Egypt Bans 'Blasphemous' Magazine
BBC: An Egyptian court has withdrawn the publishing licence of a monthly magazine, Ibdaa (Creativity), because it carried a "blasphemous" poem.

In its ruling the court said the poem, printed two years ago, had included "expressions that insulted God".

Egyptian courts have in the past convicted individuals or groups of people in blasphemy cases.

But correspondents say that it is unusual for a magazine to have its licence withdrawn.

The offending poem, On the balcony of Leila Murad, by Egyptian poet Hilmi Salem, was published in the small circulation magazine in 2007.

The court's ruling said: "Freedom of press... should be used responsibly and not touch on the basic foundations of Egyptian society, and family, religion and morals." [Source: BBC] Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Gay Rights Groups Celebrate Victories in Marriage Push
THE NEW YORK TIMES: MONTPELIER, Vt. — Gay-rights groups say that momentum from back-to-back victories on same-sex marriage in Vermont and Iowa could spill into other states, particularly since at least nine other legislatures are considering measures this year to allow marriage between gay couples.

The Vermont Legislature on Tuesday overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’s veto of a bill allowing gay couples to marry, mustering one more vote than needed to preserve the measure.

The step makes Vermont the first state to allow same-sex marriage through legislative action instead of a court ruling, and comes less than a week after the Iowa Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages in that state. >>> By Abby Goodnough | Tuesday, April 7, 2009

THE INDEPENDENT: White House Invites Gay Families to Easter Egg Roll

The White House is allocating tickets for the upcoming Easter Egg Roll to gay and lesbian parents as part of the Obama administration's outreach to diverse communities.

Families say the gesture shows that the new Democratic administration values them as equal to other families. And for many, being included in the annual tradition — dating to 1878 — renews hope that they will have more support in their quest for equal rights in matters such as marriage and adoption than under the previous administration. >>> AP | Wednesday, April 8, 2009

THE NEW YORK TIMES: New Dark Age Alert! Iraq’s Newly Open Gays Face Scorn and Murder

“The people [gay men and lesbians] should be killed in the worst, most severe way of killing.” – most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
BAGHDAD — The relative freedom of a newly democratic Iraq and the recent improvement in security have allowed a gay subculture to flourish here. The response has been swift and deadly.

In the past two months, the bodies of as many as 25 boys and men suspected of being gay have turned up in the huge Shiite enclave of Sadr City, the police and friends of the dead say. Most have been shot, some multiple times. Several have been found with the word “pervert” in Arabic on notes attached to their bodies, the police said.

“Three of my closest friends have been killed during the past two weeks alone,” said Basim, 23, a hairdresser. “They had been planning to go to a cafe away from Sadr City because we don’t feel safe here, but they killed them on the way. I had planned to go with them, but fortunately I didn’t.”

Basim, who preferred to be called “Basima” — the feminine version of his name — wears his hair long for Iraq. It falls to just below the ear. His ears are pierced, uncommon for Iraqi males. White makeup covers his face, a popular look for gay men in Sadr City who say they prefer light skin.

Though risky, his look is one result of the overall calm here that has allowed Iraqis to enjoy freedoms unthinkable two years ago: A growing number of women walk the streets unveiled, a few even daring to wear dresses above the knee. Families gather in parks for cookouts, and more people have begun to venture out at night.

But that has not changed the reality that Iraq remains religious, conservative — and still violent. The killers, the police say, are not just Shiite death squads, but also tribal and family members shamed by their gay relatives. (And the recent spate of violence has seemed aimed at more openly gay men, rather than homosexuality generally.)

Clerics in Sadr City have urged followers to help root out homosexuality in Iraqi society, and the police have begun their own crackdown on gay men. >>> By Timothy Williams and Tareq Maher | Reporting was contributed by Sam Dagher, Rod Nordland, Steven Lee Myers, Anwar J. Ali, Riyadh Mohammed and Campbell Robertson | Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Iran Charges U.S. Journalist With Espionage
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: TEHRAN, Iran -- An Iranian-American journalist detained in Tehran has been charged with espionage, her lawyer said Wednesday.

Roxana Saberi has been informed of the charges against her, her lawyer Abdolsamad Khorramshahi told the Associated Press, without providing any further details.

"Yes, Saberi has been charged with espionage," he said.

The charges against her come two days after her parents visited their daughter in prison. The couple from North Dakota met Ms. Saberi for half an hour at the prison where she is being held -- the first time they had spoken to her since she called them on Feb. 10 to say she had been arrested.

The 31-year-old U.S.-born journalist has reported for the BBC, NPR and other media. She was arrested in late January. Iranian officials said at the time that she was working in the Islamic Republic with expired press credentials. >>> Copyright © 2009 Associated Press | Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: WASHINGTON -- Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials.

The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls. The intruders haven't sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war.

"The Chinese have attempted to map our infrastructure, such as the electrical grid," said a senior intelligence official. "So have the Russians."

The espionage appeared pervasive across the U.S. and doesn't target a particular company or region, said a former Department of Homeland Security official. "There are intrusions, and they are growing," the former official said, referring to electrical systems. "There were a lot last year."

Many of the intrusions were detected not by the companies in charge of the infrastructure but by U.S. intelligence agencies, officials said. Intelligence officials worry about cyber attackers taking control of electrical facilities, a nuclear power plant or financial networks via the Internet.

Authorities investigating the intrusions have found software tools left behind that could be used to destroy infrastructure components, the senior intelligence official said. He added, "If we go to war with them, they will try to turn them on." >>> By Siobhan Gorman —Rebecca Smith contributed to this article | Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Hussein Returns Home from the Grand Tour Empty-handed
THE TELEGRAPH: The US President has to explain why he is sending more troops into Afghanistan and his Nato allies won't, says Irwin Stelzer

Fugedaboutit. For those of you who don't speak New York, that's "forget about it", the most emphatic of the negatives in a New Yorker's repertoire. But it has nothing like the power to influence events that the "non", "nein" and "no" that capped Barack Obama's tour of Europe have. It is one thing to attract a crowd in Berlin, a city in which politicians have historically been successful in attracting mass audiences, or to wow several hundred adolescents in Strasbourg and thousands of adults in Prague with talk of a nuclear-free world, and quite another to get the elected representatives of those crowds to shoulder a fair share of the burden of the fight against Islamist terrorists.

The leaders of Europe came naked to the Nato meeting last weekend, shorn of the cover provided by Bush-hatred. As the American commentator Robert Kagan puts it: "George W Bush did the Europeans a great favour by giving them the best excuse for inaction in transatlantic history." Europe's leaders have always claimed they would co-operate with America in all things, were it not for that toxic Texan with his unilateralist belief in spreading democracy and free markets.

Well, George W Bush is safely back in Texas, Barack Obama wants to listen as well as lead, and Michelle Obama, after a touchy-feely visit with the Queen, proved to have more crowd-appeal than Carla Bruni. One astute observer told me that British and European crowds "went weak-kneed in the presence of the Obamas". But popularity on the streets means little in the conference room.

At the Nato meetings, "weak-kneed" took on an added meaning – no significant permanent deployment of fighting troops to aid the Americans. Obama was prepared for the turn-down, although he did harbour the illusion that in the end Gordon Brown would come up with more than a few poll-watchers. After all, the President had gone out of his way to sprinkle some of his stardust on the embattled Prime Minister. Unfortunately, Obama had not been briefed by Tony Blair on Brown's capacity for gratitude.

Turkey was a somewhat better stopover for the travelling President, who had no specific requests that could be turned down. The persistently fawning New York Times reported that the President was "showing more self-confidence each day on his maiden overseas trip as President", although how Obama could show more self-confidence than he already has is difficult to imagine: this is a man confident in self to a point that is slightly unnerving.

