Austria’s Graf Gets Grief Over “United Tyrol”
REUTERS – BLOG: Breaking into the summer holiday lull, Austrian politics has gotten into a lather over a far-right populist’s call for a referendum on whether a mainly German-speaking region of northern Italy should rejoin Austria.

No matter how far-fetched, his proposal raised a hue and cry by challenging the taboo of old unreconstructed nationalism in a country restlessly determined to live down its Nazi past.

South Tyrol - Alto Adige in Italian - is an autonomous, Alpine province of Italy bordering Austria. It was annexed by Italy from defeated Austria-Hungary at the end of World War One.

Italy granted increasing self-government to South Tyrol in the decades after World War Two, defusing separatist unrest by Austro-German speakers. It is now among Italy’s richest regions, with an open border to Austria thanks to EU integration.

But Martin Graf, a rightist deputy speaker of Austria’s parliament, declared on Sunday that South Tyrol was actually “part of overall Tyrol”, and only “currently” within Italy.

The universal right of self-determination should apply for all “the German people” in Europe - just as those in old Communist East Germany got their wish to merge into one Germany at the end of the Cold War in 1990. “It’s time to ask the people if there should be one Tyrol,” Graf said. >>> Mark Heinrich | Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Beijing Forced Relatives to Blame Me: Uighur Activist
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: SYDNEY -- The exiled Uighur activist Beijing blames for inciting recent ethnic violence in China accused the Chinese government on Tuesday of forcing her imprisoned children to say she was responsible for the unrest.

China released a letter Monday it says was penned by close relatives of Rebiya Kadeer -- including two of her children -- blaming her for last month's deadly riots by minority Uighur Muslims in her native Xinjiang, which the government says left 197 people dead and more than 1,700 injured.

But the 62-year-old U.S.-based activist, who arrived in Australia on Tuesday, told reporters in Sydney that the Chinese government forced two of her children to speak against her. They are both in prison in China, where one was convicted of tax evasion and the other of subversion.

"If they .. refused to cooperate with the Chinese government, then their lives would be jeopardized," she said through an interpreter. "In order to live in China, you have to lie."

Ms. Kadeer, who lives in the U.S. state of Virginia, is in Australia to attend the Melbourne International Film Festival, which will feature a documentary about her life. >>> Associated Press | Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Three Policewomen Spend Full Day Dressed in Muslim Burkhas in Controversial 'In Your Shoes' Exercise
MAIL ONLINE: Three female police officers were ordered to dress up as Muslim women for the day just to see what it felt like.

They wore traditional burkhas as part of a scheme designed to help police interact better with the Islamic community.

Two covered their faces with hijab headscarves and niqab veils, leaving only narrow slits to see through, and another wore Muslim dress and a headscarf showing her face.

Critics yesterday lined up to denounce the scheme as ‘political correctness gone mad,’ and accused South Yorkshire Police of losing sight of its main objective.

Douglas Murray, of the Centre for Social Cohesion think-tank, said: ‘You just couldn’t make it up.

‘The victims of crime must be amazed that the police have so much time on their hands that they can spend a day playing dress-up.

‘This is a complete waste of police time and taxpayers’ money. It’s not the duty of police to empathise with particular sections of the community. It is the duty of the police to prevent crime and catch criminals.

‘After this are they planning to dress as members of other communities such as Hindus and Buddhists?’ >>> Andy Dolan | Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Protests at Sudan Woman's Trial
BBC: Police have fired tear gas at supporters of a Sudanese woman charged with wearing "indecent clothing" shortly before her trial was postponed.

The trial in the capital Khartoum was delayed for a month.

Under Khartoum's Sharia law, Lubna Ahmed Hussein could face up to 40 lashes in public if convicted.

Earlier, she told the BBC she was not afraid to be flogged publicly, saying: "Flogging is not pain, flogging is an insult to humans, women and religions."

She says she was wearing trousers when arrested and has resigned from a UN job that would have given her immunity to take on the case.

"If the court's decision is that I be flogged, I want this flogging in public," she told the BBC's Today programme.

She says she has invited 500 people to attend the hearing. >>> | Tuesday, August 04, 2009

From the Today programme

Lesson One in Britishness: Migrants Taught How to Claim Benefits
MAIL ONLINE: Immigrants are to be given instructions on how to claim benefits as their first step in a new life in Britain.

They will be told to attend ‘orientation days’ at which they will be given information including their right to claim handouts, according to plans published by ministers yesterday.

The instructions were set out in a Home Office paper on how immigrants will in future be asked to qualify for a British passport by earning points and credits.

At present those allowed entry into Britain gain citizenship almost automatically after five years.

Among the ideas put forward by Home Secretary Alan Johnson is that migrants should be encouraged to return to their home countries to stem a Third World brain drain.

Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said: ‘There are clear risks in depriving developing countries of people and skills they badly need. Government needs to do more to maximise the positive impacts on the developing world and mitigate the negative.’

Possible schemes include allowing workers or students into Britain for just two years before they take their new skills back home. >>> Steve Doughty | Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Workers Overwhelmed as B.C. Burns
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Vancouver – One of the worst outbreaks of forest fires in British Columbia history is beginning to overwhelm the province's hard pressed firefighting crews.

Firefighters who have been battling for weeks in scorching heat to keep scores of raging fires at bay are being forced to let many fires burn unchecked so they can concentrate on those posing the gravest threat to communities.

Hundreds of new fires have been reported in the past few days and crews just can't keep up, information officer Radha Fisher said Monday. “There are a lot of fires burning out there, and right now, we have to prioritize.”

Gusting winds fanned dangerous fires on the outskirts of several municipalities overnight into Monday, forcing a new round of evacuations and more than doubling the number of British Columbians driven from their homes by advancing flames to more than 5,300.

“We're getting about 100 to 150 new starts a day. We've also seen some very aggressive growth on existing fires,” Ms. Fisher said. “It's a pretty extreme situation, so we have to concentrate our resources where there are property and people to protect. This is one of our most challenging years ever, and it's not over.” >>> Rod Mickleburgh | Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Watch CTVNews video here

Related:
Forest Fires Rage in Spain, Greece >>> AFP | Monday, August 03, 2009

Police Foil 'Suicide Plot' to Storm Australian Army Base
TIMES ONLINE: An Australian man has been charged with planning a terrorist act after police today foiled a plot by Islamic extremists to launch a suicide attack on army bases in Sydney and Melbourne.

Three other men are under arrest and a fifth is being questioned after a series of counter-terrorism raids across Melbourne shortly before dawn local time.

Around 400 police officers and members of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) swooped on 19 properties detaining several men, all Australian citizens of Somali and Lebanese background.

Authorities believe the group was at an advanced stage of preparing to storm an Army barracks in retaliation for Australia’s military involvement in Muslim countries. Members of the group had been observed carrying out surveillance on Holsworthy Barracks in Western Sydney and on other Army bases in Victoria.

Electronic surveillance also picked up discussions about how to obtain weapons to carry out what would have been the worst terror attack on Australian soil.

“The men’s intention was to get into the army barracks and kill as many as they could,” Tony Negus, Australian Federal Police acting commissioner said. They were “planning to carry out a suicide terror attack . . . a sustained attack on military personnel until they themselves were killed,” he said.

