Friday, May 04, 2007

That violinist is revealing too much!

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Photo of Iran’s foreign minister courtesy of Google Images
YNET NEWS: Islamic republic's foreign minister walks out of dinner of diplomats where he was seated directly across from US secretary of state, saying female violinist entertaining gathering is dressed too revealingly. Rice, Mottaki eventually meet at lunch Friday but exchange only pleasantries

Iran's foreign minister walked out of a dinner of diplomats where he was seated directly across from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, ostensibly because a female violinist entertaining the gathering was dressed too revealingly. Iran: US occupation to blame for bloodshed in Iraq (Read on)

BBC: Iran FM attacks US policy in Iraq

Mark Alexander
Virgin not so virginal as far as Kuwaiti authorities are concerned

KUWAIT TIMES: KUWAIT: The Virgin Megastore at Marina Mall reopened yesterday evening after being shut down last Thursday night by inspectors from the Ministry of Information. One of the inspectors involved in the closure had said the store was found breaching regulations of the Ministry of Information and was not cooperating with them. "They keep selling restricted items like indecent magazines and CDs, and were issued several warnings and reminders in the past, but they repeatedly ignored them," he had said. Virgin reopens after weeklong shutdown (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Thursday, May 03, 2007

What a Wonderless World It Will Be

In the past years, especially in the last ten years, Islam has been furiously putting down roots here in the West. Unfortunately, our leaders and politicians have been too ignorant and craven to stem the tide. As a result, we now learn that Islam has grown so strong here in the United Kingdom so that Shari’ah law is being established in the country in centres of dense Muslim population.

Our leaders’ ignorance of Islam, their greed to attract petrodollars, and the prevailing Zeitgeist, caused namely by the indoctrination of the population at large by the politically-correct and multicultural fanatics, have all made for an inured and rudderless electorate. The people are powerless to do anything about the trend, and the powerful lack the will and determination to do anything about it anyway.

For many, in an increasingly globalized world, the ‘mighty buck’ trumps all principles. In an increasingly secular, Western world, it is greed that trumps all. It’s a case of live for today, become as rich as possible, and damn the consequences.

If this trend continues, and as things stand it is difficult to see any reason why it won’t, then we have a lot of changes to look forward to, and our children and grandchildren are not going to thank us for not reclaiming our own heritage: Our Judeo-Christian heritage.

In view of all this, it is worthwhile taking a peek into the future, in order to see what kind of world we are going to inhabit if Islam really is going to supplant Judeo-Christianity in the West.

One thing is certain: It’s going to be a joyless world. It’s also going to be a benighted world, too. It is for this main reason that I entitled my first book, The Dawning of a New Dark Age.

Most of us are, by now, familiar with many features of Islamic societies. We are all familiar with the barbarous beheadings that take place, officially, in such countries as Saudi Arabia. We are all familiar with the cutting off of limbs for theft, and the stoning of women to death for adultery (though interestingly, rarely, if ever, men).

But there is far more to a life under Islamic, or Shari’ah law, much more to life under Islam. There is no doubt at all that the growth of Islam here in the West will impact on us all, and in many unsuspecting ways.

For a start, Islam breeds benighted thinking; Muslims, in general, are a pretty unenlightened lot: superstitious, and believing of all manner of conspiracies and rumour, and very accepting of the unscientific and unproven.

It is not without reason that Muslims today are in a state of backwardness. They have embraced technology, it’s true; but what contributions have Muslims made to the advancement of the modern world? Where Muslims have indeed made significant contributions, then they have generally made those contributions in a Western environment, having enjoyed a Western education. Many of those that have contributed have left Islam anyway.

It is no co-incidence, either, that few contributions have been made. Scientific advancement requires an open, enquiring mind, not a mind flooded with superstition and flooded in beliefs that are outdated and downright wrong.

So what kind of life will it be? Many things will change. Women will become the objects of men. They will probably be driven back into the home, too. Society will become patriarchal. It will be very much a man’s world.

