SPD-Organisation wirft Thilo Sarrazin hinaus
WELT ONLINE: Der Managerkreis der SPD-nahen Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung verzichtet auf Thilo Sarrazin: Der umstrittene Bundesbank-Vorstand, der den Managerkreis mitgegründet hatte, fliegt aus dem Vorstand der Organisation.

Die Wirtschaftszeitung "Handelsblatt" berichtet unter Berufung auf den Managerkreis-Geschäftsführer Werner Rechmann, die Organisation habe sich „im gegenseitigen Einvernehmen“ darauf verständigt, dass Sarrazin nicht, wie geplant, für das Amt des stellvertretenden Vorsitzenden des Kreises kandidiere. Nicht nur das: Sarrazin solle auch aus dem Vorstand ausscheiden. Hintergrund ist Sarrazins umstrittenes Buch "Deutschland schafft sich ab". In den vergangenen Tagen wurden laut dem Bericht Gespräche geführt, an deren Ende die Entscheidung gegen Sarrazin stand. >>> dino | Dienstag, 07. September 2010

US-Christen wollen Koran verbrennen – Nato besorgt
WELT ONLINE: Die anti-islamische Aktion einer US-Gemeinde gefährde in Afghanistan das Leben von Soldaten, warnt der Nato-Befehlshaber David Petraeus.

Die afghanischen Demonstranten beschmutzten die US-Flagge. Foto: Welt Online
Der Oberbefehlshaber der Nato-Truppen in Afghanistan, David Petraeus, hat sich besorgt über Pläne einer US-Kirche gezeigt, zum Jahrestag der Anschläge vom 11. September 2001 den Koran zu verbrennen. Die Verbrennung des Heiligen Buchs der Muslime könne das Leben von Soldaten am Hindukusch gefährden, sagte der US-General dem „Wall Street Journal“. Die Aktion von einer Evangelikalen-Gruppe aus Florida spiele der Propaganda der Taliban in die Hände und könne „schwerwiegende Probleme“ hervorrufen – und das nicht nur in Afghanistan. Die geplante Koran-Verbrennung hat bereits für erste heftige Reaktionen und Proteste in der islamischen Welt gesorgt.

Die Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville im US-Bundesstaat Florida hatte angekündigt, am 11. September Exemplare des Koran zu verbrennen. Die 50 Mitglieder zählende Gruppe von Evangelisten wirbt auf ihrer Seite im Online-Netzwerk Facebook mit dem Slogan „Islam kommt vom Teufel“. Die Gemeinde bezeichnet sich als neutestamentarische, charismatische Kirche. Sie ist nicht mit einer der großen Kirchen der USA assoziiert, sondern eher eine jener sektiererischen Glaubensgemeinschaften, mit denen die Vereinigten Staaten seit ihrer Gründung so reich gesegnet sind. Pastor Terry Jones erläuterte der Tageszeitung „Houston Chronicle“, der Islam sei „eine Religion der Unterdrückung und der Koran definitiv ein gefährliches Buch“.

Auf der Webseite der Gemeinde liest man zur Begründung der Aktion, dass der Islam eine totalitäre Religion sei und dass „wir mit dieser Aktion vor den Lehren und der Ideologie des Islam warnen wollen, die wir hassen, weil sie hasserfüllt ist. Wir hassen jedoch keine Menschen. Wir lieben – wie Gott – alle Menschen auf der Welt und möchten, dass sie in den Besitz der Wahrheit kommen.“ >>> AFP/KNA/ks | Dienstag, 07. September 2010

Koran Book Burning Will Endanger American Lives, Warns Gen Petraeus
THE TELEGRAPH: General David Petraeus, the US military commander in Afghanistan, has warned that the lives of American troops will be endangered if evangelical Christians in Florida go ahead with plans to burn the Koran on Saturday's ninth anniversary of September 11.

