L’Allemagne face au risque d’une terreur brune

LE MONDE: Editorial. Face à l’inquiétante hausse des violences liées à l’extrême droite, qui ciblent les élus et les étrangers, Angela Merkel se doit d’agir.

L’Allemagne avait été stupéfaite en apprenant la mort, le 2 juin, de Walter Lübcke, préfet de l’arrondissement de Kassel (Hesse), tué d’une balle dans la tête sur sa terrasse. Sur les réseaux sociaux, plusieurs comptes proches de l’extrême droite s’étaient réjouis de la disparition de ce chrétien-démocrate de 65 ans qui, en 2015, avait résolument soutenu la politique d’accueil des réfugiés décidée par Angela Merkel. Un suspect est aujourd’hui en détention provisoire : il s’agit d’un néonazi de 45 ans déjà emprisonné dans les années 1990 pour avoir fait exploser une bombe devant un foyer d’étrangers. » | Éditorial | jeudi 15 août 2019

Trumps Sicherheitsberater: Der mit dem großen Hammer

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Die amerikanische Regierung würde einen harten Brexit „begeistert“ unterstützen, verkündet Trumps Sicherheitsberater John Bolton. Es macht einen fassungslos, wie ein solcher Mann an das Ohr des Präsidenten gelangen konnte.

John Bolton sitzt an einer Schlüsselstellung im amerikanischen Machtapparat. Er ist Sicherheitsberater des Präsidenten und damit für Fragen von Krieg und Frieden nicht ganz unbedeutend. Bolton ist Nationalist vom Scheitel bis zur Sohle, einer, dem die Unbegrenztheit amerikanischer Macht über alles geht und für den Verträge, welche die Handlungsfreiheit der Vereinigten Staaten einhegen könnten, des Teufels sind. Wo ein Nagel ist, also ein Problem, ist der amerikanische Hammer das Werkzeug der Wahl; wo kein Nagel ist, auch.

John Bolton hatte auch in der Regierung von George W. Bush hohe Ämter bekleidet. Und auch schon damals war er dadurch aufgefallen, dass er die EU verabscheut – aus ideologischen Gründen und weil ja nicht auszuschließen war, dass diese EU gegenüber den Vereinigten Staaten „frech“ werden könnte, dass sie stark werden und ihre Interessen gegenüber Amerika selbstbewusst vertreten würde. Widerworte – das ist nicht das, was Bolton von „Europa“ erwartet, sondern Gefolgschaft. » | Ein Kommentar von Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger \ Dienstag, 15. August 2019

Jeffrey Epstein Kept Super Creepy Painting of Bill Clinton in Manhattan Townhouse

The searches of Jeffrey Epstein’s homes and his private island were bound to uncover some seriously bizarre items, but the painting of Bill Clinton that Epstein had hanging in his Manhattan townhouse might already be the weirdest thing. The oil painting features Bill Clinton sitting in a chair, pointing at the artist while wearing a blue dress and high heels. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins attempts to make sense of the painting and why Epstein had it in the first place.

No Chance of US-UK Deal If Northern Ireland Peace At Risk - Pelosi

THE GUARDIAN: Senior US politician says Brexit cannot be allowed to imperil Good Friday agreement

There is no chance that a trade agreement between the United States and Britain will pass Congress if Brexit undermines the Good Friday peace agreement between Ireland and Northern Ireland, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has said.

“Whatever form it takes, Brexit cannot be allowed to imperil the Good Friday agreement, including the seamless border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland,” Pelosi said. » | Staff and agencies | Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Jailed Saudi Feminist Refuses to Deny Torture to Secure Release

THE GUARDIAN: Loujain al-Hathloul will not retract electric shock and sexual assault claims, family says

The prominent Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul has rejected a proposal to secure her release from prison in exchange for a video statement denying reports she was tortured in custody, her family said.

Hathloul was arrested more than a year ago with at least a dozen other women’s rights activists as Saudi Arabia ended a ban on women driving cars, which many of the detainees had long campaigned for.

