Opinion – Leon de Winter*: Stop the Trial of Geert Wilders
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: A Dutch court is forced to compare Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' and the Quran.

What started as a trial against Geert Wilders for alleged Islamophobia has nearly turned into its opposite: a historical case about the message of the Quran. The Amsterdam court trying the controversial Dutch politician is now preoccupied with the question of whether this book, sacred to more than a billion believers, can be compared to one of the most vile publications in the history of Western civilization—Hitler's "Mein Kampf." What could possibly go wrong?

In his writing and speeches, Mr. Wilders has found these two works to be similar in terms of their anti-Semitism and incitement to hatred, and has thus called for a publishing ban on the Quran similar to the one in place for "Mein Kampf." This is what triggered Mr. Wilders's prosecution for discriminatory and insulting remarks against Muslims and Islam. The Dutch politician, though, denies having insulted Muslims. He insists his focus is on radical Islam and the Quran, which he considers to be not only a religious text but also a political pamphlet encouraging Muslims to discriminate against and, if necessary, kill Jews, Christians, apostates and other unbelievers. That's why Mr. Wilders claims the right to criticize and condemn Islam.

Following complaints brought by mostly Muslim and radical leftist activists, Amsterdam's district attorney in 2008 at first found no legal basis for prosecuting Mr. Wilders. Prosecutors were forced to change course only after an activist appeals court last year ordered Mr. Wilders's prosecution—basically condemning the politician before any trial could even begin and before Mr. Wilders had a chance to defend himself. The court's unusual intervention illustrates the Dutch confusion about the conflict between two essential rights: the right to free speech and the right to protection from discrimination. >>> Leon de Winter* | Tuesday, January 26, 2010

*Mr. de Winter is a Dutch novelist and adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute.

Sicherheits-Warnung! Terrorgefahr in den USA «sehr gross» : US-Geheimdienste rechnen mit bevorstehendem Anschlagsversuch der Kaida
NZZ ONLINE: Die US-Geheimdienste stufen die Gefahr eines Anschlags des Terrornetzwerks al-Kaida in den kommenden Monaten in den USA als sehr hoch ein. Er rechne fest mit einem Anschlagsversuch, sagte US-Geheimdienstkoordinator Dennis Blair am Dienstag.

«Sie werden es versuchen», sagte Blair vor dem Geheimdienstausschuss des US-Senats. Solange Kaida-Chef Osama bin Laden und die Nummer Zwei des Terrornetzwerks, Aiman al-Sawahiri, nicht «festgenommen oder tot» seien, werde al-Kaida am Versuch eines Angriffs in den USA festhalten.

Al-Kaida plane weiterhin, mit einer «grossangelegten» Aktion viele Menschen oder die US-Wirtschaft «oder beides» zu treffen, sagte Blair. >>> sda/afp | Mittwoch, 03. Februar 2010

What Will Muslim Scholars Make of This? Muslims Cannot Eat the Meat from Pigs, But Will They Be Allowed Lung Transplants from Them?
THE TELEGRAPH: The use of pig lungs in transplants into humans has moved a step closer with a medical breakthrough.

Scientists in Melbourne, Australia, used a ventilator and pump to keep the animal lungs alive and "breathing" while human blood flowed in them.

Experts estimated the work could lead to the first animal-human transplants within five years.

Dr Glenn Westall, who helped conduct the experiment, said: “The blood went into the lungs without oxygen and came out with oxygen, which is the exact function of the lungs.

"It showed that these lungs were working perfectly well and doing as we were expecting them to do.

“This is a significant advance compared to experiments that have been performed over the past 20 years."

The breakthrough came after scientists were able to remove a section of pig DNA, which had made the pig organs incompatible with human blood. Pig lungs in human transplants moves step closer >>> | Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Geert Wilders Doesn’t Get His Way in Court
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: Dutch politician Geert Wilders was visibly annoyed when he failed to get what he asked for from the three judges hearing his case at the Amsterdam District Court.

Mr Wilders, through his lawyer Bram Moszkowicz, had requested that 17 witnesses testify as part of his defence against charges that include inciting hatred of Muslims and non-western immigrants.
 


Murderer


Among others, Mr Wilders had asked that Mohammed Bouyeri, the convicted murderer of Theo van Gogh, be called as a expert witness.
 


The judges, however, will not allow Bouyeri to testify. They have also ruled that other 'Muslim extremists' on Mr Wilders' 'wishlist' will not be allowed to testify. The list includes Fawaz Jneid, imam at the Soennah Mosque in The Hague, and Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, chairman of the Guardian Council in Iran.

Ex-Muslims

Mr Wilders will be permitted to call three experts on Islam, out of the total of eight he had actually asked for. However, two ex-Muslims called by his defence team - in part to give their personal view about the impact of Islam - were also rejected.
 


In their ruling, the judges say Mr Wilders will have ample opportunity to tell the court whether he agrees with their decision to disallow some of his chosen witnesses[.] Staying in Amsterdam >>> John Tyler | Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Court Limits Wilders' Witness List
DUTCHNEWS.nl: The killer of Theo van Gogh and 14 of the other witnesses anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders wanted to call in his defence against charges of discrimination and inciting hatred have been ruled inadmissible by Amsterdam district court.

But three Islam experts proposed by Wilders will be heard behind closed doors, the judges said on Wednesday afternoon. They include American Syrian psychiatrist Wafa Sultan who believes the world is witness to 'a battle between modernity and barbarism which Islam will lose'.

The court also turned down Wilders' request to hear five legal experts on the grounds that the MP will have ample opportunity to say whether or not he agrees with them during the trial. He had wanted to call 18 experts and Muslim radicals. Truth >>> © DutchNews.nl | Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Members of al Shabaab, a militant group that is seeking ties to al Qaeda, display their weapons in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, last month. Photo: The Wall Street Journal
Somalia's Al Shabaab to Ally With Al Qaeda
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: NAIROBI, Kenya—The militant group al Shabaab said it would ally with al Qaeda in a drive to establish an Islamic state in Somalia and fight for Muslims across East Africa, offering a fresh test for U.S.-backed African peacekeepers struggling to defend a weak Somali government.

In a statement Monday, the group said it had agreed, among other things, "to connect the horn of Africa jihad to the one led by al Qaeda and its leader Sheikh Osama Bin Laden." The statement, written in Somali and Arabic, is believed to be the first explicit confirmation of what U.S. and Somali government have long suspected: Militants in one of Africa's least stable places are sharing resources and merging agendas.

It isn't clear whether this new resolution will result in funding or training from al Qaeda, or even if it will lead to an official endorsement from the global terror group. At the very least, the statement signals a tightening embrace with foreign fighters who have been supporting al Shabaab's efforts to topple the Somali government.

The cooperation also could spur Somali militants to assist al Qaeda elsewhere. Al Shabaab has sent fighters to Afghanistan to train with al Qaeda, according to the Somali government. Al Shabaab recently pledged to send fighters across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, where al Qaeda is active.

Al Shabaab made its announcement a day after Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed marked his first year in office. The past year has offered little respite from the violence that has rocked Somalia for nearly two decades. In the short term, a combined threat is likely to increase pressure on Mr. Sharif's tenuous government and those trying to stave off its collapse.

The U.S supports Mr. Sharif and is the biggest backer of an African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, for which it has provided training and equipment. That support reflects concerns that al Qaeda is attempting to establish a base in Somalia to attack Western targets. >>> Sarah Childress | Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Gays in military? Not for McCain
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: WASHINGTON: Three years ago, the Republican senator John McCain was pretty clear about his stand on the military's ''Don't ask, don't tell'' policy on gay service personnel.

The war hero said he would support ending the ban once the top brass told him they were OK with it.

''The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, 'Senator, we ought to change the policy,' then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it because those leaders in the military are the ones we give the responsibility to,'' he told an audience of college students.

That day arrived on Tuesday, with the US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen, testifying to senators following President Barack Obama's announcement that he would seek a congressional repeal of the 15-year-old policy.

Admiral Mullen called repealing the policy, which bans openly gay men and lesbians from serving, ''the right thing to do'' and said he was troubled by in effect forcing service members to ''lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens''.

