Friday, October 11, 2013
'US Unchained Itself from Constitution': Whistleblowers on RT after Meeting Snowden
Sergey Lavrov: An Essential New Voice Has Emerged in World Affairs
Neither William Hague nor John Kerry could have dealt with a press conference with the candour, gravity and thoughtfulness that Mr Lavrov did in Bali on Monday. He provided a kaleidoscopic survey of global problems.
His observations on the importance of observing international law, the danger of another war in Afghanistan, and the framework for negotiations with Iran, are extraordinary.
Most interesting of all is his strong hint of an emerging alliance between the United States, the Assad regime and elements of the Free Syrian army against the (Saudi backed) Army of Islam jihadists. » | Peter Oborne | Friday, October 11, 2013
Guardian's NSA Revelations: Spies to Go Under Spotlight
British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg is to start conversations in government about how to update the legal oversight of the UK's security services in the light of disclosures by the Guardian that powerful new technologies appear to have outstripped the current system of legislative and political oversight.
Clegg's aides said he would be calling in experts from inside and outside Whitehall to discuss the implications of the new surveillance technologies for public accountability and trust. It is the first time such a senior figure in government has conceded that the revelations published in the Guardian have highlighted concerns about the accountability of the security services.
Clegg hinted at his plans in his weekly phone-in on London's LBC radio, saying: "I think it is right to ask whether there is anything more we can do to make sure the public feel accountability is working in this area properly. There is a totally legitimate debate about the power of these technologies, about how you get the balance right, how you do make sure these technologies are used in an accountable and proportionate way." » | Patrick Wintour, Rowena Mason and Dan Roberts in Washington | Thursday, October 10, 2013
THE GUARDIAN EDITORIAL: Spies and journalism: when worlds collide: The raging global discussion about the proper limits of surveillance of the past few months will become harder to ignore » | Editorial | Thursday, October 10, 2013
Boehner Says GOP Will Agree to Debt Ceiling Extension
In announcing his plan, Boehner said Republicans no longer would insist on any policy changes in return for allowing the government to continue borrowing. But he did not agree to reopen government programs that shut down last week. » | Lisa Mascaro and Michael A. Memoli | Thursday, October 10, 2013
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Buskers, Pimps and Plant-lovers Beware: This Is Madrid's Biggest Crackdown Since General Franco
In the biggest crackdown on anti-social behaviour in decades, the city of Madrid is to impose new restrictions and fines on everything from soliciting the services of a prostitute to juggling, dog-feeding and carpet-beating in public.
All manner of human behaviour is being targeted under the new laws, including being careless with pot plants on a balcony or for using a park bench for – perish the thought – “something other than sitting”.
The draft series of regulations, currently being reviewed in all-party discussions, represent the biggest single series of potential changes to the Spanish capital’s civic legislation since the ‘Policing and Good Government law’ of 1948. In equally wide-ranging format, that 1948 law banned everything in Madrid from blasphemy (intriguingly defined in the legislation as ‘particularly forbidden’) to woodchopping in public and keeping poultry. » | Alasdair Fotheringham | Madrid | Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Libyan PM's Kidnapping Deepen Fears for Country's Disintegration
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| Libyan prime minister Ali Zeidan at a news conference |
Libya was thrown into turmoil on Thursday after the prime minister, Ali Zeidan, was kidnapped by more than 100 members of his own security force in retaliation for the arrest of an al-Qaida suspect by US special forces in Tripoli.
The day's chaotic events deepened fears that Libya may be on the verge of disintegration, with security forces split between regular forces and many militia formations.
As news of the kidnapping spread, embassies were closed and diplomats put on lockdown amid fears of a reprisal attack on a western target following the arrest on Saturday of Abu Anas al-Liby.
Gunmen of the Revolutionary Operations Room of Libya, a semi-autonomous police brigade, said they had "arrested" Zeidan in his room at Tripoli's luxury Corinthia hotel at 4am.
The brigade said the seizure was a response to statements by the US secretary of state, John Kerry, that Libya approved the capture of al-Liby by Delta Force commandos. "His arrest comes after [Kerry] said the Libyan government was aware of the operation," a spokesman told Reuters. » | Chris Stephen in Tripoli | Thursday, October 10, 2013
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Iran Arrests 'Network of Homosexuals and Satanists' at Birthday Party
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| Women on Gay Pride march in Berlin |
Iran's revolutionary guards have announced the arrest of "a network of homosexuals and satanists" in the western city of Kermanshah, close to the country's border with Iraq, prompting fresh alarm over the treatment of gay people in the Islamic republic.
