Pentagon Chief Raises Threat of Attack as Iran Taunts US with Missile Display
President Ahmadinejad, second left, confers with his Defence Minister, Ahmad Vahidi, during yesterday's parade. Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: The Pentagon was ratcheting up pressure for military action against Iran last night as America’s top uniformed official said for the first time that a strike on nuclear targets would “go a long way” towards delaying Tehran’s uranium enrichment programme.

The remarks by Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were his strongest yet in support of a strategy that both the Pentagon and the Obama Administration still regard as a last resort and possibly a recipe for a regional war.

They came as President Ahmadinejad taunted the US with a potent display of missile technology, while a leaked top-secret memo by Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, forced the White House to insist that it was preparing for all contingencies.

Mr Ahmadinejad used Iran’s annual army day parade to show off missiles capable of hitting US and Israeli targets throughout the Middle East and to demand a US military withdrawal from the region. As he did so, two senior White House officials issued strong responses to the disclosure that Mr Gates had written a classified assessment of weaknesses in the Administration’s plans for what to do if Iran failed to halt its nuclear weapons programme.

The war of words in Washington may reflect a power struggle between an Administration still committed to a diplomatic approach to Iran and an increasingly impatient Pentagon.

Speaking at Columbia University, Admiral Mullen said last night of the Iranian nuclear programme: “Military options would go a long way to delaying it. That’s not my call. That’s going to be the President’s call. But from my perspective . . . the last option is to strike right now.”

According to one report the Pentagon is moving hundreds of bunker-buster bombs to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The latest version of the weapon, known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, is said to weigh 15 tonnes and be capable of burrowing through 200ft of reinforced concrete before exploding.

In a warning to anyone planning a strike on Iranian nuclear targets, Mr Ahmadinejad told Iranians in a televised speech that their country was so strong “that no enemy will harbour evil thoughts about laying its hands on Iranian territory”. He said of US forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf: “They have to leave our region. This is not a request. It is an order from the nations of the region.” Read on and comment >>> Giles Whittell, Washington | Monday, April 19, 2010

General Election 2010: Nick Clegg Says Poll Points to End of 'Tired' Politics
THE TELEGRAPH: Voters are starting to believe that the May 6 general election may produce a break from the ''tired choices'' offered by the two parties which have dominated British politics, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said.

Nick Clegg has enjoyed a surge in support since the first televised debate. Photograph: The Telegraph
Mr Clegg was speaking as a second poll - in The Sun - put his party in the lead with 33% of support, against 32% for the Tories and 26% for Labour. The YouGov survey found Lib Dem backing was up three points since a similar poll was taken last Friday, and marks the first time the company has ever put the party in the lead.

Both of the main parties were today turning their fire on the Liberal Democrats, as it started to appear possible that the surge in Lib Dem support was not merely a temporary blip in the wake of Mr Clegg's widely-praised performance in Thursday's TV debate.

In a speech in London this morning, Conservative leader David Cameron will warn that a vote for the Liberal Democrats risks allowing Gordon Brown to ''limp on'' in power.

''The only way to get change, the only way to get the job done, the only way to get leadership and make sure we don't carry on with Gordon Brown is a decisive Conservative victory,'' Mr Cameron is expected to say.

Meanwhile, in a campaign bulletin to Labour supporters, Lord Mandelson predicted that support for the Liberal Democrats would fade once the public came to understand their policy agenda - including plans to cut child tax credits and child trust funds and an ''amnesty'' for illegal immigrants. >>> | Monday, April 19, 2010

General Election 2010: Louis Theroux Claims He Was Nick Clegg’s ‘Fag’ at Public School
THE TELEGRAPH: Louis Theroux, the documentary-maker, has claimed he used to wake Nick Clegg up in the morning when they were at boarding school together.

Nick Clegg, the winner of the televised leaders' debate. Photograph: The Telegraph
The television presenter’s claim that he was the Liberal Democrat leader’s “fag” at Westminster School has led to renewed focus on the latter’s privileged upbringing.

Until recently, much had been made in the election campaign of David Cameron’s well-off family and his elite education at Eton and Oxford.

But Mr Clegg enjoyed an equally comfortable start in life, as the son of a successful banker, Nicholas Clegg, who is now chairman of United Trust Bank.

