Schools' New Math: the Four-Day Week
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: A small but growing number of school districts across the country are moving to a four-day week, in a shift they hope will help close gaping budget holes and stave off teacher layoffs, but that critics fear could hurt students' education.

State legislators and local school boards are giving administrators greater flexibility to set their academic calendars, making the four-day slate possible. But education experts say little research exists to show the impact of shortened weeks on learning. The missed hours are typically made up by lengthening remaining school days.

Of the nearly 15,000-plus districts nationwide, more than 100 in at least 17 states currently use the four-day system, according to data culled from the Education Commission of the States. Dozens of other districts are contemplating making the change in the next year—a shift that is apt to create new challenges for working parents as well as thousands of school employees.

The heightened interest in an abbreviated school week comes as the Obama administration prepares to plow $4.35 billion in extra federal funds into underperforming schools. The administration has been advocating for a stronger school system in a bid to make the U.S. more academically competitive on a global basis.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education said in an email that she couldn't comment on four-day weeks in specific districts. But "generally, we are concerned about financial constraints leading to a reduction in learning time." >>> Chris Herring | Monday, March 08, 2010

Screwy Is as Screwy Does! Now Vegans Are Covered by Harman’s Equality Law
MAIL ONLINE: Vegans, teetotallers and atheists are to be given the same protection against discrimination as religious groups, under Harriet Harman's controversial new equality laws.

People who do not eat products and refuse to wear leather have been singled out for inclusion under the new legislation by Labour's super-quango - the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.

Official guidance issued by the body points out that the 'ethical commitment' of vegan's to animal welfare is 'central to who they are'.

The code of practice explains the legal implications of the equality bill states that religions need not be mainstream or well known for their adherents to gain protection.

The Equality Bill, masterminded by Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman*, is due to come into force this Autumn.

It makes it a legal requirement for public authorities, including schools, to consider the impact of all their policies on minority groups.

But the guidance explains: “A belief need not include faith or worship of a god or gods, but must affect how a person lives their life or perceives the world.” >>> Kirsty Walker | Monday, March 08, 2010

*Harman appears to be a card-carrying member of the SEG. (SEG = Social Engineering Gestapo)

Nigerian Security Forces on Alert After New Burst of Sectarian Violence*
TIMES ONLINE: Nigeria's security forces have been put on high alert after a new burst of sectarian violence left over 500 people dead, most of them women and children hacked to death by machete wielding gangs.

The attack happened before dawn on Sunday morning when gangs of men descended on several mainly Christian villages near the central city of Jos, firing guns as they approached. Witnesses of the attack, which centred on the village of Dogo-Nahawa, described how victims were caught in animal traps and fishing nets as they tried to flee their attackers. >>> Anne Barrowclough | Monday, March 08, 2010

*Would this be Muslim violence against Christians, by any chance?

Ethnic Violence in Nigeria Has Killed 500, Officials Say
THE NEW YORK TIMES: DAKAR, Senegal — Officials and human rights groups in Nigeria said Monday that about 500 people had died in weekend ethnic violence near the central city of Jos, considerably more than what had initially been reported.

A government spokesman said Sunday that the dead numbered more than 300. The victims were Christians killed by rampaging Muslim herdsmen, officials and human rights workers said, apparently in reprisal for similar attacks on Muslims in January.

The head of a leading Nigerian rights group, Shehu Sani of the Civil Rights Congress, said in a telephone interview on Monday that his organization had counted 492 bodies, mainly in the village of Dogo Nahawa. >>> Adam Nossiter | Monday, March 08, 2010

'Closet-Nazi' in Running for Austrian Presidency
THE TELEGRAPH: A far-Right candidate for Austria's presidential election has brought the country's dark past to the surface again, by denouncing a law banning Nazi groups and Holocaust denial.

Barbara Rosenkranz, a far-Right candidate for the upcoming Austrian presidential election. Photo: The Telegraph
Barbara Rosenkranz, 51, a regional leader of the Freedom Party (FPOe), looks likely to be the only candidate to run against the incumbent, President Heinz Fischer, on April 25.

But her comments supporting the scrapping of the tough prohibition law have renewed the debate about a heritage with which the country, which was under Nazi rule from 1938 to 1945, has never fully come to terms.

Austrian leaders and the press already fear for the country's image abroad.

Under the 1947 Verbotsgesetz law, anyone who seeks to set up a Nazi organisation, propagates Nazi ideology or denies Nazi crimes can be jailed for up to 20 years.

But Rosenkranz, a mother of 10 and the wife of an outspoken figure in Austria's far-Right scene, insists the law constitutes "an unnecessary restriction" and that, on the contrary, people should be allowed freedom of opinion.

In 2003, the European Court of Human Rights already allowed a journalist's description of her as a "closet-Nazi", noting that her attitude towards Nazism was ambiguous.

Such comments from a woman running for the country's highest office prompted scorching criticism from politicians of all colours, civil groups and the Catholic church.

Rosenkranz's own supporters did what they could to limit the damage.
"Somebody like this is not eligible for election," said Vienna's Archbishop Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, while the Jewish community described her as "an embarrassment for Austria".

"Rosenkranz challenges the Republic's anti-Fascist foundation. That is unacceptable," added Norbert Darabos, the social democratic defence minister.

Meanwhile, Hans Dichand, publisher of the influential tabloid Kronen Zeitung, reversed his earlier position and urged Rosenkranz to "distance herself from all national socialist ideas", just days after he had called on voters to support her.

On Monday, Rosenkranz issued an affidavit saying, "I condemn outright the crimes of national socialism and categorically distance myself from the ideology of national socialism."

Nevertheless, she refused to answer journalists' questions on statements she had made last week in which she affirmed that denying the Holocaust came under "freedom of expression".

Last week, the leader of the FPOe, Heinz-Christian Strache, also attempted some damage control.

"Nobody in our party is talking about scrapping the prohibition law", he said. >>> Sim Sim Wissgott in Vienna for AFP | Monday, March 08, 2010

KRONEN ZEITUNG: Video anschauen – Barbara Rosenkranz distanziert sich von NS-Ideologie >>>

Barbara Rosenkranz distanziert sich von NS-Ideologie
KRONEN ZEITUNG: Präsidentschaftskandidatin Barbara Rosenkranz hat sich am Montagvormittag nach ihren umstrittenen Aussagen zum Verbotsgesetz öffentlich von der NS-Ideologie distanziert. In einer eidesstattlichen Erklärung beteuerte sie, "zu keinem Zeitpunkt die Grundwerte unserer Republik infrage gestellt" zu haben.

"So habe ich auch das Verbotsgesetz als Symbol für die Abgrenzung vom Nationalsozialismus niemals infrage gestellt und werde es auch nicht infrage stellen", sagte Rosenkranz in der eidesstattlichen Erklärung, zu der sie in der vergangenen Woche in einem "Krone"-Kommentar (siehe Infobox) aufgefordert worden war, weiter.

Die FPÖ-Kandidatin wies in ihrer Erklärung "jede Interpretation, dass ich dieses Gesetz abschaffen wolle, mit aller Entschiedenheit zurück. Für mich sind Demokratie, Freiheit und Menschenwürde die Fundamente meines Welt- und Menschenbildes und meiner politischen Arbeit. Ich verurteile daher aus Überzeugung die Verbrechen des Nationalsozialismus und distanziere mich entschieden von der Ideologie des Nationalsozialismus." "Sehr betroffen" über Wirbel über ihre Kandidatur >>> | Montag, 08. März 2010

Reaktionen: Rosenkranz-Erklärung "wertlos"
DIE PRESSE: Als "wertlos" und "Nicht-Erklärung" werten die anderen Parteien die eidesstattliche Erklärung der freiheitlichen Hofburg-Kandidatin, in der diese sich von der NS-Ideologie distanziert.

Die freiheitliche Kandidatin für die Hofburg-Wahl, Barbara Rosenkranz, hat sich am Montag mit einer eidesstattlichen Erklärung von der NS-Ideologie distanziert. Bei den anderen Parteien stößt ihre Erklärung durchwegs auf Ablehnung.