Obama had won favour with European audiences by proclaiming that America has shown inadequate respect for Europe's accomplishments. So he carried his I-am-not-George-Bush campaign to Ankara by implying that the US bears responsibility for "the difficulties of these last few years" between Muslim countries and America. No need to mention the World Trade Centre, Khobar Towers, the USS Cole or his support in the Senate for labelling as "genocide" the killing of Armenian Christians by Ottoman Turks. More politic to support Turkey's application for membership in the EU, despite a mind-your-own-business warning from President Sarkozy, who earlier agreed to accept one – yes, one – of the 245 Guantánamo detainees because that is "what being allies is about".

After having spent an entire presidential campaign playing down his full name and early years, the President had himself introduced to the Turkish parliament as Barack Hussein Obama, and pointed out that "Many other Americans have Muslims in their family, or have lived in a Muslim-majority country. I know, because I am one of them." This, on the heels of his deep bow to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (the Queen of England merited what can at best be described as a deferential nod). There is more to come: the President will soon travel to an as yet unnamed Muslim country to deliver a major speech laying out his views on Islam. President Barack Obama Is Going Home with Non, Nein and No Ringing in His Ears >>> By Irwin Stelzer | Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Tony Blair Tells the Pope: You're Wrong on Homosexuality
TIMESONLINE: Tony Blair has challenged the “entrenched” attitudes of the Pope on homosexuality, and argued that it is time for him to “rethink” his views.

Speaking to the gay magazine Attitude, the former Prime Minister, himself now a Roman Catholic, said that he wanted to urge religious figures everywhere to reinterpret their religious texts to see them as metaphorical, not literal, and suggested that in time this would make all religious groups accept gay people as equals.

Asked about the Pope’s stance, Mr Blair blamed generational differences and said: “We need an attitude of mind where rethinking and the concept of evolving attitudes becomes part of the discipline with which you approach your religious faith.”

The Pope, who is 82, remains firmly opposed to any relaxation of the Church’s traditional stance on homosexuality, contraception or any other area of human sexuality. He has described homosexuality as a “tendency” towards an “intrinsic moral evil”.

Mr Blair, who now travels the world on behalf of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which aims to promote understanding of the main religions, left the Church of England for Rome soon after leaving office in 2007.

In the interview Mr Blair spoke of a “quiet revolution in thinking” and implied that he believed the Pope to be out of step with the public.

“There are many good and great things the Catholic Church does, and there are many fantastic things this Pope stands for, but I think what is interesting is that if you went into any Catholic Church, particularly a wellattended[sic] one, on any Sunday here and did a poll of the congregation, you’d be surprised at how liberal-minded people were.” The faith of ordinary Catholics is rarely found “in those types of entrenched attitudes”, he said. >>> Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent | Wednesday, April8, 2009

Obama will Beziehungen zur Türkei ausbauen: Präsident bezieht Stellung zum historischen Konflikt mit Armenien
NZZ Online: Präsident Obama setzt zur Überwindung der Kluft zwischen muslimischen Staaten und dem Westen nach eigenen Worten auf die Türkei. Nach einem Gespräch mit dem türkischen Staatspräsidenten Abdullah Gül sagte Obama am Montag in Ankara, die Türkei und die USA könnten eine Modellpartnerschaft zwischen einer christlich und einer muslimisch geprägten Nation aufbauen.

Präsident Barack Obama und Staatspräsident Abdullah Gül. Bild dank der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung
Er sei sich mit Gül darüber einig, dass Terrorismus unter keinen Umständen akzeptabel sei, sagte Obama auf der letzten Station seiner Europareise. Die Beziehungen zwischen der Türkei und den USA hätten sich zu lange auf militärische Fragen und die nationale Sicherheit konzentriert. Beide Seiten müssten aber auch bei der Bekämpfung der Wirtschaftskrise zusammenarbeiten, forderte Obama.

Zum Vorgehen der Osmanen gegen die Armenier zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts bezog Obama klar Stellung, vermied aber eine Wiederholung des Begriffs «Völkermord» wie noch während seines Wahlkampfs. «Meine Ansichten sind offiziell dokumentiert, und ich habe die Ansichten nicht geändert», sagte er.

Historiker gehen davon aus, dass im Osmanischen Reich bis zu 1,5 Millionen Armenier vor und während des Ersten Weltkriegs getötet wurden. In der Türkei wird der Vorwurf des Völkermords jedoch vehement zurückgewiesen. Obama hatte Anfang 2008 erklärt, «der Völkermord an den Armeniern» sei kein Vorwurf oder eine persönliche Meinung, sondern vielmehr eine gut dokumentierte Tatsache.

Am Montag würdigte Obama Güls Teilnahme an Verhandlungen zwischen Armenien und der Türkei. Er wolle diese Gespräche unterstützen und nicht zugunsten einer Seite beeinflussen, sagte der US-Präsident. Sollten beide Länder ihre «schwierige und tragische Geschichte» aufarbeiten können, «sollte das die ganze Welt unterstützen». >>> ap | Montag, 6. April 2009

Prince Charles Attacks Modern Housing Scheme Backed by Qatar Royal Family
THE TELEGRAPH: The Prince of Wales has intervened to try to block a £1 billion modern flats development which is backed by the Qatari royal family.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jaber Jasim al-Thani has been urged by the Prince to reconsider the Chelsea scheme. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
The Prince has written to the Prime Minister of Qatar appealing for him to scrap plans for a modern steel and glass luxury flats scheme, designed by Lord Rogers, at Chelsea barracks. He has proposed instead an alternative, more traditional scheme by one of his favourite architects.

The intervention has put the future King on collision course all over again with the architect Lord Rogers, whose proposed extension of London's National Gallery 25 years ago he memorably described as a "monstrous carbuncle".

Ken Livingstone, the former Mayor of London, however has accused the Prince of trying to circumvent the lawful planning process.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jaber Jasim al-Thani, the prime minister of Qatar - part of the ruling royal family, has been urged by the Prince to reconsider the Chelsea scheme. He has proposed instead, at a classical design by one of Quinlan Terry one of his favourite architects.

In the letter written last month, the Prince urged Qatari Diar, the development arm of the Qatar royal family, to involve him in discussions over the future of the site.

The Prince had already described the Rogers' scheme, headed by the developers Nick and Christian Candy, "unsympathetic" and "unsuitable" for the area. The brothers, with Qatari Diar, bought the site from the Ministry of Defence in May 2006 for almost £1 billion.

Lord Rogers drew up plans for 350 luxury flats on the barracks site. The original scheme was for the apartments to be housed in a series of ' pavilions' rising to ten storeys. But the plans were opposed by the local Belgravia Residents' Association. >>> By Andrew Pierce | Monday, April 6, 2009

President Barack Obama Rejects Allegations that US at War with Islam
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama has declared that "the United States is not and will never be at war with Islam" and spoken of his "deep appreciation for the Islamic faith" in a speech to Turkey's parliament.

The US leader was introduced to the parliament as 'Barack Hussein Obama' . Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
"So let me say this as clearly as I can: the United States is not and will never be at war with Islam," he said.

Many Americans "have lived in a Muslim-majority country – I know, because I am one of them" Obama, on the first stop of a two-day trip to Turkey, his first as president to a Muslim country, said earlier that the U.S. and Turkey can forge a "model partnership" that bridges the religious and cultural divide between the western world and the predominantly Muslim east.

The US leader was introduced to the parliament as "Barack Hussein Obama"

In a speech that celebrated the cultural ties and shared history between American and Turkey, Obama said their alliance has made the world "more secure." He pledged to give U.S. support to combat the "terrorist activities" of the Kurdish separatist movement, the PKK, winning applause from lawmakers. The U.S. is prepared to be a partner to help work through the issue of Armenian massacres in 1915, and "strongly supports" Turkish membership of the European Union, Obama said. >>> By Toby Harnden in Ankara | Monday, April 6, 2009

WATCH GUARDIAN VIDEO:
Our partnership with the Muslim world is critical, says Barack Obama: US president tells Turkish parliament US is not and never will be at war with Islam >>> | Monday, April 6, 2009

TELEGRAPH BLOGS – Iain Martin: Barack Obama Really Does Go On a Bit

Isn't it time for him to go home yet? It is good, in theory, that the new President of the United States is taking so much time to tour Europe. He arrived in London last Tuesday, has been to Strasbourg, Prague yesterday and now he's off to Turkey. It shows, I suppose, that he cares about the outside world and that is 'A Good Thing'. But his long stay means that we are hearing rather a lot from him, way too much in fact.

