Thursday, December 30, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Moscow judge ignored pleas for leniency on Thursday evening and handed Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former oil tycoon, a 14-year sentence for embezzlement.Judge Victor Danilkin gave the former head of oil group Yukos exactly what the prosecution had asked for. The sentence will be counted from Mr Khodorkovsky's 2003 arrest, meaning that he and business partner Platon Lebedev could be released in 2017.
The Russian prison service said it had not yet been decided where the two men would serve the sentence. Both were due to finish eight-year sentences for tax evasion next year.
Defendants' lawyers immediately blamed Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, for the harsh sentence. Mr Putin, who as president turned against Mr Khodorkovsky, said in a reference to the former oligarch that "thieves should sit in jail".
In a statement read out by his lawyer, Mr Khodorkovsky said: "You cannot count on the courts to protect you from the whim of bureaucrats in Russia."
International reaction was again damning. Mr Khodorkovsky is widely viewed as a political prisoner and symbol of a corrupt Russian judicial system. A senior official from the US administration said that the sentencing would complicate Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, said: "The impression remains that political motivations played a role in this trial. This contradicts Russia's frequently repeated intention to pursue full adoption of the rule of law." >>> Roland Oliphant in Moscow | Thursday, December 30, 2010
Related >>>
ZEIT ONLINE: Das ungarische Mediengesetz tritt pünktlich zur EU-Ratspräsidentschaft des Landes in Kraft. Berlin hofft auf Änderungen, doch Ungarn gibt sich unbeeindruckt.
Wenn die konservative Regierung in Ungarn am kommenden Samstag die protokollarische Führungsrolle in Europa übernimmt, dürften die Staats- und Regierungschefs in so mancher europäischer Hauptstadt zutiefst beunruhigt sein. Grund sind die reichlich unorthodoxen Maßnahmen, die das Kabinett unter Führung von Ministerpräsident Viktor Orbán jüngst erlassen hatte. Dazu gehören neben einer Sondersteuer für Unternehmen auch ein neues Presserecht, das europaweit für Empörung gesorgt hat. >>> dpa, Reuters, AFP | Donnerstag, 30. Dezember 2010
LE TEMPS: Le mouvement islamiste, qui dirige la bande de Gaza d’une main de fer, est de plus en plus critiqué par les Palestiniens du territoire sous blocus israélien. Mais le dire ouvertement peut mener à la prison
Des drapeaux verts, celui de l’islam et… du Hamas, par milliers: de Beit Hanoun, dans le nord, à Rafah, au sud, personne, dans la bande de Gaza, ne peut ignorer que le mouvement islamiste palestinien qui domine le petit territoire côtier a célébré le 14 décembre ses 23 ans d’existence. On en était, en 1987, aux frémissements initiaux de la première Intifada. Que d’eau a coulé depuis lors…
Le Hamas contrôle le territoire d’une main de fer. Tout le monde le dit ou, en tout cas, le pense. Car une chape de plomb a recouvert les esprits. «Si la moindre critique peut vous mener en prison parce que vous avez été dénoncé par un voisin que vous croyiez votre ami, eh bien! la plupart des gens choisissent de se taire, résume un habitant de Nusseirat, dans le centre de la bande. Ils veulent contrôler nos vies, jusqu’à nous empêcher de boire de l’alcool. Ils mettent leurs hommes à tous les postes. Alors, la population fait le gros dos, affecte de s’islamiser, tout le monde va à la mosquée le vendredi, prie tous les jours. Les gens s’adaptent.» >>> Baudouin Loos envoyé special du Temps à Gaza | Mardi 28 Décembre 2010
BBC: Three men have been charged in a Danish court with attempting to carry out an act of terrorism.
They were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of plotting to attack the offices of a newspaper which printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
A fourth man has been released while a fifth, arrested in Sweden, is still being held in Stockholm.
The three men were remanded in custody for four weeks by a court in Glostrup, west of Copenhagen.
For the first two weeks they will be held in isolation, according to Lykke Soerensen, who heads the legal department of Danish intelligence agency PET.
She told the TV2 channel that isolation was necessary because of concerns that the three men might try to "affect the investigation and affect the witnesses". >>> | Thursday, December 30, 2010
BBC: A Polish judge has jailed a Swedish man for two years and eight months for plotting the theft of the "Arbeit macht frei" Auschwitz entrance sign.
Anders Hoegstroem, a former neo-Nazi leader, admitted theft under a plea bargain last month and will be moved to Sweden to serve his sentence.
The infamous sign was stolen in December last year and recovered in three pieces three days later.
The judge in Krakow also jailed two Poles for up to two-and-a-half years.
One of the pair, named as Andrzej S, apologised in court for the offence, Polish media report.
The 5m (16ft) wrought-iron slogan which translates as "Work sets you free" is a potent symbol of many of the Nazi-era atrocities. During the Nazi Holocaust, 1.1 million people - most of them Jews - were murdered at Auschwitz. >>> | Thursday, December 30, 2010
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Un restaurant de l’archipel des Maldives qui avait accroché des décorations de Noël a provoqué des manifestations d’hostilité parmi la population de cet archipel où l’islam est la seule religion officielle, a indiqué jeudi la police. Les guirlandes incriminées ont été retirées et le restaurant a présenté ses excuses. Le Jade Bistro, situé dans la capitale Malé, était orné de boules et de guirlandes de Noël pour mettre en avant «des dîners de fêtes». Il avait également proposé un menu spécial Noël - sandwiches à la dinde et bûche - mais selon les autorités locales, ce sont les décorations qui ont provoqué la colère de la population.
