WikiLeaks Founder Ordered Freed as Court Rejects Appeal
THE NEW YORK TIMES: LONDON — A London court ordered on Thursday that Julian Assange, the founder of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks be released on bail while he fights extradition to Sweden on alleged sex offenses.

The High Court decision reversed a ruling two days ago to deny bail. The terms Thursday included strict conditions on where he may live until another hearing on Jan. 11.

The hearing was formally separate from Mr. Assange’s role in the publication of some 250,000 American diplomatic documents and came as federal prosecutors in Washington looked for evidence that would enable them to charge him with helping with an Army intelligence analyst suspected of leaking the information.

The American prosecutors believe that if he did so, they could charge him as a conspirator rather than a passive recipient of the documents.

Mr. Assange’s court appearance in London, however, is related to allegations of sexual misconduct on three occasions with two young Swedish women in Stockholm last August, something he denies. Swedish prosecutors say they want him to be returned to their country to question him in connection with accusations that he broke Swedish rape and other laws.

Mr. Assange has said the encounters were consensual but his accusers say they ceased to be consensual when a condom was not being used. >>> Ravi Somaiya in London and Alan Cowell in Paris | Thursday, December 16, 2010

Europe Threatens to Recognise Palestinian State
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Europe's foreign ministers have threatened to recognise an independent Palestinian state to punish Israeli refusal to halt "illegal" Jewish settlements.

A text, seen by The Daily Telegraph, warned of EU "readiness, when appropriate, to recognize a Palestinian state" increasing the international pressure on Israel following the effective collapse of direct Middle East peace talks last week.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, on Monday called "on the EU to take a step towards recognition of the state of Palestine based on the 1967 borders".

"We hope that the EU will take this step to maintain the requirements for the success of the peace process, which was thwarted by Israel," said Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator.

There has been a week of intense EU diplomacy after an initiative by the so-called "quint" of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the US, to push Israel into negotiations.

"There is growing frustration with Israel after its refusal to commit to a new settlements freeze and patience is running out," said a European diplomat. >>> Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem and Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Monday, December 13, 2010

German Man Castrates Teenage Daughter's 57-year-old Boyfriend
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: An enraged father who disapproved of his daughter's older boyfriend went to his home and castrated him with a bread knife.

Helmut Seifert, 47, an ethnic German originally from Russia, was enraged when he heard his 17-year-old daughter was having a relationship with Phillip Genscher, 57.

He went to police in the town of Bielefeld where he lives but officers said they were powerless to intervene.

"The man then recruited two work colleagues at his factory and then went to the house of the victim," said police. >>> Allan Hall, Berlin | Sunday, December 12, 2010

Swiss Bank UBS Bans Tight Skirts and Fake Nails
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Swiss banking giant UBS has issued a strict dress code for employees, calling on them to wear "skin-coloured" lingerie and to ditch "fancy and coloured" artificial fingernails.

In a document stretching to more than 40 pages, UBS described a head to toe company dress code, including permissible hairstyles, what cut of skirt and which type of socks to wear.

Women should not wear "flashy" jewellery or skirts that are "too tight behind."

Underwear must not be "visible against clothing or spilling out of clothing." Rather, they should be "skin-coloured under white shirts."

Employees should also ensure that natural roots are not showing if they have coloured their hair, the document dictated.

Men should wear a "straight-cut two button jacket and pants that make up part of a classic professional suit." >>> | Thursday, December 16, 2010

Helmut Schmidt bei Maischberger

House Approves DADT Repeal
ADVOCATE: The U.S. House of Representatives approved a stand-alone bill Wednesday to repeal the 17-year-old law barring lesbian and gay service members from serving openly in the military by a vote of 250-175.



Rep. Patrick Murphy, who championed the repeal effort, said those who oppose repeal had exhausted “every excuse under the sun.”



“Enough!” Murphy said from the House floor. “Our troops are the best of the best and they deserve a Congress that puts their safety and their collective national security over rigid partisan interests and a closed-minded ideology.”

The bill, introduced Tuesday afternoon by Rep. Murphy and House majority leader Steny Hoyer, will now be sent over to the Senate for consideration. Its language is identical to that of the legislation introduced Friday by Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins, and its “privileged” status will allow it to bypass several procedural hurdles and move directly to a vote that would take 60 senators for passage. >>> Kerry Eleveld | Wednesday, December 15, 2010

I must say it would be so refreshing if the US military were to resolve this issue once and for all, and abolish DADT and give gays full rights in the military. There really isn't any excuse for not allowing them to serve in the military any longer. It's all bigotry.

If gays are allowed to serve, they should be held to the highest standards, and will have to comply with norms of behaviour that everyone else has to comply with. That goes without saying, actually.

But to throw gays out of the military simply because they have a different sexual orientation, and even when they have behaved impeccably, is simply not acceptable in this day and age.

Gays perform perfectly well in the militaries of other countries, notably Israel's military, Germany's, the UKs, Australia's, Switzerland's, Holland's, etc. So what makes the US military folk think that the US military is very different, even extraordinary?

Within a short period of time, the whole matter will die down, and those serving will come to accept the gays they serve with. Young people today are not like the bigots of earlier generations. They are far more open-minded.

It is to be hoped that this time they really will vote for change, really will vote for fairness. – © Mark

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Senior US General Says Gays on Battlefield Are a 'Distraction'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The head of the United States Marines Corps has said that allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the American armed forces could result in deaths on the battlefield.

