Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Labour will offer a "new bargain" to the people of Britain to end the "fast buck" culture of the last 30 years and reshape society so that hard work and responsibility are rewarded, the party's leader Ed Miliband said today.
In his keynote speech to Labour's conference in Liverpool, Mr Miliband said he wanted to become Prime Minister so he can "write a new chapter in our country's history".
Launching a scathing attack on "unjustified rewards" at the top of companies, asset-stripping "predators" in business and bankers who profited even as their mistakes caused economic meltdown, Mr Miliband said that a Labour government would use tax breaks, regulation and contracts to reward firms which contribute to their community.
And he said he was determined to reform the welfare system to ensure that it pays to work, to end "cosy cartels" which set top pay, break up the "rigged market" which allows energy companies to charge high prices and rebalance Britain's economy away from the reliance on financial services and towards production and manufacturing.
Against the backdrop of opinion polls suggesting voters do not see him as a potential prime minister, Mr Miliband sought to shake off the legacy of the last two Labour leaders to hold power, telling the conference: "I'm not Tony Blair. I'm not Gordon Brown either... I'm my own man and I'm going to do things my own way."
And he declared that he was ready to take risks to break away from the "something for nothing" culture which has taken root in Britain over the past three decades and created a "quiet crisis" where those who do the right thing no longer believe they will be rewarded for it. Read on and comment » | Tuesday, September 27, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Germany and America were on a collision course on Tuesday night over the handling of Europe's debt crisis after Berlin savaged plans to boost the EU rescue fund as a "stupid idea" and told the White House to sort out its own mess before giving gratuitous advice to others.
German finance minister Wolfgang Scha[e]uble said it would be a folly to boost the EU's bail-out machinery (EFSF) beyond its €440bn lending limit by deploying leverage to up to €2 trillion, perhaps by raising funds from the European Central Bank.
"I don't understand how anyone in the European Commission can have such a stupid idea. The result would be to endanger the AAA sovereign debt ratings of other member states. It makes no sense," he said.
Mr Schauble told Washington to mind its own businesss after President Barack Obama rebuked EU leaders for failing to recapitalise banks and allowing the debt crisis to escalate to the point where it is "scaring the world".
"It's always much easier to give advice to others than to decide for yourself. I am well prepared to give advice to the US government," he said. » | Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Tuesday, September 27, 2011
I'm so pleased that Frau Merkel and Herr Schäuble have had the courage to tell Obama to keep his nose out of Europe's business. What can Obama tell others about solving their debt crisis? He can't solve his own! If anyone's debt is "scaring the world," it is the incredible debt of the USA! People who live in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones. – © Mark
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Une audace à peine voilée. La candidature de Kenza Drider à l’élection présidentielle en 2012 fait grand bruit en France. Cette Française de 32 ans d’origine marocaine qui habite Avignon, a publiquement annoncé, jeudi 22 septembre à Meaux (Seine-et-Marne), son intention de briguer la présidence de la République en 2012.
Cette jeune femme, qui porte le voile intégral depuis 13 ans, n’est pas complètement inconnue du grand public. Elle a été la seule femme en niqab à avoir été entendue par la mission parlementaire sur le port du voile intégrale en décembre 2009.
Devenue depuis une figure médiatique et une porte-parole des femmes dans sa condition, Kenza souhaite mettre à profit sa petite notoriété pour se faire entendre. Choquée par la loi interdisant le port du niqab dans les lieux publics en vigueur depuis le 11 avril dernier, elle souhaite l’abroger au nom de la liberté de culte et de la liberté de conscience.
Son engagement, dit-elle, n’est pas uniquement réservé aux femmes en niqab. Elle déclare vouloir défendre toutes les femmes [i][« victimes de stigmatisation ou de discriminations sociales, économiques ou politiques. »] et compare volontiers son combat à Rosa Parks, icône de la lutte contre la ségrégation raciale aux Etats-Unis. » | Hanan Ben Rhouma | Vendredi 23 Septembre 2011
THE TIMES: British Muslims are taking second or third wives in an unexpected revival of polygamy, according to religious leaders Muslim women call their lawyers as polygamy thrives » | Rosemary Bennett | Social Affairs Correspondent | Tuesday, September 27, 2011 [£]
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Officials from the BfV, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, will discuss the country's increasingly vocal Islamophobe scene at a meeting on Thursday. There have been calls to put right-wing populist and anti-Muslim groups under increased surveillance.
