The EU should be stronger and more united. Great Britain should belong to the Union.
Die EU sollte stärker und geeinter sein. Großbritannien sollte der Union angehören.
L'UE devrait être plus forte et plus unie. La Grande-Bretagne devrait appartenir à l'Union.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Con Coughlin: Nick Clegg Is Clueless When It Comes to Fighting Terrorism
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH BLOGS: With every day that passes Nick Clegg gives us yet further proof of why he is totally unsuited for high office. As the country’s deputy prime minister, he will have been made fully aware, from the regular briefings he receives from our intelligence and security services, of the very real threat this country faces from Islamist terrorism.
Indeed, it was only through the skill and diligence of dedicated security officers that a major terrorist attack was narrowly averted over the Christmas holiday. The targets apparently included Parliament itself, which you might have thought would have driven home even to pacifist-minded politicians like Mr Clegg the very real and present danger we all face from this pernicious threat. Read on and comment >>> Con Coughlin | Tuesday, January 04, 2011
The Islamification of Britain: Record Numbers Embrace Muslim Faith
THE INDEPENDENT: The number of Britons converting to Islam has doubled in 10 years. Why? Jerome Taylor and Sarah Morrison investigate
The number of Britons choosing to become Muslims has nearly doubled in the past decade, according to one of the most comprehensive attempts to estimate how many people have embraced Islam.
Following the global spread of violent Islamism, British Muslims have faced more scrutiny, criticism and analysis than any other religious community. Yet, despite the often negative portrayal of Islam, thousands of Britons are adopting the religion every year.
Estimating the number of converts living in Britain has always been difficult because census data does not differentiate between whether a religious person has adopted a new faith or was born into it. Previous estimates have placed the number of Muslim converts in the UK at between 14,000 and 25,000.
But a new study by the inter-faith think-tank Faith Matters suggests the real figure could be as high as 100,000, with as many as 5,000 new conversions nationwide each year.
By using data from the Scottish 2001 census – the only survey to ask respondents what their religion was at birth as well as at the time of the survey – researchers broke down what proportion of Muslim converts there were by ethnicity and then extrapolated the figures for Britain as a whole.
In all they estimated that there were 60,699 converts living in Britain in 2001. With no new census planned until next year, researchers polled mosques in London to try to calculate how many conversions take place a year. The results gave a figure of 1,400 conversions in the capital in the past 12 months which, when extrapolated nationwide, would mean approximately 5,200 people adopting Islam every year. The figures are comparable with studies in Germany and France which found that there were around 4,000 conversions a year. >>>Jerome Taylor and Sarah Morrison | Tuesday, January 04, 2011
'Why I Decided to Convert to Islam'
BBC: Up to 100,000 converts to Islam are living in the UK, with white women leading the growing number of people embracing the Muslim faith, according to a report by Kevin Brice of Swansea University.
The study, on behalf of the Faith Matters organisation, found 5,200 people converted to Islam in the UK last year.
A survey of 122 converts last year showed 56% were white British, with women making up 62% of respondents.
One convert in Wales, Jane, talks to Felicity Evans of BBC Radio Wales about why she chose to follow the faith and change her life. Listen to BBC audio >>> | Tuesday, January 04, 2011
ZEIT ONLINE: Goldman Sachs bringt sich mit dem Einstieg bei Facebook in eine strategisch günstige Position. Aber ist die Internetplattform wirklich 50 Milliarden Dollar wert?
Der Chef der Internet-Plattform Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, wirbt bei jeder Gelegenheit für mehr Offenheit: "Die Menschen teilen ihre Informationen immer schneller und offener. Das ist die neue soziale Norm." Nur wenn es um die Zahlen seiner Firma geht, gibt sich Zuckerberg verschlossen. Bis heute hat das Unternehmen keine belastbaren Zahlen über Umsatz, Gewinn oder Cash-Flow vorgelegt. Einen Börsengang, der für mehr Transparenz sorgen würde, lehnte Zuckerberg bisher kategorisch ab.
Die Intransparenz schadet ihm offenbar nicht: 500 Millionen Dollar zahlen die Investmentbank Goldman Sachs und der russische Investor Digital Sky Technologies für ein einziges Prozent an Facebook. Damit verdoppelt Zuckerberg sein rechnerisches Vermögen auf knapp 14 Milliarden Dollar. Das Portal, dessen Gründer und oberster Stratege gerade einmal 26 Jahre alt ist, ist auf dem Papier inzwischen 50 Milliarden Dollar wert - mehr als die Deutsche Bank. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> Von Rolf Benders | Klaus Stratmann | Ulf Sommer | Christoph Kapalschinski | Hans-Peter Siebenhaar | Dienstag, 04. Januar 2011
Les chrétiens du Liban se sentent menacés
LE FIGARO: Ils se considèrent en perte de vitesse sur le plan politique et économique au profit des deux principales communautés musulmanes, les sunnites et les chiites.
