St Patrick's Catholic Church in Soho to Reopen after £3.5m Restoration

THE GUARDIAN: 'It's not a conventional parish,' admits pastor of London church ministering to sex workers, gay men and generations of migrants

A former bordello and music hall owned by one of Casanova's mistresses is perhaps an unlikely site for one of Britain's oldest Roman Catholic churches, St Patrick's, which sits amid the bright lights and fleshpots of London's Soho.

"It is not a conventional parish," observes Father Alexander Sherbrooke, who has overseen a 14-month, £3.5m project to restore the church and rid it of the damage caused by damp, dry rot, urban pollution, incense and candlelight. It reopens this week with a specially composed Magnificat from James MacMillan and a mass from Cardinal George Pell, who is flying in from Rome for the occasion.

The traditional nature of the celebrations – vespers and canticles – highlights the contrast between the orthodoxy of St Patrick's and what lies outside it.

Sherbrooke says: "You get a knock on the door and it can be someone who is successful in business, someone who wants a sandwich or someone caught up in the sex industry. We leave our SOS prayer line calling cards in telephone boxes – where you might see other services advertised.

"One man who called said he was a pimp and wanted to break out of his occupation but that it was too lucrative for him to leave. Do we just accept the way people are? People get into ruts they find it difficult to break out of. We can say, as Christians, that God can and does intervene." » | Riazat Butt | Monday, May 30, 2011

Deutsche Islam Konvertiten - Terror Gefahr?

President Zuma in Tripoli
South African President Jacob Zuma has arrived in Tripoli for talks with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Zuma is expected to attempt to revive an African roadmap for a ceasefire between rebels and government forces.

Al Jazeera's Cal Perry reports from Benghazi.

Le blasphème qui tue

CYBERPRESSE.CA: (Pakistan) Au Pakistan, personne ne peut offenser le Prophète sans risquer la prison. Cette loi sur le blasphème divise le pays depuis qu'Asia Bibi, illettrée, a été condamnée à mort parce qu'elle a insulté le Prophète. D'un côté, des militants extrémistes prêts à tout pour qu'elle soit pendue, de l'autre, des politiciens assassinés parce qu'ils ont osé la défendre. Au milieu, un gouvernement paralysé qui ne sait plus comment désamorcer la crise. La Presse a enquêté sur le terrain. Histoire d'une bombe à retardement.

Asia Bibi avait 38 ans lorsque sa vie est devenue un cauchemar.

Le 14 juin 2009, elle travaillait dans le champ avec trois femmes. Asia est chrétienne, les femmes, musulmanes.

Elles se chicanaient parfois, mais elles finissaient toujours par se réconcilier. Elles vivaient à Ittanwalli, village pauvre perdu au milieu des champs. La route de terre est craquelée par le soleil, des ânes tirent des charrettes et des chiens dorment au milieu du chemin, tourmentés par les mouches. À Ittanwalli, le temps est suspendu.

En juin, le thermomètre frôle les 50 degrés. Asia travaillait, écrasée par la chaleur. Les femmes avaient soif, elles ont bu de l'eau. Asia a touché leur verre et bu à son tour. C'est à ce moment précis que tout a basculé. Ce geste inoffensif -une chrétienne qui touche l'eau d'une musulmane- a plongé le Pakistan dans une grave crise politico-religieuse.

Les musulmanes ont accusé Asia Bibi d'avoir souillé leur eau. Les femmes se sont chicanées, le ton a monté, Asia s'est énervée et elle a insulté l'islam et le prophète Mahomet. » | Michèle Ouimet, envoyée spéciale, La Presse | Lundi 30 Mai 2011

Israel Can’t Trust Obama

YNET NEWS: Op-ed: President Obama’s recent speeches highlighted his affinity for the Palestinian cause

When President Obama announced his support for the establishment of a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines as the starting point for negotiations, he in effect adopted the PLO Phased Plan for the gradual destruction of Israel.

While Hamas adopted the position of destroying Israel in one step through constant armed struggle, the PLO, led by Fatah adopted in 1974 a new political method of achieving that goal through two steps. According to the plan, the first step is the establishment of a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders; the second step is the liberation of all of Palestine by destroying the Jewish state through armed struggle or through the “the right of return” of millions of Palestinians to Israel, thus demographically and democratically causing Israel to lose its Jewish majority and character.

In his Middle East speech, Obama divided the core issues of the negotiations into two phases. According to the order set by the president, he in effect demanded of Israel to give up its only bargaining chip of land, based on the 1967 lines with “mutually agreed swaps” in the first phase, before negotiating t[he] other substantive questions such as the “right of return,” the Hamas-Fatah alliance, and recognition of Israel as the Jewish state.

