Dutch Anti-immigration Party Gains Ground in Vote
ASSOCIATED PRESS: AMSTERDAM — Early returns in Dutch local elections showed an anti-immigrant, anti-Islam party making big gains in a result seen as a possible foreshadowing of national elections in June.

"We're going to take the Netherlands back from the leftist elite, that coddles criminals and supports Islamization," said Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders early Thursday.

Wednesday's voting in 394 cities in theory elects city councils to deal with matters such as parking fees and taxes on dog ownership. But with national elections slated for June 9, Dutch media and politicians are treating the event as a dress rehearsal.

The Freedom Party was leading handily with half the votes counted in the medium-sized city of Almere, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Amsterdam.

Voting was conducted with paper and pencil, and full results won't be certified until Friday. >>> Toby Sterling, AP | Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Greece Braces For Tough Times

Venezuela, Spain in Tiff: Chavez Thumbs His Nose at Spain

Farage Refuses to Apologise Over 'Damp Rag' Remarks
BBC: UKIP MEP Nigel Farage has been asked to apologise for remarks he made about the President of the European Council.

Mr Farage described Herman van Rompuy, the former Belgian prime minister, as a "damp rag" and "a low-grade bank clerk".

The Parliament is asking for an apology but Mr Farage has said he will not comply. Watch video here >>> | Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Couples Claim Washington's First Gay Marriage Licence
BBC: More than 120 gay couples have received marriage licences in the US capital, Washington DC.

The District of Columbia became the sixth US jurisdiction to allow same-sex unions after the Supreme Court threw out a last-minute legal challenge.

Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont also issue same-sex licences.

Many queued for hours outside Washington's marriage bureau to be among the first to get their licences.

The BBC's Madeleine Morris, in Washington, says that the couples were motivated both by a desire to marry as soon as they could, and a fear that further legal challenges could overturn the decision to allow same-sex marriages. >>> | Thursday, March 04, 2010

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: LOI | Cette loi fait de la capitale fédérale le sixième endroit du pays à autoriser le mariage gay.

Les couples homosexuels peuvent depuis ce mercredi s’inscrire pour se marier à Washington, au lendemain du rejet par la Cour Suprême fédérale d’un appel contre la légalisation du mariage gay dans la capitale américaine. Adoptée en décembre dernier par le conseil de district de Columbia et jugée constitutionnelle mardi, cette loi fait de la capitale fédérale le sixième endroit du pays à autoriser le mariage gay. >>> AP | Mercredi 03 Mars 2010

Guardian Viewpoint: All Eyes On Far-right Geert Wilders as Dutch Go to the Polls
THE GUARDIAN: Anti-Muslim populist hopes to establish Freedom party at local government level for first time as general election looms

Photo: The Guardian
The Dutch went to the polls today to elect local authorities in a ballot seen as a gauge of the national mood and the strength of the far right, 10 days after the government collapsed and three months before national elections.

With almost 400 local authorities being elected, the focus was on only two, the votes in the capital The Hague and the central town of Almere, because of the campaign by the anti-Muslim populist Geert Wilders to establish his Freedom party in local government for the first time.

Wilders, who likens the Qur'an to Hitler's Mein Kampf and wants Muslim immigrants deported, is bidding fair to win the general election in June, with the latest opinion polls giving him 27 of the 150 seats in The Netherlands' highly fragmented political scene.

The maverick rightwinger is expected at the House of Lords on Friday on an invitation from the UK Independence Party for a screening of his incendiary anti-Islamic film, Fitna, after the Home Office barred him from entering Britain last year, a ban that was rescinded.

Today the town halls in The Hague and Almere were under heavy security because of the tension fanned by the Freedom party campaign. In both towns and elsewhere scores of men and women turned up to vote wearing headscarves, in an ironic protest against Wilders's demand for a tax on Muslim headgear and for the wearing of headscarves to be banned in all public buildings.

His Freedom party is running for only two local authorities because of a lack of resources and candidates.

While local elections in Holland are usually a subdued affair focused on issues such as cycle paths and rubbish collection, today's poll was dominated by immigration and Afghanistan. >>> Ian Traynor, Europe editor | Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Sing Along with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

The Split Within: Two Years On Since Kosovo Declared Independence

Barack Obama: I'll Steamroll Health Reforms Through Congress
Here Obama goes again, wagging his finger as though only he could know what is good for American people. Big daddy knows best. So you listen to me, children!

How do the American people put up with this arrogance? Doesn’t Obama realise that he is supposed to be leading a democracy? Obama seems to have so little political experience. The fact that he came to high office as an empty suit is more and more evident with each passing day.

