SPIEGEL ONLINE: Besuch in Hollywood – Doktor Merkel entdeckt den Glamour: Der zähe Atom-Gipfel bei Obama ist vorbei, jetzt will die Kanzlerin für den Rest ihrer USA-Reise vor allem: schöne Bilder. Beim Besuch in Los Angeles zeigt Merkel, dass sie auch die Glamour-Rolle beherrscht. Selbst wenn die Stars aus Hollywood nicht mitspielen wollen. >>> Aus Los Angeles berichtet Gregor Peter Schmitz | Donnerstag, 15. April 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Besuch in Hollywood – Doktor Merkel entdeckt den Glamour: Der zähe Atom-Gipfel bei Obama ist vorbei, jetzt will die Kanzlerin für den Rest ihrer USA-Reise vor allem: schöne Bilder. Beim Besuch in Los Angeles zeigt Merkel, dass sie auch die Glamour-Rolle beherrscht. Selbst wenn die Stars aus Hollywood nicht mitspielen wollen. >>> Aus Los Angeles berichtet Gregor Peter Schmitz | Donnerstag, 15. April 2010
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: RÉPRESSION | L'ancien président réformateur Mohammad Khatami a été interdit jeudi de quitter l'Iran pour se rendre au Japon où il devait participer à une conférence internationale sur le désarmement nucléaire.
L'information émane le site parlementaire d'opposition Parlemannews.ir. "La police a averti M. Khatami qu'il ne pouvait pas quitter le pays", a pour sa part confirmé une source bien informée ayant requis l'anonymat. >>> AFP | Jeudi 15 Avril 2010
LE FIGARO: L'inhumation du chef de l'État dans la cathédrale de Wawel, à Cracovie, suscite la polémique.
D’envoyée spéciale du Figaro à Varsovie
À Varsovie, le temps de l'émotion vient de céder la place à celui de la polémique. L'annonce du lieu des funérailles du président Lech Kaczynski soulève une tempête de protestations. Ne lui fait-on pas trop d'honneurs en l'enterrant dans la cathédrale du château de Wawel, à Cracovie, où reposent une quinzaine de rois polonais et une pléiade de gloires républicaines comme le maréchal Kosciuszko, le poète Adam Mickiewicz, le maréchal Jozef Pilsudski ou encore le général Sikorski, chef du gouvernement polonais en exil à Londres pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale? Et l'on remarque, au passage, un nouveau télescopage de l'histoire: Sikorski a trouvé la mort dans un accident d'avion. Le crash, qui se produisit en juillet 1943, aurait été dû à un sabotage commandité par Staline, qui détestait Sikorski. Rien à voir, bien sûr, avec ce qui est arrivé à Lech Kaczynski.
Le président défunt et son épouse reposeront donc aux côtés du maréchal Pilsudski. Lech Kaczynski révérait le père de l'indépendance polonaise, un démocrate mais à tendance autoritaire. Lui et son frère jumeau, Jaroslaw, en avaient fait l'icône de leur parti Droit et Justice (PIS).
C'est le cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, archevêque de Cracovie, qui a annoncé mardi la nouvelle. Mgr Dziwisz était le secrétaire particulier de Jean-Paul II. À ce titre, il jouit en Pologne d'un prestige considérable. Dans la soirée, quelques centaines de Cracoviens ne s'en sont pas moins rassemblés devant l'archevêché pour dénoncer cette décision. Lech Kaczynski «est-il digne de nos rois?» demandaient les manifestants. Un nouveau rassemblement était prévu mercredi soir à Cracovie. Calcul politique >>> Par Arielle Thedrel | Jeudi 15 Avril 2010
WAWEL CASTLE HOMEPAGE: Wawel Royal Castle
WIKI: Wawel Castle
LE FIGARO: L'ex-premier ministre israélien Ehoud Olmert a été officiellement reconnu jeudi comme le principal suspect d'un énorme scandale immobilier à Jérusalem, après que la justice a levé un ordre de censure sur son nom. Un tribunal de Jérusalem a levé le black-out sur le nom d'Olmert et permis ainsi de révéler le nom du principal suspect de l'affaire, auparavant décrit comme "une haute personnalité publique" et dont les initiales correspondaient à celles d'Olmert.
