Thursday, November 24, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Mit der Abberufung des Botschafters aus Damaskus hat Frankreich vor einer Woche ein erstes klares Zeichen gesetzt: Aus Sicht der französischen Diplomatie hat Syriens Präsident Bashar al-Asad mit der blutigen Bekämpfung der Proteste Frankreichs Goodwill verspielt. Es sei zu spät für Asad, doppelte Aussenminister Alain Juppé am vergangenen Freitag bei seinem Besuch in der Türkei nach. Noch hält sich Frankreichs Staatschef Nicolas Sarkozy mit öffentlichen Regieanweisungen zurück, doch die Haltung in Paris ist klar. Man sägt aktiv am Stuhl des mittlerweile auch bei der Arabischen Liga in Ungnade gefallenen syrischen Herrschers. » | Manfred Rist, Paris | Mittwoch 23. November 2011
Nach zehn Monaten Krise gibt es in Jemen Hoffnung auf Wandel: Der jemenitische Staatschef Ali Abdullah Saleh erklärte am Mittwoch in Saudiarabien schriftlich seinen Verzicht auf die Macht. Im Gegenzug werden dem 69-Jährigen und dessen Familie Straffreiheit gewährt. » | hoh./(sda/dpa/afp/ddp) | Mittwoch 23. November 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Seven men have been arrested on hate crime charges following haircutting attacks against Amish men and women.
Cutting the hair is a highly offensive act to the Amish, who believe the Bible instructs women to let their hair grow long and men to grow beards and stop shaving once they marry.
Authorities have said several members of a breakaway group forcefully cut the beards and hair of Amish men and women in September and October. » | Wednesday, November 23, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Seven members of Amish breakaway group arrested over haircut attacks: US authorities raid compound and arrest seven men – including group leader Sam Mullet – on federal hate crime charges » | Associated Press | Wednesday, November 23, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Iranian politicians to vote on downgrading diplomatic ties with Britain in retaliation for newly imposed sanctions.
The parliament introduced an emergency bill to go to a vote on Sunday on the issue, said the website of IRIB television.
Several politicians cried "Death to Britain" as the measure was adopted with 162 votes. Five deputies voted against.
The wording of the bill was not immediately divulged.
But the head of the parliamentary committee on foreign policy and national security, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said he was asking the foreign ministry "to expel the British ambassador from the country," said the parliamentary website.
Britain on Monday, in co-ordination with the United States and Canada, announced new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, after a report by the UN atomic energy watchdog this month suggesting Tehran was researching nuclear weapons. » | Wednesday, November 23, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Russian newsreader fired after Obama middle finger insult: A top Russian female newsreader who appeared to defiantly show US President Barack Obama her middle finger during a live newscast has been fired. » | Andrew Osborn, Moscow | Thursday, November 24, 2011
The 73-year-old monarch was pictured with the shiner on his left eye and a small sticking plaster on the bridge of his nose at a reception for new ambassadors to Spain on Tuesday.
Royal aides said the King had received the injuries earlier in the day but they were not serious enough to alter his schedule.
The King himself commented on the mishap: “This is what happens when one slams into a door,” he said.
Spanish media reported that the accident was in fact the fault of a member of the palace staff, who pushed open the door at the moment the King was opening it from the other side.
“It was an accident and his job is not in danger” said a source at Zarzuela Palace. » | Fiona Govan | Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Als erster Regierungschef in der Geschichte der Türkei hat sich Ministerpräsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan für Angriffe der Armee auf Kurdengebiete in den 1930er Jahren entschuldigt. "Wenn es notwendig ist, sich im Namen des Staates zu entschuldigen, würde ich mich entschuldigen - und ich entschuldige mich", sagte er am Mittwoch vor Mitgliedern seiner religiös-konservativen Regierungspartei AKP. Die Gewalttaten seien "eines der tragischsten und schmerzhaftesten Ereignisse unserer neueren Geschichte". » | Ag. | Mittwoch 23. November 2011
Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan a demandé mardi la démission du président syrien Bachar al-Assad afin de «prévenir davantage d’effusion de sang» dans le pays. Damas a de son côté qualifié de «déclaration de guerre» un projet de résolution de l’Onu condamnant la répression de la contestation.
«Pour le salut de ton peuple, de ton pays et de la région, quitte désormais le pouvoir», a dit le chef du gouvernement turc devant le groupe parlementaire de son Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP). M. Erdogan, qui était un ami personnel du dirigeant syrien, avait déjà annoncé avoir rompu avec le régime de Damas, mais c’est la première fois qu’il demande ouvertement le départ de M. Assad.
