Burka-Verbot: Viel Lärm um nichts?
DIE PRESSE: Studie relativiert die Debatte: Nur 400 Frauen verschleiern sich in Frankreich völlig. Die UMP warnt vor der Tendenz der Statistik.

PARIS. Seit Wochen diskutieren französische Parlamentarier, ob die völlige Verschleierung muslimischer Frauen in Frankreich verboten werden soll. Sogar eine parlamentarische Kommission wurde eingesetzt, um gesetzliche Maßnahmen gegen das Tragen von Burka und Niqab zu prüfen.

Nun liefert das Innenministerium mit der Publikation einer Zahl, welche die meisten überrascht, zusätzliche Nahrung für die Debatte. Einer bezüglich der Methodik nicht genauer beschriebenen Zählung des (normalerweise dank Nachrichtendienste gut informierten) Ministeriums nach gebe es heute in Frankreich genau 367 Frauen, die sich durch Burka oder Niqab völlig verschleiern.

In der Mehrzahl soll es sich um jüngere Frauen handeln, die kürzlich zum Islam konvertierten oder mit ihrem Auftreten provozieren wollten. Wenn es also im ganzen Land weniger als 400 sind, werde womöglich mit der ausgiebig in den in- und ausländischen Medien kommentierten Debatte doch viel Lärm um (fast) nichts gemacht, geben nun einige Zeitungen zu bedenken. Auch der Rektor der Großen Moschee von Paris, Dalil Boubakeur, meint, die laut Behörden wirklich geringe Zahl von Burkas beweise nur, dass kein Anlass bestehe, eine landesweite Debatte zu dieser Frage zu lancieren. >>> Rudolf Balmer, DiePresse | Donnerstag, 30. Juli 2009

LE MONDE: La loi et la burqa

Le phénomène est si marginal que la direction centrale du renseignement intérieur (DCRI) s'est risquée - au risque de faire sourire - à l'évaluer à l'unité près : selon sa note en date du 8 juillet, dont Le Monde a eu connaissance, 367 femmes en France - soit, en moyenne, une sur près de 90 000 - porteraient la burqa ou le niqab, ce vêtement long et sombre qui voile entièrement le corps et le visage de certaines musulmanes.

Sans le chiffrer aussi précisément, la sous-direction de l'information générale (SDRI) confirme, dans une note rédigée une semaine plus tôt, qu'il s'agit là d'un "phénomène ultraminoritaire".

Ces deux premières évaluations officielles viennent éclairer d'un jour nouveau le débat qui a brusquement surgi dans notre pays, au printemps, après que 65 députés de droite et de gauche eurent envisagé de créer une commission d'enquête sur ce sujet. Voire de légiférer. Séance tenante, chacun a été invité à décider de l'opportunité d'interdire un phénomène dont personne ne connaissait l'ampleur. Evitant de se prononcer sur ce point, Nicolas Sarkozy s'est quand même senti obligé d'évoquer la question lors de son discours devant le Congrès, le 22 juin. "Je veux le dire solennellement : la burqa n'est pas la bienvenue sur le territoire de la République française", avait alors déclaré le chef de l'Etat, tout en précisant qu'il ne s'agissait pas là d'un "problème religieux". >>> | Mercredi 29 Juillet 2009

Les Iraniens osent contester la suprématie de Khamenei
Un expatrié iranien brandit des caricatures de l'ayatollah Khamenei et de Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, lors d'une manifestation organisée à Tokyo, le 25 juillet dernier. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Traditionnellement épargné, le numéro un du pouvoir se retrouve sous un déluge de critiques. Inédit, ce mécontentement affiché reflète la crise de légitimité d'un système qui a maintenu Ahmadinejad à sa tête envers et contre tout.