The US military commander in Afghanistan has warned that the lives of American troops will be endangered if evangelical Christians in Florida go ahead with plans to burn the Koran on Saturday's ninth anniversary of September 11.

Gen Petraeus said that burning Islam's holy book would be a propaganda coup for the Taliban in Afghanistan and stoke anti-US sentiment across the Muslim world.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan," he said.

"It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community." >>> | Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Pakistani Government Minister: Obama For Caliph!
HUMAN EVENTS: The caliph in Sunni Islam is the symbol of the supranational unity of the Muslims, and is the successor of Muhammad as the military, political, and spiritual leader of the Islamic community. There hasn’t been a caliph for nearly 90 years, but now Pakistan’s Minister of State for Industries, Ayatullah Durrani, has a novel idea for just the right man for the job: Barack Obama!



The caliphate was abolished in 1924 by the secular Turkish government; foremost on the agenda of Islamic supremacists worldwide is its restoration. Hamstringing that effort, however, has been the lack of a candidate who would be acceptable to everyone concerned. The elusive one-eyed Islamic cleric who leads the Taliban in Afghanistan, Mullah Omar, was declared caliph—Emir al-Momineen, or Leader of the Believers—by his followers in 1994.

Omar went to the Shrine of the Respectable Cloak of Muhammad in Kandahar, climbed up onto its roof, and wrapped himself in the Muslim prophet’s cloak, to the jubilation of his followers below. But Omar's claim to the caliphate has been complicated by a number of matters since then—notably the toppling of the Taliban from state power by American forces—and his claim to the caliphate has been acknowledged by only one group outside Afghanistan: Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a group formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat—a name that shares none of the U.S. government’s delicacy about identifying Islamic preaching as a not infrequent source of jihad violence.

The restoration of the caliphate is foremost on the agenda of the global mujahedin because, according to Islamic law, the caliph alone can declare offensive jihad against infidel nations—which is why Osama bin Laden and other jihad theorists cast all the present actions of Islamic jihadists as defensive.

Islamic supremacists also see the abolition of the caliphate as the loss of the unity of the umma, the Islamic community worldwide; they see a divided Islamic umma as a weakened one, subject to buffeting and humiliation from colonialist and neo-colonialist powers. >>> Robert Spencer | Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Related >>>

Belgique : les Wallons lèvent le tabou de la scission
LE FIGARO: Après l'échec des négociations entre Flamands et francophones, les politiques wallons évoquent pour la première fois une éventuelle scission.

L'hypothèse d'une scission du pays commence à faire son chemin dans le monde politique belge francophone. Plusieurs représentants de premier plan ont ouvertement évoqué cette éventualité dimanche après l'échec des négociations entre Wallons et indépendantistes Flamands qui auraient dû aboutir vendredi à la formation d'un gouvernement. Les déclarations sont toutes venues du parti socialiste, vainqueur des récentes élections législatives du 13 juin en Wallonie. >>> Par lefigaro.fr | Lundi 06 Septembre 2010

Prince Charles Embarks on Lavish Train Trip to Spread Green Message
THE GUARDIAN: Eight carriages for a core party of 14 people to preach a message of sustainability on week-long tour of Britain

Prince Charles boards the royal train at Glasgow Central station. Photograph: The Guardian
As a mode of transport, the royal train suits Prince Charles down to his hand-made brogues: resolutely old-fashioned, rather costly for the taxpayer, but just possibly ahead of its time.

The locomotive this afternoon hauled the prince out of Glasgow station, furnished with the prince's bespoke study, a grand dining room and bedroom suite, complete with bath and his and hers beds, on the start of a four-day tour of Britain that will cost the taxpayer at least £50,000.

The contrast between the train's opulence, which seemed worthy of an oligarch, and the purpose of its journey was, to some, jarring. Charles has begun a week-long trip to persuade his "subjects" to go green, and the train from which he has chosen to assert his voice in the climate debate has been converted to run on cooking fat, which, its suppliers estimate, creates just one-eighth of the carbon dioxide of oil-based diesel.

