Irak : Tarek Aziz dans un "état sérieux" après une "attaque" cérébrale
LE POINT: L'ancien vice-Premier ministre irakien Tarek Aziz se trouve dans un "état sérieux" après avoir été victime une "attaque" et a été transféré dans un hôpital sur une base américaine en Irak, a affirmé dimanche à l'AFP son avocat, Badia Aref. "Il a eu une attaque vendredi et a été transféré dans un hôpital sur la base américaine de Balad", au nord de Bagdad, a affirmé depuis Amman M. Aref, sans pouvoir préciser s'il s'agissait d'une attaque cardiaque ou cérébrale. "Son état est sérieux", a-t-il ajouté.

Unique chrétien du cercle étroit des puissants de la dictature de Saddam Hussein, Tarek Aziz, né en 1936, s'est rendu aux troupes américaines fin avril 2003. Il est incarcéré dans une prison proche de Bagdad, malgré des appels de sa famille à sa libération pour raisons médicales. En mars 2009, il a été condamné une première fois par la justice, écopant de 15 ans de prison pour "crimes contre l'Humanité" dans l'affaire de l'exécution de 42 commerçants en 1992. En août, la Haute cour pénale d'Irak l'a en outre condamné à sept ans de prison pour son rôle dans les exactions contre les Kurdes de confession chiite dans les années 1980. [Source] AFP | Dimanche 17 Janvier 2010

Le pape Benoît XVI en visite à la synagogue de Rome
LE MONDE: Vingt-quatre ans après la visite historique qu'y avait effectuée son prédécesseur Jean Paul II, le pape Benoît XVI doit se rendre, dimanche 17 janvier, à la synagogue de Rome. La visite, prévue de longue date, intervient un mois après que Benoît XVI eut, une nouvelle fois, soulevé la colère d'une partie de la communauté juive mondiale en proclamant, le 19 décembre, les "vertus héroïques" du pape Pie XII. Cette étape a ouvert la voie à la possible béatification de ce pape controversé pour son attitude envers les juifs durant la seconde guerre mondiale.

La relance du processus de béatification, qui avait pris de court le monde catholique, avait été suspendue afin de ne pas envenimer les relations entre le Vatican et le monde juif mises à mal en janvier 2009 par la levée de l'excommunication d'un évêque négationniste, Richard Williamson. L'annonce de décembre a durant quelques jours laissé planer le doute sur la venue du pape à la synagogue. Le président des rabbins italiens a décidé de boycotter l'événement.

"Nous devons dire à la communauté juive ce que Pie XII a fait en faveur des juifs pendant la seconde guerre mondiale et qui n'est pas assez connu", a de son côté défendu le cardinal Walter Kasper, chargé au Vatican des relations avec les juifs. "Pie XII a suivi la volonté de Dieu telle qu'il la comprenait à cette époque, nous ne pouvons le juger avec la mentalité d'aujourd'hui." >>> Stéphanie Le Bars | Samedi 16 Janvier 2010

Jewish Leaders Confront Pope Over Vatican's Holocaust 'Silence'
THE TELEGRAPH: A Jewish leader told the Pope on Sunday that his controversial wartime predecessor, Pius XII, should have protested more forcefully against Jews being sent to the "ovens of Auschwitz".

Pius's "silence" at a time when hundreds of thousands of Jews were being rounded up across Europe and despatched to death camps was still hurtful, Riccardo Pacifici, the president of Rome's Jewish community, said as Pope Benedict XVI visited the city's synagogue for the first time.

The criticism was one of the bluntest comments made in public by a Jewish leader to a pope.

"The silence of Pius XII before the Shoah (Holocaust) still hurts because something should have been done," Mr Pacifici told the pontiff during an address to the synagogue, which lies in an area of central Rome still known as the Ghetto, where Jews were confined for centuries on the orders of the Vatican.

"Maybe it would not have stopped the death trains, but it would have sent a signal, a word of extreme comfort, of human solidarity, towards those brothers of ours transported to the ovens of Auschwitz," he said.

