'The British Government Must Confront Russia Over Human Rights Abuses'

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: An influential British businessmen has accused David Cameron of going soft on Russia and of naively treating the Kremlin with kid gloves out of a misplaced fear of Moscow.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph on the eve of the Prime Minister's historic visit to Russia tomorrow, William Browder, the founder of UK-based Hermitage Capital Management, said the British government had shied away from tackling Russia on human rights issues and claimed that the Kremlin was laughing at Mr Cameron behind his back.

“The government needs to be realistic about dealing with Russia. But it doesn't seem to understand its major strength in dealing with Russian officials,” Mr Browder charged.

"If they think that making nice with the Russians will solve any problems, it won't. The Russians just laugh at anyone who is approaching them from a position of weakness."

Mr Cameron's visit is the first by a British leader since 2006, and the first since former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive tea in central London that same year. Ties between the two countries have been icy ever since and Mr Cameron is under huge pressure to forge a better working relationship with Moscow.

But rights activists, including Mr Browder – who has embraced human rights advocacy since Sergei Magnitsky, his tax lawyer, died an agonising death in a Moscow jail – are worried that the British government is getting it wrong.

In particular, Mr Browder, who used to be the biggest foreign portfolio investor in Russia and who has one billion dollars under management, said it was time that the UK slapped tough visa and financial sanctions on top Russian officials involved in a series of heinous crimes, including the death of Mr Magnitsky.

Mr Browder, a British citizen but American by birth, has used his personal fortune to try to get justice [for] his friend. » | Andrew Osborn, Moscow | Sunday, September 11, 2011

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan William[s] Set to Quit Next Year

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury is planning to resign next year, nearly a decade before he is due to step down, it can be revealed.

Dr Rowan Williams is understood to have told friends he is ready to quit the highest office in the Church of England to pursue a life in academia.

The news will trigger intense plotting behind the scenes over who should succeed the 61-year-old archbishop, who is not required to retire until he is 70.

Bishops have privately been arguing for Dr Williams to stand down, with the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, telling clergy he should give someone else a chance after nearly ten years in the post.

Lambeth Palace would not be drawn into confirming or denying whether the archbishop will be leaving next year.

A spokesman would only say: "We would never comment on this matter."

Sources close to the archbishop say he will leave after the Queen's Diamond Jubilee next June and having seen the Church finally pass legislation to allow women to become bishops.

It is understood that Trinity College, Cambridge, is preparing to create a professorship for Dr Williams, who studied theology and was a chaplain at the university. » | Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, September 10, 2011

Now that Dr. Rowan Williams is going, it is to be hoped that he will be replaced by a committed Christian in the traditional sense of the word. In my opinion, the most suitable person to replace him is Dr. Michael Nazir Ali. It is to be hoped that he will be chosen. I can think of no more suitable a candidate than him. With the pews in churches emptying more quickly than cinema seats after a bomb scare, the Church needs someone who is determined to bring people back into the fold, and determined to show those who are not Christians that the path to salvation is through Jesus Christ. Dr. Rowan Williams didn't do this; he didn't evangelize. As I understand Christianity, this is a must for any serious Christian, still more so for the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The West in general, and the UK in particular, is being challenged by Islam. Dr. Michael Nazir Ali is therefore the ideal candidate to replace Dr. Rowan Williams, since he was raised in Pakistan, in Karachi, by Christian parents, his father being a convert from Islam. This man is a committed Christian who understands Islam thoroughly. Given the challenges we face, he is the only sensible choice. – © Mark

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Terror-Warnung zum Jahrestag der 9/11-Anschläge
Im Vorfeld der Gedenkfeiern sorgen Hinweise auf mögliche Attentate für Unruhe. Präsident Obama hat die Verdoppelung von Antiterrormassnahmen angeordnet. In Bin Ladens Versteck seien Dokumente gefunden worden, die zeigen, dass zum Jahrestag Attentate geplant seien.

Erdogan Slams Obama for Silence on Israel's Gaza Flotilla Raid
HAARETZ: Turkish premier reiterates Ankara's intent to refer legality of Israel's blockade on Gaza to The Hague, saying the world will see 'who is standing alongside the victims'.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated on Saturday his country's intent to refer the legality of Israel's Gaza blockade to The Hague, adding a criticism of U.S. President Barack Obama's position regarding Israel's 2010 of a Turkish Gaza-bound flotilla.

