Iranian Police Issue 'Badly Veiled' Warnings to 62,000 Women
THE TELEGRAPH: Iranian police have issued warnings to 62,000 women who were "badly veiled" in the Shiite holy province of Qom as part of a crackdown on dress and behaviour.

Colonel Mehdi Khorasani, the provincial police chief, said police had also confiscated around 100 cars for carrying improperly dressed women and said that "encouraging such relaxations are among the objectives of the enemy."

The population of Qom is more than one million, with most of them concentrated in the city itself which is Shiite Iran's clerical nerve-centre.

By law, women in the Islamic republic must be covered from head to foot, with their hair completely veiled and social interaction is banned between men and women who are not related. >>> | Monday, June 21, 2010

Walter Mixa, German Bishop and Ally of the Pope, Faces New Child Abuse Allegations
THE TELEGRAPH: A secret Vatican file on a disgraced Roman Catholic German bishop alleges he is a "severely alcoholic man" who sexually preyed on young priests.

The dossier was seen Pope Benedict XVI before he accepted the resignation of Bishop Walter Mixa of Augsburg last month.

Documents, compiled after Vatican investigators questioned members of Bishop Mixa's inner circle, have detailed a litany of alleged alcoholism and sexual abuse.

The new allegations have come to light following his demands last week that the Vatican review his case. He has accused Germany's Archbishop Robert Zollitsch and Bavaria's Archbishop Reinhard Marx of not behaving a "brotherly" manner and pressuring him to resign.

In the dossier, witnesses described the bishop as an alcoholic who had to drink wine and spirits throughout the course of his day to feed his addiction to alcohol.

Others accused him of carrying out sex attacks on young priests during his time as a parish priest. Following an sexual incident, Bishop Mixa would then "go to confession the next morning before he celebrated mass".

The bishop was also repeatedly referred to in the dossier as "out of touch with reality". >>> Bruno Waterfield | Monday, June 21, 2010

The Trouble with Dr. Zakir Naik
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Britain's decision to bar an influential Muslim cleric from entering the country underscores the failure of Indian secularism.

If you're looking for a snapshot of India's hapless response to radical Islam, then look no further than Bombay-based cleric Dr. Zakir Naik. In India, the 44-year-old Dr. Naik—a medical doctor by training and a televangelist by vocation—is a widely respected figure, feted by newspapers and gushed over by television anchors. The British, however, want no part of him. On Friday, the newly elected Conservative-led government announced that it would not allow Dr. Naik to enter Britain to deliver a series of lectures. According to Home Secretary Theresa May, the televangelist has made "numerous comments" that are evidence of his "unacceptable behavior."

The good doctor's views run the gamut from nutty to vile, so it's hard to pinpoint which of them has landed him in trouble. For instance, though Dr. Naik has condemned terrorism, at times he also appears to condone it. "If he [Osama bin Laden] is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him," he said in a widely watched 2007 YouTube diatribe. "If he is terrorizing the terrorists, if he is terrorizing America the terrorist, the biggest terrorist, I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist."

Dr. Naik recommends the death penalty for homosexuals and for apostasy from the faith, which he likens to wartime treason. He calls for India to be ruled by the medieval tenets of Shariah law. He supports a ban on the construction of non-Muslim places of worship in Muslim lands and the Taliban's bombing of the Bamiyan Buddhas. He says revealing clothes make Western women "more susceptible to rape." Not surprisingly, Dr. Naik believes that Jews "control America" and are the "strongest in enmity to Muslims." >>> Sadanand Dhume | Sunday, June 20, 2010

Ayad Allawi: ‘I Won the Election, Now They’re Trying to Assassinate Me’
Ayad Allawi said that he had to turn to the Americans after the Iraqi Government refused his request for extra security around his home and office. Photograph: The Times
THE TIMES: The winner of Iraq’s parliamentary election, who believes that he should lead the next government, fears for his life after being warned of plots to assassinate him. Ayad Allawi, the leader of the Iraqiya block, told The Times that he had received warnings from American generals and Iraqi officials about detailed plots to kill him. US forces have recently put up more concrete barriers around his house in response to the threat.

