Violence Escalates in Southern Kyrgyzstan
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: OSH/BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan—Kyrgyz mobs burned Uzbek villages and slaughtered their residents Sunday as ethnic rioting engulfed southern Kyrgyzstan. The government ordered troops to shoot rioters dead but even that measure failed to stop the spiraling violence.

More than 100 people have been killed and over 1,000 wounded in the impoverished Central Asian nation since the violence began Thursday night. Doctors say that death toll is low, because wounded Uzbeks are too afraid of being attacked again to seek treatment in hospitals.

Thousands of Uzbeks have fled in panic to the border with Uzbekistan after their homes were torched by roving mobs of Kyrgyz men. Uzbek women and children were gunned down as they tried to escape, witnesses said.

Fires set by rioters have destroyed most of Osh, a city of 250,000, and looters have stolen most of its food. Triumphant crowds of Kyrgyz men took control of most of the city on Sunday while the few Uzbeks still in the city barricaded themselves in their neighborhoods.

The rampages spread quickly Sunday to Jalal-Abad, another major southern city, and neighboring villages, as mobs methodically set Uzbek houses, stores and cafes on fire. The rioters seized an armored vehicle and automatic weapons at a local military unit and attacked police stations around the region trying to get more firearms. Police and the military appeared to be on the defensive across the south, avoiding clashes with mobs. Read on and comment >>> A Wall Street Journal Roundup | Sunday, June 13, 2010

Embattled Kyrgyzstan Appeals to Russia

Europe Embraces the Cult of Austerity – But at What Cost?
THE OBSERVER: Eurozone finance ministers were still committed to spending their way to recovery only a few months ago. Then came the Greek debt crisis, which threatened to engulf the continent. Despite warnings from the US, Britain and its EU neighbours are braced for unprecedented public sector cuts

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is preparing her country for unprecedented cuts. Photograph: The Observer
When Angela Merkel talks about budget cuts these days she likes to invoke the "Swabian housewife" – Germany's equivalent of the parsimonious Scot. In that part of south-west Germany they have a reputation for scrimping and saving. Famously, Swabia's cooks make hearty soups out of all the leftovers in the kitchen. To the German chancellor they are the embodiments of good housekeeping.

"You can't keep living beyond your means," says Merkel. "One should simply ask the Swabian housewife."

By extolling the virtues of old-fashioned thrift, Merkel hoped last week to go some way towards explaining to ordinary Germans why they must suddenly swallow the most painful austerity pill administered by their government in generations. Last Monday, with some trepidation, she announced massive cuts of €11.2bn in 2011 and plans for a total of €80bn by 2014. Yesterday, in Stuttgart and elsewhere, the inevitable protests began on the streets.

Even for a country painfully aware, because of its history, of the danger of debt, the extent of corrective action came as a shock. "Germany has never agreed to an austerity package to this extent, but these cuts have to be made in order for the country to establish a stable economic future," Merkel said.

Across Europe other governments, scared by the Greek debt crisis, the repercussions of which imperil the very existence of the euro, have been doing the same, raising the spectre of mass layoffs in public services in the name of European unity. >>> Toby Helm, Ian Traynor and Paul Harris | Sunday, June 13, 2010

La marée noire «hante» sa présidence
20 MINUTES ONLINE: Barack Obama, qui doit constamment adapter son agenda à la marée noire du golfe du Mexique, risque de voir les prochains mois de sa présidence hantés par ce désastre.

La semaine du président des Etats-Unis aurait dû être consacrée à une tournée en Indonésie et en Australie, pour capitaliser sur le discours du Caire aux musulmans en 2009 et célébrer l'alliance stratégique avec Canberra.

Mais au lieu de cela, M. Obama effectuera lundi et mardi sa quatrième visite depuis début mai dans la région du Golfe, touchée par la pire catastrophe écologique jamais vécue par le pays.

De retour à la Maison Blanche, M. Obama devrait rencontrer mercredi le président de BP, Carl-Henric Svanberg, pour la première fois depuis le naufrage fin avril de la plateforme Deepwater Horizon exploitée par l'entreprise pétrolière britannique. 


M. Obama n'a pas ménagé ses critiques envers la société, au point de perturber la «relation privilégiée» entre Washington et Londres. Au cours d'une conversation téléphonique de 30 minutes samedi, M. Obama a a assuré à M. Cameron que les critiques qu'il a exprimées contre BP «n'ont rien à voir avec l'identité nationale» de la Grande-Bretagne. >>> afp | Dimanche 13 Juin 2010

Vatican: Pope Wants 'Human' Capital to Be Valued
ADN KRONOS INTERNATIONAL: Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday offered advice for European banking and development officials trying to help countries recover from the current economic crisis. The pontiff said finance and the economy were nothing more than a means to help people realise their potential and keep their dignity.

Benedict told officials of the European Council's Development Bank during a speech at the Vatican that leaders must value human "capital".

He also said that Christianity in Europe will allow the continent to keep its laws and social structures responsible and ethical. [Source: AKI] | Saturday, June 12, 2010

Liebesbriefe gegen die Mullahs: Am Jahrestag der iranischen Aufstände melden sich die Frauen der Inhaftierten
NZZ am SONNTAG: Ein Jahr nach den gefälschten Präsidentschaftswahlen sitzen in Iran Hunderte von Regimekritikern in Haft. Die Ehefrauen veröffentlichen im Internet, was sie ihren Männern schreiben und wie sie ihnen Mut machen.

Kann Liebe Sünde sein? Auch wenn sie es wäre, so wäre es den Ehefrauen der inhaftierten Oppositionellen in Iran egal. Sie haben eine neue und emotionale Form des Widerstands gegen die Regierung und den herrschenden Klerus gefunden: Sie veröffentlichen die Liebesbriefe an ihre Männer im Internet. Darin beschreiben sie ihre Sehnsucht und ihre Angst, aber auch Hoffnung und Trotz. Schon wegen der Intimität der Briefe ist das ein Affront gegen die religiösen Eiferer.

Hartherzige Wärter

«Mein Liebster», schreibt Jila Bani-Yaqoub ihrem Mann Bahman. «Gestern bin ich zu dir ins Evin-Gefängnis gefahren. Ich ahnte, dass sie mir nicht erlauben würden, dich zu sehen, aber ich wollte dir nah sein. Wenn nur noch die Mauern von Evin zwischen uns sind, fühle ich mich besser.» Weiter lessen und kommentieren >>> Silke Mertins, Jerusalem | Sonntag, 13. Juni 2010

Force, Fear Keep Iran Together
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: A year after Ahmadinejad’s ‘victory,’ the resistance dares not speak, but fissures exist

This may prove to be the darkest week in Iran’s recent history. There is, it seems, nowhere to go. Yet the nature of this darkness, its awkward fit with the official meaning of the Islamic regime, may show us a way forward.