Mr Gates told the armed services committee: ''I fully support the President's decision.'' >>> The Washington Post, Agence France-Presse | Thursday, February 04, 2010

Obama will den Dalai Lama treffen: Peking stösst heftige Drohungen aus
NZZ ONLINE: Der amerikanische Präsident Barack Obama will trotz der Warnungen aus Peking den Dalai Lama treffen. Das teilte ein Sprecher des Weissen Hauses am Dienstag mit, ohne einen Termin für ein Treffen Obamas mit dem geistlichen Oberhaupt der Tibeter zu nennen.

«Der Präsident hat der chinesischen Führung während seiner Reise im vergangenen Jahr gesagt, dass er den Dalai Lama treffen werde», sagte der Sprecher weiter. «Um es klar zu sagen, die USA betrachten Tibet als einen Teil von China.» Die amerikanische Regierung sei jedoch über die Menschenrechte und die Art und Weise, wie die Tibeter behandelt würden, beunruhigt. Die USA forderten die chinesische Führung auf, die einzigartigen kulturellen und religiösen Traditionen zu schützen.

Der Dalai Lama will am 16. Februar für zehn Tage in die USA reisen. >>> sda/dpa | Dienstag, 02. Februar 2010

Le pape en guerre contre un Labour peu catholique
LE MONDE: Le 1er février, le pape est intervenu dans la vie politique du Royaume-Uni ! Benoît XVI, qui rencontrait à Rome les trente-cinq évêques catholiques anglais et gallois, a jugé que les projets de lois britanniques destinées à promouvoir l'égalité des chances "imposent des restrictions injustes à la liberté des communautés religieuses d'agir en accord avec leurs croyances". A cet égard, a ajouté le pape, ils "violent la loi naturelle". Il faut vous battre "avec un zèle de mercenaire" contre ces textes, a-t-il enjoint à ses troupes.

L'attaque du pape, qui a confirmé qu'il se rendrait en visite officielle au Royaume-Uni, sans doute vers la mi-septembre, vise un texte en cours d'examen à Westminster. Celui-ci, dans sa version originelle, prévoyait que les organisations religieuses ne pourraient plus totalement s'exonérer, comme c'était le cas jusqu'ici, des contraintes nationales en matière de lutte contre la discrimination.

Cela concernait spécifiquement les employés de tout ce que la Grande-Bretagne compte d'organisations religieuses, et qui ne font pas partie du personnel clérical. Dans les nurseries ou les écoles affiliées à une religion, arguait le gouvernement, il n'y a aucune raison de ne pas embaucher d'homosexuels ou de transsexuels. >>> Virginie Malingre, Londres Correspondante | Mercredi 03 Février 2010

Großbritannien: Papst will "missionarischen Eifer" gegen Schwule
WELT ONLINE: Papst Benedikt XVI. empört England: Dem Heiligen Vater passt nicht, dass die Briten ein Gesetz gegen die Diskriminierung Homosexueller auf dem Arbeitsmarkt verabschieden wollen. Mit aller Macht sollten sie sich gegen die Regelung stemmen, forderte der Papst seine Amtsbrüder auf der Insel auf.

Große Ereignisse werfen lange im Voraus ihre Schatten. So der bevorstehende Besuch des römischen Pontifex Benedikt XVI. in England, im September dieses Jahres. Es wird der erste Papst-Besuch sein seit 1982. Dazwischen liegen 28 Jahre einer Metamorphose des Zeitgeistes, die den Vorposten Europas zwischen Nordsee und Atlantik, die britische Insel, tief greifender erfasst hat als andere Gesellschaften. Seit den Thatcher-Jahren ist eine "Anything goes"-Mentalität herangewachsen, die Annahme grenzenloser Verfügbarkeit existenzieller Optionen. Kompass ist das säkular-libertäre Prinzip, welches Gleichheit an die Stelle der Rücksicht setzt und Homogenität an die Stelle unterschiedlicher Lebensinhalte.

Papst Benedikt, der sanft spricht aber entschieden markiert, hat in diesen Tagen den britischen Episkopat auf Besuch im Vatikan, und diese Gelegenheit war ihm gerade recht, sogleich zur Sache zu kommen. Im House of Commons wird zurzeit eine Gesetzgebung behandelt, unter dem Titel "Equality Bill", der zufolge im britischen Arbeitsrecht künftig keine Unterscheidung mehr zulässig sein wird zwischen Lebensgruppen diverser Ausrichtung.

In praxi: Niemand, der sich zur Homosexualität oder Transsexualität bekennt, darf in seinen Beschäftigungschancen in irgendeiner Weise zurückgesetzt werden. Dafür hat die Labour-Regierung eine eigene Regierungsbehörde eingesetzt, das "Government Equalities Office".

Das Denken hinter der Gesetzesvorlage spiegelt einen weit gehenden Konsens in der Gesellschaft. Alle Umfragen der letzten Zeit kommen zu dem überwältigenden Schluss, dass Toleranz gegenüber Lebensorientierungen im Sexuellen nicht nur gewachsen sondern zum prägenden Denkmuster der modernen Briten geworden ist. Ermittelt wurde aber auch, dass solche Toleranz nicht immer nur von entschiedenen eigenen Positionen ausgeht, sondern oft mehr einem Achselzucken gleicht, mit dem der Zeitgenosse den Dingen einfach nolens volens ihren Lauf lässt. >>> Von Thomas Kielinger | Mittwoch, 03. Februar 2010

Fouad Ajami on Obama’s Waning Influence


THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: The Obama Spell Is Broken: Unlike this president, John Kennedy was an ironist who never fell for his own mystique. >>> Fouad Ajami* | Tuesday, February 02, 2010

*Mr. Ajami, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, is the author of "The Foreigner's Gift" (Free Press, 2007).

Dutch Critic of Islam Wants Extremist Killer to Testify at His Trial
CNSNEWS.com: As the trial of Dutch anti-Islamist lawmaker Geert Wilders resumes Wednesday, the crucial question will be whether the court agrees to his request to have a Muslim extremist and convicted murderer testify.

Wilders, who faces charges of discrimination and incitement to hatred over his claims linking the Koran to violence, wants the court to hear from an extremist who cited the Islamic text to justify his crime.

Mohammed Bouyeri is serving a life sentence for murdering Dutch film director Theo van Gogh, who had stoked controversy with a documentary about the treatment of women under Islam.

Van Gogh was stabbed and shot to death on a street in Amsterdam street in 2004. In a note left pinned to his body with a knife, Bouyeri threatened to kill another person reviled by extremist Muslims in Europe – Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somalia-born Dutch politician who worked with Van Gogh on his film.

The lengthy note, which also warned that America, Europe and the Netherlands would be destroyed, included numerous references to the Koran.

Bouyeri, a Dutchman of Moroccan origin, had earlier penned another open letter posted on a Dutch Web site, again quoting from the Koran, threatening Wilders this time and declaring, “May Allah destroy you.”

During his 2005 trial, Bouyeri carried a copy of the Koran, told the court he had acted purely in the name of his religion, and displayed no regret for the murder. >>> Patrick Goodenough, International Editor | Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Obama Adviser Stands by Statement That Pope Benedict XVI Is 'Hurting People in the Name of Jesus'
CNSNEWS.com: Harry Knox, an adviser to President Obama’s Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, is standing by a statement he made last March that Pope Benedict XVI is “hurting people in the name of Jesus.” 
 


When asked on Tuesday whether he still holds that view, Knox said, “I do.”
 


In addition to serving on the president’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Knox is the director of the religion and faith program at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a homosexual activist group.
 


At the National Press Club on Tuesday, CNSNews.com asked Knox, “You put out a statement saying Pope Benedict XVI was—quote—‘hurting people in the name of Jesus’ because he did not support promoting the use of condoms as a means to control the spread of HIV. And I was wondering, do you still believe the pope’s position on condoms is ‘hurting people in the name of Jesus’?”
 


