Wednesday, August 07, 2013
The Frost Interview: Shimon Peres: 'Self-victimising Palestinians'
Huge Fire Forces Nairobi Airport Shutdown
Syria's War Moves to Electronic Battlefield
Islamists Massacre 450 Kurds in Syria, Including 120 Children
The Horrible Injustice of the Bradley Manning Verdict
Bradley Manning faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison for charges including espionage for whistle blowing on the U.S. military to Wikileaks. Does he deserve the steep sentence, and will be become an example of what happens when someone steps out of line? Why was his case ignored by the mainstream press? Cenk Uygur breaks it down.
Are Huge Orgies Liberating Iran?
Is Iran having a so-called "sexy spring?" The west has exported restaurants, products, and ideas to other countries around the world, but what if western ideas of sexual liberation became big in countries where sex is repressed? That is happening now in Iran-- could sex be the key to real change? Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian discuss.
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
Haben syrische Rebellen Croissants verboten?
Sie mögen harmlos wirken und einen durchschnittlichen Betrachter nur an ein wohlmundendes Frühstück denken lassen. Doch ein Scharia-Gericht im syrischen Aleppo soll nun Croissants - und damit auch Kipferl - als Feind identifiziert haben: Das Gericht habe die Speise per Fatwa - einem religiösen Rechtsgutachten - verboten. Mit der Begründung, Croissants verherrlichten den "europäischen Sieg über die Muslime". Was demnach gegen das gebogene Gebäck spricht: Es sei von den französischen Kolonialherren nach Syrien importiert worden. Und es sei ursprünglich - als Kipferl - von den Europäern erfunden worden, um die Abwehr der Osmanen zu feiern. » | Red. | Dienstag, 08. August 2013
Anders Breivik n'étudiera pas à l'université
Recalé. Anders Breivik n'étudiera pas les sciences politiques à l'université d'Oslo, comme il l'avait demandé à la fin du mois de juillet. Le recteur, Ole Petter Ottersen, a fait savoir ce mardi que l'auteur de la tuerie d'Utoeya, qui purge une peine de 21 ans de prison renouvelable, ne pourrait pas accéder aux cours à distance. La raison de ce refus? Il n'a pas les qualifications nécessaires. Anders Breivik, 34 ans, a arrêté sa scolarité au cours du secondaire. Or, en Norvège, les universités sélectionnent les candidats en fonction des notes obtenues aux examens passés à l'issue de l'enseignement secondaire. » | Par lefigaro.fr | mardi 06 août 2013
'I Am the Shooter': US Army Major Nidal Hasan Declares as He Faces Court Martial over Fort Hood Massacre
Nidal Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, declared: "I am the shooter" after being accused of trying to "kill as many soldiers as he could" during a shooting rampage at the military base in Texas four years ago.
In an extraordinary scene, Hasan, who is acting as his own defence lawyer, told the hearing that he had "switched sides" and was now a "Mujahideen" waging a holy war against America.
The bearded defendant, who is in a wheelchair and paralysed from the waist down after being shot at the end of his rampage, addressed the small wood-paneled court room at Fort Hood Texas, in a soft, controlled, and accentless voice.
In a statement lasting barely a minute he said: "Panel members, Good morning. On the morning of Nov 5, 2009, 13 US soldiers were killed and many more injured. The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter.
"The bodies found that day show that war is an ugly thing. Death, destruction and devastation are felt from both sides, from friend and foe.
"The evidence will show I was on the wrong side. The evidence will also show that I then switched sides. The evidence will show we Mujahideen are imperfect soldiers trying to establish a perfect religion in the land of the supreme God.
"I apologise for any mistakes in this endeavour." » | Nick Allen, Fort Hood, Texas | Tuesday, August 06, 2013
Sean Stone Debunks Myths on Iran, Islam & US Empire
Iran Ready to Talk If US Shows 'Goodwill', Says New President
Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, has made clear that his government is open to direct talks with the US, in a move that could open the way to breaking the stalemate over the nuclear issue.
But Rouhani added that the US needed to show goodwill and abandon "hidden agendas" with regards to Iran. Two days after he was sworn in to office and in his first press conference as president, Rouhani said on Tuesday he wanted Washington to hear the message of the Iranian elections and show willingness to engage Tehran with "practical steps". The president promised that any constructive move by the US would be matched accordingly. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Tuesday, August 06, 2013
French Nurse Offers to Breastfeed for Gay Parents
Denounced as illegal and a health hazard by experts, the 100-euro-per-day (£86) rental of the 29-year-old's breasts is thought to be the first such commercial venture since France legalised gay marriage and adoption earlier this year.
