Mandelson Shows Labour Is a Party Rotten with Decadence
MAIL ONLINE: The sumptuous home of financier Jacob Rothschild, Waddesdon Manor, has long been famed as one of Britain's most magnificent country houses.

But for all its splendour and beauty, the estate has this week been associated with an extraordinary weekend shooting party which symbolises the decadence, corruption and moral collapse of modern British socialism.

No novelist would have dared to invent such an occasion. The host was a leading member of the world's richest and most famous banking dynasty. The guests included the son of a bloodthirsty and oil-rich Arab dictator, and the discredited wife of a former British prime minister.

And totally at home in all this gilded opulence was the remarkable figure of Lord Mandelson, former Young Communist, far Left activist, major player in three successive Labour election victories and right-hand man to Gordon Brown.

One might have expected such a figure to have been repelled by so much opulence and wealth. Instead, Mandelson clearly revels in it. The drab lives of the hard-working men and women who placed their faith in Labour at three consecutive general elections hold no appeal to him.

Mandelson now only seems truly at home in grand country houses or on the yachts of billionaires such as his Russian oligarch friend Oleg Deripaska, whose guest he was during the summer of 2008.

The truth is that his attendance at a shooting party with Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi's son is a perfect parable of the decadent Left's embrace of everything it claims to despise.

Nor is Mandelson an exception. Practically every member of Tony Blair's Cabinet which took office in 1997 has since sold out to wealth and power.

Blair himself is a perfect example. Since leaving office, he has become a popular member of the international plutocracy; a consultant to an investment bank who has earned an estimated £15 million since leaving Downing Street.

While at No 10, Blair was shamefully attracted to extremely rich men. On one occasion, government policy was even changed after the tycoon Bernie Ecclestone donated £1 million to the Labour Party.

Peerages were for sale under his government, while his wife Cherie blatantly profiteered from her status of First Lady by accepting free gifts and discounts from retailers. >>> Peter Oborne | Friday, November 27, 2009

Dubai Tries to Stem Panic as Financial Crisis Shakes Investors Around World
THE GUARDIAN: FTSE 100 opens down 70 points before regaining ground / Japan's Nikkei closes down 3.2%; Hang Seng falls 5.3%

The Dubai financial crisis continued to send shares and commodities falling around the world this morning, despite efforts by the emirate's ruling family to calm the panic.

In London, the FTSE 100 tumbled by 70 points, or nearly 1.4%, to 5123 when trading began – but by 9.15am had erased nearly all of its losses. HSBC and Barclays were among the biggest fallers, along with mining companies.

There was also a bout of heavy selling in Asia. The Nikkei 225 closed 3.2% lower, with Japan's biggest banks leading the fallers. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell by 5.3%.

Major building firms in Asia also fell sharply, as traders anticipated that the Dubai building boom was over.

Predictions that Dubai could drag the world economy downwards again knocked $5.50 off the price of a barrel of oil, to $72.49.

Yesterday the FTSE 100 suffered its worst day's trading since March, falling by 170 points. This followed the news that Dubai World – the government-owned conglomerate that has led the dramatic growth in the Emirate – has asked to defer repaying some debts for six months.

It is still unclear whether Dubai World will default on its $80bn debts, which would be a major blow to the banking sector, or be bailed out by the United Arab Emirates.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, the uncle of Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, attempted to calm the situation last night. >>> Graeme Wearden | Friday, November 27, 2009

Pupils Suspended for 'Kick a Jew Day'
THE TELEGRAPH: Pupils at a school in Florida have been suspended after taking part in a "Kick a Jew Day".

Ten students at North Naples Middle School were sent home for a day after a girl told the head teacher that she believed she had been kicked for being Jewish, prompting further instances to come to light.

Florida passed strict anti-bullying laws last year and schools that do not do enough to stop it risk losing their state funding.

Margaret Jackson, the school's head teacher, has responded to the kicking incident by setting aside the first 20 minutes of each day to teaching students – aged 12 to 15 – about kindness, respect and ways of preventing bullying.

David Barkey of the Florida Anti-Defamation League said the organisation had been consulted over the incident. >>> Tom Leonard in New York | Thursday, November 26, 2009

Ed Balls Comes Out Fighting - for 'Racist' Islamic Schools
THE TELEGRAPH: A trustee of one of the schools which Ed Balls is defending has written in a Hizb ut Tahrir journal condemning the "corrupt western concepts of materialism and freedom," observes Andrew Gilligan.

We connoisseurs of Ed Balls, a small but happy band, know from experience that the moment he gets that complacent little smile playing round his lips is the time to set the video; the moment when Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families is once more about to walk, unknowingly, into an open manhole.

Mr Balls has been having good sport with the Tories this week. On Newsnight on Wednesday, the little smile was in full operation as he expressed mock sympathy with their communities spokesman, Paul Goodman, for having to defend the "factual errors" and "irresponsible politics" of his leader, David Cameron, in the row over Islamic schools.

The Tories should have "checked their facts", he chided. Ofsted, he told Radio 4, "have satisfied themselves that there were not problems in these schools". The whole episode "casts real doubt on David Cameron's judgment", he said, sorrowfully.

Cameron had said that two schools run by members or activists of a thoroughly nasty extremist organisation, Hizb ut Tahrir, had been paid £113,000 of public money. The allegationcame from a story of mine in the Telegraph four weeks ago.

The central charge is perfectly true, thoroughly documented – and a scandal. But Cameron made some mistakes in the detail, sending the Westminster media chasing down one of their classic "process issue" cul-de-sacs (whether the schools were registered, and which particular part of the Whitehall cake this slice of cash had come from) and allowing Balls to launch his attack on Cameron. He clearly thought he'd scored a bullseye: one-nil to the forces of Gordon. >>> Andrew Gilligan | Friday, November 27, 2009

Though Liberals Moan and Lefties Sneer, We’ll Stop the Red Flag Flying Here
Che Guevara and red flags at a May Day parade by the Polish Communist Party in Warsaw six years ago. The proposed law will ban any display of communist symbols appearing ever again. Photo: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Down come the cheesy Che Guevara posters in student bedsits across the land. Off come the T-shirts wittily emblazoned with a hammer and sickle.

Twenty years after Eastern Europe toppled statues of Lenin, the Polish Government is about to finish the job by making it all but impossible to wave the red flag — even in jest.

Up to two years in jail await anyone glorifying communism according to an amendment to Article 256 of the Polish criminal code — the race-hate article — which is likely to come into force next year. The ban outlaws “the production, distribution, sale or possession ... in print, recordings or other means of fascist, communist or other symbols of totalitarianism”. So if you planned to sing the Internationale while marching down the centre of Warsaw to the old communist headquarters — now housing financial services companies — forget it.

The revised Bill has already passed the Polish Senate. President Kaczynski has to sign it into law by Monday and no one in Warsaw seriously believes that he will hesitate.

His twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the opposition Law and Justice party, has made his view clear: “No symbol of communism has a right to exist in Poland because these are symbols of a genocidal system that should be compared to Nazism.” >>> Roger Boyes | Friday, November 27, 2009

Roman Polanski to Be Freed on Bail, Swiss Government Says
THE TELEGRAPH: Roman Polanski will be released on bail and placed under house arrest at his chalet in the Alps, the Swiss government has said.

The justice ministry said in a statement released on Thursday that Polanski will be transferred as soon as possible.

A Swiss court granted the film director his wish to be released on a bail of $4.5 million (£2.6m) and the government has decided not to challenge that decision.

"Polanski will be released from custody as soon as bail has been transferred, ID and travel documents have been lodged, and the electronic monitoring system has been installed and tested," the ministry said.

The bail, however, does not affect the justice ministry's pending decision on whether to extradite the 76-year-old director to the United States for having sex in Los Angeles in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.

He pleaded guilty to having sex with the girl but fled the United States in 1978 before he was sentenced because he believed a judge might overrule a plea bargain and sentence him to 50 years in prison.

Acting on a US warrant, Swiss police detained Polanski on when he arrived at Zurich airport on September 26 to attend a film festival where he was to receive a special award. >>> | Thursday, November 26, 2009

Climat : Barack Obama ira à Copenhague
Obama avec un air d'arrogance. Crédits photo : Le Temps
LE TEMPS: La Maison-Blanche présente des objectifs chiffrés de réduction de leurs émissions polluantes. Mais des éléments relativisent cet engagement du plus grand pollueur par habitant de la planète

Barack Obama pouvait difficilement faire autrement. Mercredi, la Maison-Blanche a confirmé que le président se rendrait bien aux discussions de Copenhague sur le climat qui, à partir du 7 décembre, doivent réunir la planète entière en vue de négocier un traité qui fera suite au Protocole de Kyoto de 1997. Barack Obama y sera le 9 décembre, y apportera des engagements américains, mais devrait déjà être reparti lorsque les délégations entreront dans le vif de la négociation.

La Maison-Blanche explique que le président est prêt «à mettre sur la table» des propositions chiffrées de réduction des émissions américaines de gaz à effet de serre: 17% en 2020, par rapport aux niveaux de 2005, 30% en 2025 et 42% en 2030. Cet engagement, note le communiqué, est conforme à la volonté des Etats-Unis de réduire le niveau d’émissions de 83% d’ici à 2050. Il démontre leur souhait de contribuer à résoudre ce problème «que les Etats-Unis ont trop longtemps négligé». Engagement hypothétique >>> Luis Lema | Jeudi 26 Novembre 2009

NZZ ONLINE: China will Anstieg von Treibhausgasen bremsen: Peking nennt erstmals konkrete Ziele vor Weltklimagipfel in Kopenhagen >>> sda/dpa | Donnerstag, 26. November 2009

Leterme wieder belgischer Regierungschef: Reibungslose Ablösung Van Rompuys – «Sprachenstreit» ausgelagert
NZZ ONLINE: In Belgien wurde der frühere Regierungschef Leterme wieder Ministerpräsident, nachdem sein Vorgänger Van Rompuy zum Präsidenten des Europäischen Rats ernannt worden war. Das Kabinett wurde kaum verändert.

Erstaunlich rasch haben sich die fünf belgischen Regierungsparteien nach der Ernennung von Ministerpräsident Van Rompuy zum ersten Präsidenten der Staats- und Regierungschefs der EU am letzten Donnerstag auf einen Modus zur Stabübergabe im belgischen Kabinett geeinigt. Erstaunlich ist dies darum, weil auch die Regierungsneubildung – wie fast alles in der belgischen Politik – vom Streit zwischen Flamen und Frankophonen überlagert wird. An diesem Streit beisst sich die Classe politique seit Jahrzehnten die Zähne aus. >>> Peter Winkler, Brüssel | Mittwoch, 25. November 2009

Gesundheit: Brüssel sagt Rauchern den Kampf an
WELT ONLINE: Das Europäische Parlament fordert einen verschärften Nichtraucherschutz. Die EU-Mitgliedstaaten sollen gemäß einer Empfehlung aus Brüssel die Rauchverbote weiterentwickeln. Deutschland müsse das Rauchen auch in Eckkneipen verbieten. Die strengeren Rauchverbote kommen einer Umfrage zufolge gut an. >>> Von Christoph B. Schilz | Donnerstag, 26. November 2009

WELT ONLINE: Strengere Rauchverbote in Europa? Diskutieren Sie mit… >>>

Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving to One and All

Blair Lied and Lied Again: Mandarins Reveal that 10 Days Before Iraq Invasion PM Knew Saddam Couldn't Use WMDs
MAIL ONLINE: The full extent of how Tony Blair misled the public about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction before and after the Iraq War was laid bare yesterday.

The Chilcot Inquiry heard that just ten days before the invasion of Iraq Mr Blair was told Saddam had no way of using weapons of mass destruction.

And weapons experts revealed that the former Prime Minister took Britain to war based on intelligence that his own spies rated just 'four out of ten' for accuracy.

On the eve of the conflict, intelligence chiefs told Mr Blair that the Iraqi dictator had no warheads capable of delivering chemical weapons, dramatically undermining the Prime Minister's case for war.

Yet Mr Blair gave the go-ahead for the invasion despite strong evidence that Iraq was no threat to Britain.

Then, after the war, officials had to tell Mr Blair not to 'declare success too rapidly' in the quest to find WMD in Iraq as he continued to make misleading statements claiming that 'massive evidence' had been found.

The revelations reinforce the case that intelligence evidence that Saddam was no threat was ignored by Mr Blair to take Britain to war on a false prospectus. >>> Tim Shipman | Thursday, November 26, 2009

Female? Black? Gay? All Three? Then You're More Likely to Become an MP Under Controversial New Plans
MAIL ONLINE: Controversial plans were unveiled yesterday to force political parties to make Parliament less white, male, middle-class and heterosexual.

Under proposals backed by Commons Speaker John Bercow, but labelled as 'insulting' by former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe, parties will be made to declare publicly how many women, ethnic minority, gay and disabled applicants they reject as potential Parliamentary candidates.

Parties also face demands to ensure at least half the MPs leaving Parliament at the next election - in what is expected to be the biggest exodus since 1945 - are replaced by women.

The proposals have emerged from a crossparty review set up by former Commons Speaker Michael Martin - and taken forward by his successor, Mr Bercow - on how to make the chamber more representative.

In an interim report published yesterday, the panel said parties must be made to be more transparent about the people putting themselves forward as would-be MPs.

The report said: 'The fact remains that, at present, the House of Commons continues to be largely white, male, middle-aged and middle-class: people from under-represented groups who are putting themselves forward for selection are still proportionately less likely to be selected.' >>> | Wednesday, November 25, 2009

David Cameron Accused of 'Divisive Smears' Over Islamic Schools Claim
Most people tend to live up to their names. Ed Balls appears to be no exception. – © Mark
TIMES ONLINE: David Cameron was accused of using "divisive smears" by the Schools Secretary after alleging that a radical Muslim group had set up two schools with the help of public cash meant to tackle extremism.