The MP’s maternal grandfather had been president of ABN, the Dutch bank. Despite this, Mr Clegg regularly criticises the “greedy” bankers who triggered the worldwide financial crisis and wants a 10 per cent tax on profits in the financial sector.

His paternal grandmother was Baroness Kira von Engelhardt, a descendant of an Attorney General in the Imperial Russian senate.

Mr Clegg grew up in the picturesque commuter town of Chalfont St Giles, Bucks, but his family also owns a large chalet in the Alps and a chateau in France.

He was sent to school at Westminster School in London where fees for boarders are now £28,344 a year.

One of his peers was Mr Theroux - best known for his BBC2 documentary series, Weird Weekends – who claims that he used to wait upon the politician every morning and bring him a newspaper.

Mr Theroux said that he had been Mr Clegg’s “fag”, in the old-fashioned system formerly widespread in public schools whereby younger pupils had to act as servants for older ones, waking him up in the morning during term time and presenting him with a newspaper.

Speaking on BBC’s The One Show on Friday night, Mr Theroux claimed: “People sleep in different ways and with Nick Clegg the thing was that he was a very deep sleeper. I would bend over him and kind of push him.”

But Mr Clegg said: “I have no recollection of Louis Theroux waking me up in the morning.” >>> | Monday, April 19, 2010

Saudi Prince Appears in Mobile Phone Advert
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The appearance of a young Saudi prince, a grandson of the king, in a mobile phone advert has raised eyebrows in his country.

Prince Abdullah bin Meteb's lead role in a television advert for Saudi Arabia's second-biggest mobile phone operator Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), has sparked a debate among diplomats and Saudis alike on what it could mean for the absolute monarchy, which has always been secretive about its internal affairs.

"Why is a Saudi prince on a television commercial? And why did it have to be the grandson of the king and not someone else?" one Riyadh-based Western diplomat mused.

But others say the advert, starring Prince Abdullah, a professional rider, and his sponsorship deal with Mobily expose changes in the Saudi royal family in recent years as it becomes ever larger and younger.

There are several thousand Saudi princes, all descendants of the kingdom's founder King Abdulaziz, who died in 1953.

"They are getting closer to the public. The number of young princes eclipses the number of patriarchs in the Saudi monarchy which is getting more bourgeois in its lifestyle," said a Saudi analyst.

"Whether through their involvement in business life or in philanthropy, royalty is becoming part of the Saudi elite".

King Abdullah has repeatedly stated his commitment to modernising the world's largest oil exporter with political and economic reforms, but the closest the ageing monarch has come to reforming the monarchy itself was the inception in 2006 of a royal council to appoint future crown princes and kings. >>> | Sunday, April 18, 2010
KUWAIT TIMES: Saudi prince stars in TV commercial >>> | Monday, April 19, 2010

'I Am Oprah's Father,' Claims Farmer
THE TELEGRAPH: A poor Mississippi farmer has claimed to be Oprah Winfrey's biological father.

Noah Robinson, 84, a Second World war veteran, claimed a DNA test would show he was the talk show host's real father and said he had written to her year ago asking for one.

His claims, reported by the New York Post, could not be verified and Winfrey has not commented on them.

Mr Robinson told the newspaper: "I'm her real father. I haven't seen her since she was a kid. She was a little bitty thing." >>> Nick Allen in Los Angeles | Monday, April 19, 2010

Ireland's Blasphemy Law: Worse Than Blasphemy?
TIME: There could perhaps be no better (or worse, depending on your religious inclination) day to open a blasphemous art exhibition than Good Friday. As many Irish Catholics were dutifully attending church, a group of young, well-dressed Dubliners gathered in the Irish Museum of Contemporary Art to view an exhibition inspired by the country's new — and much loathed — antiblasphemy law.