Le massage se lit entre les lignes. Mais il est sans concession. Dans les pages du journal Aftab, le «guide de la révolution islamique» n'est plus «suprême ». Cela fait presque deux semaines, déjà, que le quotidien réformiste écorche discrètement le titre d'Ali Khamenei, numéro un du régime, en omettant volontairement d'ajouter cet adjectif sacré - et obligatoire. Si l'affront est passible de sévères représailles, le mur de la peur est tombé. «Khamenei se pensait intouchable. Depuis le début de la crise postélectorale, sa légitimité n'a jamais été autant contestée», relève un journaliste iranien.

L'élection du 12 juin dernier a changé la donne. En soutenant explicitement Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, dont l'élection reste vivement contestée, Ali Khamenei a perdu son traditionnel statut d'arbitre. «Pendant vingt ans, il a cultivé une image de guide magnanime, qui reste au-dessus des querelles politiques. Cette fois-ci, il a choisi ouvertement son clan», analyse Karim Sadjadpour, spécialiste de l'Iran à la Fondation Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Quand il hérite du pouvoir suprême, à la mort de l'imam Khomeyni, père de la révolution islamique, en 1989, Ali Khamenei ne dispose ni du charisme, ni du prestige de son prédécesseur. Simple hodjatoleslam (clerc de rang intermédiaire dans la hiérarchie religieuse), il est précipitamment promu ayatollah - un titre indispensable à sa nomination - avant d'accéder au poste le plus puissant du pays. Selon la Constitution en vigueur, ses pouvoirs sont quasi illimités. Il contrôle les principaux leviers de l'État, la justice, l'armée, les gardiens de la révolution. C'est lui, aussi, qui nomme directement le chef de la radiotélévision. Mais il doit également composer avec des personnalités élues par le peuple : les députés du Parlement, le président de la République, et à partir de 1999, les représentants des conseils municipaux. Au fil des années, ces derniers ouvrent le débat à des thèmes pro-démocratiques. >>> Thierry Oberlé | Mercredi 29 Juillet 2009

Gesundheitsreform: "Blaue Hunde" machen Obama das Leben schwer
WELT ONLINE: Dass bei der Reform des US-Gesundheitswesens nicht alles so läuft, wie es Präsident Obama gerne hätte, liegt nicht nur an den Republikanern. Konservative Demokraten, genannt „blaue Hunde", setzten zahlreiche Änderungen an dem Reformwerk durch. Der linke Flügel der Demokraten schäumt vor Wut.

Sie nennen sich die „Koalition der Blauen Hunde“: 52 Kongressabgeordnete aus ländlichen Wahlkreisen meist in den Südstaaten, die sich am rechten, konservativen Rand der Demokratischen Partei sammeln.

Seit Wochen verbellen die „Blue Dogs“ mit viel Lärm Präsident Barack Obama und Nancy Pelosi, die Fraktionschefin, um ihren Protest gegen angebliche Verschwendungssucht bei Obamas großer Reform der Gesundheitsversorgung anzumelden.

Die „Hunde“ verlangen Haushaltsdisziplin, so viel Gesetz wie nötig, so wenig Staat wie möglich, sie sind von den Republikanern kaum zu unterscheiden.

Pelosi und die Linksliberalen ihrer Partei hassen ihr Gekläffe – „Blue Dogs“ seien anständige Demokraten, die im Würgegriff der Linken blau angelaufen seien, lautet die Legende ihres Kampfnamens. Aber der Präsident braucht ihre Stimmen.

Am Mittwochabend errangen die „Blue Dogs“ einen Sieg: Die erste mögliche Abstimmung des Repräsentantenhauses über die Reform wird auf die zweite Septemberwoche nach Ende der Parlamentsferien verschoben.

