HMS Dauntless Sets Sail for Falklands as Tensions Mount between Britain and Argentina

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Royal Navy's newest destroyer HMS Dauntless set sail on its maiden mission for the Falklands today amid strained diplomatic relations between Argentina and Britain.

Warship HMS Dauntless will leave Portsmouth for a six-month deployment to the South Atlantic as Buenos Aires continues its vociferous criticism of Britain's control of the islands.

Argentina's Foreign Ministry yesterday accused David Cameron of "persistent glorification of colonialism" after the Prime Minister said the UK helped right "a profound wrong" during the 1982 war.

It came after Argentina's president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner used commemorations on the 30th anniversary of the conflict to describe Britain's stance as "ridiculous and absurd".

Hackles were also raised by the "provocative" six-week deployment of Prince William to the islands as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot earlier this year.

But the former head of the navy said the new destroyer will deter Argentina from trying to reclaim the Islands. » | Wednesday, April 04, 2012

France Launches Raids to Arrest 10 Suspected Islamist Suspects

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Elite police arrested 10 Islamist suspects in early morning raids across France on Wednesday ordered by President Nicolas Sarkozy after seven people were killed by an al-Qaeda-inspired gunman last month.

The DCRI domestic intelligence service, supported by elite police commandos, carried out arrests in the southern cities of Marseilles and Valence, two towns in the southwest and in the northeastern town of Roubaix, a police source said.

The raids follow the arrest of 19 people on March 30, a week after police snipers shot dead al-Qaeda-inspired gunman Mohamed Merah, who killed three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three soldiers in a spate of attacks around Toulouse.

"Those arrested have a similar profile to Mohamed Merah," a local police source said. "They are isolated individuals, who are self-radicalised."

He said the suspects were tracked on Islamist forums expressing extreme views and said they were preparing to travel to areas including Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Sahel belt to wage jihad (holy war). » | Source: Reuters | Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Anders Behring Breivik Said Psychiatric Ward 'Worse Than Death'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Anders Behring Breivik, who is set to go on trial on April 16 for killing 77 people in Norway last July, said in a letter published on Wednesday that being sentenced to psychiatric care would be the worst fate imaginable.

"To send a political activist to an asylum is more sadistic and more evil than killing him! It is a fate worse than death," the 33-year-old right-wing extremist wrote in a 38-page letter, of which the Verdens Gang (VG) daily published a few extracts.

The letter aims to discredit, point-by-point, a report by two psychiatric experts who concluded late last year that Breivik was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and was therefore criminally insane.

If the Oslo court judges reach the same conclusion at the end of his 10-week trial, the confessed killer will be sentenced to a locked psychiatric ward, possibly for life, rather than prison. » | Source: AFP | Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Margot Honecker Defends East German Dictatorship

THE GUARDIAN: Widow of GDR leader Erich Honecker gives unapologetic interview in documentary showing her at home in Chile

She was known as the "purple witch" for her arresting lilac rinses and tenacious political outlook. Now the widow of the former East German leader Erich Honecker has broken a 20-year silence to defend the dictatorship, attack those who helped to destroy it, and complain about her pension.

Margot Honecker, 84, who as education minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) served alongside her dictator husband, describes her homesickness for a "lost nation" and calls its demise a tragedy in an interview due to be broadcast on German television on Monday evening.

The documentary, which was years in the making due to Honecker's dogged insistence she would never give an interview to "West German" media, shows her at home in Chile where she escaped to with her husband after the collapse of the Berlin Wall in the early 1990s.

For the first time since 1989 Germans are given an insight into Honecker's life and a full-blown taste of her unforgiving views about a GDR that she continues to idealise. In shockingly frank exchanges in which she cuts a robust, vigorous figure, she defends East Germany to the hilt and refuses to accept any responsibility for its more tyrannical traits, including her own role as the minister responsible for thousands of forced adoptions.

