Five American Members of the ‘Religion of Peace’ Arrested in Pakistan
TIMES ONLINE: The FBI is investigating five American Muslim students who are thought to have been arrested in Pakistan yesterday on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks after disappearing from their homes in the US last month.

Pakistani police said they arrested the five men, aged from 18 to their early 20s, in a raid on the house of a member of the banned militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, in the town of Sargodha in the eastern province of Punjab.

The FBI has yet to confirm their nationalities or identities, but Pakistani officials said the men were all US citizens, including three of Pakistani descent, one of Egyptian descent and one of Yemeni descent, and had been staying at the house since November 30.

Their arrest came as David C. Headley, another American citizen, of Pakistani origin, pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges in a case that has raised fears about Islamic militant groups' ability to recruit and operate inside the United States.

Muslim leaders in Washington said the five men - all students - had been living with their families in northern Virginia until they disappeared last month, and one had left behind a jihad-style "farewell" video message.

Officials from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) told reporters that the men's families contacted the organisation after they went missing.

Nihad Awad, CAIR's executive director, declined to give the men’s names, ages or nationalities, but one of them has been identified as a dental student at Howard University in Washington.

Mr Awad said the families brought along a video that included war images, verses from the Koran and showed one of the five men delivering a "final statement".

"It's like a farewell," he said of the 11-minute, English-language video that one of the families reportedly found in their home. Five US Muslims arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of terror plots >>> Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent | Thursday, December 10, 2009

Politik und Sprache: "Obama erreicht die Leute nicht mehr"
ZEIT ONLINE: Wenn der US-Präsident heute den Friedensnobelpreis entgegennimmt, wird er sich einmal mehr vorhalten lassen müssen, dass er die Hoffnungen vieler Wähler enttäuscht hat. Der amerikanische Linguist George P. Lakoff erklärt, wie es dazu kommen konnte.

"Sprache ist immer eine Reflexion der dahinter liegenden Moral. Und die ist verloren gegangen", sagt George Lakoff über Obama. Bild: Zeit Online
ZEIT ONLINE: Ist Barack Obama der erste Präsident, der einen Friedensnobelpreis für seine Kunst der Rede bekommt?

George P. Lakoff: Nein. Er bekommt den Friedensnobelpreis für seine Kunst der Diplomatie.

ZEIT ONLINE: Wirklich? 30.000 zusätzliche Soldaten für Afghanistan, bis jetzt keine Schließung von Guantanmo, kein Abzug aus Irak, keine Gesundheitsreform, keine ernsthaften Klimaversprechen, Schwule sind weiterhin aus dem Militär ausgeschlossen und ... >>> Von Jonathan Stock | Dienstag, 10. Dezember 2009

Iran : «La purge se poursuit dans les universités»
LE TEMPS: Six mois après les manifestations post-électorales qui ont divisé le pays, Amnesty International publie un rapport sur la situation des droits humains, la pire qu’ait connue la République islamique depuis vingt ans

Alors que la planète célèbre ce jeudi la Journée des droits de l’homme, Amnesty International dénonce, dans un rapport, les violations commises en Iran ces six derniers mois. En cause, l’élection présidentielle de juin dernier, qui a reconduit au pouvoir l’ultraconservateur Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, et a aussitôt été contestée par l’opposition et une partie de la population. Des manifestations monstres ont été organisées dans les rues de Téhéran, pour dénoncer les fraudes et réclamer la tenue d’un nouveau scrutin. Les autorités ont alors confié aux bassidji (miliciens islamistes volontaires) et aux pasdaran (les «gardiens de la révolution») le soin de mâter la rébellion. Quelque 4000 personnes ont été arrêtées, 36 officiellement tuées, 200 environ croupissent encore en prison. Le point avec Manon Schick, porte-parole de la section suisse d’Amnesty International. >>> Caroline Stevan | Jeudi 10 Décembre 2009

Et si la Torah se substituait à la loi israélienne…
Un colon israélien brandit la Torah, dans une colonie juive près de Ramallah,en juin 2009. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Les Israéliens laïques voient avec inquiétude croître le poids des religieux.