Exactly a year ago Sunday, when it became apparent that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had claimed victory in an election whose results and conditions were not at all clear, the streets of Tehran began to fill with people.

It does not really matter whether Mr. Ahmadinejad stole an election that went against him (as protesters claim) or not; what this year of protest has shown is that Iran is far more fissiparous than anyone had thought, and that only force and fear, not faith and support, keeps it conglomerated. Even if you discount the hyperbole the foreign media directed at the “green tide” last year, this was by far the largest and lengthiest uprising in the Iranian revolution’s history.

It encompassed a huge swath of society; most significantly, it involved large numbers of clerics and top leaders, including former prime ministers, who were actively involved in the 1979 revolution and whose loyalty to the state is beyond question: This could not easily be dismissed as the work of radical guerrilla groups or outside agitators salaried by the United States or Britain.

As the year has progressed, and especially after the authorities went on a killing spree in December, on the holy day of Ashura, these figures have become more antipathetic toward the regime itself: There is now an official, built-in resistance with a name and an identity.

But you will probably not be seeing much of this resistance this week. It has become far, far too dangerous. Thursday, the key leaders of the protests, former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, told people to stay home: The alternative was a slaughter. The regime’s shift from authoritarian to totalitarian – its adoption of Stasi-like practices that had not been part of its repertoire before – have rendered such demonstrations temporarily impossible. Read on and comment >>> Doug Saunders | Saturday, June 12, 2010

Sarah Sands: Clever Clegg Minds His Languages - All Six of Them
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: As Nick Clegg fell fluently into German during his visit to Berlin last week, his senior Cabinet colleague William Hague held fast to his translation earphones so he could understand what the Deputy Prime Minister was saying. I bet he did. Anything could have been going on. Clegg could have signed Britain up to the euro.

A mastery of foreign languages is regarded by most of us with admiration – and suspicion. Clegg is more connected to European blood lines than the Royal Family, and can converse in most countries. He famously has five languages, six if you count his much-admired body language. It is not a question of token phrases. When John F Kennedy said "Ich bin ein Berliner" (before bashfully calling out for a translator) he was cheered wildly for managing four words. Clegg gabbled about the mist in Britain and the sun in Berlin before advancing to a meteorological metaphor about the refreshing German air being an omen for "our strengthening relationship".

Hague, who knows only Yorkshire drizzle, must have taken a dim view of his political colleague, a former ski instructor, and his fondness for high diplomatic altitudes. More wondrous than Clegg's German is his Dutch. His effortless conversation with Dutch journalists on a train has made YouTube. He did not just speak in Dutch, he gestured and ruminated and made jokes in Dutch. >>> Sarah Sands | Sunday, June 13, 2010

András Schiff: Goldberg Variations
Part 1:



Part 2:

Migrants 'Make Germany Dumb' Says Central Banker in Astonishing* Outburst
MAIL ONLINE: Immigrants are making Germany 'dumber', according to a board member of the country's central bank.

Thilo Sarrazin claimed the 'limited education' of immigrants - coupled with their high birth rate - meant Germans 'are becoming dumber in a simple way'.

He said: 'There's a difference in the reproduction of population groups with varying intelligence.'

It is not the first time the 65-year-old member of the Bundesbank has caused controversy since he joined last year.

In October he described Muslim children as 'underclass' citizens.

'I don't have to accept someone who lives off a state they reject, doesn't properly take care of the education of his children-and keeps producing more little girls in headscarves,' Mr Sarrazin said.

'That goes for 70 percent of the Turkish and 90 percent of the Arabic population of Berlin.' He added that they were not fit for much other than 'fruit and vegetable selling'. >>> Allan Hall in Berlin | Saturday, June 12, 2010

*What's so astonishing about this? And was it really an "outburst"; or was the man merely stating the obvious – uttering the truth? People don't like hearing the truth these days. The truth is far too painful! – © Mark

Dutch Town Lets Its Blond Hair Down for Race Row Politician Wilders
Photograph: The Times
THE TIMES: Bouffant blond wigs have sold out in Venlo, a town in the Deep South of the Netherlands.

They represent the trademark bleached hairdo of Geert Wilders, Venlo’s most famous son and leader of the far-right Freedom Party which promises to ban mosque-building and the Koran and end Muslim immigration.

Mr Wilders is now involved in coalition talks after winning 24 seats in the 150-member Dutch parliament in this week’s election. Some commentators believe he could join a cabinet led by the right-wing liberals who topped the poll with 31 MPs.

In Venlo — in Limburg province, on the German border — one in four voters backed the man whose extravagant appearance has earned him the nickname “Mozart”.

Elian Van Ewijk, 35, the owner of a party gear shop, kept the last of the €6.95 (£6) hairpieces for himself.

“I do not like his ideas about Islam but I like what he says about keeping the retirement age and improving healthcare,” he said.

“When I am going to a Muslim country I have to behave like the people there. These people have to do things like us when they come here.” >>> David Charter, Venlo | Saturday, June 12, 2010

Iran's Defiant Green Movement Vows to Fight On
THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Zahra Rahnavard, wife of defeated reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, says opposition remains strong despite repression and violence under Ahmadinejad regime since disputed election a year ago

Zahra Rahnavard, wife of Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, waves to supporters during a pro-reform rally in June 2009. Photograph: The Guardian
Iran's opposition Green movement, fighting for democracy since the disputed election a year ago, has not been crushed despite having to call off protests in the face of government repression, says a defiant Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of the defeated reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Rahnavard, a high-profile academic, sculptor and campaigner for women's rights, says she is prepared to "face the gallows" in the struggle for freedom – but insists the movement her husband leads is reformist, not revolutionary, and wants to see respect for the Iranian constitution.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, her first for a British newspaper since mass unrest erupted last June, Rahnavard lambasts the Islamic regime for its "Tiananmen-style" attack on demonstrators protesting that their votes had been stolen by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"This movement started with the simple question: 'Where is my vote?'" she said. "But because the response was violence and bullets and repression from the ruling regime, the situation entered another phase which was completely unpredictable.