Und das ist nicht alles, was die „Blue Dogs“ für ihr Versprechen einer vorläufigen Beißzurückhaltung ausgehandelt haben: 100 Milliarden Dollar Einsparungen in dem Paket, das ursprünglich auf eine Billion Dollar über zehn Jahre veranschlagt war, dazu eine Schwächung der sogenannten „public option“, der ersten freiwilligen staatlichen Krankenversicherung in der US-Geschichte. >>> Von Uwe Schmitt | Donnerstag, 30. Juli 2009

Adrian Hamilton: Miliband's Failure as Foreign Secretary
THE INDEPENDENT: Little wonder that foreign leaders see him as jejune while officals despair of him

Is David Miliband the most lightweight Foreign Secretary since the War? Admittedly there's strong competition for the post. From Jack Straw backwards, the history of British post-war politics has been peppered with foreign secretaries who've loved the travel and prancing about at summits but lacked the grasp of foreign circumstances and British interests to do an effective job.

Yet Miliband, in office for just over two years, has been particularly weak, even by the standards of Straw, in the extent to which he has managed to sound the wrong note at the wrong time. Whether it was making Russia's invasion of Georgia into the equivalent of the German invasion of Poland at the moment the EU was trying a more nuanced stance, issuing virtual fatwas against the Sudanese and Zimbabwean presidents to absolutely no effect whatsoever, or in adopting a continuously patronising tone towards our Continental allies, Miliband seems to have an innate ability to misjudge the situation and Britain's role in it.

Even in his intervention earlier this week on Afghanistan, Miliband got it wrong, declaring a willingness to talk to the "moderate Taliban" as if it was a new policy when it has been a US mantra for the last six months and going on to lecture the Afghan government as to how to treat their insurgents as if it was Britain's right to direct the country's internal politics. Little wonder that most foreign governments seem to regard him as jejune while some of his own officials despair of him. >>> Adrian Hamilton | Thursday, July 30, 22009

Iranian Police Beat Up Mourners at Ceremony for Neda Soltan
TIMES ONLINE: Baton-wielding Iranian riot police arrested mourners and drove away opposition leaders as they tried to stage a ceremony in a Tehran cemetery to commemorate protesters killed in anti-government demonstrations last month.

Ignoring Islamic customs and traditions, the security forces beat and detained many of the 2000-odd people who came to mark the end of the 40-day mourning period at the grave of Neda Soltan, the young student who has become an icon of the opposition movement.

When Mir Hossein Mousavi, the movement’s leader, arrived at the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery on the baking plains south of the capital, he was mobbed by supporters who chanted “Mousavi we support you” and “Death to the Dictator”.

Foreign journalists are banned from Iran, but witnesses said the former prime minister managed to leave his car and walk up to Ms Soltan’s grave before the police stopped him. “Mousavi was however not allowed to recite the Koran verses said at such occasions and he was immediately surrounded by anti-riot police who led him to his car,” said one.

The police then had to push back a large crowd gathered around Mr Mousavi’s vehicle so he could leave.

Later Mehdi Karoubi, another defeated presidential candidate, arrived. Witnesses said he was swiftly surrounded by police. Mourners pelted the security forces with stones and shouted “Today is a mourning day.” >>> Martin Fletcher | Thursday, July 30, 2009

Listen to BBC audio: A mother’s anguish >>> | Wednesday, July 29, 2009

’United for Neda’

Asian Man Who Called Policemen 'White Redneck Hooligans' Is Guilty of Racism
THE TELEGRAPH: An Asian man who called police officers "white redneck hooligans" has been found guilty of making racist remarks.

Hassan Butt, 29, also accused officers of acting "like the Gestapo" and asked them: "Why are you treating me like a Paki?"

Butt, who once admitted having claimed he was a terrorist to make money from the media, was convicted of committing a racially aggravated public order offence by District Judge Diana Baker at Manchester Magistrates Court.

He made the remarks after police arrested his brother, dentist Omer Butt, in a row over parking.

Butt turned up at the scene on Parr Lane, Unsworth, Greater Manchester, at 11.30am on October 21 last year, shortly after his brother was taken away by police.