Le ministre israélien de la Justice a déclenché un tollé en déclarant que la Torah devait progressivement remplacer la loi israélienne. «Petit à petit, nous imposerons aux citoyens d'Israël les lois de la Torah, et nous ferons de la Halakhah (la jurisprudence rabbinique) la loi régissant la nation , a déclaré lundi soir Yaacov Neeman lors d'une intervention publique devant une assemblée rabbinique à Jérusalem. «Nous devons imposer l'héritage des pères de la nation. La Torah donne la réponse complète à toutes les questions qui nous interpellent» , a-t-il ajouté. Le ministre a été vivement applaudi, notamment par le grand rabbin ashkénaze d'Israël, Yona Metzger, et le rabbin Ovadia Yossef, chef spirituel du parti orthodoxe séfarade Shass. Exclusivité juridique >>> Adrien Jaulmes - Correspondant du Figaro à Jérusalem | Jeudi 10 Décembre 2009

Une statue d'Obama enfant érigée à Jakarta
Barack Obama est l'objet d'un véritable culte en Indonésie, où il a passé une partie de son enfance. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Une statue représentant Barack Obama à l'âge de 10 ans a été installée dans un parc de Djakarta, où le président américain a passé une partie de sa jeunesse.

Plus rien n'arrête Barack Obama. Après le Prix Nobel de la Paix,qu'il doit reçevoir ce jeudi, le président a désormais droit à sa statue. Un sculpture en bronze de Barack Obama à l'âge de 10 ans a été inaugurée merceedi dans un parc de Jakarta, la capitale indonésienne où le président américain a vécu une partie de sa jeunesse.

Cette oeuvre, présentée comme la première statue de Barack Obama au monde, le montre, en short et t-shirt, en train de sourire alors qu'il joue avec un papillon posé sur le pouce. Le président américain a vécu de 6 à 10 ans (1967 à 1971) à Jakarta où sa mère, Ann Dunham-Soetoro, s'était installée après s'être remariée avec un Indonésien rencontré à Hawaï. >>> lefigaro.fr (avec AFP) | Jeudi 10 Décembre 2009

Make War, Win Peace Prizes!
TIMES ONLINE: One way that President Obama cannot have expected to make history is as the first reluctant recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

He may, in fact, be thrilled but his task at a white-tie banquet in his honour in Oslo tonight will be to convey in a single short address his gratitude to the Norwegians, his humility in the knowledge that his record of securing peace is thin so far, and his awareness of the troubling reality that the most decisive foreign policy act of his young presidency has been to escalate a long war that his supporters hoped he would bring to a quick end.

Mr Obama landed in Norway this morning night with an unusual entourage for a foreign presidential trip, consisting mainly of family and friends rather than officials. He was accompanied by the First Lady, his half-sister, her husband and his close friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett. They were expected to be joined in Oslo by his other half-sister, Auma Obama, who lives in Kenya.

The presidential party will be on the ground for barely 24 hours, attending today’s banquet and prizegiving ceremony but not a traditional lunch with King Harald, or a concert tomorrow night to be hosted by the film star and occasional rapper Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Barack Obama flies in to collect Nobel Peace Prize as war escalates >>> Giles Whittell in Washington | Thursday, December 10, 2009

Barack Obama Rewrites War and Peace for Nobel Audience
TIMES ONLINE: President Obama turned the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony today into a professorial address on why and when the United States was prepared to use force. There was, he admitted in the Oslo City Hall, some controversy over granting the ultimate peace accolade to the commander-in-chief of an army that was engaged in two wars.

The audience, a strange hotchpotch of Hollywood celebrities, pale Scandinavian politicians and rural Norwegians in folk costume, shifted uneasily when he talked about the necessity for bloodshed. Although the Nobel prize was established by the inventor of dynamite its laureates try to avoid dwelling on death.

“Some will kill,” Mr Obama said of the US soldiers under his command. “Some will be killed.”