L'attentat dont ont été victimes les coptes d'Alexandrie résonne douloureusement au Liban, où la communauté chrétienne partage le sentiment d'être menacée à long terme, même si le danger n'y prend pas des formes violentes. La litanie des mauvaises nouvelles concernant leurs coreligionnaires d'Orient -l'exode des chrétiens d'Irak, notamment- exacerbe le sentiment d'insécurité des Libanais maronites, orthodoxes, melkites, syriaques, latins… Au point qu'un ministre a présenté la semaine dernière un projet de loi visant à interdire pendant quinze ans toute vente immobilière entre chrétiens et musulmans. Lire la suite et ecrire un commentaire >>> Par Sibylle Rizk | Lundi 03 Janvier 2011
Qur’an Is Guide to Success, Says Prince Khaled
ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has highlighted the significance of learning and memorizing the Holy Qur’an.
“There is no objective higher than the learning of Qur’an,” he said, adding that the memorizers of the holy book are among the most honored near God.
Prince Khaled made this comment while addressing a ceremony at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Sunday night, which was held to honor 25 winners of the King Abdul Aziz International Qur’an Recitation and Memorization Contest.
“The Qur’an is the guide to success in this life and the hereafter,” Prince Khaled said. “It’s the divine constitution for the whole humanity.”
He said King Abdul Aziz established the Kingdom, which reached the peak of its progress during the rule of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, on the basis of the Qur’an and Sunnah. >>> Arab News | Monday, January 03, 2011
Editorial: Saudization Drive
ARAB NEWS: Call for replacement of expats with Saudis in retail sector is prompted out of necessity
In most countries, a call from a prominent economist to expel foreign workers and replace them with nationals would be met with accusations of racism. But that accusation cannot be leveled at Saudi economist Abdul Rahman Al-Homaid. His call last week to replace foreigners in the retail sector with Saudis is prompted not by fantasies of national purity but by necessity.
As we have pointed out before in these columns, there is a ticking time bomb in Saudi Arabia. It is called unemployment and it threatens to explode with potentially devastating results unless defused. Because of the population growth rate — the highest in the world — every year for the next 20 years an extra 400,000 jobs will be needed to meet the demand from young Saudis coming onto the labor market. That is just the men! The consequences of them not finding work could be serious — economically, politically and socially.
For that simple reason, there are no taboos. There cannot be the same sentiments as elsewhere. Saudi Arabia has to put its own interests first. It is not racist to call for foreigners to be replaced by nationals, which would be the case in France or Germany or the US, because there is not the overriding imperative there of finding jobs for a burgeoning population. They actually need foreigners to fill jobs. >>> Editor | Monday, January 03, 2011
Mark Steyn: The Fraud of Multiculturalism
Monday, January 03, 2011
Ausschreitungen in Kairo
Etliche Verletzte bei Christen-Protesten – Gemayel spricht von «Völkermord»
Ein äyptischer Christ bei den Protesten in Kairo bildet mit seinen Fingern das Kreuzzeichen. Bild: NZZ Online
NZZ ONLINE: Nach dem blutigen Anschlag auf eine koptische Kirche in Alexandria entlädt sich die Wut der Christen in Ägypten in teilweise gewalttätigen Protesten. In Kairo gab es etliche Verletzte.
Nach dem tödlichen Bombenanschlag auf eine koptische Kirche in Alexandria in der Silvesternacht haben die Ausschreitungen auf die ägyptische Hauptstadt Kairo übergegriffen. Vor der Kathedrale warfen Demonstranten Flaschen und Steine auf Polizisten. 45 Beamte wurden laut Polizei verletzt, nach anderen Meldungen waren es 39 Sicherheitskräfte und zwei Passanten.
Zuvor hatte es bereits in Alexandria und in einem vorwiegend von Christen bewohnten Dorf in der oberägyptischen Provinz Assiut Proteste gegeben, bei denen die Demonstranten auch Slogans gegen Präsident Husni Mubarak riefen. Mittlerweile hat sich die Lage entspannt. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> ddp/sda | Montag, 03. Januar 2011
Father Christmas Banned After Muslim Complaint
MAIL ONLINE: Father Christmas has been banned from visiting a children's nursery after a Muslim family complained.
For the last four years, Dennis Jackson has donned a beard and red-and-white costume to hand out presents at the St Peter's Head Start Programme in Minnesota.
But this year he was told he wasn't welcome after objections from a Somali family. 'It kind of burnt me up,' Mr Jackson said, after being banned by officials at the Head Start Programme.
They had told him 'it was against some people’s wishes' for him to make the half-hour appearances for two classes, for about three dozen children all aged three and four.
