Die Schweiz lockert das Bankgeheimnis: Der Bundesrat will auch bei Steuerhinterziehung Amtshilfe leisten
NZZ Online: Die Schweiz ist bereit, unter gewissen Bedingungen auch bei Steuerhinterziehung Amtshilfe zu leisten. Mit dieser Lockerung des Bankgeheimnisses will der Bundesrat verhindern, dass die Schweiz auf die schwarze Liste nicht kooperierender «Steueroasen» gesetzt wird, wie Bundespräsident Merz erklärte.

Der Bundesrat macht beim Bankgeheimnis Konzessionen gegenüber dem Ausland. Wie Bundespräsident Hans-Rudolf Merz am Freitag vor den Medien ankündigte, ist er bereit, in Zukunft unter gewissen Bedingungen auch bei Fällen von Steuerhinterziehung Amtshilfe zu leisten. Die bisher geltende Unterscheidung von Steuerhinterziehung und Steuerbetrug wird also für ausländische Kunden von Schweizer Banken nicht mehr aufrechterhalten. >>> bbu | Freitag, 13. März 2009

WELT ONLINE: Steueroase: Schweiz lockert ihr heiliges Bankgeheimnis

Es kommt einer Revolution gleich: Die Schweiz lockert ihr striktes Bankgeheimnis – und will künftig unter bestimmten Bedingungen Amtshilfe bei Steuerhinterziehung leisten. So könnten deutsche Finanzämter an die Kontodaten von Steuersündern gelangen. Österreich und Luxemburg planen ähnliches.

Foto dank der Welt
Die Schweiz lockert nun auch offiziell ihr striktes Bankgeheimnis. Die Regierung sei bereit, unter gewissen Bedingungen auch bei Steuerhinterziehung Amtshilfe zu leisten. Das teilte das Finanzministerium mit. Auch sollen OECD-Standards für Hilfe bei Steuerverfahren eingehalten werden. Bisher wurde Amtshilfe nur bei Steuerbetrug, etwa nach dem Fälschen von Unterlagen, gewährt. >>> | Freitag, 13. März 2009

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Reaktion auf den Papst-Brief: Piusbrüder erkennen II. Vatikanisches Konzil an
WELT ONLINE: Die Piusbrüder machen einen großen Schritt auf den Papst zu. In ihrer Reaktion auf seine jüngsten Äußerungen bekennen sie sich zum Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzil. "Wir sind weit davon entfernt, die Tradition im Jahre 1962 anhalten zu wollen," heißt es darin. WELT ONLINE dokumentiert den Text im Wortlaut.

In den letzten Wochen ist in der Katholischen Kirche mit der Kontroverse um die Piusbruderschaft und den Holocaust-Leugner Richard Williamson der Streit um das II. Vatikanische Konzil offen zu Tage getreten. Jetzt hat sich Bischof Bernard Fellay, der Generalobere der Piusbruderschaft, in dieser Frage dramatisch auf den Papst zu bewegt.

In einer knappen Antwort auf den Brief des Papstes an alle Bischöfe vom 10. März macht Fellay unmissverständlich deutlich, dass die Piusbrüder von ihrer Fundamentalopposition abrücken. Sie wollen die Entwicklung der Kirche nach dem II. Konzil nicht mehr in Bausch und Bogen ablehnten. >>> Von Paul Badde | Freitag, 13. Marz 2009

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Ex-Vizeminister: Brutale Folter in Chinas Gefängnissen
TAGES ANZEIGER: Chinas ehemaliger Vizejustizminister Duan Zhengkun hat die Folter in den Gefängnissen des Landes kritisiert. Nach seinen Aussagen werden Häftlinge zu Geständnissen gezwungen.

