Libya: Tony Blair and Col Gaddafi's Secret Meetings

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: New questions over Tony Blair's ties to Col Muammar Gaddafi and his role in the release of the Lockerbie bomber have emerged from documents discovered in Tripoli.

The letters and emails, found by The Sunday Telegraph, show Mr Blair held secret talks with Gaddafi in the months before Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was freed from a British jail.

He was flown to Libya twice at Gaddafi's expense on one of the former dictator's private jets - visiting the him in June 2008 and April 2009, when Libya was threatening to cut all business links if Megrahi stayed in a British jail.

The disclosure of the meetings – of which Mr Blair makes no mention on his various websites – prompted calls by relatives of Lockerbie victims for Mr Blair to make public all his dealings with Gaddafi and his regime. Mr Blair even brought an American billionaire to one of the meetings. Sources say the financier was asked by Gaddafi for help in building beach resorts on the Libyan coast.

In the correspondence, Mr Blair's private office refers to Gaddafi deferentially as "The Leader". Pam Dix, whose brother died in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie on Dec 21 1988, said yesterday: "The idea of Gaddafi paying for Mr Blair's visit is deeply offensive.

"These new meetings between Mr Blair and Gaddafi are disturbing, and details of what was discussed should now be made public. I am astonished Tony Blair continued to have meetings like this out of office." » | Colin Freeman, in Tripoli and Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter | Saturday, September 17, 2011

Is the EDL the New Voice of the White Working Class?
TELEGRAPH BLOGS – DAMIAN THOMPSON: There’s a YouTube video doing the rounds which “anti-fascist” campaigners against the English Defence League don’t want you to see. It features a couple of young middle-class supporters of Unite Against Fascism sniggering as one of them describes a “horrible tattooed woman” at a demo being punched in the face “before someone kicks her up the arse”. In the words of Telegraph blogger Brendan O’Neill, these well-bred kids admit that it’s not normally OK to hit women, “but you can make an exception when it comes to female EDL supporters because they aren’t women – they’re dogs”.

You might think there’s nothing new in this. The street battles between the Anti-Nazi League and the National Front in the 1970s pitted white middle-class students against white working-class thugs: in both cases there was a sense that the ethnic minorities they were fighting over were almost irrelevant. Actually, the similarities are misleading. The EDL isn’t the National Front or even the British National Party. It’s not a fascist party, more of an angry white rentamob. And the racism is different, too: not so much about colour, more about culture.

But here’s the worrying thing. The EDL and its sympathisers appear, at first glance, to be more representative of a section of the English working class – especially in London – than the old “far Right” ever was. » | Damian Thompson | Friday, September 16, 2011

The EDL strikes a chord with the white working class precisely because nobody in the ruling élite stands up for this country's indigenous values. If the parliamentarians were to stand up for British, Christian values, there would be no need for a group like the EDL, and they'd wither on the vine, so to speak.

It used to be so that the aristocrats of this country stood up for Britain too. But those days have gone, it seems. Now, they are too busy making money out of cheap labour provided by the mass immigration which has taken place in recent times, mass immigration which no electors gave them permission to bring about, by opening the floodgates.

Immigration can, to a certain extent, be a good thing for any country. But it must be controlled, and it must also be in proportion to the size of the country and its indigenous population. If immigration is allowed to get out of control, the culture of the indigenous population is liable to be swamped by the values and culture of those immigrating into the country. And when this occurs, the people become scared. The working class become particularly scared because they do not have the wealth and resources to insulate themselves from what is happening around them.

In this case, they are able to see that whole neighbourhoods are becoming Islamised and ghettoised. The ruling élite can afford to live in expensive areas and thereby isolate themselves from the ill effects of the laws they have passed. Poorer people cannot do this.

If the emergence of the EDL is obnoxious to us, then it behoves us to do something to stem the tide of immigrants (legal and illegal), and to reverse the clear Islamisation of this country. Muslims in this country need to be told in no uncertain terms that they are welcome here only if they abide by the laws of the land. They should also be told that there is a leading culture, a guiding culture, aLeitkultur here.

Then, and only then, can we hope to do something meaningful about this growth in thuggery (on both the side of the EDL and the Anti-Fascist League).

Might I also suggest that for our part, we start to sharpen up our act. For when I look around me, all I see is a culture which is degenerating before my eyes. If we want these immigrants to integrate, and we certainly should do, then we must give them something worthwhile to integrate into. – © Mark

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The 10 Craziest Michele Bachmann Quotes
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Divine Mission – USA
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Israël incapable d'empêcher la démarche des Palestiniens à l'ONU
LE POINT: Mahmoud Abbas est déterminé à présenter une demande d'adhésion d'un État de Palestine au Conseil de sécurité.

Un ministre israélien a reconnu samedi qu'Israël ne pouvait pas empêcher la demande d'adhésion d'un État palestinien à l'ONU, jugeant toutefois possible une relance des négociations de paix. "Malheureusement, Israël n'a pas les moyens d'empêcher que les Palestiniens demandent l'adhésion de leur État à l'ONU et il est impossible de les arrêter", a déclaré à la radio publique israélienne le ministre sans portefeuille Yossi Peled, du parti Likoud (droite). » | Source AFP | Samedi 17 Septembre 2011

Der vergessene Aufstand in Bahrain
Radikalisierter Widerstand nach Niederschlagung der Opposition

NZZ ONLINE: Der Aufstand in Bahrain droht in Vergessenheit zu geraten. Die einst geeinte Opposition ist gespalten. Das Regime versucht mit Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, die internationale Meinung zu beeinflussen. Ein Ende der schwelenden Krise ist nicht absehbar.

