Court: Same-sex Marriage Is Not Universal Right
ASSOCIATED PRESS: BRUSSELS — European nations do not have to allow same-sex marriage, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled, though gay rights groups claimed a partial victory Friday because the court acknowledged growing agreement that their relationships should be recognized in law.

Seven judges at the European court ruled unanimously that two Austrian men denied permission to wed were not covered by the guarantee of the right to marry enshrined in Europe's human rights convention.

The judges acknowledged "an emerging European consensus" that same-sex couples should have legal recognition but said individual states may still decide what form it should take because marriage had "deep-rooted social and cultural connotations which may differ largely from one society to another." >>> Robert Wielaard and Jill Lawless, AP | Friday, June 25, 2010

Saudi Arabian Mother Becomes the First Lady of Al-Qaeda
THE TELEGRAPH: Saudi Arabia is reviewing its terrorism strategy after the detection of a female run network that was fund raising for al-Qaeda.

Heila al-Qusayyer, the middle class monther now described as al-Qaeda's 'First Lady' was running a cell of 60 alleged militants. She is believed to have been the Arabian peninsula's principal fund-raiser for al-Qaeda.

Qusayyer holds a degree in geography and was married to a former executive from Aramco, the all-powerful state oil company, who gave up all his worldly possessions to become a radical preacher.

Counter-terror officials have previously assumed that young men and boys are the principal agents of radical Islam.

Saudi security chiefs have since set up a specialist all-female unit at King Saud University, the country's oldest, to study the appeal of Islamist militancy to women and how best to tackle it.

"The story of this woman, who was involved in collecting money, with that money finding its way to al-Qaeda, has been like an alarm call to us," General Mansur al-Turki of the Saudi interior ministry told The Daily Telegraph. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Friday, June 25, 2010

Liliane Bettencourt admet détenir 78 millions d'euros en Suisse
Liliane Bettencourt va déclarer au fisc des avoirs expatriés pour un montant global de 78 millions d'euros. Photo : Le Point
LE POINT: Liliane Bettencourt va déclarer au fisc des avoirs expatriés pour un montant global de 78 millions d'euros, répartis entre deux comptes bancaires détenus en Suisse. Cette initiative, annoncée cette semaine par la milliardaire à la suite de la révélation - par le site Mediapart et Le Point - des enregistrements de son maître d'hôtel, devrait se solder par le paiement d'un impôt forfaitaire dont le montant est encore inconnu. >>> Par Hervé Gattegno | Vendredi 25 Juin 2010

Stand Up for America! Ground Zero Mosque
PRAESIDIUM RESPUBLICAE: It is our hope that most people are now becoming aware and suspicious of the organization called the Cordoba Initiative, founded by an Imam named Feisal Abdul Rauf; a man who is also attempting to convert an old building in New York, just a few steps away from Ground Zero, into an “Islamic Cultural Center” which will include a mosque. The mere suggestion boggles the mind—creating an Islamic mosque at the very place where 19 hijackers murdered nearly 3,000 innocent people in the name of the Islamic god. What is worse, however, is that so many New Yorkers seem tolerant of the suggestion —or at least sufficiently so to gain permission of New York councils and advisory committees. How is this even possible?

It is Islam’s goal to force non-believers into submission to the will of the Islamic god, and his spokesmen. The Qu’ran and Shar’ia Law clearly demand this form of tyranny, and the attack against innocent men and women on 9/11 is but one example of barbarian behaviors perpetrated by Islamacists in order to achieve their stated intentions. Even in lesser endeavors, these people demonstrate barbarism that is hard for anyone to imagine; they are terrifying and ruthless toward anyone who dare defy Shar’ia Law, including their own women and children. But we must acknowledge that not every act of barbarism is in the open for all to see; some of it —indeed perhaps most of it —is insidiously covert. We refer to this as “Stealth Jihad.”

Placing a mosque and Islamic center at the heart of Ground Zero is beyond insulting to Americans and the memory of so many murdered people; it also signals victory over the infidel to every Moslem in the world. It is a stepping-stone in Islam’s inexorable march to world domination. It will signal the submission of non-Moslem peoples (the Kafir). We must question the wisdom of handing radical Islamacists such an important trophy —a brilliant shining reminder of the progress of Islam over the Western World. Naturally, we also question why any true American patriot —politician or average citizen —would permit such a thing to take place, but then we are reminded how woefully uninformed most Americans are about Islam. Plainly stated, if this building is completed it will prove to the Moslem world that blazing planes, bombs, and violent Jihad is unnecessary, because foolish infidels will allow Stealth Jihad to succeed without pretense or argument.

