Split Looms for Church Over Women Bishops
THE TELEGRAPH: The embattled Archbishop of Canterbury has suffered a devastating blow to his hopes of averting a split in the Church of England over the introduction of women bishops.

Plans put forward by Dr Rowan Williams urging a compromise over the issue were rejected last night by members of the General Synod, including some of his most senior bishops.

The last-ditch proposal was designed to prevent an exodus of traditionalist priests, who are now likely to defect to the Roman Catholic Church.

It represented a significant gamble by Dr Williams, who was heavily criticised by liberals last week after Dr Jeffrey John, the homosexual cleric, was blocked from becoming Bishop of Southwark. Dr John's nomination to the post was revealed by The Sunday Telegraph last week.

The failure by the archbishop to gain sufficient support for his plan is likely to be viewed as a further dent to his authority.

Groups within the church have been campaigning for female clerics to be treated equally and to be allowed to become bishops, without any concessions that would undermine their ministry.

But their proposals have been opposed by traditionalists and evangelicals who do not believe making women bishops is in accordance with biblical teaching. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, July 10, 2010

Affaire Bettencourt : En chute libre, Nicolas Sarkozy parlera aux Français lundi
Photo : Le Temps
LE TEMPS: Le président français tente de reprendre la main. L’avocat de Claire T. et l’opposition dénonce le manque d’indépendance de la justice

Alors que les Français partent à la plage et que l’affaire Bettencourt menace de se transformer en feuilleton de l’été, le président Nicolas Sarkozy s’adressera lundi à ses concitoyens durant une heure pour répondre à «toutes les questions d’actualité», a fait savoir la chaîne de télévision publique France 2 dans un communiqué. L’Elysée n’a toutefois pas confirmé. Plusieurs ténors politiques, que ce soit à droite, comme Jean-François Copé, ou à gauche, avec Jean-Marc Ayrault, ont appelé ces derniers jours le chef de l’Etat à informer les Français sur ce qui est considéré par les uns comme une «affaire d’Etat» et par les autres comme une cabale contre le gouvernement à l’heure où celui-ci doit défendre la plus importante de ses réformes, celle des retraites.

Menacé de perdre la main alors que les ramifications de l’affaire Bettencourt le mettent directement en cause pour le financement de sa campagne présidentielle au printemps 2007 (à travers le trésorier de l’UMP, Eric Woerth), Nicolas Sarkozy se doit de réagir s’il veut stopper sa chute libre au sein de l’opinion publique. Un sondage réalisé par l’institut CSA pour le journal Le Parisien publié vendredi indique que sa cote s’effondre. En un mois, il a perdu cinq points en intention de vote pour le premier tour de la prochaine présidentielle, passant de 36 à 31%, et il serait battu au second tour par la socialiste Martine Aubry. >>> Frédéric Koller | Samedi 10 Juillet 2010

En Inde, les femmes musulmanes montent au créneau contre les mollahs
LE FIGARO – BLOG – MARIE-FRANCE CALLE: A la fin mai, elles étaient déjà descendues dans la rue pour protester contre une fatwa des Déobandistes leur interdisant d'exercer des métiers où elles ne pourraient pas être "dûment couvertes". Le 29 juin, trois autres femmes musulmanes, des chiites cette fois, ont carrément battu trois mollahs, les accusant d'avoir consenti le talaq (le divorce) à leurs époux alors qu'elles n'avaient pas été consultées.

Tandis qu'en Europe certaines femmes musulmanes s'accrochent à leur droit de porter la burqa, en Inde, une poignée d'entre elles tentent de s'émanciper des règles dictées par les mollahs. Et le mouvement fait tache d'huile. Au printemps dernier, elles avaient été nombreuses à s'insurger contre une fatwa des Déobandistes (sunnites) visant à leur interdire d'exercer des professions où elles ne pouvaient être certaines de pouvoir travailler voilées. Si nombreuses qu'elles avaient attiré l'attention des médias, réussissant ainsi à provoquer un débat national. Continuez à lire et écrire un commentaire >>> Par Marie-France Calle | Samedi 10 Juillet 2010

Talibanism: Women Thrash Muslim Clerics, Husbands

Muslims Protest in Cardiff Against 'Anti-Islam Laws'
”This isn't just about Muslim women being asked to cover their faces, this is an ideological attack on Islam and Muslims” – Muhammad Abu Yaffir, organiser
BBC: Muslims have demonstrated in Cardiff to protest against laws across Europe which they say are anti-Islam.

Saturday's protest was to highlight what they believe is an "ideological attack" on Islam.

