State Bill Introduced to Ban Shari’a-Islamic, Other Forms of Foreign Law
CENTRAL MICHIGAN LIFE: A state lawmaker’s proposed bill that would ban the use of foreign laws in the Michigan court system is an example of Islamophobia, said one Central Michigan University professor.

Shari’a, a set of religious guidelines for Muslims that include aspects of their personal life, family relationships and religious practices, would be prohibited from being recognized in courts according to a bill proposed by State Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville.

Courts consult Shari’a law just as they have often consulted Jewish law, called Halakha, said Hugh Talat Halman, assistant professor of philosophy and religion.

The bill does not say anything specifically about Shari’a-Islamic law, but it would be prohibited in Michigan courts if the law were passed, along with Jewish law and any other form foreign law.

“The bill is against foreign law that goes against constitutional, federal and state laws,” Agema said. “It’s very simple and it does not go against one particular group or another.” » | Jordan Spence | Friday, September 16, 2011

Wulff dankt Türken für Beitrag zum Wohlstand

BERLINER ZEITUNG: München/Berlin - Bundespräsident Christian Wulff hat den Türken in Deutschland für ihren Beitrag zum deutschen Wohlstand gedankt. «Einwanderer aus der Türkei haben Deutschland vielfältiger, offener und der Welt zugewandter gemacht», sagte Wulff in einem Interview der «Süddeutschen Zeitung».

Er sehe in einem weiteren Ausbau der deutsch-türkischen Beziehungen «ein großes Potenzial» für beide Länder.

Wulff würdigte auch die Rolle der Türkei als Vorbild für die Umbruchstaaten in der arabischen Welt. Die Türkei sei «ein Beispiel dafür, dass Islam und Demokratie, Islam und Rechtsstaat, Islam und Pluralismus kein Widerspruch sein müssen». Dies sei von «überragender Bedeutung für den Frieden in der Welt». Am Montag wird Wulff in Berlin den türkischen Staatspräsidenten Abdullah Gül empfangen. Wulff will während des dreitägigen Staatsbesuchs seinem Gast auch seine Geburtsstadt Osnabrück zeigen, wo ein Platz nach einer türkischen Zuwandererfamilie benannt wurde. » | © dpa | Samstag 17. September 201

German Police Baffled by Case of English-speaking Boy with No Identity
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Detectives in Germany are trying to identify an English-speaking teenager who claims to have been living wild in a forest for the past five years.

The 17-year-old, who turned up at Berlin’s city hall, said he had been walking for two weeks but had no idea who he was or where he was from.

He told officers that he and his father moved to the forest about five years ago following the death of his mother and had lived off the land since, sleeping in a tent and remote huts.

He said his father had also died recently and that he had buried him in a shallow grave before setting off to find help.

Detectives said the teenager, who gave his name as Ray, spoke a little German, but his first language appeared to be English.

He was able to tell officers his name and his date of birth, but claimed not to remember either of his parents’ names or anything of his life before he entered the forest.

Despite being dishevelled, he was described as being fit and healthy and showing no signs of malnourishment or abuse. » | Stuart Braun in Berlin and Martin Evans | Friday, September 16, 2011

BILD: Junge lebte fünf Jahre im Wald: Berlin – Er stand auf einmal in einer Berliner Polizeiwache. Mit einem Zelt, einem Schlaf- und einem Rucksack – und gibt seitdem den Behörden Rätsel auf: Der Junge aus dem Wald. 16 bis 18 Jahre alt, englischsprachig, keine Ausweispapiere. » | ali | Freitag 16. September 2011

Former Saudi Wahhabi Radical Takes on the Koran

Euro Crisis: The Bond that Unites Europe Is at Breaking Point

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Disaster across the eurozone has all but destroyed the common purpose at the heart of European union. [sic]

Already jittery because of the financial crisis, members of the European Parliament spilt their coffee when the Polish finance minister, Jacek Rostowski, addressed them this week. “If the eurozone breaks up, the European Union will not be able to survive,” he said, as MEPs bleakly contemplated their vanished expense accounts and sandwiches instead of long lunches in Brussels and Strasbourg.

But there was much worse to follow. Dr Rostowski, a British- born economist, former Tory party member, and Solidarity activist, told them about a chance meeting with an old friend at an airport.

