Britain Attacks Baroness Ashton over 'Ludicrous' Budget Demands

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain has attacked Baroness Ashton for a "ludicrous" demand for an extra £23.5 million to run her diplomatic service and instructed British ambassadors to beware of European Union power grabs over foreign policy.

David Lidington, the Europe minister, has told Lady Ashton that she should concentrate on doing less, more effectively and must rein in EUofficials who are treading on national sovereignty.

Mr Lidington's criticism is the first public rebuke to the EU foreign minister, a Labour peer, and came as groundswell of discontent over her performance grows across Europe.

The government is particularly angry that Lady Ashton, Britain's most senior ranking EU official, has demanded the biggest administrative budget increase, of 5.8 per cent, in Brussels for next year.

The rise in her costs, which will take her spending to £427 million, defies a campaign by David Cameron to cut EU spending, set to rise 4.9 per cent in total next year, at a time of national austerity, including cuts to the British foreign office.

"They have got to get real," said Mr Lidington. "This 5.8 per cent, asking for more than the EU as a whole is asking for, is somewhat ludicrous." » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Monday, May 23, 2011

Palestinian Prime Minister Suffers Heart Attack

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad suffered a heart attack while visiting the U.S. and is recovering at a Texas hospital, a spokesman said on Monday.

Mr Fayyad, who was born in 1952, was in Austin to attend the college graduation of his son, Khaled, when he felt strong chest pains on Sunday, said the prime minister's spokesman, Jamal Zakout.

Mr Fayyad, a heavy smoker, underwent tests showing a blockage in a coronary artery, Mr Zakout said. Mr Fayyad suffered a heart attack while at the Seton Medical Center in Austin, the spokesman said. » | Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Dominique de Villepin 'Guilty by Abstention', Says Prosecutor

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A French state prosecutor urged an appeals court on Monday to find former prime minister Dominique de Villepin guilty of complicity in a plot to discredit President Nicolas Sarkozy in the run up to an election in 2007.

Prosecutor Jean-Louis Perol asked the court in Paris to hand Mr Villepin, a possible candidate in the presidential election next April and an arch-enemy of Mr Sarkozy, a suspended jail sentence of 15 months.

Mr Villepin, who has quit Mr Sarkozy's centre-right UMP party, was acquitted last year in the first round of the trial but has landed back in court after an appeal by prosecutors.

He lashed out at the prosecution's demands in a trial where the verdict, due to be handed down in the autumn, could poison the climate in the run-up to a presidential election. Mr Sarkozy is widely expected to run for a second term. » | Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Muslim Four Boasted of Beating Up RE Teacher for 'Mocking Islam’ Spreading Doubts
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Four Muslims who beat up a teacher for lecturing Islamic pupils were caught on a covert recording saying: “This is the dog we want to hit, to strike, to kill.”

Akmol Hussein, 26, Sheikh Rashid, 27, Azad Hussain, 25, and Simon Alam, 19, discussed the plan to ambush Gary Smith outside his school nearly a month before attacking him in the street.

A bug, which could have been put in Akmol’s car by the security services, captures the gang discussing the plot, then praising Allah as they drive from the scene of the attack. Excerpts of the recording played in Snaresbrook Crown Court disclose Hussein setting out the plan to ambush Mr Smith, the head of religious education at Central Foundation Girls’ School in Bow, east London.

Hussein says: “This is the dog we want to hit, to strike, to kill.

“He’s mocking Islam and he’s putting doubts in people’s minds, How can somebody take a job to teach Islam when they’re not even a Muslim?”

Sarah Whitehouse, prosecuting, said Mr Smith taught a “wide variety of topics such as abortion, euthanasia and the role of women”. Mr Smith was ambushed by the gang shortly after 8am as he walked to the school from nearby Mile End on July 12 last year. Miss Whitehouse said: “He was targeted as the victim of this attack simply because of his position as head of religious studies at the school.”

The court heard that moments before the gang attacked Mr Smith, Hussein can be heard saying: “Does everyone remember the drill? One time, bang, bang, bang, bang.” The recording is then silent for 10 minutes while the attack takes place. » | Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Libya's Prisoners of War
An unknown number of fighters from the Libyan conflict have been captured - and have effectively become prisoners of war.