The first artwork to greet the visitors to "Blasphemous" is a grotesque variation on Michelangelo's Pieta, with the Virgin Mary transformed into a malicious giant rat. Next is a multimedia piece called Resur-erection that references the Irish Catholic sex-abuse scandals of recent months and features stop-motion priests and bishops in suspicious scenarios. Another exhibit simply and bluntly declares "F___ Christmas" in baubles and fairy lights. The reaction of gallery-goers on opening day ranged from bemusement to gratitude that at least one venue in Dublin's capital was serving alcohol on the most abstinent of Irish religious holidays. But for curator K. Bear Koss, the objective of the exhibition is very serious: "We want to raise awareness about the new blasphemy law," he says, "and to celebrate the freedoms of discourse that the law seeks to stifle." >>> John O’Mahony, Dublin | Monday, April 12, 2010

From Poland's Tragedy, Hope for Better Ties with Russia
TIME: For decades the word Katyn, for the Poles, has stood for an unspeakable crime as well as tragedy. Henceforth, it will stand also for an additional national disaster — but perhaps also for hope.

In the past, Katyn signified mass murder committed in 1940 in a forest just west of the Russian town of Smolensk by troops of the Soviet Union, who killed defenseless Polish prisoners of war. The victims of the atrocity accounted for much of Poland's military as well as intellectual elite. The second Katyn tragedy — the April 10 crash on the approach to Smolensk airport of a plane carrying dignitaries to a ceremony commemorating that very 1940 massacre — led to the death of nearly 100 of the top political personalities of a newly independent, and once again democratic, Poland. Those who died on this modern pilgrimage of peace included Poland's President, Lech Kaczynski.

And yet it is possible that future historians will see in these combined events — and especially in the consequence of the second one — the beginning of a truly significant turning point in Polish-Russian relations. Should that come to pass, it would represent a geopolitical change in Europe of genuinely historic proportions. >>> Zbigniew Brzezinski | Thursday, April 15, 2010

Patriotism by Decree in Slovakia
TIME: As nationalistic laws go, the one just passed in Slovakia seems rather tame on the surface. Earlier this month, the Slovak parliament approved a "patriotic act" mandating that every school play the Slovak national anthem on Mondays and that each classroom display a set of state symbols: the flag, the coat of arms, the lyrics to the anthem and the constitution's preamble. However innocuous this all may appear to be, though, Slovaks are outraged that the government is forcing them, by law, to be more patriotic.

The legislation was sponsored by the Slovak National Party, an ultra-nationalist outfit whose controversial leader, Jan Slota, is known for his xenophobic slurs, which are often aimed at the country's ethnic Hungarians. But Slota maintains that he doesn't just want to instill more patriotism among the Hungarian minority —he wants Slovaks to have more pride in their country, too. (Never mind the fact that his own knowledge of the anthem proved spotty in an interview last week when he confused some of the words and got the author wrong.) "The children's relationship to their nation, to their homeland is not on a decent level," Slota tells TIME. "In America, the schoolchildren parade into a schoolyard, the flag is drawn, the anthem is sung and everyone holds hand over heart." >>> Katerina Zachovalova, Bratislava | Thursday, March 18, 2010

Gaddafi outet sich als Fan von Barack Obama
Bild: Kronen Zeitung
KRONEN ZEITUNG: Der libysche Revolutionsführer Muammar al-Gaddafi ist von US-Präsident Barack Obama und dessen außenpolitischen Vorstellungen begeistert. Bei einer Gedenkveranstaltung für die Opfer des US-Luftangriffes in Tripolis vor 24 Jahren sagte er: "Die Politik Obamas, so wie sie sich bislang darstellt, verdient es, dass man ihn unterstützt und dass man ihm dabei hilft, seine Pläne in die Tat umzusetzen."

Obama habe den Frieden als strategisches Ziel gewählt und sich von den "verrückten" US- Strategien der Vergangenheit verabschiedet. "Ich kann sagen, dass es derzeit keinerlei Probleme zwischen Libyen und Amerika gibt", erklärte Oberst Gaddafi. Das Verhältnis sei sogar freundschaftlich. >>> | Freitag, 16. April 2010

Hardline Turkish Cypriot Politician Wins Presidential Election
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Turkish Cypriot politician Dervis Eroglu has swept to victory in presidential elections, winning 50.38 per cent of the vote, unofficial final results showed.

Dervis Eroglu celebrates his election win at the party headquarters in Nicosia. Photograph: The Sunday Telegraph
Mr Eroglu's main rival, incumbent leader Mehmet Ali Talat, won 42.85 per cent of the vote, pending ratification by an electoral commission.

Mr Eroglu has vowed to continue peace talks amid fears his victory could grind reunification negotiations with the Greek Cypriots to a halt and scuttle Turkey's bid for European Union membership.

