Gay Hotels Investigated for Breaching Equality Laws
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Hotels that only accept homosexuals are being investigated by a government-funded watchdog for discriminating against heterosexual couples.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is examining whether "gay-only" guesthouses breach new laws designed to prevent people being treated unfairly in the provision of goods or services.

Last month, Christian owners of a guesthouse in Cornwall became the first to be found guilty of discrimination under equality laws after they refused to let a homosexual couple stay in a double room, in a legal action supported by the EHRC.

Now, the watchdog says it must establish an "objective balance" by considering if gays-only accommodation also defies the legislation.

Its lawyers are now investigating the issue and the EHRC says it has not ruled out taking legal action against "gay-only" hotels if they are deemed to be discriminating against heterosexuals.

However, it admits that it has not received a single complaint from the public about such establishments. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Sunday, February 20, 2011

How Americans Got Sold on Smoking Cigarettes

Sarkozy Calls for Debate on Islam
UPI: PARIS -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he wants to launch a national debate on the role and influence in France of Islam, the country's second-largest religion.

Last week Sarkozy joined British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in announcing "multiculturalism is not working" and setting out to formalize the relationship between Islam and the fiercely secular state of France, France24 reported Friday.

Sarkozy's call for the debate is viewed as a move to woo voters from the far-right National Front party.

"It is out of the question that French society should be influenced by Islam," Sarkozy said. "This is a secular country." >>> | Friday, February 18, 2011

HT: Pastorius >>>

Sarkozy Sets Sights on Defining Role of Islam in a Secular France
FRANCE 24: Following last year’s controversial ban on the full Islamic veil in public places, French President Nicolas Sarkozy now wants to formalise the relationship between Islam and France's fiercely secular state.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has set his sights on the role of Islam in a secular France, which looks set to become a major theme ahead of the 2012 presidential elections.

Sarkozy said Tuesday that he wants to launch a debate in April on the role and influence of the country’s second-biggest religion.

The call for a discussion on Islam follows comments Sarkozy made last week that “multiculturalism is not working” and is seen as a bid to win back voters from the far-right National Front party.

“There is a growing gulf between the media portrayal of Islam and the preoccupations of the French people,” Sarkozy told members of his conservative Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party at a dinner he hosted this week.

And while it remains unclear whether the president would look to encode the debate’s findings in a new law, one unnamed UMP lawmaker told right-wing daily Le Figaro, “The role of Islam in France is going to be a central issue in the 2012 presidential campaign.” ‘This is a secular country’ >>> Tony Todd | Saturday, February 19, 2011

Mooz-Lum [OFFICIAL TRAILER]

HT: Pastorius >>>

Christlicher Theologe konvertiert zum Islam

Videos von diesem Konvertiten hier (Teil 1) und hier (Teil 2)

Une foule énorme enterre les manifestants tués à Benghazi
LE POINT: Les rues de la ville seraient aux mains de dizaines de milliers d'opposants au régime de Kadhafi.

La révolte semble s'amplifier à Benghazi, deuxième ville de Libye. Photo : Le Point
Des centaines de milliers de personnes se sont rassemblées dimanche à Benghazi, deuxième ville de Libye, pour porter en terre les manifestants tués par les forces de sécurité, ont rapporté des témoins. Les violences de la nuit de samedi à dimanche ont porté à 173 le nombre de personnes tuées en quatre jours d'affrontements, centrés sur Benghazi et les villes avoisinantes, selon un bilan établi par l'organisation de défense des droits de l'homme Human Rights Watch (HRW), dont le siège est à New York.

"Cent mille manifestants se rendent actuellement au cimetière pour les obsèques de dizaines de martyrs. Nous craignons un nouveau massacre car la route menant au cimetière est proche des casernes des forces de sécurité", a dit un habitant de la capitale de la Cyrénaïque. "Nous ne céderons pas tant que le régime ne sera pas tombé. Nous appelons les Nations unies à intervenir tout de suite pour arrêter ce massacre", a dit cet homme. Un autre témoin a indiqué que des centaines de milliers de personnes, dont des femmes et des enfants, s'étaient réunies pour prier devant 60 corps, exposés près d'un tribunal du nord de Benghazi, qui compte 700.000 habitants. "Un massacre a été commis ici hier soir", a déclaré dimanche un habitant qui a requis l'anonymat. Les forces de sécurité ont eu recours à des armes lourdes et, a-t-il ajouté, "nombre de soldats et de policiers sont passés dans le camp des manifestants". >>> SOURCE REUTERS | Dimanche 20 Février 2011

Les Marocains entrent dans la contestation
LE POINT: Plusieurs milliers de personnes ont défilé à Rabat pour demander au roi de renoncer à certains de ses pouvoirs.

Des milliers de manifestants ont défilé à Rabat. Photo : Le Point
Plusieurs milliers de personnes se sont rassemblées dimanche à Rabat pour exiger du roi Mohamed VI qu'il transfère une partie de ses prérogatives à un gouvernement élu et prenne des mesures énergiques contre la corruption. Sous une pluie battante, des manifestants agitaient des drapeaux tunisiens et égyptiens, référence aux révolutions qui viennent de chasser du pouvoir les présidents Zine ben Ali et Hosni Moubarak. Un organisateur a évoqué la présence de plus de 5.000 participants, une estimation révisée à moins de 3.000 par un responsable des forces de l'ordre. La présence policière est restée discrète.

