Global Warming?
Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Dozens of ski resorts across the Alps have begun running their lifts after unprecedented levels of snow this month.

Some parts have had the most snow in November since 1956.

Last winter was a bad season for the multi-million pound ski industry and there were real fears that some resorts might go out of business due to a lack of snow.

But the ski industry is now breathing a collective sigh of relief as bookings are picking up for the all-important Christmas period.

Many villages and towns in the Alps rely on skiing for up to 80% of their income.

Last December the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned that some resorts could become unviable due to climate change.

It said resorts under 1,500m (4921ft) should focus on other activities.

Huge snow storm

Last week, though, a massive storm dumped over 1m (3ft 3in) on parts of the Eastern Alps and then it spread west. Early snows boost Alpine ski resorts (more) By James Cove

Mark Alexander

King Juan Carlos’ “Shut Up” Comment to Chávez Becomes Ring Tone Hit
Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: The king of Spain's recent undiplomatic outburst at the Venezuelan president has become a ringtone hit across Spain.

An estimated 500,000 people have downloaded the insult featuring the words "Why don't you shut up?", generating a reported 1.5m euros ($2m).

King Juan Carlos asked Hugo Chavez to "shut up" at a summit in Chile last week after the president said Spain's ex-PM Jose Maria Aznar was a "fascist".

Branded mugs, t-shirts and websites featuring the row are also profitable.

In Venezuela, a group of students who oppose Mr Chavez's government have also been downloading the ringtone, a US newspaper reported.

"It's a form of protest," a 21-year-old student in Caracas told the Miami Herald. "It's something that a lot of people would like to tell the president."

Companies selling the ringtones have avoided legal problems concerning breach of the king's image rights by using an actor to voice the line. 'Shut up' Chavez is ringtone hit (more)

Mark Alexander

Ahmadinejad: The Dollar “Is a Worthless Piece of Paper”
BBC: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has suggested an end to the trading of oil in US dollars, calling the currency "a worthless piece of paper".

The call came at the end of a rare Opec summit, and was opposed by US ally Saudi Arabia.

The Iranian president had wanted to include the attack on the dollar in the summit's closing statement.

The communique made little mention of the dollar, however, focusing instead on energy security and the environment. Iran leader dismisses US currency (more)

BBC:
Dollar continues near record lows

Mark Alexander

Ahmadinedschad macht sich über den Dollar lustig
SPIEGELONLINE: Der Dollar schwächelt. Die Opec-Staaten Iran und Venezuela, nicht gerade Freunde der USA, würden Erdöl daher künftig lieber in anderen Währungen als dem Dollar abrechnen. Irans Präsident Ahmadinedschad sagte, man würde für wertvolles Öl nur noch "wertloses Papier" von den USA bekommen.

Hamburg - "Sie kriegen unser Öl und sie geben uns dafür ein wertloses Stück Papier", sagte Irans Präsident Mahmud Ahmadinedschad am Rande der Opec-Konferenz im saudi-arabischen Riad, wie die "Financial Times" berichtet. Iran und Venezuela drängen die Opec-Staaten, die Abrechnung von Öl in der US-Währung zu beenden und eine andere Währung zu nutzen. Gastgeber Saudi-Arabien weist diese Forderung zurück und will die Währungsfrage nicht zum Thema der Konferenz machen. Ahmadinedschad macht sich über den Dollar lustig (mehr)

Mark Alexander

Pakistan: Imran Khan droht mit Hungerstreik bis zum Tod
WELTONLINE: Der ehemalige Kricket-Star sitzt im Gefängnis und fordert die Wiedereinsetzung der von Präsident Musharraf entlassenen Richter. Der General hatte mehrere hohe Juristen durch ihm loyale Personen ersetzt. Dagegen protestiert Khan – und setzt sein Leben aufs Spiel.

Fünf Tage nach seiner Festnahme im ostpakistanischen Lahore hat der frühere Kricket-Star und jetzige Oppositionspolitiker Imran Khan einen Hungerstreik begonnen. Khans Sprecher Hafizullah Niazi sagte dem Nachrichtensender Aaj nach einem Besuch im Gefängnis, der Oppositionspolitiker fordere die Wiedereinsetzung der von Präsident Pervez Musharraf entlassenen Verfassungsrichter. Andernfalls werde er „bis zum Tode“ keine Nahrung mehr zu sich nehmen. Imran Khan droht mit Hungerstreik bis zum Tod (mehr)

THE TELEGRAPH:
Imran Khan on hunger strike in prison By Richard Holt and Duncan Hooper

Mark Alexander

Saudi Arabia: Rape Victim’s Lawyer Refuses to Give in
Photo of Saudi Lawyer, Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, courtesy of Arab News
ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH, 19 November 2007 — The lawyer representing a Saudi rape victim in Qatif has criticized the second ruling issued by the Kingdom’s Higher Court of Justice doubling the woman’s punishment to 200 lashes and six months in jail, saying that the ruling “sums up the major problems that the Saudi judiciary faces.”

Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, 36, also criticized the General Court in Qatif for confiscating his license to practice law. On Wednesday the Qatif General Court announced the Higher Court of Justice’s verdict. Al-Lahem had previously asked the Ministry of Justice and the Human Rights Commission to review the first ruling issued by the General Court in Qatif, which had ordered the rape victim be given 90 lashes.

“Basic Islamic law states that an appeal shall not harm the person appealing,” said Al-Lahem, adding that lodging an appeal is the right of anyone accused of a crime and something crucial for a just trial. “Once this rule is ignored, then people who appeal verdicts are only left terrorized. From now on people will be apprehensive to appeal fearing they might be punished or have their sentences doubled. That’s exactly what’s happened to the rape victim, who only wanted justice,” he said. Rape Victim’s Lawyer Refuses to Give In (more) By Ebtihal Mubarak

Mark Alexander

Muslims in Antwerp Want a Ban on Christmas Trees and Easter Eggs
Hat tip to Anti Dhimmi 321 for this:

EXPATICA: ANTWERP – "If headscarves are banned for employees who work at the desk at city services in order to guarantee neutrality of services, then we demand that no Christmas trees be set up in city buildings and that no Easter eggs be given out." Antwerp trade union representative Badia Miri said this on Wednesday [back in August] in the Gazet van Antwerpen.

Miri is one of the seven Muslim women who were forced to remove their headscarves if they wanted to continue working at the desk. Three of the seven staff members of the city of Antwerp who wore headscarves agreed to stop wearing one. Different positions - not involving contact with the public - were found for the others. No one was dismissed. There is still opposition to the dress code however, which came into effect in March. The seven Muslim women are now urging that "neutrality of service provision be actually enforced." Muslims want ban on Easter eggs

Mark Alexander

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
Photo of ‘Red Ken’ courtesy of the Daily Mail
Read the full story: Turban-charged Ken defends spending £740,000 of public money on trip to India

Mark Alexander

Arab States Talk of Revaluation
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: GULF states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, could revalue their currencies while maintaining their pegs to the US dollar.

Such a move would probably have the effect of further undermining faith in the flagging greenback and perhaps prompt Asian nations also to consider unhooking their currencies from the dollar.

The Arab states may revalue by an unspecified amount in as soon as a month, a well-placed source - who declined to be identified because the matter was confidential - said on Saturday. No decision had been made on whether to revalue, he said.

The comments came as heads of state of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries began a summit meeting in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Gulf states are facing record inflation, caused partly by the weakening dollar which has made imports from Europe more expensive. Consumer prices rose a record 4.9 per cent in Saudi Arabia in August while inflation in the UAE increased to a record 9.3 per cent last year. Qatar has the highest inflation in the region, reaching 14.8 per cent.

"It makes sense for them to do it," said Jens Nordvig, senior global markets economist at Goldman Sachs in New York. "Given the emerging inflation pressures, there are very good reasons for them to allow currency appreciation." Arab states talk of revaluation (more) By Matthew Brown and Anchalee Worrachate

Mark Alexander

Our Demoralised Forces
THE TELEGRAPH: The head of the Army has warned that years of Government under-funding and overstretch have left troops feeling "devalued, angry and suffering from Iraq fatigue", The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, reveals in a top-level report that the present level of operations is "unsustainable", the Army is "under-manned" and increasing numbers of troops are "disillusioned" with service life.

Gen Dannatt states that the "military covenant is clearly out of kilter", and the chain of command needs to improve standards of pay, accommodation and medical care. Our forces can't carry on like this, says General Sir Richard Dannatt (more) By Sean Rayment

Mark Alexander

Tutu Chides Church Over Stance on Homosexuality
Photo of Archbishop Desmond Tutu courtesy of the BBC
BBC: South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has criticised the Anglican Church and its leadership for its attitudes towards homosexuality.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4, he said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, had failed to demonstrate that God is "welcoming".

