UN-Vollversammlung: Nordkorea plädiert für "atomwaffenfreie Welt"
WELT ONLINE: Der nordkoreanische Vize-Außenminister Pak Kil-yon hat vor der UN-Vollversammlung erklärt, dass das Land bereit wäre, seine nuklearen Aktivitäten einzustellen, wenn auch alle anderen Atomstaaten ihre Nuklearwaffen aufgeben. Solange die USA aber an ihrer Nuklearpolitik festhielten, habe Pjöngjang keine Alternative.

Nordkorea ist nach Angaben eines Regierungssprechers grundsätzlich für eine atomwaffenfreie Welt. Pjöngjang wäre bereit, seine nuklearen Aktivitäten einzustellen, wenn auch alle anderen Atomstaaten ihre Nuklearwaffen aufgeben, sagte der nordkoreanische Vize-Außenminister Pak Kil-yon, am späten Montag (Ortszeit) vor der UN-Vollversammlung in New York. „Wir sind wie alle anderen friedliebenden Länder gegen einen Atomkrieg, gegen ein atomares Wettrennen und die Weiterverbreitung von Nuklearwaffen“, sagte Pak. >>> dpa /fas | Dienstag, 29. September 2009

Le numéro deux d'Al-Qaïda qualifie Obama de «criminel»
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: VIDÉO | Le numéro deux d'Al-Qaïda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, a qualifié le président américain de "criminel" dans une nouvelle vidéo rendant un hommage posthume à un chef taliban.

"Obama laisse les colonies s'étendre en Cisjordanie et autour de Jérusalem et ne montre que peu de regrets", affirme Ayman al-Zawahiri dans la vidéo dont la chaîne satellitaire du Qatar, al-Jazira, a diffusé des extraits.

"Obama fait en outre pression sur les dirigeants défaitistes pour qu'ils fassent davantage de concessions", ajoute-t-il en référence aux dirigeants arabes pressés par Washington de normaliser leurs relations avec Israël.

"Avons-nous besoin de plus de crimes à Kaboul, Bagdad, Mogadiscio et Gaza pour s'assurer que c'est un criminel? Ou bien la bassesse des Etats-Unis sous la présidence d'Obama, malgré son air souriant et affectueux, est-elle désormais claire?", se demande l'ancien médecin égyptien devenu le bras droit d'Oussama ben Laden.

Dans cet enregistrement, Zawahiri critique aussi la Turquie, appelée à commander prochainement les troupes de l'OTAN en Afghanistan.

"Chaque Turc, soucieux de l'islam et des musulmans, doit savoir que les troupes de son pays assureront le mois prochain le commandement des croisés en Afghanistan, qui brûlent les villages, détruisent les maisons et occupent la terre d'islam", dit-il.

"Les troupes turques y mèneront alors les mêmes opérations que celles menées par les juifs en Palestine. Comment le peuple turc libre acceptera-t-il un tel crime contre l'islam et les musulmans", s'est-il interrogé. >>> AFP | Mardi 29 Septembre 2009

Sharia Courts Conquer UK


Hat tip: Europe News >>>

Related:
UK hate preacher demands Koran-bashing author’s trial under sharia court >>> Submitted by Mohit Joshi | Friday, September 04, 2009

Afghan Jew a One-man Upholder of Tradition
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Zebulon Simantov says he is Afghanistan's last Jew, and he kept kosher as he celebrated Rosh Hashanah. He lives in a broken-down building housing Kabul's last synagogue, and there is a tale involved.

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan - It's not easy representing centuries of Jewish tradition single-handedly. Especially if you're in a war-torn Muslim country. But Zebulon Simantov, who claims to be the last Jew in Afghanistan, is doing his best.

At the start of this weekend's Jewish New Year, he lighted three candles, changed into a traditional Afghan shalwar kameez outfit and donned a black yarmulke. He navigated around his Muslim helper, who was wrapping up his Ramadan prayers, and, for 45 minutes, swayed, bowed and intoned Rosh Hashanah prayers while an Indian game show blared from a corner TV.

