Related: here and here
Sunday, November 21, 2010
BBC: Cigarette packets should have plain packaging to make smoking less attractive, ministers have suggested.
The government plans to ask retailers to cover up displays of cigarettes from next year to protect children.
But Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said it was wrong children were being attracted to smoking by "glitzy designs on packets" and that it made sense to consider "less attractive packaging".
Campaign group Ash says this is "an enormous leap forward".
The Department of Health is considering the idea of asking tobacco firms to put only basic information and health or picture warnings on their packets.
Making the cigarette packets a plain colour would protect children from taking up smoking in the first place, it suggests.
It would also help support people who are trying to give up smoking, the department said. >>> | Sunday, November 21, 2010
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Des paquets de cigarettes neutres pour décourager les fumeurs: GRANDE-BRETAGNE | Le ministère de la Santé britannique envisage d’imposer aux cigarettiers des emballages neutres standards, portant les seules mises en garde de santé, afin de décourager les jeunes fumeurs. >>> AFP | Dimanche 21 Novembre 2010
leJDD.fr: L'Autorité palestinienne ne retournera à la table des négociations que si un gel de la construction de colonies, y compris à Jérusalem-Est, est prononcé, a déclaré dimanche Mahmoud Abbas. "S'il n'y a pas un arrêt total de la colonisation dans l'ensemble des territoires palestiniens, y compris à Jérusalem, nous n'accepterons pas" de reprendre les négociations, a indiqué le président de l'Autorité palestinienne, à l'issue d'une rencontre avec le président égyptien, Hosni Moubarak, au Caire. Abbas a par ailleurs déclaré n'avoir reçu aucune demande de reprise des pourparlers de la part des Etats-Unis qui mettent en oeuvre un plan destiné à relancer les négociations entre les deux parties. [Source: leJDD.fr] | Dimanche 21 Novembre 2010
LE POINT: Colonisation: Abbas exige le gel total pour reprendre les négociations: Le président de l'Autorité palestinienne, Mahmoud Abbas, a affirmé dimanche au Caire qu'il n'accepterait pas une reprise des négociations de paix avec Israël sans un gel de la colonisation à Jérusalem-Est. >>> AFP | Dimanche 21 Novembre 2010
NZZ am SONNTAG: Im scheinbar befriedeten Tschetschenien häufen sich wieder Terroranschläge. Der Präsident der russischen Teilrepublik, Ramsan Kadyrow, sieht darin aber kein Problem.NZZ am Sonntag: Herr Kadyrow, Sie haben den Titel Präsident Tschetscheniens abgelegt, da Sie der Meinung sind, in Russland dürfe es nur einen Präsidenten geben. Wie darf man Sie nun ansprechen?
Ramsan Kadyrow: Einfach Ramsan.
Tschetschenien galt bis vor kurzem als ruhigste Republik im Nordkaukasus. Nun häufen sich Terroranschläge wieder. Auch Ihr Heimatort Zentoroi und das Parlament in Grosny waren Ziele.
Wer behauptet, dass der Terror zugenommen hätte? >>> Interview: Klaus-Helge Donath | Sonntag, 21. November 2010
NZZ am SONNTAG: US-Präsident Barack Obama hat ein harmloses Kinderbuch veröffentlicht. Aber sogar damit erzürnt er seine vielen Kritiker.
Ohne viel Klimbim ist am Dienstag das Buch «Of Thee I Sing» erschienen, ein 31-seitiges Bilderbuch von Barack Obama, das dieser seinen Töchtern Malia und Sasha gewidmet hat. Der US-Präsident hat die kurzen Texte darin noch vor seinem Amtsantritt im Jahr 2009 geschrieben. >>> Andreas Mink, New York | Sonntag, 21. November 2010
Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You (Official Music Video) >>>
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: International human rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has implored Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to make more effort to protect its immigrant workers, after shocking stories emerged about the abuse of three domestic workers.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, HRW said that it had received allegations from a maid in Kuwait whose employer drove nails into her body, a maid in Saudi Arabia who had nails forced into her body, and a maid in Jordan who had been both beaten and forced to swallow nails.
The watchdog said the stories implied a “broader pattern of abuse”, and that the goverments of the three countries needed to create a stronger legal framework to protect their foreign workers.
"The wanton brutality alleged in these cases is shocking, but reports of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and labour exploitation such as non-payment of wages are nothing new,'' said Nisha Varia, a senior women's rights researcher at HRW.
