Qatar Royal Family Buys Greek Island of Oxia for Knockdown €5m
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Qatar's royal family has continued its worldwide spending spree with the purchase of a stunning Greek island.

The reported sale comes a month after the Qatari royals snapped up another picturesque slice of the Mediterranean – a portfolio of hotels on Sardinia's exclusive Costa Smeralda.

The 1,236-acre uninhabited island of Oxia in the Ionian Sea was bought for €5m (£4.1m). Previously owned by a Greek-Australian family, it had been on the market for close to €7m.

But the Qataris were apparently able to drive a hard bargain, arguing for a lower sale price because of increased property taxes recently introduced by the Greek government.

Oxia lies close to the fabled island of Ithaca, reputedly the home of Odysseus, the hero of Homer's Odyssey.

Part of it is protected as a nature reserve but the rest is open to development.

A spokesman for Qatar Holding, the sovereign wealth fund of the gas-rich state, declined to comment on the sale.

According to Vladi Private Islands, a specialist property company, Oxia was one of the most desirable Greek islands on the market. Read on and comment » | Nick Squires, in Rome | Wednesday, April 25, 2012

ARABIAN GAZETTE: Greek island bought off by Qatari royal family member – report » | Posted by Moign Khawaja in Arabian Biz! | Sunday, April 22, 2012

My comment:

Islam continues its relentless push westwards. It won't be long now before the whole world belongs to the Ummah. – © Mark

This comment also appears here.

Newt Gingrich All But Concedes His Campaign Is Over
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: CONCORD, N.C. — Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich all but conceded Wednesday that his White House campaign is over.

He said he expects Mitt Romney will be the nominee and called on the party to unite behind the former Massachusetts governor.

“You have to at some point be honest about what’s happening in the real world as opposed to what you would like to have happened,” Gingrich told supporters at a suburban Charlotte, N.C. restaurant the morning after Romney swept primary contests in five states.

“Gov. Romney had a very good day yesterday. You have to give him some credit. He’s worked for six years. He put together a big machine ... I think I would obviously be a better candidate.”

But Gingrich said GOP voters didn’t agree, and that he would begin working to unite the party. » | Mitch Weiss | Associated Press | Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Tunisie: Le péril salafiste, un fanatisme en marche
JOL PRESS: Le 22 avril, à Kélibia, en Tunisie, des Salafistes ont envahi un centre culturel où le penseur Youssef Seddik devait animer une conférence, l’empêchant ainsi de présenter l’idée selon laquelle il est « légitime pour tout musulman de relire et d'interpréter le Coran d’un point de vue personnel ». Un incident qui renvoie à l'inquiétante montée des mouvances fondamentalistes dans le pays.

En Tunisie, s'attaquer aux extrémistes s’avère dangereux et risqué : peu osent se frotter aux islamistes radicaux, même sous l’uniforme des forces de l’ordre. Ce 23 avril, malgré les nombreux appels au secours lancés par les membres de l’AACK, la police a choisi de ne pas intervenir. Les quelque représentants de l’autorité sur les lieux, ont observé la scène à distance, laissant le champ libre aux Salafistes de profaner le drapeau national. Pendant une semaine, dans les mosquées et sur les réseaux sociaux, les religieux Salafistes ont multiplié les incitations à la haine. Des appels lancés sous le nez des autorités publiques.

Vers un retour à « l’Islam des origines »

La présence de Salafistes en Tunisie ne date pas d’hier. La mouvance fondamentaliste s’est installée progressivement dans le paysage tunisien depuis les années 1970. Toutefois, ces partisans d’un retour à « l’Islam des origines », fondé sur le Coran et la Sunna, évoluaient dans l’ombre. Ils ont en revanche su profiter de la chute du régime de Ben Ali, qui contrôlait les lieux de culte, pour rallier 400 mosquées à la cause salafiste, sur les 5 000 que compte le pays. Depuis, ils cherchent à imposer la loi islamique, sur l'ensemble du territoire. » | Par Anaïs Leleux | mercredi 25 avril 2012

Diskriminierung: Und wer setzt sich für die Nudisten ein?
WELT ONLINE: Amnesty International beklagt, Muslime würden europaweit diskriminiert. Allerdings spricht der Augenschein gegen diese Beobachtung. Insofern sollte man sich auch um andere Benachteiligte kümmern.

Wenn man einem soeben bekannt gewordenen Bericht von Amnesty International glauben darf, steht es schlecht um die Religionsfreiheit in Europa, vor allem Muslime würden diskriminiert. Die Benachteiligungen, sagt Amnesty, reichen vom Bildungssystem bis hinein in das Arbeitsleben, wo muslimische Frauen wegen ihrer Kleidung abgewiesen würden.

Nun spricht der Augenschein eher gegen als für diese Beobachtung. Nicht nur in türkischen Supermärkten, auch in Behörden, Geschäften und anderen Dienstleistungsorten sieht man immer öfter Mitarbeiterinnen mit Kopftuch, über deren Präsenz sich niemand aufregt oder beschwert. » | Von Henryk M. Broder | Mittwoch, 25. April 2012

Verwandt »

Anders Behring Breivik: Psychiatric Report Was Based on Evil Fabrications

THE GUARDIAN: Norwegian gunman says initial report, which declared him insane, was intended to portray him as irrational

Anders Behring Breivik has said a psychiatric report that declared him insane was based on "evil fabrications" and meant to portray him as irrational and unintelligent.

"It is not me who is described in that report," the rightwing extremist, who admits killing 77 people in bombing and shooting attacks on 22 July 2011, said in court.

A second psychiatric examination found Breivik sane. The panel of five judges trying Breivik on terror charges for the attacks will consider both reports.

Breivik admits to the bombing of a government district in Oslo that killed eight people and subsequent shootings at a Labour party youth camp that left 69 people dead, most of them teenagers. He claims the attacks were "necessary" and that the victims had betrayed Norway by embracing immigration.

If found guilty, Breivik would face 21 years in prison, though he can be held longer if deemed a danger to society. If declared insane, he would be committed to compulsory psychiatric care.

After listening to testimony describing the horrific injuries of the bombing victims, Breivik showed no remorse, saying if anyone should apologise it was the governing Labour party.