Un Noël sous protection policière pour les chrétiens coptes de Meyrin
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: ATTENTATS | Les chrétiens coptes de Suisse fêteront jeudi soir le Noël copte dans leur Eglise de Meyrin, sous protection policière. Ils craignent d'être la cible d'une attaque après le récent attentat contre leur communauté en Egypte.
"Notre Eglise, comme une septantaine d'autres églises coptes dans le monde, figure sur la liste du site islamiste radical al mojahden", affirme le père Mikhaïl Megally, qui est à la tête de la communauté copte orthodoxe de Suisse Romande. Une menace qui inquiète l'Eglise de Meyrin: deux de ses membres éminents, un théologien et un avocat, y sont nommément dénoncés. >>> ATS | Lundi 03 Janvier 2011
How Republicans and Tea Party Will Use Congress to Bash Barack Obama
THE GUARDIAN: The phoney peace is over: US right plans to tackle healthcare reforms and federal budget
John Boehner, the Republican leader who is expected to replace Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. Photograph: The Guardian
The Republican party is to use the new Congress, which begins on Wednesday, to mount a guerrilla campaign aimed at destroying Barack Obama's healthcare reforms, slashing the federal budget and preparing the ground for his defeat in the 2012 White House race.
When the Senate and House convene at noon, both will be awash with Republican members elected in November's crushing victories over the Democrats, many of them backed by the Tea Party movement.
In a political shift comparable to the Republican takeover of Congress in 1995 and the Democrats in 2007, the Republicans have a strong platform to harry Obama, having won control of the House and reduced the Democratic majority in the Senate.
The handover of power in the House will take place on Wednesday after a bipartisan prayer service at St Peter's Catholic church. Members will vote in the House for a new Speaker, and Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to hold that post, will pass the gavel to the Republican leader, John Boehner.
Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues are to meet behind closed doors in Washington tomorrow to discuss strategy for coping with the shift in power and how to protect the gains they have made over the last two years. Read on and comment >>> Ewen MacAskill in Washington | Monday, January 03, 2011
Greece to Build 128-mile Anti-migrant Wall
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Greece has announced plans to build a controversial new wall along its 128 mile-long land border with Turkey to keep out illegal immigrants.
Christos Papoutsis, a Greek interior minister, insisted the wall was necessary after Brussels intervened last year to prevent an immigration crisis by sending in an elite taskforce of border guards to protect the frontier between Greece and Turkey, the EU’s most insecure boundary. He compared the planned barrier to the 650-mile fence along sections of the United-States-Mexico border.
“Co-operation with other EU states is going well. Now we plan to construct a fence to deal with illegal migration,” he said.
”The Greek public has reached its limit in taking in illegal immigrants. We are absolutely determined on this issue. Greece can’t take it anymore.”
Critics said the planned wall would be viewed as a symbol of widespread opposition, led by France, Germany and Greece, to Turkish EU membership and an emblem of a new Christian-Muslim divide between West and East. >>> Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Monday, January 03, 2011
La tension monte en Égypte après l'attentat d'Alexandrie
Dimanche, au Caire, des manifestants coptes s'en sont pris aux hauts responsables venus pérsenter leurs condoléances au patriarche Chenouda III. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Des incidents ont éclaté dimanche au Caire après l'explosion qui a fait 21 morts devant une église d'Alexandrie. Un ministre a été la cible de jets de pierres et l'un des principaux responsables musulmans du pays a été encerclé dans sa voiture.
Depuis l'attentat qui a fait 21 morts et 79 blessés dans la nuit du Nouvel An devant une église copte d'Alexandrie, les heurts se multiplient à travers l'Egypte. Après de violents affrontements entre chrétiens et musulmans, samedi, à Alexandrie, des incidents ont éclaté au Caire dimanche. Plusieurs centaines de coptes se sont rassemblés dans l'enceinte de la Cathédrale Saint-Marc, siège du patriarcat copte orthodoxe, harcelant les responsables qui venaient présenter leurs condoléances. Des manifestants ont ainsi jeté des pierres sur Osmane Mohamed Osmane, secrétaire d'Etat au développement économique, après qu'il a rencontré le patriarche Chenouda III. Au même moment, des affrontements opposaient d'autres manifestants aux policiers postés à l'extérieur. >>> Par lefigaro.fr | Lundi 03 Janvier 2011
St. Anton, Österreich. Bild: Google Images (Österreich)
Österreich: Russische 'Invasion' auf heimischen Skipisten
KRONEN ZEITUNG: Da kann man seine Ohren noch so spitzen, ein deutsches Wort hört man in den heimischen Skigebieten derzeit nicht. Auch kaum ein englisches oder italienisches. Gastein, Sölden und Co. sind jetzt fest in russischer Hand – beinahe im Minutentakt landen die Flieger aus dem Osten. Vielerorts wird um die Gunst der betuchten Gäste gebuhlt. Allerdings: Nicht jeder ist darüber erfreut. Allein am Sonntag landeten knapp 50 Maschinen aus Moskau, Kiew oder anderen Metropolen im Osten in Salzburg. >>> Doris Vettermann, Kronen Zeitung | Montag, 03. Januar 2011
Wird die arabische Welt eine Region ohne Christen?
