Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Barack Obama Flies in Amid Mounting Criticism
THE GUARDIAN: Fishing fleet on standby for attempt to block slick as administration preempts 'slow to react' charge

Barack Obama stepped into the crisis over the oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday, amid growing criticism that the US administration and BP were failing to get a grip on the potential catastrophe.

The president flew to New Orleans and travelled on by road to Venice, a small fishing town at the mouth of the Mississippi which has become the command post for the rapidly escalating rescue preparations.

As rain poured down upon him, Obama gave his assessment of what he called the "massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster" caused by three leaks still uncapped on a BP oilrig south of the Louisiana coast.

He warned that it could take days to stop the leaks, and said he recognised that "people are understandably frustrated and frightened, particularly as people in this region have already been through more disasters than anybody should have to bear."

And he issued a stern message to the British oil giant: "BP is responsible for this leak. BP will be paying the bill." >>> Ed Pilkington in Louisiana | Sunday, May 02, 2010

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Oil spill threatens to sink Obama's energy plan: Political damage will be hard to contain, not least because the slick could shatter the President's shaky compromise on offshore drilling >>> Konrad Yakabuski, Washington | Sunday, May 02, 2010

WATCH AP VIDEO: BP's reaction to clean-up criticism: BP reacts as federal officials and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal say they're worried that the company isn't doing enough to get ready for a fast cleanup. | Saturday, May 01, 2010

Britain, Your Election Is Pure – But Who Would Want to Win It?
THE GUARDIAN: Jacob Weisberg, a US journalist, took a hack's holiday in the UK and saw all three contenders for a job he describes as miserable

Jacob Weisberg: 'It is going to be an ugly process, whether led by a grim Scot, a shiny Etonian, or Brussels man.' Photograph: The Guardian
Since arriving in London last week for a hack's holiday, I have been asked several times: do Americans care about the British election? The truthful answer is that no, we don't, mainly because we haven't developed a relationship with any of the candidates. Unlike during the Blair-Clinton years, there is no fraternal bond between New Labour and the Democrats. Unlike during the Blair-Bush years, there's no prayerful union between PM and president.

What's more, it's difficult to argue that America should care who wins. To one who lived here in the late Thatcher era, the range of policies proposed by the three parties is surprisingly narrow. What differences exist have few implications for the United States. It might give pause in Washington that Nick Clegg failed in the debates to respond to Gordon Brown's charge of anti-Americanism, but no one has yet registered a meaningful threat to the special relationship.

Nonetheless, the British election compels American attention, for two reasons. The first is simply as sport. However small the stakes for us, this has turned into a fine drama, with an uncertain outcome on 6 May and the uncharted possibility of a hung parliament thereafter. The second is what we have to learn from the way elections are still conducted here. Our American campaigns have gone decadent, becoming spectacles of horrifying length and expense, characterised by 30-second attack ads, a class of parasitic professionals and a running media freakshow.

Yours feel, by contrast, pure. They are swift (four weeks!), substantive, and not entirely driven by fundraising. Spouses are treated as human beings and allowed their own lives. The electorate is informed and engaged. The candidates are more spontaneous and accessible. The Lib Dems >>> Jacob Weisberg* | Sunday, May 02, 2010

*Jacob Weisberg is chairman of the Slate Group and the author of The Bush Tragedy

Conservative Party in Hock to City, Says Nick Clegg
THE GUARDIAN: Liberal Democrats say Tories' financial dependence on bankers has quadrupled under David Cameron

Nick Clegg will today accuse the Tories of being "completely in hock to the City" as he says the party has quadrupled its dependence on funding from the sector since David Cameron became leader.

Figures produced by the Liberal Democrats today show the Tories have raised more than £15m from companies and individuals connected to the City since Cameron was elected leader in 2005.

The party accepted just £3.9m from the City between 2001 and Cameron becoming leader. Half of the City donors were not recorded donors before then.

