With All Due Respect, Your Highness, If You Become King - Please Put a Royal Sock in It!
MAIL Online: The Prince of Wales's 60th birthday has been greeted with polite applause. Most of the country seems to have forgiven him for the tragedy of Diana, recognising that it is no more sensible to apportion blame for the failure of a royal marriage than for any other.

But one headline sounded alarm bells: 'Charles will speak out as king.'

Beneath those words Jonathan Dimbleby, the Prince's friend and biographer, wrote: 'There are discreet moves afoot to redefine the future role of the sovereign so that it would allow King Charles III to speak out on matters of national and international importance.'

Dimbleby went on to suggest that Charles seeks to fill a role not dissimilar to that of recent Irish or German presidents, politically non-partisan, but still activist.

It is unlikely the author and broadcaster would have floated such an idea without authorisation, indeed encouragement, from the heir to the throne. Yet if this is so, and if the Prince persists with such ambitions, his reign is likely to be one of the shortest on record.

Hereditary monarchy is a bizarre survival. Most nations disposed of their kings and queens, often amid bloody revolutions, during the great international upheavals of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In Britain, most hereditary peers have been expelled from the House of Lords, meaning that the Crown stands isolated as the only constitutional institution in which possession passes from generation to generation, simply in accordance with who happens to be born the son of whom.

In our quirky British way, the arrangement suits us pretty well. Only a small minority of republicans seriously wants to change the system, to risk finding ourselves instead with a president Thatcher or Blair - or for that matter David Beckham or Jamie Oliver.

Yet it seems mistaken thus to assume that our monarchy is so secure that a new incumbent could take liberties at the controls with the erratic enthusiasm which has characterised the Prince of Wales's career.

The Queen's huge success - and such her reign has surely been - is based upon the exercise of lifelong, steely self-discipline. Never once has she allowed herself to express an opinion about any aspect of her people's governance or affairs.

We can guess what she thinks about all sorts of things. She is almost certainly a conservative with a small 'c'. But we do not know this. And how grateful we should be that it is so.

Never has she provided any political or social faction with evidence to claim her as its own. She is Queen of all the British people, because she has given no one cause to think of her as a critic or foe. >>> Max Hastings | November 18, 2008

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Hisbollah ehrt Selbstmordattentäter mit Ausstellung
Foto dank der Welt
Seit den 80er Jahren schickt die libanesische Hisbollah Selbstmordtattentäter in alle Welt. Jetzt feiert sie ihre "Prinzen des Sieges" mit einer Ausstellung. Die Attentäter werden als Märtyrer dargestellt. Mit demTodeskult bezweckt die Schiiten-Miliz vor allem eines: Die Pflege des eigenen Mythos.

Eine Reihe von Porträtfotos zieht sich die Wand entlang. Die Rahmen sind mit bunten Kunstblumen geschmückt. Blasse junge Männer mit ernsten Augen blicken daraus hervor. Das Foto von Ahmad Qassir hängt ganz vorn. Er war 17 Jahre alt, als er am 11. November 1982 in der südlibanesischen Stadt Tyrus ein Auto voller Sprengstoff in das Hauptquartier der israelischen Armee steuerte und damit sich selbst und 76 Soldaten tötete. Es war der erste islamistische Selbstmordanschlag gegen Israel.

Die libanesische Hisbollahbewegung hat nun in Tyrus die Ausstellung „Prinzen des Sieges“ eröffnet, um ihre „Märtyrer“ zu ehren. Die Schiitenmiliz begann in den 80er-Jahren damit, Selbstmordattentate einzusetzen. Ihr werden Anschläge gegen die US-Botschaft, gegen US-Marines und französische Fallschirmjäger im Libanon zur Last gelegt. Auch im Ausland, etwa in Paris oder Buenos Aires, soll die Hisbollah Anschläge – oft gegen jüdische Ziele – verübt haben. Ihr Rückhalt in einem Teil der libanesischen Bevölkerung speist sich aber vor allem daraus, Israels Armee im Libanon in einen zermürbenden Kleinkrieg verwickelt zu haben, der im Jahr 2000 zum Abzug Israels führte.

Eine zierliche junge Frau mit gemustertem Kopftuch schreitet die Bildergalerie ab. Der Saum ihres schwarzen Mantels schleift über den Linoleumfußboden. „Das Märtyrertum ist die edelste Form des Todes. Gemäß unserer Religion gelangt ein Märtyrer direkt in den Himmel“, erklärt die 18-jährige Heba Qassir. Sie ist die Nichte von Ahmad Qassir. Auch die Schülerin selbst würde am liebsten Selbstmordattentäterin werden, doch die Hisbollah setzt keine Frauen ein; Heba Qassir zuckt die Schultern: „Also gehe ich eben studieren.“ >>> Von Gabriela M Keller | 18. November 2008

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Islam to Emerge as the New World Order: Scholar
THE PENINSULA: DOHA: Islam will function as a catalyst in shaping up the future world. It is going to be the ultimate answer to Communism and Capitalism, said prominent Indian Islamic Scholar T K Abdullah

Addressing a public meeting organised by Indian Islamic Association Qatar (IIAQ), Abdullah, a noted orator from the southern Indian State of Kerala said Islam will soon emerge as a major threat to Capitalism.

“Be it against Islam or in favour of it, Islam is the most widely debated issue in the contemporary world; and it is going to be the ultimate answer to the world’s problems. Islam will emerge as new world order blurring the boundaries of East and West”, he said. Quoting prominent Islamic scholars, Abdulla recalled how these visionaries had predicted the collapse of Communism decades before its fall in erstwhile Soviet Russia and East Europe. Now, it is Islam versus Capitalism. The foundation of capitalism has already been shaken. The whole system is struggling for its survival; and in the shaping up of new world order, Islam will certainly play a major role, he said.

T Arifali, Ameer, Jamaate Islami, Kerala wanted the authorities in India to expose the real hands behind the recent series blasts in country.

Khalid Fakhroo, Head of Media and Public Relations, Qatar Charity; Mitab Al Waleed, Director, Guest Center; V T Abdullakkoya, President, Indian Islamic Association, Abdurehman Al Sayed and Abdurehman Purakkadu were among others who spoke. The full-day convention witnessed a huge participation of over 3000 pre-registered delegates in the morning session. [Source: The Pensinsula] | November 15, 2008

Hat tip: Always On Watch, Always On Watch

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Summit Shows Times Have Changed
BBC: The G20 summit in Washington was a striking event first of all for who was there.

Global economic meetings used to mean the G7 and then the G8.

It was a rich-country affair with Russia invited in during in the 1990s - but that was to tackle international political issues, not for the sake of a contribution to the economic discussions.

How times have changed. A global economic problem needed a presence from developing country leaders.

The G20 was already up and running as a forum for finance ministers with the big developing economies as members - China, India, Russia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and others.

And so they came to Washington, as countries hit by the developed world's financial crisis and, in some cases, as countries that might be able to help fix it.

Co-ordinated response

The communique issued after the summit is not on its own going to change the world.

The political machinery of the global economy is not going to be turned upside down, although those big developing countries at the summit are beginning to get a tentative grip on the levers. >>> By Andrew Walker, BBC News, Washington | November 16, 2008

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French 'Virgin' Ruling Reversed
BBC: A French court of appeal has overruled the decision to annul the marriage of two Muslims because the bride had lied about being a virgin.