WELT ONLINE: Die Lage der Christen in Ägypten ist mit der im Irak nicht vergleichbar. Doch bei der Auswanderung gibt es dramatische Parallelen.
Nach dem Anschlag mutmaßlich islamistischer Terroristen auf koptische Christen im ägyptischen Alexandria fürchten Gläubige in Europa und Deutschland weitere Attentate. Unter der Überschrift „Hör auf zu schlafen und steh’ auf“ ruft die mit dem Terrornetzwerk al-Qaida eng verbundene Internetseite Schumuch el Islam jeden „Muslim, der sich um die Ehre seiner Schwestern sorgt“, zu Sprengstoffanschlägen auf. Als potenzielle Ziele werden rund 50 Gotteshäuser koptischer Christen in Ägypten, in Frankreich, Großbritannien und Deutschland genannt.
In Deutschland leben etwa 6000 koptische Christen, von denen viele aus Ägypten stammen. Größere Gemeinden gibt es in Frankfurt und München. Der Bischof der koptischen Christen in Deutschland, Anba Damian, hat die Bundesregierung bereits kurz vor dem Anschlag auf die koptische Kirche in Ägypten vor Attentaten auch in der Bundesrepublik gewarnt. Damian sagte im Bayerischen Rundfunk, das Bundes-kriminalamt habe koptische Priester vor entsprechenden Plänen gewarnt. Demnach könnten Kopten in der Nacht vom 6. auf den 7. Januar zum Ziel neuer terroristischer Aktivitäten werden, konkrete Ziele seien Frankfurt und Lehrte. In dieser Nacht feiern die Kopten die Geburt Christi. >>> M. Lutz und A. Kolpatzik | Montag, 03. Januar 2011
Koptisches Weihnachtsfest im Visier der Terroristen
WELT ONLINE: Kanzlerin Merkel ist über das Blutbad von Alexandria entsetzt. Islamische Terroristen planen offenbar Anschläge zum koptischen Weihnachtsfest.
Koptische Christen sehen sich auch in Deutschland von islamischem Terror bedroht. Bereits vor dem verheerenden Attentat in Ägypten zu Neujahr habe sich die hiesige koptische Gemeinde deshalb an Bundesinnenminister Thomas de Maizière gewandt, bestätigte das Innenministerium in Berlin. Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (CDU) verurteilte das Blutbad in Alexandria scharf und äußerte Abscheu und Entsetzen.
Dort hatte ein Selbstmordanschlag in der Silvesternacht mindestens 21 Menschen getötet. Dutzende wurden verletzt. Merkel sei über das Attentat entsetzt, sagte ihr Sprecher Christoph Steegmans. In einem Beleidstelegramm an den ägyptischen Präsidenten Husni Mubarak äußerte sie demnach die Erwartung, dass Mubarak alles in seiner Macht stehende tun werde, derartige Vorfälle in Zukunft zu vermeiden.
Sicher fühlen sich die koptischen Christen aber auch in Deutschland nicht. Ihr Bischof Anba Damian sagte, das Bundeskriminalamt habe koptische Priester gewarnt. Im Internet sei ein Plan im Umlauf, wonach vom 6. auf den 7. Januar – dem koptischen Weihnachtsfest – Kopten Zielscheibe für terroristische Aktivitäten sein könnten. In dieser Nacht erreichen die Weihnachtsfeiern von orthodoxen Christen ihren Höhepunkt.
„Ich habe den Bundesinnenminister vier Stunden vor dem Terroranschlag in Alexandria davon in Kenntnis gesetzt“, sagte Damian. >>> Verena Schmitt-Roschmann | Montag, 03. Januar 2011
Navy Investigates Lewd Videos Made On USS Enterprise
This Is a Must Watch! Cholesterol Myth Exposed! They Use It to Sell Drugs That Kill You!
Bild: Google Images
Eier werden zu Sondermüll – Hühner notgeschlachtet
WELT ONLINE: Wegen des mit krebserregendem Dioxin verseuchten Futtermittels werden 1000 Höfe gesperrt. Der Verkauf von Eiern ist verboten.
