In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful! Image: Google Images
Suspected Suicide Bomb in Central Stockholm Injures Two and Panics Shoppers
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A suspected terrorist blew himself up in an apparent suicide bomb attack in central Stockholm which left two injured and caused panic among Christmas shoppers.

Two explosions rocked the busy shopping street of Drottninggatan among the afternoon crowds.

A Swedish news agency said it had received messages about 10 minutes before the blasts in Arabic and Swedish, warning of unspecified “action”.

The email warning, 10 minutes before the bombs, protested about the country’s presence in Afghanistan, where it has a force of 500 soldiers, mainly in the north of the country.

“Our acts will speak for themselves,” the agency quoted the message as saying. “Now your children, your daughters and your sisters will die as our brothers, our sisters and our children are dying.”

The email had sound files in Swedish and Arabic. >>> Alastair Jamieson | Saturday, December 11, 2010

THE SUNDAY TIMES: Sweden hit by twin blasts in terrorist attack >>> Lucinda Beaman | Sunday, December 12, 2010 (£)

Iran Airs New Confession by Woman in Stoning Case
FOX NEWS: TEHRAN, IRAN – An Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery confessed to helping a man kill her husband and re-enacted the alleged crime in an interview broadcast Friday by Iranian state television — an apparent effort by the government to deflect international criticism over the case.

It was the fourth time Sakineh Mohammedi Ashtiani has been shown on TV as Tehran has faced an international outcry over the announcement that she would be stoned to death, the latest source of friction between Iran and the West.

Authorities announced her conviction in the murder case only after the uproar over the stoning sentence erupted last summer, and her lawyer — who has since been arrested — said she was never formally put on trial for the killing and was tortured into confessing. Iranian authorities could use the murder charge to justify executing Ashtiani by hanging instead of stoning.

In the new footage broadcast on English-language Press TV, the 43-year-old mother of two was brought from the prison to her home outside the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran where she was shown acting out the alleged December 2005 killing, complete with an actor portraying her husband.

Ashtiani, dressed in black with a beige scarf covering her hair, described how she began an affair with another man identified as Isa Taheri. She said she gave her husband an injection that rendered him unconscious, then Taheri came to her house and electrocuted him.

Amnesty International criticized the broadcast, which was announced by Press TV earlier Friday, saying it violated international standards for a fair trial by having Ashtiani implicate herself in a crime. >>> Associated Press | Friday, December 10, 2010

THE TIMES: Iran ‘freed Ashtiani to frame case against her’ >>> Martin Fletcher, Hugh Tomlinson | Saturday, December 11, 2010 (£)

Clinton's Shout-Out to Krauthammer
Syndicated columnist responds to former president's comments

Indian Billionaires to Buy 'World's Most Expensive Suit'
India's fast-growing ranks of billionaire and multi-millionaire tycoons will soon be able to wear the world's most expensive clothes after an Anglo-French clothier announced the launch of an £80,000 suit.
Dormeuil, which makes 80 per cent of its fabrics in Britain, said it will launch six suit fabrics, including the 'Vanquish II', hailed as the world's most expensive suit. It is made of Vicuna, Qiviuk and Pashmina threads and woven into a super-light wool.

The launch is another milestone in India's extraordinary economic growth and reflects the rise of a new class of super rich.

In the last year alone, India has welcomed 69 new billionaires and witnessed a steep rise in the number of millionaires with its economy growing 8.9 per cent in the quarter ending September 30 alone. The rise has seen a surge in demand for luxury goods. >>> Dean Nelson | Friday, December 10, 2010

David Miliband Paid £25,000 for Speech at Luxury Middle East Resort
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Miliband was paid £25,000 to give a speech on relations between the West and the Muslim world, at a conference held in a “luxurious oasis” resort in the Middle East.

The Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort. Image: The Daily Telegraph
The defeated Labour leadership candidate also had his travel and five-star accommodation covered during the three-day trip, partly by the government of the United Arab Emirates, Parliamentary records show.

