Muslim University Plunged into Crisis After the Death of a Gay Professor
THE FREETHINKER: A MUSLIM university in India is in deep trouble following the mysterious death of a professor it had sacked earlier this year because he was gay.

Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, 64, was sacked from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in Uttar Pradesh (north India) after he was secretly filmed having consensual sex in the privacy of his home with a man described as a rickshaw puller.

Siras was found dead last week at his rented single-room accommodation, shortly after the Allahabad High Court had ordered his reinstatement. It is thought he may have committed suicide.

Originally from Nagpur, Siras had been a professor in the Department of Modern Indian Languages in Aligarh Muslim University for 22 years.

Students say that the popular professor never kept his sexual orientation a secret.

In February, after the Proctor of AMU received a tape showing Siras sex with another man, he was sacked without an inquiry.

Homosexuality was recently decriminalized in India. >>> Posted by Barry Duke | Wednesday, April 14, 2010

‘Apostate’ Pair Appeal to President Mubarak to Allow Them to Leave Egypt
THE FREETHINKER: A 15-year-old convert to Christianity has appealed to Egypt’s President Mubarak to allow her and her father to leave the country following a string of attacks against them by Muslim fanatics.

In the latest attack three weeks ago, Dina el-Gowhary had acid thrown at her.

Her father, Maher el-Gowhary, changed his name to Peter Athanasius after converting to Christianity 35 years ago. Several fatwas were then issued calling for the “spilling of his blood”.

According to this report, Dina addressed an open letter to President Mubarak of Egypt begging him to save her and her father, and allow them to leave Egypt. >>> Barry Duke | Sunday, April 18, 2010

White Supremacists’ Rally Sparks Violent Clashes in Los Angeles
MAIL ON SUNDAY: A white supremacist group rallied against illegal immigration in Los Angeles city centre yesterday as hundreds of counter-protesters gathered in a tense standoff that resulted [in] several arrests, thrown rocks and police in riot gear.

Police officers stood between the white supremacists and counter-demonstrators on the south lawn of Los Angeles' City Hall, where about 50 members of the National Socialist Movement waved American flags and swastika banners for about an hour.

Five people, all of them counter-protesters, were arrested at the demonstration.

The white supremacists, many of them wearing flack helmets and black military fatigue uniforms, shouted 'Sieg Heil' before each of their speakers took the podium to taunt counter-protesters with racial, anti-Semitic and misogynistic epithets.

'We will meet you head on,' one of the white supremacists warned the crowd from behind several phalanxes of police in riot gear.

Members of the Detroit-based group said they picked the location for their rally because of Los Angeles' large immigrant population. They accused some of the immigrants of stealing jobs and committing crimes. >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Sunday, April 18, 2010

Warschau nimmt Abschied: Zehntausende besuchen die Trauermesse für die Absturzopfer von Smolensk
NZZ am SONNTAG: Die Polen befinden sich im kollektiven Trauerschmerz, doch der politische Friede bröckelt. Schuld daran ist auch die Wahl der letzten Ruhestätte.

Trotz strahlendem Sonnenschein haben sich am Samstag in Warschau weit weniger Polen zu den Trauerfeiern für die Opfer der Flugzeugkatastrophe von Smolensk eingefunden als erwartet. Statt der bis zu 1,5 Millionen angekündigten Besucher kamen nach Polizeiangaben nur zwischen 60 000 und 80 000 zur Trauermesse auf dem zentralen Pilsudski-Platz zusammen. «Selten sind die Augenblicke der Geschichte einer Nation, in denen wir wissen und fühlen, dass wir wirklich zusammenstehen», sagte der seit Wochenfrist amtierende Übergangspräsident Bronislaw Komorowski. Das verunglückte Staatsoberhaupt Lech Kaczynski sei zu Lebzeiten nicht genügend geschätzt worden, hiess es unter spontanem Beifall während der Messe. >>> Paul Flückiger, Warschau | Sonntag, 18. April 2010

Zahlreiche Absagen für Teilnahme an Trauerfeier in Krakau: Merkel und Obama bleiben Beisetzung Kaczynskis wegen Einschränkungen im Luftverkehr fern
NZZ ONLINE: Wegen der Aschewolke nach dem Vulkanausbruch in Island haben zahlreiche Staats- und Regierungschefs ihre Teilnahme am Staatsbegräbnis für den tödlich verunglückten polnischen Präsidenten Lech Kaczynski und dessen Frau Maria abgesagt. Darunter sind Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel und Präsident Barack Obama.

