US Condemns Mohammed Morsi Anti-Semitic Remarks

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The White House has condemned anti-Semitic remarks by Mohammed Morsi, the Egyptian president, who once described Israelis as the “descendants of apes and pigs”.

Mr Morsi’s slurs, which emerged in recordings from 2010, were termed “deeply offensive” by Jay Carney, Mr Obama’s press secretary, who said concerns had been raised with Egyptian officials.

Mr Carney urged Mr Morsi, who has promised to respect Egypt's decades-old peace treaty with Israel, to promptly state publicly that he respects people of all faiths.

“This type of rhetoric is unacceptable in a democratic Egypt," he said during a briefing at The White House, adding: “It is counter to peace."

The intervention from Washington came amid growing controversy over the three-year-old comments, in a speech and subsequent television interview, which were unearthed by researchers.

Mr Morsi, then a Muslim Brotherhood opposition politician, urged Egyptians to “nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred” for Jews and Zionists.

He also described Zionists as “these bloodsuckers who attack the Palestinians, these warmongers, the descendants of apes and pigs.” » | Jon Swaine, Washington | Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Barack Obama 'Says Benjamin Netanyahu Doesn't Know What Is Good for Israel'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama sees Benjamin Netanyahu as a "political coward" whose policies pose a greater threat to Israel's existence than Iran's nuclear programme because he does not know what is in the country's best interests, it has been claimed.

The damning assessment of the Israeli prime minister, relayed by senior White House officials to an American journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, is the most graphic sign yet of the toxic relationship between the two men, who have clashed continually over the stalled Middle East peace process.

Writing on the Bloomberg website, Goldberg quoted Mr Obama as repeatedly saying, "Israel doesn't know what its own best interests are" in response to a spate of recent announcements for thousands of new Jewish settler homes in east Jerusalem and the West Bank on land the Palestinians want for a future state.

Mr Obama did not even bother getting angry after hearing of Israel's decision to build in a highly-sensitive West Bank area called E1 – previously considered off-limits in deference to American pressure.

Instead, he told aides it was the kind of self-defeating behaviour he had come to expect from Mr Netanyahu, according to Goldberg, who is renowned for having close ties to both leaders.

The president believes each new settlement announcement is driving Israel towards a "near total" international isolation that presents a greater long-term threat to its survival than Iran's nuclear programme, which American and Israeli officials believe is aimed at producing a bomb.

"If Israel, a small state in an inhospitable region, becomes more of a pariah – one that alienates even the affections of the US, its last steadfast friend – it won't survive," Goldberg writes, paraphrasing Mr Obama's words. "Iran poses a short-term threat to Israel's survival; Israel's own behaviour poses a long-term one." Mr Obama also believes the Israeli prime minister is a "political coward" who is incapable of making concessions to the Palestinians because he has "become captive of Jewish settler lobby". » | Robert Tait, Jerusalem | Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Christian BA Worker: Cross Victory 'A Tough and Lonely Battle'
After winning the right to wear a cross at work at the European Court of Human Rights, British Airways employee Nadia Eweida says she is "jubilant" after what has been a "tough and lonely" journey.

Read the short article here | Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Inside Story - The Plight of Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia

Mali Campaign Alters Image of François Hollande
Crisis talks are continuing in France over the decision to intervene in Mali, and President Francois Hollande has been meeting members of his Cabinet. The decision to intervene in the West African nation came swiftly, and French leaders have said they are satisfied with how the mission is going. Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reports from Paris.

Al Jazeera Speaks to Family of Executed Sri Lankan Maid
Al Jazeera has spoken to the family of the Sri Lankan maid beheaded last week in Saudi Arabia for killing an infant. Her family continues to say that she was only 17 and not capable of hurting anyone. The Saudi government has condemned world reaction to the beheading, saying the maid had plotted and killed the infant by suffocation. Minelle Fernandez reports.

Germans United in Regret over Britain's EU Stance
BBC: HANOVER, GERMANY: At a campaign gathering held by Germany's Christian Democrats (CDU) a garrulous man slapped me on the shoulder and asked, "How does this compare with your Conservative Party?" It was a knowing question, delivered with wink.

The CDU drive to get their man, David McAllister, re-elected to run the state government of Lower Saxony, is well funded, confident (despite the closeness of opinion polls) and united on the question of Europe.

