Ex-Chancellor Parties with Putin

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The conflict in eastern Ukraine threatens to escalate, but that didn't stop former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder from celebrating his 70th birthday with Vladimir Putin on Monday. By doing so, he is making a mockery of Berlin's foreign policy.

There's nothing you can do about your relatives, but you certainly have a choice when it comes to picking your friends. This sage wisdom also applies to Gerhard Schröder, the former German leader and confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He himself can decide whom to embrace and with whom to celebrate his 70th birthday -- after all, true friends stick together, even in the toughest of times. Normally, one would call this strength of character.

But when it comes to Schröder and Putin in the context of the Ukraine crisis, things are a little more complicated. … » | A commentary by Roland Nelles | Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Erdogan attackiert "Pastor" Gauck

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Der Staatsbesuch von Joachim Gauck in der Türkei ist plötzlich von scharfen Tönen geprägt. Der Deutsche hatte vor Gefahren für die Demokratie gewarnt - jetzt reagiert ein wütender Premier Erdogan.

Ankara - Die Kritik des deutschen Staatsoberhaupts will der türkische Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan nicht auf sich sitzen lassen. Der Regierungschef wirft Joachim Gauck vor, sich mit seiner Warnung über die Demokratiedefizite in die inneren Angelegenheiten der Türkei eingemischt zu haben.

"Ich habe dem deutschen Staatspräsidenten gesagt, dass wir seine Einmischung in die inneren Angelegenheiten unseres Landes niemals dulden werden", sagte Erdogan am Dienstag nach Angaben der Nachrichtenagentur Anadolu. Mit Blick auf die aus seiner Sicht belehrenden Worte des früheren Pfarrers Gauck fügte Erdogan bei einer Fraktionssitzung seiner Partei AKP in Ankara hinzu: "Der deutsche Staatspräsident denkt wohl, er sei immer noch ein Pastor." » | heb/amz/AFP | Dienstag, 29. April 2014

Conservatives Stuck on Stupid! We Should Celebrate That We Are a Multi-cultural Nation, Says Michael Gove

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britons should celebrate the fact that their country is a “multi-cultural nation”, senior Conservatives have said.

Britons should celebrate the fact that their country is a “multi-cultural nation”, senior Conservatives have said.

The comments have emerged after new research said that the Tories had to do more to attract black and ethnic minority voters if they wanted to win next year’s general election.

The description multi-cultural is often used by rightwing critics to criticise community groups who do not mix with their neighbours.

However, Michael Gove, the Education secretary and a Tory moderniser, issued the call for the Conservatives to reclaim the term at the Asian Business Awards dinner earlier this month.

He told the 500-strong black tie dinner at a hotel in central London earlier this month that Britain was a “stronger country” because of its history of immigration. » | Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent | Monday, April 28, 2014

Leeds Teacher Murder: Boy, 15, In Custody after Anne Maguire Stabbed to Death

Anne Maguire

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Pupil, who cannot be named for legal reasons, arrested on suspicion of murder after Anne Maguire was repeatedly stabbed in front of other pupils at Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds

A high-achieving middle-class schoolboy was in custody on Monday night after a teacher was stabbed to death in the first murder of its kind in a British classroom.

The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested on suspicion of murder after Anne Maguire was repeatedly stabbed in front of other pupils at a secondary school in Leeds.

The pupil is said to have excelled at the Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds but had become increasingly withdrawn following the separation of his parents.

Mrs Maguire, 61, who taught Spanish and Religious Education and was described as the “figurehead” of the school where she had taught for 40 years, was the first teacher to be killed by a schoolboy since Philip Lawrence, a London headmaster, was stabbed at the gates of his secondary in 1995.

It is the first time in Britain a teacher has been murdered in a classroom allegedly by one of their pupils. (+ videos) » | Monday, April 28, 2014

Ukraine: La Russie promet de répliquer aux nouvelles sanctions

Au nom de Vladimir Poutine, le vice-ministre russe des Affaires
étrangères Sergueï Riabkov a déclaré que la Russie disposait
d'une « large » gamme d'options pour répondre aux sanctions.

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Une nouvelle série de sanctions a été annoncée lundi contre la Russie, accusée par les Occidentaux de jeter de l'huile sur le feu dans la crise ukrainienne, et qui a aussitôt promis de répliquer.

Américains et Européens ont dévoilé quasi-simultanément lundi les nouvelles sanctions censées convaincre Moscou de ne pas déstabiliser davantage la situation déjà explosive en Ukraine.

