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Monday, May 14, 2012
There are many things Alexis Tsipras likes about Germany. The leader of Greece's Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) party drives his BMW motorcycle to work at the Greek parliament in the morning, Germany's über-leftist Oskar Lafontaine is one of his political allies, and when it comes to his daily work, his colleagues have noticed a certain tendency toward Prussian-style perfection.
Tsipras could easily count as a friend of the Germans, if it weren't for the German chancellor. Greek magazines have frequently caricatured Angela Merkel dressed in a Nazi uniform, because she imposes her fondness for balanced budgets and austerity on the rest of Europe. The Greeks, says Tsipras, want to "put an end" to the Germans' requirements and their "brutal austerity policy."
Tsipras is the new political star in Athens. While the country's washed-up mainstream parties struggled for days to form a new government, the clever young politician has been dominating the headlines with his coalition movement of Trotskyites, anarchists and leftist socialists.
In the recent elections, Tsipras' Syriza party advanced to become the second-largest political force in the country, and Tsipras is making sure his gray-faced opponents from the Greek political establishment know it. Surrounded by cameras and microphones, he stood in the Athens government district last Tuesday, put on his winner's smile and called upon the two traditional parties, the center-left Socialists (PASOK) and the conservative New Democracy, to send a letter "to the EU leadership" and cancel the bailout deal that Athens made with the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Tsipras knows what many Greeks are thinking. At the end of last week, his poll numbers rose to a new record level of almost 28 percent.
Turning Point
Two years after the government in Athens requested the first emergency loans in Brussels, the European debt crisis is reaching a turning point. Europe and the international community pumped about €240 billion ($312 billion) into the Balkan nation, government employees were let go, pensions were slashed and a series of restructuring programs were approved.
But even though the country is virtually being governed by the European Commission and the IMF, Greece's debts are higher than ever and the recession is worsening. As the political situation becomes increasingly chaotic, new elections seem all the more likely.
At the Chancellery in Berlin, the television images from Athens now remind Merkel's advisers of conditions in the ill-fated Weimar Republic of 1919-1933. Back then, the Germans perceived the Treaty of Versailles as a supposed "disgrace." Now, the Greeks feel the same way about the austerity measures imposed by Brussels. And, as in the 1920s in Germany, the situation in Greece today benefits fringe parties on both the left and the right. The country's political system is unraveling, and some advisers even fear that the tense situation could lead to a military coup.
Greece has been in intensive care for years, but the patient, instead of recovering, is just getting sicker and sicker. In a confidential report, which SPIEGEL has seen, experts from the IMF arrive at a devastating verdict. The country, they write, has only "a small industrial base" and is characterized by "structural incrustations" and an "excessively large role of the public sector." » | SPIEGEL Staff | Monday, May 14, 2012
BBC: Racial and cultural factors cannot be dismissed as playing a part in the Rochdale sex grooming case, the out-going head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has said.
Trevor Phillips told The Andrew Marr Show it is "fatuous" to deny racial and cultural factors. Nine men of Pakistani and Afghan origin were jailed for offences including rape last week.
Mr Philips also said he was worried that in a closed community people may have been afraid to speak out about what was happening. Watch BBC video » | Sunday, May 13, 2012
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Claims that ethnicity was not a factor in the Rochdale sexual grooming case are "fatuous", the head of the equalities watchdog said today.
Trevor Phillips, the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said the fact that the men convicted were Asian and their victims white could not be ignored.
He expressed concern that the men came from closed communities which may have turned a blind eye to what was happening - either out of fear or because the girls concerned were from a different community.
And he said it would be a national scandal if it turned out the authorities had failed to intervene to protect the children because of fears that it would lead to the "demonisation" of the Asian community.
A gang of nine Asian men was last week found guilty of plying girls as young as 13 with drink and drugs so they could "pass them around" and use them for sex.
Following the trial at Liverpool Crown Court, Greater Manchester Police sought to play down suggestions of any racial element to the case. » | Sunday, May 13, 2012
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Sunday, May 13, 2012
Pope Benedict XVI may reach a decision by the end of May to allow the ultraconservative Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) to rejoin the Catholic church, SPIEGEL has learned.
At a meeting this coming Wednesday, the four cardinals of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees Catholic Church doctrine, plan to agree a proposal for reuniting the society with the Catholic Church, and will it submit it to the pope.
The Swiss-based SSPX, rejects some of the reforms made at the historic 1962 Second Vatican Council. It defied Rome in 1988 by illegally consecrating four bishops, which led to their excommunication by the late Pope John Paul. » | SPIEGEL | Sunday, May 13, 2012
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Environ 10'000 personnes se sont rassemblées dimanche pour commémorer le 67e anniversaire de la libération du camp de concentration nazi de Mauthausen.
