Radical Preacher Abu Qatada Will 'Stay in Country' Despite Deportation Order
Radical cleric Abu Qatada will stay in Britian for months despite a House of Lords ruling that he should be deported to Jordan where he faces terror charges.

Photo of Abu Qatada courtesy of The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: The Law Lords said Qatada, dubbed "Osama Bin Laden's right hand man in Europe", could be sent back to Jordan where he faces terror charges after overturning a Court of Appeal decision.

But the extremist could still remain in the country for many months if he takes his case to the European Court of Human Rights.

The judgment is a victory for the Home Office in its long-running campaign to remove Qatada from Britain, which has cost the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds already.

The Law Lords also ruled in favour of the Government over its attempts to deport two other men to Algeria.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said a deportation order will be served on Qatada immediately.

However any attempts to remove him would be put on hold if the case goes to Europe. >>> By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor | Wednesday, February 18, 2009

THE INDEPENDENT: Abu Qatada Awarded £2,500 for Detention

Radical preacher Abu Qatada was awarded £2,500 cash compensation today by European judges who ruled that his detention without trial breached his human rights.

Yesterday Qatada lost the latest round of his UK legal battle to stay in Britain.
But 24 hours later he won a separate case in the European Court of Human Rights that his detention under anti-terror laws introduced by the Government after the 2001 attacks on America violated the Human Rights Convention. >>> By Geoff Meade, Press Association | Thursday, February 19, 2009

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America Should Defy Islamic Supremacism
ENERGY PUBLISHER: Failure to defeat Islamic supremacism may cost Americans their freedom, and their identity.

Our generation shares the responsibility to challenge Islamic supremacism in America and around the world. Our responsibility is based on our nation and our leaders' accountability in defending our inalienable human rights of equality and liberty – which demands that we reject all supremacism, including Islamic supremacism. Such accountability on human rights also requires that we challenge those in denial on this threat who seek our surrender to Islamic supremacism abroad and at home.

Failure to defy Islamic supremacism will not only cost us our freedoms – it will also cost us our identity, as those who appease and support such supremacism will seek to use our nation's influence and power as a weapon against freedom – as we have recently seen in other nations.

To effectively defy Islamic supremacism, we must use our existing consensus in equality and liberty as a tool to ensure that Islamic supremacism is treated like any other supremacist ideology that would seek to threaten our freedoms. We know that outrage against supremacism is not enough; we are responsible to act to defy such supremacist ideologies that threaten our freedoms and take a public stand against them. >>> By Jeffrey Imm | Tuesday, February 17, 2009

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Muslims in Denial about Beheading of NY Woman
ENERGY PUBLISHER: Muzammil H. Hassan, a Muslim who emigrated to the U.S. in the 80s, founded Bridges TV to inform non-Muslims about Muslim culture. He is now accused of beheading his wife. Both Muslims, and media, are in denial about Islam's suppression of women.

There is no more powerful retardant to change and reform among individuals and in a community than human denial. 



According to Andrew Benz, Orchard Park Police Chief, on Thursday, February 12, 2009, Muzammil H. Hassan, the founder and CEO of Bridges TV, walked into the police station at 6:20 PM and told officers that his wife was lying dead at the Bridges TV offices. Later, Benz confirmed on WIVB Channel 4 that she was decapitated.

The Veneer of Bridges TV

Mr. Hassan immigrated to the United States from Pakistan in the 1980s. He received an MBA from the University of Rochester in New York and then worked at Procter & Gamble before becoming a banker. In a profile on Hassan and Bridges TV on December 24, 2004 on NPR’s All Things Considered, Jerome Vaughn of Detroit Public Radio reported that,

“Bridges TV says it wants to inform and entertain Muslims and, at the same time, give viewers who aren't Muslims a glimpse into their culture. Mo Hassan was traveling from Buffalo to Detroit a few weeks after the September 11th terrorist attacks when his wife came up with the idea for the new network. They were in the car listening to the radio when they heard some derogatory remarks about Muslims."

They claimed that the mission of the network was to, “foster understanding between cultures and diverse populations.” The Chicago Tribune puff-piece on the new network on November 30, 2004 called it “Lifetime for Muslims with a dash of CNN.” 



Apparently he financed the network personally leaving his banking job with a $500,000 line of credit and a number of investors. They sought to finance the venture through individual viewer subscriptions of $14.99 in addition to a reported 50 individuals who donated $10 million. Later in 2006, according to the Arab News (the English language propaganda arm of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Mr. Hassan visited Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the global capital of Wahhabi ideology, seeking stock investors in his network. 
The face of Bridges TV’s “public marital partnership” in the Hassans clearly had a false veneer which years later would reveal itself. What a difference a few years makes.

Mrs. Aasiya Hassan took out an order of protection against her husband and filed for divorce less than a week before her gruesome murder on February 12, 2009. The NY Post reporter only directed attention to the supposition that this beheading was related to Mr. Hassan’s financial troubles. The couples’ attorney did mention that there was a history of domestic violence and a recent divorce filing leading up to her murder. There was no mention of honor killings and Islamist motivations. The Media’s abject blindness >>> By M. Zuhdi Jasser | Tuesday, February 17, 2009

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Assad Urges US to Rebuild Diplomatic Road to Damascus
Bashar Al-Assad calls on Obama to have a dialogue. Photo courtesy of The Guardian
THE GUARDIAN: In rare interview, Syrian leader calls on Obama to restore envoy and make good on promise of dialogue

Syria expects the US to send an ambassador to Damascus soon to make good on Barack Obama's offer to engage in dialogue with countries the Bush administration shunned, President Bashar al-Assad told the Guardian today.

Assad used a rare newspaper interview to set out his hopes for a new relationship with the US now the Bush era is over – one he hopes will see Washington act as the "main arbiter" in the moribund Middle East peace process. "There is no substitute for the United States," Assad said.

Referring to Obama's call for countries to "unclench their fists" , Assad said he believed the new US president had been referring to Iran. "We never clenched our fist," he declared. "We still talked about peace even during the Israeli aggression in Gaza."

A US decision on whether to send an ambassador back to Damascus is part of a review Obama ordered on taking office. The US is attracted to the idea of engaging with Syria, seeing potential for bringing Assad in from the cold, helping with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and loosening Syria's close ties with Iran. >>> Ian Black in Damascus | Tuesday, February 17, 2009

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Airliner Bomb Trial: Eight Men* Accused of Plotting Transatlantic Attack 'Carnage'
THE TELEGRAPH: Thousands of people would have died in a terrorist plot to detonate home-made bombs on seven transatlantic jets between London and the US and Canada, a court has heard.

Eight Islamic extremists conspired to smuggle bombs constructed from household goods and disguised as soft drinks on to the aircraft, Woolwich Crown Court in London was told.

Prosecutor Peter Wright QC said the London-based cell intended to cause civilian deaths on an "unprecedented scale" and strike a blow that "would reverberate across the globe".

Two ringleaders acted on instructions from masterminds in Pakistan to draw together a gang of suicide bombers from radicalised and vulnerable young Muslims, he said. >>> | Tuesday, February 17, 2009

*All from the rligion of peace and love, you understand! Oh, and don’t forget that they are “extremists”!