Das Jahr 2011 beginnt für Deutschlands Verbraucher mit Nachrichten, deren Ursache man sonst eigentlich lieber verdrängt. Zehntausende Hühnereier mussten am Montag in Niedersachsen auf den Sondermüll gebracht werden, 8000 Legehennen wurden in Nordrhein-Westfalen notgeschlachtet, um nicht in den Nahrungskreislauf der Menschen zu geraten. In Thüringen wurde kontaminiertes Futtermittel in einer Schweinezucht entdeckt. Das wird erst einmal so weitergehen. Der jüngste Futtermittelskandal der Republik nimmt seinen Lauf. Es geht einmal mehr um Dioxin, eine chemische Substanz, die im dringenden Verdacht steht, krebserregend zu sein, und sich im Körperfett anreichert. Es geht aber auch um einen Nahrungsmittelkreislauf, bei dem Otto Normalverbraucher sehr schnell Überblick und Appetit verliert. >>> Ulrich Exner | Montag, 03. Januar 2011
Republican Attacks 'Corrupt’ Obama
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A senior Republican has accused Barack Obama of heading “one of the most corrupt administrations” ever seen in the United States.
Darrell Issa, a Congressman from California who will take over the powerful Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the House of Representatives, is set to subpoena dozens of Obama officials as he investigates a litany of issues. He has promised that the new Congress that convenes this week will vigorously pursue fraud and government waste.
His tough words indicated that the Democratic president is in for a rough ride over the next two years, when the Republicans will control the House after their victory in November’s mid-term elections.
Republicans have also renewed their vow to repeal health care reform, the signature achievement of Mr Obama’s first two years in office.
Though such efforts would be defeated in the Senate, where the Democrats still hold a diminished majority, and could be vetoed by the president, Republicans are convinced that they can force the administration into making changes to the law, which provided health insurance to nearly all Americans.
They are also examining how Congressional authority can be used to deny funding to elements of the bill. >>> Alex Spillius, Washington | Monday, January 03, 2011
Iraqi Immigrant Accused of Killing Daughter for Being Too Westernised
MAIL ONLINE: Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 50, faces life in jail if convicted of so-called 'honour killing' / Prosecutors claim a history of violence and threats against pretty 20-year-old
An Iraqi immigrant accused of killing his daughter because he believed she was too Westernised is to go on trial in Arizona this month.
Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 50, faces life in prison if convicted. The case raised awareness about incident of so-called 'honour killings' in the U.S.
In October 2009, he slammed his Jeep into his daughter, Noor Almaleki, 20, prosecutors said.
The woman, who longed to live a normal American life, was in a coma for two weeks before succumbing to her injuries - in a case that caused outrage from people nationwide.
Faleh Almaleki moved his family from Iraq to the Phoenix suburb of Glendale in the mid-1990s. He and Noor had a tumultuous relationship, according to police and court records and her close friends.
At 17, she refused to enter into an arranged marriage in Iraq, enraging her father, according to a court document filed by prosecutors.
At 19, Noor moved into her own apartment and began working at a fast food restaurant but quit and left her new place after her parents kept showing up at her work, insisting that she return home, the document said.
Later in 2009, she moved into the home of her boyfriend and his parents, Reikan and Amal Khalaf.
They say that she claimed her parents had beaten her.
Almaleki is accused of regularly harassing his daughter and the Khalafs.
Welfare Bill Soars as Coalition Counts Cost of Austerity Drive
THE GUARDIAN: Slowdown in economic growth makes reducing deficit harder, says Office for Budget Responsibility
Rising unemployment will cost the government £1.5bn more than expected in welfare benefits, according to official forecasts that reveal the hidden cost of the coalition's austerity drive.
As big increases in VAT are due to bite from Tuesday, analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility shows slowing economic growth will make it harder to reduce the deficit by forcing more people to seek state support.
The Treasury watchdog calculates the government will have to pay out £700m more in unemployment benefit than previously forecast. Similarly, a higher number claiming jobseeker's allowance as well as falling into lower wage brackets will see the government needing to pay out another £700m more in housing assistance over the next four years.
Though the OBR data, released last month, confirms the government is still making substantial savings from its changes to both benefits, the shadow work and pensions secretary, Douglas Alexander, said the OBR's fresh assessment suggested it was government strategy that was leaving these higher numbers exposed.
He said: "The growing cost of the risk the government is running with the economic recovery is now emerging. The result of policies which undermine growth and jobs is a longer dole queue and a higher welfare bill." >>> Allegra Stratton and Julia Kollewe | Sunday, January 02, 2011
Norman Tebbit: The Government Goes Easy on Suspected Terrorists – Thanks to the Lib Dems
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH – EXTRACT: Now, according to the Sunday Times, the junior partners in the Coalition have won the row over control orders on suspected terrorists. The Prime Minister, it claims, has sided with the Lib Dems against his own Home Secretary. Mr Clegg takes the high-minded view that the security of this country and its people are secondary to the “human rights” of suspected terrorists. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, who has responsibility for such matters, is known to take a different view, putting the human right of law-abiding citizens not to be blown to bits by demented suicide bombers first. Read the whole article here and comment >>> Norman Tebbit | Monday, January 03, 2011
The Christmas Broadcast, 1957
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Incredible! Journey to Islam and Seeking Knowledge - Abdur Raheem McCarthy
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Final Address (January 02, 2011)
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban, poised to take over presidency of the European Union, is fighting back against criticism from Germany and other countries over a new Hungarian law that some fear could be used to curb press freedom.
