Islam No Joking Matter, Malaysian Stand-up Comics Say amid Creeping Conservatism

Comedian Harith Iskander speaking at The Cooler Lumpur
Festival in Kuala Lumpur, June 13, 2015.

MALAY MAIL ONLINE: KUALA LUMPUR, June 14 — Jokes about race, religion and sex often form the magic bag of comedians worldwide but Malaysian comics are giving Islam a wide berth for fear of arrest and even death, as conservatism takes roots in this multicultural nation.

Comedian Jason Leong said he and fellow comics have lampooned Christianity and Buddhism, but not Islam, the predominant religion in Malaysia.

“What is difficult is making jokes about Islam, or as my friend calls it, Muslimism; we don’t wanna get arrested, we don’t wanna die,” Leong told a packed audience at a session titled “Killing Sacred Cows: Comedy in the Age of Offence” at the Cooler Lumpur Festival here yesterday.

Another popular comedian Harith Iskandar, who was also at the session, said topics related to Muslim culture would have to be packaged in layers so as to have safeguards.

“If someone is videotaping it, we could get into serious trouble, regardless of whether I myself am a Malay-Muslim,” he said. » | Boo Su-Lyn | Sunday, June 14, 2015

Gay in Putin's Moscow: Why the City Is Pinker Than You Think

Russian men kiss in Moscow 2012, a year before the 2013
law banning 'gay propaganda'.

THE GUARDIAN: LGBT nights are easy to find and Grindr reaches into the heart of the Kremlin itself. But two years after the law banning ‘homosexual propaganda’, can being gay in the Russian capital really be much fun?

“Moscow is like a small European city in the mid-90s,” says Anton Krasovsky. “Everybody knows everybody. Everybody knows who’s gay, even if nobody’s out.”

Well, not nobody. In 2013, when the Duma was debating a new law outlawing “gay propaganda”, Krasovsky was a beloved Russian TV personality, working for a news channel he’d co-founded called Kontr TV. At the end of a wide-ranging discussion on the proposed legislation, Krasovsky said, on air: “I’m gay. And I’m just as much a human being as President Putin, or Prime Minister Medvedev, or the members of the Duma.” Less than a week later, Krasovsky was no longer working for Kontr TV, the clip was removed from the archives and his face had been scrubbed from the website.

And yet ask him and his friends what it’s like to be gay in Moscow and they shrug. “Moscow attracts gay men from all the villages, so there are more gay people in Moscow than anywhere else in Russia. And they all just want what everyone else wants: somebody to love.” » | Chris Michael, Judith Soal and Maeve Shearlaw in Moscow | Saturday, June 13, 2015

David Cameron Orders Crackdown on Summer Surge of FGM Cases

THE GUARDIAN: PM attacks ‘cruel, barbaric practice’ of female genital mutilation as ministers are told to rush through new powers to seize passports

New laws aimed at preventing young girls being taken abroad to undergo female genital mutilation are to be fast-tracked within weeks, amid fears that the number of cases could soar during the summer holidays.

David Cameron has ordered ministers to rush through measures before schools break up next month.

The measures will enable local authorities, social workers or police to apply directly to courts to ensure that any individual they suspect of trying to take someone abroad for FGM will have to surrender their passport and other travel documents with immediate effect. » | Toby Helm Political editor | Saturday, June 13, 2015

Pop Culture and Royal Weddings Meet: Prince Carl Philip of Sweden & Sofia Hellqvist – Wedding Ceremony

Fury as Schools BAN Muslims from Fasting during Ramadan

DAILY EXPRESS: A GROUP of schools has banned Muslim pupils from fasting during Ramadan due to concerns over their health.

Four primary schools in London, run by the Lion Academy Trust, announced the controversial ban in a letter to parents earlier this week.

Barclay Primary School in Leyton said that pupils have "fainted" and "became ill" after fasting for 18 hours in previous years.

The school added: "We are reliably informed that in Islamic Law, children are not required to fast during Ramadan, only being required to do so when they become adults."

The other schools affected by the ban are Sybourn Primary School in Waltham Forest, Thomas Gamuel Primary School in Walthamstow, and Brook House Primary School in Tottenham.

The move has been slammed by the Muslim community, including the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), which said there are "sufficient and stringent rules within Islam" protecting those who are too young to fast. » | Tom Parfitt | Friday, June 12, 2015

Le roi retire le titre de duchesse à l'infante Cristina

De gauche à droite, le prince Felipe, l'infante Cristina et son
mari Iñaki Urdangarin.