Islamophobes in Germany could come under increased surveillance by the country's domestic intelligence agency. There are concerns that the anti-Muslim scene is becoming increasingly dangerous, and some intelligence officials want it to be subject to greater scrutiny, despite stringent German privacy laws. » | SPIEGEL | Tuesday, September 27, 2011
An outspoken City trader left interviewers open-mouthed as he admitted that traders 'don't really care that much' about the prospect of an economic collapse.
Alessio Rastani astonished BBC viewers yesterday by describing his hopes of profiting from a recession, adding: 'The governments don't rule the world - Goldman Sachs rules the world.'
The self-styled 'independent trader' also claimed he had been 'dreaming of this moment for three years', as the global economy faces continuing uncertainty. » | Hugo Gye | Tuesday, September 27, 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Aux cris de "Mort à l’Amérique" et "Allah est grand", des milliers de membres des tribus du Nord-Ouest du Pakistan ont menacé d'attaquer les Etats-Unis s’ils s'en prenaient au réseau taliban afghan Haqqani.
Plusieurs milliers de membres des tribus du Nord-Ouest du Pakistan ont menacé vendredi de lancer une guerre sainte contre les Etats-Unis s’ils attaquaient la zone tribale proche du Waziristan du Nord, bastion du réseau taliban afghan Haqqani.
Les manifestants, kalachnikovs en bandoulière pour certains, se sont d’abord rassemblés à l’appel du plus grand parti islamiste pakistanais, la Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), à Jamrud, dans le district tribal de Khyber, frontalier de l’Afghanistan.
Aux cris de "Mort à l’Amérique", "Allah est grand" et "Guerre sainte", les manifestants se sont ensuite retrouvés dans la ville de Landikotal, à la frontière afghane, où ils furent environ 2500 à écouter les discours des responsables du parti.
"Nous appelons à la guerre sainte contre l’Amérique si elle attaque le Pakistan", a déclaré l’un des chefs du parti, Siraj-Ul-Haq, ajoutant que "la nation tout entière" épaulerait alors les forces pakistanaises dans cette bataille contre les Américains. » | AFP | Mardi 27 Septembre 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: «CRIMES D’HONNEUR» | Une mère et sa fille de 18 ans ont été assassinées à Islamabad, en pleine journée, après que la première a demandé le divorce.
Une mère et sa fille ont été tuées mardi en pleine journée dans la capitale pakistanaise Islamabad, juste après que la première eut demandé le divorce, a annoncé la police.
Najma Bibi, 40 ans, retournait chez elle en voiture après avoir déposé une demande de divorce dans un tribunal de la capitale lorsqu’elle a été abattue par des hommes armés avec sa fille Sidra, 18 ans, et un autre homme, Nazeer, 28 ans, a expliqué un enquêteur de la police, Jamshed Khan. » | ATS | Mardi 27 Septembre 2011
LE FIGARO: Les rebelles ont pris le port de Syrte, l'un des derniers bastions loyaux à Mouammar Kadhafi. Plus au sud à Bani Walid, le gouvernement provisoire s'apprête à lancer l'assaut final contre les fidèles du Guide.
Le dernier bastion de Mouammar Kadhafi est en train de tomber. En prenant le port de Syrte, à 350 kilomètres au sud-est de Tripoli, les troupes du Conseil national de transition (CNT) ont porté un coup aux derniers fidèles du Guide libyen. Bloqués pendant des semaines à plusieurs dizaines de kilomètres de la ville, l'étau des rebelles se resserre depuis lundi autour de la cité natale de Kadhafi. L'Otan a apporté son soutien aérien aux insurgés, qui ont réussi à prendre le port dans la nuit de lundi à mardi. » | Par Caroline Bruneau | Mardi 27 Septembre 2011
A speech by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco to fellow bishops did not specifically name Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi but he left little doubt he was referring to the sex and corruption scandals that dog the prime minister and his centre-right government.
"It is mortifying to witness behaviour that not only goes counter to public decorum but is intrinsically sad and hollow," said the head of the Italian Bishops Conference.
Cardinal Bagnasco said Italians had been left in a state of "dumbfounded astonishment" by a ruling political class that was enmeshed in scandal and preoccupied with self-preservation while the country suffered from an economic crisis.
