Inspiration for The English Patient Had Gay Nazi Lover
THE TELEGRAPH: The Second World War spy who inspired the womanising hero in the Oscar-winning film The English Patient was actually homosexual and in love with a young soldier, according to letters discovered in Germany.

Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas appear in The English Patient. Photograph: The Telegraph
Intimate correspondence penned by Hungarian-born adventurer Count Laszlo de Almásy shows he had a relationship with a soldier called Hans Entholt.

The Heinrich Barth Institute for African Studies in Cologne has made the claim after discovering love letters but has yet to publish the details.

A member of the institute's staff told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine the letters show he had several homosexual relationships: "Egyptian princes were among Almásy's lovers." >>> Allan Hall in Berlin | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Geheimdienstbericht – "Englischer Patient" in Wahrheit hässlicher Nazi-Spion: Das Leben des Wüstenforschers Graf László de Almásy war Vorbild für das Kinodrama "Der Englische Patient" mit dem attraktiven Ralph Fiennes in der Hauptrolle. In Wirklichkeit war Almásy jedoch ein Spion der Nazis. Und ein hässlicher noch dazu. >>> | Freitag, 21. Mai 2004

After Attacks in Russia, Fears of Xenophobia
Lilya Paizulayeva, a Chechen in Moscow, worries about profiling and said, “This whole week I have felt like a stranger in this city.” Photo: The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: MOSCOW — Lilya Paizulayeva descended into the subway anxiously, trying to keep her distance from the crowds and the newly deployed and heavily armed police officers. She cringed at the train’s loud metallic shriek, pressing herself to the wall.

She was not scared of suicide bombers — she feared being taken for one herself.

With her jet-black hair and large dark eyes, Ms. Paizulayeva, a 26-year-old native of Chechnya, looks very much the daughter of Russia’s fiery North Caucasus region, from where, investigators say, two young women traveled to Moscow to blow themselves up last week in the rush-hour throngs, killing at least 40 people.

While for many the attacks are an unsettling reminder of the female suicide bombers who have terrorized this city for years, women from the Caucasus, particularly from Chechnya, say they worry about the return of the arbitrary arrests, xenophobic attacks and open hostility that many experienced after similar terrorist attacks in the past.

“Psychologically, I feel a kind of alarm inside,” said Ms. Paizulayeva, who was born in Chechnya’s capital, Grozny, and fled to Moscow in 1995 with her family when the war there started. “Though I’m dressed like a local, I think that perhaps someone could attack me in the metro,” she said. “This whole week I have felt like a stranger in this city.”

Though Russian citizens, Chechens and others from the North Caucasus are often seen as foreigners in Russia, especially here in the capital, and are frequently associated with immigrants from the countries of Central Asia that were former Soviet republics. More than 1,000 miles from Moscow, Chechnya has its own language, religion and customs, as well as a history of violent separatism that many in the rest of the country find alien in the best of times and threatening in the worst.

There have already been several reports of revenge attacks against people from the Caucasus in the wake of the bombings. Last week a brawl broke out on a subway train when a group of passengers insisted on inspecting the bags of several people who appeared to be from the Caucasus, according to the Sova Center, an organization that tracks xenophobic violence.

Attacks against people with darker skin and hair typical of those from the Caucasus are not uncommon in Russia. >>> Michael Schwirtz | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The Kremlin's Helplessness – Discontent Grows over Moscow's Impotency in Dealing with Terror: Following last week's terrorist attacks on the Moscow metro, Russians are now fearing a fresh wave of violence. Many feel the Kremlin has been hopeless in dealing with Caucasus terror and that the government does more to protect its own power than the people. >>> Matthias Schepp in Moscow | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

Chris Grayling: Support For Conservatives Among Gays Drops Sharply After B&B Row
THE TELEGRAPH: Support for the Tories among the gay community has fallen sharply after the row about turning away gay couples from bed and breakfast establishments.

A poll conducted by the website PinkNews.co.uk found that support for the Conservative party had 'fallen markedly' among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender readers after the comments from Chris Grayling. Photograph: The Telegraph
Chris Grayling, the shadow Home secretary, was under fire at the weekend after it emerged that he had said bed and breakfasts run by Christians should be allowed to turn away gay couples because of their sexuality.

