Monday, July 05, 2010
SKY NEWS: Fireworks bursted into the night sky above Washington, D.C. on Sunday (July 4) as thousands gathered to celebrate U.S. Independence Day.
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SKY NEWS: The bulk of Islamism-related terror offences in the UK over the past decade involved British citizens with links to al Qaeda, according to a new report.
The Centre for Social Cohesion found that 69% of such incidents between 1999 and 2009 were carried out by home grown terrorists or would-be terrorists.
The research also suggested that seven of the UK's eight major bomb plot cells contained individuals with direct links to al Qaeda.
Only the failed London bombers of July 21, 2005, lacked undisputed evidence of direct contact with any proscribed organisation.
Some 48% of the 127 Islamism-related terror offences or suicide attacks were committed by individuals living in London, the report found. >>> David Crabtree, Midlands correspondent | Monday, July 05, 2010
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: The recordings that expose the murky world of France's super-rich L'Oréal heiress could have come from the pen of Molière.
The following story could have been written by the 17th-century French playwright Molière. It is the tragi-comic tale of a deaf and confused 87-year-old heiress, surrounded by quarrelling and mutually detesting advisers and favourites who may or may not also be predators. The play could be entitled The Bewildered Billionairess. It's set not in the 17th century, however, but in the very recent past – between 25 May 2009 and 11 May 2010, to be precise.
The location is a mansion in Neuilly-sur-Seine, the wealthiest town in France, just outside Paris. The dialogue could equally come from a film script about the hidden world of greed/sliminess/snobbishness/ hypocrisy/anti-Semitism that sometimes lies below the fine old carpet of the Roman Catholic haute-bourgeoisie in France.
The extracts are, in fact, taken from the transcripts of real conversations secretly recorded by the old woman's former butler. The 100 hours of tapes have created a political scandal in France. They threaten to bring down a senior cabinet minister, Eric Woerth, and could deal a fatal blow to President Nicolas Sarkozy's already limping presidency. The tapes may become the principal exhibit in an explosive trial – which opened last week and then adjourned – and could also decide the future of the world's largest cosmetics company, L'Oréal. Continue reading and comment >>> John Lichfield | Sunday, July 04, 2010
Related articles here and here
SUEDDEUTSCHE: Vom Vorsitzenden der CSU-nahen Schülerunion zum ÖDP-Politiker und obersten Verfechter des Nichtraucher-schutzes: Doch nicht alles im Leben hat Sebastian Frankenberger so konsequent verfolgt, wie den Kampf gegen die Kippe - den er nun in Bayern eindrucksvoll gewonnen hat.
Gebannt starrt Sebastian Frankenberger auf die große Leinwand im Münchner Traditionsgasthof Stemmerhof, wo jede Minute das vorläufige Endergebnis des Volksentscheids über ein verschärftes Rauchverbot erscheinen soll. "Es ist ein wunderbares Gefühl", wiederholt er wie ein Mantra, nachdem die eingehenden Meldungen ihm den klaren Sieg vorhersagen. "Dann plötzlich ruft er mit sich überschlagender Stimme: "Wir haben gewonnen."
Im Saal bricht frenetischer Jubel aus, und Frankenberger macht für die vielen Kameras das Victory-Zeichen. Anschließend sagt er: "Beim Volksbegehren konnten wir aus den laufenden Prognosen bereits herauslesen, dass wir es schaffen - aber diesmal wusste ich selbst nicht, wie es ausgeht." >>> Von Dietrich Mittler | Montag, 05. Juli 2010
WELT ONLINE: Bayern hat jetzt das schärfste Rauchverbot Deutschlands. Die Initiatoren des Volksentscheids wollen die Regelung jetzt bundesweit durchsetzen.
Nach dem Volksentscheid für ein striktes Rauchverbot in der bayerischen Gastronomie haben die Initiatoren die Bundesregierung aufgefordert, für ein bundesweites Rauchverbot zu sorgen. „Das Volk hat in Bayern so eindeutig gesprochen mit 61 Prozent, dass es auch deutschlandweit so sprechen würde“, sagte der Sprecher des Aktionsbündnisses Nichtraucherschutz, Sebastian Frankenberger, am Montag in München.
