BBC:
Nazi 'death trains' exhibition opens
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Sunday, January 27, 2008
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Helmut Schmidt, Germany's 89-year-old former chancellor and its most renowned and inveterate nicotine addict, became the first prominent victim of his country's new anti-smoking laws yesterday and faced the prospect of court action for lighting up in public.
Mr Schmidt and Loki, his 88-year-old wife, are well known in Germany for theirchain-smoking. The ex-chancellor even has a weekly interview column in the respected Die Zeit magazine entitled "A Cigarette with Helmut Schmidt".
The couple attended a new year reception at a theatre in their home town of Hamburg only days after Germany's ban on public smoking was introduced on 1 January. As guests of honour, the Schmidts were provided with ashtrays as soon as they sat down.
Photographs of Mr and Mrs Schmidt drawing heavily on cigarettes and clearly enjoying their smoke at the theatre were plastered across the mass-circulation Bild newspaper the next day. In Germany, such a flagrant breach of the law was bound to have consequences.
Yesterday they arrived in the form of a declaration by Hamburg state prosecutors that they were investigating the Schmidts on suspicion of causing "bodily harm" to other guests at the theatre and of being in breach of the city state's ban on smoking in public places.
The case against the Schmidts was brought by the anti-smoking lobby group, Non Smoker's Initiative. Roland Keiser, the group's spokesman, said: "Their illegal behaviour was encouraged by the theatre which provided them with ashtrays despite the ban on smoking."
Helmut Schmidt's office declined to comment. The former Social Democrat chancellor is one of Germany's elder statesmen. He invariably lights up when interviewed on television. Schmidt faces charges for defying smoking ban >>> By Tony Paterson in Berlin
BBC:
Female smokers 'double in Russia'
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
THE SUNDAY EXPRESS: JEMIMA Khan will reunite with her former husband tomorrow – for a noisy protest outside 10 Downing Street.
Imran Khan, the Pakistan cricket hero turned politician, is expected to join his ex-wife’s demonstration in a bid to disrupt President Pervez Musharraf’s meeting with the Prime Minister.
In an exclusive interview, Ms Khan, 33, said: “I will be protesting against Gordon Brown’s continued support for Pakistan’s dictator. I will be joined by politicians, lawyers, doctors, human rights activists, journalists and ordinary Pakistanis.
“We want to know why our Prime Minister is hosting a constitutionally illegal leader when many hundreds of political activists, lawyers and judges in Pakistan remain in prison or under house arrest and when the media there is still restricted.” Khans Unite to Stage Demo >>> By Camilla Tominey
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
I’ll tell you what the NHS cannot afford: It cannot afford to treat the freeloaders coming from abroad, and it cannot afford to treat the illegal immigrants, either. Those are the people it cannot afford to treat. Leave the ‘old’ alone, and leave the ‘smokers’ alone, too.
How disgusting these doctors are! Do your bloody job! Heaven knows, you’re paid enough for doing it.
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Doctors are calling for NHS treatment to be withheld from patients who are too old or who lead unhealthy lives.
Smokers, heavy drinkers, the obese and the elderly should be barred from receiving some operations, according to doctors, with most saying the health service cannot afford to provide free care to everyone.
Fertility treatment and "social" abortions are also on the list of procedures that many doctors say should not be funded by the state.
The findings of a survey conducted by Doctor magazine sparked a fierce row last night, with the British Medical Association and campaign groups describing the recommendations from family and hospital doctors as "outrageous" and "disgraceful". Don't treat the old and unhealthy, say doctors >>> By Laura Donnelly, Health Correspondent
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
AFP: BRDO PRI KRANJU, Slovenia (AFP) — EU justice ministers have expressed concern about a far-right Dutch lawmaker's plan to make a potentially inflammatory film about the Koran, ministers and officials said Saturday.
They said that Dutch justice officials had raised the issue at informal talks in Slovenia, and had called for EU support, amid concern that the short film could reignite tensions with Muslims after the Danish cartoons affair.
"It would, of course, have important repercussions for other countries of the European Union as well," Luxembourg Justice Minister Luc Frieden told AFP, on the sidelines of the talks.
"It is our moral duty to call upon everybody, to make people aware, so that they do not abuse their fundamental rights" of freedom of expression, he said.
"We must also protect those who may be hurt or harmed by irresponsible statements."
Far-right deputy Geert Wilders has been in the spotlight since he announced in the Netherlands in November that he plans to make a short film to show that Islam's holy book is "a fascist book" that "incites people to murder".
Dutch observers fear that Wilders will burn or tear up the Koran in it.
"The Dutch minister expressed a certain preoccupation about that and asked for the support of his colleagues," an EU official told AFP.
It remains unclear if and when the movie will be shown. Wilders told Saturday's edition of Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that it would be several weeks yet, after earlier giving a date of the end of January.
