Dhimmitude! Das Vaterland Prostrates in the Direction of Mecca! Profits in the Name of Allah – Sharia Banking Comes to Germany
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Germany's Muslims are finally getting a bank offering financial products that comply with Sharia law. It is a market worth billions, and one that many major banks around the world have long discovered.

There are four million Muslims living in Germany. They eat, drink and pray in accordance with the precepts of the Prophet Muhammad. But when it comes to monetary transactions, the principles of the Koran have played hardly any role in Germany. That is about to change.

Early next year, the first Islamic bank in Germany to offer products that are in compliance with Sharia law will open its doors. The bank, Kuveyt Türk Beteiligungsbank, will open a branch in the downtown area of Mannheim, a city in western Germany, and branches in other cities are also planned.

The regulators with Germany's Federal Financial Services Authority, known as BaFin, recently issued a limited license to the subsidiary of a Turkish-Kuwaiti bank. It is only permitted to collect funds that are transferred to accounts in Turkey that conform to Islamic rules.

In other countries, the banking industry initially catered to Muslims on an equally small scale. But less than 10 years after first entering the market, all major banks in Great Britain now have Islamic divisions, and there are also five Islamic banks in the country.

The Prophet Muhammad's Prohibition of Interest

Worldwide, assets worth well over $700 billion (€470 billion) are now being managed in accordance with Islamic principles. In Germany, on the other hand, virtually no banks have so far even addressed this market.

The underlying concept of the Islamic banking business is the Prophet Muhammad's prohibition of interest. Like Jesus in the New Testament, Muhammad took action against the usurers of his time, who exploited their contemporaries by charging them exorbitant interest, sometimes well over 100 percent. Muhammad summarily prohibited charging interest unless something was provided in return. Since the 1970s, Islamic banks have sought to satisfy this requirement by offering their customers financial services on the basis of interest-free transactions.

Instead of interest, customers are promised a share in the profits of the bank. However, commercial activities can also be financed in which the Islamic saver collects a surcharge at a level similar to conventional interest.

Instead of taking out a loan to build a new factory, for example, a company would offer its investors a share of its profits. The important aspect of all of these transactions conducted in the name of Allah is that they are in fact based on a real exchange of goods or services. "The connection to reality must be clear," says Michael Saleh Gassner, a financial expert with the Central Council of Muslims in Germany.

Since the financial crisis, the principles of Islamic investors have also attracted the interest of conservative Christian investors. After all, the underlying concept seems so pleasantly removed from the speculative greed of Western financial executives.

Besides, the stock indexes that contain companies selected according to Islamic principles have sometimes outperformed comparable indexes without the religious association. Sharia-compliant banking transactions are "in a position to assume a global leadership role," says Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, president of the world's most populous Islamic country, Indonesia. No Investment in Gambling or Sex Trade >>> Christoph Pauly | Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Printed Media’s Programme for the Extermination of the British People Exposed by Their Hysteria
BNP – Editorial: The printed media’s hysterical Nazi-like smears and slander against British National Party leader Nick Griffin today have finally revealed their hatred for the indigenous population of this country.

The wall-to-wall coverage has included cartoons ranging from the pathetically childish (see The Daily Express portraying Mr Griffin as a devil) to the outright Nazi (see The Daily Mail comparing Mr Griffin and BNP supporters to rats emerging from a sewer[)] — a scene taken from the Nazi film Die [sic] Ewige Jude* which showed Jews as rats emerging from a drain.

Many led with front page editorials personally attacking Mr Griffin and at least one quoted from a seriously mentally ill homosexual “right wing” lunatic while another printed even more fantasy from the serial liar Dominic Carmen.

