Iran Attempts to Silence Its 'Death to America' Chants

Hassan Rouhani and Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Chants of 'Death to America' have been part of Iranian public life for almost 35 years. But the new wave of politicians in Tehran is trying to change that, write Damien McElroy and Ahmad Vahdat

An attempt by Iran's reformist president Hassan Rouhani to abolish the chant "Death to America" as part of his diplomatic drive to improve relations with the US and the West, has spurred an angry backlash among his country's hardline establishment.

The slogan - "Marg bar Amrika" in Farsi - has rung out on official occasions in Tehran ever since the country's Islamic revolution in 1979, born during the seizure by students of the US embassy and the 444-day hostage crisis that followed.

Beloved by hardliners, it became one of the unifying political messages of the regime and would be broadcast every Friday on national television and be echoed at many mosques after Friday prayers.

A national debate on the appropriateness of the chant erupted last month when reformist prayer leaders at the main Friday afternoon ceremonies in Tehran and other major cities told the congregations to hold their tongues.

Since it no longer fits so easily with the official outlook of a country whose president has telephone chats with President Barack Obama and wants the West to lift economic sanctions in return for nuclear concessions over Iran's nuclear programme, there is a drive by Mr Rouhani and his allies to end its public use. » | Damien McElroy, and Ahmad Vahdat | Saturday, October 19, 2013

Pour 44 % des Français, le FN est capable de réformer la France

Marine Le Pen

LE FIGARO: Près de la moitié des personnes interrogées juge que Marine le Pen est la personnalité la plus à même de s'acquitter de cette tâche.

Plus de quatre Français sur dix pensent que le Front national est un parti capable de réformer la France en profondeur, selon un sondage CSA pour Atlantico publié samedi. À la question de savoir quel parti politique est le plus à même de "réformer en profondeur le pays en surmontant les blocages au sein de la société française", 44 % des sondés ont cité la formation dirigée par Marine Le Pen. » | Source Reuters | samedi 19 octobre 2013

Inside Story: Race Riots: A Wake-up Call for Russia?

As ethnic violence returns to Moscow, we examine the root causes of the nation’s rising anti-immigration sentiment

Radikale Islamisten in der Schweiz – “Benefizveranstaltung” für Syrien

Anmerkung: Dieses Video wurde zum Teil in Schweizerdeutsch (Schwyzertüütsch) aufgenommen

Far-right Leaders Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders in Talks to Form Anti-Europe Alliance

Marine Le Pen, France and Geert Wilders, The Netherlands

THE INDEPENDENT: French and Dutch populist party chiefs could threaten Ukip’s influence in the EU

Both are blonde. Both are charismatic. Both are anti-immigrant and anti-European. Both have successfully brought their political movement towards – although not yet into – the national mainstream.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Front in France, and Geert Wilders of the Freedom Party (PVV) in the Netherlands, will attempt next month to launch the seemingly impossible – a pan-European Eurosceptic movement. With far-right or populist parties across Europe threatening to create upsets in next May’s European elections, Mr Wilders and Ms Le Pen believe that the time is right to form an anti-European alliance. Ms Le Pen will travel to the Netherlands next month to discuss a joint campaign in the European elections with Mr Wilders’ PVV.

Mr Wilders has already been on a European tour this summer to try to persuade like-minded parties in other countries to endorse a common Euro-sceptic and anti-immigrant platform next May, with limited success.

The Northern League in Italy, Vlaams Belang in Belgium and the Democratic Party in Sweden have reacted coolly to the idea. The United Kingdom Independence Party rejected the alliance outright. » | John Lichfield | Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Muslim Patrol Enforcer: Ginger-haired Bin Laden Disciple Admits Mob Attacks on 'Non-believers'

Jordan Horner, a.k.a. Jamaal Uddin

MAIL ONLINE: Jordan Horner, 19, walked around Tower Hamlets berating non-Muslims / Members of the 'Muslim Patrol' said 'kill the non-believers' and threatened to stab people who drank beer / Horner pleads guilty to ABH after getting into a fistfight with a passer-by / He was previously jailed after telling photographers at Anjem Choudary's house that they would end up like Lee Rigby

An enforcer for hate preacher Anjem Choudary yesterday admitted joining a ‘Muslim Patrol’ which threatened to enforce sharia law.

Jordan Horner, 19, was a leading member of a vigilante mob that roamed London’s East End attacking non-Muslims in a campaign against Western culture.

The gang threatened to ‘kill non-believers’ and ‘shank’ or stab them and uploaded videos to YouTube criticising people’s appearance.

The ginger-haired convert, who uses the name Jamaal Uddin, admitted assaulting two men during one confrontation.

During a hearing at the Old Bailey, he also pleaded guilty to two public order offences via video link from high security Belmarsh Prison.

Horner is a close associate of Choudary and was arrested outside his home earlier this year for assaulting a photographer.

