Sunday, February 10, 2013
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Scores of migrant labourers facing 'slavery' conditions will likely die to build Qatar's stadiums for the 2022 World Cup, a prominent trade unionist warned Sunday.
"More labourers will die during construction than the footballers who will step on the pitch," said Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.
"Qatar is a 21st-century slave state," the 58-year-old told left-wing Avgi daily in an interview.
Burrow, a former president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, said construction workers faced temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) outdoors during the summer months.
Nepal alone had recorded 191 deaths among its nationals in 2010, most of them heart attacks, she said. » | AFP | Monday, February 11, 2013
MAIL ON SUNDAY: Muslims have been given permission to build a mosque in David Cameron’s home town.
Worshippers faced opposition from residents in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, who expressed concern about noise and parking.
However, councillors voted in favour of transforming a shop into a mosque a few miles from the Prime Minister’s home, although the market town has fewer than 40 practising Islamic residents, according to Census records. » | Mail On Sunday Reporter | Saturday, February 09, 2013
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Die Sicherheitskräfte sprechen von einem Schlag gegen den Terror: In St. Petersburg sind 271 Personen muslimischen Glaubens festgenommen worden. Darunter befinden sich auch viele Menschen aus der Unruheregion Nordkaukasus - aus der Russland neue Anschlagsgefahr fürchtet.
St. Petersburg - Es war ein großangelegter nächtlicher Zugriff im Zentrum der russischen Metropole. Wegen Terrorverdachts sind in St. Petersburg fast 300 Muslime festgenommen worden. Zu den 271 Verdächtigen zählten usbekische, tadschikische und aserbaidschanische Staatsbürger, teilte die Ermittlungsbehörde am Samstag mit.
Auch Muslime aus dem Nordkaukasus sowie ein Ägypter und ein Afghane würden wegen ihrer mutmaßlichen Verwicklung in "terroristische Aktivitäten" überprüft. Schon länger wächst in Russland die Sorge, dass von derUnruheregion Nordkaukasuseine neue Terrorgefahr für das ganze Land ausgehen könnte. Den Festgenommenen werde "Aufruf zu Terrorakten" oder "Aufstachelung" vorgeworfen, hieß es in der Mitteilung. » | jok/AFP | Samstag, 09. Februar 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Muslim fundamentalists have used British television channels to preach in favour of violent crime and killing “apostates”.
The communications watchdog, Ofcom, has made a series of rulings against channels which allowed “inflammatory” material to be broadcast in breach of rules which forbid extreme opinions gaining a platform on British television.
The cases, disclosed today, include examples of an imam telling viewers that those who disrespect the prophet Mohammed should be killed, and another broadcaster saying homosexuals should be beaten and tortured.
The stations were found to have committed serious breaches of the broadcasting code by allowing the extreme opinions to be aired unchallenged.
Last night experts warned that the extent and seriousness of the broadcasting breaches raises questions over whether extreme Muslim speakers who were previously confined to small audiences in mosques are able to reach thousands more people by broadcasting intolerant teachings on television.
Although the channels have tiny audiences compared to the mainstream, they are targeted at Muslim communities, including people of Pakistani background, with some of the content being broadcast in Urdu and other languages. » | David Barrett, and Ben Leach | Saturday, February 09, 2013
Pius XII has long been vilified as "Hitler's pope", accused of failing publicly to condemn the genocide of Europe's Jews. Now a British author has unearthed extensive material that Vatican insiders believe will restore his reputation, revealing the part that he played in saving lives and opposing Nazism [sic]. Gordon Thomas, a Protestant, was given access to previously unpublished Vatican documents and tracked down victims, priests and others who had not told their stories before.
The Pope's Jews, which will be published next month, details how Pius gave his blessing to the establishment of safe houses in the Vatican and Europe's convents and monasteries. He oversaw a secret operation with code names and fake documents for priests who risked their lives to shelter Jews, some of whom were even made Vatican subjects. Vatican hopes secret files exonerate 'Hitler's pope' » | Dalya Alberge | Saturday, February 09, 2013
Saturday, February 09, 2013
THE OBSERVER: A series of repressive dictatorships have been brought down in north Africa, but the ensuing struggles for power have left a vacuum that has allowed the rise of an extremist movement that is gathering both force and supporters
Late last year, largely unnoticed in the west, Tunisia's president, Moncef Marzouki, gave an interview to Chatham House's The World Today. Commenting on a recent attack by Salafists – ultra-conservative Sunnis – on the US embassy in Tunis, he remarked in an unguarded moment: "We didn't realise how dangerous and violent these Salafists could be … They are a tiny minority within a tiny minority. They don't represent society or the state. They cannot be a real danger to society or government, but they can be very harmful to the image of the government."
