Iraq Security Forces Attacked by Suicide Bomber
THE GUARDIAN: More than 40 killed as members of government-backed militia in Baghdad were queueing up to get paid

Relatives of an injured man look at x-rays after the attack in Radwaniya. Photograph: The Guardian
A suicide bomber killed more than 40 people in Baghdad this morning in an attack on security personnel as they queued up for their wages.

The victims were all members of a government-backed militia known as Sahwa, or Sons of Iraq, who were waiting for their pay in Radwaniya, a Sunni district in the south-west of the city.

Police put the number of dead at 39, but the interior ministry said 43 had died. >>> Matthew Weaver and agencies | Sunday, July 18, 2010

The Megrahi Affair: Blair, BP & the Libyan Link
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: The US Senate is determined to uncover the truth behind the early release of the Lockerbie bomber

Alex Salmond has heaped pressure on Tony Blair over his alleged role in the controversial release of the Lockerbie bomber by claiming that the former prime minister should be forced to testify before a US Senate committee investigating the affair.

Amid growing concerns over the potential impact of the forthcoming foreign relations committee hearings, the Scottish First Minister advised senators to question Mr Blair over the infamous "deal in the desert" in 2007, when Mr Blair and the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi agreed plans to open the country up to foreign trade.

The call came as the Daily Mail claimed Mr Blair was flown to Libya for secret talks with Col Gaddafi last month, days after denying he was an adviser to the dictator.

The committee inquiry, led by Senator John Kerry, will investigate BP's alleged involvement in the release last August, on compassionate grounds, of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. But it threatens to turn into an embarrassing episode for a series of senior British figures. Both David Cameron and Foreign Secretary, William Hague, have said the release was "a mistake". But officials in Washington have confirmed that they want to ask past and present UK ministers to give evidence about their handling of the case – casting a shadow over former justice secretary Jack Straw and the Scottish Justice Minister, Kenny MacAskill, the man who authorised the release.

But, in an attempt to deflect criticism from his own administration, Mr Salmond suggested that the senators look elsewhere. "It is important to understand that what the American senators want to inquire about is whether there was a deal in the desert with Col Gaddafi," Mr Salmond said. "The best [way] to answer that would be to call Mr Blair and ask him directly." Continue reading and comment >>> Brian Brady and David Usborne | Sunday, July 18, 2010

Related article here

Insurers Push Plans Limiting Patient Choice of Doctors
THE NEW YORK TIMES: As the Obama administration begins to enact the new national health care law, the country’s biggest insurers are promoting affordable plans with reduced premiums that require participants to use a narrower selection of doctors or hospitals.

The plans, being tested in places like San Diego, New York and Chicago, are likely to appeal especially to small businesses that already provide insurance to their employees, but are concerned about the ever-spiraling cost of coverage.

But large employers, as well, are starting to show some interest, and insurers and consultants expect that, over time, businesses of all sizes will gravitate toward these plans in an effort to cut costs.

The tradeoff, they say, is that more Americans will be asked to pay higher prices for the privilege of choosing or keeping their own doctors if they are outside the new networks. That could come as a surprise to many who remember the repeated assurances from President Obama and other officials that consumers would retain a variety of health-care choices. >>> Reed Abelson | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Socialized medicine begins here! Consider this the start of the dismantlement of the old system of medicine provision in the States. By the end, the patient’s opinion will matter far less than the doctor’s. The state will control your healthcare and the management thereof. This is the price Americans will pay for being taken in by a smooth talker! – © Mark

British Dhimmitude! Burka Ban Ruled Out by Immigration Minister
THE TELEGRAPH: Britain will not follow France by introducing a law banning women from wearing the burka, the immigration minister has ruled.

Damian Green said such a move would be “rather un-British” and run contrary to the conventions of a “tolerant and mutually respectful society”.

He said it would be “undesirable” for Parliament to vote on a burka ban in Britain and that there was no prospect of the Coalition proposing it.

His comments will dismay the growing number of supporters of a ban. A YouGov survey last week found that 67 per cent of voters wanted the wearing of full-face veils to be made illegal.

Mr Green used a wide-ranging interview with The Sunday Telegraph, his first since taking up his post at the Home Office in May, to issue a “message around the world that Britain is no longer a soft touch on immigration”.

He said the summer would see a major crackdown on the main streams of illegal immigration — including sham marriages, illegal workers and people trafficking — and confirmed that this autumn the Government would set an overall cap on migrants entering Britain from outside the European Union.

His firm decision to rule out a burka ban will disappoint some Right-of-centre Tory MPs, including Philip Hollobone, who has tabled a private member’s bill that would make it illegal for anyone to cover their face in public.

Mr Hollobone, the MP for Kettering, said this weekend that he would refuse to hold any constituency meetings with women wearing burkas. >>> Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Not a pair of balls between them! – © Mark

Ministère de l’Intérieur : Brice Hortefeux à Grenoble : "Nous allons rétablir l'ordre public"
Brice Hortefeux a déclaré, samedi, à Grenoble qu'il souhaitait "rétablir l'ordre public et l'autorité de l'État" au plus vite et par "tous les moyens". Photo : Le Point
LE POINT: Le ministre de l'Intérieur, Brice Hortefeux, a déclaré samedi à Grenoble qu'il souhaitait "rétablir l'ordre public et l'autorité de l'État" au plus vite et par "tous les moyens", après une visite éclair dans le quartier secoué dans la nuit par des violences urbaines. "Nous allons réagir vite. Quand je dis vite, c'est-à-dire tout de suite, c'est ainsi que nous allons rétablir l'ordre public et l'autorité de l'État", a déclaré le ministre lors d'un point de presse. >>> AFP | Samedi 17 Juillet 2010

Venezuela : Hugo Chavez exhume les restes de Bolivar
Quels moments extraordinaires avons-nous vécus ce soir !" a écrit Hugo Chavez, sur son compte Twitter, après que les restes de Simon Bolivar eurent été exhumés. Photo : Le Point
LE POINT: Les autorités vénézuéliennes ont exhumé vendredi les restes de Simon Bolivar, héros de l'indépendance décédé en 1830, afin de vérifier une thèse selon laquelle il aurait été empoisonné par des ennemis en Colombie. Le président vénézuélien Hugo Chavez rejette la thèse traditionnelle selon laquelle Bolivar, qui a libéré une grande partie de l'Amérique du Sud du joug espagnol, est mort de tuberculose. "Quels moments extraordinaires avons-nous vécus ce soir ! Nous avons vu les restes du grand Bolivar. Mon Dieu, mon Dieu. (...) J'avoue que j'ai pleuré. (...) Je leur ai dit : Ce glorieux squelette doit être celui de Bolivar parce que vous pouvez sentir sa présence", écrit Chavez sur son compte Twitter @chavezcandanga. >>> Reuters | Samedi 17 Juillet 2010

Un député britanique lance chez lui le débat sur le voile intégral
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: GRANDE-BRETAGNE | Un député britannique du parti conservateur au pouvoir a déposé un projet de loi limitant le port du voile intégral islamique dans les lieux publics.