Aux Maldives, une destination touristique de l’océan indien prisée des Occidentaux, les autres croyances en dehors de l’islam sont interdites aux citoyens et les étrangers ne doivent pas les exhiber en public. >>> ATS/AFP | Jeudi 30 Décembre 2010
THE NEW YORK TIMES: JIDDA, Saudi Arabia — It is an architectural absurdity. Just south of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the Muslim world’s holiest site, a kitsch rendition of London’s Big Ben is nearing completion. Called the Royal Mecca Clock Tower, it will be one of the tallest buildings in the world, the centerpiece of a complex that is housing a gargantuan shopping mall, an 800-room hotel and a prayer hall for several thousand people. Its muscular form, an unabashed knockoff of the original, blown up to a grotesque scale, will be decorated with Arabic inscriptions and topped by a crescent-shape spire in what feels like a cynical nod to Islam’s architectural past. To make room for it, the Saudi government bulldozed an 18th-century Ottoman fortress and the hill it stood on.The tower is just one of many construction projects in the very center of Mecca, from train lines to numerous luxury high-rises and hotels and a huge expansion of the Grand Mosque. The historic core of Mecca is being reshaped in ways that many here find appalling, sparking unusually heated criticism of the authoritarian Saudi government.
“It is the commercialization of the house of God,” said Sami Angawi, a Saudi architect who founded a research center that studies urban planning issues surrounding the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, and has been one of the development’s most vocal critics. “The closer to the mosque, the more expensive the apartments. In the most expensive towers, you can pay millions” for a 25-year leasing agreement, he said. “If you can see the mosque, you pay triple.” Read on and comment >>> Nicolai Ouroussoff | Wednesday, December 29, 2010
HUDSON NEW YORK: The city of Barcelona, widely known as a European Mecca of anti-clerical postmodernism, has agreed to build an official mega-mosque with a capacity for thousands of Muslim worshipers. The new structure would rival the massive Islamic Cultural Center in Madrid, currently the biggest mosque in Spain. An official in the office of the Mayor of Barcelona says the objective is to increase the visibility of Muslims in Spain, as well as to promote the "common values between Islam and Europe."
The Barcelona mosque project is just one of dozens of new mosques that are in various stages of construction across Spain. Overall, there are now thirteen mega-mosques in Spain, and more than 1000 smaller mosques and prayer centers scattered across the country, the majority of which are located in Catalonia in northeastern Spain.
The Muslim building spree reflects the rising influence of Islam in Spain, where the Muslim population has jumped to an estimated 1.5 million in 2010, up from just 100,000 in 1990, thanks to massive immigration. The construction of new mosques comes at a time when municipalities linked to the Socialist Party have closed dozens of Christian churches across Spain by way of new zoning laws that several courts have now ruled discriminatory and unconstitutional. It also comes at a time of growing anti-Semitism in Spain.
The Barcelona mosque project was announced during a weeklong seminar titled " Muslims and European Values," jointly sponsored by the European Council of Moroccan Ulemas [Muslim religious scholars], based in Brussels, and the Union of Islamic Cultural Centers in Catalonia, based in Barcelona. A representative of the Barcelona mayor's office who attended the conference told the Madrid-based El País newspaper that the municipality would get involved in the mosque project because "although religion pertains to the private realm, this does not mean it does not have a public role." >>> Soeren Kern | Thursday, December 30, 2010
NEW YORK POST: If 2010 was the year America finally woke up to political Islam's ne farious reach on US soil, with luck 2011 will be the year we launch an offensive against it. One way to begin that process is through hearings that Rep. Peter King (R-NY), the new chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, plans to hold on American Muslim radicalization.
Attention to this issue offers an opportunity for American Muslims to confront the radicalization problem and provide solutions -- as only they can.
My group, the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, believes these hearings will shed light on the diversity of American Muslims, giving our community a chance to step from behind the veil of Muslim victimization and address head-on the need for long-overdue ideological reforms. >>> M. Zuhdi Jasser * | Thursday, December 30, 2010
* M. Zuhdi Jasser, a physician and a former US Navy lieutenant commander, is the founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. info@aifdemocracy.org
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A number of palaces of Russia's super-rich have been revealed by the magazine Forbes, including a mysterious 18th century style estate built since the mid-2000s which is standing empty and no one knows who built it.
Hundreds of palaces have been built in the Russian countryside in the last 15 years when newly rich oligarchs began looking for ways to display their stupendous – and often ill-gotten – wealth. The village of Zukovka, on the Rublovka highway west of Moscow, is dotted with immense country residences: mock medieval castles, imitation 19th century mansions, and huge Swiss chalets crouch behind three meter high fences and security cameras. But their owners are secretive and hide their mansions inside exclusive settlements screened by trees and guarded by police. >>> Roland Oliphant in Moscow | Wednesday, December 29, 2010
By contrast, for this former oligarch, life isn't quite so rosy:
THE TIMES: Brutal gulag and hard rations await tycoon found guilty twice >>> Tony Halpin, Moscow | Wednesday, December 29, 2010 (£)
THE GUARDIAN: Mikhail Khodorkovsky sentenced to 14 years in prison: Jailed former oligarch given six more years for theft and money laundering after widely condemned trial >>> Mark Tran and agencies | Thursday, December 30, 2010
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Russian Judge Extends Term for Tycoon by 6 Years: MOSCOW — Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, the Russian tycoon who was imprisoned after defying Vladimir V. Putin, was sentenced to another six years behind bars on Thursday. It was a stiff term that was considered an unambiguous signal that Mr. Putin was not loosening control over the country in advance of presidential elections that he might enter. >>> Clifford J. Levy |Thursday, December 30, 2010
ZEIT ONLINE: So wie der Urteilsspruch ruft auch das Strafmaß für Chodorkowskij massive Kritik hervor. Die Bundesregierung und die USA zweifeln am Rechtsstaat in Russland.
