The accolades for the One from all over the world continue tonight. If you have the stomach for them, they’re included here.
Also notable is a suicide-bomber video game in which the score is based on how many innocent women and children you kill. I’ll bet that one’s a hit in the Territories!
Another one: in Turkey, the city of Batman is suing Warner Brothers for infringing on its good name.
Thanks to Abu Elvis, C. Cantoni, Conservative Swede, Fausta, Frontinus, Gryffilion, Insubria, JD, Steen, TB, TV, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Confirmed: Barack Obama Practiced Islam
In a recent analysis, “Was Barack Obama a Muslim?” I surveyed available evidence and found it suggests “Obama was born a Muslim to a non-practicing Muslim father and for some years had a reasonably Muslim upbringing under the auspices of his Indonesian step-father.” In response, David Brock’s organization, Media Matters for America (MMfA), which calls itself a “progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media,” has criticized one of my sources of information.
MMfA contends in “Daniel Pipes relied on disputed LA Times article to revive Obama-Muslim falsehood,” that “key aspects” of a March 16, 2007, Los Angeles Times article I quoted were later challenged by another newspaper account, “History of schooling distorted,” by Kim Barker in the Chicago Tribune on March 25.
Falsehood? That’s a strong word.
To assess MMfA’s claim, let’s review its preferred article and examine what Barker has to say on four topics related to Obama’s Indonesian years, 1967-71…
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Campaign: Unpaid Wages Resolved
Former Obama workers claim they were short-changed
Indianapolis — The Obama campaign says most of the payment issues that brought hundreds of upset campaign workers to the Indianapolis office Wednesday have been resolved.
Campaign spokesman Jonathan Swain says a few people showed up Thursday and made arrangements for payment by mail.
A few hundred people stood in line for several hours Wednesday waiting to get paid for working in the final days of the campaign. Many of those people said they were underpaid for the number of hours they worked.
Read the original story:
Lines were long and tempers flared Wednesday not to vote but to get paid for canvassing for Barack Obama. Several hundred people are still waiting to get their pay for last-minute campaigning. Police were called to the Obama campaign office on North Meridian Street downtown to control the crowd.
The line was long and the crowd was angry at times.
“I want my money today! It’s my money. I want it right now!” yelled one former campaign worker.
A former spokesman for the Obama campaign said 375 people were hired as part of the Vote Corps program and said people signed up to work three-hour shifts at a time. Three hours of canvassing got workers a $30 pre-paid Visa card.
The workers showed up to get their cards Wednesday morning at 10:00 am.
“There was a note on the door saying 1:00 pm and then at 1:20 pm everybody was like why is nobody here. They just got here and they’re trying to get it organized,” said Heather Richards, a former campaign worker.
| — Hat tip: Abu Elvis | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Challenge
By George Friedman
Truly extraordinary were the celebrations held around the world upon Obama’s victory. They affirm the global expectations Obama has raised — and reveal that the United States must be more important to Europeans than the latter like to admit. (We can’t imagine late-night vigils in the United States over a French election.)
Obama is an extraordinary rhetorician, and as Aristotle pointed out, rhetoric is one of the foundations of political power. Rhetoric has raised him to the presidency, along with the tremendous unpopularity of his predecessor and a financial crisis that took a tied campaign and gave Obama a lead he carefully nurtured to victory. So, as with all politicians, his victory was a matter of rhetoric and, according to Machiavelli, luck. Obama had both, but now the question is whether he has Machiavelli’s virtue in full by possessing the ability to exercise power. This last element is what governing is about, and it is what will determine if his presidency succeeds.
Embedded in his tremendous victory is a single weakness: Obama won the popular vote by a fairly narrow margin, about 52 percent of the vote. That means that almost as many people voted against him as voted for him.
[…]
Obama has promised to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq, where he does not intend to leave any residual force. If he follows that course, he will open the door for the Iranians. Iran’s primary national security interest is containing or dominating Iraq, with which Iran fought a long war. If the United States remains in Iraq, the Iranians will be forced to accept a neutral government in Iraq. A U.S. withdrawal will pave the way for the Iranians to use Iraqi proxies to create, at a minimum, an Iraqi government more heavily influenced by Iran.
Apart from upsetting Sunni and Kurdish allies of the United States in Iraq, the Iranian ascendancy in Iraq will disturb some major American allies — particularly the Saudis, who fear Iranian power. The United States can’t afford a scenario under which Iranian power is projected into the Saudi oil fields. While that might be an unlikely scenario, it carries catastrophic consequences. The Jordanians and possibly the Turks, also American allies, will pressure Obama not simply to withdraw. And, of course, the Israelis will want the United States to remain in place to block Iranian expansion. Resisting a coalition of Saudis and Israelis will not be easy.
[…]
Obama’s Afghan solution of building a coalition centered on the Europeans will thus meet a divided Europe with little inclination to send troops and with few troops to send in any event. That will force him into a confrontation with the Europeans in spring 2009, and then into a decision. The United States and its allies collectively lack the force to stabilize Afghanistan and defeat the Taliban. They certainly lack the force to make a significant move into Pakistan — something Obama has floated on several occasions that might be a good idea if force were in fact available.
He will have to make a hard decision on Afghanistan. Obama can continue the war as it is currently being fought, without hope of anything but a long holding action, but this risks defining his presidency around a hopeless war. He can choose to withdraw, in effect reinstating the Taliban, going back on his commitment and drawing heavy fire from the right. Or he can do what we have suggested is the inevitable outcome, namely, negotiate — and reach a political accord — with the Taliban. Unlike Bush, however, withdrawal or negotiation with the Taliban will increase the pressure on Obama from the right. And if this is coupled with a decision to delay withdrawal from Iraq, Obama’s own supporters will become restive. His 52 percent Election Day support could deteriorate with remarkable speed.
[…]
Obama will again turn to the Europeans to create a coalition to resist the Russians. But the Europeans will again be divided. The Germans can’t afford to alienate the Russians because of German energy dependence on Russia and because Germany does not want to fight another Cold War. The British and French may be more inclined to address the question, but certainly not to the point of resurrecting NATO as a major military force. The Russians will be prepared to talk, and will want to talk a great deal, all the while pursuing their own national interest of increasing their power in what they call their “near abroad.”
Obama will have many options on domestic policy given his majorities in Congress. But his Achilles’ heel, as it was for Bush and for many presidents, will be foreign policy. He has made what appear to be three guarantees. First, he will withdraw from Iraq. Second, he will focus on Afghanistan. Third, he will oppose Russian expansionism. To deliver on the first promise, he must deal with the Iranians. To deliver on the second, he must deal with the Taliban. To deliver on the third, he must deal with the Europeans.
[…]
Like any politician, Obama will face the challenge of having made a set of promises that are not mutually supportive. Much of his challenge boils down to problems that he needs to solve and that he wants European help on, but the Europeans are not prepared to provide the type and amount of help he needs. This, plus the fact that a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq requires an agreement with Iran — something hard to imagine without a continued U.S. presence in Iraq — gives Obama a difficult road to move on.
| — Hat tip: Conservative Swede | [Return to headlines] |
‘She is Not the Reason We Lost’
McCain insider says faction within campaign unfairly trying to blame Palin for Obama’s victory
One McCain insider complained that Palin starting taking advice from noted conservative Bill Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, and dismissed directives from the presidential nominee’s team.
But another McCain source said a faction within the campaign was unfairly trying to blame Palin for President-elect Barack Obama’s victory.
McCain’s senior adviser Steve Schmidt declined on Tuesday to say whether Palin had been a plus to the ticket — not exactly a vote of confidence.
Others in the divided camp had a different view.
“She is not the reason we lost,” the source said. “There is a group pushing that angle. People are trying to rewrite history.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Treasury Dept. Submits to Shariah Law
The U.S. Treasury Department is submitting to Shariah — the seditious religio-political-legal code authoritative Islam seeks to impose worldwide under a global theocracy.
As reported in this space last week, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Robert Kimmitt set the stage with his recent visit to Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Persian Gulf states. His stated purpose was to promote the recycling of petrodollars in the form of foreign investment here.
