Prince Friso's Family Thank Public for Support

MONSTERS & CRITICS: The Dutch royal family have expressed their thanks for the public support they have received following Prince Johan Friso's skiing accident.

The 43-year-old royal has been in a coma ever since he was trapped under the snow for 15 minutes while skiing off piste in Austria in February and his mother Queen Beatrix and wife Princess Mabel have now expressed their gratitude for the messages they have received.

In a statement, they said: 'Following Prince Friso's accident, we have received messages of sympathy and concern from all over the Netherlands and from beyond our borders.

'We and our family are deeply touched that so many people hold Friso in their hearts and share in our anxieties. All the encouraging words, expressions of hope, moving messages, prayers and flowers are a great support to us and give us courage in a very difficult period, full of uncertainty. Your sympathy means a great deal to us. Read on and comment » | Royal Watch News | Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Death in the Morning: How One Pensioner's Suicide Has Traumatised Greece
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Until Wednesday morning, Dimitris Christoulas, a respectable middle-class pensioner, was familiar only to the residents of the quiet Ampelokipous district of Athens where he had lived and worked hard for nearly 40 years.

All that changed at 8.45am, rush hour, when the 77-year-old former pharmacist and pillar of his shopkeeping community put a hand gun to his head and shot himself under a giant Cyprus tree on the central Syntagma Square.

He fell to the ground in front of the national parliament that many Greeks have come to blame for the corruption and mismanagement that has plunged their country into crisis, and lay there dead as shocked commuters looked on.

Yesterday, 24 hours after his suicide, the name Dimitris Christoulas is known to most in this troubled country.

"A martyr for Greece" declared the Eleftheros Typos newspaper. "Scream of desperation" said the headline in Avyi next to a picture of Edvard Munch's celebrated painting. Many press commentaries compared his death to the protest suicides that unleashed the Arab spring in Tunisia and across the Middle East last year.

To many – including neighbours in hi close community, he has become a hero.

"He did not rebel from his couch. He was a beautiful man, he will live on in history," said Pannayotta, a housewife in her late 50s, living on the same street as the pensioner.

The incendiary suicide note Mr Chritoulas left behind urging young Greeks to rise up has also struck a chord with millions of people who see their highly indebted nation's social fabric being torn apart by economic recession and externally imposed austerity measures.

"I cannot find any other form of struggle except a dignified end," he wrote. "I believe that young people with no future will one day take up and hang this country's traitors in arms in Syntagma Square just as the Italians hanged Mussolini in 1945." Read on and comment » | Bruno Waterfield | Athens | Thursday, April 05, 2012

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Hugo Chavez Weeps and Calls on God to Spare His Life

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wept and asked God to spare his life during a pre-Easter Mass on Thursday after returning from his latest session of cancer treatment in Cuba.

Very little is known about the 57-year-old socialist leader's condition, including even what type of cancer he has. Chavez has undergone three operations in less than a year, and received two sessions of radiation treatment.

He says the latest surgery was successful, that he is recovering well and will be fit to win a new six-year term at an election in October. Yet big questions remain about his future, and on Thursday the strain appeared to show.

In a televised speech to the Catholic service in his home state of Barinas, Chavez cried and his voice broke as he eulogised Jesus, revolutionary fighter Ernesto "Che" Guevara and South American independence hero Simon Bolivar.

"Never forget that we are the children of giants ... I could not avoid some tears," the former soldier said, his parents and other relatives looking on from the church rows.

"Give me your crown, Jesus. Give me your cross, your thorns so that I may bleed. But give me life, because I have more to do for this country and these people. Do not take me yet," Chavez added, standing below an image of Jesus with the Crucifix. » | Friday, April 06, 2012

Barack Obama Accused of Bullying US Supreme Court over Controversial Healthcare Reforms

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama has come under fire from senior Republicans, courts and legal scholars for "bullying" the US Supreme Court by warning it against overturning his controversial healthcare reforms.

Mr Obama said earlier this week that the Court would be taking an "unprecedented, extraordinary step" if it struck down the law, which forces all Americans to buy private health insurance or face fines.

He noted that its "unelected" justices, whose sceptical questioning during hearings last week led experts to predict the law was doomed, would be rejecting the will of a "democratically-elected Congress".

The remarks prompted sharp responses from critics who accused the President of ignoring 200 years of US legal precedent despite having been a constitutional law professor before entering politics.