Acht Monate nach dem Ausbruch der politischen und sozialen Unruhen in Bahrain haben sich die unterschiedlichen Interpretationen der Krise gefestigt. Mitglieder der Königsfamilie, Chefbeamte sowie ein beachtlicher Teil der sunnitischen Bevölkerungsminderheit behaupten, Bahrain vor einer Machtübernahme der Schiiten, die Iran in die Hände gespielt hätte, bewahrt zu haben. Sie nehmen Bezug auf die Toten und Verletzten unter den Sicherheitskräften und asiatischen Arbeitsmigranten und betonen, die Krise müsse mit harter Hand beendet werden. Der im Juli abgehaltene Nationale Dialog habe eine Mehrheit der Bevölkerung zufriedengestellt. Von der Regierung beauftragte PR-Firmen in Washington und anderen Hauptstädten sind damit beschäftigt, diese Version der Ereignisse international zu verbreiten. » | Toby Matthiesen | Samstag 17. September 2011

New Dark Age Alert! Tarek Fatah Talk at Ideacity 2011

Watch live streaming video from ideacity at livestream.com

WIKI: Tarek Fatah »

Les Syriens poursuivent leurs manifestations, le gouvernement, la répression
LE MONDE: Une nouvelle fois, les Syriens sont descendus par milliers dans les rues, à travers le pays, pour souligner leur détermination à protester jusqu'à la chute du président Bachar Al-Assad, six mois après le début de leur révolte. En face, les forces de l'ordre persistaient à réprimer la contestation, faisant encore vingt et un morts.

Sept civils ont péri à Hama (centre), deux à Homs (centre), trois à Idleb (nord-ouest), quatre dans la banlieue de Damas et cinq dans la région de Deraa (sud), selon l'Observatoire syrien des droits de l'homme (OSDH). Ils sont morts soit en manifestant, soit lors des opérations de ratissage et de perquisitions, sous les balles des troupes syriennes, ajoute l'organisme. L'ONG a en outre fait état de la découverte de 15 cadavres dans plusieurs villes, la plupart des personnes ayant péri ces dernières vingt-quatre heures dans des opérations de sécurité.

Selon l'ONU, plus de 2 600 personnes sont mortes dans la répression, en grande majorité des civils. Plus de 15 000 personnes sont actuellement détenues et des milliers d'autres portées disparues. » | LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | Vendredi 16 Septembre 2011

Tunesien vor der Wahl: Der nette Islamist von nebenan

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Tunesien steht vor den ersten freien Wahlen - wahrscheinlich siegt die Islamistenpartei Nahda. Ihre Mitglieder wurden während der Diktatur brutal verfolgt, heute hat die Partei Geld, gibt es für Soziales und Bildung aus. Trotzdem fürchten viele im Land eine religiöse Wende nach rechts.

Er strahlt, er scherzt, er hat heute noch viel vor: "Gleich gehe ich mit meinen beiden Söhnen einkaufen, neue Hemden und Hosen für das Eid-Fest zum Ende des Ramadan", sagt Abderrahim Khelifi in der Lobby des Afrika-Hotels in Tunis.

Draußen schieben sich Tausende durch das Herz der tunesischen Hauptstadt: Beim arabischen Pendant zu den Weihnachtseinkäufen wird gedrängelt und gefeilscht, den Kindern gehen die Augen über, den Eltern geht es ans Portemonnaie. Vor allem aber liegt diese besondere Feiertagsstimmung in der Luft, die Khelifi mit in die düstere Hotellobby gebracht hat. "Das wird das beste Fastenbrechen, das wir jemals hatten", freut sich der 52-Jährige.

Was für eine Verwandlung: Vor acht Monaten war Khelifi ein gebrochener Mann. Da hatte er sich vor den Straßenschlachten, die auf dem zentralen Burghiba-Boulevard zwischen Demonstranten und Polizei tobten, in ein Reisebüro geflüchtet. Hager wirkte er und müde, stockend erzählte er seine Lebensgeschichte: Wie die Herrschaft von Zine al-Abidine Ben Alis alle seine Träume zerstörte. Wie er, der Wirtschaftswissenschaftler, nicht mal mehr als Grundschullehrer arbeiten durfte. Wie er gezwungen war, sein Leben lang nur Hilfsarbeiten auf dem Bau zu erledigen. Davon, wie er als in der Wolle gefärbter Anhänger der islamistischen "Nahda"-Partei Jahre lang im Gefängnis saß, wie er gefoltert wurde - und wie schwer all das für seine Frau war. » | Aus Tunis berichtet Ulrike Putz | Samstag 17. September 2011

Gay Marriage ‘to Be Made Legal in Britain by 2015’
MAIL ONLINE: The coalition is to push ahead with plans for gay marriage following the personal intervention of David Cameron.

Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone will today unveil plans to legislate to bring in gay marriage before 2015.

The Equalities Minister will also announce that Britain should be a ‘world leader for gay rights’.

Vowing to be a personal ‘champion for gay rights’, Miss Featherstone will risk controversy by arguing that the Coalition should go even further in future.

At present, gays and lesbians are allowed to enter civil partnerships, which offer most of the legal protections of marriage. But the term ‘marriage’ is not used.

Miss Featherstone will announce that a consultation will begin next March on allowing homosexuals to get married. A change in the law will follow the consultation.

Under the plans, same-sex couples will be able to have full marriages in registry offices, as heterosexual couples can.

But they will still be barred from getting married in churches and other religious buildings – even though some denominations want to offer the services. Coalition sources said ministers are determined to enact the change before the next election. » | Daniel Martin and Tim Shipman | Saturday, September 17, 2011

Egypt Rewards Violence, Paves the Way for More
HUDSON NEW YORK: The ruling military dictatorship in Egypt should not be allowed to avoid responsibility for the assault on the Israeli embassy in Cairo last week.

Failure to take severe steps against the assailants will only encourage the rioters and enemies of peace. Today it is the Israeli embassy. Tomorrow it could be the embassy of the US or Denmark or any other country.