"The image is one of a country that is estranged, without impulse, as if everyone is waiting for the inevitable," he said. » | Monday, September 26, 2011
"Jehovah, the Great Physician, tells us to avoid contact with them. We know what he means, but are we determined to heed his warning in all respects? What is involved in avoiding false teachers? We do not receive them into our homes or greet them. We also refuse to read their literature, watch television programmes that feature them, examine their websites, or add our comments to their blogs. Why do we take such a firm stand?
"Because of love. We love 'the God of truth', so we are not interested in twisted teachings that contradict his Word of truth." – Taken from 'Will you heed Jehovah's warnings?' The Watchtower, 15 July 2011
The official magazine for Jehovah's Witnesses has described those who leave the church as "mentally diseased", prompting an outcry from former members and insiders concerned about the shunning of those who question official doctrine.
An article published in July's edition of The Watchtower warns followers to stay clear of "false teachers" who are condemned as being "mentally diseased" apostates who should be avoided at all costs. "Suppose that a doctor told you to avoid contact with someone who is infected with a contagious, deadly disease," the article reads. "You would know what the doctor means, and you would strictly heed his warning. Well, apostates are 'mentally diseased', and they seek to infect others with their disloyal teachings." Continue reading and comment » | Jerome Taylor, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Barely three months ago, the world’s attention was drawn to the unprecedented public campaign led by Saudi women activists to be allowed to drive in their own country. This weekend, the octogenarian King Abdullah instead made a concession to women in a different area: they are now to acquire the right to vote, as well as being allowed (by 2015) to stand as candidates in municipal elections.
This still means that the nationwide local elections to be held this week will not see the involvement of women candidates or voters. But at least Thursday’s male-only elections, which have been delayed since 2009, appear to be going ahead – this will be only the second time anyone has voted since local elections were introduced in 2005.
Things may move slowly in Saudi Arabia, but support for managed change and transition appears to be an issue close to many Saudi hearts. Not for them the street protests seen across the rest of the Arab world this year; instead, they have delivered an accelerated series of online petitions addressed respectfully to the King, punctuated by the occasional arrest of a cleric, blogger or intellectual deemed to have overstepped the mark.
Even the campaign to promote the issuing of driving licences to women – which constitutes the main impediment to their legal right to drive – has, with a few notable exceptions, been conducted within certain norms. Most of the women to have taken charge of the steering wheel this year have been veiled and accompanied by a male guardian, as required by culturally enforced tradition, if not the full force of law.
In principle, women’s rights in Saudi Arabia are governed by the Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam and Islamic law (sharia), named after its 18th-century founder, Ibn Abdul Al-Wahhab. For over two centuries, he and his followers supported the ascendancy of the Ibn Saud dynasty as the temporal rulers of what eventually, through conquest, became the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. Read on and comment » | Claire Spencer | Monday, September 26, 2011
Claire Spencer is head of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Russian Orthodox provincial priest was revealed to have amassed a collection of luxury cars and to keep hundreds of thousands of pounds of cash in his safe.
An undercover investigation on Russian TV into Archpriest Mikhail Grigoriev of Kazan has raised wider questions about the propriety of the country's clerics and their relationship with wealthy donors who contribute to restoration work.
In the case of Father Grigoriev, he was shown to own a BMW jeep, a Mercedes jeep, and a Mercedes saloon as well as three flats and a country house. To add insult to injury, a secret camera filmed the priest bragging about his £60,000 Swiss watch, his £12,000 phone, while talking about his love of Italian designer clothes and fine dining. In an indication of how much wealth the priest had amassed, he complained of recently being robbed of the equivalent of £300,000 from his safe. » | Andrew Osborn, Moscow | Tuesday, September 26, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
He described the Catholic Church's beliefs as facing a number of threats, and he included same-sex marriage on the list.
"Knowing, too, the value of family and marriage, we as Christians attach great importance to defending the integrity and the uniqueness of marriage between one man and one woman from any kind of misinterpretation," he said, according to the Associated Press. "Here the common engagement of Christians, including many Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christians, makes a valuable contribution to building up a society equipped for the future." » | Lucas Grindley | Sunday, September 25, 2011
NEWS.COM.AU: THOUSANDS of people stripped to their underwear and ran through Salt Lake City to protest what they called the "uptight" laws of Utah.
Undie Run organiser Nate Porter says the goal of the event on Saturday was to organise people frustrated by the conservative nature of state politics.
Nudity was prohibited by organisers. Participants donned bras, panties, nightgowns, swimwear or colorful boxer shorts - and some added political messages by expressing support for causes like gay marriage on their chests, backs or legs. » | AP | Monday, September 26, 2011
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