Barack Obama Reaches Out to Muslim World in Indonesia
THE GUARDIAN: US president urges all sides to look beyond 'suspicion and mistrust' to forge common ground against terrorism

President Barack Obama arrives on stage to deliver a speech at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta. Photograph: The Guardian
In the Muslim nation that was his boyhood home, President Barack Obama acknowledged today that US relations are still frayed with the Islamic world despite his best efforts at repair. He urged all sides to look beyond "suspicion and mistrust" to forge common ground against terrorism.

Forcefully returning to a theme he sounded last year in visits to Turkey and Egypt, Obama said: "I have made it clear that America is not and never will be at war with Islam ... Those who want to build must not cede ground to terrorists who seek to destroy."

Beaming with pride, Obama delivered perhaps the most intensely personal speech of his presidency, speaking phrases in Indonesian to a cheering crowd of more than 6,000 mostly young people who claimed him as their own. "Let me begin with a simple statement: Indonesia is part of me," he said in Indonesian at the University of Indonesia.

He praised the world's most populous Muslim nation for standing its ground against "violent extremism" and said: "All of us must defeat al-Qaida and its affiliates, who have no claim to be leaders of any religion. This is not a task for America alone." >>> Associated Press in Jakarta | Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Guardian Photo Gallery: Barack Obama visits Indonesia: US president returns to Jakarta, where he lived for four years as a child, to meet the president and visit the country's largest mosque >>> | Tuesday, November 09, 2010

[Obama] said both sides have a choice: either "be defined by our differences and give in to a future of suspicion and mistrust" or "do the hard work of forging common ground and commit ourselves to the steady pursuit of progress." [Source: The Guardian]

Barack Obama Asia Trip: US President Reaches Out to Muslims in Indonesia
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama has acknowledged that US relations are still frayed with the Islamic world despite his best efforts and urged all sides to look beyond "suspicion and mistrust" to forge common ground against terrorism.

Speaking in Indonesia, where he lived from the ages of six to ten, he declared that "Indonesia is a part of me".

And he forcefully returned to a theme that he sounded last year in visits to Turkey and Egypt.

He said: "I have made it clear that America is not and never will be at war with Islam. ... Those who want to build must not cede ground to terrorists who seek to destroy."

Beaming with pride, Mr Obama delivered perhaps the most intensely personal speech of his presidency, speaking phrases in Indonesian to a cheering crowd of more than 6,000 mostly young people who claimed him as their own. It felt oddly like one of the campaign speeches Mr Obama had been giving in the US, with music blaring over speakers inside the auditorium.

For Mr Obama's standing abroad, the speech was closely watched and consequential, an update on America's "new beginning" with Muslims that he promised last year in Cairo.

"Let me begin with a simple statement: Indonesia is part of me," he said in Indonesian at the University of Indonesia. Read on and comment >>> | Wednesday, November 10, 2010

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Muslim minister defends shaking Michelle Obama's hand: A conservative Muslim government minister admits he shook hands with Michelle Obama, the US First Lady, in welcoming her to Indonesia but says it was not his choice. >>> | Tuesday, November 09, 2010

THE GUARDIAN: Barack Obama returns to Jakarta and confesses 'I barely recognise it': Vist to capital of Indonesia – home to US president in 1960s – stripped to diplomatic essentials >>> Toni O'Loughlin in Jakarta | Tuesday, November 09, 2010

NZZ ONLINE: Obama im Land seiner Kindheit: Wirtschaftliche Beziehungen im Vordergrund des Staatsbesuchs >>> afp | Dienstag, 09. November 2010

LE TEMPS: Barack Obama, grand admirateur de l’Indonésie: Le président américain a érigé ce mercredi en modèle de tolérance et de démocratisation ce grand pays méconnu sur la scène internationale qu’il voit «jouer un rôle important au XXIe siècle» >>> AFP | Mercredi 10 Novembre 2010

German Feminist Calls Family Minister 'Hopeless' and 'Incompetent'
THE GUARDIAN: Alice S[c]hwarzer responds after her claim that heterosexual sex involves 'inevitable' subjugation of women was called 'absurd'

Germany's leading feminist campaigner and its minister for families, pensioners and women have locked horns over the role of feminism in relationships and the workplace, unsparingly attacking each other's views in a row that has escalated into a nationwide debate.

Alice Schwarzer, considered the country's foremost women's rights campaigner, labelled Kristina Schröder "hopeless" and "incompetent" after Schröder said she thought some of her views were wrong.

Schröder, 33, of the Christian Democratic union, was recruited by Angela Merkel and became the youngest woman ever in a German cabinet. She told Der Spiegel that she could not agree with certain views expressed by Schwarzer, including that "heterosexual sex was hardly possible without the subjugation of women".