The Vatican had hoped that the synagogue visit would rebuild bridges with the Jewish world, after the German-born Benedict dismayed Jews by rehabilitating a Holocaust-denying British renegade bishop a year ago, and by advancing Pius further along the path to sainthood by recognising his "heroic virtues" last month.

The fact that Benedict is German and served during the war in the Hitler Youth – albeit against his will – makes Jewish sensitivities all the more acute.

The Vatican claims that Pius, who was Pope from 1939 to 1958, worked behind the scenes to save Jews and allowed thousands of refugees to hide in church institutions.

The Roman Catholic Church insists that he feared that criticising Hitler more strongly would have provoked even more severe persecution of the Jews. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Sunday, January 17, 2010

Muslim Group Minhaj-ul-Quran Issues Fatwa Against Terrorists
The 600-page document, drawn up by Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, declares that attacks on innocent citizens are "absolutely against the teachings of Islam". Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: A leading Muslim organisation in Britain has issued a fatwa against suicide bombings and terrorism, declaring them un-Islamic.

Minhaj-ul-Quran, a Sufi organisation based in East London which advises the Government on how to combat radicalisation of Muslim youth, will launch the 600-page religious verdict tomorrow. It condemns the perpetrators of terrorist explosions and suicide bombings.

The document, written by Dr Muhammed Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former minister of Pakistan and friend of Benazir Bhutto, declares suicide bombings and terrorism as "totally un-Islamic". It is one of the most detailed and comprehensive documents of its kind to be published in Britain.

The fatwa, which was released in Pakistan last month, uses texts from the Koran and other Islamic writings to argue that attacks against innocent citizens are "absolutely against the teachings of Islam and that Islam does not permit such acts on any excuse, reason or pretext".

Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri, who is based in Canada and has written more than 400 books on Islamic law, said: "All these acts are grave violations of human rights and constitute kufr, disbelief, under Islamic law." >>> Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent | Sunday, January 17, 2010

Even More Balls from Ed Balls! It’s Time Mr Balls Found His Balls!
Loophole: Girls studying at a Madrasah. Ed Balls is refusing to ban smacking in Islamic schools in Britain. Photograph: Mail Online
To look at these kids dressed like this in a British school is an affront to all that we stand for and hold dear! NO CHILD, even in Islam, needs to be dressed like this in a state of prepubescence. Not even in Saudi Arabia are children expected to dress like this before puberty. It's time for you to find your balls, Mr Balls! – © Mark

MAIL ONLINE: Schools Secretary Ed Balls has been accused of refusing to ban Islamic schools from smacking children for fear of upsetting Muslim 'sensitivities'.

Mr Balls was last week urged to close a legal loophole which gives teachers in Britain's estimated 1,600 schools associated with mosques the right to smack children - even though it is banned in other schools.

He refused, prompting claims that he is allowing an alleged 'culture of physical abuse' in some of the mosque schools - or madrasahs - go unchecked.

Smacking is banned in all State and private schools. However, it does not apply to madrasahs, where pupils usually study in the evenings or at weekends, because the ban exempts schools where children attend for less than 12.5 hours per week.

Lib Dem schools spokesman David Laws, who is spearheading the campaign to close the smacking loophole, said: 'The Government needs to legislate to protect children - not leave an opt-out simply because it fears some ethnic or religious backlash.'

He was supported by Labour MP Ann Cryer, who said it would be 'bonkers' if the Government did not act. She said: 'I suspect people are frightened of upsetting the sensitivities of certain members of the Muslim faith.'

A report just over a year ago warned that madrasah students had been slapped, punched and had their ears twisted.

Irfan Chishti, a former Government adviser on Islamic affairs, said that one madrasah student was 'picked up by one leg and spun around' while another pupil said a teacher was 'kicking in my head like a football'. Double standards row as Ed Balls refuses to ban smacking at mosque schools to avoid 'upsetting Muslim sensitivities' >>> Brendan Carlin | Sunday, January 17, 2010

Cock-up!
THE GUARDIAN: Health campaigners say the traditional manhood ritual, which carries HIV risks, should be replaced by operations in hospital

An edict by the king of the Zulus to bring back circumcision for thousands of teenage boys is causing alarm in South Africa, amid record numbers of deaths from the traditional manhood ritual.

