French Election: Final Polls Suggest Swing to Nicolas Sarkozy

THE GUARDIAN: Defending president promises supporters a 'surprise' as Socialist rival François Hollande says he is certain of nothing

Socialist voters face a nervous wait for the results of today's presidential election runoff between Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande after final opinion polls following Wednesday's fiery television debate revealed a late surge in favour of the outgoing president, who has previously trailed his leftwing rival throughout the race.

The polls indicated that Hollande was still on track to win the second round runoff vote, but revealed that the gap between the presidential rivals had narrowed from 10 percentage points a week ago to just four. An Ifop poll for Paris-Match showed Hollande at 52% and Sarkozy at 48%.

On Friday, before the official midnight deadline for campaigning to end, Hollande warned his supporters not to consider the election as being in the bag. At his last campaign meeting in Périgueux in south-west France, he said the battle was not yet won.

"It's true that you are confident and you want to win. I feel it," he told the crowd. "I don't want to be a killjoy, but don't make what could be the fatal mistake of thinking that the game is already over … that you needn't turn out. I have to tell you that I am sure of nothing. This victory is still not certain." » | Kim Willsher in Paris | Saturday, May 05, 2012

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Battleplan to Avert Tory War

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron is planning a fightback to stop his party descending into civil war with a Queen’s Speech offering help to “striving” families and moves to create jobs.

The Prime Minister will produce a series of measures that he hopes will give “red meat” to Conservative backbenchers, who are calling for action to appeal to their core voters after poor local election results.

And he will offer an olive branch to his critics by avoiding Parliamentary legislation on the controversial High Speed 2 rail link and watering down plans to reform the House of Lords.

But he has faced criticism from MPs who said the party needed “sanity” — and Boris Johnson made a jibe at the Prime Minister’s misfortunes as he celebrated winning a second term as Mayor of London.

“We survived the rain, the BBC, the Budget and the endorsement of David Cameron,” Mr Johnson told supporters early on Saturday — then spoke of tax cuts and cutting waste as Mr Cameron went to London’s City Hall to congratulate him.

The joke emphasised the stark contrast between Mr Johnson’s victory and the Tories’ overall showing as one back-bench MP said he would be “very happy” to see the mayor as party leader.

Mr Cameron will start his fightback this week with the Queen’s Speech. » | Patrick Hennessy and Robert Watts | Saturday, May 05, 2012

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Colombian Prostitute Thought Obama Bodyguards Were 'Fools'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A US Congressman is demanding that government investigators interview the prostitute at the centre of the Secret Service's Colombia sex scandal after she described the bodyguards as 'fools'.

New York Republican Peter King, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, acted after Dania Londono Suarez [Dania Londoño Suárez] appeared on television to reveal her side of the story.

She said that it would have been easy for her to steal any of the documents or plans that President Barack Obama's bodyguards had with them in a hotel room on a presidential trip to Cartagena, Columbia, last month.

Miss Suarez said: "They were a bunch of fools. They are responsible for Obama's security and they still let this happen.

"I could have done a thousand other things. If I had wanted to, I could have gone through all his documents, his wallet, his suitcase."

Miss Suarez told Caracol News in Cartegena that she called the police after the Secret Service agent with whom she spent the night refused to pay her the $800 (£500) he had promised.

"Let's go, bitch – I'm not going to pay you," she said that he told her before throwing her out of the room in the early morning. » | William Lowther in Washington | Saturday, May 05, 2012

Royal Book Exclusive: How Prince William Overcame Being Wounded by His Warring Parents as Their Marriage Fell Apart
MAIL ONLINE: At the age of 13, Prince William faced the daunting prospect of becoming a new boy in a school that was almost ten times the size of his old one. That was hard enough.

What made his transition to Eton far more of an ordeal was that no one — from masters to pupils — could fail to be unaware of the open warfare that was tearing his parents’ marriage apart.

Unlike his prep school, where the head often pretended the news-papers hadn’t been delivered, multiple sets arrived on the premises daily — and William could simply no longer be shielded.

So it was doubly unfortunate that, almost immediately after his arrival, his mother’s love life was once again making lurid headlines. This time, the man in question was the England rugby captain Will Carling, whom William had met several times with Diana.

For a boy trying to handle his first weeks at a big school, it was excruciatingly hard to bear.

But there was worse to come, as his house master Andrew Gailey soon discovered. While William was still settling in, Gailey learned that the Princess of Wales was recording an interview in secret for the BBC.

Concerned for his pupil, he phoned Diana and told her it was imperative to explain to William, face-to-face, what she was intending to do.

‘Is that really necessary?’ she said. It was, he said — but she refused to come. The next day he phoned again and was even more insistent. Reluctantly, she agreed to go to the school.

In the end, the meeting between mother and son lasted no longer than five minutes. Diana told William that the programme she’d recorded would not contain anything controversial.

It would make him proud of her, she assured him. And before he had a chance to ask any questions, she left. There’s no doubt she anticipated a magnificent triumph. ‘It’s terribly moving,’ she told her private secretary, when he asked what the programme contained.

On November 20, 1995, a large proportion of the nation sat glued to their TV sets in disbelief as Diana gave the performance of her life on Panorama. » | Penny Junor | Friday, May 04, 2012

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: William 'deeply upset' by Diana's Panorama interview: The young Duke of Cambridge was left “deeply upset” by the Panorama interview in which his mother lifted the lid on her marriage to the Prince of Wales - after she had assured him it would contain nothing controversial - according to a new biography. » | Saturday, May 05, 2012

The Price of Treating Us with Contempt
MAIL ONLINE: Many will remember Henry Kissinger’s joke about the 1980s Iran-Iraq war: ‘It is a pity they can’t both lose’. That is the way millions of British people felt as they trudged to the polls, as if to a gallows, for Britain’s rag-bag of elections.

Seldom in modern history has the electorate felt so disenchanted with all the parties vying for its support. Tories ask what is Tory about David Cameron. Labour voters inspect the rabble heading their own party as if they were greenfly on the roses. Many of the dwindling band of Lib Dems look on their representatives in the Coalition as traitors to every potty value they hold dear.

The election turnout and outcome – a triumph for the Apathy Party no matter how many seats Labour gained – highlights disenchantment with the political process.