Des agents en uniforme se tenaient à distance du lieu initial de rassemblement, dans le quartier de Bab el Ahad, mais des policiers en civil étaient mêlés aux manifestants, carnet de notes à la main. "Le peuple rejette une Constitution faite pour des esclaves!", "A bas l'autocratie!", scandaient les protestataires qui demandent également pour certains le départ du Premier ministre, Abbas el Fassi. Aucune attaque directe contre le roi n'a, en revanche, été relevée dans les slogans ou sur les banderoles des manifestants. >>> SOURCE REUTERS | Dimanche 20 Février 2011

Erste Proteste in chinesischen Städten
Polizei greift hart durch - Aufruf zu einer «Jasmin-Revolution[»]
NZZ ONLINE: Der Funke der Volksaufstände im arabischen Raum ist jetzt sogar nach China übergesprungen. Nach einem Aufruf im Internet kam es vereinzelt zu Demonstrationen. Das kommunistische Regime reagierte sofort mit massiver Polizeipräsenz, scharfer Zensur, Festnahmen und Hausarrest.

Ermutigt von den Volksaufständen in Ägypten und anderen arabischen Ländern haben erstmals auch in China Hunderte Menschen in verschiedenen Städten demonstriert. Ein Grossaufgebot der Polizei löste Menschenansammlungen in Peking und Shanghai innerhalb von nur einer Stunde auf. >>> sda/dpa | Sonntag, 20. Februar 2011

Welfare Reform Should Tackle the Cheats at the Top As Well As the Bottom
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Greedy MPs and rapacious bankers are just as dishonest as welfare fraudsters and freeloaders, says Jenny McCartney.

David Cameron, at the launch of the Welfare Reform Bill last week, made a rousing plea for the restoration of our ethics. In his speech, he bemoaned the end of “a collective culture of responsibility”, of an age when people’s self-image was measured by “whether they did the decent thing”. In such an era, he said, “fiddling the system would have brought not just public outcry but private shame”.

Mr Cameron was speaking with specific regard to our welfare system, and much of what he said is true. We are all familiar with those lurid tales of enterprising gentlemen who have claimed disability allowance while giving disco-dancing lessons on the side, or ladies whose complicated housing scams trawl in the annual GDP of a small Baltic country.

As well as such criminal fraudsters, however, there are the opportunistic freeloaders who trigger public ire without actually breaking the law. The latter are open in their intention to have large families that will be wholly supported by a groaning state. It was reported last week that the anti-social antics of the family of Tom O’Leary and Tanya Walsh (two adults, 12 children) had caused distress to the neighbours of their £1.2 million council-funded abode in Muswell Hill. Miss Walsh wrote on her Bebo site recently that her hobbies were “eating chocolate and having children”: the only people cheering her on were the makers of confectionery and Pampers. Read on and comment >>> Jenny McCartney | Saturday, February 19, 2011

My comment:

At last, a refreshing bit of common sense! Thank you for this extremely sensible article, Jenny McCartney. It is very tiresome to listen to the fraudsters at the top always going on about the people at the bottom milking the system. Who milks the system more than the greedy bankers and fraudulent MPs? And I write as a disinterested observer. Cameron had better start looking sideways before he looks down. He should get his chums to lead by example. – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Unruhen in Libyen
Heute ist es wieder zu heftigen Protesten in der Küstenstadt Bengasi gekommen. Es sind die schwersten Unruhen in der über 40-jährigen Herrschaft Muammar al-Gaddafis in Libyen

NZZ ONLINE: Offenbar wieder Schüsse auf libysche Demonstranten: Arzt berichtet von bisher 200 Toten - Proteste auch in Marokko >>> ddp/sda/dpa | Sonntag, 20. Februar 2011

Biel: Islamischer Zentralrat mahnt zur Selbstkritik
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Am ersten Jahrestreffen des umstrittenen Islamischen Zentralrats (IZRS) in Biel hat Präsident Nicolas Blancho die muslimische Gemeinschaft zu mehr Selbstkritik angehalten. Er kritisierte die Mehrheit der islamischen Länder als rückständig und forderte eine Besserstellung der Frauen.

Die islamische Gemeinschaft könne an Stärke und Macht gewinnen, wenn sie den Frauen mehr Platz einräume, sagte Blancho vor gut gefüllten Rängen im Kongresszentrum in Biel [D / E] .

Kritik an Ehrenmorden und Zwangsheiraten

Er kritisierte in diesem Sinne auch Ehrenmorde und Zwangsheiraten. Es gelte, mit den Reflexen der Vergangenheit zu brechen, sagte Blancho in deutsch und arabisch am Samstag vor 1500 bis 2000 muslimischen Mitgliedern und Interessierten aus der Schweiz und dem Ausland. Die Weisheit finde sich bei den Jungen.

