Russia Warns Against Air Strike On Iran

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavov has warned that a military strike on Iran would be a “very serious mistake” with “unpredictable consequences”, after Israel’s president Shimon Peres said that an attack was increasingly likely.

n comments published in the Israeli daily Hayom, Mr Peres said that “the possibility of a military attack against Iran is now closer to being applied than the application of a diplomatic option”.

"We must stay calm and resist pressure so that we can consider every alternative," he added.
The drumbeat of war is expected to grow louder this week when United Nations nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, issues its most detailed report to date on nuclear research in Iran.

It will provide what Western officials and experts regard as irrefutable evidence that Tehran is compiling the capacity and skills to build a bomb. It will be used as leverage for a fifth round of sanctions at the UN, but could also provide Israel, with the tacit support of Washington, to finalise plans for an air strike.

Among its findings are that Tehran was helped by nuclear experts from two countries, believed to be Russia and Pakistan. The Washington Post reported that key assistance was provided by Vyacheslav Danilenko, a former Soviet nuclear scientist, hired by Iran's Physics Research Centre. » | Alex Spillius | Monday, November 07, 2011

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Japan's Emperor Admitted to Tokyo Hospital
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Japan's emperor has been admitted to hospital suffering from persistent fever and bronchitis symptoms.

Emperor Akihito, 77, was taken to University of Tokyo Hospital late Sunday evening where he was being treated by medical staff, according to the Imperial Household Agency.

Television footage showed the emperor arriving at the hospital by car, accompanied by his wife Empress Michiko. » | Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo | Monday, November 07, 2011

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Accuses Israel and US as Tension over Possible Strike Grows

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused Israel and the United States of seeking world support for a military strike on Iran nuclear facilities, ahead of the publication of a report expected to show the regime is making efforts to develop a warhead.

The Iranian president warned against a military attack on Iran and again insisted Tehran's atomic programme was for peaceful purposes only.

"Iran's capabilities are increasing and it is progressing, and for that reason it has been able to compete in the world. Now Israel and the West, particularly America, fear Iran's capabilities and role," Ahmadinejad told Egypt's Al-Akhbar newspaper.

"Therefore they are trying to gather international support for a military operation to stop (Iran's) role. The arrogant should know that Iran will not allow them to take any action against it," he said.

Ahmadinejad added that Washington wanted to "save the Zionist entity, but it will not be able to do so."

"This entity (Israel) can be compared to a kidney transplanted in a body that rejected it," he said. "Yes it will collapse and its end will be near."

Ahmadinejad's diatribe against Israel, Iran's arch-foe, come after Israeli President Shimon Peres warned in a television interview on Saturday that an attack on Iran was becoming "more and more likely." » | Monday, November 07, 2011

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Ehud Barak refuses to rule out military strike against Iran: Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, refused to rule out military action against Iran yesterday, heightening expectations that his government is preparing to authorise an attack on Tehran's nuclear facilities. ¶ In an interview with the BBC, Mr Barak said that sanctions and international diplomacy had so far failed to deter Iran from seeking to build a nuclear bomb, a prospect that would, he warned, threaten the stability of the "whole world". » | Adrian Blomfield, Jerusalem | Sunday, November 06, 2011

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Ehud Barak: Middle East is 'tough neighbourhood' – Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has described the Middle East as a "tough neighbourhood" when describing the risks of a confrontation with Iran over its nuclear programme. ¶ Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show the former Israeli Prime Minister said "Israel is the strongest country for the thousand miles around Jerusalem, we plan to remain the strongest country around." ¶ "But we are at the same time peaceful, we are ready to make peace at any moment with any one of our neighbours." » | Sunday, November 06, 2011

Islam Is the Solution, Grand Mufti Says in Haj Sermon

ARAB NEWS: ARAFAT – More than 2.5 million pilgrims from around the globe prayed for peace and security on the sprawling plains of Arafat on Saturday amid a forceful condemnation by Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh of those who provoke hostilities between the Ummah and its leaders.

The “wuqoof” or “the standing” in Arafat was the high point of the annual pilgrimage. It was also an extraordinary symbol of the unity and equality in Islam.

Delivering the keynote sermon at the majestic Al-Nimira Mosque, the grand mufti said: “Solve your problems without seeking interference from your enemies...and beware of those provoke hostility between you and your leaders.”

The mosque was packed with the faithful and hundreds of thousands of pilgrims prayed out in the open streets.