As they discussed the eurozone crisis, the friend warned there would be “war in the next 10 years”. Rostowski added with a final flourish, “War! Ladies and gentlemen, those are the terms he used,” as the massed MEPs mentally translated wojna into guerre and Krieg.

It was not supposed to end like this, for the European project has always had more than economic goals, as Rostowski confirmed when he said that “Europe’s great achievement is political peace. But it is not eternal”. As a Pole, he knows. » | Michael Burleigh | Thursday, September 15, 2011

I concur with Dr. Rostowski. War will inevitably follow if the EU breaks up. It won't be this year, or next year. But in the not-too-distant future, war will be the inevitable outcome. The people who are against the EU are myopic, and lack any understanding of history. Yes, there is much wrong with the EU; but yes, too, there is much right with it. What is wrong with it can be changed. Let us not throw the baby out with the bathwater! – © Mark

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New York Smokers Down to Record Low
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The number of smokers in New York has hit an all-time low, city health officials said on Thursday.

Only 14 out of 100 adults still light up, a 35 per cent decrease from 2002 figures, the Health Department said. The decrease amounts to 450,000 fewer adult smokers, with teens registering steep declines.

"Smoking is the leading cause of preventable, premature death in New York City and the nation today and we&£8217; re proud that a record number of New Yorkers are saving their own lives by quitting," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement. » | Friday, September 16, 2011

All sounds good and sensible. But is it? It begs the following question: What are they doing for kicks and pleasure instead? Bringing the smoking rate down to record levels is good only when people are not substituting their smoking habit with something else more injurious to their health. One can only wonder what is happening to the rates of drug and alcohol abuse. Smoking has become the bête noire of our age. But there are far more harmful things to one's health than a few puffs on a cigarette. As one-track minded as Bloomberg is – he has a real bee in his bonnet with regards to smoking, being a reformed smoker himself – I wonder if he has looked into the downside of his persecution of smokers? – Mark

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Joanna Lumley Targeted in Facebook Campaign against Gurkha 'Influx'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Actress Joanna Lumley has become the target of a Facebook hate campaign for her role in attracting a "massive influx" of Gurkhas to the country.

The Ab Fab star successfully campaigned for the heroic soldiers and their families to be given a right to settle in the UK.

But the Gurkhas and their families now make up 10 per cent of the population in Aldershot, Hants, and residents say services are struggling to cope.

Over 2,300 people have joined Facebook pages called "Joanna Lumley has F**ked up Aldershot and Farnborough" and "Lumley's Legacy".

Anti-Gurkha messages have also been graffitied across the area.

Sam Phillips, who founded both groups, said he was not racist and had "great appreciation" for the sacrifices the Gurkhas made for "our country".

The 35-year-old HGV driver, from Aldershot, added: "Joanna Lumley was happy to use her face to get publicity for her cause, now we are using her name to show the result.

"Our problem is not with the Gurkhas it is with the government. » | Friday, September 16, 2011

Des centaines de musulmans bravent l'interdiction de prier dans la rue

LE POINT: Pour la prière du vendredi, des musulmans ont prié à Paris, en banlieue, ainsi qu'à Nice.

En dépit de l'interdiction du ministre de l'Intérieur d'organiser des prières de rue, ils étaient des centaines de musulmans à braver les consignes vendredi. À Paris, quelques 200 fidèles priaient dans l'après-midi dans une rue du quartier parisien de la Goutte-d'Or [EN]. Environ 200 fidèles s'étaient installés peu après 14 heures sur les trottoirs et la chaussée de la rue Polonceau (18e arrondissement). À Gennevilliers (Hauts-de-Seine), ville qui dispose d'une nouvelle mosquée, 200 autres personnes de confession musulmane ont prié dans l'après-midi dans une rue de la zone portuaire, à l'appel d'une association qui s'oppose à la destruction prévue de leur ancienne mosquée située à quelques mètres.

Enfin, à Nice, une centaine de fidèles ont prié sur un trottoir attenant à la mosquée du centre-ville de Nice. Le ministère de l'Intérieur s'est dit déterminé à faire respecter dès ce vendredi l'interdiction de prier dans les rues en France, notamment à Paris et Marseille où de nouveaux lieux de culte ont été ouverts pour les fidèles musulmans. » | Source AFP | Vendredi 16 Septembre 2011

Jackie Kennedy Talks of Her Love for JFK in Audio Tapes
The former First Lady describes how supportive her husband was in the face of criticism of her as a 'liability'.

