Thursday, April 04, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH (AU): QANTAS has removed pork from its in-flight menu on flights to and from Europe as a result of its partnership with Middle Eastern airline Emirates.
No food containing pork or pork products will be served on those flights - which now has a stopover in Dubai - because it is strictly forbidden in Islam and is considered "unholy".
All meals offered on the route in first, business and economy classes will also be prepared without alcohol in keeping with the Islamic religion. A note on the Qantas menus on flights in and out of Dubai states that the meals do not contain pork products or alcohol. The airline has also introduced a mezze plate offering traditional Middle Eastern fare in its upper classes and has Arabic translations after in-flight announcements. » | Angela Saurine and Peter Holmes | The Daily Telegraph | April 05, 2013
My comment:
The West is caving in to Islam, Muslims at every turn. Jews do not eat pork, but we never had to ban pork on flights for them. What makes Muslims so different? Oh, yes, I know: Intolerance.
It is sickening in the extreme that we are kow-towing to these barbarians. It is also sickening in the extreme that we are allowing all our finest properties and businesses to fall into rich Middle Easterners' hands. Would they do the same for us? I think you know the answer to that question.
Is there no Western leader out there who will put a stop to this insanity? These people are tightening their grip on the West in a pincer-style action. Soon it will be too late. We will be employed by Muslims, paid by Muslims, owned by Muslims. And as the old saying goes: 'He who pays the piper calls the tune.' Welcome to the new world order! One brought on by wimps, appeasers, and politicians without cojones. – © Mark
ARUTZ SHEVA: In shock, Wiesenthal Center wrote Holland's PM after Dutch teens expressed regret on TV that Hitler left some Jews alive. PM response below.
Young Dutch immigrant teenagers expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler and his efforts to murder Jews in a video aired last month on Netherland 2 TV. At the time, Arutz Shevareported the shocking event, ignored by most of the Dutch and world media, and that resulted - even more shockingly – in the interviewer who criticized them having to go into hiding and receive police protection.
The Wiesenthal Center sent a strong letter of objection to Holland's prime minister saying "The statements...are deeply dismaying, especially considering that they were made in the country that was the home of Anne Frank..." and adding that "it was even more shocking to hear that during the video the students who spoke claimed that their feelings were shared by native Dutch teenagers, saying 'Nobody in our school likes Jews'." Arutz Sheva has received a copy of Mr. Rutte's hitherto unpublished response: » | Arutz Sheva staff | Thursday, April 04, 2013
THE TAMPA TRIBUNE: TAMPA - Terry Jones, the Gainesville preacher who has enraged Muslims around the world with his Quran burnings and mock trials of the prophet Muhammad, is about to sell his 20-acre Dove World Outreach Center and says he will be moving his 15-member congregation to Tampa.
The deal to sell the Alachua County land is scheduled to close on July 15. Jones said he is eyeing Tampa because he is familiar with the area — he and his wife already own a condominium on Treasure Island — and the small university town of Gainesville has never really embraced his message.
“Tampa is a much larger area,” he said. “Gainesville has a small mentality. The whole world here revolves around whether the Gators will win a football game. We’re more concerned about national and global events.
“We are going full steam ahead for the Tampa Bay area,” he said. “We definitely have support in the Tampa Bay area.”
Jones has evolved in the past few years from the pastor of a tiny rural church into a lightning rod for Muslim extremists. He has written a book titled “Islam is of the Devil” and sells T-shirts espousing the same message.
The reaction among local, moderate Muslims: a shrug of the shoulders. » | Keith Morelli | Tribune Staff | Wednesday, April 03, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The US was last night preparing to send advanced missile defences to its Pacific territory, as North Korea further ratcheted up its bellicose rhetoric by approving "merciless" nuclear strikes on America.
Pledging a "measured" response to Pyongyang's aggression, Chuck Hagel, the US defence secretary, deployed anti-missile systems to Guam, the tiny western Pacific island and American military outpost.
"Some of the actions they've taken over the last few weeks present a real and clear danger," Mr Hagel said of North Korea, in remarks delivered at the National Defense University in Washington.