“Islam is the solution for the problems of Muslims,” he said, and warned Muslims of a media and cultural invasion that seeks to weaken their faith.

Al-Asheikh called on rulers in the Muslim countries not to oppress their people but to help them lead a dignified life.

“It is the duty of Muslim leaders to maintain justice and fight corruption. Their priority should be the welfare of their people,” Al-Asheikh said.

While the ruler strives to help solve the problems of the citizens, the subjects should obey, love and pray for their rulers, Al-Ashiekh said.

The mufti also advised government officials to shun bribery and nepotism, reminding Muslims that the Islamic world was passing through one of its most dangerous and challenging periods. » | ARAB NEWS | Sunday, November 06, 2011

Church of England 'Must Curb Its Attacks on the City'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Church of England must resist igniting a 1980s-style war of words with the Government over its attacks on the City, according to a senior banker and church official.

Ken Costa, a former bank chairman and head of a newly appointed Church committee charged with rebuilding links with the financial sector, has warned against a repeat of the bitter row that broke out after the publication of the clergy's landmark Faith in the City report 25 years ago.

At the time, the report provoked fury among senior Conservatives by levelling some of the blame for economic and spiritual decline at the door of the Thatcher administration.

Mr Costa, the chairman of the St Paul's Initiative, established by the Church to open up a debate on ethical capitalism, said the clergy's response to the ongoing protests outside St Paul's Cathedral must not turn into a "reheated Faith in the City".

In his first public comments since his appointment, Mr Costa insisted that a flourishing banking sector was "essential to any successful economy" and that financial incentives are "both valid and effective".

He also said that stiffer regulation of financial services was not necessarily the solution to the global economic crisis, saying, "you cannot regulate into existence a culture of honesty, integrity, truthfulness and responsibility". » | Graeme Paton | Monday, November 07, 2011

Ken Costa, a one-time Marxist turned City banker, seems to be saying that the Church should do and say nothing. So he wants the Church to shut up to allow the banksters to continue their theft and corruption, eh? I say that if the Church wants to be taken seriously, it should step up its attack on these fraudsters, not shut up.

In my opinion, it is time for bankers to have a code of ethics, just as doctors have in the Hippocratic Oath. Then, if they are found to be engaging in foul practice, they can have their licence to work in the banking sector taken away from them. – © Mark

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Arab League Warns of 'Disastrous Consequences' for the Middle East after Syria Peace Plan Fails

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The head of the Arab League warned of "disastrous consequences" for the Middle east on Sunday as the Assad regime heightened fears of civil war in Syria by inflicting a fresh round of bloodshed on its people.

Defying the terms of a regional peace initiative that President Bashar al-Assad agreed to uphold last week, Syrian security forces killed at least 13 people in Homs, the opposition said, bringing the three-day death toll in the restive city to more than 40.

The Arab League initiative was seen as an "eleventh hour opportunity" to restore a semblance of peace in Syria, where more than 3,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Mr Assad began nearly eight months ago.

"The failure of the Arab solution will have disastrous consequences in Syria and the region," Nabil Elaraby, the Arab League's secretary-general, said from his Cairo headquarters yesterday.

Under the terms of the peace plan, the Syrian government was meant to order tanks off the streets, end the killing of protesters, release 70,000 political prisoners and embark on negotiations with the opposition.

Although a few hundred prisoners have been freed, Mr Assad's non-compliance prompted fresh hints that Syria could be suspended from the Arab League. » | Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Sunday, November 06, 2011

Papandreou Out as Greek Leaders Agree Unity Government Deal

THE GUARDIAN: PM and opposition leaders agree formation of new coalition government in bid to break political deadlock

The Greek prime minister and opposition have agreed on the formation of a new coalition government in a bid to break the political deadlock and pave the way for an EU bailout for the debt-stricken country.

Prime minister George Papandreou and opposition leader Antonis Samaras battled over the weekend to strike the deal – which will see a new leader appointed to take over from Papandreou – ahead of the opening of the global financial markets this morning.

A statement from the Greek presidency said the leaders will meet again on Monday to discuss who would head the coalition government, but made no mention of how long the interim government would last.

Officials from the two parties were continuing with talks late on Sunday to try to set the time needed to implement the bailout.