Flankiert von zwei Bodygards rief der Gründer des IZRS die islamische Gemeinschaft dazu auf, sich nicht mehr zu beklagen und den Westen nicht mehr für alle Übel verantwortlich zu machen, sondern sich zu erheben und Verantwortung zu übernehmen. Der konvertierte Bieler unterliess jegliche Hasstiraden gegen andere Religionsgemeinschaften. Die Konferenz fand unter dem Motto «Islamische Identität und Moderne» statt. >>> sda/halp | Sonntag, 20. Februar 2011

Ankündigung der Jahreskonferenz am 19. Februar 2011 in Biel

Jahreskonferenz des Islamischen Zentralrats der Schweiz
Der Islamische Zentralrat der Schweiz hat nach Biel zur Jahreskonferenz gerufen. Die Gegner, vorwiegend christliche Gruppierungen, versammelten sich zum Protest vor dem Kongresshaus

SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Übertritt zum Islam: Konvertierte Schweizer im Porträt: Die meisten in der Schweiz lebenden Muslime stammen ursprünglich aus einem muslimischen Land. Es gibt aber auch Schweizer, die zum Islam übertreten. 10vor10 fragte zwei von ihnen nach ihren Beweggründen >>> | Freitag, 01. September 2011 [Zum Teil in Schwyzertüütsch]

Manifestation anti-Kadhafi à Genève
20 MINUTES ONLINE: Des manifestants ont demandé le départ du chef de l'Etat libyen Muammar Kadhafi et de tous les dictateurs du monde arabe samedi à Genève.

«Kadhafi dictateur!», «Kadhafi assassin!» ont scandé les quelque 200 manifestants réunis samedi après-midi sur la Place des Nations à Genève.

Des portraits du colonel Muammar Kadhafi ont été brûlés, a constaté une journaliste de l'ATS sur place. Les manifestants, principalement des Libyens installés en Suisse et des sympathisants arabes, ont crié leur colère en agitant des drapeaux du pays. >>> ats | Samedi 19 Février 2011

Workers Protest Anti-Union Bill
Wisconsin public employees protest Republican legislation that weakens union bargaining power and employee benefits. Lindsey Parietti reporting

Dozens of Afghan Civilians Wounded
February 20 - Dozens of civilians are treated in hospital after NATO-led operations in Afghanistan kill 64. Marie-Claire Fennessy reports

Fisk on Bahrain
From Manama's Pearl Roundabout, Robert Fisk, Middle East Correspondent for the UK's Independent newspaper talks to Al Jazeera about the situation in Bahrain and the wider region

Cycle of Suppression Rises in Libya and Elsewhere
THE NEW YORK TIMES: BEIRUT, Lebanon — Libyan security forces moved against protesters Saturday in Benghazi, the country’s second-largest city and the epicenter of the most serious challenge to four decades of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s rule, opposition leaders and residents said. The death toll rose to at least 104 people, most of them in Benghazi, Human Rights Watch reported.

The events appeared to mark a decisive turn in four days of protests that have shaken Libya, a North African nation rich in oil. By nightfall, a deadly cycle had clearly emerged in a city where thousands have gathered in antigovernment demonstrations: Security forces fired on funeral marches, killing more protesters, creating more funerals.

The scope of the crackdown was almost impossible to verify in an isolated country that remains largely off limits to foreign journalists and, as part of the government’s efforts to squelch the protests, has been periodically cut off from the Internet. But doctors reached by Al Jazeera, an Arabic satellite channel, said dozens and perhaps hundreds were killed and wounded in the fighting, which persisted into the night. And a Benghazi resident who visited the hospital said by e-mail that 200 were dead and nearly 850 wounded; if confirmed, that would substantially raise the death toll by Human Rights Watch, which reported at least 20 people killed Saturday.

“It is too late for dialogue now,” said a Benghazi resident who has taken part in the demonstrations but refused to be named. “Too much blood has been shed. The more brutal the crackdown will be, the more determined the protesters will become.”
“We don’t trust the regime anymore,” he said in a phone interview. >>> Anthony Shadid | Saturday, February 19, 2011

Libyan Forces Step Up Crackdown
As fresh violence grips Libya - there are claims that some of those cracking down on demonstrators are foreign mercenaries. Al Jazeera's Hazem Sika reports

Violent Clashes Hit Libyan City of Baidah
The eastern Libyan city of Baidah has been a scene of death and violent clashes. Hospitals are struggling to cope with the influx of patients and people are worried about more chaos ahead. Al Jazeera's Omar Al Saleh reports on recently obtained video footage from Baidah, where protesters are refusing to bow down to government intimidation

Canada Veil Ban Controversy
A row is brewing in Canada, after a politician introduced proposals aimed at mandating the removal of veils in polling stations. The private member's bill was tabled by a politician from the ruling Conservative Party. He says the law would increase transparency during elections. But critics say it fuels Islamaphobia. Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab reports

Al-Qaida rät Ägyptern zum Gottesstaat
WELT ONLINE: Al-Qaida bricht sein Schweigen zu den arabischen Revolutionen: Bin Ladens Stellvertreter rät Ägyptern in einer Tonbandnachricht zum islamistischen Gottesstaat.

Zum ersten Mal seit Beginn der Protestwelle in Nordafrika, hat sich die Führungsspitze des Terrornetzwerkes al-Qaida zu den politischen Unruhen zu Wort gemeldet. Die Medienabteilung "As-Sahab Media" der Terrororganisation veröffentlichte eine Tonbandbotschaft des Al-Qaida-Vize-Chefs Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri. Die 35-minütige Aufnahme, die „Welt Online“ vorliegt, wurde auf einschlägigen Internetseiten veröffentlicht und gilt als authentisch. Sie trägt den Titel: "Botschaft der Hoffnung an das ägyptische Volk".Armin Mueller-Stahl erhält Ehrenbär für Lebenswerk[.]