"I'm the only Jew in Afghanistan," the 57-year-old said. "It's a big responsibility. Yes, I wish there was a larger community. But I keep kosher and maintain the tradition."

Simantov lives like the confirmed bachelor he is in a broken-down building that houses Kabul's last synagogue. His living area is lighted with a single fluorescent bulb, and well-worn Afghan carpets serve as his bed, floor covering and eating surface. A few feet away is his soot-blackened kitchen, from whose open window he periodically tosses waste water down onto a rubble-filled courtyard.

He slaughters his own chickens and sheep in keeping with kosher dietary laws. Normally only a specially designated person can do this, but Simantov said he has obtained permission from a rabbi in Uzbekistan.

"Sometimes he washes the sheep meat so many times, I wonder if he'll wash all the protein out," said Shir Gul Ameri, 22, an Afghan who helps with Simantov's chores.

There's a lot Simantov doesn't discuss, either because he can't remember or prefers not to talk about it. For instance, why he decided to stay in Kabul, enduring civil wars, the Soviet occupation and Taliban rule. That took some doggedness, which may partly explain his gruff personality.

"Don't talk about the Taliban, just eat," he barked. "Everyone had trouble with the Taliban. Very bad people."

But after a few whiskeys -- he favors Johnnie Walker -- a less intimidating side emerges as he welcomes strangers to his Rosh Hashanah Seder replete with heaping plates of mutton kebabs, chicken, okra, squash and grapes. >>> Mark Magnier, Sunday, September 20, 2009

Committed to Free Expression? What Nonsense
TIMES ONLINE: Yale has acted cravenly over images of Muhammad

A Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, published 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in September 2005. This seemingly innocuous decision preceded worldwide protests, death threats, trade boycotts and attacks on Danish embassies.

An outstanding scholarly account of these events is published this week, entitled The Cartoons that Shook the World by Jytte Klausen, a Danish academic in the US. Klausen dissects the motives of the main actors and illuminates debates over free speech and the place of religion in Western societies. It’s a murky business, by which, she says, “protests developed from small-scale local demonstrations to global uproar only to subside without a proper conclusion”.

Yet while there has been no conclusion, there has been change and decay. The controversy spurred an argument that would defend the principle of free speech while deploring the failure to exercise it sensitively. “We believe freedom of the press entails responsibility and discretion, and should respect the beliefs and tenets of all religions,” declared the United Nations after Danish diplomatic missions were torched.

That principle is moderate, balanced and pernicious. The idea that people’s beliefs, merely by being deeply held, merit respect is grotesque. A constitutional society upholds freedom of speech and thought: it has no interest in its citizens’ feelings. If it sought to protect sensibilities, there would be no limit to the abridgements of freedom that the principle would justify. >>> Oliver Kamm | Monday, September 28, 2009

Benedikt XVI: Papst erwirbt Respekt im atheistischen Tschechien
WELT ONLINE: Mit seiner Tschechien-Reise versuchte das Kirchenoberhaupt, das weitgehend entchristianisierte Land zurückzuerobern. Mit Erfolg: Selbst der ausgewiesen liberale Staatspräsident Václav Klaus entdeckte einen Wertekonsens mit dem Papst. Einmal mehr gelang es Benedikt XVI. zudem, die Jugend zu begeistern.

Ginge es allein nach den Übertragungszeiten des tschechischen Fernsehens, dann müsste Papst Benedikt XVI. in den zurückliegenden drei Tagen eine Hochburg des Katholizismus besucht haben. Kein Schritt des Oberhauptes der katholischen Kirche in der Öffentlichkeit, der nicht direkt übertragen wurde. Zwischendrin Expertenrunden, die sich bemühten, die Reden und Predigten des Papstes zu erläutern und einzuordnen.