Die Hoffnung von Michail Chodorkowskij auf eine baldige Freilassung hatte sich spätestens am vergangenen Montag verflüchtigt: Da wurde er von einem Moskauer Gericht erneut für schuldig gesprochen, schuldig des Betrugs und der Geldwäsche. Seit wenigen Stunden ist auch klar, wie lange er dafür noch hinter Gitter verbringen muss: Wie sein ebenfalls verurteilter früherer Geschäftspartner Platon Lebedjew wird auch der frühere Öl-Unternehmer vermutlich erst im Frühjahr 2017 wieder auf freiem Fuß sein. Weiter lessen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> dpa, AFP | Donnerstag, 30. Dezember 2010
FOX NEWS: MOGADISHU, Somalia -- A leader of Somalia's Islamist insurgency threatened to attack America during a speech broadcast Monday.
"We tell the American President Barack Obama to embrace Islam before we come to his country," said Fuad Mohamed "Shongole" Qalaf.
Al-Shabab has not yet launched an attack outside Africa but Western intelligence has long been worried because the group targeted young Somali-Americans for recruitment. About 20 have traveled to Somalia for training and at least three were used as suicide bombers inside Somalia. Al-Shabab holds most of southern and central Somalia and has the support of hundreds of foreign fighters, mostly radicalized East Africans.
It seeks to overthrow the weak U.N.-backed government, which is protected by 8,000 Ugandan and Burundian African Union peacekeepers. >>> Associated Press | Monday, December 27, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Only half of British adults are confident that Britain can now be described as “a Christian country”, according to research.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, has written to David Cameron urging him to review laws that have seen Christians forced to abandon their faith in public.
He warned that reforms introduced under Labour promoted “tolerance, equality and fairness” at a cost of eroding Christianity as the foundation of British culture and society.
The warnings follow a series of court cases in which the beliefs of Christians have come into conflict with the state authorities.
A ComRes poll of 1,000 adults, conducted for Christian Concern, found that 72% of adults thought Christians should be able to refuse to act against their beliefs without being penalised by their employers.
But only 50% said they were confident that Britain can now be described as “a Christian country”, according to the survey, released for the Not Ashamed campaign, which Lord Carey supports.
In the letter to the Prime Minister, Lord Carey said Christians were too often "ridiculed” and dismissed as relics of “a bygone age”. >>> Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor | Tuesday, December 28, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Men arrested in connection with suspected plot to attack a newspaper that published cartoons of Prophet Muhammad
Denmark's intelligence service has arrested four people suspected of planning an "imminent" terror attack against a newspaper that printed the controversial Prophet Muhammad cartoons.
The Danish Security and Intelligence Service, known as Pet, said three of the four men were residents of Sweden and had entered the country last night.
Jakob Scharf, the head of Pet, said "an imminent terror attack has been foiled". He described some [of] the suspects as "militant Islamists". >>> Associated Press | Wednesday, December 29, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: An Israeli group of prominent rabbis' wives has urged Jewish girls not to date or work with Arabs, underscoring the rising power of the religious Right and fuelling fears of growing racism in the country.
A letter, signed by 27 wives, called on Jewish girls not to go out with Arabs, work with them or perform national service in places where Arabs are employed. It states: "There are quite a few Arab workers who give themselves Hebrew names. Yussef turns into Yossi, Samir turns into Sami, and Abed turns into Ami. They ask to be close to you, try to find favour with you, and give you all the attention in world. They know how to act with courtesy, as if they really care for you, but their behaviour is only temporary. The moment you are in their hands, in their village, under their control, everything changes.
"Your life will never go back to the way it was, and the attention you so desired will turn into curses, beatings, and humiliations." >>> Mark Weiss in Jerusalem | Wednesday, December 29, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The British armed forces are drawing up contingency plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of British residents and tourists from Dubai and other Gulf cities in the event of war with Iran.
The Coalition government under David Cameron ordered an immediate review of British military planning in the Gulf after the election last May. The Daily Telegraph can reveal that new proposals are being drawn up to coordinate military activity in the region with local allies hostile to Iran, particularly the United Arab Emirates.
Planners have realised they had to tear up existing emergency plans for local British residents. Since the previous review in the 1990s, the expatriate population has grown to more than 100,000 in the UAE alone, while a million British tourists, from businessmen on stopovers to England footballers with marital problems, come to Dubai every year.
It is feared they might be at risk if, as it has promised, Iran retaliates for any military strikes on its nuclear sites with missile attacks on "western interests" in the Gulf.
Royal Navy warships, along with their American and French counterparts, regularly patrol the Gulf and tie up in UAE ports, while Iran has also threatened to mine the strategically crucial Straits of Hormuz.
The region's gearing up for the possibility of a war stands in contrast to the relaxing tourists on beaches or the opulent expat villa compounds. >>> Richard Spencer, Dubai | Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Neuer Terroralarm = verschärfte Kontrollen = mehr Frust bei allen Passagieren. Der künftige Chef des Flughafenverbands will mit dieser Logik brechen und Fluggäste nach Risikogruppen einteilen. In Berlin sorgt der Vorschlag für helle Empörung - sowohl in der Koalition als auch bei der Opposition.
