Un prince saoudien s'intéresse à la villa de Berlusconi

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Selon la presse, Silvio Berlusconi en aurait demandé 500 millions d'euros au prince saoudien Mohammed bin Nayef, héritier du trône d'Arabie saoudite.

La famille royale saoudienne pourrait racheter la luxueuse villa de 2.500 m2 de Silvio Berlusconi en Sardaigne, où l'ancien chef du gouvernement italien a reçu chefs d'Etat et demoiselles peu vêtues, selon les médias italiens.

La «villa Certosa» - une trentaine de chambres, un amphithéâtre, un volcan artificiel, sept piscines, une grotte semi-souterraine, des courts de tennis et un parc de 120 hectares composé de plantes et de fleurs rares - est située sur la Costa Smeralda, la partie «chic» de l'île sarde.

C'est dans cet immense domaine que, du temps où il dirigeait le gouvernement italien, le milliardaire recevait Tony Blair, George W. Bush ou Vladimir Poutine. Il y a aussi été photographié en compagnie de jeunes femmes aux seins nus. » | afp/Newsnet | lundi 10 août 2015

CORRIERE DELLA SERA: Saudi Prince Interested in Berlusconi’s Villa Certosa »

CORRIERE DELLA SERA: Berlusconi mostra Villa Certosa E arriva l’offerta del principe saudita: L’ex premier ha mostrato il complesso all’erede al trono di re Salman. La richiesta è di 500 milioni. Mohammed bin Nayaef potrebbe aver trattato per conto del sovrano » | di Alberto Pinna | Venerdì 7 agosto 2015

Le Pen Feud: Jean-Marie in Outspoken Attack on Daughter Marine over Her 'Betrayal'

THE INDEPENDENT: Mr Le Pen says his daughter Marine is 'neither ethically nor politically' qualified to run for the presidency in 2017

The battle for the dark soul of the French far right intensified this weekend with an extraordinary personal attack by Jean-Marie Le Pen on his daughter, his successor as leader of the Front National.

Mr Le Pen – who faces expulsion from the party that he led for almost four decades – said his daughter Marine was “neither ethically nor politically” qualified to run for the presidency in 2017.

The far-right patriarch, 87, said he would refuse to vote for his daughter in two years’ time. He left open the possibility that he might lead a dissident far-right campaign in the south of France in regional elections in December.

Always partial to conspiracy theories, Mr Le Pen suggested that Marine Le Pen’s efforts to clean up the FN over the past four years might be the result of a plot concocted by Nicolas Sarkozy, the centre-right former president. » | John Lichfield | | Paris | Sunday, August 9, 2015

Why Putin’s Anti-gay Crusaders Have a Soft Spot for Polygamy

THE SPECTATOR: The Kremlin is tying itself in ideological knots as it tries to make new friends in the Muslim world

Homosexuality may not be tolerated in today’s Russia, nor political dissent. Polygamy, though, is a different matter. Ever since news broke this summer of a 57-year-old police chief in Chechnya bullying a 17-year-old local girl into becoming his second wife, Russian nationalists and Islamic leaders alike have been lining up to call for a man’s right to take more than one wife.

Most vocal has been Ramzan Kadyrov, the flamboyant 38-year-old president of Chechnya (part of the Russian Federation), who advocates polygamy as part of ‘traditional Muslim culture’. Veteran ultranationalist politician Vladimir Zhironovsky has long held that polygamy is the solution for ‘Russia’s 10 million unmarried women’. And even Senator Yelena Mizulina, one of the architects of Russia’s anti-gay laws, is sympathetic to the idea. ‘There are not enough men, the kind with whom women would want to start a family and have children,’ Mizulina told the Duma, calling a fellow lawmaker’s plans to make polygamy a criminal offence ‘absurd’. Read on and comment » | Owen Matthews | Saturday, August 8, 2015

Germany Deploys Army to Help Deal with Growing Numbers of Refugees

Berlin is being overwhelmed by an influx of refugees... Police there have clashed with those who were let in, but weren't provided with a roof over their heads. RT's Lizzy Phelan reports on the growing refugee issue - which is now even involving the army

«Je suis triste, je ne mérite pas la mort»

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Condamné mercredi dernier, l'ancien premier-ministre de Kadhafi, Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi, évoque ses conditions de détention. Et l’affaire Sarkozy.