Most conspicuous was the expected victory of Boris Johnson in the London mayoral election. He professes to be a Conservative, but in truth is the sole member and spokesperson of the Boris Party, a self-promotional vehicle of supertanker proportions.

It is dismaying that he has become the most popular Conservative in Britain. Johnson is an undisputed whizz as a TV quiz-show panellist. But it is crazy to speak of him as a prospective prime minister. If Boris reached Downing Street, government would become a permanent pier-end panto, probably with a strip show thrown in.

Johnson’s defenders say he upholds ‘proper’ Conservative values such as Euroscepticism, a small state and low taxation. This is true but surely the British people deserve better than a comic, cad and serial bonker, however entertaining. Read on and comment » | Max Hastings | Friday, May 04, 2012

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Boris Johnson Elected London Mayor
BBC: Boris Johnson has won the London Mayoral election, beating close rival Ken Livingstone.

Earlier on Friday it had seemed Mr Johnson would win easily, but the gap between him and Mr Livingstone shrank as the count continued. The result was delayed after two extra ballot boxes were "found" in the Brent and Harrow constituency.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Johnson acknowledged that it had been a "long and gruelling fight", but insisted that he would "continue to fight for a good deal for Londoners." He also paid tribute to Ken Livingstone, describing him as "amongst the most creative and the most original" of left wing politicians. Watch BBC video » | Saturday, May 05, 2012

Ken Livingstone Loses London Mayor Race

Religious Butchering Now Commonplace in Britain, Leading Vet Claims

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Non-Muslim Britons are being forced to eat animals slaughtered in "appalling" pain because religious butchering is becoming so common, a former chief vet has claimed.

Prof Bill Reilly, ex-president of the British Veterinary Association, said cutting the throats of lambs, chickens and other animals without stunning them breaches legal requirements because it causes significant pain, fear and distress.

British and EU law permits the method of religious slaughter to account for Muslim and Jewish dietary practices, but stipulates that the animals must not be caused "unnecessary suffering."

Prof Reilly called for the practice to be dramatically curbed, suggesting that some slaughterhouses are refusing to stun animals simply to cut costs, rather than for religious reasons.

Writing in the Veterinary Record [Full text £], he said the number of animals having their throats slit while still fully conscious – a practice known as non-stun slaughter – was "unacceptable".

Referring to a report by the former Animal Welfare Council he claimed that "such a massive injury could result in very significant pain and distress", particularly because the throat has a large number of nerve endings. Read on and comment » | Nick Collins, Science Correspondent | Friday, May 04, 2012

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Dutch parliament votes to ban ritual slaughter of animals: The Dutch parliament on Tuesday voted to ban ritual slaughter in landmark animal rights legislation that has been compared to Nazi persecution of the Jews by the country's Chief Rabbi. » | Bruno Waterfield | Tuesday, June 28, 2012

THE TELEGRAPH: Ban urged on kosher and halal butchery: Muslim and Jewish methods of slaughter, involving slitting animals' throats and letting them bleed to death, should be banned immediately, Government advisers said yesterday. ¶ The Farm Animal Welfare Council, which advises ministers on livestock cruelty, said in a report published yesterday that the way in which halal and kosher meats are produced was intrinsically cruel and caused severe suffering for sheep, goats and cattle. » | Robert Uhlig, Farming Correspondent | Wednesday, June 11, 2003

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Marlene Dietrichs letzte Jahre: Der lange Fall der Filmgöttin

SPIEGEL ONLINE: 13 Jahre auf dem Sterbebett: Sie war eine lebende Legende, dann zog Marlene Dietrich sich plötzlich zurück. Nach einem Unfall versteckte die Schauspielerin sich mehr als ein Jahrzehnt in ihrem Pariser Apartment. Sie trank, nahm starke Medikamente - und telefonierte mit der Queen und Gorbatschow. Von Benjamin Maack

"Vorhang runter! Runter!", schrie sie. Und der Vorhang fiel schwer. Er fiel endgültig.

Es war Ende September 1975, ein Konzertabend im Her Majesty's Theatre in Sydney. Das Orchester spielte "Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt", das Zeichen für ihren Auftritt. Plötzlich zerriss ein dissonanter Ton die Melodie. Es war der Moment, in dem die Musiker Marlene Dietrich taumeln und fallen sahen. Sie hatte getrunken, sie trank viel. Ein Laster, das sie bis ans Ende ihres Lebens nicht mehr aufgeben sollte. Marlene Dietrich versuchte noch, Halt zu finden, dann stürzte sie in den Orchestergraben. Ihr linker Oberschenkelknochen brach und bohrte sich durch die Haut der 73-jährigen Hollywood-Göttin.

45 Jahre war das, nachdem sie als Josef Sternbergs blauer Engel berühmt wurde, 36 nach ihrem furiosen Auftritt als Saloonsängerin Frenchy an der Seite von James Stewart in "Der große Bluff", 18 Jahre nach ihrer Meisterleistung als Billy Wilders Zeugin der Anklage. Dieser Abend in Sydney markierte das Ende ihrer Bühnenkarriere - und den Beginn eines neuen Mythos: Der von dem Phantom, das im vierten Stock in der Avenue Montaigne 12 in Paris hauste und versuchte, die Welt auszusperren. Für immer.

Die Lebenszeichen der Filmdiva nach ihrem Sturz lassen sich an einer Hand abzählen: Zuerst wurde sie ins New York-Presbyterian Hospital gebracht. Acht Monate lang steckte Marlene Dietrich in einem Gipsverband, der von der Taille bis zum Knöchel reicht. Die Diva fühlte sich hilflos und gedemütigt. An der Tür zu ihrem Zimmer hing ein Schild: "Keine Besucher! Keine Information!" Blumen und Geschenke gingen an die Absender zurück. Ihre alte Freundin Katherine Hepburn reiste an, um sie aufzuheitern und wurde weggeschickt. So sollte sie niemand sehen. » | Benjamin Maack | Samstag, 05. Mai 2012

Speeding Ostrich Runs Amok on Saudi Street
Bizarre footage captured by a driver in Saudi Arabia shows a runaway ostrich sprinting down a busy main road causing traffic chaos as it overtakes and dodges cars.