He said he had hoped it would change its policy on immigration after his attacks.

"But instead they continue in the same direction, so the grounds for struggle are unfortunately even more relevant now than before 22 July," Breivik said. » | Associated Press in Oslo | Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Related »

Hessen wird zum Zentrum radikaler Salafisten
WELT ONLINE: In Hessen tummelt sich eine stetig wachsende Szene radikaler Islamisten. Prominenter Vertreter ist Mohamed Mahmoud, der ganz offen gegen Deutschland hetzt. Den Behörden sind wohl die Hände gebunden.

"Bei Allah, wir werden Rom erobern! Und dann wird der Petersplatz der Platz sein, um Allahs Strafen umzusetzen!", sagt der Mann mit der Flecktarn-Weste und der traditionell paschtunischen Wollmütze.

"Erklärt euren Kindern, was Dschihad ist! Erzählt ihnen von Guantánamo, von Gaza, erzählt ihnen das! Damit sie mit diesem Hass gegen die Kuffar (Ungläubigen) aufwachsen!", schärft der etwas bullige Prediger mit dem schulterlangen, lockigen Haaren seiner Zuhörerschaft ein.

Man könnte glauben, Predigten wie diese stammen aus den Bergen Afghanistans. Doch der Mann, der sie hält, lebt mitten in Deutschland, genauer im hessischen Odenwald [Englisch]. Er heißt Mohamed Mahmoud, nennt sich selbst "Abu Usama al-Gharib". Sicherheitsbehörden sehen in dem 26-jährigen Österreicher einen geistigen Brandstifter, einen Wegbereiter für islamistischen Terror. Mahmoud predigt einen radikalen Islam, verherrlicht den Dschihad gegen "Ungläubige" und nennt Al-Qaida-Gründer Osama Bin Laden unverhohlen einen Helden. » | Von Florian Flade | Mittwoch, 25. April 2012

Wulffs Satz
WELT ONLINE: Der Islam gehört zu Deutschland? Keineswegs. Das Recht, Glaubensrichtungen und Überzeugungen zu leben, heißt noch lange nicht, dass sie unsere Vorstellung von Gesellschaft prägen

Zu Helmut Schmidt gehört die Zigarette, zu Italien die Pasta, zu Berlin gehört die Spree, Adam zu Eva und das Amen zur Kirche. So bezeichnen wir umgangssprachlich einen selbstverständlichen, fast sprichwörtlichen Zusammenhang von Dingen oder Personen. Solchen Selbstverständlichkeiten hat Christian Wulff den Satz "Der Islam gehört zu Deutschland" hinzugefügt und ihn als bedeutendste Erinnerung an seine kurze Amtszeit hinterlassen. Als er zum 20. Jahrestag der deutschen Einheit die Deutschen mit dieser Behauptung überraschte, löste er noch eine heftige Diskussion aus. Inzwischen scheint es, als hätte die stete Wiederholung diesem Satz, der als Wulffs größtes Verdienst gilt, eine bedingungslose, gesetzeskräftige Autorität verliehen.

Das Fragwürdige des Satzes liegt in seiner gleichzeitigen Eindeutigkeit und Unschärfe. Er duldet keinen Widerspruch. Der Islam gehört zu Deutschland. Punkt, Schluss. Er erlaubt nicht einmal eine Nachfrage. Auch die Scharia, die dem Islam Inhalt und Gestalt gibt? Und welche Glaubensrichtung, schiitisch, sunnitisch, alevitisch, ismailitisch, ahmadiyyadisch, salafitisch auch? Gehören auch die innerislamischen Glaubenskämpfe zu Deutschland? Auch die Benachteiligung der Frauen? Ehe dieser Satz so unkommentiert in den Boden des deutschen Grundgesetzes gerammt wird, sollte wenigstens für alle deutschen Staatsbürger hinreichend erklärt werden, welche Konsequenzen er nach sich zieht und welche Kollisionen mit anderen Selbstverständlichkeiten, die seit der Aufklärung zu Deutschland gehören, unausweichlich wären. » | Von Monika Maron | Dienstag, 24. April 2012

WELT ONLINE: Warum der Islam nicht zu Deutschland gehört » | Von Monika Maron | Montag, 23. April 2012

Die Autorin lebt als Schriftstellerin in Berlin

Islamic Groups Offer Reward for Arrests for Crimes Committed in Muslim Garb
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: A recent wave of bank holdups and a homicide committed by men dressed as Muslim women has prompted the Philadelphia-area Islamic community to offer a $20,000 reward for tips that lead to the arrest and conviction of the suspects.

The Majlis Ash Shura, an organization representing the membership of 71 masajids and congregations in the Philadelphia area, was joined by elected officials at a news conference Tuesday at City Hall.

The message from the District Attorney’s Office and the Islamic community: zero tolerance.

“Philadelphia is a unique city in that Islam is not new here,” said Aliya Khabir, a public relations official representing the national United Muslim Masajid. “It’s up to us to set the tone for how this is addressed.”

Five bank robberies

Since December, there have been at least five bank robberies in Philadelphia in which the suspects wore Muslim clothing. The most recent holdups include a robbery at the Wells Fargo Bank in the 700 block of Adams Avenue and the Sovereign Bank in the 8300 block of Stenton Avenue. On April 18, a suspect dressed in Muslim garb entered an Upper Darby barber shop and fatally shot Michael Turner, 35. Sharif Wynn, 27, of Philadelphia has been arrested. » | Laura Cofsky | Inquirer Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Mitt Romney Sweeps to Victory Vowing End to Obama Presidency

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mitt Romney swept to five primary victories tonight, effectively ending the Republican nomination process and turning with full force to the general election as he declared the "beginning the of the end" of the Obama presidency.

Speaking before a few hundred cheering supporters in New Hampshire, the swing state where he launched his campaign nearly a year ago, Mr Romney offered himself as a rescuer of the US economy and its workers and vowed that "a better America begins tonight".

"To all of the thousands of good and decent Americans I’ve met who want nothing more than a better chance, a fighting chance, to all of you, I have a simple message: Hold on a little longer," he said.