Many domestic workers in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait come from Asia, Africa and other countries in the Middle East in the hope of receiving higher salaries. Because employers in Middle East countries often act as workers' "sponsors" however, they exert extreme power over their staff. Employers can prevent workers changing jobs or leaving the country, and often withold salaries for years. >>> Leah Hyslop | Thursday, November 18, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Doctors remove 19 nails from Sri Lankan maid: A Sri Lankan housemaid whose Saudi employer allegedly embedded 24 nails in her body was recovering in hospital on Friday after doctors removed 18 of them during a three-hour surgery. >>> | Friday, August 27, 2010
MIGRANT RIGHTS: Mission statement: Through the power of the web we wish to raise awareness about the plight of migrant workers in the Middle East and encourage social action to end the violations of their human rights and dignity. Unfortunately, very little is done to prevent the modern-day slavery many workers endure in the region. Our job is to change that. >>>
MIGRANT RIGHTS: This week, two cases of severe abuse of Indonesian maids by their Saudi sponsors have surfaced, one of them ending in death and the other in serious injuries.
The first case, of 23-year-old Sumiati BT Salan Mustapa was first reported by the Saudi Gazette. This initial report mentioned that Mustapa arrived in Saudi-Arabia in July to work for a family in Madina. On November 6th Mustapa was admitted to a private hospital in Madina injured from head to toe in an unconscious state. The private hospital was unable to treat her serious injuries and she was transferred to the King Fahd hospital. A worker there told the Gazette that Mustapa’s body “was burned on many places, both legs were almost motionless, some parts of her skin on her head were removed and strong marks of old wounds were on her body including skin loss on lips and head, a fractured middle finger and a cut near an eye.” Mustapa also showed signs of malnutrition or excessive blood loss. >>> | Friday, November 19, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: After decades of fierce opposition to the use of all contraception, the pontiff will end the Catholic Church's absolute ban on the use of condoms.
He will say that it is acceptable to use a prophylactic when the sole intention is to "reduce the risk of infection" from Aids.
While he will restate the Catholic Church's staunch objections to contraception because it believes it interferes with the creation of life, he will argue that using a condom to preserve life and avoid death can be a responsible act – even outside marriage.
Asked whether "the Catholic Church is not fundamentally against the use of condoms," he replies: "It of course does not see it as a real and moral solution.
"In certain cases, where the intention is to reduce the risk of infection, it can nevertheless be a first step on the way to another, more humane sexuality." >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones | Saturday, November 20, 2010
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Es wäre ein Sturmangriff auf das Herz der Demokratie: Islamisten planen nach SPIEGEL-Informationen angeblich einen Anschlag auf den Reichstag. Dabei sollen Geiseln genommen und möglichst viele Menschen getötet werden. Die ersten mutmaßlichen Terroristen sollen bereits in Berlin sein.
Hamburg - Al-Qaida und assoziierte Gruppen planen nach Erkenntnissen deutscher Sicherheitsbehörden angeblich einen Anschlag auf das Reichstagsgebäude in Berlin, in dem der Deutsche Bundestag untergebracht ist. Im Zuge des Angriffs wollen die Terroristen Geiseln nehmen und mit Schusswaffen ein Blutbad anrichten. >>> | Samstag, 20. November 2010
ARAB NEWS: MINA: Although many foreign pilgrims, especially the elderly and the sick, come for Haj with an innermost desire to die in the holy land, only a select few see their wishes realized.
Such people are honored with being buried in Jannat Al-Mala in Makkah or Jannat Al-Baqi in Madinah. Their relatives and friends then return home once the pilgrimage is complete. A number of pilgrims said they are envious of pilgrims who die while performing Haj or in the vicinity of the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah.
Egyptian pilgrim Abdul Shafi Saeed came for Haj from Cairo and was accompanied by another pilgrim, Sayyid Khaleel Hassan, who died while in supplication at the plain of Arafat, the climax of the annual pilgrimage.
“Sayyid Khaleel breathed his last in his seamless white ihram while chanting Labbaik. He was blessed and fortunate to die at the most sacred place for Muslims on earth while performing the main ritual of the pilgrimage. Every pilgrim wishes to die such a death,” said Saeed. >>> Galal Fakkar, Arab News | Saturday, November 20, 2010
Haj 1431: To the photo gallery >>>
THE TIMES: Blurred and dubbed: the Ashtiani TV trial is a sham to fool Iranians >>> Hugh Tomlinson | Wednesday, November 17, 2010 (Behind a paywall: £)
Friday, November 19, 2010
CYBERPRESSE: Les cardinaux du monde entier se sont retrouvés vendredi autour du pape Benoît XVI pour évoquer notamment, pour la toute première fois, la «réponse de l'Église» face à la pédophilie, une rencontre déjà accueillie avec scepticisme par les victimes.
Quelque 150 cardinaux, parmi lesquels 24 nouveaux qui ne recevront leur «barrette» (toque) pourpre que le lendemain, participent à cette «réunion de réflexion et de prière», qui s'est ouverte dans la matinée avec un exposé du numéro deux du Vatican, le cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, sur la liberté religieuse dans le monde.