Klubchef Josef Cap vermisst im Gespräch mit Ö1 zwei Punkte: Erstens, Rosenkranz müsse ganz klar festhalten, dass sie nichts am Verbotsgesetz ändern will, auch nicht einzelne Paragraphen. Und zweitens, sie müsse eindeutig sagen, dass es während der Nazi-Zeit Gaskammern gegeben habe und dass sie dies verurteile. >>> APA/Red. | Montag, 08. März 2010

Gaddafi vs. Switzerland: The Leader's Son on What's Behind the Feud
TIME: It's tempting to dismiss Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi's call this week for a jihad against Switzerland as just another round in the feud between the two countries. But it would be a mistake to treat Gaddafi's rhetoric as mere theater. Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, the Libyan leader's second-eldest son, who many suspect is Gaddafi's likely successor, tells TIME that Libya's row with Switzerland is evidence of a far more serious and urgent issue within Libya, which is grappling with how democratic and Westernized the country should become after decades of isolation. "If we are going to dance with them [the West], we need to dance with the same rhythm to the same music," Saif Gaddafi said in a candid interview as he relaxed on his farm outside Tripoli, on the public holiday marking the Prophet Mohammed's birthday. "The best example is the Swiss crisis. It shows there is a big gap between our way of thinking and our mentality, and the Western mentality and the way of doing business."

That's an understatement. The senior Gaddafi's call on Friday for holy war against Switzerland has injected a new, more menacing tone into a dispute that has dragged on for the past 18 months. Gaddafi told an audience of diplomats and officials in the city of Benghazi that Muslims should bar Swiss planes and ships from their countries, and embargo Swiss goods. "Let us wage jihad against Switzerland, Zionism and foreign aggression," he told the crowd. "Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate, is against Muhammad, God and the Koran."

The rift, which threatens multi-billion-dollar investments in Libya, began when Swiss police arrested Gaddafi's youngest son Hannibal and his wife in July 2008, for allegedly assaulting two of their servants in a Geneva hotel. The couple denied the charges, which were quickly dropped, but the row continued. Offended by Swiss newspaper portrayals of his son, Gaddafi withdrew billions in Libyan funds from Swiss banks in July of last year, prompting the Swiss president to fly to Tripoli to apologize for the arrest.

Gaddafi was still not mollified. Last August, two Swiss businessmen were arrested in Tripoli for overstaying their visas. After a five-month standoff, one was allowed to leave Libya last week, while the second began a four-month prison term. >>> Vivienne Walt, Tripoli | Saturday, February 27, 2010

Inside the World of Obama's Secret-service Bodyguards
THE GUARDIAN: Protecting the US president has presented the secret service with the greatest challenge in its history. But who wants to kill him? And how likely are they to succeed?

Barack Obama surrounded by bodyguards in 2008. Photograph: The Guardian
The Southern Poverty Law Center began life in 1971 as a tiny law firm specialising in civil rights cases. It took on the might of the Ku Klux Klan, and was duly rewarded by having its offices razed and its senior lawyers targeted for assassination. But it kept on going and grew to be one of the most respected monitoring groups of rightwing extremism in America today.

Recently it brought out a report called Terror From the Right, which identifies, in chronological order, the serious home-grown plots, conspiracies and racist rampages that have been cooked up in America since the Oklahoma City bomb in 1995. The list runs to 10 pages of closely printed type and itemises 75 domestic terrorism events, from plans to bomb government buildings to attempts to kill judges and politicians.

Each of the incidents aimed to change the political face of America through violence, courtesy of groups with such titles as Aryan People's Republic, The New Order and The Hated. But in the summer of 2008 the chronology takes on a sharp change of tack. Entries, which had been running at one or two per year, start coming faster. And instead of a variety of different targets, one name crops up time and time again: Barack Obama.

The first such entry is for 8 June 2008. Six people, linked to a militia group in rural Pennsylvania, are arrested with stockpiles of assault rifles and homemade bombs. One of the six allegedly tells the authorities that he intended to shoot black people from a rooftop and predicts civil war should Obama, who five days previously had cleared the Democratic nomination for president, be elected to the White House.

Next entry: 24 August 2008. The day before the opening of the Democratic convention in Denver at which Obama was nominated, three white supremacists are arrested in possession of high-powered rifles and camouflage clothing. They are talking about assassinating Obama.

24 October 2008: Less than two weeks before the election, two white supremacists are arrested in Tennessee over a bizarre plan to kill more than 100 black people, including Obama.

21 January 2009: The day after Obama's inauguration, a white man is arrested in Massachusetts, having allegedly killed two black immigrants and injured a third. He says he was "fighting for a dying race".

10 June 2009: James von Brunn, aged 88, walks into the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington and shoots dead a security guard. Von Brunn, who died last month in jail awaiting trial, left a note that read: "Obama was created by Jews."

In the 13 months that Barack Obama has been the occupant of the Oval Office he has been the subject of an extraordinary outpouring of emotion from the American electorate. At the start it was largely adulatory, though more recently the adoration has been drowned out by a cacophony of criticism from tea party activists, birthers, global-warming deniers and viewers of Fox News. At the same time, largely hidden from view, there has been a layer of antagonism towards Obama that lies well beyond the boundaries of reasonable political debate.

That has been a fact of life for Obama and his family since long before they took the keys to the White House. On 2 May 2007, fully 18 months before election day, he was assigned a secret service detail – much earlier than any other presidential candidate in American history. The precise reasons for the move have never been disclosed, but there was certainly a mood in the air sufficiently palpable to disconcert Michelle Obama. A senior US official in the State Department has told the Guardian that before he decided to run for the presidency, Obama had actively to win Michelle over to the idea by assuaging her fears about the potential of an attack on him, her and/or their two daughters. >>> Ed Pilkington | Monday, March 08, 2010

Male Hairdressers Banned from Women's Salons in Gaza
BBC: The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas has said it is to ban male hairdressers from working in salons where women get their hair styled.

The announcement is part of a campaign by Hamas to introduce more Islamic customs to the Gaza Strip.

The Interior Ministry have said there will be legal consequences for anyone who disobeys the new rule, but they have not specified what they might be.

In Islamic tradition women cannot show their hair to men not in their family.

Since the Islamist movement took over the Gaza Strip in 2007, they have introduced a number of rules that move toward tightening customary Islamic restrictions on the way men and women interact.

But they have been patchily enforced and are not statutory laws.

Pressure

Women's underwear has been banned from display, and men must dress modestly when swimming in the sea.

Girls in school also have to wear long dresses.

The BBC's Jon Donnison in the Gaza Strip reports that human rights groups there are complaining that people's freedom is being restricted.

Hamas is coming under internal pressure to show their commitment to Islamic customs, it has been reported. [Source: BBC] | Thursday, March 04, 2010

White House Seeks to Block Turkish ‘Genocide’ Bill
MAIL ONLINE: The White House is seeking to block a controversial US bill branding the mass slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in World War One as genocide.

A congressional committee caused a major diplomatic row last week by voting in favour of the legislation.

Turkey recalled its ambassador from Washington and said the move would damage relations with America’s key NATO ally.

But State Secretary Hillary Clinton tried to defuse the row by claiming the Obama administration would ‘work very hard’ to prevent the genocide bill going to a full vote on Capitol Hill.

'We are against this. Now we believe that the US Congress will not take any decision on this subject,’ she said.

Mrs Clinton is hoping her reassurance will help defuse the rumpus over the dark, century-old chapter in Turkish history. >>> David Gardner | Sunday, March 07, 2010

Oh, Christ! I Hope Not! David Miliband: 'We Can Win the Election'
THE TELEGRAPH: The Foreign Secretary tells Mary Riddell he believes the Tory party lacks purpose and that he doesn’t do sleepless nights.

By the look of him, “he does” a hell of a lot of “sleepless nights”, judging by the wrinkles on his face! Photograph: The Telegraph
In a sparsely-filled town hall, David Miliband is rallying the party faithful. Crawley in Sussex is not the normal beat of a globe-trotting Foreign Secretary, and the issues raised by activists are not his specialist topics.