General James Amos, said he oppoosed the campaign pledge by President Barack Obama to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on openly homosexual service members.

He said: "Mistakes and inattention or distractions cost Marines lives. That's the currency of this fight. I don't want to lose any Marines to the distraction.

"I don't want to have any Marines that I'm visiting at Bethesda [National Naval Medical Centre near Washington] with no legs be the result of any type of distraction."

Democrats in Congress are attempting to lift the ban but have thus far not attracted enough Republican support.

Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, has said that if Congress does not repeal the law, the courts will probably overturn it instead, giving the military much less flexibility in terms of implementation and management. Read on and comment >>> Toby Harnden, Washington | Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Les mots durs de Richard Nixon sur les Juifs, les Irlandais et les Noirs
LE POINT: Des propos péjoratifs tenus par le président américain Richard Nixon sur les Juifs, les Noirs, les Irlandais et les Italiens figurent dans des enregistrements audio de la Maison-Blanche qui viennent d'être rendus publics. "Les Juifs ont certaines caractéristiques", déclare Richard Nixon, qui fut président de 1968 à 1974, au cours d'une conversation avec un conseiller en 1973 qui figure dans les 265 heures d'enregistrements sur des bandes publiées par la Bibliothèque présidentielle Richard Nixon en Californie. "Les Juifs ont une personnalité très agressive, mordante et odieuse", déclare le président, tout en faisant une distinction entre les Juifs israéliens - qu'il admirait - et les Juifs américains. Les enregistrements ont été mis en ligne et le New York Times en a publié des extraits samedi. >>> Par Source AFP | Dimanche 12 Décembre 2010

Colonies juives: les Arabes veulent saisir le Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU
LE POINT: La Ligue arabe va saisir le Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU pour tenter d'obtenir une résolution contre la colonisation israélienne, selon le communiqué final d'une réunion de l'organisation mercredi à laquelle a participé le président palestinien Mahmoud Abbas. >>> AFP | Mercredi 15 Décembre 2010

Rückschlag für Obama: „Gesundheitsreform verfassungswidrig“
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Ein Bundesrichter in Virginia hat ein Kernstück von Präsident Obamas Gesundheitsreform für verfassungswidrig erklärt: Die Regierung habe kein Recht, die Amerikaner zum Abschluss einerrankenversicherung zu zwingen. Letztlich wird der Supreme Court entscheiden müssen.

Der schwelende Streit über die im März beschlossene Gesundheitsreform in den Vereinigten Staaten erhält neuen Zündstoff. Der Bundesrichter Hudson an einem Bezirksgericht in Virginia entschied am Montag, dass eine Kernpassage des Gesetzes nicht verfassungsgemäß sei.

Der Kongress in Washington dürfe die Amerikaner nicht zwingen, eine Krankenversicherung zu kaufen, und ihnen bei Nichtbeachtung eine Strafzahlung auferlegen. Eine solche Verpflichtung „lade zu einer ungehemmten Ausdehnung der föderalen Macht ein“, heißt es in dem Urteil. Für Präsident Barack Obama und die Demokraten, die ihre Gesundheitsreform im März als historischen Erfolg gefeiert hatten, ist der Urteilsspruch eine Niederlage. Die Regierung wird wahrscheinlich Berufung einlegen. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> Von Patrick Welter, Washington | Mittwoch, 15. Dezember 2010

Sternstunde Philosophie: Kleines Land, grosser Europäer. EU-Vordenker Jean-Claude Juncker über Europa und die Schweiz
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Jean-Claude Juncker, Ministerpräsident und Finanzminister von Luxemburg, hat viel Einfluss in der EU. Immer wieder setzt er eigene Vorstellungen durch. So zählte er zu den Schöpfern der starken Währung Euro. Mit Härte und Humor vertritt er die Interessen des Bankenplatzes Luxemburg. Im Bedarfsfall zögert er nicht, den mächtigen Franzosen Nicolas Sarkozy zur Ordnung zu rufen. Aber der 53jährige Christlichsoziale ist nicht nur ein mit allen Wassern gewaschener Macher, der als Präsident der Euro-Länder derzeit die internationale Finanzkrise managt. Er ist auch europäischer Nachdenker und Vordenker - und wahrscheinlich der beste, schlagfertigste Redner unter Europas Politikern. Viele sehen in Juncker den künftigen Präsidenten der Europäischen Union; er scheint wie geschaffen für dieses Amt, das der neue EU-Vertrag vorsieht. Roger de Weck befragt Jean-Claude Juncker zu Europa, aber auch zur Schweiz, die in ihrer Europapolitik oft auf den luxemburgischen Partner baut.

Indonesia Seeks Prison Sentence for 'Blasphemous' American
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Indonesian prosecutors on Tuesday sought a seven-month prison sentence for a US retiree accused of blasphemy after he allegedly pulled the plug on a mosque loudspeaker during a prayer reading.

The August 22 incident in the middle of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan resulted in retired Californian engineer Gregory Luke, 64, needing a police escort from his home on Lombok island as a mob tore it to pieces around him.

Prosecutors said Luke had blasphemed against Islam, the dominant religion in Indonesia, when he allegedly barged into the mosque to complain that a nightly Ramadan prayer reading was too loud.

"We recommend a sentence of seven months' jail as he is guilty of blasphemy and committing an act of hatred," prosecutor Baiq Nurjanah told a court in Praya, Lombok. >>> | Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Altkanzler Schmidt spricht klartext zu EU-Beitritt der Türkei (24.11.2010)

Investors Told Forget Savings Accounts, Think of Shares
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain's 38 million savers have been urged to invest their money in the stock market after being warned that for many of them it is now a "waste of time" putting their cash into a savings account.