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Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu: Christians Are Regarded as 'Mad' by Society
Dr John Sentamu says that Christians are regarded as “mad” by society for not pursuing money. Photo of Dr John Sentamu courtesy of The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: Christians are regarded as "mad" by the rest of society because they are motivated by charity and compassion rather than the reckless pursuit of money, according to the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu.

Churchgoers are now "counter-cultural" because their values are so opposed to prevailing behaviour, claimed Dr Sentamu.

But he insisted that faith cannot be separated from the world of work, and that staff should not be expected to give up their religious convictions when they walk into the office.

Dr Sentamu, the second most senior cleric in the Church of England and its first black Archbishop, also said the recession should lead to a rediscovery of what is truly important in life, just as Britons rebuilt the country after the devastation of the Blitz.

His comments come amid growing concern about the marginalisation of Christianity in public life.

Labour MPs want to sever the historic link between Church and state, which would end the right of bishops to sit in the House of Lords and remove the right of all residents to be married, baptised or buried by a parish priest.

Meanwhile public sector workers now risk being sacked if they talk about religion in the workplace, under "equality and diversity" rules.

New NHS guidelines state that doctors and nurses face harassment charges if they are accused of "preaching" to colleagues or patients, while a draft code of practice for teachers could be used by schools to discipline those who discuss their beliefs with pupils. >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Tuesday, February 17, 2009

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Wilders' Party to Take Part in European Elections
NRC HANDELSBLAD: Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) has registered to take part in the June 4 elections for the European Parliament, the party announced on Monday. The controversial Dutch politician will campaign under the motto "For the Netherlands". No names of candidates were released.

Wilders' national focus targets the financial contributions made by the Netherlands to the EU. "Those billions should go to Dutch citizens instead of farmers in Poland, France and Portugal," Wilders said in a statement. On his website he said he wants to get rid of the European Parliament and limit the power of the European Commission. >>> NRC Handelsblad’s News Staff | Tuesday, February 17, 2009

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US Shares Dive on Doubts over Rescue Stimulus
TIMES ONLINE: US shares plunged by nearly 280 points in early trading today as investors grew nervous that President Obama’s financial stimulus plan will not be enough to boost the world's largest economy and carmakers may not be able to stave off collapse.

The Dow Jones industrial index plunged by 276.94 points to 7,573.47 points within half an hour of the US stock market opening — the first day of trading since Friday after being closed on Monday for Presidents Day.

At the same time, concerns over America's deepening recession, and the effect it may have on demand for energy, sent oil prices down more than $2 to $35.37 a barrel. >>> | Tuesday, February 17, 2009

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Holocaust-Leugnung: Deutscher Rechtsextremist Mahler droht dem Gericht
Horst Mahler, ehemaliger RAF-Anwalt, ist wegen Volkverhetzung angeklagt worden. Foto dank der Presse
Der ehemalige RAF-Anwalt Horst Mahler ist wegen Volkverhetzung angeklagt: Er hat den Holocaust wiederholt geleugnet. In seinem Prozess erklärte er Sympathie für Bischof Williamson.

Der wegen Volksverhetzung angeklagte deutsche Rechtsextremist und frühere RAF-Anwalt Horst Mahler hat in seinem Schlusswort vor dem Landgericht München den Richtern gedroht und den Holocaust wiederholt geleugnet. Der 72-Jährige bekundete am Dienstag in einem mehrstündigen Monolog Sympathie für den Holocaust-Leugner Bischof Williamson. Angesichts der Kritik an Williamson sei die "Wut der Völker am Siedepunkt", erklärte Mahler. "Passen Sie auf, dass Sie sich daran nicht verbrühen", drohte er dem Gericht.

Den Holocaust habe es nicht gegeben, sagte er mehrmals. Die Staatsanwaltschaft wirft Mahler vor, in einem Internet-Video und auf CD den Holocaust geleugnet und zu Hass und Gewalt gegen Juden aufgestachelt zu haben. Zudem habe er auf CDs ein Buch des verurteilten Holocaust-Leugners Germar Rudolf verschickt. >>> APA | Dienstag, 17. Februar 2009

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Le Vatican met en garde contre le risque d’un retour à l’«eugénique»
CRAINTE | La peur de l’Eglise catholique est de voir se multiplier les interventions génétiques menant vers une «amélioration» de la race humaine au prix de l’augmentation du nombre des avortements.

Le Vatican a mis en garde mardi contre les risques d’une dérive de la génétique vers l’eugénique, une science qui cherche à améliorer l’espèce humaine, en banalisant les progrès scientifiques et en les mettant au service d’intérêts commerciaux.

"Le risque d’une dérive de la génétique n’est pas seulement théorique. Le terme d’«eugénique» semble appartenir au passé (...) mais (...) une bonne publicité soutenue par de grands intérêts économiques fait perdre de vue les vrais dangers", a affirmé Mgr Rino Fisichella, président de l’Académie pontificale pour la vie.

Selon le religieux, qui présentait un congrès prévu les 20 et 21 février au Vatican sur "Les nouvelles frontières de la génétique et les risques de l’eugénique", le risque est "de mettre en oeuvre des pratiques eugéniques au nom d’une «normalité» de la vie" en voulant "améliorer physiquement l’espèce humaine". >>> AFP | Mardi 17 Février 2009

ENERGY PUBLISHER: Vatican Conference on Eugenics and Genetics

An academic congress will be held at the Vatican February 20-21: 'New Frontiers of Genetics and the Dangers of Eugenics." Scientists will look into the biomedical, legal, ethical, philosophical, sociological, and theological aspects of genetic research.

A February 17 press conference was held at the Vatican to present a forthcoming academic congress entitled: "New frontiers of genetics and the dangers of eugenics". The congress, promoted by the Pontifical Academy for Life for the occasion of its twenty-fifth general assembly, is due to take place in the Vatican's New Synod Hall on February 20-21. Participating in conference were Archbishop Rino Fisichella and Msgr. Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, respectively president and chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Life, and Bruno Dallapiccola, professor of genetic medicine at Rome's "La Sapienza" University. 



"The congress will be attended", Archbishop Fisichella explained, "by scientists from a number of universities, who will examine the question from various points of view: from the strictly biomedical to the legal; from the philosophical and theological to the sociological". "Thanks to the great work undertaken over the last ten years, above all that of Francis Collins on the Human Genome Project, it is possible to map thousands of genes and thus achieve an understanding of various types of disease; this often offers a real possibility of overcoming heredity ailments". 



"The aim of this congress is to verify whether, in the field genetic experimentation, there are aspects that tend towards - or effectively implement - eugenic practices", said the archbishop. Such practices "find expression in various scientific, biological, medical, social and political projects, all of them more or less interrelated. These projects require an ethical judgement, especially when it is sought to suggest that eugenic practices are being undertaken in the name of a 'normality' of life to offer to individuals". 