M. Erdogan a aussi de nouveau critiqué M. Assad, qui s’est dit «tout à fait» prêt à combattre et à mourir s’il devait affronter des forces étrangères, comparant son attitude à celle des dictateurs comme Adolf Hitler ou Benito Mussolini. » | AFP | mardi 22 novembre 2011
Sabir Hussain, 60, admitted four charges of assaulting boys at the Markazi Jamia Mosque, in Keighley, West Yorkshire, as they learned The Koran.
He was arrested after secret filming was screened on a Channel 4 documentary earlier this year.
The assaults Hussain admitted happened on December 7 and December 13 last year, and involved four different boys.
Hussain, of Spencer Street, Keighley, appeared at Bradford Magistrates Court in traditional clothing and was led out of court in handcuffs after the sentence was passed. Read on and comment » | Richard Hartley-Parkinson | Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Authorities at St Andrews University - where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge studied and first met - said they were looking into reports of the incident on Friday evening on the town's East Sands beach.
Matthew Marshall, president of the St Andrews Conservative Association, told the BBC: "President Obama is an important ally to the British Government. It was a stupid thing to do and we apologise for any offence caused."
John Park, Labour MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, whose constituency includes the university said: "This is gravely offensive and way beyond a student prank."
He urged David Cameron and the Conservative Party to take action against the activists responsible.
"Burning an effigy of anyone is offensive, let alone the first black President of the United States. The overtones are deeply unpleasant." » | Wednesday, November 23, 2011
WELT ONLINE: Der Ton aus Großbritannien wird schärfer: Erstmals schreibt eine renommierte Zeitung vom "Krieg", mit dem Deutschland wieder andere Völker unterwerfen wolle.
Im eurokritischen Großbritannien stößt die Politik der Bundesregierung in derEuro-Schuldenkrise zunehmend auf Kritik.
Die konservative Zeitung „The Times“ [£] hat im Zusammenhang mit der Politik von Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel erstmals das Wort „Krieg“ ins Spiel gebracht. „Deutschland hat der Euro-Zone den Krieg erklärt“, lautet die Überschrift eines halbseitigen Kommentars in der „Times.“
„Wenn (Carl von) Clausewitz Recht hat, dass „Krieg die Fortsetzung von Politik mit anderen Mitteln“ ist, dann ist Deutschland wieder im Krieg mit Europa“, schrieb der renommierte „Times“-Kommentator Anatole Kaletsky in der Mittwochausgabe der Zeitung. » | dpa/pku | Mittwoch 23. November 2011
Am 19.11.2011 feierte Deutschlands ehemaliger Verteidigungsminister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg eine Art Comeback auf der Politik-Bühne. Im kanadischen Halifax sprach Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, der inzwischen in den USA lebt und sich bei einem "Think Tank" in Washington mit transatlantischen Fragen beschäftigt, über die Euro-Krise.
Karl Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg (* 5. Dezember 1971 in München) ist ein deutscher Politiker (CSU), der 2009 zunächst Bundesminister für Wirtschaft und Technologie und danach bis 2011 Bundesminister der Verteidigung war. Nachdem die Universität Bayreuth Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg im Zuge der Plagiatsaffäre um seine Dissertation den Doktorgrad im Februar 2011 aberkannt hatte, legte Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg Anfang März 2011 sämtliche politischen Ämter nieder.
WELT ONLINE: Die Bitterkeit des geisterhaften Guttenberg im Exil: Auftritt von geheimnisumwobener Art: Der frühere Star im Kabinett Merkel nimmt bei einer Konferenz in Kanada kein Blatt vor den Mund und kritisiert Europas Krisenpolitik. ¶ Mit düsteren Ansichten zur Finanzkrise Europas und indirekter Kritik an Bundeskanzlerin Merkel hat sich Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU) erstmals seit seinem Rücktritt Anfang März wieder zu Wort gemeldet. Guttenberg trat als Gastredner bei einer Podiumsdebatte des „Internationalen Sicherheitsforums“ im kanadischen Halifax auf; im Programm war er, naturgemäß ohne Doktortitel, als „hervorragender Staatsmann“ (distinguished statesman) und Stipendiat (Fellow) des Washingtoner Think Tanks „Center for Strategic and International Studies“ (CSIS) angekündigt. » | Uwe Schmitt | Sonntag 20. November 2011
WELT ONLINE: Jetzt muss Guttenberg Klartext zur Doktorarbeit redden: Das Verfahren gegen den früheren Verteidigungsminister wurde eingestellt. Jetzt muss er der Öffentlichkeit plausibel darlegen, wie seine Doktorarbeit entstanden ist. » | Torsten Krauel | Mittwoch 23. November 2011
The court found Amphon Tangnoppaku guilty on four counts under the country's lese majeste [sic] and computer crime laws, sentencing him to five years imprisonment for each charge.
