Monday, July 27, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Wall Street's wealthiest are feeling the pinch as property sales in their summer beachside playground – the Hamptons – are more than 40pc below last year's levels.
What was once an area in which New York's rich just had to have a home, the Hamptons is fast becoming a place where owning a home can be a poisoned chalice, given the collapse of the local property market.
According to new data from upmarket NY estate agent Prudential Douglas Elliman (PDE), second-quarter house sales in the Hamptons – which is made up of a series of small, affluent towns on the eastern end of Long Island – are 43.3pc below the same quarter last year. The raw data show that 307 homes were sold in the three months to June this year, compared to 541 in the same period last year.
Although the second-quarter figures are an improvement on the 201 homes sold in the first three months of this year, all the other leading indicators point to a worsening market in the area. >>> James Quinn, Wall Street Correspondent | Sunday, July 26, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was facing a revolt by furious Iranian hardliners on Monday after he sacked a key conservative minister in an act of revenge.
The Iranian leader found himself at the centre of bitter infighting within the Iranian establishment when he dismissed his intelligence minister after his choice for vice-president was overruled by the country's Supreme Leader.
The backlash intensified when another minister offered his resignation in protest at Mr Ahmadinejad's move at the weekend.
The tit-for-tat exchange between feuding elites threatened his already embattled grasp on power after his disputed election victory in the presidential election last month which provoked street protests and allegations of mass fraud at the ballot box. >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Monday, July 27, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has admitted the Anglican Communion may divide into a “two-track” church due to deep divisions over the ordination of homosexual clergy.
Dr Williams acknowledged for the first time that believers may have to accept "two styles of being Anglican" in order to avoid schism.
The decision by Episcopal bishops in the US earlier this month to press ahead with the ordination of homosexual priests and bishops – effectively overturning a ban on the practice – has pushed the 80 million-strong global church to the brink of an irrevocable split.
Traditionalists in the US and Canada have already formed a rival province to the Episcopal church to resist against the liberal tide.
Dr Williams appeared to accept that his efforts to preserve the unity of the communion had failed as he sketched a new Anglican structure that would allow local churches to loosen their ties with the main church body.
"This has been called a 'two-tier' model, or, more disparagingly, a first- and second-class structure. But perhaps we are faced rather with the possibility of the two-track model, two ways of witnessing to the Anglican heritage," he wrote.
"It helps to be clear about these possible futures, however much we think them less than ideal, and to speak about them not in apocalyptic terms of schism and excommunication but plainly as what they are – two styles of being Anglican." >>> Matthew Moore | Monday, July 27, 2009
YNET NEWS: Israel should reevaluate policy of heavy dependence on America
Barack Obama's demand that Israel freeze all settlement activity in Judea and Samaria, including east Jerusalem, created a rift between Washington and Jerusalem. Similar rifts existed in the past. Such temporary rifts do not undermine the close relationship between the two countries. They do, however, raise questions about its nature. Given that both countries' interests are not always aligned, Israel should reevaluate its policy of depending so heavily on American support.
Similar issues are being debated in Washington, albeit from a different perspective. In think tanks and op-eds, on college campuses, and even within Obama's administration, many ask whether the current state of affairs best serves the American interest. Some argue that hostility towards the United States among Muslims results, at least partially, from America's support for Israel, and that scaling back aid to Israel will reduce that hostility. Others openly question whether the pro-Israel lobby is a positive factor in shaping American policy. Others still argue that the US must actively and aggressively pursue a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to improve its standing in the region. President Obama seems to be a member of the latter group.
In Jerusalem, on the other hand, the debate focuses on issues of less strategic importance. Should Netanyahu accept Obama's demand or reject it? Should Israel insist on natural growth? What about Jerusalem? Is there a creative formula that would please everyone? Such are the questions the media raise. Even those who say Netanyahu should oppose Obama's demand do not suggest a reevaluation of Israel's relationship with the United States.
It is easy to understand why. America's support is one of the most valuable strategic assets Israel has. The US gives it military and economic aid; it provides diplomatic support at the United Nations, often blocking resolutions that would jeopardize Israel’s interests; and it is an important trade partner. Furthermore, Israel shares many common values with the US. Israelis tend to view themselves as Westerners, so it is only natural for them to seek the support of the largest Western power. >>> Yarden Gazit | Sunday, July 26, 2009
THE GUARDIAN: Two inmates die from meningitis in Evin prison / Former detainees speak of harassment and torture
Fears are mounting over the safety of hundreds of political inmates in Iran's most notorious prison following the deaths of two prisoners detained in the recent post-election unrest.