He also repeated accusations that the Church was "obsessed" with the issue of gay priests.

He said it should rather be focusing on global problems such as Aids.

"Our world is facing problems - poverty, HIV and Aids - a devastating pandemic, and conflict," said Archbishop Tutu, 76.

"God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another.

"In the face of all of that, our Church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."

Criticising Dr Williams, he said: "Why doesn't he demonstrate a particular attribute of God's which is that God is a welcoming God." Tutu chides Church for gay stance (more)

Mark Alexander

The War to Defend the Free World
THE SPECTATOR - MELANIE PHILLIPS: The government’s position on combating Islamist extremism now ranges from the farcical to the dangerously flawed. First we had the spectacle of the security minister, Admiral Lord West, saying he didn’t see the need for more than 28 days’ detention before charge for terrorism suspects and then, an hour later, being forced to say that he did. I’m sure that makes us all feel a lot more secure. Then there was Gordon Brown’s statement on beefing up security and dealing with Islamist extremism. In a withering commentary in yesterday’s Telegraph, Michael Burleigh pointed out that the sensible things the Prime Minister said were staggeringly overdue and anyway largely filched from the Tories, while there was still an alarming absence of substance and an even more alarming failure to distinguish between Islamist extremism and those trying to draw attention to its dangers:

Mr Brown also intimated that he will be seeking to persuade senior media figures to tone down reporting that allegedly gives rise to ‘Islamophobia’. This is sinister, especially since it will not be accompanied by attempts to inhibit the expressions of hatred or disgust that Muslims direct at Western society. Nor did Mr Brown have anything to say about organisations such as Hizb-ut Tahrir -- which function as sectarian totalitarian parties bent on dominating institutions they manage to infiltrate -- beyond the pathetic assurance that they would not receive grants from local authorities.

‘Hearts and minds’ cuts two ways. It is not just up to us to avoid giving egregious offence to Muslims. There was nothing in Brown's speech about the plans to build a 25,000-capacity mega-mosque near the 2012 Olympic stadium in West Ham, which is intended to serve as a Muslim quarter for athletes and spectators during the Games, in flagrant violation of everythin the Olympic Games represent. And no categorical rebuttal of insidious attempts by Islamists to introduce Sharia courts, thereby sanctioning what would amount to exclaves outside the law.

What seems to be happening is that the government is adopting some sensible policies on beefing up physical security but is going completely wrong over how to combat the ideas driving the terror. Its ‘hearts and minds’ policy – on which the fingerprints of the security service are clearly visible -- appears to be promoting a kind of twin track approach: tough measures against Islamic extremism while encouraging ‘moderate’ Islam. But the first part of this seems ineffectual, while the second seems to be merely another variation on the disastrous existing strategy of trying to buy off Muslim rage by adopting what is actually an Islamist agenda without the violence. It is beyond depressing that the Prime Minister actually praised the

recent remarkable letter by 138 Muslim scholars from a diversity of traditions within Islam, which paid tribute to the common roots of Islam, Christianity and Judaism and called for deeper dialogue. The War to Defend the Free World (more)

Mark Alexander

Ahmadinejad adresse des récriminations à Nicolas Sarkozy
LE FIGARO: Le président de la République a reçu lundi dernier une missive de son homologue iranien.

Dans son édition datée d’aujourd’hui, Le Monde fait état d’une lettre au ton «acrimonieux» adressée par le président iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad à son homologue français Nicolas Sarkozy. Dans cette missive, le président iranien qualifierait, selon le quotidien, le chef de l’État français de «jeune et inexpérimenté» et proférerait des «menaces voilées» à l’adresse de Paris. L’Élysée n’a pas réagi officiellement hier à ces informations. La France prône la mise en place d’autres mesures coercitives par l’Union européenne, outre un durcissement des sanctions contre l’Iran à l’étude à l’ONU. Mais ces deux options apparaissent, l’une comme l’autre, problématiques. Prévue lundi, la réunion des cinq membres permanents du Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU et de l’Allemagne en vue de l’adoption d’un nouveau train de sanctions a été annulée en raison de la défection de la Chine qui a prétexté des problèmes de calendrier. Une décision qui traduit surtout les réticences persistantes de la Chine à alourdir les sanctions contre l’Iran. Ahmadinejad adresse des récriminations à Nicolas Sarkozy (suivant)

Mark Alexander

NHS Doctors Revolt Ant-White Bias
THE SUNDAY TIMES: ONE of Britain’s most eminent consultants has claimed white male doctors are being denied bonuses because of politically correct “reverse discrimination” by the National Health Service.

