Frenchman Locked Up for Asking Rachida Dati for 'an Inflation'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Frenchman was locked up for two days and is facing criminal charges for sending a joke email to Rachida Dati, the former Justice Minister, asking for "an inflation".

The unnamed 40-year-old contacted the MEP at the European Parliament in Strasbourg last week following her appearance on a national radio station when she confused the words "fellatio" and "inflation" – which sound similar in French.

At the time Miss Dati managed to laugh off the mix-up, saying she had spoken too quickly.

After Miss Dati complained about the joke email, the home of sender from Bourg de Péage region of south east France, was raided by Lyon's Judicial Police.

Ivan Flaud, the man's lawyer, said: "My client's computer was seized and he was remanded in custody for 48 hours."

The man was traced through the IP address on his personal computer.

After being kept in a cell and then placed on bail he was ordered to appear in court on December 3 charged with displaying contempt towards a public servant, an offence which is punishable with a prison sentence of up to a month and a €10,000 (£8,700) fine. >>> Peter Allen, in Paris | Friday, October 29, 2010


Lapsus: Dati confond "inflation" et... "fellation"
Uploaded by LePostfr. - Up-to-the minute news videos.
LE MONDE: Gardé à vue pour une "petite inflation" : Un plaisantin, amusé par le lapsus de l'ex-garde des sceaux sur Canal + fin septembre, qui avait parlé de "fellation" au lieu d'"inflation", s'est retrouvé 48 heures en garde à vue la semaine dernière – appartement perquisitionné, ordinateur saisi – pour avoir envoyé à Rachida Dati au Parlement européen un courriel lui proposant une petite "inflation". >>> LE MONDE | Vendredi 29 Octobre 2010

LE POST: Gardé à vue 48h pour des mails graveleux à Dati : "Disproportionné pour une blague potache" >>> | Vendredi 29 Octobre 2010

Methinks that Rachida Dati takes herself far too seriously! It was she who made the mistake in the first place. She should now rise above it all, grow up, show her mettle, and take it all on the chin. – © Mark

EDL Threatens to “Close Your Towns” Over Xmas Ban
DAILY STAR: A FAR-RIGHT group has vowed to “close down” any town that ditches British traditions and shows favouritism to Muslims.

The English Defence League said it has written to every council in the country threatening a mass invasion if they ban the word “Christmas”.

It includes using the term “winter festival” in case Christmas upsets Muslims.

EDL leader Stephen Lennon said “working class people” in the UK were “at boiling point” over what he says is the “Islamisation of Britain.” >>> Steve Hughes | Tuesday, October 26, 2010

HT: Weasel Zippers >>>

Obama enttäuscht Amerikas Linke
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Aus Liebe ist Enttäuschung geworden: Der linke Flügel der Demokraten wendet sich von Barack Obama ab - Schwulen-aktivisten, Menschenrechtler und Kriegsgegner sehen wichtige Wahlversprechen gebrochen. Auch der Frust unter den Latinos dürfte das Lager des Präsidenten viele Stimmen kosten.

Kip Williams nippt am Eistee. Er sitzt in einem Lokal mitten in San Franciscos Schwulenviertel Castro, trägt ein weißes enges T-Shirt, dazu rote Turnschuhe. Hier haben Cafés französische Namen und verkaufen Biopanini. Williams ist vor vier Jahren hergezogen, aus dem konservativen Tennessee.

Er erinnert sich gerne an diese Zeit, George W. Bush saß damals zwar noch im Weißen Haus, doch die Demokraten übernahmen schon mal den Kongress, es herrschte Aufbruchstimmung. Die wuchs noch, als zwei Jahre später Barack Obama Präsident wurde. Auch Williams glaubte an ihn, er machte Wahlkampf für Obama. Der hatte als Senator Sympathien für die gleichgeschlechtliche Ehe gezeigt.