The news website of the revolutionary guards in Kermanshah province, home to the country's Kurd ethnic minority, reported on Thursday that their elite forces had dismantled what it claimed to be a network of homosexuals and devil-worshippers.
A number of foreign nationals, including Iraqis, were also among those detained, the report said, adding that eight of the group were married to each other.
The group were picked up from one of the city's ceremony halls, which they had rented for a birthday party. The guards' webiste [sic] said they were dancing as the raid ensued.
The revolutionary guards claimed the group had been under surveillance for some time but did not specify how many people were arrested.
Authorities in the Islamic republic have previously likened homosexuals to satanists in an apparent attempt to further smear them in the eyes of the country's religious conservatives. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Thursday, October 10, 2013
Two Die of Mers Virus in Saudi ahead of Hajj
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| Mecca's Grand Mosque |
The two men, aged 78 and 55, had also suffered from other chronic diseases, the Saudi ministry of health said on its website. But their deaths, which take the total number of victims to 58 worldwide, will do little to assuage fears that the huge gathering could increase the spread of the disease. The vast majority of cases of Mers have been in Saudi Arabia.
Last year a total of 3.2 million faithful, including 1.75 million foreigners, performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's holiest site. Those from abroad came from 190 countries. Riyadh expects fewer people this year for the event, which runs from Sunday until October 18, because it has reduced the quotas from each country by 20 per cent in response to building work currently taking place in Mecca.
Between 20,000 and 25,000 Britons are expected to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj. » | Harriet Alexander | Thursday, October 10, 2013
Libyan Prime Minister Appears on TV to Call for Calm
Princess Royal and Countess of Wessex Not Invited to Christening of Prince George
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| Countess of Wessex and the Princess Royal, Princess Anne |
The third in line to the throne will be baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury on October 23, but it now seems that only a handful of the couple's closest family and friends will witness the occasion at the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace.
The Duke and Duchess have already shown a determination to set their own rules, rather than being bound by royal tradition, such as their choice of the Chapel Royal instead of Buckingham Palace, where the Duke and his father were christened.
But the omission of some of the most senior members of the Royal family from the guest list is likely to have come as a surprise to those who will not be there. » | Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | Thursday, October 10, 2013
Liberal Weakness! Bearded Muslim Pupils Have Right to Show 'Full Faith', Says Nick Clegg
Both 14-year-olds had been placed in "isolation" from the start of the new term at Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School in Accrington, Lancashire.
Talks were held with the families of the two boys to resolve the problem but neither side backed down and the school has now decided the pupils can only return to school when they are clean-shaven.
Mr Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, said: "I think kids in school should all be treated the same. This is where we come to a difficult faultline - I think people should be able to show their full faith and wear what they want. But there are exceptions - in hospitals, in security sections."
The headteacher of the school, Xavier Bowers, has stressed that the matter is not one of religion but about dress code. » | Steven Swinford, Senior Political Correspondent | Thursday, October 10, 2013
Muslim Beard Boys Now Banned from School »
Front National: Der unheimliche Aufstieg der französischen Rechten
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| Marine Le Pen, 'Front National' |
Würden heute die Wahlen zum Europaparlament stattfinden, wäre die rechtsextreme Front National in Frankreich stärkste Partei. Das ist das Ergebnis einer Umfrage, die das Meinungsforschungsinstitut Ifop für das Magazin "Nouvel Observateur" durchgeführt hat. Die von Marine Le Pen angeführten Rechtspopulisten kämen demnach auf 24 Prozent der Stimmen – und würden damit das konservative Bündnis der UMP noch um zwei Prozentpunkte übertreffen.
Die regierenden Sozialisten (PS) kämen derzeit lediglich auf 19 Prozent. Die weiteren Stimmen würden auf das Zentrums-Bündnis UDI-MoDem (11 Prozent), die Linksfront (10 Prozent) und die Grünen (6 Prozent) entfallen.