Nachgestellte Szene: Mitglieder der Falun-Gong-Gemeinschaft zeigten im Juli 2004 öffentlich in Zürich, wie ihre Genossen in China gefoltert werden.
Bild dank dem Tages Anzeiger
Der Politiker sagte gegenüber Zeitung «China Daily», dass die Anstalten deshalb nicht länger von den Sicherheitsbehörden, die Verdächtige auch verhaften, geleitet werden sollten. Staatliche Medien kündigten heute an, die Regierung wolle die Gefängnisse verstärkt unter die Lupe nehmen. So solle auch gegen Gewalt unter den Häftlingen vorgegangen werden. Auslöser war der Fall eines Häftlings, der von Mitinsassen zu Tode geprügelt wurde. >>> raa/sda | Freitag, 13. März 2009

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Dutch Police Arrest 7 Suspected of Planning Attack
NRC HANDELSBLAD INTERNATIONAL: Dutch police on Thursday arrested seven people suspected of preparing a terrorist attack in Amsterdam, including a relative of one of the attackers who died in the 2004 bombings in Madrid.

Mayor Job Cohen said police were acting on an anonymous tip that warned an Ikea outlet or other stores in the southeast of the city might be targeted.

"It wasn't a regular bomb warning, but a warning of a planned action aimed at creating casualties in shops," Cohen said during a joint press conference with police commissioner Bernard Welten public prosecutor Herman Bolhaar on Thursday night.

"Men were planning to put explosives in the shops and wanted to cause casualties in busy places," he said.

Cohen told NOS radio on Friday morning that no explosives were found during the searches of the suspects' houses.

Police received the tip late on Wednesday night from an prepaid cell phone in Belgium. The tip also included names of one suspect and locations for police to search. The locations included Ikea and Media Markt, a large electronics store.

Cohen said the tip was "so specific" about names and places that it was decided to treat it as credible. The poilice contacted the secret service, AIVD, in order to verify the information.

By early morning, it was revealed that one of the suspects was a relative of one of the suspects in the Madrid train bombings, which killed 191 people and happened five years ago almost to the day. The relative killed himself when Spanish police raided his apartment at the time. "This established a link with Madrid," said Welten.

Early on Thursday morning, authorities shut down a major Amsterdam shopping street near the Arena football stadium and sealed off the nearby Ikea store. A concert by the American band "The Killers" in a local music hall was cancelled.

The houses of the suspects named by the anonymous caller were immediately put under surveillance. The first arrest took place around noon on Thursday; the last at 5.45 p.m. >>> News Staff, NRC Handelsblad International | Friday, March 13, 2009

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Il governo cinese apre al Dalai Lama "Ma il Tibet rinunci all'indipendenza"
LA STAMPA: Il leader spirituale non vuole però rinunciare all'autonomia

PECHINO: La Cina è disposta a riprendere i colloqui con gli inviati del Dalai Lama, il leader tibetano che vive in esilio in India, se questi «rinuncerà a perseguire l’ indipendenza» del Tibet. Lo ha affermato oggi il primo ministro cinese Wen Jiabao. Parlando ai giornalisti nella Sala dell’ Assemblea del popolo, il premier ha accusato «alcuni paesi occidentali» di «sfruttare» il Dalai Lama per i suoi fini. «Con il Dalai Lama - ha sostenuto Wen - bisogna guardare quello che dice ma anche quello che fa...la chiave è la sincerità». >>> © LaStampa.it | Venerdi 13 Marzo 2009

CORRIERE DELLA SERA: Wen Jiabao: «La Cina pronta al dialogo 
se il Tibet rinuncia all'indipendenza»

Il premier: «La situazione nella regione è pacifica e stabile. Pronti a riprendere i colloqui»

PECHINO - Pechino tende la mano al Tibet, ma detta le sue condizioni. «La Cina è pronta al dialogo col Dalai Lama se questi rinuncia ai propositi di indipendenza» è quanto ha ribadito il premier cinese Wen Jiabao.