Obama argued that by mentioning “land swaps,” he did not actually call for Israel to withdraw to the indefensible ‘67 lines, as Israel can trade off other land to avoid the ‘67 lines. But in reality the president handed the Palestinians a tremendous victory by embracing their assertion that they somehow have the implicit right to every square inch beyond the Green Line and thus must be compensated on a 1:1 basis for any adjustment. This means that if Israel wishes to keep the Western Wall or the Jewish Quarter in east Jerusalem, the Palestinians would have to agree first and then in return Israel would have to compensate them with a land swap from inside tiny Israel.

Furthermore, when the president mentioned in his speech “the fate of the Palestinian refugees”, he did not say that there will be no “right of return” to Israel proper and that the Palestinian refugees and their descendants will have to find their home in a future state of Palestine. » | Shoula Romano Horing | Sunday, May 29, 2011

Yemen on the Brink of Civil War
Hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators speak out in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. Al Jazeera's Gerald Tan reports

Al-Sharif Seeks Pardon: Reports
ARAB NEWS: DAMMAM/JEDDAH: Detained motorist Manal Al-Sharif has reportedly written a letter of appeal to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah seeking her release.

The story was being widely discussed on websites and online editions of some Arabic newspapers on Sunday, but there was no official confirmation that she has written to the king. Repeated attempts by Arab News to get in touch with her lawyer, Adnan Al-Saleh, were unsuccessful.

A Jeddah-datelined AFP story quoted the lawyer as saying: “Al-Sharif hopes that the king will order her release and close her file.” Al-Sharif was arrested on May 21 while driving in Alkhobar, a day after she posted footage on the video-sharing website YouTube showing her behind the wheel.

Her father, Masoud Al-Sharif, initially spoke to the media after her arrest but has since declined to speak to any member of the media. “He is very upset at being misquoted and misrepresented in news reports,” a source told Arab News. “The father was particularly upset at the media for publishing baseless reports such as that of her breaking down in the women’s prison in Dammam.”

The other reason for the father not to speak to the media, according to the source, is to avoid unnecessary controversies.

“Some sections of the media have indeed tried to sensationalize the whole story without realizing the adverse impact it has on her case,” the source said.

Al-Sharif's father called on Eastern Province Gov. Prince Muhammad bin Fahd last week and explained his daughter's situation and change of heart.

“She has committed a mistake and has now realized her mistake and has since withdrawn from the so-called June 17 campaign through a social media website that incited women to take the wheel,” he was quoted as saying in the local Arabic media.

Ghazi Al-Shammari, a local official who met Manal Al-Sharif last week, also said that she feels remorseful.

“I made a mistake, and I’m a daughter of this nation. I have nobody but my family and the sons and daughters of my nation. I advise girls of my generation to rally behind our leadership and the Ulema. They know better than us about our condition. I’m confident about what I’m saying after sitting alone and contemplating,” Al-Shammari quoted Al-Sharif as saying in one Arabic newspaper. » | Siraj Wahab & Muhammad Humaidan | ARAB NEWS | Published: Sunday, May 29, 2011; Updated: Monday, May 30, 2011

Anne Sinclair, nouvelle heroïne de la presse people
Face au drame qui la frappe, les magazines mettent l’épouse courageuse et pugnace en avant plutôt que la femme blessée

French Minister Quits Over Sexual Harassment Accusation

BBC: A French junior minister accused of having sexually harassed staff of a town hall where he is mayor has resigned from the government.

A statement by the prime minister said Civil Service Minister Georges Tron had acted "in the general interest", and noted he denied the allegations.

His resignation comes in the wake of the US arrest of ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn earlier this month.

He is charged with sexually assaulting a chamber maid in a New York hotel.

In the wake of the Strauss-Kahn case, there has been speculation internationally over whether France is prepared to re-examine its strict observance of privacy laws to report scandals affecting politicians. » | Sunday, May 29, 2011

David Cameron: Illustrious Jewish Roots

PHYSORG.COM: David Cameron’s Jewish history goes back hundreds - if not thousands - of years, according to a University of Manchester historian. Dr Yaakov Wise, who specialises in Jewish history, says the Tory leader is descended from a German-born Jewish scholar whose writings furthered the study of Hebrew in European Christendom at a time of widespread hostility toward its Jews.

And according to Dr Wise, who has been using archival material to examine the Cameron family tree, the Tory leader could also be a direct descendent of the greatest ever Hebrew prophet, Moses.

Cameron is a descendent of banker Emile Levita, who came to Britain as a German immigrant in the 1850s. Emile Levita was himself a descendent of Elijah Levita, who lived from 1469-1549.

During the last years of his life Elijah Levita produced, among other works, two major books: the 1541 Translator’s Book, the first dictionary of the Targums or Aramaic commentaries on the Hebrew Bible.

His lexicon of 1542 explained much of the Mishnaic Hebrew language and was a supplement to two important earlier dictionaries.