The speech appeared to draw much of its inspiration from Ronald Reagan, offering both a vision of American optimism while at the same time asking voters to consider President Barack Obama's impact on their own lives.

While running to unseat Jimmy Carter in 1980, Reagan asked simply: "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" Tonight, Mr Romney asked: "What do we have to show for three and a half years of President Obama?"

Accusing Mr Obama of presiding over high unemployment and stagnant economic growth, the former Massachusetts governor adopted some of his harshest rhetoric yet, saying: "Because he has failed, he will run a campaign of diversions, distractions, and distortions." » | Peter Foster in Manchester, New Hampshire and Raf Sanchez in Washington | Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Mass-killer Breivik Rails at 'Racist' Slur on Sanity

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: NORWEGIAN self-confessed mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik has told a court that questioning his mental health amounted to ''racism'' aimed at delegitimising his extreme anti-Islamic views.

Breivik, who confessed to killing 77 people last year in shooting and bombing attacks, said had he been a ''bearded jihadist'', his mental health would not be questioned.

''If I had been a bearded jihadist, there would not have been a forensic psychiatric report at all,'' he said. ''But since I am a militant nationalist, I am subjected to gross racism. They are trying to delegitimise everything I stand for.''

Breivik, 33, maintains he is sane and wants to be either acquitted or handed the death penalty for killing eight people in a bombing attack outside government headquarters in Oslo and shooting dead 69 in a rampage on an island outside the capital.

Breivik said he targeted the youth summer camp run by the ruling Labour Party on Utoya island because of its pro-immigration policies, which he said are a threat to Norway. » | Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Related »

Egypt Comedian Found Guilty of Offending Islam
USA TODAY: CAIRO — An Egyptian court on Tuesday upheld a conviction against one of the Arab world's most famous comedians, sentencing him to jail for offending Islam in some of his most popular films.

The case against Adel Imam and others like it have raised concerns among some Egyptians that ultraconservative Muslims who made gains in recent elections after Hosni Mubarak's ouster last year are trying to foist their religious views on the entire country. Critics say the trend threatens to curb Egypt's vibrant film industry and freedom of speech.

Imam was sentenced to three months in jail and fined around $170 for insulting Islam in roles he played in movies such as "The Terrorist", in which he acted the role of a wanted terrorist who found refuge with a middle class, moderate family, and the film "Terrorism and Kabab. "

The actor was also found guilty for his 2007 role in "Morgan Ahmed Morgan," in which Imam played a corrupt businessman who tries to buy a university diploma. The film included a scene parodying bearded Muslim men wearing traditional Islamic clothing. » | AP | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

L’extrême droite reste bien présente sur le Vieux Continent

LA-CROIX.COM: Représentés dans plusieurs parlements, les partis d’extrême droite en Europe ne participent à aucun gouvernement. / Leur évolution dépend des contextes nationaux, mais ils partagent un même rejet de l’islam et de l’Union européenne.

Plusieurs partis d’extrême droite en Europe ont déjà obtenu, lors de scrutins nationaux, des scores équivalents, voire supérieurs, à celui du Front national en France.

C’est le cas de l’Union démocratique du centre (UDC), l’initiateur d’un référendum contre la construction de minarets en Suisse, en 2009. Ayant remporté 26,6 % des voix aux législatives de décembre dernier, cette formation populiste volontiers xénophobe occupe plus du quart des sièges du Conseil national, le parlement.

Au sein de l’Union européenne (UE) au sens strict, quatre formations d’extrême droite ont obtenu un résultat dépassant 15 % lors des dernières législatives : en Autriche, Finlande, Hongrie et aux Pays-Bas.

Si aujourd’hui aucun gouvernement en Europe ne compte de membre d’un parti d’extrême droite ni ne dépend du soutien de celui-ci, ce ne fut pas toujours le cas ces dix dernières années.

De 2001 à 2011, le Parti populaire danois a toujours été un partenaire de coalition pour les équipes ministérielles de droite. Au Pays-Bas, en vertu d’un accord, le Parti pour la liberté de Geert Wilders apportait son soutien au gouvernement sans y participer, jusqu’à ce qu’il refuse de cautionner sa politique d’austérité et entraîne sa démission, lundi 23 avril.

En Grèce, s’opposant eux aussi à des mesures d’austérité, les quatre ministres de l’Alerte populaire orthodoxe ont démissionné en février dernier du gouvernement d’union nationale. REJET DE L’IMMIGRATION MUSULMANE ET DE LA MONDIALISATION » | Marianne Meunier | mardi 24 avril 2012

Breivik Hears Witnesses Recall Turmoil After Blast

SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCER: OSLO, Norway (AP) — After testifying for five days, Anders Behring Breivik listened silently Tuesday as others described the mayhem caused by his bombing of Oslo's government district, a scene one witness described as a "war zone."

Forensic experts explained the massive injuries to four of the eight victims killed by the 950-kg (2,100-pound) fertilizer bomb on July 22. Breivik admits to the bombing and a subsequent shooting massacre at a Labor Party youth camp that left 69 people dead, most of them teenagers.

"More than 100 body parts were found in the government district," said Ole Morten Stoerseth, a police official tasked with identifying the blast victims.

Relatives of those killed sobbed and embraced during the autopsy presentations. Pictures of the victims' injuries were not shown in court but distributed to the judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers as well as the psychiatrists who are examining Breivik during the trial.

Breivik claims the attacks were "necessary" and that the victims had betrayed Norway by embracing immigration.

As he has for most of the trial, now in its seventh day, the far-right fanatic remained mostly expressionless during the hearing Tuesday. But he smiled when a security guard, who was inside the government high-rise when the bomb exploded, called Breivik's motive for the attacks "totally absurd." » | Karl Ritter, Associated Press | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Related »

Hilarious George Galloway Interview: Trapped!

George Galloway Speaks to 3 Anti-burqa Callers!
George Galloway speaks to a trio of Burqa hating callers (on the recent ban of wearing the burqa in public in France), each one with their own take on the Islamic women's dress.