«SITUAZIONE PACIFICA E STABILE» - Durante un conferenza stampa, il primo ministro cinese ha anche affermato che la situazione in Tibet è «pacifica e stabile», il che, a sua detta, proverebbe la correttezza della politica della Cina nella regione. Nelle ultime settimane Pechino ha inviato forze di polizia e paramilitari in Tibet per soffocare ogni segnale di protesta e, in particolare, per evitare il ripetersi delle manifestazioni su vasta scala dello scorso anno. >>> | Venerdi 13 Marzo 2009

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Malte, l'île où échouent les clandestins d'Afrique
Plus de 2 700 clandestins ont débarqué à Malte l'an dernier, et les chiffres ne s'annoncent pas à la baisse pour 2009 (ici un bateau intercepté le 5 février). Selon le gouvernement, l'arrivée d'un seul migrant à Malte équivaudrait à celle de 1 129 clandestins en Allemagne et 953 en Italie. Crédits photo : AFP
LE FIGARO: Depuis le début de l'année, près de huit cents demandeurs d'asile sont arrivés en provenance de Libye, espérant atteindre l'Italie.

Prisonnier incrédule du centre de détention pour clandestins de Ta'Kandja, John Oruru, un Nigerian d'une vingtaine d'années a griffonné à la hâte un message, qu'il tend au visiteur de passage comme il lancerait une bouteille à la mer. «Je suis seul au milieu d'une centaine de Somaliens avec qui je ne peux pas m'entendre puisque je ne parle pas leur langue. Je fais de mon mieux pour me sentir à l'aise, mais il sera trop difficile pour moi de rester dans ces conditions», écrit-il dans un anglais hésitant. «Quand un fils réclame à son père du pain ou un poisson, celui-ci ne lui donne pas une pierre, ni un serpent. Au nom du Père, je demande donc à être transféré dans un autre camp», conclut-il. >>> Par Pierre Avril | Vendredi 13 Mars 2009

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La Chine demande à la France "d'adopter une attitude claire" sur le Tibet
LE POINT: Wen Jiabao a appelé vendredi Paris à "adopter une attitude claire sur la question du Tibet, afin de restaurer le plus vite possible les relations entre la Chine et France". Le Premier ministre chinois a réaffirmé que la rencontre en décembre entre Nicolas Sarkozy, alors président en exercice de l'Union européenne, et le dalaï-lama avait "non seulement touché les intérêts fondamentaux chinois, mais blessé les sentiments du peuple chinois".

"Le Tibet est une partie inaliénable de la Chine, le problème tibétain appartient aux affaires intérieures de la Chine", a insisté le numéro deux chinois lors d'une conférence de presse à l'issue de la session annuelle du Parlement à Pékin. Cependant, il n'a pas précisé quelles mesures concrètes la France pourrait prendre pour revenir à de meilleures relations bilatérales, alors que les présidents des deux pays doivent participer au sommet du G20 à Londres le 2 avril. "Le dalaï-lama n'est pas un simple religieux" >>> lepoint.fr (source AFP) | Vendredi 13 Mars 2009

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Wilders Most Threatened Politician
DUTCHNEWS.nl: Anti-immigration MP Geert Wilders has received more threats than any other politician and last year reported 292 threatening messages to the team which deals with threats to politicians. >>> © DutchNews.nl | Friday, March 13, 2009

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”Unite in Banishing Fear”
Watch Fox News video: here >>>
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Mail Comment: The Sheer Folly of Mass Immigration
MAIL Online: If anything serves as a symbol of how completely and utterly Britain has lost control of her borders, it is the saga of Sangatte.

Between 1999 and 2002, some 60,000 migrants from across the world flocked to the infamous reception centre outside Calais before making a determined assault on Britain's frontiers - via cross-Channel freight trains, underneath the Eurostar, even inside refrigerated container trucks.

The French finally agreed to close it down, but now, in an astonishing U-turn, with more migrants than ever gathering around Calais, Sangatte, it seems, is set to rise again.

Not only has the French immigration minister sanctioned the erection of a network of 'light buildings' to provide food and showers, migrants will also get advice on how to claim asylum once in Britain.

Could there be a more transparent and cynical ploy for France to rid itself of its own immigration problems?

Under the 1951 Geneva Convention, refugees are supposed to claim asylum in the first safe country they land in.

But as the world plunges deeper into recession, Britain becomes more than ever the promised land.

It speaks volumes for our generous welfare payments and lax policing of immigration that migrants are prepared to ignore the 'hospitality' of Spain, Italy and France in their desperation to come here.

The rebirth of Sangatte comes as a survey predicts that by 2050, Britain will have the largest immigrant population of any country outside North America and our population will be greater than Germany['s].