Speaking a convention of businessmen in the central Turkish city of Kayseri broadcast live on Turkey's state news channel TRT Erdogan vowed to continue the legal struggle for justice for the nine people killed in the raid.

"We will carry this struggle to The Hague and Erdogan criticizes Obama," the Turkish premier said, criticizing Turkish opposition leaders for what he described as "acting as advocates for Israel."

Erdogan was also deeply critical of the United States position on the Mavi Marmara incident, pointing out that he had to point out to Obama how the attack had left nine Turks dead from wounds inflicted by 35 bullets mostly fired from close range, one of them an American passport holder. » | DPA and Haaretz | Saturday, September 10, 2011

9/11 Anniversary: Photographers Recall Day of Horror - Interactive Slideshow
Photographers who were in New York on 9/11 describe the carnage they witnessed and explain the visceral power of photographs to capture a moment. Their images – and those taken by members of the public fleeing the burning towers – show intimate glimpses of individual grief and shock in the devastated city
Look at the slideshow here

Bloomberg Defends Banning Religious Leaders & Rescue Workers From 9/11 Tribute

HT: Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit »

Secret Plan to Fly Michael Jackson to Bahrain If Found Guilty of Child Molestation Charges
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Michael Jackson's brother Jermaine has revealed a plan had been drawn up to secretly fly the King of Pop to Bahrain if he was found guilty of child molestation charges.

The 56-year-old said a private jet financed by a friend was on standby to whisk the pop star to the Persian Gulf state, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US, if Michael had been convicted at the end of his 2005 court case. » | Saturday, September 10, 2011

Obama Jobs Speech: Michelle Obama Unhappy? Dissatisfied?

HT: Always On Watch »

Terrorwarnung ohne Islamdebatte
Nach der Festnahme zweier Extremisten in Berlin entbrennt Streit in der Regierungskoalition
NZZ ONLINE: Nicht eine Islamdebatte, sondern weiteres Gezänk in der Regierungskoalition hat die Festnahme zweier islamistischer Terrorverdächtiger in Berlin ausgelöst.

Die deutsche Regierungschefin Merkel hat am Freitag den internationalen Terrorismus als die neue grosse Bedrohung für die gesamte Weltgemeinschaft bezeichnet. Um zu lernen, wie man dieser Bedrohung «abschliessend» begegnen könne, werde die Weltgemeinschaft noch viel zusammenarbeiten müssen. Die neu eingeführten Sicherheitsgesetze seien notwendig, auch wenn sie Einschnitte in die persönliche Freiheit mit sich brächten. Nur so könne ein freiheitliches Leben für die grosse Mehrheit gesichert werden. » | Ulrich Schmid, Berlin | Samstag 10. September 2011

Clashes on Streets of Cairo
Sept. 10 - Egyptian police and protestors clash after the building housing the Israeli embassy in Cairo was stormed. Paul Chapman reports.

REUTERS: Israeli envoy leaves after Cairo embassy attack: Israel flew its ambassador home on Saturday after Egyptians stormed the building housing the Israeli mission in Cairo, plunging Egypt's ruling army deeper into its toughest diplomatic crisis since taking over from Hosni Mubarak. » | Yasmine Saleh and Mohamed Abdellah | CAIRO | Saturday, September 10, 2011

YNET NEWS: Embassy riots: Israeli envoy leaves Egypt » | Attila Somfalvi | Friday, September 09, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Egypt on high alert after deadly attack on the Israeli embassy in Cairo: Egypt is on high alert after an attack by hundreds of protesters on the Israeli embassy in Cairo left three people dead and hundreds injured. » | Saturday, September 10, 2011

Watch The Daily Telegraph video here

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Tensions avec Israël: l'Egypte adopte l'état d'urgence: LE CAIRE | Après les violentes attaques de l'ambassade d'Israël au Caire, l'Egypte a adopté l'état d'urgence pour assurer la sécurité du pays. » | AFP | Samedi 10 Septembre 2011

Madame Butterfly - Maria Callas

The Joker That Is Blair! Tony Blair Proves God Has a Sense of Humour

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: His role on the banks of the Jordan as godfather to Rupert Murdoch's daughter Grace is just one of the things that make Tony Blair a great global comedy figure.