1st caller thinks that the Burqa is intimidating to him. The caller challenges Galloway if he thinks if Nikolas Sarkozy and Bernard Kouchner. Galloway believes the former is a racist and the latter not. He justifies the calling a Sarko as a racist because of his policies on the Roma (gypsy) people. Double standards here. The caller is fine with the burqa ban but doesn't like the rounding up of the Roma people. The caller invokes Saudi Arabia (several times) regarding under age marriages and polygamy (None of his business say Galloway).

2nd caller claims that Muslim husbands force their Muslim wives to wear the burqa without citing a credible source. She also invokes the Saudi Arabia agreement like with the previous caller. Galloway points out that all societies are male dominated.

3rd caller apparently has no clue about how many Muslim women in the UK actually wear the burqa. Galloway states that 99% of Muslim women in the UK do not cover their faces.

Originally broadcasted on 17th September 2010.

Anders Behring Breivik On Trial: A Roundup of Global Opinion
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Anders Behring Breivik is standing trial for the killing of 77 people in dual terror attacks last summer in Norway. The trial has garnered international attention due to the scale of those attacks, Mr. Breivik's unusual manifesto, and the deliberations over his sanity. Here is a roundup of opinions on the trial and the attention it has received from Norway, Europe, Australia, and the US. » | Whitney Eulich, Staff Writer | Undated

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Muslim Women in India Seek Gender Equality in Marriage
THE NEW YORK TIMES: NEW DELHI — Three years ago, Salma Khatun’s husband divorced her in a fit of rage after a quarrel, pronouncing what is known as the triple talaq in the presence of witnesses. The triple talaq is a formula of repudiation. The first two times it is pronounced, it can be revoked, but the third time it makes a divorce binding, according to some interpretations of Islamic law.

Although Ms. Khatun’s husband repented the next morning, the head cleric of their mosque in Delhi insisted that the divorce was binding. According to his reading of Islamic law, Ms. Khatun would need to marry another man, consummate the marriage and then divorce before she could remarry her husband.

For more than a decade, Muslim women’s organizations in India have been fighting for changes in the body of Islamic law that governs marriage, divorce and the property rights of women. But as the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board held its annual convention in Mumbai last week, the battle lines had never been so starkly drawn. Although the Indian Constitution guarantees equal rights to all citizens irrespective of their religion, Muslims are governed by the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937. Attempts to apply a common civil code have often been viewed as interference in the practices of India’s largest religious minority. » | Nilanjana S. Roy | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

In Breivik's "War Zone" Luton, Fear - and Scorn
REUTERS.COM: Shouting taunts and trading expletives, a Muslim teenager and the leader of Britain's most prominent anti-Islam nationalist group are seconds from a fight.

"Why are you talking to this racist?" the youth asks a reporter walking with English Defense League leader Stephen Lennon in Luton, the British town cited as "war zone" with Islam by Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik at his trial.

As a group of Muslim youngsters surrounds Lennon, another starts a heated discussion with him about Islamic religious law.

Onlookers, fearful of trouble, peer out from down-at-heel shops in this small city in rural Bedfordshire, 35 miles north of London, where the industries that once drew in large numbers of Asian immigrant workers have seen better days.

The goading turns out to be bluster and Lennon leaves, unscathed but with abuse ringing in his ears. "This is what I've been telling you about," he said as he walked off, arguing there were parts of Luton where non-Muslims could no longer venture.

Breivik, justifying killing 77 people as part of a war to halt a Muslim takeover in Europe, has cited Luton, which he does not appear to have visited despite travelling to London some years ago, as a place of strife, fear and "Muslim no-go areas".

"Look at places like Luton, or other war-like zones in Europe," he said during his trial in Oslo last week. "Other militants and I in Europe are trying to prevent a civil war in Europe which would cause many more deaths."

While Lennon, who founded the EDL in the town three years ago, has been at pains to distance himself from the confessed killer - he called Breivik a "nutter" - he does recognize his description of Luton, even if others in the city do not.

"Luton is a blueprint for every other town in the country if people don't wake up," said the 29-year-old Lennon, who also calls himself Tommy Robinson, the name of a once feared leader of hooligan followers of the local soccer team Luton Town.

"People are just fed up," he said, warning that an attack similar to the Breivik killings in Britain was becoming likely. » | Michael Holden | Reuters | Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Alastair Macdonald | Monday, April 23, 2012

THE GUARDIAN: Five arrested in Luton anti-terror raids: Police take four men in their 20s and one aged 30 to central London for questioning in 'intelligence-led' operation » | Press Association | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Related »

Ann Romney: ‘I Know What It’s Like to Struggle’

Muslims in Europe Dogged by Bias, Amnesty Says
CNN: Muslims in Europe face discrimination in education, employment and religious freedom, an Amnesty International report said Tuesday.

"Muslim women are being denied jobs and girls prevented from attending regular classes just because they wear traditional forms of dress, such as the headscarf. Men can be dismissed for wearing beards associated with Islam," said Marco Perolini, Amnesty International's expert on discrimination. "Rather than countering these prejudices, political parties and public officials are all too often pandering to them in their quest for votes."

The report, titled "Choice and Prejudice: Discrimination Against Muslims in Europe," details the problem, with a focus on Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland.

Amnesty International raised the issue, as it has done before, of restrictions "on the establishment of places of worship and prohibitions on full-face veils."

The report said employers have been permitted "to discriminate on the grounds that religious or cultural symbols will jar with clients or colleagues or that a clash exists with a company's corporate image or its 'neutrality.'

"Wearing religious and cultural symbols and dress is part of the right of freedom of expression. It is part of the right to freedom of religion or belief -- and these rights must be enjoyed by all faiths equally." Perolini said. » | CNN Wire Staff | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Muslims discriminated against for demonstrating their faith » | Monday, April 23, 2012

Lien en relation avec cet article »

French Rivals Scramble to Seduce Le Pen Voters
REUTERS.COM: France's presidential rivals scrambled on Tuesday to seduce nearly a fifth of the electorate that voted for far right anti-immigration crusader Marine Le Pen, voicing sympathy for voters' distress in the economic crisis.

Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, fighting for his political life after being beaten into second place in Sunday's first round, hammered away at Le Pen's themes of fear of immigration, insecurity and industrial decline at public rallies and in media interviews.