This is a case where the writing was on the wall.

A few days before the mob stormed the embassy, the Egyptian authorities honored a young man for climbing more than 20 floors to remove the Israeli flag from the offices of the Israeli embassy.

According to a report in Egypt's Al Masry Al Youm newspaper, Sharqiya Governor Azazy Ali Azazy, honored the man who climbed the building that houses the embassy and tore down the Israeli flag.

Ahmed al-Shahat, 23, affectionately nicknamed "Flagman," was awarded a flat and a job for his "courageous" deed.

"I wish I were in his place to enjoy that honor," the governor said, referring to the young man. » | Khaled Abu Toameh | Friday, September 16, 2011

Islamic Sharia Law Court Opens in Belgium
HUDSON NEW YORK: An Islamic Sharia law court has been established in Antwerp, the second-largest city in Belgium.

The Sharia court is the initiative of a radical Muslim group called Sharia4Belgium. Leaders of the group say the purpose of the court is to create a parallel Islamic legal system in Belgium in order to challenge the state's authority as enforcer of the civil law protections guaranteed by the Belgian constitution.

The Sharia court, which is located in Antwerp's Borgerhout district, is "mediating" family law disputes for Muslim immigrants in Belgium.

The self-appointed Muslim judges running the court are applying Islamic law, rather than the secular Belgian Family Law system, to resolve disputes involving questions of marriage and divorce, child custody and child support, as well as all inheritance-related matters.

Unlike Belgian civil law, Islamic Sharia law does not guarantee equal rights for men and women; critics of the Sharia court say it will undermine the rights of Muslim women in marriage and education. » | Soeren Kern | Thursday, September 15, 2011

State Bill Introduced to Ban Shari’a-Islamic, Other Forms of Foreign Law
CENTRAL MICHIGAN LIFE: A state lawmaker’s proposed bill that would ban the use of foreign laws in the Michigan court system is an example of Islamophobia, said one Central Michigan University professor.

Shari’a, a set of religious guidelines for Muslims that include aspects of their personal life, family relationships and religious practices, would be prohibited from being recognized in courts according to a bill proposed by State Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville.

Courts consult Shari’a law just as they have often consulted Jewish law, called Halakha, said Hugh Talat Halman, assistant professor of philosophy and religion.

The bill does not say anything specifically about Shari’a-Islamic law, but it would be prohibited in Michigan courts if the law were passed, along with Jewish law and any other form foreign law.

“The bill is against foreign law that goes against constitutional, federal and state laws,” Agema said. “It’s very simple and it does not go against one particular group or another.” » | Jordan Spence | Friday, September 16, 2011

Wulff dankt Türken für Beitrag zum Wohlstand

BERLINER ZEITUNG: München/Berlin - Bundespräsident Christian Wulff hat den Türken in Deutschland für ihren Beitrag zum deutschen Wohlstand gedankt. «Einwanderer aus der Türkei haben Deutschland vielfältiger, offener und der Welt zugewandter gemacht», sagte Wulff in einem Interview der «Süddeutschen Zeitung».

Er sehe in einem weiteren Ausbau der deutsch-türkischen Beziehungen «ein großes Potenzial» für beide Länder.

Wulff würdigte auch die Rolle der Türkei als Vorbild für die Umbruchstaaten in der arabischen Welt. Die Türkei sei «ein Beispiel dafür, dass Islam und Demokratie, Islam und Rechtsstaat, Islam und Pluralismus kein Widerspruch sein müssen». Dies sei von «überragender Bedeutung für den Frieden in der Welt». Am Montag wird Wulff in Berlin den türkischen Staatspräsidenten Abdullah Gül empfangen. Wulff will während des dreitägigen Staatsbesuchs seinem Gast auch seine Geburtsstadt Osnabrück zeigen, wo ein Platz nach einer türkischen Zuwandererfamilie benannt wurde. » | © dpa | Samstag 17. September 201

German Police Baffled by Case of English-speaking Boy with No Identity
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Detectives in Germany are trying to identify an English-speaking teenager who claims to have been living wild in a forest for the past five years.

The 17-year-old, who turned up at Berlin’s city hall, said he had been walking for two weeks but had no idea who he was or where he was from.

He told officers that he and his father moved to the forest about five years ago following the death of his mother and had lived off the land since, sleeping in a tent and remote huts.

He said his father had also died recently and that he had buried him in a shallow grave before setting off to find help.

Detectives said the teenager, who gave his name as Ray, spoke a little German, but his first language appeared to be English.

He was able to tell officers his name and his date of birth, but claimed not to remember either of his parents’ names or anything of his life before he entered the forest.

Despite being dishevelled, he was described as being fit and healthy and showing no signs of malnourishment or abuse. » | Stuart Braun in Berlin and Martin Evans | Friday, September 16, 2011

BILD: Junge lebte fünf Jahre im Wald: Berlin – Er stand auf einmal in einer Berliner Polizeiwache. Mit einem Zelt, einem Schlaf- und einem Rucksack – und gibt seitdem den Behörden Rätsel auf: Der Junge aus dem Wald. 16 bis 18 Jahre alt, englischsprachig, keine Ausweispapiere. » | ali | Freitag 16. September 2011

Former Saudi Wahhabi Radical Takes on the Koran

Euro Crisis: The Bond that Unites Europe Is at Breaking Point

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Disaster across the eurozone has all but destroyed the common purpose at the heart of European union. [sic]

Already jittery because of the financial crisis, members of the European Parliament spilt their coffee when the Polish finance minister, Jacek Rostowski, addressed them this week. “If the eurozone breaks up, the European Union will not be able to survive,” he said, as MEPs bleakly contemplated their vanished expense accounts and sandwiches instead of long lunches in Brussels and Strasbourg.