Organiser Muhammad Abu Yaffir said: "Muslims feel very strongly about these laws being introduced across Europe".

Last year Switzerland voted to ban the building of new minarets, while France is debating a ban on the Islamic veil.

Mr Yaffir said: "Wherever Muslims feel pain anywhere in the world it is our responsibility to respond to their needs.

"The laws being proposed are a form of oppression and we will respond to this oppression."

Muslims from communities across south Wales were expected at the "standing still" demonstration outside City Hall.

Last year, some 57.5% of Swiss voters voted in favour of a ban on building any new minarets in the country.

The French parliament is debating plans to ban the wearing of full Islamic veils in public. >>> | Saturday, July 10, 2010

Report: Saudi King Cancels Visit to France
YNET NEWS: Decision comes less than two weeks after Le Figaro quoted Abdullah as saying both Israel and Iran don't deserve to exist

Saudi Arabia's state news agency said King Abdullah has indefinitely postponed a trip to France planned for this week.

The Saudi monarch was to open an exhibition of Saudi antiquities at the Louvre museum in Paris during his visit.

The Saudi Press Agency on Saturday did not say why the trip was postponed. But the decision comes less than two weeks after the French daily Le Figaro quoted King Abdullah as saying both Israel and Iran don't deserve to exist. >>> Associate Press | Saturday, July 10, 2010

LE POINT: Diplomatie – Riyad confirme le "report" d'une visite du roi d'Arabie saoudite en France: L'Arabie saoudite a confirmé samedi le "report à une date qui reste à déterminer" d'une visite du roi Abdallah en France, prévue initialement pour ce lundi et au cours de laquelle il devait notamment rencontrer le président Nicolas Sarkozy. La visite "a été reportée à une date qui reste à déterminer, la plus proche possible pour les deux parties", a indiqué l'agence officielle SPA, citant un responsable gouvernemental anonyme. Le motif du report n'a pas été précisé. >>> AFP | Samedi 10 Juillet 2010

Telefonat mit Abbas: Obama will sich für Palästinenserstaat engagieren
KRONE.at: US-Präsident Barack Obama hat dem palästinensischen Präsidenten Mahmoud Abbas sein Engagement für die Schaffung eines unabhängigen Palästinenserstaates zugesichert. Im Gegenzug versprach Abbas in einem Telefonat mit dem US-Präsidenten sein Eintreten für einen "ernsthaften Friedensprozess" im Nahen Osten, wie ein Sprecher der palästinensischen Autonomiebehörde in Ramallah am Freitag gegenüber der Nachrichtenagentur AFP berichtete. >>> | Samstag, 10. Juli 2010

Morano exclut un projet de loi sur l'adoption pour les couples homosexuels
Nadine Morano, secrétaire d'Etat à la famille. Photo : Le Monde
LE MONDE: Après la décision rendue jeudi par la Cour de cassation qui permet la reconnaissance en France d'un jugement d'adoption obtenu aux Etats-Unis par deux femmes, la secrétaire d'Etat à la famille a admis que la question de l'adoption par des couples de même sexe "mérite un débat politique". Mais elle a exclu de présenter un projet de loi sur la question.

Nicolas Sarkozy avait dit "pendant sa campagne électorale qu'il n'était pas favorable à l'adoption par des couples homosexuels, donc très clairement, si vous me posez la question de savoir s'il y aurait un projet de loi en ce sens, je vous réponds 'non'", a-t-elle assuré. >>> LeMonde.fr avec AFP | Samedi 10 Juillet 2010

Zahlungsbefehl an Ghadhafi-Sohn: Offene Hotelrechnung in Italien über knapp 400'000 Euro
NZZ ONLINE: Ein italienisches Gericht hat Saadi al-Ghadhafi, Sohn des libyschen Diktators und Fussballer, zur Zahlung von 400'000 Euro verurteilt. Er hatte die Rechnung eines Luxushotels in Ligurien nicht beglichen.

Der drittälteste Sohn des libyschen Staatschefs war vom Besitzer des «Grand Hotel Excelsior» in der Badeortschaft Rapallo an der Riviera angezeigt worden, weil er die Rechnung für seinen einmonatigen Aufenthalt im Sommer 2007 nicht gezahlt hatte. Das berichtete die Mailänder Tageszeitung «Corriere della Sera» am Samstag.

Al-Saadi Gaddafi hatte im Sommer 2007 ein Monat lang in Ligurien verbracht, als er mit dem italienischen Fussballklub Sampdoria Genua über einen Vertrag als Spieler verhandelte, den er dann allerdings nicht unterschrieb.