"I want to talk to the little people, to the foot soldiers, to people in the countryside, to pensioners," Sarkozy told a public rally, saying the National Front leader had drawn a "crisis vote" in "the part of France that is suffering".

"You are feeling afraid," he said. "I have heard you."

Socialist challenger Francois Hollande, who topped Sunday's vote and is favorite to win a May 6 runoff, said in an interview with left-wing daily Liberation: "It's up to me to convince the voters of the National Front." » | Alexandria Sage and Yann Le Guernigou | PARIS | Writing by Paul Taylor; Editing by Myra MacDonald | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Related »

Italian Convert to Islam Arrested on Terror Charges
JTA: ROME – An Italian convert to Islam has been arrested for suspected links to terrorism, and was connected to a suspect who planned to bomb Milan's main synagogue.

The man, identified as 28-year-old Andrea Campione, who worked in a picture frame factory, was arrested in the Adriatic seacoast town of Pesaro on Monday, during an anti-terrorism crackdown in several cities.

Authorities said he was associated with Mohamed Jarmoune, a Moroccan man arrested last month on suspicion of plotting an attack on Milan’s main synagogue. » | JTA | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

David Cameron's Fightback Hit by Poll Slump

THE GUARDIAN: Conservatives eight points adrift in new Guardian/ICM poll as prime minister admits, 'I want us to raise our game'

The scale of the challenge facing David Cameron as he began a political fightback has been laid bare by a new Guardian/ICM poll showing Labour has leapt into an eight-point lead.

In the wake of a series of government mishaps since the budget, the poll showed the Conservatives down six points in a month from 39% to 33% while Labour had risen from 36% to 41%, giving the party its best poll lead for five years. The slump overturned what had appeared to be a stable Tory three-point lead ahead of the budget. The Lib Dems remain on 15%.

The Conservative slide is the biggest seen in the monthly Guardian/ICM series since the autumn of 2008, when the onset of the credit crunch briefly produced very volatile political conditions.

The sudden Tory collapse also appeared to be tarnishing Boris Johnson's chances of being elected as London mayor, with a separate YouGov poll showing Johnson with a two-point lead, down from his previous steady six-point advantage over Ken Livingstone. » | Tom Clark and Patrick Wintour | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Related »

Amnesty dénonce les discriminations envers les musulmans

lePARISIEN.fr: En pleine campagne de l'entre deux tours, où Nicolas Sarkozy dispute à Marine Le Pen certains de ses thèmes favoris sur l'immigration et l'islam, le rapport annuel d'Amnesty International vient dénoncer les discriminations pratiquées par plusieurs gouvernements européens. Se concentrant dans ce bilan sur la France, la Belgique, les Pays-Bas, l'Espagne et la Suisse, Amnesty International appelle leurs gouvernements «à faire plus pour s'en prendre aux stéréotypes négatifs (...) contre les musulmans, qui attisent les discriminations, essentiellement dans l'éducation et le monde du travail».

«Plutôt que de riposter à ces préjugés, les partis politiques» les «encouragent bassement dans leur quête de voix électorales», estime Marco Perolini, pour Amnesty. «Des femmes musulmanes se voient refuser des emplois et des jeunes filles sont empêchées d'aller en classe simplement parce qu'elles portent des vêtements traditionnels comme le foulard", a-t-il relevé. "Des hommes peuvent être licenciés pour porter des barbes associées à l'islam.» » | LeParisien.fr | mardi 24 avril 2012

Spanish Royalty in Crisis after King's Antics

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The Spanish royal family is in the middle of its worst crisis in years following a series of scandals, including the revelation that King Juan Carlos went on an extravagant trip to Africa despite the recession. Many people in Spain are now asking tough questions about the role of the monarchy.

How does a king who has gone astray apologize to his people? With a contrite expression on the television news and an ostentatious show of humility. "I'm sorry. I was wrong and it won't happen again," the 74-year-old Juan Carlos assured Spaniards in a brief televised statement last Wednesday, looking like a boy whose mother had just caught him committing a prank.

"An unprecedented gesture," a columnist with the Madrid daily El País called the royal words. The people had learned that the king had been hunting elephants in Botswana, because he had broken his hip at night and had to be flown home for surgery. As Spanish citizens learned from the papers, he had reportedly been the guest of a Saudi Arabian magnate, and was accompanied by a German woman, a member of the aristocracy who is said to be very close to him.

The photos of the big game hunter on cover pages, holding his gun as he stood in front of a gray corpse and an ivory hunting trophy, even annoyed Spain's royalists. He was on a luxury safari (at an estimated cost of more than €40,000, or $52,000) at precisely a time when the financial markets are demanding higher and higher risk premiums on Spanish government bonds. It's also a time at which conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy feels compelled to beef up his €27 billion austerity package with another €10 billion in budget cuts to education and healthcare. To make matters worse, the Spanish oil company Repsol is effectively being expropriated in Argentina. In other words, while their head of state was enjoying himself in Africa, his subjects were experiencing one of the worst weeks of the year.

The king's apology represents a sea change. Shouldn't such a weak man have to abdicate? How will the monarchy continue? These are questions that are being discussed in blogs and on talk shows, while newspaper columnists are publicly debating an institution that was considered sacrosanct until recently. » | Helene Zuber | Monday, April 23, 2012

Venezuela: Chávez dementiert Gerüchte über seinen Tod

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Totgesagte leben länger: In einem Telefoninterview hat sich Venezuelas Präsident Chávez zu Wort gemeldet - und damit die Gerüchte über seinen Tod zerstreut. Sogar seine Mutter machte sich schon Sorgen.

Hamburg - Neun Tage lang hat der an Krebs erkrankte venezolanische Präsident Hugo Chávez kein direktes Lebenszeichen von sich gegeben - prompt machten Gerüchte über seinen Tod die Runde. Am Montag meldete er sich mit fester Stimme per Telefon im staatlichen Fernsehen zu Wort. "Es scheint, als ob wir uns an solche Spekulationen gewöhnen müssen", sagte Chávez. » | vks/Reuters/dpa | Dienstag, 24. April 2012

Trial Sharpens Focus on Breivik's Mental State
ASSOCIATED PRESS: OSLO, Norway (AP) — Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik vehemently defended his sanity after a forensic panel found flaws in a psychiatric report that declared him sane in the eyes of the law.

