Thursday, April 04, 2013
CBC NEWS CANADA: Aaron Yoon was classmate of Katsiroubas, Medlej at London, Ont., high school
A special CBC News investigation has uncovered the identity of a third member of a group of former London, Ont., high school friends now at the centre of a horrifying tale of young Canadians getting mixed up with al-Qaeda and international militants.
CBC News has learned that Aaron Yoon, now about 24, is likely the only survivor among this perverse band of brothers, two of whom died while staging a bloody attack on an Algerian oil refinery three months ago.
International intelligence sources say Yoon, a Canadian of Korean descent, flew to North Africa with three others, but wound up in jail before the al-Qaeda attack in January that killed 37 refinery workers in Algeria.
Two of Yoon’s former London schoolmates, Xris Katsiroubas and Ali Medlej, were among several dozen al-Qaeda-linked militants involved in the attack.
Sources say the two probably blew themselves up at the end of the four-day siege, but only one could be identified through DNA tests. » | Greg Weston, National Affairs Specialist | CBC News | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
Related »
THE HUFFINGTON POST: Femen activists have declared 4 April “topless jihad day” as a gesture of support for a Tunisian woman who was threatened with death by stoning for baring her breasts online.
Amina Tyler ignited a storm when she posted images of herself with the words “Fuck your morals” written across her chest to the Femen-Tunisia Facebook page.
Another image showing her smoking a cigarette with: "My body belongs to me, and is not the source of anyone's honour", written in Arabic script across her bare chest, was also posted.
As a preacher called for her death over fears “her act could bring about an epidemic”, Femen has responded with fury, calling for a “topless jihad day”.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the group calls for solidarity against the “lethal hatred of Islamists – inhuman beasts for whom killing a woman is more natural than recognising her right to do as she pleases with her own body.”
Promising the event will mark the beginning of a new Arab Spring, the message urges: “Come to the embassy of the Republic of Tunisia and protest topless, with ‘My Body Against Islamism!’ written on your body.”
It adds: “Long live the topless jihad against infidels! Our tits are deadlier than your stones!” » | Sara C Nelson | Huffington Post UK | Thursday, April 04, 2013
AL BAWABA: Picture Gallery: The Topless Jihad »
Tits to Islam! »
BIKYA NEWS: DUBAI: A Dutch woman living in Dubai pleaded not guilty in a court on Monday after being charged with insulting Islam and insulting the police after she had called them to report a personal attack. She said that while she had been drinking, she did not insult religion or the police officers.
“I’m not guilty for insulting the policemen and religion, but yes I consumed alcohol,” the 28-year-old Dutch woman told the court.
It is the latest in a string of “crimes” against woman after they had initially called the police.
She could face up to one-year in prison or deportation. » | Sharifa Ghanem | BN | Thursday, April 04, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH (AU): QANTAS has removed pork from its in-flight menu on flights to and from Europe as a result of its partnership with Middle Eastern airline Emirates.
No food containing pork or pork products will be served on those flights - which now has a stopover in Dubai - because it is strictly forbidden in Islam and is considered "unholy".
All meals offered on the route in first, business and economy classes will also be prepared without alcohol in keeping with the Islamic religion. A note on the Qantas menus on flights in and out of Dubai states that the meals do not contain pork products or alcohol. The airline has also introduced a mezze plate offering traditional Middle Eastern fare in its upper classes and has Arabic translations after in-flight announcements. » | Angela Saurine and Peter Holmes | The Daily Telegraph | April 05, 2013
My comment:
The West is caving in to Islam, Muslims at every turn. Jews do not eat pork, but we never had to ban pork on flights for them. What makes Muslims so different? Oh, yes, I know: Intolerance.
It is sickening in the extreme that we are kow-towing to these barbarians. It is also sickening in the extreme that we are allowing all our finest properties and businesses to fall into rich Middle Easterners' hands. Would they do the same for us? I think you know the answer to that question.
Is there no Western leader out there who will put a stop to this insanity? These people are tightening their grip on the West in a pincer-style action. Soon it will be too late. We will be employed by Muslims, paid by Muslims, owned by Muslims. And as the old saying goes: 'He who pays the piper calls the tune.' Welcome to the new world order! One brought on by wimps, appeasers, and politicians without cojones. – © Mark
ARUTZ SHEVA: In shock, Wiesenthal Center wrote Holland's PM after Dutch teens expressed regret on TV that Hitler left some Jews alive. PM response below.