Zawahiri erklärt in der Tonbandbotschaft, in Ägypten herrsche ein vom Islam abgewandtes, korruptes Regime. Einzig der islamische Staat sei eine bessere Alternative für die Ägypter. "Die ägyptische Regierung herrscht über ihr Volk mit unterdrückerischen Kräften und gefälschten Wahlen, korrupten Medien und ungerechten Gesetzen", so der ägyptische Terrorist. (+ Tonband) >>> Autor: Florian Flade | Samstag, 19. Februar 2011

Dr. Max: Demonstrieren für Dummies
Von Anzeige erstatten bis Wasserwerfer: Dr. Max gibt in seiner Videokolumne 10 Tipps für die nächste Demonstration. Nicht nur für Anfänger | 16.02.2011

Algérie: Les manifestants encerclés
leJDD.fr: Les policiers ont encerclé samedi un demi-millier de manifestants qui tentaient de prendre part à un défilé dans le centre d'Alger, s'inspirant des mouvements de révolte qui secouent une partie du monde arabe. Un député de l’opposition a été grièvement blessé.

Pour la seconde fois en huit jours, des manifestants sont venus exprimer, en plein centre d’Alger, leur détermination à en finir avec le régime, à l'instar de l'Egypte et de la Tunisie. Et pour la deuxième fois, la police a riposté. Les manifestants, qui scandaient "Algérie, libre et démocratique!", ont été dispersés par les forces de l'ordre aux abords de la place du 1er-Mai, où la marche de protestation devait débuter à 11h00. Ils ont ensuite été dirigés dans la cour d'un ensemble d'immeubles résidentiels où un demi-millier de manifestants ont été encerclés par des centaines de membres de forces de l'ordre en tenue anti-émeute. Plusieurs centaines de badauds, ainsi que quelques partisans du gouvernement, ont également été pris dans ce mouvement. >>> Al.P ( avec agences) - leJDD.fr | Samedi 19 Février 2011

Extremist Cleric to Lead White House Protest Calling for Muslims to 'Rise Up and Establish Islamic State in America'
MAIL ON SUNDAY: A hardline Muslim cleric who sparked anger across the U.S. with his anti-American comments in a television interview this month is to hold a protest outside the White House.

British extremist Anjem Choudary - who once said 'the flag of Islam will fly over the White House' - has announced he will lead a demonstration calling on Muslims to establish the Sharia law across America.

The rally, planned for March 3, is to take place just weeks after his on-screen row with Fox News presenter Sean Hannity.

Mr Choudary, 43, called Americans 'the biggest criminals in the world today.'
The former leader of outlawed group Islam4UK told the Target=_blank>Daily Star 'we expect thousands to come out and support us.'

Mr Choudary said the March rally was organised by the Islamic Thinkers society, an extremist group based in New York.

Two other British extremists, Abu Izzadeen and Sayful Islam, have also been asked to speak at the demonstration.

Izzadeen is the hate preacher who caused fury last year when he called British soldiers 'murderers' the day he was released from jail after a three-and-a-half year sentence for inciting terrorism.

Mr Choudary told the newspaper: 'The event is a rally, a call for the Sharia, a call for the Muslims to rise up and ­establish the Islamic state in America.' >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Sunday, February 20, 2011

DAILY STAR: The United Hates of America: FIREBRAND Islamist Anjem Choudary is set to provoke fury in the US by holding a protest outside the White House. >>> Dominik Lemanski | Sunday, February 20, 2011

Libya Protests: 140 'Massacred' as Gaddafi Sends in Snipers to Crush Dissent
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Women and children leapt from bridges to their deaths as they tried to escape a ruthless crackdown by Libyan forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

Snipers shot protesters, artillery and helicopter gunships were used against crowds of demonstrators, and thugs armed with hammers and swords attacked families in their homes as the Libyan regime sought to crush the uprising.

"Dozens were killed ... We are in the midst of a massacre here," a witness told Reuters. The man said he helped take victims to hospital in Benghazi.

Libyan Muslim leaders told security forces to stop killing civilians, responding to a spiralling death toll from unrest which threatens veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi's authority.

Mourners leaving a funeral for protesters in the eastern city of Benghazi came under fire, killing at least 15 people and wounding many more. A hospital official said one of those who died was apparently struck on the head by an anti-aircraft missile, and many had been shot in the head and chest.

The hospital was overwhelmed and people were streaming to the facility to donate blood. "Many of the dead and the injured are relatives of doctors here," he said. "They are crying and I keep telling them to please stand up and help us." >>> Nick Meo, Cairo | Sunday, February 20, 2011

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Ayatollahs of Iran watch Libya's Colonel Muammar Gaddafi practise the art of violent repression: Few of the Arab regimes facing rebellion are as brutal as that of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi - and now he's shown just how Libya deals with protesters >>> Con Coughlin | Sunday, February 20, 2011

Stateless Protest in Kuwait
Feb 19 - Stateless Arabs in Kuwait come under fire as security forces use flares to disburse crowds, as they demonstrate for citizenship. Deborah Lutterbeck reports

Unrest Sweeps the Middle East
February 20 - Amateur video in Libya shows protesters fleeing after some were shot in Benghazi, and in Bahrain's Pearl Square tens of thousands gathered after reclaiming it from police earlier in the day. Marie-Claire Fennessy reports

Britain's Alliance with Libya Turns Sour as Gaddafi Cracks Down
THE GUARDIAN: Tony Blair's handshake with Muammar Gaddafi in 2004 began an uneasy relationship that now presents difficult questions

On 25 February 2004, Tony Blair stood up in the Libyan capital Tripoli and shook hands with an eccentric dictator who until then had been regarded as an international pariah for his involvement in sponsoring terrorism.