Under the auspices of the nation's president, Karolos Papoulias, Papandreou and Samaras struck the deal to form an interim administration to agree on how to enact a bailout agreement, and so steer Greece through its worst crisis in modern times. » | Helena Smith in Athens and Tom Kington in Rome | Sunday, November 06, 2011

Les musulmans du monde entier célèbrent l'Aïd
LE FIGARO: EN IMAGES - La plus importante fête de l'Islam, qui commémore la fidélité du prophète Ibrahim, coïncide avec le grand pèlerinage de La Mecque, où plus de 3 millions de musulmans sont rassemblés.

À la galerie »

Far Right On Rise in Europe, Says Report

THE GUARDIAN: Study by Demos thinktank reveals thousands of self-declared followers of hardline nationalist parties and groups

The far right is on the rise across Europe as a new generation of young, web-based supporters embrace hardline nationalist and anti-immigrant groups, a study has revealed ahead of a meeting of politicians and academics in Brussels to examine the phenomenon.

Research by the British thinktank Demos for the first time examines attitudes among supporters of the far right online. Using advertisements on Facebook group pages, they persuaded more than 10,000 followers of 14 parties and street organisations in 11 countries to fill in detailed questionnaires.

The study reveals a continent-wide spread of hardline nationalist sentiment among the young, mainly men. Deeply cynical about their own governments and the EU, their generalised fear about the future is focused on cultural identity, with immigration – particularly a perceived spread of Islamic influence – a concern.

"We're at a crossroads in European history," said Emine Bozkurt, a Dutch MEP who heads the anti-racism lobby at the European parliament. "In five years' time we will either see an increase in the forces of hatred and division in society, including ultra-nationalism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and antisemitism, or we will be able to fight this horrific tendency."

The report comes just over three months after Anders Breivik, a supporter of hard right groups, shot dead 69 people at youth camp near Oslo. While he was disowned by the parties, police examination of his contacts highlighted the Europe-wide online discussion of anti-immigrant and nationalist ideas.

Data in the study was mainly collected in July and August, before the worsening of the eurozone crisis. The report highlights the prevalence of anti-immigrant feeling, especially suspicion of Muslims. "As antisemitism was a unifying factor for far-right parties in the 1910s, 20s and 30s, Islamophobia has become the unifying factor in the early decades of the 21st century," said Thomas Klau from the European Council on Foreign Relations, who will speak at Monday's conference. Read on and comment » | Peter Walker and Matthew Taylor | Sunday, November 06, 2011

Europe's 'nationalist populists' and far right – interactive: Political groups and parties studied by researchers investigating a new wave of hardline nationalist and anti-immigrant sentiment » | Peter Walker and Paddy Allen | Sunday, November 06, 2011

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Far-Right groups in Europe 'on the rise': The eurozone crisis and immigration is fuelling the rise of the far-Right across Europe, according to a study by the Demos think-tank. » | Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Sunday, November 06, 2011

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: L’extrême droite séduit de jeunes Européens grâce à la crainte de l’islamisme: ÉTUDE | Les thèses de l'extrême droite rencontrent un écho grandissant chez les jeunes hommes de moins de 30 ans, selon une étude par le centre de réflexion britannique Demos. » | ATS/AFP | lundi 07 novembre 2011

Vatican : des féministes ukrainiennes stoppées
leJDD: Trois féministes du mouvement ukrainien Femen, dont les militantes ont pour habitude de manifester les seins nus, ont été stoppées dimanche par la police italienne avant de pouvoir atteindre la place Saint-Pierre, a constaté un photographe de l'AFP.

Elles voulaient attirer l'attention sur leur cause au moment où le pape Benoît XVI prononçait la traditionnelle prière dominicale de l'angélus sur la Place Saint-Pierre. La police les a interceptées dans la matinée avant qu'elles n'arrivent sur la place. [Source: leJDD] | dimanche 06 novembre 2011

"C'est moi qui ai piraté Charlie Hebdo"
leJDD: EXCLUSIF - Juste après l’incendie du siège du journal satirique, son site Internet a été hacké. À Istanbul, le JDD a retrouvé Ekber, l’auteur du piratage, qui menace aujourd’hui Libération.

C’est un jeune homme de 20 ans qui se présente au rendez-vous donné dans un café discret, sur la rive asiatique d’Istanbul. En jean et chemise noire, Ekber arrive avec son ordinateur portable sous le bras. Il est étudiant à l’université Isik, futur ingénieur informatique. Originaire de Rize, sur la mer Noire, comme le premier ministre Erdogan, qu’il admire. Un jeune Turc lambda qui n’a pas vraiment le profil du taliban croqué par Cabu! "Black Apple", son nom de code de hacker, est celui qui a realise le piratage du site Internet de Charlie Hebdo, mercredi matin.