Women, of course, will be forced to cover up their “charms”. The hijab will be de rigueur for all women after the age of puberty since it will be mandatory. This will lead to prurience in society. Moreover, it will be frowned upon for men to wear bright colours, or solid gold rings and jewellery, or pure silk. There will be pressure on men to keep their hair short, and the wearing of the Islamic beard in the style of the Prophet Muhammad will be encouraged, if not forced upon men. In any case, because the thinking of the day will change significantly, facial hair will become almost a must for men. (Remember: In the Muslim world, a clean-shaven man is considered to be effeminate.)

The drinking of alcoholic beverages will, of course, be outlawed. By drinking it, one will incur the wrath of the morality police or, as they are called in Saudi Arabia, The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. You will almost certainly be subjected to a good lashing for partaking of the Devil's brew. And if you think that such things will never come to pass in a Western country such as the UK or Germany, then think again. How many Christians in pre-Islamic Egypt thought that Islam would oust the then prevailing Christian culture in that country, I wonder? It is worth remembering that each and every country in which Islam has been allowed to gain a foothold, it has eventually supplanted that country’s culture with Islamic culture! There is only one exception to this rule and that was in Moorish Spain. But for the Spaniards to reclaim their country, it took centuries of hostility.

Criminals will suffer the fate of a beheading in the public square. Muslims always like to show the man being decapitated for they feel that this in itself will act as a deterrent for other would be criminals.

Churches in this new world order will be either destroyed or left to go to wrack and ruin. Even to this day in Turkey, the small, minority Christian population there are not allowed to renew and refurbish their churches and nor are they allowed to offer seminary education for their priests. All men wishing to go into the priesthood must be educated abroad. In any case, a Christian in an Islamic country is very much a second-class citizen, and if Islam should ever take over the West, the Christian will be forced to live in dhimmitude.

The eating of pork, of course will be a thing of the past, as will cooking with wines or spirits. So many of our favourite gourmet recipes will simply disappear.

Architecture will change too. The influence of Islam will certainly make its influence felt in this area. But there is something else: The styles of our houses will change greatly. Open plan buildings and houses without high garden walls will not be desired. High walls allow Muslim men to hide their women from public view. They also allow Muslims to do all the things they are disallowed from doing in public, things such as drinking alcohol.

Homophobia will be the order of the day. All Muslims have to be homophobic, because Islam frowns upon homosexuality, and as Islam is so pervasive, it is difficult, if not well-nigh impossible, to express one’s opinions in favour of equality for homosexuals openly. But in reality, there is much homosexual activity in the Islamic world. Certainly no less than there is in the Western world. This double standard is brought about because Islam fosters such a closed, closetted society. Furthermore, it should be noted that because of the strict separation of the sexes, people living in such a world tend become very prurient. Only today in the Saudi Gazette, it has been reported that Saudi men are addicted to pornography on the Web. This is hardly surprising when co-mingling with members of the opposite sex is so difficult in the real world. Western society will also become so inclined when Islam grows ever stronger here.

As I have stated so many times before, Islam and the West are diametrically-opposed to each other in all kinds of ways; indeed, they are two distinct, immiscible, cultures. There is no half way house to be: either Islam wins through, or the free West does. Like any lover of freedom and democracy, I’m hoping for the victory of the latter, but I’m not holding my breath. Given current demographic trends, and given the lack of will and determination to preserve the way of life of the free, anything can happen. We haven’t seen the worst yet. One thing is certain: There will be little joy for the ordinary citizen living under Islam and Shari’ah law; indeed, it will be a ‘wonderless’ world for us all.

©Mark Alexander

All Rights Reserved

Naughty Ahmadinejad accused of acting “contrary to Sharia law”

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Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Iran's president has come under fire from a conservative newspaper after he publicly kissed the hand of a woman who used to be his school teacher. Ahmadinejad accused of indecency (Read on)

Mark Alexander
Sarkozy: The Man for Our Times

Sarkozy is not only a very likeable fellow, but he is one politician in Europe who speaks sense about the question of whether to allow Turkey to accede to the EU. M. Sarkozy is against Turkey’s accession, and he is not afraid of saying so, either. Not only does France need this politician to be elected into the office of the presidency, but the rest of Europe does, too.