The Tory leader claimed that the Government had been warned that the independent schools in London were being run by a “front organisation for Hizb ut Tahrir”.

Demanding an investigation from Gordon Brown, Mr Cameron said schools run by the ISF (Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation) in Slough and Haringey, London, had received £113,000 of Government money, some of which was from the Pathfinder scheme, the objective of which is meant to be preventing violent extremism. >>> Francis Elliott and Times Online | Thursday, November 26, 2009

MAIL ONLINE: Brown denies Tory claim that £100,000 of public money was given to 'Muslim extremist schools' >>> Kirsty Walker | Thursday, November 26, 2009

Attention! Achtung! Now It’s Catholics. Next It Will Be Muslims! Brown Is Just Plain Stupid – and Treasonous! Gordon Brown Opens Way for End to Ban on Monarchs Marrying Catholics
THE TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown has paved the way for sweeping changes to the 300-year-old law which prevents Roman Catholics ascending to the throne.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. Photograph: The Telegraph
Offensive, offensive, all these days is offensive! – © Mark
Mr Brown has made it clear he also wants to change the rule of primogeniture, which prevents women taking their place ahead of men in the line to the throne.

The Prime Minister will travel to a Commonwealth summit in Trinidad today and will raise the controversial issue fellow heads of government.

Last night he was urged to move now to stop discrimination against women and Catholics from becoming the monarch.

Evan Harris, a Liberal Democrat MP, said: “All parties in the House had agreed that discrimination against princesses and Catholic spouses is not justified, and that the language in the Act of Settlement is offensive. >>> Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Les musulmans entament le pèlerinage de La Mecque
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: ARABIE SAOUDITE | Des centaines de milliers de pèlerins affluaient ce mercredi à la vallée de Mina, près de La Mecque, pour entamer les rites d’un pèlerinage placé sous haute surveillance, en raison de la grippe H1N1.

A pied ou en bus, au milieu d’inextricables embouteillages, les pèlerins en tunique immaculée parcouraient la dizaine de kilomètres séparant la première ville sainte de l’islam de la vallée rocailleuse de Mina, où ils doivent passer la nuit.

Les autorités saoudiennes n’ont pas précisé le nombre total de pèlerins cette année mais selon une source officielle, le royaume a délivré des visas à 1,6 million de pèlerins étrangers, auxquels s’ajoutent des centaines de milliers de fidèles du royaume.

Près de 100.000 agents des forces de l’ordre assurent la sécurité du pèlerinage. Le personnel médical affecté au hajj est constitué de 20.000 personnes, face aux craintes d’une propagation de la grippe H1N1.

Peu de pèlerins portaient mercredi des masques en se rendant à Mina, malgré les injonctions des autorités. La route était sillonnée de cliniques mobiles et d’ambulances.

Des caméras thermiques ont également été placées aux entrées de la vallée de Mina pour détecter les pèlerins ayant une température élevée.

Ryad a toutefois écarté le risque d’une propagation de la grippe H1N1 durant le hajj, marqué jusqu’ici par l’annonce de quatre cas mortels parmi les fidèles. >>> AFP | Mercredi 25 Novembre 2009

Rain Soaks Hajj Pilgrims in Mecca
THE TELEGRAPH: Muslim pilgrims were forced to take shelter in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday as the opening of the annual hajj was hit by the heaviest rains in years and fears of swine flu.

Pilgrims seeking shelter from the heavy rain in Mina, Saudi Arabia. Photograph: The Telegraph
Muslims circled Islam's holiest site, the Kaaba, wearing traditional white robes, but they also bore new additions - umbrellas and face masks.

Saudi authorities had already geared up for months with precautions for fear that the pilgrimage could become a perfect incubator for the H1N1 swine flu virus. The event is one of the most crowded in the world, with more than 3 million people from every corner of the globe packed together shoulder to shoulder in prayers and rites for four days.

The unexpected downpours could worsen the perennial dangers of the gathering, particularly deadly stampedes.

Just a slip on a wet pavement at the hajj rites could be deadly.

In 2006, a dropped piece of luggage amid a moving crowd tripped people, causing a pile-up that killed more than 360 people at one of the holy sites.

This year's rains have brought fears of flash floods or mudslides in the desert mountains where the rites take place. >>> | Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Even the Christmas Cracker Bows to Political Correctness
A Christmas cracker. Photograph: Google Images
THE TELEGRAPH: Christmas cracker firm Swantex has dropped dozens of jokes, including mother-in-law gags and references to animal cruelty, in favour of more ‘politically correct’ alternatives.

The company, Britain’s biggest manufacturer of crackers, said the overhaul was needed to make sure its humour was in keeping with “changing attitudes”.

Among jokes to be dropped is: “What does a transvestite do for Christmas? Eat, drink and be Mary.”

They are being replaced by one-liners such as: “What athlete is warmest in winter? A long jumper.”

A spokesman for Swantex, which is owned by the Byk family, said: “Jokes are tested by an experienced Swantex panel, including members of the Byk family in laboratory conditions, i.e. over lunch with optional wine. Jokes that fail to register a smile or a groan are not included in crackers.” Christmas cracker jokes go 'politically correct' >>> Alastair Jamieson | Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Are Artificial Christmas Trees Ever Acceptable?
THE TELEGRAPH: With the weak pound contributing to a shortage of fir trees, Judith Woods wonders whether it's time to go fake this Christmas.

As the festive season looms, Europe is yet again giving with one hand (Lebkuchen, Panettone) and taking with the other (commandeering our Christmas trees). The dismal euro rate means that foreign tree exporters are reluctant to export to Britain, and our growers are sending their spruces to the likes of Spain and the Soviet Union, where they can earn up to 30 per cent more than previously.

Short of closing all the ports – which would be a shame, as how else would we get our Stollen and Belgian chocolate Santas? – we must counter this vile fir trade the only way we know how: by raising our chins, stiffening our upper lips and Faking It.

However, being British means agonising over etiquette, so the subtle nuances that separate U from Non-U are guaranteed to keep even the most insouciant of hostesses awake at night. Are plastic needles tacky? Can a pre-lit tabletop tree ever pass as stylish? At what point does faux turn into a faux pas? >>> Judith Woods | Tuesday, November 24, 2009

États-Unis : Barack Obama offre à l’Inde la reconnaissance qu’elle attendait
Le premier ministre indien, Manmohan Singh, et le président Barack Obama. Crédits photo : Le Temps
LE TEMPS: Le président démocrate a reçu à la Maison-Blanche le premier ministre indien, Manmohan Singh, en visite d’Etat. Il a insisté sur le fait que l’Inde était «une démocratie multiethnique comme les Etats-Unis»

L’Inde ou la Chine? Entre ces deux grandes puissances émergentes, en partie rivales, les Etats-Unis donnaient l’impression d’avoir choisi. C’est en Chine que vient de se rendre Barack Obama, multipliant les révérences et évitant de hausser le ton sur les sujets qui fâchent. «Je vous présente Barack Obama, l’administrateur de nos compagnies de l’Ouest», disait un responsable chinois devant un Obama courbé jusqu’au sol, dans un dessin paru dans un journal de Pittsburgh et aussitôt reproduit dans la presse nationale.