The $800m Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System, which was slated to be installed in 2015, will now be sent within weeks, following warnings that Guam, Hawaii or the US west coast could be hit.
The land-based system, which comprises interceptor missiles, a truck-based launcher and radar tracking equipment, is capable of shooting down short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
It will join two US guided-missile destroyers that have already taken position in the region to assist with defence against potential strikes ordered by Pyongyang. » | Jon Swaine in Washington and Malcolm Moore in Beijing | Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Saudi Arabia is facing appeals to over-rule a court that ordered a man paralysed as retribution for a stabbing that left a man unable to walk a decade ago.
Ali al-Khawahir, 24, was reportedly sentenced to Qisas, or retribution, in the Eastern Province town of Al-Ahsa and could be paralysed from waist down if he fails to pay compensation of one million riyals ($270,000), the rights watchdog said, citing Saudi media reports.
It said Khawahir had stabbed his friend in the back in 2003, rendering him paralysed from the waist down. He was 14 at the time.
Amnesty International, the rights group, said the sentence "should on no account be carried out".
"Paralysing someone as punishment for a crime would be torture," said Ann Harrison, Middle East and North Africa deputy director at Amnesty. "That such a punishment might be implemented is utterly shocking, even in a context where flogging is frequently imposed as a punishment for some offenses, as happens in Saudi Arabia."
"It is time the authorities in Saudi Arabia start respecting their international legal obligations and remove these terrible punishments from the law," she said in a statement. » | Agence France-Presse in Dubai | Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Related »
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Pentagon is sending an advanced ballistic missile defense system to Guam, as Chuck Hagel, the defence secretary, warned of a "real and clear" danger from North Korea.
The Pentagon announcement came hours after China intervened in the deepening crisis by summoning the ambassadors of North and South Korea, as well as the United States, to warn tensions must be defused on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea has singled out US military bases in Guam, an American. territory in the Pacific, and Hawaii among its potential targets in threats in recent weeks that have put the Korean peninsula on edge.
“Some of the actions they’ve taken over the last few weeks, present a real and clear danger,” Mr Hagel told an audience at the National Defense University in Washington.
He said those actions had threatened the interests of South Korea and Japan, but he also cited their direct threats against Guam, Hawaii and West Coast of the United States. » | Malcolm Moore, Beijing, and Reuters in Washington | Wednesday, April 03, 2013
THE GUARDIAN: I hated all foreigners but feared Muslims the most. I grew up in the 1960s in Gateshead, in a predominantly white area; I can't remember seeing an Asian face there. As a family we were not religious. We only went to weddings, funerals and christenings. I was not interested in school, either. You didn't need to stay on because you were more or less guaranteed a job in the mines, steelworks or shipyards. When I was 16, all my friends were British National Party activists. It was a cool thing to do, and I joined in, too. I wanted to shock, to rebel. We would get together, drink, listen to music, chase girls and go out Paki-bashing. That wasn't a phrase we considered bad or wrong.
I remember my first time; it was a Saturday night and we had been drinking. We went into an Asian area and came across a lad of about 17. We started chanting - the usual thing, "Go back to your own country" - and then went after him. There were about 10 of us, and we kicked and punched him. When we ran away, I remember, we were laughing. I don't know what happened to him, and at the time I wouldn't have cared: I was in a group and we had camaraderie.
By the time I was 19 I was growing out of the BNP. I moved to London for work and stopped going to meetings. But I still hated all foreigners, especially Muslims. Over the next few years I became involved with people who went to Muslim meetings in Hyde Park, mainly to cause trouble.
Then, one day in 1989, I was walking past a second[-]hand book stall by the Royal Festival Hall when a cover caught my eye: it was the most beautiful picture, in the most gorgeous colours, of a building. I didn't know what the book was, but it was only 20p so I bought it. I thought I'd buy a cheap frame and have a nice picture for my wall. I had no idea until I got home that I had bought the Qur'an. » | Muhammad Islam | Saturday, September 24, 2005
KRONE: Die jungen Menschen in Pakistan hätten in ihrem Land lieber eine Militärherrschaft oder die islamische Rechtsprechung Scharia als eine demokratische Regierung. Das ist das Ergebnis einer repräsentativen Studie des britischen Kultur- und Bildungsinstituts British Council, die am Mittwoch veröffentlicht wurde.