But there was much worse to follow. Dr Rostowski, a British- born economist, former Tory party member, and Solidarity activist, told them about a chance meeting with an old friend at an airport.

As they discussed the eurozone crisis, the friend warned there would be “war in the next 10 years”. Rostowski added with a final flourish, “War! Ladies and gentlemen, those are the terms he used,” as the massed MEPs mentally translated wojna into guerre and Krieg.

It was not supposed to end like this, for the European project has always had more than economic goals, as Rostowski confirmed when he said that “Europe’s great achievement is political peace. But it is not eternal”. As a Pole, he knows. » | Michael Burleigh | Thursday, September 15, 2011

I concur with Dr. Rostowski. War will inevitably follow if the EU breaks up. It won't be this year, or next year. But in the not-too-distant future, war will be the inevitable outcome. The people who are against the EU are myopic, and lack any understanding of history. Yes, there is much wrong with the EU; but yes, too, there is much right with it. What is wrong with it can be changed. Let us not throw the baby out with the bathwater! – © Mark

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New York Smokers Down to Record Low
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The number of smokers in New York has hit an all-time low, city health officials said on Thursday.

Only 14 out of 100 adults still light up, a 35 per cent decrease from 2002 figures, the Health Department said. The decrease amounts to 450,000 fewer adult smokers, with teens registering steep declines.

"Smoking is the leading cause of preventable, premature death in New York City and the nation today and we&£8217; re proud that a record number of New Yorkers are saving their own lives by quitting," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement. » | Friday, September 16, 2011

All sounds good and sensible. But is it? It begs the following question: What are they doing for kicks and pleasure instead? Bringing the smoking rate down to record levels is good only when people are not substituting their smoking habit with something else more injurious to their health. One can only wonder what is happening to the rates of drug and alcohol abuse. Smoking has become the bête noire of our age. But there are far more harmful things to one's health than a few puffs on a cigarette. As one-track minded as Bloomberg is – he has a real bee in his bonnet with regards to smoking, being a reformed smoker himself – I wonder if he has looked into the downside of his persecution of smokers? – Mark

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Joanna Lumley Targeted in Facebook Campaign against Gurkha 'Influx'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Actress Joanna Lumley has become the target of a Facebook hate campaign for her role in attracting a "massive influx" of Gurkhas to the country.

The Ab Fab star successfully campaigned for the heroic soldiers and their families to be given a right to settle in the UK.

But the Gurkhas and their families now make up 10 per cent of the population in Aldershot, Hants, and residents say services are struggling to cope.

Over 2,300 people have joined Facebook pages called "Joanna Lumley has F**ked up Aldershot and Farnborough" and "Lumley's Legacy".

Anti-Gurkha messages have also been graffitied across the area.

Sam Phillips, who founded both groups, said he was not racist and had "great appreciation" for the sacrifices the Gurkhas made for "our country".

The 35-year-old HGV driver, from Aldershot, added: "Joanna Lumley was happy to use her face to get publicity for her cause, now we are using her name to show the result.

"Our problem is not with the Gurkhas it is with the government. » | Friday, September 16, 2011

Des centaines de musulmans bravent l'interdiction de prier dans la rue

LE POINT: Pour la prière du vendredi, des musulmans ont prié à Paris, en banlieue, ainsi qu'à Nice.

En dépit de l'interdiction du ministre de l'Intérieur d'organiser des prières de rue, ils étaient des centaines de musulmans à braver les consignes vendredi. À Paris, quelques 200 fidèles priaient dans l'après-midi dans une rue du quartier parisien de la Goutte-d'Or [EN]. Environ 200 fidèles s'étaient installés peu après 14 heures sur les trottoirs et la chaussée de la rue Polonceau (18e arrondissement). À Gennevilliers (Hauts-de-Seine), ville qui dispose d'une nouvelle mosquée, 200 autres personnes de confession musulmane ont prié dans l'après-midi dans une rue de la zone portuaire, à l'appel d'une association qui s'oppose à la destruction prévue de leur ancienne mosquée située à quelques mètres.

Enfin, à Nice, une centaine de fidèles ont prié sur un trottoir attenant à la mosquée du centre-ville de Nice. Le ministère de l'Intérieur s'est dit déterminé à faire respecter dès ce vendredi l'interdiction de prier dans les rues en France, notamment à Paris et Marseille où de nouveaux lieux de culte ont été ouverts pour les fidèles musulmans. » | Source AFP | Vendredi 16 Septembre 2011

Jackie Kennedy Talks of Her Love for JFK in Audio Tapes
The former First Lady describes how supportive her husband was in the face of criticism of her as a 'liability'.

WIKI: Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy »
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Roman Polanski to Collect Festival Honour in Zurich

BBC: Director Roman Polanski is to collect a career honour at the Zurich Film Festival, two years after his arrest in the city on child sex charges.

Organisers say the 78-year-old will attend the gala to receive his award which he was set to pick up in 2009.

Swiss police arrested Polanski on his arrival in the country over his 1977 US conviction for having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

He was held for 10 months before Swiss courts decided not to extradite him.

The tribute ceremony to present Polanski with his lifetime achievement award is due to be held on 27 September.

Directors of the Zurich Film Festival, Karl Spoerri and Nadja Schildknecht, said: "We are especially proud to welcome Roman Polanski this year to receive his award.

"We have always been tremendous admirers of his work and we are delighted that we will soon be able to express this to him in person," they added.

The Zurich Film Festival is taking place from 22 September to 2 October. » | Friday, September 16, 2011

Texas : un condamné à mort obtient un sursis in extremis

LE FIGARO: La Cour suprême a suspendu à la dernière minute l'exécution de Duane Buck, condamné en 1995 pour double meurtre mais dont le procès avait été entaché de considérations sur sa couleur de peau.