Es ist das erste Mal, dass die Front National in einer Umfrage zu einer landesweiten Wahl deutlich vor der PS und der UMP liegt. Bei der letzten Europawahl im Jahr 2009 hatten die Rechtsextremen lediglich 6,34 Prozent der Stimmen auf sich vereinen können.
Die wachsende Stärke der Front National erhöht die Nervosität der etablierten Parteien und mehrt insbesondere die Furcht der regierenden Sozialisten vor einem Debakel bei den Europa- und den Kommunalwahlen, die ebenfalls im Frühjahr 2014 anstehen. » | Von Sascha Lehnartz, Paris | Donnerstag, 10. Oktober 2013
VIDÉO : Marine Le Pen : la puissance, la passion et le charisme »
Egypt Decries US Decision to Curtail Aid When Country Is 'Fighting Terrorism'
The army-backed government said Thursday the decision to cut aid was wrong, with the cabinet saying it found the decision strange at a time when the country was "facing a war against terrorism".
However, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington would consider resuming some of the aid "on a basis of performance" in following the interim government's "roadmap" that promises to lead to fair elections.
Washington faces a dilemma in dealing with its major regional ally; Egypt controls the strategic Suez Canal and has a peace treaty with neighbouring Israel but its army overthrew in July the first freely-elected president, Islamist Mohamed Mursi, after mass protests against his rule.
In some of the worst civilian violence in modern Egyptian history, security forces crushed protests by Mursi's supporters. However, militant Islamists, who have been attacking Egyptian forces in the Sinai peninsula for some time, have begun staging assaults in or near major cities including Cairo.
The United States said on Wednesday it would withhold deliveries of tanks, fighter aircraft, helicopters and missiles to Cairo as well as $260 million in cash aid, but left some other aid programmes intact. » | Reuters | Thursday, October 10, 2013
"Le FN est le parti du malheur de la France et de l'Europe"
Le FN premier parti de France ? Selon un sondage publié mercredi 9 octobre par "Le Nouvel Observateur", le parti de Marine Le Pen est en tête des intentions de vote pour les élections européennes de 2014, avec 24% des voix. Henri Weber, député européen du Parti Socialiste depuis 2004, s'inquiète de la montée de l'extrême droite et de l'abstention, et esquisse quelques pistes quant à la stratégie que devrait adopter le Parti Socialiste pour contrer cette montée en puissance. Interview. » | Par Le Nouvel Observateur | jeudi 10 octobre 2013
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France's Far-Right FN Party Tops Polls ahead of EU Elections
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| Marine Le Pen, leader of the 'Front National' |
A poll by Ifop for the French newspaper, Le Nouvel Observateur, found that 24 per cent of those asked said they will vote for the party, which stands on an anti-immigration and anti-Muslim platform.
The centre-right UMP, the party of former French President Nicolas Sarzoky, managed 22 percent while the Socialists, political home to President Francois Hollande, came third with 19 percent.
The newspaper said the poll is "of course not a prediction. But it describes a new reality in French political life. The FN is changing in nature. Its place is not longer at the margins of the political game but at the centre."
FN, led by controversial Marine Le Pen, daughter of the veteran politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, won a record 18 percent of the vote in last year's French presidential election.
Almost one in five women and nearly 25 percent of 18-24 year olds voted for the party, a record high for the FN. » | Martin Banks, Brussels | Thursday, October 10, 2013
Aggregation Aggravation: Germans Wary of New Huffington Post
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| Arianna Huffington |
The latest international edition of The Huffington Post, the controversial site run by Arianna Huffington, went live this Thursday in Germany.
Launched in cooperation with Tomorrow Focus AG, a part of the Hubert Burda Media conglomerate, Huffington Post Deutschland aims to bring her mixture of aggregation, reporting and celebrity punditry to German readers -- with the goal of becoming one of Germany's five biggest news sites by 2018.
The German media establishment, however, remains skeptical that Huffington's business model and media strategy, which has allowed it to surpass the New York Times' online readership in the United States, will be successful here.