Schröder said: "It's absurd to define something that is vital to the survival of humanity as subjugation." She said she was unconvinced by the feminist argument that rejecting heterosexual relationships in favour of homosexuality was a "solution to the disadvantage to women", and blamed boys' underperformance in school on the disproportionate number of female carers and teachers. She also rejected the idea of quotas to improve the standing of women in the workplace. >>> Kate Connolly in Berlin | Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Dhimmitude*! Judge Blocks Oklahoma Ban on Sharia Law
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A ban on sharia law that was voted into Oklahoma's state constitution last week has been blocked by a federal judge.

Sharia law is based on the teachings of the Koran and the teachings of the Prophet. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
Voters in the state backed a measure to bar the use of Islamic and international law by 70 per cent to 30 per cent, in a referendum held on the same day as the US midterm elections.

However Muneer Awad, the head of the regional branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, promptly filed a lawsuit against it.

Mr Awad argued that the measure violated the right to religious freedom as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

"Islam was the target of this amendment," Mr Awad said. "This amendment does not have a secular purpose."

Judge Vicki Miles LaGrange granted a temporary restraining order against the measure, in advance of a hearing on November 22. >>> Jon Swaine in New York | Tuesday, November 09, 2010

* My God are these lawyers STUPID! How can Shariah law possibly be compatible with the US Constitution? Or the Bill of Rights? Only a moron such as this judge could possibly give this credence. Fie on her! – © Mark

Christian Woman Sentenced to Death in Pakistan 'for Blasphemy'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Christian woman has been sentenced to hang in Pakistan after being convicted of defaming the Prophet Mohammed.

Asia Bibi, a 45-year-old mother-of-five, denies blasphemy and told investigators that she was being persecuted for her faith in a country where Christians face routine harassment and discrimination.

Christian groups and human rights campaigners condemned the verdict and called for the blasphemy laws to be repealed.

Her supporters say she will now appeal against the sentence handed down in a local court in the town of Sheikhupura, near Lahore, Pakistan.

Ashiq Masih, her husband, said he had not had the heart to break the news to two of their children.

"I haven't told two of my younger daughters about the court's decision," he said. "They asked me many times about their mother but I can't get the courage to tell them that the judge has sentenced their mother to capital punishment for a crime she never committed." Mrs Bibi has been held in prison since June last year. >>> Rob Crilly in Islamabad and Aoun Sahi in Lahore | Tuesday, November 09, 2010

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Confiscated Jewish Wealth 'Helped Fund the German War Effort'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Jewish wealth confiscated by the Nazis paid for almost a third of the German war effort, a new study has found.

The Nazis made vast profits out of selling off the possessions of Jews who were later deported to die in the extermination camps in occupied Poland. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
Nearly 120 billion Reich marks – over £12 billion at the time – was plundered from German Jews by laws and looting.

The official study commissioned by the ministry examined the years from 1933 to 1945. Hans-Peter Ullmann, a Cologne history professor, said the tax authorities under the Nazis actively worked to "destroy Jews financially" and to loot wealth in the nations the Germans occupied.

Even Jews who managed to escape from Germany before the Holocaust had to leave part of their wealth behind in the form of an "exit tax". Tax laws discriminated against Jews from 1934 onwards.

The ministry raised money for the war effort through taxes, borrowing and "outright theft," Prof Ullmann said. "Conservatively, their money financed at least 30 per cent of the German war effort," he added.

Christine Kuller of the University of Munich, who also worked on the study, said tax offices built whole hierarchies of bureaucrats "who discovered dwellings and bank accounts and emptied them". The bureaucrats then disposed of all traces of those who disappeared in the extermination camps.

She added; "Post war there was a myth that the civil servants of the finance ministry were neutral; the reality was that anti-Semitism among them was an everyday occurrence." >>> Allan Hall in Berlin | Tuesday, November 09. 2010

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: German Foreign Ministry 'actively encouraged Holocaust': A German government report has concluded that German diplomats were complicit in the murder of millions of jews during the Second World War. >>> | Thursday, October 28, 2010

Obama Visits Indonesia Seeking to Build Bridges with Muslim World
THE GUARDIAN: US president returns to Jakarta, where he lived for four years as a child

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama at an arrival ceremony at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photograph: The Guardian
Barack Obama arrrived in Jakarta today for a brief trip to Indonesia, where he lived for four years as a child.

On the second stop of his 10-day Asian tour, Obama will meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, visit the country's largest mosque and deliver a speech supporting the country's democratic progress.

But the US president's visit to the world's most populous Muslim nation will last for less than 24 hours, and may have to be cut even shorter because of concerns that volcanic ash from Mount Merapi could disrupt his flights.

Speaking at a joint press conference with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Obama said he thought the US was on "the right path" to a better relationship with the Muslim world, but acknowledged that some "misunderstandings and mistrust" were likely to remain.

"What we're trying to do is make sure that we are building bridges and expanding our interactions with Muslim countries," he said.