America’s health system does indeed need reforming, but the baby should not be thrown out with the bathwater; rather, the system needs to be controlled better, and it needs a lot of tweaking into shape. But a European healthcare system – a national health care system as there is in Britain or France – probably would not go down well in America. It would probably not sit well with the psyche of the American people, the people living in the ‘land of the free’.

I often wonder whether Obama understands his compatriots very well; he certainly indicates that he is ignorant of their character and ways. In a few words, he doesn’t seem to understand what makes his fellow countrymen tick.

If he rams this legislation through Congress, he will pay a very high price for his folly in future elections. It will ensure that his presidency will be nothing longer than one term. – © Mark

TIMES ONLINE: President Obama declared for the first time today that he is prepared to steamroll his troubled health reform legislation through Congress with only Democratic support, a move Republicans denounced as the “nuclear option”.

Signalling that his patience had now snapped after a year-long fight over health reform, Mr Obama laid the ground for Democrats in Congress to muscle the Bill through using a high-risk legislative maneuvre known as reconciliation, which overrides a Republican filibuster.

Although he did not use the word “reconciliation”, Mr Obama made clear that is the uncompromising route he now intends to take with his top domestic priority. White House aides and top Democrats on Capitol Hill have also stated in recent days that, in the face of unanimous Republican opposition, the legislation will now be forced through.

By using reconciliation, Democrats can get the health reform package through the Senate with a simple majority, rather than needing the Bill to pass the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a Republican filibuster. Mr Obama’s party ceded their 60-stong majority in the upper chamber after losing the late Edward Kennedy’s Massachusetts seat in January.

That shock defeat was in large part due to growing public hostility to Mr Obama’s health reforms, which many see as too expensive at a time of exploding deficits. Forcing the Bill through Congress is, therefore, a high-risk strategy that Republicans vowed to exploit.

In a speech from the White House, Mr Obama conceded the risks involved. “I don’t know how this plays politically, but I know it's right”, he said. >>> Tim Reid, Washington | Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Multiple Suicide Bombers Strike Iraq

Carla Bruni Raises Eyebrows with Figure-hugging Dress
THE TELEGRAPH: It is not an obvious choice of dress for a first lady at a state dinner but then not all first ladies have Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's advantages.

The wife of Nicolas Sarkozy selected a figure hugging Roland Mouret dress that left only a very little to the imagination as she arrived with her husband at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

And while many may not have got away with it, Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy carried off the outfit, which she teamed with Christian Louboutin heels, with grace.

The dinner was held in honour of Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian President, and his wife Svetlana, who have been on a three-day visit to France. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy arrives at state dinner in figure-hugging dress >>> | Wednesday, March 03, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni wears RM by the designer Roland Mouret: Carla loved the French designer's creation so much, that she has ordered three more of his designs. >>> Hilary Alexander, Fashion Director at Paris Fashion Week | Wednesday, March 03, 2010

KRONE.at: Da hilft kein geboxter Unschuldsblick: Fotos beweisen eindeutig, dass Frankreichs "First Lady" Carla Sarkozy-Bruni beim Staatsempfang ihres Mannes für den russischen Präsidenten Medwedew ohne Büstenhalter als BH-lose Gastgeberin dagestanden ist. Aber Madame! Carla Sarkozy-Bruni ohne BH beim Staatsempfang >>> | Donnerstag, 04. März 2010

«Ob andere uns glauben, spielt keine Rolle» : Islamkritiker Geert Wilders über Freiheit und westliche Werte
NZZ ONLINE: Die niederländischen Lokalwahlen werden als Gradmesser für die Popularität des Rechtspopulisten Geert Wilders und von dessen Partei für die Freiheit (PVV) betrachtet. Der Brüsseler NZZ-Korrespondent Peter Winkler hat mit Wilders gesprochen.

Herr Wilders, Sie haben mit Ihren Aussagen zum Islam einigen Aufruhr ausgelöst. Gegen Sie läuft auch ein Gerichtsverfahren wegen Diskriminierung, Beleidigung einer Gruppe und Anstachelung zu Hass. Worum geht es für Sie?

Es geht um Freiheit. Das ist auch der Grund, warum ich meiner Partei den Namen «Partei für die Freiheit» gegeben habe. Ich glaube, es ist nicht nur unser Recht, sondern unsere Pflicht, für die Freiheit zu kämpfen. Ich glaube, dass der Islam – nicht Muslime, das möchte ich betonen, ich habe nichts gegen Menschen – als Ideologie eine Bedrohung für unseren Rechtsstaat, unsere Demokratie und unsere Freiheit ist. Darum geht es, dafür kämpfe ich, und deshalb bin ich auch vor Gericht.

