Proche-Orient : Indépendance de la Palestine: l’appel à l’UE
LE TEMPS: L’Autorité palestinienne demande aux Vingt-Sept de soutenir sa démarche en vue d’une reconnaissance par le Conseil de sécurité d’un Etat palestinien indépendant. Les autorités israéliennes de leur côté mettent en garde contre tout «geste unilatéral»

Par la voie de son ministre des Négociations, Saëb Erekat, l’Autorité palestinienne (AP) a officiellement demandé lundi aux représentants diplomatiques européens en poste dans la région de soutenir son plan visant à proclamer unilatéralement l’indépendance d’un Etat palestinien «dans les frontières de 1967 et avec Jérusalem-Est (la partie arabe de la ville) pour capitale». Dans la foulée, le président du comité exécutif de l’OLP, Yasser Abed Rabo (un proche conseiller du président Mahmoud Abbas), a entamé des démarches auprès des instances des Nations unies afin de présenter le projet au Conseil de sécurité.

Malgré l’enthousiasme de façade de l’entourage de Mahmoud Abbas, la proclamation éventuelle de l’indépendance de la Palestine sur quelques parcelles de Cisjordanie suscite le plus souvent des réactions mitigées. Au sein même de l’AP, le colonel Jibril Rajoub, un responsable du Fatah qui passe pour un successeur potentiel du président palestinien, a estimé que des négociations directes avec Israël sont à ses yeux «préférables a tout geste unilatéral». Une position identique à celle de la diplomatie égyptienne ainsi qu’aux vues de l’émissaire de l’Union européenne, Marc Hotte.

Quant au Hamas au pouvoir dans la bande de Gaza, il a d’ores et déjà fait savoir qu’il ne participerait pas au processus initié par l’AP. «Il faut d’abord libérer les territoires occupés avant de proclamer l’indépendance», a déclaré l’un des porte-parole du mouvement islamiste. >>> Serge Dumont | Mardi 17 Novembre 2009

How the Nazis Tried to Take Christ Out of Christmas
TIMES ONLINE: For the perfect Nazi Christmas you had to hang glittering swastikas and toy grenades from the pine tree in the living room and, in your freshly pressed uniform, belt out carols urging German women to make babies for the Führer rather than worship the Jewish Baby Jesus. Then came the moment to light the pagan candle-holders — hand-made by labourers at Dachau.

Hitler’s dream of a 1,000-year Reich came to an end long before the world was subjected to 1,000 of his Christmases but an exhibition in Cologne is highlighting how the Nazis, in particular Heinrich Himmler, tried to take Christ out of Christmas.

What is alarming German visitors is the realisation that, in many cases, they have been brought up with a variation of the Third Reich Christmas. Not the swastika baking trays or baubles shaped like Iron Crosses, but the revised lyrics of carols and the traditions that had been altered subtly.>>> Roger Boyes in Berlin | Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Germany's Muslims Wary After Headscarf Martyr Trial
TIME: Dozens of reporters from Germany, Egypt and other Muslim countries packed into a Dresden courtroom last week to hear the verdict against the Russian émigré accused of stabbing to death a pregnant Egyptian woman who's since been dubbed the "headscarf martyr" by much of the Arab world. It was a far cry from the attention the killing itself received in July — the crime was scarcely reported by the German media, leading to massive protests in Egypt and the Middle East.

That Alex Wiens was convicted of murdering Marwa el-Sherbini and sentenced to life in prison was not surprising — el-Sherbini was stabbed in front of numerous eyewitnesses in a dramatic attack just after she finished giving testimony in the same Dresden courthouse where Wiens was tried. His trial seemed a mere formality. It was nonetheless closely watched by Germany's 4 million Muslims, as well as the wider Muslim world, as a way of gauging how serious Germany was about confronting what Muslims see as a rising tide of Islamophobia and racism in the country.