Nikki Haley, the Governor of South Carolina – one of 27 states suing the administration over "Obamacare"– accused him of "bullying the Supreme Court".

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, said that Mr Obama had "crossed a dangerous line" with his comments, adding: "I would suggest the president back off." » | Jon Swaine, Washington | Thursday, April 05, 2012

Islamist Commander Cuts Off Vandal's Hand in Timbuktu
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Islamist commander who seized control of Timbuktu this week has imposed a harsh regime of Sharia law on the city and led by example after cutting a man's hand off in public.

Ayad Ag Ghaly, leader of the faction of tribal Tuareg fighters that is allied to al-Qaeda, was reported to have carried out the sentence on an unnamed "vandal" in the heart of the ancient city.

Ousmane Halle, the mayor of Timbuktu, said almost all of the city's 300 Christians had fled after Ag Ghaly announced that Sharia law would be enforced.

He told local radio that women should be covered at all times, warned thieves they would have their hands cut off and adulterers they would be stoned.

His faction, named Ansar al-Din, and its al-Qaeda allies won control of the urban centres of northern Mali after a regional uprising in the wake of a military coup that deposed the country's elected government.

While another faction of the Tuareg rebellion, the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad (MNLA) announced a ceasefire yesterday in response to international appeals, the extremists consolidated their grip on key cities. » | Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Thursday, April 05, 2012

'Allah' Vodka Stirs Anger in Kazakhstan
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Vodka branded with the Arabic word Allah has caused uproar in Kazakhstan, a predominantly Muslim country with a taste for alcohol picked up during the Soviet Union.

Allah, which means God, is written on the front of Baiterek vodka bottle caps. The bottles’ labels also suggest the vodka packs a sizeable kick with the slogan: “Allah’s strength is enough for everybody.”

While alcohol has generally played an important role in Christianity, it is forbidden in Islam and the bottles, which appeared in the eastern city of Semey, have angered religious Kazakhs.

“The only salvation for those who did this is to repent,” Bekzat Boranbai uly, an Imam in Semey, told the KTK television station.

“Allah is against alcohol and this is mockery.” » | James Kilner, Central Asia Correpsondent | Thursday, April 05, 2012

Allah Hits the Bottle »

‘Allah' vodka pulled from shelves after Muslims protest in Kazakhstan »

France Election 2012: Nicolas Sarkozy Promises to Protect France as He Unveils Manifesto

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to protect France from financial markets, terrorism, and uncontrolled immigration, arguing he is the best[-]placed candidate to defend the country against economic crises and globalisation.

Mr Sarkozy today unveiled a 32-point campaign platform for his second and final five-year term, much of which he has laid out previously in campaign speeches. The president also presented a 32-page letter to voters.

Speaking at the launch of his manifesto, he announced that France will seek to freeze its contirbution to the EU budget if Mr Sarkozy is re-elected.

"I announce to you that France will ask that its contribution to the EU budget be frozen, which will represent savings of around 600 million euros per year," he said.

In the letter, he focused on issues that he has been hammering away at for the past month, including cutting the number of immigrants to France by half, asking the European Union to demand more reciprocity in trade, and demanding that the unemployed seek job training. He repeated his goal to balance the budget by 2016, saying France would suffer the fate of southern European countries such as Spain if it's delayed. » | Source: Bloomberg | Thursday, April 05, 2012

Verwandt »

Sarkozy: François Hollande Would Destroy the French Economy within Two Days! »

L'expulsion d'imams relance la question de leur formation
REUTERS FRANCE: PARIS - L'expulsion par la France d'imams jugés radicaux pourrait relancer l'idée de créer en France un institut national chargé de leur formation afin d'enrayer l'influence de prédicateurs fondamentalistes issus de pays étrangers.

La question d'un "islam de France", prôné à intervalles réguliers tant par des responsables politiques que des membres de la communauté musulmane, se heurte jusqu'à présent à de profondes divergences et à l'influence présumée des bailleurs de fonds étrangers des formations existantes.

Contrairement à la religion catholique qui ordonne les prêtres ou les évêques, il n'existe en France aucune organisation ou structure qui décerne le titre d'imam.

Si les imams des mosquées doivent être acceptés par la communauté de fidèles et connaître suffisamment le Coran et les rites pour pouvoir diriger la prière, tout un chacun peut en théorie s'ériger en imam, au risque de laisser libre cours, dans des proportions certes marginales, à des dérives.