The outspoken thug has boasted that one of his heroes is Osama bin Laden and said British soldiers will burn in hell. » | Chris Greenwood | Friday, October 18, 2013

Iran Opens Doors to Tourists as Rouhani Fosters Thaw in Relations with the West

THE GUARDIAN: New atmosphere under reformist president sees visa rules eased with Chinese visitors a priority for sanctions-hit country

With its ancient ruins, glittering mosques and spectacular landscapes, Iran is home to some of the world's cultural treasures, but ever since the 1979 revolution, these have largely remained unseen by international tourists. In recent years, the country's most high-profile visitors have been nuclear inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Now, however, the new administration of Hassan Rouhani is taking steps to open up Iran to foreigners in an effort to improve its international image after the gloomy years under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – and to bring in much-needed foreign currency to an economy reeling from years of sanctions.

Mohammad-Ali Najafi, a vice-president and the head of the country's cultural heritage and tourism organisation, said Iran was overhauling its strict immigration rules to ease or abolish visa requirements for most foreign visitors.

"From the next two or three months, I predict that the number of foreign tourists who come to visit Iran as a tourist will greatly increase," said Najafi in a telephone interview from Tehran.

Najafi admitted some senior officials had been concerned at the prospect of allowing large numbers of tourists – especially westerners – in without prior security checks, but said that since Rouhani took office in August Iran's tourism body had eventually secured their support – and government approval. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Friday, October 18, 2013

Mohammed Ansar: My 18 Months with Former EDL Leader Tommy Robinson

Mohammed Ansar and Tommy Robinson

THE GUARDIAN: I'm not sure how much I changed the former far-right leader's views on Islam, but I don't regret making a film with him

Tommy was much shorter than I anticipated. Surrounded by an entourage, huddled in one corner of the green room, he kept shuffling uncomfortably and throwing his shoulders back. He looked like someone who was getting ready for a fight. We didn't make eye contact, but it wasn't long before we were called down to the makeshift studio in the grammar school in Bury. It was April 2012, and it was my first face-to-face meeting with Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon), the leader of the English Defence League (EDL). We were appearing on a BBC1 programme called The Big Questions. Little did I know this would be the start of an 18-month journey together that would end with Tommy leaving the EDL.

It's odd the little things I remember about that encounter. It felt almost like an out-of-body experience to sit opposite the leader of the English far right in a television debate. As discussions got under way – I called for the EDL to be proscribed and talked about links between EDL ideology and the Norwegian killer Anders Breivik - I found myself distracted by Tommy's hair. It was slicked to one side as if prepared for a school photo.

Then, as the debate continued, the protests outside the studio seemed to fade and something slightly odd happened. We shared a moment of levity, perhaps humanity. As the presenter, Nicky Campbell, spoke into the camera, Tommy and I looked at each other and cracked up slightly. I'm not sure why, but Twitter noticed. Robinson was no friend of mine, and albeit condemned by people around the world as an enemy to Islam, but suddenly we were kids at the back of the class. » | Mohammed Ansar | Saturday, October 19, 2013

Who Is the Real Tommy Robinson?

Tommy Robinson, né Stephen Yaxley-Lennon

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The former leader of the English Defence League, the organisation he founded in 2009, is a man of multiple identities, finds Matt Rowland Hill

“Going to prison was the best thing that ever happened to me,” declares Tommy Robinson. I am sitting in a hotel bar in Luton town centre, listening to him explain why he has quit the English Defence League. Before his imprisonment he had been receiving death threats from Islamists, and neo-Nazis were threatening to take over the EDL. As a result, he says, he was “drinking alcohol, going out three times a week, neglecting my wife. I thought I was dealing with the pressures of the English Defence League, but I was pretty much just bingeing my way through it.”

Short and stocky, like a welterweight grown pudgy between bouts, Robinson speaks with an understated manner that belies the intensity of his words. In January he was jailed for travelling to meet American EDL supporters in New York using somebody else’s passport, and spent eighteen weeks in solitary confinement after running into trouble with Muslim gangs on the inside. Those long hours in his cell were, he says, his first opportunity since 2009 to take stock. “And that’s when I started to question, where’s the EDL going? Because, you know, we march up and down this country, but what is it we want to get out of it? And how do we succeed?”

Multiple identities are a theme of Robinson’s career to date. His real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon; he adopted the alias “Tommy Robinson” in the early days of the EDL as protection, he says, against reprisals from Muslims. To many, he is little more than a cut-price demagogue in designer clobber who has spent four-and-a-half years inciting hatred against Muslims with his menacing and often violent rallies. To others, he is a misunderstood liberal unafraid of trampling cultural sensitivities while speaking up for “British values”. He now says he wants to become an advocate for moderation and dialogue by working with Quilliam, an anti-extremism think[-] tank. If he does so, it will be his most audacious transformation yet. » | Matt Rowland Hill | Friday, October 18, 2013

Father of Drummer Lee Rigby Criticises Decision to Disband Regiment

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Second battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers to be withdrawn as part of plans to reduce the Army by 20,000 troops.

The father of Drummer Lee Rigby, the soldier killed in a terrorist attack outside his Woolwich barracks, has criticised the decision to disband his son’s battalion.

The second battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, to which Drummer Rigby belonged, is to be withdrawn as part of plans to reduce the Army by 20,000 troops over ten years.

The Ministry of Defence says the cuts are needed to make the Army more suited to future operations but they have been met with protest from veterans.