"This operation has disrupted an alleged terrorist attack that could have claimed many lives," he said. >>> Anne Barrowclough in Sydney | Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Bill Clinton Arrives in North Korea to Free Journalists
TIMES ONLINE: Former US president Bill Clinton is understood to have landed in Pyongyang earlier today for a surprise visit to North Korea as relations between the United States and the regime continue to sour and mystery surrounds the health of its enigmatic "Dear Leader".

The regime's mouthpiece, the Korean Central News Agency, said in a bulletin this afternoon that Mr Clinton had been greeted at Pyongyang's airport by two senior government figures - the vice president of the presidium of North Korea's parliament and the vice foreign minister.

"A little girl presented a bouquet to Bill Clinton," ran the rest of the report.

Diplomatic sources suggest that Mr Clinton, who is the highest-profile American to visit North Korea since Madeleine Albright's trip nine years ago, may be granted an audience with Kim Jong Il as early as today.

Reports from Seoul based on South Korean intelligence suggest that the former US president will use the two-day trip to "negotiate robustly" for the release of two American journalists currently serving 12 years of hard labour in a North Korean prison.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were both working for a television company run by Mr Clinton's former vice president, Al Gore, were arrested for a "grave", though unspecified, crime on the North Korea-China border earlier this year.

The two were imprisoned on a charge of committing "hostile acts" and for plotting to produce a smear campaign over human rights issues. >>> Leo Lewis | Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Bill Clinton überraschend in Nordkorea: Früherer US-Präsident bemüht sich um Freilassung von Journalistinnen
NZZ Online: Der ehemalige amerikanische Präsident Bill Clinton ist überraschend in Nordkorea eingetroffen. In Pjongjang will er sich für die Freilassung zweier amerikanischer Journalistinnen einsetzen, die im Juni zu zwölf Jahren Arbeitslager verhaftet worden waren.

Der frühere amerikanische Präsident Bill Clinton ist überraschend nach Nordkorea gereist, wo er sich laut einem südkoreanischen Medienbericht für die Freilassung der dort festgehaltenen zwei amerikanischen Journalistinnen einsetzen will.

Von Chefunterhändler empfangen

Die amtliche nordkoreanische Nachrichtenagentur KCNA meldete am Dienstag, Clinton sei auf dem Flughafen von Pjongjang unter anderem vom Chefunterhändler für Atomfragen, Kim Kye Gwan, begrüsst worden. >>> ap/sda/dpa | Dienstag, 04. August 2009

Related / liée:
La Corée du Nord arrête deux journalistes américaines >>> C.J. (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP | Jeudi 19 Mars 2009

Barack Obama Faces 30 Death Threats a Day, Stretching US Secret Service
THE TELEGRAPH: US President Barack Obama is the target of more than 30 potential death threats a day and is being protected by an increasingly over-stretched and under-resourced Secret Service, according to a new book.

Since Mr Obama took office, the rate of threats against the president has increased 400 per cent from the 3,000 a year or so under President George W. Bush, according to Ronald Kessler, author of In the President's Secret Service.

Some threats to Mr Obama, whose Secret Service codename is Renegade, have been publicised, including an alleged plot by white supremacists in Tennessee late last year to rob a gun store, shoot 88 black people, decapitate another 14 and then assassinate the first black president in American history.

Most however, are kept under wraps because the Secret Service fears that revealing details of them would only increase the number of copycat attempts. Although most threats are not credible, each one has to be investigated meticulously.

According to the book, intelligence officials received information that people associated with the Somalia-based Islamist group al-Shabaab might try to disrupt Mr Obama's inauguration in January, when the Secret Service co-ordinated at least 40,000 agents and officers from some 94 police, military and security agencies. >>> Toby Harnden in Washington | Monday, August 03, 2009

We Won't Turn into Iran
YNET NEWS: Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar vows to protect freedom in wake of gay center attack

Until this murder case isn’t [sic] solved and the killer’s identity is discovered, we’ll continue to ask: What prompts a human being to massacre teenagers, children really? What was the motive for this demonic act?

At the site of the attack in the heart of Tel Aviv, a two-minute walk from my house, I mostly saw consternation and shock in the eyes of the crowd and passersby. Eyes were teary and hearts cried. As a Tel Avivian, and as a person who had only experienced magical moments on Nachmani Street, where the crime took place, I felt a sour sense of shame rising within me.

What’s happening to Israeli society that leads us from one horrific display to another? What can prompt a person to indiscriminately kill boys and girls who arrived at a site meant to grant them support and security?

We need to be cautious before police conclude the investigation. However, one way or another, waiting for the case to be solved cannot be a pretext for evading a moral obligation. For Israeli society, this is an opportunity to clearly and unequivocally define its commitment to freedom and tolerance. For public officials and leaders, this is the time to pledge that we will protect Israel’s character and future as a free society. Because wherever a person is attacked or humiliated because of his lifestyle, choices, tendencies, or indecision, it is not only the freedom and dignity of that person that are being undermined. >>> Gideon Sa’ar* | Tuesday, August 04, 2009

*Gideon Sa’ar is Israel’s education minister

YNET NEWS – OPINION: End the Silence

The whole of Israeli society must speak up in wake of gay center massacre

“If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.” That was the political legacy of Harvey Milk, the first politician to come out of the closet in the United States and a member of the San Francisco city council; the movie about his life, which ended in murder as he predicted, was one of the most important films in recent times.

If the murder of the two young people at the gay center was indeed motivated by their sexual orientation, this is the gravest hate crime ever carried out in Israel based on this motive. Yet we must keep in mind that this was not the first case. In the 2005 Jerusalem Pride Parade, Yishai Shlisel stabbed three participants. The latest incident ended on a graver note. >>> Eyal Gross* | Monday, August 03, 2009

*Prof. Eyal Gross, a law lecturer at Tel Aviv University, formerly served as a volunteer legal advisor for the LGBT Association in Israel

Banks Defend Bonus Culture as Profits Jump
THE GUARDIAN: Barclays and HSBC made a passionate defence of the City's bonus culture yamid [sic] a growing public backlash about the return to a big pay bonanza barely a year after the government bailed out the financial system.

As criticism of bonuses crossed the traditional political divide, the banks compared their high-flyers to footballers and Hollywood stars to try to explain the need for the hundreds of thousands of pounds individuals are expected to receive this year. Neither bank gave figures about potential bonuses for investment banking staff, but a jump in profits in both operations led to speculation that huge pay deals will be awarded.

Profits at Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of the high street bank, doubled to £1bn while at HSBC's investment bank the profits rose 125% to $6.3bn. Each bank reported overall profits of nearly £3bn despite a combined £13bn of bad debts caused by rising unemployment, making it more difficult for households and companies to pay back loans. Bank shares jumped sharply, pushing the FTSE 100 to its highest level this year.

John Varley, chief executive of Barclays, turned to footballers to explain bankers' pay while Stuart Gulliver, who runs the investment bank at HSBC, used Hollywood stars. Varley said: "The football analogy certainly goes some way I think [to explain bonuses] ... There is simply no higher priority that to ensure we field the very best people. That in a sense is exactly the same as a football manager if they are going to win. Our obligation is to ensure we pay appropriately."