WIKI: Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy »
Related article »

Roman Polanski to Collect Festival Honour in Zurich

BBC: Director Roman Polanski is to collect a career honour at the Zurich Film Festival, two years after his arrest in the city on child sex charges.

Organisers say the 78-year-old will attend the gala to receive his award which he was set to pick up in 2009.

Swiss police arrested Polanski on his arrival in the country over his 1977 US conviction for having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

He was held for 10 months before Swiss courts decided not to extradite him.

The tribute ceremony to present Polanski with his lifetime achievement award is due to be held on 27 September.

Directors of the Zurich Film Festival, Karl Spoerri and Nadja Schildknecht, said: "We are especially proud to welcome Roman Polanski this year to receive his award.

"We have always been tremendous admirers of his work and we are delighted that we will soon be able to express this to him in person," they added.

The Zurich Film Festival is taking place from 22 September to 2 October. » | Friday, September 16, 2011

Texas : un condamné à mort obtient un sursis in extremis

LE FIGARO: La Cour suprême a suspendu à la dernière minute l'exécution de Duane Buck, condamné en 1995 pour double meurtre mais dont le procès avait été entaché de considérations sur sa couleur de peau.

Jusqu'au bout, l'État du Texas aura refusé d'épargner Duane Buck. En 1995, cet homme noir aujourd'hui âgé de 48 ans avait été condamné à la peine capitale pour le meurtre de son ex-petite amie et d'un ami de celle-ci. L'injection létale devait avoir lieu jeudi soir. Mais considérant que son procès avait été entaché de considérations raciales, la Cour suprême des États-Unis lui a accordé in extremis un sursis.

La plus haute juridiction du pays n'a pas indiqué la durée de ce sursis. L'avocate du condamné, Kate Black, s'est néanmoins dite «très heureuse que la Cour suprême ait reconnu l'injustice raciale dans cette affaire». «Nous sommes persuadés que la Cour sera d'accord pour dire que notre client a le droit à une audience juste qui ne soit pas entachée de considérations raciales», a-t-elle ajouté. L'ancien ministre de la Justice du Texas, le sénateur John Cornyn, avait admis précédemment «l'introduction déplacée de (questions) raciales lors de l'audience de condamnation de M. Buck», en l'occurence le témoignage d'un psychologue qui, interrogé par l'accusation, avait déclaré que les Noirs avaient davantage de risques d'être récidivistes. » | Par lefigaro.fr | Vendredi 16 Septembre 2011

Converts Must Die: Imam to Swedish Radio
THE LOCAL: Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR) has been reported for hate speech after featuring a programme in which a Somali imam called for all converts from Islam to be killed.

The programme in question was a panel discussion and was broadcast live by SR International's Somali service.

The police report was filed by Erik Johansson, at the Swedish Evangelical Mission (Evangeliska Fosterlands-Stiftelsen - EFS), after friends told him of the imam's words underlining every Muslim's responsibility to kill anyone who leaves Islam.

"I received a call from my Somali friends who had heard the programme. I don't speak the language myself and when they explained to me, I concluded that this wasn't a message which should be on an SR channel," Erik Johansson told The Local on Thursday. » | Peter Vinthagen Simpson | Thursday, September 15, 2011

Wilhelm Tell: Held oder Mörder?
Diese Frage hat sich eine neue Ausstellung im Neuenburger Museum für Kunst und Geschichte gestellt. Die Ausstellung führt zurück an den Ursprung der Tell-Legende.

WIKI: William Tell »

WIKI: Albrecht Gessler »

Needy Germans Irritated JFK, Tapes Reveal'He Got Awfully Fed Up with Adenauer and All that Berlin'
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: This week's release of interviews with former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy has revealed a new side of the demure fashion icon. Among the unsparing criticism of her husband's political contemporaries were also a few comments about the Germans, who were apparently the source of great aggravation.

She said Martin Luther King was "phony," called former French President Charles de Gaulle an "egomaniac" and had harsh words for her husband's successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. In a new book that unveils private interviews for the first time with former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, unpleasant opinions about a number of political figures are revealed´-- and the Germans aren't spared, either.

Released this week, "Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life With John F. Kennedy" documents previously unheard conversations with the grieving widow in the spring and summer of 1964. Recorded in her Washington home by historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., they offer an intimate glimpse into the personal and political lives of the Kennedy family during their three years in the White House.