There is no real dissent across the German political spectrum on the issues of integrating the European Union (EU) more closely, apart from on the extreme right.

Indeed talking to people across northern Germany during three days of filming, it is apparent that there is a broad degree of consensus both on the EU and on Britain's position within it - from the CDU election event we attended, to the floor of the Sennheiser microphone factory or from the Hamburg students' union.

Firstly, people express regret that, faced with the faltering of Germany's traditional EU partnership with France (socialist President Francois Hollande is too much the tax and spend type for Chancellor Angela Merkel and her CDU), that it is not possible to make common cause with the UK in the council chambers of Brussels.

From Ralph Brinkhaus, a local member of the German parliament, the Bundestag, to Christine Lemster, a chemistry student at Hamburg University, we heard a similar refrain - the UK and Germany ought to be natural allies, and it is too bad that they cannot unite around EU issues. » | Mark Urban, Diplomatic and defence editor, Newsnight | Monday, January 14, 2013

Muslim Brotherhood Taking Root in America
THE JERUSALEM POST – BLOG: The big question these days in Washington DC among political leaders in certain Republican circles is ‘are Muslims infiltrating the US government?’ US Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, a member of the US House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, is so convinced that the Muslim Brotherhood is placing its members in key spots in the American government that she called for an investigation on June 13, 2012. Her concern is based on the way that the Obama administration has focused so much attention on the Middle East and why the administration is empowering the Muslim Brotherhood and its front groups. It is no secret that Muslims serve in the White House and other governmental offices.

The mission of Islam is “to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet” according to Andrew McCarthy’s book, “The Grand Jihad.” This is to be accomplished by infiltration, education, appointments and elections. They plan to supplant the American Constitutional Democracy by Islamic Law. Their plan is sabotage, to gradually eat away from within, abrading both the system and the will to preserve it.

Although America is the great melting pot of people from all around the world, there is a vast difference between people who come to America seeking the American way of life versus those who want to infiltrate in order to change the American way of life and this is exactly what the Muslim Brotherhood has been doing since the 60’s or even earlier.

The Muslim Brotherhood started the Muslim Student Association (MSA) in the 60s. Now there are hundreds of chapters at colleges and universities across the U. S. Many of the Muslims are members simply for social reasons, but without them the organization could not serve as a “front." The MSA is a stronghold of the Brotherhood’s brand of Islamic supremacism and has an alarming record of its alumni going on to Islamic activism and even to violent jihad. Read on and comment » | Earl Cox | Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Christian Wins Right to Wear Cross at Work
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Christian airline check-in clerk has won the right to wear a cross at work in a landmark case set to define religious freedom in Britain and across Europe.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the UK had failed to protect Nadia Eweida's freedom to manifest her faith in the workplace.

But it rejected a similar legal challenge from Shirley Chaplin, a nurse, ruling that the hospital where she worked should be able to refuse permission to wear a cross on “health and safety” grounds.

Both women lost employment tribunal cases in Britain after being refused the right to wear a cross as a symbol of their faith under their employers' uniform policy.

And in a hearing in Strasbourg last year the UK Government argued that this was not a breach of their human rights and wearing a cross is not an essential tenet of Christianity. But in its judgment the court said that manifesting religion is a "fundamental right".

It added: "[This is because] a healthy democratic society needs to tolerate and sustain pluralism and diversity; but also because of the value to an individual who has made religion a central tenet of his or her life to be able to communicate that belief to others."

The ruling in favour of Mrs Eweida represents a humiliation for David Cameron who promised to change the law to enshrine workers' right to wear the cross – even as lawyers for his Government were actively fighting the women in court.

It led to accusations of hypocrisy.

But, in a decision which could have even wider long-term implications, the court also rejected parallel challenges brought by two other Christians who lost their jobs for taking a stand on what they saw as a matter of conscience. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie to Work as UK Trade Ambassadors

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are to follow in their father’s footsteps by working as trade ambassadors for Britain.

On Thursday the Princesses will drive a Mini from the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to the British Embassy in the city to kick off a year-long promotion of British Industry.