Stealth Jihad involves the covert infiltration of our political system, our media, our educational system, and our communities. It involves pandering to Islam, and leftist relativism at its absolute worst by the same liberals who would allow the Cordoba House, and the same individuals who accuse conservatives of being politically incorrect. They are the same people who publically reject Judeo-Christian beliefs, but have no hesitance in making room in our legislatures and courts for Islamic ideology. We can celebrate Eid on a postage stamp, but we will not find a Christian cross or a Jewish Star of David. Stealth Jihad demands compromise with Moslems, but grants none to Christians or Jews. It misdirects information and truth with the goal of tricking people into thinking that Islam is a religion of peace, when it is in fact a religion of pieces. Stealth Jihad assures us, and our children through public educators, that Islam poses no threat to Western culture. Stealth Jihad seeks to convince us that the work of the Moslem Brotherhood in every state and federal penitentiary in the United States is merely a religious effort to produce a more peace-loving, civic-minded citizen. To such nonsense as this, we say balderdash because Islam is a serious threat to the American way of life; the goal of Islam is to destroy all but one society and culture —Islam. Read on and comment >>> Commentary by Sam Huntington and Hayden Jessen | Monday, June 21, 2010

HT: Always On Watch >>>

Cameron spricht über Rückzug aus Afghanistan: Britische Truppen sollen bis 2015 vollständig abgezogen sein
NZZ ONLINE: Der britische Premierminister Cameron will die britischen Truppen bis 2015 vollständig aus Afghanistan abgezogen haben. Dann finden wohl die nächsten britischen Parlamentswahlen statt.

Grossbritanniens Premierminister David Cameron will die Truppen seines Landes in den kommenden fünf Jahren vollständig aus Afghanistan abziehen. Bis zur geplanten nächsten Parlamentswahl 2015 solle der Abzug abgeschlossen sein, sagte er am Rande des G8-Gipfels im kanadischen Huntsville. >>> sda/afp | Freitag, 25. Juni 2010

I Thought General McChrystal Was ‘Unfireable’, Says Rolling Stone Writer
Michael Hastings: admitted he was surprised by the access he was given to General McChrystal. Photo: The Times
THE TIMES: The man who, in effect, ended General Stanley McChrystal’s glittering military career said yesterday that he thought the top commander in Afghanistan was “unfireable”.

In a candid interview with The Times, the journalist Michael Hastings said he never imagined he would get as much access to the general and his inner circle as he did. He insisted he was simply doing his job as a magazine reporter and rebutted suggestions that there was anything underhand about the methods he employed. Hastings’s devastating exposé of General McChrystal and his aides led President Obama to dismiss the man credited widely as the mastermind of America’s strategy in Afghanistan.

“I realised that it was very strong material for a profile,” Hastings, 30, said. “But I thought McChrystal was unfireable. I thought his position was very well protected.”

The President’s decision, on Wednesday morning, hit General McChrystal “like a steam train”, a close aide said yesterday. It stunned his headquarters staff and, were it not for the surprise appointment of General David Petraeus in his place, might have derailed the American war effort altogether, some analysts have said. Read on and comment >>> Jerome Starkey, Kabul | Friday, June 25, 2010

Cameron Risks Conflict with US Over Pace of Spending Cuts
David Cameron arrives in Toronto where he will attend the G8 and G20 summits. Photo: The Times
THE TIMES: David Cameron will risk a trans-Atlantic rift over his Budget today by insisting that Britain is right to slash spending despite American warnings that deep cuts could derail the global recovery.

Tim Geithner, President Obama’s Treasury Secretary, said it was paramount for European leaders to concentrate on growth, and that they could not rely on America to drive the recovery.

His comments reflect concern in Washington that European governments - Germany in particular - have cut their budgets too hard and too fast, and that the risk to growth could drag the world economy back towards recession.

Mr Cameron, who holds face-to-face talks with Mr Obama tomorrow in Toronto, will insist that he had no choice because the Greek crisis showed the dangers to governments of failing to deal with vast debts.

“For countries with big fiscal deficits, that path to recovery requires us to deal decisively with the deficit problem,” said the Prime Minister’s official spokesman.