Mohsen Rouholamini and Amir Javadifar died in Tehran's Evin prison after being arrested at a demonstration this month.
Rouholamini, the son of a prominent Iranian scientist close to the country's political elite, died from meningitis after injuries believed to have been inflicted by his jailers went untreated.
The deaths prompted fears of a meningitis outbreak in Evin and other overcrowded detention centres where opposition figures, journalists and students are kept following last month's disputed election. News of the deaths coincided with reports of injuries to other detainees.
One inmate, Isa Saharkhiz, a prominent reformist journalist and commentator, is reported to have suffered broken ribs after being tortured under interrogation.
Campaigners are also concerned for the safety of Kian Tajbakhsh, an American-Iranian scholar said to be under pressure to confess involvement in an alleged western plot to orchestrate the protests following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election.
Prisoners recently released from Evin have described enduring countless beatings and being herded into tiny cells without air conditioning, where stifling temperatures regularly soar above 40C. >>> Robert Tait and Saeed Kamali Dehghan in Tehran | Sunday, July 26, 2009
DAILY EXPRESS: SNOOPING residents are being offered rewards of up to £500 to spy on their neighbours.
Taxpayers’ money is being used to pay “covert human intelligence sources” who report bad conduct to authorities.
Anyone who photographs dog fouling, litter being dropped, graffiti crime or fly tipping which result in prosecution will receive a cash reward.
The amount is staggered, according to how far the prosecution is taken.
If a court summons is issued the snooper gets £100. On a conviction he gets £150 and if the offender gets a maximum sentence he receives £500.
The scheme has been given the Big Brother-style motto “See them, report them”.
It tells residents: “We need your eyes and ears to help us wipe out enviro-crime.” The local council scheme is being launched in London and could eventually be rolled out across the country.
Last night the payments were slammed by critics who said they were a waste of vital public funds. >>> Chris Riches | Monday, July 27, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
THE GUARDIAN: Former Republican vice-presidential candidate leaves no hints to next steps as she receives rock star farewell
Sarah Palin begins the next stage of her highly unpredictable political life today having bowed out of her post of governor of Alaska 16 months before the term ends.
The official resignation at a governor's picnic yesterday in Fairbanks leaves Palin relieved of the bureaucratic burdens that had started to weigh her down in recent months. Supporters hope and believe she will use her newfound freedom to vigorously pursue a national profile that will lead to a run on the White House in 2012.
But plain Sarah Palin, devoid of the governor's title, is also left without a formal political power base from which to kickstart any national campaign. She carries with her financial debts, ongoing ethics battles related to her term in office, and the new label of "quitter".
Exactly what she will do with her ample spare time remains one of the hottest political questions in America today. The only known date in her diary is 8 August, when she will make a speech at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in California.
Pundits are equally divided between those who are convinced she is finished, and those who think the Palin spectacle has only just begun. Part of the reason for the polarised response is that Palin is herself a polarising politician, and part because she herself offers so little in the way of explanation. >>> Ed Pilkington in New York | Sunday, July 26, 2009
WELT ONLINE: Begleitet von Kundgebungen in aller Welt haben in Teheran erneut Hunderte Anhänger der iranischen Opposition gegen die Wiederwahl von Präsident Mahmud Ahmadinedschad protestiert. Polizei und Angehörige der regierungstreuen Miliz gingen laut Augenzeugen gewaltsam gegen die Demonstranten vor.
Weltweit demonstrierten Tausende für die Menschenrechte und gegen die Niederschlagung der Proteste im Iran. In Berlin gingen mehrere hundert Menschen auf die Straße, in Frankfurt gab es mehrere Demonstrationszüge.
Oppositionsanhänger in den Teheraner Stadtbezirken Wanak und Mirdamad riefen „Tod dem Diktator“ und „Wir wollen unsere Stimme zurück“. Bei Einbruch der Nacht stiegen zahlreiche Teheraner auf ihre Dächer und riefen offenbar mit Blick auf die internationalen Proteste: „Mutige Nachbarn, danke für eure Unterstützung!“
Bei einer Kundgebung vor hunderten Menschen in Amsterdam rief die iranische Friedensnobelpreisträgerin Schirin Ebadi die internationale Gemeinschaft auf, das Wahlergebnis nicht anzuerkennen. Sie forderte eine neue Abstimmung unter Aufsicht der Vereinten Nationen.