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: La sœur du roi, l'infante Cristina, est accusée de délits fiscaux dans un scandale de corruption impliquant aussi son époux.

Le roi d'Espagne Felipe VI a décidé de retirer le titre de duchesse à sa sœur, l'infante Cristina, a annoncé jeudi le Palais Royal. Cette dernière est accusée de délits fiscaux dans un scandale de corruption impliquant aussi son époux.

«Le Bulletin officiel de l'Etat publiera demain un Décret Royal par lequel Sa Majesté le Roi révoquera l'utilisation du titre de Duchesse de Palma de Majorque par l'Altesse royale, l'infante Cristina», a indiqué le palais dans un communiqué. » | vendredi 12 juin 2015

THE GUARDIAN: Spanish king strips sister of duchess title amid tax evasion scandal: King Felipe VI relieves his sister Princess Cristina of her title, Duchess of Palma » | Agence France-Presse | Thursday, June 11, 2015

Revealed: Hitler in Argentina

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New Film Reveals Hitler Fled to Argentina – Noam Shalev

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Hitler DID Escape Germany in 1945: Staggering New Claims Point to Huge Nazi Cover-up

Hitler and Eva Braun in Germany in 1940

DAILY EXPRESS: ADOLF Hitler did not commit suicide but escaped before his death was faked in a massive cover up by the Nazis, historians have sensationally claimed.

In allegations set to debunk one of the biggest slices of world history, Russia is also accused of hiding vital evidence proving the Fuhrer and his wife Eva Braun fled in disguise.

Two corpses found after the Second World War reported to be those of Hitler and Braun were in fact murdered body doubles.

The claims due to be aired in an explosive television expose tomorrow will blow wide open theories of what happened to the world’s most infamous mass murderers.

The programme claims Hitler did not die at the end of the war and threatens to expose the foundation of post-Second World War history as nothing more than a tissue of “lies”.

Official records hold the brutal dictator, shamed in defeat in April 1945, shot himself in the head in a bunker in Berlin while his wife took a lethal cyanide pill.

But their bodies were swiftly burned with reports confirming their deaths based on what is now claimed to be dubious eyewitness evidence.

Journalist, author and historian Gerrard Williams claims two innocent lookalikes were murdered with the world falling victim to a “duplicitous deception”.

He said: “I believe that in April 1945 the real Hitler along with Eva Braun were spirited out of the bunker where they escaped.

“They did not die, we were lied to, we’re still being lied to.” Read on and comment » | Nathan Rao | Thursday, June 11, 2015

Australia PM Tony Abbott Urges Regional Action against IS

Australia has introduced new national security measures
including criminalising travel to terror hotspots

BBC AMERICA: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has urged Asia Pacific nations to fight jihadist groups, saying Islamic State (IS) has global ambitions.

At a conference in Sydney on countering terrorist propaganda, he said IS was a death cult with far-reaching tentacles.

Australia says more than 100 of its citizens are fighting with militant jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq.

Last year, Australia raised its threat level to high and has conducted a series of counter-terrorism raids.

The two-day regional security summit includes ministers from 25 countries and executives from Google, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites.

"Daesh [IS] is coming, if it can, for every person and for every government with a simple message: 'Submit or die','" Mr Abbott said in his opening remarks. "You can't negotiate with an entity like this, you can only fight it."

"This is not terrorism for a local grievance, this is terrorism with global ambitions." » | Thursday, June 11, 2015

Die Queen besucht Deutschland, den Ort ihrer Wurzeln

Die Queen in ihrer zeremoniellen Kutsche in London

DIE PRESSE: Für die 89Jährige ist der Besuch Ende Juni bereits der fünfte Staatsbesuch in jenem Land, dem viele ihrer Ahnen entstammen. Auf dem Programm stehen unter anderem Berlin, Frankfurt und das KZ Bergen-Belsen.

Die britische Königin Elizabeth II. scheut auch im gesegneten Alter von 89 Jahren keine größere Tour: Von 23. bis 26. Juni wird die Queen Deutschland besuchen, und damit jenes Land, wo im Grunde die Wurzeln ihrer eigenen Familie, des Hauses Windsor, liegen. Für die Queen ist Deutschland tatsächlich auch schon ein ziemlich vertrauter Ort: Neben bereits vier formellen Staatsbesuchen (1965, 1978, 1992 und 2004) und offiziellen Visiten (1987 und 2000) reiste sie mehrmals an, um die britische Rheinarmee zu besuchen:[sic]

Diesmal stehen auf dem Besuchsprogramm unter anderem das Berliner Scholss Bellevue, Amtssitz des deutschen Bundespräsidenten; das Brandenburger Tor; die Paulskirche in Frankfurt, im 19. Jahrhundert Tagungsort der Deutschen Nationalversammlung; und das ehemalige KZ Bergen-Belsen nahe Celle am Niederrhein, wo von 1941 bis 1945 mehr als 70.000 Menschen umkamen.