"It is a tragedy that this land no longer exists," she tells the interviewer, Eric Friedler, adding that, while she lives in Chile "my head is in Germany". She does not, however, mean united Germany, rather the "better Germany" of the GDR. » | Kate Connolly in Berlin | Monday, April 02, 2012

Watch the documentary (in German) »

Cameron Tells Christians He Doesn't Want a Fight over Gay Marriage
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has told Christians he does not want to “fall out” with them over his plan to legalise gay marriage but is prepared for the religious backlash.

In his first face-to-face exchanges with Christian opponents of the proposal, the Prime Minister sought to reassure critics that church law would not be affected by extending civil marriage to same-sex couples.

He struck a conciliatory tone with religious leaders, welcoming what he described as a Christian “fightback” against secular attempts to remove references to faith from public life.

In recent months, Mr Cameron has been more willing to speak about the role that Christianity can play in modern Britain. Last December he warned that the Church of England should make itself relevant to the agenda of the whole country.

The Coalition launched a consultation on extending civil marriage to homosexual couples last month, prompting an immediate outcry from traditionalist Christians and Tory backbenchers as well as Muslim and Sikh representatives.

During an Easter reception in Downing Street, attended by church ministers and senior Christian politicians, Mr Cameron offered what he described as a “plea” to the assembled churchmen.

“I hope we won’t fall out too much over gay marriage,” he said. “There’ll be some strong arguments and some strong words.”

Mr Cameron attempted to reassure his audience that his proposals would “change what happens in a register office, not what happens in a church”. » | Tim Ross | Political Correspondent | Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Mitt Romney Scores Primary Hat-trick as He Steps Up Campaign
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mitt Romney won resoundingly in the Wisconsin primary and two other contests tonight, all but stamping out the embers of the Republican primary even as he lit the flames of his general election campaign.

The former Massachusetts governor completely ignored his Republican rivals as he claimed victory, elevating himself above his party's nominating process to focus instead on President Barack Obama, whom he accused of engineering a "Government-Centred Society" at the expense of American individualism.

Casting himself as the champion of "free people and free enterprise", Mr Romney sought to marshal both businesses and families against the President's model of interventionist government.

"In Barack Obama’s Government-Centred Society, the government must do more because the economy is doomed to do less," he told a cheering crowd in Milwaukee. "When you attack business and vilify success, you will have less business and less success."

Mr Romney attacked the Democratic incumbent as an "out of touch liberal" and vowed that if elected he would help build "the greatest America we have ever known, where prosperity is grown and shared, not limited and divided." » | Raf Sanchez | Washington | Wednesday, April 04, 2012

FBI Investigates Possible Web Threat

Dallas Reeling from Unexpected Tornado

Gaddafi 'Raped Countless Women during Years in Power', Claims New Documentary

MAIL ONLINE: German broadcaster RTL is to screen controversial programme next week / It includes interviews with the late dictator's inner circle / Report claims women were attacked within moments of meeting Gaddafi

Late Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi raped countless women during his years in power, according to an explosive new documentary.

German broadcaster RTL is set to screen the controversial programme - which includes interviews with his inner circle - next Monday.

Reporter Antonia Rados said; 'There were many women in Libya spellbound by Gaddafi who wanted to meet him. And when they did he raped them.'

She said that his female bodyguards, who were supposed to lay down their lives to protect him, were also victims.

A prominent Libyan psychologist Dr Seham Sergewa said he knew of at least five of his Amazonian bodyguards who were raped by him.

Rape as a means of subduing the population was also passed on to soldiers and loyal militias who were provided with condoms and Viagra to encourage their assaults. Read on and comment » | Allan Hall | Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Bahrain Economy Battered from Inside and Out
Prices in the capital city of Manama have risen sharply, partly due to the state of the world economy, but also as a result of the current political instability in Bahrain. Experts have said the world financial crisis in 2007 and 2008, the recent European monetary crisis, and the internal political troubles of 2011 have battered the Bahraini economy. Banks are seeking mergers in order to survive, and the industrial sector has declined by 26.7 per cent, according to a March 2012 report.. Al Jazeera's Mohammad Vall reports from Manama.