Pc Christian Allanson overheard Butt say loudly into his mobile phone: "'I'm just here with these white redneck hooligans'."

He told the court Butt also said: "'Where's my brother, you're not the Gestapo'."

Pc Allanson said: "I felt very offended by this comment. I felt it was clearly a comment made towards myself and the other officers present due to the fact we were white police officers. I believe it was a very offensive comment. >>> | Wednesday, July 29, 2009

More Dutch Muslims Are Skipping the Mosque
NRC HANDELSBLAD INT'L: Churches in the Netherlands have been emptying out for some time, but a new study shows that mosque attendance too is declining.

The number of Dutch Muslims who go to mosque at least once a month has dropped by 12 percent from 47 percent ten years ago to 35 percent today.

That is the conclusion of a report, Religion at the beginning of the 21st century, published on Wednesday by the Dutch statistics office CBS. The report is a follow-up to a 2001 study about religion in the Netherlands in the 20th century. It also shows that - contrary to popular belief - the number of Muslims in the Netherlands has not grown in the past few years.

According to the latest statistics there were about 825,000 Muslims living in the Netherlands in the 2007-2008 period. Over the last four years the number of Muslims has remained more or less the same. About 45 percent of all non-Western immigrants in the Netherlands are Muslim. Compared to 1999, Islam has grown from 3 to 4 percent of believers.

The decline in mosque attendance is part of a general trend in the Netherlands. A 2006 report by the Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid (Scientific council for government policy) already noted that church attendance was down, even as people were still describing themselves as believers. >>> News Staff | Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Carla's Draconian Diet Blamed for Sarkozy's Collapse
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: French President Nicholas Sarkozy has been warned by friends to give up rigorous exercise and a "severe" new diet after his collapse while jogging raised questions about his wife's influence.

Mr Sarkozy, 54, left the Val-de-Grace military hospital in Paris on Monday after being kept in overnight under cardiological observation, a day after he suffered a dizzy spell and fell to the ground while running at his weekend retreat in Versailles.

He emerged smiling and holding hands with his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who has supposedly orchestrated her husband's health makeover in recent months.

While heat and overwork were blamed for the incident on Sunday, questions remained over his condition. The Elysee Palace said he would take a few days of "relative" rest and denied that his faintness was in any way linked to heart problems.

He had suffered a "vasovagal episode" - a drop in heart rate and blood pressure - following "sustained effort during hot weather, without loss of consciousness, in the context of fatigue linked to a heavy workload", aides said.

However, Frederic Lefebvre, the spokesman for Mr Sarkozy's UMP party, cast doubt on that explanation by saying that the President had suffered a "cardiac incident".

Friends blamed a draconian diet that involved eating only small amounts and ruled out chocolate, cheese and puddings, supposedly undertaken by Mr Sarkozy in an attempt to become as svelte and fit as his model-turned-singer wife, who is 13 years his junior.

Patrick Balkany, an MP and close friend, said: "He's on a diet because he's always a little bit too heavy ... let's say he doesn't want to be overweight."

Mr Balkany added: "Recently the President has looked very honed. He looks more like a Tour de France rider than a president."

The first lady, whom he married last year, is credited with overseeing a "metamorphosis" of her husband as part of his bid to run for a second term in 2012. >>> | Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Muslims Seeking Greater Influence
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Effort puts resumes of top candidates in White House hands

In a bid to get more Muslim Americans working in the Obama administration, a book with resumes of 45 of the nation's most qualified—Ivy League grads, Fortune 500 executives and public servants, all carefully vetted—has been submitted to the White House.



The effort, driven by community leaders and others, including Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), was bumped up two weeks ahead of schedule because White House officials heard about the venture, said J. Saleh Williams, program coordinator for the Congressional Muslim Staffers Association who sifted through more than 300 names.



"It was mostly under the radar," Williams said. "We thought it would put [the president] in a precarious position. We didn't know how closely he wanted to appear to be working with the Muslim American community."