Mr Allawi, Iraq’s first Prime Minister after the US-led invasion, said that the threats against him had multiplied since the elections in March. “I got a letter from the Americans saying that there is a plot against me. Then some other friends in high positions also told me the same thing. These are evil people’s designs,” he said.

Asked who might want to kill him, he replied: “I don’t know,” but then went on to suggest that the outgoing Government of Nouri al-Maliki was aiding the work of the would-be assassins. Read on and comment >>> Oliver August, Baghdad | Monday, June 21, 2010

Tarte tatin. Photo: Google Images
France, the Gourmet Nation, Is Too Worried about Food to Enjoy It
THE TIMES: It is a source of ancestral pride, a cornerstone of the national identity and a treasure so highly prized that President Sarkozy wants Unesco to place it on a World Heritage list.

But Gallic gastronomy is facing a threat that could remove all of the fun from mealtimes in France, according to the French National Food Council, which advises the Government on food policy.

The threat comes not from Anglo-Saxon fast-food outlets or industrial farms elsewhere in Europe. Instead, says a report published by the council last week, it comes from France’s own bureaucrats, who are bombarding their compatriots with messages designed to counter obesity, high cholesterol, heart disease and other ailments purportedly linked to eating habits.

There is little evidence to suggest that the campaigns are making France healthier. But they are producing the almost unthinkable consequence of putting French diners off their food, the council says.

“They are turning eating into a stressful experience and there is a risk that they will end the pleasure and conviviality that has always been an essential component of French gastronomy,” Alain Blogowski, interministerial secretary at the Food Council, told The Times.

He said that the French were becoming more concerned with fatty acids than with the flavour of their blanquette de veau or their tarte tatin. “We’ve got to get away from the idea that if you eat, you’re likely to fall ill.” Read on and comment >>> Adam Sage, Paris | Monday, June 21, 2010

Iran Executes Sunni Leader Abdolmalek Rigi
Captured Iranian Sunni militant Abdolmalek Rigi speaking in a taped statement on Iranian state TV. Photograph: The Times
THE TIMES: The Iranian Sunni militant leader Abdolmalek Rigi, who waged a deadly insurgency in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, has been hanged in prison.

“After the decision of the Tehran revolutionary tribunal, Abdolmalek Rigi was hanged on Sunday morning in Evin prison,” the state news agency IRNA said.

It quoted a court statement as saying: “The head of the armed counter-revolutionary group in the east of the country ... was responsible for armed robbery, assassination attempts, armed attacks on the army and police and on ordinary people, and murder.”

The hanging came after authorities exhausted legal requirements following months of interrogation and trial on charges of “being corrupt on earth; for waging a bloody campaign in Iran’s southeast”.

Mr Rigi, leader of the Sunni militant group called Jundallah (Soldiers of God) [جندالله], was arrested in February by Iranian intelligence agents while flying from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan. Read on and comment >>> Claire Sweeney | Monday, June 21, 2010

Pope Joan Film Sparks Roman Catholic Church Row
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: A new film based on the legend of Pope Joan – an Englishwoman who purportedly disguised herself as a man and rose to become the only female pontiff in history – has sparked debate in the Roman Catholic Church.

Johanna Wokalek stars as Johanna von Ingelheim in Pope Joan. Photo: The Telegraph
The film has fuelled disagreements over whether Pope Joan really existed or, as the Church has always maintained, she was a mythical figure used by the early Protestant Church to discredit and embarrass Rome.

For a Church that even in the 21st century remains staunchly opposed to the idea of female priests, a female Pope was anathema.

To make matters worse, the deception is said to only have been found out when Joan gave birth during a procession through the streets of Rome.