Berlin - Der SPD-Innenpolitiker Dieter Wiefelspütz ist so schnell nicht aus der Fassung zu bringen. Bei diesem Vorschlag aber hält er sich nicht zurück. "Schreiben Sie bitte ruhig: Das ist Selektion am Flughafen - gerade in Deutschland wird es das nicht geben", sagt er mit Hinweis auf die jüngere deutsche Geschichte. Die Einteilung nach Ethnien - das löst in Deutschland schlechte Erinnerungen an die Nazi-Zeit aus. >>> Von Severin Weiland | Dienstag, 28. Dezember 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Telegraph View: Halting the erosion of freedom may prove just as important a challenge for the Coalition as easing the pain of cuts
The leader of Ukip, Nigel Farage MEP, must have groaned when he learned that the French National Front is now modelling itself on his party. Marine Le Pen, who is poised to take over leadership of the Front National (FN) from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, describes it as a "patriotic" party that has more in common with Ukip than the BNP. Given the sinister resonances that the words "National Front" have in Britain, Miss Le Pen has presented Ukip's opponents with a seasonal gift. "Ukip – backed by the French National Front" is a rhetorical swipe worthy of David Cameron's description of the party's supporters as "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists".
We should not, however, be too quick to dismiss reports that a sanitised Front National has succeeded in reaching out to a new constituency. The FN's selling point is its opposition to the "Islamisation" of French public life – but not, it is careful to add, to Islam itself. Miss Le Pen claims that pork is being taken off the menu in French schools and that state funds are being used to build "ostentatious mosque cathedrals". She may never be elected president, but over a quarter of French voters approve of her; at no point in the history of the Fifth Republic has an aggressive Right-wing party enjoyed such support among the middle classes.
It may seem inconceivable that British politics could move in the same direction. But we should not be too relaxed about the fact that populist Right-wing parties have never broken into the mainstream of our politics. Two points need to be made. Read on and comment >>> Telegraph View | Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Some of us have been highlighting the threat of the growth of Islam in this country in particular and in the West in general for a very long time, but the MSM were not prepared to listen to us. We were labelled by some misinformed people as right-wing extremists.
I, for one, am not extremist in any way; but I have recognized the growing threat of Islam in the West for many long years now. It has been very disheartening at times, when nobody wanted to listen to what one had to say. But now, thankfully, things are changing. You know they are changing when reputable newspapers like The Daily Telegraph are willing to speak out.
One of the problems we have, though, is that in the name of political correctness, we are disinclined to criticize Islam, the religion, and always ascribe anything negative to Islamism. But the harsh reality remains that Islam and Islamism are really one and the same thing: Islamism is really only the radical, extreme interpretation, and orthodox interpretation, of Islam itself. Islamism cannot be tackled without tackling Islam, if for no other reason than a non-radical Muslim can morph into a radical Muslim very easily and very quickly. Further, as there is no centralized authority in Islam, such as the Pope in the Christian Church, authentic Islam can be anyone's interpretation of the religion. This means that tackling this problem is going to be very difficult for anyone. It will take great courage, great understanding, great fortitude, and great insight.
David Cameron is not the man to tackle this problem. He is far too PR-orientated, and far too aware of his own image. I fear that for David Cameron, his approval ratings mean more to him than tackling a difficult challenge such as this. In any case, given his background, I doubt very much that he has a full grasp of the complexities of the problem. What does he really know about Islam or the Middle East? – © Mark
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: There is a remarkable statistic in today’s main Daily Telegraph leader [above]:
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life estimates that there are 2,869,000 Muslims in Britain, an increase of 74 per cent on its previous figure of 1,647,000, which was based on the 2001 census. No demographic statistics are reliable in an era of open borders, but such an expansion is unprecedented.The Muslim population has grown from 1.65 million to 2.87 million since 2001, say researchers. What does this mean for liberal Britain? >>> Damian Thompson | Tuesday, December 28, 2010
As people are in the UK today, indeed as people are in the West today – soft – this problem cannot be solved. For this problem can be solved in one way, and in one way only: by means of Draconian measures. Our politicians do not have the stomach for such measures. To start with, our Parliament has become populated by softees who are far more interested in image, sound-bites, and photo-ops than in making hard choices to safeguard our freedoms.
Islam, by contrast, is a macho religion; and its male adherents are inclined to be macho too. They will not easily be frightened off by the pansies that lead us in the West today. This is a situation which calls for the leadership of real men: men who are not intimidated by the prospect of taking tough decisions, and not daunted by the prospect of being unpopular.
Western politicians are given to dividing Islam into two parts: Islam, the religion; and Islamism, the cancer. But the distinction is far from the truth. In reality, it’s a false dichotomy. It is a distinction which serves the purposes of weak politicians; but it is one which any self-respecting Muslim would not recognize. Muslims do not distinguish between Islam and Islamism. To Muslims, Islam is ONE religion. Yes, it has its schisms. Witness the Sunni / Shi’ite schism. But no Muslim would recognize the split that Westerners arbitrarily make of Muslims and Islamists. This is but a dichotomy of convenience for politicians who do not have the stomach to tackle the real issue: the growth of Islam in the West.
Moreover, our problems with Islam cannot be solved by tackling Islamism. Islamism is but the orthodox, fundamentalist version of the faith. It is the version of Islam which devout Muslims believe is the correct way to practise their religion. It is the living out of the fundamental tenets of orthodox Islam. The problems we have with Muslims and Islam in the world today WILL NOT BE SOLVED if we continue with this false dichotomy. In using it, we are just fooling ourselves.
If civil unrest in the UK is to be staved off, and the growth of extreme parties is to be forestalled, this issue will need to be addressed; and it will have to be addressed by courageous and knowledgeable politicians – politicians who understand the nature of Islam and who are willing and able to take the TOUGH decisions which are necessary to SUCCEED. – © Mark
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THE TIMES: Muslim population 'rising 10 times faster than rest of society': The Muslim population in Britain has grown by more than 500,000 to 2.4 million in just four years, according to official research collated for The Times. >>> Richard Kerbaj | Friday, January 30, 2009
Monday, December 27, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Churches empty and Christmas decorations are put away after al-Qaida renews deadly threat
Their cathedrals stand silent and their neighbourhoods are rapidly emptying. Now Iraq's Christians face two further unthinkable realities: that Christmas this year is all but cancelled, and that few among them will stay around to celebrate future holy days.
