Un rendez-vous secret entre Nicolas Sarkozy et Angela Merkel ?

Selon "Le Parisien". Nicolas Sarkozy et le chancelière allemande Angela Merkel
"ont prévu de se voir très prochainement sans doute en Allemagne".

LE POINT: Nicolas Sarkozy, qui se rendra à Berlin le 28 février pour une conférence devant la fondation de la CDU, pourrait en profiter pour rencontrer Angela Merkel.

Nicolas Sarkozy se rendra à Berlin le 28 février pour donner une conférence sur le thème des relations franco-allemandes devant la Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung, la fondation de la CDU, parti d'Angela Merkel, a-t-on appris lundi de sources concordantes. Selon un porte-parole de la CDU à Berlin, cette conférence portera sur le thème des relations franco-allemandes et sur l'avenir de l'Europe.

Vingt-deux mois après la défaite électorale de mai 2012, le couple "Merkozy" serait-il en passe de se reformer ? Le Parisien affirme en tout cas lundi, sans préciser de date, que l'ancien président et la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel "ont prévu de se voir très prochainement, sans doute en Allemagne". Cette rencontre, précise le journal, "a été préparée dans le plus grand secret par leurs deux entourages pour éviter 'les interprétations fâcheuses'". » | Le Point.fr | mardi 18 février 2014

Ukraine Crisis: Flames and Stun Grenades as Police Launch All-out Assault on Protesters in Kiev

Anti-government protesters throw stones and molotov cocktails
towards Interior Ministry members

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Police in the Ukrainian capital Kiev launch fierce attack on protesters in main city square after a day of violence and deaths

Fires lit up central Kiev as Ukraine’s security forces launched an assault on protest camps in the heart of the capital after a day of bloodshed that claimed nine lives.

A long-feared attack on the demonstrators who have occupied central Kiev since December appeared to have begun on Tuesday evening. The interior ministry announced the onset of an “anti-terrorist” operation after setting a deadline of 6pm local time for the protests against President Viktor Yanukovych to end.

Afterwards, central Kiev was sealed off and the metro closed down. Specialist riot police armed with assault rifles closed on Independence Square, the site of the biggest protest camp. Security forces overran the main barricade protecting this area and set the tents belonging to demonstrators ablaze. » | Roland Oliphant, David Blair and agencies | Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Gay No Go: Kansas Approves Bill Discriminating Against Same-sex Couples

A decision by the Kansas House of Representatives to pass a bill which would have allowed the legal discrimination of gay couples was met with outrage across the U.S. A somewhat embarrassed state Senate now plans to sink the legislation which would have allowed people to use their religious beliefs to openly deny services, care or employment to same-sex couples. RT's Gayane Chichakyan reports.

Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Talks about the Boycott of the Jewish State

Related »

New Catholic Cardinal Renews Attack on 'Disgraceful' UK Austerity Cuts

The Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, said the
government's crackdown on benefit cheats was disproportionate
as only 1% of the welfare budget went on fraudulent claims.

THE GUARDIAN: Roman Catholic archbishop Vincent Nichols, who is to be made a cardinal by Pope Francis, inundated with messages of support

The leader of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales says he has been inundated with messages of support after branding the government's austerity programme a disgrace for leaving so many people in destitution.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme to mark his imminent appointment as a cardinal by Pope Francis, Archbishop Vincent Nichols expanded upon his comments to the Telegraph when he criticised the government's welfare reforms as "punitive".

"The voices that I hear express anger and despair … Something is going seriously wrong when, in a country as affluent as ours, people are left in that destitute situation and depend solely on the handouts of the charity of food banks," Nichols said. » | Matthew Weaver | Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Egypt Warns Tourists of Islamist Terror Threat

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Warning follows an explosion on the bus which killed three South Korean Christian pilgrims heading from South Sinai to the Israeli border

Egypt’s prime minister yesterday issued a warning to the tourism industry after a terror group claimed a suicide bombing on a bus which killed three South Koreans and threatened to stage more attacks. The statement by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, or Supporters of Jerusalem, celebrated the loss of one of its “heroes”, who it said attacked the bus as it was heading towards the “Zionist entity”.