Al Jazeera has been given exclusive access to a temporary detention centre in Zintan, located in the country's western mountains, where opposition fighters are holding some of Gaddafi's men.

We are not showing their faces to protect their identities.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid reports.

Iceland: Volcanic Eruption
Volcanic ash approaches UK; threat of aviation chaos

Jailed Russian Billionaire Appeals Verdict
The jailed billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky launches a new bid for freedom. Khodorkovsky, jailed in 2005 for tax evasion, was up for release this year. But a second trial extended his jail time. He's now appealing that verdict. Neave Barker reports

Obama Visits His Ancestral Home in Ireland
Barack Obama, the US president, and his wife Michelle, experienced a warm welcome in Ireland - where some of Obama's distant ancestors lived.

As well as meeting the Irish prime minister, Obama made a visit to the small town of Moneygall where the president's great, great grandfather lived.

Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reports from the Irish capital, Dublin.


THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Obama in Ireland: president searches for 'missing apostrophe' – Almost any other visitor who mauled the Irish language so severely might expect a reception as cold as the waters of the Liffey. » | Alex Spillius in Dublin | Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Strauss-Kahn's DNA 'Found on Maid's Clothes'
US media are reporting DNA evidence now links Dominique Strauss-Kahn to the maid who accused him of sexual assault.

The Wall Street Journal says a sample submitted by the former head of the International Monetary Fund matches semen traces found on the woman's shirt.

Experts, however, urge against a "rush to judgment" based on the DNA test, noting that there are a range of possible explanations and that it does not prove an act of sexual violence.

Al Jazeera's Roza Ibragimova reports from New York.

Barack Obama's Big Middle East Gamble

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama seems unrepentant over his comments on Israel's border and appears to think that his own personality will be enough to resolve a '100-year-old headache'.

Striding to the podium inside the Washington Convention Centre, President Barack Obama did his very best to avoid any sense that he felt intimidated by entering what was, in political terms, the lion's den.

There was tepid applause and a couple of isolated boos from the crowd of almost 10,000 members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as Aipac, the premier and most hardline mainstream group in the powerful pro-Israel lobby in the United States.

The reception was one of intense scepticism. A vast majority of delegates felt that Mr Obama had a need to explain himself after his comments that a Middle East peace deal should be based on Israel's 1967 border incorporating agreed land swaps with the Palestinians.

But if they thought that the American president was going to take back his words in Thursday's speech at the State Department's Foggy Bottom headquarters, then they were sorely mistaken.

Wagging his finger repeatedly, Mr Obama adopted the manner of a schoolmaster frustrated that his pupils were too dim or inattentive to pay attention to what he had said. Continue reading and comment » | Toby Harnden | Sunday, May 22, 2011

Sudan's Abyei 'Ablaze' after Capture by North
Sudan's disputed border town of Abyei is ablaze, with gunmen looting properties days after troops from the government in Khartoum entered the area, UN peacekeepers say.

The peacekeepers belonging to UNMIS, the UN mission in Sudan, said on Monday that the burning and looting was perpetrated "by armed elements" but it was not clear whether they were from the north or the south.

The developments in Abyei drew strong reaction from the US, with its special envoy to the country saying Washington would rule out dropping Sudan from a terrorism list if it continued occupying the oil-rich district.

Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker reports.

Barack Obama Cuts Short Ireland Trip to Avoid Ash Cloud

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama arrives at Stanstead airport having cut short his visit to Ireland to avoid being grounded by volcanic ash.

The President was due to begin his state visit to Britain today but the huge plume of ash drifting across the Atlantic from Iceland forced him to amend his travel arrangements.

His schedule was hastily redrafted as the cloud from the Grímsvötn volcano drifted towards Scotland, leading to the cancellation of 36 flights.

The White House deputy press secretary, Josh Earnest, said: “Due to a recent change in the trajectory in the plume of volcanic ash, Air Force One will depart Ireland for London tonight. The schedule for tomorrow will proceed as planned.”