On Tuesday, at a meeting called in Durban by the government of KwaZulu-Natal, traditional leaders in the province will outline how they wish to implement King Goodwill Zwelithini's decision to reintroduce circumcision 200 years after it was scrapped by King Shaka. But health officials working with South Africa's second largest tribe, the Xhosa – who never gave up the practice – say the move could put thousands of lives at risk. Thousands face agony or death after Zulu king's circumcision decree >>> Alex Duval Smith | Sunday, January 17, 2010

China-Reise: Westerwelles sanfte Kritik lässt Peking kalt
WELT ONLINE: Für den deutschen Außenminister nahm sich die Pekinger Führung viel Zeit. Mit freundlichem Gesicht hörte man sich von Guido Westerwelle dabei auch dezente Kritik an. Er folge dem Prinzip, „steter Tropfen höhlt den Stein", so Westerwelle. Doch Pekings Prioritäten liegen ganz woanders.

Gelächelt wird viel, doch die kritischen Äußerungen von Guido Westerwelle (l.) prallen an Wen Jiabao ab. Bild: Welt Online
Außenminister Guido Westerwelle feierte seinen erfolgreichen Antrittsbesuch bei Pekings Führung Freitagnacht mit einem späten Dinner im feudal-exklusiven „China-Club Beijing“. Das während der Qing-Dynastie erbaute kaiserliche Palais im Zentrum der Hauptstadt diente zu Zeiten Maos 35 Jahre lang als proletarisches Sichuan-Spezialitäten-Restaurant, wo auch Deng Xiaoping der chilischarfen Küche huldigte. Dann wurde der Hotpot in den neunziger Jahren von reichen Investoren zum Dritten im Bunde der vornehmen „China-Club Kette“ Hongkongs und Singapurs umgebaut und Mitglieder-Treff für 1600 auserwählte Neureiche der Gesellschaft.

Die bewegte Geschichte Chinas spiegelt sich im Wandel Klubs wieder. Es ist die angemessene Kulisse zum Nachdenken für Westerwelles Umgang mit der künftigen Weltmacht Chinas.

Der Liberale will dafür eine Anleihe bei der lange zurückliegenden Koalition von Willy Brandt und Walter Scheel machen und übernimmt ihr Motto vom „Wandel durch Handel“. Er glaube daran, so lautet Westerwelles Fazit zu seinem zweitägigen Chinabesuch, dass Deutschland eine „ebenso wertorientierte wie interessenorientierte“ Außenpolitik gegenüber Peking vertreten muss. Er stehe für eine Außenpolitik, die die „Wirtschaft fördern und bei der Frage der Menschenrechte nicht leise treten will.

Wandel durch Handel und kulturellen Austausch und nicht durch Gesprächsverweigerung“ sei das Prinzip, von dem er sich leiten lasse. „Steter Tropfen höhlt den Stein.“ >>> Von Johnny Erling | Samstag, 16. Januar 2010

Elton John: Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

Stevie Wonder: Part-time Lover

Church to Vote on Greater Rights for Partners of Gay Clergy
THE TELEGRAPH: The Church of England is poised to give greater recognition to homosexual clergy in relationships, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

A proposal to give the partners of gay priests some of the same rights that are awarded to priests' spouses is likely to spark a new row over homosexuality.

Bishops and senior clergy will debate at next month's General Synod whether the Church should provide same-sex couples with the same financial benefits as are awarded to married couples.

Traditionalists have expressed strong opposition to the move, which they claim would give official recognition to homosexual relationships.

They warn that affording equal treatment to heterosexual and homosexual couples would undermine the Church's teaching on marriage.

At present, the Church bars clergy from being in active gay relationships, although it bowed to pressure to allow them to enter civil partnerships on the condition that they are celibate.

Liberals believe that the motion, to be unveiled this week, could be a major breakthrough in securing rights for gay clergy.

It calls on the Archbishops' Council, chaired by Dr Rowan Williams, to introduce changes that would "provide for pension benefits to be paid to the surviving civil partners of deceased clergy on the same basis as they are currently paid to surviving spouses".