Doch jetzt ist Williams' Kontakt mit den Demokraten, seiner Partei, abrupt abgebrochen. "Sie sind schwach, und sie haben kein politisches Rückgrat", schimpft der junge Mann. Und Obama selbst? "Er hat sein Versprechen gebrochen." Der Präsident sei ein ideales Beispiel dafür, wie Washington einen guten Mann zugrunde richten könne. Linker Wähler-Flügel der Demokraten in Aufruhr >>> Von Gregor Peter Schmitz, San Francisco | Freitag, 29. Oktober 2010

EU-Beitritt: "Türkei wird Europas kulturelle Basis ändern"
WELT ONLINE: Der türkische Außenminister sagt Europa eine Tendenz "zu mehr Religion" voraus. Europa werde sich auf eine vielseitigere Zukunft zubewegen.

Ahmet Davutoglu ist seit Mai 2009 türkischer Außenminister. Bild: Welt Online
Der türkische Außenminister Ahmet Davutoglu ist davon überzeugt, dass ein türkischer EU-Beitritt die „zivilisatorischen Grundlagen“ Europas verändern wird: Weg von einer „rigide westlichen Identität“ und hin zu mehr Religion und „Monotheismus“.

Davutoglu wurde von der neuen, englischsprachigen Zeitschrift „Turkish Review“ mit den Worten zitiert, Europa werde dank des türkischen EU-Beitritts und dank der neuen türkischen Öffnung gegenüber der muslimischen Welt, „mit sehr alten Zivilisationen in Austausch treten“. Dieser Austausch werde das als Zivilisation viel jüngere Europa dazu bewegen „seine eigenen zivilisatorischen Grundlagen infrage zu stellen“.

Als Beispiel nannte Davutoglu den Minarett-Streit. „Heute sind manche europäischen Länder gegen Minarette eingestellt. Der Grund ist das sehr starke und rigide westliche Selbstverständnis. Aber Städte mit vielfältigeren kulturellen Bauwerken produzieren pluralistischere Bürger“. Europa werde sich auf eine solche vielseitigere Zukunft zubewegen, meinte Davutoglu, aber es werde zugleich religiöser, und das europäische Christentum selbst werde in gewisser Weise islamischer, nämlich „monotheistischer“ werden: „Meine persönliche Voraussage ist, dass neue christliche Bewegungen mit stärker monotheistischen Tendenzen aufblühen werden“, heißt es in dem Interview. >>> Von Boris Kálnoky | Donnerstag, 28. Oktober 2010

FM: Turkey’s EU Entry to Change Civilizational Premises
TODAY’S ZAMAN: Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, largely responsible for engineering Turkish foreign policy, has told the Turkish Review that the European Union, which will interact with ancient civilizations through Turkey’s entry into the bloc, will begin to question its civilization premises as a result of this interaction.

“Europe will experience what Turkey is passing through today in an extensive manner. Turkey will be an inoculation to Europe and I believe a very fertile intellectual atmosphere will be born. Of course, the civilizational premises will be opened to questioning. My personal prediction is that new Christian movements with stronger monotheistic tendencies will flourish,” Davutoğlu said in an interview with the Turkish Review, a bimonthly journal whose first issue was released this week.

Davutoğlu gave an exclusive interview to the journal’s editor-in-chief, Kerim Balcı, who is also a columnist for Today’s Zaman. Elaborating on his statements, Davutoğlu used the example of some European countries being against the building of minarets. >>> | Thursday, October 28, 2010

Damian Thompson: 'Mohammed' Is the Top Boys' Name Because Muslims Are Becoming More Religious, Not Because There Are More Muslims *
Britain's Muslims are becoming more religious. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – DAMIAN THOMPSON: “Mohammed” is the most popular boys’ name in Britain – a fact that only jumped out at researchers when they lumped together its variant spellings. But why? Is it a function of the scale of immigration from Muslim countries over the past decade? I’m sure that’s not the main factor. The answer, I suspect, lies in the findings of a poll by Policy Exchange in 2007:

Young British Muslims are much more likely than their parents to follow the rules of the Islamic religion, a think tank survey showed.

Support for Sharia law, Islamic schools and wearing the Hijab is much stronger among younger Muslims, according to the survey by the centre-right Policy Exchange.

The survey of more than 1,000 Muslims from different age groups in the UK, found:

• 71% of over-55s compared with 62% of 16 to 24-year-olds believe that they have as much, if not more, in common with non-Muslims in Britain than with Muslims abroad.