"The EU has to be attentive," the EU official said. "We are trying to avoid the situation we had with the cartoons." EU ministers express concern about Dutch anti-Islam film >>>
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Saturday, January 26, 2008
REUTERS: Islamist extremists were planning attacks across Europe, especially against public transport, before their arrests in Barcelona last weekend, a Spanish paper reported on Saturday, citing a would-be attacker's testimony.
The Al Qaeda-inspired cell planned to attack the Barcelona metro and other targets in Spain, Germany, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom, said the bomber turned police informant.
In testimony that led to the arrest of 14 South Asians last Saturday, the informant told police the group had a preference for attacks on public transport, especially metro systems, El Pais newspaper reported.
"If we attack the metro, the emergency services can't get there," the informant said he was told by a fellow suicide bomber, El Pais reported. Islamists planned attacks across Europe: Report >>>| MADRID | Saturday, January 26, 2011
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Hat tip to John Sobieski of Pedestrian Infidel for alerting me to the following great interview. Alternatively, you can view the video as one longer video (just over 16 minutes) HERE
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
MSNBC: AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Around 20 demonstrators gathered on Amsterdam's central Dam square Saturday to call for a halt to what they say is the growing influence of Islam in Europe.
Amid an extremely heavy police presence, members of the group called "Stop the Islamization of Europe" came to promote their ideas. Protesters in Amsterdam call for halt to "Islamization of Europe" >>> By Toby Sterling
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
BBC: Far-right political leaders from four EU nations have unveiled plans to form a pan-European "patriotic" party.
The heads of far-right parties from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria and France said their aim was to defend Europe against "Islamisation" and immigrants.
At a news conference in Vienna, they said they expected to launch the party by 15 November.
The move comes several months after the collapse of a far-right bloc in the European Parliament.
The Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty (ITS) bloc disbanded itself in November after a row between its Italian and Romanian members over race. EU far-right groups to form party >>>
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Friday, January 25, 2008
NIS NEWS BULLETIN: THE HAGUE, 26/01/08 - Small Christian party SGP wants the government to tell Islamic countries they are hypocrites if they complain about religious insults in the Netherlands. SGP MP Van der Staaij said so with reference to Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders' Koran film.
"If you see what is spewed out daily via various Arabic broadcasters over the world in hatred against the Jews, Israel, the US and the West, the criticism of Wilders' yet-to-be-shown mini-film is pure hypocrisy," said Van der Staaij in the Lower House. He wants Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen to address Arabic countries about this.
Apart from the PVV itself, the SGP is the only Lower House party so far in the 'Wilders question' to express criticism of Muslim regimes criticising the film. Wilders, who announced in November to make a short film on Islam's holy book, said this week he expected to show it within "several weeks".
Foreign Affairs State Secretary Frans Timmermans, who was deputising for Verhagen in the debate, considered that the SGP had a point, but did not want to say too much on behalf of the minister. Verhagen could not respond himself because he was in Syria.
In Syria, Verhagen explained to the government and press of that country that the Dutch government has different views to Wilders; the minister considers it irresponsible to lump groups in their totality into one box. "We are a country where Muslims and Christians can live together in harmony," he declared. [SGP Wants FM Verhagen to Point out "Hypocrisy" of Islamic Countries]
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
FINANCIAL TIMES: The Netherlands has spent the past several weeks in a political crisis out of a novel by Borges. People are worried that a politician might say something he has already said. And they are divided over how to interpret a film that may not exist. Last August, the anti-immigration legislator, Geert Wilders, wrote in the daily De Volkskrant: “I’ve had enough of Islam in the Netherlands – not one more Muslim immigrant. I’ve had enough of Allah and Mohammed in the Netherlands – not one more mosque.” Mr Wilders, whose Freedom party controls nine of the 150 seats in the Dutch lower house, also urged banning the Koran, which he calls “the Islamic Mein Kampf ”.
But his announcement in late November that he would make a short film to that effect sent the government into a panic. The cabinet met in secret. It ordered foreign embassies to draw up evacuation plans in case of mob violence. It put the mayors of Dutch cities on alert. It arranged meetings with imams and other Muslim representatives, distancing itself from Mr Wilders’ positions. The interior, justice and foreign ministers summoned Mr Wilders to meetings, and the country’s terrorism co-ordinator warned him that he might have to leave the country for his own security. The government reportedly investigated whether it would be possible to block or delay Mr Wilders’s broadcast.