People's demands have changed so now there are more fundamental questions and more intensive criticism of the regime. The Islamic republic has deviated from its path and goals.

"We are still pursuing our ideals of 30 years ago [the Islamic revolution of 1979]. But the current government is the result of an electoral coup d'etat. The Green movement has not been defeated at all. It is going forward." >>> Saeed Kamali Dehghan and Ian Black, Middle East Editor | Friday, June 11, 2010

Obama Faces First Backlash in the US Over His Continued Attacks on BP
THE TELEGRAPH: A backlash against President Barack Obama's vilification of BP over the Gulf oil spill is developing in America where he is under fire for playing politics with the issue.

One of his most sweeping demands of BP - that the company be made to foot the bill for a drilling moratorium imposed by his administration - has been undermined after it emerged that his own officials modified expert advice.

His call for BP to pay the wages of other companies' oil workers laid off during the halt to deep-water drilling and other related costs was initially viewed by the White House as a popular punitive tactic against the beleaguered British energy giant.

But the campaign has come under fire from US businesses, Republican politicians and even some lawyers suing BP over the oil spill as legally unenforceable "big government" posturing.

Most damaging is the revelation that the administration modified a report by a panel of experts advising Mr Obama. Two paragraphs were added calling for the moratorium, which was not part of the team's conclusions.

More than half of the experts, who were recommended for their know-how by the National Academy of Engineering, have since revealed that they actually opposed a halt to drilling.

Ken Salazar, the interior minister who ordered the ban, has now apologised. "The experts involved in crafting the report gave us their recommendation and their input," he said. "It was not their decision on the moratorium. It was my decision and the president's decision to move forward."

The controversy has fuelled the belief that Mr Obama is trying to deflect criticism of his handling of the crisis by lashing out at BP - despite reportedly assuring David Cameron, the British prime minister, in a telephone conversation yesterday that he had "no interests" in undermining the company's value.

The President, who has repeatedly used the company's former name, British Petroleum, as a reminder of its foreign roots, said last week that he was looking for "ass to kick" and would himself have fired Tony Hayward, the chief executive. >>> Philip Sherwell in New York | Saturday, June 12, 2010

Schiffskonvoi: Türkei fordert Entschuldigung von Israel
WELT ONLINE: Die Türkei verlangt nach der Erstürmung des Schiffskonvois eine Entschuldigung von Israel. Ansonsten drohe das Ende der diplomatischen Beziehungen.

Proteste in Ankara: Die Türkei erhöht den Druck auf Israel. Bild: Welt Online
Die Türkei fordert von Israel eine Entschuldigung für die Erstürmung des Schiffskonvois auf dem Weg in den abgeriegelten Gaza-Streifen. Auch müsste nach dem Tod von neun türkischen Aktivisten eine Entschädigung gezahlt werden, zitierte die französische Tageszeitung „Le Monde“ den türkischen Präsidenten Abdullah Gül. Sollte sich Israel nicht bewegen, könne die Türkei die diplomatischen Beziehungen abbrechen. Gül sprach von einem Verbrechen, das eher der Extremistenorganisation Al-Kaida als einem Staat ähnlich sehe. >>> Reuters/S.K. | Freitag, 11. Juni 2010

Nordkorea droht mit "Flammenmeer" in Seoul
WELT ONLINE: Scharfe Töne aus Pjöngjang: Nordkorea droht dem Süden mit einem "unbegrenzten Militärschlag" und dem Niederbrennen der Hauptstadt.

Eine nordkoreanische Wache steht an der Demarkationslinie der entmilitarisierten Zone zwischen Nord- und Südkorea. Pjöngjang hat die Kriegsrhetorik gegen den Süden verschärft. Bild: Welt Online
Im Konflikt mit Südkorea hat das kommunistische Nordkorea mit Militärschlägen gegen südkoreanische Propaganda-Anlagen an der Grenze gedroht. Die Volksarmee werde „einen unbegrenzten Militärschlag ausführen, um die Mittel der Gruppe für die psychologische Kriegsführung gegen die Volksrepublik (Nordkorea) in allen Gebieten entlang der Front in die Luft zu jagen“, heißt es in einer „wichtigen Erklärung“ aus Pjöngjang.

In der Stellungnahme des Führungsstabs der nordkoreanischen Volksarmee, die von den Staatsmedien veröffentlicht wurde, wird die Regierung in Seoul erneut als „Gruppe von Verrätern“ beschimpft. Sie solle sich vor Augen führen, dass die „militärische Vergeltung“ ein Schlag sei, der selbst Seoul in ein „Flammenmeer“ verwandeln könne. Diese Metapher hat Nordkorea in der Vergangenheit wiederholt in seinen Drohgebärden gegenüber Südkorea benutzt.

Mit der Erklärung verschärft Nordkorea seine Warnungen an Südkorea vor einer Wiederaufnahme von propagandistischen Lautsprecher-Durchsagen. Bereits im Mai hatte das Land mit der Zerstörung der südkoreanischen Lautsprecher gedroht. >>> DPA/CN | Samstag, 12. Juni 2010

'EU Will Move to End Blockade'
THE JERUSALEM POST: Spain to propose EU exert pressure on Israel to end Gaza blockade.

Spain will propose the European Union exert strong diplomatic pressure on Israel to end its blockade of the Gaza Strip, the country's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Saturday.

The Spanish prime minister said at a joint press conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that Spain wants to "forge a strong common position" with EU countries in the face of the humanitarian situation in Gaza. >>> Associated Press and JPost Staff | Saturday, June 12, 2010

Ban Ki-Moon demande d’enrayer le tabagisme
APS (Agence de Presse Sénégalaise): Dakar – Le secrétaire général des Nations unies Ban Ki-Moon invite les Etats et gouvernements à "enrayer l’épidémie mondiale de tabagisme", soulignant que la consommation de tabac relève d’une "forme de dépendance aussi pénible que meurtrière".


"Je demande instamment à tous les gouvernements de s’attaquer à la menace pour la santé publique que représente la consommation de tabac. Ce n’est ni un signe d’élégance ni un outil d’émancipation. C’est une forme de dépendance aussi pénible que meurtrière", écrit Ban Ki-Moon dans un message redu public à l’occasion de la Journée internationale du tabac célébrée lundi.

Selon Ban Ki-Moon, les gouvernements doivent prendre "des mesures pour protéger les femmes contre toute publicité en faveur du tabac, toute promotion ou tout parrainage, comme le stipule la Convention-cadre de l’OMS sur la lutte antitabac".