The crime was shocking as much for Wiens' brutality as for his brazenness. During the trial, prosecutors said el-Sherbini, 31, was attacked after giving testimony against Wiens in a defamation case — el-Sherbini had accused Wiens of calling her an "Islamist" and a "terrorist" on a playground after she asked him to make way so her son could play on the swings. As she finished testifying, Wiens suddenly lunged at her with a kitchen knife he had smuggled into court and stabbed her 16 times. Her husband, Elwy Okaz, 32, was also repeatedly stabbed before being shot by a police officer who mistook him for el-Sherbini's attacker. El-Sherbini, who was three months pregnant at the time, bled to death in front of the couple's 3-year-old son. >>> Tristana Moore, Berlin | Monday, November 16, 2009

Naher Osten: Israel warnt Palästinenser vor Staatsausrufung
WELT ONLINE: Die Ankündigung der Palästinenser, möglicherweise einen eigenen Staat auszurufen, stößt in Israel auf heftigen Widerstand. Ein solches Vorgehen würde "einseitige Schritte Israels" zur Folge haben, sagte Ministerpräsident Netanjahu. Er verlangte stattdessen Verhandlungen "ohne Vorbedingungen".

Israels Ministerpräsident Netanjahu warnt die Palästinenser. Bild: Welt Online
Der israelische Ministerpräsident Benjamin Netanjahu hat die Palästinenser vor einseitigen Schritten zur Gründung eines eigenen Staates gewarnt. Dies würde „einseitige Schritte Israels“ zur Folge haben, sagte Netanjahu laut einem Bericht der israelischen Tageszeitung „Haaretz“ am Sonntagabend in Jerusalem. Es gebe keinen Ersatz für Verhandlungen zwischen Israel und der Palästinenserbehörde.

Jeder einseitige Schritt würde lediglich das Gerüst von Abkommen zwischen den beiden Seiten zu Fall bringen. Im Rundfunk rief Netanjahu die Palästinenser zur Wiederaufnahme der Friedensverhandlungen „ohne Vorbedingungen“ auf. >>> dpa/AFP/cn | Montag, 16. November 2009

Die Schönheit vom Iran: Asam al-Sada Farahi
Zur Bildergalerie >>>

Outrage in Washington Over Obama's Japan Bow
U.S. President Barack Obama is greeted by Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko upon arrival at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo November 14, 2009. Photo: Canada.com
CANADA.COM: WASHINGTON - News photos of President Barack Obama bowing to Japan's emperor have incensed critics here, who said the U.S. leader should stand tall when representing America overseas.

Obama on Monday was in China, having wrapped up the Japan leg of his Asia trip two days earlier. But Washington's punditocracy was still weighing whether or not the U.S. president had disgraced his country two days earlier by having taken a deep bow at the waist while meeting Japan's Emperor Akihito.

Political talk shows have played and replayed the moment from the second day of Obama's week-long Asia tour, which set the blogosphere on fire and chat show tongues wagging.

"I don't know why President Obama thought that was appropriate. Maybe he thought it would play well in Japan. But it's not appropriate for an American president to bow to a foreign one," said conservative pundit William Kristol speaking on the Fox News Sunday program, adding that the gesture bespoke a United States that has become weak and overly-deferential under Obama.

Another conservative voice, Bill Bennett, said on CNN's "State of the Union" program: "It's ugly. I don't want to see it."

"We don't defer to emperors. We don't defer to kings or emperors. The president of the United States -- this coupled with so many apologies from the United States -- is just another thing," said Bennett.

Some conservative critics juxtaposed the image of Obama with one of former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney, who greeted the emperor in 2007 with a firm handshake but no bow.

"I'll bet if you look at pictures of world leaders over 20 years meeting the emperor in Japan, they don't bow," Kristol said.

Some said the gesture was particularly grating coming after Obama's bow to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah at a G20 meeting in April. >>> Stephanie Griffiths, AFP | Monday, November 16, 2009

Obama Bows to Japanese Emperor Akihito

Johann Hari’s Viewpoint – Renouncing Islamism: To the Brink and Back Again
THE INDEPENDENT: A generation of British Islamists have been trained in Afghanistan to fight a global jihad. But now some of those would-be extremists have had a change of heart. Johann Hari finds out what made them give up the fight

British muslim Maajid Nawaz is the country's most famous former Islamist fanatic. Photo: The Independent
Ever since I started meeting jihadis, I have been struck by one thing – their Britishness. I am from the East End of London, and at some point in the past decade I became used to hearing a hoarse and angry whisper of jihadism on the streets where I live. Bearded young men stand outside the library calling for "The Rule of God" and "Death to Democracy".