The effort aims to get the administration focused on Muslim Americans, a group that has at times felt like a pariah. During the campaign, Obama's staff prevented Muslim women wearing head scarves from being photographed behind him, in one of many incidents that left Muslim Americans feeling slighted by the candidate.

Now, Muslim Americans—who according to a recent study overwhelmingly backed Obama in the November election—have been carefully watching the administration's every step.



Most expressed disappointment with Obama's initial silence during Israel's offensive in Gaza. They've been encouraged by the video message the president issued recently to the Iranian people on the eve of the Persian holiday of Nowruz, and they want more diplomacy with Syria and Iran. They've been troubled by FBI admissions of sending what activists call "agents provocateurs" into mosques, and the bureau's break in ties with Muslim American organizations such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations. >>> Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Tribune reporter | Sunday, March 29, 2009

A Turning Tide in Europe as Islam Gains Ground
NEW YORK TIMES: Christopher Caldwell’s “Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West” is a hot book presented under a cool, scholarly title. To observe that Mr. Caldwell’s rhetoric is “hot” is not to say that it is aggrieved or unruly. On the contrary, Mr. Caldwell, a senior editor at The Weekly Standard and a columnist for The Financial Times, compiles his arguments patiently, twig by twig, and mostly with lucidity and intellectual grace and even wit.

But they are arguments one is not used to hearing put so baldly, at least from the West’s leading political journalists. Primary among them are these: Through decades of mass immigration to Europe’s hospitable cities and because of a strong disinclination to assimilate, Muslims are changing the face of Europe, perhaps decisively. These Muslim immigrants are not so much enhancing European culture as they are supplanting it. The products of an adversarial culture, these immigrants and their religion, Islam, are “patiently conquering Europe’s cities, street by street.”

Mr. Caldwell is a vivid writer, and like an action-movie hero he walks calmly away from his own detonations while fire swirls behind him. “Imagine that the West, at the height of the Cold War, had received a mass inflow of immigrants from Communist countries who were ambivalent about which side they supported,” he writes. “Something similar is taking place now.”

Muslim cultures “have historically been Europe’s enemies, its overlords, or its underlings,” he deposes. “Europe is wagering that attitudes handed down over the centuries, on both sides, have disappeared, or can be made to disappear. That is probably not a wise wager.” >>> Dwight Gardner | Wednesday, July 29, 2009

What's It Like Being a Gay Muslim?
THE GUARDIAN: EastEnders' current romantic storyline featuring a gay Muslim character has caused a stir. But what is it really like to be gay within Britain's Muslim communities?

Pav Akhtar is not usually a fan of soaps. But the 30-year-old local councillor and Unison worker has been paying special attention since EastEnders introduced its first gay Muslim character. Akhtar, the chair of Imaan, an organisation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Muslims, advised the BBC on the storyline in the hope that the character of Syed Masood would help tackle the double discrimination of homophobia and Islamophobia that many gay Muslims face.

The Muslim theologian Amanullah De Sondy said recently that the vast majority of Muslims were "deeply homophobic", and a survey carried out this summer among British Muslims reported that 0% of those questioned thought homosexuality was "morally acceptable". Yet, so far, the taboo-busting EastEnders storyline has not sparked the expected deluge of complaints – in fact, the soap's first gay Muslim kiss attracted a healthy 7.9 million viewers. But what is it like being gay and Muslim in the UK today? >>> Homa Khaleeli | Wednesday, July 29, 2009

How To Be a 'Good' Taliban[i] – 2009 Rules and Regulations
THE TELEGRAPH: Suicide attacks: “Should only be used on high and important targets. A brave son of Islam should not be used for lower and useless targets. Governors, district chiefs and line commanders and every member of the Mujahideen must do their best to avoid civilian deaths, civilian injuries and damage to civilian property. Great care must be taken.”