30th Anniversary of Falklands War: British Embassy attacked in Buenos Aires
Petrol bombs and stones are thrown at police guarding the British Embassy on 30th anniversary of Falklands war.

YAHOO NEWS!: Rioters Attack British Embassy In Buenos Aires: Demonstrators have attacked the British embassy compound in Buenos Aires on the 30th anniversary of the start of the 1982 Falklands War. » | Declan McGarvey, in Buenos Aires | Sky News | Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Nick Clegg Promises Plans to Snoop on Emails Will Get 'Highest Possible Safeguards'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Plans to spy on every email and phone call will be subject to "the highest possible safeguards" to stop them becoming Orwellian, Nick Clegg has said.

The Deputy Prime Minister attempted to defend the Government’s new "snooping" laws, as he faces pressure from his own party and privacy campaigners over whether they constitute a breach of civil liberties.

The plans will allow police and intelligence officers to monitor who someone is in contact with and the websites they visit, although the content of communications will not be accessed.

Asked how he would protect privacy, Mr Clegg suggested the Government was open to amending its “draft” proposals, adding that "anything in this area is highly sensitive".

He claimed there would be no central Government database, which would have a "real Orwellian air". He also promised to make sure "hard-fought civil liberties" are properly protected.

"We're prepared to look at any safeguards that make sure people feel comfortable these are not the draconian proposals they have been portrayed as being," he told the BBC's World at One programme. » | Tuesday, April 03, 2012




My comment:

Clegg, you're a bloody wimp! If you expect intelligent people to believe this crap, you're deluded.

It's high time you and your cohorts found your/their gonads. What is now happening is typical of what happens when there is weak leadership.

Find your balls and go after the people who are perpetrating these crimes. You know as well as we all do just who those people are. Just in case you don't, I'll tell you: It's the Muslims, stupid!

If your intention is to create harmony between the indigenous population and the Muslim immigrants, you're going the wrong way about it. This law, robbing as it will the indigenous people of their liberty, will do nothing but breed even more Islamophobia.

Find the balls you were born with and go after the real criminals! Don't punish the vast majority of innocent people for the misdeeds of the few. What justice is there in that?

Little wonder that the majority of people now hold politicians in such contempt. Contempt is all you deserve. You are bringing shame on yourselves, and shame on your country. Furthermore, you are throwing away all that was prized about these fine British Isles. You disgust me, and I feel sure you disgust most decent people. Nick Clegg, David Cameron, Theresa May et al, go hang your heads in shame! – © Mark

This comment, albeit amended, appears here

Related / Verwandt »

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Taxpayers must foot £200 million bill to have their emails snooped on: Taxpayers will have to pay £200 million a year so police and security agencies can spy on their every email and phone call. » | Tom Whitehead | Security Editor | Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Zugriff auf Internet-Daten: Camerons Abhörpläne empören die Briten

FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU: Die britische Regierung überwacht ihre Bürger ohnehin schon besonders gründlich. Jetzt plant sie Großkontrollen im Internet: Der Geheimdienst soll künftig in Echtzeit Zugang zu sämtlichen Verbindungsdaten auf der Insel bekommen. Selbst im Regierungslager ist die Empörung groß.

Wem schickt die Person E-Mails? Wen ruft sie an? Wer sind ihre Freunde auf Facebook, welche Internetseiten ruft sie auf, wem schickt sie SMS-Nachrichten? All dies will der britische Geheimdienst künftig jederzeit über jeden Einwohner des Landes erfahren können, ohne Verzögerungen und vielleicht sogar ohne richterliche Genehmigungen.

David Camerons konservativ-liberale Regierung in Großbritannien plant noch in diesem Frühjahr ein neues Gesetz, um den Abhör-Geheimdienst des Landes, die Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) zur Überwachung sämtlicher elektronischen Verbindungsdaten zu ermächtigen. Das Gesetz könnte am 9. Mai von der Queen in ihrer (von der Regierung verfassten) Rede vor dem Parlament angekündigt werden.