All of this media coverage was directed against Mr Griffin personally — and none of it was directed at the policies of the BNP. >>> BNP News | Friday, October 23, 2009

*Der ewige Jude

Affaire Polanski : La demande formelle d’extradition est arrivée
LE TEMPS: L’Office fédéral de la justice a reçu hier une demande formelle d’extradition pour le cinéaste franco-polonais, incarcéré en Suisse dans le cadre d’un mandat d’arrêt américain depuis le 26 septembre. Roman Polanski risque deux ans de prison aux Etats-Unis.

Les Etats-Unis avaient 40 jours pour faire parvenir une demande formelle d’extradition après l’arrestation, le délai a donc étré respecté, explique l’OFJ dans un communiqué. L’Office va transmettre cette demande au canton de Zurich, chargé de la notifier au cinéaste qui disposera d’un délai pour faire des observations et dire s’il accepte cette extradition.

L’OFJ sur cette base décidera ensuite s’il convient d’accorder ou non son extradition aux Etats-Unis. La décision de l’OFJ sera susceptible de recours dans les trente jours auprès du Tribunal pénal fédéral et, en dernière instance, auprès du Tribunal fédéral. >>> Le Temps | Vendredi 23 Octobre 2009

Roman Polanski: US Formally Asks Switzerland for Extradition
THE TELEGRAPH: The United States has formally asked Switzerland to extradite the detained Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski over a three-decades-old child sex case, Swiss authorities said on Friday.

"The US Embassy in Bern submitted the formal extradition request to the Federal Office of Justice on 22 October 2009, within the deadline of 40 days stipulated under the bilateral extradition treaty," the Swiss Federal Office of Justice said in a statement.

The request would be forwarded to the canton of Zurich, where Polanski was detained upon his arrival on September 26 to collect an award at the city's film festival.

A local court will then hold a hearing and, "based on the results of the hearing and the information provided by Polanski's lawyer," the justice office will decide if it should accept the extradition request.

"The authorities in Zurich will take charge of the Roman Polanski hearing. They will hold a verbal hearing that would be transmitted to us," Folco Galli, spokesman for the justice office, said.

If the federal justice office accepted the extradition request, Polanski can appeal against the decision before the country's top criminal court.

He will also have a further chance to appeal to the federal supreme court.

Polanski's lawyer Herve Temime said the film director will fight the US request.

"Mr Polanski is not changing course. He will not accept the US extradition request," Temime told AFP. >>> | Friday, October 23, 2009

Jean Sarkozy recule sous la pression

Jean Sarkozy au JT de 20h sur France 2 - Epad
Uploaded by made-92. - News videos hot off the press.

Nicolas Sarkozy Suffers Most Humiliating Climb-down of Presidency
THE TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy was yesterday reeling from the most humiliating public climb-down of his presidency after his 23-year old son announced he would not run France's largest business district as many from the president's own camp feared the nepotism scandal would cost him dear.

Jean Sarkozy caused astonishment by pulling the plug on his fast-track rise to take over the political leadership of La Défense, the huge skyscraper complex just west of the capital dubbed "France's Manhattan".

The second year undergraduate law student – who has been a county councillor for 18 months -was guaranteed the plum job as presidential loyalists command a majority on La Défense's £100 million-a-year public agency. Instead he settled yesterday for a place on the body's board.

A prime-time performance was remarkably polished for a 23-year-old, who said he preferred not to win a "victory stained with doubt".

But few believed his claim that he had made the decision on his own. There was no doubt among observers that his father had caved in to spiralling public hostility, much of it from his own disoriented right-wing electorate. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Friday, October 23, 2009

Sarkozy versucht den Schaden zu begrenzen: Wirbel um den Präsidentensohn als Folge einer krassen Fehleinschätzung
NZZ ONLINE: Der misslungene Versuch, den Sohn des französischen Staatschefs auf eine Führungsposition zu katapultieren, hat die Grenzen der Macht von Präsident Sarkozy aufgezeigt. Dafür gesorgt hat die öffentliche Meinung.