Kaczynski und seine Frau sollen am Sonntag im Dom der Wawel-Burg in Krakau bestattet werden, der traditionellen Grabstätte der polnischen Könige.

Zum Staatsbegräbnis hatten sich zunächst zahlreiche Staats- und Regierungschefs aus der ganzen Welt angesagt. Die Einschränkungen im europäischen Luftverkehr nach dem Vulkanausbruch auf Island machten aber vielen Delegationen die Anreise unmöglich.

Die deutsche Kanzlerin habe in einem Telefonat mit dem polnischen Aussenminister Radoslaw Sikorski ihr grösstes Bedauern über die Absage geäussert, hiess es am Samstagabend in einer Mitteilung des Bundespresseamtes in Berlin. Sikorski wiederum habe volles Verständnis für die Entscheidung der Kanzlerin geäussert, deren Rückkehr von einem Besuch in den USA sich wegen der Behinderungen im Luftverkehr verzögert hatte. >>> ddp | Sonntag, 18. April 2010

Verbunden mit diesem Artikel / Lien en relation avec l’article:

leJDD.fr: Pologne: Obama et Merkel absents >>> V.V. (avec Reuters), leJDD.fr, Samedi 17 Avril 2010

L'Iran prône le désarmement
Comme Obama, le président iranien s'est prononcé pour un [monde] sans arme nucléaire. Photo : leJDD.fr
leJDD.fr: A l'occasion d'une conférence internationale organisée à Téhéran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a plaidé en faveur du désarmement nucléaire. Le président iranien a par ailleurs appelé à la création d'un "organe international indépendant" pour "empêcher la prolifération". Sa réponse à la conférence organisée par Barack Obama en début de semaine à Washington.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad n'était pas invité à la conférence internationale sur le nucléaire organisée à l'initiative des Etats-Unis, en début de semaine, à Washington. Qu'à cela ne tienne, le président iranien a décidé d'organiser son propre sommet. Celui-ci s'est ouvert samedi à Téhéran. En petit comité, toutefois. Quand Barack Obama réunissait 47 pays dans la capitale fédérale, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, lui, est simplement entouré de huit ministres des Affaires étrangères - Irak, Syrie, Liban, Oman, Arménie, Turkménistan, Centrafrique et Swaziland -, des vice-ministres de Russie, du Qatar et des Emirats arabes unis et d'un "assistant spécial du ministre chinois des Affaires étrangères", dit-on à Pékin. Le président de l'Organisation de la conférence islamique (OCI) et des représentants de l'Agence internationale de l'énergie atomique (AIEA) et de l'ONU sont également présents dans la capitale iranienne.

Dans son discours d'ouverture, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a lancé le mot d'ordre de la conférence: "L'énergie nucléaire pour tous, l'arme nucléaire pour personne". Le président iranien s'est ensuite prononcé pour le désarmement nucléaire, appelant de ses vœux la création d'un "organe international indépendant" chargé de lutter contre la prolifération nucléaire. Le dirigeant de la République islamique entend ainsi prendre à contrepied ceux qui le soupçonnent de vouloir se doter de la bombe atomique. Dans ce dossier, il n'a jamais changé de ligne: le programme nucléaire iranien a des visées exclusivement civiles. C'est pourquoi il est, a-t-il une nouvelle fois rappelé, "irréversible". Pour une suspension des Etats-Unis de l'AIEA >>> M.E - leJDD.fr, Samedi 17 Avril 2010

Gates Says U.S. Lacks Policy to Curb Iran’s Nuclear Drive
THE HEW YORK TIMES: WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has warned in a secret three-page memorandum to top White House officials that the United States does not have an effective long-range policy for dealing with Iran’s steady progress toward nuclear capability, according to government officials familiar with the document.

Several officials said the highly classified analysis, written in January to President Obama’s national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones, came in the midst of an intensifying effort inside the Pentagon, the White House and the intelligence agencies to develop new options for Mr. Obama. They include a set of military alternatives, still under development, to be considered should diplomacy and sanctions fail to force Iran to change course.