Ian Rigby said the battalion was “like a family” to his son. “The lads that served with him and the officers, they were like a band of brothers.

“To take away the heart of a regiment, it takes away history, and it hurts a lot of families,” he said. » | Matthew Holehouse | Friday, October 18, 2013

Hajji Now

Arnoud Van Doorn in Mekkah on Hajj

After converting to Islam some months ago, Arnoud Van Doorn has just performed the Hajj. He may therefore now be known as Hajji Arnoud. Hajji is the name given to a man who has performed the Hajj. He has now found himself “among these faithful hearts”. He hope his tears of regret will wash out all his sins after his repentance,” he said as his tears flowed. Fitna Producer Performs Hajj »

KHALEEJ TIMES: Arnoud to produce pro-Islam film »

‘Fitna’ Producer Finds Peace in the Holy Sites

Arnoud Van Doorn talks to Okaz/SG reporter in Mina

SAUDI GAZETTE: MINA — A once strident anti-Islam activist who gained notoriety as the producer of Fitna, a derogatory film wrongly portraying Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), has found peace and tranquility while performing Haj this year.


 Arnoud Van Doorn, a former member of the Geert Wilders racist Dutch Party for Freedom, reverted to Islam a year ago after propagating against the divine religion for years.

Van Doorn bitterly regrets having taken part in the production of the hateful film Fitna (Sedition) and said he was in the holy sites to atone for his sins.

“I found myself among these faithful hearts. I hope that my tears of regret will wash out all my sins after my repentance,” Van Doorn said.

He said, as a token of atonement, he will produce a new film that will show the true essence of Islam and the correct personality of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Van Doorn described Fitna as a totally wrong movie which contained a lot of misleading and incorrect information that had nothing to do with the noble divine religion or its great Prophet (pbuh).

He said that since his arrival in this holy land, he has been living the best days of his life and he hoped that he could spend more time in Madinah to which he was determined to return after the completion of his Haj rites.

“I felt ashamed standing in front of the Prophet’s grave. I thought of the grave mistake which I had made by producing that sacrilegious film. I hope that Allah will forgive me and accept my repentance,” he said.

Van Doorn said he read a lot about Islam and regretted his erstwhile hostility to this great religion. [Source: Saudi Gazette] | Hamza Mohammed | Okaz/Saudi Gazette

UK Muslims Warned of Militant Al-Shabab Threat

BBC: British Muslims who speak out against extremism are being warned that they could be targeted by members of the Somali militant group al-Shabab.

British Muslim commentator Mohammed Ansar said he was currently under police protection because of what he was told was a "credible threat".

It comes after al-Shabab militants posted a video online which named Muslims who have criticised jihadists.

Scotland Yard said it was investigating the video.

The hour-long film is narrated by an unidentified man with a British accent.

It praises acts of Islamist terrorism. » | Friday, October 18, 2013

Third Class Rail Travel On The Way Back

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Ministers are facing accusations of turning the clock back 50 years with proposals to introduce a third class of rail travel on the East Coast Main Line

Britain is set to return to three-class rail travel, The Telegraph can disclose.

It is set to become a reality on the East Coast Main Line to Scotland and north east England when the currently state-run franchise, is returned to private hands.

The proposal, contained in the franchise prospectus drawn up by the Department for Transport, led to accusations that the Government was looking to turn the clock back to the 1950s.

Third Class rail travel was last seen in Britain in 1956. While the Government insisted that the proposals were intended to pave the way for a class equivalent to premium economy on aircraft, the plans triggered a furious response. » | David Millward, Transport Editor | Friday, October 18, 2013

My comments:

It's all about knowing one's place in society in Cameron's Britain. So, from now on, there will be a section for the upper classes, a section for the middle classes (probably a small section), and a section for the working classes (probably a huge section). Weren't we all supposed to be in this together? – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

This is quite a day for the oiks of this world, isn't it? First of all they were told they could keep warm in winter by wearing jumpers instead of having adequate heat in their houses, and now they are being told that they'll soon be able to travel in train compartments in which Cameron probably thinks they belong: Third Class. This is beginning to look like the New Victorian Age. – © Mark

And this comment appears here

Uganda Raises Terror Threat Level after Warnings of Imminent Attack

THE GUARDIAN: Security staff recalled from leave and thousands of extra police deployed across capital amid fears of Westgate-style incident

Uganda has heightened its terror alert to maximum for the first time since bombings in 2010 killed 79 people, after domestic and US intelligence indications of a possibly imminent attack by Islamist militants, police have said.

Security staff were recalled from leave and thousands of extra officers were deployed across the capital, Kampala, after the alert level was raised to red.

"Our intelligence and that of the Americans show an imminent terror attack is likely," said Patrick Onyango, a police spokesman.

Uganda had already heightened security after at least 67 people were killed in an attack on the Westgate shopping mall in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, claimed by the Somali militant group al-Shabaab. » | Reuter in Kampala | Friday, October 18, 2013

Downing Street: People Faced with Rising Energy Bills Should Consider Wearing Jumpers

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron believes that millions of people facing rising energy bills should consider "wrapping up warm" and wearing jumpers, Downing Street has indicated.