Les manifestants, venus de plus de 50 pays ont rendu hommage aux dizaines de milliers de déportés victimes des crimes de la dictature nazie et ont témoigné de leur volonté de lutter «contre le fascisme, le racisme et toute forme de discrimination», a déclaré le président du Comité autrichien Mauthausen (MKÖ), l'Autrichien Willi Mernyi.
Même si le camp de concentration de Mauthausen n'a pas été un camp d'extermination, comme ceux d'Auschwitz, Maidanek, Sobibor, Treblinka, Chelmno ou Belzec, tous situés en Pologne, 15.000 juifs et des centaines de roms y ont trouvé la mort, sans compter les milliers de juifs hongrois décédés en 1945 durant «les marches de la mort» jusqu'à Mauthausen. » | afp/Newsnet | dimanche 13 mai 2012
Anfang Mai erhielt die Islamkritikerin und Publizistin Ayaan Hirsi Ali den Freiheitspreis des Verlags Axel Springer, den ihr Verlegerin Friede Springer in Berlin überreichte. Hirsi Ali, deren Familie sie genital verstümmeln ließ und zwangsverheiraten wollte, war einst aus Somalia geflohen und hatte in den Niederlanden nicht nur Asyl gefunden, sondern auch Heimat.
Als Parlamentsabgeordnete kritisierte sie den laschen Umgang der Politik mit integrationsunwilligen Muslimen und erhielt Morddrohungen. Die Stimmung drehte sich gegen sie, weil man ihr vorwarf, bei den eigenen Einwanderungsangaben geschummelt zu haben. 2006 ging sie nach Amerika ans konservative American Enterprise Institute. Die so fragile wie furchtlose Frau ist mit dem britischen Historiker Niall Ferguson verheiratet. Er brachte ihr kurz vor der Preisverleihung ihr kleines Schwarzes samt High Heels. Sie lachte und sagte: "Thank you, darling sweet." Man denkt an Leonhard Cohens "She called it love, I called it service". » | Von Andrea Seibel | Sonntag, 13. Mai 2012
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LAS VEGAS SUN: Physical intimacy is not simply a biological action and reaction. It is bigger than that. It is more about the value system that one prefers and adopts because it affects not only the individual, family and the society but human civilizations and cultures as well as the rise and fall of nations.
On the one hand are Freudian followers who argue that civilization is a byproduct of repressed sexuality and on the other hand are those who in the words of J.D. Unwin believe that “in human records there is no instance of a society retaining its energy after a complete new generation has inherited a tradition which does not insist on pre-nuptial and post-nuptial continence.”
Unwin, a sociologist at Cambridge University, published “Sex and Culture” in 1934. He studied 86 societies and found no exceptions to the rule that the cultures flourished during eras that valued sexual fidelity and discipline. He demonstrated through empirical data that whenever sexual mores loosened, the societies declined, and whenever they followed rigid sexual discipline they rose again.
In our recent history, the fall of the Soviet society offers a recent example where Vladimir Lenin espoused a “glass of water” theory about sex, explaining that sexual desire is just like desire for food or water. The theory collapsed, and with it collapsed the Soviet society.
However, new interpretations are being offered to explain the Freudian ideas. Barbara Ehrenreich, a widely read and award-winning author of 21 books, wrote not very long ago that sex, preferably among affectionate and consenting adults, belongs squarely in the realm of play. This “de-moralization” of sex is promoting a new sexual ethics that legitimizes and justifies everything in the name of pleasure and freedom.
What was presented as his personal opinion by President Barack Obama about same-sex marriage is an effort to legitimize the de-moralization of sex to develop a new culture where every sexual activity is fine as long as individuals engaged in the act have their consent and pleasure. » | Dr. Aslam Abdullah | Sunday, May 13, 2012
WSBT.COM: KANSAS CITY, Kansas (Reuters) - Kansas lawmakers have passed legislation intended to prevent the state courts or agencies from using Islamic or other non-U.S. laws in making decisions, a measure critics have blasted as an embarrassment to the state.
The legislation, which passed 33-3 in the state Senate on Friday and 120-0 previously in the House, is widely known in Kansas as the "Sharia bill," because the perceived goal of supporters is to keep Islamic code from being recognized in Kansas.
The bill was sent to Republican Governor Sam Brownback, who has not indicated whether he will sign it.