C’est un homme amaigri et diminué. Vêtu de la combinaison bleue des prisonniers, Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi, l’ancien premier ministre de Mouamar Kadhafi, a perdu de sa splendeur passée. Nous l’avons rencontré mercredi dernier dans la prison où il est détenu, au lendemain de sa condamnation à mort.

«Je suis triste. Je trouve le verdict trop dur. Je ne mérite pas la peine de mort. Je n’ai pas compris comment le processus judiciaire a fonctionné», explique Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi, qui semble apprécier le fait de pratiquer son anglais. » | De Maryline Dumas Tripoli | dimanche 2 août 2015

BBC Documentary: The Frankinsense Trail

Series in which intrepid presenter Kate Humble follows the ancient frankincense trade route of Arabia across the amazing modern world of the Middle East. Kate's journey along the 2,000-mile trail that first connected the Arab world with the West takes her on a quest that's steeped in history, searing with desert heat, and full of characters and adventure. For 3,000 years before the birth of Christ, frankincense was more valuable than gold. Its sweet smelling aromatic smoke was treasured by Pharaohs and Caesars, and their insatiable demand for frankincense created a trade route from the southern coast of Oman to the Holy Lands. Vast camel caravans carried thousands of tonnes of frankincense over tribal lands - known today as Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and Palestine. Following the trail across these seven nations, Kate finds modernity coexisting with ancient traditions as she discovers what it means to be a Western woman in Arabia.

How Saudi Arabia Exports Radical Islam

THE WEEK: Saudi Arabia has spent billions promoting its extremist version of Islam. What has it wrought? Here's everything you need to know:

Why do the Saudis proselytize?

To combat the spread of Shiite Islam and ensure that the Islamic world is primarily Sunni. In recent years, the ancient Sunni-Shiite conflict in Iraq, Yemen, and throughout the Middle East has grown more overt, bitter, and violent. Now that Iran has agreed to rein in its nuclear program in return for the lifting of international economic sanctions, Riyadh fears a newly enriched Tehran will be more aggressive in spreading its Shiite doctrine and promoting Shiite-led revolutions. A trove of Saudi diplomatic documents covering 2010 to 2015, recently released by WikiLeaks, shows a Saudi obsession with Iranian actions and Iranian influence. Saudi government agencies monitor Iranian cultural and religious activities, and try to muzzle Shiite influence by shutting down or blocking access to Iranian-backed media. Saudi diplomats keep close tabs on Iranian involvement everywhere, from Tajikistan, which has strong historical Persian ties, to China, where the tiny, beleaguered Uighur population — which is Muslim — is growing more religious.

How do the Saudis promote their religious views? By investing heavily in building mosques, madrasas, schools, and Sunni cultural centers across the Muslim world. Indian intelligence says that in India alone, from 2011 to 2013, some 25,000 Saudi clerics arrived bearing more than $250 million to build mosques and universities and hold seminars. "We are talking about thousands and thousands of activist organizations and preachers who are in the Saudi sphere of influence," said Usama Hasan, a researcher in Islamic studies. These institutions and clerics preach the specifically Saudi version of Sunni Islam, the extreme fundamentalist strain known as Wahhabism or Salafism. » | Staff | The Week | Saturday, August 8, 2015

Anjem Choudary Protests Innocence as Charged with Terror Offence

Anjem Choudary arrives at Southwark Police Station, south
London, answering his bail.

THE TELEGRAPH: Preacher Anjem Choudary claims David Cameron and police are the guilty ones as he faces charge of inviting support for Isil

Radical preacher Anjem Choudary launched a 20 minute court monologue protesting his innocence after being charged with a terror offence for the first time.

The controversial cleric said he would be pleading that David Cameron, the police and the courts are the guilty ones after being accused of inviting support for the terror group Isil.

The 48-year-old claimed his arrest and charge was a “political manoeuvre to silence Muslim voices” and insisted he would defend himself in court.

Choudary appeared before Westminster Magistrates along with co-accused Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, 32.

The pair allegedly encouraged Muslims to obey the so-called Islamic State as a caliphate in online messages despite it being a banned terrorist organisation.

It is believed to be the first time Choudary has been charged with a terrorism offence. » | Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | Wednesday, August 5, 2015

“Open your Mouth. Show Attitude” : Anja Reschke

Alzheimer's Caused by Carbs - Confirmed

Confirmed - Recent research reveals the stark truth: Alzheimer's is caused by consuming carbs and processed sugar

White House Warns Chuck Schumer: Disapprove of Iran Deal at Your Own Peril

Senator Schumer had previously defied the Obama administration,
questioning the merit of forcing through the Affordable Care Act.

