Saturday, January 24, 2015
Northeast Snow Storm to Strengthen as It Moves Toward New England
Calls to Spare Saudi Blogger Badawi from Public Flogging
Badawi is a blogger who has written critical pieces about the Saudi government.
He has been told he will receive another 50 lashes on Friday. Lucy Manning reports. (+ BBC video) » | Thursday, January 15, 2015
Blogger Sunny Hundal on Raif Badawi in Saudi Arabia
British blogger Sunny Hundal said this case, and others like it, mean the UK should stop "hugging" the Saudi regime.
In a personal film, he said it was time for the UK to cut these ties and "treat the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the contempt it deserves". » | Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Amnesty International: 'West Deeply Hypocritical Over Saudi'
The state of human rights and women's rights and the turbulent state of the region make the king's death and the succession particularly sensitive.
Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's secretary general, said "Saudi has got away with much more than any other state" in term of human rights abuses.
He said that the West was hypocritical to support such a state. (+BBC video) » | Friday, January 23, 2015
Hundreds Join 'Je suis Muslim' Rally in Sydney
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| A protest against negative coverage of Islam and Charlie Hebdo's caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in Sydney |
Hundreds of Muslims rallied in Sydney on Friday night to protest negative media coverage of Islam and the French magazine Charlie Hebdo's depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.
Police said 14 people were moved on from the rally for breaching the peace. But no one was charged and the event was peaceful.
Some of the 800-strong demonstrators in the Muslim enclave of Lakemba held placards with the slogan "Je suis Muslim," French for "I am Muslim."
The slogan was a response to Charlie Hebdo's latest front cover that depicts a tearful Prophet Muhammad holding a sign saying "Je suis Charlie." The edition is the first since the Jan. 7 terrorist attack on the satirical publication's Paris office that left 12 dead. » | AP | Friday, January 23, 2015
Churchill Embodied Britain's Greatness
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| The story of Winston Churchill is a universal human parable, and it is fundamentally about courage |
He disappeared in the dead of winter. It was exactly 50 years ago today that the heart of Sir Winston Churchill beat its last; and as soon as the news was broken to London and to Britain it was obvious that this death was some kind of a punctuation mark in the narrative of the country. A fierce and surging life force had been finally extinguished, after 90 event-stuffed years. The people had lost a man who had not only led Britain in war, but who had become in a sense emblematic of what greatness the nation still possessed.
When I look at the footage of the funeral that took place at the end of the month – the vast, mainly silent crowds, many of them weeping, the lipsticked and peroxided young women, the old men with sunken chaps and trilbies – I feel the weight of the event in their minds. I understand why my grandparents kept a copy of the newspaper front page. I can see why they regarded him as the greatest Englishman (or Briton, or human being, come to that) of his age. They were right, and in the last half century that judgment has been – if anything – strengthened. » | Boris Johnson | Friday, January 23, 2015
Friday, January 23, 2015
‘Worst-case Scenario’: Yemen Chaos, Saudi King’s Death Pose New Challenges for US
The Obama administration is still assessing the political earthquakes in the Arabian Peninsula, and for the near-term says the top priority in Yemen is the security of U.S. personnel. The State Department said it has reduced the number of personnel at the U.S. Embassy in the capital city of Sanaa.
But when the sands settle, a new government – or no government at all – in Yemen could complicate one of the administration’s most active counterterror drone programs in the world. And the new leadership in Saudi Arabia raises questions about the country’s future involvement in fighting the Islamic State and other pressing issues.
Further, a former U.S. diplomat close to the Saudi royal family told Fox News the two developments, which occurred within hours of each other, represent a “worst-case scenario” for the U.S. in terms of Iran’s ability to extend its influence. » | FoxNews.com | Friday, January 23, 2015
Dozens Of Finns, Swedes Fighting For IS
According to Helsinki Police Chief Inspector Jari Taponen, around 50 people from Finland, 76 percent of whom are Finnish passport holders and "almost 20" of whom are ethnic Finns, have gone to IS-controlled areas in Syria and Iraq.
Taponen told Finnish TV channel Yle TV1 on January 22 that the major priority for Finnish security forces is to "try to prevent travel to the war zone."
According to Taponen, the Finnish Security Intelligence Service, Supo, believes that as many as eight people from Finland have been killed fighting alongside IS.