David Rosin, a former vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons, says female and ethnic minority consultants are being given preferential treatment to meet artificial quotas.

Rosin, also a former president of the Association for Cancer Surgery, failed to get the top “platinum award” award 10 years in a row despite being backed in his application by the royal college and his NHS trust.

He said: “When I asked a previous president [of the Royal College of Surgeons] why I had been unsuccessful, the answer came back immediately: ‘What do you expect? You are not black, you are not female and you have all four limbs.’ ”

Rosin’s comments are likely to provoke a row about whether policies to promote equal opportunities in the NHS have led to positive discrimination. Figures show a dramatic increase in the number of women and ethnic minorities winning merit awards over the past five years. They can add up to £73,000 to a consultant’s annual salary of about £112,000.

Ministers and NHS chiefs have been encouraging more women and ethnic minorities to apply. Supporters say that in the past the vast majority of the extra payments went to an “old boys’ network” of sometimes “mediocre” white male consultants.

However, Rosin, who retired from his NHS post as a senior consultant surgeon at St Mary’s NHS Trust hospital, London, in June, believes it has now tipped into positive discrimination.

“It is time that someone spoke up concerning the reverse discrimination with respect to merit awards,” he wrote in a letter to the magazine Hospital Doctor. “In the politically correct environment in which we live, there is now definitely reverse discrimination.” Doctors’ revolt at anti-white bias (more) By Sarah-Kate Templeton

Mark Alexander

Mormon Smears Turn Republican Race Sour
THE SUNDAY TIMES: THE only Mormon in the 2008 presidential race, Mitt Romney, is coming under attack for his religious beliefs as the battle for the Republican nomination becomes increasingly acrimonious.

Telephone calls to voters accusing the former governor of Massachusetts of subscribing to outlandish beliefs and “flip-flop-ping” on big issues have been made under the guise of polling in Iowa and New Hampshire, crucial early voting states that Romney must win.

These “push-polling” calls drew attention to Romney’s deferment of military service during the Vietnam war while serving as a missionary for the Mormons in France and pointed out that none of his five sons had enlisted in the military.

Callers also claimed the Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints did not consecrate blacks as bishops until the 1970s and believes the Book of Mormon supersedes the Bible. Romney called the attacks “unAmerican”.

Robert Redford, the film star, joined in the Mormon-bashing this month, claiming that church followers were “very adept at not being fazed and speaking fluently and gracefully” because they “learn how to deflect blows and stay on message” when they go on missions “when they are 19 or 20”.

He added: “So when you see Mitt Romney, he’s already been practising how to deflect blows and stay on message. But it’s plastic.”

The race is growing dirtier as the fight for the nomination intensifies between Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, and Romney. Mormon smears turn Republican race sour (more) By Sarah Baxter

Mark Alexander

Erziehungsratgeber für Terroristenmütter
Foto dank der Presse
DIE PRESSE: Die Terrororganisation hat ein Handbuch für Frauen ins Internet gestellt. Es erklärt ihnen, wie sie ihre Kinder zu Märtyrern erziehen können. Mehrere Extremistengruppen rekrutieren ihren Nachwuchs bereits über das Internet.

Das Terrornetzwerk al-Qaida hat ein Handbuch für Frauen ins Internet gestellt. Dem rosafarben gehaltenen Ratgeber ist zu entnehmen, "wie man sein Kind erzieht, damit es sich als 'Märtyrer' für den Jihad opfert", berichtete der Kommunikationswissenschaftler Gabriel Weimann. Die Frauen würden beraten, wie sie ihren Ehemann unterstützen könnten oder was sie tun müssten, um selbst einen Selbstmordanschlag zu verüben. Weimann stellte fest: "Die Mütter sind die neue Zielgruppe." al-Qaida: Erziehungsratgeber für Terroristenmütter (mehr)

Mark Alexander

Islamic Fashion: Fashion for the Sand People?
WELTONLINE: I bring you these images of Islamic fashion courtesy of WeltOnline:


Mark Alexander

A Warning from Chávez
Photo of Chávez and Ahmadinejad courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned oil prices could double if the US attacked Iran, as a key summit of oil exporters opened.

Mr Chavez told the summit of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) the price of crude could reach $150 or even $200 a barrel.