Philip Hollobone a déposé à la chambre des Communes un texte visant à "réglementer le port de certains voiles" dans le but assumé de provoquer un débat entre les députés qu’il juge "déconnectés de l’opinion publique".

Le texte doit être examiné en décembre mais n’a quasiment aucune chance d’être adopté en raison de la réticence d’une majorité de parlementaires à légiférer sur le voile.

Le député a par ailleurs affirmé samedi dans un entretien au journal The Independent qu’il exigerait des femmes voilées qu’elles se découvrent si elles souhaitent le rencontrer à sa permanence de Kettering (centre de l’Angleterre). >>> AFP | Samedi 17 Juillet 2010

Is Coming Out a Career Killer?
THE GUARDIAN: Former BP chief Lord Browne said this week that despite a shift in attitudes, homophobia is rife — and people in public life are afraid to come out

It hasn't been a great few weeks for those who dare to believe that we are living in enlightened times. It had been looking likely that Dr Jeffrey John, the highly regarded dean of St Albans, who came out in the 1970s and is in a (celibate) civil partnership, would become Britain's first openly gay bishop, but last week his nomination was blocked. There was the teacher in Liverpool who called a pupil "a fat gay boy" and the small but vocal anti-gay protest that tried (but failed) to disrupt the Pride festival in Derby. This week a Tory councillor, Denis Knowles, was cleared of homophobia to the dismay of many who took offence at his description of male Labour activists as being "of the limp-wristed variety". Last week Alastair Campbell revealed on his blog that when he appeared on Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, when questioned about his views on gay rights, said: "I demand the right not to be bummed." Strange that the BBC didn't show that bit.

Meanwhile, some of the rightwing papers got themselves into a state about the "floodgates" being open to gay asylum seekers after last week's landmark ruling that two asylum seekers should have the right to stay in the UK – a story that was given an added dose of hysteria by the bizarre statement from one of the supreme court judges, Lord Rodger, that gay men should have the right "to be free to enjoy themselves going to Kylie concerts and drinking exotically coloured cocktails".

So who can be entirely surprised by the piece in yesterday's newspaper by Lord Browne of Madingley, the former BP chief executive who resigned after he was outed in 2007, who wrote that homophobia still thrives in British public life? "Even in today's more tolerant age, there are many lonely people out there still afraid to reveal who they really are for fear of marginalisation and abuse." He highlighted the case of David Laws, the Liberal Democrat MP, who was forced to resign as chief secretary to the Treasury in May after he claimed expenses for accommodation owned by his male partner in order to keep their relationship secret. "[Laws' resignation] suggests that public figures continue to feel they have no choice but to cover up their sexuality," wrote Browne.

Perhaps one of the most revealing things about Lord Mandelson's memoirs, which came out this week, is what they didn't reveal. In an interview in the Times this week, he was asked about his position "as the most powerful gay man in the country", and in the closest he has yet come to acknowledging his sexuality publicly, he said: "I think I'm actually quite a good role model for people who, without any fuss or bother, without any self-consciousness or inverse or other discrimination, are able to make it in politics, to make it in public life … If I've demonstrated that, and provided a role model for that, then I think I've done a service."

Mandelson, Browne and Laws are all from a generation who grew up at a time when it was illegal to be gay, which may explain their reticence. But the last 10 years have seen a huge shift in attitudes, and a raft of legislative changes have brought greater equality for gay people: the introduction of civil partnerships; the right to serve in the military; to adopt; for lesbians to have IVF and for same-sex couples to be named on a child's birth certificate. There have been new laws against discrimination at work and in public services, the abolition of section 28 and the age of consent brought into line with that for heterosexuals. >>> Emine Saner | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Additional reporting by Patrick Kingsley

THE GUARDIAN: Being Outed Is a Blessing >>> John Browne | Thursday, July 15, 2010

'At Your Service, Osama' - the African Bin Laden Behind the Uganda Bombings
THE TELEGRAPH: As Somalia's al Shebab militants claim responsibility for bombings in Kampala, the Telegraph profiles their spiritual leader, accountant-turned-jihadi Ahmed Abdi Godane.

Al-Shabaab fighters provide security during a demonstration in Suqa Holaha neighborhood in Mogadishu, Somalia. Photo: The Telegraph
As befits a man who fears he has a US missile with his name on it, Ahmed Abdi Godane knows the importance of keeping a low profile.

The leader of Somalia's al-Shebab militant movement, he prefers to be heard rather than seen, ranting away in radio broadcasts from his group's strongholds in northern Mogadishu. Thanks to his fatwahs against pop music, foreign films and even televised football, he already has a captive audience - as of last week, though, he made the rest of the world take notice too.

"What happened in Kampala was just the beginning," he warned in his latest broadcast, gloating over Sunday's twin suicide bombings in the Ugandan capital, in which Shebab-backed "martyrs" slaughtered 76 people as they watched the World Cup final. "If Uganda and Burundi do not withdraw their troops from Somalia, there will be more bombings like these."

Delivered with the same fiery rhetoric with which he recently declared himself "at Osama bin Laden's service", Godane's warning confirmed what many outside Somalia have long dreaded: that the Shebab, which has imposed a Taliban-style regime across much of the anarchic, war-torn land, would one day begin exporting its brand of Islamist violence to the wider world.

Last Sunday's attacks, designed to punish both Uganda and Burundi for providing troops to support Mogadishu's shaky Western-backed provisional government, marked the first time the group had struck outside its own borders. Now, having proved the Shebab's credentials as the world's newest international terrorist group, security officials fear it is only a matter of time before Godane, also known as Abu Zubayr, orders similar attacks against the West.

"This is a move into a different league altogether, and will put Godane and al Shebab on the world map," one Nairobi-based security official told The Sunday Telegraph. "He is very much of the international jihads mindset, and wants Islamic rule across the world, from Somalia to Alaska." >>> Colin Freeman and Mike Pflanz in Nairobi | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Barack Obama Needs to Find His Voice
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama's inability to articulate his plans has generated the sense of a presidency on the verge of failure, writes Alex Spillius.

Buried deep in yet another poll this week cataloguing Barack Obama's declining popularity in his home country was an intriguing nugget of opinion.

Democracy Corps, a Left-leaning research firm, found that 55 per cent of Americans think the world "socialist" fittingly describes their president.

By most received definitions, this is absurd. If socialism is a belief that the means of production and distribution should be owned collectively or by central government, then Obama is no more a socialist than Ronald Reagan ever was.