Whether or not to allow Turkey into Europe is one of the burning issues of our time. Very few politicians have the insight or the courage tospeak up about it. Nicolas Sarkozy does have that courage, and he is a man of insight, too. Sarkozy has all the right instincts; furthermore, Sarkozy has the right ideas on how to re-invogorate la belle France.

It is to be hoped that this very likeable man will become France’s next president. The French electorate will be doing all Europeans a big favour to vote for Sarkozy.

You might like to watch the following videos, presented to us by Le Figaro. They are snippets of the lengthy televised dual:

VIDEOS: Délinquance, Turquie... Tout les oppose

VIDEOS: A 22 h 55, l'incident sur les handicaps

VIDEOS: L'économie au coeur des passes d'armes

NZZ: Sarkozy geht als Favorit in die Stichwahl in die Stichwahl

©Mark Alexander
Muslime sind “nur zu Gast in einem christlichen und zutiefst demokratischen Land”

"Der Islam sei keine Religion, sondern eine Kriegserklärung an die christliche und andersgläubige Welt" - EDU-Nationalrat Waber

NZZ: SVP und EDU wollen den Bau mittels einer Volksinitiative verhindern

Ein Komitee aus SVP- und EDU-Politikern will in der Schweiz keine Minarette sehen. Deren Bau soll mittels einer Volksinitiative verhindert werden. Die rechtsbürgerlichen Politiker nutzten die Lancierung der Initiative zu einem Rundumschlag gegen den Islam.

Der Bau von Minaretten in der Schweiz soll verboten werden. Mit einer Volksinitiative wollen SVP- und EDU-Politiker den «religiös-politischen Machtanspruch» des Islams zurückweisen. Sie haben am Donnerstag in Bern die Kampagne lanciert. Moscheen ohne Minarette (mehr)

ARAB NEWS: Swiss Challenge Minarets as ‘Islamist’ Threat

Mark Alexander

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Royal greift Sarkozy in TV-Duell an

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Foto dank der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung
NZZ: Präsidentschaftskandidaten in Frankreich streiten vor Millionenpublikum

Beim Fernseh-Duell zur französischen Präsidentschaftswahl hat Ségolène Royal den Konservativen Nicolas Sarkozy wegen dessen Bilanz als langjähriges Mitglied der bürgerlichen Regierung angegriffen.

Royal selbst wolle als Staatschefin ein Frankreich schaffen, «in dem die Aggressivität und die Gewalttaten zurückgehen», sagte die Sozialistin zum Auftakt der mit Spannung erwarteten Live-Diskussion im französischen Fernsehen. Royal greift Sarkozy in TV-Duell an (mehr)

©Mark Alexander
Saudi men are addicted to pornography on the Web; Saudi women, to chatting

SAUDI GAZETTE: Internet addiction has come to the Kingdom, affecting both Saudi men and women, specialists say. Saudi women are primarily addicted to chatting while Saudi men tend to be addicted to pornography sites.

The growing popularity of the internet among Saudis coupled with the decreasing price of Internet connections, more and more psychologists are seeing patients who complain of internet addictions.

"Internet addiction is becoming a big problem," said Ibtihal Abo Baker, a psychotherapist practicing in Riyadh. "People are escaping reality and running away from their pain to an online retreat. They are basically using the internet as a survival mechanism."

While men seem to be finding sexual revelations online, Saudi women are finding an unsheltered world platform where they can enter men's majleses, argue, discuss, vent their inner feeling and chat with anyone from any part of the world and of any sex. Many Saudis find Internet Overly Enticing (Read on) by Suzan Zawawi

Mark Alexander
Muslim radicals establishing Shari’ah law in UK

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Photo courtesy of The Daily Express
DAILY EXPRESS: MUSLIM radicals have established their own draconian court systems in Britain.