Ehoud Olmert est accusé d'avoir reçu un pot-de-vin de 3,5 millions de shekels (700.000 euros) lorsqu'il était maire de la Ville sainte (1993-2003), ont précisé les médias, selon lesquels il doit être interrogé prochainement par la police. Olmert était revenu précipitamment de l'étranger dans la nuit de mercredi à jeudi. La police s'est refusé dans l'immédiat à tout commentaire. >>> AFP | Jeudi 15 Avril 2010
DAILY EXPRESS: LORD Mandelson yesterday joined Labour’s personalised class war campaign against the Tories by branding David Cameron “toffee-nosed.”
he senior Cabinet minister spoke just minutes after saying he had advised Gordon Brown not to “compete with Mr Cameron’s personal insults’’ in tonight’s televised party leaders’ debate.
Attacking the Tory leader’s regional policies, the Business Secretary told a news conference: “He looks down his rather long toffee nose at the regions.”
Mr Cameron responded later: “I don’t think Labour have got anything positive to say. Peter Mandelson Calls David Cameron ‘Toffee-nosed’ >>> Daily Express Reporter | Thursday, April 15, 2010
MAIL ONLINE: The Greek rescue operation was thrown into doubt yesterday after a German academic said he was planning to launch a court challenge.
Joachim Starbatty, a leading economist and professor at Tuebingen University, said that Athens’s aid package breached the European Union’s Maastricht Treaty.
The move came amid renewed market jitters over whether Greece will actually receive the planned £40billion bailout.
A leading member of the European Central Bank added to nerves by warning that soaring government debt in the region could have ‘severe consequences’ for the stability of the euro. >>> Sam Fleming | Thursday, April 15, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: China's economic growth surged to 11.9% in the first quarter, possibly giving Beijing room to allow its currency to rise, but analysts warned it faces growing pressure to cut back on stimulus policies and keep the world's third-largest economy from overheating.
The strong performance might allow a loosening of politically volatile currency controls by offsetting possible losses in export industries. Analysts expect Beijing to allow the yuan to rise some time this year, though President Hu Jintao and others have rejected US and other foreign pressure for a change, saying China will move at its own pace.
Inflation stayed low at 2.2%, below the government's target of 3% for the year, easing pressure for immediate interest rate hikes or other steps to cool the boom. But analysts said Beijing needs to act soon to head off mounting pressure for prices to rise.
"The tightrope is between pulling away stimulus which is still supporting the economy and tightening quickly enough to keep prices from getting out of control," said Tom Orlick, an analyst in Beijing for Stone & McCarthy Research Associates.
The latest data showed China is on the verge of overtaking Japan as the second-largest economy behind the United States. China's gross domestic product last year was $4.9tn (£3.2tn), just behind Japan's $5.1tn. Tokyo has yet to report first-quarter figures. >>> Agencies | Thursday, April 15, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: China argues the issue of Iran's uranium enrichment is not as urgent as Washington claims, and that there is still time for diplomacy
China has deepened economic ties with Iran, boosting direct sales of petrol to the Islamic republic as the Chinese government negotiates new sanctions at the UN security council, it has emerged.
Iran announced today at the UN discussions in New York that it has produced five kilograms of 20% enriched uranium, defying security council demands to stop enrichment. Iran says it needs the enriched uranium to make medically useful isotopes, but western governments fear the achievement will enable Tehran to develop the capacity to make weapons-grade fuel.
General James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said yesterday that Iran could build a bomb in a year, although it would probably take three to five years.
China has argued that the issue is not as urgent as Washington claims, and that there is still time for diplomacy.
A Chinese state oil company has sent two recent shipments of petrol to Iran, according to Reuters news agency. The sale by Chinaoil was the first by a Chinese company since January 2009 of refined oil products to Iran directly, rather than through intermediaries. Another Chinese company, Sinopec, is about to sell petrol to Iran for the first time in six years, filling a gap left by European and Russian firms that left the Iranian market amid fears of punitive action by Washington.
Iran-China trade has more than doubled to about $30 billion (£19.38m) over the past decade, fuelling Chinese reluctance to agree to sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme. >>> Julian Borger, diplomatic editor | Wednesday, April 14, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Bolivian president approves Coca-based dark soft drink / Coca-Cola company yet to comment on red-labelled beverage
A certain US soft drinks giant may disagree, but Bolivia has come up with a fizzy beverage it says is the real thing: Coca Colla.
The drink, made from the coca leaf and named after the indigenous Colla people from Bolivia's highlands, went on sale this week across the South American country.
It is black, sweet and comes in a bottle with a red label – but similarities to Coca-Cola end there. One is a symbol of US-led globalisation and corporate might; the other could be considered a socialist-tinged affront to western imperialism.