Lese majeste [sic] is the crime of insulting a monarch, and Thailand's laws against it are the most severe in the world. Even repeating the details of an alleged offence is illegal. » | Wednesday, November 23, 2011
La cour d'appel d'Oran a abrité, jeudi dernier, un nouveau procès pour délit religieux. Siaghi Krimo, un maçon de 29 ans converti au christianisme en 2007, est cité à comparaître pour «injures envers le Prophète». En mai dernier, il a été condamné, en première instance, à cinq années de prison ferme. Dénoncé par un voisin à qui il avait remis un DVD sur la vie du Christ, il a été brutalement arrêté par une escouade de policiers comme un dangereux criminel.
Au commissariat, plusieurs officiers se sont relayés pour interroger le «renégat». «Tu es habité par le démon», hurle l'un d'eux. «Si tu étais mon frère, je te tuerais», menace un autre. Pour le juge du tribunal correctionnel qui a prononcé la sentence, la cause est entendue avant tout débat : quitter l'islam pour une autre religion est un crime. «Tu le regretteras !», dit-il à l'inculpé, qui a revendiqué sa foi chrétienne mais nié toute atteinte à l'islam. En l'absence du témoin délateur et malgré un dossier vide, le tribunal écrit dans son jugement : «Il a nié les faits, mais son apostasie est une présomption de culpabilité.» » | Par Arezki Aït-Larbi | mardi 22 novembre 2011
In the last interview Danielle Mitterrand gave before her death at the age of 87, the former French first lady recalled berating her friend Fidel Castro for the torturing and killing of Cuban political prisoners. Surprised he did not tell her to shut up or throw her out, she asked why he put up with her nagging. "Because I like you a lot," replied the Cuban president.
Mitterrand was liked and admired by many, as much for her ability to take world leaders to task as for her unwavering support for minority and humanitarian issues, from the death penalty and discrimination to the lack of water or education in impoverished African villages. She was also respected for breaking the first-lady mould and refusing to be defined by either her husband's role as head of state or the humiliation he heaped on her through his infidelity.
She was born Danielle Gouze in Verdun, the daughter of two leftwing academics. During the second world war, her father, by then a secondary school headteacher, was sacked by the Vichy administration after refusing to hand over a list of names of Jewish pupils and teachers in his school to the Nazis.
While her family harboured men being hunted by the Gestapo, Danielle joined the French Resistance at the age of 17, with her elder sister Christine, and was later awarded the prestigious Resistance Medal. In 1941, she helped François Mitterrand, a fellow member codenamed Captain Morland on the run from the Gestapo, by pretending to be his girlfriend, and the pair promptly fell in love. They married in 1944. The couple had three sons: Pascal, who died aged two months, Jean-Christophe and Gilbert. » | Kim Willsher | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Lien en relation avec la nécrologie »
On 22 December 1999, a letter appeared on the front page of Germany's leading conservative daily, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung [*]. It contained a searing attack on the country's most highly regarded statesman, Helmut Kohl, recently retired chancellor and much-feted architect of reunification. Kohl, then mired in an ugly party funding scandal, had to be cut loose, the letter urged, as teenagers must jettison their parents to grow into adults. The only way forward for his Christian Democrats was a complete break with their past.
It was a remarkable letter, a clinical and very public coup-de-grace delivered to an eminent, mortally wounded elder. What made it more remarkable was that the person who signed it was not one of the obviously thrusting young pretenders to Kohl's CDU throne, but a moon-faced and oddly unmemorable protege [sic] whom he used to refer to, dismissively, as das Mädchen: the girl.
Some like to see in this episode – which duly launched Angela Merkel on the stratospheric trajectory that would see her elected head of the centre-right CDU the following year and Germany's first woman chancellor barely five years after that – proof positive that she is a sharp, maybe even a ruthless opportunist, eminently capable of bold, decisive and, if necessary, dirty deeds to achieve her ends.
Others construe it more as an uncharacteristic moment of madness from a politician who otherwise has constructed an entire career on caution and consensus; a public figure so superficially unremarkable, so singularly lacking in passion or charisma that in nearly 25 years in politics she has (as her biographer puts it) "not made a single speech that stayed in the memory". A moderator, not a leader; a tactician, not a strategist.
She could, of course, be both. But what's becoming increasingly clear, as the euro teeters on the precipice and economic disaster beckons, is that if she is, a great many people – most of them, it has to be said, outside Germany – would actually quite like to see a bit more of the former, and rather less of the latter. A touch more of the bold and decisive, somewhat less of the calm and methodical. If possible.