Controversial Sharia courts have been set up in major towns and cities to impose Islamic law and enable Muslims to shun the legitimate British legal system.

Last night religious leaders and politicians expressed outrage that Sharia law is gaining an increasing foothold in our society.

Critics insisted that the Govern­ment is allowing a two-tier legal system to flourish in the name of political correctness and that the authority of UK justice is being undermined. Now Muslims get their own laws in Britain (Read on) by Paul Jeeves

Mark Alexander
The Muslims’ fascination with rumours and conspiracy theories

GULF NEWS: The Muslim world seems to be in the grip of all kinds of rumours. The willingness of large numbers of Muslims to believe some outrageous assertions reflects pervasive insecurity coupled with widespread ignorance.

The contemporary Muslim fascination for conspiracy theories limits the capacity for rational discussion of international affairs. For example, a recent poll indicates that only 3 per cent of Pakistanis believe that Al Qaida was responsible for the 9/11 attacks in the US, notwithstanding Osama Bin Laden and his deputies have taken credit for the attacks on more than one occasion.

The acceptance of rumours and the readiness to embrace the notion of a conspiracy does not apply exclusively to the realm of politics. Villagers in rural Nigeria are refusing to administer the polio vaccine to their infant children out of fear that the vaccine will make their offspring sterile.

Some religious leaders in Pakistan's Pashtun tribal areas bordering Afghanis-tan have also voiced concerns about a "Western-Zionist conspiracy" to sterilise the next generation of Muslims as part of what they allege is an "ongoing war against Islam". Reasons for decline of the Muslim world (Read on)

Mark Alexander
A sad end to an illustrious career: Lord John Browne could face charges of perjury

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Photo of Jeff Chevalier courtesy of The Sun
BBC: Former BP chief Lord John Browne may now face charges of perjury amid allegations that he lied to a court about a gay partner, reports say.

Lord Browne quit on Tuesday after the Mail on Sunday won a court battle to print details of his private life.

He also apologised that legal statements he made about a relationship with Jeff Chevalier were "untruthful".

The newspaper said it would be handing its "evidence" against him to the Attorney General for investigation.

The newspaper said it would be handing its "evidence" against him to the Attorney General for investigation.

However, the judge in the High Court case said that he would not be referring the matter as he believed that disclosure in the judgement of Lord Browne's behaviour was "probably sufficient punishment". ’Perjury’ threat for ex-BP boss (Read on)

WATCH BBC VIDEO: BP chief executive resigns

BUSINESS TELEGRAPH (Comment): How Browne's white lie overshadowed a golden career by Tom Stevenson

THE SUN: BP millionaire quits over fibs by Andrew Porter

BBC: Being gay in the world of big business

BBC: Does the UK have a ‘pink plateau’? by Anthony Reuben

Mark Alexander
The UK attracts the super rich

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Super rich drawn to Britain

Mark Alexander
Islamic finance has “bright future”

KUWAIT TIMES: LONDON: Islamic finance, so described because of its adherence to sharia law, has a bright future in a world awash with petrodollars and with growing interest from traditional banks, experts say. According to the American credit agency Standard and Poor's, assets in the sector have grown to $500 billion, driven by growth of more than 10 percent per year for a decade. It is also benefiting from gathering interest in the eyes of the public, as trade and investment between East and West improves.

"Mounting demand around the world for sharia-compliant financial products and services is fuelling the Islamic banking industry's buoyant expansion," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Anouar Hassoune in a report published this week. Sharia-compliant products appeared in their modern form in the mid-1970s with the foundation of the Dubai Islamic Bank, and the Islamic Development Bank, opposed to investments in certain industries and the paying of interest (riba in Arabic). 'Halal' finance attracts scores (Read on)

Mark Alexander
Press freedom on the wane throughout the world

KUWAIT TIMES: NEW YORK: Press freedom around the world deteriorated last year due to coups, attempts to stifle political opposition and regulate use of the Internet, a leading watchdog said in a report yesterday. US-based Freedom House outlined what it said were particularly troubling trends in Asia, the former Soviet Union and Latin America, in a report that warned that democracy as a whole would likely suffer. "Press freedom is like the canary in the coal mine," the group's executive director Jennifer Windsor said in a statement. Press freedom around the world in decline (Read on)

Mark Alexander
’Shot in the Arm’ for Religion on Campuses

NEW YORK TIMES: Peter J. Gomes has been at Harvard University for 37 years, and says he remembers when religious people on campus felt under siege. To be seen as religious often meant being dismissed as not very bright, he said.