Until Friday the prince will criss-cross Scotland, England and Wales to "extol the virtues of a sustainability revolution", preaching the benefits of towelling nappies, cycling, and European city breaks by train. The "Start" campaign, as he is badging the initiative, "doesn't lecture or hector anyone, nor does it attempt to frighten", he insisted today. To run the campaign, which could cost £2m a year, he has hired a leading marketing executive from B&Q, Jo Kenrick, and signed up major sponsors including Asda, BT and EDF.

"What I hope to get across to as many people as possible is that, however awful the predicament we face with climate change and the unsustainable use of resources that keep us all alive, we aren't going to get anywhere by telling everyone they need to stop doing things," he said on the platform. "There has been quite enough of that in recent years."

But even before his train set off to the sound of a lone piper, the prince was facing perhaps inevitable accusations of double standards for using lavish transport – eight carriages for a core party of just 14 people – to preach a message of sustainability.

"I'm not sure he'll get that many people jumping on his bandwagon," said Nicky Coles, 38, a child carer who watched Charles roll up to the launch in a motorcade of petrol-guzzling cars. "He's a royal. He has the money to go green while Joe Bloggs hasn't. He can get his gardener to grow organic vegetables while the rest of us go to the supermarket and pay more." Read on and comment >>> Robert Booth | Monday, September 06, 2010

Anniversary of the Blitz: 'I Thought, I Cannot Be Alive'


THE TELEGRAPH: On the 70th anniversary of the start of the aerial bombing that devastated British cities, Juliet Gardiner recalls eight months of terror and hardship, and the rise of the 'Blitz spirit'.

Len Jones spent the night of Saturday September 7 1940 in a brick-built public shelter in Poplar, east London, which "lifted and moved, almost as if it was a ship in a rough sea. And the suction and the blasts were coming in and out of the steel door, smashing backwards and forwards, bashing us against the walls…

"The worst part was the poor little kids, they were screaming and crying and clutching their parents. The heat was colossal; the steel door was so hot you couldn't touch it. And everybody was being sick, and people were having to carry on their normal bodily needs, and the smell was terrible."

It was the first night of the Blitz that would last for eight exhausting and perilous months, with German bombs pounding the towns, cities, ports and industrial sites of Britain. The Battle of Britain, in which the Luftwaffe targeted British airfields and aircraft in an attempt to gain air supremacy, had clearly not succeeded in persuading the British to surrender as Hitler had hoped. Although he had no particular wish to fight Britain, since his ambitions lay east, towards Russia, the Führer needed British acquiescence and it was clear that this was not forthcoming. Britain would "fight on, if necessary alone", said Churchill after the fall of France. "We will never surrender."

So German tactics changed: although the dogfights in the air over southern England continued, the Luftwaffe switched its bomber force to attack London in an attempt to destroy Britain's capacity to wage war. London would be bombed without cessation for 57 consecutive nights. And, although in November the aerial attacks fanned out to the provinces, starting with Coventry and extending to Merseyside, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Clydeside, Hull, Southampton, Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Portsmouth, Plymouth and many other places, it was as if London was a magnet attracting the bombers back to devastate the capital.

That first terrible night set the pattern for the Blitz. First, the bombers would drop incendiary bombs; if left unattended, these would start fires that would absorb the resources of the Civil Defence workers and act as a beacon for the next wave of bombers, which would drop deadly high explosive bombs, ranging in weight from 112lb to the "Max" at 5,500lb. Although the targets were munitions factories, docks and administrative centres, the notion of precision bombing was a chimera and, in any case, in the 1940s industrial and residential areas lay cheek by jowl in Britain's towns and cities. "Collateral damage" invariably included a grim tally of homes and lives. >>> Juliet Gardiner* | Tuesday, September 07, 2010

* Juliet Gardiner is the author of 'The Blitz: The British Under Attack' published this week (Harper Press, £25)

Picture Gallery: Wartime propaganda >>>

Picture Gallery: Vintage Ministry of Food posters >>>

Related >>>

Australia Election: Labour's Julia Gillard Retains Power after Securing Support of Independents
THE TELEGRAPH: Julia Gillard, the Australia's Labour Prime Minister, has clung onto power after forming a fragile coalition government with a majority of one seat in the country's parliament.



