David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy Clash as Leaders Wrangle over Euro Deal
THE GUARDIAN: French accused of setting Britain up as 'fall guy' in attempt to ringfence eurozone


David Cameron was at the centre of a furious row with Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday after Paris tried to isolate the prime minister at the EU summit by suggesting that Britain is seeking to exempt the City of London from all European regulations.

In a move dismissed by officials in Brussels as an attempt to set Britain up as the "fall guy", senior French figures said Cameron wanted an "opt out" from EU financial services regulation.

The French were said to have found themselves isolated in their attempts to limit an agreement on tough fiscal rules for the single currency just to the eurozone's 17 members.

Britain said Sarkozy was distorting the British position, which is to ensure that changes to the eurozone do not harm the City of London.

Cameron confronted Sarkozy in a joint meeting with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, shortly before the EU's 27 leaders met for dinner to try to hammer out an agreement to underpin new fiscal integration in the eurozone.

"The prime minister was very determined and very strong in the meeting," one British source claimed. "This is going to be a very difficult discussion."

The joint meeting with Sarkozy and Merkel set the scene for a tense night of negotiations as EU leaders embarked on a mammoth effort to prevent the collapse of the single currency at what was seen as the most important Brussels summit in years. » | Nicholas Watt, Ian Traynor and David Gow in Brussels | Thursday, December 08, 2011

Rick Perry Launches Attack on Barack Obama over Gay Rights and Religion
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Governor Rick Perry has recorded a new campaign advert aimed at the United States' religious conservatives in which he vows to end “Obama’s war on religion”.


In the 30-second advert, the governor of Texas denounces open homosexuality and opposes President Obama's repealing of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays serving in the military.

“I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian,” Mr Perry says in the advert, “but you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.” Read on and comment » | Thursday, December 08, 2011

EU Summit Signals Crunch Time for Cameron at Home and Abroad

THE GUARDIAN: Prime minister arrives in Brussels for European summit amid demands for referendum and accusations of 'obnoxious' tactics

David Cameron arrives in Brussels on Thursday night for a European summit, buffeted by the conflicting pressures of a Eurosceptic cabinet rebellion over an EU referendum and increasing isolation in key capitals across Europe.

Tory MPs on the right met on Wednesday night to discuss tactics after the Eurosceptic Northern Ireland secretary, Owen Paterson, challenged Downing Street by declaring that a revision of the Lisbon treaty would have to be put to the British people in a referendum.

Paterson's call, echoed by London's mayor, Boris Johnson, runs counter to a law passed in July which says that a referendum will be held only if significant UK powers are transferred to the EU. Downing Street says that any agreement at the crucial two-day EU summit, designed to save the single currency from collapse, will not involve the transfer of UK powers.

Amid irritation with the Northern Ireland secretary in No 10, Paterson's allies in the three main groups on the Tory right – the No Turning Back Group, the 92 Group, and the Cornerstone Group – held a joint meeting where they said Cameron must achieve "clear gains" at the EU summit.

"We are on manoeuvres," one senior figure said. It became clear that Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, had approved the intervention by Paterson, a longstanding ally. In what was described as a co-ordinated move, following a call by Duncan Smith on Sunday for a referendum, Paterson told the Spectator: "If there was a major fundamental change in our relationship, emerging from the creation of a new bloc which would be effectively a new country from which we were excluded, then I think inevitably there would be huge pressure for a referendum."