In London versammelten sich rund 600 Demonstranten vor der iranischen Botschaft. In Brüssel führten Protestierende Plakate mit Fotos von Inhaftierten oder Getöteten mit sich, darunter von Neda Agha Soltan, die nach ihrem Tod zu einem Symbol der Protestbewegung wurde.
In Paris gingen ebenfalls hunderte Menschen auf die Straße. Auch vor dem UN-Sitz in Genf und in Rom wurde demonstriert, außerdem in zahlreichen weiteren Städten von Tokio über Stockholm bis Washington und Sao Paulo. „Den Leuten droht Folter, und ihr Leben ist in Gefahr“, sagte Lenka Petronova, die Organisatorin eines Protestmarsches in Prag. >>> AP/ro | Sonntag, 26. Juli 2009
leJDD.fr: Nicolas Sarkozy a été victime d'un malaise dimanche. C'est l'Elysée qui l'a annoncé, précisant que le président de la République était en train de faire du sport. Le chef de l'Etat "a été immédiatement pris en charge par son médecin. Il subit actuellement des examens complémentaires", et a été évacué à l'hôpital du Val-de-Grâce. L'Elysée précise que le président "va bien".
C'est par un communiqué laconique que l'Elysée a diffusé l'information. Nicolas Sarkozy a été victime d'un malaise dimanche, "alors qu'il faisait du sport. (...) Il a été immédiatement pris en charge par son médecin. Il subit actuellement des examens complémentaires", précise le texte. La présidence de la République a diffusé un nouveau communiqué en fin d'après-midi. "Aujourd'hui en fin de matinée, alors qu'il effectuait un jogging dans le parc du Château de Versailles, le Président de la République a été pris d'un malaise. Ce malaise, qui est survenu après 45 minutes d'exercice physique intense, ne s'est pas accompagné d'une perte de connaissance. Il a conduit le Président à interrompre son effort et à s'allonger avec l'aide d'un proche."
"Le Président a été transporté en hélicoptère à l'hôpital militaire du Val-de-Grâce où des examens de contrôle sont réalisés depuis 13h45. L'examen clinique et les examens complémentaires à visée neurologique sont normaux (bilan sanguin, électroencéphalogramme, IRM). La surveillance cardiologique, systématiquement pratiquée dans de telles circonstances, se poursuit jusqu'à demain matin", poursuit le communiqué. Devant l'établissment, situé boulevard du Port-Royal, dans le Ve arrondissement, le trottoir a été fermé à la circulation. Des agents de la sécurité de l'Elysée filtrent l'entrée de l'hôpital sous le regard de nombreux policiers et journalistes. >>> Par R.D (avec Reuters), leJDD.fr | Dimanche 26 Juillet 2009
THE GUARDIAN: Commons foreign affairs committee says policy of non-engagement is achieving little
The government is facing fresh calls today from MPs to open contacts with the militant Palestinian Hamas movement in an attempt to inject new momentum into the Middle East peace process.
The Commons foreign affairs committee said the current policy of non-engagement with Hamas - which controls the Gaza strip - appeared to be achieving little.
It reiterated its call of two years ago for the government to "urgently" consider ways of engaging politically with "moderate elements" within the group.
The government refuses to talk to Hamas until it accepts the principles of the international Quartet - the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia - of non-violence and acceptance of the existence of the state of Israel. >>> Press Association | Sunday, July 26 2009
MAIL ON SUNDAY: Some Muslims have refused to use alcohol-based hand gels to combat the spread of swine flu because they claim it is against their religion.
Some of those employed by St Albans Council in Hertfordshire have complained about the antibacterial lotion, which is considered a key strategy in containing the virus.
Officials were concerned because the Koran bans Muslims from consuming alcohol, so council chiefs issued them with non-alcohol hand gels, which studies have shown to be less effective in killing bugs. Muslims refuse to use alcohol-based hand gels over religious beliefs >>> Mail On Sunday Reporter | Saturday, July 25, 2009
THE SUNDAY TIMES: As more and more non-Muslim Britons seek Islamic justice, Edna Fernandes asks how it will change our society
Dressed in immaculate white kurta pyjamas and with fingers interlaced, Sheikh Faiz Siddiqui leant back in his white leather chair as he listened.