"Such a mentality, which is certainly reductive but does exist, tends to consider that some people are less valuable than others, either because of the conditions in which they live, such as poverty or lack of education, or because of their physical state, for example the disabled, the mentally ill, people in a 'vegetative state', or the elderly who suffer serious disease". >>> By Spero News | Tuesday, February 17, 2009

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CNN Talk Asia: Fatima Bhutto
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Part 2
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Blair Wins $1m Leadership Prize
Can this really be the same Tony Blair that led Great Britain to disaster and took all our freedoms away? Photo courtesy of the BBC
Former prime minister Tony Blair has won $1m (£697,000) for his leadership on the world stage.

Mr Blair, now a Middle East envoy, will receive the Dan David Prize at Tel Aviv University in Israel in May.

It marks his "foresight", "exceptional intelligence" and "steadfast determination" to end conflicts.

Mr Blair's spokesman said the money would be donated to the former Labour leader's recently set up charity for religious understanding.

'Morally courageous'

Mr Blair, prime minister from 1997 to 2007, is an envoy of the international Quartet (the US, EU, UN and Russia) on the Middle East peace process.

His entry as a Dan David laureate on the prize's website hails him as "one of the most outstanding statesmen of our era". >>> | Monday, February 16, 2009

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Tzipi Livni – Israel muss Teile des Landes aufgeben
WELT ONLINE: Will Israel einen dauerhaften Frieden mit den Palästinensern, muss das Land auf die Hälfte seiner Gebiete verzichten – diese Einschätzung hat Israels Außenministerin Tzipi Livni vor Vertretern jüdischer Organisationen aus den USA geäußert. Noch wird aber der Ausbau jüdischer Siedlungen im Westjordanland geplant.

Israel muss nach Ansicht von Außenministerin Tzipi Livni als Preis für einen dauerhaften Frieden mit den Palästinensern auf beträchtliche Teile seines Territoriums verzichten. „Wir müssen die Hälfte des Landes Israel aufgeben“, sagte sie am Montag vor Vertretern jüdischer Organisationen aus den USA. Sie benutzte einen Ausdruck, der sich auf die in der Bibel beschriebenen Grenzen des Landes bezieht, die das heutige Israel sowie das Westjordanland und den Gazastreifen umfassen.

Ein derartiger Rückzug sei zum Wohle Israels, um den jüdischen Charakter des Landes zu bewahren, sagte Livni weiter. Damit setzt sich die Wahlsiegerin vom vergangenen Dienstag klar von ihrem Rivalen Benjamin Netanjahu ab, dem Chef des rechtsgerichteten Likud-Blocks.

Netanjahu machte vor den Besuchern aus den USA klar, dass er einen einseitigen israelischen Rückzug ablehne. Den Abzug aus dem Gazastreifen im Jahr 2005 bezeichnete er als Fehler, da er der Hamas ermöglicht habe, dort die Macht an sich zu reißen. Die Palästinenser sollten sich zwar selbst regieren, aber Israel müsse die Kontrolle über alle Grenzen, den Luftraums und den elektronischen Verkehr behalten, sagte er. >>> AP/ks | Dienstag, 17. Februar 2009

leJDD.fr: Livni renonce au Grand Israël

Lundi soir, à Jérusalem, celle qui brigue le poste de Premier ministre a laissé entendre qu'elle était prête à d'importantes concessions territoriales en échange de la paix. Tzipi Livni s'oppose ainsi frontalement à son rival Benjamin Netanyahou. Le président israélien sera peut-être sensible à son discours de paix pour désigner la personne chargée de former le gouvernement.

Tzipi Livni tente de se démarquer de son rival Benjamin Netanyahou et joue l'ouverture à gauche. Ses propos, tenus lundi soir à Jérusalem lors de la Conférence des présidents des organisations juives américaines, ont sans doute semé le trouble chez les tenants du Grand Israël. La ministre des Affaires étrangères, qui brigue le poste de Premier ministre après les élections législatives anticipées du 10 février, a martelé que les accords d'Annapolis* devaient s'appliquer. Et, pour faire contrepoint à Benjamin Netanyahou et à Avigdor Lieberman, le leader d'Israël Beitenou, le parti ultranationaliste qui se pose en arbitre avec 16 sièges obtenus à la Knesset, Tzipi Livni a évoqué la possibilité de concessions territoriales importantes aux Palestiniens en échange de la paix. "Nous devons progresser vers la paix selon le plan lancé à Annapolis", a-t-elle déclaré. "Si nous n'appliquons pas ce plan, nous ne pourrons pas compter sur la coopération internationale s'agissant de l'Iran, du Hezbollah ou du Hamas", a ajouté Tzipi Livni. >>> Par Jérôme GUILLAS, leJDD.fr | Mardi 17 Février 2009

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«Ein im Himmel erzeugter Befehlshaber und liebevoller Vater»
NZZ Online: Der nordkoreanische Staatschef Kim Jong Il ist zu seinem 67. Geburtstag am Montag mit Lobeshymnen der staatlichen Medien überschüttet worden. Die Parteizeitung «Rodong Sinmun» schrieb: «Genosse Kim Jong Il ist ein grosser Politiker, ein im Himmel erzeugter Befehlshaber und ein liebevoller Vater, der das Schicksal unserer Nation und unseres Volks sichert und erleuchtet.» >>> ap | Montag, 16. Februar 2009

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France 'Responsible' for Holocaust Deportations, Court Rules
76,000 Jews were deported to concentration camps in Germany during World War II, including Auschwitz. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
France has officially accepted its role in the Holocaust for the first time – admitting its government freely sent thousands of Jews to their deaths during World War II.

The Council of State, the country's highest judicial body, said the Vichy government of the time held 'responsibility' for deportations.

It ruled that Nazi officials did not force them to betray their fellow citizens, but that anti-Semitic persecution was carried out willingly.

But today's ruling stated there would be no payments for the survivors or families of victims, because all had been compensated 'as much as was possible, for all the losses suffered'.

Thousands of Jews were deported from France to concentration camps during the Occupation, which lasted from 1940 until 1944.

Post-war French governments refused to acknowledge any role in the Holocaust by the collaborating Vichy regime. >>> By Peter Allen in Paris | Monday, Febraury 16, 2009

TIMES ONLINE: 'Jewish War Victims Have Had Enough Compensation' French Court Says

The French State was responsible for deporting Jews during the Second World War, the top judicial authority ruled for the first time yesterday, but it dismayed families of victims by declaring that they had already been compensated. >>> Charles Bremner in Paris | Tuesday, February 17, 2009

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You Shouldn't Be Seen to Have Power: Cherie Blair's Astonishing Memo to Michelle Obama
MAIL Online: Cherie Blair has warned Michelle Obama that she faces having her views silenced as First Lady - and cannot be seen to wield power.

In an article entitled 'Memo to Michelle' the wife of Tony Blair tells Harvard-educated Mrs Obama that her primary role is to support her husband.

Mrs Blair says: 'A First Lady can have influence, but she cannot be seen to have power.' >>> By Paul Thompson | Tuesday, February 17, 2009

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Full of God’s Love and Compassion, the Westboro Baptist Church Intends to Invade the UK with Its Homophobic Hatred!
THE TELEGRAPH: The fundamentalist US church notorious for picketing the funerals of dead soldiers plans to carry out its first protest in Britain this week, it has emerged.