His speeches have long under-delivered, usually leaving a faintly empty sensation in this listener even though I welcomed, moderately, his victory last year as offering the possibility of a fresh start and a boost to confidence.

Yet, we are told that he is a great orator and in one way he certainly is. He does have a preternatural calm in the spotlight and a mastery of the cadences we associate with the notable speakers in US history - such as JFK and MLK. But beyond that, am I alone in finding him increasingly to be something of a bore?

His performance at the first press conference in London with Gordon Brown featured moments in which he sparkled - his riff on loving the Queen was a high-point. But most of the serious answers that I listened to were interminable, windy and not very impressive. At points there were pauses so long that it appeared he had simply lost his train of thought.

Today, we were treated to another set-piece Obama speech, and my didn't he go on a bit? The crowd in Prague was huge, and initially wildly enthusiastic, but what he served up was not any more impressive than his damp squib in Berlin last year. Is there a computer which churns this stuff out for him? >>>

Prime Minister Objects to ’Moderate Islam’ Label
HÜRRIYET: ANKARA - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rejected attempts to call Turkey the representative of moderate Islam. "It is unacceptable for us to agree with such a definition. Turkey has never been a country to represent such a concept. Moreover, Islam cannot be classified as moderate or not," Erdoğan said, speaking at Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies late Thursday.

Erdoğan’s statements came only days before the visit of U.S President Barack Obama whose administration signaled a dramatic shift from George W. Bush in identifying Turkey as a moderate Islamic country. U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had praised Turkey as "a democratic country with a secular constitution" during her visit to Ankara in March. In his speech, "Alliance of Civilizations and Turkey’s role," Erdoğan pointed to the lack of dialogue between different religions and cultures, which has led to distressing incidents in the world history.

"The animosity, unfortunately, strengthens the scenarios that there is a so-called clash of civilizations in the world. Those, who defend such speculations, may go further to identify the terrorism with Islam which is based on peace," he maintained, adding that the situation helps those who try to globalize Islamophobia.

Erdoğan also wanted Western societies to be more open to cooperation and dialogue with the East. "It should be known that adopting a malicious and offending approach toward the sensitive issues of Islamic world by hiding behind some democratic freedoms like freedom of speech and right of free publication is unacceptable," he said.

Drawing attention to the importance of mutual understanding and respect, Erdoğan stated that he believes and respects Moses and Jesus, and accepts them as prophets. "I expect the same attitude from a Jew or a Christian toward my own prophet," Erdoğan noted. He underlined the importance of Turkey’s European Union membership in terms of establishing connections between the West and the East. >>> | Monday, April 6, 2009

Obama, Sarkozy and Turkey’s Accession to the Union

Italian Earthquake: At Least 16 Dead and Thousands Displaced
THE TELEGRAPH: A strong earthquake in central Italy's Abruzzo region has killed at least 16 people, including five children, and left thousands displaced, according to officials.

Deadly earthquake strikes Italy
Italian media reported at least 30 people were missing and several had been injured when buildings collpased during the powwerful quake.

An Italian civil protection official told the BBC that between 3,000 and 10,000 buildings may have been damaged by the earthquake.

Massimo Cialente, mayor of Abruzzo capital L'Aquila, said around 100,000 people had left their homes as a result of the damage. >>> | Monday, April 6, 2009

Obama Should Keep His Nose Out of Europe’s Affairs
BBC: US President Barack Obama has arrived in Turkey on a two-day visit, after giving his support to Ankara's efforts to join the European Union.

He said Turkey's accession to the EU would send an important signal to the Muslim world and firmly anchor the country in Europe.

But French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it was up to the EU itself to decide who joined the bloc. Obama Backs Turkey EU Accession >>> | Sunday, April 5, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama Arrives in Turkey on Last Stop of European Tour

President Barack Obama has arrived in Turkey on the last stop of his maiden tour to Europe, hours after he urged the European Union to accept the country as a full member.

Air Force One touched down at Ankara's Esenboga airport at around 9.10pm local time in what was Obama's first trip to a majority Muslim nation since becoming president in January.

The president arrived direct from an EU summit in Prague where he endorsed Turkey's accession to the bloc, despite opposition from French President Nicolas Sarkozy and guarded remarks from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Obama told EU leaders: "The United States and Europe must approach Muslims as our friends, neighbours and partners in fighting injustice, intolerance and violence, forging a relationship based on mutual respect and mutual interests. Moving forward toward Turkish membership in the EU would be an important signal of your commitment to this agenda and ensure that we continue to anchor Turkey firmly in Europe." >>> By Alastair Jamieson | Monday, April 6, 2009

TIMESONLINE: Leave Turkey’s Bid to Join EU to Us, Nicolas Sarkozy Warns Barack Obama

The love-in between Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama proved short-lived after the French President warned his US counterpart yesterday to keep his nose out of the issue of Turkey’s membership of the European Union.

President Obama used his first EU-US summit, on the eve of his visit to Turkey, to encourage European leaders to embrace the Muslim country and “anchor it in Europe”. However, Mr Sarkozy, a long-standing opponent of full membership for Turkey, rebuffed the US leader in language that seemed to sour the revival of Franco-US relations.

Support for Turkey in joining the EU, a process that it began formally in 2005 and hopes to complete before 2020, has long been an American foreign policy goal.

Mr Obama, who flew to Turkey last night, clearly wanted to leave on a positive note. He told EU leaders: “The United States and Europe must approach Muslims as our friends, neighbours and partners in fighting injustice, intolerance and violence.

“Moving forward towards Turkish membership in the EU would be an important signal of your commitment to this agenda and ensure that we continue to anchor Turkey firmly in Europe.”

Mr Sarkozy, who has talked of offering Turkey a privileged partnership rather than membership, did not wait to hit back. “I have been working hand in hand with President Obama but when it comes to the European Union it is up to member states of the European Union to decide [on membership],” Mr Sarkozy said in an interview on French television. “I have always been opposed to this entry and I remain opposed,” he added.

His comments laid bare the continuing EU split over Turkish membership, with France and Austria openly opposed and deep reservations in Germany and the Netherlands. Turkey would become the most populous EU country and Germany in particular is said to have concerns about the shift in power that this would cause, with the largest number of MEPs coming from Turkey, along with strong voting rights in European Council decisions. >>> David Charter in Prague | Monday, April 6, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Mecca Mosques 'Wrongly Aligned’
BBC: Some 200 mosques in Islam's holiest city, Mecca, point the wrong way for prayers, reports from Saudi Arabia say.

All mosques have a niche showing the direction of the most sacred Islamic site, the Kaaba, an ancient cube-like building in Mecca's Grand Mosque.

But people looking down from recently built high-rises in Mecca found the niches in many older mosques were not pointing directly towards the Kaaba.

Some worshippers are said to be anxious about the validity of their prayers.

There have been suggestions that laser beams could be used to make an exact measurement.

Tawfik al-Sudairy, Islamic affairs ministry deputy secretary, downplayed the problem in remarks quoted by the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat.

"There are no major errors but corrections have been made for some old mosques, thanks to modern techniques," he said.

"In any case, it does not affect the prayers." >>> | Sunday, April 5, 2009

Wine Thrives in Muslim Morocco
Image: Google Images
ASSOCIATED PRESS: MEKNES, Morocco — The gently rolling hills planted thick with vineyards are an unlikely sight for a Muslim country partly set in the deserts and palms of North Africa. Yet the grapes, and the wine they produce, are thriving in Morocco despite Islam's ban on alcohol consumption.