The country's first woman leader, who came to office after a Labour revolt just 10 weeks ago, scraped over the line to form a government with support from the "kingmakers" after 17 days of frantic post-election talks.

After two weeks of negotiations following inconclusive election results, the country's first woman leader scraped over the line to form a government ahead of conservative rival Tony Abbott.

"Labour is prepared to govern," she said. "I believe the Australian people, given the closeness of this vote, want us to find more common ground in the national interest."

"I will work tirelessly to do what we said we would do, and that is to forge a new paradigm of modern government in this country," We are prepared to go forward to serve the Australian people. I begin this task more optimistic and more confident than ever before in the Australian people and our hopes and aspirations." >>> | Tuesday, September 07, 2010

China to Build $2bn Railway for Iran
THE TELEGRAPH: China is poised to sign a $2bn (£1.3bn) deal to build a railway line in Iran in the first step of a wider plan to tie the Middle East and Central Asia to Beijing.

The Chinese have already built a railway line serving Tibet, above, and now plan a modern variant on the old 'Silk Road' through Central Asia. Photo: The Telegraph
China's railways minister, Liu Zhijun, is expected to visit Tehran this week to seal the deal, according to his Iranian counterpart, Hamid Behbahani.

"The final document of the contract has already been signed with a Chinese company and the Chinese minister will visit Iran on September 12 to ink the agreement," said Mr Behbahani.

The new line will run from Tehran to the town of Khosravi on the border with Iraq, around 360 miles as the crow flies, passing through Arak, Hamedan and Kermanshah.

Eventually, the Iranian government said, the route could link Iran with Iraq and even Syria as part of a Middle-Eastern corridor. That could also benefit the 5,000 Iranians who make pilgrimages each day to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq.

Nicklas Swanstrom, the executive director of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University, said the contract to build the line was the first step for China to build an entire rail infrastructure for central Asia.

"It makes sense that if you build railways in Iran, you then get deals to stretch the lines into central Asia," he said, referring to a "very concrete plan" to run a railway from Iran through the landlocked countries of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and eventually to Kashgar in China, in a modern "silk route". >>> Malcolm Moore in Shanghai | Tuesday, September 07, 2010

China’s GDP >>>

Western profits wilt on China's surging wages: Rising wage and production costs in China are eating into the profits of Western companies and may soon set off an exodus of multinational companies to cheaper locations. >>> Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Turkey Joins Europe, Electrically Speaking
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Turkey may be frustrated in its bid to become part of the European Union, but by the end of September, it will join Europe’s electric grid.

Most electric systems in continental Europe — including those in countries like Poland and Romania — have synchronized currents, allowing electricity to flow easily from country to country. But other nations, including Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Finland and until now, Turkey, have remained separate.

Turkey has been trying to connect for 10 years. Like Europe, it uses an alternating current, with the electrons dancing back and forth 50 times a second, but its system has been out of phase with the European grid.

Now, after extensive work by General Electric to enable Turkey’s system to connect, the country will join up for a one-year trial, according to the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity. >>> Matthew L. Wald | Monday, September 06, 2010

Bilal Assad
If you think this man is an Arab, you’ll be mistaken. He’s an Australian! A convert to Islam.