• 19% of over-55s compared with 37% of 16 to 24-year-olds would prefer to send their children to Islamic state schools.

• 17% of over-55s compared with 37% of 16 to 24-year-olds would prefer living under Sharia law than British law.

• 28% of over-55s compared with 74% of 16 to 24-year-olds prefer Muslim women to choose to wear the Islamic headscarf.

These religious young Muslims are more likely than their parents to name their boys after the man they (and the ever-respectful BBC) refer to simply as “the Prophet”. This is a function of the Islamification of Britain’s Pakistani community, which was encouraged by the last government to identify itself by faith rather than national background. Read on and comment >>> Damian Thompson | Thursday, October 28, 2010

* There is one SIMPLE reason why Muhammad/Mohammed/Mohamed has become Britain’s favourite boys’ name: It is because the Muslim population of Britain has exploded; and the authorities have allowed this situation to come about. By and large, the British people don’t want them here. – © Mark

Has Vladimir Putin Taken a Kicking? Or Is It a Facelift?
THE GUARDIAN: Speculation is rampant over Vladimir Putin's appearance in Kiev, sporting gaudy orange make-up, with many saying it hid a black eye. Has the Russian action man been beaten up?

Vladimir Putin's appearance at a meeting in Kiev has prompted speculation that he was hiding an injury with make-up. Photograph: The Guardian
Was it the result of a judo chop? A visit to the dentist? A cuffing by some wild beast?

Speculation was rife in Ukraine today after Vladimir Putin visited the country with what appeared to be a large bruise on his cheekbone.

Russia's action man prime minister seemed down in the dumps as he met Ukraine's pro-Moscow leadership with his face smothered in orange foundation – apparently to hide the shiner under his left eye.

Putin's aides denied anything was wrong, but the leader's appearance caused intense speculation in local media and blogs. Ukrainian television channel TSN said the Kremlin chief had "noticeable swelling" on his face and was "covered in make-up".

Andrei Kolesnikov, a well-known correspondent with Russia's Kommersant newspaper, confirmed the prime minister's unusual aspect. "Could it really be the result of some tough sparring?" he asked, saying the bruise was "thoroughly retouched but nonetheless noticeable to everyone without exception".

In pictures from Kiev, the make-up on Putin's face appeared to have been so hastily applied that it stopped at a tide line in the middle of his forehead. >>> Tom Parfitt in Moscow | Thursday, October 28, 2010

Germany Moves to Ban Forced Marriages
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Germany's government has proposed criminalising forced marriage in an attempt to wipe out the traditional Muslim practice.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet agreed to a proposed law that would make forced marriage in Germany a crime that can be punished with up to five years in prison.

The legislation still needs to pass parliament.

"Forced marriages are a serious problem in Germany," Thomas de Maiziere, the interior minister, said, adding that by criminalising them Germany would make clear that this is no longer "a tradition from olden times or different cultures that is ... tolerable."

About 4.3 million Muslims live in Germany, and forced marriage is still fairly common, especially among Turks and Arabs.

There are no official figures on the number of forced marriages, but rights groups say that increasing numbers of young immigrants who grew up in Germany and identify with Western values and the right to choose their own partners are rebelling against the tradition. >>> | Thursday, October 28, 2010

German Foreign Ministry 'Actively Encouraged Holocaust'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A German government report has concluded that German diplomats were complicit in the murder of millions of jews during the Second World War.

Despite decades-long efforts by ministry employees to present the foreign office as a place of opposition during the Third Reich, diplomats were actually willing participants in the Nazis' campaign against the Jews, the report concluded – from spying on Jewish-German emigrants abroad to actively contributing to the mass murder of Europe's Jews until 1945.

"The German Foreign Ministry collaborated with the Nazis' violent politics and especially assisted in all aspects of the discrimination, deportation, persecution and genocide of the Jews," said Eckhart Conze, one of four historians who helped prepare the 880-page official report on the German Foreign Ministry's involvement in the Holocaust.