As the trial for Breivik's bomb-and-shooting rampage that killed 77 people entered its second week, the far-right fanatic told a court that he was the victim of a "racist" plot to discredit his ideology. He said no one would have questioned his sanity if he were a "bearded jihadist."

"I know I'm at risk of ending up at an insane asylum, and I'm going to do what I can to avoid that," Breivik said.

Two psychiatric examinations conducted before the trial reached opposite conclusions on whether Breivik is psychotic — the key issue to be resolved during the trial, since the 33-year-old Norwegian had admitted to the deadly attacks.

But the second of those reports, which found him sane, has not yet been approved by the Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine. On Monday, the panel highlighted several shortcomings in that assessment, and requested additional information from the two psychiatrists who wrote it.

In particular, the forensic board said it could not be established whether Breivik had adjusted his behavior during the examination as part of a strategy to be declared mentally competent.

Paal Groendahl, a forensic psychologist who is not involved with the case but has followed the trial in court, said the panel's queries underscore the difficulty in assessing Breivik's state of mind.

"I don't think it's any closer to being resolved," he said. » | Julia Gronnevet | Associated Press | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

THE GUARDIAN: Anders Behring Breivik says questions over sanity part of plot to discredit him: Killer tells court he would do anything to avoid being sent to a mental hospital, and gives fresh details of shootings » | Luke Harding and agencies in Oslo | Monday, April 23, 2012

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Breivik trial: Live updates »

Related »

Egypt: On Virginity Testing
Feb 26 [2012] - The military judge in charge of the 'virginity tests' case postpones the trial against the accused military personnel once again. Samira Ibrahim who was one of seven women that suffered the humiliating checks after being detained in Tahrir on in March 2011, turned up to the military tribunal chanting against military rule. Rasha Abdel Rahman, another one of the women who suffered virginity checks during detention, testified in the case. It is expected that when the trial resumes on March 11th a final verdict will be given.

Video by Simon Hanna for Ahram Online

In Egypt Race, Battle Is Joined on Islam’s Role
THE NEW YORK TIMES: CAIRO — He has argued for barring women and non-Muslims from Egypt’s presidency on the basis of Islamic law, or Shariah. He has called for a council of Muslim scholars to advise Parliament. He has a track record of inflammatory statements about Israel, including repeatedly calling its citizens “killers and vampires.”

Mohamed Morsi is also a leading candidate to become the country’s next president.

Mr. Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s dominant Islamist group, declared last week that his party platform amounted to a distillation of Islam itself.

“This is the old ‘Islam is the solution’ platform,” he said, recalling the group’s traditional slogan in his first television interview as a candidate. “It has been developed and crystallized so that God could bless society with it.” At his first rally, he led supporters in a chant: “The Koran is our constitution, and Shariah is our guide!” » | David D. Kirkpatrick | Monday, April 23, 2012

California to Vote on Whether to Repeal Death Penalty
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: California voters are to vote on whether to repeal the death penalty, after activists collected the more than 500,000 signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot.

The ballot initiative focuses on the high cost of the death penalty in a state that has executed 13 people since capital punishment was reinstated in the nation in 1976. Another 723 inmates sit on death row pending lengthy and expensive appeals. Nearly a quarter of the nation's death row inmates are in California.

The move, which comes as a number of states reconsider capital punishment, would abolish execution as the maximum sentence in murder convictions and replace it with life imprisonment.

If the measure passes, it was expected to save the state in the "high tens of millions of dollars annually," according to an estimate of the fiscal impact of the bill that is included in the text of the measure.

"We've spent billions of dollars killing 13 people. There is a much better system," said Steve Smith, a campaign consultant for SAFE, which got the initiative on the ballot. By contrast, Texas has executed 481 people during the same time period.

The ballot measure was approved as a growing number of states question the use of the death penalty, and comes less than two weeks after Connecticut lawmakers voted to repeal the death penalty there. » | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Anders Breivik erklärt sein Motiv

Verwandt »

Niederländische Regierung zurückgetreten

Verwandt »

Hollande siegt, Le Pen überrascht

Verwandt »

'Arrogant Posh Boys with No Interest in Lives of Others': Tory MP Nadine Dorries Launches Astonishing Attack on David Cameron and George Osborne

MAIL ONLINE: A Tory MP has branded the Prime Minister and the Chancellor 'two arrogant posh boys' with 'no passion to want to understand the lives of others'.

Nadine Dorries said David Cameron and George Osborne's 'real crime' was to show 'no remorse' about their supposed lack of interest in matters beyond Westminster.

The Mid-Bedfordshire MP has clashed with her party leader in the past - and last year Mr Cameron apologised for humiliating her in the Commons.

She launched the personal attacks during an interview with BBC2's Daily Politics today, speaking of a 'very tight, narrow clique of a certain group of people' that she said is stopping senior ministers from understanding issues in the rest of the UK.

She said: 'Unfortunately, I think that not only are Cameron and Osborne two posh boys who don't know the price of milk, but they are two arrogant posh boys who show no remorse, no contrition, and no passion to want to understand the lives of others - and that is their real crime.' » | Lyle Brennan | Monday, April 23, 2012

BBC VIDEO: MP Dorries calls PM and chancellor 'arrogant posh boys' » | Monday, April 23, 2012

BBC VIDEO: Cameron: ‘I don’t agree with arrogant posh boy claim’ »

BBC VIDEO: Cameron and Osborne: Posh or ordinary blokes? »

Former BBC Journalist Compares Breivik to Netanyahu
THE JERUSALEM POST: Jerusalem dismisses comment as "another nutty statement from another nutty Israel basher."

LONDON – A former BBC correspondent turned anti-Israel activist compared Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik, currently on trial for murdering 77 innocent people in a terror attack last July.

In an article last Thursday on his website titled “What do Breivik and Netanyahu have in common?” Alan Hart – a former BBC and ITN correspondent – concluded by saying that the mass killer and Israel’s prime minister both share “the mania of victimhood.”