Some of the women appeared in court earlier this year to face charges related to human rights work and contacts with foreign journalists and diplomats, but the trial has not convened in months.

The case has drawn global criticism and provoked anger in European capitals and the US Congress after the journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi agents inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate last year.

Rights groups say at least three of the women, including Hathloul, were held in solitary confinement for months and subjected to abuse including electric shocks, flogging and sexual assault. » | Reuters | Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Tom Watson Urges Labour to Work with Lib Dems to Stop No-deal Brexit

THE GUARDIAN: Labour deputy leader says union with Jo Swinson only way to block no-deal Brexit

Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson has urged his party to work with the Liberal Democrats in order to stop a no-deal Brexit, as the party’s new leader Jo Swinson made clear she would work with Watson, despite having ruled out an alliance with Jeremy Corbyn.

The remarks by the two senior politicians at a round table on Wednesday are likely to spark anger from the Labour leadership. Swinson has previously ruled out working with the Labour leader, branding him a Brexiter who could not be trusted to fight for a second referendum to keep the UK in the EU. » | Jessica Elgot | Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Lili'uokalani – Hawaii's Last Queen | Documentary Excerpt

WIKIPEDIA: Queen Lili'uokalani »

THE PALACE: Iolani Palace »

7 Remarkable Things About Khadija, Wife of Prophet Muhammad

FAIR OBSERVER°: Khadija was one of history’s most remarkable women.

I often get into debates with people about women in Islam. How we dress. How we don’t dress. What we think or don’t think or should be thinking.

I also get into debates about feminism. What it is and what it isn’t. I think I’ve spawned permanent foes because I don’t care to apply the label, feminist, to describe myself. (I’m not one for labels, sorry. But if it’s even required of me, “Muslim woman” suits me just fine.)

But if we could agree for a moment that there exists a pure definition of the word feminist — to mean awesomely fierce to the millionth degree — then I’d like to introduce you to Islam’s first feminist: Khadija bint Khuwaylid.

Khadija was the wife of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). And she is one of the people I think about when I face or debate issues surrounding women today. Khadija’s existence precedes mine by more than 1,400 years. But if I can, at the very least, continuously strive to emulate her character, I will consider myself a success in life.

Seven things you might not know about the awesomely fierce Khadija (may God be pleased with her): » | Yasmina Blackman | Thursday, April 23, 2015

Sir Winston Churchill 's Family Feared He Might Convert to Islam

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The discovery of a letter to Sir Winston Churchill from his future sister-in-law has thrown new light on his fascination with Islam and Muslim culture

He is indelibly associated with the fight to preserve Britain and its Empire from Nazi invasion and his subsequent denouncement of Soviet totalitarianism’s Iron Curtain.

In the public eye, Sir Winston Churchill’s long political career earned him a place among the greatest of Britons.

But what may come as a surprise is that he was a strong admirer of Islam and the culture of the Orient — such was his regard for the Muslim faith that relatives feared he might convert.

The revelation comes with the discovery of a letter to Churchill from his future sister-in-law, Lady Gwendoline Bertie, written in August 1907, in which she urges him to rein in his enthusiasm.

In the letter, discovered by Warren Dockter, a history research fellow at Cambridge University, she pleads: “Please don’t become converted to Islam; I have noticed in your disposition a tendency to orientalise [fascination with the Orient and Islam], Pasha-like tendencies, I really have.”

Lady Gwendoline, who married Churchill’s brother Jack, adds: “If you come into contact with Islam your conversion might be effected with greater ease than you might have supposed, call of the blood, don’t you know what I mean, do fight against it.” » | Patrick Sawer | Sunday, December 28, 2014

John Bolton Doesn’t Want a Trade Deal with the UK – He Wants to Colonise Us

THE GUARDIAN: Trump’s national security adviser wants the UK to be beholden to the US for its daily bread, making the country a timid American outpost

John Bolton doesn’t do free trade. He does regime change in countries such as North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba. He does military interventions, notoriously in Afghanistan in 2001, Iraq in 2003 and Libya in 2011. He does punitive sanctions and embargoes. He does spite.