Breivik Trial Forces Norway to Look Again at Insanity

BBC: As Anders Behring Breivik's trial progresses in Oslo district court, the big question remains whether he can be considered responsible for his actions.

The penal codes of most Western countries allow for punishment to be adjusted according to the severity of the criminal act. In addition, the perpetrator's level of responsibility for their actions is usually considered. Other legal systems, such as the Sharia-based one of Iran, also make allowances for diminished responsibility.

In Breivik's case, there is no doubting the extreme severity of his criminal act. His killing of 77 people is the worst case of murder in Norway since World War II. The unanswered question is whether he can be held to account for a massacre to which he confesses.

Two psychiatric reports have come to conflicting conclusions as to whether Breivik was psychotic at the time of his action. The first set of experts believed he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, yet the second report concluded that he showed no signs of psychosis.

Although Norwegian courts are able to disregard forensic psychiatry reports, in practice it is extremely rare for them to do so. And a quirk in Norway's penal code means that the question of psychosis is particularly important.

Psychological or medical

Criminal insanity in the penal code of countries such as the UK and US is based on the psychological principle. This means that, in Breivik's case, he would have to have carried out the killings specifically because of his psychosis in order to escape a jail term.

Because Breivik has stated that he was aware that what he was doing was illegal, if he were being tried in, for example, the UK he would be unlikely to escape punishment under these conditions.

The Norwegian legal system, however, is based on the medical principle. According to the 44th paragraph of Norway's penal code, simply being psychotic at the moment of action would automatically exempt Breivik from punishment. There is no need for his psychosis to be the direct cause for his actions.

Confusing to many Norwegians, this element of the law has been debated for years, with criticism increasing in the aftermath of the 22 July 2011 attacks. » | Liss Goril Anda | Norwegian Journalist | Friday, May 04, 2012

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Turkish Court Hearing in Duchess of York Secret Filming Case

BBC: A hearing has taken place in Turkey in a court case in which the Duchess of York has been accused over the secret filming of orphans for a documentary.

Sarah Ferguson is being defended by a Turkish legal team but has declined to go to Ankara for the trial.

She is accused of violating the privacy of children during the filming for ITV.

The duchess has previously apologised for any offence, but says she stands by the 2008 documentary's conclusion that ill-treatment was taking place.

If found guilty, she could be sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.

BBC correspondent Jonathan Head says the duchess has made it clear she will not return to Turkey and British officials have insisted there is no possibility of her being extradited. » | Friday, May 04, 2012

Gay Rights Campaigner Fined in Russia for 'Propaganda'

BBC: A court in St Petersburg has fined Russia's best-known gay rights campaigner for spreading "homosexual propaganda" among minors.

In the first ruling of its kind, Nikolay Alexeyev was fined 5,000 roubles (£105; $170; 129 euros) after being arrested under the new ban.

He pledged to appeal against the decision, going to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. » | Friday, May 04, 2012

Taking on Radical Islam
TORONTO SUN: Last weekend I travelled to Dearborn, Michigan — the largest Arab Muslim community in North America — to speak at a conference on the issues of honour killing, and about an increasingly intolerant Islamic triumphalism that is emerging in the United States.

The organizers had chosen Dearborn specifically because of the number of Muslims in the area, and because a suspected honour killing had taken place there — one that the authorities had refused to treat as anything Islamic. It’s typical really; even though it’s estimated that 91% of all such murders are committed by Muslims in the name of Islam, we still pretend that such horrors are mainstream domestic violence, committed by all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds.

There was massive security at the conference because many in the Muslim world do not appreciate people discussing these issues. In other words, I and the attendees had to be protected in a democracy from thugs who wanted to silence us.

We heard stories from people who had experienced radical Islam first-hand. (+ video) » | Michael Coren, QMI Agency | Friday, May 04, 2012

Former Cern Nuclear Physicist Jailed for Al-Qaida Terrorist Plot

THE GUARDIAN: Algerian-born Frenchman Adlène Hicheur sentenced to five years for exchanging emails with alleged al-Qaida contact

A French court has sentenced an Algerian-born nuclear physicist to five years in prison for his role in plotting terrorism with al-Qaida's north African affiliate.

Adlène Hicheur, a former researcher at Switzerland's Cern laboratory, was convicted on Friday of "criminal association with a view to plotting terrorist attacks".

Hicheur, who has been in custody since he was arrested in October 2009, could have received up to 10 years in prison.

The 35-year-old scientist and his defenders claim he was a victim of overzealous French anti-terror laws and that he explored ideas on jihadist websites but never took any concrete step toward terrorism.

Speaking after the judgment, Hicheur's lawyer Patrick Baudouin called the verdict "scandalous".

Hicheur has yet decide whether to appeal against the verdict. If he does not, with time off for good behaviour, he "should be out rather quickly", added Baudouin. » | Associated Press in Paris | Friday, May 04, 2012

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Local Elections 2012: Thatcherism with a Posh Accent Is a Toxic Proposition
THE GUARDIAN: The Tories aren't in existential crisis, but discontent among voters is focused on the leadership cabal and the issue of class

Cast your eyes over these results, and feel the Tory pain. Harlow, Great Yarmouth, Reading, Plymouth, Thurrock – all southern bywords for the kind of places that decide British elections, and all lost to Labour. Ukip polling an average of 13% wherever it stood. Those half-baked plans for directly elected mayors met with a mixture of hostility and complete indifference.

The low chatter of Conservative angst that has been simmering since the budget has now suddenly risen in volume and urgency. So far, listening to such voices rather suggests that the critique of the Tories' woes needs a bit more work, but one thing is beyond doubt: almighty rows have broken out within the Conservative family.

There may be something in the idea being put about by those on the right of the party that Tory loyalists have been dismayed by the leadership's embrace of bits of metropolitan liberalism, but there again, do more hard-bitten Conservatives really have that much to complain about?

The idea of any leftward pull from the Lib Dems usually turns out to be a canard. The cuts highlight the fact that Thatcherism is in rude health. The welfare state is under assault. The NHS is being subjected to the outsourcing and fragmentation of Tory dreams, and our schools are falling victim to much the same, with the added bonus of a supposed return to old-fashioned discipline and academic rigour. Moreover, large swaths of the public remain in full accord with the supposed need for crushing austerity, are happy to watch benefit claimants being thrown [to] the wolves, and are hardly sold on the idea of Labour coming back to power – with or without Ed Miliband's still cloudy vision of "responsible capitalism". So what is going on?

