Aliens 'Already Exist on Earth', Bulgarian Scientists Claim
THE TELEGRAPH: Aliens from outer space are already among us on earth, say Bulgarian government scientists who claim they are already in contact with extraterrestrial life.

"Aliens are currently all around us, and are watching us all the time," Mr Filipov told Bulgarian media. Image: The Telegraph
Work on deciphering a complex set of symbols sent to them is underway, scientists from the country's Space Research Institute said.

They claim aliens are currently answering 30 questions posed to them.

Lachezar Filipov, deputy director of the Space Research Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, confirmed the research.

He said the centre's researchers were analysing 150 crop circles from around the world, which they believe answer the questions.

"Aliens are currently all around us, and are watching us all the time," Mr Filipov told Bulgarian media.

"They are not hostile towards us, rather, they want to help us but we have not grown enough in order to establish direct contact with them."

Mr Filipov said that even the seat of the Catholic church, the Vatican, had agreed that aliens existed. >>> | Thursday, November 26, 2009

Wishing Happy Christmas 'Could Be an Obscenity' Warns Bishop
THE TELEGRAPH: Wishing people a Happy Christmas could be seen as an "insult" or even an "obscenity" as not everyone is in a position to celebrate, a bishop has warned.

The Right Reverend Humphrey Southern, the Bishop of Repton, said it was a "hollow" greeting to make to those who were suffering.

People should not "simply make a cocoon of happiness for ourselves and our loved ones" at Christmas, he said.

Writing in the monthly Derby diocese newsletter, he said: "This is the 'Happy Christmas' month. Yet to many that greeting will be hollow, coming as an insult, or even an obscenity."

The bishop, 49, went on to ask: "What can 'Happy Christmas' mean in a family whose father has been killed in a military operation in Afghanistan that fewer and fewer people understand (still less support)?

"How do you wish 'Happy Christmas' to a community in the Indian Ocean who can probably count on the fingers of a couple of hands the number of Christmases they will see before their home disappears under water, victim to global warming?

"What could it possibly mean to the victim of bullying, ostracism or racial intimidation in your workplace or neighbourhoods or community?" >>> Stephen Adams | ay, November 27, 2009

Church of England Set to Lose a Tenth of Its Clergy in Five Years
TIMES ONLINE: The Church of England is facing the loss of as many as one in ten paid clergy in the next five years and internal documents seen by The Times admit that the traditional model of a vicar in every parish is over.

The credit crunch and a pension funding crisis have left dioceses facing massive restructuring programmes. Church statistics show that between 2000 and 2013 stipendiary or paid clergy numbers will have fallen by nearly a quarter.

According to figures on the Church of England website, there will be an 8.3 per cent decrease in paid clergy in the next four years, from 8,400 this year to 7,700 in to 2013. This represents a 22.5 per cent decrease since 2000. If this trend continues in just over 50 years there will be no full-time paid clergy left in Britain’s 13,000 parishes serving 16,000 churches.

Jobs will instead be filled by unpaid part-timers, giving rise to fears about the quality of parish ministry. Combined with a big reduction in churchgoing, the figures will add weight to the campaign for disestablishment. >>> Ruth Gledhill and Tim Glanfield | Saturday, November 28, 2009

The Sudan: Knee-length Skirts Are ‘Indecent’
MAIL ONLINE: A girl of 16 was given 50 lashes after a judge ruled her knee length skirt was indecent.

Silva Kashif was punished without her family being told after she was arrested while walking alone near her home in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Her mother, Jenty Doro, said: ‘I only heard about it after she was lashed. Later we all sat and cried.

‘She is just a young girl but the policeman pulled her along like she was a criminal. It was wrong.’

She said she would sue the police and the judge because her daughter is a Christian and underage.

The law states that under-18s should not be given lashes.

Doro said Khashif was taken to Kalatla court where she was convicted and punished by a female police officer in front of the judge.

'I only heard about it after she was lashed. Later we all sat and cried ... People have different religions and that should be taken into account' she said.

Khartoum is governed by Islamic sharia law. But although Miss Kashif is living there she is originally from the south of the country, which is not. Fifty lashes for the teenage girl who wore an 'indecent' knee length skirt in Sudan >>> | Saturday, November 28, 2009

La coupole islamique venue du ciel alsacien
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: REPORTAGE | Au moment où les Suisses votent pour ou contre les minarets, Strasbourg met sa Grande Mosquée sous toit. Et sans… minaret ! >>> Jean-Noël Cuénod à Strasbourg | Vendredi 27 Novembre 2009

L'AIEA condamne l'Iran pour son programme clandestin
LE FIGARO: La résolution adoptée vendredi reproche à Téhéran d'avoir dissimulé l'existence d'un autre site d'enrichissement d'uranium.