Another richly textured week in the crazy, crazy life of Mr Tony Blair draws to its close... and as so often when that ineradicable fungal infection in the national armpit flares up, the head is sent spinning by the man, his works and his genius for self-delusion.

It isn’t so much that you don’t know where to start with him, though I confess that on this occasion, beset by so much choice, it’s a struggle; more that you could go mad – droolingly, screechingly doolally – trying to fathom what goes on in his head.

Start somehow we must, and a brief chronological recap of recent Blairworld highlights seems as useful a launch pad as any. On Tuesday, we belatedly learnt of his attendance last year, on the banks of the Jordan, at the christening of god-daughter Grace, now nine-year-old girl child of Rupert and Wendi Murdoch. On Thursday, though only a Blair super-nerd will have noticed, it emerged that he has received a “peace award” – another one! – in Tel Aviv for his splendid if mysterious work sprinkling harmony across the Middle East. Yesterday, that cherished role as peacebringer firmly in mind, he informed us in an interview in The Times that war with Iran is the way ahead. » | Matthew Norman | Friday, September 09, 2011

Maria Callas - Tosca – Giacomo Puccini

Michael Bublé: Home Official Music Video

Interpol délivre un mandat d'arrêt contre Kadhafi, Saif Al-Islam et son beau-frère

LE MONDE: Interpol a diffusé, vendredi 9 septembre, une "notice rouge" pour demander à ses cent quatre-vingt-huit pays membres l'arrestation en vue de leur extradition ou de leur traduction devant un tribunal international du colonel Mouammar Kadhafi, de son fils Seif Al-Islam et de son beau-frère Abdallah Al-Senoussi, visés par un mandat d'arrêt international émis par la Cour pénale internationale.

Ce mandat "va restreindre significativement les possibilités pour ces trois hommes de franchir les frontières et sera un outil important pour aider à leur localisation et à leur capture", a estimé dans un communiqué Ronald K. Noble, le secrétaire général de l'organisation policière internationale, basée à Lyon. » | LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | Vendredi 09 Septembre 2011

Manchester Jihad Recruiter Jailed for Life

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A former Taliban fighter who ran a "recruitment centre" in Manchester for extremist Muslims to go to Afghanistan to kill British troops was today jailed for life.

Pakistani-born British citizen Munir Farooqi, 54, was at the centre of a plot to radicalise and persuade vulnerable young men to "fight, kill and die" in a jihad in Afghanistan, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Farooqi, of Victoria Terrace, Longsight, Manchester, and two others were captured in a police sting when two undercover anti-terrorism police officers infiltrated his group.

Farooqi bragged to the officers how he had fought with the Taliban and told them they could become "martyrs" for the jihad cause.

He also found "amusement" in the sight of the flag draped coffins of fallen allied troops returning from Afghanistan, the court heard.

Today Farooqi was given four life sentences and told he must serve a minimum of nine years before he can be considered for parole. » | Friday, September 09, 2011

Lacoste Asks Norway Police to Ban Anders Behring Breivik Wearing Their Clothes

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: French fashion brand Lacoste has asked Norwegian police to ban mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik from wearing their clothes during court appearances.

The killer insists on wearing a red Lacoste sweater with the distinctive crocodile logo on trips out of prison.

The 32-year-old gunman who killed 77 people on July 22 even wrote in his online manifesto that "refined people like him should wear brands like Lacoste".

But his choice of clothes has been described as a "nightmare" for the French company's exclusive image.

Norwegian daily Dagbladet said bosses had now written to Oslo police demanding 32-year-old Breivik be stopped from wearing their garments. Read on and comment » | Telegraph Foreign Staff | Thursday, September 08, 2011

9/11 Anniversary: US Terror Threat 'Initiated by New Al-Qaeda Chief Zawahiri'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: US intelligence officials said they had detected a potential terrorist plot timed to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.


Security is to be heightened in New York City and Washington, DC, after a "specific, credible but unconfirmed" threat was discovered, according to a statement issued by the Department of Homeland Security.

ABC News reported that officials believe the alleged plot was initiated by the new al-Qaeda chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who pledged to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden earlier this year.

