Sunday, August 01, 2010
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Prime Minister's comments on terrorism provoke anger in the government and streets of Karachi
David Cameron's comments about Pakistan's alleged links with terrorism threatened to cause a full-scale diplomatic row last night after the country's intelligence officials boycotted a counter-terrorism summit in the UK and demonstrators burned an effigy of the Prime Minister on the streets of Karachi.
Three days before President Asif Ali Zardari is due to arrive in London, members of his intelligence services cancelled a planned conference with British counterparts over the stinging criticism delivered by Mr Cameron in India last week.
Pakistan's information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said yesterday that there was "resentment" in his country over the comments made during a visit to its traditional rival. But, amid warnings that the intervention could cause unrest among young British Pakistanis, he said he hoped the crisis could be resolved when the leaders meet this week at the PM's country retreat, Chequers. >>> Brian Brady, Whitehall Editor | Sunday, August 01, 2010
THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: Among the bayonet-like minarets of ancient Istanbul, an East wind is blowing. It will chill us all... says The Mail On Sunday columnist in the week David Cameron calls for Turkey to join the EU
Down a glum, dark back alley in Istanbul, I found a sinister sight. In a workshop two stern and bearded men were bent over sheets and patches of very black cloth, their sewing-machines whirring urgently.
I was plainly unwelcome and they objected to the very idea of being photographed. I quickly saw why. They were making dark robes and masks for women to wear. They looked to me as if they longed for the day when every woman in sight was clad in their workmanship.
They knew the women would wear them, because one day, not far off, they would have to. These robes would be, literally, a 'must-have' for the women of Turkey.
Those who think of Turkey as a relaxed holiday destination, or as a Westernised Nato member more or less 'on our side' need to revise their view.
And that very much includes our Prime Minister, David Cameron, who last week joined in the fashionable chorus urging Turkish membership of the European Union. Mr Cameron plainly hasn't been properly briefed.
Leave aside the fact that such a step would allow millions of Turks to live and work in Britain, and give us - as EU members - a common border with Syria and Iraq. Mr Cameron really ought to realise that the new Islamist Turkey he so ignorantly praises is much more interested in making friends with Iran than it is in joining the EU. And it is becoming less free and less democratic by the day.
I would say there is a strong chance that we will soon lose Turkey to the Islamic world, much as we lost Iran to the ayatollahs 30 years ago. And there is not much we can do about it - least of all the daft scheme to include this nation in the EU.
Panic-mongering? Well, perhaps. But I would rather monger a bit of panic now than ignore what I saw.
I will come in a moment to the bizarre alleged plot against the Turkish state, which has swept dozens of government opponents into prison in dawn raids.
But first let us take a stroll round the Istanbul district of Fatih. It is noon, and the rival calls to prayer of two mosques are wavering in the baking, humid air.
Not far away is a gigantic Palestinian flag draped over the side of a building. Nearly opposite, a group of pale, intense men in turbans loiter on a street corner whispering into their mobile phones. Where am I? The flag suggests Gaza. The whispering men bring to mind Peshawar or some other Taliban zone.
Or am I in Saudi Arabia? For round the corner comes a phalanx of veiled women, under the vigilant eyes of a bossy man in a prayer cap. There are several grades of these women. First there are the wholly shrouded, their downcast eyes glimpsed through a slot, imprisoned in shapelessness. Most disturbing for me - because I have been to Iran - are those in chadors exactly like those commanded by the ayatollahs in Tehran. There is something particularly harsh about the inverted triangle through which their pale and sombre faces peer.
With them come the women they call 'Tight-heads' - 'Sikmabash' in Turkish. These are a new feature of Istanbul since I was last here a few years ago, in evidence all over this enormous city.
They are mostly young and often attractive. But they have swathed their heads tightly in voluminous, brightly coloured scarves. Their lower limbs are covered by long dresses or trousers, and over this, in the oppressive heat, they wear thin raincoats. Such outfits are available in a successful chain of shops called Tekbir, which means 'God is great'.
Covering up the female sex is big business here now. The owner of an independent Islamic clothes shop complains to me that trade isn't as good as it used to be because he now faces so much competition. He notes that more and more of his clients are young women, rather than conservative rural grandmas. Continue reading and comment >>> Peter Hitchins in Istanbul | Sunday, August 01, 2010
My essays on Turkey joining the UK:
Turkey in the EU >>> Mark Alexander | Friday, September 30, 2005
More Reasons Why Turkey and the EU Should Not Join in Union! >>> Mark Alexander | Saturday, October 01, 2010
THE OBSERVER: Security forces fear wave of terror as austerity programme provokes strikes, protests, violence – and assassination
Greek security forces have warned of a wave of violence reminiscent of the terror that stalked Italy in the seventies after urban guerillas threatened last week to turn the country into a "war zone".
"Greece has entered a new phase of political violence by anarchist-oriented organisations that are more murderous, dangerous, capable and nihilistic than ever before," said Athanasios Drougos, a defence and counter-terrorism analyst in Athens.
"For the first time we are seeing a nexus of terrorist and criminal activity," he said. "These groups don't care about collateral damage, innocent bystanders being killed in the process. They are very extreme."
The threats came from a guerrilla group called the Sect of Revolutionaries, as it claimed credit for the murder of Sokratis Giolas, an investigative journalist. Giolas was shot dead outside his Athenian home on 19 July, in front of his pregant wife.