Ce jour-là, un peu avant 6 heures, la page d’accueil de l’hebdo satirique est victime d’une attaque. Un message s’affiche en turc, traduit dans un mauvais anglais: "Avec vos caricatures haineuses, vous attaquez le grand prophète de l’Islam, sous couvert de la liberté d’expression. Que la malédiction de Dieu s’abatte sur vous. Nous serons votre malédiction dans le monde virtuel!". Signé des Akincilar, un groupe de neuf hackers turcs qui a adopté le nom des guerriers légendaires de la cavalerie ottomane. À 6h54, heure d’Istanbul, Black Apple annonce le succès de l’opération sur un forum. "Il fallait donner la réponse qu’elle méritait à cette revue qui prononce de telles imbécillités." » | Guillaume Perrier, correspondance à Istanbul (Turquie) - Le Journal du Dimanche | samedi 05 novembre 2011

Liens en relation avec l’article »

Millions of Muslim Hajj Pilgrims Perform Symbolic Stoning of the Devil on Eid al-Adha
On the final day of the annual hajj pilgrimage, Muslims throw stone pebbles at walls representing Satan.

Read article here | Sunday, November 06, 2011
NZZ am SONNTAG: Millionen Muslime auf Pilgerfahrt Hadsch: Aufstieg auf Berg Arafat und Steinigung des Teufels » | dapd | Sonntag 06. November 2011

NZZ am SONNTAG: Blutiger Beginn des muslimischen Opferfestes: Bomben explodieren im Norden Afghanistans und im Irak » | dapd | Sonntag 06. November 2011

We Are Paid Too Much, Bankers Confess in St Paul's Survey
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: As politicians shift ground on high earners, City workers admit public sector gets raw deal

British bankers have admitted that they are paid too much, a report into moral standards in the City of London will reveal tomorrow.

A survey of 500 workers in City financial institutions, carried out for the Christian think-tank St Paul's Institute, found that "a substantial number" believed they were overpaid compared with other professions – particularly frontline workers including teachers and, most of all, nurses.

The results will fuel continuing bitterness towards the industry over its culpability for the financial crisis and its apparent failure to rein in huge salaries and bonuses . Last night The Sunday Times reported the publicly owned Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to pay its investment bankers about £500m in bonuses.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, yesterday joined the attack on bankers' pay, claiming excesses in the financial sector had helped to create huge inequalities in wealth, "demonstrating how scandalously unfair our society is". » | MATT THOMAS, BRIAN BRADY | Sunday, November 06, 2011

Oklahoma Rattled by 5.6 Earthquake
THE GUARDIAN: Homes damaged and roads buckled by series of shocks including the biggest on record in US state

Earthquakes of up to 5.6 magnitude have shaken Oklahoma, damaging buildings and roads and sending a handful of people to hospital.

The first quake was recorded on Saturday morning at a magnitude of 4.7. The second came on Saturday night and is the largest ever recorded in Oklahoma, topping a tremor of 5.5 magnitude in 1952, according to the US Geological Survey.

In Prague, Oklahoma, where the first quake was centred, city manager Jim Greff said part of the town library's ceiling collapsed and a chimney fell through the roof of a home. There were no serious injuries. » | Reuters | Sunday, November 06, 2011

GOP Set to Embrace Mitt Romney as Candidate Who Can Beat Barack Obama

THE GUARDIAN: The frontrunner exudes confidence as polls suggest he could seize the White House, reports Paul Harris in New Hampshire

Mitt Romney walked into the old Town Hall in the New Hampshire town of Exeter late last week already looking like an American president sent straight from Hollywood. He had the square jaw, the perfect smile and, walking beside him, his gorgeous blonde wife, Ann. He also had a speech that read like a horror movie and described an America in mortal peril of bankruptcy and social chaos.

"If we keep spending like we are spending and borrowing like we are borrowing, at some point we can face what Greece faces," he told a room that was packed to overflowing.

But Romney does not just look the part of president. In the race to be the Republicans' 2012 nominee, and challenge Barack Obama for the White House, Romney is riding high. And with Obama facing the challenge of a worsening economy and anaemic approval ratings, a growing number of commentators believe that the former governor of Massachusetts could be the next occupant of the Oval Office.