The reason for this apparent aberration may be that interpretations of the term in the US are much broader than in Europe, where there is some experience of socialism. For some Americans, it means anyone who believes in increased state spending.

But if Obama isn't a socialist, what is he? It is strange to report, but after 19 months of living under his presidency, Americans are still not sure. It is a big part of his problem. >>> Alex Spillius - American Way | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Riots In Grenoble After Police Shooting
THE TELEGRAPH: Rioters in France have torched cars and opened fire on police offers [sic] during an overnight confrontation in the southeastern French city of Grenoble.

A group of people face police forces on July 17, 2010 in the neighborhood of Villeneuve in Grenoble, southeastern France. Photo: The Telegraph
The incident begun [sic] in the early hours of Saturday morning when rampaging youths stoned a tramway and attacked it with baseball bats and iron bars.

The gangs then set cars on fire and opened fire against officers. The officers returned fire.

Regional security official Brigitte Julien says no one was injured in the incident but one youth, in his twenties, was detained.

The riots came after the death of a Grenoble resident during a robbery in a nearby town.

Karim Boudouda, 27, was one of two men believed to have held up a casino, escaping with more than 20,000 euros (£17,000).

He was killed in a shoot-out with police following the robbery. Violence flared after his memorial service.

Mr Boudouda, 27, had three previous convictions for armed robbery. The other suspect escaped and is still on the run. >>> | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Libya’s Oil Minister: BP a ‘Bargain’

First Gay Marriage in Argentina Set for August 13
AFP: BUENOS AIRES — Argentina's first gay marriage under a law passed this week was set for August 13 between a 61-year-old man and his 60-year-old partner, officials said Friday.

The first union was authorized by municipal officials in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires for actor Ernesto Rodriguez Larrese, 60, and Alejandro Vanelli, 61, who have lived together for 34 years.

The couple had been denied a request to wed at the same location three years ago. >>> AFP | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Argentinien erlaubt gleichgeschlechtliche Ehe
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Argentinien hat als erstes Land auf dem südamerikanischen Kontinent die Ehe von Homosexuellen erlaubt. Der Senat gab dafür grünes Licht.

BBC Licence Fee Could Be Cut, Government Says
THE GUARDIAN: Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, attacks 'extraordinary and outrageous' waste and predicts tough settlement

The salary of the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, other executives and top stars have become symbolic of perceived overspending at the broadcaster. Photograph: The Guardian
The BBC licence fee could be cut as part of the government's public spending austerity drive, the culture secretary has said.

Jeremy Hunt accused the corporation of "extraordinary and outrageous" waste in recent years and warned he could "absolutely" see viewers paying less than the current £145.50 a year after next year's licence fee negotiations with the government.

"The BBC should not interpret the fact that we haven't said anything about the way licence fee funds are used as an indication that we are happy about it. We will be having very tough discussions," he told the Daily Telegraph.

Hunt said the BBC should recognise the "very constrained financial situation" the country was in and it would need to change "huge numbers" of things that it does.

"There's a moment when elected politicians have an opportunity to influence the BBC and it happens every five years. It is when the licence fee is renewed.

"The BBC will have to make tough decisions like everyone else. There are huge numbers of things that need to be changed at the BBC. They need to demonstrate the very constrained financial situation we are now in."

The licence fee review process begins next year and a lower levy could be in place for 2012. >>> David Batty and agencies | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Jeremy Hunt: Ministry of Fun Is About to Get 'Very Horrible'
THE TELEGRAPH: The culture department can offer glamour and excitement but Jeremy Hunt has taken charge with the BBC under fire and the arts facing severe budget cuts, writes Andrew Porter.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt MP. Photo: The Telegraph
And he doesn’t just mean the sight of the massed ranks of luvvies screaming at him — as they have been this week — about the impending cuts to arts budgets.

He is referring to the period after this autumn’s spending review. “We are in an unreal period at the moment where everyone knows they are coming but they don’t know what it means. I’m not sure it’s sunk home yet what the effect of these cuts will be,” he says.

“People probably still don’t assume it’s going to affect the services they use every day so it will be a shock when the penny drops.”

With cuts of up to 40 per cent in Whitehall budgets, the Department for Culture Media and Sport, not being a front-line area, is braced for severe pain. Luckily, much of the money for the 2012 Olympics has been allocated already, but there are nagging concerns, not least about the ability to police such a monumental event. Mr Hunt is candid about the threats.

“We’ve got a number of terrorist networks in the UK at the moment actively plotting to cause major, major carnage. So security is going to be an issue,” he says. “It’s an obvious target. We have to assume they are targeting it and we have to be ready for that.”

Mr Hunt will use the Olympics to try to revive competitive sports in schools after years of neglect by Labour. Refreshingly, he is talking the right language.

“The point about competitive sport is it helps people to deal with setbacks and losing,” he says. “Losing is something that happens just as often as winning in all sports — and in fact more frequently for most people. This is something we should welcome and we have got to bury the myth that everyone has to get a prize and it is damaging to people’s self-esteem if you don’t win first prize. Setting up the Olympic school programme is the way to help do that.”

Mr Hunt has been taking flak this week from unlikely places. Selina Scott accused him of failing to follow up his promise in opposition to make the BBC examine how it treats its women. She says the corporation is guilty of “malign sexism and ageism”. But the Culture Secretary is not in the mood to be conciliatory. >>> | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Champion of UK Burka Ban Declares War on Veil-wearing Constituents
THE INDEPENDENT: A Conservative MP says he will refuse to hold meetings with Muslim women wearing full Islamic dress at his constituency surgery unless they lift their face veil.

Last night Muslim groups condemned Philip Hollobone and accused him of failing in his duty as an MP.

In an interview with The Independent, the Kettering MP said: "I would ask her to remove her veil. If she said: 'No', I would take the view that she could see my face, I could not see hers, I am not able to satisfy myself she is who she says she is. I would invite her to communicate with me in a different way, probably in the form of a letter."

He said the vast majority of Muslim women wore dress allowing people to see their face and claimed no Islamic scholars or clerics said wearing the burka or niqab was a religious requirement. "It is not a necessity," he said.

"I just take what I regard as a common sense view. If you want to engage in normal, daily, interactive dialogue with your fellow human beings, you can only really do this properly by seeing each other's face.

"Seventy-five per cent of the usual communication between two human beings is done with personal experience. God gave us faces to be expressive. It is not just the words we utter but whether we are smiling, sad, angry or frustrated. You don't get any of that if your face is covered."

Mr Hollobone also railed against Turkey's potential membership of the European Union. With David Cameron expected to visit the country this summer to endorse its attempt to join the EU, Mr Hollobone warned that Turkish membership would be "a disaster" because EU rules allowing free movement would encourage many Turks to move to Britain. "I could anticipate hundreds of thousands, if not more than one million, Turks heading our way. I am sure that the Turkish people are lovely people, but Britain is full up. We cannot cope with another mass wave of immigration."

