Thursday, November 11, 2010
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Nach sieben Jahren im Amt ist der Chef des staatlichen Religionsamtes in der Türkei, Ali Bardakoglu, zurückgetreten. Spekuliert wird, dem Rücktritt seien Differenzen zwischen Bardakoglu und der Regierung von Ministerpräsident Erdogan vorausgegangen.Der oberste türkische Religionswächter Ali Bardakoglu muss überraschend sein Amt aufgeben. Bardakoglu sei nach Auseinandersetzungen mit der islamisch-konservativen Regierung entlassen worden, berichtete Zeitung „Milliyet“ am Donnerstag. Nachfolger an der Spitze der türkischen Religionsbehörde (Diyanet) soll der bisherige stellvertretende Religionswächter Mehmet Görmez werden.
Die Zeitung schrieb, Bardakoglu habe der Regierung im Kopftuch-Streit eine klare Position verweigert, indem er erklärte, das Kopftuch sei für muslimische Frauen keine religiöse Pflicht, sondern eine persönliche Entscheidung. Alkohol hatte er zwar als Sünde im religiösen Sinne bezeichnet, „egal ob am Steuer eines Autos oder in den Bergen“. Allerdings sei es eine politische Frage, in welchen Situationen der Genuss von Alkohol auch eine Straftat sei. Zudem ging er zuletzt auf Distanz zur Politik. „Ich habe bis heute an keinem Empfang teilgenommen“, sagte er. >>> AFP/dpa | Donnerstag, 11. November 2010
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Barack Obama hat in Seoul einen schweren Stand. China, Deutschland, aber auch Brasilien sind - gelinde gesagt - über die amerikanische Wirtschafts- und Finanzpolitik verstimmt. Das Anwerfen der Notenpresse in den Vereinigten Staaten weckt Ängste vor Inflation und Spekulation.Beim Gipfel der führenden Wirtschaftsmächte (G20) stehen die Vereinigten Staaten im Abseits. Das Anwerfen der Notenpresse durch die amerikanische Notenbank und die Idee einer „Exportbremse“ für Deutschland und China stießen schon vor Beginn des Treffens in der südkoreanischen Hauptstadt Seoul auf massive Kritik. Die G-20-Staats- und Regierungschefs wollen bis Freitag versuchen, einen „Währungskrieg“ und neue Schranken im Welthandel zu verhindern.
Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (CDU) erteilte dem Vorschlag von Barack Obama eine klare Absage, führende Exportnationen müssten ihren Handelsüberschuss deckeln und stattdessen mehr für die heimische Nachfrage tun: „Eine politische Festlegung von Obergrenzen für Leistungsbilanzüberschüsse oder -defizite ist weder ökonomisch gerechtfertigt noch politisch angemessen“, sagte sie bei einem G20- „Business Summit“ vor 100 Topmanagern aus aller Welt. „Dies wäre unvereinbar mit dem Ziel eines freien Welthandels.“ >>> dpa | Donnerstag, 11. November 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Millions fell silent across Britain today to mark the anniversary of the day peace returned to Europe at the end of the First World War.
The agreement between Germany and the Allies took effect at the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918 after four years of fighting.
As the nation stopped to remember those who died in battle, the Archbishop of Canterbury, defence ministers, representatives of military associations, veterans and school children attended a service at the Cenotaph in central London to commemorate Armistice Day.
Brother Nigel Cave, the Western Front Association's padre, led the ceremony, and wreaths were laid at the monument in Whitehall.
A bugler from the Scots Guards heralded the start of the silence at exactly 11am by playing the Last Post and mark the completion of the two minutes with the Reveille. >>> | Thursday, November 11, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Princess Hijab daubs Muslim veils on half-naked fashion ads on the metro. Why does she do it? Is she a religious fundamentalist? And is she really a woman? Angelique Chrisafis meets the elusive street artist
Just after dawn at Havre- Caumartin metro station, Paris's first commuters are stepping on and off half-empty trains. Then, at the end of the platform, a figure in black appears, head bowed and feet tapping with nerves.
Princess Hijab is Paris's most elusive street artist. Striking at night with dripping black paint she slaps black Muslim veils on the half-naked airbrushed women – and men – of the metro's fashion adverts. She calls it "hijabisation". Her guerrilla niqab art has been exhibited from New York to Vienna, sparking debates about feminism and fundamentalism – yet her identity remains a mystery.