In a translated blog post on the German site, Huffington welcomed readers, claiming "The Huffington Post represents the launch of a phase of change and disruption of the German media landscape." She pointed to the relatively low number of bloggers in Germany, arguing "this represents a huge growth potential for the HuffPost." She also wrote that she regrets never having learned German. In his debut post, Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Matthes, a former editor at Wirtschaftswoche, a weekly German business magazine, wrote, "in the next years, we aim to be indispensable, because we cover all of the big subjects in our own way." » | tmr | Thursday, October 10, 2013
THE HUFFINGTON POST: Liebe Grüße From Munich: HuffPost Goes to Germany » | Arianna Huffington | Thursday, October 10, 2013
The Huffington Post Deutschland »
Austerity Pushing Europe into Social and Economic Decline, Says Red Cross
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| A homeless beggar in Athens |
Europe is sinking into a protracted period of deepening poverty, mass unemployment, social exclusion, greater inequality, and collective despair as a result of austerity policies adopted in response to the debt and currency crisis of the past four years, according to an extensive study being published on Thursday.
"Whilst other continents successfully reduce poverty, Europe adds to it," says the 68-page report from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. "The long-term consequences of this crisis have yet to surface. The problems caused will be felt for decades even if the economy turns for the better in the near future … We wonder if we as a continent really understand what has hit us."
The damning critique, obtained exclusively by the Guardian, of the policy response to the debt crisis that surfaced in Greece in late 2009 and raised fundamental questions about the viability of the euro single currency, foresees extremely gloomy prospects for tens of millions of Europeans. » | Ian Traynor in Brussels | Thursday, October 10, 2013
Immigration Bill: Theresa May Defends Plans to Create 'Hostile Environment'
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
TV Interview with Joseph Atwill - The Roman Creation of Christianity
MAIL ONLINE: American Bible scholar claims ancient ‘confessions’ prove story of Jesus Christ was entirely fabricated by Roman aristocrats » | Simon Tomlinson and William Turvill | Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Janet Yellen: 'We Only Thought of Her as Someone's Wife'
Muslim Beard Row Boys Now Banned from School
Both 14-year-olds had been placed in "isolation" from the start of the new term at Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School in Accrington, Lancashire.
Talks were held with the families of the two boys to resolve the problem but neither side backed down and the school has now decided the pupils can only return to school when they are clean-shaven.
Headteacher Xavier Bowers has stressed that the matter is not one of religion but about dress code.
In a statement issued today, he said: "At Mount Carmel RC High School, we believe that it's important to be clear about what we expect from students in all aspects of school life, including appearance and uniform. » | News agencies | Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Koweït : un «test médical» pour refuser le visa aux homosexuels
En plus du Koweït, les personnes désignées comme homosexuelles pourraient également se voir interdire l'accès aux autres pays membres du conseil de coopération du Golfe (GCC), qui comprend le Qatar, Oman, le Koweït, les Emirats arabes unis, Bahreïn ou encore l'Arabie saoudite. » | M.Pf. | Le Parisien.fr | mercredi 09 octobre 2013
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The Brilliant Fed Chair and the Clueless President
How good is your memory? Not many people today have personal memories of the Great Depression some 80 years ago, when thousands of banks closed. It would be natural, you'd think, to have a burning memory of what happened just five years ago when the U.S. banking system was on the brink of a similar collapse. The housing bubble burst. Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. Banks pulled back on lending, investors avoided new bonds and everyone seemed to be stockpiling cash. The economy started to contract by 5 percent to 6 percent annually. Trillions of dollars were knocked off the value of U.S. companies. The public and financial authorities had reason to believe nothing much could be done to avert a rerun of the Great Depression.
George Santayana (and before him the 18th century British philosopher and politician Edmund Burke) had history in mind when he observed that those who can't remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Five years hardly qualifies as "history," so it is unnerving that even supposedly well-informed people have forgotten how we got out of the mess. Last year, for example, the House of Representatives followed the lead of former Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul (now taken up by his son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul) in passing a motion for an audit of the Federal Reserve, as if the Fed had been a cause of our problems.
On the contrary, the Federal Reserve was quite simply our last hope. It was the chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke who came to the rescue. Bernanke, a former Princeton professor, was a scholar of the Great Depression, a background that proved critical. Right from his start in 2006, he demonstrated a tough independence. Unconvinced of inflation predictions in 2007, he refused to continue ratcheting up interest rates – and he was proved right. When the crisis hit in 2008, he went way beyond the standard response of a central banker, which would have been to lower interest rates and hope that cheaper credit would somehow work its way to more borrowing, more activity, more jobs. » | Mortimer B. Zuckerman | Friday, August 09, 2013 [?]
