Swat are in sheepish retreat.

The refugees are the "victims of ignorant cavemen masquerading as fighters of Islam," columnist Shafqat Mahmood charged in the News International newspaper Friday. He said that the "barbarian horde" that invaded Swat never intended to implement a sharia-based judicial system and that they just used it as cover. "This is a fight for power, not Islam," he wrote. >>> By Pamela Constable | Sunday, May 10, 2009

*Not so perverted! The Taliban are merely following the straight path (of Allah) – as-Sirat al-Mustaqim! – Mark

Jordan: The Pope’s Sunday Homily
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Radio Vaticana has published an English version of the homily given by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday morning in Amman, Jordan. He addressed a crowd of 20,000 during an open-air mass at a sports stadium. Today is his last day in Jordan.

"Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I rejoice that we are able to celebrate this Eucharist together at the beginning of my Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Yesterday, from the heights of Mount Nebo, I stood and looked out upon this great land, the land of Moses, Elijah, and John the Baptist, the land where God’s ancient promises were fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah, Jesus our Lord. This land witnessed his preaching and miracles, his death and resurrection, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, the sacrament of a reconciled and renewed humanity. As I pondered the mystery of God’s fidelity, I prayed that the Church in these lands would be confirmed in hope and strengthened in her witness to the Risen Christ, the Savior of mankind. Truly, as Saint Peter tells us in today’s first reading, “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Today’s joyful celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice expresses the rich diversity of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land. I greet all of you with affection in the Lord. I thank His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, for his kind words of welcome. With respect and gratitude I likewise greet His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi Bin Mohammad, who represents the King of Jordan, and I thank him for his presence in our midst. My greeting goes also to the many young people from Catholic schools who today bring their enthusiasm to this Eucharistic celebration. >>> Jessica Roy, Los Angeles Times | Sunday, May 10, 2009

Berlusconi's Anti-immigration Comments Spur Outcry
THE WASHINGTON POST: ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's open rejection of the vision of a multi-ethnic Italy sparked sharp debate Sunday, winning praise from far-right allies and accusations of racism from the left.

Berlusconi's conservative government has won public favor by cracking down on illegal immigration, allowing the premier to go a step further as he defended Saturday a new policy to deport migrants to Libya before they arrive on Italian shores.

"The left's idea is of a multi-ethnic Italy," Berlusconi told a news conference. "That's not our idea, ours is to welcome only those who meet the conditions for political asylum."

Long a country of emigrants, Italy in recent years has been grappling with an influx of poor African migrants arriving on its shores and Eastern Europeans seeking work, sparking fears over crime and a loss of national identity.

Opposition lawmakers denounced the premier's comments as racist and told him to accept Italy would inevitably become multi-cultural whether Italians liked it or not. >>> By Deepa Babington, Reuters | Sunday, May 10, 2009

Pope Disappoints Muslim Leaders
AFP: AMMAN — Pope Benedict XVI urged inter-faith reconciliation on the second day of a Holy Land tour but disappointed Muslim clerics by failing to offer a new apology for remarks seen as targeting Islam.

The pontiff in a keynote address to Muslim leaders in Amman's huge Al-Hussein Mosque bemoaned "ideological manipulation of religion" and urged Muslims and Christians to unite as "worshippers of God."

"Certainly, the contradiction of tensions and divisions between the followers of different religious traditions, sadly, cannot be denied," the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics told his audience.

"However, is it not also the case that often it is the ideological manipulation of religion, sometimes for political ends, that is the real catalyst for tension and division, and at times even violence in society?"

Some clerics expressed disappointment however that the pontiff in his wide-ranging speech had made no new apology for a 2006 address in which he quoted a medieval Christian emperor who criticised some teachings of the Prophet Mohammed as "evil and inhuman." >>> Copyright © 2009 AFP | Saturday, May 9, 2009

Foster to Ease Mecca Pilgrims’ Progress
THE SUNDAY TIMES: A new look for Islam’s holiest city - with hotels, flats and fast trains - has been likened to a ‘mini Dubai’

THE mountain is to move for Muhammad. Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid are involved in plans to transform the landscape around Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, to make way for a high-rise metropolis complete with high-speed rail link for pilgrims.

Architectural designs being considered by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia could see the mosque at the heart of the city expanded fivefold to hold 5m worshippers in one go.

However, much of the land around the historic site, including ancient mountains, is likely to be flattened to accommodate seven-star hotels and towering blocks of luxury flats.

Critics believe the 20-year redevelopment programme will turn Mecca into a “mini Dubai”, the Middle Eastern emirate that has become a byword for consumerism.

Hadid, the Iraqi-born architect who has designed the aquatics centre for the London 2012 Olympics, is believed to have submitted proposals to extend Mecca’s Haram mosque. At its centre lies the Kaaba, the black cube-shaped building which all Muslims face in prayer five times a day.

Although Hadid’s plans remain secret, she has previously produced bold designs for other mosque projects, including one in Strasbourg which featured a sweeping roof inspired by Islamic calligraphy.

Hadid is also thought to be involved in redesigning part of Mecca’s central district, which already boasts a Starbucks and chain stores such as Topshop. >>> Chris Gourlay | Sunday, May 10, 2009

Shock Jocks: Tuning in to Radio GaGa
THE SUNDAY TIMES: As one US shock jock is banned from Britain, Giles Hattersley* asks why millions love to listen to the ranterati

Last week Jacqui Smith forgot the first rule of dealing with shock jocks: never take the bait. On Tuesday the home secretary unveiled 16 names from a list of 22 undesirables the government has recently banned from entering the UK: Ku Klux Klan members, Russian skinheads, religious extremists . . . and Michael Savage, a 67-year-old American radio presenter with a dog called Teddy who can bark the tune of Jingle Bells.