The first batch of 12,000 bottles, priced about $1.50 (96p) for half a litre, were distributed in the capital, La Paz, as well as Santa Cruz and Cochabamba.
The familiar-sounding name and packaging may rile the Atlanta-based soft drinks manufacturer, but Coca Colla could also cause groans in Washington.
It is made from the coca leaf, a mild stimulant that wards off fatigue and hunger, and has been used in the Andes for thousands of years in cooking, medicine and religious rites.
Coca is also the raw ingredient of cocaine, the powerful narcotic that is the primary target of the US-led "war on drugs".
Bolivia tried to wipe out the leaf at Washington's behest. But that was before Evo Morales, an Aymara Indian and coca grower, was elected president, championing coca as a crop with legitimate uses. >>> Rory Carroll | Wednesday, April 14, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: When he spoke 41 years ago, the world listened — hanging on every word as he uttered one of the most inspiring phrases of the 20th century.
Neil Armstrong earned himself a lifetime of respect with his one giant leap for mankind, but he has for decades refrained from exploiting it, turning down opportunities in politics and avoiding controversy.
Now the space gloves are off. The first man on the Moon has teamed up with the last man, Gene Cernan, to confront President Obama over his “devastating” plans for Nasa’s $108 billion (£70 billion) Constellation programme. Mr Obama wants to scrap Constellation, which was meant to develop new space ships to replace the shuttle, take astronauts back to the Moon and ultimately to Mars.
The death of the project would set America’s space programme on a “long downhill slide to mediocrity”, Armstrong declared yesterday. “It appears that we will have wasted our current $10-plus billion investment in Constellation and, equally importantly, we will have lost the many years required to re-create the equivalent of what we will have discarded,” he said in a statement. >>> Jacqui Goddard | Thursday, April 15, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: A decision by Australian war veterans to dump the British national anthem from the country’s biggest remembrance services has provoked a fierce row Down Under.
Outraged monarchists claimed the Returned Services League’s decision to drop God Save the Queen from Anzac Day services in Melbourne was “creeping republicanism”.
Officials at the RSL, the biggest organisation for former servicemen in the country, said the English national anthem was “no longer relevant” despite always being included in services.
The decision will be seen as a blow to the Queen and the Royal Family, after Prince William ended his recent tour Down Under, where he launched a staunch defence of the Monarchy in a speech on Australia Day in the city.
The British national anthem has always been one of three played during Australia’s biggest remembrance services together with the Australian and New Zealand national anthems.
God Save the Queen was [first it was] Australia's [first] [sic] national anthem, but it was later replaced by Advance Australia Fair in the mid 1980s and relegated to the royal hymn.
Every year on April 25 Australia and New Zealand commemorates veterans who fought in conflicts and wars since the 1915 Gallipoli landings. >>> Andrew Hough | Thursday, April 15, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: At least five million Tehran residents should flee Iran's capital because it sits on several fault lines and is threatened by earthquakes, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday.
"We cannot order people to evacuate the city... but provisions have to be made. At least five million should leave Tehran so it is less crowded and more manageable in case of an incident," Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.
Mr Ahmadinejad said the government could offer "land, loans at four per cent interest and substantial subsidies" in the provinces to encourage Tehran residents to leave the sprawling capital.
Tehran province has nearly 14 million inhabitants, eight million of whom live in the city, which straddles several fault lines. Experts have warned that a strong quake in Tehran could kill hundreds of thousands of people. >>> | Sunday, April 11, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: The Vatican moved to distance itself today from comments made by the Pope’s top aide linking paedophilia to homosexuality, as the Foreign Office dismissed suggestions that the pontiff could be arrested when he visits Britain in September.
Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said that the remarks by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, went outside the remit of Church authorities, adding that the comments had been misunderstood.
“General assertions of a specifically psychological or medical nature” were the responsibility of specialists and not Church officials, he said in a statement.
Father Lombardi said that Cardinal Bertone had been referring only to cases of paedophilia in the clergy and not to “the world population”.
He said that recent “statistical data” on the abuse of minors by priests showed that 10 per cent of the cases concerned paedophilia “in the strict sense”, while the other 90 per cent concerned sex between priests and adolescents.
Catholic bishops of England and Wales also distanced themselves from the comments.
Father Marcus Stock, general secretary of the Bishops’ Conference, said in a statement: “To the best of my knowledge there is no empirical data which concludes that sexual orientation is connected to child sexual abuse.
“The consensus among researchers is that the sexual abuse of children is not a question of sexual orientation, whether heterosexual or homosexual, but of a disordered attraction or fixation.”