Officials familiar with the memo’s contents would describe only portions dealing with strategy and policy, and not sections that apparently dealt with secret operations against Iran, or how to deal with Persian Gulf allies.

One senior official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the memo, described the document as “a wake-up call.” But White House officials dispute that view, insisting that for 15 months they had been conducting detailed planning for many possible outcomes regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

In an interview on Friday, General Jones declined to speak about the memorandum. But he said: “On Iran, we are doing what we said we were going to do. The fact that we don’t announce publicly our entire strategy for the world to see doesn’t mean we don’t have a strategy that anticipates the full range of contingencies — we do.” >>> David E. Sanger and Tom Shanker | Saturday, April 17, 2010

Media Hype? Nick Clegg Nearly as Popular as Winston Churchill
THE SUNDAY TIMES: NICK CLEGG, the Liberal Democrat leader who until a few days ago was little known to voters, is now the most popular party leader since Winston Churchill, a new Sunday Times poll reveals.

Following his decisive victory in last week’s television debate, Clegg has surged to a higher approval rating than Tony Blair at the peak of new Labour’s popularity.

Last night, as the YouGov survey showed that the three parties are almost neck and neck, Labour and the Tories desperately tried to respond to the Clegg phenomenon.

The general election has become a genuine three-way contest with the Lib Dems, on 29%, enjoying their strongest support in almost 30 years. >>> Jonathan Oliver and David Smith | Sunday, April 18, 2010

MAIL ON SUNDAY: Lib Dems in Front for First Time in 104 Years >>> | Sunday, April 18, 2010

Home Office Security Breach at Terror Court
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Secret documents containing intelligence reports and details of highly sensitive diplomatic negotiations have been mistakenly released by the Home Office to a suspected terrorist’s solicitor, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

In a grave error which could undermine one of the government’s key counter-terrorism policies, more than 100 pages of secret documents were handed to Gareth Peirce, the human rights lawyer, who is representing an Ethiopian terror suspect who can only be identified by the letters ‘XX’.

The pages were accidentally left in a censored version of the Home Office’s case against XX, and should only have been disclosed to a special category of barrister who has been security vetted by MI5.

It can also be revealed that a similar mistake was made by Home Office lawyers last month in the deportation cases of two Pakistani students who were arrested during a terror raid in north-west England last year, but who were released without charge.

The latest error came during the Home Office’s preparations for a case at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) where the Ethiopian was opposing a bid by Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, to deport him from Britain.

Robin Tam QC, for the Home Secretary, told last week’s court hearing that “inadvertent disclosures have been made by the Secretary of State” and that the mistake had been “disappointing”.

Mr Justice Mitting, the SIAC chairman, told Mr Tam: “This is becoming a habit.” >>> David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent | Sunday, April 18, 2010

French Villagers Hit by Floods Fight Demolition of Hundreds of 'Black Zone' Homes
THE TELEGRAPH: Storm Xynthia battered the French coast in February, but the residents are fighting the government's plan to force them out.

Georgette and Jacques Voyer lovingly constructed their home brick by brick, building a pretty bungalow perched on a sandy ridge among pine trees overlooking a vineyard.

Now the French government intends to flatten it. The property lies in a "black zone" damaged by terrible flooding in storm Xynthia in February, France's worst natural disaster for decades. Some 53 people died as 100mph winds whipped up huge waves that battered the coast.

Yet Mrs Voyer, 61, is adamant that her beloved home was untouched by the floodwater, and insists that she will not let demolition begin.

"If they come to bulldoze my house, then they will have to bulldoze me first," she said defiantly as her husband, a retired mechanical engineer, nodded in agreement. "There was no water inside our house at all. We are not flood victims. Yet they say it is now unsafe and must be destroyed."

The Voyers are not the only ones whose home is under threat despite having been spared the floodwater. It is one of a list of 1,510 properties scheduled for destruction in "black zones", affected areas in which everything will be levelled. The planned demolition will be one of the largest France has ever known.

The government has insisted that the drastic order must be carried out to ensure residents' safety because some properties have been badly damaged, and others have been shown to be vulnerable to future flooding.