Jean Sarkozy, der ältere Sohn des französischen Präsidenten, steht für den Posten an der Spitze des Geschäftsviertels «La Défense» nun doch nicht zur Verfügung. Wie bereits kurz gemeldet, hat der 23-Jährige am Donnerstagabend nach einer Welle der Empörung erklärt, dass er angesichts der zwei Wochen dauernden Kampagne gegen ihn von einer Kandidatur absehe. Die Position im Verwaltungsrat der Behörde, die ihn am 4. Dezember wahrscheinlich zum Geschäftsführer gewählt hätte, will er aber antreten. Schwerer Rückschlag >>> Manfred Rist, Paris | Freitag, 23. Oktober 2009

In Vaters Fussstapfen: Wirbel um die Blitzkarriere des Präsidentensohns Jean Sarkozy in Paris
NZZ ONLINE: Jean Sarkozy, der erst 23-jährige Sohn des Staatspräsidenten, soll die Verantwortung für das Businessviertel «La Défense» bei Paris übernehmen. Dies hat in Frankreich für Polemik und in der Weltpresse für ironische Kommentare gesorgt.

Kaum haben sich in Frankreich die Wellen nach dem Skandal um Kulturminister Frédéric Mitterrand, der am Fernsehen wegen Sextourismus in der Vergangenheit Abbitte leisten musste, etwas geglättet, schon macht eine andere Geschichte Schlagzeilen. Einer der Söhne des Staatschefs, der erst 23-jährige Jean Sarkozy, soll einen verantwortungsvollen Posten erben. Die bürgerliche Mehrheit im Département-Rat der Hauts-de-Seine, in der westlichen Agglomeration der Hauptstadt, schlägt ihren Vorsitzenden, Jean Sarkozy, als Nachfolger des aus Altersgründen scheidenden Geschäftsführers des EPAD (Etablissement Public pour l'Aménagement de la Région de la Défense), Minister Patrick Devedjian, vor. Diese öffentlichrechtliche Gesellschaft führt die Regie im modernen Quartier «La Défense» mit seinen zahlreichen Geschäftssitzen grosser Unternehmen. Fils à papa >>> Rudolf Balmer, Paris | Mittwoch, 14. Oktober 2009

Affaire Kadhafi: l'Espagne offre son aide à la Suisse
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: DIPLOMATIE | L’Espagne, qui prendra en janvier prochain la présidence tournante de l’UE, veut aider la Suisse dans la crise avec la Libye.

Dans une interview parue vendredi dans le "Corriere del Ticino", le ministre espagnol des affaires étrangères Miguel Angel Moratinos, en visite la veille à Berne, a déclaré qu’il allait saisir toutes les possibilités offertes par sa fonction pour montrer sa solidarité envers la Suisse dans la crise avec la Libye.

L’Espagne a actuellement de très bonnes relations avec la Confédération, explique le ministre, qui ajoute qu’il s’engage toujours pour les pays amis. Pour le moment, il faut laisser travailler la diplomatie suisse. Mais Miguel Angel Moratinos dit qu’il répondra à toutes les demandes d’aide dans cette affaire. >>> AP | Vendredi 23 Octobre 2009

USA stärken Schutz für Homosexuelle
DIE PRESSE: Der US-Kongress hat das Anti-Diskriminierungsgesetz auf Homosexuelle ausgeweitet. Angriffe aufgrund der sexuellen Orientierung des Opfers werden künftig als "Hassverbrechen" verfolgt.

Homosexuelle werden in den USA künftig stärker gegen Diskriminierung geschützt. Der US-Kongress hat das Anti-Diskriminierungsgesetz ausgeweitet. Physische Übergriffe aufgrund der sexuellen Orientierung des Opfers werden künftig systematisch als sogenannte Hassverbrechen verfolgt.