Gulliver likened the situation to a Hollywood studio that not only paid stars for pulling in profits, but also many of the extras. "If a foreign exchange trader makes a deal then they know two days later how much they made. If it's a £5m profit, that is something we can count, we can see it, its real. And they are part of a successful team," he said. >>> Jill Treanor and Phillip Inman | Monday, August 03, 2009

Clinton Slams Israel for Evicting Arab Families from East Jerusalem
HAARETZ: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday criticized Israel for the eviction two Palestinian families from an Arab neighborhood in east Jerusalem, calling the move "deeply regrettable".

"The eviction of families and demolition of homes in east Jerusalem is not in keeping with Israeli obligations and I urge the government of Israel and municipal officials to refrain from such provocative actions," Clinton said.

The evictions came after the Supreme Court ruled that the houses belonged to Jews and that the Arab families had been living there illegally. Clinton's statements came during a meeting in Washington with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, who told Clinton that incremental confidence-building measures that the U.S. wants Arab states to take will not produce a resolution to the conflict.

Jordan rejects U.S. call for improved ties with Israel

Jordan on Monday joined Saudi Arabia in publicly rejecting U.S. appeals to improve relations with Israel to help restart Middle East peace talks, throwing a damper on the Obama administration's push for Arab support behind new negotiations. >>> Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid Haaretz Correspondents, and The Associated Press | Tuesday, August 04, 2009 Hillary Clinton

Le président a besoin de repos…et d’amour!
GALA.fr: Depuis vendredi, le couple présidentiel prend du bon temps au cap Nègre, dans la résidence de la famille de Carla… et ce, devant de nombreux photographes dont ils n’ont apparemment que faire.

Seuls au monde, caressés par les vagues, Nicolas Sarkozy et Carla sont en vacances. Et ils se fichent d’être surveillés par les photographes qui ont ignoré l’interdiction de s’approcher du château Faraghi, pour cause de «protection des hautes autorités». Ils s’embrassent, et s’enlacent, si heureux de retrouver leur «intimité[»] .

Depuis samedi, en effet, Carla et Nicolas s’accordent un bain quotidien dans la Méditerranée. Et ils se laissent bercer. Oublié le stress de la crise, Nicolas et Carla profitent de trois semaines de repos, en famille, dans la propriété Bruni-Tedeschi.

Le récent malaise de Nicolas Sarkozy lui impose une totale décompression, une extrême détente, et un complet abandon de ces footings qui l’épuisaient. Se baigner dans les bras de son épouse, ça, le médecin le permet… >>> | Lundi 03 Août 2009

L’EXPRESS.fr: Les blogueurs décryptent le Sarko "show" de l'été

Après son malaise, Nicolas Sarkozy se repose trois semaines au Cap Nègre, dans la résidence familiale de Carla Bruni. Ses premiers jours de vacances sont très médiatisés, sous l'oeil de blogueurs goguenards. Leurs commentaires. >>> Par Petitesphrases, Juan de Sarkofrance, Pierre-Alain (LePost.fr) | Lundi 03 Août 2009

EU-Statistik: Deutsche kriegen am wenigsten Babys
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Brüssel/Luxemburg - Beim Kinderkriegen sind die Deutschen europaweit Schlusslicht. Anders als in allen anderen EU-Ländern sei die Zahl der Geburten in Deutschland im vergangenen Jahr im Vergleich zu 2007 leicht rückläufig gewesen, teilte das europäische Statistikamt Eurostat in Brüssel mit.

Dabei lag Deutschland auch 2007 ohnehin schon auf dem letzten Platz unter den 27 Mitgliedsländern. Auf 1000 Einwohner kamen in Deutschland demnach 2008 nur noch 8,2 Geburten, statt 8,3 im Jahr davor. Europaweit stieg die durchschnittliche Zahl der Neugeborenen pro 1000 Einwohner im Vorjahresvergleich um 0,3 auf 10,9.

Insgesamt kamen im vergangenen Jahr EU-weit 5,4 Millionen Babys zur Welt, 4,8 Millionen Menschen starben. Den höchsten Geburtenanstieg gab es in Litauen, wo 10,4 Geburten pro 1000 Einwohner gezählt wurden - ein Anstieg um 0,8 im Vergleich zu 2007. >>> © dpa | Montag, 03. August 2009

Les enfants de Michael Jackson confiés définitivement à la mère du chanteur
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: ÉTATS-UNIS | Le juge Mitchell Beckloff du tribunal de Los Angeles a confié lundi la garde permanente des trois enfants de Michael Jackson à sa mère Katherine, 79 ans.

Cette décision était attendue après l’accord intervenu la semaine dernière entre la mère du chanteur décédé le 25 juin à l’âge de 50 ans et Debbie Rowe, mère biologique des deux enfants aînés du «roi de la pop».


Les trois enfants de Michael Jackson, âgé de sept à 12 ans, resteront donc sous la garde de Katherine Jackson, comme le chanteur l’avait souhaité dans son testament rédigé en 2002. [Source: TDG] ap | Lundi 03 Août 2009

Les violences interethniques se multiplient dans le sud du Soudan
LE MONDE: La situation dans le sud du Soudan, où des violences tribales ont coûté la vie, dimanche, à près de cent soixante personnes, dont une grande majorité de femmes et d'enfants, commence à inquiéter sérieusement les Nations unies. Leur secrétaire général, Ban Ki-moon, s'est dit "très préoccupé" par ce dernier événement, survenu dans l'Etat de Jonglei. Selon les chiffres de l'ONU, plus d'un millier de personnes ont été tuées et des milliers d'autres ont été déplacées dans le sud du Soudan ces derniers mois. Un bilan humain qui dépasse celui enregistré dans la région du Darfour, dans l'ouest du pays. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | Lundi 03 Août 2009

Come Hither, Sweetie!
Photo: GoogleImages

Al Qaeda's Zawahri Says Wipe Israel from the Map
REUTERS: DUBAI - Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said Israel should be wiped off the map and described the Jewish state as a crime against Muslims.

Zawahri also accused U.S. President Barack Obama of conducting a policy on Israeli-Palestinian issues that was bound to end in failure for the Palestinians, and said Obama wanted a Palestinian state that would serve as "an extension of the CIA."

"Israel is a crime that should be removed," Zawahri said in an interview with al Qaeda's media arm As-sahab, posted on an Islamist website on Monday.

Al Qaeda leaders have often said that they would focus their holy war on Israel after the creation of an Islamic state in Iraq.

Al Qaeda has no recognisable presence in Israel, or in the Palestinian Territories which are dominated by the Islamist group Hamas and the secular Fatah movement led by U.S.-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. [Source: Reuters] Reporting by Inal Ersan, editing by Tim Pearce | Monday, August 03, 2009

Rechtsgelehrte verbieten Jungfern-Test
TAGES ANZEIGER: Ein Spitzengremium islamischer Rechtsgelehrter hat in Jordanien medizinische Jungfräulichkeitstests an Frauen, die vor der Eheschliessung stehen, verboten. Eine Ausnahme aber gibts. >>> sam/sda | Montag, 03. August 2009

Rebel Boycott as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Endorses Ahmadinejad Re-election
TIMES ONLINE: Iran’s supreme leader has formally endorsed President Ahmadinejad for a second term amid a boycott by leading opposition figures.