In secular republican France, there can hardly be a more potent visual gag than scrawling graffitied veils on fashion ads. Six years after a law banned headscarves and all conspicuous religious symbols from state schools, Nicolas Sarkozy's government has banned the niqab from public spaces amid a fierce row over women's rights, islamophobia and civil liberties. The "burqa ban", approved last month, means that from next year it will be illegal for a woman to wear full-face Muslim veils in public, not just in government offices or on public transport, but in the streets, supermarkets and private businesses. The government says it is a way of protecting women's rights and stopping them being forced by men to cover their faces. >>> Angelique Chrisafis | Thursday, November 11, 2010
GUARDIAN PHOTO GALLERY: Princess Hijab: underground resistance – The Paris metro system is under attack - by graffiti artist extraordinaire Princess Hijab, who provocatively adds veils to billboard advertising. Here are some of her best works >>> | Thursday, November 11, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Survivors of today's attacks have been contacting foreign embassies, saying that they will be killed if they remain in Iraq
The martyr in their midst was known all around the area. But in case anyone had missed it, a mourning sign had been posted outside Saad Adwar's house in the Baghdad suburb of Kampsar, revealing exactly where he lived.
It said simply that Adwar had been killed "by the hand of a spiteful and hateful enemy while he prayed to his holy God in Our Lady of Salvation church" nine days ago.
This morning, the terrorists who had killed 44 of Baghdad's Christians at their place of worship, came hunting them once more – this time in their homes.
They struck 10 times just after 7am in six different places in Baghdad, almost all of them Christian houses.
Mortars damaged two homes in the south. Improvised bombs damaged four in the north of the city and four in the east. A total of four people were killed and 25 injured. Worse was the effect on the city's already traumatised Christian minority, which now seems more fearful than ever – and potentially poised for another mass exodus.
"We are shocked these days about our situation," said Raad Yacoub Khuanum as he repaired his kitchen, damaged by a bomb outside his house in the central suburb of al-Sana'a. "Now I am terrified."
The family car was a burned-out hulk, destroyed by a bomb that had been placed by men who briefly stepped from a passing car just after dawn. A distinctive Jerusalem cross had hung from the rear vision mirror. No other car in the neighbourhood was damaged.
"The church attack had a psychological effect on us," he said. "Now we know al-Qaida will kill us all." >>> Martin Chulov in Baghdad | Wednesday, November 10, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Work and pensions secretary prepares to introduce the most severe welfare sanctions ever imposed by a British government
Ian Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, said today it was a "sin" that people failed to take up available jobs as he prepared to announce a tougher-than-expected squeeze on the unemployed.
This will see the jobless face the threat of losing all benefits for as long as three years if they refuse community work or the offer of a job, or fail to apply for a post if advised to do so.
In the most severe welfare sanctions ever imposed by a British government, unemployed people will lose benefits for three months if they fail to take up one of the options for the first time, six months if they refuse an offer twice, and three years if they refuse an offer three times.
Downing Street sources said the new "claimant contract" will come into force as soon as legislation is passed, and may not wait for the introduction of a streamlined universal credit system in 2013-14.
Duncan Smith will tell MPs today that he is introducing the biggest shake-up of the welfare system since the Beveridge reforms ushered in the welfare state after the second world war. He will say that a new universal credit system will make 2.5 million of the poorest people better off and reduce the number of workless households by 300,000. Read on and comment >>> Patrick Wintour, Randeep Ramesh and Hélène Mulholland | Thursday, November 11, 2010
LE POINT: L'examen de l'accusation de meurtre visant Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani passe avant celui des adultères, pour lesquels l'Iranienne a été condamnée à la lapidation, et la justice va avoir besoin de plus de temps pour réexaminer l'affaire, selon le procureur général à Téhéran. "Deux accusations et condamnations visent Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sans nul doute l'accusation de meurtre passe avant les autres accusations et la justice a mis à l'ordre du jour d'abord celle-ci (meurtre)", a déclaré Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie, cité mercredi soir par l'agence officielle Irna. "L'énoncé d'une peine définitive requiert plus de temps et d'investigations", a-t-il ajouté. >>> Source AFP | Jeudi 11 Novembre 2010
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: BIRMANIE | La justice birmane a rejeté jeudi un ultime appel de la dissidente contre sa condamnation à la résidence surveillée. Cette décision intervient alors que la junte se prépare à la libération du prix Nobel de la paix dans les prochains jours.L'ultime appel d'Aung San Suu Kyi rejeté par la justice.
