Monday, December 14, 2015
National Front Loses in 2nd Round of French Regional Elections – Exit Polls
Angela Merkel 'Dismisses US Request for More Military Help against Islamic State'
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, on Sunday brushed off what a magazine said was a request from the United States to provide more military help in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).
"I believe Germany is fulfilling its part and we don't need to talk about new issues related to this question at the moment," Mrs Merkel told the ZDF broadcaster when asked about the Der Spiegel magazine report of the US request.
Der Spiegel reported on Saturday that Ashton Carter, US Defence Secretary, had sent a letter asking for a bigger military contribution from Germany, a week after parliament approved a plan to join the campaign in Syria. » | Reuters | Sunday, December 13, 2015
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Libyen macht Italien Angst
Zweite Runde bei Frankreichs Regionalwahlen
SCHWEIZER RADIO UND FERNSEHEN: Front National scheitert in allen Regionen: In Frankreich konnte die rechtsextreme Partei keine der insgesamt 13 Regionen erobern. Nach der zweiten Runde der Regionalwahlen zeigen erste Nachwahlbefragungen: Die Partei von Marine Le Pen landet auf dem dritten Platz, hinter den Konservativen und den Sozialisten. » | sda/afp/reutes/kurn; | Sonntag, 13. Dezember 2015
French Far Right National Front 'Routed' in Key Vote
Early results suggest the party has been beaten into third place, despite leading in six of 13 regions in the first round of votes a week ago.
The polls predict Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right Republicans will win most seats ahead of the ruling Socialists.
Acknowledging defeat, FN leader Marine Le Pen pledged to keep fighting.
And she blamed the outcome on the mainstream parties which joined forces to keep the FN from power, telling her supporters they had been "disenfranchised in the most indecent of ways by a campaign of lies and disinformation". (+ video) » | Sunday, December 13, 2015
Worlds Apart: Borders of Democracy? Featuring Ulrike Guerot, Director of the European Democracy Lab
Margaret Thatcher Auction Prompts 'Family Feud'
Margaret Thatcher’s family are embroiled in a bitter family feud over an auction of the late prime minister’s personal possessions, it has been claimed.
Baroness Thatcher’s son Sir Mark Thatcher is said to have objected to his twin sister Carol’s decision to stage a sale of handbags, shoes and mementoes at Christie’s auction house this week.
The sale of more than 400 items is expected to raise upwards of £500,000.
According to friends the 62-year-old twins “cannot bear to be in the same room”. » | David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent | Sunday, December 13, 2015
Former Gitmo Detainee Returns to Battlefield
Growing Turmoil for the Democratic Party
Fear, Anger and Hatred: The Rise of Germany's New Right
Martin Bahrmann, a local politician in the Saxon town of Meissen, was just preparing to speak in a council debate on refugee shelters when a ball-point pen ricoched off the back of his head. It was a cheap, plastic writing utensil -- blue with white writing.
As a member of the business friendly Free Democrats (FDP), Bahrmann's seat in the regional council is at the very back and the visitors' gallery is just behind him. The pen must have come from somebody in the audience. When Bahrmann turned around, he found himself looking at a sea of hostile faces. Although there were around 80 visitors in the gallery, nobody admitted to having seen who threw the pen. On the contrary: The FDP representative and his colleagues were later insulted as being "traitors to the German people."
Bahrmann, 28, does not draw a salary for his involvement in local politics. It is merely his contribution to a functioning democracy. He was born and grew up in the region he represents and he has known many of the people there for many years. But even he, Bahrmann says, now must be more careful about when and where he makes political appearances. Ever since the regional council discussed transforming the former Hotel Weinböhla into a refugee hostel, the established political parties have been confronted with the hate of many locals. One Left Party representative was spit on as he was walking down the street while another was threatened with violence. Meanwhile, representatives from the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and the neo-Nazi NPD were celebrated for having voted against the refugees in the regional council.
The pen thrown in Meissen may not have garnered much media attention, but it says a lot about the public mood in Germany, a country in which increasing numbers of people are united against the state, its institutions and its elected officials. It is a country in which antipathy towards democracy is gradually increasing while xenophobia is growing rapidly. And it is a country where incidents of right-wing violence are on the rise and refugee hostels are set on fire almost daily. Read on and comment » | Spiegel Staff | Friday, December 11, 2015
Germany: Police Attack Ruptly Producer as Clashes Break Out in Leipzig
Krawalle in Leipzig »
Krawalle in Leipzig: Dutzende Polizisten bei Demos gegen rechts verletzt
Bei gewaltsamen Ausschreitungen am Rande der Kundgebungen von Rechtsextremen und linken Gegendemonstranten sind in Leipzig nach Angaben der Polizei 56 Polizisten verletzt worden. Mindestens zwei von ihnen seien dienstunfähig, einer für mindestens vier Wochen, sagte die Polizeisprecherin. Außerdem seien 32 Dienstfahrzeuge der Polizei beschädigt worden. » | sto/dpa/AFP | Samstag, 12. Dezember 2015
Obama’s Weekly Address: Standing Strong in the Face of Terrorism
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Saudi Media Flaunt American Who Converted to Islam: ‘I Have Joined the Religion of Truth’
Last week, Breitbart Jerusalem reported on the video, in which a group of Saudis surround the American employee while they exclaim the “Shahadatain,” an Islamic pillar of faith, meaning, “There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is the prophet of Allah.”
After the American employee himself declares the “Shahadatain,” his Saudi colleagues shout, “Allahu Akbar,” meaning Allah is great, and they are seen hugging and kissing theAmerican over his conversion to Islam. It was not immediately clear when the video was taken.
On Friday, the Saudi Sabq news website published an extensive interview with the American, for the first time revealing his name to be Rick Harrison.
Harrison claimed that in America he was subject to propaganda against Islam. “Yet all those claims fell apart when I saw how my colleagues at the Jeddah airport treated me.” » | Ali Waked | Saturday, December 12, 2015
Robert Spencer on ISIS' Intent to Conquer Rome and Behead the Pope
ISIS Threat to POPE: Fears for Holy Father as Terror Nuts Plot 'FINAL MASSACRE' in Rome
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| Pope Francis, who it is feared may be next on ISIS's terror hit list |
The Vatican has admitted it is a target for crazed jihadis due to its religious links. Any attack would send shivers across the globe.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin said recently the Vatican was considering whether to ramp up security.
He said: "The Vatican could be a target because of its religious significance.
"We are capable of increasing the level of security in the Vatican and the surrounding area.
"But we will not let ourselves be paralysed by fear."
Rome has been the subject of a number of threatening terror films released by the extremists in recent weeks.
It is thought the focus on Rome, and specifically the Vatican City, may be in response to the Pope's recent condemnation of the deadly terror attacks in Paris, as well as its status of the capital of the Catholic world. » | Joey Millar | Saturday, December 12, 2015
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