Kate Backs Wills Despite Argentine Death Threats
DAILY EXPRESS: THE Duchess of Cambridge was last night fully backing her husband William’s deployment to the Falkland Islands despite sick death threats.

As Argentina accused Britain of acting “aggressively and provocatively” by sending the Prince to the islands, websites in the South American country were inundated with threats to William.

Some vile posts even called for the Duke to be killed in revenge for Argentinian deaths during the Falklands conflict nearly 30 years ago. » | Mark Reynolds | Saturday, November 12, 2011

The Folk Memory that Makes Germany Reluctant to Act over the Euro

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A fear that inflation leads to nationalist extremism lingers in Berlin – but European unity will not die if the Germans allow the euro to fail, argues Daniel Johnson.

A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of German domination. As the Heath Robinson structures of the European Union buckle under the weight of their own contradictions, the question on everybody’s lips concerns the Germans. What will they do about the eurozone crisis? Will they try to save the dream of a federal Europe – or let it go up in a puff of smoke?

In the old days, what gave European statesmen nightmares was known as “the German Question”: once it was united by Bismarck, Germany was too big and powerful to be balanced by the other Continental powers. After starting two world wars, the division of Germany was seen as the price of peace in Europe. At the time, the French writer François Mauriac observed with heavy-handed irony: “I love Germany so much that I am glad there are two of them.”

Today the German Question has returned in a new form. Silvio Berlusconi, like other fallen European leaders from Bertie Ahern to George Papandreou, could be forgiven for blaming the Germans for his defenestration. These days it is the call from the Berlin Chancellery, rather than the White House or the Kremlin, that Europe’s weaker brethren dread.

I recall vividly an occasion in 1991, soon after the putsch against Margaret Thatcher, when she presided over a small dinner of sympathetic young intellectuals. I congratulated the former prime minister on her resolute stand in the Cold War, alongside Ronald Reagan, which had done so much to bring down the Berlin Wall. The Iron Lady’s face darkened. In her most imperious tone, she expostulated: “Are you saying that I am responsible for that?”

German reunification was – and is – her deepest regret. She welcomed the liberation of Eastern Europe from communism, but she feared European monetary union, or what her lieutenant Nicholas Ridley called “a German racket designed to take over the whole of Europe”.

Ironically, the Germans themselves have played to the gallery by suggesting that the alternative to the single currency may be war. “If the euro fails, Europe fails,” Chancellor Merkel told the Bundestag last week. “We have an historical obligation to protect by all means Europe’s unification process, begun by our forefathers after centuries of hatred and bloodshed.”

Angela Merkel is by no means alone in resorting to such hyperbole. Astonishingly, the doctrine that only European unification can prevent an atavistic return to the horrors of “nationalism” (for which read Nazism) has long been and remains the received wisdom in German political circles. » | Daniel Johnson | Thursday, November 10, 2011

It's not the Germans that worry me, it's the British with their xenophobic, anti-European, anti-EU, anti-euro rhetoric! From the articles and the comments on this newspaper, anyone would be forgiven for thinking that the Germans were our enemies! – © Mark

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Niger Grants Asylum to Saadi Gaddafi

THE GUARDIAN: Son of Muammar Gaddafi is being treated as refugee in Niger, confirms President Mahamadou Issoufou

Muammar Gaddafi's son Saadi has been granted asylum in Niger on humanitarian grounds, the country's president confirmed on Friday.

Mahamadou Issoufou insisted he knew nothing of the whereabouts of another of the slain Libyan leader's sons, Saif al-Islam, who is wanted by the international criminal court (ICC).

"We have agreed on granting asylum to Saadi Gaddafi for humanitarian reasons," Issoufou said during a visit to Pretoria in South Africa.

Saadi, 38, and other Libyans who fled with him into Niger were being treated as refugees, he added. "But we have told them very clearly they cannot engage in political or subversive activities." » | David Smith in Pretoria | Friday, November 11, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Niger grants asylum to Saadi Gaddafi: Niger has risked the wrath of the new authorities in neighbouring Libya by granting asylum to Col Muammar Gaddafi's third son in defiance of an Interpol request for his extradition. ¶ Saadi Gaddafi, a bisexual playboy, was granted asylum on "humanitarian" grounds, the Niger president said, adding it was unlikely he would ever be extradited back to his home country. ¶ Saadi, who crossed into Niger in the last weeks of his father's regime, has been under house arrest in a state guest house in the capital, Niamey. » | Aislinn Lang, Pretoria | Friday, November 11, 2011

Human Rights Watch Calls for Syria to Face War Crimes

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Syrian security forces fired on anti-government protests on Friday, killing at least five people as Human Rights Watch accused the regime of crimes against humanity.

Mass protests after Friday afternoon prayers, followed by swift and deadly crackdowns by security forces, have become a weekly cycle throughout Syria's eight-month-old uprising. The U.N. estimates some 3,500 people have been killed in the crackdown since mid-March, when the uprising began.

But in recent weeks, the violence has spiked dramatically amid increasing signs that some protesters are taking up arms to protect themselves. There also have been reports of intense battles between soldiers and army defectors, setting the stage for even more bloodshed.

The unrest in Syria could balloon into a regional disaster. Damascus' web of allegiances extends to Lebanon's powerful Hizbollah movement and Iran's Shiite theocracy. And although Syria sees Israel as the enemy, the countries have held up a fragile truce for years.

On Friday, Human Rights Watch said Syrian forces have tortured and killed civilians in the rebellious province of Homs in an assault that indicates crimes against humanity. The group urged the Arab League to suspend Syria's membership during an emergency meeting on Saturday. » | Friday, November 11, 2011

170 Members of English Defence League Arrested Near Cenotaph in London
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: More than 170 members of the right-wing English Defence League (EDL) have been arrested near an Armistice Day ceremony in central London amid fears they were trying to target anti-capitalists camped in the city.


Scotland Yard said the group were detained "to prevent a breach of the peace" at a pub near the Cenotaph in Whitehall.