Oil has been hitting record peaks of well over $90 a barrel as markets believe Opec will not boost production.

The Opec summit in Saudi Arabia is only the organisation's third in 47 years.

Saudi moderation

Mr Chavez kicked off the summit with a blistering attack on the US.
"If the United States was mad enough to attack Iran or aggress Venezuela again the price of a barrel of oil could reach $150 or even $200," he said. Chavez warning opens Opec summit (more)

Mark Alexander

Prime Minister Brown’s First Christmas Card
Image courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Prime Minister Gordon Brown's first Christmas card to be sent from Number 10 will feature a drawing of a group of children moving a Christmas tree.

The charity card marks a shift from his predecessor Tony Blair who favoured cards featuring himself and his family. PM picks charity Christmas cards (more)

PM praises Brown's Christmas card

Mark Alexander

Dollars No Longer Acceptable as Payment for Entrance Fee to the Taj Mahal
Photo of the Taj Mahal courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Foreign tourists to many of India's most famous landmarks will no longer be able to pay the entrance fee in dollars, the government says.

The ruling is aimed at safeguarding tourism revenues following the recent falls in the dollar.

Until now, foreign tourists to sites such at the Taj Mahal have had the option of paying in dollars or rupees.

The ruling will affect nearly 120 sites of interest run by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Of these, at least 27 are World Heritage sites, including the Taj Mahal. Dollars no good for the Taj Mahal (more) By Jyotsna Singh

Mark Alexander

Yesterday’s Very Interesting Gathering Storm Radio Show
Listen to WC & Always On Watch’s Interview with Elisabeth of Austria and Fausta
The Gathering Storm Blogspot
Always On Watch

Mark Alexander

Himmelfahrt!
WELTONLINE: Der Islam schaltet in den fünften Gang. Stand die Religion des Friedens bisher vor allem für ungefragte Hochhausabrisse, gottgefälliges Beleidigt-sein und alternative Frauenrechte, setzt sie nun neue Prioritäten. Bald schon soll das erste islamische Auto fahrbereit sein.

Malaysia, der Iran und die Türkei wollen das islamische Auto gemeinsam bauen. Es wird Fächer für den Koran und für Kopftücher haben, außerdem, laut Ahmadinedschad, einen Atommotor, „daran haben wir die ganzen Jahre getüftelt, es sollte eine Überraschung werden.“ Die Türken lassen derweil prüfen, ob es mit der islamischen Verkehrsordnung in Einklang gebracht werden kann, dass das Überfahren von Kurden straffrei bleibt und Malaysia ist eigentlich alles egal, solange „nur mal wieder der Name unseres Landes in der Zeitung steht.“ Erstes islamisches Auto kommt auf den Markt (mehr) Von Gideon Böss

Saudi Lawyer Says Increased Punishment for Saudi Gang-Rape Victim Unjust
Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: A lawyer for a gang-rape victim in Saudi Arabia who was sentenced to 200 lashes and six-months in jail says the punishment contravenes Islamic law.

The woman was initially punished for violating laws on segregation of the sexes - she was in an unrelated man's car at the time of the attack.

When she appealed, judges doubled her sentence, saying she had been trying to use the media to influence them.

Her lawyer has been suspended from the case and faces a disciplinary session.

Abdel Rahman al-Lahem told the BBC Arabic Service that the sentence was in violation of Islamic law:

"My client is the victim of this abhorrent crime. I believe her sentence contravenes the Islamic Sharia law and violates the pertinent international conventions," he said.

"The judicial bodies should have dealt with this girl as the victim rather than the culprit."

The lawyer also said that his client his will appeal against the decision to increase her punishment. Saudi gang rape sentence 'unjust' (more)

Mark Alexander

Ahmadinejad schickt bösen Brief an Sarkozy, in dem es steht er sei “jung und unerfahren”
Foto of Ahmadinejad dank der Welt
WELTONLINE: Der iranische Präsident hat seinen französischen Kollegen davor gewarnt, die europäischen europäischen Länder zu gemeinsamen Sanktionen außerhalb der UN zu bewegen. In dem Brief nannte er Nicolas Sarkozy außerdem „jung und unerfahren".