In interviews on Saturday, a supporter of the bill said it reassured foreigners in Kansas that state laws and the U.S. Constitution will protect them. But an opponent said the bill's real purpose is to hold Islam out for ridicule. » | Kevin Murphy | Reuters | Saturday, May 12, 2012
The election in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), a western German state with a bigger population than the Netherlands and an economy the size of Turkey, was held 18 months before a national election in which Merkel is expected to fight for a third term.
She remains popular in Germany for her steady handling of the euro zone debt crisis, but the sheer scale of her party's defeat leaves her vulnerable at a time when a backlash against her insistence on fiscal discipline is building across Europe.
According to first projections, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) won 38.8 percent of the vote and will have enough to form a stable majority with the Greens, who scored 12.2 percent.
The two left-leaning parties had run a fragile minority government for the past two years under popular SPD leader Hannelore Kraft, whose decisive victory on Sunday could propel her to national prominence.
Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) saw their support plunge to just 25.8 percent, down from nearly 35 percent in 2010, and the worst result in the state since World War Two.
"This is not a good evening for Merkel," said Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University. » | Stephen Brown | Reuters | (Reporting by Stephen Brown and Tom Kaeckenhoff in Duesseldorf; Writing by Noah Barkin,Madeline Chambers, Sarah Marsh in Berlin) | Sunday, May 13, 2012
REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Rot-Grün gewinnt in NRW - Debakel für die CDU » | Sonntag, 13. Mai 2012
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Saturday, May 12, 2012
Mitt Romney, probable opposant de Barack Obama à la présidentielle américaine de novembre, a passé samedi un grand oral à la Liberty University, un bastion des chrétiens évangéliques qu'il courtise.
Son discours intervient trois jours après la prise de position du président en faveur du mariage gay.
Levée de fonds
Dans un stade plein à craquer, devant plus de 20'000 personnes et environ 6000 jeunes diplômés, l'ex-gouverneur du Massachusetts a suivi les traces d'autres candidats républicains, comme Ronald Reagan ou George Bush père. Eux aussi avaient pris la parole dans cette université de Virginie (est) fondée par le pasteur télévangéliste Jerry Falwell, mort en 2007.
Quelques heures après la partie de basket de Barack Obama avec George Clooney à Los Angeles après une réunion de levée de fonds et trois jours après ses déclarations en faveur du mariage homosexuel, le discours solennel de Mitt Romney dans la plus grande université chrétienne du pays semblait destiné à lui faire prendre le contre- pied du président. » | ats/Newsnet | samedi 12 mai 2012
MAIL ONLINE: The economic crisis across Europe has perhaps been most keenly felt in Greece, where people have taken to the streets in violent and emotional protests against the austeri[t]y measures imposed on the nation. / In this heartbreaking dispatch from the streets of Athens, SUE REID finds mothers who have been forced to sell their own children in the battle for survival.
Once a month, usually on a Saturday, Kasiani Papadopoulou packs a bag with children’s presents and takes the bus from her one-bedroom flat in a dusty suburb of Athens up into the cool hills outside the Greek capital that overlook the sea.
The 20-mile journey is an emotional one for her, but she would not stop making it for anything in the world.
A young widow of 30, she travels to see her two daughters and son — aged 14, 13 and 12. Kasiani was forced to give them away a year ago when her money ran out and she was unable to pay for their food, her rent or send them to school with shoes or books.
At the charity home where the three are now cared for, the children excitedly shout ‘Mama’ as they run down the steps to greet her. Her eldest daughter, Ianthe, hugs her tightly and gives her a kiss.
When, a few hours later, it is time to say goodbye, Kasiani is always close to tears. The youngest, Melissa and Markos, cling to her before she leaves to go home alone.
‘It is not easy for a mother to leave her kids,’ she says to me, her voice cracking with emotion when I spoke to her this week in Athens.
‘At Christmas, at Easter, on their birthdays, I am always so sad because I do not see them. Some people judge me over what I’ve done — even my own family and neighbours — but they do not understand the truth. I’ve done what is best for my children.
‘I cannot count the number of doorbells I have rung of government departments, asking officials to help me and my family. They make promises but do nothing. They have no money either. Our country is in crisis.’
Kasiani’s children were born in a country which has been brought to its knees by crushing debt. This was built up by Greece’s huge profligacy after joining the European Union and then milking the system for everything it could get.
The public sector wage bill doubled in the past decade as perks and fiddles reminiscent of Britain in the union controlled 1970s flourished. Paying taxes became optional for the middle and upper classes and corruption was rife.