He was intent on using the Nobel speech to discuss the costs of armed conflict and to examine “the relationship between war and peace, and our effort to replace one with the other”. >>> Roger Boyes in Oslo | Thursday, December 10, 2009

TIMES ONLINE: In full: Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech: The text of President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech as provided by the White House >>> | Thursday, December 10, 2009

LE FIGARO: Barack Obama : «La guerre est parfois justifiée» : Le président américain a reçu, jeudi à Oslo, son prix Nobel de la Paix «avec humilité et gratitude» , quelques jours seulement après avoir décidé d'intensifier l'effort de guerre en Afghanistan. >>> Constance Jamet (lefigaro.fr) avec AP | Jeudi 10 Décembre 2009

Lob und Tadel für Barack Obama in Oslo: Tausende demonstrieren gegen Afghanistankrieg
NZZ ONLINE: Nach der Verleihung des Friedensnobelpreises an den amerikanischen Präsident Barack Obama haben am Donnerstagabend in Oslo mehrere tausend Menschen gegen den Krieg in Afghanistan demonstriert.

Der Besuch von Barack Obama hat viele Menschen in Oslo auf die Strasse getrieben. Bild: NZZ Online
Einige Demonstranten forderten auf Transparenten: «Yes we can - stop the war in Afghanistan.» Andere verlangten ein Verbot von Atomwaffen, den Stopp der Blockade des Gazastreifens und ein Ende des israelischen Siedlungsbaus in den Palästinensergebieten.

Wie es am Tag der Nobelpreis-Zeremonie Tradition ist, zeigte sich Obama zusammen mit seiner Frau Michelle kurz auf dem Balkon des Hotels und winkte den Menschen auf dem Platz zu. >>> sda/dpa | Freitag, 11. Dezember 2009

Obama the Imperialist
THE TELEGRAPH: Several thousand right-wing Israelis have massed in central Jerusalem to denounce a Jewish construction freeze in the West Bank and brand Barack Obama an imperialist.

In their biggest show of force since a moratorium on new residential building was announced late last month, some 3,000 settlers and their sympathizers gathered outside the residence of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.

But it was the American president Barack Obama, seen by many settlers as ultimately responsible for the 10-month construction slowdown, who was as much in the sights of the demonstrators.

In scenes reminiscent of protests in the Arab world during the administration of George W Bush, they castigated Mr Obama as an imperialist from the same mould as his predecessor.

"Obama is continuing Middle East Imperialism," read one banner, "Was hoping for change - Got the same old imperialist," another.

Despite falling domestic approval ratings, Mr Obama remains the subject of much adulation abroad. But there is little evidence of such sentiment in Israel, where less than 10 per cent of the population claims to trust him, according to opinion polls.

The American president has become the focus of right-wing revulsion in Israel ever since he called for a freeze to Jewish settler construction earlier this year, even though he has since appeared to soften his stance.

The demonstrators at the rally had no doubt that Mr Obama was the real cause of the settlers' woes. Right-wing Israelis protest against West Bank settlement freeze >>> Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem | Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Christian Hoteliers Cleared of Insulting Muslimah
MAIL ONLINE: Christian hoteliers accused of insulting a Muslim guest for wearing the hijab and berating her for her beliefs were dramatically cleared this afternoon.

Benjamin and Sharon Vogelenzang denied using threatening, abusive or insulting words which were religiously aggravated against white British Muslim convert Ericka Tazi, 60.

District Judge Richard Clancy, who heard the case in the absence of a jury, told the couple that religion and politics was the 'tinderbox which set the whole thing alight and it would appear because of strongly entrenched positions that is what has happened here'.

Explaining his reasons for dismissing the case, he said Mrs Tazi's claim that she was verbally attacked by the couple for up to an hour had not been borne out by other prosecution witnesses, who suggested that any discussions lasted around seven minutes.

Judge Clancy also highlighted Mrs Tazi's use of language. When describing how she was provoked by the couple about her hijab she used words to the effect of: 'Would you prefer it if I got my tits out?'