"The state and the local authorities do not have the right to risk letting people return to areas where they could be in mortal danger," said the French prime minister, François Fillon, on Tuesday.

Residents beg to differ. Families who have made their homes in some of the most picturesque parts of unspoiled south-west France insist that many of their properties were in fact untouched by the floods. They accuse the government of over-reaction, amidst confusion over how compensation will be paid and claims that "black zones" have been drawn arbitrarily.

A mood of anger is spreading along the small coastal communities in the Charente-Maritime and Vendée regions, along the coast from La Rochelle. Law-abiding middle-class families like the Voyers insist they will not go. "You could put a million euros on the table, and we would not leave," said Mrs Voyer. >>> Harriet Alexander in La Faute-Sur-Mer | Saturday, April 17, 2010

Open Letter to US Jewry
YNET NEWS: Obama has potential of being known as president who betrayed Jews

It's true that I've left the American Jewish community and immigrated to Israel, but Jewish life in America provided me with countless opportunities to realize my dream of becoming a more informed, involved Jew. This community laid the foundation for a Jewish identity that now serves as my 'rock' - the one piece of myself to which I will always remain true. That is precisely why I write this letter in both desperation and disbelief.

I was admittedly frustrated by Jewish support for soon-to-be President Obama during election time in 2008, but ultimately, I understood. I understand that American Jewry is true to the term itself; we are Jews who are American. We are American in the sense that we are patriots, and we identify with America's noble pursuit of freedom, liberty, and justice. We're only a generation or two removed from one of history's darkest examples of oppression and complete absence of justice, and thus we identify with the oppressed among us.

We want healthcare and equality for all. We want a system of education that does not discriminate and that cultivates a productive, thoughtful, forward-thinking generation of young people. No argument here. I sincerely hope that in the near future, American Jewry will only have to concern itself with these issues; I sincerely hope that we will live in a world marked by peace, in which domestic affairs in our respective countries are legitimate, primary concerns.

The issue at hand, however, is that we do not live in that world. We live in a world at war, and though your average American does not 'feel it' - the American Jew should feel it. Currently, the fundamentalist Iranian regime is building a nuclear arsenal and has simultaneously called for the complete obliteration of the State of Israel. >>> Cori Chascione | Saturday, April 17, 2010

Barack Obama. Photo : leJDD.fr
Pologne: Obama et Merkel absents
leJDD.fr: Barack Obama et Angela Merkel ont été contraints d'annuler leur participation aux obsèques, dimanche, du couple présidentiel polonais. Raison de leur absence: le nuage de cendres volcaniques qui empêchent les avions de traverser le ciel européen depuis jeudi.

Alors que les Polonais ont débuté, samedi, l'hommage de deux jours aux 96 victimes de la catastrophe aérienne du 10 avril en Russie, dont le président Lech Kaczynski et son épouse, Maria, quelques grands dirigeants ne pourront assister aux funérailles, prévues dimanche. La cause de ces absences: le nuage de cendres crachées par un volcan islandais qui paralyse le trafic aérien au-dessus de l'Europe. Merkel, lost in translation >>> V.V. (avec Reuters), leJDD.fr, Samedi 17 Avril 2010

Nicolas Blancho: de l’ennui à l’islam
Photo : Le Temps
LE TEMPS: Le jeune président du Conseil central islamique de Suisse parle de sa conversion à l’islam. Il se distancie de l’idéologie radicale des mouvements salafistes. Mais il inquiète les associations musulmanes

Il n’y a pas eu de poignée de main. Ni au début, ni à la fin de l’entretien. Son interprétation rigoriste de l’islam lui interdit d’avoir ce genre de contact avec une femme. On ne s’en offusquera pas. Le président du Conseil central islamique suisse (CCIS) est du reste un jeune homme fort aimable. Son association, créée en janvier pour défendre les intérêts des musulmans sunnites, compte déjà 1000 membres passifs et suscite la curiosité des médias. Non sans exagération, Nicolas Blancho est décrit par la Weltwoche comme «l’islamiste le plus dangereux du pays», le «Ben Laden» de Bienne. Mais on ne va pas trembler devant un sourire aussi juvénile et affable.