Mr Eroglu is seeking broad autonomy for Turkish Cypriots in reunification talks with Greek Cypriots – a position that the Greek Cypriots object to.

"It's time to find peace," he said.

"No one should expect me to leave the negotiating table," he told the crowd that cheered, honked horns and set off fireworks at an impromptu victory rally.

"We will be at the negotiating table for an agreement that will continue the existence of our people in this land with honour."

The island's division is already hampering Turkey's EU drive and could halt it if peace talks collapse.

Since Turkey is a Nato member such a move also could cripple closer co-operation between the military alliance and the EU, and increase regional instability. >>> | Sunday, April 18, 2010

Chypre du Nord: Eroglu élu au premier tour
leJDD.fr: Le Premier ministre et partisan de l'indépendance de la partie turque de Chypre, Dervis Eroglu, a été élu dès le premier tour de l'élection présidentielle, selon les résultats définitifs officiels portant sur la totalité des bulletins dépouillés. Il est crédité de 50,38% des voix, contre 42,85% pour son rival, le président sortant Mehmet Ali Talat. Selon la commission électorale, le taux de participation s'élève à 75%. Dervis Eroglu devra négocier le règlement du statut de l'île, divisée depuis 1974 entre une partie chypriote turque - non reconnue par la communauté internationale - et une partie grecque qui représente Chypre dans l'Union européenne. [Source: leJDD.fr] | Dimanche 18 Avril 2010

Pope Benedict in the Land of Nod!
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Pope Benedict XVI briefly nodded off in front of tens of thousands of people during an outdoor mass in Malta's capital, Valletta.

Bishop Guido Marini gently wakes up Pope Benedict XVI. Photo: The Sunday Telegraph
The Pope slumped forward around halfway through the mass, which was held just outside the historic stone walls encircling the city.

He had to be roused by the Vatican's master of ceremonies, Bishop Guido Marini, who was sitting next to him and gently nudged him.

"It was just for a few seconds," said an onlooker. "He slumped forward onto his chest."

Although the pontiff spent only 26 hours in Malta after flying in from Rome on Saturday, he had a busy and tiring schedule of events – meeting dignitaries and Malta's president, waving to crowds from his "Pope-mobile" and expressing his sorrow to a group of sex abuse victims.

But his apparent exhaustion is also a reflection of his age – he turned 83 on Friday. Pope falls asleep during mass >>> Nick Squires in Valletta | Sunday, April 18, 2010

Iran Calls US 'the World's Only Atomic Criminal'
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran has demanded America's expulsion from the international nuclear system.

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the US were 'atomic criminals'. Photograph: The Telegraph
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei used an international conference in Tehran to condemn the US as the "world's only atomic criminal".

"Only the US government has committed an atomic crime. The world's only atomic criminal lies and presents itself as being against nuclear weapons proliferation, while it has not taken any serious measures in this regard," said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a message read to the summit.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the establishment of a new international weapons regime that would stand independent of Western political interference.

The Iranian government staged the meeting in response to President Barack Obama's summit on nuclear security in Washington at the start of the week.

Iran condemned the 47-nation disarmament summit in Washington on the grounds that the United States holds one of the world's largest arsenals of nuclear weapons.

Officials boasted that 55 nations had agreed to travel to Iran – more than the number that assembled in Washington – but conceded that the ash cloud over Europe had prevent many delegates from reaching its capital.

In a rambling speech that contained a threat to quit the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Mr Ahmadinejad said a new "independent international group" should be set up to supervise nuclear disarmament.

"An independent international group which plans and oversees nuclear disarmament and prevents proliferation should be set up," he said. >>> Damien McElroy in Tehran | Saturday, April 17, 2010

Pope ‘Prays and Weeps’ with Malta Sex Abuse Victims
Pope Benedict greets the faithful in Floriana, Malta. Photograph: The Sunday Times
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Victims of clerical sex abuse in Malta have described how they wept as they prayed with the Pope today after he agreed to meet them on his trip to the island. They said that the Pope also had “tears in his eyes”.

The eight victims, who were abused systematically at an orphanage in Malta in the 1980s and 1990s, have long campaigned for the Church authorities to recognise their suffering in the face of decades of cover-ups from the Vatican downwards.