They are now effectively married again - even though both partners said they accepted the original judgement.

That verdict had caused emotional debate and outrage among some feminists, who said it amounted to a "fatwa" against women's liberty.

But the husband's lawyers said the case had nothing to do with religion.

They argued that the wife had breached the wedding contract, and tricked her husband into marriage.

Under the French civil code, a marriage can be annulled if a spouse has lied about an "essential quality" of the relationship. >>> | November 17, 2008

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Pirates Capture Saudi Oil Tanker
BBC: Pirates have captured a giant Saudi-owned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean off the Kenyan coast.

The tanker was seized 450 nautical miles south-east of the port of Mombasa, a US Navy spokesman said.

Twenty five crew are said to be aboard the Sirius Star, including members from Croatia, the UK, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia.

A Saudi TV report, which the US Navy and the ship's owner did not confirm, says the vessel has since been freed.

The report on the Al Arabyia channel quoted an unnamed "official" Saudi source.

A BBC correspondent in Mombasa reports that this is the third tanker to have been hijacked in the region.

It is also the largest vessel so far to come under attack by pirates in the area, the US Navy told the BBC.

The location is unusual and the capture marks a fundamental shift in tactics, the navy added.

Attacks on shipping off the Horn of Africa and Kenya by pirates, who are mostly Somali, prompted foreign navies to send warships to the area this year. >>> | November 17, 2008

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Immigrants in France Assert Their Own Culture as Their Numbers Increase
Photo courtesy of Google Images
BNP*: North African immigrants in France who were given French names have started to change their names back to Arabic versions in an assertion of their increasing numbers and power in that country.

Requests from immigrants’ children for name changes back into Arabic are mounting in the French courts and worrying a state that lays store on melding a single national culture.

This is a superb example of how immigrant communities do not assimilate but, once their numbers reach large enough amounts, assert their own culture and change the nature of the nation in which they have settled. >>> BNP News | November 15, 2008

*Please note that this posting should NOT be construed as an endorsement of the BNP. This website neither supports any British political party nor is it in any way connected to any of them.

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Barack Obama: US Must Capture or Kill Osama bin Laden
TIMESONLINE: Catching or killing Osama bin Laden will be one of the key targets of Barack Obama's administration as it is "critical" to American national security, the US president-elect confirmed last night.

In his first televised interview since his historic election, Mr Obama made good on his rhetoric from the campaign trail that the hunt for bin Laden would remain top priority for the US.

He told CBS that "it is a top priority for us to stamp out Al-Qaeda once and for all" and that killing or capturing the group’s mastermind Osama bin Laden was "critical" to the US.

"Particularly in light of the problems that we’re having in Afghanistan, which has continued to worsen. We’ve got to shore up those efforts," the President-elect said.

Mr Obama also revealed that he is taking very seriously the threat of a major terrorist attack on America in the next few weeks, after warnings from both sides of the Atlantic that terrorists would step up the activity during the transition period during and after the dying days of the Bush presidency.

"I think it’s important to get a national security team in place because transition periods are potentially times of vulnerability to a terrorist attack. We want to make sure that there is as seamless a transition on national security as possible," he said.

The Bush Administration has been defined largely by the 9/11 attacks, which came within a year of his taking office, and President Bush has repeatedly described the acute vulnerability of the US during a transition. >>> Jenny Booth | November 17, 2008

BBC: Obama 'to Rebuild Moral Stature'

US President-elect Barack Obama has promised to rebuild his country's "moral stature in the world".

In his first television interview since the election, Mr Obama told CBS he would pull troops out of Iraq, shore up Afghanistan, and close Guantanamo Bay.

"I'm going to make sure that we don't torture," he said of the prison camp.

Mr Obama also promised to do "whatever it takes" to stabilise the US economy, including rescuing the struggling auto industry and assisting homeowners.

On Saturday, he said the US was facing "the greatest economic challenge of our time" and urged Congress to help with "at least a down-payment on a rescue plan that will create jobs".

His advisers later said he would support the co-ordinated response to the global financial crisis agreed by the G20 on Saturday. >>> | November 17, 2008

Watch BBC video: Obama ‘will close Guantanamo >>>
LE FIGARO: Obama veut sortir l'Amérique de la crise à tout prix

Invité de l'émission «60 minutes» sur CBS dimanche, le nouveau président américain a souligné l'importance de la lutte contre la récession, quitte à laisser s'aggraver le déficit budgétaire.

Un subtil mélange de questions politiques et personnelles. Voilà comment résumer la première interview télévisée de Barack Obama depuis son élection à la tête des Etats-Unis, le 4 novembre. Escorté de sa femme et future First Lady Michelle, «Mr. président Obama» est apparu dimanche dans l'émission «60 minutes» sur la chaîne CBS, où il a confirmé des promesses de campagne, abordé le sujet brûlant de la crise et distillé des anecdotes sur sa vie familiale.

«J'ai dit plusieurs fois que je voulais fermer Guantanamo, et je vais m'y tenir», a assuré avec vigueur Barack Obama. Cette fermeture et l'arrêt de la torture, a-t-il ajouté, «font partie d'un effort pour permettre à l'Amérique de retrouver son rang sur le plan moral». Le centre de détention de Guantanamo, ouvert en 2002 sur une base navale américaine située à Cuba, retient aujourd'hui 255 détenus sur les 800 qui y sont passés. A plusieurs reprises pendant sa campagne, le prochain président américain avait promis de fermer ce symbole des excès de «la guerre contre le terrorisme» menée par George W. Bush. >>> Ophélie Wallaert (lefigaro.fr) avec agences | 17.11.2008

WIENER ZEITUNG: Obama will Rezession abwenden

Ankurbelung der Wirtschaft wichtiger als Staatsdefizit.

Das Budgetdefizit der USA bereitet dem künftigen Präsidenten Barack Obama keine so große Sorge wie die Gefahr einer Rezession. Letztere müsse unbedingt vermieden werden, während die Verschuldung vorerst keine so hohe Priorität genießen könne, sagte der demokratische Politiker am Sonntag dem Sender CBS in seinem ersten Fernsehinterview seit seinem Wahlsieg. So sei noch nicht genug unternommen worden, um die in Not geratenen Eigenheimbesitzer vor einer Zwangsräumung zu schützen.

Unter den Wirtschaftsexperten beider Parteien im Kongress bilde sich ein Konsens heraus, dass zur Abwendung einer schweren Rezession teure Maßnahmen nötig seien, sagte Obama. "Der Konsens ist, dass wir tun müssen, was immer nötig ist, um diese Wirtschaft wieder zum Laufen zu bringen."

Einige Analysten hatten das Staatsdefizit der USA als Ursache für die derzeitige Finanzkrise bezeichnet. Obama erklärte jedoch, die Amerikaner sollten sich darüber in den kommenden zwei Jahren keine so großen Gedanken machen. Wichtiger sei es, die Wirtschaft zu stabilisieren, das Vertrauen der Verbraucher wiederherzustellen und Arbeitsplätze zu schaffen. >>> Von WZ Online | 17. November 2008

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Russia 'Pinning Hopes on Obama'
Photo of Medvedev courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said he hopes US President-elect Barack Obama will help rebuild the strained relations between their two countries.

In a speech in Washington, Mr Medvedev said that a new US administration might be able to address what he described as a lack of "necessary mutual trust".