Der 36-Jährige wohnte mit Bodyguards und einem Hund in einer kostspieligen Suite des Hotels und lud Dutzende von Gästen ein. Schliesslich reiste er nach einem Monat ab - allerdings ohne die Rechnung in Höhe von 395'000 Euro zu bezahlen. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> sda/apa | Samstag, 10. Juli 2010

Australiens Asylpolitik: Gillard verärgert die Nachbarn
FRANFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Nach nur zwei Wochen im Amt hat es die neue Premierministerin Gillard schon mit mehreren Unannehmlichkeiten zu tun. Vor allem ihre Initiative für ein „regionales Auffanglager“ für Flüchtlinge in Osttimor wird kritisiert.

An der Asylpolitik hat sich schon manche Regierung Australiens die Finger verbrannt. Die nächste könnte die der neuen Premierministerin Julia Gillard werden, deren Plan für ein „Regionales Abwicklungs-zentrum“ für Flüchtlinge diplomatisch ins Stocken und innenpolitisch in die Kritik geraten ist. >>> Von Jochen Buchsteiner, Jakarta | Samstag, 10. Juli 2010

Barack Obama: A Socialist in Disguise?

Pastor Manning: 'Obama's Pure, Unadulterated Evil'

Obama’s Brother Lives in a Kenyan Shack
RUSSIA TODAY: U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama’s lost brother has been tracked down in Kenya. George Hussein Onyango Obama, aged 26, was found by journalists from the Italian edition of Vanity Fair. He reportedly lives in pov[erty.]

He has the same father as the U.S. senator, Barack Hussein Obama, but a different mother. Her name has been given as Jael.
The youngest of Obama’s half-brothers says he lives on less than a dollar per month in a 2m x 3m shack. Its walls are decorated with posters of famous footballers and a calendar featuring exotic beaches. The magazine also noted George has a newspaper picture of his brother.

He has only met his famous brother twice. Once when he was five and then in 2006 when Senator Obama visited Nairobi. George admits their meeting was very brief and cool. [Source: RT] | Published: Wednesday, August 20, 2008; Edited: Monday, April 05, 2010

Poster Displaying Nazi Swastika in Warsaw Deemed Legal
BALTIMORENEWS.NET: In Warsaw, the capital of Poland, a large billboard featuring a naked model clad only in a Mickey Mouse mask with a Nazi swastika behind her, has roused the anger of members of the public.

An Italian artist, Max Papeschi, created the piece which is called “NaziSexyMouse” and adorns the side of an entire building in order to advertise a newly opened art gallery.

A city councilor, Norbert Napieraj, is attempting to take legal action against the poster, referring to Poland’s laws banning the display of the swastika; the 2-storey high picture has also been torn by vandals, but was recently replaced. >>> Baltimore News.Net | Saturday, July 10, 2010

Coalitions Are Here to Stay, Says Nick Clegg
THE GUARDIAN: Deputy PM claims Lib-Con government marks end of tribal politics and shift to more complex relationships between parties

Nick Clegg: 'What we are entering into is a permanent move to greater pluralism, diversity and fluidity in politics.' Photograph: The Guardian
The Liberal-Conservative coalition government is not a one-off but marks "a permanent move that breaks the duopoly of the old parties for good", Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, says in a Guardian interview today that marks his first two extraordinary months in office alongside David Cameron.

The coalition, he says, "is not an aberration, but a natural consequence of what has been happening for years, which is a loosening of the old tribal ties between the old parties and their supporters. Something very, very big is happening in politics."

Clegg, who leads the coalition's plans for electoral reform – a crucial part of the deal that brought the Tories and Lib Dems together – predicted more coalitions in the future, claiming that the "more complex set of relationships between political parties in the future reflects a more complex society in which people do not vote in the old blocs.

"I think what we are entering into is a permanent move to greater pluralism, diversity, and fluidity in politics that does not settle down to one associated pattern between parties," said Clegg.

The Lib Dem leader, who says of himself "I am a revolutionary but I am also a pragmatist", added: "There is a Labour assumption that this coalition is an unnatural act, and all we have to do is put it back in a box, and carry on as before. I really think they are missing something much more profound. That is why people out there, as opposed to the Westminster village, are warming as much as they are to the coalition. That is a deep change in the way people regard politics psychologically."

His remarks suggest he could yet envisage different-shaped coalitions in the future. At the same time he says he has found very quickly an ideological overlap with Cameron on decentralisation, public service reform and civil liberties. "What we have learned about each other most of all is that if you are in a coalition you have just got to be constantly open, pragmatic and level-headed about how you make progress together."