State television broadcast images of the ceremony today with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei giving the President his seal of approval.

The country’s opposition leaders and moderates boycotted the gathering in protest over the election they claim was fraudulent.

State media reported that the former presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami as well as the defeated pro-reform candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi did not attend.

On Wednesday the President will take the oath of office before Iran’s parliament. Seven weeks after the election, however, the regime is still battling to crush the resistance of millions of Iranians who believe that the poll was rigged.

A new wave of protests linked is gathering over the “show trial” of more than 100 opposition figures detained in the crackdown that followed the ballot.

On Saturday, in an apparent effort to deter further protests, Iran put scores of opponents on trial in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, accusing them of conspiring with foreign powers to stage a revolution. Yesterday it added ten more defendants. >>> Martin Fletcher | Monday, August 03, 2009

In France, a New Generation of Women Says Non to Nude Sunbathing
TIME: For decades, the French have relished any opportunity to mock Americans for their supposed childish Yankee puritanism when it comes to matters of sex. These days, though, France is experiencing its own blush of youthful prudishness as an entire generation of younger French women says "Non, merci," to the summer tradition of topless sunbathing.

Since France's summer vacation season kicked off in early July, the French press has repeatedly sounded the alarm over the shrinking number of topless women on the nation's beaches. As eagle-eyed reporters have made quite clear, the prevailing trend among sun-loving women these days is to use both pieces of their bikini. Le Monokini, C'est Fini! , shouted Le Parisien in its report from a Mediterranean beach. "Nude Breasts Are Less Trendy" concurred free daily Metro France. "The practice has become common, and therefore less compelling as a fashion," says sociologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann. "When the local baker takes off her top despite her 60-year age and sagging breasts, the gesture loses its social distinction as one of youthful beauty." Some note that the return to more modest costumes is in part a response to rising concerns about skin cancer.

But the trend is also part of a wider social movement by younger French women who are shunning the less-inhibited habits of previous generations. If burning bras and going topless were the ways French women of the 1970s and '80s demonstrated their freedom, their daughters and grand-daughters seem less comfortable with exposed flesh. "The values of our time are more conservative, traditional and familial," says Kaufmann. >>> Bruce Crumley | Thursday, July 30, 2009

Related:
Topless Bathing on French Beaches? Forget It! It’s Out of Fashion! >>>| Saturday, August 30, 2008

Eight Christians Burnt to Death in Pakistan after Koran Is ‘Defiled’
TIMES ONLINE: Paramilitary troops patrolled the streets of a town in eastern Pakistan yesterday after Muslim radicals burnt to death eight members of a Christian family, raising fears of violence spreading to other areas.

Hundreds of armed supporters of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an outlawed Islamic militant group, set alight dozens of Christian homes in Gojra town at the weekend after allegations that a copy of the Koran had been defiled.

The mob opened fire indiscriminately, threw petrol bombs and looted houses as thousands of frightened Christians ran for safety. “They were shouting anti-Christian slogans and attacked our houses,” Rafiq Masih, a resident of the predominantly Christian colony, said. Residents said that police stood aside while the mob went on the rampage. “We kept begging for protection, but police did not take action,” Mr Masih said.

Police and local officials said that at least eight people, including four women and a child, were killed in the fires. Two others died of gunshot wounds. Residents said that the casualties were much higher; one claimed that the number of dead could be in the dozens as many bodies were still buried under the rubble.Shahbaz Bhatti, the Minister for Minorities, said that 40 Christian homes were torched in rioting. He said there was no truth to allegations that a Koran had been defiled, and accused the police of ignoring his appeal to provide protection to Christians. >>> Zahid Hussain in Islamabad | Monday, August 03, 2009

Related / Verwandt:
Ausschreitungen: Radikale Muslime in Pakistan töten sechs Christen >>> | Samstag, August 01, 2009

Saudi Man 'Faces Death' Over TV Sex Boast
THE TELEGRAPH: A Saudi Arabian man could face the death penalty for speaking about his sexual adventures on a talk show aired by a Lebanon-based television network, lawyers said.

Police arrested Mazen Abdul-Jawad, 32, for "publicising vice", a police spokesman in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah said.

The arrest came after 200 Saudi viewers filed complaints following his appearance on a tabloid talk show aired by the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation.

Abdul-Jawad spoke openly of his sexual experiences on the talk show, "In Bold Red" last month. Like many Arab countries Saudi Arabia prohibits sexual content on television, newspapers, magazines and books.

The divorced father of four children, filmed at his Jeddah apartment, said at the time that he first had sex at the age of 14 with a neighbour and displayed items related to his sex life including a sex guide which he said: "Has been very useful".

He led the television camera to his bedroom saying: "My friends always say that whoever enters this room has to personally bear responsibility ... I spend most of my life in this bedroom ... everything happens in this room".

Analysts expect the case of Abdul-Jawad to give fresh momentum to clerics' calls for strict curbs.

In an article published on Saturday, al-Watan newspaper, known for being a tribune for reformists, strongly criticised Abdul-Jawad's remarks and the Lebanese channel for airing them. [Source: The Telegraph] | Sunday, August 02, 2009

Police Hunt Israel Gay Club Shooter
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Hundreds of police officers are scouring the streets of Tel Aviv today in a manhunt for a gunman who shot and killed two people at a youth club in the worst ever attack on homosexuals in Israel.

The Tel Aviv shooting shocked the Mediterranean city, which prides itself on its live-and-let-live attitude and boasts a thriving gay community. The brazen attack drew condemnations from the city's mayor, from Cabinet ministers, the country's chief rabbis and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We'll bring him to justice and exercise the full extent of the law against him," Netanyahu said of the killer, speaking at the Israeli Cabinet's weekly meeting. >>> AP | Sunday, August 02, 2009

Hundreds Turn Out in Tel Aviv to Protest Murders at Gay Center
HAARETZ: Hundreds of Israelis turned out in Tel Aviv on Sunday to protest an attack on the previous day in which a masked gunman opened fire inside a gay and lesbian youth center, killing two people and wounding 15.

A number of politicians spoke at the event, which took place at the intersection of Rothschild St. and Nachmani St., only meters away from the site of the shooting.

MK Shelly Yachimovich (Labor) told the crowd: "The pistol did not act on its own, the gunman did not act on his own - what stood behind him was incitement and hatred."

"The fact that there are wounded children lying in the hospital whose parents won't visit them says everything."

Nitzan Horowitz, Israel's only openly gay lawmaker, said: "If anybody thinks we'll be afraid, they are wrong. If anybody thinks we'll sit down and take this quietly, they are wrong."

Opposition leader Tzipi Livni also addressed the event, which had been billed as a protest against hate crime and homophobia.

"This should be a day of self reflection, not only for all of you but for all of us," she said. "This is not only a great day of pain for you but it is a day of pain for all of us."

The rally took place as hundreds of police officers scoured the streets of Tel Aviv on Sunday in a door-to-door manhunt for the gunman, who fled the center after the attack.

Outside the center, a bouquet of flowers rested on the curb near barricades erected by police and a sign reading, "Stop Homophobia."