Before him were two warring businessmen: a Muslim of Asian origins and his white non-Muslim partner, who had come to seek judgment on a dispute. This proved to be a run-of-the-mill squabble over whether the non-Muslim had been cheated out of the profits of their jointly owned car-fleet company by the Muslim.
What made the case out of the ordinary is that it was the the non-Muslim who had chosen to take his grievance to a religious tribunal run by imams according to the laws of sharia — an ancient Islamic code of conduct that dates back to the time of the prophet Muhammad in the 7th century.
As the story of the business unfolded, the sheikh — one of two judges presiding that day — began to suspect the Muslim businessman was not being entirely honest in his evidence. So what happened next, I asked, when I met Siddiqui at his opulent offices in Warwickshire.
“I reminded him of his vows to God,” he said. “I told him, ‘You can lie and you can cheat this other man. But realise this: one day, you will face the Day of Judgment and on that day you will face Allah himself and be punished’.”
The sheikh’s words apparently had a profound effect. The Muslim businessman promptly changed his story, admitting he had cheated, and his non-Muslim partner was awarded £48,000 in compensation by the two Muslim judges.
“Sharia,” the 41-year-old sheikh explained to me, “is the law of Allah. So, yes, I invoke God in a legal setting. It creates a moral compulsion to tell the truth.”
This case was just one of several hundred that have been ruled on by the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (Mat) since it was set up two years ago to operate as a civil sharia court. Since its formation, 5% of the cases have involved a non-Muslim.
Siddiqui is a Pakistani-born barrister and the founder and chairman of Mat’s governing council. He organises the funding of the service and costs are recouped through charges to those who use it — ranging from £150 to £2,500, depending on the nature of the case and its duration. Each hearing has two judges: one a mufti who is a learned imam with training in Islamic law; the other a Muslim lawyer or judge trained in UK law. None of the 67 judges is paid a fee. And, according to the sheikh, none of the money needed to run the tribunals comes from abroad.
His judges are not the only ones dispensing justice in British sharia courts: a recent report by Civitas, the think tank, estimated that there are about 85 sharia tribunals — including many that deal with divorce — operating in the UK. Some of these are less formal affairs in which individual imams make rulings in their mosques.
All of them are increasingly busy as more and more people bypass the traditional courts to seek religious rulings that are just as binding under British law. >>> Edna Fernandes* | Sunday, July 26, 2009
*Edna Fernandes is the author of Holy Warriors, published by Portobello Books. www.ednafernandes.com
TIMES ONLINE: We must combat the crusade to legitimise Sharia law within the UK
Sir, Most thinking British Muslims vehemently reject this new “shariafication” fad in Britain (“Hardline Islamic penal sanctions”, letters, July 22). The claim that many non-Muslims are seeking redress in Sharia courts needs to be verified by an independent audit, not by some self-serving Muslim organisation that is itself a principal instigator of this unfortunate trend in British Islam (reports, July 21).
This co-ordinated campaign by pro-Saudi traditionalists to enforce medieval Muslim jurisprudence by stealth and by increments has to be resisted. The pretext of promoting a benign and benevolent juristic code is far from the truth. In reality, this corrosive Wahhabi and Salafi drive to (initially) implement selective aspects of an anachronistic legal system is nothing but the thin edge of the wedge, a Trojan horse for the later adoption and/or grafting of Islamic law on to British jurisprudence.
The Sharia as practised in the Muslim world today is notoriously inconsistent and anachronistic. Nowhere is there any uniformity about these medieval juristic rulings. But most damning is that Sharia often flagrantly violates the transcendent Koran, particularly when it relates to women’s rights, criminal punishments, interfaith relations, violence, ideological tolerance and religious freedom. Even under the guise of establishing personal and family law for Muslims in the UK, the British-based Sharia propagandists cannot explain away the inherent inequity that Muslim women face under these archaic masculine-promulgated edicts in terms of marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance rights and female attire. While the Koran encourages a gender equal society, the Saudi and Pakistani-influenced mullahs in this country unashamedly defend the tribal sexism of 7th-century Arabia.