With a majority of only 37, the most marginal Labour seat in Britain needs all the big guns it can muster. So Mr Miliband gamely tackles doorstep subjects ranging from immigration to free swimming for the over-sixties.

The meeting over, he turns to the subject of Lord Ashcroft, who hopes to swing this vulnerable constituency and many others to the Tories. Mr Miliband was on a radio show with William Hague when the shadow foreign secretary finally admitted that he had known for months about the arrangement under which the peer pays no British tax on his overseas earnings.

In the strongest condemnation by any government minister, Mr Miliband declares his opposite number unfit to serve as Foreign Secretary. “You can’t be an effective Foreign Secretary if you spend 10 years avoiding the hard questions,” he says. “Either Lord Ashcroft was lying to David Cameron and William Hague, or they were lying to themselves.” >>> Mary Riddell | Sunday, March 07, 2010

Pfund im Sinkflug: Treiben Spekulanten England in den Ruin?
20MINUTEN.ch: Zuerst wetteten die Zocker gegen den Euro. Nun gerät das britische Pfund unter Druck. Spekulanten glauben, dass die Regierung in London ihre Schulden bald nicht mehr unter Kontrolle hat. Londons Schuldenwirtschaft hat griechische Verhältnisse erreicht.

Mit einem müden Lächeln blickten die Briten in den vergangenen Monaten zum europäischen Festland herüber. Die griechische Schuldenwirtschaft ging London nichts an, denn die Briten waren 1999 der europäischen Währungsunion nicht beigetreten. Statt in Euro zahlt das Vereinigte Königreich weiterhin mit «Pound Sterling».

Nun gerät das Pfund jedoch stark unter Druck, denn die Spekulanten haben nach dem Euro die britische Währung ins Visier genommen. Die Zahl der Short-Positionen an der Terminbörse von Chicago, mit denen Händler auf ein sinkendes Pfund wetten, sind stark gestiegen. Kürzlich ist das britische Pfund gegenüber dem Dollar auf ein 10-Monatstief gefallen.

Die «Euro-Verwandten» leiden

Der Ökonom David Meier von der Bank Julius Bär begründet den Kurssturz so: «Die meisten europäischen Währungen, die dem Euro nahestehen, haben sich in den letzten zwei Monaten gegenüber dem Dollar abgeschwächt. So auch das britische Pfund, die norwegische Krone und der Schweizer Franken.» Grund dafür ist der Vertrauensverlust in den Euro, der wegen Griechenlands Schuldenwirtschaft in eine tiefe Krise gestürzt sei, so Meier, der täglich die Währungsentwicklungen analysiert.

Der jüngste Schwächeanfall von anfangs Woche erklärt der Ökonom mit der politischen Entwicklung. «Das hängt mit dem ungewissen Ausgang der britischen Unterhauswahlen zusammen. Umfragen zeigten, dass die konservative Partei wahrscheinlich keine absolute Mehrheit im Parlament holen wird», so Meier. Dies sei insofern von Bedeutung, da der Markt den Labour-Kräften nicht zutraue, die während der Wirtschaftskrise angehäuften Schulden zu reduzieren und die Ausgaben in den Griff zu bekommen.» Briten als Schuldenkönige >>> Von Sandro Spaeth | Donnerstag, 04. März 2010

Adam Gadahn, Al Qaeda Agent from Southern California, Is Arrested in Pakistan
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Gadahn is wanted by the U.S. on charges of treason. In his apparent primary role as propagandist for the terrorist network, Gadahn appeared in videos. The latest praised the accused Fort Hood shooter.

Gadahn appears at left in an undated handout photo, and at right in a video released by Al Qaeda in 2006. Photograph: Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan - Security forces in the southern port city of Karachi have arrested Adam Gadahn, a Southern California native who became a top propagandist for Al Qaeda and is wanted by the U.S. on treason charges, Pakistani intelligence sources in Karachi said Sunday.

The capture of Gadahn becomes the starkest signal yet that Pakistan has decided to ratchet up its cooperation with the U.S. in hunting down Islamic militants. In the last two months, Pakistani security forces have seized several top Afghan Taliban commanders, including the insurgency's second in command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

Baradar's arrest and the capture of other Taliban leaders also have occurred in Karachi, which increasingly has become a favored sanctuary for Pakistani and Afghan Taliban leaders and militants. Gadahn's arrest took place on the city's outskirts, intelligence sources said, on a highway near where Baradar was believed to have been arrested.

Gadahn, whose most recent video, posted Sunday, praised the U.S. Army major charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, was arrested in a pickup truck with a driver Saturday night, the sources said. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on such issues. >>> Alex Rodriguez | Sunday, March 07, 2010

Pakistan: Al-Kaida rächt ihren Sprecher mit Video
20MINUTEN.ch: Der in den USA geborene Al-Kaida-Sprecher Adam Gadahn ist in der pakistanischen Hafenstadt Karachi vom Geheimdienst gefasst worden. Die Kaida veröffentlichte darauf ein Video, in dem Gedahn die Muslime aufruft, den Amoklauf auf der US-Militärbasis in Fort Hood zum Vorbild zu nehmen.

Al-Kaida-Sprecher Adam Gadahn in einem Video, das am 7. März 2010, dem Tag seiner Verhaftung, von Al-Kaida versandt wurde. Bild: 20Minuten.ch
Die Gefangennahme des 31-jährigen Al-Kaida-Sprechers Gadahn erfolgte bereits vor einigen Tagen, wie am Sonntag aus pakistanischen Geheimdienst- und Regierungskreisen verlautete. Die Verhaftung gilt als ein grosser Erfolg des von den USA geführten Kampfs gegen Al Kaida. >>> ddp | Sonntag, 07. März 2010

Grèce : Une «solution européenne» plutôt qu'un recours au FMI
20MINUTES.ch: La Grèce souhaite trouver une «solution européenne» à ses difficultés financières et n'envisage pas pour l'instant de recours au Fonds monétaire international (FMI).

«Nous voulons une solution européenne, nous ne voulons pas choisir le FMI», a déclaré M. Papandreou à l'issue d'un entretien d'une heure avec son homologue français à l'Elysée.

«La solution européenne jusqu'à hier ou avant-hier restait très théorique. Après les différentes rencontres que j'ai eues cette semaine (...) j'ai entendu que la volonté politique existait, et pas seulement de la part du président Sarkozy», a-t-il poursuivi.

«Notre pays a pris des mesures plus importantes et supplémentaires par rapports à ce que les spécialistes (...) avaient préconisé (...) nous voulons donc pouvoir emprunter comme tout autre pays de la zone euro avec un taux qui est similaire, peut-être pas identique, mais comparable», a ajouté le chef du gouvernement grec. >>> ats | Dimanche 07 Mars 2010

Paris : La statue de la République recouverte d'une burqa géante
20MINUTES.ch: Une soixantaine de jeunes militants ont recouvert samedi à Paris la statue symbolisant la République française, sur la place du même nom, d'une burqa noire géante. Ils entendaient célébrer ainsi la journée de la femme avec deux jours d'avance.

Les manifestants, dont une petite dizaine de garçons, appartenant à l'association «Ni putes ni soumises», ont organisé un défilé circulaire en brandissant des pancartes «Ni voile ni burqa», «service public = avortement et contraception» ou «raser mes jambes oui, raser les murs non».

Un peu plus tard, les manifestants ont symboliquement recouvert la statue d'une burqa noire géante, afin de protester contre ce qu'ils estiment être un retard pris dans le vote d'une loi interdisant la burqa dans les lieux publics. >>> ats | Dimanche 07 Mars 2010

The Crooked Judges of Amsterdam

Pouring Oil Onto the Fire
eKATHIMERINI.com – Editorial: Greece’s politicians seem unable to comprehend people’s anger at the manner in which they have handled the money in the public coffers, even though the signs are visible to even the most uninformed observer.

