DSK : le calme avant la tempête

FRANCE SOIR: Dernier week-end pour l'ex-patron du FMI avant de comparaître, lundi, devant la Cour suprême de New-York. Et l'ouverture – officielle - des hostilités.

A TriBeCa comme sur le reste de l'île de Manhattan, le week-end s'annonce orageux. Depuis plusieurs jours déjà, une lourde chaleur étouffe les avenues encombrées et assourdissantes de New-York, et liquéfie les valeureux touristes en short. A deux « blocks » du tumulte de Broadway et de Canal Street, le quartier de TriBeCa, avec ses squares, ses terrasses de restaurants et ses petits immeubles, est un havre de paix. Loin de l'effervescence de Wall Street et des grattes-ciel époustouflants de Central Park.

Au 153 Franklin Street, quatre parasols rouges et blancs ont été dressés sur la petite terrasse, totalement invisible depuis la rue, calme et pavée. Impossible, cependant, de savoir si Dominique Strauss-Kahn, bracelet électronique à la cheville, et son épouse Anne Sinclair viennent goûter là l'ombre et la brise de la rivière Hudson : les rares photographes qui se sont risqués à escalader l'échafaudage d'un immeuble voisin ont été délogés avant d'immortaliser une scène très hypothétique en cette fin de semaine. Car, en perspective de sa comparution, lundi, devant la Cour suprême de New-York, DSK a mieux à faire que de paresser sur son toit. Ce week-end sera en effet le dernier avant l'ouverture – officielle – des hostilités judiciaires avec le procureur de Manhattan Cyrus Vance Jr. Une lutte sans merci que Strauss-Kahn a bien l'intention d'emporter après avoir plaidé « non coupable » de la tentative de viol dont l'accuse Nafissatou Diallo, femme de chambre à l'hôtel Sofitel de New-York. » | Par envoyée spéciale dee France Soir à New-York, Sandrine Briclot | Vendredi 03 Juin 2011

Tunisia: Ex-President Ben Ali's Sister Arrested
ADN KRONOS INTERNATIONAL: Tunis - A sister of toppled Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been arrested as authorities go after individuals linked to the former North African leader who are suspected of wrong[-]doing during his 23-year rule.

Najet Ben Ali was arrested late Thursday in the Sousse region, around 150 kilometres south of capital Tunis, the official TAP news agency said. No reason was immediately given for her arrest. » | AKI | Friday, June 03, 2011

King of Spain Undergoes Knee Surgery

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Spain's King Juan Carlos on Friday underwent his second major surgical procedure in a little over a year, just days after he accused Spanish media of wanting to see him dead.

The 73-year old monarch was said to be recovering well at a Madrid hospital after undergoing an operation to replace his right knee joint.

The 90 minute procedure to insert an artificial knee was carried out to alleviate pain from old sporting injuries suffered during his younger years as a keen sailor and skier.

There has been frenzied speculation over the state of the monarch's health since he was admitted to hospital in May last year to have a tumour removed from his lung.

After unfavourable headlines when appeared recently at an official function walking with the aid of the cane, the King admonished the usually respectful media for their obsession with his health.

Asked during a press call how he was feeling he snapped: "Terrible, terrible, terrible, can't you see that?"

Then added: "What you like to do is kill me and have me in a coffin every day. This is what you do in the press." » | Fiona Govan, Madrid | Friday, June 03, 2011

US Economy on Verge of ‘Great Great Depression’?

Where on earth did this woman (being interviewed), Erica Paine, learn economics? She's talking nonsense! – © Mark

Celebration! One Million Visitors!

Today we have received the millionth visit. This is all thanks to YOU, of course. For me, it has been hard work, but well worth it. This is a good reason to celebrate tonight. A drop of Champaigne sounds like a good idea, don’t you think?

My heartfelt thanks and my very best wishes to you all!