Former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer commissioned the report while he was in office in 2005. His decision was prompted by a public debate over the ministry's Nazi past, after it became known that the ministry was still publishing well-meaning obituaries about former employees who were committed Nazis. >>> | Thursday, October 28, 2010

FOCUS ONLINE: „Diplomaten waren Mittäter im Dritten Reich“ : Die Geschichte der Diplomaten im Dritten Reich ist eine Geschichte der Kollaboration bei der Judenvernichtung. Dies hat eine Historiker-kommission herausgefunden. Der beteiligte Marburger Professor Eckart Conze im FOCUS-Online-Interview. >>> von FOCUS-Online-Redakteurin Sandra Tjong | Donnerstag, 28. Oktober 2010

Les islamistes exécutent deux jeunes filles pour espionnage
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: SOMALIE | Les islamistes shebab ont exécuté par balles mercredi deux jeunes filles jugées coupables d’espionnage, ont rapporté jeudi des témoins sur place. C’est la première fois que des femmes sont tuées dans ce pays sous un tel chef d’accusation.

L’exécution a eu lieu à Beledweyne, une ville proche de la frontière avec l’Ethiopie, devant plusieurs centaines de personnes. Les jeunes filles semblaient âgées de 17 ou de 18 ans, selon les témoignages. «Ces femmes espionnaient pour l’ennemi et ont été arrêtées par les mudjahidines (combattants islamiques) la semaine dernière», a déclaré à la foule, après l’exécution, Sheikh Youssouf Ali Ougas, commandant régional des shebab. «Après une longue enquête, elles ont avoué leurs crimes», a-t-il ajouté. Autres exécutions probables >>> ATS/AFP | Jeudi 28 Octobre 2010

Unwitting Western Couple Mocked as 'Infidel' and 'Swine' by 'Minister' During Foreign Language Wedding Ceremony at Luxury Maldives Resort
MAIL ONLINE: A luxury resort in the Maldives has sparked outrage after a video appeared on You Tube showing members of staff abusing and mocking their guests using a language they were unable to understand.

Employees at the Vilu Reef Beach and Spa resort can be seen calling an English-speaking couple ‘infidel’ and ‘swine’ and calling their guests' marriage illegal in their native Dhivehi tongue throughout the 15-minute wedding ceremony.

According to the Maldives news service Minivan News, the video which was uploaded to You Tube ‘as a joke’, shows an employee named Hussein Didi conducting a service as a 'celebrant' - a person who is empowered to perform a religious ceremony.

The document he uses, of which there is a brief close-up in the video, has absolutely no relation to marriage laws in the Maldives.

Words that are legible on the document refer to ‘staff employment’, suggesting that it is a document relating to employment regulations.

Asking the couple and other ‘officials’ to raise their hands as is customary for Muslim prayers, the ‘celebrant’ begins his marriage vows.

‘Fornication has been legalised according to Article six, 1.11 of the Penal Code,' he chants in a tone favoured by religious scholars. ‘That is, frequent fornication by homosexuals. Most fornication is by males,’ he continues.

‘You are swine. The children that you bear from this marriage will all be bastard swine,’ he says to his guests.

‘Your marriage is not a valid one. You are not the kind of people who can have a valid marriage. One of you is an infidel. The other, too, is an infidel – and we have reason to believe – an atheist, who does not even believe in an infidel religion.’

The hapless couple remain oblivious as the ‘celebrant’, surrounded by 10 to 15 employees, calls for the marriage to be enshrined in Islamic law, followed by further personal insults against the couple.

None of the employees attempts to stop the 'ceremony' and several take photographs.

Various types of insults about the woman and the man, their clothing and demeanour, are spoken throughout in the form of a running commentary in a sports video. Read on and comment >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Thursday, October 28, 2010

Fake Wedding at Maldives Resort Vilu Reef

• Do you know who the hapless couple so cruelly treated in the video are? Contact the Mail Online newsdesk on 020 7938 6011 or email websiteeditorial@dailymail.co.uk

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Maldives: couple suisse traité de «porc» en renouvelant ses voeux de marriage: DUPERIE | Les autorités des Maldives ont exprimé leur "choc" et leur "dégoût" après la publication sur internet d'une vidéo montrant un couple suisse en train de se faire insulter à son insu dans un hôtel de luxe. >>> AFP | Jeudi 28 Octobre 2010

Man Arrested Over 'Terror Plot' to Bomb Washington DC Trains
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A naturalised American citizen born in Pakistan has been arrested over bomb plots on railway stations in the US capital that could have caused mass casualties, the FBI said.