By contrast, he says Labour leadership candidates have rushed to the comfort zone of collective bile and vitriol. >>> Patrick Wintour and Nicholas Watt | Friday, July 09, 2010

Europeans Back Burka Ban, Americans Oppose Outlawing Muslim Veil
THE TELEGRAPH: While most Americans oppose banning face-covering Islamic veils, most western Europeans are in favour of outlawing the burka, a new survey has found.

Several European countries have been considering bans on such veils.

France, home to western Europe's largest Muslim community, is expected to see its lower house approve a divisive bill on Tuesday that would make it illegal to wear full-face veils in public.

The government says such veils oppress women.

Only a very small minority of French Muslim women wear veils such as the niqab or burka, and many French Muslims fear a ban would stigmatise the whole Islamic community.

A survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found that an overwhelming 82 per cent of French respondents supported a ban. The poll found 71 per cent support in Germany, 62 per cent in Britain and 59 per cent in Spain.

In the United States, just 28 per cent of those questioned said they would approve a ban. >>> | Friday, July 09, 2010

Obama's Muslim Call to Prayer


Obama Recites The Islamic Call To Prayer In Perfect Arabic: The Adhan (أَذَان)

The Obama Picture They Don't Want You to See!

Fury as UK Envoy Hails Terror Chief: Hague Faces Calls to Sack Our Woman in Beiruit
Controversy: British Ambassador to Lebanon Frances Guy, pictured with Ayatollah Fadlallah, has sparked anger after praising the Hezbollah cleric in her blog. Photograph: Mail Online
MAIL ONLINE: William Hague was under pressure to sack Britain's ambassador to the Lebanon last night after she heaped praise on the spiritual leader of the terrorist group Hezbollah.

In an extraordinary 'personal statement' on the Foreign Office website, Frances Guy paid tribute to Sheikh Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, who inspired a string of terrorist attacks against Israel and the West.

Fadlullah, who died last weekend at the age of 74, became infamous in 1983 amid claims he had personally authorised the truck bombing of two barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 U.S. Marines and 58 French paratroopers.

He was also behind the kidnapping of dozens of hostages, including Terry Waite, John McCarthy and Brian Keenan. He recently issued a fatwa legitimising suicide bombing.

But writing on the Foreign Office website this week Miss Guy, Britain's ambassador to the Lebanon since 2006, hailed Fadlallah as a 'true man of religion' and said he was the man she admired the most.

Under the headline 'The passing of a decent man', she wrote: 'If I was sad to hear the news (of his death), I know other people's lives will be truly blighted.

'The world needs more men like him, willing to reach out across faiths, acknowledging the reality of the modern world and daring to confront old constraints. May he rest in peace.' >>> Jason Groves and Matthew Kalman | Saturday, July 10, 2010

Related:

THE TELEGRAPH: Britain's Lebanese Ambassador Praises Hizbollah Founder >>> Damien McElroy and Adrian Bloomfield in Jerusalem | Thursday, July 08, 2010

Krauthammer Bashes Obama's Infantile NASA Muslim Outreach Program


NASA Chief Revealed Muslim Outreach Plan to Al Jazeera Before Congress
FOX NEWS: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden revealed his plans to improve relations between America's space exploration agency and the Muslim world to Al Jazeera before Congress, the Washington Examiner reported.

Bolden called a couple of lawmakers with the news on June 28, after his interview with the Middle East news organization but before it aired, the newspaper reported.

"He ran down some of the things from the president's new space policy, and mentioned outreach to Muslims," Rep. Pete Olson, the top Republican on the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics recalled to the newspaper. "That stunned me. I didn't believe it."

Bolden's interview with Al Jazeera ignited a firestorm of controversy that has gone largely unreported by major news outlets. Michael Griffin, the NASA administrator during the latter half of the Bush administration told FoxNews.com that he believes the Muslim outreach plan is "deeply flawed."

"NASA ... represents the best of America. Its purpose is not to inspire Muslims or any other cultural entity," he said.

Bolden sat down with Al Jazeera's Imran Garda on June 17 during a Middle East trip to mark the one-year anniversary since Obama delivered an address to Muslim nations in Cairo, a NASA spokesman told the newspaper.

The interview aired June 30 after the Obama space plan was unveiled and members of Congress were briefed. >>> FoxNews.com | Friday, July 09, 2010

Gingrich: 'The Obama Administration Doesn't Understand America'