He said he wanted to meet Mr Obama soon after he takes office in January.

The Russian leader also indicated that Russia might accept a compromise over a planned US missile shield in Europe.

Two weeks ago, he said Moscow would neutralise the possible deployment by the US of a tracking radar in the Czech Republic and missile interceptors in Poland by stationing short-range missiles in its western enclave of Kaliningrad.

The US insists the shield is incapable of threatening Russia and is designed solely to guard against missile attacks by "rogue states". >>> | November 16, 2008

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Iran Forging Ties to Latin America
HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Bush policy of ignoring region must be reversed

Iran, the ultimate mischief maker with global reach, astounding patience, a shameless marriage to mayhem and terrorism and interests in opposition to those of the United States, is making major diplomatic inroads under Washington's nose.

It's amazing, really. Iran, after all, is regarded by much of the world as an outlaw country. Sanctions are in place on its military-industrial complex, and international loan guarantees are virtually impossible to come by.

The Iranian economy is in tatters. Even while $100-barrel-plus oil was enriching producers in the region, Iran's low-tech, outdated industry was barely profiting. In fact, 6 percent of the country's gasoline is imported.

Nevertheless, over the past year, Iran has worked diligently to expand relations with a host of Latin American countries, many of which have populist leaders who harbor a strong distrust of the United States and are looking for a powerful friend to help them rebuff Washington's influence.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, for instance, has held up his close ties with Iran as an example of what his revolution can do for the region. He has much to show for it, including an Iranian ammunition factory, a car assembly plant, a cement factory and other such examples of Iranian involvement. And just to make sure the U.S. can't interfere (as it has in the past), Iran Air initiated direct air service between Tehran, Damascus and Caracas. >>> By John Kiriakou Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle | November 15, 2008

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New Muslim TV Channel to Be Launched in SA
THE TIMES (South Africa): An international Islamic-focused satellite TV channel that aims to give non-Muslims a better understanding of the faith will be launched in South Africa early next year.

The UK-based Islam Channel, which beams to European, Middle Eastern and north African countries, will be broadcast locally on DStv from February.

With its headquarters in central London, Islam Channel provides alternative news, current affairs and entertainment programming from an Islamic perspective.

Broadcast in English, it first took to the air in 2004. It be available on a basic bouquet in South Africa.

CEO Mohamed Ali said the channel acted as an “interface between Muslims and non-Muslims”.

“We decided to come to South Africa because there is a Muslim community here and we are an English-speaking channel that targets English-speaking nations,” said Ali. >>> Suthentira Govender | November 16, 2008

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Farrakhan Breaks His Silence on Obama in Interview with Al Jazeera
THE DAILY VOICE: After months of silence, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has finally spoken out about Barack Obama's election as president.

In a televised interview with Al Jazeera, Farrakhan said he purposefully stayed away from the campaign and avoided endorsing Obama for fear that any support he expressed might be used against the Illinois senator.

Although Obama renounced Farrakhan's support of him during the primary campaign, Farrakhan said this week that he wasn't bothered by it. "I did not mind," he said, "because I understand the bigger picture."

"I decided that if I wanted to help Barack Obama I needed to be quiet and not be drawn into the controversy," Farrakhan told Al Jazeera, and he blamed Fox News and others for trying to draw him into a controversy with Obama.

Despite his silence during the campaign, Farrakhan lavished praise on the newly elected president. "I believe he can help change America's domestic policy and help America change her foreign policy," Farrakhan said. >>> Staff Reporter | Posted November 15, 2008

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Moroccan Muslims Object to Wine Fair
UPI: CASABLANCA, Morocco -- Muslim scholars in Morocco have raised objections to an international fair for wine producers in the city of Casablanca.

The fair, hosted by the Elbertec group, began Thursday with more than 40 wineries from around the world participating, al-Arabiya reported Friday.

Mohamed Zahl, a founding member of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, said the fair is "a provocation for Muslims and an affront to their religion."

"Morocco is an Islamic fortress targeted by those who want to tamper with the taboos of Muslims," he said. >>> | November 14, 2008

Hat tip: Robert Spencer

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Barack Obama's Election Spurs Race Crimes around the USA
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: A bigoted backlash against President-elect Barack Obama, America's first black leader, threatens to snuff out the post-election glow of racial progress and harmony.

Cross burnings. Schoolchildren chanting "Assassinate Obama." Black figures hung from nooses. Racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars - have highlighted that stubborn racism that remains in America.

Police across the country are logging an upsurge in hate crimes.

From California in the West to Maine in the East, a range of alleged crimes, from vandalism and vague threats to at least one physical attack, have been recorded

There have been "hundreds" of incidents since the election, many more than usual, said Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate crimes.

One was in Snellville, Georgia, where Denene Millner said a boy on the school bus told her 9-year-old daughter the day after the election: "I hope Obama gets assassinated." That night, someone trashed her sister-in-law's front lawn, mangled the Obama lawn signs, and left two pizza boxes filled with human feces outside the front door, Millner said.

She described her emotions as a combination of anger and fear.

"It definitely makes you look a little different at the people who you live with, and makes you wonder what they're capable of and what they're really thinking."

Potosaid he believes there is "a large subset of white people in this country who feel that they are losing everything they know, that the country their forefathers built has somehow been stolen from them."

Change in whatever form does not come easy, and a black president is "the most profound change in the field of race this country has experienced since the Civil War," said William Ferris, senior associate director of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina. "It's shaking the foundations on which the country has existed for centuries." >>> | November 16, 2008

THE SUNDAY TIMES: Conservative Backlash Begins against Barack Obama

Barack Obama's election may have been met with celebrations around the world, but for some Americans his honeymoon is over before he has even taken office.

Disgruntled conservatives are making plans to oppose his every move over the next four years, and - patricularly in some parts of the South - emotions are running high, sometimes spilling over into outright hostility.

Any hope that partisan rancour might ease after Mr Obama's historic election victory have been rapidly dispelled - not least in Georgia, where a bitter new Senate election battle is under way. Elsewhere, wrangles over continuing knife-edge Senate recounts in Minnesota and Alaska have ensured that the divisions in the run-up to the election persist.

Under Georgia law, a senator must win at least 50 per cent of the vote, but a third party candidate prevented Saxby Chambliss, the Republican incumbent, from doing so on election day and forced a run-off vote.

Republicans have begun running advertisements urging voters to back Senator Chambliss in the run-off vote against his Democrat opponent Jim Martin on Dec 2, warning that a Democratic victory could hand Mr Obama a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, giving his party almost unfettered power.

With emotions running high, Republican Congressman Paul Brown denounced Mr Obama as a Marxist, and compared his plans for a national service corps - to help out in natural disasters - to the formation of the Nazi brownshirts.

"That's exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany," he said. "We can't be lulled into complacency... Adolf Hitler was elected in a democratic Germany. I'm not comparing Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler, what I'm saying is there is the potential of going down that road."

Conservative displeasure at the president-elect is not confined to Georgia. A Roman Catholic priest in South Carolina told his parishioners not to seek Holy Communion if they voted for Mr Obama, because supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil" as the President-elect backs abortion rights.