British Gas yesterday announced that it is raising its energy prices for 8million customers by 9.2 per cent, a week after its rival SSE announced similar hikes. Other major companies are expected to follow suit.

Asked about whether people should "wrap up warm" and wear jumpers, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "Clearly, he is not going to prescribe the actions that individuals should take but if people are giving that advice that is something that people may wish to consider. » | Steven Swinford, Senior Political Correspondent | Friday, October 18, 2013

My comment:

Clearly, this is Cameron's "let them eat cake" moment. (And we all know what happened to Marie Antoinette.) – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

Rebellen töten ranghohen General in Syrien

Dschameh Dschameh, Chef des Militärgeheimdienstes

DIE WELT: Schwerer Verlust für Assads Armee in Syrien: Bei Gefechten ist Armeegeneral Dschameh Dschameh von Rebellen getötet worden. Dschameh war auch Chef des örtlichen Militärgeheimdienstes.

Rebellen haben nach Angaben staatlicher Medien in Syrien einen hochrangigen Geheimdienstfunktionär getötet. General Dschameh Dschameh war der Chef des Militärgeheim-dienstes in der östlichen Provinz Deir as-Saur, wie das Staatsfernsehen am Donnerstagabend berichtete. Er sei in Ausübung seiner Pflichten zur Verteidigung Syriens gegen Terroristen zum Märtyrer geworden, hieß es. Nach Angaben von Aktivisten wurde der General von Kämpfern einer radikal-islamischen Brigade bei Gefechten getötet. » | dpa/AFP/pku | Freitag, 18. Oktober 2013

Lyon : une femme de 59 ans décapitée

LE POINT: La victime a été retrouvée à son domicile vendredi matin. La police suspecte son fils, qui vivait seul avec elle et a été placé en garde à vue.

Une femme de 59 ans a été retrouvée décapitée à son domicile à Saint-Fons, près de Lyon, vendredi matin et son fils a été placé en garde à vue, a-t-on appris de source proche de l'enquête. Le suspect, âgé de 33 ans, "ne semble pas jouir de toutes ses facultés mentales", a précisé cette source. » | Source AFP | vendredi 18 octobre 2013

Les manifestations dégénèrent au Brésil

LE FIGARO: Depuis juin, des manifestations se succèdent à travers le pays pour demander de meilleurs services publics et protester contre la corruption et le coût de la Coupe du monde de 2014. En réponse à la violence de la répression policière, Black Blocs et autres groupes radicaux ont adopté une stratégie d'autodéfense.

La nuit tombe sur le centre de Rio de Janeiro. Devant le théâtre municipal, des milliers d'enseignants s'éparpillent, après avoir battu le pavé pendant trois heures. Ils ont profité de ce Jour du professeur, le 15 octobre, férié au Brésil, pour clamer leur ras-le-bol des mauvaises conditions de travail dans l'éducation nationale. Soudain, c'est l'explosion: une bataille s'engage entre les policiers, venus en masse, et un groupe de jeunes formé tôt, en tête de la marche. Des barricades sont érigées, des pierres et des cocktails Molotov volent d'un côté, des bombes lacrymogènes et des coups de matraque pleuvent de l'autre. » | Par Lamia Oualalou | jeudi 17 octobre 2013

The Exception: How Denmark Saved Its Jews from the Nazis

Jewish refugees from Denmark in Sweden

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Denmark was the only European country to save almost all of its Jewish residents from the Holocaust. After being tipped off about imminent roundups by prominent Nazis, resisters evacuated the country's 7,000 Jews to Sweden by boat. A new book examines this historical anomaly.

They left at night, thousands of Jewish families, setting out by car, bicycle, streetcar or train. They left the Danish cities they had long called home and fled to the countryside, which was unfamiliar to many of them. Along the way, they found shelter in the homes of friends or business partners, squatted in abandoned summer homes or spent the night with hospitable farmers. "We came across kind and good people, but they had no idea about what was happening at the time," writes Poul Hannover, one of the refugees, about those dark days in which humanity triumphed.

At some point, however, the refugees no longer knew what to do next. Where would they be safe? How were the Nazis attempting to find them? There was no refugee center, no leadership, no organization and exasperatingly little reliable information. But what did exist was the art of improvisation and the helpfulness of many Danes, who now had a chance to prove themselves.

Members of the Danish underground movement emerged who could tell the Jews who was to be trusted. There were police officers who not only looked the other way when the refugees turned up in groups, but also warned them about Nazi checkpoints. And there were skippers who were willing to take the refugees across the Baltic Sea to Sweden in their fishing cutters, boats and sailboats. » | Gerhard Spörl | Thursday, October 17, 2013

Perfectly[-]preserved 1.8 million-year-old Skull 'Could Re-write History of Human Evolution'

THE INDEPENDENT: Palaeontologists believe finds could re-write early history of human evolution

Scientists have revealed one of the most dramatic discoveries in human origins with a perfectly preserved fossilised skull of an ape-like man who lived about 1.8 million years ago.

The discovery, along with the remains of four other individuals who lived at the same time, in the same place, has generated intense excitement among palaeontologists who believe the finds could re-write the early history of human evolution.