Un thème d'une brûlante actualité après le massacre de 44 fidèles et deux prêtres, commis en pleine messe le 31 octobre dans la cathédrale syriaque catholique de Bagdad par un commando d'Al-Qaïda qui a décrété les chrétiens «cibles légitimes».
La condamnation à mort pour «blasphème» d'une chrétienne pakistanaise, Asia Bibi, suscite aussi la vive inquiétude du pape qui, de façon inhabituelle, a réclamé cette semaine sa libération pure et simple.
C'est seulement en fin d'après-midi que le cardinal William Levada, préfet de la congrégation pour la Doctrine de la foi -l'ex-Inquisition chargée notamment d'examiner tous les crimes graves au sein de l'Église catholique -, doit ouvrir la discussion sur la pédophilie, à l'origine de la plus grave crise vécue par l'Église catholique ces dernières décennies.
La nouvelle vague de scandales a éclaté il y a exactement un an en Irlande, suscitant une cascade de révélations dans le monde entier. >>> Michèle Leridon, Agence France-Presse, Cité du Vatican | Vendredi 19 Novembre 2010
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Myanmar's chief democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi says she wants to meet the leader of the country's military junta to "let him speak first" about the country's political deadlock.
In a telephone interview Friday with The Globe and Mail, Ms. Suu Kyi said she wants to hold talks with Senior General Than Shwe but wouldn't go into them with a list of demands.
"What I want to do is just start talking. I'd like to let him speak first. Dialogue is not just about what you want to say," she said, speaking from Rangoon, the capital of Myanmar.
The interview was the first Ms. Suu Kyi has given to a Canadian newspaper since she was released from house arrest on Saturday.
She said she was "exhausted" at the end of her first week of freedom, which was filled with meetings with her supporters in Myanmar and abroad, phone calls to family members she hasn't seen in years and a visit to a Rangoon home for HIV/AIDS sufferers.
Ms. Suu Kyi, who has been under detention for 14 of the past 20 years, said she has been surprised and impressed with the level of political involvement among the younger generation in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.
Earlier this week, the 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate called for a "peaceful revolution" in her country. >>> Mark MacKinnon | Friday, November 19, 2010
Watch video: Suu Kyi says Myanmar still under junta's iron grip: Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi says her release from house arrest is not a sign that the military junta is softening its grip on the country. She spoke Thursday to The Associated Press. >>> AP | Thursday, November 18, 2010
THE GLOBE AND MAIL – EDITORIAL: Outwitting the junta with Aung San Suu Kyi >>> | Monday, November 15, 2010
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: The Lady from Burma >>> Karen Connelly | Wednesday, November 17, 2010
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Frankreichs Nationalversammlung billigte heute Sarkozys neues Immigrationsgesetz. Das Gesetz sieht vor, dass Immigranten, die gegenüber Beamte tätlich werden und sie in Lebensgefahr bringen, der französische Pass entzogen werden kann. «10vor10» war in den problematischen Banlieues von Paris unterwegs.
THE ECONOMIST: How a fresh debate on multiculturalism in Germany clashes with the country’s need for more immigrants
HOW well does Halime Cengiz fit into Germany? A “typical guest worker’s child”, she wears a hijab and spends much time at the Mevlana mosque in Gröpelingen, a Bremen neighbourhood with many immigrants. She has a German passport but “would never say I’m German” (or Turkish). She calls herself “a Bremer with Turkish roots”. Yet she also speaks flawless German. Neither her marriage nor her veil was forced on her. Part of her mosque work is with churches, lowering barriers between Muslims and Christians. She urges parents to send their children to kindergarten to improve their German. The parents fret about their children becoming “too German”, but Mrs Cengiz allays such fears. She may be a model migrant after all.
Good immigrants and bad, how many and of what kind are all worrying Germany just now. A book claiming that Muslim immigrants and the underclass were bringing about Germany’s downfall by breeding too fast had a print run of over a million by the end of September (and cost its author, Thilo Sarrazin, his job on the Bundesbank board). Seeing its success, politicians abandoned political correctness. Further immigration from Turkey or Arabia is no longer welcome, said Horst Seehofer, Bavaria’s premier and head of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian arm of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union. The CSU asked that immigrants embrace the Leitkultur (dominant culture). Even Mrs Merkel joined in. Multiculturalism—the idea that immigrants can recreate their culture in Germany—has “utterly failed,” she said last month. New polls confirm Germans’ hostility towards immigrants, especially Muslims. >>> | Bremen | Thursday, November 11, 2010
THE ECONOMIST: Middle Tennessee puts Islam on trial
IN NOVEMBER 2009 the Islamic Centre of Murfreesboro bought a parcel of land on which it planned to build a new mosque and community centre. The congregation had outgrown its current space in a small office building behind a surveying company and a car mechanic; on Fridays congregants pray outside on the pavement, and during holidays they have to rent a space elsewhere to fit everyone in.