Janice Fedarcyk, FBI Assistant Special Agent, said: "al Qaeda has shown an interest in important dates and anniversaries. In this instance it is accurate that there is credible, specific but unconfirmed information."

President Barack Obama was briefed on the information earlier on Thursday and requested that counterterrorism officials step up their response to the suspected threat, according to White House spokesmen.

It is understood that three people who recently entered the country, one of them a US citizen, are urgently being investigated by security officials over a potential plot to detonate vehicle bombs, possibly on bridges or tunnels. » | Jon Swaine, New York | Friday, September 09, 2011

9/11: How Osama bin Laden Caused Our Banking Meltdown and Financial Crisis

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: When historians look back on the financial and economic turbulence of our times, they will date it not from the start of the banking crisis in 2007, but to the bursting of the technology bubble at the turn of the century, or perhaps even earlier to the height of the Asian financial crisis in 1998.

The policies put in place to address these two events – first the dramatic accumulation of foreign exchange reserves by Asian economies to bolster themselves against future crises, and then the monetary easing applied by the Federal Reserve to deal with the aftermath of the dotcom boom – were to lead directly to today's banking meltdown and accompanying, rolling series of debt crises.

Yet these events were only the beginning. What really set the future in stone was the policy response to 9/11, the shocking series of terrorist attacks which have their 10th anniversary this weekend. Not in his wildest dreams could Osama bin Laden have imagined the long-term damage his atrocities would unleash on Western economies.

Before the horrendous events of 10 years ago, the Independent's Robert Fisk, one of the few Western journalists to have interviewed Bin Laden, had managed to elicit the following extraordinary claim from the world's most notorious terrorist – that he would turn America into "a shadow of itself" in much the same way as the insurgency he had helped ferment in Afghanistan had helped destroy the Soviet Union.

At the time, these claims seemed ludicrous – no more than the puffed-up, delusional conceit of the hunted and, frankly at that time, largely insignificant fugitive. Yet there is a sense in which Bin Laden did indeed manage to deliver on his promises.

With all major catastrophes, the long-term damage tends to be inflicted not by the event itself but by the response to it. America's reaction to 9/11 was to rush headlong into two, essentially unaffordable wars. What is more, to keep the economy going during the turbulence of these years, the US and its European counterparts unleashed what was to become perhaps the biggest credit bubble of all time. » | Jeremy Warner | Thursday, September 08, 2011

I have been saying for a very long time that Bin Laden couldn't have wished, dreamed of a better outcome for 9/11 than the one he has brought about. He wanted to bankrupt the USA, and he has done so, with just two planes flying into the Twin Towers.

The money that the USA has spent on security and fighting wars ever since has depleted their resources. Nobody will ever tell me that the 9/11 event and the financial crisis we now find ourselves in are unrelated. Anyone who thinks they are should take a closer look at the events that have unfolded since that fateful day.

Thank you, Mr. Warner, for bringing this to people's attention. – Mark

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Schweiz – Tagesschau: Flüchtling Gaddafi
Die Gerüchteküche brodelt, ob der Spekulationen über den Aufenthaltsort des früheren libyschen Machthabers Muammar Al-Gaddafi. Angeblich soll er sich nach Burkina Faso abgesetzt haben. Genauso gut könnte er sich aber immer noch in Libyen aufhalten.

Schweiz – Rundschau: Gepräch Micheline Calmy-Rey
Bundesrätin SP und Bundespräsidentin

Prince Charles Warns of 'Sixth Extinction Event'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mankind faces extinction, the Prince of Wales has warned, unless humans transform our lifestyles to stop mass consumption, run away climate change and destruction of wildlife.

In his first speech as the new President of the Worldwide Wildlife Fund (WWF) UK, Prince Charles suggested 'surviving ourselves' should be a priority.

Referring to himself as “an endangered species”, he warned that the world is already in the “sixth extinction event”, with species dying out at a much faster rate than at any time since the death of most of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

Despite campaigning for years on global warming, he said climate change was not the only problem but merely speeding up the “rapacious” destruction of natural resources like water, land and food that humans need to survive.

The Prince said if the world carries on “business as usual” then the human race itself could be in danger.