38 Prozent der Befragten im Alter zwischen 18 und 29 Jahren hielten die Scharia für das beste politische System in Pakistan, heißt es in der Untersuchung mit mehr als 5.000 Teilnehmern.
Der Begriff Scharia bezeichnet das islamische Recht, das auf dem Koran, der Heiligen Schrift des Islams, basiert. Es enthält die Gesamtheit der Gesetze, die in einer islamischen Gesellschaft zu beachten und erfüllen sind. Die Scharia sieht für Raub die Todesstrafe vor, Dieben wird eine Hand abgehackt, Ehebruch kann mit 100 Peitschenhieben oder dem Tod durch Steinigung bestraft werden. Kein Vertrauen in die Demokratie » | AG/red | Mittwoch, 03. April 2013
KRONE: Das renommierte US-Meinungsforschungsinstitut Public Policy Polling hat in einer aktuellen Studie die beliebtesten Verschwörungstheorien der amerikanischen Gesellschaft geprüft - mit durchaus bemerkenswerten Resultaten: So glauben 13 Prozent der US-Amerikaner, ihr Präsident Barack Obama sei der Antichrist. 29 Prozent glauben an die Existenz von Außerirdischen, 14 Prozent an den sagenhaften "Bigfoot".
Bei der umfangreichen Untersuchung wurden insgesamt 20 gängige Verschwörungstheorien auf ihre Beliebtheit getestet. Von jenen 47 Prozent, die im vergangenen Jahr dem republikanischen Kandidaten Mitt Romney ihre Stimme bei der Präsidentschaftswahl gegeben haben, glaubt sogar jeder Fünfte, dass der Demokrat Obama den Antichristen verkörpere. Weitere beachtliche Ergebnisse: » | bar | Mittwoch, 03. April 2013
HUFFINGTON POST: Republican North Carolina state legislators have proposed allowing an official state religion in a measure that would declare the state exempt from the Constitution and court rulings.
The bill, filed Monday by two GOP lawmakers from Rowan County and backed by nine other Republicans, says each state "is sovereign" and courts cannot block a state "from making laws respecting an establishment of religion." The legislation was filed in response to a lawsuit to stop county commissioners in Rowan County from opening meetings with a Christian prayer, wral.com reported. » | John Celock | The Huffingron Post | Wednesday, April 03, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Princess Cristina, the youngest daughter of Spain’s King Juan Carlos, has been named a suspect in a far-reaching corruption probe centring on her husband, dealing a huge blow to the prestige of the Spanish royal family.
The 47-year old princess, who is seventh in line to the Spanish throne, has been ordered to testify on April 27 at a court in Palma de Mallorca on suspicion of influence peddling, judicial sources said.
She will face accusations that she cooperated in the business dealings of her husband Inaki Urdangarin while he was head of the not-for-profit Noos Institute, through which he is alleged to have embezzled 6 million euros of public funds.
She was a member of the board of the Noos Institute between 2004-2006, through which Urdangarin won public contracts to stage sporting and tourism events. She also co-owned one of the private companies which her husband allegedly used to divert funds.
The Duke of Palma had sought to protect his wife, insisting in statements to the court that she had been involved in name only and had no knowledge of day to day dealings of his companies.
But emails released to the court by his estranged business partner Diego Torres, who is also accused of embezzlement and money laundering, purportedly showed that she had been regularly consulted.
Investigating Judge Jose Castro, who had previously rejected prosecution requests to indict Princess Cristina, said Wednesday that fresh evidence suggested that she was aware that her husband used her name and status in dealings from which they both benefitted.
He said that she would have to be questioned for the probe to be complete and to show that “justice treats all equally”. » | Agence France-Presse in Madrid | Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
BBC: The Moscow Metro is used by millions of Russian commuters every day - but is often described as an underground art museum.