In January “NOT WELCOME” was spray-painted on a sign placed on the site announcing it as the future home of the Islamic Centre of Murfreesboro. The sign was vandalised again in June, one week after a contentious county commission hearing at which a local pastor declared, “We have a duty to investigate anyone under the banner of Islam.” The same month a Republican candidate for Congress from Murfreesboro declared herself “opposed to the idea of an Islamic training centre being built in our community”. In August construction equipment at the site was set alight. >>> | Thursday, November 18, 2010
HÜRRIYET DAILY NEWS: The Military High Administrative Court has approved the dismissal of a soldier from the military after he wore women’s clothing in public, daily Hürriyet reported Saturday.
In 2008, a male wearing a miniskirt, blouse and stockings ran from police in a park in Istanbul. Police stopped him, and the individual showed the police his military ID. He was a noncommissioned officer and told them he was on active duty. The prosecutor opened a case against him for behaving impudently. The military also issued a medical report concluding that he could not serve in the military due to heavy psychosexual disorder.
The military dismissed the officer, leading him to file suit to halt the administrative process. However, the high court approved the decision, saying that the sexual orientation of an active duty soldier does not enable him to behave against honor of the Turkish Armed Forces, or TSK.
The court said his sexual interest in his own gender and preference for wearing women’s clothing in a way that is not suitable for a TSK member, is not tolerated by the society, is not in harmony with the moral values of society and shows the “ethical inferiority” of the officer, preventing him from doing his job in the military.
One judge voted against the decision and said dismissing the officer from the military based on one incident of behavior is not measurable in comparison to his crime. [Source: Hürriyet] Istanbul | Sunday, October 03, 2010
HÜRRIYET DAILY NEWS: Turkish military denies asking for 'photo proof' of homosexuality >>> Istanbul – Milliyet | Friday, November 19, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Lord Young, peer and enterprise adviser to David Cameron, has resigned after coming under fire for claiming most people have "never had it so good".
The peer reflected on his comments, revealed exclusively in The Daily Telegraph today, and offered his resignation to the Prime Minister.
Mr Cameron accepted his resignation, a spokeswoman said.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Lord Young had said a drop in mortgage rates "since this so-called recession" had left most people better off.
He added "people will wonder what all the fuss was about" when looking back at the Government's spending cuts, the deepest in more than 30 years.
He went on to described the loss of about 100,000 public-sector jobs a year as being within "the margin of error" in the context of the 30 million-strong job market as a whole. >>> Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor | Friday, November 19, 2010
Related >>>
TIME: Who Needs Marriage? How an American Institution Is Changing >>> Belinda Luscombe | Thursday, November 18, 2010
TIME: Obama's Half Brother Makes a Name for Himself in China >>> Ling Woo Liu, Guangzhou | Tuesday, November 17, 2009
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le sosie d'Obama est indonésien >>> Rédaction on line | Vendredi 19 Novembre 2010
BBC: Indonesia has demanded an inquiry into reports that a maid working in Saudi Arabia was killed by her employers and her body dumped in a bin.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said a team had been sent to the Saudi town of Abha to investigate reports of the murder of 36-year-old Kikim Komalasari.
It comes as officials arrived in Saudi to follow up claims of torture against a second Indonesian maid.
Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa is recovering in hospital in Medina.
Her injuries include gashes to her face and cuts to her lips, allegedly inflicted by her employers using scissors. She was also burned with an iron, officials say.
Indonesia's president has demanded justice for the "extraordinary torture".
Indonesian media reported on Thursday that the Saudi Arabian government had arrested the female employer of Sumiati, and apologised for her treatment. >>> | Friday, November 19, 2010
It appears that Saudi Arabia is in urgent need of Christian missionaries! – © Mark
BBC: Right-wing groups like the English Defence League are turning parts of Britain into recruiting grounds for Islamic extremists, police have said.
The EDL emerged last year and has held demonstrations in a number of towns and cities against radicalisation.
But the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit has told BBC Radio 5 live there is evidence EDL events can encourage extremists.
Officers also say they are worried about radicalisation inside prisons.
Many EDL demonstrations and counter-demonstrations have ended in violence, and Det Supt John Larkin says they have witnessed signs of radicalisation afterwards.
"In some areas, we have evidence that once they have gone and the high-profile policing of the event has occurred, there's fertile ground for those groups who would come in to encourage people to have this reality - this is the way white Western society sees us," he said.
"And that's a potential recruiting carrot for people and that's what some of these radicalisers look for - they look for the vulnerability, for the hook to pull people through and when the EDL have been and done what they've done, they perversely leave that behind."
EDL leader Tommy Robinson said it was "ridiculous" to blame his organisation.