Côté américain, sept responsables russes et 17 sociétés, jugés proches du président russe Vladimir Poutine, vont se voir imposer des sanctions. Washington va également revoir les conditions d'autorisation à l'exportation en Russie de certains équipements high-tech qui pourraient avoir un usage militaire, a indiqué la Maison Blanche dans un communiqué. » | afp/Newsnet | lundi 28 avril 2014

Zürich: Pour le Böögg, l'été sera très chaud

Le Böögg brûle à Zürich

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: En moins de 8 minutes, le Bonhomme hiver du Sechseläuten a explosé, signe que les températures seront élevées cette année. Des conseillers fédéraux ont participé au défilé.

Le «Böögg», le Bonhomme hiver auquel les Zurichois boutent le feu chaque année, a tenu 7 minutes et 23 secondes avant d'exploser.

Il annonce ainsi un très bel été. La manifestation marquant la fin de l'hiver s'est pourtant déroulée sous un temps pluvieux et plutôt frisquet. » | ATS/Newsnet | lundi 28 avril 2014

View from Russia Today: 'Last Thing US Wants in the World Is Democracy. It Wants Control'

The crisis in Ukraine and the steadily dropping temperature in relations between Moscow and Washington made many talk about a new Cold War; and many others are worried it may turn 'hot'. But there's another war going on right now: the information war. US Secretary of State Kerry has already attacked RT, calling it "Putin's propaganda machine." But Washington itself uses dubious evidence and fake facts. What is the information war? What methods is America using? Sophie talks to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and veteran correspondent Chris Hedges.

2pm Lie-ins and a Daily Führer Cake...

Elisabeth Kalhammer, one of Hitler's maids at the Berghof,
Obersalzberg, Austria

MAIL ON SUNDAY: Elisabeth Kalhammer, 89, responded to newspaper advert in 1943 / She did not know her employer at Berghof, Germany, would be Hitler / Reveals dictator pretended to be healthy but had insatiable sweet tooth

As far as his closest aides were aware, he kept to a strict healthy diet and drank only lukewarm water.

But Adolf Hitler would regularly stave off attacks of midnight munchies by tucking into specially made ‘Fuhrer Cake’ and other gooey treats.

He would raid the kitchen after staying up late talking to guests and rarely get up before 2pm, according to a maid who worked at his mountain retreat in Bavaria.

Elisabeth Kalhammer has broken her silence after 71 years to reveal what life was like at the Berghof when the Nazi dictator was in residence.

Mrs Kalhammer, 89, says that Hitler’s mistress Eva Braun – whom staff greeted with a ‘Heil M’lady’ – ran the house.

All the maids knew Hitler had trouble with his spleen and kept to a strict diet devised by a personal cook.

But the famously sweet-toothed dictator secretly feasted on chocolate biscuits and cream scones, Mrs Kalhammer says. » | Allan Hall | Sunday, April 27, 2014

SALZBURGER NACHRICHTEN: Im Dienst des Diktators: Adolf Hitlers Hausmädchen: "Denken durfte ich, aber sprechen nicht." Elisabeth Kalhammer hat am Berghof das Reden beinahe verlernt. Sie erinnert sich, was sie im Haushalt des Diktators erlebte. » | Von Michaela Hessenberger | Samstag, 26. April 2014

SALZBURGER NACHRICHTEN: Hitlers Stubenmädchen: Seltene Blicke auf den Diktator: Als Stubenmädchen hat Elisabeth Kalhammer für den NS-Diktator gearbeitet. Durch den Vorhang hat sie Adolf Hitler beobachtet. Gesehen hat sie ein "armseliges Mandl", erinnert sie sich im zweiten Teil des SN-Gesprächs. » | Von Michaela Hessenberger | Montag, 28. April 2014

Arrested for Quoting Winston Churchill…

MAIL ONLINE: Paul Weston was arrested on the steps of Winchester's Guildhall / Chairman of Liberty GB was detained on suspicion of racial harassment / He quoted a passage from Winston Churchill's 1899 book The River War

A candidate in the European elections was arrested on suspicion of racial harrassment after quoting a passage about Islam, written by Winston Churchill, during a campaign speech.

Paul Weston, chairman of the party Liberty GB, made the address on the steps of Winchester Guildhall, in Hampshire on Saturday.

A member of the public took offence at the quote, taken from Churchill's The River War and called police.

The passage from the book, written by the wartime Prime Minister and first published in 1899, focuses on Churchill's observations about Islam while serving during the Anglo-Egyptian reconquest of the Sudan.

Mr Weston told his audience: 'Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.

'Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the faith: all know how to die but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.

'No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith.'