This is no longer an issue about race, or the rights and wrongs of asylum.

With Britain hurtling into depression and mass unemployment, it is nothing less than criminally irresponsible for the Government to allow this level of unchecked mass immigration.

We are heading for a nightmare of our own making. >>> | Thursday, March 12, 2009

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St Roderick
St. Rodriguez (St. Roderick) by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. Image courtesy of Google Images
CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY: Roderic, also known as Ruderic, was a priest at Cabra, Spain during the persecution of Christians by the Moors. Hew [sic] was beaten into unconsciousness by his two brothers, one a Mohammedan and the other a fallen-away Catholic, when he tried to stop an argument between them. The Mohammedan brother then paraded him through the streets proclaiming that he wished to become a Mohammedan. He escaped but was denounced to the authorities by the same brother as an apostate from Mohammedanism and imprisoned through he denied he had ever given [sic] up his Christianity. While in prison, he met a man named Solomon, also charged with apostasy, and after a long imprisonment, they were both beheaded. [Source: CNA] Friday, March 13, 2009

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Ridiculous!
COURIERMAIL.COM.AU: A BRITISH mother of two is being held in jail after being found guilty of adultery - for having a cup of tea with a male friend.

Marnie Pearce, 40, had separated from her Egyptian husband Ihab El-Labban when he burst into her Dubai home and found her drinking tea with another man.

Mr El-Labban now has custody of their two children - Ziad, 4, and Laith, 7 - and former classroom assistant Ms Pearce fears she may never see them again because she will be deported as soon as she is released.

Amnesty International says Ms Pearce, who has lived in Dubai for 15 years, is "a prisoner of conscience".

Mr El-Labban made the claim of adultery - which is a crime in the strict Muslim country - during a custody battle over the boys. Marnie Pearce, Mother of Two, Jailed over a Cup of Tea >>> | Friday, March 13, 2009

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Muslim Extremists an Embarrassment to Luton
TIMES ONLINE: The Islamist protesters who held up banners labelling soldiers returning from Iraq as killers, cowards and butchers have "brought disgrace" to Luton, a local MP said today, as it emerged they may belong to a banned extremist organisation.

The group of men caused uproar when they picketed a homecoming parade by the 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment down the streets of the Bedfordshire town, holding up placards with slogans including: "Anglian Soldiers: Butchers of Basra" and "Anglian Soldiers: cowards, killers, extremists".

One placard also read: "British Government Terrorist Government."

As the troops prepared to hold a similar march in Watford today, Margaret Moran, the Luton South MP, said that the protesters had been an embarrassment to her town. MP Says Muslim Protesters Have 'Brought Disgrace' to Luton >>> David Byers | Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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Islamic States: Criminalize Defamation of Islam
THE JERUSALEM POST: The Islamic states circulated a new resolution at the current session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday that would criminalize defamation of Islam as a human rights violation and encourage the imposition of Shari'a.

According to the nonbinding governmental resolution, titled "Combating Defamation of Religions," anything deemed insulting to Islamic sensitivities would be banned as a "serious affront to human dignity" and a blatant violation of religious freedom.

The resolution would attempt to influence "local, national, regional and international levels" to incorporate such guarantees of this perceived freedom in their "legal and constitutional systems."

"It is a covert package coordinated by Pakistan against the West," said Leon Saltiel, director of communications at the Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch, on Thursday. "They think there is too much liberty and freedom of expression in the Western world, which therefore defames religion."

This resolution is part of the ongoing campaign of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, a powerful bloc of 56 states at the UN, which began to introduce annual resolutions in 1999 to ban the "defamation of Islam."

Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, said during an address to Radio Free Europe in December that "Islamic states pursued the diplomatic battle with a vengeance" because of the post-9/11 war on terror and the controversy ignited by the cartoon of their prophet published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005.

"The resolutions pose a major threat to the premises and principles of international human rights law and harm Muslims as much as non-Muslims. International law already protects victims of religious discrimination," for instance via the 1984 Declaration of Human Rights and the 1966 International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, declared Neuer.