Damit gelten die gleichen scharfen Regelungen wie bei Angriffen aufgrund der Hautfarbe, Staatsangehörigkeit oder der religiösen Zugehörigkeit. Diese waren im Zuge der Bürgerrechtsbewegung und nach der Ermordung von Martin Luther King 1968 eingeführt worden. >>> Ag. | Freitag, 23. Oktober 2009

Lynch Mob Question Time Becomes Biggest Recruitment Night Ever for BNP — 30% Increase in Membership Interest
BNP: The staggeringly biased lynch mob Question Time broadcast on BBC 1 has turned into the single biggest recruitment night in the British National Party’s history, with no less than 3,000 new people registering to be signed up as members when the current recruitment freeze ends.

This figure represents the single largest block of new membership expressions of interest ever, and will, once formally signed up, have boosted party membership by nearly 30 percent.

The BBC broke every rule in its book, even changing the format of the show to allow a hand-picked mob to use up the entire hour to relentlessly attack BNP leader Nick Griffin. Even the supposed moderator, David Dimbleby, joined in the attack, refusing to allow Mr Griffin to answer a single question in full — despite letting other panellists ramble on for minutes at a time.

Mr Griffin said this morning that he was going to submit a formal complaint and a Freedom of Information Act request to have the preparatory papers for the show exposed to the public.

“There we will see that the BBC not only changed the format of the show, but that the questions were primed to be a barrage of lies disguised as statements,” Mr Griffin said. >>> BNP News | Friday, October 23, 2009

BNP Leader to Launch BBC Complaint
YAHOO! NEWS: The leader of the British National Party is launching an official complaint about his treatment on the BBC's Question Time programme, claiming he was "bullied".

Nick Griffin says he was the victim of a set-up in which the format of the current affairs debate show was changed "after 30 years".

He said: "That was not genuine Question Time, that was a lynch mob."

At an impromptu press conference in Thurrock, Essex, he told reporters that he was not given the chance to talk about the BNP's policies.

Mr Griffin also complained about the multi-cultural audience, which was largely opposed to his views. He declared: "London is no longer a British city". >>> ITN | Friday, October 23, 2009

Watch ITN video here.

THE GUARDIAN: Griffin: Unfair that Question Time was filmed in 'ethnically cleansed' London: Capital is no longer British, says BNP leader / No place for you here, says Boris Johnson >>> Hélène Mulholland and agencies | Friday, October 23, 2009

Watch Guardian video: BNP leader on Question Time: Nick Griffin makes TV appearance on the BBC's flagship political discussion programme >>> | Thursday, October 22, 2009

Question Time: Much Hype about Nothing!*
This was about one of the worst Question Time programmes I have ever seen. It was unbalanced, so didn't give Nick Griffin a chance. The BBC might have gone along with its charter and allowed him onto the programme; but they certainly stacked the odds against him.

I am NOT a BNP supporter; but I would have liked to hear what the man had to say. All we heard was pathetic talk from the likes of Jack Straw, who got on my nerves and probably the nerves of many others, and Baroness Warsi, who is a political lightweight. The other panelists were irrelevant.

Mr Dimbleby did his job badly, since he was there to moderate, not to scold. The show was altogether pathetic; it was a waste of BBC money, and certainly a waste of my time. So I'll give it the thumbs down. Though I am sure that Nick Griffin will give it the thumbs up, since I am sure it will have won him new supporters!

Shame on the BBC for not making the show more balanced. – © Mark

*This comment also appears on the Times Online.

L'état, c'est moi: The Cult of Sarko
THE INDEPENDENT: Midway though his term of office, the President's imperious ways are provoking a growing outcry. Last night Sarkozy and son were forced into a humiliating climbdown to regain the public's trust

Never before has a 23-year-old student's announcement that he's withdrawing a job application caused such waves of astonishment and relief. Last night Jean Sarkozy, the son of the French President, abandoned his dream of taking over the political leadership of the huge La Défense skyscraper park just west of Paris.

The announcement by the young man, on the television news, brought to an end a battle of political wills which appeared, in recent days, to have pitted the Sarkozy clan against almost the whole of France, from the press and public to the President's own party and Prime Minister.