Doch der Pastoralbesuch in Tschechien galt einem der am meisten säkularisierten Länder der Welt und war für den Papst in jeder Hinsicht anstrengend. Bei einer großen Messe im Wenzel-Wallfahrtsort Stara Boleslav, zu der vor allem Zehntausende junger Menschen gekommen waren, lächelte Benedikt XVI. ein ums andere Mal befreit. „Mit euch bin ich wieder jung“, rief er den Jugendlichen zu, die zum großen Teil eine eiskalte Nacht in Zelten hinter sich hatten. „Ihr, liebe Jugendliche, seid die Hoffnung der Kirche“, sagte der Papst, der anschließend die Einladung zum Weltjugendtag in Madrid im August 2011 aussprach.

Der Papst nutzte seinen Besuch vor allem, um an den Sturz des Kommunismus vor 20 Jahren zu erinnern, den er einen „Scheidepunkt in der Weltgeschichte“ nannte. Er beklagte die Leiden der Kirche während jahrzehntelanger „skrupelloser politischer Unterdrückung“. Die Katholiken in der damaligen Tschechoslowakei hätten „unbeugsames christliches Zeugnis angesichts der Verfolgung“ gegeben, erkannte er an. Vor dem Hintergrund der nun erreichten Religionsfreiheit sollten die Tschechen die christlichen Traditionen, die ihre Kultur geprägt hätten, wiederentdecken. >>> Von Hans-Jörg Schmidt | Montag, 28. September 2009

Bundestagswahl: Kanzlerin von Guidos Gnaden
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Angela Merkel hat für die Union die Kanzlerschaft gerettet, doch der eindeutige Sieger dieser Bundestagswahl heißt Guido Westerwelle. Die FDP bekommt sogar deutlich mehr Mandate als die CSU - für die Kanzlerin wird das Regieren dadurch nicht einfacher.

Berlin - Angela Merkel strahlt. Ein, zweimal wackelt sie mit dem Kopf, wippt kurz auf den Zehenspitzen, so, als wolle sie vor Freude am liebsten einen kleinen Hüpfer machen. Im roten Blazer steht sie um kurz nach 19 Uhr auf der Bühne des Konrad-Adenauer-Hauses. Eben noch war auf den Leinwänden SPD-Spitzenkandidat Frank-Walter Steinmeier zu sehen, wie er den Genossen die bittere Schlappe zu erklären versuchte, und die Menge in der CDU-Zentrale lachte spöttisch über die entsetzten Gesichter im Willy-Brandt-Haus. Nun schallt es "Angie, Angie" durch das voll besetzte Foyer. Mehrfach muss die CDU-Chefin ansetzen, um sich Gehör zu verschaffen. "Nicht nur Ihr und Sie sind heute Abend glücklich - ich bin es auch. Wir haben etwas Tolles geschafft."

Es reicht, es reicht für Schwarz-Gelb, das sagen die Wahlforscher in ihren Hochrechnungen übereinstimmend voraus. Es reicht sogar für eine stabile Mehrheit - "und das ist gut", freut sich Merkel. Es reicht allerdings nicht, weil Angela Merkel und Horst Seehofer ihre Union endlich wieder an die 40 Prozentmarke herangeführt hätten. Im Gegenteil: CDU und CSU erreichen mit gerade einmal 33,8 Prozent nicht einmal das Niveau von vor vier Jahren. Damit fährt Merkel das schlechteste Ergebnis für die Union bei einer Bundestagswahl seit der Wahl 1949 ein. Die CSU erleidet für ihre Verhältnisse gar ein Desaster: Bei 42,6 Prozent liegen die Christsozialen in Bayern.

Es reicht also vor allem für Schwarz-Gelb, weil die FDP so stark ist. 14,6 Prozent holen die Liberalen. Guido Westerwelle ist der eigentliche große Sieger dieser Wahl, darum überlässt ihm Merkel am Abend sogar den letzten Auftritt in der Reihe der TV-Liveschaltungen.