Evidently, the price demanded by his hosts is that the U.S. government get with the Islamist financial program. While in Riyadh, Mr. Kimmitt announced: “The U.S. government is currently studying the salient features of Islamic banking to ascertain how far it could be useful in fighting the ongoing world economic crisis.”
“Islamic banking” is a euphemism for a practice better known as “Shariah-Compliant Finance (SFC).” And it turns out that this week the Treasury will be taking officials from various federal agencies literally to school on SFC.
The department is hosting a half-day course entitled “Islamic Finance 101” on Thursday at its headquarters building. Treasury’s self-described “seminar for the policy community” is co-sponsored with the leading academic promoters of Shariah and SCF in the United States: Harvard University Law School’s Project on Islamic Finance. At the very least, the U.S. government evidently hopes to emulate Harvard’s success in securing immense amounts of Wahhabi money in exchange for conforming to the Islamists’ agenda. Like Harvard, Treasury seems utterly disinterested in what Shariah actually is, and portends.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Duchess of York Smears Turkey’s Image: Officials
Turkish officials have accused Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, of smearing Turkey’s image on a British television program about state orphanages in Turkey ahead of a European Union membership report.
Ferguson, ex-wife of British Queen Elizabeth’s second son, went under cover with reporters for ITN to visit state-run orphanages in Ankara and Istanbul and expose conditions there.
“It is obvious that Sarah Ferguson is ill-intentioned and is trying to launch a smearing campaign against Turkey by opposing Turkey’s EU membership,” Nimet Cubukcu, a minister in charge of women and family affairs, told Anatolian agency late on Monday.
According to a reporter who accompanied Sarah Ferguson on the trip, which also included visits to orphanages in Romania, children were found tied to their beds or left in filthy cots.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
First ID Cards for Britons From Autumn Next Year, Jacqui Smith to Say
Jacqui Smith is set to defy union opposition and announce that the first Britons will have to apply for compulsory identity cards from autumn next year.
From Nov 25 this year, ID cards are compulsory for foreign nationals who come to Britain.
However, the Home Secretary will say in a speech to the Social Market Foundation tomorrow [thurs] that compulsory ID cards for “airside” workers will be introduced at two of Britain’s airports from next autumn.
The plans will be phased in at Manchester and London City and then expanded to all airports after 18 months. The cards will cost £30 each.
Unions have fought the plans because they are concerned that their members will be used as “guinea pigs” for a national ID card scheme, which has been criticised by civil liberties groups.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Internet Black Boxes to Record Every Email and Website Visit
Internet “black boxes” could be used to record every email and website visit made by computer users in Britain, it has been reported.
Under Government plans to monitor internet traffic, raw data would be collected and stored by the black boxes before being transferred to a giant central database.
The vision was outlined at a meeting between officials from the Home Office and Internet Service Providers earlier this week.
It is further evidence of the Government’s desire to have the capability to vet every telephone call, email and internet visit made in the UK, which has already provoked an outcry.
Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, has described it as a “step too far”.
The proposal is expected to be put out to consultation as part of the new Communications Data Bill early next year.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: PM Makes ‘Suntanned’ Obama Gaffe
Rome, 6 Nov. (AKI) — Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called US President-elect Barack Obama “young, good looking and suntanned”. Berlusconi made the remarks on Thursday during a joint-media conference with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in the capital Moscow.
“I’ve told the President (Medvedev) that Obama has everything that it takes to agree with him. He is young, good looking and suntanned.
“I think good relations can be developed,” said Berlusconi.
Italian opposition MP Dario Franceschini, called on Berlusconi to apologise to Obama and not to involve Italy in any of his “tasteless” comments.
“He (Berlusconi) forgets that his words affect the image of our country in the world. To say that the US President is young, good looking and suntanned will make it sound to everyone as an offence, charged with dangerous ambiguity,” said Franceschini.
Berlusconi, known for his out of line comments and diplomatic gaffes once said: “Italy is now a great country to invest in. Today we have fewer communists and those who are still there deny having been one. Another reason to invest in Italy is that we have beautiful secretaries… superb girls.”
Berlusconi is in Russia to discuss Moscow’s relations with NATO and the European Union.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Row as Gasparri Says Obama Win Will Please Al Qaeda
President Napolitano focuses on “great sign of the vitality of American democracy”, and “unity” of two rivals.
ROME — Barack Obama’s victory has Italian politicians agreeing, at least on an adjective. The election of a black president to the White House is “historic” and could “change the world”. But there is bitter controversy over the jubilation of the Centre-left at the Democratic candidate’s triumph. Hackles were also raised by a statement from the People of Freedom’s group leader in the Senate, Maurizio Gasparri, which upset the PD and other political groups. “There are lots of question marks over Obama. With him in the White House, Al Qaeda could well be happier”.
The head of state was the first to send congratulations for the election, which is “a great sign of the vitality of American democracy”. Mr Napolitano emphasised the “unity” that was evident in the speeches of the winning candidate and the loser.
It is a unity that is hard to spot on the Italian political scene. Silvio Berlusconi sent a message to the new president in which he expressed confidence that “the friendship and collaboration of out two countries will continue to grow and become stronger”, adding in an unscripted aside: “A democratic president? It changes nothing for us. We worked very well with Clinton and very well with Bush. We’ll work very well with Obama”. In fact, Mr Berlusconi is confident that he will be able “to give advice because I’m older. I look forward to doing so when I congratulate him in person”. The prime minister also took the opportunity to attack Walter Veltroni and his party: “Now that Obama has won, they think he’s one of them. But Obama won and will be in power. They lost and we are in power. They should let us get on with it. We’ll tot things up in four years’ time and see if the electorate chooses us or them”.
Mr Veltroni’s reply came from the Pantheon, where the PD was holding a victory party for Obama: “This is the pettiness of Italian politics and we want to steer well clear of it”. If the PD talks about Obama as one of us, it is “because he is. Berlusconi, rightly, was on the same wavelength as Bush, as we are with Obama”. Meanwhile on the Centre-right “people have even said that Obama’s victor will make Al Qaeda happy. I can imagine what that will do for relations between Italy and the USA”.
The reference was to the unfortunate remark by Maurizio Gasparri in a morning interview with RAI GR3 radio news, which was immediately met with vehement protests from the PD. In the Senate, the PD group leader, Anna Finocchiaro, asked for an explanation of the “unacceptable words”. “The tone of this rebuke is excessive and out of place”, was the reply from Mr Gasparri, who is believed to have been reprimanded by National Alliance (AN) leader Gianfranco Fini and who later said: “I was referring to news that appeared in the press”, meaning an appeal by Al Qaeda to “humiliate” Bush. But interior minister Roberto Maroni snapped: “It will change nothing in the fight against terrorism” and foreign minister Franco Frattini stated clearly that Mr Gasparri was “wrong” because with Obama “the strategy in Afghanistan will be reinforced” and Al Qaeda “will weep bitter tears”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Asylum Claim by Bin Laden’s Son May be Rejected
Madrid, 5 Nov. (AKI) — An asylum claim by the son of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, Omar Bin Laden, is expected to be rejected by the Spanish government, according to one of the country’s major newspapers. El Pais, a national daily based in Madrid, quoted well-informed sources on Wednesday who said asylum was unlikely to be approved.
Omar asked Spain for asylum after he arrived in Madrid on a flight from Cairo on Monday.
He was expected to be interviewed at length by government officials on Wednesday, said El Pais. The Ministry of the Interior will then notify Omar of its decision within 72 hours.
If his claim is rejected, Omar will have 24 hours to appeal the decision, and the ministry a further 48 hours to review it.
Seven months ago, Omar was refused entry to live in the United Kingdom with his British wife, Zaina al-Sabah.
Omar said he no longer feels safe in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, where he lives, nor in Saudi Arabia, his country of birth, reported Spanish daily El Pais. He is reportedly being held at Madrid’s Barajas Airport where he has remained since his arrival.
If his claim is rejected, Omar could appeal to a Spanish court. He also has to prove that his life and physical integrity would suffer if he goes back to Saudi Arabia, his country of origin.
El Pais said in the past five years there has been no precedent of Saudi citizens asking or having been granted asylum in Spain, and granting it to Omar would imply that members of the Bin Laden family suffer persecution in Saudi Arabia.