La rencontre a lieu à l’Université Tobler de Berne. Le président du CCIS, vêtu d’un kamis noir (une tunique) et coiffé d’une chachia blanche (bonnet islamique), arbore une barbe rousse broussailleuse. Il s’exprime dans un excellent français. Qu’est-ce qui a bien pu pousser ce Suisse né à Bienne à se convertir à l’islam à l’âge de 16 ans? Sa mère, d’origine bernoise, est enseignante. Son père, un Français établi de longue date à Bienne, chef concierge d’un gymnase. Nicolas Blancho n’a pas été baptisé. Ses parents voulaient lui laisser le choix d’adopter ou non une religion plus tard. Ils ont été pour le moins surpris du résultat de cette option éducative. «Ils ne sont pas d’accord avec ce que je fais aujourd’hui, dit le jeune musulman. Mais ils me respectent parce que je suis leur fils.» Le président du CCIS, qui étudie l’islamologie et le droit suisse à l’Université de Berne, est entretenu par ses parents.

A la maison, la famille parlait de temps en temps de religion. Avec l’adolescence sont venues les grandes questions existentielles. Et la conviction croissante de l’existence d’un être supérieur. «J’ai lu la Bible. Je me suis intéressé au bouddhisme et à d’autres religions», dit Nicolas Blancho. A l’école, il s’ennuie. «J’y allais sans être présent. Je ne faisais rien pour évoluer. Je perdais mon temps avec les copains.» Parmi ses amis, il y a des musulmans, pas vraiment attachés à l’islam. Mais ces derniers le mettent en contact avec un imam qui cherche à faire traduire un texte du français vers l’allemand. A son invitation, Nicolas Blancho se rend dans une mosquée. Il est ému par le prêche de l’imam. Il commence à lire des livres sur l’islam. Il lit également le Coran. Et puis, un jour, il a la certitude qu’un Dieu unique existe. L’imam qu’il fréquente lui demande s’il veut se convertir. «J’ai dit oui. C’était une conversion du cœur.» >>> Patricia Briel | Samedi 17 Avril 2010

Volcanic Ash Cloud Leaves Shops Facing Shortages of Fruit, Vegetables and Medicine
THE TELEGRAPH: UK retailers face significant disruption to their supply chains due to a ban on air freight following the volcanic ash crisis.

Store groups face potential shortages of medicine, cut flowers and exotic fruit and vegetables due to the closure of British airspace, that was expected to have ended in England and Wales by 7am on Saturday.

Clothing retailers also face a backlog as their stock sits in holding pens around the world waiting to be flown from manufacturing hubs to the UK.

The ban on air freight has meant that fruits such as figs, papaya and coconuts, fresh flowers and pharmaceutical products – all of which are delivered by air – are not reaching their destinations in the UK. Air freight accounts for 25pc of the UK's international goods movements by value.

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) said yesterday that it fears the cost to business – and consumers – will escalate as the volcanic cloud casts its shadow further. >>> James Hall Retail Editor | Friday, April 16, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Volcanic ash cloud: dust falls across Britain – Volcanic ash from the Icelandic eruption has begun to fall across the country, coating surfaces with a fine layer of dust and raising fears over the danger posed to people with breathing difficulties. >>> Patrick Sawer | Saturday, April 17, 2010

Aktivität des Vulkans Eyjafjalla verstärkt: Aschewolke dringt weiter nach Süden – Herausforderung für Meteorologen
Bild: NZZ Online
NZZ ONLINE: Der Eyjafjalla spuckt weiter grosse Mengen von Asche aus. Regen – und damit ein «Auswaschen» der Luft – ist nicht in Sicht. Die Meteorologen stehen vor einem Problem: Es gibt nur wenige Messdaten zur Beurteilung der Lage.

Die Aktivität des isländischen Vulkans Eyjafjallajökull hat nach Angaben eines Geologen an Intensität zugenommen. Eine Aschewolke stieg nach Angaben von Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson von der Universität von Island 8,5 Kilometer weit in die Höhe. Der Wind habe die Sicht am Vulkan verbessert, so dass sich Wissenschaftler am Samstag erstmals aus der Luft ein Bild von der aktuellen Lage machen könnten.