Young Dutch immigrant teenagers expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler and his efforts to murder Jews in a video aired last month on Netherland 2 TV. At the time, Arutz Shevareported the shocking event, ignored by most of the Dutch and world media, and that resulted - even more shockingly – in the interviewer who criticized them having to go into hiding and receive police protection.
The Wiesenthal Center sent a strong letter of objection to Holland's prime minister saying "The statements...are deeply dismaying, especially considering that they were made in the country that was the home of Anne Frank..." and adding that "it was even more shocking to hear that during the video the students who spoke claimed that their feelings were shared by native Dutch teenagers, saying 'Nobody in our school likes Jews'." Arutz Sheva has received a copy of Mr. Rutte's hitherto unpublished response: » | Arutz Sheva staff | Thursday, April 04, 2013
THE TAMPA TRIBUNE: TAMPA - Terry Jones, the Gainesville preacher who has enraged Muslims around the world with his Quran burnings and mock trials of the prophet Muhammad, is about to sell his 20-acre Dove World Outreach Center and says he will be moving his 15-member congregation to Tampa.
The deal to sell the Alachua County land is scheduled to close on July 15. Jones said he is eyeing Tampa because he is familiar with the area — he and his wife already own a condominium on Treasure Island — and the small university town of Gainesville has never really embraced his message.
“Tampa is a much larger area,” he said. “Gainesville has a small mentality. The whole world here revolves around whether the Gators will win a football game. We’re more concerned about national and global events.
“We are going full steam ahead for the Tampa Bay area,” he said. “We definitely have support in the Tampa Bay area.”
Jones has evolved in the past few years from the pastor of a tiny rural church into a lightning rod for Muslim extremists. He has written a book titled “Islam is of the Devil” and sells T-shirts espousing the same message.
The reaction among local, moderate Muslims: a shrug of the shoulders. » | Keith Morelli | Tribune Staff | Wednesday, April 03, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The US was last night preparing to send advanced missile defences to its Pacific territory, as North Korea further ratcheted up its bellicose rhetoric by approving "merciless" nuclear strikes on America.
Pledging a "measured" response to Pyongyang's aggression, Chuck Hagel, the US defence secretary, deployed anti-missile systems to Guam, the tiny western Pacific island and American military outpost.
"Some of the actions they've taken over the last few weeks present a real and clear danger," Mr Hagel said of North Korea, in remarks delivered at the National Defense University in Washington.
The $800m Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System, which was slated to be installed in 2015, will now be sent within weeks, following warnings that Guam, Hawaii or the US west coast could be hit.
The land-based system, which comprises interceptor missiles, a truck-based launcher and radar tracking equipment, is capable of shooting down short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
It will join two US guided-missile destroyers that have already taken position in the region to assist with defence against potential strikes ordered by Pyongyang. » | Jon Swaine in Washington and Malcolm Moore in Beijing | Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Saudi Arabia is facing appeals to over-rule a court that ordered a man paralysed as retribution for a stabbing that left a man unable to walk a decade ago.
Ali al-Khawahir, 24, was reportedly sentenced to Qisas, or retribution, in the Eastern Province town of Al-Ahsa and could be paralysed from waist down if he fails to pay compensation of one million riyals ($270,000), the rights watchdog said, citing Saudi media reports.
It said Khawahir had stabbed his friend in the back in 2003, rendering him paralysed from the waist down. He was 14 at the time.
Amnesty International, the rights group, said the sentence "should on no account be carried out".
"Paralysing someone as punishment for a crime would be torture," said Ann Harrison, Middle East and North Africa deputy director at Amnesty. "That such a punishment might be implemented is utterly shocking, even in a context where flogging is frequently imposed as a punishment for some offenses, as happens in Saudi Arabia."
"It is time the authorities in Saudi Arabia start respecting their international legal obligations and remove these terrible punishments from the law," she said in a statement. » | Agence France-Presse in Dubai | Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Related »
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Pentagon is sending an advanced ballistic missile defense system to Guam, as Chuck Hagel, the defence secretary, warned of a "real and clear" danger from North Korea.
The Pentagon announcement came hours after China intervened in the deepening crisis by summoning the ambassadors of North and South Korea, as well as the United States, to warn tensions must be defused on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea has singled out US military bases in Guam, an American. territory in the Pacific, and Hawaii among its potential targets in threats in recent weeks that have put the Korean peninsula on edge.