La Cour suprême de la capitale Naypyidaw "a confirmé la condamnation" à 18 mois d'assignation à résidence prononcée en août 2009, a indiqué un responsable birman.
Le rejet de ce troisième appel que ses avocats avaient déposé par principe, dans l'espoir de prouver son innocence, ne devrait rien changer à la libération de l'opposante, qui aura purgé la totalité de sa peine samedi. Indépendamment de cette procédure, des sources officielles birmanes ont indiqué mercredi que les services de sécurité se préparaient activement pour sa libération. >>> ATS | Jeudi 11 Novembre 2010
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: IMMIGRATION | En Arizona, dans le sud-ouest des États-Unis, depuis l'entrée en vigueur d'une loi migratoire répressive, une étude estime à 100 000 le nombre de Latino-américains qui ont quitté l'état.
La loi migratoire très contestée de l’Arizona aurait provoqué le départ volontaire de 100 000 Latino-américains, affirme une étude publiée mercredi. Selon les hypothèses des chercheurs, certains seraient partis vers d’autres parties des Etats-Unis, d’autres seraient rentrés au pays.
«Quelques mois après l’entrée en vigueur de la loi en Arizona, il est possible d’observer un nombre d’hispanos inférieur dans cette zone américaine. Nous chiffrons à 100 000 le nombre d’hispanos en moins par rapport à ceux du début 2010», estime le rapport de la fondation privée BBVA Bancomer. >>> ATS | Jeudi 11 Novembre 2010
ZEIT ONLINE: Die Türkei ist das Warten leid: Der türkische Ministerpräsident Erdoğan hat der Europäischen Union vorgeworfen, sein Land bei den Beitrittsverhandlungen hinzuhalten."Man lässt uns seit 50 Jahren vor den Toren der EU warten", sagte Tayyip Erdoğan in einem Interview. Die Türken seien immer unzufriedener mit der Situation, sagte er weiter. Seit Beginn der offiziellen Beitrittsgespräche vor fünf Jahren habe die EU zudem neue Regeln eingeführt. Die Türkei fühle sich daher im Vergleich zu früheren Aufnahmekandidaten diskriminiert.
Die Beitrittsgespräche mit dem 75-Millionen-Einwohner-Land sind fast zum Erliegen gekommen. Zu den Gründen gehören der Streit über das seit 1974 von der Türkei besetzte Nordzypern und der Widerstand Frankreichs und Deutschlands gegen eine Aufnahme des Landes. Erdoğan bot erneut an, die türkischen Häfen und Flughäfen für das seit 2004 zur EU gehörende griechische Südzypern zu öffnen, wenn die Gemeinschaft ihr Embargo für die türkische Enklave aufhebe. "Wir sagen: Ja, lasst uns die Häfen öffnen, lasst uns sie gemeinsam öffnen", sagte Erdoğan. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar ablegen >>> ZEIT ONLINE, Reuters | Mittwoch, 10. November 2010
NZZ ONLINE: Die Türkei verliert den Glauben an die EU: Ministerpräsident Erdogan kritisiert Brüssels Hinhaltepolitik – der Konflikt um Zypern als grösster Zankapfel >>> Thomas Fuster, Wien | Donnerstag, 11. November 2010
WELT ONLINE: Der türkische Botschafter Kadri Ecvet Tezcan teilt weiter aus: Er kritisiert Politik und Menschen in Österreich und auch Angela Merkel.Ausländerfeindliche Bevölkerung und gescheiterte Integrationspolitik: Mit heftiger Österreich-Kritik des türkischen Botschafters Kadri Ecvet Tezcan hat die Zuwandererdebatte im Alpenland einen neuen Höhepunkt erreicht. Die Aussagen lösten erhebliche diplomatische Verstimmungen zwischen beiden Ländern aus. Aber auch Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel wurde in dem Rundumschlag des Diplomaten nicht verschont.
Tezcan hatte in einem Interview unter anderem die konservative Innenministerin Maria Fekter angegriffen und den Österreichern Desinteresse an anderen Kulturen unterstellt. Die Regierung in Wien sah darin eine inakzeptable Einmischung in Angelegenheiten des Landes, bestellte den Diplomaten ins Außenministerium und nahm mit der türkischen Regierung Kontakt auf. >>> dpa/mac | Donnerstag, 11. November 2010
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A dead man in a coffin, a crying baby, a bald cancer patient and a close-up of a mouth with dirty teeth and a malignant lip lesion are among new graphic warnings the United States is proposing for cigarette packs.