Until two years ago, the big fat Greek gravy train carried on racing towards the buffers. Even pastry chefs and hairdressers were listed among the 600 ‘professions’ allowed to retire at 50 (with a state pension of 95 per cent of their final year’s earnings) on account of the ‘arduous and perilous’ nature of their work.
Now drastic austerity measures imposed by Eurozone finance leaders mean that benefits, state pensions and pay rates have been pared to the bone as taxes are hiked heavenwards in a last ditch attempt to balance the books and stop the country going bankrupt. Read on and comment » | Sue Reid | Friday, May 11, 2012
Hans ist 80 Jahre alt, Rheinländer und seit April Muslim. Warum er zum Islam übergetreten ist? "Das hat sich so ergeben", sagt Hans lakonisch im Singsang-Dialekt seiner Heimat. Hans ist die Hauptfigur eines der unzähligen Videos, mit denen Salafisten im Internet für ihre Sache werben.
Pierre Vogel, einer der bekanntesten Anführer dieser fundamentalistischen Bewegung in Deutschland, hat das Video auf seine Webseite gestellt. 15 Minuten lang soll Hans im Interview mit einem Salafisten Auskunft über seinen Weg zum Islam geben. Konkret sieht das so aus, dass der Fragende Suggestivfrage an Suggestivfrage reiht, die Hans meist nur mit einem kurzen "Ja" beantwortet. Dazwischen spricht Hans das islamische Glaubensbekenntnis, das dem alten Mann nur zögerlich über die Lippen geht.
Quintessenz des Gesprächs: Bei Hans im Haus lebt seit mehreren Jahren eine muslimische Familie, deren Oberhaupt Timor ihn schließlich vom Übertritt überzeugt habe. "Das war eine Überraschung auf Gegenseitigkeit", erzählt Hans, "man hatte sich kennengelernt, und ich kann nur Positives über die Leute sagen." » | Von Christoph Sydow | Donnerstag, 10. Mai 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama's surprise announcement that he supports gay marriage resonated through the American political landscape last week, writes John Avlon. It was a profile in courage moment from the American president - but one loaded with political risk.
Consider the fact that just the previous day the citizens of North Carolina voted to ban gay marriage and all forms of civil unions by a 20-point margin, enshrining unequal treatment in their state constitution.
This is not an unusual result when gay marriage has gone to the voters in the past – more than 30 states have taken the same step, while in the half dozen states where marriage equality is legal it has been achieved via state legislatures or judicial decision.
In other words, gay marriage might be morally right, especially in the eyes of the progressive base, but it is a proven loser at the ballot box. And the Obama campaign has bet big on winning North Carolina in November, deciding to hold their Democratic convention there in August. Read on and comment » | American Way: John Avlon | Saturday, May 12, 2012
Several men have been arrested by Greater Manchester Police on suspicion of sexually abusing the same girl.
The alleged abuse is believed to have taken place over a six-year period when the girl was in her teens.
Sources who spoke to the Manchester Evening News described her as ‘extremely vulnerable’. Detectives have carried out video interviews with the girl, who told them she knew the men only by nicknames.
A string of suspects were tracked down by officers and a number of arrests have now been made.
The men are thought to be from Asian and Afro-Caribbean backgrounds.
It comes just days after nine Asian men from Rochdale and Oldham were jailed over the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 13-years-old. » | Julie Henry | Saturday, May 12, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Normally high-profile wife of King Abdullah has lowered her visibility as nation remains at crossroads of reform
Queen Rania has scaled back her public activities sharply since facing damaging criticism last year that she was playing too prominent a role in running Jordan.
Rania, now 41, married Prince Abdullah in 1993, six years before he ascended the throne. Stylish and tall, in 2005 she was voted the third most beautiful woman in the world and hailed by Oprah Winfrey as an "international fashion icon" who also speaks up for women's rights.
On her Twitter account, followed by over 2 million people, she describes herself as "a mum and a wife with a really cool day job".
In the past Jordan's carefully-controlled media would report on two or three different royal appearances a day. Now the queen is mentioned less frequently, typically visiting a school or hospital or programmes for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Plans for the creation of a Queen Rania Foundation – modelled on one run by Sheikha Mozah, the glamorous consort of the emir of Qatar – have been quietly shelved. » | Ian Black in Amman | Friday, May 11, 2012
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Die meisten muslimischen Gemeinden in Deutschland sind nach ethnischer Zugehörigkeit organisiert. Der Salafismus überschreitet diese Grenze - und viele andere auch.