“It is perfectly consistent to have strong position on fiscal consolidation and be pro growth.” Read on and comment >>> Roland Watson, Toronto | Friday, June 25, 2010

Foetus 'Cannot Feel Pain Before 24 Weeks'
THE TELEGRAPH: The human foetus cannot feel pain before 24 weeks, according to an official review of scientific evidence, contradicting one argument that anti-abortion campaigners have used for reducing the termination limit.



Nerve endings in the brain are not sufficiently formed to enable pain to be felt before 24 weeks, according to the report by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which had been commissioned by the Department of Health.

The report said: "It can be concluded that the foetus cannot experience pain in any sense prior to this gestation."

Professor Allan Templeton, president of the Royal College, who chaired the review, told The Times that research put forward by anti-abortion campaigners that the human foetus did feel pain at or before 24 weeks was based on evidence from premature babies. This did not apply to the foetus in the womb, he said.

A second finding is that the foetus is naturally sedated and unconscious in the womb, leading the panel to advise that anaesthetics for the foetus are not needed when it is terminated. >>> | Friday, June 25, 2010

Human Foetus ‘Feels No Pain Before 24 Weeks’
Pain cannot be perceived in the brain until after 24 weeks, the report says. Photograph: The Times
THE TIMES: The human foetus cannot feel pain before the age of 24 weeks, according to an authoritative review of scientific evidence that sets back the campaign to cut the time limit for abortion.

Nerve connections in the foetal brain do not form fully enough to allow perception of pain until after the 24-week limit for terminating pregnancies, an expert report commissioned by the Department of Health concluded.

The finding, by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, rebuts claims by anti-abortion activists that legal terminations can inflict pain on foetuses. It will undermine the efforts of MPs such as Nadine Dorries, the Conservative who tried unsuccessfully to reduce the limit in the last Parliament, to force another vote.

David Cameron supported a cut to 20 weeks in the 2008 Commons debate, but has said that his view will be based on scientific opinion. The report’s conclusions will make it harder to justify another vote after just two years, and most Liberal Democrat MPs also support the status quo, making it unlikely that the coalition will provide parliamentary time.

A Downing Street spokesman said yesterday: “The Prime Minister will continue to be guided by the science on this matter.” Read on and comment >>> Mark Henderson, Francis Elliott | Friday, June 25, 2010

Foetus report: a debate >>> | Friday, June 25, 2010

Sheikh Mansour Leghaei and family. Photo: Google Images
Show of Force as Hundreds Gather to Farewell Departing Sheikh
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: AT 9.50pm tomorrow a plane will leave Sydney carrying Sheikh Mansour Leghaei, two hours and 10 minutes before his deadline to leave the country voluntarily - or be deported.

As many as 500 Muslims and Christians will gather tonight to farewell Dr Leghaei, the Iranian Shiite preacher who has raised his four children in Sydney for the past 16 years, but who ASIO has accused of undisclosed ''acts of foreign interference''.

The supporters will meet at the Imam Husain Islamic Centre, in Earlwood, which Dr Leghaei opened in 1999, two years after ASIO made its first adverse security assessment against him and blocked his attempt to become an Australian citizen.

''If you came to the centre, all you would see is tears and tears and tears,'' he said as he packed to leave this week. ''People are asking why has the government been so cruel to the community, to me and my family without any explanation or justification.''

Insisting he is no spy or terrorist, the banished sheikh will return to his home city of Esfahan, in Iran, with his wife, Marzieh, and their youngest child, the Australian-born Fatima, 14. Dr Leghaei hopes to resume work as a university lecturer while he awaits a United Nations committee's decision on wether Australia has denied his human rights under its international treaty obligations.

He still holds out hope that if the committee finds in his favour, Australia will allow him to return. His three sons, in their 20s, will remain in Sydney. >>> Rick Feneley | Saturday, June 26, 2010

Sheikh Mansour Leghaei
ABC Local: Sheik Mansour Leghaei is Imam at the Imam Husain Islamic Centre in Earlwood in Sydney's inner south west. He has been a resident in Australia for 16 years, and his children regard this country as home. For more than a decade, Dr Leghaei has been contesting in the courts two adverse security assessments issued by ASIO. It is understood the agency believes the cleric works for the Iranian authorities.