Bolton’s speciality is tearing up multilateral agreements, such as the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate accord, which he claims undermine US national sovereignty. For the same reason, he reviles the very idea of the UN, international law and the international criminal court (ICC).

So when Bolton, whose actual job is national security adviser to Donald Trump, came to London this week to meet Boris Johnson and senior ministers, the real focus of his visit, despite the Whitehall briefings, was not on a post-Brexit bilateral trade deal. It was on regime change in the UK. Bolton, a lifelong neoconservative ideologue, Muslim-baiting thinktanker and erstwhile Fox News commentator, does not give a hormone-filled sausage or chlorine-rinsed chicken wing for a free trade pact, fair or otherwise. Midwest wheat and soya exports are not his thing. What Bolton really does care about is exploiting the UK’s recent governmental upheaval, which almost anywhere else would be described as a rightwing coup, to America’s, and Trump’s, advantage. In short, the former colonies are out to colonise the UK. » | Simon Tisdall | Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — August 13, 2019

Of Course the US Supports a No Deal – It Makes a Minnow Out of Britain

THE GUARDIAN: After Trump security adviser John Bolton’s visit it’s clear the price of US backing will be paid both in trade and foreign policy

If you thought it was bad enough when Donald Trump held a reluctant Theresa May’s hand, then look away now. For things are about to get sweatier.

The president’s clammy embrace of the British right continued this week with the arrival of his national security adviser John Bolton in London, to declare the most isolationist US regime in living memory would “enthusiastically” support a no-deal Brexit.

A weakened country, desperate for a trade deal and in no position to refuse Donald Trump’s demands not just to lower our stringent standards or hamstring our car industry but on foreign policy too? Step right this way, sir! No wonder Bolton talks of us being at the front of the queue for trade talks, a line every bit as clearly crafted to help Downing Street as President Obama’s suggestion during the 2016 referendum that Brexit would push us to the back of it. And if these presidents can’t both be right, then arguably neither can the two very different British Conservative administrations responsible for ghostwriting their respective lines. » | Gaby Hinsliff | Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Special Report: Death of Jeffrey Epstein

Manila Chan (in for Rick Sanchez) anchors a special newscast on the apparent suicide of infamous pedophile and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. RT America’s Trinity Chavez reports on the latest twist in the Epstein saga. Then Mike Papantonio, host of “America’s Lawyer,” shares his expertise. RT America’s John Huddy discusses Epstein’s personal history, his association with Donald Trump and his mysterious private island in the Caribbean. RT America’s Michele Greenstein breaks down the timeline of the struggle to bring Epstein to justice and analyst Steve Malzberg addresses the media coverage of Epstein’s trial and sudden death. Finally attorney and conservative commentator Rory Riley-Topping weighs in on Epstein’s many victims.

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — August 12, 2019

British Diplomats to Pull Out from EU Decision-making Meetings within Days

THE GUARDIAN: Critics say No 10 move to quit bloc’s institutional structures leaves UK blindsided

British diplomats will pull out from the EU’s institutional structures of power in Brussels within days, under plans being drawn up by Downing Street.

In an attempt to reinforce the message that the UK is leaving the EU by 31 October, “do or die”, the UK will stop attending the day-to-day meetings that inform the bloc’s decision-making.

The move under discussion is said by UK officials to be in line with Boris Johnson’s first statement in the House of Commons, in which he said he would “unshackle” British diplomacy from EU affairs.

Critics have countered that the symbolic walkout would merely leave the UK blindsided on decisions and ultimately damage the national interest.

…

“Haughty grandstanding like this undermines our place in the world and will be treated as a snub by our European neighbours and allies, who we should be working with to address shared challenges.

“Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill would be appalled by this short-sightedness. We should be leading in Europe, not undermining our own interests.