Paris a annoncé le 2 avril l'expulsion de trois imams, un Malien, un Turc et un Saoudien, considérés comme des islamistes radicaux, et décidé d'interdire la venue de quatre prédicateurs conviés au congrès de l'Union des organisations islamiques de France (UOIF) qui se tient à partir de vendredi près de Paris. » | Par Marine Pennetier | Reuters | jeudi 05 avril 2012

Insight: Overloaded Justice System Ties Italy in Knots
REUTERS.COM: Falsifying a one euro ($1.33) bus ticket in Italy is a criminal offence eligible for a full trial and two appeals that would cost the state many thousands of euros.

The U.S. Supreme Court reviews around 100 appeals per year. The number for Italy's top appeal court, serving a population a fifth the size? More than 80,000.

Italy has 40,000 lawyers specializing in supreme court cases. According to Valerio Spigarelli, head of Italy's top criminal lawyers body, the number in neighboring France, with a similar population, is 25. They are among 240,000 lawyers in Italy, compared to 54,000 in the country next door.

Statistics like this give a glimpse into a chaotic, byzantine legal system which not only reduces citizens to despair and has senior judges tearing out their hair, but acts as a serious disincentive to foreign companies planning to invest and a powerful brake on the euro zone's third economy.

Everything from a simple dispute among tenants of an apartment block to attempts by Prime Minister Mario Monti to revive Italy's stagnant economy are at the mercy of a system that can delay final judgment for many years. » | Barry Moody and Roberto Landucci | ROME | Thursday, April 05, 2012

Revealed: Education's Great Class Divide
THE INDEPENDENT: Teachers warn of 'toxic' effect of a socially segregated system

Schools are becoming increasingly segregated along class lines, teachers have warned – calling spending cuts and reforms that hit poor pupils the Coalition's "dirty little secret".

The poorest children are suffering most from the "toxic" effects of socially divided schools, according to the leader of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. "We have schools for the elite; schools for the middle class and schools for the working class," Mary Bousted said. "Too few schools have mixed intakes where children can learn those intangible life skills of aspiration, effort and persistence from one another."

Dr Bousted, who heads the most moderate of the three teachers' unions, added: "This Coalition Government's attack on poor children is a blight upon our conception of ourselves as a civilised society. They remind me of a former Prime Minister who said there was no such thing as society." » | Richard Garner | Thursday, April 05, 2012

News Channel or Propaganda Tool?
A look at why Russia Today often seems more interested in reviving the Cold War than reporting on real Russian stories.

The UK 'Snooping' Plan: Security vs. Privacy
Is the UK's new online surveillance plan an essential security tool or an unnecessary breach of personal freedoms?

Related »

Turkey Puts Former Military Ruler On Trial
Turkey's landmark trial of the two surviving leaders of a 1980 military takeover of the country has began at a court in Ankara, the capital. Ninety-four-year-old former general Kenan Evren, who went on to become president, and Tahsin Sahinkaya, 86, are charged with ousting the civilian government on September 12, 1980. Their actions led to large numbers of executions and arrests. Al Jazeera's Rob Matheson reports from Ankara.

Ottawa : interdit de fumer dehors... dans plusieurs lieux publics
RADIO-CANADA: Il est dorénavant interdit de fumer dans plusieurs lieux publics extérieurs, à Ottawa. Les modifications au règlement sans fumée de la Ville entrent en vigueur aujourd'hui.

Toutes les propriétés municipales, dont les parcs, les terrains de jeux, les plages, les terrains de sport et les stationnements extérieurs des édifices municipaux, sont incluses dans cette interdiction. De plus, les terrasses des bars et des restaurants deviennent des endroits non-fumeurs.

Selon Anne Meloche, agente de projet à la Santé publique d'Ottawa, la fumée secondaire est néfaste, peu importe où elle se trouve. » | lundi 02 avril 2012

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Cigarette and Tobacco Displays Banned in Supermarkets
THE GUARDIAN: Tobacco will be kept out of sight as ban aimed at discouraging young people from smoking comes into force

Packets of cigarettes will disappear from the shelves of supermarkets in England on Friday and must stay hidden in closed cupboards, out of sight and – the government and campaigners hope – out of mind.