With a frankness uncharacteristic of her discreet public persona, Mrs. Kennedy offered up humorous -- though sometimes prickly -- descriptions and private reflections, which can also be heard on audio discs that come with the book or are provided digitally with the e-book. Among her unflattering comments about other world leaders -- such as the "kind of pushy, horrible" future Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi -- she also revealed that her husband had often been exasperated by relations with Germany. » | kla | Thursday, September 15, 2011

Gaza: Neue Freiheiten
Nächste Woche will Palästina die UNO-Mitgliedschaft beantragen. Verändert dieses Ziel auch die Politik der Hamas gegenüber den Frauen im Gaza-Streifen? Bisher waren unter der radikal islamischen Regierung Sport, Spiel und Kultur für Frauen tabu. Dass nun - ermutigt durch die arabische Revolution - plötzlich Frauen surfen, malen und tanzen, zeigt einen Kulturwandel, der bei traditionelleren Schichten nicht immer auf Anklang stösst.

"Unterhosenbomber" ruft vor US-Gericht zum Jihad auf

DIE PRESSE: Der Nigerianer Abdulmutallab wollte ein US-Flugzeug sprengen. Im Prozess gab er sich ungehalten. "Osama ist am Leben", schrie er im Gerichtssaal.

Bei seiner Anhörung vor einem Gericht in Detroit hat der Nigerianer Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, der zu Weihnachten 2009 ein US-Passagierflugzeug in die Luft sprengen wollte, den Tod von Al-Kaida-Chef Osama Bin Laden abgestritten. "Osama ist am Leben", rief der 24-Jährige laut örtlichen Medienberichten am Mittwoch (Ortszeit) im Gerichtssaal. Richterin Nancy Edmunds wies den Angaben zufolge indes mehrere Anträge des Angeklagten zurück, mit denen er eine Verschiebung des für Mitte Oktober vorgesehenen Prozessbeginns erreichen wollte. » | APA | Donnerstag 15. September 2011

Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron 'Colonising Libya'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Libyan visit of David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy marked the start of the "colonisation" of the oil-rich country, Col Gaddafi's spokesman Moussa Ibrahim has warned.

The British prime minister and French president, whose forces spearheaded the Nato air war that helped to topple Gaddafi, were hailed as heroes during their visit on Thursday to Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi.

But Ibrahim, in a telephone call to the Syria-based Arrai late on Thursday, charged that their joint mission had ulterior motives.

"The visit marks the start of a project of colonisation of Libya," he said.

"They are hurrying to collect the fruits of the fall of Tripoli ... because they obviously fear the arrival of America and other countries wanting a slice of the cake," he said, without disclosing where he was phoning from.

Gaddafi and members of his inner circle have been in hiding since Tripoli was overrun by National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters late last month, with the fugitive strongman still believed to be in Libya even though members of his family have fled to Algeria and Niger. » | Friday, September 16, 2011

Neil Kinnock's Daughter-in-law Becomes Denmark's First Female PM
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Lord Kinnock's daughter-in-law Helle Thorning-Schmidt is to become Denmark’s first woman prime minister after winning a knife-edge victory in the country’s general election.

As the first votes came in on Thursday night, her centre-left coalition, which was the strong favourite to win, at one point fell behind the government, but pulled ahead by the end of the night to win 89 of the country’s seats next to the 86 seats won by the coalition led by Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

Addressing victorious Social Democratic Party members last night, Ms Thorning-Schidmt, 44, said: “Today is the day things change in Denmark. This evening we’ve shown that the Social Democrats are a big and driving force in Denmark. We’ve written history today.”


Ms Thorning-Schidmt’s victory brings the Danish left back to power after ten years in opposition, and is likely to mean Denmark will be less hostile to moves towards closer economic co-ordination within the European Union. » | Richard Orange in Malmö | Friday, September 16, 2011

Netherlands to Ban the Burka
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Holland is to become the latest European country to ban the burka, despite the fact that fewer than 100 Dutch women are thought to wear the face-covering Islamic dress.

The Dutch government will agree to introduce a ban on Friday making the Netherlands the third country in Europe to prohibit the burka, behind France and Belgium.

Women caught wearing a burka in public, on the streets, public transport and in schools or hospitals will be fined £330.

There will be exemptions for mosques, or other religious buildings and for foreign women travelling through the transit lounges of international Dutch airports. » | Bruno Waterfield | Thursday, September 15, 2011

Pat Condell: In Superstition We Trust