Merkel is, after all, about the most important person in the world right now. As leader of the eurozone's undisputed economic powerhouse, she in effect holds the future financial wellbeing of all of us in her hands. And the worry is she's not up to the job. For all her undoubted qualities and undimmed domestic popularity (the pollsters, certainly, see no hint of a rival who could threaten her re-election in 2013, for a third successive term), Merkel – a pale, irredeemably frumpy, maddeningly hard-to-pin-down shadow of an Adenauer, a Brandt, a Kohl – is totally not what's needed, say her critics. Read on and comment » | Jon Henley | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
* FOCUS ONLINE: Der Bruch des „Mädchens“ mit Ziehvater Kohl: Inmitten der Spendenaffäre empfahl Angela Merkel vor zehn Jahren der CDU die Abnabelung von Kanzler Helmut Kohl. Durch ihren Gastbeitrag für die „FAZ“ wurde der Alt- und Ehrenvorsitzende zum Geächteten der eigenen Partei. ¶ Angela Merkel hätte die Kernbotschaft ihres kühlen Artikels vom 22. Dezember 1999 für die „Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung“ auch in zwei Worte fassen können: „Tschüß, Kohl“. Stattdessen schmiedete sie aus Vokabeln schlichter Laien-Pädagogik Sätze von ungeheurer Sprengkraft: „Die Partei muss also laufen lernen, muss sich zutrauen, in Zukunft auch ohne ihr altes Schlachtross, wie Helmut Kohl sich selbst gerne genannt hat, den Kampf mit dem politischen Gegner aufzunehmen. Sie muss sich wie jemand in der Pubertät von zu Hause lösen, eigene Wege gehen.“ » | Von FOCUS-Korrespondentin Margarete van Ackeren, Berlin | Dienstag 22. Dezember 2009
Prime minister Abdurrahim el-Keib has sent Libya on a bumpy road towards democracy by naming a cabinet of secularists and thereby snubbing prominent Islamists.
The biggest surprise on the list was Osama al-Juwali, chief of the Zintan military council, who was appointed defence minister at the expense of Islamist Hakim Bilhaj.
Juwali is an accomplished commander whose forces were originally a militia from the small city of Zintan that went on to play a central role in storming Tripoli in August, but until now he had no national political profile. Sources in the city in west Libya told the Guardian at the weekend its leadership demanded a cabinet post in return for handing over Saif al-Islam, Muammar Gaddafi's son and heir, captured in the south on Saturday. He is now held at a secret location in Zintan.
In Tripoli, the international criminal court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, confirmed the ICC had accepted Saif al-Islam would be tried in Libya, but said it would take part and "help" the authorities guarantee him a fair trial. The court would ensure its judges had a role, Ocampo said. » | Chris Stephen in Tripoli and Luke Harding | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
During an address in Parliament to honour Mr Obama’s visit last week, Mr Abbott, a staunch supporter of the US, cited Graham Greene’s The Quiet American in a manner which suggested that America’s approach to the world mirrored that of Greene’s boyishly ideological character, Alden Pyle. Mr Abbott told the President: “Not for nothing did Graham Greene say of his Quiet American that he had never met a man with such good intentions for all the trouble he caused”.
The reference, in a book widely regarded as anti-American, came as Mr Abbott, a former Rhodes Scholar who heads the conservative Coalition, described the US as the nation that has shouldered the “heaviest lifting” in fending off the threat of totalitarianism and terrorism. » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives said “community boards” should be set up across America to judge which of the estimated 11 million people living there without permission should be deported, and which given the right to remain.
“If you've been here 25 years and you have got three kids and two grandkids, you've been paying taxes and obeying the law, you belong to a local church, I don't think we're going to separate you from your family, uproot you forcefully and kick you out,” he said during a debate on national security in Washington, DC.
Mr Gingrich's proposal was attacked by his rivals and risked enraging the conservative Tea Party movement, which was unforgiving when Governor Rick Perry of Texas said in a previous debate that anyone opposing subsidised education for the children of illegal immigrants was “heartless”.
Insisting he was “prepared to take the heat” for the plan, Mr Gingrich was criticised by Michelle Bachmann, a Minnesota congresswoman, who said: “We need to move away from magnets, not offer more”.
Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who remains the favourite to win the nomination, said the policy would “only encourage more people to do the same thing”, adding: “People respond to incentives”. » | Jon Swaine, Washington | Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
In a stinging rebuke of Mr Obama, who remained on the sidelines as the deal collapsed, and a rare intervention into Washington politics, Mr Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, said: "It's the chief executive's job to bring people together and to provide leadership. I don't see that happening."