Elizabeth besucht damit auch ein Land, das sie selbst noch gut als Gegner im Zweiten Weltkrieg in Erinnerung hat. Als die damals 14 Jahre alte Elizabeth sich am 13. Oktober 1940 vor ein Mikrofon der BBC setzte und eine Rede an die Kinder Großbritanniens und des ganzen Empires hielt, machte sie damit Millionen Menschen Mut inmitten des Kriegs. "Gott wird sich um uns kümmern und uns Frieden und Sieg schenken", sagte das junge Mädchen, das nach dem Tod ihres Vaters George VI. 1952 im Juni 1953 zur Königin gekrönt wurde. » | DiePresse.com | Mittwoch, 10. Juni 2015

Obama's Smoking Struggle

THE GURADIAN: Obama photo ignites rumors that the president has rekindled smoking habit: The photo appears to show the president holding a packet of cigarettes during last weekend’s G7 summit. Unless it’s gum. But who steps outside to chew gum? » | Tom McCarthy in New York | Tuesday, June 09, 2015

Secrets of Althorp – The Spencers (Full Documentary)

Althorp, childhood home and final resting place of Princess Diana, is currently the home of Diana’s brother, Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer. Nineteen generations of Spencers have presided over this grand estate for more than 500 years. The Spencer dynasty has produced politicians, military heroes, dukes and duchesses and will one day furnish Britain with a king: Diana’s son, Prince William.

Iranian Refugee Case Could Test Religious Freedom Laws, Experts Say

ABC: A group of Iranian asylum seekers whose claims for protection have been rejected are appealing against the decision in the Federal Court, in what constitutional experts say could test Australia's protection of religious freedom.

The ABC understands the seven asylum seekers have all converted from Islam to Christianity and fear persecution if they return to Iran.

Human rights lawyer David Manne, who heads the Refugee and Immigration Law Society said in Iran, said apostasy - which is defined as the deliberate abandonment of Islam by a Muslim - is punishable by death.

"The evidence is crystal clear that [such] conversions to Christianity can result in serious human rights abuses, including execution," he said.

"Although the criminal code doesn't proscribe apostasy, they draw upon Islamic law to impose it.

"It's considered to be an offence against sharia law, which is punishable by death." » | Stephanie Dalzell | Thursday, May 28, 2015

Cardiff Rapist Who Forced His Victim to Marry Him Is the First Person Jailed under a Forced Marriage Law

WALES ONLINE: The man is the first person in the UK to be prosecuted under forced marriage laws introduced a year ago

A Cardiff man has become the first person in the UK to be prosecuted under forced marriage laws introduced a year ago.

The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was jailed for 16 years after making a 25-year-old woman marry him under duress last year.

Merthyr Crown Court heard the already married man systematically raped his victim for months before threatening to go public with hidden camera footage of her showering unless she became his wife.

'Irrational obsession'

The 34-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, developed an “irrational obsession” with his victim and lured her to his home under the promise of a get-together with friends.

But when she arrived at his home in Cardiff, the woman found the property empty before the curtains were drawn and the front door locked.

A judge then told of how the terrified woman - a devout Muslim - was bound and gagged with scarves before music was played loudly to drown out her cries for help.

But the woman’s ordeal was far from over.

She was shown secret footage of her showering moments after her virginity had been cruelly stolen and her attacker later threatened to make the video public unless she married him. » | Benjamin Wright | Wednesday, June 10, 2015


TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Première condamnation au Royaume-Uni pour un mariage force : Un homme qui avait contraint une jeune femme à l'épouser a été condamné à 16 ans de prison. Une première depuis l'entrée en vigueur de la loi sur les mariages forcés. ¶ Un homme marié de 34 ans a été condamné à seize ans de prison par un tribunal du Pays-de-Galles pour avoir contraint une jeune femme à l'épouser. Il s'agit de la première application de la législation de 2014 contre les unions forcées. ¶ Le condamné est un homme d'affaires gallois, dont l'identité n'a pas été divulguée. Il a aussi plaidé coupable de viols, bigamie et voyeurisme, ont précisé les services du procureur de la couronne (CPS), dans un communiqué. » | ats/Newsnet | mercredi 10 juin 2015

Wo die Regierung fast zu modern für ihr Volk ist

Ein Graffiti in Ljubljana: Das neue Gesetz über die Homo-Ehe
sorgt für Streit in Slowenien

DIE WELT: Das katholische Slowenien hat die modernste Homo-Gesetzgebung Europas. Schwule und Lesben dürfen heiraten und Kinder adoptieren. Die Gegner geben sich nicht geschlagen, sie verlangen ein Referendum.