No longer. At Harvard these days, said Professor Gomes, the university preacher, “There is probably more active religious life now than there has been in 100 years.”
Across the country, on secular campuses as varied as Colgate University, the University of Wisconsin and the University of California, Berkeley, chaplains, professors and administrators say students are drawn to religion and spirituality with more fervor than at any time they can remember. Matters of Faith Find a New Prominence on Campus (Read on)

Mark Alexander
The Outing of Lord Browne

Lord Browne, chief executive of petroleum giant BP, and one of Britain's most successful businessmen, has resigned after he was exposed as having lied about his private life.

He had been expected to stand down shortly, following shareholder dissatisfaction with his performance and a series of disasters - including an oil spill in Alaska and the tragic Texas refinery fire which resulted in 15 deaths - but what prompted Lord Browne's sudden resignation was the revelation that he lied in court about how he met his former male partner - a lie he has now acknowledged and for which he has apologised.

The way the two men met cannot be revealed, because of a ban imposed by the Court of Appeal in March. Suffice to say that they met in a perfectly legal manner, even though Lord Browne apparently found it embarrassing and did not want it to become public knowledge.

In marked contrast to the vicious homophobia directed against gay public figures in the 1980s, it was not Lord Browne's same-sex relationship that forced him to step down, nor BP's recent tarnished environmental and safety record. It was his dishonesty and his attempted cover-up that forced him out. Down and out in the City

Out in the macho world of oil

Mark Alexander
US Department of Justice might launch formal inquiry into allegations of bribery and corruption by BAE Systems

TIMESONLINE: The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is in talks to establish whether it can launch a formal inquiry into alleged bribery and corruption in BAE Systems, The Times has learnt.

Mike O’Brien, the Solicitor-General, acknowledged that the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has met the DoJ to discuss allegations of corrupt practices by BAE.

The DoJ is understood to be looking into whether it has the jurisdiction to pursue BAE over payments allegedly made to win defence contracts from foreign governments. The British Government terminated a similar investigation by the SFO in December amid fears that it would cause a breakdown in relations with Saudi Arabia.

The SFO has six continuing investigations into BAE, involving contracts won from South Africa, Chile, Romania, Tanzania, Qatar and the Czech Republic. Last week it emerged that an official at the US Embassy in London had complained formally to the British Government over the decision to stop the SFO’s Saudi investigation. US seeks to pursue BAE over claims company paid bribes (Read on) by David Robertson

Mark Alexander
In Deutschland hoffen manche Politiker auf die Verwirklichung eines “deutschen Islams”. Die Deutschen selber dürfen lange Zeit nur hoffen darauf!

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Photo courtesy of Google Images
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Erst ganz allmählich hat sich in der deutschen Politik die Erkenntnis durchgesetzt, dass die meisten der sechs Millionen „Gastarbeiter“, die seit Mitte der fünfziger Jahren ins Land gekommen sind, hier bleiben werden. Die Rückkehr in die geliebte Heimat blieb für viele Einwanderer ein Traum, der zur Wirklichkeit immer weniger passte. Heute trifft man auf dem Kreuzberger Wochenmarkt türkische Mütterchen, die seit vierzig Jahren in Deutschland leben und noch nicht einmal das Wort „Tomate“ kennen. Viele ältere Männer sprechen Deutsch in gestotterten Substantiven. Für etwa 25.000 junge Türken werden in jedem Jahr angeblich unverdorbene Bräute aus dem Heimatland importiert.