He accused members of Congress of "political cowardice" for helping bring about a "disaster for the country" but the former Democrat and Republican who is now an Independent reserved his strongest words for Mr Obama.
"The executive branch must do more than submit a plan to a committee – and then step aside and hope the committee members take action. That's not how any CEO would run a business.
He added: "It's not how landmark pieces of legislation have gotten through Congress. Tough problems require determined, forceful and bold leadership – and real action."
Mr Bloomberg's words could fuel speculation about whether he could mount a third-party bid for the White House. The New York mayor has made no preliminary moves indicating he might take such a step and has repeatedly said that a "short, divorced, Jewish billionaire" would have no chance.
But some centrists disillusioned with Mr Obama and dismayed by what they see as a paucity of talent in the Republican field still hold out hope. » | Toby Harnden, Washington | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Reverend Mark Sharpe, 44, claims parishioners slashed his tyres, smeared excrement over the family car, strewed broken glass over his drive and even poisoned his pet dog.
Rev Sharpe said he and his wife Sara, 43, were forced to install CCTV cameras at the rectory to protect themselves and their four children after their post was tampered with and internet and phone connections were cut.
Eventually they moved away and yesterday Rev Sharpe began a claim of constructive dismissal against the Church of England.
The vicar, who was ordained in 2001, initially moved to the rural Teme Valley South Ministry in Worcestershire in January 2005, after resigning his previous job as a Navy chaplain.
He had left that post after claiming he was ''continually'' exposed to violent hardcore pornography and won an employment tribunal against the Ministry of Defence for sexual harassment in 2006. » | Nick Britten | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Greg Barker, the Climate Change minister, said that the American President had failed to fulfil the “huge degree of hope invested in the pledges that he made”.
Mr Barker said that Mr Obama now needs to “put his money where his mouth is”.
It is extremely unusual for a British government minister to launch such an outspoken attack on an American President. The intervention comes amid growing anger over the failure of world leaders to agree a new deal to reduce greenhouse gases.
Speaking at a conference, Mr Barker said: “We need Obama not just to make speeches, but he needs to put his money where his mouth is and invest political capital domestically.
“Unless the US joins with the rest of the world and shows real leadership on this green agenda, we are not going to get a global agreement.” » | Robert Winnett, Political Editor | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif, on the run in Libya as rebel forces closed in on him, offered a village tribesman one million euros to drive him safely over the border into Niger, it was claimed today.
The so-called playboy son of the deposed leader promised to pay the £860,000-odd sum for safe passage, so that he could one day return to reclaim control of Libya.
But the tribesman, Yussef Saleh al-Hotmani, instead drove Saif to a part of the desert where rebel gunmen were lying in wait.
Mr Hotmani said he had been offered the money - the equivalent of more than 1.6 million Lybian dinar - so Saif and four companions could escape capture and possible execution at the hands of troops loyal to the National Transitional Council.
But he said: 'I was offered millions but all the money they had would not buy a pebble of our sand or one drop of our martyrs' blood.'
It might have also been because Mr Hotmani had feared he would be killed after holding up his end of the bargain.
Mr Hotmani was speaking to reporters in Zintan, where Saif is being held at a secret location before the details of his prosecution are finalised. » | Daily Mail Reporter | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
In a status update on Facebook, the 20-year-old activist reiterated her commitment to defend freedom of expression and civil rights, asserting it was her undeniable personal choice to publish naked pictures of herself on Twitter.
"I stand by every letter I wrote and every photo I published and will say that I don't acknowledge any laws that limit freedoms or are discriminatory if I was called for investigation," she wrote.
The Egyptian Coalition of Islamic Law Graduates filed a suit against Aliaa Elmahdy and her boyfriend, the blogger Kareem Amer, under charges of "violating morals, inciting indecency and insulting Islam."
The coalition's Facebook page called for Elmahdy and Amer to be punished according to Islamic law.
"The old constitution and the new declarations of the new one says Islamic law is the source of governing, therefore we asked for Islamic law penalties to be executed on the two bloggers," Ahmed Yehia, coordinator of the coalition, told Bikyamasr.com.
"It is an insult to the revolution as these two persons who pretend to be one of the revolutionists and asking for sexual freedoms. They are giving the uprising a bad name," he continued.
"It is our duty to fight corruption and this is a corruption case, people who are trying to corrupt society with foreign and unacceptable customs like the sexual freedom they ask for," continued Yehia. » | Gianluca Mezzofiore | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Related here and here
HUDSON NEW YORK: Muslims now make up one-quarter of the population of Brussels, according to a new book published by the Catholic University of Leuven, the top French-language university in Belgium.