The resolutions fail to address human rights violations of Muslim countries, notably Iran's persecution of Baha'is, Saudi Arabia's banning of all religious practice aside from Islam, and the persecution of Christian communities in Egypt, Pakistan and Iraq.

The latest resolution is "not really trying to protect individuals from harm," but rather attempting "to shield a set of beliefs from question or debate and to ban any discussion of Islam that may challenge state orthodoxies or offend Islamic sensibilities," Neuer said. >>> Maya Spitzer | Thursday, March 12, 2009

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Atheist Bus Campaign Gets into Gear in Germany
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." The brightly colored ads were part of a provocative campaign on British buses. Spain reacted with its own string of atheist slogans, and now a German group is following suit.

’Creation of Adam’ by Michaelangelo. Image courtesy of Google Images
Those waiting by at bus stops in Berlin, Munich or Cologne later this year may be in for a surprise. In place of ordinary commercial ads, commuters will be greeted by hard-hitting atheist slogans. That at least is the plan of a new German atheism campaign, the latest European group to use buses as a vehicle for its provocative views.

Organizers are taking a leaf out of the book of Spanish and English groups that have run similar campaigns. Right now the German organizers are trying to raise money to embellish seven buses with their ads.

Atheists pledging a euro or more to the campaign can vote on a selection of slogans, some loosely based on the British signs. Phillip Möller, one of the campaign organizers, says the German group has collected €3,500 in the first four days of fundraising. They need €16,000 euros more to fund the project.

Möller, one of the six founders, doesn't see himself as any sort of missionary. "We just want to inform people," he said. "In an enlightened society you should be able to say something like that without being punished." >>> jas – with wire reports | Thursday, March 12, 2009

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Too Soft on the Enemies? This Government Is Like Marshmallow!
THE TELEGRAPH: Too little action is being taken by the authorities against hostile Muslims, says Con Coughlin.

It's not just soldiers who win wars. Governments also have a crucial role to play – and to judge by the response of most Western governments to the threat we face from radical Islamism, we are simply not competing on equal terms with the enemy.

No one can claim that we in Britain don't understand the nature of the threat we face. In recent months, there has been a succession of reports highlighting the increasingly pernicious influence British Islamists are having on the Nato-led campaign to bring stability to Afghanistan.

After senior officers confirmed last year that British Muslims were fighting with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, it was revealed that RAF Nimrod surveillance planes monitoring Taliban radio stations were surprised to hear insurgents speaking in strong Yorkshire or Midlands accents.

More recently, officers based at the main military base at Lashkar Gah revealed that they had found British-made components in roadside bombs used to attack coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, sent to Helmand by Muslim sympathisers in Britain. This week three British Muslims, part of a terrorist cell whose leader was convicted of plotting to kidnap and behead a British soldier on video, were jailed at the Old Bailey for supplying equipment to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

The active involvement of radical British Muslims in the Afghan insurgency has led senior officers to claim that they are engaged in a "surreal mini-civil war" in Afghanistan. And yet, for all the compelling evidence that British-based Islamist radicals are actively participating in a jihad against Britain and its coalition allies, the Government, together with those who have opposed our involvement in the War on Terror from the start, seems determined to give the Islamist radicals the benefit of the doubt.

Even when incontrovertible proof is found that British Muslims are aiding and abetting the enemy in Afghanistan and elsewhere, the Government's instinct is to try to cover up their involvement, for fear of further inflaming Islamist sensitivities. Britain Is Fighting a War – and We Are Too Soft on Our Enemies >>> Con Coughlin | Thursday, March 12, 2009

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How Much Is This ‘Enriching’ Diversity Actually Costing Us in Policing? At This Rate, We’ll Soon Be Bankrupt!
MAIL Online: A Muslim extremist who works as a baggage handler at Luton Airport had his security pass suspended today after it was revealed he took part in a protest hurling abuse at British troops.

Jalal Ahmed was among the 20-strong group of extremists protesting when the Royal Anglian Regiment returned home from Iraq earlier this week.

During their homecoming parade, he was spotted clutching a banner proclaiming: 'Anglian soldiers: Butchers of Basra'.
After he was revealed to be part of the hate-filled demonstration, his pass allowing him to go airside and work at the airport was revoked.