Followers of the virulently anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church have threatened to picket a sixth form college in Basingstoke, Hampshire during a staging of The Laramie Project, a play about an American youth murdered because of his sexuality.

The church from Topeka, Kansas is mainly composed of relatives of the founder, pastor Fred Phelps, who style themselves "the most hated family in America".

Their core belief – that God will punish the West for its acceptance of homosexuality – has seen them protest at dozens of servicemen's funerals brandishing garish placards stating "God hates the USA" and "Thank God for dead soldiers".

Details of the church's first picket in Britain was posted on their website with the slogan "God Hates England; Your Queen Is A W----".

"Some of the best Bible preaching in the history of the world came out of that dark dismal land, but now it is full of all abominations," the notice read. Westboro Baptist Church Announces First Anti-homosexuality Picket in Britain >>> By Matthew Moore | Monday, February 16, 2009

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Israel Launches Covert War against Iran
THE TELEGRAPH: Israel has launched a covert war against Iran as an alternative to direct military strikes against Tehran's nuclear programme, US intelligence sources have revealed.

It is using hitmen, sabotage, front companies and double agents to disrupt the regime's illicit weapons project, the experts say.

The most dramatic element of the "decapitation" programme is the planned assassination of top figures involved in Iran's atomic operations.

Despite fears in Israel and the US that Iran is approaching the point of no return in its ability to build atom bomb, Israeli officials are aware of the change in mood in Washington since President Barack Obama took office. >>> By Philip Sherwell in New York | Monday, February 16, 2009

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Spy Chief: We Risk a Police State
THE TELEGRAPH: Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, has warned that the fear of terrorism is being exploited by the Government to erode civil liberties and risks creating a police state.

Dame Stella accused ministers of interfering with people’s privacy and playing straight into the hands of terrorists.

“Since I have retired I feel more at liberty to be against certain decisions of the Government, especially the attempt to pass laws which interfere with people’s privacy,” Dame Stella said in an interview with a Spanish newspaper.

“It would be better that the Government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism: that we live in fear and under a police state,” she said. >>> By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor | Monday, February 16, 2009

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Italienischer Minister will Sexualstraftäter kastrieren lassen
Roberto Calderoli, Mitglied der Regierung von Silvio Berlusconi, glaubt es sei keine andere Lösung übrig als Sexualstraftäter kastrieren zu lassen! Foto dank dem Tages Anzeiger
TAGES ANZEIGER: Ein Mitglied der Regierung von Italiens Ministerpräsident Silvio Berlusconi hat die Kastration von Sexualstraftätern gefordert.

In einigen Fällen gebe es keine andere Möglichkeit, sagte der Minister für Bürokratieabbau, Roberto Calderoli.

Da eine Unterdrückung des Sexualtriebs mit Medikamenten nicht immer funktioniere, bleibe nur ein chirurgischer Eingriff. «Die Gesellschaft muss sich verteidigen», sagte Calderoli, der der rechtgerichteten Lega Nord angehört, in einem Interview mit der Zeitung «La Stampa» vom Montag. >>> mbr/sda | Montag, 16. Februar 2009

TIMES ONLINE: Italian Minister Calls for Rapists to Be Castrated

An Italian Cabinet minister called today for rapists to be chemically castrated, amid a growing row over vigilante attacks on immigrants that have followed a series of rapes blamed on foreigners.

Roberto Maroni, the Interior Minister, urged Italians not to take the law into their own hands after masked youths armed with wooden clubs smashed up a kebab bar near the scene of a rape at Caffarella Park on the Appian Way in Rome at the weekend.

Five Romanians were beaten savagely in the raid, and two are in a serious condition.

The attack followed an incident on St Valentine's Day in which a 14-year-old girl was raped and her 16-year-old boyfriend beaten up in the park, which is used by courting couples.

Also at the weekend a 21-year-old Bolivian girl was raped in Milan by a man described as North African, while in Bologna a Tunisian who had just been released from prison after being held on drugs offences was re-arrested for allegedly raping a 15-year-old local girl.

Roberto Calderoli of the Northern League, who is Minister for Simplification of Laws in the centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi, said that chemical castration was "the only answer" when teenage girls were being attacked. "Talk of rehabilitation is not enough," he told La Stampa. "Society must defend itself". >>> Richard Owen in Rome | Monday, February 16, 2009

TAGES ANZEIGER: Italien schnappt über: Zwangskastration und Bürgerwehren

Nach einer Reihe von Vergewaltigungen denkt Italiens Regierung über drakonische Massnahmen nach - bis hin zur Zwangskastration. Und das Volk greift zur Selbstjustiz.

Der Valentinstag endete für die junge Römerin mit einem Trauma. Während eines Spazierganges mit ihrem Freund wurde die kaum 15-Jährige von zwei Männern in einen Park verschleppt und dort brutal vergewaltigt. Die beiden Täter entkamen, nicht ohne die beiden jungen Leute auch noch ausgeraubt zu haben. Der Fall sorgt in Italien nicht nur deshalb für Schlagzeilen, weil sich in den vergangenen Wochen die Berichte über Vergewaltigungen im ganzen Land häufen. So wurden auch in Bologna und Mailand jüngst zwei Frauen Opfer von sexuellen Misshandlungen.

Zum Überkochen bringt die Debatte, dass es sich bei den Tätern meist um Ausländer oder gar «clandestini», also illegale Einwanderer, handelt. In Rom sucht die Polizei zwei junge Rumänen, nachdem das Opfer Hinweise gegeben hatte, dass die Angreifer vermutlich aus Osteuropa stammten. In Bologna wurde ein Tunesier verhaftet, in Mailand fahndet man ebenfalls nach einem Nordafrikaner. Wachsender Fremdenhass >>> bru/ta | Dienstag, 17. Februar 2009

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L'intégriste des intégristes
Photo de Richard Williamson grâce au Monde
LE MONDE: Il a mis les milieux catholiques en émoi et indigné le reste du monde ; il a obligé le pape à assurer les juifs de sa "solidarité totale". Il vient de se voir démis de ses fonctions à la tête du séminaire intégriste de la Reja en Argentine, qu'il dirigeait depuis quelques années. Mais dans la tempête, Richard Williamson fait mine de rien et, le 7 février, date de la dernière chronique parue sur son blog (dinoscopus.blogspot.com), il disserte, en mélomane, de la beauté de la troisième symphonie de Beethoven.

En assurant au cours d'un entretien télévisé que "pas un juif n'avait péri dans les chambres à gaz", cet évêque britannique de 68 ans, membre de la Fraternité sacerdotale Saint-Pie-X, le courant schismatique de Mgr Lefebvre, a acquis en quelques heures une notoriété mondiale. Sa bombe négationniste, lancée au moment même où le pape annonçait la levée de l'excommunication qui le frappait, ainsi que trois de ses confrères, depuis vingt ans, a installé le personnage dans son rôle de " type incontrôlable".