The law, which was passed last week by the Parliament in Budapest and comes into force on Jan. 1, empowers the newly created National Media and Communications Authority to impose heavy fines for coverage that it considers unbalanced or offensive to human dignity or common morals.
Dunja Mijatovic of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, which monitors press and human rights freedoms throughout the region, said he was concerned that the legislation, “if misused, can silence critical media and public debate in the country.”
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke out strongly against the new law.
“As a country that is about to take over the president of the E.U., Hungary will have a particular responsibility for the image of the whole union in the world,” said a spokesman for Mrs. Merkel.
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselbron questioned whether Hungary was ready to represent the E.U. “The plans clearly violate and the spirit of E.U. treaties,” he said. “It raises the question of whether such a country is worthy of leading the E.U.”
But Mr. Orban hit back against his critics. “We are not even thinking in our wildest dreams about making amendments to the law,” he said in an interview with the Hungarian private television channel Hir TV. “I am not inclined to react with wobbly knees to debates in parliament or Western reactions. There is not a single passage in the law that does not correspond to the media law in E.U. countries.” >>> Judy Dempsey | Saturday, December 25, 2010
Who Will Confront the Hatred in Hungary?
THE GUARDIAN: The European Union seems happy to ignore the repression that is happening under Viktor Orbán [sic]
All sides agreed that there should be no fuss when Hungary's Viktor Orbán took over the presidency of the European Union yesterday. The EU's technocrats would allow Orbán to play the big guy on the international stage, as long as he let Brussels run Europe behind the scenes. Brussels assured Orbán's rightwing Fidesz party in return that it would not look too closely at how he runs Hungary.
Both parties will maintain the pretence that Hungary is a decent democracy and not discuss the ugly little state that is growing within Europe's borders. The silence of Europe's rulers will suit Fidesz nicely. Ever since it won a landslide victory over the corrupt and incompetent Hungarian left, it has been turning Hungary into a… well, I will not call it a fascist country or even a neo-fascist county, but just note that an old, foul stench wafts from the "new society" Orbán's patriots are building on the Danube.
You can catch a smell of it in Fidesz's propaganda. Its first act was to order public buildings to display a passage from its manifesto. "In spring 2010, the Hungarian nation gathered its strength once again and brought about a successful revolution in the polling booth," the citizenry was informed. They should rejoice because Fidesz will lead Hungary to a bright new tomorrow based on "work, home, family, health and order". >>> Nick Cohen | Sunday, January 02, 2011
SKY NEWS: A new video of North Korea's leader-in-waiting has been broadcast on state TV as it emerged a train carrying his birthday gifts derailed in a possible act of sabotage. Tim Marshall reports.
New Irish Exodus To America
SKY NEWS: The number of people travelling from Ireland to New York to find work is rising, according to the city's Irish community leaders.
Katie Couric * : "Maybe We Need a Muslim Version of the Cosby Show"
THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE: >>> NewsGuy | Saturday, January 01, 2011
Agitation autour de l’affaire Sakineh
LE TEMPS: Une annulation de la lapidation de l’Iranienne condamnée à mort pour adultère est «possible», selon un responsable régional de la justice ce dimanche, après une série de déclarations plus ou moins mises en scène qui ont eu lieu tout ce week-end
De grandes manoeuvres semblent avoir commencé autour de cette Iranienne condamnée à la lapidation pour adultère, et dont le sort fait l’objet d’une forte mobilisation notamment en Occident depuis cet été. La peine de mort de Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani pourrait en effet être annulée, du moins si on en croit un haut responsable de la Justice iranienne, le chef de la Justice de la province d’Azerbaïdjan oriental, Malek Ajdar Sharifi, qui a déclaré ce di manche [sic] que «tout était possible». >>> LT / AFP | Dimanche 02 Janvier 2011
Übergewicht ist in Deutschland fast Normalzustand
WELT am SONNTAG: Die Bundesregierung will mehr gegen die weit verbreitete Fettleibigkeit unternehmen – alarmiert durch neue Zahlen.