The Rev. Jay Scott Newman of St Mary's Catholic Church, Greenville, sent parishioners a letter telling them that they must first do penance for their vote. >>> By Tim Shipman in Washington | November 16, 2008

THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: White Rage: The Rednecks Out to Kill Obama

"We have changing demographics, and the Census Bureau projection that whites will lose their majority status in America by 2040. We have the tanking economy, and now... a black man in the White House. This makes some Americans feel they are losing their world – the sense that the country their forefathers built is slipping away from them." - Mark Potok, one of America’s leading researchers

When millions watched Barack Obama give his history-making victory speech in Grant Park on election night, one thing stood out starkly – the bulletproof screen surrounding him. But just how serious is the threat of assassination to the President-elect?

Shawn Adolf and his cousin Tharin Gartrell fancied that 28 August, 2008 would be a good day for the next president of the United States to die. They had the guns – Gartrell was later caught with a Ruger Model M77 Mark II bolt-action rifle with an attached scope and bipod, and a Remington Model 721, also with a scope. They were believers in a radical white supremacist ideology that gave them the motivation they needed to risk their own lives, if necessary, to prevent a black man from entering the Oval Office. (Or, as a friend reported Adolf as saying: "No nigger should ever live in the White House.") >>> By Andrew Gumbel | November 16, 2008

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Depuis l'élection d'Obama, les incidents racistes explosent

AUGMENTATION | Les incidents racistes sont en forte hausse aux Etats-Unis depuis l'élection de Barack Obama à la Maison blanche. Observateurs et universitaires mettent en garde contre un «retour de bâton» au sein d'une partie de la communauté blanche.

En Pennsylvanie (est), un couple mixte a découvert une croix brûlée sur son perron. En Californie (sud-ouest), des voitures ont été maculées de croix gammées et de slogans racistes comme «retournez en Afrique». Des mannequins pendus ont été retrouvés sur une île du Maine (nord-est), tandis que dans l'Idaho (nord-ouest), des élèves ont chanté «tuez Obama»: autant d'exemples parmi «des centaines et des centaines» de cas, selon Mark Potok, directeur du «Southern Poverty Law Center» basé dans l'Alabama (sud). >>> AFP | 19.11.2008

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Dubya and Abdullah by Gaslight!
Here we go again! The Prez and the King of Saudi Arabia enjoying a quiet stroll together hand-in-hand. How sweet! Who said we are experiencing a clash of civilizations? Photo courtesy of Die Presse
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Egypt Halts Doctor Visas to Saudi
BBC: The Egyptian government says it has placed a ban on Egyptian doctors going to work in Saudi Arabia in the wake of two medics being sentenced to jail.

Rauf Amin Mohammad al-Arabi, who had worked for the royal family for 20 years, was sentenced to 15 years in jail and 1,500 lashes.

He and Shawky Abd-Rabbu were convicted of prescribing morphine to a princess - who then became a drug addict.

His wife has pleaded for leniency, saying the lashes will kill him.

The Egyptian authorities say the ban on new work permits will not affect doctors already in Saudi Arabia.

Arabi is said to have prescribed morphine to the woman after she sustained injuries in a riding accident.

Some reports claim the princess had already been prescribed the drugs in the US and had specified the medication she wanted, BBC Cairo correspondent Christian Fraser says.

The sister of Abd-Rabbu said her brother was coerced into making false confessions and the Saudi authorities had threatened to imprison his wife who is also working in the kingdom.

Seventy of the lashes were reportedly administered last week, with 70 next week. >>> | November 13, 2008

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Tariq Ramadan: “Islam Is a European Religion”
Tariq, you’re talking rubbish! Islam is NOT a European religion. Islam was born in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. What’s European about that? - ©Mark


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Anglican Church Lacks Leadership, Say Bishops
THE TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury has failed to provide leadership in the Anglican Church's war over homosexuality, according to two of his bishops.

In a speech to conservative evangelicals, who debated proposals for a new "church within a church", the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali said that there has been a lack of discipline.

Traditionalists have been upset that the Episcopal Church escaped punishment despite consecrating Gene Robinson as Anglicanism's first openly gay bishop.

The Bishop of Rochester told clergy that the new movement was equivalent to the Reformation in the sixteenth century, which led to the establishment of the Church of England.

He said that the Church has become too "wishy-washy" and urged evangelicals to stand against the liberal agenda.

"No Church can be effective without discipline," said Dr Nazir-Ali.

"That is what this situation is about. We are warned in the Bible about false teaching and persistent immorality.

"We are living at a time when the Church must be counter-cultural and strong. If we're not clear what we're about we haven't got a hope."

He added: "Whenever the Church has become worldly or faithless, it has been reformed.

"Now we need another movement to keep the Church faithful. I want to keep orthodox Anglicans together."

While the bishop did not name Dr Rowan Williams, delegates at the conference said that his message was a clear criticism on the archbishop's handling of the crisis. >>> By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | November 15, 2008

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Obama Aide Apologises to US-Arabs
Photo of Rahm Emanuel courtesy of the BBC
BBC: President-elect Barack Obama's White House chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel has apologised to the US-Arab community for remarks made by his father.

Benjamin Emanuel told an Israeli newspaper that his son, who is Jewish, would "obviously influence the president to be pro-Israel".

He also referred to Arabs in a way which a leading Arab-American group called an "unacceptable smear".

A spokesman for Rahm Emanuel said he had called the group to apologise.

Mr Emanuel also offered to meet members of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

In the interview last week with the Israeli daily newspaper Ma'ariv, Israeli-born Benjamin Emanuel talked about his son's new job.

Anger at remarks

He said: "Obviously he'll influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn't he? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to be mopping floors at the White House."

His remarks angered the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which called on Rahm Emanuel to condemn them.

On Thursday, his office issued a statement saying that the veteran Democratic congressman had called the group's president, Mary Rose Oakar.

It said that he had "apologised on behalf of his family and offered to meet with representatives of the Arab-American community at an appropriate time in the future".

On its website, the committee quoted Mr Rahm as saying: "From the fullness of my heart, I personally apologise on behalf of my family and me. These are not the values upon which I was raised or those of my family."

Ms Oakar welcomed the apology, saying: "We cannot allow Arabs and Muslims to be portrayed in these unacceptable terms." >>> | November 14, 2008

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Mormons under Siege
THE INDEPENDENT: Gay activists were furious with the Mormons after same-sex unions were banned in California. Now they are venting their anger in the church's spiritual home. Guy Adams reports from Salt Lake City

Sister Sugiyanto's guided teatime tour of Temple Square, the world headquarters of the Mormon Church, was rudely interrupted by the sound of emergency sirens and police helicopters hovering over central Salt Lake City.

A suspicious package containing white powder had been opened by a clerk in the Church Administration Office, prompting FBI agents wearing chemical warfare suits to swiftly evacuate the building. Across town, news was coming in that eight local churches had been vandalised. One, in a family neighbourhood, had obscene graffiti scrawled on its walls. The other seven, in the nearby towns of Layton and Ogden, had windows shot out, apparently with a BB gun.

The brouhaha on Thursday was severely testing the happy demeanour of the sister, a visiting missionary from Indonesia whose informative trips round the Mormon Church's 45-acre HQ culminate in a not-so-subtle attempt to recruit you. "I feel we are being picked on," said Sister Sugiyanto. "We are not the only group that supported this proposition, so why do they only blame us? Last week, thousands came here to protest. It made me sad, more than anything."

The proposition in question is Proposition 8, a ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California that was backed by 52 per cent of voters on 4 November. The "they" refers to gay rights activists upset by the Mormon Church's role in the campaign to push the measure through. Modern morality and religious doctrine have collided in spectacular fashion, and nowhere more so than here in Utah.