A poll conducted by the website PinkNews.co.uk found that support for the Conservative party had “fallen markedly” among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender readers after the comments.

It found that just 20 per cent in a survey of 1,193 gay men and women would vote Conservative at the next general election, down from 25 per cent last month.

In the poll support for Labour remained unchanged at 28 per cent, while support for the Liberal Democrats increased by 5 per cent to 29 per cent.

The survey also found that 30 per cent of its readers felt “less favourably” towards Mr Cameron following an interview in which he was unable to answer questions about the decision to give MPs and peers a free vote issues relating to gay rights.

A spokesman for PinkNews.co.uk said: "Just one difficult interview has[,] it appears[,] seen a significant drop in the support that the Conservative party and Mr Cameron in particular has enjoyed within the gay community." >>> | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

India’s Muslims, Lack of Jihadists

Family Jihad Tour: European Parents Are ‘Taking Children to Terror Training Camps’
MAIL ONLINE: German intelligence is warning of a new breed of terrorist - whole family groups travelling to training camps on the Afghan-Pakistan border where they learn how to use explosives and raise funds.

Parents travelling with children have in the past raised less suspicion than single men or women travelling to and from Germany.

Now officials have the names of 100 suspects they believe may be radicalised and ready to strike.

Germany is braced for a terror attack after repeated threats because of its involvement in Afghanistan. >>> Allan Hall | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

The Third Generation: German Jihad Colonies Sprout Up in Waziristan
Islamist Cüneyt Ciftci, a former employee for Bosch, who hailed from the quiet southern German town of Ansbach, carried out a suicide bombing in Afghanistan in March 2008. Photograph: Spiegel Online International
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A wave of Germans traveling to training camps for militant jihadists has alarmed security officials back in Europe. The recruits are quickly becoming radicalized and, in some cases, entire families are departing to hotbeds for terrorism. It is even believed that colonies catering to German Islamists have taken shape in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

It was a Sunday in September when they lost their son Jan*. He gave his parents a particularly tight hug, his father recalls, a long and intense embrace. The father says that he could sense that this was no normal goodbye, and that it was about more than the supposed vacation trip to celebrate the couple's first wedding anniversary -- which was the story that Jan, 24, and his wife Alexandra* had cooked up for him.

It was the day of the German parliamentary elections in 2009, and the autumn sun was shining in Berlin, but Jan and Alexandra weren't interested in who would govern the country. They were going to leave Germany. They had rejected this society and this state. Jan and Alexandra packed their things into a rental car, picked up another couple, and the four friends headed off into exile. One of their traveling companions was 17 years old and six months pregnant -- her husband had just turned 20. Their child would not be born in Germany.

The two married couples headed to Budapest, where they boarded a plane for Istanbul. Jan placed one last call to his parents from a hotel.

Since then there have been only sporadic e-mails. These have been loving messages to his father and mother. But he also writes things that frighten his parents. He is living among brothers and doesn't need much money, Jan writes. No, they can't visit him -- it would be too dangerous, he says. And no, he can no longer imagine returning to Berlin, to a life among the kuffar, the infidels.

Then, in December, he wrote that he didn't know if he would live to see the next summer. Since then his parents have been looking in their mailbox every morning -- and every morning it's the same: nothing. They can hardly bear the uncertainty. Extremist Expats >>> Yassin Musharbash, Marcel Rosenbach and Holger Stark | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

* Editor's note: Name has been changed by the editors.

Translated from the German by Paul Cohen

Middle-class Muslims Fuel French Halal Boom
THE GUARDIAN: Retailers and restaurants cash in on rapidly expanding and highly profitable market in halal food and drinks

Halal butchery and poultry shelves in a supermarket in Illzach, eastern France. Photograph: The Guardian
Few things define the traditional good life in France better than champagne and foie gras, but few would have thought them symbols of social integration – until now.

A boom in sales of halal products, including alcohol-free bubbly and goose liver paté approved by Islamic law, is being driven by the emergence of an affluent middle class of young Muslims.