Ce ne sont pas seulement les Américains qui ont pris ombrage de la «servilité» de leur président à l’égard d’une Chine qui tient les Etats-Unis par les cordons de la bourse. A travers toutes sortes de canaux, les Indiens, eux aussi, ont fait connaître leur embarras. L’Inde a vécu une lune de miel avec le prédécesseur d’Obama, George Bush, qui a atteint son apogée peu avant la passation de pouvoir, avec la signature d’un accord entre les deux pays en matière de technologie nucléaire. >>> Luis Lema | Mercredi 25 Novembre 2009

A Place at the State Dinner Table
ADVOCATE.COM: Several prominent gay men and lesbians were among those at the White House Tuesday night for President and Mrs. Obama’s first state dinner, held in honor of India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur. Among those on the 338-person guest list were movie producer David Geffen and his partner, Jeremy Lingvall; longtime activist Urvashi Vaid and her partner, comedian Kate Clinton; Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes and his partner, Sean Eldridge; and chair of the U.S. Export-Import Bank Fred Hochberg and his partner, Thomas Healy.
 


State dinners are traditionally held in the state White House’s State Dining Room, but this one was held in a tent outside the White House, complete with chandeliers and views of both the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. Because Manmohan Singh and his wife are vegetarians, the menu was completely meat free. >>> Advocate.com Editors | Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Obama State Dinner: A Sampling of Guests


President Obama Toasts the Future at White House State Dinner

Sarkozy erteilt illegalen Einwanderern eine Absage
Nicolas Sarkozy im Gespräch mit Behörden in der Pariser Vorstadt Le Perreux-sur-Marne. Bild: Die Presse
DIE PRESSE: Der französische Präsident lehnt eine pauschale Aufenthalts-Genehmigung für illegale Immigranten ab. Denn dies habe zuvor jedes Mal eine "Sogwirkung" erzeugt.

Der französische Präsident Nicolas Sarkozy hat eine massenhafte Vergabe von Aufenthalts-Genehmigungen an illegale Einwanderer abgelehnt. "Solange ich Präsident der Republik bin, werde ich nicht akzeptieren, dass die, die keine Papiere haben, pauschal Aufenthaltsgenehmigungen bekommen", sagte Sarkozy am Dienstag bei einem Besuch in der Pariser Vorstadt Le Perreux-sur-Marne.

Frankreich habe sich in der Vergangenheit schon drei Mal zu so einem Schritt entschlossen. Dies habe jedes Mal eine "Sogwirkung" erzeugt, wodurch über "die Netze krimineller Schleuser" noch mehr Menschen aus armen Ländern illegal nach Frankreich gekommen seien. >>> AFP | Dienstag, 24. November 2009

Bob Ainsworth criticises Barack Obama over Afghanistan
THE TELEGRAPH: Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary, has blamed Barack Obama and the United States for the decline in British public support for the war in Afghanistan.

He took the unprecedented step of publicly criticising the US President and his delays in sending more troops to bolster the mission against the Taliban.

A “period of hiatus” in Washington - and a lack of clear direction - had made it harder for ministers to persuade the British public to go on backing the Afghan mission in the face of a rising death toll, he said.

Senior British Government sources have become increasingly frustrated with Mr Obama’s “dithering” on Afghanistan.

However, Mr Ainsworth is the first minister to express in public what amounts to personal criticism of the President’s leadership. >>> James Kirkup, Thomas Harding and Toby Harnden | Wednesday, November 25, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: Iraq war files: British colonel's scathing attack on 'arrogant, bureaucratic' Americans >>> | Monday, November 23, 2009

DIE PRESSE: Auf Bush-Kurs: Obama lehnt Landminen-Verbot ab: US-Präsident Obama behält die Politik seines Vorgängers Bush bei: Die USA schließen sich als einziges Nato-Land nicht der Konvention zum Verbot von Landminen an. >>> Ag. | Mittwoch, 25. November 2009

Another Stitch-up That'll Let Off Blair Once Again
MAIL ONLINE: As the great and the good of the Chilcot inquiry began their earnest deliberations yesterday, one conclusion could be drawn before a single person had said a single word: Tony Blair will get away with it. Again.

The man who led Britain into five wars in his first six years in Downing Street, the man who manipulated and massaged the evidence to suit the needs of a simpleton friend in George W. Bush has emerged completely unscathed from the Iraq conflict.

Since the war in 2003, every new revelation, every new accusation, has met the same the slithery response - 'I did what I thought was right at the time.'

Rather than feeling chastened, he has strutted the world stage, pretending to bring peace to the Middle East (which remains as elusive as it has ever been) and portraying himself as the saviour of the European Union.

When he is not preening himself across the globe, he is spending the millions he has made from his consultancies and showbusiness lectures on grand country estates and fine furniture.

This latest inquiry, established with great reluctance by Gordon Brown, comes far too late in the day to make any political difference. And the sad truth is that Blair has all the impunity he needs.

We have, after all, been here before. >>> John Kampfner | Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Retrobites: Margaret Thatcher (1983)

Margaret Thatcher on Socialism

Thatcher: There Is No Such Thing as Public Money

Are You Young Enough to Appreciate This? Forever
If you are, chill out with Chris Brown >>>

Hajj Guiding: An Ancient Family Business
THE TELEGRAPH: The Saudi government might manage the hajj, but the people who make it run for two million or more pilgrims are a handful of old Mecca families who monopolise the muttawif, or hajj guide, business.

Muslim pilgrims pray on Noor Mountain in Mecca. Photograph: The Telegraph
Organised into six companies, each taking care of pilgrims from a specific part of the world, they make sure the people who have waited a lifetime to perform the hajj get through it.

"We take control of the pilgrim from when he first puts his foot on the soil of Mecca," said Imad Abdullah, waiting for a bus load of Indonesians arriving in the Muslim holy city for the annual pilgrimage.

"We organise the shelter, food, transport, the rituals, and try to resolve any problems that come up," said Abdullah, who specialises in pilgrims from south-east Asia.

In what is a lucrative trade, the families deploy their members for the few weeks a year to manage pilgrim groups for all the time they are in Mecca: holding onto their travel documents, organising visits to important sites, and at the end, shopping trips so they can return home laden with gifts and souvenirs.

It is a gruelling job, having to be on call day and night for a few weeks, but thousands of young Meccans, men and women, seek the job and its good salary.

For several days' work they earn from $800 (£481) to more than $5,000 dollars each, depending on their experience.

Knowing foreign languages is a particular asset for a muttawif guide, and some excel in the tongues of the region they handle.

It is an ancient business, helping foreigners unable to speak Arabic navigate their way through the lengthy hajj ritual.

Families have long controlled it, but before the 1930s it was not very disciplined.

Then King Abdul Aziz bin Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, organised the families into six companies, each with rights to handle pilgrims from a specific region.

Abdullah's family - in the business for 150 years, is part of one of the companies, and he has been a muttawif for 30 years.