New legislation, aimed at reducing the temptation to smoke for children and young people, will require all large shops and supermarkets to scrap displays at the point of sale. Campaigners argue that these have become more visual, colourful and attractive as bans on other forms of advertising have closed down marketing opportunities for tobacco companies.

Cancer Research UK, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and others also say that displaying cigarettes alongside sweets normalises tobacco in the minds of children, making appear harmless and available.

The government agrees. Ministers say that removing tobacco from sight will help discourage young people from taking up smoking.

Newsagents and small stores can display cigarettes until 2015, giving them time to refit shelves and cabinets.

The ban has become a reality in the face of stiff opposition by Big Tobacco, which until December appeared intent on a legal challenge. Imperial Tobacco, Japan Tobacco, British American Tobacco and Philip Morris argued that the ban was disproportionate, breached EC competition law and would encourage tobacco smuggling. But they dropped the case in January, saying that by the time it was heard the ban would be in place.

Hard lobbying has also come from corner shops, small stores and newsagents who say tobacco sales are crucial to their business. » | Sarah Boseley, health editor | Thursday, April 05, 2012

Carla Bruni Enjoys Jaunts on the Paris Metro in Disguise
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has become the latest Western president's wife to admit to going on secret jaunts in disguise, confessing to travelling round the Paris metro in a wig.

Under intense media scrutiny as her husband Nicolas Sarkozycampaigns for re-election, the French First Lady said she was a deft hand at dressing up to avoid the paparazzi.

Speaking to [Le] Nouvel Observateur magazine, she said: "Fame doesn't weigh me down, and anyway I disguise myself literally and figuratively.

"With a wig on, nobody recognises me in the metro," she said.

The plot clearly worked, she added as "recently, I had my handbag searched in the Musée de la Marine (Marine museum)" in Paris, where security guards failed to notice they were dealing with the French president's wife. » | Henry Samuel | Paris | Thursday, April 05, 2012

Lien en realtion avec l'article ici »

Doku – Libyen: Porträt, Muammar al-Gaddafi oder ‘Das libysche Paradox’, ARTE France

La charia, objectif numéro un du candidat des Frères musulmans
LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR: LE CAIRE (Reuters) - Le candidat des Frères musulmans à l'élection présidentielle égyptienne, Khairat al Chater, a déclaré qu'instaurer la charia (loi islamique) serait son objectif numéro un s'il remporte le scrutin en mai et juin.

Dans ses premières déclarations publiques depuis l'annonce surprise des Frères musulmans de présenter un candidat à ce scrutin, Chater s'est engagé également à réformer le ministère de l'Intérieur, qui a de longue date joué un rôle de premier plan dans la répression visant les milieux de l'opposition. » | Tamim Elyan, Eric Faye pour le service français | jeudi 05 avril 2012

Pa. Poll: Romney Opens Lead in Santorum's Backyard

USA TODAY: Fresh from his triple victories earlier this week, Mitt Romney has now opened a lead in Rick Santorum's home state of Pennsylvania.

The survey released today by Public Policy Polling shows Romney has a 42% to 37% lead among likely GOP primary voters -- a 17-point jump for the former Massachusetts governor in the last month. The Pennsylvania primary is April 24.

Santorum, a former Pennsylvania congressman and senator, has dropped six points over the same period. The Pennsylvania poll shows Romney has made gains among evangelical voters, Tea Party supporters and voters who say they are "very conservative" -- three groups that have consistently supported Santorum. » | Catalina Camia | USA TODAY | Thursday, April 05, 2012

Argentina Condemns David Cameron's Remarks on Falkland Islands

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Argentina's government has condemned remarks by Prime Minister David Cameron over the Falkland Islands, stating they reflect "persistent glorification of colonialism".

Cameron made the statement on Monday, the 30th anniversary of Argentina's invasion of the Falklands, amid heightened tensions over Argentina's long-standing claim to the islands.

"We are rightly proud of the role Britain played in righting a profound wrong," Cameron said in his written statement. "Britain remains staunchly committed to upholding the right of the Falkland Islanders, and of the Falkland Islanders alone, to determine their own future."

The islanders overwhelmingly say they want to remain British.

But Argentina's Foreign Ministry said Cameron's comments reflect "persistent glorification of colonialism".

"To use the words of the prime minister, 'a profound wrong' is precisely to persist with colonialism," Argentina's government said in a statement. "That's the history of the United Kingdom, and millions of human beings around the world can still bear testament to that today." » | Wednesday, April 04, 2012