That man was Muammar Gaddafi, who, Blair announced, had joined Britain in the fight against terror.

Asked if he was queasy about meeting Libya's leader, Blair replied: "It was strange, given the history, to come here and do this and, of course, I am conscious of the pain that people have suffered as a result of terrorist actions in the past."

What Blair meant, to be explicit, was Libya's involvement in downing a US airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, and the shooting of a British police constable, WPC Yvonne Fletcher, by a gunman who fired from inside the Libyan embassy in London.

Announcing a "new relationship", however, Blair said he had been struck by how the Libyan leader wished to join with Britain in "common cause with us against al-Qaida, extremists and terrorism".

That was then. In the last few days it has been Gaddafi who has looked liked the extremist, sending troops, and reportedly mercenaries, to crush demonstrations against his rule in the towns of Benghazi and Al Bayda. Human Rights Watch says this has led to the deaths of at least 85 of his people.

But it has not only been a dubious partnership against terror that has increasingly embroiled the United Kingdom in Libya's affairs. There has been a second "common cause" that has underpinned the relationship with Gaddafi's regime, underscored by the announcement on the same day in 2004 of a £550m deal with Shell for exploration rights.

Now Britain's risky and controversial relationship with Libya is beginning rapidly to unravel. >>> Peter Beaumont and Andrew Clark | Saturday, February 19, 2011

Taking Back Pearl Square in Bahrain
Feb 19 - Demonstrators move back into Bahrain's Pearl Square after the government orders the military to disband from the area. Deborah Lutterbeck reports

Protests Continue Throughout the Region
Feb 19 - Clashes in Yemen turn deadly and Algerian police push crowds out of May 1 Square. Maryam Ishani reporting

Bahrain's Prince Speaks
Feb 19 - Bahrain's crown prince promises new dawn of free expression, while security forces pull out of Pearl Square. Jessica Gray reporting

Libyan Protesters Risk 'Suicide' by Army Hands
THE GUARDIAN: Gaddafi confronts the most serious challenge to his 42-year rule by unleashing army on unarmed demonstrators

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is confronting the most serious challenge to his 42-year rule as leader of Libya by unleashing his army on unarmed protesters.

Unlike the rulers of neighbouring Egypt, Gaddafi has refused to countenance the politics of disobedience, despite growing international condemnation, and the death toll of demonstrators nearing 100.

The pro-government Al-Zahf al-Akhdar newspaper warned that the government would "violently and thunderously respond" to the protests, and said those opposing the regime risked "suicide". >>> Peter Beaumont and Martin Chulov in Bahrain | Saturday, February 19, 2011

King of Sweden Visits Malmö

HT: Baron Bodissey @ Gates of Vienna >>>

HT: Vlad Tepes >>>

After Mubarak: The Autumn of the Patriarchs
THE ECONOMIST: A generational change of mentality may bring fresh hope to the entire region

Photograph: The Economist
SEMINAL moments in revolutions do not come at nicely spaced intervals, but in a bewildering cascade. The accelerating rush of events leading to the abrupt downfall of Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak, came so cluttered with markers signifying radical change that their deeper implications can be hard to discern. The country’s streets have now calmed, with the army in charge of a wobbly interim government. But the smallest happenings in Cairo still reverberate with new meanings, not only for Egypt but for the surrounding region.

One such little scene with big implications played out some 36 hours after Mr Mubarak’s exit, when two top generals from the military council now ruling Egypt hosted a chat with some of the youthful campaigners whose organisational genius, to their own surprise as much as anyone’s, finally toppled Mr Mubarak on February 11th. In a Facebook post, the visitors described the meeting as encouraging. Not only did the generals, both in their early 60s, affirm the army’s commitment to the goals of the revolution, including a swift transition to democracy under civilian rule. They also showed “unprecedented respect for the opinions of young people”.

For Egyptians inured to rigid hierarchies of class and age, this last point was telling. Only a week before, as huge demonstrations engulfed the country, Mr Mubarak’s short-termed vice-president, the dour ex-head of intelligence, Omar Suleiman, had infuriated young Egyptians by suggesting that the protesters’ parents should tell them to go home. His prime minister, Ahmed Shafik, when pressed to apologise for a murderous attack on unarmed protesters by paid pro-Mubarak thugs, promised sarcastically to send the victims chocolates and sweets. >>> | Thursday, February 17, 2011 from PRINT EDITION

The Arab World: The Awakening
THE ECONOMIST – LEADER: As change sweeps through the Middle East, the world has many reasons to fear. But it also has one great hope

THE people of the Middle East have long despaired about the possibility of change. They have felt doomed: doomed to live under strongmen who have hoarded their wealth and beaten down dissent; doomed to have as an alternative only the Islamists who have imposed their harsh beliefs—and beaten down dissent. In some places, like Saudi Arabia and Iran, the autocrats and the Islamists have merged into one. But nowhere has a people had a wholly free choice in how they are ruled. And the West has surrendered to this despair too, assuming that only the strongmen could hold back the extremists.