The changes are part of a 2009 law that requires new and larger labels on cigarettes to depict the negative health consequences of smoking.
The warnings will take up about half the space on the front of each cigarette pack, located on the upper portion so they are visible in most store displays.
A series of 36 graphics are available on the Food and Drug Administration's website. After public consultation the government will choose nine images to place on cigarette packs. Read on and comment >>> | Thursday, November 11, 2010
Isn't it time they left smokers alone? Don't the authorities think that people know the risks of smoking tobacco? This relentless war on smokers is becoming very tiresome and it is certainly very unfair, especially when many people get up to far worse than enjoy a few puffs on a cigarette.
I write not as a smoker but as an ex-smoker. But I like to think that I live by the maxim, 'live and let live'.
It is very strange that at the very time that the US is clamping down so hard on smokers, the authorities are legalising the use of marijuana. Take California as a case in point: Schwarzenegger has just relaxed the law there to make smoking this drug much easier.
I have been in America as a smoker many times, before I gave up. I have also been in California. Trying to find somewhere to light up is a challenge indeed! But yet they can come to the conclusion that they can ease up on the drug laws. Go figure!
No sane person would advocate smoking cigarettes. Encouraging people to quit is a good thing. But that needs to be gotten into perspective. The smoking habit is indubitably unhealthy; but there are far worse things than smoking and nobody does anything about them. Smoking has become the bête noire of the day. Unfortunately to the exclusion of all other evils.
If I had children, which I don't, if the worst thing they got up to was smoking a cigarette, I'd count myself very lucky indeed. This world is full of far greater evils.
Since the decline of the importance of religion in our daily lives, people seem to have become obsessed with trying to prolong their lives. They think they can find the secret to eternal life. Years ago, people relied on the idea of the afterlife for that. Now people have become health freaks instead. Strange that! Fact is, though, as an American friend of mine always says: We can't get out of this life alive! – © Mark
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Osama bin Laden has appointed a new commander to spearhead al-Qaeda's offensive of operations against the West.Known to western intelligence services by the alias Saif al-Adel, or "Sword of the Just", al-Qaeda's new chief of international operations is believed to have conceived of the wave of strikes that set off terror alerts across Europe recently, as well as last week's mid-air parcel-bomb plot.
US and Pakistani sources have told The Daily Telegraph that al-Adel is running several similar operations as part of a war of attrition intended to persuade Western public opinion that the war against terror is unwinnable. This would clear the road for al-Qaeda to capture power in fragile states such as Somalia and Yemen.
"His strategy", said Syed Saleem Shahzad, a Pakistani expert on al-Qaeda, "is to stage multiple small terror operations, using the resources of affiliates and allies wherever possible."
A US counter-terrorism official said the idea was for "small-but-often attacks" that would hurt the West more than a "one-off terror spectacular". >>> Praveen Swami, Diplomatic Editor | Wednesday, November 10, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Republican congressman who believes that global warming is not a threat because God has promised not to destroy the Earth has put himself forward as chairman of a powerful committee that deals with energy policy and its effect on the environment.John Shimkus, an evangelical Christian representing Illinois, quoted the Bible in a congressional hearing last year on a proposed "cap and trade" legislation designed to limit carbon emissions.
Reading from God's post-Flood promise to Noah in Genesis 8:21, he said: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though all inclinations of his heart are evil from childhood and never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done."
Mr Shimkus added: "I believe that's the infallible word of God, and that's the way it's going to be for his creation.
"The Earth will end only when God declares it's time to be over. Man will not destroy this Earth. This Earth will not be destroyed by a Flood. I do believe that God's word is infallible, unchanging, perfect." >>> Alex Spillius, Washington | Wednesday, November 10, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Silvio Berlusconi's hold on power looked more fragile than ever after his government was defeated in parliament and new claims emerged of starlets being supplied for parties at one of his mansions.The Italian government was humiliated in parliament when MPs loyal to Gianfranco Fini, the prime minister's main rival, voted with the Opposition on three amendments to a controversial treaty drawn up between Italy and Libya on stemming illegal immigrants.
Mr Fini and his followers defected from the government in July, depriving Mr Berlusconi of a guaranteed parliamentary majority, and tensions between the former allies has plunged Italy into political paralysis.