MK Yuli Tamir (Labor), a former education minister, called on the school system to make efforts to fight homophobia.

"Teachers must open their doors and open their ears to these children who need them," she told the crowd.

MK Dov Khenin (Hadash) said the attack highlighted problems within Israeli society.

"A state that expels children should not be surprised when things like this happen... People shouldn't fool themselves to think they live in a protected bubble," he said, referring to a plan to deport migrant workers and their children from Israel. Peres: An enlightened people cannot accept this type of murder >>> Ben Hartman, Yuval Goren, Noah Kosharek and Barak Ravid | Sunday, August 02, 2009

TAGES ANZEIGER: Blutbad in Schwulentreff – drei Tote

Bei einem Angriff auf ein Homosexuellen-Zentrum in Tel Aviv sind gestern Abend drei Menschen getötet und mindestens zehn weitere verletzt worden.

Drei Tote, viele Verletzte: Schwulen-Feindlichkeit als mögliches Motiv.
Bild: Tages Anzeiger
Nach Angaben der israelischen Rettungsdienste starben ein junger Mann und eine junge Frau sofort. Ein drittes Opfer erlag im Spital seinen Verletzungen. Einer der Verletzten schwebte in der Nacht zum Sonntag in Lebensgefahr.

Der maskierte, ganz in schwarz gekleidete Täter konnte unerkannt fliehen. Er hatte mit einer Schnellfeuerwaffe in eine vor dem Treffpunkt stehende Menschengruppe gefeuert. Nach Angaben von Augenzeugen versuchte der Angreifer, auch noch eine nahegelegene Schwulenbar anzugreifen. Wachposten verwehrten ihm jedoch den Zutritt. >>> bru/sda | Sonntag, 02 August 2009

LE FIGARO.fr: Fusillade mortelle dans un centre gay de Tel-Aviv

Un inconnu a ouvert le feu samedi soir dans le sous-sol d'une association homosexuelle fréquentée par des adolescents, tuant deux personnes et en blessant quinze, avant de prendre la fuite. Les organisations gays dénoncent un crime homophobe.

La communauté homosexuelle est sous le choc en Israël après la fusillade mortelle qui a ciblé samedi soir une association gay et lesbienne de Tel-Aviv. Un inconnu a ouvert le feu à l'arme automatique dans le sous-sol de l'association, qui abritait la réunion de soutien hebdomadaire d'un groupe d'adolescents. Un jeune homme de 24 ans et une jeune femme de 17 ans ont été tués sur le coup. Quinze autres participants ont été blessés dont deux grièvement, précise le site du journal israélien Haaretz. Le tireur a pris la fuite à pied, immédiatement après l'attaque. La police le recherche activement et fait du porte-à-porte auprès des habitants de Tel-Aviv.

«Il était 22h40 lorsque quelqu'un, habillé en noir et le visage dissimulé par un masque de ski, est entré dans le sous sol. Au début j'ai pensé à une plaisanterie mais il a immédiatement tiré. Personne n'a crié. On s'est jeté sous les lits et les tables . La salle était petite, hormis la terrasse, on ne peut se cacher nulle part», confiait un des adolescents blessés au Haaretz. «Je suis horrifié de penser que mes parents vont découvrir mon homosexualité à cause de cette attaque», regrette le jeune homme de 16 ans touché au genou et à la poitrine. «Le centre était très convivial, on discutait et on écoutait de la musique».

Des représentants de la communauté homosexuelle se sont déclarés convaincus qu'il s'agissait d'une attaque homophobe, rappelant que dans le passé des croix gammées avaient été peintes à l'entrée du centre. La police israélienne a confirmé que ce club, situé à l'angle des rues Ahad Haam et Nachmani, en plein cœur de la ville, n'avait pas été attaqué par des terroristes. «Nous n'en sommes qu'au premier stade de l'enquête, le centre n'avait pas reçu récemment de menaces», a affirmé le chef de la police de Tel Aviv, le commandant Shahar Ayalon. Voulant éviter tout autre bain de sang, l'officier a décidé la fermeture samedi soir d'un des bars homosexuels voisins et demandé à tous ces établissements de se montrer particulièrement vigilants. >>> C.J. (lefigaro.fr) avec AP et AFP | Dimanche 02 Août 2009

Why Israel Is Nervous
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Tension is escalating between the U.S and Israel. The problem: The administration views the Israeli-Palestinian issue as the root of all problems, while Israel is focused on Iran’s nuclear threat, says Elliott Abrams.

The tension in U.S.-Israel relations was manifest this past week as an extraordinary troupe of Obama administration officials visited Jerusalem. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, National Security Advisor James Jones, special Middle East envoy George Mitchell and new White House adviser Dennis Ross all showed up in Israel’s capital in an effort to…well, to do something. It was not quite clear what.

Since President Obama came to office on Jan. 20 and then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 31, the main motif in relations between the two governments has been friction. While nearly 80% of American Jews voted for Mr. Obama, that friction has been visible enough to propel him to meet with American Jewish leaders recently to reassure them about his policies. But last month, despite those reassurances, both the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Anti-Defamation League issued statements critical of the president’s handling of Israel. Given the warm relations during the Bush years and candidate Obama’s repeated statements of commitment to the very best relations with Israel, why have we fallen into this rut?

U.S.-Israel relations are often depicted as an extended honeymoon, but that’s a false image. Harry Truman, who was a Bible-believing Christian Zionist, defied the secretary of state he so admired, George C. Marshall, and won a place in Israel’s history by recognizing the new state 11 minutes after it declared its independence in 1948. Relations weren’t particularly warm under Eisenhower—who, after all, demanded that Israel, along with Britain and France, leave Suez in 1956. The real alliance began in 1967, after Israel’s smashing victory in the Six Day War, and it was American arms and Nixon’s warnings to the Soviet Union to stay out that allowed Israel to survive and prevail in the 1973 war. Israelis are no fans of President Carter and, as his more recent writings have revealed, his own view of Israel is very hostile. During the George H.W. Bush and Clinton years, there were moments of close cooperation, but also of great friction—as when Bush suspended loan guarantees to Israel, or when the Clinton administration butted heads with Mr. Netanyahu time after time during peace negotiations. Even during the George W. Bush years, when Israel’s struggle against the terrorist “intifada” and the U.S. “global war on terror” led to unprecedented closeness and cooperation, there was occasional friction over American pressure for what Israelis viewed as endless concessions to the Palestinians to enable the signing of a peace agreement before the president’s term ended. This “special relationship” has been marked by intense and frequent contact and often by extremely close (and often secret) collaboration, but not by the absence of discord. >>> Elliott Abrams | Saturday, August 01, 2009

Three American Tourists Held in Iran
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Two men and a woman apparently strayed across the Iranian border while on a hiking trip in Iraq's mountainous Kurdistan region. The State Department is seeking consular access.

Reporting from Baghdad -- Three Americans who apparently strayed across the Iranian border while on a hiking trip in the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan are in Iranian custody, that country's state-run television reported Saturday.