The three-day visit is launched with a joint newspaper article today in which Mr Obama and David Cameron rename the special relationship between Britain and America, the “essential relationship”, vital for world security and prosperity. » | David Millward, and Andrew Porter | Monday, May 23, 2011

Dominique Strauss-Kahn: DNA Samples Confirm Sperm Traces on Maid's Dress

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: DNA samples taken in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case have confirmed traces of sperm on the maid's dress, according to reports.

The New York Police sent the test results to French authorities on Sunday where they allegedly confirmed the trace. The results are expected to be made public shortly.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, who is accused of trying to rape a maid last week in his suite at the Sofitel hotel in New York, was released from Rikers Island jail on Friday.

His lawyer has already indicated he plans to argue that there was consent.

The latest revelations, published on the French website Atlantico.fr, came amid reports the former IMF chief sought the company of two female hotel members of staff after he checked into the Sofitel one day before his alleged sexual assault on the maid on May 14. Both receptionists declined the offer of a drink.

Mr Strauss-Kahn has been indicted on seven charges, including forcing the maid to perform oral sex on him and attempted rape. If he is convicted, he would face up to 25 years in prison. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Monday, May 23, 2011

Come On, Ireland
A nation once again?

HT: Gates of Vienna »

Carla Bruni ist schwanger
Lange wurde spekuliert, nun ist es offiziell. Frankreichs Präsident Nicolas Sarkozy und seine Frau Carla Bruni erwarten ihr erstes gemeinsames Baby

Pakistan im Griff des Islamismus
Hunderte pakistanischer Richter versammelten sich heute zu einem Gottesdienst im Andenken an Osama Bin Laden. Der Islamismus ist im Land weit verbreitet. Blasphemie wird in Pakistan mit dem Tode bestraft und Minderheiten werden konsequent schikaniert. Der Hass gipfelte im vergangenen März in der Ermordung des Ministers für Minderheiten

Strauss-Kahn Reveals Frustration in E-mail to IMF

CNN: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned last week as head of the International Monetary Fund in the face of sexual assault charges, told the fund's staff of his "profound sadness and frustration in having to leave under these circumstances" in an e-mail obtained by CNN.

"I deny in the strongest possible terms the allegations which I now face," Strauss-Kahn wrote to his former employees.

IMF acting head John Lipsky forwarded the e-mail to the fund's staff Sunday evening. It was then obtained exclusively by CNN's Nina dos Santos.

The Frenchman said he is confident that he will be exonerated of charges of attacking a hotel maid in New York, but he could not "accept that the Fund -- and you dear colleagues -- should in any way have to share my own personal nightmare. So, I had to go." » | CNN Wire Staff | Monday, May 23, 2011

Former IMF head Strauss-Kahn's farewell to staff: Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s farewell e-mail to the staff at the International Monetary Fund following his resignation last week (email in Full) »

DSK : "Ces derniers jours ont été extrêmement douloureux"
LE POINT: EXCLUSIF. L'ex-directeur du FMI dit avoir démissionné pour épargner son "cauchemar" à l'institution. Lisez son e-mail d'au revoir.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn a adressé dimanche un courrier électronique au FMI, transmis à l'ensemble du personnel de l'institution. Le Point.fr a pu se procurer l'e-mail rédigé en anglais. En voici la traduction :

"Chers collègues

Vous avez pris connaissance de ma lettre de démission du poste de directeur du FMI - une des choses les plus difficiles sur lesquelles j'ai dû communiquer. J'avais très envie de m'adresser à vous personnellement et directement pour vous exprimer ma profonde tristesse et aussi ma frustration d'avoir à partir dans ces circonstances. Je le fais parce que c'est ce que je peux faire de mieux dans l'intérêt d'une institution que je respecte profondément, je le fais pour vous aussi, cette équipe que j'apprécie et que j'admire. » | Le Point.fr | Lundi 23 Mai 2011

ACLU Lawsuit Could End 70-Year Tradition
May 23, 2011 – Cross dispute could stall commencement

'Mass Chaos' in Joplin, Missouri
May 23, 2011 – Mayor pro tem describes aftermath of deadly twister as more severe weather moves into region

New Questions About Future of Mideast Peace Talks
May 23, 2011 – President Obama facing harsh criticism over Israel border proposal

Does the Bible Matter in the 21st Century?
May 20, 2011 – Religion’s role in the Western World

Silvio Berlusconi Attacks Italy's 'Gypsy-loving' Left-wing

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Silvio Berlusconi has accused Italy's left-wing opposition of wanting to turn his hometown of Milan into a "gypsy camp" as the country geared up for a second round of local elections.