The prime minister will join the EU's 26 other leaders in Brussels as they examine proposals to revise the Lisbon treaty to ensure that joint fiscal rules for the eurozone are placed on a legal footing. Cameron, who said he was prepared to veto any treaty revision if British demands were not met, has infuriated senior figures in Brussels, Paris and Berlin with what are regarded as hardball tactics. » | Nicholas Watt and Ian Traynor in Brussels | Wednesday, December 07, 2011

A Controversial Paragon: Europe Shudders at Germany's New-Found Power

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Germany, admired and envied for its economic success, has become a model for Europe in the debt crisis. The Continent is becoming more German as countries get serious about fiscal discipline. But the nation's new dominance is also stirring resentment, and old anti-German sentiments are returning. By SPIEGEL Staff

A French tricolor flag fluttering on a video screen provides the grand backdrop for Nicolas Sarkozy, who is about to take to the stage to talk about the euro crisis. The flag is huge, almost as if the organizers were attempting to allay any doubts that the speaker really is the French president rather than a mere emissary of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

When Sarkozy appeared in front of his supporters in Toulon last Thursday, he spoke of the "fear that France could lose control of its own destiny." His dramatic words were an appeal to French national pride, but his response to those fears was anything other than nationalist: "France and Germany have decided to unite their fate," he announced. So-called "convergence" -- greater alignment of the two countries -- was the only way out of the crisis.

There is no doubt which country wants to align itself with which. Later that day, one of his advisers said Sarkozy wanted "supply oriented economic policies and debt reduction modeled on those of Gerhard Schröder," Merkel's predecessor. In his speech, the president even announced a "jobs summit" between employers and unions just like the one initiated by then-Chancellor Schröder six years ago.

The very next day the French daily newspaper Libération ran an article under the headline "A President Modeled on the Germans," which claimed "If you closed your eyes, you could hear Merkel speaking" during Sarkozy's speech.

During a televised interview back in early November, Sarkozy uttered almost unimaginable words for a French president: "All my efforts are directed towards adapting France to a system that works. The German system."

Speaking in Toulon, Sarkozy condemned the long-established French policy of buying economic growth by simply borrowing more. He said France could only overcome the current crisis through "work, effort and controlled spending," objectives that sounded eerily German. Fortunately the tricolor was still fluttering, and the event closed with a rendition of the Marseillaise.

In these days of crisis in Europe, the "German model" has become something of a magic formula. Like it or not, the dusty, dry Germans now seem to hold the key to European salvation. » | Spiegel Staff | Monday, December 06, 2011

US Elections 2012: Mitt Romney Launches Attack on Leader Newt Gingrich

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mitt Romney moved to crush Newt Gingrich's challenge for the Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday, highlighting the former House Speaker's infidelity and two divorces.

In a sharp change to his campaign tactics, Mr Romney, who has tried to rise above squabbles with rivals, began alluding to Mr Gingrich's personal life to try to reverse his surge in the opinion polls.

In a television advert to be broadcast in Iowa, the socially-conservative state first to vote in the contest, Mr Romney said he had been married to his wife Ann for "42 years", to a slide show of family pictures.

"If I'm President of the United States, I will be true to my family, my faith and our country," he said.

In a speech in Washington, Mr Romney described his "42-year marriage" as one of the "defining constants in my life". He added: "My commitments are firm, and they do not falter."

Mr Gingrich divorced his first wife, Jackie, in 1980 as she was in hospital recovering from surgery to remove a tumour. She had previously suffered from cancer.

After marrying his second wife, Marianne, he had an affair with Calista Bisek, a staff member 23 years his junior, even while leading an inquiry into President Bill Clinton's liaisons with Monica Lewinsky.

He eventually married Miss Bisek in 2000 following a divorce from Marianne, who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis eight months earlier. Read on and comment » | Jon Swaine, Washington | Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Saadi Kadhafi et sa famille ont tenté de fuir au Mexique

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Saadi Kadhafi, 38 ans, s’est réfugié en août au Niger, où il a obtenu l’asile humanitaire, après la chute de Tripoli qui a mis fin aux 42 ans du régime autoritaire de son père.

Saadi Kadhafi, fils du leader libyen déchu Mouammar Kadhafi, et sa famille ont tenté d’entrer illégalement au Mexique, a annoncé mercredi le ministre de l’Intérieur mexicain, Alejandro Poiré.