The Bin Laden family is one of the wealthiest in the Kingdom, where they possess an impressive conglomerate including one of the largest construction firms and equity management.
Omar, 28, is one of 19 children of the Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, who tops US President Bush’s most wanted list.
Osama Bin Laden’s whereabouts remain unknown. He is accused of being behind a number of atrocities, including the 1998 bombing of two US embassies in East Africa and mastermind of the attacks on New York and Washington on September 11 2001.
His Al-Qaeda network has been linked indirectly to bombings on the island of Bali in Indonesia and its capital Jakarta, as well as suicide attacks in north Africa and Turkey.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Spain Rejects Bin Laden Son’s Asylum Request
Spain has rejected a request by one of Osama bin Laden’s sons for political asylum because it does not accept his argument that his life is in danger in the Middle East, the interior ministry and a source close to his entourage said Wednesday.
“The reason they gave is that they don’t believe his life is in danger,” the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case, told AFP.
A Spanish interior ministry spokesman confirmed that the asylum request had been rejected, adding the decision met the rules of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Omar bin Laden, who says he has not seen his father since 2000, now has 24 hours to appeal the decision.
The 28-year-old, who has urged his father to give up violence, had argued that his life was threatened in the Middle East because of his pacifist positions.
He made the asylum request on Monday immediately after he arrived at Madrid’s Barajas airport on an Egypt Air flight from Cairo, where he currently lives with his British wife Zaina Alsabah bin Laden, 52, formerly known as Jane Felix-Browne. They married in 2006.
In April British authorities turned down a request from Omar, a former scrap metal merchant, for a settlement visa.
At the time he said he wanted to live in England with Zaina at her home in northwestern England in the village of Moulton, near Northwich in Cheshire.
The British embassy in Cairo said it had based its decision on fears that his presence in the country would cause “considerable public concern”.
It is thought the authorities were referring to comments made by Omar that he could not be certain that his father was responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States that killed over 3,000 people.
He has appealed that decision. The results of the appeal are expected early next year.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands of Under-Fives Suspended From School for Attacking Pupils and Teachers
Thousands of children aged five and under were suspended from schools in England last year for assaulting fellow pupils and teachers, new figures showed today.
In the last 12 months, 580 five-year-olds, 300 four-year-olds and 120 three-year-olds were give fixed-period exclusions for attacking another pupil, according to official Government data.
And 10 pupils aged two and under were suspended for physically assaulting another child.
In addition, 890 five-year-olds were suspended for assaulting an adult, along with 420 four-year-olds and 140 three-year-olds.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: EU Demands Legal Reforms for Membership Bid
Ankara, 5 Nov. (AKI) — The European Union has called for Turkey to speed up political and legal reforms if it wants to improve its chances of attaining EU membership.
According to the Turkish daily, Hurriyet, the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission for the first time declared Turkey a functioning market economy, a crucial step for eventual EU membership. But it also reportedly said the country’s reforms had stalled due to political conflict.
“Despite its strong political mandate, the government did not put forward a consistent and comprehensive programme of political reforms,” the EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in an annual progress report.
The report said the slow down was due in part to government paralysis caused by attempts to ban the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) over complaints that its Islamist roots could undermine Turkey’s secular traditions.
“Lack of dialogue and spirit of compromise between the main political parties had a negative impact on the smooth functioning of the political institutions,” the report said.
Hurriyet said Rehn praised Turkey for its role in defusing conflicts in the Caucasus, where a brief war erupted between Russia and Georgia, but urged Ankara to help end the division of Cyprus since reunification talks have been relaunched.
Wednesday’s report listed areas where insufficient progress towards democratic standards had been made, including the role of the military, corruption, human rights, gender equality and respect for minorities.
While the report is an eagerly awaited annual event, it is unlikely to significantly affect the negotiations regarding Turkey’s EU membership, Rehn has said.
The EU opened entry talks with Turkey in 2005, but there has been little progress amid disagreements over Cyprus and opposition from France, which took over the bloc’s presidency from Slovenia on 1 July.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Two Foreign [Danish] Soldiers Shot in Sweden
Two foreign soldiers have been injured in a shooting incident at a military training zone outside Karlsborg in western Sweden.
The pair received shot wounds to the legs during an international training operation, according to early reports.
The two were injured when live ammunition was fired as part of an exercise carried out inside a house.
Both are being treated for their injuries at Skövde Hospital. Neither of the soldiers are seriously wounded, according to the Swedish Armed Forces.
The exercise involved military personnel from Sweden and three other countries.
In a statement, the Armed Forces said they would not reveal any further details about the operation since it involved the training of specialist units and was therefore confidential.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
UK Now Official Drugs Capital of Europe as More Youngsters Use Cocaine, Ecstasy and Amphetamines
Drug abuse in Britain is now worse than anywhere else in Europe, a devastating analysis showed today.
It said that young people in this country are more likely to use cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamine than those in any other country on the continent.
Young Britons are now using cocaine in quantities and with a frequency unmatched anywhere else in the world but the United States, the report found.
One in 20 schoolchildren of 15 and 16 — around 200,000 teenagers — have used the drug, it said.
And the breakdown by the European Union’s drug agency pointed to levels of deaths from drugs that are higher here than anywere else in the EU.
Only four small European countries, including Luxembourg and Estonia, lose a higher proportion of their young people in drug-related deaths, the report said.
Deaths linked to drug abuse in Britain are, the figures suggest, running at double the rate of those in Germany and four times those in France.
The report from the Lisbon-based European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction came as a rebuke to ministers who are trying to paint a rosy picture of declining drug use among young people.
The Government is pointing to the controversial British Crime Survey as its source of evidence of lower drug abuse.
Even the real good news for Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is qualified, the European report showed.
While cannabis use in Britain has been going down, largely because of growing health concerns, young people in this country remain more likely to use the drug than those in any EU country but France and Denmark.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Rise of the Police State
Royal Mail, shops and private firms to bid for right to fingerprint us for new ID cards
The Royal Mail, shops and private firms are today being invited to bid for multi-million pound contracts to fingerprint millions of Britons for ID cards.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is placing the private sector in charge of gathering the biometric details of anyone who applies for a passport or the controversial new cards.
People will have all ten fingerprints and their face scanned.
The hugely sensitive biometric data will then be passed on to the Government’s Identity and Passport Service for inclusion on the new National Identity Register.
Separately, the applicant will fill in a form to request a passport or ID card. They will undergo full identity checks and will only be issued with their card or passport once this is complete.
The card — being displayed by Miss Smith, right — will contain a microchip with an image of two fingerprints and the facial scan.
The Home Office said firms have to pass rigorous security checks to win a contract.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
EU-Croatia: Expansion, Rehn Says Zagreb Must Do More
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 5 — The ball is now in Croatia’s court, said EU Commission for expansion, Olli Rehn, summing up the state of negotiations taking place between Brussels and Zagreb for Croatia’s entry into the EU. “The negotiations could enter the conclusive phases by the end of 2009 — said Rehn on the occasion of the 2008 report on the state of the agreement between the EU and the countries in south-western Europe — but with the proviso that Croatia respects the fiscal conditions”. For Rehn, in particular, Zagreb must “work hard” to reform the judicial system and face the serious challenge of the fight against corruption and organized crime. As to the possible entry date for Croatia in the EU, the commissioner observed that based on the actual conditions it isn’t foreseen that entry would occur before the Lisbon treaty takes affect, currently scheduled for the beginning of 2010. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: New Clashes Between Christians and Muslims in South
Cairo, 6 Nov. (AKI) — Minority Coptic Christians have clashed with Muslims in southern Egypt, according to Christian MP Ibrahim Zanuni quoted by pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat. The violence erupted at a Muslim funeral on Tuesday in the Coptic majority village of al-Tayba in al-Maniya province after Muslims accused Copts of throwing stones at mourners praying at a funeral, Zanuni said.
Scuffles broke out between Muslims and Christians and police fired tear gas into the crowds, angering local Copts, according to Zanuni.
Police arrested 40 people over the incident, but there are fears there may be more violence.