Known as the bourgeois – a play on bourgeois and the word beur, slang for a French person of North African descent – these new consumers are behind a rapidly expanding and highly profitable market in halal food and drinks.

With spending power worth an estimated €5.5bn a year, according to the opinion pollsters Solis, these under-40s are forcing international food suppliers to cater for their demands.

Yanis Bouarbi, 33, an IT specialist who started the website paris-hallal.com, which lists restaurants in France serving halal food, says young Muslims are at the heart of a mini social revolution.

"When our parents and grandparents came to France they did mostly manual work and the priority was having enough to feed the family," said Bouarbi, who arrived from Algeria at the age of three.

"But second or third-generation people like me have studied, have good jobs and money and want to go out and profit from French culture without compromising our religious beliefs. We don't just want cheap kebabs, we want Japanese, Thai, French food; we want to be like the rest of you."

The demand for halal products, currently increasing by an estimated 15% a year, has captured the attention of food giants such as the supermarket group Casino, which has stocked an increasing variety of halal foods – mostly meat products – for the last three years. >>> Kim Willsher in Paris | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

Related:

Various articles on halal foods, etc. >>>

Pope Calls on Priests to Behave Like 'Angels and Jesus Christ's Messengers'
THE TELEGRAPH: The Pope called on Catholic priests to behave like "angels and Jesus Christ's messengers" in his Easter Monday address, as new cases emerged of the Church failing to report abuses by paedophile clergy.

Benedict XVI said all Christians, but particularly priests, should be like angels and messengers of Christ's "victory over evil and death, the bearers of his divine love."

The 82-year-old pontiff was addressing hundreds of pilgrims at Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence outside Rome, at the end of an Easter Week which has been overshadowed by the sex abuse crisis.

While senior Vatican figures have denounced criticism of the Church as a smear campaign against the Pope, fresh evidence is emerging almost daily of the Catholic hierarchy's failure, or refusal, to adequately deal with priests found guilty of molesting or raping children in their charge.

In Paris, a retired French bishop admitted that he had made a mistake when he accepted a convicted Canadian paedophile priest back into his diocese in the 1980s, but said the practice was at the time an accepted part of the Church's handling of abusive priests. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

Violent Clashes at EDL Demonstration in Dudley


English Defence League: Dudley Clashes At Right-Wing Demo
Watch video here

Labour Is 'Worst Government Ever', Says Mark Serwotka
THE TELEGRAPH: The Labour government has been branded the "worst in the history of this country” by the head of one of Britain’s biggest trade unions.

Mark Serwotka Photo: The Telegraph
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said the government’s poor treatment of public sector workers meant it was a worse employer than the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher or John Major.

In a bitter attack, he called for unions to take “united industrial action” as a last resort to defend jobs, pensions and services.

The comments – in an address to the National Union of Teachers’ annual conference in Liverpool – drew an extraordinary response from activists.

In scenes reminiscent of union rallies of the 60s and 70s, teachers chanted “the workers, united, will never be defeated” as they gave Mr Serwotka a standing ovation.

It was a further signal that the incoming government is likely to face a bitter battle with public sector unions over major cuts imposed to reduce Britain’s multi-billion pound deficit.

The move came as the NUT – Britain’s biggest classroom union – passed an emergency resolution rejecting plans by “all major parties" for cuts which they claim will impact on children’s education.

It called for a “coordinated campaign of action, up to and including strike action where needed” to oppose pay freezes, threats to pensions and cuts to jobs.

One NUT member said the union should be put on a "war footing". >>> Graeme Paton, Education Editor | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

Sexueller Missbrauch: Geheimprotokoll belastet wichtigsten Mitarbeiter des Papstes
ZEIT ONLINE: Bis zu 200 Kinder hat Pater Murphy in den USA missbraucht. ZEIT ONLINE liegt ein geheimes Dokument vor, das zeigt: Kardinalstaatssekretär Bertone wollte den Fall klein halten.

