Pro-Hassan Rouhani Iranian Editor Defects While Covering Nuclear Talks in Lausanne

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Amir Hossein Motaghi says he no longer sees any “sense” in his profession as he could only write as he was told

A close media aide to Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, has sought political asylum in Switzerland after travelling to Lausanne to cover the nuclear talks between Tehran and the West.

Amir Hossein Motaghi, who managed public relations for Mr Rouhani during his 2013 election campaign, was said by Iranian news agencies to have quit his job at the Iran Student Correspondents Association (ISCA).

He then appeared on an opposition television channel based in London to say he no longer saw any “sense” in his profession as a journalist as he could only write what he was told.

“There are a number of people attending on the Iranian side at the negotiations who are said to be journalists reporting on the negotiations,” he told Irane Farda television. “But they are not journalists and their main job is to make sure that all the news fed back to Iran goes through their channels.

“My conscience would not allow me to carry out my profession in this manner any more.” Mr Mottaghi was a journalist and commentator who went on to use social media successfully to promote Mr Rouhani to a youthful audience that overwhelmingly elected him to power. » | Ahmed Vahdat and Richard Spencer | Friday, March 27, 2015

Yemen Bombed: 'Crisis Could Deepen to All-out Sunni-Shia Religious War, Real Aim Is to Stop Iran'

Over a dozen are killed or injured in Yemen as Saudi Arabia and its allies push on with a full-scale campaign of airstrikes against rebels in the country.

US Declassifies Document Revealing Israel's Nuclear Program

ARUTZ SHEVA: Obama revenge for Netanyahu's Congress talk? 1987 report on Israel's top secret nuclear program released in unprecedented move.

In a development that has largely been missed by mainstream media, the Pentagon early last month quietly declassified a Department of Defense top-secret document detailing Israel's nuclear program, a highly covert topic that Israel has never formally announced to avoid a regional nuclear arms race, and which the US until now has respected by remaining silent.

But by publishing the declassified document from 1987, the US reportedly breached the silent agreement to keep quiet on Israel's nuclear powers for the first time ever, detailing the nuclear program in great depth.

The timing of the revelation is highly suspect, given that it came as tensions spiraled out of control between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama ahead of Netanyahu's March 3 address in Congress, in which he warned against the dangers of Iran's nuclear program and how the deal being formed on that program leaves the Islamic regime with nuclear breakout capabilities.

Another highly suspicious aspect of the document is that while the Pentagon saw fit to declassify sections on Israel's sensitive nuclear program, it kept sections on Italy, France, West Germany and other NATO countries classified, with those sections blocked out in the document. » | Ari Yashar, Matt Wanderman | Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Saudischer Blogger Badawi: "Auf wundersame Weise 50 Peitschenhiebe überlebt"

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Der saudische Blogger Raif Badawi hat aus der Haft einen Brief geschrieben, den der SPIEGEL abdruckt. Das Schreiben zeigt einen mutigen, ungebrochenen Mann.

Wie überlebt man eine Auspeitschung? Wie fühlt sich der Alltag in einem saudischen Gefängnis an? Erstmals seit seiner Verhaftung meldet sich der saudische Blogger Raif Badawi per Brief zu Wort - nach fast drei Jahren in Haft. In dem Schreiben, das der SPIEGEL in Auszügen nachdruckt, berichtet er von seinen Eindrücken und Erfahrungen. Er schreibt, dass er auf "wundersame Weise fünfzig Peitschenhiebe überlebt" habe, während er umringt gewesen sei "von einer jubelnden Menge, die immerzu Allahu akbar rief". Und weiter schreibt er: "All dies grausame Leid ist mir nur widerfahren, weil ich meine Meinung ausgedrückt habe." » | Freitag, 27. März 2015

What Religion Was Andreas Lubitz? Debate Grows over Germanwings Pilot's Background

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES: Since it emerged that Germanwings airlines' co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately 'accelerated' the plane after locking out the captain to crash the jetliner into the French Alps, there have been many who have raised questions on his religious background.

Close friends of the 28-year old Germanwings pilot remember him as a "rather quiet, but a friendly young man."

Many on social media, however, refuse to believe the explanation that the German pilot, whose full name is Andreas Guenter Lubitz, had no terror links and in fact "had no reason to do it."

During the news conference, French prosecutor Brice Robin refused to give information on Andreas Lubitz's religion, saying: "I don't think it's necessarily what we should be looking for."