In the mosques across the city, I hear a fringe of young men talk dreamily of flocking to Afghanistan to "resist". Yet this whisper never has an immigrant accent. It shares my pronunciations, my cultural references, and my national anthem. Beneath the beards and the burqas, there is an English voice.

The East End is a cramped grey maze of council estates, squashed between the glistening palaces of the City to one side and the glass towers of Docklands to the other. You can feel the financial elites staring across at each other, indifferent to this concrete lump of poverty dumped in-between by the forgotten tides of history. This place has always been the swirling first stop for immigrants to this country like my father – a place where new arrivals can huddle together as they adjust to the cold rain and lukewarm liberalism of Britain.

The Muslims who arrive here every day from Bangladesh, or India, or Somalia say they find the presence of British Islamists bizarre. They have come here to work and raise their children in stability and escape people like them. No: these Islamists are British-born. They make up 7 per cent of the British Muslim population, according to a Populous poll (with the other 93 percent of Muslims disagreeing). Ever since the 7/7 suicide bombings, carried out by young Englishmen against London, the British have been squinting at this minority of the minority and trying to figure out how we incubated a very English jihadism.

But every attempt I have made up to now to get into their heads – including talking to Islamists for weeks at their most notorious London hub, Finsbury Park mosque, immediately after 9/11 – left me feeling like a journalistic failure. These young men speak to outsiders in a dense and impenetrable code of Koranic quotes and surly jibes at both the foreign policy crimes of our Government and the freedom of women and gays. Any attempt to dig into their psychology – to ask honestly how this swirl of thoughts led them to believe suicide bombing their own city is right – is always met with a resistant sneer, and yet more opaque recitations from the Koran. Their message is simple: we don't do psychology or sociology. We do Allah, and Allah alone. Why do you have this particular reading of the Koran, when most Muslims don't? Because we are right, and they are infidel. Full stop. It was an investigatory dead end.

But then, a year ago, I began to hear about a fragile new movement that could just hold the answers we journalists have failed to find up to now. A wave of young British Islamists who trained to fight – who cheered as their friends bombed this country – have recanted. Now they are using everything they learned on the inside, to stop the jihad.

Seventeen former radical Islamists have "come out" in the past 12 months and have begun to fight back. Would they be able to tell me the reasons that pulled them into jihadism, and out again? Could they be the key to understanding – and defusing – Western jihadism? I have spent three months exploring their world and befriending their leading figures. Their story sprawls from forgotten English seaside towns to the jails of Egypt's dictatorship and the icy mountains of Afghanistan – and back again. >>> Johann Hari | Monday, November 16, 2009

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi Invites 500 Italian Women to Villa and Lectures Them on Islam
Women were given religious advice by Colonel Gadaffi, accompanied by women guards, at the summit. Photo: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Colonel Muammar Gaddafi invited hundreds of attractive Italian "hostesses" to a villa in Rome last night for an evening at which he urged them to convert to Islam and told them Christianity was based on a fraud, Italian reports said today.

The Libyan leader is in Italy to attend a United Nations summit on world food security. Reports said that Colonel Gaddafi's aides phoned an agency which provides elegantly dressed young women to act as hospitality staff at events.

The agency was asked to send 500 women to the residence of Hafed Gaddur, the Libyan ambassador in Rome, where Colonel Gaddafi is staying, over a series of evenings during the three day summit.

The agency advertised for "500 pleasing girls between 18 and 35 years of age, at least one metre 70 high." The women were asked to dress elegantly but soberly, with both miniskirts and cleavage-revealing decolletage firmly banned.

Those who replied were offered €60 (£53) to attend an evening at the villa for an "exchange of opinions" and to "receive a Libyan gift", which turned out to be a copy of the Koran. They were given nothing to eat or drink, however.

Paola Lo Mele, a journalist with the Italian news agency ANSA who posed as a hostess to enter the villa, said the 200 women who attended yesterday had to pass through metal detectors, before being ushered by white turbanned Libyan staff into a "sumptuous drawing room" with white and red divans arranged in a semi-circle in front of Colonel Gaddafi. He arrived an hour late. He sat next to an interpreter and two of his renowned female guards.