Steve Rosenberg looks at some of the ornate stations, meets the people who keep the network running smoothly, and reveals some of the more unusual practices that go on underground. Watch BBC video » | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
THE GUARDIAN: Snubbed by Hollande and Merkel, the PM is seen as having little chance of being in power in 2015 to force a rewrite of Britain's EU status
Angela Merkel and François Hollande have rejected David Cameron's invitation. He wanted them to take part in a government survey assessing the impact of European Union laws and regulations on the UK and other member states. The prime minister shouldn't be surprised by the snub – he had already been warned, notably by the Polish foreign minister speaking in Oxford last year, that there would be no encouragement from Europe for those in London who want Britain left isolated on the fringes of the EU.
Lest the British government be encouraged to play on any perceived differences between Berlin and Paris, the two most powerful EU heads of government co-ordinated their response very closely. The survey itself – an initiative of the Foreign Office launched in 2012 – is a lengthy and bland questionnaire designed to identify areas of policy where there might be public support for Britain pulling out of existing EU commitments.
The survey is one part of a carefully orchestrated campaign designed to lead up to a possible referendum on EU membership, to be held towards the end of 2017. This, of course, will be well after the next general election and is designed to follow on what London expects will be a major new EU constitutional treaty to give the Euro area sweeping new powers.
The prime minister's strategy therefore depends on him successfully clearing three critical hurdles. First: survive as leader of the Conservative party up to the general election. Second: win the next UK election with a clear overall Tory majority. Third: trade demands for the UK to be given a special semi-detached status in the EU in return for not blocking a new treaty for euro-area economic and political union. » | John Palmer | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
Verwandt »
NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Bei den britischen Konservativen nimmt die Unzufriedenheit mit Parteiführer Cameron zu. Viele Tories geben die Wahlen im Jahre 2015 bereits verloren. Zweck und Richtung der Partei sind für viele nicht erkennbar.
Die britischen Konservativen haben den Glauben an ihre Wiederwahl in zwei Jahren verloren. Der Rückstand gegenüber Labour bei Meinungsumfragen liegt seit einem Jahr bei etwa 10 Prozentpunkten; der Zuspruch für die Tories liegt noch bei knapp 30 Prozent. Laut einer Umfrage der einflussreichen Plattform Conservative Home unter Mitgliedern glauben nur noch 7 Prozent an den Gewinn einer Mehrheit bei der Parlamentswahl im Mai 2015. Den Tories fehlten 2010 20 Sitze zu einer Mehrheit, weshalb sie die ungeliebte Koalition mit den Liberaldemokraten eingehen mussten. Der Milliardär, Parteispender, Wahlforscher und konservative Lord Michael Ashcroft hat der Partei auf Grundlage äusserst aufwendiger Umfragen Mitte März den Verlust von 93 Sitzen an Labour vorausgesagt, fänden die Wahlen jetzt statt. Labour zöge mit einer Mehrheit von 367 der 650 Sitze in die Regierung ein. » | Peter Rásonyi, London | Dienstag, 02. April 2013
MUSLIM MIRROR: Jessica Rhodes is a 21 year old female from Norwich, UK who works as a telesales consultant and is also a student. She was a Pagan before reverting to Islam a month ago.
She was born in 1991 and was adopted in 1993. Grew up in a small seaside town on the south east coast of England, she went to university at 19 to study for a degree in Music and she hopes to do postgraduate qualifications in counselling starting September 2013.
She has an amazing story of her reversion and how she got attracted to Islam. New York based lady Nazma Khan started a campaign known as ‘world hijab day’. The movement has been organised almost solely over social networking sites. It has attracted interest from Muslims and non-Muslims in more than 50 countries across the world. For many people, the hijab is a symbol of oppression and divisiveness. It’s a visible target that often bears the brunt of a larger debate about Islam in the West. World Hijab Day is designed to counteract these controversies. It encourages non-Muslim women (or even Muslim women who do not ordinarily wear one) to don the hijab and experience what it’s like to do so, as part of a bid to foster better understanding.