The tangled and absurd affair of the fast-track political ambitions of "Prince Jean" has – along with a series of other mis-steps, accidents and embarrassments – shaken the trust of the French people in their hyperactive, can-do President. Last night's U-turn, although elegantly handled by the younger Sarkozy, may have come too late to repair the damage.

Asked if the head of state had played a part in the decision, Jean Sarkozy told the France 2 nightly news: "If you're asking me if I've spoken to the President, the answer is 'No'. If you're asking me if I've spoken to my father, the answer is 'Yes'."

Nicolas Sarkozy reaches the half-way point of his five-year presidency in a couple of weeks' time. There is no serious alternative to him, either on the left or within his own political family, the centre right. His handling of the global recession has been reasonably sure-footed at home and influential abroad. His much-trumpeted programme of reforms has proved to be incremental and cautious, rather than revolutionary, but far from pointless.

Nonetheless, with half of his mandate still to run, President Sarkozy's carefully constructed public image as a "different" kind of French politician – a man who governs in the interest of ordinary people, not elites or special interests; a man who understands the reality of life for "people who rise early" – is in danger of falling apart. >>> John Lichfield | Friday, October 23, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy's son Jean says he will not seek presidency of La Defense: President Nicolas Sarkozy's 23-year-old son has said he will not seek the leadership of the organisation that runs France's most important business district. >>> | Thursday, October 22, 2009

Streit um Fernsehauftritt eines britischen Rechtsextremisten: Sender verteidigt Einladung an Nick Griffin – Regierung gespalten
NZZ ONLINE: Der rechtsextreme Parteichef Nick Griffin hat bei seinem erstmaligen und umstrittenen Auftritt in der renommiertesten Talkshow des Landes die Rechte «gebürtiger Briten» verteidigt. Der Vorsitzende der British National Party (BNP) wurde vom Publikum teils heftig ausgebuht.

Bereits vor der Sendung am Donnerstagabend protestierten Hunderte vor dem Gelände der BBC gegen die Entscheidung, Griffin ein Forum zu bieten.

Griffin gab sich in der Sendung eher moderat. Er bestritt, den Idealen Adolf Hitlers anzuhängen. Die Frage, ob er den Holocaust je geleugnet habe, beantwortete er jedoch nur ausweichend. «Ich bin nicht von der Leugnung des Holocausts überzeugt», sagte Griffin. Er habe in der Sache seine Meinung geändert. Worin die Meinungsänderung bestand, wollte er trotz Nachfragen nicht sagen.

Als Griffin Homosexualität als «wirklich gruselig» bezeichnete, wurde er vom Publikum ausgebuht. Ein Mann rief, Griffin solle doch zum Südpol gehen. «Das ist eine farblose Landschaft. Das würde gut zu Ihnen passen», sagte der Zuschauer, woraufhin grosses Gelächter ausbrach. Tatsächlich weigerte sich die BNP noch bis vor kurzem gemäss Parteistatut, nicht-weisse Mitglieder aufzunehmen. Die Regelung wurde jedoch kürzlich von einem Gericht für nichtig erklärt. Einwanderung lehnt die BNP kategorisch ab. BBC verteidigt Einladung >>> ap | Freitag, 23. Oktober 2009

Barack Obama Sees Worst Poll Rating Drop in 50 Years
THE TELEGRAPH: The decline in Barack Obama's popularity since July has been the steepest of any president at the same stage of his first term for more than 50 years.

Gallup recorded an average daily approval rating of 53 per cent for Mr Obama for the third quarter of the year, a sharp drop from the 62 per cent he recorded from April.

His current approval rating – hovering just above the level that would make re-election an uphill struggle – is close to the bottom for newly-elected president. Mr Obama entered the White House with a soaring 78 per cent approval rating.