Two months ago a Tunisian fruit-seller called Muhammad Bouazizi set fire to these preconceptions when, in despair over bullying officials and the lack of work, he drenched himself in petrol and struck a match. Tunisians and, later, Egyptians took to the streets. Almost miraculously, the people overwhelmed the strongmen who had oppressed them for decades. In the past few days tens of thousands have marched in Tehran, braving beatings and arrest. In tiny Bahrain men have died as the security forces sprayed protesters with rubber bullets and smothered them in tear gas. In Libya crowds have risen up against a fearsome dictator. Jordan is sullen, Algeria unstable and Yemen seething (see article).

Radical Islamists have long been the Arab world’s presumed revolutionaries, but these fights do not belong to them. In a region that had rotted under repression, a young generation has suddenly found its voice. Pushing ahead of their elders, they have become intoxicated with the possibility of change. As with Europe’s triumphant overthrow of communism in 1989, or even its failed revolutions of 1848, upheaval on such a scale can transform societies. What does that mean for the Islamists, the strongmen and the world? >>> Leader | Thursday, February 17, 2011 from PRINT EDITION

Tariq Ramadan on the Turmoil in the Maghreb, Noth Africa, Middle East
Listen to Tariq Ramadan here
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION – LATELINE: Read the transcript – The people must stand up: Ramadan >>> Reporter: Tony Jones | Thursday, February 17, 2011

Deadly Protests in Iraq over Food, Power
Feb 18 - Protests turn deadly in Iraq as demonstrators call for better services and government officials offer term limits and pay cuts. Deborah Lutterbeck reports

Family Rule Is Under Siege, At Last
REUTERS – BLOGS – GREGG EASTERBROOK: Dictatorship is under siege throughout the Arab world: fingers are crossed that democracy will prevail. Something else is under siege, too — the notion of family rule. This is among the oldest, and most harmful, concepts in human society. Is it about to vanish at last?

For centuries, in some cases for millennia, regions and nations have been ruled by families — either formally as royalty, or de facto via warlords, khans and shoguns who in most cases inherited their positions. As recently as a century ago, families still ran most of Europe, all of Russia and Japan, while an assortment of warlord-like figures with inherited standing ran much of what’s now South America and the Middle East, and kings and emperors controlled the subcontinent and most of Africa.

Today family rule has been vanquished, or reduced to constitutional status, in most of the world. The big exceptions are Cuba, North Korea, the Middle East, and parts of Africa and Pakistan. The fall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, following a 30-year warlord-style rule — and the unlikelihood that his sons will inherit control of the country, as Mubarak planned — represents a major subtraction from the remaining portion of the globe under family control.

Let’s hope the trend continues. Today China, India, the United States, Indonesia and Brazil, the world’s five largest nations, representing more than half of the global population, have abolished all forms of inherited rule. Much of the rest of the world has done or is doing the same. This is no guarantee of happiness, of course. Open systems can be chaotic (the United States), still lack personal freedom (China) or be poorly administered (Italy). But in the main, ending family rule has been good for societies that achieve this. Read on and comment >>> Gregg Easterbrook | Friday, February 18, 2011

After the Carrot, Egypt Military Shows the Stick
REUTERS: Egypt's military, after promising to deliver civilian rule in six months, warned workers using their new freedom to protest over pay that strikes must stop, in a move businessmen said on Saturday could have come sooner.

The military council, under pressure from activists to speed up the pace of reform, has adopted a softly-softly approach since taking power after the downfall of Hosni Mubarak, but said late on Friday that labour unrest threatened national security.

It issued the order, effectively banning strikes, after millions celebrated across Egypt with fireworks, dancing and music to mark a week since Mubarak, 82, was swept aside after 30 years, triggering a cascade of Middle East protests.

"I think it is a very late decision. The army should have given a firm statement for all kinds of sit-ins to stop, immediately after Mubarak stepped down," Sami Mahmoud, a board member of the Nile Company food distributor, said on Saturday.

"Though this statement should have come way earlier, I think the army was just allowing people to take their chance to voice their demands and enjoy the spirit of freedom," said Walid Abdel-Sattar, a businessman in the power industry. >>> Sarah Mikhail and Tom Perry | Saturday, February 19, 2011

Neo-Nazis and Protestors Fill a Tense Dresden
THE LOCAL (DE): Thousands of anti-fascists and neo-Nazis as well as police officers trying to keep them apart filled the city centre Dresden on Saturday after organisers of three neo-Nazi marches were given the judicial go-ahead.

Up to 6,000 neo-Nazis are expected to take part in the marches through the city, while up to 20,000 protestors are also expected, after last weekend 17,000 Dresden residents formed a human chain to show their distain for the far Right.

Fighting had already broken out between demonstrators and police by lunchtime, with the police using pepper spray and a water cannon while some demonstrators were said to have thrown fireworks at the officers. >>> DAPD/hc | Saturday, February 19, 2011

Tunisian Fundamentalists Burn Down Brothels
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Islamic fundamentalists attempted a show of force in Tunis on Friday by burning down a street of brothels.

Dozens of Islamists calling for Tunisia's brothels to be closed had rallied outside the interior ministry following Friday prayers before marching to Abdallah Guech Street.

At least three people were injured when security forces fired in the air to disperse the crowd.