Coptic Christians in Egypt have been the target of periodic attacks by Muslim hardliners in recent years and al-Tayba has been the scene of a number of violent incidents including gunfights.
France’s Association of Copts held a demonstration in Paris, in June opposing what it alleges are “repeated and ferocious” attacks against members of the Coptic Christian minority in Egypt. Sixteen people were killed in attacks in May and June.
On 31 May, 60 armed Muslims attacked a Coptic monastery in Abufana assaulting dozens of monks and setting alight churches and surrounding buildings, the association reported.
Coptic Christians make up between six and 10 percent of Egypt’s 73 million people and comprise the largest Christian community in the Middle East.
The Copts recognise the sole divine nature of Christ and unlike Roman Catholics do not recognise the doctrine of papal infallibility. They have their own leader, also called Pope, Shenouda III.
The Coptic Church’s liturgy is similar to that of the Orthodox Church.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Mid-East: Gaza, Ceasefire Risk After Blaze of War
(by Aldo Baquis) (ANSAmed) — GAZA/TEL AVIV, NOVEMBER 5 — The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is hanging by a thread, agreed on five months ago thanks to complex Egyptian mediation. New scenes of war have returned to the area since yesterday. Israeli aircraft targeted Hamas fighters in Gaza — killing 6 of the them — and Hamas in reaction hit numerous settlements in western Neghev with dozens of rockets, including the large cities of Ashqelon and Sderot. The spiral of violence can still be stopped. Hamas, from Gaza, asked Egyptian leaders to ‘‘save the ceasefire’’ with a diplomatic intervention in Israel. The Israeli minister of defence, Ehud Barak, assured that for his part ‘‘Israel doesn’t have the intention of breaking the calm’’. A substantial convergence of interests still exists between Hamas and Israel. The former needs the ceasefire to complete the organisation to complete the training of a ‘fighting force’ ten thousand strong. Israel, on its part, fears exposing the 200 thousand inhabitants of the area to Palestinian rockets, after seemingly normal situation of the last few peaceful months. Even if it is not explicitly expressed, maybe a political calculation exists on the part of Kadima leaders and the labour party. Another bout of violence on the eve of elections could enforce the position of the nationalist right, favouring Benyamin Netanyahu’s Likud. Even so, last night the defence minister Ehud Barak, leader of the labour party, ordered a unit of airborne soldiers to penetrate 250 metres into the Gaza Strip, across from the Kissufim crossing, to destroy an almost completed tunnel. ‘‘It was a ‘ticking’ tunnel’’ a military source said. It wasn’t explosive, but very soon — according to intelligence sources — Hamas militants would have been able to pass through to carry out an attack in Israel. Maybe they wanted to kidnap a soldier, or a civilian, to have another hostage in their hands other than Corporal Ghilad Shalit, who has been at the mercy of Hamas since 2006. Yet again two days ago, after a long silence, Muhammad Deif returned to the forefront, the supreme chief of the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigade (the armed wing of Hamas) who has been living in hiding since his miraculous survival of repeated Israeli attacks. Deif, in a recorded message, communicated that ‘‘soon, very soon, we will carry out attacks’’. In that area at the limits of the Israeli Army defence is reduced to practically zero. The settlements on the frontier are just a few minutes from the Gaza Strip. The Kissufim kibbutz, where the tunnel was discovered, is close to the Palestinian holdings. The simple distraction of a patrol, or a bank of morning fog would be enough to discover the surprise of Hamas fighters in a border settlement. For this reason, explains Barak, in extreme cases, when the ‘ticking’ of an attack is heard, Israeli forces penetrate into the Gaza Strip. Hamas, which in a week will have to ask Egypt for its services to re-launch inter-Palestinian dialogue, knows that it can’t pull the cord too tight. A return to a frontal fight with Israel would disrupt its own political plans in the long term with the PNA. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Obama: Cautious Optimism by Israel and Palestinians
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, NOVEMBER 5 — Israel and the Palestinian National Authority joined in the global chorus of positive judgement on the victory of Barack Obama, the first black candidate to become American President. A cautious optimism came out of comments by the leaders of both sides on the fact that President Obama could have a positive impact on the tortuous peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. There is a different emphasis however, in the comments made. Outgoing President Ehud Olmert appeared to want to stress the alleged similarities of interest, as well as values, which form the solid basis of the “special relationship” between Israel and the USA. HE said he was convince that “the special relationship between the two states will be strengthened during the Obama Presidency”. Israel in fact, appears above all to hold dear the “exclusivity” of its relationship with its American ally, essential for peace and stability in the Middle East. Palestinian President Abu Mazen (Mahmud Abbas), celebrating Obamàs victory, placed the emphasis on hoped-for positive effects that this could have on the peace process. He said that he hoped the new President would “increase efforts for peace, considering the Palestinian problem and the Arab-Israel confrlict are key to peace in the world”. He hoped that Obama would “continue to make peace one of his top priorities”. The reaction of Hamas, in power in the Gaza strip, was somewhat colder, urging Obama to learn from the “mistakes” of his predecessor. Obama “must draw conclusions from the errors of the previous administration which destroyed Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine” said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum. “The Palestinians want the USA to stop its cudgel policy, support the Palestinian cause and be less biased towards the Israeli occupiers”. The unanimous judgement in Israel is that Obamàs victory is “a splendid demonstration of American democracy and an example for others”. President Shimon Peres said that the election result was “the end of racism” since “from now on no white person can claim to be superior and no black person to be victim of discrimination”. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni described the victory as “a badge of honour for American democracy”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Obama: Israel; Olmert, USA Proved it is a Great Democracy
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, NOVEMBER 5 — The outgoing Israeli premier, Ehud Olmert, has today declared in a memo from his office that with the victory of Barack Obama “the United States has proved once again that it is the greatest democracy, and an example to all democracies in the world”. Obama, claimed Olmert, “has demonstrated his leadership qualities to the world”. “Relations between Israel and the USA”, continued Olmert, “are special: they are based on shared values and interests and are characterised by close cooperation. Israel and the United States both have the will to continue to strengthen these ties to bring peace and stability to the Middle East”. “We have no doubt”, concluded Olmert, “that the special relationship between the two states will continue and grow even stronger during the Obama presidency”. (ANSAmed).
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Religion, Peres and Livni to Attend Saudi Conference
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, NOVEMBER 5 -Israeli President Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, will participate in a UN conference promoted by Saudi Arabia to encourage religious dialogue from November 11 to 13 in New York. The announcement was made in Jerusalem by the Office of the President, which added that Peres and Livni “intend to take advantage of this conference to have working meeting with representatives of the Arab world”. On October 23 President Peres and the Egyptian head of state Hosni Mubarak called a meeting in Sharm El Sheikh “to restart the Saudi peace initiative for a regional solution of the Israeli-Arab conflict, parallel with the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. The Saudi Arabian initiative foresees the normalization of the relations between Israel and the Arab states in exchange for the return of the occupied territories Israel annexed in 1967, the constitution of a Palestinian state in West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as the capital and a fair, joint agreement on the Palestinian refugees from 1948. (ANSAmed).
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Iranian Group Actively Recruiting Children
Recruits Young ‘Martyrs’ to Fight ‘Global Arrogance’
A terrorist group is distributing flyers in Iran calling for young volunteers to join the Lebanese Hezbollah to carry out suicide operations against the “Global Arrogance” — also known as the United States.
The leaflets promise young recruits that they will join “fighters in the worldwide front against the Global Arrogance,” the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI, reported. The term is used by some Iranian officials in reference to the U.S.
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Iranian President Backs Messianic Cult
The key to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s hardline policies may not be hidden in his revolutionary past, or in any of the nuclear facilities dispersed across Iran, but in a small farming village near the holy city of Qom.
Here, in what was until only a few years ago a shabby local mosque, Iran’s new radical Muslim leader has become the chief sponsor of a messianic cult whose massed followers pray each week for the end of the world as we know it.