The warning came after official figures indicated that the cost of living had increased once again in November, making it nearly impossible to earn a real rate of return on any bank or building society savings product.

As the London stock market closed at a two-and-a-half-year high, experts said that for many savers taking the risk of abandoning a deposit account and placing it in a high-yielding collection of shares was a more sensible option.

The dearth of decent savings products was laid bare by figures from the personal finance website Moneyfacts which showed that there were just three accounts – out of a total of 2,203 on the market – that paid a real rate of return, and only one for higher-rate taxpayers. >>> Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor, and Garry White | Tuesday, December 14, 2010

To suggest that people with hard-earned savings expose themselves to the vicissitudes of fortune that the stock market can bring within nanoseconds, and to suggest that it would be a good idea for the uninitiated to risk their future security on a market which is subject to the vagaries of the experienced investor, is the height of folly and irresponsibility on the part of Darius McDermott.

If this man is such an expert, he should know that the first law of successful stock market investing is to buy low and sell high. That means to say that it is not a good idea to buy stocks and shares at the top of the market. The fact that the stock market is at a two-year high should raise the alarm bells.

The stock market is highly speculative. One has to know what one is doing. It is no place for people who do not understand the workings of the marketplace. Moreover, it is certainly no place for the inexperienced. And that is especially true today, when the economy is so volatile, the world political situation is so fragile, and the financial system is in total disarray.

Further, it is sound advice, especially for people who have been savers hitherto, to avoid the stock market unless they have money they can well afford to lose. Because it must be stressed that the value of stock market investments, as we all know, can go down as well as up; and often so quickly that people do not have the time to take their money out of the market before a crash, before disaster strikes.

For people who wish to avoid future poverty, they might be better advised to ignore Mr. McDermott and hold on to their money, however poor the rate of return on their savings. At least they’ll end up with their capital intact. That way they will be keeping their powder dry for a time when the economy returns to a certain equilibrium, and returns to a state which rather more resembles normality. – © Mark

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How I Was Reviled for Warning that Britain Is a Hotbed of Islamic Terrorism
MAIL ONLINE: Some four-and-a-half years ago, a book of mine was ­published that caused something of a sensation.

It was called Londonistan, and it was about the way in which - astoundingly - Britain had ­become the most ­important centre, outside the Islamic world itself, for the production and export of ­Islamic terrorism.

Worse yet, I wrote, even after the 9/11 attacks and the 7/7 London Tube and bus bombings, the British political, legal and security establishments were still refusing to get to grips with the threat posed to Britain by militant Muslims who wanted to conquer it for Islam.

For my pains, I was called ‘mad’ by the Guardian, ‘bonkers’, ‘alarmist’, ‘­hysterical’ and, of course, ‘Islamophobic’.

Indeed, I had a hard time getting the book published at all. It was turned down by every mainstream London publisher because they regarded my views as dangerous extremism. One even remarked: ‘I’d rather take the ­poison ricin than publish this.’ Nice! Read on and comment >>> Melanie Phillips | Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Anwar Ibrahim’s Islamic Agenda
THE CUTTING EDGE: The list of prominent U.S. admirers of Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia’s former Deputy Prime Minister, on trial for corruption and sodomy, is impressive. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, former President of the World Bank James Wolfensohn, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Letters of support on his behalf praise his leadership and fight “for international justice, peace and development.” Strangely, these prominent figures fail to notice that Anwar’s fight is not for democracy, justice and peace according to Western principles. Instead, his call is for democratization “on the platform of Islam.”

It is Anwar’s constant advocacy of Islamic rule that led the Qatar-based spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Yusuf Qaradawi, to join the defenders of the Malay politician. >>> Rachel Ehrenfeld | Monday, December 13, 2010

Berlusconi-Sieg löst Straßenschlachten in Rom aus
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Kurz nachdem Ministerpräsident Silvio Berlusconi im italienischen Parlament zwei Misstrauensvoten gewonnen hat, sind in Rom heftige Krawalle ausgebrochen. Hunderte Demonstranten lieferten sich Straßenschlachten mit der Polizei, mindestens 40 Menschen wurden verletzt.

Rom - Nach den Vertrauensvoten der beiden Kammern des italienischen Parlaments für Ministerpräsident Silvio Berlusconi haben landesweit Zehntausende Regierungs-kritiker gegen das Abstimmungsergebnis protestiert. Nach Angaben von Organisatoren der Demonstrationen gingen allein in Rom rund 100.000 Menschen auf die Straße. Einige warfen mit Farbbeuteln und Feuerwerkskörpern auf die Gebäude der beiden Parlamentskammern, Abgeordnetenhaus und Senat.