The skull and its lower jawbone were found at a palaeontology site near the medieval town of Dmansi in the foothills of the Caucuses in Georgia, which has become one of the most important centres for understanding human origins outside Africa. » | Steve Connor | Science Editor | Friday, October 18, 2013

'Cameron Declares War On Investigative Journalism'

The British Prime Minister has called for an investigation into whether the Guardian newspaper broke the law - by publishing the Edward Snowden leaks that sent shockwaves about American surveillance worldwide. A parliamentary committee is now looking into it. Tony Gosling joins RT to discuss David Cameron's gunning for The Guardian.

Michael Gove: Governments Must Stop Lying to Children about Life Chances

Michael Gove, Education Secretary

THE GUARDIAN: Education secretary says 'inflated' GCSE figures were used in past to tell pupils they could go to university or get skilled work

The education secretary, Michael Gove, has urged politicians to stop "lying to children" about their life chances and allowing inflated exam grades that he compared to Soviet tractor production propaganda.

"For years, ministers in previous governments looked at the way more and more people were getting GCSEs and they congratulated themselves, like Soviet economics ministers on the growth in statistics," Gove a US summit on education reform on Thursday night.

Slipping into a mock Russian accent and syntax, Gove said: "Look in Russia, thousands more get GCSEs. Surely now we are education powerhouse?"

Instead, he told the audience in Boston, "the truth is that we were lying to children" by telling them they would be able to go to university or find skilled work.

"Employers said: 'You have a piece of paper that says it, you're qualified in English and mathematics. But you can't write a business letter, you can't do basic arithmetic required to work in this store or on this shop floor.' » | Richard Adams, education editor, in Boston | Friday, October 18, 2013

Saudi Arabia Rejects UN Seat over Body's Handling of Syria Crisis

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Saudi Arabia is rejecting its seat on the UN Security Council and says the 15-member body is incapable of resolving world conflicts.

The move came just hours after the kingdom was elected as one of the Council's 10 non[-]permanent members.

In a statement carried on Friday by the official Saudi Press Agency, the Saudi Foreign Ministry says the Council has failed in its duties toward Syria.

It says this alleged failure enabled Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime to perpetrate the killings of its people, including with chemical weapons, without facing any deterrents or punishment. » | Josie Ensor | Friday, October 18, 2013

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Muslim Free School Which 'Forced Teachers to Wear Headscarves' Is Slammed as 'In Chaos' and 'Dysfunctional' in Official Report

Al-Madinah school, Derby

MAIL ONLINE: Al-Madinah school in Derby was closed for Ofsted inspection after reports that bosses segregated students and made staff cover their heads / Inspectors' report denounces Islamic school as 'dysfunctional' / Damning verdict calls for Al-Madinah to be placed in special measures / Minister insists Government has taken 'swift action' to address problems / Cameron threatens to shut the school down if it does not improve / Labour says the scandal shows failure of Coalition's free schools policy

A controversial Muslim free school is set to be placed in special measures after a damning official report condemned it as 'dysfunctional' and says that it is 'in chaos'.

Al-Madinah, a free school in Derby, has repeatedly been featured in the Press for allegedly forcing women teachers to cover their hair and making boys and girls sit separately in class.

Ofsted inspectors launched an urgent investigation into the school, and listed a number of serious criticisms in their official report, which was published this morning.

David Cameron said he would be prepared to shut down the school if it does not improve quickly.

A minister told MPs today that the school would not be allowed to 'languish in failure' and insisted the Government had taken 'swift action' to deal with the problem.

The report found that teachers were inexperienced, with many having never taught before, and were overly generous in assessing pupils' work.

It also wrote that boys and girls ate lunch in separate shifts, while older pupils were segregated by sex in the classroom.

'This school is dysfunctional,' the report stated. 'The basic systems and processes a school needs to operate well are not in place. The school is in chaos and reliant on the goodwill of an interim principal to prevent it totally collapsing.'

It continued: 'This is a school which has been set up and run by representatives of the community with limited knowledge and experience. Read on and comment » | Hugo Gye | Thursday, October 17, 2013

Nations unies: L'Arabie saoudite entre au Conseil de sécurité

Conseil de sécurité

24 HEURES: Pour la première fois, l'Arabie saoudite a été élue membre non permanent du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU aux côtés du Tchad, du Chili, du Nigeria et de la Lituanie.

L'Arabie saoudite a été élue, pour la première fois, membre non permanent du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, de même que le Tchad, le Chili, le Nigeria et la Lituanie. Ces cinq pays ont été élus jeudi par l'Assemblée générale de l'ONU pour un mandat de deux ans qui commencera le 1er janvier 2014.

Sur les 193 pays membres de l'Assemblée, l'Arabie saoudite a obtenu 176 voix, le Tchad 184, le Nigeria et le Chili 186 et la Lituanie 187. » | afp/Newsnet | jeudi 17 octobre 2013

Secrets of the Elysée Kitchen Disclosed by Head Chef

Bernard Vaussion, Head Chef at the Elysée Palace

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Elysée's head chef steps down after almost 40 years and discloses the culinary secrets of Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande

François Mitterrand preferred seafood, Jacques Chirac snails and sauerkraut, Nicolas Sarkozy took cheese off the menu and followed a draconian diet while François Hollande "eats everything".

