Praying in Paris Streets Outlawed
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Praying in the streets of Paris is against the law starting Friday, after the interior minister warned that police will use force if Muslims, and those of any other faith, disobey the new rule to keep the French capital's public spaces secular.

Claude Guéant said that ban could later be extended to the rest ofFrance, in particular to the Mediterranean cities of Nice and Marseilles, where "the problem persists".

He promised the new legislation would be followed to the letter as it "hurts the sensitivities of many of our fellow citizens".

"My vigilance will be unflinching for the law to be applied. Praying in the street is not dignified for religious practice and violates the principles of secularism, the minister told Le Figaro newspaper.

"All Muslim leaders are in agreement," he insisted.

In December when Marine Le Pen, then leader-in-waiting of the far-Right National Front, sparked outrage by likening the practice to the Nazi occupation of Paris in the Second World War "without the tanks or soldiers". She said it was a "political act of fundamentalists". » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Thursday, September 15, 2011

Libya: David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy Receive Rapturous Reception in Benghazi
David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy received a rapturous reception as the pair flew into Benghazi, the birthplace of the Libyan resistance.

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TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – CON COUGHLIN: The Libyan conflict is far from over for David Cameron » | Con Coughlin | Thursday, September 15, 2011

Saudi Owner of Savoy Hotel to Be Interviewed over Rape Claims

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Saudi prince owner of London's Savoy Hotel and one of the richest men in the world is to be interviewed by investigators over accusations he raped a 20-year-old model on a luxury yacht in the Mediterranean three years ago.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, 56, who has an estimated fortune of $19.4 billion (£12.3 billion), making him the 26th richest man in the world according to Forbes, and is the nephew of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, could also be called before an investigating judge on the Balearic island of Ibiza and asked to give a DNA sample as part of the investigation.

The alleged victim, a woman identified only as Soraya, claims she was lured onto the superyacht Turama – a 384ft vessel available for charter at around 90,000 euros (£78,000) a day – after her drink was spiked in the VIP zone of a well-known nightclub on the island.

But Prince Alwaleed, the second largest investor in Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, denies the assault or even having visiting Ibiza in the last decade.

The prince, who bought the Savoy in 2005 for £250m and was linked to a £100m bid for Everton Football Club earlier this year, could have been mistakenly identified as the perpetrator of the assault after someone impersonated him, his spokesman claimed.

The victim, who was 20 years-old at the time, claims that she woke up during a sexual assault on the boat by a man she claimed was the Saudi prince. Forensic tests turned up traces of semen and the sedative nordazepam was found in her urine.

An investigating magistrate halted an investigation into the allegations last year on grounds of insufficient evidence. But on appeal the higher, provincial court in Palma on the island of Majorca instructed the judge to reopen the case and question the prince. » | Fiona Govan, Madrid | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Republicans Win New York Congress Seat
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Republican businessman Bob Turner has won a US Congress seat in a Democrat stronghold, dealing a major blow to President Barack Obama.

NY1 television reported that Mr Turner had defeated Democratic state and city legislator Dave Weprin in the election to fill the seat vacated by Anthony Weiner, who stepped down earlier this year following an online sex scandal.

NY1 said Mr Turner has won 53 per cent of votes compared to Mr Weprin's 47 per cent with three quarters of the ballots counted, guaranteeing the Republicans their first victory in the Queens and Brooklyn district since 1923.

Republicans had portrayed the race as a referendum on Mr Obama as he gears up for the 2012 White House race weakened by the sluggish economic recovery and weighed down by nine percent unemployment.

"This is an historical race. We have been asked by the people of this district to send a message to Washington, and I hope they hear it loud and clear," Mr Turner said in a televised victory speech.

"We are ready to say: 'Mister President, we are on the wrong track.'" » | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: US elections: Barack Obama's re-election prospects hit by historic loss of 'safe' New York seat: President Barack Obama's re-election prospects were dealt a double blow yesterday when Democrats lost a congressional seat they had held since 1923 and new figures showed American poverty at its highest level for 18 years. » | Toby Harnden, Washington | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Dirigeants politiques inquiets: «L’Europe est en danger»
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: CRISE DE LA DETTE | Devant l'assemblée plénière du Parlement européen à Strasbourg, les responsables de l’UE n'ont pu cacher leurs vives inquiétudes sur l'avenir communautaire.