Peter Tatchell: ‘FIFA Has No Option But to Cancel Qatar World Cup’ over Tests to ‘Detect’ Gays
Mr Tatchell said the new rules, announced earlier this week, “will mean that gay players and spectators will be banned from attending the football world cup.”
Speaking to PinkNews, he said: “There is no known medical test to detect homosexuality. I wonder what quackery the Kuwaiti authorities plan to invent in their vain attempt to identify gay men. It simply won’t work.
“Banning gay people from entering the country will deter foreign investors and companies. They won’t want to subject their employees to such barbaric, medieval humiliations.
“The proposal that this gay ban will apply across all Gulf Cooperation Countries will mean that gay players and spectators will be banned from attending the football world cup in Qatar in 2022. This contradicts previous assurances given to FIFA by the Qatar government that everyone will be welcome and that there will be no discrimination.
“FIFA now has no option but to cancel the world cup in Qatar. Allowing it to go head in these circumstances would involve FIFA colluding with homophobic discrimination.” » | Joseph Patrick McCormack | Tuesday, October 08, 2013
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GCHQ Leaks Have Already Caused 'Real Damage' Warns Security Adviser
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| Oliver Robbins |
Oliver Robbins said the Edward Snowden revelations, published by the Guardian newspaper, could lead “directly to widespread loss of life” and “threaten the internal stability of the UK”.
A senior MP also accused the newspaper and Snowden of being “naïve” if they thought they could identify what parts of the stolen files would damage national security if publicised.
On Tuesday, Andrew Parker, the new head of MI5, used his first speech to launch a scathing attack on the leaks warning they had “gifted” the terrorists the ability to attack “at will”.
He said revealing intelligence techniques had given fanatics the advantage that allowed them to evade detection.
David Cameron, the Prime Minister, backed the comments. » | Tom Whitehead, and Steven Swinford | Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Global Wealth Inequality – What You Never Knew You Never Knew
Russia: 110 Russians Own 35% of the Money
Investment bank Credit Suisse said that the group owned 35% of household wealth.
Worldwide, billionaires account for just 1-2% of total wealth but Russia has one billionaire for every 11 billion dollars (£6.9 billion) in wealth while in the rest of the world there is only one for 170 billion dollars (£107 billion).
The fall of Communism saw Russia's most prized assets sold off to a small circle of businessmen later known as oligarchs. President Vladimir Putin allowed them to keep their wealth in exchange for their political loyalty. » | AP | Wednesday, October 09, 2013
"Islamophobia Dictionaries," New Mega-Mosques and Other Recent Events
| A Survey of Islam in Europe: September 2013
From Britain to Greece, and Spain to Slovenia, Muslim immigration and the accompanying rise of Islam are transforming the European way of life in ways unimaginable only a few years ago. What follows is a brief survey of 20 noteworthy stories involving Islam in Europe during just the month of September 2013.
In Britain, the Department of Education revealed that is recruiting former agents of the British secret service, MI5, to investigate the alleged infiltration of British schools by Islamic extremists. The agents will form part of a new counter-extremism unit, established to investigate schools in which radical activity has been suspected. Speaking to the Sunday Times on September 29, Education Secretary Michael Gove said some schools are being "taken over" by Muslim hardliners in the hope of radicalizing pupils and staff. He also said he was determined to "weed out" schools whose practices do not conform to British values.
A survey published by the BBC on September 25 revealed that more than a quarter of young British people distrust Muslims and feel Britain would be better off if there were fewer of them in the country. Of the 1,000 young people questioned in the survey conducted by ComRes, a leading market research agency, 27% of 18-to-24-year-olds said they did not trust Muslims, while 28% said Britain would be better off with fewer Muslims. It also emerged that 60% thought the British public had a negative image of Muslims, and 44% said Muslims do not have the same values as the rest of the population. A separate survey published by Lord Ashcroft Polls on September 1, showed that six in ten Britons thought immigration had produced more disadvantages than advantages for their country; only 17% thought the pros outweighed the cons. The biggest concerns were about migrants claiming benefits or using public services without having contributed in return. » | Soeren Kern | Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Italy to Hold State Funeral for Shipwreck Migrants
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| José Manuel Barroso, European Commission President |
Prime Minister Enrico Letta made the announcement during a visit to the island with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Mr Barroso pledged 30m euros ($40m; £25m) of EU funds to help refugees in Italy.