“We are, of course, witnessing what some people call the sixth great extinction event – the continued erosion of much of the Earth’s vital biodiversity caused by a whole host of pressures, from the rising demand for land to the corrosive effects of all kinds of pollution," he said. » | Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent | Thursday, September 08, 2011

What a joke! This man does himself no favours by uttering such nonsense. He just makes himself sound like a crackpot.

In any case, if he wants to save the planet – I'm not at all sure it ought to be saved! – then might I suggest that he, his family, and their entourages start saving and stop their conspicuous consumption? – Mark

My comment also appears here

Governor Christie Talks About Superior Court Judge Sohail Mohammed

WIKI: Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey »

The Side of Iran They Don’t Want You to Know About! Circumstance Trailer (HD)
Set in contemporary Iran in the unseen world of Iranian youth culture, filled with underground parties, sex, drugs and defiance, CIRCUMSTANCE is the story of two vivacious young girls -- wealthy Atafeh and orphaned Shireen -- discovering their burgeoning sexuality and, like 16 year-old girls anywhere, struggling with their desires and the boundaries placed upon them by the world they were born into.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Living and Loving Underground in Iran » | Larry Rohter | Friday, August 19, 2011

Muslims Against Crusades Plan Protest in 9/11 Minute’s Silence
METRO: Islamic extremists are planning to disrupt the minute’s silence for the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks outside the US Embassy in London.

Demonstrators from Muslims Against Crusades, whose website shows a graphic of a plane heading towards New York’s Twin Towers, say they will make as much noise as possible during the planned mark of respect for the dead.

The demonstration is an attempt to show that the US has lost the war on terror, said fundamentalist cleric Anjem Choudary.

He said Muslims Against Crusades would be joined by Shariah 4 America outside the embassy in Grosvenor Square on the tenth anniversary of the attacks. » | Fred Attewill | Sunday, September 04, 2011

Galliano Gets $8,400 Fine for Anti-Semitic Outburst
MONTREAL GAZETTE: PARIS - A French court handed out a 6,000 euro ($8,421 [Can]) suspended fine to John Galliano on Thursday after finding him guilty of anti-Semitic behaviour, marking the end in a fall from grace for the former head designer of fashion house Dior.

For Galliano, whose worth is estimated in the millions of dollars, the penalty — suspended for several years — avoids any financial burden and is unlikely to constrain his liberty.

The fine, in line with what a prosecutor had recommended in June, falls short of the maximum sentence in such cases of a 22,000 euro fine and 6-month prison sentence.

"Despite the triple addiction from which he was suffering, he was lucid enough to be conscious of his acts," said the tribunal president, Anne-Marie Sauteraud, reading out the court's decision.

The court explained its relatively lenient decision by referring to Galliano's lack of criminal convictions, his previous regard for respect and tolerance and the treatment for drug and alcohol addiction he has sought since his arrest. » | Nick Vinocur and Thierry Leveque, Reuters | Thursday, September 08, 2011

Col Muammar Gaddafi 'Sold 20 Per Cent of Libya's Gold' in Regime's Final Days
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Former Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi sold more than 20 per cent of Libya's gold reserves, worth more than $1 billion, in the final days of his regime, the country's central bank governor said on Thursday.

Qassem Azzoz said 1.7 billion dinars worth of gold, or around 29 tonnes, were sold to local merchants as the regime ran short of cash.

"The gold was liquidated in order to pay salaries and to have liquidity, in Tripoli in particular," Azzoz said.

According to central bank officials the gold likely made its way out of the country to neighbouring Tunisia and beyond.

Azzoz added that the bank's total assets now stand at around $115 billion, of which $90 billion is abroad.

Meanwhile, Gaddafi's loyalists fired at least 10 rockets from inside one of his last strongholds on Thursday, hours after a TV station aired an audio message believed to be from the ousted Libyan leader urging his fighters on. Read on and comment » | Thursday, September 08, 2011

There Was No Easter Message from Obama, Yet He Marks All Important Muslim Holidays
The most sacred of all Christian holidays, Barack Obama failed to send an Easter message to the American people.

Nor did they receive a message on Good Friday, a day that many Christians look upon as the most bittersweet of all the days on the Christian calendar.

But rest assured, Dear Leader found time during 2010 to release statements during the major Muslim holidays of Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hajj, and Eid-ul-Adha.

There was also an eight-paragraph press release celebrating Earth Day.