Police officers arrested Mr Weston, mid-speech, for failing to comply with their request to move on under the powers of a dispersal order made against him. He was further arrested on suspicion of religious or racial harrassment. » | Lizzie Parry | Monday, April 28, 2014

LIBERTY GB: Paul Weston Could Face Two Years in Jail for Quoting Churchill » | Liberty GB | Monday, April 28, 2014

Debbie Schlussel: Amal Alamuddin: George Clooney’s Anti-Israel Druze Arab Chick

DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL: Over the past few months, actor George Clooney’s been photographed all over the place with Amal Alamuddin, a very anti-Israel Lebanese Arab who worked for the United Nations and represented Wikileaks’ anti-American former chief, Julian Assange. The Lebanese legal book she authored is extremely anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian. Alamuddin, who was Clooney’s date to the Obama White House last month, is not Muslim. She’s Druze, which is an offshoot of Islam. I’m familiar with Ms. Alamuddin (pronounced “Ah-lah-muh-DEEN”) and her family because I met her and them at the wedding of her cousin in the mid-1990s. They are extremely anti-Israel, and I was subjected to their absurd, non-stop anti-Israel questions and comments as the only non-Arab (other than the bride and her family) at a dinner the night before the wedding. » | Debbie Schlussel | Thursday, March 20, 2014

WIKI: Druze »

Saudi Arabia: Eight More Deaths Due to MERS

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The latest cases bring to 102 the number of people who have died after contracting the disease

Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry said on Sunday that eight more people have died after contracting a lethal Middle East virus related to SARS as the kingdom grapples with a rising number of infections.

The ministry reported the deaths in a statement on its website late in the evening. It said it had detected a total of 16 cases of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus over the past 24 hours.

The latest cases bring to 102 the number of people who have died after contracting the disease in Saudi Arabia since September 2012. A total of 339 cases have been recorded to date in the kingdom, which has been the site of the bulk of confirmed infections. » | AP | Edited by Bonnie Malkin | Monday, April 28, 2014

John Kerry Warns Israel Could Become 'Apartheid State'

John Kerry was speaking after Benjamin Netanyahu's
government suspended negotiations with the Palestinians

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: US secretary of state risks Israeli anger with warning that absence of peace deal with Palestinians could lead towards apartheid-style situation

Israel risks evolving into an apartheid state if it fails to negotiate a two-state solution with the Palestinians to end the historic Jewish-Arab conflict, John Kerry, the US secretary of state has warned.

The highly inflammatory remarks, which seemed certain to provoke an angry reaction from Israeli leaders, followed last week's near collapse of American-brokered peace talks, which Mr Kerry has energetically promoted.

Speaking at a meeting of senior international figures last Friday, America's top diplomat said it was essential to pursue the two-state solution - commonly defined as Israel existing alongside a sovereign, independent Palestine - to avoid dire consequences. » |Robert Tait, Jerusalem | Monday, April 28, 2014

Israel Says No to Peace Talks until Hamas Recognises Israel

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Israeli prime minister Netanyahu says there will be no negotiations with a Palestinian unity government unless the Hamas movement gives up its vision of destroying Israel and embraces peace

Speaking on CNN, the Israeli leader said the preferable course of action to get peace negotiations back on track would be for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to renounce Hamas, the Islamist movement whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel.

"Either Hamas disavows the destruction of Israel and embraces peace and denounces terror, or president Abbas renounces Hamas," Netanyahu said.

"If one of those things happened, we could get back to the peace negotiations. I hope he renounces Hamas and gets back to the peace table, as I've just said. The ball is in his court."

Netanyahu suspended peace talks with the Palestinians last week after the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Hamas agreed to work together to form a unity government, in a move to end years of bitter political rivalry. » | AFP | Sunday, April 27, 2014

Egypt Sentences 683 Islamists to Death in Mass Trial

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mohamed Badie, Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader, handed death penalty as same court reverses 492 death sentences passed last month

The supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood has been sentenced to death with 682 other people after a five-minute hearing which will renew international concern over Egypt's so-called "road-map to democracy".

Mohammed Badie was found guilty of inciting riots in the town of Edwa last summer which led to mass arrests of what the authorities said were Brotherhood supporters furious at the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi.

No attempt was made at least in the public hearing to distinguish the parts played by any of the other hundreds of defendants in the riots, in which churches, businesses and government offices were burned down and some policemen killed.

In the same hearing, the judge, Said Yussef, commuted to life imprisonment all but 37 of the 529 death penalties he handed down in a separate case last month, linked to a similar riot in the nearby town of Mattay. He gave no explanation for the decision, though the verdicts had been automatically referred to Egypt's Grand Mufti for a clerical opinion.