Westerwelle nimmt seinen Lebenspartner mit


Um 19.11 betritt der FDP-Chef dann das Foyer in den "Römischen Höfen" in Berlin. Die Anhänger rufen "Guido, Guido", irgendwann singen sie wie im Fußballstadion "So sehen Sieger aus, Schalalala". Westerwelle steht auf dem Podest mit dem Führungspersonal seiner Partei, plötzlich umarmt ihn sein Lebenspartner Michael Mronz. Westerwelle strahlt in die Kameras, es ist der Augenblick, auf den er hingearbeitet hat - die FDP ist wieder zurück an der Macht, nach elf Jahren in der Opposition. Neben ihm steht Hans Dietrich Genscher, der Ex-Außenminister und FDP-Ehrenvorsitzende, er wirkt fast ein wenig entrückt. Genscher, der die sozial-liberale und schwarz-gelbe Koalition in seiner Zeit mitgeprägt hat, hat Wahlkampf für den FDP-Chef gemacht. Genscher hat ihm im Präsidium an diesem Abend noch vor der ersten Hochrechnung gedankt: Der Erfolg sei auch ein Verdienst Westerwelles als Person. >>> Von Severin Weiland und Philipp Wittrock | Sonntag, 27. September 2009

Spiegel TV Video anschauen: Wahlerfolg für Angela Merkel und Guido Westerwelle >>>

Moderate Islam Takes to the Airwaves
THE MEDIA LINE: A new channel is paving the way for a new generation of Islamic TV.

[Cairo, Egypt] The man on the television appears enraged, talking fast, yelling and demanding Muslims to follow the “right path of faith.” Not too far, at a nearby table, two young Egyptian girls, shrouded in their colorful hijabs – headscarves - watch the white clad sheikh speak. They turn to each other and their glances say it all: this is not what they are looking for in Islamic television.

The café, with its Islamic preachers blaring on most Fridays and often at other times during the week, have become more commonplace in an Egypt growing progressively more conservative by the day, but there are many who are fighting against this current, especially young veiled women.

Heba is a 22-year-old recent college graduate who studied media. She has worn the veil since she was 18-years-old, but these diatribes of elderly preachers is too much, she says, highlighting the growing gulf that exists in Egypt.

“I just don’t like how angry they sound and how judgmental they have become,” she told The Media Line, asking the waiter to change the channel. Her friend Sara nodded in agreement.

Both are part of the growing trend among 20-something Egyptian women looking for a more restrained approach to Islamic television. >>> Joseph Mayton | Monday, September 28, 2009

Neuer Koalitionsvertrag bis Ende Oktober: Deutsches Regierungsbündnis soll im Eiltempo stehen
NZZ ONLINE: Die Siegesparteien der deutschen Bundestagswahlen wollen rasch ein Regierungskonzept vorstellen. Sie geben sich einen Monat Zeit dafür. Die wichtigen Knackpunkte bei den Koalitionsverhandlungen dürften wohl die Kosten der Arbeitslosigkeit sowie die steuerlichen Massnahmen bilden.

Schon am Morgen nach der opulenten Siegesfeier der FDP und der Union wird auf dem Politparkett wieder fleissig gearbeitet. Zum Ausruhen bleibt definitiv keine Zeit, im Gegenteil: Schon Ende Oktober wollen sich die Liberalen und die Union auf einen neuen Koalitionsvertrag verständigen. Dies hat der FDP-Generalsekretär Dirk Niebel bereits am Sonntagabend gegenüber dem «Spiegel» verlauten lassen.

Deutsche Effizienz

So soll es denn auch keine Sondierungsgespräche geben. Man wolle vorwärts machen und direkte Gespräche über die Koalition führen, so der Parteisekretär weiter. Bereits heute sind Termine auf Vorstandsebne vorgesehen. Deutsche Effizienz eben. >>> hoh | Montag, 28. September 2009

Adolf Hitler Suicide Story Questioned after Tests Reveal Skull Is a Woman's
THE TELEGRAPH: Adolf Hitler's suicide in his Berlin bunker has been called into question after American researchers claimed that a bullet-punctured skull fragment long believed to belong to the Nazi dictator is, in fact, that of an unknown woman.