Farooque Ahmed was arrested Wednesday and charged with trying to help people he believed were al-Qaida operatives planning to bomb subway stations around the nation's capital. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn, Virginia, was charged with trying to help people posing as al-Qaeda operatives planning to launch simultaneous bomb attacks on railway stations around Washington DC.

The public was never in danger because FBI agents were aware of Ahmed's activities and monitored him throughout, the agency said. And the people that Ahmed thought were al-Qaeda operatives were actually individuals who "worked on behalf of the government in this matter," according to a federal law enforcement official who requested anonymity.

The arrest appeared to have all the hallmarks of a sting operation, but the FBI refused to confirm this.

Ahmed faces 50 years in prison for charges of attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organisation, collecting information to assist in planning a terrorist attack on a transit facility, and attempting to provide material support to carry out multiple bombings to cause mass casualties. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Emirate Power Struggle Threatens Stability in Wake of Monarch's Death
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Gulf emirate whose stability is vital to Western interests has been plunged into a political crisis following the death of one of the world's longest-serving monarchs.

Sheikh Khalid al-Qasimi (left) and Sheikh Saud (right), who deposed him as Crown Prince and de facto ruler in 2003. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
Ras al-Khaimah is a strategic western ally that sits on the Straits of Hormuz, the world's most important seaway, and is just 60 miles across the water from Iran. Sheikh Khalid al-Qasimi, the elder son of the late ruler, Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed al-Qasimi, was on Wednesday night holed up in his palace, claiming to be the rightful successor, while troops were marshalled outside to enforce the claim of his younger brother, the Crown Prince Sheikh Saud.

Sheikh Khalid accuses Sheikh Saud, who deposed him as Crown Prince and de facto ruler in 2003, of allowing the emirate to be used as a route to smuggle banned goods, including nuclear technology, into Iran, and is appealing to his family to put him in charge.

But the federal authorities of the United Arab Emirates, of which Ras al-Khaimah is part, immediately pledged their "full support" to Sheikh Saud yesterday morning. Within hours, Sheikh Khalid's palace was surrounded by military vehicles.

Were it not for its closeness to Iran, the long struggle for power between the two brothers would seem like something from the writings of Lawrence of Arabia rather than a means of organising government in a fast-modernising nation. But 20 per cent of the world's oil supplies pass through the Straits of Hormuz and the monarch's death comes as Iran is stepping up its influence across the Middle East. >>> Richard Spencer in Dubai | Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Qatar: A Tiny State with Global Ambitions
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Emir of Qatar, who is on a three-day state visit, owns large slices of London and has £50 billion in the bank – but there are clouds on the horizon. Richard Spencer reports.

Sheikha Mozah, the [sic] wife of Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
This year, a small peninsula jutting out of Saudi Arabia into the Gulf has been the subject of a Chelsea planning row that turned into a constitutional crisis. It has bought Harrods and it has threatened to buy Christie’s. And this week its flamboyantly dressed rulers dined with Her Majesty. If you hadn’t heard of Qatar before, you certainly will have now.

Looking at pictures of the statuesque Emir of Qatar (the emphasis is on the first vowel, by the way), and his even more statuesque wife, they seem perfectly at home in London. There’s a reason for that. His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, to give him his full title, owns large parts of it. There’s Harrods, of course, but Qatar also owns significant chunks of other real estate including One Hyde Park Square, a share of Canary Wharf, the Chelsea Barracks development – whose designs the Prince of Wales asked the Emir to alter – and the US Embassy building in Grosvenor Square.

But home is more than buildings: it is about history, relations and community, and on all of these, this country also passes with flying colours.

The emirate’s history started with Britain: it is how it came into being. While many of the Gulf emirates, from Dubai to Kuwait, were once protectorates, the al-Thani family has particular reason to be grateful. The British, always with an eye to making new friends for sound strategic reasons, intervened in the middle of the 19th century in a regional feud involving the ruling family of neighbouring Bahrain. We employed a local merchant to negotiate a settlement. Out of the settlement, somewhat mysteriously, was formed a new statelet; its name was Qatar. The negotiator, one Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, became its ruler. His descendants have run the place ever since.