Zwei Irrtümer prägten zwanzig Jahre lang die Debatte: Deutschland sei „kein Einwanderungsland“ lautete die konservative Überzeugung. Als Zeichen von Buntheit und Vielfalt (“Multikulti“) interpretierten Linke Integrationsversäumnisse und Wirklichkeitsverweigerung der Einwanderer. Beide Seiten fochten - letztlich ohne nennenswertes Ergebnis - ideologische Streitereien aus. Wirklichkeit überwindet Wunschdenken Von Peter Carstens

Mark Alexander

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

A Gay Story with No ‘Gay’ Ending

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Photo courtesy of Times Online
YAHOO NEWS: BP chief executive Lord Browne has resigned following a court's decision to lift a legal injunction preventing the media reporting details of his relationship with a gay lover.

The firm, which said it accepted Lord Browne's resignation with the "deepest regret", said the chief executive would lose his entitlement to a leaving package worth £3.5m and a potential £12m in shares. BP Chief Resigns Over Gay Lover Story (Read on)

THE TELEGRAPH: Lord Browne resigns after revelations he lied in court about gay lover by Joshua Rozenberg

THE TELEGRAPH: Lord Browne of Madingley's resignation statement

Mark Alexander
The Annulment of Turkey’s Presidency Vote

BBC: The constitutional court in Turkey has annulled last Friday's parliamentary vote to elect a new president.

The only candidate, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, failed to win the required majority after a boycott by secularist opposition parties.

The parties, which accuse Mr Gul of a hidden Islamist agenda, asked the court to rule that there was no quorum.
The government says despite the ruling it will try to achieve a quorum with a new vote on Wednesday. Turkey's presidency vote annulled (Read on)

Mark Alexander
Turkish Police Launch Dramatic Clampdown on Left-Wing Demonstrators

BBC: Nearly 600 people have been arrested in Istanbul as police launched a dramatic clampdown on left-wing demonstrators trying to hold a May Day rally.

Officers fired tear gas and used batons to stop the crowd marching to Taksim Square, where they were due to mark the 30th anniversary of "Bloody May Day". Hundreds detained in Turkey rally (Read on)

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Clashes at Turkey rally

TIMESONLINE: Appeal for calm as markets get jitters over Turkey crisis

Mark Alexander
Nichts Positives im Bericht über Olmerts Rolle im Libanon-Feldzug

NZZ: Ruf nach Rücktritt des Regierungschefs
Israels Regierungschef Olmert reagiert mit bemerkenswerter Sturheit auf den Bericht über seine Rolle im Libanon-Feldzug. Darin gebe es aber kein einziges positives Wort, das sein Verbleiben an der Macht rechtfertige, schreibt die Zeitung Haaretz. Die Rufe nach seinem Rücktritt kommen inzwischen nicht nur aus den Medien sondern auch aus seinem eigenen Kabinett. Olmert in Israel zunehmend auf verlorenem Posten (mehr)

LE FIGARO: Israël : Ehud Olmert poussé vers la sortie

Mark Alexander
”Ni Royal, ni Sarkozy”, dit Le Pen

LE FIGARO: Le leader du Front national a appelé ses électeurs à "s’abstenir massivement" pour le second tour de l'élection présidentielle.

Dans un discours fleuve au cours duquel il a longuement rendu hommage à Jeanne d’Arc, Jean-Marie Le Pen n’a pas donné de consigne de votes pour le second tour de la présidentielle. "J'invite les électeurs qui m'ont fait confiance à n'accorder leur suffrage ni à Mme Royal, ni à M. Sarkozy et à s'abstenir massivement", a-t-il déclaré, place de l’Opéra, à la fin du défilé du 1er mai. Le Pen : "ni Royal, ni Sarkozy" au second tour (encore)

LE MONDE: Jean-Marie Le Pen appelle ses électeurs à "s'abstenir massivement" le 6 mai