It has been the worst of years for the country's Christians, with thousands fleeing in the past month and more leaving the country during 2010 than at any time since the invasion nearly eight years ago. Christian leaders say there have been few more defining years in their 2,000-year history in central Arabia.
The latest exodus follows a massacre led by al-Qaida at a Chaldean Catholic church in central Baghdad on 31 October, which left about 60 people dead, almost 100 maimed and an already apprehensive community terrified. Since then, the terrorist group has targeted Christians in their homes, including family members of those who survived the attack.
…
What Saudi Arabia lacks in violent persecution it makes up for in outright intolerance. There is no religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, which counts a million Catholics in its population. The country allows Christians to enter for work purposes but severely restricts the practise of their faith.
Christians worship in private homes and there are bans on religious articles including Bibles, crucifixes, statues, carvings and items bearing religious symbols. The religious police bar the practice of any religion other than Islam. Conversion of a Muslim to another religion is considered apostasy and carries a death sentence if the accused does not recant. Still, Christians in Saudi Arabia are positively blessed compared with those of Iraq. Read the whole article >>> Martin Chulov in Baghdad | Thursday, December 23, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Nine men were remanded in custody today charged with conspiracy to cause explosions in the UK and other terrorism offences.
Gurukanth Desai, 28, Omar Sharif Latif, 26, and Abdul Malik Miah, 24, from Cardiff, and Mohammed Moksudur Rahman Chowdhury, 20, and Shah Mohammed Lutfar Rahman, 28, from London, appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court.
Chief magistrate Howard Riddle remanded them to appear at the Old Bailey on January 14.
The four men from Stoke-on-Trent were later also remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on January 14.
They were Nazam Hussain, 25, Usman Khan, 19, Mohibur Rahman, 26, and Abul Bosher Mohammed Shahjahan, 26.
The suspects were held a week ago during a series of dawn raids by counter-terrorism officers.
In all 12 men were held during the raids by unarmed police on December 20 in London, Cardiff, Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham. >>> | Monday, December 27, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Christmas bomb plot: nine men remanded over plan to 'blow up Big Ben and Westminster Abbey' – Nine alleged terrorists plotted a Christmas bombing campaign targeting sites that included the London Stock Exchange and Big Ben, a court heard. >>> Caroline Gammell | Monday, December 27, 2010
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Marine Le Pen has promised to defend France from creeping "Islamisation" days before she is expected to take over from her father as head of the National Front party.
The 42-year-old is seen as a potentially dangerous threat to President Nicolas Sarkozy if chosen to succeed Jean-Marie Le Pen in a mid-January party congress almost 40 years after he founded the party.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Miss Le Pen, said: "The progressive Islamisation of our country and the increase in political-religious demands are calling into question the survival of our civilisation."
"We are fighting against Islamism, not Islam", she said.
"Islamism is the will to impose Shariah for all as civil, political and religious law. We Western societies are fighting against Islamism all around the world. We have sent our kids to Afghanistan to be killed to fight against Islamism, and we don't have the right in France through words and political action to fight it? That seems totally absurd to me," she said.
Miss Le Pen said examples of creeping Islamisation included pork being taken off the menu in certain French schools, the fact that 22 Quick fast food restaurants were offering exclusively Halal burgers. She also claimed that Muslim communities were receiving hidden French government funds to build "increasingly ostentatious mosque-cathedrals" or ones funded by Saudi Arabia.
"In reality, it's asking French people to increasingly submit themselves to the Muslim religion. That goes totally against the secular principles of the French republic," she claimed, adding that the issue would be a "key theme" of the 2012 presidential elections. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Boxing Day, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis,
Laudamus te, benedicimus te,
adoramus te.
Glorificamus te. Gratias agimus tibi,
propter magnam gloriam tuam.
King’s College, Cambridge >>>
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The Human Rights Act is protecting the rights of minority groups while encouraging judges and politicians to discriminate against Christians, a senior bishop said yesterday. The Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, warned that the death of “religious literacy” among those who made and administered the law had created an imbalance in the way in which those with faith were treated compared to sexual minorities.
Highlighting the case Gary McFarlane, a relationship counsellor who was sacked by Relate for refusing to give sex therapy to a homosexual couple, he said that the judiciary now went out of its way to protect the rights of minorities.
At the same time, for the first time in British history politicians and judges were largely ignorant of religion and so failed to appreciate the importance Christians placed on abiding by the scriptures rather than the politically correct values of the secular state. Read on and comment >>> Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent | Sunday, December 26, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: It may have caused travel chaos but the wintry weather has also provided some beautiful scenery around the country, see some of the best images of natural beauty from around northern England and Scotland.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama has signed a law allowing gays to serve openly in the military, repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a sweeping and historic shift for the US armed forces. Read about it >>> | Wednesday, December 22, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: 'Don't ask, don't tell' repealed as Obama signs landmark law: The US president fulfils his campaign pledge by allowing gay people to serve openly in the armed forces >>> Staff and agencies | Wednesday, December 22, 2010
THE ADVOCATE: Obama: "Prepared to Implement" – ADVOCATE EXCLUSIVE OBAMA INTERVIEW: President Obama tells The Advocate the Pentagon is "prepared to implement" repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and it will take months not years. He also says he's “wrestling” with the issue of marriage equality. >>> Kerry Eleveld | Tuesday, December 21, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Taha Al-Hiti, a professional calligrapher, explains how letters were originally based on the shape of the human body
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The King of Saudi Arabia has left a New York hospital to recover from back surgery.