Der iranische Präsident Mahmud Ahmadinedschad hat dem französischen Präsidenten Nicolas Sarkozy einen bösen Brief geschrieben, in dem er seinen Amtskollegen als „jung und unerfahren“ bezeichnet. Ahmadinedschad protestiere insbesondere gegen das französische Vorhaben, die europäischen Partner zu gemeinsamen Sanktionen außerhalb der UN zu bewegen,Mahmud Ahmadinedschad hat dem französischen Präsidenten Nicolas Sarkozy berichtet die Zeitung „Le Monde.

Der Brief, der bereits am Montag eingetroffen sei, enthalte Drohungen und sei in scharfem Ton geschrieben. Sarkozy hatte Ende August vor einer „katastrophalen Alternative“ gewarnt: “entweder die iranische Bombe oder die Bombardierung Irans“. Außenminister Bernard Kouchner hatte das Wort „Krieg“ benutzt, seine Position später aber wieder abgemildert. Ahmadinedschad schickt bösen Brief nach Paris (mehr)

LE MONDE:
Le président iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad écrit à Nicolas Sarkozy

Mark Alexander

Historischer Christbaumschmuck: Hakenkreuze und Granaten für Weihnachten
Photo dank der Welt
WELTONLINE: Auch die Nazis wollten es sich schön machen: Im niedersächsischen Cloppenburg ist eine Ausstellung mit skurrilem Weihnachtsschmuck zu sehen. Eiserne Kreuze und Handgranaten dienten ebenso als Verzierung. Zu verdanken sind die Fundstücke einer Sammlerin.

Echte Nationalsozialisten verschmähten Weihnachten natürlich. Offiziell musste das christliche Fest "Julfeier" heißen. Aber dennoch wollten stramme Parteigänger nicht auf ordentlichen Baumschmuck verzichten. Da hängte man sich also eine Kugel mit Hakenkreuz an den Tannenzweig.

Diesen und anderen Christbaumschmuck zeigt das Museumsdorf in Cloppenburg vom 18. November an. Dann wird dort unter dem Titel „Von wegen Heilige Nacht!“ eine Sonderausstellung eröffnet. Sie soll dokumentieren, wie politische Propaganda das christliche Fest für seine Zwecke entfremden kann. Hakenkreuze und Granaten für Weihnachten (mehr)

Mark Alexander

In der Türkei, muß Heidi den Shahada genommen haben!
Image dank Google Images
WELTONLINE: Eine türkische Version der Kinderlektüre "Heidi" erzürnt die laizistischen Gruppen im Land. Das Buch wird zwar vom Bildungsministerium ausdrücklich empfohlen. Doch eine Illustration zeigt ein Kopftuch und einen Mantel, der an eine Burka erinnert. Türkische Medien schlagen Alarm.

Für den leseunlustigen Nachwuchs in der Türkei hat das türkische Bildungsministerium, geleitet von Minister Hüseyin Celik von der gemäßigt islamischen Partei AKP, bereits vor zwei Jahren eine offizielle Liste der "100 grundlegenden Werke" veröffentlicht. Die vorgeschlagenen Werke sollen als Leitfaden für Pädagogen und Eltern dienen, die Wahl der richtigen Lektüre für den Nachwuchs zu erleichtern. Auf der Liste ist neben "Alice im Wunderland" und "Pinocchio" unter anderem auch das beliebte Werk "Heidi" der Schweizer Autorin Johanna Spyri in der türkischen Fassung zu finden. Das Werk wird ausdrücklich vom Ministerium empfohlen und ist bereits in den Schulen verteilt. Streit um ein Kopftuch im Kinderbuch "Heidi" (more) Von Suleyman Artiisik

Mark Alexander

Bottom Dollar
TIME: Even a month ago, the global economy seemed poised to weather the U.S. sub-prime crisis with relative aplomb. But, suddenly, something approaching panic has gripped the world's financial community. The headlines are grim. The U.S. housing slump is worsening. Banking giants such as Merrill Lynch and Citigroup are posting record losses. The U.S. dollar is getting pounded by the British pound — and virtually every other currency. Oil has run up as high as $98 per bbl., and gold — the traditional doomsday investment — has topped $800, its highest level since the early 1980s.

But despite the fear, the end is not, in fact, nigh. After an orgy of excesses in the credit and housing markets, a measure of sobriety and restraint may have a useful cleansing effect. That said, tremendous risks remain — not least a mounting threat of a U.S. recession. Surveying this treacherous landscape, Paul Donovan, a global economist at UBS, predicts: "It's going to be very unpleasant but it's not a disaster."