Hardly surprisingly, the ties with Britain remained strong, even after independence in 1971. Good relations were maintained when, like many Gulf princes, the Emir trained at Sandhurst – always a good place to learn the art of international contact-building, as well as international warfare. He cemented the family’s place in the British establishment by giving his son a traditional public-school education. Because of its record in taking well-connected foreign pupils for whom English was a second language, he chose the West Country school Sherborne for the boy who is now the Crown Prince. The family grew to love the place, nestling amid the hills and honey-coloured hamstone cottages of Dorset. So the Emir did what any self-respecting monarch would do: he paid it to set up a branch back home, and Sherborne School Qatar opened last year. Read on and comment >>> Richard Spencer | Thursday, October 28, 2010

Sombre Barack Obama Appears on the Daily Show
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama has told viewers of the Daily Show that voters misunderstood him when he promised "change you can believe in" during the 2008 campaign, saying that he did not mean "change you can believe in 18 months".



The US President appeared on the popular and influential news parody programme, which is hosted by Jon Stewart, in an attempt to reconnect with the young voters that helped him win office.

The Democrats are facing big losses at the looming mid-term elections next month and Mr Obama, the first serving president to appear as a guest on the programme, used the 30-minute interview to defend his record.

The show regularly skewers top politicians with withering humour and delights in exposing hypocrisy and insincerity but the mood was mostly serious, despite a studio audience that gave Mr Obama a delirious reception.

"This notion that we could quickly transform Washington - it's a work in progress, it's just not going to happen overnight," Mr Obama said, pleading for more time to deliver on the campaign for change he launched in 2008.

"When we promised during the campaign 'change you can believe in,' it wasn't 'change you can believe in, in 18 months'." >>> | Thursday, October 28, 2010

Rubio for Senate TV Ad, "A Generational Choice"


TELEGRAPH BLOGS: Amid the rage and gloom, Marco Rubio does the hopey-changey thing >>> Jon Swaine | Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Karl Rove Questions Sarah Palin's Suitability for President
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Karl Rove, the former senior adviser to George W Bush, has cast serious doubt on Sarah Palin's viability as a White House candidate, questioning if the American people thought she had the "gravitas" for the "most demanding job in the world".

Expressing the strongest public reservations about the conservative star made by any senior Republican figure, Mr Rove said it was unlikely that voters would regard someone starring in a reality show as presidential material.

In two weeks the former governor of Alaska launches a cable television series exploring her home state's wilderness.

"With all due candour, appearing on your own reality show on the Discovery Channel, I am not certain how that fits in the American calculus of 'that helps me see you in the Oval Office'," said Mr Rove, who remains a considerable force on the US political scene.

He added that the promotional clip for "Sarah Palin's Alaska" could be especially detrimental to any political campaign. It features the mother of five in the great outdoors saying "I would rather be doing this than in some stuffy old political office" [sic].

Mr Rove also implied that Mrs Palin lacked the stomach for the rigours of a presidential primary campaign, which will begin early next year ahead of the first polls in early 2012.

Asked if Mrs Palin, 46, who is among the front-runners for the next Republican nomination, would be a wise choice if the party wanted to seize the White House from Mr Obama, he told the [sic] Daily Telegraph: "You can make a plausible case for any of them on paper, but it is not going to be paper in 2011. It's going to be blood, it's going to be sweat and tears and it's going to be hard effort," said Mr Rove. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Former President of Argentina Nestor Kirchner Dies of Heart Attack
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Nestor Kirchner, the former president of Argentina and husband of the country's current leader, has died of a heart attack at the age of 60.

He and his wife, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the Argentinian president, had been relaxing with family in El Calafate, Santa Cruz province, in the south of the country, when he was taken to hospital. He died at around 9.30am with his wife by his side.

Mr Kirchner served as president from 2003 to 2007 and was credited with helping the country recover from the financial crisis of 2001.