King Abdullah left the hospital on Tuesday evening "for his New York residence for a period of convalescence and physiotherapy," the Saudi court said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.
Saudi television showed the king, about 86 years old, together with Abdullah al-Rabeeah, the health minister, walking with difficulty and smiling at hospital staff.
There was no mention of when the king would return to Saudi Arabia.
As head of a government led by several princes in their 70s and 80s, many also suffering chronic health problems, Abdullah's travelling to the United States for treatment sparked quiet speculation about the future of the leadership in many Saudi circles.
He flew to New York on November 22 and was operated on two days later at New York Presbyterian Hospital for a debilitating herniated disc complicated by a haematoma that put pressure on his spine. >>> | Wednesday, December 22, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Members of an alleged terrorist cell that was said to have been plotting Christmas suicide attacks in London were radicalised in jail, it has been claimed.
A neighbour of three men arrested in Cardiff said that, after they were convicted of theft and drugs offences, they "went to prison as petty criminals and came out expressing extreme views".
Twelve men, mainly British nationals of Bangladeshi origin, were still being questioned by anti-terrorism officers last night following co-ordinated raids in the Welsh capital, London, Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham on Monday.
Sources said the gang was planning a "spectacular" attack on banks, shops and "iconic" sites in London. >>> Duncan Gardham, Peter Hutchison, John Bingham and Richard Savill | Wednesday, December 22, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Only one Baghdad church is celebrating Christmas fully this year, as Iraq's Christians fear a recurrence of the recent murders of their fellow parishioners and are forced to mark the occasion in the absence of over 1,000 families that have fled.
Five Islamist extremists burst into the church of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad in October, murdering two priests, holding the congregation hostage and eventually killing more than 50 people. Now Amnesty International has warned of a spike in violence in the run-up to Christmas and has urged the Iraqi government to do more to protect Christians, who are now believed to number less than 500,000, about half its level of seven years ago.
Only 40 people turned up for mass at Our Lady last Sunday. They sang and chanted, a forlorn gathering of survivors, the walls around them spattered with blood and cratered by bullet-holes. The bloodied hand prints of those who failed to escape marked the door in an ante-room.
In front of the altar stood photographs of the dead, including a light-haired smiling four year old boy, Adam Eashoue, and his 33 year old father, Uday. Adam's grandparents, Zuher and Amal, cannot bear to return to the church.
"I've lost my world," said Amal at her home, who watched as her son and grandson were murdered. "I don't want to leave Baghdad - I was born and married here. But I have to think of my children."
Her 16 year old daughter, Mirna, dressed in black, described how she played dead to avoid being killed. The house is full of painful reminders: Uday and his wife's empty room, Adam's toys, the baby cot for their 11-month-old granddaughter who is now in Italy with her mother and being treated for gunshot wounds. >>> Lindsey Hilsum in Baghdad | Tuesday, December 21, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Private Saudi girls' high schools are being investigated by the education ministry for holding an "illegal" sports tournament.The Dec 8 event involving 200 females from six Jeddah private high schools broke ministry rules against girls' sports in schools, a ministry official said.
"We don't have any regulations that say that it's OK for girls' schools to hold sports classes or training," said Ahmed Al-Zahrani, director of girls' education in Jeddah.
"This tournament was held by these schools, something that has now led us to know about their illegal activities," he said. >>> | Tuesday, December 21, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Spain’s smoke-filled bars, corner cafés and restaurants are on the verge of extinction after lawmakers on Tuesday approved a tough new antismoking law that will rid the country of its reputation as one of Western Europe’s easiest places to light up.
The bill, proposed by Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and his governing Socialist Party, passed in a 189-154 vote that also rejected a Senate amendment to allow casinos to have smoking areas. >>> | Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
DAILY EXPRESS: ANTI-terror police foiled suspected Al Qaeda plots to slaughter Christmas shoppers in a bomb blitz and Mumbai-style massacres yesterday.
Officers arrested 12 young Muslim men in dawn raids in Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent.
The suspects, all believed to be of Bangladeshi origin, were being questioned about alleged conspiracies to launch a spate of devastating attacks across the UK.
Police and MI5 officers, aided by the Government’s listening post GCHQ, are believed to have uncovered plans to set off a series of explosions in crowded high streets and shopping centres. Bars, night- clubs and restaurants are also thought to be potential targets.
It is also believed there is some intelligence of a suspected plot to launch commando raids like the Mumbai massacre in India two years ago which claimed more than 170 lives.
It was not clear exactly when the men arrested yesterday allegedly planned to carry out the attacks. >>> John Twomey | Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Why do we put up with this dangerous nonsense? We are under no obligation to do so. – © Mark
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Campaigners for equal rights for homosexuals will launch an attempt to overturn England’s “discriminatory” marriage laws at the European Court of Human Rights today.
Eight British couples will argue that the twin bans on same-sex marriages and heterosexual civil partnerships are unlawful and should be reversed.
Over the last two months four homosexual couples have all been refused marriage licenses at register offices across England, while four heterosexual couples were turned away when they applied for civil partnership status.
The couples will file a joint application to the court today, which is the fifth anniversary of the first civil partnership ceremonies in England.
They will argue that the current ban on gay marriages is a breach of the Human Rights Act, specifically the right to respect for private and family life, the right to marry, and the prohibition of discrimination.
Peter Tatchell, the equality activist coordinating the “Equal Love” campaign, of which the couples are part, said bans on same-sex civil marriages and opposite-sex civil partnerships were “a form of sexual apartheid”.