However, there are serious concerns over the effects that such a change would have on the Church's finances as well as on the thin hopes of maintaining unity in the Anglican Communion, which is deeply divided over the issue of homosexual clergy. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, January 16, 2010

New Dark Age Alert! Anjem Choudary: I’m Smiling Because Sharia Is Coming
THE SUNDAY TIMES: The radical Muslim who threatened to hold a march through Wootton Bassett is ready to defy the ban on his group and says a coup could make Britain an Islamic state

Anjem Choudary, leader of the banned group Islam4UK. Photograph: The Sunday Times. Read on >>> Camilla Long | Sunday, January 17, 2010

West Turns Africa into Gay Battlefield
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Western evangelists and gay rights groups are stoking Africa’s bitter rows over homosexuality, writes RW Johnson in Cape Town

Steven Monjeza (L) and Tiwonge Chimbalanga. Photo: The Sunday Times
The trial of a young male couple charged with unnatural practices and gross indecency after announcing their engagement in Malawi was adjourned last week when one of the accused collapsed in court while enduring jeers from the public gallery.

Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, was made to return with a mop to clean up his own vomit, even though he has malaria.

He and his boyfriend, Steven Monjeza, 26, have been held in Chichiri prison, Blantyre, for more than a week — in order, the judge says, to protect them from mob violence.

Chichiri has a reputation for overcrowding, disease and homosexual rape. The couple say they have been badly beaten and Peter Tatchell, the British gay activist, describes their conditions as appalling.

Such scenes will only increase the pressure from western human rights activists and donor countries on Malawi’s government to moderate its draconian anti-gay laws, for which the couple have provided a test case. They face up to 14 years in jail.

Following similar donor pressure, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda distanced himself from an anti-homosexuality bill before parliament in Kampala last week. Museveni appealed to MPs to “go slow” on the private member’s bill, which stipulates the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”, including homosexual acts by HIV-positive men.

Museveni said he had come under pressure from Gordon Brown, Stephen Harper, the prime minister of Canada, and the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, in a 45-minute phone call. He was also struck by the fact that a US protest rally had drawn 300,000 people, saying he would have great difficulty attracting such a crowd.

The two cases illustrate the way Africa is becoming a battleground over differing attitudes to homosexuality in the West. >>> RW Johnson in Cape Town. Additional reporting: Rosie Kinchen | Sunday, January 17, 2010

Burqa: Sarkozy prend position
leJDD.fr: Sur la question du voile, Nicolas Sarkozy a annoncé mercredi qu'il était pour une résolution, suivie, dans un second temps, d'une loi. De son côté, le président de la mission parlementaire sur le sujet, André Gérin, s'en prend à Jean-François Copé qui souhaite déposer une proposition de loi sans attendre les conclusions de la commission.

Nicolas Sarkozy a officialisé mercredi son point de vue sur la question du port de la burqa dans l'espace public français. Alors que les avis divergent au sein même de la majorité, le président s'est déclaré favorable à une résolution "sans ambiguïté", suivie d'un texte de loi, lors de ses vœux aux parlementaires. Réaffirmant que le "voile n'était pas le bienvenu en France", il a déclaré que le plus important était que "personne ne se sente stigmatisé".

"Il faudra ensuite tirer les conséquences de cette résolution, d'un point de vue législatif et réglementaire. Le Parlement aura alors à débattre d'un texte de loi adapté à la situation", a précisé Nicolas Sarkozy. Et le président – qui a appelé à un vote le plus large possible – a également fixé le calendrier: la loi comme la résolution ne devraient pas intervenir avant les élections régionales de mars prochain. "Je pense qu'il serait sage que nous réfléchissions et que nous décidions indépendamment des échéances électorales à venir. Ce ne sont jamais des périodes propices à la sérénité et au calme qui sont pourtant indispensables pour traiter de ces grandes questions de société", a estimé Nicolas Sarkozy. >>> ACh. D., leJDD.fr| Mercredi 13 Janvier 2010

Joe Brinkley’s Viewpoint: Clashing worlds - Europe and Islam
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: Europe and the Islamic world are at war. It's a proxy conflict, fought in European capitals and on the Arab streets. But people are being killed.