Jusqu'au bout, l'État du Texas aura refusé d'épargner Duane Buck. En 1995, cet homme noir aujourd'hui âgé de 48 ans avait été condamné à la peine capitale pour le meurtre de son ex-petite amie et d'un ami de celle-ci. L'injection létale devait avoir lieu jeudi soir. Mais considérant que son procès avait été entaché de considérations raciales, la Cour suprême des États-Unis lui a accordé in extremis un sursis.

La plus haute juridiction du pays n'a pas indiqué la durée de ce sursis. L'avocate du condamné, Kate Black, s'est néanmoins dite «très heureuse que la Cour suprême ait reconnu l'injustice raciale dans cette affaire». «Nous sommes persuadés que la Cour sera d'accord pour dire que notre client a le droit à une audience juste qui ne soit pas entachée de considérations raciales», a-t-elle ajouté. L'ancien ministre de la Justice du Texas, le sénateur John Cornyn, avait admis précédemment «l'introduction déplacée de (questions) raciales lors de l'audience de condamnation de M. Buck», en l'occurence le témoignage d'un psychologue qui, interrogé par l'accusation, avait déclaré que les Noirs avaient davantage de risques d'être récidivistes. » | Par lefigaro.fr | Vendredi 16 Septembre 2011

Converts Must Die: Imam to Swedish Radio
THE LOCAL: Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR) has been reported for hate speech after featuring a programme in which a Somali imam called for all converts from Islam to be killed.

The programme in question was a panel discussion and was broadcast live by SR International's Somali service.

The police report was filed by Erik Johansson, at the Swedish Evangelical Mission (Evangeliska Fosterlands-Stiftelsen - EFS), after friends told him of the imam's words underlining every Muslim's responsibility to kill anyone who leaves Islam.

"I received a call from my Somali friends who had heard the programme. I don't speak the language myself and when they explained to me, I concluded that this wasn't a message which should be on an SR channel," Erik Johansson told The Local on Thursday. » | Peter Vinthagen Simpson | Thursday, September 15, 2011

Wilhelm Tell: Held oder Mörder?
Diese Frage hat sich eine neue Ausstellung im Neuenburger Museum für Kunst und Geschichte gestellt. Die Ausstellung führt zurück an den Ursprung der Tell-Legende.

WIKI: William Tell »

WIKI: Albrecht Gessler »

Needy Germans Irritated JFK, Tapes Reveal'He Got Awfully Fed Up with Adenauer and All that Berlin'
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: This week's release of interviews with former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy has revealed a new side of the demure fashion icon. Among the unsparing criticism of her husband's political contemporaries were also a few comments about the Germans, who were apparently the source of great aggravation.

She said Martin Luther King was "phony," called former French President Charles de Gaulle an "egomaniac" and had harsh words for her husband's successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. In a new book that unveils private interviews for the first time with former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, unpleasant opinions about a number of political figures are revealed´-- and the Germans aren't spared, either.

Released this week, "Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life With John F. Kennedy" documents previously unheard conversations with the grieving widow in the spring and summer of 1964. Recorded in her Washington home by historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., they offer an intimate glimpse into the personal and political lives of the Kennedy family during their three years in the White House.

With a frankness uncharacteristic of her discreet public persona, Mrs. Kennedy offered up humorous -- though sometimes prickly -- descriptions and private reflections, which can also be heard on audio discs that come with the book or are provided digitally with the e-book. Among her unflattering comments about other world leaders -- such as the "kind of pushy, horrible" future Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi -- she also revealed that her husband had often been exasperated by relations with Germany. » | kla | Thursday, September 15, 2011

Gaza: Neue Freiheiten
Nächste Woche will Palästina die UNO-Mitgliedschaft beantragen. Verändert dieses Ziel auch die Politik der Hamas gegenüber den Frauen im Gaza-Streifen? Bisher waren unter der radikal islamischen Regierung Sport, Spiel und Kultur für Frauen tabu. Dass nun - ermutigt durch die arabische Revolution - plötzlich Frauen surfen, malen und tanzen, zeigt einen Kulturwandel, der bei traditionelleren Schichten nicht immer auf Anklang stösst.

"Unterhosenbomber" ruft vor US-Gericht zum Jihad auf

DIE PRESSE: Der Nigerianer Abdulmutallab wollte ein US-Flugzeug sprengen. Im Prozess gab er sich ungehalten. "Osama ist am Leben", schrie er im Gerichtssaal.

Bei seiner Anhörung vor einem Gericht in Detroit hat der Nigerianer Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, der zu Weihnachten 2009 ein US-Passagierflugzeug in die Luft sprengen wollte, den Tod von Al-Kaida-Chef Osama Bin Laden abgestritten. "Osama ist am Leben", rief der 24-Jährige laut örtlichen Medienberichten am Mittwoch (Ortszeit) im Gerichtssaal. Richterin Nancy Edmunds wies den Angaben zufolge indes mehrere Anträge des Angeklagten zurück, mit denen er eine Verschiebung des für Mitte Oktober vorgesehenen Prozessbeginns erreichen wollte. » | APA | Donnerstag 15. September 2011

Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron 'Colonising Libya'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Libyan visit of David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy marked the start of the "colonisation" of the oil-rich country, Col Gaddafi's spokesman Moussa Ibrahim has warned.

The British prime minister and French president, whose forces spearheaded the Nato air war that helped to topple Gaddafi, were hailed as heroes during their visit on Thursday to Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi.

But Ibrahim, in a telephone call to the Syria-based Arrai late on Thursday, charged that their joint mission had ulterior motives.

"The visit marks the start of a project of colonisation of Libya," he said.

"They are hurrying to collect the fruits of the fall of Tripoli ... because they obviously fear the arrival of America and other countries wanting a slice of the cake," he said, without disclosing where he was phoning from.

