US Condemns North Korea's Obama 'Monkey' Jibes

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Pyongyang's description of US leader as 'crossbreed' and 'wicked black monkey' dismissed as 'ugly and disrespectful' by White House

The United States has condemned descriptions in North Korean state media of President Barack Obama as a "crossbreed" and a "wicked black monkey".

A spokeswoman in Washington DC said the comments were "ugly and disrespectful".

The Korea Central News Agency had released stories that graphically described the US leader as a "monkey" in comments by North Koreans in the days after he paid a state visit to South Korea.

"How Obama looks makes me disgusted," said Kang Hyuk, a worker at the Chollima Ironworks Factory, in a translation by the NK News website.

"As I watch him more closely, I realise that he looks like an African native monkey with a black face, gaunt grey eyes, cavate [sic] nostrils, plump mouth and hairy, rough ears.

"He acts like a monkey with a red bum, irrationally eating everything," Mr Kang added. "Africa's national zoo will be the perfect place for Obama to live, licking breadcrumbs thrown by visitors." » | Julian Ryall in Tokyo | Friday, May 09, 2014

José Manuel Barroso: UK Will Not Stop EU from Building Much Closer Union

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: EU's "closer union" will continue despite opposition from Britain, says president of the European Commission

The EU will remain committed to "closer union" and Britain's "special case" will not lead to treaty change in the near future, Jose Manuel Barroso has warned the Prime Minister.

In a major speech the president of the European Commission acknowledged Britain's longstanding hostility to the EU but rejected David Cameron's demand for a treaty renegotiation to give the UK a special status over the next year.

"I do acknowledge that for historical, geopolitical and economic reasons the case of the UK may be seen as a special one. Precisely because of this, it would be a mistake to transform an exception for the UK into a rule for everybody else," he said.

"We can, and should, find ways to cater to the UK's specificity, in as much as this does not threaten the Union's overall coherence. But we should not confound this specificity - even if it is shared at some moments by several governments - with an overall situation of the Union."

Mr Barroso's comments, similar to those made by the German Chancellor and French President, are a setback for Mr Cameron who has asked for the EU treaty's commitment to "ever closer union" to be scrapped or amended so it does not include Britain. » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Thursday, May 08, 2014

It's Up To Retailers Whether They Clearly Label Halal Products, No 10 Says

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Downing Street says that David Cameron does not support compulsory labelling of halal products and that he has no concerns about the meat he buys or eats in restaurants

David Cameron has refused to call for clearer labelling of halal products in supermarkets and restaurants.

Downing Street has said that the Prime Minister has “no concerns” about the meat that he buys and said it is for retailers and restaurants to decide whether to provide more information about halal products.

It came just hours after Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, called for clearer labelling of all halal meat products.

Mr Clegg said that while he had “no problem” eating a pizza with halal meat, it would be “relatively straightforward” for businesses to tell people how the meat they were eating “arrived on their plates”.

His comments echoed those made by religious leaders, who have said that shoppers must be told exactly how animals have been killed through clear labelling on food packaging.

In a letter to the Telegraph, the faith leaders suggested that all menus and packets should specify how animals have been slaughtered regardless of whether they are kosher or halal.

Their intervention follows disclosures that diners have been unknowingly served halal chicken in Pizza Express and other restaurant chains.

More than 70 per cent of all New Zealand lamb in supermarkets is from halal abattoirs – a fact not stated on labelling. » | Peter Dominiczak, Assistant Political Editor | Thursday, May 08, 2014

Christians 'Crucified Again' for Refusing Islam

Raymond Ibrahim is author of
'Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's
New War on Christians'

THE CHRISTIAN POST: To the awe of its readership, a recent Daily Mail article reports that the "jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and Levant [ISIL]," which is currently entrenched in Raqqa, Syria, "publicly crucified two Syrian rebels in northeastern Syria in revenge for a grenade attack on members of their group."