Knox answered, “I—I do.” >>> Karen Schuberg | Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Zwangsehe mit 80-Jährigem: Zwölfjähriges Mädchen verwirft Scheidungsantrag
WELT ONLINE: Ein 12 Jahre altes, zwangsverheiratetes Mädchen hat in Saudi-Arabien überraschend einen Scheidungsantrag zurückgezogen. Das Kind forderte vor Gericht nur, weiter zur Schule gehen zu dürfen. Ihr Vater hatte für die Hochzeit mit dem 80-jährigen Mann im vergangenen September umgerechnet mehr als 16.000 Euro kassiert.

In Saudi-Arabien hat ein mit einem 80 Jahre alten Mann zwangsverheiratetes zwölfjähriges Mädchen Medienberichten zufolge überraschend seinen Scheidungsantrag zurückgezogen. Trotz Unterstützung durch Menschenrechtsanwälte hätten das Mädchen und seine Mutter ihr Anliegen vor einem Gericht in Buraidah fallen gelassen, berichteten mehrere Tageszeitungen. Demnach hatte der Vater des Kindes die Hochzeit gegen eine Mitgift von 85.000 Rial (mehr als 16.000 Euro) im vergangenen September arrangiert.

„Ich stimme der Ehe zu. Ich habe keine Einwände. Dies geschieht im Respekt einer Tochter vor ihrem Vater und in Gehorsam gegenüber seinem Wunsch“, erklärte das Mädchen laut der Zeitung „Okas“ vor Gericht. Das Kind habe lediglich gefordert, weiter zur Schule gehen zu dürfen, berichtete die Zeitung „al-Riad“.

Der Anwalt des Mädchens, Salah al-Dabibi, sagte laut „al-Riad“, er sei „empört“ über die Entscheidung. Er schloss nicht aus, dass auf Mutter und Kind Druck ausgeübt worden sei. Auch ein Vertreter der staatlichen Menschenrechtskommission, welche die Mutter des Kindes ursprünglich um Hilfe gebeten hatte, zeigte sich überrascht von dem plötzlichen Sinneswandel. >>> AFP/fas | Dienstag, 02. Februar 2010

Pentagon Abandons Two-war Doctrine
THE TELEGRAPH: The US is to abandon its doctrine of always being ready to fight two simultaneous conventional wars.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates during a press conference to announce the Defense Budget Proposal held at the Pentagon. Photo: The Telegraph
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said instead the Pentagon will shift its focus to a broader range of challenges including terrorism and cyber-security.

In a sweeping review of US military strategy, he said the Pentagon must prepare for an "uncertain security landscape" where extremists or "non-state actors" sought missile technology or weapons of mass destruction.

Warning that US military power faced new limits and constraints, he said that weaponry, tactics and enemies had overtaken the "familiar contingencies that dominated US planning after the Cold War".

"We have learned through painful experience that the wars we fight are seldom the wars that we planned," said Mr Gates, as he presented the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defence Review and the 2011 budget plan to the Senate armed services committee.

"As a result, the United States needs a broad portfolio of military capabilities, with maximum versatility, across the widest possible spectrum of conflict." >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Harriet Harman Backs Down Over Employment Equality for Churches
TIMES ONLINE: Harriet Harman has backed away from a confrontation with religious leaders over who they can employ, making clear that she will not force contentious amendments to the Equality Bill through Parliament.

Ministers were astonished on Monday when the Pope said that the Bill violated “natural justice” and urged bishops to fight it. But that attack, along with the strength of opposition in the Lords and the limited time left to get Bills passed before the election, has sapped the Government’s enthusiasm to continue the fight.

Ms Harman, the Equalities Minister, has been engaged in a long dispute with churches and religious organisations over their exemption from anti-discrimination employment law, and how it affects “non-religious” posts. >>> Rosemary Bennett, Ruth Gledhill | Wednesday, February 03, 2010

New Dark Age Alert! Waafa Sultan : Charia en Occident

Not a Whiff of Allah’s Compassion and Mercy in the Islamic Republic of Iran
TIMES ONLINE: Nine more dissidents will be executed soon, a senior member of Iran's judiciary declared today, as the regime stepped up its efforts to deter another huge opposition rally planned for next week.

The regime is sufficiently worried that it has ordered state television not to broadcast the usual historic television footage of insurrection on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the Shah, lest the scenes incite today's opposition to follow suit.

Last Thursday it hanged two men for allegedly plotting against the regime - a move condemned internationally but praised by Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, a hardline cleric, during Friday prayers in Tehran. "May God not have mercy on those who are lenient with the corrupt on earth," he said. "There is no room for clemency. It is time for severity."

On Saturday the regime broadcast the trial of 16 opposition supporters, two of them women, for allegedly plotting against the Islamic Republic and conspiring with its foreign enemies.

Today Ebrahim Raisi, a senior member of the judiciary, announced that nine more alleged members of "anti-revolutionary" groups would be hanged soon. "They had participated in riots with the aim of creating disunity and toppling the system," he said. Nine to be executed as Iran plans crackdown >>> Martin Fletcher | Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Imposer la burqa à sa femme le prive de naturalisation
LE FIGARO: Le ministre de l'Immigration a transmis mardi un projet de décret à François Fillon pour rejeter la demande de naturalisation d'un homme qui oblige sa femme à se couvrir d'un voile intégral. Il confirme ainsi les motifs du décret validé par le Conseil d'État en janvier et que Le Figaro a pu se procurer.

Le ministre Éric Besson a fait savoir hier qu'il avait refusé par décret « la naturalisation d'un homme qui obligeait sa femme à porter la burqa ». Le Figaro a pu se procurer les motifs de cette décision, validés en janvier dernier par le Conseil d'État qui avait été saisi de cette affaire. Le document précise que l'homme « adopte au quotidien une attitude discriminatoire vis-à-vis des femmes, allant jusqu'à refuser de leur serrer la main et à préconiser une séparation des garçons et des filles, y compris, au foyer, des frères et des sœurs, dès leur plus jeune âge ». Les magistrats considèrent donc que : « Le mode de vie qu'il a choisi, fût-il justifié par des préceptes religieux, est incompatible avec les valeurs de la République, et notamment le principe de l'égalité des sexes. » Et concluent qu'« il ne remplit pas la condition d'assimilation prévue par l'article 21-4 du Code civil ».
Le Conseil d'État propose donc de refuser la nationalité française à ce Marocain marié à une Française, qui appartient comme lui au mouvement Tabligh. Ce courant prône un islam fondamentaliste et piétiste, calqué sur la vie du prophète et pratique largement la conversion. Au cours de l'enquête, le mari avait affirmé que sa femme devait rester recluse ou sortir entièrement voilée. Des règles que l'épouse approuvait. >>> Cécilia Gabizon | Mardi 02 Février 2010

Éclairage : Débat sur le voile intégral : les yeux des pays musulmans rivés sur la France
LE POINT: Fin janvier, à l'Assemblée nationale, les médias étrangers se pressent. Parmi eux, de nombreux journalistes issus du Moyen-Orient et des pays du Golfe sont venus assister à la remise du rapport Gerin sur le voile intégral . Ils attendent avec impatience les contours de la future loi qui doit limiter le port du voile intégral dans l'Hexagone. "Que cela soit au Proche-Orient ou dans les pays du Golfe, les médias - et surtout Al-Jazira - suivent avec attention le débat et sont assez critiques à l'égard de la France", souligne Barah Mikhaï, spécialiste du Moyen-Orient et du Maghreb à l'Institut de relations internationales et stratégiques (IRIS). 



Denis Bauchard, spécialiste du Moyen-Orient à l'Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI), renchérit : "Dans ces pays à majorité musulmane, viser le voile revient à attaquer l'islam." Le débat sur le voile intégral rencontre aussi un fort écho en Inde, où près de 12 % de la population est de confession musulmane. "Les Indiens sont très choqués que l'on puisse imposer aux musulmans la façon dont ils doivent s'habiller ou pas", explique Denis Bauchard. >>> Par Ségolène Gros de Larquier | Mardi 02 Février 2010

Pat Condell: Interdisez la burqa - version française

America Moves to End Homosexual Law in US Military
THE TELEGRAPH: America has moved towards ending the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy which prohibits openly homosexual men and women from serving in the US military.

Admiral Michael Mullen, the most senior officer in the United States military, said that ending the law was now "the right thing to do".