Il a noté qu’il "y aurait quelque 200 millions de fumeuses dans le monde. Ce chiffre devrait augmenter, dans la mesure où l’industrie du tabac dépense des sommes considérables pour la publicité qui s’adresse spécifiquement aux femmes et associe l’usage du tabac à la beauté et à la libération", relève-t-il.

"Le tabagisme cause chaque année la mort de plus d’un million et demi de femmes dans le monde. La plupart de ces décès surviennent dans des pays à faible revenu et à revenu intermédiaire. Sans une action concertée, leur nombre pourrait atteindre 2,5 millions d’ici à 2030", écrit encore Ban Ki-moon.

Citant "une récente enquête de l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé", le secrétaire général de l’ONU révèle que dans la moitié des 151 pays étudiés, "presque autant de filles que de garçons fumaient".

"Ce résultat est d’autant plus inquiétant, note-t-il, que les jeunes qui fument, ont de grandes chances de continuer à le faire lorsqu’ils deviennent adultes".

Pour lui, "certains faits tendent à montrer que le taux de prévalence du tabagisme parmi les femmes est en train d’augmenter dans certains pays". "Nous devons enrayer l’épidémie mondiale de tabagisme", conclut Ban Ki-moon. [Source: APS] NMS/BK | Lundi 31 Mai 2010

Islam 'Recognizes Homosexuality'
THE JAKARTA POST: Homosexuals and homosexuality are natural and created by God, thus permissible within Islam, a discussion concluded here Thursday.

Moderate Muslim scholars said there were no reasons to reject homosexuals under Islam, and that the condemnation of homosexuals and homosexuality by mainstream ulema and many other Muslims was based on narrow-minded interpretations of Islamic teachings.

Siti Musdah Mulia of the Indonesia Conference of Religions and Peace cited the Koran's al-Hujurat (49:3) that one of the blessings for human beings was that all men and women are equal, regardless of ethnicity, wealth, social positions or even sexual orientation.

"There is no difference between lesbians and nonlesbians. In the eyes of God, people are valued based on their piety," she told the discussion organized by nongovernmental organization Arus Pelangi.

"And talking about piety is God's prerogative to judge," she added.
"The essence of the religion (Islam) is to humanize humans, respect and dignify them."

Musdah said homosexuality was from God and should be considered natural, adding it was not pushed only by passion. >>> Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post | Friday, March 28, 2008

Alas, many Muslims are not so tolerant. Check this out.

Holy Hatred: Homosexuality in Muslim Countries
afrol NEWS: The majority of Muslim countries outlaw same-sex relationships. The seven countries in the world that carry the death penalty for persons presumed guilty of homosexual acts, justify this punishment with the Shari'a. Culture is not, however, always "against us and there are positive examples of same-sex relationships to be found in different Muslim cultures," she writes.

By Anissa Helie - I was born and raised in Algiers, of a French father and an Algerian mother. Having access to both cultures made me realize early on that racism as well as sexism were all-pervasive on both sides of the Mediterranean. It took me a few more years to come to the conclusion that homophobia was just as widespread.

Amnesty International counts at least 83 countries where homosexuality is explicitly condemned in the criminal code. Twenty-six of these are Muslim. This means that the majority of Muslim countries, including supposedly 'liberal' ones like Tunisia as well as dictatorships like Sudan, outlaw same-sex relationships. The seven countries in the world that carry the death penalty for persons presumed guilty of homosexual acts, justify this punishment with the Shari'a, or standard interpretation of Muslim jurisprudence. Though not always applied, the existence of the death penalty makes sexual minorities extremely vulnerable.

The state is not alone in practising repression. Communities and families have a part to play. In Indonesia, for example, homosexuality is not illegal. But in 1998 'Muslim militia' launched an anti-gay campaign on the island of Mindanao during which gay Muslims were terrorized, beaten up and ordered to leave or be castrated.

Jordan does not specifically outlaw homosexuality either. But that did not stop four Jordanians last year trying to kidnap their 23-year-old lesbian relative studying in the US, beating her and attempting to force her on to a plane bound for Jordan. The US police acted promptly and came to her rescue, but such an outcome tends to be the exception rather than the rule. Violence, harassment, persecution and extrajudicial or 'shame' killings are not uncommon. Sex and tradition >>> Anissa Helie, © afrol News | Undated

Dakar from Africa's Gay Capital to Centre of Homophobia
afrol NEWS: In colonial times, Senegal's metropolis Dakar was famous for its open and tolerated homosexual prostitution market, and as late as in the 1970s, as many as 17 percent of Senegalese men admitted having had homosexual experiences. Now, Dakar is West Africa's centre of gay oppression.

The government of Senegal has made it clear that homosexuality is un-African. Since 1965, same-sex activity has been punishable by up to five years imprisonment, but only during the last five years, Dakar's former visible gay community has had to go underground, risking punishment.



Dakar's gay history is the best example demonstrating that homosexuality is not un-African. Indeed, homosexuality has been a visible and well-known part of Wolof traditions, and only moralist opinions of the colonialists, later adopted by an increasingly dominant Muslim clergy, led to the suppression of this culture. >>> Staff Writers, afrol News | Friday, June 11, 2010

Clashes in Enghelab Square Over Improper Hijab
PERSIAN2ENGLISH: According to reports by Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran, clashes occurred today at 2:20pm on Enghelab Square between young Iranian citizens and police forces who tried to arrest young women for “improper hijab”.

As one young woman resisted, fellow citizens came to her aid and drivers honked in protest. Police called in for backup. Police on motorcycles arrived on the scene and arrested at least four young citizens.

Witnesses described the behaviour of the police as brutal and stated they beat anyone standing around.

Reports also indicate that the police asked for money from young women accused of improper hijab. The hijab crackdown by police is believed to be a tactic to instill fear in citizens to prevent protests on June 12, 2010. [Source: Persian2English] | Thursday, June 10, 2010

Übersetzung: Unzureichende Verschleierung: Zusammenstöße am Enghelab-Platz >>> Von Julia | Donnerstag, 10. Juli 2010

Julias Blog >>>

One Year On, Iran’s Battered Opposition Endures in Terror
THE TIMES: A year ago today Bahareh Maghami, 28, a primary school teacher, was arrested at Ghoba mosque, Tehran, during the huge demonstrations that followed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed election victory. She was beaten and raped. She fled to Germany and recently posted an open letter on the internet because, she said, “there is nothing left of me and no reason to hide my name any more”.