But in all fairness, Obama did release an Easter message last year. A message that figuratively scrubbed Jesus out of the historical moment he cited.

According to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 78.5% of Americans identify themselves as Christians, whereas only 0.6% identify themselves as Muslims.
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We find it particularly interesting that President Awesome stated at the National Prayer Breakfast this past February; "My Christian faith has been sustaining for me over the last couple of years and even more so when Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time."

Yeah... right.

We don't expect our president to be some kind of American Pope, but we do expect a modicum of fairness.

Oh... and it would be nice to knock off the blatant and purposeful insults and cold-shoulders to Christ and His Church.

Bloody Three-year Deadlock Remembered

'EU Super State Was Doomed to Failure'
Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider
speaks

Colonial Imperialism Is Back with a Bang

Audiobotschaft: Gaddafi dementiert Gerüchte über Flucht nach Niger
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Der gestürzte libysche Machthaber hat in einer weiteren Audiobotschaft Gerüchte dementiert, er sei nach Niger geflüchtet. Seinen Gegnern bleibe „nichts mehr als psychologischer Krieg und Lügen“, sagte Gaddafi.

Der langjährige libysche Machthaber Muammar el Gaddafi hat in einer neuen Audiobotschaft Gerüchte über seine Flucht nach Niger dementiert. Seinen Gegnern bleibe „nichts mehr als psychologischer Krieg und Lügen“, sagte Gaddafi am Donnerstag in der vom syrischen Fernsehsender Arrai übertragenen Botschaft.

Gaddafi sagte in der Audiobotschaft, die nach mehreren Tagen Schweigen kam, er sei überzeugt, dass die Nato besiegt werde. Er versicherte, dass die Angriffe gegen die „Ratten und Söldner“ verstärkt würden. Gerüchte über seine Flucht nach Niger dementierte er. Am Dienstag hatte der libysche Nationale Übergangsrat gemeldet, dass ein Konvoi die Grenze zum Niger überquert habe. Es habe sich um einen Konvoi gehandelt, wie ihn Gaddafi und seine Söhne benutzten, hieß es. Sowohl der Niger als auch die Vereinigten Staaten dementierten aber, dass sich Gaddafi oder einer seiner Söhne in dem Konvoi befunden habe. » | FAZ.NET mit AFP/dpa | Donnerstag 08. September 2011

THE GUARDIAN: Gaddafi issues defiant message from hiding: Deposed former Libyan leader vows never to leave the country and denies claims he is in neighbouring Niger » | Shiv Malik and Lizzy Davies | Thursday, September 08, 2011

E-petition Scheme Descends into Farce: MPs Can't Find Time for 'People Power' Debates
MAIL ONLINE: Downing Street’s e-petition plan to give the public the right to force Parliamentary debates on burning issues of the day was fast descending into a shambles last night.

When the scheme was launched earlier this year, people were given the impression that any petition gathering 100,000 signatures or more would automatically be discussed by MPs.

Two petitions – including one demanding the removal of benefits from thugs involved in last month’s riots – have already crossed the threshold.

But it has now emerged that a debate will take place only if, having gained 100,000 signatures, the subject is also suggested by an MP on the obscure Backbench Business Committee. » | James Slack | Wednesday, September 07, 2011

So much for British democracy! MPs, once elected into office, do just as they damn well like. They don’t care about the people, or what the people think. They are not in politics to help the people; they’re in politics to help themselves. – Mark

Am I Not Sweet? Gaddafi's Home Videos Uncovered
Previously unseen personal video footage of Colonel Gaddafi has emerged which shows the former Libyan dictator playing with his grandchildren in his Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli in 2005.
Watch video and read article here

Revolution in Iran 'a Matter of Time'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Revolution in Iran is only a matter of time, Leon Panetta, the new United States defence secretary, has said as he predicted an uprising similar to those sweeping the Middle East.

Mr Panetta said the Iranian reform movement was learning from revolts which have erupted across the Arab world this year.

Mr Panetta, who left the top job in the CIA to become defence secretary in July, said there was "absolutely" the chance that protests and demands for reform would reach Iran.