The gang promised to step up attacks on police, businessmen, prison guards and "corrupt" media – and, for the first time, threatened holidaymakers.
"Tourists should learn that Greece is no longer a safe haven of capitalism," its declaration said.
"We intend to turn it into a war zone of revolutionary activity with arson, sabotage, violent demonstrations, bombings and assassinations, and not a country that is a destination for holidays and pleasure."
In an accompanying picture, the group displayed an arsenal that included AK 47 assault rifles, semi-automatic pistols and brass knuckledusters.
"Our guns are full and they are ready to speak," it said. "We are at war with your democracy." >>> Helena Smith, Athens | Sunday, August 01, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Israel's president has accused the English of being anti-semitic and claimed that MPs pander to Muslim voters.
Shimon Peres said England was "deeply pro-Arab ... and anti-Israeli", adding: "They always worked against us."
He added: "There is in England a saying that an anti-Semite is someone who hates the Jews more than is necessary."
His remarks, made in an interview on a Jewish website, provoked anger from senior MPs and Jewish leaders who said the 87-year-old president had "got it wrong".
But other groups backed the former Israeli prime minister and said the number of anti-semitic incidents had risen dramatically in the UK in recent years.
The controversy follows the furore last week over David Cameron's remark that Gaza was a "prison camp", as he urged Israel to allow aid and people to move freely in and out of the Palestinian territory.
Mr Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who is three years into his seven-year term as president and was awarded an honorary knighthood by the Queen in 2008, said that England's attitude towards Jews was Israel's "next big problem".
"There are several million Muslim voters, and for many members of parliament, that's the difference between getting elected and not getting elected," he said.
"And in England there has always been something deeply pro-Arab, of course, not among all Englishmen, and anti-Israeli, in the establishment.
"They abstained in the [pro-Zionist] 1947 UN partition resolution ... They maintained an arms embargo against us in the 1950s ... They always worked against us. They think the Arabs are the underdogs."
By contrast, relations with Germany, France and Italy were "pretty good", he added. >>> David Harrison and Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem | Saturday, July 31, 2010
Shimon Peres has got this right. MPs do pander to Muslims for votes. Further, the Foreign Office and the establishment of this country has long been pro-Arab. Bravo, Mr Peres for having the courage to state the truth! I applaud you. – © Mark
THE GUARDIAN: Israel president Shimon Peres accuses Britain of pro-Arab bias: Veteran politician claims MPs pander to Muslim voters with anti-Jewish rhetoric and glorify Palestinians as underdogs >>> Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem | Sunday, August 01, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
leJDD.fr: Nicolas Sarkozy l'a évoqué vendredi dans un discours prononcé à Grenoble. Mais l'annonce d'une possible déchéance de la nationalité française des délinquants d'origine étrangère ne passe pas. Opposition et associations dénoncent une menace contraire au principe d'égalité, qui s'aligne sur les thèses du Front national.
Au lendemain du discours de Nicolas Sarkozy à Grenoble, les propos du chef de l'Etat font polémique. S'ils s'insurgent du retour du thème de l'insécurité sur le devant de la scène politique à moins de deux ans de la présidentielle, opposition et associations dénoncent également l'une des principales annonces du président de la République. Vendredi, Nicolas Sarkozy a menacé de déchoir de la nationalité française toute personne d'origine étrangère qui porterait atteinte à la vie d'un policier, d'un gendarme ou d'un représentant de l'autorité publique. >>> Anne-Charlotte Dusseaulx (avec Reuters) - leJDD.fr | Samedi 31 Juillet 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is heading for a shock defeat at elections on August 21 according to a new opinion poll.
Miss Gillard, who became prime minister five weeks ago, has had her election campaign hampered by government in-fighting and damaging cabinet leaks.
Defeat for Miss Gillard, though still considered unlikely by most other opinion polls and political experts, would sink her plans to place a 30 per cent tax on iron ore and coal mines, to introduce carbon-trading and to build a $33 billion broadband network.
Miss Gillard took the leadership of Australia from unpopular premier Kevin Rudd, who was dumped by his own Labor MPs.
But their gamble on the country's first woman prime minister leading them back to government is looking riskier by the day. >>> | Saturday, July 31, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Al Gore, the former Vice President, will not be prosecuted over allegations by a masseuse that he groped and assaulted her in his Oregon hotel room in 2006, the county prosecutor has confirmed.
District Attorney Michael Schrunk said the case has numerous problems and is not appropriate for a criminal prosecution.
Mr Gore, who served as US Vice President under Bill Clinton, denied the charges, including under questioning July 22 by local detectives. His aides welcomed the news.
"Mr Gore unequivocally and emphatically denied this accusation when he first learned of its existence three years ago," spokesman Kalee Kreider said in a statement. "He respects and appreciates the thorough and professional work of the Portland authorities and is pleased that this matter has now been resolved." >>> | Saturday, July 31, 2010
YAHOO! NEWS: A group of demonstrators in Pakistan have burned an effigy of David Cameron in protest at the recent comments made by the Prime Minister.
The British politician provoked an angry response this week when he told an audience in India that elements in Pakistan were promoting the export of terror.
About a dozen activists with the group Shabab-e-Milli, an affiliate of the radical Jamate Islami, chanted anti-PM slogans outside the Karachi Press Club.
The protesters shouted "Down with Cameron," and held up a banner reading "David Camroon - The loos mouth".
Rally organiser Mohammad Yousuf Munir called on his country to cut diplomatic ties with the UK.