Mark Alexander
Saudi Arabia Beheads by the Sword Rapist from Mauritania

KUWAIT TIMES: RIYADH: A Mauritanian convicted of rape and a Saudi convicted of murder were beheaded by the sword in Saudi Arabia yesterday, the interior ministry said. Mohammed Al-Mami Baba Ould Baba, who was found guilty of breaking into three houses and raping an unspecified number of women, was executed in the Muslim holy city of Medina, said a ministry statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. Saudi Arabia beheads rapist and murderer

Mark Alexander
Body Language in the Gulf

KUWAIT TIMES: Body language occupies a dramatic place in the Arab culture since misinterpreting or using a sign that elsewhere means one thing, or even nothing at all, could in Kuwait lead to a faux pas. Body language across the Middle East is distinctly different and diverse, thus it is strongly recommendable to be learnt for the sake of avoiding unintentional insults. Hand Talk: Communicating physically (Read on) by Velina Nacheva

Mark Alexander
Scandal at the Top in Washington

TIMESONLINE: An alleged madam accused of running a prostitution ring for the power elite of Washington vowed yesterday to reveal dozens of high-profile names in what is shaping up to be the biggest sex scandal in the US capital for more than a decade.

Deborah Jeane Palfrey, who handed the telephone numbers of up to 15,000 clients to a US television network last week, said that she would identify as many well-known figures as possible to subpoena them as defence witnesses.

Ms Palfrey’s list of telephone numbers, that weighs in at 46lb (21kg) and has landed like a bombshell in political Washington, has already cost one deputy to Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, his job and thrust another official — the Pentagon adviser who coined the term “shock and awe” — to the heart of the scandal. ’Madam’ threatens to name and shame (Read on)

Mark Alexander
Gun Laws Tightened in Virginia

BBC: Virginia governor Timothy M Kaine has tightened the state's gun laws in response to the killing of 32 people at Virginia Tech earlier this month.

Mr Kaine issued an executive order banning people found to be dangerous and ordered to have involuntary mental health treatment from purchasing guns. Virginia closes firearms loophole (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Monday, April 30, 2007

Whichever way you slice it, Mr Wolfowitz, you are not wanted at ‘The World Bank’

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Photo of Mr Wolfowitz courtesy of Google Images
BBC: World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has said he would not resign in the face of "bogus" charges against him.

In a statement to a panel of World Bank directors, the embattled chief said he was the victim of a "smear campaign".
Mr Wolfowitz was defending himself against accusations that he pushed through a huge pay package for his girlfriend without the Bank's consent.

The committee is due to report to the Bank's board of 24 representatives, who will decide on the president's fate.
Mr Wolfowitz has apologised for his actions, vowing to stay on to complete what he called "important work".

Earlier, US President George W Bush said he believed Mr Wolfowitz "ought to stay" in his job. I will not resign, says Wolfowitz

Mark Alexander
Germany Warms to the US

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Photo courtesy of SpiegelOnline International
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reoriented Germany away from Russia and toward the United States. Expanded economic ties are just one area of renewed cooperation. But could Germany get burned like the British did? Germany Rediscovers the US as a Partner (Read on)

Mark Alexander
New Light Shed on Hitler’s World War I Years

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Hitler's years in the German army during World War I have long been a mystery due to the lack of eyewitness accounts. Now a memoir written by a forgotten German author of fantastic literature has been rediscovered -- and sheds new light on the Führer. Eye-Witness Account of Hitler’s WWI Years Found (Read on)

Mark Alexander
Turkey’s Growing Political Crisis

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The threat of an army coup hangs over Turkey in a dispute about a presidential election that has once again exposed the country's deep divide between secularists and Islamists. Analysts hope the constitutional court will reduce tensions by annulling the vote and prompting fresh parliamentary elections. Alarm Grows over Political Crisis in Turkey (Read on)

Mark Alexander
Is a New Cold War Looming on the Horizon?

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The Russian list of grievances with the West is growing: the planned US missile shield in Eastern Europe, plans for an independent Kosovo, NATO overtures to former Soviet Republics, and now Estonia moving a Soviet war memorial. As president of the EU, Germany is desperately trying to keep the peace between East and West. German Foreign Minister Warns against a New Cold War (Read on)

Mark Alexander
Vladimir Poutine réitéré son hostilité au déploiement d'éléments du bouclier antimissile américain en République tchèque et en Pologne

LE FIGARO: Le président russe a suspendu l'application d'un important traité de désarmement conventionnel en Europe.