The medieval epic stars a German actress, Johanna Wokalek, as the female Pope, the American actor John Goodman as Pope Sergius and David Wenham, an Australian last seen in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as her lover, a knight named Gerold.

It is based on a highly contentious story – that in the ninth century, a baby girl was born in Germany to English parents, who had moved to the Continent as Christian missionaries.

According to the legend, she grew up to be an unusually intelligent young girl and, frustrated by a lack of opportunity for women, disguised herself as a boy in order to enter a Benedictine monastery, calling herself Brother John Anglicus.

She studied for a while in Greece before arriving in Rome, where she so impressed the Vatican with her abilities that she became a cardinal and was eventually elected pontiff in 853, after the death of Pope Leo IV.

She supposedly ruled as head of the Church for nearly three years, before her deception was found out. >>> Nick Squires, in Rome | Sunday, June 20, 2010

Rahm Emanuel Expected to Quit White House
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, is expected to leave his job later this year after growing tired of the "idealism" of Barack Obama's inner circle.

Washington insiders say he will quit within six to eight months in frustration at their unwillingness to "bang heads together" to get policy pushed through.

Mr Emanuel, 50, enjoys a good working relationship with Mr Obama but they are understood to have reached an understanding that differences over style mean he will serve only half the full four-year term.

Friends say he is also worried about burnout and losing touch with his young family due to the pressure of one of most high profile jobs in US politics.

"I would bet he will go after the midterms," said a leading Democratic consultant in Washington. "Nobody thinks it's working but they can't get rid of him – that would look awful. He needs the right sort of job to go to but the consensus is he'll go."

An official from the Bill Clinton era said that "no one will be surprised" if Mr Emanuel left after the midterm elections in November, when the Democratic party will battle to save its majorities in the house of representatives and the senate.

It is well known in Washington that arguments have developed between pragmatic Mr Emanuel, a veteran in Congress where he was known for driving through compromises, and the idealistic inner circle who followed Mr Obama to the White House. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Sunday, June 20, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Profile: Rahm Emanuel – Speculation is mounting in Washington that Rahm Emanuel will quit after November's mid-term elections. Here is a profile of President Barack Obama's chief of staff. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Monday, June 21, 2010

Pope's Pantry a Hymn to Glories of Grease
NZ HERALD: Italians impressed by Pope Benedict's good health and quick mind at the age of 83 have been shocked to learn that the German Pontiff's favourite recipes are a suicidal mix of fried, buttery and carnivorous pleasures.

The glimpse of Joseph Ratzinger's culinary wish list is granted by a new book, Eat Like a Pope, which details, in all their greasy glory, the top dishes served in the Ratzinger household in Bavaria by his mother before the war.

A cholesterol roller-coaster, the recipes range from stuffed pigeon with butter, cream and sherry, to soup with liver and onion dumplings, to the "exquisite butter and jam biscuits" that young Joseph loved.

Publisher De Agostini says the book is already into its second edition since publication last month, despite coinciding with the child abuse scandal swirling around the Vatican.

But Italian weekly L'Espresso warned children against attempting to follow the Ratzinger diet if they wanted to grow up to be Pope themselves.

"With these dishes, there is the risk of not reaching adulthood at all," the magazine stated. "This is a triumph of animal fats, sugar and cholesterol." >>> Tom Kington | Monday, June 21, 2010

Shock for NZ Smokers
NZ HERALD: New Zealand smokers are exposed to much more nicotine from cigarettes than are Australians, possibly because of a preference for high-nicotine brands on this side of the Tasman.

The results come from a tobacco industry study, which also found New Zealand smokers are exposed to the greatest average amount of tar out of 5703 smokers in eight countries.

Nicotine is the addictive part of tobacco smoke, and tar is an irritant thought to be a major cause of lung cancer.

