Vladimir Putin Signs Ban on 'Foul language' in Films, Books and Performances

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Russian president signs Soviet-era style legislation which will impose fines for swearing and requires books containing banned terms to carry cover warnings

Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, has signed a Soviet-style law banning swearing in films, television broadcasts, books and public performances.

In a move harking back to the cultural conservatism of Russia's Communist years, books containing "foul language" will have to carry a special warning, and offenders may be subject to fines of up to £830.

The text of the new law “bans the use of obscene language while ensuring the rights of Russian citizens to the use of the state language, and protecting and developing language culture,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

Films containing banned words may be refused distribution, while actors using prohibited language face performance bans of up to three months, according to CNN.

The law follows a similar measure passed in April 2013 which banned swearing in the media. » | Andrew Marszal | Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Hollywood-Protest gegen Scharia in Brunei: "In welchem Jahr leben wir?"

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Brunei hat das Scharia-Strafrecht eingeführt, in Hollywood formiert sich der Protest. Dem Sultanat gehört auch das glamouröse Beverly Hills Hotel, wo die Stars der Szene am Pool entspannen. Jetzt wird zum Boykott aufgerufen.

Los Angeles – Das Beverly Hills Hotel ist vor allem für seine glamourösen Geschichten bekannt, es gehört mit den Legenden seiner mehr als hundertjährigen Historie zum Inventar Hollywoods. Hier stiegen Elizabeth Taylor und Richard Burton ab; hier ignorierte Marlene Dietrich die Vorschrift, dass Frauen im Restaurant keine Hosen tragen dürfen; hier betrachtete Faye Dunaway nach der Oscar-Nacht ihre Goldstatue im Bademantel am Swimmingpool.

Nun müssen die Hotel-Manager jedoch mit einer äußerst unangenehmen Geschichte umgehen. Am Montag versammelten sich Dutzende Demonstranten, um gegen den Besitzer des Hotels und dessen Politik zu protestieren.

Seit Jahren gehört das Beverly Hills Hotel einer staatlichen Investmentgesellschaft aus Brunei. In dem Sultanat auf der Insel Borneo wurde in der vergangenen Woche das Scharia-Strafrecht eingeführt, was Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah als "großartigen Fortschritt" pries. Auf Ehebruch und homosexuelle Handlungen können demnach in Brunei künftig der Tod durch Steinigung stehen.

Zum Protest vor dem Hotel hatten unter anderem Feministinnen und Homosexuellenverbände aufgerufen. Unter den Teilnehmern war auch der berühmte Moderator Jay Leno. "In welchem Jahr leben wir? 1814? Kommt schon, Leute. Es ist 2014", sagte Leno laut "Variety.com". "Das Böse blüht, wenn gute Leute nichts tun." » | hut/AP/dpa | Dienstag, 06. Mai 2014


VARIETY: Jay Leno Among Sultan of Brunei Protesters at Beverly Hills Hotel: As it is embattled with a growing list of prominent organizations dropping out of events, the Beverly Hills Hotel on Monday faced the public spectacle of a protest across the street as entertainment figures and political leaders rallied against a harsh Islamic code imposed by the sultan of Brunei, who owns the fabled venue as well as other prominent tony hotels. » | Ted Johnson | Senior Editor | Monday, May 05, 2014

LOS ANGELES TIMES: Brunei law on gays, women sparks Beverly Hills Hotel boycott: The tiny, oil-rich country of Brunei has been a quiet steward of the Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air, undertaking multimillion-dollar renovations of the landmarks. ¶ But in recent days both hotels have come under siege from Hollywood feminists and gay rights advocates because of new laws in the Southeast Asian sultanate. ¶ Brunei last week imposed new criminal codes, based on Islamic law, with harsh penalties for homosexuality and adultery, including death by stoning. » | Martha Groves, Nabih Bulos, Matt Stevens | Monday, May 05, 2014

Ukraine Close to War, Says Germany

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Germany has formally advised its citizens to leave east and south Ukraine because it is just a "few steps" away from war

Ukraine is only a "few steps" away from "military confrontation", the German foreign minister warned on Tuesday, as his country formally advised its citizens to leave the eastern regions.

This deeply pessimistic assessment from Frank-Walter Steinmeier came as the airport serving Donetsk region – the most populous area of Ukraine – cancelled all international flights until further notice.