At a time when the public sector is putting a freeze on any new hirings and thousands of young people are being forced to join the unemployment line, parliamentary deputies have voted to award permanent status to a group of temporary employees in the state sector.

Defenders of the move have said that the law was put in motion during the days of the previous parliamentary president. But this is not an adequate excuse.

A poorly planned decision cannot be made legitimate after the fact and, in any case, the country’s public finances are in a state of code red due to the fiscal crisis and outstanding debt.

Gestures such as giving permanent jobs to staff who have been hired to carry out short-term tasks only pour more oil onto the flames. [Source: eKathimerini.com] | Saturday, March 06, 2010

eKATHIMERINI.com – Editorial: One thing has become strikingly clear as Greece’s great economic drama unfolds: The Greeks will have to pull themselves out of the mess on their own. Despite the danger that the eurozone faces as a whole, despite the threat its debt crisis poses to Europe’s political unification and irrespective of the responsibility of predatory investors, the rest of Europe sees Greece’s problem as comeuppance for years of profligacy and political cowardice. European policy is now being shaped by public opinion in each country – and the public is in no mood to see other countries benefit when its own is facing benefit reductions and a shaky future. This is a logical reaction. But it is also undeniable that European governments have been very slow to formulate policy toward the Greek crisis and, at least in some cases, they have been at the forefront of criticizing Greece and, thereby, isolating it. (This may be aimed at taking the focus off their own possible problems, letting off steam or warning other possible fiscal miscreants that they can expect no bailouts.) Curse and Godsend >>> | Friday, February 26, 2010

Opinion: Lebanon, at Peace, Braces for War
LOS ANGELES TIMES: A growing economy; political stability. But most Lebanese fear it won't last.

The Middle East has no shortage of conflicts to worry the rest of the world: the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the nuclear ambitions of Iran, the stalemate between Israel and the Palestinians. And now, add an old trouble spot to that list: Lebanon.



On the one hand, Lebanon's economy grew by a dizzying 9% last year, the strongest pace of any country in the region. Its feuding religious and political factions have joined in a power-sharing agreement that seems stable. And it's even selling itself, with some success, as a chic destination for European and American tourists.



But as I discovered on a visit to Beirut last month, the Lebanese are certain all this good fortune can't last. They're convinced -- not without reason -- that the confrontation between the U.S. and Iran will spill over into another war between Israel and Lebanon.

Just inside Lebanon's southern border, where Israel and the Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah went to war in 2006, Iran and its ally, Syria, have been helping Hezbollah rearm. The radical militia, which runs southern Lebanon as its own mini-state, reportedly has obtained Iranian-made missiles that can reach Tel Aviv, and Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, has promised to strike at Israel at a time and place of his choosing. 



Israel isn't taking the threat lightly; its pugnacious foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, recently warned that Israel might use the next war to try to topple Syria's authoritarian regime. >>> Doyle McManus | Sunday, March 07, 2010

Fast abgehoben: Westerwelle mit Lebensgefährten Michael Mronz auf dem Rollfeld des Flughafens Berlin-Tegel. Bild: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Guido Westerwelle: Reisebegleiter und mehr
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Außenminister Westerwelle hat am Samstag seine bislang längste Auslandsreise begonnen: Chile, Argentinien, Uruguay und Brasilien will er binnen einer Woche besuchen und damit Lateinamerika zu einem Schwerpunkt seiner Außenpolitik machen. In Deutschland wird dem Vizekanzler und FDP-Vorsitzenden vorgeworfen, unsensibel dienstliche Verbindungen mit parteipolitischen und privaten verquickt zu haben.

Auch auf der Reise nach Südamerika begleiteten ihn als Teil der Wirtschaftsdelegation alte Bekannte, darunter auch ein Unternehmer, der vor fünf Jahren der FDP 48.000 Euro gespendet haben soll. Die Opposition fordert Aufklärung, nachdem die Zeitschrift „Der Spiegel“ schrieb, dass FDP-Spender offizielle Reisebegleiter des Außenministers seien. Die Öffentlichkeit müsse beurteilen können, „ob es hier unzulässige Zusammenhänge und Einflussnahmen gegeben hat“, sagte der Parlamentarische Geschäftsführer der Grünen Beck. Sogar die Grenze von „Amtsmissbrauch“ erreicht sieht der stellvertretende Fraktionsvorsitzende der Linkspartei im Bundestag, Maurer. Kritik aus der Opposition >>> Von Wulf Schmiese | Sonntag, 07. März 2010

Génocide arménien : coup de froid entre les USA et Ankara
LE FIGARO: La Turquie a rappelé jeudi son ambassadeur à Washington, après le vote par la commission américaine des Affaires étrangères d'une résolution reconnaissant le génocide arménien.

Les présidents américain et turc, Barack Obama et Abdullah Gül, en avril 2009, à Ankara. Photo : Le Figaro
Les relations se tendent entre Ankara et Washington. La commission des Affaires étrangères de la Chambre des représentants américaine a approuvé jeudi une résolution sur la reconnaissance du génocide arménien par la Turquie en 1915. «C'est une nouvelle preuve de l'attachement du peuple américain aux valeurs humaines universelles et un pas important vers la prévention des crimes contre l'humanité», a réagi le ministre arménien des Affaires étrangères, Edouard Nalbandian. En signe de protestation, Ankara a en revanche immédiatement rappelé son ambassadeur aux Etats-Unis «pour consultations».

«Nous condamnons cette résolution qui accuse la nation turque d'un crime qu'elle n'a pas commis», a déclaré le gouvernement turc. Elle n'a «aucune valeur aux yeux du peuple turc», a ajouté le président turc Abdullah Gül, qui menace de «conséquences négatives (…) dans tous les domaines». Selon Ankara, ce vote montre «un manque de vision stratégique» parmi les élus américains, alors que les deux pays «travaillent ensemble sur un large éventail de questions». La Turquie, alliée de longue date de l'OTAN, joue un rôle important dans les intérêts américains au Moyen-Orient et en Afghanistan, ainsi que dans la médiation face à Téhéran dans le dossier du nucléaire iranien.

Hillary Clinton avait pourtant mis en garde les membres de la commission contre l'adoption d'une telle position. Cela «pourrait dresser des obstacles devant la normalisation des relations» entre la Turquie et l'Arménie, soutenue par Washington, avait averti la secrétaire d'Etat américaine. Ce qui n'a pas empêché le texte d'être voté par 23 voix contre 22. «Les Turcs disent que voter la résolution pourrait avoir des conséquences terribles pour nos relations bilatérales, et peut-être y aura-t-il en effet des conséquences», a déclaré le président de la Commission, Howard Berman. «Mais je crois que la Turquie tient à ses relations avec les Etats-Unis au moins autant que nous tenons à nos relations avec la Turquie.» Le texte n'a pas encore force de loi >>> Par Thomas Vampouille | Vendredi 05 Mars 2010

New Dark Age Alert! Muslim Leader Wants Elements of Sharia in Australia
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: ELEMENTS of Islamic law - the sharia - should be legally recognised in Australia so that Muslims can live according their faith, a prominent Muslim leader says.

Addressing an open day at Lakemba Mosque on Saturday, the president of the Australian Islamic Mission, Zachariah Matthews, said parts of sharia could be recognised as a secondary legal system so that Muslims were not forced to act contrary to their beliefs. ''Sharia law could function as a parallel system in the same way that some traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law was recognised in the Northern Territory,'' Dr Matthews told the Herald after the session.

''I don't think we are so unsophisticated that we cannot consider a multilayered legal system as long as it doesn't conflict with the existing civil system.''

The comments shocked some attending the open day. They felt Dr Matthews was advocating the introduction of the penal system under which women have been stoned to death for adultery, and corporal punishment is meted out for some offences.

''It came as quite a shock to some non-Muslims in the crowd when sharia law and the idea of a parallel legal system was mentioned,'' one audience member, Jasmine Donnelly, said.

''One group of people just left straight after that.'' >>> Paul Bibby | Monday, March 08, 2010

Still More Barbarity in Saudi Arabia! Sudanese Driver Executed in Saudi Arabia
BBC: A Sudanese driver convicted of murdering his Saudi Arabian employer has been executed.

