Cuba Lays-off State Workers in Privatisation Drive
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Cuba has begun the process of laying-off a tenth of its state workforce in a drive to push employees into small businesses that could mark the beginning of the end of the 50-year communist experiment on the island.

The state labour union announced this week that the first of some 500,000 employees could expect to receive "pink slips" immediately, effectively terminating their employment in the public sector where, until now, almost 90 per cent of Cuba's workforce have been employed.

The lay-offs will begin in the ministries of agriculture, sugar, construction, health and tourism, according to Salvador Valdes, the leader of the Workers' Central Union of Cuba (CTC). Workers, who on average earn a monthly wage of $20 (£13), were told to expect compensation of one month's salary for every ten years on the job.

Committees have been set up in each workplace to draw up the list of those jobs to be cut, the CTC said – a process that "will be free of favouritism, nepotism and paternalism". >>> Fiona Govan, Madrid | Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Basque Terrorists ETA Call 'Permanent Ceasefire'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Basque terrorist group ETA have announced a "permanent ceasefire" renouncing violence after more than 40 years of bloodshed.

Video grab of three members of ETA declaring a permanent ceasefire. Video grab: The Daily Telegraph
The declaration was made in a video featuring three militants, their faces hidden by white hoods beneath black berets.

"This is ETA's firm commitment towards a process to achieve a lasting resolution and towards an end to the armed confrontation," a male voice said.

The statement makes permanent a truce called in September but made no mention of handing over weapons, a move considered key to the socialist government before they will consider entering into dialogue.

ETA has broken ceasefires several times in the past, most recently in 2006 when a truce was ended by a deadly bomb attack at Madrid's airport.

But the ceasefire was quickly rejected by Spain's socialist government who said it did not go far enough. >>> Fiona Govan, Madrid | Monday, January 10, 2011

Arizona Shooting: Barack Obama Leads Nationwide Silence
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama led a nationwide moment of silence to honour the victims of the Arizona shooting.


Mr Obama, the US president, and his wife Michelle, emerged from the White House, took a few steps toward the South Lawn and stood, heads bowed, the only sound the sombre ringing of a bell.

The silence was observed outside the Capitol building, with staff members gathering on the steps to honour the victims.

The 22-year-old man charged with attempting to assassinate a US congresswoman in a shooting spree in Arizona is due to appear in a federal court in Phoenix, the state's capital.

Jared Lee Loughner, 22, is expected to be charged with the attempted assassination of US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, two counts of murdering a federal government employee, and two of attempting to assassinate a federal government employee.

"As the investigation goes on, there may well be additional charges that will be filed," Robert Mueller, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, told reporters in Tucson. >>> | Monday, January 10, 2011

Top Iran Human Rights Lawyer Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A prominent Iranian human rights lawyer who was defending pro-democracy activists arrested after the country's disputed June, 2009, presidential election has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Nasrin Sotoudeh, was found guilty of acting against national security and propaganda against the regime.

Reza Khandan, Mrs Sotoudeh's husband, said she had also been banned from working as a lawyer for 20 years and barred from leaving Iran.

Mrs Sotoudeh, a 45 year old mother of two who has won several prestigious awards for her work, was arrested in September, after she gave interviews to foreign-based media about clients who had been jailed after the controversial 2009 presidential polls. >>> | Monday, January 10, 2011

Four Swept to Death as Australian Floods Takes [sic] Queensland Town by Surprise
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A massive and sudden tidal wave of mud and water enveloped an Australian city near Brisbane this afternoon, sweeping four people to their death, with serious fears for another three children missing, last seen swept away in the raging torrent.


Authorities are desperately searching for many others missing and have ordered the immediate evacuation of 5000 residents in the path of deadly water downstream from Toowoomba, just an hour's drive west of the Queensland capital Brisbane. Steve James, the local mayor of Lockyer Valley, described it as "absolute devastation".

Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart warned more lives were under threat. >>> Jacquelin Magnay, Brisbane | Monday, January 10, 2011

Converts Find It Hard to Fit into Muslim Culture
Not always popular with Muslims ... Jamila Hussain, left, and Slima Ihram like to speak out on Islamic issues. Photo: The Sydney Morning Herald
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: AUSTRALIAN women who convert to Islam often find themselves with a foot in two camps and a tent in neither. A Muslim community may be very welcoming, but converts often find ethnic and language barriers difficult.

And, though they find themselves acting as spokeswomen for their new faith because they are more confident with the language, more certain of their entitlement to be heard, and are less likely to be inhibited by a perception that Muslims are negatively stereotyped in the culture at large, they are not always popular with Muslims, or non-Muslims, when they speak out.

So said Jamila Hussein, an academic who lectures in Islamic studies at the University of Technology, Sydney, who converted to Islam in 1988.

New research by Swansea University on behalf of Faith Matters showed that over the past decade the number of converts to Islam in Britain has risen from 60,000 to 100,000 - a big jump - and that 5200 people converted last year alone, among them Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of the former prime minister, Tony Blair.

While there is nothing like the same sort of conversion rate in Australia, it is an under-the-radar phenomenon that brings with it unheralded problems that converts must rely on themselves to face. >>> Matt Buchanan | Tuesday, January 11, 2011

In Southern Sudan, a Jubilant Vote on Secession
Long lines formed Sunday at polling places in Juba, in southern Sudan, for a referendum on independence. The voting, which will continue through the week, was reported to be going smoothly. Photograph: The New York Times
JUBA, Sudan — It’s not every day that a beleaguered, marginalized and persecuted people get a chance to vote for their own freedom. On Sunday, southern Sudanese did.

Starting in the cool hours of the night, long before the polls even opened, people across this region began lining up at polling stations to cast their votes in a historic referendum on whether to declare independence. Jubilant crowds made clear which was the overwhelmingly popular choice.

“I feel like I’m going to a new land,” beamed Susan Duku, a southern Sudanese woman who works for the United Nations.

As the sun cleared the horizon and the voting began, the streets of Juba, the capital of southern Sudan, broke into a street party. Women were literally skipping around the polls. Young men thumped on drums. Others were wrapped in flags.

On Monday, voting in the weeklong ballot continued as reports began to emerge from the Abyei region near the border with northern Sudan of fighting between northern and southern forces in an area considered a likely flashpoint before, during and after the vote. At least 23 people died in three days of clashes, Reuters reported, quoting leaders aligned with the southern authorities.

In Juba, though, things stayed peaceful — rowdy, but peaceful on Sunday. One man, who clearly had been celebrating with fortified beverages the night before, staggered around a polling station blowing an instrument fashioned from a cow’s horn and rubber tubing.

People were hollering, singing, hugging, kissing, smacking high-fives and dancing as if they never wanted the day to end, despite the sun beating down and voting lines that snaked for blocks.

Southern Sudan has suffered a lot, and after years of civil war, oppression and displacement, many people here saw the vote as an unprecedented chance at self-determination. The referendum ballot offered two choices, unity with northern Sudan or secession. Unity was represented on the ballot by a drawing of two clasped hands. Secession was a single open hand. Many people rely on these symbols: more than three-quarters of southern Sudanese adults cannot read. >>> Jeffrey Gettleman (Josh Kron contributed reporting) | Monday, January 10, 2011

Saudi Woman Jailed for Abusing Indonesian Maid Sumiati
BBC: A court in the Saudi city of Medina has sentenced a woman to three years in jail for the severe physical abuse of her Indonesian maid.

Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa, 23, was admitted to hospital in November with broken bones and burns to her face and body.

The case received worldwide attention, and prompted the Indonesian president to demand justice for her "torture".