Under this antiquated legal system, men have untrammelled rights to instant divorce and are entitled to the virtual automatic custody of their offspring, but there are no similar prerogatives for women. This is just one of innumerable cases where the exclusively male-written Sharia not only blatantly contradicts Islam’s sacred text but also is opposed to the concepts of natural justice that are so intrinsic to British law.
On these grounds alone, every effort must be made, by Muslims as well as other right-minded people, to combat this current crusade to legitimise this outmoded and anti-Koranic cultural-legal system within the UK. Since British Muslims are fully protected under UK law and free to practise the fundamentals of their faith, there is no valid reason why they should support this noxious “shariafication” of the UK.
Dr T. Hargey
Chairman, Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford [Source: Times Online] | Friday, July 24, 2009
THE SUNDAY TIMES: PRESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy has been told to trim his flower bill after the first inspection of a French ruler’s expenses revealed that his palace spent £600 a day on bouquets.
Sarkozy ordered the opening of the Elysée Palace accounts as part of the “transparency” he advocates in government. It may have backfired on him by revealing a colossal waste of public money at a time when others are tightening their belts.
The exorbitant florist’s bill can be attributed to Carla Bruni, the president’s wife, a folk singer and former top model who has a passion for freshly cut flowers. Bernadette Chirac, her predecessor, had a similar obsession – particularly for roses – but saved money by growing them in the palace grounds.
Philippe Séguin, the state auditor, recommended cutting food costs as well as the floral bill: the palace always went to the same suppliers, he complained, even if it meant paying twice as much – £170,000 a year at the butcher, £217,000 at the greengrocer and just over £100,000 in cheese shops. >>> Matthew Campbell | Sunday, July 26, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama's personal doctor for more than two decades is bitterly disappointed by the health care reforms being pushed through Congress at the urging of his former patient.
Dr David Scheiner remains a big fan of the man he treated for 22 years in Chicago. But does not believe the planned overhaul goes far enough to help the poor and uninsured, and will cost too much because of pressure from the health care industry.
The 71-year-old physician, who has treated low income patients for his entire career in the city's Hyde Park neighbourhood, believes Mr Obama favours an NHS-style "single payer" system, but backed away under pressure from the health industry.
"He's a pragmatist, he wants to get something done" Dr Scheiner told The Sunday Telegraph. "But this time he should have pushed back hard against the health care lobby."
He is bitterly disappointed in the way the reforms are being organised and says he was bounced from the invitation list to a White House event because of pressure from the health lobby.
"I was all set to go to an event, I got an email from the White House the Sunday before and then suddenly I was told 'there were too many people' coming," he said. "I think they knew I was going to ask an awkward question about the single payer option."
He contends that the reforms winding their way though Congress "could bankrupt us because there are no real cost controls and the big beneficiaries will be private hospitals and insurance companies". >>> Leonard Doyle in Washington | Saturday, July 25, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Churches should try harder to make bald and overweight people feel welcome, according to new guidance that is being issued to clergy.
A Church of England book published this week says they should be regarded as worshippers with "special needs" alongside the blind, the deaf, breast-feeding mothers, very short people and readers of tabloid newspapers.
The advice is part of an initiative launched this week to make churches more friendly and less intimidating to newcomers in an attempt to increase attendance at services.
Among those considered to warrant particular attention are people who are blind, deaf or in wheelchairs.
However, it also warns that bald people could be "in trouble from those overhead radiant heaters some churches have unwittingly installed" and that special arrangements may need to be made for people who are overweight.
"Some pew spaces and chairs are embarrassingly inadequate for what is known in church circles as 'the wider community'," the book says.
Consideration should be given to recovering alcoholics who want to receive communion wine, it suggests, and for those who "find loud noises from organs or music groups distressing".
The book, called Everybody Welcome, claims that only one in ten church visitors return because existing worshippers tend to be so unwelcoming.
It urges churches to become more professional in their attitude to attracting newcomers and suggests they follow the example of department stores in appointing customer-care managers. Church tells worshippers to give special treatment to overweight or bald people >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, July 25, 2009
THE SUNDAY TIMES: The president’s reaction to the arrest of a black scholar has dented his reputation and distracted Obama during a tough week
THEY are calling it bar-stool diplomacy – a novel attempt by President Barack Obama to cool a heated racial controversy by inviting the offended parties to settle their differences over a beer at the White House.