After almost 40 years in the kitchens of France's presidential palace, the Elysée's head chef is stepping down at the end of the month and has been sharing tit bits about his illustrious guests before throwing in the apron for good.

Bernard Vaussion can still remember the first time he stepped through the presidential gates in 1974 as a mere assistant chef to find nobody in the vast kitchen in the bowels of the Elysée; the entire cooking staff was attending Georges Pompidou's New Year's address.

"I found myself all alone in this huge room in the middle of saucepans," he told Le Parisien [€].

In two weeks, a culinary page in French political history will be turned when he steps out of those gates for good after catering to the tastes of six French presidents, and a range of leaders from African dictators to the Queen. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Thursday, October 17, 2013

Beyond the Veil

What Sort of Schools Are UK Taxpayers Funding?

GATESTONE INSTITUTE: The school forces girls to sit at the back of classrooms; prohibits stringed instruments; and requires female pupils to cede their places in queues to the male students. Farah Ahmed, headmistress at one of these taxpayer-funded schools, has described the teaching of English as "one of the most damaging subjects."

In recent weeks, British media, political figures and commentators have been drawn into an angry and overwrought debate on the burqa (and its cousin, the niqab) -- the all-enveloping outer garment favoured by, or perhaps forced upon, a considerable number of British Muslim women.

The sudden spotlight was switched on as a result of two simultaneous challenges to the conflict between the burqa and a free society. First, the Birmingham Metropolitan College recently decided, after a well-publicized protest against university authorities, to un-ban the garment on campus after eight years of unopposed proscription. Second, during a recent fraud trial, Judge Peter Murphy ruled that the accused, a Muslim woman, must remove her niqab while giving evidence in court.

While ministers, political commentators, civil rights groups and tabloid papers hotly contest the ethics and practical details of a theoretical ban, little attention is being paid, aside from the occasional newspaper article, to a far more alarming problem: schools where girls as young as 11 are forced to wear the burqa or niqab. » | Samuel Westrop | Thursday, October 17, 2013

Ingénou in Exile: Iranian Actress a Star Everywhere But at Home

Golshifteh Farahani

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Actress Golshifteh Farahani is well on her way to global fame as a Hollywood star. But her work has forced her into exile from her home country of Iran, where she believes she will never live again.

Anything actress Golshifteh Farahani does can become a political issue -- what she says, where she shoots her films, with whom she works, with whom she doesn't work, whether she wears a headscarf or not. Hardliners in Tehran could conceivably even take it as a provocation that Farahani chooses to meet SPIEGEL for an interview at the cafe in Paris' Hotel Amour -- a hotel that was once a brothel.

But for Farahani, freedom means no longer having to constantly consider how the things she does might be judged by the morality police in her homeland of Iran. Farahani, 30, is her country's most famous actress. She's known in the West for a role opposite Leonardo DiCaprio -- and for the way she's fallen from the favor of the Iranian regime. She has been living in exile in Paris for four years now, just a few streets away from the Hotel Amour, which these days is a popular meeting spot for locals and tourists alike, including Farahani, who is a regular here.

"I don't want to be a political figure," Farahani says. "I hope I'm not one." Then she relates stories of secret police interrogations in Tehran, of being offered a role that caused a brouhaha at the US State Department and of a career that in recent years has taken her around the globe -- to New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, Cannes, Venice and Morocco, but no longer to Tehran, where her parents live. Going there would be too risky.

Golshifteh Farahani looks like a model and speaks like a civil rights activist with nothing to lose -- eloquent and passionate in her nearly perfect English. She only wears a headscarf now when a role calls for it, for example in the film adaptation of "The Patience Stone," which came out this month in German cinemas after making the international festival circuit. » | Martin Wolf | Thursday, October 17, 2013

'Israel Will Not Fall Asleep On Its Watch Again': Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Makes Case for Pre-emptive Strike on Iran

Benjamin Netanyahu

MAIL ONLINE: Benjamin Netanyahu said situations when pre-emptive strike is justified / Speaking during commemoration of 40th anniversary of Yom Kippur War / Said Israel 'would never underestimate an enemy' again

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken of the merits of pre-emptive strikes in what has been seen as a warning to Iran after talks on its nuclear programme.

Speaking at an event to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, Netanyahu told law[-]makers there are situations when a strike is justified.

He said lessons had been learned since the war, which broke out when forces led by Syria and Egypt invaded Israeli land in 1973.

Thousands were killed during the 19[-]day conflict.

Netanyahu told the Knesset: 'The enemy can surprise us. Israel will not fall asleep on its watch again', according to the Times of Israel.

He said Israel would never again 'underestimate an enemy' or ignore warning signs. » | Becky Evans | Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Iranian Man Who Survived Execution Must Be Hanged Again, Judges Say

Hassan Rouhani

THE GUARDIAN: Morgue workers spotted that 37-year-old Alireza was alive a day after he was hanged for possessing crystal meth

On an autumnal Wednesday earlier this month, Alireza, a 37-year-old man jailed for smuggling drugs and sentenced to death in Iran, woke up to what was supposed to be his last day alive. Outside his cell in Bojnurd prison, in Iran's northern Khorasan province, the gallows were waiting and the countdown had already begun.