Prisoners: “Whenever any official, soldier, contractor or worker of the slave government is captured, these prisoners cannot be attacked or harmed. If the prisoner is a director, commander or district chief or higher, the decision on whether to harm, kill, release or forgive them is only made by the Imam.” >>> Dean Nelson, South Asia Editor | Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Au Maroc, le roi gouverne
Une volonté de modernisation, mais des décisions prises sans y associer le Parlement... et encore moins la population. Photo : L’Express
L’EXPRESS.fr: Il y a dix ans, Mohammed VI accédait au trône. Souverain moderne, il a fait de son régime l'un des plus ouverts du monde arabe. Mais pas une démocratie pour autant...

Dix ans après son accession au trône, le 23 juillet 1999, on sait assez peu de chose de Mohammed VI et de l'idée qu'il se fait de son métier de roi. S'il lui arrive parfois de se prêter en famille à une séance de photos pour un magazine, le souverain marocain n'accorde que très rarement des interviews à la presse.

Si l'on en croit Ali Amar, qui fut à la fin des années 1990 l'un des fondateurs du Journal - un hebdomadaire dont la liberté de ton avait symbolisé à l'époque l'ouverture du régime - et vient de publier un livre féroce (1), Mohammed VI serait un roi "épicurien". Il aime, écrit-il, la fête et la musique, les grosses cylindrées et le jet-ski, côtoyer les stars du show-biz et dévaler les pistes de Courchevel ou d'ailleurs entouré de sa bande de copains. On sait aussi que le successeur de Hassan II prend facilement la mouche et qu'il apprécie peu l'impertinence.

Désormais, la presse enquête et les Marocains manifestent

Dès les premiers mois qui ont suivi son accession au trône, Mohammed VI a montré qu'il entendait poursuivre et amplifier la politique d'ouverture amorcée par son père au cours des dernières années de son règne. Malgré les saisies occasionnelles et les amendes parfois exorbitantes, il y a aujourd'hui au Maroc une presse indépendante qui enquête, commente, critique et défend vigoureusement sa liberté.

Au-delà du petit monde des médias, les Marocains n'hésitent plus à manifester et les associations portent des combats longtemps tabous. Le souverain a aussi eu l'intelligence d'accepter un retour sur les "années de plomb", qui s'est traduit non seulement par l'indemnisation des victimes, mais aussi par un véritable travail de mémoire sur les violations des droits de l'homme commises sous le règne de son père. Soucieux de moderniser la société, il a fait adopter un nouveau Code de la famille. La plus belle réforme du règne institue l'égalité, dans le couple, entre le mari et la femme. >>> Par Dominique Lagarde | Jeudi 16 Juillet 2009, mis à jour Jeudi 27 Juillet 2009

Gipfel in Washington: USA und China wollen gemeinsam Klima schützen
WELT ONLINE: Die zwei größten Umweltverschmutzer der Welt wollen beim Klimaschutz und der Förderung sauberer Energie zusammenarbeiten. Die USA und China planen auch bei der Bewältigung der Finanzkrise und bei internationalen Konflikten eine engere Kooperation. Vertraglich wurden allerdings keine Abmachungen fixiert.

Nach zweitägigen Beratungen haben sich ranghohe Vertreter der USA und Chinas um ein Bild der Harmonie bemüht. Bei der Bewältigung von Finanzkrise und internationalen Konflikte sowie beim Klimaschutz wollen die beiden Staaten enger zusammenarbeiten. Konkrete Abmachungen wurden bei den vertraulichen Zusammenkünften nicht getroffen. US-Außenministerin Hillary Clinton räumte zum Abschluss der Gespräche in Washington ein, dass es in vielen Bereichen weiterhin Differenzen gebe, so etwa beim Thema Menschenrechte. >>> dpa/AP/fas | Mittwoch, 29. Juli 2009

Arabie saoudite: le prince héritier Sultan veut rentrer au pays
LE FIGARO – BLOG: Intrigues pour la succession. Le prince Sultan, héritier du trône d’Arabie saoudite, souhaite hâter son retour à Riyadh au plus tard en septembre, selon des confidences qu’il aurait faites récemment à des visiteurs arabes.