Was Mitte der neunziger Jahre die Sicherheitsbehörden auf den Plan rief, ist nicht erst seit der Koranverteilaktion in deutschen Fußgängerzonen zum gesellschaftspolitischen Thema geworden: Innerhalb weniger Jahre hat sich der Salafismus zu einer Gegenkultur vornehmlich junger Erwachsener und Jugendlicher entwickelt, in der sich Weltflucht, saudi-arabische Missionierungspolitik und Ablehnung von Aufklärung und westlicher Zivilisation treffen. Der Bundesverfassungsschutz weist zu Recht auf die Verbindungen der salafistischen Szene zu internationalen Terrororganisationen vom Schlage Al Qaidas hin. Doch jenseits seiner Funktion als Ideologie zur Rechtfertigung religiöser Gewalt sollte der Erfolg des Salafismus in Deutschland vor allem als politisches Thema begriffen werden.
As-salaf as-salih - das ist die arabische Bezeichnung der „frommen Altvordern“. Gemeint sind damit die ersten drei Generationen der Anhänger Mohammeds, die als perfekte, islamische Gemeinschaft vorgestellt werden. Von ihnen leitet sich der Begriff Salafismus her. Salafisten folgen keiner der vier Rechtsschulen des Islam. Das trennt sie von den meisten anderen Islamisten. Koran und Sunna gelten ihnen als alleinige Quellen für das islamgemäße Leben des Einzelnen und der Gemeinschaft. Ziel ist, dem perfekten Vorbild des Gottgesandten Mohammed nachzueifern: von Gebet und Kleidung über Familienleben und Sexualverhalten bis hin zu Essgewohnheiten und Zahnpflege. Abweichendes Verhalten gilt bereits als Anzeichen fehlgeleiteter Anbetung des einzigen Gottes. » | Von F. W. Horst* | Donnerstag, 10. Mai 2012
* Der Verfasser studierte Terrorismusforschung am Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC) und forscht über Salafismus am International Institute for Counterterrorism (ICT) in Israel.
THE GUARDIAN: Muslim groups report upsurge in hate mail and abusive phone calls since conviction of nine men over child sex ring
Far right groups are exploiting the conviction of nine men who were part of a gang which groomed girls for sex to create a "climate of hate" against Muslims, community leaders have warned.
Muslim groups say they have seen an upsurge in hate mail and abusive phone calls since the trial ended this week and community leaders are bracing themselves for more Islamophobic attacks on individual Muslims and mosques across the UK.
"We are already receiving hate mail and hate phone calls even though we issued a very strong statement condemning those involved," said a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain. "If it can happen to MCB, you can just imagine what ordinary Muslims are facing as they go about their day-to-day business." » | Matthew Taylor and Haroon Siddique | Friday, May 11, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Cuba could pass legislation allowing same-sex marriage later this year, according to the daughter of President Raúl Castro.
Mariela Castro, the country’s premier sexologist, made the remarks one day after US President Barack Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage, but said Cuba still needs to be "more revolutionary" in its treatment of gays.
Ms Castro said she "has the hope that this year" parliament will pass legislation to legalise gay marriage in Cuba, although the bill under debate by lawmakers here "sad to say is not everything that we would have hoped for."
Castro looked to another of its neighbours, Argentina, as the model after which she would have liked to pattern Cuba's gay rights agenda. » | Source: agencies | Friday, May 11, 2012
NTN24NEWS.COM: Cuba poised to pass gay marriage law: Castro daughter – Famed sexologist Mariela Castro, daughter of the Cuban president, said Thursday she expected her country this year will pass a same-sex marriage law, although she said Cuba still needs to be "more revolutionary" in its treatment of gays. » | Authored by: VALERIA COVO/AFP | Thursday, May 10, 2012
It's the oldest and most respected major religion in South Korea. And now it's been spectacularly brought into ill-repute after senior monks from the largest Buddhist order in the country were caught red-handed setting a bad example by indulging in a cheeky little poker game.
Gambling in the country is illegal everywhere except for inside just one casino that's in the north east of the country. So it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that these monks - who are from the Jogye Order - seen here smoking, drinking and flipping playing cards on the floor of a luxury hotel room are flouting the law.
As soon as the footage was aired on national TV yesterday, 6 of the 8 monks in the room offered to resign. Leader Master Jinjea, a high-ranker from the order -- who wasn't even there at the time - said on local TV 'Those monks committed a foolish act and I confess my sin for their wrongdoings'
It was a fellow monk who secretly shot the footage and then tipped off the police and the media. Do you reckon he's taken himself off for a long holiday right now?