New Zealand researchers are lobbying MPs to make tobacco companies cut the nicotine level, eventually to the level where tobacco will not be addictive. >>> Martin Johnston | Monday, June 21, 2010

Gaza: Israël lève son embargo sur les marchandises «civiles»
CYBERPRESSE.CA: Pressé de desserrer l'étau sur la bande de Gaza, Israël a confirmé dimanche la levée de l'embargo sur tous les «biens à usage civil», tout en maintenant son blocus maritime pour empêcher l'importation de matériel de guerre dans ce territoire palestinien.

«A partir d'aujourd'hui, il y a un feu vert pour que tous les biens puissent entrer à Gaza sauf les équipements militaires et le matériel susceptible de renforcer la machine de guerre du Hamas», le mouvement islamiste qui contrôle Gaza, a déclaré à l'AFP un haut responsable gouvernemental.

L'allègement du blocus prévoit que toutes les marchandises civiles ne figurant pas sur une liste de produits interdits (comprenant les armes, le matériel militaire ou les équipements susceptibles d'être exploités à des fins guerrières) pourront entrer à Gaza, a précisé un communiqué officiel.

Israël va également autoriser l'entrée de quantités plus importantes de matériaux de construction, mais uniquement pour des projets approuvés par l'Autorité palestinienne du président Mahmoud Abbas, tels que des écoles, des établissements médicaux, des stations d'épuration de l'eau. >>> Gavin Rabinowitz, 
Agence France-Presse, 
Jérusalem | Dimanche 20 Juin 2010

'My own civil partner': Nick Clegg, right, laughs along as David Cameron makes a speech at the Gay Pride reception at Number 10. Photo: Mail Online
Cameron Welcomes Gay Celebrities to Number 10
MAIL ONLINE: David Cameron pledged his support for gay rights tonight before jokingly referring to his deputy, Nick Clegg, as 'my own civil partner'.

Gay celebrities and members of the Armed Forces partied at Number 10 as Mr Cameron became the first Tory Prime Minister to reach out to the gay community.

BBC newsreader Jane Hill and Today presenter Evan Davis were among almost 200 guests invited to the Downing Street drinks party.

Others included former Coronation Street actress Amanda Barrie, journalist Matthew Parris, and singer Duncan James, of the boy band Blue.

Gay representatives of all three branches of the Armed Forces also attended, in full uniform.

The event was designed to help reposition the new Government as a champion of equality after decades in which the Conservatives have been accused of anti-gay prejudice.

Government sources acknowledged that the No10 event, held in the run-up to the annual Gay Pride festival, was partly designed to repair the damage done.

But a source said it was also a sign of the coalition Government's commitment to equal rights.

Mr Cameron told guests that he backed 'equal rights and equal treatment', adding: 'I'm standing here as leader of the Conservative Party that has not always got that right.' >>> Jason Groves, Jack Doyle, Rachel Quigley and Sophie Freeman | Friday, June 18, 2010

Geert Wilders: Change Jordan's Name to Palestine
YNET NEWS: Rightist Dutch leader wants to end Mideast conflict by finding Palestinians 'alternate homeland'

Geert Wilders, who leads the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) in Holland, said last week he believes Jordan should be renamed Palestine. The Jordanian government responded by saying Wilders' speech was reminiscent of the Israeli right wing.

"Jordan is Palestine," said Wilders, who heads the third-largest party in Holland. "Changing its name to Palestine will end the conflict in the Middle East and provide the Palestinians with an alternate homeland."

Wilders added that Israel deserved a special status in the Dutch government because it was fighting for Jerusalem in its name.

"If Jerusalem falls into the hands of the Muslims, Athens and Rome will be next. Thus, Jerusalem is the main front protecting the West. It is not a conflict over territory but rather an ideological battle, between the mentality of the liberated West and the ideology of Islamic barbarism," he said.

"There has been an independent Palestinian state since 1946, and it is the kingdom of Jordan." Wilders also called on the Dutch government to refer to Jordan as Palestine and move its embassy to Jerusalem.