It appears that Marzouki was wrong. Following the assassination of opposition leader Chokri Belaid last Wednesday – which plunged the country into its biggest crisis since the 2011 Jasmine Revolution – the destabilising threat of violent Islamist extremists has emerged as a pressing and dangerous issue.
Violent Salafists are one of two groups under suspicion for Belaid's murder. The other is the shadowy, so-called neighbourhood protection group known as the Leagues of the Protection of the Revolution, a small contingent that claims to be against remnants of the old regime, but which is accused of using thugs to stir clashes at opposition rallies and trade union gatherings.
The left accuses these groups of affiliation with the ruling moderate Islamist party, Ennahda, and say it has failed to root out the violence. The party denies any link or control to the groups. But it is the rise of Salafist-associated political violence that is causing the most concern in the region. Banned in Tunisia under the 23-year regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, which ruthlessly cracked down on all forms of Islamism, Salafists in Tunisia have become increasingly vocal since the 2011 revolution. » | Angelique Chrisafis, Patrick Kingsley and Peter Beaumont | Saturday, February 09, 2013
BBC: German Education Minister Annette Schavan has resigned after a university stripped her of her doctorate for plagiarism.
Duesseldorf's Heinrich Heine University voted last Tuesday to remove her doctorate following a review.
Ms Schavan, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, insisted she would still fight the university's ruling. » | Saturday,, February 09, 2013
DIE WELT: Bildungsministerin Annette Schavan tritt zurück: Die in der Plagiatsaffäre unter Druck geratene Bundesbildungsministerin Annette Schavan stellt ihr Amt zur Verfügung. Sie verkündete ihre Entscheidung gemeinsam mit Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel. » | AFP/ks | Samstag, 09. Februar 2013
Jihad Watch »
The Queen’s closest aides face the prospect of a historic public grilling by MPs about whether the Royal Family is providing value for taxpayers’ money.
Parliament’s most powerful watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee, is expected to launch an inquiry later this year into the finances of the Queen and the Royal Family. This follows a change in the law which, for the first time, gives MPs oversight of royal finances.
Such an inquiry will cause trepidation in Buckingham Palace because of the committee’s formidable reputation for lambasting civil servants and government departments if it deems they have misused public funds. Read on and comment » | Oliver Wright | Saturday, February 09, 2013
Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, disclosed that he and the Pentagon supported a proposal by Hillary Clinton before she stood down as Secretary of State last week to supply rebel forces with weapons,
Gen Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, also agreed with Mrs Clinton's plan, which received the further backing of David Petraeus, Mr Obama's CIA director until late last year.
Answering questions at a Senate committee hearing, Mr Panetta became the first senior Western official publicly to propose arming the rebels to oust President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces are estimated to have killed 60,000 in a bloody civil war.
"How many more have to die before you recommend military action?" he was asked by John McCain, the veteran Arizona senator. "Did you support the recommendation by then-Secretary of State Clinton and then-head of CIA General Petraeus that we supply weapons to the resistance in Syria?"
"We do," answered Mr Panetta. "We did," added Gen Dempsey. » | Jon Swaine, Washington | Thursday, February 07, 2013
Anyone who wants to arm the Jihadist rebels has got to be stupid! – © Mark
THE INDEPENDENT: You’d think after watching BBC Three’s Make me a Muslim documentary, being a female convert to Islam is so riddled with fault lines. Not really. My recent interviews with Muslim converts offered a rare glimpse into the lives of three women who would flatly reject such comparisons. And they’re all buzzing with spiritual ecstasy, retelling what caused them to halal-ify their wardrobes and Islamise dress codes.