I'm Marverine Cole. That's all from me for now but for more news check out our website: ibtimes.co.uk
Jemajem is a young, dark-eyed militant leader who bears the self-important nom de guerre of "the Guevara of south Yemen". Based in the impoverished port of Aden, he belongs to the Hirak group of activists, who have been calling for south Yemen to be allowed to secede from the north for half a decade.
It's not hard to see why he thinks an independent future for the south would be better than its current situation. Sadness and poverty settled on Aden many decades ago. The streets are littered with piles of rotting fish and festering rubbish, while haggard men sit on pavements chewing qat to stave off the boredom of unemployment. Cliffs of volcanic rock are crowded with migrants' illegal shacks made of breeze blocks and corrugated iron.
But beneath this layer of grime is a tale of outside interference in Yemen that is likely to bring further conflict and exacerbate the divisions within the country. Shortly after the Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, was toppled last November in the Arab spring, Jemajem was approached by an intermediary working on behalf of what the man described as a "friendly country" known for its international support for revolutionary causes.
Jemajem was frustrated: although Saleh had gone, the separatists had not achieved any of their demands. But help was at hand, the man told him. Was he interested? "Of course I was," said Jemajem. "I would take money from the devil if he could help my nation. A drowning man will hang on to a straw."
His encounter with what turned out to be the Iranians is remarkable in itself, but it illuminates the much bigger tale of foreign interference in Yemen, of how the conflicts between the Gulf states and Iran, the US and al-Qaida have reduced parts of Yemen to rubble and are pushing Yeminis into the arms of the jihadis. » | Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Aden | Thursday, May 10, 2012
A course for US military officers has been teaching that America's enemy is Islam in general and suggesting that the country might ultimately have to obliterate the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina without regard for civilian deaths, following second world war precedents of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima.
The Pentagon suspended the course in late April when a student objected to the material. The FBI also changed some agent training last year after discovering that it, too, was critical of Islam.
The teaching in the military course was counter to repeated assertions by US officials over the past decade that America is at war against Islamic extremists, not the religion itself.
"They hate everything you stand for and will never coexist with you, unless you submit," the instructor, Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Dooley, said in a presentation last July for the course at Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia. The college, for professional military members, teaches mid-level officers and government civilians on subjects related to planning and executing war. » | Associated Press in Washington | Friday, May 11, 2012
The shoe attack, which came as a coroner presented more autopsy reports on the mostly-young victims of the July massacre at Utoya island was followed by applause, "bravos" and tears among onlookers in the courtroom, and led to a temporary suspension of proceedings on the 17th day of the trial.
The black shoe did not hit Breivik but landed on one of his lawyers, Vibeke Hein Baera, who sits between the accused and the onlookers.
"Luckily, it was just a shoe," Hein Baera said.
The attacker, a man of Iraqi origin whose brother was one of the 69 people Breivik shot dead on Utoya on July 22, was quickly brought under control by security guards and escorted out of the courtroom as he continued to shout in English: "Go to Hell!"
When the proceedings resumed a few minutes later, Breivik addressed the onlookers. » | Friday, May 11, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
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Ayaan Hirsi Ali is to receive an award from the German publishing house Axel Springer for “her courage and commitment to freedom as a women’s rights campaigner and critic of Islam.” She will be awarded the prize of €25,000 in Berlin on Thursday. » | Source: The Washington Post and Associated Press | Thursday, May 10, 2012
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THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: He called the issue a "tender and sensitive topic," but reaffirmed that he opposes same-sex marriages.
Mitt Romney on Wednesday reaffirmed his view that marriage should be restricted to one man and one woman, highlighting a sharp contrast with President Barack Obama.
Obama declared his unequivocal personal support for same-sex marriage during an interview with ABC News. Reporters asked Romney about the issue after a campaign event in Oklahoma City.
"My view is that marriage itself is between a man and a woman," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee told reporters. He said he believes that states should be able to make decisions about whether to offer certain legal rights to same-sex couples.
"This is a very tender and sensitive topic, as are many social issues, but I have the same view that I've had since — since running for office," Romney said. He first ran for political office in 1994, when he challenged Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and was elected governor ofMassachusetts in 2002.
Obama is the first president in history to support gay marriage. Polls show the country is evenly divided on the issue. » | Kasie Hunt and Sean Murphy, The Associated Press | Wednesday, May 09, 2012
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Police and social workers failed to tackle the issue of Asian men grooming under-age white girls for up to a decade, the Daily Telegraph can reveal.
The mother of a girl who gave evidence in the trial of nine Asian men convicted of child sex offences has shown this newspaper evidence that suggests the authorities were aware of the abuse as long ago as 2002.