He added: "There should be a protest on an international level as Pakistan is working in coordination with the international community in its war against terror. It's a sheer injustice."
Pakistan's information minister, Qamar Zaman Kaira, said there was "resentment" in his country over Mr Cameron's comments. >>> Sky News | Saturday, July 31, 2010
GALA.fr: Depuis le XVIe siècle, le chef d'Etat français partage avec l'évêque espagnol d'Urgell le titre de coprince d'Andorre, petit territoire montagneux de 468 km2 et 84 000 habitants, enclavé dans les Pyrénées.
Pour tourner la page d'une période orageuse qu'il avait ouverte en menaçant d’abdiquer si la principauté ne sortait pas de la liste des paradis fiscaux, Son Altesse Sarko a décidé d’honorer ses sujets, au cœur de l'été. >>> | Vendredi 30 Juillet 2010
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: The city that never sleeps? Tell that to New York's bedbugs. The tiny blood suckers specialize in feeding off sleeping bodies and this summer in the Big Apple they're enjoying the pickings of their lives, specialists say.
Related articles here and here
HT: Jihad Watch >>>
CNN: Church plans Quran-burning event: In protest of what it calls a religion "of the devil," a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida, plans to host an "International Burn a Quran Day" on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks. >>> Lauren Russell, CNN | Saturday, July 31, 2010
Rick Sanchez seems to be totally oblivious of the fact that Muslims trash Bibles all the time. Go, Sir, to Saudi Arabia for a trip, and take a Bible with you. Then see what happens to your Bible! – © Mark
Related >>>
WELT ONLINE: Der Erfolg einer religiösen Talentshow ist symptomatisch dafür, wie die einstige Liberalität Malaysias langsam schwindet.
Asyraf hat das verzückte Gesicht zum Himmel erhoben. Der 26-Jährige steht allein im grellen Licht der Scheinwerfer und reckt beschwörend die Hände in die Höhe, als er seine Stimme dramatisch anschwellen lässt. Vor seinem Kinn ist ein modernes Kopfmikrophon befestigt – die einzige Parallele zu westlichen Talentshows, die diesem TV-Programm aus Malaysia als Vorbild dienten. Asyraf schmettert keinen schwülstigen Popsong, er predigt. Die Predigt ist die letzte große Herausforderung der malaysischen Castingshow „Imam Muda“, junger Imam. Zwei der ursprünglich zehn Kandidaten sind noch übrig: Muhammad Asyraf Bin Mohd Ridzuan und der 27-jährige Hizbur Rahman Bin Omar Zuhdi. Noch einmal müssen sie beim großen Finale der Talentshow zeigen, was sie können. Noch einmal darin wetteifern, wer der beste Nachwuchsimam des Landes ist.
Schließlich kommt die Stunde der Entscheidung – und das ganze Land hält den Atem an. In langen schwarzen Mänteln mit goldenen Borten stehen die beiden Finalisten da, stocksteif, die Hände vor dem Bauch verschränkt. Bewegt wird sich grundsätzlich nicht viel bei „Imam Muda“. Endlich bricht der gestrenge Ustaz Hasan Mahmud al-Hafiz, der „Dieter Bohlen“ der Show und früherer Chef-Imam der Nationalmoschee, die Spannung. Mit schnarrender Stimme verkündet er den Sieger: Asyraf, der 26-jährige Religionsstudent aus dem Bundesstaat Penang, ist der „Imam Muda“, Malaysias Religionsführer der Zukunft.
Die Castingshow hat in dem südostasiatischen Staat sämtliche Rekorde gebrochen. Islamisches Reality-Fernsehen: In der Erfolgssendung des Kabelsenders Astro Oasis traten zehn Wochen lang junge Männer zwischen 18 und 27 Jahren gegeneinander an. Sie maßen sich in Religionswissen und Riten, in Theorie und Praxis. Sie mussten Leichen waschen, Schafe schlachten und jungen Mädchen vorehelichen Sex ausreden – und das alles vor den strengen Augen der Religions-Juroren. Kein Fernsehen, keine Handys, kein Internet >>> Von Sophie Mühlmann | Samstag, 31. Juli 2010
PROFIL ONLINE: Haiders zwölf Briefkästen: Der verstorbene Kärntner Landeshauptmann soll 45 Millionen Euro aus dunklen Kanälen nach Liechtenstein geschleust haben. Bei Kontoöffnungen stießen die Behörden auf ein dichtes Netz an Treuhandkonstruktionen.
Die Geschichte war bisher nicht viel mehr als eine Zote. Aber sie ist so unterhaltsam, dass sie in politischen Zirkeln seit geraumer Zeit als Bonmot kursiert – und das weit über die Kärntner Landesgrenzen hinaus.
Sie geht so: Kurz nach dem Unfalltod von Jörg Haider im Oktober 2008 werden bei dessen Witwe Claudia zwei Herren vorstellig. Die Brüder Kurt und Uwe Scheuch. Der eine ist Klubobmann des BZÖ im Kärntner Landtag, der andere Landesrat. Die langjährigen Weggefährten des Landeshauptmanns plagt eine Frage, die sie der Hinterbliebenen ohne Umschweife stellen: „Claudia, wo ist das Geld?“
Frau Haiders Antwort wird in der Anekdote nicht überliefert. Heute, zwei Jahre später, verdichten sich die Hinweise, dass dahinter sehr viel mehr stecken dürfte.