“Some of the actions they’ve taken over the last few weeks, present a real and clear danger,” Mr Hagel told an audience at the National Defense University in Washington.
He said those actions had threatened the interests of South Korea and Japan, but he also cited their direct threats against Guam, Hawaii and West Coast of the United States. » | Malcolm Moore, Beijing, and Reuters in Washington | Wednesday, April 03, 2013
THE GUARDIAN: I hated all foreigners but feared Muslims the most. I grew up in the 1960s in Gateshead, in a predominantly white area; I can't remember seeing an Asian face there. As a family we were not religious. We only went to weddings, funerals and christenings. I was not interested in school, either. You didn't need to stay on because you were more or less guaranteed a job in the mines, steelworks or shipyards. When I was 16, all my friends were British National Party activists. It was a cool thing to do, and I joined in, too. I wanted to shock, to rebel. We would get together, drink, listen to music, chase girls and go out Paki-bashing. That wasn't a phrase we considered bad or wrong.
I remember my first time; it was a Saturday night and we had been drinking. We went into an Asian area and came across a lad of about 17. We started chanting - the usual thing, "Go back to your own country" - and then went after him. There were about 10 of us, and we kicked and punched him. When we ran away, I remember, we were laughing. I don't know what happened to him, and at the time I wouldn't have cared: I was in a group and we had camaraderie.
By the time I was 19 I was growing out of the BNP. I moved to London for work and stopped going to meetings. But I still hated all foreigners, especially Muslims. Over the next few years I became involved with people who went to Muslim meetings in Hyde Park, mainly to cause trouble.
Then, one day in 1989, I was walking past a second[-]hand book stall by the Royal Festival Hall when a cover caught my eye: it was the most beautiful picture, in the most gorgeous colours, of a building. I didn't know what the book was, but it was only 20p so I bought it. I thought I'd buy a cheap frame and have a nice picture for my wall. I had no idea until I got home that I had bought the Qur'an. » | Muhammad Islam | Saturday, September 24, 2005
KRONE: Die jungen Menschen in Pakistan hätten in ihrem Land lieber eine Militärherrschaft oder die islamische Rechtsprechung Scharia als eine demokratische Regierung. Das ist das Ergebnis einer repräsentativen Studie des britischen Kultur- und Bildungsinstituts British Council, die am Mittwoch veröffentlicht wurde.
38 Prozent der Befragten im Alter zwischen 18 und 29 Jahren hielten die Scharia für das beste politische System in Pakistan, heißt es in der Untersuchung mit mehr als 5.000 Teilnehmern.
Der Begriff Scharia bezeichnet das islamische Recht, das auf dem Koran, der Heiligen Schrift des Islams, basiert. Es enthält die Gesamtheit der Gesetze, die in einer islamischen Gesellschaft zu beachten und erfüllen sind. Die Scharia sieht für Raub die Todesstrafe vor, Dieben wird eine Hand abgehackt, Ehebruch kann mit 100 Peitschenhieben oder dem Tod durch Steinigung bestraft werden. Kein Vertrauen in die Demokratie » | AG/red | Mittwoch, 03. April 2013
KRONE: Das renommierte US-Meinungsforschungsinstitut Public Policy Polling hat in einer aktuellen Studie die beliebtesten Verschwörungstheorien der amerikanischen Gesellschaft geprüft - mit durchaus bemerkenswerten Resultaten: So glauben 13 Prozent der US-Amerikaner, ihr Präsident Barack Obama sei der Antichrist. 29 Prozent glauben an die Existenz von Außerirdischen, 14 Prozent an den sagenhaften "Bigfoot".
Bei der umfangreichen Untersuchung wurden insgesamt 20 gängige Verschwörungstheorien auf ihre Beliebtheit getestet. Von jenen 47 Prozent, die im vergangenen Jahr dem republikanischen Kandidaten Mitt Romney ihre Stimme bei der Präsidentschaftswahl gegeben haben, glaubt sogar jeder Fünfte, dass der Demokrat Obama den Antichristen verkörpere. Weitere beachtliche Ergebnisse: » | bar | Mittwoch, 03. April 2013
HUFFINGTON POST: Republican North Carolina state legislators have proposed allowing an official state religion in a measure that would declare the state exempt from the Constitution and court rulings.