Earlier this month, Islamic gunmen slaughtered six Christians as they left church in southern Egypt on Coptic Christmas Eve, setting off a week of retributive violence. This was just the latest incident in a cascading series of repressive and violent acts against Christians living in numerous Arab states, including the Palestinian territories, Iraq and Morocco, among other places.

Meantime, across Europe, government leaders are contemplating or enacting ever-more repressive rules on Muslim residents and citizens, who are carrying their lifestyles and grievances into unforgiving societies.

The most famous example: The Swiss electorate voted last month to ban the construction of new minarets. Then, early this month, a fiery Islamic cleric in England announced that he would organize a large protest march through the streets of a town near London that regularly honors passing hearses carrying British soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was "personally appalled," and then on Tuesday Britain banned the group.

In both worlds, the conflicts result from misunderstanding and outright intolerance, fanned oftentimes by extremists**, like Geert Wilders, a Dutch member of parliament. He travels the Western world preaching an anti-Islamic screed. Wilders has hit a chord, and the transcript of one speech he gave in New York last year has gone viral, landing in millions of e-mail in-boxes and watched on YouTube nearly 1 million times.

Wilders likes to note that "it is not a coincidence that every terrorist act is based on this fascist book the Quran, this wrong ideology, and unfortunately has been done by people from the Islamic world. I don't believe that cultures are equal. I believe that our culture is much better than the retarded Islamic culture."

In England, meanwhile, Anjem Choudary, leader of the banned Islamic group, posted his view on his organization's Web site recently, saying the march (now canceled) would be in honor of "the real war dead who have been shunned by the Western media and general public as they were, and continue to be, horrifically murdered in the name of democracy and freedom: the innocent Muslim man, women and children."

An estimated 20 million Muslims now live in Europe. Many emigrated to take menial jobs that Europeans were no longer willing to do. The problem for Europeans is that these immigrants tend not to assimilate. They live in their own communities where some of their leaders enforce elements of Shariah law. >>> Joel Brinkley* | Saturday, January 16, 2010

*Joel Brinkley, a professor of journalism at Stanford University, is a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times.

**Joel Brinkley’s viewpoint.

Dutch MPs Bid to Halt
Hate Crime Trial Fails
THE CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE: A controversial Dutch MP has lost a legal attempt to halt a pending hate crime prosecution against him.

Geert Wilders will now face trial for inciting hatred against Muslims after a Dutch court described his challenge as “inadmissible”.

While leaving court on Wednesday Mr Wilders said: “Freedom of speech is under pressure. The legal system in North Korea is better than in the Netherlands.”

Despite the controversy Mr Wilders, the leader of the Freedom Party, is one of Holland’s most popular politicians.

Mr Wilders is the maker of the 17-minute anti-Koran movie, Fitna, which features quotations from the Koran interspersed with footage of terrorist atrocities and speeches by Muslim preachers.

The controversial MP has also been criticised for writing anti-Islamic articles and letters which were later published in a mainstream Dutch newspaper.

While in August 2007 Mr Wilders called for the Koran to be banned.

However, Mr Wilders has always maintained that he is targeting Islam not individual Muslims. >>> | Friday, January 15, 2010

La Turquie saisie par l'«ottomania»
LE FIGARO: L'opposition de pays européens à l'entrée d'Ankara dans l'UE contribue à mythifier l'âge d'or de l'empire perdu.

Les visiteurs, ravis, en prennent plein les yeux et les oreilles. Réglée au volume maximum, la bande-son fait gronder les canons et rouler les tambours. Le sultan Mehmet II le Conquérant chevauche fièrement son destrier blanc, les murailles byzantines cèdent à l'assaut des janissaires. Sur 360° et en trois dimensions, une fresque géante reproduit la conquête de Constanti­nople : c'est l'attraction phare du Musée historique panoramique de 1453. Depuis son inauguration il y a un an par le premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan, il voit défiler toutes les écoles d'Istanbul. «On revit la bataille en direct, c'est incroyable, s'enflamme Mutlu Turkoglu, professeur, aussi enthousiaste que ses élèves. Les jeunes Turcs doivent être fiers de leur histoire, c'est primordial pour leur identité. »