Obama's visit to the Istiqlal mosque – the biggest in south-east Asia – is seen as his best chance to improve relations with the Muslim world since an address in Cairo last year. >>> Toni O’Loughlin in Jakarta | Tuesday, November 09, 2010

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Islamic TV Channel Rapped for Advocating Marital Rape
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A TV channel aimed at Muslims has been censured by the media watchdog Ofcom for allowing its presenters to encourage violence against women and advocate marital rape.

In one programme on the Islam Channel, which broadcasts on Sky and Freesat, the presenter of a discussion of sex within marriage said that "it shouldn't be such a big problem where the man feels he has to force himself upon the woman".

During another programme, a woman phoned in to ask if she had the right to hit a violent husband back. The presenter responded: "In Islam we have no right to hit the woman in a way that damages her eye or damages her tooth or damages her face or makes her ugly. Maximum what you can do, you can see the pen over here, in my hand, this kind of a stick can be used just to make her feel that you are not happy with her."

In March this year, the channel was the subject of a report by the Quilliam Foundation, a London-based organisation that describes itself as "the world’s first counter-extremism think tank". >>> Neil Midgley, Assistant Editor (Media) | Montag, November 08, 2010

Church of England Is 'Like a Coffee Chain Going Out of Business', Defecting Bishops Warn
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A bishop who is defecting to Rome has likened the Church of England to a coffee chain that is going out of business.

Five bishops have announced that they are converting to Roman Catholicism in protest at liberal Anglican reforms and urged others to follow their path.

One likened the Church to a chain of coffee shops that is losing customers while a second accused it of adopting an increasingly “lax” attitude towards issues of morality, such as homosexuality and abortion.

As first reported in The Daily Telegraph, three serving and two retired traditionalist bishops announced that they are resigning in order to convert to Roman Catholicism.

The defections come as hundreds of worshippers prepare to take up the Pope’s offer to join a new section of the Roman Catholic Church which is being established for Anglicans who cannot accept liberal reforms such as the ordination of women bishops.

The new body, known as the English Ordinariate, is expected to be finalised next week and to begin operation as a full part of the Roman Catholic Church next year.

The Catholic Church in England and Wales welcomed the decision made by the Bishops of Ebbsfleet, the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham; Fulham, the Rt Rev John Broadhurst; Richborough, the Rt Rev Keith Newton; and two retired bishops, the Rt Rev Edwin Barnes, honorary assistant bishop of Winchester, and the Rt Rev David Silk, honorary assistant bishop of Exeter.

In a joint statement the bishops expressed their “dismay” and “distress” at recent liberal reforms to the Church, in particular the ordination of women priests and plans for the consecration of women as bishops. >>> Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor | Monday, November 08, 2010

Egypt Gripped by Rising Muslim-Christian Tensions
Hundreds of Egyptian Muslims protesting against what they allege are abuses by Egypt's Coptic Church. Photograph: TIME
TIME: Around 200 men flooded out of the al-Qa'id Ibrahim mosque into the midday sunlight following the Friday afternoon prayers in Alexandria. They held up banners before the hundreds of black-clad riot police who were there to greet them, and immediately began to chant. "Shenouda is the enemy of God," they yelled, referring to Pope Shenouda III, the head of the Coptic Church, Egypt's largest religious minority. "Shenouda is an infidel ... State security, where is your Islam? Why did you leave the criminals alone?"

Much of the rage expressed by the members of the hard-line Salafi sect of Islam stems from one woman. Not much is known about Camilia Shehata, a priest's wife from Upper Egypt, whose story (or lack thereof) has gripped the Middle East's most populous nation since the summer, sparking waves of angry protests and emotional editorials. Shehata disappeared from her home for several days in July after having reportedly converted to Islam — some say in an effort to get a divorce, which is not permitted by the Coptic Church. At first, the Christians protested — accusing Muslims of kidnapping a Christian and forcing her to convert. When she re-emerged, it was the Muslims' turn. Many now believe Shehata was forcibly returned to her home and the Coptic Church by state authorities, only to become sequestered against her will within the confines of a monastery.

"We do not know anything except that she was married to a priest and she ran away from that marriage. Everything else is just rumors, and that is the problem," says Amr Khafagy, the editor in chief of the independent al-Shorouq newspaper, which has run four stories and an editorial about Shehata. "The government never said the absolute truth and the church never said the absolute truth. And the media blew these rumors out of proportion."

It's not the first time a Christian has converted to Islam, but conversion has long been a sensitive issue in a state where Copts worry about rising Muslim religiosity and Muslims increasingly see Copts as existing outside the law. It is also one of the first times the state has interfered in an individual's conversion, claims Rafiq Habib, a Coptic intellectual. If they hadn't, he says, this never would have gotten so out of hand. "From the public perspective, it was a sign that the role of the church and the position of the Copts has changed in the last years — that they have become allies of the state and allies of the President."