Morocco has become one of the largest winemakers in the Muslim world, with the equivalent of 35 million bottles produced last year. Wine brings the state millions in sales tax, even though Islam appears to be on the rise politically.

"Morocco is a country of tolerance," said Mehdi Bouchaara, the deputy general manager at the Celliers de Meknes, the country's largest winemaker, which bottles over 85 percent of national output. "It's everybody's personal choice whether to drink or not."

The Celliers have flourished on this tolerance. The firm now cultivates 2,100 hectares (5,189 acres) of vineyards, bottling anything from entry-level table wine to homemade champagne and even a high-end claret, Chateau Roslane, aged in a vaulted cellar packed with oak barrels imported from France. The winery now dwarfs virtually any other producer in Europe.

On paper, wine is "Haram," or forbidden to Muslims. But Bouchaara said the firm's distribution is all legal since it only sells to traders authorized by the state, who in turn officially sell exclusively to non-Muslim tourists.

Statistics, however, show that Moroccans consume on average 1 liter (a quarter of a gallon) of wine per person each year, and the Moroccan state itself is the largest owner of the country's 12,000 hectares (29,652 acres) of vineyards.

The paradox illustrates Morocco's delicate balancing act.

The fast-modernizing country thrives on tourism and trade with Europe, but its people remain deeply conservative. The country's ruler, King Mohammed VI, is also "commander of the believers" and protector of the faith. Islamists authorized to take part in politics are the second-largest force in parliament, while support for non-authorized groups is believed to be even larger. >>> By Alfred de Montesquiou | Sunday, April 5, 2009

Obama in Turkey for First Visit to Muslim Country
REUTERS: ANKARA - U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in NATO member Turkey on Sunday in his first visit as president to a Muslim country.

Obama's visit, on the last leg of an eight-day trip that marks his debut as president on the world stage, is a recognition of the secular but predominantly Muslim country's growing clout and Washington's desire for its help to solve confrontations and conflicts from Iran to Afghanistan.

U.S.-Turkish relationship suffered badly in 2003 when Ankara opposed the invasion of Iraq. But Obama will seek help from Turkey as he pushes a new regional strategy in Afghanistan and as it prepares to reduce the number of troops in Iraq.

Obama's motorcade got plenty of friendly waves from small groups along a route from the international airport to the city center lined with security personnel. A few people waved tiny Turkish flags. Bush got a mostly indifferent response from the public in visits to the Muslim world.

Turkey will not be the venue for Obama's promised major speech in a Muslim capital, but his April 5-7 trip will be a way to emphasize his message of reaching out to Muslims. >>> Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Alison Williams | Sunday, April 5, 2009

Obama Calls for End to Nuclear Weapons in Prague Speech
DEUTSCHE WELLE: US President Barack Obama has announced ambitious plans to rid the world of nuclear weapons at a speech in Prague. Yet his support for a controversial US missile shield in Eastern Europe could anger Russia.

An estimated 30,000 people streamed into the historic center of Prague on Sunday to hear Obama deliver his first major public speech in Europe since becoming president. With Prague Castle as a backdrop, Obama proposed measures to eliminate existing nuclear weapons, stop further nuclear proliferation and prevent terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons or materials. The US leader's speech comes as the Czech Republic marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism.

"As the only nuclear power who have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act," Obama said. "We cannot succeed in this endeavor alone, but we can start it."

Germany’s foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier has called for nuclear disarmament plans to be mobilized this year. “Nulcear [sic] weapons and their unchecked proliferation are a major threat to us all,” Steinmeier told the mass circulation German tabloid Bild am Sonntag. >>> th/tw, dpa/afp | Sunday, 5. April 2009

Ignore Our Christian Values and the Nation Will Drift Apart
THE TELEGRAPH: Britain is suffering because we have been too willing to forget what made us who we are, writes Michael Nazir-Ali.

I have resigned as Bishop of Rochester after nearly 15 years. During that time, I have watched the nation drift further and further away from its Christian moorings. Instead of the spiritual and moral framework provided by the Judaeo-Christian tradition, we have been led to expect, and even to celebrate, mere diversity. Not surprisingly, this has had the result of loosening the ties of law, customs and values, and led to a gradual loss of identity and of cohesiveness. Every society, for its wellbeing, needs the social capital of common values and the recognition of certain virtues which contribute to personal and social flourishing. Our ideas about the sacredness of the human person at every stage of life, of equality and natural rights and, therefore, of freedom, have demonstrably arisen from the tradition rooted in the Bible.

Different faiths and traditions will not necessarily produce the values and virtues which have been so prominent in the history of this country. It is quite wrong to presume that they will, as Gordon Brown appeared to do last week in his speech calling for "value-based" rules at St Paul's Cathedral. Some faiths may emphasise social solidarity more than personal freedom, others publicly enforce piety over a nurturing of the interior life and yet others stress honour and shame rather than humility, service and sacrifice. It may be, of course, that there is a useful overlap among these traditions in terms of values by which to live. It may also be that people of different faiths can "own" many of the values produced by a Christian framework in this nation, but this cannot take place in a vacuum.

One of the surprising aspects of what you could call our values vacuum is the historical amnesia which is so prevalent today – or, rather, a selective sort of amnesia. The perfectly virtuous pages of history, such as Magna Carta, the campaign to abolish the slave trade and, later, slavery itself, the easing of conditions of labour for men, women and children and the introduction of universal education, which all took place under the inspiration of the Christian faith, are forgotten or ignored. Instead 
of which we get large doses of guilt along with an emphasis on our involvement in the slave trade, religious and ethnic persecution, exploitative colonialism and other wrongs which certainly need repentance. But repentance for past wrongs without the celebration of what has been good has deprived people of a common vision by which to live and a strong basis for the future. >>> By Michael Nazir-Ali | Sunday, April 5, 2009

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’Slave of the King’ – Abdulmalik* – عبدالمالك

*The name ‘Abdulmalik’ means 'slave of the king'. It is therefore an apt name for a president who bows in this manner to the king of Saudi Arabia.

Tausende protestieren in der Türkei gegen Obama: Kundgebungen vor dem Besuch des amerikanischen Präsidenten
NZZ Online: In der Türkei hat es am Samstag Demonstrationen gegen den amerikanischen Präsidenten Obama gegeben. Im Visier von linksgerichteten Kundgebungen war auch die Nato. Im Südosten der Türkei beteiligten sich auch Kurden an den Demonstrationen gegen Obama.

Mehrere tausend Personen sind am Samstag in der Türkei zu Protesten gegen die USA und die Nato auf die Strasse gegangen. «Yankee Go Home!» war bei den Aktionen einen Tag vor dem Besuch des amerikanischen Präsidenten Barack Obama zu hören. «Obama komm nicht! Wir wollen dich nicht» riefen Demonstranten in Ankara. Auf einem Transparent in Istanbul hiess es: «Obama geh' zurück nach Hause». Die Demonstranten forderten ausserdem die Auflösung der Nato. >>> ap | Samstag, 4. April 2009

NZZ Online: Europa zeigt Obama die kalte Schulter

A. R.

Selten hat eine Serie von Gipfeltreffen solche Aufmerksamkeit ausgelöst wie der gegenwärtige diplomatische Marathon von London bis Istanbul. Der Star der Veranstaltung ist Barack Obama, was zeigt, dass Amerika auch in geschwächtem Zustand noch immer als Vormacht wahrgenommen wird. Obama unterzieht sich auf seiner ersten Europareise seit der Wahl einer Parforcetour, als gelte es, die Welt – oder zumindest die heutige Weltordnung – in einem biblischen Kraftakt in einer Woche neu zu erschaffen. Am ersten Tag bahnte der Amerikaner einen neuen strategischen Dialog mit China und Russland an, am zweiten baute er am Treffen der G-20 an einer neuen globalen Finanzarchitektur mit.