He said: 'I mention this because when I read that together with what she said about 'them taking the piss' it doesn't quite form the same religious view that was put to me on the stand'. 'Freedom of speech' victory as Christian hoteliers are CLEARED of insulting Muslim woman as judge slams her evidence >>> | Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Related:

Christian Hotel Manager in Court Accused of Asking Hijab-wearing Guest: 'Are You a Terrorist and a Murderer?' >>> | Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Aggressive Atheism

Islam, Music and the Struggle over the Human Soul
BELFAST TELEGRAPH: I heard them in a narrow street in north Tehran, not one of the rich villa-lined avenues we associate with the Iranian middle classes but a tired thoroughfare of overheated plane trees and shabby, two-storey offices in grey concrete.

The sound was of a scratched record, a 78-rpm rather than a 33-and-a-third, and when I turned to my driver, he assured me there must be some morning party up the road with an old gramophone. But I used to play the violin, and I didn't believe him. And sure enough, down the street came the troubadours.

Yes, real live troubadours in the real live Islamic Republic, two of them, hacking at a violin and beating on a “zarb” drum, the work of the classical Persian musicians, a combination — for a westerner — of gypsy and nursery melodies, a sudden revelation of 14th and 15th century music in a regime which aspires to the purity of the 8th. Habibullah Zendegani introduced himself very quietly and said he was only 26 but had been playing for 15 years.

Beside him, Ramezan Souratipour banged away happily on the drum under his arm, one of a thousand little drummers in Iran — he is 32, but a diminutive figure — whose fingers dab three to a second to Zandegani's violin.

But I am old enough to remember Ruhollah Khomeini banning Mozart and Haydn. So how do the Revolutionary Guards, praetorians of the Ayatollah's spirituality in President Ahmedinejad's oh-so-chaste republic, react to these ghosts of culture past?

“I play music to earn money,” Zandegani replies, a little shiftily I think. “We earn maybe $40 or $50 a day.”

In theory, all music must pass Iran's censorship authorities; a female singer, for example, is not allowed to sing solo lest her lone voice be too arousing for male listeners.

But music and Islam have a dodgy relationship. In Saudi Universities the most sanctimonious of students have assaulted music enthusiasts; when a professor at King Saud University, Hamzah Muzeini, condemned this brutality in the daily Al-Watan newspaper, he was convicted by a Sharia court — a ruling later overturned by King Abdullah. Yet according to journalist Rabah al-Quwai'i, some sheikhs encourage youths to burn instruments and books in public. >>> Robert Fisk | Monday, December 07, 2009

Liliane Bettencourt continuera à gérer seule son argent
Liliane Bettencourt et sa fille, Françoise. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Un juge des tutelles a rejeté la demande de protection judiciaire demandée par la fille de la milliardaire.

Le juge des tutelles de Neuilly-sur-Seine a refusé d'ouvrir une procédure de protection judiciaire visant Liliane Bettencourt, comme le lui demandait sa fille, révèle mercredi le Point.fr . Une information confirmée par l'avocat de la fille, Me Olivier Metzner.

Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers, fille unique de l'héritière et actionnaire principale de L'Oréal, avait saisi la semaine dernière le juge, en parallèle de la procédure engagée au pénal contre l'artiste François-Marie Banier. Elle l'accuse d'avoir abusé de la faiblesse de sa mère pour bénéficier de dons approchant le milliard d'euros. Il aurait, estime-t-elle, profité de sa mère, diminuée par «une affection neurologique».

La demande de protection judiciaire aurait pu aboutir à la mise sous tutelle de Liliane Bettencourt. Selon le Point.fr, le magistrat l'a rejetée en raison de l'absence de certificat médical de Liliane Bettencourt attestant de ce problème neurologique. L'ancienne dirigeante du groupe, contre toute attente, a en effet refusé de se soumettre à un examen médical. Le 13 mai 2008, pourtant, elle avait formellement accepté de s'y plier, afin de prouver qu'elle n'avait pas été «abusé» dans cette affaire et qu'elle avait bien toute sa tête. «Une femme libre et lucide» >>> Flore Galaud (lefigaro.fr) | Mercredi 09 Décembre 2009

«C'est mon premier devoir de fille»
LE FIGARO: Le Figaro s'est procuré la lettre que Françoise Bettencourt a fait porter à sa mère, Liliane, mercredi matin.