She recalled: “There were three of them. All were dirty and wore beards. They had a terrible accent and foul mouths. Even though they saw that I was a virgin they accused me of being a whore and forced me to admit I was a prostitute.” She still wakes in terror at night, still smells their sweat.

Her father “shattered into pieces” when he learnt her fate, and her mother “aged a hundred years overnight”. Because of her shame “relatives, friends, neighbours and everyone cut off relations”. The family was driven from Tehran, and then from Iran. As for herself, it is “as if my whole humanity is taken away from me. My womanhood was destroyed. I will never be able to love a man. I’m like the walking dead.” >>> Martin Fletcher | Saturday, June 12, 2010

Persian2English: Breaking the language barrier on Human Rights >>>

Saudi Arabia gives Israel clear skies to attack Iranian nuclear sites
THE TIMES: Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal.

In the week that the UN Security Council imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran, defence sources in the Gulf say that Riyadh has agreed to allow Israel to use a narrow corridor of its airspace in the north of the country to shorten the distance for a bombing run on Iran. To ensure the Israeli bombers pass unmolested, Riyadh has carried out tests to make certain its own jets are not scrambled and missile defence systems not activated. Once the Israelis are through, the kingdom’s air defences will return to full alert.

“The Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way,” said a US defence source in the area. “They have already done tests to make sure their own jets aren’t scrambled and no one gets shot down. This has all been done with the agreement of the [US] State Department.”

Sources in Saudi Arabia say it is common knowledge within defence circles in the kingdom that an arrangement is in place if Israel decides to launch the raid. Despite the tension between the two governments, they share a mutual loathing of the regime in Tehran and a common fear of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “We all know this. We will let them [the Israelis] through and see nothing,” said one. Read on and comment >>> Hugh Tomlinson Dubai | Saturday, June 12, 2010

Iran Regime Weakened: Divisions Exposed One Year After Disputed Presidential Election

THE TELEGRAPH: Deep divisions have emerged within the Iranian leadership in the run-up to Saturday's first anniversary of the hotly disputed presidential election contest that returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power.

Factional infighting fuelled by a series of splits since the vote was exposed as rigged last year have come to a head with a row over an attack on attack [sic] on the family of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran's Islamic revolution.

The dispute has further eroded support for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader, who has been criticised for driving Iran into economic and diplomatic isolation by backing the extremist president.

The emergence of prominent hardliners as critics has intensified pressure on a government already facing a revolt by reformists.

Official results that granted an overwhelming victory to Mr Ahmadinejad last June are still hotly disputed by millions of Iranians.

Mass protests in the wake of the vote pitched the country in its worst turnmoil since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

A harsh clampdown has seen an estimated 5,000 Iranians jailed and hundreds killed as the regime moved [to] crush[ed] the popular challenge to its authority.

The protest movement has been virtually forced underground as its leaders were forced to cancel protests that had been planned across Iran today. Only sporadic defiance was reported on the eve of the anniversary yesterday.

Pictures of those killed in last year's clashes were hung from trees in central Tehran while an estimated 700 political prisoners at Gohardasht prison staged a hunger strike.

There were also unconfirmed reports of clashes between protesters loyal to the opposition, which calls itself the Green Movement and security officials on Tehran's metro system. >>> Con Coughlin and Ahmad Vahdat | Saturday, June 12, 2010

Sarkozy Apologises for Vandalism in British War Cemetery
THE TELEGRAPH: A dozen British First World War graves have been vandalised with swastikas and SS insignia in northern France, in an act described as an "insult to the memory" of the fallen soldiers.

Gravestones desecrated with swastikas, seen at the British World War I cemetery in Loos-en-Gohelle, northern France. Photograph: The Telegraph
Vandals covered 12 graves and a monument in pink swastikas, SS insignia and other graffiti in the cemetery of Loos-en-Gohelle, which holds the remains of British and Canadian soldiers fallen in an October 1915 battle there.

President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday said he condemned "with the greatest firmness this odious act", which took place before dawn, and offered "sympathy and solidarity" to soldier's families and the "entire British nation" on behalf of France.

In a letter to the Queen, Mr Sarkozy said that the act was all the more "revolting" as it took place days before he travels to London to celebrate Charles de Gaulle's famous June 18, 1940 appeal from the BBC, in which he called on the French to resist Nazism. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Friday, June 11, 2010

Anwar al-Awlaki: MI5 Warns of the Al-Qaeda Preacher Targeting Britain
THE TELEGRAPH: Young British Muslims are being groomed to carry out terrorist attacks in this country by Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical al-Qaeda preacher based in the Middle East, it can be disclosed.

The security services fear that a new generation of British extremists is being radicalised by Awlaki, who recruited the Detroit plane bomber. They are concerned that Awlaki’s followers could unleash a wave of easily planned guerrilla-style terrorist attacks, similar to the massacre in Mumbai.

Such small-scale attacks could be carried out cheaply by individuals with little terrorist training and without the need for the support of a large organisation.

The British security services have become so worried about Awlaki’s rising influence that they have alerted ministers to their fears.

He is now regarded as one of the world’s most wanted terrorists. >>> Duncan Gardham and Con Coughlin | Friday, June 11, 2010

Slapdash Britain - Why Can't We Do Anything Properly Any More?
THE TELEGRAPH: A new radio series called Slapdash Britain examines how we became swamped by bureaucracy and more incompetent than ever.

It’s an ordinary summer’s day. Over breakfast you glance hurriedly at the paper: the usual stuff about a missing civil service laptop and some social worker scandal in the north of England. Coming home after work, your train stuck for hours in the middle of nowhere, you kill time by reading a story about the latest spat between civil servants and special advisers. And that night, tossing fitfully in your sleep, you dream that you’re stuck in the corridor of some failing hospital, blood pouring from a gaping wound. The doctor is too busy to see you, but you can see him all right: through a glass window, literally buried under a mound of paperwork. In the background, a sepulchral voice intones again and again: 'Not fit for purpose. Not fit for purpose …’

Over the last few months, making a new Radio Four documentary series about the crisis in British government, I have had more than my fair share of nightmares about being trapped in the corridors of power. When I began work on the series, Gordon Brown’s government was in its dying agonies; when I finished, the new coalition ministers were just shaking hands with their new drivers. But after talking to civil servants, special advisers, local government executives and academic experts, I realised that the overexcited political reporters were missing the real story. For whoever calls the shots in the minister’s office, there is now a pervasive sense that government simply no longer works as it once did. To put it bluntly, it has become shockingly slapdash. 'It’s not good enough,’ the veteran political scientist Anthony King told me. 'There are too many mistakes.’ And perhaps surprisingly, the former civil servants I met almost universally agreed. >>> Dominic Sandbrook | Friday, June 11, 2010

New Dark Age Alert! Neo-Nazis 'Urged Eradication of All Ethnic Minorities' on Aryan Strike Force Website
THE TELEGRAPH: Two men made it their life's work to spread racist messages and encourage others to help them achieve their goal of ''the eradication of ethnic minorities from Britain'', a court heard.