Les grandes puissances ont réussi à obtenir une condamnation sans nuances de l'Iran, vendredi à Vienne, au siège de l'Agence internationale de l'énergie atomique (AIEA). Présentée par la France et les États-Unis, une résolution en huit points dénonçant les activités nucléaires clandestines de Téhéran sur le site de Fordo et demandant à l'agence d'en informer le Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies a été adoptée par 25 voix sur les 35 que compte le Conseil des gouverneurs, l'organe exécutif de l'AIEA. Cuba, la Malaisie et le Venezuela, soutiens traditionnels de l'Iran, ont voté contre, tandis que le Brésil a préféré s'abstenir.

Cette résolution, qui traduit les «inquiétudes sérieuses» de l'AIEA à l'égard du site clandestin d'enrichissement d'uranium de Fordo, dont l'existence avait été révélée le 25 septembre, n'implique pas l'adoption de nouvelles sanctions internationales contre Téhéran.

Il faudra pour cela que le nouveau directeur général de l'AIEA, le Japonais Yukiya Amano, qui prendra ses fonctions mardi prochain, évoque cette impasse auprès du Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies, comme le lui enjoint la résolution. Il s'agirait alors de dégager un nouveau consensus à New York en faveur d'une telle mesure punitive à l'égard de Téhéran, qui toucherait cette fois à ses activités énergétiques et pourrait conduire à un blocus partiel de ses exportations de gaz et de pétrole non raffiné.

L'ambassadeur iranien auprès de l'AIEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, a aussitôt évoqué des «conséquences», tout en assurant que l'Iran «ne sortirait pas du traité de non-prolifération» (TNP). Moment charnière >>> De correspondant du Figaro à Vienne, Maurin Picard | Vendredi 27 Novembre 2009

The former St Nicholas Cathedral in Famagusta, Cyprus, was converted into a mosque. It is now the Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque. Photograph: Google Images
Vatican Condemns 'Immoral' Church Conversions
THE TELEGRAPH: The Vatican has expressed alarm over the "immoral" trend for churches to be converted into bars and nightclubs.

The head of the culture department, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravisi, cited a church in Hungary which was deconsecrated and sold off to become a strip club.

"It has now become a nightclub and a stripper performs her finale on the altar each evening," he said.

The archbishop, who is president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said dwindling numbers of worshippers meant some churches had to be sold or even demolished.

"Faced with falling number of worshippers, a phenomenon which we are also unfortunately witnessing in the centre of Rome, churches without any artistic value and which need significant work can be sold or destroyed," he said.

But he said dioceses should exercise "great caution" in ensuring that the buildings were not used for immoral purposes.

The Roman Catholic Church was offering no specific guidelines and each case should be carefully assessed on its own merits, he said. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Friday, November 27, 2009

Mein Kampf a Hit on Dhaka Streets
BBC: Booksellers touting their wares amid the heavy traffic in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, have discovered an unusual best-seller.

Adolf Hitler's autobiography manifesto Mein Kampf is selling as well as Dan Brown's latest novel, The Lost Symbol.

The street vendors in Dhaka are found at every major road junction and intersection.

Most of the sellers are young boys and many compete with beggars to attract the attention of motorists.

Last week, Mein Kampf did unusually well because many bought the book to give it away as an Eid present. >>> Alastair Lawson, BBC News, Dhaka | Friday, November 27, 2009

Eid Al-Adha: Pilger steinigen den Teufel
20MINUTEN.ch: Rund drei Millionen muslimische Pilger aus aller Welt haben mit der symbolischen Steinigung des Teufels begonnen.

Tausende Pilger steinigen symbolisch den Teufel in Mekka. Bild: 20Minuten.ch
Dazu zogen sie in einem Wüstental vor den Toren Mekkas an drei Mauern vorbei, die sie mit Steinen bewarfen. Der erste Tag der Steinigung markiert auch den Beginn des Opferfestes, an dem Muslime in aller Welt Schafe und andere Tiere schlachten - in Erinnerung an Abrahams beinahe vollbrachtes Opfer seines Sohns. >>> ap | Freitag, 27. November 2009

HAMBURGER ABENDBLATT – FOTOGALERIE: >>>

Attention à tous les musulmans! Le zoo de Varsovie installe une cage à homme préhistorique
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: POLOGNE | Le jardin zoologique de Varsovie a inauguré une "cage à homme des cavernes" abritant un couple déguisé en humains préhistoriques, pour rappeler que "l'homme est aussi un animal".