Jörg Haider hat nach profil-Recherchen im Laufe seiner politischen Karriere ein weit verzweigtes Netzwerk von Treuhandkonten in Liechtenstein aufgezogen, über das er Millionen Euro verschieben ließ. Geld, von dessen Existenz nur ein handverlesener Kreis von Personen wusste. Jetzt beschäftigt es die Staatsanwaltschaften dreier Länder. Exklusiv: Haider soll 45 Millionen Euro nach Liechtenstein geschleust haben >>> Von Michael Nikbakhsh und Ulla Schmid | Samstag, 31. Juli 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Far-right Austrian leader Joerg Haider secretly had £40 million in Liechtenstein: More than 45 million euros in undeclared cash belonging to Austria’s late far-right leader Joerg Haider has been found in the secretive European principality of Liechtenstein, according to reports. >>> | Sunday, August 01, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Israel has carried out air strikes on targets in Gaza after militants in the territory fired a rocket into the Jewish city of Ashkelon, the first such attack in more than a year.
Late on Friday, aircraft shot at least four missiles at buildings used by Hamas security forces in Gaza City, wounding eight, medics said.
Warplanes also hit smuggling tunnels on the border with Egypt, without causing casualties, witnesses said.
Palestinians reported several explosions in Gaza City and Israeli aircraft could be heard flying over the territory.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The earlier rocket attack, seen by some observers as an attempt to undermine the possible resumption of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, marked a significant escalation in the attritional campaign Islamist groups based in Gaza have waged on Israeli civilians living nearby.
It came a day after Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo told Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, that they would not stand in his way if he decided to talk to Israel face-to-face. >>> Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem | Friday, July 30, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: He was a mentor to Lawrence of Arabia, a maverick explosives expert who played a pivotal role in the Arab insurgency against the Ottoman Empire.
But the part that Major Herbert Garland, a British scientist turned soldier, played in the First World War has largely been ignored, airbrushed from history in the wake of his more famous brother-in-arms.
Now the Royal Society of Chemistry is to finally commemorate the army officer who wrecked his health leading the Arab rebellion before dying forgotten and almost penniless in Gravesend aged just 38.
Dr Richard Pike, chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), said he was a very rare and "courageous soldier" who was admired by TE Lawrence for his daring and cleverness.
“I am pleased that we are remembering him now, even if it is nine decades after his rather lonely death, far from the desert where his reputation should have been made, as it was with Lawrence, who had learned so much from him,” he said. >>> Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent | Friday, July 30, 2010
THE NEW YORK TIMES: An influential Jewish organization on Friday announced its opposition to a proposed Islamic center and mosque two blocks north of ground zero in Lower Manhattan, intensifying a fierce national debate about the limits of religious freedom and the meaning of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The decision by the group, the Anti-Defamation League, touched off angry reactions from a range of religious groups, which argued that the country would show its tolerance and values by welcoming the center near the site where radical Muslims killed about 2,750 people.
But the unexpected move by the ADL, a mainstream group that has denounced what it saw as bigoted attacks on plans for the Muslim center, could well be a turning point in the battle over the project.
In New York, where ground zero has slowly blended back into the fabric of the city, government officials appear poised to approve plans for the sprawling complex, which would have as many as 15 stories and would house a prayer space, a performing arts center, a pool and a restaurant.
But around the country opposition is mounting, fueled in part by Republican leaders and conservative pundits. Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee, has urged “peace-seeking Muslims” to reject the center, branding it an “unnecessary provocation.” A Republican political action committee has produced a television commercial assailing the proposal. And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has decried it in speeches.
The complex’s rapid evolution from a local zoning dispute into a national referendum highlights the intense and unsettled emotions that still surround the World Trade Center site nine years after the attacks.
To many New Yorkers, especially in Manhattan, it is a construction zone, passed during the daily commute or glimpsed through office windows. To some outside of the city, though, it stands as a hallowed battlefield that must be shielded and memorialized.
Those who are fighting the project argue that building a house of Muslim worship so close to ground zero is at best an affront to the families of those who died there and at worst an act of aggression that would, they say, mark the place where radical Islam achieved a blow against the United States. >>> Michael Barbaro | Friday, July 30, 2010
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Armed with a new $400,000 grant and the support of the Episcopal Church, a Berkeley seminary is convening priests from across the country to craft the liturgical rite for same-sex couples to receive religious blessings.
The new rite, which will take years to complete, will most likely consist of a series of original prayers, Bible readings and two essays: one on the theological meaning of same-sex blessings, and one advising priests who administer the new rite. If approved, the new blessing would be just the third addition to Episcopal liturgy since 1979.
“This is very significant,” said the Rev. Ruth Meyers, chairwoman of the church’s Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music, who is heading the effort. “It does acknowledge a fuller participation of gays and lesbians in the life of the church.” >>> Richard Parks | Thursday, July 29, 2010
THE NEW YORK TIMES: FRANKFURT — Before Abi left her parents’ house in northern Germany last year, she asked her father, “Daddy, what can I bring you from my journey?” He looked up from his book and answered, “Some perfumed oil.” “Will do,” she said, hugging him goodbye.
He is still waiting, more than a year later, for her to return.
Abi, now 23, and her husband never made the trip they said they had planned to Saudi Arabia to visit Mecca and Medina. Instead they became part of a growing number of young Muslims from Germany and other European countries who travel to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, eventually ending up in the camps of groups affiliated with Al Qaeda or the Taliban.