An explosion on the bus, which was carrying South Korean Christian pilgrims and approaching the Israeli border crossing at Taba after visiting St Catherine’s Monastery in South Sinai, killed three passengers and the Egyptian driver, as well as the bomber.

“This is part of our economic war against this treacherous, agent regime,” the statement said. “We are watching this treasonous gang and we will target its economic interests everywhere, to cripple them and their actions against the Muslim people.” » | Richard Spencer in Cairo | Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Netanyahu Compares Israel Boycott Movement to Nazism

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Calls for a boycott on the Jewish state are simply old-style anti-Semitism in new clothes, says Israel's prime minister

Benjamin Netanyahu has invoked Europe’s Fascist past to attack the growing calls for a boycott of Israel, comparing it to embargoes imposed on Jewish businesses by the Nazis and other anti-Semitic groups.

“The most disgraceful thing is to have people on the soil of Europe talking about the boycott of Jews. I think that’s an outrage,” the Israeli prime minister told a conference of US Jewish organisations in Jerusalem.

“In the past, anti-Semites boycotted Jewish businesses, and today they call for the boycott of the Jewish state and, by the way, only the Jewish state.”

Mr Netanyahu’s fiercest broadside yet against the boycott movement followed several meetings among senior government figures over how to tackle what Israel sees as a looming threat of economic isolation.

Mr Netanyahu singled out the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, a group run by pro-Palestinian intellectuals that calls for a boycott of Israeli goods due to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land. He called the group’s members “classical anti-Semites in modern garb” whose true goal was the destruction of the Israeli state. » Robert Tait, Jerusalem | Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Royal Cousins at War: Into the Abyss

The roles played by cousins Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and King George V of England in the desperate, frantic summer of 1914.
Watch the BBC documentary here on BBC iPlayer
Episode 1: Royal Cousins at War: A House Divided »

Striking Back: Germany Considers Counterespionage Against US

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Unsatisfied with the lack of answers provided by Washington in the NSA spying scandal, officials in Berlin are considering a new approach. Germany might begin counterespionage measures aimed at allies.

The question seemed out of place, especially when asked three times. A female journalist from a satire magazine wanted to know if Thomas de Maizière liked cheese snacks. "Questions like that are more appropriate for breakfast television than here," the minister snipped back. It was de Maizière's first visit as interior minister to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany's domestic intelligence agency. And he was in no mood for jokes.

Instead, the minister preferred to focus on the basics during the appearance two weeks ago, with counterespionage at the top of his list. The issue, he warned, shouldn't be underestimated, adding that the question as to who was doing the spying was but of secondary importance.

In other words: Germany intends to defend itself against all spying efforts in the future, even if they are perpetrated by supposed friends.

While the minister's words may have sounded innocuous, they marked nothing less than the start of a political about-face. Away from the public eye, the German government is moving toward implementing plans to turn its own spies against partner countries like the United States, putting allies on the same level as the Chinese, Russians and North Koreans. » | SPIEGEL Staff | Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Inside Story: North Korea: Trumped Up Tyranny?

As a UN panel accuses Pyongyang of committing crimes against humanity, we ask what the international community will do.

Spain: Muslim Immigration Leads to Islamization

Allah hat bestimmt, daß ich muslim werde: Polizist Bernd

Amr Moussa: Arab Spring Has Not Improved Economy or Brought Stability to Egypt

The Arab Spring turned North Africa and the Middle East upside down, bringing with it hopes for change and a brighter future for millions. Three years down the track, tens of thousands have been killed, Syria and Libya lie in ruins, and Egypt's first democratically-elected president has been deposed in a military coup. Was it all worth it? Are violent revolutions really the best way to bring about change? Amr Moussa, the former Secretary-General of the Arab League, joins Oksana to unravel these issues.