Photograph: The Telegraph
Michael Heaton, 42, and Trevor Hannington, 58, both ''proud'' neo-Nazis, are accused at Liverpool Crown Court of urging people to kill Jews.

Andrew Edis QC, prosecuting said: ''Each of these men is proud to call himself a National Socialist, or a neo-Nazi in other language.

'Each is a member of an organisation called the Aryan Strike Force, whose goal it is to clear the country of all ethnic minorities, as they say, whatever it takes.''

Both men deny that postings they made on a right-wing website solicited others to murder.

Heaton is standing trial over four comments he made on the Aryan Strike Force website (ASF) between January and April 2008.

The prosecution argue that his comments about Jews - "...they will always be scum, destroy 'em with whatever it takes", and "I would encourage any religion or race that wants to destroy the Jews, I hate them with a passion..." - encourage their murder, or at least stir up racial hatred.

In one post he wrote that black people are "less intelligent than other species", and in another that Jews are leeches and "treacherous ------- scum". >>> | Friday, June 11, 2010

Ahmadinejad : "Israël ne survivra pas"
Le président iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Photo: Le Point
LE POINT: La nouvelle résolution des Nations unies sanctionnant l'Iran pour son programme nucléaire "n'aura aucun effet", a assuré vendredi le président iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad en visite à l'Exposition universelle de Shanghai. "Le gouvernement des Etats-Unis veut avaler tout le Proche-Orient", a-t-il déclaré, ajoutant que "les Etats-Unis ont un régime sioniste avec des bombes nucléaires dans la région (...) ils essaient de sauver le régime sioniste". Avant de menacer : mais Israël "ne survivra pas, il est condamné". >>> AFP | Vendredi 11 Juin 2010

Barack Obama Has Quit Smoking for Good Claims Philippine President
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama has finally quit smoking and offered advice on how to kick the habit to the incoming president of the Philippines.

Mr Obama has battled cigarette addiction for years, but told President-elect Benigno Aquino in a phone call that he has now fully quit.

"At some point I attempted some humour, saying 'Mr President, I understand we have the same issue with smoking,'" Mr Aquino said after parliament proclaimed him the official winner of the Philippine elections.

"He told me, 'I kicked the habit, so you are going to have to work on that one yourself. I can give you advice, though.'"

Mr Aquino, who smokes two packets a day according to former colleagues, said the US President promised to send the advice "at the time that you decide to quit".

Mr Obama, 48, is sensitive about his smoking habits and has become irritable when questioned about it in the past. >>> Barney Henderson in Kuala Lumpur | Friday, June 11, 2010

Gulf of Mexico BP Oil Spill: Nick Clegg Warns Barack Obama Over 'Megaphone Diplomacy'
THE TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg today warned that the BP disaster threatened to descend into “megaphone diplomacy” following Barack Obama’s fierce criticism of the British company.

Nick Clegg made the comments when asked for his response to President Obama's call for the sacking of BP chief executive Tony Hayward. Photo: The Telegraph
In a thinly veiled attack on the US President – who earlier this week said he was looking for “some ass to kick over the disaster” – the Deputy Prime Minister argued that a “tit for tat” attitude was not helpful.

But Mr Clegg stopped short of voicing support for the British company, which has seen billions of pounds wiped off its share value since the leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

“I’m not going to start intervening in a debate which clearly risks descending into megaphone diplomacy,” Mr Clegg told an audience at the Nueva Economic Forum in Madrid on Friday morning.

“I think everyone is united on both sides of Atlantic obviously, quite rightly, and understandably within US administration and I’m sure within BP itself, to deal with this problem. It is an ecological catastrophe – It does need to be dealt with."

Nick Clegg made the comments when asked for his response to President Obama's call for the sacking of BP chief executive Tony Hayward. >>> Fiona Govan in Madrid | Friday, June 11, 2010

Troubling Development! Swastika Raised in Baltic Country – Tribute to History or Nazi Revival?

Opinion Journal: Obama Annoys Indonesia

Wilders Makes Shock Gains in Dutch Elections
THE INDEPENDENT: Dutch populist Geert Wilders yesterday stunned the Netherlands by coming third in general elections – a historic vote that could see him enter a coalition government.

Best known for his strident attacks on Islam, Mr Wilders' electoral triumph sent shock waves through the country's large immigrant communities and sounded the death knell for the image of the Netherlands as a bastion of tolerance.

The shock-factor was all the greater as the peroxide-haired politician had appeared sidelined during the election campaign, as the mainstream parties focused on how to deal with the nation's economic woes and immigration slipped down the political agenda.

Yet Mr Wilders made the strongest gains in Wednesday's election, doubling the number of seats for his Freedom Party to 24. The pro-business VDD party – which Mr Wilders left to set up on his own – won 31 of the 150 seats up for grabs, pipping the Labour Party of former Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen by a single seat in the narrowest ever electoral victory.

"The impossible has come true," a triumphant Mr Wilders said, noting that 1.5 million people had chosen his party's "optimistic" platform. "More security, less crime, less immigration, less Islam – that is what the Netherlands has chosen."

His party picked up the bulk of its seats from another party on the right, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrats. After eight years in power, his party suffered an historic defeat, losing nearly half its seats. Visibly emotional, Mr Balkenende called the results "very, very disappointing" and announced he was quitting politics. >>> Vanessa Mock in Brussels | Friday, June 11, 2010

Bild: Google Images
Kirchensünden: Papst bittet um Vergebung im Missbrauchsskandal
FINANCIAL TIMES DEUTSCHLAND: So deutlich hat sich Benedikt XVI. noch nie zu den Missbrauchsfällen geäußert. Er will alles in seiner Macht stehende tun, um Kinder vor sexueller Belästigung durch Priester zu schützen.