He added: “For me, personally, it comes down to integrity - theirs as individuals, and ours as institutions.”

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the US Senate that he could no longer back a policy that "forces young men and women to lie about what they are in order to defend their fellow citizens".

He added: “For me, personally, it comes down to integrity – theirs as individuals, and ours as institutions.”

He was speaking just after Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, said that he "fully" supported President Barack Obama's decision to end the policy, which was implemented in 1993 as a compromise after bitter resistance to then President Bill Clinton's pledge to allow open homosexuals to serve.

"We received our orders from the commander-in-chief and we are moving out accordingly." He said that he had ordered a high-level committee, chaired by Jeh (CORR) Johnson, the Pentagon's chief counsel, and Gen Carter Ham, commander of US forces in Europe, to draw up an implementation plan.

Mr Obama directed in last week's State of the Union address that the 1993 law be repealed. This would fulfil a campaign pledge and was also seen as a move to placate the Left, which has long campaigned against the policy. >>> Toby Harnden in Washington | Tuesday, February 02, 2010

VIEWPOINT: Let Gays Defend Their Country >>> Mark | Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Neue Debatte über Schwule im US-Militär: Ein Anstoss Präsident Obamas in seiner Rede zur Lage der Nation
NZZ ONLINE: Der amerikanische Verteidigungsminister Gates hat eine hochrangige Kommission eingesetzt, die bis Ende Jahr einen Plan entwerfen soll, wie die Diskriminierung von Schwulen im Militär beendet werden kann.

Präsident Obama will die Diskriminierung von Homosexuellen in den amerikanischen Streitkräften beenden. Er hatte dies im Wahlkampf versprochen, in seinem ersten Amtsjahr aber nichts unternommen. In seiner Rede zur Lage der Nation am vergangenen Mittwoch kam er auf das Thema zurück und sagte, er wolle das bestehende Gesetz noch in diesem Jahr beseitigt sehen. Zwar könnte Obama auf administrativem Weg Erleichterungen verfügen, doch ist er für die Abschaffung des Gesetzes auf einen Beschluss des Kongresses angewiesen.

Gegenseitiges Stillschweigen

Präsident Clinton hatte seinerzeit versucht, das Militär für Homosexuelle zu öffnen. Die Dienstordnungen definierten Homosexualität damals als Grund für einen Ausschluss aus den Streitkräften. Clinton drang mit seinem Anliegen nicht durch. Er erreichte aber insofern einen Kompromiss, als das Militär nicht länger von sich aus nachfragen durfte, ob jemand homosexuell sei. So entstand 1994 das gegenwärtige, als «Don't ask, don't tell» bekannte Gesetz. Demnach darf das Militär nicht nach der sexuellen Orientierung fragen, und Schwule dürfen sich nicht outen.

Laut Senator McCain, dem einstigen Präsidentschaftskandidaten, funktioniert «Don't ask, don't tell» gut. Als Kriegsheld hat seine Stimme in Militärfragen grosses Gewicht. Jene gut 13 000 Schwule und Lesben, die seit 1994 wegen Homosexualität aus dem Militär ausgeschlossen wurden, teilen McCains Einschätzung der Qualitäten des Gesetzes wohl kaum. Sie vermochten zwar anzuheuern – Amerika hat eine reine Freiwilligenarmee –, doch wurden sie entlassen, nachdem ihre sexuelle Orientierung offenkundig geworden war. Viele outen sich irgendwann doch, andere fallen gegen ihren Willen auf. >>> Beat Ammann, Washington | Dienstag, 02. Februar 2010

USA: Homosexuelle sollen zum Militär dürfen
DIE PRESSE: Bekennenden Homosexuellen ist es derzeit offiziell verboten Soldatin oder Soldat zu werden. US-Verteidigungsminister Robert Gates will das nun ändern und hat eine Studie zur Abschaffung beauftragt.

Die US-Regierung will den Ausschluss praktizierender Homosexueller aus den Streitkräften beenden. Verteidigungsminister Robert Gates wolle eine Studie zur Abschaffung des Verbots in Auftrag geben, verlautete am Dienstag aus Regierungskreisen in Washington. Dabei gehe es nicht mehr um die Frage, ob, sondern wie schnell und in welcher Form die bisherige Politik geändert werden könne. Gates wollte seine Pläne am Abend vor dem zuständigen Ausschuss des Senats bekanntgeben. Obama will Verbot abschaffen >>> APA | Dienstag, 02. Februar 2010


USA: le chef de l'armée pour la levée du tabou homosexuel
LE POINT: Le plus haut gradé américain, l'amiral Michael Mullen, a estimé mardi devant des parlementaires que lever l'interdiction faite aux militaires homosexuels d'évoquer leur orientation sexuelle serait "la bonne chose à faire".

C'est la première fois qu'un haut gradé américain apporte son soutien clair à la levée de l'interdiction.

"Mon opinion est qu'autoriser les gays et lesbiennes à servir ouvertement (dans l'armée) serait la bonne chose à faire", a déclaré devant la commission de Défense du Sénat l'amiral Mullen, chef d'état-major interarmées, précisant qu'il exprimait un "avis personnel".

"Je ne peux m'empêcher d'être troublé du fait que nous avons actuellement une loi qui force les jeunes hommes et les jeunes femmes à mentir (...) pour pouvoir défendre leurs compatriotes", a-t-il ajouté.

L'amiral Mullen a déclaré qu'il pensait que les soldats américains "étaient capables de s'accomoder d'un tel changement", soulignant qu'il avait appris à ne jamais "sous-estimer leur capacité à s'adapter". >>> AFP | Mardi 02 Février 2010

Where Is America's Geert Wilders?

Geert Wilders Gericht Rede auf Deutsch

A German’s View on Islam

The Trial of Geert Wilders: English Translation

"A Time for Choosing" by Ronald Reagan


Hat tip: KitmanTV Blogspot

Bat Ye’or: New Euro-Arab Judeophobia Bears the Destruction of the West Within Itself
PART 1:



PART 2:



Part 3:



Hat tip: KitmanTV Blogspot

Palestinism: The Real UN Disease
ARUTZ SHEVA: The report by the Goldstone Commission sponsored by the United Nations is a danger for all of us; it is a written document stating that it is necessary to give up the fight against systematic terrorism that hits and uses civilians.

From just a quick look at the 575 pages of the report designed to establish what happened in Gaza in the 2008-2009 war, it is clear that the Commission set up by the United Nations during the ninth special session of the Human Rights Council in January 2009 was not at all interested in truth, but only in still another criminalization of Israel. The UN embodied, once again, an example of moralistic Palestinism that exploits the guilty feelings of the contemporary world to delegitimize the West. And it practically aims at the physical and institutional death of the Jewish State.

Every year, the UN devotes two thirds of its resolutions on human rights to condemn Israel; its General Assembly has already echoed with the anti-Semitic speeches of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; and now it is proceeding with another version of the same thing by Judge Richard Goldstone, who is actually a Jew with a daughter who lives in Israel. Let us proceed step by step. >>> Fiamma Nirenstein | Wednesday, September 30, 2009

France's Controversial Immigration Minister: The Man Who Launched the Burqa Debate
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: For months the French have been embroiled in a public debate centered on their national identity and a possible ban on the burqa. Immigration Minister Éric Besson, a former Socialist, is the man behind the aggressive debate, making him one of France's most controversial politicians.

Temperatures were below freezing and the winter sky was a frosty gray when French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette military cemetery in northern France last Tuesday. He had come to pay his last respects to another Frenchman, a man named Harouna Diop, a soldier and father of six children. Born in Senegal, Diop was only 40 years old when he died in Afghanistan on Jan. 13, when insurgents blew up his armored military vehicle.

"Harouna Diop was a Frenchman. Harouna Diop was a Muslim," Sarkozy said, facing a field of white crosses. "He died for France."

Sarkozy's eulogy was a rescue attempt, a rhetorical maneuver at the height of a heated debate being conducted in France over national identity. It has divided the country for months, has led to racist gaffes and has contributed to an atmosphere of heightened suspicion against French Muslims.

The debate revolves around the values of the republic, the French nation, the burqa and the question of what this country is proud of and what is important to it -- in short, many of the things that unite, or once united, the French.