"Le 6 septembre, les services secret mexicains ont détecté un projet d’entrée illégale de Saadi Kadhafi et de sa famille (...). Le gouvernement a mis fin à ce risque et démantelé un réseau international qui prétendait les doter de fausses identités mexicaines", a expliqué M. Poiré lors d’une conférence de presse.

D’après la porte-parole du gouvernement mexicain, Alejandra Sota, également présente à cette conférence de presse, Saadi Kadhafi "est actuellement au Niger, où il est en garde à vue". » | AFP | mercredi 07 décembre 2011

Church Fury over Opening of McDonald's on Christmas Day as Muslim Manager Is Drafted In

MAIL ONLINE: 'I’m sad that we’ve got to this point in our society where something that means as much as Christmas seems to mean so little'

Church leaders have hit out at a branch of McDonald's which is to open on Christmas Day.

A Muslim branch manager has been drafted in by the fast food outlet to cover for the usual boss who is taking the day off and staff have volunteered to work that day for seven hours.

Parish Rvd Wayne Stillwell said the decision to open the branch showed 'the continuing decline of Christendom in this country' and his reaction was 'one of great sadness'.

He added: 'I’m sad that we’ve got to this point in our society where something that means as much as Christmas seems to mean so little.

'It shows the continuing decline of Christendom in our country.' » | Daily Mail Reporter | Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Romney: Obama Has Hindered Peace in the Middle East 'Immeasurably'

THE GUARDIAN: Speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition Forum, Mitt Romney blasted the president's 'weak' handling of Israel

Mitt Romney, a leading Republican presidential contender, has called for regime change in Iran and said that the US should make clear to Tehran that it is "developing military options".

Romney made the call during a scathing attack on Barack Obama at a Republican Jewish Coalition forum of presidential candidates in which he accused the president of weak support for Israel, of appeasing America's enemies and of setting back peace in the Middle East with his fractious relationship with the Israeli leadership.

Before a hawkish, pro-Israel audience, Romney and another contender, Rick Santorum, dwelt at length on the threat posed by Iran's nuclear programme and what they characterised as Obama's weak response.

Romney called for "crippling sanctions" against Tehran and for Iran's diplomats and businessmen to be treated as pariahs.

"Ultimately regime change is necessary. We should make it very clear we are developing and have developed military options," he said.

Santorum said that on his first day in office as president he would ensure that the US and Israel are safe from Iran. But he didn't say how.

Romney launched a broad attack on Obama's foreign policy. » | Chris McGreal in Washington | Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Australian Sentenced to 500 Lashes in Saudi Arabia for Blasphemy

THE GUARDIAN: Mansor Almaribe, 45, of southern Victoria state jailed for a year for 'insulting prophet Muhammad' on Muslim pilgrimage

An Australian man has been sentenced to 500 lashes and a year in a Saudi Arabian jail after being convicted of blasphemy, according to officials.

The 45-year-old man, identified by family members as Mansor Almaribe of southern Victoria state, was detained in the holy city of Medina last month while making the Muslim pilgrimage of Hajj. Family members told Australian media that Saudi officials accused him of insulting the companions of the prophet Muhammad, a violation of Saudi Arabia's blasphemy laws. » | Associated Press | Wednesday, December 07, 2011

THE AGE: 500 lashes and jail for Aussie in Saudi Arabia: A Victorian man has been sentenced to 500 lashes and a year in jail in Saudi Arabia, with his family fearing he will not survive the punishment. » | AAP | December 07, 2011

Miss USA Rima Fakih Stopped for Drink Driving, Police Say
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Former Miss USA Rima Fakih was driving with a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when she was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in a Detroit enclave, according to police.

The report says the 26-year-old from was pulled over early Saturday going 60 mph, weaving in heavy traffic and changing lanes with a turn signal.

The report says she was driving a black 2011 Jaguar and "immediately identified herself as Miss USA." » | Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Muslim Women Not Used To Drinking Walk Free after Attack on Woman

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A gang of Somalian women who repeatedly kicked a young woman in the head walked free from court after a judge heard they were "not used to being drunk" because they were Muslim.