“Outlawing black marriages would provoke uproar,” he said. “The prohibition on gay marriages should provoke similar outrage.” >>> Tim Ross, Social Affairs Editor | Tuesday, December 21, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A leading German politician has declared that homosexuals should not be allowed to bring up children.
Volker Kauder, the parliamentary leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, said the question of children's wellbeing should come before the wishes of adults wanting to become parents.
"This has to be accepted, even if it's difficult for those affected," said Mr Kauder told the Berliner Zeitung. "I don't think children wish to be raised by homosexual couples."
In Germany, homosexuals can legally adopt the children of their partners, but adopting an unrelated child as a couple is against the law. [Source: The Daily Telegraph] Allan Hall in Berlin | Monday, December 20, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Vince Cable has privately threatened to “bring the Government down” if he is “pushed too far” during fractious discussions with his Conservative colleagues, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
The Business Secretary also claims that David Cameron will seek to scrap or reduce the winter fuel allowance paid to pensioners from next year.
He believes that policies are being rushed through by the Conservatives and that ministers should be “putting a brake on” some proposals, which are in “danger of getting out of control”. Mr Cable says that, behind the scenes, the Tories and Liberal Democrats are fighting a “constant battle”, including over tax proposals. Likening the conflict to a war, he says he can always use the “nuclear option” of resignation. His departure from the Government would spell the end of the Coalition, he claims.
The disclosures emerged in a secret recording of a conversation Mr Cable had with two reporters from The Daily Telegraph posing as Lib Dem voters in his constituency.
They provide the first concrete evidence of the level of distrust and infighting taking place within the Coalition. His comments indicate that the public professions of support between the parties may not be a true reflection of what is occurring in Cabinet. Mr Cable has appeared uncomfortable in the Coalition and his comments will lead to speculation that he could be the first high-profile member of the Government to quit.
Following divisions within the Lib Dems over the raising of tuition fees, this newspaper has begun an investigation into the party’s true feelings towards the Coalition and it discloses widespread unease. >>> Holly Watt, Robert Winnett and Heidi Blake | Monday, December 20, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – BENEDICT BROGAN: No one in the Coalition will trust Vince Cable now >>> Benedict Brogan | Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
L’EXPRESS.fr: Marine Le Pen s'est opposée à tout financement, public ou étranger, pour la construction des mosquées en France. A mille lieues des réalités du terrain. Exemples à Strasbourg et à Marseille.
Pour mettre le cap sur l'Elysée, Marine Le Pen s'est trouvé un nouveau cheval de bataille: le respect de la laïcité. Depuis deux semaines, elle enchaîne les déclarations polémiques et les sorties tonitruantes sur le sujet. Après avoir comparé à l'occupation nazie les musulmans qui prient dans la rue, elle s'en est pris au financement de leurs lieux de culte.
Invitée du Grand jury RTL/LCI/Le Figaro, la candidate à la succession de son père à la tête du Front national s'est dite opposée à tout "financement public" pour la construction de mosquées, "directement ou indirectement", ainsi qu'au financement "de pays étrangers", dont l'Arabie Saoudite. Selon elle, "les fidèles doivent financer leurs propres mosquées (...) modestes et pas ostensibles". >>> Par Julien Chabrout et Matthieu Deprieck | Lundi 20 Décembre 2010
WELT ONLINE: Sie steht ihrem Vater in nichts nach: Die rechtsextreme Politikerin Marine Le Pen wettert gegen Burka-Trägerinnen. Dahinter steht ein Machtkampf in ihrer Partei Front National.
Gezielt provozieren, die öffentliche Empörung an sich abprallen lassen und sich danach über steigende Umfragewerte freuen – dies war lange Jahre die Strategie, mit der Jean-Marie Le Pen die Wahlerfolge des „Front National“ (FN) erzielte. Vor knapp zwei Wochen hat seine Tochter Marine Le Pen endgültig unter Beweis gestellt, dass sie dieses schwefelige Talent von ihrem Vater geerbt hat – und damit ihren Anspruch bekräftigt, diesen als Führer der rechtsextremen Partei abzulösen. Bei einem Auftritt in Lyon verglich die 42-jährige Muslime, die in manchen Vierteln französischer Großstädte freitags auf der Straße beten, weil es nicht genug Platz in den Gebetshäusern gibt, mit der Besetzung Frankreichs durch die Nationalsozialisten zwischen 1940 und 1944.
Vor zehn Jahren sei der Schleier aufgetaucht, begann Marine Le Pen ihre Ausführungen, inzwischen gebe es mehr und mehr Schleier in Frankreich. Dann sei die Burka gekommen, inzwischen gebe es mehr und mehr Burkas, behauptete die Frau mit der Stimme einer Stadionsprecherin. Und dann fügte sie betont umständlich und verschachtelt jenen perfiden Vergleich an, der in der Folge sämtliche Kommentatoren der französischen Medienlandschaft gut eine Woche lang beschäftigte: „Es tut mir leid, aber für diejenigen, die gerne vom Zweiten Weltkrieg reden, wenn es darum geht, über Besatzung zu sprechen, dann könnte man dies in diesem Fall so nennen, denn das, das ist eine Besatzung von Territorium.“ Diese geschehe zwar „ohne Panzer“ und „Soldaten“, „gleichwohl ist es eine Besatzung“, so Marine Le Pen. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> Sascha Lehnartz | Montag, 20. Dezember 2010
LE TEMPS: Avions cloués au sol, passagers qui dorment dans les aérogares, routes et voies ferrées gelées: le chaos dans les transports se poursuivait ce lundi en Grande-Bretagne, où les températures restaient exceptionnellement basses
Bien qu’ouvert, l’aéroport de Heathrow près de Londres, un des premiers du monde pour le trafic voyageurs, opérait «un nombre limité de vols», selon son site internet. British Airways a annoncé qu’une soixantaine de vols seraient maintenus lundi matin à partir de Heathrow, soit environ la moitié. Des dizaines d’autres vols ont donc été annulés, et les perturbations devraient se prolonger au-delà de Noël du fait des reports et annulations. >>> AFP | Lundi 20 Décembre 2010
LE TEMPS: L’Europe est paralysée par les intempéries: Des milliers de passagers, en Belgique et en Angleterre, ont été bloqués dans les aéroports >>> AFP/LT | Lundi 20 Décembre 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Christmas trees should be removed from public places to avoid making non-Christians feel “excluded”, scientists have suggested.