A police source said it was believed the group were heading towards the anti-capitalist "Occupy" protest camp outside St Paul's Cathedral, set up last month after being inspired by the "Occupy Wall Street" movement.

"170+ supporters of EDL were arrested this p.m. to prevent a breach of the peace," the Met Police said on its Twitter website. "No reported disorder between opposing groups at this stage."

Last year, members of the EDL, which stages protests against violent Islamism, clashed with police during a fracas at a Remembrance Day ceremony.

The trouble erupted then when members of the radical Muslims Against Crusades (MAC) group burned two large poppies outside the Royal Albert Hall in London during a two-minute silence. » | Friday, November 11, 2011

Bahrain Opposition Says Leader's House Tear-gassed
THE INDEPENDENT: Bahrain's largest opposition group says security forces have fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the house of its top leader during attempts to disperse anti-government protesters.

Al Wefaq said in a statement today that riot troops fired on the house of the group's leader, Ali Salman, during security sweeps last night in mostly Shiite villages around the capital, Manama. » | AP | Friday, November 11, 2011

France Plots Eurozone 'Breakaway Group’
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: France is drawing up plans to create a breakaway organisation of eurozone countries with its own treaty, parliament and headquarters – a move that could significantly undermine the existing European Union.

The proposal would see a formal "union within a union" created, but would lead to a significant deterioration in Britain's influence in Europe.

David Cameron is drawing up urgent plans to stop Britain being "railroaded" into agreeing to decisions taken by the new eurozone bloc.

France and Germany are understood to want to strengthen the union between eurozone countries with new taxes and legal measures to stop nations borrowing and spending too much in future.

Weaker countries such as Greece could even be barred from the new eurozone, under radical suggestions from some of those involved in discussions over the plan.

It comes amid growing concerns that France could be the next nation to become embroiled in the single currency crisis. » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Thursday, November 10, 2011

Britain Falls Silent to Remember War Dead
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Millions of Britons have held a two-minute silence to remember the nation's war dead.


The tribute started at 11am, the time the guns on the Western Front fell silent at the end of the First World War in 1918.

Ceremonies nationwide commemorated fallen servicemen and women from both World Wars and later conflicts, including the 385 British personnel who have died since operations began in Afghanistan in 2001.

The silence was particularly poignant for those at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan, who are mourning the loss of the latest soldier to die on active service. » | Friday, November 11, 2011 (11. 11.11.11)

Yémen: 5 morts et des dizaines de blessés par des tirs d’artillerie
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: GUERRE CIVILE | Les forces fidèles au président Ali Abdallah Saleh ont tué cinq personnes et blessé une dizaines d’autres vendredi matin à l’artillerie sur la ville de Taëz.

Les forces fidèles au président Ali Abdallah Saleh ont tiré vendredi matin à l’artillerie sur la ville de Taëz (sud-est), deuxième ville du Yémen, tuant cinq personnes et en blessant des dizaines d’autres, a-t-on appris de source médicale.

"Les bombardements ont fait cinq morts ce matin (vendredi), tous des civils, et des dizaines de blessés qui ont été transportés à l’hôpital", a précisé cette source. » | AFP | vendredi 11 novembre 2011

Angela Merkel veut plus de fédéralisme au sein de l'UE

LE FIGARO: Le parti de la chancelière planche sur une modification des règles de fonctionnement de l'Union européenne.

La crise de la dette dans la zone euro a propulsé l'avenir des institutions européennes au cœur du débat politique outre-Rhin. À l'approche de son congrès annuel, où sont fixées les grandes orientations, la CDU, le parti conservateur de la chancelière allemande, se recompose autour des questions européennes. Alors qu'Angela Merkel affiche de plus en plus ouvertement sa volonté de prendre en main le destin de l'Union, les différents courants du parti se déchirent autour d'un projet de résolution pour le congrès prévu les 14 et 15 novembre à Leipzig.

La chancelière a abandonné son habituelle prudence depuis quelques semaines et rode son discours sur ¬l'Europe. Mercredi, Angela Merkel a ainsi affirmé qu'il était grand temps que l'Union européenne modifie ses règles de fonctionnement. Adoptant l'un de ses tons les plus dramatiques en deux ans de crise de la zone euro, elle a jugé «mauvaise» la situation actuelle en Europe et estimé que l'UE ne survivrait pas si elle ne prouvait pas au monde qu'elle pouvait surmonter la crise de la dette souveraine. » | Par Patrick Saint-Paul, correspondant du Figaro à Berlin | Le Figaro | jeudi 10 novembre 2011

Europe’s Hit Squad
THE SPECTATOR: If you thought the EU couldn’t get any less democratic, meet the Frankfurt Group

The Old Opera House in Frankfurt — once Germany’s most beautiful postwar ruin and now its most stunning recreation — has become a symbol of European rebirth. And it was here, last month, that Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy met the EU’s bureaucratic elite in what would, in another era, be described as a putsch. They had grown tired of eurozone summits, with leaders flying here and there but getting nowhere. A smaller group needed to be formed, who would wield power firmly but informally. That evening, as they gathered to hear Claudio Abbado conduct the Mozart Orchestra of Bologna, a new EU hit squad was born.

As Silvio Berlusconi has now found out, this so-called Frankfurt Group means business. Only a few months ago, it would have been unthinkable that the head of one European government would try to destabilise or depose another. Now, two EU leaders have fallen in a week. As Sarkozy knows from recent experience, to enforce regime change one need only give a helping hand to the rebels.
The group cannot be accused of being secretive. At the G20 summit in Cannes, its officials walked around with lapel badges saying ‘Groupe de Francfort (GdF)’ and met four times. Britain was not included but the Foreign Office’s officials spoke as if they were in on the act. As one official put it: ‘We’re on our way to moving out Berlusconi.’

Such a statement may once have been seen as outrageous, but by last weekend it was undeniable that an operation to remove Berlusconi had begun. When Merkel and Sarkozy were asked if they had confidence in him, they rolled their eyes and gave each other wry smiles. The European Central Bank, which is also part of the Frankfurt Group, gave only minimal support to Italy — leaving the bond markets to do their worst to Berlusconi. The International Monetary Fund, whose new leader was also at the Opera house that night, made it clear that it would be sending its auditors to Rome on a regular basis to inspect the books. All this combined to send an unmistakable Old Europe message: we have ways of making you quit.