The Libyan leader said it was "untrue that Islam is against women" according to Corriere della Sera. He urged the women to convert to Islam, pointing out that whereas there were four different Gospels, there was only one Koran.

He then observed — to "general incredulity" — that Christ had not died on the Cross and been resurrected, as Christians believe, because the person crucified had been "a look-alike" who was substituted for the real Jesus.

"Convert to Islam. Jesus was sent to the Jews, not for you. Mohammed, on the other hand, was sent for all human beings," he reportedly said. "Whoever goes in a different direction than Mohammed is wrong. God's religion is Islam, and whoever follows a different one, in the end, will lose," Colonel Gaddafi added, according to La Stampa.

He said women must do only "what their physical condition allows them", and spoke about the role that women played during the Second World War. He claimed that in the West women "have often been used as pieces of furniture, changed whenever it pleases men. And this is an injustice." He then invited the women to travel to the Islamic holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

As the soiree broke up at midnight he handed out copies of the Koran, his own Green Book on the Libyan revolution, and a pamphlet entitled How to be a Muslim. >>> Richard Owen in Rome | Monday, November 16, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: Colonel Gaddafi preaches Islam to 200 glamour girls: Colonel Gaddafi has lived up to his reputation for eccentric behaviour by lecturing 200 attractive young glamour models on the benefits of Islam. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Monday, November 16, 2009

MAIL ONLINE: 'Give me 500 beautiful Italian girls': Colonel Gaddafi hires escort agency women during Rome summit and then tries to convert them to Islam >>> Nick Pisa | Monday, November 16, 2009

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Kadhafi: «L’islam n'est pas contre les femmes!» : ROME | Comme à son habitude, le colonel libyen s’est fait organiser à Rome des rencontres avec de jeunes Italiennes recrutées par agence. Il leur a lancé: "Convertissez-vous à l’islam!". >>> AFP | Lundi 16 Novembre 2009

Lady Ahmadinejad
Lady Ahmadinejad. Foto: La Stampa
LA STAMPA: La signora Ahmadinejad durante il summit delle First Ladies dei Paesi non allineati presso la sede della Fao,il 15 novembre 2009, a Roma.

La moglie del presidente iraniano, in chador nero e occhiali fumè, ha lanciato un appello per garantire cibo e medicine nella Striscia di Gaza, poi ha proposto l'esempio iraniano per la sicurezza alimentare nelle famiglie e accusato «l'attitudine mercantilista allo sfruttamento delle risorse e la politica dell'occupazione e della corsa alle armi» definendole responsabili della povertà e della fame nel mondo. Galleria di foto >>> | Domenica 15 novembre 2009

Die Schönheit vom Iran: Asam al-Sada Farahi
Zur Bildergalerie >>>

Barack Obama Criticises Censorship in Meeting with Chinese Students
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama, the US president, has strongly criticised censorship in his first public appearance in China, veering directly into one of the most sensitive areas of Communist party policy.

Barack Obama: US President Barack Obama (L) shakes hands with students after answering questions at a town hall meeting at the Museum of Science and Technology in Shanghai. Photo: The Telegraph
Mr Obama told an audience of 400 Chinese students that freedom of "expression, and worship, of access to information and political participation" were "universal rights".

He said: "They should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities, whether they are in the United States, China or any nation".

The Chinese government did its best to carefully choreograph Mr Obama's maiden tour, going as far as to hand-pick each student in the auditorium.

Mr Obama was allowed to open the floor to questions, but at least two of the four students he called upon were later discovered to be members of the Communist Youth League, the university arm of the party.

Nevertheless, a question selected by the US embassy gave the president an opportunity to tackle a more contentious topic. Asked for his opinion of the "Great Firewall of China", a censorship program that strips the internet of any political dissent, Mr Obama said he was a "big believer in openness".