But local media say the alleged abuser maintains she is innocent.

Scissors

The employer was convicted under a new royal decree against human trafficking, al-Watan newspaper reported.

It quoted a lawyer for the Indonesian consulate, Abdulrahman al-Muhamadi, as saying he would appeal against the ruling in order to press for a tougher sentence.

The defendant's lawyer also said she would appeal against the sentence, reported Saudi Gazette.

Ms Sumiati is thought to have arrived in Saudi Arabia last July seeking work.

The woman for whom she found work as a maid was arrested after allegedly beating Ms Sumiati so severely she had broken bones and internal bleeding. She was accused of putting a hot iron to Ms Sumiati's head and stabbing and mutilating her with scissors.

Ms Sumiati appeared in court last week to show the judge her scars. >>> | Monday, January 09, 2011

US Will Respond to Chinese Military Build-up
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The US said at the weekend it would respond to the rapidly-increasing military capabilities of China by building up its own strength in the region.

Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, was speaking as he arrived in Beijing on Sunday for four days of talks aimed at renewing ties between the US and Chinese armed forces. However his visit has been overshadowed by a series of announcements by the Chinese about the growing strength of their missile technology, naval capabilities and other defence initiatives.

The visit is the first by a US defence secretary since 2000, and comes at a time of heightened tension in the region. It is also almost one year after China suspended military contacts with Washington following arms sales to Taiwan. >>> David Eimer in Beijing | Sunday, January 09, 2011

Brisbane – floods 2008. Photo: Google Images
Australian Floods: Brisbane Threatened by Rising Waters
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The devastating floods that are sweeping through Queensland have reached the outer suburbs of the state's capital Brisbane and now threaten some of the country's most popular tourist destinations.

Heavy rain on Sunday fell on Australia's Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane, prompting warnings of flash flooding, and a close watch was also being kept on the Gold Coast, a major draw for the state's tourism industry and an essential part of Queensland's economy.

At one of the region's busiest times of year for tourism, holidaymakers have been warned to stay away from campsites close to rivers. The bad weather and flood warnings are a further blow to Queensland tourism, which is already estimated to have suffered losses of $1bn (£640 million) as a result of the floods.

Brett Harrison, a weather forecaster, said there had been reports of flooding in low-lying areas of Brisbane and the situation was expected to worsen. Some basements and underground car parks were filling with water.

"It is not in the city at the moment but it is certainly going to increase over the next 24 to 48 hours. We are expecting heavy rain to continue during that time," he said. "There is a possibility of moderate to major flooding for areas west of Brisbane." >>> Bonnie Malkin, Rockhampton | Sunday, January 09, 2011

Cameron* Says Banks 'Should Pay Smaller Bonuses'
BBC: Prime Minister David Cameron has called on banks to pay smaller bonuses this year.


Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr show he said banks should be more "socially responsible".

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is majority-owned by the taxpayer, should not be "leading the way" on bonuses but should be a "back marker", he said.

However "micro-managing" the banks was not the answer, he added. >>> | Sunday, January 09, 2011

* Cameron talking baloney! He’ll never do anything about bankers and their despicable, excessive bonuses. He is weak and cowardly. – © Mark

Fury as Banks Pay Out Bonuses of £7 Bn
DAILY EXPRESS: BRITAIN’S bailed-out banks sparked outrage last night as it emerged they are about to pay £7billion in bonuses.

The nation’s five largest – Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and Standard Chartered – are on the verge of issuing bumper payouts to staff.

Barclays is expected to lavish £2.5billion in bonuses while taxpayer-owned RBS is thought to be considering a bonus pool of over £1billion.

Signalling a return to pre-recession payout levels while ordinary families suffer, a think-tank estimates City bonuses for 2010 at £7billion.

Last night banks were accused of failing to change their “culture of greed and excess”. RBS – which is 84 per cent state-owned after a £45billion taxpayer bailout – is said to be considering a £6.8million package for chief executive Stephen Hester.

After foregoing a £1.6million bonus last year, Mr Hester, who admits even his parents think he is paid too much, is expected to accept the windfall. >>> Martin Brown | Monday, January 10, 2011

Royals to Be Shrouded in Deeper Secrecy Under Controversial Law Change
MAIL ONLINE: The Royals are to be shrouded in a thicker cloak of secrecy because of a controversial change in the law which will protect them from public scrutiny.

Letters, emails and documents relating to the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William can no longer be disclosed – even if they might be in the public interest.

The changes, which are part of a series of reforms to the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, will mean an end to journalists investigating the family’s finances.

The move calls into question Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s comments this week which stated it was a ‘fundamental right’ of all citizens to be able to hold their government to account.

He outlined a plan to extend the FOI Act to hundreds more taxpayer-funded bodies, opening up to greater scrutiny by the public.

But he did not mention the clause restricting information about the Royals. >>> Eleanor Harding | Saturday, January 08, 2011

If you thought that the United Kingdom was a democracy, forget it! In the UK, there are laws for the rich and privileged, and laws for the poor. The UK is, after all, a monarchy. There are the aristocracy, or the patricians, and the workers, or the plebeians. In common parlance, the rich and the poor. It was ever thus; and ever thus it will be! Some are above the law; and others are not. – © Mark

UNGARN: Schlimmer als Haider
ZEIT ONLINE: Ungarn ist auf dem Weg zu einer autoritären Herrschaft. Die EU muss das Land notfalls zum Austritt drängen.

EU-Ratspräsident van Rompuy (links) und Ungarns Ministerpräsident Orbán bei einer gemeinsamen Pressekonferenz. Bild: Zeit Online
Ein Nebeneffekt von Finanz- und Euro-Krise ist, dass sich die EU-Länder fast ausschließlich mit sich selbst beschäftigen – nur wenn einem Staat die Pleite droht, richten sich plötzlich alle Augen auf ihn.

Dabei sollten doch Wirtschaft und Geld nach dem Willen der europäischen Gründerväter nur Mittel zum Zweck sein: Die europäische Einigung ist seit je ein politisches Projekt, zunächst um Kriege zwischen den Mitgliedsstaaten unmöglich zu machen; seit den achtziger Jahren, als die jungen südeuropäischen Postdiktaturen aufgenommen wurden, fungiert die EU auch als eine Art supranationale Versicherungspolice, um Demokratie und Rechtsstaat zu schützen.

Nicht zuletzt mit dem Argument, dass Brüssel die europäischen Verfassungsstandards garantiere, wurde die große Osterweiterung 2004 gerechtfertigt. Doch angesichts der »nationalen Revolution« in Ungarn, wo die Regierung gerade den Rechtsstaat demontiert und auf eine »gelenkte Demokratie« à la Putin zusteuert, schweigt Europa, jedenfalls das offizielle Europa – und dies ausgerechnet in einem Moment, in dem Ungarn am 1. Januar den EU-Ratsvorsitz übernimmt.

Die Fakten sind inzwischen hinlänglich bekannt: Bei der Wahl im vergangenen April hat die nationalkonservative Fidesz-Partei zwei Drittel der Parlamentssitze errungen – genug, um die Verfassung jederzeit ohne Mitwirkung einer anderen Partei ändern zu können. Der überwältigende Sieg war zuallererst ein Votum gegen die seit acht Jahren regierenden Sozialisten, die das Land an den Rand des finanziellen Abgrunds geführt hatten.