Mussa Ahmed was beheaded in Riyadh in the eighth execution in the kingdom this year.

Ahmed killed Mohammed al-Mutairy by hitting him on the head with a metal object, a statement published by the official SPA news agency said.

Following the crime, Ahmed fled to Sudan but was extradited to Saudi Arabia to stand trial, reports said.

No other details about the case were available.

Saudi Arabia executed 67 people last year, fewer than the record number of 153 in 2007.

Under the country's strict version of Sharia law, rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death. [Source: BBC] | Thursday, March 04, 2010

Lord Alli: A Victory for Religious Freedom
THE TELEGRAPH: Lord Alli has hit back at criticism from religious leaders over whether gay civil partnership ceremonies should be allowed in churches. Here he lays out his case.

In the House of Lords on Tuesday there was a landmark decision, allowing Civil Partnerships between gay couples to take place in religious buildings.

The debate took place against the background of a growing number of religious denominations such as the Quakers, Liberal Judaism and the Unitarian Church publicly stating that they wanted to host these ceremonies on their premises.

The essence of the debate was whether or not they should be allowed to do it.

There can be no doubting the immense difference that Civil Partnerships have made to British life since the first ceremonies were performed just over four years ago.

People from all walks of life have been able to celebrate as they watched their sons and daughters, their brothers and sisters, their uncles and aunts entering into lasting unions with their partners.

Indeed, it does seem rather strange that the Church of England shouldn’t encourage Civil Partnerships since, as with marriage, they promote stable and committed relationships.

I couldn’t agree more with the 20 bishops and former bishops who wrote to The Times last week, arguing that “to deny people of faith the opportunity of registering the most important promise of their lives in their willing church or synagogue, according to its liturgy, is plainly discriminatory,” and who urged that “every peer who believes in spiritual independence or in non-discrimination” should support the move.

Over 120 peers turned up to listen and take part in the debate, with the resolution ultimately gaining support from all parties. >>> Waheed Alli | Sunday, March 07, 2010

THE GUARDIAN: Lord Waheed Alli >>>

After Tory Leader Reveals His List of Ethnic Candidates, Cameron's Rainbow 1st Eleven
THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: In the latest development in his campaign to show how dramatically the Tories have changed, David Cameron has published the party’s first-ever official list of openly gay MPs.

The Conservatives say they have 20 openly gay candidates standing in the Election. Of those, 11 told party chiefs they were ‘happy’ to be named in the first authorised list of gay Conservative candidates.

It has led some to suggest jokingly that the Tories might change the party’s traditional blue colour to the rainbow flag of the gay movement.

Publication of the list followed a claim by Shadow Minister Nick Herbert that if the Tories win the forthcoming General Election there could be up to 15 openly gay Conservative MPs. That compares to three at present, including Mr Herbert.

The move follows similar increases in the number of Tory women and ethnic minority candidates. It has led to a backlash from some grassroots activists, who claim the changes have been forced on them by Mr Cameron. Others say it has made the Conservative Party look more modern.

In a speech authorised by Mr Cameron, Mr Herbert said the party had ended the domination of ‘male, white, professional, grey-suited and straight’ Tory MPs. >>> Simon Walters and Brendan Carlin | Sunday, March 07, 2010

Wegen Grundrechten: Europarat warnt vor Ganzkörperschleier-Verbot
KRONE.at: Der Europaparat hat vor einem Verbot von Ganzkörperschleiern gewarnt. Eine solche Maßnahme würde die betroffenen muslimischen Frauen nicht befreien, sondern ihre Lage noch zusätzlich erschweren, erklärte der Menschenrechtsbeauftragte der paneuropäischen Organisation, Thomas Hammarberg, im Vorfeld des Internationalen Frauentags am Montag.

In einigen Europaratsländern, darunter Frankreich, ist eine Debatte über das Verbot des Ganzkörperschleiers Burka, bei dem selbst die Augen durch ein netzartiges Sichtfenster versteckt werden, und des Gesichtsschleiers Nikab, der nur einen Spalt für die Augen freilässt, entbrannt. >>>| Sonntag, 07. März 2010

Triumph der Vernunft! Tierschutzanwalt-Obligatorium klar abgelehnt: Nein-Mehrheit in allen Kantonen zur Initiative des Schweizer Tierschutzes
NZZ ONLINE: Die Kantone sind auch künftig nicht verpflichtet, einen Tierschutzanwalt einzusetzen. 70,5 Prozent der Stimmenden sagten Nein zur Tierschutzanwalt-Initiative. Das Volksbegehren wurde in keinem einzigen Kanton angenommen.

Am meisten Zustimmung erhielt die Initiative für einen obligatorischen Tieranwalt in den Städten, am deutlichsten abgelehnt wurde sie in ländlichen Gebieten. Den höchsten Nein-Stimmenanteil verzeichneten die Kantone Appenzell-Innerrhoden und Obwalden mit rund 84 Prozent.

Ebenfalls über 80 Prozent der Stimmenden sprachen sich in den Kantonen Wallis, Jura, Uri, Nidwalden und Freiburg gegen Tierschutzanwälte aus. In vielen Kantonen sagten zwischen 70 und 80 Prozent der Stimmenden Nein. Zwischen 60 und 70 Prozent lag der Nein-Stimmenanteil in den Kantonen Zürich, Bern, Aargau, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Solothurn, Graubünden, Genf, Schaffhausen, Tessin und Basel-Landschaft. Knappstes Resultat in Basel[.]

Am meisten Ja-Stimmen gab es im Kanton Basel-Stadt: 44 Prozent der Stimmenden sprachen sich dort für Tierschutzanwälte aus. In allen anderen Kantonen nahmen weniger als 40 Prozent der Stimmenden die Initiative an. In der Kompetenz der Kantone >>> (sda)/bbu. | Sonntag, 07. März 2010

NZZ ONLINE: Dem Tierschutz ein Bärendienst: Ein Nein mit Nachhall >>> crz. | Sonntag, 07. März 2010

Votations Fédérales : L'avocat pour les animaux ne sera pas obligatoire
20MINUTES.ch: Les cantons continueront de décider eux-même comment appliquer la loi sur la protection des animaux.

L'initiative populaire les enjoignant à instituer un avocat chargé de défendre les intérêts des bêtes a été rejetée par 70,5% des votants. Tous les cantons ont dit «non».

La Protection suisse des animaux a eu beau jouer la corde sensible et attirer nombre de «people» à sa cause, sa campagne n'a pas réussi à convaincre la majorité qu'un avocat spécial était la seule institution capable de défendre efficacement la gent animale contre les mauvais traitements et de punir sévèrement les coupables. Seul un peu moins de 672'000 votants ont glissé un «oui» dans l'urne. >>> ats | Dimanche 07 Mars 2010

Economie : Ce que Sarkozy va dire à Papandréou
leJDD.fr: Lorsque Nicolas Sarkozy accueillera, ce soir, à 18 heures, le Premier ministre grec Georges Papandréou, son attitude sera scrutée dans toute l’Europe. Le Président français naviguera entre deux écueils. Il ne peut donner l’impression que les gouvernements de "grands" pays imposent une purge à des "petits" alors qu’eux-mêmes ont laissé filer leurs propres dépenses. Et la France ne doit pas accorder un chèque en blanc à la Grèce, comme le craignent les Allemands. Bref, ne pas humilier Athènes, ne pas braquer Berlin.

Le premier objectif des autorités européennes est de stopper la spéculation qui ébranle l’euro. Les taux d’intérêt grecs ont explosé avec d’énormes primes de risque (les fameux "Credit Default Swap" ou CDS). Ils sont retombés depuis jeudi, Athènes a pu lever 5 milliards d’euros.