Der dritte und der vierte Tag sind dem Versuch gewidmet, der Nato ein neues strategisches Konzept zu verpassen und die Mission in Afghanistan auf ein stabileres Fundament zu stellen. Am fünften stürmt Obama zum Gipfel mit der Europäischen Union, und am sechsten will er mit seinem Besuch in der muslimischen Türkei das Signal zur Versöhnung mit der islamischen Welt geben. Am siebten Tag, an Bord der «Air Force One», wird Obama ruhen und sein diplomatisches Werk betrachten. Ob es ihn mit Wohlgefallen erfüllen wird? Kaum – denn seine Begegnung mit Europa erweist sich für ihn schon jetzt als herbe Enttäuschung. >>> | Samstag, 4. April 2009

Welsh Guard Plays "Darth Vader" for Saudi King

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Saudi Secrets (October 2007)

Michelle Obama Gets Rave Reviews Abroad - But Top US Fashion Designers Are Bitter
THE TELEGRAPH: The reviews for Michelle Obama on her overseas debut as First Lady have been fulsome but some of the best known names in American fashion are not among the cheerleaders.

For her meeting with her glamorous French counterpart Carla Bruni, Mrs Obama opted for a dress by a Thai-born designer. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
Mrs Obama has mixed her sartorial sources during her first foreign foray - switching between young foreign-born US designers such as Jason Wu and Isobel Toledo, her high street look from J Crew and new foreign names such as Azzedine Alaia (Tunisian-French) and Junya Watanabe (Japanese).

But missing from the roster are the big names who have dominated the industry in the US for years. And some of them are none too happy.

Leading the criticism was Oscar de la Renta, a favourite of several former first ladies. "American fashion right now is struggling," he told Women's Wear Daily (WWD), the "fashion industry bible".

"I think I understand what [Obama and her advisers] are doing, but I don't think that is the right message at this particular point. >>> By Philip Sherwell in New York | Saturday, April 4, 2009

Doch noch versöhnliches Ende des Nato-Gipfels: Rasmussen wird neuer Generalsekretär - Strategie für Afghanistan gutgeheissen
NZZ Online: Die Türkei hat am Nato-Jubiläumsgipfel in Strassburg doch noch eingelenkt und der Ernennung von Anders Fogh Rasmussen zum neuen Nato-Generalsekretär zugestimmt.

Der dänische Ministerpräsident Anders Fogh Rasmussen wird neuer Nato-Generalsekretär. Dies gab der amtierende Generalsekretär Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, dessen Amtszeit im Juli ausläuft, am Samstag am Nato-Gipfel in Strassburg bekannt. Die Einigung auf Rasmussen kam überraschend. Die Türkei hatte erst im Laufe der Beratungen am Mittag ihren Widerstand gegen den Dänen aufgegeben, der wegen der Mohammed-Karikaturen in Teilen der muslimischen Welt als rotes Tuch gilt. >>> ap/sda | Samstag, 4. April 2009

Iran: Jews Undercover
Watch YouTube video: HERE >>>
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Nato 60th Summit in Strasbourg Marred by Street Battles and Arson
THE TELEGRAPH: Buildings were set on fire and running battles were fought between protesters and riot police in the streets of Strasbourg, where Barack Obama and world leaders have gathered for a Nato summit.

A violent anti-NATO protest takes place during NATO's 60th-anniversary summit. Anti-NATO activists set up a barricade with a Strasbourg road sign, near the German border at the Europe bridge, east of Strasbourg. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
Anarchists and demonstrators set fires at a hotel, a disused border post and a tourism office around Strasbourg's Pont de l'Europe, a bridge that joins France and Germany.

Police fired volleys of teargas to try to stop groups of violent French and German protesters joining forces to rampage across the city.

Masked youths threw petrol bombs, smashed windows and ransacked shops, forcing police to retreat until riot officers could regroup to seize back control.

Eyewitnesses saw black-clad protesters storm the nearby Ibis hotel, pilfering alcohol from its bar and setting the building ablaze.

"The hotel and the other buildings were completely engulfed in flames," said a resident of the city who witnessed the mayhem. >>> By Bruno Waterfield and Peter Allen in Strasbourg | Saturday, April 4, 2009

World Record Islamic Auction Cancelled
THE DAILY STAR: Sotheby's calls of[f] scheduled sale of key after doubts are raised about its authenticity

LONDON: The 2008 sale of a key thought to have been made in the 12th century for the holy Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which set an auction record for an Islamic work of art, has been cancelled, Sotheby's said.

Shortly after the sale last April at Sotheby's in London, when the key sold for 9.2 million pounds ($13.49 million) - over 18 times its pre-sale estimate - experts raised questions about its authenticity, prompting the auctioneer to annul the result.

"In light of the divergence of academic views," Sotheby's said in a statement, "Sotheby's and the consignor decided to cancel the sale in May 2008, pending further research and scientific analysis.

"The key is a fascinating object and interested parties are still captivated by this rare and intriguing piece. Consequently there continues to be interest in a sale, notwithstanding the divergence of both academic views and scientific analysis, which remain inconclusive." >>> Mike Collett-White, Reuters | Saturday, April 04, 2009

Saudi Beheaded for Murder
THE PENINSULA (Qatar): RIYADH: A Saudi man convicted of murdering a compatriot was beheaded by the sword yesterday, the interior ministry announced.

Salehm Dhibani was executed in Tabuk, in northwest Saudi Arabia, after being found guilty of shooting to death Rafaa Al Hawiti during a dispute, according to a ministry statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

The beheading brought to 19 the number of executions announced since the beginning of the year. [Source: The Peninsula] AFP | Saturday, April 4, 2009

New Dark Age Alert! Ex-Muslim Warns West of Plot to Impose Islamic Law
THE CHRISTIAN POST: Open, tolerant, and generous Western nations are being taking advantage of, warns a former Muslim from the Middle East who now lives in America.

Muslims in Arab countries as well as some born and bred in the West are aggressively pushing to impose Sharia law, or Islamic law, in countries such as Britain and the United States, among others, claims Nonie Darwish, who lived under Sharia law for 30 years in Egypt.

“To live under Islamic Sharia law is to live in the world’s largest maximum-security prison, and I for one don’t want to be incarcerated again,” writes Darwish in her new book, Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law.

For many Westerners, it is hard to believe that cruel punishments, extreme oppression of women’s rights, and unjust marriage customs as seen in Sharia can still exist in the 21st century.

But it does exist, Darwish says, and is applied in strict Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Libya, and Sudan. Some states in northern Nigeria also have Sharia courts, and recently the Northwest region of Pakistan was allowed to enact Sharia law to appease terrorists.

In the West, Canada allowed Sharia family arbitration from 1991 to 2006, and Great Britain allows it on a limited scale. >>> By Michelle A. Vu, Christian Post Reporter | Saturday, April 4, 2009

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Haider Widow Meets Pope for Easter Blessing
AUSTRIAN TIMES: The widow of former Carinthian Governor Jörg Haider has visited the Pope at the Vatican to receive a blessing before spending her first Easter alone.



Claudia Haider and her daughter Ulrike visited Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday this week with a small group after making the request to see him.



The last trip Haider made with her late husband was to Rome, where the Pope received them both. She reportedly wanted to get the Pope’s blessing before spending her first Easter without her late husband.



Claudia Haider gave the Pope a photograph of her late husband, the Pope and herself taken during the papal audience at which the Pope had received the two of them. >>> Austrian Times | Thursday, April 2, 2009

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Obama Brown-noses King Abdullah: A Bow to End All Bows!
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Conservative American commentators have accused Barack Obama of "grovelling" to an Arab monarch at the G20 summit in London.

A photo and video footage of the US President bowing to Saudi Arabian King Abdullah at yesterday's G20 meet-and-greet has been doing the rounds on the internet today.