Yet the president’s efforts to limit the fallout from a row over the arrest last week of Henry Louis Gates Jr, a black Harvard professor, may serve to extend a furore that has shaken the White House and raised questions about Obama’s vaunted leadership skills.
The row showed no sign of diminishing yesterday as Massachusetts media pressed for the release of police tapes that could shed new light on the angry exchanges between Gates and Sergeant James Crowley, a white officer who arrived at the professor’s Cambridge home to investigate a report of a break-in.
The incident led to a rare breakdown of Obama’s previously impressive political judgment. Having spent much of the past two years steering clear of racial controversy and nurturing an image of so-called “postracial” conciliation, the president plunged unexpectedly into the Gates affair.
He declared on Wednesday, when it was still far from clear what had happened, that the Massachusetts police had “acted stupidly” by arresting Gates, whom Obama described as a personal friend.
By Friday evening, Obama was back-pedalling furiously and his invitation to Gates and Crowley to join him for a beer was interpreted as an acknowledgment by the president that he had spoken too hastily in “maligning” the police. “I could have calibrated those words differently,” he said. >>> Tony Allen-Mills in Washington | Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
THE INDEPENDENT: Foreign minister orders diplomats to circulate photo ahead of discussions with President Obama's envoy
Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister, has triggered fresh controversy by urging diplomats abroad to use a 1941 photograph of a Palestinian religious leader meeting Hitler to counter protests against a planned Jewish settlement in Arab East Jerusalem.
The hard right Mr Lieberman ordered the circulation to Israeli embassies of copies of the notorious wartime photograph of Hitler meeting the then Mufti of Jerusalem, an overt sympathiser with the Nazis who helped them raise an SS division in Bosnia. The move has alarmed some experienced Israeli diplomats who believe it will be counterproductive. It came after the US State Department expressed its disapproval to Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador in Washington, over plans to build at least 20 apartments for Jewish settlers at the site of the old Shepherd's Hotel building in the inner East Jerusalem district of Sheikh Jarrah.
The building was once used as a headquarters of the Mufti, a member of the one of the most prominent Palestinian families in Jerusalem. The Palestinian nationalist Faisal al-Husseini, grand nephew of the Mufti, was a frequent interlocutor and strong advocate of peace moves with Israel in his later years until his death in 2001.
The plans for the Shepherd's Hotel site have highlighted a continuing rift between much of the international community and Israel over the latter's continued settlement building in East Jerusalem. The site was bought in the 1980s by a company controlled by Irving Moskowitz, a major benefactor of of right wing settler groups.
While the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is deep in negotiations with US officials over the settlement freeze in the West Bank being demanded by President Obama, he made it clear this week he will not be deterred from sanctioning continued building for Jews in East Jerusalem. Israel's sovereignty over the whole of the city "cannot be challenged", he said. >>> Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem | Saturday, July 25, 2009
BBC: Anti-Semitic attacks in the UK doubled in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2008, according to new figures.
The Jewish Community Security Trust, which monitors anti-Semitism, says it recorded 609 incidents between January and June - up from 276 last year.
Most incidents were abusive behaviour, but there were also 77 violent acts.
The trust said the rise had been driven by anger over Israel's military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
That conflict, between December 2008 and January 2009, was followed by an almost immediate rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the UK.
According to the CST, the total number of incidents for the first six months of this year was worse than the previous record of 598 incidents for the whole of 2006.
Some 286 incidents occurred in January alone - but the security body said that a disproportionately higher monthly number of attacks and abuse continued into the spring.
The attacks recorded so far include 77 acts of physical violence and two life-threatening assaults, one of which was an attempt to run somebody over with a car. >>> Dominic Casciani | Thursday, July 23, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: American police unions have demanded an apology from Barack Obama after he accused an officer of "acting stupidly" by arresting leading black scholar, Prof Henry Louis Gates.
Police representatives queued up at a press conference to insist race had played no part in the incident and the president should retract his "disgraceful" comments and apologise to Sgt James Crowley.
However Mr Obama refused to apologise at a hastily arranged White House press conference where he said: "In my choice of words, I unfortunately gave the impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically."
"My words didn't illuminate they only added to the media attention," he added.
He also revealed that he had telephoned Sgt Crowley.