"Our sons will inherit the job," he said. >>> | Monday, November 23, 2009

Brown: Britain Must Be at Heart of Europe
THE INDEPENDENT: Britain must put itself at the heart of Europe to protect jobs and support economic growth, Gordon Brown insisted today.

In thinly-veiled criticism of the Tories, the Prime Minister claimed that retreating to the European sidelines would deal a "devastating blow" to UK business.

Speaking to business leaders at the CBI conference in London, Mr Brown said he was spearheading demands for a Europe-wide economic growth strategy.

Seeking to exploit the Conservatives' hostility towards the European Union, the premier said that UK growth was entwined with that of the Continent.

"It is by putting Britain not on the fringes of Europe, but at its heart, that Britain can protect its interests within Europe, and shape the future of Europe from a position of strength that can deliver growth and jobs for the British people," he said.

"To walk away from this would be to deal a devastating blow to the future of British business - and it's my belief that we must never allow this to happen."

Appealing for UK business to be "outward-looking" in order to harness the opportunities of global change, Mr Brown said higher European growth would create thousands of new British jobs.

"We must never forget that Europe accounts for 60% of our trade; more than three million British jobs depend on Europe," he warned.

"The European Union is the biggest exporter in the world and the second biggest importer. And it accounts for almost a third of the world's GDP." >>> Daniel Bentley, Press Association | Monday, November 23, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: Direct rail links to be opened between London and Amsterdam, Gordon Brown announces: Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, has announced plans for direct rail links to be opened between London and other European cities including Amsterdam. >>> Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent | Monday, November 23, 2009

IMF Warns Second Bailout Would 'Threaten Democracy'
TIMES ONLINE: The public will not bail out the financial services sector for a second time if another global crisis blows up in four or five years time, the managing-director of the International Monetary Fund warned this morning.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn told the CBI annual conference of business leaders that another huge call on public finances by the financial services sector would not be tolerated by the “man in the street” and could even threaten democracy.

"Most advanced economies will not accept any more [bailouts]...The political reaction will be very strong, putting some democracies at risk," he told delegates.

"I do believe that the financial sector needs to contribute both to the costs of the financial crisis and to reduce recourse to public funds in the future," he said.

Mr Strauss-Kahn said that imposing high capital ratio requirements on banks was one price the financial services sector must pay to prevent the threat of further multi-billion dollar bailouts.

He pointed to the debate in the US over the Troubled Asset Relief Programme and said that in many countries, including France and Germany, he doubted that politicians would secure the mandate needed to secure any further bail-outs if banks got in to trouble again, in several years' time.

Europe is in dispute over the spiralling cost of the global economic bailout, with Germany and France calling for a reduction in state support as their economies have shown signs of an upturn. >>> Angela Jameson and Elizabeth Judge | Monday, November 23, 2009

Pope John Paul II 'Whipped Himself in Remorse for Sins'
THE TELEGRAPH: Pope John Paul II regularly whipped himself in a sign of "remorse for his sins", a nun has claimed.

Pope John Paul II. Photo: The Telegraph
The Pope, who died five years ago, is being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church.

As part of the Vatican's investigation thousands of documents have been collected and examined by officials from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Among them is the testimony of Tobiana Sobodka, a Polish nun of the Sacred Heart of Jesus order, who worked for Pope John Paul in his private Vatican apartments and at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo near Rome.

Sister Sobodka said: "Several times he (Pope John Paul) would put himself through bodily penance.

"We would hear it – we were in the next room at Castel Gandolfo. You could hear the sound of the blows when he flagellate himself. He did it when he was still capable of moving on his own."

The flagellation is also confirmed by another bishop who has given testimony. Emery Kabongo was a secretary for Pope John Paul.

"He would punish himself and in particular just before he ordained bishops and priests," he said.

"I never actually saw it myself but several people told me about it."

Self flagellation is sometimes used by devoted Catholics as it reminds them of the whipping endured by Christ at the hands of the Romans before he was crucified. >>> Nick Pisa in Perugia | Monday, November 23, 2009

Video: US Deserter Seeks German Asylum
BBC: A US Army deserter is to meet German politicians in Berlin as he tries to secure asylum in the country.

Andre Shepherd left his military base, in southern Germany, in April 2007, after serving in Iraq. Eighteen months later, he applied for asylum on moral grounds, claiming the Iraq war was illegal. Tristana Moore reports. Watch video >>> | Monday, November 23, 2009

Europeans Sour on American-Style Capitalism
TIME: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has spent the past year hammering away at the excesses of American-style capitalism. In September, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso declared that workers' rights and "social cohesion" were top priorities on the Old Continent. And Italy's veteran Economy Minister, Giulio Tremonti, went out of his way last month to praise the posto fisso (guaranteed job for life) as a supreme public value.

In certain European political and intellectual circles, such talk would hardly turn heads. But those three men wagging their fingers at the free market were thought to have their capitalist bona fides as part of a generation of European business and government leaders who had pushed for reforming the welfare system and opening up the job market. Often in open ideological war against the entrenched interests of labor unions and leftist politicians, the likes of Sarkozy and Tremonti had long insisted that free-market reforms were the only way to create a more dynamic Europe in an increasingly competitive globalized economy.

So how do we explain the fact that longtime Ronald Reagan admirers are suddenly starting to sound like a union activist's picket sign? Has the Great Recession of 2008-09 effectively sapped all the energy from Europe's post-1989 wave of economic neoliberalism? "Quite clearly, the state is back," notes Iain Begg, a professor of European political economy at the London School of Economics. "In front of the failures of the Anglo-American model, we are seeing a revival of Keynesian approaches to react to the crisis."

Of course, the ideas of John Maynard Keynes are also behind the auto-industry bailouts, new financial regulations and public investments pushed by the Obama Administration. The difference is both in the details and the big picture: not only do specific national economic policies in Europe tend to still trail those of the U.S. on the free-market curve, but there is also a lingering ingrained suspicion about capitalism itself. >>> Jeff Israely | Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Mosquées : A Marseille, une page se tourne
LE TEMPS: France: 5 000 000 de musulmans (9% de la population), les 2/3 d’origine maghrébine

Hôtel de ville de Marseille, 6 novembre 2009. Tout sourire, le maire Jean-Claude Gaudin remet solennellement à Nourredine Cheikh, le président de l’association La mosquée de Marseille, son permis de construire tant attendu. Le site mesure 7500 mètres carrés, loué pour une somme presque symbolique (24 000 euros par an). Il comprend un minaret de 25 mètres, une salle de prières de 3500 mètres carré, un restaurant, un centre culturel. En 2011, ce devrait être la plus grande mosquée de France. Sous les balcons, le Front national donne de la voix, rappelant qu’il a déposé un recours en urbanisme. Mais les 200 000 musulmans de Marseille, dont la moitié ont la nationalité française, savent qu’une page est tournée, 72 ans après le premier projet de mosquée dans le principal port méditerranéen. >>> Catherine Frammery | Lundi 23 Novembre 2009

Minarets : Geert Wilders s’agite aux Pays-Bas
LE TEMPS: Pays-Bas: près de 900 000 musulmans (5% de la population), essentiellement de Turquie (330 000) et du Maroc (300 000)

Au sud de Rotterdam, ville multiculturelle où un habitant sur sept est de confession musulmane, la construction de la mosquée Essalam, qui a débuté il y a plus de six ans, est aujourd’hui ralentie. Le bâtiment principal est presque achevé mais les minarets, qui s’élèvent à plus de 50 mètres attendent encore d’être coiffés d’une pointe. En cause: le manque d’argent. Ni une, ni deux, le «Leefbaar Rotterdam» (Pour la qualité de la vie à Rotterdam), dernière section du parti fondé par Pim Fortuyn, le populiste de droite anti-islamiste assassiné en 2002, a exigé de la municipalité qu’elle retire le permis de construire de la mosquée. Et que le bâtiment, situé près d’un stade de football, soit utilisé à d’autres fins. Voilà pour l’ambiance.