"Bilal was born in Williamstown, Melbourne, Australia. He started his Islamic studies at a very early age and acquired his Shariah knowledge in Lebanon; and continued tertiary education in Bio-Medical Science in Australia. Bilal has been offering his service to the community for many years and has been working with the Islamic Society of Victoria for over ten years. idca.org.au " [Source: Kallamullah.com]

Valentina Matviyenko: Meet Russia's Thatcher, the Chemist Who Could End Up in the Kremlim
Valentina Matviyenko. Photo: The Independent
THE INDEPENDENT: Russia's next presidential election is not until 2012, but speculation is already rife about whether Dmitry Medvedev will try for a second term or whether his predecessor, Vladimir Putin, will want to reclaim his old job. The one thing almost everyone can agree on is that they will not stand against each other. But there might just be a third way, and that third way could give Russia its very own Margaret Thatcher or Angela Merkel.

Even to mention the possibility risks crushing Valentina Matviyenko's prospects well before nominations open. But if anyone can do it, the 61-year-old Governor of St Petersburg may be the one. In the past seven years, during which she has been essentially the city's chief executive, the city has changed conspicuously for the better.

Vast investment by the central government improved the city's dilapidated fabric in time for the 300th anniversary in 2003. But the bigger changes have happened since, with huge new housing and commercial building projects and, most conspicuously, a transformation of the public mood. For the first time in my more than 30 years of visiting, people on the streets of St Petersburg seem confident and content with themselves. >>> Mary Dejevsky in St Petersburg | Monday, September 06, 2010

Väterchen Staat als Unternehmer
NZZ am SONNTAG: Washington greift so stark in die US-Wirtschaft ein wie nie zuvor. Kaum ein Sektor, in dem das Weisse Haus nicht mitmischt. Damit will der Staat den Abstieg Amerikas verhindern. Von Felix Wadewitz, New York

Offiziell strebt General Motors (GM) an die Börse, um sich aus der Umarmung des Staats zu lösen. Kein Kritiker soll mehr über «Government Motors» spotten können. Seit Präsident Obama GM mit 50 Mrd. $ vor dem Untergang bewahrte, gehören 61% dem Staat. Für viele Amerikaner ist das ein Unding. Die Hälfte der Bevölkerung lehnt laut Umfragen die Rettung ab. Der schnelle Börsengang soll deshalb zeigen: Die Intervention des Weissen Hauses war erfolgreich; der Konzern steht nun wieder auf eigenen Beinen.

Staatskapitalismus pur

Ohne Einfluss wird das Weisse Haus aber auch in Zukunft nicht sein: Nach dem geplanten Börsengang bleibt Uncle Sam der grösste Anteilseigner. Und der neue Mann an der Spitze, Daniel Akenson, geniesst ohnehin das Vertrauen der Regierung. Das Finanzministerium entsandte ihn vor einem Jahr in den GM-Verwaltungsrat, um die Interessen der Steuerzahler zu wahren.

Das Klischee vom Kapitalismus in Reinform stimmt längst nicht mehr. Die Autoindustrie ist nur das prominenteste Beispiel in einer langen Reihe von staatlichen Eingriffen in die US-Wirtschaft. Die Rettung der Banken, die Ausweitung der Gesundheitsfürsorge, die Förderung von Exporten und neuen Technologien, Konjunkturspritzen und die Stabilisierung des Immobilienmarkts – all das resultiert in einer dramatisch steigenden Staatsquote. >>> Von Felix Wadewitz | Sonntag, 05. September 2010

Verbunden >>>

Iran on Brink of Nuclear Weapon, Warns Watchdog
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran has passed a crucial nuclear threshold, weapons inspectors have warned, and could now go on to arm an atomic missile with relative ease.

Hillary Clinton during the imposition of sanctions. The may be hurting the economy but Iran's weapons programme is continuing. Photo: The Telegraph
A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iranian nuclear scientists had made at least 22 kilograms of enriched uranium at least 20 per cent purity, a technical hurdle that is the hardest to overcome on the way to weapons-grade uranium.

Experts estimate that 20 kgs of uranium is the minimum required to arm a warhead. The uranium would still need to have its purity raised to 90 per cent, but that is a relatively easy process.