The man who triggered this debate is standing next to Sarkozy at the military cemetery: Éric Besson, 51, minister for immigration, integration and national identity. The Nouvel Observateur calls him a "shameless servant of his master," while the weekly magazine Marianne concludes that he is "the most hated man in France." As for the president, he calls Besson "my blade."

Besson is a suave politician. He wears lilac-colored shirts with purple ties, has a habit of pressing the fingertips of both of his hands together while speaking and likes to pose for photographs in his office, between gilded stucco and an antique globe. Besson, who calls himself a patriot, has just written a book, "For the Nation," a literary hymn to his native France, which he says he has "loved and idolized" since his adolescent days. The immigration minister was born in Marrakech, Morocco and only came to France he was 17.

Three months ago, the minister announced the beginning of a constructive debate in the "motherland of human rights." He was convinced that ownership of the concept of the nation had been left to right-wing extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen and his Front National (FN) for far too long. There was nothing wrong with launching into this debate, which is currently raging in many European countries, partly as a reaction to the growing number of Muslims living in Europe.

The discussion centers on their rights and obligations, and on their acceptance of Western values. A burqa ban is not just being debated in France, but also in Denmark and Italy, and in December the Swiss voted in a referendum against the construction of minarets. 'Fear of Arab Domination' >>> Stefan Simons | Monday, February 01, 2010

Richard Williamson 'Unrepentant' Over Holocaust Denial
THE TELEGRAPH: Richard Williamson, the Catholic Bishop soon to face trial in Germany on charges of denying the Holocaust, is apparently unrepentant, allegedly telling colleagues recently it was a "huge lie" that six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis.

The notorious English bishop also allegedly told colleagues from his ultraconservative brotherhood that "a completely new world order" had been built on the "fact" that Jews were systematically gassed in concentration camps such as Auschwitz, Treblinka and Sobibor.

Jews, he added, had become "ersatz saviours thanks to the concentration camps," according to a report in German news magazine Der Spiegel.

"The fact is that the six million people who were supposedly gassed represent a huge lie," it is claimed he wrote to fellow members of the Society of St. Pius X.

In a separate email, he is said to have written that "1.3 million deported people" were not gassed in the Treblinka, Majdanek, Belzec and Sobibor concentration camps as historians claim, but were rather transported to the Soviet Union.

Williamson is due to face court in the southern German city of Regensburg on April 16 over allegedly Holocaust-denying remarks he made to Swedish television in January last year. >>> David Wroe in Berlin | Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Piusbruderschaft: Williamson leugnet weiter den Holocaust
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Unbelehrbarer Bischof: Auch ein Jahr nach seiner Holocaust-Leugnung hält der Brite Richard Williamson nach SPIEGEL-Informationen an seinen umstrittenen Thesen fest. Aus Mails der erzkonservativen Piusbruderschaft geht hervor, dass Williamson "die sechs Millionen Vergasten" für "eine Riesenlüge" hält.

Hamburg - Bischof Richard Williamson bestreitet weiter den Holocaust. Während seine erzkonservative Piusbruderschaft direkt mit Papst Benedikt XVI. über Glaubensfragen verhandelt, bleibt der Brite uneinsichtig.

Vor einem Jahr hatte Williamson die katholische Kirche durch seine Ansichten in eine tiefe Krise gestürzt. Aus internen E-Mails der erzkonservativen Piusbruderschaft geht nach SPIEGEL-Informationen hervor, dass Williamson "die sechs Millionen Vergasten" nach wie vor für "eine Riesenlüge" hält. >>> | Samstag, 30. Januar 2010

Bishop Richard Williamson: Holocaust-denial

Malaysia: Anwar Ibrahim in Second Sodomy Trial
THE TELEGRAPH: Malaysia's opposition leader has appeared in court to face sodomy charges for the second time in a decade and threatened to call the prime minister as a witness.

Anwar says the new allegations are a conspiracy to neutralise his career, after he rallied the opposition to unprecedented election gains in 2008 and threatened the government's half-century-long hold on power. Photograph: The Telegraph
Anwar Ibrahim, who led his party to record gains in the 2008 election, said the charges were the result of "the machinations of a dirty, corrupt few".

A 25-year-old former male aide, Saiful Bukhari, accused Anwar of sodomy. He faces up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted – a ruling that would effectively end the 62-year-old's political career. Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia. >>> Barney Henderson in Kuala Lumpur | Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Islamkritiker vor Gericht: Wilders ist ein Provokateur, kein Rechtsextremist
WELT ONLINE: Der niederländische Parlamentsabgeordnete Geert Wilders polarisiert mit seiner Islamkritik weit über die Grenzen des Landes hinaus. Jetzt muss sich der glänzende Provokateur in Amsterdam vor Gericht verantworten. Aber ein moralisches Urteil fällt schwerer, als viele Kritiker zu glauben meinen.

Was ist eigentlich in den Niederlanden los? Noch vor zehn Jahren war das Land eines der tolerantesten in Europa. Es schien modellhaft zu zeigen, wie verschiedene Religionen und Rassen, Werte und Lebensentwürfe friedlich nebeneinander existieren können. Heute kommen aus den Niederlanden die schrillsten Töne in der Auseinandersetzung mit dem Islam, und dort findet man auch einige der radikalsten Verteidiger der liberalen Gesellschaft westlicher Prägung. Der populärste unter ihnen ist der Islamkritiker Geert Wilders, dessen Ein-Mann-Bewegung „Partei für die Freiheit“ bei der Europawahl zur zweitstärksten Kraft des Landes wurde und in jüngeren Umfragen sogar auf dem ersten Platz landete. Seit Kurzem steht der 46-jährige Parlamentsabgeordnete in Amsterdam wegen des Vorwurfs der Volksverhetzung vor Gericht, heute wird der Prozess fortgesetzt.

Der dramatische Wandel der politischen Landschaft in den Niederlanden hat eine innere Logik. Gerade weil der Staat zu lange zu tolerant war gegenüber Einwanderern, die viele Werte ihres Gastlandes ablehnten, weil er nichts unternahm gegen die Gettos und die wachsende Kriminalität muslimischer Jugendbanden oder gegen die laut Geheimdienst auf 50000 angewachsene Zahl von gewaltbereiten Muslimen – deshalb erhielten islamkritische Politiker wie der 2002 ermordete Pim Fortuyn großen Zulauf. Er war der Erste, der die niederländische Konsenspolitik beendet sehen wollte und die Probleme klar benannte. Die grausame Hinrichtung des Filmemachers Theo van Gogh durch einen in den Niederlanden geborenen Sohn marokkanischer Einwanderer stürzte das Land 2004 in eine Identitätskrise, die bis heute andauert. Der kultivierte "Rechtspopulist" >>> Von Rainer Haubrich | Montag, 01. Februar 2010

Geert Wilders to Test British Free Speech with Anti-Muslim Film Screening
THE TELEGRAPH: Geert Wilders, the radical anti-Muslim Dutch politician, will seek to test free speech in Britain next month when he makes a second attempt to visit the House of Lords to screen a controversial film equating Islam to Nazism.

Mr Wilders has accepted an invitation from Lord Pearson of Rannoch, the leader of UKIP, and Baroness Cox, a crossbench peer, to show his anti-Islam film Fitna in the Palace of Westminster on March 5.

His visit and the film, which claims the that Koran is a terrorist handbook, are expected to spark protests from British Muslims, including other members of the Lords.

British officials said the Government is powerless to ban Mr Wilders, despite continuing public order fears, after he overturned a previous entry ban following a legal challenge last year.

"He's free to travel and the Border Agency will not be alerted," said an official. >>> Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Pope Faces Protests on UK Visit Over Equality Attack as Archbishop Intervenes
TIMES ONLINE: The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster today attempted to defuse a row that threatens to overshadow the Pope's forthcoming visit to Britain by claiming that Benedict XVI was merely giving voice to what many people felt when he attacked this country's record of promoting equal rights for gays.

Surprise at the Pope's remarks was today giving way in Britain to more determined opposition to his views, with the National Secular Society vowing to set up a Protest the Pope campaign to hold demonstrations during Benedict's visit this year.