La fille de Lilianne Bettencourt, héritière du groupe l'Oréal, a saisi un juge des tutelles d'une demande de «protection judiciaire» de sa mère. Cette décision pourrait aboutir à son placement sous tutelle. Mardi, Françoise Bettencourt a fait déposer une lettre manuscrite d'une page au domicile de sa mère, à Neuilly. En voici le texte :

«Ma chère maman, aussi triste et douloureux que ce soit pour toi et pour moi, je tiens à t'écrire ces quelques mots. Au delà de la femme admirable (...) que tu es, qui a su accompagner le développement de cette belle entreprise fondée par ton père, tu es pour moi et avant tout ma maman. À entendre tous les témoignages qui me sont parvenus, je sais dans quelle situation d'isolement et d'emprise on t'a placée. On a voulu te faire rompre avec ta famille et t'éloigner de tous ceux, amis, employés, qui dans ton entourage étaient considérés comme “gênants”. Tout cela et ta santé, bien sûr, m'obligent à réagir, à ne pas me résoudre à fermer les yeux et à laisser les choses en l'état. C'est mon premier devoir de fille, je le pense profondément. J'ai déjà essayé en engageant il y a bientôt deux ans la procédure qui te contrarie tant mais cela n'a hélas pas suffit. C'est pourquoi je pense n'avoir d'autre choix, aujourd'hui, que de solliciter du juge civil ta protection. >>> | Jeudi 03 Décembre 2009

LE FIGARO: Les dons généreux de Liliane Bettencourt >>> Cyrille Louis | Vendredi 04 Décembre 2009

Le juge des tutelles refuse d'ouvrir une procédure visant à placer Liliane Bettencourt sous "protection judiciaire"
Crédits photo : LePoint.fr
LEPOINT.fr: Le juge des tutelles du tribunal d'instance de Neuilly a refusé d'ouvrir une procédure visant à placer Liliane Bettencourt sous "protection judiciaire", comme le lui avait demandé sa fille, Françoise Meyers-Bettencourt, la semaine dernière. >>> Par Hervé Gattegno | Mercredi 09 Décembre 2009

Writer-photographer Francois-Marie Banier Faces Charges over €1bn 'Gifts'
TIMES ONLINE: A Parisian photographer and friend of celebrities was sent for trial today on charges of manipulating France's richest woman into giving him gifts worth nearly €1bn.

Judges approved a private action against Francois-Marie Banier, 62, who has been at centre of a mother-daughter feud over the fortune of Liliane Bettencourt, 87, heiress to the L'Oreal cosmetics empire.

Mr Banier, a flamboyant socialite and friend of celebrities since the 1960s, is accused by Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers, 56, Mrs Bettencourt's only child, of fleecing her mother during two decades of close friendship. The gifts he received included paintings by Picasso, Mondrian and Matisse.

Ms Bettencourt inherited her fortune — currently estimated at €10 billion (£9 billion) — from her father, Eugène Schueller, who founded the L’Oréal cosmetics company in 1909.

After a police investigation last year, the case was dropped but Ms Bettencourt-Meyers sought a private prosecution on charges of abusing a frail person, an offence which carries a possible three-year prison term. Her lawyers argued at a hearing yesterday that she was mentally impaired.

"Should a daughter ... who sees her mother in decline, under the power of a predator remain silent and do nothing?" Olivier Metzner, the daughter’s lawyer, asked the judges at Nanterre, in western Paris. "Mr Banier considers pain to be a merchandise," he added.

The case, with its airing of family secrets and supporting cast of celebrities including President Sarkozy, has appalled the discreet world of France’s super-rich. Ms Bettencourt-Meyers is accusing the Paris establishment of trying to stifle an affair which they find embarrassing. The judges over-ruled a request from the prosecutor in court yesterday to dismiss the case.