He is the undoubted frontrunner in the Republican race, with the rest of the field scrabbling to be the sole "anti-Romney" candidate. One by one, Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry looked likely contenders before their bubbles burst and support withered. Now the latest anti-Romney candidate, former pizza magnate Herman Cain, is mired in a sexual harassment scandal.

With less than two months until Iowa and New Hampshire kick off the vital early contests, Romney is sitting pretty. More than a few of those 200 people inside the hall felt they just might be looking at their nominee: their great hope of making Obama a one-term president. "He has the money. He has the experience. Romney is the most well-rounded candidate," said Rene Bonnin, 63, a local retired naval worker. » | Paul Harris in Exeter, New Hampshire | Saturday, November 05, 2011

Church Leaders Accuse Bankers of Losing Their 'Moral Moorings'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Church of England has launched a fierce new attack on bankers accusing them of greed and having "slipped their moral moorings".

A series of senior figures stepped up their attack on the City in an assault that comes a week after the Church refused to evict protesters from outside St Paul's Cathedral in central London.

They spoke of a financial sector which sets a moral tone for a society which had become "scandalously unfair".

The interventions included:

• A call in an article in The Sunday Telegraph today for fundamental reform of how the financial world works. It was made by Ken Costa, a former bank chairman and the Church’s newly appointed leader of an initiative to build links with the City;

• The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, said executive salaries were creating a gulf between rich and poor that made “societies less cohesive” and called for an end to official honours for financiers;

• Dr Giles Fraser, the cleric who quit as canon chancellor of St Paul’s over plans to evict protesters, said there was “financial injustice” that had to be addressed;

• A report written by Dr Fraser on behalf of a think tank endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is to be published tomorrow, claiming the City’s reliance on technology was dehumanising its values. » | Jonathan Wynne-Jones and Kamal Ahmed | Saturday, November 05, 2011

This is all the result of Reaganism and Thatcherism. The Old Gipper and the ol' 'Milk Snatcher' have a lot to answer for. In Britain, Maggie Thatcher institutionalised greed; in the US, Reagan did the same. – © Mark

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Greek MP Who Wants Papandreou to Quit Says 'I Haven't Slept for Days. This Is the Point of No Return.'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Greece needs a government that can reassure people it is staying in the Eurozone, says Eva Kaili, a key politician who has stopped backing prime minister George Papandreou.

The stage was set for the final act. Crowds gathered outside the seat of power, waiting, after a series of epic plot twists, for the embattled leader to fall on his sword.

Except George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, appeared not to have read the script. Confounding all expectations, the protagonist in this most gripping of Greek dramas was last night still clinging to power, defying both critics inside his government and the opposition who had demanded his resignation.

Instead, he yesterday went to President Carolos Papoulias to ask for permission to form a coalition government, and begin uniting his fractious politicians, reassuring euro leaders, and securing Greece's economic lifeline.

He is in for a rough ride. Even those who were supportive a week ago are now calling for his head.
"He has to step down," said Eva Kaili, an MP from Mr Papandreou's PASOK party, before the vote on his future in the early hours of Saturday. Read on and comment » | Harriet Alexander, Athens | Saturday, November 05, 2011

Berlusconi Rejects Calls to Resign Over Fiscal Crisis
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: ROME—Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Saturday rebuffed calls to resign as thousands of protesters poured into the streets criticizing his handling of Italy's economy and calling for new leadership to steer the country out of the euro-zone debt crisis.

In a defiant statement, Mr. Berlusconi labeled as "gossip" Italian newspaper reports stating he has come under pressure from key advisers to step down.

"Responsibility in the face of voters and the country requires us and our government to continue this battle for civility that we are conducting in this difficult moment of the crisis," he said.

The protest rally in Rome Saturday was organized by the main opposition party, the Democratic Party, which has repeatedly called on the prime minister to resign. Center-left opposition leader Pier Luigi Bersani said that "either he resigns or he will lose the next election round." » | Stacy Meichtry and Sabrina Cohen | Saturday, November 05, 2011

Griechenland: Übergangsregierung in Planung
Um Haaresbreite hat der griechische Ministerpräsident Giorgos Papandreou im Parlament die Vertrauensabstimmung gewonnen. Nun soll innert weniger Tage eine Übergangsregierung auf Mehrparteien-Basis entstehen.

NY Mayor Talks Tough on OWS as Momentum Grows