Le président de la Commission européenne, José Manuel Barroso, s’est montré lui aussi préoccupé. «Nous sommes confrontés au défi le plus grave de cette génération, c’est une lutte pour l’avenir politique de l’Europe.

Les responsables de l’UE se sont inquiétés mercredi du risque de voir le projet européen tout entier échouer si la crise de la dette en zone euro ne peut être réglée, alors que les craintes de faillite de la Grèce se sont nettement accrues.

«L’Europe est en danger», a déclaré ministre polonais des Finances Jacek Rostowski, dont le pays assure la présidence tournante de l’UE, devant l’assemblée plénière du Parlement européen à Strasbourg.

«Si la zone euro se fissure, l’Union européenne ne sera pas capable de survivre, avec toutes les conséquences que l’on peut imaginer», a-t-il ajouté, évoquant même le risque éventuel d’une nouvelle «guerre» en Europe à long terme en cas d’échec du projet européen.

Le président de la Commission européenne, José Manuel Barroso, s’est montré lui aussi préoccupé. «Nous sommes confrontés au défi le plus grave de cette génération, c’est une lutte pour l’avenir politique de l’Europe, pour l’intégration européenne en tant que telle», a-t-il dit devant le Parlement. » | ATS / AFP | Mercredi 14 Septembre 2011

THE INDEPENDENT: Call for more European federalism: The economic crisis has turned into a "fight for European integration", the president of the European Commission warned today. ¶ Jose Manuel Barroso insisted that the answer to the growing threat to the euro was a more, and not less, integrated European Union. » | Geoff Meade | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Denmark Election Tipped to Oust Rightwing Government
THE GUARDIAN: Helle Thorning-Schmidt expected to lead centre-left coalition into power and become country's first female prime minister

Ten years of rightwing rule that have turned Denmark into the most closed country in Europe for immigrants looks likely to end this week, with a Social Democrat tipped to become the Danes' first female prime minister.

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the daughter-in-law of Neil and Glenys Kinnock, looks likely to head a new centre-left coalition, replacing the Liberal leader, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, whose minority government has been propped up for the past decade by the far-right anti-immigrant and europhobic Danish People's party (DPP).

The Social Democrats are struggling in the opinion polls and may lose votes and seats in the 179-seat parliament in Copenhagen, but her four-party "red" coalition is expected to nudge ahead of the coalescing liberals and conservatives. The latest polls before Thursday's general election give the centre-left a margin of victory of between three and 10 seats. » | Ian Traynor, Europe editor, and Lars Eriksen in Copenhagen | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Lord Kinnock's son subject of sexuality rumours: The daughter-in-law of Lord Kinnock was forced to deny that her husband was homosexual yesterday as she faced a torrid end to her campaign to become prime minister of Denmark. » | Victoria Ward, Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Thursday, September 15, 2011

Col Gaddafi 'in Libya and Readying Forces'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Muammar Gaddafi is still in Libya and in good spirits, with a powerful army behind him, the ousted leader's spokesman has claimed.

"The leader is in good health, in high morale ... of course he is in Libya," Moussa Ibrahim told Reuters via a crackling satellite telephone line.

"The fight is as far away from the end as the world can imagine. We are still very powerful, our army is still powerful ... we have huge areas of Libya under our control," he said. "We are gathering our forces."

Ibrahim declined to say where he himself was. » | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Al Qaeda hails 9/11 attacks
Sept 13 - Al Qaeda releases a video purportedly voiced by leader Ayman al-Zawahri to mark the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. Lindsey Parietti reports.

Libye : le nouveau pouvoir pour un islam "modéré"

LE POINT: Le président du CNT Moustapha Abdeljalil a affirmé que la législation libyenne se baserait sur la Charia, comme sous Kadhafi.