Er hoffe deshalb auf die Bundespolitik – diese könne den Nichtraucherschutz „sehr einfach“ über den Arbeitsschutz regeln und damit auch in anderen Bundesländern für ein ausnahmsloses Rauchverbot in der Gastronomie sorgen. Weiter lessen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> dpa/jm | Montag, 05. Juli 2010
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: ALLEMAGNE | Les électeurs bavarois, appelés dimanche aux urnes, se sont prononcés en faveur d'une interdiction stricte de fumer dans tous les lieux publics, selon les résultats officiels définitifs.
Après le décompte des votes dans les 96 circonscriptions de Bavière, le camp d'une interdiction de fumer dans les lieux publics a obtenu 61% des voix pour une participation toutefois faible (37,7%). >>> ATS | Lundi 05 Juillet 2010
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MAIL ONLINE: The cancer expert who predicted the Lockerbie bomber would die within three months of his release from prison has admitted he could live for another ten years or more.
Professor Karol Sikora, who had diagnosed Abdelbaset Al Megrahi with terminal cancer, faced calls to apologise to victims' families last night.
Campaigners reacted with fury to the professor's comments, which they said raised new questions about the decision to allow Megrahi to return to his native Libya.
Tory MP Ben Wallace, a former member of the Scottish Affairs Committee, said: 'The doctor that carried out this diagnosis owes his regret to the families of the victims.
'He should apologise to the victims for contributing to the release of a mass murderer, who is clearly alive and well in Libya.
'Throughout this whole sorry affair the victim has been put last behind trade deals, Scotish Nationalist posturing and dubious medical diagnosis.' >>> Jack Doyle | Monday, July 05, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Israel will never say sorry for defending itself, a senior government official has said after Turkey demanded an apology for a deadly commando raid on an aid convoy to Gaza.
His remarks were made after Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish Foreign Minister, vowed Ankara would sever diplomatic ties with Israel unless it apologised over the operation which left nine people dead, all of them Turkish nationals.
Israeli officials reacted angrily to Turkey's threats.
"When you want want an apology, you don't use threats or ultimatums," said Yigal Palmor, foreign ministry spokesman.
"Everything leads us to believe that Turkey has another agenda in mind," he said, without giving further details.
"Israel will never apologise for defending its citizens," he said. >>> | Monday, July 05, 2010
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The identical twin of the Polish president killed in an April plane crash has accepted that his bid to succeed his brother as president has ended in failure after exit polls showed he had lost Poland's presidential elections.
Addressing supporters at his campaign headquarters, Jaroslaw Kaczynski congratulated Bronislaw Komorowski, a pro-business and liberal ally of the Polish government, after two exit polls gave his rival 53.1 and 51 per cent.
"I congratulate the winner. I congratulate Bronislaw Komorowski," said Mr Kaczynski, adding that "there will be other elections to fight" and that "we have to mobilise" for them.
A jubilant Mr Komorowski appeared confident that the results, due on Monday, will confirm him as president of Poland."This is a victory for Polish democracy," Mr Komorowski told cheering supporters at his headquarters. "The ballots are being counted. We're opening a small bottle of champagne today, and we'll open a big one tomorrow." >>> Matthew Day in Warsaw | Sunday, July 04, 2010
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Komorowski Wins Polish Presidency: WARSAW—The candidate of Poland's business-friendly ruling party, which wants to shrink the state's role in the economy and deepen ties with the rest of the European Union, won Sunday's presidential election, defeating a rival with a more traditionalist agenda. >>> Gordon Fairclough and Marcin Sobczyk | Monday, July 05, 2010
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THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Italy is considering banning drivers over 80 years old from the roads in a bid to reduce accidents.
The proposal is based on the suggestion that octogenarians are less alert and more easily distracted than younger motorists.
Italy has one of the highest amount of road deaths per year in Europe with more than 5000 registered in 2009.
”We must look at setting an age limit for driving - once it is passed then a licence would be taken away,” said Mario Valducci, chairman of the Italian Parliament Transport Committee. ”It is still at the proposal stage and it would be either around 80 or 85 years old but it is something that is being seriously considered.”
Under current legislation in Italy driving licences must be renewed every ten years until 50, then every five years until 70 and then every three years.
Drivers have to provide medical certificates to verify they are in a good state of health but there is no full practical test to check their reactions. >>> Nick Pisa in Rome | Sunday, July 04, 2010
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THE TELEGRAPH: With its stars being picked off by rival broadcasters and looming cuts to pay and pensions, the mood at the BBC is said to be 'sulphurous'. Neil Midgley looks at the tensions pulling it apart.