Wafaa Constantine, who was also the wife of a priest, reportedly converted to Islam in 2004 and wound up in a monastery as well. Neither woman has appeared in public since their returns to the church, and the Salafi protests of late have invoked both names. "Today we hold a standoff to free our sister hostages from the church," explained one of the protesters, Atef Wael. "Whenever a sister converts to Islam, they keep her in the church and they torture her to make her appear before the media saying that she is a Christian, not a Muslim." Other protesters outside the mosque on Friday and in recent weeks have displayed pictures of women they allege are Shehata, Constantine and others held captive by the church. Some sobbed as they chanted slogans comparing their struggle to the Crusades. >>> Abigail Hauslohner, Alexandria | Monday, November 08, 2010

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Security Increased Around Carla Bruni-Sarkozy
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Security around Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the French first lady, has been "drastically" beefed up following al-Qaeda warnings that France is a priority terrorist target.

Last week, Osama bin Laden issued a threat to kill French nationals for their government's support of the war in Afghanistan and a ban on the full Islamic veil.

Shortly afterwards, Greek police intercepted a booby-trapped parcel bomb addressed to President Nicolas Sarkozy.

According to the Pure People website, security services have received "credible intelligence" that the threat to the President but also his wife has increased.

The website said: "There is no question of the couple ever going out without an armed escort. Details of all their movements are being kept secret until the very last moment. Their schedule is randomly changed and family and friends informed at the at the latest possible moment." >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Monday, November 08, 2010

Radical Yemeni Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki Calls for Killing of Americans
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A US-born radical Yemeni cleric has called for the killing of Americans in a new video message posted on radical web sites on Monday.

Anwar al-Awlaki said Americans are from the "party of devils" and so don't require any special religious permission to kill.

In the 23-minute Arabic language message entitled "Make it known and clear to mankind," al-Awlaki said it was "either them or us". He also called all Arab and Yemeni leaders "corrupt" and said it was time for religious scholars to take charge.

"Kings, emirs, and presidents are not now qualified to lead the nation, or even a flock of sheep," he said. "If the leaders are corrupt, the scholars have the responsibility to lead the nation." >>> | Monday, November 08, 2010

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Visite du Pape en Espagne – Benoît XVI appelle à protéger la famille, union "d'un homme et d'une femme"
"L'amour généreux et indissoluble d'un homme et d'une femme est le cadre efficace et le fondement de la vie humaine", a souligné le pape dans son homélie, lors de la messe solennelle de consécration de la Sagrada Familia. Photo : Le Point
LE POINT: Le pape Benoît XVI a consacré dimanche la basilique de la Sagrada Familia à Barcelone, chef-d'oeuvre de Gaudi, symbole des valeurs traditionnelles de la famille qu'il a défendues en dénonçant le mariage homosexuel et l'avortement. Peu avant, Benoît XVI avait été accueilli sur le chemin de la Sagrada Familia aux cris de "pédophile", "va-t-en" par 200 homosexuels s'embrassant à pleine bouche pour dénoncer les "discriminations" dont ils se disent victimes.



Au deuxième jour de sa visite en Espagne, un pays qui a légalisé le mariage homosexuel et libéralisé l'avortement, où la laïcité gagne du terrain, le pape, dans son homélie, a défendu la famille comme union "indissoluble d'un homme et d'une femme". Il a dénoncé l'avortement, dont la libéralisation cette année est l'une des réformes phares du gouvernement socialiste de José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, en rappelant que l'Église "s'oppose à toute forme de négation de la vie". >>> Source AFP | Dimanche 07 Novembre 2010

Archbishop of Canterbury Warns of Forced Jobs 'Despair'
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Government plans to force the long-term unemployed to do unpaid manual labour could drive vulnerable people into a ''downward spiral of uncertainty, even despair'', the Archbishop of Canterbury warned.

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, will lead the closing session at Davos. Photo: The Sunday Telegraph
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith will this week unveil plans for four-week programmes of compulsory community work doing jobs like litter-picking or gardening for jobless people deemed to have lost the work ethic.

His Cabinet colleague Danny Alexander today said the Work Activity placements would be used as a ''sanction'' against benefit claimants who fail to take advantage of available support to find employment.

But the proposal came under fire from Labour and the unions, with the TUC warning that it would harm jobless people's prospects of finding paid work and would undercut the employment of existing manual labourers.

Asked about the proposed scheme, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, told BBC WM Radio: ''People who are struggling to find work and struggling to find a secure future are, I think, driven further into a sort of downward spiral of uncertainty, even despair, when the pressure is on in this way.''

Under Mr Duncan Smith's plans, job advisers will be able to direct jobseekers who they believe would ''benefit from experiencing the habits and routines of working life'' to undertake a 30-hour-a-week work placement.

Postings are likely to be provided by charities or councils and will be designed to offer the jobseeker the opportunity to gain work discipline and skills while benefiting their local community. They will be required to continue seeking permanent work while on a placement.