To liberal America, the Church of the Latter Day Saints and its 12 million members around the world are suddenly public enemy number one. They stand accused – and, it must be said, it is an accusation they strongly deny – of thinly-veiled homophobia, using their massive financial muscle to help railroad the ballot measure. >>> Guy Adams | November 15, 2008

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Hitler’s Secret World

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Pat Condell: Take Your God and Shove Him

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Web Censorship Not Far Off
THE GUARDIAN: Move to shield children from sex and violence / Labour and Tories want user uploads pre-screened

Politicians are ready to introduce league tables naming and shaming the speed with which internet service providers take down offensive material.

The culture minister, Barbara Follett, and her Tory shadow, Ed Vaizey, have backed the idea that web providers must be embarrassed into dealing with violent, sexually explicit web content.

Follett said she wants to see the pre-screening of material on sites such as YouTube, as occurs at present on MySpace. She admitted there was growing chaos out there on the internet, and order needed to be brought.

She has also admitted barriers aimed at preventing children from accessing over-age material on the internet are not just porous but leak like a sieve. "People can get straight through it, or straight by it."

Follett warned: "We must teach children of the dangers of the internet. It is sad to make children more scared than interested, but fortunately the internet is so interesting that children tend to overcome their fear."

Discussing the internet and video games at a Westminster debate and facing suggestions that the industry is lax about controlling content, Follett said: "We agree information about take-down times and levels of search need to be much clearer."

Asked if she supported league tables of take-down times by internet service providers, she said "name and shame can sometimes can work very well indeed."

Follett said: "Many people have said that the internet is like the wild west in the gold rush and that sooner or later it will be regulated. What we need is for it to be regulated sooner rather than later. Web Providers to Be Named and Shamed over Offensive Content >>> Patrick Wintour, political editor | November 15, 2008

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In die USA darf nur noch, wer sich frühzeitig im Internet registriert
TAGES ANZEIGER: Wer ab dem 12. Januar in die USA fliegen will, muss mindestens 72 Stunden vorher ein Internetformular ausfüllen. Ansonsten darf er das Flugzeug in Kloten nicht besteigen.

Der «Kampf gegen den Terrorismus» führt zu einer weiteren Verschärfung der US-Einreisebestimmungen. Touristen und Geschäftsleute müssen sich künftig mindestens drei Tage vor ihrer Amerikareise online registrieren. Wer dies vergisst, schafft es nicht ins Flugzeug. Die Airlines müssen nämlich vor dem Boarding kontrollieren, ob die Passagiere über eine elektronische «Reisegenehmigung» verfügen.

Davon betroffen sind nicht nur Schweizerinnen und Schweizer, sondern auch Bürger von 26 anderen Staaten, die für Kurzaufenthalte bis zu drei Monaten kein Visum brauchen. Sie müssen auf der Internetseite https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov ihre Personalien, ihre E-Mail-Adresse sowie Daten aus dem Pass angeben. Danach müssen sie Fragen beantworten wie: «Leiden Sie an einer ansteckenden Krankheit?», «Sind Sie drogenabhängig?», «Reisen Sie zum Zweck krimineller oder sittenwidriger Handlungen?», «Sind Sie an Spionage- oder Sabotageakten, an terroristischen Aktivitäten oder an Völkermord beteiligt?» Es handelt sich dabei um dieselben Fragen, die USA-Reisende bisher auf einem grünen Formular im Flugzeug beantworten mussten. Laut der Internetseite dauert das Ausfüllen rund 15 Minuten pro Person. >>> Von Iwan Städler | 15. November 2008

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Barack Obama Is Warned to Beware of a ‘Huge Threat’ from al-Qaeda
TIMESONLINE: Security officials fear a ‘spectacular’ during the transition period

Barack Obama is being given ominous advice from leaders on both sides of the Atlantic to brace himself for an early assault from terrorists.

General Michael Hayden, director of the CIA, this week acknowledged that there were dangers during a presidential transition when new officials were coming in and getting accustomed to the challenges. But he added that no “real or artificial spike” in intercepted transmissions from terror suspects had been detected.

President Bush has repeatedly described the acute vulnerability of the US during a transition. The Bush Administration has been defined largely by the 9/11 attacks, which came within a year of his taking office.

His aides have pointed to al-Qaeda’s first assault on the World Trade Centre, which occurred little more than a month after Bill Clinton became President in 1993. There was an alleged attempt to bomb Glasgow airport in Gordon Brown’s first days in Downing Street and a London nightclub attack was narrowly thwarted.

Lord West of Spithead, the Home Office Security Minister, spoke recently of a “huge threat”, saying: “There is another great plot building up again and we are monitoring this.” >>> Tom Baldwin in Washington and Michael Evans, Defence Editor | November 15, 2008

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Bush Urges Saudi Religious Reforms
AL JAZEERA: George Bush, the US president, has challenged Saudi Arabia to overturn its ban on apostasy - the changing of a person's religion - at a United Nations interfaith conference in New York.

Bush called on the conservative Muslim kingdom to change its attitudes towards the practise that is strictly outlawed in Saudi Arabia and punishable by death.

Bush said his own Christian faith had sustained him throughout many challenges during his presidency.

"We may profess differ [sic] creeds and worship in different places, but our
faith leads us to common values," he said.

However, the outgoing US president was unapologetic about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying that his country was "protecting" Muslims.

"Through the generations, our nation has helped defend the religious liberty of others - from liberating the concentration camps of Europe, to protecting Muslims in places like Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq," Bush said.

The UN has described the two-day conference in New York, which is sponsored by Saudi Arabia, as being designed to bridge differences between religions and cultures. >>> | November 13, 2008

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BNP's Shock Victory in Council Election Sparks Fears of Surge in Votes across Britain
MAIL Online: Fears over rising racial tension mounted last night after the British National Party scored a shock by-election victory.

The extremist party snatched a council seat in the Lincolnshire market town of Boston - where migrants make up a quarter of the population.

Anti-racism campaigners warned that the BNP surprise triumph would fuel 'scaremongering' about foreigners and lead to an increase in 'violence and threats'.

The town has a huge numbers of migrants, especially from Portugal and Poland, who take low-paid work on farms picking flowers, fruit and vegetables and in food processing plants.

Critics have accused the Government of failing to prepare cash-strapped councils for the influx of immigrants by giving them the resources to invest in public services.

This has left schools, health facilities and transport struggling to cope with greater numbers.

The resurgence of the BNP will also spark fears among the main political parties that the radical group could prosper at future by-elections in the run-up to the next General Election.

In a result which revived huge concerns, the far-right party won its first district council seat in Lincolnshire in the Fenside ward of Boston. >>> By Ian Drury | November 14, 2008

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'Economic Benefits of Mass Immigration Are Close to Zero', Lords Told
MAIL Online: The economic benefits from record levels of immigration to Britain are 'small and close to zero', the Lords was told today.

A report by a committee of peers, including two former Chancellors and several former Cabinet ministers, called on ministers to set an 'explicit target range' for immigration and make rules to keep within that limit.

Tory former Cabinet Minister Lord Wakeham said the report by the Economic Affairs Committee, which he chaired, rejected the Government's claim that immigration is needed to prevent labour shortages as 'fundamentally flawed'.