He added: "The more freely information flows, the stronger a society becomes. Citizens can hold their own governments accountable. They can begin to think for themselves. That generates new ideas and encourages creativity. >>> Malcolm Moore in Shanghai | Monday, November 16, 2009

GLOBE AND MAIL: Obama holds town hall in China: Pressing for freedoms on China's own turf, President Barack Obama said Monday that individual expression is not an American ideal but a universal right that should be available to all. >>> AP video | Monday, November 16, 2009

Obama Welcomes Rise of China


TIMES ONLINE: China rounds up dissidents as President Obama touches down in Beijing: Chinese officials have rounded up dozens of Beijings’s tiny coterie of activists and petitioners in case any dissident tries to approach President Obama, who arrived in the city today.
The arrests continued to gather momentum even as Mr Obama told an unprecedented question-and-answer session with Shanghai students that freedom of information and expression were vital for a stronger, more creative society. >>> Jane Macartney in Beijing | Monday, November 16, 2009

LE TEMPS: En Chine, Barack Obama évoque des «droits universels» : Le président américain Barack Obama a prôné lundi à Shanghai la liberté d’expression, de culte et d’information, y compris sur l’Internet, lors de sa première visite en Chine. Il a ensuite rejoint Pékin pour des entretiens politiques avec son homologue Hu Jinato. >>> ATS | Lundi 16 Novembre 2009

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

People Must Be Free to Hold Intolerant Views about Homosexuality
THE TELEGRAPH: Ministers seem set on eroding yet another safeguard to our liberty, says Philip Johnston.

An important blow for free speech was struck in the dying hours of the last parliamentary session, despite a desperate rearguard action by the Government to quash it. Ministers wanted to remove a protection inserted into a law, passed only last year, which made it an offence to express hatred of homosexuals. But they were twice beaten back in the Lords and eventually ran out of time.

They may try again in the coming session that starts on Wednesday, the last before the general election.

This story encapsulates much that has been so pernicious about the 12 years of misrule to which the country has been subjected. No one can remember a government returning in the very next session to try to undo something to which it had agreed (albeit reluctantly) in the preceding parliamentary term. The free speech protection was proposed by Lord Waddington, a former Home Secretary. It stated: "For the avoidance of doubt, the discussion or criticism of sexual conduct or practices or the urging of persons to refrain from or modify such conduct or practices, shall not be taken of itself to be threatening or intended to stir up hatred."

This was done for a purpose. There are too many instances of people being questioned by the police under existing public order legislation for holding views that may be considered offensive or intolerant for yet another measure to be passed without setting out the circumstances in which it is meant to be used. These instances include a grandmother, Pauline Howe, who was visited by two constables because she wrote to her local council to complain about a gay rights march and what she considered a "public display of indecency". She was told she might have committed a "hate crime".

A similar experience befell Joe and Helen Roberts, a Christian couple lectured by Lancashire police on the evils of "homophobia" after criticising gay rights in a letter to Wyre Borough Council. A few years ago, Lynette Burrows, a family campaigner, was the target of a police inquiry after saying on the radio that she did not believe homosexuals should be allowed to adopt. Sir Iqbal Sacranie, the former head of the Muslim Council, had his collar felt, as did the Bishop of Chester for making remarks in a religious context that no sane person could have taken as stirring up hatred against homosexuals. The most preposterous example was the Oxford student who was arrested and threatened with prosecution for calling a police horse gay. >>> Philip Johnston | Monday, November 16, 2009

Grave of Neda Soltan Desecrated by Supporters of Iranian Regime
TIMES ONLINE: Supporters of Iran’s regime have desecrated the grave of Neda Soltan, the student who became a symbol of the opposition after she was shot dead during an anti-goverment demonstration on June 20.

The incident was confirmed by Ms Soltan’s fiancé, Caspian Makan, who fled from Iran after being released on bail following 65 days in prison. A recording of Ms Soltan’s mother weeping and cursing those responsible has been posted on the internet.

Mr Makan, 38, also disclosed that the regime tried to force him and Ms Soltan’s parents to say that she was killed by the opposition, not by a government militiaman on a motorbike as eyewitnesses have claimed. A documentary to be shown on BBC Two next week contains an unseen clip of demonstrators catching the militiaman seconds after the shooting.

