Saturday, June 26, 2010
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Rev. Cecil Williams, the leader of Glide Memorial, a San Francisco church and social services agency, speaks about recent controversies over the city's policies for dealing with the homeless and racial tensions between blacks and Asians.
THE INDEPENDENT: The Prince of Wales was accused of grossly exceeding his constitutional powers after a High Court judge criticised him yesterday for an "unexpected and unwelcome" intervention in a high-profile £3bn property development which was then withdrawn by its billionaire Qatari backers.
The heir to the throne waged a two-month campaign to persuade Qatari Diar, a hugely wealthy property investment company owned by the Qatari royal family, to scrap the modernist scheme drawn up by the architect Lord Richard Rogers to redevelop Chelsea Barracks in central London. Prince Charles said his "heart sank" when he first saw the proposals.
Mr Justice Vos, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice, ruled that Qatari Diar breached its contract with the millionaire developer Christian Candy when it withdrew its planning application for the 12.8-acre site last June. This followed a face-to-face meeting between Qatar's ruler, Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, and Charles at Clarence House.
But the judge ruled that CPC Group, the company owned by Monaco-based Mr Candy which was Qatari Diar's partner in the scheme, was not entitled to a payment of £81m set out in the contract, finding that the Middle Eastern company had been left "between a rock and a hard place" following Prince Charles's complaints.
Lawyers for CPC Group argued that the project for the £1bn site foundered as a direct result of the Prince's decision to voice his disapproval of the "Brutalist" plans, which were taken off the table days before they were due to be considered by planners at Westminster City Council. Qatari Diar said the decision was taken due to planning concerns.
Last night, constitutional reform campaigners and the body representing architects attacked Charles for meddling in the democratic process and using "inappropriate behind-the-scenes methods" to kill off the complex drawn up by Lord Rogers, a long-standing target for the Prince's complaints about the lack of "traditional values" in modern architecture. 'An unwelcome intervention': What judge said about Charles >>> Cahal Milmo, Chief Reporter | Saturday, June 26, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Google is among several high-profile websites which Pakistan is to begin monitoring in an attempt to block content it deems anti-Islamic.
Seven major websites, including Google and Yahoo, will be monitored and 17 lesser-known sites are being blocked outright for alleged blasphemous material under court orders.
The moves follow a temporary ban that Pakistan imposed on Facebook in May.
The sites to be monitored include Yahoo, Google, YouTube, Amazon and MSN, Hotmail and Bing from Microsoft, according to a spokesman for the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.
He added: "If any particular link with offensive content appears on these websites, the (link) shall be blocked immediately without disturbing the main website."
Scott Rubin, a spokesman for Google, responded that the company intends, in turn, to monitor how the new policies affect access to its services.
He said: "Google and YouTube are platforms for free expression, and we try to allow as much ... content as possible on our services and still ensure that we enforce our policies."
Yahoo said Pakistan's actions were disappointing. Microsoft and Amazon did not respond immediately. >>> Andy Bloxham and Asif Shahzad | Saturday, June 26, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: The son of the former Labour leader, Lord Kinnock, is being investigated in Denmark over allegations of tax evasion.
Stephen Kinnock, who has a home in Copenhagen, is facing accusations that he is attempting to avoid the country's high tax rates.
The scandal has jeopardised his wife's political future as leader of Denmark's opposition Social Democrats.
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the Danish opposition leader, has now agreed to have her family finances examined by Denmark's Skat tax inspectors in an attempt to clear their name.
Mr Kinnock works and pays tax in Switzerland on a reported income of £110,000 as the World Economic Forum's director of Europe and Central Asia.
The Swiss federal tax rate is just 15 per cent whereas in Denmark, the most taxed country in the world, income taxation can be as high as 63 per cent.
Mrs Thorning-Schmidt has insisted Mr Kinnock has no choice but to pay his taxes in Switzerland, where he works, an argument that has been widely challenged in the Danish media. "We have obeyed the rules," she said.
Mike Legarth, an MP for the right-wing Danish People's Party, has disputed Mrs Thorning-Schmidt's claim that her husband is forced to pay low Swiss taxes rather than the much higher Danish rates.
"We cannot live with a potential prime minister receiving preferential treatment. Everyone should have the same treatment," he said. >>> Bruno Waterfield | Saturday, June 26, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Thousands of foreign workers will be turned away from Britain next month when the Government introduces an immigration cap for the first time.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, is to announce a nine-month temporary limit to prevent a last-minute influx as workers from outside the EU try to beat permanent new controls due to come into force next April.