Not that there is anything illogical about taking precautions against radical Islam. When the director, Theo van Gogh, made a 10-minute film critical of Islam in 2004, he was murdered on the streets of Amsterdam by a Dutch-born Muslim. The printing of cartoons showing the prophet Mohammed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten sparked deadly riots around the world. Each time a gauntlet is thrown down, someone will credibly promise violence in the name of Islam. Mr Wilders’ film idea was no exception. At the European parliament in Strasbourg last week, Ahmad Badr al-Din Hassoun, Grand Mufti of Syria, warned that Mr Wilders would be responsible for any “violence and bloodshed” that resulted from his film – and that the Dutch people would, in turn, be responsible for reining him in. Noor Farida Ariffin, the departing Malaysian ambassador, told De Volkskrant: “Compared to what I’m expecting, the riots over the Danish cartoons will look like a picnic.”
The climate has grown still more raw in the Netherlands lately. Ehsan Jami, the controversial leader of a new “Ex-Muslims Committee”, founded in protest against the Koranic prescription of death for apostasy, has allied himself with Mr Wilders. The municipal museum in the Hague cancelled an exhibition by the Iranian Dutch photographer, Sooreh Hera, who had planned to show two homosexuals wearing masks of Mohammed and his revered son-in-law, Ali. Mr Wilders wrote a triumphant op-ed in de Volkskrant this week asking people to imagine what would happen if he had made a film describing the Bible as “fascistic”: “Would Dutch embassies in countries where a lot of Christians live, like Germany and Belgium, have notified Dutch residents and dusted off their evacuation plans?”
Was Mr Wilders asserting a right to free speech? Or was he dressing up a gratuitous religious insult in constitutional language? He was doing both, of course. In their eagerness to keep Mr Wilders from airing his argument, the Dutch authorities helped make it for him. They were unable to admit that widespread worries about violence stem from a problem (extremism in the Muslim world) and not just from an approach to a problem (Mr Wilders’s brusqueness). At a speech in Madrid, Maxime Verhagen, the foreign minister, said: “It is difficult to anticipate the content of the film, but freedom of expression doesn’t mean the right to offend.” It doesn’t? Well, if it doesn’t, then freedom of expression is not much of a right. But that does not end the discussion. >>> By Christopher Caldwell
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Next week, the ruling Islamic conservative party in Turkey will likely succeed in lifting a ban on women wearing head scarves at universities. An end to the ban would infuriate secular elites, but please a growing conservative middle class.
Women at Turkish universities could soon show up in class wearing traditional Islamic head scarves, as the government moves towards lifting a ban on the practice.
Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has its root in an Islamist religious movement, reached an agreement with an opposition nationalist party on Thursday to cooperate on legislation to lift the two decade-old ban.
"Agreement has been reached ... the issue of the head scarf was evaluated in terms of rights and freedoms," read a joint statement released by the AKP and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The two parties control enough seats in parliament to end the ban with a vote that could be held as early as next week.
A lift on the ban would anger Turkey's secular elite, who view the wearing of head scarves as a political statement aimed at undermining the nation's secular principles. Turkey to Lift University Head Scarf Ban >>>
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
YNET NEWS: Muslim Brotherhood activists march in Amman to protest Israel's closure on Gaza, and call on Hamas to resume suicide bombings
Reuters
Chanting slogans urging Islamist Hamas militants to resume suicide bombings against Israel, thousands of Jordanians marched in the capital on Friday to protest against Israel's blockade of Gaza.
About 8,000 activists from Jordan's mainstream Muslim Brotherhood took to the streets to support their ideological allies, the Palestinian Hamas group, and hail militants' success in breaching the Gaza border in defiance of an Israeli blockade.
"The people of Jordan are with Hamas," chanted the crowds who called on the Islamist group to resume a campaign of suicide bombings and intensify rocket attacks against Israel. Jordanians rally in support of Hamas in Gaza >>>
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
ABC NEWS: The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI Wednesday circulated a report on the expected release of a 10-minute anti-Islam film by Dutch far-right Party for Freedom Founder and Chairman Geert Wilders, which is expected to spark global protests and raises the possibility of violence in Europe.
The DHS/FBI report was published in anticipation of a Friday release of the film; however, Wilders himself told a Dutch newspaper yesterday that he needs at least two more weeks to finish the film. So far, no one has seen even as single pre-release frame of the film.
The DHS/FBI report follows weeks of speculation on the reactions to the film that continues to gain momentum in overseas media and online outlets. The DHS/FBI report states clearly in its headline and key findings section that "the film is unlikely to incite violence in the United States but may provoke protests overseas."
The film, however, reportedly will show a Quran being destroyed, which the report states is "tantamount to heresy" in Islam. In the past, Wilders has stated that the Quran should be banned like Adolph Hitler's "Mein Kampf."
A spokesperson for Wilder's political party said he would not be available for comment, and they would neither confirm nor deny whether the Quran will be depicted as destroyed in the film. U.S. Worried Anti-Muslim Film Could Trigger Violence Abroad >>> By Richard Esposito and Christine Brouwer
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
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