Mr Makan, who is in hiding said: “The breaking of Neda’s gravestone broke the hearts of millions of freedom-loving people around the world. The repressors, believing they can stifle the cries for freedom, have even attacked, beaten, threatened and insulted Neda’s parents. This is while the Islamic Republic of Iran denies Neda’s murder.” >>> Martin Fletcher | Monday, November 16, 2009

Texas Accounts for Half of Executions in US But Now Has Doubts Over Death Row
THE GUARDIAN: Overturned convictions and growth of DNA forensic evidence shake state's rock-solid faith in capital punishment

Even in Texas they are having their doubts. The state that executes more people than any other by far – it will account for half the prisoners sent to the death chamber in the US this year – is seeing its once rock-solid faith in capital punishment shaken by overturned convictions, judicial scandals and growing evidence that at least one innocent man has been executed.

The growth of DNA forensic evidence has seen nearly 140 death row convictions overturned across the US, prompting abolition and moratoriums in other states that Texas has so far resisted.

But the public mood is swinging in the conservative state, which often seems to have an Old Testament view of justice. A former governor, Mark White – previously a strong supporter of the death penalty – has joined those calling for a reconsideration of capital punishment because of the risk of executing an innocent person.

The number of death sentences passed by juries in Texas has fallen sharply in recent years, reflecting a retreat from capital punishment in many parts of America after DNA evidence led to the release of scores of condemned prisoners.

The number of death sentences passed annually in the US has dropped by about 60% in the past decade, to around 100.

"In Texas we have seen a constant stream of individual cases that really destroy public faith and integrity in our criminal justice system," said Steve Hall, former chief of staff to the Texas attorney general for eight years, who is now an anti-death penalty activist.

"You are seeing that scepticism reflected in a lot of different ways. You are seeing juries more reluctant to issue death sentences. You are also seeing a different approach by district attorneys. Some are breaking with the past culture of seeking the death penalty whenever they can." >>> Chris McGreal in Livingston | Sunday, November 15, 2009

Italy's Foreign Minister Says Post-Lisbon EU Needs a European Army
Mr Frattini said the experience of Afghanistan strengthened the 'necessary objective' of a Europe-wide army. Photo: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Italy is to push for the creation of a European Army after the "new Europe" takes shape at this week's crucial EU summit following the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty.

Franco Frattini, the Italian Foreign Minister, said that the Lisbon Treaty had established "that if some countries want to enter into reinforced co-operation between themselves they can do so". This was already the case with the euro and the Schengen accords on frontier-free travel, and could now be applied to "common European defence".

In an interview with The Times at his office in the monumental marble-halled Foreign Ministry on the banks of the Tiber, Mr Frattini said: "We have finally concluded a never-ending story". The Lisbon Treaty, which comes into force in December, will be sealed on Thursday with an EU summit to choose an EU President and Foreign Minister.

He warned that "if we do not find a common foreign policy, there is the risk that Europe will become irrelevant. We will be bypassed by the G2 of America and China, which is to say the Pacific axis, and the Atlantic axis will be forgotten. We need political will and commitment, otherwise the people of Europe will be disillusioned and disappointed. People expect a great deal of us. After Lisbon we have no more alibis". >>> Richard Owen in Rome | Sunday, November 15, 2009

BNP Leader Nick Griffin to Stand in Barking at General Election
THE TELEGRAPH: Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party, has confirmed he will stand in Barking at the next General Election.

According to the BNP leader, for the first time ever, the party has really serious challengers in a number of seats. Photo: The Telegraph
Speaking shortly before he addressed the BNP's annual conference in Hindley Green, Wigan, he also set out the key topics on which the party will fight for seats in the House of Commons.

He said: ''For the first time ever, we are really serious challengers in a number of seats. We're looking at half a dozen really seriously with big amounts of resources.

''And on top of that we will be fighting, I'm sure, our largest number ever - so I guess in excess of 200.''

The BNP's annual conference began on Saturday and finished with a key-note speech by Mr Griffin, in which he spelt out the future of the party to delegates.

He explained why he has chosen to fight in Margaret Hodge MP's Essex constituency in his campaign to get to Westminster.

''I am going to stand in Barking,'' he said. ''The thrust of that campaign will be the housing and education problems in the borough, and the way that the Labour party has let that borough down in a catastrophic way.''

The MEP for the north-west said bringing home British troops for Afghanistan is a key policy for the party and one that he believes has wide support across the country.