The photographer, whose past close friends included Salvador Dali, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin, confirmed this week that he received the gifts, in cash, life insurance policies and paintings. "These are gifts, which I refused for a long time," he told Le Monde. >>> Charles Bremner and Alexandra Mauviel | Friday, December 11, 2009

Liens en relation avec l’article / Related / Verwandt:

THE TELEGRAPH: Because He Ain’t Worth It! >>>

THE INDEPENDENT: L'Oréal Heiress Gives €1bn to Photographer 'Because He's Worth It' >>> | Monday, December 15, 2008

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Weiblich und milliardenschwer - die reichsten Frauen der Welt >>> Von Alexandra Sillgitt | Samstag, 08. März 2008

Antigay Ugandan Law Disastrous for NGOs
ADVOCATE.COM: A bill calling for death sentences in multiple scenarios for gays and lesbians in Uganda will create a chilling effect for on-the-ground charities and aid groups seeking to effectively curb HIV infection.

“Just by recognizing gay rights, our organization could be accused of promoting homosexuality, and our staff could risk being imprisoned for three years.” 


This I was recently told by a contact whose charity works in Uganda. Desperately worried about whether the group will be able to continue with its important work, the source asked me not to identify the charity, a non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on sexual and reproductive rights that operates a program in this landlocked, East African country. Yet the group’s work is both more important and in greater danger than ever.



Under the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill rearing its twisted head in Uganda—one that calls for the death penalty for acts of “aggravated homosexuality—any corporate body, business, association, or non-governmental organization risks being stripped of its license to practice in the country. Directors risk seven-year prison sentences if they are involved in the so-called “promotion” or funding that “in any way abets homosexuality and related practices.” In a country with nearly one million people living with HIV, Uganda’s parliament is about to criminalize the very organizations that are there to help. And it may further criminalize a group of people who are already criminals in the eyes of the law. 



But the NGOs would be affected by more than just the “promotion” clause. Under the proposed bill, anyone not reporting a known breach of the law within 24 hours faces a three-year sentence. Anyone with HIV engaging in gay sex, or having sex with someone under 18, or who is a serial offender (surely most gay people would, by their nature, be serial offenders) could be executed. >>> | Thursday, December 03, 2009

Uganda plant Todesstrafe für Schwule
Bild: Die Presse
DIE PRESSE: Empörung über Gesetzentwurf im ostafrikanischen Staat Uganda. Der Entwurf beinhaltet die Todesstrafe für HIV-infizierte aktive Homosexuelle und auf homosexuelle Handlungen stünde lebenslange Haft.

Manchem Schwulen in Uganda könnte die Todesstrafe drohen. Angehörige und Freunde müssten mit sieben Jahren Gefängnis rechnen, wenn sie sie nicht verpetzen. Vermieter hätten Haftstrafen zu befürchten, wenn sie Homosexuellen Wohnraum vermieten. Das sieht ein Gesetzentwurf vor, der derzeit in Uganda erörtert wird und international zunehmend Empörung auslöst.



Bürgerrechtler sehen darin eine Anstachelung zum Schwulenhass und eine Gefahr für die Bemühungen zur Aids-Bekämpfung. Für sie steht der Entwurf im Rahmen einer heftigen Gegenreaktion in ganz Afrika darauf, dass sich Homosexuelle nicht mehr verstecken wollen. "Das ist eine Frage des Sichtbarwerdens", glaubt David Cato, der zum Aktivisten wurde, nachdem man ihn vier Mal zusammengeschlagen und zwei Mal festgenommen, als Lehrer hinausgeworfen und in der Presse geoutet hatte. "Wenn wir offen auftreten und unsere Rechte einfordern, machen sie Gesetze gegen uns." >>> Ag./AP/Katharine Houreld und Godfrey Olukya | Donnerstag, 10. Dezember 2009