The Arabic-language Al Alam station quoted an Interior Ministry official as saying the Americans, two men and a woman, were detained after they ignored warnings from border guards and crossed into Iran in a remote mountainous area about 55 miles northeast of the Kurdish town of Sulaymaniya.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said it was investigating reports that the three were missing and couldn't confirm any details. The State Department said in a statement that it had asked the Swiss government, which looks after U.S. interests in Iran, to confirm the reports with the Iranians and to seek consular access. >>> Liz Sly | Sunday, August 02, 2009

Ministre israélien au centre d'une affaire de corruption
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: SCANDALE | La police israélienne a recommandé dimanche l'inculpation du ministre ultranationaliste des Affaires étrangères, Avidgor Lieberman, pour corruption et blanchiment d'argent.

"Le département des fraudes de la police a recommandé l'inculpation du ministre des Affaires étrangères Avigdor Lieberman accusé de blanchiment d'argent, de pots-de-vin et d'entrave à la justice", a déclaré ce responsable sous couvert de l'anonymat. >>> AFP | Dimanche 02 Août 2009

Ausschreitungen: Radikale Muslime in Pakistan töten sechs Christen
WELT ONLINE: In der pakistanischen Provinz Punjab haben Extremisten sechs Angehörige der christlichen Minderheit getötet, darunter vier Frauen und ein Kind. Sie warfen ihren Opfern vor, eine Koran-Ausgabe entweiht zu haben. Am Samstag erreichten die religiösen Ausschreitungen ihren Höhepunkt, Medien berichten von Schießereien.

Radikale Muslime haben nach Angaben der pakistanischen Regierung bei Ausschreitungen in der östlichen Provinz Punjab sechs Angehörige der christlichen Minderheit getötet. Unter den Toten seien vier Frauen und ein Kind, sagte der für Minderheiten zuständige Minister Shahbaz Bhatti. Demnach hatten die Muslime den Christen vorgeworfen, einige Seiten einer Koran-Ausgabe entweiht zu haben. Bhatti nannte die Vorwürfe haltlos.

Die Ausschreitungen von Mitgliedern einer verbotenen muslimischen Extremistenorganisation gegen christliche Bewohner der Stadt Gojra begannen am Donnerstag und eskalierten am Samstag, wie Bhatti mitteilte. Das Fernsehen zeigte Bilder von brennenden Häusern und Straßen, auf denen Trümmerteile und verkohlte Möbel umherlagen. Medien berichteten auch von Schießereien zwischen Christen und Muslimen. >>> | Samstag, 01. August 2009

Nato-Generalsekretär: Rasmussen will Gespräche mit gemäßigten Taliban
WELT ONLINE: Der neue Nato-Generalsekretär Anders Fogh Rasmussen plädiert dafür, in Afghanistan Gespräche mit gemäßigten Vertretern der Taliban zu führen, um "auf eine Art Aussöhnung mit der afghanischen Gemeinschaft hinzuarbeiten". Für Überlegungen zu einer Ausstiegsstrategie sei es zu früh.

Der neue Nato-Generalsekretär Anders Fogh Rasmussen hat sich für Verhandlungen mit gemäßigten Vertretern der radikalislamischen Taliban in Afghanistan ausgesprochen. Zudem forderte er in einem Interview mit der dänischen Zeitung „Politiken“ die Europäer zu einer Truppenaufstockung auf. Bei Kämpfen und Anschlägen kamen am Wochenende mindestens sechs Nato-Soldaten ums Leben.

Es gebe in Afghanistan „Gruppen, mit denen man reden kann, um auf eine Art Aussöhnung mit der afghanischen Gemeinschaft hinzuarbeiten“, sagte Rasmussen. Er sehe aber keinen Grund für Vereinbarungen mit Taliban, „die unsere Soldaten töten“. „Wir reden hier über andere Gruppen, die am äußeren Rand der Taliban angesiedelt sind.“ >>> AFP/ks | Sonntag, 02. August 2009

Rabbis Condemn Anti-gay Shooting
YNET NEWS: Chief Rabbinate says appalled at 'unthinkable, vile crime' that left two dead. Gay Orthodox rabbi calls on public leaders to denounce attack

The Chief Rabbinate expressed shock and outrage at the Tel Aviv shooting at a gay youth center Saturday evening, calling it "an unthinkable, vile crime." In a statement published Sunday the Rabbinate said that, "When Moses saw a Jew beating another Jew he called him evil. This is all the more true when a Jew murders a Jew."

Meanwhile, the Hod organization for Orthodox gay men strongly condemned "the horrible massacre committed against the gay and lesbian community in Tel Aviv," conveyed its condolences to the victims' families and wished speedy recovery to those who were injured.

Rabbi Ron Yosef, a homosexual Orthodox rabbi who runs the organization, told Ynet that he has been receiving threats on his life in the last year. >>> Kobi Nahshoni | Sunday, August 02, 2009

YNET NEWS: Opinion: Pride and Prejudice

Despite liberal image, fear and hatred ever-present on Tel Aviv’s streets

Friday night on Tel Aviv’s beachfront promenade; two guys holding hands, standing at the shoreline, and kissing. Three men pass by and swear at them; one man spits. Tel Aviv, Israel’s liberalism capital, the city that openly celebrates pride parades and markets gay tourism packages worldwide; a city whose leaders inaugurate gay centers, but cannot defend us from our greatest enemy – fear and hatred.

This shooting attack, should it turn out it was indeed directed at the homo-lesbian community, is not a unique event; it’s merely an extreme one, but make no mistake about it, incidents like that take place on Tel Aviv’s streets time and again with no interruption. About two months ago, two guys were chased by a group armed with baseball bats; before that, two youngsters were stabbed outside a gay club. Meanwhile, numerous cases go unreported.

For those who arrive from the outside it sometimes appears as though the city is painted an especially bright shade of pink; here one can hold hands on Rothschild Boulevard, nonchalantly hop from one club to another, wed, adopt children, and run for city council. Yet for those who live here, the curses, hateful glares, spits, and hidden hostility are clearly felt. The double life: On the one hand one can feel open and safe, but on the other hand nothing is really safe here. Just ask the youngsters who showed up to the weekly meeting at the gay center last night; check who will return next week.

Once a year, spokespersons on behalf of the gay community are requested to explain why we insist on the pride parade; so here is the answer. There are those who fan the flames of hatred and homophobia, and the outcome may lead to gunfire. Here is your answer, this is the reason: Because they shoot at us. At times they use words, and other times they use bullets. >>> Shlomi Laufer | Sunday, August 02, 2009

YNET NEWS: Hundreds March in Tel Aviv Following Shooting

Photo: Ynet News
Spontaneous ceremony held in memory of two people killed in attack on gay youth center. 'This is an act of pure unfounded hatred, which leads to the murder of children for being gays and lesbians,' one of participants tells Ynet

Spontaneous memorial, hours after deadly attack: Hundreds of people marched silently Saturday night from the place where two people were murdered at a gay and lesbian youth center in central Tel Aviv, towards a gay center in Meir Park.

The marchers held gay community flags and signs reading "All together – without hatred and fear" and "Love – don't kill".