Bei den Protesten kam es zu heftigen Krawallen: Eine Gruppe von mehreren hundert Demonstranten lieferte sich im historischen Stadtzentrum Straßenschlachten mit der Polizei. Demonstranten zündeten drei selbstgebaute Sprengsätze in einer Gasse in der Nähe des Parlaments. Andere bewarfen die Beamten mit Eiern und Farbe. Auf der zentralen Via del Corso gingen zahlreiche Schaufenster zu Bruch. >>> ore/dpa/AFP | Dienstag, 14. Dezember 2010

Spiegel Online Video hier abspielen
THE GUARDIAN: Riots break out in Rome after Silvio Berlusconi survives confidence votes: Hooded protesters set up flaming barricades as police baton-charge demonstrators in several parts of capital's historic centre >>> John Hooper, Rome | Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Qui était le kamikaze de Stockholm?
LE TEMPS: L’Irakien d’origine, marié avec trois enfants, s’est radicalisé en Grande-Bretagne où il vivait. Il est revenu en Suède, pays de son adolescence, pour commettre son acte, la veille de ses 29 ans

Qui est le jeune homme tué à Stockholm samedi soir par sa propre charge explosive, et dont l’Audi blanche (le véhicule était à son nom) s’était embrasée une poignée de minutes plus tôt? Les premiers éléments d’enquête laissent perplexe. Les documents du véhicule renvoient à son adolescence suédoise dans l’agglomération de Tranaas. Ses e-mails de revendication et les enregistrements vocaux qui y étaient joints mènent à un téléphone portable qui, lui-même, fait remonter les enquêteurs à son domicile actuel de Luton, en Grande-Bretagne. Mais la teneur du message renvoie à l’implication des forces armées suédoises en Afghanistan… Or Taimour Abdul Wahab al-Abdaly est né à Bagdad, pas à Kaboul. Qui était ce shahid, martyr et «modèle» encensé depuis lundi par Al-Qaida en Irak, mais qui semble avoir lui-même été déchiré entre plusieurs modèles culturels? En quête d’une seconde femme >>> Alain Lallemand | Mardi 14 Décembre 2010

Al-Haram during Hajj. Photograph: Google Images
Muslim Woman Teacher Sues U.S. School After Being Denied Three Weeks Unpaid Leave to Make Pilgrimage to Mecca
MAIL ONLINE: A school district is being sued for not allowing a Muslim teacher to take unpaid leave to make a pilgrimage to Mecca.

The Federal Government has brought the case on behalf of Safoorah Khan, claiming that it is a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

It is the duty of every Muslim to join the million of pilgrims at the Hajj in Mecca at least once in their lifetime - and the middle school teacher had hoped to go in 2008.

Khan had started at Berkeley School, in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, in 2007 and asked for unpaid leave of three weeks to visit Saudi Arabia.

After the education district twice denied her request, Khan wrote to the board that 'based on her religious beliefs, she could not justify delaying performing Hajj'. Read on and comment >>> Mail Foreign Service | Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The True Horrific Face of Islam: Woman Flogged in Public in Sudan

THE TIMES: Sudan protesters arrested after video shows woman flogged by police >>> Tristan McConnell, Nairobi | Tuesday, December 14, 2010 (£)

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful! Image: Google Images
Suspected Suicide Bomb in Central Stockholm Injures Two and Panics Shoppers
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A suspected terrorist blew himself up in an apparent suicide bomb attack in central Stockholm which left two injured and caused panic among Christmas shoppers.

Two explosions rocked the busy shopping street of Drottninggatan among the afternoon crowds.

A Swedish news agency said it had received messages about 10 minutes before the blasts in Arabic and Swedish, warning of unspecified “action”.

The email warning, 10 minutes before the bombs, protested about the country’s presence in Afghanistan, where it has a force of 500 soldiers, mainly in the north of the country.

“Our acts will speak for themselves,” the agency quoted the message as saying. “Now your children, your daughters and your sisters will die as our brothers, our sisters and our children are dying.”

The email had sound files in Swedish and Arabic. >>> Alastair Jamieson | Saturday, December 11, 2010

THE SUNDAY TIMES: Sweden hit by twin blasts in terrorist attack >>> Lucinda Beaman | Sunday, December 12, 2010 (£)

Iran Airs New Confession by Woman in Stoning Case
FOX NEWS: TEHRAN, IRAN – An Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery confessed to helping a man kill her husband and re-enacted the alleged crime in an interview broadcast Friday by Iranian state television — an apparent effort by the government to deflect international criticism over the case.

It was the fourth time Sakineh Mohammedi Ashtiani has been shown on TV as Tehran has faced an international outcry over the announcement that she would be stoned to death, the latest source of friction between Iran and the West.

Authorities announced her conviction in the murder case only after the uproar over the stoning sentence erupted last summer, and her lawyer — who has since been arrested — said she was never formally put on trial for the killing and was tortured into confessing. Iranian authorities could use the murder charge to justify executing Ashtiani by hanging instead of stoning.

In the new footage broadcast on English-language Press TV, the 43-year-old mother of two was brought from the prison to her home outside the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran where she was shown acting out the alleged December 2005 killing, complete with an actor portraying her husband.

Ashtiani, dressed in black with a beige scarf covering her hair, described how she began an affair with another man identified as Isa Taheri. She said she gave her husband an injection that rendered him unconscious, then Taheri came to her house and electrocuted him.

Amnesty International criticized the broadcast, which was announced by Press TV earlier Friday, saying it violated international standards for a fair trial by having Ashtiani implicate herself in a crime. >>> Associated Press | Friday, December 10, 2010

THE TIMES: Iran ‘freed Ashtiani to frame case against her’ >>> Martin Fletcher, Hugh Tomlinson | Saturday, December 11, 2010 (£)

Clinton's Shout-Out to Krauthammer
Syndicated columnist responds to former president's comments

Indian Billionaires to Buy 'World's Most Expensive Suit'
India's fast-growing ranks of billionaire and multi-millionaire tycoons will soon be able to wear the world's most expensive clothes after an Anglo-French clothier announced the launch of an £80,000 suit.
Dormeuil, which makes 80 per cent of its fabrics in Britain, said it will launch six suit fabrics, including the 'Vanquish II', hailed as the world's most expensive suit. It is made of Vicuna, Qiviuk and Pashmina threads and woven into a super-light wool.