When that night in Frankfurt’s Alte Oper on 19 October was booked, no one was intending to form a new hit squad. The plan was to have just an ordinary taxpayer-funded extravaganza, a shindig to mark Jean-Claude Trichet’s retirement from the European Central Bank. Helmut Schmidt, the 92-year-old former chancellor of Germany who is now seen as a godfather of the European project, told the assembled dignitaries that ‘a crisis in the ability to act of the EU’s political bodies’ was ‘a much bigger danger for the future of Europe than over-indebtedness’. It was time to get tough. Read on and comment » | Fraser Nelson | Saturday, November 12, 2011

THE SPECTATOR: The new German Question: The Eurocrisis has put Germany in a twofold position that it abhors. » | Daniel Korski | Thursday, November 10, 2011

Fidel Castro's Niece in Twitter Row with Cuban Dissident Yoani Sánchez

THE GUARDIAN: Mariela Castro – daughter of president Raúl – calls dissidents 'despicable parasites' hours after joining Twitter

Within hours of signing up to Twitter, the daughter of the Cuban president, Raúl Castro, has got into the online equivalent of a shouting match with a prominent dissident blogger, Yoani Sánchez.

Mariela Castro called Sánchez and her supporters "despicable parasites" in a brief exchange that may have been the first direct confrontation, verbal or otherwise, between dissidents and a member of the Castro family after years of mutual animosity.

Sánchez, who regularly criticises the lack of freedoms in communist Cuba in her Generation Y blog, touched off the dispute by sending tweets that welcomed Mariela Castro to the "plurality of Twitter" where "no one can shut me up, deny me permission to travel or block entrance".

"When will we Cubans be able to come out of other closets?" she asked, alluding to Mariela Castro's championing of gay rights as head of Cuba's national centre for sex education.
"Tolerance is total or is it not?" Sánchez tweeted.

Castro, 49, replied coolly: "Your focus of tolerance reproduces the old mechanisms of power. To improve your 'services' you need to study." » | Reuters in Havana | Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Undercover Kingdom - Bahrain
Tensions rise sharply amid systemic torture accusations
Watch Journeyman Pictures video here | Friday, November 04, 2011

Revolution Hijacked - Egypt
Promised Egypt elections may not take place until 2013
Watch Journeyman Pictures video here | Monday, November 07, 2011

Muslims Against Crusades to Be Banned from Midnight

THE GUARDIAN: Home secretary announces ban on group, which burned poppies last November and was planning Armistice Day protest this year

The home secretary, Theresa May, has ordered Muslims Against Crusades, an Islamist group which is planning to disrupt Friday's Armistice Day ceremonies, be banned from midnight.

The organisation, which burned two large poppies near the Royal Albert Hall in London on Remembrance Day during the minute's silence last year, is a renamed successor to the already banned Islam4UK and other proscribed organisations. Anjem Choudary is a leading figure in both groups.

The immediate ban is part of the government's new drive to proscribe organisations that glorify terrorism in addition to those having direct links to terrorist groups.

The ban will make membership of Muslims Against Crusades a criminal offence.

May said: "I am satisfied Muslims Against Crusades is simply another name for an organisation already proscribed under a number of names including Al Ghurabaa, The Saved Sect, Al-Muhajiroun and Islam4UK. The organisation was proscribed in 2006 for glorifying terrorism and we are clear it should not be able to continue these activities by simply changing its name."

A parliamentary order was laid at Westminster on Thursday morning implementing the ban. » | Alan Travis, home affairs editor | Thursday, November 10, 2011

NEWS.COM.AU: Remembrance Day protest called off: AN EXTREMIST Muslim group is canceling plans to demonstrate against Britain's Remembrance Day for fear of arrest. » | NewsCore | Friday, November 11, 2011

Italian Job: Can Europe Save Rome from Sinking?

USA: Kampf um die Wählergunst
Heute Abend liefern sich die republikanischen Präsidentschaftskandidaten die 11. Fernsehdebatte. Bis heute ist es keinem gelungen, einen entscheidenden Vorsprung zu gewinnen. Als qualifiziertester Kandidat gilt unbestritten Mitt Romney.

SUEDDEUTSCHE: Mit “Oops” ins Abseits: Gescheitert in 53 Sekunden: Rick Perry, Gouverneur von Texas und Hoffnung der rechten Republikaner, hat sich wohl selbst um jede Chance im Rennen um die Präsidentschaftskandidatur gebracht. Bei einer TV-Debatte leistete er sich einen peinlichen Patzer. » | Von Wolfgang Jaschensky | Donnerstag 10. November 2011

Oops! Rick Perry 'Agencies' Gaffe at GOP Debate

Australia Passes Plain-packaging Cigarette Law
THE GUARDIAN: Tobacco companies vow to challenge legislation in the high court after senate approves ban on brand logos on packets

Australia is to become the first country to enforce the plain packaging of cigarettes but tobacco companies have vowed to fight the new legislation in court.

From December next year, all cigarettes will be sold in olive green packs, which research has shown is least appealing to smokers.

Under the new laws, approved by the upper house of parliament, no trademark brand logos will be permitted on any packaging of tobacco products, although companies will be able to print their name and the cigarette brand in small, prescribed font on the packets.

The boxes will continue to carry stark health warning messages and pictures, which will cover 75% of the front of the pack and 90% of the back.

"If this legislation stops one young Australian from picking up a shiny, coloured packet and prevents them becoming addicted to cigarettes then in my view it will have been worthwhile," said John Faulkner, a Labor senator, during the parliamentary debate.

The debate in Australia has been keenly watched around the world, including in Britain, Canada and New Zealand where similar plans to curtail branding are being considered.

Cigarette giant British American Tobacco, which owns 46% of the Australian market, plans to challenge the legislation in the high court on constitutional grounds.