Freiheit, alles zu sagen?
Wenn man für die Freiheit kämpft, ist es dann egal, was man sagt?

Nein, natürlich gibt es Grenzen. Ich glaube sehr an die Freiheit, an so etwas wie das First Amendment in der amerikanischen Verfassung, und es wäre schön, wenn dieses auch nach Europa exportiert würde. Aber selbst dann muss man Leute bestrafen, die zu Gewalt aufrufen oder Andere diskriminieren, wie zum Beispiel Ladenbesitzer, die sagen: Christen oder Juden oder Muslime sind nicht erwünscht. Man soll sagen können, was man denkt, aber nicht: «Tötet diesen Mann!»

Es gibt diese rote Linie, aber darüber hinaus, davon bin ich überzeugt, sollte man nicht mehr viel verbieten. Die Leute sollten sich verteidigen können. Wenn wir als Politiker nicht zu Gewalt aufrufen oder diskriminieren, sollte die Diskussion im Parlament geführt werden, nicht vor Gericht. Das Gericht sollte kein Korrekturmechanismus sein für Dinge, die man nicht hören will oder mit denen man nicht einverstanden ist. >>> Interview: win. | Mittwoch, 03. März 2010

Das gesamte Interview mit Geert Wilders lesen Sie morgen im Auslandteil der NZZ.

La Russie négocie avec la France l'achat de 4 navires de guerre
lePARISIEN.fr: Nicolas Sarkozy a affirmé que «la France et la Russie» avaient débuté lundi des «négociations exclusives» pour l'achat par Moscou de quatre navires de guerre français, lors d'une conférence de presse conjointe à Paris avec le président russe Dmitri Medvedev. Il s'agit de quatre BPC (bâtiments de projection et de commandement) Mistral. >>> leparisien.fr | Lundi 01 Mars 2010

Nucléaire iranien : accord de Moscou sur le principe de sanctions
lePARISIEN.fr: Le président russe Dmitri Medvedev a marqué lundi à Paris son accord pour de nouvelles sanctions contre l'Iran, à condition qu'elles n'aient pas de conséquences humanitaires pour la population iranienne. «La Russie est prête, avec nos autres partenaires, à réfléchir à l'introduction de sanctions», a-t-il déclaré à l'issue d'un entretien avec son homologue Nicolas Sarkozy.

«Nos appels (à l'Iran) pour travailler à un programme nucléaire pacifique sous le contrôle de la communauté internationale n'ont pas porté leurs fruits jusqu'à présent», a regretté le président russe. «Malheureusement, ces derniers temps, nous n'avons pas beaucoup avancé. Au contraire, la situation s'est détériorée», a-t-il jugé.
 >>> leparisien.fr avec l’AFP | Lundi 01 Mars 2010

La guerre économique! Economic Warfare! Wirtschafts-Krieg! Affaire Libyenne : La Libye décide un embargo économique «total» sur la Suisse
Mouammar Kadhafi. Photo: Le Temps
LE TEMPS: La Libye a décidé d’imposer un embargo économique «total» sur la Suisse dans la foulée de la crise diplomatique entre les deux pays, a déclaré mercredi à l’AFP le porte-parole du gouvernement libyen, Mohamed Baayou

«La Libye a décidé d’imposer un embargo total sur tous les échanges économiques et commerciaux avec la Suisse», a indiqué M. Baayou.

Elle a décidé par ailleurs d’»adopter d’autres alternatives en ce qui concerne les médicaments et les équipements médicaux et industriels» suisses importés par Tripoli, a-t-il précisé. >>> AFP | Mercredi 03 Mars 2010

«Totales Wirtschaftsembargo» gegen die Schweiz: Neues Manöver Ghadhafis
NZZ ONLINE: Libyen verhängt ein totales Wirtschaftsembargo gegen die Schweiz. Der nordafrikanische Staat begründet den Schritt mit der diplomatischen Krise zwischen den beiden Staaten. Das sagte ein Sprecher der libyschen Regierung am Mittwoch der Nachrichtenagentur AFP.

Libyen werde Medikamente, medizinische Geräte und Industriegeräte, die das Land bisher aus der Schweiz bezogen habe, aus anderen Ländern importieren, hielt Baayou fest. >>> sda | Mittwoch, 03. März 2010

Libya Imposes Economic Embargo on Switzerland
AL ARABIYA: Libya has decided to impose a "total" economic embargo on Switzerland, government spokesman Mohammed Baayou said on Wednesday, after Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi declared holy war on Bern.