"Milan cannot turn into an Islamic city, a 'gypsyopolis' full of Roma camps besieged by foreigners to whom the left wants to give the right to vote," Mr Berlusconi said on his People of Freedom party website.

In the first round of elections last week the centre-left candidate in Milan, Giuliano Pisapia, defied expectations to win 48 per cent, leaving the centre-right mayor Letizia Moratti facing a run-off with only 41.6 per cent.

Mr Berlusconi told voters in the city where he was born and made his fortune that they should support Ms Moratti in the second round scheduled for Sunday and Monday.

"Milan is ... one of the most important capitals in Europe in terms of intelligence, creativity and entrepreneurialism," he said.

"A city like this will surely not want to hand itself over to the extreme left with the risk of becoming a disorderly, chaotic and unsafe city." » | Monday, May 23, 2011

Growing Female Saudi Middle-Class Women Pushing for More Reform
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: What tells us more about Saudi Arabia – the knowledge that it remains the only country in the world where women are banned from driving, or that an increasing number of women are prepared to take the risk of openly flouting the rule?

Manal al-Sharif, 32, was arrested at the weekend after posting a dramatic YouTube video – mundane anywhere else – of herself at the wheel in her home city of Khobar. But then her weekday life as a computer security consultant hardly squares with the popular image of the repressed Saudi woman either.

Much has been written about the Arab Spring this year, and Saudi Arabia has become its leading opponent. It offered asylum to President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali of Tunisia, backed President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt to the hilt, and sent troops to crush protests in neighbouring Bahrain.

But in its own way it started the whole process off. Since King Abdullah, the current monarch, came to the throne in 2005 he has eased restrictions on freedom of speech and particularly on women, encouraging them to study and work.

He opened Saudi Arabia's first mixed sex university, and even appointed a woman minister.

In return a small but growing band of middle-class professional women have both expressed gratitude and used the opportunity to press for further reforms, big and small. » | Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Monday, May 23, 2011

Related links here, here, and here

Restrictions on Women in Saudi Arabia
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A woman has been arrested in Saudi Arabia for driving a car, an activity that is restricted to men only.

There are several limitations on what a woman can do in the conservative Muslim country: » | Monday, May 23, 2011

Spain's Zapatero Faces Calls to Resign as Socialists Hammered in Local Elections

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Spain's ruling socialist party were reeling from an unprecedented battering in local elections Sunday as voters punished Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero for his handling of the economic crisis.

The centre-right Popular Party (PP) won a resounding victory across the board in the regional and municipal elections, securing a ten per cent lead over their rivals, in a result seen as a precursor for general elections scheduled early next year.

Spain's Socialists lost control of traditional strongholds including the cities of Barcelona and Seville while the PP took Castilla-La Mancha, which had been governed by the socialists since the first democratic elections in 1979, four years after the death of dictator Gen Francisco Franco.

Pressure mounted for Prime Minister Zapatero to resign and call an early general election. But the socialist leader, who swept to power in 2004 and who has said he will not seek a third term, vowed to carry on reforms until the vote next March.

Conceding defeat, the prime minister blamed discontent on three years of economic crisis which has left Spain with a stagnant economy and 21 per cent unemployment, more than twice the EU average.

"We have suffered a broad setback compared to four years ago," he told a news conference after the first results came through, Sunday night. » | Fiona Govan, Madrid | Monday, May 23, 2011

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, President of Spain »

WIKI: José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain »

Jerome Corsi: “Obama Birth Certificate 100% Forged; Hawaii Officials Forged It”

Birther Report »

Tornado Leaves Scores Dead in US City
Rescue workers are digging through what is left of the city of Joplin in the midwestern US state of Missouri. They are looking for survivors after tornadoes cut the city in half.