But that has not stopped many from counter-arguing that the religion of the pilot, who deliberately crashed the Germanwings Flight 9525 killing all 150 people onboard, is an important cue to investigate the motive of the "mass murderer." » | Johnlee Varghese | Friday, March 27, 2015

Glenn Beck vs. Grover Norquist

Glenn Beck Accuses Grover Norquist of Ties to Islamists

Longtime Republican Party icon Grover Norquist defended himself Thursday on an hourlong television show against accusations by conservatives that he has ties to people who've worked for Muslim Brotherhood front groups. Mr. Norquist, founder of Americans for Tax Reform, refuted the allegations going back more than a decade on Glenn Beck's program on The Blaze TV.…

LAWRENCE FEDEWA: An Impeachable Offense

This is serious business. What no one seems to want to talk about in public is the fact that the negotiations between Iran, the United States and its allies have the potential to lead to a world war. If Iran is seen by Israel to be close to developing a nuclear warhead to go with its…

As ‘Woman in Gold’ Premieres, Meet the Man Who Battled for the Klimt

Gustav Klimt's 1907 'Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer I' (Public domain)

TIMES OF ISRAEL: The real-life lawyer behind the gripping restitution of the ‘Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I’ says he still gets emotional in the painting’s presence

NEW YORK — The Neue Galerie, a mid-sized museum on Fifth Avenue and East 86th Street in Manhattan, gets pretty crowded around lunch. The Café Sabarasky (named for the institution’s co-founder Serge Sabarasky, who opened the Neue in late 2001 with Ronald Lauder) is a hot draw, but the artwork lingers longer than the pastries.

On the second floor of this converted mansion, designed by legendary Gilded Age architects Carrère and Hastings and once owned by Grace Vanderbilt, there hangs the portrait of a woman who died 90 years ago. Her story is still being told.
Adele Bloch-Bauer was part of a prominent Austrian-Jewish family, patrons of the arts whose belongings were plundered by the Nazis. Among the works stolen were two portraits of Adele by Gustav Klimt, commissioned by her husband. The first – with gold leaf applied directly to the canvas – is the more famous. “A painting sold on refrigerator magnets” as Charles Dance’s character, a lawyer skeptical about restituting the work to its rightful owner, reminds us in the new movie “Woman in Gold.”

After World War II, surviving members of the Bloch-Bauer family escaped to the United States. Their artwork remained behind – the “last prisoners of war.” The case of “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” made international headlines (and has been the subject of documentaries) but “Woman in Gold” is the first time it has been dramatized. » | Jordan Hoffman | Thursday, March 26, 2015

Suite Française: Official Trailer (2015)

SUITE FRANÇAISE Official Trailer (2015) starring Sam Riley, Margot Robbie, Michelle Williams, Tom Schilling and directed by Saul Dibb

Yémen : la grande peur de l'Arabie saoudite

LE POINT: Riyad est intervenu au Yémen pour tenter de contenir les appétits de l'Iran qui a désormais des alliés ou affidés partout au Proche-Orient.

La hantise de l'enfermement est souvent facteur d'interventionnisme pour les pays qui se rêvent en puissances régionales. C'est le cas du Pakistan, qui tente depuis longtemps de satelliser l'Afghanistan, de peur qu'il ne tombe dans l'orbite indienne. Ça l'est également de l'Arabie saoudite, engagée depuis plusieurs années dans une lutte d'influence à la fois géopolitique et religieuse avec l'Iran, aujourd'hui motif de son intervention au Yémen.

Ces deux pays ne sont pas seulement les uniques puissances régionales, l'Irak et la Syrie étant livrés au chaos ou à la guerre civile ; ils sont également les porte-étendard des deux grandes subdivisions de l'islam : sunnite pour l'Arabie saoudite, chiite pour l'Iran. Or le vent de l'histoire souffle en ce moment dans le sens du chiisme, pourtant minoritaire dans le monde musulman, et de Téhéran, qui a déjà des obligés à Bagdad, Damas, Beyrouth, d'où la nervosité dont Riyad fait preuve ces derniers temps. » | Par Yves Cornu | jeudi 26 mars 2015

Angela Merkel spricht über die Tragödie des Germanwings-Flugzeugabsturzes (with English Subtitles)

Ex-Muslims: Three Stories of Losing Faith in Islam (Newsnight, November 29, 2013)

For parents who devoutly believe in their faith, a rejection of their religion can be a huge shock. This report spoke to three people who have left Islam - and have faced discrimination and punishment from their families.

Jindal Talks Tough on Islam

MEMPHIS FLYER: “These are terrorists who are beheading and killing … They’re Muslims. They’re not a religious minority.”

One of the problems faced by each of the last two American presidents — George W. Bush and Barack Obama — has been how to discriminate rhetorically between Muslims in general, who constitute 23 percent of the world's population and encompass many countries that the United States is allied with, and the kind of militant Islamic movement that America has been struggling against on a variety of battlefronts since at least September 11, 2001.

Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, a potential presidential candidate and one of several who are likely to appear in Memphis before the GOP nomination is decided in 2016, was in town on Friday to address local Republicans at a closed "Leadership Event" fund-raiser at the Racquet Club.