The new mother posted the novel offer on the website e-loue.com (e-rental), whose motto is: "With e-loue.com, everything is up for rent.
"I am a young mother in full health, a trained nurse, 29 years old, and I'm renting out my breasts to feed young babies. In one day I can offer you up to a dozen feeds for your baby," reads the ad by "cecelia232" titled "Breast rental – breast-feeding – Boulogne", a district on the western outskirts of Paris. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Tuesday, August 06, 2013
Message du pape François aux musulmans pour la fin du Ramadan (Aïd al-Fitr)
C’est pour moi un grand plaisir de vous saluer alors que vous célébrez ‘Id al- Fitr’ concluant ainsi le mois de Ramadan, consacré principalement au jeûne, à la prière et à l’aumône.
Il est désormais de tradition qu’en cette occasion le Conseil Pontifical pour le Dialogue Interreligieux vous adresse un Message de vœux, accompagné d’un thème en vue d’une réflexion commune. Cette année, la première de mon Pontificat, j’ai décidé de signer moi-même ce Message traditionnel et de vous l’envoyer, chers amis, comme expression d’estime et d’amitié envers tous les musulmans, spécialement envers leurs chefs religieux.
Comme vous le savez, lorsque les cardinaux m’ont élu Évêque de Rome et Pasteur universel de l’Eglise catholique, j’ai choisi le nom de « François », un saint très célèbre qui a si profondément aimé Dieu et chaque être humain au point d’être appelé le «Frère universel». Il a aimé, aidé et servi les nécessiteux, les malades et les pauvres ; en outre il a eu un grand souci de la sauvegarde de la création.
Je suis conscient que les dimensions de la famille et de la société sont particulièrement importantes pour les musulmans pendant cette période, et il vaut la peine de noter qu’il y a des parallèles avec la foi et la pratique chrétiennes dans chacun de ces domaines. » | Rédigé par Pape François | lundi 05 août 2013
France Faces Autumn of Discontent, Claims Gérard Depardieu
The 64-year old Gallic screen icon made his incendiary remarks while on his first film shoot in France since he took up Russian citizenship and residence in Belgium to avoid President François Hollande's planned 75 per cent super tax on millionaire earners.
Despite record unemployment levels and a deeply sluggish economy, Mr Hollande's government insists that there are tentative signs of recovery and that the jobless rate will start receding by the end of the year.
Mr Depardieu claimed this was pie in the sky. "I think things will really heat up this autumn and I think that in 2014, things will be much worse in France, despite what some people are saying," he predicted in an interview with AFP. Read on and comment » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Monday, August 05, 2013
Riots to Repeat? 'UK Failed to Respond to Needs that Caused 2011 Unrest'
US Involvement Criticised in Egypt
Inside Story: The Shame of a Royal Pardon
Russian Court Cuts Khodorkovsky's Jail Term
US and UK Urge Citizens to Leave Yemen
The United States evacuated dozens of its personnel from the Yemeni capital, after both the US and United Kingdom told their citizens to leave due to the threat of "terrorist attacks."
The US citizens were flown out of the country on military aircraft; a Pentagon spokesman did not say how many people were evacuated.
The new US measures, announced in a statement on Tuesday, followed a heightened security warning from Washington on Friday that prompted the closure of several Western embassies in Yemen and several US missions across the Middle East and Africa.
It also came after at least four suspected al-Qaeda members were killed in what local tribal leaders said was a US drone strike in central Yemen early on Tuesday.
"The Department urges US citizens to defer travel to Yemen and those US citizens currently living in Yemen to depart immediately," the statement posted on its website said.
The UK's foreign office, meanwhile, advised against all travel to Yemen, and "strongly urge[d] British nationals to leave now". It said that all British embassy staff had been temporarily withdrawn from the country. The UN's refugee agency also boosted security, though it did not withdraw its personnel. » | Source: Al Jazeera and agencies | Tuesday, August 06, 2013
'National Stasi Agency': Germans Furious over Intel Sharing with NSA
West's Warped Vision of Russian Gay Life Leads to 'Crackdown' Cries & Vodka Waste
The Manning Verdict: Obama's Defining Injustice
It was never an issue whether Bradley Manning violated US law. Manning pleaded guilty to 10 charges at the beginning of his military trial. The maximum sentence for those charges was 20 years in prison -- an intolerable sentence, but unlikely to be the extent of his punishment.