The four-inch skull fragment has a hole where a bullet reportedly passed through Hitler’s left temple when he shot himself and is kept in Russia’s federal archives along with what are said to be his jawbones. Together, they are all that is left of Hitler’s body, the charred remains of which Soviet forces first recovered in 1945. For years, the Russians have held up the artefacts as proof that Soviet troops found Hitler’s body in the ruins of Berlin and that he died on April 30 when he shot himself just after taking cyanide.

But a History Channel documentary programme broadcast in the US called Hitler’s Escape claims the skull fragment belongs to a woman under 40 and not Hitler, who was 56 when he died. It quotes Nick Bellantoni, an archaeologist and bone specialist who took DNA samples from the skull in Moscow and had them tested at the University of Connecticut. He and his colleagues are sceptical that the skull fragment could belong to Eva Braun, Hitler’s long-time companion, since she is thought to have committed suicide by cyanide rather than with a gun. >>> Andrew Osborn in Moscow | Monday, September 28, 2009

Exclude God at Your Peril, Pope Warns Czech Republic’s Non-believers
TIMES ONLINE: An estimated 120,000 church followers waited yesterday for the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI at an airfield in the southern Czech city of Brno, the centre of the country’s Roman Catholic heartland.

Although the Vatican had said that it was hoping for as many as 200,000, it is expected to be the largest turnout of the Pope’s three-day trip to the overwhelmingly secular Czech Republic.

Speaking next to a 12m steel cross, the 82-year-old pontiff warned that modern societies excluded God at their peril. “History has demonstrated the absurdities to which man descends when he excludes God from the horizon of his choices and actions,” he said, adding that technical progress was not enough to “guarantee the moral welfare of society”. >>> Foreign Staff | Monday, September 28, 2009

Mandate for Change in Germany: Merkel's Center-Right Coalition Wins, Opening Door to Tax Cuts and Labor Revamp
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: BERLIN -- A center-right alliance led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel was set for victory in Germany's national elections on Sunday, opening the door to modest tax cuts and labor-market changes that could help strengthen the fragile recovery in Germany's crisis-battered economy.

Ms. Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union and its pro-business ally, the Free Democratic Party, were set to win a small majority in Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, according to early results. The CDU, its Bavarian conservative sister-party, the Christian Social Union, and the FDP won 48.4% of the national vote on Sunday, according to projections by state broadcaster ARD.

"For corporate Germany, this is a good signal," said Thorsten Polleit, economist at Barclays Capital in Frankfurt. "The FDP, which will feel very confident now, and much of the CDU will want to bring down government spending in order to cut income taxes."

The parties are expected to form a new national government quickly, replacing the fractious bipartisan coalition between Ms. Merkel's CDU and the left-leaning Social Democratic Party that has ruled Germany since 2005.

For the U.S. and other German allies, the election result will bring continuity in German foreign policy, including on Afghanistan, where the FDP is expected to continue to support German troops' presence, while calling for an exit strategy in the medium term. Unlike the SPD, which has had a sometimes difficult relationship with the U.S., the FDP has long been a staunch proponent of Germany's trans-Atlantic partnership.

President Barack Obama called Ms. Merkel on Sunday to offer his congratulations, the White House said in a statement, adding: "The President and Chancellor Merkel agreed that with the election of a strong German government, our cooperation will further strengthen and deepen."

Ms. Merkel, a 55-year-old physicist who is Germany's first female chancellor and its first leader to grow up in the former East Germany, told her cheering supporters in Berlin Sunday night she wants to be "a chancellor for all Germans," an attempt to reassure voters that she would temper market-oriented changes with concern for social harmony. Ms. Merkel said that she would govern for "the workers as well as for the entrepreneurs." >>> Marcus Walker | Monday, September 28, 2009

On the German Election

Iran Test Fires Nuclear Missile Capable of Hitting Israel and Parts of Europe
TIMES ONLINE: Iran has fired one of the longest-range missiles in its arsenal as part of testing it began ahead of a confrontation with foreign powers over a previously undisclosed secret nuclear facility later this week.