Das Läuten der Kirchenglocken hallt über den Rathausplatz von Ljubljana. Die Fenster des Bürgermeisters und seiner Angestellten sind offen, aber das Geläut kann sie nicht stören. An diesem Morgen sind die Amtsstuben nämlich verwaist, die Mitarbeiter nehmen gerade geschlossen an einem Workshop teil. Wenn die vier Stunden vorbei sind, dann dürfen sie sich ein Zertifikat an ihre Türen hängen: "Offiziell ein freundlicher Ort für LGBT", steht darauf. Was sie damit sagen wollen, ist, dass Lesben, Schwule, Bisexuelle und Transgender hier willkommen sind.

Das ist keine Selbstverständlichkeit in einem katholischen Land, das an den Balkan grenzt. Im benachbarten Serbien etwa wurde die Parade der Schwulen und Lesben in der Vergangenheit immer wieder wegen angeblicher Sicherheitsbedenken abgesagt, oder sie ging in Krawallen rechts-nationalistischer Gruppen unter.

In Slowenien aber weht ein anderer Wind, auch weil man sich hier historisch schon immer eher an Wien orientierte als an Moskau. "Hier muss niemand fürchten, verprügelt zu werden", sagt Miha Lobnik, ein Aktivist der NGO Legebitra aus Ljubljana, die für die Rechte von Homosexuellen kämpft. » | Von Silke Mülherr , Ljubljana | Dienstag, 09. Juni 2015

Syrian Woman Films Life under ISIS in City of Raqqa

Germany's Oldest Student, 102, Gets PhD Denied by Nazis

BBC AMERICA: A 102-year-old German woman has become the world's oldest person to be awarded a doctorate on Tuesday, almost 80 years after the Nazis prevented her from sitting her final exam.

Ingeborg Rapoport (then Syllm) finished her medical studies in 1937 and wrote her doctoral thesis on diphtheria - a serious problem in Germany at the time.

But because of Nazi oppression she has had to wait almost eight decades before being awarded her PhD.

Her mother was a Jewish pianist.

So, under Adolf Hitler's anti-Semitic race laws, Ingeborg was refused entry to the final oral exam. She had written confirmation from Hamburg University that she would have received her doctorate "if the applicable laws did not prohibit Ms Syllm's admission to the doctoral exam due to her ancestry".

'For the victims'

Now the university has set right that wrong.

Three professors from Hamburg University's medical faculty travelled last month to Ingeborg's sitting room in east Berlin to test her on the work she carried out in pre-war Germany.

They were impressed and a special ceremony took place at Hamburg University Medical Centre on Tuesday, in which she finally received the PhD that the Nazis stole from her. (+ BBC video) » | Damien McGuinness, BBC News, Berlin | Tuesday, June 09, 2015

Inside The Court Of Henry VIII – Documentary 2015

Henry VIII is the most iconic king of English history. Part medieval tyrant, part renaissance prince, he ruled over his people as no king of England had ever done before. He took a country salvaged by his father from the wreck of civil war and set over it a single, sovereign ruler. By the end of his reign the power of the Tudor dynasty was absolute — but at a terrible cost. Personally responsible for the death of two of his own wives, along with many of his closest friends and advisors, he is said to have ordered the execution of up to 72,000 Britons. His reign will go down as one of the bloodiest in history.

Al Hayat TV: Propheten-Medizin aus Datteln, Honig und Kamelurin

Ohne die „islamische Wissenschaft“ würden die Europäer heute noch im Dunkeln tappen, behauptet der verdrossene Herr Islam, der die Dankbarkeit der Menschen im Westen für die wunderbare islamische Kultur und Zivilisation vermisst. Seinen Psychotherapeut Dr. Sam will er von der wirkungsvollen Propheten-Medizin überzeugen. Diese besteht hauptsächlich aus Datteln, Honig und Kamelurin.

HT: Politically Incorrect »