At least 89 people are dead and the state governor has declared a state of emergency.

Al Jazeera's John Terrett reports.

Robert Fisk on Syrian Sanctions
Robert Fisk, a foreign correspondent of Britain's newspaper "The Independent", tells Al Jazeera why he does not believe Western sanctions on top Syrian officials will have a real impact on the ongoing unrest.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy 'Expecting a Boy'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is expecting a boy, a close friend of Nicolas Sarkozy has confirmed, just days after the French president's father let slip his daughter-in-law is pregnant.

Jacques Séguéla – an advertising tycoon who brought the presidential couple together in 2007 at a dinner party – disclosed the sex of the child in an interview with a Belgian newspaper.
He told Brussels daily Le Soir: "I have it on good authority that the baby will a boy."

It will be the couple's first child. France's 43-year-old first lady already has a nine-year-old son, Aurélien, with the media philosopher Raphaël Enthoven.

Mr Sarkozy, 55, has two sons, Pierre, 25, and Jean, 23, from his first marriage to Marie-Dominique Culioli, who he divorced in 1996. He has a 13-year-old son Louis from his second marriage to Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz, who he divorced in 2007.

This is not the first time Mr Séguéla has filled the public in on the presidential couple's private lives. In 2009, he gave a blow-by-blow account of how they met at an impromptu "blind date" soirée, describing the scene as an "unexpected game of seduction between two wild beasts". » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Monday, May 23, 2011

Remember That Atrocious Hat Princess Beatrice Wore to The Royal Wedding? It’s Just Sold for $131,000 on eBay! At Least the Money Is Going to Good Causes
Money from Ebay bid for Princess Beatrice's bizarre headpiece will go to Children in Crisis and Unicef

Inside Story: Sudan Divided
Inside Story, discusses with Rabie Abdul Atti, member of the NCP and advisor to Sudan's information minister; Eddie Thomas, an author on Sudan; and Barnaba Benjamin, Southern Sudan's minister of information

O'Bama? Oh puh-lease!
TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – JAMES DELINGPOLE: Ah Bejaysus and Begorrah! Oi’ll be swearin’ boi the auld shrine to the Vorgin with the shamrocks growin’ round it next to the hill where Cuchullain slew the Great Leprechaun of Kildare on St Patrick’s Day that Barack Seamus O’Toole Flaherty Joyce O’Bama is the most Irish US president that ever set foot on the Emerald Oisle, so he is, so he is.

Except, when he’s in Africa, of course, when he disappears into the dry ice and re-emerges with a grass skirt and a bone through his nose and declares himself to be Mandingo, Prince of the Bloodline of the Bonga People, Drinker of Cattle Urine, Father of A Thousand Warrior Sons, Keeper of King Solomon’s Mines, Barehanded Slayer of Lions, Undaunted Victim of the Evil Colonial British Empire.

And in the Middle East, where he is Al-Barak Hussein Obama, Protector of the Holy Shrine, Smiter of the Kuffar, Lion of the Desert, Tent-Loving-Aficionado-of-the-Oversweetened-Coffee, Chomper of Sheeps’ Eyeballs, Restorer of the Caliphate.

Etc.

Tony Blair used to do this trick too, his accent mutating from broad Glaswegian to genteel Edinburgh to Mummerset to Estuary to Richard E Grant to Sarf London Grime – often in the course of one Downing Street reception – the better to persuade his target audience that he was their kind of guy. And it is, of course, the hallmark of an unutterable charlatan. » | James Delingpole | Monday, May 23, 2011

CACTUS THORNS: Wait a second Steven, his nibs is claiming to be Irish? This changes everything » | Dan Obrien | Friday, May 06, 2011

This Week, Obama and Cameron Should Compare Notes – and Then Wake Up

THE SLOG: This is the last chance to put our banks back in the cage

For a few days starting tomorrow, President Obama will smile at the well-wishers in Britain, show deference to the Queen, and generally pretend to like us. While he’s around (and I’m not breaking any injunctions here) I understand he’s going to have an economics session with Prime Minister David Cameron.

If and when that meeting of barren minds takes place, they should be able to reach a simple conclusion: no matter how hard you try to get banks to behave like social animals, they will screw you and pump up their bonuses.