The defeat came as a weekly magazine published alleged secretly filmed video footage of showgirls being driven to Mr Berlusconi's mansion, Villa San Martino, on the outskirts of Milan, without apparently undergoing any security checks by the police who protect the property. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Euroscepticism leads to war and a rising tide of nationalism is the European Union's "biggest enemy", Herman Van Rompuy, the president of Europe has told a Berlin audience.
Mr Van Rompuy linked hostility to the EU, and the idea that countries could leave the Union, to a revival of aggressive nationalism.
"We have together to fight the danger of a new Euroscepticism. This is no longer the monopoly of a few countries," he said. "In every member state, there are people who believe their country can survive alone in the globalised world. It is more than an illusion: it is a lie."
The controversial comments made on Tuesday come less than a fortnight after David Cameron, the Prime Minister, declared that he was a Eurosceptic after his gruelling Brussels summit battle to block a sharp increase in the EU budget at a time of national austerity.
Bill Cash, the Conservative chairman of the House of Commons European scrutiny committee, "entirely repudiated" a link between Euroscepticism and the rise of nationalism.
"It is not anti-European to be pro-democracy. The problem is that the democratic base for the EU is wanting. The solution to the rise of the far-Right is proper democracy exercised through national parliaments," he said.
Clarifying the remarks, a spokesman for Mr Van Rompuy, stressed that he was not talking about Mr Cameron's brand of Euroscepticism but about those people who want to leave the EU. >>> Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Wednesday, November 10, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: White House dogged by 'secret Muslim' claims, amid sniping from the American right
Barack Obama was in wistful mood today on his return to Indonesia, where he spent part of his childhood. He reminisced about mango trees, flying kites, running alongside paddy fields, buying satay from street vendors and catching dragonflies.
He spoke too of the tolerance Indonesians had shown the foreign child brought up in their midst, and the tolerance needed today to eradicate the mistrust that had built up over the years between Muslims and Christians.
He was speaking at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, in the second major speech of his presidency reaching out to the Muslim world. The first was in Cairo last year.
But there was little sign of tolerance on US conservative websites, where there were derogatory comments about the visit. Pictures of the Obamas visiting the Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta are likely to surface on websites propagating the myth that the president is a secret Muslim. >>> Ewen MacAskill in Washington and Toni O'Loughlin in Jakarta | Wednesday, November 10, 2010
WELT ONLINE: US-Präsident Barack Obama verlangt von Deutschland und China Hilfe beim Abbau des US-Handelsbilanzdefizits. Merkel stellt sich dagegen.
Die USA steuern beim G-20-Gipfel auf eine direkte Konfrontation mit Deutschland und China zu, den beiden größten Exportnationen der Erde. Der innenpolitisch schwer angeschlagene US-Präsident Barack Obama pocht weiter auf verbindliche Hilfe aus Berlin und Peking beim Abbau des gewaltigen US-Handelsdefizits. Diese Position verdeutlichte Obama in einem Brief an seine Kollegen. Dem Plan erteilte Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel vor ihrer Abreise nach Südkorea am Mittwoch eine klare Absage. Die südkoreanische G20-Präsidentschaft berichtete über festgefahrene Verhandlungen der Unterhändler aus den wichtigsten Volkswirtschaften der Erde (G20).
Merkel machte klar, dass die Ungleichgewichte in den Handelsbeziehungen auch etwas mit der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit von Produkten auf dem Weltmarkt zu tun hätten. „Quantifizierte Ziele wird Deutschland jedenfalls nicht mittragen“, sagte sie und lehnte erneut Zielkorridore oder andere messbare Vorgaben für Handelsströme ab.
Die „New York Times“ berichtete aus einem Brief Obamas an die G-20-Gipfelrunde. Darin räumte er zwar ein, dass die USA ihren Konsum auf Pump einschränkten müssten. Aber mit Blick auf China und Deutschland schrieb er, andere Ländern müssten auch etwas tun. „Kein einzelnes Land kann unser gemeinsames Ziel einer starken, dauerhaften und ausgewogenen Erholung auf sich selbst gestellt erreichen.“ Obamas Finanzminister Timothy Geithner hatte sich schon beim G-20-Treffen mit seinen Kollegen eine Abfuhr vor allem von deutscher Seite für den Plan geholt. >>> dpa | Mittwoch, 10. November 2010
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