Anyone refusing to take part or failing to turn up on time could have their £65-a-week Jobseekers Allowance stopped for at least three months. >>> | Sunday, November 07, 2010

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Work-shy will be 'pushed' into working for free by welfare revolution: People who do not try hard enough to find a job will be forced to work for free or lose their benefits, the Government will announce this week. >>> Melissa Kite, Deputy Political Editor | Saturday, November 06, 2010

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Ofsted Praises Islamic Schools Which Oppose Western Lifestyle
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Ofsted and the Charity Commission are today accused of "whitewashing" hardline Islamic schools which are helping to radicalise a new generation of young British Muslims.

Among the schools directly inspected by Ofsted was the Madani Girls' School, a private Islamic school in London's East End. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has established that the education watchdog has published positive reports praising Muslim schools for their contribution to community cohesion — even in the case of a school which openly states that Muslims “oppose the lifestyle of the West”.

The Ofsted inspector responsible for many of the reports, Michele Messaoudi, has been accused of having links to radical Islamist organisations.

This newspaper can reveal that another recent Ofsted inspector, Akram Khan-Cheema, is the chief executive of a radical Muslim educational foundation, IBERR.

Its website describes Islamic schools as “one of the most important factors which protect Muslim children from the onslaught of Euro-centrism, homosexuality, racism, and secular traditions”.

Ofsted has also passed the inspection of dozens of Muslim schools to a new private “faith schools watchdog”, the Bridge Schools Inspectorate, which is co-controlled by Islamic schools’ own lobbying and trade body, the Association of Muslim Schools.

The Bridge Schools Inspectorate allows Muslim head teachers to inspect each other’s schools.

Among the schools directly inspected by Ofsted was the Madani Girls’ School, a private Islamic school in London’s East End.

Its Ofsted report, written by Mrs Messaoudi, said it made pupils “aware of their future role as proactive young British Muslim women” and left them “well-prepared for life in a multicultural society”.

However, the Madani Girls’ School’s own website openly states: “If we oppose the lifestyle of the West, then it does not seem sensible that the teachers and the system which represents that lifestyle should educate our children.”

It says that under western education “our children will distance themselves from Islam until there is nothing left but their beautiful names”. >>> Andrew Gilligan | Saturday, November 06, 2010

Gay Bishop Gene Robinson Announces Plan to Retire Early
THE GUARDIAN: Long-running controversy, including death threats, "takes its toll" on Right Rev Gene Robinson who plans to call it day seven years ahead of schedule

US Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, the church's first openly gay bishop, is to retire early. Photograph: The Guardian
An openly gay bishop whose appointment split the Anglican church is to resign, saying the last seven years had "taken their toll" on him, his family and his flock.

The Right Rev Gene Robinson, of New Hampshire, revealed his plans yesterday, at at annual diocesan meeting. He will be 65 when he steps down, seven years below the retirement age.

He told the convention that being in the eye of the storm had proved too much.

He said: "Death threats, and the now-worldwide controversy surrounding your election of me as bishop, have been a constant strain, not just on me, but on my beloved husband, Mark, who has faithfully stood with me every minute of the last seven years, and in some ways, you.

"While I believe that these attitudes, mostly outside the diocese, have not distracted me from my service to you, I would be less than honest if I didn't say that they have certainly added a burden and certain anxiety to my episcopate."

He said he would continue his work with the "unchurched" and "dechurched" on college campuses and public forums, showing no intention of retiring from public life. >>> Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent | Sunday, November 07, 2010

Suu Kyi Too Hot for Asia's Most Brutal Regime to Handle
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Burma's political heroine has spent 15 of the past 20 years under arrest. Now, as the country goes to the polls, her fate hangs in the balance

She is by some stretch the most abused political heroine alive today. She has been confined to her crumbling family home in Rangoon for more than 15 of the past 20 years. Her two sons, Alex and Kim, have for many years been barred from visiting her – Kim, now 33, is in Bangkok trying to get a visa so he can see his mother for the first time in 10 years. The last wish of her gravely ill husband, Michael Aris – to die in her arms – was brutally snubbed.

But in one week's time all that could be in the past and Aung San Suu Kyi could walk through the rusty iron gates of 54 University Avenue, Rangoon, a free woman again.

Or will she? >>> Peter Popham | Sunday, November 07, 2010

Belgischer Erzbischof bekommt Torte ins Gesicht
WELT ONLINE: Erzbischof André Léonards Ansichten über Pädophilie, Homosexuelle und Aids sind umstritten. Dafür bekam er jetzt die Quittung.

Der umstrittene Erzbischof André Léonard. Bild: Welt Online
In Belgien ist Medienberichten zufolge Erzbischof André Léonard eine kleine Torte ins Gesicht geschlagen worden. Der Vorfall ereignete sich bereits am Montag. Ein am Samstag im Internet veröffentlichtes Video zeigt, wie ein junger Mann sich dem Kleriker während einer Messe zu Allerheiligen nähert und ihm die Torte ins Gesicht schlägt.