Nichtsdestotrotz behauptete der charismatische Fidesz-Führer Viktor Orbán, seine Partei habe ein klares Mandat erhalten, eine neue Verfassung und ein »System der nationalen Zusammenarbeit« einzuführen. Bereits im Vorfeld der Wahl hatte er versprochen, nun werde endlich Schluss sein mit dem ewigen Parteienhader; eine einzige Partei solle langfristig stabil regieren und den authentischen Volkswillen zur Geltung bringen.

Orbán argumentiert klassisch populistisch: Das ganze komplizierte System von Gewaltenteilung und checks and balances ist angeblich nur ein Hindernis, um effektiv durchzuregieren; Eliten wie Verfassungsrichter und kritische Journalisten stehen einer wahren Demokratie im Wege. >>> Von Jan-Werner Müller | Freitag, 31. Dezember 2010

TERROR GEGEN CHRISTEN: Wir sind schuld
ZEIT ONLINE: Muslimische Intellektuelle und Alltagsrassisten sind mitverantwortlich für den Hass auf die christlichen Kopten.

Koptinnen berühren ein blutverschmiertes Jesus-Bild in der Kirche, in der bei einem Anschlag 21 Christen starben. Bild: Zeit Online
Wir Ägypter werden uns zusammenfinden zu einem gemeinsamen Ausruf der Verachtung. Vereint als Muslime und Christen, als Regierung und Opposition, Kirche und Moschee, als Kleriker und Laien, werden wir uns alle erheben und einstimmig al-Qaida, militante Islamisten und muslimische Fanatiker aller Art anklagen. Einige von uns werden sogar noch einen Schritt weiter gehen und die Salafiten und die der ägyptischen Kultur fremden Wahhabiten (eine besonders restriktive Strömung des Islams, Anm. d. Red.) anprangern.

Ein großer Teil der öffentlichen Empörung wird allerdings bloße Scheinheiligkeit sein, gerade so nuanciert, dass engstirnige Vorurteile, die abscheuliche Doppelmoral und die Bigotterie, die so viele der Ankläger fest im Griff halten, unterhalb der Oberfläche bleiben werden.

All das wird vergebens sein. Wir waren schon einmal an diesem Punkt angekommen; wir haben schon einmal genau das getan, was wir jetzt wieder tun werden. Und dennoch gibt es weitere Massaker, jedes schrecklicher als das zuvor, während Bigotterie und Intoleranz immer tiefer in jede Ecke und jede Ritze unserer Gesellschaft eindringen. Es ist nicht leicht, die Christen aus Ägypten zu vertreiben. Sie sind hier, seit es das Christentum gibt. Fast eineinhalb Jahrtausende muslimischer Herrschaft haben die christliche Gemeinde nicht auslöschen können. Im Gegenteil, der Überlebenskampf hat sie stark und dynamisch gemacht, fast so, als ob ihr eine entscheidende Rolle bei der Ausbildung einer nationalen, politischen und kulturellen Identität des modernen Ägyptens zuteil wurde.

Jetzt jedoch, zwei Jahrhunderte nach der Geburt des modernen Ägyptens und zu Beginn des zweiten Jahrzehnts des 21. Jahrhunderts, scheint das, was bisher undenkbar war, nicht mehr jenseits unserer Vorstellungskraft zu liegen: ein Ägypten ohne Christen. Ich hoffe, dass ich, falls das eintrifft, schon lange diese Erde verlassen haben werde. Doch ob tot oder lebendig, dieses Ägypten wird ein Ägypten sein, das ich nicht wiedererkenne und dem ich nicht angehören will.

Mein Protest richtet sich nicht gegen die blutdürstigen Kriminellen von al-Qaida oder gegen die Verbrecher irgendeiner anderen Gruppe, die an den jüngsten Gräueltaten in Alexandria beteiligt war.

Ich klage eine Regierung an, die zu glauben scheint, dass sie die Islamisten mit deren Mitteln zu überflügeln vermag. >>> Von Hani Shukrallah | Freitag, 07. Januar 2011

Sarkozy : Paris ne cèdera pas au "diktat des terroristes"
Nicolas Sarkozy lors de son discours de voeux aux Français d'outre-mer, en Guadeloupe, dimanche. Photo : Le Monde
LE MONDE: Le président Nicolas Sarkozy a déclaré dimanche 9 janvier depuis les Antilles que la France n'accepterait "jamais le diktat du terrorisme et des terroristes", après la mort de deux otages français au Niger, qualifié d'"acte barbare perpétré par des barbares"

"Ce crime odieux ne fait que renforcer la détermination de la France à lutter sans relâche contre le terrorisme et contre les terroristes. Les démocraties ne peuvent pas accepter cela", a déclaré M. Sarkozy au début de son discours de voeux aux Français d'outre-mer en Guadeloupe. "Les démocraties, c'est leur honneur, c'est leur noblesse, doivent lutter pied à pied contre ces barbares venus d'un autre âge qui veulent terroriser le monde entier", a conclu le chef de l'Etat.

UNION SACRÉE

Le sénateur PS Robert Badinter a estimé que "le président de la République a dit ce qu'il fallait dire" après l'enlèvement et le meurtre des deux Français. "La France est une cible. Nous sommes en présence d'une menace terroriste constante" et "on doit éliminer tout calcul politique. Le président de la République a dit ce qu'il fallait dire", a déclaré l'ancien garde des Sceaux sur sur France Inter, ITV, Le Monde, en jugeant que les "intégristes fanatiques islamiques sont en guerre contre la société occidentale". >>> LeMonde.fr | Dimanche 09 Janvier 2011

Helmut Schmidt - Mein Jahrhundert


Teil 1 >>>
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Angela Merkel über Christentum in Deutschland

Defending Christians
BBC: For Coptic Christians this is Christmas Day. In Egypt it is being celebrated behind cordons of police and Christians are wearing black.

This sombre mood has its roots in an attack last week on the al-Qiddissin (All Saints) Church in Alexandria. Twenty-one people were killed and 100 wounded by a suicide bomber.

Militant websites have posted a list of churches to be targeted. There are "how-to" manuals with tips on "destroying the cross".
One site offered a reward to anyone who assassinated "a leading Church figure".

These incidents follow a recent trend of attacks on churches and Christians across the Middle East. In October in Baghdad nearly 60 people were killed when gunmen attacked the Syriac Catholic Cathedral. Only last week bombs were placed near the homes of 14 Christian families in the Iraqi capital.

Concern has been raised, but there has been an absence of international outrage. France is trying to change that. Its Foreign Minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, wants a European response. She has written to the EU's foreign affairs czar, Catherine Ashton, asking for the union to draw up a plan of action in response to what is happening to Christians in the Middle East. She is putting the defence of Christians on the agenda and specifically wants Europe's foreign ministers to respond. She said we had moved beyond the situation of being "simply sad and disturbed".

Her intervention has been followed up by President Sarkozy. He said Christian minorities are victims of "religious cleansing" in the Middle East. "We cannot accept," said the French president, "and thereby facilitate, what looks more and more like a particularly wicked programme of cleansing in the Middle East - religious cleansing". >>> Gavin Hewitt | Friday, January 07, 2011

Related >>>

Bloodshed Puts New Focus on Vitriol in Politics
THE NEW YORK TIMES: WASHINGTON — The shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and others at a neighborhood meeting in Arizona on Saturday set off what is likely to be a wrenching debate over anger and violence in American politics.

While the exact motivations of the suspect in the shootings remained unclear, an Internet site tied to the man, Jared Lee Loughner, contained antigovernment ramblings. And regardless of what led to the episode, it quickly focused attention on the degree to which inflammatory language, threats and implicit instigations to violence have become a steady undercurrent in the nation’s political culture.