“To be outside the room while our shared security interests are being discussed shows weakness and pettiness, not strength. Brexit is not inevitable; this national humiliation must end alongside this rotten Conservative government.” » | Daniel Boffey in Brussels | Monday, August 12, 2019

Winston Churchill | A Giant in the Century [With Spanish Subtitles]

US Security Adviser in Britain to Discuss Iran, Huawei – and Brexit

THE GUARDIAN: John Bolton expected to urge tougher UK stance towards Tehran and Chinese firm

John Bolton, Donald Trump’s national security adviser, has arrived in London for talks at which he is expected to urge Britain to toughen its stance on Iran and Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei.

As the United Kingdom prepares to leave the European Union on 31 October, many diplomats expect London to become increasingly reliant on the United States.

Bolton arrived on Sunday night and will hold talks on Monday and Tuesday. They will include a heavy focus on Brexit, reflecting the Trump White House’s attempts to solidify ties with Boris Johnson’s new government after Trump’s strained relationship with his predecessor Theresa May.

The hardliner is expected to urge British officials to align policy on Iran more closely with that of Washington, which has pressured Tehran with an increase in sanctions after the US withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. » | Reuters | Sunday, August 11, 2019

B-off back to the States, Mr. Bolton, you're not wanted or needed here! – Mark Alexander

Fascist Anthem Played as Bullfighting Returns to Mallorca

THE GUARDIAN: Far-right Vox leader shows support while animal welfare activists protest

Hundreds of animal rights activists protested outside the bullring in Palma de Mallorca at the weekend as bullfighting returned to the island for the first time since it was outlawed in 2017.

Around 400 protestors chanted: “It’s not art, it’s torture” and “No to bullfighting”, while inside the ring 12,000 people waited to watch some of Spain’s top toreros (bullfighters) enter the ring.

Bullfight supporters chanted: “Freedom” while the arena’s loudspeaker system drowned out the protesters, first with the song Viva España, and then a rendition of the banned fascist anthem Cara al Sol (Facing the Sun). » | Stephen Burgen in Barcelona | Sunday, August 11, 2019

Ireland Tells Boris Johnson There Will Be No Backstop Renegotiation

THE GUARDIAN: Irish government says there is no prospect of rethink in Brexit stalemate

The Brexit stalemate looks set to continue after the Irish government said the backstop would not be up for renegotiation at a planned meeting between Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar.

The two prime ministers will meet early next month but a spokesman for Varadkar said there was no prospect of a rethink on the most contentious part of the withdrawal agreement.

Johnson has been invited by the taoiseach to Dublin with “no preconditions” but the Irish government is keen to avoid any ambiguity. » | Daniel Boffey in Brussels | Sunday, August 11, 2019

Heseltine: Imposing No-deal Brexit 'Intolerable' Attack on Democracy

THE GUARDIAN: ‘Large’ number of Tory MPs set to vote against party, which would also lose ground to Lib Dems

The Conservatives will lose significant votes to the Liberal Democrats or other remain parties if they force through a no-deal Brexit against the will of parliament, the party stalwart Lord Heseltine has warned.

Imposing a no-deal departure without MPs’ consent was “an intolerable position for democracy”, the former deputy prime minister, who is heavily critical of Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s lead adviser and Brexit enforcer, said.

“It is absolutely central that parliament should be able to call to account people who represent them as ministers, and at the moment we’re being told by a particular figure, who’s proud of it, that he’s more or less running the show,” Heseltine said on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday show.

In response, the policing minister, Kit Malthouse, a longtime ally of Johnson, accused Heseltine of being among ageing Conservative figures who had “never quite reconciled themselves to the idea” of Brexit.

Heseltine, whose near-30 year frontbench career culminated in him serving as deputy PM under John Major, has been a persistent critic of Brexit and lost the Conservative whip after saying he had voted Lib Dem in the European elections in May.

In a joint comment piece in the Sunday Times with the Labour peer Betty Boothroyd, Heseltine argued a no-deal departure would be a “grotesque act of national self-harm”. » | Peter Walker, Political correspondent | Sunday, August 11, 2019