Of course, the "core problem" is the U.S. property market, says Han de Jong, chief economist for ABN Amro in Amsterdam. "In hindsight, the housing market in the U.S. was a bubble." The cause? Superlow interest rates that encouraged lenders to offer loans to virtually anyone, even those with bad credit. Those loans were then bundled together into exotic derivatives and sold off to financial institutions worldwide; when borrowers began to default on their mortgages, money managers from São Paulo to Seoul suffered huge losses. Bottom Dollar (more)

Mark Alexander

US Poll Shows Negative View of Islam Intensifies
WASHINGTON POST: As the war in Iraq grinds into its fourth year, a growing proportion of Americans are expressing unfavorable views of Islam, and a majority now say that Muslims are disproportionately prone to violence, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The poll found that nearly half of Americans -- 46 percent -- have a negative view of Islam, seven percentage points higher than in the tense months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, when Muslims were often targeted for violence. Negative Perception Of Islam Increasing: Poll Numbers in U.S. Higher Than in 2001 By Claudia Deane and Darryl Fears

Mark Alexander

Are the Internationalist Miliband’s Ideas on the Future of Europe Dangerous?
Photo of David Miliband courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Foreign Secretary David Miliband has suggested the European Union should work towards including Russia, Middle Eastern and North African countries.

He said enlargement was "our most powerful tool" for extending stability.

In his first major speech on the UK's relationship with Europe, he said the EU would not become a "superpower" but should be a "role model" for the world.

It could be a "model power of regional co-operation" dedicated to free trade, the environment and tackling extremism.

He said the EU must "keep our promises to Turkey", adding: "If we fail.... it will signal a deep and dangerous divide between east and west.

"Beyond that we must keep the door open, retaining the incentive for change and the prospect of membership provides."

Mr Miliband made his address at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, where Baroness Thatcher delivered her famous warning against "some sort of identikit European personality" almost exactly two decades ago in September 1988. EU 'should expand beyond Europe' (more)

Miliband EU speech in full

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
EU ‘must look beyond Europe’

By contrast:

Baroness Thatcher
First, may I thank you for giving me the opportunity to return to Bruges - and in very different circumstances from my last visit shortly after the Zeebrugge ferry disaster, when Belgian courage and the devotion of your doctors and nurses saved so many British lives.

Second, may I say what a pleasure it is to speak at the College of Europe under the distinguished leadership of its Rector, Professor Lukaszewski. The College plays a vital and increasingly important part in the life of the European Community.

Third, may I also thank you for inviting me to deliver my address in this magnificent hall. What better place to speak of Europe's future than in a building which so gloriously recalls the greatness that Europe had already achieved over 600 years ago?

Your city of Bruges has many other historical associations for us in Britain. Geoffrey Chaucer was a frequent visitor here. And the first book to be printed in the English language was produced here in Bruges by William Caxton.

Mr Chairman, you have invited me to speak on the subject of Britain and Europe. Perhaps I should congratulate you on your courage. If you believe some of the things said and written about my views on Europe, it must seem rather like inviting Genghis Khan to speak on the virtues of peaceful co­existence!

I want to start by disposing of some myths about my country, Britain, and its relationship with Europe. And to do that I must say something about the identity of Europe itself.

Europe is not the creation of the Treaty of Rome. Nor is the European idea the property of any group or institution. We British are as much heirs to the legacy of European culture as any other nation. Our links to the rest of Europe, the continent of Europe, have been the dominant factor in our history. For three hundred years we were part of the Roman Empire and our maps still trace the straight lines of the roads the Romans built. Our ancestors - Celts, Saxons and Danes - came from the continent.

Our nation was - in that favourite Community word ­ "restructured" under Norman and Angevin rule in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

This year we celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of the Glorious Revolution in which the British crown passed to Prince William of Orange and Queen Mary. Visit the great Churches and Cathedrals of Britain, read our literature and listen to our language: all bear witness to the cultural riches which we have drawn from Europe - and other Europeans from us.

We in Britain are rightly proud of the way in which, since Magna Carta in 1215, we have pioneered and developed representative institutions to stand as bastions of freedom. And proud too of the way in which for centuries Britain was a home for people from the rest of Europe who sought sanctuary from tyranny.

But we know that without the European legacy of political ideas we could not have achieved as much as we did. From classical and mediaeval thought we have borrowed that concept of the rule of law which marks out a civilised society from barbarism.

And on that idea of Christendom - for long synonymous with Europe - with its recognition of the unique and spiritual nature of the individual, we still base our belief in personal liberty and other human rights.