"9/11 was our fault, 7/7 was our fault, there's been 17,000 terrorist attacks since September 11th, I guess they're our fault," he said.
"I guess the last 1,400 years of history, where Islam's been at war with non-Islam, is our fault. It's ridiculous.
"We're not the cause. The root cause of the problem is the Koran, it's Islam." >>> Phil Mackie, Reporter, BBC Radio 5 live | Friday, November 19, 2010
LE POINT: Le chef d'Al-Qaeda au Maghreb islamique (Aqmi) a prévenu que la France allait devoir négocier avec Oussama Ben Laden pour obtenir la libération des cinq otages français retenus au Mali. Aqmi exige, en outre, de la France qu'elle retire ses troupes d'Afghanistan pour libérer les otages qu'elle retient, a ajouté l'Algérien Abdelmalek Droukdel. Le chef d'Aqmi s'exprimait dans un enregistrement audio diffusé jeudi soir par la chaîne de télévision du Qatar Al-Jazira, selon le centre américain de surveillance des sites islamistes SITE. "Toute forme de négociation sur ce sujet à l'avenir sera conduite avec personne d'autre que notre Sheikh Oussama Ben Laden (...) et selon ses conditions", a déclaré le dirigeant d'Aqmi. "(Si vous) voulez que vos citoyens qui sont prisonniers chez nous soient sains et saufs, alors vous devez vous dépêcher et retirer vos soldats d'Afghanistan selon un calendrier précis que vous rendrez public", a ajouté Abdelmalek Droukdel, selon la retranscription du SITE. >>> Le Point.fr | Vendredi 19 Novembre 2010
BBC: France rejects 'Bin Laden talks' to free hostages: France has rejected demands by an al-Qaeda group in northern Africa that it should negotiate the release of five French hostages and two others with Osama Bin Laden. >>> | Friday, November 19, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Two Democratic political consultants have claimed that The Huffington Post's founders stole their blueprint for the popular news-and-views website.
Peter Daou and James Boyce claim they came up with the site's signature blend of blogs by prominent people, news aggregation, original reporting and online community-building, originally envisioned as a liberal counterpoint to such conservative-tilting sites as the Drudge Report.
In a statement, Huffington Post co-founders Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer called the claims "pure fantasy."
The site has become an online colossus, built on the idea of shared effort. It has made the top 10 current events and global news sites, launched city-specific pages and developed a roster of sections such as food and books. The work of its 70-person paid staff is augmented by content from news outlets and 6,000 bloggers who write for free. >>> | Thursday, November 18, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A suspected bomb, complete with detonator and stopwatch, was discovered during a routine security check on luggage destined for a Germany-bound aeroplane in Namibia on Wednesday.
The package was discovered in the terminal building of Windhoek International Airport shortly before it was due to be loaded onto an Air Berlin plane bound for Munich.
A spokesman for Germany’s Federal Crime Office (BKA) said it was still unclear if the package could have been detonated.
On Wednesday, Germany upped its security threat level after being warned by an intelligence ally about a possible terrorist attack towards the end of the month. >>> Aislinn Laing in Cape Town | Thursday, November 18, 2010
Had It So Good
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The vast majority of Britons have "never had it so good" because of the low interest rates during the recession, Lord Young, a senior adviser to David Cameron, has declared.
Lord Young, the Prime Minister's enterprise adviser, said a drop in mortgage rates "since this so-called recession" had left most people better off. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the Conservative peer also said "people will wonder what all the fuss was about" when looking back at the Government's spending cuts, the deepest in more than 30 years.
He described the loss of about 100,000 public-sector jobs a year as being within "the margin of error" in the context of the 30 million-strong job market as a whole.
The remarks are likely to prove inflammatory after the worst recession in a generation which has led to a sharp rise in unemployment and resulted in millions of workers forced to accept a pay freeze.
Critics of the Coalition will seize on the comments to claim that ministers are out of touch with the impact of government cutbacks on poorer families. >>> Chistopher Hope, and Robert Winnett | Thursday, November 18, 2010
Where did they find this little fossil? It sounds to me that he is suffering from softening of the brain! People have never had it so good? What on earth is the idiot talking about? Try telling that to a man who has to feed his family. This man is living in cloud cuckoo land. – © Mark
Lord Young forced to apologise >>>
The Coalition has never had it so good, more like! >>>
And Nick Clegg’s wife’s law firm seems never to have had it so good, either! >>>
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has warned that parishes will be left without vicars as hundreds of Anglicans “jump ship” for Rome.Dr Williams acknowledged that traditionalists who cannot accept Church of England plans to ordain women bishops were in “considerable confusion and distress”.
But the Pope’s offer to accommodate disaffected Anglicans would leave the Church with “practical challenges” as vicars resign and churches lose worshippers, he said.