Kardinalstaatssekretär Tarcisio Bertone, der wichtigste Mitarbeiter von Papst Benedikt XVI. Bild: Zeit Online
Im Konflikt zwischen dem Vatikan und der New York Times um die Verwicklung des Papstes in die Vertuschung eines Missbrauchsfalles aus den USA in den späten Neunziger Jahren wächst der Druck auf den wichtigsten Mitarbeiter des Papstes, Kardinalstaatssekretär Tarcisio Bertone. ZEIT ONLINE liegt ein geheimes Sitzungsprotokoll des Vatikans vor, das Bertone belastet. Das Protokoll ist Teil eines Briefwechsels zwischen dem Vatikan und dem damals für die Ermittlungen zuständigen Erzbischof von Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland, im sogenannten Fall Murphy. Der Briefwechsel ist der ZEIT von Anwälten früherer Opfer des Direktors einer katholischen Gehörlosenschule, Pater Lawrence Murphy, zur Verfügung gestellt worden, der zwischen 1950 und 1974 bis zu 200 gehörlose Kinder sexuell missbraucht haben soll, unter anderem auch während der Beichte. >>> Von Patrik Schwarz | Montag, 05. April 2010

Étude – Pâques : Le chocolat, définitivement bon pour le coeur
La consommation quotidienne d'un carré de chocolat noir réduirait d'environ 40 % les risques cardiovasculaires. Photo : Le Point
LE POINT: En ce lundi de Pâques, les amateurs de chocolat ont toutes les raisons de ne pas résister à leur plaisir favori. Une étude allemande, menée par l'équipe de chercheurs de Brian Buijsse (épidémiologiste à l'Institut allemand de Nutrition humaine) et Heiner Boeing - très récemment publiée en ligne par l'European Heart Journal - révèle en effet que la consommation quotidienne d'un carré de chocolat noir (soit 6 grammes) réduirait d'environ 40 % les risques cardiovasculaires, donc ceux d'infarctus du myocarde et d'accident vasculaire cérébral. Mais attention, pour ceux qui dépassent largement cette dose, le bénéfice disparaît. >>> Par Anne Jeanblanc | Lundi 05 Avril 2010

Attentats – Réactions : Les frappes terroristes au Pakistan "inquiètent" Washington
Robert Gibbs, porte-parole, a exprimé la "profonde inquiétude" de la Maison-Banche, après les attaques meurtrières de lundi dans le nord-ouest du Pakistan. Photo : Le Point
LE POINT: La Maison Blanche a exprimé lundi sa "profonde inquiétude" après l'attentat suicide qui a visé le consulat des Etats-Unis à Peshawar. Les Etats-Unis condamnent cette attaque, a déclaré le porte-parole du président Barack Obama, Robert Gibbs. L'attentat a fait six morts selon la police, tandis que l'ambassade américaine, directement visée par dix à 15 hommes lourdement armés, faisait état du décès de deux gardes de sécurité pakistanais de la représentation diplomatique. >>> LePoint.fr | Lundi 05 Avril 2010

Le Web catholique unanime pour dénoncer la "papophobie"
LE MONDE: "Cathophobie", "acharnement", "généralisations"... c'est aussi par le biais de leurs blogs et de leurs sites personnels que les catholiques francophones se dressent pour réclamer un apaisement autour du scandale des prêtres pédophiles. Ils dénoncent dans leur grande majorité un traitement médiatique inégal et les attaques portées contre le pape Benoît XVI, perçu comme un bouc émissaire. Dans la ligne de mire de la plupart de ces blogs : l'impossible dialogue entre les catholiques et les médias, accusés de privilégier un traitement à charge de toutes les affaires liées à la religion. Néanmoins, la plupart des auteurs de blog évoquant le sujet reconnaissent la nécessité pour l'Eglise de s'attaquer de front aux abus sexuels perpétrés en son sein.

Sur son blog, le journaliste catholique Patrice de Plunkett appelle à la nuance et dénonce le climat de "papophobie" qui règne actuellement, tout en reconnaissant qu'elle trouve sa source dans "le dossier affreusement réel des prêtres pédophiles", "scandale métaphysique que les croyants doivent assumer avec courage et douleur". Selon lui, l'emballement médiatique dont Benoît XVI et l'Eglise en général font l'objet provient du fait que cette dernière "incarne la seule résistance à la vision matérialiste mercantile, idéologie du système occidental". Il encourage les croyants à "rester fidèle au message du Christ", à "assumer" tous les actes dont l'Eglise a pu se rendre coupable, sans "parader" : "l'on n'évangélise pas si l'on est vus comme des négationnistes", souligne-t-il. >>> Audrey Fournier | Lundi 05 Avril 2010

Carla Bruni Loses Out to Marion Cotillard in Woody Allen Film
THE TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has been beaten to the role of leading lady in Woody Allen's new film set in Paris.