Einem Kirchenvertreter zufolge will Léonard keine Anzeige gegen unbekannt erstatten. Léonard steht in Belgien in der Kritik, nachdem er Verständnis für Priester geäußert hatte, die der Pädophilie beschuldigt wurden, und gesagt hatte, dass Aids die gerechte Strafe für Homosexuelle sei. >>> dapd/fp | Samstag, 06. November 2010

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Top Charities Give £200,000 to Group Which Supported al-Qaeda Cleric
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The radical cleric accused of inspiring the cargo bomb plot has been backed by a prominent British campaign group which has financial support from leading charities.

Cageprisoners, a self-styled human rights organisation, has a long association with Anwar al-Awlaki, who was last week accused of being one of the figures behind the terrorist plot to blow up cargo planes which saw a powerful device defused at East Midlands Airport.

The Islamic preacher, based in Yemen, was invited to address two Cageprisoners' fundraising dinners via video link, one last year and one in 2008.

The group has now told its backers that it no longer supports the cleric and that it "disagreed" with him over "the killing of civilians".

But an examination of the Cageprisoners website last week suggested that its support for the cleric was as strong as ever.

Cageprisoners was set up to lobby on behalf of terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay and those monitored under control orders in the UK.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that it is being funded by the Joseph Rowntree Trust, a Quaker-run fund set up by the chocolate-maker and philanthropist a century ago, and The Roddick Foundation, a charity set up by the family of Anita Roddick, the Body Shop founder, after her death three years ago.

The Joseph Rowntree Trust is giving Cageprisoners £170,000 in donations over three years - with the latest payment due this month - and The Roddick Foundation another £25,000.

In its website, recently re-branded with some of the charities' cash, Cageprisoners carries more than 20 articles about al-Awlaki, describing him as an 'inspiration' and casting doubt on the evidence he is involved in terrorism. >>> Jason Lewis, Investigations Editor | Saturday, November 06, 2010

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Inside Yemen's al Qaeda heartland: In a special despatch, The Sunday Telegraph looks at the lawless Yemeni region that is the haunt of Anwar al Awlaki and other leaders of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. >>> Tom Finn in Sana'a, Bill Lowther in Washington, Philip Sherwell and Colin Freeman | Saturday, November 06, 2010

Grösster Christus der Welt in Polen errichtet: Überdimensionierte Statue misst rund 40 Meter
Gross: Die Christus-Stuatue [sic] in Polen misst über 40 Meter. Bild: NZZ Online
NZZ ONLINE: Mit einem Tag Verspätung ist am Samstag in einer polnischen Kleinstadt eine gigantische Christus-Statue errichtet worden. Sie soll noch ein paar Meter höher sein als das berühmte Vorbild in Rio de Janeiro in Brasilien. >>> sda/afp | Samstag, 06. November 2010

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: La construction de la plus haute statue du Christ est achevée: POLOGNE | Le «Cristo» de Rio de Janeiro est battu de trois mètres: érigé à Swiebodzin, dans l'ouest de la Pologne, le plus haut Christ du monde mesure 36 mètres. >>> ATS | Samedi 06 Novembre 2010

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Giant Jesus statue completed in Polish town: Workers in a small Polish town lifted the shoulders and arms onto a giant statue of Jesus Christ that its creators say will be the biggest in the world. >>> | Sunday, November 07, 2010

The West Is Turning Against Big Government - But What Comes Next?
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The struggle to curtail the social democratic state could have ugly consequences, says Janet Daley.

There seems to be only one political argument of interest left in the Western democracies: how “big” should the state be, and what are the proper limits of its responsibilities? Abstract as it may sound, this question has had a quite startling impact on the everyday experience – and voting habits – of people in the most advanced countries of the world.

In the United States, the electorate’s considered answer to it has humiliated a president and swept an extraordinary number of neophytes – whose primary attraction was their loathing of government power – into the most powerful legislature in history. In Britain, it has become the dominant theme (in fact, the raison d’être) of a coalition between a Left-of-centre party and a Right-of-centre one, which has managed to achieve a remarkable degree of agreement on the need to reduce – or, at least, to examine rigorously – the role of government intervention in all areas of social life.

The dominant economies of Europe, too, are going through quite momentous re-examinations of the post-war philosophy which accepted the state as an unquestionable source of benevolence and all-pervasive social justice. And this massive reassessment of the role of government has not come about simply because of the economic crisis, and the terrifying degree of sovereign debt which it produced. The governments of what were the richest countries in the world may be broke, but what is interesting is their response to this: the plan is not to make themselves rich enough once again to do all the things that they used to do, but to rethink the whole enterprise so that government never again finds itself so extravagantly overextended.

On this side of the Atlantic, there is now a broad understanding that the social democratic project itself is unsustainable: that it has grown wildly beyond the principles of its inception and that the consequences of this are not only unaffordable, but positively damaging to national life and character. The US, bizarrely, is running at least 10 years behind in this process, having elected a government which chose to embark on the social democratic experiment at precisely the moment when its Western European inventors were despairing of it, and desperately trying to find politically palatable ways of winding it down.