Radicalism among young female converts to Islam in Finland has increased in recent months, he said, adding that most of those who have joined IS are from the Helsinki region. » | Joanna Paraszczuk | Friday, January 23, 2015
Barbarische Strafen: Saudi-Arabien richtet wie der "Islamische Staat"
Im Januar ließ Saudi-Arabien einer Frau mit drei Schwerthieben den Kopf abschlagen. Sie soll ihre Stieftochter missbraucht und getötet haben. Bis zum Schluss bestritt sie die Tat. Der Fall ist nur ein Beispiel für barbarische Strafen, wie sie in dem Königreich verhängt werden. Sie unterscheiden sich kaum von der brutalen Justiz des "Islamischen Staats" (IS). » | Von Vera Kämper und Raniah Salloum | Freitag, 23. Januar 2015
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Obituary
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who has died aged 90, promised much but accomplished little. By the time he came to the throne in 2005, he was 81 years old. And though he had gained considerable experience as acting monarch after his brother King Fahd’s stroke, he was beset by numerous difficulties – dynastic, democratic, religious, ideological, regional and global – and, with only rising oil revenues in his favour, found himself unable to address them to any significant extent.
Abdullah’s succession as Saudi Arabia’s sixth monarch resulted from his father King Abdulaziz ibn Saud’s strategy of marrying the daughters and widows of defeated enemies. It was hoped that Abdullah’s birth in Riyadh would end the enmity between the ousted northern Hail emirate and the newly emerging Saudi kingdom. Abdullah’s mother, Fahda bint Asi al-Shuraim, was the widow of Saud ibn Rashid, who ruled over the emirate before its collapse at the hands of Saudi forces in 1921. Abdullah continued the tradition of his father and included, among his 30 or so wives, daughters of the Shaalan of Aniza, al-Fayz of Bani Sakhr, and al-Jarba of the Shammar tribe.
On the basis of his mother’s background, a plethora of images were cultivated around Abdullah. Images of the monarch as the repository of the tribal bedouin heritage flourished as Saudi Arabia drifted into globalisation and a consumer culture. After a traditional upbringing in the royal court and with no formal modern instruction, the king capitalised on this heritage. His maternal connections and limited education, together with a speech impediment, delayed Abdullah’s rise to pre-eminence among the many sons of the founder of the kingdom. » | Madawi al-Rasheed | Thursday, January 22, 2015
Saudi Arabia’s New King Salman Moves Quickly to Settle Future Succession
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| The new king of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud |
Saudi Arabia’s new king moved swiftly on Friday to name the country’s interior minister as deputy crown prince, making him the second-in-line to the throne, as he promised to continue the policies of his predecessors in a nationally televised speech.
King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s actions came as the oil-rich, Sunni-ruled kingdom began mourning King Abdullah, who died early on Friday at the age of 90. He had spent nearly two decades in power, though officially became king in 2005. Abdullah was buried following Friday’s afternoon prayer, which was attended by Muslim leaders, Saudi princes, powerful clerics and Arab businessmen. » | Ian Black, Middle East editor, and Associated Press | Friday, January 23, 2015
Prince Charles to Fly to Riyadh Following Death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
The Prince of Wales will fly to Saudi Arabia on Saturday to pay his respects to the late King Abdullah, Clarence House has confirmed.
The Prince has been a regular visitor to Saudi Arabia over the years and counted the king as a personal friend.
It is understood he would not have been able to attend the funeral ceremony itself, as only Muslim men will be allowed. Instead he is expected to pay a visit to the new king, the current Prince Salman, a 79-year-old half brother of Abdullah.
Clarence House said in a statement: "The Prince of Wales, representing Her Majesty The Queen, will travel to Saudi Arabia to pay his condolences following the death of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, HM King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud." » | Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | Friday, January 23, 2015
Government Criticised for Lowering Flags along Whitehall in Honour of King Abdullah
A government decision to fly flags at half-mast along Whitehall to honour the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has been criticised.
The Saudi regime has faced fierce criticism in recent weeks for carrying out the public beheading of a woman and condemning a blogger to 1,000 lashes.
Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace also lowered their flags, as a mark of respect.
Louise Mensch, the former Conservative MP, took to social media to say political leaders were “gutless cowards”.
“It is so unacceptable to offer deep condolences for a man who flogged women, didn't let them drive, saw guardian laws passed, & STARVES THEM,” she wrote on Twitter.
Women are still banned from driving in the oil-rich kingdom.