Vatican officials said that the Pope, who the Vatican claims has “done more than anyone” to clean up the Church, was “deeply moved” by the men’s descriptions of their experiences and had expressed “shame and sorrow”.

The Vatican confirmed that the men, who were “sexually abused by members of the clergy” as children and teenagers, had prayed with the pontiff in the chapel of the Apostolic Nunciature at Rabat, in Malta, after he returned from an open air Mass at Valletta, Lawrence Grech, 37, the spokesman for the group of former pupils at St Joseph’s Home, in Santa Venera, said: “We all cried”. He added: “After 25 years now I can go back to church.” Asked if the Pope had apologised for the abuse, he said: “He did not have to say sorry because the abuse was not the fault of one person.”

No media were allowed at the encounter, which began and ended with a silent joint prayer, Father Federico Lombardi, the papal spokesman said.

In a statement the Vatican said: “The Pope was deeply moved by their stories and expressed his shame and sorrow over what victims and their families have suffered.

“He prayed with them and assured them that the Church is doing, and will continue to do, all in its power to investigate allegations, to bring to justice those responsible for abuse and to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people in the future.” >>> Richard Owen in Valletta | Sunday, April 18, 2010

Poland Bury [sic] President Kaczynski and His [Wife] in Krakow Cathederal
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Tens of thousands of mourners gathered in Poland's ancient capital for the burial of President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, but volcanic ash over Europe prevented many world leaders from joining them.

U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were among those forced by the ash cloud to abandon plans to attend the funeral in Krakow for Kaczynski and his wife Maria, killed in a plane crash in western Russia on April 10.

However, Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev managed to fly to the city, reinforcing a strong message of Russian solidarity since the crash that has raised Polish hopes for an improvement in long-strained ties with their communist-era overlord.

The funeral at Krakow's Wawel cathedral crowns a week of unprecedented national mourning for the Kaczynskis and 94 other, mostly senior political and military officials who also died.

Police said about 60,000 people had gathered in central Krakow ahead of the transportation of the Kaczynskis' coffins to Wawel cathedral where they were placed in the crypt alongside Polish kings, national heroes and poets.

In Warsaw, Poles had queued through Saturday night to view the coffins while they remained on public display. >>> | Sunday, April 18, 2010

LE MONDE – PORTFOLIO SONORE: En Pologne, dernier adieu à Lech Kaczynski >>> Le Monde pour LeMond.fr | Dimanche 18 Avril 2010

Polen nehmen Abschied von Präsident Kaczynski: Zahlreiche Absagen für Teilnahme an Trauerfeier in Krakau
Polen nehmen Abschied von Präsident Kaczynski. Bild: NZZ Online
NZZ ONLINE: Mit einem Staatsbegräbnis für den polnischen Präsidenten Lech Kaczynski sind die Trauerzeremonien am Sonntag zu Ende gegangen. Zehntausende Polen nutzten noch einmal die Gelegenheit, von ihrem Präsidenten Abschied zu nehmen.

Polen Letztes Geleit für Kaczynski - Vulkanasche hält Staatsgäste fern

Zum Staatsbegräbnis in Krakau hatten sich ursprünglich auch zahlreiche Präsidenten, Regierungschefs und gekrönte Häupter angesagt. Doch wegen der Sperrung weiter Teile des europäischen Luftraums sagten über 40 von ihnen ihre Teilnahme am Begräbnis kurzfristig ab, darunter US-Präsident Barack Obama und die deutsche Kanzlerin Angela Merkel.

Unbeeindruckt von der Aschewolke traf dagegen der russische Präsident Dmitri Medwedew mit einer Sondermaschine in Krakau ein. Auf den russischen Präsidenten, dessen Land eine schwierige Vergangenheit mit Polen hat, richteten sich am Sonntag die Augen vieler Polen.

Im Gespräch mit dem polnischen Regierungschef Donald Tusk sagte Medwedew vor der Messe, die Trauer habe beide Nationen verbunden. Auch künftig sei das russische Volk bereit zur Zusammenarbeit. Medwedew legte in der Marienkirche einen Strauss roter Rosen nieder und zündete eine Kerze an. >>> sda/dpa | Sonntag, 18. April 2010

Nick Clegg Defends Liberal Democrat Stance on Europe
THE TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg has defended his party’s pro-European stance ahead of this week’s televised debate on foreign policy, after being accused of trying to take Britain into a "super-state".