He added: “Many abusers of children have never developed the capacity for mature adult relationships. Instead, their sexual attractions focus on children — boys, girls, or both. In the sexual abuse of children the issue is the sexual fixation of the abusers and not their sexual orientation.”
France added its voice to the chorus of condemnation, saying that it was “unacceptable” to lump paedophilia with homosexuality. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “This is an unacceptable linkage and we condemn this. Vatican: paedophilia-homosexuality comments were ‘misunderstood’ >>> Ruth Gledhill and Richard Owen in Rome | Wednesday, April 14, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Vatican climbdown over sex abuse remarks by senior cardinal: UK bishops have denounced Tarcisio Bertone after he said paedophilia was linked to homosexuality >>> Riazat Butt and John Hooper, Rome | Wednesday, April 14, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has issued a rare public rebuttal of the Vatican following suggestions made by its second-in-command that the sexual abuse of children was linked to homosexuality.
In a sign of tension between the hierarchies over how best to handle public outrage over child abuse, Father Marcus Stock, the general secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference, said research showed that paedophilia was "not a question" of sexual orientation.
His comments followed remarks by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the most senior aide to Pope Benedict XVI, claiming that research had clearly linked homosexuality and paedophilia.
Cardinal Bertone, the Holy See's secretary of state, said that homosexuality was the "problem" that caused Catholic priests to molest children. Father Stock said: "To the best of my knowledge, there is no empirical data which concludes that sexual orientation is connected to child sexual abuse.
"The consensus among researchers is that the sexual abuse of children is not a question of sexual "orientation", whether heterosexual or homosexual, but of a disordered attraction or "fixation". Many abusers of children have never developed the capacity for mature adult relationships. Instead, their sexual attractions focus on children – boys, girls, or both." >>> Peter Hutchison and Nick Squires in Rome | Wednesday, April 14, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: The funeral of President Lech Kaczynski has sparked protests in Poland over whether he should be allowed to be buried at Wawel Castle in Krakow alongside the country's heroes and royalty.
It has been planned that Mr Kaczynski is to be buried in the cathedral crypt in the grounds of Wawel Castle, in Krakow, the equivalent of burying a British prime minister in Westminster Abbey.
The protests in Warsaw and Krakow show that the death of Mr Kaczynski has failed to erase his unpopularity among many Poles and were the first sign of cracks in the national unity following the air crash which killed Mr Kaczynski, his wife and 93 of Poland’s top political and military leaders.
A Facebook page dedicated to opposing the decision generated more than 31,000 supporters in a few hours.
Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow has consented to a request from the Kaczynski family that the presidential couple be buried in Wawel Cathedral after Sunday’s funeral, which will be attended by the Prince of Wales, who will represent Britain, President Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president. >>> Matthew Day in Warsaw | Wednesday, April 14, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Sarah Palin's public speaking demands, which include a "bendable" straw, two bottles of unopened still water, first class flights and three hotel rooms, have been disclosed.
Mrs Palin's public speaking requirements, reminiscent of those drawn up by rock star managers on behalf of their more demanding protégés, were included on the pages of a five-page contract allegedly found by Californian students in a bin.
These include two bottles of still water, unopened by a wooden lectern and accompanied by a "bendable" straw, three deluxe hotel rooms; and a first class flight or private aircraft that "MUST BE a Lear 60 or larger."
Mrs Palin, 46, whose standing as John McCain's vice-presidential candidate in 2008 was badly damaged when she stumbled over simple questions put to her by news anchor Katie Couric, also stipulates that all audience questions must be vetted.
"For Q&A, the questions are to be collected from the audience in advance, pre-screened, and a designated representative ... shall ask questions directly of the Speaker to avoid delay time with a roving microphone in the audience," the contract states in a clause highly unusual for a politician.
The contract, drawn up by the Washington Speakers Bureau and refers to a female speaker who will be aboard flights originating in Anchorage, Alaska, also provides sketches of how people should approach if they are to be photographed with her and how long the picture sessions should last.
The document, dated March 16, was discovered by students at California State University in a bin when they went searching for material relating to Mrs Palin's speech in June to the university's Stanislaus Foundation at a gala 50th anniversary event after they heard that university authorities were shredding documents. Sarah Palin's speaking demands: 'bendable' straws, three hotel rooms and a private jet >>> Toby Harnden in Washington | Wednesday, April 14, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: Sarah Palin faced embarrassing revelations yesterday about lavish demands that she makes before or speaking engagements, including first-class air travel or large private jets, suites in hotels and even bendable straws in her water bottles.