The Saudi Al-Watan carried Jordan's response to Wilders' speech. The kingdom's embassy in Hague was outraged, and said the Dutch ambassador would soon be summoned to explain. >>> Roee Nahmias | Sunday, June 20, 2010

Obama Harms Special Relationship
THE SUNDAY TIMES: A poll carried out in Britain and American [sic] reveals Obama's handling of the BP oil spill crisis is damaging relations between the two countries

President Barack Obama's attacks on BP are damaging relations, a poll found. Photo: The Sunday Times
President Barack Obama’s attacks on BP over the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are damaging the special relationship between Britain and America, according to a poll carried out in both countries.

The YouGov poll, which questioned nearly 1,500 people in Britain and almost 600 in America, shows overwhelmingly that Obama’s strident attacks on BP are hurting the special relationship. By 64% to 2% in Britain and by 47% to 5% in America, people believe the president’s handling of the crisis has damaged relations.

For British respondents, Obama’s attacks have changed for the worse their attitude to America. Only 54% said they now had a favourable attitude towards America, compared with 66% when the question was asked before the oil spill. More than a fifth of people in both Britain and America, 22% in each case, think Obama is anti-British. >>> David Smith | Sunday, June 20, 2010

Change Muslims Simply Can’t Believe In >>>

War Militäreinsatz in Libyen geplant?
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Bundesrätin Micheline Calmy-Rey hat in einem Interview indirekt bestätigt, dass die Schweiz alle Optionen, auch militärische, geprüft habe, um die zwei Geiseln aus Libyen zu befreien.



NZZ am SONNTAG: Libyen warnt vor neuer Krise: Äusserungen von Calmy-Rey sorgen für heftige Reaktion des Ghadhafi-Regimes >>> Stefan Bühler, Heidi Gmür, Inga Rogg | Sonntag, 20. Juin 2010

Suicide Bombers Kill 26 in Crowded Baghdad Street
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Suicide bombers in two cars killed 26 people and wounded 53 in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Sunday.

Iraqis gather at the site of two car bombs in Baghdad's Mansur district. Photo: The Sunday Telegraph
The attackers drove down a crowded street and blew themselves up simultaneously.

The morning bombings followed attacks late on Saturday that killed seven people, underlining the dangers of a resurgence of violence in the face of a persistent political vacuum more than three months after a general election.

The bombers targeted the Baghdad branch of the Trade Bank of Iraq, the conduit for much of the government's foreign exchange transactions and its dealings with investors.

The bank is on a busy thoroughfare through the mainly Sunni Arab Mansur district that provides access from western Iraq to the fortified Green Zone government and embassy compound in the city centre.

The twin bombs marked the deadliest day in Iraq since May 10 when four bombs in the mainly Shia central city of Hilla and other attacks killed more than 100 people - the highest toll of this year. >>> | Sunday, June 20, 2010

Religious education: A young pupil studies the Koran at a Darul Uloom school in Mumbai. Photo: Mail on Sunday
Inside the Muslim Eton: 20 Hour Days Starting at 3.45am with the Aim of Producing Muslim Elite of Leaders
MAIL ON SUNDAY: The clock strikes 11am and boys spill out of classrooms into the corridor to move on to their next lesson.

There is no noise and no jostling. Instead they walk in an orderly manner, heads bowed respectfully and eyes downcast to avoid my gaze. The boys, all aged between 13 and 19, are dressed in ankle-length white salwar kameez and white skullcaps.

Their feet are bare. For this is no ordinary school. This is Darul Uloom*, a Muslim madrassa or religious school, set in the pretty Kent village of Chislehurst. It is one of 166 Muslim schools in Britain today.

Of those, 26 are Darul Ulooms, religious seminaries rooted in the Islamic orthodoxy of sharia. According to an ICM poll, almost half of British Muslims wish to send their children to Muslim-only schools.

‘Our parents represent the cross-section of British Muslim society,’ the mufti – an Islamic scholar – of one leading school in northern England told me. These parents include teachers, doctors and shopkeepers.