The Rachel Maddow Show: Maddow Takes on Ex-Gay Movement

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

ADVOCATE.COM: Maddow Takes on Ex-Gay Movement: In her continuing series “Uganda Be Kidding Me,” MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Tuesday night interviewed Richard Cohen of the ex-gay group the International Healing Center. >>> Advocate.com Editors | Tuesday, December 08, 2009

WIKIPEDIA: Rachel Maddow >>>

Ireland Moves Toward Gay Marriage as Church Influence Wanes
FORTH: Civil partnership likely to be approved but many want marriage

Despite being rocked by strikes, scandals and financial collapse, Ireland’s social transformation continues unabated. Thursday December 3 saw the latest rupture from the past as the Republic of Ireland became the latest country to begin the process of affording recognition to same-sex couples. Dáil Éireann, Ireland’s parliament, read and debated the Civil Partnership Bill 2009 introduced by Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern.

The Bill would, if passed, grant same-sex couples rights in relation to domestic violence, residential tenancies, succession, refugee law, pensions, medical care, access to state benefits and immigration.

Opposition to the Bill was muted. Minister Ahern has told his colleagues, Fianna Fáil lawmakers, concerned about the Civil Partnership Bill that he is ruling out a “freedom of conscience” amendment that would allow any organisations run people offended by homosexuality, such as Church halls and wedding photographers, to consider same-sex couples unmarried.

The Bill’s passage into law this month is virtually assured because of strong backing by opposition parties. However, reaction to the Bill from gay rights organisations has been mixed. >>> | Tuesday, December 08, 2009

US to Spend $3bn Compensating Native Americans
THE TELEGRAPH: The Barack Obama administration has offered to spend $3 billion (£1.8bn) to settle a long-running lawsuit with native American tribes that claim they were swindled out of billions of dollars in royalties for oil, gas, grazing and other leases dating back more than a century.

If cleared by Congress and the courts, the settlement would be the largest Indian claim ever approved against the US government – exceeding the combined total of all previous settlements of Indian claims.

President Obama said an agreement on the case, known as Cobell v. Salazar, was an important step to reconcile decades of acrimony between Indian tribes and the federal government.

"As a candidate, I heard from many in Indian Country that the Cobell suit remained a stain on the nation-to-nation relationship I value so much," the president said in a written statement. "I pledged my commitment to resolving this issue, and I am proud that my administration has taken this step today."

Under an agreement reached with tribes, the Interior Department would distribute $1.4 billion to more than 300,000 native American tribe members to compensate them for historical accounting claims, and to resolve future claims.

The government also would spend $2 billion to buy back and consolidate tribal land broken up in previous generations. The scheme would allow individual tribe members to obtain cash payments for land interests divided among numerous family members and return the land to tribal control.

The settlement would give every tribe member with an Interior Department account an immediate check for $1,000, with additional payments to be determined later under a complicated formula that takes into account a variety of factors.

Many tribe members also would receive payments for parcels of land that are held in some cases by up to 100 family members, in an effort to consolidate tribal land and make it more useful and easier to manage. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Major Indian Tribes in the United States >>>

Les moments tendres de la politique! Sealed with a Loving Kiss!
THE TELEGRAPH: David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, greeted his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner in a decidedly Continental fashion on Tuesday in Brussels before an EU General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting.

David Miliband greets his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner. (Hillary, eat your heart out!) Photo: The Telegraph
What began with a firm handshake ended in a familiar kiss with the French foreign minister, as Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign affairs minister, looked on.

The affectionate greeting came just three days after Mr Miliband's body language suggested that the special relationship was continuing to flourish between the US and Britain. David Miliband greets Bernard Kouchner with a kiss >>> | Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Afghanistan: Stanley McChrystal Says Osama bin Laden Must Be Killed to Ensure al-Qaeda Defeat
THE TELEGRAPH: Osama bin Laden must be captured or killed if al-Qaeda is ever going to be defeated, the top US commander in Afghanistan has said.

Gen Stanley McChrystal said bin Laden had become an "iconic figure" among terrorists.

He said President Barack Obama's deployment of 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan meant success was possible.