THE GUARDIAN: Spokesman Josh Earnest calls Democrat’s defiance on nuclear deal ‘not particularly surprising’ and says it may cost him party leadership in Senate

The White House fired a shot across the bows of New York senator Chuck Schumer on Friday for defying its position on Iran, warning that fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill may remember his voting record when deciding who to elect as their next leader.

Though Schumer’s announcement that he would vote in disapproval of the nuclear deal – which leaked mysteriously during the middle of the Republican debate on Thursday – is unlikely to derail the process, it represents an embarrassing rift with a senior Democrat who had once been one of Barack Obama’s staunchest allies.

Schumer is expected to take over as leader of the party’s caucus in the Senate when Harry Reid, currently the minority leader, steps down after the next presidential election. » | Dan Roberts in Washington | Friday, August 7, 2015

Related »

Migrant 'Chaos' on Greek Islands - UN Refugee Agency

BBC AMERICA: The refugee crisis on the Greek islands of Kos, Chios and Lesbos is "total chaos", the UN refugee agency UNHCR says, with inadequate accommodation, water and sanitation.

Around 50,000 people arrived in Greece in July alone, the organisation says.

Greece's leader said the country was unable to cope, and called for EU help.

Separately, Italian police arrested five suspected traffickers over the deaths of about 200 people after a migrant boat sank on Wednesday.

They included two Libyans, two Algerians and a Tunisian, held on suspicion of multiple murder and people trafficking.

Survivors have said that traffickers used knives to slash the heads of African migrants and belts to thrash Arabs to keep them in the hull. (+ BBC videos) » | Friday, August 7, 2015

Temperatures Soar in Cyprus … It’s so Hot That Steering Wheels Are Starting to MELT

EPOCH TIMES: The heatwave in Cyprus has sent temperatures up to 57 degrees Celsius, so hot that steering wheels have started to melt.

People have also been advised in the 134 degree Fahrenheit weather not to leave newspapers or other documents on their car dashboards, for fear that they will burst in flames.

Even higher temperatures–63 Celsius, or 145 Fahrenheit–were reported in Nicosia, the capital of the island.

The U.K. Met Office issued a warning to British travelers in or headed to the region, noting that the heatwave is hitting different parts of the Middle East and Mediterranean. » | Zachary Stieber, Epoch Times | Friday, August 7, 2015

“Call Me Caitlyn,” a Documentary

On her very first day as “Caitlyn,” the transgender Olympic champion, formerly known as Bruce, sits down with Buzz Bissinger. Vanity Fair’s short film reveals behind-the-scenes secrets at the magazine, including an interview with editor Graydon Carter on the making of one of the most historic magazine covers—and groundbreaking stories—of our time.

Israeli Government Should Remove Christian Churches, Radical Jewish Leader Says

THE TELEGRAPH: Head of anti-assimilationist group declares churches have no place in Israel and says he "does not cry" over the death of Palestinian toddler in recent arson attack


Read the Telegraph article here | Robert Tait, Jerusalem, video by Quique Kierszenbaum | Friday, August 7, 2015

Maajid Nawaz: As a Former Extremist Who Knew Anjem Choudary, I Fear for the Mentality of British Muslims

THE INDEPENDENT: Like 33 per cent of British Muslims do, I once supported the idea of a caliphate based upon sharia law. But the debate has now become polarised and poisonous

Anjem Choudary, Britain’s loudest Islamist extremist, has finally been remanded in custody, charged under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The charge is related to him sending messages to his 32,000 followers on Facebook, allegedly encouraging people to join Isis. His guilt or innocence is a matter for the courts. What concerns me here is his trajectory.

I first met Anjem in 1994, when I was 17 years old. We were both students of the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT), which was led in the UK back then by the Syrian firebrand cleric Omar Bakri Muhammad. HT is responsible for first popularising the notion of resurrecting a theocratic caliphate in Muslim-majority countries. At the time, I had been studying at Newham College and was eventually expelled due to my Islamist belligerence. Anjem volunteered as my lawyer, furnishing me with advice on my expulsion.