Just before sunrise, guards hooked ropes around his neck and hanged him for possessing a kilo of crystal meth. Exactly 12 minutes later medics pronounced him dead and sent his body for burial.

But in the morgue the next day, something unusual caught the eyes of a worker who was preparing the corpse for family collection: steam in the plastic cover he was wrapped in. He was still alive.

Alireza was instantly taken to Bojnurd's Imam Ali hospital.

Now, to the dismay of his family, Iranian judicial authorities are waiting for him to make a full recovery before they hang him again, according to the state-run Jam-e-Jam newspaper, which was first to break the news of Alireza's ordeal.

Iran's judiciary has argued that he was sentenced to death, rather than to hanging, and should be re-executed. But human rights activists, already concerned about Iran's high rate of executions, say he should be spared. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Marine Le Pen: EU Will Collapse Like the Soviet Union

Marine Le Pen

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Marine Le Pen aims to set up radical, anti-Europe faction in the European parliament with help of Geert Wilders, the Dutch MP

The leader of France’s far-Right party has vowed that the European Union would “collapse like the Soviet Union” as she conspired to form what would be the most radical faction yet seen in the European parliament.

Marine Le Pen, buoyed by a weekend by-election triumph in southern France, criticised the EU as a “global anomaly” and pledged to return the bloc to a “cooperation of sovereign states”.

She said Europe’s population had “no control” over their economy or currency, nor over the movement of people in their territory.

“I believe that the EU is like the Soviet Union now: it is not improvable,” she said. “The EU will collapse like the Soviet Union collapsed.” » | Martin Banks, Henry Samuel and Alex Spillius | Wednesday, October 16, 2013

US Shutdown: Senate Reaches Fiscal Deal

Harry Reid

BBC: Republican and Democratic leaders of the US Senate have struck a cross-party deal to end a partial government shutdown and raise the US debt limit.

Their bill must also pass the House, where a small group of Republicans are expected to join Democrats to send the bill to President Barack Obama.

The bill extends the federal borrowing limit until 7 February and funds the government to 15 January.

It comes just a day before the deadline to raise the $16.7tn (£10.5tn) limit. (+ videos) » | Wednesday, October 14, 2013

Gays Would Be Executed in Ideal World, Says UK Islamic Leader

GAY STAR NEWS: Chairman of Luton Islamic Centre in Britain tells BBC Radio an ‘ideal world’ would see homosexuality punished with death

Gays would be executed in an ideal world, a leader of the Muslim community in Luton, England has said.

Abdul Qadeer Baksh made the comment during an interview with BBC Three Counties Radio.

He was debating extremism with presenter Olly Mann and the former leader of the English Defence League, Tommy Robinson who has just stepped down saying the organization he founded to tackle Islamic fundamentalism has become too extremist.

Baksh argued his comment only applied to an ‘ideal society’ which he sees as a Muslim country run by Sharia law – not secular Britain.

He said: ‘When I say “ideal society” I mean Islamic society, not a western secular society like we live in here.

‘At the end of the day every moderate Muslim holds this view as well. Every moderate Muslim holds these are the punishments in Islamic society.’

He said Sharia wouldn’t be forced on the UK. » | Tris Reid-Smith | Monday, October 14, 2013


HT: Robert @ Jihad Watch »

Muslim Punishment For Homosexuality

Pat Condell: Boycott Halal

Pat Condell: The Curse of "Progressive" Feminism

Glenn Greenwald Announces Departure from the Guardian

Glenn Greenwald

THE GUARDIAN: Journalist who broke stories about widespread NSA surveillance leaving to pursue 'once-in-a-career journalistic opportunity'

Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who broke a string of stories about widespread electronic surveillance by the National Security Agency based on files leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden, has announced that he is leaving the Guardian.

In a statement posted on his blog, Greenwald said: "My partnership with the Guardian has been extremely fruitful and fulfilling. I have high regard for the editors and journalists with whom I worked and am incredibly proud of what we achieved.

"The decision to leave was not an easy one, but I was presented with a once-in-a-career opportunity that no journalist could possibly decline. » | Guardian staff | Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Tommy Robinson Reveals Death Threats after Quitting EDL

Tommy Robinson

THE GUARDIAN: Former English Defence League leader appears in court to deny two public order offences, and says he is a wanted man

The former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson has said he has become "the most wanted man on either side" since leaving the far-right group.

The 30-year-old, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said he had received a number of death threats since resigning last week.

Appearing in court charged with two public order offences, he said his decision to quit had "upset a lot of people".

"The people who the death threats are coming from are the people who I was opposing anyway – they were the elements that were always on the outside of the English Defence League, they were around it always wanting to hijack it," he said.

Yaxley-Lennon, from Luton, said he had received threats from Muslim extremists and from Nazis. "I am the most wanted man on either side," he said. » | Press Association | Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Inside Story: Iran: Breaking the Nuclear Deadlock?