He told peers the Government had said immigrants brought large economic benefits to the UK in boosting economic growth, filling job vacancies that Britons could not or would not do and paying more tax than British-born workers.

But there was no evidence of such benefits, which had been 'wildly overstated' by ministers.

In a debate on the report, Lord Wakeham said: 'The committee found no evidence of these large economic benefits.

'What we did find was serious flaws in the Government's arguments and we concluded that on average the economic benefits of immigration were small and close to zero.'

The report found certain groups in Britain - the low-paid, some ethnic minorities and some young people looking for a foot on the job ladder - may have suffered because of competition from immigrants.

It said ministers should set an 'explicit target range' for immigration and set the rules to keep within that limit.
And it raised the prospect of cutting the number of partners and other family members allowed to settle in Britain because a relative is already here. >>> | November 14, 2008

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Iraq: Queer Fear – Gay Life, Gay Death

Iraq: Queer Fear - Gay Life, Gay Death
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Inside the Mind of Adolf Hitler
Part 1:


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A Short Note to My Visitors
I should like to inform my visitors that I do not agree with, or endorse, everything I place up on this website. It is important to remember this.

These pieces are brought to you because I find them interesting, or controversial, or thought-provoking, etc., and because I believe you will find them so, too.

An editor of a newspaper does not agree with all stories published in his newspaper. Similarly, I do not always agree with all stories published on this blog. To know what an editor thinks on a matter, you have to read his editorials. Likewise, to know what I think on a particular matter, you have to read my essays or comments. Only then will you know what I believe.

I try to keep an open mind on all subjects. That is why my posts are catholic in nature. What I do not want this blog to be is the blog of a bigot. I believe that it is important for us all to keep our minds open, and to close them only when we are absolutely sure of our ground.

The thrust of this website is the danger of Islam to Western civilization; however, I should like my visitors to note that whilst this is the thrust of my website, from time to time you will find many other things which are of interest and importance in the world today. - Mark

La Suisse demande à Israël la fin des destructions de maisons palestiniennes
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: PALESTINE | Le gouvernement suisse a appelé vendredi Israël à cesser les destructions de maisons appartenant à des familles palestiniennes à Jérusalem-Est, qui violent selon lui "le droit international humanitaire".

Le Département fédéral des affaires étrangères (ministère, DFAE) se déclare dans un communiqué "profondément préoccupé" et appelle "le gouvernement israélien à mettre un terme immédiat aux opérations de destruction désignées sous le nom de ’’démolitions administratives’’". "Le droit international humanitaire interdit à la puissance occupante de détruire des biens du territoire occupé. Il n’existe en l’occurrence aucune nécessité militaire pouvant justifier ces destructions de maisons", note-t-il.

"Jérusalem-Est fait partie intégrante du territoire palestinien occupé. En vertu du droit international humanitaire, Israël est tenu de veiller à la protection de la population", souligne le DFAE. "Depuis l’an 2000, plus de 600 maisons ont été démolies à Jérusalem-Est et plus de 1 600 dans l’ensemble de la Cisjordanie", déplore le ministère, qui ajoute avoir entrepris jeudi "une démarche" auprès du ministère israélien des Affaires étrangères au sujet de ces destructions. >>> AFP | 14.11.2008

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la Suiss

Österreich: Ex-Bischöfin tritt wegen Haider aus Kirche aus
Foto von österreichischer Theologin Gertraud Knoll dank der Sueddeutsche
SUEDDEUTSCHE: Die österreichische Theologin Gertraud Knoll hat die evangelische Kirche verlassen - wegen eines salbungsvollen Hirtenbriefs zum Tode Jörg Haiders.

Gertraud Knoll ist dafür bekannt, konsequent die eigene Linie zu verfolgen. Die evangelische Pastorin, die lange Superintendentin im österreichischen Burgenland war, ist Anfeindungen gewohnt.

Stimmproben bei der Polizei

Ihr Engagement gegen Fremdenfeindlichkeit und Antisemitismus hatte ihr genügend Feinde gemacht. Nachdem sie im Jahr 1995 am Grab von vier bei einem Rohrbomben-Anschlag getöteten Roma gepredigt hatte, erhielt sie Polizeischutz. Ihre drei Kinder konnten nicht mehr unbegleitet in die Schule gehen, deren Stimmproben lagen wegen Entführungsgefahr bei der Polizei.

Neben dem braunen Terror gab es damals auch aus dem Umfeld von Jörg Haiders FPÖ Widerstand und Agitation gegen die Theologin - denn Knoll engagiert sich seit langem für die SPÖ. Das Magazin News warf der FPÖ-Parteizentrale angesichts der Drohungen gegen Knoll im Jahr 2000 vor, "dieser schamlosen Menschenjagd" genüsslich zuzusehen.

In der Kirche hatte Knoll zuletzt keine Funktionen mehr. 1998 kandidierte sie für das Bundespräsidentenamt und erreichte den zweiten Platz. 2002 holte Alfred Gusenbauer sie in die Politik, bis zur letzten Nationalratswahl saß sie im Parlament.

Zweifellos ist die Österreicherin eine bekannte Figur. Ihr Austritt aus der Kirche, der am Donnerstag bekannt wurde, hat denn auch Signalwirkung. Die Ursache für ihren Schritt liegt bereits einige Wochen zurück. Nachdem Jörg Haider betrunken in den Tod gerast war, verfasste der Kärntner Superintendent Manfred Sauer einen Nachruf auf die Galionsfigur der rechtsextremistischen FPÖ und später seiner Neugründung BZÖ. >>> Von Nina Jauker | 14. November 2008

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Steve Bell: 'If I Were Chuck ... '
Watch Guardian video: Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell describes how he cracked drawing Prince Charles, and offers some advice to the heir to throne now that he is 60 >>> Steve Bell and John Domokos | November 13, 2008
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CIA Says Osama bin Laden Cut Off from al-Qaeda
TIMESONLINE: The head of the CIA has claimed that almost all terrorist threats facing the US now originate in lawless Pakistani tribal areas, adding that Osama bin Laden is becoming increasingly isolated from the day-to-day running of al-Qaeda.

As 12 people were killed by another suspected cross-border American raid targeting Pakistan-based militants, Michael Hayden, the CIA director, told a Washington think tank last night that terror threats against America could invariably be traced back to the Pakistani tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

Hours after he spoke, another suspected US missile attack killed 12 people in Pakistan, including five foreigners. US missile strikes are hugely controversial in Pakistan, with Islamabad claiming they fuel anti-American extremist groups.

“Let me be very clear,” he said. “Today, virtually every major terrorist threat that my agency is aware of has threads back to the tribal areas. Whether it’s command and control, training, direction, money, capabilities, there is a connection to the FATA [Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas].” >>> Nico Hines | November 14, 2008

leJDD.fr: Pakistan: L'excuse Ben Laden

Oussama Ben Laden est "vivant", caché dans les zones tribales entre l'Afghanistan et le Pakistan. C'est Michael Hayden, directeur de la CIA, qui a annoncé jeudi soir la nouvelle, justifiant ainsi les attaques répétées de ses drones sur le sol pakistanais. A Islamabad, le ton monte: Asif Ali Zardari, le président en place depuis huit mois, dénonce les coups de force de l'armée américaine.