The launch is another milestone in India's extraordinary economic growth and reflects the rise of a new class of super rich.

In the last year alone, India has welcomed 69 new billionaires and witnessed a steep rise in the number of millionaires with its economy growing 8.9 per cent in the quarter ending September 30 alone. The rise has seen a surge in demand for luxury goods. >>> Dean Nelson | Friday, December 10, 2010

David Miliband Paid £25,000 for Speech at Luxury Middle East Resort
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Miliband was paid £25,000 to give a speech on relations between the West and the Muslim world, at a conference held in a “luxurious oasis” resort in the Middle East.

The Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort. Image: The Daily Telegraph
The defeated Labour leadership candidate also had his travel and five-star accommodation covered during the three-day trip, partly by the government of the United Arab Emirates, Parliamentary records show.

It suggests that he is following in the footsteps of his mentor, Tony Blair, by turning to the lucrative foreign lecture circuit after leaving frontline politics.

According to the latest Register of Members’ Financial Interests, Mr Miliband was also paid £2,500 to write a newspaper article defending his “dancing naked women” painting, which his wife had bought him for £800 as a birthday present.

…

The conference - where “opinion-makers and business leaders” discussed “critical challenges for peace and security in the Middle East” - was held at the five-star Qasr Al Sarab resort in Abu Dhabi.

Its website describes it as a “luxurious oasis” in the “legendary Liwa Desert” where guests can “unwind in the unsurpassed comfort of private, palatial-style villas”.

In his speech, Mr Miliband spoke of the responsibility of Muslim countries to “honour international commitments to human rights, independent courts and press freedoms”, and the need for the European Union to admit Turkey as a member.

Read it all and comment >>> Martin Beckford | Friday, December 10, 2010

Julian Assange's Lawyers 'Preparing for Possible US Charges'
THE GUARDIAN: Legal team for WikiLeaks founder says Washington may be planning to invoke Espionage Act to indict their client

Lawyers acting for Julian Assange, the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, said today they are preparing for a possible indictment by the US authorities.

Jennifer Robinson said her team had heard from "several different US lawyers rumours that an indictment was on its way or had happened already, but we don't know".

According to some reports, Washington is seeking to prosecute Assange under the 1917 act, which was used unsuccessfully to try to gag the New York Times when it published the Pentagon Papers in the 1970s. However, despite escalating rhetoric over the last fortnight, no charges have yet been lodged, and government sources say they are unaware any such move is being prepared.

Robinson said Assange's team did not believe the US had grounds to prosecute him but understood that Washington was "looking closely at other charges, such as computer charges, so we have one eye on it". >>> Steven Morris | Friday, December 10, 2010

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: WikiLeaks: Julian Assange ‘could face spying charges’ >>> Nick Squires | Friday, December 10, 2010

WikiLeaks Cables: Pope Wanted Muslim Turkey Kept Out of EU
THE GUARDIAN: Vatican diplomats also lobbied against Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and wanted 'Christian roots' enshrined in EU constitution

A WikiLeaks cable reports that Pope Benedict XVI, seen here being received by Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara in 2006, 'might prefer to see Turkey develop a special relationship short of EU membership'. Photograph: The Guardian
The pope is responsible for the Vatican's growing hostility towards Turkey joining the EU, previously secret cables sent from the US embassy to the Holy See in Rome claim.

In 2004 Cardinal Ratzinger, the future pope, spoke out against letting a Muslim state join, although at the time the Vatican was formally neutral on the question.

The Vatican's acting foreign minister, Monsignor Pietro Parolin, responded by telling US diplomats that Ratzinger's comments were his own rather than the official Vatican position.

The cable released by WikiLeaks shows that Ratzinger was the leading voice behind the Holy See's unsuccessful drive to secure a reference to Europe's "Christian roots" in the EU constitution. The US diplomat noted that Ratzinger "clearly understands that allowing a Muslim country into the EU would further weaken his case for Europe's Christian foundations". >>> Heather Brooke and Andrew Brown | Friday, December 2010

Europe Set to Link Banking Bonuses to Basic Salaries
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: European regulators are set to tether banker bonuses to the level of basic salaries in a move that could deal the most severe blow yet to the culture of multi-million pound pay-outs.

Under the terms of proposals, expected to be published on Friday, investment banks may be forced to limit bonuses to a set multiple of bankers' salaries that would be agreed with financial watchdogs.

The Committee of European Bank Supervisors (CEBS) wants to see an end to bonuses that can be up to 50 times bigger than a banker's salary. Instead, the group, which is based in London and comprises members of the 27 European Union member states, wants banks to have to agree a maximum ratio of fixed-income to deferred pay with their national regulators.

Jon Terry, head of reward at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, said: "While CEBS is unlikely to set a specific ratio, we expect them to propose a framework from which banks will work with national regulators on agreed bonus multiples, and then to have to justify them in the context of their risk profiles. This is going to be a radical change for many institutions." >>> Louise Armitstead | Friday, December 10, 2010

This is good news. But does it go far enough to curtail the greed of these money-grubbers? If something isn't done about this selfish culture that we now live in, I fear that the riots on the streets of London last night will look like a picnic in the park by comparison with what awaits us. The system we have now works for the good of one group of people only: the rich. The middle classes have been trampled on for far too long. – © Mark

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London: Protesters On Rampage

Amazon Site Unaffected by Pro-Wikileaks Attack

BBC: Attempts by online activists to bring down online retailer Amazon's website appear to have failed.