Près de 900 000 musulmans vivent aux Pays-Bas. La plupart sont originaires du Maroc et de Turquie. Les mosquées seraient au nombre de 450, avec en tout, une trentaine de minarets. Depuis l’assassinat, en décembre 2004, du cinéaste Theo van Gogh, très critique envers les musulmans, par un Néerlandais radical d’origine marocaine, la question de l’intégration des musulmans est revenue sur le devant de la scène. Le discours à leur égard s’est nettement durci. >>> Valérie de Graffenried | Lundi 23 Novembre 2009

The Former British Police Officer Who Wants to Bring Down Barack Obama
THE GUARDIAN: Conspiracist prominent in movement claiming president is an imposter

Obama as a child with his mother. Photo: The Guardian
Neil Sankey has spent his life investigating organised crimes. As a former British police officer with almost 20 years experience, he was seconded to elite units of Scotland Yard through most of the 1970s and now runs his own private detective agency in California.

Over the years he has been involved in some big investigations. As part of the Special Branch and Bomb Squad he monitored British leftwing groups and the IRA, and in America his clients have included several big car companies.

But never has he handled anything quite as monumental as the investigation that is absorbing his energies today.

Sankey is pursuing what he believes to be fraud on a gigantic scale — a conspiracy, no less, to infiltrate and destroy the free world by putting a foreign imposter into the White House.

Sankey is a member of the fringe alliance known widely as the Birthers (he dislikes the expression, considering it pejorative). Together with other activists, he seeks to prove that Barack Obama is not a true American and is therefore ineligible to be president. >>> Ed Pilkington in New York | Sunday, November 22, 2009

Iran Sentences Former Vice-president to Six Years as Trails of Dissidents Reach a Peak
THE TELEGRAPH: A former Iranian vice-president was sentenced to six years in prison as reprisals meted out to leaders of street protests against the disputed presidential elections claimed their highest profile victim.

Former Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Ali Abtahi. Photo: The Telegraph
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, who was vice-president and a key aide to the leading reformist Mohammad Khatami from 1997-2005, was found guilty of conspiring against Iran's national security, state newsagencies reported yesterday.

He was arrested shortly after the presidential election in June as hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Tehran claiming the results, which gave an overwhelming victory to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, were rigged.

State news agencies said he appeared before a court in Tehran on Saturday and was found guilty of charges including "gathering and plotting against the country's security", insulting the president, taking part in illegal demonstrations and issuing propaganda against the regime.

"Abtahi was sentenced to six years in prison for acting against national security and propaganda activity," a court spokesman said. >>> Richard Spencer in Dubai | Sunday, November 22, 2009

Nancy Franklin – Viewpoint: Unheavenly Host
THE NEW YORKER: Fox News Channel’s latest blowhard.

Bend it like Beck: Glenn Beck scores points with his political distortions. Caricature: The New Yorker
If you sensed something of a quiet spell about ten days ago, a lull in the usual media storm, it may have been owing to the fact that Glenn Beck, the energetically hateful, truth-twisting radio and Fox News Channel talk-show host, was absent from the airwaves for a week, to have his appendix removed. A few days after his surgery, he made it clear, via his Twitter feed, that he hated just watching TV, which is, of course, the terrible fate of those of us who don’t have talk shows. (“I know how U feel. Watching the news & knowing wht I say 2 my tv makes no difference,” he wrote. “I cnt wait 2 giv U wht I think has bn going on.”) By the middle of last week, he was back, breathing fire about Obama’s response to the Fort Hood shootings.

The persona that Beck has cobbled together over the past few years combines a determination to draw attention to himself, because what he has to say is so important, with an outsized, in-your-face show of modesty—he likes to refer to himself as a fatty (he’s barely overweight) and a clown, and, like many an egomaniac throughout history, he takes pains to present himself as a regular guy, shrugging his shoulders and saying, “But what do I know?” He declares himself no special friend to either Democrats or Republicans, and claims to be a libertarian, but his agenda is to throw tacks in front of the wheels of progress and, specifically, to make the Obama Administration crash and burn. Beck looks cherubic, with his boyish crewcut, his rubbery, expressive face, his wide eyes, and his seemingly innocent smile, but he has a wizened heart and a sulfurous outlook on American life and politics. >>> Nancy Franklin | Monday, November 23, 2009

Iran startet Militärmanöver - Warnung an Israel
DIE PRESSE: Die iranischen Revolutionsgarden proben die Verteidigung der umstrittenen Atomanlagen. Israel wird damit demonstrativ vor einem Angriff auf die Anlagen gewarnt.

Mit einem großangelegten Militärmanöver haben die iranischen Revolutionsgarden Israel demonstrativ vor einem Luftschlag gegen die Atomanlagen der Islamischen Republik gewarnt. Im Fall eines Angriffs werde der Iran Mittelstreckenraketen auf Tel Aviv abfeuern, erklärte der Repräsentant des Obersten geistlichen Führers Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in den Revolutionsgarden, Mojtaba Zolnoor.

Hauptziel des seit Sonntag laufenden fünftägigen Manövers ist es, die Fähigkeiten der Luftwaffe zu testen, die in Teheran sowie in Zentral- und Südiran liegenden Atomanlagen gegen einen Angriff zu verteidigen, wie der Nachrichtenkanal Khabar berichtete.

Israel hat wegen des iranischen Atomprogramms, das möglicherweise den Bau von Atomwaffen zum Ziel hat, einen Militärschlag gegen den Iran explizit nicht ausgeschlossen. Die Regierung in Jerusalem betrachtet einen nuklear gerüsteten Iran als Existenzbedrohung. Experten wenden jedoch ein, dass Luftangriffe auf die iranischen Nuklearanlagen das Programm bestenfalls um einige Jahre zurückwerfen könnten.

Für die Verteidigung der iranischen Atomanlagen sind die paramilitärischen Revolutionsgarden zuständig. Die mehr als 125.000 Gardisten bilden neben der regulären Armee die zweite Säule der iranischen Streitkräfte. Atom-Verhandlungen festgefahren >>> Ag | Sonntag, 22. November 2009

Obama bows to Emperor Akihito excessively deferentially. Photo: Google Images
Barack Obama Dream Fades as China Visit Fails to Bring Change
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Even his allies feel let down by the president’s lack of progress both in Asia and at home

Gazing serenely from the Great Wall of China last week, President Barack Obama appeared to be making the most of one of the supreme perks of White House occupancy — a private guided tour of Asia’s most spectacular tourist destination.