Three factors speak for themselves: the dreadful state of the economy, the rising cost of living, and the widespread impression of simple incompetence. But that third explanation blurs over into something even more troubling to the Tory soul: the shortcomings of the coterie who currently lead the party, and the torturous issue of class. » | John Harris | Friday, May 04, 2012

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Schlappe für britische Konservative bei Kommunalwahl
REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: London - Die Briten haben die regierenden Konservativen von Premierminister David Cameron bei der Kommunalwahl für dessen drastische Sparpolitik abgestraft.

Nach Auszählung von rund der Hälfte der zur Wahl stehenden Regionalvertretungen verloren die Konservativen und die mit ihr regierenden Liberaldemokraten in England und Wales Hunderte Gemeinderäte. Die oppositionelle Labour-Partei konnte deutlich zulegen. Die rechtsgerichtete UK Independence Party verzeichnete ihr bestes Ergebnis bei einer Kommunalwahl, wie aus am Freitag veröffentlichten Ergebnissen der Wahl vom Vortag hervorging. » | Freitag, 04. Mai 2012

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Nicolas Sarkozy combatif malgré les sondages et François Bayrou

REUTERS FRANCE: PARIS - Le choix de François Bayrou et la confiance affichée par François Hollande ne semblent pas impressionner Nicolas Sarkozy, qui annonce une "grande surprise" dimanche soir malgré des sondages qui donnent toujours son adversaire socialiste net vainqueur au second tour de la présidentielle.

Deux jours après un débat télévisé qui n'a pas changé la donne et à l'avant-veille du verdict des urnes, les enquêtes d'opinion continuent vendredi de prédire que le prochain président de la République sera François Hollande.

Même si l'écart de resserre quelque peu, Ipsos, TNS-Sofres, BVA, Harris et CSA président sa victoire avec au minimum 52,5% des voix contre 47,5% à Nicolas Sarkozy.

Ces chiffres n'émoussent pas la combativité du président sortant, pas plus que le camouflet que lui a infligé jeudi le centriste François Bayrou, qui a annoncé qu'il voterait pour François Hollande.

"Vous verrez dimanche soir, vous verrez une grande surprise", a-t-il déclaré vendredi sur Europe 1. » | Patrick Vignal, avec service France, édité par Yves Clarisse | Reuters | vendredi 04 mai 2012


Bayrou ou Sarkozy, une voix vaut une voix by Europe1fr
EUROPE 1: Sarkozy raille "l'amertume" de Bayrou » | Par Europe1.fr | vendredi 04 mai 2012

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Sarkozy plant Rückzug im Fall einer Niederlage



Verwandt »

Breivik's Instruments for a Massacre
May 3 - A Norwegian court is shown a false police ID and weapons used by Anders Breivik when he gunned down 69 people -- mostly teenagers -- on the island of Utoeya. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

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Zug in Belgien: Unbekannter schockiert Fahrgäste mit Nazi-Durchsage
WELT ONLINE: Mit dem Spruch "Willkommen im Zug Richtung Auschwitz" hat ein unbekannter Mann in Belgien Fahrgäste in einem Zug aufgeschreckt. Wie der Mann an das Mikro gelangen konnte, ist noch unklar.

Mit einer antisemitischen Durchsage in einem Zug hat ein Unbekannter in Belgien die Fahrgäste schockiert.

"Willkommen im Zug Richtung Auschwitz", tönte es am Donnerstagnachmittag in einem Zug von Namur nach Brüssel aus den Lautsprechern, wie die belgische Bahngesellschaft SNCB am Freitag bestätigte.

"Alle Juden werden gebeten, an der Haltestelle Buchenwald auszusteigen". Nach Angaben eines Bahnsprechers war ein unbekannter Passagier in die Kabine mit der Lautsprecheranlage eingedrungen, die normalerweile abgeschlossen ist und vom Zugpersonal für offizielle Durchsagen genutzt wird. » | Freitag, 04. Mai 2012

Terrorisme: Adlène Hicheur condamné à [de] la prison ferme
LE FIGARO: Adlène Hicheur, un physicien franco-algérien détaché au Cern de Genève, a été condamné aujourd'hui pour terrorisme à 5 ans de prison, dont un an avec sursis. Le tribunal correctionnel de Paris a reconnu coupable cet homme de 35 ans d'avoir préparé en 2009 un attentat en France lors de conversations sur internet avec un islamiste basé en Algérie.

"Je ne conteste pas le fait que je sois passé par une phase de turbulences, j'ai fait amende honorable, je ne peux rien dire de plus", s'était défendu fin mars Hicheur, en mettant ces mails "tangents" sur le compte de son "état de santé physique et psychologique" de l'époque, où il était en arrêt-maladie pour une hernie discale. » | Le Figaro.fr avec agencies | vendredi 04 mai 2012

Threats against Journalists: The Aggressive Tactics of the Greek Right Wing

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Greek far-right parties could end up with as much as 20 percent of the vote in Sunday's elections. The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has intensified the xenophobic atmosphere in the country. Those who confront them are threatened with violence, journalist Xenia Kounalaki recounts.

At night, the streets leading to Omonoia Square are empty. That wasn't always the case. The area was the premier multicultural neighborhood of Athens and one of the first quarters to be gentrified. Jazz bars and Indian restaurants lined the streets, separated by the occasional rooms-by-the-hour hotel. It was a quarter full of immigrants, drug addicts and African prostitutes, but also of journalists, ambitious young artists and teenagers from private schools.

Today, the immigrants stay home once night falls. They are afraid of groups belonging to the "angry citizens," a kind of militia that beats up foreigners and claims to help the elderly withdraw money from cash machines without being robbed. Such groups are the product of an initiative started by the neo-Nazi Chrysi Avgi -- Golden Dawn -- the party which has perpetrated pogroms in Agios Panteleimon, another Athens neighborhood with a large immigrant population.

There are now three outwardly xenophobic parties in Greece. According to recent surveys, together they could garner up to 20 percent of the vote in elections on Sunday: the anti-Semitic party LAOS stands to win 4 percent; the nationalist party Independent Greeks -- a splinter group of the conservative Nea Dimokratia party -- is forecast to win 11 percent; and the right extremists of Golden Dawn could end up with between 5 and 7 percent.