He said: "I think we saw in evidence of that in the last election in Iran that there was a movement within Iran that raised those very same concerns that we're seeing elsewhere," "And I think in many ways, it's a matter of time before that kind of change and reform and revolution occurs in Iran as well." Tehran crushed mass street protests in the wake of Iran's disputed June 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. » | Ben Farmer | Wednesday, September 07, 2011

German Far-right Party Allowed to Use 'Step on the Gas' Poster

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A German far-right party has been permitted to put up election posters in Berlin that said 'step on the gas' which some see as a provocative reminder of the Holocaust after a court dismissed a ban on their use.

Authorities in the left-leaning Berlin district of Kreuzberg had ordered the removal of the posters, one of which has as a slogan "Gas geben" (Step on It) or literally "give gas" in what some see as a reference to Nazi gas chambers.

Another provocative poster has a dark-skinned man, a woman with a headscarf and a man with what appears to be a turban sitting on a flying carpet with the slogan: "Have a good flight home."

But the administrative court in Berlin ruled the posters did not break German laws relating to the incitement to racial hatred or the publication of anti-constitutional material.

It could not be proven that the "gas" posters deliberately meant to raise associations with Nazi atrocities, the court added. » | Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Iran Executes Three Men on Homosexuality Charges
THE GUARDIAN: Convicts were sentenced to death 'for acts against the Sharia law and bad deeds'

Three Iranian men have been executed after being found guilty of charges related to homosexuality, according to a semi-official news agency.

The men, only identified by their initials, were hanged on Sunday in the south-western city of Ahvaz, the capital of Iran's Khuzestan province.

"The three convicts were sentenced to death based on the articles 108 and 110 of Iran's Islamic penal code, for acts against the sharia law and bad deeds," the Isna agency quoted a judiciary official in Khuzestan as saying.

Iran Human Rights, an independent NGO based in Norway, said the men were charged with "lavat" – sexual intercourse between two men. It is not clear whether the three men were homosexuals or merely smeared with homosexuality accused of being gay. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Canada: A Hindu Converts to Islam

ON ISLAM: A Young Canadian Hindu Reverts to Islam » | Reading Islam Staff | Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Inside Story – The Emir & the Colonel: Qatar's Rôle in Libya
Qatar's intervention in Libya may have helped cement its role as a world player, but has it been overly ambitious?
Watch the programme here

Latino Family Reflects On Conversion To Islam

KPBS: The Arancibia family home sits on a small hillside in rural Bonita in southern San Diego County. Laughter rings out around the house where Spanish and English comfortably co-exist in an ever-growing family of married children, grandchildren and friends.

Despite appearances, the Arancibia’s are not your typical California Latino family. They’re Chilean, not Mexican, having fled Chile shortly after the fall of Allende. And they’re Christian, but not Catholic.

What sets them apart even more is one son - 38 year old Diego, a project coordinator with After School Assistance Provider (ASAP) - who converted to Islam 13 years ago.

Islam is the fastest growing religion in the U.S., with domestic conversion fueling that growth. California Latinos make up the bulk of the domestic conversions.

For Diego Arancibia, the move toward Islam was an evolving process. Read on (+ audio) » | Rebecca Romani | Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Parents of Shafilea Ahmed Charged with Her Murder
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The parents of murdered teenager Shafilea Ahmed have been charged with killing her, Cheshire Police said on Wednesday.

The 17-year-old's decomposed remains were discovered in Cumbria in February 2004 after she disappeared from her home in Warrington, Cheshire, in September 2003. She was the victim of a suspected honour killing.

South Cumbria coroner Ian Smith later recorded a verdict of unlawful killing, saying he believed the teenager was probably murdered.

Cheshire Police said today the teenager's father, Iftikhar, 51, and mother Farzana, 48, have been charged with murder and will appear at Halton Magistrates' Court, in Runcorn, later today.

The couple have always denied any involvement in their daughter's death. » | Wednesday, September 07, 2011

MAIL ONLINE: Muslim parents of 'honour killing victim' schoolgirl, 17, charged with her murder EIGHT years after she vanished » | Emily Allen | Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Angst, Scharia und Geistesblüten: Geert Wilders rät den Deutschen

N-TV: Es ist die Stunde der Islamgegner. Der niederländische Rechtspopulist Wilders ist in Berlin und erklärt, was es auf sich hat mit Burkas, Unterdrückung und dem Licht der Wahrheit. Schließlich herrscht Wahlkampf in der Hauptstadt.