Since coming to power last year Mr Ahmadinejad has given a reported $US20 million ($26 million) and personal supervision to turning the tiny Jamkaran mosque into a massive complex of prayer halls, minarets, car parks and ablutions. Once completed, it will cater in comfort to the tens of thousands of worshippers who flock here every Tuesday night, hoping for the reappearance of the Mahdi or “Hidden Imam”, Shiite Islam’s equivalent of the Messiah.
When Mr Ahmadinejad sent an 18-page letter to the White House last week lecturing the President, George Bush, on religion and morality, many questioned whether the Iranian President was a religious fanatic, a megalomaniac, or merely playing to an Islamic gallery. Jamkaran is a place to start looking for answers.
Messianic Fervor Grows Among Iran’s ShiitesIn Shiite Muslim belief, the 12th Imam or legitimate successor to the prophet Mohammed was only five years old in the year 873 when he vanished beneath the ground in the city of Samarra, in modern Iraq.
Devout Shiites believe some day he will re-emerge to inaugurate a new era of perfect government on earth, which will in turn be followed by the return of the prophet Jesus to judge mankind. And those who flock to Jamkaran believe that this will happen very soon.
“We can see the signs of his emergence. Nobody can know the exact date of it, but it will be in the near future,” explained Mohammed Mehdi Safariyan, 23, a theology student who travelled from Qom last week for the vigil. “One of the most significant signs is that people feel they have lost something, something they need and they look for and they can’t find. This is happening everywhere in the world. Everywhere we go we see new religions, people who are looking for a way to escape.”…
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Msgr. Warduni, Bishop in Baghdad: “Obama, True Victory Means Peace in Iraq”
The vicar of the Patriarch asks the President elect of the USA to “safeguard the good of all peoples” putting aside “divisions and partisan interests”. The prelate condemns the Iraqi parliament decision to assign only six seats to minorities in provincial elections and calls for “equal rights” as set out in the Constitution. Small signs of hope in Mosul.
Baghdad (AsiaNews) — “We hope President Barack Obama will govern with the good of all peoples in mind. An invitation that we also send to the world’s political leaders that they may strive for peace, prosperity and love between all nations, putting aside divisions and partisan interests”. This is the wish expressed by Msgr. Shlemon Warduni, auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, to AsiaNews following Obama’s election victory. Referring to the future of Iraq, the prelate has invited the newly elected Head of State to “safeguard the good of all”, not only by working to “win the war”, but also to “bring a stable and lasting peace”, because only then can a “true victory” be claimed, not only in Iraq, but in all “those areas of conflict”.
The auxiliary bishop of Baghdad had far harsher words for the “slashed representation” of minorities in the upcoming provincial elections. On Monday 3 November the Parliament approved a resolution, by 106 votes out of 150, to reserve only 6 seats for all minorities: three for Christians (Baghdad, Nineveh and Bassora), one each for Yazidis and Shabaks in Nineveh and the last to the e Sabei, in the capital. “It is pittance — denounces Msgr. Warduni — but we don’t want it. We want equal rights”.
The Chaldean bishop recalls the battle launched by the Church “for the reinstatement of article 50 of the electoral law”, which would have guaranteed 15 seats (out of a total of 440) to minorities, 13 to Christians, one to the Shabaks and the last to the Yazidis. “We met with Premier al-Maliki, the president and the Muslim religious leaders among them the great Ayatollah al Sistani, the Sheiks and tribal chiefs. All of them promised the article would be reintroduced based upon the principal, enshrined in the constitution that all Iraqis are equal and enjoy equal rights. Evidently they preferred to give us this pittance; but we won’t accept it, we want equal rights”.
The patriarchal vicar states that “it is not right that they continue to speak of minorities”, because they are in reality “different parts of the one Iraq”, which must work together to “transform the desire for democracy into a concrete project”; he emphasises the role of the Christian community in the rebuilding of the country, particularly its “precious contribution in terms of the spreading of culture, in education and formation, in social work and in healthcare”, in the midst of very real “dangers, threats and persecution”. A slaughter that for too long has unfolded in silence, thanks to the behaviour of the “European Union, the United States, the parliament and the international community, all of whom stood by without raising a finger to help”.
“In October in Mosul alone — continues Msgr. Warduni — 2500 families were forced to flee, 14 people were killed and three homes destroyed. Despite all of this there are some small signs of hope: thanks to police and army intervention the situation has changed and over the past few days over 500 families have returned to the city, while others are preparing to return”. The prelate spoke of some positive elements for Christians in Mosul: “the close bond between the Church and the community, who thank the priests and bishops for their work; the solidarity with the Muslims, who help the Christians bringing them food and who ask those families not to flee; the friendships born between the young people of those two communities, who today greet and speak to each other, something that was impossible in the past; the governments response, their partial answer to our cries for help”. Many aspects however remain unresolved, among them the “drama of death and pain of our families” who wait for compensation for the raids carried out against Christians that saw “guns and rifles pointed to the heads of small children” and the sense of “latent fear” which pervades the “future of so many people”. (DS)
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Saudi Arabia: Gov’t for Women Rights Not Convincing
(ANSAmed) — ROMA, NOVEMBER 4 — The Saudi Council of Ministers yesterday emphasized the government’s resolve to protect the rights of women and prevent violence against them. “Royal decrees have been issued to protect the rights of women at judicial institutions and tackle delays in this respect,” a Cabinet statement said, as reported by Arab News. “No measures should be taken in violation of those rights and freedoms except within the framework of Shariah laws,” the Saudi Press Agency said, quoting the Cabinet. Abdul Ilah Saaty of the Jeddah Community College welcomed the government’s decision and emphasized the need to change society’s view toward women’s rights. “Islam protects the rights of women. The Qur’an and Sunnah urge Muslims to be kind to women. But we are not doing that.” He said the problem was with a wrong interpretation of Islamic teachings. “If a woman does not want to live with her husband and wants a divorce, it takes years for her to win her right. Our judicial system is old fashioned, bureaucratic and should be changed”. “We are not demanding what Western women have. We are asking for rights within the framework of Shariah”, he added. Nadia Baeshen of King Abdul Aziz University called for the implementation of Cabinet decisions regarding the employment and empowerment of women. “I strongly believe that all these government declarations are made for propaganda because we don’t see anything in practice,” said Baeshen, a prominent advocate of women’s rights. “We have seen so many such statements during the past six years but the concerned ministries and government departments are doing nothing to improve women’s conditions,” she added. Saudi Arabia has signed the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. “But we are not complying with the terms and conditions of that declaration,” Baeshen said. She called for the formation of a committee of prominent women to follow up on government resolutions aimed at improving the condition of women, and asked for a plan “a plan of action” to remove all obstacles and roadblocks facing women. “We want to see action not just statements”, she added. (ANSAmed)
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Saudi Arabia: King Sacks Governor Accused of Discrimination
(ANSAmed) — ROME, NOVEMBER 5 — Saudi King Abdullah has removed a ruling family member accused of discrimination against the minority Ismaili Shiite community from his post, ostensibly at his own request. A royal decree relieved Prince Mishaal bin Saud bin Abul Aziz from his post as governor of southwestern Najran province “at his request,” the official SPA news agency said late Tuesday, as quoted by Middle East Online. It did not give details or any other reason for the move. But Prince Mishaal has been accused by Ismaili activists, who belong to an offshoot of Shiite Islam, of encouraging the seizure of lands in the Ismaili stronghold of Najran to settle Sunni Yemeni tribesmen who are granted Saudi citizenship in an attempt to alter the areàs demographic and religious makeup. The Najran Ismailis are a separate branch of the broader Shiite sect and do not follow the Aga Khan who heads the mainstream Ismailis. Last April, a group of Ismaili activists presented to King Abdullah — who rules a country dominated by the rigorous doctrine of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism — a petition signed by 77 Najran notables demanding the sacking of Mishaal. In a report issued in September, Middle East Online recalls, New York-based Human Rights Watch urged the Saudi government to end what it called its “systematic discrimination” against minority Ismaili Shiites, charging that they are treated as second-class citizens. HRW said that several hundred thousand Ismailis live in Saudi Arabia, mostly in Najran province on the border with Yemen. Saudi Arabia took control of Najran from Yemen in 1934, incorporating into the kingdom the local Sulaimani Ismaili community. More than 70 years on, “Saudi authorities at the highest levels continue to propagate hate speech” against them, HRW said. In April 2007 the Council of Senior Religious Scholars, the body tasked with officially interpreting Islamic faith, termed Ismailis “corrupt infidels, debauched atheists.” Hundreds of Ismailis were arrested following clashes with security forces in Najran in April 2000 and about 400 others were purged from the local bureaucracy, the rights watchdog said. Seventeen Ismailis are still serving jail terms over the unrest, it said. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: the City of Batman to Sue Warner Bros
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, NOVEMBER 6 — The major of Batman, the small city in South-East Turkey, announced its intention to sue Warner Bros. for its Batman movie franchise. According to press reports in Turkish dailies, the major Huseyin Kalkan has said that they are preparing to sue the producer of the Batman film, who is claimed to make money by using the towns name, and has that they are investigating on the matter whether the case should be opened in the US or in Turkey. “There is only one Batman in this world,” said Kalkan. “Without telling us, the US makers of the films have taken the name of our region.” Kalkan said that they will use the compensation that they will obtain from the case for women and street children in Batman. Kalkan has criticized that, in spite of the large revenues of the worldfamous Batman film, the Batman Municipality, where women commit suicide and where children live on the streets, have not undertaken anything on this topic. About their expectations about the compensation he said: “If we win compensation, we will see in court how much of the revenues it will be. We expect our share from the revenues. If we win the case, we will use all the rights we won for service to the Batman people and to the street children there.” When it comes to the statement that the English version of Batman and the name of Batman city are being used in different meanings, Kalkan said that Batman means “weight, heaviness”, and that different meanings did not interest them. The very first filmed Batman was the 1943 serial with the first full-length feature being the 1966 movie with the television cast. More recently, The Dark Knight amassed USD 992,764,009 in global box office receipts according to Box Office Mojo. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Putin May Return to Kremlin in ‘09: Report
Russia’s Prime minister Vladimir Putin (C), Speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament Boris Gryzlov … MOSCOW (Reuters) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could resign from his post in 2009 to pave the way for Vladimir Putin to return to the Kremlin, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an unidentified source close to the Kremlin.