It suggests that he is following in the footsteps of his mentor, Tony Blair, by turning to the lucrative foreign lecture circuit after leaving frontline politics.

According to the latest Register of Members’ Financial Interests, Mr Miliband was also paid £2,500 to write a newspaper article defending his “dancing naked women” painting, which his wife had bought him for £800 as a birthday present.

…

The conference - where “opinion-makers and business leaders” discussed “critical challenges for peace and security in the Middle East” - was held at the five-star Qasr Al Sarab resort in Abu Dhabi.

Its website describes it as a “luxurious oasis” in the “legendary Liwa Desert” where guests can “unwind in the unsurpassed comfort of private, palatial-style villas”.

In his speech, Mr Miliband spoke of the responsibility of Muslim countries to “honour international commitments to human rights, independent courts and press freedoms”, and the need for the European Union to admit Turkey as a member.

Read it all and comment >>> Martin Beckford | Friday, December 10, 2010

Julian Assange's Lawyers 'Preparing for Possible US Charges'
THE GUARDIAN: Legal team for WikiLeaks founder says Washington may be planning to invoke Espionage Act to indict their client

Lawyers acting for Julian Assange, the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, said today they are preparing for a possible indictment by the US authorities.

Jennifer Robinson said her team had heard from "several different US lawyers rumours that an indictment was on its way or had happened already, but we don't know".

According to some reports, Washington is seeking to prosecute Assange under the 1917 act, which was used unsuccessfully to try to gag the New York Times when it published the Pentagon Papers in the 1970s. However, despite escalating rhetoric over the last fortnight, no charges have yet been lodged, and government sources say they are unaware any such move is being prepared.

Robinson said Assange's team did not believe the US had grounds to prosecute him but understood that Washington was "looking closely at other charges, such as computer charges, so we have one eye on it". >>> Steven Morris | Friday, December 10, 2010

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: WikiLeaks: Julian Assange ‘could face spying charges’ >>> Nick Squires | Friday, December 10, 2010

WikiLeaks Cables: Pope Wanted Muslim Turkey Kept Out of EU
THE GUARDIAN: Vatican diplomats also lobbied against Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and wanted 'Christian roots' enshrined in EU constitution

A WikiLeaks cable reports that Pope Benedict XVI, seen here being received by Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara in 2006, 'might prefer to see Turkey develop a special relationship short of EU membership'. Photograph: The Guardian
The pope is responsible for the Vatican's growing hostility towards Turkey joining the EU, previously secret cables sent from the US embassy to the Holy See in Rome claim.

In 2004 Cardinal Ratzinger, the future pope, spoke out against letting a Muslim state join, although at the time the Vatican was formally neutral on the question.

The Vatican's acting foreign minister, Monsignor Pietro Parolin, responded by telling US diplomats that Ratzinger's comments were his own rather than the official Vatican position.

The cable released by WikiLeaks shows that Ratzinger was the leading voice behind the Holy See's unsuccessful drive to secure a reference to Europe's "Christian roots" in the EU constitution. The US diplomat noted that Ratzinger "clearly understands that allowing a Muslim country into the EU would further weaken his case for Europe's Christian foundations". >>> Heather Brooke and Andrew Brown | Friday, December 2010

Europe Set to Link Banking Bonuses to Basic Salaries
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: European regulators are set to tether banker bonuses to the level of basic salaries in a move that could deal the most severe blow yet to the culture of multi-million pound pay-outs.

Under the terms of proposals, expected to be published on Friday, investment banks may be forced to limit bonuses to a set multiple of bankers' salaries that would be agreed with financial watchdogs.

The Committee of European Bank Supervisors (CEBS) wants to see an end to bonuses that can be up to 50 times bigger than a banker's salary. Instead, the group, which is based in London and comprises members of the 27 European Union member states, wants banks to have to agree a maximum ratio of fixed-income to deferred pay with their national regulators.