The bad polling news came as Mr Obama returned to the campaign trail to prevent his Democratic party losing two governorships next month in states in which he defeated Senator John McCain in last November's election. >>> Toby Harnden in Washington | Thursday, October 22, 2009

Jean Sarkozy renonce à la présidence de La Défense
LE FIGARO: Au coeur d'une violente polémique, le fils du chef de l'Etat a annoncé ce soir sur France 2 qu'il ne briguera pas la tête de l'établissement public d'aménagement de La Défense.

Jean Sarkozy renonce à l'Epad. Le fils du chef de l'Etat a mis un terme jeudi à quinze jours de polémique en annonçant lui-même son retrait de la course à la présidence de l'établissement public d'aménagement de La Défense à la veille de l'élection. «Je serai candidat au poste d'administrateur de l'Epad, mais si je suis élu, je ne briguerai pas la présidence», a-t-il ainsi assuré sur France 2, arguant qu'il n'aurait pas voulu d'une «victoire entachée de soupçons».

«C'est ma décision», a-t-il expliqué à David Pujadas. «Est-ce que j'en ai parlé au président ? Non. Au père, oui», mais «c'est une décision que j'ai pris seul et que j'assume seul». Revenant sur ces deux dernières semaines mouvementées, Jean Sarkozy a expliqué qu'il avait été victime d'une véritable «campagne de désinformation» qui a engendré des «soupçons» à son égard. «Ma candidature était légitime», a-t-il affirmé, comme il l'avait déjà fait sur le plateau de France 3 et dans les colonnes du Point. «Une grande victoire», selon le PCF >>> F.G. (lefigaro.fr) | Jeudi 22 Octobre 2009

Cheney Orders 'Dithering' Obama to 'Do What It Takes to Win' in Afghanistan
MAIL ONLINE: Dick Cheney has emerged from the shadows once again to attack Barack Obama's Afghanistan strategy.

The former vice president accused Mr Obama of 'dithering' over a troop surge and urged him to 'do what it takes to win'.

He also claimed that the strategy Mr Obama announced in March bore a 'striking resemblance' to a secret review of the war conducted by the Bush administration as part of the presidential transition.

''Make no mistake. Signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries,' Mr Cheney said last night while accepting an award from a conservative national security group, the Center for Security Policy.

Mr Cheney disputed claims by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel that the Bush administration had been adrift concerning the war in Afghanistan.

Mr Emanuel said the Obama administration had to start from the beginning to develop a strategy for the eight-year-old war.

To the contrary, Mr Cheney said, the Bush administration undertook its own review of the war before leaving office and presented its findings to Mr Obama's transition team.

'They asked us not to announce our findings publicly, and we agreed, giving them the benefit of our work and the benefit of the doubt,' Mr Cheney said.

The strategy Mr Obama announced in March bore a 'striking resemblance' to what the Bush administration review had found, the vice president said. >>> | Thursday, October 22, 2009

Muslim 'Cleric' Arrested for Sending Hate Mail to Families of Dead Australian Soldiers
THE TELEGRAPH: A self-styled Muslim cleric is facing up to 14 years in jail after he was accused of sending hate mail to the families of Australian soldiers killed fighting in Afghanistan.

Police charged a 45-year-old man from Sydney, named in local press as Sheikh Haron, with sending "harassing and offensive letters to family members of soldiers killed whilst serving in Afghanistan."

One letter was reportedly delivered to a grieving widow at her husband's funeral. Another, allegedly written to the family of a commando killed in January, read: "I feel bad that you have lost your son but I don't feel bad that a murderer of innocent civilians has lost his life."

Mr Haron is accused of sending letters to the families of seven soldiers who died in Afghanistan, calling them "criminals", "murderers" and "killers" who were fighting a war of invasion.

He described one of the deceased soldiers, a Jewish man, as a "1,000 times worse" than a pig and a "murderer of innocents."

"Some people don't eat the meat of a pig but they are dirtier than (a) pig," Mr Haron wrote of Private Greg Sher, according to The Australian newspaper.