Dr Williams’s comments came in his first media interview since The Daily Telegraph disclosed that five Anglican bishops were to join a new section of the Roman Catholic Church established by Pope Benedict XVI. >>> Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor | Thursday, November 18, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: China “hijacked” 15 per cent of the world’s internet traffic earlier this year, according to a report to the US Congress, in what could be a new form of cyber-terrorism.
A state-run telecoms firm is accused of diverting traffic including data from US military and government websites, and some in Britain, via Chinese servers.
Experts fear that the authorities could have carried out “severe malicious activities” as a result of the 18-minute operation, even harvesting sensitive data such as the contents of email messages or implanting viruses in computers worldwide.
The report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission says it raises the prospect that China might use its powers to “assert some level of control over the internet”. >>> Martin Beckford, Heidi Blake and Duncan Gardham | Thursday, November 18, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A new handheld “drugalyser” that detects substance abuse in under two minutes could become the latest weapon the clampdown on drug driving.
The portable handheld device can detect cocaine and heroine from a saliva sample within 90 seconds and other substances within minutes. It is able to detect drugs in the body at far lower levels than existing testing devices[.]
The new portable device, which will be available in 2011, would mean police officers could carry out tests on suspected drug drivers at the roadside. >>> Heidi Blake | Thursday, November 18, 2010
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: ETATS-UNIS | La Suisse, avec d'autres pays d'Europe, est citée dans le rapport publié mercredi par le département américain d’Etat sur les atteintes contre les libertés religieuses dans le monde.Mercredi a paru le rapport publié par le département américain d’Etat sur les atteintes contre les libertés religieuses dans le monde. Comme chaque année pratiquement, cette étude officielle classe la Corée du Nord, l’Iran, la Birmanie, la Chine, le Soudan ou encore l’Arabie saoudite parmi les pays où les libertés religieuses sont les moins respectées.
Mais «plusieurs pays européens ont imposé de sévères restrictions à l’expression religieuse», a relevé mercredi la secrétaire d’Etat, Hillary Clinton.
«Les blessures persistantes provoquées par l’intolérance et la méfiance», a-t-elle ajouté, peuvent être aussi préjudiciables pour la liberté religieuse que les actes de gouvernements autoritaires ou de groupes extrémistes. >>> ATS | Jeudi 18 Novembre 2010
YAHOO! NEWS: WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized Wednesday the state of religious freedom in Europe, as Washington highlighted policies and attitudes toward Muslim veils and Islam as a whole.
"Several European countries have placed harsh restrictions on religious expression," Clinton said, without elaborating as she unveiled the State Department's report on international religious freedom for the last year.
Her assistant secretary for human rights, Michael Posner, cited France's ban on wearing the niqab and other face coverings in public places and a Swiss motion passed last year that bans building new minarets.
Both measures have been criticized as intolerant moves stigmatizing Europe's growing Muslim population.
Posner acknowledged "growing sensitivity and tension in Europe" over Islam.
"What we are urging our European friends to do is to take every measure to try to alleviate that tension," he added.
The different attitudes toward Muslims in Europe and the United States are the source of frequent tensions and misunderstandings between both sides of the Atlantic.
"We have gone to court in the United States to enforce the right of Muslim women and girls to wear a burqa, and on the streets, in schools, et cetera," said Posner.
"That's our position. It's a position we articulate when we talk to our European friends." >>> AFP | Wednesday, November 17, 2010
For God’s sake, Hillary, STOP POLICING the world! You ruin America if you want to; we’ll try and save Europe if we can. By the way, why do you think America is hated by so many around the world? It is precisely because you interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. Learn your lesson; and soon! I believe that you've got enough on your plate sorting out the mess over there. Concentrate on sorting that out first! – © Mark
WELT ONLINE: Der mutmaßliche Drahtzieher der in Deutschland geplanten Anschläge hat das Zeug, zu einem Terrorführer wie Osama Bin Laden zu werden.Er hat nur ein Auge, ihm fehlt ein Finger, und seinen dichten Bart färbt er gern rötlich. Glaubt man Terrorexperten, ist Mohammad Ilyas Kaschmiri der gefährlichste Mensch der Welt und hat das Zeug zum neuen Osama Bin Laden. Und er gilt als Drahtzieher der geplanten Anschläge in Deutschland.