La CIA fait durer le feuilleton Oussama Ben Laden. En rappelant la nécessité de l'action américaine en Afghanistan et aux frontières pakistanaises, le directeur de l'agence de renseignement, Michael Hayden, a affirmé jeudi soir que le leader d'Al-Qaïda "est toujours en vie": "Il consacre énormément d'énergie à sa propre survie, beaucoup d'énergie à sa propre sécurité. En fait, il semble être largement isolé des opérations au jour le jour de l'organisation qu'il dirige nommément." Autrement dit, le terroriste s'est retiré des affaires et tente de vivre clandestinement dans les régions tribales situées dans la zone frontière entre le Pakistan et l'Afghanistan. >>> Par Gaël VAILLANT | Vendredi 14 Novembre 2008

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Prince Charles to Be Known as Defender of Faith
Photo of the ‘Defender of Faith’ courtesy of The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: The Prince of Wales, who is 60 today, is planning a symbolic change when he becomes King by taking the title Defender of Faith to reflect Britain's multicultural society.

The move would mean the monarch, as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, would no longer be known as Defender of the Faith for the first time since the reign of Henry VIII.

The Prince caused controversy within the Anglican church when he floated the idea several years ago of becoming Defender of the Faiths in an attempt to embrace the other religions in Britain.

In a compromise he has now opted for Defender of Faith which he hopes will unite the different strands of society, and their beliefs, at his Coronation.

However, there would be huge obstacles to overcome before the Prince can fulfil his wish which he has discussed with some of his closest advisers. It would require Parliament to agree to amend the 1953 Royal Titles Act which came into law after changes were made for the Queen's Coronation in the same year. A senior source told The Daily Telegraph: "There have been lots of discussions. He would like to be known as the Defender of Faith which is a subtle but hugely symbolic shift."

The Monarch has been known by the title Defender of the Faith ever since the title was bestowed on Henry VIII by the Pope in 1521 for his early support for Roman Catholicism

A Clarence House spokesman said: "There has been work done on the accession planning as you would expect however there has been no planning of the Coronation or its contents." The Prince has been advised on the accession by Sir Stephen Lamport, his former Private Secretary, who was a senior civil servant.

Vernon Bogdanor, the constitutionalist who is Professor of Government at Oxford University, said: "In 1952, when the Queen came to the throne, it was very much an Anglican society. The Prince of Wales will become head of a nation which is multi-denominational.

"The Prince has said that he wants to be seen as a defender of all religious faiths and not just the Anglican church but the Coronation is an Anglican ceremony. Any change would require legislation." >>> By Andrew Pierce | November 14, 2008

NZZ Online: Prinz Charles – lebenslänglich in Ausbildung: Der britische Thronfolger wird 60 und wartet weiterhin auf die Krone

Er ist Grossgrundbesitzer, erfolgreicher Unternehmer und Philanthrop. Aber Charles, der britische Thronfolger seit über 56 Jahren, wird trotzdem oft nicht ernst genommen. Er feiert am Freitag seinen 60. Geburtstag, ohne zu wissen, ob er je König wird.

Am Donnerstagabend hat die britische Königin zu Ehren ihres ältesten Sohnes, Charles, ein Konzert mit anschliessendem Bankett in Buckingham Palace veranstaltet. Am Samstag wird Camilla, die Herzogin von Cornwall, eine grosse Einladung für ihren Gatten geben. Dazwischen, am heutigen Freitag, liegt der eigentliche Geburtstag des Kronprinzen – der 60. Sinnigerweise wird Charles den Tag seinem Prince's Trust widmen, einer wohltätigen Organisation für gefährdete Jugendliche. Er hatte den Trust 1976 gegründet und ihn anfänglich mit seiner Abgangsentschädigung als Marineoffizier in der Höhe von 7600 Pfund dotiert. Inzwischen hat der Trust einer halben Million Jugendlicher geholfen, der Jahresumsatz hat 50 Millionen Pfund erreicht, rund 8000 Freiwillige und Angestellte bilden die grösste wohltätige Organisation für Jugendliche im Vereinigten Königreich. >>> Martin Alioth, Dublin | November 13, 2008

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World Leaders Plead for Religious Tolerance
AFP: UNITED NATIONS — World leaders pleaded Wednesday for religious tolerance at a UN conference sponsored by Saudi Arabia, but displayed their own rifts on the sensitive issue.

The meeting at UN headquarters in New York of representatives from 80 countries targeted religious and cultural divisions dubbed the "clash of civilizations."

Saudi King Abdullah -- who heads the ultra-orthodox Wahhabi branch of Islam and allows no other form of public worship -- called for "peace and harmony."

Speaker after speaker echoed these words, insisting that the world's major religions all back tolerance.

But anger over the Israeli-Arab conflict, as well as resentment at Western economic and social policies, soon surfaced.

Barely discussed, but also haunting the conference, was the divide between the West and Islamic countries on whether tolerance should also extend to individual freedoms.

Some 20 heads of state or government were due to speak, including US President George W. Bush on Thursday. He was represented Wednesday by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

In the opening speech, the president of the UN General Assembly, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, lashed out at "unbridled greed" in the West.

Jordan's King Abdullah II also criticized Western policy, saying "ignorance" had subjected Islam to "injustice."

"Millions of people, especially young people, question whether the West means what it says about equality, respect and universal justice.

Meanwhile, extremists -- Muslim, Christian and Jewish -- are thriving on the doubts and divisions," he said.

But if King Abdullah II, like other Muslim leaders, saw intolerance and stereotyping against Islam as the problem, Western representatives were mindful of the lack of personal freedom in the Islamic world.

The issue was doubly sensitive given that Saudi King Abdullah, who allows almost no religious or political dissent in his oil-rich kingdom, was sponsoring the conference. >>> | November 12, 2008

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Inspired by Obama, European Minorities Take Action
ASSOCIATED PRESS: PARIS — An Obama effect is rippling across Europe.

In France, a pro-Barack Obama grassroots group created months ago is morphing into a campaign for political diversity. In Britain, a black voter group says it is inundated with calls and attendance is soaring.

In Austria, a Rwandan-born activist has fired off letters to big parties urging them to field minority candidates. And in Germany, the staff of Turkish politician Cem Ozdemir started a Facebook group called "Yes we Cem" — a takeoff on Obama's slogan "Yes we can."

Obama's victory is inspiring hopes and even planting the seeds of action for changing the overwhelming whiteness of Europe's political elite. But it's unclear whether these efforts will pay off or merely fizzle. Although polls showed majorities in nearly every European country favored Obama over John McCain, many say Europe is far from voting for a leader from an ethnic minority itself.

Of course, the victory of the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas has brought hope to many parts of the developing world. But in places like Britain and France, which have long prided themselves on their democracies, it has also emphasized how far their governments are from reflecting racial diversity today.

Europe and the relatively young United States have vastly different histories when it comes to race. >>> By Jamey Keaten | November 12, 2008

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Vladimir Putin 'Wanted to Hang Georgian President Saakashvili by the Balls'
TIMESONLINE: Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, planned to topple the President of Georgia and "hang him by the balls", according to the chief adviser to President Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

Mr Putin outlined his aims to Mr Sarkozy when the French leader flew to Moscow on August 12 to broker a ceasefire after the Russian invasion of northern Georgia, Jean-David Levitte told le Nouvel Observateur news magazine. It published the account today.

President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia, who is in Paris, laughed nervously when he heard of Mr Putin's threat on French radio this morning and said that he was aware of it.

