Tuesday, April 09, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Unlike most politicians today, she had courage, integrity and a clear sense of who she was
In the 300 years that have passed since the office was invented at the start of the 18th century, there have been just a handful of truly great prime ministers: Pitt the Younger; Gladstone; Disraeli; Lloyd George; Churchill.
And, it can now be asserted with certainty, Margaret Thatcher. With her death, she joins the ranks of the immortals.
The reason is simple. Most prime ministers allow themselves to be shaped by the times in which they live. Just a very few – and she was emphatically one of these – refuse to conform.
They have the daring to shape the world. Pitt intuitively discerned the emerging empire, Gladstone brought a profound moral sense to British government, Disraeli created the modern Conservative Party, Lloyd George saved the nation in the First World War.
Churchill – the greatest of them all – rallied the British nation, and then the entire world, against Hitler.
The magnificence of Thatcher was her adamantine refusal to accept the conventional wisdom of her age. When she became premier in 1979, almost everybody who mattered accepted it as fact that Britain was finished. Almost everyone believed that the unions – the new feudal barons – were in control, and there was nothing to be done about it. » | Peter Oborne | Monday, April 08, 2013
Monday, April 08, 2013
MAIL ONLINE: Baroness Thatcher died at London's Ritz hotel after suffering a stroke / Had been recuperating at five star hotel after spending Christmas in hospital / Former prime minister was rarely seen in public in recent years / Had been in fragile health since suffering series of strokes in 2002 / Daughter Carol rushed home from Klosters, Switzerland yesterday
Baroness Thatcher died today in the luxury suite at the Ritz where she had spent months recuperating after an operation.
Britain's first and only female prime minister, who passed away peacefully at the age of 87 after suffering a massive stroke, had checked into the five star hotel at the start of the year following minor surgery on her bladder over Christmas.
While a close-knit circle of friends took it in turns to visit the increasingly frail 87-year-old at the Belgravia hotel - a long-time favourite of the former leader's - it was a solitary start to what would prove to be her final few months.
She had been due to spend Christmas Day with her niece Jane Mays, who lives in north east London, but was admitted to hospital five days earlier for minor surgery to remove a growth on her bladder.
Her daughter Carol Thatcher, 59, was understood to be at her side in the hospital at Christmas time.
After being discharged Baroness Thatcher was checked straight into a suite at the hotel in Belgravia amid concerns she would no longer be able to manage the stairs at her elegant four storey mansion.
Staff at the hotel had invited her to make the Ritz her home for the foreseeable future, and her carers are understood to have been taking it in turns to stay with the 87-year-old. » | Kerry McDermott | Monday, April 08, 2013
BBC: Margaret Thatcher, who has died following a stroke, was one of the most influential political figures of the 20th Century.
Her legacy had a profound effect upon the policies of her successors, both Conservative and Labour, while her radical and sometimes confrontational approach defined her 11-year period at No 10.
Her term in office saw thousands of ordinary voters gaining a stake in society, buying their council houses and eagerly snapping up shares in the newly privatised industries such as British Gas and BT.
But her rejection of consensus politics made her a divisive figure and opposition to her policies and her style of government led eventually to rebellion inside her party and unrest on the streets.
Father's influence
Margaret Hilda Thatcher was born on 13 October 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire, the daughter of Alfred Roberts, a grocer, and his wife, Beatrice.
Her father, a Methodist lay preacher and local councillor, had an immense influence on her life and the policies she would adopt.
"Well, of course, I just owe almost everything to my own father. I really do," she said later. "He brought me up to believe all the things that I do believe."
She studied chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford, and became only the third female president of the Oxford University Conservative Association.
After graduating she moved to Colchester where she worked for a plastics company and became involved with the local Conservative Party organisation.