As Dr. Leghaei is not an Australian citizen, no reason needs to be provided by Australia's security services for the deportation. As a non-citizen, he has no right to procedural fairness or natural justice in a matter of national security. Dr Leghaei's final legal appeal against deportation was rejected by the Migration Appeals Tribunal last month. He was then given a bridging visa allowing him to stay in Australia until April 19 (just a week away) while Immigration Minister Chris Evans considers his case. Dr Leghaei has one week left on that visa. Otherwise, Dr Leghaei, his wife and one of their four children will be forced back to Iran. >>> | Sunday, April 11, 2010

Related audio here

”Befreiungsaktion”: Schweiz streitet über geplanten Einsatz in Libyen
WELT ONLINE: Die Schweiz soll erwogen haben, zwei in Libyen festgehaltene Landsleute zu befreien. Dabei fiel auch das Wort "Einsatzbefehl".

Die Schweizer Außenministerin Calmy-Rey in Libyen. Angeblich soll eine militärische Befreiung der in Libyen festgehaltenen Geschäftsleute geplant gewesen sein. Bild: Welt Online
Der heikle Einsatz wäre wahrscheinlich der Schweizer Elitetruppe Armee-Aufklärungsdetachment 10 übertragen worden: Gleich zwei Mal soll das Verteidigungsministerium in Bern in den Jahren 2008 und 2009 Pläne entworfen haben, um die in Libyen festgehaltenen Schweizer Geschäftsleute mit Hilfe des Militärs in ihre Heimat zurückzubringen.

Das erste Szenario hätte über Algerien geführt, das zweite über Ägypten oder den Niger, berichten Schweizer Medien seit Ende vergangener Woche. Die Regierung hat die „Planung von Befreiungsaktionen“ nach mehrtägigem Schweigen nun zugegeben und streitet seitdem öffentlich darüber, was genau sich während der Libyen-Krise hinter den Kulissen abgespielt hat. Weiter lessen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> Von Elisalex Henckel | Donnerstag, 24. Juni 2010

Ein Blick zurück: Obama in Saudi-Arabien
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: US-Präsident Barack Obama ist in Saudi-Arabien eingetroffen. Er wird morgen eine mit Spannung erwartete Rede halten. SF-Nahost-Korrespondent Ulrich Tilgner zu den Hoffnungen und Ängsten rund um den Besuch Obamas in der islamischen Welt.



Verbunden / Related: Barack Obama's speech at Cairo University: Full text – Barack Obama addressed the Muslim world in a 6,000-word speech at Cairo University. Text in full. >>> | Thursday, June 04, 2009

Beautiful People To Get Virtual Sperm Bank
SKY NEWS: Dating site for beautiful people sets up sperm bank for mothers-to-be who want to make sure they have attractive children



Beautiful People: Where beautiful relationships begin >>>

Des policiers en kippa aux Pays-Bas ?
LE FIGARO: Les autorités néerlandaises ont estimé que l'utilisation de policiers en kippa, proposée récemment par un député néerlandais pour lutter contre l'antisémitisme, est "une option possible", a-t-on appris aujourd'hui auprès du ministère de la Justice.



Le ministre néerlandais de la Justice, Hirsch Ballin, "pense que cette méthode n'est pas en contradiction avec la loi et est donc une option possible", a déclaré à l'AFP Wim van der Weegen, porte-parole du ministre.


"Le ministre a assuré que dans les prochains mois, un programme concret serait présenté par le gouvernement pour lutter contre l'antisémitisme et la discrimination", a ajouté M. van de Weegen. >>> | Vendredi 25 Juin 2010

Lien en relation avec l'article / Related article ici / here

Le Likoud s'oppose au gel de la colonisation
Benyamin Nétanyahou (ici le 22 juin à Jérusalem) avait annoncé un moratoire fin 2009 sous la pression des États-Unis, qui l'accusent aujourd'hui de duplicité. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Le parti de Benyamin Nétanyahou entend reprendre les constructions dans les Territoires occupés dès la fin septembre.

D’envoyé spécial du Figaro à Jérusalem

Après le gel, la droite israélienne veut s'assurer du dégel. Le Likoud, le parti de Benyamin Nétanyahou, devait voter jeudi soir une motion en faveur de la reprise des constructions dans les colonies juives de Cisjordanie dès l'expiration du moratoire qui a pris effet à la fin de l'année dernière.

Le gel partiel de dix mois annoncé en novembre 2009 arrivera à son terme le 26 septembre prochain, et le Likoud s'oppose fermement à sa reconduction. Cette motion en faveur de la reprise des constructions dans les colonies était demandée depuis longtemps par la droite du parti, proche des colons, qui avait à l'époque critiqué la décision de son chef. Le premier ministre israélien ne devait pas se rendre à la réunion du comité central de son parti, notamment pour éviter d'avoir à applaudir publiquement une résolution qui risque une nouvelle fois de profondément agacer les États-Unis.