Ten percent of the Tory candidates in the coming election are bankers or have worked in the sector, compared with 1.5% of the country as a whole. >>> Patrick Wintour | Monday, May 03, 2010

Osborne Walks a Fine Bank Line
British opposition Conservative party Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, delivered his address to delegates at the Institute of Directors Annual Convention in London on April 28, 2010. Photo: The Wall Street Journal
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: The U.K.'s Conservatives are bashing banks in public. Behind the scenes, though, they're striking a more conciliatory tone with London's financial community.

George Osborne, the Conservatives' candidate to become Chancellor of the Exchequer, has been reaching out to top U.K. bankers to assure them that, despite the party's populist rhetoric, a Conservative government won't declare war on banks, according to people who have heard his pitch. >>> David Enrich and Alistair MacDonald | Monday, May 03, 2010

After bailout, the Barclays Bank Chief’s pay? £63m! And I bet the man's worth every penny! – Mark

New Hakimullah Mehsud Video Threatens Strikes on US ‘Within a Month'
The new video shows Hakimullah Mehsud threatening attacks on the US. Photo: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: The Pakistan Taleban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, who was believed to have been killed in a US drone attack in January, has threatened attacks against the US in a video apparently made last month, according to the intelligence monitoring group SITE.

The video comes in the wake of the attempted car bombing in Times Square, New York on Sunday and follows another video by Mehsud's terror organisation Tehreek-e-Talebn in which the group claimed credit for the failed attack.

U.S. authorities have played down the potential connection between the Pakistani militant network and the car bomb, saying the group does not have the global infrastructure to carry out such a strike. Tehreek-e-Taleban frequently claim responsibility for terror attacks in which they have no involvement.

In the nine minute video allegedly made on April 4, Mehsud, the man who was once Pakistan's most feared commander makes no specific mention of an attempt on New York but threatens strikes on the United States within a month for the killing of militant leaders.

"The time is very near when our fidaeen (soldiers) will attack the American states in the major cities," says Mehsud, who is flanked by two armed and masked men. >>> | Monday, May 03, 2010

Dette : Les Grecs renâclent à avaler le remède de cheval imposé par le FMI
Des manifestants grecs se sont mesurés aux forces de l’ordre devant le parlement. Photo : Le Temps
LE TEMPS: L’Eurogroupe – les seize pays de la zone euro – a activé le plan d’aide négocié par le Fonds monétaire international. L’accord porte sur un prêt de 110 milliards d’euros sur trois ans en échange d’un programme d’austérité

Plusieurs affrontements violents et des arrestations ont marqué les traditionnels défilés samedi à Athènes à l’occasion de la Fête du travail. Quelque 20 000 personnes ont participé aux manifestations en guise de protestation contre les mesures d’austérité que le gouvernement grec s’apprêtait à annoncer ce dimanche.

Désormais, c’est fait. Un accord avec le Fonds monétaire international (FMI) est maintenant sous toit. Son contenu a été officiellement dévoilé dimanche par le premier ministre Georges Papandréou au parlement grec. Il a été entériné en fin d’après midi par les ministres des Finances de la zone euro, réunis d’urgence à Bruxelles. «Nous avons décidé aujourd’hui d’activer le plan de soutien à la Grèce», a déclaré Jean-Claude Junker, président de l’Eurogroupe, à l’issue de la réunion. Un sommet extraordinaire des dirigeants des pays de la zone euro est programmé vendredi 7 mai à Bruxelles, mais il ne fera que «conclure le processus».