Clarence W. Dupnik, the Pima County sheriff, seemed to capture the mood of the day at an evening news conference when he said it was time for the country to “do a little soul-searching.”

“It’s not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included,” Sheriff Dupnik said. “That’s the sad thing about what’s going on in America: pretty soon we’re not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people willing to subject themselves to serve in public office.”

In the hours immediately after the shooting of Ms. Giffords, a Democrat, and others in a supermarket parking lot in Tucson, members of both parties found rare unity in their sorrow. Top Republicans including Speaker John A. Boehner and Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona quickly condemned the violence.

“An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve,” Mr. Boehner said in a statement. “Acts and threats of violence against public officials have no place in our society.”

President Obama made a brief appearance at the White House, calling the shooting an “unspeakable act” and promising to “get to the bottom of this.”

Not since the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 has an event generated as much attention as to whether extremism, antigovernment sentiment and even simple political passion at both ends of the ideological spectrum have created a climate promoting violence. The fallout seemed to hold the potential to upend the effort by Republicans to keep their agenda front and center in the new Congress and to alter the political narrative in other ways. >>> Carl Hulse and Kate Zernike | Saturday, January 08, 2011

Is Brandenburg Safe for Jews? Rabbi Fears Anti-Semitism in Eastern German State
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The leading rabbi in the eastern German state of Brandenburg says Jews in the community there are warned not to wear yarmulkes or other visible symbols of Judaism. He says the state has a problem with anti-Semitism, but Brandenburg officials claim they are doing all they can to make Jewish culture part of everyday life.

Some 65 years after the end of World War II, is it safe yet for a Jew to walk through the streets of Germany wearing a yarmulke? Not in Brandenburg, home to Potsdam and its famous UNESCO-listed palaces near Berlin -- at least according to the eastern German state's new chief rabbi, Shaul Nekrich.

A former resident of Berlin, Nekrich said in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung newspaper published Wednesday that he had been perfectly comfortable walking around the capital city, wearing a yarmulke and traditional Jewish hat. Not so, however, in Brandenburg, where he now leads the state's six Jewish communities. Nekrich said he now eschews wearing the kippah or hat head coverings when walking the streets of towns and cities in the state.

Asked by the newspaper whether he believed the state has a problem with anti-Semitism, 31-year-old Nekrich, who emigrated to Germany from Russia after studying in Israel, said: "I think so, even if I haven't been here for very long. I hear the stories from the communities. They are wary of being recognized as Jews on the streets. The only way we announce events now is by e-mail. In (the town of) Bernau, the synagogue has been defaced with swastikas several times." >>> dsl | Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Angelina Jolie's Cleopatra Will Show Egypt's Queen as More Than a Sex Kitten
THE OBSERVER: British director Paul Greengrass will portray the serpent of the Nile as political strategist and warrior in a new blockbuster film

Actress Elizabeth Taylor in golden headdress and robes in a seductive interpretation of the Egyptian ruler Cleopatra. Photograph: The Observer
Dio Cassius, the Greek historian, said Cleopatra "was a woman of surpassing beauty… and a knowledge of how to make herself agreeable to everyone". So it stands to reason that the greatest Hollywood beauties of succeeding eras have been cast as the Egyptian queen: from Claudette Colbert and Vivien Leigh, to Elizabeth Taylor and, now, Angelina Jolie. But, judging by the creative team being lined up by Sony Pictures, Jolie's 3D outing in the royal barge of beaten gold is set to rip up all our other assumptions about the fabled temptress.

The screenplay of the forthcoming blockbuster is risking a budget that rivals the studio-busting Taylor epic of 1963 on a fresh, revisionist interpretation of Cleopatra and, it seems, the vision of a maverick British director: Paul Greengrass. >>> Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and media correspondent | Sunday, January 09, 2011

The Tea Party Rules Washington as Barack Obama Braces for Savage Cuts
THE OBSERVER: New breed of right-wingers takes over the Capitol with a slash-and-burn agenda that threatens the White House

Republican John Boehner receives the gavel from outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Photograph: The Observer
Dick Armey's black, lizard-skin cowboy boots lay on the floor while he relaxed on the couch in stockinged feet. The former Texas congressman was in a jovial mood in his office just off the Washington Mall – and for good reason. He may no longer be a politician but as chairman of FreedomWorks, one of the main forces behind the conservative Tea Party movement, he is once more a major player in the new Washington DC.

"My wife likes the terminology of a 'paradigm shift'," he said in a western drawl. "And I like to agree with that. It is a paradigm shift. It's a phenomenon."

Democrats might not agree, but it is hard to argue the Congress sworn in last week – now with a Republican-dominated House of Representatives – has not made Washington a very different place from the "New Camelot" hailed by the media when Barack Obama was inaugurated in 2009.

The new influx of GOP politicians that has swaggered into the American capital, represents a massive change in political culture. A staggering 87 new Republican congressmen and six new Republican senators have landed on the banks of the Potomac river.

But it is not just the numbers; it is the way they were elected. The 2010 midterm elections, which sank the Democrats, were propelled by the energy of the right-wing Tea Party movement. Many of those new Republicans are Tea Partiers themselves or beholden to its activists and their conservative agenda.

That's why people such as Armey will shape the new face of the capital. To its critics, FreedomWorks is a corporate-backed front group exploiting the Tea Party. To its fans, it helps to co-ordinate and focus an outpouring of anti-government rage and desire for personal liberty the like of which have not been seen for a generation. Either way, Armey's cheerfulness seems justified given the sudden change of fortunes between Republicans and Democrats.

"The Obama White House forgot about America," he declared, as a young fan from a Republican-leaning website walked in and asked him to sign a book. >>> Paul Harris | Sunday, January 09, 2011

Spanish State Television Drops Bullfighting as Too Violent for Children
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Spain's state-run broadcaster has banned the televising of bullfights to protect children.

Bullfighting is too violent for children, says the broadcaster. Photo: The Sunday Telegraph
Radiotelevision Espanola [sic] (RTVE) has pledged not to show bullfighting on its channels given that the evening corridas usually occur during peak viewing times for children.

In its latest style book, presented to the parliamentary commission that oversees its mandate, the organisation puts bullfighting under the chapter "violence with animals", a controversial listing given the tradition in Spain. >>> Fiona Govan, Madrid | Sunday, January 09, 2011

Last week, the socialist government of Spain headed up by Zapatero decided to clamp down on smokers, by passing the most draconian legislation against smokers in the whole of the EU (even though Zapatero is himself a smoker). This week, the socialist régime wants to clamp down on bullfighting. Soon there will be nothing left of Spain as we used to know and love it. Political correctness will have destroyed it. Political correctness and socialism. Socialism has a nasty habit of destroying the freedoms of all who have the misfortune to live under it.

I do not endorse bullfighting. I have never been to a bullfight in my life; and nor do I have any intention of attending such a cruel spectator sport. But isn't bullfighting a quintessential spectator sport in Spain? Isn't it part and parcel of Spain's heritage, like fox hunting is part and parcel of Britain's?

Children, by the way, have to be raised in the real world. They have to be raised in the world as it is, and not in the world as it would be were things to be ideal. Only when children are raised in the real world can they ever hope to be able to deal with life as an adult as it really is. Trying to protect them from all and sundry is a great mistake. It is tantamount to trying to bring them up in a vacuum.

Socialists do this kind of thing. They always seem to want to control everything in the environment. It's where they always go wrong. – © Mark

American Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Fights for Life After Being Shot in Head
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Gabrielle Giffords, a Democratic Congresswoman, was fighting for her life after being shot in the head by a gunman who opened fire on a public meeting in Tucson, Arizona, killing six people.