"The government can't take away valuable property from a legal company without compensation," said Scott McIntyre, spokesman for British American Tobacco Australia. » | Alison Rourke | Thursday, November 10, 2011

"Once the packs all look the same they will be very easy to copy," – Scott McIntyre

The Secret of Silvio Berlusconi's Success
BBC: Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has signalled that his days in power are coming to an end. Despite repeated gaffes and scandals, he won three elections and set a postwar record for the length of his premiership. The BBC's David Willey, who has covered Italian politics for four decades, asks how he did it.

Over the past century Italy has had no lack of troublesome leaders.

Silvio Berlusconi, who has been the dominant figure in Italian politics for the past 17 years, is the latest on the list.

He has been the object of at least 23 judicial investigations, mostly for corruption.

He has been heard speaking on YouTube, giving sex advice to a prostitute, Patrizia Addario, who had a hidden tape recorder under her breakfast napkin after a night of group sex.

Prosecutors accuse him of having sex with minors.

And his offensive and vulgar off-the-cuff wisecracks at international meetings, such as saying that German Chancellor Angela Merkel's behind is not worth penetrating, do little to endear him at home or abroad.

Conflicts within his fractious cabinet over how to deal with the economic crisis have meanwhile brought his government to a standstill, with the result that for months he has been hounded by the opposition, and even by some of his friends, to resign as premier.

He has infuriated businessmen and industrialists, as well the opposition by steadfastly refusing to go, until now, on grounds that he would be doing a disservice to those who voted for him and for his Freedom Party (PdL) in national general elections in 2008.

Pollsters say that his popularity with voters has sunk to 20%.

Despite all this, many Italians still defend and love him with quasi-religious fervour. He has been Italy's most prominent politician for almost two decades. He is still the single richest man in Italy and, according to Forbes magazine, the 118th wealthiest in the world in 2011. » | Wednesday, November 09, 2011

World Is Peaceful Without Islam

HT: FFI Editor@ FaithFreedom.org »

Richard Dawkins: "Islam Is One of the Great Evils in the World"

HT: Jonathan Harrell @ FaithFreedom.org »

Islamic Scholar, Hamza Abu Fas, to Guide Sharia Law in New Libya

THE AUSTRALIAN: HAMZA Abu Fas is remarkably relaxed about his new role as Libya's Minister for Religious Affairs - responsible for returning to traditional sharia law after 42 years of erratic and self-interested interpretation of Islam by slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Sitting on the floor of his lounge room in Khoms, an hour's drive from the capital, Tripoli, Professor Fas - a leading scholar on Islam and a professor in the Faculty of Law in Tripoli - talks with ease about the new Libya. "Libya was Islamic before Gaddafi, during Gaddafi and after Gaddafi," he tells The Australian.

"Gaddafi said he supported sharia law as set out in the Koran but he was a liar. He did things that were not part of sharia."

The new Libyan leader, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, has announced that a return to sharia law will be one of his priorities. Mr Jalil said: "As an Islamic country, we adopt sharia as the principal law. Any law that violates sharia is null and void legally."

Professor Fas says the new government will abandon the veto Gaddafi granted a first wife over her husband having additional spouses. "Sharia says we do not need the approval of the first wife," Professor Fas says.

What do you say to the fact that under sharia law a woman is not equal? "The woman is not equal to the man in the body. The man cannot have children. They are not equal." » | JOHN LYONS | The Australian | Monday, November 07, 2011

Berlusconi fühlt sich nach Amtsverzicht "erleichtert"

ZEIT ONLINE: Italiens Ministerpräsident will nicht wieder zu Wahlen antreten. Sein Thronfolger soll Angelino Alfano werden, Chef der Partei "Volk der Freiheit".

Italiens Ministerpräsident Silvio Berlusconi will darauf verzichten, im Fall vorgezogener Wahlen nochmals anzutreten. "Ich werde nicht wieder kandidieren", sagte er der Turiner Zeitung La Stampa, "ich fühle mich erleichtert". Berlusconi favorisierte stattdessen den 43-jährigen Generalsekretär seiner Partei "Volk der Freiheit" (PDL) und früheren Justizminister Angelino Alfano: "Jetzt schlägt Alfanos Stunde, er wird unser Kandidat sein. Er ist gut." Berlusconi lobte vor allem dessen "Führungskraft". » | ZEIT ONLINE, dpa, AFP | Mittwoch 09. November 2011

Nicolas Sarkozy Calls Benjamin Netanyahu a 'Liar'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy are facing deep embarrassment after they were inadvertently recorded disparaging Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, as a "liar".

The exchange, which took place during talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Cannes last week, has already prompted a backlash on the American right and is likely to undermine Mr Obama's claims to be a friend of Israel as he campaigns for re-election next year.

The French and American presidents, speaking during what they believed to be a private encounter week, failed to realise that a simultaneous translation of their conversation was being broadcast to journalists outside the room.

During a discussion on Israeli-Palestinian policy, Mr Sarkozy gave an unapologetic assessment of his views of Mr Netanyahu, saying[g]: "I cannot bear him, he's a liar."

Damagingly his pro-Israel credentials, the US president did not demur.

Instead he exacerbated his sin in the eyes of pro-Israeli Americans by retorting: "You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day."

The exchange was gleefully seized on by Republicans who have accused Mr Obama of "throwing Israel under the bus" for his past criticism of Mr Netanyahu's settlement policy in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. » | Adrian Blomfield, Jerusalem and Jon Swaine in Washington | Tuesday, November 08, 2011

My comment:

I should like to say the following: Name me a politician who doesn't lie! Can anybody think of anyone? And who is Obama to call anyone else a liar? Three things we know about Obama are that he bloviates, he poses, and he lies. So this accusation coming from Obama is a bit rich, to say the least. Likewise, I don't think that Sarkozy is in any position to spout off about another politician's propensity to lie, either. Can he look in the mirror and honestly say he never lies? I very much doubt it.