The incident was the latest sign of Islamists organising in the North African state, the only Arab country with legal prostitution, after an uprising toppled President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali last month.

"Almost 500 Islamists, many wearing beards, were demonstrating in Old Medina to demand the closure of a brothel," said Mourad Barhoumi, a Tunis resident who witnessed the demonstration. >>> | Saturday, February 19, 2011

LE MONDE: Tunisie : un prêtre égorgé, des islamistes attaquent un lieu de prostitution – L'insécurité et le risque de poussée intégriste en Tunisie ont été illustrés, vendredi 18 février, par le meurtre d'un prêtre polonais retrouvé égorgé "par des extrémistes", aux dires des autorités, et l'attaque d'une rue fréquentée par des prostituées par des islamistes qui voulaient incendier une maison close. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | Vendredi 18 Février 2011

Protests Take Turn for Worse in Bahrain
Calls for peace following crackdown

Les révoltes populaires du monde arabe durement réprimées
LE POINT: Quatre-vingt-quatre personnes auraient été tuées par les forces de sécurité en Libye, selon un dernier bilan.

À Bahreïn, l'armée a ouvert le feu sur les manifestants, semant la panique dans les hôpitaux. Photo : Le Point
Les révoltes populaires contre les régimes autoritaires se sont étendues à travers le monde arabe vendredi, jour de grande prière, et ont été durement réprimées au prix de nombreux morts au Yémen, en Libye et à Bahreïn. Ces révoltes s'inspirent de celles qui ont entraîné la chute de Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali en Tunisie et de Hosni Moubarak en Égypte, faisant naître dans le reste du monde arabe l'espoir que la pression populaire apporte la démocratisation.

Le président américain Barack Obama a "condamné le recours à la violence" contre "les manifestants pacifiques" en Libye, ainsi qu'à Bahreïn et au Yémen, deux régimes alliés des États-Unis. Il s'est dit "profondément inquiet". La Grande-Bretagne a annoncé qu'elle annulait 44 contrats d'exportation de matériels de sécurité vers Bahreïn et huit contrats vers la Libye, pour éviter que ces matériels ne soient utilisés contre des manifestants. Et la Haut Commissaire aux droits de l'homme de l'ONU, Navi Pillay, a condamné les réactions "illégales et excessivement répressives" contre des "demandes légitimes". >>> Source AFP | Samedi 19 Février 2011

LE POINT: Mouammar Kadhafi confonté à une révolte populaire sans precedent : Le dirigeant libyen, au pouvoir depuis 40 ans, se voit confronté à une révolte comparable à celles qui ont eu lieu en Tunisie et en Égypte. >>> Source AFP | Samedi 19 Février 2011

Libya Death Toll Rises to 84 as Protesters Killed in Benghazi
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libyan security forces killed 35 people in the eastern city of Benghazi late on Friday, Human Rights Watch cited hospital sources as saying, in the worst unrest of Muammar Gaddafi's four decades in power.

The New York-based watchdog said the killings on Friday took to 84 its estimate for the total death toll after three days of protests which were inspired by uprisings elsewhere in the Middle East but met with a fierce security crackdown.

The deaths in the city on Friday happened when security forces opened fire on people protesting after funeral processions for people killed in earlier violence, the group said. There has been no official word on the number of dead.

"We put out a call to all the doctors in Benghazi to come to the hospital and for everyone to give blood because I've never seen anything like this before," a senior hospital official in Benghazi said.

A Benghazi resident, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters by telephone from the city on Saturday: "There are still a large number of protesters standing in front of Benghazi court. They have decided they are not going to move."

The unrest has been centred in an around the city of Benghazi, about 600 miles east of the Libyan capital, but restrictions on media have made it difficult to establish the full extent of the violence. >>> | Saturday, February 19, 2011

Scheich Hamad: Der König von Bahrein
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Auch wenn einige schiitische Demonstranten den Rücktritt des sunnitischen Königs fordern, so ist sein Thron noch nicht gefährdet; aber ein Warnzeichen. Bahrein bedarf umfassender Reformen seines politischen Systems, wenn es auf Dauer bestehen will.

Auch wenn einige Demonstranten am Donnerstag schon die Parole „Nieder mit den Al Chalifa“ skandierten, so ist doch sein Thron noch nicht gefährdet; aber ein Warnzeichen – auch für die Herrscher in der Nachbarschaft – sind die Unruhen in Bahrein allemal. Scheich Hamad Bin Isa Al Chalifa hat sich für das brutale Vorgehen der Sicherheitskräfte auf dem zentralen Perlen-Platz der Hauptstadt Manama entschuldigt, das offenbar von dem aus der Familie stammenden Ministerpräsidenten befohlen worden war: von Scheich Chalifa Bin Salman Al Chalifa.

Scheich Hamad herrscht seit 1999 über das kleine Inselreich von Bahrein, das außer den beiden Hauptinseln Bahrein und al Muharraq noch etliche zum Teil sehr kleine Eilande umfasst. Scheich Hamad ist Nachfolger seines Vaters, Emir Isa Bin Salman Al Chalifa, der sehr viel zur Modernisierung des Landes getan hat. Seit 2002 trägt Scheich Hamad den Titel König (malik). Theoretisch ist Bahrein seither auch eine konstitutionelle Monarchie, doch fehlen dafür die demokratischen Institutionen. Ein Despot aber ist der Herrscher nicht. >>> Von Wolfgang Günter Lerch | Freitag, 18. Februar 2011

An Arabian Lesson for Western Powers
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Obama will need vision to shape events in the Middle East, says Richard Spencer in Cairo.