Jon Terry, head of reward at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, said: "While CEBS is unlikely to set a specific ratio, we expect them to propose a framework from which banks will work with national regulators on agreed bonus multiples, and then to have to justify them in the context of their risk profiles. This is going to be a radical change for many institutions." >>> Louise Armitstead | Friday, December 10, 2010

This is good news. But does it go far enough to curtail the greed of these money-grubbers? If something isn't done about this selfish culture that we now live in, I fear that the riots on the streets of London last night will look like a picnic in the park by comparison with what awaits us. The system we have now works for the good of one group of people only: the rich. The middle classes have been trampled on for far too long. – © Mark

This comment also appears here

London: Protesters On Rampage

Amazon Site Unaffected by Pro-Wikileaks Attack

BBC: Attempts by online activists to bring down online retailer Amazon's website appear to have failed.

The group Anonymous had pledged to to attack the site at 1600 GMT but the site seems to be functioning normally.

The site was targeted because it withdrew services from whistle-blowing website Wikileaks[.]

The tool through which attacks are carried out against websites perceived to be anti-Wikileaks has now been downloaded more than 31,000 times.

Security experts warned people to avoid joining the voluntary botnet.

Other targets of the loose-knit group Anonymous include Visa, Mastercard and Paypal.

The websites are targetting using the Anonymous attack tool known as LOIC. When a person installs the tool on their PC it enrols the machine into a voluntary botnet which then bombards target sites with data.

These distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are illegal in many countries, including the UK.

Social network Facebook confirmed that it had removed Operation Payback - as the campaign is known - from the site because it was promoting its attack tool. (+ video) >>> | Thursday, December 09, 2010

Smoking: Bull**** from the US Surgeon General!
MAIL ONLINE: Think the odd cigarette won't hurt? Just smoking one is enough to block your arteries and trigger a heart attack, America's chief medical adviser has warned.

Tobacco smoke causes 'immediate damage', with each puff circulating hundreds of toxic chemicals to most of your organs.

The 700-page Surgeon General's report found there was no safe level of exposure to cigarette smoke - whether you deliberately inhale or breathe it in second hand.

'That one puff on that cigarette could be the one that causes your heart attack,' said Surgeon General Regina Benjamin. Just one cigarette is enough to trigger a heart attack, says U.S. Chief Surgeon >>> Claire Bates | Thursday, December 09. 2010

Yes, and just crossing the road ONCE is enough to have a FATAL accident! Get a grip, woman! And I write as a non-smoker! That means to say a tolerant ex-smoker. – © Mark

UK to Enjoy Brief Thaw Before Freeze Returns
THE GUARDIAN: Forecasters say weekend will warm up before temperatures plummet again at start of next week

Britain will enjoy a brief respite from the worst December weather in almost 30 years, forecasters said today – but temperatures will fall again from the start of next week and stay low for the rest of the year.

The news came as the army was called in to help clear up in Edinburgh city centre after major snowfalls.

Soldiers from First Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland were on the streets of the Scottish capital after being given formal clearance by the Ministry of Defence following a request from the local authority.

The soldiers have been joined by personnel from the Royal Navy and the RAF.

After more than a week of snow, ice and transport chaos, forecasters said the UK would start to thaw, with the mercury almost reaching double figures in some areas.

But bitterly cold winds are expected to return by the start of next week, and bookmakers have slashed the odds on a white Christmas. >>> Helen Carter | Thursday, December 09, 2010

Julian Assange Should Be Awarded Nobel Peace Prize, Suggests Russia
THE GUARDIAN: Russia urges Assange nomination in calculated dig at the US over WikiLeaks founder's detention

Russia has suggested that Julian Assange should be awarded the Nobel peace prize, in an unexpected show of support from Moscow for the jailed WikiLeaks founder.