The activist wrote that the main thing Breivik and Netanyahu have in common comes from them both “living in fantasy worlds of their own creation” and talking “a lot of extreme right-wing nonsense.”

From this he concluded that Norway’s mass killer and Netanyahu both suffer from what he called “the mania of victimhood.”

“The nonsense Breivik speaks is driven in general by his fears about the consequences for Norway of immigration and multiculturalism and, in particular, by his vision of an Islamic takeover,” Hart maintained.

He then stated that the “nonsense” Netanyahu speaks is driven by his perception of Israel in danger of annihilation. » | Jonny Paul, Jerusalem Post Correspondent | Herb Keinon contributed to this report | Sunday, April 22, 2012

Why Arab Women Still 'Have No Voice'
Amal al-Malki, a Qatari author, says the Arab Spring has failed women in their struggle for equality.

France Election: Sarkozy Seeks Key Far-right Votes

BBC: French President Nicolas Sarkozy is wooing far-right voters after losing narrowly to his Socialist rival in the presidential election's first round.

Francois Hollande came top with 28.6% and Mr Sarkozy got 27.1% - the first time a sitting president has lost in the first round.

Third-place Marine Le Pen took the largest share of the vote her far-right National Front has ever won, with 18%.

Referring to her voters, Mr Sarkozy said: "I have heard you."

"There was this crisis vote that doubled from one election to another - an answer must be given to this crisis vote," he said.

In a speech to supporters in Tours, Mr Sarkozy also blamed "a media unleashed" for his first round result.

"We were campaigning against caricatures and lies... and I thank you for your support," he said.

Pollsters say Mr Hollande is the clear favourite to win the second round on 6 May, a duel between him and Mr Sarkozy, who leads the centre-right UMP.

If Mr Hollande wins he will become the first Socialist president in France in 17 years.

Intense campaigning has resumed, with Mr Sarkozy travelling to Tours in the Loire Valley, central France, while Mr Hollande went to the western towns of Quimper and Lorient, in Brittany.

Speaking to around 3,000 rain-drenched supporters in Quimper, one of his strongholds, Mr Hollande described himself as the candidate of change.

He said he wanted to speak to all French people, not just the left or right.

"My message? We are a large country and we will recover - we have no need of divisions," he said. » | Monday, April 23, 2012

Related »

Le score de Le Pen inquiète les dirigeants européens
LE FIGARO: Angela Merkel et plusieurs ministres européens des Affaires étrangères ont jugé lundi le résultat de Marine Le Pen «préoccupant», au lendemain du 1er tour de la présidentielle française.

Au-delà du duel serré entre les deux finalistes du second tour de l'élection présidentielle, Nicolas Sarkozy et François Hollande, c'est Marine Le Pen qui s'impose comme la troisième force politique du pays. Avec 17,9% des voix selon les résultats définitifs communiqués par le ministère de l'Intérieur lundi, le score de la candidate du Front national (FN) inquiète en France mais également au sein de l'Union européenne.

La chancelière allemande Angela Merkel a jugé «préoccupant» le score de l'extrême droite, rapporte un porte-parole du gouvernement allemand lundi. «Mais je suppose que cela va se régler au deuxième tour», a-t-il déclaré. La chancelière allemande «continue de soutenir» Nicolas Sarkozy, a ajouté le porte-parole. Il a toutefois souligné qu'Angela Merkel «travaillerait bien» avec n'importe quel président français.

De son côté, le ministre allemand des Affaires étrangères, Guido Westerwelle, s'est déclaré satisfait dans un communiqué de voir «deux candidats démocrates certifiés» au second tour. Il a réaffirmé l'importance du partenariat franco-allemand qui est «l'une des clés pour l'avenir de l'Europe». L'eurosceptique Marine Le Pen, qui estime que la France est pénalisée par l'Union européenne à cause notamment de la politique agricole commune (PAC) et de l'ouverture des frontières, se voit ainsi refuser par Guido Westerwelle l'étiquette de démocrate. » | Par Gary Assouline | lundi 23 avril 2012

Lien en relation avec l’article »

Regierungskrise in den Niederlanden: Premier Rutte tritt zurück

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Die Regierung der Niederlande ist am Ende, weil die Haushaltsverhandlungen geplatzt sind. Premierminister Mark Rutte hat bei Königin Beatrix seinen Rücktritt eingereicht. Deutschland verliert damit einen wichtigen Verbündeten in der Euro-Krise.

Amsterdam - Der niederländische Regierungschef Mark Rutte ist nach den geplatzten Haushaltsverhandlungen zurückgetreten. Rutte habe der Königin die Auflösung seines Kabinetts angeboten. Das teilte die Regierung in Den Haag am Montagnachmittag offiziell mit. Zuvor hatte es zahlreiche Medienberichte gegeben, wonach der Premier zurücktreten wolle. » | anr/hen/heb/AFP/dpa/dapd | Montag, 23. April 2012

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte resigns over austerity measures: Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister, handed his resignation to the country’s Queen after European Union demands for austerity measures to bring Holland into line with euro spending rules caused the collapse of his government. » | Bruno Waterfield | Monday, April 23, 2012

Related »

Norway Killer Anders Behring Breivik Claims There Is a 'Racist Plot' to Discredit Him as Insane

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik told a court questions about his mental health are part of a "racist plot" to discredit his extreme anti-Muslim ideology.

Breivik, who has admitted to killing 77 people in a bombing and youth camp massacre, said that no one would have asked for a psychiatric examination had he been a "bearded jihadist."

"But because I am a militant nationalist, I am being subjected to grave racism," he said. "They are trying to delegitimize everything I stand for."

Breivik rejects criminal guilt for the rampage on July 22, saying the victims had betrayed their country by embracing immigration.

Even the defense admits there is virtually no chance of an acquittal, so the key issue to be determined in the trial is whether Breivik is criminally insane.

Two psychiatric examinations reached opposite conclusions on that point. In a statement to the court, the Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine asked for additional information from two pscyhiatrists who found Breivik sane, saying their report was incomplete.

Breivik himself insists he is sane, and accuses the prosecutors of trying to make him look irrational.