Le chef des autorités de transition, Moustapha Abdeljalil, a affirmé que l'islam serait la principale source de législation dans la nouvelle Libye, mais a rejeté toute "idéologie extrémiste". Parallèlement Amnesty International a accusé dans un rapport publié mardi l'ancien régime de Muammar Kadhafi de crimes contre l'humanité, tout en pointant aussi du doigt des abus commis par des combattants proches du Conseil national de transition (CNT), qui pourraient constituer des crimes de guerre.

Sur le terrain, aucune offensive d'envergure n'a eu lieu sur les principales villes aux mains des pro-Kadhafi - Bani Walid (170 km au sud-est de Tripoli), Syrte (360 km à l'est de Tripoli) et Sebha (centre) - qui ont montré ces derniers jours leur capacité à résister et même à contre-attaquer. Dans son premier discours public à Tripoli, Moustapha Abdeljalil a affirmé lundi soir que l'islam serait "la principale source de la législation" de la nouvelle Libye. "Nous n'accepterons aucune idéologie extrémiste de droite ou de gauche. Nous sommes un peuple musulman à l'islam modéré et nous allons rester sur cette voie", a néanmoins précisé le chef des nouvelles autorités, arrivé samedi pour sa première visite à Tripoli depuis le début de la révolte en février. » | Source AFP | Mardi 13 Septembre 2011

Migrants Are Having Big Families to Claim Benefits, Says Asian Baroness

MAIL ONLINE: ‘Nobody likes to accept that, nobody likes to talk about it because it is supposed to be very politically incorrect’

Some Asian families in Britain are having too many children in order to claim extra welfare payments, Britain’s first female Asian peer claimed last night.

Baroness Flather accused the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities of failing to adopt the values of British society and said they should have their benefits slashed.

Lady Flather, a former Tory who now sits as a crossbencher, said this abuse of the welfare system has been brushed under the carpet out of political correctness.

She spoke out in the House of Lords during the second reading of the Welfare Reform Bill.

Lady Flather, a former barrister who was born in the Pakistani city of Lahore when it was part of India, praised the Indian community in the UK for having taken on ‘the pattern’ of families in their adopted country, by limiting the size of their families.

But she took aim at the Pakistani community, saying uneducated immigrants are still following the traditions of their homeland by having more children because they end up getting a ‘bigger house’. » | Tim Shipman | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

President Barack Obama Attacks European Leaders Over Debt Crisis

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama has criticised European leaders for failing to tackle the debt crisis and has demanded "more effective, co-ordinated" fiscal policy.

Reflecting the anger of Americans who are blaming Europe for the current economic turmoil, the President called for eurozone leaders to show global markets they are taking responsibility for the crisis.

Mr Obama told Spanish journalists: "The leaders in Europe must meet and take a decision on how to co-ordinate monetary integration with more effective, co-ordinated fiscal policy."

Tim Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary, is set to take the unusual step of attending a European Finance Ministers meeting on Friday.

Analysts at JP Morgan said there was "a growing sense that the crisis is reaching a climax", arguing that the "endgame on EMU [European Monetary Union] is approaching fast".

Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, added that along with Greece, "something big needs to happen for European bank capital, the clarity and determination of ECB policy making and, most importantly, where Germany wants to lead EMU". » | Louise Armitstead, and Harry Wilson | Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Obama has got his nerve! What the hell has he done to tackle the US's debt crisis? The man is a joke. – Mark

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Turkish PM Erdogan Pushes Palestinian Statehood

BBC: Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that recognition of a Palestinian state is an obligation not an option.

He told the Arab League that before the year's end "we will see Palestine in a very different situation".

Mr Erdogan made a new attack on Israel, saying its government's mentality was a barrier to peace in the Middle East.

The Palestinians are currently preparing a bid for United Nations membership despite Israeli and US opposition.

Mr Erdogan is in Egypt as part of a tour of three Arab states that recently ousted their leaders, in an attempt to improve Turkey's standing in the region.

Turkey's relations with Israel have worsened since Israeli forces boarded an aid ship in May last year as it was heading for Gaza.