L’accord porte sur un prêt total de 110 milliards d’euros sur trois ans, dont 80 milliards à un taux d’intérêt de 5% par année à charge de l’Europe et le reste pour le FMI. En 2010, la Grèce devrait percevoir 45 milliards pour honorer ses dettes qui arrivent à échéance. Le pays doit au total 300 milliards d’euros. En contrepartie, la Grèce s’est engagée à mettre en œuvre un programme d’austérité qui lui permettra de maîtriser ses finances publiques dès ces prochaines années. >>> Ram Etwareea | Dimanche 02 Mai 2010

Rompant son silence, Polanski se dit victime d'un mensonge
LE FIGARO: Toujours poursuivi aux Etats-Unis pour avoir eu des relations sexuelles avec une mineure en 1977, le cinéaste franco-polonais continue de clamer son innocence dans une lettre ouverte publiée dimanche.

«Je ne peux plus me taire.» Dimanche soir, Roman Polanski a décidé de rompre le silence dans lequel il s'était muré depuis plusieurs mois en publiant un texte dans lequel il considère que la demande d'extradition dont il fait l'objet aux Etats-Unis «est basée sur un mensonge». «Je ne peux plus me taire parce que les Etats-Unis continuent de réclamer mon extradition plus pour me livrer en pâture aux médias du monde entier que pour prononcer un jugement sur lequel un accord a été pris il y a 33 ans», écrit-il dans cette lettre publiée sur un site Internet dirigé par le philosophe Bernard-Henri Lévy.

«Je ne peux plus me taire car la demande d'extradition aux autorités suisses est basée sur un mensonge», poursuit le cinéaste franco-polonais à propos de son incarcération en dans une prison de Californie durant 42 jours en 1977. Selon Polanski, poursuivi aux Etats-Unis pour avoir eu cette année-là des relations sexuelles avec une adolescente de 13 ans, cette incarcération correspondait à la peine à laquelle il aurait du être condamné et qu'il aurait par conséquent déjà exécutée. >>> Par Bastien Hugues | Dimanche 02 Mai 2010

Le projet d'interdire le voile intégral en France fait polémique au Pakistan

Photo of Saudi King with Women Could Lead to Reform
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: A photograph of the king of Saudi Arabia surrounded by a large group of professional women may mark a breakthrough in the country's society and politics.

The photograph shows King Abdullah and his brother and heir apparent, Crown Prince Sultan, alongside 40 women dressed in abayas. Photograph: The Telegraph
The photograph, showing King Abdullah and his brother and heir apparent, Crown Prince Sultan, alongside 40 women dressed in abayas appeared with little explanation in several newspapers with close ties to the royal family.

The women were described as participants in a "National Dialogue Forum on Society and Health Services".

But the real importance of the picture was its timing. The country is in the middle of a major debate about the future of rules previously strictly enforced by the religious police banning the sexes mixing in public.

The royal family is already believed to have intervened in the argument once.

When the head of the religious police in Mecca gave interviews saying he saw nothing in Shariah outlawing mixing, he was sacked. Two hours later he was reinstated, after, it was rumoured, the direct intervention of a ruling prince.

The photograph of the king "mixing" unabashedly with a group of smiling professional women is all the more important because of two extra pieces of symbolism.

The presence of the crown prince suggests that the king's promotion of the rights of women has the backing of the royal family and is likely to continue after his death.

The king, who is 85, last year opened a science university in his name where mixing is specifically permitted, and appointed the country's first woman minister. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Sunday, May 02, 2010

Greece Announces Financial Bailout

Greece Erupts as Men from IMF Prepare to Wield Axe
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Anger is intensifying over cuts to be made as part of the EU deal to save the economy

MAY DAY protests in Greece turned violent yesterday as youths in gas masks and hoods set fire to vehicles, smashed shop fronts and threw molotov cocktails and rocks at police in an explosion of fury over austerity measures they claim will hurt only the poor.

Tourists were cut off from their hotels as thousands of communists, civil servants and private-sector workers converged on a main square in Athens to vent their rage at the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“No to the IMF’s junta,” they chanted as a youth in a black hood produced a hammer to try to smash windows of the luxury Grande Bretagne hotel.