The bill, filed Monday by two GOP lawmakers from Rowan County and backed by nine other Republicans, says each state "is sovereign" and courts cannot block a state "from making laws respecting an establishment of religion." The legislation was filed in response to a lawsuit to stop county commissioners in Rowan County from opening meetings with a Christian prayer, wral.com reported. » | John Celock | The Huffingron Post | Wednesday, April 03, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Princess Cristina, the youngest daughter of Spain’s King Juan Carlos, has been named a suspect in a far-reaching corruption probe centring on her husband, dealing a huge blow to the prestige of the Spanish royal family.
The 47-year old princess, who is seventh in line to the Spanish throne, has been ordered to testify on April 27 at a court in Palma de Mallorca on suspicion of influence peddling, judicial sources said.
She will face accusations that she cooperated in the business dealings of her husband Inaki Urdangarin while he was head of the not-for-profit Noos Institute, through which he is alleged to have embezzled 6 million euros of public funds.
She was a member of the board of the Noos Institute between 2004-2006, through which Urdangarin won public contracts to stage sporting and tourism events. She also co-owned one of the private companies which her husband allegedly used to divert funds.
The Duke of Palma had sought to protect his wife, insisting in statements to the court that she had been involved in name only and had no knowledge of day to day dealings of his companies.
But emails released to the court by his estranged business partner Diego Torres, who is also accused of embezzlement and money laundering, purportedly showed that she had been regularly consulted.
Investigating Judge Jose Castro, who had previously rejected prosecution requests to indict Princess Cristina, said Wednesday that fresh evidence suggested that she was aware that her husband used her name and status in dealings from which they both benefitted.
He said that she would have to be questioned for the probe to be complete and to show that “justice treats all equally”. » | Agence France-Presse in Madrid | Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
BBC: The Moscow Metro is used by millions of Russian commuters every day - but is often described as an underground art museum.
Steve Rosenberg looks at some of the ornate stations, meets the people who keep the network running smoothly, and reveals some of the more unusual practices that go on underground. Watch BBC video » | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
THE GUARDIAN: Snubbed by Hollande and Merkel, the PM is seen as having little chance of being in power in 2015 to force a rewrite of Britain's EU status
Angela Merkel and François Hollande have rejected David Cameron's invitation. He wanted them to take part in a government survey assessing the impact of European Union laws and regulations on the UK and other member states. The prime minister shouldn't be surprised by the snub – he had already been warned, notably by the Polish foreign minister speaking in Oxford last year, that there would be no encouragement from Europe for those in London who want Britain left isolated on the fringes of the EU.
Lest the British government be encouraged to play on any perceived differences between Berlin and Paris, the two most powerful EU heads of government co-ordinated their response very closely. The survey itself – an initiative of the Foreign Office launched in 2012 – is a lengthy and bland questionnaire designed to identify areas of policy where there might be public support for Britain pulling out of existing EU commitments.
The survey is one part of a carefully orchestrated campaign designed to lead up to a possible referendum on EU membership, to be held towards the end of 2017. This, of course, will be well after the next general election and is designed to follow on what London expects will be a major new EU constitutional treaty to give the Euro area sweeping new powers.
The prime minister's strategy therefore depends on him successfully clearing three critical hurdles. First: survive as leader of the Conservative party up to the general election. Second: win the next UK election with a clear overall Tory majority. Third: trade demands for the UK to be given a special semi-detached status in the EU in return for not blocking a new treaty for euro-area economic and political union. » | John Palmer | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
Verwandt »
NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Bei den britischen Konservativen nimmt die Unzufriedenheit mit Parteiführer Cameron zu. Viele Tories geben die Wahlen im Jahre 2015 bereits verloren. Zweck und Richtung der Partei sind für viele nicht erkennbar.
Die britischen Konservativen haben den Glauben an ihre Wiederwahl in zwei Jahren verloren. Der Rückstand gegenüber Labour bei Meinungsumfragen liegt seit einem Jahr bei etwa 10 Prozentpunkten; der Zuspruch für die Tories liegt noch bei knapp 30 Prozent. Laut einer Umfrage der einflussreichen Plattform Conservative Home unter Mitgliedern glauben nur noch 7 Prozent an den Gewinn einer Mehrheit bei der Parlamentswahl im Mai 2015. Den Tories fehlten 2010 20 Sitze zu einer Mehrheit, weshalb sie die ungeliebte Koalition mit den Liberaldemokraten eingehen mussten. Der Milliardär, Parteispender, Wahlforscher und konservative Lord Michael Ashcroft hat der Partei auf Grundlage äusserst aufwendiger Umfragen Mitte März den Verlust von 93 Sitzen an Labour vorausgesagt, fänden die Wahlen jetzt statt. Labour zöge mit einer Mehrheit von 367 der 650 Sitze in die Regierung ein. » | Peter Rásonyi, London | Dienstag, 02. April 2013
MUSLIM MIRROR: Jessica Rhodes is a 21 year old female from Norwich, UK who works as a telesales consultant and is also a student. She was a Pagan before reverting to Islam a month ago.