"UK flag half mast, mourning King Abdullah. So sad for all the sorcerers & apostates he could still have beheaded," wrote Maarten Boudry, another Twitter user. » | Holly Watt, Whitehall Editor | Friday, January 23, 2015
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Dies: World Reaction
German Mother of Three Becomes Face of Pegida Anti-Islam Movement
A previously little known 36-year-old mother of three has been thrust into the limelight as the new public face of Germany’s Pegida anti-Islam movement, following the resignation of its founder, Lutz Bachmann, after a photograph emerged of him posing as Adolf Hitler.
Kathrin Oertel was already Pegida’s spokeswoman, but the sudden resignation of Mr Bachmann has left her as the only widely known leader of a movement in crisis.
Even before Mr Bachmann’s resignation, her appearance on a German television talk show earlier this week made her a nationally recognisable figure.
Under Mr Bachmann’s leadership, Pegida grew in a matter of months from a grassroots organisation that only attracted a few hundred protesters at its first demonstration against the “Islamisation” of Germany to a movement that has dominated the national political agenda in recent weeks and can draw 25,000 people onto the streets.
But Ms Oertel now has to defend a movement that has been rocked not only by the scandal over Mr Bachmann, but also by Islamist terror threats, massive counter-protests that have brought more than 100,000 Germans onto the streets against it, and a dispute with an extremist breakaway faction. » | JUnstin HUggler in Berlin | Thursday, January 22, 2015
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Dies at 90
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has died aged 90 after a short illness, state television announced late on Thursday. He has been succeeded by Crown Prince Salman, his half-brother.
The news came after the king was admitted to hospital on 31 December suffering from pneumonia. His condition was said to have improved a few days later.
Rumours of the king’s death circulated on social media before Saudi TV began broadcasting Qur’anic verses – often a harbinger of bad news – and the announcement was made. He is to be buried on Friday afternoon.
Beyond confirmation that Salman has ascended the throne lie troubling questions about the succession, the stability of an unreformed absolute monarchy and the prospects for its younger generation of royals at a time of turmoil in the region – including the destabilising crisis in Yemen. » | Ian Black, Middle East editor | Thursday, January 22, 2015
THE GUARDIAN: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia: Monarch whose reign saw the spread of division, corruption and strife, and was saved only by ‘black gold’ » | Madawi al-Rasheed | Thursday, January 22, 2015
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia dies aged 90: King Abdullah, who has ruled Saudi Arabia since August 2005, has died after battle with pneumonia » | Rochard [?] Spencer, Middle East editor and Harriet Alexander | Thursday, January 22, 2015
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: King Abdullah Ibn Abdulaziz al-Saud – obituary: King Abdullah Ibn Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia ruled his nation during a period of unprecedented upheaval in the Arab world » | Thursday, January 22, 2015
BBC AMERICA: Obituary: King Abdullah: The absolute ruler of one of the most conservative societies on Earth, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had to tread a narrow line between maintaining relationships with the West and appeasing opinion at home. » | Thursday, January 22, 2015
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Jindal: Some Muslims Want to 'Colonize' West
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Wednesday stood by his controversial comments about "no go zones" in European cities, insisting that some Muslim immigrants are trying to "colonize" European cities and "overtake the culture."
And the United States could be next, warned Jindal, a Republican who is considering a 2016 presidential run.
"They may be second, third, fourth generation, they don't consider themselves part of that country. They're actually going in there to colonize, to overtake the culture," Jindal said. "If people don't want to come here to integrate and assimilate, what they're really trying to do is ... overturn our culture." » | Author: Jeremy Diamond CNN | Thursday, January 22, 2015
German Anti-Islam Movement Suffers Blow With Loss of Central Figure
BERLIN—Germany’s swelling anti-Islam movement suffered the biggest blow in its four-month existence Wednesday with the resignation of one of its central figures after photos of him posing as Hitler surfaced along with derogatory remarks he had made regarding refugees.
Lutz Bachmann, co-founder of the European Patriots against the Islamization of the Occident, told The Wall Street Journal that he would resign from the board of the group, known by its German acronym Pegida.
He said his decision was a result of the online comments, which were published by the German branch of the Anonymous hacker collective. They included screenshots of a private Facebook chat in which Mr. Bachmann called asylum-seekers “scumbags,” “animals” and “trash.”
In a written statement released by Pegida, he apologized “to all citizens who feel attacked by my postings.” He added: “I am sorry that I’ve damaged the interests of our movement and am drawing the consequences.” Read on and comment » | Andrea Thomas | Wednesday, January 21, 2015
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