Medvedev Wednesday proposed increasing the presidential term to six years from four years, a step the newspaper said was part of a plan drawn up by Vladislav Surkov, who serves as Medvedev’s first deputy chief of staff.
Under the plan, Medvedev could implement changes to the constitution and unpopular social reforms “so that Putin could return to the Kremlin for a longer period,” the newspaper said.
“Under this scenario Medvedev could resign early citing changes to the constitution and then presidential elections could take place in 2009,” the newspaper said, citing the unidentified source close to the Kremlinl.
The paper said Putin, who is currently prime minister, could then rule for two six year terms, so from 2009 to 2021. The paper cited Putin’s spokesman as saying he saw no reason for Putin to return to power in 2009.
Investors, already jittery over the impact of the financial crisis on Russia’s economic boom, are trying to work out who is really in charge of Russia, the biggest question for those seeking to ascertain political risk.
They are seeking any details on how the current set up — with Medvedev as president and Putin as prime minister — could change. During Medvedev’s speech Wednesday the Russian stock market erased most of the gains it made earlier in the day.
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Islamists Protest Execution of Bali Bombers
Islamic extremists rallied in the Indonesian capital Thursday against the imminent execution of three Bali bombers, as defense lawyers demanded the families be allowed a final visit.
Chanting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greater), some 100 militants descended on the offices of the national human rights body as the bombers’ lawyers met officials inside to demand access for the families.
The radicals condemned the executions, believed to be hours or days away, and praised bombers Amrozi, 47, his brother Mukhlas, 48, and Imam Samudra, 38, as “holy warriors.”
They carried banners pledging to follow the bombers’ path of jihad or “holy war” and warning that “hell” awaits the executioners.
Defense lawyer Mahendradatta urged the human rights body, Komnas Ham, to back the families’ demand for visiting rights.
Komnas Ham chairman Ifdhal Kasim said the prisoners had a right to meet their families before they faced the firing squad.
“A prisoner awaiting execution must be given a chance to meet their families,” he said, promising to take up the matter with the prosecutor’s office which handles executions.
Meanwhile the families wrote to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pleading for a delay in the executions, defense lawyer Fahmi Bachmid said.
He said however that the letter was not a request for clemency. The bombers have said they want to die to become “martyrs” for their dream of creating an Islamic utopia across Southeast Asia.
“We don’t know the contents of the letter. The families only told me that they hope the execution will be postponed until the president gives an answer to the letter,” he said.
The bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 killed more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists.
The government has said the condemned men will be executed by firing squad in “early November” after they exhausted the appeals process.
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Lawyers Attack Govt a Year After Sacking of Top Judges
Lahore, 5 Nov. (AKI) — By Syed Saleem Shahzad — A year after Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf sacked the country’s top judges, the chances of the Pakistan People Party-led government reinstating deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary are slim, the lawyers’ movement said on Wednesday.
“We don’t have any hope the present government will reinstate Chaudhary. There is no difference between Musharraf and President Asif Ali Zardari,” the main leader of the lawyers movement and a PPP chief, Aitzaz Ahsan, said in a statement.
“Musharraf did not reinstate him and Asif Ali Zardari does not want him reinstated either,” said Ahsan.
“The lawyers are ready for the long march and we don’t need any support of the political parties.”
The statement was a clear rebuke of Pakistan’s president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and a sign that the honeymoon period for Zardari and Pakistan’s democratically elected government is over.
Political analysts see more difficulties ahead for the Zardari- led government.
Ahsan, a barrister, is President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan, a human rights activist, and a former justice and interior minister. He has previously sought to avoid criticism of the PPP and Zardari.
The PPP-led government had sought to avoid violent protests to mark the anniversary of the sacking of over 60 independent-minded judges on 3 November, 2007.
But on Tuesday lawyers boycotted the court proceedings. In the southern port city of Lahore and other cities, lawyers locked up courts.
Lawyers, political party workers and activists gathered on Monday in the eastern garrison town of Rawalpindi in Punjab province and the capital, Islamabad, while lawyers held a ‘symbolic sit-in’ outside the Parliament.
In Lahore, lawyers, political workers, students, doctors and civil society activists held protests rallies. Lawyers held a downtown protest, wore black armbands and carried black flags, to protest Chaudhary’s sacking and urge his reinstatement and that of other deposed judges.
The Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer warned the lawyers against taking the law into their hands and Zardari issued an order on Tuesday threatening severe punishment for any individuals involved in clashes with members of the security forces. The ordinance was issued after scuffles broke out between police and lawyers during the protests.
Dealing with an increasingly desperate battle with militants in two provinces and a country spiralling into economic meltdown, the PPP-led government has been further tested by in-fighting among its coalition partners over the allocation of cabinet posts.
To appease the PPP membership, Zardari increased the cabinet to 55 ministers. But its the major coalition partner , the MQM (Muttehida Quami Movement), is unhappy with the ministerial posts it has been allocated. At the same time, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz group is critical of the unprecedented strength of the cabinet members.
The opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, on the other hand, has criticised the current size of the cabinet. The PML-N withdrew from the coalition in August over the government’s failure to restore the sacked judges.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Rape Victim Drives Attacker to Police Station After He Falls Asleep in Car
A rape victim drove her rapist to a police station when he fell asleep in his car after he had assaulted her.
Vipul Sharma, 22, was found guilty of abduction and two charges of rape by the Auckland District Court in New Zealand.
Sharma met the woman at an Auckland bar in 2006 and later drove her first to a park where he raped her in the back seat of his car, according to The New Zealand Herald.