It is truly astonishing that these two presidents didn't have the common sense to go out for a walk in the fresh air, or something, to discuss such a sensitive matter. They should have known that talking in a conference about such matters would be explosive if caught. How naïve and inexperienced they both were!

Further, I should like to say that I have great respect for Netanyahu as a politician. He is tough, and he understands the minefield that is politics in his region. Obama and Sarkozy, apparently, do not. Netanyahu is experienced in ME politics; Obama and Sarkozy are greenhorns.

Netanyahu is a man who, I believe, is genuinely dedicated to peace; but he is also a realist, and he knows exactly that until the Palestinians recognise Israel's right to exist, there will be no peace in the Middle East. And that's a fact which seems to go over Obama and Sarkozy's heads. – © Mark

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Prepare for Iran War
YNET NEWS: Op-ed: In wake of damning UN report on Iran’s nuclear plan, world must prepare for war

Tuesday’s dramatic United Nations report indicating that Iran has been working towards producing nuclear weapons constitutes a huge humiliation for the world. For years now, the international community has foolishly dismissed this menace as either nascent or non-existent, while refraining from earnestly confronting the ayatollahs’ obvious nuke ambitions. Did anyone honestly think this approach would make the threat go away?

The blunt revelations contained in Tuesday’s report make a mockery of the global so-called effort to curb Iran’s race to the bomb. They also highlight the extent to which Tehran has been making a mockery of the world, lying brazenly and feeding absurd explanations to statesmen all too willing to accept them. How could anyone believe that Iran’s nuclear reactor was established for “medical research” purposes? » | Yigal Walt | Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Ultra-Orthodox Pressure Takes Women Off Ads for Jerusalem Organ Donor Campaign

HAARETZ: The advertising agency handling the bus ads asked ADI for permission to replace the ads on buses in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak with ones showing men only.

The recent removal of images of women from bus ads in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak encouraging Israelis to sign organ donor cards has sparked protest, with some people threatening to revoke their agreement to donate organs after their death.

Last week, ADI, the National Transplant Center, launched a campaign urging Israelis who do not have organ donor cards to take advantage of a provision in the Organ Transplant Law of 2008 that affords priority on the transplant waiting list to candidates who sign up by December 31, 2011.
Last week, Canaan Pirsum Bitnuah, the advertising agency handling the bus ads, which feature the faces of men and women, asked ADI for permission to replace the ads on buses in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak with ones showing men only.

"The photos showed only the women's faces; there were no exposed shoulders or anything at all provocative. But we were warned that if we didn't change the images, the buses might be burned," ADI spokeswoman Dvora Sherer said. » | Dan Even | Tuesday, November 08, 2011

En Syrie, Homs au bord de la guerre civile

LE FIGARO: L'armée fait le siège de cette ville, où les heurts confessionnels se multiplient.

Pour le cinquième jour consécutif, Homs était encerclée mardi par les forces de sécurité, qui cherchent à venir à bout de la révolte de nombreux habitants de cette ville mosaïque, théâtre d'affrontements confessionnels, parfois meurtriers.

Une fois encore, c'est le quartier résidentiel de Bab Amro qui a le plus souffert. «Les soldats sont entrés dans les maisons pour arrêter des personnes recherchées», précise l'Observatoire syrien des droits de l'homme (OSDH), une ONG proche de l'opposition au régime de Bachar el-Assad. Un civil a été tué lors des perquisitions, tandis que dans un autre quartier, une fillette est morte dans l'explosion d'une roquette qui a touché sa maison.

Le pilonnage de Bab Amro a commencé en fin de semaine dernière. Puis la nuit de dimanche à lundi, les redoutés chabiha, ces miliciens à la solde du pouvoir, ont lancé leur assaut contre ce quartier où de nombreux déserteurs ont trouvé refuge avec leurs armes. Tous ses habitants n'ont pas eu le temps de fuir. Plusieurs dizaines de civils ont été tués et de très nombreux autres blessés, en cinq jours de violences. » | Par Georges Malbrunot | mardi 08 novembre 2011

The Worst Form of Censorship
THE SPECTATOR: A week ago, the offices of the French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo were burned down. This attack came after it advertised the founder of Islam, Muhammad, as 'editor-in-chief' of the new issue. The move was a light-hearted response to the very serious matter of the election of an Islamist party (the Ennahda party) as the leading party in Tunisia (a result which, incidentally, appears not to have greatly bothered most European media).

As the staff of Charlie Hebdo contemplated the ruins of their magazine, a much grander and richer magazine, Time, ran one of those pieces which have become familiar whenever there is an Islamist assault against free speech. As Nick Cohen has also noted, the Paris correspondent of Time magazine –- the almost too-perfectly named Bruce Crumley –- used the burning of their offices to taunt Charlie Hebdo's journalists[.]

'Do you still think the price you paid for printing an offensive, shameful, and singularly humor-deficient parody on the logic of 'because we can' was so worthwhile?' he asked before going down a related track by denouncing French politicians who had criticised the firebombing. Mr Crumley is apparently not a fan of free-expression, or even slight jokes, when it comes to Islam. In this respect he is not unique. He follows in a long and ignoble line of useless idiots.

In 2004 when Theo van Gogh was murdered on a street in Amsterdam by a Islamic fundamentalist it was Index on Censorship's turn. You would have thought that with a title like 'Index on Censorship', the reader could expect such a magazine to do what it says on the masthead. Yet in what should have been a pretty straightforward test ('for or against the murder of people who express their opinions') Index on Censorship managed to land it wrong.

They published a piece which claimed that it was not van Gogh's murderer but van Gogh himself who had been a 'fundamentalist'; not Mohammed Bouyeri (the killer), but van Gogh (the killed) who had been on a 'martyrdom operation' by having the temerity to say mean things about Islam. Index on Censorship's author went on to imply that the whole murder was some type of performance art designed to promote van Gogh's new film on the assassination of another critic of Islam, Pim Fortuyn. Read on and comment » | DOUGLAS MURRAY | Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Herman Cain Vows to Fight On

THE GUARDIAN: Republican candidate for presidential nomination will not pull out of race despite fresh allegations of sexual harassment

The embattled Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has insisted he is not planning to pull out of the race despite a second woman coming forward to abandon anonymity and publicly accuse him of sexual harassment.