An official report by a sexual health adviser, which was passed on to social workers and police in 2005, detailed the kidnap and rape of an underage girl in Rochdale, where the gang was operating, but the authorities failed to act.
They have now been accused of ignoring evidence of the rapes because they were frightened of being accused of racism. » | Nigel Bunyan | Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Related here and here
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama on Wednesday night risked incurring the electoral wrath of America’s socially conservative heartlands by announcing that he now favours legalising gay marriage across the US.
Speaking hours after North Carolina became the 30th state in the country to explicitly outlaw same-sex marriage, Mr Obama told a specially-convened interview that “personally” he supported them.
“It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” he told ABC News. His wife, Michelle, “feels the same way that I do,” he added.
Mr Obama said his view had been affected by the realisation that his daughters, Sasha and Malia, would be bemused at the notion that the same-sex parents of friends “would be treated differently”.
“It doesn’t make sense to them,” he said. “Frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective.” He also cited the sacrifices of gay troops and said he had White House staff who were “incredibly committed” to their gay partners.
The announcement settled what the President had described as an “evolving” position on one of the most divisive issues in American society. Previously he supported only legal civil unions for homosexuals.
It came three days after Vice President Joe Biden said he was “absolutely comfortable” with same-sex marriages, sending the White House scrambling to maintain their delicately balanced stance. » | Jon Swaine, Washington | Wednesday, May 09, 2012
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Wednesday, May 09, 2012
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When King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia celebrated their silver wedding anniversary on May 14, 1987 they hosted a lavish reception at the Royal Palace inviting 25 other couples from across Spain who married on the same day.
But their golden wedding anniversary which falls next Monday will be marked with no such celebration.
The lack of a formal celebration has done much to fuel speculation over the state of the 74-year-old Monarch's marriage.
The last bout of speculation began when King Juan Carlos fractured his hip during an ill-fated safari trip to Botswana to hunt elephants.
Amid the public outcry over the nature and expense of the private trip, which led to an unprecedented apology by the shame faced monarch issued on the steps of the hospital, it was noted that Queen Sofia had paid only a brief visit to his bedside.
Royal commentators were quick to remark that the 26-minute bedside visit by Queen Sofia, who had not been on the hunting trip but visiting her Greek relatives, hinted at the deep breakdown in their relationship.
"The failure of his marriage to Queen Sofia, from whom he is practically separated, is public knowledge," wrote Jose Antonio Zarzalejos, a royal commentator and the former director of respected daily ABC. » | Fiona Govan, Madrid | Wednesday, May 09, 2012
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The Right-winger, who lost his re-election bid to Socialist François Hollande on Sunday, held his last cabinet meeting on Wednesday – said to be an "emotional" affair in which he urged colleagues not to be "sad or bitter".
Telling aides he intends to retire from front line politics, Mr Sarkozy let them know he was preparing to return to his former life as a lawyer at the Paris firm he still partly owns, after taking a break with his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and their baby daughter.
But the outgoing president could soon be called for questioning – either as a witness or potentially as a suspect – in several corruption cases when he loses presidential immunity a month after leaving office on May 15.
Judges are likely to want to summon him over an investigation into who ordered French intelligence to unlawfully seek to uncover the source of journalists working for Le Monde. France's intelligence chief is currently under investigation over the affair in which Le Monde exposed embarrassing links between Mr Sarkozy's government and Liliane Bettencourt, the l'Oréal billionaire caught up in a tax evasion and illegal party financing inquiry. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Wednesday, May 09, 2012
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Tonje Brenna told the Oslo district court how she had heard the killer's ecstatic shouts as bodies fell around her hiding place in the crack of a cliff.
"I am absolutely sure that I heard cries of joy," said the 24-year-old head of the ruling Labour Party's youth wing, AUF, who was the first of the Utoya survivors to take the stand.
"If I had to spell it out, it would be WOO-HOO. Obviously cries for joy," she said.
Seated at a table just a few feet from her, Breivik, who has showed [sic] virtually no emotion since his trial began on April 16, sat shaking his head in disapproval as Miss Brenna recounted the events of July 22.
The 33-year-old right-wing extremist, who is eager for the court to find him of sound mind so his anti-Islam ideology will not be written off as the ravings of a lunatic, has insisted that he never laughed or smiled during the massacre. » | Source: AFP | Wednesday, May 09, 2012
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The European Court of Human Rights (Echr) concluded that the hate cleric’s eleventh hour appeal bid against deportation was submitted within time but ruled there were no grounds to hear it.
However, the decision could clear the way for the hate cleric to now sue the Home Office over the blunder.
Mrs May was accused of taking an “unacceptable risk” and faced calls to apologise for “a potentially catastrophic error of judgment”.