Just 24,100 workers from outside the EU will be allowed into the country before then and highly skilled migrants will have to meet more stringent conditions. But it will not be enough for the Conservatives to meet their election pledge to reduce net migration — which includes students and EU citizens — to beneath 100,000 this year.
David Willetts, a minister at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, both raised concerns in Cabinet discussions this week that a cap could hamper business. Mrs May was said to be “none too pleased” at leaks of the talks, which one senior minister blamed on “Lib Dem mischief-making”. She will strongly reject claims that the policy is being watered down when she begins a consultation on Monday.
Sir Andrew Green, the chairman of Migrationwatch, which campaigns for tighter immigration controls, said: “It is not surprising that those who have a financial interest in continuing high levels of immigration should oppose the measures necessary to get the totals down but the electorate has spoken. The Government made a commitment and it must be fulfilled in the coming years.” Continue reading and comment >>> Richard Ford, Francis Elliott | Friday, June 25, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Hottest day of year expected tomorrow as heatwave spreads across England
Sunday is forecast to be the warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures hitting 30C (86F) – hotter than Rome, Athens, Lisbon and Istanbul.
The heatwave, which is set to continue for most of next week, comes as millions prepare to watch England take on Germany in the World Cup, Murraymania sweeps Wimbledon, and thousands bask in the sun at the usually mud-caked Glastonbury music festival.
London and south-east England are expected to experience the warmest weather. Western England and the Midlands will also have hot sunny weather but it will be cloudy in Northern Ireland and Scotland, with a risk of heavy showers and thunderstorms. Today was forecast to be slightly cooler, with temperatures of 26C in the south-east. >>> David Batty and agencies | Saturday, June 26, 2010
THE TIMES: When Julia Gillard was sworn in as Australia’s first woman Prime Minister on Thursday, another piece of history was made: the country was also given its inaugural “First Bloke”.
Britain had Denis Thatcher, who described himself as the “most shadowy husband of all time” and referred to his wife, Margaret Thatcher, simply as “The Boss”; in the US, Todd Palin was nicknamed “The First Dude” by his wife, the former vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Now Australia has its own member of the international First Man’s Club: Tim Mathieson, a beerloving hairdresser who grew up in Victoria, likes cooking a lamb roast and still hangs out with his childhood mates.
Mr Mathieson has been in a relationship with the new Australian premier for the past four years and is not shy about expressing his feelings for her. “I find her genuinely such a warm person,” Mr Mathieson told the Herald Sun newspaper in Melbourne, where the couple share a house.
“Julia has a great sense of humour. It’s a really good, genuine, daggy humour. Her best qualities are determination, loyalty and humility.”
Mr Mathieson admits to being regularly called upon to provide last-minute styling for the flame-haired Prime Minister, whose ever-changing hairstyle is a topic of much discussion in Australia, as she heads out for her early-morning political commitments. “That’s my forte, the famous 5.30am blow wave,” he said. “Sometimes it’s 4.30. I’ve learnt to blow wave with one eye open or even in my sleep.”
Grace Romanin, manager of the Melbourne salon Heading Out, where the couple met, described Mr Mathieson as a “fantastic person”, who, despite his profession, does not like to gossip — something of a relief, presumably, for the new Prime Minister. >>> Sophie Tedmanson, Sydney | Friday, June 25, 2010
THE TIMES: The former US Vice President Dick Cheney was admitted to hospital overnight after experiencing discomfort, the latest health scare for the 69-year-old Republican who has a long history of heart disease.
Mr Cheney, who was vice president under President George W. Bush, was expected to remain at George Washington University Hospital over the weekend.
It was not immediately clear whether the latest hospitalisation was related to his past heart troubles, which saw the Mr Cheney suffer his fifth heart attack since 1978 in February. >>> Sophie Tedmanson | Saturday, June 26, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Australia was learning of the special skills the boyfriend of its new woman prime minister will bring to the new role of "First Bloke".
Tim Mathieson, a hairdresser turned estate agent and Julia Gillard's boyfriend of four years, gave a glimpse of life at the couple's shared home in Melbourne.
Mr Mathieson said that his hairstyling skills were often called upon at dawn by the Welsh-born Ms Gillard.
"That's my forte, the 5.30am blow wave," he said. "Sometimes it's 4.30am, I've learned to blow wave with one eye open or even in my sleep."
As well as tending to the prime ministerial hair, Mr Mathieson is also in change in the kitchen, baking Ms Gillard's favourite meal - a lamb roast - every Friday night.