One German man, Eric Breininger, was later reported killed in a battle with Pakistani troops.
A Turkish-language Web site announced that in recent days nine foreign fighters were killed as they traveled to carry out operations with the Taliban. Two of them were identified as Germans, from Bonn and Berlin.
Others have been arrested on a variety of charges. In one case, several people were convicted of planning attacks against American military facilities in Germany.
Intelligence officials are concerned that the young people, most in their 20s, will be used by the militants for propaganda purposes or trained to take up arms. They also worry that some will slip back into Germany to recruit others or to join sleeper cells and ultimately commit acts of terrorism.
“This is a very dangerous situation and German security services are very nervous about it,” said Guido Steinberg, terrorism expert of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. “Al Qaeda and other organizations have put Germany on their target priority list as one of the top places.” >>> Souad Mekhennet | Friday, July 30, 2010
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Wegen der langen Hitzeperiode sind in Russland mehrere Waldbrände ausgebrochen. Mehr als 20 Menschen wurden dabei schon getötet. Einschätzungen von Christof Franzen, SF-Korrespondent, in Moskau
Verbunden / Related >>>
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Am Samstag heiratet die frühere Präsidententochter Chelsea Clinton den Investmentbanker Marc Mezvinsky. Es wird die wohl spektakulärste US-Hochzeit des Jahres.
Wahnsinnig romantisch und ganz sicher wahnsinnig teuer: Chelsea Clintons Hochzeit schlägt alle Rekorde. Während eine Hochzeit in den Vereinigten Staaten üblicherweise um die 24'000 Dollar (knapp 25'000 Franken) kostet, beläuft sich der Aufwand bei Chelsea nach Schätzungen von Hochzeitsexperten auf mehrere Millionen Dollar. Allein die Torte könnte demnach 20'800 Franken kosten.
Designerkleid für Chelsea Clinton soll über 20'000 Franken kosten
Sally Kilbridge, stellvertretende Chefredakteurin der Zeitschrift «Brides», rechnet damit, dass Chelsea Clinton ein Kleid der bekannten US-Designerin Vera Wang tragen wird. Schliesslich sei sie dabei fotografiert worden, wie sie in eine New Yorker Boutique der Designerin ging. Ein massgeschneidertes Kleid von Wang kostet um die 20'800 Franken, wie Kilbridge erklärt. Auch beim Blumenschmuck werde sich Chelsea nicht zurückhalten, glaubt Kilbridge, er falle sicher sehr glamourös aus. Kosten in Höhe von 300'000 Franken hält die Redakteurin für denkbar. Dies sei gar nicht mal so viel Geld, wenn man bedenke, dass US-Unternehmer Donald Trump sich die Blumen bei seiner Hochzeit über eine halbe Million Franken habe kosten lassen. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> | Freitag, 30. Juli 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Bill and Hillary Clinton sent the town of Rhinebeck into a frenzy as they gathered with friends and family ahead of daughter Chelsea's wedding.
The Clintons arrived at the Beekman Arms Hotel, where many of their guests are thought to be staying, shortly before 11pm.
Arm in arm, Mr and Mrs Clinton descended from their blacked-out car – the former First Lady, wearing a long green dress, waved to the cheering crowd waiting behind metal barricades – and quickly went into the hotel. The couple left about a half-hour later.
Earlier in the day, the former president of the USA made an appearance around lunchtime, popping out of a car and walking to a restaurant, greeting people on his way.
"We love it here," he said to well-wishers who called out to him.
"Chelsea loves the area as well."
Asked what he thinks of his daughter's fiancé, Marc Mezvinsky, Mr Clinton replied: "I like him very much, I really do. I admire him. Hillary feels the same way."
The sight of an ex-president captivated many in the crowd. >>> | Saturday, July 31, 2010
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Is Chelsea Clinton Setting a Bad Example? >>> Brett Arends | Friday, July 30, 2010
DETROIT FREE PRESS: The Arab American National Museum in Dearborn has launched a fund-raising drive to pay for a statue of legendary journalist Helen Thomas that concerns some in the Jewish community.
Thomas, a former White House correspondent and native Detroiter born to Lebanese immigrants, was forced to quit her job at Hearst Newspapers last month after saying Israelis should "get the hell out of Palestine." She apologized.
On Tuesday, the museum started a 45-day campaign to raise the remaining $10,000 for the roughly $30,000 statue. Some in the Jewish community are wary of honoring Thomas.
"I just hope that the support for this memorial is there despite her anti-Israel and anti-Semitic views and not because of them," said Richard Nodel, president of the Jewish Community Relations Council.
Anan Ameri, director of the museum, said she disagrees with her comments, but Thomas "spent her life ... doing a lot of good things." >>> Niraj Warikoo, Free Press Staff Writer | Thursday, July 29, 2010
HT: Weasel Zippers >>>
SKY NEWS: On his first official visit to Turkey David Cameron has pledged to support the country's bid for EU membership.
* Yes, Mr Cameron, and it makes us angry that we are being led by weak and ill-informed politicians like you who are not prepared to safeguard our Judeo-Christian civilization from the onslaught of Islam! And believe me, it will be one huge onslaught if Turkey is allowed into the EU. It’s bad enough as things stand. You people do nothing to stop the destruction of Western values. That makes us angry!