The woman, Karen Kraushaar, a 55-year-old treasury official, said she wanted all four women making sexual harassment allegations to hold a joint press conference.

Cain held a press conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, denying the allegations, in particular seamy details offered by Sharon Bialek, who accused him of forcing himself on her in a car in Washington.

He said he did not remember either Bialek or the alleged incident. "I did not recognise the name, the face, the voice," he said.

He faces an awkward event on Wednesday night: a nationally televised presidential debate in which he can only hope his rivals will not seek to exploit the allegations on air. After a week of silence, his Republican opponents have begun to raise the issue.

Cain denies all allegations made by Bialek and Kraushaar, as well as two other women, who have so far opted to remain anonymous.

"The charges and accusations I absolutely reject. They simply didn't happen. They simply did not happen," he said. » | Ewen MacAskill in Washington | Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Related »

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Herman Cain is a monster, says second woman: A second woman who claims she was sexually harassed by Herman Cain identified herself last night, as the Republican presidential hopeful said he would undergo a lie detector test to prove his innocence. » | Jon Swaine, Washington | Wednesday, November 09, 2011

UK Border Chief Brodie Clark Quits with Broadside against Theresa May

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The senior civil servant at the heart of the scandal over relaxed passport checks has made a direct attack on Theresa May, accusing the Home Secretary of misleading the public.

Brodie Clark quit as head of the UK Border Agency’s border force and said he would lodge a claim for constructive dismissal. Mr Clark also claimed that he had come under “pressure” from ministers to compromise security checks in order to reduce queues at airports.

His resignation and attack on Mrs May escalates the most serious immigration row the Coalition has faced. The Home Secretary is under intense pressure over a loosening of border controls that allowed an unknown number of foreign nationals – potentially including terrorists, criminals and illegal immigrants – to enter the country without full security checks.

Over the summer, she secretly authorised border staff to stop checking biometric data in the passports of European arrivals at ports and airports. She says Mr Clark then defied her clear orders and extended the policy to non-Europeans.

The Home Secretary rejected calls for her resignation yesterday and denied that her actions had led to “security breaches”. » | James Kirkup, Deputy Political Editor | Tuesday, November 08, 2011

What a cock up! Can't these politicians – right, left, or centre – understand that we, the electorate, are sick to the back teeth of all these illegal immigrants coming into this country? Further, are they so stupid that they can't seal the borders? What idiots! What highly-paid idiots they are! The damn, bloody lot of them! – © Mark

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Banning Tintin from Children's Shelves Is 'Politically Correct Lunacy', Says Vatican Newspaper

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: 'Tintin in the Congo', the comic banned from the children's shelves of British book shops, is an example of "politically correct lunacy", according to the Vatican's official newspaper.

L'Osservatore Romano hailed the Belgian boy reporter as a "Catholic hero" and said it was ridiculous that the comic book had been "wrapped up like a pornographic magazine and consigned to the adults-only section" of book shops in the UK.

The newspaper, which generally reflects the view of the Vatican, asked whether the act of censorship – on the grounds that the comic is racist – was "an appropriate protection of the defenceless children of Her Majesty, or politically correct lunacy in the shadow of Big Ben."

The book, published by Egmont, is being sold in Britain with a protective band around it, warning that its portrayal of Africans as wide-eyed simpletons would offend some readers and was based on "the bourgeois, paternalistic stereotypes of the period."

But an editorial in L'Osservatore Romano said: "It is essential to take into account the historical context to avoid entering the realm of the ridiculous," arguing that the book by Herge, the Belgian artist whose real name was George Remi, reflected the values prevalent in Europe between the wars.

"The comic book was published in the 1930s, and for that reason expresses the values of the era – but can it really perturb young Britons of today, raised as they are on the internet, video games and fish and chips?"

If retrospective political correctness was taken to its logical conclusion then scouting should be banned because the movement was founded by Lord Baden Powell, who as well as being "a military man and a writer was also a racist and a eugenicist," the newspaper said. » | Nick Squires, Rome | Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Threatens US
YNET NEWS: General Hajizadeh says 'if you kill any of us, we will kill dozens of you,' while Ahmadinejad claims Tehran does not need nuclear bomb to confront US. FM Salehi: If we wanted to develop nukes we would declare so openly

Islamic Republic escalates rhetoric ahead of IAEA report: A top commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard force threatened to kill "dozens" of American military commanders, should the US kill any one of theirs.

"You also should not forget that American commanders have plenty of presence and travel in the region. If you kill any of us, we will kill dozens of you," Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, chief of the Guards' aerospace division, was quoted by Fars agency on Tuesday as saying.

Earlier last week several American neoconservatives, including retired US Army general Jack Keane, urged the Obama administration to use covert action against Iran and target members of the Quds Force, the Guard's special foreign actions unit.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that his country did not need a nuclear bomb to confront the US.

"If America wants to confront the Iranian nation, it will certainly regret the Iranian nation's response," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency. "They are saying that Iran is seeking the atomic bomb. But they should know ... we do not need a bomb ... Rather we will act thoughtfully and with logic. History has shown that anyone acting against the Iranian nation regrets it." » | Dudi Cohen, AP | Tuesday, November 08, 2011

The Ultra-Orthodox Bomb
YNET NEWS: Op-ed: In light of demographic trends, Israel en route to becoming Iran-style state

Former Mossad Chief Efraim Halevy knows a thing or two about the dangers lurking for Israel. In a recent lecture he claimed that the danger of ultra-Orthodox radicalization is greater than the Iranian threat.

Halevy’s words prompted protests, of course. Members of Shas and United Torah Judaism accused him of resorting to grave incitement. They are certain, or pretend to be certain, that the ultra-Orthodox improve the status of Jews before God, and that the more people study Torah, the greater the people of Israel’s security would be.