Secretive and protective, Darul Uloom schools have been operating in Britain for 25 years. But since 9/11 they have faced closer scrutiny by police who fear they may be academies of radicalism – something the headmasters deny.

Now, for the first time, a Darul Uloom has opened its doors to a British newspaper and allowed The Mail on Sunday exclusive access. Most Britons may have never heard of such schools. But their significance in the Islamic world is paramount and it is shaping young Muslims in Britain today.

Islamic experts regard Darul Uloom as the second most important Islamic academic institution in the world after Cairo’s Al Azhar university. The schools aim to create new leaders of the Islamic world. Read on and comment >>> Edna Fernandes | Sunday, June 20, 2010

*House of Knowledge: دار العلوم

Terror Cells, Comfy Cells!
MAIL ON SUNDAY: They have thought of everything. The walls are a cheery yellow, a colour designed to give an illusion of space. The chair and the thick mattress are an equally bright blue.

Daylight filters in through a Perspex domed window in the ceiling; there's air-conditioning, a private WC and basin, a desk, storage for clothes and books and even access to music and films. It could be any superior budget hotel, and it's in a great location - just ten minutes from London's Oxford Street.

The only thing that gives away that this isn't designed for weekend breaks is the 2in-thick steel door, the sound-deadening material, and a CCTV camera monitoring your every move (except for the 'exclusion zone' while using the en suite facilities).

These are the newly refurbished cells that make up the secure custody suite at Paddington Green police station. Whenever a terrorist suspect is taken into custody it's to 'a central London location'. It's no secret that it's here but cameras have never been allowed in before. Inside the terror cell: The London police station that has housed the failed July 21 bombers and Guantanamo Bay prisoners >>> Andrew Preston | Sunday, June 20, 2010

Suicide Tory Felt Humiliated by Expenses Revelations
MAIL ONLINE: The Commons expenses scandal has been blamed for an apparent suicide attempt by Tory MP David Ruffley, who threw himself under a train.

Former Shadow Police Minister Mr Ruffley, 48, jumped in front of an express train at London’s Victoria station during the evening rush-hour on Thursday.

The MP for Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk survived after the train passed right over him and he missed the live rail.

Mr Ruffley, one of the most popular MPs at Westminster, was among those who came under heavy criticism over his Commons expenses. >>> Simon Walters | Saturday, June 19, 2010

Islam’s Sisters of Sacrifice
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Videos made by the widows who became suicide bombers on the Moscow metro give a chilling insight into the radicalisation of women

Sitting on a carpet beside an AK-47 automatic rifle, her face concealed behind a black veil, Dzhanet Abdurakhmanova calmly addresses the shaky video camera. Her message is chilling.

In a soft voice, broken only once by a heavy sigh, the 17-year-old tells how she has sealed a pact with Allah in return for a place in heaven. “I have decided to fulfil my pledge,” she says. “God willing, I will become a martyr.”

Four days later Abdurakhmanova caught an early-morning train on the Moscow metro, more than 1,000 miles from her native Dagestan in Russia’s Caucasus region.

Strapped to her waist was more than 4lb of explosive packed with metal bolts and screws. At a station in central Moscow she detonated the charge. The blast killed 14 commuters and wounded dozens more. She was decapitated.

A second video, shot in the same place, shows another veiled woman who was identified by the security sources as Maryam Sharipova.

On the day that Abdurakhmanova set off her bomb in March, Sharipova, a 28-year-old teacher from Dagestan, killed 26 people by blowing herself up at Moscow’s Lubyanka metro station. More than 100 were injured in the two explosions, the first such attack in the capital for six years.

The videos, obtained by The Sunday Times, provide fresh insights into the indoctrinated minds of the two bombers. Both repeatedly call on other women to turn themselves into human bombs. Read on and comment (+ chilling video) >>> Mark Franchetti | Sunday, June 20, 2010