Nétanyahou doit en effet rencontrer Barack Obama le 6 juillet prochain à la Maison-Blanche et n'a aucune envie de voir sa visite compliquée par cette annonce. Ses relations avec le président américain sont déjà tendues. Obama avait battu froid Nétanyahou pendant leur dernière rencontre en mars dernier. Et l'abordage sanglant de la flottille internationale à destination de Gaza le 31 mai dernier avait conduit à l'annulation d'un entretien à Washington prévu le lendemain. Le Likoud se prononce pour la reprise de la colonisation >>> Par Adrien Jaulmes | Jeudi 24 Juin 2010

Palestinian Martyrdom Video Aimed at Children, Says US Watchdog Group
THE TIMES: Without the subtitles, the song could almost be a sentimental tune for kids that is fast spreading round the world on YouTube. With its lyrics translated, it reveals itself as something far more sinister - an ode to martyrdom from the mouths of pre-school children.

“When we seek martyrdom, we go to heaven,” sings a pretty dark-haired little girl.

“Don’t say we are young, this way of life has turned us into grown-ups. Without Palestine, what does childhood mean?”

According to the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), an American organisation that tracks Islamic extremist websites and networks, the video is spreading like wildfire, with variations of the ditty scoring millions of hits in the Muslim world, and starting to spread to Britain and North America.

The IPT said that the clip was the work of a Jordan-based film company called Birds of Paradise, whose high-standard production marks “a new wave of jihadist youth indoctrination”.

The catchy tune appears designed to appeal to children and grown-ups alike, with a message of dying for Palestine. Read on and comment >>> James Hider, Middle East Correspondent | Friday, June 25, 2010

The Sick Indoctrination of Innocent Children: لما نستشهد بنروح الجنة


The Investigative Project on Terrorism: "Birds of Paradise" – Martyrdom Recruitment as Children's Entertainment >>>

'Ten Pound Pom' Becomes Australia's Prime Minister
THE TELEGRAPH: Julia Gillard, a miner's daughter from South Wales, has become Australia's prime minister after a political coup to wrest control of the country from the beleaguered Kevin Rudd.

Julia Gillard, whose family left Barry as "Ten Pound Poms" when she was struck down with pneumonia at the age of five, was installed after the most eventful night in modern Australian politics.

Ms Gillard is the daughter of a coal miner and names Nye Bevan as one of greatest political inspirations. She says her start in life greatly influenced her leftist sensibilities and willingness to fight her corner.

Speaking in Canberra, Ms Gillard, 48, said she had challenged for the prime minister's job because "a good government had lost its way" and she did not want to see cuts in health and education if the opposition Liberal Party won the next election.

Watching their daughter make history by becoming the country's first female prime minister, John and Moira Gillard, who both still speak with thick Welsh accents, said that they were elated, but "mindful of the enormous job ahead of binding the party together."

Despite leaving the Vale of Glamorgan for Adelaide in 1966, Ms Gillard kept in close touch with the Barry community throughout her adolescence.

She returned to Wales when she was sixteen, spelling out her ambitions to her former neighbours during a one-week holiday.
Basil and Mabel Baker, who have known Ms Gillard since she was a baby, said that even as a teenager, she was intensely focused.

"I remember asking her 'So Julia, what do you want to do with your life? I suppose you want to get married and start a family'," Mr Baker, 91, said.

"Quick as a flash, she said to me 'Oh, I don't want to do that. I want a career and I want to get to the top. I've no time for marriage and kids'."

Still unmarried, but in a long-term relationship with hairdresser Tim Mathieson, Ms Gillard has gone on to achieve that goal, and more.

After starting life in a modest two-bedroom terrace in Barry, she now lives in a large home in the Melbourne suburb of Altona, and owns another flat in Canberra. >>> Bonnie Malkin in Sydney | Thursday, June 24, 2010

Related articles here and here

Blodwen took on Kevin, and won! >>>

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Hard-boiled Blodwen speaks >>>

VIDEO: Abbott faces off against Gillard: Mere hours after Julia Gillard is sworn in as the new Prime Minister she faces off against Tony Abbott in question time. >>> | Friday, June 25, 2010

Bloodthirsty Blod >>>

This Profligate President! Barack Obama Is Refusing to Listen to Reason on Economic Policy
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama could learn from the old-fashioned German habit of saving money before spending it, argues Jeremy Warner.