Rather than run for a second term he stood aside to allow his wife to become the candidate of the Peronist party and she was elected as his successor with her husband becoming a key economic adviser. He was a member of Argentina's congress and was secretary-general of the Union of South American Nations at the time of his death.

The couple were compared by some to Bill and Hillary Clinton for both their vast influence on national politics and their reputation among critics as left-leaning politicians who loved the high life. >>> Robin Yapp in Sao Paulo | Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The Islamisation of the United Kingdom Accelerates
MAIL ONLINE: Mohammed is now the most popular name for newborn boys in England and Wales ahead of Jack and Harry, it emerged today.

The name, when 12 different spellings were included, was given to 7,549 youngsters in 2009, official statistics revealed.

Oliver was the second most popular and it was given to 7,364 boys in England and Wales in 12 months.

Jack was third, Harry fourth and Alfie in fifth place in the league table of names.

However, because official figures did not take into account the variations in the spelling of Mohammed, Oliver was named as the most popular boys' name by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) who released the information.

Jack had been the top name for newborn boys in England and Wales for the previous 14 years.

While Oliver was beaten to first place by Mohammed, in the girls list Olivia came out on top. Mohammed is now the most popular name for baby boys ahead of Jack and Harry >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Bullshit from The Daily Telegraph >>>

Osama bin Laden Issues Warning to France Over Afghanistan War
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Osama bin Laden has reportedly warned France that al-Qaeda will kill French citizens in response to their continued involvement in the US-led war in Afghanistan.

In an audio message aired on Al Jazeera, bin Laden said the kidnapping of five French nationals in Niger last month had been prompted by France's unjust treatment of Muslims.

"How is it right for you to occupy our countries and kill our women and children and expect to live in peace and security?" a speaker who sounded like the al Qaeda leader said in the message directed to the French people. >>> | Wednesday, October 27, 2010

LE FIGARO: Ben Laden lance un avertissement à la France: Dans un message cité par Al-Jazira, le chef d'al-Qaida justifie la prise d'otages de Français au Sahel, exige le retrait des troupes françaises d'Afghanistan et affirme que les musulmans sont «en droit» de riposter par la violence à l'interdiction du voile intégral. >>> Par Pauline Fréour | Mercredi 27 Octobre 2010

Julie Burchill: Poor Lauren Booth – She Would Do Anything to Get In With the Tough Kids
THE INDEPENDENT: Last year I took the first steps towards converting to Judaism; also last year, I abandoned my attempt. It was partly that I find it hard to stick at any discipline, being bone-idle and highly hedonistic (for instance, I was only a lesbian for six months), and I realised that Judaism was such an extraordinarily complex and rich religion that I would really have to commit to do it properly. As I can't even commit to Lost or any of those long American television shows, this seemed unlikely.

I also began to feel a tiny bit ridiculous trotting to shul every Saturday, in a way that I didn't feel going to church on a Sunday, even though I found the Jewish idea of one deity far more sensible than the Father, Son and Holy Ghost free-for-all. I'm well aware that everyone who isn't a complete self-deluding fool finds themselves preposterous at times, but I didn't want this to happen because of a culture that I have such respect for.

I suppose what it boils down to is that I've always hated phoneys, and anyone who changes their name, their accent or their religion seems to me to be doing the cultural equivalent of putting a crochet crinoline lady on a toilet roll. Far better, if the religion you're born into doesn't convince you, to simply let it lie and act out your faith in a private capacity – for me, volunteering and giving away loadsamoney.

Of course, there is one religion which proscribes its followers under threat of death from rejecting it, and that is Islam. Which just happens to be the one that Lauren Booth (born a Catholic called Sarah) has opted for.

It's hard to know where to start when describing the sheer ickiness of Booth. That she works as a paid stooge for the murderous Iranian regime's television channel has to come pretty near the top. A woman, choosing to act a front for a gang of thugs who uphold the punishment of death by stoning for adulteresses! This is surely Stockholm Syndrome gone gaga. >>> Julie Burchill | Wednesday, October 27, 2010

IRANIAN.COM: Has this woman gone mad? >>> Peyvand Khorsandi | Wednesday, August 04, 2010