In what appears to be a calculated dig at the US, the Kremlin urged non-governmental organisations to think seriously about "nominating Assange as a Nobel Prize laureate".

"Public and non-governmental organisations should think of how to help him," the source from inside president Dmitry Medvedev's office told Russian news agencies. Speaking in Brussels, where Medvedev was attending a Russia-EU summit yesterday , the source went on: "Maybe, nominate him as a Nobel Prize laureate."

Russia's reflexively suspicious leadership appears to have come round to WikiLeaks, having decided that the ongoing torrent of disclosures are ultimately far more damaging and disastrous to America's long-term geopolitical interests than they are to Russia's. >>> Luke Harding | Thursday, December 09. 2010

Photograph: Google Images
Lockerbie Bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi 'In a Coma'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing is in a coma and may have only days to live, according to reports from those close to him.

The health of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi has "deteriorated badly" according to the Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi.

Megrahi was given three months to live when he was released from Greenock Prison in Scotland in August last year on compassionate grounds, and flown home to Libya.

The fact that he is still alive 15 months later has added weight to American anger that he was released. Files revealed this week by Wikileaks have also described the pressure Libya brought to bear on the United Kingdom not to allow him to die in prison.

Col. Gaddafi was speaking in the Libyan capital Tripoli, to back Megrahi's family who have said they will sue the Scottish authorities for neglecting Megrahi's health in prison. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Thursday, December 09, 2010

WikiLeaks Cyberwar: Hackers Bring Down Swedish Government Site
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Anonymous hackers who claim they are defending WikiLeaks brought down the Swedish government's website amid warnings they will attack again.

Image: The Daily Telegraph
The official site, regeringen.se, was offline for several hours overnight and only a message saying the site could not be reached was visible.

Commercial websites including Visa, MasterCard and PayPal have already been targeted by co-ordinated action on one of the busiest shopping days of the year after the firms said that they would no longer process donations to WikiLeaks.

A group calling itself Anonymous and operating under the banner "Operation Payback" was behind some of the attacks and there were concerns that Twitter could become a target because it removed Anonymous' listing.

A 22-year-old software engineer who called himself Coldblood said: "The campaign is not over, it's still going strong. More and more people are joining.

"I see this as becoming a war - but not a traditional war: this is a war of data."

He added: "We are trying to keep the internet free for everyone." >>> Andy Bloxham | Thursday, December 09, 2010

Verbunden >>>

Image: Google Images
World Is Getting More Corrupt, Says Transparency Poll
BBC: The world is considered a more corrupt place now than it was three years ago, a poll suggests.

Some 56% of people interviewed by Transparency International said their country had become more corrupt.

The organisation put Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iraq and India in the most corrupt category, followed by China, Russia and much of the Middle East.

Meanwhile, a BBC poll suggests that corruption is the world's most talked about problem.

About one in five of those polled by the BBC said they had discussed issues relating to corruption with others in the last month, making it the most talked about concern ahead of climate change, poverty, unemployment and rising food and energy costs.

In the Transparency International survey, political parties were regarded as the most corrupt institutions, and 50% of people believed their government was ineffective at tackling the problem.

One in four of those polled said they had paid a bribe in the past year - the police being the most common recipient. >>> | Thursday, December 09, 2010

Hacker nehmen Rache für Wikileaks
ZEIT ONLINE: Mastercard, Paypal - Firmen, die Wikileaks gekündigt hatten, werden im Netz angegriffen. Man werde die Seite nicht kampflos aufgeben, lautet die Botschaft der Hacker.

Die Festnahme des Wikileaks-Gründers Julian Assange ruft Gegenattacken von Hackern hervor, die als Anhänger der Enthüllungsplattform gelten. Ihr neuer Coup ist die Blockade der Website des US-Kreditkartenkonzerns Mastercard, der wie die Konkurrenz von Visa die Überweisung von Spenden an Wikileaks gestoppt hatte. Sowohl der internationale Webauftritt mastercard.com als auch die deutsche Website des Unternehmens waren zunächst nicht mehr erreichbar.