Later that year, HT organised an international caliphate conference at London’s Wembley Arena, the first and largest of its kind globally. As our fellow HT activists went up and down the country plastering eye-catching bright orange stickers pronouncing The Caliphate - Coming Soon to a Country Near You, Muslims were arriving from all over the world to behold Wembley stadium, packed with 10,000 people cheering in unison for the return of the Caliphate. Those were the days before Isis, even before al-Qaeda, when HT was the most extreme manifestation of this pernicious Islamist ideology in Britain. The British-Muslim scene would never be the same again. » | Maajid Nawaz | Friday, August 7, 2015

Clark Whelton: Playing Dumb About Radical Islam

CITY JOURNAL: Progressives pretend not to understand the motives behind terrorist attacks.

President Obama’s longstanding refusal to say that the U.S. is at war with radical Islam was unaffected by the murder of four Marines and a sailor in Chattanooga. The president described the killer, Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, as “a lone gunman,” while his secretary of defense, Ashton Carter, was apparently mystified by what he termed a “senseless act of violence.” Carter must have been aware of what the press was already reporting, that Abdulazeez had been blogging about radical Islam and showing other signs that his ultimate goal was jihad. Was the SecDef simply playing dumb, or was he following the example of a president who has sidestepped every opportunity to denounce radical Islam by name?

A clue to Obama’s reticence came last February when Homeland Security secretary Jeh Johnson revealed that the president had been asked by Muslim leaders in America to avoid linking Isis with Islam—presumably to prevent a violent Muslim sect from being associated with the religion in whose name it wages war. In April, however, with the al-Qaida massacre of 148 Kenyans who had been targeted for their Christian faith (Obama called it “terrorism”), this dubious excuse lost all credibility. Moreover, Muslim leaders in many countries have denounced radical Islam by name.

The Obama administration was temporizing on radical Islam long before Isis showed up. In 2009, the White House labeled the murder of 13 soldiers at Fort Hood by Nidal Malik Hasan—who shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he pulled the trigger—as “workplace violence.” When Congress asked Hillary Clinton about the attack in Benghazi, which happened on the anniversary of 9/11, the secretary of state played dumb. “Was it because of a protest,” she said, “or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they’d go kill some Americans?” And so, in the shadow of Chattanooga, the question remains: why won’t Obama denounce radical Islam by name? Read on and comment » | Clark Whelton * | Thursday, August 6, 2015

* Clark Whelton was a speechwriter for New York City mayors Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani.

Islamic State Seizes Dozens of Syrian Christians in Homs Province

Militant group seeks to establish stronghold in strategic location outside major city of Homs
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: BEIRUT--Islamic State is holding dozens of Christians in the southeastern Syrian province of Homs, Syrian Orthodox community leaders said Friday, after seizing the town of Qaryatain as part of the militant group’s efforts to establish a stronghold outside the major city of Homs.

The seizing of Christians came as Islamic State entered the town of Qaryatain on Wednesday, after attacking Syrian regime checkpoints by detonating three suicide bombs, according to Islamic State media.

The precise number of Christians rounded up in the raid isn’t clear. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitoring group, says over 230 were kidnapped, among them 60 Christians. Residents of nearby towns said the numbers kidnapped couldn’t be verified, and some of the victims may be staying in their homes under orders of Islamic State.

“We have no communication with them as land lines and mobile lines are being cut off,” said Bishop Philip Barakat, an Episcopal Vicar in Homs city, the capital of Homs province. » | Dana Ballout and Mohammad Nour Al Akraa | Friday, August 7, 2015

Leading US Democrat Speaks Out against US-Iran Deal

Mr Schumer joins a handful of Jewish Democrat Congress
members who are against the deal

BBC AMERICA: Leading US Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer has announced that he is breaking ranks with President Obama by opposing the Iran nuclear deal.

He said there was a very real risk that Iran would use the agreement to pursue what he called its nefarious goals rather than moderate its approach.

Mr Schumer is the first Democratic Party senator to take such a stand.

Correspondents say his move is a serious blow to the president as he urges Congress to back the deal. » | Friday, August 7, 2015

Viewpoint: ‘Root of All Evil? US Intervention, Not Assad’ – Ron Paul University Director to RT

The US State Department blames the Syrian government for the rise of Islamic State. Meanwhile, America carries out bombings in Syria, launching strikes from a base in Turkey. Daniel McAdams, executive director of Ron Paul University shares his perspective