Aware of the growing controversy, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, in Rome leading the 34 other bishops of England and Wales on an ad limina or five yearly visit to see the Pope, said that Benedict XVI was only saying publicly what many devout people believed.

"I think (the Pope's) words will find an echo in many in our country who are uneasy that perhaps one of the unintended consequences of recent legislation is to drive religious belief and practice into the sphere of the private only," said the Archbishop.

He was speaking out after the Pope said that recent legislation in Britain ran counter to natural law, and imposed unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs. >>> Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent | Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Barack Obama’s Former Mentor Criticises ‘Complacent Administration’
TIMES ONLINE: President Obama’s self-confidence borders on complacency. He is ill served by senior staff, especially his Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. He does not appear to be learning on the job as he did when campaigning for the White House. His Administration is too deferential to Congress, too reliant on the President’s personal charm, and as a result is regarded by its enemies as weak and ineffectual.

As Mr Obama prepared to release his $3.8 trillion (£2.4 trillion) budget today, this assessment of his first year in office came not from one of his established critics on the Right, but from one of his most respected mentors — his former professor at Harvard Law School, Chris Edley.

“What I fear is that having made history, having won a Nobel prize, having been celebrated around the world, a measure of complacency may have set in,” Professor Edley told The Times. “I don’t mean that the effort is not there, but that the discipline of self-criticism has perhaps faded.”

Professor Edley, who worked in the Clinton and Carter Administrations and is now Dean of the Law School at the University of California, Berkeley, added: “I wouldn’t give [Obama] as high a grade as President as I gave him when he was my student. I know he can do better.” >>> Giles Whittell in Washington | Monday, February 01, 2010

China Threatens Obama Over Dalai Lama Meeting
TIMES ONLINE: Strained ties between the US and China could deteriorate further if President Obama goes ahead with a meeting with the Dalai Lama, Beijing warned today.

China’s anger at the Tibetan spiritual leader's overseas visits and the warm reception he is afforded by foreign leaders spilled over in tough words from officials in Beijing who led the latest round of talks with his representatives last week.

Zhu Weiqun, executive deputy head of the Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, who is in charge of the talks, said that a meeting between Mr Obama and the Dalai Lama would “seriously undermine the political foundation of Sino-US relations”.

An increasingly assertive Beijing even issued a veiled threat that such a meeting would not only fail to serve the interests of diplomacy but could damage the US economic recovery. A view has become widespread that the strength of the economic revival in China, the largest holder of US treasuries, could help to lead the world out of the current downturn.

Mr Zhu said: “If the US leader chooses this time to meet the Dalai Lama, that would damage trust and co-operation between our two countries, and how would that help the United States surmount the current economic crisis?" >>> Jane Macartney in Beijing | Tuesday, February 02, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Analysis: the worsening relationship between America and China: A year ago, American hopes were high for a friendly relationship with China. But the White House seems unwisely to have raised expectations – the Chinese have been consistent in their unwillingness to change positions on key issues. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington and Peter Foster in Beijing | Monday, February 01, 2010

Taïwan : Pékin menace les Etats-Unis de sanctions
LE TEMPS: Après l’annonce de ventes d’armes à Taipei, Pékin muscle son discours et parle pour la première fois de rétorsion économique

L’annonce faite vendredi par Washington d’une nouvelle vente d’armes à Taïwan pour un montant de 6,4 milliards de dollars provoque un feu de critiques inédit en Chine. Dès samedi, Pékin avait annoncé plusieurs mesures de rétorsion: suspension des relations militaires avec Washington, interruption du dialogue sur les questions de sécurité stratégique, de contrôle des armes et de prolifération nucléaire et – c’est la nouveauté – menace de sanctions contre les sociétés américaines concernées par cette vente. «Arrogance» des Etats-Unis >>> Frédéric Koller | Mardi 02 Février 2010

Berlusconi wünscht sich Israel in der EU: Italienischer Ministerpräsident beginnt dreitägigen Besuch in Israel
NZZ ONLINE: Der italienische Ministerpräsident Berlusconi wünscht sich Israel in der EU. Das sagte er zu Beginn seines Besuchs in Nahost. Berlusconi wird am Dienstag vor der Knesset sprechen.

Italiens Ministerpräsident Silvio Berlusconi wünscht sich Israel als Mitglied der Europäischen Union. Dies sei sein grösster Wunsch, solange er in der Politik aktiv sei, sagte der 73-jährige Regierungschef zum Auftakt eines dreitägigen Besuchs in Israel. >>> sda/dpa | Montag, 01. Februar 2010

High Time for the US, the 'Land of Opportunity', to Give Equality to All Its Citizens!
It is a disgrace that we have in the US today a country which has given equality to blacks, and even to Muslims, many of whom are out to destroy Western civilization, yet gays, most of whom are benign, simply because they are born with a certain preference which they can do nothing about, are discriminated against. And the state sanctions this discrimination! How disgusting! How utterly disgusting! How awful! How totally unacceptable!

As Reagan once famously said to the Soviet leader: "Tear down this wall, Mr Gorbachov!" I say today to the American leader: Tear down this wall of discrimination, Mr Obama! Bring America into the first world! – © Mark

PINK NEWS: US president Barack Obama will treat repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell as a priority this year, it has been reported.

According to the New York Times, the White House has been holding meetings on the issue for the past year with defence secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Obama mentioned the law in his State of the Union address last week, having promised in his 2008 election campaign he would repeal it.

He reportedly knew his administration could be forced to defend the 1993 law if court cases challenging it reached the Supreme Court.

Last week, Gates' spokesman revealed that he would be presenting to lawmakers plans on how to repeal the law. Repealing military gay ban a priority for Obama in 2010 >>> Jessica Green | Monday, February 01, 2010

Adherents of the ‘Religion of Peace’ Have been ‘At It’ Again, Doing What They Do Best: Killing
BBC: At least 41 people have been killed and 106 injured by a female suicide bomber in north-east Baghdad, an interior ministry spokesman has said.

The woman detonated an explosives vest among a group of pilgrims making the journey to Karbala, 80km from Baghdad. A witness described seeing a fireball.

The Shia pilgrims were marking Arbaeen, the end of 40 days of mourning for the death of Prophet Muhammad's grandson.

Troops and police are on alert during the pilgrimage.

The bomber had hidden the explosives under her abaya - a long, black over-garment, Maj Gen Qassim al-Moussawi told the Associated Press news agency.

Witness Raheem Kadhom said pilgrims were "crying for help" as they lay injured on the ground in the Shaab neighbourhood, AP reported.

Others helped by taking them to hospitals in cars rather than waiting for ambulances, Mr Kadhom said.

Security has also been increased around the revered Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala during the annual festival, which culminates on Friday. Female suicide bomber kills dozens in Iraq >>> | Monday, February 01, 2010

Auch ohne Mondlandung ein astronomisch hohes Defizit: US-Präsident Obama präsentiert seine Budgetpläne für die nächsten Jahre
NZZ ONLINE: Der amerikanische Präsident Obama hat am Montag seine Budgetpläne für die nächsten Jahre präsentiert. Obwohl namhafte Einsparungen geplant sind, wird das Defizit im laufenden Jahr Rekordhöhen erklimmen.

Der scheint trügt: Obama ist weit weg vom Heiligen-Status – er muss sich mit Profanerem befassen. Bild: NZZ Online
Der amerikanische Präsident Barack Obama setzt den Rotstift beim Haushalt an und macht dabei auch vor dem Stolz vieler Amerikaner, der Raumfahrt, nicht halt. Doch auch ohne bemannte Missionen zum Mond wird das Defizit 2010 mit 1,56 Billionen eine Rekordhöhe erreichen. 120 Programme und Projekte will Obama insgesamt kürzen oder streichen. Dennoch liegt der Umfang des von ihm vorgeschlagenen Etats mit 3,8 Billionen Dollar um drei Prozent über den geplanten Ausgaben im laufenden Haushaltsjahr. >>> sda/dpa/afp | Montag, 01. Februar 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama forecasts record US deficit of almost £1 trillion: President Barack Obama on Monday forecast a record budget deficit of $1.56 trillion (£975 billion) for 2010 – worse even than the White House's prediction made just a week ago – as red ink threatened to submerge his leadership and reforms such as health care. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Monday, January 01, 2010

Sudan Like a Powder Keg, Says African Union Chief Jean Ping
BBC: A vote for independence in oil-rich Southern Sudan's referendum next year could be catastrophic, the African Union's top diplomat has warned.

