All Roads Lead...Out of Rome? Sardinia Plans Secession Referendum

The Italian region of Sardinia is pushing for a referendum. But it's not just about secession - a group of activists is in fact asking Rome to sell the island to Switzerland. A co-founder of the movement, Andrea Caruso, explained why locals are fed up with the central government.

Reject Separatism and Ban the Preachers of Violence, Universities Told
THE GUARDIAN:

· Extremism 'serious but not widespread' on campuses
· Fine line between analysis and advocacy: Rammell

Universities with large numbers of Muslim students should consider rejecting demands for separate prayer and washing facilities to prevent their campuses segregating along religious lines and risking a climate where illegal extremist views can flourish, the government will suggest today.

Institutions are also being advised to consider sharing information on violent Islamist speakers who should be banned from addressing students on campuses, according to guidelines to higher education institutions on how to combat campus extremism.

The higher education minister, Bill Rammell, said that violent extremism was a "serious but not widespread" threat to universities and called on them to foster "academic freedom, tolerance and debate" to prevent any spread of extremist ideas on campus. Students should be allowed to debate and research violent extremism as long as they do not cross over a clear line into perpetuating violence, he said.

"It is legitimate and permissible for people to research the origins of violent extremism, even in some circumstances to say that actually we can understand how that leads people to certain courses of action," Rammell said.

"But I think it is very clear when you look at ... the views that they articulate, there is a line at which you move from analysis and understanding towards outright advocacy of violent extremism. It is that that we are concerned about." New guidance calls on universities to reject separatism and ban those who preach violence >>> By Polly Curtis, education editor

THE DAILY MAIL:
English mosques are so extremist they'd be closed down in Baghdad, says IRAQ'S deputy prime minister

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)