"Libya has decided to impose a total embargo on all economic and commercial exchanges with Switzerland," Baayou said.



The country will "adopt alternative (sources) for medicines and medical and industrial equipment" imported from Switzerland, he added.

The announcement comes just hours after Libya protested against a U.S. State Department official poking fun at Ghaddafi after he called for jihad against Switzerland in an ongoing diplomatic spat with that country. >>> Tripoli, Agencies | Wednesday, March 03, 2010

WELT ONLINE: Libyen will den Streit mit der Schweiz jetzt auch auf wirtschaftlicher Ebene austragen und hat einen Handelsboykott verkündet. Ohnehin sind die Geschäfte zwischen den Ländern bereits um mehr als die Hälfte zurückgegangen. Unter anderem stehen Arzneimittel und medizinische Geräte auf der Embargo-Liste.

Gegen die Schweiz werde ein vollständiges Wirtschafts- und Handelsembargo verhängt, sagte ein Regierungssprecher. Der Handel zwischen beiden Ländern ist wegen der seit mehr als anderthalb Jahren andauernden Krise bereits um mehr als die Hälfte zurückgegangen.

Unter anderem sollten Arzneimittel und medizinische Geräte künftig anderswo beschafft werden, sagte Regierungssprecher Mohammed Baaju. Die Schweizer Exporte nach Libyen beliefen sich im vergangenen Jahr auf 156 Millionen Schweizer Franken und fielen damit um fast 45 Prozent geringer aus als noch im Vorjahr. Verglichen mit einem Exportvolumen von insgesamt 180 Milliarden Schweizer Franken ist das Geschäft mit Libyen eher gering. Libyen verkaufte 2009 Waren im Wert von 718 Millionen Franken an die Eidgenossen, dies bedeutete gegenüber dem Vorjahr ein Minus von über 78 Prozent.

Die Beziehungen zwischen Libyen und der Schweiz gelten als zerrüttet, seit im Juli 2008 ein Sohn des libyschen Machthabers Muammar el Gaddafi in Genf vorübergehend festgenommen wurde. Tripolis zog seitdem seine Bankguthaben aus der Schweiz ab, verwies Schweizer Unternehmen des Landes und kündigte einen Lieferstopp für Erdöl an. Libyen verhängt Embargo gegen die Schweiz >>> AFP/cl | Mittwoch, 03. März 2010

Taliban Network of 156 Caves Discovered in Pakistan Mountains
THE TELEGRAPH: A complex network of 156 caves used by the Taliban and al-Qaeda has been discovered by the Pakistan army dug into rocky mountains close to the Afghan border.

Photo: The Telegraph
The tunnels, which are thought to have been created over five to seven years, were carved into sheer rock within view of the snow-capped peaks of eastern Afghanistan.

The network was found during an offensive against Islamist militants in the country's semi-autonomous tribal areas in which 75 militants were killed. >>> | Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Boy Develops Fish Scales at 14 Months Old
THE TELEGRAPH: This 14-month-old boy born without pores in his skin has baffled medics by developing fish scales.

Doctors believe Song Sheng, of Jinhu, eastern China, may be suffering from a rare genetic condition that means his body cannot cool itself.

Song Sheng - called fish boy by locals - began developing scales within days of his birth caused by his lack of pores. >>> | Monday, March 01, 2010

To make a donation to help Song Sheng click here.

Muslim Americans Arrested in Pakistan

Greece on the Brink: Anatomy of a Debt Crisis

Europe's Original Sin: National Leaders Ignored Greece's Soaring Debt for Years
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Europeans are blaming financial transactions arranged by Wall Street for bringing Greece to the brink of needing a bailout. But a close look at the country's finances over the nearly 10 years since it adopted the euro shows not only that Greece was the principal author of its debt problems, but also that fellow European governments repeatedly turned a blind eye to its flouting of rules.

Though the European Commission and the U.S. Federal Reserve are examining a controversial 2001 swap arranged with Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Greece's own budget moves, in clear breach of European Union rules, dwarfed the effect of such deals.

Predicaments of the sort Greece is facing—years of overspending, leaving bond investors worried the country can't pay back its debts—weren't supposed to happen in the euro zone. Early on, countries made a pact aimed at preventing a free-spending state from undermining the common currency. The pact required countries adopting the euro to limit annual budget deficits to 3% of gross domestic product, and total government debt to 60% of GDP.

But an examination of budget reports to the EU shows Greece hasn't met the deficit rule in any year except 2006. It has never been within 30 percentage points of the debt ceiling. >>> Charles Forelle and Stephen Fiddler | Wednesday, March 03, 2010