The dead included a nine-year-old girl, a Giffords aide and a federal district judge whose life had previously been threatened over a contentious illegal immigration lawsuit that he was hearing. A further 12 people were injured in the rampage.

Miss Giffords, 40, who is married to an astronaut, survived the murderous shooting spree, despite being shot at point blank range by a single bullet that passed through her brain and out of her head.

President Barack Obama said she was "battling for her life". Initial reports listed the congresswoman among those killed, but doctors later said they were "optimistic" after emergency surgery.

"We cannot tell what kind of recovery but I'm about as optimistic as it can get in this situation," said Dr Peter Rhee, trauma surgeon a Tucson University Medical Centre.

The suspected gunman, identified by law enforcement officials as Jared Loughner, 22, also from Tucson, was in custody after being tackled by bystanders as he tried to flee the scene. >>> Philip Sherwell, in New York | Sunday, January 09, 2011

Related >>>

BLUTTAT IN ARIZONA: "Wir sind zu einem Mekka des Hasses geworden"
WELT ONLINE: Nach dem Blutbad von Tucson wird über die aufgeheizte Stimmung in Arizona gesprochen. Der Schütze soll sich über die Regierung empört haben.

Schock in Amerika: Mit einem gezielten Kopfschuss hat ein Attentäter im US- Bundesstaat Arizona eine Kongressabgeordnete schwer verletzt. Der 22-Jährige feuerte mit seiner halbautomatischen Pistole auch auf weitere Menschen – sechs starben, darunter ein neunjähriges Mädchen. Mindestens ein Dutzend erlitten teils schwere Verletzungen. >>> dpa/dapd/cn | Sonntag, 09. Januar 2011

WELT ONLINE: Der Amoklauf von Tucson, Symptom des Irrsinns: Die Schüsse auf Gabrielle Giffords lösen in den USA Betroffenheit aus. Doch sie enthüllen auch uramerikanische Probleme. >>> Autor: Uwe Schmitt | Sonntag, 09. Januar 2011

Grace Kelly: A Life In Pictures

White Girls Seen as 'Easy Meat' by Pakistani Rapists, Says Jack Straw
THE GUARDIAN: Row erupts after former home secretary says grooming for sexual abuse is a problem among some Pakistani men

The former home secretary Jack Straw has been accused of stereotyping Pakistani men in Britain after he accused some of them as regarding white girls as "easy meat" for sexual abuse.

The Blackburn MP spoke out after two Asian men who raped and sexually assaulted girls in Derby were given indefinite jail terms.

Straw said there was a "specific problem" in some areas of the country where Pakistani men "target vulnerable young white girls".

His comments were criticised by Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee, who said it was wrong to "stereotype a whole community".

Yesterday Mohammed Liaqat, 28, and Abid Saddique, 27, were jailed at Nottingham crown court after being found guilty at a trial in November of charges including rape.

The judge in the case said he did not believe the crimes were "racially aggravated", adding that the race of the victims and their abusers was "coincidental".

Speaking on the BBC's Newsnight programme yesterday, Straw said: "Pakistanis, let's be clear, are not the only people who commit sexual offences, and overwhelmingly the sex offenders' wings of prisons are full of white sex offenders.

"But there is a specific problem which involves Pakistani heritage men ... who target vulnerable young white girls.

"We need to get the Pakistani community to think much more clearly about why this is going on and to be more open about the problems that are leading to a number of Pakistani heritage men thinking it is OK to target white girls in this way."

Straw called on the British Pakistani community to be "more open" about the issue. "These young men are in a western society, in any event, they act like any other young men, they're fizzing and popping with testosterone, they want some outlet for that, but Pakistani heritage girls are off-limits and they are expected to marry a Pakistani girl from Pakistan, typically," he said.

"So they then seek other avenues and they see these young women, white girls who are vulnerable, some of them in care ... who they think are easy meat.

"And because they're vulnerable they ply them with gifts, they give them drugs, and then of course they're trapped." >>> David Batty and agencies | Saturday, January 08, 2011

Gewaltsame Islamisierung im Kaukasus
Besuch im Heimatdorf einer Selbstmordattentäterin aus Dagestan
NZZ am SONNTAG: In den Bergen von Dagestan hat die Scharia das weltliche Gesetz längst abgelöst. Extremisten verbreiten von dort aus Terror. Korruption und staatliche Willkür geben ihnen Auftrieb.

Balachani ist ein verschlafenes Nest in den Bergen Dagestans. Im Schritttempo kämpft sich der Lada auf der Schotterpiste ins Hochtal hinauf. Frauen im schwarzen Ganzkörperschleier huschen über die staubige Dorfstrasse, bevor sie wie Schatten in den Höfen verschwinden. Nur ein paar Kühe sind sonst unterwegs. Balachani liegt im schroffen Vorgebirge des kaukasischen Hauptkammes, vier Autostunden von der dagestanischen Hauptstadt Machatschkala am Kaspischen Meer entfernt. Im März erlangte der 1000-Seelen-Ort traurige Bekanntheit, nachdem sich zwei Selbstmordattentäterinnen in der Moskauer Metro in die Luft gesprengt und 40 Personen in den Tod gerissen hatten. Eine dieser sogenannten schwarzen Witwen, Mariam Scharipowa, war in Balachani zu Hause. >>> Klaus-Helge Donath, Machatschkala | Sonntag, 09. Januar 2011

Terry Murden: Bank Bonuses Are Back as Politicians Roll Over
THE SCOTSMAN: NO-ONE should be surprised that the banks are expected to defy public opinion and once again pay multi-million pound bonuses.

Difficulties in controlling the bonus culture have been made plain by the frustrations felt by politicians across the spectrum and were highlighted here as far back as August 2009 after the then shadow chancellor George Osborne demanded that bonuses should be banned altogether in banks that had been bailed out by the taxpayer.

Well, he's moved a long way from that particular argument and now doesn't even see eye-to-eye with the bite-your-legs business secretary Vince Cable, who has found himself muzzled over the issue.

The bankers believe the Lib Dems who have been making most of the noise on this issue are now a bit of a spent force in the debate and that the slightly more banker-friendly tone emanating from Osborne and Prime Minister David Cameron will leave them free to award themselves the sums they see as their right.

The banks argue that they contributed towards the £53.4 billion paid in taxes last year by the financial services industry, equal to 11.2 per cent of Britain's total tax receipts. No wonder the Treasury should consider it inappropriate to bite the hand that feeds it.

Before Christmas there were more threats of a new bonus tax, an idea revisited by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and warnings from Cable that the banks would be punished if they didn't change their ways. But opinion in the City is that there is not much substance behind them.

The bankers are now said to feel so confident of getting away with paying large bonuses that they see no further need for Project Merlin, the initiative led by Barclays former chief executive John Varley to repair relations with the government. Expect the next round of bonuses to be trimmed, but only marginally, and as an acknowledgement of, rather than a concession to, public outrage. >>> Terry Murden | Sunday, January 09, 2011

THE SUNDAY TIMES: Lib Dems tear into Tories 
on bonuses: Ministers are furious at George Osborne’s apparent cave-in over unacceptable bank bonuses in a time of austerity >>> Marie Woolf, Whitehall Editor | Sunday, January 09, 2011 (£)

THE OBSERVER: Britain's best-paid bank boss set for showdown with MPs over huge bonus: Barclays chief Bob Diamond is under intense pressure to lead by example and give up payout >>> The Observer | Sunday, January 09, 2011

France : Voeux du Président aux autorités religieuses pour l'année 2011

Salmaan Taseer, Aasia Bibi and Pakistan's Struggle with Extremism
THE GUARDIAN: In the home village of the Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, there was little sympathy for the politician who was assassinated for supporting her


Maulvi Saalim, the village cleric who led the blasphemy prosecution of Aasia Bibi in Pakistan. Photograph: The Guardian
Aasia Bibi isn't at home. Children play at the blue gate of her modest home in Itanwali, a sleepy Punjabi village. Bibi, the woman at the heart of Pakistan's blasphemy furore – which triggered the murder of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer last week – is in jail, desperately praying that she won't be executed. Her neighbours are hoping she will be.