It was social networking that got Jessica Rhodes involved. Her friend Widyan Al Ubudy lives in Australia and asked her Facebook friends to participate. Jessica who was a non-Muslim decided to participate in the world hijab day. She says: “I took part in the first World Hijab Day and challenged myself to wear the hijab for a month. I then began reading the Quran and the words in the Quran seemed logical and clear, rather than in the Bible where they tend to waffle. I also did some research into Islam as a whole and felt that it was an inclusive religion that could give me the answers I was looking for”. Although her parents were little apprehensive, if it was a good idea or she may be attacked in the streets because of non-tolerance. » | Imaan Ali for Muslim Mirror | Sunday, March 31, 2013
HÜRRIYET DAILY NEWS: EU Minister Egemen Bağış says Islam is a reality for the EU and Europeans won’t get anywhere by burying their heads in the sand
Islam is a reality for the European Union and Europeans won’t get anywhere by burying their heads in the sand, EU Minister Egemen Bağış said yesterday.
“It is Islamophobia rather than Islam that is visible in France and across Europe,” Bağış said, referring to French far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s recent statement that Islam was “more visible” than before in France. “We know Ms. Le Pen’s statements on Turkey and our values but we don’t care too much.
Some 11 percent of the French population is Muslim and 8 to 9 percent of the population of EU member states are Muslim. This number will increase to 15 percent across Europe in 2030. Like a former German President said, Islam is a reality of the European Union. They won’t get anywhere by burying their heads in the sand,” Anatolia news agency quoted Bağış as saying. Wulff’s words in 2010 » | Hürriyet Daily News | Ankara | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The late Muammar Gaddafi’s daughter was thrown out of her Algerian safe-house because she repeatedly set it on fire in fits of anger, officials have revealed.
Aisha Gaddafi, 37, has an arrest warrant against her name after fleeing Libya when her father was deposed and then killed two years ago after 42 years in power.
The western educated lawyer arrived in Algeria with other family members after her husband — an army general — was killed in the bombing raids which destroyed Gaddafi’s regime, leaving her as a single mother.
She was accorded a presidential residence in the south of the country.
Algeria’s ambassador to Libya confirmed last month that Col Gaddafi’s widow and three of his children including Aisha, had left Algeria “a long time ago” without giving further details.
It has now emerged that Algerian authorities lost patience with Miss Gaddafi, a onetime UN Goodwill Ambassador, after she kept vandalising furniture and attacking guards out of rage over her father’s fate.
“She ended up blaming Algeria for many of her problems, and also began starting fires in the house,” said a government source in Algiers.
“Shelves in the library went up in flames, as she regularly attacked army personnel looking after her safety.” The last straw was when the bleach blonde nicknamed the “Claudia Schiffer of North Africa” destroyed a portrait of Algerian president Abdul Aziz Bouteflika, local newspaper Ennahar reported.
For this sign of disrespect she was kicked out of the country, eventually finding asylum in Britain’s Gulf ally, Oman. » | Henry Samuel and Nabila Ramdani | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Queen has received a “pay rise” of 16 per cent after London’s flourishing prime property market and wind farm developments drove the Crown Estate to record profits.
The grant the monarch receives each April from the Government increased from £31 million to £36.1 million.
The cash is used to fund the official duties of several members of the Royal family, pay staff and maintain the palaces.
The rise follows changes made by the Coalition as to how the taxpayer funds the monarchy.
George Osborne, the Chancellor, scrapped the Civil List, which financed the official duties of the Queen, and replaced it with a Sovereign Grant that is equal to 15 per cent of the Crown Estate's annual profits.
The Crown Estate, which owns property on behalf of the Queen, said profits rose to £240 million from £231 million in the year to March 31, 2012.
The record profits have been attributed to an increase in rents from retailers for its urban properties and an increase in income from the seabed it owns around the UK because of rents from new wind farm developments and construction companies paying for material such as sand. » | Victoria Ward | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
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