The Liberal Democrat leader admitted the European Union was “flawed”, claiming it spent 15 years drawing up a directive on the definition of chocolate.

He insisted Britain was stronger working with the 27-member bloc rather than “raising the drawbridge” and standing outside it.

However he said the Lib Dems, if elected, would let the public decide on the basic question of whether Britain should remain within the EU by holding a referendum when the subject next arose.

His claims - made in a series of talks and interviews out on the campaign trail in south London - come ahead of Thursday’s leaders’ debate, to be broadcast on Sky News, which will focus on foreign policy.

He is likely to be characterised by the Conservatives as a fierce supporter of the European super-state, who would have made Britain’s recession worse by ditching sterling in favour of the euro. William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, told a Sunday newspaper that Mr Clegg would "sign up for anything that has ever been on offer or proposed from the European Union".

Mr Clegg himself has a Dutch mother and a half-Russian father, is married to a Spaniard and has worked in the European Commission and as an MEP. He gave an interview in fluent Dutch to a radio station based in the Netherlands outside the church where he was speaking on international development on Sunday morning.

Asked earlier how he would respond to attacks over his stance on Europe, he said: “Is Europe perfect? Clearly not. Anything that takes 15 years to define what chocolate is, is not a model of democratic efficiency. The European Union has come up with daft decisions.”

But he pointed to the banking system, terrorism, crime, disease and climate change as areas that cross national borders and claimed that the Conservatives opposed European measures that led to the arrest and extradition of one of the July 21 bombers, and the break-up of an international paedophile ring.

Mr Clegg asked: “Do we really think that we can pull up the drawbridge, and ranting and raving at Europe from the sidelines is really going to help us be stronger or safer? The weather doesn’t stop at the cliffs of Dover.

“I think we are stronger together and weaker apart.” >>> Martin Beckford | Sunday, April 18, 2010

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
HELLO!: Queen Margrethe II has the reputation of being Europe's most intellectual monarch [;] a reflection, perhaps, of the fact that the Danish queen attended no fewer than five universities, including Cambridge. She is also the first reigning queen (her namesake Queen Margrethe I acted as regent for her five-year-old son Olaf when he was elected king in the 14th century) in a country which has been headed by the same family for 49 generations.

The arrival of Margrethe Alexandrine Thorhildur Ingrid Oldenburg on April 16, 1940, at Copenhagen's Amalienborg Palace, a week after the country had been invaded by German forces, was interpreted as a ray of hope by the Danish people. At birth she was not the heir to the throne, however. That position was held by her father's younger brother, as by Danish law only males could succeed, but in 1953 the constitution was amended, allowing females to ascend in the absence of male heirs.

Photographs: Hello!
When the future of the 13-year-old princess the eldest of King Frederik IX's three daughters became clear, her royal training began in earnest. Initially educated at the palace, she received her school qualifications in 1959 before going on to study Political Science at numerous European universities. She spent 12 months at Copenhagen University, followed by a year's study of Archaeology at Cambridge. From there she enrolled at the prestigious Danish university Aarhus and attended the Sorbonne, rounding off her education at the London School of Economics in 1965. >>>

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, accompanied by her husband, Prince Henrik, marks her seventieth birthday at a gala dinner. Photo: Hello!
HELLO!: Queen Margrethe's 70th birthday celebrations kick off with glam gala dinner: The much-anticipated celebrations for Queen Margrethe's 70th birthday got underway in Copenhagen on Tuesday night with a glamorous gala banquet. >>> | Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Tüchtige Königin: Dänemarks Margrethe II. wird 70
Ein Prosit zum Geburtstag: Königin Margrethe II. von Dänemark feiert ihren 70. Geburtstag. Bild: NZZ Online
NZZ ONLINE: In Dänemark feiert Königin Margrethe II. heute ihren 70. Geburtstag. Margrethe bestieg den Thron im Jahr 1972 als junge Frau. Sie gilt als tüchtige Königin, die sich ausserdem mit Leib und Seele der Kunst verschrieben hat.