Ahmed, who is in his twenties and lives in Luton, works on a casual basis for Menzies Aviation, which provides baggage handling at the airport for easyJet and other airlines.

He is believed to have worked there during peak periods over the past two years and would have had access to secure areas of the site. Muslim Protester Who Works as Baggage Handler at Luton Airport Has Security Pass Suspended after Hurling Abuse at Troops >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Thursday, March 12, 2009

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Wann Obama vom moderaten Taliban spricht ist er nicht ganz bei Trost!
WELT ONLINE: Barack Obama möchte mit moderaten Taliban reden, Franz Josef Jung mit gewaltfreien. Aber gibt es solche Personen überhaupt? Anführer der Taliban möchten die Welt glauben lassen, die Bewegung stehe fest zusammen. Doch selbst wenn es gemäßigte Vertreter gibt, bleibt die Frage, was Gespräche bringen würden.

Ein Phantom geht um: die moderaten, die gemäßigten Taliban. Seit der amerikanische Präsident Barack Obama seine Meinung offen kundtat, dass der Krieg in Afghanistan derzeit nicht zu gewinnen sei und er erwäge, mit moderaten Taliban zu verhandeln, ist die Welt auf der Suche nach eben diesen Ansprechpartnern.

Allein: Niemand vermag sie zu identifizieren. Und manche bezweifeln gar, dass es sie gibt. Die Taliban selbst zum Beispiel, zumindest ihr Sprecher Kari Mohammad Jusuf. „Die Taliban sind vereint, haben einen Führer, ein Ziel, eine Politik“, sagte er und fügte hinzu: „Ich weiß nicht, warum sie über gemäßigte Taliban reden und was es bedeutet.“ Afghanistan: Das Phantom der moderaten Taliban >>> Von Dietrich Alexander | Donnerstag, 12. März 2009

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UN Watchdog Slams Religious Defamation Resolution
JTA: NEW YORK -- A Geneva-based U.N. watchdog group blasted a draft resolution opposing "defamation of and contempt of religions."

In a statement Wednesday, U.N. Watch said the resolution, authored by Pakistan and expected to pass the U.N. Human Rights Council, would undermine moderate Muslim voices.

"It's an Orwellian text that distorts the meaning of human rights, free speech, and religious freedom, and marks a giant step backwards for liberty and democracy worldwide," the group said.

The U.N.'s human rights body has previously adopted resolutions on the defamation of religions while mentioning only Islam as a target. Such measures have been opposed by the United States and Europe, which see defamation laws as pertaining to individuals and not ideas, such as religious creeds. Such resolutions, crtiics say, would have a chilling effect on free speech.

"The first to suffer will be moderate Muslims in the countries that are behind this resolution, like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Pakistan, who seek international legitimacy for state-sanctioned blasphemy laws that stifle religious freedom and outlaw conversions from Islam to other faiths," U.N. Watch said. "Next to suffer from this U.N.-sanctioned McCarthyism will be writers and journalists in the democratic West, with the resolution targeting the media for the 'deliberate stereotyping of religions, their adherents and sacred persons.'

"Ultimately, it is the very notion of individual human rights at stake, because the sponsors of this resolution seek not to protect individuals from harm, but rather to shield a specific set of beliefs from any question, debate, or critical inquiry." [Source: JTA] | Thursday, March 12, 2009

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Le pape évitera une partie du mémorial de la Shoah à Jérusalem
LE POINT: Benoît XVI "ne lâche" pas Pie XII même s'il n'a toujours pas donné le feu vert pour sa béatification . Le souverain pontife a décidé de ne pas se rendre au musée de Yad Vashem, mémorial de la Shoah à Jérusalem, lors de son pèlerinage en Terre sainte en mai. Il entend ainsi protester contre la légende d'une photo du musée où Pie XII - élu pape le 2 mars 1939 - est accusé d'être resté silencieux pendant la Shoah et de n'avoir rien fait face à la déportation et l'extermination de six millions de juifs. >>> AFP | Mardi 10 Mars 2009

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