White House aides exulted that perfectly choreographed pictures of this moment would make front pages around the world. Yet an experience Obama declared to be “magical” turned sour as he returned home to a spreading domestic revolt that is fanning Democratic unease.

It was not just that the US media have suddenly turned a lot more sceptical about a president with grand ambitions to reshape politics at home and abroad — even one previously friendly newspaper noted dismissively: “Obama goes to China, brings home a T-shirt.”

Nor was the steady decline in the president’s approval ratings — which fell below 50% for the first time in a Gallup poll last week — the main cause of White House angst. Obama remains more popular than either Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton a year after their elections, and both presidents eventually cruised to second terms.

The real problem may be Obama’s friends — or rather, those among his formerly most enthusiastic supporters who are now having second thoughts.

The doubters are suddenly stretching across a broad section of the Democratic party’s natural constituency. They include black congressional leaders upset by the sluggish economy; women and Hispanics appalled by concessions made to Republicans on healthcare; anti-war liberals depressed by the debate over troops for Afghanistan; and growing numbers of blue-collar workers who are continuing to lose their jobs and homes.

Obama’s Asian adventure perceptibly increased the murmurings of dissent when he returned to Washington last week, having failed to wring any public concessions from China on any major issue.

For most Americans, the most talked-about moment of the trip was not the Great Wall visit but his low bow to Emperor Akihito of Japan, which the president’s right-wing critics assailed as “a spineless blunder” and excessively deferential. >>> Tony Allen-Mills in New York | Sunday, November 22, 2009

Catherine Ashton, la lady qu'on n'attendait pas
leJDD.fr: La désignation de Catherine Ashton comme chef de la diplomatie de l'Union européenne, aux côtés du président Van Rompuy - deux fonctions créées par le traité de Lisbonne - suscite la perplexité.

Dans les couloirs de la Commission européenne, on l’appelle "the Baroness". "Avec ses vêtements rose et parme, elle a un côté très lady, façon reine d’Angleterre", s’amuse-t-on au sein de la haute instance bruxelloise. Elle a pourtant annoncé la couleur d’entrée, lorsqu’elle s’est installée dans le siège de commissaire au Commerce extérieur, en 2008: "Ne m’appelez pas baronne… Appelez-moi plutôt Cathy."

Catherine Ashton of Upholland, de son vrai nom, a été nommée jeudi haute représentante de l’Union européenne pour les affaires étrangères, aux côtés d’Herman Van Rompuy, nommé premier président "stable" de l’UE. Une désignation a minima pour ce poste qu’on annonce d’emblée dévalorisé, tant le profil de cette lady britannique de 53 ans ne semble pas susciter d’enthousiasme en Europe.

Décrite comme "consensuelle" et "discrète" par la BBC, comme une "technocrate dénuée d’expérience en matière diplomatique" par The Economist, "aussi inconnue que non élue" par The Guardian, la "Baroness", économiste de formation, a commencé sa carrière en dirigeant pendant six ans une œuvre caritative créée par le prince Charles, Business in the Community. Elle a ensuite été anoblie à la demande du Parti travailliste, en 1999, avant de rentrer à la Chambre des lords… puis d’être nommée successivement secrétaire d’Etat à l’Education, aux Affaires constitutionnelles et à la Justice. Son principal fait d’armes au niveau européen? Avoir obtenu, en 2007, l’adoption du traité de Lisbonne par la Chambre haute du Parlement. Un quasi-exploit au Royaume-Uni, pays plutôt réputé pour ses penchants eurosceptiques… >>> Camille Neveux, Le Journal du Dimanche | Samedi 21 Novembre 2009

Die stille EU-Aussenministerin: Catherine Ashton hat sich in ihrer Karriere daran gewöhnt, stets unterschätzt zu werden
NZZ am SONNTAG: Sie sei profillos und nie gewählt worden, schimpfen Kritiker. Doch die aus einem kleinen Dorf stammende Baroness Ashton ist auf ihre ruhige Art erfolgreich.

Die Zweifel kommen ihr bekannt vor. Schon als Catherine Ashton 2008 EU-Handelskommissarin wurde, fragte die britische Öffentlichkeit: Wer ist diese Frau? Und dann, aggressiver: Hat sie das Zeug für ein solches Amt?

Als Ashton nun am Donnerstag überraschend zur neuen EU-Aussenministerin und Vizechefin der EU-Kommission berufen wurde, waren die Einwände ähnlich, nur noch ätzender: Die 53-Jährige sei zu blass, fähig zwar, aber zu unerfahren, um die EU gegenüber den USA, Russland oder Iran zu repräsentieren. Für den Europa-Experten der Denkfabrik Chatham House ist Ashton «langweilig», die Boulevardzeitung «Daily Mail» bezeichnete sie als «Baroness Who» – die meisten Leuten hätten noch nie von ihr gehört. Viele Kommentatoren schrieben, Ashton und der neue EU-Präsident Herman Van Rompuy seien bestimmt worden, weil die EU keine politischen Schwergewichte wie Tony Blair wünsche, die den Regierungen dreinreden könnten.

Catherine Ashton, die am liebsten einfach «Cathy» genannt wird, konterte die Kritik selbstbewusst. 27 Regierungschefs hätten sie gewählt, und sie wolle zeigen, dass sie «die beste Person ist für das Amt». Sie habe jahrelange Erfahrung in Verhandlungen auf allen möglichen Ebenen, erklärte sie und fügte an, sie sei stolz, das Amt als Frau aufgrund ihrer Fähigkeiten erhalten zu haben. >>> Niels Anner, Cambridge | Sonntag, 22. November 2009

Iranische Machtverhältnisse: Der Gottesstaat wird zur Militärdiktatur
20MINUTEN.ch: Seit der umstrittenen Wiederwahl Mahmud Ahmadinedschads weiten die Revolutionsgarden ihren Einfluss auf die iranische Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft aus. Die schiitische Geistlichkeit wird in den Hintergrund gedrängt.

«Die Bewahrung der Islamischen Republik ist wichtiger als Beten», verkündete unlängst Mohammad Ali Dschafari, Kommandant der iranischen Revolutionsgarden. «Kommandant erlässt Fatwa», spottete tags darauf die exiliranische Zeitung «Ruz». Die Häme scheint unangebracht, drängen sich doch zwei Fragen auf: Wie «islamisch» ist eine Republik, deren Überleben wichtiger ist als die zweite Säule des Islam, das tägliche Gebet? Und da Iran auch keine echte Republik ist: Was eigentlich ist das Land, wenn weder islamisch noch Republik?

