Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Hillary Clinton denounces Charleston shooting as act of 'racist terrorism'
Iran's Supreme Leader Says Western Sanctions Must Go When Nuclear Deal Is Signed
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| Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivering speech to a packed crowd earlier this month |
Iran's Supreme Leader drew his "red lines" for a final nuclear agreement on Tuesday night, demanding the "immediate" lifting of sanctions as soon as a deal is signed.
Diplomats from Iran and six world powers are racing to negotiate an accord that would settle the confrontation over Tehran's nuclear ambitions by a deadline of next Tuesday.
But Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's sudden intervention may complicate their efforts. In a televised speech, the Supreme Leader appeared to renege on commitments that Iran has already made.
"Sanctions should be lifted immediately when the deal is signed and it should not be linked to verification by the UN watchdog body," said Ayatollah Khamenei, who has the final say over all policy questions. » | David Blair | Tuesday, June 23, 2015
At Last, Some Common Sense! Lord Richards: 'We Need to Approach Muslim Extremism as We Might Approach World War Two'
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| Lord Richards of Herstmonceux is a former chief of the Defence Staff |
Britain must stop "sleepwalking" and prepare to tackle Muslim extremism as seriously as it planned for the Second World War, Lord Richards has warned.
Lord Richards of Herstmonceux, the former Chief of the Defence Staff, said extremism is a "real threat" to the world, as he condemned dithering politicians too reluctant to lead the way.
Warning a "hell of a lot of damage" is going to be wreaked by ISIS in the coming years, he argued the armed forces risk being left "on the back foot" by leaders who fail to plan properly.
"I think the problem is that we have not seen that we need to approach this issue of Muslim extremism as we might approach World War Two back in the 30s," he said.
"This is a real threat to us and we're sleepwalking in the way we're approaching it." » | Hannah Furness | Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Deutschland-Besuch: Königin Elizabeth II. in Berlin eingetroffen
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| Gut gelaunt und händeschüttelnd: Die Queen nach ihrer Ankunft am Dienstagabend am Flughafen Tegel |
Königin Elizabeth II. ist am Dienstag zu ihrem fünften Staatsbesuch in Deutschland eingetroffen. Gemeinsam mit ihrem Ehemann Prinz Philip (94) landete die britische Königin (89) mit einer Sondermaschine am Abend im militärischen Teil des Berliner Flughafens Tegel. Um 19.05 Uhr stieg sie aus dem Flugzeug. » | Quelle: dpa | Dienstag, 23. Juni 2015
The President Hosts an Iftar Dinner
Top Security Chief Warns against Portraying Muslims as 'Intrinsically Extremist'
Theresa May’s most senior counter terrorism adviser has warned against portraying Muslim communities as “intrinsically extremist” just days after David Cameron said some were “quietly condoning” radicalisation.
Charles Farr, director general of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, said there was a “risk” of oversimplification given around 2.7 million Muslims live in Britain but just a few hundred had joined Isil in the Middle East.
Mr Farr knocked back suggestions the country was losing the online war against jihadists and suggested the government was keeping step with the waves of propaganda being uploaded by Islamist radicals.
The comments contrast with Mr Cameron’s keynote speech on radicalisation last week, when he toughened his rhetoric on the responsibilities Muslim leaders had to stamp out extremism.
Speaking at a Jewish News conference on Israel, Mr Farr warned of the dangers of playing up the numbers of Britons who have headed to the Middle East to join Isil. » | Ben Riley-Smith, Political Correspondent | Monday, June 22, 2015
Barack Obama Uses N-word during Discussion on Racism – Audio
Monday, June 22, 2015
Ex-Muslim: Leaving Islam
Fury over Gender Ban in Bordeaux Muslim Grocery Store
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| Veiled women in Bordeaux |
The south-eastern French wine capital of Bordeaux is up in arms over a Muslim-owned grocer’s decision to impose male and female-only days for customers.
A small sign outside the De L'Orient à L'Occidental (From East to West) store stipulated that women were only welcome on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday and Fridays. Men, on the other hand, were kindly asked to take their custom elsewhere on weekends.
The gender split was put in place by the store's owners, recent converts to Islam, to make sure women and men do not meet.
Jean-Baptiste Michelon, the store's co-owner, said: “It’s really for practising Muslims. A man doesn’t want to find himself alone with a woman. A woman who comes to buy books here doesn’t want to find herself alone with a man, especially out of respect if she is married."
“I don’t think her husband would accept such things,” he told BFM TV, adding that the rule did not apply to non-Muslims. Read on and comment » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Monday, June 22, 2015
Susan Pollack: I Can’t Forgive
He has admitted moral guilt but denies the criminal charges against him.
HARDtalk’s Zeinab Badawi spoke to Susan Pollack about her experiences in Auschwitz and Belsen before her liberation by British troops. She says she cannot forgive those who contributed to the Holocaust and believes we must continue to ask how and why such a crime could be committed.
Release date: 19 Jun 2015
2067: The End of British Christianity
It’s often said that Britain’s church congregations are shrinking, but that doesn’t come close to expressing the scale of the disaster now facing Christianity in this country. Every ten years the census spells out the situation in detail: between 2001 and 2011 the number of Christians born in Britain fell by 5.3 million — about 10,000 a week. If that rate of decline continues, the mission of St Augustine to the English, together with that of the Irish saints to the Scots, will come to an end in 2067.
That is the year in which the Christians who have inherited the faith of their British ancestors will become statistically invisible. Parish churches everywhere will have been adapted for secular use, demolished or abandoned.