Agé d’au moins 82 ans, Sultan est toujours en convalescence à Agadir au Maroc, où son demi-frère, le roi Abdallah, est venu lui rendre visite en fin de semaine dernière. Ministre de la Défense depuis plus de vingt-cinq ans, le prince Sultan souffre d’un grave cancer au colon.

Son absence depuis des mois du paysage politique saoudien ouvre l’appétit de ceux qui tiennent à préserver ses prérogatives en cas de décès, notamment en matière de contrats d’armements passés avec l’étranger. Parmi ceux-ci: son fils, Khaled Ben Sultan, le vice-ministre de la Défense, qui préparerait le retour de son père au pays à l’occasion du prochain ramadan, à partir du 23 août.

Sultan et les siens s’inquiètent des places qui leur seraient réservées au retour du prince héritier. Ces dernières semaines, en effet, le roi Abdallah aurait mis la dernière main à une série de nominations stratégiques, en concertation avec le prince Nayef, le ministre de l’Intérieur, qui devrait succéder à Sultan, au poste de prince héritier.

Ces désignations concernent les services de renseignements (General intelligence), le Conseil national de sécurité, la Garde nationale et l’armée. Mais le roi souhaiterait attendre le retour de Sultan pour les annoncer officiellement.

En raison du retour anticipé de Sultan en Arabie, le roi Abdallah serait même amené à reporter son voyage aux Etats-Unis, après le ramadan, fin septembre. >>> Par Georges Malbrunot | Mardi 28 Juillet 2009

White House, Hawaii Again Try to Deal with Questions about Obama's Birth
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Officials point to proof that the president is a naturally born U.S. citizen. Yet even 'if I had some DNA,' the disbelievers wouldn't be satisfied, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says.

Reporting from Washington - It is the Internet rumor that has been discredited but will not die: President Obama is not a naturally born U.S. citizen and therefore constitutionally is not qualified to serve.



This week, months after the allegations first cropped up on the Web and talk radio, the White House and Hawaii officials addressed the rumor -- with the state's health director saying that she had reviewed the records in question and found that they verified Obama was born in Hawaii.



At the same time, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, there probably was nothing that would quiet the disbelievers.



"If I had some DNA, it wouldn't assuage those that don't believe he was born here," Gibbs told reporters Monday. "But I have news for them and for all of us: The president was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the 50th state of the greatest country on the face of the Earth. He's a citizen." >>> Mark Silva | Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Iran Hard-liners Warn Ahmadinejad He Could Be Deposed
LOS ANGELES TIMES: The warning over the president's defiance highlights the rift among Iran's conservatives. Meanwhile, the government says Mousavi supporters can't gather at a mosque Thursday to honor protest victims.

Reporting from Beirut -- Political hard-liners warned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday that he could be deposed like past Iranian leaders if he continued to defy the country's supreme religious leader.

The implied threat was the latest evidence of the rift within Iran's conservative camp and could serve to further sap the authority of a president already considered illegitimate by reformists.

The Islamic Society of Engineers, a political group close to parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani, warned in an open letter to Ahmadinejad that he could suffer the same fate as Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, who was deposed in 1953 in a CIA-backed coup with the acquiescence of the clergy.

The letter also cites the experience of President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, who was ousted in 1981 and fled the country after he fell out with the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Both leaders had been elected by huge margins.

"It seems you want to be the sole speaker and do not want to hear other voices," the group's letter says, noting that recent actions by Ahmadinejad have frustrated his own supporters. "Therefore it is our duty to convey to you the voice of the people." >>> Borzou Daragahi | Wednesday, July 29, 2009

BBC: Ahmadinejad Riles Powerful Allies

President Ahmadinejad has been criticised by some unexpected quarters. Photo: BBC
With the row over Iran's disputed election still bitterly dividing the country, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is now in a new dispute with fellow conservatives.