The four women - three sisters and their cousin - were told the charge of actual bodily harm, which carries a maximum sentence of five years, against 22-year-old care worker Rhea Page would normally land them in custody.

However, the judge handed the women suspended sentences after hearing that they were not used to alcohol because their religion does not allow it.

Miss Page said Ambaro Maxamed, 24, Ayan Maxamed, 28, and Hibo Maxamed, 24, and their 28-year-old cousin Ifrah Nur screamed "Kill the white slag" while kicking her in the head as she lay motionless on the ground.

The support worker from Leicester was left "black and blue" with bruises and needed hospital treatment following the attack which came as she walked to a taxi rank with her boyfriend.

Miss Page was left so traumatised by the attack that she lost her job due to repeated absences with stress and flashbacks.

She had been walking home with her boyfriend after a night out when the drunken women attacked her, knocking her to the ground and taking turns to kick her in the head. » | Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Attack on Rhea Page Captured on CCTV in Leicester
A gang of drunk Somalian women were filmed repeatedly kicking a young woman in the head in Leicester town centre.

Read short article here | Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Archbishop of Canterbury Says Riots Will Return Unless We Reach Out to Young

THE GUARDIAN: UK must rescue those who think they have nothing to lose or face further civil unrest, says Rowan Williams

The archbishop of Canterbury has warned that England risks a repeat of the riots that spread across England this summer unless the government and civil society do more to "rescue those who think they have nothing to lose".

Warning of "more outbreaks of futile anarchy", Rowan Williams, called for a renewed effort to reach out to alienated young people during what he described as the "unavoidable austerity ahead".

In an article for the Guardian, Williams links the disorder spread [a]cross England to the "massive economic hopelessness" and the prospect of record levels of youth unemployment.

Responding to the findings of the Guardian and London School of Economics research study, based on interviews with 270 rioters, Williams argues: "It isn't surprising if we see volatile, chaotic and rootless young people letting off their frustration in the kind of destructive frenzy we witnessed in August."

An overwhelming majority of people interviewed about their involvement in this summer's riots believe they will be repeated and one in three said they would take part in any future disorder. » | Paul Lewis, James Ball and Matthew Taylor | Monday, December 05, 2011

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Prepare for War

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have been put on a war footing amid increasing signs that the West is taking direct action to cripple Iran’s nuclear programme.

An order from Gen Mohammed Ali Jaafari, the commander of the guards, raised the operational readiness status of the country’s forces, initiating preparations for potential external strikes and covert attacks[.]

Western intelligence officials said the Islamic Republic had initiated plans to disperse long-range missiles, high explosives, artillery and guards units to key defensive positions.

The order was given in response to the mounting international pressure over Iran’s nuclear programme. Preparation for a confrontation has gathered pace following last month’s report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna that produced evidence that Iran was actively working to produce nuclear weapons.

The Iranian leadership fears the country is being subjected to a carefully co-ordinated attack by Western intelligence and security agencies to destroy key elements of its nuclear infrastructure. » | Con Coughlin | Monday, December 05, 2011

Weihnachtsbeleuchtung in der Zürcher Innenstadt (Dezember 2011)

Anders Behring Breivik's Sister Warned Mother About His Behaviour Two Years Ago

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Anders Behring Breivik's half-sister warned his mother about his erratic behaviour more than two years ago, according to the psychiatric evaluation of the self-confessed mass-killer released last week.

Elisabeth Breivik, who lives in Los Angeles, sent an email warning that the then-30-year old man was obsessed with computer games and rarely seemed to leave his mother's home.
Norwegian law authorities travelled to California this weekend to interview her for more details.

"She has been able to give us an important piece of the puzzle," Police lawyer Pål-Fredrik Hjort Kraby said on Sunday after interviewing Ms Breivik. "We don't want to give details of the interview, but we got a good result, which will be very useful in the court case."