Now, Savage (born Michael Alan Weiner) isn’t some lonely nutcase with a ham radio ranting about Hitler, but America’s third most popular chat show host with 8.5m weekly listeners. Think of an American Nicky Campbell — with a gun, a temper and some highly contentious views on immigration.

Take this gem from The Savage Nation, his nationally syndicated show, last summer: “The illness du jour is autism,” Savage fumed. “You know what autism is? In 99% of the cases, it’s a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out. They don’t have a father around to tell them, ‘Don’t act like a moron. You’ll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don’t sit there crying and screaming, you idiot’.”

Or this on Muslims: “I said, ‘So kill 100m of them, then there would be 900m of them.’ What is it gonna take for you people to wake up? Would you rather we disappear or we die? Or would you rather they disappear and they die? Because you’re gonna have to make that choice sooner rather than later.”

Savage has also said the victims of the 2004 tsunami deserved it for harbouring terrorists, that children’s minds are “being raped by the homosexual mafia” and that a caller who mocked his teeth “should only get Aids and die, you pig”.

These soundbites were enough for Smith to label him as “someone who has fallen into the category of fomenting hatred, of such extreme views and expressing them in such a way that it is actually likely to cause inter-community tension or even violence if that person were allowed into the country”.

And then . . . what? Did she imagine that would be that? If so, she didn’t know her man. In full spit-fleck mode, Savage took to the airwaves later that day to call the home secretary a “witch” and a “lunatic”, adding if she didn’t remove him from the list he would sue for defamation. Since he hasn’t committed any crime, he might have a case. >>> Giles Hattersley* | Sunday, May 10, 2009

*The opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of the writer of the article, Giles Hattersley. They are his opinions, and his alone.

The Dalai Lama Shows No Understanding of Islam! His Holiness Had Better Stick to Tibetan Buddhism!
Photo of the Dalai Lama courtesy of The Boston Globe
THE BOSTON GLOBE: This is a scene that immediately captured my imagination: Last week, in the preacher's room at Memorial Church in Cambridge, the Dalai Lama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his advocacy of nonviolence, turned to one of Harvard's leading scholars of Islam and asked him about the meaning of jihad.

The 73-year-old Dalai Lama had been to Harvard multiple times, and on a couple of occasions had met William A. Graham, a noted Koranic scholar who for the last several years has been the dean of Harvard Divinity School. The Dalai Lama, preparing to give his speech about the teaching of compassion, was apparently thinking about the role of a divinity school at an institution like Harvard when he turned to Graham and asked him about Islam.

"We were simply talking about the virtues of doing comparative religion studies, which he believes in, and he said so many things are misunderstood, like jihad," Graham told me a few days later by phone. "He said he was thinking about the differences between greater and lesser jihad in Muslim jurisprudence. He had a few things to say about it - I didn't get much of a chance to respond to anything - but he's quite correct that the word 'jihad' has been misused. Any traditionalist who knows his Islamic law knows that jihad is fundamentally defensive." Dalai Lama Asserts that Compassion Is Emphasized by Islam >>> By Michael Paulson | Sunday, May 10, 2009

Official Website of the Dalai Lama >>>

Gay Rights in Lebanon Gain Traction
Gay Pride flag: Google Images
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: BEIRUT -- In the Arab world, where several nations have seen killings of gay men in recent months, it can be startling to see a rainbow flag unfurled in public.

But the region's only overt gay rights organization, based in Lebanon, says it is slowly making progress in preventing discrimination and violence.

Now the group, Helem, is preparing for a campaign to overturn the law that makes homosexuality illegal.

In a dramatic step, Helem organized what may have been the only gay rights protest in the Arab world. In February, nearly two dozen gays and lesbians waved rainbow flags in a downtown Beirut square, carrying banners demanding homosexual rights.

They protested what they said was the beating of two gay men by police.

It has been several years since a man was thrown in prison for being gay, said Helem activist Charbel Maydaa. But Lebanon's Article 534, which prohibits having sexual relations that "contradict the laws of nature," remains a threat.

"One of the major problems we face is that some parents threaten their gay children with article 534," he said.

Helem is treading carefully. The group, founded in 2004, is talking with legal experts on how to approach lawmakers and lobby to have Article 534 abolished. Helem members would not comment on how they intend to carry out the campaign.

It's a delicate process, given the deep-seated taboo in Arab countries against even discussing homosexuality. Everyone from religious leaders to family members condemn homosexuality. Human rights groups in other countries, like Egypt, often avoid dealing with issues touching on persecution of gays and lesbians. >>> © Associated Press | Sunday, May 10, 2009

Iran Court Hears Reporter Appeal
BBC: A court in Iran is hearing an appeal from jailed US-Iranian reporter Roxana Saberi, two days earlier than originally expected.

Photo: Google Images
Ms Saberi's lawyer said it was not clear when a ruling would be announced, but that he was optimistic that the 32-year-old would be acquitted.

Ms Saberi was convicted of spying for the US - a charge she denied.

The case sparked international concern and US President Barack Obama has appealed on her behalf.

Appeal process

Unlike her original trial, the legal process this time has been arranged to appear fair and open, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran.

While Sunday's hearing is still not open to the public, Ms Saberi's appeal is being heard before a panel of three judges, and representatives of the Iranian Bar Association are being allowed to attend.

Her lawyer has also been given plenty of notice.

Abdolsamad Khorramshahi said he had submitted 15 pages of documents in support of the appeal for Roxana Saberi .

"I am optimistic she will be acquitted," he said. >>> | Sunday, May 10, 2009