Denmark Bans Halal and Kosher Slaughter as Minister Says ‘Animal Rights Come Before Religion’

New law, denounced as 'anti-Semitism' by Jewish leaders,
comes after country controversially slaughtered a giraffe
in public and fed him to lions

THE INDEPENDENT: Denmark’s government has brought in a ban on the religious slaughter of animals for the production of halal and kosher meat, after years of campaigning from welfare activists.

The change to the law, announced last week and effective as of yesterday, has been called “anti-Semitism” by Jewish leaders and “a clear interference in religious freedom” by the non-profit group Danish Halal.

European regulations require animals to be stunned before they are slaughtered, but grants exemptions on religious grounds. For meat to be considered kosher under Jewish law or halal under Islamic law, the animal must be conscious when killed.

Yet defending his government’s decision to remove this exemption, the minister for agriculture and food Dan Jørgensen told Denmark’s TV2 that “animal rights come before religion”. » | Adam Withnall | Tuesday, February 18, 2014

NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY: Denmark bans religious slaughter » | Friday, February 14, 2014

WORLD BULLETIN: Denmark to ban halal and kosher slaughter methods » | World Bulletin / News Desk | Friday, February 14, 2014

Sweden Begins To Realise What A Serious Muslim Infiltration Means (2012)

Saudi Woman Named First Editor-in-Chief of Newspaper

Somayya Jabarti said she felt a great sense of responsibility

BBC: A woman has been named editor-in-chief of a daily newspaper for the first time in Saudi Arabia.

The English-language Saudi Gazette announced on its website that Somayya Jabarti would succeed Khaled Almaeena.

In Sunday's edition of the paper, he wrote Ms Jabarti had won the opportunity on merit, describing her as a determined and dedicated journalist.

Ms Jabarti meanwhile said: "A crack has been made in the glass ceiling. And I'm hoping it will be made into a door."

In an interview with al-Arabiya News, she admitted she felt a great sense of responsibility.

"My actions will reflect upon my fellow Saudi women," she explained. » | Monday, February 17, 2014

Heavy Snow Revives US Interest in 86-year-old Sport

Heavy snows across America has led to the revival of Skijoring, a demonstration sport in the 1928 Winter Olympics

Read the Telegraph article here | David Millward, US Correspondent | Monday, February 17, 2014
WIKI: Skijoring »

Eurozone Countries Should Form United States of Europe, Says EC Vice-President

Viviane Reding: 'Like Winston Churchill, I believe that the UK
not be part of this, but it should remain a close ally with the
federated eurozone.'

THE GUARDIAN: Viviane Reding calls for full fiscal and political union for 18 eurozone countries but says UK should remain apart

A "United States of Europe" should be formed by the 18 eurozone countries to stabilise the European single currency, a vice-president of the European commission says in a speech on Monday evening.

Speaking at the Cambridge University faculty of law, Viviane Reding borrows Winston Churchill's historic 1946 phrase as she called for a full fiscal and political union on much of the continent.

Delivering the Mackenzie Stuart lecture, Reding says: "There is a strong case for a true fiscal and ultimately political union. In my personal view, the eurozone should become the United States of Europe."

However, Reding endorses Churchill's view, outlined in his Zurich speech in 1946, that Britain should remain apart from the United States of Europe. » | Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent | Monday, February 17, 2014

North Korea[n] Prisoner: 'I Had to Bury My Son'

BBC: A former prisoner, who now lives freely in South Korea, has told the BBC what [what] life was like in North Korea's camps after having experienced it first-hand.

Kim Young-soon told reporter Paul Adams that she was imprisoned in North Korea during the 1970s, in an ordeal that lasted nine years.

"My parents were starved to death in Yodok camp... I had to take their bodies on my back and bury them... and I also had my nine-year-old son drowned and I had to do the same for my boy as well," she remembered.

Charity Amnesty International, which monitors prison camps in North Korea using satellites, estimates that there are now 200,000 people in such camps in the country.

And the organisation says that number is growing. (+ BBC audio) » | Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Counting the Cost: The Price of Closed Borders

We look at the global immigration debate and examine whether foreigners are good for a country's economy, or a burden.