Revital, one of the participants, told Ynet, "The feeling is terrifying. We live in a bubble, believing that everything is fine. This is an act of pure unfounded hatred, which leads to the murder of children for being gays and lesbians. It's very sad knowing that it's still so." >>> Izzy Ein Dor | Sunday, August 02, 2009

Obama’s Ratings Fall Back to Earth
THE SUNDAY TIMES: OFFICIALS insisted it was not a crisis meeting, but President Barack Obama and members of his cabinet had plenty to worry about as they ended a two-day retreat devoted to discussions of the administration’s faltering progress.

Plummeting opinion poll ratings, divisions among Democrats about healthcare reform and distracting rows about Wall Street bonuses, economic stimulus programmes and racial politics all cast a shadow over the beginning of Washington’s summer recess.

Obama and vice-president Joe Biden left the White House on foot on Friday evening to spend four hours at Blair House, a government guesthouse across the road, where all 22 cabinet members and several senior aides discussed policy over dinner. >>> Tony Allen-Mills in Washington | Sunday, August 02, 2009

Lubna Hussein: 'I'm Not Afraid of Being Flogged. It Doesn't Hurt. But It Is Insulting'
THE OBSERVER: Lubna Hussein could receive 40 lashes if found guilty on Tuesday of being indecently dressed - by wearing trousers. In her first major interview, she tells James Copnall in Khartoum why she is determined to fight on, whatever danger she faces

Sitting in the restaurant where her ordeal began, Lubna Hussein looks at the offending item of clothing that caused all the trouble and laughs softly. "In Sudan, women who wear trousers must be flogged!" she says, her eyes widening at the thought. The former journalist faces up to 40 lashes and an unlimited fine if she is convicted of breaching Article 152 of Sudanese criminal law, which prohibits dressing indecently in public.

What exactly constitutes "indecent" is not clear. Last month Lubna was among a crowd listening to an Egyptian singer in a restaurant in a swish area of Khartoum when policemen surged in. They ordered Lubna and other women to stand up to check what they were wearing, and arrested all those who had trousers on. Lubna, who was wearing loose green slacks and a floral headscarf, was taken to the police station.

"There were 13 of us, and the only thing we had in common was that we were wearing trousers," Lubna says. "Ten of the 13 women said they were guilty, and they got 10 lashes and a fine of 250 Sudanese pounds (about £65). One girl was only 13 or 14. She was so scared she urinated on herself."

Lubna asked for a lawyer, so her case was delayed. Despite the risks, she is determined that her trial should go ahead. Before her initial hearing last Wednesday, she had 500 invitation cards printed, and sent out emails with the subject line: "Sudanese journalist Lubna invites you again to her flogging tomorrow."

The court was flooded with women's rights activists, politicians, diplomats and journalists, as well as well-wishers. During the hearing, Lubna announced that she would resign from her job as a public information officer with the United Nations, which would have provided her with immunity, to fight the case. The judge agreed, and adjourned the trial until Tuesday.

Lubna says she has no fear of the punishment she might face. "Afraid of what? No, I am not afraid, really," she insists. "I think that flogging does not hurt, but it is an insult. Not for me, but for women, for human beings, and also for the government of Sudan. How can you tell the world that the government flogs the people? How can you do that?"

She is determined to face prosecution in order to change the law. "It is not for me. It is my chance to defend the women of Sudan. Women are often arrested and flogged because of what they wear. This has been happening for 20 years. Afterwards some of them don't continue at high school or university, sometimes they don't return to their family, and sometimes if the girls have a future husband, perhaps the relationship comes to an end." >>> James Copnall | Sunday, August 02, 2009

Raul Castro: Cuba Will Never Renounce the Revolution
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The Cuban president Raul Castro has warned the US and Europe he will not 'restore capitalism' and will never renounce the revolution.

Mr Castro said the Caribbean country's socialist political system was non-negotiable.

In a speech marking the end of the annual parliamentary session, which has been dominated by Cuba's grave economic crisis, he said he would be willing to "discuss everything" with foreign leaders except the island's political and social system.

The Cuban leader, who succeeded his ailing brother Fidel Castro as president three years ago, said he wanted to respond to comments by Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, who has linked dialogue with Cuba to democratic reform in the country.

"With all due respect, in response to Mrs Clinton, but also to the European Union ... I was not chosen as president to restore capitalism to Cuba or to renounce the revolution," he said to applause from Cuban politicians.

"I was chosen to defend, maintain and continue to perfect socialism, not to destroy it," said Mr Castro. >>> The Telegraph’s Foreign Staff and Agencies in Havana | Sunday, August 02, 2009

Khatami kritisiert Prozess gegen iranische Demonstranten: Vertrauen in das Regime soll weiter geschwächt werden
NZZ ONLINE: Der ehemalige iranische Staatschef Mohammad Khatami hat das Verfahren gegen Oppositionelle und Demonstranten nach der umstrittenen Präsidentenwahl als Schauprozess kritisiert. Der Prozess werde das öffentliche Vertrauen in die Regierung weiter schwächen, erklärte der reformorientierte Politiker am Samstag auf seiner Website. >>> ap | Sonntag, 02 August 2009

New Dark Age Alert! Gunman Kills Three in Tel Aviv Gay Nighclub [sic]
THE TELEGRAPH: A black-clad gunman has killed three people and wounded several others in an attack on a Tel Aviv nightclub.

Israeli police said the gunman entered Cafe Noir, a youth club for gay teenagers in central Tel Aviv, and sprayed the interior with automatic rifle fire, killing three people and injuring 11.

Yaniv Weisman, who witnessed the incident, said: "This was a hate crime, a premeditated attack. Those hurt were very young."

A police spokesman confirmed the deaths at the gay club, describing the incident as "criminal, rather than nationalistic". >>> Telegraph reporter | Saturday, August 01, 2009

Heroine: Lubna Hussein
THE TELEGRAPH: Lubna Hussein, the Sudanese woman who is daring Islamic judges to have her whipped for the "crime" of wearing trousers, has given a defiant interview to the Telegraph.

In court on Tuesday Mrs Hussein will dare judges to have her flogged. Photo: The Telegraph
As the morality police crowded around her table in a Khartoum restaurant, leering at her to see what she was wearing, Lubna Hussein had no idea she was about to become the best-known woman in Sudan.

She had arrived at the Kawkab Elsharq Hall on a Friday night to book a cousin's wedding party, and while she waited she watched an Egyptian singer and sipped a coke.

She left less than an hour later under arrest as a "trouser girl" - humiliated in front of hundreds of people, then beaten around the head in a police van before being hauled before a court to face a likely sentence of 40 lashes for the "sin" of not wearing traditional Islamic dress.

The officials who tried to humiliate her expected her to beg for mercy, as most of their victims do.

Instead she turned the tables on them – and in court on Tuesday Mrs Hussein will dare judges to have her flogged, as she makes a brave stand for women's rights in one of Africa's most conservative nations.

She has become an overnight heroine for thousands of women in Africa and the Middle East, who are flooding her inbox with supportive emails.

To the men who feel threatened by her she is an enemy of public morals, to be denounced in the letters pages of newspapers and in mosques.