Barack Obama will meet other world leaders at the G20 summit. Photo: The Telegraph
Rarely has the dismal science of economics inflamed such passions. While the "cuts versus growth" debate has been building steadily for more than a year on both sides of the Atlantic, over the past week it has exploded into open international hostilities.

A compromised form of words will already have been agreed for the communiqué to follow this weekend's meeting of G8 and G20 leaders; the sherpas who do the preparatory donkey work for these stage-managed events will have ensured it.

But behind the anodyne platitudes of any statement, the tensions have reached fever pitch. Gone is the co-operative consensus that, in adversity 18 months ago, brought G20 nations together to fight the downturn.

In its place lies a clear line of demarcation that almost exactly mirrors our own political debate in Britain over the economic consequences of George Osborne's Emergency Budget cuts. Yet though this debate masquerades as high intellect, it has about as much to do with economics as the outcome of the World Cup.

President Barack Obama, backed to some extent by Nicolas Sarkozy of France, wants economic stimulus to continue until the global recovery is unambiguously secure. In the opposite corner is Germany's Angela Merkel, now oddly aligned with Britain's new political leadership in thinking the time is right for fiscal austerity.

Like much of what Mr Obama says and does these days, the US position is cynically political. With mid-term elections looming and the Democrats down in the polls, the administration hasn't yet even begun to think about deficit reduction. Obama is much more worried by the possibility of a double-dip recession and the damage this would do to his chances of a second term, than the state of the public finances.

As it happens, the public debt trajectory is rather worse in the US than it is in Europe, yet Obama has adopted an overtly "spend until we are broke" approach in a calculated bid for growth and votes. Read on and comment >>> Jeremy Warner | Thursday, June 24, 2010

Obamonomics: A Definition >>> Mark Alexander | Saturday, March 07, 2009

Letting the Barbarians Speak!
Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:

Five Americans Jailed in Pakistan for Plotting Terrorist Attacks
THE TELEGRAPH: Five American students have been sentenced to 10 years in Pakistani prisons after being found guilty of plotting terrorist attacks.

Aman Hassan Yemer, (L), Ahmed Abdulah Minni, (2nd L), Waqar Hussain Khan, (R), Ramy Zamzam, (L rear) and Umar Farooq (R rear). Photo: The Telegraph
The men, all Muslims, were arrested in the eastern city of Sargodha in December.

Their families in Virginia reported them missing a month earlier after finding a farewell video message calling for Muslims to be protected.

The case is particularly sensitive for American officials trying to come to terms with young men apparently being radicalised within the US – such as Faisal Shahzad, who this week pleaded guilty to the botched Times Square plot.

However, Hassan Katchela, their defence lawyer, said the men planned to launch an appeal.

"These boys had watched reports of how the Afghan people were living – especially the orphans – and they came here to help," he told The Daily Telegraph. >>> Rob Crilly in Islamabad | Thursday, June 24, 2010

Australia’s First Woman Prime Minister Sworn In
Julia Gillard became Prime Minister of Australia after a leadership balllot at Parliament House in Canberra. Photograph: The Times
THE TIMES: Australia’s new Prime Minister has been sworn into office and immediately vowed to end division over a controversial mining tax, resurrect a carbon trade scheme and call an election within months.

The British-born Julia Gillard said that she was “truly honoured” to become the country’s first woman Prime Minister after a surprise coup among the Labor leadership resulted in Kevin Rudd, whose popularity was in terminal decline, stepping aside overnight.

Within hours of being elected leader of the Australian Labor Party after the shock caucus meeting in Canberra early this morning, Ms Gillard was sworn in as the country’s 27th Prime Minister and immediately set her agenda for the coming months.

“I asked my colleagues to make a leadership change because I believed that a good Government was losing its way,” Ms Gillard said of the tumultuous turn of events.

“I love this country and I was not going to sit idly by and watch an incoming Opposition cut health, cut education and smash rights at work.”

Ms Gillard promised to lead a “strong and responsible government that will take control of our future, improving and protecting the essential public services and basic rights our people depend on”. Read on and comment >>> Sophie Tedmanson, Sydney | Thursday, June 24, 2010

Rudd Quits To Give Australia First Woman PM
SKY NEWS: Kevin Rudd has stepped down as Australian prime minister, allowing his deputy Julia Gillard to become the country's first female leader. Sky's Ian Woods reports.



Related: Kevin Rudd Gets Dumped >>>