Mr Obama criticised police earlier this week after the incident involving Prof Henry Louis Gates who was arrested after trying to force a jammed front door at his home near Harvard University. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Friday, July 24, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caved into pressure from hardline clerics and the country's supreme leader Friday and allowed the resignation of his top deputy after a week-long standoff.
For days, the president had resisted pressure from hardliners, including a direct order from the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to dismiss his choice for the key post of first vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, who last year angered conservatives when he made friendly comments toward Israel.
The final blow, however, appeared to be the public reading on state television of the order issued earlier by Khamenei to dismiss Mashai because he is "contrary to the interest of you and the government".
The issue created a rare rift between Ahmadinejad and the hardliners that form the bedrock of his support and comes at a particular [sic] sensitive time as he is battling opposition reformists who accuse him of winning the June 12 presidential elections through fraud.
"After the announcement of the exalted supreme leader's order, Mashai doesn't consider himself first vice president," IRNA quoted presidential aide Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi as saying late Friday.
The resignation capped a day of renewed pressure that featured conservative student street demonstrations and Friday sermons railing against Mashai's appointment. >>> | Friday, July 24, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
DAILY EXPRESS: MUSLIM crime victims could gain the right to have their cases overseen by police from their own religion, it emerged last night.
Police in London already give victims the right to ask for a Sikh officer to be involved in an investigation but the scheme could be introduced for other religions elsewhere.
Chief Supt Joanna Young, from the Met’s Criminal Justice Policy Unit, said: “If it’s a success, I would encourage the other (police) associations to do likewise.”
The project is intended to help investigate “honour” killings and forced marriages but Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Peter Smyth said: “We’re stretched thin enough already. Are Sikh officers going to have their rotas changed so there’s always one on duty?
“It’s political correctness gone mad. We talking about the creation of a separate force within a force.”
But Palbinder Singh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Sikh Association, said: “I don’t believe a white officer is ever going to be fully conversant with a Sikh.” [Source: Daily Express] | Katherine Fenech | Thursday, July 23, 2009
L’EXPRESS.fr: Quarante ans après l'entrée en vigueur de la politique de l'enfant unique en Chine, la ville de Shanghaï, inquiète du vieillissement de sa population, va activement encourager certains couples à avoir un second enfant.
L'empiètement de la politique dans la sphère privée, en ce qui concerne le nombre de naissances, est une tradition en Chine. Dans les années 1950, l'heure était à la forte natalité, l'idée étant que "plus la population est nombreuse, plus l'enthousiasme et l'énergie sont grandes", selon les termes de Mao Zedong.
Dans les années 1960, le Parti communiste chinois se rend compte des effets néfastes d'une trop forte natalité et présente la limitation des naissances, non seulement comme un bien pour l'individu, mais aussi comme un service rendu à la société. Un Bureau du Planning familial est instauré, des campagnes de limitation des naissances sont lancées, l'avortement et le stérilet sont davantage accessibles et l'âge du mariage repoussé...Les mesures sont nombreuses et le non-respect aux lois sévèrement puni.
En 1979, le contrôle de limitation des naissances devient plus sévère avec la politique de l'enfant unique: c'est la politique du wan-xi-shao (littéralement "mariage tardif, naissances peu rapprochées et peu nombreuses"). Outre l'indignation suscitée par les méthodes coercitives employées-telles que les avortements forcés- les motivations de cette politique très efficace ("400 millions de naissances ont été évitées", estimait Zhang Weiquing, ministre chargé du planning familial en 2006 à Pékin) restent très discutées: crainte de la surpopulation, volonté d'améliorer le niveau de vie des habitants ou de consacrer les ressources du pays à l'investissement économique. >>> Par Sandra Falque | Vendredi 24 Juillet 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Burma’s democracy leader is “preparing for the worst” as her two and a half month trial for giving shelter to an eccentric American well wisher nears its conclusion, one of her lawyers said today.
Aung San Suu Kyi's defence team summed up their case in the court in Rangoon’s notorious Insein Prison where she is on trial for allegedly breaching the terms of her detention under house arrest. Also on trial is John Yettaw, a US citizen who swam uninvited to her lakeside house because he had dreamed of her assassination and wanted to warn her of impending danger.