That punishment could now be a 136-year prison sentence. Prosecutors have brought in the big guns -- and invoked the Espionage Act, which was passed in 1917 in reaction to fears of German spies and saboteurs.
It is political despotism to use this act in a trial that has to do with neither espionage nor sabotage. It means the defense can no longer argue that the defendant harmed no one, that he acted in the public interest. It deprives Manning of the only basis to justify his actions and the opportunity to avoid a guilty verdict.
This is why the appropriate reaction to this verdict would be to reverse it. It would be over[-]zealous, both from a legal and political standpoint, to pass judgment on Manning as a warning to other possible politically motivated offenders. The 25-year-old soldier, a man who is unconvincing as a heroic figure and burdened with complexes, is the most recent casualty in a hysterically prolonged "war on terror." » | A Commentary By Hans Hoyng | Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan |Monday, August 05, 2013
Free Bradley Manning »
Monday, August 05, 2013
Daniel Barenboim: 'Spaces of Dialogue'
Clashes Erupt After Turkey Trial Verdicts
Related »
Florida to Execute Mentally Ill Man Despite Constitutional Prohibition
Florida is preparing to execute a schizophrenic man who believes that he is the immortal prince of God vested with superhuman powers that include an ability to control the sun, despite the US constitution's prohibition against putting mentally ill people to death.
John Ferguson, 65, will be killed by lethal injection at 6pm on Monday unless his lawyers can convince the US supreme court to intervene. Ferguson's legal team, backed by a raft of prominent legal and mental health organisations, are appealing on the nation's highest legal panel to step in on grounds that the execution would be a flagrant violation of the Eighth Amendment of the US constitution that bars "cruel and unusual punishment". » | Ed Pilkington in New York | Monday, August 05, 2013
George Osborne Accused of 'Patronising' Stay-at-home Mothers
The Chancellor today unveiled a scheme to encourage women back into the workplace by handing up to £1,200 of taxpayer-funded childcare for each child to families where both parents have a job.
He said that he had "huge respect" for stay-at-home mothers and said that the government will "help" their families by introducing tax breaks for married couples.
However Laura Perrins, a stay-at-home mother who took on the Deputy Prime Minister during a radio phone earlier this year, said that the reported £120 tax breaks were "pathetic" compared to the value of childcare vouchers.
She said: "Saying stay-at-home mothers have made a lifestyle choice is pejorative and patronising. They are contributing to the economy, to society, to everything. Staying at home is not a luxury, it's not a hobby. Women who chose to stay at home make huge sacrifices. » | Steven Swinford, Senior Political Correspondent | Monday, August 05, 2013
Related »
CrossTalk: Rising Latinos
Tony Abbott Woos Sydney's Muslims
Mr Abbott spoke at a dinner hosted by Auburn Council to mark "Iftar", or the fast-breaking meal at sundown during the holy month of Ramadan.
In front of more than 100 people, at the Westella Renaissance Hotel in Lidcombe, Mr Abbott praised multiculturalism as a "heroic dimension to our national history".
"[Our] multiculturalism is a beacon of hope to a troubled and divided world," he said. "People from all around the four corners of this earth have come to this country of ours to be welcomed by us and to build a better life in freedom, for themselves and their children."
The audience included a number of Australian Muslim leaders, including the Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohammad, and diplomatic representatives from countries with large Muslim populations such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, India and Lebanon. » | James Robertson | Monday, August 05, 2013
'Read Constitution, Not My Email': Anti-snooping Protests Sweep US
Turkey Court Sentences 'Ergenekon Coup Plotters'
Prison sentences of up to 47 years have been handed out to some of those accused in the "Ergenekon" plot, while 21 people have been acquitted.
Verdicts are being read out one by one at the specially constructed courtroom.
Among those on trial is a former army chief, as well as other officers, lawyers, academics and journalists.
Gen Ilker Basbug, who led the military between 2008 and 2010, has rejected all the charges against him. It is not yet known what the verdict is against him.