While the Daily Mail is to be commended for exposing these barbaric acts-along with posting photos of the crucified-it nonetheless minimized their significance, in two important ways: 1) by repeatedly saying things like "even al-Qaeda is distancing itself from ISIL," and so implying that the act of crucifixion is some wild aberration that even the poster-child of jihadi terror, al-Qaeda, wants nothing to do with it; and 2) ignoring the much "sexier" story that Christians in Syria are also being crucified simply for refusing to embrace Islam (as opposed to the rather mundane but politically more correct story of Islamic jihadis crucifying each other in the context of vendetta killings).

Consider the atrocities earlier committed in Ma'loula, Syria, an ancient Christian village where the inhabitants still spoke Aramaic, the language of Christ.

According to recent Arabic news media, "a Syrian nun testified to the Vatican news agency that some Christians in Ma'loula were crucified for refusing to convert to Islam or pay jizya" (tribute subjugated Christians are required to pay to their Islamic conquerors in order to exist as Christians, per Koran 9:29).

Incidentally, they were crucified by the al-Qaeda linked Nasra Front (so much for Daily Mail's portrayal of al-Qaeda "distancing" itself from the apparently "extra-extremist" ISIL for crucifying its victims).

Sister Raghad, the former head of the Patriarchate School in Damascus who currently resides in France, told Vatican Radio how she personally witnessed jihadi rebels terrorize Ma'loula, including by pressuring Christians to proclaim the shehada-Islam's credo that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger-which, when uttered before Muslim witnesses transforms the speaker into a Muslim, with the death penalty for apostasy should the convert later "renege" by returning to Christianity. » | Raymond Ibrahim, CP Op-Ed Contributor | Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Iran Bans WhatsApp After Facebook Purchase because Zuckerberg "Is an American Zionist"

THE INDEPENDENT: Iranian censors have reportedly banned popular messaging app WhatsApp because Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, whose company recent bought the app, is an “American Zionist”.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the ban has triggered “an open dispute” within the Iranian government, especially in the light of President Hassan Rouhani’s recent shift towards more moderate policies for the Islamic Republic.

The ban was announced by the secretary of the Committee for Determining Criminal Web Content Abdolsamad Khorramabadi who has been quoted as saying that "the reason for this is the adoption of WhatsApp by the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is an American Zionist." » | James Vincent | Wednesday, May 07, 2014

HAARETZ: Rohani rejects Iranian WhatsApp ban: Iranian president orders a stop to the proposed ban by the Iranian censorship committee. » | JTA | Wednesday, May 07, 2014

World's First Trillionaire Is Alive Today

THE INDEPENDENT: It’s pretty tough to understand exactly how ludicrously large a figure one trillion dollars is. ‘One with twelve zeroes’ doesn’t do it justice, but instead imagine this: even if you were profligate enough to spend a million dollars a day it would still take you 2,739 years to burn through a trillion dollars. It's that much money.

The owner of such a sum would be wealth enough to give out $140 to everyone on the planet, or – if the whim took them - buy the entirety of central London at today’s real estate prices, as The Times [£] has recently reported. » | James Vincent | Tuesday, May 06, 2014

François Hollande versus the French People: President Flops in TV Questioning

THE INDEPENDENT: François Hollande, the most unpopular French president in living memory, demonstrated the perils of wanting to be known as the “normal” leader by subjecting himself to a surreal hour-long television and radio grilling to mark the second anniversary of his election.

He took questions from listeners, including a 61-year- old woman who asked him whether he could live on her €662 (£550) monthly pension. “No,” he replied.

Earlier, the BFM TV interviewer Jean-Jacques Bourdin took a leaf out of Jeremy Paxman’s book to accuse the President of “amateurism” and of conducting a “reckless” private life which had cheapened the presidency. “You talk about [economic] recovery,” said Bourdin, “where is it?”

The Socialist President, who admitted to “regrets”, batted away the criticism and vowed to speed up economic reforms. He said that he should be judged on results “at the end of my mandate” in 2017. » | Anne Penketh | Paris | Tuesday, May 06, 2014

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