Wenn festgestellt werden könne, wie viel Eis geschmolzen sei, könnten bessere Prognosen darüber erstellt werden, wie lange der Ausbruch anhalten werde, sagte Gudmundsson. So lange noch ausreichend Eis vorhanden sei, könnten sich weitere Aschewolken bilden. Der Flugverkehr würde damit noch längere Zeit behindert. >>> ddp/afp/Reuters/sda | Samstag, 17. April 2010

NZZ ONLINE: Vulkan auf Island soll noch tagelang spucken: Klebrige Aschewolke gefährdet Flugzeuge in ganz Nordeuropa >>> Alois Feusi | Donnerstag, 15. April 2010

NZZ ONLINE: Aschewolke über Europa wird nicht so schnell verschwinden: Isländischer Vulkan vermutlich noch mehrere Tage aktiv >>> sda/Reuters | Freitag, 16. April 2010

Deux jours de funérailles grandioses en Pologne
Des milliers de bougies ont été déposées devant le château du Wawel à Cracovie, où seront inhumés, dimanche, le président Lech Kaczynski et son épouse Maria. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: L'enterrement du très russophobe Lech Kaczynski pourrait mettre fin à des siècles d'incompréhension avec la Russie.

Des funérailles grandioses telles que la Pologne n'en avait pas connu depuis la mort de Jean-Paul II. Et un casse-tête inouï pour l'ambassadeur de Pologne à Paris, Tomasz Orlowski, chargé de remplacer au pied levé le chef du protocole, Mariusz Kazana, victime du crash de Smolensk.

Quatre-vingts délégations étrangères, de nombreux rois et chefs d'État, l'élite de l'État polonais, les plus hauts dignitaires de l'Église sont attendus dimanche à Cracovie pour les obsèques du président Lech Kaczynski et de son épouse, Maria. Si toutefois le nuage de cendres islandaises, qui a entraîné hier la fermeture de l'aéroport, daigne s'éloigner du ciel polonais. Un défi de plus en plus cauchemardesque pour l'ambassadeur Orlowski. Dans quel ordre placer les délégations ? Passe encore pour les têtes couronnées, Juan Carlos d'Espagne, le prince Charles ou Harald de Norvège. Mais pour les présidents ? La règle donne la priorité à l'ancienneté. Mais alors, quel affront pour Barack Obama ! À moins de se retrancher sur l'ordre alphabétique. Mais comment imaginer que le représentant de la Russie, Dmitri Medvedev, soit précédé par celui de la Géorgie, Mikhaïl Saakachvili ? D'autant, souligne un diplomate, que «depuis une semaine, les Russes se comportent de manière exemplaire». >>> Par Arielle Thedrel | Vendredi 16 Avril 2010

Williamson condamné pour «incitation à la haine raciale»
Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Le tribunal de Ratisbonne a jugé que l'évêque britannique devait s'acquitter d'une amende de 10.000 euros pour ses propos négationnistes tenus lors d'une interview à la télévision suédoise en janvier 2009.

Il aurait pu éviter son procès et la mauvaise publicité. Mais Mgr Williamson a refusé de s'acquitter de l'amende de 12.000 euros proposée par le tribunal de Ratisbonne (Bavière) dans le cadre d'une procédure simplifiée, comme le permet la justice allemande. Depuis le début de l'audience la semaine dernière, l'Allemagne attend avec impatience le jugement, tombé vendredi après-midi : l'évêque britannique est condamné à 10.000 euros d'amende pour «incitation à la haine raciale». Un jugement prononcé en son absence, car sa fraternité lui avait interdit d'y assister.

Dans une interview réalisée à Ratisbonne et diffusée par la télévision suédoise SVT1 le 21 janvier 2009, l'évêque catholique Williamson, membre de l'organisation intégriste de la Fraternité Saint Pie X, avait notamment déclaré : «Je crois qu'il n'y a jamais eu de chambres à gaz (…) Je pense que 200.000 à 300.000 Juifs sont bien morts dans les camps de concentration nazis mais qu'aucun d'entre eux n'est mort en raison de gazage ». Si Williamson a justifié ses dires par le « rapport Fred Leuchter », du nom d'un illustre négationniste américain qui prétend expliquer scientifiquement que les chambres à gaz nazies n'auraient en fait jamais servi au gazage des Juifs, les propos négationnistes de l'évêque avaient immédiatement provoqué l'ire de l'Allemagne et du monde entier. >>> Par Hélène Imatte | Vendredi 16 Avril 2010