Earlier today the Revolutionary Guard is reported to have successfully launched the Shahab-3 missile, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and has a range of up to 1,200 miles – which would put Israel, most Arab states and parts of Europe, including much of Turkey, within its range.

Iranian television broadcast footage of the Shahab-3 being fired from desert terrain.

Iran’s war games began yesterday after the revelations about the enrichment plant, at a military base near the holy city of Qom. It dramatically upped the stakes for the meeting in Geneva on Thursday between Iranian representatives and those of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany. >>> Catherine Philp | Monday, September 28, 2009

What to Expect from Berlin after Angela Merkel’s Return to Power
TIMES ONLINE – Analysis: For the past four years conservatives and liberals have been quietly expressing fears that Ms Merkel was a Social Democrat in sheep’s clothing, or at least in a woollen trouser suit.

Now the Chancellor has a chance to prove otherwise. The result will be a subtle change of Germany’s position in Europe.

Fuse the election manifestos of the two parties — the Christian Democrats and the Free Democrats — into a single programme and you come up with a mainland European version of progressive conservatism: there is concern for social justice, a taste for financial regulation, but also a commitment to open markets, deregulation and (when market conditions permit) privatisation.

But while some of that may suggest an affinity with a possible David Cameron government, relations with the Tories are likely to remain frosty because the new German Government is firmly committed to the Lisbon treaty.

The new Berlin Administration will almost certainly see its main friend in Europe as Nicolas Sarkozy; the Social Democrats had some reservations about the French but these are not shared by the Free Democrats.

The main loser of the new government alignment could well be Turkey. The Social Democrats have been a champion of Turkish entry into the European Union for the past 11 years, first in alliance with the Greens, and latterly in Ms Merkel’s Grand Coalition.

Now the Social Democrats are in opposition and Ankara will be faced with sceptical governments in Paris, Berlin and Rome. >>> Roger Boyes | Monday, September 28, 2009

Sommet : Le G20 se pose en nouveau gouvernement mondial
LE TEMPS: Le groupe des pays les plus puissants du monde s’est accordé sur un encadrement de la finance et une réforme du FMI

Vendredi, les chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement réunis à Pittsburg (Pennsylvanie), ont «désigné» leur enceinte comme «le premier forum pour notre coopération économique». Exit le G8. Il laisse la place à une organisation plus vaste, représentant plus de 80% de la richesse de la planète, qui fait la part belle aux pays émergents.

Dans leur communiqué final, les Etats membres détaillent comment ils entendent se donner davantage de moyens pour renforcer cette coopération. Certaines de ces mesures restent vagues (sacro-sainte souveraineté des Etats oblige), très peu de sanctions ou de mesures contraignantes sont prévues pour convaincre les éventuels récalcitrants. Au final, les membres du G20 se sont octroyés à eux-mêmes la mission «d’agir ensemble pour générer une croissance globale forte, durable et équilibrée.» Ils s’en prennent notamment «au comportement téméraire et au manque de responsabilité» qui a amené à la crise financière actuelle. «Nous ne permettrons pas, assènent-ils, un retour aux pratiques bancaires ordinaires («banking as usual»).» >>> Luis Lema | Lundi 28 Septembre 2009

TV Union Plans BNP Question Time Protest
THE INDEPENDENT: The TV technicians' union today attacked the BBC's decision to invite BNP leader Nick Griffin on to Question Time and pledged to join a demonstration against the recording of the programme.

Bectu said it would support any of its members who refused to work on the programme, which will be transmitted on October 22.

General secretary Gerry Morrissey said: "We believe there should be no media coverage of the BNP and I have raised this issue with the director general, Mark Thompson. >>> Alan Jones, Press Association | Monday, September 28, 2009

Related – BBC – Viewpoint:
Who's afraid of the BNP? >>> | Monday, September 28, 2009

Dhimmitude Alert! More Balls from Ed Balls!
MAIL ONLINE: The Government department headed by schools secretary Ed Balls has lavished £3million on luxury office refurbishments including a massage room, it emerged last night.