"C'est un fanatique qui passe son temps à dire des conneries", veut croire un prêtre français, bon connaisseur du milieu intégriste. Ancien professeur de littérature et de philosophie, Mgr Williamson est surtout connu pour être, parmi les héritiers de Mgr Lefebvre, l'un des tenants de la ligne la plus dure à l'égard du Vatican. "Il est, sur les sujets touchant à l'Eglise et à son évolution depuis Vatican II, d'une intransigeance totale", témoigne une personnalité engagée dans le dialogue entre les intégristes et les conciliaires, qui l'a rencontré à plusieurs reprises. >>> Stéphanie Le Bars | Lundi 16 Février 2009

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The Resurgence of Anti-Semitism in Europe

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Neo-Anti-Semitism in Today’s Italy
JERUSALEM CENTER FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS / Jewish Political Studies Review: The purpose of this article is to analyze and confute some of the arguments recently put forward by important Italian intellectuals against Jews and against Israel. Neo anti-Semitism camouflaged as anti-Zionism is spreading in Italy today. Three main examples of this phenomenon are given: Sergio Romano, Alberto Asor Rosa, and Barbara Spinelli. Romano claims that the memory of the Shoah has become an insurance policy and is used by Israel as a diplomatic weapon, while Israel itself is "a war-mongering, imperialist, arrogant nation" and "an unscrupulous liar."

Asor Rosa claims that Israel "developed a marvelous army" but at the same time "the tradition and thinking melted away," while Israel affirms, he writes, "the racial superiority of the Jewish people." For Barbara Spinelli: "Israel constitutes a scandal" for the way in which Moses' religion validates "rights which are often meta-historical" and "linked to sacred texts." Spinelli thinks that Israel should express its culpability to Palestinians and Islam. She goes as far as stating that some Israelis dream "of a sort of second holocaust." She also attacks the "double and contradictory loyalty" of the Jews.

There is a short analysis of the Italian press and of the stand of the Catholic Church. The lynch in Ramallah is discussed, as well as the declarations of Ambassador Vento. The author also raises the question of school textbooks, the boycott against Israeli universities, and the existence of other voices, very different from the ones mentioned above.

Italy had always been considered a country immune to anti-Semitism, which is why the racial laws imposed by the fascists in 1938 and the ensuing atrocities of the republic of Salò had such a traumatic effect upon the Jews. One could hope that a similar phenomenon would never recur after the liberation. However anti-Semitism has come back even if there are no racial laws these days, and it is often hidden behind attacks against Sharon's politics. Anti-Semitic accusations blame all the Jews for crimes they never committed.1

Such signs of anti-Semitism are not new. At times anti-Semitism is camouflaged as anti-Zionism, as Gianni Scipione Rossi writes in his recent book: "Anti-Zionism interprets the role of a 'presentable' mask of a much more profound aversion."2 A strong worsening of this situation was noted during the period of the war in Lebanon in 1982-3, and the results were immediately felt. The PLO took advantage of an atmosphere favorable to it and organized a terrorist attack against the main synagogue on the Lungotevere in Rome on the day of the blessing of the children (9 October 1982), that murdered Stefano, aged two.

A few years later, in 1988, the chief rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff, voiced a serious warning following anti-Semitic occurrences in the capital:

The threats, the anonymous letters, the revolting graffiti, and the outrageous deeds which have taken place these days could be the prelude to more shameful actions, not only against the Jews. I feel I am reliving the climate of fifty years ago, which preceded the approval of the racial laws by the fascist regime.

>>> Sergio I. Minerbi | Fall 2003

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Denis MacShane: The Writing Is on the Synagogue Wall
TIMES ONLINE: World depressions lead to a rise in anti-Semitism. All over Europe, the evidence is around us

The periodic crises that have shaken world capitalism in the century and a half since Marx wrote Das Kapital are marked by a common political phenomenon. It is the rise of political anti-Semitism. Attacks on Jews and Jewishness constitute the canary in the coal mine that tells us something is going seriously wrong.

Last month a 32-year-old IT worker, Michael Booksatz, was beaten up in the streets of north London by two hooded men shouting about Palestinians. Jewish students at the London School of Economics - home to many brilliant Jews who fled Hitler's Germany - are now frightened by anti-Jewish abuse from Islamist students. Graffiti such as “Kill the Jews” or “Jihad 4 Israel” appear close to synagogues in London.

The Metropolitan Police report four times as many anti-Jewish incidents in recent weeks as Islamaphobic events. The respected Community Security Trust, which records anti-Jewish attacks with scrupulous rigour, reports as many attacks on Jews - verbal, vandalism and some violent - in the first weeks of 2009 as in the first six months of last year.

As the world enters a new era of crisis, anti-Semitism is back. History, as ever, begins to repeat itself. The slumps and stock market fever expressed in Zola's novel, L'Argent, or the populist anger against Wall Street at the end of the 19th century gave rise to the virulent anti-Semitic politics witnessed in France in connection with the Dreyfus case or the takeover of Vienna by openly anti-Semitic politicians. The Great Depression gave rise to the worst expressions of anti-Semitism ever seen, namely the politics that led to the Holocaust. But even in Britain the Duke of Wellington of the time was leader of a secret anti-Jewish organisation which had the initials PJ - Perish Judah - on its letterhead. >>> Denis MacShane* | Monday, February 16, 2009

*Denis MacShane, MP, is a former Minister for Europe and the author of Globalising Hatred: the New Anti-Semitism (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

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Menschenhandel: Nigerias brutale Geschäfte mit wehrlosen Babys
In Nigeria ist Babyhandel ein einträgliches Geschäft. Brutale Menschenhändler scheuen nicht davor zurück, Schwangere einzusperren, um ihnen die Neugeborenen wegnehmen zu können. Der Verkauf der Babys an Sklaven- und Adoptionshändler bringt gutes Geld. Manche Kinder werden gar Opfer von Ritualmorden.

Babys werden in Nigeria oft verkauft. Foto dank der Welt
Es ist heiß. Heiß und still. Irgendwie gehört das zusammen. Je heißer es wird, desto stiller ist es in den Außenbezirken der südnigerianischen Provinzstadt Enugu. Grace läuft langsam. "Komm", sagt sie und zeigt auf den Eingang ihres einfachen Hauses. Die Holztür quietscht. Drinnen ist es dunkel, das einzige Fenster wird mit einem blauen Tuch notdürftig abgehängt. Die Dunkelheit bringt Abkühlung und die Enge des Raumes Nähe. Letztere braucht man, wenn man mit einer Frau darüber redet, wie sie ihr eigenes Baby an einen Menschenhändler verkauft hat. "Ich wurde vergewaltigt und dann schwanger", sagt Grace Ejird leise.

Sie ist 22 Jahre alt und Absolventin eines Wirtschaftsstudiums. Eine schlanke Frau mit herbem Gesicht und breitem Lächeln, das sie fast hübsch aussehen lässt. Grace lebt bei ihren Eltern, ist unverheiratet. "An meine Eltern konnte ich mich nicht wenden, also bin ich zu einem Arzt gegangen", erzählt sie aus der Zeit, als sie die Schwangerschaft entdeckte. "Hier in Nigeria ist das nämlich so: Wenn man eine junge Frau mit einem Baby sieht und sie nicht verheiratet ist, dann geht man ihr aus dem Weg. Alleinerziehende Mütter sind eine Schande. Sie sind nichts mehr wert, weil kein Mann sie je heiraten wird." >>> Von Nicole Macheroux-Denault | Montag, 16. Februar 2009

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Pakistan: la charia impose sa loi dans la vallée du Swat
LIBÉRATION.fr: Le gouvernement local et un leader religieux proche des talibans ont signé un accord en ce sens ce lundi. Un accord qui doit permettre de prolonger le cessez-le-feu actuel.