The agency's report comes in spite of the recent imposition at the United Nations of a fresh round of sanctions against Iran and will heighten fears of an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear plants. The prospect of an attack had receded only recently with American assurances that Tehran was more than a year away from acquiring a bomb.

The Vienna-based nuclear watchdog said Tehran had maintained its absolute defiance of international pressure to curb its programme despite the imposition of harsh sanctions in May. The IAEA has grown increasingly alarmed at Iran's behaviour and the latest report, which will be presented to the agency's governors at a meeting next week, lambasted Tehran on a series of fronts. >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Monday, September 06, 2010

While the West dilly-dorks and faffs around with sanctions which will never have the desired effect, Iran continues with its nuclear programme. When the Iranians will have the bomb, and will be able to threaten Israel and Europe, it will be too late. And all this is taking place on Hussein Obama's watch. Sanctions won't work against the mullahs of Iran, no more than they'd have worked against Hitler and Nazi Germany. Find your backbone and deal with the matter. Get with the story! – © Mark

TV Evangelist Vows to Build Christian Centre at Ground Zero to Counter 'the Lies of Islam'
MAIL ONLINE: An evangelical preacher has vowed to build a Christian centre at New York’s ground zero in protest at the mosque proposed to be built there.

Bill Keller said he is raising funds to build a house of worship within a few blocks of where terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.

As tension mounted ahead of the ninth anniversary of the attack this Saturday, Keller said Muslims were ‘going to hell’ and he had to intervene to counter ‘the lies of Islam’.

Keller, a TV evangelist, has ratcheted up the ill-feeling directed towards Muslims and his inflammatory language sparked renewed fears of Islamophobic responses.

His first sermon was on Sunday at the New York Marriott Downtown Hotel, his temporary headquarters, and he plans to open his Christian centre on January 1 next year.

The mosque, called Park 51, is scheduled to begin construction next year and will be a 13-storey community centre with enough space for 500 worshippers.

'When they decided to build a mosque and decided to preach what I consider a 1,400-year-old lie from Hell, I decided that somebody should be down there preaching the truth of God's word,’ Keller told the crowd.

‘All these people will die and burn in hell. Islam is not and has never been a religion of peace.

‘How could you build bridges with people who ask their Muslim brothers to fly a plane into the Twin Towers and killed thousands of innocent people?’ >>> Daniel Bates | Moonday, September 06, 2010

Bill Keller Ministries >>>

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani va être fouettée, selon son fils
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: TEHERAN | Le fils de Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, une Iranienne condamnée à la lapidation pour adultère, a annoncé lundi que les autorités iraniennes lui avaient infligé une nouvelle peine, 99 coups de fouet, après la publication dans un journal britannique d’une femme non voilée et présentée par erreur comme sa mère. >>> AP | Lundi 06 Septembre 2010

La lapidation de Sakineh pourrait avoir lieu après le Ramadan
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: IRAN | Le fils de l'Iranienne Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, condamnée à mort par lapidation, a déclaré lundi craindre l'exécution de la sentence après la fin du Ramadan.

Cette possibilité a été évoquée lors d'une conversation téléphonique devant la presse avec l'écrivain français Bernard-Henri Lévy. Le Ramadan doit s'achever cette année autour du 10 septembre.

Sajjad Mohammadi Ashtiani, 22 ans, a déclaré ne plus avoir de nouvelles de sa mère depuis que ses "aveux", que sa famille et ses avocats considèrent comme forcés, avaient été diffusés par la télévision iranienne le 11 août. "Les visites hebdomadaires sont interdites", a-t-il dit. >>> AFP | Lundi 06 Septembre 2010

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Iranian woman could be executed after Ramadan, lawyer says: Confirmed Iranian woman sentenced to stoning was lashed 99 times last week for photo in British Newspaper mistakenly identified as her >>> Nasser Karimi, Tehran, Iran, The Associated Press | Monday, September 06, 2010

Hussein Obama Goes On Another Spending Spree On Taxpayers’ Dollars
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama yesterday unveiled a $50 billion plan to expand and renew roads, railways and airports in a late bid to boost confidence in the economy and prevent the Democratic Party from suffering a landslide defeat in forthcoming polls.