Mark

Trial of Geert Wilders Nears Verdict
NEW AMERICAN: As the spectacle of a man being tried for speaking the truth about Islam comes to its end in the Netherlands, the accused continues to assert that the accusations of “hate speech” that have been made against him are baseless — the problem is that Islam is an ideology of hatred.

Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV), has been on trial in Amsterdam on the accusation that he was “inciting hatred and discrimination” against Muslims. It appears, however, that not even prosecutors believe Wilders to be guilty of the charges against him. As CNSNews explained in an article on the Wilders case earlier this week:

The Dutch legal establishment has proceeded with the landmark trial even though public prosecutors have requested that it be abandoned, leading to the peculiar spectacle of the officials whose job is to secure a conviction instead urging the Amsterdam district court to acquit the accused man.

The lengthy trial also saw the judges replaced last fall on the instructions of a review panel, because of an appearance of bias against Wilders. Prosecution and defense alike have argued that Wilders’ statements about Islam constituted protected speech, and that Wilders was not speaking out against Muslims per se, but against what he saw as a growing threat to Dutch society posed by Islamism.

As reported previously for The New American, the trial of Wilders is a test of the willingness of the West to resist the latest onslaught of an Islamic Jihad, which has been waged for over 1,300 years. As Wilders and other courageous individuals have pointed out, the threat to the civilized world is not limited to al-Qaeda or the Muslim Brotherhood; the threat of Islam is based in Islam being a religion of hate. Rev. Elijah Abraham of Living Oasis Ministries spoke with The New American in an interview last year, and among the topics he addressed was his childhood growing up as a Muslim in Iraq: » | James Heisner | Thursday, June 02, 2011

Saudi Arabia Looks to Ban Child Brides
THE JERUSALEM POST: In a country where no laws protect children from marriage, efforts to make wedlock more female-friendly raises conservatives’ ire.

The case of a nine-year-old girl given away in marriage by her father to a 58-year-old man because of argument with his wife shocked many Saudis. Widespread media coverage brought the plight of child brides to the fore in the oil-rich Gulf kingdom where no law currently protects children like "the Unayzah girl," as she was called after her home town, from the misery of early marriage.

That was two years ago. Finally, the Shoura Council, Saudi Arabia's 150-member consultative body, voted this week by a large margin in favor of setting a minimum marriage age for women. The council is only an advisory body, so the matter has been sent to the Justice Ministry for enactment. Government sources told the on-line daily Ilaf that the ministry would set the minimum marriage age at 17.

"The only way to stop this legal rape is to pass a law," Wajeha Al-Huwaider, a Saudi woman activist, told The Media Line. "They can start with age 15, like most Gulf countries, and then they gradually increase it."

The practice of families marrying off their underage girls to elderly, usually wealthy, men has long been criticized by local and international human rights organizations. But the most conservative Saudis, including many in the religious establishment, are loath to disrupt age-old customs that are often assumed to have a basis in Islam as well. » | David E. Miller | The Media Line | Friday, June 03, 2011

Drunk Driving: 243 Licenses Seized This Year
ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH: Since the beginning of the current Hijri year, 243 drivers in Jeddah have had their driving licenses withdrawn after they were caught drunk-driving or operating vehicles when under the influence of drugs, traffic police announced on Thursday. They were each sentenced to 80 lashes and fined SR500.

The police said the Jeddah summary court, which the violators were sent to, issued the verdicts. They added that under the law, the drivers would also be sentenced to various jail terms.

“The DUI drivers are a real threat to other road users and sober car drivers. They are a main cause of traffic congestion as they are not focused,” said Brig. Muhammad Al-Qahtani, director of traffic in Jeddah. » | Muhammad Humaidan | ARAB NEWS | Friday, June 03, 2011

Saudi Arabia: Shoura Ready to Discuss Women Driving If Requested

ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH: Speaker of the Shoura Council Abdullah Al-Asheikh said on Thursday the council was ready to discuss the issue of women driving if it was asked to.