Gaddafi and members of his inner circle have been in hiding since Tripoli was overrun by National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters late last month, with the fugitive strongman still believed to be in Libya even though members of his family have fled to Algeria and Niger. » | Friday, September 16, 2011

Neil Kinnock's Daughter-in-law Becomes Denmark's First Female PM
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Lord Kinnock's daughter-in-law Helle Thorning-Schmidt is to become Denmark’s first woman prime minister after winning a knife-edge victory in the country’s general election.

As the first votes came in on Thursday night, her centre-left coalition, which was the strong favourite to win, at one point fell behind the government, but pulled ahead by the end of the night to win 89 of the country’s seats next to the 86 seats won by the coalition led by Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

Addressing victorious Social Democratic Party members last night, Ms Thorning-Schidmt, 44, said: “Today is the day things change in Denmark. This evening we’ve shown that the Social Democrats are a big and driving force in Denmark. We’ve written history today.”


Ms Thorning-Schidmt’s victory brings the Danish left back to power after ten years in opposition, and is likely to mean Denmark will be less hostile to moves towards closer economic co-ordination within the European Union. » | Richard Orange in Malmö | Friday, September 16, 2011

Netherlands to Ban the Burka
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Holland is to become the latest European country to ban the burka, despite the fact that fewer than 100 Dutch women are thought to wear the face-covering Islamic dress.

The Dutch government will agree to introduce a ban on Friday making the Netherlands the third country in Europe to prohibit the burka, behind France and Belgium.

Women caught wearing a burka in public, on the streets, public transport and in schools or hospitals will be fined £330.

There will be exemptions for mosques, or other religious buildings and for foreign women travelling through the transit lounges of international Dutch airports. » | Bruno Waterfield | Thursday, September 15, 2011

Pat Condell: In Superstition We Trust

Praying in Paris Streets Outlawed
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Praying in the streets of Paris is against the law starting Friday, after the interior minister warned that police will use force if Muslims, and those of any other faith, disobey the new rule to keep the French capital's public spaces secular.

Claude Guéant said that ban could later be extended to the rest ofFrance, in particular to the Mediterranean cities of Nice and Marseilles, where "the problem persists".

He promised the new legislation would be followed to the letter as it "hurts the sensitivities of many of our fellow citizens".

"My vigilance will be unflinching for the law to be applied. Praying in the street is not dignified for religious practice and violates the principles of secularism, the minister told Le Figaro newspaper.

"All Muslim leaders are in agreement," he insisted.

In December when Marine Le Pen, then leader-in-waiting of the far-Right National Front, sparked outrage by likening the practice to the Nazi occupation of Paris in the Second World War "without the tanks or soldiers". She said it was a "political act of fundamentalists". » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Thursday, September 15, 2011

Libya: David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy Receive Rapturous Reception in Benghazi
David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy received a rapturous reception as the pair flew into Benghazi, the birthplace of the Libyan resistance.

Read article here
TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – CON COUGHLIN: The Libyan conflict is far from over for David Cameron » | Con Coughlin | Thursday, September 15, 2011

Saudi Owner of Savoy Hotel to Be Interviewed over Rape Claims

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Saudi prince owner of London's Savoy Hotel and one of the richest men in the world is to be interviewed by investigators over accusations he raped a 20-year-old model on a luxury yacht in the Mediterranean three years ago.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, 56, who has an estimated fortune of $19.4 billion (£12.3 billion), making him the 26th richest man in the world according to Forbes, and is the nephew of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, could also be called before an investigating judge on the Balearic island of Ibiza and asked to give a DNA sample as part of the investigation.

The alleged victim, a woman identified only as Soraya, claims she was lured onto the superyacht Turama – a 384ft vessel available for charter at around 90,000 euros (£78,000) a day – after her drink was spiked in the VIP zone of a well-known nightclub on the island.

But Prince Alwaleed, the second largest investor in Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, denies the assault or even having visiting Ibiza in the last decade.

The prince, who bought the Savoy in 2005 for £250m and was linked to a £100m bid for Everton Football Club earlier this year, could have been mistakenly identified as the perpetrator of the assault after someone impersonated him, his spokesman claimed.

The victim, who was 20 years-old at the time, claims that she woke up during a sexual assault on the boat by a man she claimed was the Saudi prince. Forensic tests turned up traces of semen and the sedative nordazepam was found in her urine.

An investigating magistrate halted an investigation into the allegations last year on grounds of insufficient evidence. But on appeal the higher, provincial court in Palma on the island of Majorca instructed the judge to reopen the case and question the prince. » | Fiona Govan, Madrid | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Republicans Win New York Congress Seat
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Republican businessman Bob Turner has won a US Congress seat in a Democrat stronghold, dealing a major blow to President Barack Obama.

NY1 television reported that Mr Turner had defeated Democratic state and city legislator Dave Weprin in the election to fill the seat vacated by Anthony Weiner, who stepped down earlier this year following an online sex scandal.

NY1 said Mr Turner has won 53 per cent of votes compared to Mr Weprin's 47 per cent with three quarters of the ballots counted, guaranteeing the Republicans their first victory in the Queens and Brooklyn district since 1923.

Republicans had portrayed the race as a referendum on Mr Obama as he gears up for the 2012 White House race weakened by the sluggish economic recovery and weighed down by nine percent unemployment.

"This is an historical race. We have been asked by the people of this district to send a message to Washington, and I hope they hear it loud and clear," Mr Turner said in a televised victory speech.