My name is Xenia, the hospitable. Greece itself should really be called Xenia: Tourism, emigration and immigration are important elements of our history. But hospitality is no longer a priority in our country, a fact which the ugly presence of Golden Dawn makes clear. » | Xenia Kounalaki | Thursday, May 03, 2012

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Fascism Rises from the Depths of Greece's Despair

THE INDEPENDENT: A neo-Nazi party that wants work camps for immigrants is on course to win its first seats in parliament on Sunday

It started, as many days do in Greece, with a trip to the kiosk to buy cigarettes. Still half-asleep, Panayiotis Roumeliotis was surprised to be asked to show his identity card by two young men with shaved heads. It was his first direct contact with the vigilante groups that have become a feature of everyday life in some areas of the Greek capital.

"They were calling themselves the residents association but they were just fasistakia (little fascists)," said the 28-year-old.

Over the last two years, Mr Roumeliotis has watched the central Athens neighbourhood of Ayios Panteleimonas, where he grew up, undergo an ugly transformation. Taking the bus on another morning soon after, a gunshot shattered the back window and a gang of men forced the driver to stop. When the doors opened, they came on to the bus and started to assault the non-Greek passengers. The attackers were wearing T-shirts from the right-wing extremist group Golden Dawn. While panicked people were trying to escape from the bus the men were hitting them with flagpoles.

"They were beating people with the Greek flag," said Mr Roumeliotis.

When the police arrived they stood off until the thugs had finished. When he asked the police why no one had been arrested one of the officers replied to him: "Why, did they do something to you?"

Formerly a solid middle-class neighbourhood, the economic crisis and waves of new arrivals have changed the area and erased old certainties.

Property prices here have dropped to as little as one quarter of what they were five years ago. The Greeks who could afford to have left. For rent signs are plastered over almost every one of the area's shabby five-storey apartment blocks. On the side streets among the North African-run mini markets and Nigerian internet cafes, newcomers from West Africa push shopping trolleys full of scrap metal stripped from deserted buildings. Large-scale drug dealing has overtaken an entire street in the neighbourhood. Violent crime has rocketed.

The square in front of the local church, daubed in anti-immigrant slogans such as "foreigners don't fit in our square", has witnessed pitch battles between anarchists and Golden Dawn supporters. » | Daniel Howden | Friday, May 04, 2012

Local Elections: Labour Make Gains in England and Wales
BBC: Labour have won a string of victories in English and Welsh local elections - with shadow ministers claiming Ed Miliband is now on course for No 10.

The party is set to add more than 700 seats and has taken control of councils including Birmingham and Cardiff.

Based on results so far, Labour are projected to end up with a 39% national share of the vote, up three points, with the Tories down four on 31%.

The Lib Dems' share of the vote is estimated to be unchanged at 16%.

But the party has lost more than 125 seats - taking its total number of councillors below 3,000 for the first time since the party was formed in 1988. » | Friday, May 04, 2012

My comment:

I think one of the main causes for the Conservatives' drubbing is the fact that this government is perceived to be run for the benefit of the rich. Rich little overgrown schoolboys out to help their own kind. Added to that, Cameron's government endorses greed, and makes ordinary folk pay the high price of all the austerity cuts. Clearly, we are NOT all in this austerity thing together.

Then one has to witness all the U-turns. This, in itself, shows lack of competence. Before Cameron proposes anything, he should first check out its viability. He should ask himself if this policy plan is really do-able.

Further, he throws money around abroad like a drunken sailor, while at the same time cutting everyone else's lifeline at home. Savers, too, are being severely punished for their lifelong sensible approach to living within their means. Interest rates are appallingly low. One isn't even able to safeguard one's capital against the ravages of inflation, still less generate an income to live from. Little wonder the pensioners want Cameron and his clique punished.

For far too long in this country, politicians have been elected into office on a mandate to do one thing, but when they get into office, they do something else. They ignore the people's wishes, and end up doing things for which they have no mandate whatsoever. This government is very guilty of this. It must stop. People are fed up of being ignored.

Then there are all the restrictions we have to put up with. Conservatives are supposed to believe in less government, not more. Cameron, in this regard, is not a true Conservative, since his instincts are more left-wing. He seems to favour more control of everything, just like Labour does.

And what happened to all those useless laws he and Clegg were going to repeal after Blair's useless terms in office? Cameron and Clegg made a big thing upon taking up office of asking the people to let them know which laws they wanted scrapped. We have heard nothing about that ever since. It was all show.

I could go on. I won't. I have written enough for people to 'get my drift'. Cameron has now got a very steep hill to climb. It will be interesting to observe whether he'll be able to climb it. – © Mark

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France Election: Nicolas Sarkozy Woos Far Right in National Front Heartlands
Ahead of Sunday's presidential run-off, French leader Nicolas Sarkozy says Francois Hollande and his Socialist party will bring only financial ruin to the country as he campaigns in the National Front heartlands.

Read the short article here | Thursday, May 03, 2012
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RT – Julian Assange: The World Tomorrow
Watch the programme here

Number of Muslims in the U.S. Doubles Since 9/11

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Mormonism grows 45% and spreads across nation

A new survey reveals the dramatically changing face of religion in America, with the number of Muslims in the U.S. soaring 67% in the decade since the 9/11 attacks.

Data released Tuesday from the 2010 U.S. Religion Census shows Islam was the fastest growing religion in America in the last 10 years, with 2.6 million living in the U.S. today, up from 1 million in 2000.

Mormonism too saw remarkable growth, with a 45% increase in adherents. It added nearly 2 million members since 2000, bringing their number in the U.S. to 6.1 million.

"Both of these groups entered more than 200 counties that they weren't in 10 years ago," said Dale Jones, data analyst and mapping specialist for the Religion Census.

The findings represent religious people who attend services. Census surveyors collected data on congregational adherents of 236 religious groups, including full members, their children and others who regularly attend services, with a 5% margin of error.