Ce musée, fondé par la municipalité d'Istanbul, est révélateur de l'«ottomania» en vogue en Turquie. Après avoir longtemps méprisé «l'homme malade de l'Europe», les Turcs redécouvrent leur passé ottoman et se penchent avec nostalgie sur un empire qui, au faîte de sa puissance, rayonna des Balkans à la péninsule arabique. «À partir de 1923, tous les efforts ont été concentrés sur la construction de la jeune République et sur son avenir, explique Nilüfer Narli, sociologue. S'en est ensuivie une sorte d'amnésie. Aujourd'hui, on revient à une image plus positive. »

La solennité des derniers honneurs rendus à Ertugrul Osman, le petit-fils du sultan Abdullamid II, en septembre, illustre le retour en grâce de l'Empire ottoman. En 1924, alors enfant, il avait été expulsé de Turquie avec les autres membres de la famille royale. En ordonnant l'exil, Mustafa Kemal, le fondateur de la République turque, liquidait définitivement les restes de l'empire. Pour les funérailles de l'héritier du trône, dix mille personnes et plusieurs ministres se sont massés à la cérémonie organisée à la Mosquée bleue.

L'arrivée au pouvoir en 2002 du Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP), aux racines islamistes, et l'ascension d'une bourgeoisie musulmane, concurrençant l'élite traditionnelle laïque, ont contribué à alléger le joug kémaliste qui pesait sur l'histoire. La nouvelle diplomatie turque, conduite par Ahmet Davutoglu, active au Moyen-Orient comme dans les Balkans, est souvent qualifiée de «néo-ottomane».«La Turquie réintègre des espaces où elle a été présente pendant des siècles», soulignait récemment Suat Kiniklioglu, porte-parole du comité des affaires étrangères au Parlement. >>> Laure Marchand, Istanbul | Jeudi 07 Janvier 2010

Al-Qaeda Threat: Britain Worst in Western World
THE TELEGRAPH: Al-Qaeda has successfully restructured its global network and now has the capability to carry out a wide range of terror attacks against Western targets, according to a detailed U.S. intelligence assessment that has been conducted in the wake of the failed Christmas Day Detroit bomb plot.

Pentagon officials estimate that one in five released Guantanamo detainees have rejoined al-Qaeda terror cells after their release. Photo: The Telegraph
And the growing strength of al-Qaeda’s support in Britain has emerged as a major concern for U.S. intelligence agencies as they attempt to prevent further attacks after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian student who studied at London’s University College, nearly succeeded in detonating an explosive device that he had concealed in his underpants as Northwest airlines flight 253 made its final approach to Detroit airport.

American intelligence officials are still investigating claims that Abdulmutallab was radicalised while he was a student between 2005 and 2008, although British security officials insist that he was radicalised in Yemen after he left London.

But the failure of British security officials to alert their American counterparts to Abdulmuttalab’s radical activities while president of UCL’s Islamic Society has led to increased tensions between Washington and London.

Earlier this week Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, confirmed that the UK had not passed any information to the U.S. prior to the attempted December 25 bombing that would have led American officials to believe that Abdulmutallab was a potential terrorist.

But while in London Abdulmutallab regularly presided over debates that denounced Britain’s involvement in the war on terror and America’s Guantanamo detention facility.

American officials now believe Britain poses a major threat to Western security because of the large number of al-Qaeda supporters that are active in the country. Two years ago Jonathan Evans, the head of MI5, estimated that there were 2,000 al-Qaeda sympathisers based in Britain – the largest concentration of al-Qaeda activists in any Western country. But American officials, who regularly refer to “Londonistan” because of the high concentration of Islamic radicals in the capital, believe the figure is growing all the time. They point out that recent al-Qaeda terror attacks planned in Britain have been the work of British-based Muslims, many of whom have been trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. >>> Con Coughlin | Friday, January 15, 2010

Clerics threaten to declare holy war if foreign troops land on Yemeni soil
TIMES ONLINE: A group of influential religious leaders in Yemen has threatened to declare jihad — holy war — if foreign troops intervene to stem the spread of al-Qaeda in the country. The edict is a clear warning to the United States as it plans to step up its military involvement in the country.