A 'contemplation suite' and an area set aside for Muslim prayer have been installed as part of a major makeover of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Designer furniture was shipped over from Italy for the office refit, while black granite surface tops have been laid in the kitchen areas.

The most costly expense was a grand staircase made from glass and surgical steel. Its price tag is understood to have run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

A gym, four lifts, six meeting rooms with high-tech conference equipment and two cafes have plumped up the bill for the two-year project to £3m.

News of the makeover comes as Mr Balls prepares to cut £2billion from the country's schools budget, meaning jobs will be slashed across the education system. Ed Balls spends £3m on office makeover... including massage room and Muslim prayer area >>> Fay Schlesinger | Monday, September 28, 2009

Angela Merkel gouvernera avec les libéraux
LE FIGARO: Les conservateurs d'Angela Merkel, avec leurs alliés du FDP, ont remporté dimanche une majorité confortable de sièges, lors d'élections législatives marquées par l'effondrement des sociaux-démocrates.

Victoire nette et sans bavure pour Angela Merkel. Les électeurs allemands ont reconduit dimanche à la chancellerie la conservatrice Angela Merkel, pour un nouveau mandat de quatre ans à la tête de la coalition de centre-droit de son choix avec les libéraux. Les conservateurs (CDU/CSU) de Merkel, et leurs alliés libéraux du FDP ont remporté une majorité confortable des sièges, 332 sur les 622 que devrait compter le Parlement, selon les résultats officiels communiqués lundi à l'aube.

Les sociaux-démocrates (SPD), qui gouvernaient avec Merkel depuis quatre ans dans une «grande coalition» et dont le candidat à la chancellerie était le ministre des Affaires étrangères sortant Frank-Walter Steinmeier, 53 ans, enregistrent leur plus bas score historique, avec 23 % des voix. La chancelière venue de l'ex-RDA, âgée de 55 ans et immensément populaire, a annoncé elle-même une heure après la clôture du scrutin la formation de cette nouvelle coalition qu'elle appelait de ses voeux pour gouverner la première puissance économique européenne, frappée par une récession sans précédent.

«Nous pouvons ce soir célébrer la victoire. Nous avons réussi à obtenir une majorité solide, pour former un nouveau gouvernement de la CDU/CSU (les Unions conservatrices) et du FDP, et c'est bien», a-t-elle déclaré au quartier général de son parti à Berlin. «Je veux être la chancelière de tous les Allemands, afin d'améliorer la situation de notre pays», s'est-elle empressé d'ajouter. La CDU/CSU enregistre toutefois son plus mauvais score depuis 1949, avec 33,8% des voix. La participation atteint un niveau historiquement bas : 70,8% contre 77,7% il y a quatre ans. >>> Samuel Potier (lefigaro.fr) | Lundi 28 Septembre 2009

Sócrates Wins Second Term in Portugal
FINANCIAL TIMES: José Sócrates, Portugal’s Socialist prime minister, was re-elected to a second term in the general election on Sunday, but his centre-left party lost its overall majority in parliament.

Mr Sócrates is expected to form a minority government and seek support for a government programme and the 2010 budget with parties to both the left and right.

However, his failure to win a comfortable majority raised the prospect of political instability and a weak government that could fall before completing a four-year term.

Only two minority administrations have survived a full term since Portugal returned to democracy in 1974. Before Mr Sócrates’ election in May 2005, the country had three governments in three years.

The Socialists won 37 per cent of the vote, down from 45 per cent in the previous election in February 2005. The centre-right Social Democrats (PSD), the main opposition party, polled 29 per cent, roughly equal to their previous result.

The Socialists’ clear win was a significant personal victory for Mr Sócrates, 52, whose popularity had been damaged by economic recession, scandal and unpopular reforms. >>> Peter Wise in Lisbon | Sunday, September 27, 2009

Related:
Smoke ban PM lights up on plane >>> Graham Keeley, The Guardian | Friday, May 16, 2009