Related / Lien en relation avec l’article:

DEUTSCHE WELLE: Holocaust: British Bishop Fined 10,000 Euros for Partial Holocaust Denial >>> msh/dl/AP/AFP, Editor: Chuck Penfold | Friday, April 16, 2010

Pope’s Visit to Malta Overshadowed by Paedophile Priest Scandal
TIMES ONLINE: The damage done by the child abuse scandal has been compounded by a lack of coherent response from those at the top

Graffiti. Photo: Times Online
A papal trip to Malta would not normally attract world attention, but these are not normal times in the Vatican. The Pope’s first overseas engagement since the sex abuse scandal embroiled the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy will take place in the full glare of the media — the same media that some of his supporters accuse of waging a campaign against him and their religion.

The blame game — the Vatican has also attributed its woes to homosexuals, the Holocaust, the Irish, and even the Devil — speaks to a wider problem in the Church’s handling of accusations that it conspired to cover up paedophilia committed by its clergy. Only in the past few days have Vatican officials scrambled to find a coherent strategy to try to control a scandal that has inflicted immeasurable damage on the institution.

“The problem is not that the Vatican line over the crisis has had unfortunate consequences,” said Andrea Tornielli, the biographer of Pope Benedict XVI and other modern pontiffs. “The problem is that there is no line.”

Even as the Pope faced accusations that he had covered up instances of clerical abuse while Archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982, and later as head of doctrine at the Vatican for 24 years, there was no co-ordinated rebuttal. In the corporate world, the response to such a public relations disaster would be crisis management, but the Vatican’s ancient bureaucracy, and a centuries-old culture of secrecy is ill equipped to meet the demands of communications strategies.

“We are not a multinational,” Father Federico Lombardi, the Pope’s spokesman, said recently. The Holy See, he said, “does not believe it is necessary to respond to every single document taken out of context”.

Asked during a rare briefing for reporters whether there had been urgent meetings in the Vatican over the abuse scandal, he looked baffled. Didn’t he feel that the Vatican was under siege? “No. We issue clarifications when necessary,” he replied, pointing to the publication on the Vatican website of church rules on abuse, making it clear for the first time that bishops must go to the police.

The reality, however, is that new abuse stories have appeared almost daily, and Father Lombardi, 68, a genial and mild-mannered Jesuit from Piedmont, northern Italy, has struggled without any apparent strategy or guidance from higher up in the Church.

Instead, stories involving abuse at the hands of priests have been dismissed as “petty gossip” or “idle chatter”. Contentious remarks by cardinals and bishops — blaming the stories on a Jewish conspiracy, for instance — have added to the furore. >>> Richard Owen in Rome | Saturday, April 17, 2010

David Cameron Gets Churlish
THE TELEGRAPH: General Election 2010: David Cameron dismisses Nick Clegg threat: David Cameron has insisted that the election campaign is still a two-horse race between himself and Gordon Brown as he dismissed the challenge of Nick Clegg. >>> Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor | Friday, April 16, 2010

TIMES ONLINE: Clegg victory hits pound on hung parliament fears: Sterling retreated against major currencies overnight after Nick Clegg’s winning performance in the televised campaign debate between party leaders fanned fears of a hung Parliament. >>> Gary Parkinson | Friday, April 16, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: General Election 2010: If you feel strangely drawn to the Lib Dems, think again: Labour is the only party that will benefit from Nick Clegg's performance on television, says Charles Moore. >>> Charles Moore | Friday, April 16, 2010

Vandals Spray Paint Rio's Christ Statue
THE TELEGRAPH: Vandals have covered Rio de Janeiro's towering Christ the Redeemer statue with spray-painted graffiti, marring the world-famous monument in an act Rio's mayor called a "crime against the nation."

The vandalized Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. Photograph: The Telegraph
The vandals covered the head, arms and chest of the 130-foot statue, which looks out over Rio's dramatic vista of beaches and mountains, using scaffolding that had been erected to carry out maintenance work.

"Those criminals will pay for what they've done. They will go to jail," Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes was quoted as saying in Friday's O Globo newspaper. "Rio de Janeiro and Brazil do not deserve this." >>> | Friday, April 16, 2010