Elijah Levita also wrote what is thought to be the first ever Yiddish novel - called the Bove-bukh (The Book of Bove) written in 1507 and printed in 1541.

The book is based on an Italian version of an Anglo-Norman tale about a queen who betrays her husband and causes his death.

Emile Levita, who was granted citizenship in 1871, is Cameron’s great great grandfather. Illustrious Jewish roots of Tory leader revealed » | University of Manchester | Friday, July 10, 2009

True Believers – China
Watch Journeyman Pictures video here

Women Of The Revolution - Libya
Watch Journeyman Pictures video here

Germany's WWII Occupation of Poland: 'When We Finish, Nobody Is Left Alive'

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Germany's occupation of Poland is one of the darkest chapters of World War II. Some 6 million people, almost 18 percent of the Polish population, were killed during the Nazi reign of terror that saw mass executions, forced evictions and enslavement.

Adolf Hitler left no doubt about his goal before he ordered the invasion of Poland. Addressing generals and commanders at a reception he gave at his Berchtesgaden retreat on August 22, 1939, Hitler said he was not interested "in reaching a specific line or a new border." He wanted "the destruction of the enemy."

On September 1, 1939, German soldiers marched across the border into neighboring Poland. The vastly superior Wehrmacht forces advanced so quickly that the Polish government was forced to flee to Romania just 16 days later. On September 27, the defenders of the Polish capital, Warsaw, gave up. Nine days later, the last remaining Polish troops laid down their weapons.

Thus begun a nightmarish occupation that would last more than five years. In Poland, the Nazis had more time than in any other occupied country to implement their policies against people they classified as "racially inferior."

The task of implementing Hitler's plan fell to Hans Frank, a 39-year-old lawyer, Nazi Party member and brutal champion of the Nazis' vision of racial purity. Frank was named "Governor-General" of a large chunk of Poland, an area of about 95,000 square kilometers (36,680sq mi), with approximately 10 million inhabitants. This was the western part of Poland that had been annexed by the German Reich, while the eastern half of the country was occupied by the Red Army in accordance with the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, the 1939 non-aggression treaty between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. » | Michael Sontheimer | Friday, May 27, 2011

SPIEGEL ONLINE PHOTO GALLERY: The Horrific German Occupation of Poland »

Related Topics:

German-Polish Relations »

The Holocaust »

Inside Story: Malta Says Yes to Divorce
Inside Story presenter Laura Kyle, discusses with, Michael Falzon, a senior member of the "YES" Movement; David Quinn, director of pro-marriage group the Iona Institute; and Matthew Vella, editor of Malta Today.

Cameron Cuts His Ties with Jewish Charity in Move Hailed by Pro-Palestine Campaigners

MAIL ONLINE: David Cameron has resigned as a patron of a top Jewish charity in a move hailed by pro-Palestinian campaigners.

The Prime Minister has cut ties with the Jewish National Fund, which describes itself as Britain’s leading Jewish charity.

Downing Street insisted the decision was taken as part of a wider review of the Prime Minister’s involvement with charities.

But the move is a break with convention, as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown both stayed on as patrons while at Number 10.

Mr Cameron has already experienced controversy when it comes to affairs in the Middle East – on a trip to Turkey last July he caused huge offence by calling Gaza a ‘prison camp’.

His latest move will be another disappointment to the government of Israel.

However, activist groups Stop the JNF and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign hailed Mr Cameron’s decision to step down. » | Gerri Peev | Monday, May 30, 2011

'Bradford Is Very Inbred'; High Risk of Birth Defects

MAIL ONLINE: Inbreeding among British Muslims is threatening the health of their children, a leading geneticist warned yesterday.

Professor Steve Jones, from University College London, said the common practice in Islamic communities for cousins to marry each other increased the risk of birth defects.

‘There may be some evidence that cousins marrying one another can be harmful,’ he told an audience at the Hay Festival.

‘We should be concerned about that as there can be a lot of hidden genetic damage. Children are much more likely to get two copies of a damaged gene.

‘Bradford is very inbred. There is a huge amount of cousins marrying each other there.’

Studies have shown that 55 per cent of British Pakistanis are married to first cousins – and in Bradford, this rises to 75 per cent.

Other research has found that children of first cousins are ten times more likely to have recessive genetic disorders and face deafness, blindness and infant mortality.

But Prof Jones’s comments provoked anger among some Muslim groups yesterday. 'Bradford Is Very Inbred': Muslim outrage as professor warns first-cousin marriages increase risk of birth defects » | Tom Kelly | Monday, May 30, 2011

Vladimir Putin Hints at Dominique Strauss-Kahn Conspiracy

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, has hinted that Dominique Strauss-Kahn may be the victim of a conspiracy to force him from the head of the IMF.