Despite the ruling, Qatada will remain in the country for at least another year because of a separate, ongoing legal challenge against deportation to Jordan, where he faces trial for alleged terror offences.
His lawyers also launched a fresh bid to have him re-released on bail while the court battles continue.
It means yet another legal merry-go-round in a ten year saga that has already cost the taxpayer up to £3 million. » | Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Die Deutschen haben aus dem Zusammenbruch ihrer Demokratie im Jahre 1933 alle nur denkbaren Konsequenzen gezogen - nur die eine nicht: Die am meisten unterschlagene Ursache der deutschen Katastrophe war das fatale Festhalten am Goldstandard. Die feste Bindung der Reichsmark und anderer Währungen an den Wert des Goldes verhinderte, dass die Notenbanken mit einer flexiblen Geldpolitik auf den Börsencrash von 1929 reagieren konnten. Was in den USA begann, wuchs sich zu einer Weltrezession aus.
Griechenland steckt heute in einer ähnlichen Klemme. Der Euro wirkt sich auf das Land ähnlich aus wie der Goldstandard auf Deutschland in den dreißiger Jahren. Der Euro verhindert, dass Griechenland durch eine Abwertung seiner Währung wieder wettbewerbsfähig werden kann. Die Sparpolitik führte damals wie heute zu einer wirtschaftlichen Depression. Vor allem sind die politischen Parallelen frappierend. Die demokratischen Volksparteien in Griechenland haben bei der Wahl am Wochenende keine Parlamentsmehrheit mehr bekommen - trotz der Tatsache, dass die größte Partei noch mal quasi als Geschenk ein Sechstel aller Sitze dazu erhält. Dafür sitzen jetzt Neonazis im Parlament. » | Eine Kolumne von Wolfgang Münchau | Mittwoch, 09. Mai 2012
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Partout en Europe, l’austérité fait monter les partis populistes. Ils ont emporté un tiers des suffrages en France et gagné en Grèce où les deux partis historiques, la Nouvelle démocratie et les socialistes du Pasok, ont été battus par une kyrielle de partis d’extrême gauche et d’extrême droite. La crise des dettes débouche sur des crises politiques qui rappellent furieusement les années 1930: xénophobie et protectionnisme tentent les électeurs. Il faut vite trouver une parade et en convaincre les Allemands.
Un puit sans fond
En Grèce, les électeurs sont pour rester dans la zone euro. Mais ils refusent l’austérité de fer qu’on leur impose maintenant depuis deux ans. C’est en apparence contradictoire: on ne peut pas vouloir le beurre de l’euro sans payer le prix du beurre. Mais on peut aussi comprendre les Grecs. Le pays paraît s’enfoncer dans un puit sans fond.
Depuis quatre ans, le PIB a reculé au total de plus de 15%. Les salaires ont été réduits de 30%. La production industrielle de 20%, les investissements de 50%. Le taux de chômage atteint 20%. Tout ça a été décidé pour ramener le déficit budgétaire du pays dans les clous en échange d’aides européennes et internationales. Mais tous les efforts ne semblent servir à rien. Les rentrées fiscales se sont effondrées, le déficit se réduit, mais pas aussi vite que prévu. A quoi ça sert demandent les électeurs? La Troïka, elle, demande de nouveaux efforts. » | Eric Le Boucher | mercredi 09 mai 2012
Oui au moteur franco-allemand, non à un duopole. «Ces dernières années, le rapport franco-allemand a été exclusif», regrette François Hollande dans une interview à slate.fr réalisée le 4 mai et publiée lundi. «Les autorités européennes ont été négligées et certains pays, notamment les plus fragiles, ont eu la désagréable impression d'être en face d'un directoire», poursuit le président élu dans un entretien qui esquisse les pistes de sa politique étrangère.
«Aucune séquelle» avec Merkel
Avec Angela Merkel, «il n'y a aucune séquelle liée à l'élection présidentielle», affirme François Hollande. «J'ai parfaitement compris que (la Chancelière) soutienne Nicolas Sarkozy pour l'action qu'ils ont menée ensemble», ajoute-t-il, en estimant «qu'elle-même ne peut me faire le reproche d'adopter la même attitude à l'égard des sociaux-démocrates».
Plaidant pour une relation France-Allemagne «équilibrée et respectueuse», il souligne que «les couples Schmidt-Giscard, Kohl-Mitterrand et Chirac-Schröder ont prouvé que les différences politiques n'empêchaient pas le travail commun». » | Par Alain Barluet | lundi 07 mai 2012
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