It is an argument every bit as heated as the election row, and potentially even more damaging to the president.

Just over a month after the election, Mr Ahmadinejad provoked fury amongst his fellow conservatives by promoting one of his vice-presidents, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, to the post of first vice-president.

The job would make him the president's second in command, the man who would take over if Mr Ahmadinejad was run over by a Tehran bus.

As Mr Ahmadinejad must have known it would, the appointment infuriated conservatives.

Mr Mashaie had already angered the establishment by suggesting that Iran was friends with the Israeli people, even though he shared the Islamic Republic's hatred of the state of Israel. >>> By Jon Leyne, BBC News | Monday, July 27, 2009

Khamenei ordnet Schließung von Gefängnis an
DIE PRESSE: Der Ayatollah verfügt, dass es zu keiner "Ungerechtigkeit" gegen die Demonstranten kommen darf. Erster Schritt: Die Schließung eines Gefängnisses angeordnet, in dem auch oppositionelle Demonstranten inhaftiert sind.

Irans geistliches Oberhaupt Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hat die Schließung des Gefängnisses Kahrizak im Süden Teherans angeordnet, in dem auch oppositionelle Demonstranten inhaftiert sind. In der Haftanstalt würden die nötigen Standards hinsichtlich der Rechte der Gefangenen nicht eingehalten, begründete der Vorsitzende des Nationalen Sicherheitsrats, Said Jalili, nach Angaben des staatlichen Senders Press TV vom Dienstag die Anordnung.

Khamenei habe die Schließung angeordnet, nachdem er über die dort herrschenden Zustände informiert worden sei, sagte Jalali. Mitglieder eines Sonderausschusses des Parlaments, der die Festnahmen im Zuge der Proteste nach den Präsidentenwahlen untersuchen soll, wollten am Dienstag das berüchtigte Evin-Gefängnis in Teheran besuchen. Dort werden nach Angaben von Menschenrechtlern und Oppositionellen Gefangene misshandelt, gefoltert und hingerichtet. >>> Ag | Dienstag, 28. Juli 2009

China: In Ürümqis Uiguren-Vierteln regiert die Angst
WELT ONLINE: Hunderte Menschen sind nach den Unruhen in der chinesischen Provinz Xinjiang festgenommen worden. Das Schicksal der zumeist uigurischen Männer ist ungewiss, ihnen drohen lange Haftstrafen. Die Uiguren in der Provinzhauptstadt Ürümqi leben ständig in Angst vor neuen Aktionen der Sicherheitskräfte. >>> Von Andrew Jacobs | Mittwoch, 29. Juli 2009

Uiguren: "Demonstrations-Teilnahme ist wie Selbstmord"
DIE PRESSE: Fast 10.000 Menschen seien "in einer Nacht verschwunden", sagt die im Exil lebende Uiguren-Führerin Rebiya Kadeer. Sie wirft China vor, für die blutigen Unruhen in der Provinz Xinjiang verantwortlich zu sein.

Die im Exil lebende Uiguren-Führerin Rebiya Kadeer hat China vorgeworfen, während der blutigen Unruhen in der Nordwest-Provinz Xinjiang tausende Menschen verschleppt zu haben. Fast 10.000 Menschen seien "in einer Nacht verschwunden", sagte die in den USA lebende Kadeer am Mittwoch in Japan auf einer Pressekonferenz: "Sollten sie tot sein, was ist mit ihnen geschehen?" Die chinesische Regierung versuche, die muslimische Minderheit der Uiguren "zu zerstören", sagte die 62-Jährige. >>> Ag | Mittwoch, 29. Juli 2009

Glenn Beck on Barack Obama