The former Republican vice-presidential candidate, who has reportedly earned $12 million (£7.75 million) since she resigned as the Governor of Alaska last summer, also insists that all questions must be collected from the audience in advance to be screened.
The speaking contract details were retrieved from a rubbish bin by a group of students at the California State University, where Mrs Palin is due to give a speech in June. Five pages of the contract were passed to a local Democratic politician, who sent them on to the press.
Mrs Palin faced controversy in 2008 when it emerged that hundreds of thousands of dollars had been spent by the Republican Party on clothes and make-up for her and her family after she was picked by John McCain to be his running-mate.
The latest revelation will do little to damage her reputation among the party’s grassroots activists, who view her as a straight-talking hero, but it undercuts her claim to be a down-to-earth “hockey mom” who is fighting for ordinary working Americans. >>> Tim Reid in Washington | Thursday, April 15, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Tiger Woods is losing the battle to save his marriage and his wife may file for divorce soon, according to friends.
The beleaguered golfer's wife Elin Nordegren was said to be furious over a television advertisement he filmed for Nike which featured the voice of his late father.
She was also said to have thought her husband would take more time off before returning to the course.
Woods took an indefinite break from golf after details of his infidelities started to become public at the end of last year.
He returned in the Masters at Augusta, Georgia last week, where he finished fourth, but his wife did not attend the tournament.
At the weekend she was seen boarding a private jet alone after leaving their estate near Orlando, Florida.
The television advertisement said to have angered her was broadcast on the eve of the tournament and featured Woods looking directly into the camera without speaking.
A 2004 recording of his late father Earl saying "Did you learn anything?", was played over the footage.
"Elin was violently angry over this commercial and thought it was a cheesy thing to do," a source told People magazine. "She wouldn't have gone near the Masters under any condition but that just made her madder. She is over Tiger. I wouldn't be surprised if she files for divorce sometime soon." >>> Nick Allen in Los Angeles | Wednesday, April 14, 2010
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: ROME | La controverse provoquée par le cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, qui a lié homosexualité et pédophilie, a contraint le Vatican à s’expliquer sur les propos de son numéro deux.
Le cardinal Bertone se "référait évidemment au problème des abus commis au sein du clergé et non à ceux commis dans l’ensemble de la population", a argumenté le père Federico Lombardi, porte-parole du Vatican.
Le père Lombardi a précisé qu’il s’agissait d’une "clarification et pas d’une prise de distance" du Vatican par rapport aux déclarations du secrétaire d’Etat.
Le cardinal Bertone avait déclaré lundi au Chili: "Nombre de psychologues, de psychiatres, ont démontré qu’il n’y avait pas de relation entre célibat et pédophilie, mais beaucoup d’autres ont démontré, et m’ont dit récemment, qu’il y a une relation entre homosexualité et pédophilie". "Inacceptable", dit la France >>> AFP | Mercredi 14 Avril 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Ringo Starr has rebuffed efforts by the Vatican to forgive The Beatles over John Lennon's notorious claim that they were "more popular than Jesus".
Instead, the Beatles drummer suggested the Catholic Church should concern itself more with the clerical sex abuse crisis.
In an article sanctioned by Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican's newspaper absolved the Fab Four of their drug-taking and rock and roll lifestyle, describing them as a "precious jewel".
In the front page editorial, L'Osservatore Romano forgave Lennon for famously declaring, in an interview in 1966, that "Christianity will...vanish and shrink." But the olive branch from the Holy See did little to impress Starr.
"Didn't the Vatican say we were satanic or possibly satanic? And they've still forgiven us?" the 69-year-old said yesterday.
In an apparent reference to the scandal over paedophile priests that has shaken the Catholic Church worldwide, he added: "I think the Vatican, they've got more to talk about than the Beatles."
The Vatican has been battling for weeks to contain scandals which have broken out in one country after another, from Ireland and Germany to Brazil and New Zealand.
The controversy has inched close to the Pope, who turns 83 on Friday and will celebrate the fifth anniversary of his papacy on Monday.
He has been accused of being too lenient towards paedophile priests when he was archbishop of Munich in the 1980s and later, for more than 20 years, the head of the Vatican's doctrinal enforcement department.
The Holy See was forced onto the defensive again yesterday after the Vatican Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, who is second in seniority only to the Pope, drew a link between paedophilia and homosexuality. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Wednesday, April 14, 2010
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