They will continue their first joint overseas engagement on Friday with a visit to Hanover, the home of their royal ancestors, to promote British brands. » | Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | Monday, January 14, 2013

What a joke! What do these two know about trade or promoting it? Talk about ‘jobs for the boys’, this is it! Couldn’t the UK find someone – anyone/people – more qualified for this/these position(s) than these two young, inexperienced lasses? They are going to Germany to promote trade first. Do they even speak German? What a pathetic country the UK has become!

PS: I hope they choose better hats to promote British trade. Especially if that trade is related to the fashion industry. Their taste in hats is, by now, notorious. – © Mark

The Hidden Origin of Islam

The Fall of "Great" Britain to Islam Is Imminent!

Kauf von Current TV: Al-Jazira in Amerika
NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Der arabische Nachrichtensender al-Jazira hat den erfolglosen amerikanischen Fernsehkanal Current TV gekauft. Damit versucht al-Jazira, sich stärker in den USA zu positionieren.

Mit dem Kauf der amerikanischen Fernsehstation Current TV versucht der katarische Nachrichtensender al-Jazira, ein Standbein in den USA aufzubauen und auf dem amerikanischen Markt mit den grossen Sendern CNN und BBC World zu konkurrieren. Laut Reuters kostete der Kauf 500 Millionen Dollar. Ungefähr 60 Prozent der Programme sollen in den USA produziert werden, den Rest übernimmt al-Jazira in Katar.

Der künftige Sender mit dem Namen al-Jazira America wird voraussichtlich seine Sichtweise der internationalen Politik der amerikanischen Öffentlichkeit zu vermitteln versuchen. Der Generaldirektor von al-Jazira, Ahmed at-Tani, wird in der Presse mit den Worten zitiert, man wolle einen zusätzlichen Beitrag an die amerikanischen Nachrichten leisten und die Geschichten erzählen, die andere vernachlässigten. » | Nina Fargahi | Montag, 14. Januar 2013

David Cameron's Europe Speech Brought Forward
David Cameron’s speech on Europe has been brought forward after officials inadvertently planned it to coincide with an anniversary marking 50 years of Franco-German friendship.

Read the article here | Peter Dominiczak, Political Correspondent | Monday, January 14, 2013

Somalie : les islamistes publient des photos du cadavre d'un soldat français
lePARISIEN.fr: Les insurgés islamistes somaliens shebab ont publié lundi sur leur compte Twitter une photo ducadavre d'un homme, présenté comme le chef du commando français ayant échoué à libérer samedi l'otage Denis Allex.

La rédaction du Parisien a décidé de ne pas diffuser ces photos.

«Le commandant français tué durant l'opération de secours bâclée à Bulo-marer», indique la légende de l'image, sur laquelle apparaît un jeune homme aux cheveux courts, du sang séché sur le visage, vêtu d'un pantalon clair et d'une chemise sombre, dont dépasse une chaîne et une croix chrétienne en argent. Le message du tweet est explicite : «François Hollande, est ce que cela en valait la peine?»

Sur un autre cliché publié sur le même compte, le visage du commando présumé apparait en gros plan, sa croix mise en avant, avec la macabre légende : « Un retour aux croisades mais la croix n'a pas pu le sauver de l'épée». Enfin, une autre photo montre l'équipement du soldat comme un trésor de guerre pour les terroristes. » | LeParisien.fr avec l’AFP | lundi 14 janvier 2013

Mali: Frankreich greift in Kampf gegen Islamisten ein
Frankreich schickt Soldaten, um Malis Regierungstruppen gegen die Islamisten zu unterstützen. Schon kann ein erster Erfolg vermeldet werden: Konna ist wieder in der Hand der Regierung.

Saudi Arabia Shreds Bibles

Colin Powell Accuses GOP Of Racism: They 'Still Look Down On Minorities

New Law Eases Travel Restrictions on Cubans
For decades, Cuba has been derided by human rights advocates as a "prison island" because of its tough travel restrictions. But a new set of reforms will make it easier for Cubans to leave the country. Al Jazeera's Adam Raney reports from Havana.

Indigenous Canadians Demand Government Action
Hundreds of Indigenous Canadians have continued their protests in the capital and other major cities. They're calling for more rights and better living conditions on reserves, and one protest leader has been on hunger strike for weeks. Al Jazeera's Daniel Lak reports from Ottawa.