Obama grovels to the Saudi king.
Mr Obama appears to shake the King's hand and then bow from the waist while French President Nicholas Sarkozy looks on.
Leading conservative blogger Michelle Malkin and Dakota Voice both wrote of their outrage at the President's deference to a foreign monarch.

"The whole thing is embarrassing. Its like the 'American Hillbillies go to Europe'," Malkin wrote.

"He is throwing American power and prestige out with both hands as fast as he can."

Dakota Voice contributor Bob Ellis said the bow was a gesture of submission.

"The leader of the most free nation in the world should not be slobbering on the ring of some king," Ellis wrote. Obama and the King: A Right Royal Bow Row >>> Georgina Robinson | Friday, April 3, 2009

Obama fawning to the Saudi king in a disgusting act of extreme dhimmitude. From now on, it would be more appropriate to call the president Barack Hussein Abdulmalik (meaning: 'slave of the king').

Pakistani Court to Hear Public Flogging Case
ABC News (Australia): The chief justice of Pakistan has intervened over a video in circulation showing the public flogging of a teenage girl in the north-western Swat Valley area.

Chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has called a court hearing on the matter next week.

He has ordered top government officials from North West Frontier Province to appear in person and produce the girl, who is shown in the video being held down by two men while a third hits her with a strap while she cries out in pain.

A human rights activist, Tahira Abdullah, described the flogging as a defamation of Islam.

"I am sickened to the core. I feel nauseous," she said. >>> | Saturday, April 4, 2009

Dhimmitude! Outright Dhimmitude! Read This Article and You’ll Be Nauseated! Have the British Lost All Sense of What Once Made Them a Great Nation?
THIS IS MONEY: As borrowers and savers call for a fairer banking system, are the principals of Islamic banking the answer? We take a look at the Islamic Bank of Britain

Tired of hearing about fat cat bank bonuses when you have been a bank's loyal saver for decades and received nothing?

Well, there is a new bank in Britain offering out a share of its profits, not just to shareholders, but those who deposit savings into its coffers.

The main aim of the Islamic Bank of Britain is to offer 'Sharia compliant' ways of borrowing and saving for British Muslims, which are in tune with Islamic law.

Non-Muslim bank customers can also benefit from this as Sharia rules – based on ethical trading principles – mean ordinary customers benefit along with the bank in the good times.

But they can also lose if the bank starts to lose funds. Is Islamic Banking the Model for Fairness? >>> Alan O’Sullivan | Saturday, April 4, 2009

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Emanuel Shilo – Opinion: In Praise of Lieberman
YNET NEWS: Foreign minister’s induction speech merely expressed what most Israelis think

This time, Lieberman did not speak with exaggerated zeal. He did not call for the bombing of Egypt’s Aswan dam. He merely expressed the opinion of most Israeli citizens, whose vote in the last elections proved that they too, just like Lieberman, no longer believe in peace that will be achieved through concessions.

The incoming foreign minister’s declaration that in exchange for peace with Syria he is only willing to give peace – and not the Golan Heights – is the consistent continuation of his declarations from the election campaign, which resulted in an especially impressive electoral outcome.

Meanwhile, the demand for reciprocity in the relationship with Egypt will also resonate positively among many Israelis. The Israeli public is not blind to what is going on. It recognizes the country through which rockets are being smuggled, to later explode on the streets of Sderot and Ashkelon.

When it comes to Lieberman, one of the less predictable politicians in Israel, it is difficult to know when we are dealing with a frank declaration of intentions and when is it merely a smoke screen. However, if his speech on Wednesday indeed outlined his future policy, he did well by stating this as early as his first day on the job. Reminder to Bibi >>> Emanuel Shilo | Saturday, April 4, 2009

Streit um Generalsekretär: Nato findet kein Mittel gegen Blockade durch Türkei
WELT ONLINE: Fehlstart des Jubiläumsgipfels der Nato: Die Staats- und Regierungschef der Bündnisländer konnten sich am ersten Abend nicht auf einen neuen Generalsekretär einigen. Die Türkei blockiert die Ernennung des dänischen Regierungschefs Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Dies ist auch eine erste Niederlage für Kanzlerin Angela Merkel.

Gilt bislang als aussichtsreichster Kandidat für den Posten des Nato-Generalsekretärs: der dänische Regierungschef Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Bild dank der Welt
Die Staats- und Regierungschefs der 28 Nato-Staaten haben einen Streit über den neuen Generalsekretär des Bündnisses noch nicht beilegen können. Sie beschlossen am späten Freitagabend auf ihrem Gipfeltreffen in Baden-Baden nach Angaben von Diplomaten lediglich, an diesem Samstag einen neuen Einigungsversuch zu unternehmen. Der türkische Präsident Abdullah Gül hielt an seinen Bedenken gegen den dänischen Regierungschef Anders Fogh Rasmussen, der bislang als aussichtsreichster Kandidat für den Posten gilt, fest.

Sowohl US-Präsident Barack Obama als auch Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel und Frankreichs Präsident Nicolas Sarkozy hätten vergeblich versucht, Gül umzustimmen. Nach Angaben von Diplomaten wollte Obama vor dem neuen Einigungsversuch vom Samstag noch einmal mit Gül sprechen. Der türkische Regierungschef Recep Tayyip Erdogan hatte am Freitag seine Ablehnung Rasmussens bekräftigt. Ankara ist vor allem erbost, dass Rasmussen bisher nichts gegen einen in Dänemark beheimateten kurdischen Fernsehsender getan hat. Auch die Haltung im Streit um den Abdruck von Karikaturen des Propheten Mohammed in einer dänischen Zeitung vor vier Jahren stößt auf Ablehnung. >>> dpa/AP/AFP/nic | Freitag, 3. April 2009

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USA: Raucher zahlen bald 150 Prozent mehr Tabaksteuer
WELT ONLINE: In den USA haben Raucher es schwer. Erlaubt ist das Rauchen fast nur noch im Freien und in Wohnungen. Nun steigt auch noch die Tabaksteuer von 39 Cent auf 1,01 Dollar pro Schachtel. Die Entscheidung liefert Gegnern von Präsident Barack Obama Munition. Denn betroffen sind vor allem Amerikaner mit kleinem Einkommen.

Bild dank Google Images
Viele Raucher in den USA sind sauer. Die Liebhaber des Glimmstängels, die wegen der vielen Verbote fast nur noch unter freiem Himmel qualmen dürfen, werden nun auch noch vom Staat zur Kasse gebeten: Diese Woche wurde in den USA die Tabaksteuer von 39 Cent pro Zigarettenpackung auf 1,01 Dollar erhöht. Landesweit kostet eine Packung nach der jüngsten Steuererhöhung fünf bis sechs Dollar.

Gegner von Präsident Barack Obama wittern darin eine Chance zum Angriff: Die Tabaksteuer werde vor allem von unteren und mittleren Einkommensgruppen bezahlt, schrieb der konservative Wirtschaftsexperte Brad Schiller im "Wall Street Journal". Genau diesen Bürgern habe Obama aber versprochen, nicht die Steuern zu erhöhen.

Auch die Tabakindustrie nutzt dieses Argument: Die Mehrzahl der Raucher in den USA sei eher arm und könne sich Steuererhöhungen am wenigsten leisten, empört sich Tommy Payne, Vizepräsident des Tabakkonzerns Reynolds American. >>> epd/fsl/ks | Freitag, 3. April 2009

Taliban bekennen sich zu Amoklauf in den USA: Angeblich Antwort auf US-Luftangriffe - Aussagen widersprechen sich
NZZ Online: Nach dem bewaffneten Überfall auf ein Einwanderungszentrum im amerikanischen Teilstaat New York hat der Führer der Taliban in Pakistan die Verantwortung für die Bluttat übernommen. Die Attentäter seien Taliban gewesen, sagte er in Interviews.