Zu dem Angriff bekannte sich die sogenannte Anonymous-Bewegung, die bereits 2008 mit Protestaktionen gegen die Organisation Scientology bekannt geworden war. Sie bezeichnete die Aktion als Operation Payback – Rache – und sprach von einer andauernden Kampagne gegen "freiheitsfeindliche Organisationen". >>> Zeit Online, dpa, AFP, Reuters | Mittwoch, 08. Dezember 2010

Man Arrested in Bomb Plot Sting
THE KANSAS CITY STAR: BALTIMORE | A construction worker who had recently converted to Islam and told an FBI informant that he thought about nothing but jihad was arrested Wednesday when he tried to detonate what he thought was a bomb at a military recruitment center, authorities said.

Antonio Martinez, 21, a naturalized U.S. citizen also known as Muhammad Hussain, faces charges of attempted murder of federal officers and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

The bomb he is accused of trying to detonate was fake and had been provided by an undercover FBI agent. It was loaded into a vehicle that Martinez parked in front of the recruiting center, authorities said, and an FBI informant picked him up and drove him to a nearby vantage point where he tried to set it off. >>> Ben Nuckols, The Associated Press | Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Muslim Youth in Canada Targets for Radicalization: Study
TORONTO SUN: Al-Qaida-inspired domestic terrorism by young Muslims poses the largest single threat to Canadian security agencies, a sweeping new study says.

“Canada has been identified repeatedly in al-Qaida propaganda as a legitimate target because of its involvement in Afghanistan,” according to a 250-page report, The Edge of Violence by a group of researchers in the United Kingdom. “The idea of being part of an international jihadi movement can be exhilarating.”

The report, released Wednesday, took researchers Jamie Bartlett, Jonathan Birdwell and Michael King two years to complete and involved interviews with hundreds of Muslims and others in Canada and Europe.

They studied the differences between violent and non-violent Islamic radicals, including the so-called Toronto 18 terror cell, and conducted focus groups in Toronto and Montreal with 70 Muslim youth last year.

One group made up of young men between the ages of 18 and 30 “was unanimous that brainwashing was taking place.”

Young Muslims “had a distrust of government, a hatred for foreign policy and many felt a disconnection from their local community,” the report found.

There “was a high level of distrust towards policing and intelligence agencies.” >>> Tom Godfrey, Toronto Sun | Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Terrorberichterstattung schürt Angst vor Muslimen
REGIO WEB: Die Fernsehberichterstattung in Deutschland über den Terrorismus hat die Angst in der Bevölkerung vor dem Islam anwachsen lassen. Zu diesem Ergebnis kommt eine Untersuchung Jenaer Medienwissenschaftler. Das Team um Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Frindte und Nicole Haußecker vom Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft der Universität Jena hatte von August 2007 bis Februar 2009 die Hauptnachrichten-sendungen der Fernsehsender ARD, ZDF, RTL und SAT1 zum Thema Terrorismus aufgezeichnet und analysiert. Ergänzend sind mit 100 Personen dreimal Interviews geführt worden.

Gefühlte permanente Bedrohung

„Diese Studie beschäftigt sich nicht mit Motiven, Opfern und politischen Zielen, sondern mit dem Zusammenhang zwischen Medien und Bevölkerung“, sagte Frindte. „Terrorismusgefahr in Deutschland ist ein Risiko“, fügte der Kommunikations-psychologe hinzu. Nach der Fernsehberichterstattung stehe Deutschland im Fokus der Terrorbedrohung – was auf Grund der Herkunft der Sender normal sei. Dies führe aber dazu, dass die Zuschauer permanent eine unspezifische Bedrohung empfinden. Und je bedrohter sich Menschen fühlten, umso ängstlicher würden sie. >>> | Mittwoch, 08. Dezember 2010