Snowden Scrap: Ecuador Thumbs Nose at Washington

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: In the latest tit for tat in the controversy over Edward Snowden's asylum application, Ecuador has terminated a trade agreement with Washington. President Rafael Correa will score points for standing up to the US, but some worry sanctions could follow.

Tensions continue to simmer between Washington and Quito over the Edward Snowden affair. After the United States threatened to eliminate special trade benefits with Ecuador, the South American country unilaterally moved on Thursday to terminate a trade benefits deal with the country. A short time later, the US said it would also review trade advantages given to Ecuador.

For Washington, the latest developments are a further setback in the diplomatic nightmare surrounding whistleblower Snowden, who has been on the run since leaking documents about collossal American and British Internet spying programs to Britain'sGuardian newspaper. Washington's threatening gestures come at an opportune time for politicians in Quito.

In Ecuador, few believe that a trade deal in place with the US since 1991 will be extended. Numerous conflicts already existed between the two countries even before the Snowden affair. » | Johannes Schneider in Quito, Ecuador | Friday, June 28, 2013

Germany Faced with "Loudspeaker Jihad"
GATESTONE INSTITUTE: "First there was no mention of a muezzin when the mosque was inaugurated; then on Fridays only; then three times a day, now five times a day." — Interview in Die Zeit

A Turkish mosque in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has begun sounding public calls to prayer from an outdoor loudspeaker system mounted on the roof of the edifice.

The mosque is one of a growing number of Islamic institutions in Germany (and other parts of Western Europe) publicly calling the Muslim faithful to prayer -- five times a day, seven days a week -- with cries of Allahu Akbar ("Allah is Greater").

Observers believe a precedent has now been established, and that many of the other 3,000 mosques in Germany will soon begin jumping on the muezzin loudspeaker bandwagon.

The sonorous prayer calls (known as adhan in Arabic) can be heard from great distances when amplified through electric loudspeakers; some German towns and cities are actually beginning to evoke the sounds and images of the Islamic Middle East. » | Soeren Kern | Friday, June 28, 2013


Listen to al adhan here

Senegal Rejects Obama's Push for Gay Rights

VOICE OF AMERICA: DAKAR — During President Obama’s visit to Dakar, he and Senegalese President Macky Sall were asked about Senegal's treatment of homosexuals. The U.S. Supreme Court handed down two rulings this week that expanded the rights of gays in the United States to get married. President Obama said his message for Africa is that everyone should be treated equally by the law, while President Sall said Senegal is "not ready" to de-criminalize homosexuality.

Front-page headlines in Senegal's Friday morning papers said it all.

One read, "Macky Resists Light Pressure from Obama and clashes with the USA," and another: "Obama Makes the Case For Gays, Macky Says No!"

In Dakar, many Senegalese said they agree with their president.

"Homosexuality is not part of our culture and we are not ready to accept it." Mareme Diop said. "Maybe the West accepts it, but we think it is wrong."

Many invoked religion. "As Muslims, we cannot accept homosexuality." Moussa Gueye said, "this is a secular country, but it is also 95 percent Muslim." » | Anne Look | Friday, June 28, 2013

Breaking: Edward Snowden's Father Says Son May Return If Conditions Met

Related »

Snowden's Father Says Former Contractor May Return If Conditions Met
REUTERS.COM: The father of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden said in an interview that while he has not had recent contact with him, he is reasonably confident his son would return to the United States if certain conditions were met.

Those conditions could include not detaining Snowden before trial, not subjecting him to a gag order and letting him choose the location of his trial, NBC News said on Friday.

The NBC report added that Lonnie Snowden plans to make those points in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to be sent through his lawyer later on Friday. Representatives for the Justice Department could not be reached immediately for comment on the letter.

Lonnie Snowden, in part of the NBC interview that aired on the "Today Show," also said he is concerned that his son, a former contractor for the National Security Agency, was being manipulated by others, including people from the anti-government secrecy group WikiLeaks. » | Susan Heavey | Washington | Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Vicki Allen | Friday, June 28, 2013

Chasing Snowden: Don't Shoot The Messenger
Edward Snowden's story is worthy of a spy novel. He was charged with espionage for blowing the lid off US security operations. He was in Hong Kong at the time, and then reportedly wanted to flee to another country via Russia - but had his passport revoked by the US. Snowden was expected to show on a flight to Cuba after he booked a ticket, but journalists were left staring at an empty seat, instead of the whistleblower - on that Havana-bound plane. RT's Paul Scott, Thabang Motsei and Ivor Crotty, who've all been monitoring the developments as they happened, share their opinions on this story.