She was born in 1991 and was adopted in 1993. Grew up in a small seaside town on the south east coast of England, she went to university at 19 to study for a degree in Music and she hopes to do postgraduate qualifications in counselling starting September 2013.
She has an amazing story of her reversion and how she got attracted to Islam. New York based lady Nazma Khan started a campaign known as ‘world hijab day’. The movement has been organised almost solely over social networking sites. It has attracted interest from Muslims and non-Muslims in more than 50 countries across the world. For many people, the hijab is a symbol of oppression and divisiveness. It’s a visible target that often bears the brunt of a larger debate about Islam in the West. World Hijab Day is designed to counteract these controversies. It encourages non-Muslim women (or even Muslim women who do not ordinarily wear one) to don the hijab and experience what it’s like to do so, as part of a bid to foster better understanding.
It was social networking that got Jessica Rhodes involved. Her friend Widyan Al Ubudy lives in Australia and asked her Facebook friends to participate. Jessica who was a non-Muslim decided to participate in the world hijab day. She says: “I took part in the first World Hijab Day and challenged myself to wear the hijab for a month. I then began reading the Quran and the words in the Quran seemed logical and clear, rather than in the Bible where they tend to waffle. I also did some research into Islam as a whole and felt that it was an inclusive religion that could give me the answers I was looking for”. Although her parents were little apprehensive, if it was a good idea or she may be attacked in the streets because of non-tolerance. » | Imaan Ali for Muslim Mirror | Sunday, March 31, 2013
HÜRRIYET DAILY NEWS: EU Minister Egemen Bağış says Islam is a reality for the EU and Europeans won’t get anywhere by burying their heads in the sand
Islam is a reality for the European Union and Europeans won’t get anywhere by burying their heads in the sand, EU Minister Egemen Bağış said yesterday.
“It is Islamophobia rather than Islam that is visible in France and across Europe,” Bağış said, referring to French far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s recent statement that Islam was “more visible” than before in France. “We know Ms. Le Pen’s statements on Turkey and our values but we don’t care too much.
Some 11 percent of the French population is Muslim and 8 to 9 percent of the population of EU member states are Muslim. This number will increase to 15 percent across Europe in 2030. Like a former German President said, Islam is a reality of the European Union. They won’t get anywhere by burying their heads in the sand,” Anatolia news agency quoted Bağış as saying. Wulff’s words in 2010 » | Hürriyet Daily News | Ankara | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The late Muammar Gaddafi’s daughter was thrown out of her Algerian safe-house because she repeatedly set it on fire in fits of anger, officials have revealed.
Aisha Gaddafi, 37, has an arrest warrant against her name after fleeing Libya when her father was deposed and then killed two years ago after 42 years in power.
The western educated lawyer arrived in Algeria with other family members after her husband — an army general — was killed in the bombing raids which destroyed Gaddafi’s regime, leaving her as a single mother.
She was accorded a presidential residence in the south of the country.
Algeria’s ambassador to Libya confirmed last month that Col Gaddafi’s widow and three of his children including Aisha, had left Algeria “a long time ago” without giving further details.
It has now emerged that Algerian authorities lost patience with Miss Gaddafi, a onetime UN Goodwill Ambassador, after she kept vandalising furniture and attacking guards out of rage over her father’s fate.
“She ended up blaming Algeria for many of her problems, and also began starting fires in the house,” said a government source in Algiers.
“Shelves in the library went up in flames, as she regularly attacked army personnel looking after her safety.” The last straw was when the bleach blonde nicknamed the “Claudia Schiffer of North Africa” destroyed a portrait of Algerian president Abdul Aziz Bouteflika, local newspaper Ennahar reported.
For this sign of disrespect she was kicked out of the country, eventually finding asylum in Britain’s Gulf ally, Oman. » | Henry Samuel and Nabila Ramdani | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Queen has received a “pay rise” of 16 per cent after London’s flourishing prime property market and wind farm developments drove the Crown Estate to record profits.
The grant the monarch receives each April from the Government increased from £31 million to £36.1 million.