In real terms, the number of Muslims in Brussels -- where half of the number of Muslims in Belgium currently live --- has reached 300,000, which means that the self-styled "Capital of Europe" is now the most Islamic city in Europe.
In practical terms, Islam mobilizes more people in Brussels than do the Roman Catholic Church, political parties or even trade unions, according to "The Iris and the Crescent," a book that is the product of more than one year of field research and was released to the public on November 18.
The book's author, the sociologist Felice Dassetto, predicts that Muslims will comprise the majority of the population of Brussels by 2030.
In Belgium as a whole, Muslims comprise roughly 6% of the total population, one of the highest rates in Europe. This number is expected to rise to more than 10% by 2020.
According to Dassetto, Islam is becoming increasingly visible in Brussels: there are more and more mosques and minarets, more veiled women and more Muslim organizations.
The book also warns that ultraconservative elements within Islam are increasingly gaining ground in Brussels.
Of the many strands of Islam represented in Brussels, Salafism is apparently far and away the most popular. Salafism, the highly conservative pan-Islamic movement, seeks, among other objectives, to unite the Muslim world under the leadership of a single Caliph, or ruler, who would govern based on Islamic Sharia law.
The book also reveals that most Muslims in Brussels have an "us" versus "them" mindset, which hinders their integration into Belgian society. » | Soeren Kern | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Queen welcomes Turkish president in three-day state visit to Britain: Turkish President Abdullah Gul was welcomed to Britain by the Queen today at the start of a three-day state visit aimed at forging closer links with Turkey’s emerging economy. » | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
"Wir sind zutiefst beschämt"
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Die Abgeordneten im Bundestag sind sich einig: Nicht nur die Morde der Neonazis, auch die Fehler der Behörden müssen restlos aufgeklärt werden. Am Mittag verabschiedete das Plenum eine entsprechende Resolution. Die Forderung nach einem NPD-Verbotsverfahren fehlt in dem Papier allerdings.
Der Bundestag hat am Dienstag einstimmig eine Resolution zur Mordserie des Neonazi-Trios aus Zwickau beschlossen. Darin heißt es unter anderem: „Wir sind zutiefst beschämt, dass nach den ungeheuren Verbrechen des nationalsozialistischen Regimes rechtsextremistische Ideologie in unserem Land eine blutige Spur unvorstellbarer Mordtaten hervorbringt.“ Alle fünf Fraktionen sprechen den Angehörigen der Opfer der mutmaßlichen rechtsextremistischen Terrorgruppe ihr Mitgefühl aus. Der Bundestag erwarte, dass die Morde mit aller Konsequenz zügig aufgeklärt werden. „Das sind wir den Opfern, ihren Familien und Freunden schuldig.“
Die Abgeordneten verlangen in der Erklärung zudem, dass „die Strukturen der Sicherheitsbehörden auf Bundes- und Länderebene dringend überprüft werden“. » | dapd | Dienstag 22. November 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: German parliament expresses shame for neo-Nazi murders: The German parliament, in a rare sign of cross-party unity, has condemned a wave of neo-Nazi killings and the failure of police agencies to stop the murder spree in which nine immigrant shopkeepers were shot dead at close range. » | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German Parliament Condemns Neo-Nazi Terror: "We are deeply ashamed," the German parliament declared in a joint statement issued on Tuesday condemning the crimes committed by a neo-Nazi terror cell. Bundestag President Norbert Lammert apologized to the families of the victims, who may now receive compensation from the German government. » | dgs -- with wire reports | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Drei Amerikaner wurden gestern offenbar in Kairo verhaftet. Ihnen wird vorgeworfen, in der Nähe des Tahrir-Platzes Molotowcocktails auf Sicherheitskräfte geworfen zu haben, berichtet CNN. Das ägyptische Staatsfernsehen hat heute Bilder der Verhafteten gezeigt (siehe Video links). Angeblich seien einige der jungen Männer in der Universität von Kairo eingeschrieben.