Our cathedral buildings will survive, but they won’t be true cathedrals because they will have no bishops. The Church of England is declining faster than other denominations; if it carries on shrinking at the rate suggested by the latest British Social Attitudes survey, Anglicanism will disappear from Britain in 2033. One day the last native-born Christian will die and that will be that. » | Damian Thompson | Saturday, June 13, 2015
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Austere Brand of Islam On Rise in Europe, Stirring Concerns
The trend worries European authorities, who see Salafism as one of the inspirational forces for young Europeans heading to Syria or Iraq to do battle for the Islamic State group. Experts, however, point out that the vast majority of Salafis are peace-loving.
In Germany, there are currently about 7,000 Salafis in the country — nearly double the 3,800 estimated four years ago, the Interior Ministry said last month. About 100 French mosques are now controlled by Salafis, a small number compared to the more than 2,000 Muslim houses of worship, but more than double the number four years ago, a senior security official told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. France does not do head-counts by religious practices or origins.
In Britain the numbers are on the rise, too. Seven percent of Britain's 1,740 mosques are run by Salafis, according to Mehmood Naqshbandi, an expert on Britain's Muslims and counter-extremism adviser to the British government who keeps a database of the various currents of Islam in Britain. He says those numbers are steadily growing, especially among young people — and that a quarter to half of British Muslims under 30 "accept some parts or all of the Salafi theology." » | Elaine Ganley | AP | Sunday, June 21, 2015
Met Police Officer Removes His Help for Heroes Charity Wristband after Being Harangued by Hate Preacher Anjem Choudary in the Street
A Metropolitan Police officer appears to have taken his Help for Heroes wristband off after being grilled by a hate preacher in East London who said he should not be displaying a 'political agenda'.
The constable is filmed on Green Street, Forest Gate, being taunted for wearing the band which supports British soldiers and is asked: 'Are you a member of the EDL or BNP or something?'
Constable Allerston is later seen standing on the same street without the band on after a caption flashes on screen reading: 'As you will see from the next clip, the officer subsequently removed the wristband.'
The timeline of events in the video cannot be confirmed as correct and the Met do not have enough information to comment on the incident. » | Jay Akbar for MailOnline | Sunday, June 21, 2015
Brigitte Gabriel Speaks at 2015 ‘Watchment on the Wall’ Conference
”We’re All In This Together”: Queen's Finances Are Safe from Cuts for Two Years
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| Queen Elizabeth II |
The Queen will not face any cuts to royal finances for at least another two years despite an 11 per cent increase in her income, The Telegraph has learnt.
In the two years since the Civil List was replaced by the Sovereign Grant, the Queen’s taxpayer-funded income has shot up from £36.1 million to more than £40 million.
Campaigners have demanded that David Cameron and George Osborne, who set up the current funding formula, should carry out an immediate review so that the Royal family can make their own contribution to the Government’s austerity measures.
But royal sources have insisted the money is needed to continue with a backlog of repairs to the royal palaces, and gave a strong indication that any proposed cuts would be resisted. » | Gordon Raynor, Chief Reporter | Sunday, June 21, 2015
Dutch Politician Says TV ‘Sabotaged’ His Muhammad Cartoons
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders claimed Saturday that the state broadcaster “sabotaged” his planned airing of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad on television.
“Sabotage by the NOS (broadcaster) everything was confirmed but not broadcast,” Wilders tweeted after a previous party political broadcast about immigration was aired instead of the cartoons.
“I will put the images on YouTube and next time on television even if I have to go to (the studios in) Hilversum,” Wilders said.
Wilders had said Friday that he would show the cartoons in the name of his Freedom Party (PVV) on Saturday morning and again on Wednesday and July 3.
Wilders said he was making the broadcasts to defend freedom of speech after two gunmen were shot dead while attacking a Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas last month.
NOS editor in chief Marcel Gelauff tweeted to Wilders that the broadcaster “has nothing to do with party political broadcasts. We do news, sports and current affairs.” » | AFP | Saturday, June 20, 2015
Doku: Queen 2015 - Der Jahrhundertbesuch: Die Königin in Deutschland
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Dutch Anti-Islam MP to Air Mohammed Cartoons on Saturday
The cartoons will be shown on Dutch public television at 1049 GMT, Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV) said in a statement on Friday, adding that they would be repeated on June 24 and July 3.
Wilders said he was making the broadcasts to defend freedom of speech after two militants were shot dead while attacking a Mohammed cartoon contest in Texas last month. » | AFP | Friday, June 19, 2015
Obama on Gun Violence: Six Years of Statements But Change Remains Elusive
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| Barack Obama teared up when he spoke of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. |
More than a dozen times in his presidency, Barack Obama has appeared before television cameras and issued statements to express sorrow at a mass shooting event in America.
After Arizona, where congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot in the head, he spoke of hope. After Newtown, where 20 children and six teachers were shot dead in their classrooms, he spoke of a nation’s broken heart. On Thursday, after nine people were shot dead in a church in Charleston, he spoke of despair.
There are other shootings where Obama has remained silent, or not engaged with issue of guns or the cause of an event. But when he has, the president’s responses have varied from anger to exasperation to sadness, nearly every time vowing that such events must not happen again.
During his presidency, most legislative efforts to reform America’s gun laws through universal background checks or restrictions on sales and magazines have failed. » | Erin McCann in New York | Thursday,, June 18, 2015
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