The leaders said that a jihad would be called if foreign troops set up bases inside the country, or moved into its territorial waters.

“If any party insists on aggression, or invades the country, then according to Islam, jihad becomes obligatory,” said a statement signed by 150 clerics and read out at a news conference in Sanaa, the capital. The stark threat came as Yemeni security officials declared that the country was openly now at war with the terrorists, who are trying to carve out a haven in a country riven by rebellion, secessionism, poverty and tribal loyalties. >>> James Hider, Middle East Correspondent | Friday, January 15, 2010

Russian Heir Demands Tsar Nicholas II Murder Investigation
THE TELEGRAPH: The self-proclaimed heir to Russia’s imperial throne has demanded the reopening of the investigation into the murder of Tsar Nicholas II and his family by Bolsheviks in 1918.

Tzar Nicholas II and family. Photo: The Telegraph
The Russian Prosecutor-General has formally closed a criminal investigation into the shooting because too much time had elapsed since the crime and because those responsible had died.

But monarchists said a resumption of the criminal case was essential if Russia as finally to come to terms with its brutal past.

“This case is essential for Russia,” said Alexander Zakatov, who represents Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, a Romanov who styles herself as the heir to the imperial throne.

“Russians need to know about the fate of the tsarist family and all of the other victims of the Communist regime. There should be a clear legal verdict on this,” said Zakatov, who heads the chancellery of Russia’s so-called Imperial House.

He said lawyers for Mrs Vladimirovna had asked Moscow’s Basmanny court to force prosecutors to reopen the case, which he said was needed to resolve a host of questions about the murder and remains said to belong to the last tsar.

Nicholas II, his wife and five children were killed by a revolutionary firing squad in July 1918 in the cellar of a merchant’s house in Yekaterinburg, 900 miles east of Moscow. >>> The Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Saturday, January 16, 2010

Petrol Attack on Actress in Muslim-themed Play
THE TELEGRAPH: An actress was doused with petrol in Paris in an attack thought to be related to her role in a feminist play she wrote about Algerian women.

The 45-year-old, who goes by the name of Rayhana, said two men approached her while she was walking to the theatre on Tuesday, grabbed her from behind, slapped her face and poured petrol on her. “I could smell the petrol. A flame brushed my hat and then I ran,” she said. >>> The Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Friday, January 15, 2010

"Le voile intégral, un symbole de l'oppression des femmes"
Crédits photo : L’Express.fr
L’EXPRESS.fr: Dernière représentation* ce samedi soir, à Paris, de la pièce de Rayhana, dramaturge d'origine algérienne agressée mardi par des hommes qui ont tenté de l'immoler. Révoltées, deux militantes féministes racontent leur propre combat contre l'intégrisme religieux.

Signe du temps. Asma, militante féministe d'origine algérienne, a toujours combattu l'intégrisme musulman. Mais depuis l'agression, mardi dernier, de la dramaturge algérienne Rayhana, elle ne ne sent plus en sécurité en France. Elle ne donnera pas son nom de famille. «Je connais bien Rayhana et son agression m'a profondément choquée, confie cette adhérente de Ni Putes Ni Soumises. Avant, je m'exprimais ouvertement dans les médias. Aujourd'hui, je me sens en danger. Mais je veux toujours témoigner pour continuer le combat.»

Rayhana a été aspergée de white spirit mardi soir alors qu'elle se rendait à la Maison des Métallos, à Paris, où se joue, jusqu'à ce soir, A mon âge, je me cache encore pour fumer. Une pièce qu'elle a écrite, dans laquelle neuf femmes se racontent leur quotidien dans société algérienne étouffée par l'obscurantisme religieux. Ce texte engagé a-t-il un lien avec l'agression violente dont a été victime la comédienne à l'entrée du théâtre? Les enquêteurs chargés de l'affaire en ont «de fortes suspicions». >>> Par LEXPRESS.fr | Samedi 16 Janvier 2010

Under Barack Obama, US Is Obsessed With Race But Can't Talk About It
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama's election did not usher in a post-racial America. Instead, speaking honesty about race is taboo, writes Toby Harnden in Washington

Barack Obama: despite his presidency Americans are still obsessed about race. Photo: The Telegraph
A year ago, Americans were basking in what many believed was a post-racial new dawn. The United States was just about to inaugurate its first black President. Across the world, those who had pronounced the country too mired in its past to elect an African-American were being forced to reassess.