"What's the point if some people don't eat pork while their behaviour is worse than dirty animals? Why should we call a pig a hero?" he allegedly wrote.

Felix Sher, Greg's father, said the letter deeply shocked his family.

"Anti-semitism isn't something that is strange to us," Mr Sher said.

"However, what really affected us was when we found out it went to people like Breanna Till, and people like that - that's what hurts more. Why would these people be subject to such abuse?" >>> Bonnie Malkin in Sydney | Thursday, October 22, 2009

BNP on BBC's Question Time: Protesters Breach Police Cordon
THE TELEGRAPH: Anti-fascist protesters demonstrating against BNP leader Nick Griffin's appearance on Question Time have broken through a police cordon outside BBC Television Centre.


About 30 people managed to get past police lines during struggles with officers drafted in to protect the entrance to Television Centre in White City, west London.

Some appeared to have gained entry to the building where they were pursued by police.

About 50 officers were deployed to police the demonstration
Scores of protesters converged on Television Centre ahead of the filming of the programme, which is due to be screened on BBC1.

A police helicopter circled overhead as officers guarded the front entrance.

Speaking after entering the building, Mr Griffin said of the protesters: "I was rather expecting that.

"The Labour Party financed groups from all over the country bringing a mob down here today. It was always going to be a fairly big event."

Police claimed they had more than enough resources to deal with the crowd, which was expected to grow throughout the evening. >>> | Thursday, October 22, 2009

TIMES ONLINE: At least 30 anti-BNP protesters break into BBC Television Centre >>> Nico Hines, Richard Kerbaj and Patrick Foster | Thursday, October 22, 2009

US Bailout Companies Ordered to Cut Pay
TIMES ONLINE: Top executives at US companies that have not yet repaid billions of dollars of taxpayers' bailout money will be forced to take pay cuts of up to 90 per cent after a ruling by President Obama's pay czar.

The most senior 25 employees at Citigroup, Bank of America, American International Group, General Motors, Chrysler, as well as the financing arms of the two car companies, will see their basic salary fall to just 10 per cent of previous pay, with some earnings replaced with shares in the company that cannot be sold for several years.

The result of the measures will be an average remuneration reduction of 50 per cent.

The move is designed to link the personal self-interest of board members with the long-term health of the company and will be closely watched in the UK, as ministers grapple with how to limit the excesses of bonus culture at British banks. >>> Rebecca O'Connor | Thursday, October 22, 2009

Vatican Thumbs Up for Karl Marx after Galileo, Darwin and Oscar Wilde
TIMES ONLINE: Karl Marx, who famously described religion as “the opium of the people”, has joined Galileo, Charles Darwin and Oscar Wilde on a growing list of historical figures to have undergone an unlikely reappraisal by the Roman Catholic Church.

L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, said yesterday that Marx’s early critiques of capitalism had highlighted the “social alienation” felt by the “large part of humanity” that remained excluded, even now, from economic and political decision-making.

Georg Sans, a German-born professor of the history of contemporary philosophy at the pontifical Gregorian University, wrote in an article that Marx’s work remained especially relevant today as mankind was seeking “a new harmony” between its needs and the natural environment. He also said that Marx’s theories may help to explain the enduring issue of income inequality within capitalist societies.

“We have to ask ourselves, with Marx, whether the forms of alienation of which he spoke have their origin in the capitalist system,” Professor Sans wrote. “If money as such does not multiply on its own, how are we to explain the accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few?”

With reassessments such as these it may be wondered which formerly unacceptable figure could be next. Last year the Vatican erected a statue of Galileo as a way of saying sorry for trying the astronomer in 1633 for his observation that the Earth moved around the Sun; in February a leading official declared Darwin’s theory of evolution compatible with the Christian faith, and in July L’Osservatore praised Oscar Wilde, the gay playwright, as “a man who behind a mask of amorality asked himself what was just and what was mistaken”.