The plan was one of several economic initiatives Mr Obama was due to unveil this week, when campaigning begins in earnest for the Nov 2 midterm elections.

Speaking in Wisconsin on the Labour Day holiday, which marks the end of summer in the United States, President Obama proposed building 150,000 miles of roads, constructing and maintaining 4,000 miles of rail and rehabilitating 150 miles of runway, as well as modernising the air traffic control system.

He also proposed setting up an infrastructure bank to coordinate private, state and local capital to invest in projects.

A senior administration official said the American President's goal was to "create a substantial number of jobs in the short turn [sic] and lay the foundation for jobs growth in the long run".

The plan, which needs the approval of Congress, would spend $50 billion (£32 billion) in the first of its six years, and would be paid for by ending tax breaks for oil companies, the official said. Obama unveils $50 billion roads, rail and air plan to win votes >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Monday, September 06, 2010

ZEIT ONLINE: Obama will mit weiteren Milliarden Aufschwung sichern: Die US-Wirtschaft kommt nicht auf die Beine. Präsident Obama plant daher erneut ein gigantisches Konjunkturprogramm – zumal seine Demokraten ein Wahldebakel fürchten. >>> Zeit Online, Reuters, AFP | Montag, 06. September 2010

Stone Mason Sparks Cathedral Row with 'Muslim' Gargoyle
THE TELEGRAPH: A Lyons stone mason has provoked a row after creating a gargoyle for the city's cathedral in the image of his Muslim foreman with a sign saying "Allahu Akbar" (God is great[er]) in both Arabic and French.

A new gargoyle on Lyon cathedral, which looks like Benzizine Ahmed (R), the Muslim foreman who led the restoration of the tower and worked on the cathedral for 30 years. Photo: The Telegraph
The 12th century Saint-Jean cathedral of Lyons, southeastern France, has hundreds of gargoyles around its roof whose traditional role has been to ward off evil spirits.

Since August, this seat of the Archbishop of Lyons has a new addition – a face remarkably similar to Ahmed Benzizine, a Muslim foreman who has been restoring churches and cathedrals in France for the past 37 years.

Emmanuel Fourchet, a local stone mason decided to immortalise his friend according to an age-old tradition of carving gargoyles resembling associates that stretches right back to the cathedral's construction.

"It could have been the face of a Portuguese man or anyone else but it happens to be an Algerian Muslim Arab – my friend Ahmed," he said.

However, while some have praised the initiative as a unifying "ecumenical gesture", the move has sparked cries of blasphemy among the more conservative elements of the churchgoing community who have sent angry letters of complaint. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Monday, September 06, 2010

Berühmte Moslems finden Jesus

Ein Moslem tritt vom Islam zum Christentum über

Ahmadinejad met en doute la version des attentats du 11 septembre 2001
LE POINT: Le président iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a de nouveau mis en doute, dans une rencontre avec la presse, dimanche soir, au Qatar, la version officielle des attentats du 11 septembre 2001 aux États-Unis, qu'il accuse de s'en être servis comme prétexte pour intervenir en Afghanistan. "Quelque chose s'est produit à New York et personne ne sait encore quels en étaient les principaux (bien principaux) auteurs. Aucune partie indépendante n'a été autorisée à essayer d'en identifier les auteurs", a déclaré M. Ahmadinejad. Après les attentats contre les tours jumelles du World Trade Center (WTC) qui ont fait près de 3.000 victimes, "ils (les Américains) ont dit que des terroristes se cachaient en Afghanistan, et l'Otan a mobilisé tous ses moyens et attaqué ce pays", a-t-il ajouté. Ahmadinejad avait déjà qualifié de "mensonge" la version américaine des attentats du 11-Septembre, … >>> Source AFP | Lundi 06 Septembre 2010