“The issue has not so far been tabled with the council for discussion,” he said, adding that not every issue in the public domain was discussed by the council.

Explaining the mechanism of tabling issues for discussion at the council, Al-Asheikh said a motion must either come from the government, at least one member of the council or when the council itself expressed a desire to deliberate a certain issue, reported local Arabic daily Al-Jazirah.

Saudi writer and columnist Abdullah Abdul Sattar Al-Alami said he and a group of other people formally asked the council to discuss the issue of women driving.

“We sent our request in a letter sent by express mail on Feb. 8, 2011,” he said in a statement to Arab News Thursday.

Al-Alami said the request was signed by a large number of academics, literary figures, media professionals, businessmen and women, housewives, students, government employees, a former ambassador, a former undersecretary to the UN secretary-general, a deputy CEO of a big company in the Eastern Province and a prominent member of the National Society for Human Rights. » | ARAB NEWS | Friday, June 03, 2011

Inside Story: Drug War Failed?
A report by the Global Commission on drug policy has concluded that the global war on drugs has failed. The commission, which includes a group of politicians and former world leaders, says the current anti-drug policy has been fuelling organised crime, costing taxpayers millions of dollars, and causing thousands of deaths.

How essential is the need for frank dialogue on the issue? Can the calls for legalising or decriminalising drugs help deal with the problem or make it worse?

Inside Story, with presenter Jane Dutton, discusses with Neil McKeganey, professor of Drug Misuse Research, University of Glasgow; Steve Rolles, senior policy analyst at Transform; and Guxd De Wit, an addiction therapist.

This episode of Inside Story aired from [sic] Thursday, June 2, 2011.



Related »

Mladic Appears before UN Court
Ratko Mladic faced his judges at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague on Friday to hear charges of genocide in the Bosnia war

Mitt Romney Joins Race for White House
US politician formally launched his 2012 presidential campaign, entering the race for the Republican nomination in which he is seen as the front-runner

Malaysian Polygamy Club Draws Criticism

THE NEW YORK TIMES: KUALA LUMPUR — Rohaya Mohamad, 44, is an articulate, bespectacled medical doctor who studied at a university in Wales. Juhaidah Yusof, 41, is a shy Islamic studies teacher and mother of eight. Kartini Maarof, 41, is a divorce lawyer and Rubaizah Rejab, a youthful-looking 30-year-old woman, teaches Arabic at a private college.

The lives of these four women are closely entwined — they take care of each others’ children, cook for each other and share a home on weekends.

They also share a husband.

The man at the center of this matrimonial arrangement is Mohamad Ikram Ashaari, the 43-year-old stepson of Hatijah Aam, 54, a Malaysian woman who in August established a club to promote polygamy.

“Men are by nature polygamous,” said Dr. Rohaya, Mr. Ikram’s third wife, flanked by the other three women and Mr. Ikram for an interview on a recent morning. The women were dressed in ankle-length skirts, their hair covered by tudungs, the Malaysian term for headscarf. “We hear of many men having the ‘other woman,’ affairs and prostitution because for men, one woman is not enough. Polygamy is a way to overcome social ills such as this.”

The Ikhwan Polygamy Club is managed by Global Ikhwan, a company whose businesses include bread and noodle factories, a chicken-processing plant, pharmacies, cafes and supermarkets. Mr. Ikram is a director of the company. » | Liz Gooch | Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Related »

'Obedient Wife Club' Set Up to Curb Divorce

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A group of Malaysian Muslim women is to launch a new platform called The Obedient Wife Club that aims to curb social ills like divorce, domestic violence and prostitution.

Wives who sign up will be given instruction in how to "obey, serve and entertain" their husbands to promote marital harmony and cut the risk their spouses will stray or misbehave.

The club's inaugural meeting on Saturday in Kuala Lumpur will get the proceedings rolling with speeches and a show to illustrate how women can keep their husband's happy and contented.