Das neue Jahr hat begonnen, die guten Vorsätze sind gefasst. Ganz vorn rangiert dabei der Entschluss, endlich die überflüssigen Pfunde loszuwerden. Studien zeigen: Die Deutschen haben eine Schlankheitskur auch dringend nötig: Schon 15 Prozent der Kinder und Jugendlichen bringen zu viele Pfunde auf die Waage. Mit dem Alter nimmt der Anteil der Übergewichtigen dramatisch zu. Beim Eintritt ins Rentenalter sind heute sieben von zehn Frauen und Männern zu dick. Und der Anteil der Fettleibigen wächst. Die Kluft zwischen dicken und dünnen Deutschen wird immer größer.
Ein Teil der Bevölkerung ernährt sich gesund und achtet auf sein Gewicht. Wer aber ohnehin schon zu viel wiegt, kümmert sich nicht um Kalorien und langt noch kräftiger zu. "Die Dicken werden immer dicker", sagte Professor Helmut Heseker, Präsident der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Ernährung (DGE), der "Welt am Sonntag". Übergewicht sei "in einer Überflussgesellschaft inzwischen fast der Normalzustand", warnte Heseker. >>> C. Ehrenstein und M. Hollstein | Sonntag, 02. Januar 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Cabinet said to be poised to approve alternatives to the restrictive conditions imposed on some terror suspects
Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, is said to have won his cabinet fight to scrap control orders, the restrictive conditions that impose virtual house arrest on some terror suspects.
Under alternative measures awaiting government approval, suspects will no longer have to wear electronic tags or have a home curfew imposed on them, and will be allowed to use mobile phones and home computers for the first time, according to the Sunday Times. [£]
They will also be allowed to travel wherever they want in Britain, but not abroad, it is claimed.
The report comes after a group of human rights organisations upped the pressure on the government over the issue. The Liberal Democrats promised to scrap control orders as part of their election manifesto commitments, but the issue has caused wrangling within the coalition government, under pressure from the Home Office and MI5 to retain the controversial measures. >>> Karen McVeigh | Sunday, January 01, 2011
Egyptian Christians Mourn Dead in Suicide Bomb Attack on Church
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Dozens of grieving Egyptian Christians attended Sunday Mass at the Saints Church in Alexandria guard where 21 worshippers were killed in an apparent suicide bombing.
Riot police in armoured vehicles were deployed outside the blood-spattered church as Egyptian newspapers warned that "civil war" could break out unless Christians and Muslims close ranks after a deadly attack on a Coptic church that triggered angry protests.
The authorities said that a suicide bomber blew himself up outside Al-Qiddissin church in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria early on New Year's Day, killing 21 people and wounding 79 others.
The service was marked by the grief and anger felt by a congregation devastated by the attack, which took place Saturday outside the church's door about 30 minutes into the New Year.
Many sobbed while others cried hysterically, screamed in anger or slapped themselves. "They died, they died," a woman kept saying.
Some lamented that attacks on Christians and churches often happen during usually happy occasions like Christmas and New Year. Others complained that the government was not doing enough to protect churches. >>> Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Sunday, January 02, 2011
Australian Woman Swept Off Bridge Is First Victim of Queensland Floods
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Australian police have recovered the body of a woman whose car was swept from the road in heavy flooding in the country's northeast, the first victim of the catastrophe.
A woman drowned after trying to cross a flooded causeway in Australia, becoming the first victim of relentless flooding that one official has described as reaching "biblical proportions," police said Sunday.
Days of pounding rain last week left much of northeastern Australia swamped by a sea of muddy water, with flooding affecting about 200,000 people in an area larger than France and Germany combined. The rain has stopped, but rivers are still rising and overflowing into low-lying communities as the water moves toward the ocean.
On Saturday night, two cars trying to cross a flooded causeway were swept into a river in Burketown, in western Queensland state, police said.
"We're just grateful there weren't more casualties," Queensland's Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Alistair Dawson said. "We're focused on preventing any more."
About 1,000 people were living in evacuation centers across the state, and it may be a month before floodwaters dry up, Dawson said. >>> Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Sunday, January 02, 2011
Obama Can Fix It!
MAIL ONLINE: President Barack Obama today set out an ambitious New Year's resolution for 2011 - repair the struggling U.S. economy.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, the president said recent data showed the economic recovery was gaining traction even though millions of Americans were still out of work.
'Our most important task now is to keep that recovery going,' said Mr Obama, who is currently enjoying a family vacation in Hawaii.
Ottawa dénonce les violations des droits de l'homme en Iran
CYBERPRESSE.CA: Le chef de la diplomatie canadienne a dénoncé samedi l'usage de la peine de mort et de lourdes peines de prison en Iran, appelant ce pays à améliorer la situation des droits de l'homme.
«Je suis particulièrement préoccupé par le sort incertain de deux Canadiens ayant la double nationalité qui sont toujours détenus en Iran», a écrit Lawrence Cannon dans un communiqué.