In the Midwest and parts of the South there are now more Muslims than Jews for the first time. Immigration from parts of the Muslim world and a small rise in conversions are the driving force behind the growth, researchers said. Jones also speculated that the burst of anti-Islam sentiment after the 9/11 attacks could have done more to grow the religion's presence in the U.S. than slow it. Those on the fence about converting to Islam may have decided to do so on principle. » | Meghan Neal / New York Daily News | Thursday, May 03, 2012

Großmufti verteidigt erneut Verheiratung von Mädchen
KRONE.AT: Nach dem Urteil des Großmuftis von Saudi-Arabien können Mädchen weiterhin im Alter von bereits zehn Jahren verheiratet werden. Sheikh Abdul-Aziz al-Sheikh (Bild) wies damit am Mittwoch die Befürworter einer Anhebung des Heiratsalters einmal mehr zurecht. In Saudi-Arabien ist die Verheiratung von Kindern nicht gesetzlich verboten, Kleriker und Scharia-Richter verteidigen die Praxis hartnäckig. Menschenrechtsaktivisten hingegen dringen darauf, dass das Mindestalter auf zumindest 16 Jahre gesetzt wird.

Bei einer Vorlesung an der Imam Mohamed bin Saud Islamic University in der Hauptstadt Riad erklärte der Großmufti am Mittwoch, ein Mädchen sei nach den Gesetzen des Islam im Alter von zehn oder zwölf Jahren für die Ehe bereit - und diese Gesetze würden keine Unterdrückung der Frauen bedeuten. » | AG/red | Donnerstag, 03. Mai 2012

Study Finds How Nicotine Keeps Weight Off
THE WORLD OBSERVER: The weight gain that often follows giving up smoking can deter some people from quitting. Now scientists have discovered exactly how nicotine causes weight loss.

The research, led by Professor Marina Picciotto of Yale University in the USA, may eventually lead to drugs that help smokers to give up without putting on weight and could help combat obesity in non-smokers too.

The study is reported in this week's edition of Science.

"On average smokers are 2.5 kilograms lighter than non-smokers," says Professor Picciotto.

She says nicotine seems to lower their 'set weight', and once they give up the weight returns to normal. » | Undated

Economic Crisis Fueling Racism Says Council of Europe
EXPATICA.COM: The ongoing economic crisis has fueled racism and xenophobia, a Council of Europe report said on Thursday, while calling on European nations to bolster their fight against hate speech.

"Welfare cuts, diminished job opportunities and a consequent rise in intolerance towards both immigrant groups and older historical minorities are worrying trends," the report by the Strasbourg-based body's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance said.

"Xenophobic rhetoric is now part of mainstream debate and extremists are increasingly using social media to channel their views, whilst discrimination against the Roma continues to worsen," the commission's report noted. » | AFP | Thursday, May 03, 2012

French Candidates Lock Horns in TV Debate
French President Nicolas Sarkozy locked horns with his Socialist rival Francois Hollande in a testy television duel that was billed as Sarkozy's last chance to save his chances of re-election on Sunday. Sarkozy went into the gruelling 2.5-hour television debate on Wednesday evening as the rank outsider. Polls show Hollande, who led the first round of the election on April 22, winning Sunday's run-off with between 53-54 per cent of the vote. Al Jazeera Andrew Simmons reports.

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Al-Qaida ruft Islamisten zu gezielten Waldbränden auf
WELT ONLINE: Al-Qaida mangelt es an fähigen Rekruten. Stattdessen werden Amateur-Dschihadisten aufgerufen, mit Waldbränden westliche Gesellschaften zu bekämpfen. "Inspire" liefert die Anleitung zum Flammeninferno.

Ein Jahr nach dem Tod von Osama Bin Laden schwächelt das Terrornetzwerk al-Qaida. Wie westliche Geheimdienste übereinstimmend berichten, mangelt es den Extremisten vor allem an Finanzen und an qualifiziertem Personal.

Insbesondere die potenziellen Terror-Rekruten erweisen sich allzu häufig als stümperhafte Amateure. "Al-Qaida muss inzwischen aus der dritten und vierten Liga rekrutieren", so analysiert es der Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND).

Vielleicht ist diese Verzweiflung des Terrornetzwerkes der Grund, warum al-Qaida zunehmend darauf setzt, radikalisierte Muslime im Westen zu primitiven Anschlägen zu animieren.

Al-Qaida will "Einsame Wölfe" anstacheln

Anstatt ausgebildete Dschihadisten in den Krieg gegen die "Ungläubigen" zu schicken, versucht al-Qaida Einzeltäter, sogenannte "Einsame Wölfe", anzustacheln. Jüngste Strategie: der Aufruf, Waldbrände zu legen und gezielt Einzelpersonen zu erschießen. » | Von Florian Flade | Donnerstag, 03. Mai 2012

Persepolis: Trailer
Persepolis is the poignant story of a young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It is through the eyes of precocious and outspoken nine year old Marjane that we see a people's hopes dashed as fundamentalists take power - forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden. Yet when her uncle is senselessly executed and as bombs fall around Tehran in the Iran/Iraq war, the daily fear that permeates life in Iran is palpable.

As she gets older, Marjane's boldness causes her parents to worry over her continued safety. And so, at age fourteen, they make the difficult decision to send her to school in Austria. Vulnerable and alone in a strange land, she endures the typical ordeals of a teenager. In addition, Marjane has to combat being equated with the religious fundamentalism and extremism she fled her country to escape. Over time, she gains acceptance, and even experiences love, but after high school she finds herself alone and horribly homesick.

Though it means putting on the veil and living in a tyrannical society, Marjane decides to return to Iran to be close to her family. After a difficult period of adjustment, she enters art school and marries, all the while continuing to speak out against the hypocrisy she witnesses. At age 24, she realizes that while she is deeply Iranian, she cannot live in Iran. She then makes the heartbreaking decision to leave her homeland for France, optimistic about her future, shaped indelibly by her past.


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Tunisian Court Levies Fine on Persepolis Cinema Owner

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Tunisian court on Thursday imposed a 2,400-dinar (£1000) fine on a media boss over blasphemy charges after a trial that deepened the divide between Islamists and secularists.

Nabil Karoui was charged over the decision by his Nessma television station to broadcast the award-winning animated film "Persepolis."

The film, about a girl growing up in Iran, includes a scene depicting Allah, which is forbidden in Islam. an escalating series of protests against the station's broadcast of "Persepolis" on October 7.