Obama tried to get help to the repossession sector of the US housing market, using Federal funds. The idea was ill-conceived (chucking good money after bad) but at least three major banks used the funds fraudulently, and are now the subject of SEC investigations. His man Bernanke has been pumping Fed funds into the banking sector, in an effort to increase liquidity into the economy, for nigh on two and a half years – depending on who you believe about when it stopped, or if it ever stopped. This ‘POMO’ (Permanent Open Market Operations) scheme’s main achievement has been to send the Dow through the roof: the banks used the money for two purposes – to underwrite multinational megamergers, and buy stocks on behalf of their clients. Jobs have been lost, not created, as a result of this double-cross.

Cameron and his Chancellor George Osborne first of all tried to get the banks to set an example, and forego bonuses for 2010. Bob Diamond explained that this item would not be on the agenda, and they ended up paying themselves more than ever. Almost no money has filtered through to the small business sector after QE, and the financial sector – that’s the banks, remember – is still the only bit of the economy holding its end up. Not hard when you consider they’ve been doing it mainly with taxpayers’ money. Manufacturing has grown, but much as the Government tries to hype this, growth on a base of 12% of all economic output is a spit at the tornado of problems we face. » | John Ward |Monday, May 23, 2011

Saudi Woman Arrested for Challenging Driving Ban

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Saudi authorities arrested a female activist on Sunday who launched a campaign to challenge a ban on women driving in the conservative kingdom and posted a video on the Internet of her driving, activists said.

The YouTube video, posted on Thursday, has attracted more than 500,000 views and shows Manal Alsharif, who learned to drive in the United States, driving her car in Khobar in the oil-producing Eastern Province.

“Police arrested her at 3 a.m. this morning,” said Maha Taher, another female activist who launched her own campaign for women driving four months ago to spread awareness of the issue.

An Eastern Province police spokesperson declined to comment and an interior ministry spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. » | Reuters | JEDDAH | Sunday, May 22, 2011

Related video »

Libya: What Remains after the Battle for Misurata
Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley takes a look at some of the heavy artillery used in the battle for Misurata

Syrians Speak of Deaths in Custody
Families of protesters are accusing Syrian security forces of torturing their relatives in custody. An Al Jazeera exclusive shows their testimonies on the Bashar al-Assad regime's brutality against pro-democracy protesters. Florence Looi reports.

Spanish Protesters Challenge Status Quo
In Spain's most politically conservative of cities, an unexpected and growing revolt - against the status quo, established political institutions, and against the old acceptance that nothing much will ever change.

The country's ruling party is facing growing anger over Spain's economic problems, and many people shunned the polls and chosen to protest instead.

Al Jazeera's Tim Friend reports from Madrid.

Revolution Halts Tourists Visiting Egypt
The recent uprising in Egypt brought political changes to the country, but it has also scared the tourists away.

In February, there were just over 200,000 foreign visitors, while the year before the number was 1.1 million.

With this loss, many businesses are now struggling to cope. And even the finance minister admits that when the tourist industry is hit, the entire economy takes a knock.

Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher reports from Giza.

Sudan Takes Control of Oil-rich Abyei
The UN Security Council has urged Khartoum to withdraw soldiers from the disputed oil region of Abyei, after northern Sudanese tanks entered the oil rich area.

The UN condemned the attack as the north accused South Sudan of targeting one of its military convoys on Thursday.

The South meanwhile says the North has been carrying out a bombing campaign in Abyei.

And as Nazanin Sadri reports, there are fears this latest escalation of could derail Sudan's peace agreement.

Christian Doctors Back GP over 'Jesus' Remarks

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The medical standards watchdog is facing a backlash from doctors after censuring a Christian GP who raised his personal beliefs with a patient of a different faith.

Dr Richard Scott, a family GP with 28 years’ experience, is facing disciplinary action and fears he could lose his job after he discussed his faith in Jesus with a patient last year.

The 50-year-old is being investigated by the General Medical Council but Christian doctors rallied to his defence and criticised the way that the professional standards regulator had handled the case.