It is to be hoped that Germany and France will continue to thwart the efforts of the arrogant British establishment who are working assiduously to bring Turkey into the EU against the wishes of the majority of the British people. The Foreign Office and politicians like you, Mr Cameron, should be working FOR the people, not AGAINST them, since after all is said and done, it’s the taxpayer that keeps you people in employment.
So a little less arrogance and a little more listening to the wishes of the electorate would go a hell of a long way. – © Mark
THE TELEGRAPH: Women are attracted to macho men and see modesty as a sign of evolutionary weakness, a study has shown.
Research suggested that females have found the rise of the “more feminine man”, or “metrosexual”, a big turn-off.
Women see modesty amonsgt men as a poor character trait that could adversely affect their employability or earnings potential.
The study of 132 female and 100 male student volunteers found, however, that men did not view female modesty negatively. >>> Peter Hutchison | Friday, July 30, 2010
LE MONDE: Après avoir rompu les relations diplomatiques avec son voisin colombien la semaine dernière, le président vénézuélien Hugo Chavez a affirmé, vendredi 30 juillet, que son pays avait déployé des unités d'infanterie et de l'armée de l'air à la frontière avec la Colombie, en prévision d'une éventuelle attaque de cette dernière.
"Nous avons déployé des troupes, de l'armée de l'air (...) de l'infanterie, mais en silence parce que nous ne voulons déranger personne dans la population", a-t-il déclaré par téléphone à la télévision d'Etat VTV, sans donner de détails sur les troupes déployées. "Uribe [président sortant de Colombie] est capable de n'importe quoi dans les jours qui lui restent [au pouvoir] (...) Cela est devenu une menace de guerre et nous ne voulons pas la guerre", a poursuivi M. Chavez. Arrivé au terme de son dernier mandat, Alvaro Uribe transmettra ses pouvoirs le 7 août à son successeur élu Juan Manuel Santos. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec AFP et Reuters | Samedi 31 Juillet 2010
ZEIT ONLINE: Die islamistische Hamas hat ein neues Verbot verhängt, um die öffentliche Moral wieder herzustellen: Damenunterwäsche darf nicht mehr in Schaufenstern ausgestellt werden.
Die im Gaza-Streifen herrschende Hamas-Organisation hat Damenunterwäsche in Schaufenstern verboten. Damit solle die öffentliche Moral in der palästinensischen Gesellschaft wieder hergestellt werden, sagte Polizeisprecher Aiman Batnidschi in Gaza.
Unter das Verbot fallen auch Schaufensterpuppen. Darüber hinaus müssen Ladenbesitzer künftig Sicherheitskameras abschalten und die Türen zu ihren Geschäften offen halten. Polizisten würden Ausschau halten, ob es zwischen Verkäufern und Kundinnen zu einem "verdächtigen Verhalten" komme, sagte der Sprecher. Er wies zugleich Vorwürfe zurück, die Hamas wolle die Gesellschaft weiter islamisieren. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> Zeit Online, dpa | Donnerstag, 29. Juli 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's supporters call for support to free her from prison, after sentence was changed to hanging
The Iranian woman whose sentence of death by stoning was commuted to hanging after an international campaign, today sent a message from inside Tabriz prison calling for further support so that she might be reunited with her children.
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, said she thinks of nothing other than hugging her children and that she was mentally broken when authorities flogged her 99 times in front of her then 17-year-old son, Sajad.
She thanked the world for launching the campaign for her release but said part of her "heart is frozen". "Every night before I go to sleep, I think who would throw stones at me?", she said.
The message was read by Mina Ahadi, of the Iran Committee against Stoning (ICAS), at a press conference in Conway Hall, in London, this morning.
"Put Sakineh's picture beside Neda Agha-Soltan's and don't let Iran repeat what it did with Neda again with Sakineh," said Ahadi, an Iranian human rights activist. Agha-Soltan was shot to death in the aftermath of Iran's disputed election in June 2009 and became a symbol of Iran's post-election rebellion. >>> Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Friday, July 30, 2010
ZEIT ONLINE: Neturei Karta ist eine Gruppe ultraorthodoxer Juden, die gegen den Staat Israel kämpft. Ihr Leiter will Berater der palästinensischen Regierung werden.
Rabbi Meir Hirsh sitzt in seiner Wohnung in Me’a Sche’arim und wartet. Es ist das Viertel der ultraorthodoxen Juden in Jerusalem. Weiße Häuser, Balkone aus geschwungenen Eisenstangen, alles ein wenig schmuddelig. Putz bröckelt, auf manchen Hausmauern sind Graffiti zu sehen: eine palästinensische Flagge, ein Hakenkreuz. Ultraorthodoxe Juden eilen schnellen Schrittes durch die engen Gassen. Eine Treppe aus weißem Stein führt zur Wohnung von Rabbi Meir Hirsh. Er möchte Berater der palästinensischen Regierung werden.
"Ein Jude ist kein Zionist" steht auf seinem Klingelschild. Meir Hirsh trägt einen schwarzen Mantel, einen luftigen, langen weißroten Bart, die Judenlocken locken sich nicht. Auf dem Kopf sitzt ein Hut, auf der Nase eine dicke Hornbrille. Der Rabbi wartet auf einen Anruf, eine E-Mail, auf einen Brief von Palästinenserpräsident Mahmud Abbas. Mit ihm ist er in regem Kontakt, er will Berater der palästinensischen Regierung werden.