In 1949, she was adopted as the prospective Conservative candidate for the seat of Dartford in Kent which she fought, unsuccessfully, in the 1950 and 1951 general elections. (+ video) » | Monday, April 08, 2013
BBC: Baroness Thatcher: Life at No 10: Margaret Thatcher was the UK's first female prime minister. She served three consecutive terms in office, and her ideology continues to have a huge influence in British politics today. ¶ Following the announcement of her death, take a look back at the life of the Conservative leader whose policies and personality divided opinion. (+ video) » | Monday, April 08, 2013
BBC: Mikhail Gorbachev, Former Soviet Leader: Our first meeting in 1984 marked the beginning of a relationship that was difficult sometimes, not always smooth, but serious and responsible from both sides. Gradually, human relations developed as well, they became more and more friendly. Eventually we were able to reach mutual understanding, and this contributed to changes in atmosphere between our country and the West, and to the end of the Cold War. Margaret Thatcher was a great politician. She will remain in our memory and in history. Read all the reactions » | Monday, April 08, 2013
ASIANEWS.it: Since the late 1980s Sadiq Masih Zafar and his family have been living under the constant threat of Islamist groups. In 1998, his daughter was kidnapped and seriously injured. Today her sister is being threatened with a similar fate. Despite reporting these threats, the police has never intervened. Lahore Priest: extremists enjoy impunity.
Islamabad (AsiaNews) - For more than 20 years, a Pakistani Christian family has been living in a constant state of fear, the victim of threats from extremist groups and under constant pressure from the radical fringe to convert to Islam. A tragic story in a country increasingly hostage to the Islamists, in which young people prefer Sharia law and the military to the democratic model proposed by the West and branded as "corrupt." In recent times, threats and pressures against the Zafar family have increased. And the father has been forced to lock one of his daughters indoors for fear she will become a victim of kidnapping, as was the case in 1998 when her older sister was abducted and subjected to torture.
Sadiq Masih Zafar, born in Muridke, a town in the district of Shaikhupur, in the province of Punjab, was appointed to oversee the construction of a church between 1988 and 1989, by the Lahore Church Council that had previously purchased the land. Since then Islamic extremist groups have showered him with threats and injunctions, ordered him to stop building places of worship and convert - with his family members - to Islam.
In 1990, a raid of fanatics led to the demolition of the structure and the confiscation of the land. In the context of the assault, the Islamists also violently attacked Zafar and some relatives[.] His reporting of the incident to police proved futile, who closed the case without proceeding to any investigation. A similar result, a few months later, when the man filed a complaint against the daily threats of fundamentalists who want him to convert to Islam. » | Jibran Khan | AsiaNews | Monday, April 08, 2013
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THE BLAZE: Anti-Islam advocate and faith leader Terry Jones is upping the ante on his attacks on the Muslim faith. Rather than burning a Koran to mark the 12th anniversary of 9/11, Jones has another plan: He’s going to torch 2,998 copies of the book.
Yes, you read that correctly.
According to a press release put out by the pastor’s organization, Stand Up America!, on Sept. 11, 2013, Jones and his followers will “send Islam a very clear warning,” as he plans to hold an “International Burning of 2,998 Korans.” And in a conversation with TheBlaze, he said he’s planning on gathering the books from around the world.
This number wasn’t chosen without reason, as it is the figure Jones gives for the Americans who were killed during the nation’s most horrific terror attack.
“The radical hand of Islam shows itself with violence against anyone who dares to stand up and speak the truth. We at Stand Up America will not back down. We will not be silent,” the release reads. » | Billy Hallowell | Monday, April 08, 2013
DIE PRESSE: Margaret Thatcher veränderte ihr Land radikal – und die Welt dazu.
London. In der Öffentlichkeit war sie nach einer Serie kleiner Schlaganfälle schon lange kaum mehr zu sehen gewesen, doch im gesellschaftlichen Bewusstsein ist sie bis heute omnipräsent: Kein Politiker der Nachkriegsgeneration hat Großbritannien so geprägt wie die nun im 88. Lebensjahr verstorbene Margaret Thatcher. Als erste weibliche Premierministerin des Vereinigten Königreichs schrieb sie Geschichte.
Das Land, das Thatcher 1979 übernahm, kennt man heute (fast) nur mehr aus sozialkritischen Filmen. Drei Jahre zuvor musste der Internationale Währungsfonds die einstige Weltmacht vor dem Staatsbankrott retten. Im „winter of discontent“ 1978/79 brachten Streiks der allmächtigen Gewerkschaften das Land an den Rand des Zusammenbruchs. Die Welle des Missbehagens trug die weitgehend unterschätzte Thatcher ins Amt des Premierminsters, das sie elf Jahre innehaben sollte.