"Why hasn't she been killed yet?" said Maafia Bibi , a 20-year-old woman standing at the gate of the house next door. Her eyes glitter behind a scarf that covered her face. "You journalists keep coming here asking questions but the issue is resolved. Why has she not been hanged?"

Maafia was one of a group of about four women who accused Bibi, also known as Aasia Noreen, who is Christian, of insulting the prophet Muhammad during a row in a field 18 months ago. But she will not specify what Bibi actually said, because to repeat the words would itself be blasphemy. And so Bibi was sentenced to hang on mere hearsay – a Kafkaesque twist that seems to bother few in Itanwali, a village 30 miles outside Lahore.

A few streets away Maulvi Muhammad Saalim is preparing for Friday prayers. The 31-year-old mullah, a curly-bearded man with darting, kohl-rimmed eyes and woolly waistcoat, played a central role in marshalling the blasphemy charge. When a court sentenced Bibi to death last November – the first woman in Pakistan's history – he "wept with joy", he says. "We had been worried the court would award a lesser sentence. So the entire village celebrated."

The young cleric excuses himself: it is time for Friday prayers. Padding across the marble floor in his socks, he plugs in a crackly speaker, and issues a droning call that rings out across the village. A madrasa student shoos a stray goat out of the mosque courtyard. Villagers wrapped in wool blankets shuffle in.

Judging by the sermon it is not Christianity that was preoccupying Saalim this Friday. For 30 minutes he rails against the evils of drinking, gambling, kite flying, pigeon-racing, cards and, oddly enough, insurance. "All of these are the work of the devil," he says, before launching into a fresh recitation. >>> Declan Walsh, in the village of Itanwali, Pakistan | Saturday, January 08, 2011

JYLLANDS-POSTEN: Wie es ist, wenn Muslime einen töten wollen
WELT ONLINE: Die Mitarbeiter von "Jyllands-Posten" leben wegen der Mohammed-Karikaturen mit einem ständigen Gefühl der Bedrohung. Ein Besuch.

Kurt Westergaard hat sich schick gemacht. Schwarze Hose, schwarzes Hemd, schwarze Lederweste, dazu ein farbiges aber dezentes Halstuch. In der rechten Hand hält er einen schwarzen Stock mit einem Knauf aus Silber. Seit zwei Wochen hat er einen Herzschrittmacher, den ihm seine Frau Birgitta zu Weihnachten geschenkt hat. „Der ganze Eingriff hat nicht mal eine Stunde gedauert“, staunt Westergaard, „kaum war ich aus der Narkose aufgewacht, durfte ich nach Hause gehen.“

Vor einem Jahr, am 1.Januar 2010, wurde Westergaard in seinem Haus von einem somalischen Islamisten heimgesucht, der ihn mit Hilfe einer Axt belehren wollte, dass man den Propheten Mohammed nicht ungestraft karikieren darf. Westergaard hatte Glück, die Tür zum Badezimmer hielt den Axthieben stand, bis die Polizei eintraf, ihn befreite und den Besucher abführte. Damals nahm er sich vor, alt zu werden und auf seine Gesundheit zu achten. Jetzt, witzelt Westergaard, schlage „ein Peacemaker“ in seiner Brust. „Die hätten dir besser einen Troublemaker einsetzen sollen“, sagt Erik Guldager, der Westergaard als Agent und Galerist betreut. „Hab ich nicht nötig, bin selber einer“, antwortet der Künstler mit einem Anflug von Trotz.

Guldager ist 47, Westergaard 75 Jahre alt. Der eine könnte der Sohn des anderen sein. Westergaard hat 25 Jahre als Lehrer an einer Grundschule unterrichtet, bevor er Karikaturist wurde. Guldager hat „absolut nichts“ gelernt, aber viel unternommen. Er war Vertreter von BASF, Kellog's und Kodak in Dänemark, 2005 machte er sich mit einer Galerie für zeitgenössische dänische Kunst in Skanderborg bei Aarhus selbstständig.

Auch für Westergaard war 2005 ein Schicksalsjahr. Am 30. September druckte „Jyllands-Posten“, Dänemarks größte Tageszeitung, zwölf Mohammed-Karikaturen. Eine davon hatte Westergaard gezeichnet: Der Prophet mit einer im Turban versteckten Bombe auf dem Kopf. Es dauerte ein paar Wochen, bis Millionen von Muslimen in aller Welt bewusst wurde, dass sie beleidigt worden waren, von einem Mann, dessen Namen sie nicht aussprechen konnten, und von einer Zeitung, die sie bis dahin nicht einmal zum Anzünden von offenen Feuern benutzt hatten.

Während die anderen Zeichner auf Tauchstation gingen, stellte sich Westergaard der Welle der Empörung entgegen. Heute ist er der bekannteste Däne zwischen Nordkap und Kap Horn, ein Symbol der „bürgerlichen Anarchie“, die das Rückgrat der dänischen Leitkultur ausmacht. „Wir lassen uns nicht gerne sagen, was wir machen sollen oder nicht machen dürfen.“ Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> Autor: Henryk M. Broder | Samstag, 08. Januar 2011

Arizona State Senator on Giffords' Condition

FOX NEWS: Rep. Giffords in Intensive Care After Being Shot in the Head at Public Event: Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is in an intensive care unit following surgery for a gunshot wound in the head at close range, the University of Arizona Medical Center announced Saturday afternoon. >>> | Saturday, January 08, 2011

Salman Taseer Murder Sparks Fear and Loathing in Pakistan
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: After the murder of liberal politician Salman Taseer, Pakistan's moderate, educated classes are growing ever more fearful.

Sana Saleem, 23, a human right activist received death threats on her blog after protesting against the killing of Salman Taseer. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
With her frilly black hijab, eyeliner and Macbook, Sana Saleem does not look like a doughty human rights campaigner. Yet every day she shrugs off death threats and anonymous text messages promising to rape her in the street, in order to champion progressive causes on her blog.

Even she, though, was unprepared for the outpouring of hate that has engulfed Pakistan this week, with the murder of a high-profile politician who was leading a campaign to reform the country's draconian blasphemy laws.

"I was devastated, really shocked," said the 23-year-old medical student. "They were celebrating his death, showering the killer with rose petals. I never expected this, [sic]" >>> Rob Crilly, Karachi | Saturday, January 08, 2011

Somali Militants Ban Handshakes Between Men and Women
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Islamic militants in southern Somalia have banned unrelated men and women from shaking hands, speaking or walking together in public.

Somali women holding banners reading 'Allah is Great' during a mass demonstration in support of the recent merger between Islamist group Hizbul Islam and al-Shabab. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
People who break the rules could be imprisoned, whipped or even executed.

Al-Shabab, the Islamic extremists, have already banned women from working in public, leaving many mothers with a terrible choice: risk execution by going to sell some tea or vegetables in the marketplace, or stay safely at home and watch the children slowly starve.