Sheikh Ali Salman does not come across as a Mad Mullah. To say you’d happily share a pint down the local with him would be going too far – he is leader of Bahrain’s principal Shia Muslim party, the al-Wefaq, and sits comfortably in his clerical robes and turban. But he is young and pleasantly spoken and, unlike with some politicians, you leave a meeting with him thinking you would like to get to know him better, rather than desperately looking for the exit.

Sheikh Ali is a figure of suspicion though to the Bahraini regime, which fears his party would deliver this island kingdom to its fellow Shias in Iran, given half the chance. The ultimate result of that paranoia was seen all too graphically on the streets of Manama yesterday. He himself denies this, and in a recent interview with The Daily Telegraph said he had no ties to Iran, every respect for the Bahrain royal family, and just wanted a constitutional monarchy as in Britain.

For a century or more no one has trusted anyone much in the Middle East, and few interviews can be conducted entirely without a question mark in the back of the mind when such claims are made. But the image of Sheikh Ali as an Iranian fanatic did strike me as a clear example of the mismatch between perceptions of the Arab world and the modern reality.

This has been widely on show in recent weeks. For those who live in the region, the surprise lies not in the speed of revolution but in the time it took to get there. It is the West that has seemed shocked that an uprising in an Arab country like Egypt had as its figurehead a Google marketing executive, Wael Ghuneim.

Sheikh Ali himself is a bit of a puzzle, I expect, even for regular visitors to Bahrain, for whom the thought of “Gulf Arab in long robe” conjures up the idea of either a plutocrat lounging in the diwan of his palace, or a Saudi businessman cruising the bars of Bahrain and Dubai for alcohol and loose women. In truth, most Gulf Arabs are certainly more religious than Westerners, but they are as devoted to food, shopping, computer games and football as anyone else. >>> Richard Spencer, The Daily Telegraph’s Middle East Correspondent | Saturday, February 19, 2011

Cairenes Gather for "Victory March"
Feb 18 - Protesters congregate in Cairo's central Tahrir Square, while Mubarak supporters hold a vigil in the Cairo suburb of Mohandiseen. Travis Brecher reports

WikiLeaks: Bahrain Opposition 'Received Training from Hizbollah'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Bahrain opposition groups received training from Iran-backed Hizbollah in Lebanon, according to the country's ruler.

King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa warned senior US military figures that opposition groups in Bahrain were receiving training from Hizbollah in Lebanon.

He also told senior American military figures that Syria was "complicit" in the training by providing the Bahrainis with false passports.

The claims were reported in a leaked embassy cable sent by US diplomats in Bahrain to Washington.

The communiqué was leaked to the WikiLeaks website and handed to The Daily Telegraph.

King Hamad made the claim in a 90 minute meeting on 30 July 2008 with General David Petraeus who at the time was commander of the allied forces in Iraq. >>> Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor | Friday, February 18, 2011

The Arab Revolution’s Effect on Saudis
SAUDIWOMAN’S WEBLOG: With what’s going on right now in Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Tunis and Egypt, I get a lot of questions about how Saudis are taking it and what’s the reaction. The short answer is they are shocked and captivated but haven’t made up their minds about any of it.

The long answer is Saudi Arabia is a country where 40% of the population is under 14 years old, unemployment is rampant and the conservative religious approach is the key to the majority. These three ingredients are a dangerous mixture and add to that the now available social media tools and you have a bomb waiting for detonation. So why has nothing happened? >>> | Thursday, February 03, 2011

The Arab Revolution Saudi Update
SAUDIWOMAN’S WEBLOG: Remember, in a former post [see above], when I said that Saudis were captivated and shocked by what happened in Tunis and Egypt but hadn’t collectively made up their mind about it? Well it appears that they have. Everywhere I go and everything I read points to a revolution in our own country in the foreseeable future. However we are still on the ledge and haven’t jumped yet.

I know that some analysts are worried particularly of Saudi Arabia being taken over by Al Qaeda or a Sunni version of the Iranian Islamic Revolution. Calm down. Besides my gut feeling (which is rarely wrong), the overwhelming majority of people speaking out and calling out for a revolution are people who want democracy and civil rights and not more of our current Arab tradition based adaptation of Sharia. My theory of why that is, is that Al Qaeda has already exhausted its human resources here. The available muttawas, are career muttawas (fatwa sheikhs) and minor muttawas (PVPV) [here and here] of convenience both paid by the government and do not want the current win-win deal between them and the government to sour. So it’s unlikely that they would actively seek change. Actually quite the opposite, they will resist and delay as much as they can. Fortunately the winds of change can’t be deterred by a PVPV cruiser.

Last night Prince Talal Bin Abdul Alaziz, the king’s half-brother, did a TV interview on BBC Arabia that was widely watched and discussed. In it he warned of an upcoming storm if reforms aren’t dealt with right now. He used the word “evils” to describe what would happen if King Abdullah passed away before ordering the required changes. Prince Talal also strongly advocated a constitutional monarchy and democracy as long as it’s similar to what they have in Kuwait and Jordon. However he hinted that there were people in the ruling family who do not believe in change. >>> | Friday, February 18, 2011

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