La charia sera la loi dans la vallée du Swat, dans le nord-ouest du Pakistan. C’est le résultat des négociations entre le gouvernement local et des leaders islamistes, en conflit depuis plusieurs mois. Ce dimanche, les talibans pakistanais de la zone avaient annoncé un cessez-le-feu unilatéral de dix jours… qui pouvait être prolongé en cas d’application de la loi islamique.

«Un accord a été signé entre le gouvernement de la province de la Frontière du Nord-Ouest (NWFP) et le maulana Soofi Mohammed», un leader religieux proche des talibans, a déclaré à la presse à Peshawar le ministre provincial de l’Information, Mian Iftikhar Hussain. «Toutes les lois contraires à la charia seront abolies et la justice sera appliquée en vertu de la charia.»

Cet accord est applicable au district de Malakand, dans lequel est située la vallée de Swat, autrefois le site touristique le plus prisé du Pakistan, avant de tomber aux mains des talibans pakistanais, que l’armée tente de repousser depuis l’été. La vallée de Swat est tombée sous le contrôle des talibans du maulana Fazlullah, le gendre de Soofi Mohammed, à l’automne 2007. >>> AFP | Lundi 16 Février 2009

TIMES ONLINE: Sharia Imposed on Northwest Pakistan in Deal with Taleban

Public flogging is an everyday occurrence when ruled by Shar’ah law. The photo of this public flogging courtesy of The Times
The Pakistan Government has agreed to impose Islamic law across much of northwest Pakistan in an attempt to pacify a spreading Taleban insurgency.

The decision was announced after talks with a banned pro-Taleban group from the Swat Valley, a former tourist haven in the northwest where extremists have gained sway through beheadings and burning girls' schools.

Government officials said that laws that do not comply with Islamic texts have been suspended in Malakand region, which includes Swat, effective from today. >>> Jenny Booth | Monday, February 16, 2009

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Die Macht der Worte: Wie kann man mit Reden die Welt bewegen?
Foto von Usama bin Ladin dank der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung
NZZ am Sonntag: Die grossen Volksverführer der Geschichte haben es vorgemacht. Usama bin Ladin ist einer von ihnen. Jetzt wird sein Tonarchiv aus Afghanistan in Kalifornien untersucht.

Fünf Jahre hört Flagg Miller schon seine Stimme. Immer wieder dieser sonore Klang, Wiederholungen ohne Höhen und Tiefen, wie sie um Vertrauen wirbt, wie sie einlullt, anzieht. Wüsste Usama bin Ladin, dass dieser Amerikaner seine Tonbänder nummeriert und analysiert, wäre der Kaida-Chef vielleicht gerührt.

«Ein Junge stürzt sich in den Rauch des Kriegs, lächelnd, er lehnt sich vor, färbt die Klingen der Lanzen rot, auf dass Gott meine Augen davor bewahre, die wichtigsten Menschen aus dem Blick zu verlieren», dichtet bin Ladin. Arabische Poesie über die Kämpfe des Propheten Mohammed verknüpft er mit Ereignissen der Gegenwart. Mekka und Medina werden mit Jalalabad und Kandahar verbunden, der Krieg in Afghanistan im 20. Jahrhundert mit der Befreiung der Arabischen Halbinsel von christlichen Invasoren aus Äthiopien im 6. Jahrhundert verglichen.

1459 Tonbänder

Wenn er sich nicht mit bin Ladin befasst, steht Flagg Miller in einem fensterlosen Seminarraum der University of California in Davis. Er spricht über Al Qutb, den Begründer des islamistischen Fundamentalismus, und über Sufismus. Gegenüber, im Frauenzentrum, werden «Die Vagina-Monologe» aufgeführt, um die Ecke bietet ein «lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender resource center» seine Dienste an. Im neunten Stock der Sproul Hall, die an einen Getreidesilo erinnert, sitzt Miller am Tonband, mit dem Fuss bedient er die Pausentaste und hackt Transkriptionen in sein MacBook. Draussen sind Getreidefelder zu sehen, Plantagen mit biologisch gezogenen Mandarinenbäumen, Pferdeweiden, dort, wo früher Prärie war und die Goldsucher nach Sacramento zogen. Ein Amtrak-Zug schnauft auf dem Weg nach San Francisco durch die Stadt.

In Davis leben 60 000 Einwohner, die Hälfte sind Studenten. Zigarettenstummel liegen hier nicht unnötig lange auf der Strasse herum. Zweimal pro Woche treffen sich die «overeaters anonymous». Wenn Flagg Miller in der verkehrsberuhigten Stadt Velo fährt, trägt er einen Helm.

Meist ist der Blonde aber mit bin Ladin allein. Der 41-Jährige aus Kansas lebte als Austauschschüler in Tunesien, lernte Arabisch in Syrien und in Jemen. Er liebt Arabisch. >>> Von Christoph Plate | Sonntag, 15. Februar 2009

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Hugo Chavez Wins Right to Seek Re-election Indefinitely
THE TELEGRAPH: President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has won the right to stand for re-election indefinitely after a vote to scrap term limits on elected posts was passed.

Photo of Hugo Chávez courtesy of leJDD.fr
Chavez, a flamboyant Socialist and former paratrooper, celebrated victory with crowds of red-clad supporters and said he intended to stand for a third term in 2012.

Previously, the president was allowed only two consecutive terms, which would have forced Chavez to step down at the end of his second mandate in 2013.

Speaking to cheering supporters on Sunday from the balcony of his Miraflores palace, he said: "The doors of the future are wide open.

"In 2012 there will be presidential elections for the 2013-2019 period and, unless God has planned something else, unless the people have planned something else, this soldier is now a pre-candidate for the Republic's presidency."

Chavez - who is popular with the country's poor for his oil-funded health care and education programs - has ruled for 10 years.

He is blamed by a vocal opposition for rising crime, corruption and inflation and will now have to tackle the effects of the global downturn on Venezuela's oil-based economy. >>> | Monday, February 16, 2009

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Meet Ayaan Hirsi Ali

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What Will Clooney’s Next Move Be? Taking the Shahada?
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: With her good looks and glossy aura, Fatima Bhutto, the bright new star of a revered political dynasty is causing quite a stir in both Hollywood and her own troubled country.

Photo of Fatima Bhutto, George Clooney’s latest flame, courtesy of The Telegraph
Fresh from an ill-fated entanglement with a Las Vegas cocktail waitress, George Clooney, Hollywood’s Armani-suited Renaissance Man-on-call, is reported to have fallen for 26-year-old Fatima Bhutto, the new star of Pakistan’s greatest political dynasty. Across the sub-continent the excitement spread like Valentine’s Weekend wildfire. And why not? George is radical, Fatima is chic. It has to work out this time.