Die Chefin von Dänemarks nationalistischer Volkspartei, Pia Kjærsgaard, erinnerte sich in einem Streitgespräch, das sie mit dem marxistischen Dichter Henrik Nordbrandt führte, an eine Prinzenhochzeit. «Polizisten standen neben ihrem Dienstwagen, in dessen Fenstern dänische Fähnchen flatterten». Das habe ihr Herz erwärmt. Sie sei stolz auf eine Monarchie ohne Skandale als identitätsstiftendes Element. Auch der Republikaner Nordbrandt machte der Königin ein Kompliment: Vielleicht wäre die Monarchie schon abgeschafft, wenn Margrethe nicht «so tüchtig» wäre. Heute Freitag feiert die Königin ihren 70. Geburtstag mit einer Kutschenfahrt durch Kopenhagen. Eine Gegendemonstration von Republikanern auf dem Schlossplatz wurde verboten. >>> A. Kl. | Freitag, 18. April 2010

Related / Verbunden:

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Dänemark: Königin Margrethe wird 70 >>> Von Robert von Lucius | Freitag, 16. April 2010

VIDEOS – DOKUMENTAR: Die Königskinder: Frederik & Mary >>>

Princess Mary of Denmark >>>

Princess Mary of Denmark


Mary & Frederik of Denmark

Dhimmitude in der Schweiz! Extrawurst für muslimische Soldaten: Merkblatt für Kader schafft Rechtssicherheit
NZZ am SONNTAG: Ein Merkblatt regelt neu den Umgang mit nichtchristlichen Rekruten. Berücksichtigt werden Essenswünsche; die fünf islamischen Pflichtgebete müssen aber in einem Gebet zusammengefasst werden.

Die Armee geht bewusst auf die Bedürfnisse von Muslimen und anderen nichtchristlichen Religionsangehörigen ein. Vor der Sommer-RS können Rekruten dem Schulkommando melden, wenn sie aus religiösen Gründen kein Schweinefleisch essen. Möglich ist auch, dass sie sich mit eigenen Lebensmitteln verpflegen. >>> Matthias Herren | Sonntag, 18. April 2010

Sous les attaques, le pape Benoît XVI défend les valeurs chrétiennes à Malte
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: LA VALETTE | Le pape Benoît XVI a trouvé dimanche un accueil chaleureux sur la très catholique île de Malte qu'il a invitée à "défendre" les valeurs chrétiennes.

Le pape Benoît XVI lors d'une messe sur la place des Greniers à Floriana, à Malte, le 18 avril 2010. Photo : Tribune de Genève
Tout au long de sa visite éclair, il s'est félicité des positions défendues par le plus petit pays de l'Union européenne (443.000 habitants), comme l'interdiction du divorce et de l'avortement.

"Je vous encourage à continuer à faire ainsi. Tout ce que le monde d'aujourd'hui propose n'est pas digne d'être accepté par le peuple de Malte", a dit le pape dans son homélie prononcée en anglais, au cours de la messe célébrée place des Greniers à Floriana, devant des dizaines de milliers de personnes enthousiastes qui brandissaient des portraits du souverain pontife ou des drapeaux blanc et or, couleurs du Vatican.

"Votre nation doit continuer à défendre l'indissolubilité du mariage ainsi que la vraie nature de la famille", avait-il déjà déclaré, à son arrivée la veille, au président maltais George Abela.

Le message a été très bien reçu dans l'île qui compte 95% de catholiques. >>> AFP | Dimanche 18 Avril 2010

Iceland Volcano: First Came the Floods, Then the Smell of Rotten Eggs
THE GUARDIAN: Locals describe volcano's eruption, leaving them evacuated and homeless

Smoke and ash billows from a volcano in Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland. Photograph: The Guardian
A phonecall in the dead of night was the first inkling the people living on the Thorvaldseyri farm had that Iceland's glacier-covered Eyjafjallajokull volcano was about to erupt.

Hanna Lara Andrews, a half-English, half-Icelandic farmer who lives at the foot of the mountain which exploded on Wednesday morning with ferocious power, picked up the phone at 2am to be told by a civil protection official that she had only 20 minutes to evacuate her family, including her one-year-old son.

The warning was clear: if they stayed on their dairy farm they risked being washed away by torrents of meltwater unleashed by the release of energy that had just begun inside the volcano, no more than four miles above them. >>> Robert Booth and Severin Carrell | Thursday, April 15, 2010