Der Attentäter in Binghampton sei angeblich ein Taliban gewesen. Bild dank der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung
Der Führer der radikal-islamischen Taliban in Pakistan hat sich zu der Geiselnahme mit 14 Toten in einem amerikanischen Einwanderungszentrum bekannt. «Ich übernehme die Verantwortung. Das waren meine Männer», sagte Baitullah Mehsud pakistanischen Medien und der britischen BBC am Telefon. In den USA hatte es jedoch zuvor keinerlei Hinweise auf einen terroristischen Hintergrund gegeben.

Mehsud sprach von zwei pakistanischen Tätern, von denen einer entkommen konnte. Die amerikanische Polizei hatte dagegen nach der Bluttat im Teilstaat New York von einem aus Asien stammende Täter gesprochen, der sich durch einen Kopfschuss selbst umgebracht habe. Sein Motiv sei unklar. >>> sda/dpa | Samstag, 4. April 2009

Secret bancaire: la Suisse va agir vite
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: G20 | La volonté de la Suisse d'agir dans le domaine du secret bancaire est sincère, a souligné Micheline Calmy-Rey dans une interview au «Temps».

Micheline Calmy-Rey. Photo grâce à la Tribune de Genève
«Nous n'avons aucun avantage à traîner les pieds car notre intérêt, c'est d'obtenir les mêmes conditions-cadres pour toutes les places financières. Nous avons de sérieuses concurrentes», a relevé la ministre des affaires étrangères. Celle-ci rappelle que le gouvernement est déterminé à concrétiser ses décisions, qui mettent fin à la distinction entre fraude et évasion fiscale.

Le fait que la Suisse se retrouve, après le sommet du G20, sur une liste grise s'explique vu qu'elle a pris des engagements, mais doit encore les mettre en vigueur. Et la renégociation de 74 accords de double imposition prendra un peu de temps, explique Micheline Calmy-Rey. >>> ATS | Samedi 04 Avril 2009

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Strasbourg : nouveaux heurts entre police et manifestants
Vingt-cinq personnes ont été interpellées, samedi matin. Photo grâce au Figaro
LE FIGARO: Samedi matin, les forces de l'ordre ont fait usage de gaz lacrymogène pour repousser environ 1.800 personnes qui tentaient de pénétrer dans le centre-ville. Vingt-cinq personnes ont été interpellées.

De nouveaux heurts ont opposé samedi matin des manifestants anti-Otan aux forces de l'ordre, à Strasbourg, quelques heures avant une manifestation «monstre». Environ 1.800 personnes dispersées en plusieurs groupes ont tenté de pénétrer dans le centre-ville, et les policiers ont fait usage de gaz lacrymogène pour les repousser. Aucun blessé n'était signalé. Vingt-cinq personnes ont été interpellées.

Les manifestants qui espèrent encercler la zone d'accès restreint autour des sites du sommet pour en perturber le déroulement, se déplaçaient très rapidement d'un carrefour à l'autre, tentant de surprendre les forces de l'ordre. Parmi eux, il y a beaucoup de filles, de jeunes, beaucoup d'Allemands, avec des casquettes, des cagoules, des lunettes de soleil ou des masques respiratoires.

Un groupe d'une trentaine de personnes ayant réussi à franchir un pont sur un canal en direction du centre historique de la ville a été refoulé par des gendarmes mobiles qui ont tiré des gaz lacrymogènes. Ils ont retraversé le pont dans le calme, les mains levées en scandant «No NATO» («non à l'Otan»), avant de courir vers un autre carrefour, imités de l'autre côté du canal par les gendarmes.

«On est en train de gagner la guerre», s'est félicité un CRS en référence au succès des forces de l'ordre à maintenir, jusqu'ici, les militants en dehors de la ceinture strasbourgeoise. >>> lefigaro.fr avec AFP et AP | Samedi 04 Avril 2009

Les turpitudes de Lieberman
leJDD.fr: Pour la deuxième journée consécutive, le nouveau ministre israélien des Affaires étrangères, Avigdor Lieberman, a été entendu par la police vendredi, dans le cadre d'une enquête sur une affaire de corruption. Le leader ultranationaliste nie toute implication et dénonce un piège politique. Il y a deux jours, il avait estimé qu'Israël n'était pas lié par le processus de paix lancé à Annapolis.

Avigdor Lieberman. Photo: Google Images
A peine ministre et déjà entendu par la police. Nommé mardi par Benjamin Netanyahou au poste de ministre des Affaires étrangères, Avigdor Lieberman a été entendu vendredi par la police dans le cadre d'une enquête sur une affaire de corruption. Et ce, pour la deuxième fois en deux jours. Selon le porte-parole de la police Mickey Rosenfeld, l'interrogatoire a duré cinq heures vendredi, sept heures et demie jeudi. Il devrait être prochainement réinterrogé.

L'enquête, ouverte depuis treize ans, porte sur des suspicions de pots-de-vin, blanchiment d'argent et abus de confiance. Le nouveau chef de la diplomatie israélienne avait déjà été interrogé dans ce cadre, avant sa prise de fonction. Selon le quotidien israélien Haaretz, le leader ultranationaliste aurait notamment reçu des pots-de-vin via une firme de consultants dirigée par sa fille, Michal. Cette dernière a également été interrogée par la police, ainsi que plusieurs de ses collaborateurs, avant les élections législatives anticipées du 10 février. La police n'a pas révélé les détails de l'enquête. Un porte-parole du département chypriote de lutte contre le blanchiment a toutefois révélé vendredi qu'elle lui avait réclamé des éclaircissements sur certaines transactions financières effectuées sur les comptes de Lieberman. >>> Par Marianne ENAULT, leJDD.fr | Vendredi 03 Avril 2009

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The Liberal Economist Who's Become Obama's Chief Critic
THE INDEPENDENT: Forget the Republicans, the biggest thorn in the President's side is Paul Krugman. Stephen Foley reports

Paul Krugman On the bank bailout: 'The plans are a classic exercise in 'lemon socialism': taxpayers bear the cost if things go wrong, stockholders and executives get the benefits if things go right. Photo courtesy of The Independent
His apocalyptic warnings have sent readers flocking to his blog. A viral video of a Californian man literally singing his praises is a hit on YouTube. Tickets to a lecture he was giving in California last night were going for $135 (£91). Newsweek magazine just put him on the cover and dubbed him the head of "the loyal opposition". Paul Krugman is the man of the moment. And Team Obama is rattled.

While the US leader has been entrancing foreign statesmen on a whirlwind tour of Europe and trying to craft an era of bipartisanship back home, his staunchest opponent has appeared from very close quarters – from the left – threatening a crisis of confidence that could capsize his infant presidency.

The Obama administration has been blindsided by the emergence of Mr Krugman – not even a politician, but an economist – as a focus for dissidents who believe it is not doing enough to repair the economy.

On both pillars of Mr Obama's economic strategy – the $800bn package to stimulate the economy and the $1 trillion bailout for the financial sector – the bearded Princeton university professor has been the President's most coruscating critic.

Mr Krugman has been doing his New York Times column for a decade. He has long been a staple on political talk shows and gained new respect last year when he won the Nobel prize for economics for his work on international trade. But in the past few months, he has tapped into the anxiety of a wider audience, which is asking the question of the moment: will the Obama recovery plan work?

His answer is no. The economic stimulus Bill was far smaller than required to combat soaring job losses, which yesterday passed five million since the start of the US recession. Worse, the plan to repair the banking system – lending private investors up to $1 trillion to buy toxic mortgage assets from the country's ailing banks, in the hope of freeing them up to start lending again – is doomed, because it is based on the flawed notion that the major US banks are fundamentally sound. >>> Stephen Foley | Saturday, April 4, 2009

YOUTUBE: The Shortcomings of the Stimulus Plan

Pakistani Taliban Chief Claims U.S. Shooting
REUTERS: PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Pakistani Taliban militant leader Baituallah [sic] Mehsud claimed on Saturday responsibility for an attack on a U.S. immigration center in New York state in which 13 people were killed.