The American people – being made of rather different stuff and having historical roots which incline them to be distrustful of government in any form – immediately rejected the whole idea. But in Britain, too, among real people (as opposed to ideological androids) there is a general sense that governments – even when they are elected by a mass franchise – become out of touch and out of control, and that something essential to human dignity and potential is under threat from their overweening interference. Read on and comment >>> Janet Daley | Saturday, November 06, 2010

Ron Paul: No Weapons for Saudi Arabia!


RONPAUL.COM: This month the US Administration notified Congress that it intends to complete one of the largest arms sales in US history to one of the most repressive regimes on earth. Saudi Arabia has been given the green light by the administration to spend $60 billion on some 84 new F-15 aircraft, dozens of the latest helicopters, and other missiles, bombs, and high-tech military products from the US weapons industry.

Saudi Arabia, from where 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers came, is a family-run dictatorship, where there are no political parties, no independent press, and where any form of political dissent is met with the most severe punishment. We are told that we must occupy Afghanistan to encourage more rights for women, an issue on which the Saudi regime makes the Taliban look rather liberal by comparison. We are told that our increasingly aggressive policies toward Iran are justified by that country’s rigid Islamic laws and human-rights violations, while the even more repressive Islamic rule in Saudi Arabia is never mentioned.

So why would the US government, which spends hundreds of billions of dollars yearly and maintains hundreds of bases overseas to push global democracy, approve a deal like this with such a regime? As Stockholm Institute scholar Pieter Wezeman told the Washington Post, “Of course it’s against Iran. Of course it’s against Yemen. You can read between the lines … but there are not any official statements about it.” Although the deal must be approved by Congress, there is little chance of any significant Congressional opposition for the above reason. >>>Ron Paul | Monday, November 01, 2010

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Swedes in Shock at King Carl Gustaf Sex Scandal
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Sweden has been shocked by revelations about their quietly dignified King.

Five months ago, the Swedish royal family was the toast of Europe. All eyes were trained on Stockholm as the glamorous Crown Princess Victoria wed her long-time boyfriend in a fairy-tale ceremony, and the world's press clamoured for a glimpse of the elegant Swedish royals and their regal guests.

Now the international media is again camped outside the gates of Stockholm's Drottningholm Palace – but this time for far less congratulatory reason.

Revelations last week that the King of Sweden once enjoyed romps in seedy nightclubs owned by shadowy underworld figures have eclipsed the sparkle of July's wedding. King Carl XVI Gustaf, the stern-looking, bespectacled monarch who is honorary chairman of the World Scout Foundation, has found himself thrust uncomfortably in the spotlight following the publication of an unflinching book, Carl XVI Gustaf – Den motvillige monarken (Carl XVI Gustaf – The reluctant monarch) which catalogues his past predilection for wild, alcohol-fuelled orgies and naked jacuzzi parties with models.

The book has caused uproar and dominated the country's media, leading to nationwide soul-searching about the 64-year-old King's role, reputation and right to privacy.

"Strip clubs, illegal clubs, rented ladies who are naked under their fur coats. Women were simply desserts, used as sweets to be served with the coffee," wrote Katrine Kielos in the daily Aftonbladet newspaper.

"The royal family has always been viewed as an august, fabulous family. But these allegations are so grave that our trust in them is seriously damaged," said Jenny Madestam, a political analyst. "The King is not even denying it."

Indeed, the King's bizarre press conference on Thursday – held in a forest after an elk hunt – only served to fan the flames of interest.

"I have spoken with my family and the Queen and we choose to turn the page and move forward because, as I understand, these are things that happened a long time ago," he said – standing in a field, still dressed in his wax jacket and hunting clothes, among a sea of camera crews and reporters.

His handling of the book's publication has shocked some observers.

"Now is the time for the King to be quiet and give no comments. Instead, he says yes to a press conference in the middle of the forest where anything can happen. It is like playing Russian roulette," said Paul Ronge, a PR expert, in the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.

"His statement can be interpreted as a confession. It is beneath his dignity to even comment a gossip book about his private life. Now the plug is gone and the papers can print page after page with material from the book.

"For the royal court to handle the issue like kindergarten behaviour, without responsibility is very serious". >>> Harriet Alexander | Saturday, November 06, 2010

Walid Shoebat: Learn Islam in 10 Minutes

Deutschland steht in Gefahr! Warum sind Sie zum Islam konvertiert?

Eulogy to Reagan by Thatcher

Ronald Reagan’s Funeral

Europarat: Muslime werden stigmatisiert
DIE PRESSE: Der Menschenrechts-Experte des Europarats, Thomas Hammarberg, erkennt eine "wachsende Intoleranz" gegenüber Muslimen in Europa. Ursache dafür seien populistische Debatten in europäischen Ländern.