The globally acclaimed animated film on Iran's 1979 revolution offended many Muslims because it depicts an image of God as an old, bearded man. All depictions of God are forbidden by Islam.

Earlier on Friday, police fired tear gas at some demonstrators as some of the protests against the station degenerated. » | Telegraph Foreign Staff | Thursday, May 03, 2012

Car Stickers Threatening to Hang Eurocrats Circulate in Brussels

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: EU civil service unions have demanded extra protection from a backlash against eurozone austerity measures after stickers telling officials to "go hang themselves" were circulated by a group of unknown Brussels protesters.

Staff unions have written to Herman Van Rompuy, the EU president, after stickers of a hanging official were found with the slogan "Eurocrate, sers-toi de ta cravate" or "Eurocrat, make use of your tie".

Cars with special licence plates for EU officials have been targeted and civil servants commuting to work in Schuman euro quarter of Brussels have been harassed by activists, thought to be anarchists.

"It is now obvious that the next steps will be physical injuries," said the letter from Union Syndicale, Federation of European Civil Servants and Renouveau & Démocratie.

The EU officials have blamed negotiations demanded by national governments to cut some of their legendary perks for "hasty, ill-informed generalisations which can later be easily exploited by populist associations whose only motive is to make the European civil service a scapegoat". » | Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Thursday, May 03, 2012

Islamists Strengthen Grip Over North Mali
FOX NEWS: BAMAKO, Mali – In one town in northern Mali a man has been whipped for drinking alcohol. In another, pictures of unveiled women have been torn down. In a third, traditional music is no longer heard in the streets.

While government soldiers were fighting each other this week for control of the capital in Mali's southwest corner, Islamist fighters were asserting control over the Texas-sized northern half of the country. The Islamists, some of whom are foreigners, are imposing strict religious law, setting up a possible showdown with Tuareg nationalist rebels who say they want a secular state and who seized northern Mali in March alongside the Islamists.

In the fabled city of Timbuktu, whose winding alleyways lined with mud homes fill with sand blown in from the Sahara, pictures of unveiled women have either been torn down or covered over with black paint, according to El Hadj Baba Haidara, a member of the Malian parliament for the city. The Islamists have also cut the signal for national TV broadcasts to the city because they consider the women not properly covered and don't approve of the music the station plays, Haidara said.

"No one came come here and tell us how to practice Islam," Haidara said. "Timbuktu has been Islamic since the 12th century and we have our own way of doing things."

Down the road from one of Timbuktu's mosques, whose wooden doors are decorated with metal crescents and stars, Islamists have made their base at a bank. A sign at the entrance says "Islamic Police" in Arabic and French. Residents have been given a phone number to report serious crimes and other emergencies, but widescale patrols haven't been deployed to enforce Shariah, at least not yet. But punishments are being meted out.

On Monday in Gao, one of the three biggest cities in north Mali, two men caught smoking hashish were given 30 lashes in front of the police station, according to Hama Dada Toure, a teacher in Gao. One man who had allegedly beaten his pregnant wife was given 10 lashes and ordered to pay her.

Toure said a flexible tree branch is used in the whippings, the blows delivered with less than full force. The Islamists make the person being punished say "Allahu Akbar. La illah illa-Allah" — meaning "God is great. There is no God but God" — each time the branch strikes them. » | Associated Press | Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Another sharia story »

Sarkozy-Hollande : une confrontation sans merci

LE FIGARO: Aucun des deux finalistes de la présidentielle n'a voulu céder quoi que ce soit à son adversaire au cours du duel.

Ils se sont cherchés et ils se sont vite trouvés. François Hollande, en costume soyeux, d'une solennité un peu raide, Nicolas Sarkozy plus direct. Les duellistes se sont livrés aux premiers échanges à fleurets mouchetés, dans le débat du second tour de l'élection présidentielle, d'abord à travers leur mot d'introduction. L'occasion pour Hollande, qui parlait en premier, d'esquisser en creux une première critique du bilan de son adversaire en se présentant notamment comme «le président du rassemblement». «Pendant trop d'années, les Français ont été opposés les uns aux autres», assure le candidat socialiste. L'attaque n'échappe pas à Sarkozy qui, pour son introduction, juge la présentation de Hollande «assez classique. C'est ce qu'on dit à chaque débat, “je serai un président extraordinaire, et mon prédécesseur était nul”». L'affrontement se noue. » | Par Charles Jaigu, Nicolas Barotte, Solenn de Royer, François-Xavier Bourmaud | jeudi 03 mai 2012

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Präsidentschaftswahl in Frankreich: Beobachter sehen keinen Sieger im Fernsehduell

ZEIT ONLINE: Für Nicolas Sarkozy war es die Gelegenheit, den Umfragerückstand auf Herausforderer Hollande wettzumachen. Doch trotz harter Attacken des Präsidenten blieb der gelassen.

Im Fernsehduell der beiden Kandidaten der Stichwahl um das Präsidentenamt in Frankreich haben Beobachter keinen eindeutigen Sieger ausmachen können. Die Diskussion zwischen dem konservativen Amtsinhaber Nicolas Sarkozy und seinem sozialistischen Herausforderer François Hollande am gestrigen Mittwochabend sei "mehr oder weniger" ein Unentschieden gewesen, sagte der Politikwissenschaftler Emmanuel Rivière vom Umfrageinstitut TNS Sofres.

Allerdings habe Hollande lediglich Fehler vermeiden müssen, um seine Stellung als Favorit zu wahren, sagte Rivière. Dies habe Hollande nach einiger Zeit verstanden und sich daraufhin entspannt. Sarkozy sei es in der Debatte, in der die beiden Politiker neben politischen Argumenten auch persönliche Angriffe austauschten, nicht gelungen, Hollande entscheidend zu treffen. » | Quelle: ZEIT ONLINE, AFP, dpa, Reuters | Donnerstag, 03. Mai 2012

Verwandt »

Sarkozy and Hollande Trade Barbs in Heated TV Debate
FRANCE 24: In the first and only televised debate ahead of Sunday’s vote, incumbent French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist rival François Hollande traded barbs as they faced off on a number of issues ranging from economic policies to immigration.