Life terms in Egypt usually mean 25 years in jail. » | Richard Spencer, Minya | Monday, April 28, 2014

Denying Hillary Clinton the Presidency

Apr. 22, 2014 - 6:20 - Charles Krauthammer weighs in on the Democrats' expected presidential pick for the 2016

UK Non-Christian Claims 'Absurd', Senior Tories Say

BBC: The UK is a Christian country and those who deny it are "deluding themselves", two senior Conservative MPs have said.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith told the Daily Telegraph modern Britain had "Christian heritage".

Deputy PM Nick Clegg has also said it is "obvious" that Christianity is integral to the UK's identity.

A group of public figures recently objected to David Cameron's description of the UK as a "Christian country". Mr Cameron had also said Britons should be "more confident" in defending "Christian values".

Mr Grieve, a patron of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, said atheism had not made "much progress" in the UK.

"Many of the underlying ethics of society are Christian-based and the result of 1,500 years of Christian input into our national life," he said.

"It is not going to disappear overnight. They [theists] are deluding themselves." » | Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Mahmoud Abbas condamne le "crime odieux" de la Shoah

Le président palestinien Mahmoud Abbas.

LE POINT: Cette condamnation du "crime le plus odieux qui soit survenu contre l'humanité pendant l'ère moderne" est la plus forte du président palestinien à ce jour.

Le président palestinien Mahmoud Abbas a condamné dimanche le génocide juif, dans une déclaration sans précédent, peu avant le début des commémorations de la Shoah en Israël, et appelé le gouvernement israélien à conclure une paix "juste" avec les Palestiniens. "Ce qui est arrivé aux juifs durant l'Holocauste est le crime le plus odieux qui soit survenu contre l'humanité pendant l'ère moderne", a estimé Mahmoud Abbas, selon un communiqué de l'Organisation de libération de la Palestine (OLP), qu'il dirige, publié le jour où Israël va commencer à commémorer la Shoah. » | Source AFP | dimanche 27 avril 2014

North Korea Labels South's President as 'Crafty Prostitute' after Obama Visit

Barack Obama with the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye,
in Seoul on Saturday

THE GUARDIAN: Tirade against Park Geun-hye hits new low in unusually personal abuse, which analysts say may indicate Kim Jong-un echoing his grandfather

North Korea has launched a vitriolic attack on the South Korean president, comparing her to "crafty prostitute" in thrall to her "pimp" Barack Obama.

It also described Park Geun-hye as America's "comfort woman", a reference likely to enrage many in South Korea, where anger still runs high over the plight of thousands of women who were enslaved in Japanese military brothels during the second world war.

The comments were issued on Sunday by the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK), which handles cross-border affairs, following the US president's two-day visit to Seoul. He arrived in Malaysia on Sunday for the penultimate stop on his four-nation tour of Asia.

While Pyongyang is known for its aggressive rhetoric, recent remarks have been unusually personal.

Earlier this month state media ran misogynist articles, including one headlined "We accuse Park the bitch", labelling her as a lunatic, idiot and "cold-blooded animal" and emphasising the fact that she has never married or had children.

Those remarks were presented in the form of quotes from ordinary North Koreans, while the latest tirade, carried by state news agency KCNA, is presented as a statement from an official body. » | Tania Branigan in Seoul | Sunday, April 27, 2014

AP: N Korea criticizes S Korea Prez’s ‘Swish of Skirt’ »

New Dark Age Alert! My Brother the Islamist

Eye-opening documentary in which a man discovers that his brother has unexpectedly converted to Islam.

MAIL ON SUNDAY: My brother the terrorist: Filmmaker attempts to understand why stepbrother went from middle-class white boy to Muslim convert and convicted terrorist: In 2010 Robb Leech spent a year filming his stepbrother Richard Dart / Dart converted to Islam and changed his name to Salahuddin al-Britani / Last year he was sentenced to six years in prison for terrorist charges / He was converted to Islam by hate preacher Anjem Choudary / My Brother The Terrorist will be aired on BBC Three at 9pm tomorrow » | Tara Brady | Sunday, April 27, 2014

East Ukraine Detainees: 'We Have Not Been Touched'

A group of kidnapped military observers give a press conference in Slavyansk, east Ukraine, where they are being held by pro-Russian separatists. Colonel Alex Schneider from Germany confirms the eight men have not been physically harmed but they have no indication of when, and under what conditions, they will be released

THE GUARDIAN: Ukraine: kidnapped observers paraded by pro-Russian gunmen in Slavyansk: European military observers deny they are Nato spies while captors insist they are 'not our hostages – they are our guests' » | Luke Harding in Donetsk and agencies | Sunday, April 27, 2014