"It's an awful rule. I feel like I'm under arrest. I've started to ignore the greetings of the women I know to avoid punishment," said Hussein Ali, a resident of the southern Somali town of Jowhar. The edict is also being enforced in the town of Elasha.

Gunmen are searching buses for improperly dressed women or women travelling alone, said student Hamdi Osman in Elasha. She said she was once beaten for wearing Somali traditional dress instead of the long, shapeless black robes favoured by the fighters.

The Islamists' insistence that women wear the long, heavy robes also forces many women to stay at home because they can't afford the new clothing. >>> | Saturday, January 08, 2011

Al-Qaeda Plotting UK Terror Campaign
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Al-Qaeda is plotting car bomb, suicide and Mumbai-style attacks on crowds at British airports and train stations, a secret government memorandum discloses.


An alert issued by the security services warns of plots against transport hubs by al-Qaeda's "international operations wing" designed to cause "a large number of casualties".

The "restricted" document, seen by The Daily Telegraph, details plans for "one or more attacks against Europe, including the UK", aimed at "high-profile Western targets".

It warns of attacks against British airports and the London transport network – including the Underground – with the aim of inflicting "political, economic and psychological" damage.

Terrorists, it says, could use "vehicle-borne" or "hand-delivered" bombs and firearms. >>> Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent | Saturday, January 08, 2011

Brandanschlag auf Berliner Moschee
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: In Berlin ist ein Brandanschlag auf eine Moschee verübt worden. Die Täter hätten versucht, die Eingangstür des Gotteshauses im Bezirk Wilmersdorf anzuzünden, teilte die Berliner Polizei mit.

Abermals hat es in Berlin einen Brandanschlag auf eine islamische Einrichtung gegeben. Unbekannte Täter versuchten in der Nacht zum Samstag, die Tür der Ahmadiyya-Moschee im Stadtteil Wilmersdorf anzuzünden, wie die Polizei mitteilte. Das Gotteshaus aus den 1920er Jahren gilt als eine der ältesten erhaltenen Moscheen in Deutschland. Verletzt wurde bei dem Brandanschlag auf die Moschee niemand. >>> AFP/dpa | Samstag, 08. Januar 2011

Douglas Murray: Jihad Against Justice
THE SPECTATOR: The control orders fiasco shows that our political class still isn’t serious about security

For a jihadi, Britain is one of the very best places in the world. In Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, overhead drones kill terrorists on a regular basis. In most democratic countries, politicians try to limit their enemies’ ability to operate — so one runs the risk of being thrown into prison, if caught mid-jihad. But not in Britain. Here, the Islamist insurgents have found that there are a hundred ways to run rings around our police and justice system. Nothing demonstrates this more spectacularly than the control orders farce.

Control orders are an inelegant system for putting restrictions on terror suspects, either because the evidence which could convict them is too sensitive to be used in a criminal court, or because European human rights laws prevent them from being deported. Eight people are being detained under control orders, with the suspects under curfew, electronic tagging, a travel ban or other restrictions. The system is understandably popular, but it seems certain that David Cameron will allow his Lib Dem colleagues to claim victory by altering the name and tinkering with the terms.

If this happens, it might be seen as a Lib Dem victory. But it will be the clearest possible evidence that the coalition government, like the Labour government before it, remains unwilling to deal with the problem which made control orders necessary in the first place: the fact that this country has been systematically failed by its legal, political and immigration systems. Once, foreign nationals who posed a threat could be deported. The European Convention on Human Rights has put a stop to that. >>> Douglas Murray | Saturday, January 08, 2011

ÉMEUTES - En Algérie et en Tunisie, la jeunesse s'enflamme
LE POINT: Au Maghreb, les jeunes manifestent violemment contre une situation économique insupportable dans un contexte politique en crise.

Les émeutes de vendredi à Alger, dans le quartier populaire de Belouizdad, à Belcourt. Photo : Le Point
Le Maghreb s'enflamme. Les moins de 30 ans (70 % de la population) sont dans la rue et veulent tout casser pour se faire entendre. Surtout en Algérie, où les manifestations ont un air de déjà-vu. En octobre 1988, les émeutes d'Alger, commencées par une manipulation politique et poursuivies par le soulèvement d'une population excédée par des conditions de vie difficiles, un chômage énorme et le mépris d'une classe politique sclérosée dominée par le FLN, avaient débouché sur un éphémère "printemps d'Alger". En 1991, des élections pluripartistes avaient montré que le FIS, le principal parti islamiste, risquait d'emporter la majorité au Parlement. L'armée avait alors annulé le second tour du scrutin, prenant le risque d'une guerre civile qui a fait plus de 100.000 morts. La situation politique est différente. Mais les causes du mécontentement social sont les mêmes. >>> Par Mireille Duteil | Samedi 08 Janvier 2011

Fossils Gather! US Conservatives Object to Gay Republicans at Conference
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Leading Right-wing organisations in the United States have pulled out of a major conservative conference because of the participation of a gay Republican group, exposing a schism among conservatives over the direction of the movement.

The conference will attract thousands of activists to Washington and feature most of the Republican hopefuls for the party's 2012 presidential nomination. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
At least half a dozen groups have announced they will not attend the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (Cpac) next month, which will attract thousands of activists to Washington and feature most of the Republican hopefuls for the party's 2012 presidential nomination.

They have objected to the status of GOProud as a co-sponsor of the event, though the group does not advocate actively for gay marriage, believing it is an issue that should be resolved by states and not the federal government. GOProud, whose name is derived from the Republican Party's nickname Grand Old Party, did however strongly support the recent repeal of the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy on military recruitment of gay people.

"The baseline reason is that homosexuality is not a conservative value," said Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association. "It's the conservative Pac, not the libertarian Pac."

Brent Bozell, head of the Media Research Centre, which tracks liberal bias in the mainstream media, said: "We've been there 25 years, since our inception. To bring in a 'gay' group is a direct attack on social conservatives, and I can't participate in that."

The Family Research Council, which has participated in the conference for several years, said in a statement: "Organizations whose whole reason for existence is to promote the forced public affirmation of homosexual conduct should not be welcomed at Cpac, because that is not by any stretch of the imagination a 'conservative' agenda." >>> Alex Spillius, Washington | Friday, January 07, 2011

The Gathering Storm Radio Show

I’ll be WC and Always On Watch’s guest on this week’s Gathering Storm Radio Show. The upcoming show will be today, Friday, January 7, 2011 at 12 noon PST and 3.00 PM EST. That’s 8.00 PM UK time, and 9.00 PM CET.

Please come along. All are welcome. If you wish to call in, the number is (1) 646 915 9870.

To the show >>>

FERNSEHSERIE: Die Sauereien des osmanischen Herrschers Süleyman
WELT ONLINE: In der Türkei empört eine TV-Serie über den Sultan. Szenen mit Vielweiberei und Sklaven stören Islamisten, Nationalisten und Feministinnen

Süleyman war der 10. Sultan der Osmanen und gilt als deren berühmtester Herrscher. Bild: Welt Online
Die Türkei erlebt seit einigen Jahren eine Osmanen-Renaissance, eine allgemeine Rückbesinnung auf das geistige und politische Erbe jenes Großreiches, mit dem die Türken zwischen 1299 und 1922 zur Weltmacht wurden. Da ist es nur passend, dass der Sender Show TV vor einigen Tagen mit der Ausstrahlung einer Serie zum größten, glorreichsten aller Sultane begann: Süleyman der Prächtige, den die Türken den „Kanuni“, also Gesetzgeber nennen. Geboren irgendwann zwischen 1494 und 1496, eroberte er nach dem Balkan auch Ungarn, stieß bis nach Wien vor, und bis er 1566 bei einer Belagerung starb, verwandelte er Istanbuls Antlitz mit Prachtbauten, die bis heute bewundert werden, und gab seinem Volk einfacher Krieger ein zivilisatorisches Gesetzeswerk.