Es waren ausgerechnet die Sowjets, die früh den wahren Charakter der konservativen Politikerin erkannten. Als Thatcher 1976 eindringlich vor dem Streben des kommunistischen Moskaus nach der Weltherrschaft warnte, verlieh ihr die Armeezeitung Krasnaja Swesda den Beinamen „Eiserne Lady“. Thatcher hat die Bezeichnung zeit ihres Lebens als Ehrennamen getragen. In Ronald Reagan, der 1980 US-Präsident wurde, fand sie einen kongenialen Partner. Beiden wird ein beachtlicher Anteil am Fall des Eisernen Vorhangs zugeschrieben. Die deutsche Wiedervereinigung aber bereitete ihr, wie Helmut Kohl bis heute klagt, tiefes Unbehagen. » | Gabriel Rath | Korrespondent der Presse | Montag, 08. April 2013
Edward Klein: The Amateur »
Edward Klein »
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Margaret Thatcher war eine der Großen des 20. Jahrhunderts: Sie wurde als Totengräberin des Sozialstaats gehasst - und als Mutter des modernen Großbritannien gefeiert. Im Alter von 87 Jahren ist die Eiserne Lady gestorben.
Zu ihrem 85. Geburtstag war Margaret Thatcher im Oktober 2010 noch einmal in ihre alte Wirkungsstätte in der Downing Street Nummer Zehn eingeladen. Der neue konservative Premierminister David Cameronschmiss eine Party für die alte Dame. Versammelt war alles, was je bei den Tories Rang und Namen hatte - sie wollten die Übermutter der Nation feiern. Doch die Jubilarin musste absagen: Sie hatte Grippe. Ihre letzten Jahre verbrachte sie zurückgezogen, immer wieder musste sie ins Krankenhaus. Am Montag starb sie nun im Alter von 87 Jahren an den Folgen eines Schlaganfalls.
Wie sehr Margaret Thatcher ihre Umwelt beeindruckt hat, zeigen die vielen Spitznamen, die ihr im Laufe der Zeit verliehen wurden. "Englands bester Mann", wurde sie von US-Präsident Ronald Reagan, ihrem transatlantischen Bruder im Geiste, getauft. Und Frankreichs Präsident François Mitterrand schwärmte, sie habe "die Augen von Caligula und den Mund von Marilyn Monroe".
Ihren markantesten Titel aber, "Eiserne Lady", bekam sie 1976 vom Feind verpasst - von der sowjetischen Armeezeitung "Roter Stern", nachdem die Oppositionsführerin Thatcher in einer Rede gedonnert hatte: "Die Russen streben nach der Weltherrschaft." » | Von Carsten Volkery, London | Montag, 08. April 2013
THE GUARDIAN: Obituary: A Political Phenomenon »
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Baroness Thatcher, Britain's greatest post-war prime minister, has died at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke, her family has announced.
Her son, Sir Mark, and daughter Carol confirmed that she died this morning.
Lord Bell, her spokesman, said: "It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning.A further statement will be made later."
Known as the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher governed Britain from 1979 to 1990. She will go down in history not only as Britain's first female prime minister, but as the woman who transformed Britain's economy in addition to being a formidable rival on the international stage.
Lady Thatcher was the only British prime minister to leave behind a set of ideas about the role of the state which other leaders and nations strove to copy and apply.
Many features of the modern globalised economy - monetarism, privatisation, deregulation, small government, lower taxes and free trade - were all promoted as a result of policies she employed to reverse Britain’s economic decline. » | Gordon Rayner and Steven Swinford | Monday, April 08, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Lindsay Sandiford, the 56-year-old British grandmother facing the death sentence in Indonesia for drug trafficking, has had her appeal rejected by a court in Bali.
A spokesman announced that the high court has upheld the sentence and that Sandiford will remain scheduled to face a firing squad.
She now has 14 days to appeal to the national Supreme Court.
Sandiford, from Redcar in Teesside, was accused of being at the centre of a drug ring involving three other Britons. She insisted she was set up and was forced by a gang to smuggle drugs to protect her children.
Britain expressed "disappointment" at the failure of Sandiford's appeal and criticised the decision to apply the death penalty. However, Sandiford failed in a legal bid earlier this year to force the British government to provide legal assistance for her appeal.
"We are disappointed to hear Lindsay Sandiford's appeal has been refused by the High Court in Bali," said a spokesman for the British embassy in Jakarta.