The plot allegedly aimed to topple the Justice and Development (AK) Party government. (+ video) » | Monday, August 05, 2013
Religious Rage: Will Egypt's Muslims & Copts Live in Peace? – Documentary
Sunday, August 04, 2013
Burqa Bump: Violence Hits France as Government Fails to Draw a Line between Laws and Religion
Saturday, August 03, 2013
Berlusconi Convicted for Tax Fraud
Verwandtes Video »
UK's 'Go Home' Campaign Faces Legal Action
Inside Story: Rouhani: A New Era for Iran?
Nigel Farage Says Britain Is 'Terrified' Of Upsetting Muslims
Alison Waldock, 51, has said she forgot the dietary needs of seven-year-old Khadija Darr when she asked if she wanted roast gammon, and the youngster said yes.
The headteacher of Queen Edith Primary School in Cambridge spotted the mistake as the youngster was about to eat her lunch and swept the plate away from her.
But after the girl's parents were told about the mistake, they complained to the school's catering firm and Ms Waldock, a dinner lady for 11 years, was suspended and then dismissed.
Mr Farage told ITV1's Daybreak programme: "It's outrageous, isn't it? We've all made mistakes in our lives and in our jobs, and I can imagine 250 kids coming through chattering, it's noisy, you've got time pressures on you, and mistakes get made.
"The reason that Alison's been sacked is that we're so terrified in this country of causing offence to anybody, particularly the Muslim religion." » | Press Association | Thursday, August 01, 2013
THE HUFFINGTON POST: Alison Waldock Dinner Lady Row: Muslim Parents Speak Out Over 'Gammongate' » | Mehdi Hassan | Friday, August 02, 2013
Related »
Joining Jihad: Self-radicalized EU Youths Flood Syria's Frontlines
'Snowden Likely to Apply for Refugee Status in Russia, US Legally Powerless'
Pope Sends Message of Respect for Muslims
“We are called to respect the religion of the other, its teachings, its symbols, its values,” Francis wrote in a statement distributed by the Holy See.
“We have to bring up our young people to think and speak respectfully of other religions and their followers,” said the message, which stressed the enhanced role that education must play in building respect for different religions and the need “to avoid ridiculing or denigrating their convictions and practices.”
“As an expression of esteem and friendship for all Muslims,” Francis decided to personally sign his good wishes to Muslims worldwide on the feast of Id al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of Ramadan, a month of prayer and fasting. Historically, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue has delivered the message on behalf of the Holy See. The last pope to send a personal message to Muslims was John Paul II in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf war in 1991. » | Gaia Pianigiani | Friday, August 02, 2013
Abandoned Babies Given Away on Pakistani TV Programme
At just over a month old Fatima has already lived through a lot.
Her life began, and could have ended, on a rubbish dump in the sprawling megacity of Karachi. Instead, Fatima was rescued by a charity and placed in the loving care of a childless couple.
It looks like a happy ending but it came about in the full glare of television cameras. The sleeping infant was one of two abandoned girls handed over during live broadcasts of "Amaan Ramzan", a blend of Islam and entertainment, which runs during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. (+ video) » | Friday, August 02, 2013
Germany Ends Spy Pact with US and UK after Snowden
Details of snooping programmes involving the transatlantic allies have been leaked to the media by former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden.
The revelations have sparked widespread outrage in Germany, where elections are due next month.
The agreement dates from 1968-9, and its cancellation is largely symbolic.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement: "The cancellation of the administrative agreements, which we have pushed for in recent weeks, is a necessary and proper consequence of the recent debate about protecting personal privacy."
Germans' experience of mass surveillance under the Communist and Nazi dictatorships makes them particularly sensitive to perceived infringements of personal privacy, and the country has strong data protection laws.
The agreement cancelled on Friday gave the Western countries which had troops stationed in West Germany - the US, Britain and France - the right to request surveillance operations to protect those forces. » | Friday, August 02, 2013
Swiss to Launch National Anthem Competition in 2014
The priority is to have a new text, but contestants will also be free to compose a new tune, project leader Lukas Niederberger told BBC News.
The current text dates back to 1841 and includes references to God, prayer, mountains and sunshine.
The new text is to include values enshrined in the Swiss constitution, such as democracy and solidarity.
The competition will run from January to the end of June 2014, with the top prize - SFr10,000 (£7,080; $10,745) - to be awarded in 2015.
The runners-up will get SFr5,000, SFr3,000 and SFr1,000. The competition is open to Swiss nationals and foreigners living in Switzerland.
The winning anthem will be presented to the government - the Federal Council - for approval. (+ audio) » | Laurence Peter | Friday, August 02, 2013
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