Mr Putin said that he finds it hard to believe that the sex charges against the Frenchman are true and that he may have fallen victim to a shadowy plot to discredit him.

"It is hard for me to evaluate the real political underlying reasons and I do not even want to get into that subject, but I cannot believe that everything is as it seems and how it was initially presented," he said. "It does not sit right in my head."

Mr Strauss-Kahn was arrested at JFK airport in New York on May 14 for allegedly sexually assaulting a hotel chambermaid.

Mr Putin's public support for Mr Strauss-Kahn comes days after a French politician alleged that the former IMF chief had said before his arrest that he thought Mr Putin was actively plotting his downfall.

The politician, Claude Bartolone, said: "He said the Russians and notably Putin had allied themselves with France to try to have him fired from the IMF to stop him running for (French) president." » | Andrew Osborn, Moscow | Sunday, May 29, 2011

My comment:

I have said all along that something doesn't seem right about this alleged crime. I am inclined to agree with Putin. DSK was the most successful politician in France. He was going to run for the office of president. It is quite possible that he was set up. – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Saudi-Arabien: Anklage wegen Anstachelung zum Autofahren
FOCUS ONLINE: Nachdem eine junge Saudi-Araberin wegen unerlaubten Autofahrens verhaftet worden ist, hat sie nun Freilassungsgesuch bei König Abdallah gestellt. Wegen des Vorwurfs der Anstachelung von Frauen zum Autofahren droht ihr die Prügelstrafe.

Die 32-jährige Manal el Scharif habe mit König Abdallah telefoniert und hoffe nun, aus der Haft entlassen zu werden, sagte ihr Anwalt Adnane el Saleh am Sonntag. Die Informatikerin hatte vor gut einer Woche im Onlineportal YouTube ein Video eingestellt, das sie beim Autofahren in der Stadt Chobar im Osten des Landes zeigte. Sie wurde deshalb unter dem Vorwurf der Anstachelung von Frauen zum Autofahren angeklagt.

In Saudi-Arabien ist Frauen das Autofahren verboten. El Scharif sitzt derzeit in einem Gefängnis in der östlichen Stadt Dammam. Erst am Donnerstag wurde ihre Haft um zehn Tage verlängert. Ihr Anwalt sagte, seine Mandantin sei „in bester Verfassung und sich ihrer Sache sicher“. Saudi-arabische Medien hatten dagegen zuvor berichtet, El Scharif bereue ihr Handeln. » | it/AFP | Sonntag, 29. Mai 2011

Medine - Don't Panik ( Clip Officiel ) HD : Des rappeurs musulmans

«Don't Panik » : un documentaire sur les rappeurs musulmans
SAPHIR NEWS: Rap et Islam. L’articulation de ces deux mots a soulevé de nombreuses interrogations chez la réalisatrice du film « Don’t Panik », Keira Maameri. Elle est allée chercher ses réponses auprès de six rappeurs. Artistes reconnus et engagés, tous se revendiquent musulmans et affichent leur identité dans leurs textes. La démarche était naturelle ; le rap réunit beaucoup de musulmans, tant dans le public que chez les rappeurs. Saphirnews s’est rendu à la première projection du film à l’Institut du Monde arabe, jeudi 26 mai. La salle était pleine et les rappeurs et la réalisatrice ont pu échanger avec le public. Reportage.

« Don’t Panik » est le troisième documentaire de la réalisatrice Keira Maameri. Passionnée par le mouvement hip hop, elle a déjà réalisé « A nos Absents » qui traite de la mort dans les textes de rap français et « On s’accroche à nos rêves », sur les femmes dans le milieu des cultures urbaines. Avec « Don’t Panik », Keira Maameri s’attaque à la question identitaire, qu’est ce qu’être rappeur et musulman dans le monde actuel ? Un film au-delà des clichés qui n’évite pas la question de l’interprétation des textes sacrés, alors la musique haram ou halal ? » | Rédigé par Pauline Compan | Samedi 28 Mai 2011

Britain Gets First Muslim Woman Lord Mayor

ON ISLAM: LONDON – In a major leap for the Muslim minority in Britain, a Muslim woman was named on Tuesday, May 24, as the lord mayor of the district of Bradford.

"I am looking forward to being a positive and active ambassador for this wonderful district," Naveeda Ikram told the BBC.

"I'm keen to see more participation and better confidence from all communities in the democratic process."

Councilor Ikram was installed on Tuesday as the new lord mayor of Bradford. Chosen as the first Muslim woman for the post, Ikram is a Labour councilor for Little Horton since 2004.

A mother of three, Ikram, a former Deputy Lord Mayor, is one of the first Pakistan-born females in Britain to take on the leading civic role.

A psychology and sociology graduate, she was one of the only two Bradford councilors selected in 2007 to take part in a national course designed to identify future leaders. » | OnIslam & News Agencies | Tuesday, May 24, 2011