Papst Benedikt XVI. hat zum Ende des von Missbrauchskandalen überschatteten Priesterjahres um Vergebung gebeten. "Auch wir bitten Gott und die betroffenen Menschen inständig um Vergebung und versprechen zugleich, dass wir alles tun wollen, um solchen Missbrauch nicht wieder vorkommen zu lassen", sagte der Papst vor rund 15.000 Priestern auf dem Petersplatz. >>> © FTD | Freitag, 11. Juni 2010

La Suisse attend le retour au pays de son "otage" en Libye
RTL: Les Suisses ont salué vendredi la libération à Tripoli de leur compatriote Max Göldi, emprisonné en Libye depuis le 22 février et attendent désormais le retour au pays de leur "otage".

L'homme d'affaires pourrait quitter Tripoli samedi ou dimanche, selon son avocat libyen Salah Zahaf. La presse suisse se montre cependant prudente sur la date de son retour au pays, tout comme le ministère des Affaires étrangères (DFAE).

La libération jeudi après-midi de Max Göldi "est une étape", a insisté le porte-parole du DFAE Lars Knuchel. "Il s'agit maintenant qu'il puisse rentrer à la maison le plus rapidement possible et retrouver sa famille".

Depuis New York où elle est en déplacement, la ministre suisse des Affaires étrangères Micheline Calmy-Rey a mis en garde contre tout optimisme excessif en faisant valoir auprès de l'agence de presse helvétique ATS qu'il n'y avait pas de "garanties" sur la date de retour de l'homme d'affaires. >>> | Vendredi 11 Juin 2010

Nick Clegg’s Mastery of German Breaks Down Walls
Nick Clegg. Photo: The Times
THE TIMES: It was, everyone seemed to agree, an historic moment. A senior British politician had come to the heart of Europe and spoken German.

In fact, Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, turned out to speak better German than Guido Westerwelle, Germany’s Foreign Minister, spoke English.

And so, in the faintly sinister 1930s building that houses the German Foreign Ministry — where the lift is still a jump-on, jump-off paternoster — the buzz was that of a new Anglo-German partnership.

“I must tell all of you here,” said Mr Westerwelle, “that Nick speaks excellent German.” >>> Roger Boyes, Berlin | Thursday, June 10, 2010

Bosnian Serbs Convicted of Genocide Over Srebrenica Massacre
THE TELEGRAPH: Two Bosnian Serbs have been convicted of genocide over the Srebrenica massacre, the first such convictions in Europe since the Second World War.

Vujadin Popovic, left, and Ljubisa Beara wait for the court to hand down judgment at the War Crimes tribunal in The Hague. Photograph: The Telegraph
Vujadin Popovic, 53, and Ljubisa Beara, 70, were sentenced to life imprisonment for their part in the 1995 killing of up to 8,000 Bosnian Muslims, in the harshest verdicts yet handed down by Yugoslavia war crimes judges.

The men were high-ranking security officers with the army that overran Muslim forces and lightly armed United Nations troops in an area supposed to be a safe haven for Muslims fleeing ethnic cleansing. Both men were found guilty of genocide, extermination, murder and persecution. >>> Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Thursday, June 10, 2010

Cameron Needs to Be Firmer with Obama
THE TELEGRAPH: Telegraph View: The long-term relationship between Britain and America should not be jeopardised by a presidential response that has been more petulant than statesmanlike.

At some point this weekend, David Cameron is due to talk to Barack Obama on the phone, ahead of his visit to Washington next month. Until a few weeks ago, such a conversation would have involved a businesslike exchange of pleasantries and reflected a strong desire on both sides to place their personal relationship on a sound footing. No doubt that remains their intention; but the controversy over the way the President has castigated BP for its handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has added a potentially serious edge to these exchanges.

Mr Obama's aggressively jingoistic rhetoric might have been designed to shore up his own domestic position against criticism that he has failed to act decisively enough, but it is now sabotaging the fortunes of what was until recently Britain's biggest company. Its share price fell to a 13-year low after the American government threatened legal action to prevent the payment of dividends before compensation payments had been met, even though BP is sitting on enough cash to do both. Since the firm accounts for £1 in every £6 paid in dividends in the United Kingdom, this will have a deleterious impact on pension funds, which have £20 billion wrapped up in the company. Read on and comment >>> | Thursday, June 10, 2010

Vicar 'Conducted Sham Marriages for Illegals'
THE TELEGRAPH: A vicar conducted hundreds of sham marriages to help illegal immigrants gain residency in Britain over a four-year period, a court heard.

The Rev Alex Brown, 61, and co-defendants Michael Adelasoye, 50, and Vladymyr Buchak, 33, are accused of preying on Eastern Europeans desperate for money and Africans who were willing to do anything to stay in the country in a ''massive and cynical scam''.

Between July 2005 and July 2009, Brown presided over a total of 383 marriages at the Church of St Peter and St Paul in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, a 30-fold increase compared to the 13 he had conducted over the previous four years.

The three men went on trial at Lewes Crown Court yesterday charged with conspiring to facilitate the commission of breaches of immigration laws.

Opening the case, prosecutor David Walbank told jurors the three paid money to nationals from EU member states such as Switzerland [sic], Iceland [sic] and Norway [sic].

In return for the money they were expected to wed African nationals, mainly Nigerian, in order for them to become permanent residents in Britain.

''This case involves a massive and systematic immigration fraud," said Mr Walbank.

The court heard how Buchak, a Ukrainian national who had himself been living illegally in the country since at least 2004, was responsible for ''cajoling and persuading'' the Eastern Europeans into the marriages of convenience. >>> | Friday, June 11, 2010

The Sickness of Islam! ‘Taleban’ Execute 7-Year-Old Boy in Afghanistan
THE TIMES: A seven-year-old boy was executed by the Taleban in a brutal act of retribution this week after his grandfather dared to resist the insurgents’ iron rule.

Afghan officials said that the boy was accused of spying for US and Nato forces and hanged from a tree in southern Afghanistan.

Daoud Ahmadi, the spokesman for Helmand’s provincial governor, said that the murder came days after the boy’s grandfather, Abdul Woodod Alokozai, spoke out against militants in their hometown.

“I know his father and I know his grandfather,” Mr Ahmadi said. “His grandfather is a tribal elder in the village and the village is under the control of the Taleban. His grandfather said some good things about the Government and he formed a small group of people to stand against the Taleban.