Mr Hollobone is to bring in a Private Member's Bill to ban women wearing the burka or niqab in public and hopes that the French parliament's decision this week to ban the wearing in public of the full-face veil will tip the balance in favour of similar bans in other European nations. "France is a large country, widely respected around the world. People will quite rightly sit up and take notice."

Mr Hollobone's Face Coverings (Regulation) Bill is due to have its second reading on 3 December but, as it lacks government backing, is likely to run out of parliamentary time.

"It is an issue that is not going to go away," he said. "Sadly, the House of Commons is likely to prove itself out of touch with public opinion." >>> Andrew Grice, Political Editor | Saturday, July 17, 2010

THE INDEPENDENT: Leading article: This burka ban does not translate >>> | Saturday, July 17, 2010

US-born Radical Muslim Cleric Added to American Terrorism Blacklist
THE TELEGRAPH: The US has added the American-born radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki to a terrorism blacklist, targeting him with sanctions aimed at cutting off his financial support.

The US Treasury Department placed al-Awlaki – accused by officials of helping plan the failed Christmas Day airline bombing – on its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

That means any bank accounts found in the United States belonging to him are frozen, Americans are forbidden from doing business with him, and he is banned from travelling to the US. >>> | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Arizona Turns Off Speed Cameras
THE TELEGRAPH: Arizona has turned off every speed camera on its highways after complaints that they violated privacy and were designed to generate revenue rather than promote road safety.

A camera free road leading to Monument Valley in Arizona. Photo: The Telegraph
A spokesman for Jan Brewer, the state's Republican governor, said she "was uncomfortable with the intrusive nature of the system", which was inherited from her Democratic predecessor.

Opening in October 2008, the scheme was first in the United States to use speed cameras across a whole state. Amid objections of Big Brother-ism, numerous cameras were vandalised, while the operator of a van carrying a mobile camera was shot dead in a lay-by in April 2009. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Margaret Thatcher's Family Are 'Appalled' at Meryl Streep Film
THE TELEGRAPH: Film about Margaret Thatcher's life, which is expected to star Meryl Streep, shows the former prime minister as a dementia-sufferer looking back at her life with sadness.

Although the prospect of Meryl Streep playing Margaret Thatcher may have pleased some admirers of the Conservative former prime minister, her children have been horrified to discover more about the film.

Mandrake hears that the screenplay of The Iron Lady depicts Baroness Thatcher as an elderly dementia-sufferer looking back on her career with sadness. She is shown talking to herself and unaware that her husband, Sir Denis Thatcher, has died.

“Sir Mark and Carol are appalled at what they have learnt about the film,” says a friend of the family. “They think it sounds like some Left-wing fantasy. They feel strongly about it, but will not speak publicly for fear of giving it more publicity." >>> Tim Walker. Edited by Richard Eden | Saturday, July 17, 2010

Iran Accuses US and UK of Supporting Group Behind Mosque Attacks
THE GUARDIAN: CIA denies claims it has been backing Jundullah, the Sunni separatist group which has claimed responsibility for the bombs

The aftermath of the suicide bombings in Zahedan, Iran. A Sunni separatist group has claimed responsbility. Photograph: The Guardian
Iran is vowing to hunt down a Sunni separatist group which claimed responsibility for a double suicide bombing that killed 28 people at a mosque in the south-eastern city of Zahedan.

Jundullah – Arabic for "the soldiers of God" – said it carried out the twin attacks yesterday at Zahedan's grand mosque in retaliation for the execution of the group's captured leader. Provincial officials said a further 167 people were injured, some of them critically. Three days of mourning were declared. General Hossein Salami, deputy commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, claimed in Tehran today that the victims "were martyred by the hands of mercenaries of the US and UK". Ali Mohammad Azad, governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province, blamed "the intelligence services of arrogant powers."

The US and Britain – which are at odds with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme – issued statements condemning the attacks.

Shia worshippers were celebrating the birthday of the prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein when the first bomb detonated, according to reports from the scene. A second explosion took place 15 minutes later as people rushed to help – a technique used by Sunni groups in Iraq to maximise casualties. The dead reportedly included several Revolutionary Guards.

Iranian media said the aim was to sow discord between Shias and Sunnis in the Sunni majority area, which borders on Pakistan. Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan, has seen several mass casualty attacks in recent years. >>> Ian Black, Middle East editor | Friday, July 16, 2010

Greek Man Wins €160,000 for Turkish Yoghurt 'Slur'
THE GUARDIAN: Pensioner sues Swedish dairy to stop them using his image to brand a Turkish yoghurt carton

Minas Karatzoglou's face on tub of yoghurt in Stockholm, Sweden. Photograph: The Guardian
A tub of yoghurt and a shadow theatre puppet have raised the bar in the spectrum of passions that have long fuelled differences between Greece and Turkey. Just when the two Nato rivals appeared reconciled, a new spat has erupted over a man whose features have delighted children on both sides of the Aegean.

The row might have gone unnoticed had it not been preceded by a Greek pensioner suing to stop a Swedish dairy from using his image to promote its yoghurts. In principle, Minas Karatsoglu, 74, says he wasn't against his face adorning the cartons – although he was shocked to get a call from a friend informing him it had happened. It was more, he said, that the yoghurt was branded "Turkish" and by inference the self-styled patriot from Delphi was "baptised" Turkish, too. >>> Helena Smith in Athens | Thursday, July 15, 2010

Secret talks: Tony Blair was flown to Libya to discuss international and domestic issues with Colonel Gaddafi - days after denying he was an adviser to the dictator. Photograph: Mail Online
Brother Muammar! Blair’s Love-in with the Libyan Dictator
MAIL ONLINE: Tony Blair was flown to Libya for secret talks with Colonel Gaddafi just days after denying he was an adviser to the dictator.

Mr Blair was 'entertained as a brother', a senior Libyan government source has revealed.

He told the Daily Mail that the former prime minister had offered Gaddafi, with whom he is on first-name terms, 'a great deal of invaluable advice'.

They discussed a wide range of international and domestic issues, including lucrative investment opportunities.

The meeting, in Tripoli last month, came shortly after Mr Blair's spokesman flatly denied that he had any 'formal or informal', 'paid or unpaid' advisory role to Gaddafi.

The revelation will heap pressure on Mr Blair - now a Middle East peace envoy - over his links to the Libyan regime and potential conflicts of interest between his public and private roles.

It will also anger those who lost family members in the Lockerbie bombing, for which Libya has admitted responsibility.