At least 274 people, mostly from Eritrea and Somalia, died in the wreck.
Of more than 500 people on board, only 155 have survived. Divers are recovering bodies.
It is one of Italy's worst disasters involving a boat carrying Europe-bound migrants from Africa.
Lampedusa is a key destination for such boats and many residents have long complained that the authorities in Italy and the European Union are not doing enough to deal with the thousands of migrants who come ashore each year. » | Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Carter: Middle Class Today Resembles Past's Poor
Tommy Robinson: 'I Renounce Racism and Violence'
Related »
EDL Leader Tommy Robinson Quits
Related »
Everything You Need to Know About Janet Yellen
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama to nominate Janet Yellen as Federal Reserve chairman: President Barack Obama set to name Janet Yellen as first female chairman of US Federal Reserve on Wednesday afternoon » | Katherine Rushton, US Business Editor | Wednesday, October 09, 2013
My comment:
The American Dream is over. If the US keep on printing money – and it will under Janet Yellen – the great US experiment will also soon be over too. One can only conclude that the US is on the skids. – © Mark
This comment appears here too.
Iran : Rohani lâche du lest sur le voile
Le président iranien Hassan Rohani a demandé mercredi à la police d'être plus tolérante sur les questions de société, notamment sur le respect du code vestimentaire islamique. Élu en juin avec le soutien d'une coalition de modérés et réformateurs, Hassan Rohani a promis des réformes notamment une libéralisation politique et culturelle. "S'il faut un avertissement (...) la police devrait être la dernière à le donner", a déclaré le président dans un discours à l'École nationale de police, selon l'agence Fars.
"Nos femmes vertueuses devraient se sentir en sécurité et détendues en présence de la police", a ajouté le religieux modéré, estimant que le respect du code vestimentaire devait être enseigné dans "les écoles, les lycées, les universités et les mosquées". Des unités spéciales de la police effectuent régulièrement des opérations dans les rues pour vérifier l'application du strict code vestimentaire islamique iranien, qui oblige les femmes à cacher leurs formes de la tête aux pieds. Les contrevenantes peuvent recevoir des avertissements verbaux, une amende ou être interpellées pour quelques heures. » | Source AFP | mercredi 09 octobre 2013
On Brink of Disaster? Budget Bicker Blows Up US 'Exceptional' Democratic Image
Odd Couple: Israel, Saudi Arabia Negotiate Union Against Iran?
Fox News Exclusive: Mitt Romney on How He Would Re-open the Government
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Outrageous! Gulf States to Introduce Medical Testing on Travellers to 'Detect' Gay People and Stop Them from Entering the Country
A medical test being developed by Kuwait will be used to 'detect' homosexuals and prevent them from entering the country – or any of the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC), according to a Kuwaiti government official.
GCC member countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – already deem homosexual acts unlawful.
This controversial stance is being toughened, according to Yousouf Mindkar, the director of public health at the Kuwaiti health ministry.
He told Kuwait newspaper Al Rai: ‘Health centres conduct the routine medical check to assess the health of the expatriates when they come into the GCC countries. However, we will take stricter measures that will help us detect gays who will be then barred from entering Kuwait or any of the GCC member states.’
Richard Lane, from gay rights campaign group Stonewall, said: ‘These proposals are not only futile but contrary to international human rights law. Many Gulf states have gone to great lengths to market themselves as open for international business. Their leaders should think long and hard about putting forward measures to restrict freedom of movement and further prohibit the best talent from doing business in the region simply because of their sexual orientation.' » | Ted Thornhill | Monday, October 07, 2013
Regulation Will Be Imposed on Press as Politicians Reject Self-regulation
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| Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary |
Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, told MPs that there will be a new system of press regulation backed by law.
She also signalled her frustration with Downing Street over the way new rules were agreed in a late-night deal with campaigners earlier this year.
A senior Labour MP has also warned that his party is undermining democracy by supporting a system that forces newspapers to participate. Following last year’s Leveson Inquiry into wrongdoing by tabloid journalists, politicians and the newspaper industry put forward differing proposals for press regulation, to be backed with a Royal Charter.