The information board in the departures hall of Sergei Prokofiev Airport showed a string of cancelled flights to destinations including Moscow, Munich and Istanbul. Read on and comment » | David Blair, Donetsk | Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Oliver Stone Tears Apart Obama's Empire

Abby Martin sits down with Academy Award Winning Director, Oliver Stone, and Historian Peter Kuznick, to talk about US foreign policy and the Obama administration's disregard for the rule of law.

Geert Wilders: Ukip Will Join Our Far-Right Bloc in the EU

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Ukip is expected to overcome its distaste for Marine Le Pen and will work with a new far-Right Eurosceptic alliance after EU elections, Geert Wilders tells the Telegraph


Europe’s leading far-Right leader has predicted Ukip will end up in an alliance for Marine Le Pen and other Eurosceptic forces in the new European parliament following this month’s elections.

Geert Wilders told the Telegraph that he expects Nigel Farage to ditch a promise never to work with the French National Front after Ukip’s expected successes in European elections later this month.

Mr Wilders and Miss Le Pen have joined forces to create a “European Freedom Alliance” and both are leading the opinion polls for Europe-wide elections in their respective countries, the Netherlands and France.

Mr Farage, who has not ruled out working with Mr Wilders despite the Dutch politican’s controversial views on Islamic and immigrants, has stayed out of the alliance.

He refused because the National Front has “anti-Semitism and general prejudice in its DNA”.

However, the Dutch Freedom Party leader is convinced that he can persuade Mr Farage to overcome his distaste for with Miss Le Pen’s “Front National” after the voting finishes in elections on 25 May. » | Bruno Waterfield, The Hague | Monday, May 05, 2014

First Openly Gay Anglican Bishop Gene Robinson Announces Divorce

Mark Andrew, left, and Bishop Robinson during their civil union
ceremony in 2008, two years before they officially married

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Bishop Robinson, who became a symbol for gay rights far beyond the church while deeply dividing the world's Anglicans, plans to divorce his husband

Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican church, whose ordination split the church in the United States, is to divorce his husband after four years of marriage.

The 66-year-old retired bishop married in 2010 when the state of New Hampshire legalised gay marriage, but had been in a relationship with his partner, Mark Andrew, for more than 25 years before announcing the split in an email to the diocese of New Hampshire last weekend.

In an article explaining the divorce, Bishop Robinson said that specific reasons would be remain private, but said responsibility fell “on the shoulders of both parties” while paying tribute to Mr Andrew as one of the “kindest, most generous and loyal human beings on earth”.

“It is at least a small comfort to me, as a gay rights and marriage equality advocate, to know that like any marriage, gay and lesbian couples are subject to the same complications and hardships that afflict marriages between heterosexual couples,” he wrote on The Daily Beast website.

“All of us sincerely intend, when we take our wedding vows, to live up to the ideal of ’til death do us part. But not all of us are able to see this through until death indeed parts us.” » | Sunday, May 04, 2014

THE DAILY BEAST: A Bishop’s Decision to Divorce » | Gene Robinson | Sunday, May 04, 2014

KT McFarland: Benghazi Is 'about Abuse of Power'

May. 01, 2014 - 7:32 - Fox News national security analyst sounds off

Jordanian Christian Kills Daughter for Converting to Islam

WORLD BULLETIN: The woman was killed by her father on Wednesday a short time after she converted to Islam when she attended a lecture by prominent Saudi preacher Mohamed al-Arefe at the Jordanian University in Amman.

Scores of Jordanians on Thursday tried to break into a church in the northern Ajloun province in protest against the reported killing of a local girl by her Christian father on the background of her recent conversion to Islam, a Jordanian security source said. » | World Bulletin / News Desk | Friday, May 02, 2014

Foreign Jihadis in Syria Pledge Their Own 9/11

THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: World View: Ambitious al-Qa'ida-type groups now control - or are free to operate in - an enormous area

It is only a matter of time before jihadis in al-Qa'ida-type groups that have taken over much of eastern Syria and western Iraq have a violent impact on the world outside these two countries. The road is open wide to new attacks along the lines of 9/11 and 7/7, and it may be too late to close it.

Those who doubt that these are the jihadis' long-term intentions should have a look at a chilling but fascinating video posted recently by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), formerly al-Qa'ida in Iraq. It shows a group of foreign fighters burning their passports to emphasise their permanent commitment to jihad. Many of the passports thrown into the flames have grass-green covers and are Saudi; others are dark blue and must be Jordanian. Some of the fighters show their faces while others are masked. As each one destroys his passport, sometimes tearing it in half before throwing it into the fire, he makes a declaration of faith and a promise to fight against the ruler of the country from which he comes.