Researchers at Simon Fraser University in Canada, found non-Christians feel less self-assured and have fewer positive feelings if a Christmas tree was in the room.
The scientists conducted the study using 77 Christians and 57 non-believers, including Buddhists and Sikhs.
The participants did not know the survey was about Christmas, and were asked to fill in questions about themselves both when a 12-inch Christmas tree was in the room and when it was not.
"Non-celebrators" reported fewer positive feelings and less self-assurance in the Christmas room. Christians were mostly cheered by the tree.
Christians, however, did report feeling more guilt when a tree was in the room, which, claim the researchers, suggests the holidays can be stressful. >>> Andy Bloxham | Monday, December 20, 2010
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY: Christmas displays can undermine the psychological well-being of people who do not celebrate the holiday, according to a new Simon Fraser University study.
“This research demonstrates that the pervasive presence of Christmas displays in December makes people who do not celebrate Christmas feel like they don’t belong, and it harms their emotional well-being,” said SFU associate psychology professor Michael Schmitt.
The study was conducted by Schmitt, SFU psychology professor Stephen Wright, and SFU grads Kelly Davies and Mandy Hung. Their research was published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology in an article called, “Identity moderates the effects of Christmas displays on mood, self-esteem, and inclusion.”
Two experiments were conducted to examine the emotional consequences of being in the presence of a Christmas tree. SFU students were brought to a lab and randomly assigned to work in one of two rooms – one that had a 12-inch Christmas tree on a desk and one that didn’t. The participants, who were not aware they were part of a study about the effects of Christmas trees, then completed a questionnaire about their mood. >>> | Friday, December 17, 2010
This study is a load of nonsense! Christmas trees are part of our heritage. If non-Christians (you are probably referring here to Muslims) feel they don’t belong, then probably they don’t; and there’s a simple solution to this: Find the nearest airport and look for greener pastures!
I think I speak for the many when I say that I am sick to death of politically-correct do-gooders undermining our civilization. Take a trip to Saudi Arabia, or some other Muslim country, and see if they care whether we feel we don’t belong when they display their own Islamic ornaments for Eid, etc. They couldn’t give a fig. So lay off our Christmas! Get back to real science, guys, and see if you can do some good in this troubled world! – © Mark
Contact:
Michael Schmitt, SFU psychology, 778.898.0464, mschmitt@sfu.ca
Dixon Tam, SFU media relations, 778.782.8742; dixon_tam@sfu.ca
THE INDEPENDENT: Government agrees up to €120m in compensation for three decades of post-war 'Nazi-era' brutality in foster homes
Germany has owned up to one of the most disturbing examples of mass child and youth abuse in its post-war history, some 60 years after the first teenagers started being locked away and mistreated by supposedly "caring" foster homes.
The country agreed yesterday to provide a €120m (£101m) compensation fund for the estimated 30,000 victims who were among the 800,000 children in German foster homes in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies.
Institutions that for decades meted out inhuman treatment – including ritual beatings, periods of solitary confinement, forced labour and sexual assaults – were not youth remand centres or borstals as might be expected, but homes run by nuns and priests in former West Germany's Catholic and Protestant churches, as well as state-run homes. Read on and comment >>> Tony Paterson in Berlin | Tuesday, December 14, 2010
THE INDEPENDENT: An American woman was knifed to death and her British Israeli companion seriously injured when they were attacked by two assailants while walking in the wooded hills near Jerusalem over the weekend.Briton Kaye Wilson, who narrowly survived the assault, claimed that two Arab men attacked her and her friend before trussing them and stabbing them repeatedly.
Suspicion for the attack appeared to fall on Arab militants. Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said it was probably a "terrorist attack" given the way in which the two women were tied up and stabbed. "The main line that we're looking at is that it's a nationalistically-motivated attack, but we haven't ruled out possible criminal motives," Mr Rosenfeld said.
Israeli soldiers raided a Palestinian hospital in nearby Bethlehem, in case the attackers were injured and sought treatment. No arrests were made. >>> Catrina Stewart in Jerusalem | Monday, December 20, 2010
MAIL ONLINE: Masters of memory: The people who can recall what happened on every day of their lives >>> Clare Bates | Monday, December 20, 2010
MAIL ONLINE: The King of Saudi Arabia is said to be in talks with New York officials about a plan to move the controversial Ground Zero mosque to a disused medical centre.Lawyer Dudley Gaffin claims King Abdullah is considering buying St Vincent's Medical Center in the West Village to build an Islamic cultural centre on the site.
Under the proposals, the hospital would also be saved with units shut when it filed for bankruptcy in April reopened, the New York Post reported.
Sources said that Mr Gaffin has come up with the plan in a bid to head off the Rudin Organization, which is trying to buy St Vincent's with a view to constructing luxury housing.
One community leader, who did not want to be identified, told the newspaper: 'He's asking what it would take to put in a bid.
'He says the king wants to do this as a PR move - to save the hospital and move the mosque away from the World Trade Center site.
'He wants to show that Muslims can do good works.' Read on and comment >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Monday, December 20, 2010
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