Her two house companions are also charged, and defence arguments for them and for Mr Yettaw will continue on Monday. Foreign diplomats from European embassies in Rangoon were allowed into court for the first time in several weeks, but her lawyer, Nyan Win, suggested that Ms Suu Kyi held out little hope of avoiding conviction, which could bring a sentence of five years and exclusion from the elections which the unelected junta promises to hold next year.
“As for her, she is preparing for the worst,” he told Reuters after the hearing. >>> Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor | Friday, July 24, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: A Muslim woman has accused a Sydney bus driver of racism after he told her to take off her headscarf because it was against the law to wear it on board.
Khadijah Ouararhni-Grech was wearing a pink, floral niqab, which covers her hair and lower face, when she tried to board a bus in Greystanes, an outer suburb of the Astralian [sic] city.
"As I was stepping onto the bus the driver said 'You can't get on the bus wearing your mask'," she told the Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper.
When she explained it was religious dress, the woman said the driver responded: "Sorry, it's the law."
"I told him it wasn't the law and he said 'You have to show me your face,'" she said.
"I said to him, 'There's no difference between me and that lady sitting there who chooses to not wear what I'm wearing'." >>> Bonnie Malkin in Sydney | Friday, July 24, 2009
NZZ Online: Die türkische Polizei hat zeitgleich in 23 Städten Razzien veranstaltet. Dabei wurden knapp 200 radikale Islamisten festgenommen.
Bei einer landesweiten Razzia hat die türkische Polizei knapp 200 radikale Islamisten festgenommen. Die von der Anti-Terror-Einheit in Ankara koordinierten Razzien fanden am Freitagmorgen zeitgleich in 23 Städten statt, wie die Nachrichtenagentur Anadolu meldete.
Bei den Festgenommenen handle es sich um mutmassliche Mitglieder der Organisation Hizb-ut-Tahrir, die für einen länderübergreifenden islamischen Staat und die Einführung der Scharia eintritt. Bei den Razzien seien Dokumente dieser Organisation sichergestellt worden. >>> sda/afp | Freitag, 24. Juli 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Once the lure of communism seduced the idealistic. Today’s environmental ideologues risk becoming just as dangerous
Britain is, thankfully, an ideologically barren land. The split between Right and Left is no longer ideological, but tribal. Are you a nice social liberal who believes in markets, or a nasty social liberal who believes in markets? Anthony Blunt’s memoirs, published this week, reveal a different age, one in which fascism and communism were locked in a seemingly definitive battle for souls.
Blunt talks of “the religious quality” of the enthusiasm for the Left among the students of Cambridge. There is only one ideology in today’s developed world that exercises a similar grip. If Blunt were young today, he would not be red; he would be green.
His band of angry young men would find Gore where once they found Marx. Blunt evokes a febrile atmosphere in which each student felt his own decision had the power to shape the future. Where once they raged about the fleecing of the proletariat and quaked at the march of fascism, Blunt and his circle, transposed to today’s college bar, would rage about the fleecing of the planet and quake at its imminent destruction. If you squint, red and green look disarmingly similar.
Both identify an end utopia that is difficult to dispute. The diktat “from each according to his ability, to each according to his means” sounds lovely on paper. Greens promise a world in which we actually survive a coming ecological apocalypse. A desirable outcome, undoubtedly.
But the means to these ends seem similarly insurmountable. Both routes demand an immediate suspension of human nature.
Ideologies often credit man with either more nobility or more venality than he deserves. In reality he is a mundane creature. He wants a home for himself and those he loves, stocked with food. And he wants to have the right to control his own destiny, own his own stuff, and to acquire more if he can without interference or fear of imminent death. Such low-level acquisitive desires support high concepts: property rights and the rule of law, without which there would be no foundation for democracy. >>> Antonia Senior | Friday, July 24, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Two men have appeared in court after the suspected lover of a married Muslim woman had acid thrown in his face and was stabbed twice in the back in a possible “honour attack”.
The woman was warned that her own “wellbeing may be in danger”, a source at Scotland Yard told The Times.
Detectives have been told that the man and woman were not in a sexual relationship but were just friends. However, their relationship is said to have upset her family.
The 24-year-old Asian victim, believed to be from Denmark, is in a critical but stable condition in a specialist burns unit in Essex. He has lost part of his tongue, been left blind in one eye and has 50 per cent burns and fractures to his face after being attacked in Leytonstone, East London, on July 2. >>> Adam Fresco, Crime Correspondent | Thursday, July 23, 2009
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