Auf dem Weg zu einer Militärdiktatur, meint einer, der es wissen muss: Mohsen Sazegara war Gründungsmitglied der Revolutionsgarden und in den 80er Jahren Mitarbeiter von Premierminister Mussawi, dem heutigen Oppositionsführer. Inzwischen lebt er im amerikanischen Exil und bezeichnet seine ehemaligen Kameraden als «etwas wie die kommunistische Partei, den KGB, einen Grosskonzern und die Mafia zusammen». Putschdrohung gegen Chatami >>> Von Omid Marivani | Samstag, 21. November 2009

Proche-Orient : L'eau de Gaza est impropre à la consommation
20MINUTES.ch: L'eau dans la bande de Gaza est «désormais impropre à la consommation humaine», a déclaré samedi un responsable palestinien chargé de l'approvisionnement des municipalités côtières de Gaza.

Cette situation jugée «critique» est notamment due à une salinité excessive.

«Des analyses d'experts internationaux ont montré que seulement 10% de l'eau de la bande de Gaza est potable, ce qui est un risque pour la vie des Palestiniens», s'est alarmé Mounzir Chiblak, responsable d'une compagnie de distribution d'eau dans le territoire. >>> ats | Samedi 21 Novembre 2009

Herman Van Rompuy: Europe's First President to Push for 'Euro Tax'
THE TELEGRAPH: Herman Van Rompuy, Europe's first president, is to join forces with the European Commission to push for sweeping new tax raising powers for Brussels.

Van Rompuy: Mr Van Rompuy, 62, who was appointed to the newly-created £320,000-a-year post at last week's special EU summit, set out his stall on direct Euro-taxes during a private speech. Photo: The Telegraph
Within days of taking office in January, the former Belgian prime minister will put his weight behind controversial proposals already floated by the commission's head, José Manuel Barroso, for a new "Euro tax".

He will add credence to Mr Barroso's plans, to be formally tabled in the New Year, by arguing for a Euro-version of a "Tobin Tax" – a levy on financial transactions already floated by Gordon Brown as a solution to the international banking crisis. It would result in a stream of income direct to Brussels coffers, funding budgets that critics say are already rife with waste and overspending.

Mr Van Rompuy, 62, who was appointed to the newly-created £320,000-a-year post at last week's special EU summit, set out his stall on direct Euro-taxes during a private speech at a recent meeting of the Bilderberg group of top politicians, bankers and businessmen. The group officially meets in secret, but when selected details of his remarks leaked out, his office was forced to issue a public statement on his behalf.

"The financing of the welfare state, irrespective of the social reform we implement, will require new resources," he said. "The possibility of financial levies at European level needs to be seriously reviewed."
Mr Barroso, whose commission acts as the European Union's executive arm and civil service, has set out alternative plans for a Euro tax that would involve Brussels taking directly a fixed percentage of VAT and fuel duties. While these taxes already help to fund EU spending – set at £121 billion next year – they are currently gathered by the treasuries of individual nation states, from which varying sums are paid into EU coffers.

A new Euro tax could appear on all shopping and petrol station receipts, showing the amount of VAT or fuel duty creamed off directly to Brussels. Supporters say it would take a fixed proportion of the existing tax revenue rather than increase it overall, and make the cost to taxpayers of running the EU more transparent. Critics argue this could backfire by increasing anti-Brussels sentiment. >>> Bruno Waterfield and Justin Stares in Brussels and Colin Freeman | Sunday, November 22, 2009

Herman Van Rompuy’s sister, a communist/extreme socialist, doesn’t agree with her brother’s politics:

Christine Van Rompuy bekeert zich tot klein links

Levi Johnston, Sarah Palin's son-in-law. Photo: Google Images
Levi Johnston's Mother Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
THE TELEGRAPH: The mother of Levi Johnston has been sentenced to three years in prison for dealing in prescription painkillers in the latest twist for the young man who fathered Sarah Palin's grandchild.

Sherry Johnston, 43, received the jail sentence after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors. Her son, who was engaged to Mrs Palin's daughter Bristol during her Republican vice-presidential run last year, was in court in Alaska with his mother.

Mr Johnston, 19, has been in a deepening feud with the Palins amid arguments over rights of access to his son Tripp since the end of his relationship with Miss Palin.

He has claimed that he has information that could "destroy" Mrs Palin, a popular figure on the Republican right. The former Alaskan governor is currently on a swing across America on a campaign-style book tour to promote her best-selling new memoir Going Rogue.

Mr Johnston is meanwhile in the headlines after posing nude, with some well-placed props such as an ice hockey stick, for Playgirl magazine. >>> Philip Sherwell in New York | Saturday, November 21, 2009

Enya: Marble Halls

Gay Islam: Special Report

Minarets in Switzerland

Tory Councillor Suspended for Complaining that Candidates Have 'Foreign' Names
THE TELEGRAPH: A Conservative councillor has been suspended after complaining that the party's would-be MPs do not have "normal" English names.

Peter Hobbins, a former parliamentary candidate, wrote a series of emails to fellow party members complaining that applicants for the Orpington seat in Kent sounded "foreign".

He also complained that candidates approved by Conservative Central Office all mention Africa on their CVs, describing their cover letters as "ridiculous" and "pathetic".

"I have been contacted by a Mr Dilon Gumraj and a Zerha Zaidi and others who are all on the approved Conservative Parliamentary Candidates list," he wrote in one email. "Not one of them has a ‘normal’ English name." >>> Matthew Moore | Saturday, November 21, 2009

Gorbatschew spricht über politisches Comeback
NZZ ONLINE: Der letzte sowjetische Parteichef Michail Gorbatschew spielt mit der Idee eines politischen Comebacks. >>> ap | Freitag, 20. November 2009

Raëd Salah, chef des radicaux du Mouvement islamiste israélien, dont les prêches enflamment Jérusalem
LE MONDE: Rien, dans l'apparence et la componction de Raëd Salah ne laisse supposer qu'il s'agit du prédicateur souvent vitupérant, capable, en moins d'une heure, de rameuter des milliers de Palestiniens en colère dans la vieille ville de Jérusalem aux cris d'"Al-Aqsa est en danger" ?

Qui est vraiment ce chef de la branche radicale du Mouvement islamique israélien ? L'érudit religieux souriant et affable qu'il souhaite incarner ce matin-là, ou la bête noire de la police israélienne, trop souvent obligée d'instaurer un quasi-état de siège dans la Ville sainte, pour éviter que l'esplanade des Mosquées, qui abrite Al-Aqsa, troisième lieu saint de l'islam, ne devienne un champ de bataille ?

Cheikh Raëd Salah, père de huit enfants, est un Janus palestinien, plutôt radical. S'il nous reçoit à Um El-Fahm, ville arabe perchée sur la crête de la montagne du même nom et dont il a été maire, à deux heures de route de Jérusalem, c'est parce qu'il y est interdit de séjour depuis les affrontements qui s'y sont produits, début octobre. Plus exactement, il ne doit pas approcher à moins de 150 mètres des limites de la vieille ville, ni participer à un rassemblement de plus de sept personnes. Ce qui n'entame en rien sa détermination : "Si je dois aller défendre Al-Aqsa, j'irai." >>> Le Monde | Samedi 21 Novembre 2009