In an interview with French broadcaster RFI, Jean Ping likened Sudan's situation to "sitting on a powder keg".

He suggested the nation could once again face north-south conflict and said other areas like Darfur would try to follow the south to independence.

Southern Sudanese are due to vote in an independence referendum next year.

The vote was agreed as part of a 2005 peace deal which ended a 22-year war between north and south.

The BBC's James Copnall, in Khartoum, says it is rare for such a senior official to be so outspoken. >>> | Thursday, January 28, 2010

Somalia's Al Shabaab to Ally With al Qaeda
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: NAIROBI, Kenya—The militant group al Shabaab said it would ally with al Qaeda in a drive to establish an Islamic state in Somalia and fight for Muslims across East Africa, offering a fresh test for U.S.-backed African peacekeepers struggling to defend a weak Somali government.

In a statement Monday, the group said it had agreed, among other things, "to connect the horn of Africa jihad to the one led by al Qaeda and its leader Sheikh Osama Bin Laden." The statement, written in Somali and Arabic, is believed to be the first explicit confirmation of what U.S. and Somali government have long suspected: Militants in one of Africa's least stable places are sharing resources and merging agendas.

It isn't clear whether this new resolution will result in funding or training from al Qaeda, or even if it will lead to an official endorsement from the global terror group. At the very least, the statement signals a tightening embrace with foreign fighters who have been supporting al Shabaab's efforts to topple the Somali government.

The cooperation also could spur Somali militants to assist al Qaeda elsewhere. Al Shabaab has sent fighters to Afghanistan to train with al Qaeda, according to the Somali government. Al Shabaab recently pledged to send fighters across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, where al Qaeda is active. >>> Sarah Childress | Monday, February 01, 2010

Recruits Seek Out Al-Qaeda's Deadly Embrace Across a Growing Arc of Jihadist Terror
THE TELEGRAPH: Just two years ago al-Qaeda was believed to be on the back foot. Now the jihadist group is attracting ever more recruits across a growing arc of terror.

Bored, depressed and stuck in a dead-end job, Khaled al-Bawardi. spent just a few hours watching jihadi videos to convince himself that he wanted to fight for militant Islam.

It took another six years in Guantanamo Bay, plus a year in religious rehab in Saudi Arabia, to realise there might be better career options.

“When I was young, I thought these people were angels and we had to follow them,” said Mr Bawardi, formerly Inmate 68 at Guantanamo and one of hundreds of Saudi al Qaeda suspects arrested after the US invasion of Afghanistan. “Now, though, I can see between right and wrong.”

Quietly-spoken, and dressed in a traditional Arab robe and keffiya, Mr Bawardi is an alumnus of the Prince Mohammed bin Nayef Centre for Counselling and Care outside Riyadh, where for the last two years, batches of former Guantanamo inmates have undergone religious “deprogramming” in exchange for their liberty.

With its swimming pool, games rooms and therapy courses such as “10 Steps Toward Positive Thinking”, it resembles a jihadist’s version of London’s Priory clinic. Yet like any rehab programme, it also has its recidivists - and Batch 10, to which Mr Bawardi belonged, is a case in point.

The tenth group of Saudis to be flown back from Guantanamo Bay, no less than five of the original 14 who passed through the programme absconded to neighbouring Yemen to re-embrace terrorism. To the embarrassment of their mentors, and the dismay of Washington, one Batch 10 member, Said al-Shihri, has since re-surfaced as no less than deputy leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the movement’s new Yemen-based branch. The group opened up the latest frontier in the war on terror last month, when it claimed to have groomed the so-called Detroit “Underpants Bomber”, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Such “relapses” show how, more than eight years since 9-11, al-Qaeda has confounded its doomsayers with both its resilience and its ever-spreading presence. >>> Reporting team: Richard Spencer in Riyadh, Adrian Blomfield in Sana'a, Mike Pflanz in Nairobi, Ben Farmer in Kabul, Colin Freeman in London, and Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent | Sunday, January 31, 2010

Amérique : «Il est facile de pratiquer l’islam aux Etats-Unis»
Aux Etats-Unis, les musulmans sont moins représentés politiquement qu’en Europe, mais ils peuvent afficher leur identité religieuse. Crédits photo : Le Temps
LE TEMPS: Selon Salam al-Marayati, directeur du Muslim Public Affairs Council, un groupe de réflexion de Los Angeles, les musulmans sont bien intégrés en Amérique. Bilan 8 ans après les attentats du 11 septembre

Un peu plus de huit ans après les attentats du 11 septembre aux Etats-Unis, où en sont les musulmans américains? Peu après l’effondrement des tours jumelles du World Trade Center de New York, la communauté musulmane avait subi de plein fouet la politique sécuritaire renforcée de la Maison-Blanche. De passage à Genève, Salam al-Marayati est directeur du Muslim Public Affairs Council à Los Angeles. A la tête de ce groupe de réflexion dont la mission est d’informer le public sur la communauté musulmane et de contribuer à son intégration dans la société américaine, il dresse un état des lieux. >>> Stéphane Bussard | Lundi 01 Février 2010

L'islam gagne du terrain au Brésil
LE FIGARO: Après les attentats du 11 septembre 2001 et sous l'impulsion d'une « telenovela », les conversions se sont multipliées dans les périphéries urbaines du pays.

Cinq fois par jour, Rosangela cherche la direction de La Mecque dans son petit appartement de Vila Ferreira, un quartier pauvre de Sao Bernardo do Campo, une ville industrielle située à quelques kilomètres de Sao Paulo. À 45 ans, sa vie est rythmée par l'islam, qu'elle a embrassé au début des années 1990. Voilée, vêtue d'une longue tunique, Rosangela assure l'accueil au Centre de divulgation de l'islam pour l'Amérique latine. «Je donne aussi des cours sur le Coran», précise-t-elle, soucieuse qu'on ne la prenne pas pour une simple hôtesse.

Converser avec Rosangela n'est pas facile : elle s'interrompt toutes les cinq minutes pour répondre au téléphone ou renseigner des visiteurs sur les conférences du cheikh Jihad Hassan Hammadeh, le directeur du Centre. «La demande de corans en portugais est telle que mon stock est épuisé, assure-t-elle . Alors, en attendant d'être réapprovisionnée, je donne des versions espagnoles.»

Premier pays catholique du monde, le Brésil connaît depuis une décennie une croissance importante de l'islam. «Il est impossible de savoir combien le pays compte de musulmans, puisqu'ils sont enregistrés dans la catégorie “autres”, mais on estime qu'il y en a environ un million», indique Paulo da Rocha Pinto, professeur à l'université Fluminense.

Pour lui, le meilleur indicateur de l'expansion de cette religion est la multiplication du nombre de lieux de culte. Malgré l'arrivée dès le début du XXe siècle de vagues de musulmans, syriens, libanais et palestiniens en majorité - on les appelle au Brésil les «Turcos» en référence à la tutelle qu'exerçait à l'époque l'Empire ottoman -, la première mosquée n'a été inaugurée qu'en 1960. La construction de lieux de culte n'a véritablement commencé qu'à partir des années 1980 et s'est accélérée au début des années 2000. Effet de mode >>> Par Lamia Oualalou | Lundi 01 Février 2010

Muslim Leader Blasts Gay Lifestyle
JAMAICA OBSERVER: PRESIDENT of the Islamic Council of Jamaica, Mustafa Muhammad, says he agrees with the Sharia law which prescribes death for people who openly flaunt homosexual behaviour.

Muhammad did not mince words as he lashed out against what he described as an unclean, unnatural lifestyle.

“It is illegal and in the Sharia law the punishment is death. If you follow Christianity it is a crime in the sight of God. He destroyed a whole city because of this thing. It is an ungodly practice and I apologise to no one for this,” Muhammad said.