For while George has been the subject of more Random Couple Alerts than almost anyone else in showbusiness, the signs are unmistakable that, at 47, greying, childless and possibly losing his vogue, he is ready to settle down. He has done all the liberal cause-mongering an actor of his stature could reasonably do, and with his hero Obama safely in the White House (“the best candidate there has ever been,” he said), it was time to turn his attention to international affairs.

Nowhere could they be stickier than in Pakistan, where Fatima, niece of the assassinated former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, enjoys a reputation as the smartest and most glamorous of her extended, perma-feuding clan. The pair are said to have met last year at a conference (George goes to them in his capacity as a United Nations Messenger of Peace, Fatima as a journalist) and agreed to keep in touch. When he broke up with shapely waitress Sarah Larson, 30, late last summer, his interest in Fatima apparently began to grow.

“He’s still out there with his usual assortment of Hollywood eye-candy hanging from his arm,” claimed the American magazine which first reported the romance, “but George insists those days could be coming to an end if Fatima wants to take their relationship to the next level and spend some serious time with him in the US.” >>> By William Langley | Sunday, February 15, 2009

YOUTUBE: Fatima Bhutto Speaks


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Dutch Lawmaker Banned from UK to Take Anti-Koran Film on 'World Tour'
HAARETZ: In response to his expulsion from Britain, Dutch legislator Geert Wilders announced yesterday he is taking his controversial film on Islam on "a world tour" - beginning next week with Rome.

On Thursday, British immigration officers detained Wilders at Heathrow Airport and put him on a plane back to the Netherlands. This was done under orders from the Home Office, whose officials said Wilders' presence would disrupt public order.

"This event [in Rome] is part of the 'Facing Jihad' world tour that will serve to expose Islam for what it is, an ideology that preaches terrorism, anti-Semitism and the oppression of women, homosexuals and non-Muslims," Wilders said.

Wilders - who heads the Party for Freedom, a rightist movement of nine seats in parliament - had been invited to show his 17-minute film "Fitna," which he released last year, at the House of Lords in London before being turned back.

In the text of a speech he had intended to deliver at the House of Lords, obtained by Haaretz, Wilders wrote: "Britannia rules the waves, and Islam will never rule Britain, so I was confident the Border Agency would let me through. After all, you have invited stranger creatures than me. Two years ago the House of Commons welcomed Mahmoud Suliman Ahmed Abu Rideh, linked to Al Qaeda.

"If you let in this man, then an elected politician from a fellow EU country surely is welcome here too. By letting me speak today you show that Winston Churchill's spirit is still very much alive," he added. >>> By Cnaan Liphshitz | Friday, February 13, 2009

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Doesn’t This Image Show Exactly What Is Wrong with the Decadent West?
Photo of Peaches Geldof courtsey of MAIL Online
MAIL Online: 19, Peaches Geldof has already packed a lot into her brief life.

But if she goes on recording every twist and turn on her body she may soon run out of space.

Bob Geldof's wild child daughter has already notched up a 20-odd collection of tattoos on her fresh frame - many of them references to friends and lovers.

Last week, they were on full display as she enjoyed the sun and sea on a holiday in South America.

Among the pieces of 'art' is a daisy chain which stretches from her knee to her chest. But other works are dedicated to ex-boyfriends and the teenager's estranged husband Max Drummey.

The words 'Ex Valentine' around the top of her left arm are understood to be a reference to old flame Faris Badwan, frontman with The Horrors. Body Image: Peaches Cavorts Topless on Beach to Reveal More Than 20 Bizarre Tattoos >>> By Jo Clements | Sunday, February 15, 2009

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No, Janet, Geert’s Film Was NOT Ugly!
Banning any discussion about the nature of the Koran just plays into the hands of bigots and demagogues, argues Janet Daley.

I had just taken part in a television discussion on the coverage of the Gaza conflict and was now paired up with the driver provided by BBC Transport to take me home. Clearly identifiable from his beard and clothing as a practising Muslim, he led me courteously to his car. On the way back, we chatted about the traffic and the weather, before we got onto the problems of minicab drivers in the recession. I sympathised with the fact that he was finding it harder and harder to make a living: even coming into central London from where he lived (he mentioned a town well known for its fundamentalist Islamic community) was no solution because it used so much petrol. Cab drivers were, I said, always among the first to suffer in financial hard times.

At various points in our exchanges, he expressed curiosity about what I had been debating on the programme and I avoided answering, sensing that the subject might be inflammatory. But finally there was a direct question: what subject had I been discussing? So I told him. And what had I said about it, he asked.

So, as tactfully as I could, I told him. Which opened the floodgates. The problem could never be resolved, he said, because it was a battle between Muslims and Jews which meant that it was between, as he put it, "good and evil". The Jews in Israel, he said, did not follow the faith of Judaism, but of another religion called "Zionism". At this point, I intervened to point out, very gently, that I was Jewish and to suggest that Judaism and Zionism were not actually mutually exclusive. The More We Discuss Religious Differences the Safer We Will Be >>> Janet Daley | Sunday, February 15, 2009

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Israeli Peer Refused Dubai Visa
Shaher Peer has been denied a visa to attend the Dubai Tennis Championships. Photo courtesy of the BBC
Israeli player Shahar Peer has been refused a visa to take part in the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Peer was scheduled to play 15th seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in the $2m event on Monday.

But the WTA Tour said Peer was denied entry into the United Arab Emirates for the tournament, which features all the world's top-10 ranked women's players.

UAE officials have not given a reason for the move, but the country does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

The only Israelis usually allowed into the UAE do so under dual nationality, and the player's brother and spokesman Shlomi Peer confirmed she had been denied a visa. >>> | Sunday, February 15, 2009

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Livni: «Non sarò l'alleata di Netanyahu»
CORRIERE DELLA SERA: La leader di Kadima lo ha scritto in un biglietto a Olmert al Consiglio dei ministri: «Basta fare la numero due»

GERUSALEMME - «Non ho alcuna intenzione di entrare in un governo di unità nazionale guidato da Bibi», vale a dire Benyamin Netanyahu. Tzipi Livni, leader di Kadima, non usa mezzi termini. Durante il Consiglio dei ministri, ha scritto un bigliettino al premier Ehud Olmert. Il foglio è stato inquadrato da una cinepresa: «Non accennare a quella idea» ha aggiunto la vincitrice (per pochissimo) delle elezioni legislative di tre giorni fa, allontanando così l'ipotesi di un governo di unità nazionale. Quindi ha messo in guardia il premier dal dar voce a idee che «non rappresentano le posizioni di Kadima». >>> | Domenica 15 febbraio 2009

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No Bonuses for Bankers Says David Cameron
David Cameron, the Conservative leader, has said that there should be no bonuses this year for senior staff at banks in which the Government holds a stake.


THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: He was speaking after The Sunday Telegraph disclosed that Lloyds Banking Group has drawn up plans to pay about £120 million in bonuses to staff even as it teeters on the brink of majority state ownership.

Sources close to Lloyds said the bank had drafted the bonus proposals and was "in consultation" about them with UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the Treasury body that owns a 43 per cent stake in the bank.