And the timing couldn't be worse for BP, which is being accused in the U.S. of helping to engineer the early release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi in exchange for oil concessions from the Libyan government. Blair in secret talks with Gaddafi: Lockerbie families' fury as ex-Premier is treated like a 'brother' by dictator just days after denying links with Libya >>> James Chapman and Nabila Ramdani | Friday, July 16, 2010

Additional reporting: Peter Allen and Christian Gysin

Microsoft Co-founder to Give Away Most of His £8.7billion Fortune After His Death
MAIL ONLINE: The co-founder of Microsoft last night announced he will give away most of his £8.7billion fortune after his death.

Paul Allen follows in the footsteps of Bill Gates, with whom he started the computer giant, and vowed to commit his money to philanthropy.

Mild-mannered Allen, 57, who is unmarried and has no children, has donated millions to charity in his lifetime and said he wanted that to continue after he died.

Allen co-founded Microsoft in 1975 with Gates and resigned as an executive in 1983 as he overcame a first bout with cancer.

The episode brought him face-to-face with his own mortality and caused a huge change in his approach to life.

The 37th richest person in the world according to Forbes Magazine, he has spent the time since giving away more than £670million in grants and funding, largely through his Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

He recently announced he was suffering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but has made a full recovery.

‘Today I also want to announce that my philanthropic efforts will continue after my lifetime,’ he said in a statement. >>> Daniel Bates | Friday, July 16, 2010

Free Mexico Honeymoon for First Argentine Gay Newly-weds
BBC: Mexico City has offered a free honeymoon to the first gay couple to marry in Argentina under a new law.

The couple would have all expenses paid in the Mexican capital and in the beach resort of Cancun, the city's tourism secretary, Alejandro Rojas, said.

On Thursday, Argentina became the first Latin American country to legalise same-sex marriage.

Mexico City also allows gay couples to wed.

The city government would pay the air fares for the newly-wed couple and is seeking sponsorship from hotels and restaurants to finance the rest of the honeymoon, Mr Rojas said.

The offer was "a recognition of tolerance, but first and foremost a way to promote gay tourism in Mexico". >>> | Friday, July 16, 2010

Omar Bin Laden Wants To Date Drew Barrymore
THE HUFFINGTON POST: Newly single Omar bin Laden, the son of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, says he dreams of a date with Drew Barrymore.

"I want to go to America, and I would love to meet Drew Barrymore," said Omar, 29, who recently split from wife Zaina, 25 years his senior. "I am single now and she is the most beautiful woman in Hollywood."

Yet it turns out the actress is not the junior Laden's sole interest in American popular culture. Speaking from a Doha, Qatar hotel in an interview with The Sun, he also professes an admiration for Jim Carrey, American football, rock music and Madonna. "She's such a great dancer for a woman of her age," he says of the Material Girl, 51. >>> Curtis M. Wong | Friday, July 16, 2010

Diplomatie : Les États-Unis répètent leur désaccord sur l'interdiction du voile intégral
LE POINT: Si le projet de loi visant à interdire le port du voile intégral dans l'espace public suscite des critiques en France, il fait aussi réagir outre-Atlantique. La diplomatie américaine a rappelé mercredi le désaccord de l'administration Obama, selon laquelle le texte s'en prend à la liberté de croyance. "Nous ne pensons pas qu'il faille légiférer sur ce que les gens ont le droit, ou non, de porter en fonction de leur croyance religieuse", a commenté Philip Crowley, porte-parole du département d'État. "Aux États-Unis, a-t-il ajouté, nous prendrions d'autres mesures pour assurer l'équilibre entre la sécurité d'une part, et, d'autre part, le respect de la liberté religieuse et des symboles qui lui sont associés." Une position partagée par la population puisque 65 % des Américains désapprouvent la proscription du voile islamique dans les lieux publics, tandis que 28 % toléreraient qu'il soit interdit, selon un sondage du centre de recherche Pew publié le 8 juillet. >>> lepoint.fr avec AFP | Vendredi 16 Juillet 2010

US Reiterates Disappointment Over French Burqa Ban
FRANCE 24: US officials have reiterated Washington's disapproval of a measure approved by French lawmakers earlier this week banning the wearing of face-covering Islamic veils in public. France's Senate will vote on the controversial bill in September.

US officials on Wednesday reiterated Washington's disagreement with a measure approved by the lower house of France's National Assembly banning the use of face-covering Islamic veils in public.

"We do not think that you should legislate what people can wear or not wear associated with their religious beliefs," said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.

"Here in the United States, we would take a different step to balance security and to respect religious freedom and the symbols that go along with religious freedom," he said. >>> AFP | Thursday, July 15, 2010

Israels Außenminister will Gaza an Hamas abgeben
WELT ONLINE: Überraschender Vorschlag aus Israel: Außenminister Lieberman schlägt vor, den Gaza-Streifen der radikal-islamischen Hamas zu überlassen.

Der israelische Außenminister Avigdor Lieberman hat mit Gedankenspielen zur Zukunft des Gazastreifens für Überraschung gesorgt. Der ultra-rechte Politiker will nach einem Zeitungsbericht die Verantwortung Israels für den Gazastreifen an die dort herrschende radikal-islamische Hamas-Organisation abtreten. Im Gegenzug werde Israel die Grenzen zu dem kleinen Palästinensergebiet hermetisch abriegeln, schreibt die Tageszeitung „Jediot Achronot“ am Freitag.

Eine internationale Schutztruppe soll nach Vorstellung Liebermans dann die Grenzübergänge überwachen und den Waffenschmuggel durch Tunnel unter der Grenze von Ägypten zum Gazastreifen unterbinden. Die bisherige Blockade wäre damit aufgehoben. Waren könnten direkt von Europa aus in den Gazastreifen transportiert werden. >>> dpa/pku | Freitag, 16. Juli 2010

Being Outed Is a Blessing
THE GUARDIAN: It's a great shame a public figure like David Laws still felt a need to hide his sexuality as I once did

It was in New York in 1973 that I discovered the work of the Greek poet CP Cavafy. He was gay and in the closet. His only outlet of self-expression was his poetry. He wrote: "From all the things I did and all the things I said let no one try to find out who I was … Later, in a more perfect society, someone else made just like me is certain to appear and act freely." I wanted to agree with that but never thought it would apply to me.

In 2007 I resigned as chief executive of BP because I had made an untrue statement as to how I had met a boyfriend with whom I had broken up after an extended affair. He had sold his embellished tale to the Mail on Sunday. I attempted to keep it from publication, and in doing so I told a fabricated story (that I had met him running in Battersea Park, rather than through an escort agency) because I felt threatened about coming out. It was the same fear that had prevented me from going out to meet men in the usual way at parties, clubs and so on.

My chief worry now is that history seems bound to repeat itself. The recent resignation of David Laws, the former chief secretary to the Treasury, suggests that public figures continue to feel they have no choice but to cover up their sexuality.