M. Cannon cite le cas de Saeed Malekpour, un résident permanent du Canada, qui a été condamné à mort et dont la peine «pourrait être exécutée à tout moment».
Le Canadien d'origine iranienne Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, qui s'est rendu en Iran en 2008 pour rendre visite à sa mère malade, a lui aussi été condamné à mort sous l'accusation de crimes contre l'État. >>> Agence France-Presse | Samedi 01 Janvier 2011
Son of Iranian Woman Sentenced to Be Stoned Wants Her Sentence Commuted
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: The son of an Iranian woman, whose death sentence by stoning for adultery sparked world outrage, demanded Saturday that his mother's verdict be commuted.
In his first public meeting with journalists, Sajjad Qaderzadeh told reporters in the northwest city of Tabriz that he had been freed on Dec. 12 after posting a $40,000 bail and now wants to devote his life to saving his mother.
“We lost our father and we don't want to lose our mother. We demand that her verdict be commuted,” Qaderzadeh told reporters. >>> Nasser Karimi, Tabriz, Iran – The Associated Press | Saturday, January 01, 2011
Inondations «sans précédent» en Australie
LE TEMPS: Réfugiés par milliers, destruction des récoltes et transports bloqués: le nord-est de l’Australie faisait face vendredi à de graves inondations, dont le coût est déjà estimé à plusieurs milliards de dollars. Et un autre cyclone était en formation au large de la côte ouest, de l’autre côté du pays
Sur une surface aussi vaste que celle de la France et de l’Allemagne réunies, des dizaines de villes et de villages de l’Etat du Queensland, région agricole et minière, sont depuis mardi envahis par les eaux et coupés du reste du pays.
Les intempéries, provoquées par le récent passage du cyclone Tasha, ont pris la forme d’un véritable déluge d’eau qui a coupé les routes, endommagé les liaisons ferroviaires et perturbé la production de charbon. >>> ATS | Vendredi 31 Décembre 2010
Banned Speech: Hillel Neuer Takes on U.N. Human Rights Council
The Myth of Islamic Tolerance and Peaceful Coexistence - Egypt's Coptic Christians
The Coptic Church: 1,8 Million Christians Embraced Islam in Egypt
The Sad Truth Behind Egypt - The Treatment of Copts
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Islamic Crusades 2: Before Islam... Egypt, Iran, Iraq
Car Bomb in Egypt Kills At Least 21 Outside Christian Church
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A car bomb has killed at least 21 people outside a church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria.
The blast hit worshippers as they emerged from a New Year's mass at the Mass at the Saints Church in the Mediterranean port city in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Nearly 1,000 Christians were attending the service and were just leaving the church when the car exploded at 12.30am on New Year's Day.
Sectarian tensions have been on the rise in Egypt and after the blast, enraged Christians clashed with police and stormed a nearby mosque.
Fights and stone throwing broke out between groups of Christians, Muslims and the police.
Although no one claimed immediate responsibility for the attack, authorities in Egypt blamed al-Qaeda for the attack.
Al-Qaeda's Iraq affiliate threatened Egypt's Copts late last year after claiming an attack on a Baghdad church on October 31 that left 44 worshippers, two priests and seven security forces dead. >>> | Saturday, January 1, 2011
ÉGYPTE - La communauté copte endeuillée par un attentat meurtrier
LE POINT: Une explosion devant une église copte d'Alexandrie a fait plusieurs dizaines de victimes pendant la nuit du nouvel an.
Un attentat kamikaze a fait des dizaines de victimes à la sortie d'une messe du nouvel an, à Alexandrie. Photo : Le Point
La nuit de la Saint-Sylvestre a été endeuillée, en Égypte, par un attentat qui a frappé la communauté chrétienne égyptienne, la plus importante du Moyen-Orient. L'explosion, non revendiquée, s'est produite vers minuit et demi alors que des fidèles sortaient de l'église des Saints (al-Qiddissine), située dans le quartier de Sidi Bechr d'Alexandrie. L'attaque a fait au moins 21 morts et 79 blessés.
L'hypothèse d'une voiture piégée initialement mentionnée par les autorités a été écartée en milieu de journée par le ministère de l'Intérieur, qui a déclaré que le massacre avait "probablement" été perpétré par un kamikaze. La bombe, de fabrication locale, contenait des bouts de métal "pour atteindre le plus grand nombre" de personnes, selon un communiqué du ministère. Le président Hosni Moubarak a condamné dans une allocution télévisée un "acte criminel odieux qui a visé la nation, Coptes et musulmans", et dénoncé, sans plus de précisions, "l'implication de mains étrangères" dans ce massacre. Continuez à lire et vous pouvez écrire un commentaire >>> Source AFP | Samedi 1 Janvier 2011