The cash is used to fund the official duties of several members of the Royal family, pay staff and maintain the palaces.
The rise follows changes made by the Coalition as to how the taxpayer funds the monarchy.
George Osborne, the Chancellor, scrapped the Civil List, which financed the official duties of the Queen, and replaced it with a Sovereign Grant that is equal to 15 per cent of the Crown Estate's annual profits.
The Crown Estate, which owns property on behalf of the Queen, said profits rose to £240 million from £231 million in the year to March 31, 2012.
The record profits have been attributed to an increase in rents from retailers for its urban properties and an increase in income from the seabed it owns around the UK because of rents from new wind farm developments and construction companies paying for material such as sand. » | Victoria Ward | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
THE INDEPENDENT: A petition calling on Iain Duncan Smith to demonstrate he can live on £53 per week passed 200,000 signatures today.
The Work and Pensions Secretary claimed yesterday he could get by on the curtailed budget if he “had to”.
The remark followed a challenge by market trader David Bennett on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
The online petition, hosted at www.change.org, said: “This petition calls on Iain Duncan Smith to live on this budget for at least one year. This would help realise the Conservative Party's current mantra that 'We are all in this together'.
“This would mean a 97 per cent reduction in his current income, which is £1,581.02 a week or £225 a day after tax.” Read on and comment » | Tim Sculthorpe | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
ZEE NEWS: Dhaka: Three atheist bloggers in Bangladesh were today arrested here on charges of defaming Islam, as the government set up the country's first cyber crime tribunal to prevent exploitation of religion on the Internet.
The crackdown as well as the announcement came two days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pledged stern action against people found guilty of defaming Islam using the Internet.
"We are amending both the Right to Information Act and the Penal Code toughening punitive measures for hurting the people's religious sentiments," Law Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed told a press conference also joined by Home Minister Mahiuddin Khan Alamgir and two state ministers.
Ahmed said that the government constituted the tribunal appointing a judge in the capital while a process was underway to set up identical special courts at divisional cities including Chittagong.
He said a government committee comprising two Islamic scholars was constituted to identify websites which were either exploiting or defaming the religion. The committee had recommended the arrests of the three, who have been sent to seven days remand.
The trio, who were paraded in hand-cuffs at today's press conference, could face 10 years in jail if convicted under the country's cyber laws, which outlaw "defaming" a religion, deputy commissioner of Dhaka police Molla Nazrul Islam said. » | PTI | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
HT: Raymond @ Jihad Watch »
GATESTONE INSTITUTE: The Emir of Qatar, who has long cultivated an image as a pro-Western reformist, has vowed to "spare no effort" to spread Wahhabi Islam throughout Europe. Wahhabism — which not only discourages Muslim integration in the West but actively encourages jihad against non-Muslims — threatens to radicalize Muslim immigrants in Ireland.
City planners in the Irish capital, Dublin, have given the go-ahead for the construction of a sprawling mega-mosque complex that will cater to Ireland's burgeoning Muslim population.
The massive €40 million ($50 million) "Islamic Cultural Center" will be built on a six-acre site in Clongriffin, a new and as yet unfinished suburb at the northern edge of Dublin.
According to the Dublin City Council, which approved the project on March 7, the Clongriffin Mosque will consist of: (a) a three-story domed mosque and cultural center with towering minarets; (b) a two-story conference center including a reception foyer, conference room, restaurant, banquet hall, kitchens and ancillary accommodation; (c) a three-story 16-classroom primary school and a two-story 12-classroom secondary school; (d) a two-story fitness center with a gym, sauna, steam room and an Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool; (e) a bookshop, library and mortuary; and (f) three four-story blocks of two-bedroom apartments with ground floor shops.
The Clongriffin Mosque will cater to some of the 30,000 Muslims living in Dublin, which is home to around 60% of the estimated 50,000 Muslims living in Ireland. » | Soeren Kern | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
DIE WELT: Shereen el Feki hat ein Buch über Sex in den arabischen Ländern geschrieben. Von der Ehe bis zur männlichen Prostitution verrät es dem Westen sämtliche Geheimnisse des islamischen Geschlechterlebens.