Das Innenministerium in London bestätigte die Pläne. „Es ist von größter Bedeutung, dass die Polizei und die Sicherheitsdienste in der Lage sind, unter bestimmten Umständen die Kommunikationsdaten zu erhalten, um wegen schwerer Verbrechen und Terrorismus zu ermitteln und die Öffentlichkeit zu schützen“, sagte ein Sprecher. Es gehe aber nicht um die Inhalte von Mails oder Gesprächen, sondern nur um die Verbindungsdaten. » | Bettina Vestring | Dienstag, 03. April 2012

DIE PRESSE: Großbritannien: An Überwachung gewöhnt – In Großbritannien hält sich der Widerstand gegen Überwachung durch den Staat in Grenzen. Die Menschen sind an die ständige Kameraüberwachung bereits gewöhnt. Die Vorratsdatenspeicherung ist aber unbeliebt. ¶ Verfechter von liberalen Rechten und Privatsphäre begrüßten den Koalitionsvertrag vom Mai 2010. Das Übereinkommen von Tories und Liberal Democrats versprach, dass Kameraüberwachung über das sogenannte CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) stärker reguliert werde sowie künftig keine Internet- und E-Mail-Daten ohne guten Grund gespeichert würden. Vor allem die Liberal Democrats präsentierten sich als Hüter liberaler Freiheiten. Im Februar 2012 aber wurde bekannt, dass die Regierung nun doch ganz andere Pläne hat. » | Von Felix Lill | Die Presse | Samstag, 31. Dexember 2012

Verwandt »

Web Monitoring Will Lead to Discrimination and Blackmail
THE GUARDIAN: It seems whoever is in government, grandiose ambitions of the security state remain – and the potential for harm is great

When the Liberals and Conservatives delivered the first coalition government since the war, they bound themselves together in the language of civil liberties.

Early signs were encouraging: Labour's controversial ID card scheme was scrapped and the enticingly titled protection of freedoms bill was conceived. But the romance was rocky. Unsafe and unfair control orders remained (albeit perfumed as terrorism prevention and investigation measures) and seductive promises of extradition reform failed to materialise.

Now the honeymoon appears well and truly over, thanks no doubt to some "spooky" extramarital intervention. Hot on the heels of the secret justice green paper – which seeks to shut claimants out of their own cases against the state to defend the "public interest" – comes a major expansion of powers to monitor the phone calls, emails and website visits of every person in the UK.

Next month's Queen's speech is expected to include legislation instructing internet service providers to install hardware that would give the government's electronic listening agency, GCHQ, increased access to communications data.

The ask is greedier than ever before, and the proposed data collection vast. Everyone will be affected, irrespective of any suspicion, just in case the information might prove useful one day. This is the blanket surveillance of an entire population. Such industrial-scale snooping will inevitably lead to discrimination. Remember ethnic minorities' experience of stop-and-search without suspicion? There will be nothing to prevent the creation of "mining databases": fishing expeditions based on certain keywords linked solely to clumsy stereotypes rather than genuine and reasonable suspicion of individual wrongdoing. » | Isabella Sankey | Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Related »

Terrorism Debate: Are GCHQ Set to Spy on You?
THE SUN: A SNOOPER’S Charter is to be proposed by the Government next month. Under the new law all conversations over the internet, including social networking sites and Skype, plus emails will be recorded.

Police and security services will be able to demand details of who is having the conversation and what time it takes place, but will need a court order to listen to or read the content.

Opponents say it will bring the same kind of surveillance to the UK which takes place in China and Iran, while supporters say it’s a tool in the fight against terrorism.

Here Home Secretary Theresa May and former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis set out opposing views. » | Tuesday, April 03, 2012

THE GUARDIAN: Theresa May defends email surveillance plans: Home secretary says extension of powers for security services to monitor web communications is vital to catch criminals » | Rajeev Syal, Josh Hallyday and Haroon Siddique | Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Related »

Digital Surveillance: What My Phone Records Say about Me
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Granting police and security agencies immediate access to email, web and phone communications data allows them to paint a detailed portrait of a life.