The group Anonymous had pledged to to attack the site at 1600 GMT but the site seems to be functioning normally.

The site was targeted because it withdrew services from whistle-blowing website Wikileaks[.]

The tool through which attacks are carried out against websites perceived to be anti-Wikileaks has now been downloaded more than 31,000 times.

Security experts warned people to avoid joining the voluntary botnet.

Other targets of the loose-knit group Anonymous include Visa, Mastercard and Paypal.

The websites are targetting using the Anonymous attack tool known as LOIC. When a person installs the tool on their PC it enrols the machine into a voluntary botnet which then bombards target sites with data.

These distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are illegal in many countries, including the UK.

Social network Facebook confirmed that it had removed Operation Payback - as the campaign is known - from the site because it was promoting its attack tool. (+ video) >>> | Thursday, December 09, 2010

Smoking: Bull**** from the US Surgeon General!
MAIL ONLINE: Think the odd cigarette won't hurt? Just smoking one is enough to block your arteries and trigger a heart attack, America's chief medical adviser has warned.

Tobacco smoke causes 'immediate damage', with each puff circulating hundreds of toxic chemicals to most of your organs.

The 700-page Surgeon General's report found there was no safe level of exposure to cigarette smoke - whether you deliberately inhale or breathe it in second hand.

'That one puff on that cigarette could be the one that causes your heart attack,' said Surgeon General Regina Benjamin. Just one cigarette is enough to trigger a heart attack, says U.S. Chief Surgeon >>> Claire Bates | Thursday, December 09. 2010

Yes, and just crossing the road ONCE is enough to have a FATAL accident! Get a grip, woman! And I write as a non-smoker! That means to say a tolerant ex-smoker. – © Mark

UK to Enjoy Brief Thaw Before Freeze Returns
THE GUARDIAN: Forecasters say weekend will warm up before temperatures plummet again at start of next week

Britain will enjoy a brief respite from the worst December weather in almost 30 years, forecasters said today – but temperatures will fall again from the start of next week and stay low for the rest of the year.

The news came as the army was called in to help clear up in Edinburgh city centre after major snowfalls.

Soldiers from First Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland were on the streets of the Scottish capital after being given formal clearance by the Ministry of Defence following a request from the local authority.

The soldiers have been joined by personnel from the Royal Navy and the RAF.

After more than a week of snow, ice and transport chaos, forecasters said the UK would start to thaw, with the mercury almost reaching double figures in some areas.

But bitterly cold winds are expected to return by the start of next week, and bookmakers have slashed the odds on a white Christmas. >>> Helen Carter | Thursday, December 09, 2010

Julian Assange Should Be Awarded Nobel Peace Prize, Suggests Russia
THE GUARDIAN: Russia urges Assange nomination in calculated dig at the US over WikiLeaks founder's detention

Russia has suggested that Julian Assange should be awarded the Nobel peace prize, in an unexpected show of support from Moscow for the jailed WikiLeaks founder.

In what appears to be a calculated dig at the US, the Kremlin urged non-governmental organisations to think seriously about "nominating Assange as a Nobel Prize laureate".

"Public and non-governmental organisations should think of how to help him," the source from inside president Dmitry Medvedev's office told Russian news agencies. Speaking in Brussels, where Medvedev was attending a Russia-EU summit yesterday , the source went on: "Maybe, nominate him as a Nobel Prize laureate."

Russia's reflexively suspicious leadership appears to have come round to WikiLeaks, having decided that the ongoing torrent of disclosures are ultimately far more damaging and disastrous to America's long-term geopolitical interests than they are to Russia's. >>> Luke Harding | Thursday, December 09. 2010

Photograph: Google Images
Lockerbie Bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi 'In a Coma'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing is in a coma and may have only days to live, according to reports from those close to him.

The health of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi has "deteriorated badly" according to the Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi.

Megrahi was given three months to live when he was released from Greenock Prison in Scotland in August last year on compassionate grounds, and flown home to Libya.

The fact that he is still alive 15 months later has added weight to American anger that he was released. Files revealed this week by Wikileaks have also described the pressure Libya brought to bear on the United Kingdom not to allow him to die in prison.

Col. Gaddafi was speaking in the Libyan capital Tripoli, to back Megrahi's family who have said they will sue the Scottish authorities for neglecting Megrahi's health in prison. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Thursday, December 09, 2010

WikiLeaks Cyberwar: Hackers Bring Down Swedish Government Site
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Anonymous hackers who claim they are defending WikiLeaks brought down the Swedish government's website amid warnings they will attack again.

Image: The Daily Telegraph
The official site, regeringen.se, was offline for several hours overnight and only a message saying the site could not be reached was visible.

Commercial websites including Visa, MasterCard and PayPal have already been targeted by co-ordinated action on one of the busiest shopping days of the year after the firms said that they would no longer process donations to WikiLeaks.

A group calling itself Anonymous and operating under the banner "Operation Payback" was behind some of the attacks and there were concerns that Twitter could become a target because it removed Anonymous' listing.

A 22-year-old software engineer who called himself Coldblood said: "The campaign is not over, it's still going strong. More and more people are joining.

"I see this as becoming a war - but not a traditional war: this is a war of data."