"I accept responsibility. They were my men. I gave them orders in reaction to U.S. drone attacks," Mehsud told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location. >>> Reporting by Alamgir Bitani; Writing by Kamran Haider; Editing by Robert Birsel | Saturday, April 4, 2009

REUTERS: New York Immigrant Center Shooting Leaves 14 Dead

BINGHAMTON, New York - A man armed with two handguns killed 13 people at an immigration services center before apparently turning the gun on himself, authorities in Binghamton, New York, said on Friday.

Police Chief Joseph Zikuski told a news conference the gunman blocked the back entrance of the building with a car, walked in the front door and shot two receptionists, one of whom died, before entering a classroom and killing 12 more people and then apparently committing suicide.

He said that four other people were critically wounded in the latest U.S. shooting incident with multiple casualties.

One of the receptionists survived, pretending to be dead before crawling under a desk where she managed to call police, Zikuski said. She was in critical condition in a hospital. >>> By Hans Pennink | Saturday, April 4, 2009

Hate Cleric, Abu Qatada, Issues Rallying Cry from Prison
Abu Qatada is considered to be the most dangerous jihadi and ideologue to have operated from Britain. He has smuggled a letter out of prison which has inflamed radicals around the world. Photo courtesy of TimesOnline
TIMESONLINE: The extremist cleric Abu Qatada has issued a 6,000-word rallying cry to his followers from inside one of Britain’s most secure prison units.

The Palestinian preacher hails the “victory” of the Mujahidin and claims that his treatment has helped to radicalise a new generation of young British Muslims.

Despite demanding his freedom, he says that “the gift of prison” has helped him to lose more than 50lb (22kg) in weight. He even suggests that a vigorous exercise programme appears to have cured his diabetes and back trouble.

The cleric boasts of being told by Bilal Abdullah, the NHS doctor jailed for the car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow in 2007, that he was heavily influenced by the cleric’s taped sermons. He describes the bomber, who narrowly failed in his attempts to blow up a nightclub and airport terminal, as “truthfully a man from the men of Islam, in knowledge, action, steadfastness and manhood”.

His communiqué was smuggled out of Long Lartin high-security jail, Worcestershire, and is circulating on jihadi websites and forums, where it is attracting widespread comment. The ease with which it has been distributed is an embarrassment for Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, who is in charge of prisons, and Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, who leads the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy. >>> Sean O’Neill, Crime and Security Editor and Richard Ford, Home Correspondent | Saturday, April 4, 2009

By Law - Women Must Preen for Men
TIMESONLINE: In male-dominated Afghanistan, women are treated like chattel. What's changed since the Taleban?

Let's take a walk,” I suggested to Aziza. Kabul was in full bloom. The sun's rays had burnt the barren earth, but didn't reach us in the basement apartment in a grey, dilapidated neighbourhood in the outskirts of the city. My back was aching after weeks hunched on the floor listening to women talk of life behind four walls.

“A walk?” She looked at me in bewilderment. “A walk to where?”

“Just around here,” I tried.

Impossible. A walk without a purpose was a forbidden walk. She would just never get permission. The only reasons to leave the house were to run important errands or visit relatives.

Aziza belonged to a well-off and relatively liberal family. Yet the male head of the family would decide her whereabouts as he did with all the female members of his family.

Years have passed since our talk. Western politicians focus on improving conditions for women and children - and the conservative Afghan culture keeps hitting back. Schools are built to educate girls - and then torched to the ground. Aid programmes aimed at helping women are set up - and Afghan female activists are murdered and silenced. A constitution that proclaims equal rights for men and women is approved - and is then broken daily by the judgments of local shuras and jirgas, traditional assemblies of elders. >>> Åsne Seierstad | Saturday, April 4, 2009

Appell Obamas zum Auftakt des Nato-Gipfels: «Amerika braucht ein starkes Europa»
NZZ Online: Präsident Obama hat Europa zu Beginn des Nato-Gipfels aufgerufen, mehr Verantwortung für die Sicherheit zu übernehmen. Am Treffen soll auch ein neuer Nato-Generalsekretär gefunden werden.

Obama wird von Merkel mit militärischen Ehren empfangen. (Bild: Reuters)
win. Strassburg, 3. April

Das Gipfeltreffen zum 60. Geburtstag des Nordatlantikpakts hat am Freitag mit einem Nachtessen der Staats- und Regierungschefs der 28 Mitgliedstaaten im Kurhaus von Baden-Baden begonnen. Zuvor hatte der amerikanische Präsident Obama in Strassburg seinen französischen Amtskollegen Sarkozy und in Baden-Baden die deutsche Bundeskanzlerin Merkel zu bilateralen Gesprächen getroffen. In Strassburg stellte sich Obama auch einem breiteren Publikum im Stil eines amerikanischen Townhall-Meetings, wobei er eine mitreissende Rede hielt. Überall, wo der amerikanische Präsident auftauchte, wurde er von begeisterten Menschenmengen begrüsst; der Kontrast zu Besuchen seines Vorgängers, George W. Bush, hätte grösser nicht sein können. >>> | Samstag, 4. April 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch und Gebundene Ausgabe) – Versandkostenfrei innerhalb der Schweiz >>>

Nahost: Israels Außenminister will nicht von Frieden reden
WELT ONLINE: Israels neuer Außenminister Avigdor Lieberman hat in nur zwei Tagen die Welt gegen sich aufgebracht. Mit aggressiven Äußerungen und der Weigerung, Truppen aus den Golanhöhen abzuziehen, scheint er den schwelenden Nahost-Konflikt noch anzufachen. Noch dazu droht dem Ex-Türsteher eine Anklage wegen Korruption.

Avigdor Lieberman, der neue Außenminister von Israel, ist ein ultrakonservativer Hardliner. Bild dank der Welt
Die scheidende Außenministerin Tzipi Livni saß mit versteinerter Miene im Publikum und lauschte einer umbarmherzigen Verurteilung ihrer Politik durch ihren Nachfolger, Avigdor Lieberman. Dabei hatte Livni sich zuvor geradezu versöhnlich gegeben: Über alle Differenzen hinweg teilten sie doch alle die Überzeugung, Israel müsse eine Heimat für das jüdische Volk sein. Auch in der Opposition werde sie, die ehemalige oberste Diplomatin, weiterhin dazu bereit sein, ihr Land im Ausland zu repräsentieren. Doch dann trat Lieberman aufs Podium.

Normalerweise erregen die Antrittsreden der Minister vor den Mitarbeitern ihrer Ministerien nicht allzu viel Aufsehen, richtungsweisende programmatische Äußerungen sind bei solchen Anlässen unüblich. Lieberman brach mit der Tradition: Weder der Osloer Friedensprozess noch alle weiteren Zugeständnisse hätten den Frieden näher gebracht, sagte er. Es würde auch nichts bringen, das Wort „Frieden“ jeden Tag 20 Mal in den Mund zu nehmen. Israel müsse aufhören, dauernd über „Frieden“ und „Zugeständnisse“ zu reden. >>> Von Michael Borgstede | Freitag, 3. April 2009

L'élégance ? Aucune trace !
Crédits photo: Gala.fr
GALA.fr: Elles se sont rencontrées pour la première fois ce 3 avril à Strasbourg, en marge du premier tête-à-tête entre Barack Obama et Nicolas Sarkozy. Et en tant qu'épouses respectives des deux hommes les plus importants du monde, l'Américaine pointue et l'élégante Française ont mis un soin tout particulier ce matin en choisissant leur tenue. Tandis que Michelle Obama a une nouvelle fois porté haut les couleurs de son créateur fétiche Thakoon, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, plus classique mais tout aussi chic, a choisi la maison Dior. Décryptage de ce match mode. A Strasbourg, elles ont rivalisé d'élégance... >>> Perrine Sabbat | Vendredi 03 Avril 2009