Nine Turkish activists were killed during the raid. Israel has refused to apologise and said its troops acted in self-defence. » | Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Half of North Korea's Army 'Starving'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: As much as half of North Korea's army is starving as food shortages that were previously affecting only the civilian population worsen and begin to affect institutions tasked with protecting Kim Jong-Il's regime.

Disaffected North Koreans working secretly as journalists within the country for the Japan-based Asiapress International news agency have smuggled out video footage of interviews with soldiers in different parts of the isolated country, with many complaining of malnutrition.

Asked how many of the men in his unit are experiencing malnutrition, one young conscript said it is as high as 50 per cent in the spring.

"And it will get worse after a while," another soldier said. "After the potatoes are harvested, we only have seven small potatoes for one meal."

The soldier indicated that each potato is only the size of his thumb. Continue reading and comment » | Julian Ryall in Tokyo | Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Let's Rebuild the West's Moral Authority
THE AUSTRALIAN: TWO things have haunted me since 9/11. The first is the pain, the grief, the lives lost and families devastated, the sheer barbaric ingenuity of evil. The scar in our humanity is still unhealed.

The second is our failure to understand what Osama bin Laden was saying about the West. We did not hear the message then. I'm not sure we hear it now.

After the shock and grief subsided, two theories began to be heard. Firstly, this was an event of epoch-changing magnitude. The terms of international politics had been transformed. The Cold War was over. Another war had begun. The enemy was not the Soviet Union and communism. It was radical, political Islam.

The second was the opposite: 9/11 was terrifying and terrible but it changed nothing because acts of terror never do. The most important thing is not to overreact. Terror may bring dividends in local conflicts but it never succeeds in its larger political aims.

There is something to be said for both theories. But there is a third: why did al-Qa'ida attack the US? Because it believed it could. Because it thought the US was past its prime, no longer as lean and hungry as it believed it was.

Robert McNamara said the first rule in politics is to understand your enemy's psychology. As I struggled to understand 9/11 I began to suspect the answer lay in the events of 1989. That is when the narratives of the West and the rest began seriously to diverge.

In the West, 1989 was seen as the collapse of communism, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the implosion of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The Western narrative was triumphalist. It saw those events as heralding the victory of its values without a shot being fired. The free market and liberal democratic politics had won for the simplest of reasons. They delivered, while communism did not. They would now spread across the world. It was, said Francis Fukuyama, the beginning of the end of history. » | Jonathan Sacks* | THE TIMES | Monday, September 12, 2011

*Lord Sacks is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth.

Amnesty wirft Gaddafi-Gegnern Folter und Mord vor
DIE PRESSE: Die Organisation fordert den libyschen Übergangsrat auf, Menschenrechts-verletzungen der Kämpfer zu stoppen.

Amnesty International hat die neue libysche Führung aufgerufen, Menschenrechtsverletzungen ihrer Anhänger im Kampf gegen den langjährigen Diktator Muammar al-Gaddafi zu stoppen. In einem am Dienstag veröffentlichten Bericht zur Lage in Libyen erhebt die Menschenrechtsorganisation schwere Vorwürfe: Kämpfer und Anhänger des Nationalen Übergangsrats hätten frühere Gaddafi-Kämpfer, vermeintliche Verbündete sowie Ausländer, die sie fälschlicherweise für Söldner hielten, "entführt, willkürlich gefangen gehalten, gefoltert und getötet". » | Ag. | Dienstag 13. September 2011

Pope Accused of Crimes against Humanity by Victims of Sex Abuse

THE GUARDIAN: Victims' complaint to the international criminal court accuses Pope Benedict and three others of failing to prevent abusers

Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests have accused the pope, the Vatican secretary of state and two other high-ranking Holy See officials of crimes against humanity, in a formal complaint to the international criminal court (ICC).

The submission, lodged at The Hague on Tuesday, accuses the four men not only of failing to prevent or punish perpetrators of rape and sexual violence but also of engaging in the "systematic and widespread" practice of concealing sexual crimes around the world.