When I was "outed" on someone else's terms it was an important and terrifying moment. But it also turned out to be a blessing. I was overwhelmed by the support and friendship of many people. Three years on, my life is much happier. I have a great partner and I feel much more relaxed about being open with people. I wish it could have been that way from the start. Continue reading and comment >>> John Browne | Thursday, July 15, 2010

Anti-smoking Law May Be Overturned in Government Review
THE GUARDIAN: Government could scrap Labour legislation to ban cigarette machines from pubs and tobacco displays from retailers

Cigarettes and tobacco products were supposed to have been removed from public display under a law passed under Labour. Photograph: The Guardian
Labour's legislation to ban cigarette vending machines from pubs and remove tobacco displays from shops and supermarkets could be scrapped by the coalition government.

The law was passed in the last few months of the previous administration, but the regulations that would have implemented the changes have been blocked after a campaign from cigarette manufacturers who threatened to seek a judicial review.

Rightwing thinktanks also claimed the bans would be "ineffective or counter-productive".

The possibility of reversing the Tobacco Act emerged in a reply to parliamentary question to the Department of Health, which said that given "the challenges facing business competition and costs", it would give further consideration to "the policy on display of tobacco products and sales from tobacco vending machines".

The vending machine ban was proposed by Ian McCartney, a former Labour minister, who said the machines gave young children access to cigarettes. The act also requires cigarettes to be sold "out of sight". Similar schemes have been introduced in Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Thailand and Canada. >>> Randeep Ramesh, social affairs editor | Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Iranian Scientist Was CIA Mole
THE TELEGRAPH: The scientist claiming to have been kidnapped and tortured by the United States was a CIA mole who spied on Iran's nuclear programme for several years, American officials have said.

Shahram Amiri arrives at Imam Khomini Airport with his wife and son. Photo: The Telegraph
Shahram Amiri was a vital source whose "significant, original" intelligence allowed his US minders to build up a comprehensive assessment of Iran's clandestine nuclear capabilities, the officials claimed.

The allegations are the latest twist in an increasingly perplexing saga that has embarrassed the United States and prompted jubilant crowing in Iran, which has long maintained that the CIA kidnapped Mr Amiri during a visit to Saudi Arabia last year.

Mr Amiri was reunited with his wife and seven-year-old-son after flying back to a hero's welcome in Iran on Thursday. He repeated allegations that he had been abducted, tortured by Israeli and American officers, and later offered $10 million (£6.5 million) to say that he had come to the United States of his own volition.

But US officials told the New York Times that Mr Amiri had in fact been a long-serving CIA asset working under cover at Tehran's Malek Ashtar university. >>> Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Friday, July 16, 2010

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Spain to Ban Sex Adverts from National Newspapers
THE GUARDIAN: President says ban is part of a strategy to fight people trafficking and sexual exploitation rife in Spain

The Spanish government has put itself on collision course with the national press with the announcement that it wants to ban adverts offering sexual services from their classified sections.

The explicit adverts, which fill at least a page in most of Spain's dailies, are worth €40m (£34m) a year to the struggling newspaper industry.

President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero made the announcement during this week's state of the nation speech, saying it was part of a strategy to fight the people trafficking and sexual exploitation that was rife in the country.

"As long as these advertisements exist, they contribute to the idea of this activity as normal," he said.

The Association of Spanish Newspaper Editors responded by saying that the logical policy would be for the government to make prostitution illegal. "If it was illegal, then newspapers wouldn't carry the ads," a spokesman said.

If the ads are banned, newspapers will want to be compensated and, worryingly for Zapatero, El País, a staunch supporter of his socialist party, is the paper that earns the most from this form of advertising. With its left-liberal sensibilities and readership profile, El País is the Spanish paper that most resembles the Guardian, and yet it earns €5m a year from advertising prostitution. >>> Stephen Burgen in Barcelona | Friday, July 16, 2010

Barack Obama Warns that BP Oil Disaster Is Not Over
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama has warned that the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is not over.



Although oil has stopped leaking into the ocean, the US President has urged Americans not to "get too far ahead of ourselves".

BP announced on Thursday evening that it had successfully capped the Deepwater Horizon oil well for the first time since April.

Underwater video footage showing no oil gushing from the well has led to widespread relief across America.

Speaking outside the White House, Mr Obama said that although the worst of the crisis was probably now in the past it would be several more weeks before it was finally over. Tests will continue for the next 24 hours to establish whether the cap will hold. >>> Robert Winnett in Washington | Friday, July 16, 2010

Symbol der europäischen Islamisierungsangst: Frau mit afghanischer Burka. Bild: FAZ
Burka-Verbot in Europa: Prävention ist das Gebot der Stunde
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: In Belgien gibt es kaum vollverschleierte Frauen. Also hat man sich mit dem Verbotsgesetz besonders beeilt. Die Burkadebatten überall in Europa enthüllen die Angst in der Öffentlichkeit.

Frauen, die einen Ganzkörperschleier tragen, wirken auf die meisten von uns befremdlich, mehr noch: Sie lösen ein aggressives Unverständnis aus. Denn Frauen, die sich mit der Verhüllung von Körper und Gesicht der Identifizierung ihrer Individualität und dem Kontakt entziehen, wecken den Verdacht, dass sie den Wert der Freiheit weder akzeptieren noch respektieren. Sie bleiben uns fremd.

Auch, weil sie uns so gut wie nie auf der Straße begegnen. Frauen nämlich, die den iranischen Tschador – sein Tuch lässt das Gesicht frei, kann aber jederzeit darüber gezogen werden –, die afghanische Burka mit ihrem Gitterfenster oder den saudi-arabischen Nikab tragen, der den Augen einen Sehschlitz zugesteht, gibt es in Europa so gut wie nicht. In Frankreich, wo mit mehr als fünf Millionen Menschen die größte muslimische Gemeinde Europas lebt, sollen es zweitausend sein. Dänemark zählt zweihundert. Für Deutschland und alle anderen Staaten gibt es nur Schätzungen, selten liegen sie im dreistelligen Bereich. Auch deshalb lehnt die Bundesregierung eine Debatte über ein Vollverschleierungsverbot ab.