One of the club's founders Maznah Taufik – who also set up the Polygamy Club two years ago – said much marital discord was the result of disobedient wives failing to bring joy to their husbands.

"Domestic abuse happens because wives don't obey their husband's orders," said Mrs Maznah. "A man must be responsible for his wife's wellbeing, but she must listen to her husband." She also said the group would stress that wives had to provide husbands with a fulfilling sex life to prevent them straying to prostitutes.

"To entertain their husbands is compulsory," she said. "If she doesn't do this the husband will look for another woman ... and the house will break down. » | Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok | Friday, June 03, 2011

Hillary Clinton: World Must Unite Against Assad's Government
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, has said that the death of the 13-year-old Syrian boy, Hamza al-Khatib was symbolic for many of the "total collapse of any effort by the Assad government to work with their own people."

A video purporting to show the mutilated body of the boy who activists say was killed during a government crackdown on protests has stoked even more fury against a regime the opposition says has lost all legitimacy.

Clinton commented on al-Khatib's death during a joint news conference with visiting Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, adding that if Assad could not put an end to the violence against his own people, and take "meaningful steps" to start a process of reform, then he should resign. (+ video) » | Thursday, June 02, 2011

Hispanic Population Spreads across US

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The boom in the Hispanic population of the United States is spreading beyond traditional strongholds such as California and Texas to reach every corner of the country including the Deep South and the Midwest, official figures show.

A new report from the US Census Bureau shows that the biggest jumps in the Hispanic population over the past decade were seen in places such as South Carolina, Alabama and South Dakota.

Figures released earlier this year showed that Latinos are the largest minority group in the US, accounting for 16.3 per cent of the population in 2010 – 50.5m people – up from 12.5 per cent in 2000. The overall population of the United States is 308.7m, according to the 2010 US Census. This includes 196.8m whites (64 per cent), 38.9m blacks (13 per cent) and 14.7m Asians (5 per cent).

Now, further analysis from the Census Bureau shows that while California, Texas and Florida still account for more than half of all US Hispanics, many other states are seeing far more rapid increases in their Latino population.

The Hispanic population more than doubled in nine states during the first decade of the 21st century and increased by at least a fifth in every state bar New York.

"This shows that the Hispanic population is now in every corner of the country," said Mark Hugo Lopez, associate director of the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C. » | Robin Yapp | Thursday, June 02, 2011

Mitt Romney Officially Enters 2012 Presidential Race

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mitt Romney, the early front-runner in the Republican race to beat Barack Obama in 2012, has officially entered the reckoning, declaring that the US president has "failed America" with his handling of the economy.

The former Massachusetts governor said that by choosing Mr Obama in 2008 voters "gave someone new a chance to lead, someone we hadn't known for very long, who didn't have much of a record but promised to lead us to a better place".

"Now, in the third year of his four-year term, we have more than promises and slogans to go by. Barack Obama has failed America," he said, in prepared remarks.

Given the high profile he developed as a Republican contender in the 2008 primary, Mr Romney has polled poorly compared to lesser known figures, rarely leading by more than a few percentage points and often coming second.

But he has raised prodigious amounts of money, including $10 million in a single day last month, and has spent the past two years quietly building a campaign network that is unrivalled by any of his competitors.

He chose to officially launch his campaign on a farm in New Hampshire, a key early voting state in the primary schedule, which begins in February next year and will last several months. The presidential vote will be held on Nov 6, 2012. » | Alex Spillius, Washington | Thursday, June 02, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Why Mitt Romney could be president » | Alex Spillius, Washington | Thursday, June 02, 2011

Atheist Demographics III - "The Great Shrinking" and Replacement of the Unfit

Geert Wilders' Final Remarks at The Amsterdam Trial - English Subtitles

HT: Faith Freedom »

Coptic Bishop Warns Native Germans about Islam: "You're Up Next!"

HT: Faith Freedom »