In 2010, Dr Scott, who works at Bethesda Medical Centre in Margate, Kent, a practice known for its Christian partners, saw a patient at the request of the patient’s mother. He maintains that he only discussed how his faith in Jesus had helped him at the end of the consultation, and with the patient’s consent.

But the GMC wrote to Dr Scott, warning him that he had distressed the patient and risked bringing the profession into disrepute. He has appointed a human rights lawyer to fight the reprimand.

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, said doctors should not normally discuss their personal beliefs with patients “unless those beliefs are directly relevant to the patient's care”. » | Tim Ross, Social Affairs Editor | Sunday, May 22, 2011

TELEGRAPH VIDEO: Christian GP reprimanded by the General Medical Council for talking to a patient about God »

Saudis, Emiratis Were Funding Extremists
US cable says Gulf countries fund Pakistani militancy - Pakistan newspaper

Affaire DSK : à la recherche de la femme sans visage
LE POINT: Les images de DSK abondent. Son accusatrice, elle, est invisible depuis le début de l'affaire. Direction le Bronx, son quartier.

C'est la femme sans visage. Où est Nafissatou Diallo, alias Ophelia, la jeune femme que DSK est accusé d'avoir agressée sexuellement ? Alors que, depuis une semaine, les images sous toutes les coutures de l'ex-patron du FMI, de son épouse, de sa fille (sur)abondent, aucune photo "officielle" de la victime présumée ne circule. On sait qu'elle a 32 ans, serait musulmane et originaire de Guinée et a une fille adolescente.

Le Sofitel où elle est employée depuis trois ans assure qu'elle donnait "toute satisfaction" et son avocat a expliqué à la télévision que c'était une femme qui travaillait dur et qu'elle "a(vait) peur", qu'elle était "perdue". Le reste, ce sont des rumeurs. Un jour, elle est mère célibataire, le lendemain, divorcée, le troisième, veuve. Elle a un frère qui n'est pas son frère, une soeur qui l'aurait fait venir aux États-Unis il y a 7 ou 15 ans. Elle est très grande, a le visage grêlé par l'acné...

Bouche cousue

Alors, après la traque DSK, tous les médias se sont lancés sur la piste de la jeune femme. Une piste qui commence dans le Bronx. Le coeur de la communauté guinéenne se trouve sur la 3e avenue et la 166e rue, un quartier pauvre avec des garages, un petit restaurant qui propose des plats traditionnels, une épicerie, un boucher qui vend des chèvres et des moutons vivants... et une mosquée, le centre islamique Fouta, un petit bâtiment de briques avec deux gros rideaux de fer au rez-de-chaussée. En ce samedi, la salle de prière au premier étage, une grande pièce moquettée, est occupée par l'école coranique pour les enfants. » | Dimanche 22 Mai 2011

„DSK“ und Anne Sinclair: Szenen einer Ehe

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Anne Sinclair kämpft mit Format, Geld und Engelsgeduld um die Zukunft ihres Mannes Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Eine-Million-Dollar-Kaution hat sie gezahlt, damit ihr Gatte aus dem New Yorker Schwerverbrecherknast Rikers freikam.

Was für eine Frau! Er hatte ihr den Elysée-Palast versprochen – und jetzt muss sie ihn mit ihren Millionen vor dem Gefängnis retten. Anne Sinclair hat die Eine-Million-Dollar-Kaution gezahlt, ihre Luxusvilla im Washingtoner Stadtteil Georgetown als Hypothek freigegeben, damit Dominique Strauss-Kahn aus dem New Yorker Schwerverbrecherknast Rikers freikam. Sie hat eine Wohnung gemietet, in der er mit einer elektronischen Fessel am Fuß bleiben kann. Auch wenn erst einmal nichts daraus wurde. Wegen des Medienrummels waren die Nachbarn dagegen, sitzt Strauss-Kahn nun in einem Apartment in der Nähe von Ground Zero in Hausarrest. Anne Sinclair, die unschuldig in einen entehrenden Sexskandal gezogene Ehefrau, setzt ihr Vermögen aufs Spiel, damit die besten Anwälte ihren Mann vor Gericht verteidigen. „Die Beweislast gegen ihn ist umfangreich“, sagt der New Yorker Staatsanwalt. „Sie wächst jeden Tag weiter.“ „Dominique Strauss-Kahn kann sich glücklich schätzen, dass er eine Frau wie Anne Sinclair hat“, sagt Robert Badinter, der sozialistische Justizminister, der 1981 in Frankreich die Todesstrafe abschaffte.