"The UK strongly opposes the death penalty and has repeatedly made representations to the Indonesian government on this matter. We will continue to provide consular assistance to her at this difficult time." » | Jonathan Pearlman in Sydney | Monday, April 08, 2013
THE BELFAST TELEGRAPH: Police in Hamas-ruled Gaza have started grabbing young men with long or gel-styled spiky hair off the streets, bundling them into jeeps and shaving their heads, two of those targeted have said. It is the latest sign that the Islamic militants are imposing their strict practices on the population.
Hamas has been slowly forcing its fundamentalist interpretation of the religion on already conservative Gaza since it overran the territory in 2007. But the new crackdown on long hair and tight or low-waist trousers - in several cases accompanied by beatings - appears to be one of the most aggressive phases of the campaign so far.
The crackdown began last week, and two of those targeted said they were rounded up in separate sweeps in Gaza City that included more than two dozen young men.
House painter Ayman al-Sayed, 19, had shoulder-length hair before police grabbed him and shaved his head on Thursday. "The only thing I want to do is leave this country," said the teenager, who despite his ordeal defiantly wore stylish but outlawed narrow-leg tan khakis on Sunday.
"I am scared. They just take you from the street without reason. I don't know what they are going to do next." » | Monday, April 08, 2013
THE INDEPENDENT: King Juan Carlos is now less popular among his subjects than Spain’s tax inspectors, according to a poll in El Pais.
The King’s standing has plummeted as his family has been drawn into a corruption and money-laundering scandal linked to his son-in-law, the Duke of Palma, yet the survey was conducted before his youngest daughter, Cristina, received a court summons last week in connection with the case. » | Alasdair Fotheringham | Madrid | Sunday, April 07, 2013
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Der Chef von al-Qaida ruft die Aufständischen dazu auf, in Syrien einen islamischen Staat zu schaffen. Die Scharia solle nach dem Sturz Baschar al-Assads das herrschende System werden, heißt es in einer Botschaft.
Hamburg - Der Chef des Terrornetzwerks al-Qaida, Aiman al-Sawahiri, hat die Aufständischen in Syrien dazu aufgefordert, einen islamischen Staat zu schaffen. "Führt euren Kampf im Namen Allahs und mit dem Ziel der Schaffung von Allahs Scharia als herrschendes System", heißt es in der am Sonntag auf islamistischen Websites verbreiteten Botschaft. Der "Feind" sei kurz vor dem Fall, sagte Sawahiri in Bezug auf Syriens Präsidenten Baschar al-Assad, dessen Truppen seit fast zwei Jahren gegen Aufständische kämpfen.
Es handelt sich um die erste Audiobotschafts al-Sawahiris im Internet seit November. Darin warnt er auch Frankreich wegen dessen Vorgehen gegen Islamisten im westafrikanischen Mali. Sollten die Franzosen ihren im Januar begonnenen Einsatz dort fortsetzen, würden sie das gleiche Schicksal wie die USA im Irak und in Afghanistan erleiden, drohte Sawahiri. Nach der Tötung von Osama Bin Laden durch ein US-Spezialkommando im Mai 2011 gilt Sawahiri als neuer Chef des Terrornetzwerks. » | dba/AFP/dpa | Sonntag, 07. April 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Violent clashes have erupted outside a Cairo cathedral after a Coptic funeral march came under attack, leaving one dead and at least 66 people injured.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of mourners had gathered to mark the death of four Coptic Christians killed in sectarian clashes on Friday night.
The emotional memorial service turned into a protest against President Mohamned Morsi's Islamist-led government, whom mourners accused of failing to protect Egypt's Coptic community.
Crowds chanted "Egypt is our country and we will not leave it" and "the blood of Christians is not cheap. Morsi, you villain".
After the mourners left St Mark's Cathedral in Cairo's Abbiseya district, local residents are reported to have pelted attendees with stones. Members of the predominantly Coptic crowd responded in kind, and gunfire was exchanged outside the cathedral grounds.
As night fell, crowds traded rock fire and molotov cocktails with Copts gathered inside the grounds of the building. The gates to the compound remained shut, opening only to ambulances and those who could prove their Coptic identity by flashing crucifix tattoos at the gatesmen. » | Louise Loveluck | Sunday, April 07, 2013
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