A Canadian makes a short speech in English before switching to Arabic, saying: "It is a message to Canada, to all American powers. We are coming and we will destroy you." A Jordanian says: "I say to the tyrant of Jordan: we are the descendants of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi [the Jordanian founder of al-Qa'ida in Iraq killed by US aircraft in 2006] and we are coming to kill you." A Saudi, an Egyptian and a Chechen make similar threats. Read on and comment » | Patrick Cockburn | Sunday, May 04, 2014


ISIS Fighters Burn Their Passports to Create One Islamic State

MERS Outbreak: Q & A

There is growing concern about Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS): What is it? Am I at risk? What are the symptoms?

Read the Telegraph article here | Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Saturday, May 03, 2014

Gotteskrieg als Jugendtrend

DIE PRESSE: Zwei junge Wiener Mädchen gingen nach Syrien, um dort in den Jihad zu ziehen. In Wien fragt man sich inzwischen: Wie konnte der Krieg Teil der Jugendkultur werden?

Im Nachhinein fragen sich alle, wie das hatte passieren können. Zwei Mädchen, 15 und 16 Jahre, beschließen, nach Syrien in den Jihad zu ziehen. Mittlerweile sollen sie dort verheiratet sein, besagen Foren-Einträge. Die Polizei bestätigt das nicht, nur so viel: Die Mädchen sind in die Türkei geflogen, und die Familie war und gilt als völlig unauffällig. Nun sucht Interpol nach den beiden Jugendlichen, deren Eltern in den 1990er-Jahren aus Bosnien vor dem Krieg flüchteten. » | Von Eva Winroither (Die Presse) | Samstag, 03. Mai 2014

Dutch Muslim Rapper: I Hate Jews More Than Nazis

Ismo's official video clip for the song 'Eenmans' (YouTube screenshot)

THE TIMES OF ISRAEL: Ismo’s hate-filled video a YouTube hit; man who complained about it gets death threats

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Dutch police are investigating a Muslim rapper who used hateful language against gays and Jews in one of his songs.

The rapper Ismo, whose real name is Ismael Houllich, included the text in his first single. The official video clip for the song titled “Eenmans” (or “One Man’s”) shows Ismo singing: “I hate those fucking Jews more than the Nazis,” “don’t shake hands with faggots” and “don’t believe in anything but the Koran.”

The clip, which was filmed in the southern border city of Breda, had received 125,000 viewers on YouTube before a 19-year-old homosexual resident of the city, Lars Hobma, filed a complaint with police against Ismo for alleged incitement to hatred, the news site of the Algemeen Dagblad daily reported Friday. » | JTA | Friday, May 02, 2014

HT: Robert Spencer @ Jihad Watch »

Alex Salmond: 'Scotland Is a Nation of Drunks'

THE INDEPENDENT: The First Minister said drinking culture in Scotland had changed since his youth

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has suggested that Scotland is a “nation of drunks” and that he is “significantly” concerned by the nation’s relationship with alcohol.

In an interview with former Labour spin-doctor Alistair Campbell which was published in GQ magazine on Thursday, Mr Salmond explained that apparent drinking problems stemmed from: “the availability of cheap alcohol and the cultural changes that has introduced.”

“When we were young we would go out for a drink. People now go out drunk, having drunk cheap booze before. That is social change for the worse,” he said.

“Then there is something deep about Scotland’s relationship with alcohol that is about self-image – lack of confidence, maybe, as a nation – and we do have to do something about it.”

He then went on to defend the Scottish Government’s plan to introduce minimum alcohol pricing, which has been criticised by the whisky industry.

“I promote whisky,” Mr Salmond told Mr Campbell.

“I do it on the argument that it’s a quality drink, has a worldwide cachet and that its recent great success in markets like China is about social emulation and authenticity, not cheapness.

"My argument is that if you are promoting it as authentic and of great worth, you cannot promote it from a nation of drunks. You’ll never be able to say it is healthy and life giving, but you can say it’s authentic and high quality," he said. » | Kashmira Gander | Thursday, May 01, 2014

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Alex Salmond: Regierungschef nennt Schottland "Nation der Säufer": Alex Salmond geht mit seinen Landsleuten hart ins Gericht. Schottland habe ein gravierendes Alkoholproblem, diagnostiziert der Regierungschef. Die Opposition ist empört » | syd | Freitag, 02. Mai 2014

Europe Must Increase Defence Spending In Face Of Russian Aggression, Warns Chuck Hagel

US Defence Secretary warns aggression in Ukraine should shatter myth that risk of conflict has reduced since Cold War as British Secretary of Defence warns Vladimir Putin not to breach "red line" around Nato nations

Read the Telegraph article here | Ben Farmer, video by Heathcliff O'Malley | Friday, May 02, 2014

Inside Story: Uncomfortable Truths: How Free Is the Press?