Too often the history of Europe is described as a series of interminable wars and quarrels. Yet from our perspective today surely what strikes us most is our common experience. For instance, the story of how Europeans explored and colonised and - yes, without apology -civilised much of the world is an extraordinary tale of talent, skill and courage.

We British have in a special way contributed to Europe. Over the centuries we have fought to prevent Europe from falling under the dominance of a single power. We have fought and we have died for her freedom. Only miles from here in Belgium lie the bodies of 120,000 British soldiers who died in the First World War. Had it not been for that willingness to fight and to die, Europe would have been united long before now-but not in liberty, not in justice. It was British support to resistance movements throughout the last War that helped to keep alive the flame of liberty in so many countries until the day of liberation.

Tomorrow, King Baudouin will attend a service in Brussels to commemorate the many brave Belgians who gave their lives in service with the Royal Air Force - a sacrifice which we shall never forget.

It was from our island fortress that the liberation of Europe itself was mounted. And still today we stand together. Nearly 70,000 British servicemen are stationed on the mainland of Europe.All these things alone are proof of our commitment to Europe's future.

The European Community is one manifestation of that European identity. But it is not the only one. We must never forget that East of the Iron Curtain peoples who once enjoyed a full share of European culture, freedom and identity have been cut off from their roots. We shall always look on Warsaw, Prague and Budapest as great European cities.

Nor should we forget that European values have helped to make the United States of America into the valiant defender of freedom which she has become. [Source: The Bruges Speech in full (more)]

The Bruges Group

Mark Alexander

Giving “Virginity Fixes” on the NHS Is Totally Indefensible
Photo of Muslimatoon courtesy of the Daily Mail
DAILY MAIL: Even by the standards of medical horror stories that have filled our papers of late, it's a tale that beggars belief. According to the latest figures, some 24 women have recently had their virginities "restored", not by some divine miracle or act of magic, but by a surgical procedure paid for by our already hard-pressed National Health Service.

How ridiculous, how dangerous and how indefensible. At a time when cancer and Alzheimer's patients are routinely deprived of drugs, the idea that a single penny of NHS funding is spent on repairing something as fragile, ephemeral and medically useless as a woman's hymen is absurd.

Only where a young woman has been raped or violently sexually assaulted can there even be the slightest justification for the NHS to pay for such a procedure. And yet in 2005-2006, the NHS clearly decided otherwise time and time again.

So who are these women who are seeking to have their virginities restored? According to the figures, they are "immigrants and British women of ethnic origin".

Well, speaking as a British woman of ethnic origin, let me make it clear. The British NHS should simply not be paying for a cosmetic procedure that is unnecessary, demeaning to women and totally at odds with modern British culture.

The report accompanying the figures is too politically correct to identify the religion of the women who have had the operation, but it's my informed guess that most of them - all of them, perhaps - will turn out to be Muslim.

As the daughter of parents who arrived in Britain from Pakistan in the mid-Sixties, I'm a Muslim myself but I'm appalled by the sort of cultural pressures these women must be under to seek such a procedure.

But I'm also angry that the NHS has agreed to carry them out. By paying for and performing such operations, the NHS isn't furthering the integration of the Muslim community into the British way of life; in fact, it's doing quite the opposite.

It's effectively condoning an increasingly fundamentalist Islamic culture that is patriarchal, regressive and increasingly demeaning to women. Surely that has no place in the Britain of today? As a British Muslim I find 'virginity repairs' on the NHS dangerous, demeaning ... and utterly indefensible (more) By Saira Khan

Mark Alexander

Illegal Immigrant Demands to Be Flown Home; British People Are “So Unfriendly and Rude”
DAILY MAIL: An illegal immigrant has demanded to be flown home after saying he was fed up with British people - because they are "rude and unfriendly".

Speaking today, Mokhtar Tabet, 30 - who has been given a home, food and free travel around London - claims his local council has breached his human rights by moving him to a place he does not like.

He was refused asylum in 2004 and is set to be deported.

He said: "The council evicted me from my home in September and moved me to Streatham, which I don't like.

"The new place is small, and the kitchen closes at 9pm, so I can't have anything to eat late at night. They have taken away my human rights."

Croydon Council says it has bent over backwards to help Tabet, who fled Algeria in 2002. Illegal immigrant demands to be flown home because Britons are 'rude and unfriendly' (more)

Mark Alexander