In anderen Teilen der Welt jedoch schreitet die Totalverschleierung tatsächlich voran: Saudi-arabische Stiftungen etwa sollen Frauen Geld bezahlen, damit sie den Nikab anlegen. Das ist beängstigend. Aber es darf keine Legitimation dafür sein, dass derzeit in vielen europäischen Ländern eine hart geführte Debatte mit teilweise absurden Zügen um die Ganzkörperverschleierung tobt. >>> Von Karen Krüger | Freitag, 16. Juli 2010

Hellish Work: Tobacco Workers in Kazakhstan


LE FIGARO: Des enfants produisent 
du tabac pour Philip Morris : Au Kazakhstan, les fermes produisant du tabac pour le cigarettier Philip Morris font travailler de force des migrants et emploient des enfants, selon un rapport d'Human Rights Watch. L'entreprise américaine reconnait les faits mais tarde à agir. >>> Par Tristan Vey | Vendredi 16 Juillet 2010

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Tabakindustrie – Zigaretten bleiben ein tolles Geschäft : Die Tabakindustrie lebt mit Lokalverboten, Werbebeschränkungen und hohen Steuern. 50 Prozent Gewinn vom Umsatz sind trotzdem immer noch drin. Nur die Jugendlichen machen der Branche Sorgen. Sie rauchen weniger. >>> Von Winand von Petersdorff | Freitag, 16. Juli 2010

Iran Scientist: CIA Offered Me $50m to Lie About Nuclear Secrets
THE INDEPENDENT: An Iranian scientist who says he was abducted and taken to the United States by the CIA returned to Tehran yesterday to a hero's welcome and claimed that he had been pressured into lying about his country's nuclear programme.

Shahram Amiri said that he was on the hajj pilgrimage when he was seized at gunpoint in the city of Medina, drugged and taken to the US, where he says Israel was involved in his interrogation. In the US, officials were reported to have admitted that Mr Amiri was paid more than $5m (£3.2m) by the CIA for information about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The US claims to have received useful information from him in return for the money, but is clearly embarrassed by his very public return to Iran. The offer of a large bribe is reportedly part of a special US programme to get Iranian nuclear scientists to defect.

Flashing a victory sign, Mr Amiri returned to Tehran International Airport to be greeted by senior officials and by his tearful wife and seven-year-old son, whom he had not seen since he disappeared in Saudi Arabia during a visit 14 months ago. Iran said it was demanding information about what had happened to him.

The US says that he entered the US of his own free will and had relocated to Tucson, Arizona. The US is claiming that Mr Amiri, who had worked for Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, re-defected because pressure was placed on his family back in Iran, something he denied yesterday. Officials suggested that Iran had used his family to get him to leave the US. >>> Patrick Cockburn | Friday, July 16, 2010

Related articles here

Matrimonio Para Todos! Argentina Legalizes Gay Marriage
THE HUFFINGTON POST: BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina became the first Latin American nation to legalize gay marriage Thursday, granting same-sex couples all the legal rights, responsibilities and protections that marriage brings to heterosexuals.

The law's passage – a priority for President Cristina Fernandez's government – has inspired activists to push for similar laws in other countries, and a wave of gay weddings are expected in Buenos Aires. Some gay business leaders are predicting an economic ripple effect from an increase in tourism among gays and lesbians who will see Argentina as an even more attractive destination.

But it also carries political risks for Fernandez and her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner. The vote divided their governing coalition, and while gay rights have strong support in the capital, anti-gay feelings still run strong in much of Argentine society, where the vast majority of people are Roman Catholic.

"From today onward, Argentina is a more just and democratic country," said Maria Rachid, president of the Argentine Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender federation. The law "not only recognizes the rights of our families, but also the possibility of having access to health care, to leave a pension, to leave our assets to the people with whom we have shared many years of life, including our children," she said.

The 33-27 Senate vote was tallied shortly before dawn, after a marathon debate that touched on religion, ethics, the legacy of Argentina's dictatorship and the challenges of raising children. There were three abstentions. Since the lower house already approved it, the law takes effect within days.

Gays and lesbians who have already found Buenos Aires to be a welcoming place to live will likely rush to the altar, but same-sex couples from other countries will need to live in Argentina before becoming eligible, and the necessary residency documents can take months to obtain. Argentina Gay Marriage Law: First Country In Latin America To Approve Same Sex Marriage >>> Michael Warren | Thursday, July 15, 2010

Néstor Kirchner Asks Catholic Church to 'Become More Modern'
BUENOS AIRES HERALD: Former president Néstor Kirchner considered that "Argentina took a transcendental step forward" by passing the same-sex marriage law and asked the Catholic Church to "become more modern."

"I speak from my religious formation, Catholic, but we aspire with all our strength for the Church to become more modern," Kirchner assured during a rally in the Buenos Aires province locality of Ezeiza.

For the UNASUR Secretary General, with "same-sex marriage" the country "is growing democratically." [Source: Buenos Aires Herald] | Friday, July 16, 2010

Ordination of Women? It’s a ‘Grave Crime’, Says Vatican
MAIL ONLINE: Making a woman a priest is as sinful as abusing a child, the Roman Catholic Church declared yesterday.

New religious rules published by the Vatican set both sins at the same level of gravity and recommended the same punishment for guilty priests.

Church officials in Rome insisted that the new version of Canon Law showed it was 'very, very serious in its commitment to promote safe environments'.

But it had the appearance of an own goal by Pope Benedict XVI in his attempt to cool the scandal over Catholic cover-ups of child abuse by paedophile priests.

Victims' groups protested that criminal offences against children should be given far greater weight than doctrinal arguments over whether women can be ordained.

The Vatican move also appeared badly-timed as it followed the debate in the Church of England over appointing women bishops that won worldwide publicity at the weekend.

The new rules mean that priests can be defrocked or excommunicated for paedophile offences, sexual abuse of mentally handicapped adults or attempting to ordain women.

Acquiring, possessing or distributing child pornography will be regarded as an offence on the same level as physical abuse of children.

Erring priests will be punished by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican department once known as the Inquisition. Vatican labels the ordination of women a 'grave crime' to be dealt with in the same way as sex abuse >>> Steve Doughty | Friday, July 16, 2010

THE GUARDIAN: Catholics angry as church puts female ordination on par with sex abuse: Women's groups describe Vatican's decision on female ordination as 'appalling' >>> John Hooper in Rome and Haroon Siddique | Thursday, July 15, 2010

More Than 2.5m Muslims Threaten to Leave Facebook After Four Islamic Pages Are Taken Down
MAIL ONLINE: More than 2.5million users will leave Facebook unless certain Islamic pages are reinstated, it has been claimed.

A template letter that has been pasted into numerous Facebook pages accuses founder Mark Zuckerberg and other senior members of Facebook of 'ignoring the feelings of more than 2.5million Muslims'.

The Muslim community is angry that four extremely popular Islamic pages were removed from the site and the letter warns that unless its demands are met Facebook's Muslim users will move to an Islamic alternative.

The letter demands not only that the pages are reinstated but that new rules are introduced which make it a violation of Facebook’s terms to post anti-Islamic comments.

And Facebook is given notice that unless the changes are introduced then 2.5 million Muslim users will leave to join madina.com, a social networking site for Muslims.

The letter reads: ‘Although you have attended the world’s best communication skills courses you have been most successful in growing great hatred and hostility between you and Muslims around the world, but seriously this time you have caused an almost unrepairable [sic] damage.’