Miss Gillard met Mr Mathieson at the Heading Out hair salon in the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy in 2004, but the pair did not form a relationship until 2006.
Grace Romain, the manager of the salon, said that the pair got to know each other slowly.
"That's how they met, in here," she told. "He was a very bubbly guy. He did styling - cutting and blow-drying.
"I'm just so glad that she chose someone outside of politics. He's such a great guy and I know he will make her very happy." Julia Gillard: Australia gets to know its new 'First Bloke' >>> Bonnie Malkin in Sydney | Friday, June 25, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
LE TEMPS: Pour certains députés libéraux-démocrates et la base du parti, leur leader et vice-premier ministre a fait bien trop de concessions aux conservateurs
La transformation est sans doute l’une des plus rapides de l’histoire politique britannique. Il y a trois mois, en pleine campagne électorale, Nick Clegg était comparé à Barack Obama. Grâce à une excellente prestation lors d’un débat télévisé, il avait propulsé son parti, les libéraux-démocrates, au coude-à -coude dans les sondages avec les conservateurs.
Aujourd’hui, Nick Clegg est accusé d’avoir «vendu son âme», pour reprendre l’expression de Chris Leslie, un député travailliste. Désormais vice-premier ministre, il a fait un pari électoral très risqué: former une coalition avec les conservateurs, alors que son propre parti est traditionnellement de centre gauche.
Pire: il est désormais coauteur du plus dur plan de rigueur introduit en Grande-Bretagne depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Et il a dû faire d’importantes concessions, à commencer par une hausse de la TVA. Cette même TVA que Nick Clegg jugeait «très fortement régressive» lors de la campagne électorale, parce qu’elle touche proportionnellement plus les pauvres. >>> Eric Albert | Vendredi 25 Juin 2010
LE TEMPS: Précédé par le G8, le G20 commence ce samedi. Les Européens font pression pour une taxe bancaire
La ville est déjà morte. Malgré la température estivale, Toronto semble désertée par ses habitants. La presse canadienne l’explique par le périmètre de sécurité dressé autour de l’Exhibition Center, au bord du lac Ontario, qui accueille dès ce soir la quatrième réunion du G20. De multiples restrictions de circulation paralysent une partie du centre ville. Des commerçants, qui redoutent aussi les manifestations, chiffrent déjà la perte à quelque 15% de leur chiffre d’affaires mensuel. «Moi, j’ai loué toutes mes chambres, alors j’aimerais un G20 tous les week-ends!», plaisante un hôtelier interrogé par Le Temps. >>> Frédéric Lelièvre, Toronto | Vendredi 25 Juin 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: A Malaysian version of X factor has forsaken the world of pop to conduct a search for the nation's next religious leader.
Contestants on Young Imam chant passages from the Koran, not pop covers.
While the concept is based on the hit British and American shows, the young Malaysian men are out to prove they are the best mullah in the land.
The show, now in its third week, is fast becoming a hit in the Muslim-majority country.
The judge who delivers their fate as the lights dim and contestant stand nervously is no Simon Cowell.
Hasan Mahmood, the former grand mufti of Malaysia's national mosque, presides over the ten male contestants aged between 19 and 27.
Instead of a lucrative record deal, the winner will be given a post as an imam at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, a Haj pilgrimage to Mecca and a full scholarship to the Madinah international university in Saudi Arabia.
Just like their counterparts in the West, the Young Imam competitors are fast becoming icons to young viewers.
The show's Facebook page has over 25,000 fans, including prospective mothers-in-law looking to marry off their daughters. X factor for muslim preachers in Malaysia wows television audience >>> Barney Henderson in Kuala Lumpur | Friday, June 25, 2010
BBC: Stand-up comedy is drawing appreciative audiences in Saudi Arabia, where cinemas and many forms of public entertainment are still banned and men and women prohibited from socialising in public.
Some people are managing to put shows on at secret locations, away from the religious police.
Ben Thompson reports from a night of comedy in Jeddah. Watch video >>> Ben Thompson | Thursday, June 24, 2010
AFP: MOSCOW — Russia is to introduce prominent health warnings on cigarette packs for the first time on Saturday to shock smokers in the nicotine-addicted country with messages about impotency and wrinkles.
Under the new rules, cigarette producers must cover at least 30 percent of the front of cigarette packs with one of 12 warnings, ranging from "Smoking causes lung cancer" to "Smoking can cause impotency".
Warnings must also cover 50 percent of the back of the pack. >>> | Friday, June 25, 2010
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