Enfermés dans une ancienne cage à singes, vêtus de peaux d'animaux, un homme et une femme passent leurs journées à s'épouiller mutuellement, à veiller sur le feu et à observer attentivement les gens qui passent devant leur enclos.

Pour jouer ces rôles, la direction a fait appel à des volontaires, une jeune femme de 18 ans et un homme de 24 ans.

"Nos hommes des cavernes sont très calmes et gentils. Ils ne mordent pas. Ils sont anxieux de voir autant d'inconnus passer devant leur habitation", a expliqué à l'AFP Ewa Zbornikowska, vice-directrice du zoo de Varsovie. >>> AFP | Vendredi 27 Novembre 2009

Islamkritiker: Geert Wilders – Der fluchende Holländer
WELT ONLINE: Im Januar nächsten Jahres will der niederländische Abgeordnete, Parteichef und radikale Islamkritiker Geert Wilders die Türkei besuchen. Das ist eine wunderbare Gelegenheit für ihn und die islamisch geprägte türkische Regierungspartei AKP, ihre Popularitätswerte zu steigern, indem sie wüst übereinander herfallen.

Schimpft sich seinen Weg in die Türkei: Der Islamkritiker Geert Wilders. Bild: Welt Online
Anfang 2010 will der niederländische Islamkritiker Geert Wilders die Türkei besuchen. Für ihn und die islamisch geprägte türkische Regierungspartei AKP ist das eine wunderbare Gelegenheit, mühelos ihre Popularitätswerte zu steigern, indem sie wüst übereinander herfallen.

Die türkische Regierung betrachte „die Gedanken dieses Individuums“ als „rassistisch und inakzeptabel“, sagte Außenamtssprecher Burak Özügergin während einer Pressekonferenz. Obwohl noch keine Entscheidung gefallen sei, denn über eine derart politische Angelegenheit könne schließlich „nicht im Außenministerium entschieden“ werden. Darum erwäge man, Wilders die Einreise zu verweigern.

Er will als Mitglied einer Parlamentarierdelegation kommen, aber wer wird schon auf die Abgeordneten und ihre gemessenen Worte achten, wenn man über den provokativen Wilders berichten kann? Es sei „unfair für die guten Beziehungen beider Länder“, wenn Wilders’ Anwesenheit den Zweck des ganzen Besuchs verzerre. >>> Boris Kalnoky | Donnerstag, 26. November 2009

Liebesfest von zwei Brüdern in der Politik: Chávez und Ahmadinedschad!

Why do Arab Men Hold Hands?

Nose Jobs in Iran

Swiss to Vote on Mosque Minarets Ban
THE GUARDIAN: Minarets on mosques are 'symbol of political power' claims rightwing campaign denounced by opponents as racist

A minaret on the roof of a Turkish cultural centre in Wangen bei Olten, north-western Switzerland. Photograph: The Guardian
The Swiss are to decide this weekend whether to ban minarets on mosques, in what is in effect the first direct vote in a European country on Islam and the practices of Muslims.

The controversial referendum on Sunday, accompanied by a prohibition campaign denounced as racist and in violation of human rights, is the latest tussle in Europe over the limits of multiculturalism and immigrant lifestyles.

Pushed by anti-immigrant rightwing populists, it has triggered months of debate in a country that uses direct democracy for single-issue politics. The referendum has turned into much more than a vote on architecture and urban planning.

"The minaret has got nothing to do with religion. It's a symbol of political power, a prelude to the introduction of sharia law," argued Ulrich Schlüer, of the rightwing Swiss People's party, an architect of the campaign.

Two years ago the SPP became the strongest party in Switzerland, with an anti-immigrant election campaign that featured posters of three white sheep kicking a black sheep off a red and white Swiss flag. UN experts and human rights activists condemned the campaign as overtly racist.

This time the SPP has plastered the country with posters showing the same flag as a base for several black minarets, portrayed as missiles, alongside a woman clad in a black burqa. Church leaders, the Jewish community and Muslim leaders have all opposed the campaign. The foreign minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey, warned that a vote in favour risked turning Switzerland into "a target for Islamic terrorism". The city of Basel and other towns have proscribed the incendiary posters.