It was billed as “The Final Confrontation” and that’s exactly what millions of TV viewers across France got Wednesday night as incumbent French President Nicolas Sarkozy squared off against his Socialist challenger, François Hollande, in an intensely contested face-off, the only debate of the 2012 campaign.

With just four days to go before Sunday’s final round of the presidential poll, the stakes were high as Hollande kicked off the debate with a ferocious attack on what he called Sarkozy’s track record of dividing the French people, adding that if he were elected, the Socialist politician would be a “president for justice”.

In a quick rebuttal - the sort that characterised the contentious tone of the debate - Sarkozy shot back: “Bringing people together – what a beautiful idea. But it’s not just words, it’s facts that matter,” before noting that during his tenure as president, Sarkozy managed to implement controversial policies such as pension reforms without massive street protests.

The much-anticipated debate kicked off at 9pm local time at a TV studio north of Paris with the two candidates facing each other across a table mounted with two digital clocks to monitor the speaking time of each candidate.

Moderated by leading French TV presenters, David Pujadas of France 2 and Laurence Ferrari of TF1, Wednesday’s debate was broadcast live by several French TV stations, reaching roughly half of France's 44.5 million voters.

In a wide-ranging debate that included economic policies, immigration issues as well as foreign policy initiatives, the two candidates repeatedly clashed as they reeled out statistics, frequently accused each other of citing incorrect figures, and were not above taking the occasional personal jabs at each other. » | France 24 | Thursday, May 03, 2012

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Taliban Enforcer Squads Accused of Ruthless Control in Nuristan

THE GUARDIAN: Isolated Afghan border area heavily regulated by shrouded 'vice and virtue police' said to surpass even hardline Taliban

Villagers in the more remote parts of Afghanistan's mountainous north-east region, tucked up against the lawless border with Pakistan, have long ago adjusted to living alongside insurgents.

But the Taliban enforcers who started filing into their mosques two months ago to check that beard and trouser lengths met standards of religious propriety, and to hunt for government employees, still chilled the congregations.

The Taliban were shrouded from head to toe in black, barely any flesh showing, some also wearing sunglasses. "At Friday prayers the uniformed unit comes and stands in the last line, and then waits at the gate of the mosque to ask people questions like 'why is your beard short?', 'do you work for the government or national police?'," said Haj Sayed Ahmad, a 51-year-old teacher who fled to Kabul a week ago to escape the fallout of a battle between the insurgents and government forces.

"They have black face masks, and even their feet and hands are covered. You can't see anything at all," he added of the men, who also set up checkpoints to search travellers on the roads of the district in the much contested province of Nuristan.

The Taliban spoke in accents from outside the area, refugees said, and anyone who questioned the enforcers risked a dangerous assault.

"The uniformed group, when they stop people, they don't say much. If you try to make a longer conversation they will give you a beating that will nearly kill you," said Hussain Ali, 30, a lawyer. "We call them the 'vice and virtue police'." » | Emma Graham-Harrison in Kabul | Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Barack Obama's Ex-girlfriends Speak of His 'Sexual Warmth'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Ex-girlfriends of President Barack Obama have spoken for the first time of his "sexual warmth" and disclosed the contents of love letters that he sent during his 20s, in a new biography.

Genevieve Cook and Alex McNear, who had relationships with Mr Obama in New York in the early 1980s, gave previously unseen material on Mr Obama to David Maraniss, a Pulitzer prize-winning author.

Letters Mr Obama sent to Ms McNear and journal entries by Ms Cook depict a serious and earnest young man struggling to come to terms with his racial identity and place in modern American society.

In one diary entry from February 1984, Ms Cook – a girlfriend for more than a year – noted that in their relationship "the sexual warmth is definitely there – but the rest of it has sharp edges".

She recalled "feeling anger" at Mr Obama, whose "warmth can be deceptive". Foreshadowing a criticism often levelled at him today, she said: "Though he speaks sweet words there is also that coolness". » | Jon Swaine, Washington | Wednesday, May 02, 2012

En direct et en vidéo le débat Hollande-Sarkozy
Regardez le débat en direct ici | mercredi 02 mai 2012
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Nicolas Sarkozy Hopes to 'Explode' François Hollande in Live TV Debate

THE GUARDIAN: Rivals for Élysée Palace meet in traditional set-piece of French presidential race with Sarkozy desperate to rein in Hollande

Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande are to face each other in a live TV debate on Wednesday night – a tense verbal showdown seen as the rightwing president's last chance to swing Sunday's presidential vote in his favour.

The French president is six to eight points behind the Socialist frontrunner Hollande in the polls, despite an aggressive campaign. Sarkozy has reportedly told ministers that he will use the debate to "explode" Hollande. Both candidates have warned they do not view the two-and-a-half-hour standoff as a "boxing match", but French newspapers were billing it as a fight for political survival: The Last Duel or The Final Confrontation.

With an expected 20 million viewers, the presidential TV debate is a classic set-piece in French politics. It makes more impact as a personality clash than a detailed deconstruction of manifestos. In the past it has produced scathing put-downs and killer one-liners, such as Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's snub to François Mitterrand "You do not have the monopoly of the heart", Mitterrand's belittling of Jacques Chirac, or Sarkozy telling the Socialist Ségolène Royal in 2007 that she had lost her nerve. » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Wednesday, May 02, 2012

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Sheffield UKIP Candidate Removed Over Breivik Blog Post

BBC: A man who was due to stand in Sheffield's local elections for UKIP has been stripped of the candidacy over comments made on his blog.

Steve Moxon, a former government whistle-blower, is standing in the Dore and Totley ward.

On his blog he said Norwegian killer Anders Breivik's thesis on Islam and political correctness was accurate.

Mr Moxon said he "resolutely does not agree with" his crimes. UKIP said his comments were at odds with its policy.

Breivik, 33, killed 77 people in Norway last July. He is currently on trial accused of terrorism and mass murder.

Mr Moxon, a former civil servant, first came to prominence in 2004 when he made claims that key checks were waived by immigration staff in Sheffield to make the numbers coming to Britain seem less dramatic when the EU expanded.

He told BBC Radio Sheffield he had been "amicably" removed as a candidate but remained a member of UKIP.

He said: "I would stress that I do not in any way agree with Anders Breivik's actions. » | Tuesday, May 01, 2012