“Being Muslim keeps me from wanting to impress others and gives me more personal confidence,” says Chantelle, a 19-year-old convert from Hackney. Today, she goes by the name Khadija, as a sign of respect for Muhammad’s first wife and insists there’s more to British women trading bare midriffs for abayas than what meets the eye. “I wear the hijab because I want to. Because it’s between me and Allah. It’s not a fashion statement. Yes, I don’t go to clubs and don’t sleep around. It gives me a comfort which I know so many of my friends would love to have.” » | Hasnet Lais | Friday, February 08, 2013
The Church has a hell of a lot to answer for. Church leaders have abandoned their purpose, have abandoned their raison d’être. Namely, the preaching of the Gospel, which states that there is no salvation but through Jesus Christ. Instead, they have taken rôles as left-wing political activists. And this is the result: People looking to other faiths for their spiritual sustenance. How stupid and traitorous the Church has been! The Protestant Church has been defiled by the progressives. Little wonder there is a mass exodus from mainline Protestant Christianity. Many Catholics are converting to Islam because of disillusion. Catholics have a lot to answer for too. In a Western society where women have to look to Islam for spiritual sustenance, there is a deep underlying problem. That problem is NOT being addressed. And with current leadership, it won’t be. Expect to read about more Christian converts to Islam! – © Mark
Friday, February 08, 2013
As one of the few German politicians who don't "look German," Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Philipp Rösler is frequently confronted with questions about his Vietnamese heritage. This week, a reference to his "Asian-looking appearance" even came from within his own Free Democratic Party (FDP), of all places.
The controversial statement, made by the FDP's state leader and integration minister in Hesse, Jörg-Uwe Hahn, sparked widespread accusations of racism from rival parties that now have both Rösler and his party scrambling to explain.
It was simply a misunderstanding, and not meant to be racist at all, party members insist. But they also say that they have heard racist comments from voters about FDP party leader Rösler, and have called for the problem to be addressed.
"I don't understand the fuss about the much-criticized interview comment by Jörg-Uwe Hahn on Thursday," said a statement released on Friday by Rösler, who was born in Vietnam and adopted by German parents as an infant. Not only have he and Hahn worked together for years, but they are also bound by a "personal friendship," he added. Furthermore, Hahn has been a successful integration minister in Hesse, making him "above any suspicion of racism."
The interview, given to the Frankfurter Neue Presse on Thursday by Hahn, read as follows: "When it comes to Philipp Rösler, I would certainly like to know whether our society has come far enough to accept an Asian-looking vice chancellor any longer." This was interpreted by opposition parties as a racist attack by the member of the FDP, the junior coalition partner party in Angela Merkel's governing center-right coalition.
Hahn rejected such criticism, though. "I wanted to point out that in our society there is a widespread, often subliminal racism," he explained. "One can't remain silent about this societal problem, and must discuss it in order to tackle it instead." » | kla -- with wire reports | `Friday, February 08, 2013
Set in 14 acres of land on the edge of Lahore, the bungalow will have everything an aspiring Pakistani leader needs: a helipad, bombproof walls and vast lawns that can accommodate 10,000 people for giant election rallies.
Opponents have seized on its cost, rumoured to be 5billion rupees (£32m), saying it represents the worst excesses of the country’s political elite.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who at 24 is still too young to stand in parliamentary elections expected in May, is due to visit the site of the unfinished house on Saturday with his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, for an inauguration ceremony.
It has been lampooned variously as a retirement home for Mr Zardari or the ultimate bachelor pad for his son, equipped with swimming pools and fitted out by international designers.
Imran Khan, the former cricketer who has put tackling corruption at the heart of his campaign to become prime minister, said the lavish mansion typified the old-style politics that he was trying to end.
“It shows they have complete contempt for the people of Pakistan,” he said. “They don’t care what anyone thinks even with elections soon. » | Rob Crilly, Islamabad | Friday, February 08, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Aleppo has been plunged into despair. Riven with war, life in Syria's most populous city has become a dog-eat-dog existence: a battle for survival in a place where the strong devour the weak.
Its luxuriant history is lost beneath uncollected litter on its pavements and streets. Feral children play beside buildings shattered by shelling and air strikes. There is no electricity, no heating; gunmen prowl the streets as night falls. Some are rebels searching for government loyalists; others are criminals looking to kidnap for ransom. Looting is rife.
It is here, behind the front lines of the war against Bashar al-Assad that a new struggle is emerging. It is a clash of ideologies: a competition where rebel brigades vie to determine the shape of post-Assad Syria.
And in recent weeks it is Jabhat al-Nusra, a radical jihadist group blacklisted by the US as terrorists and a group that wants Syria to be an uncompromising Islamic state governed by sharia, that is holding sway.
The group is well funded – probably through established global jihadist networks – in comparison to moderates. Meanwhile pro-democracy rebel group commanders say money from foreign governments has all but dried up because of fears over radical Islamists.
The effect is changing the face of the Syrian revolution. » | Ruth Sherlock, Aleppo | Friday, February 08, 2013
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