Seit drei Monaten leitet Rabbi Meir Hirsh die Organisation Neturei Karta, eine Gruppierung von ultraorthodoxen Juden, die gegen Israel kämpft. Die Errichtung des Staates Israels von Menschenhand spreche gegen die Thora. Hier steht geschrieben, dass erst nach Ankunft des Messias ein jüdischer Staat entsteht, durch göttliche Fügung. Bis dahin sei es Juden erlaubt hier zu leben, aber nur unter der Führung eines anderen Volkes. >>> Von Viktoria Kleber | Freitag, 30. Juli 2010
ABC News: Forest fires sweeping across eastern Russia have killed at least 25 people and the forced the evacuation of thousands in the hottest weather since records began 130 years ago.
Fanned by strong winds, fires ripped through woods and fields that have been scorched for weeks by a heatwave, incinerating hundreds of wooden houses.
"We don't know where to go," said Galina Shibanova, 52, standing outside her burning home in the town of Maslovka in the Voronezh region, about 500 kilometres south of Moscow.
"We called the emergency services, and not one person answered the phone," said Ms Shibanova.
Igor Vlasnev, head of the Voronezh region fire services, said the situation was expected to worsen on Saturday because of rising temperatures.
"Everyone is waiting, and wishing, for rain," he said.
"The forecast for tomorrow is that the situation will worsen both in terms of temperature and wind conditions, which are expected to change (on Saturday night)."
Russia has been sweltering since June in a heatwave that has destroyed crops and pushed thousands of farmers to the verge of bankruptcy. >>> Reuters | Saturday, July 31, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Pakistan's intelligence agency has cancelled planned talks with security experts in Britain following David Cameron's claim that elements within the country are promoting the export of terror, it is reported.
Mr Cameron's comments sparked outrage in Islamabad during this week's trip to India.
The decision precedes a three-day visit to the UK by Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani President, during which he is expected to stay with the Prime Minister at his country home, Chequers.
The Times reported that senior officers from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had been due to come to London for talks on counter-terrorism co-operation with British security services.
An ISI spokesman sadi: ''The visit has been cancelled in reaction to the comments made by the British Prime Minister against Pakistan.'' >>> | Saturday, July 31, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: David Cameron's outspoken comments about Pakistan smack of hypocrisy and grandstanding, says Charles Moore.
Since David Cameron is setting a fashion for being blunt, let's join in. He got his tour this week to Turkey and India wrong.
In advance, everyone was promised that British foreign policy would now be politically and financially realistic. It would eschew Blairite ambitions to put the world to rights. It would strengthen bilateral relations and boost trade. Diplomats would no longer be valued for their thoughtful telegrams about the situation in Ruritania, but by their ability to get out and sell British goods and services. We must cut our coat according to our cloth, was the message – and then flog the coat abroad.
And so it was that a huge party of ministers and businessmen accompanied the Prime Minister to the sub-continent, talking about contracts, green initiatives and universities.
But, by Wednesday, things were not going quite right. I was struck by a juxtaposition of stories in this newspaper. One carried the headline: "Gaza is like a prison camp, says PM." Next door, was a report in which Mr Cameron proclaimed that he was approaching India with "humility". Although the Gaza remarks were made in Turkey, not India, the stories did not sit happily together. Was Mr Cameron being blunt or humble? It's hard to be both at once.
When he actually reached India, he did not lower the temperature. Speaking in Bangalore, he said that "we cannot tolerate the idea that this country [Pakistan] is allowed to look both ways and is able… to promote the export of terror". The new Foreign Secretary, William Hague, tactfully explained that the Prime Minister "wasn't accusing anyone of double-dealing". But anyone not trained as a politician or diplomat could see that he was.
Faced with protests, Mr Cameron decided to defend himself. He was simply an honest man abroad, was the line. The British people, he said, did not expect him "to go around the world telling people what they wanted to hear".
Yet the fault in his "gaffes" had something to do with the fact that he was telling his immediate audience what it wanted to hear. In saying that Gaza was a "prison camp", without even mentioning Hamas, he was repeating the line of his host, the Turkish prime minister, Recep Erdogan. Mr Erdogan recently said: "I do not accept Hamas as a terrorist organisation", and one Hamas leader declared: "Mr Erdogan has become our voice." Everything, for Mr Erdogan and for Hamas, is the fault of Israel. Mr Cameron seemed to endorse this. Continue reading and comment >>> Charles Moore | Saturday, July 31, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy's dream of having his own presidential jet to rival America's Air Force One are about to come true with "Air Sarko One", a £150 million aircraft complete with bedroom, air filter system so he can smoke cigars, and a shower.
The specially upholstered Airbus A330-200, has just been taken on its first test flight in Bordeaux, southwestern France, with all internal fittings due for completion by October.
The plane will also include a 12-man meeting room, 60 business class seats, top-grade encrypted communications systems, a reinforced fuselage and missile decoy system.
A fleet of smaller jets is also to replace the current Falcon 50 and 900 models at ministers' disposal. This includes two Falcon 7Xs, models often favoured by the world's jet set.
Presidential air force officials have dubbed it "Air Carla One" after his ex-supermodel wife.
The French leader is understood to have long envied the luxurious conditions in which Barack Obama, the US President flies across the world in his Boeing 747-200B, and has complained that his two smaller Airbus A319s lacked the necessary presidential stature. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Friday, July 30, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Israeli rabbis are to clamp down on the growing number of devout Jewish women wearing the burka by declaring the garment an item of sexual deviancy.