Professor Sans argues that Marx’s intellectual legacy was marred by the misappropriation of his work by the communist regimes of the 20th century. “It is no exaggeration to say that nothing has damaged the interests of Marx the philosopher more than Marxism,” he said.

This overturns a century of Catholic hostility to his creed. Two years ago Benedict XVI singled out Marxism as one of the great scourges of the modern age. “The Marxist system, where it found its way into government, not only left a sad heritage of economic and ecological destruction, but also a painful destruction of the human spirit,” he told an audience in Brazil. >>> Richard Owen in Rome | Thursday, October 22, 2009

University Students in Philadelphia Fail to Grasp Wilders’ Message
PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS: Amid a firestorm of contention, several hundred people heard Geert Wilders, a controversial Dutch parliamentarian, speak last night at Temple University.

During his approximately 30-minute speech, Wilders called the Quran "an evil book" and said that the United States was facing Islamization.

A question-and-answer session was cut short, and Wilders was escorted out of the lecture hall after some students began shouting insults at him.

Before the speech, held in Anderson Hall, more than 50 protesters had denounced the appearance of Wilders at the school.

Members of All Sides, an organization that seeks to promote peace between Israel and Palestinians, held pink pom-poms and shouted, "Hey Hey, HO, HO, this racist bull----'s got to go."

Standing next to them with signs decrying Wilders' views were members of the Student Senate, Democratic Socialists and the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance.

"Wilders speaks out about free speech while at the same time banning the Quran," said Megan Chialastri, vice president of All Sides.

"Banned books are not free speech and there is no way around that," Chialastri said.

"This is hate speech at its core," said Monira Gamal-Eldin, president of the Muslim Students Association. Protesters, But No Incidents, Greet Anti-Islamist at Temple >>> Christine Olley | Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Hat tip: Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch>>>

La psychose s’installe au Pakistan
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: TERRORISME | Toutes les écoles et les universités du pays sont fermées depuis hier. Restaurants, hôtels et aéroports sont désertés.

Atif en tremble encore. Mardi, vers 15 h, cet étudiant de l’Université islamique d’Islamabad a rendez-vous avec son directeur de thèse.

«Tout à coup, j’ai entendu une explosion dans la cantine. Je suis sorti pour voir ce qui se passait quand une deuxième bombe a retenti dans un autre bâtiment. Je me suis rué sur place et là, dans un couloir, j’ai vu deux corps recouverts de sang. L’un avait eu les jambes arrachées et le visage défiguré. Ses vêtements étaient en lambeaux.»

Bilan du double attentat: 8 morts et 29 blessés. C’est le septième en moins de quinze jours. L’attaque était prévisible: depuis que l’armée pakistanaise s’est lancée, samedi, à la conquête du Sud-Waziristan, un des principaux fiefs des talibans près de la frontière afghane, le pays anticipe des représailles et la police est en état d’alerte. Toutes les écoles et les universités du pays sont fermées depuis hier. >>> Emmanuel Derville, Islamabad | Jeudi 22 Octobre 2009

Tony Blair 'to Be Made EU President Next Month'
MAIL ONLINE: Tony Blair could be crowned first President of Europe at a special summit of EU leaders next month.

Diplomatic sources say French President Nicolas Sarkozy is pushing for an extraordinary meeting in Brussels to install the former prime minister in the new £275,000-a-year post.

Supporters of Mr Blair's candidacy are racing to get a deal stitched up as doubts grow about whether the forthcoming inquiry into the Iraq war could prove a major stumbling block.

The Conservatives have told the French that making him EU president would be viewed by an incoming Tory government as a 'declaration of war'.

They are warning other European leaders that if appointed, Mr Blair could find himself almost immediately at the centre of massive controversy as the formal inquiry into the Iraq war gets under way. >>> James Chapman | Thursday, October 22, 2009