Deuxième objectif : éviter un effet domino sur d’autres pays européens. En 2008, la faillite de la banque Lehmann Brothers ne faisait peser aucun risque réel mais a pourtant provoqué une panique sur les marchés. Aujourd’hui, la dette grecque pèse moins de 3% du PIB européen mais d’autres pays pourraient payer cher la même crise de confiance (Espagne, Portugal, Royaume-Uni). La Grèce, symbole des futures réformes européennes >>> Olivier Jay, Le Journal du Dimanche | Samedi 06 Mars 2010 | Mise à jour le 07 Mars 2010

France Finally Acknowledges Its War Children
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: The offspring of German soldiers and French women born during the occupation were cruelly shunned

When Jean-Jacques Delorme was growing up in Lisieux in Normandy in the 1940s, schoolmates called him a "bastard" or "son of a Boche" – a slur word for German. He didn't really know what it meant, but it made him feel like an outcast.

Life had been different from the outset. After his birth in October 1944 it had been his grandmother who cared for him until he was five years old. But it was only decades later that he learnt why his mother was absent at that time: she had been sentenced to one year in prison, for so-called collaboration horizontale. She had also been given five years of dégradation nationale – essentially, a loss of certain rights – for her crime of indignité nationale, sleeping with the enemy.

Mr Delorme was not alone. He is one of 200,000 children who grew up in France the offspring of German soldiers who occupied the country during the war. After the war ended, supposed collaborators were executed, while women who had been "collaborating horizontally" had their hair shaved, were paraded through jeering crowds and jailed. Mr Delorme's mother was one of those "shaven women".

Mr Delorme faced silence and secrecy when he tried to find out who his father was. His suspicions had first been raised when he was 12 years old. "My sister was born and my mother gave me the livre de famille – or 'family book' – to register her birth," he remembers. "I noticed a note in the margin by my name, saying I was illegitimate by my father.

"My mother had married when I was four, and I had taken her husband's name as he officially recognised me as his son. I asked my mother, but she wouldn't tell me. Nobody would tell me. I sensed I was different from my brothers and sisters, so I asked my mother again when I was 17. She was enraged, and walked out slamming the door behind her."

It was only when he was 21, had completed his military service and gone to work in Paris that Mr Delorme found the truth out about who his real father was. "I asked my grandmother. She pulled out an envelope, yellowed with age, from her wardrobe. 'Your mother asked me to destroy its contents, but I didn't in case you ever wanted to know,' she told me. I opened the envelope and there were a good number of photos of my mother with a German soldier."

Then his mother, who had been a kitchen servant during the occupation, finally revealed his birth father's name: Hans Hoffmann. >>> Geneviève Roberts in Paris | Sunday, March 07, 2010

New SPLC Report: "Patriot" Groups, Militias Surge in Number in Past Year
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The number of extremist groups in the United States exploded in 2009 as militias and other groups steeped in wild, antigovernment conspiracy theories exploited populist anger across the country and infiltrated the mainstream, according to a report issued today by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

Antigovernment "Patriot" groups - militias and other extremist organizations that see the federal government as their enemy - came roaring back to life over the past year after more than a decade out of the limelight.

The SPLC documented a 244 percent increase in the number of active Patriot groups in 2009. Their numbers grew from 149 groups in 2008 to 512 groups in 2009, an astonishing addition of 363 new groups in a single year. Militias - the paramilitary arm of the Patriot movement - were a major part of the increase, growing from 42 militias in 2008 to 127 in 2009. >>> | Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Rage on the Right

Nana Mouskouri
Weiße Rosen aus Athen



The White Rose of Athens



Plaisir d'amour

Unsinn! Absurdité! Absurdity!
Wilders, Not Islam, 'Is Holland's Biggest Problem' >>> Josh Ward | Friday, March 05, 2010
Islam for the Diaspora: Importing Germany's Imams >>> James Angelos in Ankara, Turkey | Friday, March 05, 2010

Grèce: La colère contre la rigueur
leJDD.fr: Un pays ruiné, un gouvernement socialiste qui met en place un plan d'austérité pour apaiser l'Europe et les marchés. Vendredi, les syndicats manifestaient devant le Parlement.

Des milliers de personnes ont manifesté vendredi devant le Parlement, à Athènes. Photo: leJDD.fr
Jours d’austérité, jours de colère en Grèce. Adonis Davanelos n’a pas de mots assez durs contre le plan draconien annoncé mercredi par le Premier ministre socialiste Papandréou, et voté en urgence, vendredi, par le Parlement grec. Il vise à faire économiser au pays 4,8 milliards d’euros pour apaiser les marchés et forcer l’Europe à la solidarité.

"Jour après jour, les mesures sont plus dures. Ils ont d’abord annoncé que les salaires du secteur public seraient gelés, puis qu’ils seraient diminués, puis que cela toucherait aussi le privé. Ils augmentent les taxes. On va perdre un mois de salaire à cause de la hausse de la TVA et des autres taxes, on supprime notre treizième mois et, en plus, nos salaires seront diminués de 7%. C’est énorme, non?", s’énerve ce syndicaliste, membre de Syriza, la coalition de la gauche radicale. Ils étaient nombreux ceux qui, tel Adonis, faisaient grève, vendredi, contre le plan d’austérité de Papandréou. A côté de lui, son copain, Tassos: "C’est très brutal, les gens sont sous le choc, ils ne croient pas que ce soit possible. Autrefois, on faisait monter l’inflation, mais c’était indirect. Là, c’est terrible, on baisse les salaires, on supprime les primes, les gens vont s’en rendre compte à la fin du mois." "Papandréou n'avait pas le choix" >>> Cécile Amar, envoyée spéciale du Journal du Dimanche à Athènes | Samedi 06 Mars 2010

Référendum : Les Islandais rejettent en masse l'accord Icesave
20MINUTES.ch: Les Islandais ont rejeté par référendum samedi l'impopulaire accord financier Icesave, selon des résultats officiels partiels annoncés par la télévision publique islandaise.

Le gouvernement a reconnu dans un communqué [sic] la victoire du «non».

D'après les résultats après dépouillement de 18 000 bulletins, sur 230 000 électeurs, le «non» l'emporte à 98%. >>> ats | Samedi 06 Mars 2010

«Pas touche à mon pays!» : Des musulmans de Suisse protestent contre Kadhafi à Berne
20MINUTES.ch: Une cinquantaine de mulsumans résidant en Suisse ont lancé un cri de colère samedi après-midi à Berne contre le régime libyen.

«Pas touche à mon pays!»: à Berne, environ cinquante personnes ont protesté samedi après-midi contre l'appel au djihad du dirigent libyen. Photo: 20Minutes.ch
Symboliquement, sur l'Helvetiaplatz, ils ont dit «non au djihad contre la Suisse» lancé par le colonel Kadhafi, «non à l'instrumentalisation de l'islam».

«Nous refusons toute volonté de déstabiliser notre pays, la Suisse, parce que nous sommes solidaires de nos concitoyens avec qui nous pouvons toujours vivre différents et égaux», a lancé Abdel Lamhangar, élu socialiste au Conseil général de Romont (FR). Il est l'initiateur du rassemblement. >>> ats | Samedi 06 Mars 2010

Islamists Got Voters Out for Livingstone
THE TELEGRAPH: A fundamentalist group which believes in sharia law, jihad and creating an "Islamic social and political order" in Britain arranged an "unprecedented mobilisation" of voters for the former London mayor, Ken Livingstone, at the last mayoral election.

In an election lost by Mr Livingstone, the Islamic Forum of Europe helped secure massive and unexpected swings towards him in its east London heartland.

In one ward, Spitalfields, his vote share rose from 29.6 per cent in 2004 - an election he won - to 68.4 per cent in 2008, a rise of nearly 39 percentage points.

In every other ward in Tower Hamlets and Newham with a sizeable Muslim population, his vote rose by between 23 and 36 percentage points. His vote in other Muslim and ethnic minority areas of London also rose, but by far smaller amounts.