It also accuses Facebook of ‘irresponsible behaviour’ for allowing to host ‘Everybody Draw Mohammed Day’ pages which sparked controversy for encouraging users to draw portraits of the Prophet. Continue reading and comment >>> Niall Firth | Friday, July 16, 2010

Is Apple Losing Its Touch?
THE INDEPENDENT: Crunch time for technology giant as public love affair with brand turns sour

Apple, the £150bn technology giant, is this morning preparing to confront the biggest public relations crisis in its history, amid technical problems afflicting its latest iPhone and a warning that "an emerging pattern of hubris" could wreck the public's love affair with the company.

It emerged yesterday that senior engineers warned early in the development of the new iPhone 4 that its choice of aerial could lead to dropped calls and poor reception. But the company ignored their concerns and when customers first complained about the fault wrongly blamed the problem on a software glitch.

Today the company will hold an emergency press conference in an attempt to reassure customers – and Wall Street – that it has the problem under control.

On Wall Street, where Apple has been the darling of investors for almost a decade since it unleashed the iPod music player on the world, its shares have tumbled, while the company faces a future of increased scrutiny by competition watchdogs and intense competition from newly-emboldened rivals.

Apple has summoned media and industry players to its headquarters in Cupertino, California, in a mood that is a far cry from the launch event with founder Steve Jobs last month. Then, with typical hyperbole, he declared it “the biggest leap forward” since the launch of the original iPhone in 2007, and 1.7 million people snapped up the new device in just the first two days, making it the company’s most successful product launch ever.

But users immediately started complaining of dropped calls and independent consumer tests laid the blame at the door of the phone’s aerial, which is built into the case of the phone. Continue reading and comment >>> Stephen Foley in New York | Friday, July 16, 2010

Release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi a Mistake*, Government Says
THE GUARDIAN: Announcement comes as Hillary Clinton says she will investigate claims BP lobbied UK government to release Lockerbie bomber

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was released by Scotland on compassionate grounds. Photograph: The Guardian
The new coalition government regards the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie plane bombing as a "mistake", Britain's ambassador to the US has said.

Sir Nigel Sheinwald made the statement as the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said she would look into claims by a group of Democrat senators that BP lobbied the British government to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi to help it secure an oil deal with Libya.

The US Senate's foreign relations committee is holding a hearing into the release of Megrahi on Thursday 29 July, and BP officials have been asked to give evidence.

Last year, the decision to release Megrahi on compassionate grounds was taken by the Scottish government. At the time, Gordon Brown insisted he was not responsible for what happened, but he did say he "respected" the right of Scottish ministers to take the decision, a phrase that was taken as an endorsement of Megrahi's early release.

But last night, Sheinwald issued a statement that made it clear that the coalition government takes a different view.
"The new British government is clear that Megrahi's release was a mistake," Sheinwald said.

He went on: "The British government deeply regrets the continuing anguish that his release on compassionate grounds has caused the families of Megrahi's victims in the UK, as well as in the US. >>> Andrew Sparrow and agencies | Friday, July 16, 2010

*A BIG bloody mistake, too! Clearly a case of putting commercial interests above principle. This was a shameful decision. – © Mark

Geert Wilders to Spread Anti-Muslim Movement to UK
THE TELEGRAPH: Geert Wilders, the controversial anti-Muslim Dutch MP, has said he is forming an international alliance to spread his message to Britain and across the West in a bid to ban immigration from Islamic countries.

Mr Wilders will launch the movement late this year, initially in five countries: the US, Canada, Britain, France and Germany.

"The message, 'stop Islam, defend freedom,' is a message that's not only important for the Netherlands but for the whole free Western world," Mr Wilders said at the Dutch parliament.

Among the group's aims will be outlawing immigration from Islamic countries to the West and a ban on Islamic law.

Starting as a grass-roots movement, he hopes it eventually will produce its own lawmakers or influence other legislators.

Ayhan Tonca, a prominent spokesman for Dutch Muslims, said he feared Mr Wilders' message would fall on fertile ground in much of Europe, where anti-Islam sentiment has been swelling for years.

"So long as things are going badly with the economy, a lot of people always need a scapegoat," Mr Tonca said. "At the moment, that is the Muslims in Western Europe." >>> | Friday, July 16, 2010

David Cameron, Don't Follow Barack Obama
THE TELEGRAPH: When David Cameron visits America next week he will learn a lot – about how not to run a country, says Peggy Noonan.

Dear Mr Cameron, welcome young friend. Welcome to America. Bring your bright, dashing self to our shores. Speak your piece with affection and modesty and go home a wiser man.

As for your own leadership, here is some advice. Do not imitate Mr Obama. He has been a disappointment; learn from his mistakes. America is not Britain and Britain is not America, but the culture of our politics – the polls, the imagery, the fixation on sound bites, the nonsense, the essential shallowness of presentation and of thinking, the inability of political figures to think long term – has grown similar. To your detriment, by the way.

Shall I tell you what Americans think? We think you used to have fusty, occasionally dishevelled, pipe-smoking, brandy-taking, hopelessly avuncular figures as your leaders: no one cared what they looked like, though they were interesting to listen to, or at least to watch moving through murky waters – like Harold Macmillan. Mrs Thatcher, too, was this sort, though never dishevelled. Now you have leaders who are young, sleek, slick, who believe always and almost only in what used to be called public relations and is now called the brand. I name no names. And, actually, I don't mean to be harsh.

You can today go to any office of any great leader in America and Britain – business leader, church leader, political leader – and you will find the great topic of conversation, the great focus of attention, the object of daily obsession, is not the mission (making money, spreading faith, leading an anxious citizenry in the right direction) but how the mission is playing in the media. It's all they talk about. This is very sad but it is not my point, to which I return. (Actually, let me end this section with some political advice. Grow older quicker. Here is a secret of the voters of the Western democracies: we all miss old.)

In Mr Obama's poll numbers this week, CBS News reports 13 per cent of the people think his economic leadership has bettered their lives. That means 87 per cent do not – that is rather a lot. The Rasmussen Reports' daily tracking poll yesterday showed 43 per cent strongly disapprove of his leadership and 26 strongly approve. This is low. These are only two examples of the general slide you discern as people talk about Obama.

Here are the things he got wrong. In the middle of an economic crash, and in the middle of record-breaking federal budgets and budget deficits, Mr Obama started a new entitlement. This struck people, by which I mean almost everyone, as off-point. We are in a crisis, part of the crisis involves spending money we don't have, and our answer is to spend more? It wasn't a policy, it was a non sequitur. Continue reading and comment >>> Peggy Noonan | Friday, July 16, 2010

Peggy Noonan is a columnist for the 'Wall Street Journal' and was a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan

Talk-show Host Tackles Afghan Taboos