He added: "We are trying to keep the internet free for everyone." >>> Andy Bloxham | Thursday, December 09, 2010

Verbunden >>>

Image: Google Images
World Is Getting More Corrupt, Says Transparency Poll
BBC: The world is considered a more corrupt place now than it was three years ago, a poll suggests.

Some 56% of people interviewed by Transparency International said their country had become more corrupt.

The organisation put Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iraq and India in the most corrupt category, followed by China, Russia and much of the Middle East.

Meanwhile, a BBC poll suggests that corruption is the world's most talked about problem.

About one in five of those polled by the BBC said they had discussed issues relating to corruption with others in the last month, making it the most talked about concern ahead of climate change, poverty, unemployment and rising food and energy costs.

In the Transparency International survey, political parties were regarded as the most corrupt institutions, and 50% of people believed their government was ineffective at tackling the problem.

One in four of those polled said they had paid a bribe in the past year - the police being the most common recipient. >>> | Thursday, December 09, 2010

Hacker nehmen Rache für Wikileaks
ZEIT ONLINE: Mastercard, Paypal - Firmen, die Wikileaks gekündigt hatten, werden im Netz angegriffen. Man werde die Seite nicht kampflos aufgeben, lautet die Botschaft der Hacker.

Die Festnahme des Wikileaks-Gründers Julian Assange ruft Gegenattacken von Hackern hervor, die als Anhänger der Enthüllungsplattform gelten. Ihr neuer Coup ist die Blockade der Website des US-Kreditkartenkonzerns Mastercard, der wie die Konkurrenz von Visa die Überweisung von Spenden an Wikileaks gestoppt hatte. Sowohl der internationale Webauftritt mastercard.com als auch die deutsche Website des Unternehmens waren zunächst nicht mehr erreichbar.

Zu dem Angriff bekannte sich die sogenannte Anonymous-Bewegung, die bereits 2008 mit Protestaktionen gegen die Organisation Scientology bekannt geworden war. Sie bezeichnete die Aktion als Operation Payback – Rache – und sprach von einer andauernden Kampagne gegen "freiheitsfeindliche Organisationen". >>> Zeit Online, dpa, AFP, Reuters | Mittwoch, 08. Dezember 2010

Man Arrested in Bomb Plot Sting
THE KANSAS CITY STAR: BALTIMORE | A construction worker who had recently converted to Islam and told an FBI informant that he thought about nothing but jihad was arrested Wednesday when he tried to detonate what he thought was a bomb at a military recruitment center, authorities said.

Antonio Martinez, 21, a naturalized U.S. citizen also known as Muhammad Hussain, faces charges of attempted murder of federal officers and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

The bomb he is accused of trying to detonate was fake and had been provided by an undercover FBI agent. It was loaded into a vehicle that Martinez parked in front of the recruiting center, authorities said, and an FBI informant picked him up and drove him to a nearby vantage point where he tried to set it off. >>> Ben Nuckols, The Associated Press | Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Muslim Youth in Canada Targets for Radicalization: Study
TORONTO SUN: Al-Qaida-inspired domestic terrorism by young Muslims poses the largest single threat to Canadian security agencies, a sweeping new study says.

“Canada has been identified repeatedly in al-Qaida propaganda as a legitimate target because of its involvement in Afghanistan,” according to a 250-page report, The Edge of Violence by a group of researchers in the United Kingdom. “The idea of being part of an international jihadi movement can be exhilarating.”

The report, released Wednesday, took researchers Jamie Bartlett, Jonathan Birdwell and Michael King two years to complete and involved interviews with hundreds of Muslims and others in Canada and Europe.

They studied the differences between violent and non-violent Islamic radicals, including the so-called Toronto 18 terror cell, and conducted focus groups in Toronto and Montreal with 70 Muslim youth last year.

One group made up of young men between the ages of 18 and 30 “was unanimous that brainwashing was taking place.”

Young Muslims “had a distrust of government, a hatred for foreign policy and many felt a disconnection from their local community,” the report found.

There “was a high level of distrust towards policing and intelligence agencies.” >>> Tom Godfrey, Toronto Sun | Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Terrorberichterstattung schürt Angst vor Muslimen
REGIO WEB: Die Fernsehberichterstattung in Deutschland über den Terrorismus hat die Angst in der Bevölkerung vor dem Islam anwachsen lassen. Zu diesem Ergebnis kommt eine Untersuchung Jenaer Medienwissenschaftler. Das Team um Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Frindte und Nicole Haußecker vom Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft der Universität Jena hatte von August 2007 bis Februar 2009 die Hauptnachrichten-sendungen der Fernsehsender ARD, ZDF, RTL und SAT1 zum Thema Terrorismus aufgezeichnet und analysiert. Ergänzend sind mit 100 Personen dreimal Interviews geführt worden.