Global watchdog says world press freedom has hit its lowest level in a decade.

Wilders' Viewpoint: EU Will Burst At Seams After European Parliament Elections - Geert Wilders

The Ukrainian crisis comes as nations within the European Union prepare to cast their votes in the May European Parliament elections. Eurosceptic parties are raising their voices, and their popularity is rapidly growing, as citizens continue to grow tired of austerity and bureaucracy ruling Europe. Will the May elections change the stakes? To find this out, Sophie talks to Dutch politician and leader of the Eurosceptic Party for Freedom, Geert Wilders.

Islam Creates Monsters Says Psychologist

LIBERTY VOICE: Danish psychologist Nicolai Sennels, an expert in working with Muslim youth criminal offenders, has written a new book entitled Among Criminal Muslims. A Psychologist’s Experience from the Copenhagen Municipality, and in an essay supporting the book, he claims that “Islam creates monsters.” A recent study out of Germany supports Sennels’ statement. It found that devout Muslims were more prone to violence than the non-Muslim participants in the study.

Sennels says Islam is different from other religions because the way it is taught brainwashes its youth with violent messages. Parents inflict violence on their children repeatedly, Sennels claims, and at the same time, deliver religious ideology. He says this behavior makes Muslim extremists far more violent than extremists of other religious faiths.

The brainwashing, as Sennels terms it, begins very early on in a child’s life, and religious messages are repeated vigorously along with a heavy dose of physical discipline. It is this combination of pain and reinforcement, Sennels claims, that creates Islamic “monsters” who then feel justified in torturing and killing innocent people.

Sennels points out that parents want to indoctrinate their children into the religion as early as possible so that the kids will remain Muslim instead of looking to another faith—under Sharia law, turning against Islam is a crime punishable by death. » | Added by Rebecca Sevastio | Friday, May 02, 2014

MERS Virus Arrives in U.S. from Middle East

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Two years after it first cropped up in the Middle East, a potentially fatal respiratory illness arrived in the United States aboard a jetliner that landed at O'Hare International Airport 10 days ago.

The news that Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS — a virus that by one estimate has killed roughly a quarter of the relatively small number of patients confirmed to be infected by it — is on U.S. soil quickly triggered investigations by federal and state health authorities. (+ video) » | Juan Perez Jr., Tribune reporter | Saturday, May 03, 2014

MERS virus spreads to US via Britain »

Intimate Portrait – Grace Kelly (Princess Grace)

Grace Kelly reigned as one of Hollywood's brightest stars before she took on her role as the wife of Prince Rainer of Monaco. This is a rare Intimate Portrait about the fascinating life of Princess Grace of Monaco.

Related »

Festival de Cannes: Le film «Grace de Monaco» boycotté par les enfants de la princesse

Un portrait de Grace Kelly décédée dans un tragique accident en 1982

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Leurs parents se sont rencontrés grâce au festival, mais les enfants de Grace Kelly n'iront pas à Cannes cette année, ulcérés par le film consacré à leur mère, un «détournement» de l'histoire familiale.

Albert II, Caroline et Stéphanie n'en démordent pas: le film d'Olivier Dahan «Grace de Monaco», qui sera projeté à l'ouverture du 67e Festival de Cannes en avant-première mondiale (mais hors compétition),«ne peut en aucun cas être qualifié de biopic».

Tous trois fustigent par voie de communiqué une «bande-annonce fantaisiste» qui «renforce la conviction laissée lors de la lecture du scénario qu'il s'agit d'une production, d'une page de l'histoire de la Principauté, basée sur des références historiques erronées et littéraires douteuses».

Les enfants de la princesse, décédée le 14 septembre 1982 dans un accident de voiture au-dessus de Monaco, assurent que «le réalisateur et les producteurs (ont) refusé de prendre en considération les très nombreuses observations formulées par le Palais, qui auraient eu pour conséquence une remise en question globale du scénario et des personnages». » | afp/Newsnet | vendredi 02 mai 2014




Related: The Last Interview with Grace Kelly »