Saturday July 17 will see the end of an era at the BBC – and one that the corporation will be glad to forget. Just before 1pm, Jonathan Ross will hang up his Radio 2 headphones for good – his three-year, £18 million deal finally at an end. Ross became a totem of almost everything the BBC's critics say is wrong with it: his massive pay packet, his foul-mouthed style and, fatally, his infamous harassment, with Russell Brand, of the actor Andrew Sachs on Brand's Radio 2 show. His exit should be the opportunity for a golden new dawn at Television Centre in White City: with the page turned and lessons learned, the BBC could and should be ready to show itself not only leaner and meaner, but with higher editorial standards and a greater commitment to the public service broadcasting ideals for which it was founded in the days of John Reith.
Yet when Sir Michael Lyons, the chairman of the BBC Trust, stood up to give an agenda-setting speech at the Voice of the Listener and Viewer consumer group last week, he did not give a confident performance. Though he gathered headlines in the following day's papers with his demand for the BBC's top-earning on-screen stars to be publicly listed, he had in fact dithered over the text of the speech almost until he delivered it. He even added a crucial caveat – that individual presenters' salaries need not be disclosed – while he was on his feet. Often stumbling over his words, he looked and sounded weary and unsure.
Today, Sir Michael will be on his feet again, next to director-general Mark Thompson at the presentation of the BBC's annual report. One Tory MP recently described the pair – with some frustration, given Sir Michael's role as regulator of Thompson's output – as being "like Romulus and Remus, they appear everywhere as a double act". But tensions between those who run the BBC, led by Thompson, and the supervisory Trust, led by Sir Michael, have never been higher. According to one senior source, the executive and the trust are now in "almost open warfare", with the trust's most recent demands about "talent pay" disclosure only hardening the resentment felt at Television Centre towards the trust. The source added that if Sir Michael had gone further and asked for presenters' actual salaries to be disclosed, the pair might have publicly fallen out there and then. Thompson has since ruled out publishing the salary details of the BBC's stars. >>> Neil Midgley | Monday, July 05, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: The 'face' of Jesus Christ has been 'seen' in an image picked up by Google Earth.
The resemblance was found by a 26-year-old man as he used the mapping website to look for holiday destinations.
Zach Evans, from Southampton, spotted the outline in satellite pictures of a field on farmland near Puspokladany in Hungary. >>> | Monday, July 05, 2010
THE SUN: On Google Earth as it is in Heaven >>> Vince Soodin | Monday, July 05, 2010
Sunday, July 04, 2010
20 MINUTES.ch: Le pape Benoît XVI a demandé, dimanche à Sulmona (centre de l'Italie) d'aimer les prêtres malgré leurs «faiblesse», dans une référence implicite aux scandales de pédophilie qui secouent l'Eglise.
«Aimez votre évêque, aimez vos prêtres: malgré leurs faiblesses, ils sont une présence précieuse dans la vie», a dit Benoît XVI, rajoutant oralement le terme de «faiblesses» à son discours écrit.
Lors d'une rencontre avec quelque 200 jeunes, le pape a également dénoncé la société de consommation. «La culture de consommation actuelle tend à attacher l'homme au présent, à lui faire perdre le sens du passé, de l'histoire», a-t-il dit, affirmant que cela «prive» les hommes «de la capacité de se comprendre, de percevoir les problèmes et de construire le futur».
Il a aussi dénoncé «de fausses valeurs et des modèles illusoires qui sont proposés (aux jeunes) et promettent de remplir leur vie alors qu'ils la vident». >>> afp | Dimanche 04 Juillet 2010
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Global body launched: The fight against rape, female circumcision, child mortality and poor healthcare takes on a higher priority.
Some 65 years after it was founded, and after decades of reports on every species of sex discrimination and its wasteful effects, the United Nations has decided to set up a single, powerful body to promote equality for women around the world.
The General Assembly voted unanimously on Friday to launch a new agency called UN Women. It will begin its work in January, have a high-level leader, probably twice the $250m annual budget now allocated to gender issues, and will be tasked with challenging governments on women's plights and rights.