Im Frühjahr 2011 spürte der deutsche Schriftsteller Navid Kermani auf dem Tahrir-Platz in Kairo die revolutionäre "Zärtlichkeit der Massen". Nun wird fast täglich über sexuelle Übergriffe, Grabscher und Vergewaltigungen vom Ort der arabischen Freiheit berichtet. Die Journalistin und Immunologin Shereen el Feki, in Kanada aufgewachsene Tochter eines Ägypters und einer walisischen Mutter, ist in tausendundeinem Tag vom Tahrir-Platz aus durch Ägypten, dem Maghreb und Mittleren Osten gereist, um herauszufinden, ob und wie sich vor und nach dem Sturz der Despoten das Verhältnis der Männer und Frauen zueinander verhält und verändert hat. Es ist eine Anamnese des Zustands der Sexualität in der islamischen Welt, wie sie so bisher unbekannt war.
Der Titel des Buches von Shereen el Feki "Sex und die Zitadelle" bezieht sich auf die von Saladin 1176 gegen den Ansturm der Kreuzritter errichtete Festung, die über Kairo thront. Auf Seite 350 erklärt sie dieses Wortbild: "Was die Sexualität anlangt, so könne man meinen, die arabische Welt gleiche einer Zitadelle, einer uneinnehmbaren Festung, deren Außenmauer jeden erdenklichen Angriff auf die Bastion heterosexueller Ehe und Familie abwehrt."
El Feki beschreibt die Geschlechterbeziehungen dieser in sich und ihrer Kultur geschlossenen arabischen Welt, aber auch die Öffnungen in den Mauern, die sie auf Veränderung hoffen lässt. Aber wie inzwischen fast jeder "im Westen" ausgebildete Wissenschaftler, der über den Orient und die islamische Welt schreibt, will sie sich zunächst von der unterstellten Bevormundung Arabiens durch die koloniale Sicht distanzieren, um sich nicht dem "Orientalismus"-Vorwurf etwa eines Edward Saids auszusetzen. » | Von Necla Kelek | Dienstag, 02. April 2013
Sex und die Zitadelle: Liebesleben in der sich wandelnden arabischen Welt »
Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World »
DIE PRESSE: Der in der Türkei verhaftete Mohamed Mahmoud soll nach Österreich überstellt werden. In einem Video drohte er seinem Heimatland mit Terror.
Die Staatsanwaltschaft Wien hat die Auslieferung des Austro-Islamisten Mohamed Mahmoud beantragt. Das wurde am Dienstag bekannt. Der 27-jährige Mahmoud war vor zwei Wochen in der Türkei mit gefälschten libyschen Reisedokumenten aufgegriffen worden.
Der Antrag beim Landesgericht Wien auf Erwirkung der Auslieferung sei bereits am Freitag gestellt worden, sagte Staatsanwaltschafts-Sprecher Vecsey. Mahmoud werde "Beteiligung an einer terroristischen Vereinigung" vorgeworfen. Konkret gehe es um Aufrufe zum "Heiligen Krieg" im Internet. » | Red./APA | Dienstag, 02. April 2013
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Un incendie s'est déclaré dans une école musulmane de Rangoun. La police parle d'un accident. Treize morts, dont des enfants, sont à déplorer
Treize personnes, dont des enfants, sont mortes mardi dans l'incendie d'une école musulmane de Rangoun, provoquant l'incrédulité et la colère d'habitants du quartier après les récentes violences religieuses, malgré les assurances de la police qu'il s'agissait d'un accident.
Le gouvernement a immédiatement appelé à ne pas croire les «rumeurs» circulant déjà sur internet alors les fortes tensions entre musulmans et bouddhistes, qui ont fait 43 morts en mars, étaient en voie d'apaisement.
«Treize personnes, surtout des enfants, ont été tuées» dans cet incendie qui s'est déclaré vers 3h du matin heure locale (21h30) dans le centre de l'ancienne capitale birmane, a déclaré un responsable de la police. «Nous pensons que l'incendie est dû à un court-circuit». » | afp/Newsnet | mardi 02 avril 2013
MAIL ONLINE: Ali Al-Khawahir was aged 14 when he stabbed his friend in the backbone / Ali has been imprisoned for 10 years, but must now pay 'blood money'
A Saudi man convicted of paralysing his best friend in a knife attack is being threatened with having his spinal cord cut in a tit-for-tat punishment.
The ultra-conservative desert Kingdom enforces Islamic law and on rare occasions issues punishments based on the ancient code of an ‘eye-for-an-eye’.
Ali Al-Khawahir was 14 years old when he stabbed his friend in the backbone and has been imprisoned for 10 years.