VLADIMIR POUTINE l'a dit lui-même hier en prononçant son dernier discours à la nation avant l'élection présidentielle de mars 2008 : ceux qui attendaient un testament auront été déçus. Mais il a été clair : « Le prochain discours à la nation sera fait par un nouveau président. » Il a ainsi répété son intention de respecter la Constitution qui interdit un troisième mandat présidentiel consécutif. Et ce, malgré la multiplication récente d'appels de personnalités à une révision constitutionnelle qui permettrait à leur champion et protecteur de se représenter. Nouvelle charge de Poutine contre l'Occident (encore)

Mark Alexander
Life for Plotters

BBC: Five men have been jailed for life for a UK bomb plot linked to al-Qaeda that could have killed hundreds of people.

Jurors in the year-long Old Bailey trial heard of plans to target a shopping centre, nightclub and the gas network with a giant fertiliser bomb.

The judge, Sir Michael Astill, said the men, all British citizens, had "betrayed their country". Five get life over UK bomb plot (Read on)

Mark Alexander
Crise boursière en Turquie

LE FIGARO: La crise politique opposant laïcs et gouvernement en Turquie se mue ce matin en crise boursière. Le principal indice d'Istanbul perd près de 6%. La monnaie du pays, la Lire, est également en chute libre. La bourse d'Istanbul en chute libre sur fond de crise politique (encore)

Mark Alexander
Die Türkei befindet sich in “Ausnahmezustand”

NZZ: Das türkische Militär droht kaum verhüllt mit einem Putsch. Die Drohgebärde der Generäle und die Mobilisierung Hunderttausender, die auf den Straßen für eine säkulare Türkei demonstrieren, zeigen: Das Land befindet sich faktisch im Ausnahmezustand. Von Günther Nonnenmacher. Ausnahme Zustand in Ankara (mehr) Von Günther Nonnenmacher

Erdogan kündigt Rede an Nation an

Mark Alexander
Wolfowitz Between a Rock and a Hard Place

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Photo of Wolfowitz courtesy of Google Images
TIMESONLINE: Paul Wolfowitz will plead to keep his job as President of the World Bank today before a special investigating committee, which is said to have concluded that he breached ethics by engineering a pay rise for his girlfriend.

The fate of Mr Wolfowitz, who in his former role at the Pentagon was one of the architects of the Iraq war, has opened up a new split between EU countries and the US. Wolfowitz is given time to go quietly (Read on) by Tom Baldwin in Washington

Mark Alexander
Turks Take to Streets to Demonstrate; Stock Market and Lira Hit

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Photo courtesy of TIMESONLINE
TIMESONLINE: Hundreds of thousands of secularist Turks took to the streets for the second time in two weeks yesterday after a dramatic intervention by the military in an attempt to stop Abdullah Gul becoming the first Turkish President with an Islamist past.

Demonstrators in Istanbul carried blood-red national flags and posters of Kemal Atatürk, the founder of a secular Turkey. Banners read: “Sharia (Islamic law) shall not rise to the Presidential Palace.” Protesters and military see red as Islamist heads for presidency (Read on) by Suna Erdem in Istanbul

FINANCIAL TIMES: Turkish court to rule on presidential crisis

Mark Alexander

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Clampdown: Iran Now Bans Western Hairstyles for Men

BBC: Iranian police have warned barbers not to give men western hair styles or use make up on them.

The move is part of an unusually fierce crackdown on what is known locally as bad hijab, or un-Islamic clothing, that this year is also targeting men.

Hair stylists have been warned that they could lose their licenses if they do not comply.

However, police have denied a report that they have ordered barbers not to serve customers wearing ties. Iran ban on 'Western' hairstyles (Read on)

BBC: Tehran dress code: Iranian views

Mark Alexander