Gefühlte permanente Bedrohung

„Diese Studie beschäftigt sich nicht mit Motiven, Opfern und politischen Zielen, sondern mit dem Zusammenhang zwischen Medien und Bevölkerung“, sagte Frindte. „Terrorismusgefahr in Deutschland ist ein Risiko“, fügte der Kommunikations-psychologe hinzu. Nach der Fernsehberichterstattung stehe Deutschland im Fokus der Terrorbedrohung – was auf Grund der Herkunft der Sender normal sei. Dies führe aber dazu, dass die Zuschauer permanent eine unspezifische Bedrohung empfinden. Und je bedrohter sich Menschen fühlten, umso ängstlicher würden sie. >>> | Mittwoch, 08. Dezember 2010

Le Caire. Photo : Google Images
EGYPTE : "L'islam reste bien éloigné des problèmes quotidiens"
LE MONDE DES RELIGIONS.fr: Suite aux élections législatives, le parti au pouvoir, le PND, est assuré de régner sans partage sur l'Assemblée. A un an de la présidentielle, l'opposition, et au premier rang les Frères musulmans, a boycotté le scrutin en dénonçant des fraudes. Jean-Noël Ferrié, politologue et directeur de recherche au CNRS, analyse le positionnement de cette faction politique et religieuse. Quel est le rôle des Frères musulmans dans ces élections? >>> propos recueillis par Camille Dubruelh | Lundi 06 Décembre 2010

Wikileaks Cable: American TV Shows 'Agents of Influence' in Saudi Arabia
ABC NEWS: American television shows broadcast across the Middle East are proving to be effective "agents of influence" in the ongoing battle over hearts and minds of ordinary Muslims pondering jihad against the United States, a confidential government cable published by Wikileaks reveals.


ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "World News with Diane Sawyer," as well as CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" and NBC's sitcom "Friends," all carry more sway with viewers than a U.S. taxpayer-funded Middle East broadcast network, an unnamed Saudi source told U.S. embassy officials last year.

"It's still all about the War of Ideas here, and the American programming on [privately-owned] MBC and Rotana is winning over ordinary Saudis in a way that 'Al Hurra' and other U.S. propaganda never could," the source said.

"Saudis are now very interested in the outside world, and everybody wants to study in the U.S. if they can. They are fascinated by U.S. culture in a way they never were before." >>> Devin Dwyer | Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Oprah Addresses Lesbian Rumors
Talk show host gets emotional in interview with Barbara Walters

Follow the Money
THE NEW YORK TIMES – EDITORIAL: Nine years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, there is still a seemingly limitless stream of cash flowing to terrorist groups from private charities and contributors in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. According to classified State Department cables recently released by WikiLeaks, governments in all three countries — all close American allies — are not doing enough to shut down that flow of money.

In a December 2009 cable to American diplomats in the region, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warns that “donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide” and says that persuading Saudi leaders to treat this as a priority is “an ongoing challenge.”

The cable also said that while the Saudi government has taken important steps to criminalize terror financing and restrict the movement of money overseas, it still looks the other way when it comes to certain favored organizations. Fund-raising at pilgrimages to Mecca is believed to produce millions of dollars annually for extremists. The cable suggests an even more serious problem in Kuwait, where Islamic charities are largely unregulated. The three gulf states are also not doing enough to disrupt crimes, including drug trafficking and kidnappings for ransom, that produce revenue for terrorists. After Sept. 11, Saudi Arabia turned a blind eye to the terrorist threat even though Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi-born. >>> | Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Harry Nilsson: Without You

Assange's 'Martyr Status' Further Damages US Reputation
Julian Assange, the Australian founder of WikiLeaks, has been deined bail in London. Photograph: Spiegel Online International
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested in London and denied bail on charges of rape and sexual molestation. German opinion makers are split on what the arrest really means. One thing they agree on: The reputation of the US continues to suffer.

The London arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange made headlines in all of the major German newspapers Wednesday, with several noting how welcomed the arrest was in the United States, and editorialists discussing what freedom of information means in the world's last remaining superpower.

Assange, who turned himself over to Scotland Yard authorities on Tuesday morning, was denied bail by the British judge overseeing the case. He has been accused in Sweden of one count of rape, one count of unlawful coercion and two counts of sexual molestation, involving incidents which allegedly occured [sic] in August 2010. The Swedish public prosecutor's office had issued a European warrant to bring Assange in for questioning.

The arrest came as Assange, the 39-year-old WikiLeaks founder, faced increasing pressure from all corners of the world -- Sweden, the United States, and even his home nation, Australia -- following the stream of secret US diplomatic leaks that have been published by his website and several major news organizations, including SPIEGEL.

US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told reporters in Afghanistan Tuesday that Assange's arrest: "Sounds like good news to me." Several prominent US politicians had been calling for his arrest, and former Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin said he should be tracked down and hunted like Osama bin Laden. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said that Assange's publication of the US diplomatic cables on his website was illegal.

In his response published Wednesday in the daily The Australian, Assange calls organization the "underdog" and writes: "Prime Minister Gillard and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have not had a word of criticism for the other media organizations. That is because The Guardian, The New York Times and Der Spiegel are old and large, while WikiLeaks is as yet young and small."

He also writes that the Australian government is "trying to shoot the messenger because it doesn't want the truth revealed, including information about its own diplomatic and political dealings."

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said that Assange would get consular support in Britain, and told The Australian: "What we do with Australians in strife anywhere in the world is that we take the view that our responsibility is to ensure the consular rights and legal rights of all Australians abroad are protected. And that includes Mr. Assange."

WikiLeaks spokesman, Kristinn Hrafnsson, wrote on Twitter: "We will not be gagged, either by judicial action or corporate censorship." >>> Mary Beth Warner and Jill Petzinger | Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Bergregionen setzen auf Schneekanonen
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Der Schnee in den Bergen ist immer weniger echt und des Öfteren künstlich. Grund dafür ist, dass die Bergregionen immer mehr auf Schneekanonen setzen, um sich die Skigäste zu sichern. Die künstliche Beschneiung bedeutet jedoch einen riesigen Wasser- und Energieverbrauch.


Dieses Stück Nachrichten wurde zum Teil in Schweizerdeutsch (Schwyzertüütsch) ausgestrahlt.