After the attack Sharma allowed the woman to drive and fell asleep in the passenger seat, so the woman drove him to Auckland Central police station where he was arrested, said the newspaper.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: France, Lessons on the ‘Marsigliese’
(by Tullio Giannotti) (ANSAmed) — PARIS, NOVEMBER 5 — ‘‘They whistle it?’’, asks Minister for Immigration and number 5 in the French government, Brice Hortefeux, I’ll make them memorize it’’. France’s newly arrived residents, according to a proposal made by president Nicolas Sarkozy’s loyal minister, will have to take courses in language and culture as well as lessons on the national anthem, the famous, but recently mostly whistled, ‘Marsigliese’. The former president Jacques Chirac, stood up and walked off the tribune of honour when before a celebrated France-Algeria a few years ago, when whistling in the Stade de France stadium drowned out the band playing the anthem composed by Rouget de Lisle in 1792. The incident was repeated on October 14 : France-Tunisia, Stade de France, the Marsigliese… and the whistles started. This time it was Sarkozy who got angry, but many other authoritative voices like UEFA president Michel Platini spoke in defence of the freedom to sing or not sing, to love or detest the anthem (I, he said, never sang it, in my day it was always whistled and no one protested). In particular the polemics were renews regarding the words of the anthem, considered cruel and war mongering which have little to do with sporting events and youth culture in the 21st century. But yesterday the French government doubled the dose at Vichy, an already contested site for the European summit on immigration, since the thermal spa town is historically associated with the collaboration of Marshall Petain and one of the darkest periods in French history. At the end of the meetings, Minister Brice Hortefeux, who is said to be aiming for the post of Interior Ministry, returned to the Marsigliese, ‘‘too often heard as a melody but not as a pedagogical anthem’’. According to Hortefeux ‘‘it is not explained well enough to migrants who want to live in France where this song comes from what it means and what values it carries’’. It is still unclear what Hortefeux teaching will include, also because the proposal to put the French anthem in a hypothetical ‘‘citizens passport’’ or even a residence permit, would have to be evaluated by the Integration Authority at the beginning of next year. Meanwhile, starting on November 12, is a private project to educated immigrant parents for courses based on teaching the French language, a ‘‘priority instrument for integration’’ in 46 schools in 12 departments all over France. An experiment, specified Hortefeux, that will take place in a voluntary manner, both by teachers and parents, in after school hours. It seems that 700 people have already signed up and that there is no lack of teachers, who will be paid overtime. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: Another Body Recovered Off Malta
(ANSAmed) — PALERMO, NOVEMBER 5 — The Maltese navy has recovered the body of another immigrant, the fifth in a week, in the port of Birzebbugia in the south of the island. Another two bodies were fished out of the sea between Saturday and Sunday; it is evidence of the sinking of a ship loaded with illegal immigrant which arrived in recent days. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: Morocco, 75 Illegals Stopped and Repatriated
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, NOVEMBER 5 — A boat transporting 75 sub-Saharan illegal immigrants was intercepted by the Moroccan navy off Boujdour the Atlantic coast. The immigrants, who had the intention of reaching the Canary Islands, had departed four days earlier from Mauritania. Brought to land and identified, they were immediately repatriated. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
‘Bible’ Stars Celebs as God’s Messengers
New Testament ‘Makeover’ Features Muhammad Ali, Angelina Jolie, Al Gore
A controversial makeover of the New Testament hit shelves this week — complete with stars such as Muhammad Ali, Angelina Jolie, Al Gore, Princess Diana and Bono filling roles of biblical characters and messengers of God.
“Bible Illuminated: The Book,” by Swedish author Ab Forlaget and published by Dag Söderberg, features more than 200 photos of celebrities such as Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, John Lennon, Gandhi, Bill Gates as the Prince of Darkness and even Andy Warhol dressed in drag. The full-color images are incorporated into Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The publisher claims there was no religious mission in the creation of “Bible Illuminated,” and it says the book’s success is due to its lack of ties to specific faiths, religions or churches. The company website describes its $35 product as being “more high-end magazine than your typical Bible.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Christians Rally Against Ban on Praying ‘in Jesus’ Name’
Chaplains Who Were Ordered Not to Claim the Name Resign
State police chaplains in Virginia who have been banned from praying “in Jesus’ name” have gained the support of more than 1,000 people who gathered for a rally outside the mansion of Gov. Timothy Kaine, who has declared he can pray without mentioning Jesus.
The issue is a newly imposed rule for Virginia State Troopers who serve as chaplains for various needs. State officials, citing an appeals court ruling from ex-Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor that praying “in Jesus’ name” can be censored by the government, ordered their troopers not to mention Jesus.
However, Congress has authorized military chaplains to pray as their conscience dictates, and another appeals court has found that praying “in Jesus’ name” is constitutional.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
‘Gay’ Threats Target Christians Over Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ Ban
‘Burn Their F—-Ing Churches, Then Tax Charred Timbers’
Decisions by voters in Florida, Arizona and California to join residents of 27 other states with constitutional protections for traditional marriage have prompted threats of violence against Christians and their churches.
“Burn their f—-ing churches to the ground, and then tax the charred timbers,” wrote “World O Jeff” on the JoeMyGod blogspot today within hours of California officials declaring Proposition 8 had been approved by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent. Confirmation on voter approval of amendments in Florida and Arizona came earlier.
The amendments in all three states essentially limit marriage to one man and one woman. In California, the measure states the only marriages “valid and recognized” in the state are those between one man and one woman.
Thirty states now have adopted marriage amendments. However, in California, the vitriol appeared especially high since the state Supreme Court in May created same-sex marriage for homosexuals. Proposition 8 overruled the court decision, readopting the marriage definition California votersadopted in 2000.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Muslim Converts to Christianity Ask Religious Experts at Vatican Meeting for Religious Freedom
An appeal by 144 people calls on experts engaged in talks not to forget the difficult predicament in which Christians live. Often treated as “outsiders and outcastes”, they urgently demand protection for the right to change religion.
Rome (AsiaNews) — A group of 144 Christians, including 77 Muslims who converted to Christianity, have launched an appeal to Muslim and Catholics scholars who are currently meeting in the Vatican not to forget Christian minorities and new Christian converts living in Islamic countries. The petitioners, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestants from North Africa and the Middle Eat, want the meeting in the Vatican to agree to the following points:
1. that Islamic law does not apply to non-Muslims;
2. that dhimmi (or second class) status be abolished;
3. that the right to change religion be recognised as a fundamental right.
The appeal that was sent to AsiaNews was also published on an Algerian Christian site, Notre Dame de Kabylie (in French).
Those who signed the appeal are happy for the steps taken in the last few years and for the Letter signed by 128 Muslim scholars which many see as a sign that “Islam is not anti-Christian.”
They stress however that the minority condition endured by Christians in Muslim countries, already influenced by the unbearable status of dhimmi (group protection extended by Islamic rulers to their non-Muslim subjects in exchange for paying a tax, which in effect denies them equal treatment in society), has worsened lately as a result of the rise of militant Islamism.
“As for new Christians or converts, they are denied the right to express their new religious identity unless they are prepared to run the risk of being called apostate, which, if they can, effectively forces them into exile,” the appeal said.
Those who signed the appeal want the meeting between the Vatican and Muslim scholars to focus on “three urgent topics”:
1. that Islamic law not be applied to non-Muslims;
2. that dhimmi status, which marginalises Christians and turns them into outcastes, no longer be acceptable and be abolished instead because like slavery it offends human dignity;
3. that the right to change religions be recognised as a fundamental right since it comes from God who does not force anyone to worship him.”
To buttress its arguments, the appeal also points out that in the Qur’an there verses that are in favour of religious freedom even if some hadith call for the death of apostates.
“Sadly, some states have incorporated the latter in their constitution (ex. Mauritania), which they enforce despite the 1948 Universal declaration of Human Rights.”
In reaffirming the need for an Islamic-Christian dialogue, the signers of the appeal urge the experts “to take into account Christian communities who live in the said ‘Muslim’ world, or who hail from there. Leaving us out or forgetting about us can only be a sign of ignorance or a deliberate attempt to avoid the issues that cause problems. It is sad to say that current news reports unfailingly show that Christians in the Muslim world are in grave peril.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Open Borders Would Create a Better Society
by Katrine Villumsen
France, England, or the United States. These are all countries I could see myself living in.
Born in Denmark, I grew up with great access to most European countries. Whereas my passport says “Danish,” I see myself as a citizen of the world.
This is why I think the borders should be opened.
People wish to move for their own benefit, for better pay, to join a spouse or to benefit from more welfare.
What should keep us from pursuing these things in another country?