Marion Cotillard, left, has beaten Carla Bruni to star in Woody Allen's new film. Photos: The Telegraph
Marion Cotillard, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of French singer Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose, has been chosen instead.

The French president's wife had been hoping to land the role after the director told her last year she would be a "natural" choice for one of his films.

However, last week Allen admitted: "Carla Bruni is not a woman who earns her living as an actress. She is a first lady.

"She could be taken away at any moment by other duties, like a political crisis or an important event. I have to take account of the risks that there could be, and hiring her is far from certain." >>> Peter Allen in Paris | Easter Sunday, April 04, 2010

Zuma Calls for Calm Over Terre'Blanche Murder


MAIL ONLINE: Stephen Robinson: Drunken Racist Buffoon Who Bewitched A Blonde Liberal >>> Stephen Robinson | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

Furcht vor neuen Rassenkonflikten in Südafrika: Zuma nach Tod von Rassist Terre'Blanche um Ruhe vor Fussball-WM besorgt
NZZ ONLINE: Zehn Wochen vor der Fussball-WM droht der gewaltsame Tod eines bekannten Apartheid-Befürworters Südafrika wieder zu polarisieren. Präsident Zuma bemühte sich stark, die Lage zu entspannen.

Südafrika fürchtet neue Rassenkonflikte: Nach dem tödlichen Anschlag auf den Rechtsextremisten Eugene Terre'Blanche am frühen Samstagabend warnte Südafrikas Präsident Jacob Zuma vor neuem Rassenhass. «Die schreckliche Tat» dürfe nicht dazu missbraucht werden, «Rassenhass anzustacheln oder anzuheizen», betonte der Führer des Afrikanischen Nationalkongresses (ANC).

«Niemand darf das Gesetz in seine Hände nehmen», sagte der Präsident im sichtlichen Bemühen, zehn Wochen vor der Fussball-WM in Südafrika die Lage zu entspannen. Auch der ANC, hervorgegangen aus der schwarzen Befreiungsbewegung, verurteilte den Anschlag «auf das Schärfste». >>> sda/Reuters/dpa/afp | Sonntag, 4. April 2010

7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Shakes California

A Free Spirit in New York's Hudson Valley

Hummus Recipe From Dede's Mediterranean Kitchen

Too Tipsy to Drive? There's an App for That

Taliban Attempt to Storm US Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan
THE TELEGRAPH: Taliban militants armed with guns and suicide vests targeted the US consulate in Pakistan's northwestern capital and unleashed carnage at a political rally on Monday, killing 43 people.



The apparently co-ordinated attacks were the deadliest so far this year in nuclear-armed Pakistan, where the government is closely allied to the US-led war against al-Qaeda and in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The ability of heavily-armed militants to get so close to the US mission and other military installations, such as the provincial headquarters of Pakistan's premier spy agency, will raise further questions about endemic insecurity.

Up to 15 militants armed with explosives and driving in two vehicles targeted the heavily guarded US consulate in Peshawar, a city of 2.5 million on the edge of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, setting off multiple explosions.

"The target was certainly the American consulate but they didn't succeed in getting there," said Pakistani police officer Ghulam Hussain.

"One of the suicide bombers blew himself up close to the gate. Police guarding the US consulate started retaliatory fire. More blasts took place. We have recovered unexploded material from four different points," he said.

Three powerful explosions and bouts of gunfire echoed through the area, where the attacks occurred at a checkpoint about 20 yards from the US consulate where heavy thick smoke spewed into the sky.

"We can confirm there has been an attack on the US consulate Peshawar facilities," US embassy spokeswoman Ariel Howard told AFP, unable to provide any details about the nature of the attack, possible damage or casualties. >>> | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010