Das ist der Süleyman, den die Türken sehen wollen: gut, stark und gerecht, der Inbegriff all dessen, was auch die Türkei gerne wäre. Die TV-Serie aber hat eine Welle der Empörung ausgelöst. Statt den Mythos zu verherrlichen, versucht sie zu zeigen, dass die Realität auch voller Ungerechtigkeiten war. Da werden Sklaven behandelt wie, nun ja, Sklaven; Haremsfrauen wie, nun ja, Haremsfrauen, also für fleischliche Liebe, und überdies fließt wahrhaftig Blut in einer Welt, in der das Schwert regierte. >>> Autor: Boris Kálnoky | Freitag, 07. Januar 2011

Nicolas Sarkozy Says Christians in Middle East Are Victim of 'Religious Cleansing'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Christians in the Middle East are the victims of "religious cleansing", President Nicolas Sarkozy of France warned yesterday following a string of attacks on churches in the region.

President Sarkozy delivers his New Year address to religious representatives at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
Mr Sarkozy made the statement while giving his annual address to religious leaders as Coptic Christians were due to celebrate Christmas yesterday, according to the eastern Orthodox church calendar.

"We cannot accept and thereby facilitate what looks more and more like a particularly perverse programme of cleansing in the Middle East, religious cleansing," said the French president.

An attack on a Coptic church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria on January 1 killed 21 people. While noon has claimed responsibility, it followed online threats against Copts from an al-Qaeda-linked group which had said it was behind an attack on a church in Baghdad in October.

Some 68 people died in the attack on a Syriac Catholic church, one of a number of strikes against Christians in Iraq.

Those who died in Alexandria and Bagdad were "collectively our martyrs", said Mr Sarkozy. "They are the martyrs of the freedom of conscience." "The rights that are guaranteed in our country to all religions must be reciprocally guaranteed in other countries," he said. >>> Henry Samuel, Paris | Friday, January 07, 2011

Sarkozy : «Une épuration religieuse du Moyen-Orient»
LE FIGARO: En présentant ses vœux vendredi matin aux représentants des religions, le président de la République est revenu sur les attentats qui ont visé, en Égypte et en Irak, des chrétiens.

«Nous ne pouvons pas non plus admettre et donc faciliter ce qui ressemble de plus en plus à un plan particulièrement pervers d'épuration religieuse du Moyen-Orient». Vendredi matin, en présentant ses vœux aux représentants des religions, le président Nicolas Sarkozy - qui avait tenu cette année à inviter tous les représentants des Églises chrétiennes d'Orient présentes en France - a tenu à faire une «mise au point» liée à «la gravité de la situation internationale» à propos de l'actualité tragique de l'attentat contre des Coptes en Égypte.

«Ils venaient de recevoir et de se donner la Paix, ils ont été tués à l'arme de Guerre» a-t-il lancé en mémoire de ceux qui ont été «sauvagement assassinés» pour le «crime» de «pratiquer leur religion». Adressant les condoléances «de la France» à cette communauté chrétienne établie en Égypte depuis le début du christianisme, le chef de l'État est aussi revenu sur l'assaut contre la cathédrale syriaque de Bagdad, en affirmant: «Si je pouvais, ici, utiliser le mot de martyr, alors je dirais que les martyrs d'Alexandrie ou de Bagdad, ne sont pas uniquement des martyrs coptes, syriaques, ou maronites. Ils sont collectivement nos martyrs. Ils sont les martyrs de la liberté de conscience. Les Français n'acceptent pas, la France n'acceptera jamais que l'on puisse impunément prendre des innocents en prière pour cible d'un terrorisme délirant et barbare.» >>> Par Jean-Marie Guénois | Vendredi 07 Janvier 2011

Voeux du Président aux autorités religieuses pour l'année 2011

ÉLYSÉE : Voeux du Président aux autorités religieuses pour l'année 2011 >>> | Janvier 2011

Drugs 'Readily Available' at JP Morgan
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Drugs were “readily available” at global financial company JP Morgan, the Old Bailey has heard.

Emily McMillan, a PA at JP Morgan, used corporate credit cards to pay for a friend's boob job. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
Personal assistant Emily McMillan stole thousands of pounds from the company after getting into debt buying narcotics from a drug-dealing colleague.

McMillan, 28, used corporate credit cards belonging to senior executives to steal the money.

She then spent it on a friend’s breast enhancement operation, a girls’ holiday in Ibiza and to make a repayment on her brother’s mortgage.

The Old Bailey heard that she began stealing after she fell into debt through taking drugs supplied by a colleague at JP Morgan. She had access to corporate credit cards to make travel and other arrangements on behalf of senior staff. But she was caught after a routine audit and later admitted four counts of fraud and one of theft, totalling £10,633, all committed between March and May last year. >>> Andy Bloxham | Friday, January 07, 2011

Wien: Kirchenaustritte nehmen um 47 Prozent zu
DIE PRESSE: In Graz ist die Zahl der Austritte sogar um 67 Prozent gestiegen. Allein in den beiden Städten sind knapp 20.000 Katholiken ausgetreten. Am kommenden Dienstag stellen die Bischöfe die Zahlen für ganz Österreich vor.

Die Kirchenaustritte sind in Wien und Graz im Jahr 2010 dramatisch in die Höhe geschnellt. Laut aktuellen Daten der zuständigen Magistratsabteilungen (MA 62, MA 5) gab es im abgelaufenen Jahr in Wien (Stadt, nicht Erzdiözese) um 47 Prozent mehr Austritte als im Jahr davor. In Graz verließen um 67 Prozent mehr Personen die römisch-katholische Kirche. Am 11. Jänner [Januar] wollen die heimischen Bischöfe die Austrittszahlen für ganz Österreich präsentieren. >>> APA | Freitag, 07. Januar 2011

Reprise des affrontements entre jeunes et forces de l'ordre en Algérie
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: MAGHREB | A Alger, dans le quartier populaire de Belouizdad (Belcourt), des groupes de jeunes ont affronté avec des pierres et des bouteilles en verre des policiers déployés en masse et lourdement armés.

A Oran, la grande métropole de l’ouest algérien, les échauffourées ont repris vendredi après-midi. Photo : Tribune de Genève
Les policiers se sont opposés aux manifestants en faisant usage de canons à eau et de gaz lacrymogènes.

A Annaba, épargnée jusqu’à présent par la contestation qui s’est étendue depuis son début à une dizaine de départements, de violents incident ont éclaté après la grande prière du vendredi dans le quartier populaire dit "gazomètre".

Les incidents ont commencé vers 15H00 (14H00 GMT) quand des centaines de jeunes se sont mis à lancer une pluie de pierres contre des policiers déployés depuis la veille, notamment autour des bureaux de la wilaya (département). >>> AFP | Vendredi 07 Janvier 2011

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Tunisien – Hohe Arbeitslosigkeit schürt Unruhen: In Tunesien überschatten wütende Bürgerproteste den Start ins neue Jahr. Seit sich Mitte Dezember ein arbeitsloser Akademiker selbst verbrannte, kommt das Land nicht zur Ruhe. Demonstrationen und Streiks nehmen zu. Die Regierung reagiert mit harter Hand. >>> ler/dpa/AFP | Freitag, 07. Januar 2011