It includes individual cases of abuse where letters and documents between Vatican officials and others show a refusal to co-operate with law enforcement agencies seeking to pursue suspects, according to the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a US-based organisation that represents the claimants. » | Karen McVeigh | Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Les talibans lancent une «attaque massive» sur Kaboul
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: AFGHANISTAN | Les talibans ont lancé une vaste offensive aujourd'hui à Kaboul. Explosions, et tirs de roquette et d'armes automatiques ont été entendus autour des bâtiments officiels de Kaboul. Le QG de l'Otan fait partie des cibles.

Les talibans afghans ont lancé une vaste offensive mardi contre des bâtiments officiels à Kaboul, où des explosions et des tirs de roquettes et d’armes automatiques ont retenti. Le QG de la force de l’OTAN (Isaf), une base de l’armée et des bâtiments gouvernementaux ont notamment été pris pour cible.

Les déflagrations semblaient provenir de plusieurs endroits distincts, laissant penser que les assaillants visaient plusieurs objectifs. La police a confirmé les explosions et les tirs sans préciser leur origine. Aucun bilan n’était disponible dans l’immédiat. » | ATS/AFP | Mardi 13 Septembre 2011

Dix ans du 11-Septembre: Al Qaïda publie une vidéo saluant les attentats
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: TERRORISME | D’une durée d’une heure, une vidéo intitulée «l’aube d’une victoire imminente» dans laquelle s’exprime le nouveau chef de l’organisation islamiste, l’Egyptien Ayman al Zaouahri, a été mise en ligne sur des sites djihadistes.

Al Qaïda a publié lundi une vidéo à l’occasion du 10e anniversaire des attentats du 11-Septembre dans laquelle s’exprime le nouveau chef de l’organisation islamiste, l’Egyptien Ayman al Zaouahri. » | ATS | Mardi 13 Septembre 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: 9/11 anniversary: al-Qaeda releases new video applauding Arab Spring » | Ben Farmer | Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Turkey Attempts to Rally Diplomatic Alliance Against Israel

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that the Jewish state's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last year had been "grounds for war".

Mr Erdogan arrived in Cairo last night intent on burnishing his populist credentials after casting himself as a rival to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, as Israel's critic-in-chief in the Middle East.

In what appeared to be a deliberate piece of timing designed to maximise the impact of his visit, Mr Erdogan's office yesterday released a previously unpublished transcript of a redacted interview he gave to Al Jazeera's Arabic language service last week.

In it, Mr Erdogan claimed that Turkey would have been justified in going to war after Israeli commandos shot dead nine Turkish activists during the interception of an aid convoy seeking to breach Israel's blockade of Gaza in May last year.

"The attack that took place in international waters did not comply with any international law," he said. "In fact, it was grounds for war. However, befitting Turkey's greatness, we decided to act with patience."

Mr Erdogan's comments appeared to be designed to rile Israel at one of the most strained moments in relations with the Jewish state, which until recently was a close Turkish ally. » | Adrian Blomfield, in Jerusalem | Monday, September 12, 2011

Nicolas Sarkozy 'Received Cash from West African Leaders'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy received cash from West African leaders, it has been alleged, following claims that Jacques Chirac and his Dominique de Villepin received an estimated $20 million stuffed into briefcases over eight years.

The scandal has cast fresh light on France's historically murky ties to African dictators, who for decades allegedly doled out dirty petrodollars to French politicians in exchange for diplomatic and military support in a set-up known as "Françafrique".

Robert Bourgi claimed on Sunday he personally handed millions of francs from five African leaders to Mr Chirac when he was mayor of Paris and later president, along with Mr Villepin, his right hand man.

Mr Bourgi, 66, says the money, which he variously transported in a sports bag, a poster and even a ceremonial African drum, came from Burkina Faso, the Congo, Gabon, Ivory Coast and Senegal.

Yesterday, he estimated having lugged a total of $20 million (almost £13 million) to Mr Chirac and Mr Villepin between 1997 and 2005. Around half of this went into funding Mr Chirac's successful 2002 electoral campaign, he claimed.

Bernard Houdin, an adviser to former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, said that such payments were "a historical practice" and that "the sums mentioned are no doubt below reality". » | Henry Samuel in Paris | Monday, September 12, 2011