"I know I'm at risk of ending up at an insane asylum, and I'm going to do what I can to avoid that," he told the court. » | Source: AP | Monday, April 23, 2012

Breivik in the dock: Day six as it happened »

Related »

Happy St. George’s Day!

Wishing all my English visitors today, April 23rd, a Very Happy St. George’s Day!

WIKI: Saint George and the Dragon »

WIKI: Saint George »

WIKI: St George's Day »

St George's Day: A site for England »

MAIL ONLINE: Give England its own anthem, demand MPs: Fans 'could sing Jerusalem or Land of Hope and Glory' » | Ryan Kisiel | Sunday, April 22, 2012

Le Pen Damages Sarkozy's Election Chances
Nicolas Sarkozy became the first incumbent French president to lose in the first round of voting but all eyes were on the Marine Le Pen and her far-right party's success with 18% of the vote. WSJ's Grainne McCarthy reports from Paris.

Related »

Wilders Back on the Barricades
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: Early elections in the Netherlands are all but certain after negotiations on austerity measures broke down on Saturday. Geert Wilders, leader of the populist Freedom Party, dramatically walked out of the talks at the last minute, just as an agreement seemed imminent.

After one and a half years helping govern the Netherlands by supporting a minority government, Geert Wilders has had enough. Now his Freedom Party movement can go back to a more comfortable role as protest party.

Since leaving the free-market liberal VVD party seven years ago, Mr Wilders has fashioned himself into a populist, anti-establishment politician. The champion of the average working class Joe, a constituency he refers to as ‘Henk and Ingrid’.

Strange bedfellows

That anti-establishment image was severely challenged the moment he signed a governing agreement with two stalwarts of the Dutch establishment, the VVD and the Christian Democrats. Wilders did keep a modicum of distance by not actually participating in the government, merely supporting it from parliament. The Christian Democrats refusal to allow Wilders into the cabinet gave him a convenient excuse not to join the cabinet as a full partner.

Even that distance was not enough. Governing in a coalition system such as here in the Netherlands requires compromise. Mr Wilders, on the other hand, rose to prominence by ridiculing the very culture of compromise. He risked being seen as just another wishy-washy politician, willing to trade away his principles. » | John Tyler | Sunday, April 22, 2012

Verwandt »

Breivik Compares Grief of Victims' Families to His Pain at Being Shunned

THE GUARDIAN: Anders Behring Breivik tells Oslo court on his last day of evidence that he lost contact with friends and family after attacks

Anders Behring Breivik has compared the pain he caused the families of his victims to his own situation, saying he lost contact with his friends and family after the 22 July attacks.

The 33-year-old rightwing extremist, who has admitted killing 77 people last summer, showed no remorse on Monday as he continued his shocking testimony about the massacre at the annual youth camp of the governing Labour party.

Calling the rampage "necessary", Breivik compared being shunned by those close to him to the grief of the bereaved. "The only difference was that for my part it was a choice," he said. » | Associated Press in Oslo | Monday, April 23, 2012

Related »

Far Right Rallies Faithful Against EU, Immigration


Related »

France Election 2012: One in Five Vote for Marine Le Pen as Nicolas Sarkozy Is Beaten Into Second Place

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Marine Le Pen secured the highest score for the far-Right in French presidential election history on Sunday, in a third-place finish that will present a major challenge to the two mainstream candidates Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois [sic] Hollande, left in the race.

According to official forecasts, the 43-year-old daughter of the founder of the National Front (NF) secured between 18.2 and 20 per cent of the vote, performing even better than Jean Marie Le Pen’s shock result in 2002, when he won 17 per cent. At her press conference on Sunday night she burst into a rendition of La Marseillaise in front of delirious supporters waving the national flag.

“Whatever happens over the next two weeks, the battle for France has only just begun,” she said.

“We have exploded the monopoly of the two [main] parties of banks, finance, of multinationals, of resignation and abandonment, and carried higher than ever before the hopes of national ideas.

“Faced with an incumbent president at the head of a considerably weakened party, we are the only opposition to the ultra-liberal, lax and libertarian Left.”

Although it failed to take her into the second round, Miss Le Pen’s success will boost her influence on the French political scene, and is likely to hand her party seats in parliament later in the year. It could affect relations with minorities in France and in other European countries after a campaign based on rhetoric against immigrants, Islam and the European Union. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Sunday, April 22, 2012

My comment:

France needs Marine Le Pen. France, like the UK, is tiring of the two main parties. They do nothing for France, French culture. And culture France has in abundance.

The UK had culture in abundance once too; but these days nobody stands up for it – at least not in the two main parties. If one doesn't stand up for one's culture, the culture will soon disappear – it will be swamped.

How Britain needs its own Le Pen! How Britain needs to shock the establishment into action! Would that Le Pen were a force in Britain. I, for one, despair of the same old claptrap we get in the UK. We were once a proud nation; and now? We are just a shadow of our former selves. We apologise for this, shutting the people up here and there, and refusing to stand proud.

The Conservatives, the Socialists, the Liberals – they're ALL the same: Limp-wristed, craven, spineless, and weak to a man. Oh for our own Marine Le Pen! If not for office, then certainly to shake things up. – © Mark

This comment also appears here.


Related »

Indonesian 'Punks' Caned for Pre-marital Sex
AFP: LANGSA, Indonesia — Sharia police in Aceh, the only Indonesian province to practise the Islamic law, caned a homeless "punk" couple nine times Friday after they were caught having pre-marital sex in public.

Around 100 people in the town of Langsa watched and cheered when sharia police in green-and-black hoods caned the 21-year-old woman and her 23-year-old boyfriend, along with 11 others convicted of gambling.

"Those kids are punks. They were caught having sex by the public and were arrested by sharia police," Langsa prosecutor's office head Putra Masduri told AFP.

Masduri said the couple were often seen loitering on the streets dressed as punks, however they dressed in traditional white Islamic clothing for their caning.

Although they were arrested for pre-marital sex, their punishment comes amid a crackdown on punks in the province, in which police have raided cafes and parks to detain youths contributing to what authorities call a "social disease". » | AFP | Friday, April 20, 2012