"We are ready to say: 'Mister President, we are on the wrong track.'" » | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: US elections: Barack Obama's re-election prospects hit by historic loss of 'safe' New York seat: President Barack Obama's re-election prospects were dealt a double blow yesterday when Democrats lost a congressional seat they had held since 1923 and new figures showed American poverty at its highest level for 18 years. » | Toby Harnden, Washington | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Dirigeants politiques inquiets: «L’Europe est en danger»
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: CRISE DE LA DETTE | Devant l'assemblée plénière du Parlement européen à Strasbourg, les responsables de l’UE n'ont pu cacher leurs vives inquiétudes sur l'avenir communautaire.

Le président de la Commission européenne, José Manuel Barroso, s’est montré lui aussi préoccupé. «Nous sommes confrontés au défi le plus grave de cette génération, c’est une lutte pour l’avenir politique de l’Europe.

Les responsables de l’UE se sont inquiétés mercredi du risque de voir le projet européen tout entier échouer si la crise de la dette en zone euro ne peut être réglée, alors que les craintes de faillite de la Grèce se sont nettement accrues.

«L’Europe est en danger», a déclaré ministre polonais des Finances Jacek Rostowski, dont le pays assure la présidence tournante de l’UE, devant l’assemblée plénière du Parlement européen à Strasbourg.

«Si la zone euro se fissure, l’Union européenne ne sera pas capable de survivre, avec toutes les conséquences que l’on peut imaginer», a-t-il ajouté, évoquant même le risque éventuel d’une nouvelle «guerre» en Europe à long terme en cas d’échec du projet européen.

Le président de la Commission européenne, José Manuel Barroso, s’est montré lui aussi préoccupé. «Nous sommes confrontés au défi le plus grave de cette génération, c’est une lutte pour l’avenir politique de l’Europe, pour l’intégration européenne en tant que telle», a-t-il dit devant le Parlement. » | ATS / AFP | Mercredi 14 Septembre 2011

THE INDEPENDENT: Call for more European federalism: The economic crisis has turned into a "fight for European integration", the president of the European Commission warned today. ¶ Jose Manuel Barroso insisted that the answer to the growing threat to the euro was a more, and not less, integrated European Union. » | Geoff Meade | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Denmark Election Tipped to Oust Rightwing Government
THE GUARDIAN: Helle Thorning-Schmidt expected to lead centre-left coalition into power and become country's first female prime minister

Ten years of rightwing rule that have turned Denmark into the most closed country in Europe for immigrants looks likely to end this week, with a Social Democrat tipped to become the Danes' first female prime minister.

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the daughter-in-law of Neil and Glenys Kinnock, looks likely to head a new centre-left coalition, replacing the Liberal leader, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, whose minority government has been propped up for the past decade by the far-right anti-immigrant and europhobic Danish People's party (DPP).

The Social Democrats are struggling in the opinion polls and may lose votes and seats in the 179-seat parliament in Copenhagen, but her four-party "red" coalition is expected to nudge ahead of the coalescing liberals and conservatives. The latest polls before Thursday's general election give the centre-left a margin of victory of between three and 10 seats. » | Ian Traynor, Europe editor, and Lars Eriksen in Copenhagen | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Lord Kinnock's son subject of sexuality rumours: The daughter-in-law of Lord Kinnock was forced to deny that her husband was homosexual yesterday as she faced a torrid end to her campaign to become prime minister of Denmark. » | Victoria Ward, Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Thursday, September 15, 2011

Col Gaddafi 'in Libya and Readying Forces'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Muammar Gaddafi is still in Libya and in good spirits, with a powerful army behind him, the ousted leader's spokesman has claimed.

"The leader is in good health, in high morale ... of course he is in Libya," Moussa Ibrahim told Reuters via a crackling satellite telephone line.

"The fight is as far away from the end as the world can imagine. We are still very powerful, our army is still powerful ... we have huge areas of Libya under our control," he said. "We are gathering our forces."

Ibrahim declined to say where he himself was. » | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Al Qaeda hails 9/11 attacks
Sept 13 - Al Qaeda releases a video purportedly voiced by leader Ayman al-Zawahri to mark the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. Lindsey Parietti reports.

Libye : le nouveau pouvoir pour un islam "modéré"

LE POINT: Le président du CNT Moustapha Abdeljalil a affirmé que la législation libyenne se baserait sur la Charia, comme sous Kadhafi.

Le chef des autorités de transition, Moustapha Abdeljalil, a affirmé que l'islam serait la principale source de législation dans la nouvelle Libye, mais a rejeté toute "idéologie extrémiste". Parallèlement Amnesty International a accusé dans un rapport publié mardi l'ancien régime de Muammar Kadhafi de crimes contre l'humanité, tout en pointant aussi du doigt des abus commis par des combattants proches du Conseil national de transition (CNT), qui pourraient constituer des crimes de guerre.

Sur le terrain, aucune offensive d'envergure n'a eu lieu sur les principales villes aux mains des pro-Kadhafi - Bani Walid (170 km au sud-est de Tripoli), Syrte (360 km à l'est de Tripoli) et Sebha (centre) - qui ont montré ces derniers jours leur capacité à résister et même à contre-attaquer. Dans son premier discours public à Tripoli, Moustapha Abdeljalil a affirmé lundi soir que l'islam serait "la principale source de la législation" de la nouvelle Libye. "Nous n'accepterons aucune idéologie extrémiste de droite ou de gauche. Nous sommes un peuple musulman à l'islam modéré et nous allons rester sur cette voie", a néanmoins précisé le chef des nouvelles autorités, arrivé samedi pour sa première visite à Tripoli depuis le début de la révolte en février. » | Source AFP | Mardi 13 Septembre 2011

Migrants Are Having Big Families to Claim Benefits, Says Asian Baroness

MAIL ONLINE: ‘Nobody likes to accept that, nobody likes to talk about it because it is supposed to be very politically incorrect’

Some Asian families in Britain are having too many children in order to claim extra welfare payments, Britain’s first female Asian peer claimed last night.

Baroness Flather accused the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities of failing to adopt the values of British society and said they should have their benefits slashed.