Denmark represents great benefits, as long as you pay your great taxes, and in the 1960s, the Danes decided to invite Turkish people to come take the many available jobs in Denmark. Only problem? The Turkish people never went home. Here we are in the 21 century and Denmark still represents great benefits, but also terrible immigration rules.
As a Danish citizen, I will not be able to bring my spouse into my own country until I turn 24. This is a law that passed in order to limit arranged marriages. Whereas this rule might work in cases where people don’t believe in the Western rights to choose your own spouse, this law doesn’t work for me.
This is why I applaud a country like America. As a relatively new country, the U.S. is still the closest thing we have to being a country open to anyone with the American dream. We live a time when a person’s background, age or citizenship decides whether or not this person should be allowed to settle down in certain areas of the world.
However, the U.S. is starting to struggle with the same immigration issues as many other countries in the Western World.
An interesting pre-election article in Time magazine from Oct. 20 called “Is he American enough?” suggests that a reason why Sen. Barack Obama could lose the presidential election would be because he isn’t American enough. “Antiblack bigotry still exists, but white Americans now often associate dark skin with foreignness,” writer Peter Beinart said. “America’s new national color is neither black nor white but brown,” Beinart continues his article by quoting author Richard Rodriguez.
I’m shocked by stories from my international peers, one of them a smart, young woman, who says she can’t go home to visit her family in Eastern Europe. This is simply because she then won’t be able to leave her country again. It makes me wonder why certain people should be limited from pursuing their dreams.
I do believe in the beauty of different cultures and languages, but I don’t think this would change if the borders were opened. Despite different languages and cultures, Americans still stick to one national language. And Americans, different cultures or not, still unite for any given holiday.
With California as a good example of a place flooded with immigrants, solely because this is “the place to be,” I do understand that open borders might lead to higher criminal rates, more poverty and fewer jobs. Not everyone succeeds in pursuing the “American dream.” But why shouldn’t this person be free to cross another border to pursue “The Danish dream” or “The German dream?”
I’m not sure I want to live in Denmark or America, and if we could find a way to keep the borders open in an effective way, I’d love to pursue my citizenship of the world.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
Suicide Bomber Video Game Tasteless
A computer game in which players control a suicide bomber trying to kill as many civilians as possible has been condemned by victims of terrorism, the London-basedTelegraph reported on Thursday.
The free game, which is available for download from the internet, features an Arab-looking cartoon man who players direct along a busy street and targets civilians for bombing. Points are awarded for every man, woman and child who dies when the bomber detonates hidden grenades strapped to his body.
Members of the Bali Bombing Victims Group described Kaboom — The Suicide Bombing game as “completely sick,” and senior MPs have called for it to be taken down from websites, the newspaper reported.
“ I just think people who blow themselves up are stupid. That’s all this game is “
Video game creator
A woman who lost her brother Dan in the 2002 attacks in Indonesia called for the game to be removed from the internet. “It’s callous, inappropriate, irresponsible and deeply offensive,” Susanna Miller told the Telegraph. “I find it disturbing. I appeal to any sites featuring this game to remove it.”
Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, said it contained an “unnecessary” level of violence and expressed concern that children could access the game.
John Whittingdale, the Tory chairman of the culture, media and sport select committee said the families of suicide bombing victims would be upset by the “tasteless” game, reported the Telegraph.
The game’s creator, an anonymous man from Houston, Texas, insisted his intention was to satirize rather than celebrate terrorism, reported the paper.
“I’m not Jewish, I’m not an Arab and I’m not a terrorist,” he wrote on his website. “I just think people who blow themselves up are stupid. That’s all this game is.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
The Middle East Will Come to Hate Obama
It’s no secret that the rest of the world is mesmerized by the phenomenon of Barack Obama. There are two elements to the story arc: one has it that America has finally overcome its legacy of slavery, while another narrative pushes the idea that America is the land of opportunity. But I fear that the Middle East is engrossed in the darker subplots of this story, and what speaks to them about Obama’s ascendency has little to do with what is good about America.
Arabs and Muslims don’t really care about the odiousness of slavery. Although African-Americans who convert to Islam are beholden to the notion that their new faith is egalitarian, their unpleasant blind spot fudges the fact that the Muslim code, or shari’ah, never outlawed slavery.
For now, Arabs and Muslims in the Middle East see two things in Obama: to them he’s a walking, talking apology, and an infiltrator. He’s an apology for the Bush years; America’s gift basket to the rest of the world for the fault of protecting itself. The hatred that has been whipped up against President George Bush by the Arab media-much of it owned and directed by America’s alleged allies, the Saudis and other Persian Gulf dynasties-has been unprecedented, much like the adulation presently, and temporarily, being given to Obama. However, Arab and Muslim fascination with Obama rests on the idea that he is their Trojan horse into the highest office in America, the gleeful whispers describe him at times to be a secret Muslim, and in another light, an ‘anti-imperialist’ leftist.
Obama will not only apologize for America’s imperial pretension, but shall work to reverse it. So the lofty expectations go.
But there are two powerful opinion makers in the region that cannot afford to do away with the convenience of hating on America and its leaders, and those would be the ruling regimes and their most ferocious enemies, the jihadists. A popular Obama is dangerous since it deprives both camps of a distraction, a focus for white-hot rage; for the regimes, anti-Americanism, like anti-Zionism, is a most useful tool for deflating the wrath of the gathering mob, a mob whose numbers will swell as the world becomes poorer and resources turn scarcer, and oil profits are bled, while the jihadists need the seething anger to enlarge their recruitment pool. The faster that Obama can be turned into a hated figure, the quicker that matters revert to how things were.
Adding to their anxiety is the likelihood that Bush’s policy for spreading democracy will be adopted by the starry-eyed Democrats carried into power, albeit with some important modifications, namely on the question of who is an Arab or Muslim moderate. For these newly minted masters of policy, the reflexive and ultimately mistaken answer lies in the ranks of political Islam, and specifically the trunk and many offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, a group feared and despised by both the regimes and the jihadists.
So the task at hand for these regimes and jihadists is to turn any association with Obama into an embarrassment, and that would be by transforming his strengths into liabilities.
And that’s pretty easy to do: Obama will be pitched as a proselytizing Christian infiltrator into the land of Islam, rather than a secret Muslim in the White House. Obama the apostate had turned his back on his Islamic birthright and early childhood for the opportunism afforded by Christianity, and that is America’s grand plan for fixing the Middle East: turning it Christian-or so goes the conspiracy theory.
History tells us that nothing riles up the masses of Nejd, Damascus, Cairo, and Istanbul like the fear that Christians are out to convert Muslims. It is only a matter of time before Obama’s biography, once thought to be the harbinger of international goodwill, will be distorted into yet another reason to hate America.
| — Hat tip: Frontinus | [Return to headlines] |
The bad guys did not even wait 4 to 6 months to throw out the tests did they? Hamas in Gaza recognizes the ‘weak horse’ here. Or perhaps the sympathetic face to the “Palestinian Cause”. Bah!
Buckle you seat belts, we are in for a rough ride the next few years unless the 0bama actually has a set.
[Naw! Won’t happen.]
Stock up on staples, guns and ammo now while you still can afford them.
Katrine Villumsen is quite naive. Open borders don’t create better societies. Just look at the EU. How is that a better society?
Citizen of the world? Well, Ms Villumsen, please overstay your visa in Japan. Then you’ll see how much your “citizen of the world” crap is worth. Or go to any islamic country as an infidel woman. You’ll surely LOVE it.
Japan still has the best immigration rules. Europe should copy them, but of course it won’t, because the Japanese are “racist”.
I posted a letter I sent to Sen McCain from his website on the accusations thrown at Gov Palin. I’m posting it here because of the news story above. I’m glad someone in the campaign is speaking out.
Ballot, Soap, Jury, Ammo: Letter to Senator McCain
As someone asked:
Would McCain have ever let his people slander Obama the way they are slandering Palin?
The Middle East Will Come to Hate Obama
A brilliant and searing analysis of the hidden reefs into which Obama has intentionally navigated America’s ship-of-state.
Death fatwas against The (Apostate) Chosen One in 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 …