As she recounted her ordeal in Khartoum yesterday Mrs Hussein, a widow in her late thirties who works as a journalist and United Nations' press officer, managed cheerfully to crack jokes - despite the real prospect that in a couple of days she will be flogged with a camel-hair whip in a public courtyard where anyone who chooses may watch the spectacle. 'Whip me if you dare' says Lubna Hussein, Sudan's defiant trouser woman >>> Talal Osman in Khartoum and Nick Meo | Saturday, August 01, 2009

THE GUARDIAN: In Praise of… Lubna Hussein

It is so much easier to demand change from the outside than to challenge convention from within. Lubna Hussein was among a group of 13 Sudanese women arrested in a popular cafe in Khartoum for wearing trousers. All but three were flogged two days later, but Ms Hussein decided to have her day in court. She refused a plea bargain that would have limited her punishment to 10 lashes, and resigned from her job as a journalist working for the UN mission in Sudan, which would otherwise have granted her immunity from prosecution. She did so knowing that if she lost her case the penalty could be 40 lashes. She makes her stand not merely over the right for women to wear trousers or as a protest against a punishment she regards as an act of humiliation. She wants to annul the article of Sudanese law that addresses women's dress code under the title of indecent acts. Sudan's interpretation of Islamic law, she argues, is not just unconstitutional but un-Islamic. Sharia law is imperfectly enforced in Sudan, especially in its increasingly affluent and cosmopolitan capital. It is, however, used to crack the whip, making Islam a proxy for the regime's authoritarianism. The government may well be embarrassed by Ms Hussein's trial, as much as it is annoyed by her status as a cause celebre. Ms Hussein may not win her case, but in defeat she could prove stronger than in victory. Her example should be a spur to independent-minded women wherever they are in the world. [Source: The Guardian] | Friday, July 31, 2009

Die Gehirnwäsche der Taliban
TAGES ANZEIGER: Kinder werden im Swat-Tal von den Taliban entführt und zu Selbstmordattentäter ausgebildet. Die pakistanische Armee berichtet von erschreckenden Methoden.

Die pakistanische Armee hat zwanzig Jugendliche gerettet, die von den Taliban rekrutiert und einer Gehirnwäsche unterzogen worden waren. Einige der Buben waren erst neun Jahre alt, berichtete die britische Zeitung «Independent». Sie erzählten den Soldaten, sie seien von den Taliban entführt worden, andere wurden von Freunden in die Trainingslager im Swat-Tal gebracht. >>> Von Andrea Schmits | Samstag, 01. August 2009

Die heimliche Invasion
POLITICALLY INCORRECT: Seit dem Mord im Dresdner Gerichtssaal scheint es, als ob immer mehr Musliminnen ihre Verhüllung öffentlich zur Schau tragen wollen. Sei es aus Solidarität oder aus Trotz, im Stadtbild nehmen diese Erscheinungen immer mehr zu. Wie zum Beispiel in München: Der Autor dieser Zeilen war am vergangenen Donnerstag eigentlich am Marienplatz, um bei dem Rekrutengelöbnis zu fotografieren. Aber ständig liefen ihm diese vermummten Gestalten entgegen, meist mit Kinderwagen. >>> Gastbeitrag | Samstag, 01. August 2009

Algerian Author Anwar Malek Talks about the Arab World

Deutsche Firma verbietet Arbeitern im Iran Proteste
WELT ONLINE: Der Gipshersteller Knauf hat seinen Mitarbeitern im Iran die Teilnahme an den Protesten gegen das Regime von Präsident Ahmadinedschad verboten. Die Geschäftsführung drohte den Angestellten sogar mit Entlassungen. Nach Kritik aus der Bundesregierung gibt Knauf „unglückliche" Formulierungen zu.

Der bayerische Baustoffhersteller Knauf hat seinen Mitarbeitern im Iran verboten, an politischen Protesten teilzunehmen. „Falls irgendeiner unserer Mitarbeiter bei Demonstrationen gegen die aktuelle Regierung gefasst werden sollte, wird er oder sie mit sofortiger Wirkung entlassen“, zitiert die US-Wirtschaftszeitung „Wall Street Journal“ aus einem Brief an die Mitarbeiter der dortigen Niederlassung.

Unterzeichnet ist das Papier mit Datum vom 21. Juli 2009 von Isabel Knauf, die Mitglied der Geschäftsführung des Familienunternehmens ist. >>> Von Carsten Dierig | Freitag, 31. Juli 2009

Les anti-Ahmadinejad 
devant la justice iranienne
LE FIGARO: Le procès d'une centaine de manifestants, arrêtés lors des défilés de juin, s'est ouvert samedi devant un tribunal révolutionnaire de Téhéran. Les accusés, parmi lesquels figurent des personnalités du camp réformateur, encourent au moins cinq ans de prison.

A quelques jours de la prestation de serment Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, vainqueur très contesté de la présidentielle iranienne du 12 juin, le régime iranien hausse le ton. Le premier procès de manifestants anti-Ahmadinejad s'est ouvert samedi evant un tribunal révolutionnaire de Téhéran. Dans le box des accusés se trouve une centaine de sympathisants de l'opposition, arrêtés lors des marches de protestation du mois de juin. Parmi ces militants figurent des personnalités du camp réformateur telles que l'ancien vice-président Mohammat Ali Abtahi, l'ancien porte-parole du gouvernement Abdollah Ramezanzadeh ou le chef du principal parti réformateur, le Front iranien de la participation islamique, Mohsen Mirdamadi.

Les prévenus selon l'agence officielle Irna, d'avoir «perturbé l'ordre et la sécurité» et «d'avoir des liens avec les hypocrites», l'appellation officielle des Moudjahidine du Peuple, le principal mouvement d'opposition en exil. Ils sont également soupçonnés, précise l'agence, «de port d'armes à feu et de grenades, d'attaques contre les forces de l'ordre et les miliciens islamistes et d'envoi d'images des défilés pour les médias ennemis». A priori, les prisonniers encourent cinq ans de captivité, mais s'ils étaient reconnus coupables d'être «mohareb» (ennemi de Dieu), ils risqueraient la peine de mort. >>> lefigaro.fr avec AFP | Samedi 01 Août 2009

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Rounds on Conservatives in Bitter Feud
TIMES ONLINE: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s discredited President, spoke out against critics among his own hardline colleagues today as his authority was further eroded by bitter feuding.

The day after violent protests returned to the streets of Tehran, the President was forced to defend himself not from the pro-reformist opposition but against his former allies.

Conservatives have cast doubt on Mr Ahmadinejad’s loyalty to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after a dispute over his vice presidential appointment two weeks ago.

He responded robustly today during a speech in the north-eastern city of Mashhad, which was broadcast on state television.

“Some in recent days have portrayed the relationship between the leader and the administration as in doubt. They tried to imply distance and rift,” he said.

“What they do not understand is that the relationship between us and the Supreme Leader goes beyond politics and administration. It is based on kindness, on ideology, it is like that of a father and son.”

He claimed the attempts by “ill-wishers” would yield no results, adding “this path will be shut in the face of devils”. >>> Nico Hines | Friday, July 31, 2009

Geert Wilders in Denmark: 'Deporting Millions of Muslims May Be Necessary' - Interview

Liberal Saudi Intellectual Abdallah bin Bakhit Explains Advantages of Secularism and Gets Abused

British Convert to Islam

New Dark Age Alert! British Citizens Convert to Islam