Mr Livingstone's economic development body, the London Development Agency, had agreed to pay more than £1.3 million to the East London Mosque, controlled by the IFE, and described by critics as hardline. >>> Andrew Gilligan | Saturday, March 06, 2010

Nicolas Sarkozy's Private Dinner with the Obamas Hailed as 'Diplomatic Coup'
Obama and Sarkozy in Paris in 2008. Photograph: The Sunday Times
THE SUNDAY TIMES: AFTER months of being cruelly snubbed, Nicolas Sarkozy’s ambitious dream of supplanting Britain as America’s best friend in Europe has come a step closer to reality with an invitation to a private dinner in the White House at the end of this month.

He and his wife Carla will have dinner with Barack and Michelle Obama in their private White House apartment. It is a rare honour for a visiting leader: Gordon Brown and Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, had to make do with chats in the Oval Office.

The hyperactive Sarkozy, whose enthusiasm for the glitzy side of politics has led to his being nicknamed “Sarko l’Américain”, is thrilled to be rubbing shoulders with the world’s most famous couple. Even before Obama was elected, the French leader had put his diplomatic service into overdrive to try to win favour with the new White House. >>> Matthew Campell in Paris | Sunday, March 07, 2010

Cocaine, Kidnapping and the Al-Qaeda Cash Squeeze
THE TELEGRAPH: Hit by a global crackdown on their wealthy financiers, Bin Laden's followers have been forced to abandon their Koranic principles to pursue their holy war.

The three al-Qaeda agents assured the Colombians that they would have no problem moving their shipment of European-bound cocaine through the Islamist badlands of the Sahara.

As supporters of the terrorist organisation's North African branch, they would guarantee shipment of the drugs through territory they controlled - so long as they were paid fee of $2,000 per kilo.

The trio, all from the impoverished desert nation of Mali, thought they were setting up a deal with representatives of Colombia's Marxist FARC guerrillas to smuggle up to 1,000 kgs of cocaine.

In fact, they were speaking to informants for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) who secretly taped the meeting in Ghana in a sting operation in December. The three men, who were recorded on tape saying that they were levying "taxes" on the terror group's behalf, were arrested and extradited to New York, where they are now fighting drug and terror charges.

Anti-terrorism officials believe the case may prove a crucial landmark in the battle against al-Qaeda: it is the first time that anyone linked to the terror group has faced prosecution for its newest money-spinning activity, narco-terrorism. >>> Philip Sherwell in New York | Saturday, March 06, 2010

Obama Addresses Health-Care Reform

Khamenei’s Uncertain Future: A lonelier road for Iran’s Supreme Leader
THE MAJALLA: While before the presidential elections it appeared that Khamenei would remain Supreme Leader for life, his fate is far less certain today, and he is openly defied by reformist leaders, faces dissent from top ayatollahs, and is contested in public demonstrations. Despite the damage to his reputation, Khamenei’s vast and potent network remains for the moment intact, and his future rests largely in the hands of the Revolutionary Guards.

Among the numerous casualties of Iran’s tainted 2009 presidential elections was the legitimacy of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. While for two decades Khamenei had attempted to cultivate an image of an impartial and magnanimous guide staying above the political fray, his defiant public support for hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—amidst massive popular uprisings and unprecedented fissures amongst the country’s political elites—exposed him as a petty, partisan autocrat.

At a popular level, previously sacred taboos were shattered, as hundreds of thousands of Iranians defied Khamenei’s unveiled threats against protestors by taking to the streets chanting “death to the dictator” and even “death to Khamenei.” Widely seen images of government-sanctioned brutality against civilians—such as the horrific murder of 27-year-old Neda agha Soltan—as well as persistent allegations of torture, rape, and forced confessions in prison have undermined Khamenei’s image as a “just” spiritual leader among Iran’s pious classes. Widespread allegations of the growing role of his son Mojtaba, considered a key Ahmadinejad ally, in Iran’s repressive security apparatus have further tarnished Khamenei’s public image. >>> Karim Sadjadpour | Monday, February 01, 2010

Geert Wilders: Der radikale Volkstribun
DIE PRESSE: Nach den niederländischen Kommunalwahlen ist der Rechtspopulist Wilders im Aufwind. Der Mann mit dem gefärbten Blondschopf setzt auf Islamkritik und innere Sicherheit. Die Anschläge von 9/11 haben ihn radikalisiert.

Innerhalb von nur einer Woche erlebte Geert Wilders zwei ganz große Triumphe. Der erste war sein Wahlsieg bei den Kommunalwahlen in den Niederlanden, bei denen er mit seiner „Partei für die Freiheit“ (PVV) in der Stadt Almere stärkste politische Kraft wurde; am Regierungssitz in Den Haag stieg die PVV zur zweitgrößten Partei knapp hinter den Sozialdemokraten auf. Seinen zweiten Triumph feierte der Mann mit dem blondierten Haupthaar in London. Dort zeigte er im britischen Parlament seinen islamkritischen Film „Fitna“ („Zwiespalt“) und feuerte erneut Tiraden gegen den Islam ab: Da nannte er den Propheten Mohammed einen „Barbaren, Massenmörder und Pädosexuellen“, da bezeichnete er den türkischen Ministerpräsidenten Erdoğan „Mafkees“, als Spinner.

Der Auftritt von Wilders in London war für den Niederländer deshalb ein großer Erfolg, weil ihm das britische Innenministerium 2009 noch die Einreise ins Vereinigte Königreich mit der Begründung verweigert hatte, Wilders gefährde die öffentliche Sicherheit. Wilders klagte. Ein Londoner Gericht gab ihm recht – mit der Begründung, dass Wilders auch in Großbritannien von seinem Recht auf freie Meinungsäußerung Gebrauch machen könne. >>> Von Helmut Hetzel (Den Haag) (Die Presse) | Samstag, 06. März 2010

DIE WELTWOCHE – Auszug: In den internationalen Medien wird Wilders als extremer Rechtsaussen dargestellt. Das ist er nicht. Seine Gegner und ungenügend informierte ausländische Berichterstatter übernehmen gern die Kritik politisch korrekter niederländischer Politiker und Journalisten. Wilders ist hochgewachsen, er hat eine auffällige Haartracht, und wenn man ihm persönlich begegnet, frappiert der grosse Kontrast zwischen seinem Image in den ausländischen Medien – der Kryptofaschist – und dem sanftmütigen, fröhlichen Menschen, der er in Wirklichkeit ist.

Wilders ist ein leidenschaftlicher Populist, der ganz genau weiss, wann er die Medien mit extremen Äusserungen provozieren kann. Er hat eine breitgefächerte Anhängerschaft von Sozialisten bis hin zu Konservativen, die sich allesamt Sorgen um die Zukunft des Wohlfahrtsstaats machen – der per definitionem nur Bestand hat, wenn die Solidargemeinschaft zu den Werten des Nationalstaats steht.

Wilders wahrt achtsam Distanz zu Parteien und Gruppierungen, die als rechtsradikal eingestuft werden. Täte er das nicht, würde er seine Anhänger in den Niederlanden sofort verlieren. Setzt er seinen Vormarsch fort und verdrängt die arrivierten Parteien, dann kann er, falls er nicht ermordet wird, die Fahne Fortuyns nach den nächsten Wahlen in die Räume des Ministerpräsidenten tragen. Ein sanftmütiger, fröhlicher Mensch >>> Von Leon de Winter* | Mittwoch, 10. Juni 2010

*Leon de Winter ist Autor verschiedener Romane, Drehbücher und Erzählungen.

Aus dem Niederländischen von Hanni ­Ehlers

EU nimmt neuen Anlauf zu Nahost-Verhandlungen: Zwei-Staaten-Lösung für Palästinenser und Israeli im Zentrum
NZZ ONLINE: Die EU will Palästinenser und Israelis wieder an den Verhandlungstisch bringen. Die EU-Aussenbeauftragte Catherine Ashton kündigte nach dem Treffen der 27 EU-Aussenminister im spanischen Córdoba an, sie werde am 14. März in den Nahen Osten reisen.

«Wir müssen jetzt handeln, und zwar in Richtung auf eine Zwei-Staaten-Lösung», sagte der spanische Aussenminister Miguel Angel Moratinos. Die Europäer wollten den US-Nahost-Sondergesandten George Mitchell bei dem Versuch unterstützen, Verhandlungen zwischen den Konfliktparteien wieder in Gang zu bringen.