Ohne zu wissen, was in der Suite 2806 des New Yorker Luxushotels Sofitel zur Mittagsstunde wirklich geschah, entschloss sich Anne Sinclair zu unbedingter Solidarität. Ihr Mann soll ein schwarzes Zimmermädchen vergewaltigt haben? „Ich glaube keine Sekunde lang den Anschuldigungen, die gegen meinen Mann erhoben werden“, schrieb sie in einem Kommuniqué. „Ich zweifle nicht daran, dass sich seine Schuldlosigkeit erweisen wird.“ » | Von Michaela Wiegel, Paris | Sonntag, 22. Mai 2011

Strauss-Kahn aus Haft entlassen

Le «purgatoire» d’Anne Sinclair

CYBERPRESSE.CA – BLOGUE – RICHARD HÉTU: Le New York Times publie aujourd’hui en première page un excellent papier sur le «purgatoire» que vit Anne Sinclair depuis l’arrestation de son mari, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Le quotidien raconte qu’elle était prête à mettre au service des ambitions présidentielles de DSK une partie de l’importante fortune dont elle a hérité de son grand-père maternel, Paul Rosenberg, marchand d’art et galeriste célèbre pour avoir représenté Picasso, Braque et Matisse, entre autres.

Selon les confidences d’un ami de Sinclair au journal Le Monde, l’ancienne journaliste voulait «prouver que, 75 ans après Léon Blum, les Français étaient capables d’élire un juif». Un autre ami, Alain Duhamel, confie cependant au Times que la femme de DSK appréhendait la campagne présidentielle et qu’elle et son mari considéraient leur religion comme «une question pratique pour la campagne» et non une quelconque grande cause. » | Richard Hétu | Samedi 21 Mai 2011

Culture Wars across the Atlantic

OTTAWA CITIZEN: While media fire shots over U.S. 'puritanism' and French 'perversion,' little thought is given to Dominique Strauss-Kahn's alleged victim, writes Keith Spicer

Manacled, unshaven, and dazzled by media lights, a grim and shaken Dominique Strauss-Kahn did the "perp walk" toward a Rikers Island jail cell. French observers called the stunning fall of the managing director of the International Monetary Fund a Greek tragedy. Most rushed to defend him as a respected national figure who had likely been headed to the French presidency.

Americans tended to judge "DSK" (as Strauss-Kahn is known in France) as a disgusting, violent sex criminal -already showcased as a "perpetrator" by New York police. These sharply differing views highlight again how wide the Atlantic really is in perceptions of justice, culture, rationality, media and class.

The scandal, most French feel, is about a U.S. justice system visually sabotaging the presumption of innocence. Sober top jurist Robert Badinter (a close friend of DSK) called the perp walk "a lynching, murder by media." In France, it's illegal to insinuate guilt by parading a handcuffed accused before news cameras.

French intellectuals, also pals of DSK, spluttered their fury at U.S. justice. All-purpose philosopher-opinionator Bernard-Henri Levy (as BHL, an acronym guy like DSK) assured that his renowned skirt-chasing friend was "not a Neanderthal." On the perp walk, BHL said: "Nothing in the world justifies throwing a man to the dogs like that."

English-speaking opinion-makers, however, saw DSK's humiliation as noble evidence that U.S. justice treats everybody - rich or poor, famous or obscure - exactly the same. Mistreats everybody the same might seem more apt. But in American minds, sticking to strict police procedures designed partly to prevent escapes is a normal precaution.

Why else do U.S. police routinely, and rather gleefully, choreograph the shaming of suspects? Because spiriting them in and out in blacked-out vans doesn't delight the police's key publics: picture-hungry media and crowd-pandering elected district attorneys. » | Keith Spicer | OTTAWA CITIZEN | Saturday, May 21, 2011