Forensic psychiatrists Torgeir Husby and Synne Soerheim last week concluded that Mr Breivik was a paranoid schizophrenic who had been in a state of psychosis at the time that he shot 69 people, mostly teenagers, dead on the Island of Utøya, in July. If this is backed by an independent medical board, it means Mr Breivik is likely to face compulsory treatment rather than prison.

Although once close to his half-sister, Anders Breivik also seems to have seen her as an example of degraded modern humanity. Read on and comment » | Richard Orange, Malmö | Sunday, December 04, 2011

Syria: Fall of Bashar al-Assad 'Will Bring War to Middle East, Warns Iraq

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Iraq has raised renewed fears that the Middle East will be engulfed by sectarian bloodshed if Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is deposed as the country falls into civil war.

Nouri al-Maliki gave his most unequivocal support yet to the Assad regime, and even hinted that its downfall could force Iraq into an Iranian-led alliance against the Arab world's Sunni states.

"The killing or removal of President Bashar in any way will explode into an internal struggle between two groups and this will have an impact on the region," said Mr Maliki, refering to predictions of region wide conflict between Sunni Muslims and the Shia sect. "It will end with civil war and this civil war will lead to alliances in the region. Because we are a country that suffered from the civil war of a sectarian background, we fear for the future of Syria and the whole region."

Although relations with Mr Assad, once a strong supporter of Saddam despite being a member of the Alawite Shia sect, were initially strained, his regime has collaborated with Baghdad to curb militant groups linked to al-Qaeda operating along the Iraqi-Syrian border.

Many in Mr Maliki's coalition fear that if Syria's Sunni majority were to come to power, it could revitalise Sunni militants in Iraq's Anbar province who fought a long and bloody insurgency in the aftermath of the US invasion and who may harbour secessionist intentions.

Mr Maliki has refused to align Iraq with a growing Arab consensus to ostracise the Syrian regime for its repression of the uprising against Mr Assad. » | Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Sunday, December 04, 2011

Scandal-weary France to Vote on Outlawing Prostitution

THE OBSERVER: As the public mood shifts, MPs consider six-month jail term for those caught paying for sex

Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec painted them; Hugo, Balzac and Zola wrote about them; Napoleon licensed them and disgraced former presidential candidate Dominique Strauss-Kahn says he has a "horror" of them. Some even argue that they are part of France's cultural heritage. Prostitutes have been a feature of French artistic, literary and political circles – and a target for politicians – for centuries.

On Tuesday, following the New York sex scandal earlier this year that made headlines around the world and effectively ended Strauss-Kahn's hopes of becoming the next French president, MPs will discuss a bill that would make prostitution a crime punishable by six months in prison. Anyone caught buying sex would face a €3,000 (£2,600) fine.

Since the end of the second world war [sic] prostitution in France has been considered a matter of private choice and is not illegal. However, the government has become increasingly abolitionist and the public mood may be hardening following the Strauss-Kahn debacle. A series of unsavoury revelations regarding a high-end prostitution ring based at a luxury hotel in the northern city of Lille will also be in MPs' minds as they vote on the bill. » | Kim Willsher | Sunday, December 04, 2011

Aboud al-Zumour, Islamic Jihad Mastermind of Sadat's Murder, Comes in from the Cold after Egypt Election

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The young protesters who toppled President Mubarak wanted freedom, but instead they are getting Islamic radicals who want to introduce a strict new moral regime.

Aboud al-Zumour is one Egyptian prisoner over whose long incarceration by the Mubarak regime few human rights groups or American diplomats shed a tear.

Convicted of masterminding the assassination of the late President Anwar Sadat, he was a close friend of Ayman Zawahiri, the man now leading al-Qaeda. He still speaks with admiration of his former cell-mate, who he says is a "very kind and nice man".

He backs "resistance" against the "occupiers" in the Middle East - America and Israel. In his ideal Egypt, the sale of alcohol would be banned, beaches would be segregated and thieves would have their hands cut off - though, he says "it would not happen because no-one would steal".