Erster konkreter Beitrag dazu ist Ashtons einwöchige Nahost-Reise Mitte März. Bei ihrem ersten diplomatischen Einsatz seit Amtsantritt im Dezember wird sie Israel, Ägypten, Syrien und Jordanien besuchen. >>> sda/dpa/Reuters | Samstag, 06. März 2010

Parlamentspräsident Petsalnikos: Warnung vor anti-griechischer Stimmung
FOCUS ONLINE: Der griechische Parlamentspräsident Philippos Petsalnikos wirbt im FOCUS für gute Beziehungen zwischen Deutschland und seiner Heimat – trotz Provokationen und beleidigender Mails. Er verspricht radikale Reformen im Kampf gegen den Bankrott.

Manche Äußerungen deutscher Politiker seien „sehr negativ, ja provokativ für Griechenland“, sagte er in einem Interview mit FOCUS. Deshalb würden deutsche Bürger derzeit „sehr oft beleidigende E-Mails“ an die griechische Botschaft in Berlin schicken. „Es wäre schade wenn die guten Beziehungen verletzt würden. In Deutschland leben immer noch 350 000 Griechen“, so Petsalnikos, der mit einer Deutschen verheiratet ist. >>> flf | Samstag, 06. März 2010

Church Bows to Gays Seeking Communion
NRC HANDELSBLAD INTERNATIONAL: Homosexuals can now attend communion in all parishes in the diocese of Den Bosch.

This is the outcome of a meeting between the church council of the main Roman Catholic church in the Netherlands, St. John’s Cathedral in Den Bosch, priest Geertjan Van Rossum, Vera Bergkamp of the gay organisation COC and editor-in-chief of the gay peridocial Gaykrant.

"People should decide for themselves whether or not to attend communion whatever their sexuality and should do so with a clean conscience," said a spokesperson for the diocese.

The openly gay Prince of the Carnival who was recently refused communion in the provincial town of Reusel therefore should have received it. The church's refusal to give him communion sparked protests at Roman Catholic church services up and down the Netherlands on Sunday.

During the protest, gay rights demonstrators dressed in pink and wearing wigs of the same colour walked out of the service at St. John’s after priest Geertjan van Rossum said "the correct experience of sexuality is part of the ten commandments". >>> RNW | Friday, March 05, 2010

Iceland Votes on Bailout


NZZ ONLINE: Isländer stimmen über Milliarden-Zahlungen ab: Nein zum Abkommen mit Grossbritannien und den Niederlanden erwartet >>> sda/dpa | Samstag, 06. März 2010

German Chancellor Says Greece Doesn't Need Aid


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TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: La Grèce n'a actuellement pas besoin d'aide financière, selon Angela Merkel >>> AFP | Vendredi 05 Mars 2010

"11 septembre": Ahmadinejad n'y croit pas
leJDD.fr: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a qualifié samedi les attentats du 11-Septembre de "grand montage". Pour le président iranien, cet évènement vise à justifier la "guerre contre le terrorisme" menée ensuite par les Etats-Unis, rapporte l'agence de presse officielle Irna. "L'incident du 11 septembre est un grand montage qui a servi de prétexte à la campagne antiterroriste et de prélude à l'invasion de l'Afghanistan", a-t-il affirmé devant le personnel du ministère des Renseignements, évoquant un "scenario complexe en matière de renseignement". [Source: leJDD.fr] | Samedi 06 Mars 2010

'There Is a Sense of Revolt. I Feel It Too'
THE GUARDIAN: Nana Mouskouri is one of the biggest-selling singers of all time. Already adored in Greece, she promised this week to forgo her pension – the least she could do, she says, to help her financially ruined country

Nana Mouskouri: ‘Everywhere I see stories about my country going bankrupt. It’s painful for me. Nobody wants their country to be treated badly’. Photo: The Guardian
Athens in spring, and the tangerine trees are laden with vivid orange fruit. On the top floor of a quiet bookshop near the parliament a press conference is in progress: six people facing a room of journalists, arguing for the need to preserve the home of one of Greece's best-known poets. At their centre sits a woman striking both for her total stillness, and her huge dark glasses. She speaks evenly into a microphone, certain of her audience. When she finishes the meeting breaks up, into knots of people sipping wine and lighting cigarettes, jockeying and gossiping, as in any literary gathering the world over.

But when Nana Mouskouri makes her way to the back of the room it's to say, "Welcome. Welcome to troubled Athens." Because while here there may be blue skies and blossom, just round the corner stand armed police, riot shields at the ready. The traffic is just beginning to flow again, after yet another demonstration against the austerity measures just announced – the third round in as many months, and the harshest: €4.8bn (£4.3bn) in wage cuts, tax increases, a 30% cut in traditional holiday bonuses, a freeze on state pensions. The papers carry pictures of the demonstration yesterday – of pensioners, grey-haired and lined, being pressed back into line by young officers in full riot gear.

This week Mouskouri – who, even though she doesn't live in Greece, must be, by some measure, the country's most famous pensioner – announced that she is doing her bit by forgoing her pension altogether. "They say that one bird doesn't bring the springtime," she says now, laughing slightly, "but it's something." Her voice is quiet, only very lightly inflected – 50 years of fame, of equable, kindly interviews in one or another of her six languages, have produced an odd mixture of openness and distance, a generosity both rote and sincere – an effect exacerbated by the glasses she has hidden behind ever since she was a child. Speaking to her, you often find you are addressing her mouth, because although you can see her eyes through the tinted lenses, they seem to be doing their own thing, like a consciousness in a fish tank, swimming close, then arching away again.

Unlike the socialist government, which has strongly suggested that Greece's often very wealthy diaspora stump up some cash in its time of trouble, Mouskouri refuses to insist that other people should follow her example. But she rather hopes they will. "I believe in the pride, and the good will of everybody." Later she mentions that she's heard "that a deputy from the parliament has given her salary for a certain time. In Greece we call that philotimo. Philotimo is to have a certain pride – not arrogance, pride – and to place it well. To say I want to do something for my country. I believe there is some of it. I hope. At least nowadays everybody's informed about [the crisis]." >>> Aida Edemariam | Saturday, March 06, 2010

Canada’s Prime Minister Forced to Backtrack Over Plans to Make National Anthem More Politically Correct
MAIL ONLINE: The Canadian government has been forced to backtrack over plans to make its national anthem more politically correct after a national outcry.

Three days after announcing the proposals to alter 'O Canada' to include the country's women in one of its lines, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his conservative government would no longer be pursuing the idea.

The national anthem, which has existed for nearly 100 years, includes the line 'true patriot love in all thy sons' command'.

Originally, the line said 'in thou dost us command', but it was changed to the current line in 1980.

Mr Harper wanted to start a public discussion on whether to change the wording in a way that would not exclude the nation's women.

He is said to have initiated the idea on the basis of advice of a female senator, according to National Post columnist Don Martin.

The idea was included in a major policy speech on Tuesday, but by yesterday the public outcry was so strong Mr Harper dropped the idea completely. >>> | Saturday, March 06, 2010

U.S. Anglicans Converting en masse to Catholicism
MAIL ONLINE: About 100 traditionalist Anglican parishes across the United States have decided to convert en masse to the Roman Catholic Church, it emerged yesterday.

They have voted to take up the offer made by Pope Benedict XVI in November that permits vicars and their entire congregations to defect to Rome - while keeping many of their Anglican traditions, including married priests.

The Pope had been accused of attempting to poach Anglicans unhappy about decisions taken in their church to ordain women and sexually-active homosexuals as priests and bishops.

But the Vatican insisted that the move to create self-governing 'personal ordinariates' came as a result of requests from at least 30 disaffected Anglican bishops around the world.

The Anglican Church in America will now enter the Catholic Church as a block, bringing in thousands of converts along with their own bishops, buildings and even a cathedral. >>> | Saturday, March 06, 2010

Dutch MP’s Visit to Show Anti-Islam Film to UK Lawmakers Sparks Outrage