The Coalition government's proposals to extend surveillance powers would vastly expand the amount of data that communications companies must keep on record.

Phone companies are already required to hold information for up to twelve months; in the future this information - as well as similar information collected form email and social networking sites - could be accessed in real time, and without a warrant.

I accessed my own data from my mobile phone company Vodafone, using data protection laws, to demonstrate what information is already stored and how this data already creates a revealing profile of the individual.

Use the graphic above to browse the location data logged by Vodafone every time my phone made a connection with the phone masts - when I made a call, received or sent a text message, or checked my emails.

Further data - recording what I was using the phone for in each instance, and the numbers I dialled - was also released.

Together this data creates a very effective profile of my life: who I called, where I worked, where I lived and what I got up to. » | Cal Flyn, interactive graphic by Dan Palmer and Mark Oliver | Tuesday, April 03, 2012

My comment:

I am sure I speak for many when I say that I am so disappointed in this government, in this establishment, in this country.

I was raised to believe that Great Britain was a land of fairness and fair play. Events in recent years have disabused me of the fairytale and myths my parents brought me up to believe in. I was also raised to believe that Conservative governments would always bring a little sanity back into public life where Labour had fallen short. This is another myth that I have been disabused of. It is now clear that one cannot put a cigarette paper between any of the main parties. They are out for themselves, and they are almost to a man, without courage and conviction.

To be fair to my parents, people years ago had to fight tooth and nail for their liberty, witness the Second World War. And they did so without as much as complaining. To them, the good of the country and liberty for future generations was their paramount concern.

It used to be the case that the people who caused the problems would be targeted for punishment. It would have been unthinkable for good, honest, decent folk to have their privacy invaded and attacked for the misdeeds of the few. Alas such noble concepts have gone by the board. Now, everyone – young and old, innocent and guilty – is the target of milquetoast politicians.

Now, politicians hide behind political correctness. In truth, they lack the courage to target the guilty, especially when those that are guilty belong to another culture, another religion. They have allowed the indigenous population to be swamped by an alien culture without as much as seeking the approval of the electorate. As a result, they have got themselves into difficulties which they do not know how to extricate themselves from. They are too craven to target the people who endanger our freedoms, so make good, decent people pay for their cravenness instead, by imposing unjust legislation upon them.

They forget – if they ever knew – that good, decent, courageous people fought for our liberties in previous wars. They are now willing to extend the arm of government straight into our private lives and personal affairs.

To say that if one has nothing to hide, one has nothing to fear is ridiculous. First of all, we are entitled in a free democracy to have a modicum of privacy. Even the innocent don't usually want everything about them and their lives to be known by everyone else. A little bit of anonymity makes life all the pleasanter for many people.

I can only urge David Cameron and his cabinet to re-think this awful piece of legislation. Too much will be lost if it is passed. This is a pernicious, malevolent bill. And it is so open to abuse. If the objective is to keep us safe, another, less-objectionable way must be found. To target the many for the crimes of the few is a step too far. It also defies the spirit of the British. This is NOT East Germany, this is NOT Iran, this is NOT China. This IS Great Britain. Let those that govern us not forget that. – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Russland: Medwedew lehnt Begnadigung von Chodorkowski ab
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Die Expertengruppe ist sich einig: Kremlkritiker Chodorkowski kann aus der Haft entlassen werden - Russlands scheidender Präsident Medwedew will ihn trotzdem nicht auf freien Fuß setzen. Dabei hatte er selbst angeordnet, das Urteil überprüfen zu lassen.

Moskau - Keine Gnade für den Putin-Gegner: Der russische Ex-Ölunternehmer Michail Chodorkowski muss vier weitere Jahre im Gefängnis bleiben. Präsident Dmitri Medwedew hat eine Begnadigung Chodorkowskis abgelehnt, sagte der Rechtsberater des Kreml, Michail Fedotow, am Dienstag dem Radiosender Moskauer Echo. » | vks/AFP | Dienstag, 03. April 2012

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