Fast forward to last week and the American chattering classes were engaged in the kind discussion about race that makes one despair. I use the term "discussion" but that's over-egging things - it was really a mud-slinging contest in which Republicans and Democrats shouted tired old slogans at each other.

The matter at issue was comments by Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, made during the 2008 election campaign. Obama was electable, Reid observed, because he was "light-skinned" and did not "speak with a Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one".

Reid knew he was in big trouble and immediately rushed out a statement of apology when his words, quoted in a new campaign book, became public.

He had forgotten that race was a taboo subject.

His use of the term "Negro" was a little anachronistic, though the National Council of Negro Women and United Negro College Fund still exist. But it wasn't exactly the other N-word.

Reid, who is fighting for his political life in Nevada, where polls have him trailing badly in his November re-election contest, has said many stupid things. Three years ago, he declared that the Iraq war "is lost".

Last month he compared Republicans who opposed healthcare reform to those who once clung to slavery.

But this time his sin was really to speak the truth. Part of candidate Obama's special appeal was that he was a black man who made white people feel exceedingly good about themselves - not least because he was half white and had been raised by a white mother and grandparents.

At the same time, Obama showed himself to be at ease among blacks who had, unlike him, lived through the civil rights area and were descended from slaves.

Thus, Obama walked the tightrope between being too black and being not black enough. One of the ways he did that was to alter his tone and cadence depending on the audience he was speaking to - as many politicians do. >>> | Saturday, January 16, 2010

UKIP Woos White Working Class with Call for Total Ban on Burkas
My comment on this article in The Times today:

Ms Jagger, this is not a class issue; rather, this is an issue of national identity and preserving one's culture and values. The burqah does not belong here. The practice has its roots in the desert. It is actually not Islamic, even though it has come to represent Islamic fundamentalism. Its actual roots lie in the class structure of Saudi Arabia! Upper class women in Arabia, the city-dwellers, wore them for two main reasons: to protect the skin from the hot sun in the desert (pale skin on women is prized there even to this day); and as the hallmark of a lady who didn't have to do manual labour, as the poorer classes did.

There is therefore absolutely no reason for wearing them in the United Kingdom. They were never really a religious duty anyway. The prophet of Islam called for modesty. One doesn't have to cover oneself from head to foot to preserve one's modesty! – © Mark

TIMES ONLINE: The UK Independence Party is to call for a ban on the burka and the niqab — the Islamic cloak that covers women from head to toe and the mask that conceals most of the face — claiming they affront British values. The policy, which a number of European countries are also debating, is an attempt by UKIP to broaden its appeal and address the concerns of disaffected white working-class voters.

UKIP would be the first national party to call for a total ban on burkas, though the far-Right BNP believes they should be banned from schools.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch, the leader of UKIP, said yesterday: “We are taking expert advice on how we could do it. It makes sense to ban the burka — or anything which conceals a woman’s face — in public buildings. But we want to make it possible to ban them in private buildings. It isn’t right that you can’t see someone’s face in an airport.”

He explained that UKIP wanted to bring to the fore the issue of the increasing influence of Sharia in Britain: “We are not Muslim bashing, but this is incompatible with Britain’s values of freedom and democracy.”

Nigel Farage, the former UKIP party leader, will announce tomorrow that the party believes the fabric of the country is under threat from Sharia and that forcing women to conceal their identity in public is not consistent with traditional Britishness.

UKIP believes that the burka and the niqab have no basis in Islam, are a threat to gender equality, marginalise women and endanger the public safety because terrorists could use them to hide their identity. >>> Suzy Jagger, Politics and Business Correspondent | Saturday, January 16, 2010