He has been told that he will be sentenced to being fully paralysed himself unless he pays the victim blood money in a form of compensation, reported the Saudi Gazette. Originally the victim requested 2 million Saudi Riyal - more than half a million U.S. dollars - but it was later reduced to 1 million.
His mother has begged people to contribute money to the fund.
'Ten years have passed with hundreds of sleepless nights. My hair has become grey at a young age because of my son’s problem.
'I have been frightened to death whenever I think about my son’s fate and that he will have to be paralyzed,' she said. Read on and comment » | Daily Mail Reporter | Tuesday, April 02, 2013
THE GUARDIAN: Buoyed by its meteoric domestic success, the far right party is planning to expand 'wherever there are Greeks'
Emboldened by its meteoric rise in Greece, the far-right Golden Dawn party is spreading its tentacles abroad, amid fears it is acting on its pledge to "create cells in every corner of the world". The extremist group, which forged links with British neo-Nazis when it was founded in the 1980s, has begun opening offices in Germany, Australia, Canada and the US.
The international push follows successive polls that show Golden Dawn entrenching its position as Greece's third, and fastest growing, political force. First catapulted into parliament with 18 MPs last year, the ultra-nationalists captured 11.5% support in a recent survey conducted by polling company Public Issue.
The group – whose logo resembles the swastika and whose members are prone to give Nazi salutes – has gone from strength to strength, promoting itself as the only force willing to take on the "rotten establishment". Amid rumours of backing from wealthy shipowners, it has succeeded in opening party offices across Greece.
It is also concentrating on spreading internationally, with news last month that it had opened an office in Germany and planned to set up branches in Australia. The party's spokesman, Ilias Kasidiaris, said it had decided to establish cells "wherever there are Greeks".
"People have understood that Chrysi Avgi [Golden Dawn] tells the truth," he told a Greek-language paper in Melbourne. "In our immediate sights and aims is the creation of an office and local organisation in Melbourne. In fact, very soon a visit of MPs to Australia is planned." » | Helena Smith in Athens | Monday, April 01, 2013
Monday, April 01, 2013
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Should the Cypriot bailout become a model for the future? The mere suggestion sent markets tumbling last week. But increasing numbers of European politicians would like to see bank shareholders and investors bear a greater share of crisis risk. The EU may be changing its strategy. By SPIEGEL Staff
Jeroen Dijsselbloem's original game plan was to just keep a low profile. When the 47-year-old Dutch finance minister became head of the Euro Group three months ago, the first thing he did was deactivate his Twitter account. In meetings of the finance ministers of the 17 euro-zone states, he let his counterparts do most of the talking. And whenever he appeared before reporters in Brussels afterwards, he would start with sentences like: "Maybe it's good, if I say something."
Dijsselbloem seemed determined to become the most boring of all the boring bureaucrats in Brussels -- until last Monday, that is, when he did something no one would have anticipated: He detonated a bomb. The way that large depositors and creditors were being drawn into the bailout of Cypriot banks, he said, could become a model for the entire euro zone. In future aid packages, he said, one must look into whether bank shareholders, bond holders and large depositors could participate so as to spare taxpayers from having to foot the bill. He was announcing nothing less than a 180 degree about face.
Cyprus as a model? Dijsselbloem had hardly finished his comments before international news agencies began registering its impacts. Markets around the world nosedived, the euro sank to a four-month low and EU leaders had to rush into damage-control mode, as did the man who triggered the storm himself. Dijsselbloem backtracked by saying that Cypriot banks were obviously "a special case." Germany's top-selling daily tabloid, Bild, scoffed that Dijsselbloem would get a new nickname in Brussels: "Dusselbloem," the rough equivalent of "Dimwit-bloem."
But the ridicule might prove premature. In reality, Dijsselbloem merely expressed something that many Europeans already think. Whether at the European Parliament or in several Continental capitals, many are saying that the time is ripe for the financial sector to assume a greater share of the costs for rescuing ailing banks. » | Martin Hesse, Michael Sauga, Cornelia Schmergal and Christoph Schult | Translate from the German by Josh Ward | Monday, April 01, 2013
FRONTPAGEMAG.COM: A year ago, Islamists and their useful idiots were writing off Wilders as finished. The political crisis appeared to have shaken his PVV party and Islamists were gleefully claiming that Wilders was done. The future might belong to the more mainstream VVD party willing to compromise on the “big” issues.
But Wilders’ gamble has paid off and voters are turning his way once again. » | Daniel Greenfield | Sunday, March 31, 2013
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