He said: ''It is the issue that everyone in the public wants a party to take the lead on. The three main parties are completely out of kilter with public opinion.'' >>> | Sunday, November 15, 2009

News Hub: Palin Hopes for More Than a Bestseller in Going Rogue

Diplomatie : Sommet de l'Asean à Singapour : les États-Unis font pression sur la Birmanie
LE POINT: C'est une première. Barack Obama a demandé directement au Premier ministre birman la libération de la dissidente Aung San Suu Kyi. Le président américain a profité de sa première rencontre avec Thein Sein, au cours d'une réunion sans précédent avec des leaders de l'Association des États d'Asie du Sud-Est (Asean), qui s'est ouverte dimanche dans un hôtel de Singapour. Mais pas seulement : les États-Unis et l'Asean ont appelé la Birmanie à faire en sorte que les élections promises par la junte en 2010 soient "libres, justes, transparentes et ouvertes" à l'opposition. >>> LePoint.fr avec AFP | Dimanche 15 Novembre 2009

TIMES ONLINE: Obama demands release of Burma democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi >>> Leo Lewis, Asia Business Correspondent | Sunday, November 15, 2009

Venezuela: Chávez ruft zu den Waffen
ZEIT ONLINE: Staatspräsident Chávez ist in Rage. Er sieht sein Land durch das Militärabkommen zwischen Washington und Bogotá gefährdet und bereitet sich auf einen Krieg vor.

Venezuelas Präsident Hugo Chávez ist kampfbereit. Er glaubt, dass die USA und Kolumbien sein Land angreifen wollen. Bild: Zeit Online
Venezuelas Staatschef Hugo Chávez wirft den USA und Kolumbien vor, einen Angriff auf sein Land zu planen. Die Regierungen beider Länder hätten einen "teuflischen Pakt" geschlossen, um einen Krieg gegen Venezuela vorzubereiten und den bolivarischen Sozialismus zu bremsen, sagte der linksgerichtete Staatschef am Freitag bei einer Parteiveranstaltung in Caracas.

Grund für seine heftigen Verballattacken ist das kürzlich abgeschlossene Militärabkommen zwischen Washington und Bogotá, das eine stärkere Militärpräsenz der USA in Südamerika ermöglicht.

Chávez betonte, Venezuela werde niemanden angreifen, aber das Land sei darauf vorbereitet, sich zu verteidigen. Der Staatschef rief erneut das Militär und die Milizen in Venezuela auf, sich auf einen Krieg vorzubereiten, um die Souveränität des Landes gegen die Bedrohung der USA über Kolumbien zu verteidigen. >>> Zeit Online, dpa | Samstag, 14. November 2009

El-Assad rejette un dialogue direct avec Israël
«Ce qui nous manque, c'est un partenaire israélien qui est prêt à aller de l'avant et prêt à parvenir à un résultat», a dit Bachar el-Assad après s'être entretenu, vendredi à Paris, avec Nicolas Sarkozy. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Le président syrien, reçu vendredi pour déjeuner à l'Élysée, a évoqué avec Nicolas Sarkozy la relance du processus de paix.

Convié vendredi à l'Élysée, deux jours après Benyamin Nétanyahou , le président syrien Bachar el-Assad a opposé une sèche fin de non-recevoir à l'offre de dialogue direct faite par Israël sur la question du plateau du Golan, occupé depuis 1967 et annexé en 1981 par l'État hébreu. «Ce qui nous manque, c'est un partenaire israélien qui est prêt à aller de l'avant et prêt à parvenir à un résultat», a dit Bachar el-Assad après s'être entretenu, vendredi, avec Nicolas Sarkozy. Une invitation à déjeuner et trois rangées de gardes républicains dans la cour de l'Élysée, le raïs syrien a été reçu avec les prévenances réservées à un invité qui compte.

C'était sa deuxième visite à Paris, après celle de juillet 2008, qui avait marqué son retour dans l'arène internationale. «Depuis, les relations avec la France se sont beaucoup améliorées et développées sur une base de franchise», s'est d'ailleurs félicité vendredi Bachar el-Assad. >>> Alain Barluet | Vendredi 13 Novembre 2009