Der 1964 in Pakistan geborene Extremist fungierte schon in jungen Jahren als muslimischer „Gotteskrieger“ in Kaschmir und kämpfte gegen die Sowjets in Afghanistan. Später arbeitete er für den pakistanischen Militärgeheimdienst und schloss sich der Terrorbewegung Harakat ul Dschihad al-Islami an, deren Anführer er heute sein soll. Er ist auch als Kommandeur der Brigade 313, einst Pakistan-Ableger von al-Qaida, inzwischen aber vom Netzwerk angeblich aufgewertet und mit der Planung von Anschlägen bis nach Europa beauftragt. >>> WON | Mittwoch, 17. November 2020
NEW AMERICAN: Only a few days have passed since President Obama’s return from an expensive overseas jaunt in which he traveled from India to Indonesia praising Islam, but the scandal which his statements on Islam and Jihad evoked did not cause him to shirk what he apparently views as his duty to greet Hajj pilgrims. In a November 15 press release, Obama declared:
Michelle and I extend our greetings for a happy Eid-ul-Adha to Muslims worldwide and wish safe travels to those performing Hajj. This year, nearly three million pilgrims from more than 160 countries - including the United States - have gathered in Mecca and neighboring sites to perform the Hajj rituals and stand together in prayer.The administration’s portrayal of Eid as a commemoration of “Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son” deftly dodges the fact that at the heart of Eid is one of Mohammed’s more embarrassing misunderstandings of Old Testament history. In Surah 37, Mohammed mistakenly portrayed Ishmael — not Isaac — as the son whom Abraham was prepared to sacrifice, committing his followers to rote repetition of misunderstanding of Genesis 22 down to this day, and a belief system which is markedly not of a “common root” with Judaism and Christianity. Read on and comment >>> James Heiser | Thursday, November 18, 2010
On Eid, Muslims around the world will commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, and distribute food to those less fortunate - a reminder of the shared values and the common roots of three of the world's major religions.
On behalf of the American people, we extend our best wishes during this Hajj season – Eid Mubarak and Hajj Mabrour.
HT: Jihad Watch >>>
LE FIGARO: Condamnée à mort pour «blasphème», Asia Bibi, mère de cinq enfants, est en prison depuis juin 2009.
Du fond de la prison pakistanaise où elle croupit depuis plus d'un an, Asia Bibi a désormais une raison d'espérer. Le pape Benoît XVI en personne a appelé mercredi à la libération de cette mère de famille chrétienne, condamnée à mort le 8 novembre dernier par un tribunal de la province du Pendjab, sous prétexte qu'elle aurait blasphémé.
«Je suis proche d'Asia Bibi et de sa famille et je demande que liberté lui soit rendue au plus vite», a déclaré le Saint-Père à l'issue de son audience générale au Vatican. Benoît XVI n'a pas mâché ses mots, appelant «la communauté internationale à prendre conscience de la difficile situation dans laquelle se trouvent les chrétiens au Pakistan, où ils sont souvent victimes de violences et de discriminations. Je prie pour ceux qui se trouvent dans des situations analogues, afin que leur dignité humaine et leurs droits fondamentaux soient pleinement respectés». La foule s'apprêtait à la lyncher >>> Par Marie-France Calle | Jeudi 18 Novembre 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: White Britons will be outnumbered by 2066 if the rate of immigration continues, researchers have claimed.
Foreign workers will "change national identity" according to a population expert, unless the flow of immigration is dealt with.
The white British-born community (defined as English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish-born citizens) will fall to less than half of the overall population in just over 50 years.
The warning from Professor David Coleman, from Oxford University, comes ahead of an announcement today by the Migration Advisory Board of its recommendation for the proposed immigration cap for people outside the EU. >>> Laura Roberts | Thursday, November 18, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: How to make immigration work in Britain's interests: Hostility to migrants is sweeping Europe – and we need more sensible curbs, argues Irwin Stelzer. >>> Irwin Stelzer | Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Two of Sarah Palin's daughters used expletives and homophobic slurs during an online argument over their mother's reality television show.
Willow, the former vice-Presidential candidate's 16-year-old middle daughter, called a critic of 'Sarah Palin's Alaska' a "faggot" and told him he was "so gay".
In a posting on Facebook, the social networking website, a boy identified only as Tre, who is believed to have gone to school with the Palin sisters, said the programme was "failing so hard right now".
Miss Palin commented: "Your [sic] so gay. I have no idea who you are, But what I've seen pictures of, your disgusting." She added: "Quit talking ---- about my family." Accusing him of being jealous of her family's success, she added: "Your [sic] such a faggot". >>> Jon Swaine in New York | Wednesday, November 17, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Sarah Palin finally says she is considering White House bid: Sarah Palin has finally confirmed she is considering a bid for the US presidency in 2012. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Can’t Americans come up with someone more suitable, more sophisticated, more worldly, more intellectual, more educated to run for president than Sarah Palin? Surely the Republicans can do better than this! – © Mark
LE MONDE: Le président irakien, Jalal Talabani, a annoncé dans un entretien diffusé mercredi qu'il ne signera pas l'acte de condamnation à mort de Tarek Aziz, ancien vice-premier ministre de Saddam Hussein. Depuis sa condamnation à mort, la communauté internationale presse Bagdad de ne pas appliquer la peine capitale contre la personnalité "fréquentable", "visage humain" du régime du "raïs" irakien.