As Tehran has started fresh talks about its disputed nuclear programme, we ask if the US is ready to ease sanctions.

Hajj Authorities Vigilant Over Virus Scare

Health authorities are on alert for anyone suffering from MERS which has already claimed 52 lives in the Kingdom.

Les populistes accèdent au pouvoir en Norvège

Erna Solberg

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Pour la première fois le Parti du progrès, qui prône une ligne dure sur l'immigration et une baisse des impôts, fait partie du gouvernement norvégien.

Un nouveau gouvernement de droite est entré en fonction mercredi en Norvège. Pour la première fois, des populistes du Parti du progrès, partisans d'une ligne dure sur l'immigration et de baisses d'impôts massives, participent.

Issue de la droite victorieuse aux législatives du 9 septembre, l'équipe de la conservatrice Erna Solberg compte sept ministres issus du parti du Progrès (FrP) aux côtés de 11 conservateurs. «J'estime que c'est un gouvernement bon et compétent», a déclaré Mme Solberg, 52 ans, en dévoilant sa composition. » | ats/Newsnet | mercredi 16 octobre 2013

America Faces 'Financial Armageddon', Says Kenneth Rogoff

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Former IMF chief economist compares President Barack Obama’s position to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis

America faces “constitutional breakdown” or “financial armageddon,” one of the country’s leading economists has warned, as talks to end the political stand-off in Washington fell apart.

Professor Kenneth Rogoff, a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, compared President Barack Obama’s position to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when the Kennedy administration refused to negotiate with Cuba and the Soviet Union despite the threat of potential nuclear destruction.

“It's very hard to see a silver lining to this. It's a constitutional breakdown [but] threatening financial armageddon is blackmail," Mr Rogoff, who is now a professor of economics and public policy at Harvard, told the Telegraph.

“President Obama should push them [the Republicans] to the brink. This has implications beyond the moment. There is a danger of weakening the presidency on a long-term basis.” » | Katherine Rushton, US Business Editor | Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Blame Bad Parents for Britain’s Ills, Says Sir Michael Wilshaw

Sir Michael Wilshaw

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Families where parents no longer “take responsibility” for teaching their children “right and wrong” are at the root of Britain’s biggest problems, the man overseeing the education of millions of pupils has claimed.

In outspoken remarks about the “social breakdown” of Britain, Sir Michael Wilshaw, the chief inspector of schools and social care, attacked “hollowed out and fragmented families” where parents suffer a “poverty of accountability”.

Sir Michael made the comments as Ofsted published a national report on the state of social care, which showed that almost six out of 10 councils are failing to do enough to protect vulnerable children and revealed that 700,000 youngsters are growing up in homes blighted by drug or alcohol addiction.

But he said child abuse and neglect was not the fault of local authorities alone. Such issues were the product of a “social breakdown”, he added.

Sir Michael warned that the problems exposed in child abuse scandals were being deepened by an apparent national obsession with “pussyfooting around” and “making excuses” for bad parents. The head of Ofsted claimed that town planners must also take their share of the blame for the problems he highlighted. He said that by filling areas with betting shops and fast food outlets, they “obviously do not help to support troubled families and troubled children”. » | John Bingham, Social Affairs Editor | Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Related »

Fitch Threatens to Strip America of 'AAA' Credit Rating

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Rating agency says it could slash America's prized rating, while further delays to raising the debt ceiling will damage the country's credibility

Fitch has warned that it could strip America of its prized "AAA" credit rating, amid heightening fears that the world’s largest economy is headed for a default.

Prolonged negotiations in Washington risk “undermining confidence in the role of the US dollar as the preeminent global reserve currency, by casting doubt over the full faith and credit of the US,” Fitch said, as it placed the country on "negative watch". » | Katherine Rushton, US Business Editor | Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Eat Cats and Dogs, Imam Tells Starving Syrians

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Restrictions on eating cats and dogs have been lifted for desperate Syrians in rebel areas besieged by the Assad regime

An imam in a rebel-held district of Damascus has issued a fatwa allowing residents to eat cats and dogs, in a desperate bid to ward off starvation after months under siege by the Assad regime.

Salah al-Khatib, the cleric who issued the edict, said he had been left with no choice but to lift the usual restrictions under Islamic law, after government forces and pro-regime militias choked off food and medical supplies to three rebel-held suburbs of Damascus and to a camp housing Palestinian refugees.

This is "not because it is religiously permitted, but because it is a reflection of the reality we are suffering", Mr Khatib told AFP on Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in these areas, some of them living under siege for more than a year. Residents have told The Telegraph that as food has run out, they have been forced in recent weeks to survive on stray dogs, rotting animal carcasses, tree leaves and weeds.

"I have watched the poorer families eat stray dogs because they have nothing else," said Ehab, a resident of the Yarmouk camp, speaking to The Telegraph via Skype. "There is no food here now." » | Ruth Sherlock, Beirut | Tuesday, October 15, 2012

Birmingham Is 'National Disgrace' Says Ofsted Chief Inspector

Birmingham, Britain’s second city, has been branded a “national disgrace” and one of the worst places to grow up in the developed world.

Read the Telegraph article here
WIKI: Ofsted »