Lady Flather, a former Tory who now sits as a crossbencher, said this abuse of the welfare system has been brushed under the carpet out of political correctness.

She spoke out in the House of Lords during the second reading of the Welfare Reform Bill.

Lady Flather, a former barrister who was born in the Pakistani city of Lahore when it was part of India, praised the Indian community in the UK for having taken on ‘the pattern’ of families in their adopted country, by limiting the size of their families.

But she took aim at the Pakistani community, saying uneducated immigrants are still following the traditions of their homeland by having more children because they end up getting a ‘bigger house’. » | Tim Shipman | Wednesday, September 14, 2011

President Barack Obama Attacks European Leaders Over Debt Crisis

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama has criticised European leaders for failing to tackle the debt crisis and has demanded "more effective, co-ordinated" fiscal policy.

Reflecting the anger of Americans who are blaming Europe for the current economic turmoil, the President called for eurozone leaders to show global markets they are taking responsibility for the crisis.

Mr Obama told Spanish journalists: "The leaders in Europe must meet and take a decision on how to co-ordinate monetary integration with more effective, co-ordinated fiscal policy."

Tim Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary, is set to take the unusual step of attending a European Finance Ministers meeting on Friday.

Analysts at JP Morgan said there was "a growing sense that the crisis is reaching a climax", arguing that the "endgame on EMU [European Monetary Union] is approaching fast".

Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, added that along with Greece, "something big needs to happen for European bank capital, the clarity and determination of ECB policy making and, most importantly, where Germany wants to lead EMU". » | Louise Armitstead, and Harry Wilson | Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Obama has got his nerve! What the hell has he done to tackle the US's debt crisis? The man is a joke. – Mark

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Turkish PM Erdogan Pushes Palestinian Statehood

BBC: Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that recognition of a Palestinian state is an obligation not an option.

He told the Arab League that before the year's end "we will see Palestine in a very different situation".

Mr Erdogan made a new attack on Israel, saying its government's mentality was a barrier to peace in the Middle East.

The Palestinians are currently preparing a bid for United Nations membership despite Israeli and US opposition.

Mr Erdogan is in Egypt as part of a tour of three Arab states that recently ousted their leaders, in an attempt to improve Turkey's standing in the region.

Turkey's relations with Israel have worsened since Israeli forces boarded an aid ship in May last year as it was heading for Gaza.

Nine Turkish activists were killed during the raid. Israel has refused to apologise and said its troops acted in self-defence. » | Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Half of North Korea's Army 'Starving'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: As much as half of North Korea's army is starving as food shortages that were previously affecting only the civilian population worsen and begin to affect institutions tasked with protecting Kim Jong-Il's regime.

Disaffected North Koreans working secretly as journalists within the country for the Japan-based Asiapress International news agency have smuggled out video footage of interviews with soldiers in different parts of the isolated country, with many complaining of malnutrition.

Asked how many of the men in his unit are experiencing malnutrition, one young conscript said it is as high as 50 per cent in the spring.

"And it will get worse after a while," another soldier said. "After the potatoes are harvested, we only have seven small potatoes for one meal."

The soldier indicated that each potato is only the size of his thumb. Continue reading and comment » | Julian Ryall in Tokyo | Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Let's Rebuild the West's Moral Authority
THE AUSTRALIAN: TWO things have haunted me since 9/11. The first is the pain, the grief, the lives lost and families devastated, the sheer barbaric ingenuity of evil. The scar in our humanity is still unhealed.

The second is our failure to understand what Osama bin Laden was saying about the West. We did not hear the message then. I'm not sure we hear it now.

After the shock and grief subsided, two theories began to be heard. Firstly, this was an event of epoch-changing magnitude. The terms of international politics had been transformed. The Cold War was over. Another war had begun. The enemy was not the Soviet Union and communism. It was radical, political Islam.

The second was the opposite: 9/11 was terrifying and terrible but it changed nothing because acts of terror never do. The most important thing is not to overreact. Terror may bring dividends in local conflicts but it never succeeds in its larger political aims.

There is something to be said for both theories. But there is a third: why did al-Qa'ida attack the US? Because it believed it could. Because it thought the US was past its prime, no longer as lean and hungry as it believed it was.

Robert McNamara said the first rule in politics is to understand your enemy's psychology. As I struggled to understand 9/11 I began to suspect the answer lay in the events of 1989. That is when the narratives of the West and the rest began seriously to diverge.

In the West, 1989 was seen as the collapse of communism, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the implosion of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The Western narrative was triumphalist. It saw those events as heralding the victory of its values without a shot being fired. The free market and liberal democratic politics had won for the simplest of reasons. They delivered, while communism did not. They would now spread across the world. It was, said Francis Fukuyama, the beginning of the end of history. » | Jonathan Sacks* | THE TIMES | Monday, September 12, 2011

*Lord Sacks is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth.

Amnesty wirft Gaddafi-Gegnern Folter und Mord vor
DIE PRESSE: Die Organisation fordert den libyschen Übergangsrat auf, Menschenrechts-verletzungen der Kämpfer zu stoppen.

Amnesty International hat die neue libysche Führung aufgerufen, Menschenrechtsverletzungen ihrer Anhänger im Kampf gegen den langjährigen Diktator Muammar al-Gaddafi zu stoppen. In einem am Dienstag veröffentlichten Bericht zur Lage in Libyen erhebt die Menschenrechtsorganisation schwere Vorwürfe: Kämpfer und Anhänger des Nationalen Übergangsrats hätten frühere Gaddafi-Kämpfer, vermeintliche Verbündete sowie Ausländer, die sie fälschlicherweise für Söldner hielten, "entführt, willkürlich gefangen gehalten, gefoltert und getötet". » | Ag. | Dienstag 13. September 2011