Amnesty International said: "Freedom of religious belief is a basic human right and changing the Swiss constitution to ban the construction of minarets would clearly breach the rights of the country's Muslims."

UN human rights experts have said the proposed ban violates freedom of religion and liberty. The Swiss justice minister, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, has agreed, declaring that it would breach anti-discrimination laws and rights to free religious observance, raising the question of why the campaign has been allowed. >>> Ian Traynor, Europe editor | Thursday, November 26, 2009

Mandelson Shows Labour Is a Party Rotten with Decadence
MAIL ONLINE: The sumptuous home of financier Jacob Rothschild, Waddesdon Manor, has long been famed as one of Britain's most magnificent country houses.

But for all its splendour and beauty, the estate has this week been associated with an extraordinary weekend shooting party which symbolises the decadence, corruption and moral collapse of modern British socialism.

No novelist would have dared to invent such an occasion. The host was a leading member of the world's richest and most famous banking dynasty. The guests included the son of a bloodthirsty and oil-rich Arab dictator, and the discredited wife of a former British prime minister.

And totally at home in all this gilded opulence was the remarkable figure of Lord Mandelson, former Young Communist, far Left activist, major player in three successive Labour election victories and right-hand man to Gordon Brown.

One might have expected such a figure to have been repelled by so much opulence and wealth. Instead, Mandelson clearly revels in it. The drab lives of the hard-working men and women who placed their faith in Labour at three consecutive general elections hold no appeal to him.

Mandelson now only seems truly at home in grand country houses or on the yachts of billionaires such as his Russian oligarch friend Oleg Deripaska, whose guest he was during the summer of 2008.

The truth is that his attendance at a shooting party with Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi's son is a perfect parable of the decadent Left's embrace of everything it claims to despise.

Nor is Mandelson an exception. Practically every member of Tony Blair's Cabinet which took office in 1997 has since sold out to wealth and power.

Blair himself is a perfect example. Since leaving office, he has become a popular member of the international plutocracy; a consultant to an investment bank who has earned an estimated £15 million since leaving Downing Street.

While at No 10, Blair was shamefully attracted to extremely rich men. On one occasion, government policy was even changed after the tycoon Bernie Ecclestone donated £1 million to the Labour Party.

Peerages were for sale under his government, while his wife Cherie blatantly profiteered from her status of First Lady by accepting free gifts and discounts from retailers. >>> Peter Oborne | Friday, November 27, 2009

Dubai Tries to Stem Panic as Financial Crisis Shakes Investors Around World
THE GUARDIAN: FTSE 100 opens down 70 points before regaining ground / Japan's Nikkei closes down 3.2%; Hang Seng falls 5.3%

The Dubai financial crisis continued to send shares and commodities falling around the world this morning, despite efforts by the emirate's ruling family to calm the panic.

In London, the FTSE 100 tumbled by 70 points, or nearly 1.4%, to 5123 when trading began – but by 9.15am had erased nearly all of its losses. HSBC and Barclays were among the biggest fallers, along with mining companies.

There was also a bout of heavy selling in Asia. The Nikkei 225 closed 3.2% lower, with Japan's biggest banks leading the fallers. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell by 5.3%.

Major building firms in Asia also fell sharply, as traders anticipated that the Dubai building boom was over.

Predictions that Dubai could drag the world economy downwards again knocked $5.50 off the price of a barrel of oil, to $72.49.

Yesterday the FTSE 100 suffered its worst day's trading since March, falling by 170 points. This followed the news that Dubai World – the government-owned conglomerate that has led the dramatic growth in the Emirate – has asked to defer repaying some debts for six months.

It is still unclear whether Dubai World will default on its $80bn debts, which would be a major blow to the banking sector, or be bailed out by the United Arab Emirates.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, the uncle of Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, attempted to calm the situation last night. >>> Graeme Wearden | Friday, November 27, 2009

Pupils Suspended for 'Kick a Jew Day'
THE TELEGRAPH: Pupils at a school in Florida have been suspended after taking part in a "Kick a Jew Day".

Ten students at North Naples Middle School were sent home for a day after a girl told the head teacher that she believed she had been kicked for being Jewish, prompting further instances to come to light.

Florida passed strict anti-bullying laws last year and schools that do not do enough to stop it risk losing their state funding.