Another painted anti-capitalist slogans on the facade, and demonstrators intervened to prevent him from spraying an Australian woman with paint as she tried to get back into the hotel. Japanese tourists stood taking photographs of the mayhem with mobile phones before being forced to retreat, coughing and sneezing, under a cloud of tear gas.

The violence came as negotiations were concluding between the socialist government of George Papandreou, the IMF and the EU over a multi-billion-euro rescue package for Greece. >>> Matthew Campbell in Athens | Sunday, May 02, 2010

Times Square Evacuated After Bomb Is Found

Obama Delivers Laughs At Dinner

Taliban bekennen sich zu Anschlagsversuch in USA: Keine Hinweise auf «Tat eines Einzelnen»
NZZ ONLINE: Eine pakistanische Taliban-Gruppierung hat sich zu dem versuchten Anschlag in New York bekannt. Das meldete das auf die Beobachtung islamistischer Websites spezialisierte Unternehmen SITE am Sonntag.

Als Grund für den Anschlagsversuch nannte die Gruppe Tehrik-e-Taliban die US-Drohnen-Angriffe in Pakistan. Immer wieder nehmen die unbemannten US-Drohnen Ziele in den pakistanischen Grenzgebieten zu Afghanistan ins Visier, wo die Taliban ihre Rückzugsgebiete haben. >>> sda/Reuters/afp | Sonntag, 02. Mai 2010

General Election 2010: Nick Clegg Defends Immigration Policy
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg said he was ''incredibly angry'' with David Cameron and Gordon Brown over attacks on his party's immigration policy.

The Liberal Democrats' plans to allow illegal immigrants who have been in the UK for 10 years to earn citizenship has been labelled an ''amnesty'' by their political rivals on their election campaigns.

But Mr Clegg today said he was the only party leader with the ''courage'' to confront a chaotic system which had been allowed to exist under successive Labour and Conservative administrations.

Mr Clegg said: ''It makes me incredibly angry that David Cameron and Gordon Brown create a problem ... and are perfectly happy to turn a deaf ear to criminal gangs running amok in our community.

''I'm the only leader who actually wants to do something about it.''

The issue of immigration has been raised throughout the campaign and was the subject of a question in each of the three leaders' debates.

In the final televised showdown Mr Cameron claimed 600,000 illegal immigrants could be given the right to remain and bring a family member to the UK under the Lib Dem proposals.

Speaking to reporters at a campaign event in Burnley, Mr Clegg hit out at the way opponents ''wholly misrepresent'' his plan.

He said: ''Given that neither David Cameron nor Gordon Brown want to actually clear up the mess they created, they don't want to be honest with you.

''I think it's right that the Liberal Democrats are saying we have got to do something about this.

''Do you know what I want? I want to go after the criminal gangs. >>> | Sunday, May 02, 2010

The Immigration Experiment Shows Labour at Its Worst
THE TELEGRAPH: A significant social change was foisted on Britain without our consent, says Alasdair Palmer

Gordon Brown has apologised profusely for calling Gillian Duffy "bigoted" after she asked him what he was going to do about immigration. But for all his very public penitence, Mr Brown's initial reaction reveals what he really thinks of those who are sceptical about immigration's benefits.

The number of people coming to stay in Britain is now nearly four times greater than in 1997: every year, at least 130,000 more people have arrived than left (in 2007, the figure was 248,000). If present trends continue, Britain's population will reach 70 million within the next 20 years.

The influx of migrants, many of whom are not familiar with British norms and traditions – and who have traditions of their own that they are, understandably, not ready to abandon – has already had very significant effects on many communities. Some people like those changes, especially those who employ cleaners, nannies and builders, and who can afford to eat at exotic restaurants. Others don't. Their reaction doesn't have to be based on bigotry, although of course it can be. But you don't have to be a bigot to deplore more overcrowding in schools, or more pressure on housing, health services and transport.