We should note time and again that the overwhelming majority of Orthodox rabbis in the Diaspora objected to Zionism because they believed the Jews should remain in the Diaspora until God shall salvage them. After the Holocaust, they claimed that it constituted a punishment for shunning our Torah.

Haredi leaders in Israel did not change this basic view, even if they do not voice it much: The salvation of the Jews is at the hands of God in the heavens and does not depend on the skill of our pilots in the skies. » | Yaron London | Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Grundsatzrede – Clinton: „Islamische Parteien nach ihren Taten bewerten“
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Außenministerin Hillary Clinton bietet in einer Grundsatzrede den aufstrebenden islamischen Parteien in Staaten des „arabischen Frühlings“ die Zusammenarbeit mit den Vereinigten Staaten an. Sie fordert aber die Einhaltung rechtsstaatlicher Prinzipien.

Die Vereinigten Staaten wollen mit den aufstrebenden islamischen Parteien in den Ländern des „Arabischen Frühlings“ zusammenarbeiten. Der Gedanke, dass gläubige Muslime nicht in einer Demokratie leben könnten, sei „beleidigend, gefährlich und falsch“, sagte Außenministerin Hillary Clinton am Montag in einer Grundsatzrede in Washington. Die Vereinigten Staaten wollten die islamischen Parteien nicht nach ihren Namen, sondern nach ihren Taten bewerten. » | Quelle: AFP/AP | Dienstag 08. November 2011

Nétanyahou “menteur” : la conversation secrète Obama-Sarkozy
Diffusés par erreur aux journalistes pendant le G20, ces propos sont restés "off"

ARRÊT SUR IMAGES: C'était une conversation franche, entre chefs d'Etat, à propos d'un autre dirigeant. Echange à bâtons rompus, et à huis-clos. Enfin, qui aurait dû rester à huis-clos. C'était sans compter sur une maladresse de l'organisation, et la curiosité de quelques journalistes. Révélations sur deux petites phrases qui voguent bien loin du langage habituellement policé des sommets diplomatiques.

Jeudi 3 novembre, lors du sommet du G20 à Cannes, Nicolas Sarkozy rencontrait Barack Obama lors d'un "entretien bilatéral". Comme il est d'usage, Les deux hommes ont fait face aux journalistes, mais ont aussi discuté en privé, dans une pièce à part, loin des oreilles indiscrètes, afin de pouvoir se libérer de toute retenue diplomatique. Cela a été le cas, mais pour la discrétion, c'est raté.

Selon nos informations, les deux présidents ont laissé de côté toute retenue à propos du délicat dossier des relations israélo-palestiniennes. Obama a d'abord reproché à Sarkozy de ne pas l'avoir prévenu qu'il allait voter en faveur de l'adhésion de la Palestine à l'Unesco, alors que les Etats-Unis y étaient fermement opposés. La conversation a ensuite dérivé sur Benyamin Nétanyahou, le Premier ministre israélien. Sûrs de ne pas être entendus, les deux présidents se sont lâchés. "Je ne peux plus le voir, c'est un menteur", a lancé Sarkozy. "Tu en as marre de lui, mais moi, je dois traiter avec lui tous les jours !", a rétorqué Obama, qui a ensuite demandé à Sarkozy d'essayer de convaincre les Palestiniens de mettre la pédale douce sur leur demande d'adhésion à l'ONU. » | Par Dan Israel | lundi 07 novembre 2011

Lien en relation avec cet article »

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: „Ich kann ihn nicht ausstehen, er ist ein Lügner“: Nicolas Sarkozy hat in einem vertraulichen Gespräch mit Barack Obama den israelischen Ministerpräsidenten Netanjahu angegriffen. Was der französische Präsident allerdings nicht wusste, viele Journalisten hörten mit. » | MICHAELA WIEGEL, PARIS | Dienstag 08. November 2011

Nicolas Sarkozy Complained to Barack Obama of Liar Benjamin Netanyahu

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy have inadvertently broadcast a private exchange during which they confessed their distaste for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and branded him a “liar".

The French and American presidents were speaking during an encounter on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Cannes last week without realising that a simultaneous translation of their words was being transmitted to journalists outside the room.

As the conversation drifted to Israel, Mr Sarkozy is reported to have said: “I cannot bear Netanyahu, he’s a liar.”

Mr Obama did not challenge the assertion, instead replying: “You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day.”

The exchange provides the most tantalising evidence yet of the growing antipathy with which Mr Netanyahu is said to be held by many Western leaders.

President Obama has had a frequently strained relationship with the Israeli leader. In March last year, Mr Netanyahu was left to stew in a White House meeting room for over an hour after the president allegedly walked out of tense talks to have dinner with his family. » | Adrian Blomfield | Tuesday, November 08, 2011

THE GUARDIAN: Sarkozy and Obama's Netanyahu gaffe broadcast via microphones: French president called Israeli PM a liar in exchange with US president inadvertently shared with journalists » | Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem and Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Tuesday, November 08, 2011

MAIL ONLINE: Sarkozy: 'I can't stand him… he’s a liar': Obama: 'You're fed up with him - I have to deal with him every day!'
Presidents' unflattering comments about Israeli PM Netanyahu are broadcast at G20 summit » | Anthony Bond | Tuesday, November 08, 2011

'This Isn't a Party Town!' Mayor Warns Prince Harry Not to 'Fornicate the Night Away' as He Settles into Sleepy Arizona Township
MAIL ONLINE: Gila Bend was chosen by the MoD for Apache helicopter training because the desert region resembles the mountain terrain of Afghanistan / 'Fathers here would go to extremes to protect their daughters,' says the town's mayor

Prince Harry has been ordered to be on his best behaviour on his latest posting in the United States.

The party-loving prince has been moved to the tiny town of Gila Bend in the Arizona desert for the final stage of a two-month advanced weapons training course.

Ron Henry, mayor of the 1,700-strong community where many residents are devout Christians, says Harry should take care as his reputation as a ladies' man has gone before him.