Mr Sarkozy was aware from intelligence reports that the Russian army was aiming to overthrow Mr Saakashvili and install a puppet government. He told Mr Putin that the world would not accept this, according to Mr Levitte, Mr Sarkozy's foreign policy chief, who was in the Kremlin for the talks.

"I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls," Mr Putin replied.

Mr Sarkozy responded: "Hang him?"

"Why not? The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein," said Mr Putin.

Mr Sarkozy replied, using the familiar "tu": "Yes but do you want to end up like (President) Bush?" Mr Putin was briefly lost for words, then replied: "Ah, you have scored a point there." >>> Charles Bremner in Paris | November 13, 2008

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EU: Berlusconi fordert rasche Aufnahme der Türkei
DIE PRESSE: Der italienische Ministerpräsident Berlusconi versprach seinem türkischen Amts-Kollegen Erdogan, sein Land wolle der Türkei „auf verschiedenen Wegen“ helfen. Die Türkei möchte bis 2013 alle Bedingungen für einen Beitritt erfüllen.

Der italienische Regierungschef Silvio Berlusconi hat sich für einen schnellen Beitritt der Türkei zur Europäischen Union ausgesprochen und seinem türkischen Amtskollegen seine Hilfe zugesagt. 
Nach einem Treffen mit Recep Tayyip Erdogan am Mittwoch in Izmir sagte Berlusconi, sein Land wolle der Türkei auf verschiedenen Wegen helfen.

„Freunde der Türkei"

Die Türkei sei ein NATO-Land und spiele eine "sehr wichtige Rolle" im Nahen Osten, deshalb sei ihre Aufnahme im Interesse der EU, erklärte Berlusconi. Erdogan befürwortete ebenfalls eine Beschleunigung des Beitrittsprozesses. Die Routine, jedes Jahr nur Gespräche über zwei neue politische Verhandlungskapitel neu zu beginnen, müsse abgeschafft werden, sagte er, denn „die Zeit der Gesprächse sollte nicht zu lange dauern".

Rom werde versuchen, noch skeptische Mitgliedsstaaten von einem baldigen Eu-Beitritt zu überzeugen, versprach Berlusconi auf der Pressekonferenz in Izmir. Auch die beiden EU-Ratspräsidenten des kommenden Jahres, Tschechien und Schweden, hält er für „Freunde der Türkei". >>> | 13. November 2008

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It Gets Better and Better! 8,000 Beduins Stake Their Claim as the Lost Tribe of Barack Obama: A sheikh in Galilee says he has evidence that he and his family are linked by blood to the new President
Watch video: Is Obama a Bedouin? James Hider in Bir al-Maksour >>>
TIMESONLINE: He has a host of relatives in exotic locations from Hawaii to Kenya, and during his run for the American presidency he discovered that he had an aunt living in Boston.

Now Barack Obama is being claimed by not one but as many as 8,000 Beduin tribesmen in northern Israel.

Although the spokesman for the lost tribe of Obama has yet to reveal the documentary evidence that he says he possesses to support his claim, people are flocking from across the region to pay their respects to the “Beduin Obama”, whose social standing has gone through the roof.

“We knew about it years ago but we were afraid to talk about it because we didn’t want to influence the election,” Abdul Rahman Sheikh Abdullah, a 53-year-old local council member, told The Times in the small Beduin village of Bir al-Maksour in the Israeli region of Galilee. “We wrote a letter to him explaining the family connection.”

Mr Obama’s team have not responded to the letter so far but that has not dampened Sheikh Abdullah’s festivities.

He has been handing out sweets and huge dishes of baklava traditional honey-sweetened pastries to all and sundry, and plans to hold a large party next week at which he will slaughter a dozen goats to feed the village.

It was his 95-year-old mother who first spotted the connection, he says. Seeing the charismatic senator on television, she noted a striking resemblance to one of the African migrant workers who used to be employed by rich sheikhs in the fertile north of British Mandate Palestine in the 1930s.

The Africans would sometimes marry local Beduin girls and start families, though, like many migrant workers, would just as frequently return home after several years.

One of those men was a relative of Barack Obama’s Kenyan grandmother, Sheikh Abdullah maintains.

He estimates that his tribe extends to as many as 8,000 members, all of them loosely connected to the African-American senator for Illinois.

Sheikh Abdullah swears that he has papers and pictures to back up his claim but has promised his mother not to divulge them until he has presented them to Mr Obama, something he hopes will happen once his “relative” is in the White House.

“We want to send a delegation to congratulate him, and we know we’ll get an answer soon,” he grinned.

Sheikh Abdullah’s renown as the relative of the soon-to-be most powerful man on Earth has spread like wildfire among the Arab community of northern Israel, and especially among Beduins, a formerly semi-nomadic group of pastoralists corralled into townships by the modern state of Israel. >>> James Hider in Bir al-Maksour | November 13, 2008

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Nordkorea will alle Grenzen zu Südkorea schließen
WELT ONLINE: Nordkorea hat die Schließung aller Grenzen zum Nachbarland Südkorea angekündigt. Die nordkoreanischen Streitkräfte unterstellen Südkorea, eine Politik der Konfrontation zu verfolgen. Das Verhältnis zwischen den beiden Koreas hat sich seit dem Amtsantritt des neuen südkoreanischen Präsidenten Lee Myung Bak verschlechtert.

Nach dem Abbruch des Dialogs mit Südkorea will Nordkorea von Dezember an die Landesgrenze zum Nachbarland schließen. Grund für die Maßnahme seien überaus gefährliche Konfrontationen seitens des Südens, teilte die staatliche nordkoreanische Nachrichtenagentur KCNA mit. Südkorea sei von der „wichtigen Maßnahmen“ informiert worden, dass die Volksarmee alle Grenzpassagen über die militärische Demarkationslinie strikt kontrollieren und vom 1. Dezember an sperren werde, hieß es in der von den staatlich kontrollierten Medien veröffentlichten Erklärung. >>> Reuters/AFP/dpa/lk | 12. November 2008

Video anschauen: Japanische Medienberichte haben erneut Spekulationen über den Gesundheitszustand des nordkoreanischen Staatschefs Kim Jong-Il ausgelöst. Dem Fernsehsender TBS zufolge soll Kim im vergangenen Monat einen zweiten Schlaganfall erlitten haben. >>> | 11. November 2008
THE KOREA HERALD: North Korea Threatens to Close Border

The North Korean military yesterday threatened that it will "strictly restrict and cut off" all overland passages of the inter-Korean border from Dec. 1 in retaliation to South Korea's reluctance to implement two summit declarations.

Lt. Gen. Kim Yong-chol, head of the North's delegation to the inter-Korean military talks, sent the phone message to the South Korean military, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.

"We officially notify (the South) that our military will take an actual crucial measure to strictly restrict and cut off all ground passages of the Military Demarcation Line beginning on Dec. 1 as the first (punitive) step," the message was quoted by the KCNA as saying.

"The South Korean authorities' unchanged stance and attitude toward the historic two declarations has been finally confirmed. Despite our repeated warning, the racket of confrontation with the DPRK kicked up by the South Korean authorities including the military, in particular, is going beyond the danger level," the message said. DPRK is the acronym of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.

The North stressed the Seoul government should not "forget that the North-South Korea relations lie at a critical moment of full severance." >>> By Jin Dae-woong | November 12, 2008

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