The Truthseeker: Obama's Arrest, Bush's Trial
"We'll get Bush in the US" the world's top war crimes prosecutor tells The Truthseeker after Dubya's deputies warn him against travel, lawyers file for Obama's arrest tomorrow when he hits South Africa, huge secret wars in America's name being masked from the folks funding them.

Seek truth from facts with Yousha Tayob of the Muslim Lawyers Association, leading war crimes prosecutor Francis Boyle, Senior Staff Attorney Katherine Gallagher of New York's Center for Constitutional Rights which stopped Bush's first trip after his waterboarding admission, Marjorie Cohn, author of Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law, and former NSA intelligence officer Scott Rickard.

Drugs Inferno: Iran Burns Tons of Narcotics
Iran has burned at least 100 tons of drugs as part of its efforts to fight drug smuggling. June 26 is the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. To mark this day Iran, which lies on a major trafficking route between Afghanistan and Europe, has burned tons of drugs. Iranian authorities and foreign guests watched at the burning ceremony in Tehran.

'Fig Leaf Democracy Not Enough, Expect Egyptian Boil-over'
Egypt's main opposition has rejected President Morsi's offer of dialogue on reconciliation and insists on holding early elections. The country's seen clashes between supporters and opponents of the Islamic leader, with a major protest expected on Sunday. Two people were killed and hundreds injured in street fighting, as Morsi was preparing for a national address marking his first year in power.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Egypt 'could slide into civil war': Egypt's leading religious authority has warned of "civil war" calling for calm after a member of the Muslim Brotherhood was killed ahead of mass rallies against the rule of President Mohamed Morsi. » | Reuters | Friday, June 28, 2013

Men Can Be 'Wives' and Women 'Husbands' as Government Overrules the Dictionary

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The word “husband” will in future be applied to women and the word “wife” will refer to men, the Government has decided.

Civil servants have overruled the Oxford English Dictionary and hundreds years of common usage effectively abolishing the traditional meaning of the words for spouses.

The landmark change is contained in the fine print of new official legal guidance drawn up for MPs and peers as the Government’s same-sex marriage bill is debated.

It comes as part of a Government initiative to “clarify” what words will mean when gay marriage becomes law.

But critics described it as the vocabulary of “cloud cuckoo land”.

It follows claims by opponents of the redefinition of marriage that universally understood terms such as father and mother might be simply deleted by bureaucrats on official forms. » | John Bingham, Social Affair Editor | Thursday, June 27, 2013

UK Muslim Immigration Time Bomb Ticking (2013)

Exposed: UK Cops Unit SOCMINT Sucks Up Data from Your Online Networks
It appears the UK's sweeping surveillance is going beyond the GCHQ phone and online eavesdropping. A special police unit has reportedly been scanning what British citizens are posting online in social networks.

North Korea: Behind the Scenes
RT's Aleksey Yaroshevsky travels to North Korea, the world's most secretive state.

Michele Bachmann Reacts to Gay Marriage Supreme Court Decision

Obama Urges Gay Rights in Africa during Trip to Senegal
BBC: US President Barack Obama has called on African governments to give gay people equal rights by decriminalising homosexual acts.

Mr Obama made the comments in Senegal after meeting President Macky Sall on the first leg of his African tour.

Mr Sall said Senegal was a "very tolerant" country but it was "not ready to decriminalise homosexuality".

Homosexual acts are still a crime in 38 African countries, where most people hold conservative religious views.

In 2011, the US and UK hinted that they could withdraw aid from countries which did not respect gay rights. (+ video) » | Thursday, June 27, 2013

Ecuador Turns Away US Trade Benefits, Makes Defiant Offer amid Snowden Asylum Request

Read the article here | FoxNews.com | Thursday, June 27, 2013

Antisemitism in Al-Azhar University's Friday Sermon: The Jews Are The Muslims' Worst Enemies | Channel 1 (Egypt) | May 10, 2013

Ecuador Can't Grant Snowden Asylum As He's Not On Its Soil
Ecuador says there are obstacles in granting asylum to whistleblower Edward Snowden. The development was revealed in a press conference by the country's government in the Ecuadorian capital. Snowden himself remains somewhere in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. RT's Lucy Kafanov outside the airport brings the latest.

The Islamic Super-state, the Caliphate, Is Coming (2009)
Islamists have always dreamed of the Islamic super-state, the Caliphate-state/Ummah/Kaliphah.

Snowden Asylum Request 'Could Take Months'
Ecuadorian authorities say US whistleblower's asylum request could take two months, as he remains in Moscow airport