The revelations follow the disclosure last week that Royal Bank of Scotland, almost 70 per cent of which is owned by the taxpayer, was looking to pay staff as much as £1 billion in bonuses this year.

Mr Cameron said bonuses in future years should be paid in shares in the banks which can be cashed in only when it has entirely repaid the support it has received from the taxpayer.

He said he had no objection to bonuses of £1,000-£2,000 to low-ranking employees who have met targets and do not share the blame for the current financial crisis.

But the Tory leader told BBC1's The Politics Show: "For these banks that are owned by the taxpayer, or where the taxpayer has a large stake, it is completely wrong to be paying bonuses."

Mr Cameron said he raised the issue with Gordon Brown at the time of the banking bail-out in October, but the Prime Minister had been "asleep on the job". >>> By Duncan Gardham and Mark Kleinman | Sunday, February 15, 2009

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown Must Go, Says HBOS Whistleblower Paul Moore

Paul Moore, the bank whistleblower whose revelations forced the resignation of a senior Government adviser, has called for Prime Minister Gordon Brown to go for his part in creating the financial crisis.

Mr Moore, who was sacked after raising concerns over excessive risk-taking at HBOS, said Mr Brown should be "held accountable for his failure to oversee the stability of the country".

Following his explosive evidence to the Commons Treasury Committee last week, Mr Moore said he is planning to send the MPs a further dossier of 30 documents which will point the finger of blame for the bust at Mr Brown.

After Mr Moore's revelations forced the resignation of the deputy chairman of the Financial Services Authority Sir James Crosby, Mr Brown told another parliamentary committee that HBOS's massive losses - estimated at more than £10 billion - were caused not by Government policy but by the bank's flawed business model.

But Mr Moore, who was head of risk at HBOS from 2002 to 2005, today told the Independent on Sunday: "The failure goes right to the heart of the system - to the internal supervisory system and right to the top of government.

"Brown must go. He cannot remain in office. >>> | Sunday, February 15, 2009

THE SUNDAY TIMES: Ministers Take Tougher Line on Bank Bonuses

Ministers and the Opposition hardened their line against bank bonuses today amid suggestions that Lloyds intended to go ahead with payouts worth £120m this year.

Tony McNulty, Employment Minister, said that any bank employee who had responsibility for the disastrous business model adopted by the banks should "not get a penny". Junior staff should be able to get between £1,000 and £2,000, he said, but anyone with a significant involvement in the business model should be paid nothing extra at all. >>> Philip Webster, Political Editor, and Jenny Booth | Sunday, February 15, 2009

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Undercover Fashion in Iran

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’The Most Beautiful Women in the World’

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Mode in Iran

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Pat Condell: A Word to Islamofascists

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Pat Condell: Pimping for Jesus – A Look Back at the US Election

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US Military Will Offer Path to Citizenship
NEW YORK TIMES: Stretched thin in Afghanistan and Iraq, the American military will begin recruiting skilled immigrants who are living in this country with temporary visas, offering them the chance to become United States citizens in as little as six months.

Immigrants who are permanent residents, with documents commonly known as green cards, have long been eligible to enlist. But the new effort, for the first time since the Vietnam War, will open the armed forces to temporary immigrants if they have lived in the United States for a minimum of two years, according to military officials familiar with the plan.

Recruiters expect that the temporary immigrants will have more education, foreign language skills and professional expertise than many Americans who enlist, helping the military to fill shortages in medical care, language interpretation and field intelligence analysis.

“The American Army finds itself in a lot of different countries where cultural awareness is critical,” said Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, the top recruitment officer for the Army, which is leading the pilot program. “There will be some very talented folks in this group.” >>> By Julia Preston | Saturday, February 14, 2009

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le Pentagone va recruter des étrangers en leur offrant la citoyenneté

ETATS-UNIS | Le Pentagone va recruter parmi les immigrés hautement qualifiés présents sur le sol américain mais n'ayant pas le statut de résident permanent, leur offrant un accès privilégié à la nationalité américaine, a rapporté dimanche le New York Times.

Les étrangers ayant le statut de résident permanent, ou les titulaires de la "green card" (permis de travail sans restriction de temps), avaient déjà la possibilité de travailler pour le Pentagone mais c'est la première fois depuis la guerre du Vietnam que les portes de l'armée s'ouvrent aux étrangers disposant de visas provisoires (et à condition qu'ils soient aux Etats-Unis depuis au moins deux ans), a expliqué le quotidien new-yorkais. >>> AFP | Dimanche 15 Février 2009

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Religious Divide Drives Bikie War
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: AN ANCIENT religious enmity is at the centre of a new conflict in the Sydney bikie scene, with a new gang comprised mainly of Sunni Muslims warring with a group of bikies with a Shiite Muslim background. >>> Dylan Welch, Police Reporter | Monday, February 16, 2009

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Hindus in Valentine's Day Attack on Lovers
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Valentine's Day in India has been marred by a spate of attacks on young couples as Hindu radicals battle what they claim are foreign influences corrupting Indian culture.

Six men from the Hindu group, Shiv Sena, were arrested in Agra, the home to the Taj Mahal, after they cut the hair of overtly romantic couples in a park on Valentine's Day.

In Pune, western India, two couples were stopped by activists from the same group and forced to "marry" on the spot by exchanging flower garlands. Five more members of Shiv Sena were arrested in Delhi for threatening couples.

In the central Indian city of Ujjain, a mob of Hindu fanatics beat a brother and sister they mistook for a couple displaying affection. Meanwhile activists blackened the faces of many couples they said were behaving inappropriately in the cities of Aurangabad and Bijnaur.

Valentine's Day has recently become hugely popular in India but public shows of affection are still considered taboo by many.
Hindu mobs were not the only ones targeting couples on Valentine's Day. A policeman in the northern state of Haryana was caught on camera attacking a female college student accused of being "involved in immoral activities". The graphic video showed the officer, Molla Ram, repeatedly spinning a woman around by the hair. He was later suspended.

The Valentine's Day violence comes amid a "culture wars" debate over the influence of foreign culture in India. >>> Matt Wade in New Delhi | Monday, February 16, 2009

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Obama Disses Brits, Will Media Miss?
NEWSBUSTERS: Barack Obama loves Lincoln. It seems not a day goes by that he isn't quoting the Civil War icon or comparing himself to that great man. But it looks like we are finding one great leader that Barack Obama doesn't like so much: Winston Churchill.

It appears that President Obama is dissing the Brit's most famous and stalwart leader by quickly returning the most famous bust of the man loaned to this country by the United Kingdom in the aftermath of 9//11. The return of the bust of Churchill flustered the British government because they didn't ask for it to be returned. Our best ally was nonplussed and even quickly told Obama he could keep it in the Oval Office where Bush had displayed the piece of art. Obama told them no thanks which made the Brits even more amazed.

So, Barack Obama, the man that would "fix" our "bad image" with the rest of the world, we were told by the media, has just dissed Churchill after only a month in office? And, according to one of the only stories I can find on this incident, the British government has been made nervous about the relationship between England and the U.S. because of the casual return of their generously loaned Churchill bust. >>> By Warner Todd Huston | Sunday, February 15, 2009

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