Until last week Islamists like him were at the radical fringe, but the first results from last week's election have shown a staggering success for Islamist parties like Mr Zumour's.

Anxious liberal candidates are so worried the hardliners are now heading for a landslide that they are now making desperate appeals to Egyptians to support them in the next two rounds of voting.

Only about eight million votes have been cast so far, and the final result will not emerge for several weeks.

What has been counted so far amounts to a crushing blow for the middle-class revolutionaries, both Christians and Muslims, who filled Tahir [sic] Square in January and February to force former president Hosni Mubarak from power.

They wanted more freedom, yet are now faced with the prospect of newly-confident Islamist parliamentarians determined to enforce Sharia, ban alcohol, and banish many of the rights Egyptian women take for granted.

The cause of their fear is men like Mr Zumour, no longer just another militant but one of a string of Islamist radicals once banned and jailed who have thrown themselves into electoral politics. » | Richard Spencer, Cairo | Saturday, December 03, 2011

Political Islam Poised to Dominate the New World Bequeathed by Arab Spring

THE GUARDIAN: The Muslim Brotherhood's success in the first round of Egypt's elections has added to western fears of an Islamist future for the Middle East. But this does not necessarily mean that democracy and liberal policies face extinction

Among the potent symbols of the Arab spring is one that has been less photographed and remarked on than the vast gatherings in Tahrir Square. It has been the relocation of the offices of the Muslim Brotherhood, the once banned party, now set to take the largest share of seats in Egypt's new parliament.

Before May this year they were to be found in shabby rooms in an unremarkable apartment block on Cairo's Gezira Island, situated behind an unmarked door. These days the Brotherhood is to be found in gleaming new accommodation in the Muqatam neighbourhood, in a dedicated building prominently bearing the movement's logo in Arabic and English.

Welcome to the age of "political Islam", which may prove to be one of the most lasting legacies of the Arab spring. It is not only in Egypt that an unprecedented Islamist political moment is playing out. In the recent Tunisian elections the moderate Islamist Ennahda party was the biggest winner, while Morocco has elected its first Islamist prime minister, Abdelilah Benkirane.

In Yemen and Libya, too, it seems likely that political Islam will define the shape of the new landscape.

None of which should be at all surprising. Indeed, if elections in Egypt and Tunisia had been held at any other time in the past two decades, the same result would almost certainly have ensued, reflecting both the levels of organisation of Ennahda and the Brotherhood and the countries' cultural, economic and social dynamics.

"It was a change that was supposed to happen a long time ago," says Omar Ashour, who lectures on the subject of political Islam at Exeter University and is currently in Cairo.

So what, precisely, does the rise of electoral Islamist politics mean for the Middle East and North Africa? » | Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor | Saturday, December 03, 2011

It's amazing that journalists keep on talking about "political Islam". There is no such thing as a-political or non-political Islam. Islam is nothing if not political. There is no separation of mosque and state; in Islam, religion and politics are inseparable. So why newspapers go on about "political Islam" all the time for, I do not know. – © Mark

Snow Set to Hit Britain
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Forecasters have warned people to take extra care on journeys as snow is expected in parts of the UK today.

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for Strathclyde, the Highlands, western isles, Tayside, Fife and central Scotland.

They warn of increasingly wintry showers throughout this afternoon into tomorrow.

Up to 15cm of snow could fall on high ground, with 1-3cm of snow on low level inland areas, while ice is likely to form on untreated surfaces, the Met Office website said.

Parts of England and Wales are also likely to see wintry weather with snow forecast on high ground in north Wales and northern England. » | Sunday, December 04, 2011

THE OBSERVER: In Klosters, three weeks before Christmas, only one thing is missing – snow: One of the favoured haunts of Britain's rich and famous is suffering, like the rest of the Alps, from mild weather. And with a strong Swiss franc, the cost of winter sports is soaring » | Jamie Doward in Klosters | Sunday, December 04, 2011