The industry proposal, which would expose newspapers to £1 million fines but not give the state a role in regulation, has been described as the toughest regulatory regime in the free world. » | James Kirkup, Political Editor | Tuesday, October 08, 2013
L'Espagne se refuse à juger le franquisme
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| Le général Francisco Franco |
"Non, non, non, c'est hors de question. Jamais nous ne permettrons que s'ouvre cette boîte de Pandore." La réaction de ce haut magistrat anonyme, dont s'est fait l'écho le quotidien El Confidencial.com, donne une bonne idée de l'intransigeance affichée ces jours-ci par les autorités espagnoles quant à la possibilité de juger des anciens nervis du franquisme. Ni le gouvernement conservateur dirigé par Mariano Rajoy ni le Parlement, et encore moins le Tribunal suprême n'envisagent cette hypothèse. Jusqu'à présent, depuis le retour de la démocratie à la fin des années 1970 (Franco est mort en 1975), jamais un dirigeant de la dictature espagnole - qui a duré quatre décennies - ne s'est assis sur le banc des accusés : aucun n'a été jugé. » | Le Point.fr | mardi 08 octobre 2013
Saudi Arabian Preacher Who Beat His Five-year-old Daughter to Death Is Jailed for Just Eight Years and Sentenced to 600 Lashes
A Saudi Islamic preacher accused of torturing his five-year-old daughter to death has been sentenced to just eight years in jail and 600 lashes.
Lama al-Ghamdi died in October 2012 having suffered multiple injuries. Her skull was crushed, a finger nail had been pulled off, her ribs and arm broken and she suffered extensive bruising and burns.
There were also reports that she’d been repeatedly raped, though this was denied by her mother.
The case sent shockwaves around the world earlier this year and there was further outrage when it appeared that her father, Fayhan al-Ghamdi, would be released by a Saudi court after just a few months in prison.
The mother, Syeda Mohammed Ali, told CNN in February: 'My dear child is dead, and all I want now is justice so I can close my eyes and know she didn't die in vain. She was brutally tortured in the most shocking ways.' » | Ted Thornhill | Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Journalist Still In Jail after Disproving Ahmadinejad's Denial of Gay Iranians
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| Siamak Ghaderi |
In September 2007, when the then Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, denied, to the jeers of the audience at Columbia University in New York, that homosexuals existed in the Islamic republic, one journalist back home was determined to prove him wrong.
Siamak Ghaderi, who worked as a reporter with the state news agency, Irna, challenged Ahmadinejad's comments by conducting a series of interviews with Iranian homosexuals and publishing them online. But this came at a price. Read on and comment » | Posted by Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Britain and Iran Pave Way for Reopening of London and Tehran Embassies
Britain and Iran have taken a significant step toward reopening their respective embassies in Tehran and London by appointing chargés d'affaires and holding talks on terms and conditions about staff on the eve of new negotiations on the vexed issue of Iran's nuclear programme.
William Hague, the UK foreign secretary, revealed to MPs on Tuesday that talks with the Iranian govenement [sic] had taken place last week in a much more positive atmosphere following intensifying diplomatic contacts in the wake of the election of the moderate President Hassan Rouhani in June.
Progress would have to take place on a "step-by-step reciprocal basis", Hague said, but he made clear the moves would pave the way to reopen the British embassy. "We are open to more direct contact," he said, adding that the the [sic] coming months "may be unusually significant" in British-Iranian relations. » | Ian Black, Middle East editor | Tuesday, October 08, 2013
EU Bans Packets of 10 and Menthol Cigarettes
The sale of cigarettes in packets of 10 is expected to be banned by 2016 after MEPs voted for tighter restrictions on tobacco use across Europe.
Electronic cigarette substitutes, which are increasingly popular as a less harmful alternative to smoking, will be subjected to the same strict limitations on advertising as ordinary tobacco products under the plan aimed at reducing smoking among women and young people.
Linda McAvan, the Labour MEP who drafted the legislation, said the new rules would protect “children from being targeted by tobacco companies” via the lure of attractive branding, small female-friendly packs and flavoured cigarettes.
“Four thousand British children start smoking each week - that’s a staggering 200,000 new childhood smokers a year,” she said. Read on and comment » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Tuesday, October 08, 2013
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