Der Menschenrechts-Beauftragte des Europarats hat die wachsende Intoleranz gegenüber Muslimen in Europa und die Stigmatisierung des Islam durch populistische Debatten in einigen europäischen Ländern verurteilt. Umfragen zeigten, dass Muslime und die islamische Kultur ein "schlechtes Bild" hätten und dieses zu Angst und Misstrauen führe, erklärte Thomas Hammarberg am Donnerstag in Straßburg. >>> APA | Freitag, 29. Oktober 2010

Pope Reflects on Life Under Nazi Rule As a Youth

Iran: And Not a Chador in Sight!

Ex-President George W. Bush Rips Wisdom of Barack Obama, Sarah Palin and John McCain to Friends
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: WASHINGTON - Two years of retirement haven't dulled George W. Bush's political zest - and President Obama and Sarah Palin are among his under-the-radar targets.

The 43rd President has told friends the ex-Alaska governor isn't qualified to be President and criticizes Arizona Sen. John McCain for putting Palin on the 2008 GOP ticket and handing her a national platform.

"Naming Palin makes Bush think less of McCain as a man," a Republican official familiar with Bush's thinking told the Daily News.

"He thinks McCain ran a lousy campaign with an unqualified running mate and destroyed any chance of winning by picking Palin."

As he prepares for the Tuesday launch of his memoir, "Decision Points," Bush scrupulously gives his successor a public pass - a statesmanlike stance urged by his father, President George H. W. Bush.

"I want my President to succeed because if my President succeeds my country succeeds, and I want my country to succeed," Bush typically says when asked about Obama.

"He won't call Obama by name but he won't trash him," a confidant noted, referring to Bush's comments in post-presidency speaking appearances, which have netted him millions, often at $100,000 or more a pop.

Still, he thinks Obama has failed as a President - a judgment supported by this week's robust Republican gains. >>> Thomas M. Defrank, Daily News Washington Bureau Chief | Friday, November 05, 2010

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Reiterates 9/11 Conspiracy, Accuses the West of Al-Hariri Assassination

Hamas In Their Own Voices

Benoît XVI appelle à revigorer les «racines chrétiennes» en Espagne
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: VISITE PAPALE | Le Pape a prononcé son discours devant le prince Felipe et son épouse Letizia, à Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle. Il n'a pas fait allusion au mariage gay ni à l'assouplissement de la loi sur l'avortement, réformes adoptées par le gouvernement Zapatero.

Benoît reçu par le prince Felipe et son épouse Letizia. Photo : Tribune de Genève
Le pape Benoît XVI a appelé samedi à «donner une nouvelle vigueur aux racines chrétiennes» de l’Espagne, fortement laïcisée, et de l’Europe. Il s’exprimait à son arrivée à Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, dans le nord-ouest de l’Espagne, ville de pèlerinage mondialement connue.

«J’appelle l’Espagne et l’Europe à édifier leur présent et à projeter leur avenir à partir de la vérité authentique de l’homme», a déclaré Benoît XVI dans un discours prononcé devant le prince des Asturies Felipe et son épouse Letizia.

Il a cité les paroles prononcées en 1982 par son prédécesseur Jean Paul II lors d’un long périple en Espagne qui avait «exhorté le Vieux Continent à donner une nouvelle vigueur à ses racines chrétiennes». L’Espagne et l’Europe «ne doivent pas se préoccuper seulement des nécessités matérielles des hommes mais aussi de leurs besoins moraux et sociaux, spirituels et religieux», a indiqué le pape. >>> AFP | Samedi 06 Novembre 2010

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Les pèlerins se pressent à Compostelle pour accueillir le pape: ESPAGNE | Les pèlerins se pressaient vendredi dans la ville sainte espagnole de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle, pour accueillir samedi Benoît XVI. Le pape pourrait aussi être accueilli par un "french kiss" géant d'homosexuels. >>> AFP | Vendredi 05 Novembre 2010

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Espagne: le pape poursuivra sa campagne contre l’avortement et le mariage gay: VISITE | Le pape Benoît XVI sera en visite samedi et dimanche en Espagne. Il compte y poursuivre sa campagne contre l’avortement et le mariage homosexuel, dans un pays à la pointe des réformes de la société. >>> AFP | Vendredi 05 Novembre 2010

NZZ ONLINE: Der Papst zu Besuch in Spanien eingetroffen: Katholoisches Kirchenoberhaupt spricht von antiklerikaler Haltung im Land >>> ddp | Samstag, 06. November 2010

BBC: Pope Benedict XVI sees 'aggressive secularism' in Spain: Pope Benedict XVI has warned of an "aggressive anti-clericalism" in Spain which he said was akin to that experienced during the 1930s. (With video) >>> | Saturday, November 06, 2010

Stakelbeck on Terror: ‘Eurabia’ Rising

FAMILY SECURITY MATTERS: Stakelbeck on Terror: Eurabia Rising >>> | Thursday, November 04, 2010