UN Women will press hard for women to have a more widespread and prominent role in politics, and also try to reduce some of the world's more glaring discriminations. These include lack of access to health and education, forced marriages, rape, female cicumcision, and trafficking. Diplomats at the Assembly greeted news of the new body with spontaneous applause as the decision was announced with a rap of its president's gavel. "This is truly a watershed day," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "Member states have created a much stronger voice for women and for gender equality at the global level. It will now be much more difficult for the world to ignore the challenges facing women and girls or to fail to take the necessary action." >>> Nina Lakhani and David Randall | Sunday, July 04, 2010
L’EXPRESS.fr: Le duel entre Kaczynski et Komorowski s'annonce serré au deuxième tour de l'élection présidentielle. Résultats partiels lundi matin.
Les Polonais votent dimanche pour le deuxième tour de l'élection présidentielle opposant. Le duel s'annonce serré entre le candidat libéral Bronislaw Komorowski, 58 ans, et le conservateur Jaroslaw Kaczynski, 61 ans.
Les bureaux de vote ont ouvert ce dimanche 4 juillet à 6h. Le scrutin, dont le premier tour s'est déroulé le 20 juin, est organisé après la mort du président Lech Kaczynski dans un accident d'avion, le 10 avril en Russie.
Bronislaw Komorowski, président de la chambre basse du Parlement et proche allié du Premier ministre libéral et pro-européen Donald Tusk, a obtenu au premier tour 41,54% des voix et part légèrement favori, un dernier sondage le créditant de 51% des intentions de vote.
Chef incontesté de l'opposition conservatrice et président du parti nationaliste Droit et Justice (PiS), l'eurosceptique Jaroslaw Kaczynski, frère jumeau du président défunt, a obtenu le 20 juin 36,46% des voix et il est crédité de 44% des intentions de vote, selon le même sondage. Une autre étude lui donne en revanche la victoire. Continuez à lire et réagir à cet article >>> Par LEXPRESS.fr avec AFP | Dimanche 04 Juillet 2010
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Iran lodged a written complaint alleging that the CIA had abducted one of its nuclear scientists amidst an international mystery over the fate of the man.
Shahram Amiri disappeared in Saudi Arabia while on pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of Medina.
Since then a series of videos have apparently shown Amiri make and retract claims he was drugged and flown to America against his will.
Tehran said it has evidence that he is being held against his will in the United States.
The country's foreign ministry yesterday said it had submitted its evidence to the Swiss embassy, which looks after American interests in the absence of diplomatic relations.
Neither Switzerland nor the United States has made any comment on the case.
Mr Amiri was a nuclear researcher at Tehran's Malek Ashtar University and also worked for the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation.
The Iranian government declared he had been kidnapped by the CIA with Saudi connivance. >>> Richard Spencer in Dubai | Sunday, July 04, 2010
THE CANADIAN PRESS: German state of Bavaria to hold referendum on smoking ban in pubs, beer tents: BERLIN — Germans in the southern state of Bavaria are voting on whether to completely ban smoking statewide, or to continue to allow exceptions for clubs, bars[,] cafes and beer tents. >>> The Associated Press (CP) | Sunday, July 04, 2010
NEW ZEALAND HERALD: Lebanon's Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, one of Shiite Islam's highest religious authorities, died last night at the age of 74, a medical source at a Beirut Hospital said.
Fadlallah had a wide following among Lebanese Shiites and was a supporter of Iran's Islamic Revolution.
He was the spiritual leader and mentor of the Shiite militant group Hizbollah in the first years after it was formed in 1982. [Source: NZ Herald] | Monday, July 05, 2010
NEW ZEALAND HERALD: Pregnant Muslim women who fast during Ramadan are likely to have smaller babies who will be more prone to learning disabilities in adulthood, according to new research.
Scientists in the United States also found that the women were 10 per cent less likely to give birth to a boy if they had fasted during Ramadan.
The trend was clearest if the fasting was done early in the women's pregnancy, and during the summer months, when long hours of daylight called for them to go longer without food. >>> Sarah Cassidy and Jerome Taylor | Friday, June 25, 2010
WHEN IS: Ramadan in 2010 will start on Wednesday, the 11th of August and will continue for 30 days until Thursday, the 9th of September.
Based on sightability in North America, in 2010 Ramadan will start in North America a day later - on Thursday, the 12th of August. >>>
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