Under Jamaican law, persons who practice buggery — the sexual penetration of the anus — can be sent to prison for up to 10 years.

Despite claims by local and international gay lobbyists that homosexuals are attacked and killed in Jamaica, police statistics show that most gays who are killed are victims of crimes of passion.

Muhammad made sure to state that he was against the killing of gays in Jamaica.

“This can only be done in a country that is being run by Islam,” he said. >>> Karyl Walker | Monday, February 01, 2010

The Population Crash
THE GUARDIAN: Across Europe, we are having fewer babies. In many places, such as the deserted town of Hoyerswerda in east Germany, the falling birth rate is already taking its toll

Hoyerswerda, a town two hours beyond Dresden close to the Polish ­border, has lost half its population in the last 20 years. It is an ­ageing ghost town. The young and those with qualifications have left – young women especially. And those that remain have given up having babies. Hoyerswerda (known to its citizens as Hoy Woy) seems a town without a purpose, in a corner of Europe without a future.

On the windswept roof of the Lausitz Tower, the town's only landmark, I meet Felix Ringel. A young German anthropologist studying at Cambridge University, he has passed up chances taken by his friends to ­investigate the rituals of Amazon tribes or Mongolian peasants. As we survey the empty plots of fenced scrub below, he explains that the underbelly of his own country seemed weirder and far less studied than those exotic worlds.

In its heyday in the 60s, Hoyerswerda was a model community in communist East Germany, a brave new world attracting migrants from all over the country. They dug brown coal from huge open-cast mines on the plain around the town. There was good money and two free bottles of brandy a month. But the fall of the Berlin Wall changed all that. It was here in 1989, in the towns and cities of Saxony, that the people of the east started moving west to ­capitalism and freedom. At the head of the queue were the young, ­especially young women.

Under communism, East ­German women worked more, and were ­often better educated, than the more conservative western hausfrau. But when their jobs disappeared in the early 90s, hundreds of thousands of them, encouraged by their ­mothers, took their school diplomas and CVs and headed west to cities such as ­Heidelberg. The boys, however, seeing their fathers out of work, often just gave up. In adulthood, they form a rump of ill-educated, alienated, ­often unemployable men, most of them ­unattractive mates – a further factor in the departure of young women.

Reiner Klingholz, director of the Berlin Institute for Population and ­Development, calls it a "male ­emergency" – but this is not just an emergency for men. The former ­people's republic is staring into a ­demographic abyss, because its ­citizens don't want babies any more. >>> Fred Pearce | Monday, February 01, 2010

GUARDIAN DATA BLOG: Nine billion people by 2050? : The world's population is growing at a startling rate. These figures show the number of people in each country on the globe >>>

Pope Benedict XVI Criticises ‘Unjust’ Effects of Harriet Harman’s Equality Bill
THE TELEGRAPH: Pope Benedict XVI has criticised Harriet Harman’s “unjust” Equality Bill for trying to prevent religious groups remain true to their beliefs.

The pontiff claimed Labour’s flagship anti-discrimination legislation “actually violates” natural law, and suggested that it contravened “long-standing British traditions” of freedom of speech.

He also urged Roman Catholics in the UK to “speak with a united voice” in a secular and multicultural society, as he confirmed that he will make a historic state visit to the country later this year.

His comments come a week after Christian peers defeated the Government on a key part of the Equality Bill.

Existing exemptions for religious employment were set to be changed, and churches feared under the new rules they would have face prosecution unless they went against their beliefs by employing homosexuals and transsexuals. Catholics said the law could have forced them to admit women to the priesthood.

The controversial clause was dropped after a vote in the House of Lords although it is possible that the European Commission may now intervene to back the Government’s original plan.

In an address delivered on Monday to Catholic bishops from England and Wales who had made the five-yearly ad Limina pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul in Rome, the pope attacked the implications of the Equality Bill.

He said: “Your country is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society. Yet as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs. In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed.

“I urge you as Pastors to ensure that the Church’s moral teaching be always presented in its entirety and convincingly defended. Fidelity to the Gospel in no way restricts the freedom of others - on the contrary, it serves their freedom by offering them the truth. >>> Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Monday, February 01, 2010

Pope Condemns Gay Equality Laws Ahead of First UK Visit
THE GUARDIAN: Benedict XVI says legislation safeguarding rights of same-sex couples violates 'natural law' of human equality

Pope Benedict XVI has condemned British equality legislation for running contrary to "natural law" as he confirmed his first visit to the UK later this year.

In a letter addressed to the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, the pope praised Britain's "firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all".

However he criticised UK legislation for creating "limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs".

It is thought his comments relate to laws that came in last year preventing adoption agencies from discriminating against gay couples.

The pope, whose visit is expected in September, made the comments after hearing representations from English and Welsh bishops on their concerns about the place of religion in an increasingly secular society. They told him sexual orientation legislation that came into effect on 1 January 2009 had forced the closure of half of the Roman Catholic agencies because the law making it illegal to discriminate against gay applicants went against their beliefs.

In his letter the pope said: "The effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs.

"In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed." >>> Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent | Monday, February 01, 2010

Two Guys Kissing Set to Steal the Super Bowl Show
THE INDEPENDENT: Next Sunday's football final will highlight an extra showdown: between liberals and the religious right

It's already a quintessentially American event, combining razzmatazz, cheerleaders, and multimillionaire sportsmen in a few excessive hours of made-for-TV entertainment. But this year, the Super Bowl will be jollified by a side-plot that perhaps reflects the true state of the nation: an angry dispute between liberals and the religious right.

Women's groups and gay activists are squaring up against opponents from the "family values" lobby over the contents of two very different television adverts that are due to air when the New Orleans Saints take on the Indianapolis Colts in next Sunday's finale of the American football season. One of the commercials carries a hard-hitting anti-abortion message, and was made by a conservative Christian organisation. The other couldn't be more different: it publicises a gay dating website called Mancrunch, and features two men holding hands on a sofa, and then passionately kissing. >>> Guy Adams in Los Angeles | Sunday, January 31, 2010

Why Don’t They Jail the SOBs and Wipe the Smile Off Their Faces?
Lloyd C. Blankfein was paid $67.9 million in 2007. His bank’s profits in 2009 were higher than that year. Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Goldman Sachs, the world’s richest investment bank, could be about to pay its chief executive a bumper bonus of up to $100 million in defiance of moves by President Obama to take action against such payouts.

Bankers in Davos for the World Economic Forum (WEF) told The Times yesterday they understood that Lloyd Blankfein and other top Goldman bankers outside Britain were set to receive some of the bank’s biggest-ever payouts. “This is Lloyd thumbing his nose at Obama,” said a banker at one of Goldman’s rivals.

Goldman Sachs is becoming the focus of an increasingly acrimonious political and financial showdown over the payment of multimillion-pound bonuses.Last week the US President described bonuses paid out by some banks as “the height of irresponsibility” and “shameful”.

“The American people understand that we have a big hole to dig ourselves out of, but they do not like the idea that people are digging a bigger hole, even as they are being asked to fill it up,” he said last week. Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs 'Expecting $100 Million Bonus' >>> Helen Power in Davos | Monday, February 01, 2010

Ed West: Geert Wilders Is Not 'Far Right'
THE TELEGRAPH: Like my colleague Douglas Murray, who has already written an excellent post on the show trial of the century, I’ve been surprised by the lack of British media interest in Geert Wilders’s martyrdom in Amsterdam. An American minor celebrity only has to fart to receive blanket coverage in the British press, but when a major politician next door faces jail on trumped-up charges – in a case that will have implications for our freedom of speech – there seems to be little interest.

For those who haven’t visited these parts, Wilders is a Dutch politician on trial for “insulting” Islam by comparing the Koran to Mein Kampf, and for saying that Moroccans commit many street robberies in the Netherlands. Yes, put on trial – not fisked or twitter-lynched or condemned by the Equality Gestapo, but actually brought to court. Wilders calls it “surreal”, and it certainly seems strange that in a city where a gentleman can smoke Morocco’s most famous export and view half-naked women in shop windows, he can go to jail for criticising a religion. >>> Ed West | Saturday, January 30, 2010