Der große Tag beginnt konspirativ, mit einer SMS am frühen Morgen: Geert Wilders, so heißt es dort, spreche an diesem Tag im Maritim-Hotel in Berlin. Wilders, die niederländische Ikone derRechtspopulisten, soll den Islam und Europa erklären – schließlich herrscht Wahlkampf in Berlin und die dümpelnde Partei "Die Freiheit" braucht, wie schon bei ihrer Gründung vor einem Jahr, dringend Schützenhilfe vom großen Bruder aus den Niederlanden.

Diese allerdings gestaltet sich nicht so leicht. Erst läuft der Ticketverkauf für die Wilders-Veranstaltung schleppend. Selbst die glühendsten Anhänger wollen kaum 100 Euro zahlen, zum Schluss werden die Eintrittskarten für 5 Euro verscherbelt und doch bleiben noch Stühle leer. Und auch mit der Geheimhaltung klappt es nicht ganz. Gegen Mittag drängen sich vor den Absperrungen der Polizei am Hotel nahe der ägyptischen Botschaft Dutzende Gegendemonstranten. Revolutionsfahnen schwenkend, skandieren sie: "Willkommen in Berlin, der Hauptstadt der Angst". » | von Gudula Hörr | Sonntag 04. September 2011

Angela Merkel: "Euro ist mehr als nur eine Währung"
Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel bekennt sich zur Europäischen Union, Deutschlands Zukunft sei untrennbar mit Europa verbunden. Der Euro sei ein Garant eines einigen Europas, scheitere er, scheitere Europa. Deshalb dürfe er nicht scheitern und werde nicht scheitern.
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Islamistes et laïcs se toisent à Benghazi
LE FIGARO: REPORTAGE - Le nouveau paysage politique libyen, à peine émergent, est fortement imprégné par les mouvements à orientation religieuse.

Ismaïl Salabi est un bon prêcheur. Le sourire facile, les yeux dorés qui pétillent, ce jeune costaud barbu de 34 ans en chemisette rayée assure avoir les larmes aux yeux quand il évoque en chaire les beautés de la religion. Mais en ce moment, il se consacre à la guerre. Posant un instant sa kalachnikov, Ismaïl Salabi se présente comme chef des opérations du Groupe des martyrs du 17 février, fort de 3000 hommes, l'une des principales unités du front de l'Est. Le supérieur direct d'Ismaïl Salabi, Fawzi Boukatif, commande également le Bataillon de la révolution, une unité plus importante dont le Groupe des martyrs est l'une des branches. » | Par Pierre Prier | Mardi 06 Septembre 2011

France: Manifestation contre «l’islamisation» en Moselle
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: LORRAINE | A Forbach, près de Metz, au nord-est de la France la "Nouvelle droite populaire" organise une manifestation "anti-islam" en dépit d’une interdiction réclamée par plusieurs organisations de gauche.

Une manifestation "anti-islam" de la "Nouvelle droite populaire" (NDP) pourra se dérouler dimanche à 20 heures à Forbach (Moselle) en dépit d’une interdiction réclamée par plusieurs organisations de gauche, a-t-on indiqué mercredi de source préfectorale à Metz.

Prenant prétexte de la victoire d’une coalition européenne - à laquelle participait le duc de Lorraine - contre les Turcs le 11 septembre 1683 à Vienne, la NDP a appelé à manifester contre "l’islamisation de la Lorraine et de l’Europe", le jour du 10è anniversaire des attentats du 11 septembre 2001 aux Etats-Unis. » | ATS | Mercredi 07 Septembre 2011

Calmy-Rey zum Zeitpunkt des Rücktritts
Micheline Calmy-Rey tritt per Ende Jahr aus dem Bundesrat zurück. An einer Medienkonferenz in Bern informiert sie zu ihren Beweggründen und zieht Bilanz über ihre Amtszeit.

SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Calmy-Rey tritt nicht zur Wiederwahl an » | sf/sda/godc/buet | Mittwoch 07. September 2011

Deutschlands EU-Hilfe rechtens
Das Bundesverfassungsgericht von Deutschland hat eine Klage gegen den EU-Rettungsschirm und die Griechenlandhilfe abgewiesen. Gleichzeitig verlangt sie für den Bundestag aber mehr Beteiligungsrechte bei Finanzfragen.