He told reporters at a preliminary press conference at the Signature Air terminal that the dilemma was less real than it seemed, and, further, that the Obama administration, in particular, was guilty of mincing words in the struggle against radical Islam.

"You've got an administration whose officials, like [Attorney General] Eric Holder, saying things like 'We're not in a type of war.' You've got a State Department saying, 'We're not going to kill our way to victory," said Jindal. "This is nonsense. This is ridiculous. These are terrorists who are beheading and killing. ... They're Muslims. They're not a religious minority. ... The reality is that this is an enemy we must defeat. We must hunt them down and kill them." » | Jackson Baker | Thursday, March 26, 2015

Snub Speculation: White House Can’t ‘Find Time’ to Meet NATO Chief

When NATO's chief scheduled his visit to Washington this week he was hoping for a personal meet-up with the US President. Instead, Jens Stoltenberg had to settle for a chat with the Defense secretary, because the White House reportedly didn't get back to him. RT's Gayane Chichakyan has more from Washington.

Germanwings Crash Raises Security Threat Posed by Insiders

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: At least eight plane crashes in past four decades suspected deliberately caused by pilots or other insiders

Evidence that the co-pilot on the Germanwings flight that crashed in France on Tuesday locked the pilot out of the cockpit is raising fresh concerns about a danger that aviation and security regulators consider among the least controllable: the potential threat posed by insiders.

The pilot of the Germanwings Airbus A320 jet, which crashed in the French Alps with 150 people on board, had left the cockpit just before the plane began its descent, French prosecutors said on Thursday. The pilot was unable to re-enter the cockpit and the plane crashed roughly 10 minutes later. » | Daniel Michaels | Thursday, March 26, 2015

Saudi Leads Ten-nation Sunni Coalition in Bombing Yemen's Shia Rebels

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Reports of 150,000 troops mobilised with American backing as Middle East plunged into open sectarian war

Ten Sunni-led Arab states have joined in air strikes and other military operations against an Iran-linked Shia militia in Yemen, plunging the Middle East into an openly sectarian regional war.

Overnight, Saudi Arabian jets, advised by the United States, bombed positions of the Houthi rebel group which has seized much of western Yemen and driven the Sunni, western-backed President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi into flight.

Reports from the scene said that as well as military positions, one missile hit a civilian area near Sana'a international airport, killing six to eight members of two families. The Houthi-run health ministry said at least 18 civilians were killed and 24 others were wounded.

Britain also said it was supporting the action, citing the Houthis' "disregard for the political process". It was not clear if British forces were participating in any way.

Egypt, Sudan and Jordan confirmed they were supporting the operation and were discussing sending air, navy and ground forces to support their Saudi allies and financial backers.

Al-Arabiya television station, which is close to the Saudi authorities, said that besides the internationally recognised Yemeni government loyal to Mr Hadi, Morocco, Sudan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain had also joined the coalition and sent planes. » | Richard Spencer, Middle East Editor | Thursday, March 26, 2015

Richard III 'Given Dignity Denied in Death' as He Is Laid to Rest

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Fallen king's remains buried in Leicester


The burial of a king began with the words of a Queen.

Her Majesty did not attend the service to reinter one of her most divisive predecessors but her 142-word message to Richard III greeted the congregation as they arrived at Leicester Cathedral.

As tributes went, it was hardly glowing. Her words, printed in the order of service, spoke not of honouring Richard III, but “recognising” a king “who lived through turbulent times”.

But then this was not a funeral. It might have featured the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, a poem composed by the Poet Laureate and members of the royal family, but it was technically a service of reinterment. For the king had already been given a funeral, presided over by Franciscan monks in the days after he died on the battlefield at Bosworth in 1485. » | Tom Rowley, Special Correspondent, in Leicester Cathedral, video from ITN | Thursday, March 26, 2015

IS Stones To Death Man & Woman In Mosul For Adultery

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES: In yet another display of how the Islamic State (IS) implements the Sharia law, a resident of Mosul narrated another recent incident of stoning to death of a man and a woman for adultery. The witness was a clothing store owner whose outlet is near a government building where the incident happens.

Abu Mohammad al-Lahibi, the shop owner, said the woman was in her 20s and married. Lahibi was not sure if the woman was given a fair trial since none was held before the stoning.

The two were handcuffed, while the woman wore a full face veil called niqab. Twelve IS militants stood before the condemned couple and had bags filled with stones. They started to throw stones on the two. On the third stone, the “adulteress” was killed, while the man died after her, recounts Lahibi. » | Vittorio Hernandez | Wednesday, March 25, 2015

ISIS Presents Conversion to Islam of Christian Captured in Syria

THE JERUSALEM POST: Unconvincing ISIS video shows Assyrian captive converting to Islam » | Ariel Cohen | Wednesday, March 25, 2015

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