"Non, je ne vais pas signer l'ordre d'exécution à l'égard de Tarek Aziz et je ne vais pas signer un ordre de ce genre parce que je suis socialiste", indique Jalal Talabani à France 24. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec Reuters et AFP | Mecredi 17 Novembre 2010
WELT ONLINE: Erstmals spricht die Regierung von konkreten Hinweisen auf Anschläge. Die Sicherheitsmaßnahmen werden hochgefahren.
Bundesinnenminister Thomas de Maizière gab sich am alle Mühe, mit seiner Mahnung zur Wachsamkeit angesichts eines womöglich kurz bevorstehenden Terroranschlags keine Panik zu schüren. „Es gibt Grund zur Sorge, aber keinen Grund zur Hysterie“, sagte de Maizière. Bisher war er seiner Strategie der Zurückhalthaltung stets treu geblieben, doch nun sagte er erstmals öffentlich, dass konkrete Hinweise für einen Anschlag noch in diesem Monat vorliegen. Das bedeutet: die Sicherheitslage ist wirklich ernst.
Um das für die Bürger zu verdeutlichen, wurde die Polizeipräsenz sichtbar verstärkt: Kaum hatte de Maizière seine Terrorwarnung verkündet, da patrouillierten schon die ersten Beamten mit Maschinenpistolen und Schutzwesten vor seinem Amtssitz. Vor dem Berliner Hauptbahnhof, einem der größten und modernsten Bahnhöfe Europas, sagte ein Bundespolizist: „Die Bürger sind beunruhigt.“
Aus Sorge vor einem islamistischen Terroranschlag fahren die deutschen Sicherheitsbehörden ihre Vorsichtsmaßnahmen hoch. Bundespolizisten laufen republikweit verstärkt Streife an Bahnhöfen und den 14 großen Verkehrsflughäfen. Laut Bayerns Innenminister Joachim Herrmann sind außer dem Luftverkehr und Bahnhöfen auch jüdische, US-amerikanische oder britische Einrichtungen gefährdet. Zudem hält er völlig unterschiedliche Terrorakte für denkbar – von ferngezündeten Bomben über Selbstmordanschläge bis hin zu „Anschlägen mit anderen Waffen – mit wilden Schießereien oder anderes mehr“. >>> Autor: Martin Lutz | Mittwoch, 17. November 2010
BBC: Germany tightens airport security over attacks threat : Germany is increasing security at airports and railway stations in light of "concrete indications" of terrorist attacks being planned for the end of November. >>> | Wednesday, November 17, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The crisis in the eurozone shows why this country must widen its horizons, writes Simon Heffer.
On a shimmering day last June, I was talking to one of our most intelligent diplomats about the future of the euro. He told me, matter-of-factly, that there would be a serious crisis again before Christmas, and he suggested that it might not even survive in its present form. He has been proved right about the first point. Whether he is right about the second is anyone's guess, but if the markets have their way, he will be.
Privately, those who understand the workings of the European Union, but who can manufacture the right amount of detachment about them, admit that the iron façade of common purpose in the European project is starting to creak and rust. For years, a series of pretences has been entered into by dreamers of the European dream about the union's ability to advance as one entity. It has become worse since the inception of the single currency, of which this country is not, thank heaven, a member.
The club pretends (or sought to pretend: it is now wearing a bit thin) that the great disparities between, say, an economy like Germany's and one like Ireland's or Portugal's could be accommodated within the same common policy; and could be so while individual countries were allowed a measure of economic sovereignty, such as setting their own tax rates. Technically, deficits were to be regulated, but in practice, and in the interests of not upsetting any applecarts, they were not: otherwise, France and Italy would have been booted out long ago. The result is that some countries are now threatening to break the system. And poor old Ireland, with a number of its state-owned banks facing oblivion, cannot even turn its economy around, despite heroic amounts of self-flagellation. But then, if you were trying to have an export-led recovery when your goods were denominated in a currency that is among the most expensive in the world, you would be suffering, too. Read on and comment >>> Simon Heffer | Tuesday, November 16, 2010
SKY NEWS: Banking giant HSBC is doubling the basic pay of hundreds of its senior investment bankers, Sky News can reveal.
Sky's City editor Mark Kleinman reports that the bank began informing staff in London, Hong Kong and New York about the pay rises last week.
A source close to the bank said some senior managers outside the global banking and markets (GBM) division were also being handed the pay increases.
HSBC's move comes ahead of the annual bank bonus round in the New Year.
"As UK politicians intensify warnings about the payment of mega-bonuses, HSBC may legitimately be able to point to a sharply reduced bonus pot by virtue of the fact that it will have only recently awarded large salary increases," noted Kleinman. Read on and comment >>> Hazel Baker, Sky News Online | Tuesday, November 16, 2010
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