The huge increase in immigration has taken place almost without discussion. It was not mentioned in Labour's manifesto in 1997, nor in 2001. In 2005, it rated scarcely more than a few lines. When Michael Howard, the then Conservative leader, tried to make the subject an election issue, he was accused of racism by Labour – and, of course, "bigotry". The charge was effective in closing down the debate. >>> Alasdair Palmer | Saturday, May 01, 2010

Times Square Car Bomb: Police Investigate South Park Link
THE TELEGRAPH: Police in New York are investigating whether a car bomb in Times Square was targeted on the makers of South Park over a controversial depiction of the Prophet Mohammed.

The device, which failed to detonate, was left near the offices of Viacom, which owns the irreverent cartoon series.

Last month postings on an Islamic website warned the creators of South Park - Matt Stone and Trey Parker - that they could face violent reprisals after an episode of the show featured Mohammed in a bear suit.

A posting on the website of a US-based group called Revolution Muslim warned Stone and Parker that they would “probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh”, the Dutch film-maker who was murdered in 2004 by a Muslim angered by his film about Muslim women.

Images of the Prophet are strictly forbidden in Islam, and Comedy Central, which broadcasts South Park, has banned Stone and Parker from depicting Mohammed in the past. In 2006 the network stopped them from featuring Mohammed in an episode which followed worldwide protests over a caricature of the Prophet by a Danish cartoonist. >>> Nick Allen and Gordon Rayner | Sunday, May 02, 2010

Related videos here and article here

Wegen Burka-Verbot: Prediger fordern Muslime zur Auswanderung auf
WELT ONLINE: Unter islamischen Geistlichen stoßen die Pläne Frankreichs und Belgiens für ein Verbot der Burka auf Unverständnis. Prediger in konservativen arabischen Staaten sprechen von mangelnder Toleranz. Ein saudischer Prediger forderte die Betroffenen auf, sie sollten "das Land des Unglaubens verlassen".

Die islamischen Prediger in den konservativen arabischen Staaten bringen für das in Frankreich und Belgien geplante Burka-Verbot wenig Verständnis auf. Für die meisten von ihnen ist das Verbot des Ganzkörperschleiers ein Ausdruck der Intoleranz gegenüber den Muslimen. Ein Prediger aus Saudi-Arabien rief die Muslime in Belgien sogar auf, auszuwandern.

Scheich Abdurrahman, der in der Al-Diraa-Moschee im Zentrum der saudischen Hauptstadt Riad predigt, sagte: „Wenn ein Muslim seine Religion nicht schützen kann, dann soll er auswandern. Denn das Land Gottes ist groß.“ Der saudische Prediger erklärte weiter: „Wenn die Muslime, die dort leben, die Botschaft ihres Glaubens nicht verbreiten dürfen, dann sollen sie das Land des Unglaubens verlassen.“ >>> dpa/ks | Freitag, 30. April 2010

Verbunden / Liens en relation avec l’article hier / ici

Trailer: 'The God Who Wasn’t There'

Fox News: Bill O'Reilly South Park Muhammad Death Threats


South Park Muhammad Cartoon Sparks Jihadi Death Threats - Ayaan Hirsi Ali


South Park's 200th, Litigious Celebs and Mohammed: Matt Stone and Trey Parker

Arnold Schwarzenegger on Keeping California Cool

Danish FM: World Must Unite Against Iran Nuclear Ambitions
HAARETZ: The international community must present a clear and united front against Iran's nuclear ambitions, Danish Foreign Minister Lene Espersen said on Sunday in a meeting with President Shimon Peres.

Espersen said Denmark has been working within the context of the European Union and the United Nations Security Council to impose harsh economic sanction against the Iranian regime. "It is within everyone's interest to isolate Iran," said the Danish foreign minister.

Peres thanked Espersen for her "sharp and clear voice" on the Iranian threat and the need to impose harsh economic sanctions. He also thanked her for the warmth and generosity Denmark has demonstrated toward Israel. >>> Haaretz Service | Sunday, May 02, 2010