Margaret Jackson, the school's head teacher, has responded to the kicking incident by setting aside the first 20 minutes of each day to teaching students – aged 12 to 15 – about kindness, respect and ways of preventing bullying.

David Barkey of the Florida Anti-Defamation League said the organisation had been consulted over the incident. >>> Tom Leonard in New York | Thursday, November 26, 2009

Ed Balls Comes Out Fighting - for 'Racist' Islamic Schools
THE TELEGRAPH: A trustee of one of the schools which Ed Balls is defending has written in a Hizb ut Tahrir journal condemning the "corrupt western concepts of materialism and freedom," observes Andrew Gilligan.

We connoisseurs of Ed Balls, a small but happy band, know from experience that the moment he gets that complacent little smile playing round his lips is the time to set the video; the moment when Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families is once more about to walk, unknowingly, into an open manhole.

Mr Balls has been having good sport with the Tories this week. On Newsnight on Wednesday, the little smile was in full operation as he expressed mock sympathy with their communities spokesman, Paul Goodman, for having to defend the "factual errors" and "irresponsible politics" of his leader, David Cameron, in the row over Islamic schools.

The Tories should have "checked their facts", he chided. Ofsted, he told Radio 4, "have satisfied themselves that there were not problems in these schools". The whole episode "casts real doubt on David Cameron's judgment", he said, sorrowfully.

Cameron had said that two schools run by members or activists of a thoroughly nasty extremist organisation, Hizb ut Tahrir, had been paid £113,000 of public money. The allegationcame from a story of mine in the Telegraph four weeks ago.

The central charge is perfectly true, thoroughly documented – and a scandal. But Cameron made some mistakes in the detail, sending the Westminster media chasing down one of their classic "process issue" cul-de-sacs (whether the schools were registered, and which particular part of the Whitehall cake this slice of cash had come from) and allowing Balls to launch his attack on Cameron. He clearly thought he'd scored a bullseye: one-nil to the forces of Gordon. >>> Andrew Gilligan | Friday, November 27, 2009

Though Liberals Moan and Lefties Sneer, We’ll Stop the Red Flag Flying Here
Che Guevara and red flags at a May Day parade by the Polish Communist Party in Warsaw six years ago. The proposed law will ban any display of communist symbols appearing ever again. Photo: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Down come the cheesy Che Guevara posters in student bedsits across the land. Off come the T-shirts wittily emblazoned with a hammer and sickle.

Twenty years after Eastern Europe toppled statues of Lenin, the Polish Government is about to finish the job by making it all but impossible to wave the red flag — even in jest.

Up to two years in jail await anyone glorifying communism according to an amendment to Article 256 of the Polish criminal code — the race-hate article — which is likely to come into force next year. The ban outlaws “the production, distribution, sale or possession ... in print, recordings or other means of fascist, communist or other symbols of totalitarianism”. So if you planned to sing the Internationale while marching down the centre of Warsaw to the old communist headquarters — now housing financial services companies — forget it.

The revised Bill has already passed the Polish Senate. President Kaczynski has to sign it into law by Monday and no one in Warsaw seriously believes that he will hesitate.

His twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the opposition Law and Justice party, has made his view clear: “No symbol of communism has a right to exist in Poland because these are symbols of a genocidal system that should be compared to Nazism.” >>> Roger Boyes | Friday, November 27, 2009

Roman Polanski to Be Freed on Bail, Swiss Government Says
THE TELEGRAPH: Roman Polanski will be released on bail and placed under house arrest at his chalet in the Alps, the Swiss government has said.

The justice ministry said in a statement released on Thursday that Polanski will be transferred as soon as possible.

A Swiss court granted the film director his wish to be released on a bail of $4.5 million (£2.6m) and the government has decided not to challenge that decision.

"Polanski will be released from custody as soon as bail has been transferred, ID and travel documents have been lodged, and the electronic monitoring system has been installed and tested," the ministry said.

The bail, however, does not affect the justice ministry's pending decision on whether to extradite the 76-year-old director to the United States for having sex in Los Angeles in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.

He pleaded guilty to having sex with the girl but fled the United States in 1978 before he was sentenced because he believed a judge might overrule a plea bargain and sentence him to 50 years in prison.

Acting on a US warrant, Swiss police detained Polanski on when he arrived at Zurich airport on September 26 to attend a film festival where he was to receive a special award. >>> | Thursday, November 26, 2009