Adel Saeed, Sprecher der ägyptischen Staatsanwaltschaft, sagte gegenüber «CNN»: «Als wir die drei jungen Männer festnahmen, waren sie dabei Molotow-Cocktails zu werfen. Sie trugen zudem keine Pässe auf sich.» Bisher seien sie von Polizei in Kairo vernommen worden. Ihr Fall werde noch heute von der Staatsanwaltschaft untersucht, so Saeed weiter. » | kpn, miw/sda | Dienstag 22. November 2011
Le Scaf a réservé sa réponse lundi soir. Le cabinet avait déjà proposé de démissionner il y a quelques mois, après des violences entre musulmans et chrétiens qui avaient fait plusieurs morts dans la communauté copte. Le Conseil suprême avait alors rejeté cette démission. Cette fois, la foule amassée place Tahrir au Caire exige que la junte militaire fixe un calendrier rapide de transfert du pouvoir aux civils. » | Par Tangi Salaün | mardi 22 novembre 2011
LE FIGARO: La colère est de retour sur la place Tahrir : REPORTAGE - Les jeunes Égyptiens veulent le départ de la junte qui a succédé à Moubarak. » | Par Adrien Jaulmes | lundi 21 novembre 2011
LE FIGARO: Égypte : l'armée ouvre le dialogue, la rue gronde » | Par lefigaro.fr | mardi 22 novembre 2011
A woman claiming to be the ex-wife of Colonel Gaddafi's captured son Saif al-Islam has emerged in Ukraine with extraordinary stories alleging domestic violence and womanising.
Nadia, a blue-eyed brunette claims to have met him when she worked as a stripper in a top Moscow nightclub, and says she is currently in hiding, fearing for her life.
She claimed that as she prepared for marriage to Saif, she had to fly to Paris to have an operation to 'restore' her virginity.'
'The doctor proved my innocence in the presence of Saif's aunt. Then I embraced Islam,' she added.
'I tried to have a normal family, but Saif wanted to live as a single man with lovers and orgies,' she said in a Ukrainian newspaper interview.
While there is no proof of her claim of have married and divorced Saif after two years, her claim appears to be taken seriously in Russia and Ukraine.
If she is who she says, she could be a key witness at his trial whether it is in Libya or under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
One aspect of his trial is likely to be his alleged friendship with a number of prominent British figures, including Prince Andrew, Tony Blair and Lord Mandelson. Read on and comment » | Will Stewart | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Democracy is at stake unless the huge and growing pay gulf between the very rich and ordinary workers can be narrowed.
Tottenham Jobcentre Plus is shut. Boards mask its charred frontage, and a notice screwed to the door announces that the building “has closed due to fire damage and will remain closed until further notice”. Clients are directed to a government website or to a “Temporary Service Arrangements fact sheet”. There is no guidance on how that document might be procured.
In a country with more than a million unemployed 16- to 24-year-olds, this centre, just down the road from where the riots of 2011 began, stands as a monument to dole-queue Britain. A young man with a toddler in his arms hovers outside. He has just arrived from Ghana with an HND in marketing, he says, and he needs a National Insurance number in order to find a job. Someone told him he should start here. They were wrong.
In the borough of Haringey, which includes Tottenham, the percentage of citizens claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance is 6.7, against a national average of 3.8. A contrasting portrait of a Britain whose Midas touch eludes sinking communities is revealed today as the independent High Pay Commission publishes the results of a year-long inquiry into corporate excess.
It reports that, in the past three decades, top executives have awarded themselves increases of more than 4,000 per cent, with the chief executive of Barclays earning £4,365,636, or 169 times more than the average worker. The chief executive of Lloyds, one of the banks bailed out by the taxpayer, gets £2,572,000, which represents a 3,141 per cent hike over the same period.
The top 0.1 per cent of British earners are not only as rich as Croesus, the Lydian king synonymous with great wealth. Most are, by virtue of that fortune, citizens of another country. This realm, dubbed “Richistan” by the American writer Robert Frank, is home to a global elite whose US branch earned more by 2004 than the entire take-home pay of Canada. » | Mary Riddell | Monday, November 21, 2011
My comment:
This is all going to end in communism if nothing serious and meaningful is done about it. Ordinary folk will NOT tolerate this forever more. History shows this to be so. The riots in London which shocked us all will look like a picnic in the park if things go on as they are. This is NOT capitalism! This is a malignant deviation from it. Capitalism isn't working; and nor is democracy. The end of all this will not be a pretty sight. It's five to midnight. The end is nigh. – © Mark
This comment also appears here.
A year-long inquiry by the High Pay Commission finds the pay of some top executives has soared by more than 4,000 per cent in the last 30 years, undermining productivity and ''damaging'' trust in British business.
The report criticised ''stratospheric'' pay increases which have seen wealth flow upwards to the top 0.1 per cent of people in the UK.
Average wages in the UK today are a ''modest'' £25,900 - up from £6,474 in 1980 - a three-fold increase.
The commission called for a number of reforms, including a ''radical simplification'' of executive pay, putting employees on remuneration committees, publishing the top 10 executive pay packages more widely, forcing companies to publish a pay ratio between the highest paid executive and the company median, and making firms reveal the total pay figure earned by executives.