“That’s why the Taleban killed his grandson in revenge.” >>> Jerome Starkey, Kandahar | Thursday, June 10, 2010

Afghanistan: David Cameron's Flight Diverted After 'Assassination Plot'
THE TELEGRAPH: David Cameron was forced to abandon a visit to a British base in Afghanistan after military intelligence suggested a plot to assassinate the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister was flying to a British base in Helmand province on Thursday when telephone calls between Taliban insurgents were intercepted, suggesting a plan to fire on his helicopter.

Mr Cameron and the party of aides and journalists travelling with him were unharmed and no physical attack is believed to have taken place.

But the apparent threat to the Prime Minister threatens to overshadow his first visit to Afghanistan since taking office, which was intended to underline the improving security situation in the country. >>> James Kirkup, in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan | Thursday, June 10, 2010

Noch ein Schiff für Gaza? Teheran und Ankara, die neue Achse?
ZEIT ONLINE: Da braut sich etwas zusammen. Der Iranische Rote Halbmond hat angekündigt, zwei Schiffe zwecks “humanitärer Hilfe” nach Gaza zu schicken. Eines soll mit Hilfsgütern, das andere mit “Experten” bestückt sein. Freiwillige werden auf der Homepage des Roten Halbmonds noch gesucht.

Die Revolutionsgarden waren von der Idee so begeistert, dass sie gleich anboten, die Schiffe gegebenenfalls zu begleiten, falls der Revolutionsführer Khamenei dazu einen Befehl erteile. (Dass die Garden sich mit ihren vergleichsweise leichten Booten besser nicht mit der israelischen Marine anlegen sollten, steht auf einen anderen Blatt. Andererseits: Noch ein paar Opfer wären dem Teheraner Regime ganz recht. Offenbar gibt es gegenüber der Türkei schon so etwas wie einen Märtyrer-Neid.)

Natürlich ist es kein Zufall, dass Teheran die Gaza-Angelegenheit jetzt hochspielt. Soeben sind Sanktionen gegen Iran beschlossen worden. Der UN-Sicherheitsrat hat mit 12 von 15 Stimmen dafür gestimmt. Betroffen werden vor allem Firmen der Revolutionsgardisten sein, die am Nuklearprogramm beteiligt sind. Auch Banken werden zusätzlich zum Ziel dieser vierten Runde von Sanktionen. Und ein Waffenembargo trifft die Streitkräfte hart. Man möchte so davon ablenken, dass Teheran noch nie so weitgehend politisch isoliert dastand wie heute. Russen und Chinesen tragen die Sanktionen nämlich mit. Um diese beiden an Bord zu haben, waren zwar keine “lähmenden (crippling) Sanktionen” möglich. Aber die Amerikaner und die Europäer werden nun noch einmal bilateral drauflegen, um die Wirkung zu verstärken. Die Kosten für Irans Atomprogramm steigen enorm. Weiter lesen und kommentieren >>> Von Jörg Lau | Donnerstag, 10 Juni 2010

Geert Wilders to Enter Dutch Government After Support for Anti-Islamic Party Triples
THE TELEGRAPH: Geert Wilders is on course to become a kingmaker for a new coalition government in the Netherlands after his anti-Islamic Freedom Party nearly tripled its representation in the Dutch parliament in Wednesday's elections.

The far-Right Dutch politician's controversial PVV party came third, behind Labour and the victorious Liberals.

PVV increased its number of MPs from nine to 24 after campaigning against immigration, for a tax on Muslim headscarves, a ban on the Koran and against the building of new mosques.

"We would love to govern," Mr Wilders said. "1.5 million people voted for us and our plans for more safety, less immigration and less Islam. We are the big winner and they cannot ignore us. We want to be taken seriously."

Mark Rutte, the leader of the centre-right Liberal VVD and the man expected to be the next Dutch prime minister, hailed his party's unprecedented victory. "It appears as if for the first time in our history that the VVD has become the largest party in the Netherlands," he said.

Mr Rutte's VVD is now expected to form a Right-wing coalition government with Mr Wilders and the Christian Democrat CDA, after that party lost 20 seats to fall from first to fourth place in Dutch politics. >>> Bruno Waterfield | Thursday, June 10, 2010

Barack Obama 'Appeared in Hip-hop Video'
THE TELEGRAPH: Rumours have been circling the internet that President Barack Obama appeared in a music video as a young man.



A smiling man who bears a striking resemblance to the future president appears fleetingly in "Whoomp (There It Is)" – a successful 1993 release by hip-hop outfit Tag Team.

The mystery man appears at the 1 min 1 second mark in the video and is talking a on a large mobile phone while wearing a hat and sunglasses.

Suggestions that the future leader of the free world, who is a fan of hip-hop, had found time in his pre-presidential days to join a video shoot swept the internet. >>> Nick Allen in Los Angeles | Thursday, June 10, 2010

Class Greets German Twin Town Visitors with 'Shameful' Nazi Salute
MAIL ONLINE: A group of German teenagers were stunned when English students from their 'twin town' school greeted them with with the Nazi salute.

Students from the Community College in Whitstable, Kent, raised their hands in the 'Heil Hitler' salute, also known as the Hitler salute, as the German students entered their classroom.

The students, from the town of Borken, said they were extremely offended by the gesture.

Nazi symbols and Hitler salutes have been illegal in Germany since the end of World War II. >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Thursday, June 10, 2010

That’s Enough ‘Kicking Ass’, Mr President
THE TIMES: Barack Obama’s attacks on BP may play well at home, but they are damaging millions of British people

The great British love-in with Barack Obama may be coming to an end. While there has been deep understanding of the environmental catastrophe that has struck the United States and of BP’s responsibility, there is also growing concern that the President’s angry rhetoric is going over the top and risks dividing the United States and the United Kingdom.

The Prime Minister is due to speak to the President at the weekend. BP will be high on his agenda. But already, I suspect, Sir Nigel Sheinwald, our Ambassador in Washington, has been on the phone to the Chief of Staff at the White House making it clear that serious damage is being done to many common British and American interests.

That BP deserves criticism is not in doubt. There is also much sympathy for the President as he seeks to assure the American public that he is in control of a disaster that has still not been fully resolved since the oil spillage began in April. His predecessor, George W. Bush, was widely criticised for his inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina. Any politician understands President Obama’s political imperative.

But, in the same way, Mr Obama must understand that an American president does not just have a domestic audience. Whatever their political purpose for his own electorate, his words resonate throughout the world and, however unintended, can have serious and damaging consequences.

That is what is now happening. >>> Malcolm Rifkind | Thursday, June 10, 2010

Staten Island Stealth Jihad


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