But he said the mission was "undeniably difficult" and the next 18 months would be crucial.

"I don't think that we can finally defeat al Qaeda until he's captured or killed," Gen McChrystal told a Senate committee.

At the same time, he cautioned that killing or capturing the Saudi-born leader of the group that mounted the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States would not by itself dismantle al-Qaeda. >>> | Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Sommet de Copenhague : L’OPEP joue des billions
LE TEMPS: Les pays exportateurs de pétrole ont beaucoup à perdre dans la bataille du climat. Ils revendiquent une aide financière des pays industrialisés pour compenser la chute de leurs revenus si la Conférence de Copenhague atteignait ses objectifs

C’était joué d’avance. Le chef de la délégation saoudienne à la Conférence de Copenhague, Mohammed al-Sabban, a profité de l’affaire des e-mails controversés de l’université britannique d’East Anglia pour remettre en cause le réchauffement climatique. «Le niveau de confiance est affecté, a-t-il déclaré lundi, au premier jour du sommet. Le Climategate va clairement influencer la nature de ce en quoi nous pouvons croire […] et les orientations qui seront prises dans les jours qui viennent.»

L’Arabie saoudite et, derrière elle, l’Organisation des pays producteurs de pétrole (OPEP) se sentent menacées par la lutte contre le réchauffement climatique depuis qu’elle s’est dessinée, en 1992, au Sommet de la Terre de Rio. Elles craignent qu’une mobilisation mondiale contre les gaz à effet de serre n’exerce une double pression à la baisse sur le pétrole, leur principale source de revenus: pression sur la demande et pression sur le prix. >>> Etienne Dubuis | Mercredi 09 Décembre 2009

Religionsfreiheit: Das schwere Los der Christen im Islam
WELT ONLINE: Eine Woche nach dem Volksentscheid gegen den Bau neuer Minarette dauert die Diskussion über die Entscheidung an. Muslimische Staaten werfen der Schweiz eine schwere Verletzung der Religionsfreiheit vor. Doch sie selbst unterdrücken ihre christlichen Minderheiten aufs schärfste.

Die islamische Welt zeigt sich wieder einmal schockiert. Ob Mohammed-Karikaturen, Regensburger Papst-Rede oder jetzt das Minarett-Verbot in der Schweiz: Religiös motivierte Empörungskampagnen sind jederzeit abrufbar. Das türkische Außenministerium reagierte am vergangenen Dienstag umgehend und warf den Schweizern vor, mit dem Volksentscheid Menschenrechte und grundlegende Freiheiten verletzt zu haben.

Der türkische Staatspräsident Abdullah Gül legte nach und geißelte die Minarett-Entscheidung als eine „Schande für die Schweizer“. Die Abstimmung zeige, wie sehr „die Islamophobie in der westlichen Welt um sich greift“. Für Ministerpräsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan ist das Referendum gar Ausdruck einer „zunehmenden rassistischen und faschistischen Haltung in Europa“.

Religions- und Meinungsfreiheit seien Grundrechte der Menschheit, die nicht zur Abstimmung gestellt werden dürften, sagte Erdogan im türkischen Parlament. Wie ernst soll man solch drastische Äußerungen eines Politikers nehmen, der ein Land regiert, in dem die Leugnung des türkischen Völkermordes an den christlichen Armeniern Staatsdoktrin ist? Und das bis heute religiösen Minderheiten die freie Religionsausübung verwehrt? >>> Von Heimo Schwilk | Samstag, 05. Dezember 2009

Nach Minarettverbot: Schweizer Rechtspopulisten planen nächsten Coup
WELT ONLINE: "Wenn man in der Schweiz lebt, sollte man sich anpassen." Das sagt der Bürgermeister von Seehof. In seinem Ort haben 96 Prozent für das Minarettverbot gestimmt. Das Referendum bewegt die Politik in der Schweiz nachhaltig. Oberwasser haben die Rechtspopulisten. Sie denken über die nächsten Maßnahmen nach. >>> Von Elisalex Henckel | Dienstag, 08. Dezember 2009