The commission also said a new national body to monitor high pay should be established.
The report, Cheques With Balances: Why Tackling High Pay Is In The National Interest, showed that decisions to award huge pay packages are set by a ''closed shop'', shrouded in highly complex detail, effectively hidden from shareholders, staff and the public.
''Stratospheric increases in pay are damaging the UK economy - distorting markets, draining talent from key sectors and rewarding failure. Read on and comment » | Tuesday, November 22, 2011
My comment:
This is NOT capitalism! Capitalism rewards risk-takers. What risks do these executives take? They are in secure positions, and are rewarded with monopoly-figure salaries and bonuses even if they achieve little or nothing. This is unfair, corrosive, and a disincentive for others to take any risks or make any effort to better themselves. Faced with this scenario, why should anyone bother to make the effort to pull himself up by the bootstraps? This is a total disincentive to effort. And that's a very destructive situation for a capitalist economy to be in.
Further, it cannot be overemphasised that societies with such inequalities of wealth are a breeding ground for socialism, and even for communism. If you think that socialist/communist revolutions cannot happen in this day and age, and in this country, think again! Now do we really want to continue with this breeding ground for such a scenario? I think not. It is therefore high time to turn the screws on these obscene, vulgar fat cats. Tax them, until the pips squeak if necessary. The alternative scenario might well not be a pretty sight. – © Mark
This comment also appears here.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Now, a group of women in Israel have also stripped off in a show of solidarity.
Inspired by 20-year-old Aliaa Elmahdy's bold move, the 40 Israelis posed naked for a 'copycat' shot - holding a banner to cover their modesty.
The sign read 'Homage to Aliaa El Mahdi. Sisters in Israel' with the slogan 'Love without Limits', written in Arabic and Hebrew.
Led by 28-year-old Or Templar, who set up a group on a social networking website inviting women to join her, the girls put their political differences aside to express their support.
On the Facebook group, Templar wrote: 'Girls, let's give the world a good reason to see the unique beauty of Israeli women.
'Regardless of whether they are Jewish, Arab, straight or lesbian – because here, as of now, it doesn't matter.
'Let us show the doubters that our international discourse doesn't depend on governments.'
Templar's plan came as a response to Elmahdy, who posted the image of herself wearing only stockings and red flat shoes on her blog last week. Read on and comment » | Maysa Rawi | Monday, November 21, 2011
Related »
Bradley Manning, the US soldier who has been held in confinement for the past 18 months on suspicion of having leaked a huge trove of state secrets to WikiLeaks, is to go before a military panel on 16 December at the start of the most high-profile prosecution of a whistleblower in a generation.
The proceedings, at Fort Meade in Maryland, are expected to last five days, and will be the first opportunity for prosecuting officers and Manning's defence team to present their cases. It is known as an Article 32 hearing, and although it is preliminary, both sides will be able to call and cross-examine witnesses.
Since he was arrested in Iraq in May 2010, Manning has become a cause célèbre for anti-war and free information advocates in America and around the world. His support network will be calling a rally outside the Article 32 hearing when it opens next month. » | Ed Pilkington in New York | Monday, November 21, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Bahrain has admitted that "excessive force" was used during a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters earlier this year that left 24 people dead, a government statement said.
"Regrettably, there have been instances of excessive force and mistreatment of detainees," said the statement, issued two days ahead of a report by an inquiry panel commissioned by King Hamad to probe alleged government misconduct during the February-March crackdown on Shiite-led protests.
Authorities say 24 people, including four policemen, were killed in a month of unrest, while the Shiite-led opposition puts the death toll at 30. Hundreds more were injured.
The statement said authorities have begun prosecuting 20 officers involved in the crackdown, adding that more steps will be taken.
"We cannot condone mistreatment and abuses by our officials. There will be no impunity. All those responsible for abuses will be held accountable," the Bahraini government statement said. » | Monday, November 21, 2011
"You can remain in power with tanks and cannons only up to a certain point. The day will come when you'll also leave," Mr Erdogan told a meeting in Istanbul.
Meanwhile reports said two buses carrying Turkish pilgrims came under attack near the Syrian city of Homs as at least four more people were killed on Monday in a regime crackdown in the same flashpoint region.
Russia for its part accused the West of provocative behaviour in the Syrian crisis, saying Western countries were telling the opposition to forget dialogue with the embattled president. » | Monday, November 21, 2011
JIHAD WATCH: New York Jihad bomb plotter’s website: “True Islam: The Way of all the Prophets” » | Posted by Robert | Monday, November 21, 2011
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