'There are probably some fathers here who would go to extremes to protect their daughters,' said Mr Henry, 64. 'Some of the dads won't take too kindly to a Prince fornicating the night away.' » | REBECCA ENGLISH, ROYAL CORRESPONDENT | Tuesday, November 08, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Prince Harry warned over 'fornicating' in Christian US town: The mayor of a US town where Prince Harry is staying during helicopter training has warned him to be on his best behaviour with its young women. » | Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Comment l’austérité est appliquée en Grèce

US Election 2012: Woman Breaks Silence to Say Herman Cain Sexually Groped Her

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A woman broke her silence to accuse Republican presidential contender Herman Cain of sexually groping her in a car, when she asked him for help in finding a new job in 1997.

Sharon Bialek became the first woman to go public with detailed allegations, amid swirling accusations by four different women of sexual harassment by Cain, vying to be crowned the Republican Party's nominee for the 2012 elections.

She also became the first to offer graphic details of what has been referred to as "inappropriate behaviour" by Cain, a former pizza company executive now at the top of the opinion polls in the Republican White House race.

Bialek said she had appealed to Cain for help after she was let go from her job with the educational department of the National Restaurant Association, of which he was the then president. The two were driving in a car in Washington, when Cain pulled over.

"He suddenly reached over and he put his hand on my leg under my skirt and reached for my genitals. He also grabbed my head and brought it towards his crotch," Bialek told a packed press conference in a private club in New York.

"I was very, very surprised and very shocked. I said, 'what are you doing? You know I have a boyfriend. This isn't what I came here for.' Mr Cain said, 'You want a job, right?'" » | Monday, October 07, 2011

Women & Islam: The Rise and Rise of the Convert

THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Three-quarters of Britons who become Muslims are female. Now a major new study has shed light on the difficulties they face in adjusting to their new life.

Record numbers of young, white British women are converting to Islam, yet many are reporting a lack of help as they get used to their new religion, according to several surveys.

As Muslims celebrate the start of the religious holiday of Eid today and hundreds of thousands from around the world converge on Mecca for the haj, it emerged that of the 5,200 Britons who converted to Islam last year, more than half are white and 75 per cent of them women.

In the past 10 years some 100,000 British people have converted to Islam, of whom some three-quarters are women, according to the latest statistics. This is a significant increase on the 60,000 Britons in the previous decade, according to researchers based at Swansea University.

While the number of UK converts accelerates, many of the British women who adopt Islam say they have a daily struggle to assimilate their new beliefs within a wider culture that both implicitly and explicitly positions them as outsiders, regardless of their Western upbringing.

More than three-quarters told researchers they had experienced high levels of confusion after conversion, due to the conflicting ways Islam was presented to them. While other major religions have established programmes for guiding new believers through the rigours of their faith, Islam still lacks any such network, especially outside the Muslim hubs of major cities.

Many mosques still bar women from worship or provide scant resources for their needs, forcing them to rely on competing cultural and ideological interpretations within books or the internet for religious support. » | RICHARD PEPPIATT | Sunday, November 06, 2011

Turkey Investigated Over Chemical Weapons Claim
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: A Turkish human rights group is investigating claims by Kurdish activists that Ankara used chemical weapons in an attack on militants in the east of the country last month.

The activists are circulating gruesome pictures of some of the 24 rebels, from the PKK guerrilla group, killed in the Kazan Valley in air raids that began on October 19. Blackened and dismembered, the corpses lie in a morgue in a nearby town with weeping relatives nearby.

Their allegations have forced their way into the open in Turkey, which is usually fiercely nationalist when it comes to accusations of abuse by the Kurds, whose campaign for autonomy is a long-running sore. The prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, made a public denial of them as a "slander" while on his recent trip to the G20 summit in Cannes.

The activists say the only explanation for the type of burns exhibited is that some chemical agent was used. Their claims has now been raised by MPs from the legal pro-Kurdish party, the BDP, and taken up by the Turkish Human Rights Association (IHD). » | Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Sunday, November 06, 2011

Theresa May: We Will Never Know How Many People Got Through Without Proper Checks

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Theresa May, the Home Secretary, admitted today that the number of people who entered the country without being checked against a Home Office database of terror suspects and illegal immigrants will never be known.

Mrs May said she had launched three inquiries in to what happened at the force as she told MPs senior staff had extended a pilot scheme she had authorised in April designed to focus checks on high-risk passengers entering the UK.

She told the House of Commons senior officials had "let down" hard-working staff and promised that those found guilty of relaxing checks without authorisation from ministers would be punished.

Mrs May said UK border force head Brodie Clark "authorised the wider relaxation of border controls without ministerial sanction."

Mr Clark, has since been suspended amid reports that border guards were told this summer not to bother checking fingerprints and other personal details against a Home Office database of terror suspects and illegal immigrants.

The Home Secretary said in July she agreed the UK Border Agency (UKBA) could "pilot a scheme that would allow Border Force officials to target intelligence-led checks on higher-risk categories of travellers". Read on and comment » | Monday, November 07, 2011

Why the hell is border control such a problem? Other countries are able to control their borders, to wit Switzerland, so why can't we? Are we really that dumb? – © Mark

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Herman Cain Faces Fourth Sexual Harassment Claim

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A fourth woman to accuse Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment will outline allegations against him at a news conference in New York today.

The woman alleges she was sexually harassed by Cain "when she sought his help with an employment issue when he was President of the National Restaurant Association," according to a statement by her lawyer, Gloria Allred. The news conference is scheduled for 1:30pm (1830 GMT).

She will become the first person to give her name and come forward publicly to lay out her case against Cain, a front-runner in the Republican presidential race.

At least three other women have accused him of sexual harassment from his time as the restaurant industry's top lobbyist in the mid-1990s. Cain, 65, insists the claims are baseless and that he was wrongfully accused. » | Monday, November 07, 2011

Israel droht mit Militärschlag

Verwandt »

DIE PRESSE: Frankreich warnt vor Militärschlag gegen den Iran: Frankreichs Außenminister Juppe befürchtet eine "völlige Destabilisierung" der Region, sollte Israel Ziele im Iran angreifen. » | Ag. | Sonntag 06. November 2011