At the insistence of the husbands of some burka-wearing women, a leading rabbinical authority is to issue an edict declaring burka wearing a sexual fetish that is as promiscuous as wearing too little.
A small group of ultra-orthodox Jews in the town of Beit Shemesh chose to don the burka, usually associated with women in repressive Islamist regimes, three years ago in a bid to protect their modesty.
Since then, the habit has spread to five other Israeli towns causing alarm among ultra-orthodox religious leaders who once saw it as a relatively harmless eccentricity – even though the number of Jewish burka wearers is not thought to be more than a few hundred.
“There is a real danger that by exaggerating, you are doing the opposite of what is intended [resulting in] severe transgressions in sexual matters,” Shlomo Pappenheim, a member of the rabbinical authority preparing to make the edict, was quoted as saying. >>> Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem | Friday, July 30, 2010
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Wer an Scharia hört, denkt an die Steinigung von Ehebrecherinnen. Tatsächlich steht die Scharia in manchen Teilen im Widerspruch zu den Menschenrechten. Trotzdem gibt es in Grossbritannien seit Jahrzehnten legale Schariah-Gerichte. Doch auch Muslime kritisieren diese religiöse Sondergerichte.
TELEGRAPH – BLOG – ANDREW GILLIGAN: Fundamentalists one step closer to power: Lutfur Rahman, the politician who was three times barred by the Labour Party from its shortlist for the powerful elected mayoralty of Tower Hamlets, is today back on the list after a legal challenge. >>> Andrew Gilligan | Friday, July 30, 2010
THE NEW YORK TIMES: It is just a technical matter, the Obama administration says: We just need to make a slight change in a law to make clear that we have the right to see the names of anyone’s e-mail correspondents and their Web browsing history without the messy complication of asking a judge for permission.
It is far more than a technical change. The administration’s request, reported Thursday in The Washington Post, is an unnecessary and disappointing step backward toward more intrusive surveillance from a president who promised something very different during the 2008 campaign. …
… President Obama campaigned for office on an explicit promise to rein in these abuses. “There is no reason we cannot fight terrorism while maintaining our civil liberties,” his campaign wrote in a 2008 position paper. “As president, Barack Obama would revisit the Patriot Act to ensure that there is real and robust oversight of tools like National Security Letters, sneak-and-peek searches, and the use of the material witness provision.”
Where is the “robust oversight” that voters were promised? Earlier this year, the administration successfully pushed for crucial provisions of the Patriot Act to be renewed for another year without changing a word. Voters had every right to expect the president would roll back authority that had been clearly abused, like national security letters. But instead of implementing reasonable civil liberties protections, like taking requests for e-mail surveillance before a judge, the administration is proposing changes to the law that would allow huge numbers of new electronic communications to be examined with no judicial oversight.
Democrats in Congress can remind Mr. Obama of his campaign promises by refusing this request. Read it all here >>> | Thursday, July 29, 2010
ASSOCIATED PRESS: BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — An architect and a retired office worker are the first couple to wed under Argentina's historic law legalizing same-sex marriage.
Jose Luis Navarro and Miguel Angel Calefato said "I do" Friday morning in the city of Frias, Santiago del Estero Province, shortly after the law took effect.
They have been partners for 27 years. >>> AP | Friday, July 30, 2010
ADVOCATE.COM: Gay Couples Wed in Argentina: The first couples have tied the knot under Argentina’s historic law legalizing same-sex marriage. >>> Advocate.com Editors | Friday, July 30, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: President Nicolas Sarkozy has given warning that France will strip French nationality from any immigrant who uses violence against police or public officials.
"French nationality should be stripped from anybody who has threatened the life of a police officer or anybody involved in public policing," Mr Sarkozy said.
Speaking in the eastern city of Grenoble, scene in recent weeks of clashes between police and armed rioters, Mr Sarkozy said that foreign minors who commit crimes would henceforth find it harder to get citizenship on coming of age.
And he promised to review the welfare payments made to non-documented immigrants living in France, in a speech made amid renewed accusations that he had swerved to the right to distract from his political woes. >>> | Friday, July 30, 2010
* Is Nicolas Sarkozy the only politician with balls in the West? – © Mark
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Sarkozy: «La nationalité française se mérite» : IMMIGRÉS NATURALISÉS | Le président français veut pouvoir déchoir de leur nationalité les Français d’origine étrangère en cas d’atteinte à la vie d’un policier. >>> AP | Vendredi 30 Juillet 2010
GUARDIAN – BLOG – GREENSLADE: Time magazine's latest issue carries this disturbing cover image. It's a portrait of Aisha, a shy 18-year-old Afghan woman who was sentenced by a Taliban commander to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws.
Aisha posed for the picture because she wants the world to see the effect a Taliban resurgence would have on the women of Afghanistan.
Her picture is accompanied by a powerful story on how Afghan women have embraced the freedoms that have come from the defeat of the Taliban — and how they fear a Taliban revival.
Richard Stengel, Time's managing editor, writes: "I thought long and hard about whether to put this image on the cover... First, I wanted to make sure of Aisha's safety and that she understood what it would mean to be on the cover. Continue reading and comment >>> Roy Greenslade | Friday, July 30, 2010
TIME: The Plight of Afghan Women: A Disturbing Picture >>> Richard Stengel, Managing Editor | Thursday, July 29, 2010
TIME: Women of Afghanistan: Living Under the Taliban Threat – Photographer Jodi Bieber meets the extraordinary women of a war-torn nation >>>
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